OAKLAND (BCN)

Pharmacy giant Walgreen's Co. has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a consumer protection lawsuit alleging that it put people's health at risk by allowing a phony pharmacist to handle more than 745,000 prescriptions in the Bay Area, prosecutors said on Monday.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said she and Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen filed the suit after they learned that Walgreens had employed Kim Thien Le as a pharmacist for over a decade, even though she wasn't licensed by the California State Board of Pharmacy.

"This case serves as a cautionary tale for every health care provider that hires people into positions requiring a professional license," O'Malley said in a statement.

O'Malley said, "The burden is on the company to make sure its employees are properly licensed and to complete a thorough background check. My office will be vigilant in protecting consumers and enforcing licensing laws."

Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Tiyen Lin said, "Consumers depend on pharmacies to make sure that the person behind the counter preparing and giving out medical prescription drugs is trained, competent and licensed to do so. Their lives may depend on it."

The complaint alleges that Walgreens failed to vet Le, 44, of Milpitas, thoroughly when it promoted her to positions requiring a license and failed to make sure that its internal systems were strong enough to prevent an employee from evading them.

It alleges that Le, who worked as a pharmacist in Milpitas, San Jose and Fremont, performed one or more of the pharmacist-required steps for more than 745,000 prescriptions, including over 100,000 prescriptions for controlled substances such as oxycodone, fentanyl, morphine and codeine.

Le's employment with Walgreen's ended in October 2017.

Last July the California Attorney General's Office charged Le with felony counts of impersonating pharmacists, stealing their identities and obtaining money under false pretenses between 2006 and 2017.

Her case is pending in Alameda County Superior Court.

O'Malley said that once the matter came to light, Walgreens took immediate steps to re-verify the licenses of its pharmacy employees around the country and instituted other remedial measures.

The civil judgment, which was filed in Alameda County Superior Court, requires Walgreens to ensure licensure compliance by implementing a verification program, posting proof of licensure, conducting annual audits and submitting an annual compliance report.

The judgment also requires Walgreens to pay approximately $7.5 million in penalties, costs and remedial payments.

O'Malley said Walgreens and its counsel worked cooperatively with prosecutors and regulators to implement the changes.

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By Mei Mei Chu

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Malaysia expects palm oil demand in China to remain strong despite the coronavirus epidemic as people forced to stay indoors eat more packaged foods, such as instant noodles, that use a lot of the edible oil, the industry regulator said.

Brokers and traders have forecast palm oil prices could fall over coming weeks if the spread of the deadly virus continues to disrupt travel and leads to a wider shutdown of offices, malls and factories.

Palm oil is used widely in food courts and by catering companies in China, Malaysia's second biggest customer for the oil behind India.

However, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said on Tuesday that while the outbreak had reduced consumption of the oil at restaurants, this would be compensated by higher demand for packaged foods such as instant noodles.

"Instant noodles use a lot of palm oil. As people stay at home to reduce their exposure to the virus, they will eat at home more and this will definitely increase the demand for instant noodles," MPOB Director-General Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

"While there are issues with exporting, the demand for palm oil (in China) will always remain."

Malaysia's minister in charge of palm oil, Teresa Kok, told reporters at the same event that the country had not seen any delays in shipments to China.

China bought 2.5 million tonnes of palm oil last year from Malaysia, the world's second-biggest producer, while India imported 4.4 million tonnes, according to Malaysian Palm Oil Council figures. (Reporting by Mei Mei Chu; editing by Richard Pullin)
The High Court injunction brought by Remcoll 2 Ltd against six named individuals in Ballinamore in relation to a 24/7 protest at the Rock Quarter, Ballinamore was struck out today on Tuesday, February 3.



The six named people, Fred Walsh, Gordon Hughes, Cllr Ita Reynolds Flynn, Bryan Cribbin, Adrian Smith and Desmond Wisley have welcomed the news.



They issued the following statement to the Leitrim Observer: We, the six named members of the community of Ballinamore, welcome the news that the High Court injunction which had been served upon us is to be completely struck out in its entirety along with all High Court proceedings on consent as and between the parties.

This positive outcome can be seen as great news for the town of Ballinamore and surrounding areas. From the outset of these proceeding, we have at all times endeavoured to protect our good names and that of our town.

We see the conclusion of legal matters today to fully vacate all orders as an absolute vindication of that stance.

It is a regrettable situation in a democratic society that those who would seek to merely represent the views of a community could be singled out and brought before the courts.

We offer a sincere thanks to the people of the Ballinamore and its surrounding areas for their unwavering support over the past three months.

It has been a source of great reassurance for us all to know that our community has stood with us at all times.

Lastly, we would like to acknowledge a debt of gratitude that we owe to our legal representatives, Solicitor Daniel Hughes of Hughes & Associates Solicitors in Dublin and Karen Walsh (BL), who stepped forward and volunteered their help (pro bono) on behalf of their community and also to Maura McNally (SC) for her assistance in this matter.



A temporary injunction was originally put in place on November 15, 2019 following a 24/7 protest at The Rock Quarter, Ballinamore organised by Ballinamore Community Group over issues with the news that up to 130 asylum seekers were to be accommodated in the development.

Mr Justice Barrett granted the injunction restraining the named defendants and all others besetting or trespassing on the property or impeding access.

The protest was stood down the next day, following contact from Minister of State David Stanton to meet with locals and discuss the plans further.



The injunction order was made permanent on December 23, 2019 but struck out this week in the High Court.

Also read: Almost 60 people waiting on houses in Ballinamore municipal district
Let's Make a Deal: Updates on Publisher OA Negotiations



More and more academic institutions are refusing to pay the high cost of scholarly journals, attempting instead to negotiate better pricing and OA agreements with major publishers. The following are some recent OA deals in varying stages of negotiation.

UC Cancellation

In February 2019, the University of California (UC) suspended its negotiations with Elsevier, thereby canceling a multitude of subscription services across its many campuses. Perhaps the most expensive publisher of scientific journals, Elseviers annual subscription pricing can range from $200 to $5,502 for a single print journal.

On Jan. 23, 2020, UC posted an update: After formal negotiations stalled last year, UC and Elsevier have remained in informal conversations and are looking forward to continuing that dialogue. The parties are planning to hold a meeting to explore reopening negotiations within the first quarter of 2020. This decision comes after Elseviers willingness to sign other agreements in 2019, which made UC hopeful that this suggests that the publisher is ready to discuss deals that align with UCs goals.

According to Jeffrey MacKie-Mason, the co-chairperson of UCs negotiation team, From the very beginning, we had two goals: a reduction in costswe pay about $11 million a year to Elsevier in subscription fees, which is 25 percent of UC system-wide journal costsand default open access publication for UC authors: that is, that Elsevier would publish an authors work open access unless the author didnt want to. This is consistent with the UC faculty senates goal of all work being published open access.

Several non-U.S. institutions have been down this road too. MacKie-Mason notes, All of the universities in Germany canceled two years ago for the same reason. The Max Planck Society (the leading research organization in Germany) also did. The university alliance in Sweden canceled last spring [of 2018], and the university alliance in Hungary canceled in December [2018]. Several other national alliances in Europe are trying to negotiate a similar contract with Elsevier.

Bibsam Consortium Success

Elsevier was able to reach an agreement with a group of Swedish universities. On Nov. 22, 2019, the two sides announced that they had finally come to an agreement, establishing a so-called transformative deal that includes access to paywalled articles and open-accessing publishing into one fee.

Wilhelm Widmark, a member of the steering committee for Bibsam Consortium, which handles negotiations for 80-plus Swedish institutions, says, We had a lot of [informal] discussions with Elsevier during the cancellation and we started to negotiate again in the summer.  I think Elsevier has become more flexible during the last couple of months.

Other Elsevier Agreements

Similar transformative arrangements with Elsevier closed in fall 2019with Carnegie Mellon University and with a national consortium in Hungary. Each deal differs slightly, with some including access to specific paywalled journals, while others, like the Bibsam Consortiums, include unlimited access to gold OA journals.

On Nov. 28, 2019, Elsevier announced a national agreement with Couperin, the French academic consortium for higher education and research.  This four-year agreement (2019-2022) will provide researchers at universities and research institutions across France with equal access to Elseviers high-quality content provided through the ScienceDirect platform and enables both subscription and open access publishing options for researchers in France.

Other Publishers Agreements

Other publishers are following Elseviers lead, with Springer Nature and Project DEAL signing a contract for the largest transformative OA agreement on Jan. 9, 2020. It provides OA publishing services and full reading access to Springer Nature journals to scholars and students from across the German research landscape.  Through the agreement, authors affiliated with the 700+ German academic and research institutions which are part of [Project DEAL], will be able to publish their accepted manuscripts immediate (gold) OA in both Springer Nature hybrid and fully OA journals, with the relative costs managed centrally by their institutions. The agreement is expected to see well over 13,000 articles a year from German researchers published OA.

Wiley entered into a combined OA and subscription agreement with the Bibsam Consortium that began on Jan. 1, 2020. This 3-year agreement will provide 45 participating Swedish institutions with continued access to Wileys subscription journals and enable their affiliated authors to publish open access articles in Wileys fully gold and hybrid journals.

Oxford University Press (OUP) has announced its first Read & Publish deal with a US institution, reached in principle in early December 2019 with Iowa State University Library. Once finalized, it will include access to the full OUP journals collection, including over 300 journals with an Open Access publishing option, and more than 60 fully Open Access journals. Researchers at Iowa State will be able to publish their articles via Open Access immediately upon publication in an OUP journal.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A Stapleton man will begin his murder trial next month, nearly two years after he allegedly gunned his buddy down on a street in their community.

Justice William E. Garnett said at a conference on Friday he intends to start jury selection in Francis Batamas trial on March 3.

The judge said he will hold a final pretrial conference on Feb. 26 in state Supreme Court, St. George.

Batama, 27, is accused of fatally shooting Semori Wilson, 25, three times in the back shortly before midnight on May 10, 2018.

The bullets pierced the victims shoulder, back and hip, perforating his lungs, liver and other organs, prosecutors said.

Police found Wilson with gunshot wounds in front of the El Patron bar on Bay Street in Stapleton. Cops at the time believed he was shot a few blocks away and returned to the bar for help, where he collapsed.

Batama was arrested more than five months later on Oct. 15, 2018.

He is charged under a 10-count indictment with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, criminal weapon possession and criminal firearm possession stemming from Wilsons death.

Authorities have not publicly commented on a possible motive.

A criminal complaint said Batama was busted after officers spotted him driving his Mazda through a red light near Bay and Canal streets in Stapleton. He was allegedly tailgating a school bus and switching lanes without signaling.

At Batamas arraignment in November 2018, Joseph Murray, his original lawyer, told the court the defendant has a solid alibi.

He said Batama was hanging out with another friend when the victim was shot.

Whats more, the witness who picked out Batama as the shooter in a lineup after his arrest had previously identified a filler as the gunman in a photo array, said Murray.

The witness viewed the photo array five days after the slaying, Murray said.

It included pictures of the defendant and several other men, said Murray, who has since been replaced by Mario F. Gallucci.

However, Batama was the only person in the lineup after his arrest whose photo had also been in the array, potentially prejudicing the witness, Murray maintained.

He has an alibi, Murray said then, questioning the validity of the lineup identification. The only thing linking him is a bad ID by a mis-pick.

But authorities believe they have the right man.

Besides the witness identification, Assistant District Attorney Kate Malloy has told the court surveillance videotape showed Batama and Wilson had been together earlier in the day.

Later that night, Wilson was shot shortly after receiving a phone call from Batama, she said.

Surveillance videotape shows the gunman running from the scene wearing the same clothes in which Batama was garbed while he had been with the victim, she said.

Murray said the defendant had freely admitted to detectives he was with Wilson that morning.

The lawyer said the pair ran some errands, after which Batama dropped his friend off at the St. George Ferry Terminal.

The defendant then drove to the Bronx to visit another friend. He said Batama drove through the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, which is documented.

Afterward, he returned to Staten Island to hang out with another pal, said Murray.

Batama stayed with that friend throughout the evening and early into the next morning, to include the time when Wilson was shot, Murray said.

Gallucci, the current defense lawyer, said Batama is anxious for the trial to start.

My client has been looking forward to this day for 16 months, and he is confident that when a jury hears the evidence he will be acquitted, said Gallucci.
GLEN ALPINE  Built in 1913 as a home for J.D. Pitts, the house at 105 Davis St. in Glen Alpine found new life in the next century as something different.

Since 2003, the structure has served as a bed-and-breakfast under the name Inn at Glen Alpine. Once condemned in the 1980s, it was brought back to life. The building opened as an inn in 2003 under Jane Hogg, who ran it for more than a decade.

Craig and Teresa Sellman purchased the bed-and-breakfast from Hogg in November 2014, doing a few renovations before reopening in the summer of 2015.

Now, however, it looks like the house will be a home yet again.

In mid-January, Teresa Sellman sent a letter to the Burke County Tourism Development Authority, resigning her position on the TDA board and declaring the couples intent to close the inn on Jan. 25 and move to Asheville, where the Sellmans will manage future real estate and design interests.

Later in January, Sellman told The News Herald the house was going up for sale for residential use. It is listed with Lake James Real Estate with an asking price of $795,000. It has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms across 4,600 square feet on 5.15 acres of land.
Christine Kim, one of Ms. Yus friends, said she understood her friends concerns but rebooked her own trip on Korean Air. She said she thinks some of the media coverage of the virus seems to be exaggerated.

A lot of news stories are overblowing the danger of the virus, so it makes sense that people might not want to travel, she said. But as long as Im not physically prevented from going, Im not too worried. Ive flown Korean Air and trust them.

For other travelers, its been unclear who exactly is responsible for issuing refunds.

Laura Clews had a China Eastern Airlines flight to New Zealand from London, with a stopover in Shanghai. When the flight was canceled last week, Ms. Clews spent several days trying to get in touch with the airline, ultimately learning that she would have to get a refund through the site she booked on, Travel Genio.

I went to the Travel Genio site to see if they would be honoring what China Eastern said, but there wasnt anything on the site, so I found a number for them and tried calling six times, she said.

No luck. Ms. Clews has since reached out to Travel Genio by phone and email, as well as on Instagram, on Facebook and, with a newly created account, on Twitter. She hasnt heard back.

Attempts to contact the company by phone and through social media for comment were unsuccessful.

Jayne and Ed ODonnell had planned to visit their daughter and son-in-law in China, where they both teach science in Shanghai. Their monthlong trip was going to take them to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia as well.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said in a speech on the Senate floor Monday that she "cannot vote to convict" President Trump, but condemned his actions toward Ukraine as "shameful and wrong."

Why it matters: The moderate senator was thought to be among the likeliest of the Republicans to vote to convict Trump. During her speech Monday, which followed the conclusion of closing arguments in the impeachment trial, Murkowski also tore into the House for rushing through the process and the Senate for what she called "rank partisanship."

The Congress, as an institution, has failed."

 Lisa Murkowski

What she's saying: A vote to remove the president would "disenfranchise nearly 63 million Americans" who voted for Trump, Murkowski said. "The constitution provides for impeachment, but does not demand it in all instances," she added.

"The House could have pursued censure and not immediately jumped to the remedy of last resort," Murkowski continued. "The voters will pronounce a verdict in nine months, and we must trust their judgment.

Yes, but: The Alaska Senator also said that "the president's behavior was shameful and wrong."

"His personal interests do not take precedence over those of this great nation," Murkowski said.

"The president has the responsibility to uphold the integrity and the honor of the office. ... Degrading the office by actions, or even name-calling, weakens it for future presidents, and it weakens our country."

Of note: Murkowski said her vote last week against summoning witnesses to the trial was to avoid splitting the Senate 50-50, which could have resulted in Supreme Court Justice John Roberts having to break the tie.

Go deeper ... Trump impeachment trial recap, day 11: Closing arguments conclude
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Photo: Ray Bouknight/Flickr

Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in Sacramento.

High school student dies after January crash in Sacramento County

A high school student injured in a head-on crash in Sacramento County last month has died, school officials say.

Read the full story on KCRA 3.

Sacramento man, 58, dead after being ejected from motorcycle in crash

A 58-year-old man is dead after losing control of his motorcycle and crashing in Sacramento on Sunday, authorities said.

Read the full story on CBS13 CBS Sacramento.

Sacramento man sentenced to prison for killing neighbor who complained about parties

A Sacramento County judge has sentenced a south Sacramento man convicted of murder for shooting his neighbor, who called 911 to complain about a large party with loud music and about 100 attendees.

Read the full story on The Sacramento Bee.

Fate of sentimental, pun-filled marquee creates buzz in Sacramento

The fate of the Raley's marquee at its flagship Sacramento location along Freeport Boulevard is creating a buzz as crews will begin dismantling it Monday.

Read the full story on KCRA.

Man hospitalized after leading police on car chase through Natomas and West Sacramento

A man was injured in a crash Saturday night after leading police on a chase through Natomas and into West Sacramento, according to the Sacramento Police Department.

Read the full story on The Sacramento Bee.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
The University of Massachusetts has received approval to offer a new bachelors degree that university officials say will dramatically advance the value and utilization of the Mount Ida campus, which UMass acquired in 2018.

The bachelor of science degree in veterinary technology represents a re-design of the Mount Ida College veterinary technology program, which UMass Amherst adopted upon the acquisition of the former colleges Newton campus. The new program will include two years of study at the universitys Amherst campus, followed by two years at the Mount Ida campus.

Approval by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education has been granted for the program to begin this fall.

Current UMass Amherst students have the option to transfer from other animal science majors to veterinary technology this semester. Incoming first-year students will have the option to choose the veterinary technology major beginning in fall 2020.

This is the first UMass Amherst degree program designed to incorporate the state-of-the-art facilities at the Mount Ida campus, said John J. McCarthy, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs.

By leveraging the large animal facilities in Amherst, the small animal facilities in Newton and the career networks in both locations, the program offers veterinary science students a unique and comprehensive academic and professional development experience.

Students graduating from the bachelors degree program will be prepared for a career as a veterinary technologist working in veterinary clinics or hospitals, assisting in biomedical research or continuing on to graduate school, according to a UMass release. Internship opportunities will be available.

It comes at an opportune time for students to consider a field that, according to prepare students to graduate into a field in which, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is projected to grow by 19 percent by 2028.

The program is offered by the department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences. The UMass modern research facilities includes university-owned farms with working herds of sheep, goats, cattle and horses available for teaching and research.

The Mount Ida campus will offer a modern facility dedicated exclusively to the veterinary technology program with lecture and clinical classrooms, surgical suites and spacious small-animal housing. An experienced faculty will offer guidance toward the veterinary profession.

The universitys purchase of the Mount Ida campus was controversial, in large part because of the abrupt, unexpected closing of the Newton college as an independent institution. But UMass officials maintained the two campuses would offer modern, relevant programs under the new arrangement.
While Chapmans per-student cost is higher than that of Northwests other three feeder schools, she said the Northwest board should focus on the districts overall per-student cost since these costs and tax dollars are spread across the district.

She added that with an average cost per pupil of about $11,900, Northwest has a lower cost than the state average of $12,600, according to the Nebraska Department of Education, and will be debt free next year.

Vlcek also urged the board to have a team of counselors at Chapman on Feb. 11 if the Northwest board voted to close the school the night before.

There were many questions, tears, anger and fear from the children the last time (three years ago) and many of them were just finding out about the closure that day, she said. This situation is very hard for elementary students to understand.

Stephanie Bagwell said she has a child in first grade and a preschooler. She initially thought Northwest was a fantastic district who love their students and knew what to do, but no longer feels this way.

Bagwell urged the board to keep Chapman open and said if it votes to close the school, she will send her son to Central City.
While royal family outsiders keep on assuming that there is still an ongoing tension in Buckingham Palace after the infamous exit of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Queen herself proved that there is no bad blood between her and the now ex-working royals.

Prince Harry's 93-year-old grandmother maybe the Queen, the head of the monarchy, and the most powerful person in the United Kingdom, but she is just like any granny who will always have a soft spot for their grandkids.

Although the 38-year-old Harry and 35-year-old Meghan is now living a private and independent life in Canada, Her Majesty expressed her low-key support of the couple's newfound life.

During a church service at St. Peter & St. Paul Church in West Newton, Norfolk last Sunday, Queen Elizabeth II was seen wearing a matching powder blue coat and hat.

But what stood out on her simple service look is the eye-catching Canadian snowflake brooch the Queen placed on the left uppermost part of her coat, near the chest.

While the said jewelry was a present from former Canadian Governor General David Johnston back in 2017, her perfect timing of wearing it a few weeks after Meghan and Harry officially turned their back on royal duties seems to be a subtle tribute to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who found their sanctuary in Canada.

According to Canadian royal expert Patricia Treble, the splendid brooch celebrates one of Canada's iconic symbol. It was given to her by the Canadian Governor General during her 65th year on the British throne or her Sapphire Jubilee.

"Queen Elizabeth II just received a royal brooch that is quintessentially Canadian," Patricia wrote on her website, Write Royalty.

"For there are two images that every Canadian instantly recognizes: the maple leaf and the snowflake."

The snowflakes brooch boasts 48 pieces of rare Canadian sapphires in different colors and shapes with a total of 10.19 carats. It is surrounded by 400 diamonds with a total of 4.39 carats, and it is a certified 18K Canadian white gold.

The said jewelry is only one among her hundreds of brooch collection. The Queen is known for keeping up her styling game by wearing her usual three-strand pearl necklace with matching pearl earrings and different kinds of brooches that never fails to accentuate her Queen vibe.

It is not the first time that Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, showed her support for Prince Harry and Meghan's exit. It could be recalled that after summoning senior members of the royal family at Sandringham, the Queen released an official statement expressing her full support to the royal couple's decision.

"My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan's desire to create a new life as a young family," Queen Elizabeth said.

She added that while they would prefer the couple to work full-time, they "respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family."
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Greece is targeting around 15-20 per cent growth in Indian travellers visiting the country and is focusing on cruises, weddings and MICE segment for it.

"Last year we hosted 1,00,000 Indian travellers, which is 43 per cent more since 2016. We are witnessing steady growth in footfalls from India and are eyeing around 15-20 per cent growth this year compared to 2019," Greece Tourism Minister Harris Theocharis told PTI here on Monday.

The minister was part of the inaugural ceremony of three-day event OTM Mumbai, one of India's best-known travel trade shows.

He said that with 6,000 islands, Greece is focusing on cruises, weddings, and meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE), offering Indian travellers an interesting mix of luxurious and sustainable experiences.

"India has huge potential as a source market which is growing and there is a lot that needs to be done for visa processing and direct flights to make it a major contender with other source markets," he added.

The Consul General of Indonesia Pak Agus P Saptono, who was also present at the event, said India is the fifth largest source market for the country with 60 per cent of the share going to Bali.

Indonesia is curating 10 other destinations as the next Bali to drive greater numbers to the country.

He said film tourism is a huge focus for coming years to promote Indonesia for Indian tourists.

Many international tourism boards, including Greece, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Egypt, Fiji, Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Palestine, Romania, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand are participating in OTM 2020.

On the domestic front, almost 30 state tourism boards and union territories are participating, including Andaman and Nicobar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BRISBANE (BCN)

A man was fatally shot in Brisbane on Monday afternoon during what police initially said was a home invasion but on Tuesday said was "a random incident."

Police had initially said that the man, identified by the San Mateo County coroner's office as 34-year-old South San Francisco resident Brendan Flowers, was found fatally shot after officers responded at 4:19 p.m. to a report of a home invasion in the 300 block of Alvarado Street.

But on Tuesday morning, police sent out an updated news release saying that investigators "determined that this was a random incident. It does not appear to have been a home invasion or robbery."

Police said the resident of the home who shot Flowers was located safe and is cooperating with police.

Brisbane police spokeswoman Michelle Moneda said investigators are still working to determine if Flowers and the resident knew each other. More details about what led to the shooting were not immediately released by police.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Gio Perez at (628) 219-2924 or gperez@brisbaneca.org.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Though Ms. Mayhew was highly regarded, her own life was something of a closed book, so rigorously did she defend her privacy. When The New York Times ran an article about her in 2004 with the headline Muse of the Beltway Book, she declined to be interviewed. The article relied on the observations of those who worked with her, some of whom said her greatest talents lay in conceptualization and structure.

She is particularly adept at unearthing submerged themes, the Times article concluded, developing swift transitions, unsentimentally pruning away digressions, even when  especially when  they are hundreds of pages long. Mayhews faith in chronological organization is said to be nearly religious.

Alice E. Mayhew was born on June 14, 1932, in Brooklyn, the daughter of Alice and Leonard S. Mayhew. Alice grew up in the Bronx and had an older brother, Leonard F. Mayhew, who was her neighbor in Sag Harbor, N.Y., on Long Island, where she also had a home. He died in 2012.

Simon & Schuster said she left no immediate survivors.

Image Our Bodies, Our Selves was one of Ms. Mayhews early successes, selling more than 4.5 million copies worldwide.

Ms. Mayhew joined Simon & Schuster in 1971. One of her early successes there was Our Bodies, Our Selves (1973), the feminist classic assembled by the Boston Womens Health Book Collective. What began as a 193-page course booklet on stapled newsprint sold, in the Simon & Schuster version, at least 4.5 million copies worldwide.

Just a sampling of her other authors, many of them historians and journalists, would include, in no particular order, Betty Friedan, Frances Fitzgerald, Michael Beschloss, Steven Brill, E.J. Dionne, J. Anthony Lukas, Kati Marton, Richard Reeves, Evan Thomas, David Gergen, Jill Abramson, David Herbert Donald, Robert Gates, Fred Kaplan, Sylvia Nasar, William Shawcross, James B. Stewart, Amy Wilentz, Joe Conason, Mark Whitaker, Harold Holzer, Connie Bruck, Jonathan Alter, Jennet Conant, Richard Engel, David Maraniss and Sally Bedell Smith.

Ms. Mayhews reputation was sterling, but her career was not untouched by scandal. In 2002, the historians Stephen E. Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin, both Mayhew authors, were accused of plagiarism. Ms. Goodwin acknowledged that in 1987 Simon & Schuster settled with an author over accusations of plagiarism in a book she had written about the Kennedy family. Mr. Ambrose was found to have lifted, without using quotation marks, passages from another book, though he had footnoted them.
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The company collapsed and went into bankruptcy in 2002, following revelations of an $11 billion accounting fraud.



By MALLIKA SEN

Associated Press

The former chief of WorldCom, convicted in one of the largest corporate accounting scandals in U.S. history, died just over a month after his early release from prison. Bernard Ebbers was 78.

The Canadian-born former telecommunications executive died Sunday in Brookhaven, Mississippi, surrounded by his family, according to a family statement.





. . .
Western Building Systems in Coalisland specialises in modular buildings and off-site construction, carrying out work in the commercial, education and health sectors (stock photo)

Turnover at a Co Tyrone off-site construction firm has dropped by around 27% to 24.8m, its latest accounts show.

Western Building Systems in Coalisland specialises in modular buildings and off-site construction, carrying out work in the commercial, education and health sectors .

Pre-tax profit was also down 74% from 4.3m to 1m.

However, its accounts for the year ending April 2019 - which are dated November 29 - state that its current order book was "already very strong" and that post year-end trading was also strong.

In 2018 it was caught up in a controversy over structural issues at 42 schools it had built in the Republic.

Legal proceedings were started by the Republic's education minister Joe McHugh over the cost of remediation works to the schools.

However, the company said that the schools were certified by the department as being free from defects. It has also taken legal action against the department for non-payment.

Western Building Systems is owned by the McCloskey family.

Commenting on the accounts in a strategic report filed with the company accounts, director Martin McCloskey said: "The financial results for the year ending April 30 were considered satisfactory, set against a background of increased competition n the market and reduced margins.

"The company continues to focus on the education, health and commercial construction sectors. The outlook for the 2019/20 year is encouraging and company directors expect performance to be in line with 2019."

The company said that risks and uncertainties facing it included euro exchange rates, controlling costs, maintaining sales levels along with the economic recovery in the construction sector.

And it said Brexit would also have an effect on the company though it did not detail any possible impact.

Most funds were invested in sterling bank accounts though some sales and purchases were denominated in foreign currencies - but to mitigate risk, the company enters into forward rate contracts.

The business had 8.3m in cash at bank and in hand, down from 9.5m.

During the year the company added three production staff and four administration staff - bringing the size of its workforce to 61.

Its total wage bill was 2.5m, while its highest-paid director was on a salary of 75,481.
A young father named Scott Morrison is being bombarded with Facebook messages from Australians who think he's the prime minister.

The bemused church pastor from Melbourne said he is sent at least five messages a week, despite looking nothing like his namesake.

'I suppose my Facebook profile picture of me with my three-year-old son, wearing matching Superman hats, is probably a bit vague for some people,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

Mr Morrison in a loud Hawaiian shirt vs Prime Minister Scott Morrison on his infamous holiday to Hawaii in the middle of the bushfire crisis

Mr Morrison, 33, said the messages started appearing in 2015 but ramped up after the 2018 leadership change and even more during the bushfire crisis.

Some are supportive but others are abusive and threatening, including one that implied physical violence.

'The worst Ive got was earlier this week someone suggested he worked out where we lived and was coming to pay me a visit,' he said.

The father-of-two said he started responding to some of the abusive senders, pretending to actually be the PM, to have a bit of fun with it.

Earlier this month a man sent him a long message criticising the government's handling of the bushfire crisis.

Mr Morrison (pictured with his wife, who looks nothing like Australian First Lady Jenny Morrison) said the messages started appearing in 2015 but ramped up after the 2018 leadership change and even more during the bushfire crisis

Earlier this month a man sent him a long message criticising the government's handling of the bushfire crisis, and he played along

This is the Facebook profile picture Scott Morrison uses - which looks nothing like the Prime Minister Scott Morrison (above)

After a bit of back and forth, the man admitted that 'your (sic) probably a great bloke that I would get along with any other time of a day if you weren't running the country like it's a joke'.

'That's just the encouragement I needed to get through the day,' Mr Morrison replied.

Later the same user messaged again saying he was doing a great job with a speech and was surprised to get a response while the press conference was still going.

'Caught me... that's my body double... please don't tell anyone,' Mr Morrison joked.

Another time, a left-leaning voter got stuck into him for not embracing green energy.

'Who the f**k burns coal in this day and age, cheers for collecting your payments and not actually serving what our country wants, d**khead,' he wrote.

Another bizarre message the Christian pastor was sent by voters thinking he was the similarly religious Prime Minister

Another time, a left-leaning voter got stuck into him for not embracing green energy

Mr Morrison replied saying that he 'doesn't really know anything about green energy' but his advisor told him that it left radioactive waste.

'You're now the mongrel party, not one of you have compassion, you will lose next time round,' the voter said.

Another exchange started with a xenophobic voter insisting Australia should prepare for war against China.

'War sounds scary. Do you reckon we could take them?' Mr Morrison replied, asking what his first move should be.

'Yeah and Russia... Take out all of them that live here,' was the man's bright idea.

Mr Morrison protested: 'I know some Chinese people and they can be pretty nice. And their food is delicious.'

The Christian evangelist said that dozens of Australians legitimately thought a young dad from suburban Melbourne was a 51-year-old Cronulla Sharks fan was concerning, but understandable in 2020

Mr Morrison had sympathy for his namesake's recent struggles, but made it clear their shared faith was where their agreement on policy ended (pictured is Mr Morrison with his baby son and PM Morrison posing for photos with new citizens during an Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony on Sunday)

The Christian evangelist said that dozens of Australians legitimately thought a young dad from suburban Melbourne was a 51-year-old Cronulla Sharks fan was concerning, but understandable in 2020.

'People want to have a voice, and Facebook gives them that voice,' he said.

'As with many social media phenomena, people are lazy, and dont take basic precautions to see if theyre actually talking to the PM or some other poor schmuck.'

Mr Morrison had sympathy for his namesake's recent struggles, but made it clear their shared faith was where their agreement on policy ended.

'I wouldnt want his job, hardest job in Australia. I think hes genuinely doing his best, but has probably blown a couple of things recently,' he said.

'His stance on refugees and climate change are pretty indefensible, though.'
A minister in the Rajasthan government on Tuesday approached the Congress Party's public hearing here with a grievance that police were not registering an FIR of a man from his constituency whose daughter was allegedly murdered.

Industry Minister Parsadi Lal Meena along with a man from his constituency approached the party office where Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal was conducting the "Jan Sunwai".

He sought the parliamentary affairs minister's intervention into the matter.

"A man from my constituency came to me and said his daughter, who was living in Jaipur, was murdered. Police refused to lodge an FIR. Now, the complaint has been made here to get the FIR registered," Meena told reporters.

When asked that an FIR could be lodged at the SP office, the minister said the complaint was poor and not aware of the new system (of registering an FIR at the SP office).

The minister said he will apprise the chief minister of the matter and action would be taken against the SHO.

"It is certainly a matter of concern if FIRs of poor people are not registered," he said.

Complainant Sanwal Ram said his daughter was murdered on January 28 in Jaipur where she was living with in-laws' family.

When contacted, Jaipur's Brahmpuri police station SHO Bharat Singh Rathore said the complainant had approached him a couple of days ago and denied that he had refused to register an FIR.

The SHO said he rather suggested that the FIR be lodged in Bamanwas of Sawaimadhopur district where the death took place.

"The woman and her husband stayed in Khor village under my jurisdiction two months ago. Presently, she was living in Bamanwas. After her death in suspicious circumstances, the funeral was conducted in Bamanwas (Sawaimdhopur), which was attended by the complaint but he did not register a case there," he said.

The SHO said the the woman's father suspected murder and he told him that a complaint should have been registered in Bamanwas.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
These are the top stories from the northern region at 8.45 pm.

DEL109 JK-LD FIRING



Pak army shells Shahpur, Kirni sectors in J-K's Poonch



Jammu: The Pakistan army resorted to unprovoked firing and shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Tuesday, a defence spokesman said.

DEL53 JK-MEDIA-CLAMPDOWN



Journalism in Kashmir's troubled times: Communications clampdown, queues and eight computers



Srinagar: One room, eight computers, six months and many dozens queuing up to send the Kashmir word out to the world. That's been the arithmetic of journalism in troubled times for media personnel in the Valley since August last year.

DEL38 JK-MILITANCY-JOINING



J-K: Drop in locals joining militancy but infiltration from Pak continues unabated



Srinagar: The number of Kashmiri youth joining terrorist ranks has dropped significantly after the repeal of Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcation of the state into union territories but there was not much change in the pattern of infiltration attempts through the Line of Control (LoC), according to the official data.

LGD45 JK-SHIKARA-COURT



Plea in J-K HC seeking stay on release of movie 'Shikara'



Srinagar:A petition has been filed in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, seeking a stay on the release of Hindi movie 'Shikara' which is based on exodus of Kashmir Pandits from the valley in 1990.

LGD25 UP-COURT-CHINMAYANAND



Chinmayanand vs law student: HC says not sure who exploited whom



Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court has said it is difficult to determine who exploited whom in the case in which former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand is accused to sexual abusing a law student.

DES13 UP-CHINMAYANAND



Chinmayanand not released from jail as bail papers yet to reach authorities



Shahjahanpur (UP): A day after getting bail in the case of sexual assault of a law student, former Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand could not secure release from the district jail here on Tuesday for lack of completion of legal formalities.

DES15 UP-AMU-PROCTOR



AMU Proctor resigns from post



Aligarh (UP): Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Proctor Prof Afifullah Khan on Tuesday resigned from his post, though he did not specify any reasons for the decision.

DEL102 UP-DEFEXPO-LD



US-India must build defence systems interoperable with security partners: US envoy



Lucknow: The US said Tuesday India must move towards defence systems that are interoperable with those deployed by its security partners.

LGD29 RJ-HC-JAL MAHAL



Rajasthan HC quashes criminal proceedings against businessman, others in Jal Mahal land lease case



New Delhi: The Rajasthan High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against a businessman, a retired IAS official and others in a case of leasing land near the Jal Mahal Lake in Jaipur.

DES27 PB-LD CORONAVIRUS



Pb: Police steps in to get suspected coronavirus patient admitted to hospital



Chandigarh: The district authorities in Punjab's Faridkot took police help to deal with a suspected coronavirus patient who initially refused to get himself admitted to an isolation ward at a government hospital.

DES35 PB-CORONAVIRUS-NEGATIVE



22 persons kept under observation in Punjab test negative for coronavirus



Chandigarh: Twenty-two persons who were under observation in Punjab for coronavirus-like symptoms have tested negative, state Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said on Tuesday.

DES29 PB-HEROIN-GJ-ATS



Gujarat cops in Amritsar to join Punjab STF in probing heroin seizure



Chandigarh: A two-member Gujarat Police team reached Amritsar on Tuesday to join Punjab Police for further investigations into the recent 200 kg heroin haul in the district, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Activist Urvashi Chudawala and 50 others were on Monday booked for sedition by the Mumbai Police for allegedly raising "anti-national" slogans in support of Jawaharlal Nehru University student Sharjeel Imam at an LGBTQ event held at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai last week, an officer said.

"We have registered an FIR against Chudawala and 50 others. We will call them to (Azad Maidan) police station for further investigation," Pranay Ashok, Deputy Commissioner of Police said.

The case was registered by the Azad Maidan police after a video purportedly of Chudawala raising the slogans went viral after the LGBTQ event on February 1.

A police official said Chudawala was at the forefront in raising the slogan 'Sharjeel tere sapno ko hum manzil tak pahuchaege (Sharjeel, We will realise your dreams).

A complaint in this regard was lodged by former Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya on February 2, he said.

Tweeting the video of a woman raising the slogans at the event, Somaiya had warned of staging a protest if the police failed to register the case against Chudawala and others.

Imam was arrested from Bihar's Jehanabad on January 28 for allegedly making inflammatory speeches at the Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi and in Aligarh.

Imam, a PhD student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Historical Studies, was booked in sedition cases lodged across several states for alleged "inflammatory" speeches made during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
(Kitco News) - As the Perth Mint saw record sales last year of gold coins, fueled by strong retail demand from Germany, but the big buyers of physical gold to emerge over the last decade remain central banks, this according to Jerry Hicks, sales and business development manager of the Perth Mint.

Certainly, the big story over the last decade has been central bank buying of gold. For the 10th year in a row, central banks have been net buyers, and I think a lot of private investors are saying if central banks are buying gold, shouldnt we also doing the same? Hicks told Kitco News.

Coin sales have seen increased demand from European buyers in 2019, Hicks noted.

We have a particularly strong market in Germany, at the time, there was a law coming in early January which affects the declarations people have to make when purchasing assets. So, lots of people were buying gold and silver coins in anticipation of those laws coming into place, so we saw, as you say, record sales in those regions, he said.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 16:09 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20627d5dd 1 National coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,hoax,Fake,social-media,information,Communications-and-Information-Ministry,China Free

Following the outbreak of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, China, hoaxes and conspiracy theories about the novel virus have widely spread online over the past two weeks.

Communications and Information Minister Johnny G. Plate said on Monday that so far 54 false pieces of information about the virus had been discovered on Indonesian websites and social media, amplified by local media taking advantage of the issue as clickbait.

The list of the falsehoods and the counter-narrative are posted on the ministrys website.

The falsehoods range from the suggestion that eating garlic is a cure to the detection of 2019-nCoV patients in several hospitals in Indonesia and the death of some Indonesians as a result of the coronavirus.

Among the most concerning items of disinformation regard anti-China sentiment targeting the Chinese, including Indonesians of Chinese descent, such as the warning to throw away China-made Xiaomi phones, avoid using Chinese products or receiving packages from China and staying away from Chinese people as they can transmit the disease.

Another hoax is a Facebook post calling the coronavirus a weapon developed by the Chinese Communist regime to eradicate Muslims. These hoaxes only add to the long history of prejudice against the Chinese in Indonesia.

The minister called on people to stop spreading the hoaxes. Please dont immediately forward any posts and messages about the coronavirus that is not verified yet, he said.

He added that the hoax spread could negatively affect Indonesian tourism and the economy.

The government has declared a ban on all travel to and from mainland China by suspending visa-free and visa-on-arrival provisions for Chinese citizens, to prevent the spread of the virus. This is likely to reduce the number of Chinese tourists coming to Indonesia. From December 2019 to January, around 10,000 tourists from China canceled trips to Bali.

But Johnny said, with many other countries also banning travel to China, foreign tourists worldwide would look for another tourism destination and Indonesia could be an option.

Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama Kusubandio also said last week that Indonesia had other potential tourist sources including from the United States and European countries.

Thats why we have to curb the hoaxes so that tourists will not hesitate to come here, Johnny said.

As of Tuesday, the 2019-nCoV had killed some 426 people in China and infected around 17,000 globally. No cases have been confirmed as yet in Indonesia.

Social media analyst Ismail Fahmi said that the spread of hoax news could lead to mass panic and public distrust in the government in the most extreme case. Frightened people will do anything to avoid risk, including not going to public places. This could hamper economic activities, he said.

Ismail added that the misinformation on social media was also due to the absence of an official source of information that distributed updates on the coronavirus periodically. Sometimes the media is not enough. The Singapore government, for example, has made an official WhatsApp account to disseminate updates on the coronavirus.

Johnny said the ministry was currently considering sending text messages to the public, alerting them to avoid hoaxes.

So far, the ministry has not taken down any of the false claims. Were sending a warning first. If they dont conform, then we won't hesitate to take down the posts and take stern action against those who disseminate hoaxes, he said.

These steps appear rather slow and soft compared to neighboring Malaysia where four individuals were recently arrested for posting and distributing false information about the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the head of health at Facebook, Kang-Xing Jin, said Facebook was working with third-party fact-checkers to review content and debunk false claims on the coronavirus. It also sends notifications to users who have already shared or are trying to share the content to alert them that it has been fact-checked. Facebook will also remove content with false information that has been flagged by global health organizations and local health authorities.

Facebook Indonesia spokesperson Putri Dewanti said Facebook Indonesia adhered to the Facebook policy but she declined to answer whether posts in the Indonesian Facebook community had been removed. (aly)
More Chinese cities, including one just 175 kilometres (110 miles) from Shanghai, were put under lockdown on Tuesday, as the impact of a deadly new virus spread further from its epicentre.

Around 12 million people are affected by the new restrictions, adding to the tens of millions of people already quarantined in and around Wuhan, ground zero for 2019-nCoV.

The city of Taizhou, parts of Hangzhouincluding the district that is home to the headquarters of Chinese tech giant Alibabaand some of Ningbo will only allow one person per household to go outside every two days to buy necessities, city officials said.

Taizhou850 kilometres from the epicentre in Hubei provincewill also suspend 95 train services from the city from Tuesday.

In addition, residential communities will only be allowed to use one entrance and residents must present ID each time they come or go, Taizhou's government said on its official WeChat account.

Landlords were also forbidden from renting property to people from "severely affected areas such as Hubei" if they have travelled to their hometowns recently, it added.

In the Hangzhou districts, additional measures included mandatory mask-wearing and compulsory ID and temperature checks.

On Monday, Hangzhou's Yuhang district also said it would suspend buses, taxis, shuttle buses, and airport lines until further notice.

In Taizhou, public bus services were suspended at the end of January, while Ningbo closed the entrances of nine highways last Wednesday.

The latest restrictions follow similar measures announced Sunday in Wenzhou, which has a population of nine million people.

The city has restricted the movement of residents, and closed roads.

Zhejiangthe eastern province in which these cities sithas confirmed 829 cases, the highest number outside central Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak and where more than 50 million people are under lockdown.

Other provinces have restricted travel to try to stop the virus spreading, with severalincluding Guangdong and Sichuanmaking it compulsory to wear masks in public.

Nationwide, more than 20,000 people have been infected by the new virus, with 425 now known to have died.

 2020 AFP
UnifiEd, a collection of misguided souls that taunts itself as a non-profit educational advocacy group, has announced it will launch its 2020 Project Kickoff in Chattanooga today and Id rather watch a nest of equally-invasive Everglades pythons hatch. Since its creation six years ago, the almost-brazen liberals have been outed as a fraud, instead infesting the Hamilton County Commission and the School Board with ill-fitting representatives where  get this -- not one UnifiEd placement is today a public servant the caliber of those that they successfully uprooted and replaced.

Now publicly disgraced and rightfully reviled, UnifiEds lone achievement for the public good is that it forced the creation of a more promising, staunchly conservative group that could have a presence in perhaps the most challenging time of public education in Hamilton Countys more recent history. The Good Government Coalition, and its accompanying PAC, was borne when local business leaders became alarmed by UnifiEds Obama-like community organizing that used our star-glazed youth as its puppets. Exactly, said Tom Decosimo, not only a founder of the group but an ardent cheerleader for a better Chattanooga.

We started realizing that since 2016 and 2018, (UnifiEd) has worked very strongly to elect members to the school board and the county commission that would in fact change the nature of our government," he said in a recent interview. "This group manifested itself this summer when the school board, with a 7-2 vote, came out with a $34 million tax increase. We didn't feel that the $34 million was going to the root of the problems that face our schools, and we decided we needed to defend what we believe in."

UnifiEd leaders continue to claim they are a grassroots organization made up of those typically not found on local nonprofits and reach under-represented citizens. Instead, they have become a lost ball in high weeds. And while the Hamilton County Department of Education disavows any contributions or influence, the public schools have become increasingly unpopular in the community because of a similar liberal undertone  from trying to force a hopeless tax increase, espousing white privilege, trying to champion the bogus claims of inequality and inequity, 180 new hires over teacher raises  and the majority of students in every one of 75 schools still cannot read at grade level. Please!

Almost as troubling as the educational deficiency of 43,000 students is the physical condition of the district schools. An out-of-town consulting firm found over a billion (with a b) dollars in replacement and repairs is necessary  NOW  and the School Board, faced with massive redistricting as a result, wants the public to believe the soon-to-be tumultuous musical chairs is the out-of-town consultants idea. Hard questions require hard answers, and even more-demanding solutions, which is why Superintendent Bryan Johnson has been jockeying hard for a new contract, i.e. vote of confidence.

The belief by the unemotional is that Johnson is doing what he is being paid to do and, while strong in some areas, he is noticeably weak in others, in short: Average. He has a good contract that the wise say dont touch. It binds him to Hamilton County in the approaching storm and is, equally, ample protection against his doubters. There is a strong field of talent available at $200K/year and, if he is lured away by a better offer, the school board must remember that is what brought him to Hamilton County.

Candidly, after Johnsons contentious quest for a tax increase, and the following debacle over a wheel tax that was UnifiEd driven, it is questionable if the County Commission would approve such a frivolous expense. On top of the urgent and unprecedented maintenance demands, Johnsons use of money thought to be for teacher raises -- but surprisingly bloated the schools top-heavy personnel roster instead -- was not well accepted by the county commission, much less a leery public. Another dragon is that the school budget FY2021 will include the Supers 181 hires from the fall on the payroll and  maybe  an adequate teacher raise. Thats $20 million minimum  another harsh reality.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee made education a big part of Monday nights state address. Tennessee is in the bottom 20 percent of all the states in education and school districts across the state are loathsome in facilities. In Hamilton County, we have one of only three districts among the states largest 10 where the average SAT score is below 20.

In the winter of 2018, MGT Consulting was hired for approximately $500K to do a complete and thorough evaluation of Hamilton County schools and no one was surprised when the replacement/repair costs totaled $1.3 billion. Since then there have been community meetings, private conversation between the consultant and district officials, and a final report is expected on March 3.

Rhonda Thurman, a longtime member of the School Board, recently said she was frustrated with a lack of information. "This board is as much in the dark on a lot of this stuff as anybody," Thurman told reporters. "A lot of this stuff I don't know until we get a facilities update. This board really hasn't had much discussion out of this.

Dan Schmidt, director of MGT's Education Consulting Group, was forthright in telling the board a lot of the plans have been changed or altered per conversations and reactions he has experienced on a number of visits. For instance, the site locations for a new Chattanooga School for Arts & Sciences (CSAS) and Chattanooga School for Language & Arts have yet to be determined. There are some conversations the district has ongoing on that aren't really ready to be discussed publicly that we are trying to capture in this moment."

Such a status leaves many School Board members in the dark  an irksome lack of communication between the board and school officials apparent. Recently Karitsa Mosley Jones voiced her frustration. I feel like we were coming in today to talk about next steps and I feel like this is the fifth time since December that we talked about how we felt about the plan that we don't have yet and not what we are going to do with it," she reasoned.

"I would like for us to come to these meetings and talk about what we are supposed to talk about. If we're talking about a plan, let's figure out if we want to include the community or we don't want to include the community. Are we going to have more community meetings? Are we going to take time to have three more work sessions?"

Another board member, Tucker McClendon, pointed to the reason the schools are in such disrepair. Part of our problem that I have not heard talked about yet is our (yearly) maintenance budget. Three million dollars a year is not suitable for this district," McClendon said. "I think the national average, according to MGT, is $15 million-$20 million. We saw the list of what we could do with $15 million last budget cycle out of our fund balance, imagine what we could do with $15 million every year."

Supt. Johnson said he had ongoing conversations with County Mayor Jim Coppinger regarding next years budget and the massive challenge that will require a huge initial expense, this regardless of how many phases or timetables are offered. The initial impact will doubtlessly trigger a tax increase for Hamilton County, now famous statewide for its lack of a reasonable multi-year tax plan as other counties in surrounding states have found prudent.

All in all, the crucial component for a livable public school solution in coming months will be leadership, integrity and trust. UnifiEd, its grassroots no more than weeds and its demise virtually assured with the Good Government Coalitions common-sense platform and wide-spread appeal, has no place at such a table.

royexum@aol.com
By Doyle McManus

Twenty-one years ago, President Bill Clinton delivered his 1999 State of the Union address while his impeachment trial was underway in the Senate. The speech, one Republican critic said, was a home run.

Clinton, who knew he would soon be acquitted, didnt mention his impeachment. Instead, he focused on the future. He took credit for the strong economy, proposed bipartisan legislation to rescue Social Security and appealed to his opponents to rise above their differences.

The situation facing President Donald Trump as he approaches his third State of the Union speech is uncannily similar. When he speaks on Tuesday evening, his impeachment trial wont be over; the Senate is expected to vote to acquit him on Wednesday.

Trump faces a test of self-control. Can he resist the temptation to gloat over his coming victory and deride the Democrats whose impeachment effort fell short? Or can he rise above the moment to revive attempts at bipartisan cooperation?

Trumps record as president and the circumstances of his impeachment offer no grounds for optimism.

When Clinton was impeached by the House, the nation was bitterly polarized, just as it is now. But Clinton acknowledged he had misbehaved by having an affair with a White House intern, then lying about it. Before his Senate trial, he said he was profoundly sorry for his actions and added, I understand that accountability demands consequences.

Trump, in contrast, insists he did nothing wrong by pressing Ukraine to investigate a Democratic candidate for president, effectively soliciting foreign help for his reelection bid.

He offers no closure, except on his terms. House Democrats will continue investigating his conduct, and hell continue denouncing their inquiries as a witch hunt.

Bipartisan cooperation has never come naturally to Trump. He occasionally talks about seeking common ground, but thats not how he governs. He relies on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders to advance a conservative agenda with few nods to the other side. Hes more comfortable denouncing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi than negotiating with her.

And this is a presidential election year, when divisions are always harder to bridge. The presidents reelection campaign has focused on sharpening differences with Democrats, not enlarging his coalition.

Democrats stand for crime, corruption and chaos, Trump declared at a raucous campaign rally in New Jersey last week. Republicans stand for law, order and justice. Not much room for bipartisan outreach there.

His State of the Union speech may include a ritual appeal to national unity, just as it did last year and the year before. But his everyday actions and rhetoric undercut whatever gauzy sentiments he will read from his text. And the rest of his speech, if it holds to his previous pattern, will be a self-congratulatory description of the world according to Trump.

Hell declare that the U.S. economy is enjoying a boom the likes of which the world has never seen, a claim that is partly true and partly not. The current expansion, which began under President Obama, is the longest on record, but growth is running at only about 2% a year, far short of an all-time high.

Hell claim major victories in signing a trade pact with Canada and Mexico and a partial agreement with China, although trade experts say both deals are more modest than he claims.

Hell extol his foreign policy exploits as hed like them to be seen: his defeat of Islamic State (which hasnt stopped fighting), his actions to deter Iran (which doesnt seem deterred), his diplomacy with North Korea (which has gone nowhere), and his new Israeli-Palestinian peace plan (which wont produce peace anytime soon).

Hell claim progress on other fronts, including prescription drug prices, which he says are going down even though theyre not. He may even say, as he did in New Jersey, that Mexico is paying for his border wall, even though its not.

In short, it will mostly be a Trump campaign speech dressed up with more dignified language than his rally stem winders.

To be fair, other presidents have used their annual addresses to Congress to help them run for reelection.

But none of them were running after being impeached. Tuesdays speech gives Trump a prime opportunity to show what, if anything, he has learned from his impeachment.

Hes unlikely to declare himself chastened. But will he take a public victory lap? Will he declare himself emboldened and newly empowered to stretch his presidential powers? Will he rebuke the Republican senators who dared to call his actions on Ukraine inappropriate even though they voted not to remove him from office?

A conventional president might say: I thought my impeachment was unwarranted and Im pleased that the Senate appears to agree. Now we can get back to the job the American people sent us here to do.

A graceful president might even acknowledge that some of his actions were wrong and use his acquittal as an opportunity for a fresh start.

But Trump is neither conventional nor graceful. Magnanimity is not among his attributes, in victory or otherwise. The lessons he draws and the tone he strikes will make this years State of the Union speech well worth watching.

Doyle McManus writes for the Los Angeles Times.

The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Following the signing of a new four-year contract between the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689, transit officials have announced plans to cut bus routes and increase fares for riders of the system.

Earlier versions of the budget had said nothing about the proposed cuts in bus services. However, the latest proposal calls for the elimination and restructuring of 68 routes in the WMATA bus system. Employing bureaucratic language, the proposal states that cutting bus routes in areas which are already underserved will create a stronger network of services with fewer route branches and variations and better [utilize] capacity.

At a public hearing in January, WMATA general manager Paul J. Wiedefeld justified the cuts by citing laws limiting local funding increases to 3 percent per year. The current constructs that we have, the financial constructs, we have to work within that [sic]. The deliberate aim of these laws is to starve the public transit network of funding.

The budget calls for a raising of fares across the board, for all trips, by 10 cents, with the longest distance trips increasing by $1. In addition, the scheme will charge an additional 25 cents to those who pay for their fares with cash, which will disproportionately affect those with lower incomes. This is more than enough to offset the added costs from the budgets modest improvements, including the restoration of late night services, which were cut in 2016, and free transfers between rail and bus. Riders of parallel bus systems which serve localities would not receive the free transfer.

The current budget is an exposure of the role of the ATU, whose new contract with the WMATA in December was supposedly aimed at ending outsourcing and privatization in the Metro. As the World Socialist Web Site Transit Workers Newsletter warned workers at the time, the deal would extend the low-wage regime in the private sector to the public system, while utilizing the ATU to enforce the attacks on the public workers. This has now been confirmed.

The ATU Local 689 has yet to make an official statement on the Metro budget cuts.

The budget announcement comes after the nearly three-month strike by 130 bus workers at the Cinder Bed Road garage. The workers are employed by Transdev, which contracts with WMATA to operate several bus routes in Northern Virginia.

The 84-day strike was the longest work stoppage in WMATAs 53-year history. Transdev workers, who earn $12 less an hour than their public sector counterparts, demanded raises, healthcare benefits, and an end to the privatization of public services in the Washington, DC area.

The ATU forced through a tentative agreement before workers had a chance to sufficiently study the agreement. Instead, workers were forced to vote immediately after an all-day informational meeting at Local 689. In a statement on January 16, the ATU praised the overwhelming contract ratification by ATU members at Transdev.

During the nearly three-month strike, the statement adds, workers risked eviction and foreclosure  Many members had to delay essential medical care and spent what little savings they had. Some strikers borrowed money from friends and family to survive for nearly three months.

While the Transdev workers were certainly willing to sacrifice, the ATU relied on this hardship to wear the strike down. The union also deliberately isolated the strike by shutting down a separate walkout of 600 bus drivers in the Northern Virginia-based Fairfax Connector bus system, also operated by Transdev, without any of the strikers demands being met.

At the time, the ATU Local 1764 officials declared that local Democratic Party representatives had stepped into the dispute between Connector drivers and their employer, requiring they end their strike and return to the bargaining table.

In reality, the Democrats have spearheaded the cuts to social services in the DC area. They have controlled the mayors office and the city council since home rule began in 1975. Moreover, local Democratic politicians intervened to demand that the WMATA step up its efforts to break the Cinder Bed strike.

In a statement Saturday, ATU President John A. Costa announced its endorsement of Joe Biden in the presidential primaries. As vice president under Barack Obama, Biden is directly responsible for the record increases in social inequality which were the intended product of Obamas policies, which included freezes to social spending.

The unions endorsement is a flip from 2016, when it endorsed Bernie Sanders in the primaries. However, the self-described democratic socialist covered for the ATUs sellout in a tweet hailing the ratification of the deal.

This was a rehash of his role in the General Motors strike last year, when he promoted the United Auto Workers, which is embroiled in a massive corruption and bribery scandal implicating much of its top leadership. In a photo-op on the picket line, Sanders ignored the role of the Obama administration in forcing through wage cuts in the auto industry in 2009.

On January 6, the date of the last publicly available bargaining update for Connector, ATU 1764 officials told workers to prepare to go back out on strike if Transdev and the union did not have an agreement within a week. Next week in negotiations is going to be critical, stated ATU spokesperson John Ertl on the unions social media account, we will most likely have the makings of a contract, or we may have to go out on strike again. Nearly a months passing exposed such claims as so much hot air. Not only has no contract proposal materialized, but the union has ceased even making public updates on the negotiations.

The latest developments within the metro system underscore the need for metro workers to take their struggle out of the hands of the ATU, as a necessary first step for organizing a genuine struggle against privatization and budget cuts. To do this, transit workers must form independent rank-and-file committees, run by workers themselves. They must appeal for support, not from the capitalist Democratic Party, but from the working class, which stands to be impacted by the attacks on public services and living conditions.
Wait times to clear U.S. passport control at San Francisco International Airport have increased 20 percent since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began screening arriving international passengers for the fast-spreading coronavirus.

The longer waits caught the attention of arriving passengers Sunday. Many complained of hours-long waits at passport control that left both U.S. and non-U.S. citizens fuming. The longest reported wait was 183 minutes  or just over three hours  by a non-U.S. passport holder, according to the federal governments figures. So although lengthy, it was not the six-to-eight hour waits some fliers said they endured and reported on social media.

Customs and Border Protection officials said the delays were likely due to weather and the overlapping of flights all arriving within a short period of time.

The average wait time for Sunday was the normal average, said USCPB spokesperson Jamie Ruiz. Please know that wait times change every day, every week, every month, and every season.

Using data published by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency on passport control waiting times at SFO, we crunched the numbers and found the average time it took to clear immigration and customs at the airport jumped from 27 minutes in the weeks before CDC screenings went into effect to nearly 33 minutes in the weeks after. On average, thats an additional six minutes to get through immigration.

Although the airport does not oversee the federal screening or passport control process, SFO warned arriving passengers from Wuhan to expect longer than usual processing times at immigration so they could be checked for coronavirus symptoms.

Those screenings began January 18 at SFO, Los Angeles International Airport and New York-Kennedy for travelers arriving into the country from Wuhan, the central China city at the epicenter of the outbreak. The CDC has since expanded those screenings to other international gateway airports around the United States.

Arriving passengers from Wuhan were required to have their temperature checked and fill out questionnaires about their health and travel histories.

I've certainly never seen anything like it, said Julie Parent, a San Francisco resident who landed in Concourse G Sunday afternoon. The lines extended long past the people mover sidewalk and down the hallways!

Parent said an Air China flight from Beijing deplaned right before she landed. Passengers from that flight packed the arrivals hall.

People looked miserable, she said.

We compared SFOs waiting times after January 18 against waiting times in the 15 days before the checks began. The methodology controlled for all the things that change throughout the day, like number of USCBP booths that were open, the number of arriving flights, and the time of day those flights came in.

RELATED: Avoid customs & immigration waits with the miraculous Mobile Passport

We checked the CBPs statistics: the worst time for U.S. citizens to have cleared on Sunday was between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. when the average wait time was 85 minutes in Concourse G  nearly an hour and a half in line for some. Those with Global Entry who normally bypass queues also complained of being delayed.

For non-U.S. citizens, it was far worse: average wait times in Concourse G (United/Star Alliance side) peaked at 119 minutes, or two hours, between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Sunday evening.

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Many frustrated passengers sent a volley of angry tweets describing hundreds of fliers who were stuck in lines that stretched the length of the international concourse.

Connecting flights were missed, tempers flared, and exhausted fliers said the delay at immigration was not what they were prepared to deal with after getting off a 15 hour, long-haul flight.

Delays to clear immigration at SFO are not new. This past summer was one of the busiest travel periods ever and arriving passengers frequently faced similarly long waits at passport control. More about last summer lines here.

Its unclear whether upcoming flight cancellations between the U.S. and China will alleviate the delays at passport control since there will be fewer fliers passing through the airport. With U.S. government restrictions barring most people who have been in China from entering the country, travel demand between the two nations is in a free fall.

Thats led United Airlines to temporarily suspend its mainland China flights to Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu from SFO and elsewhere beginning Wednesday. The airline on Tuesday announced it would suspend Hong Kong flights as well.

Read all recent TravelSkills posts here

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A major international aviation conference scheduled on the eve of next week's Singapore Airshow has been cancelled, organisers said Tuesday, hit by the global health scare over China's deadly coronavirus.

Organisers, however, said the main event, Asia's biggest airshow, will proceed as scheduled from February 11-16 despite the pullout of several exhibitors, many of them from China.

US aircraft maker Boeing and European rival Airbus are the biggest players at the airshow, which was due to be preceded by the leadership conference featuring top airline, airport and other industry executives.

Among those who had been scheduled to speak at the conference were the senior executives of the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

"The Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit 2020, a component of the Airshow programme... will not take place this year," a statement by organiser Experia Events said.

"This will allow many of the aviation leaders who are deeply involved in working out the responses to the novel coronavirus outbreak to focus on exigencies related to the ongoing situation."

The aviation industry is one of the most affected by the virus outbreak after governments worldwide imposed restrictions on travel, including bans for those arriving from China.

The death toll in China stood at 425 Tuesday, exceeding the number of fatalities in the country from the SARS outbreak of 2002-03.

The World Health Organization has declared the crisis a global health emergency.

IATA said Asia-Pacific Airlines lost around $6.0 billion in revenues during SARS and are likely to be hit hard by the latest crisis.

The biennial Singapore Airshow attracted 54,000 trade visitors worldwide in 2018.

Experia Events said 10 exhibitors from mainland China, including airplane-maker Commercial Aviation Corporation of China (COMAC), have pulled out of the airshow.

Six other companies from Canada and the United States, Britain and Germany have also withdrawn.

The side conference would have involved 300 aviation industry leaders including government officials, civil aviation regulators, airport operators and airline executives.
Fianna Fail has said that it remains the only credible alternative to Fine Gael as a governing party despite last nights bombshell poll which showed Sinn Fein is now the most popular party in the country.

At Fianna Fail HQ in Dublin this morning, ostensibly to address todays teachers strike which has seen close to 400 second level schools across the country over pay inequality, the partys education spokesman Thomas Byrne said that it is close to a decade since any poll had accurately predicted where Fianna Fail would finish.

His colleague Fiona OLoughlin, TD for Kildare South, meanwhile said that her party would absolutely not be reconsidering its position on not being willing to go into coalition with Sinn Fein.

Mr Byrne said he remains very happy with the response being seen on the doorsteps.

People are beginning to focus on the choices before them, and that is where Fianna Fail excels, he said.

Sinn Fein wants to talk about the problems that exist, but not as to how they are going to address them. Every time they are challenged they attack.

He said that in the last number of years there have been more than 30 polls where we were behind Sinn Fein.

Polls tend to get us wrong, and they tend to get Sinn Fein wrong."

This is in reference to the perceived trend with Sinn Fein voters that they tend to not perform as well as their pre-election polling might suggest.

Mentions of Fine Gael were relatively few on the ground at the conference, despite Mr Byrnes insistence that people want them out of Government.

If you want Fine Gael out you need to vote for Fianna Fail, he said.

We have a vision of change, but its a vision that can happen, he insisted, adding that Sinn Feins proposals, which have drawn a deal of criticism as to how they can be funded given they appear to be double the amount of fiscal space the Department of Finance says can possibly be made available, are not properly costed.

Mr Byrne would not be drawn as to the reasons behind the consistent strong polling of Mary Lou McDonalds party, nor as to the possibility that Fianna Fail could be alienating Sinn Fein voters in terms of transfers by insisting it would not go into Government with them.

Lets see whats being offered tonight, lets see the same scrutiny applied to Sinn Fein, he said.

Data courtesy of The Irish Times

They are anti-business, they are anti-agriculture, and theyre completely uncosted, added Ms OLoughlin. Our focus is on the ground, not on polls, she said.

In terms of her own running rival, Kildare Sinn Fein councillor Patricia Ryan who is currently on holiday, Ms OLoughlin said that Ms Ryan has shown herself as being not a credible candidate.

Mr Byrne added that Fianna Fail would not be reconsidering its decision to run three candidates in the Tipperary constituency, regardless of the election results, given the poll in the Munster county will now not be held before the end of the month due to the sudden death of independent candidate Marese Skehan in Thurles yesterday.

He offered his deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Ms Skehan. Im sure it must be a very traumatic time for them, he added.
We have nothing. We dont have that kind of money they are asking for.

Those were the words of one of the nephews of couple Narine Maraj, 62, and Mattie Maraj, 52, who were kidnapped on Saturday evening after leaving their Madras, St Helena, home to tend to their animals at a family-owned farm in Piarco.
Victorian MP Adam Bandt has vowed to increase pressure on the Morrison government to "act on climate change or go" after replacing Richard Di Natale as Greens leader.

Mr Bandt, the party's only lower house member, was elected unopposed by his colleagues at a meeting at Parliament House on Tuesday morning.

Queensland's Larissa Waters was elected co-deputy leader and Senate leader, also unopposed. Tasmania's Nick McKim, a former state Greens leader, was chosen as deputy Senate leader and co-deputy leader. His role was contested by senators Sarah Hanson-Young and Mehreen Faruqi, with two rounds of votes and a distributions of preferences needed before Senator McKim was declared the winner.

Mr Bandt used his first press conference as leader to say he would focus on community campaigning to build pressure on the government "to force them to act on climate change or go". His aim was for the Greens to secure the balance of power in both houses of parliament at the next federal election.
Over 200 Taiwanese stranded in Wuhan return to Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

02/03/2020 11:57 PM

Taipei, Feb. 3 (CNA) More than 200 Taiwanese nationals arrived at Taoyuan International Airport from Wuhan at around 11:40 p.m. Monday in the first evacuation of Taiwanese from the city at the center of a serious coronavirus epidemic.

The passengers, mostly businesspeople who had been stuck in Wuhan after the city was sealed off to contain the spread of the virus, arrived on a charter flight flown by China Eastern Airlines.

The charter flight had previously been scheduled to depart from Wuhan Tienhe International Airport at around 6:50 p.m., but was delayed to around 9:40 p.m. due to the cumbersome process of checking each person's personal information, local media reported.

After arriving at the Taoyuan Airport, the evacuees will be examined in a provisional facility set up on the airport's aircraft maintenance area to determine if they have any symptoms of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), according to Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Those who display symptoms will be immediately sent to hospitals while those showing no symptoms will be isolated for 14 days in single rooms at as yet unspecified venues to prevent them coming into contact with local residents, the CDC said.

The airfare for the flight on the Airbus 330 was 1,200 Chinese yuan (US$171), a sum the Taiwanese were happy to pay as their situation in Wuhan was becoming increasingly dire, especially the lack of access to medical resources.

Hsu Cheng-wen (), head of the Parents Association in Taipei who was involved in coordinating efforts to bring these people home, told CNA that a second flight to evacuate more Taiwanese in China, including from cities other than Wuhan, is scheduled for Wednesday.

A third charter flight could also be arranged if necessary, Hsu said.

As of Monday, the death toll from the Wuhan coronavirus had increased to at least 361 in China, exceeding its total fatalities during the SARS crisis that broke out in Guangdong province in 2002.

The coronavirus outbreak, which started at the end of last year in Wuhan, has killed at least 362 people and infected more than 17,300 globally.

The only death from the virus that reported outside of China occurred in the Philippines.

(By Yu Hsiao-han, Chang Ming-hsuan, Chang Hsing-feng and Frances Huang)

Enditem/ls

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STAMFORD  After more than two years and hundreds of motions, the divorce battle between Jennifer Dulos and Fotis Dulos is finally over.

There were more than 300 motions filed by the estranged couple during their contentious divorce battle, which has spanned about two and a half years, before she was reported missing on May 24, 2019.

Since then, authorities have indicated through warrants and other documents that New Canaan mother of five Jennifer Dulos suffered an injury that was not survivable. The investigation into her death and disappearance continues.

Last week, her estranged husbands apparent suicide attempt at his Farmington home landed him in critical condition at UConn Health before he was airlifted to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y. He died at the hospital days later.

Jennifer Dulos filed for divorce on June 20, 2017.

In that filing, she indicated that she knew filing for divorce would enrage Fotis Dulos. She claimed her husband would retaliate by trying to harm me in some way. In the filing she also called him dangerous and ruthless; she claimed he had sickening revenge fantasies.

The dismissal of the divorce case means that it was removed from the court system without a final order.

The estranged couple was married for 13 years.

There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't ask about the efforts to see his children, said Attorney Richard Rochlin, who represented Fotis Dulos in the divorce since June, on Tuesday. He said every that he loved his children and wanted to see his children. I regret that I wasn't able to make that happen for him in the last eight months.

Michael Albis, chief administrative judge for family matters, told Hearst Connecticut Media last summer that most family court cases are resolved in less than a year and dont take hundreds of filings.

Data shared with Hearst Connecticut Media by the Judicial Branch in July 2019 showed that the Dulos divorce case could be among the most litigious of all divorce cases in Connecticut.

Since Jennifer Dulos was reported missing last May, Fotis Dulos has been on the radar of law enforcement as a suspect.

He and his then-girlfriend Michelle Troconis were charged with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution shortly after Jennifer Dulos was reported missing.

Both times Rochlin filed papers indicating that his client wanted access to his children while the search for their mother continued, Fotis Dulos was served with arrest warrants within days, preventing the motions from moving forward.

On Jan. 7, Fotis Dulos was charged with murder, felony murder and kidnapping in the death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos. Troconis and Kent Mawhinney were each charged with conspiracy to commit murder that same day.

Fotis Dulos murder charges came just days after Rochlin filed a motion seeking a hearing with a juvenile court judge in the hopes of gaining visitation for his client.

After his arrest on the murder charges, Stamford Superior Court Judge John Blawie issued a protective order, again barring him from contacting the children while the case was pending.

A probate judge who awarded Jennifer Dulos mother, Gloria Farber, custody of the couples children also barred Fotis Dulos from contacting them.

Now that the divorce has been dismissed, whoever is appointed the administrator of his estate will have to inventory the assets of Fotis Dulos and sell everything off, Rochlin said.

He said if there is any money left after secured creditors and the expenses of the administration of the estate have been paid, the probate court will determine where it will go.

The fact that Jennifer Dulos has not officially been declared dead by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner may complicate the probate proceedings, Rochlin said. Presumably, anything that is left will go his children, Rochlin said.

Fotis Dulos was, at one point, a very successful home builder who had developed award-winning properties, Rochlin said.

But the divorce and the litigation made it difficult for him to turn things around, he said. What was once a profitable business venture is now struggling to find enough value in the properties to pay off the mortgages he obtained to acquire them.
Two men are dead following a short police pursuit in Melbourne.

Police tried to intercept an alleged stolen car in Preston just after 10pm on Tuesday, but the car failed to stop and collided with a truck, which then hit a stationary vehicle.

The two occupants of the alleged stolen vehicle died as a result of the crash, while the truck driver and a man from the second car were taken to hospital for observation.

Two men are dead following a short police pursuit in Melbourne

Detectives from the major collision investigation unit will investigate, while witnesses are being sought.

Both High and Bell street in the city's north were closed on Wednesday morning as emergency services worked to clear the crash site.
Birmingham-based advocacy group Alabama Interfaith Power and Light delivered a petition with signatures from groups representing 31,928 people to the Alabama Public Service Commission on Tuesday, asking Alabamas utility regulators to do more to help grow renewable energy in the state.

One of the things that drove me was the solar tax, said the Rev. Michael Malcom, executive director of Alabama IPL. Thats one of the things that actually made us really look at our Public Service Commission and say theres a huge discrepancy, and some incongruence in what they signed on to be or what they took the oath to do versus what is actually being done for the people.

The PSC is expected to decide later this year the fate of a fixed fee that Alabama Power charges to customers who install solar panels, but remain connected to the power grid.

Alabama Power has said repeatedly that the fee is not a solar tax, but an appropriate fee for customers who put power back on the grid sometimes and pull electricity off of it at other times. Critics say no other major utility charges such a high solar panel fee and most charge none at all.

Renewable advocates have argued the fee is stifling solar energy expansion in Alabama.

Alabama IPL is a local chapter of a national organization that seeks to engage faith communities in a religious response to global warming, and advocate for energy equity, according to the groups web site.

Were out here today to basically make a statement that we find it immoral for us to have the iniquity that we have in our energy system, said Malcom, who is a pastor in Atlanta. He said he is in the process of moving to Birmingham. We need energy democracy we need people to have control of their own power.

Malcom and Alabama IPL program director Kyle Crider hand-delivered the petition Tuesday morning to PSC secretary Walter Thomas and administrative law judge John Garner, before the commissions regular meeting in Montgomery.

The PSC held a public hearing in November on the fee, where it heard testimony from an Alabama Power executive and a renewable energy expert on whether the fee was appropriate. The body is expected to render a decision on the matter at a future meeting.

Our faith demands that we are good stewards of the Earth, Malcom said. So far, the Alabama state governments efforts to sustain our environment have been insufficient, leaving black, brown, indigenous and poor communities to bear the brunt.

The petition had three parts:

We believe that it is immoral for anyone to bear a disproportionate burden of toxic health effects from waste and pollution.

We believe that clean, affordable, renewable energy is a holy goal worthy of pursuit by people of all faiths.

We believe that our individual and societal energy choices - renewable versus non-renewable, equitable versus non-equitable - should be an expression of our individual faiths.

Alabama Interfaith Power and Light program director Kyle Crider and executive director The Rev. Michael Malcom hold a banner with the group's Interfaith Statement on Energy and Equity on the steps of the RSA Union Tower in Montgomery, Ala., before a meeting of the Alabama Public Service Commission on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. (Dennis Pillion | dpillion@al.com)

The PSC also has yet to rule on a proposed $1.1 billion expansion by Alabama Power, which would mostly add natural gas to the system. Some smaller renewable projects are also included. The proposal has been criticized both by renewable energy advocates, who say the added natural gas infrastructure would take away incentives to expand solar and efficiency programs in the state, and by industrial groups who could face higher energy costs as a result of the expansion and who say the company does not need that much extra generation.

Alabama Power says it conducted a study in 2018 that showed more total generation was needed to maintain reserve levels of power during the winter.

Its up to the regulator, in this case the PSC, to ensure that the companies only build as much infrastructure as is necessary to meet customer demand.

Malcom said he wants more transparency and accountability from the PSC as it navigates these issues.

The first thing we want them to do is to become more transparent about how the rates that they have are assessed, Malcom said. "Thats the first thing we want them to do, but we also want them to be more accountable to the people.

Unfortunately, in the state of Alabama, it appears that we have a profit driven economy. We need a people centered economy, and not just a people centered economy, we also need a planet centered economy.
PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NW Natural Water Company, LLC (NW Natural Water), a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwest Natural Holding Company (NWN) (NW Natural Holdings), has completed the acquisition of Suncadias water and wastewater utilities in Washington state, with approval by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission and in close cooperation with the seller and other stakeholders.



Located in Cle Elum, Washington, Suncadia is a popular and fast-growing resort community that attracts visitors year-round from Seattle, Tacoma and the greater Pacific Northwest. Currently, the Suncadia utilities serve 2,800 connections.

Were thrilled that the Suncadia water and wastewater utilities are joining the NW Natural family, said David H. Anderson, NW Natural Holdings president and CEO. Suncadia is a Washington State gem, and were excited to support the communitys growth. We plan to continue our 160-year legacy of providing safe, reliable, and affordable utility services as we expand further in Washington.

NW Natural Water is an ideal partner for Suncadia. Were confident their commitment to serving the Pacific Northwest and its communities will benefit our property owners, said Roger Beck, managing director of Suncadia Resort.

Suncadia water and wastewater utilities are NW Natural Waters ninth water acquisition, and its second in the wastewater segment. A Texas-based acquisition along with a few utilities in Idaho are currently pending. When current pending acquisitions are complete, NW Natural Water will serve approximately 62,000 people through approximately 25,000 connections. The company continues to seek additional investment opportunities in the water and wastewater utility sector.

ABOUT NW NATURAL HOLDINGS

Northwest Natural Holding Company, (NWN) (NW Natural Holdings), is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and through its subsidiaries has been doing business for more than 160 years in the Pacific Northwest. It owns NW Natural Gas Company (NW Natural), NW Natural Water Company (NW Natural Water), and other business interests and activities.

Story continues

NW Natural is a local distribution company that currently provides natural gas service to approximately 2.5 million people in more than 140 communities through more than 750,000 meters in Oregon and Southwest Washington with one of the most modern pipeline systems in the nation. NW Natural consistently leads the industry with high J.D. Power & Associates customer satisfaction scores.

NW Natural Holdings subsidiaries own and operate 35 Bcf of underground gas storage capacity with NW Natural operating 20 Bcf in Oregon.

NW Natural Water currently provides water distribution service to communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. When current outstanding transactions close, NW Natural Water expects to serve approximately 62,000 people through approximately 25,000 connections in the Pacific Northwest and Texas. Learn more about our water business at nwnaturalwater.com.

Additional information is available at nwnaturalholdings.com.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This report, and other presentations made by NW Natural Holdings from time to time, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "seeks," "believes," "estimates," "expects" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the following: plans, objectives, goals, strategies, assumptions, estimates, expectations, expenses, future events, investments, reliability, customer and business growth, customer rates or rate recovery, the water utility strategy and the related pending water acquisitions, acquisition integration, the likelihood, timing, and success associated with any transaction, financial results, accretion or financial projections, strategic fit, revenues and earnings, performance, timing or effects of future regulatory proceedings or future regulatory approvals, and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts.

Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. We caution you therefore against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. They are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are discussed by reference to the factors described in Part I, Item 1A "Risk Factors," and Part II, Item 7 and Item 7A "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure about Market Risk" in NW Natural Holdings most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated by subsequent filed reports, and in Part I, Items 2 and 3 "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk," and Part II, Item 1A, "Risk Factors," in such company's quarterly reports filed thereafter.

All forward-looking statements made in this report and all subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral and whether made by or on behalf of NW Natural Holdings, are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

New factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for the company to predict all such factors, nor can it assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

Investor Contact: Nikki Sparley, 503-721-2530, nikki.sparley@nwnatural.com

Media Contact: Melissa Moore, 503-220-2436, melissa.moore@nwnatural.com
UCLA bioengineers and colleagues at UNC School of Medicine and MIT have further developed a smart insulin-delivery patch that could one day monitor and manage glucose levels in people with diabetes and deliver the necessary insulin dosage. The adhesive patch, about the size of a quarter, is simple to manufacture and intended for once-a-day use.

The study, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, describes research conducted on mice and pigs. The research team, led by Zhen Gu, PhD, professor of bioengineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, is applying for FDA approval of clinical trials in humans. Gu and colleagues conducted the initial successful tests of the smart insulin patch in mice in 2015 in North Carolina.

"Our main goal is to enhance health and improve the quality of life for people who have diabetes," said Gu, a former professor in the UNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. "This smart patch takes away the need to constantly check one's blood sugar and then inject insulin if and when it's needed. It mimics the regulatory function of the pancreas but in a way that's easy to use."

The adhesive patch monitors blood sugar, or glucose. It has doses of insulin pre-loaded in very tiny microneedles, less than one-millimeter in length that deliver medicine quickly when the blood sugar levels reach a certain threshold. When blood sugar returns to normal, the patch's insulin delivery also slows down. The researchers said the advantage is that it can help prevent overdosing of insulin, which can lead to hypoglycemia, seizures, coma or even death.

"It has always been a dream to achieve insulin-delivery in a smart and convenient manner," said study co-author John Buse, MD, PhD, director of the UNC Diabetes Center and the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS) Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. "This smart insulin patch, if proven safe and effective in human trials, would revolutionize the patient experience of diabetes care."

Insulin is a hormone naturally produced in the pancreas helps the body regulate glucose, which comes from food-consumption and provides the body with energy. Insulin is the molecular key that helps move glucose from the bloodstream to the cells for energy and storage. Type 1 diabetes occurs when a person's body does not naturally produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body does not efficiently use the insulin that is produced. In either case, a regular dosage of insulin is prescribed to manage the disease, which affects more than 400 million people worldwide.

The treatment for the disease hasn't changed much in decades in most of the world. Patients with diabetes draw their blood using a device that measures glucose levels. They then self-administer a necessary dose of insulin. The insulin can be injected with a needle and syringe, a pen-like device, or delivered by an insulin pump, which is a portable cellphone-sized instrument attached to the body through a tube with a needle on the end. A smart insulin patch would sense the need for insulin and deliver it.

The microneedles used in the patch are made with a glucose-sensing polymer that's encapsulated with insulin. Once applied on the skin, the microneedles penetrate under the skin and can sense blood sugar levels. If glucose levels go up, the polymer is triggered to release the insulin. Each microneedle is smaller than a regular needle used to draw blood and do not reach as deeply, so the patch is less painful than a pin prick. Each microneedle penetrates about a half millimeter below the skin, which is sufficient to deliver insulin into the body.

In the experiments, one quarter-sized patch successfully controlled glucose levels in pigs with type I diabetes for about 20 hours. The pigs weighed about 55 pounds on average.

"I am glad the team could bring this smart insulin patch one more step close to reality, and we look forward to hopefully seeing it move forward to someday help people with diabetes," said Robert Langer, ScD, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT and one of the paper's co-authors.

The technology has been accepted into the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Emerging Technology Program, which provides assistance to companies during the regulatory process. The researchers are applying for FDA approval for human clinical trials, which they anticipate could start within a few years. The team envisioned that the smart microneedle patch could be adapted with different drugs to manage other medical conditions as well.

###

At UCLA, Gu is also a member of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the California NanoSystems Institute and the Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics. Buse is chief of the Division of Endocrinology and the Verne S. Caviness Distinguished Professor of Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The study, supported by UCLA-based startup Zenomics, also included authors from North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston Children's Hospital.
Many of the most terrifying Steppenwolf performances  John Malkovich comes to mind  reside in actors moving through time and space, playing characters who finally have bust their lid, gone for broke, and are no longer fully in control of their own actions. Smallwood, whose work here is a series of thrilling fever blisters, has exactly one of those moments in the second act of Bug, coming from the back of the stage with such intensity that you can feel the audience recoil in his wake. Smallwood has worked all over Chicago theater but Ive never seen him do work quite like this. He has found the farthest reaches of his internal dial, and he has figured out not only how to show us all the positions of the needle, but to connect each movement with the requisite psychological logic in a play that (Letts being a formalist with one foot in Ionesco-like neo-absurdism) is very clinically and logically mapped out.
Greg Gutfeld outside Fox News headquarters in New York in November. (Bryan Anselm for The Post)

The caustic comic has gone from irreverent cable news oddity to a ratings champ who seems right at home on the network.
The officials attributed the delay partly to inconsistencies in the reporting of results and stressed that it wasnt because of hacking. Weve pieced together the events that led up to what one former state Democratic official called a systemwide disaster.

The details: When the results are released, find them here.

Whats next: Two of our reporters in Des Moines noted, With no hard numbers to reckon with, no cold math to disprove the dream, no fewer than five candidates marched onstage to deliver something resembling a victory speech.

Background: After a razor-close finish in Iowa between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in 2016, new standards this year required officials to submit three numbers  rather than one  from each of the states 1,600-plus precincts. That change, and a new app, slowed the reporting of results.

Closer look: People who were briefed on the app by the Iowa Democratic Party told The Times that it hadnt been tested properly. A spokeswoman for the state party denied that the apps failure had played a role in the delays.

The Daily: Todays episode is about the confusion.

Catch up: Heres a primer on how Iowas first-in-the-nation nominating contest works.
AM Best has upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) to aa from aa- and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A+ (Superior) of The Cincinnati Insurance Co. (CIC), and its three subsidiaries  The Cincinnati Indemnity Co., The Cincinnati Casualty Co. and The Cincinnati Specialty Underwriters Insurance Co. (collectively referred to as CFC).

The outlook of the Long-Term ICRs has been revised to stable from positive while the outlook of the FSR remains stable. The outlook of these ratings has been revised to stable from positive.

The Cincinnati Insurance Co. is the lead property/casualty (P/C) company of Cincinnati Financial Corp.

AM Best additionally has upgraded the Long-Term ICR to a from a-and the Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings (Long-Term IR) of the companies publicly traded parent, Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF).

The outlook of these ratings have been revised to stable from positive.

All companies except The Cincinnati Specialty Underwriters Insurance Company (CSU) are domiciled in Fairfield, Ohio. CSU is domiciled in Delaware.

The ratings reflect CFCs balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as strongest, as well as its strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).

The Long-Term ICR upgrade for CFC reflects the continued improvement in operating performance over time characterized by solid operating earnings, consistent underwriting income and favorable reserve development. These factors have generated operating results in-line with peers that have a strong operating performance assessment while doing so with lower levels of volatility.

Balance sheet strength is supported by CFCs lengthy track record of favorable loss reserve development, strong and positive cash flows, and a comprehensive reinsurance program.

Additionally, CFC maintains high common stock leverage relative to its peers. While the stock holdings consist of diversified dividend-paying stocks that enhance investment income, this exposes shareholder equity and risk-adjusted capitalization to equity market fluctuations, as evidenced in 2018.

Despite the potential for continued equity market volatility, AM Best feels capitalization will remain well-supportive of CFCs ratings given the diversity of its investment holdings. CFC benefits from the financial flexibility afforded by CINF, which maintains modest financial leverage, strong coverage metrics and is a source of additional liquidity through its access to capital markets and lines of credit.

CFC has produced solid operating earnings, including posting positive underwriting income since 2012. CFC continues to address the below-average performance in its personal auto line of business and has undertaken many initiatives, including re-underwriting, rate increases and the utilization of predictive analytics.

AM Bests expectation is that managements initiatives will continue to result in positive operating performance. In addition, these ratings recognize the strong distribution network within its targeted regional markets that is centered on cultivating strong, long-term relationships with local independent insurance agencies.

CFC has developed and implemented a risk management framework that appropriately addresses the risks inherent in its profile, and its risk management capabilities generally meet or exceed its risk profile.

Topics AM Best
According to Poncins, he has officially informed Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the readiness of Paris to help

France is ready to assist Ukraine with deciphering on-board recorders from the Ukrainian Boeing 737 if it is requested by Kyiv. This was stated by Ambassador of France to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins in an interview with Hromadske.

"Ukraine can count on France's assistance if there is a demand for the transportation of black boxes to France. We have one of the best laboratories in the world for the analysis of black boxes. We have the technical capacity and political will to do it," Poncins said.

According to the French ambassador, he has officially informed Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the readiness of Paris to help.

As we reported earlier, a leaked audio recording of an Iranian pilot talking to the control tower in Tehran shows that Iran knew immediately it had shot down a Ukrainian airliner last month, despite denying it for days, Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky said, Reuters informed.

On the recording, played on a Ukrainian television station late on February 2, the pilot of another plane can be heard saying he saw the light of a missile in the sky before Ukrainian International Airways (UIA) flight 752 crashed in an explosion.

Tehran blamed the Ukrainian authorities for leaking what it described as confidential evidence and said it would no longer share material with Ukraine from the investigation into the crash.
Former deputy of the National Assembly of Armenia Arakel Movsisyans (Shmays) son, Davit Movsisyan doesnt accept the charge brought against him, as reported his attorney Ashot Apresyan.

Apresyan said he has appealed the decision on detaining Davit Movsisyan to the first instance court. Since the Investigative Committee has already filed a motion for arrest as well, the court will examine both motions, he said, adding that the court started examining the motions yesterday and the judge is currently in the consultation room.

A while ago, the Investigative Committee reported that Davit Movsisyan is charged with breach of relations between servicemen not subordinated to each other that has carelessly entailed grave consequences. The investigator has filed a motion with the court to select detention as a pre-trial measure for him.

In an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am, Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan had said that there were 3 people detained under the case of serviceman Vahram Avagyan who died on January 30, and one of the detainees is the son of ex-MP Arakel Movsisyan (Shmays).

As reported earlier, on January 30, 2020 at around 1:15 p.m. at the army training center of the Defense Army, compulsory fixed-term serviceman of N military unit, Private Vahram Avagyan fired gunshots with an attached AKM machine gun in the chest area and was transferred to the military hospital with firearm injuries, and at 2 p.m. he was pronounced dead. A criminal case been instituted by the garrison investigation department, and preliminary investigation is underway.

Within the scope of the criminal case instituted in relation to the death of the soldier, Mkrtchyans fellow serviceman Davit Movsisyan, Khachik Gasparyan and Spartak Avetisyan were detained.
New York, NY, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tech-based franchise development CEO and now Multi-Unit Franchisee, Joshua Kovacs, has his sights set on bringing gourmet coffee to offices throughout Northern Virginia and DC. Xpresso Delight and Kovacs inked a deal to acquire franchise rights from an existing franchisee in DC as well as expand into Northern Virginia, Kovacs home state. This new deal will see the 200+ Unit brands continued expansion throughout the DC Metro area and into the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Ram Dasari, the previous DC franchisee, successfully sold his business to Kovacs in January 2019 after little more than a year in operation.

My strategy was to build up a recurring revenue business and then exit. Im excited to close a deal with Joshua Kovacs and look forward to his success in the DC Metro, said Ram.

Joshua Kovacs, CEO of Oakscale Franchise Development, is well acquainted with the Xpresso Delight brand. His development leadership has seen the brand evolve its franchise model and bring on 21 new franchise units in just over a year.

I have worked in the franchise industry non-stop from the time I was 18, contributing to the growth of really exciting industry leading brands from a variety of sectors including Engineering For Kids and The Halal Guys. I have never been more excited about a brand as I have been with Xpresso Delight. The economics of the franchise and vision of their CEO Nigell Lee just made too much sense for me to sit on the sidelines, said Joshua Kovacs.

Nigell and the team are outstanding executives, and their vision for gourmet coffee in the workplace is about as addictive as their coffee. Weve already hit the ground running and established a new account in our first week of operation. I'm excited to have a great team in place to operate the DC territory.

Joshua partnered with his father, Mike Kovacs, and long time friend Tyler Burdett. Joshua will manage the business from New York City while Mike and Tyler manage local operations in DC. They have ambitions to grow the business to 140 Xpresso Delight machines in just 3 years. Tyler Burdett, a previous Operations Manager for Wawa and now General Manager for Xpresso Delight DC offered his thoughts on the opportunity:

As someone with experience providing coffee to hundreds of thousands of people on their way to work, it made complete sense to get into the leading business that is bringing great coffee into the workplace. Xpresso Delight is offering an industry leading product that is easily 10 years ahead of others in this space.

Xpresso Delight is the worlds largest coffee service franchise with 200+ franchise units sold worldwide. Listed as one of the top 20 Franchises of 2019 by Franchise Help, Xpresso Delight provides an automated cafe service to offices, capitalizing on the dynamic market shift toward companies providing better amenities for employees.

Xpresso Delight is looking for qualified franchise partners in the U.S. The brand has 23 franchises sold in the United States, primarily along the East Coast and most recently in Chicago. Over the next five years, the brand intends to have strong franchise partners in each of the 50 major business cities, including Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco, and Miami. Xpresso Delight has exclusively partnered with Oakscale, a New York-based franchise development company, for its development strategy and efforts.

Attachment
Oxygen

When a stage performance is going on, all eyes are on the stage. Could someone really disappear mid-show? It's exactly what happened to Helen Mintiks. It was the night of July 23, 1980. The Berlin Ballet was performing at the famous Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. At one point during the performance, recorded music was played instead of the orchestra, which was made up of talented freelance musicians. These musicians used this period as a break. But 45 minutes later, around 9:30 p.m.
The Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday returned to the state capital after wrapping up his election campaign tour in Delhi, official sources said.

The JD(U) national president had gone to Delhi on Saturday to seek support for his party nominees and also garner vote for the ally BJP in the Delhi polls.

Kumar returned to Patna during the day and straightaway drove to his official residence without giving any opportunity to media persons to ask questions to him, official sources said.

During his election trip, Kumar addressed three public meetings- two for his party nominees in Sangam Vihar and Burari assembly constituencies while one for BJP candidate in Wazirpur assembly segment.

Kumar addressed a rally with BJP national president J P Nadda in Sangam Vihar assembly constituency for JD(U) candidate SCL Gupta on Sunday.

He also shared dais with Union Home minister Amit Shah the same day to stump for JD(U) candidate Shailendra Kumar from Burari assembly constituency.

Kumar had addressed an election meeting in favour of the BJP candidate in Wazirpur vidhan sabha segment on Monday, where he was joined by union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai.

LJP president and MP Chirag Paswan was also present during election meetings, to give a message of NDA unity to the people.

JD(U) is contesting two assembly segments while LJP one out of 70 assembly seats in alliance with the BJP in Delhi.

Addressing a public meeting in Burari on Sunday, Kumar had attacked Aam Admi Party's Delhi government for its failure to perform on all fronts be it - roads, drinking water, electricity etc.

The Bihar chief minister had made an appeal to the voters to give a chance to the BJP-led NDA form government for the overall development of Delhi like Bihar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DES MOINES  Every four years the Iowa caucuses are supposed to deliver the first clear signal of which candidates are actually resonating with voters. That didnt happen on Monday.

Struggles with a new system of reporting various degrees of victory from each precinct led to the state of suspended animation the 2020 Democrats find themselves in now.

Photographers for The New York Times were scattered across caucus sites and campaign parties in Iowa as it became clear that a winner would not be declared  at least not Monday night.
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Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas and Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 10:47 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206268687 1 Business China,imports,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,Trade,tourism,travel Free

The government is to decide today whether to ban more Chinese imports in addition to live animals, which may include food and beverages, as a precaution to prevent the coronavirus from spreading into the country.

Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto told reporters on Monday that the measure would be put in place soon and would remain in place until the virus has been contained.

We will obviously stop live animal imports from China while we are still considering banning other products, said Agus in Jakarta after a ministerial meeting about the coronavirus, adding that the government will only stop imports of products that could potentially spread the coronavirus.

The government, he added, would be looking to other countries to meet the demand for imported products to make up for the ban of imports from China. China is Indonesias biggest trade partner. The Southeast Asian country imports garlic and fruit, among other food and beverages, from China.

Read also: Indonesia set to ban live animal imports from China as coronavirus fears grow

At the time of writing, the coronavirus had killed 426, all but one in China, and had infected more than 20,000 globally. The infections surpassed those caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the result of another strain of coronavirus that originated in China in 2003.

The Indonesian government declared on Sunday that it would ban all travel to and from China to prevent the spread of the deadly and highly contagious coronavirus.

The ban, which took effect at 12 a.m. on Monday, prevents visitors who have stayed in China for 14 days or more from visiting or transiting in Indonesia. The government will suspend visa-free and visa-on-arrival provisions for Chinese citizens.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that the government would also calculate the coronavirus' effect on the countrys economy, including on tourism.

Tourists are not only from China but we should also calculate the psychological effect on other countries because of the situation, said Retno, adding that the government would also establish a hotline for Indonesians to contact the authorities regarding the coronavirus issue.

Separately, Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani said the virus had hit tourism and had started to take a toll on trade and he called for the government to revise its economic growth target to 5 percent, down from the initial 5.3 percent target.

We expect economic growth will reach only 5 percent if the situation continues, Hariyadi told reporters, adding that the country had lost about 1.7 million foreign tourists from China while trade activities had started to lose ground because of the coronavirus.

From us to them, it is mostly commodities such as crude palm oil and minerals. These exports have been affected, said Hariyadi. Meanwhile, our imports from China, most of which are manufactured products and household goods, have all slowed.

He added that businesses were looking at other markets to replace China but it was challenging as the economic superpower offered competitive prices.

Read also: Indonesia tourism, trade prone to Wuhan coronavirus impact

However, the outbreak has yet to affect the shipment of products from China to Indonesia in the e-commerce sector, according to online marketplace Bukalapak spokesperson Intan Wibisono.

For now, trade activities and goods distribution remain as usual in the Bukalapak platform, Intan told The Jakarta Post over a text message. We have yet to see a change in consumer behavior as we still record up to 2 million transactions every day.

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) warned on Monday that the coronavirus outbreak could cloud the outlook this year as a total of 16.1 million foreign tourists visited Indonesia throughout 2019, falling short of the governments target of attracting 20 million tourists,

The coronavirus outbreak in China will no doubt lower foreign arrivals from China to Indonesia this year, said Suhariyanto during a press briefing on Monday.

Read also: Indonesia welcomes 16.1m foreign tourists in 2019, coronavirus clouds tourism outlook

Malaysia sent the most tourists to Indonesia, followed by Singapore, China, Australia and Timor Leste in 2019, according to BPS data. In December alone, around 154,200 China citizens visited Indonesia, or 11.2 percent of the total 1.38 million foreigners entering the country.

We still have work to attract more foreign tourists to come into Indonesia, Suhariyanto added.
Thomas Barwick

Health savings accounts can be a great tool for retirement medical costs  if you don't make any mistakes using them. These accounts work alongside high-deductible health plans and they offer three major tax benefits. First, you can make pretax or tax-deductible contributions to your HSA. Second, your funds will grow tax free  and you can use the money on a tax-free basis to pay for qualified medical expenses. There's an added sweetener for people who have these accounts at work: Your contribution, as well as whatever money your employer kicks into the HSA, avoids Social Security and Medicare taxes. The funds will come in handy once you retire.

A 65-year-old couple who retired in 2019 can expect to spend $285,000 in health-care and medical costs through retirement, excluding the cost of long-term care. To offset some of that, savers can stash up to $3,550 in a health savings account this year if they have single coverage or $7,100 for family plans. Add another $1,000 if you're over age 55. "You can use the funds for qualified medical expenses, and that will always be tax-free for you," said Shobin Uralil at Lively, an HSA provider. "There is no time horizon." There's a catch, however: If you plan on remaining in the workforce through your 60s, pay close attention to how you fund this account. Here are three potential hiccups older savers might face.

1. You held off on Social Security and Medicare

Hero Images | Hero Images | Getty Images

Older workers may decide to boost their savings by waiting to claim Social Security and go on Medicare. If you wait until after full retirement age to claim Social Security  which is about 66 for people born between 1943 and 1959  you're offered a lump sum of retroactive benefits going back to six months. If you take the lump sum benefits, you've also retroactively signed up for Medicare going back as far as six months. You're not allowed to enroll in Medicare and continue saving in an HSA. "If you're someone who applied for Social Security in that retroactive period, it means you've also made excess contributions to your health savings account," said Oscar Vives Ortiz, CPA and member of the American Institute of CPAs' personal financial specialist committee.

Head off trouble when you sign up for Social Security; tell your representative not to provide you any retroactive benefits. Let's say you made those excess contributions last year. In that case, you have until April 15  the due date of your 2019 tax return  to retrieve the money. Failure to do so could mean you're on the hook for a 6% excise tax and income taxes. Any excess HSA contributions your employer made are also included in your gross income. "Take the excess contributions out before you file your tax return," said Vives Ortiz. "That includes the contributions and the earnings associated with them."

2. You're covered only part of the year

Klaus Vedfelt

If you wind up leaving your plan at some point in the middle of the year, remember that you can no longer make a full year's contribution to your HSA. Instead, you'll need to prorate your contributions for that year, dividing the maximum by 12 and multiplying by the number of months in which you qualified to contribute. Let's say you're a single person who's eligible to contribute $3,550 to your account, plus the $1,000 catch-up. You've left the plan as of July 2020. In that case, you can put away a maximum of $2,275  the annual contribution and the catch-up, prorated for six months of HSA eligibility. "If you're doing payroll deductions into the HSA, talk to your payroll provider," said Vives Ortiz. "If you're self employed and saving in your own account, just stop the contributions."

3. You used your HSA to buy insurance
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Innovations in the automotive sector have gathered momentum in the past few years, which has improved the functionality of automobiles greatly. Market focused reports related to the semiconductors and electronics sector among others recently have been made available by Market Research Future which publishes reports on this market. The automotive camera systems market is projected to achieve revenues worth USD 19 Billion by 2023 while expanding at a 19 percent CAGR during the forecast period.

Automotive cameras are being incorporated into the design for automobiles to enable a more efficient driving experience. Developments in the field of technology have been instrumental in designing high-quality products that are sleek and ergonomic and add value to the overall worth of the end products. Enhanced features such as cruise control and night vision are few of the new features that are being demanded by consumers of the market. The growth of the luxury cars segment has prompted an expansion in the automotive camera market as well. The price of the cameras has also gone down considerably with developments in product design and escalation in the production levels of the automotive cameras respectively. The passenger cars segment of the market is estimated to be one of the major drivers for the demand of the market, especially through the forecast period.

Industry Segments

The automotive camera industry globally is segmented on the basis of vehicle type, camera, application type, and geography. The vehicle type segment of the market is divided into passenger car and commercial vehicles. The camera types segment of the industry comprises of a digital camera, thermal camera, and infrared camera. Adaptive cruise control, pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, park assist system, night vision, blind spot detection, road sign recognition and driver monitoring are the segments on the basis of application types present in the industry. The geography-based segmentation of the industry presents regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of World.

Detailed Regional Analysis

Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and Rest of the World are the regions that are being observed in the regional analysis of the automotive camera market. The North American region is assessed to be dominating the automotive camera industry due to connectivity at high speeds. The European region is also a noteworthy market for this product category and is expected to show growth at an enormous level of development in the installation of safety technologies in passenger cars in nations such as UK, France, Germany, and Italy.The Asia Pacific region will observe substantial growth chiefly in nations like India, Malaysia, Japan, China, Thailand and South Korea because of the rapid industrialization scale coupled with growing numbers especially in the production of automobiles. Also, growing disposable income levels combined with high standards of living of the customers will provide huge motivation for the growth of the automotive camera industry.

Global Competitive Analysis

The constant delivery of customer value is enhancing the market value of the industry. The market contenders are devising their blueprints for corporate strategy in a way can bring about the best results for development in the current scenario, while also concurrently enhancing their products value. The opportunity for growth in the market appears to be promising through the forecast period. The capability to fuel competitive capabilities is one of the chief causes powering their efforts in this period. The escalating levels of diversification in the industry, have allowed the companies to utilize many opportunities available in the industry. The firms in this market are adapting to the state of events by implementing portfolio upgrades and maintaining financial liquidity. Moreover, the contenders are handling the competitive environment by driving the market growth factors to their advantage.

The well-known competitors in the automotive camera industry are Allied Vision Technologies (Germany), Balluf (Germany), Basler AG (Germany), ADA-ES Inc. (U.S.), Delhi Automotive PLC (U.K.), Autoliv, Inc (Sweden), Denso Corporation (Japan), Valeo S.A. (France), Robert Bosch GmBH (Germany), TRW Automotive (U.S.) among others.

Industry Updates:

May 2018 JVC Kenwood which is a Japanese electronics maker is planning to raise the production of its automotive cameras fueled by strong sales in its region as well as to support its plans to expand overseas. The change in their strategy is a part of the companys strategy which is based out of Yokohama, Japan to fuel the manufacturing of automotive cameras, comprising of dashboard cameras as well which will enable new opportunities.
A Thailand national on Tuesday gave birth during a flight from Doha to Bangkok. (Photo: ANI)

Kolkata: A Thailand national on Tuesday gave birth during a flight from Doha to Bangkok.

The unnamed woman passenger went into labour and delivered the baby with the help of a cabin crew of Qatar airways at around 3 am.

The aircraft made the emergency landing in Kolkata and the woman was admitted to a private hospital here. Both the mother and the baby are doing fine.

"An unscheduled flight from Doha to Bangkok QR-830 landed around 03:09 am at Kolkata airport in medical priority landing. The pilot of Qatar flight had asked SOS to ATC for medical priority landing. The flight landed safely, the airport team with the doctor was attending the concerned." Kolkata Airport official said while speaking to ANI.

More details in this regard are awaited.
CHICAGO, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Emotion Detection and Recognition Market by Technology (Feature Extraction & 3D Modeling, NLP, ML), Software Tool (Facial Expression Recognition, Speech & Voice Recognition), Application Area, End User, and Region - Global Forecast to 2024", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global Emotion Detection and Recognition Market size is projected to grow from USD 21.6 billion in 2019 to USD 56.0 billion by 2024, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 21.0% during the forecast period.

Factors such as the rising need for socially intelligent artificial agents, increasing demand for speech-based biometric systems to enable multifactor authentication, technological advancements across the globe, and growing need for high operational excellence are expected to work in favour of the market in the near future.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Emotion Detection and Recognition Market"

114  Tables

34  Figures

177  Pages

Download PDF Brochure:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=23376176

Based on technology, the biosensors technology segment to lead the market in 2019

The biosensors technology is a critical component for emotion detection and recognition, providing essential information on the emotional state of humans. The use of this technology could prove to be useful in capturing hidden physiological or emotional states of an individual, thus, overcoming the limitations of facial or gesture recognition systems used to capture emotions. This technology is also extremely useful to monitor emotions, such as stress, anxiety, anger, and depression that have enormous applications in the medical and defense sectors. The rapid adoption of these devices has been witnessed as they are capable of providing real-time information on the emotional state of humans and monitoring any physiological changes in the user.

Based on the end user, the industrial segment to grow at the fastest rate during the forecasted period

The industrial end user includes big manufacturing giants and heavy industrial equipment manufacturers, such as automobile, chemical industry, real estate, renting and leasing, textile industry, brewing industry, and the energy industry, which consists of electricity industry, natural gas industry, and the petroleum industry. These end users deploy emotion detection and recognition software to minimize or restrict fraudulent activities. The emotion detection and recognition technology can be integrated with devices and used across other automotive industries to have an emotional connect with the users and track the data with emotion sensors to gain a deeper understanding of human emotions and improve customer experiences.

Speak to Our Expert Analyst:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=23376176

North America to hold the highest market share during the forecast period

North America is the largest revenue contributor to the Emotion Detection and Recognition Market, as the growth of the region is being driven by the rising internet penetration and increasing adoption of cloud-based and Internet of Things (IoT) applications across verticals. Countries in North America are well-established economies, enabling investments in advanced technologies.

The US and Canada have made significant investments in Research and Development (R&D) activities, contributing to the growth of new technologies. In addition, massive government funding and a strong technical base aid the growth of the Emotion Detection and Recognition Market in the region. The demand for emotion detection and recognition technologies, such as facial feature extraction and 3D modeling, biosensors technology, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) is increasing across end users, such as enterprises, defense and security agency, and commercial and industrial. Key pure play vendors, such as Affectiva, Kairos, and Eyeris, along with several start-ups in the region, offer enhanced emotion detection and recognition solutions to cater to the needs of customers. Such factors are expected to fuel the growth of the global Emotion Detection and Recognition Market in North America.

Market Players

The major vendors covered in the Emotion Detection and Recognition Market include Apple (US), Google (US), Microsoft (US), IBM (US), Affectiva (US), Beyond Verbal (Israel), Noldus Information Technology (Netherlands), Tobii (Sweden), NEC Corporation (Japan), Sentiance (Belgium), nViso (Switzerland), Eyesight Technologies (Israel), Ayonix (Japan), Cognitec Systems (Germany), SightCorp ( Netherlands), CrowdEmotion (UK), Kairos (US), Eyeris (US), and SkyBiometry (Lithuania), and iMotions (Denmark).

Browse Adjacent Markets: Analytics Market Research Reports & Consulting

Related Reports:

Facial Recognition Market by Component (Software Tools (2D Recognition, 3D Recognition, and Facial Analytics) and Services), Application Area (Emotion Recognition, Access Control, and Law Enforcement), Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2024

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/facial-recognition-market-995.html

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Democratic presidential candidates addressed their supporters while voters waited for the results of the Iowa caucuses. The state Democratic party attributed the delay to inconsistencies in the reporting. Photo: Christopher Lee for The Wall Street Journal.
HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to today's budget address, the officers of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, President Rick Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder, issued the following response:

The key to Pennsylvania's economic prosperity is investment in our workforce. Over the years, Governor Wolf's initiatives have uncovered significant areas where investment has extraordinary potential for wide-spread advancement. The Keystone Economic Development and Workforce Command Center has outlined some of the major barriers to employment: lack of job training opportunities, access to transportation, affordable childcare, and the needs of Pennsylvanians reentering the workforce.

"The body of work from the Middle-Class Task Force and the Workforce Command Center has made it clear that for workforce development to be successful, it must be comprehensive and address every aspect of life from access to childcare to supporting adults in job training programs," stated President Bloomingdale.

He continued, "It's time to invest in the promise of Pennsylvania's prosperity. We can empower every Pennsylvanian to fight for prosperity by ensuring that they have access to the tools they need and by tearing down the barriers that too often hold us back. It is time for Pennsylvania to invest in our workforce."

Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder remarked, "We need action in Harrisburg to pave the way for Pennsylvanians to have the tools they need to succeed in the economy. How can we hope to meet the needs and demands of tomorrow's economy if our next generation is surrounded by lead and asbestos in school? How can workers get the training they need for careers in newly developing sectors, if they cannot afford to support themselves throughout that program? How can public servants who dedicated their adult work life to the Commonwealth afford to retire in dignity? All, are possible with a commonsense budget that is 'key' in the Keystone of Pennsylvania."

SOURCE Pennsylvania AFL-CIO
FILE PHOTO: Smoke billows out from the cooling towers of a coal-fired power plant in Ahmedabad, India

By Sudarshan Varadhan

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's electricity supply rose 3.25% during the month of January after five straight months of decline, provisional government data showed, in a relief for power producers.

Power supply rose to 106.36 billion units in January, up from 103.01 billion units last year, an analysis of daily load despatch data from state-run Power System Operation Corp Ltd (POSOCO) showed.

India's Central Electricity Authority (CEA), an arm of the federal power ministry, is expected to release official data on power demand later this month. POSOCO releases provisional load despatch data every day.

Higher electricity supply could mean a rise in power demand, as electricity deficit in India is marginal. Electricity demand is seen by economists as an important indicator of industrial output and a deceleration could point to a further slowdown.

However, the potential rise would be from a low base, as electricity demand grew at the slowest pace in January 2019 in nearly two years, CEA data showed.

India's annual electricity demand in 2019 grew at its slowest pace in six years. Electricity supply fell 0.4% in December, 4.2% in November and 12.8% in October, according to the CEA.

Annual consumption of electricity by industry accounts for more than two-fifths of Indias annual electricity consumption, according to government data, with residences accounting for nearly a quarter and commercial establishments for another 8.5%.

The country's overall economic growth slowed to 4.5% in the July-September quarter, government data in November showed, the weakest pace since 2013 as consumer demand and private investment weakened.

India is expected to grow at the slowest pace since the global financial crisis during the fiscal year 2019/20. India also cut its estimates of growth for 2018/19 and 2017/18 last week.

Slower economic activity has resulted in a fall in sales of everything from cars to cookies, prompting some large scale industries such as the automobile sector to slash jobs.

(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Michael Perry)
Manufacturers are praising the Morrison government's energy deal with NSW as a way of overcoming the lack of national energy policy, but now other states want to match the Berejiklian government's generous deal.

Last week the federal government announced a deal worth $3 billion to support electricity network upgrades and renewable energy investment. In return NSW committed to target supply of 70 petajoules of gas each year supply.

NSW has secured $3 billion in support for renewable energy and network upgrades in return for setting a target to supply 70 petajoules of gas into the east coast market. Credit:SMH

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said he will seek other bilateral deals, and Queensland and Victoria have warned they will be uncompromising in their demands for similarly favourable terms.

Queensland Energy Minister Anthony Lynham said he will push the federal government for recognition of its gas production. For years the state has been seeking federal funding for a new pipeline to bring gas from the Bowen Basin to market, which could help to alleviate gas shortages and price issues.
So finally we left! Amidst much flag- waving and singing and speeches outside Parliament, the UK exited the European Union. For many of us it was a bit of an anti-climax as it felt like that the whole thing had already been done! After all, it is something we have talked about, discussed, moaned over for the past three years. Once 11 pm (midnight in Europe ) arrived on January 31, an image of the Big Ben was beamed onto 10, Downing Street, and the countdown ended. (The actual Big Ben is still under repair and so could not chime out the historic moment).

To be honest, I had expected all of the UK to erupt in celebration, but even though we were out and about, we found, ultimately, it was all normal in most parts of London, and our dinner was served by the usual Europeans. Of course, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had his own party to celebrate, and Nigel Farage was seen grinning ecstatically at Parliament Square in Westminster. But there were no fireworks, no flashing lights. In fact, one felt that our actual departure from the EU was quite subdued. This was even though the area around Whitehall was lit up in red, blue and white, and those celebrating sang Rule Britannia and draped the flag everywhere  including on their pets.

Some journalists old enough to remember said, somewhat wistfully, that joining the EU had evoked more excitement than this. And then lets not forget that parts of the UK, such as Scotland, had voted to Remain

Could the dreaded coronavirus also have been responsible for this quiet acceptance? After all, face masks have begun to run out in the city (even though they are felt to be quite useless against this deadly but tiny virus). People may have felt that it was too risky to be rubbing shoulders in a crowd, where anyone could carry an infection. And then, how do you take a selfie wearing a mask?

But our real attention is on Wirral, where 83 Britons who had been stranded in China are now finally quarantined. The interesting thing about their flight into the UK was that they were reportedly served chicken tikka masala. now what could be the connection?

The bad news is that two Chinese, one of them a student, have been identified with the virus in York, and then sent off to Newcastle to an infectious diseases unit.

More bad news for viewers of The Crown  there wont be any Meghan and Harry episodes as the series will pack up after the fifth season, which will have the stalwart Imelda Staunton playing the Queen. I wont be crying into my baked beans, in any case, because I feel we have more than enough coverage of royalty in the UK, and we certainly could do with less. Interestingly, the real-life Queen always has been very gracious and allowed this constant mining of her and familys life on screen, and on the Internet, without a fuss. I dont know if she ever bothers to watch, but her stoic and stiff upper lip in these matters is remarkable.

One wonders if an upcoming exhibition on tantra in the UK will reinforce the stereotype of Indians as those sex obsessed people from the land of the Kama Sutra? The British Museum, by organising an exhibition entitled Tantra: Enlightenment to Revolution has no doubt hit upon a unique idea to encourage footfall  after all, who wouldnt like to come to an exhibition with plenty of naked people engaged in all kinds of activity? And at the same time, everyone can feel noble because this is meant for educational purposes only.

The exhibition will begin in April, and over five years of research have gone into collecting the 100 objects which will be displayed, many of which are from the British Museum itself. The curator, Dr Imma Ramos, says, according to reports: The most important thing about tantra and what the philosophy is saying is that all aspects of existence are charged with divine power. We wanted to challenge the stereotypes that exist that it is just a hedonistic guide to sex.

She does add that it was during colonial rule that tantra began to be looked upon as mainly being focussed on sex. She hopes that she can demonstrate through the exhibition that tantra was a means to reach a higher goal  and that the images, especially of Kali, were also used by revolutionaries during anti-colonial protests in the past.

At last, some of the hidden treasures in the British Museum will see the light of day, and in a modern context which explores female power, gender fluidity, religious pluralism, mindfulness and well-being, as the museum director Hartwig Fischer puts it, according to newspaper reports.

But the worry remains that much of this interpretation is still being done in the West  whereas it is about time that our museums in India began examining these Indian themes  and looking beyond the collections of the maharajahs.
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San Francisco, 4 February 2020: The Report Acute Hospital Care Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Medical Condition (Emergency Care), By Facility Type (General Acute Care Hospitals), By Service (ICU), By Region, Competitive Insights, And Segment Forecasts, 2019 - 2026

The global acute hospital care market is expected to reach USD 4.0 trillion by 2026, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., exhibiting a CAGR of 6.7% over the forecast period. Market growth can be attributed to a significant increase in number of patients suffering from chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Increase in incidence of trauma, demand for acute hospitals; patient volume, including, geriatric demographic; and unmet medical needs is expected to boost growth. In addition, technological advancements for improving quality of treatment to reduce Length of Stay (LOS) and achieve a faster Turnaround Time (TOT) are expected to aid growth.

Rise in demand for such hospitals is likely to create opportunities for players. Large hospitals are further addressing the increase in demand by building more facilities. These include HCA Healthcare, Inc.; Tenet Healthcare Corporation; & Community Health Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and Fresenius Medical Care & Ramsay Healthcare in Europe.

Access Research Report of Acute Hospital Care Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/acute-hospital-care-market

Further key findings from the study suggest:

Based on medical conditions, emergency care dominated the market in 2018, due to increase in number of patients at hospitals seeking admission for shorter durations. This includes cases of trauma, injury, respiratory disorders, or cardiac problems such as acute myocardial infarction.

Furthermore, availability of higher reimbursement for treatment, when compared with other facilities, supports segment growth

Based on facilities, general acute care facilities held the largest share in 2018, due to majority of admission cases requiring short-term emergency medical attention.

Patients suffering from acute illnesses, diseases, or injuries are first admitted to these facilities

Psychiatric hospitals offering acute psychiatric treatment to patients are expected to grow at the fastest rate over the forecast period. This can be attributed to the increase in prevalence of stroke due to risk factors such as increase in smoking & alcohol consumption and poor lifestyle choices

ICUs dominated the service segment in 2018, owing to increase in number of patients seeking intensive monitoring and round-the-clock nursing.

Hospitals are investing in specialized ICUs for specific issues pertaining to cardiology and surgical & medical needs. NICU is expected to be one of the fastest growing segments over the forecast period

The acute hospital care market has recently experienced expansion of facilities through mergers & acquisitions by key players, which, combined various services, increased overall market revenue

Some key players are Tenet Healthcare Corporation; Fresenius Medical Care; Ramsay Healthcare; Asklepios Kliniken GmbH; Universal Health Services, Inc.; HCA Healthcare, Inc.; Community Health Systems, Inc.; Ascension Health; IHH Healthcare; Mediclinic International; Legacy Lifepoint Health, Inc.; and Ardent Health Services

Browse more reports of this category by Grand View Research at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry/medical-devices

Grand View Research has segmented the global acute hospital care market based on medical condition, facility type, service, and region:

Acute Hospital Care Medical Condition Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2026)

Emergency Care

Short-term Stabilization

Trauma Care

Acute Care Surgery

Others

Acute Hospital Care Facility Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2026)

General Acute Care Hospitals

Psychiatric Hospitals

Specialized Hospitals

Rehabilitation Hospitals

Long-term Acute Care (LTAC)

Acute Hospital Care Service Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2026)

Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

Coronary Care Unit (CCU)

Others

Acute Hospital Care Region Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2026)

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East and Africa

Access Press Release of Acute Hospital Care Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-acute-hospital-care-market

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

For More Information: www.grandviewresearch.com
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Deputy Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Kanpur Nagar, Shailendra Tiwari, on Tuesday said that no positive coronavirus case has been detected in Kanpur, and the two families kept in isolation ward are completely healthy.

"We have followed all the instructions issued by the central government. But as a precautionary measure, we have set up a 10-bed isolation ward. Two families have been kept in isolation ward. They are all healthy," said the Deputy CMO.

He further elaborated on the preventive measures that people should take and said, "People should use a triple-layered mask. People who have travelled to China in the last 15 days or have come from China will be checked if they have any symptoms."

The virus originated in China's Wuhan in December last year and has since then spread to various parts around the world.

China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Juzcar went from your average mild-mannered Spanish town to a fully decked-out Smurfopolis, with blue walls, Smurfs-themed murals, and giant statues of the characters. However, Juzcar found itself in a bind when their tourist population ballooned from 300 people a year to over 80,000, leading to the creation of eight new businesses. The original deal with Sony only required the town to play the role until filming and publicity for the movie wrapped up, at which point Sony would repaint things the original white and everyone could forget this ever happened. But they couldn't exactly afford to undo the transformation, what with the region's 35% unemployment rate. When the time rolled around for Sony to turn Juzcar back to its original Andalusian self, the town overwhelmingly voted "Smurf no.''

BigKnell/Shutterstock "If we can't adorn our town with a huge cutout of Papa Smurf masturbating behind a bush, no one should!"

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Juzcar stayed so blue for so long that they were eventually hit with a copyright claim by the original owners of the Smurfs. What the Smurfs giveth, the Smurfs taketh away. Juzcar was forced to rebrand as the "Blue Village" and stop selling Smurfs-themed merchandise, but the Smurfs-based tourism continues flooding in. It proves once more that there is nothing too stupid to lure tourists.
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Key indices were trading with sharp gains in early trade on positive Asian cues. At 9:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 313.74 points or 0.79% at 40,186.05. The Nifty 50 index was up 89.80 points or 0.77% at 11,797.70. The Sensex regained the psychological 40,000 mark in early trade. Overnight slide in crude oil prices also boosted sentiment.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.78%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.71%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1359 shares rose and 484 shares fell. A total of 114 shares were unchanged.

Q3 earnings impact:

Among stocks, Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals crashed 11.86%. Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals reported a net loss of Rs 661.16 crore against a net profit of Rs 113.67 crore on 8.69% fall in total income to Rs 795.09 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. The reported sales number for the quarter declined due to portfolio optimization and voluntary recall of Zinetac. Adjusting for the same the underlying sales growth is 6%.

Deepak Nitrite rose 1.64%. Deepak Nitrite reported 294.74% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 156.71 crore on 47.79% rise in total income to Rs 1,134.60 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. Basic Chemicals, Fine & Speciality Chemicals and the Performance Products segment resulted in robust topline performance during the quarter. This was supported by encouraging demand scenario of company's products in the export markets.

Affle (India) gained 4.38%. Affle (India) reported 31.35% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 21.45 crore on 29.90% rise in total income to Rs 96.22 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. Historically, third quarter which has always been financially robust driven by festive season sales, continued its performance trend this time too.

Astrazeneca Pharma India fell 1.85%. Astrazeneca Pharma India reported 8.22% fall in net profit to Rs 26.70 crore on 3.950% rise in total income to Rs 227.32 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

Stocks in news:

Reliance Industries rose 1.01%. Reliance Industries (RIL) informed that the RIL-BP joint venture has completed the safe cessation of production in a planned manner, from the D1 D3 field in Block KG D6 (KG-DWN-98/3), off the east coast of India. The D1 D3 field was India's first deepwater gas field to be put on production in April 2009. New production from KG D6 project is on track to start by mid 2020.

J.K. Cement advanced 1.86%. J.K. Cement informed that the company has commissioned a 1-mt-per annum grey cement grinding capacity in Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan and a 1.5 mt per annum utility in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. Both units have already started commercial dispatches. Work at split-grinding unit in Balasinor, Gujarat is in advanced stage of completion.

GMR Infrastructure gained 1.63%. GMR Infrastructure informed that GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Ltd, has signed a concession agreement to commission, operationalise and maintain the civilian enclave at Bidar airport in north Karnataka. The agreement is under India's regional connectivity scheme UDAN, or Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik.

Tata Consultancy Services was up 1.49%. Tata Consultancy Services has expanded its long-standing partnership with Walgreens Boots Alliance, a global leader in retail and wholesale pharmacy, to transform the latter's IT operating model. The contract is valued at over $ 1 .5 billion over a ten-year period.

Punjab National Bank was up 0.87%. Punjab National Bank has informed that the board of the bank has granted permission for raising funds through issuance of Basel-III compliant Tier-II Bonds amounting up to Rs 1000 crore in one or more tranches.

Oil fell to its lowest level in more than a year as the coronavirus outbreak and its potential impact on demand hammered crude prices. India is heavily dependent on oil imports for satisfying its domestic demand. A high crude price directly maps into a high trade deficit and in turn a high current account deficit (CAD). At the same time, being an important input for the aggregate economy, a crude price shock also leads to a spike in domestic inflation.

Global Markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading higher on Tuesday as investors gauged efforts to contain the coronavirus and awaited potential responses from policy makers.

In US, stocks bounced back on Monday, clawing back some losses from Friday's brutal selloff, even as investors kept an eye on battered Chinese equity exchanges.

Also helping drive gains in US stocks were data on the manufacturing sector from the Institute for Supply Management, whose purchasing manager's index rose to a six-month high of 50.9% in January. A reading above 50% indicates expansion, while below 50% indicates contraction.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dr. Kerry Bateman, a lifelong resident and chiropractor in Sumner, WA announced the signing of a purchase agreement to sell his chiropractic practice to Dr. Jordan Thaanum, a local chiropractor currently practicing in Puyallup. "After more than 32 years of serving the Sumner community as a chiropractor, I feel that it is time to transition towards retirement." Said Dr. Bateman. Riverside Chiropractic Center opened in 1988 and over the years, thousands 
The impact of NREL Principal Engineer Paul Torcellini's research can be seen in hundreds of commercial buildings worldwide. After three decades of dedication to energy-efficient buildings research, Torcellini has earned the distinction of ASHRAE Fellow

ASHRAE, the premier professional society dedicated to advancing sustainability of the built environment, honored Torcellini at the organization's 2020 winter conference in Orlando, Florida. The membership grade recognizes professionals who have attained distinction and made substantial contributions to the industry. Torcellini has been a leader within NREL's Commercial Buildings Research Group since 1994, and he joins Sheila Hayter as the laboratory's second researcher to earn the designation.

Honoring a Career of Zero Energy Buildings Research

Torcellini was honored for his distinguished career leading zero energy buildings research. He has authored or co-authored more than 50 papers and articles related to energy efficiency and zero energy commercial buildings and has received two ASHRAE Technology Awards for energy-efficient buildings work. He was instrumental in creating the design-build processPDF used to achieve the Zero Energy Building status for NREL's Research Support Facility.

Torcellini points out energy-efficient features of the nation's first zero energy Habitat for Humanity home, built in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, in 2005. Photo by Jack Dempsey, NREL

Torcellini chaired a multiorganizational committee that developed the Advanced Energy Design Guides for K-12 schools and grocery stores, and he is now leading the committee to create the Design Guide for multifamily housing. He describes his work on the Guides as one of his favorite projects. "I like the Guides because they bring together lots of knowledge from industry, integrate lab research, and package it in a way that people can achieve substantial results."

Leading Decades of Progress

During his career, Torcellini has contributed to a breakneck pace of progress in the study and practice of zero energy buildings. This is seen in the progress beyond baseline in the Guides themselves: "We started with 30% better than code in early 2000s, and then 50% better, then zero energy," he said.

We can empower design teams out there showing them how to do it and at a cost that people are willing to pay."

Progress is also enacted in state codes: California has a statewide goal for 50% of new major renovations of state buildings to be zero net energy by 2025. A national Architecture 2030 initiative calls for zero energy building as a standard voluntary practice by 2030, and some engineering firms now devote their entire practices to designing zero energy buildings. Torcellini sees his work as supporting the efforts of industry, "where the lab stops and you let the private sector take off. Our group can't design every building in the U.S., but we can empower design teams out there showing them how to do it and at a cost that people are willing to pay."

Read the full story.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Saroj Pandey on Tuesday gives Zero Hour notice in the Rajya Sabha over the need for "one nation, one election".

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited heads of all political parties to a meeting on June 19 last year to discuss the "one nation, one election" idea.

The idea of "one nation, one election" is about structuring the Indian election cycle in a manner such that elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies are synchronised together.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Founder and General Overseer of Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo has insisted there are people who sponsored the bomber arrested inside one of its Kaduna branches on Sunday.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Yakubu Sabo had confirmed that the suspect named Nathaniel Samuel was a Christian from Bauchi State.

According to Sabo, the suspect was arrested inside the church with a bag containing items suspected to be Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) Speaking on Monday at the Churchs Covenant hour of prayer, Oyedepo said Its impossible for the killer and others like him to be on the loose without some authorities backing them up.

Everyone in government, everyone in security services, that is behind these killings: YOUR END HAS COME. he said as he prayed during the churchs programme Monday morning

The cleric who boasted that God confirmed his prayers said woe to anyone involved or connected with the callous killings in the country.

According to him, the generation of members of Boko Haram, Miyetti Allah is cursed. The most irresponsible, most murderous system, is what we have today and in the name of Jesus by the Apostolic authority upon my life and Prophetic seal on my forehead, your end has come.

He noted that many precious lives have been wasted in the last two weeks and in the name of Jesus, the generations of those involved is declared wasted.

Last Sunday, his counterpart , the General Overseer of the RCCG, Pastor E.A Adeboye led the church members at his headquarters branch in Lagos on a rally, in protest against killing by terrorists.

Adeboye said every life lost, Christian or Muslim, is precious before God.

PV: 0
Denmark Arrests Three Iranians Accused Of Spying For Saudi Arabia

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda February 03, 2020

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) says it has arrested and charged three members of an Iranian secessionist movement on suspicion of spying for Saudi Arabia in Denmark.

Three members of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz (ASMLA), a group seeking a separate state for ethnic Arabs in Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan, carried out espionage activities from 2012 to 2018, PET said in a statement on February 3.

It said the three individuals "collected information about individuals in Denmark and abroad and passed on this information to a Saudi intelligence service," among other things.

A pretrial detention hearing is due on February 4.

"This is a very serious case, where Saudi Arabia and Iran have brought their rivalry to Denmark," PET head Finn Borch Andersen said.

The case is linked to a 2018 police operation over an alleged Iranian plot to kill one or more opponents of the Iranian government, Andersen said.

He said PET requested the arrest in absentia of an Iranian intelligence officer linked to the plot.

An Iranian-born Norwegian national remains in Danish custody over the 2018 plot, with which Tehran has denied any connection.

ASMLA seeks a separate state for ethnic Arabs in oil-producing Khuzestan Province.

Iran considers the group to be a terrorist organization and blames it for a September 2018 attack on a military parade that killed at least 25 people in Khuzestan's capital, Ahvaz.

With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/denmark- arrests-three-iranians-accused-of-spying- for-saudi-arabia/30414988.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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The United Kingdom supports the sovereignty of Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskys commitment to carry out reforms in the country.

Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Christopher Pincher said this during his speech at the UK Parliament, the Embassy of Ukraine in the UK wrote on its Twitter account.

The United Kingdom is a strong supporter of Ukraine's reforms, providing millions of pounds for technical assistance, as well as its territorial integrity. We lead robust sanctions on Russia for its attacks on Ukraine's sovereignty," Pincher said.

According to him, the UK is looking forward to welcoming President Zelensky as soon as a date is agreed.

As Ukrinform reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on the temporary introduction of a visa-free regime for citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

This step was taken with the aim of developing and implementing the principles of partnership between Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

ish
Drug firm on Tuesday said the inspection of its manufacturing facility at Ahmedabad by the US health regulator was completed with no observations.

United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) inspected the manufacturing facility of Alidac Pharmaceuticals, the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, at SEZ, Ahmedabad from January 27 to February 4, 2020, said in a BSE filing.

"At the end of the inspection, no observation (483) is issued. The site manufactures oncology injectables for the regulated markets," it added.

Shares of closed at Rs 264.05 per scrip on the BSE, up 1.46 per cent from its previous close.
A Texas judge has agreed that a man should be fully exonerated from his drug dealing conviction nine years ago, as the cop who testified against him now faces murder charges for lying in another case.

Otis Mallet, 64, served two years of an eight-year sentence in 2009 after Houston Police Officer Gerald Goines claimed Mallet and his brother sold him crack for $200 while he was undercover in 2008.

But on Monday Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg admitted she now believes Mallet is 'actually innocent' and that the officer falsified expense reports to claim he used police funds to buy drugs in an undercover sting.

Judge Romona Franklin agreed with the accusations and has recommended his exoneration to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which would make the final ruling on whether to declare Mallet innocent.

Otis Mallet (left) served two years of an eight-year sentence in 2009 after testimony from former Houston Police Officer Gerald Goines (right). But now prosecutors say the cop's testimony may have been a lie

'What a miscarriage of justice we have all witnessed with your case, Mr. Mallet,' Franklin said.

The case was reopened after last month the former Houston police officer was charged in connection with a 2019 drug raid that left two people dead.

Attorneys for Mallet allege Goines, 55, lied in testimony that prosecutors described as 'the cornerstone' of the case.

In a petition before state District Judge Franklin, Mallet's attorneys allege Goines' expense reports, which were not made available to the defense at trial, show he lied about using police funds to buy drugs from Mallet.

The expense reports also show Goines said he paid an informant for information leading to Mallet's arrest, something which he didn't reveal at trial or tell prosecutors about, according to the petition.

In an affidavit, Jamie Burro, the prosecutor in Mallet's case, said had she known about the information in Goines' expense reports, she would have asked that the case be dismissed.

The accusations by Mallet are similar to ones made against Goines related to the January 2019 drug raid in which Dennis Tuttle, 59, and Rhogena Nicholas, 58, were killed.

Prosecutors allege Goines lied to obtain the warrant to search the couple's home by claiming that a confidential informant had bought heroin there.

Goines, who was shot in a gunfight during the raid, later acknowledged there was no informant and that he had bought the drugs himself, they allege.

Since the raid, prosecutors have been reviewing about 14,000 cases handled by the Houston Police Department's narcotics division, including at least more than 2,000 tied to Goines and another ex-officer, Steven Bryant.

Defendants in previous cases will now be granted the presumption that Goines lied.

On the January charges, Goines is facing two counts of felony murder in state court for the deaths of the couple and is also facing seven counts in federal court over allegedly providing false information in the raid.

Bryant is also facing state and federal charges in the deadly raid. Both men were relieved of duty after the shooting and later retired.

The accusations by Mallet are similar to ones made against Goines related to the January 2019 drug raid in which Dennis Tuttle, 59, and Rhogena Nicholas, 58, were killed. Since the raid, prosecutors have been reviewing about 14,000 cases handled by the Houston Police Department's narcotics division, including at least more than 2,000 tied to Goines

On the January charges, Goines is facing two counts of felony murder in state court for the deaths of the couple and is also facing seven counts in federal court over allegedly providing false information in the raid. Ex-officer, Steven Bryant is also facing state and federal charges in the deadly raid. Both men were relieved of duty after the shooting and later retired

Goines, 55, appeared in court in January but soon was dismissed after his attorney, Nicole DeBorde, told a judge her client would be asserting his Fifth Amendment right not to testify

Four witnesses had disagreed with the version of events provided by the cop in 2008.

Mallet was freed six years early on parole and has long maintained his innocence.

'Otis has been fighting this case since 2008. It's fair to say that I think he's pretty tired of being put through all this kind of stuff. But hopefully we'll be done with this soon enough,' Jonathan Landers, one of Mallets attorneys, said following a court hearing in January.

Landers had requested that Goines testify during the hearing. Goines, 55, appeared in court but soon was dismissed after his attorney, Nicole DeBorde, told a judge her client would be asserting his Fifth Amendment right not to testify.

'We will not be having him testify on any matters while there is an investigation pending by the Harris County District Attorneys Office,' DeBorde previously said.

'These lawyers can make any claims that they want, no matter how outrageous they want them to be. He still cant answer any questions about those claims.'

At the time Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said her office agrees with Mallet's attorneys that Goines lied during Mallets trial and failed to provide evidence in the case.

'What were really concerned about is that an innocent person spent time behind bars,' Ogg said. 'It's our job to get the right guy and to make sure the evidence we have is authentic and truthful.'

But Ogg had said she wasn't yet prepared to declare Mallet innocent.

In the January court hearing, prosecutor Josh Reiss asked Franklin for more time to investigate and the judge gave prosecutors until Monday to finish their investigation.

On Monday Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg admitted she now believes Mallet is 'actually innocent'. She added: 'I told him that I believed his suffering will help a lot of other people'

Judge Romona Franklin agreed and has recommended his exoneration to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which would make the final ruling on whether to declare Mallet innocent. 'What a miscarriage of justice we have all witnessed with your case, Mr. Mallet,' Franklin said

Mallet's lawyer Jonathan Landers (right) said Monday: 'We are now one step closer to reversing the injustice inflicted upon Mr. Mallet and his family'

On Monday Ogg said: 'Now we know Mr. Goines was lying and using the district attorney's office as a tool to convict people wrongfully more than a decade ago.

'This case also raises questions about how buy-money was being issued by the Houston Police Department's narcotics division, and how drug payouts were being supervised and audited.'

Ogg continued: 'Mr. Mallet's case is significant because it appears that Mr. Goines was operating outside of the law for more than a decade. There's no telling how many cases like this may be out there.'

She added: 'I told him that I believed his suffering will help a lot of other people,' said Ogg after the court proceedings. 'I wanted him to know that his wrongful conviction will have meaning.'

Goines' attorney Deborde claimed Ogg had orchestrated a 'media stunt'.

Deborde told The Houston Chronicle on Monday: 'The DA's office is using this as way to bolster their position in the other case.'

On Monday, Mallet's attorney said: 'We are thankful that the District Attorney, Kim Ogg, joined us in our effort to have Otis Mallet declared actually innocent.

'We are also thankful that Judge Ramona Franklin found that Mr. Mallet is innocent of the crimes alleged at his trial and has recommended to the Court of Criminal Appeals that Mr. Mallet be granted full relief from his convictions.

'We are now one step closer to reversing the injustice inflicted upon Mr. Mallet and his family.'
Schools are already struggling to prepare for the impact that automation and technological change will have on the future of work across the United States.

But the real challenge is even steeper than that: K-12 leaders must also recognize that the country is made up of thousands of smaller local and regional economies, marked by sharp differences that will likely grow sharper in the coming decade.

Thats the key takeaway for educators from a 2019 report from the McKinsey Global Institute, titled The Future of Work in America: People and Places, Today and Tomorrow.

Local economies across the country have been on divergent trajectories for years, and they are entering the automation age from different starting points, the report says. They can draw on a common toolbox of solutions, but the priorities vary from place to place.

To get a better sense of what that means for schools, Education Week and the McKinsey Global Institute partnered to profile four very different places: a thriving urban hub in Texas, a New England city struggling with a stagnant job market, a Georgia town heavily reliant on a vulnerable manufacturing industry, and one of the most sparsely populated rural communities in Wyoming.

First, McKinsey Global Institute provided data about the local economies in each place. Then, it shared its analysts estimates about the impact automation will have on local jobs over the next decade. Armed with that information, Education Week talked with local K-12 leaders about their distinctive approaches to workforce preparation.

What did we learn?

When it comes to getting kids ready for the future of work, schools are slowly figuring out how to balance thinking globally with acting locally.

Some skills are likely to be valuable no matter where students end up living. As a result, theres a broad consensus that schools should pursue universal strategies such as expanding STEM education, building more hands-on, collaborative problem solving into the curriculum, and cultivating the creative and interpersonal skills that machines wont soon take over.

But schools are also focusing on their own backyards, partnering with local employers and civic leaders to develop programs and offer credentials that reflect their distinctive labor markets.

McKinsey Global Institute senior partner Andre Dua said in an interview last August that that combination of strategies makes senseas does finding partners in business, higher education, local government, and philanthropy to help enact them.

It takes everyone coming together, Dua said. We should expect to see more of that.

Austin, Texas

Hector Vazquez Pacheco was just a high school sophomore when he started taking cybersecurity classes at Austin Community College. The lingo and acronyms were unfamiliar and intimidating.

Four Different Futures In 2019, the McKinsey Global Institute analyzed the local economies of thousands of counties and hundreds of cities around the country. Researchers analyzed patterns of job growth since the Great Recession. They also estimated the impact of automation on local job markets in the coming decade, modeling a variety of different scenarios based on factors affecting the pace and extent of adoption of new technologies in different industries. The data profiles with this story provide a snapshot of four very different local labor markets, with four very different futures, in four very different parts of the United States. For education leaders, the variation across these communities raises an important question: Should K-12 workforce preparation focus on providing students with a general set of skills that might be applicable anywhere? Or should it focus on preparing students specifically for the local labor market? Austin, Texas High-Growth Hub Total jobs, 2017: 1.1 million

Potential net jobs added, 2017-30: +335,000 (+30 percent growth rate)

Fastest growing fields: Health care and social assistance (+51,900 jobs); professional, scientific & technical services (+26,600 jobs)

Potential growth rate for jobs requiring bachelors degree vs. high school diploma: 35 percent vs. 24 percent Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn. Trailing City Total jobs, 2017: 480,600

Potential net jobs added, 2017-30: 39,600 (+8 percent growth rate)

Potential automation displacement rate for those ages 18-34, 2017-30: 23 percent

Potential net jobs decline in key fields for young people, 2017-2030: Office support (-7,700), Food services (-3,100) Dalton, Ga. Americana Total jobs, 2017: 71,400

Potential net jobs added, 2017-30: 2,300 (+3 percent growth rate)

Potential total automation displacement rate, 2017-30: 28 percent

Potential automation displacement rate of whites vs. Hispanics, 2017-30: 26 percent vs. 33 percent

Potential automation displacement rate in manufacturing jobs, 2017-30: 39 percent

Potential net manufacturing jobs lost, 2017-30: -2,500 Niobrara County, Wyo. Distressed Americana Total jobs, 2015: 1,100

Potential net jobs lost, 2017-30: -76 (-7 percent growth rate)

Fields with highest total employment, 2015: Public Administration (248); agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting (159); construction (112)

Share of total population below the poverty line, 2015: 14.9 percent

Net population decline, 2010-2017: -95 (-3.7 percent) McKinsey Global Institute, U.S. Census

But he had an unusual supporter to turn to: A mentor from the technology company Dell, with whom Pacheco had been paired as part of the Austin school districts Career Launch program.

Hes pretty chill, Pacheco, now an 11th grader, said during an interview at the start of the current school year. We talk through email when I need help with my college classes.

Thats exactly the way Career Launch, now in place at four Austin schools and serving a total of more than 1,700 students, is intended to work. If Pacheco and his peers complete the six-year program, theyll earn a high school diploma, an associate degree, a technical credential, workplace experience, and a guaranteed job or interview in one of the fastest-growing occupational fields in one of the fastest-growing job markets in the country.

That kind of leg up could prove critical in a place like Austin, one of about two dozen high-growth hubs identified by the McKinsey Global Institute in its recent report about the future of work.

Such hubs are home to about 44 percent of the United States total population, and have generated most of the countrys job growth since the Great Recession of 2007-09, the group found. Whats more, such areas could capture 60 percent of all new U.S. jobs created by 2030. The Austin region alone could potentially add a net total of 335,000 new jobs, many of which will be high-skill and high-wage, McKinsey Global Institute researchers estimated.

But despite the rosy projections, theres also a big problem, said Andre Dua, a senior partner with the group.

In places like Austin, Seattle, New York, and Denver, middle- and high-income jobs are not always going to people who grew up in those places, Dua said. Not everyone is benefiting from the economy being vibrant.

Pacheco, for example, said hell be the first in his family to directly benefit from Austins tech boom if he completes Career Launch and lands a job at Dell.

Making a place like Austin work for such students has to be an explicit goal of workforce preparation programs, said Craig Shapiro, the districts associate superintendent for high schools. That means focusing on exposure and relationships as much as academics, he said.

Companies are finding that theres a lot of talent in our schools, Shapiro said. Its not that theyre not skilled. Its having the right connections, having practical job training, and having a champion and mentor.

Bridgeport, Conn.

Tom Long has an up-close view of the entry points into southwestern Connecticuts fragile job market.

He sees whats coming.

If you go to Applebees now, you can order your food at a kiosk, said Long, a senior vice president for communications at The Workplace, a workforce-development group that helps connect hundreds of young adults with jobs each year. Looking out at that 10-year horizon, [16-24 year old workers] will need more skills.

Indeed, the McKinsey Global Institute predicts that automation will have a particularly profound effect on the roughly 15 million younger workers in the U.S. economy. Many start with first jobs in fields such as food services or office administrative support. But the former could lose 5 percent of its jobs by 2030, while the latter could lose 11 percent of its jobs, according to the groups midpoint estimates for how automation might impact different sectors of the labor market.

Such a scenario would mean millions of mostly entry-level jobs lost nationally. Thousands of those jobs would be lost in southwestern Connecticut, where some communities, like Bridgeport, are struggling to provide meaningful job opportunities.

When those go away, what are the new pathways for young people? asked Dua.

Michael Testani, acting superintendent of Bridgeport public schools, has been asking the same questions since he took the job last June.

In recent years, the school system had seen some of its efforts around career readiness dwindle, but Testani is eager to revive them.

An existing program at Harding High School connects students to two local health-care facilities where they can achieve nursing certifications alongside their high school diplomas. Some Bassick High School students, meanwhile, participate in an advanced manufacturing program at Housatonic Community College during their senior year of high school. The goal of both partnerships is to help students gain valuable skills and access to well-paying jobs more quickly.

Testani said hes met in recent months with area institutions like the Discovery Museum about educational opportunities there that will lead students into the next decade.

Testani also hopes to see broader acknowledgement of the need for programs geared toward students who plan to go right into the workforce after high school, rather than attending college.

We cant just prepare students for the jobs that are trending right now, he said. This global economy is moving pretty rapidly. Todays jobs are not going to be tomorrows jobs.

Other entities, such as for-profit coding bootcamps and training groups such as General Assembly, are also now part of the mix.

The groups will face a huge challenge, said Long from The Workplace: How do you make sure the young people with the fewest skills and the greatest hurdles to overcome still have a shot at accessing opportunity?

Some strategies are unlikely to change. School dropouts will still need basic reading and math skills. Young people will also need to find ways to earn some kind of credential. And career counselors will need to find ways to help young people expand their horizons beyond a job for just right now.

But as the labor market shifts, Long said, adjusting to new challenges will likely require increasing collaboration from a wide range of partners.

We always think of ourselves as part of a broader ecosystem, he said.

Dalton, Ga.

In a fast-changing job market, being the carpet capital of the world can feel a bit unsteady.

Our local economy is based on the floor-covering industry. Most of the supply chain is here, said Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce President Rob Bradham. But because the products we manufacture are tied directly to the housing market, when that starts to deflate, our economy deflates as well.

Thats exactly what happened during the Great Recession. Thousands of jobs were lost. Unemployment shot up from about 3 percent to more than 14 percent. The recovery was slow.

Things have started to rebound, Bradham said, but the Dalton areas labor market will likely remain turbulent for at least another decade. The McKinsey Global Institute predicts slow job growth overall for the region. Making matters worse, a new wave of automation could wipe out 2 of every 5 manufacturing jobs that remain in Dalton. Hispanic workers could be particularly hard hit.

To get ahead of the problem, Daltons business and civic leaders recently launched a campaign to diversify the local economy. Local K-12 schools are playing a major role.

One big goal: cultivating more entrepreneurs.

The Dalton school district, for example, now hosts a summer Entrepreneurship and Innovation Camp. It also partnered with a local innovation accelerator so that students can join other local inventors in pitching their business ideas to investors and business experts.

The effort has already had one big success: In 2018, Dalton 7th grader Tripp Phillips parlayed an earlier class assignment into a victory at the pitch fest, then an appearance on the reality television show Shark Tank. He left with $80,000 to help build his company, which developed a temporary glue to hold Legos together.

School principals are also part of the effort to secure Daltons future. At Brookwood Elementary, principal Meleia Bridenstine regularly takes part in meetings of international business leaders held at the Volkswagen plant in nearby Chattanooga, Tenn.

Much of the focus, she said, is on employers ravenous demand for workers with good soft skills, such as the ability to communicate as part of diverse global teams.

Thats one reason Bridenstine is particularly excited about Brookwoods recently launched German-language immersion program. More than half of participating students already speak both Spanish and English. Now, theyre expected to be fluent in German by the end of 5th grade, too.

Parents really want their children to know more than whats right here in Dalton, Bridenstine said. If we start in elementary, theyll be able to market themselves later.

Lusk, Wyo.

Each school year, George Mirich faces a difficult choice.

Get the 300 students in his district ready for Niobrara Countys scattered agriculture economy, where growing hay is one of the few relatively reliable private sector jobs? Or bet on computer science and virtual learning, with the idea of supporting students who want to either leave or risk trying to find remote work from employers based in other parts of the country?

We have to do both, said Mirich, the superintendent of the 300-student Niobrara County school district. This is the least populated county in the least populated state in the country. We have to prepare students for whatever opportunities [we can.]

Its a familiar dynamic for the 2,000 or so rural counties across the country that are confronting aging populations, high unemployment, and historically low levels of geographic mobility, according to the McKinsey Global Institute.

In areas that the group calls distressed Americana, for example, the overall population has declined more than 2 percent since 2010. Most of the jobs lost during the Great Recession havent come back. And many of the middle-skill jobs that remainin industries such as mining, manufacturing, and the energy sectorcould be particularly vulnerable to automation.

Thats certainly the case in Niobrara County, where the McKinsey Global Institute forecasts continued job losses and population decline.

The local high schools efforts include a Future Farmers of America agriculture program, which was revived a few years ago. They do everything from poultry and sheep up through raising cattle, the actual growing of hay, welding, small-building construction, and learning the day-to-day operations of a ranch, said Principal Phil Garhart. In todays age, the bottom line on a ranch is pretty delicate, so they have to understand all those little details.

Garhart has also made an effort to boost the technology tools available in his school. All 87 students now get their own Chromebooks. A handful of students take online classes such as drafting, which Niobrara County High doesnt have the capacity to offer itself.

And the district also partners with the for-profit online education company K12 Inc. to run the Wyoming Virtual Academy, a full-time online school.

But for now, at least, such efforts to leverage technology to prepare Niobrara County students for the larger work world are mostly aspirational.

At Wyoming Virtual, for example, the first-year leadership team acknowledges that the schools current career-counseling and workforce-preparation efforts lag behind those at many of Wyomings brick-and-mortar schools. And full-time cyber schools in general have a poor track record when it comes to both academic performance and financial management.

Still, Shaun McAlmont, K12 Inc. president of career readiness education, said the McKinsey Global Institute is on to something when it says that preparing rural students for remote work is one way communities such as Lusk can gird themselves for an uncertain future.

Though not yet offered at Wyoming Virtual, the companys Destinations Career Academies are now available in 20 of its other full-time online schools. Kids in the program can take online electives in fields such as information technology and health care, often with the chance to earn a certification or other industry credential. They use K12 Inc.'s online platform to work as part of a virtual teams, meeting online with industry professionals, who offer feedback on their projects during remote presentations.

The hope, McAlmont said, is to make sure students in places like Lusk are able to walk through the new career doors that technology is helping to open.

The biggest opportunity is preparing rural students for virtual and remote work down the road, McAlmont said. The program is somewhat nascent right now, but the amount of interest weve received is tremendous.
DRANCY, France  The girls and boys in the room were just a little older than Victor Perahia was when he was finally freed in 1945, his body wracked with tuberculosis and typhus, his mind anguished by the suffering and death he had seen. After 40 years of self-imposed silence, he now returns time and again to bear witness at Drancy, the transit center from where the French government deported tens of thousands of Jews into the hands of Nazis.

From the day of my arrest to the day of my liberation, I will tell you my story, Perahia said. He sat with his back to the window overlooking the Drancy housing project, where he spent 21 months. It was the last place in France his father and grandfather saw before they were loaded into a train bound for the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.

The students from a middle school in nearby Livry Gargan held their breaths, their eyes fixed on Perahias lined face.

Perahia spoke to the students last week amid a series of events to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Surveys in recent years, including one released this year, show young people in France and elsewhere in Europe increasingly question the scale of the Holocaust, although outright denial is rare.

Perahia told the students he was 9 when six German soldiers stomped upstairs to the family apartment in the coastal town of Saint-Nazaire. They kept him hostage while his mother ran to fetch his father, who demanded to know what was happening.

We are here for a simple identity check. You will follow us, along with your wife and your child, and in 48 hours, you will be home again, the officer told his father.

The lie was revealed two days later. They were in a detention camp near the city of Tours when still more German officers separated men from women and children, Perahia told the teens, his voice steady.

The room fell utterly silent as he spoke.

My father looked me deep in the eyes, as if he felt that it was going to be a difficult moment to live through. Because maybe he thought that it would be the last time that we would see each other. Perahia paused briefly. Ill tell you right away, that was the last time I saw my father. Because he was deported in convoy Number 8.

Perahia and his mother barely survived the Bergen-Belsen labor camp and were liberated by Russian soldiers on their way to Berlin.

For the children listening to him on this day, organized jointly by the Drancy memorial and a Jewish umbrella organization, it seemed he had succeeded in leaving something behind.

Lori Hinnant is an Associated Press writer.
For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.

Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.

Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.





to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.





Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.





View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.

Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.

Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.






From all outward appearances, Prince Charles seems to have a perfect life! Not only is he the future king of Great Britain, but he has two handsome sons, four wonderful grandchildren, a huge fan base, and a wife who loves him dearly.

Judging from the genuine smile that we often see on Prince Charles face, and it is easy to come to the conclusion that the prince is enjoying life to the fullest. As the oldest son of Queen Elizabeth, we know that we can always count on Prince Charles to carry out his royal duties with dignity and excellence.

Prince William, who is in the direct line of succession as well, has followed in his fathers footsteps, and Prince Charles has supported Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex as they have decided to step down as senior royals. However, things might not have always been what they seem, especially when Prince Harry was born.

Whenever a father welcomes a new baby, he should be ecstatic no matter what. But apparently, it wasnt that way with the birth of Prince Harry.

Prince Charles had a complicated relationship with Prince Harry

Prince Harry | Samir Hussein/WireImage

Not many royal fans can forget Prince Harry and Meghans wedding day when Prince Charles did the incredible duty of walking the bride halfway down the aisle when her father couldnt be there due to health complications. This most likely led fans to believe that the famous father and son are extremely close, yet things werent always so perfect.

The List reports that while things seem to be just fine now, Prince Charles had a pretty complicated relationship with both of his sons while they were growing up. While he was there to support them after the sudden death of their mother, Princess Diana, his royal duties often kept him so busy that he didnt have that much time to spend with his boys.

As a result, both young princes, especially Prince Harry, were much closer to Princess Diana then they were to Prince Charles. The brothers reportedly often resented Prince Charles for that.

What is Prince Charles relationship like with Meghan Markle?

Royal fans are well aware that Meghan has some family issues of her own. The only member of her family that she has a relationship with is her mother, Doria Ragland, who lives thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, California.

Since Prince Harry and his father seem to be on good terms, does Prince Charles also have a close relationship with his daughter-in-law, Meghan? According to The Daily Beast, things arent as good as they should be.

Apparently, Meghan and Prince Harry didnt feel welcome by members of the royal family, such as Prince Charles. It definitely caused some friction between them, and there is speculation that the distance between Prince Charles and the Sussexes was a major contributing factor for Meghan and Prince Harrys decision to resign from their royal duties.

That said, according to Her, Prince Charles makes a point of supporting Meghan in any way that he can, especially given the drama that she is going through with her own family. Whats more, Elle reports Prince Charles refers to Meghan as Tungsten in reference to her strength.

Prince Charles reaction to Prince Harrys birth is heartbreaking

Most people are over the moon when a new baby arrives. So, what did Prince Charles do when Prince Harry was born that was so disappointing?

It is really no secret that Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana had a very rocky marriage. However, she knew that her then-husband was hoping for a daughter since they already had a little boy at home.

According to Page Six, he was so desperate for a girl that when he first saw his newborn son, he stated how upset he was that it was a boy, and even that he had red hair! As if that werent bad enough, he said the same thing at Prince Harrys christening a few months later, proving that it wasnt a momentary lapse in judgment.

What is Prince Charles relationship like with Prince Harry after Megxit?

Prince Harrys relationship with his family is under question after he and Meghan announced they would be leaving the royal family. Prince Charles was reportedly blindsided and incandescent with rage by the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs decision to step down as senior royals.

Some reports indicate that Prince Harry didnt seek Prince Charles permission on purpose. Many have questioned why, as William and Harrys father and only living parent, Charles has not been able to broker peace between his once inseparable sons, said royal writer Camilla Tominey.

The truth is the royal brothers do not really listen to the Papa they have long seemed to regard with a degree of affectionate ridicule, she added. Charles has always been desperate for the approval of his two self-confessed mummys boys and so historically has had to bring in outsiders to read the riot act, such as their former joint private secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton.
Israel's military and other security services undergo largest rearmament in years

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Flyone Armenia and Pegasus receive permission for Yerevan-Istanbul-Yerevan flights

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Arab foreign ministers to visit Beijing

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Armenian FM has a phone call with his Polish counterpart

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US COVID-19 cases reach 60 million

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WHO excludes emergence of deltacron strain

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NEWS.am daily digest: 10.01.22

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EC says construction of new nuclear power plants in Europe will require  500 billion in investment

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Pope says he was praying for Kazakhstan

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Several strategic objects in Kazakhstan transferred to CSTO contingent under protection

David Minasyan elected head of Armenia's Parakar community

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NATO chief announces Russia forces continued buildup in Ukraine

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Unidentified persons report threat of explosion at Armenia, Belarus embassies in Moscow

Putin confers with Pashinyan, Lukashenko on situation in Kazakhstan

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1 more person dies of coronavirus in Karabakh

Artsakh resident, 91 found dead near village

Russia MFA reacts to Blinken's words about Russian military in Kazakhstan

195 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Kazakhstan security committee ex-chief detained

Kazakhstan interior ministry: There are foreigners among those detained in Almaty region

Russia continues transporting its peacekeepers to Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan launches investigation into 180 retailers of liquefied petroleum gas

BMW introduces concept vehicle that can change colors

Shootings continue in Kazakhstans Almaty
The energy sector across the Middle East & North Africa is facing the dual challenge of meeting rising demand while addressing a pressing need to shift to low-carbon systems, according to an industry report released ahead of Middle East Energy.

The global energy platform will be held at Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, from March 3 to 5.

Energy & Utilities Market Outlook Report 2020, produced by GRS Research & Strategy and commissioned by Informa Markets, organisers of Middle East Energy, comes as investment in the regions power sector is estimated to be worth $260 billion by 2022.

"Energy systems around the world are going through rapid transitions that affect many aspects of our lives," states the report. "The continuation and acceleration of these shifts will initiate a global energy transition that will bring about significant changes to the way we fuel our cars, heat our homes, and power our industries in the coming decades."

The report, based on a survey of more than 2,000 energy sector operators, has identified the GCC as the highest potential market for future-focused energy business opportunities, accounting for 32.8 percent of anticipated transactions.

Middle East Energys Plenary Sessions will feature six dedicated discussions and more than 40 speakers delivering over strategic dialogue on the issues at the core of the long-term development of the Mena regions power sector.

"As the global energy platform, Middle East Energy gathers the leading lights of the worldwide industry to examine the major issues, explore opportunities and set the agenda for the future. The plenary sessions and the wider conference series will deliver expert insights into the major transformation of the energy sector," explained Claudia Konieczna, Exhibition Director, Middle East Energy. "The conference series is a bespoke industry platform created with the full support of a high-level advisory board, to provide specific market information designed to meet the needs of all our visitors."

The sessions will probe topics which are now fundamental to the sectors transition, including new business models operating within the energy industry, the power of digital and effective renewables integration. They are part of a three-pronged Middle East Energy conference programme which has attracted more than 150 experts from the UK, USA, Europe, China, the Middle East and North Africa to a two-day Renewables Conference and a series of seminars devoted to Digitalisation In Energy.

More than 1,300 companies are due to take part in Middle East Energy across the exhibitions five product sectors  digitalisation, power generation, transmission & distribution, energy consumption & management and renewables.
[February 04, 2020] Seminar on Drafting and Negotiating International Agency and Distribution Agreements (London, United Kingdom - June 4-5, 2020) - Ideal for Individuals Working in International Practice - ResearchAndMarkets.com

The "Drafting and Negotiating International Agency and Distribution Agreements" conference has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This two-day seminar will give practical advice on the legal considerations and commercial concerns essential for securing a successful and sustainable international deal. It is targeted at those who draft, negotiate and advise on international commercial agreements and cross-border transactions. The programme reviews the sale of goods and the appointment of distributors and agents, as well as the licensing of intellectual property rights within the context of an international contract. This seminar is not jurisdiction specific and is as such ideal for individuals working in international practice. Why you should attend Day one provides a comprehensive overview of the main international legal instruments governing international contracts, the sale of goods, trade terms, documentary sale and letter of credit. Cross-jurisdictional concerns will be explored generally and, in particular, the allocation of jurisdiction, choice of law, and the recognition and enforcement of judgments. The programme will look at the new Brussels Regulation (in force from 2015), the Hague Convention 2005 (in force from 2015), Incoterms 2010 and 2020, and the UCP 600 (Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits). Day two provides delegates with the requisite knowledge and skills that they need to negotiate and draft international commercial deals generally, and specifically sales, distribution, and agency agreements. By the end of this seminar, delegates should be properly equipped with the essential skill-base and substantive legal and business knowledge needed in order to effectively advise on, negotiate and draft cross-border commercial agreements. This intensive and interactive training programme will develop your skills to: Be aware of the legal and commercial considerations for a successful international deal

of the legal and commercial considerations for a successful international deal Understand the main legal instruments governing international contracts

the main legal instruments governing international contracts Explore the alloction of jurisdiction, and the choice of law in a cross-border dispute

the alloction of jurisdiction, and the choice of law in a cross-border dispute Evaluate the dispute resolution mechanisms available to resolve disputes in a sustainable manner

the dispute resolution mechanisms available to resolve disputes in a sustainable manner Use best practice techniques to successfully negotiate your contracts

techniques to successfully negotiate your contracts Examine key types of international commercial agreements

key types of international commercial agreements Assess the strategic considerations associated with international commercial agreements

the strategic considerations associated with international commercial agreements Plan in order to better negotiate a value-added deal



Agenda: Day One

International contractual disputes A review of the international instruments governing cross-jurisdictional matters

Alternative dispute resolution Mechanisms available and their pros and cons

Arbitration agreements New York Convention

Jurisdiction and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments Brussels Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters) Hague Convention of 30 June 2005 on Choice of Court Agreements Hague Convention 2019 on recognition of enforcement of foreign judgments in civil or commercial matters

Choice of law Rome I (Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 of the European Parliament and the Council of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations) Practical exercise: Choice of law International contract law Key instruments governing international contracts (binding and non-binding)

Choice of law in international contracts

United Nations' Convention on Contracts for the International Sales of Goods 1980 (CISG) Applicability and exclusions Formation (News - Alert) of a contract Responsibilities of seller and buyer Remedies of seller and buyer Excuses for non-performance

Practical exercise: Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods Trade terms, documentary sales and trade finance Introduction

Incoterms 2010 and 2020

Documentary sales and bills of lading

Letters of credit and the UCP 600 Practical exercise: Trade terms and documentation Programme - Day Two Distribution agreements Choosing between an agent and a distributor

The key differences between the two relationships

Framework agreements

Regulation of distribution agreements (DCFR and EU competition law relevant to distribution agreements)

Key terms in distribution agreements: exclusivity, term, licences, verification and termination Practical workshop: Drafting and negotiation - part 1 Agency agreements Agency arrangements: when and why?

Common types of agency relationships

Concerns of principal and of agent

Legal regulation of the agency relationship Directive 86/653/EEC on self-employed commercial agents Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 (SI 1993, No 3053 as amended) EU competition law

Agency agreements: key terms Appointment

Exclusivity

Term

Payment

Performance obligations

Targets

IPR protection

Termination

Indemnity

Compensation

Checklist of general provisions Practical workshop: Drafting and negotiation - part 2 Summary and final questions For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/z2978o View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005850/en/

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Family ordered to return $16.2 mln debt of late IT entrepreneur to U.S. businessman

 flickr.com/Mike Lawrence

18:04 04/02/2020

ST. PETERSBURG, February 4 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov)  The Primorsky District Court of St. Petersburg has ordered a widow and a son of the late owner of NovIT Pro IT company Valery Pshenichny, to pay a $16.2 million debt to the U.S. businessman Marc Nickinson, the United press service of St. Petersburg courts has told RAPSI.

Natalya Pshenichnaya is ordered to pay down two thirds of the debt, while Denis Pshenichny is to pay the rest of the money demanded.

The plaintiff in his lawsuit noted that in February 2016 he gave Valery Pshenichny $15 million. The businessman promised to return the money with interest. The confirming document were notarized in Florida.

The court granted the claim in full.

Valery Pshenichny, the father of the escaped defendant, stood charged with embezzlement of 33 million rubles of the Defense Ministry allocated to NovIT Pro for creation of a 3D model of a diesel-electric submarine.

He was arrested in January 2019, and a month later he committed suicide in detention.

His son Denis Pshenichny is charged with embezzling 368 million rubles during the engineering of another submarine.




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A Sinn Fein minister branded IRA murder victim Paul Quinn a smuggler and a criminal - despite Mary Lou McDonald saying that he told her that he had never done so.

Finance Minister Conor Murphy has insisted claims he described Paul Quinn in such derogatory terms were "totally without foundation".

When asked about the issue in an election interview with RTE's Bryan Dobson on Monday, the Sinn Fein president said: "I've spoken to Conor Murphy about this issue before.

"He is very clear that he never said that. That that is not his view."

But the Belfast Telegraph has uncovered footage from a BBC Spotlight documentary a month after the 21-year-old south Armagh man's murder.

In an interview that was broadcast on November 13, 2007, Mr Murphy said: "Paul Quinn was involved in smuggling and criminality and I think everyone accepts that.

"As I say this is a very difficult situation because there's a family grieving here and you don't want to add to that grief by saying things about their son."

He has denied saying something that he is recorded on tape as saying. It is bad enough that he blackened Paul's name. But then for him to insist he never did so is despicable Breege Quinn

Paul Quinn was beaten to death by an IRA gang in a farmhouse in Oram, Co Monaghan.

Every major bone below his neck was broken in the brutal attack.

He had previously clashed with a local IRA commander's son.

His mother Breege has repeatedly asked Mr Murphy to withdraw his "slur" against her son.

Mr Murphy has denied that he ever branded Paul a criminal.

He told the Irish News on October 19, 2017, that claims he did so were "totally without foundation".

Mrs Quinn last night said: "Since my son was murdered, Sinn Fein has behaved terribly. Far from comforting my family, they have added to our pain and suffering.

"Conor Murphy is a senior Executive minister in Northern Ireland.

"He has denied saying something that he is recorded on tape as saying. It is bad enough that he blackened Paul's name. But then for him to insist he never did so is despicable.

"We didn't make it up that Conor branded Paul a criminal. We are not liars. Those words came from his mouth.

"He should have retracted his words long ago and issued an apology."

Ms McDonald last night said that Mr Murphy would withdraw his remarks and say sorry to the Quinn family.

When his quotes were read out to her by interviewer Miriam O'Callaghan during RTE's Prime Time leaders' debate, the Sinn Fein president described them as "wrong".

She said: "Those things should not have been said. Conor withdraws them and apologises."

Mrs Quinn said that Mr Murphy must make a public apology to her family. "He blackened Paul's name in public, and he must apologise the same way. A private phone call or chat won't do," she added.
A man who smashed 28 television screens in a bookmakers with a hammer after he was not given winnings he believed he was owed has been given a suspended sentence.

John Farrell (47), who caused 10,400 in damage, was "raging" and felt the bet he had put on had been placed on the wrong race.

Farrell, of Barnwell Drive, Ballymun, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to criminal damage at Boyle Sports, Ballymun Road on September 6, 2016.

Farrell has 25 previous convictions, the most recent - handling stolen property - in 2001.

Garda Keith Morris told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that Farrell handed in a ticket for a treble bet looking to collect his winnings.

The staff member pointed out to him that the first horse in the first race had not won, so it was not a winning ticket.

After the woman scanned the ticket again and explained it was not a winner, Farrell muttered something before telling her "wait until you're locking up the door on your own, I will be there", before he left.

Farrell returned later and gave the ticket to a different staff member and was again told the ticket was not a winner.

"If you are not going to pay me, I will take it out on the screens," said Farrell, who took a hammer out of a bag and started smashing television screens.

Staff went into a back room and activated a panic alarm.

Farrell told gardai he had been having a difficult time.

He said he felt the bet he had put on had not been processed properly and was "raging".

Seoirse O Dunlaing BL, defending, said his client, who is receiving treatment for an aggressive form of cancer, had felt the money was owed to him.

Exceptional

He said Farrell made full admissions and has not come to gardai's attention again.

Mr O Dunlaing handed a letter from Fr Peter McVerry into court on his client's behalf.

Judge Melanie Greally said the case had "a few exceptional features".

She said he was understandably highly upset a mistake had been made, but his reaction was vastly out of proportion.

She said it was quite exceptional that Farrell had not transgressed since 2001.

She took into account Fr McVerry's letter, the guilty plea and co-operation and imposed a four-year suspended sentence.
HEATHCLIFF REDUX

A Novella and Stories

By Lily Tuck



Of course I had read Wuthering Heights, reads the opening line of Heathcliff Redux. I read it years ago in high school, but, in my late 20s, I decided to read it again. The unnamed narrator of Lily Tucks restrained but remarkably arresting novella is a well-to-do wife and mother in rural Virginia. Her husband, Charlie, breeds cattle on the 400-acre farm in Albemarle County where they live with their 9-year-old twin boys. It is 1963, still a relatively innocent time  innocent, at least, for middle-class people like Charlie and me, she reminisces. We did not do drugs, we did not get divorced, and we did not have abortions or extramarital love affairs, or, if we did, we did not talk about them.

Hence the relative reserve with which the narrator subsequently details her liaison with Cliff, a rakish, reckless horseman  he rides like a Cossack  whom she falls for with the same helpless lust with which teenage bibliophiles swoon over Emily Brontes brooding antihero: It is hard to describe how handsome Cliff was, how sexy and how attracted I was. (Readers familiar with Tucks earlier book The Double Life of Liliane, an autobiographical portrait of the authors childhood and coming-of-age that mixed fiction, cultural commentary and personal memoir, might remember the adolescent Lilianes attempts to write a novel about her imagined life with Heathcliff during the three years hes away from Wuthering Heights.)

Image

Using the same flat, fragmentary style that proved so fruitful in her most recent novel, Sisters, Tuck constructs her narrators story from a series of short, clipped sections, sometimes a couple of paragraphs, others no more than a line or two per page. Its a master class in digression as a narrative device. A recipe for beef bourguignon, the story of a cuckoo that steals the jewels of an Italian countess, fox-hunting etiquette as detailed by the Keswick Hunt Club: Each has its role to play. Yet while Sisters  which was narrated by a woman obsessed with her husbands first wife  owed an unspoken debt to Daphne du Mauriers Rebecca, Heathcliff Redux is a much more visibly knotty intertextual exercise.
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BEIJING  China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said we have launched a peoples war of prevention of the epidemic.

Xi presided over a special meeting of the top Communist Party body for the second time since the crisis started, telling the Politburo standing committee on Monday the country must race against time to curb the spread of the virus. He also said those who neglect their duties will be punished, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Hong Kong shut almost all of its land and sea border crossings with the mainland at midnight after medical workers began a strike demanding the border be closed completely. More than 2,000 hospital workers went on strike Monday, and their union has threatened a bigger walkout Tuesday.

Hong Kong was hit hard by SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in 2002-03, an illness from the same family of viruses as the current outbreak and which many believe was intensified by official Chinese secrecy and obfuscation.

The mainland's latest figures of 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed infections with the new coronavirus were up from 361 deaths and 17,205 cases the previous day. Outside mainland China, at least 180 cases have been confirmed, including one fatality, in the Philippines.

Other countries are continuing evacuations and restricting the entry of Chinese or people who have recently traveled in the country. A plane carrying Malaysians from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province where the illness has been concentrated, arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday morning, and the 133 people on board were to be screened and quarantined for 14 days, the maximum incubation period for the virus.

Medical teams from the People's Liberation Army were arriving in Wuhan to relieve overwhelmed health workers and to staff the new 1,000-bed hospital. It was built in just 10 days, its prefabricated wards equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and ventilation systems.

A 1,500-bed hospital also specially built for patients infected with the new virus is due to open within days.

With no end to the outbreak in sight, authorities in Hubei and elsewhere extended the Lunar New Year holiday break, due to end this week, well into February to try to keep people at home and reduce the spread of the virus. All Hubei schools are postponing the start of the new semester until further notice.

Chinese scientists said they have more evidence the virus, which was first detected in Wuhan in December, likely originated in bats. In a study published in the journal Nature, Shi Zhen-Li and colleagues at the Wuhan Institute of Virology reported that genome sequences from seven patients were 96% identical to a bat coronavirus.

SARS is also believed to have originated in bats, although it jumped to civet cats before infecting people. Scientists suspect the latest outbreak began at a seafood market in Wuhan where wild animals were on sale and in contact with people.

Japanese officials were considering a quarantine of more than 3,000 people on a cruise ship that carried a passenger who tested positive for the virus. The passenger on the Japanese-operated Diamond Princess left the vessel while it was in Hong Kong on Jan. 25.

The ship returned to Yokohama after making port calls in Vietnam, Taiwan and Okinawa. A team of quarantine officials and medical staff boarded the ship Monday and began medical checks of everyone on board, a health ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with department rules.

The ship's captain said Hong Kong's health authorities notified the ship about the passenger's infection on Saturday, according to a recording of the announcement tweeted by a passenger. The patient is recovering, and his traveling companions so far have not been infected, the captain's announcement said.

"I wish we were informed as soon as they found out, then I could have worn a mask or washed hands more carefully," the passenger said. "I was in Hong Kong nine days ago and it seems to be too late now."

___

Ken Moritsugu of The Associated Press wrote this story. AP writers Maria Cheng in London, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Joe McDonald in Beijing and researchers Yu Bing in Beijing and Chen Si in Zhengzhou, China, contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 20:50:39|Editor: yhy

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MOGADISHU, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Somalia and the UN on Tuesday appealed for urgent humanitarian assistance to avert an acute food insecurity situation that threatens millions of people.

Adam Abdelmoula, UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said about 4.1 million people across Somalia will continue to face acute food insecurity through mid-2020, including 1.3 million people who need urgent humanitarian assistance.

"Over 962,000 children face acute malnutrition, including 162, 000 who could become severely malnourished through this year, if their needs are not addressed," Abdelmoula said in a statement issued on Mogadishu.

He also noted that although the recent desert locust invasion in Somalia had been limited and localized, it carries a high risk of damage to crops.

"These concerns add to what is already one of the biggest and most complex emergencies in the world today. About 2.6 million people remain internally displaced and highly impoverished. They need to be better protected and supported in finding durable solutions," said the UN official.

Hamoud Ali Hassan, Somalia's deputy minister of agriculture and irrigation, attributed the country's humanitarian challenges to factors beyond seasonal weather variations.

"The problem in Somalia is not only because of rainfall. It is due to insecurity and lack of infrastructure, which affect the movement of people between member states," the deputy minister noted, further appealing for support from international partners.
Dundalk filmmaker Aislinn Clarke will be rubbing shoulders with some of the most famous actors in the world when she attends The Oscars in Hollywood next week (on February 10).

The filmmaker, who is originally from Fatima, but lives in Belfast, took time out from her busy schedule in LA to chat with the Democrat (DD) about her invite to the glamourous event and her flourishing career.

DD: Can you tell us about your invite to the Oscars?

Aislinn Clarke (AC): I was awarded the AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) Gold Fellowship for Women this year.

This fairly new award is given to a woman in the U.K., a woman in America, and a woman in France each year. I received the U.K. award. It involves an acknowledgment of my career to date and support from the Academy going forward.

The Oscars invite is part of all that because of course AMPAS runs The Oscars and it is their flagship event.

DD: Are you excited for the night?

AC: Of course! Im sure it will be interesting and a lot of fun.

DD: Can you tell us about how the Gold Fellowship will help you in your career over the next year?

AC: The Gold Fellowship involves a financial element that helps me to travel forward and back to LA in order to further develop work and working relationships here, but really the fellowship amounts to so much more than that. I already have representation in Los Angeles and some projects in development here, hopefully, this year under the wing of the academy will help to solidify some of that.



DD: Will you be bringing a guest along on the night?

AC: Yes. I will be attending with my friend, producer Marianne Maddalena (Producer of Scream, Nightmare on Elm St) who I am currently working on a project with. My father, Johnny Clarke, who many will remember as a breadman for McCanns, gave me my love of horror films by introducing me to Nightmare on Elm St when I was 8 or so.

I coincidentally met Marianne years later at a film festival in Atlanta and we struck up a friendship, so attending the Oscars with Marianne is extra special. Marianne has produced an Oscar-nominated film herself (Music of the Heart with Meryl Streep in 1999) so she knows the ropes!



DD: Any plans for an outfit for the event?

AC: Yes, of course! Im delighted and honoured to be wearing a Roisin Dubh kimono by Irish designer Sara ONeill. Saras beautiful designs are based on Irish myths and legends and strongly rooted in our folklore and history, so really its the perfect thing.
A college student in New York is being tested for the deadly coronavirus that has killed nearly 430 people.

The student, from Cornell University in Ithaca, began showing symptoms of the virus on Sunday, according to campus officials.

He or she is currently in isolation in off-campus housing, and samples have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Results from the test are expected to return within a week and, if confirmed, the student would be New York's first case of the SARS-like infection,

A student at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York (file image) is suspected of having coronavirus. He or she is currently in isolation in off-campus housing and officials have sent samples to the CDC for testing

'Cornell is working in concert with the Tompkins County Health Department (TCHD) to monitor and support the health and safety of the individual and the broader community,' Cornell officials wrote in a statement.

'A contact investigation is underway through TCHD. Anyone who has had close contact, as defined by the CDC, with the individual will be contacted by TCHD.'

It remains unclear if the student had recently traveled to the city of Wuhan, where the virus originated, or elsewhere in mainland China.

The officials encouraged unity on campus - especially as Asian students at other schools report being treated differently in the wake of the outbreak.

'It is understandable to feel uncertain or anxious during a public health crisis, and we need to remember to care for one another and not make assumptions about others' perceived symptoms or any characteristics of identity,' the statement continues.

'This is a time for the Cornell community to support one another. Your compassion and empathy for each other makes a difference.'

According to campus newspaper, The Cornell Daily Sun, study abroad programs to China have been canceled, including one that is a graduation requirement for students in the China and Asia Pacific Studies program.

The Sun also reports that students are not allowed to travel to China for Cornell-related purposes at this time.

Faculty and staff can travel to China, but only if they receive special clearance from Cornell's International Travel Advisory Response Team.

This is not the first time that college students have been suspected of contracting the infections.

One of the US cases is an unidentified student enrolled at Arizona State University in Tempe.

Additionally, students at Texas A&M University, Tennessee Tech University and Miami University in Ohio have also been screened, but it's unclear if they tested positive.

The virus was recently confirmed to have emerged from illegally traded wildlife at a seafood market in Wuhan.

More than 20,500 people worldwide have been infected with the virus and 427 people have died.

As of Tuesday, 11 cases have been confirmed in the US including six in California, two in Illinois and one each in Arizona, Massachusetts and Washington.

Three people in New York City are also currently being tested for coronavirus.
Shanghai Ballet has postponed its Queensland performances because of the coronavirus outbreak. The company was scheduled to perform the Australian exclusive of The Lady of the Camellias at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane on March 12-14. Shanghai Ballet's "The Lady of the Camellias" performance will not be coming to Queensland this year. Credit:Visit Brisbane Queensland Ballet artistic director Li Cunxin said the earliest opportunity to reschedule the performances was 2021. "Our sister ballet company, Shanghai Ballet, presented us in Shanghai during our tour of China in

2018 and we were very much looking forward to reciprocating their hospitality," he said.

"We have been in talks with Shanghai Ballet since news of the virus first hit. "Now with the clear health directive from our federal government and Chinas own restrictions regarding groups leaving the country, Shanghai Ballet has decided not to proceed. "Obviously, its a blow for our patrons, and for both teams at Shanghai Ballet and Queensland Ballet. "Tickets had been selling well so we know that patrons were looking forward to seeing them on the

Brisbane stage. We even had plans to release another show to meet demand." Queensland Ballet executive director Dilshani Weerasinghe acknowledged the "inconvenience and disappointment" of ticketholders and said refunds would be processed as soon as possible.
Two new cases of the coronavirus was reported in the U.S., Sunday evening in San Benito County, California, south of San Jose involving a married couple, both 57.

These were confirmed by San Benito County Public Health Services stating that a man, who had recently traveled from Wuhan, China transmitted the viral illness to his wife. Health officials said both have not left their home since returning from China. The patients are in isolation at home and are not hospitalized.

Reports indicate that the husband arrived at San Francisco International Airport on January 24. Dr. Martin Fenstersheib, interim health officer for the county said that during screening, he was found to be healthy and asymptomatic,

He recently traveled from Wuhan, China, but his wife did not, making them the second case of person-to-person transmission in the U.S and the 11th case of this virus that originated in central China.

The man developed symptoms including a cough and low-grade fever. A few days later, his wife began showing symptoms as well.

To recall, the 9th case was announced Sunday in Santa Clara County, California. This involves a woman who came from Wuhan, China, and traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area to visit her family on Jan. 23. She developed symptoms but was not hospitalized. She was then isolated along with her family.

The market that traded illegally in wildlife in Hubei's provincial capital, Wuhan, is believed to be the center of the strain of coronavirus and has so far resulted in more than 350 deaths in China. More cases have also been reported in 27 other nations.

Confirmed U.S. cases were two in Illinois, six in California, one in Arizona, one in Washington, and one in Massachusetts. A Chicago case was the first human-to-human transmission in the U.S.

Meanwhile, first death outside China was a 44-year-old man in the Philippines who contracted the coronavirus from his friend while they were traveling together in Wuhan, China.

The victim's friend, a 38-year-old woman, was the first person with a confirmed case for the virus in the Philippines. The death of her friend is the only reported novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV) death outside of China.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were at least 17,205 confirmed cases in more than two dozen countries. There have been 361 deaths from China and the Philippines.

In an advisory posted on the State Department website last Friday, the State Department told U.S. citizens not to travel to China and alerted of possible "travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice."

The agency advised U.S. citizens currently in China to consider leaving using commercial means.

WHO has recently declared the outbreak a global emergency. According to U.S. health officials, risks to the United States remain low.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that affect the respiratory tract. They can lead to illnesses such as the common cold, pneumonia, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A New Jersey man who took money from Delaware State University students to create phony residency documents that allowed them to get in-state tuition has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in federal prison.

Stephen Williams, 35, a Delaware State graduate from Neptune Township, was sentenced Friday in federal court in Wilmington, the U.S. Attorneys Office for Delaware said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Williams was the mastermind of a scheme that collected approximately $70,000 from 2013 to 2017. While its unknown how much money Williams profited, officials said the estimated cost of reduced admissions payments to the university exceeded $3 million.

After Williams collected the payments, he created forged residency documents, like housing leases, and then gave them to his co-defendant, associate registrar Crystal Martin, authorities said. She then placed the paperwork in the students file and received a percentage of the fee collected from each student.

The forged documents supported residency changes Martin made in the universitys computer system. Williams also paid Delaware State students to recruit other out-of-state students who were interested in getting the discounted tuition rates.

The defendant created and ran a four-year scheme that defrauded a Delaware public university," U.S. Attorney for Delaware David C. Weiss said in a statement. In so doing, he encouraged hundreds of people to break the law. Further, he deprived his own alma mater and Delaware taxpayers of the rightful tuition proceeds for Delaware State University so that he could personally profit.

Martin pleaded guilty in April. She has yet to be sentenced.

The schools provost, Tony Allen, said the students involved in the scheme have received a variety of sanctions, including denial of diplomas and repayments of tuition, according to the Delaware News Journal.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Alex Napoliello contributed to this report.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Former Presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan met in South Korea along with Patience Jonathan at the ongoing World Summit 20...

I was delighted to meet His Excellency Chief Olusegun Obasanjo at the ongoing World Summit 2020 in Seoul, South Korea where we joined leaders from across the world to make a case for lasting peace, interdependence & shared values among the world's peoples and nations.

GEJ pic.twitter.com/VquSHUttbP  Goodluck E. Jonathan (@GEJonathan) February 4, 2020

Former Presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan met in South Korea along with Patience Jonathan at the ongoing World Summit 2020 in Seoul.The two former presidents were attending tge World Summit 2020, organised by Universal Peace Federation for world leaders to deliberate on the imperatives of peace, security and human development.I was delighted to meet His Excellency Chief Olusegun Obasanjo at the ongoing World Summit 2020 in Seoul, South Korea where we joined leaders from across the world to make a case for lasting peace, interdependence & shared values among the worlds peoples and nations, Jonathan tweeted on Tuesday.Jonathan had, while speaking at the World Summit, tasked world leaders not to discountenance the values of soft power in the search for lasting peace, stressing that military capabilities alone has not served the intended purpose of keeping the world safe.The former President also charged nations to prioritise education and the strengthening of family values as means of reinforcing strong bonds of kinship that would discourage youths from taking to violent crimes.I believe that the weapon for guaranteeing the peace the world needs today is not in our intimidating armoury and sophisticated nuclear sites but in our hearts. The world looks up to us as leaders to reach out to the innermost recesses of our hearts, levering our common humanity, and embrace one another in true love and sincerity to save our peoples.It is obvious that military capability alone has not served the intended purpose of securing our world. In Middle East and Africa, more than other parts of the world, insecurity, insurgency and terrorism have continued to get worse, despite all efforts to combat them and enforce peace by affected nations and their allies. This is partly because we have paid more attention to our military might more than we have given to the imperative of promoting understanding, building honour and love in our families and societies, he said.Speaking further on family values, Jonathan who is the Chairman of the African chapter of the International Summit Council for Peace (ISCP), said: A peaceful family unit entrenched in strong bonds of kinship, ethics and a well-established tradition of honour will fight insecurity and terrorism better than any weapons. This is because if we pay more attention to the imperative of producing well-adjusted, rationale human beings, it will dry up the human supply lines that feed the cells of terrorists.They will no longer be able to recruit misguided and uneducated youths who are willing to either kill or be killed in the most dastardly and bizarre method, in pursuit of dark and hideous ideologies. With well-educated and properly aligned youth who are future leaders, the world will then have less leaders who prioritise war over peace.Without global peace, the world will continue to spend more resources, which should have been channeled into development purposes, either generating or managing crisis.The three-day conference has in attendance over 5,000 delegates and more than 210 leaders and top government officials from across the world.
G&W Electric Co., a global supplier of electric power equipment since 1905, announced today (February 3, 2020) the appointments of Joe Baker to regional vice president of sales Northeast (U.S.), Marco Santagata to regional vice president of sales EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa), and Giin Sia to regional vice president of sales APAC (Asia Pacific). All three will report to Stephen Haley, vice president, global sales at G&W Electric.

"G&W Electric is thrilled to bring Joe into the family. We are confident he'll be a great fit to lead our sales organization and provide great support to all of our customers throughout the Northeast U.S. Region," said John Mueller, Chairman and Owner of G&W Electric. "Likewise, we are delighted to welcome Marco and Giin to G&W Electric as we continue to expand into markets outside of North America. We believe both bring tremendous experience and knowledge of their regions which will help advance our growth in these critical territories."

Baker brings an extensive background with strong experience in the electrical industry working in business development, product management and strategic marketing. Prior to joining G&W Electric, Baker has held significant roles including senior vice president, strategic marketing for ABB, chief executive officer for Acciona Windpower North America LLC. and most recently, president and chief executive officer for Baker McElroy Strategies.

Prior to G&W Electric's acquisition of Tozzi Electrical Equipment in September 2019, Santagata held the role of head of sales for nearly three years at the Italy-based company. Santagata will be based in Milan where he previously held multiple managerial positions at ABB and Eni for more than a decade.

Sia has more than 28 years of experience within power, renewable energy, automation and oil and gas sectors. He will be based in Singapore where he most recently held positions in the region including principal consultant, energy storage lead Asia Pacific for DNV GL and regional director Asia Pacific for NEC Energy Solutions.

For more information, visit www.gwelectric.com.

About G&W Electric

Since 1905, G&W Electric has helped power the world with innovative power grid solutions and products. With the introduction of the first disconnectable cable terminating device in the early 1900s, G&W Electric began to build a reputation for innovative engineered solutions to meet the needs of systems designers. With an ever-present commitment to customer satisfaction, G&W Electric enjoys a worldwide reputation for quality products and superior service. For more information on G&W Electric visit their new website at www.gwelectric.com. Follow G&W Electric on Twitter @GW_Electric and on LinkedIn.
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TORONTO, ONTARIO / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Electrovaya Inc. ("Electrovaya") (TSX:EFL) (OTCQB:EFLVF) today announced that it has acquired 30 key ceramic separator and battery issued patents that were previously owned by Litarion GmbH. The patents concern the design, manufacture and application of ceramic composite separators in lithium ion batteries as well as a novel battery design."Acquiring these key patents strengthens Electrovaya's proprietary position in lithium ion ceramic battery products, and provides additional intellectual property in important geographies such as the USA, China, Japan, South Korea and Germany", says Dr. Raj DasGupta, Vice-President at Electrovaya.Electrovaya's batteries features ceramic separator and provides industry-leading cycle life, safety, energy and power.For more information, please contact:Investors:Jason Roy, Director Investor RelationsElectrovaya Inc.905-855-4618jroy@ electrovaya.com Media:Peter KovenBay Street Communications647-496-7857peterkoven@ baystreetcommunications.com About Electrovaya Inc.Electrovaya Inc. (TSX:EFL) (OTCQB:EFLVF) designs, develops and manufactures proprietary lithium ion batteries, battery systems, and battery-related products for energy storage, clean electric transportation and other specialized applications. Electrovaya is a technology focused company with extensive IP. Headquartered in Ontario, Canada, Electrovaya has production facilities in Canada with customers around the globe.To learn more about how Electrovaya is powering e-mobility and energy storage, please explore www.electrovaya.com Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to, among other things, the acquisition of certain patents, the ability to use the patents in certain geographies of United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Germany, the ability to use these ceramic separator patents for lithium ion cells and batteries, revenue forecasts, increasing ability to sell directly to Fortune 1000 companies and sell through the OEM distribution channels, technology development progress, plans for shipment using the Company's technology, production plans, the Company's markets, objectives, goals, strategies, intentions, beliefs, expectations and estimates, and can generally be identified by the use of words such as "may", "will", "could", "should", "would", "likely", "possible", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "objective" and "continue" (or the negative thereof) and words and expressions of similar import. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include but are not limited to: general business and economic conditions (including but not limited to currency rates and creditworthiness of customers); Company liquidity and capital resources, including the availability of additional capital resources to fund its activities; that significant price reductions on the purchase price of products may apply in the case of late delivery; level of competition; changes in laws and regulations; legal and regulatory proceedings; the ability to adapt products and services to the changing market; the ability to attract and retain key executives; and the ability to execute strategic plans. Additional information about material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and about material factors or assumptions applied in making forward-looking statements may be found in the Company's most recent annual information form under the heading "Risk Factors" and annual and interim Management's Discussion and Analysis under "Risk and Uncertainties" as well as in other public disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements contained in this document, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.SOURCE: Electrovaya, Inc.
By Odimmegwa johnpeter/Abuja

The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Chairman of the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), Muhammad Nami has urged tax administrators in Africa to pay close attention to the taxation of the informal sector, saying that governments of Africa lose a lot of revenue neglecting the sector. This is contained in press statement signed by Abdullahi Ismaila,

Director, Communications and Servicom, Department, Federal Inland Revenue Service.

Nami said, apart from the fact that proper taxation of the informal sector would raise the governments revenue across Africa, it would also improve the perception of tax justice in the continent.

Declaring open the 9th Countries Correspondents Meeting of ATAF in Abuja on Tuesday, Nami, who is also the Chairman of Nigerias Joint Tax Board (JTB) said the tax administrators could redeem their respective countries from budgetary deficiencies when proper attention is paid to the taxing the informal sector.

If Africa is to reduce its budget deficits and increase revenue mobilization, it must widen its tax base and the informal sector provides an opportunity to do so. That is why recently, the President of Nigeria, Mohammadu Buhari signed the Finance Bill into Law. The Finance Act, 2019 seeks to create an environment for Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria especially for the small-scale businesse. This Act is expected to impact positively on the small businesses as well as the Nigerian economy, in the long run, he said.

ALSO READ: Leaked memo: Air fares include all travel costs, says NPA

Mr Nami also said bringing the businesses in the informal sector into the tax net instils a tax paying culture in the businesses, which ensures tax compliance when the businesses expand.

Taxing the informal sector is also critical in ensuring a perception of fairness in the tax system. Those who operate in the formal sector deem it unfair to have to pay taxes while those in the informal sector do not. This impacts their tax morale and can result in low tax compliance among those in the formal sector.

Furthermore, in some instances, enterprises within the informal sector create unfair competition for those operating in formality. This reduces the income generated by the formal firms and consequently, reduces the taxes paid, Wort said.

Addressing ATAF delegates from 35 countries in Africa and other tax professionals, Nami said despite the potential in the informal sector, tax administrators find it difficult to navigate the terrain properly, adding that the ATAF meeting would provide opportunity for the taxmen to compare notes and find a way forward.

As at 2017, Africas tax to GDP ratio averaged around 17%. This marks an improvement over time. However this ratio is the lowest in the world and it has resulted in budgetary deficits in most countries in Africa.

It is therefore necessary to reduce and eventually eliminate these deficits if Africa is to meet its development needs. The low tax to GDP ratio has been attributed to, among other things, low tax capacities and tax inefficiencies. This is made worse by tax avoidance, tax evasion and a large informal sector.

It is estimated that the informal sector in Africa constitutes between 21%  70% of the GDP of African countries and accounts for between 30  90% of employment in the region. Yet despite its large size, the sector remains one of the most difficult sectors to tax, with most of the businesses operating in the sector concealing their activities from the tax authorities. Such businesses also operate on a cash basis and maintain poor or no accounting records.

Most of the businesses in the sector are also small and fragmented making it inefficient for the revenue administrations to enforce compliance.

Nami said taxing the informal sector may also be a way of promoting good governance and political accountability of the state because tax strengthens the social contract between the citizens and the government.

Informal businesses that contribute to tax revenues are likely to assert their rights to receive certain services from government, thereby ensuring national development and accountability. Paying taxes is likely to promote responsiveness by the state to the needs of the informal sector in a bid to encourage voluntary compliance. It is also likely to encourage collective action, collective political engagement and bargaining by the informal sector, said Nami.

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With 2021 concluded and the 20th anniversary of the ModDB's Mod of the Year Awards wrapped up, we take a stroll down history lane and look back at all the winners over the last two decades.
Macy's will close 125 department stores over the next three years and ax 2,000 jobs as the retailer struggles to keep up with online competition, it announced Tuesday afternoon.

The department store chain said it plans to shut stores in shopping malls and open new smaller-format stores in strip centers as part of its new three-year 'Polaris' strategy to attempt to 'stabilize profitability and position the company for growth'.

'We have a clear vision of where Macy's, Inc. and our brands, Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury, fit into retail today. We are confident in our Polaris strategy, and we have the resources required to return Macy's, Inc. to sustainable, profitable growth,' CEO Jeff Gennette said in a statement ahead of a meeting with investors in New York on Wednesday.

He added: 'We are taking the organization through significant structural change to lower costs, bring teams closer together and reduce duplicative work. This will be a tough week for our team as we say goodbye to great colleagues and good friends.

Macy's will close 125 department stores over the next three years and ax 2,000 jobs as the retailer struggles to keep up with online competition, it announced Tuesday afternoon

'The changes we are making are deep and impact every area of the business, but they are necessary. I know we will come out of this transition stronger, more agile and better fit to compete in today's retail environment.'

The job cuts will hit the corporate and support staff divisions and see around 10 percent of the workforce lose their jobs.

The 125 stores closing include 30 closures announced back in January, including one Bloomingdales shop.

However, the final list of stores is subject to change, Gennette said.

After the closures, the retailer will still have around 400 Macys stores, 40 Bloomingdales stores, and around 170 of its Bluemercury beauty stores.

The announcement comes as the retailer also confirmed that it is closing its tech offices in San Francisco and abandoning its dual-headquartered structure by shutting its Cincinnati HQ to run all HQ operations out of its New York office.

It's been a tough time for Macy's and department store chains generally as they have struggled to compete with online players such as Amazon.

Macy's stock has fallen more than 35 percent over the past 12 months.
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A Chinese citizen was discharged free of the novel coronavirus from Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday, 14 days after his hospitalization last month.

The patient, Li Zichao, was one of the first two cases testing positive for the deadly virus in Vietnam.

They were admitted to Cho Ray Hospital in District 5 on January 22.

Smiles have returned to the 28-year-old Chinese patients face, a stark contrast with his grim look 14 days earlier.

Li Zichao and his father, 66-year-old Li Ding, were the first two positive cases in Vietnam, according to Cho Ray Hospital.

The father visited his son in Vietnam from Wuhan, Hubei, China, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak.

Li Ding started suffering a fever and fatigue on January 17, four days after flying with his wife from Wuhan to Hanoi.

Li Zichao (C) talks to Luong Ngoc Khue (L), an official from Vietnam's Ministry of Health, at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Mnh City, February 4, 2020. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre

In Vietnam, he traveled by plane, train, and taxi from Hanoi to Nha Trang City, Ho Chi Minh City, and Long An Province.

His son has lived in Long An, located in southern Vietnam, since October 2019.

Li Zichao has never been to an outbreak area and, prior to meeting his father, had never got into contact with any person from such an area.

But he stayed with his father in the same room in Nha Trang for three days and caught the virus, with symptoms including coughing, fever, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Li Zichao (R) was discharged from Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on February 4, 2020. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre

Both father and son came to see doctors at Binh Chanh Hospital in Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City and were advised to be admitted to Cho Ray Hospital on January 22.

Their tests sent to the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute then returned positive.

The father is still being treated at Cho Ray Hospital.

Another novel coronavirus patient, a Vietnamese woman, was cured and discharged from the Thanh Hoa General Hospital, located in the namesake province in north-central Vietnam, on Monday.

The new coronavirus has killed 425 people in mainland China, one in the Philippines, and one in Hong Kong, while infecting more than 20,500 others around the world, an overwhelming majority of whom are in the mainland, since the outbreak was first reported in Wuhan in December 2019.

Vietnam has confirmed nine cases so far, including six Vietnamese, one Vietnamese American, and two Chinese.

Among that, one Chinese and one Vietnamese have been cured.

The World Health Organization has declared the new coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
The recently-elected body of PTI Overseas Bahrain chapter held an introductory press conference at Spice Court Restaurant in Sitra. Mr Nadeem Babar, President, Hanif Malik, Senior VP, Ghulam Murtaza, General Secretary and Dil Afsar, Additional General-Secretary and PTI Core Committee and community members were present at the press conference.
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-05 03:52:29|Editor: huaxia

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BERLIN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The digitalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany was "increasingly hampered" by a lack of relevant skills of the workforce, according to a company survey published by the German development bank KfW on Tuesday.

Around 80 percent of German SMEs had a high demand for basic digital skills such as the use of standard software and digital devices, according to KfW. Advanced digital skills such as programming and statistical data analysis were still required by 24 percent of SMEs.

"Although digitalization has gathered momentum in the SME sector in the past years, one obstacle is becoming increasingly clearer," said KfW chief economist Fritzi Koehler-Geib. "The digital skills of the workforce are lagging behind the developments."

To cope with the digital demands, German SMEs had to rely on recruitment, outsourcing and further training of their employees. In that context, additional employee training was most common and was conducted by 70 percent of SMEs in Germany.

However, 32 percent of SMEs said that the expenses for staff training were a problem, while 26 percent were concerned about the loss of working hours caused by absent employees which was particularly affecting "small enterprises with more limited human resources", KfW noted.

To address the lack of relevant digital skills, Koehler-Geib promoted digital learning formats in order to stimulate staff training in Germany. "E-learning enables people to learn at any time or place, making it particularly well suited for the needs of small businesses." Enditem
As the coronavirus death toll mounted to 425, India on Tuesday further tightened visa rules by cancelling the existing visas for Chinese and foreigners who had visited the country in the last two weeks.

IMAGE: A woman wears a protective mask as she rides on a bicycle in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Photograph: Getty Images

On February 2, India temporarily suspended e-visa facility for Chinese travellers and foreigners residing in China in view of the coronavirus outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

The death toll in China's coronavirus rose sharply to 425 with 64 deaths on Monday and the number of those infected with the deadly disease rose to 20,438, Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday.

All those who are already in India (with regular or e-visa) and had travelled from China after January 15 are requested to contact the hotline number of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Government of India (+91-11-23978046 and email: ncov2019@gmail.com, the announcement by the Indian embassy said.

About the validity of the visas, it said the Embassy of India and our consulates have been receiving several queries from Chinese citizens as well as other foreign nationals, who are based out of China or visited China in the last 2 weeks, as to whether they can use their valid single/multiple entry visas to travel to India.

It is clarified that existing visas are no longer valid. Intending visitors to India should contact the Indian Embassy in Beijing (visa.beijing@mea.gov.in) or the Consulates in Shanghai (Ccons.shanghai@mea.gov.in) and Guangzhou (Visa.guangzhou@mea.gov.in) to apply afresh for an Indian visa. Indian Visa Application Centres (www.blsindia-china.com) in these cities may also be contacted in this regard, it said.

The visa section of the embassy/consulates of India in China can be contacted to ascertain the validity of visa before undertaking any visit to India, it said.

The deadly virus has spread to more than 25 countries, including India.

India has reported three cases of the coronavirus. All the three patients from Kerala recently returned from the affected Wuhan city.

Additionally, Air India on Tuesday said it is suspending its Delhi-Hong Kong flight from February 8, hours after the authorities there confirmed the death of a patient with the new coronavirus.

"In view of the coronavirus issue Air India is suspending its flights to Hong Kong after flying AI314 on the 7th of February 2020," said Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani on Twitter.

The deadly virus, which originated in China's Wuhan city, is rapidly spreading to other countries. Hong Kong on Tuesday reported the death of a patient being treated for the virus.

Earlier, IndiGo suspended all three flights between India and China.

Air India suspended its Delhi-Shanghai flight and curtailed the flight operations on the Delhi-Hong Kong route. From February 8, it will be suspending operations on Delhi-Hong Kong route too.
In Algeria's second bus crash in a fortnight, at least seven people have been killed and left 25 injured on February 4. A day after new road safety measures were revealed, the emergency services reportedly said that the bus service from the eastern town of Souk Ahras to the nearby city of Annaba overturned shortly after its departure.

Even though the figures for accidents were low in 2018, at a cabinet meeting on February 3, 2020, Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud had unveiled new measures of road safety to reduce the number of casualties. The new measures included speed checks and mapping down the black spots for accidents.

Earlier on January 19, two buses had collided in the east leaving 12 people dead and 46 injured. According to the national road safety commission, last year at least 22,500 accidents took place leaving 3,275 dead and 22,500 wounded.

Read - 3 Killed, 4 Injured In Separate Road Accidents In J-K

Read - Rapper Badshah Meets With A Car Accident, Escapes Unhurt

Bus accident kills 8, injures 34

Meanwhile, another fatal bus accident in Odisha on January 29 killed at least eight people including two women and left 34 injured. The bus had overturned and then rolled down a hilly road in Ganjam district of Odisha in early hours of the day. According to reports, it was a private bus which was travelling from Tikri in Rayagada district to Berhampur. Ganjam District Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said that the bus had fallen off from a height of 30 feet near Taptapani.

Ganjam Superintendent of Police Brijesh Kumar Rai reportedly said that initially, they had found bodies of only six people, however, after a thorough search of the severely mangled bus, two more were found.

Read - Bengali Singer Soumitra Roy Injured In Car Accident In City

Read - DTC Awarded For Lowest Accident Rate During 2018-19

(with inputs from agencies)
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leaders R. Sambandan and M.A. Sumanthiran declared their willingness to work with Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapakse during the parliamentary debate on his policy statement early last month.

Both TNA leaders pathetically appealed to Rajapakse for a political solution to the ethnic question, offering, in return, TNA support. The catchphrase political solution to the ethnic question is routinely used by the Tamil elite to appeal for political devolutioni.e., allowing it to govern the North and East of Sri Lanka where the majority of Tamils live.

The pro-US TNA is an umbrella organisation of the Tamil bourgeois parties and includes the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) and Peoples Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE).

Three months ago, during the presidential elections, the TNA declared that the United National Party (UNP) and its candidate Sajith Premadasa were more democratic than the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramunas candidate, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who had authoritarian tendencies. The TNA urged Tamils to vote for Premadasa.

Responding to these recommendations, and lacking a political alternative, the Tamil masses, who widely despise Rajapakse, voted for Premadasa. Rajapakse is hated by Tamil workers and the poor because of his role as defense secretary during the final years of former President Mahinda Rajapakses communalist war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE).

Thousands of Tamil civilians were killed in indiscriminate shootings in the last weeks of the brutal conflict, according to UN reports. Hundreds of youth, who surrendered to the Sri Lankan army, are still missing. About 300,000 civilians were incarcerated in military camps, and over 11,000 youth were hauled off into so-called rehabilitation camps.

The TNAs claim that Premadasa and the UNP are more democratic is an outright lie.

The UNP instigated anti-Tamil discrimination from the outset of Sri Lankas formal independence in 1948, and used it to divide and suppress the working class. In 1983 it provoked the communal war against the LTTE.

Sujith Premadasas father, President R. Premadasa not only restarted the war in the North and East but was politically responsible for the massacre of about 60,000 Sinhala youth during rural unrest in 19881990. As a UNP leader and a minister in the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government, Sujith Premadasa endorsed all of Colombos economic and political attacks on workers and the poor.

Having previously stated that Gotabhaya Rajapakse had authoritarian tendencies, the TNA leadership has now changed its tune.

During last months parliamentary debate on the newly-elected presidents policy agenda, the TNAs Sambandan praised Gotabhaya Rajapakse, describing him as the countrys first non-politician president and someone prepared to speak the truth and to do the right thing.

And the flattery continued. If he makes any errors, Sambandan declared, we need to advise and correct him. We are prepared to work with him.

Sambandan said Sri Lanka was neck-deep in debtmuch of this incurred by Colombos prosecution of the warand that the countrys income was insufficient to service the debt.

[M]assive investment and development with export-oriented production is needed to overcome the crisis [but] the economic miracle that could happen in Sri Lanka, under the Policy Statement of the President, could just vanish, he warned, if the Tamil elite failed to assist the government.

This support, Sambandan continued, would be forthcoming if the government honoured commitments made to India and the international community by the previous Mahinda Rajapakse government, after the military defeat of the LTTE.

Mahinda Rajapakse promised Indian leaders that he would give increased powers to the provincial councils and promised the major imperialist powers that his government was ready for reconciliation or limited power-sharing with the Tamil parties.

In short, the TNA leaders current appeal is this: In order to carry out Rajapakses economic austerity program, which is aimed at attracting international capital, he needs our support. We are ready, but we need some sops.

Former President Mahinda Rajapakses commitments to India and the so-called international community, following the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009, were a hoax and an attempt to dissipate international pressure on Colombo. New Delhi wanted to prevent the widespread sympathy for Sri Lankas Tamils, on the part of those ethnically related to them in Tamil Nadu, from provoking political instability within India.

The US and the European powers have also applied pressure on Colombo to distance itself from China.

Washington endorsed Mahinda Rajapakses anti-democratic regime, and his governments brutal war against the LTTE, but was hostile to Colombos close relations with Beijing. The US hypocritically used Rajapakses human rights violations, during the war, to push for resolutions against Colombo in the UN Human Rights Council.

In the end, the US, with the assistance of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Wickremesinghe, orchestrated a regime-change operation to oust Rajapakse. The TNA endorsed the political operation, which brought Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to power, and backed that governments International Monetary Fund-dictated austerity program.

What Sambandan is appealing for is a political arrangement with the new government for the joint exploitation of Sri Lankas cheap labour and implementation of the governments austerity measures, in exchange for the Tamil bourgeoisie being given greater control of the North and East.

In order to strengthen the TNAs argument, Sumanthiran told parliament that although some government leaders were talking about Singapores economic success: Singapore prospered while achieving national harmony among its citizens. Singapore is a great example  .

Sumanthirans message is clear. If the Sri Lankan government wants to emulate the great example of Singapore, the TNA is ready and willing to assist.

It is significant that the TNA, like every other faction of Sri Lankas political elite, is praising Singapore. That country, however, is not an example of national harmony but a police-state, in which ordinary people are subjected to harsh repressive measures in order to maintain the country as a commercial transit hub and centre of international capital.

The TNA, like the rest of Sri Lankas political elite, is well aware that it sits on a social powder keg. The last two years have seen an eruption of strikes and protests, including by teachers, university workers, railway employees and plantation workers, against the governments IMF program. These struggles, which have seen workers unite across Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim ethnic lines, shattered the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration and paved the way for its defeat in last years presidential election.

Rajapakse and the SLPP exploited the mass social discontent by making various promises to improve living standards whilst intensifying communalist propaganda against the Tamil and Muslim population.

Rajapakse told big business he would establish a strong government and appealed to the military, in preparation for authoritarian forms of rule. After coming to power, he quickly appointed senior military figures to key government posts.

Sambandans appeals to the new Sri Lankan president also included a political cover-up of US and Indian support for Colombos brutal communalist war; justification of the previous Rajapakse governments criminal actions; and the TNAs ongoing support for the bloody destruction of the LTTE.

The LTTE was seen by both Sri Lanka and India as an impediment to a reasonable, negotiated political solution, Sambandan said. The military defeat of the LTTE was seen as a precursor to a reasonable political solution.

Washington and New Delhi both regarded the LTTEs campaign for a separate state as a barrier to their geo-strategic interests in South Asia, destabilising the strategically located island country. Colombos decades-long war against the Tamil separatist movement was not only focused on keeping the North and East under its control, but at defending capitalist rule in Sri Lanka, by promoting communalism to divide and suppress the working class.

The TNAs appeals to the newly-elected President Rajapakse are yet another reflection of the rightward shift of the venal national bourgeoisie in every country, in response to the deepening global capitalist crisis and the revolutionary upsurge of the international working class.

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP), and its forerunner, the Revolutionary Communist League, was the only political party that consistently opposed the war, demanded the unconditional withdrawal of the Sri Lankan military from the North and East, and fought for the unity of all workers across ethnic lines, whilst opposing Sinhala chauvinism and Tamil nationalism. This revolutionary perspective is based on the fight for a Sri Lanka-Eelam Socialist Republic, as part of the struggle for socialism in South Asia and internationally.
This is daylight highway robbery of national assets, Sitaram Yechury on Air India returning to Tatas

Procurement of expensive aircraft parts to be done after approval of senior official: Air India

Coronavirus scare: Air India to suspend Delhi-Hong Kong flights from Feb 8

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Feb 04: Air India on Tuesday said it is suspending its Delhi-Hong Kong flight from February 8, hours after the authorities there confirmed the death of a patient with the new coronavirus.

"In view of the coronavirus issue Air India is suspending its flights to Hong Kong after flying AI314 on the 7th of February 2020," said Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani on Twitter.

The Kerala government on Monday declared coronavirus a 'state disaster' after the third person tested positive for the virus in Kasargod.

Existing visas no longer valid for Chinese citizens: India amid Coronavirus scare

India reported a third case of novel coronavirus with another person from Kerala, who recently returned from China, testing positive for the infection.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 4th, 2020

As many as 130 samples have been tested of which 128 have been found to be negative so far. The death toll in the coronavirus epidemic, the epicentre of which is China, soared to 425.
Magistrates declined to sentence a burglar  because their court was the scene of the crime and will require a victim impact statement.

Arturas Labanauskas, 35, broke into Maidstone Magistrates' courthouse  causing more than 2,000 of damage  and stole a 200 computer last July.

He admitted burglary, as well as a charge of possessing cannabis, when he appeared in the same court last week.

Magistrates declined to sentence burglar Arturas Labanauskas, 35, after he broke into Maidstone Magistrates' courthouse and stole a 200 computer last July. (Stock image)

But magistrates said they could not sentence him because it would break the rules as the court is legally considered to be the victim of the crime.

He will instead appear at Medway Magistrates' Court on February 18 for a pre-sentence report to be heard.

A victim impact statement written on behalf of Maidstone Magistrates' courthouse will be read during the hearing.

Lithuanian Labanauskas, of Maidstone, was freed on bail and must report twice a week to a police station yards from the courthouse he burgled.
If I will die, let it ...
Jacksonville Police

ACCIDENTS

 Madison N. Dixon, 18, of Jacksonville was cited on a charge of following too closely after a three-car accident in the 1800 block of West Morton Avenue at 12:09 p.m. Sunday.

According to a police report, Dixons vehicle hit the rear of a car being driven by Gordon L. Palmer, 41, of Arenzville, causing his car to hit the rear of a car being driven by Jackson L. Smith, 18, of Franklin.

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Cassandra N. Rosa, 34, of 728 N. East St. was arrested at 3:44 p.m. Monday on a charge of driving while license is suspended.

 Talisa R. Jackson-Bowen, 29, of 626 N. West St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 5:26 p.m. Sunday on a battery charge.

 Two 17-year-old boys were cited on disorderly conduct charges after fighting in a cornfield about 3:18 p.m. Sunday.

 Crystal D. Burton, 41, of 115 High School St., Winchester, was arrested at 12:24 a.m. Monday on a domestic battery charge.

 Cassandra N. Rosa, 34, of 728 N. East St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 4:15 p.m. Monday on a charge of driving with a suspended or revoked license.

Woodson Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Ashley M. Kotalik, 33, of 731 N. East St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 10:14 p.m. Sunday on a possession of a narcotic instrument charge.



Pike County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Luke A. Crawford, 53, of Griggsville was arrested at 9:10 a.m. Saturday on a possession of methamphetamine charge.

 Robert S. Bricker, 39, of Pearl was arrested at 1:53 p.m. Friday on a petition to revoke.

 Andrew J. Romo, 34, of Hannibal, Missouri, was arrested at 6:27 p.m. Thursday on a charge of possession of cannabis by a passenger in a motor vehicle.

 William N. Patten, 36, of Keokuk, Iowa, was arrested at 12:36 a.m. Wednesday on a charge of driving while license is revoked or suspended and on warrants from Hancock County and the Illinois Department of Corrections.

 Kaseana B. Holliday, 18, of Hannibal, Missouri, was arrested at 9:48 p.m. Jan. 27 on a possession of cannabis charge.

 Majole L. Gentry, 25, of Pittsfield was arrested at 6:50 a.m. Jan. 27 on a possession of methamphetamine charge.

 Stephanie S. Wooldridge, 48, of Pittsfield was arrested at 6:50 a.m. Jan. 27 on a possession of methamphetamine charge.

 Stephanie M. West, 29, of Pittsfield was arrested at 6:50 a.m. Jan. 27 on a possession of methamphetamine charge.

 Cheyenne R. Betts, 217, of Hull was arrested at 6:49 p.m. Jan. 27 on a petition to revoke probation.

 Jordan M. Wallace, 28, of Pittsfield was arrested at 6:50 a.m. Jan. 27 on a possession of methamphetamine charge.

 David B. Pressey, 42, of Milton was arrested at 3:07 a.m. Jan. 27 on charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and obstructing justice and on an Illinois Department of Corrections warrant.

 Steven M. Wooldridge, 53, of Pittsfield was arrested at 6:50 a.m. Jan. 27 on a possession of methamphetamine charge.

Compiled by David C.L. Bauer and Marco Cartolano



Updated Feb. 4, 2020, to correct charges against Crystal D. Burton and Ashley M. Kotalik.
Open source

Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov presented 438 weapons in 2019. This was stated by the Ministry's press service in response to the information request made by Ukrayinska Pravda.

Ministrys "Firearms Award" was handed for outstanding service. It noted that a personal file was made on each gun owner in order to control arms trafficking.

In response to the information request, MIA did not indicate how many MPs, special forces servicemen or volunteers were awarded. In addition, it did not specify what kind of weapons were presented to them.

As we reported earlier, head of Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov and Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine Larisa Galadza discussed a strategic project. The main objective of the project is to improve security in Ukraine by supporting local strategic reform through the development of the police.

The parties also discussed joint counteraction to drug trafficking, liberalization of the visa regime with Canada, as well as cooperation in the field of reforming the National Police and the National Guard.
Indonesia has called off a contest offering a cash reward to anyone brave enough to remove a motorbike tyre stuck around the neck of a giant crocodile. Authorities in Palu, capital of Central Sulawesi, said no would-be crocodile wrangler stepped forward to take up the challenge of removing the unwanted necklace from the 13-foot (4-metre) reptile. The contest was rolled out last month, but made headlines again last week when an unspecified reward was offered. The local conservation agency offered few details about the reward -- or how outsiders might pull off the dangerous task -- but its chief said the money would come out of his own pocket Conservationists who fear the croc is being slowly strangled have been trying -- and failing -- for years to find a way to untangle the beast. Rumours circulated that popular TV personality Panji the Explorer -- Indonesia's answer to late Australian "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin -- was keen for another shot after a failed attempt two years ago. Officials said a team from the environment ministry will now redouble efforts to free the croc from its rubber stranglehold. "The contest has been cancelled," said Central Sulawesi Natural Resources Conservation Agency Head Hasmuni Hasmar. "But we now have back up from the ministry and government experts to help us."
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Frightened by the rapidly spreading coronavirus, would-be travelers are canceling trips, reconsidering future plans, and giving serious thought to travel insurance.

The virus, which has nearly shuttered China to both inbound and outbound travel, is having a dramatic effect on the travel industry, grounding flights, canceling tours, rerouting cruises.

Travel agents report concern among clients, even from some who arent headed to China. And travel insurance companies are experiencing an increase in interest from travelers, even though it may be too late for some to get coverage for upcoming trips.

Its not the first time the travel industry has been rocked by external issues, including terrorist attacks, natural disasters and fast-spreading viruses.

But this feels different than anything else, said Becky Donaldson, a travel agent with the Travel Connection in Aurora. Its scaring people. Theyre either changing their plans or putting it off until they have a better idea of how its going to be contained.

Indeed, the coronavirus appears to be spreading faster than other similar outbreaks, including SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), both of which also affected travel in the past two decades.

Even so, Dr. Elie Saade, medical director of infection control at University Hospitals, said there is no need for travelers to panic.

Aside from avoiding China, Saade said travelers should feel comfortable moving around the globe  as long as theyre smart about avoiding infections of all kinds. To that end, whether youre traveling the world or staying in Cleveland, he advised: Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, and use alcohol-based sanitizer, especially before touching the face.

He added that travelers are at greater risk for influenza, but acknowledged: People are scared of what they dont know.

And there is still much that is not known about the coronavirus, including how it is spread.

Saade said the strong public health response outside of China  including worldwide flight cancellations, passenger screenings and quarantines  should slow the spread of the virus. Its definitely a double-faced coin, he said. It does scare people, but it does contain the virus.

Donaldson said she has no leisure clients currently booked to travel to China  winter is the off-season, and interest in China has slowed somewhat because of protests in Hong Kong and other factors. Her colleague at the Travel Connection, Vanessa Rodriguez, had one client considering China for a March trip, but said they are now leaning toward the Philippines instead.

Donaldson handles numerous corporate clients who travel frequently to China, many of whom have had to scramble to adjust to this new reality. They want to get over there and conduct their business, of course, she said. But they understand theres nothing you can do.

She sends numerous clients every year to the Canton Fair, a massive import/export event in Guangzhou, China, but is unsure how to handle travel to the event this year, which starts in mid-April. Its one of the things you have to book way in advance, she said. Its kind of in limbo right now. Everythings kind of in limbo right now.

All three U.S. airlines that fly to China have suspended flights to the country, effective Tuesday. United and American tentatively plan to resume flights in late March, with Delta starting up in late April.

Desperate travelers could likely get into China on a non-U.S. airline still flying into the country. But then you have to worry about being stuck there, or subject to quarantine upon returning to the United States, said Donaldson.

She said hotels and airlines are typically offering refunds and waivers for cancellations due to coronavirus.

In the event that refunds are not offered, travel insurance may help  or it may not.

Kasara Barto, a spokeswoman for Squaremouth, a travel insurance comparison site, said the company has received numerous calls from travelers who are concerned about upcoming trips.

Among their top questions: Can I get insurance that would allow me to cancel a trip if the virus spreads and Im afraid to travel?

Unfortunately, she said, typical trip-cancellation insurance policies reimburse travelers who cancel for a very select, specific group of reasons: a traveler or companion is sick, a natural disaster or terrorist renders a destination uninhabitable, the bankruptcy of a travel provider.

A viral outbreak doesnt fall under the standard reasons to cancel, she said. She added that some policies do cover travel alerts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, like the one issued last week warning against nonessential travel to China. However, those policies would have had to be purchased before the alert was issued, otherwise its considered a foreseen event.

This is such a rare event and most policies arent written to include viral outbreaks, she said.

She recommends concerned travelers consider cancel-for-any-reason insurance, which can be much more expensive than other policies, but gives travelers the broadest coverage. Cancel-for-any-reason insurance, however, typically has to be purchased within three weeks of booking a trip.

Donaldson, the travel agent, is suggesting that all her clients consider travel insurance, if not because of the coronavirus then because of whatever is coming next.

Ive seen quite a bit, from 9/11, to the volcanoes erupting in Iceland and Hawaii, to the SARS virus to this, she said. Theres always something that impacts travel in some way or another. It will pass and something else will come in.

Read more on coronavirus
The Cygnus space freighter from Northrop Grumman is pictured in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm before its release as the International Space Station orbited above west Africa. Cygnus had completed an 88-day stay attached to the Unity module after delivering nearly 8,200 pounds of research and supplies to the space station on Nov. 4, 2019. Credit: NASA.

Northrup Grumman's Cygnus cargo spacecraft departed the International Space Station's at 9:36 a.m. EST after Expedition 61 Flight Engineers Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir of NASA commanded its release from the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

At the time of release, the station was flying about 250 miles over the South Pacific just off the West Coast of Chile.

For this mission, Cygnus demonstrated a new release position for departure operations and incorporated the first ground-controlled release. The new orientation allowed for easier drift away from the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm.

Within 24 hours, Cygnus will begin its secondary mission deploying a series of payloads. The departing spacecraft will move a safe distance away from the space station before deploying a series of CubeSats: HuskySat-1 (University of Washington), SwampSat II (University of Florida), EdgeCube (Sonoma State University), and CIRis (Utah State University).

Northrop Grumman flight controllers in Dulles, Virginia, will initiate its deorbit and execute a safe, destructive reentry into Earth's atmosphere at the end of February.

The next Cygnus is set to launch to station on Feb. 9 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia carrying another batch of research.

The spacecraft arrived on station November 2 delivering cargo under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract.

On-Orbit Status Report

CAL (Cold Atom Lab): The crew completed the last steps of the Fiber Optics inspections for Module 3 and closed out the CAL in Express Rack 7. The CAL produces clouds of atoms that are chilled to about one ten billionth of a degree above absolute zero - much colder than the average temperature of deep space. At these low temperatures, atoms have almost no motion, allowing scientists to study fundamental behaviors and quantum characteristics that are difficult or impossible to probe at higher temperatures. In microgravity, researchers may be able to achieve even colder temperatures than what is possible on the ground, and observe these cold atom clouds for longer periods of time.

CBEF-L (Cell Biology Experiment Facility-L): The crew injected disinfectant into the Humidifier-2 unit and then installed the Humidifier onto the CBEF facility. CBEF-L is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) new sub-rack facility, which is an upgraded facility of the original Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS). CBEF-L provides new capabilities with additional new resources such as Full High Definition video interface, Ethernet, 24 VDC power supply, and a larger diameter centrifugal test environment. By using the original CBEF and CBEF-L as one facility for the same experiment, the payload user is provided with an upgraded experimental environment that can handle the processing of more experimental samples for a wider array of experiments.

DOSIS 3D (Dose Distribution Inside the ISS - 3D): The crew de-installed 10 passive detector pouches (PDP) and 1 triple detector pouch (TDP) from Columbus, which will be returned on SpX-20. This experiment uses active and passive detectors to determine the radiation doses inside the ISS and provides documentation of the actual nature and distribution of the radiation fields. A concise three dimensional dose distribution map of all the segments of the ISS will be developed based on this data and data from JAXA and NASA monitoring devices.

Hourglass: The crew removed the Hourglass Box hardware from the Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF). The Hourglass investigation examines the relationship between gravity and the behavior of granular materials such as regolith that covers the surface of planets and planetary-like bodies. Researchers observe various granular materials inside an hourglass and a measuring cylinder under different gravity conditions. Better understanding of the behavior of these materials supports the design of spacecraft for future missions landing on the surfaces of planets and other celestial bodies.

Made In Space - RECYCLER: The crew performed trouble shooting steps to get the RECYCLER powered up on rack ER9B. Attempts to power on the payload were unsuccessful as there was an issue with the payload hardware. The Made in Space - RECYCLER recycles polymer materials into filament that can be used as feedstock for the Made in Space 3D printer on the space station. Crews can use materials and parts that have reached the end of their useful life to create new items using 3D printing. This reduces the weight and mass of supplies that must be brought into space from Earth, an important capability for deep space missions.

STPSat-4: The crew completed the setup to downlink the high definition XF305 Camcorder video of the STPSat-4 deployment. The crew also removed and stowed the CYCLOPS hardware from the JEM slide table. Launched from the International Space Station, Space Test Program Satellite-4 (STPSat-4) is a suite automated for robotic space tools and sensors that test new equipment configurations and monitor space conditions. STPSat-4 specifically includes space weather sensors, solar panels, an antenna array and devices for tracking location of both satellites and their astronomic surroundings. This project demonstrates how a range of new technologies can be integrated on nanosatellite platforms.

Vascular Echo: The crew performed Doppler ultrasound scans using the Cardiolab Portable Doppler probe following a one minute exercise period. Cardiac and vessel structure and function with long-duration space flight and recovery (Vascular Echo) examines changes in blood vessels and the heart while the crew members are in space, and then follows their recovery on return to Earth. The results could provide insight into potential countermeasures to help maintain crewmember health, and quality of life for everyone.

Systems:

Northrop Grumman 12 (NG-12) Departure: Today, the crew monitored Cygnus release and departure from ISS. Cygnus departed the ISS at 8:35 AM CT following an 88 day berthed duration. Cygnus will enjoy 29 days of free-flight before destructive re-entry which is planned for February 29th. Today marks the first Cygnus release using ground controlled SSRMS Operations.

Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU) 3004 and 3008 Loop Scrub, and Iodination: Following up from last Saturday's EVA, the crew performed Extravehicular Activity Mobility Unit (EMU) water loop scrubs. This procedure involved performing a water loop scrub on two EMU suits, and treating them with an iodinated biocide, which helps maintain the EMUs for the next EVA.

Max Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (CEVIS): ISS CDR completed Max CEVIS tests today. This test is used by the medical community to evaluate astronauts' aerobic fitness. It is performed three times per increment.

Environmental Health System (EHS) Microbial Air and Surface Sampling: The crew took surface and air samples for microbial analysis using the Microbial Air Sampler (MAS) and Surface Sample Kit (SSK). These samples will be incubated in Petri dishes, giving medical personnel a gauge of microbial growth in the air and on surfaces of the ISS. The EHS monitors the atmosphere for gaseous contaminants from nonmetallic materials off-gassing, combustion products, and propellants, microbial contaminants from crewmembers and Station activities, water quality, acoustics, and radiation levels.

Completed Task List Activities:

WHC KTO Replace

Ground Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Payload operations support

SSRMS Cygnus departure support

SSRMS walk-off from Node2 to MBS3

Unstow SPDM from the lab PDGF

MT translate from WS6 to WS4 in preparation for IDA3 Survey

Saturday, 2/1 (GMT 032) Crew Off-Duty

Payloads:

CIMON procedure review, unstow, battery charge and soundcam chk (ESA)

Probiotics Fecal collect (JAXA)

HRF Saliva setup (NASA)

Systems:

59S Crew Departure Preparations

Portable Computer System (PCS) Connect after Ground commanded C&C transition

ISS Housekeeping

Sunday, 2/2 (GMT 033) Crew Off-Duty

Payloads:

CIMON commissioning and Mood detect (ESA)

HRF Saliva collect for SM, Functional Immune (NASA)

Vascular Aging Bio Monitor review (CSA)

LIDAL Orientation chk (NASA)

BioMonitor H/W setup and donning, 72 hr session (CSA)

Systems:

None

Monday, 2/3 (GMT 034)

Payloads:

BioMonitor wearable changeout (CSA)

Cerebral Autoregulation setup (JAXA)

Probiotics Item Gather (JAXA)

HRF Saliva Collect for FI and SM (NASA)

NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer Review (NASA)

MPEP adapter plate and Capture Mech onto JEM Al Slide Table (NASA)

Kidney Cells Pump removal from SABL (NASA)

LSG Work Volume stow (NASA)

Standard Measures Fecal collect setup (NASA)

Food Consolidate (NASA)

Systems:

Soyuz Decent Training

WHC Maintenance

NG-13 Cygnus Rendezvous OBT

Today's Planned Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Hourglass Box removal from Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF)

Robotic Workstation (RWS) High Definition (HD) Monitor Downlink

Cygnus PCS Command and PROX Link Verification

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Cooling Loop Maintenance Scrub Initiation

Checking cover closure on SM windows 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14.

Cold Atom Lab Remove And Replace Science Instrument Closeout

CARDIOVECTOR. Experiment Session.

ISS Crew departure preparation

Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) Preparation for Disinfection

USOS Window Shutter Close

JEM Airlock Press

 Maintenance

Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) Humidifier Installation for CBEF Incubator Unit 1G

Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT)

Food Acceptability Survey

Crew Departure Preparations for Return to Earth

STPSat XF305 Video Setup

JEM Airlock Leak Check

Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT)

JEM Airlock Slide Table (ST) Extension to JPM Side

Food Acceptability Survey

Cyclops Removal Operation

Cold Atom Lab Science Module Lab Relocate

JEM Airlock Slide Table (ST) Retraction from JPM Side

Veggie Monitoring Reference Material Review

Environmental Health System (EHS) - Microbial Air Sampler (MAS) Kit Sample Collection

Inventory Management System (IMS) conference

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Cooling Loop Maintenance Iodination

ISS Crew departure preparation

N1 Deck hatch MPEV close

Pressure Management Device (PMD) Teardown

Countermeasures System (CMS) Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Exercise Session

WSS SD Card R&R

DOSIS 3D Passive Detectors De-Installation from Columbus (10 PDPs and 1 TDP).

Max Cycle Ergometer w/ Vibration Isolation & Stabilization (CEVIS) Portable PFS Partial Set Up

Recycler Troubleshooting

Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT)

Crew Departure Preparations for Return to Earth

Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) Cygnus Release Preparation

Max Cycle Ergometer w/Vibration Isolation & Stabilization (CEVIS) Portable PFS Power Up

Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) Cygnus Release Briefing

Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) Cygnus Release and departure monitoring.

EVA Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Cooling Loop Scrub De-configuration

INTER-MAI-75. HAM Radio Activation.

Vascular Echo Leg Doppler PDOP Measurement

Environmental Health System (EHS) - Surface Sample Kit (SSK) Collection/Incubation

PAO event, prep. TV report

Max Cycle Ergometer w/Vibration Isolation & Stabilization (CEVIS) Portable PFS Subject

Diagnostics of SM Power Supply System () Filter Unit (-1) and Main Bus Assembly (1).

Max Cycle Ergometer w/Vibration Isolation & Stabilization (CEVIS) Portable PFS Subject

LSG Work Volume Illumination Troubleshoot

On MCC Go Turn off camcorder, TV system monitoring equipment, close applications

INTER-MAI-75. Closeout

Restow Vestibule Outfitting Kit (VOK)

Robotic Workstation (RWS) High Definition (HD) Monitor Deactivation

Metal Oxide (METOX) Regeneration Termination

Metal Oxide (METOX) Regeneration Initiation

Private Psychological Conference (PPC)

Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) Humidifier Closeout

Max Cycle Ergometer w/Vibration Isolation & Stabilization (CEVIS) Portable PFS Partial Stow

HRFC Lid Latch Recovery

ISS Experience Solid State Drive Changeout

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VILNIUS, Lithuania - Russia and China pose the greatest threats to national security of Lithuania, according to an intelligence report published by the Baltic nation on Tuesday.

The government and the Lithuanian national security agency said in a joint security assessment that Russias foreign and security policies are driven by the Kremlins desire to ensure the regimes stability and demonstrate its indispensability to a domestic audience.

It also listed China, citing the malicious use of Chinese cyber capabilities in Lithuanian cyberspace.

Russias confrontation with the West in the international arena encourages Moscow to co-ordinate its interests with China, according to the 324-page annual assessment by the Defence Ministry and State Security agency. These countries maintain close political and military relations and co-ordinate positions on international issues.

Lithuania broke away from the Soviet Union three decades ago and joined NATO and the EU in 2004.

Russias 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine has raised new worries in the Baltic region that Lithuania and neighbouring Latvia and Estonia  all former Soviet republics  could be next.
A campaign from a Tampa Bay microbrewery to promote dogs up for adoption recently reunited a Minnesota woman with her dog, which had been missing for years.

Motorworks Brewing put pictures of adoptable dogs on every can's label, which were donated by label maker Tech Label.

The dogs are from Shelter Manatee, a local shelter looking after the dogs until an adopter takes them, perhaps after seeing their charming mugs on a can.

The story about the brewery's labels went viral, which is how Monica Mathis saw her lost dog.



I was scrolling pretty much on Facebook and I saw it, Mathis told WTVT. I was like, Oh my gosh! Thats my dog!

Mathis said Hazel went missing when she lived in Iowa.

I really thought she was gone, I never thought Id see her again, said Mathis. I had a doubt, I was like Oh my gosh, it looks like her, but is it really her?

Mathis called Manatee County Animal Services, where employees were able to prove the dog on the beer can was Hazel using information from her microchip.

Hans Wohlgefahrt, of Manatee County Animal Services, told WTVT that photos and vet records for Hazel were recovered.

"This dog was such an important part of her family that she had everything to prove she was her owner, Wohlgefahrt said. There was really no way we could trace her back to that particular owner. Its a great reminder to people when they do these things to go into their profile and make sure all their contact information is up to date.

Related video: Adoptable dogs walked down the aisle as special guests at this wedding
Health official: 'Regardless of variant, the protective measures are the same'

local
A good brand campaign is one that resonates with people and awakens perspectives they never thought they had. The latest Google ad for Super Bowl 2020 did the same with many people including businessman Anand Mahindra.

He recently took to Twitter and wrote, This Super Bowl ad made me cry. Seriously. Perhaps its my vintage that made me identify with it. But I think it will strike a chord with most people, no matter what their age is... Well done Google. You managed to dive deep into our hearts...

Check out the tweet here-

This Super Bowl ad made me cry. Seriously. Perhaps its my vintage that made me identify with it. But I think it will strike a chord with most people, no matter what their age is... Well done Google. You managed to dive deep into our hearts... https://t.co/yfJPvvQ2uI  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) February 3, 2020





According to NDTV, this ad is inspired by a true story of a Google employees grandfather. In the advertisement, an old man uses Google Assistant to relive the memories of his late wife, Loretta. The ad showcases the old man asking Google to remember little things about Loretta while looking at photos and videos of her.

Many loved the ad and had a similar opinion as Anand Mahindra and heres what they had to say-

It does make you cry

I just successfully tuned out the @Google commercial from last night...no offense @Google but I have already cried twice over it! Mission accomplished! #SuperBowlAds2020 #cryfest2020 #Loretta #getoutofthedanghouse  Jennifer Tate (@Jeminette) February 4, 2020





We agree.

Google Assistant is amazing no doubt in that but this commercial is just brilliant. A beautiful & heart touching momento. #Loretta #OkGoogle remember this tweet and remind me to watch again when Im down. @Google please tell me, this was not created by Google Assistant



pic.twitter.com/Z0J4t8i4dy  Akhil Sravan Kumar (@sravannerella00) February 4, 2020





Awww.

"Ok, Google. Remember how you won every heart with one simple ad."



This amazing example of storytelling highlights the usefulness of @Google, especially for patients with dementia.#Google #Loretta https://t.co/ThvMR85GeA  Elaine Valentin (@LainieVal) February 4, 2020





It does strike a chord with everyone.

A whole day later and Im still crying over that Google commercial #Loretta  Caity (@caitymarie_92) February 4, 2020





Too good!

Am I going to cry everytime that @Google commercial comes on? Yes, I think I am. #Loretta pic.twitter.com/exc0OQikRP  Amanda (@ItsMeAmandaah) February 4, 2020





Here you go

The @Google ad for #Loretta has me all in my feelings. He made #GoogleAssistant remember facts about his dead wife. pic.twitter.com/e13Tbbwmtx  ImHereForTheTea (@ImHereForTheTe2) February 4, 2020





According to CNN, not only did Anand Mahindra love the ad, but most viewers too felt an emotional connect with the ad, making it rank high for the brilliant messaging and branding.
Water, water everywhere -- and it's weirder than you think

Tokyo, Japan - Researchers at The University of Tokyo have used computational methods and analysis of recent experimental data to demonstrate that water molecules take two distinct structures in the liquid state. The team investigated the scattering of X-ray photons through water samples and showed a bimodal distribution hidden under the first diffraction peak that resulted from tetrahedral and non-tetrahedral arrangements of water molecules. This work may have important implications throughout science, but especially with regard to living systems, like proteins and cell structures, which are strongly affected by their surrounding water molecules.

Given the ubiquity of water on our planet and the central role it plays in all known life, it may be hard to believe that there is anything left to learn about this most familiar fluid. A simple molecule made up of just two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen; water still hides fundamental mysteries that remain to be unraveled. For example, water has unusually high melting and boiling points, and even expands when it freezes (unlike most liquids, which contract). These and other unusual properties make it very different from almost all other liquids, but also allow life as we know it to exist.

The weirdness of water can be best understood by thinking about the very unique interactions between H2O molecules--the hydrogen bond. Water tends to form four hydrogen bonds with its four neighbors, which leads to tetrahedral arrangements of the neighbors. Such arrangements can be largely distorted under thermal fluctuations. However, whether the distortion leads to the coexistence of distinct tetrahedral and non-tetrahedral arrangements has remained controversial.

Now, scientists at The University of Tokyo have combined computer simulations and the analysis of scattering experimental data to find the "structure factor" of water - the mathematical function that represents the paths of dispersed X-rays when they scatter off the hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The analysis showed two overlapping peaks hiding in the first diffraction peak of the structure factor. One of these peaks corresponded to the distance between oxygen atoms as in ordinary liquids, while the other indicated a longer distance, as in a tetrahedral arrangement. "The combination of new computational methods and analysis of recent X-ray scattering data allowed us to see what was not visible in previous work," first author of the study Rui Shi explains.

This discovery may have huge implications across many scientific fields. Knowing the exact structural ordering of water is critical for a complete understanding of molecular biology, chemistry, and even many industrial applications. "It is very satisfying to be able to unravel the liquid structure of such a fundamental substance," senior author Hajime Tanaka says.

###

The work is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society as "Direct Evidence in the Scattering Function for the Coexistence of Two Types of Local Structures in Liquid Water." (DOI 10.1021/jacs.9b11211)

About Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), the University of Tokyo

Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), the University of Tokyo is one of the largest university-attached research institutes in Japan.

More than 120 research laboratories, each headed by a faculty member, comprise IIS, with more than 1,000 members including approximately 300 staff and 700 students actively engaged in education and research. Our activities cover almost all the areas of engineering disciplines. Since its foundation in 1949, IIS has worked to bridge the huge gaps that exist between academic disciplines and real-world applications.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
President Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, 4th February 2020, cut the sod for the construction of two solar power plants in Kaleo and Lawra, all in the Upper West region, under the 17-megawatt peak solar power project.

According to President Akufo-Addo, this project reaffirms the commitment of his Government to diversify the country's energy generation portfolio, and, thereby, help increase the renewable energy component of Ghana's energy mix, and contribute to her fight against the effects of climate change.

With the solar project coming on the heels of the construction of the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam and Irrigation Project, the 17-megawatt project is being funded by the German Government's Development Bank, KfW, at a cost of 22.8 million.

He stated that the project will see to the construction of a 13-megawatt peak project in Kaleo and a 4-megawatt peak project in Lawra. This will help Ghana avoid an estimated seven thousand, four hundred (7,400) tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year; making our country a cleaner place to live in.

He continued, the project at Lawra is scheduled to be completed in June this year, with the one in Kaleo also scheduled to completed by December this year. When finished, both projects will generate enough energy to power some thirty-two thousand (32,000) households, and increase the geographic spread of power generation in the country.

These solar power plants, the first of its kind in the region, this means that this region also has its fair share of power generation assets in the country.

This, President Akufo-Addo stressed, will be the first grid-connected solar power plant in the Upper West Region, and he was, thus, expectant that it will serve as the impetus for the development of the region.

The plants will also reduce the amount of energy that would have, hitherto, been transmitted from the hydro and thermal plants located in the south, and, thereby, help reduce transmission losses on our national grid. It will also create employment for our youth during the construction and operation stages of the project, the President added.

Having been assured by the Volta River Authority that, just as is being done at the 2.5-megawatt peak plant at Navrongo, the 17-megawatt peak solar plants will be operated and maintained by Ghanaians living in Kaleo and Lawra, the President encouraged the youth in these areas to stand in preparedness for this wonderful opportunity.

I am looking forward to educational institutions in the Upper West Region bringing their students to see the practical demonstration of an operational solar plant. Students will have the opportunity to do their internships and National Service at these plants, thus, increasing their knowledge in the field of solar energy, he said.

Tertiary institutions, President Akufo-Addo noted, can also collaborate with the VRA to undertake research in areas that will improve the efficiency and sustainability of the plant, amongst others.

We should get our next generation of solar energy experts from this region, he added.

Whilst commending the Ministries of Finance, and Energy and, in particular, the Volta River Authority for the roles they have played in bringing this project to fruition, the President told the contractor you have no reason to delay the timely execution of this project. Minority Leader wants the cost of Pwalugu Dam project reviewed

The cost of the electrical generation components for the proposed Pwalugu Dam is too expensive and must be renegotiated.

This is according to the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu.

The 60MW facility is expected to cost 366 million dollars.

Together with the irrigation component of the dam, the entire project is estimated to cost close to a billion dollars.

The Minority resisted the passage of the loan for the project in the early hours of 24th December 2019 before the House went on recess.

The Tamale South MP maintains the deal must not be passed in its current state.

I think the proper thing will be for the Committee of Finance and the Committee of Mines and Energy to re-examine this particular request. Other than that you cannot spend GHS366 million dollars on 60 megawatts of electricityIdeally, I made a comment that the appropriate thing will be for the committees to re-examine it. We do not just look at terms and conditions but we look at its impact on the economy and the Ghanaian people.

Meanwhile, the First Deputy Majority Chief Whip, Matthew Nyindam has said the Minority is running ahead of its self.

We thought that it is a legitimate concern. There is a report that is already on the Floor of Parliament. We will want to raise the report and if there are lapses that are overwhelming, to the extent that the committee has to withdraw the report and go and sit on it we will definitely allow that to happen .

---citinewsroom
BRUNSWICK, Ohio -- State Rep. and Brunswick resident Stephen Hambley (R-Brunswick) was honored in Columbus Jan. 28 with the National Security Leadership Award from Mission: Readiness Ohio.

The award recognized Hambleys support of historic investments made in early childhood care and education in the state's operating budget, signed into law earlier this year, a release from the group said.

Mission: Readiness Ohio is part of a national military leadership organization made up of more than 700 retired military admirals and generals. The organization began in response to a Pentagon statistic that approximately 71 percent of young adults are ineligible for military service due to fitness, education or legal disqualifications.

Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof (R-Medina) was also presented a National Security Leadership Award at the event.

Hambley said the award came as a complete surprise to him. He said it was an honor to meet with the generals and staff of Mission: Readiness Ohio and learn about their work.

As a retired educator, I have always believed that our investments in education should not only serve the best interests of the student, but also the best interests of the community and our nation, said Hambley. I am gratified for the recognition of supporting these investments, as well as thankful for the work of the Mission: Readiness Ohio.

Hambley retired from Lorain County Community College, where he was an adjunct professor, to run for state office in 2014. Hambley also taught courses in American government, state and local government, politics, urban studies and history at various colleges over the past 20 years.

He said receiving the National Security Leadership Award and meeting members of Mission: Readiness Ohio was eye opening in a number of ways.

I am on the finance committee for primary and secondary education, and it is interesting to realize how we can benefit and strengthen not only the individual, but the whole community, he said. Prepared individuals make a prepared nation.

Retired Major General Paul J. Sullivan from Mission: Readiness Ohio said this is precisely why the group was formed.

Fewer than 30 percent of young adults qualify for the military, Sullivan said. This is a national security challenge. Research informs us that high-quality programs focused on infants and toddlers, as well as preschool, can significantly improve their life outcomes and prepare them for service in the military or workforce.

"We thank the legislature for addressing this issue with historic investments in critical early childhood programs.

Read more news from the Brunswick Sun.
PhoreMost Limited, the UK-based biopharmaceutical company dedicated to drugging undruggable disease targets, today announced it has made two appointments to strengthen its leadership team, as the Company positions itself for growth. Dr. Catherine Beech joins the PhoreMost Board as a Non-Executive Director. Dr. Benedict (Ben) Cross has joined as Senior Director (Technology), and will direct the evolution and development of the Companys SITESEEKER screening platform.

Catherine has over 25 years of biotech and pharmaceutical industry experience, including leading drug development programs in hypertension, heart failure, Parkinsons Disease and HIV. She has also worked extensively to commercialize novel technologies in the life sciences, and is a scientific founder and CEO of Exonate. Catherine has a degree in medicine from the University of Birmingham and in 2008 was awarded an OBE for services to technology and innovation.

Ben is a geneticist and biotechnologist with over ten years of professional research and management experience. He joins PhoreMost from Horizon Discovery, where he established and led the companys functional genomic screening platform over a period of six years. The screening group now executes hundreds of screens per year, generating multi-million-pound revenue. Ben completed his PhD at the University of Manchester, with postdoctoral training at the University of Cambridge.

Dr. Chris Torrance, CEO, PhoreMost, said:

We welcome both Ben and Catherine to the PhoreMost team at this exciting point in the Companys development. We very much look forward to working with Ben to maximize the potential of the SITESEEKER platform, and to the addition of Catherines valuable experience and guidance on the Board of Directors.

Dr. Catherine Beech, OBE, Non-Executive Director, PhoreMost, said:

I am absolutely delighted to join the Board of PhoreMost. I believe the Company is poised for success, and that 2020 will be a tremendous year on many fronts.

Dr. Ben Cross Senior Director (Technology), PhoreMost, commented:

I am excited to have been given this opportunity to work with PhoreMost and the SITESEEKER platform, which has huge potential to uncover not only previously undruggable targets, but also druggable pockets within those targets. I am very much looking forward to working with the team to drive this forward.

PhoreMosts SITESEEKER phenotypic screening platform is based on the Companys core proprietary protein interference, or PROTEINi, technology. Using SITESEEKER, PhoreMost probes the entire proteome in a live cell environment for novel druggable targets linked to any chosen disease, using the vast 3-D shape diversity of natural protein fragment (sub-domain) libraries. This enables the systematic unmasking of cryptic druggable sites, directly linking them to useful therapeutic functions.
A Northern Ireland auction firm has secured a contract with the Department of Finance (DoF) to auction vehicles and garage equipment.

The four-year deal will see Wilsons Auctions, based in Mallusk, provide public auction services on behalf of selected public sector bodies.

The contract will cover fleet vehicles, vehicles seized through proceeds of crime and parts such as engine components. Group operations director Peter Johnston said: "This is a significant four-year contract for Wilsons Auctions, further expanding our services and adding to our growing list of government and law enforcement clients across the UK, Ireland and further afield." Wilsons Auctions has also secured work with Cheshire Constabulary and the Police and Crime Commissioners for South Wales, Gwent and Dyfed Powys.
Concern about the spreading coronavirus outbreak in China and its impact on this year's Tokyo Olympics reached Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday.

Abe was asked about the virus by an opposition lawmaker but he brushed aside worries.

"We will respond appropriately," Abe said, speaking in Japanese, "while closely cooperating with the World Health Organization and other international organizations so that we can proceed with the preparations without letting it affect the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics."

Japan has not reported any fatalities from the outbreak, while China has reported more than 300 deaths from the virus and more than 17,000 cases.


DMK youth wing secretary and DMK president MK Stalin's son Udhayanidhi Stalin on Tuesday demanded CBI inquiry into the government job recruitment exam through TNPSC while leading a protest against Tamil Nadu government's alleged failure in conducting a fair recruitment exam.

Udhayanidhi has alleged that the maximum numbers of students who sat in the Rameswaram exam centre secured the first fifty ranks. "Our leader (Stalin) has demanded CBI investigation into the matter as the AIADMK will not do a fair probe of the TNPSC job recruitment exam," he said.

He also accused the AIADMK of not doing a proper investigation of Jayalalitha's death.

During the protest, Udhayanidhi said that the governments of Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, and Rajasthan have the guts to oppose the Central Government by passing a resolution against the CAA. "On the other hand, Tamil Nadu has Edappadi Palanisami and O. Panneerselvam-led government, which is a slave government to Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he added.

Meanwhile, the DMK youth wing secretary also alleged that their win in the local body election was just a start on their road to winning the Assembly election. "We won 80 per cent during the local body election. Had a fair election been held then we would have won 90 per cent seats," he added.

The DMK youth wing cadres raised slogans against the TN government near TNPSC head office at Parry's in Chennai.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It took nearly a month for an Etobicoke man to find out that it was shale sediment that was turning the water in Mimico Creek a murky, grey-green colour.

Its great theyre finally getting to the bottom of it, Craig Strathy said. But its absolutely crazy it has taken this long.

Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) spokesperson Gary Wheeler confirmed the cause Tuesday.

We have confirmed the water in Mimico Creek was discoloured by mud from nearby construction, Wheeler said in an email. The shale/rock sediment in the mud can change the colour of the water from grey to green.

Wheeler added that while the ministry takes all threats to the environment very seriously, it has no concerns at this time.

The ministry has no environmental concerns at this point and staff remain engaged with Toronto Water and the Ministry of Transportation to follow up on site conditions and cleanup efforts, Wheeler said in an email.

The ministrys role is to respond to concerns, assess any environmental impacts caused by such incidents and ensure the appropriate and responsible agencies clean up the spill or site, Wheeler said.

Toronto Water initially took over responsibility for site cleanup, Wheeler said.

However, the Ministry of Transportation is working on the cleanup and monitoring of the area after it was determined to be an MTO outfall, Wheeler confirmed. In this case, the outfall is a concrete structure that drains water from the highway into the creek.

Lawson Oates, City of Toronto director of environment and administration, said Monday the city joined the MECP response by installing a containment boom, or temporary floating barrier, to block solid debris at the outfall, as well as straw bales covered in filter material.

Were always concerned when we get a call about a (possible) spill in our streams, rivers or sewers in Toronto because of the impact on the natural environment, including aquatic life and ducks, Oates said. Lake Ontario is also the source of our drinking water. Were always concerned about any degradation of our water system.

Oates said two separate incidents in January contributed to the green discoloration in the creek; the first work on Jan. 3 related to Metrolinx construction, the second work on Jan. 15 related to an MTO contract.

The work involved some shale, which has a green sheen to it, Oates said. Some of that material is captured and some of it is carried on (in the water).

It remains unclear what events may have led to shale being deposited in the creek and turning it green in December.

Metrolinx spokesperson Scott Money was not able to confirm that Metrolinx was on site Jan. 3 and contributed to the shale in the water, and, in fact, stated in an email that the cause of the contamination was still unclear: We understand that there has been no definitive determination as yet regarding the cause of the discoloration in the Mimico Creek.

We will continue to work with MECP and all partners, including the City of Toronto, to ensure that works are being carried out carefully and with no local effects.

The Ministry of Transportation deferred for comment to Gary Wheeler, who was not able to confirm whether the MTO was on site on Jan. 15 before our publication deadline.

Meanwhile, heavy rains about a week ago seem to have diluted the murky, grey-green colour of the creek in that area.

As for Strathy, he first noticed Mimico Creeks strange colour over Christmas break during regular walks in West Deane Park with his sheltie, Colby.

One day, the creek would be crystal clear and then the next day, it would be a murky green, Strathy said.

After Strathy noticed it a third time, he walked the creek trail from West Deane Park to identify the source of the discoloration.

He took photos. That day, Jan. 4, he called the citys 311 and the MECP Spills Centre.

On the south side of Eglinton, I noticed a five-foot concrete outfall where this milky substance was coming from and then entering our natural watershed, Strathy said.

MECP will continue to monitor the site to ensure the clean up is completed, Wheeler said.
The Muscatine Community College community received the news of Dick OBriens recent passing with sadness. Dick attended Muscatine Junior College in 1946 and was the longest serving mayor of Muscatine. Dick was always a welcome presence in alumni meetings, especially accompanied by his friend, Evelyn Schauland. The last time I sat with him, we were at the HyVee Market Grille, and he and Evelyn were playfully arguing over whether to order the pork cutlet (he won!). Dick will be missed by his MJC/ MCC family and is recognized for playing a role in creating the rich history of MJC/MCC.

A few weeks ago, I was given a gift from the estate of Ann Petersen by Melanie Alexander, the Muscatine Art Center Director. It included several brochures, invitations, and newspaper clippings related to MJC/MCC. Her father, Robert Petersen, was a graduate in 1935. I was surprised to even find a carefully folded red napkin in the contents from an event held in 1999, to celebrate MCCs 70th anniversary. Ive been learning about MCC/ MJC for the last several years, but especially this year, as we began our year-long celebration of our 90th anniversary. The care with which these artifacts were stored in the Petersons home is a testament to how fondly they thought of MCC. In the contents was a booklet entitled I-E-SKA, Poems, Themes and Short Stories by Students and Alumni of Muscatine Junior College 1933-1934.
Two Indonesian women who allegedly posted misinformation online about the deadly coronavirus have been arrested, police said, as they warned dozens of hoaxes were being rapidly shared by the country's millions of internet users.

The pair were taken into custody in Balikpapan, a city on Borneo island, in the past few days after separately posting rumours on their social media accounts that a local resident was infected and undergoing treatment.

Indonesia has yet to report a confirmed case of the virus, which emerged in a Chinese market at the end of last year and has since killed at least 425 people in China and spread around the world.

"They posted a hoax on their Facebook account that a Balikpapan resident has been diagnosed with coronavirus," local police spokesman Ade Yaya Suryana told AFP Tuesday.

"They were spreading lies."



The women -- a farmer and a maid -- could face up to three years in prison if convicted under laws banning the spread of misinformation, he added.

Indonesia's communications ministry has warned that it has spotted at least 50 online hoaxes about the virus recently.

The Southeast Asian archipelago has one of the world's biggest internet audiences, with some 130 million people online.

At the weekend, more than 230 Indonesians arrived home after Jakarta received Beijing's go-ahead to repatriate its nationals living near the epicentre.

The returnees will be isolated for 14 days at a hospital in Natuna, a cluster of islands bordering the South China Sea.

Their arrival has set off protests in regional capital Ranai where demonstrators called on officials to ditch plans to quarantine the returnees near a residential area over safety concerns.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Canada has kicked off 2020 with a slew of new products aimed at investors who want to incorporate environmental, social and governance factors into their investment portfolios.

Seven ESG-focused exchange traded funds began trading in January, the biggest month for launches of those funds since March 2019, when eight ESG products were created, according to National Bank Financial. The new funds are being launched after two years of strong net flows for Canadian-listed ESG ETFs  more than $300 million in 2018 and almost $150 million last year.

The availability of such products in Canada has ballooned as asset managers try to capitalize on rising demand for funds that screen out companies that dont meet certain environmental and governance criteria. Canada now has more 30 pure-play ESG ETFs. The U.S. has more than 80, though none have been launched this year, said Daniel Straus, vice president of ETFs and financial products research at National Bank Financial.

Investors have also been piling into one of Canadas oldest ESG ETFs. The iShares Janzi Social Index ETF, which goes by the ticker XEN, attracted more than $120 million in new capital from 2017 through 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

ESG investing as a buzzword is not new, said Straus by phone. Its been around for a long time. It did seem to pass a tipping point in terms of attention about a year or two ago, both in Canada and the U.S.

U.S. ESG ETFs took in $8 billion (U.S.) of inflows in 2019, almost double the amount from the prior year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

ESG ETFs offer a less expensive way for investors to get exposure to the responsible investing trends and are more liquid than active mutual funds. Last month, Larry Fink said BlackRock Inc. will put climate change at the centre of the firms strategy by prioritizing sustainability in its investment funds.

The number of inbound requests weve been getting for ESG has been skyrocketing, Straus said. It remains to be seen whether that interest becomes true grassroots retail investor flows  that we have yet to observe.

One firm was responsible for all seven new ESG ETFs last month  Bank of Montreal. The bank is following larger rival Royal Bank of Canada, which launched six new ESG-focused ETFs last year that are now managed by BlackRock Asset Management Canada Ltd.

We didnt want to come out with one or two and look like we were doing a token launch, Mark Raes, head of product at BMO Asset Management, said by phone.

National Banks Straus said more ESG funds will come online. Millennials and Gen-Xers are expected to inherit $30 trillion of wealth in a massive generational transfer over the next 30 years, and many want to avoid investing in companies with a large climate footprint.

Its the realities of the world we live in  the increasing economic power of younger investors and decision makers and the headlines around climate change and social justice issues that are turning investor decision-making processes toward ESG factors, Straus said.

The large inflow of capital into ESG funds in 2018 was primarily due to new launches like the RBC Vision Womens Leadership MSCI Canada ETF, which received interest at inception from institutional investors, said Straus. Both in Canada and the U.S., the creation activity for ETFs in the ESG category has been pretty spiky, suggesting that most of the buying interest is institutional in origin.

With assistance from Rachel Evans.

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Griswold Home Care (Griswold) is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Slupecki as its Chief Executive Officer, effective February 3, 2020. Mr. Slupecki is a proven leader with more than 15 years of experience leading healthcare services and healthcare franchising companies. He is known for driving rapid growth through collaboration with all stakeholder groups and has demonstrated success utilizing organic and acquisition growth strategies.

Slupecki, a Toledo, Ohio native, recently served as Chief Financial Officer of BioMatrix, a national specialty pharmacy based in Plantation, Fla. Prior to BioMatrix, Mr. Slupecki served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer during Interim HealthCares transformation into Caring Brands International (CBI)  a multinational franchisor providing in-home medical and non-medical care, utilizing three brands across seven countries. During Mr. Slupeckis tenure at CBI, the company double revenues, and is currently a billion-dollar network comprised of 550 franchise locations.

Im humbled and honored to be given the responsibility to further Jean Griswolds commitment to dignity and quality of care, Slupecki said. I look forward to working with our dedicated and talented corporate team and our many franchisees to significantly grow and expand the Griswold network.

The Board and I are delighted to have Mike as our CEO after a thorough and rigorous national search, which included numerous high-caliber candidates, John Pouschine, Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of Pouschine Cook Capital, commented. Mikes experience, skillset, vision, and leadership will be instrumental in helping Griswold take advantage of the opportunities we see in the market.

Josh Gilleland, President of Griswold Home Care Franchise Association (GHCFA), stated, We are excited to welcome Mike with his extensive home healthcare service knowledge and healthcare franchising experience. The GHCFA looks forward to reestablishing Griswold as one of the premier home care service providers in the country with Mike at the helm.

About Griswold Home Care

With 200 locations in 30 states, Griswold Home Care is one of the countrys top home care companies. Griswold provides non-medical personal care services at home allowing adults to maintain quality of life despite advanced age or onset of illness. For more information, visit http://www.griswoldhomecare.com or call 215.402.0200.

About Pouschine Cook Capital Management, LLC

Pouschine Cook is a New York City-based private equity firm that invests in proven, private middle market companies, with a focus on healthcare services and business products and services. The Firm was founded in 1999 by John Pouschine and Everett Cook to partner with U.S.-based companies that have a leading position in their niche or industry, significant growth opportunities and are poised to benefit from Pouschine Cooks enhancement Toolkit and other initiatives. Pouschine Cook specializes in providing direct co-investment opportunities for institutional investors and family offices alongside its own capital. For additional information on Pouschine Cook, please visit http://www.pouschinecook.com.
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The year 2019 ended on a stressful note for the Indian Police, battling a number of agitations over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) across the country. The police also had to answer an array of questions about that methods of handling the protests. Violent incidents in Uttar Pradesh (UP) led to a police clampdown at a number of places, while in Delhi, police action in Jamia Millia Islamia and inaction in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) came in for widespread criticism. In Hyderabad, the death of four rape accused in a police encounter generated a heated debate over instant justice and a criminal justice system that suffers from inordinate delays. The dawn of 2020 again saw the police embroiled in another debate, with the transfer of the Bhima Koregaon case from the Pune police to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The fall-out of these incidents broadly indicates the nature of impending challenges before the police in 2020. The experience of 2019 will also be vital for the police in shaping its responses in the future.

First, agitations over the CAA and the NRC are distinct from the usual over-specific and localised issues. Second, these are in the glare of arc lights with TV channels and reporters thronging the area. Third, the police are stationed not at designated venues of protest. Fourth, rabble-rousing from CAA supporters and critics in a politically charged environment is adding fuel to the fire and increasing animosities.

The police are in a quandary over agitations such as the one in Shaheen Bagh. It is predominantly women of all ages helming this protest, visiting the site daily in large numbers. Since the occupied area is a public place, lakhs of commuters and residents are affected, and numerous appeals have been made to the protesters to vacate the premises and shift to one of the designated sites for such protests, with little success. Similar protests have come up at other places too.

How do the police tackle these situations in metros, under the constant gaze and scrutiny of the media and public? Ideally, those making volatile comments should be booked and the protesters moved to designated sites. This is not possible since the courts have asked whether the volatile statements are inflammatory enough to cause an immediate conflagration. The public sit-ins have become so huge that any police action runs the risk of injuring unarmed protesters. Given the circumstances, the police can only keep a watchful eye to maintain peace.

Providing security in such a politically-charged and sensitive environment is another challenge. It is difficult to screen people at such gatherings where hundreds visit the site every day and even the organisers are not aware of who exactly is in the crowd. When vandalism takes place against public property with attacks on policemen, the protesters blame outsiders. On January 30, a young man, who is pro-CAA, fired at the crowd of protesters at Jamia, injuring one. The police were blamed for inaction, even complicity. The time has come for monitoring such sites with drones and CCTV cameras powered by mobile vans.

Responding to college unrest in the present circumstances is another challenge, when the debate about police entry into campuses continues. The Delhi Police were criticised for using excessive force inside Jamia after entering the campus, allegedly in hot pursuit of a violent mob. The same police were inactive, waiting outside JNUs gates, while masked attackers created mayhem inside the campus. The new template for action has to be enforced  for the police to take action within a campus on information of a cognisable offence and not wait for any permission.

Mending the broken criminal justice system still remains a real challenge in the future. Even after seven years, the Delhi gang rape victims mother waits for justice. Smart lawyers, aided by lengthy judicial processes, have managed to delay the hanging till now. Other cases of heinous crimes against women continue to suffer due to shoddy investigation, poor forensic facilities, a below-par prosecution system and inordinately long judicial procedures. Kangaroo justice is no answer to this, yet instances abound where this is resorted to.

The four rape accused in Hyderabad fell to police bullets in an encounter when they allegedly attacked the police. The public lapped it up amid cautionary advice from jurists and courts.

Finally, the police have to brace themselves for many more dogfights between the Centre and the states over sensitive cases such as the Bhima Koregaon one, with severe adverse implications. The case registered during the Bharatiya Janata Party regime in Maharashtra by the Pune Police was ready to be charge-sheeted when the new government denounced the investigations for targeting activists of the Left and liberal persuasion. The transfer of the case by the Centre to the NIA is a sign of things to come. The police leadership now has to ensure that it prepares a solid case which cannot be chopped and changed later by other dispensations. It will also have to counter political machinations. Police autonomy appears the only solution to this imbroglio, but alas, police reforms still remain a chimera.

Yashovardhan Azad is former IPS officer and Central Information Commissioner

The views expressed are personal
NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

The analyst estimates that the global number of cellular IoT subscribers increased by 70 percent during 2018 to reach 1.21 billion at the end of the year  corresponding to around 13 percent of all mobile subscribers. Until 2023, the number of cellular IoT subscribers is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 49.4 percent to reach 9.03 billion at the end of the period. During the same period, cellular IoT network revenues are forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34.4 percent from  6.7 billion in 2018 to approximately  29.4 billion in 2023. Meanwhile the monthly ARPU is expected to drop to  0.27.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05794604/?utm_source=PRN



East Asia was the largest region with 848.0 million IoT subscribers at the end of 2018, far ahead of Western Europe and North America with 157.6 million and 111.7 million respectively. Altogether the main regions accounted for over 95 percent of the global installed base. Latin America, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Russia & CIS had in the range of 1932 million cellular IoT subscribers each, while Africa, Middle East, Central Eastern Europe, and Australia & Oceania were in the span 719 million.

China is the world's largest market for cellular IoT connectivity services by volume. According to operator subscriber data, the installed base grew by 124 percent year-on-year to reach 767 million at the end of 2018. This corresponded to 63 percent of the global installed base. The spectacular numbers reported by the domestic mobile operators leave no doubt that China is leading the global adoption of massive IoT. The country has surpassed Europe and North America in terms of penetration rate  54.7 IoT connections per 100 inhabitants at the end of 2018  and is on track to reach 1 billion IoT connections during 2019. The Chinese government is actively driving adoption as a tool for achieving domestic and economic policy goals, at the same time as the private sector implements IoT technology to improve efficiency and drive innovation. Berg Insight believes that the role of the government is the main explanation for why China is ahead of the rest of the world in the adoption of IoT. Like other advanced economies, the country has widespread adoption of connected cars, fleet management, smart metering, asset monitoring and other traditional applications for cellular IoT. It has also given rise to new consumer services enabled by connectivity like bike sharing. The most distinctive characteristic of the Chinese IoT market is however the way that the government is systematically using new technology to implement its vision for urban life in the 21st century.

China Mobile is the world's largest provider of cellular IoT connectivity. At the end of 2018, the operator reported 551 million IoT connections and a year-on-year growth rate of 141 percent. China Unicom and China Telecom ranked second and third with 110 million and 106 million connections respectively. Vodafone ranked first among the Western operators and fourth overall with 81 million connections, followed by AT&T in fifth place with 51 million. Verizon, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica had in the range 2535 million cellular IoT connections. Softbank/Sprint and Telenor were the last players in the top ten with 21 million and 17 million connections respectively. Year-on-year growth rates for the mentioned operators were in the span 2035 percent, except for Softbank/Sprint that only grew 3 percent.

IoT connectivity revenues are growing at a considerably slower rate than the number of connections. Berg Insight's analysis of the IoT business KPIs released by mobile operators in different parts of the world suggests that global IoT revenues increased by around 19 percent during 2018, while the monthly APRU dropped by 30 percent. Excluding China, the trend was less dramatic with revenues growing by 16 percent and ARPU declining 7 percent. Indeed, there is a negative correlation between growth in connections and monthly ARPU as the bulk of net additions are cost sensitive devices.

Verizon reported the highest IoT revenues of  1.4 billion (US$ 1.6 billion) in 2018 and the highest monthly ARPU of an estimated  3.65. Around 60 percent of sales derived from the Verizon Connect fleet management and telematics business. China Mobile ranked second with yearly IoT sales of  964 million but had the lowest monthly ARPU of just  0.21. Vodafone and AT&T were not far behind. Annual IoT revenues for the Vodafone group in 2018 were approximately  830 million, with a monthly ARPU of  0.82. AT&T does not report IoT revenues but is believed to have generated approximately  750800 million.

The Internet of Things is weaving a new worldwide web of interconnected objects. At the end of 2018, approximately 1.3 billion devices were connected to wide area networks based on cellular or LPWA technologies. The market is highly diverse and divided into multiple ecosystems. This report will focus on the four most prominent technology ecosystems for wide area IoT networking  the 3GPP ecosystem of cellular technologies, the emerging LPWA technologies LoRa and Sigfox and the 802.15.4 ecosystem.

The 3GPP family of cellular technologies support the biggest ecosystem in wide area IoT networking. Berg Insight estimates that the global number of cellular IoT subscribers increased by 70.0 percent during 2018 to reach 1.2 billion at the end of the year  corresponding to around 13.0 percent of all mobile subscribers. Yearly shipments of cellular IoT devices increased by 76.2 percent in 2018 to reach 651.9 million units. Growth was fuelled by an exceptional market expansion in China, where the installed base of cellular IoT connections increased by 124.1 percent year-on-year to reach 767.0 million at the end of 2018.

The cellular IoT technology landscape is in a phase of rapid transformation. Developments in China accelerate a global shift from 2G/3G to 4G technologies. As the initial focus for 5G will be high-bandwidth applications, Berg Insight believes that 4G will become the preferred platform for IoT in the foreseeable future. The move from 2G to 4G began in North America with 3G as an intermediate technology. The region has seen rapid uptake of LTE CAT-1 since 2017 and CAT-M starting in 2018 at the same time as GPRS and CDMA are fading away. Europe began to see adoption of LTE CAT-1 in 2018 and is now followed by an accelerated uptake of LTE-M and NB-IoT in 2019/2020. China is moving fast from GPRS to NB-IoT in the mass-market segment and cumulative NB-IoT shipments are expected to exceed 190 million units by the end of 2019. At the same time there will also be fast-growing demand for LTE CAT-1 and LTE- M, as well as LTE CAT-3+. 2G and 3G will be in steady decline in all developed markets with demand shifting to developing countries with limited availability of 4G networks. The analyst expects that 5G will become commercially available for verticals such as automotive in 2020.

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Two Thai drivers who came into contact with Chinese tourists were among six new cases of coronavirus reported Tuesday, bringing to 25 the number of infected in the kingdom. A Thai married couple recently returned from Japan and two Chinese tourists were the remaining new cases, according to Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoenchai of the disease control department. Thailand is struggling to balance control of a burgeoning health crisis with a lucrative travel sector that attracts more than 10 million Chinese tourists a year. The jump brings the total number of cases in the country to the highest outside China where more than 400 people have died since the outbreak emerged in Wuhan in December. Of Thailand's 25 cases, three were drivers who have had contact with Chinese visitors. "One driver was picking up sick (Chinese) tourists from Hua Hin," Suwanchai said, referring to a popular beach town three hours south of Bangkok. A South Korean traveller who passed through Thailand also contracted the virus, but it remains unclear where she got it. So far, eight patients have recovered fully and been discharged, while 17 remain in hospital. Several countries have closed their borders or temporarily barred Chinese visitors, but some states closer to home have avoided similar measures during the peak travel season. Thailand now requires visitors from China to show medical certificates stating they are healthy. But it has not adopted a blanket travel or visa ban, and insists it has the health situation under control. Still, after days of diplomatic back-and-forth and public pressure, Bangkok moved ahead with an evacuation of its nationals from Wuhan. Officials dressed in full-body protective suits and respirator masks lined up on the tarmac to greet the more than 100 people repatriated late Tuesday, according to photos released by the Royal Thai Navy. They arrived at a naval base after 8:30 pm (1300 GMT) in a borrowed Air Asia plane, and will be put under a standard 14-day quarantine. Six of the 138 Thais repatriated had fevers and were immediately transferred to a hospital -- though health minister Anutin Charnvirakul cautioned that it could be due to "excitement". Two were denied departure from Wuhan due to their high temperatures, while another had overstayed their visa, officials said.
The French specialty pharmaceutical company, Juvise Pharmaceuticals is pleased to announce its successful syndication of its EUR 213 million debt package supporting the acquisition of Arimidex and Casodex from AstraZeneca, with the collaboration of Societe Generale and HSBC, acting as Physical Bookrunners and Mandated Lead Arrangers, BNP Paribas, acting as Mandated Lead Arranger and Lazard acting as financial advisor to Juvise Pharmaceuticals.

On the back of a strong support from both relationship lenders and institutional investors, syndication was wrapped following a successful and oversubscribed early-bird phase. The covenanted financing is comprised of a EUR 128 million TLB alongside a EUR 85 million TLA. This syndication was made possible through the collaboration with Juvise Pharmaceuticals financial partners, with whom the company relies on long-term partnership characterized by openness and trust.

This successful syndication is another important step in Juvise Pharmaceuticals development. It reasserts the company ability to leverage all debt capital instruments to fulfil its growth ambition, while keeping the flexibility and independence in decision making allowed by its privately held structure.

Frederic Mascha, Founder and President of Juvise Pharmaceuticals, declared, "We are very pleased that our acquisition debt package was successfully syndicated in this oversubscribed early-bird phase and we would like to thank our financial partners for the trust they have shown in our project. We are proud to see that our commitment towards physicians, patients, and our Pharma partners convinced renowned financial institutions to support our ambitious development plan."

About Arimidex and Casodex

Arimidex (anastrozole) and Casodex (bicalutamide) are hormone treatments for breast and prostate cancer. The two products are recognized as pillar in those cancer treatments and essential for both patients and physicians.

On 19th December 2019, Juvise Pharmaceuticals acquired the rights of Arimidex and Casodex in 45 countries in Europe and a number of Middle Eastern and African markets.

About Juvise Pharmaceuticals

Founded in 2008, Juvise Pharmaceuticals is specialised in manufacturing, distributing and marketing its own branded pharmaceutical products. Juvise focuses in offering treatments in: (i) Cardiology, (ii) Neuro-Psychiatry and (iii) Oncology.

The company business model consists in acquiring branded assets from large pharmaceutical companies like Novartis, AstraZeneca or Sigma Tau and optimising value creation through maximization of product life cycle.

11 years after its creation, Juvise Pharmaceuticals has become a recognized international company commercializing its own treatments in 75 countries around the world.

For more information, please visit juvisepharmaceuticals.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005424/en/

Contacts:

Media Relations

Soline LACOUR

Sales Marketing Director

+33 1 40 07 80 70

soline.lacour@juvise.com

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Antoine GUILLOT

Chief Financial Officer

+33 4 26 29 40 15

antoine.guillot@juvise.com
WEST HAVEN  Mayor Nancy Rossi will explore the possibility of acquiring body cameras for city police after meeting with the family of Mubarak Soulemane Tuesday.

Soulemane was fatally shot by Connecticut State Police Trooper Brian North just off Interstate 95s Exit 43 in West Haven on Jan. 15. Soulemane allegedly had carjacked a driver in Norwalk following an alleged incident with a knife at a store there, then fled from police at high rates of speed along the highway. North said he saw a knife in Soulemanes possession; he fired seven shots through a closed window, killing the 19-year-old New Haven resident.

The Soulemane family and the Rev. Boise Kimber attempted to meet with Rossi last week, with hopes of getting a better understanding of the West Haven Police Departments response to the scene and discussing their concerns after the slaying.

West Haven Chief Joseph Perno met with the Soulemane family at that time. Afterward, he said four to five West Haven officers had responded to the call Jan. 15 to provide backup for state police. Kimber suggested a West Haven officer might have smashed the passenger-side window in the vehicle Mubarak Soulemane was driving, but that the video was unclear.

Kimber said the meeting Tuesday covered a number of topics, including the number of officers of color in West Haven and de-escalation training.

He said he was most struck by discussing the need for body cameras in the community, which would provide a feeling of safety for residents concerned about the actions of police.

The Police Department in West Haven (needs) body cameras to show exactly what takes place when a person is stopped in this city, Kimber said.

Perno said last week that the department had sought body cameras in the past, but the outlay has been deemed too expensive.

Rossi said in a statement Tuesday that she supports acquiring body cameras, as she did when she was first elected to the office in 2017. But she said the cost of storing the footage obtained through the cameras  which she said would be approximately $1 million per year  was prohibitive at the time, and still may be.

I did state I would try to facilitate body cameras, but we need to find the money to pay for the cameras and the storage. I have already contacted our grants writer to try and locate grants for both the body cameras and the storage, Rossi said in the statement.

Kimber said he and the Soulemane family would meet with Perno and the state attorneys office on Thursday, as the investigation into Soulemanes death continues.

North has been assigned to desk duty and barred from interacting from the public as the inquiry proceeds.

As of 2016, the last time the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics conducted a nationwide survey, 47 percent of departments across America had body cameras.

According to the Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division of Connecticuts Office of Policy and Management, approximately 41 departments in Connecticut, including New Haven, Hamden, North Haven and East Haven, have obtained state grants to reimburse the cost of purchasing body cameras.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
Representative image

February 3, Monday, was an important day as far as the Delhi elections are concerned. It put to rest the doubt in the minds of many that the communal statements previously made by some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders were not aberrations. Recent statements made by BJP leader and Union minister Anurag Thakur, and by West Delhi MP Pravesh Verma, had queered the pitch for what until then was a lacklustre assembly election.

On January 27, Thakur encouraged a crowd at a rally to shoot the traitors, and, a day later, Verma while addressing an election rally, said that protesters would enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, and kill them. Both were referring to the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests underway at Shaheen Bagh, in Delhi.

Method to Madness

However, events on February 3 compel one to believe that there is a method to this madness; and that these statements were not mere off-the-cuff remarks, but appear to be part of a larger election strategy.

The Election Commission of India (ECI), on January 30, banned Thakur for three days and Verma for four from campaigning, but, on February 3 the BJP gave Verma a platform in Parliament to criticise the Delhi government. The BJP was well within their rights in doing so, but in the process it has not only cocked a snook at the ECI, but has also condoned the fear mongering and communal polarisation by the MPs.

That was not all. Union minister Prakash Javadekar referred to Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal as a terrorist. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BJPs star campaigner for Delhi Yogi Adityanath said at a rally at Vikaspuri, in Delhi that why a Pakistani minister is making statements in support of Arvind Kejriwal? Because he knows that only Kejriwal can feed biryani to the protesters at Shaheen Bagh. Going by Adityanaths logic, how would one interpret Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khans statement in April 2019 that it was better if Modi came back to power in India?

Fear and Hatred

These statements from various senior BJP leaders, and many others, give an outline of the national partys election campaign strategy: to instil fear, and even hatred, towards the other and thereby prise the communal rifts in society. Some of its video advertisements have a confrontational pitch to its messaging and send out a negative signal. The ECI has also barred an advertisement by the BJP.

The BJPs campaign messaging seems obsessively focused on Shaheen Bagh, and the hitherto unsubstantiated theories that the protests are orchestrated by the AAP and the Congress. Some see nefarious designs and anti-social, anti-national backing to the sit-in protests that have been continuing for more than 40 days. On February 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a rally at Karkardooma, in Delhi, said that [t]hese protests (at Shaheen Bagh, Jamia and Seelampur) are not coincidence, these are manufactured protests. This is an experiment, behind this a political design that wants to divide the nation.

While the BJP is against the Shaheen Bagh protests and the Congress is supporting the protest, the AAP has evaded clarifying its stand on the issue. As law and order in Delhi comes under the Centre, one wonders what stops the BJP from taking action against the protesters. It seems like if the protests are dissolved now, it would rob the BJP of a campaign issue.

Election Strategies

The ruling AAP is largely focusing on the work it has done in the past five years, the BJP is instilling the fear of the bogeyman, and the Congress is trying to be heard in the hustings.

While the AAP and the BJP have thrown in their dragnets to comb the national capital territory, the Congress has been conspicuous by its absence. For a party that ran a three-term government  which must be credited for playing a crucial role in converting Delhi into the metropolis it is today  the grand old party seems to have already relegated itself to an also-ran position.

If the AAP is re-elected, and, say, gets more than 50-55 seats out of the total 70 seats, it would be a rare occasion where a ruling party has campaigned and come back to power highlighting the work it has done in its previous term. Unfortunately, incumbent governments seldom speak about the work done  and rather focus on tall promises of a better, brighter and stronger tomorrow.

If the BJP were to lose, and badly (say less than 15 seats), it would mean that its shrill polarisation pitch has not delivered the results. It would mean that communal instigations and fear mongering has not tilted the scales in its favour.

With his Karkardooma speech Modi has thrown in his hat in the Delhi assembly election ring. A defeat here will be associated with the Prime Ministers image  an image which, in May 2019, was at an all-time high after the BJP won a remarkable second term at the Centre; and which has since then taken a beating with the saffron party losing two of the three assembly elections held. Would a setback in Delhi further dull that image?
Medical staff members wearing protective clothing arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China on Jan. 25, 2020. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinas Top Biowarfare Specialist Helms Efforts to Combat Coronavirus, Army Enters Wuhan to Deliver Supplies

Chinas state-run media reported Feb. 3 that Chinese troops started to assist with deliveries of essential supplies to Wuhan, the coronavirus-stricken city of 9 million in central Chinas Hubei Province.

According to China Central Television (CCTV), soldiers of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Hubei Garrison in the Central Theater Command deployed to Wuhan on Feb. 2, where their first task was to transport more than 200 metric tons (about 220 tons) of goods to the citys supermarkets.

The previous day, the Peoples Liberation Army Daily reported that Chen Wei, Chinas top expert in biological warfare, has been leading the efforts to overcome the deadly, pneumonia-like pathogen for the last nine days.

Chinese authorities confirmed the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) on Dec. 31, 2019, but recently published studies show that the first patient was diagnosed on Dec. 1. So far, the virus has spread to at least 27 countries, while all provinces and regions of China have confirmed cases.

Wuhan is the provincial capital of Hubei. With the virus spreading, all of Hubei and its more than 58 million residents are under quarantine, as well as at least three major cities in coastal Zhejiang Province. The two provinces do not share a common border.

Prepare for the Worst-Case Scenario

According to the PLA Daily report, Chen Wei holds the rank of major general, and is the countrys leading specialist in biochemical warfare. She is employed as a researcher at the medical institute of the Academy of Military Sciences, and is concurrently an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Chen began researching coronaviruses since the SARS outbreak of 2003, according to the PLA Daily. In past years, she has also worked on the Ebola virus and Bacillus anthracis, an agent that causes anthrax.

Before the report, Chens military rank and specialization was not widely known. She was first interviewed on Jan. 30 by the state-run China Science Daily. In a second interview the next day, she predicted that the outbreak in Wuhan would let up over the next few days, but could worsen again soon.

We need to prepare for the worst-case scenario, find the best solutions, and be ready to fight the longest battle, she said.

The first PLA contingent entering Wuhan numbered 260 men, according to CCTV.

Their deployment comes days after Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who is commander-in-chief of the Chinese regimes armed forces, on Jan. 29 ordered the PLA to assist with disease control efforts in the city.

The newly built Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan opened on Feb. 3, and is staffed by around 1,400 PLA medics and other military personnel. The Wuhan Leishenshan hospital, another facility under rapid construction, is set to open on Feb. 6.

Total figures for the number of people who have contracted or succumbed to the Wuhan coronavirus are given by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities as more than 20,000, as of statistics released Feb. 4.

However, there is much doubt over the official tally. Multiple Chinese and international experts, as well as Chinese claiming to be health workers in Wuhan, have said that the true number of infected could be in the hundreds of thousands.

The CCP regime has clamped down on unapproved online discussion about the coronavirus, and has modified its criminal law to punish those accused of using the topic to spread what the authorities deem to be rumors or disinformation.

According to social media posts by Chinese netizens claiming to have contacts in the regime, in the event that the outbreak is not brought under control by Feb. 10, the PLA will put Wuhan under martial law. Residents will not be allowed to leave their homes, and supplies will be delivered to them by soldiers going door to door, the widely circulated posts said.
The drought in the dry season this year will be quite harsh and water shortage may occur in many places. The central region may face serious water shortage from June.

According to Vu Duc Long, deputy director of the Hydro-meteorological Forecast Agency, most of the river basins would be short of water, from the northern and central regions, central highlands to the southern region.

Vu Duc Long, deputy director of the Hydro-meteorological Forecast Agency





The water levels at hydropower reservoirs are low and very close to the dead water level at some reservoirs. In upcoming months, in the dry season, the rainfall will be insignificant, while the water reserve low, therefore, the water shortage will be serious, Long explained.



In the north, northwestern and northeastern provinces will face drought. In the central region, drought will occur in provinces of Thanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan.

From June to August, the drought may spread to the provinces in the central part of the central region. It would be accompanied by saline intrusion which would encroach into estuaries and coastal areas.

From June to August, the drought may spread to the provinces in the central part of the central region. It would be accompanied by saline intrusion which would encroach into estuaries and coastal areas.



From June, serious water shortage and saline intrusion would attack Da Nang, Long warned.



As for Mekong River Delta, Long said the salinity level is higher than that of the average level of the previous years and approximate that of 2015.



Mekong Delta receives water from two major sources  the Mekong mainstream and the Tonle Sap. The rainy season came late in Mekong upper course in 2019 and finished soon. As the rainy days were short, the water source fell short, which is a major cause behind the saline intrusion in Mekong Delta.



In January and February 2020, the flow capacity from Mekong upper course is likely to fall short by 10-30 percent.

Meanwhile, the saline intrusion began in mid-December 2019. At some moments in the month, the salinity level exceeded the level of December 2015.



The water level is low at Tonle Sap in Cambodia, about two meters lower than that of 2019. Therefore, the forecast agency has reasons to believe that saline intrusion would be even more serious in the next months of the dry season.



There is a possibility of saline intrusion penetrating deeply into the fields this year in January 23-28 and February 8-14 because of the lack of flow from the upstream. The situation will be better from the end of March, he said.



Warning of the harsh weather and severe drought, Long advised people to keep a close watch over weather forecast bulletins updated on mass media and store water and arrange the crop cultivation to avoid drought.

Linh Mai

Vietnam fully implements international treaties on climate change Vietnam is considered a responsible country in implementing international treaties on combating climate change, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Le Cong Thanh has said.
Islamabad, Feb 4 : Pakistan's National Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution demanding that India reverse its decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

The resolution passed by the Pakistan National Assembly's lower house demanded that India immediately reverse its decisions taken on Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 last year, Dawn reported.

Syed Fakhar Imam, Chairman of Pakistan's Special Committee on Kashmir, tabled the resolution.

India had on August 5, 2019 abrogated the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, scrapping the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and dividing the state into two Union Territories. On October 31 last year, India formally implemented the decision to divide the state into two Union Territories -- of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The resolution passed by the National Assembly also called upon the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to "immediately convene" a summit on the Kashmir issue.

India has repeatedly asked Pakistan to "accept the reality and stop interfering in India's internal matter".
WASHINGTON (WLFI)  Hoosier U.S. Senator Todd Young says he will vote to acquit President Trump in the Senate Impeachment Trial.

He released a statement on his decision:

As a United States Senator, I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and serve as an impartial juror. After hearing all counsel arguments and reviewing all evidence in the record, including 17 witnesses, 192 witness video clips, and 28,578 pages of evidence, procedural rules, and Constitutional concerns, I will vote to acquit the President.

I have worked to remain impartial and open-minded throughout this trial, but it must be acknowledged that a political fever permeated this process from the beginning  dating back not just to the start of the House of Representatives impeachment efforts, but all the way back to November 2016.

The Houses rushed impeachment process denied the President due process, and House Managers failed to meet their heavy burden of proof to remove a president from office and from future ballots.

During President Nixons impeachment, then Democratic Chairman Peter Rodino of the House Judiciary Committee urged that for the American people to accept an impeachment, it must be powerfully bipartisan. This has been dubbed the Rodino rule, and I embrace the standard.

This week, Americans begin the presidential election process. Its time for the Senate to resume its legislative work on behalf of the American people, and to allow the voters to register their opinions about this administration in the coming election. The Founding Fathers, who warned of the political nature of impeachment, also provided us a means to address dissatisfaction with our Presidents: frequent elections.
OTTAWA - Oleg Sentsov is frequently asked how he survived five years in a Russian prison, and he still can't offer an explanation. But the Ukrainian filmmaker has an unwavering message about how to get rid of the man who put him there.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, a former Russian prisoner, is pictured during a press conference at the European Council Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 in Strasbourg, eastern France. Ukraine filmmaker Oleg Sentsov is in Ottawa today for meetings with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and parliamentarians. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Jean-Francois Badias

OTTAWA - Oleg Sentsov is frequently asked how he survived five years in a Russian prison, and he still can't offer an explanation. But the Ukrainian filmmaker has an unwavering message about how to get rid of the man who put him there.

Preserve and increase sanctions on Russia, keep Russia out of the G7, and keep bringing economic and political pressure to bear on Russia so that one day disgruntled, well-intentioned Russians may eventually drive President Vladimir Putin from power, Sentsov says.

Only then will his country get back the territory Russia took from it in 2014 when it annexed Ukraine's Crimea region and sent separatist militias into his country's eastern Donbass region, he said.

"Canada is a strong country and is stronger than Ukraine," Sentsov said Tuesday in an interview through a Russian-language translator between meetings with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a special session with MPs and senators.

"Putin doesn't understand talk of peace. He only understands the language of force."

Trudeau praised Sentsov and reiterated condemnation of Russia as he welcomed the one-time political prisoner to his Parliament Hill office. Sentsov was released in September after being jailed in what is widely viewed as a vendetta by Putin.

Sentsov was released as part of a larger prisoner-swap between Ukraine and Russia after serving part of his 20-year sentence in a prison colony in Russia's Arctic for conspiring to commit acts of terrorism  charges he denies.

Amnesty International has said Sentsov was subjected to an "extremely cynical show trial" and should never have spent a moment in prison. Sentsov staged a 144-day hunger strike to protest the imprisonment of dozens of Ukrainians in Russia.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Tuesday February 4, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Two months after his release, Sentsov was awarded Europe's highest human-rights honour, the Sakharov Prize, named for the celebrated Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov.

Asked how he survived prison, Sentsov paused silently.

"I don't know why I am such a person  why I am tall, why I have green eyes," he said.

"The most important thing you need to know is I am not the only one in my country that is like that. There are many people like this, people that you haven't heard of and that you don't know anything about."

Russia is holding hundreds of political prisoners in Crimea and Donbass, he said. They include soldiers, civil society members and many underage children.

The only way to break them out is to get rid of Putin and end his six-year-old war against his country.

Some in the West are doing more than others. In Sentsov's view, Europe isn't pulling its weight.

"They look at him through the prism of their culture and their values of the world."

Too many European countries are too dependent on Russian oil and gas to take a stand against Putin. Europeans are behaving like good, well-behaved children at a birthday party, he said.

"Then one hooligan comes to that party, sits on the table and starts eating the cake. And they are trying to persuade him, 'do not eat the cake,'" he said.

"And those kids are saying, 'maybe we can convince him to not eat the cake.' And then the hooligan says, 'yeah, yeah, sure' and continues doing that."

The United States and Canada are in a stronger position because they don't rely on Russia for energy, he said.

Earlier, Trudeau thanked Sentsov for "your advocacy, for your strong voice and for your commitment to sharing your story in a way that advances the cause of a strong Ukraine."

Sentsov met Tuesday evening with a group of MPs and senators, including Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, one of many Canadian parliamentarians to advocate for Sentsov's release.

"Here's a real hero who has stood in the face of Putin's kangaroo courts during his hunger strike," said Conservative MP James Bezan, whose family is of Ukrainian descent.

"He endured the incredibly brutal prison system that they have in Russia and never wavered in his support for an independent Ukraine. Crimea is Ukrainian territory and he was innocent."

Sentsov finds it difficult to walk into a room and accept accolades for a job well done when he feels responsible for people still in prison, "and a responsibility for my country that is not reformed."

He said he feels responsible for "continuous Russian aggression" and that his country still hasn't reclaimed the territory that was forcibly taken from it.

"For me," he said, "that's why I can't stop."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2020.
The Chinese zodiac is a cultural symbol familiar to every Chinese. As the 12 animals of the zodiac are also a source of infinite inspiration for modern designers, Chinese zodiac culture is also forming a unique brand that impacts both the domestic and overseas markets.

A special stamp for the Year of the Rat (Photo/Beijing Evening News)

The Year of the Rat also looks to be a harvest year for zodiac-related cultural and innovative products, such as rat-themed cell phone cases, wines, stuffed toys, commemorative coins and even clothes.

But the first thing that pops into peoples minds when it comes to Chinese zodiac-themed products is always stamps.

China Post issued two stamps in 2020 to mark the Year of the Rat. One featured a jumping rat designed to celebrate the remarkable achievements China has made, and the other has a rat family gazing at some peanuts, portraying the wish for a harvest year and happy life.

These two stamps were designed by artist Han Meilin. Han, who was born in 1936, also a Year of the Rat, said he designed the stamps to be cute. I drew over 700 rats this time, which is the smallest work Ive done, he said.

This marks the fortieth year in a row that China Post has issued Chinese zodiac-themed stamps, and every year the stamps have been designed by renowned artists, explained an executive from the corporation, saying the stamps can resonate with customers.

According to T-Mall, an online shopping platform under e-commerce giant Alibaba, the flagship store of China Post ranks fourth on the platform among all sellers of cultural and innovative products in terms of sales volume, and the rat-themed stamps are also among the best-sellers.

These stamps are not only popular with Chinese consumers, but also attract many foreign collectors. In recent years, over 100 countries and regions have been issuing such stamps annually.

The Chinese zodiac is a bridge and rainbow for East-West cultural communication. Foreigners dont always understand Chinese culture, but the 12 animals enjoy natural advantages and its easy for them to strike a chord, said Sophia Zhang, a Chinese-New Zealander engaged in graphic design.
DES MOINES, Iowa  Pete Buttigieg is leading the Iowa caucuses with 62 percent of 99 counties reporting, the Iowa Democratic Party said at a briefing Tuesday afternoon, nearly an entire day after a smartphone app malfunction delayed the reporting of results.

Buttigieg earned 26.9 percent of the votes counted so far, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders with 25.1 percent. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has earned 18.3 percent and former Vice President Joe Biden is in fourth place with 15.6 percent.

Candidates are vying for 41 possible delegates, and are only eligible to receive a portion of that total if they hit over 15 percent viability in each precinct.

While Buttigieg has net 26.9% of state delegates so far, Sanders still has the edge in the states popular vote. Sanders lost steam in a second realignment, which gave Buttigieg the upper hand in terms of state delegate equivalents. The 38 percent still unreported could shift these totals.

The preliminary numbers are a boost for Buttigieg, who needed a strong showing in Iowa to compete beyond the early states. Campaigning in New Hampshire as the results were finally made public, Buttigieg called the results an astonishing victory.

A Buttigieg campaign source told Yahoo News that the early returns reinforced what they already knew  that the Obama/Trump flip counties would edge toward the former mayor.

Pete Buttigieg with his husband, Chasten, as he addresses supporters in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Buttigiegs success also came at a cost for Biden, another centrist frontrunner in the Democratic field.

While Bidens campaign has been tempering expectations for Iowa, a fourth place showing will likely be weaponized against them. In fact, Biden barely edged out Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., by three percent in the final alignment.

In a news conference unlikely to quell the fervor over the botched reporting of the caucus results, Iowa Democratic Party chairman Troy Price said the delay was unacceptable, and explained that the party had taken steps to ensure the accuracy of the results.

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Price blamed the holdup on a coding error with the smartphone app adopted this year, but did not answer questions about when 100 percent of the results would be completed.

Anxieties about what this means going forward remain and were summed up by the first question at the IDP press conference: How can anyone trust you now?

During a call with campaign staff earlier in the day, the IDP was unable to commit to a timeline for the rest of the result rollout. Frustrations were high as unnamed staffers questioned how it would be advantageous to release the results piecemeal, as some campaigns might run away with the data and market it as representative for the whole state. IDP president Troy Price continuously reminded frantic staffers that data typically released in stages in any other regular caucuses.

Though that explanation has not been enough to quell concern that an app developed for reporting results caused tabulation errors. Confusion around the apps funding and function, coupled with projected unenthusiastic turnout, has rendered the Iowa caucuses a mess for candidates, who are scrambling to move on to the New Hampshire contest.

On Tuesday, state party staffers knocked on doors of rural precinct managers to collect their totals manually, a signal that the first wash of data may be coming from more suburban and urban parts of the state  potentially skewing where delegates might land in the long run.

Without formal results to go on Monday night, candidates were left to spin the results in a positive light. Klobuchar exclaimed that her campaign punched above their weight, while former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg all but declared victory in the state.

Because by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious, Buttigieg told his supporters late Monday.

The Sanders campaign said their data showed the senator from Vermont was leading in the state, with Buttigieg in second, Sen. Elizabeth Warren in third and Biden in fourth.

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An award winning Laois fashion designer is closing her Portlaoise store because most of her customers are shopping online.

Heidi Higgins from Portlaoise says the online sales of her classically styled women's clothes have outpaced her shop sales for the past year.

"Retail is very tough," she told the Leinster Express. "Online sales have outranked store purchases for the whole of last year. I am sad because I loved having my shop, but the reality is the people are buying online. The footfall is not in Portlaoise. I am even posting orders from my Portlaoise shop to local customers who are choosing to order online.

"Obviously I sell around the world too, as far as the US and Australia. People are very busy now they don't have the time and it's easier to go online," she said.

It will mean the loss of one full-time worker in the shop on Grattan Street.

"I am sad to see lots of shops close, I am not the only one making the decision, but I'll be continuing to design my collections which will be available on my website.

Ms Higgins said that she is expecting her second child and the family now live in Tipperary, with the commute also influencing her decision.

"I plan on taking proper maternity leave this time," she said.

"I invested in my website and charging platforms as I knew this was coming down the tracks. We sell lots of items wholesale to boutiques as well as retail. Online is the way forward," she said.

Heidi Higgins won the Irish Tatler 'Women in Business' award for Fashion in 2012. In 2014, she won the Irish Best Young Entrepreneur award for Best Established Business with Add-On run, with a 20,000 prize fund to grow her brand internationally.

Her shop was nominated for the Irish Times shop of the year in 2016.

In 2015 she said that her proudest moment was when she relocated to her new boutique in Portlaoise which included a design studio.

I always wanted to have my design studio and my boutique all under the one roof, says Heidi. It is the perfect location to meet my clients and my buyers and now I have more space to showcase my designs, she told the Laois Local Enterprise office.

A closing down sale is underway at her Laois shop.
She admitted she hopes to embark on a romance with the ex-Islander after she was dumped from the villa on Sunday.

And Sophie Piper reunited with her love interest Connor Durman for the first time since his departure last month on Monday's Love Island Aftersun.

The medical PA, 21, and the coffee beans salesman, 25, beamed with delight as they revealed they're set to go on their first date together in the coming days, before he admitted he found it 'hard' watching her re-couple with flirty Mike Boateng.

Together again: Sophie Piper reunited with her love interest Connor Durman for the first time since his departure last month on Monday's Love Island Aftersun

After Connor left late last month, ex-police officer Mike, 24, made a move on a surprised Sophie, before the pair realised they were better off as pals and formed a friendship couple - which sent Leanne Amaning home.

Admitting watching the fellow Islander flirt with his love interest, the Brighton native shared: 'I've been watching every night. It's been hard watching it, but I wanted her to be happy. It's so nice being back together.

'As she said, she wasn't open to meeting someone, she said she'd only get with someone if they were better than me'.

When asked whether they're set to take their relationship to the next level, the former naked butler shared: 'I am! I need to get your number first. It's going to be so weird with no cameras and mics.'

Hard pill to swallow: The coffee beans salesman, 25, admitted he found it 'hard' watching the medical PA, 21, re-couple with flirty Mike Boateng

Blossoming: The couple beamed with delight as they revealed they're set to go on their first date together in the coming days

The couple couldn't contain their joy as they cuddled throughout their joint interview with host Laura Whitmore.

They were also joined by panellists Matt Edmondson, Olivia Attwood and Maya Jama - who Connor previously revealed was his 'celebrity crush'.

On who they're rooting to win, he added: 'I want Callum [Jones] and Shaughna [Phillips] to win, hopefully his head doesn't turn. Or Nas [Majeed]!

During her time in the South African villa, Rochelle Humes' younger sister forged a close friendship with cheery hopeful Nas, 23.

Sneaky: Ex-police officer Mike, 24, made a move on a surprised Sophie, before the pair realised they were better off as pals and formed a friendship couple

On whether she believes his budding romance with Demi Jones is authentic, the TV star shared: 'I think Demi is so lovely, she's such a nice girl. Only time with tell.'

The brunette also reflected on her brief fling with model Connagh Howard, confessing that while he's a 'good-looking boy', her heart was always with Connor.

She enthused of her potential boyfriend: 'I feel like he handled the situation very maturely. We were both in shock, i felt mixed emotions.

'It was going through my head to leave. At first I thought I wasn't going to make a connection with someone else, but I was also enjoying my time in the villa.

Change in environment: When asked whether they're set to take their relationship to the next level, the former naked butler shared: 'I need to get your number first'

Close: The pair couldn't contain their joy as they cuddled throughout their joint interview with host Laura Whitmore

'He was nice': The brunette also reflected on her brief fling with model Connagh Howard, confessing that while he's a 'good-looking boy', her heart was always with Connor

Over time, I realised my time was over. I feel like I've cried more in there than I have in my entire life. I feel like he was a cheeky chappy, it was an easy step forward for me.'

Late last month, host Laura discovered the viewership for spin-off show Aftersun had jumped by 1.4million on 2019 in its opening week.

On Instagram, a happy Laura uploaded a snap of a WhatsApp conversation which featured the figures from her debut on the spin-off panel show.

It read: 'Nearly 2m for Aftersun - grew from 600K. Mad numbers', alongside the caption: 'Thanks for tuning in. Gobsmacked!'

Support: On who they're rooting to win, he added: 'I want Callum [Jones] and Shaughna [Phillips] to win, hopefully his head doesn't turn. Or Nas [Majeed]!

Working it: The model looked typically striking as she was dressed in a sparkling silver dress which hugged her enviable figure

Despite the increase for Aftersun, the main show got off to a slow start, with 800,000 fewer viewers than the summer version's launch show.

Only 2.5 million viewers tuned in to watch the latest batch of singles entering the South African villa, compared to 3.3 million last June.

Of those who did watch the launch show, 1.2 million were aged between 16 and 34 years old - a whopping 43 per cent of viewers.
CANBERRA, Australia  Whats to blame for scores of wildfires devastating Australias southeast?

Theres an increasingly bitter face-off between those who say arson and those who fault climate change.

Each side has powerful backers and their weapons of choice are often fabrications and part-truths that have spread in time with the fires in recent weeks.

Humans burning fossil fuels and humans with criminal intent who torch a combustible landscape both factor into this unprecedented crisis.

But just how to accurately apportion the blame has become a big political issue. The debate is made hotter by many  including some Australian lawmakers  who argue against deeper cuts to carbon gas emissions.

Firefighters blame lightning strikes for most of the major blazes in New South Wales and Victoria states, and many scientists say climate change is the main reason for fires that have claimed at least 33 lives since September, destroyed more than 3,000 homes and razed more than 26.2 million acres.

Still, the arson side often cites repeatedly on social media a debunked statistic that says more than 180 suspected arsonists have been arrested.

Truly Disgusting that people would do this! God Bless Australia, President Trumps son Donald Trump Jr. tweeted. More than 180 alleged arsonists have been arrested since the start of the bushfire season.

Although its been discredited by AAP FactCheck, the fact-checking division of news agency Australian Associated Press, the statistic has been repeated thousands of times online.

AAP FactCheck links the statistic to a statement by police in New South Wales  the worst fire-affected state  that said legal action had been taken against 183 people since November for bushfire-related offenses.

These included only 24 people charged over deliberately lit bushfires. Legal action  which includes cautions  had also been taken against 100 other people for conduct that could be described as being careless during a fire ban. The statement did not detail the offenses alleged against the remaining 59 suspects.

Climate change is the main reason for the current extraordinarily destructive fire season, according to Janet Stanley, a director of Australias National Center for Research in Bushfire and Arson.

The conditions that make a fire very big and dangerous and spread quickly are now a great deal worse, so its much harder to put out the fire once it occurs than it was in the past, she said.

But some lawmakers in Prime Minister Scott Morrisons conservative Liberal Party publicly dispute any link between climate change and the fires.

Rod McGuirk is an Associated Press writer.
After a 2018 conference in San Antonio looked back at the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Hearings, a group of Mexican American scholars, writers and activists began talking about the next 50 years.

They wondered what a gathering in 2070 would report about the status of Mexican American civil rights, and whether Mexican American identity, culture, educational attainment and history would be celebrated or mourned.

These thinkers considered three problems: threats to cultural preservation, cultural appropriation that minimizes authentic voices, and efforts to quash ethnic studies. They tried to imagine what their childrens children would inherit  and they worried.

Their discussions led to a gathering last year, again in San Antonio, to talk about what they could do. They discussed how their ideas could be shared nationally with others working to preserve Latino culture and history.

They exchanged essays, emails and reading materials that resulted in a 50-year blueprint. It calls for orientation workshops, educational programming, study and research that could result in collective action when necessary.

Their project is called the MeXicanos2070 ThinkCollective.

On Sunday, the anniversary of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, they met again, this time in an online webinar that included music, historical presentations and prepared remarks.

The date for the meeting was no accident.

Feb. 2, 1848, the date the treaty was signed, is widely considered the birth of the Mexican American. It marked the end of the U.S.-Mexican War, established a border between the two countries and put Mexican residents living in California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming in the United States. Mexico also gave up its claim to Texas, which had already joined the union three years earlier in 1845, and recognized the Rio Grande as the U.S.-Mexico border.

This year  in time for the U.S. Census  Latinos became the countrys largest minority group. Mexican Americans are by far the largest subgroup.

1968 is another important year on the Mexican American timeline. Though civil rights struggles have been ongoing since 1848, 1968 is recognized as the start of the Chicano civil rights movement, in which San Antonio and South Texas played a role.

In 1968, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights met in San Antonio to hear testimony about discrimination against Mexican Americans throughout the Southwest. Hearings were held at Our Lady of the Lady University, which recently became the home of the National Institute of Mexican American History of Civil Rights.

Despite assimilation and Americanization efforts, Mexican Americans have maintained their culture and celebrated their contributions to U.S. history. Chicano scholars continue to produce historical research that adds new, important perspectives.

At the same time, Mexican American culture  and other Latino cultures  have been appropriated and celebrated by the U.S. mainstream. No one who watched the Super Bowls magnificent half-time show Sunday night could deny that.

In the context of all this and more, the ThinkCollective was launched.

Among its leaders are Armando Rendon, author of Chicano Manifesto, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Ernesto Mireles, Ph.D., who teaches Chicano Studies at Prescott College in Arizona. Several San Antonians participated in Sundays webinar, with a musical and historical presentation from the Mexican Cultural Institute at Hemisfair.

The collective says Feb. 2 will be remembered as a day of revival and of a new start of positive change, of looking forward, and rethinking our culture and our role in the world, Rendon said.

Setting long-term goals is very much a tradition we inherit from the Mexica and our other ancient ancestors of Meso-America, he said.

In addition to teaching and promoting Mexican American culture, the collective will focus on building alliances with U.S. indigenous groups and indigenous peoples in the rest of the Americas.

The latter sounds especially interesting.

The collectives leaders stressed this is not a separatist movement.

Dont mistake our desire to maintain our cultural roots as separatist or renouncing our place in the United States, Rendon said in his opening Sunday. On the contrary, what we choose to call ourselves, Mexican American, tells it all: We are Americans of Mexican origin.

The collective is made up of a lot of forward thinkers. So much so, they already have set a date for a retrospective event on Feb. 2, 2070.

Elaine Ayala is a columnist covering San Antonio and Bexar County. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | eayala@express-news.net | Twitter: @ElaineAyala
The victim was a 39-year-old man who had visited Wuhan and returned to Hong Kong on January 23.

Previously, on February 2, the Philippines reported the first novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) death outside of China.

According to the latest update from Vietnams Ministry of Health, as of 9:00 am February 4, the epidemic was detected in 27 countries with the total number of cases of infection reaching 20,628, including over 20,438 in China.

The deadly virus killed 427 people, 425 of whom were in China. The two other deaths were reported in the Philippines and Hong Kong.

The coronavirus was detected in 190 patients outside of China. In Vietnam, the country has confirmed today the ninth nCoV patient. The victim is a 30-year-old man who is one of the eight workers sent to Wuhan, China for training. Earlier, four others tested positive for coronavirus.

Thailand has so far reported 19 cases, Australia 12 cases, Singapore 18 cases, the US 11 cases, Japan 20 cases, Malaysia 8 cases, South Korea 15 cases, France 6 cases, Vietnam 9 cases, Cambodia 1 case, Canada 4 cases, Germany 12 cases, Nepal 1 case, Sri Lanka 1 case, the UAE 5 cases, Finland 1 case, Hong Kong 15 cases, Macau 9 cases, Taiwan 10 cases, India 3 case, Sweden 1 case, Spain 1 case, Italy 2 cases, the UK 2 cases, Russia 2 cases, and the Philippines 2 cases.

Ministry of Health moves to ensure medical supplies for nCoV fight A working group of the Ministry of Health led by Deputy Minister Truong Quoc Cuong on February 3 visited manufacturers of gauze masks, protective apparel, ...

Eighth coronavirus infection confirmed in Vietnam The Ministry of Health on February 3 confirmed the eighth novel coronavirus infection case in Vietnam.
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As Netflix reportedly nears a mid-to-high seven-figure deal for The 40-Year-Old-Version after its Sundance Film Festival premiere, the talks mark a realization of the streamers strongest needs. Netflix, whose business model hinges on viewers always coming back for more, sees potential in the films writer-director-producer-star Radha Blank: The acquisition is less about this one film and more about establishing a lasting relationship with a fresh new voice.

Loosely based on Blanks experiences as a New York playwright, the film won the Sundance Directing Award Saturday. Shes unknown by a mass audience, but Netflix is betting that its 61 million US subscribers will also respond to her  and potentially create a brand name that it can add to its lineup of exclusive deals like Ryan Murphy, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and Shonda Rhimes. (Netflix declined comment on the impending deal.)

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Festival acquisitions have become increasingly rare for Netflix, which now favors producing prestige movies like The Irishman and hot series like Stranger Things. Festivals are more often reserved for splashy debuts of its own movies, like the Taylor Swift documentary Miss Americana, and Crip Camp, produced by Barack and Michelle Obama. Netflix had more movies in this years Sundance lineup when it started than any other US company.

But as the imminent Blank deal shows, Netflix will open its pocketbook for the right projects  namely, those that it cant do itself. Here, Netflix is tapping Sundance the old-school way: It discovered a promising filmmaker whose movie (it hopes) will lead to lucrative financial results and launch a career.

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Usually when that happens, filmmakers have options. Chloe Zhaos career took off at Sundance, but as her career progresses, each new project finds her at another company. The filmmaker made her feature debut with Songs My Brothers Taught Me, which premiered at Sundance in 2015 and led to a bigger budget for her second film, The Rider  and now, the massive The Eternals, Marvels November release. (In between those two, she also directed the Frances McDormand-starring Nomadland, which Searchlight Pictures is distributing later this year.)

Distributors for her films also scaled up, from Kino Lorber to Sony Pictures Classics and now Disney; for Netflix, the intent is global domination via one-stop shopping. That means its more likely to invest in a breakout like Blank with an eye toward developing future ideas in-house  which could lead to more subscribers.

Though it was lost in the deluge of Sundance headlines last week, news circulated that Netflix laid off 15 people in its marketing division, including some publicists working on titles at Sundance. As the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that rose above expectations, the layoffs apparently stemmed from a broader effort to direct resources toward promoting the platform as a whole over individual projects. That suggests additional pressure on acquisitions that serve its long-term goals.

Netflixs only other scripted acquisition at this point is His House, another debut effort. Remi Weekess Midnight movie focuses on a young refugee couple who, after their escape from war-torn Sudan, struggle to adjust to a small town in England where evil lurks beneath the surface. Like Get Out and Us, it offers an appealing blend of genre and socially relevant plot.

Shortly before its Sundance premiere, Netflix also bought Mucho Mucho Amor, the documentary from Cristina Costantini (Science Fair) and Kareem Tabsch (The Last Resort) about Walter Mercado, the iconic Puerto Rican astrologer who was watched daily by 120 million people, including his sudden disappearance from public life in 2007.

That purchase is the latest illustration of why Netflix is so interested in acquiring documentaries: The Mucho Mucho Amor filmmakers had an idea and unique access for a film that, when complete, represented something Netflix couldnt have necessarily done on its own. Its a scenario that has helped finished documentaries command enormous prices, like the $10 million Netflix paid for Knock Down the House, last years Sundance Audience Favorite Award-winner.

That was a record bested this year with the reported $12 million sale of Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss Boys State to Apple and A24. The film, with its raw but feel-good look at a trio of Texas boys navigating an intense weeklong mock government program, is a perfect fit for Apple, which is focused on stocking its fledgling Apple TV+ platform with high-quality movies with social impact. The film, which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, also fits well with what audiences expect from A24, whose theatrical release will continue to raise the films profile and qualify it for awards consideration.

Meanwhile, theatrical distributors are focused on prestige titles that could resonate with audiences and win awards. Searchlight brought two movies to the festival: Downhill, the Force Majeure remake starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell, and Benh Zeitlins reimagined Peter Pan story Wendy. Both have easily marketed elements  big stars and a very familiar story that the distributor hopes will make audiences eager to see them in theaters.

However, Searchlight also experienced its first Sundance without the word Fox in its title, reflecting its new ownership by Disney, a company with its own massive streaming ambitions. Unlike Netflix, Hulu, or Apple, Disney+ made no acquisitions at Sundance this year  a reminder that while the festival may offer up some new opportunities in the streaming wars, its only one fragment of a much larger battlefield

Additional reporting by Eric Kohn.

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Defender 2020, the largest NATO exercise in Europe for 25 years, has gotten under way in recent weeks. For the first time in its history, the alliance is practicing the deployment of an entire division, which includes 20,000 soldiers and all of their equipment, from the United States to eastern Europe. The deployment is scheduled to be completed in March, with the return trip due to commence in June.

The German army website introduced the exercise in a video. A rapid series of pictures accompanied by heroic music serves as the backdrop for a number of facts about the operation: 37,000 soldiers and 20,000 pieces of freight cargo have to be transported and secured along a 4,000-kilometre route across Europe. They require refuelling, provisioning, accommodation, and IT access.

As the host nation, Germany is responsible for logistical support. Around 4,000 German army soldiers are deployed for this purpose. The logistical command centre for the exercise is NATOs Joint Support and Enabling Command, established in Ulm in 2018, which is led by the German Armed Forces Basis, the organisational arm of the German army (Bundeswehr). Lieutenant General Martin Schelleis, inspector general of the Armed Forces Basis, commented that they are looking forward to the exercise because it will allow them to put their skills to the test.

The German armys 2018 policy doctrine underlined Germanys importance for NATOs military build-up against Russia. Due to its geographic location, Germany is a strategic hub at the heart of Europe, the document states. The capacity of the NATO alliance and the EU to act is based on Germany fulfilling its tasks as a host nation, as a transit country for the dispatching of forces to the borders of alliance territory and interior operational area.

As early as 2015, the German army concluded in a strategic assessment that Germany is a bottleneck for such manoeuvres. In a piece entitled Herculean logistical task, the Tageschau listed the areas requiring work: Are there sufficient train engines, freight carriages, and rest stations? Which routes can be used for transporters carrying loads of several hundred tons? Will the necessary authorisations be issued in time?

At the beginning of last year, the army reached a freight framework agreement to move military equipment with Deutsche Bahn, Germanys rail operator, worth some 100 million.

Why are thousands of soldiers being deployed to NATOs eastern border within the framework of Defender 2020? Officially, the exercise is not directed against Russia. However, this pretence is disproven by the facts and statements from a number of leading NATO personnel.

Russia has shown that it is willing to redraw borders in Europe with military force through the annexation of Crimea. And that has sounded the alarm bells for many NATO members, in particular our eastern neighbours, stated Lieutenant General Schelleis at a press conference in Berlin held to introduce the exercise.

On 21 January, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg named Russia as one of three challenges, together with China and terrorism, that NATO members have to deal with. Asked about mounting conflicts between the US and Europe, he pointed out that fewer US troops have been deployed in Europe for some years, and praised the efforts of US allies to rearm. Europe and Canada have invested an additional 130 billion in defence over the past four years, he said.

A glance at NATOs military exercises over recent years shows why the logistical infrastructure for military transportation through Europe has reached the breaking point.

Since 2011, the annual Sabre Strike NATO exercise has been held in Poland and the Baltic states. In addition, the major Anaconda exercise takes place in Poland every two years and involves tens of thousands of soldiers from all NATO member states. Polands Army for Territorial Defence (VOT), which was founded in 2016 and is made up overwhelmingly of far-right paramilitary forces, also participates. In 2018, attacks on the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and the Belarusian capital Minsk were explicitly simulated.

Ukraine, which is engaged in open conflict with Russia and is not a NATO member, also regularly participates in NATO exercises. The Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade, which was established in 2015, has taken part on several occasions in Anaconda. Meanwhile, NATO has carried out its own military manoeuvres in Ukraine within the framework of Rapid Trident since 2006.

Since the Ukraine crisis of 2014, which was initiated with a fascist-led coup sponsored by the US and Germany, the extent and regularity of NATO exercises in eastern Europe have increased dramatically. Under the operational slogan Atlantic Resolve, the Obama administration initiated a major expansion of the American military presence. The spending for this European deterrence initiative rose eightfold over the past four years to $6.5 billion.

Within the framework of the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence, four combat-ready battalions of 1,000 soldiers each have been stationed in Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania since 2017. The NATO battlegroup in Lithuania is led by Germany, while the other three are led by American, British, and Canadian forces. The NATO Enhanced Forward Presence is supported by the Tailored Forward Presence, a multinational battalion under Romanian leadership. The replacement of the units in the battalion takes place according to a rotation principle carried out under the Dragon Ride operation.

In addition, the establishment of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force began in 2015. This multinational brigade of 5,000 soldiers, which is also commanded by Germany, is supposed to operate in a permanent high state of alert and can be deployed to a frontline position within 48 hours.

The previously largest NATO exercise since the dissolution of the Soviet Union took place in Norway in 2018 and was entitled Trident Juncture. Fifty thousand soldiers from 31 countries, including 10,000 from Germany, took part. They practiced operations at sea, on land, and in the air. Defender 2020 continues along similar lines. Along with the NATO members, Finland and Georgia are also participating.

Georgia, like Ukraine, is a former Soviet republic that is being armed to the teeth by NATO to serve as a frontline state against Russia. In 2008, the small country in the Caucasus was involved in an open war with Russia, and has had an unresolved border dispute with its neighbour ever since. Nonetheless, NATO has continued to expand its military cooperation with Georgia, regardless of which faction of the right-wing kleptocracy holds power in Tbilisi.

Seventy-five years since the end of the Second World War, Germany stands at the centre of a huge NATO military build-up against Russia. The transportation of troops, tanks, and vehicles to Estonia, which is less than 200 kilometres from St. Petersburg, as well as to Bulgaria and Georgia, is taking place through German airports and ports, and along German railways and roads.

The military commanders and politicians know full well that the images of tank columns and troop transporters rolling through countries that were at the heart of two world wars are producing uncertainty, fear, disgust, anger and rage. This is why the troop movements are being carried out largely in small convoys and at night. At the same time, far-right demagogues and falsifiers of history are being encouraged politically as part of the preparations for war.

Despite the crimes carried out by German troops in two world wars, Germanys ruling elite is determined to expand its leadership role and its military capacity.

The German armys current policy doctrine declares that the army must have the forces and means at its disposal to deploy after a brief mobilisation to the borders or beyond alliance territory. Collective defence within alliance territory can range from small-scale operations to an extremely demanding deployment within the framework of a very large operation both within and on the outskirts of alliance territory. The German armed forces must be effectual in a hybrid conflict as it develops and escalates across the full spectrum of is effects, in all its dimensions, in a joint, multinational armed force, and in all types of operations.

High losses are expected as a result. At the beginning of a very large, high-intensity operation, a huge deployment of readily available forces and equipment is necessary. Provisions to regenerate the personnel (i.e., replace dead and injured soldiers) and material will be undertaken, stated the doctrine.

This is what the German army must nowto use the words of General Schelleisprove with joy.
Atlanta, Feb. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI) (the Company) announced today that the Board of Directors (the Board) approved an increase in the size of the Board from 10 to 11 members and appointed Maya Leibman as a Director for a term that will expire at the Companys next annual meeting of stockholders.

Ms. Leibman currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for American Airlines Group, Inc. where she is responsible for all technology efforts including software development, infrastructure, operations and security. She also leads the organizations next generation strategic initiatives, including transitioning into the cloud, advanced analytics, machine learning and the advancement of Agile tools and principles.

Vernon J. Nagel, Executive Chairman, commented, On behalf of the Board, we are extremely excited to have Maya join the Board and look forward to drawing on the skills and expertise she has to offer as we continue to innovate and transform the business to enhance our products and our customers experiences.

About Acuity Brands

Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI) is the North American market leader and one of the worlds leading providers of lighting and building management solutions. With fiscal year 2019 net sales of $3.7 billion, Acuity Brands currently employs approximately 12,000 associates and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with operations throughout North America, and in Europe and Asia. The Companys products and solutions are sold under various brands, including Lithonia Lighting, Holophane, Aculux, A-Light, American Electric Lighting, Antique Street Lamps, Atrius, Cyclone, DGLogik, Distech Controls, DTL, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lucid, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, Peerless, RELOC Wiring, ROAM, Sensor Switch, Sunoptics and Winona Lighting. Visit us at www.acuitybrands.com .

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# # # # #

Company Contact:

Pete Shannin, 770-860-2873

pete.shannin@acuitybrands.com
04.02.2020 LISTEN

Any fair-minded observer following closely the unfolding events in Ghanas public arena today as the nation enters the general election year can objectively, testify that former President Mahama and his hijacked National Democratic Congress (NDC) are opportunistically pursuing a political campaign of chooboi, eii.

In the politics of chooboi, eii a person or a leader/party exploits and lines up a likeminded group of citizens or people with a relative propensity for mob actions, including inclination to lawless ways of contributing or approaching societal issues, such as economic, political/electoral, educational, and the like.

The exploiters of the chooboi political game plan as former President John Mahama and his NDC core cheerers are currently executing on nonchalant fashion, involves using the gullible citizens, as well as applying subtle manipulation of some of the socioeconomically dissatisfied educated class in the population. The main goal under this yen tie obiara mob strategy is to win political power not only by playing on the peoples genuine social or economic anxieties and political emotions, but also to appeal to peoples basest instincts that lack reasoning and critical thinking.

Why do some leaders/politicians engage deeply in the politics of chooboi? Keep in mind these leaders or public office seekers, like Mr. John D. Mahama and his followers, who are using mob or chooboi tactics to attempt to win elections, often do not have any far-reaching campaign message. And even if they have message, its all based on rehash party platforms from the same old, same old stuffs, as Americans would say.

Here is an honest question for all: which fair-minded Ghanaian at present is not aware the countrys major opposition party led by Mr. John Mahama, does not have offbeat or viable alternative policy as election-year campaign message except chooboi, eii or our-way-or-the-highway political approach? Certainly, many of us know in the chooboi universe, sorting out issues of national importance or embarking on the campaign of vigorous ideas and reasonableness is not one of the standard practices. And, there is a cynical reason for this approach or behavior.

Think about it: Former President Mahama has been in various, sensitive, elected positions in this country to the point that he has reached his wits end in power and also run out of fresh ideas. But this is not the typical, selfless politician who truly accept the age-old philosophy that life is like a play stage, where people play their part and leave as the audience are clapping loud for the performer

Just listen to the ex-presidents utterances carefully, none of his public policy positions is creatively new. So, the default strategy is to muddy the political waters as much as possible such that the gullible Ghanaians and those who appear to be peeved for reasons best known to themselves, may not know which parts of the mud-spattered waters are shallow or prone to drowning.

For some sad reasons, it seems like some of the NDCs flag bearers chooboi campaign mantras are gaining some tractions among a sizable pack of vociferous Ghanaians, because as Mr. Mahama had pointed out when he was in charge of the nations presidency, the average Ghanaian tends to be forgetful of the past sociopolitical and economic hardships. It is troubling that in our culture a person in authority can violently slapped the face of the less powerful citizens and get away with it by often buying the victims silence or just let the incident disappears through Ghanaian culture of forgetfulness. Evidently, Mr. JD Mahama, Ofosu-Ampofo, Asiedu Nketia, and many others, duly understand the Ghanaian amnesia culture; and they are cynically exploiting it to their advantage.

It really is unfortunate; suffice it to say, ex-President Mahama and his hijacked NDCs easily manipulative campaign strategy seems to have audience with a good number of Ghanaians, including some of the all-knowing media clannish group. This action plan exposes a large group of Ghanaians who are not sincerely willing to think outside the box and hence shake off the yoke of mediocrity entrapped in the chooboi, eii subculture.

Probably, what makes this afore-stated cultural mindset thrives is that the phenomenon appears to have normative content to it; which serves to feed on or reinforce the mindset/behavior that portrays what ought to be as opposed to what the actual realities are. For example, the fact that a bunch of Ghanaians are in denial that Mr. Mahama himself was in power about four years ago and he put Ghanas economy in a quasi-bottomless pit. What else can he offer again?

The NDC presidential aspirant and his loudest noise makers are running around the country misinforming and confusing the people of the golden-age of Mahama past government, but they will never tell or help the vulnerable Ghanaians understand that it is one thing to destroy something easily, and entirely different thing to try to build the destroyed structure. No well-constructed house can be built in a day but destroying the same well-built house can happen in one day.

The reality is that any fool or a person can destroy a piece of property in a splits seconds via the science of implosion, but one is yet to see the technology that builds a well-propped house in one day. Heaven knows the previous Mahama-led NDC administration miserably screwed up the beloved Ghanas economic structures, but barely within four-year period Mr. Mahama is smooth talking Ghanaians to believe that his successor (Nana Addo) is too slow fixing the huge mess he (JDM) left behind.

Let anyone who cares take this to the bank: Ex-President Mahama is not really interested in seeing many Ghanaians think critically, because thinking beyond his chooboi, chooboi eii plan will expose his deceptions and manipulations and that will dent any chance he and his party may have in the upcoming general elections. It is why the former president and his cheerleaders, including some confused brothers and sisters in Ghana will use the chooboi, eii bandwagon to create exaggerated scenes all over the place as if every move the current president takes or the classy Electoral Commissioner Ms. Mensah makes will bring unquenchable inferno into the country.

As already demonstrated, one of the manufactured scenes include supporting or attempting to occupy the Electoral Commissions enclaves across the country, because as a drama leader himself, ex-President Mahama clearly knows millions of Ghanaians like to see melodramatic or confrontational events, although they tend to forget about them quickly within two weeks time, even if it will last that long. Clearly, some of us strongly believe Ghanaians deserves far better than former President John Drama(ni) Mahamas politics of chooboi, eii campaign!

Bernard Asubonteng is a US-based writer, and a political science lecturer.
According to the US Department of Justice, Goldman earned $600m in fees for its work with the scandal-ridden 1MDB fund.

The United States Federal Reserve said on Tuesday that it has permanently barred a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc executive from the banking industry over his role in Malaysias multibillion-dollar 1MDB corruption scandal.

Andrea Vella, who was co-head of Goldmans Asia investment bank in 2012 and 2013, failed to escalate information he had about Malaysian financier Low Taek Jhos involvement in three bond offerings that Goldman underwrote for Malaysias sovereign wealth fund, the regulator said.

Malaysian and US authorities have charged Low in connection with the theft of billions of dollars from 1MDB, which was originally set up by former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to fund infrastructure projects.

The Federal Reserve said that Vella did not flag Lows involvement despite knowing that Low was a person of known concern to Goldman Sachs.

Vella was responsible for providing full and accurate information to [Goldmans] committees reviewing the complex financing transactions and appropriately supervising financing personnel working on the transactions, according to a statement released by the Federal Reserve.

Vella could not immediately be reached for comment. According to the statement from the Federal Reserve, Vella consented to the bar without admitting or denying any of the allegations made by the regulator.

A spokeswoman for Goldman Sachs confirmed that Vella had left the firm in recent days after being on leave since October 2018.

The US Department of Justice says that $4.5bn was misappropriated by high-level 1MDB fund officials and their associates between 2009 and 2014.

Vella managed two former Goldman Sachs bankers, Timothy Leissner and Roger Ng, who were both indicted by US prosecutors in November 2018 on charges related to their roles in securing Goldman as the underwriter for the three 1MDB bond offerings.

Leissner pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and agreed to forfeit $43.7m. Ng pleaded not guilty to charges in May, and his case is currently pending in federal court in Brooklyn in New York City.

According to the US Department of Justice, Goldman earned $600m in fees for its work with 1MDB. Leissner, Ng and others received large bonuses in connection with that revenue.

Goldman is in ongoing discussions with US and Malaysian authorities over their investigations into what the bank knew about the transactions at the time.
There will be no witnesses. The House managers and White House counsel have rested their cases. And President Donald Trump is going to be acquitted on Wednesday. But theres still drama left to the impeachment trial.

Five senators are up in the air on whether to convict or acquit the president on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Those votes wont affect whether Trump is removed from office, but they will recast the reputations of these senators for years to come and help shape the battle for the White House in November.

For now, Republicans are feeling better about holding their members together to unanimously clear the president. On the Democratic side, there is less confidence everyone will stick together, with most in the party expecting at least one Democrat to defect.

But surprising things can happen in big moments. And everyone in the Capitol is beginning to game things out.

If I had to bet, most likely yeah, Republicans will stay united, said Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.). The better question is how many of the Dems will vote to acquit? Im going to say two out of the three undecided Democrats.

Were all going to make our individual decisions based on the evidence presented, said Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). At least the Democrats are very together on the need for witnesses. But Im not going to castigate people that will make decisions that are different from mine.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) became the first swing vote to come down, announcing she would vote to acquit Trump in a floor speech Monday.

Here's a look at five other senators who could break with their party on the two articles of impeachment. Their votes will determine whether Trump gets a bipartisan acquittal, a bipartisan condemnation  or, perhaps, both.

Mitt Romney

The Utah Republican led the drive to summon new witnesses on the Republican side, zeroing in on former national security adviser John Bolton. Hes also been the most consistent Republican chiding Trump for urging foreign countries to probe the Bidens, dubbing it wrong and appalling.

Story continues

Romney is viewed by both parties as the most likely Republican to vote to convict Trump. But he's given nothing away publicly and has declined to telegraph his thinking on a vote that could separate him from his party for years to come or give Trump a major boost as he preaches GOP unity.

I'm not going to comment at this stage, he said on Monday afternoon as the impeachment trial came to an end. His only observation: The closing arguments were not too long so that was nice.

In some ways, Romneys decision is less wrenching than others. He isnt up for re-election until 2024, doesnt need money for fundraising and presumably has no higher aspirations since he was the partys presidential nominee in 2012. But his relationship with Trump is complex: He savaged Trump during the 2016 campaign, then interviewed for a Cabinet position with Trump and is now perhaps the toughest sitting GOP critic of the presidents behavior.

Still, Republicans think theyll keep Romney on board.

I do, yes, said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). Just my hunch."

Joe Manchin

The West Virginia moderate gave Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh his only Democratic vote in 2018 and is openly struggling with the impeachment articles facing Trump now.

Manchin is widely assumed by fellow Democrats to be the most likely defection given his states conservative politics and his acknowledgment last week that he might run for reelection in 2024.

After the trial wrapped, he was the only Democrat to shake the hand of the White House counsel  but he also shook hands with the House impeachment managers. He then gave a floor speech in which he called for the presidents censure but declined to say how he would vote Wednesday.

Manchin said he believes his censure resolution could get a bipartisan majority. But with most Republicans dug in defending the president, its unlikely to advance. Manchin called the looming vote on whether to remove Trump from office the most difficult decision Ill ever make and that he would decide when I walk in."

"Im that torn," he said.

Susan Collins

Impeachment has been a uniquely trying episode for Collins, the Maine moderate who is up for reelection this fall. Collins didnt support Trump in 2016, and her vote on Wednesday will be the first hint of how she will position herself next to Trump in 2020. The president is expected to eagerly campaign in Maine, which gave him one electoral vote in 2016.

Shes said repeatedly her decision on Trumps removal will be made without politics, but whatever she does will have ramifications in November. A vote to convict would outrage the Republican base, while a vote to acquit would inflame Maines increasingly dominant Democratic Party. A former staffer, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), voted for the impeachment article charging abuse of power but against the one on obstruction of Congress.

Collins often criticizes Trumps inflammatory remarks, but has said fewer critical things about Trumps Ukraine push than Romney. Still, shes shown some willingness to buck Trump in the trial; she was the only Republican other than Romney to vote to hear new witnesses.

History suggests she may give the president a reprieve. Collins voted against removing Clinton from office, and the assumption now in her party is that she leans toward acquitting Trump as well.

Doug Jones

Sen. Doug Jones.

Collins may have a tough race, but easy compared with what Doug Jones has to face as a Democrat running for reelection in deep red Alabama. And hes been struggling over how to come down on Trumps impeachment articles.

Im getting there. Im going through all of my notes. Im going through everything, Jones said ahead of the final debate in the trial.

Jones has singled out the second article, on obstruction, for scrutiny, saying hes troubled the House didnt fight harder to bring witnesses in that the administration had blocked. But hes also criticized the White House defense team for concentrating on Hunter Bidens job on the board of a Ukraine energy committee.



Its one thing to criticize the House managers for pulling a distraction, then you spend an hour and a half talking about the biggest distraction of the whole trial, Jones said in an interview last week.

Jones has voted for some key Trump nominees, namely Attorney General William Barr, but is generally not as conservative as Manchin. That makes Democrats feel a little more confident about where he stands.



Kyrsten Sinema

While the other senators on this list have offered some degree of running commentary on their latest thinking, Sinema leaves everyone guessing. During the closing arguments she re-read her notes, underlined things shed already written and then scribbled new notes.

During a break, she chatted with Collins and Murkowski and also spoke for a lengthy time with Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the Republican whip. Then she dipped into the Democratic cloakroom and greeted a Senate page: Good morning, afternoon, whatever it is now.

Sinema was the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Arizona in 30 years and has positioned herself as a conservative Democrat in the caucus. Still, she often votes with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on procedural votes. Notably, she joined the partys quest for new witnesses and opposed the rules of the impeachment trial written by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-K.Y.).

But back home things are complicated. For months, the Arizona state party has been considering whether to reprimand her for leaning too far to the right. No matter how she votes, some will be angry.



Andrew Desiderio, Marianne LeVine and Melanie Zanona contributed to this report.
By Kate Youde

Buyers looking for a property with kerb appeal  a home that dazzles on sight  will probably find it on one of the worlds leading ultra-prime streets.

Knight Frank analysts reviewed sales data for the worlds most exclusive addresses to decide on a top 10  those which saw the most transactions in excess of $25m between 2015 and June 2019.

New Yorks 57th Street in Manhattan topped the list with 41 sales averaging $38.5m. The US city had four streets in the top 10, while addresses in Hong Kong claimed three spots. Londons Grosvenor Square, Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and South Ocean Boulevard in Floridas Palm Beach completed the list.

What is on offer in these ultra prime spots today?

Fifth Avenue, New York

The landmark location is seventh on Knight Franks list, and fourth in the Big Apple, behind 57th Street, Central Park South and Park Avenue. A five-bedroom penthouse in a building designed by renowned architect Rosario Candela in 1927, overlooking Central Park, is on the market for $39.75m.

Park Avenue, New York

As the name suggests, Park Avenue offers proximity to Manhattans green expanse. A $32.5m three-bedroom penthouse on the exclusive street  fourth on the list  boasts a wraparound terrace from which to enjoy the views of the city skyline.

S Ocean Boulevard, Palm Beach

An ultra prime address does not always mean an ultra prime price tag  though deep pockets are still required. A two-bedroom beachfront condominium with sea views, situated close to the upmarket Worth Avenue shops and restaurants in Floridas Palm Beach, could be yours for $4.25m. South Ocean Boulevard is 10th on Knight Franks list.

Conduit Road, Hong Kong

Hong Kongs Mount Nicholson Road recorded the second highest number of ultra-prime sales over the four-year period studied, while the citys Conduit Road is placed ninth. In the latter, a four-bedroom apartment with a balcony offering views of Victoria Harbour is on the market for HK$188m.

Grosvenor Square, London

Buyers looking for an exclusive address in the UK capital might consider Twenty Grosvenor Square, Mayfair. The development has 37 three to five-bedroom apartments with amenities and services provided by hotel group Four Seasons. Three-bedroom homes are sold out, but prices for a four-bed apartment start at 17.5m. Grosvenor Square ranks fifth in the world for ultra prime sales.

Photographs: Andrew Frasz for Sothebys International Realty; Simon Upton
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By PTI

KARACHI: A suspected case of deadly coronavirus has been detected in Pakistan's Sindh province in an engineering student who has been quarantined by authorities following his return from China.

Shahzaib Ali Rahuja, a petroleum engineering student at a Chinese university situated around 1,000 kms from Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, returned to the country from China via Qatar, his brother Irshad Ali said.

"He returned to Karachi on Saturday night on our insistence and unable to take a direct flight he came via Qatar on Saturday. They screened him at the airport in China and also in Karachi but he showed no problems.

"It was after returning home that he developed a fever and cough and took some medicines but when his nose started to bleed we rushed him to the hospital," he said.

The brother posted a video on social media, showing him sitting on a hospital bed and bleeding from the nose in a government hospital in Pir Jo Goth near Khairpur.

In the video, the brother claimed that doctors have locked them up in a ward and refused to treat his brother.

"They left us alone after suspecting that Shahzaib had contracted the coronavirus," he claimed.

He said that after his video went viral, the health authorities took Shahzaib to the civil hospital in Khairpur and it was decided to send him to Karachi for screening and treatment as doctors said they didn't have required facilities in Khairpur.

The provincial health authorities have now put him in an isolation ward in the Civil Hospital in Khairpur.

Sindh Health Minister Azra Fazal Pechuho, however, told media that Shahzaib had shown no symptoms of the coronavirus and it was too early to diagnose his condition.

Several Pakistani nationals stranded in coronavirus-hit China started arriving home as Pakistan on Monday allowed flights to and from China.

The move came as dozens of airlines halted flight services with China and governments increasingly barred entry to anyone who has recently visited the country.

As many as 30,000 Pakistanis are based China, and more than 500 nationals were believed to be in Wuhan.

The first flight from China landed in Islamabad airport on Monday with some 235 passengers, including 11 Chinese nationals, after the government allowed resumption of flights after a suspension lasting few days.

The death toll in China's coronavirus rose sharply to 425 with 64 deaths on Monday and the number of those infected with the deadly disease rose to 20,438, Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday.
In 2019, the entire Near North patrol district, which also includes the Lincoln Park area, recorded 509 robberies, its most in at least 10 years, police statistics show. The rash of robberies continued into 2020, with 23 for the entire Near North patrol district in the first 12 days of January, the most over the last five years for that period, the statistics show.
Mexico is one of the Latin countries that celebrates Carnavales in one form or another in its 225 communities, according to a published article in We Are Mitu.

Every time we think about carnivals, the first place that comes to mind is Rio. However, other Latin countries celebrate with carnivals too though it is not as big and famous as those in Rio de Janeiro, they are nevertheless lively and fun.

Meanwhile, there are 225 communities in Mexico where Carnavales is celebrated. The carnivals in Mexico have a different meaning and history, but they are all lively and colorful and are closely linked to the 'lost days' or 'mal aguero' of the Mesoamerican Xalamatl calendar.

Carnivals in Mexico were introduced by the Spanish just like other Catholic celebrations. The celebration also gained acceptance by the indigenous communities as the carnivals fell the same time as the lost days of the Mesoamerican calendar. Both the Carnival and Lost Days share the same traditions of wearing masks and letting social rules slide. However, the Spanish stopped the celebration as the social rules were sliding a little too much.

As a matter of fact, during the 17th century, it was those two things that caused the colonial authorities to stop the Carnival in New Spain. The celebrations of the indigenous and the lower castes have become more disrespectful and mock the authority. Hence, in the 18th century, major Carnival was banned in multiple cities.

However, despite this, several small towns have managed to keep the tradition alive. Some rural areas were able to manage their celebration and they survived. Meanwhile, the banning of Carnavales has resulted in fiestas becoming very localized. Here are some of the most famous and largest Carnavales:

This celebration takes place from February 8 to 13. This is one of the most popular carnivals that takes place in Sinaloa. This celebration is known as the oldest in the country. At Sinaloan, you'll find people celebrating "The coronation of the king of 'Alegria' and the carnival queen," you can go to the inauguration of gastronomic tasting menus, the fantasy dance, and the "quema del mal humor." There are also other activities during the celebration like naval combat, the dance of the ambassadors, and more.

The celebration takes place from Feb. 7 to 13. This is one of the loudest and most colorful events in Mexico. This year, both adults and children will be crowned as the carnival king and queen. Expect more activities like concerts, parades, lots of food, and the traditional 'quema de mal humor.'

3. Carnaval de Campeche

The celebration takes place from January 1 to February 13. This is one of the oldest celebrations in the country. The most important activity is the 'quema del mal humor,' which is where a rag doll is dressed as a pirate. The Festival de Las Flores starts as the doll is set on fire as well as the popular dances and parades.

During the celebration, they will also choose a king and a queen who will be crowned on a Saturday and this is known as 'Sabado de Bando'. There are other activities like ronda naval, which is known as a paint fight, concerts, and more.

4. Carnaval de Morelos

The celebration takes place from Feb. 7 to Mar. 24. This is one of the longest carnival celebrations because the state of Morelos has many carnivals and that includes Axochiapan, Tlatizapan, Tlayacapan, Tepoztlan, Yautepec, and Atlatlahuacan. However, the most famous carnivals that represent the Morelos is the 'representation del origen del Chinelo' in Tlayacapan.

So if any of these celebrations seem exciting to you, set your plans, book your accomodations and head south of the border. We guarantee you will have a wonderful time.
Tan France was born in Doncaster but now lives in Utah (AP)

Queer Eye star Tan France has said he would not return to live in the UK as he believes racism is too much of a problem.

The 36-year-old former fashion designer was born in Doncaster in the north of England to Muslim Pakistani parents, but in 2015 moved to the US where he lives with his husband in Salt Lake City, Utah.

France told Grazia magazine: Its a solid no. I suffered so much racism here and its just not something I want to put myself through.

I love this country, I love what it potentially represents, but I just think that until they solve this problem or move forward with it, where you just are not attacked every day, Im not willing to be here.

Read more: How 'Queer Eye's Tan France Met Husband Rob France

Tan France and husband Rob (Getty)

He added: Ive never been called anything racist in the US. Its not once happened.

And the TV presenter - who co-hosts new Netflix series Next In Fashion with Alexa Chung - has no plans to revive his own designing career either.

He said: Not just for the time being. Im trying to avoid that for the rest of my life. It is the most stressful thing - I think people think youre just off with the fairies playing dress-up. Its so high-pressure.

Read more: Jonathan Van Ness is Cosmopolitan's 'first non-female cover star'

France studied fashion at Doncaster College and worked for clothing chain Zara, department store Selfridges and fashion house Chanel before founding his own womens clothing line Kingdom & State. Since becoming the star of makeover show Queer Eye he has sold his business.

The fashion expert has been married to husband Rob France for almost 10 years. Born Tanween Safdar, he took Robs surname after they married. In 2018, he told the Associated Press they were considering having children via surrogacy.
NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

Global General Lighting Market 2020-2024

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The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current global market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by declining manufacturing cost of LEDs. In addition, growing number of households and urbanization is anticipated to boost the growth of the global general lighting market as well.



Market Segmentation

The global general lighting market is segmented as below:

Product

 LED lighting

 Traditional lighting



Application

 Residential

 Commercial

 Outdoor

 Industrial

 Others



Geographic segmentation

 APAC

 Europe

 MEA

 North America

 South America



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This study identifies growing number of households and urbanization as the prime reasons driving the global general lighting market growth during the next few years.

Prominent vendors in global general lighting market

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the global general lighting market, including some of the vendors such as Acuity Brands Inc., Advanced Lighting Technologies LLC, Cree Inc., Dialight Plc, Eaton Corp. Plc, General Electric Co., OSRAM GmbH, Panasonic Corp., Schneider Electric SE, and Signify NV.

The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to an analysis of the key vendors.



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(Natural News) Conservatives who are livid over the way the deep state and their Democrat and media allies have attempted to oust President Donald Trump and overturn the results of the 2016 election have been waiting  and waiting  for Republicans to get serious about mounting a defense of him.

And weve heard plenty of Republicans say they are going to do just that, most notable among them Senate Judiciary Committee chair Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

There is rarely a day that goes by when he isnt appearing on some cable news outlet, most often Fox News, to proclaim how unjust everything has been for the president and how he plans to right the wrongs.

Only, he never actually pulls the trigger on promised investigations. He talks a great game, but he plays a lousy hand.

Now, as the Senate prepares to acquit the president of two sham articles of impeachment that were passed on partisan lines  no Republicans in the House supported them  Republicans in the upper chamber, led by Graham, are promising once more to open investigations into actions and persons believed to be behind the ongoing coup attempts.

As reported Monday by Zero Hedge, Graham told Fox Business Networks Maria Bartiromo a day earlier that he is interested in understanding how the impeachment process began and why.

In particular, he and other GOP Senate chairmen are focusing in on an alleged CIA employee-turned whistleblower who claimed that President Trump improperly demanded a quid pro quo from the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

I want to understand how all this crap started, Graham  who, we presume, can read the same investigative news reports explaining how it began as weve seen  told Bartiromo. He added that the investigation would begin within weeks.

He then claimed that the Senate Intelligence Committee chair, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), also has told us that they will call the whistleblower to testify as to what he claimed in his complaint to the Intelligence Community inspector general, Michael Atkinson.

There is much to uncover  and prosecute

Prior reporting noted that the whistleblower  believed to be Eric Ciaramella  said he heard Trump demand on a phone call to Zelensky that the latter launch corruption investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, in exchange for military aid.

A transcript of that phone call, on July 25 of last year, was released by the White House, and according to the document, at no time did the president make such a demand, nor did Zelensky accede to opening a corruption probe. Any mention of an investigation into alleged activities by the Bidens was made in the context of a suggestion, not a demand.

But beyond that, as Zero Hedge notes, its difficult to get excited about this latest pledge to investigate those attempting to bring down the president because Republicans, especially those in the Senate, have been making such promises for years now.

And yet, nothing has come of the threats.

Whether its a legitimate search for the truth or a convenient way to assuage frustrated Republican voters who wanted fireworks during the Senate impeachment trial has yet to be seen, ZHs Tyler Durden noted, adding, nevertheless:

Lets recall what Senate Republicans plan to unravel;

The Whistelblower, outed by investigative reporter Paul Sperry, is a registered Democrat who worked for then-VP Joe Biden, former CIA Director John Brennan, and was appointed by former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster in June, 2017 as his personal aide according to RedState. Ciaramella, who radio host Rush Limbaugh called essentially a spy for John Brennan, was also a frequent visitor to the Obama White House.

In November the Washington Examiner reported that it is likely the whistleblower was aboard Air Force Two on at least one of the half-dozen visits Biden made to Ukraine.

There is more, much more. But the fact is, there is a lot to investigate and get out in the open  and, perhaps, to prosecute.

Will Republicans finally deliver?

Sources include:

ZeroHedge.com

TheNationalSentinel.com

RedState.com
Lets follow along as Cristin McCarthy Vahey and Lori Charlton knock on doors in Ankeny, Iowa. Its Monday afternoon, the waning hours of a cold, gray day before the Democratic caucuses for president.

The politically active pair from Fairfield  McCarthy Vahey is a state Representative and Charlton is on the board of finance  had traveled on their own dime, 1,150 miles due directly west from Connecticut to help their candidate, Mayor Pete.

Nobody ever says Buttigieg.

A friendly woman, maybe in her 60s, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, answers a door on a street near the main commercial strip in the small town, just a few miles north of Des Moines.

Hi, Im Cristin McCarthy Vahey, Im a volunteer for Mayor Pe.....

The woman needs no more prodding. She can see the buttons and cards. I am caucusing tonight, Im checking people in, she says. Im not quite sure what Im going to do, though.

Were hearing that a lot, McCarthy Vahey says. She listens before she pitches.

I have never been so, lets say Im confused. It is a very hard decision, the woman says.

After months of following the cavalcade of Democrats vying for president, its 3:05 p.m. and shes due at the caucus meeting in less than three hours. McCarthy Vahey and Charlton also have a role, as monitors for Buttigieg.

Its a tense day, but upbeat as the last pre-caucus poll shows Buttigieg has edged into a statistically insignificant lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders, with former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren just behind.

McCarthy and Charlton arent the only Connecticut politicos out on the Iowa hustings Monday. The group theyve joined, 203 Action, has volunteers for a few candidates. State Sen. Alex Bergstein, D-Greenwich, came out for Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who needs a leapfrog miracle in her neighboring state.

Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, is someplace in Iowa campaigning for Warren. Darryl Brackeen Jr., a New Haven alderman, is also in the Hawkeye State, for Biden.

In Des Moines, Erick Russell, the young, up-and-coming vice chairman of the Democratic state central commitee in Connecticut, takes in the whole picture along with his husband, former Newtown state Rep. Christopher Lyddy. Russell has no dog in the fight as a top party official. Hes in Iowa to learn the system and offer support to his friend Troy Price, the Iowa state party chairman.

Im listening in on McCarthy Vaheys phone as she and Charlton hit the doors.

I usually have known exactly what Ive wanted. Pete is in there, the friendly woman in flannel promises.

They talk about people voting for President Donald Trump, how its emotional and also, as the woman says, about those 401(k) retirement plans that are doing pretty well these days.

Its about the bread-and-butter issues. Thats why I think Pete is the best candidate, McCarthy Vahey says.

They talk about leadership. They talk about how voters always seem to want change. The woman is worried about two things: Buttigiegs lack of experience and his low support in the African American community.

That last worry is a big one, as Trump played his hand in a Super Bowl ad featuring a black woman who got out of prison, the Trump ad claims, because of the presidents criminal justice reform.

Buttigieg running as a man married to a man? It never comes up.

Im here because I know Pete, I met him a number of years back, McCarthy Vahey explains, at a leadership conference. I shook his hand and I said Pete, were all going to be working for you someday. Even among leaders, hes a leader.

The woman wonders, would Washington eat him alive?

Im a state legislator in Connecticut and I know...you have to have the ability to know youre not the smartest person in the room and help bring them along, McCarthy Vahey says. I would say with Pete thats one of the skills he brings.

Its remarkable how many Iowans remained undecided to the end. Thats been reported widely but to see it and feel it is a different matter, said Russell, who lives in New Haven and works as a lawyer at Pullman & Comley, specializing in government finance.

Since arriving Friday night, hes been to rallies for all five leading candidates. Ive been really impressed with the size of these events, he said. Very, very, very well attended, a ton of energy in the room...We have a really awesome group of candidates running.

Klobuchar packed a restaurant during the Super Bowl, for example.

But can anyone beat Trump? Thats the question that terrifies just about every Democrat in Iowa and its the reason for all the indecision. This time around, its not just a matter of going with the heart and the mind on issues.

Its the reason McCarthy Vahey and Charlton exchange friendly banter and phone numbers with a volunteer for Biden from Chicago, working the same street in Ankeny.

Its the reason former U.S. Senator and Connecticut scion Chris Dodd, who had his own bad luck in Iowa, has been in the state fr Biden, trashing Sanders ability to win in November.

And its the reason the friendly woman in flannel worries about the left flank of the party. Warren and Bernie, its all socialist, socialist, socialist. Its so ugly, she says to McCarthy Vahey and Charlton.

We just have to keep our eyes on the prize, Charlton declares.

They part, agreeing the woman wont commit to Buttigieg in that doorway. They hope its not just the die-hards who show up to caucus. Thank you for chatting, the woman says.

Time is flying. Its like the clock is ticking here, McCarthy Vahey says to me after they leave the house. The organizers in the office said theyve got that pit in their stomachs.

It was a pit for Monday night, but really it was about November.

dhaar@hearstmediact.com
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February 4, 2020, Accra, Ghana. In yet another exciting challenge, MTN MoMo and Ericsson cemented their intent to unlocking the local innovation potential of the continent at the just ended MoMo Developer Hackathon.

CodeFount, a team of young app developers picked up the ultimate prize of USD 2500 and a trip to Sweden for one team member to visit Ericssons Innovation Center after their innovation My Contributions App was adjudged, winner.

The winning app has been designed to allow members of social groups like churches, staff teams and alumni groups to make, track and aggregate contributions on one platform.

Telebank, a virtual assistant Chabot which enables customers to perform transactions through text or voice was adjudged the first runner up. The app which was developed by Zero Stress enables seamless interaction between your bank account and your MTN MoMo wallet. They took home a cash prize of USD2000.

Farm Financing App, is a crowd-funding platform aimed at supporting smallholder farmers. The platform leverages alternative data to determine the creditworthiness of these farmers. Once the farmer qualifies for the credit, the funds are disbursed to their MTN MoMo wallet. The project was adjudged as Third Best and the team received a cash prize of USD 1500.

During the awards presentation ceremony, the Commercial Senior Manager of MTN MoMo, Abdul-Majeed Rufai, congratulated the winners for their creative approach to solving local problems using mobile applications. He reiterated MTN MoMos commitment to availing its infrastructure to developers in competitions such as the MoMo Hackathon, to stimulate local innovation and democratize monetization of local innovations. He noted that this will help the youth to find gainful employment through community transforming innovations.

Commenting on the outcome of the challenge, Serigne Dioum, MTN Group Executive for Mobile Financial Services said; I am very pleased about our inaugural MoMo Hackathon, which highlighted the depth of talent among our developer community. Tapping into this talent will help us make unique solutions that are tailored for customers in our operations and contribute to driving financial inclusion in our markets.

Nicolas Blixell, Vice President at Ericsson Middle East & Africa said: Innovating and cultivating a culture of nurturing talent are two areas of priority for Ericsson. We take pride in the fact that in collaboration with our partner MTN Group, MoMo Hackathon provided a platform for local talents to showcase their solid potential to address substantial social and business needs.

MTN and Ericsson Mobile Money Open API challenge was launched in October 2019 and ended on 24 Jan 2020. Over 1000 entries were received from the participating countries. Developers were required to create applications that use MTN MoMo APIs, to monetize both consumer and Business opportunities digitally. The challenge which is an initiative of MTN Group was organized across 5 countries namely: Ghana, Uganda, Cote dIvoire, Cameroon and Zambia.

About MTN Ghana/Mobile Money Ltd

MTN Ghana is the market leader in the increasingly competitive mobile telecommunications industry in Ghana, offering subscribers a range of exciting options under Pay Monthly, Pay As You Go Services and Mobile Financial services. MobileMoney Ltd is a subsidiary of MTN Ghana responsible for Mobile Financial Services. Launched in 2009 with less than 100,000 100,000 MTN MoMo has 14 million registered subscriber.

MTN MoMo works with 18 partner banks and more than 124, 000 agents across the country. By the end of quarter one of 2019, 411million transactions had been done on the MoMo platform. Between 2016 and 2018 a sum of GHS 139million cedis was paid as Interest to over 10 million customers. For further information, visit www.mtn.com.gh.

About the MTN Group

Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator with a clear vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world to our 244 million customers in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. We are inspired by our belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code MTN. We are pursuing our BRIGHT strategy with a major focus on growth in data, fintech and digital businesses.
After 10 years of fully supporting Windows 7, Microsoft ended its official support for the out-of-date Windows operating system on Tuesday.

The popular classic Windows 7 OS still runs on some 200 million PCs around the globe, according to industry estimates. Users include small business owners, some larger companies, and hordes of consumers holding onto aging personal computers.

Microsoft committed to providing 10 years of product support when it released Windows 7 in 2009. The companys focus now is on supporting technologies that provide new user experiences, it said.

Microsoft has recommended that Windows 7 users move to Windows 10 prior to the end of support. Those that failed to heed the companys warning will become part of a very large attack vector for hackers, malware, viruses and spyware.

This end-of-life date is well known to hackers, and they are armed and ready to exploit, said Kate Donofrio, payment card industry technical lead and manager of Schellman & Company.

Windows 7 Pro and Enterprise users can purchase extended security update support for three years from Microsoft. Windows 7 Home editions and Ultimate editions are not eligible for extended support, she told TechNewsWorld.

Much like mobile devices using the Windows Mobile or Windows CE operating system, a PC/laptop/terminal using Windows 7 will not just stop working the day that the OS end of life begins, noted Brian Harvey, lead systems engineer at Barcoding.

However, the end of support does mean users no longer will get support, security updates or bug fixes for Windows 7, he told TechNewsWorld. Continuing to use Widows 7 can put your data  and potentially your customers data  at risk.

Must Do Something

PCs running Windows 7 probably will not become victims of attacks overnight, but the risk is not IF but WHEN malware, spyware, or viruses will find an opening into any particular unprotected computer.

Of course, Microsoft wants lingering Windows 7 users to upgrade to Microsoft 10. For those with computers no older than four years, a software upgrade can be applied. For older computers, a new purchase is the easiest and fastest way to avoid security risks and issues related to loss of support for Windows 7.

Purchasing a new PC will not be necessary if your existing system meets a baseline configuration, said Banish Angural, owner of Social Media Fellow.

That baseline configuration includes a 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or SoC (System on Chip) with at least 1 gigabyte RAM for 32-bit or 2 GB RAM for 64-bit computers, he told TechNewsWorld. The system should have 16 GB of hard drive space for the 32-bit OS version and 20 GB of storage space for the 64-bit OS version. Also needed is a DirectX 9 or later graphics card with WDDM 1.0 driver and a screen display capable of 800600 pixels.

If the hardware is not compatible with Windows 10, another option is to repurpose the older hardware by installing a Linux distribution as an alternative to Windows 7, Barcodingss Harvey suggested.

The Linux operating system offers distribution options targeting Windows users and enterprise operations. The cost to download a complete Linux OS is free, and many Linux OS developers offer paid support options similar to what is available for Microsoft Windows 10.

Thousands of software applications that run on Linux also are free to download. Tools such as WINE let users run must-have Windows programs on the Linux platform.

Upgrade for Free

Upgrading to Windows 10 is the most convenient step for users who want to continue using Windows on their computers, said Kenny Trinh, managing editor of Netbooknews. The upgrade process is very easy, and you get to keep all your files in most cases.

That solution has two hurdles, though, he told TechNewsWorld. Your device has to meet the spec requirements to be able to run Windows 10, and you have to buy a Windows 10 license, which costs US$119.

For those whose specs arent adequate or who dont want to shell out for a license, installing a Linux OS is your best bet, Trinh said. Linux is free to use, so you wont have to shell out a dime to use it. Plus, a number of Linux distros are specifically designed to run on older computers, so hardware wont be a concern.

Early on, Microsoft provided free upgrades to Windows 10. All you needed was a computer running an earlier version of Microsoft Windows and a product code number to qualify. That free offer officially ended a few years ago. However, its still possible to get a free Windows 10 upgrade using the Windows Media Creation Tool.

This upgrade isnt meant for the general consumer, but it works for many nonetheless. First, you must download the upgrade on the computer still running Windows 7, 8 or 8.1.

Second, go to the Microsoft page to download the Windows Media Creation Tool. On that page, select the option to upgrade. Then enter your Windows 7 or Windows 8 license key.

If you have a Windows 7 or 8 Home license, you can update only to the Windows 10 Home version. With a Windows 7 or Windows 8 Pro product key, you can update only to Windows 10 Pro. The free upgrade is not available for Windows Enterprise.

Whats the Risk?

The main reason to stop using Windows 7 is the security risk. That risk may be minor in the short term, but the longer you use the now-unprotected Windows 7, the higher your chances grow for trouble.

Microsoft will not provide security updates or fixes. You also will not get technical support for any issues. This leaves your computer at greater risk of being hit with viruses and worse.

Zero-day attacks get a lot of attention. The majority of vulnerabilities that get exploited by hackers are well known and have patches readily available to fix them, noted Kevin Landt, vice president of product management at Cygilant.

These patches no longer will be freely available, and hackers will be developing and sharing exploits, he told TechNewsWorld.

I believe the hardest hit with the end of extended support will be the home consumer users and business owners not keeping up with current threats, Schellman & Companys Donofrio said.

Those who cannot afford to upgrade their systems or buy new systems to replace old Windows 7 systems will be at the highest risk, she warned. There is also a chance, even with Microsoft popping up warnings on end-user systems, that some consumers will not understand what all of this entails or take the threat seriously.

These will also be the types of users who will not understand techniques to try and mitigate risks when new vulnerabilities are found and likely a high target for attackers, Donofrio added.

Outdated systems are major targets for attackers who are well aware of the upcoming end of support dates, she noted. That is especially the case for an operating system like Windows 7, which has large mainstream use by both businesses and consumer home users.

You can purchase a Windows 10 upgrade if you want to start with a fresh installation. On the Microsoft download page, download a disc image (ISO file) that can be used to install or reinstall Windows 10. The image also can be used to create installation media using a USB flash drive or DVD.

What Else to Do

If you are unable to upgrade or purchase extended security updates for Windows 7, you should take steps to reduce the attack surface of these systems. For example, disable all ports and protocols except those required for business reasons, suggested Cygilants Landt.

If possible, isolate the servers on separate network segments from those that have direct access to the Internet. The remaining risks should be documented and given a priority level for future remediation, he said.

Microsoft gave plenty of notice about the impending end of support, said Satnam Narang, senior research engineer at Tenable.

Larger businesses likely have the infrastructure to migrate their systems, but smaller organizations may not have the necessary resources to prepare for the switch, he told TechNewsWorld, so those companies should take the following measures to protect themselves:

Rely on endpoint detection and antivirus software to detect known threats;

Implement email protection, as threats can often come in the form of emails and can slip through the cracks of email filters; and

Enforce security awareness training for all employees.

Isolation and Layer Are Key

To the maximum extent possible, those continuing to use Windows 7 should try to isolate or segment the machines with the unsupported (outdated) software or OS. This obviously can be a challenge in many cases, given that if an organization has a requirement to keep using the unsupported software or OS, then that would imply some level of criticality to that device, observed Troy Gill, manager of security research at AppRiver.

So naturally, there may be limitations on just how isolated it can be while still performing its critical role. Always practice least privilege. And in a case like this, the importance of least privilege is amplified, he told TechNewsWorld.

Another way of bolstering Windows 7 from outside attacks is to take a defense-in-depth approach by adding security layers to help reduce risk with the unsupported system, Gill added. This should include the use of both network and personal firewalls, as well as placing the high-risk devices behind added hardware such as IPS.

Another consideration is to make sure you have uninstalled all unnecessary software and disabled unneeded services on these devices. This is always a best practice, but it can become even more important on a system relying on an unsupported OS or other outdated software, he said.

Business Risks Intensify

Even if you or your company no longer run Windows 7, businesses and others who still use the obsolete operating system could endanger your privacy. Consumers need to practice safe computing even if they run Windows 10, macOS or the Linux OS.

Organizations that continue running Windows 7 not only put their company and staff data at risk, but also that of their suppliers, partners and customers, because security patches no longer will be available, said Ken Galvin, senior product manager at Quest Software.

Many businesses are still running Windows 7 because they have been slow to act, hadnt seen it as a priority, or thought of it as too much of a daunting challenge to upgrade all their systems. Daunting as it may be, we are now at the stage where the best option is to upgrade, he told TechNewsWorld.

However, if businesses cannot and have made arrangements with Microsoft to pay for continued Windows 7 patching support, it is critical that they make sure their patch management system will be able to apply them, Galvin added.

It is not an impossible task, however. IT teams can and should be taking advantage of automation tools to assist with the migration and invest in ongoing endpoint management to make sure that these systems are continually up to date without the team needing to break their backs, he said. Businesses should prioritize gaining visibility over all their systems so they can be 100 percent sure that each one is secure.

No Recourse, No Safety

The obvious risk is that Windows 7 systems no longer will receive patches from Microsoft. That means if a new vulnerability is discovered in Windows 7, all Windows 7 systems will be at risk for exploitation from malicious attackers, warned Mehul Revankar, director of product management at SaltStack.

Going forward, Windows 7 systems will become ripe targets for attackers to exploit, he told TechNewsWorld. When the next major Windows 7 vulnerability strikes, these would be the systems attackers would go after first, own them very quickly, and cause business disruption.

So, what should Windows 7 users do? Get an accurate inventory of all their assets and identify all Windows 7 systems in their organization, suggested Revanker.

They also should stop procrastinating and take action. Upgrade those assets to Windows 10 or later.

If you cant upgrade for one reason or another, get them off the Internet at the very least, and add mitigating controls so that only authorized users have access to them, Revanker said. The most likely problem is that systems will not be updated or will be slow to update  and the longer the wait, the higher the risk that this results in a costly attack.

A Ray of Hope, Perhaps

Windows 7 will keep working come Jan. 15. Nothing will change overnight, said Chris Morales, head of security analytics at Vectra.

It is true that Windows 7 will be more vulnerable to attack. That is the expectation. But I dont think the actual impact will be catastrophic, he told TechNewsWorld.

For home users who want to cling onto Windows 7 for whatever reasons, many of the potential problems could be mitigated using other tools and methods, like VPN, encryption, security software, and a good secure home router, Morales noted.

Many enterprises simply will sign up for Windows 7 Extended Security Updates for the next three years of coverage, which will protect against anything deemed critical or important.

Not much will change in the attack landscape for enterprises with the Windows 7 Extended Security Updates. Most major apps like Google Chrome browser will also continue to be supported with updates for all users, said Morales.

For everyone else, an update to Windows 10 or a move to another supported OS should already have happened, he added. An unsupported operating system never should be used for public-facing Internet use, like browsing the Web or handling email, he added. It is bad practice.

A Common Problem

Thomas G. Plante, professor of psychology at Santa Clara University, has been concerned about loss of support for Windows 7 on his own laptop.

Long story short, the universitys IT department recommended that he invest in a new computer with Windows 10, he told TechNewsWorld.

That seems crazy from my point of view, as my computer is only 5-1/2 years old and works fine  but that is what IT here suggests, Plante said.

Like many users, Plante relies on his employers IT department for help. The universitys IT staff claims that the hassles involved in upgrading make getting a new computer a better and more cost-effective option.

Plus, the university will only service computers that are four years old or less to boot, he lamented. Seems nutty but hey .
Though he didnt get an Oscar nomination for Uncut Gems, Adam Sandler is undeterred. Hes back at it and has just inked a new deal with Netflix to continue to star in films for the service. One of his upcoming films is Hubie Halloween.

Adam Sandler | ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

Adam Sandler said he would continue making bad movies if he didnt get an Oscar for Uncut Gems

During the early awards season campaigning for his role in Uncut Gems, Sandler threatened in an interview he would make a really bad movie if he didnt get an Oscar nomination. Though fans may have liked them, Sandlers Netflix movies have low ratings with critics.

If I dont get it, Im going to f****g come back and do one again that is so bad on purpose just to make you all pay. Thats how I get them, he said in the interview.

Many on Twitter applauded Sandler and agreed that he should be incensed if he didnt get an Oscar nomination.

Adam Sandler threatened to give us a bad movie if he didnt get awards. They testing his gangsta rn, one person tweeted.

Someone else said, Im excited for Adam Sandlers out-of-spite bad movie now that I know that he also makes very good movies.

When the Oscar nominations were revealed, another person tweeted, Ive been awake for all of two minutes, im so sick i can barely move, and i see that adam sandler is not nominated for best actor.

The actors who ended up getting nominations were Antonio Banderas, Leonardo DiCaprio, Adam Driver, Joaquin Phoenix and Jonathan Pryce. Phoenix is very heavily favored to be the frontrunner.

Who will star in Hubie Halloween and what is it about

Sandler signed a new Netflix deal which ensures that he stars in four more films for the streaming service. The news was announced the same day Uncut Gems hit Netflix in areas outside of the U.S. (the streaming service is the films international distributor).

In a press release, Netflix said, Our members love all things Sandler. They have spent a whopping two billion hours watching his films since 2015  the year that The Ridiculous 6 premiered  proving theres no such thing as too much Sandler.

Whether you know him as Sandman, the Water Boy, Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Nick Spitz or simply Adam, one thing is clear: our members cant get enough of him. They love his stories and his humor, as we saw with Murder Mystery. So I could not be more excited to extend our partnership with Adam and the Happy Madison team and deliver more laughs around the world, said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer.

Sandlers next Netflix film, which was announced before his Netflix re-up, is Hubie Halloween. The film will also star Kevin James, Julie Bowen, Ray Liotta, Maya Rudolph, Rob Schneider, Kenan Thompson, Steve Buscemi, Michael Chiklis, Tim Meadows, and Noah Schnapp.

According to Observer, the film is a whodunnit that finds community volunteer Hubie Dubois (Sandler) finds himself at the center of a real murder case on Halloween night. Despite his devotion to his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts (and its legendary Halloween celebration), Hubie is a figure of mockery for kids and adults alike. But this year, something really is going bump in the night, and its up to Hubie to save Halloween.

But regardless of the plot, is clear that the film will be a hilariously good time in a similar vein of the actor and comedians past Netflix work.
Security personnel attempt to prevent the photographer from taking pictures at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province, China, on Feb. 4, 2020. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Coronavirus Sends Asias Social Media Censors Into Overdrive

BANGKOK/SINGAPOREDeluged by misinformation about the new coronavirus on social media, some Asian governments are fighting back with arrests, fines and fake news lawssomething free speech advocates fear will entrench measures that can also silence dissent.

At least 16 people have been arrested over coronavirus posts in Malaysia, India, Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong, while Singapore has used its controversial new fake news law, POFMA, to force media outlets and social media users to carry government warnings on their posts and articles saying they contain falsehoods.

Fortunately, we now have POFMA to deal with these fake news, said Lawrence Wong, one of the ministers heading a Singapore government task force to halt the spread of the virus.

Many details of the new flu-like coronavirus that surfaced just weeks ago in the Chinese city of Wuhan are unknown. As the death toll increases, anxiety has been fueled by social media posts ranging from the bizarre to the malicious.

Posts include speculation about how the virus can be caughtthrough a video game according to oneor avoideda government minister in Burma (also known as Myanmar) was rebuked for sharing a post that recommended eating more onionsto local scares of deaths or anti-Chinese attacks.

What I call the moron strain has created a global, social media-driven panic that is in turn feeding on itself, wrote Karim Raslan in his regionally syndicated column, noting how much greater the challenge had become for governments to manage.

At least five people were arrested and released on bail in Indias southwestern state of Kerala over WhatsApp messages, said Aadhithya R, District Police Chief of Thrissur. Six people were arrested in Malaysia on suspicion of spreading false news.

In Vietnam, where an army of cyber-censors tracks social media comment for the communist government, at least nine people have been fined and three celebrities asked to explain their actions over posts about coronavirus.

An employee (L) puts a protective face mask on a child at a railway station in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb, 2, 2020. (Nhac Nguyen/AFP via Getty Images)

Thailand hailed the success of an anti-fake news center it set up last year. Dozens of staff reviewed nearly 7,600 posts in four days from Jan. 25leading to 22 posts being highlighted as false on its website and two arrests under computer crimes laws.

The anti-fake news center is working intensively to verify these rumors and communicating truth to the people, said Digital Minister Puttipong Punnakanta.

Thailand is among countries where laws on social media posts have been toughened in recent years despite complaints from human rights groups that they could be used to target government opponents.

Control

Free-speech advocates are wary that the campaign against coronavirus could help governments extend their control as well as damaging the health campaign.

Criminalization of speech, even if targeted at falsehoods, is highly likely to stifle the real time sharing of information that is essential during epidemics, said Matthew Bugher, Head of Asia Programme for free expression campaign group Article 19.

China has long censored social media heavily and some critics say that may have delayed information on the emerging virus in Wuhanand therefore potential countermeasures.

Eight people were arrested after being accused of spreading rumors about illness in early January, but the case was dropped last week amid growing public anger over the handling of the new crisis.

Meanwhile, Tencent Holdings ubiquitous messaging app WeChat has added tools to help debunk virus rumors.

Western social media companies are also stepping up action. Facebook has said it would take down misinformation about the coronavirusa rare departure from the usual approach to health content by the worlds biggest social network.

Government Threats

Taiwan has warned of punishment for spreading disinformation. South Korean police were working with telecoms regulators to block false information, Yonhap news agency said.

Indonesian police said two people had been arrested for spreading fake news and face charges that could see them jailed for up to five years. Hong Kong police said a shopping mall security guard was arrested for spreading false news about infections.

In Singapore, some said the government was using its new fake news law responsibly.

Many examples of misinformation, confusing data and outright fake news present a clear and present danger to public safety, health and security, said Nicholas Fang, founder of Singapore consultancy Black Dot Research.

But not all were convinced.

Journalist and activist Kirsten Han is among those who have been given a government correction noticein her case for sharing an article related to state executions last month rather than anything to do with coronavirus.

Just because there are relatively more justifiable uses of a #fakenews law, it doesnt mean that the law was well-drafted and cant be an instrument of abuse and oppression, she commented on Twitter.

By Matthew Tostevin and John Geddie
Russia has asked Norway for talks to address what it called illegal restrictions of its activities on the Arctic Svalbard archipelago.

Svalbard, about 850 kilometers north of mainland Norway, is regulated by a 1920 treaty that awarded the Scandinavian country sovereignty over the archipelago. But the treaty also gave Russia and other signatories equal rights to engage in commercial activities.

On February 4, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had formally asked Oslo for bilateral consultations to remove "restrictions on Russian entities operating on the archipelago."

Such restrictions go against the 100-year-old treaty's guarantees of "equal liberty of access and entry and the possibility of doing business there on equal terms," the ministry said, citing "restrictions" on the use of Russian helicopters, a deportation procedure "solely" targeting Russian nationals, the "unlawful" establishment of a fish-protection zone, and the "artificial" expansion of nature-protection zones that limit business activity.

Oslo confirmed receiving the Russian request and said Moscow's grievances were "well-known to Norwegian authorities."

"All activities in Svalbard must take place in accordance with Norwegian law," the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said in an e-mail to Reuters, without providing further details.

Svalbard is seen as a potential flashpoint between Moscow and the West as climate change is opening up the Arctic and Russia is increasing its military presence in the region.

The sectors of tourism and services are growing on the archipelago, but the traditional industry is coal mining. Russia operates a coal mine in the town of Barentsburg.

Russia "does not intend to curtail" its presence there, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"On the contrary, we have long-term plans for strengthening, diversifying and modernizing it," the statement said.

With reporting by Reuters and Interfax
In the arid West African country of Mauritania, the way of life of the traditional group of hunters known as the Nemadi is slowly disappearing.

Experts say the small ethnic group of black Mauritanians, also known as N'Madi, now numbers in the hundreds at most, their livelihoods hit by repeated droughts and declining game.

Some Nemadis have abandoned their traditional way of life to become camel herders. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP)

Those that are left mostly scour the desert for ostriches, oryxes and white antelope to hunt.

In January, AFP travelled for five days between the desert hamlets of Tichitt and Aratane in central Mauritania, guided by three Nemadi: Ahmadou, his son Ahmed and a third man named Cheih.

More and more Nemadi have given up their old ways since the great drought in the Sahel region in the 1970s. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP)

All three, dressed in tunic-like robes, have abandoned their traditional way of life to become camel herders.

More and more Nemadi have given up their old ways since the great drought in the Sahel region in the 1970s. True hunter-gathers are now few and far between.

Ahmadou own camels, a traditional symbol of wealth in Mauritanian society. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP)

In Loudeyatt, one of the nomadic Nemadi's campsites, a dozen tents are home to about 50 people, and a few bleating goats. There is also a French-language school, although it has few supplies.

The Nemadi have few physical possessions and traditionally, no livestock.

A Nemadi woman in Loudeyatt, where a dozen tents are home to about 50 people and a few bleating goats. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP)

They are marginalised in wider Mauritanian society for their poverty, according to experts.

But some, such as Ahmadou, now own camels, a traditional symbol of wealth in Mauritanian society.
A farming family was celebrating as three sister ewes delivered 11 lambs - one of which gave birth to quintuplets.

Declan Holland, who farms outside Blarney in Co Cork, said they were "absolutely delighted" with the new arrivals.

The quintuplet lambs - four females and a male - were the undoubted stars of the show. But two of that ewe's sisters also delivered triplets.

Neighbours, family and friends flocked to the Hollands' Blarney farm to view the quintuplets.

"It started around 7pm and they were finished - three sheep and 11 lambs - by 10am on Sunday.

"All done and all safe, thank God," Mr Holland told VirginMedia News.

"There were cups of tea all round to celebrate and everyone was over the moon. There were people calling to have a look at them.

"We are ecstatic to be honest - it has been years of careful breeding and hoping for the best."

Chloe Holland said they had expected a busy lambing season, but hadn't anticipated quintuplets.

"We hadn't expected everything to go so well.

"We had done a scan so we knew there were a good few lambs coming but we hadn't expected them all to be born naturally and without a problem."

The family now plan to retain the four females for breeding within their Blarney flock: "The ram lamb we might sell on when he is old enough."

Meanwhile, Donegal farmer Tommy Meehan is thinking of doing the Lotto after one of his cows gave birth to triplets.

The odds are 150,000/1 but having three calves of the same sex is put at a staggering 400,000/1.

That's exactly what one of his Holstein Fresian cows did last weekend at his farm at Dromore, Ballindrait in Lifford.

Mr Meehan, whose family has a herd of more than 330 milking cows, got the surprise of his life when he went to check on the cow on Saturday morning.

He said: "I have a camera system installed and I knew the cow was due to give birth. I didn't realise it was more than one though.

"I checked on the camera in the middle of the night and I saw it was two, and I was delighted. When I went down to check the next morning I was so shocked to see there were three calves.

"They were all healthy and moving around and I was just so delighted. It's a great start to the new year."

He added: "It's rare to have triplets and even more rare to have triplet heifers."

Mr Meehan said it was the first time in his or his father's generation there had been triplets on their farm. "They say luck comes in threes so I might just pop down and do the Lotto," he laughed.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said that people of the state support the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) introduced by the central government and accused the Opposition parties of trying to misguide the public.

"There is nothing objectionable in the Act. The majority of 15 Catholic MLAs from BJP supported the motion. Some people, especially Congress and other Opposition parties are trying to misguide the people," Sawant told ANI. "I will not say that the Opposition members are innocent about the Act. They are well aware of it but they are purposely trying to misguide people," he added.

READ | CAA: Goa House Passes Motion Hailing PM Amid Walkout By Cong

Goa Assembly passes congratulatory motion

On Monday, the Goa Legislative Assembly passed a motion, congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for passing the CAA, amid a walkout by MLAs of opposition Congress and the Goa Forward Party (GFP).

Majority of Catholic MLAs of the ruling BJP supported the motion which was moved by Atanasio Monserratte and Clafacio Dias in the afternoon on February 3, the first day of the Budget session.

MLAs of Congress and the GFP led by Digambar Kamat created ruckus and rushed to the Well of the House demanding that Speaker Rajesh Patnekar disallow the motion. They later staged a walkout saying they had submitted a notice seeking a discussion on the CAA and NRC.

READ | Goa Budget Session From Feb 3; Oppn To Raise CAA, NRC

In the Assembly of 40, the ruling BJP has 27 MLAs of its own including the Speaker, who all were present besides two Independent legislators who support the party-led government.

Pramod Sawant said that the CAA is enacted to protect the minority communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. He further pointed out that Hindus in Pakistan has been reduced from 13.5 to 1.85 per cent.

"Where have these people gone? They have either got converted or migrated and naturally they have come to India," the Chief Minister said.

READ | Union Budget 2020: Goa CM Pramod Sawant Hails Budget, Cong Says FM Silent On Unemployment

READ | Will Expose Goa Government's 'corruption': Sardesai

(With inputs from ANI)

(Image source: PTI)
Ottawa: A Canadian man on a flight from Toronto to Jamaica falsely announced to passengers that he had the coronavirus, forcing the plane to return to the airport where he was arrested, police say.

The incident occurred on Monday during a WestJet Airlines flight from Toronto to Montego Bay.

The plane returned to Toronto after a passenger falsely claimed that he had coronavirus. Credit:Bloomberg

"A male was causing a disturbance on the flight, saying he had been to China and had the coronavirus," said Sarah Patten, a spokeswoman for police in the town of Peel, close to Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

After the plane landed the 29-year-old man was checked by medical staff who concluded he did not have the coronavirus. He was arrested, charged with mischief and will appear in court on March 9, Patten said.
Democrats Declined to Have Voting App Vetted: DHS Secretary

The Iowa Democratic Party declined to have a new voting application vetted by the Department of Homeland Security, according to Chad Wolf, the departments acting secretary.

The app, developed by Shadow Inc., was blamed for some of the problems during the Democratic caucuses on Feb. 3. The issues led to a delay in releasing the results of the caucuses.

Our cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency had offered to test that app from a hacking perspective, Wolf said Feb. 4, during an appearance on Fox & Friends. They declined, so were seeing a couple of issues with it.

Theres no evidence of a hack, Wolf said.

Right now, we dont see any malicious cyber activity going on. No one hacked into it. This is more of a stress or a load issue as well as a reporting issue that were seeing in Iowa, he said.

Given the amount of scrutiny that we have on election security these days, this is a concerning event, and it really goes to the public confidence of our elections.

The Iowa Democratic Party didnt immediately respond to a request for comment about how the party tested the app. Party officials declined to provide details about the app when asked by multiple outlets before the election. Troy Price, the chairman of the state party, told NPR that the state party worked with the national partys cybersecurity team and Harvard Universitys Defending Digital Democracy project.

We as the party have taken this very seriously, and we know how important it is for us to make sure that our process is secure and that we protect the integrity of the process, Price said. We want to make sure we are not relaying information that could be used against us.

Price said at a press conference on Feb. 4: We had no knowledge of DHS making that offer to us.

Party spokeswoman Mandy McClure said late Feb. 3 that the election results were delayed due to quality checks and inconsistent reporting, but said the app developed by Shadow didnt go down and wasnt hacked. Ballots provided a sound paper trail that was being used to tally the results, she added.

No email addresses or phone numbers were listed on Shadows website. The company is full of campaign and technology veterans who have built and put into place technology for Hillary Clintons and Barack Obamas campaigns as well as Google, the Democratic National Committee, and the AFL-CIO union, the company said.

Our passion is to create a permanent advantage for progressive campaigns and causes through technology, the company stated. No staff members were identified on the site.

In a statement on Feb. 4, Shadow said, We sincerely regret the delay in the reporting of the results of last nights Iowa caucuses and the uncertainty it has caused to the candidates, their campaigns, and Democratic caucus-goers.

Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) cheer next to an Iowa flag at his rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 2020. (Jim Bourg/Reuters)

Several high-level Shadow executives, including CEO Gerard Niemira, worked on Clintons 2016 campaign. Niemira was previously the chief technology officer and chief operating officer at ACRONYM, a nonprofit digital strategy firm.

Shadow was created in part from investments by ACRONYM, the nonprofits founder and CEO, Tara McGowan, said in January 2019.

In a statement issued overnight, the nonprofit attempted to distance itself from Shadow, noting it was one of multiple investors in the company.

We are reading confirmed reports of Shadows work with the Iowa Democratic Party on Twitter, and we, like everyone else, are eagerly awaiting more information from the Iowa Democratic Party with respect to what happened, ACRONYM spokesman Kyle Tharpe said in a statement.

ACRONYM didnt provide any technology to the DNC, Iowa Democratic Party, or presidential campaigns, the statement said.

Robby Mook, Clintons 2016 campaign manager, also distanced himself from the app on Feb. 3 after people drew attention to the Des Moines Register reporting last week that Mook and experts in a number of fields simulated the different ways that things could go wrong on caucus night.

Sorry, folks, Mook wrote on Twitter. I did NOT have anythjng [sic] to do with building the Iowa caucus app. I dont know anything about it, had no role in it, and dont own a company that makes mobile appa [sic].

Shadow was paid $58,000 in August 2019 by the Nevada Democratic Party, and the Iowa Democratic Party paid the company over $63,000 in late 2019, according to campaign finance records. The Nevada Democratic Party didnt respond to a request for comment. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigiegs campaign also paid Shadow more than $42,000 last year for software rights and subscriptions.
A real estate office in Adelaide has closed temporarily after it emerged two people who tested positive for coronavirus attended one of its auctions.

The auction was held about a day after the couple arrived on a direct flight from Guangzhou in southern China.

The pair, aged 60, have since been admitted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where they remain in a stable condition in isolation.

SA Health officials are now trying to contact other people on the same China Southern Airways flight that arrived on January 21.

Ray White Dulwich posted this sign in their window following an auction in late January

China has closed some of its borders amid the outbreak of the new strain of coronavirus (file image)

Ray White in the Adelaide suburb of Dulwich has also provided authorities with a list of people who attended the auction on January 22 and its office remain closed until Thursday.

Meanwhile, an Adelaide couple on a cruise through Asia say they have been 'rejected again' and are feeling unloved after the Holland America liner was denied entry to several scheduled ports due to the coronavirus threat.

Grandparents David Holst and his wife Judy are on Holland America's MS Westerdam, which entered Hong Kong on Saturday resulting in a planned stopover in Manila being cancelled when authorities denied the boat entry.

Mr Holst posted on Sunday on his Facebook page, 'It was greed and stupidity when Holland America sent our ship into Hong Kong yesterday given HK is on red alert, the highest level you can have around the virus and other cruise lines were cancelling HK stops as HK is the gateway to China'.

Ray White Dulwich has temporarily closed its doors and is to re-open on February 6

He said the crew 'did not even bother to offer face masks to passengers going ashore' so they disembarked using their own and they 'did not see any temperature screening for those 700-800 joining the cruise'.

He described sanitation prevention on the liner as 'ordinary' and said they were not amused as it was totally avoidable if Holland America had acted 'more responsibly'.

Mr Holst said planned stops at Hualien in Taiwan on Tuesday had now also been cancelled, but the liner was heading to Kaohsiung further south on Wednesday.

He said there were 'plenty of Aussies' on board, including others from Adelaide and criticised the cruise company for only really caring 'about dollars'.

Hong Kong has recorded 15 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ray White for comment.

Two people attended an auction of this residence in the Adelaide suburb of Firle in late january who were later confirmed to have coronavirus

AUSTRALIANS WITH THE CORONAVIRUS NEW SOUTH WALES: 4 January 25 Three men aged 43, 53, and 35 who had recently travelled to China are confirmed to have contracted the disease.

Two flew in from Wuhan while the other arrived in Sydney from Shenzhen, south China.

They were treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital January 27 A 21-year-old woman is identified as the fourth person to test positive for the illness in NSW.

The woman, a student at UNSW, flew into Sydney International Airport on flight MU749 on January 23 and presented to the emergency department 24 hours later after developing flu-like symptoms. VICTORIA: 6 January 25 A Chinese national aged in his 50s becomes the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Australia.

The man flew to Melbourne on China Southern flight CZ321 from Wuhan via Guangzhou on January 19.

He was quarantined at Monash Hospital in Clayton in Melbourne's east. January 29 A Victorian man in his 60s is diagnosed with the coronavirus.

He became unwell on January 23 - two days after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

The man was confirmed as positive on January 29 and was subsequently seen by doctors at the Monash Medical Centre. January 30 A woman in her 40s is found to have coronavirus.

She was visiting from China and mostly spent time with her family.

She is being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital. February 1 A woman in her 20s in Melbourne is found to have the virus February 22 Two passengers taken off the Diamond Princess cruise ship test positive QUEENSLAND: 8 January 29 Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national was diagnosed with the virus. He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital. January 30 A 42-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling in the same Wuhan tour group as the 44-year-old man tests positive. She is in Gold Coast University Hospital in stable condition. February 4 An eight-year-old boy has been diagnosed coronavirus. He is also from the tour group where the other Queensland cases came from February 5 The case was found in a 37-year-old man, who was a member of a group of nine Chinese tourists in quarantine on the Gold Coast February 6 A 37-year-old woman has been diagnosed with coronavirus from the same travel group that flew to Queensland from Melbourne on January 27 February 21

Two Queensland women, aged 54 and 55, tested positive for COVID-19 and will be flown to Brisbane for further treatment.

A 57-year-old woman from Queensland also tests positive for the virus SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 3 February 1 A Chinese couple in their 60s who arrived in Adelaide from Wuhan to visit relatives are confirmed to have coronavirus. A 24-year-old woman from South Australia has been transferred to Royal Adelaide Hospital WESTERN AUSTRALIA: 1 February 21 A 78-year-old man from Western Australia was transferred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth JAPAN: 15 As of February 15, 47 Australians are among 219 confirmed cases of the coronavirus contracted on board Diamond Princess cruise ship at Yokohama.

Two more Australians who were on board tested positive after they were evacuated to Darwin on February 22 Advertisement




On Feb. 26 of last year, police, firefighters and water rescue personnel made a detailed search for evidence along the Bushkill Creek in Palmer Township.

While authorities didnt specify at the time on the record, the thought was they were searching for a cellphone tossed there and tied to a double homicide and arson on Jan. 4 of that year at 2901 Stephen St. Roger Houck, 61, and his 97-year-old mother Virginia died and the home was destroyed. Authorities didnt say at the time how they knew to search at that location.

The Northampton County District Attorneys Office is seeking the death penalty in the case against 37-year-old Drew Rose, of Bethlehem. Rose was formally arraigned on Friday in Northampton County Court.

On Saturday, a cellphone was turned over to Palmer police, Detective Jim Alercia said Monday afternoon. It had been placed last week on top of the community mailboxes at the GJ Mills apartment complex at 1400 Bushkill Drive. The February search had been in the Bushkill Creek in front of those residences and on the far bank.

A phone was recovered Feb. 1, 2020, on top of the community mailboxes at GJ Mills apartments in Palmer Township. A nearby search in February was for evidence in a double homicide in January 2019 in the township, authorities say.Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com

Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck on Monday said the February search was for evidence in the double murder case. The DA is not related to the victims.

When asked if it was Roses phone, Terry Houck said they havent made any connection yet, they just want to talk to the person who first found it.

Alercia would only say its a piece of evidence to an active investigation, deferring further comment to the district attorney.

We believe the phone was found last week by someone in the immediate vicinity, perhaps a walker, biker or fisherman in the Bushkill Creek, Alercia said in a news release.

The person who originally found the phone and placed it on the mailboxes is asked to call township police at 610-972-7271.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
NEW YORK, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With compelling stories and strategies, Talk Is Chief: Leadership, Communication, and Credibility in a High-Stakes World by Jack Modzelewski (RosettaBooks/$27.99) is a highly relevant leadership book at a time when leaders increasingly find themselves embroiled in headline-making controversies based on miscommunication and often failed communication.



The book inspires leaders to treat their daily communication practices as seriously as their fiscal, operational, value creation, deal making, business transformation, and other executive responsibilities.

Leaders today spend up to 90 percent of each day communicating to make good things happen in their organizations, Modzelewski wrote in his book. They communicate with colleagues, customers, shareowners, creditors, regulators, advocates, and competitors. They influence culture, opportunity, risk-taking, and risk aversion.

Modzelewskis thirty-five years of experience working with many Fortune 500 companies as a communications consultant suggests that too many leaders undervalue and therefore underperform their vital communication responsibilities. They do so at their own disadvantage and sometimes peril in this age of heightened activism, transparency, disruption, disinformation, and crisis.

Whether they recognize it or not, leaders are chief credibility officers, with organizational reputation often resting on their words and actions, especially in times of crisis. Talk Is Chief provides sound advice, examples, and even a 10 Commandments of Crisis Management, so that leaders can either avoid crises or avert worst-case scenarios when an existential threat confronts them.

Leadership communication todaythe ability for leaders to be heard and clearly understood above the constant noise of the complicated worlds in which they must lead or governis of the highest importance. The stakes in this new communication environment are high and its proven that effective leadership communication inspires people to perform collectively better, leading to better outcomes. Which is why Talk Is Chief is a must-read for 21st century leaders.

Talk Is Chief is distributed by Simon & Schuster and is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook wherever books are sold.

Praise for Talk Is Chief

Jack has brought to the forefront the critical skill necessary in managing complex organizations, navigating unimaginable crises, and leading companies to realize greatness. Communication aligns organizations, supports strong and transparent cultures, and is vital to respond to both opportunities and threats. Jack takes us through valuable lessons ranging from building effective communications structures able to capture the data necessary to make swift decisions to fostering relationships with diverse stakeholders. Intuitive, compelling, and practical for all leaders!

Jim Brooks, Chief Operating Officer, Control Risks



"Talk is Chief is a guide to leadership at a challenging time of tweets, fake news and growing divisions within our democracy. The simple fact is that words matter - and that simple words matter the most when they speak to our values. I often say we govern by leadership or crisis. The author makes clear that leadership requires courage in both action and communication." Leon E. Panetta, Chairman, The Panetta Institute for Public Policy



Jack Modzelewski has written a must-read book for both seasoned and aspiring business leaders. In Talk is Chief you will learn firsthand why culture, leadership, candid communications and a persistent focus on reinvention are the defining qualities of the worlds best-run companies.

Dave Samson, General Manager of Public Affairs, Chevron Corporation



Communication is the foundation for effective leadership and team harmony within any organization. In Talk is Chief, Jack Modzelewski takes the readers on a journey to prove the power of effective communications and gives leaders the principles needed for implementation within their own organizations. Modzelewskis 40+ years in public relations clearly shine through the entirety of the book. His expertise, deep understanding and thorough market research blend seamlessly together in a must have book for management educators and business leaders.

Dipak Jain, President, China Europe International Business School

About the Author: Jack Modzelewski is the founder and president of JackKnifePR, a business-communications consulting firm in Chicago. His extensive career in public relations, marketing, communications, and executive management has included roles with global agencies. Most recently, he was the president of FleishmanHillard, where he worked for more than twenty-six years in executive and international positions, including five years as president of Europe & Africa and nearly five as president of the Americas.

About RosettaBooks: RosettaBooks is a leading independent publisher headquartered in New York City. Launched in 2001, it pioneered by building an 800-eBook catalog of iconic titles. For the past five years, RosettaBooks trade program has focused on high profile thought leadership titles. For more information, visit RosettaBooks.com.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1ea7057e-2a76-46dd-ac99-494caaa5088f
While thousands of people from countries around the world were flown out of China in the past week, seeking sanctuary from Wuhan coronavirus, some 325 Canadians continued to wait for Chinese authorities to let an aircraft land in Wuhan and evacuate them.

The United States, Japan, South Korea, Jordan, Britain, Portugal, Bangladesh and Indonesia have all got their nationals out in recent days. (Taiwan, not surprisingly, has not been allowed to evacuate its people.)

Ottawa has chartered aircraft on standby, but officials in Beijing have not said when the flights would be allowed to land. At a Monday press conference about plans for evacuating Canadians from Wuhan, cabinet ministers Francois-Philippe Champagne (Global Affairs), Patty Hajdu (Health) and Harjit Singh (National Defence) were unable to suggest when China might allow a Canadian airplane to land.

Dark questions remain around the delay. Regular flights to Wuhan airport are suspended, so evidently air space and loading facilities are not a problem. Surely the Peoples Republic of China would not leverage the well-being of ordinary Canadians against the political crisis engendered by the detention of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou. If that proved to be the case, Ottawa would need to deeply reconsider Canadas relations with China once the crisis is under control.

The coronavirus outbreak has led to unprecedented global efforts to contain the virus and minimize its cost in human lives.

As was the case with SARS, the Wuhan coronavirus has been linked to the sale of live wildlife at a public market, this one in Wuhan. China has thousands of such markets, selling tanks of crabs and live fish as well as butchered pork, beef, lamb and live chickens slaughtered and plucked for you on the spot. They also sell caged live snakes, turtles, guinea pigs, badgers, cats and dogs, even wolf cubs.

These spectacles provide fascination for foreign tourists, but scientific experts characterize Chinas wet markets as perfect incubators for novel pathogens. There is a lot of urine and feces blowing about it a confined atmosphere.

The question is, 17 years after SARS claimed hundreds of lives in China and around the world, what have Chinese health authorities been doing to keep workers in these markets safe from serious disease? Evidently not enough.

There is a serious lack of confidence regarding information out of China about what is really going on. Consider the fiasco of suppression of medical workers in Wuhan who, weeks ago, detected the return of a SARS-like respiratory disease. When they took to social media to alert medical colleagues, these doctors found themselves detained by the police for spreading rumours. Even the Mayor of Wuhan is defending his lack of timely response by claiming that central authorities in Beijing refused to allow Wuhan to initiate measures that might have confined the spread.

One thing Chinas authoritarian dictatorship has done a superb job with is preventing movement around the country, blocking all forms of public and private transportation out of affected areas, which now extend beyond Hubei Province to pockets all over China.

This lockdown is also a worry for people around the world who have been attempting to send relief parcels into the trouble spots. Like many Canadians with friends and family in China, I recently shipped a big box of medical supplies from St. Catharines. We were not confident it would arrive at the intended address, given the current chaos and desperation.

To our relief, the authorities are giving priority handling to medical shipments from abroad, and it did show up at an enormous warehouse filled with similar packages from around the world.

Many well-informed experts say Beijings official numbers for both coronavirus infections and deaths are grossly underestimated, by up to a factor of 35. But it is hard to know, and that is the point. Many people are dying at home, without access to treatment at overburdened hospitals. Few in China believe the governments statements. Policies of strategic deception are encoded in the Chinese Communist Partys DNA.

For many Chinese the anxiety grows daily, trapped in their homes, afraid to go out and lacking supplies of surgical masks or food supplies. In the meantime, party General Secretary Xi Jinping appears to have gone to ground, vanishing from his dominance in the media, his political future evidently uncertain.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  Boeing Co. has confirmed that securities regulators are investigating the company in connection with the 737 Max, which was grounded after two deadly crashes.

Boeing disclosed the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation in a regulatory filing Friday.





. . .
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Health officials debunk reports of 100 suspected virus patients in Krabi

PHUKET: The Krabi Provincial Public Health Office (KPHO) has denied reports that 100 people in Krabi are being held in isolation on suspicion of being infected with the Wuhan coronavirus.

tourismhealthChineseCoronavirusCOVID-19

By The Phuket News

Tuesday 4 February 2020, 04:25PM

Health officials denied reports that 100 people suspected of being infected with the Wuhan coronavirus were under observation in Krabi. There are only five, they said. Photo: PR Dept / Krabi

The reports are wrong, they say. Only five people are under observation, the Krabi Health Office said.

The news came at a press conference at Krabi Provincial Hall on Saturday (Feb 1), headed by Krabi Vice Governor Somkhuan Khan-Ngern together with Krabi Hospital Director Dr Supoj Phukaoluan and KPHO representative Dr Wasin Thiankingkaew.

Vice Governor Somkhuan said that the information that more than 100 people suspected of being infected with the coronavirus were receiving care at several hospitals in Krabi was a misunderstanding.

A previous press conference by the health office had explained that 100 rooms were being prepared in case the province had that many people placed in observation.

Dr Supoj confirmed that officers have not found any people infected with the coronavirus in the province.

We have only five people who are under observation at different hospitals, he said.

The five people had body temperatures of more than 37.5C, a runny nose and diarrhea.

These people do not have serious symptoms [of the disease], and we keep them in special rooms, he said.

Vice Governor Somkhuan confirmed that there are intensive screening procedures in place at Krabi International Airport and tourist attractions.

These are done under the guidance of hospital staff and professional doctors, he said.

Meanwhile, the Krabi Hotel Association and the Krabi Tourism Association both reported that tourists are still travelling to Krabi as usual, and that there have not been any urgent mass checking-out from any hotels.
Newark, NJ, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per the report published by Fior Markets, the global mining equipment market is expected to grow from USD 76.84 billion in 2017 to USD 143.41 billion by 2025 at a CAGR of 7.39% during the forecast period from 2018-2025. The mining equipment market has been witnessing steady growth from the past few years. This is mainly due to increasing number of mining projects in countries, such as Canada, the United States, Russia, Australia, India, and South Africa. In addition to this, rising consumption of metals in the numerous application, further boosting the growth of market.

Mining equipment are used for extraction of geological materials from the surface or under the earth. This extraction can be for metals, coal, metal, or minerals. The mining equipment are used for the drilling, and heaping activities. Mining deploys substantial capital investment and among the total, over 1/3rd is for mining equipment. The development of high-performance equipment along with the automation features has immensely decreased the extraction cost. Also the new technological developments in the mining equipment will boost the market in the future.

Global mining equipment market is expected to witness rapid growth over the forecast period, owing to rising investment in the mining industry across the globe. In addition to this, the development of high-performance equipment with increased automation, growth in mining operations, and demand for equipment has increased the growth of mining equipment market. However, lack of standardization, high production cost, and high cost of equipment is anticipated to hinder the market growth over the forecast period. On the flip side, adoption of extraction equipment among the various region, likely to provide growth opportunities in the mining equipment market in the upcoming years.

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Key players operating in the global mining equipment market include are AB Volvo, Caterpillar Inc., Deere & Company, Doosan Corporation, Epiroc AB, Hitachi, Ltd., Komatsu Ltd., Liebherr-International AG, Metso Corporation, Sandvik AB, Liebherr Group, Atlas Copco, Terex, Sany, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Schulte Strathaus, Astec Industries, RTM Equipment, Konecranes, XCMG, and JCB among others. To enhance their market position in the global mining equipment market, the key players are now focusing on adopting the strategies such as recent developments, product innovation, joint venture, mergers & acquisitions, collaborations, and partnership. Major firms are increasingly investing on research and development activities and development of newer products.

For instance, in October 2019, Caterpillar and NASA developing autonomous vehicles and emote-controlled mining equipment to be used by NASA to mine the moon and build a lunar base.

In October 2017, Doosan Corporation announced the expansion of DoosanCONNECT, to increase efficiency in site management and mining equipment operation through real-time data monitoring to check engine and hydraulic system parts of Doosan machines and other construction equipment and to provide information, mapping and visuals on their location and availability.

In August 2018, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. announced the development of their EX-7 series, a new generation of mining excavators to target safety, productivity and connectivity, and will include six models ranging in size from 100-tonne to 800-tonne class.

The crushing, pulverizing, & screening equipment segment valued around USD 18.68 billion in 2017

Equipment category segment included drill & beaker, crushing, pulverizing, & screening equipment, mineral processing equipment, surface mining equipment, and underground mining equipment. The crushing, pulverizing, & screening equipment segment valued around USD 18.68 billion in 2017, due to their increased usage in mining. They are used in open and closed mining pits.

The load haul dump (LHD) segment held highest market share of 54.14% in 2017

Electric equipment segment covers mining trucks and load haul dump (LHD). The load haul dump (LHD) segment held highest market share of 54.14% in 2017, due to the growing load, haul, & dump activities in the various regions.

Metal segment is expected to hold the largest share of 39.43% in 2017

Industry segment is divided into coal, metal, and minerals. Metal segment is expected to hold the largest share of 39.43% in 2017. Here the contributing factors include Implementation of government schemes, growing local demand, and improving production capacity.

Surface mining segment is anticipated to grow with highest CAGR 9.34% over the forecast period

Autonomous equipment type segment is segmented as surface mining and underground mining. The surface mining segment is further covers articulated dump truck, crawler dozer, crawler excavator, motor grader, and rigid dump truck. The underground mining segment is further divided into drills, electric shovels, hydraulic excavators, mining dozers, mining trucks, and wheeled loaders. Surface mining segment is anticipated to grow with highest CAGR 9.34% over the forecast period. Surface mining helps to improve the profitability of the business and are easy to use.

Browse full report with TOC at https://www.fiormarkets.com/report/global-mining-equipment-market-by-equipment-category-electric-375916.html

Regional Segment Analysis of the Mining Equipment Market

North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico)

Europe (Germany, France, U.K., Italy, Spain, Rest of Europe)

Asia-Pacific (China, Japan India, Rest of APAC)

South America (Brazil and Rest of South America)

Middle East and Africa (UAE, South Africa, Rest of MEA)

The regions analysed for the market include North America, Europe, South America, Asia Pacific, and Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific region held the largest market share of approximately 34.17% in 2017. Development of high-performance equipment with increased automation, growth in mining operations, growing investments in mineral exploration tools, and demand for equipment has increased the growth of mining equipment market in Asia Pacific region. Europe holds the significant market share in the global mining equipment market, due to the favourable regulations for overseas investors, large potential for mineral exploration activities, increasing adoption of mining equipment, and growing investments are key drivers for the growth of the market.

About the report:

The global mining equipment market is analysed on the basis of value (USD Billion), volume (K Units), imports (K Units) and exports (K Units). All the segments have been analyzed on global, regional and country basis. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each segment. The report offers in-depth analysis of driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges for gaining the key insight of the market. The study includes porters five forces model, attractiveness analysis, raw material analysis, supply, demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution and marketing channels analysis.

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Russia and Poland began openly quarreling over World War II history well before the start of 2020, the year commemorating the 75th anniversary of the war's end. Poles had been pulling down Soviet war monuments scattered around their country in recent years, and in December, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that Poland had invited the war with the Nazis.

Both countries obsess over World War II. They have good reason, but the quarrel says less about each side's real values than it does about the political tools nationalist governments use to mobilize support against domestic opposition. Russian and Polish leaders may appear to be bitter enemies, but Poland's conservative government plays too many tunes from the Putin repertoire for it to be coincidence. That includes tightening the grip on mass media, undermining the independence of the judiciary, promoting "traditional values" (which translates into denying rights to the LGBT community, for a start) and, last but not least, having a soft spot for President Donald Trump. What's more, they are both cynically using history to rouse patriotic fervor in a self-serving effort to sideline internal political adversaries.

It wasn't until the late 1980s that newspapers and magazines in Russia revealed the truth about Joseph Stalin, including his secret 1939 pact with the Nazis, the Ribbentrop-Molotov protocols, which divided Poland between the U.S.S.R. and Nazi Germany. In 1989, the Soviet parliament condemned the protocols, declaring them null and void. But a decade later, Putin steered Russia toward jingoist nationalism, and now he whitewashes and weaponizes the country's history for political ends. All authoritarian-leaning nationalists do that, especially those in eastern and central Europe, where nation-building myths are based on sanitized and twisted versions of history. Poland, whose right-wing government made it a crime to accuse Poles of complicity in the Holocaust (the law was reversed after an outcry from Israel and the United States), is no exception.

Victory in World War II is the most fundamental myth of post-Soviet Russia's statehood, the only thing that really united millions of very different people. The simple reason is that you would be hard-pressed to find a Russian family without someone who fought and died in the war, which cost 27 million Soviet lives. With millions of soldiers still lying where they fell, in the cold swamps of western Russia, waiting to be found by volunteer diggers and properly buried, it often feels that that war in Russia is not even over.

Its legacy is therefore the most convenient material for promoting the politics of outrage. Russia's World War II cult is nothing short of a religion, as anyone who has been to the annual May celebration in Moscow's Victory Park can attest. This raw emotion was masterfully used by Putin when the presence of far-right militants among Ukraine's Maidan revolutionaries allowed him to frame the annexation of Crimea as part of a noble battle against resurgent fascism in Europe.

It was this outrage that Putin was stirring up when he suddenly lashed out against Poland on Dec. 20. He promotes the 75th anniversary of World War II as the central event of 2020, beginning with last week's commemoration of the Soviets' liberation of Auschwitz, the largest of the Nazi death camps. Just before the year started, he began mobilizing his base of support in the face of a perceived attack on the nation's symbol of faith.

Poland's nationalist government had kindly provided fodder for Putin's patriotic campaign when it embarked on removing the Soviet memorials. But as he was building his angry argument, Putin wasn't really talking to the Poles or the international community. His target audience was clearly Russian people whose grandfathers fought in the war and who certainly don't see their ancestors as Nazi-like murderers who wanted to enslave Europe, as they are pictured by right-wing politicians in Poland and other East European countries. "Those Red Army soldiers, who are they?" Putin asked, referring to people whom the Polish monuments commemorate. "Mostly peasants and workers. Many of them suffered from the very same Stalin's regime - some of them were punished as kulaks, others had their relatives sent to the camps. These people died liberating Europe from Nazis." Some 477,000 Soviet soldiers perished fighting the Nazis in Poland, according to the Russian National Military archive - more than all American casualties in the war. The figure doesn't include Soviet soldiers gassed or starved to death in Nazi concentration camps on Polish territory - 15,000 in Auschwitz alone.

But Putin went beyond calling out what he saw as the unfair treatment of Soviet soldiers' memory by Polish and other European politicians. Downplaying the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact - everyone engaged with Hitler at the time, he said - Putin said that Polish leaders had created conditions for the German occupation of Poland. He cited numerous archival documents, including a dispatch from a prewar Polish ambassador to Germany, in which the diplomat expressed enthusiasm about Hitler's plan to resettle European Jews in Africa.

As for the Poles, millions died in World War II, which started with Hitler and Stalin carving up their country. Almost 22,000 Polish prisoners of war and members of the political elite were massacred by the Soviets. This crime, best known after the main killing field in Katyn, is one of the formative elements of modern Polish national identity. In his retort to Russia, published by Politico, the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, wrote, "Far from being a 'liberator,' the Soviet Union was a facilitator of Nazi Germany and a perpetrator of crimes of its own - before and after the liberation of Auschwitz." Without commenting on documents cited by Putin, Morawiecki offered a host of equally real and valid examples that tarnish Russia's reputation as a key force in the fight against the Nazis. He went on to say that the Soviet occupation of Poland cost it "millions of lives" - a claim that many historians will find dubious.

The exchange of inflammatory verbal attacks are sure to continue. A report on Monday quoted the Polish foreign minister, Jacek Chaputowicz, as nonchalantly declaring Poland's victory over Russia in this quarrel. One doesn't have to be an oracle to predict that the Kremlin will respond. And the confrontation - in which the two governments, instead of actually talking to each other, strive to agitate their nationalist constituencies for mutual advantage - will continue toward the next big date of the anniversary year: The Russians celebrate victory over the Nazis on May 9, the Poles on May 8.

It's often said that in conflicts, both sides lose. It's just the opposite in this case. Here's how it works: Putin triggered the current confrontation in December knowing that in just a few weeks he would announce sweeping political reform - a "constitutional coup," according to members of the Russian opposition. Meanwhile in Poland, the ruling Law and Justice party is bogged down in a conflict with the European Commission and the country's own Supreme Court over judicial reform seen by the Polish opposition and Brussels as an attack on the rule of law.

A history spat with a sworn historical enemy may serve as a welcome - and safe - diversion from both governments' domestic challenges. And it illustrates the symbiotic relationship between outwardly hostile frenemies who feed off each other as they help advance the same illiberal trend that has engulfed Europe (and the United States) in the past decade.

There is no true equivalence between Russia's deeply embedded authoritarianism and Polish illiberalism, of course, but liberal Poles have long feared that the country could be moving in Russia's authoritarian direction. The Communist-era Polish dissident Adam Michnik said in 2009 that instead of a full-blown version of Putinism, other post-Communist countries, including his own, were nurturing a softer version of the same political arrangement. He called it "Liliputinism." Whenever Putin needs to mobilize Russians around a patriotic cause, the help from Eastern European "Liliputins" is indispensable. It works the other way, too.

_ _ _

Leonid Ragozin is a freelance journalist based in Latvia. He has covered the Ukrainian conflict and Russian politics, and previously reported for the BBC and the Russian edition of Newsweek.
SANTA FE  The state House passed bipartisan legislation Monday that would expedite the issuance of teaching and similar licenses for military spouses and certain veterans.

Its aimed at making it easier for people in military families  who often move around the world on assignment  to work while stationed in New Mexico.

The proposal, House Bill 30, now heads to the Senate for consideration.

Its something really we need, Democratic Rep. Eliseo Alcon of Milan said Monday. Our military spouses and dependents serving in New Mexico need this help.

He is co-sponsoring the bill with Republican Sen. Candace Gould of Albuquerque and Democratic Reps. Debbie Sarinana of Albuquerque and Harry Garcia of Grants.
The police has intensified investigation into the 'sedition case' against the management and staff of a school here, where children had allegedly insulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others, in the context of CAA, in a drama they staged on January 21.

As part of the probe, the police visited Shaheen school on Tuesday -- this time in plain clothes, after their questioning of children in uniform on January 28 drew criticism from some quarters, a school official said.

"Morning three police personnel came with two members of Karnataka State Child Rights Protection Commission. Later, the deputy superintendent of police H Basaveshwara joined them. The cops were in civil dress," the official said.

The police have been questioning the children and staff about those who wrote the script and assigned to deliver specific dialogues.

Police have already arrested Nazbunnisa, the mother of one of the children, who had allegedly delivered the controversial dialogue and their teacher Fareeda Begum, who oversaw the event.

When contacted, the deputy superintendent of police of Bidar H Basaveshwara refused to comment on the matter saying that he was still investigating the case.

Meanwhile in Bengaluru, Congress MLA and former minister U T Khader slammed the BJP government in the state as well as the Centre for "filing sedition charges against people".

Addressing a press conference, he alleged that the Central and state governments were trying to suppress the voice of people in the country using law enforcement agencies.

Khader claimed that the two women who "depicted the problems they were facing" in the drama were booked under the sedition law.

During investigation, the children were forced to sit at the police station, he alleged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police are hunting a missing 18-year-old man and his 17-year-old girlfriend after their abandoned car was found near a hiking trail.

Austin Grote and Alicia McCaskill were last seen on Saturday afternoon at a Safeway grocery store in Enumclaw, Washington.

Relatives found Austin's car the next day more than six miles away after using a phone app to track where the young couple's phones were last on.

His vehicle was parked on Mud Mountain Dam Road, north of Mount Rainier National Park, but there was no trace of the teens or their cell phones, which are now both off. The car was found in an area police say 'is hard to get lost in'.

Austin Grote, right, and Alicia McCaskill, left, were last seen in Enumclaw, Washington

Relatives found Austin's car on Sunday more than six miles away after using a phone app to track where the young couple's phones were last on. A search team is pictured

Video courtesy Q13

Sergeant Jason Stanley said: 'They didn't give any information to their family as to why they were here. They are not avid hikers, by any means.

'It's a hard area to get lost in. There are roads crisscrossing all over the place and some of the area is cleared cut so it's wide open, it's kind of a mystery out here.'

Austin's dad issued a desperate plea to help find his son, writing on Twitter: 'Please pray. My son has been missing for 24 hours. Dozens of search and rescue searching for him and his girlfriend in wooded area. Not far from our home. Very worried.'

Austin's, left, vehicle was parked on Mud Mountain Dam Road, north of Mount Rainier National Park, but there was no trace of the teens or their cell phones, which are now both off. The car was found in an area police say 'is hard to get lost in'. Alicia McCaskill is right

He added: 'Plz pray and SHARE!!! My son Austin Grote and his girl friend Alicia McCaskill have been missing for 48 hours. They were last seen in Enumclaw WA at 2:45pm Saturday Feb 1. Austin's car was found near the Mudd Mt. area just past Enumclaw. A search of the area has yielded little.'

He also shared pictures of the young couple and the search teams looking for them.

The King County Sheriffs Office tweeted: '#Missing teens,18 yr old Austin Grote his GF, 17 yr old Alicia McCaskill have been missing since Sat, Feb 1.Last seen at Safeway in Enumclaw at 2:45PM. Austins car found off Mud Mt Dam Rd. KCSO and @KCSAR has been searching since yesterday. If you see Austin or Alicia call 911.'
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
New Delhi, Feb 4 : The February 8 Delhi Assembly election is not going to be a cake walk for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in some constituencies. While on one hand, the AAP would like to retain seats held by crucial MLAs like Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, on the other, new AAP candidates will have to face sitting MLAs who changed sides.

In the run-up to the Assembly election, the party had dropped 15 of its sitting MLAs, and some of them are now fighting against the ruling party's new faces.

While seats including New Delhi, Patparganj, Babarpur, Greater Kailash and Najafgarh are important as AAP has again fielded its major contestants -- Kejriwal, Sisodia, Gopal Rai, Saurabh Bharadwaj, and Kailash Gahlot respectively -- from these, constituencies like Chandni Chowk, Dwarka, Delhi Cantt, Badarpur and Model Town are important as they are being contested by former AAP leaders who are likely to sway the votes in their favour.

The New Delhi and the Patparganj seat are crucial as Chief Minister Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia are contesting from these seats respectively.

Kejriwal is facing Congress's Romesh Sabharwal and BJP's Sunil Yadav. The New Delhi Assembly seat had a record of giving the Chief Minister of Delhi and so the seat became crucial for all the three parties.

However, the two names against Kejriwal does not have the same mass appeal like him, although they have played a crucial role in their parties.

A former NSUI head of Delhi, Sabharwal has been away from elections for the past several years. On the other hand,AYadav is a young face is President of the Delhi unit of BJP's youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.

Kejriwal has bagged the seat twice in 2013 and 2015.

Similarly, Sisodia is being challenged by BJP's Ravinder Singh Negi and Congress' Laxman Rawat. While Sisodia has been a household name in Delhi for his reforms in the education sector, the two leaders are new to the constituency.

Babarpur seat is also important for AAP as Cabinet Minister Rai, who is also the AAP Delhi unit chief, is contesting from there.

While Sisodia and Kejriwal are aiming for hat-tricks from their respective seats, Rai is aiming for his second term from the seat. He is facing four time BJP MLA, Naresh Gaur and Congress' Anveeksha Tripathi Jain. The fight with the four-time MLA is going to be tough as Rai was defeated by Gaur in 2013, when the AAP formed the government for the first time.

The next crucial seat for AAP is the high-profile Greater Kailash constituency from where Bhardwaj seeks a third term. He is up against Shikha Roy of BJP and Sukhbir Singh Pawar of Congress. Bjhardwaj is not just party's national spokesperson but was also a Cabinet Minister in the 2013 government.

The Najafgarh Assembly constituency, having a population of farmers and traders mainly, has never elected an MLA twice, but the Aam Aadmi Party is betting on its sitting legislator and Cabinet Minister Gahlot for the second term.

Gahlot is facing BJP's Ajit Kharkhari and Sahib Singh Yadav from the Congress.

While retaining important seats is important for AAP, fighting against its own former MLAs is also a crucial and game changer task for the party.

Alka Lamba had won from Chandni Chowk in 2015 as an AAP candidate. She switched to the Congress in 2019 and was later disqualified from the Delhi Assembly. The Congress has named her from the seat while the AAP is betting upon Parlad Singh Sawhney, who was elected from the seat in the 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013 elections as a Congress MLA but switched over to the AAP last year.

Apart from Lamba, AAP MLA Kapil Mishra became a rebel and joined the BJP. While he was elected from the Karawal Nagar seat in 2015, the BJP has fielded him from the Model Town seat in 2020.

A former AAP Minister, Mishra will take on two-time sitting AAP MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi. While much of Delhi seems to be cheering for the AAP, according to poll trackers, Tripathi is facing anti-incumbency in this seat and his public profile has taken a beating.

He has been accused of taking bribes for getting government jobs. Last year, he was taken into custody for failing to comply with court summons and warrants in a 2013 rioting case.

Similarly, sitting AAP MLAs from Dwarka (Adarsh Shastri), Delhi Cantt (Surinder Singh) and Badarpur (N.D Sharma) are now fighting against the AAP after the party dropped them for the 2020 polls.

While Shastri has switched to the Congress, Singh is now an NCP candidate and Sharma is contesting from the BSP.

Voting will be done in Delhi on February 8 and the results will be out on February 11.

(Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in)
Weather Alert

...WIND CHILL WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 3 PM EST TUESDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously cold wind chills expected. Wind chills as low as 35 below zero. * WHERE...In Vermont, Western Franklin County. In New York, Eastern Clinton County. * WHEN...From 7 PM this evening to 3 PM EST Tuesday. * IMPACTS...The cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The coldest wind chill values will occur between 2 AM and 11 AM on Tuesday. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Avoid outside activities if possible. When outside, make sure you wear appropriate clothing, a hat, and gloves. &&
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 22:07:51|Editor: yhy

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JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Dhaya Pillay on Tuesday issued a warrant of arrest against former South African President Jacob Zuma in an effort to force him to appear in court.

The warrant of arrest was issued after Zuma failed to appear in court where he has to answer to allegations of corruption related to the purchase of arms deal in 1999.

Zuma's legal team cited his illness for the non-appearance and presented a sick note from a military doctor.

Judge Pillay questioned the validity of the sick document, saying there was no proof that it was from a military hospital.

"It is not clear that ZK Moteni who signed the document is indeed a registered medical practitioner," he said.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) lead prosecutor Advocate Billy Downer said Zuma would have to explain why he failed to appear in court when the trial resumes on May 6. The court would expect him to present evidence that he was sick and if he failed to do so, he might be criminally charged.

Downer said in January that he contacted Zuma's legal team to get details on his sickness but never received any cooperation.

The same reason was given when the embattled former president failed to appear at the state capture inquiry which investigates corruption last month.

Zuma faces 16 charges of corruption, money laundering, fraud and racketeering all relating to the arms deals purchased by the state 20 years ago. He has long denied the charges claiming that he was used as a scapegoat.
Billionaire investor Ron Baron told CNBC on Tuesday he's ardently against implementing a wealth tax.

"I hate the wealth-tax idea," the founder of Baron Capital and lifelong Democrat said in a "Squawk Box" interview. "If you want to start taxes on people with high incomes, that's OK," he added. "But the wealth tax I think is an awful idea."

Proposals for a wealth tax have been a key focus for some Democratic presidential hopefuls. Sen. Elizabeth Warren specifically has made cracking down on banks and taxing the rich central to her bid for the White House.

Warren's plan calls for a 2% tax on families' net worth above $50 million and a 6% tax on household net worth over $1 billion. The wealth tax proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, would be progressive, starting at 1% for household net worth of more than $32 million and ending at 8% on wealth over $10 billion.

Baron in the past has expressed his disdain for a wealth tax. Last year, Baron suggested a value-added tax instead, which has been adopted in many European countries and puts levies on goods and services during each stage of production and sale.

Entrepreneur and Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang is proposing a 10% VAT, targeting companies such as Amazon and Alphabet.

Billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have also said for a long time that taxes should go up on the wealthy.
The Queensland government will introduce new drumlines and trial drone surveillance in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park under a multimillion-dollar commitment from its federal counterpart, fewer than six months after it lost a Federal Court appeal over their use.

Shark protection was withdrawn from 27 beaches in north Queensland in September after the government appealed against an Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision that found sharks found alive on drumlines had to be released.

A shark hooked off Magnetic Island in Queensland last year. Credit:AAP Image/Humane Society International

Fisheries Minister Mark Furner at the time said that would not be possible as staff and contractors were not trained or equipped to handle live sharks, although federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley later wrote to him claiming the state had "put politics ahead of public safety" as they were not legally required to remove them.

In a joint statement on Tuesday morning, the pair said an initial $4 million would go towards the rollout of SMART drumline trials, rebates to councils for swimmer safety netting, a drone surveillance pilot and swimmer education, while $1 million would go towards shark management for the Whitsundays community after a spate of recent attacks.
Hidden behind two sets of doors that only police personnel are allowed to enter, sits the office of Megan Thompson  the Danville Police Departments only crime analyst.

Thompson, who has a background in crime analysis and forensic psychology, has spent more than a year in her position.

Her desk is heavily organized with a metal mesh cup holding writing utensils, scissors and an American flag.

Her work computer has a dual monitor system. On a recent morning the left screen was tuned to a crime map; the other on the the police departments Facebook page.

A toy police car rests on the left half of her desk. Behind her are equipment for police radios. On the left side of the office, near the door, sits her co- worker, Lt. Mike Wallace.

Describing her job as a crime analyst is difficult, she said, because the profession still is new and there are many different types of analysts.

There are statistical, investigative, criminal intelligence [analysts], she said. Im more statistical, so I look at incident reports, try to find crime patterns and look at statistics for the city.

After she was hired, Thompson was trained in crime analysis by Rachel Santos, a professor of criminal justice at Radford University. To Santos, crime analysis is an important aspect of stratified policing  a police model used in Danville.

Stratified policing uses the analysis of crime data to direct a strategy for the police department.

The model is all based in crime analysis, she said. Evidence shows police need to focus on places  high crime areas and repeat offenders.

Most of Thompsons eight-hour shift is spent at her desk analyzing crime data, but it can fluctuate.

It depends on whats going on that month, she said.

It shifts from analyzing data in her office to going out to a monthly regional intelligence meeting or ride alongs with police officers. She also has to go to a combination of daily, weekly and monthly meetings with the police department.

Its not a routine, explained Lt. Richard Chivvis, the police departments spokesman. Whats consistent is being ready for the monthly staff meeting.

Thompsons role at those meetings is to prepare a month of crime statistics. The department can then use these statistics to determine what they need to focus on or what tactics to improve.

Its part of our accountability, Chivvis said. We can see whats going on and work to address it.

Another aspect of Thompsons job is using open-source databases to get personal information on people wanted by the police. This information includes addresses, jobs, family members and last known addresses.

Its literally Googling stuff, she said. Theres a lot of ticks and tricks to use open-source databases.

Any database that is publicly available on the internet is considered open-source, Thompson explained. Her open-source data skills are primarily used to locate wanted people, she said, but it also can be used to gain information on people at large-scale events.

To monitor for any potential threats, Thompson said. I havent had to use it here.

Thompson also is tasked with emailing department-wide bulletins. These bulletins consist of a file with maps, a picture of a potential suspect and that persons personal details. But this is only if a crime or incident has a suspect, Chivvis explained. A crime bulletin also can be a map of crime patterns in a specific area.

Bulletins like these are helpful to the department, Chivvis said, because it puts department resources  such as patrol officers  in an areas that need them.

It helps adjust resources to a specific area, he said. Shes a sole source provider of information throughout the department. It keeps us on the same page.

Avent is a reporter with the Danville Register & Bee. Reach him at (434) 797-7983.

Avent is a reporter with the Danville Register & Bee. Reach him at (434) 797-7983.
M ETRO Bank is undergoing a major review of its compliance controls after handling money from Cuba and Iran in breach of strict US and EU sanctions.

The review is being handled by a top level team of investigators at law firm DLA Piper, which was hired after the Iranian funds were received by the bank last year.

Metro notified US officials of the Cuba offence in November 2017.

It is the latest in a series of problems for the bank which spent much of last year reeling from the impact of a major error in the way it accounted for its property loans.

Both its founder chairman Vernon Hill and chief executive Craig Donaldson quit amid the ensuing fallout.

Metro admitted to the sanctions breaches in a 200-page fundraising prospectus in September but gave no further details beyond a brief, four-sentence paragraph on page 32.

It refused to give any details beyond that statement when asked by the Evening Standard.

In the September statement, Metro admitted it had been in a banking relationship with a UK-based entity subject to US Cuban sanctions, then last year discovered a payment to one of its customer accounts had come from the UK subsidiary of an Iranian entity.

The payment had been made via a UK-based financial institution, Metros statement said.

It is believed DLA Pipers review is serious and at a fairly advanced stage, examining how Metros Know Your Customer (KYC) rules had broken down, and whether there had been other breaches. Metro said it had been keeping the US Treasurys sanctions policing unit, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), informed since the Cuba failings in 2017 but declined to say whether DLA Piper is answerable to the bank or the tough US regulator.

OFAC declined to comment.

One senior compliance consultant not involved in the situation said the US authorities would be extremely concerned about the double breach.

He said: Getting it wrong on Cuba is bad enough, but to mess up with Iran so soon afterwards suggests something is seriously wrong with their systems, especially so recently. Those two countries in particular are such big no-nos.

Depending on how the authorities assess the review outcome, Metro could face swingeing fines although it has not made any provisions in its accounts for such an outcome. Iran is sanctioned in the UK and EU as well as the US.

Compliance experts said that, under KYC rules, it is no excuse to say a payment from a banned company came via a third party. Banks also have a duty to make sure they are not dealing with anyone on the regular OFAC lists of banned organisations and individuals.

In September last year, Metro
Sean Dunne's US bankruptcy trustee has accused him of "acting in utter bad faith" and seeking to thwart a settlement with the property developer's ex-wife, Gayle Killilea, over fraudulent asset transfers.

The trustee is now seeking to have Mr Dunne sanctioned by a court in Connecticut, where he filed for bankruptcy with debts of 700m in 2013.

The move comes after Mr Dunne's lawyers indicated he was seeking a temporary injunction in the New York Supreme Court to stop one of his sons using millions of euro in a Swiss bank account to facilitate Ms Killilea's settlement with the trustee.

Richard Coan now wants to intervene in that case, which has yet to be heard.

In a legal filing, lawyers for the trustee described as "demonstrably false" claims by Mr Dunne (65) that he is seeking the injunction to safeguard funds due to be paid into a trust for four other children, who are all minors.

The case was moved to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York yesterday following an application from the trustee and Mr Dunne's son John.

The one-time 'Baron of Ballsbridge' is seeking an injunction temporarily restraining John Dunne (32), his son from his first marriage, from accessing funds held by Yesreb Holding Ltd.

If secured, the injunction has the potential to scupper or delay the settlement agreed between the trustee and Ms Killilea (44), who was Mr Dunne's second wife.

Cyprus-registered Yesreb is owned by John Dunne and was loaned 15m by Ms Killilea to buy Dublin mansion Walford from her in 2013.

The property was subsequently sold for 14.25m in 2016 to a trust linked to financier Dermot Desmond.

Mr Dunne's injunction application centres on the proceeds of that sale, said to be "less than 13.5m", which were put in an escrow account in Switzerland.

Last year, a US jury ordered Ms Killilea to pay the trustee 18m for the benefit of her ex-husband's creditors, including 14m relating to Walford, following an action by the trustee over fraudulent asset transfers. A settlement has since been reached, but is awaiting finalisation. It involves the transfer to the trustee of the money held by Yesreb.

But in legal papers, lawyers for Mr Dunne say he wants an injunction to stop his son John dissipating Yesreb's funds, as he claims these are owed to a trust for the benefit of the four young children he had with Ms Killilea. This has been disputed by Ms Killilea's lawyers, who say the four children have "no direct claim whatsoever" to the funds.

They also say the injunction proceedings will be "extremely detrimental" to the long-term interests of the children, which would be better-served by resolving existing lawsuits.

Lawyers for Mr Coan say Mr Dunne's claim is "demonstrably false" and his intentions obvious. "He is not 'protecting' his children. He is interfering with the trustee for his own personal gain," they said.

Their affidavit cited testimony previously given by Mr Dunne in which he said he did not believe his son John held the ownership of Yesreb for the benefit of his four half-siblings.

It also cited testimony given by John Dunne last year in which he stated he and the children were only to benefit if the proceeds of the Walford sale exceeded the 15m loan from Ms Killilea.

The affidavit said it was notable that when John Dunne gave this evidence, lawyers for his father did not cross-examine him on it or elicit any testimony contradicting him.
Hixson Presbyterian Church will be sending a language team on a mission trip to Southern Spain in July. The team will be teaching Spanish children conversational English in a Christian educational environment. The team participants are church members who are experienced educators and basic Spanish speakers.

They are currently seeking sponsors to assist with funding for this mission trip. Anyone who wishes to sponsor or contribute to this mission trip should contact Steven Edging at Hixson Presbyterian Church at 423-875-0616.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
On the first day of Alabamas annual legislative session, the leader of the Senate said he was optimistic about finding solutions to Alabamas prison crisis but said lawmakers are awaiting more information on Gov. Kay Iveys plans for three new mens prisons that the state would lease from private owners.

The Alabama House and Senate met briefly today to begin the session, which can last up to 15 weeks. Ivey delivers her state of the state address tonight.

Prisons figure to be the top issue for the session because the Justice Department has alleged the violent conditions in Alabama facilities violate the Constitution and a federal judge has ordered the state to improve mental health care for inmates and address a severe shortage of correctional officers.

Ivey is awaiting proposals from private companies to finance, build, and maintain three new mens prisons that the state would lease and operate. Alabamas prisons were filled to 170% of capacity as of October and that will get worse with the closing of the main facility at Holman Correctional Facility announced last week.

Marsh, speaking to reporters today after the Senate adjourned, said he believes lawmakers are ready to take on the massive and complex prison problem. He said a key component of that is improving education and rehabilitation programs for inmates. That was a key recommendation of a criminal justice study group appointed by Ivey that released its findings last week.

Weve got to make sure that people coming out have a chance to get a job and be tax-paying citizens and not put a burden on taxpayers to have larger and larger prisons, Marsh said.

The Alabama Department of Corrections has requested a $42 million increase in its budget, with much of that aimed at helping to recruit and retain more correctional officers. The ADOC is under a court order to add 2,000 officers over the next two years.

The ADOC has not requested additional funding for prison construction. The plan is for the private companies to build the prisons and the state to lease them at a cost of up to $78 million a year.

Marsh said he hopes to receive more specific numbers on the cost soon.

Whatever is built, we have to pay for it, Marsh said. We have to do that through the budget process. So, we just want to make sure that we solve the problem but dont spend more money than we have to spend.

We need to see the new numbers, Marsh said. And we will express to the governor if we believe those numbers are too high, we will express that. Right now, we havent seen the final numbers.

Marsh said he believes the public is supportive of inmate education and career training and said it can be improved by working with the two-year college system, which already provides inmate education. He said he believes mental health screening and treatment can improve.

I think well have a good, comprehensive package to put together that hopefully will satisfy the federal judge and let us move forward in Alabama, Marsh said.

The stakes are high. The governors criminal justice study group, chaired by former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Champ Lyons, said if the state doesnt fix the problems it is at risk of having a federal court order the release of inmates, which happened in California in 2012. Marsh echoed that concern about federal intervention today.

If we dont address them, the federal government will, Marsh said. And it could be at a federal government price tag instead of an Alabama price tag. So weve got to keep this thing under control, which we are. Were addressing the problems, specifically, individual problems that were addressed in the order. And I think were going to get this done. And I think well get it done in adequate time and at a cost that we can afford.

House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, calls prisons the top priority this session. Like Marsh, McCutcheon said he is waiting for more information on the governors plan for new prisons.

We need to be working very close together on this process, McCutcheon said. Because youre talking about jobs. Youre talking about communities that depend upon state corrections facilities for economic growth in their areas. Youre talking about infrastructure.

McCutcheon said he believes the governors office has the authority to make a deal to have private companies build prisons that the state would lease. But he said the Legislature needs to be involved.

But Im just saying from a sense of looking at the total corrections issue, I think the legislative body needs to be involved in the bricks and mortar as well as any legislation dealing with recidivism, or sentence reform, or whatever. It needs to be a package deal, McCutcheon said.

This morning, lawmakers received good reports from the legislative services agency and the governors finance director on the budget outlook.

Related: Record Alabama education, general fund budgets expected.
Battle for Delhi: How AAP has shown that BJP has neither issues nor a face to fight polls

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Feb 04: The stage is set as the national capital goes to assembly polls on February 8, where Delhi's ruling AAP, the incumbent BJP, and the Congress are locked in a triangular fight.

The Aam Aadmi Party which changed the political landscape of Delhi, winning as many as 67 out of 70 seats in the 2015 Assembly elections has reached out to people with ideas of good governance. While, the BJP is trying to challenge the AAP and the Congress is still recovering from the 2015 drubbing.

During the high-octane poll campaigning in the national capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah held several rallies to woo voters in the state even before the Election Commission announced the poll schedule in the capital.

AAP set to win Delhi with 54 to 60 seats says opinion poll

However, all speeches appear to be devoid of any real issue and they seem to have no connect with Delhi, which usually votes on local issues.

Cornering the BJP over lack of strategy, Aam Aadmi Party's Delhi Convener Gopal Rai, speaking to news agency IANS, said the BJP is contesting the elections in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will not become the chief minister of Delhi.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 4th, 2020

"They neither have issues nor a leader in Delhi. They don't have any leadership for the polls. They have no leader who can lead the elections and one of the reasons for not revealing a chief minister candidate is because they don't even have the confidence that they will form a government," Rai told IANS.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal repeatedly saying he wanted the voters to judge him on the basis of the work his government has done in the past five years, the duo talked about anything but AAP's report card. It is very evident that that AAP has scored pretty high, compared to BJP's local leadership in terms of its performance.

Kejriwal has a report card of helping the poor segments, mainly in the health and education sectors. At the same time, the capital's wider interests like infrastructure development, which would require huge support from the Centre were not effectively addressed by the BJP government.

Soon after the budget, Kejriwal sought to play the election card as he said there was no reason for Delhi to vote for the BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections.

The Chief Minister said that the people of Delhi do not feature in the list of priorities for the BJP and it was evident in the Budget today. He said the saffron party will not fulfill its promises made in its manifesto for Delhi after elections.

"Delhi had a lot of expectations from the Budget. But once again, Delhi has been given the step-motherly treatment. Delhi does not come in BJP's priority, so why should Delhi vote for BJP?" he tweeted in Hindi.

"The question is also that when the BJP has disappointed Delhi before the election, what is the guarantee that it will keep its promises after the election?" Kejriwal asked.

BJP's lack of leadership and ideas

The projection of Modi as the 'supreme leader' is also a reflection of a lack of leadership in BJP, especially in Delhi.

The BJP is banking on abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, CAA, NRC. This effort did help the BJP win 303 seats in the Lok Sabha elections held over April and May. But losses in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand have shown that nationalism is not an issue in local elections.

BJP targets AAP rule

Top BJP leaders, including party president JP Nadda and Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goel, Hardeep Puri and Smriti Irani, also slammed the Kejriwal government, accusing it of failing to fulfil its promises and supporting "anti-national" elements.

Shah claimed that former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had promised citizenship to minorities from Pakistan but the Congress is now protesting the amended citizenship law because it is "afraid of its vote bank in Shaheen Bagh".

Shaheen Bagh, Jamia protests are not mere coincidence but an experiment, says Modi

Campaigning for the polls will conclude on February 6 evening.

The elections for the Delhi Assembly's 70 seats will be held on February 8. Results will be declared on February 11.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, February 4, 2020, 10:42 [IST]
Bhopal, Feb 4 : Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, who is in Madhya Pradesh doing a slew of meetings at the organisational level, on Tuesday will be meeting department heads.

This is his second day in Bhopal. On the first day on Monday, Bhagwat addressed the district campaigners in a meeting trying to connect more and more youth with the Sangh.

The Sangh chief has been on a state visit since January 31. Earlier he was in Guna for three days where he attended a youth camp. Next on his schedule was the four day tour in Bhopal where meetings were underway in Sharda Vihar.

On Wednesday and Thursday, meetings have been scheduled with Sangh's sister organizations where the Citizenship Amendment Act will be discussed.
New Delhi: He carries a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head. And at 63, Ranjit Bose has got a promotion. He is now the no. 2 man in the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist).

The move is being seen as an attempt by the group to step up activities and violence in eastern India, particularly Bihar and Jharkhand.

Bose, known for his expertise in mobilising masses against security forces, is also believed to have played a key role in the agitation against the Tata Nano project in West Bengal's Nandigram in 2007, in which 14 people died in clashes between locals and police.

He launched a similar operation against the state by mobilising people in all 44 villages of Lalgarh in 2009, declaring it a liberated zone. Hundreds of people were reported to have been killed by Maoists, and in clashes between forces and the insurgents.

The accumulated bounty on his head is from the governments of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Telangana. Bose, also known as Kabir, hails from Howrah in West Bengal. The man he has replaced is 74-year-old Prashant Bose, alias Kishan da, who is from Midnapore.

According to sources, the decision to make the switch was taken at a meeting of top CPI (Maoist) leaders somewhere in West Singhbhums Saranda forests, where their most senior leader, Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavraj, was also present.

Sources say the elevation of Basavraj, which happened last year, and Ranjit Bose, both of whom are known to prefer armed attacks over ideological or propaganda warfare, indicates that violence in pockets held by them could increase this year.

Prashant Bose was more interested in increasing recruitment and indulging the state in ideological battle. Ranjit Bose is an out and out guerrilla attack man. We expect the attacks from them to increase in the coming days, said a highly placed source.

He added that given Ranjit Boses expertise in mobilising people against the state, he is expected to exploit agrarian distress and use farmers as the face of armed revolt against the state.

He is an expert in setting up frontal organisations that do most of the work, whose strings he pulls from behind the scenes. Areas where farmers are worst-hit is where I think he will depute most resources to incite them to pick up arms against the state, said the source.

The top decision-making body of CPI (Maoist), its politburo, now has, apart from Basavraj, Ranjit Bose, and its former, ailing chief Ganpathy, Mallojula Venugopal alias Abhay, Katakam Sudharshan alias Anand, and Misir Bisra alias Sagar da.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Mayor Ben Walsh today appointed a new official to lead Syracuses housing and business development programs.

Michael Collins, executive director of the Syracuse Northeast Community Center, will join the administration as commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development. That department oversees a host of federal, state and local programs aimed at improving housing and attracting jobs to Syracuse.

Collins replaces Stephanie Pasquale, who recently took a job with the Allyn Family Foundation after two years as commissioner.

Michaels extensive experience in management and leadership in the neighborhood, community and human services sectors aligns well with the commissioner duties at NBD, Walsh said in a prepared statement. He has a proven track record of working effectively with government organizations at the local, state and federal levels and deeply understands the challenges in housing, poverty, and accessing jobs and opportunity that face our community.

Collins has been executive director at the Northeast Community Center since 2014. Prior to that he worked in property management for Interfaith Works, ran his own Syracuse construction company and worked as a teacher at Meacham Elementary.

Collins, a graduate of SUNY Oswego, is a board member at Greater Syracuse H.O.P.E, the United Way of Central New York and Blueprint 15. He is also a commissioner of the Syracuse Housing Authority

The Department of Neighborhood and Business Development includes five divisions and 76 employees.

As commissioner of NBD, Collins will be immediately tasked with guiding the city through several sprawling projects. First among those is Walshs plan to build 50 affordable homes in the next two years. The city is still seeking money for the $13 million project.

NBD has also announced plans to concentrate business development along 10 critical city corridors. Officials hope to spur new investment and bring businesses to places like South Avenue, James Street and Butternut Street.

Walsh has put NBD initiatives at the center of his agenda for much of his tenure. His administration has worked to crack down on code scofflaws, using tools established by his predecessor. His innovation team last year focused efforts on reducing housing instability in the city.

Collins, who lives in the Westcott neighborhood, starts the job in March.

The position pays $89,500.
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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Laura Zayas, the owner and director of Spanish-4-You, has come up with an unusual educational experience where students can learn Spanish via Skype and then fly to Alaska for a tour in Spanish.

Laura is a sought after expert Spanish instructor and her Skype teaching services are always in high demand. She delivers fast results using the Spanish-only immersion approach with a fun and effective curriculum created by her. Students normally become conversational at a basic level after just 16 weekly sessions of 30 minutes.

Northern Lights Picture taken by Alaska Affordable Tours Laura Zayas, Owner of Spanish-4-You and Alaska Affordable Tours

"My teaching is not generic. I laser-focus on each student's needs, strengths and weaknesses to maximize learning. I also customize for any profession so that students can put to use what they learn right away with confidence," says Laura.

Aside from teaching, Laura gives tours in Alaska through her company Alaska Affordable Tours, based in the city of Fairbanks. She has recently decided to merge both services by offering exclusive VIP packages where students can enjoy an all-inclusive trip in Spanish, at the end of their four-month Skype session program. These trips include accommodations at top-rated hotels, all meals at the best restaurants, city tour, National Park Denali tour, dog-sledding, snowmobiling, soaking in Chena Hot Springs and their most popular tour in fall, winter and early Spring - chasing the elusive Northern Lights.

These premium packages combining Spanish learning and an unforgettable trip are not for everybody. Discerning clients who need to learn Spanish fast and value quality over price are the ideal candidates. Being adventurous is a must.

Due to her limited teaching availability and because she has a high-end skill, Laura is very selective of whom she accepts as VIP clients for this program. She only works with highly motivated people who are determined to improve their Spanish skills.

To kick off this unique merge of Spanish-4-You and Alaska Affordable Tours, Laura is now offering an unprecedented deal, a placement test professionally graded by her and 30 minutes free to go over it by Skype.

"Achieving outrageous levels of customer satisfaction is the secret to my success in both businesses. An impeccable 5-star rating in Yelp is solid proof of that," says Laura.

Those interested in VIP Spanish by Skype and Alaska Tour packages can find more information at http://www.spanish-4-you.com/online

A free lesson or placement test can be downloaded. Questionnaires available by request.

About Laura Zayas

She is originally from Puerto Rico and holds a Master's Degree in Education of Foreign Languages from UCLA. She is a certified High School Spanish teacher and taught at Los Angeles Unified School District for eleven years. In 2003, she founded Spanish-4-You and in 2017 she started offering her teaching services via Skype.

In 2015, Laura founded Alaska Affordable Tours https://www.facebook.com/AlaskaAffordableTours

She is a certified tour guide and offers tours in English and Spanish. Her knowledgeable but casual off-the-beaten path tours are very popular. She has an informative Alaska travel bilingual blog at https://wordpress.com/view/alaskaadventuresinspanish.blog

Contact: Laura Zayas

Phone: 907-687-3009

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Spanish-4-You
The chair of the Democratic National Committee said on Tuesday that Democrats will not use the app involved in the disastrous Iowa caucuses for the Nevada election contest scheduled for Feb. 22 after reports showed that the state party had paid the technology firm behind it nearly $60,000 last year.

"What happened last night should never happen again. We have staff working around the clock to assist the Iowa Democratic Party to ensure that all votes are counted," DNC chairman Tom Perez said in a statement.

"It is clear that the app in question did not function adequately. It will not be used in Nevada or anywhere else during the primary election process," Perez said. "The technology vendor must provide absolute transparent accounting of what went wrong."

Perez's statement came hours after the Nevada Democratic Party said it would not use "the same app or vendor used in the Iowa caucus."

State party chair William McCurdy said in a statement that the organization had "already developed a series of backups and redundant reporting systems, and are currently evaluating the best path forward."

The app used in the Iowa caucuses was developed by the progressive tech firm Shadow Inc., which is managed by a nonprofit investment company called Acronym.

Read more: Iowa caucus debacle is one of the most stunning tech failures ever

Election officials detected irregularities in voting data during the first-in-the-nation caucuses on Monday which required them to switch to counting votes manually.

The issue delayed the reporting of the first results of the Democratic presidential primary, sowing confusion about the state of the closely fought race and earning the ire of the major contenders, who all projected confidence in election night speeches despite the dearth of official data.

Partial data released by the Iowa Democratic Party Tuesday afternoon, reflecting 62% of the state's precincts, showed South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders vying for first place. The party did not say when the full data will be released.

Acronym sought to distance itself from the debacle, issuing a statement saying that "we, like everyone else, are eagerly awaiting more information."

Shadow wrote in a post on Twitter on Tuesday that it regretted the delayed reporting of the Iowa caucus results.

"As the Iowa Democratic Party has confirmed, the underlying data and collection process via Shadow's mobile caucus app was sound and accurate, but our process to transmit that caucus results data generated via the app to the IDP was not," the company wrote. The company said it was "committed to improving and evolving to support the Democratic Party's goal of modernizing its election processes."

Ahead of the caucuses, concerns about the app were already mounting, compounding criticism of a primary process that for decades has given outsized influence to a relatively homogeneous state with a population just north of 3 million people.

In August, the Democratic National Committee recommended Iowa and Nevada scrap the mobile-based vote process.

The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee voted to follow those recommendations. It said a security review had determined the app did not meet standards for cybersecurity and reliability.

DHS acting Secretary Chad Wolf told Fox News on Tuesday that the app "was not vetted for cybersecurity." But despite those concerns, both states pushed forward with the using the application.

The parties in those states were largely silent in the run-up to the Iowa caucus about who developed the app.

Microsoft had previously designed a voting app used in Iowa in 2016, but the company did not have a hand in creating the 2020 app, a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC.
~ Health Declaration was given to St. Maarten prior to berthing. ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VSA Pamela Gordon Carty assured the community of St. Maarten that there are no cases of Corona Virus (#2019nCoV,) onboard AIDA PERLA that is currently docked in St. Maarten.

Gordon Carty said all necessary procedures were followed and that persons on the ship had the flu and they were cleared medically.

The Minister said since Monday night CPS and other parties were involved in ensuring there is no threat to St. Maarten. She said that St. Maarten obtained a medical declaration from the ship that cleared the passengers. She said that four passengers are ill on the ship, two of which have stomach aches and pains while the other two have influenza symptoms.

Gordon Carty assured the public of St. Maarten that all necessary steps are taken to safeguard the population of St. Maarten, she said when decisions are taken the public health of people of St. Maarten is not being compromised.

Aida Perla, was recently not allowed to dock in St. Lucia, Dominica and Antigua prior to it sailing to St. Maarten.

Attending the National address was Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs, interim Minister of VSA and TEATT Pamela Gordon Carty, Ava Lista from CPS, Miguel De Weever of Economic Affairs and Leslie Richardson of Safety and Security of Port SXM.

Ava Lista ships are required to report to CPS at least 48 hours before. She said there were 4 cases that remain in isolation onboard the ship and they will not disembark. The other passengers and crew members were not in contact with anyone that has the coronavirus. Lista said that the 4 cases on board the ship do not even have symptoms of the Corona Virus.

Port Security Leslie Richardson said they followed standard procedures while they contacted CPS to ensure that a health declaration was obtained. Richardson said that they had to take extra precautions by going to shop owners and taxi drivers that the passengers are cleared. Richardson said that these precautions had to be taken because of media reports that created panic.

Miguel De Weever said the passengers were screened and that due diligence prior to letting the ship berth on St. Maarten, he assured that proper procedures were followed. He said health officials also advised the Port and the Ministry prior to taking a decision on allowing the ship to dock on St. Maarten.

Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said as the head of EOC she gets involved in the event of a disaster. She said that since the Corona Virus scare, she has been assured that safety and security take priority. She said that St. Maarten government will not put the country and its people at risk for money. She called on all persons to take precautions when putting information out there.

Jacobs said that when the ship approached St. Lucia there were more passengers who were ill. She called on the community to follow the advice given by CPS regarding hygiene and stay indoors in the event they have the flu symptoms.

Aida Perla was turned away from St. Lucia, Dominica and Antigua prior to berthing on St. Maarten on Tuesday morning.

Cruise ship AIDA Perla allowed to dock after meeting international and local health protocols.



DCOMM:--- The cruise ship AIDA Perla was allowed to berth along the Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facilities on Tuesday morning after the vessels maritime health declaration submitted to the Ministry of Public Health was in line with International Health Regulations (IHR) and local health sector regulations (Public Health Ordinance of Sint Maarten) and protocols.



The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department from the Sint Maarten Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA), after receiving the maritime health declaration prior to the vessels arrival, consulted with departmental health officials and an epidemiologist regarding four documented and reported cases of persons being ill onboard the vessel with gastroenteritis and (presented with-) fever.



As part of CPSs increased surveillance activities (Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), health officials inquired about the travel history of those who are ill, on whether they had recently traveled or lived in China or had any close physical contact with a confirmed case of 2019-nCoV infection, and there was no evidence of the aforementioned. The decision taken to allow passengers and crew to disembark are based on facts and sound medical advice.

The public health of the people of Sint Maarten are a top priority of Ministry VSA, and the Government remains fully engaged on the issue of infection prevention and control of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus and will do all that is necessary to ensure the health and safety of Sint Maarteners.

Officials of the Ministry of Public Health have already held discussions with Port St. Maarten officials and representatives of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) regarding protocols that have been put in place for cruise ships such as pre-boarding measures and onboard protocols for handling infectious diseases that are also in alignment with the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC).



The disembarkation of cruise passengers from AIDA Perla on Tuesday are based on the following guidelines: all sick persons remain quarantined as internationally recommended according to IHR; provide hand sanitizers in strategic areas of the ship and at points of disembarkation and embarkation of passengers and crew; increase and maintain preventive and sanitation measures; and increase awareness amongst the cruise passengers and crew about proper and continuous hand washing/hygiene, cough and sneeze etiquette.



AIDA Perla is on a two-week Caribbean cruise after leaving La Romana, Dominican Republic on January 23. The vessel has already visited Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Guadeloupe. A number of ports did not allow the vessel to dock such as St. Lucia, Dominica and Antigua.



The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has stated that the Caribbean region has no confirmed cases or reports of the respiratory illness Coronavirus 2019-nCoV, and based on current information, the immediate health risk from this virus to the general public remains low.



AIDA Perla is scheduled to return to the Dominican Republic on February 6.



The cruise ship can carry 3400 passengers and 900 crew.



Ministry VSA continues to follow guidance from its regional and international partners concerning the Coronavirus 2019-nCoV as information becomes available from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). On an international level, the situation is constantly evolving.



For more information, you can call CPS 542-1322, 1122, 1222, 1570 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
2,000 stuck on cruise ship in Goa after crew members test positive for COVID-19

Cruise ship sails back to Mumbai with all passengers as Covid-19 infected patients refuse to get down at Goa

No night curfew in Goa, but gatherings with over 100 people in open spaces banned

Goa assembly first to pass congratulator motion for citizenship law

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Panaji, Feb 04: Goa Assembly has become the first to pass a 'congratulatory motion' in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has claimed.

Sawant said this reflected the real gratitude of people of Goa towards the "historic decision" taken by the BJP-led central government.

The state Assembly on Monday passed the motion congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for enacting CAA, amid a walkout by members of the opposition Congress and Goa Forward Party.

TMC moves 6 amendments to Prezs speech; questions silence on J&K, CAA, economic slowdown

"I am delighted that Goa Assembly has had the privilege of being the first to pass a congratulatory motion in support of #CAA2019. This is the real sentiment of gratitude and support from the people of Goa towards the historic decision by PM @narendramodi ji and HM @AmitShah ji," Sawant said in a tweet late Monday evening.

In the 40-member House, the ruling BJP has 27 MLAs including the speaker, who all were present during the passage of the congratulatory motion, besides two Independent legislators who support the saffron party-led government.

NCP MLA Churchill Alemao, who also supports the state government, was absent.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 4th, 2020

Majority of Catholic MLAs of the BJP supported the motion, which was moved by Atanasio Monserratte and Clafacio Dias on the first day of the Assembly's budget session.

The opposition MLAs in the House include five members of the Congress, three of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), one of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and an Independent.

Members of the Congress and GFP, led by Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat, on Monday created ruckus and rushed to the Well of the House demanding that Speaker Rajesh Patnekar disallow the motion.

They later staged a walkout saying they had submitted a notice seeking a discussion on the new citizenship law and the proposed country-wide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Passage of Citizenship Bill a victory for nation: Goa CM

Addressing the House, Sawant said, "few leaders were misguiding people on the CAA".

"Opposition members are not ignorant about the Act.

They are well aware of it, but are purposefully trying to misguide people," he said.

The CAA, under which non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship, came into force from January 10. It was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019.
Individuals throughout Pennsylvanias agriculture industry reacted with alarm today (Tuesday, Feb. 4) to Governor Tom Wolfs FY 2020-21 budget proposal, which seeks to raid $204 million from the Race Horse Development Trust Fund. For more information, click here.

If approved by the legislature, this raid would result in the end of horse racing in Pennsylvania by eviscerating the primary funding source for the purses and breeder incentives that serve as the lifeblood of the industry, said Pete Peterson, executive director of the Pennsylvania Equine Coalition, an organization representing the six Thoroughbred and Standardbred horsemen and breeder associations in the state. This scheme would destroy an industry that provides a $1.6 billion economic impact and supports an estimated 16,000 to 23,000 jobs in the agriculture, manufacturing, construction, retail and hospitality industries here in Pennsylvania.

Racehorse owners and breeders whose operations preserve 100,000 acres of open space in Pennsylvania would be put out of business, continued Peterson. Hundreds of farmers who preserve tens of thousands of additional acres growing crops such as straw for bedding and alfalfa and other feed products for horsemen  their largest and highest paying customers  would face financial ruin. This anti-agriculture budget could not come at a worse time for many Pennsylvania farmers who are already struggling financially, as evidenced by a 20 per cent increase in farm bankruptcies in 2019.

Peterson noted that purses and breeder incentives enable owners and breeders to pay a range of individuals in a variety of jobs directly tied to racing, such as jockeys and drivers, trainers, exercise riders, farriers/blacksmiths, veterinarians, exercise riders, grooms, equine dentists, equine therapists, jockey agents, hot walkers, nutritionists, bloodstock agents, and more. In addition, countless small businesses in the manufacturing, retail and construction industries count horsemen and breeders among their major customers for horse trailers and vehicles, feed equipment, riding tack and other supplies, capital investments to replace barns and fencing, and more.

Beyond the economic ramifications, Peterson noted that the Governors proposal is fundamentally flawed, as it seeks to raid a trust fund the legislature established in 2017 to blocking such transfers. Money in the Race Horse Development Trust Fund (RHDTF) comes from an assessment paid by casinos on their gross terminal revenues from slot machine gaming. The legislature noted in the 2017 Race Horse Industry Reform Act that the money in the fund are not funds of the Commonwealth and that the Commonwealth shall not be rightfully entitled to any money in the RHDTF. The goal of the trust fund language was to spur new long-term investment in Pennsylvanias racing and breeding industry by providing increased economic certainty for investors. The trust fund language has been working as intended, spurring millions of dollars in new investment in the state economy by horse owners, breeders, and other businesses in the past two years. In addition, Peterson noted that because the raid is not legal, it leaves a primary initiative of the Governor without a viable funding source.

In the last 24 hours, a chorus of individuals from throughout the states racing, breeding, agriculture, and manufacturing industries have reacted in alarm and expressed their strong opposition to the Governors devastating proposal:

Pat Chapman (Annville, PA) (owner of Smarty Jones): I cannot believe that our Governor would turn his back on the horse breeding and racing industry. This would be absolutely devastating to so many of us in the horse business. I brought Smarty Jones back to Pennsylvania for breeding because of what we were told four years ago and I thought I could trust what we were told. If the Governor goes through with this proposal the end is near for my breeding and racing days in the state of Pennsylvania and the end for many others. This is a very devastating possibility.

Russell C. Williams, president of Hanover Shoe Farms, Inc. (Hanover, PA): We occupy 3,000 acres in Adams and York Counties and weve been here for 94 years. Forty families live on that land because one or more family members are employees of our farm, among about 80 employees total. At peak, over 1,000 horses also live on the farm, including more than 100 retired horses that have nowhere else to go. We also care for old forest and wetlands: yesterday I saw a blue heron down by the creek and a bald eagle in a tree on the main farm. We buy 1,500 tons of hay and 1,500 tons of straw from our neighbors every year, not to mention feed, farm machinery, fence boards, supplies, and equipment. Because of us, Pennsylvania is home to the number one Standardbred breeding farm in the world. The Governor has told me that he knows our farm from commuting between his businesses in York and Littlestown in past years. Last night, as I watched a new foal wobbling around in the foaling barn, I wondered how this Governor could bring himself to destroy all that, injure so many people and animals, and shift Pennsylvania from being a Mecca for horse breeding and racing to being a non-entity.

John Servis, Thoroughbred breeder and trainer (Bensalem, PA): Taking 200 million from PA horse racing would be absolutely devastating for not only the horseman and breeders but the entire agriculture industry. If this passes I will be putting a for sale sign on my house right away!

James Towsey, hay farmer (Port Royal, PA): The majority of my hay is sold to horseman in the racing industry. Changes to the fund would put those horsemen out of business, which would in turn put my hay business out of business.

Jeff Altmeyer, Altmeyer Trailer Sales (Kittanning, PA): The trickle-down effect on raiding the trust fund would be catastrophic. It would not only hurt our trailer sales, but also our service department. It will put some of our major customers, the farms and horsemen, right out of business.

Ken Churchill, owner of Silver Springs Ranch (Standardbred Training Centre) (Harveys Lake, PA): We have invested more than $5 million into opening our new, state-of-the-art Standardbred training facility that sits on 78 majestic areas and began operations three years ago. We are currently the largest economic development project in Wyoming County and are second only to Walmart with development permits. Taking away money from the horse racing industry would not only put me out of business, it would affect the economy of our entire area.

Adam Bowden, Standardbred breeder, Diamond Creek Farm (Wellsville, PA): As a major Standardbred breeder who also breeds in Kentucky, it only made sense to set up shop in Pennsylvania based on the states support of horse racing and breeders. In 2012 we bought a farm, hired local employees, and employed local businesses to make major renovations, including the construction of three large barns. We stand six stallions and have now shifted the majority of our business to Pennsylvania. We love how supportive Pennsylvania has been to the racing and breeding industries and we hope it continues.

Mark Reid, Thoroughbred breeder and trainer (Kennett Square, PA): I strongly oppose the Governor taking any of the money from the Race Horse Development Trust Fund, which funds purses and breeder incentives. It will be the END of horse breeding and racing in Pennsylvania. The industry in Pennsylvania will never recover from this.

Mike Wilder, harness racing driver at the Meadows Racetrack (Washington, PA): Horse racing provides not only for my family, but also for so many others in the state of Pennsylvania. Our employees live here and the vendors and suppliers we purchase our goods from are based in the state. Horse racing has a huge economic impact that extends much further than just the racetracks that our horses compete on. The Race Horse Development Trust Fund affords all of us an opportunity to make a living in the Keystone State.

Renee Nodine, equine vet at Horseshoe Valley Equine (Annville, PA): It would be a complete disaster if Governor Wolf takes $200 million from Pennsylvanias horse racing industry. He is turning his back on hay farmers, breeders, and small businesses  and those are some of the hardest working people there are.

Jon Wiesman, Standardbred breeder/owner (York County): If the Governor takes 200 million out of the Race Horse Development Trust Fund, it will eviscerate the entire PA horse breeding and racing industry, an industry that has yielded a following for over 150 years.

Andrew Wolfsont, jockey at Penn National (Grantville, PA): As a jockey at Penn National Race Course, the potential money to earn right now is the lowest Ive seen it in my seven years living and working in Pennsylvania. If funding for the industry is cut by any significant amount, I will be forced to move out of state in order to continue to do what I love. Even worse, the people who I employ and most of the people who I work for will also be forced to uproot their lives to move out of state.

Clarence Martin Jr., Martins Starting Gates (Honesdale, PA): As the starter at Pennsylvania County Fairs, cutting races would put a big hurt on my business.

Josh and Howard Kaufman, Standardbred owners, (Philadelphia and Bryn Mawr, PA): These proposed cuts would be devastating to my business here in Pennsylvania. The development fund is essential to PA racing and raiding the fund would destroy any investment into this product. As taxpaying PA residents, changes to the development fund would also drive us and thousands of others away from the state.

Dr. Scott McAlister, owner, Centre Equine Practice (Centre Hall, PA): These cuts will kill the horse racing industry in Pennsylvania. Horseman already contributes money to diagnostic labs and towards other programs.

Layne Shaffer, farm manager at Arrowood Farm (Thoroughbred) (York County): If the Governor takes money from Pennsylvania horsemen it would decimate the entire agricultural industry in the state. What people dont understand is that the majority of horsemen dont have a ton of money. Most of the money we earn goes to pay the veterinarian, the farrier, the hay farmer, the horse trailer driver and so on. If this happens, I dont know what thousands of families in Pennsylvania will do and what will happen to the horses they love.

Chris Gooden, horse racing photographer (Washington, PA): Cuts to the development fund would shut down my business. I would lose everything I own. This business is my source of income.

Tia Shafer, outrider at Pocono Downs (Wilkes-Barre, PA): If cuts to the racing fund are approved, I would be terrified of what would happen to the people whose livelihoods depend on horse racing. I would like to know how the Governor plans to deal with the increase in unemployment and the horses that will need re-homing after their owners lose their source of income and can no longer afford to feed them. This will affect thousands of lives, both human and equine!

Gretchen Quick, photo-finish operator: As photo finish operator at the PA Fairs, changes to the development fund would virtually erase over two-thirds of my business.

(Pennsylvania Equine Coalition)

About the Pennsylvania Equine Coalition

The Pennsylvania Equine Coalition is a statewide organization that represents more than 10,000 owners, trainers, drivers, and breeders in Pennsylvanias horse racing and breeding industry. Its member organizations include the states six horsemen and breeder associations, including: the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemens Association, the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemens Association, the Standardbred Breeders Association of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association, and the Pennsylvania Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Association.
FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Finland's Kone and private equity firms are battling to buy ThyssenKrupp's prized elevator division worth more than 15 billion euros ($16.6 billion), a deal which would be Europe's biggest private equity deal in 13 years.

Thyssenkrupp says it will either list the business, sell either a stake or the business in its entirety as the company aims to cut 12.4 billion euros ($13.7 billion) in debt and pension liabilities.

The deadline for binding bids for the whole business is mid-February.

SUITORS LINE UP

Suitors are:

* Kone has submitted a 17 billion euro non-binding bid, including a roughly 3-billion break fee, beating three private equity consortia whose offers were between 15-16 billion.

Union sources say that may not be enough to compensate for antitrust risks.

Analysts at Jefferies said that a price tag of 15.6 billion euros after tax would be enough "to negate net debt and pension liabilities, saving about 1.1 billion in outflows per year".

The rival private equity consortia are:

* Blackstone, Carlyle and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

* A group comprising Advent, Cinven, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Germany's RAG foundation

* Canada's Brookfield and Singapore's Temasek

A buyout group victory would be Europe's biggest private equity deal since KKR's $21.4 billion acquisition of Britain's Alliance Boots Plc in 2007, according to Refinitiv data.

KONE VS PRIVATE EQUITY

While being the safest option in terms of execution, a flotation is seen as unlikely at this stage as it wouldn't bring in enough cash.

That's why a sale to private equity looks like the easiest option as it would face little or no antitrust scrutiny and could be completed in months.

A sale to Kone runs the risk of a lengthy regulatory review, even when taking into account a plan to sell Thyssenkrupp's elevator assets in Europe, where overlap is biggest, to CVC to try to resolve antitrust risks.

Story continues

Danske Bank reckons that the combined market share of Thyssen and Kone stands at 43% in North America, which is also expected to lead to a deepened probe.

It took Linde and Praxair nearly 17 months to get U.S. antitrust approval for a merger, and only following far-reaching remedy sales to CVC and Messer.

Still reeling from Brussels' veto of a planned steel tie-up with India's Tata Steel, Thyssenkrupp's appetite for that is considered to be limited.

JOB SECURITY

Bidders are courting representatives of IG Metall, Germany's most powerful union which can make or break any deal and will fight to protect jobs and secure sites.

The elevator business employs more than 53,000, a third of Thyssenkrupp's total staff.

Labour representatives also control half of Thyssenkrupp's 20-member supervisory board, which will have to approve an agreement.

Workers fear that a sale to Kone carries a higher risk of job cuts than a sale to private equity. While cost savings are a key for all bidders, Kone needs synergies to justify its higher price tag.

Labour leaders also remain sceptical about Kone's plan to sell Thyssenkrupp's European assets to CVC, as it is uncertain what would happen to workers at the 2.1 billion euro business. ($1 = 0.9047 euros) (Reporting by Christoph Steitz, Tom Kaeckenhoff, Arno Schuetze and Edward Taylor; Editing by Josephine Mason)
Oregons retired chief medical examiner testified Tuesday about the neck wounds that killed Ricky Best and Taliesin Namkai-Meche when they were attacked in 2017 on a MAX train in the midst of another passengers loud tirade.

Dr. Karen Gunson performed autopsies on the two men the day after the May 26 stabbings.

Jeremy Christian, 37, is on trial in Multnomah County Circuit Court on first-degree murder charges in the attack on Best and Namkai-Meche. He faces a first-degree attempted murder charge in the stabbing of Micah Fletcher, then 21, who was seriously wounded in the neck but survived.

He also faces a second-degree intimidation charge for allegedly launching into a racist tirade against two teenage girls on the train, one who was wearing a hijab.

Gunson said Best, 53, had three stab wounds: two to his neck and one to his cheek. She said the neck wounds were 3 inches deep and one of them was fatal because it cut through an artery.

Gunson said Namkai-Meche, 23, had four stab wounds -- one each to the neck, scalp, forehead and hand. The neck wound cut up and down his carotid artery, she said.

Such a wound is always fatal, and no amount of first-aid and pressure applied would have saved Namkai-Meche, she said.

As photos were displayed to the courtroom, some people -- including members of the mens families in seating area -- fought back tears. Some had their arms around each other.

A woman shook her head. But mostly, the courtroom was quiet.

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimee

Keep up with key trial events and takeaways by signing up for The Oregonian/OregonLives Jeremy Christian trial newsletter at oregonlive.com/newsletters.

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.
CimMetal awards Togo grinding contract to Intercem

04 February 2020

Togo-based cement producer CimMetal has placed the order for various equipment for its 2.5Mta VRM-based grinding plant at Lome with Austrian equipment supplier Intercem.

The order includes a 1000tph truck unloading station, a 25,000tph additives storage facility, a 1000tph truck loading station, two 50,000t clinker silos, four Rotopackers, 10 truck scales and the corresponding laboratory equipment.

The steel construction, entire sheet metal fabrication, subsystems, electrical equipment as well as the complete engineering and supervision of erection and commissioning are also included in the scope of supply and services. All equipment is supplied exclusively by renowned European manufacturers.

The plant's material conveyors have a capacity of 1200tph and are installed in a closed gallery to ensure dust-free transport in the sensitive location near Lome port.

The opening ceremony is expected to take place at short notice with production scheduled to start in the 1Q21.

Published under
NEW YORK - Disney said its Disney Plus streaming service reached nearly 29 million paid subscribers in less than three months, an impressive start for what the company has positioned as its future as more people drop cable subscriptions.

But as expected, starting up a new service comes with huge expenses, contributing to a 23% profit decline for the company in the latest quarter.

Disney Plus launched in November to compete with online video services like Netflix. Disney had 26.5 million Disney Plus subscribers as of Dec. 28, the end of its fiscal first quarter. That grew to 28.6 million as of Monday, well on the way to Disneys target of 60 million to 90 million worldwide by 2024.

Original series on Disney Plus include the Star Wars series The Mandalorian. One of the hit characters from the show resembles a baby version of Yoda. Disney CEO Bob Iger told analysts Tuesday that Baby Yoda consumer products will go on sale in the coming months. He said the sensational response to the character said a lot about Disney Plus.

The company also said a second season for The Mandalorian is coming in October and said the priority for Star Wars going forward is through the streaming service. After 42 years, the franchise just concluded its nine-part core series with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in theatres. Disney has said the next Star Wars theatrical movie, which is to be set outside the Skywalker saga, isnt scheduled for release until 2022.

Disney also had 30.4 million Hulu customers and 6.6 million ESPN Plus subscribers as of Dec. 28, big gains for both from a year ago. Disney offers a bundle of the three streaming services.

Disney Plus is currently available in the U.S., Canada, The Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand. Disney expects growth in the near term to come primarily from further expansion abroad, as the service launches over the next two years in Western Europe, India and Latin America. Disney also plans to roll out Hulu outside the U.S. next year after getting Disney Plus off the ground abroad.

The company has been turning to heavy promotions to boost Disney Plus in the early months. Disney, for example, struck a deal with Verizon to give some customers a free year. Disney said about 20% of its subscribers came through Verizon. About half signed up directly through Disney, and the rest from other channels.

Disney earned $2.13 billion in the latest quarter, or $1.17 per share. Adjusted for one-time items, earnings came to $1.53 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of $1.46. Revenue rose 36% to $20.9 billion. Wall Street expected revenue of $20.7 billion.

Disney shares gained 27 cents, or less than 1%, to $145 in after-hours trading after the release of results.

The direct-to-consumer business that includes Disney Plus posted revenue of $4 billion, up from $918 million a year ago, while its operating loss widened to $693 million from $136 million. Disney expects the business to lose another $900 million during the current quarter.

Revenue at the movie business more than doubled to $3.8 billion thanks to Frozen II and the new Star Wars movie in theatres.

Revenue slid at Disneys cable networks division, by 20% to $4.8 billion. It said ESPN weighed on its profit because of higher programming and production costs and lower ad revenue as viewers decline. The broadcasting arms revenue rose 34% to $2.6 billion, while the parks divisions sales rose 8% to $7.4 billion.

Disney said attendance and hotel stays in Hong Kong were lower because of recent events. The company said that there has been a significant decrease in visitation to Hong Kong Disneyland from China and other parts of Asia but didnt otherwise elaborate. There have been anti-government protests in Hong Kong. That was offset by growth in Shanghai, though a virus outbreak in China could impede travel and attendance.

Both parks are currently closed because of the virus. Assuming a two-month shutdown, impact to operating income in the current quarter will be $175 million. Both parks usually see a lot of visitors at this time of year.
Massif, Black River FC celebrate partnership

Commercial film production company, Massif, celebrates its partnership with brand communication agency, Black River FC, following the success of their People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA) campaign dubbed 'RSA' (Republic of Sexual Abuse).



The campaign, which was the idea of Black River FC's executive creative director Roanna Williams and her team, earned multiple first-place awards at the Creative Circle Ad of the Month, including the winner in the Integrated category.
Presidency University Vice Chancellor Anuradha Lohia was confined within her chamber on the main campus for over 12 hours as some students continued their sit-in before her office, demanding expeditious repair works in some hostels and reinstatement of sacked hostel employees

Kolkata: Presidency University Vice Chancellor Anuradha Lohia was confined within her chamber on the main campus for over 12 hours as some students continued their sit-in before her office, demanding expeditious completion of repair works in some hostels and reinstatement of sacked hostel employees.

The students began their demonstration at 2 pm on Monday, demanding that the repair works in three of the five wards of 130-year-old Hindu Hostel be completed without delay and eight sacked hostel employees be reinstated immediately.

A university official said Lohia, along with some other University officials, were confined in the VC's room on the first floor the students, belonging to Independent Consolidation (IC) and SFI, protested, carrying placards like "We want the entire Hindu Hostel Back" and "Don't take any vindictive step against students and staff".

Lohia did not take calls but the official said she was okay even though showed signs of stress for prolonged confinement. "We will allow the VC ma'am to go, but not before she gives us written assurance about our demands," Subho Biswas, an IC member, and one of the agitators said.

The protesting students also demanded that the VC expresses regret in writing over female students allegedly being prevented from taking part in a convention on the day of Saraswati Puja on the campus due to the hostel renovation issue.

Biswas alleged that despite repeated reminders, the authorities did not expedite the repair work in the Hindu Hostel and took "vindictive" action against those demanding quick completion of hostel repair. He alleged that female students, supporting the hostel renovation on an urgent basis, were viciously prevented to enter the campus on 29 January to attend the convention.

Another student, Debabrata, alleged university authorities were dilly-dallying over timely completion of work in wards 3, 4 and 5 of the Hindu Hostel since last year. Over 30 students are made to put up within a very limited space of the two renovated wards,' he claimed. "Today we demanded the VC express regret for the gender discrimination by the management on 29 January and also an assurance from her that the three wards, where renovation works are still incomplete, will be ready soon. But she refused to listen to us," Biswas said.

Dean of Students Arun Maity had earlier said, "I urge the students to have a discussion with the VC about the demands. We are open for discussion."

Two wards of the Hindu Hostel, which were under repair for three years, were opened for students in November 2018 after agitation by students. The Hindu Hostel building, adjacent to the university, was shut down for repairs in July, 2015 and the boarders had been shifted to a rented accommodation at New Town as a makeshift arrangement.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 23:19:03|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection in China have already exceeded 20,000, and the death toll has mounted over 400. The turning point is yet to come, and China is still struggling to keep up with the virus spread.

The arduous battle is fought by the world's largest developing country whose success is key to the global campaign against the epidemic. There is no excuse for retreat.

To contain the spread of the coronavirus within the shortest time possible, China has exhorted all sectors to push the prevention and control work into full swing. The most strict measures have been implemented, with the lockdown of the 11-million-people city of Wuhan, the center of the outbreak, continuing for nearly two weeks.

Shortcomings and deficiencies, however, have also been exposed in response to the virus outbreak, though China has comprehensively improved its emergency response capacity since the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003.

This time, the virus is more infectious than SARS and has spread faster than expected. Medical equipment and surgical masks, protective suits, and safety goggles are urgently needed. Hospital beds are insufficient to treat patients.

Reflection goes deeper on China's emergency management system. An overhaul of environmental sanitation conditions should be conducted. Illegal wildlife trade has drawn extensive criticism. The national reserve system and reserve efficiency need to be enhanced. All these problems must be solved. The sacrifice shall not be made in vain.

Challenges are not only domestic. While the international community praises and supports China's anti-virus efforts, which have far exceeded what International Health Regulations required, some countries have inappropriately overreacted, creating and spreading fear.

The United States was the first to impose a travel ban on Chinese travelers, precisely what the World Health Organization (WHO) rejects. A U.S. federal official claimed the virus could help bring jobs back to the United States, revealing a mindset of taking advantage of others' difficulties. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, during his trip overseas, even viciously attacked China's national system under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

While China is engaged in the war with the common threat to global public health and growth, such words and actions from the U.S. side do not fit its touted role as a responsible global leader, disappointing both the Chinese people and the entire world.

China has never been a nation that is fearful of challenges.

This is the time for national mobilization. Few countries could attempt such prompt and resolute actions in containing the spread of the epidemic. Even fewer could allocate resources to the most needy in such a short time, such as complete building a hospital with a capacity of 1,000 beds from scratch within 10 days.

This is the time for unity among 1.4 billion people of China. Public morale has been boosted across the nation. Although the epidemic would temporarily hurt service and other sectors, the economy as a whole is resilient enough to survive the shock.

This is the time for science. The fatality rate of the novel coronavirus on the Chinese mainland is far lower than Ebola, SARS and MERS. The steady rise in the number of recoveries serves as evidence that the treatments have been effective.

This is a time for openness and transparency. China has been sharing information about the virus with the WHO and relevant countries and regions. The country is taking effective measures to safeguard the well-being of foreign nationals in China. Chinese authorities regard withholding information as a crime.

This is a time for confidence in the leadership. As a governing party that puts the people's interest as the top priority, the CPC is quick to learn from the outbreak as a test of the governance system and capacity. The Party stresses unified command, coordination and arrangement. It allows no actions of shirking off responsibilities.

Tuesday is the start of spring, according to the Chinese lunar calendar. In the last two weeks, life in China has radically changed with the emergence of the infectious novel coronavirus, with streets almost empty and public events canceled in many cities. But people believe normal life will return just as spring has come.
STOCKHOLM, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bactiguard deepens the partnership that was initiated in 2015 by acquiring Vigilenz Medical Devices and Vigilenz Medical Supplies (together Vigilenz) in Malaysia. The acquisition strengthens Bactiguard's position in infection control and wound management, as well as innovation and product development capability and capacity. The consideration consists of a cash payment of USD 4.5 million payable at closing and, subject to approval by the annual general meeting of shareholders (AGM), 241 512 new class B-shares in Bactiguard, equivalent to a value of USD 2 million.

Bactiguard Holding AB (publ) (Bactiguard) has entered an agreement to acquire Vigilenz, a Malaysian manufacturer and supplier of medical devices and consumables, primarily active in wound management and infection control. Bactiguard and Vigilenz have been partners since 2015, when an agreement to develop Bactiguard-coated orthopaedic trauma implants was signed. The implants were CE-marked in late 2018, which paved the way for Bactiguard's global license agreement with Zimmer Biomet.

Vigilenz has a portfolio of products ranging from surgical sutures, mesh, wound wash and dressings, to orthopaedic trauma implants. One product which Bactiguard considers has significant potential is HYDROCYN aqua, for advanced wound management of acute and chronic wounds. The product is CE-marked and has been registered by the US FDA. Vigilenz's research and development activities focus on biomaterials for medical application, urology, cardiovascular and wound management products, with the aim of reducing device related infections. It also has a strong regional distribution network in South East Asia.

"Acquiring Vigilenz makes perfect sense. Together we will have a much stronger offer for infection control and will be able to access the market for advanced wound care, which has a global potential of over USD 5 billion", says Christian Kinch CEO.

"The transaction will result in substantial synergies both in revenues and cost, by pooling our distribution networks, product development teams, staff functions and production facilities. I am glad that Professor Choudhury has agreed to stay in the business and become a shareholder in Bactiguard, as I see great potential in jointly developing new products and license applications for improved patient outcomes. This is a clear win-win for both companies," Christian Kinch continues.

In 2019, Vigilenz had a preliminary, consolidated pro forma turnover of approximately MYR 18 million (approx. SEK 42 million), EBITDA of MYR 2.6 million (approx. SEK 6 million) and an EBITDA-margin of 14 percent.

As a result of the acquisition, joint revenues are expected to grow faster than on a stand-alone basis, as the product portfolios are complementary and can be offered throughout both companies' footprint. In a three to five year perspective, Bactiguard also expects cost synergies of SEK 5-10 million.

The transaction is therefore financially compelling and significantly accretive to revenues, earnings and cash flow.



Highlights of the acquisition

The shareholders of Vigilenz, including the founder, Chief Executive and majority shareholder Professor Choudhury, have unanimously accepted Bactiguard's offer. The total consideration consists of:

a cash payment of USD 4.5 million , payable at closing and;

, payable at closing and; subject to approval by the shareholders in Bactiguard at the AGM on 28 April 2020 , 241 512 new class B-shares in Bactiguard, equivalent to a value of USD 2 million .

, 241 512 new class B-shares in Bactiguard, equivalent to a value of . As a result of the acquisition, Bactiguard also assumes net debt of close to SEK 12 million (approximately USD 1.2 million ).

The new class B-shares will be subject to a lock-up period of 12 months, during which period the shares may not be sold.

The cash portion will be financed through bank facilities provided by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB), with a term of three years. At the same time, the term of Bactiguard's current bank facility with SEB will be extended and have the same tenor.

Closing of the acquisition and payment of the cash portion of the purchase price shall take place 10 business days after the following condition precedents have been fulfilled:



(i) Bactiguard has received approval from SEB with firm and unconditional commitment regarding the financing of the cash portion of the purchase price; and

(ii) Vigilenz's bank approves the change of control of Vigilenz.



It is expected that these conditions precedent will be fulfilled no later than 14 February 2020 and, hence, that closing will occur before the end of February 2020.

The Bactiguard Board of Directors has approved the transaction and shareholders including Christian Kinch, Thomas von Koch, Jan Stahlberg, The Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund (AP4) and Nordea Investment Funds, together representing approximately 66 percent of the capital and 84 percent of the votes in Bactiguard have declared that they will support the issuance of new class B-shares at the AGM.

About Vigilenz

Vigilenz is a privately-owned, manufacturer and supplier of medical devices and consumables, incorporated in Malaysia in 2002. From its home market, Vigilenz has expanded to covering over 26 countries. The company has approximately 100 employees and a modern ISO class 8 production facility located at the company headquarters in Penang. Its field sales force covers the entire Malaysian market, whereas export sales are handled through distributors.

Vigilenz offers a wide range of products, primarily in wound management and infection control. The product range consists of absorbable and non-absorbable sutures, hernia mesh, HYDROCYN aqua, an innovative wound wash, debridement agent & cleaning solution for acute & chronic wounds, as well as Bactiguard-coated orthopaedic trauma implants.

Vigilenz is ISO 13485:2016 certified and designs and develops Class II and III CE marked products. It was the first Malaysian company to attain a Class III CE marked product. Some of the products are FDA registered and the company has also received HALAL certification.

For more information please visit www.vigilenzmd.com

This information is information that Bactiguard Holding AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below 2020-02-04, at. 07.15.

For further information, please contact:

Cecilia Edstrom, CFO, cell phone: +46 72 226 23 28

On February 5, Bactiguard publishes the year end report for 2019. In connection with this, a web conference for investors, analysts and media will be held at 10:00 CET, where CEO Christian Kinch and CFO Cecilia Edstrom will present the year end report and answer questions, as well as comment on the acquisition.

Please visit http://www.bactiguard.com for more information about the web conference.



This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/bactiguard-holding-ab--publ-/r/bactiguard-makes-its-first-acquisition-by-acquiring-vigilenz,c3026512

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https://mb.cision.com/Main/9686/3026512/1187489.pdf 200204 Bactiguard makes its first acquisition by acquiring Vigilenz https://news.cision.com/bactiguard-holding-ab--publ-/i/ceo-christian-kinch-and-professor-choudhury-at-vigilenz,c2743259 CEO Christian Kinch and Professor Choudhury at Vigilenz https://news.cision.com/bactiguard-holding-ab--publ-/i/ceo-christian-kinch-innovator-billy-sodervall-and-professor-choudhury,c2743260 CEO Christian Kinch Innovator Billy Sodervall and Professor Choudhury

SOURCE Bactiguard Holding AB (publ)
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GIC Perestrakhovanie LLC, Russia, the fully owned subsidiary of General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re), has received a reinsurance licence from the Central Bank of Russia (CBR).

With this, the reinsurer would soon begin operations in the country. CBR has approved the licence, allowing commencement of all activities on a full scale.

GIC Re is the first reinsurer in more than a decade to be granted this licence. The company said this Russian subsidiary plans to commence operations soon.

Sanjay Mokashi, CEO of GIC Perestrakhovanie, said, The market offers encouraging long-term growth for the reinsurance business as it is characterised by low rate of insurance penetration. The overall level of insurance penetration in Russias GDP is very low.

GIC Re, he added, also plans to service the former Soviet Union and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries from the Moscow office.

Apart from Russia, the India's state-owned reinsurer is also planning an expansion in the Latin American market.

Besides Russia, the company is looking at the possibility of establishing an office in Brazil to cater to the South American market, Devesh Srivastava, CMD, GIC Re, stated.

GIC Re is registered as an Eventual Reinsurer in Brazil from January 2009 and is now working to acquire the status of an Admitted Reinsurer in that market.

Srivastava added that GIC Re has made inroads in all member nations of BRICS with the exception of China.

BRICS is an association of five major emerging national economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. GIC Re had established GIC Re South Africa, the wholly-owned subsidiary in 2014.

GIC Re has branch offices in Dubai and Malaysia, London. Besides is also has a presence in Afro-Asian region and is a leading reinsurer for several insurance companies in SAARC countries, Africa, South-East Asia and West Asia.

In 2018-19 GIC Res international business fetched Rs 13,265.79 crore ($1.87bn) in gross premiums.
Shehu Garba says the protests organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) over the killing of Pastor Lawan Andimi, chairman of the body in Adamawa State, isnt out of order.

Shehu, Presidential Muhammadu Buharis aide on media and publicity media aide, in a statement on Tuesday, said the president felt the pain of the body whose protests was borne out of the shocking, unacceptable death of Pastor Andimi at the hands of Boko Haram.

The statement read in part: Whether you are Christian or Muslim, all Nigerians and their beliefs must be respected. The duty of all of us is to uphold the rights of others to worship according to their faith  and to respect the rights of each other to do so freely in the spirit of brotherhood and respect  and without interference.

Read Also: CAN Reacts As Boko Haram Kills Its Adamawa Chairman, Andimi

This means, however, that we must stop false claims that only serve to divide one community against the other. There is no place in Nigeria for those who politicise religion. This is the Presidents message to both Muslim and Christian communities alike.

One more thing is this: it is the added need for citizen-consciousness to stand up for nation. Nigerians, only Nigerians can defend their nation against these abhorrent killings and all sorts of crimes worrying us as a nation.

From the prayers and advocacy by CAN, citizens need to take an important lesson, which is, that our people must rally around the flag. Together, they rise to defeat the enemy and defend the state. In Nigeria, some groups rally against the government instead of the enemy. This is not right. It has the effect of playing into the hands of the enemy of the state.

We will not defeat the terrorists, nor speed the return for those citizens, young and old taken by them by division in our own ranks. To pull apart is to play into the hands of the terrorists: this is what they want.
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En espanol | Criminals hunger for your Social Security number, date and place of birth, mother's maiden name, and other identifiers. They siphon information from data breaches, the dark web and public sources such as social media sites and employee directories. Using subterfuge, they have no qualms about trying to pry it directly out of you. This personal data fuels a long list of financial crimes. Here are a dozen of the most common tactics used by scammers to fool victims and perpetuate fraud.

1. Spoofing

Does caller ID show the same area code and prefix as yours? That incoming call could be from anywhere  even a foreign country. Spoofing is falsifying data on caller ID to disguise who's on the line. In a bid for authenticity, the spoofed number could belong to a legitimate government agency or a business known to you.

2. Phishing

So-called phishing emails, calls, texts and letters try to trick you into sending cash or disclosing personal information. Or, the correspondence aims to allow a bad actor to infiltrate your computer device and steal sensitive information. Microsoft, for example, has warned that cybercrooks send phishing emails from rnicrosoft.comnote the r and n were combined to appear at a glance as an m. The word phishing  which dates to 1996  combines fishing and phreaking, the latter a term for using an electronic device to avoid paying for phone calls, says Merriam-Webster. Phreaking likely was born from the marriage of the words phone and freak."

3. Fake profiles

Anybody can disguise his or her identity on social media, dating platforms or other sites. In 2019, the Pentagon warned about an increasing number of impersonator accounts on Twitter that hijacked the identity of Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. That prompted the Air Force chief of staff to chime in: The same goes for me  I won't ask for money, your email account or other personal information. Please continue to report impostor pages."

4. Fake photos

Images can be copied or stolen from the internet  or altered  to lend credence to a bogus profile or website.

5. Fake entities

Phony businesses, charities, political action committees and the like  they're sheep's clothing for the wolves at your door.

6. Fake claims

Bad actors use a variety of scripts to persuade you to open your wallet and drain your financial accounts. Examples: You'll be arrested if you don't  or You've won a prize, but first must pay ."

7. Fake names, credentials and badge numbers

Names, titles and such may suggest authority, but in reality be phony baloney.

8. Computer pop-ups

Pop-up warnings can show up on your computer. Alarms may sound. Click on a suspicious link or open an attachment and malware  that's software used for malicious purposes  can compromise your computer system and steal your data. Never call the phone number that appears on a computer pop-up.

9. Robocalls

About 58.5 billion robocalls  a record  bombarded phones in the U.S. in 2019, and 25.9 billion, or 44 percent, were scam calls, according to an industry estimate. Huge numbers of internet-based calls can be made every day at very little cost to con artists, even those overseas.

10. Lead lists

These are rosters of people who have fallen victim to cons and, as such, potentially are soft targets for more mischief. Criminals swap and sell what they callously call sucker lists."

11. Secrecy

Crooks often insist their targets keep silent about what they're being instructed to do. They're trying to prevent a family member or friend from stopping a scam in its tracks.

12. Persuasion

Criminals excel at blarney and use flattery and charm to ingratiate themselves and gain your trust. Alternatively, they may threaten violence to frighten you to act. The goal is the same: to compel you to cough up cash or sensitive data. And the perpetrators are nothing if not persistent.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the constitution of a medical board to examine a minor rape victim, who is seeking permission to terminate her 24-week pregnancy.

Justice Vibhu Bakhru asked the medical superintendent of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to forthwith constitute the board to examine the condition of the 16-year-old girl and expeditiously submit the report on whether continuing the pregnancy will pose any risk to her health.

The board shall also include a psychiatrist, the court said.

The court, which listed the matter for February 6, requested the concerned doctor to be present during the hearing.

The court further said that it would also interact with the girl and her parents, who were present during the hearing, on the next date and asked them to be there.

The petition, filed through the girl's mother, is aggrieved as Section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act does not permit termination of pregnancy in case the period of gestation is more than 20 weeks.

The plea filed through advocates Anwesh Madhukar and Prachi Nirwan, said the pregnancy poses a substantial risk to the girl as she herself is of tender age.

Advocate Kamna Vohra, representing the State, said the court may pass direction for examination of the girl by a medical board.

The plea said the rape victim was examined by doctors at a government hospital here on January 25 and she was found to be 24 weeks pregnant.

Pursuant to this, a case of rape and criminal intimidation was lodged at Swaroop Nagar Police Station here.

The doctor has opined that since the period of gestation is more than 20 weeks, it is beyond the permissible limit and court's permission is required for pregnancy termination.

The Union Cabinet had last week approved extending the upper limit for permitting abortions from the present 20 weeks to 24 weeks for "special categories of women" which would include rape survivors, victims of incest, differently-abled and minors, an official statement said.

The Cabinet gave its nod to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 and it would be introduced in the Budget session of Parliament which began on January 31.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A State-of-the-art DNA analysis centre has been set up in Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh under the Nirbhaya Fund scheme with an allocation of Rs 99.76 crores.

This facility has an annual capacity to examine 2000 forensic cases relating to sexual assault, homicide, paternity, human identification, and Mitochondrial DNA.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy, in a written reply in Lok Sabha to a question regarding the establishment of a new Advanced Forensic DNA Analysis Lab, said, "A State-of-the-art DNA analysis centre has been set up in Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh under the Nirbhaya Fund scheme with an allocation of Rs 99.76 crores. This facility has an annual capacity to examine 2000 forensic cases relating to sexual assault, homicide, paternity, human identification, and Mitochondrial DNA."

Ministry of Home Affairs has approved setting-up and upgrading of DNA analysis and cyber forensic units in State Forensic Science Laboratories in 13 States/ Union Territories under the Nirbhaya Fund scheme. Apart from this, 25 States have been given an allocation of Rs 108.40 crore for strengthening Forensic Science facilities, including DNA analysis facilities, as part of the annual State Action plan under the scheme for Modernisation of Police Forces in the year 2019-20.

The Directorate of Forensic Science Services has six Central Forensic Science Laboratories (CFSLs) situated at Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Chandigarh, Guwahati (Assam), Hyderabad (Telangana), Pune (Maharashtra) and Kolkata (West Bengal).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
JAKARTA/ SINGAPORE, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Indonesia's largest nickel industrial park said on Monday that its Chinese workers are clear of the coronavirus epidemic and that production is as "per normal".

PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, where Chinese giant Tsingshan operates, employs more than 5,000 employees from China but has been unaffected by the virus, a spokesman told Reuters.

The epidemic has infected thousands of people in China, killing 361.

"The number of employees (we have) from China at this moment is as many as in the 5000s and thank God, we have not one coronavirus suspect," the spokesman, Dedy Kurniawan, told Reuters in a text message.

"Production is as per normal," Kurniawan said.

A source at Tsingshan however told Reuters that while production is broadly unaffected, the impact from the virus may be felt soon.

"The production side is still is OK, but some raw materials coming from China will be affected," the source said.

"Construction will also be affected by equipment and personnel from China," the source added.

Kurniawan said that there had been no new or returning workers from China since Jan 25.

"We will stop absorbing any labour from China until the authorities say that it's safe from the corona epidemic," Kurniawan said, adding that workers must get "written permission" from the company's management if they want to leave the area.

He also said that employees must also go through extensive medical check ups.

These new measures however, have "absolutely" no effect on production, Kurniawan added.

Indonesia will temporarily stop flights to and from mainland China starting Wednesday and bar visitors who have been in China for 14 days from entering or transiting in the Southeast Asian country. It has also asked Indonesians not to travel to China. (Reporting by Wilda Asmarini in Jakarta and Mai Nguyen in Singapore; Writing by Fathin Ungku; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
BRIDGEPORT  A former Monroe volunteer firefighter pleaded not guilty Tuesday to burning his own truck and then reporting it stolen.

Mathew Bittner, 38, of Pilgrim Lane, Monroe, pleaded not guilty before Superior Court Judge Joan Alexander to first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit first-degree arson, insurance fraud, making a false statement and tampering with evidence.

He requested a jury trial.

The judge continued the case to March 10.

Bittner and his lawyer, Vincent Noce, declined comment as they left the Fairfield County Courthouse.

On Oct. 21, 2019, an arrest warrant affidavit states that Monroe police responded to the home of Bittner and Melissa Roy for a complaint that a 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe had been stolen out of their driveway.

The following day, Bittner was notified by Bridgeport police that the SUV had been located on Louisiana Avenue in Bridgeport and he should come and retrieve it, the affidavit states. In the meantime, Bittner had made a claim to his insurance company of the theft.

Five hours after Bittner picked up the SUV from Bridgeport police, it was discovered burning in a lot on Corporate Drive in Monroe, the affidavit states. When police later contacted Bittner, he said he was aware of the fire and later filed another claim with his insurance company for $34,000, the affidavit states.

The affidavit states that police later examined Bittner and Roys cell phones.

The affidavit states that when Bittner texted Roy that the SUV had been recovered by Bridgeport police she texted: I just want this to be over my anxiety is thru the roof.

It is all over. Figure out what car you want, the affidavit states Bittner responded.
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Linkedin Rizal Harahap (The Jakarta Post) Pekanbaru  Tue, February 4, 2020 17:28 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206283de9 1 National Leopard,Riau,Pekanbaru,zoo,zoo-management,wildlife,BKSDA,wildlife-trade Free

The management of Kasang Kulim Pekanbaru Zoo in Riau is being investigated over allegations of negligence after one of two leopard cubs sent by the Riau Police to the zoo died on Friday.

The police had confiscated the cubs as evidence in a suspected illegal wildlife smuggling case and placed them at the zoo for safekeeping in December.

A veterinarian from the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) Rini Deswita said that a health check on Jan. 28 showed the cub was lively and in good health.

A few days later, its appetite declined and it started vomiting. On the morning of Jan. 31, a number of medical procedures were administered: [the cub] was given intravenous fluids to avoid dehydration, a number of medicines to increase immunity and antibiotics to prevent secondary infections, as well as anti-emetic drugs, Rini told reporters on Tuesday.

At around 5 p.m. on Friday, the leopards health continued to decline. It became increasingly weak, experienced shortness of breath and finally died 30 minutes later, Rini said.

Riau BKSDA conducted a necropsy to find out the cause of death and concluded that the leopard was suffering from panleukopenia, a disease caused by a parvovirus that attacks the digestive system and potentially the respiratory tract.

The virus can grow and develop if the immune system is weakened, Rini added. Nothing the leopard ate was found to be improper.

Rini said that parvoviruses could be transmitted through air, dirt and saliva and commonly attacked felines. It was also possible for the virus was transmitted by lions that were in the zoo, she said.

In the zoo, there is a lion that was also infected by the same virus. Fortunately, the lion was cured and now is in good health. But it is possible the leopard could still have been infected from [the lion], she added.

On Monday, the Riau Polices Directorate of Special Criminal Investigations (Reskrimsus) summoned and requested information from Rini and the zoo manager, Laskar Jaya Permana, regarding the death of the animal.

We need clarification because the animal was evidence in the alleged smuggling of protected animals. We asked for information to find out the chronology and handling from the beginning, Reskrimsus director Sr. Comr. Andri Sudarmadi said.

Andri said that the clarification process would not stop there as several other related parties would also be questioned as the police continued to explore allegations of negligence.

We are very concerned, hopefully such an incident will not happen again, he added.

In addition to the leopard cubs, the Riau Police also entrusted four lion cubs and 58 Indian Star tortoises to Kasang Kulim.

As regards the rest of the animals, we are still monitoring the situation going forward before deciding whether to move them somewhere else or not, he said. (syk)
B rian Wilson has called on fans to boycott his former band The Beach Boys because of a planned performance at a trophy-hunting convention where Donald Trump Jr will be among the speakers.

Wilson said he and his fellow Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine have nothing to do with the group's performance at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada.

The former bandmates also launched a petition calling for fans to stop downloading their old band's music or going to concerts, "until the Beach Boys withdraw from the SCI Convention".

The 77-year-old tweeted saying it was a version of the band fronted by Mike Love, another founder, who owns the legal rights to the Beach Boys name.

Longtime Beach Boys member Bruce Johnston is also part of the band, who are set to appear at the convention on Wednesday.

Wilson said: "It has been brought to my attention that on Wednesday February 5, The Beach Boys touring group licensed by Mike Love are headlining at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada."

Wilson said both he and Jardine are "emphatically opposed" to trophy hunting and asked fans to share a petition demanding the Beach Boys pull out of the event.

According to the Safari Club's website, Mr Trump Jr will be among the keynote speakers during the event at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada.

Attendees will be able to shop for the latest weapons and organise hunting trips.

The petition demanding the Beach Boys pull out was launched by Eduardo Goncalves and has so far attracted more than 70,000 names.

Addressed to the band's manager Elliott Lott, it asks: "Wouldn't it be nice if all the Beach Boys, Stayed away from those who kill for fun?"

The petition also threatens a boycott against the group if they go ahead with the appearance.

It states: "We the undersigned pledge to stop buying or downloading all Beach Boys music, going to Beach Boys concerts, and purchasing any Beach Boys merchandise until the Beach Boys withdraw from the SCI Convention and publicly state their opposition to this sick 'sport' of killing animals for 'fun'.

"We will call on the Beach Boys' record label, agent and publicists to disown the Beach Boys, and on members of the public to protest at forthcoming Beach Boys concerts, unless they do so."
The Huawei P40 Pro has just surfaced in a real-life image, and it has no chin. The companys upcoming flagship has extremely thin bezels all around, and the company managed to remove its bottom bezel completely.

That bottom bezel is as thin as the top bezel, its almost non-existent, and it makes the phone more proportional. Its side bezels are not even visible as the display is curved quite a bit.

The Huawei P40 Pro wont have a chin, but it will have a large camera hole

What kind of messes up the bezel-less impression is that pill-shaped camera hole. That hole is placed in the top-left corner of the phones display, and its difficult not to notice.

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There is probably a reason why Huawei opted to include two cameras here, and not one, but one would definitely be less intrusive. Consumers have proven that they dont care about that as much, so it probably wont bother the vast majority of them.

This image popped up on Weibo, and it confirms previously-leaked renders, like the one weve shared. The Huawei P40 Pro will be made out of metal and glass, though as special edition ceramic variant will also be launched.

This handset will launch alongside the Huawei P40 and P40 Pro PE (ceramic edition), at the end of March. The company will host its very own press conference in Europe.

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We still do not know if the Huawei P40s chin will be as the one on the P40 Pro, but well see. The Huawei P40 flagship series will be fueled by the Kirin 990 SoC, which supports 5G connectivity.

All three phones will include Leicas lenses, and quite a few cameras on the back. The P40 Pro and P40 Pro PE (if that ends up being its name) will include a more powerful camera setup on the back, though.

The Huawei P40 series will not include Google services

Those two phones will ship with a periscope camera on the back, amongst other sensors. All three devices will ship with Android 10, but without Google services (GMS). Huawei will pre-install its alternative called HMS. This is all happening because of the US ban that was issued, so Huawei cannot pre-installed Googles services at this point.

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The Huawei P40 Pro will probably include 12GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of internal storage. It remains to be seen if it will launch in both 4G and 5G variants, or just 5G.

It will be interesting to see what will Huawei be able to do without GMS on its phones. The company has been coping really well thus far, but 2020 will be a real indicator for them. It is possible that the ban will be lifted at some point, though.

Huaweis exec did recently say that the company will not include GMS on its phones even if that happens, but the company quickly backtracked on that, setting the record straight.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP MP Parvesh Verma on Monday faced Opposition ire in the Lok Sabha over their controversial remarks with the Congress creating ruckus in the House demanding for lodging of a case against Thakur for exhorting participants of a poll rally in the national capital to raise shoot the traitors slogan.

The Opposition members including those of the Congress and the DMK also staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha in protest as Verma, was barred by the Election Commission last week from campaigning for four days for his controversial remarks against anti-CAA protesters at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, rose from his seat to initiate a debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address.

Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs who too was barred by the poll panel last week from participating in poll campaigns for 72 hours, was confronted by the Opposition with slogan 'goli marna band karo (stop shooting bullets)'.

The Opposition members began protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), national population register (NPR) and national register of citizens (NCR) plan soon after the House assembled for the day. They raised their pitch whenever Thakur stood up to give a reply to the questions pertaining to his ministry.

Targetting Thakur for his controversial remarks, Congress' leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the government cannot silence people's "boli" (voice) with "goli (bullets)."

They are fake Hindus. Had they been real Hindus, people would not have been gunned down, Chowdhury said targetting the treasury benches in an apparent reference to the various incidents of violence, police crackdown on anti-CAA protesters and death of several people in police firing in some of the States including Uttar Pradesh.

Verma, while initiating a debate, slammed the Congress for its opposition to the CAA. He also accused the Congress of indulging in vote bank politics.

"They should know that it is not Rajiv Feroze Khan government, it is Narendra Modi's government. We will not take back CAA. It is a question of the country's integrity. If opposition members chant 'Jai Shri Ram', their sins will be washed off, the BJP MP said.

Raising raised the incidents of violence against the anti-CAA protesters, Congress' Gaurav Gogoi trained guns at the BJP government, alleging that the "political masters at the top" had given directions to the minister to make inflammatory speeches.

In front of the Delhi Police, a boy fired on the people. They think that they can rule like dictators and make such speeches. It is unfortunate. The minds of young people are being polluted, the Congress leader said, asking the government to talk about the real problems of poverty, unemployment, and inequality, instead of dividing people on communal lines for votes.
Theres a photo of Penny Cousard that Kristine Kane cites as her favourite memory of her late friend.

The picture shows Cousard sitting outside while waiting for the Port Credit Canada Day parade to start wearing a clear poncho, a Canada flag and a red and white umbrella hat with a smile from ear to ear.

Thats just typical of her. She was a Port Credit supporter through and through, said Kane, chair of the Tim Hortons Southside Shuffle, one of the many events and organizations Cousard volunteered for in Mississauga. She really was a treasure.

Cousard was killed in a hit and run in Lakeview on Friday. A 56-year-old Mississauga man has been charged in connection with her death.

The 45-year-old was operating her electric mobility scooter in a bike lane along Dixie Road when she was struck by a car.

Kane remembered her friend's love for animals and how anytime she was outside and saw a dog, she would have to stop and pet it and learn its name.

As a longtime volunteer with the Southside Shuffle, Cousard served mostly in the volunteer tent, helping volunteers register and giving them goodie bags.

She was also assigned to work in ticket and merchandise sales and anywhere else where she would be counted on to interact with people a lot.

I believe one of the reasons she got involved in volunteering was to become more outgoing, Kane said. We certainly noticed each year she was more and more outgoing and just needed to be around people.

Cousard also lent her efforts to other volunteer opportunities, including The Compass food bank and other festivals in Port Credit.

Trish Trapani, market manager with The Compass, knew Cousard for seven years and said she was always a pleasure to have around.

Upon hearing the news of Cousards death, Kane said the Southside Shuffle board of directors got together and thought of some ways to honour her.

They plan on naming the festivals volunteer tent Pennys Place as well as approaching city council about the possibility of naming the bike lane on which she died Penny Lane.

Kane said a celebration of life is also planned for Cousard on Sunday, Feb. 23, during local band Chuck Jackson and The All-Stars weekly performance at Roc n Docs, 105 Lakeshore Rd. E, from 4:30-8:30 p.m.

Iain Colpitts is a reporter for Mississauga News and Brampton Guardian. Reach him via email: icolpitts@mississauga.net

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Malawi Constitutional Court on Monday annulled the May 2019 presidential vote that declared Peter Mutharika a winner.

The electoral commission declared Mutharika winner despite complaints of irregularities including results sheets with sections blotted out or altered with correction fluid. Police also fired tear gas at protesters while the government accused the opposition of attempting to overthrow Mutharika by force.

In a unanimous decision on Monday, a panel of five judges ordered that a new presidential vote be held within 150 days.

It is almost impossible to have an election free of irregularities, said Justice Healey Potani, who headed the panel.

However, in the present matter our finding is that the anomalies and irregularities have been so widespread, systematic and grave that the integrity of the result was seriously compromised, and cant be trusted as the will of voters of the May 21, 2019, election.

The court described the conduct of the electoral commission as very lacking and demonstrated incompetence.

This is the first election to be legally challenged since Malawis independence in 1964.

Outside the court proceedings, backers of Mr Mutharikas Democratic Progressive Party often mentioned reports of international observers, which were largely favorable, as evidence that he won the vote fairly.

Since the disputed results were announced last May, there have been regular anti-government protests. Some of these have resulted in looting and the destruction of property, including government offices.
(Newser)  The first lady of the small southern African country of Lesotho is due to be charged with murder on Wednesday, with the BBC reporting Maesaiah Thabane is accused of killing her husband's previous wife. Two days before Thomas Thabane began his second term as prime minister, the wife he was in the process of divorcing was shot dead. He referenced Lipolelo Thabane's "senseless" death at his inauguration, which now-current-wife Maesaiah Thabane attended with him. They married two months later. The Independent notes that two years prior to Lipolelo Thabane's murder, a court ruled that she was indeed the first lady despite being estranged from her husbandmeaning she had access to the chauffeured car and security that came with the position.

story continues below

The AP reports Maesaiah Thabane, 42, fled the country on Jan. 10 and reportedly entered neighboring South Africa; an arrest warrant was issued for her that same day. A police rep says her lawyers worked with law enforcement, and she turned herself in on Tuesday. The BBC reports 8 others are said to be facing the same charge. Thomas Thabane was himself questioned by police in January "over the alleged use of his mobile phone to communicate with whoever was at the scene of the killing," per the AP. He has said he will step down but has not provided a date for doing so. (Read more Lesotho stories.)
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

For the third straight quarter, U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan raised $1 million in his quest to replace fellow Democrat Tom Udall in the U.S. Senate.

Lujan  who represents the 3rd Congressional District  has raised more than $3.5 million during the campaign, which was almost a million more than any other congressional candidate in New Mexico. Democratic U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small raised $2.6 million in the 2nd Congressional District race.

Lujan had more than $2 million cash on hand entering 2020, according to his Federal Election Commission filings.

Ben Ray is connecting with New Mexicans from across the state at record levels, said Lujans campaign manager, Brad Elkins. It is clear there is a grass-roots army of families, communities, and working New Mexicans excited to elect Ben Ray to the Senate so he can champion New Mexican values.

The top Republican fundraiser for 2019 was former Trump administration official and ex-New Mexico State University professor Gavin Clarkson, who raised almost $253,000 in the final quarter for more than $565,600 for the year. He had more than $134,000 cash on hand. Anti-abortion advocate Elisa Martinez reported raising almost $155,000 since announcing her bid during the last quarter. She had more than $68,000 cash on hand. Albuquerque contractor Mick Rich raised almost $46,000 to raise his total to almost $137,000. He had almost 98,000 cash on hand.

Democrat Andrew Perkins did not announce his candidacy until late December and had no filing listed. Former KRQE meteorologist Mark Ronchetti, businessman Louie Sanchez and former Reagan administration official Rick Montoya  all Republicans  announced bids in January.

Lujans campaign reported more than $861,000 in individual contributions during the quarter, and more than $138,000 in political action committee money. He reported more than $1 million in contributions of $200 or less.

Clarksons campaign reported more than $251,000 in individual donations and $1,000 in PAC money. His campaign reported more than $173,000 in contributions of $200 or less.

For a grass-roots candidate whos never served in elected office before, Clarkson said, the quarter-million mark is a major milestone. It means well have the resources to get our message of Energy to Empower New Mexico to the conservative voters who will decide the Republican primary.

Martinez did not report receiving any PAC funding. Her campaign received almost $92,000 in contributions of $200 or less.

Elisa Martinez is the only candidate in this Senate race who has taken on the radical Democrats and won, Martinezs campaign manager Ryan Lynch said. Just like her victory defeating the abortion up to birth bill in Santa Fe, Elisa has engaged the grass roots and quickly amassed a network of small donors from across the nation. These grass-roots donors will enable us to beat Ben Ray Lujan and Pelosis Democrat fundraising machine.

Rich did not report PAC money for the quarter, but his campaign did report $2,500 for the year. He received almost $2,900 in contributions of $200 or less.

In the last quarter of 2019, Mick focused on transitioning his company to ownership by his son, Jim, on strengthening his campaign team, and on getting out his message via a statewide poll and TV advertising, Richs campaign manager Mark Van Dyke said. We have substantial cash on hand, and were set to launch strongly out of the statewide convention into the primary campaign.
WASHINGTON  Before he defended the president, White Counsel Pat Cipollone spent years fighting for Christian expression in Connecticut.

Cipollone was one of the top lawyers representing the Trumbull Knights of Columbus in a 1995 case against the town of Trumbull that was appealed up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

From 1996 to 2001, Cipollone did legal work for the New Haven-based Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization and insurance company. He lived in Cheshire.

Since 2001, Cipollones legal work has reshaped its focus from religion to business to politics. Now, he is the lead lawyer defending Donald J. Trump, the fourth U.S. president to be impeached. He has spent hours in the U.S. Senate chamber arguing and strategizing in favor of Trumps acquittal.

Hes well-known and respected in legal circles, said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. We probably see eye-to-eye on 1/100 of our politics.

A devoted Catholic, Cipollone, 53, is a founding member of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast and reportedly participates in the anti-abortion March for Life.

Cipollone grew up in New York and Kentucky, before attending Fordham University and the University of Chicago Law School. He clerked for a judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Kentucky and then worked as a speechwriter for U.S. Attorney General William Barr, when Barr was attorney general in the George Bush administration.

Then, Cipollone joined the law firm Kirkland and Ellis in Washington, D.C. It was working for Kirkland and Ellis that Cipollone joined the Trumbull case.

In the 1980s and 1990s, each year at holiday time, the Trumbull Town Green hosted a decorated Christmas tree and a menorah. In 1993, the Knights of Columbus sought to add a creche to the display.

The towns first selectman denied the display because the permit application came too late. The next year, the Knights of Columbus tried again. They were awarded a permit, but then 11 days before Christmas, the town revoked the permit noting the creche was religious content.

Two days later, the Knights filed suit with U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut challenging the towns decision. Shortly before Christmas, the District Court denied the Knights motion.

Cipollone argued before the District Court on behalf of the Knights of Columbus, said Martin Margulies, professor of law emeritus at Quinnipiac University, who represented the town of Trumbull in the case. Margulies met Cipollone in the office of the Trumbull town attorney.

He struck me as a self-righteous little prig, whose self-imposed mission was forcing his religion on other people, Margulies said.

One day after the District Courts denial, the Knights of Columbus appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which also promptly denied their case. The Knights of Columbus then brought their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the early 1990s, the Supreme Court was wrestling with several cases regarding religious expression in public spaces. In late June 1995, the Supreme Court ruled that members of the Ku Klux Klan could place an unattended cross on the lawn of the Capitol Square in Columbus, Ohio at Christmas time.

Margulies said lawyers on both sides of the Trumbull case filed amicus briefs in the Ohio case.

The Ohio decision caused the Trumbull case to be remanded to the lower courts, which then supported the Knights right to place a creche on the green.

After the Trumbull case concluded, Cipollone took a job with the Knights of Columbus in New Haven as assistant supreme advocate in 1996. In 1998, he was added to the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors (Cipollone no longer holds this position). In 1999, he was made supreme advocate and general counsel of the Knights of Columbus. He left their employ in 2001.

With his wife Rebecca, Cipollone lived in Cheshire from 1997 to 2002, town land records show. The Cipollones have 10 children.

Cipollone then left Connecticut to rejoin Kirkland and Ellis and then take a position with corporate litigators Stein, Mitchell, Beato and Missner in Washington, D.C. Cipollone has been known in D.C. legal circles for years, before he joined the Trump administration.

Blumenthal spoke with Cipollone briefly before the start of the Senate trial on the first day of the Senate impeachment trial on Jan. 21.

Hes not a social friend, but Ive run into him professionally, said Blumenthal.

Blumenthal and Cipollone did not know each other when Cipollone worked and lived in Connecticut, Blumenthal said.

Cipollone advised Trump in an outside role during presidential debates in 2016 and then during Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation. Trump hired him as White House Counsel in December 2018.

Now, Cipollone is heading up of Trumps legal team that has spent the past two weeks arguing for the presidents acquittal in the Senate. He made headlines last week when House Democrats informed Cipollone they believed he was a material witness to the presidents actions toward Ukraine and he should disclose what events he has first-hand knowledge of to reveal any conflicts of interest in his arguments. The White House shrugged off this challenge and Cipollone has continued his work on the case without such disclosures.

But on Friday, Cipollone role in the Ukraine campaign gained new attention after more of the manuscript of former National Security Adviser John R. Boltons book was leaked. The New York Times reported Boltons book says Cipollone participated in a May meeting in which Trump told Bolton to ensure Ukraine would meet with his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to discuss the investigations Trump wanted.

House impeachment managers discussed this development in their closing arguments Friday, advocating in favor of Boltons testimony to the Senate.

Cipollone has had fewer minutes at the Senate podium than some other lawyers on the presidents team, like his deputy Patrick Philbin. But Cipollone took the star spot when concluding the White Houses opening arguments Tuesday. He urged Senators to quickly end the trial.

You know what the right answer is in your heart, Cipollone said. You know what the right answer is for your country. You know what the right answer is for the American people.
BEAR LAKE  While the multi-billion dollar publishing industry may rely upon their female readership as both a prime demographic and most reliable group of consumers, studies suggest that female authors  particularly indigenous women and those of color  face significant hurdles in pursuit of their writing career.

Heather Doran, the founder of Michigan Literary Arts Association (MLAA), seeks to disrupt these trends in publishing with a new initiative designed to empower female authors, starting with roots in northern Michigan.

We want to challenge the status quo and we want to invite women and women of color and indigenous women, people who arent straight, people who are differently-abled; we want people who normally dont get these kind of opportunities to come in and have a chance to be published by one of the big five, Doran said.

She envisions Bear Lake as the epicenter of this movement, with long-term plans to develop a peer-reviewed residency program which will be housed within the rural lakeside community.

Wed really like to see this organization come into Manistee County in the Bear Lake area, she said. Even though were in a rural area, along US 31, the whole corridor is filled with arts organizations, a couple of which are at the international level so I dont think we would be out of place coming in between Traverse (City) and Manistee.

Doran has begun surveying Bear Lake area properties and has established ties with several of the regions most prominent arts and literature institutions. She anticipates MLAA will become incorporated within the next few weeks and will be applying for 501(c)(3) status shortly thereafter.

We are in talks with the Ramsdell (Regional Center for the Arts) and the Vogue (Theatre) to host a community read authors series, she said.

If all goes according to plan, MLAA will host Hugo and Nebula-award winning author Rebecca Roanhorse for the inaugural event.

Wed like it to go beyond Manistee; were going to be approaching libraries in adjoining counties to see if they want to participate, Doran said.

Once a campus is established, Doran anticipates running three interconnected programs which will prioritize access for women of color and indigenous women.

AUTHORS IN RESIDENCY

MLAA intends to host a competitive, peer-reviewed residency program, open to women who have yet to be published or are having difficulty launching their second book.

The program will be open to English-language authors as well as performative writers such as playwrights and screenwriters, Doran said.

We want to have it where women who are not yet published, dont have an agent, or maybe are on their second book and are having trouble would have a residency where people can come in, have a few years to work on their book; work on getting an agent; work on whatever they need to, she said. Theyll be given the time and space where it doesnt cost them any money and they arent having to worry about their bills so they can focus entirely on their writing.

According to Doran, the MLAA residency program will focus on mentorship. Resident authors will be paired with established writers while spending time each summer to mentor teens.

Established authors will be invited to stay for short-term residencies of up to eight months, and both residents and authors will be asked to hold at least one community reading, lecture or workshop during their time on campus, MLAA materials state.

TEEN SUMMER WRITING CAMP

The summer camp will be open to teenage girls, grades 8-11 who attend school in Michigan. Each girl will work to create writing samples for the Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Competition, the winner of which receives a full tuition scholarship to attend Interlochen Arts Academy.

Participants in the Teen Summer Writing Camp will receive guidance from mentors in residence in what MLAA documents describe as a safe space to grow as a writer, learn how to critique someone elses work, and build a network that provides feedback and support beyond the camp.

TEEN AUTHOR TOUR

Each autumn, resident mentors will be invited to participate in a statewide tour, intended to introduce Michigan High School students to women authors. Authors will be scheduled to visit multiple sites as well as be a part of an on-campus MLAA panel that kicks off the tour, according to MLAA materials.

To achieve her goal of establishing an MLAA campus along the US 31 corridor, Doran has begun a marketing and fundraising campaign with the hashtag #DisruptPublishing. In addition to charitable donations, MLAA is looking for additional volunteers to join the organization's board.

More information on the MLAA can be found on Facebook and Twitter at MichLitArts. Donations can be made via the group's GoFundMe, at www.gofundme.com/f/DisruptPublishing.
Historically, women have been underrepresented in the list of patented inventors. The proportion of female inventors in all fields was between 2% to 3% before 1965. However, since then, the number of women inventors has been growing at an accelerated pace. The proportion of women inventors on the planet almost doubled from 1998 (6.8%) to 2017 (12.7%). A study conducted by the Institute-for-womens-Policy-Research estimated that by 2010 less than 20% of all the patents listed at least 1 female inventor. In 2018, women inventors were associated with about 13.07% of all patent applications. Regardless of the growth, the number of female inventors on the planet still lagged behind the number of women who graduated with math, engineering, technology, and science degrees in 2015.

Russia stood out among the countries with the most patent applications in the last 20 years, with about 17% of all the patent applications in the country featuring a female inventor. Conversely, less than 1 application in every 20 applications included a woman inventor. The imbalance is caused by the low number of women interested in careers in mathematics, engineering, science, and technology fields. Despite the many campaigns to attract women in these fields, the number of women working in these fields is still very low.

Fields With The Highest Number Of Female Inventors

Over two-thirds of the patents, applications come from individual male inventors or a team of male inventors, while only 6% of the total patent applications come from individual female inventors. Female teams own about 0.3% of the global patent applications. Most women inventors are the only females in predominantly male-teams. Some of the fields with the highest number of female inventors include Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical patents. About 53% of the biotechnological patents and 52% of all the pharmaceutical patents have at least one female inventor. In electrical engineering, only 10% of the patents feature a woman inventor.

Challenges Faced By Women Inventors Before The Mid-20th Century

Before the twentieth century, women, particularly married women, were denied rights to enter into contracts, earn salaries, own properties (including patents), and learn the knowledge and technical skills that would lead to successful inventions. These restrictions made it impossible for women to invent anything or if they did, be credited for their inventions. In the United States, most patented inventors were men until 1809 when Mary Kies Dixon became the first American woman to get a patent. Dixon invented a new way of weaving straws using thread and silk to create hats. However, most female inventors like Margaret Knight had to rely on the court to prove that she was indeed the one who invented the machine for manufacturing 1,000flat-bottomed grocery bags per day. Apparently, Charles Annan obtained a patent after seeing Knights prototype. Margaret had to produce copious drawings and designs for her prototype before the court could award her the patents for the invention.

Another female inventor who turned to the court to get her patent is Susan Hibbard. In 1874 Hibbard invented the feather duster; however, she had to turn to the court to stop her husband from obtaining a patent for her invention. Even though the details of the case are quite vague, reports show that Susans husband was unable to recite the critical features of Susans design before the court. Susan was awarded her patent on May 30, 1876. An excellent example of a woman inventor who was not recognized for her inventions was Catharine Greene. Catharine did not get proper recognition for her contribution to the design of cotton-gin, which was patented in 1794 by Eli Whitney.

Women Inventors After The Mid-20th Century

Everything changed in the mid-twentieth century when new professional and educational opportunities for females emerged. Before the mid-1900s, females were excluded from studying science, engineering, mathematics, and technology. Women had few opportunities to get employment in the fields that could result in patentable inventions. If obtaining a patent was almost impossible, then commercializing their invention was also quite difficult. Several banks denied women loans before the mid-twentieth century. Without capital to commercialize their inventions, the patent was just a piece of paper. Several women struggled to overcome the stigma of females in businesses before the mid-twentieth century and win over retailers, manufacturers, and investors.

Despite the challenges, there are several successful female inventors in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Bette Graham Nesmith managed to invent and commercialize Liquid-Paper-correction fluid in the 1950s. Bettes invention was a solution to the issue of retyping an entire page just because of typos. After observing painters covering their mistake with another layer of paint, she decided to create a paint-based mixture that she could use to cover her typing mistakes. Graham managed to set up her company, which she sold in 1980 to Gillette Corporation.

Another successful female inventor who was listed as one of the most influential people in 2012 by Time magazine was Sara Blakely. Sarah is famous for her pantyhose-undergarment invention, which is known as Spanx. Sarahs idea was turned down by most hosiery mills based in North California since they did not see any value in her invention. Blakelys invention became popular after Oprah Winfrey named it as a Favorite-Thing in November 2000. Blakely earned $4million from sales during the first year. She signed a contract with QVC (a home-shopping channel) in 2001 and managed to sell 8,000spanx within the first 6minutes of operation. Forbes Magazine named Blakely and the youngest, self-made female-billionaire in 2012. In 2014, Forbes listed her as the ninety-third most powerful woman on the planet.

Countries With The Highest Proportion Of Female Inventors

According to research published by the United Kingdoms Intellectual-Property-Office, a huge percentage of the patents on the planet are filled by male inventors. The study focused on the gender profiles in a global patent filing from 1998 to 2017. The research confirmed that over the last 20years, the number of female patent applicants has started improving. In the U.K. and the U.S., the proportion of women inventors who applied for patents between 1998 and 2017 stood at 9.44% and 10.04%. However, some nations, particularly from Africa, have a higher proportion of female patented inventors. Africa was represented by 5 countries in the top-10 list. Togo (57.14%) had the highest percentage of female patent inventors on the planet, followed by Uganda (44.55%). According to the United Kingdoms Intellectual-Property Office, there were more patented women inventors than men in Togo from 1998 to 2017. Other African countries with the most women inventors include Liberia (38.89%), Rwanda (37.5%), and Botswana (35.71%). The United States and the UK did not feature in the top-100 list of nations with the most female inventors.

The Future Of Women Inventors

There is no doubt that all inventions that advance the production of new technologies from any gender are crucial. Conversely, women have been underrepresented in this area for the last few centuries. However, with technology ever-changing, obtaining patents has become more critical than ever. By instilling women with confidence and advising them to take credit for their idea, the number of women inventors can continue growing. With the number of female students pursuing STEM-centered education increasing, most women are exposed to fields with patent-worthy inventions that can benefit them in the future. Therefore, the number of female inventors will increase. Unlike in the past, when the world did not appreciate women inventors, modern inventors are recognized. It is easier for female inventors to get patents for their inventions and also sell their products or get an investor. Technology has made it possible for inventors to be recognized globally.
African American people may physically experience pain more intensely than their white and Latinx counterparts due to different activity levels in their brain, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the University of Miami found that black study participants rated the level of pain they experienced from a heating thermometer up to five-times higher than other participants.

It's not the first time this difference has been documented, but the research team suspected there was a physiological reason for this too, so they looked to the brain.

They found that two things predicted how black people would respond to a white lab attendant in his 30s increasingly inflicting pain upon them (via heat): activity in a brain network involved in the subjective experience of pain, and a history of discrimination.

Differences in neurological activity may explain why African Americans experience pain more intensely than white or Latinx people, a controversial study suggests

To test their theory, the research team recruited study participants, including 30 white people, 30 Latinx people and 28 black people (about half of each group was male).

In order to test pain perception they placed four thermodes - heating devices - along each person's forearms.

The lab tech then gradually increased the heat emitted by the thermodes up to about 118 degrees F.

While this experiment was underway, the researchers also monitored the brain activity of each participant using a functional MRI scanner (fMRI).

They also asked the participants to rate their 'pain' and the 'unpleasantness' of the sensation on a scale from one to 100.

On average, the African Americans in the group rated pain about five points higher than their white or Latinx peers.

And the heat was an average of nine points more unpleasant to the black group members.

Ahead of the experiment, the participants were also asked question about their personal histories, including their experience of discrimination

Those who reported enduring greater discrimination also rated their pain and unpleasantness levels higher than those who had lived relatively untouched by racism and other forms of prejudice.

Pain is well known to have both objective and subjective components, and is notoriously difficult to measure for this reason (which, in turn, creates many issues in prescribing correct dosages of painkillers to adequately treat pain without inducing euphoria and addiction).

In neurological terms, we have a so-called 'pain matrix' in the brain, comprised of the anterior cingulate cortex, the thalamus and the insula.

Participants had consistent brain activity in the portions of this matrix thought to be involved in the 'objective' experience of pain.

But the racial groups had different activity signatures in the parts of the brain believed to mediate the subjective experience of pain, which involves how painful we expect something to be, how powerless we feel to stop it, and how indefinite we believe this pain will be.

And black participants showed greater activity in these areas of their brains - namely, the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which are involved in the brain's higher, executive functions - especially so if they'd suffered discrimination throughout their lives.

Correspondingly, those with increased activity and a greater history of discrimination were more likely to distrust the lab worker more and more as their pain intensified.

'Our findings of neural differences related to sociocultural factors are in line with a growing literature in cultural neuroscience,' the study authors wrote in the journal, Nature Human Behavior.

'This literature has demonstrated differences in brain function underlying cultural variation in a variety of social and cognitive domains including emotion processing, perception of the self and others, sensory perception and attention.'

They added that they hoped their research might help debunk long-held, racist and dangerous assumptions about how black people experience pain.

'Our findings also provide important evidence against the counterfactual and damaging view held by both clinicians and lay people that [African Americans] are less sensitive to pain than [White Americans],' they wrote.
YEREVAN.  I definitely share the concern of the PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia that there is a great tension between the staff of the two institutions - the Constitutional Court and the Prime Minister's staff - in Armenia. Ruben Rubinyan, head of the Armenian delegation to PACE and member of the majority My Step faction, said this at today's meeting with reporters in the National Assembly.

"I think this is not normal," he added. I also think that this is a result of the fact that the Constitutional Court President has made numerous political statements that are of an opposition nature. That is, the Constitutional Court President, who should not be involved in politics, actually makes political statements. I also find it important that the co-rapporteurs note that trust in the judiciary in Armenia is very low. They note that to date the National Assembly and the government have tried to resolve the situation by adhering to legal procedures. The co-rapporteurs also noted that the mechanism for voluntary early retirement of judges has received a positive conclusion from the Venice Commission, and that they will follow the process of its implementation, which is very important. They point out that the purpose of introducing a voluntary early retirement mechanism, namely to maintain the spirit of the Constitution adopted in 2015, is justified. That is to say, in my interpretation, the spirit of the Constitution is in fact violated.

In addition, the co-rapporteurs noted that this tension should not disrupt the already ongoing or planned reforms, which is also important." Rubinyan added that this issue will be resolved as soon as possible.

As for the statement of President Gianni Buquicchio of the Venice Commission, Rubinyan said: He also expresses concern about this tension. Mr. Buquicchio also reminds the Venice Commission's opinion that the early retirement mechanism should be truly voluntary and that judges should be free from any type of political or personal pressure. I consider this important because, prior to this announcement, Justice Minister Rustam Badasyan had stated that various circles are applying various pressures in order to hold back the judges who can benefit from early retirement from that idea. In fact, a few days after that, there is a statement by the Venice Commission president that this is wrong, there should be no pressure on the judges. I also share Mr. Badasyan's concern."

And to the question whether there is no pressure on the serving Constitutional Court judges, he responded: I do not know any case of pressure from the authorities. If you know, say it."
Changing global environment calls for fiscal, taxation reform



A new tax called the "digital tax" will likely be introduced in two or three years. Last weekend, 137 countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Korea, held a meeting on the prevention of tax avoidance by multinational corporations and agreed on the outline of the digital tax. Their agreement tore down the time-honored principle of international taxation, which had exempted businesses from paying corporate taxes in countries where they have no "permanent establishments."



The rule will affect not only IT giants such as Google and Facebook but also global manufacturers, heralding numerous repercussions. At the meeting, the U.S. delegates went all out to ease the burden on American companies by including global manufacturers as targets of the new tax, which in turn sent sparks to large Korean exporters, including Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor. If the large enterprises have to pay the digital tax to foreign governments, it will inevitably reduce the revenue of the Korean government.



It is difficult to estimate the exact amount of revenue loss because the precise method of imposing the digital tax has not been decided on yet. However, it has become urgent for the Korean government to rebuild the domestic tax system in keeping with the rapidly changing environment of international taxation. In this process, Seoul should refrain from making up for possible revenue loss by raising already high corporate tax rates.



Instead, Korea needs to conduct an across-the-board review of its primary tax items, including value-added tax and income tax. Korea's VAT rate stands at 10 percent, not high compared to France (20 percent) and Germany (19 percent). Also, as the government exempts low-income workers from paying income taxs, tax payments by the top 1 percent of wealthy individuals accounted for 41.8 percent of income tax contributions in 2017.



Along with rectifying the distorted taxation, the government should also reform its fiscal structure. The Moon Jae-in administration has long abandoned the unwritten rule of maintaining budget deficits to within 3 percent of GDP, and raised it to 3.9 percent. It ought to refrain from expanding welfare benefits for the public recklessly based on populism. This is imperative to prevent any further aggravation of fiscal soundness.






04/02/2020 The Tanaiste, Simon Coveney and the Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, , set out Fine Gaels economic and tax plans. Photo Garrett White / Collins Agency

TANAISTE Simon Coveney has said there is no question mark over Taoiseach Leo Varadkars future - despite polls showing the Fine Gael could be on course for its worst-ever election result.

Mr Coveney was speaking after the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll but Fine Gael on 20pc, in third place behind Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail.

A Red C poll for the Sunday Business Post published at the weekend put the party on 21pc. On these numbers Fine Gael is headed for a worse result than the 2002 general election where it won 23pc of the vote and took just 31 seats triggering the immediate resignation of Michael Noonan as party leader.

There is no question mark over Leo Varadkar's leadership," Mr Coveney said today.

"We intend on turning things around in the last few days of this campaign and I think that Leo Varadkar is well capable of doing that.

Mr Coveney, who was beaten by Mr Varadkar to the Fine Gael leadership three years ago, was speaking alongside Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe at a campaign event where they outlined the dangers of voting for Fianna Fail or Sinn Fein in this election.

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Mr Coveney launched a major attack on Sinn Fein, and asked whether people wanted Sinn Fein in London making Ireland's case and described them as a member of the communist party in the European Parliament.

The brand of politics practiced by Sinn Fein is built on discontent and division - feeding and encouraging undercurrents of anger. There is always a them and us in Sinn Fein politics. They line up Irish people against other Irish people, he said.

When challenged on the fact he had worked with and indeed praised Sinn Feins work to restore the Stormont institutions, the Tanaiste said Northern Ireland is an entirely different political reality to the Republic.

I dont Northern Ireland and the approach and politics and parties capacity to work together is the same," he said.

He said Sinn Fein in the south is based on protest, fuelling discontent and driving people apart.

Mr Donohoe meanwhile launched a broadside at Fianna Fails policies, saying they were a straight re-run of their greatest flops of the past.

He cited its SSIA scheme for first-time buyers and its proposal to cut capital gains tax, saying it was a "tax cut for the rich
In response to a request from Benins Director General of Customs and Indirect Taxation, the World Customs Organization (WCO) organized a National Workshop on the Time Release Study from 13 to 17 January 2020, with the aim of raising awareness and training the staff of Customs and other stakeholders for the performance of the first national Study.

In his opening address, the Director General of Customs and Indirect Taxation thanked the WCO Secretariat for responding favourably to his request for technical assistance, and asked participants to listen attentively to the informative presentations given by the WCO experts.

This Workshop, conducted in French by three experts from the WCO Secretariat and the Brazilian Customs Administration, was organized in the context of the implementation of the provisions (Article 7.6) of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), as well as a recommendation from a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) technical assistance mission to Benin. The Workshop was attended by more than forty individuals from the Customs Administration, other Government services operating at the border, and the private sector.

During the Workshop, the WCO experts gave presentations on the WCOs trade facilitation instruments and tools, the role of the WCO in the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) through the MERCATOR programme, the benefits of conducting a TRS, how to carry out the Study and map the procedures leading up to the removal of the goods, the national experiences of certain countries which have already carried out a TRS, and the use of the WCOs TRS software.

It is important to highlight the fact that the TRS enables countries to identify bottlenecks affecting the release of goods and then take corrective measures to address those bottlenecks.

The participants commended the quality of the presentations and exchanges during the Workshop, and appreciated the support offered to the Benin Customs Administration by the WCO. In particular, this Workshop enabled them to enhance their understanding of the WCOs TRS Guide and methodology. The Workshop resulted in the development of a draft mapping of the procedures leading up to the release of the goods, a draft survey questionnaire, and an Action Plan for the successful completion of a TRS in 2020. The WCO will continue to assist the Benin Customs Administration and support the implementation of this important activity.

During a closing address delivered by a representative of the Director General of Customs and Indirect Taxation, Benin reaffirmed its determination to conduct its first TRS in 2020.
Today on The Front Page Podcast, we talk about The Healing Circle, a support group for black women in Athens. We are joined by the groups founder Shawntell Pace and facilitator Tinesha Pelham. They speak about their perspective about black mental health and why they saw a need for a support group.
Washington (AFP) - White House lawyers concluded their defense of President Donald Trump at his historic Senate impeachment trial on Monday with a call for his acquittal of charges of abuse of power.

"The president has done nothing wrong," White House counsel Pat Cipollone told the 100 senators who will decide Trump's fate with a vote on Wednesday.

Cipollone denounced Trump's impeachment by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives as "purely partisan and political."

"We put our faith in the Senate," he said.

"End the era of impeachment once and for all," the White House counsel urged senators, by rejecting the two articles of impeachment.

Cipollone said the Senate should "leave the choice of the president to the American people."

"We believe that they should choose the president," he said. "(Trump) is eager to go before the American people in this upcoming election."

The Senate is to vote at 4:00 pm (2100 GMT) on Wednesday on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress and the Republican president is all but certain of being acquitted.

Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate to 47 for the Democrats, but a two-thirds majority, or 67 senators, is needed to remove a president from office.

cl/ec
Legendary Hollywood actor Brad Pitt has become more and more humorous lately. It could be because he is now single and ready to mingle and trying to joke his way to a lady's heart, or it could also be developed over time as he ages like wine.

During last month's Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, fans witnessed how the 56-year-old actor threw punchlines over punchlines during his acceptance speech after winning the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for the film "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood."

The iconic actor once again brought his humor game to the next level at the British Academy Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTAs), which was held at London's Royal Albert Hall last Sunday.

Pitt once again won the Best Supporting Actor award for his portrayal of Clifford Booth in the same movie. Although Brad was not able to personally accept his trophy, he managed to deliver his message through fellow actor Margot Robbie.

Robbie started reading Brad's speech saying: "Hey Britain. Heard you just became single. Welcome to the club! Wishing you the best for the divorce settlement, blah blah blah."

Brad expressed gratitude for the said award and called it an "extreme honor" and "especially meaningful." The actor also thanked the people behind the said film, particularly movie director Quentin Tarantino.

But what drew the most laugh was revealing the nickname that Brad gave for his BAFTAs trophy.

"Oh, and he says he's gonna name this Harry because he's really excited about bringing it back to the States with him," Robbie said. The camera immediately pans to Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, who is the guests of honor in the said awards show.

It looks like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took the joke lightly, as they could be seen laughing together with the rest of the crowd.

"His words, not mine. Thanks!" Robbie clarified before going down the stage.

But hey, the 37-year-old heir to the crown did not let the night slip without injecting his own choice of humor. During his speech, Prince William threw a funny shade at some TV series, which story revolves around the royal family.

"I am particularly proud to stand here tonight, having served as BAFTAs President for the last ten years," the Prince began.

"However, I must admit I don't know whether I should be proud, or slightly alarmed, about the number of winners over the last decade who have portrayed members of my own family," he added in reference to numerous royal family-inspired series like "The Crown," "The Favorite," and "The King's Speech."

Meanwhile, his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, is a total arm candy as she wowed everyone with her recycled gold and white Alexander McQueen gown. Kate Middleton previously wore the said gown back in 2012 for a state dinner in Malaysia.

The mother of three royals abided to the BAFTAs theme, encouraging attendees to incorporate the message of "sustainability" into their fashion choices for the award show.
Shootin' the Bull Swift Trading Company - 11 minutes ago Cattle were soft starting the week off. I am unsure why, but some of the excuses today have been employment issues related to Covid, and the varying stance on what to do about it.

Sugar Prices Under Pressure on Signs of Stronger Global Output Barchart - 1 hour ago March NY world sugar #11 (SBH22 ) on Monday closed down -0.22 (-1.22%), and March London white sugar #5 (SWH22 ) closed down -4.50 (-0.93%). Sugar prices on Monday extended their 3-week long decline, with... SBH22 : 17.83s (-1.22%) SWH22 : 481.30s (-0.93%)

Cocoa Prices Mixed on Strength in the British Pound Barchart - 1 hour ago March ICE NY cocoa (CCH22 ) on Monday closed up +10 (+0.40%), and March ICE London cocoa #7 (CAH22) closed down -7 (-0.41%). Cocoa prices on Monday settled mixed. Cocoa prices are underpinned by optimism... CCH22 : 2,521s (unch) CAH22 : 1,698s (-0.41%)

Sentiment Speaks: Are We Ready To Drop To 4400SPX? ElliottWaveTrader.net - 1 hour ago The market will likely be revisiting the 4400SPX region over the coming months, with the only question being if we can stretch to one more higher all-time high before we begin the pullback to 4400SPX.

AUDUSD Forecasting The Decline After Elliott Wave Double Three Pattern ElliottWave-Forecast - Mon Jan 10, 11:50AM CST Hello fellow traders. In this technical blog were going to take a quick look at the Elliott Wave charts of AUDUSD Forex Pair published in members area of the Elliottwave-Forecast . As our members know,... ^AUDUSD : 0.71746 (-0.05%)

Polygon (MATICUSD) Should See Further Downside Short Term ElliottWave-Forecast - Mon Jan 10, 11:48AM CST Polygon (formerly Matic Network, MATICUSD) is a Layer 2 scaling solution backed by Binance and Coinbase. The project seeks to stimulate mass adoption of cryptocurrencies by resolving the problems of scalability...

Corn Futures Red Out of Weekend Barchart - Mon Jan 10, 11:35AM CST Corn is trading weaker through midday coming out of the weekend back below $6. New crop futures are down 2 3/4 to 3 1/2 cents as well. Mexico booked 132k MT of corn via a large private sale. Of the total,... ZCH22 : 599-6s (-1.15%) ZCPAUS.CM : 5.8671 (-1.13%) ZCK22 : 601-2s (-1.07%) ZCZ21 : 588-6s (+0.77%) ZCPZ21US.CM : 5.7930 (-0.49%)
Pakistan's Parliament on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution expressing "unflinching and unwavering support" to the Kashmiri people and demanding India to reverse its decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

The National Assembly or lower house passed the resolution on the eve of what Pakistan observes as the Kashmir Solidarity Day on February 5 annually.

The resolution demanded India to immediately reverse its actions of August 5 and October 31, repeal the draconian laws, withdraw its forces and immediately lift lockdown in the valley, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Tensions between India and Pakistan have spiked since India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August last year.

India's decision evoked strong reactions from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian envoy. India has categorically told the international community that its move to scrap Article 370 of the Constitution revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was an internal matter and has also advised Pakistan to accept the reality.

The resolution reaffirmed Pakistan's consistent political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmir people and asked the UN Security Council to enforce a peaceful settlement of the issue in accordance with its resolutions.

The resolution asked India to immediately allow international organisations, parliamentarians and international media access to Kashmir so that they are able to record the human rights situation there.

It also called upon the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to immediately convene a special summit on Kashmir.

The resolution "totally rejected the belligerence and war mongering of BJP government", saying it poses threat to regional peace and stability.

It also expressed the "unshakeable resolve of Pakistani nation to thwart any Indian aggression.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
P assengers have been hailed heroes for stepping in to wrestle a gun from a shooter who opened fire on a packed Greyhound bus in California, killing one and injuring five others.

The suspect was disarmed and escorted off the bus after the driver pulled over as the shooting unfolded on board, authorities said. He was taken into custody and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

The motive for the gun attack on Monday was not immediately clear, and there was no indication the gunman knew any of the victims, said California Highway Patrol Sergeant Brian Pennings.

He said the actions of the driver and the passengers who disarmed the gunman were heroic but did not provide further details on what has been described as a seemingly random attack.

Investigators are seen outside of a Greyhound bus after a passenger was killed on board / AP

The driver of the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco bus pulled off onto the shoulder, where some of those aboard led the killer off the vehicle, and he was quickly taken into custody.

The driver continued on to the next exit as passengers performed first aid on the wounded, Sergeant Pennings said.

He said several ammunition magazines were discovered along with the gun.

Forty-three people were aboard the vehicle at the time of the shooting, including six and eight-year-old children, who were not hurt.

The bus was traveling on Interstate 5 near the small mountain community of Lebec, about 70 miles northwest of Los Angeles, when the passenger started shooting with a semi-automatic handgun.

The passenger who was killed was identified as a 51-year-old woman from Colombia.

A 45-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were in critical condition in hospital, a 39-year-old woman suffered major injuries, a 49-year-old man had moderate injuries and a 50-year-old woman had minor injuries, Sergeant Pennings said.
Australian mining giant BHP is doubling down on efforts to break the mining sector's acute gender imbalance and lack of diversity, broadening its push to the thousands of suppliers, contractors and consultants it works with worldwide.

New data reveals women hold just 17 per cent of the 200,000 mining jobs nationally, according to the federal government's Workplace Gender Equality Agency, making it the most male-dominated industry in Australia.

BHP is pushing for supplier partnerships to lift workforce inclusion and diversity across the business. Credit:Rob Homer

BHP has set a target for women to make up half of its 26,000 direct employees by 2025. Although having lifted female representation from 17.6 per cent to 24.5 per cent since 2016, the miner is tracking behind the pace of change it says is needed. BHP's female representation last year grew 2.1 percentage points, below its 3 per cent per year goal.

In a new publication circulated among companies BHP works with in its network of global supply partners this week, the miner is seeking to advance its push to drive for meaningful inclusion and diversity improvements across its indirect workforce and value chain. BHP's gender-balance goal applies to its direct employees, but it is encouraging contractors  which account for 60 per cent of its 72,000-strong workforce  to mirror the same balance.
Armenians stranded in China appealed to Armenias government on Tuesday to help evacuate them from the country coping with a new coronavirus that has killed more than 400 people.

According to the Foreign Ministry in Yerevan, an estimated 400 Armenian nationals lived in China before the outbreak of the deadly disease last month. Many of them taught English in Chinese schools and universities.

Ministry officials say that around 200 Armenians have returned home in the last ten days. Others have trouble following suit due to the absence of direct flights between the two countries and the dwindling number of Western, Russian and other airlines flying to China.

Several of them told RFE/RLs Armenian service that with classes and commercial activity in the country increasingly brought to a halt as part of Chinese government efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus, their employers have terminated their work contracts.

The roads are blocked, said Tatevik Martirosian, who has lived and worked in Chinas eastern Shandong province in the last few years. When we get to the airport we dont know whether or not well be able to board a plane. While staying here, we are spending our money and may end up having no money to fly back to Armenia.

Dear compatriots, we want to return home and are asking you to take measures to repatriate us, she added, speaking via a video link.

I want to return to Armenia but am unable to do that as there is no transport said Naira Grigorian, a teacher of a school in another eastern province, Jiangsu. The school management has told me to wait until February 15. But if this situation continues unabated after February 15 and we remain locked and out of work, then I think we will have a serious problem.

Anzhela Mikaelian, a resident of the central Chinese city of Xian, told a similar story. Many Armenian citizens are deciding to leave China without anyones advice  They are just unable to do that because many airlines have cancelled flights to China or reduced them to a minimum, she said.

Right now the only realistic way to get out of China is the Russian Aeroflot [airline] but there are problems with that as well, added the young woman. Not to mention the fact that air ticket prices are skyrocketing each day.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry said it is now exploring ways of evacuating these and other citizens. It urged the remaining Armenians to contact the Armenian Embassy in Beijing and check flight information before heading to nearby airports.
In order to answer the question about the life and work of the Metropolitan, to dispel all the Soviet myths created for decades, to expose false documents written by the NKVD (Peoples Commissariat of Internal Affairs) and the MGB (Ministry of State Security), it is important to write a complete, scientifically based biography of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky," Boris Lozhkin

At the end of January, Yad Vashem  Israels National Memorial of the Holocaust and Heroism  announced that it was ready to reconsider the case of recognizing Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Andrey Sheptytsky as the Righteous Among the Nations, if it received yet unknown documents and evidence, illuminating the activities of the Metropolitan in the period of the German occupation in a new light. This has been shared on his Facebook page by the President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine Boris Lozhkin.

According to him, that was the answer of Yad Vashem to the appeal of a group of Ukrainian scientists, the clergy, the public figures.

The Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and his brother Klymentiy personally saved about 200 Jews from death. They were harbored in the chambers of the Metropolitan, in the monasteries, in the church premises, in the factories. The Metropolitan could not order the monks to hide Jews but gave his personal example. The Metropolitans brother, Father Klymentiy Sheptytsky was recognized as the Righteous already in 1996, but the Metropolitan himself is still not, said Lozhkin.

The recognition of the Metropolitan as the Righteous among the Nations has been requested more than once  in particular, by the Jews saved by him Kurt Lewin, Adam Rotfeld, Lily Stern-Pohlmann and by numerous other researchers. This issue has been raised by the Jewish community of Ukraine, including the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine more than once. Rabbi David Kahane has been seeking this title for Andrey Sheptytsky since the 1960s, but the commissions response has always been negative. At the memorial ceremony dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the appeal was supported by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to Lozhkin, the problem is that the post-war Soviet power that captured the Western Ukraine did a good job of tarnishing the reputation of the local community leaders. The Metropolitan was accused of complicity with the Nazis; documents were falsified, which later allowed to start the mass arrests of the clergy  the Soviet Union did not need other local figures of authority, except for the party ones.

In order to answer the question about the life and work of the Metropolitan, to dispel all the Soviet myths created for decades, to expose false documents written by the NKVD (Peoples Commissariat of Internal Affairs) and the MGB (Ministry of State Security), it is important to write a complete, scientifically based biography of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky. This is the opinion of the modern UGCC (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), and this is also our opinion, of the Ukrainian Jews, who are grateful to the Metropolitan for every life he has saved. We hope that the answer provided by Yad Vashem will prompt the Ukrainian side to return to the study of the biography and heritage of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, emphasized the President of the JCU.
A teenage activist who was repeatedly arrested at Extinction Rebellion protests says he will no longer associate with the group because he believes their public disruptions don't work.

Connor Brooks, 19, faced a Brisbane court on Tuesday after he was arrested late last year for gluing himself to Victoria Bridge and in a separate protest, chaining himself to fencing on Eagle Street by the neck.

Caroline Hunter, the teenager's Legal Aid lawyer, said Brooks would no longer attend the protests as they 'weren't working', according to The Courier Mail.

Connor Brooks, 19, faced a Brisbane court on Tuesday after he was arrested during Extinction Rebellion protests

Brooks and a woman glued themselves to the street - but he said he will no longer take part in protests

'Your Honour, he has instructed, and certainly that would be supported by the fact that he hasn't continued to be charged further, that he realised that there are other ways to support what he sees as a very important message that don't involve getting arrested and he has to that end stopped going to meetings because he realises that it's not really working,' Ms Hunter said.

The journalism and environmental science university student was arrested on September 12 after he actions led to significant traffic delays, the court heard.

Brooks and a woman glued their hands to the bitumen and police needed to use acetone to remove them.

The part-time pizza delivery driver then tried to evade arrest.

He pleaded guilty to those offences today, as well as obstruction as a pedestrian charges on October 2.

On Tuesday the Brisbane Magistrates Court heard the teenager already had a criminal history after he refused to obey police on July 31 at a Extinction Rebellion protest.

Ms Hunter said her client had spent many hours in the watchhouse as a result of his arrests and had moved on to his second year of study.

Brooks was fined $1,000 for the charges and no conviction was recorded.
Conceptual Artist Lowry Burgess Reached For The Stars

As a pioneer and educator, he pushed the boundaries of technology while poetically investigating life on Earth

February 04, 2020

Professor Emeritus Lowry Burgess, former dean of the College of Fine Arts, passed away Tuesday, January 28, at his home in Melbourne, Florida. Burgess also was a Distinguished Fellow in the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, which he co-founded, and was one of the few pioneers of the Space Art movement. His School of Art and CFA family mourns the loss of a true trailblazer.

An internationally renowned artist, Lowry created the first art payload taken into outer space, which was carried aboard NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery in 1989. For nearly half a century, Burgess had also been a cornerstone of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art. He retired in 2017 but remained committed to art, space and Carnegie Mellon. During his time at CMU, Burgess helped shape how the university approached art education. His collaborative approach pushed contemporary artistic practice forward and helped shape generations of artists and thinkers.

"We will miss Lowry's unique insights, among many other traits that made him a treasured part of the School of Art and the College of Fine Arts," said Dan Martin, dean of the College of Fine Arts. "Our thoughts are with his family and friends, and we look forward to celebrating Lowry at a memorial service to take place in Pittsburgh later this year."

Burgess recognized diversity and depth of knowledge at CMU, and he looked beyond the typical confines of art, both in his own work and in his educational philosophy. He brought together seemingly disparate fields like visual art and computer science to encourage students to harness the power of technology to push art and human creativity in brand new directions.

Burgess was instrumental in leading a team of CMU students, faculty, and alumni, along with international artists, scientists, designers and engineers, to create Moon Ark, which will be carried to the moon as part of the Robotics Institute's competition for the Google Lunar XPrize. Like much of Burgess' artistic practice, this work pushed the boundaries of technology to outer space while creating a poetic examination of life on earth.

He also served as a Fellow, Senior Consultant, and Advisor at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) at MIT, where he created and directed large collaborative projects and festivals in the US and Europe. Among his many achievements, Burgess created and founded "First Night," the international New Year's arts festival. He originated the first "Art in the Subways" program for the Department of Transportation and has developed and advised on more than a dozen major city scale projects.

"There are very few artists who have accomplished the impossible," said Charlie White, head of CMU's School of Art, upon Burgess' retirement. "In his career, Lowry Burgess has achieved the impossible numerous times, from breaking the barriers between artists and scientists across academia to jettisoning the first artwork into outer space."

Burgess was educated at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the University of Pennsylvania and the Instituto Allende in San Miguel, Mexico. His artworks are currently held by museums and archives across the US and Europe, and he has exhibited widely in art and science museums in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan.

He has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Artists Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation and the Berkmann Fund. He received the Leonardo Da Vinci Space Art Award from the National Space Society. His book, "Burgess, the Quiet Axis" received the Imperishable Gold Award from Le Devoir in Montreal.
MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Galco Industrial Electronics, Inc. ("Galco" or the "Company"), an industrial electronic components distributor, announced it has been acquired by Freeman Spogli & Co. ("Freeman Spogli"), management and other investors. Galco's CEO, Mike Conwell, and the rest of the management team will continue to lead and operate the Company. Specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Madison Heights, Michigan, Galco is an e-commerce driven, maintenance, repair, and operations ("MRO") focused distributor of electronic industrial control and automation components. Founded in 1975, Galco specializes in hard-to-find products and offers greater than 3 million SKUs to more than 64,000 customers within the United States and internationally. In addition to product distribution, Galco offers a full-suite of customer services including custom engineered systems and both send-in and on-site repair.

"We are delighted to partner with Freeman Spogli to support the Company's next phase of growth," said CEO Mike Conwell. "Freeman Spogli's expertise in developing value-added distribution companies will be immensely valuable as we pursue multiple expansion opportunities and strategic initiatives over the years to come."

Jon Ralph, Partner at Freeman Spogli, added "We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Galco. Mike Conwell and the rest of the Galco management team have done a terrific job of building the business through partnerships with vendors within both existing and new product categories as well as through strategic acquisitions. We are excited to support Galco as long-term investors in the Company."

Freeman Spogli's legal counsel was Ropes & Gray LLP. Galco was advised by BB&T Capital Markets and its legal counsel was Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP. Madison Capital and BMO Harris provided the debt financing to support the acquisition.

About Galco

Headquartered in Madison Heights, Michigan, Galco is a leading e-commerce driven, MRO focused distributor of Industrial and Commercial Electrical and Electronic Control, Automation and Motion, Lighting, and Power Transmission Products. The Company specializes in hard-to-find products and offers greater than 3 million SKUs to more than 64,000 customers within the United States and internationally. Galco offers a full-suite of customer services including custom engineered systems and both send-in and on-site repair. For more information, please visit www.galco.com.

About Freeman Spogli & Co.

Freeman Spogli & Co. is a private equity firm dedicated exclusively to investing in and partnering with management in consumer and distribution companies in the United States. Since its founding in 1983, Freeman Spogli has invested over $4.8 billion in 64 portfolio companies with an aggregate transaction value of over $24 billion, and is currently making investments from FS Equity Partners VIII, L.P. Freeman Spogli has offices in Los Angeles and New York. For additional information, visit www.freemanspogli.com.

SOURCE Freeman Spogli & Co.

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Photo: Steijn Leijzer/Unsplash

Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis high schoolers travel to Des Moines to get out the caucus

Dozens of Minneapolis students, most of whom can't even cast a vote yet, were in Des Moines encouraging others to do their civic duty.

Read the full story on KARE11.

Bomb squad called to investigate suspicious package

According to a report, the items themselves were not of danger, but the fact the components were contained together and wrapped in an unconventional method elevated the concern.

Read the full story on CBS Minnesota.

Crews battle duplex fire

On arrival, fire crews discovered fire in the ceiling and heavy smoke billowing from the building.

Read the full story on KARE11.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Applications for tax credits for Town of Cheshire homeowners over 65 years of age and those totally disabled will be taken at the Assessors office in the Cheshire Town Hall from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. until May 15.

These programs consist of the following:

State of Connecticut Elderly Homeowners Program

This is a real estate tax credit program for homeowners who are at least 65 years of age as of Dec. 31, 2019 and meet certain income guidelines.

Those guidelines require that annual income for single people, including Social Security benefits, should not exceed $37,000. Married couples can be eligible if their income, including Social Security benefits, does not exceed $45,100. Applicants must bring all proof of their 2019 income, including a copy of their 2019 federal income tax return, if one is filed, and proof of Social Security income (Form 1099) for the 2019 calendar year. Also, the applicant must own and reside in the property for which tax relief is sought as of Oct. 1, 2019, or must hold a tenancy for life use of the property and be liable for the tax bill. This must be the applicants principal or legal residence.

Homeowners who are totally disabled, and dont qualify for the elderly homeowners program because they are under age 65 can apply. One must provide proof of their disability award letter from the Social Security Administration. Also, the same income guidelines established for the elderly homeowners program must be met.

Previous participants in this program will be required to refile their applications biennially and will be notified by mail of this refiling requirement. New applicants who think they qualify for this tax relief should inquire at the Assessors Office.

Town of Cheshire Local Elderly Tax Relief Program

In addition to the State of Connecticut property tax relief program, the Town of Cheshire has a local tax relief program.

This program currently provides three types of property tax relief for qualifying applicants. The first element of the program provides a tax credit for married couples whose income does not exceed $59,900 and single people whose income does not exceed $55,900. The second part of the program provides a tax deferral of up to 75 percent of taxes for married couples whose income does not exceed $45,100 and single people whose income does not exceed $37,000.

The third part of the program is the local elderly tax freeze. The income limits for this program are the same as they are for the deferral program. Applicants must be 70 years old as of Dec. 31, 2019.

Further details can be obtained from the Assessors office.

To qualify for these local tax relief programs, these income guidelines must be met as well as the age or disability criteria outlined in the above mentioned state programs. Applicants must bring all proof of their 2019 income, including a copy of their 2019 federal income tax return, if one is filed, and proof of Social Security income (Form 1099) for the 2019 calendar year. The application period for those interested in the Town program is now through May 15, 2020.

The Assessors Office is sending a representative to the Cheshire Senior Center to take applications for these programs on the following dates:

Thursday, March 5  9:30 a.m.  12 p.m.

Thursday, March 12  9:30 a.m.  12 p.m.

Thursday, March 19  9:30 a.m.  12 p.m.

Thursday, April 9  9:30 a.m.  12 p.m.

Thursday, April 23  9:30 a.m.  12 p.m.

If these dates are not convenient, you can still apply at the Assessors Office in the Town Hall, 84 South Main St., Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. until May 15.

For more information, contact the Assessors Office at (203) 271-6620.
Alphabet told investors half the story by disclosing YouTube and cloud revenue numbers for the first time.

But what about the other half?

After facing years of criticism for not breaking out sales of some of its biggest businesses, Google's parent said on Monday that YouTube ads generated $4.7 billion in the fourth quarter, up 31% from a year earlier, while the cloud business climbed 53% to $2.6 billion.

However, unlike Amazon does with its cloud figures, Alphabet isn't providing profitability numbers, limiting its operating income (or loss) reporting to Google and "Other Bets," which includes the Waymo self-driving car unit, life sciences company Verily and the venture investment arms.

A glimpse into profits is critical for investors looking to gauge how much Google is spending on sales and marketing in order to play catch-up to Amazon and Microsoft in cloud infrastructure, and whether all the new entrants into streaming video are putting pressure on YouTube margins. On the conference call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat reiterated the company's plan to triple the size of its cloud sales force.

Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management, which owns Alphabet stock, said shareholders always want more disclosures, but tech companies are so beloved by Wall Street at the moment that they thrive with minimal transparency. Alphabet shares are up 33% in the past year, though the stock fell in extended trading on Monday after the company reported disappointing revenue and a continuing slow decline in overall margins.
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PORTLAND, OR / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Larry Todd, Vice President of Worldwide Sales for LeadsRx, a marketing attribution software company, has been accepted into Forbes Business Development Council, an invitation-only community for senior-level sales and business development executives.Larry was vetted and selected to the Forbes Business Development Council based on his 10-year track record of building relationships and solving key business problems that led to positive business growth for companies including Sprint, Alfresco Software, and Salesforce. In his two years heading up sales for LeadsRx, Larry demonstrated stellar senior management abilities and a continued commitment to grow its customer base - helping to solidify LeadsRx position as a pioneer offering an impartial multi-touch attribution SaaS platform powered by its proprietary Universal Conversion Tracking PixelTM technology."I'm honored to be selected to the Forbes Business Development Council," said Larry Todd, Vice President of Worldwide Sales for LeadsRx. "I look forward to sharing the LeadsRx marketing attribution vision to enable global and local brands to grow their businesses with a customer intelligence practice that puts the customer at the center of everything they do, sparks their marketing performance, and delivers profitable revenue growth." As member of the Council, Larry joins a select group of business leaders brought together to connect and collaborate in a private forum to help them reach peak professional influence. As an exclusive member of the Council, Larry will be sharing his expert insights in business articles on Forbes.com and contributing his perspective in Council Q&A panels."We are honored to welcome Larry Todd into the community," said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Business Development Council. "Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world." About Forbes CouncilsForbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive.For more information about Forbes Business Development Council, visit forbesbizdevcouncil.com . To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit forbescouncils.com About LeadsRxA fast innovator and a marketer's choice for 3,000-plus global and local brands, LeadsRx is an unrivaled multi-touch attribution SaaS platform. Powered by a unique Universal Conversion Tracking Pixel,LeadsRx provides an impartial view of customer journeys, giving each advertising touchpoint proper weight and credit including broadcast media. Founded by marketers, LeadsRx enables companies of any size to elevate marketing performance in a framework that is easily understood delivering sustainable return on ad spend (ROAS). To learn more about how LeadsRx can support you in marketing transformation visit LeadsRx.com . Connect with LeadsRx on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.For more informationJeff FishburnFishburn PR for LeadsRxjeff@ fishburnpr.com SOURCE: LeadsRx
Thank you for the outpouring of support as well as your questions and concerns regarding the possible Costco opening on Ogden Avenue," the post said. Although we have not been officially notified of the deal closing, we can confirm that if the Costco does open, we will be forced to close the Ogden 6 Theatre to make room.
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

Armenia flag to be permanently raised on buildings of some more institutions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit trial judge to not self-recuse

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit court case resumes

298 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Artsakh emergency service: Remains of another participant in hostilities are found

816,660 tourists visit Armenia during 11 months of 2021

US proposes to UN Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea

World oil prices dropping

Newspaper: Amnesty process suspended in Armenia indefinitely

Newspaper: Those in Karabakh are resisting Armenia authorities arbitrariness

FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

Slovak government approves defense treaty with US

US imposes sanctions on 6 North Koreans

US senators unveil bill to impose sanctions against Russia

EU wants to help Lebanon avoid economic collapse

CSTO to approve Kazakhstan peacekeepers withdrawal order

German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

Boris Johnson apologizes for attending party during lockdown

Global COVID-19 cases rise by 55% percent, deaths stable

Thailand introduces $9 tourist fee

Erdogan vows to tame Turkish inflation as scepticism grows

Turkey's Turkic world ambitions face reality check in Kazakhstan

Teacher in Baku beats student

NEWS.am daily digest: 12.01.22

Turkish FM expresses concerns to Chinese counterpart

OSCE Chairman-in-Office speaks on situation along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021

China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded

Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation

Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods

Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day

3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings

Copper rises in price

One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning

About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions

Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night

French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly

289 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Gold slightly rises in price

North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile

OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

Oil is trading without a single dynamic

US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee

MOD: Armenia soldiers dead body found at midnight after Azerbaijan provocation

Newspaper: Casualties of Armenia PM Pashinyan's 'era of peace'

US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen

German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan

WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State

India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death

Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded

NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22

Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States

Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia

Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death

Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded
On the chance that President Trump does not mention climate change during his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Seventh Generation, a company known for eco-friendly products, has taken steps to make sure the issue is a prime-time talking point.

Once Mr. Trump has finished speaking and the television analysts have offered their initial thoughts, a 60-second commercial for Seventh Generation is scheduled to be the first advertisement shown on ABC, CBS and NBC.

In an effort to draw a parallel between the World War II generation and todays young people, the commercial intercuts images and audio of President Franklin D. Roosevelts 1943 State of the Union address with recent shots of marches by climate-change activists. Before the Seventh Generation brand name appears, there is a tagline: What if we were meant to be the next greatest generation?
Rapper Stormzy has claimed that 'every government' in the UK has let black people and working class people down.

The chart-topping grime star, 26, said that little had changed over the years, whether Labour or the Conservatives were in power.

He made the comments in an interview with GQ magazine, and is set to grace the cover of the March issue of the publication.

The rapper also took aim at Prime Minister Boris Johnson, saying it was clear that he is 'not for him' and other black people.

Stormzy has claimed that 'every government' in the UK has let black people and working class people down in an interview with GQ magazine

The rapper told GQ: 'Every government has let black people down, let working-class people down'

The rapper told GQ: 'Every government has let black people down, let working-class people down.

'Since when I've been young, whether it's been a Labour government or a Tory government, not much has changed for the people who need it the most.'

On Mr Johnson, the rapper said he 'is literally not for man. He has made it clear in his vocabulary and in the stances he takes'.

This appears to be aimed at comments made by the Mr Johnson during his time as a journalist, where he made references to 'piccaninnies' with 'watermelon smiles' in his articles.

Stormzy is set to grace the cover of the March issue of the publication

During the recent general election, Stormzy, real name Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr, called on people to support Jeremy Corbyn, praising the Labour leader.

Stormzy is a frequent critic of the Prime Minister, previously blaming him for spurring on racists in the UK and emboldening hate-mongers.

In December, he told Italy's La Repubblica: 'If the top person can openly say this racist thing - the 'piccaninies' remarks, 'watermelon smiles', comparing Muslim women to a letterbox.

'If that is our figurehead, the top man, the leader we have to follow and he openly says these things, he encourages hate.

Stormzy with his Copper Dog Whiskey Solo Artist award with Gordon Smart (left) and Jeremy Corbyn during the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2017

Stormzy performing at Glastonbury last year in a stab vest with the Union Jack emblazoned on it

He also said that since the Conservative leader took charge in Number 10, hate language had spiked because racists feel emboldened by the premier's past comments.

Stormzy said: 'Before, people had to hide their racism. If you felt something bad about black people, about Muslims, you had to shut up.

'Now these people have the confidence to come out in public to say everything. This is scary to me, that scares the s*** out of me'.'

In his GQ interview, Stormzy also revealed that he cried after his Glastonbury set, thinking it had been ruined by technical problems.

Stormzy is a frequent critic of the Prime Minister, previously blaming him for spurring on racists in the UK

'I was just bawling my eyes out. I thought, 'You have just absolutely f***** that.' I haven't cried like that since primary school. I just broke down,' he said.

'I'm listening to the festival speakers, which are delayed, so if I go with that I'm going to be off beat. So then I'm just listening to the drums and performing with muscle memory.

'I'm like, 'You're f*****, but just do it.' And I'm thinking the whole time I'm off beat..... I was thinking of all the people who wanted me to f*** it - 'Stormzy? Glasto? That small-timer?' - just watching and thinking, 'Look at him. He can't even spit on beat. He's all over the place.''
During his working visit to Georgia, High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia Zareh Sinanyan paid a visit to the Holy Etchmiadzin Church in the Havlabar district of Tbilisi. Vicar of the Prelacy of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese, Archimandrite Kirakos Davtyan talked about the capital renovation at Holy Etchmiadzin Church and the Churchs religious and cultural activities. Afterwards, the Commissioner visited Hayartun Educational, Cultural and Youth Center where head of the Center Yevgenya Markosyan introduced the guests to the Centers pre-school, one-day Armenian schools, as well as the choir, the dance group and the singing and national instruments clubs.

Later, at Hayartun Center, the High Commissioner had a meeting with members of the local Armenian community. Greeting the attendees, Zareh Sinanyan talked about the directions for and priorities of the Armenia-Diaspora partnership. Touching upon the Georgian-Armenian community, he stressed that the community does everything it can to preserve the Armenian identity and talked about several community-related issues and the importance of the solution to those issues. The participants of the meeting asked the High Commissioner several questions that were mainly related to preservation of the Armenian identity, teaching of Armenian, cultural programs and initiatives, repatriation and the role of the Armenian community in Georgian-Armenian interstate relations.

Today Zareh Sinanyan will head to Akhaltskha wherehe will have a meeting with the local Armenian community and Governor of Samtskhe-Javakhk Besik Amiranashvili and will visit Armenian School #3, the St. Gregory the Illuminator Church and Tshughrut village. On the last day of his visit, the Commissioner will have meetings with the Armenians of Akhalkalak and Ninotsminda, will visit the Holy Cross Church, Armath Engineering Laboratory, the culture home in Ninotsminda and Gandza village.
An Iraqi man living in metro Phoenix is accused of leading an al-Qaida group that authorities say killed two police officers 14 years ago on the streets of Fallujah in attacks carried out by masked men.

Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri was arrested last week in Arizona as part of an extradition request made by the Iraqi government, which charged the 42-year-old with murder in the 2006 shooting deaths.

Court records unsealed on Feb. 3 reveal details of the two attacks in which armed men who were wearing masks jumped out of cars, fired on the officers and fled.

In the first shooting, an attacker held a gun to a witness head, while another attacker who started to fire on a police officer experienced a malfunction with his gun. Another attacker then killed police Lt. Issam Ahmed Hussein. The witness later identified Ahmed, who wasnt wearing a mask, as the groups leader, according to court records.

Four months later, Iraqi authorities say Ahmed and other men fatally shot Officer Khalid Ibrahim Mohammad as the officer was sitting outside a store. A person who witnessed the shooting recognized Ahmed, whose mask had fallen off, as one of the assailants, according to court records.

At this early stage we know little more than what is alleged in the the complaint, but even that is troubling, Ahmeds attorney, Jami Johnson, said in an email. The charge appears to be based on events over 12 years old and to originate from Iraqi informants with nothing to lose and everything to gain by delivering the Trump administration a supposed terrorist refugee in an election year.

The U.S. Attorneys Office in Phoenix declined to describe Ahmeds immigration status.

A court hearing for Ahmed is scheduled Tuesday in Phoenix.

The Arizona Republic has previously reported that Ahmed has been in the United States since January 2008 and ran an Arizona driving school.

By Jacques Billeaud
I would like to call your attention to an upcoming visit to Egypt that will run 20-30 November 2020:

Ultimate Egypt Interpreter Foundation Tour

The Interpreter Foundation and Cruise Lady are pleased to present this ULTIMATE EGYPT tour! It includes Old Cairo and the magnificent temples of Abu Simbel as well all the main highlights of Egypt. We have THE top Egyptian guide, HANY TAWFEEK to provide the history of Egypt and elaborate on all the sites. He has a masters degree in Archaeology. When President Obama was visiting Egypt, Hany was the guide picked to escort his group. In addition to Hany, we have the added benefit of touring with BYU Egyptologist JOHN GEE and Interpreter Foundation President and BYU professor of Islamic Studies DANIEL PETERSON. This opportunity to travel with John, Dan and Hany to these UNFORGETTABLE sites only comes once in a lifetime!

My wife and I spent our first four years of married life living in Egypt, and we love the area and its people. Egypt is inexhaustibly fascinating. There isnt a square foot of the Nile Valley without interest, without history.

Late November will be an unusually good time to go because the temperatures will be moderate  which (trust me!) isnt always the case. And the crowds at some of the more popular sites will be much smaller.

When my wife and I lived there decades ago while I was doing graduate study, we were impoverished. One of our dreams was to someday take a cruise on the Nile. After all, that was the way the pharaohs traveled through their country, and, well, if it was good enough for Pharaoh it would surely be good enough for us. One of the high points of this tour is that we will spend four nights on a Nile cruise boat, traveling between Luxor and Aswan. Among other things, that will allow us to visit the great ancient temples of Edfu and Kom Ombo, which are otherwise rather difficult to reach.

Im pleased to report that Ive been told that Steve Densley, executive vice president of the Interpreter Foundation and, of late, chief operating officer and general counsel for the Cruise Lady company, will be coming along with us. He knows Egypt quite well himself, and it will be good to have him along.
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Hundreds of commuters faced hardships on Tuesday morning after suburban services of the Central Railway were disrupted due to a technical snag at a track changing point near Byculla station in south Mumbai, officials said.

The glitch occurred around 11.15 am which affected services on both fast and slow lines and led to bunching of trains on three tracks near Byculla station for sometime, they said.

The suburban services of the Central Railway were delayed by 15 to 20 minutes, causing inconvenience to daily commuters.

Because of the problem, there was overcrowding in several other trains on the Central Railway (CR) route.

"There was a snag in the track changing point near Byculla station. The problem was rectified and services resumed at 11.35 am," Central Railway's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said.

This was the second major disruption of the CR's suburban services in last 24 hours.

On Monday night, local trains services were halted for sometime due to a track fracture at Kalyan station in neighbouring Thane district.

The Central Railway daily operates around 1,700 services on Mumbai's suburban network which are used by nearly 40 lakh commuters.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It makes no big difference to an ordinary citizen whether [gross domestic product] grows by 5 percent or 6 percent, or even if it is doubled or not; people care more about their own sense of gain in reality, not some cold data at the cost of their own health and most fundamental safety, he wrote.
A woman from Thailand on a flight from Doha to Bangkok went into labour on February 4 and gave birth to a boy, mid-air. The authorities then made an emergency landing at Kolkata Airport where the woman was admitted to a private hospital. According to officials, both the mother, who gave birth with the help of cabin crew of Qatar Airways, and her newborn child are now 'doing fine'.

The Kolkata Airport had reportedly said that on medical priority, an unscheduled flight, QR-830 landed at around 3:09 am in Kolkata. Kaushik Bhattacharya, the airport director reportedly said that they received a call at around 2:30 am on Tuesday. However, when the plane landed, the crew had already delivered the boy and the mother-son duo were rushed to the hospital

Kolkata Airport official to ANI: Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Bangkok QR-830 made an unscheduled landing at Kolkata Airport. The pilot of Qatar Airways asked for SOS signal at Kolkata ATC (Air Traffic Control) medical priority landing. https://t.co/poK4phA2XV  ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2020

Read - GoAir's Bengaluru-Phuket Flight Does Mid-air Turn Back Due To 'technical Glitch'

Flight took off from Kolkata at 5:50am

According to media reports, the woman has been identified as Phromkasikorn Wassana and the flight had taken off with at least 352 passengers for Bangkok. When the flight crossed Nagpur, the pilot informed the authorities at the Kolkata Airport about the medical emergency. Later on, after being treated in hospital, the flight departed from Kolkata around 5:50 am. As soon as the news was shared on the internet, most people praised the cabin crew. Some even suggested names for the newborn. Several internet users also congratulated the mother.

Name the Baby INDIA  Anand (@anandbinny06) February 4, 2020

Read - Kolkata: Plane Makes Emergency Landing After Woman Makes Hoax Bomb Threat Mid-air

Congratulations!! To her  Run_Out (@funkyabhii) February 4, 2020

good job by @qatarairways cabin crew..Proud!  Accidental Lawyer (@glorifiedlawyer) February 4, 2020

Back in 2019, another mother gave birth mid-air with the help of the cabin crew in Lebanon-based flight from Doha to Beirut. The flight was diverted because a Filipino passenger went into labour on the flight and she gave birth to a baby girl.

Read - Plane En Route To Evacuate NZealanders From Wuhan

Read - Plane With Wuhan Evacuees Lands In Malaysia

(With ANI inputs)


As Hong Kong reported its first death from the coronavirus, United said Tuesday the airline would end its daily flight from San Francisco to the city Saturday.

United, the largest carrier at San Francisco International, had already suspended flights to and from other cities in China, where the outbreak has killed hundreds and infected tens of thousands. The Hong Kong flight, which United had previously said it would keep as a link to the region, will remain suspended until Feb. 20. The last outbound United flight will leave for the semiautonomous Chinese territory Wednesday, and service will end with a return flight on Friday.

The other United flights will remain off the airlines schedule until the end of March. Other carriers still have service to China, though it is not clear how long those flights will continue.

The new coronavirus has infected more than 24,000 people worldwide, and killed nearly 500, since it was first reported at the end of last year. There have been 11 cases in the United States.

The United States instituted a travel ban Sunday on foreign nationals who have been to China in the past two weeks, with exemptions for permanent residents and close family members. It has also limited the airports where flights from China can arrive, to centralize health screenings.

SFO is one of 11 airports in the U.S. where arriving passengers can be screened for the coronavirus. Some reported chaotic hours-long waits on Sunday after new travel restrictions went into effect. But new screening protocols from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are in place and wait times appear to be returning to normal, the airport said Tuesday.

When the coronavirus became a global health emergency, Castro Valley resident Josiah Li was in China visiting family for the Lunar New Year. Everyone wore masks, Li said, and he had his temperature checked getting on the ferry, bus, metro, in the mall and at the grocery store. As the virus death toll rose, he changed his flight so he and his family could return home earlier.

Lis flight from the southern city of Guangzhou in Guangdong province was one of the first to arrive after new travel restrictions went into effect Sunday. Li, who is a U.S. citizen, said a couple of fellow passengers were denied boarding. With restrictions barely in place Sunday when he stepped off the plane at SFO, Li said the situation felt chaotic. He described how he was funneled from the normal customs line into a room where he explained his travel history and filled out forms for CDC staff, then went back through customs. It took him more than three hours, he said.

All passengers arriving at SFO from China, as well as those coming from elsewhere who have been in China recently, are sent to the airports quarantine station, CDC spokesman Scott Pauley said Tuesday. The station was in place before the coronavirus outbreak but has increased staffing.

Anyone who was in Hubei province, epicenter of the outbreak, in the last 14 days gets stricter screening: a nasal swab test, a temperature check with a thermometer that doesnt touch the skin, and checking for fever, cough and difficulty breathing. If Hubei travelers have symptoms, theyll be isolated for 14 days for further treatment. Even if they dont, theyll still be subject to a mandatory two-week quarantine. The CDC said it is still working with state governments, including California, to determine where travelers will be quarantined.

Travelers whove been in other parts of mainland China will go through similar screening. If they have symptoms, they will get treatment. Those connecting through San Francisco wont be able to continue their itinerary. If they dont have symptoms, theyll be allowed to reach their final destination but asked to stay home as much as possible and monitor their health for another two weeks.

Passenger Carolyn Blake, who arrived at SFO from London on Sunday, said in a message that the small quarantine area in the immigration hall didnt seem secure or clean. Both she and Li were concerned about so many passengers in a confined space if someone did have the coronavirus.

Preliminary research is still mixed on whether people with the coronavirus can transmit it even when they dont display symptoms, said Art Reingold, UC Berkeley epidemiology professor. Transmission from people who are not coughing or sneezing is thought to be infrequent and not important to how outbreaks are propagated, Reingold said.

But at least we must behave as if thats a possibility and err on the side of caution, he added.

Pauley said screening waits depended on how many passengers and CDC staff are present.

Some passengers on Sunday said they waited for up to six hours. U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows that average wait times at SFO peaked at 85 minutes at 6 p.m. Sunday, four hours after the restrictions went into effect. Average wait times on the four previous Sundays at the same time ranged from 14 to 26 minutes.

Jaime Ruiz, a spokesman for the border agency, said in an email that wait times vary depending on the day, week and season. He said delays this past weekend at SFO were weather-related or caused by overlapping flights, not screenings for the coronavirus.

By Monday morning, some travelers at SFO told The Chronicle they breezed through immigration. SFO spokesman Doug Yakel said in an email Tuesday that wait times appear to be returning to normal.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a press call Monday that despite precautions, there are still likely to be infections among returning travelers. There are four confirmed cases in Northern California  two patients in Santa Clara County and a husband and wife from San Benito County who were moved to UCSF for treatment on Monday.

Five health care workers at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose were exposed to the new coronavirus while treating a patient there and have been sent home and told to remain isolated until Feb. 11, according to Santa Clara County public health officials.

The workers had contact with a man who had sought treatment at the hospital and later tested positive for the virus.

The man in Santa Clara County had sought medical care outside his home twice, public health officials said. They found the five health care workers who are now in isolation as part of an effort to trace those who have come into contact with infected individuals.

The workers are being kept at home to protect the publics health and limit any potential spread of the virus, Santa Clara County public health officials said in a statement.

Quarantine plans were more advanced for Americans being evacuated directly from Wuhan, the city in Hubei province hardest hit by the outbreak.

About 250 Americans traveling from China were expected to land in the Bay Area Tuesday night or early Wednesday and be quarantined at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield for up to two weeks while being monitored for signs of infection.

The evacuees will stay at Travis Westwind Inn, where they will undergo regular checks for fever and other symptoms of respiratory illness, according to a spokesman for Rep. John Garamendi, D-Fairfield.

Travis was selected as one of four military sites to quarantine Americans returning from China.

Mallory Moench and Erin Allday are a San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com, eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench, @erinallday
Iran is set to become the latest country to launch an observation satellite, according to the country's national space agency. The satellite, named Zafar (which means victory in Farsi), began development three years ago. It will be launched by a Simorgh rocket 329 miles above the Earth, and will make 15 orbits daily, collecting imagery to help with the study of natural disasters and agriculture.

According to Morteza Berari, head of Iran's space agency, the satellite is designed to be operational for more than 18 months, although the agency hopes to construct five more satellites before March 2021. Berari didn't specify when the launch was due to take place, noting only that it would be "in the coming days."

Some Western countries have previously expressed concern regarding Iran's satellite program. In January 2019, for example, the launch of Tehran's Payam satellite -- designed to monitor environmental change -- was preceded by warnings from Washington which described it as a "provocation." However, Berari says that Iran advocates for the "peaceful use of outer space," adding that "All our activities in the domain of outer space are transparent."
(Newser)  What a mess in Iowa. The state's Democratic Party issued an update Tuesday morning on the still-delayed caucus results, though it wasn't much of an update. The party pledged to release the results "as soon as possible today," reports Politico. Officials also blamed a "coding issue" in the reporting app but emphasized that while the results will be late, they will be accurate. As that confusion was being sorted, President Trump mocked Democrats in a series of tweets:

Blame game: "It is not the fault of Iowa, it is the Do Nothing Democrats fault," he wrote. And in a reference to critics calling for an end to Iowa's first-in-the-nation voting status, he added: "As long as I am President, Iowa will stay where it is. Important tradition!"

"It is not the fault of Iowa, it is the Do Nothing Democrats fault," he wrote. And in a reference to critics calling for an end to Iowa's first-in-the-nation voting status, he added: "As long as I am President, Iowa will stay where it is. Important tradition!" Russia zing: "When will the Democrats start blaming RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, instead of their own incompetence for the voting disaster that just happened in the Great State of Iowa?" Trump asked.

"When will the Democrats start blaming RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, instead of their own incompetence for the voting disaster that just happened in the Great State of Iowa?" Trump asked. A boast: "The Democrat Party in Iowa really messed up, but the Republican Party did not," he wrote, referencing his own victory Monday night. "I had the largest re-election vote in the history of that great state, by far, beating President Obama's previous record by a lot. Also, 97% Plus of the vote! Thank you Iowa!"

(Read more Iowa caucuses stories.)
GENEVA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2020) The World Health Organization said Tuesday it needed $61.5 million to address the near-term impact of the coronavirus outbreak in China.

The health authority's executive board said at a plenary session in Geneva that measures were to be taken within the next three months.

WHO needs $45 million to assess national preparedness for the epidemic and fund emergency response, with $12 million required to set up an international coordination mechanism.

The agency is also in need of $4.5 million for research. Several countries are working against the clock to develop a vaccine against the new strain of coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan.
With the passage of the Finance Act bill, the federal government has outlined plans to subject multinational digital companies operating abroad but with significant economic presence in Nigeria to taxation under the new Act.

Some of these multinational digital companies include Facebook, Google, Amazon, YouTube and many other digital businesses with sizeable market in Nigeria but dont have a physical structure for their operations.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who disclosed this on Monday explained that only companies that have a physical presence in the country were being taxed previously, adding that the new law had changed this.

He said, So, most digital and multinational technology companies do not have a physical presence in Nigeria, yet make significant income in Nigeria from online activities.

Under the new Act, once you have a significant economic presence in Nigeria, you are liable to tax whether you are resident here or not, he noted, adding that non-residents, who previously had no fixed address would now be taxed under the new Act.

These companies are known to prefer situating their companies in tax havens where taxes are low compared to other African and European countries. Ireland and Bermuda are some of the tax havens for these multinational companies.

But according to Osinbajo, the period of making gains from their operation in Nigeria without paying tax is over.

He said, Let me also briefly mention the new provisions on Taxation of Digital Economy and Non-Resident Companies. This is a very important aspect of our taxation policy. Before the Finance Act, only companies that had a physical presence or a fixed base in Nigeria could be taxed.

He added that, Under the Finance Act, once you have a Significant Economic Presence (SEP) in Nigeria, you are liable to tax. Whether you are a resident here or you are not resident as a company, as long as your economic presence is significant, you are liable to tax. If you are streaming online, advertising using Google adverts, whether you are resident here or not, you are now subject to tax.

So, non-residents who previously had no fixed base and no Nigerian tax liability will now be liable to tax based on the SEP criterion. The Minister of Finance is empowered to issue a regulation defining what Significant Economic Presence means. So, she just defines the scope of what we will be looking out for in terms of Significant Economic Presence.

Nigeria is not the only country trying to tax the technology companies. The European Union (EU) has also been coming after them for taxes.

The EU stated that if the technology companies were making economic gains through their operation despite the lack of physical presence in several European countries, then they should be taxed.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has completed a study of prosecutions of alleged ISIL (ISIS) members in Iraq. Thousands of men, women and children have been processed through the Iraqi courts in the past two years and there may be thousands to come.

Published last month, the OHCHR report has a convoluted title promising a critique of the Administration of Justice in Iraq. While there is some useful information in the report, it is most notable for what it does not say.

Nowhere is there any reference to the role that Europe or the United States have played in the degradation of every human rights principle the world has developed in the last 75 years. Indeed, the Iraqi story ultimately reflects how the West is now outsourcing the torture and abuse that the US formerly inflicted in Dark Prisons from Kabul to Guantanamo Bay.

In Afghanistan, after the US-led invasion of October 2001, we Americans systematically abused prisoners ourselves. We subjected thousands of Muslim men to torture in Bagram Air Force Base and other secretive prisons. Something similar took place after the invasion of Iraq, making names like Abu Ghraib, Camp Cropper and Camp Bucca synonyms for the medieval mistreatment of detainees.

This dark history diminished Americas reputation around the world. However, it did not deter some in the government from continuing their war on human rights  partly inspired by revenge and partly by the extraordinary belief that torture would somehow produce valuable intelligence in the so-called war on terror.

Today, rather than get American hands dirty, the US thinks it better to outsource the mistreatment to other regimes across the globe. Clive Stafford Smith

Today, rather than get American hands dirty, the US thinks it better to outsource the mistreatment to other regimes across the globe.

The current story begins in what was largely Syrian territory taken over by ISIL where, today, more than 70,000 prisoners languish in prisons and camps run by the Kurds and their allies who comprise the semi-autonomous area of northeast Syria, before they are sent to Iraq for trial.

An estimated 56,000 of these prisoners are from Syria or Iraq, while 14,000 (deemed foreigners) hail from more than 40 countries around the world. (Given that many of these prisoners seem destined for the Iraqi courts, it is surprising that Syria is not mentioned in the 30 pages of the OHCHR report.)

The American involvement in prisoner mistreatment is, sadly, not news. The big change in Syria and Iraq involves the Europeans, who issued pious criticism of some US actions after 9/11.

In 2020, however, fuelled by their own populist Islamophobia, Western European countries are now tragically joining this flight from human rights.

So what does the OHCHR report actually tell us?

The organisation studied a fairly small group among the thousands of cases  just 619, of whom 23 were women and 44 were children at the time of their alleged offences. This is not a dissimilar sample to the 780 detainees who ended up in Guantanamo Bay, themselves drawn from the thousands the US processed in the wake of 9/11.

The OHCHR tells us that 42 percent of prisoners brought to an Iraqi courtroom claim they have been tortured (men, women and children, according to the authors). This will prove to be an underestimate, since a victim of torture has to be brave to make such a claim in front of his abusers. In Guantanamo, there was not a single prisoner who did not face abuse.

The OHCHR condemns the widespread use of the death penalty by the Iraqi courts. A death sentence has apparently been imposed in at least one-third of cases, often on the charge of membership of ISIS alone, without even an allegation of a crime, let alone proof. One reason I got involved in defending the Guantanamo detainees, after years of work on capital punishment cases in Americas Deep South, was that the US military commission system, created in April 2003, made the death penalty available in all the cases in Guantanamo  even for something as innocuous as aiding the enemy.

The OHCHR reports that Iraqi courts rely on secret, anonymous witnesses whose evidence cannot be tested and involuntary statements extracted through torture. Confessions were presented in 436 cases, and in 366 of them (84 percent) the accused claimed it was involuntary. The Iraqi courts nonetheless rely on this as evidence.

Unfortunately, they are merely replicating what happened at Guantanamo where detainees were not allowed to know the secret evidence against them and where Ahmed Rabbani  one of my clients who is still held there  faces detention without trial based on statements coerced out of him after 540 days of brutal torture in the Dark Prison in Kabul.

This week, an Iraqi judge told British newspaper the Independent that he likes to follow the media to learn about the people he will be sentencing to death. Clive Stafford Smith

This week, an Iraqi judge told British newspaper the Independent that he likes to follow the media to learn about the people he will be sentencing to death. It is outrageous that nonsense in a tabloid paper could be relied on as the basis for a hanging, yet we see similar materials being used as evidence in every case we have seen in Guantanamo Bay. Much of this I cannot describe because, for equally incomprehensible reasons, it is deemed classified. But in one instance, where the material was ultimately released into the public domain, the detainee was held on the basis of newspaper articles and informants of ludicrous unreliability  one of whom had informed on many detainees in the hope that the US would provide him with penis enlargement surgery.

The OHCHR decries how the Iraqis have only allowed court-appointed counsel for three-quarters of prisoners  and even then the lawyer normally meets the client only at the start of the hearing and cannot hope to present a meaningful case. This is, of course, ludicrous. In the many death penalty cases I have defended in the US, we have averaged three years, not three minutes, of preparation prior to trial and, even then, we make plenty of mistakes.

Indeed, the report reflects that one in five of the children tried on terrorism charges in Iraq did not even have lawyers. This is reprehensible, yet the US fought tooth and nail to prevent lawyers from getting into Guantanamo at all. I got in there only after two-and-a-half years of litigation but I, along with everyone else, had to promise to do all the work for nothing and pay all my own costs. None of my 88 clients has ever been allowed a trial. The $6bn the US has spent so far on the Guantanamo prison has resulted in one conviction among 780 prisoners; that was what must surely be the most expensive guilty plea in history.

Thus, without mentioning it, the OHCHR unwittingly details how many of Americas recent bad practices have spread like a coronavirus around the world  now to Iraq.

At least the detainees held in Cuba were all men who might plausibly have been involved in violence against the US and its allies  although 745 of the 780 (over 95 percent) have since been cleared or released. But with what is happening in Guantanamo on the Euphrates  the camps in northeast Syria  the overwhelming majority of the foreign terrorists (some 9,000 out of 14,000) are children and most of the rest are women. Western European policy is to either let them die in the rudimentary camps or pass them over to the Iraqis for trial.

The notion that sacrificing our liberties will make us safer is simply obscene. And yet sacrifice them we do. Clive Stafford Smith

The notion that sacrificing our liberties will make us safer is simply obscene. And yet sacrifice them we do. Pandering to the fear of terrorism, the British secretly abandoned the long-standing requirement, imposed years ago by the European Court of Human Rights that they should demand assurances that the death penalty will not be imposed in any case, even if it were a serial killer like Ted Bundy.

The New York Times reports that at least seven French men, transferred to Iraq from Syria, were sentenced to die by hanging for alleged affiliation with ISIL without even a suggestion, let alone evidence, that any of them had committed any act of violence. The Times says that France turned its citizens over for death penalty trials that last only a few minutes, in apparent contravention of rules set by the European Court of Human Rights.

It is hardly novel to suggest that Iraq has a dreadful legal system. But it is big news  a tragedy in truth  that Western European governments are jettisoning the bedrock principles that provide the foundation for their societies.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 15:33:01|Editor: yhy

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SHEBERGHAN, Afghanistan, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen were killed during an ambush in northern Jawzjan province overnight, including a pro-government local leader, one of his men and 11 Taliban militants, a provincial government spokesman said on Tuesday.

"The incident occurred along Jawzjan-Sari Pul main road on Monday night after the Taliban militants attacked a unit of pro-government tribal militia group, known as local uprising fighters," spokesman Abdul Maruf Azar told Xinhua.

The 11 bodies of the militants would be handed over to local villagers or Afghan Red Crescent personnel later in the day, Azar noted.

The obvious target of the ambush was local leader Tofan, who led local uprising fighters and lost his life in the targeted attack.

At least eight people were killed in targeted attacks in January this year across the country.

The Taliban militants, who ruled the country before being ousted in late 2001, renewed armed insurgency, killing government troops as well as civilians.

They frequently attack district offices, military camps, installations and security checkpoints, while the Afghan military respond with airstrikes on militant targets in the countryside.
Our nation faces a multitude of puzzling, complex and abstruse problems. Most Americans arent sure what to do about them. But we lack politicians with the courage to say, Im not sure what to do about them either. We even lack politicians with the courage to say, Im not sure what abstruse means.
New Delhi: In a big disclosure in Shaheen Bagh firing incident, Delhi police crime branch on Tuesday revealed that it has found pictures which indicate Shaheen Bagh shooter Kapil Gurjar's association with Aam Adami Party. The crime branch found these pictures in Kapil's mobile phone during investigation.

Meanwhile, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said that investigation has not been completed yet, and a police officer is taking a party's name, at a time when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in place which is unfair. He further also asserted that AAP will file a complaint to Election Commission (EC) against DCP Crime Branch Rajesh Deo.

AAP leader further also charged BJP in the matter and said how did BJP receive the photos even before it was released, adding, is BJP asking Delhi police to say all this and on whose direction is Rajesh Deo working?

In the photos released by the police, Kapil can be seen taking the membership of AAP along with his father Gaje Singh. The photographs released by the police also showed him with AAP leaders Atishi Marlena and MP Sanjay Singh. Kapil is seen wearing AAP cap in these pictures which were taken in 2019.

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Police claimed that along with Kapil, his several other friends joined AAP last year and can also be seen standing with him in the pictures. In another picture, Kapil's father can be seen with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. The Delhi police informed that Kapil has deleted his Whatsaap account after the firing incident.

Kapil Gujjar is currently in the custody of Crime Branch which is further investigating in the matter. Kapil, 25, is a college dropout and he was arrested by Delhi Police after he fired two bullets in the air. Through technical surveillance and CCTV footages, it was found that he came through the DND flyover via Maharani Bagh to Holy Family hospital where he adjusted his pistol and then went to Shaheen Bagh.

His father is a politician by profession who has contested Municipal Corporation election of Delhi (Jungpura in 2008 and Patparganj in 2012) as a candidate from the Bahujan Samaj Party. He lost in that election.

Earlier, Kapil's family members told Zee Media that he was angry at the protests which have been going on at Shaheen Bagh for the last 50 days because there was a wedding of his cousin and he had to take a detour to buy goods.
San Francisco, Feb 4 : The future of the iconic BlackBerry smartphones has once again come under a cloud as Chinese electronics group TCL has announced that it will stop selling BlackBerry phones later this year.

In a note shared on Twitter on Monday, TCL Communication said it "will no longer be selling" BlackBerry-branded phones as of August 31, 2020.

"TCL Communication has no further rights to design, manufacture or sell any new BlackBerry mobile devices," said the note which added that the company will continue to provide support for the existing portfolio of mobile devices including customer service and warranty service until August 31,2022 - or for as long as required by local laws where the mobile device was purchased.

BlackBerry did not immediately reveal what the future holds for its phones in regions where TCL had rights to sell its phones.

After years of struggle, BlackBerry decided to stop making its own phones in 2016. TCL then entered the scene as one of the manufacturers of BlackBerry-branded phones.

According to a report in The Verge, TCL has done a decent job of it, pairing classically BlackBerry-style designs with the functions of modern Android phones, although none of the phones have been blockbuster hits.

However, recent devices have received poor reviews, it added.

The role of other manufacturers of BlackBerry phones has been limited as TCL received the biggest deal.

While Optiemus Infracom made some BlackBerry-branded devices for India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh, BB Merah Putih launched a single phone in Indonesia in 2017.

For all other regions, TCL had the rights.
Chinese sugarcane concessionaire Rui Feng and four linked firms seemed to have shut down their operations in the combined 40,000-hectare sugarcane plantation in northern Cambodia, with little public notice of the closure.

VOA Khmer visited the giant concession last week and found no activity at the plantation, especially at the Rui Feng processing facility, which processed sugarcane for all five firms  Rui Feng, Lan Feng, Heng You, Heng Rui, and Heng Nong. All firms have faced multiple land disputes across the 40,000 hectares, especially with indigenous minorities.

The $360 million investment, started in 2016, was billed as one of Asias largest sugar-producing facilities. The facility was pegged to process 20,000 tons of sugarcane and produce 2,000 tons of refined sugar, though the firm never released figures for its output.

A visit to the facilities in the provinces Chhaeb district last week revealed that the sugarcane processing plant was not operational, none of the buildings in the Rui Feng compound were occupied with workers nor were any security guards posted at the entrance.

Meas Savy, 33, who worked as a translator for the plantations Chinese staff, said his work had been suddenly suspended in March last year, adding that he heard hundreds of other workers had been terminated as well.

The company told me that they will close for a while and if they come back, they will ask me to come back to work, said Savy, who earned some $700 per month from the Chinese company.

Meas Savy said he was not given a reason for the closure, only rumors that the firm had a new shareholder.

Poeung Tryda, Preah Vihear provincial director of Agriculture, only said that the department had been informed the company was experiencing some internal budget problems. He added that the company may restart operations next year.

The sugarcane processing facility had created a small economy around it, where residents sold food, gasoline, and other items to the workers of Rui Feng.

Lim Sokhim, 50, said her gross income, from selling grocery and gasoline at her store had decreased from some $500 per day to just below $25 because there were no workers at the plantation.

[Our] living conditions are now difficult after they closed the operations, said Lim Sokhim, who has two children to take care of.

While the economic impacts of the shuttered plantation are being felt by villagers, the project left hundreds of Cambodians, many from indigenous communities, locked in land disputes. The communities have said that the firm cleared their lands, much of which was ancestral and spirit forests and communal landholdings.

The dispute is said to have affected thousands of families, many with little legal recourse to fight these disputes. The dispute has led to multiple contentious standoffs between plantation workers and indigenous communities, occasionally turning violent.

Phav Yorn, a Kuoy indigenous villager who lost six hectares of land to the sugar company, said he could use a small part of his remaining land to farm rice, but that if the plantation had shut down he should get back all of his lands.

If the company stops activities on the land, the government should take the land back and distribute it to the villagers, said the 60-year-old Phav Yorn.

[And] we want the land titles legally registered, he said.

The dispute in Preah Vihear provinces sugarcane plantation has been strongly criticized by the European Union Commissions investigation into Cambodias human rights record, which could see the potential suspension of the trade privileges when the final results are released next week.

The reports initial findings, accessed by VOA Khmer in November, estimates that more than 15,000 people had been displaced due to sugar-related economic land concessions across the country, with the dispossession of land felt by families in Preah Vihear, Kampong Speu, Koh Kong and Oddar Meanchey.

VOA Khmer visited the Rui Feng company office in Phnom Penh but found it to be closed, with multiple attempts to call listed phone numbers going unanswered.

Prak Sovann, Preah Vihear provincial governor, and Srey Vuthy, the spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture could not be reached for comments.

Apart from land disputes, local villagers and an NGO that assists indigenous minorities said that the company had started growing rice on a part of the plantation, in violation of their agreement with the government.

Poek Sophorn, executive director of Ponlok Khmer, said the company has violated the contract because the ELC was allowed to grow sugarcane, rubber, and eucalyptus.

If an ELC is for growing rice, why not rent the land to Cambodian villagers. It has more benefits, he told VOA Khmer.

Lor Chann, human rights coordinator of Adhoc in Preah Vihear, said growing rice meant the ELC was competing with local farmers on land that was used by those farmers.

I dont understand why the company grows rice to compete with villagers? They are only allowed to grow sugarcane, he said.
HOUGHTON, MI  The first male student to be crowned queen of Michigan Techs Winter Carnival has been stripped of his title for inappropriate behavior.

Zack Metiva had been honored prior to the schools annual celebration of snow which includes snow statues, outdoor games, sleigh rides and numerous other student activities. But the title has now been passed to first runner-up Riley Simpson.

The Blue Key Honor Society, which organizes the carnival, released the following statement:

It was brought to the attention of Blue Key Honor Society that the previously crowned 2020 Winter Carnival Queen displayed inappropriate behavior following the Coronation. This behavior does not represent the values of Winter Carnival, Blue Key, and Michigan Technological University.

Michigan Tech removes controversial caveman from winter carnival logo

The Winter Carnival Queen embodies a well-rounded, confident, and talented individual who showcases the importance of scholarship, community, and character. In light of this, Riley Simpson has been crowned the 2020 Winter Carnival Queen. Blue Key would like to emphasize that the Winter Carnival Queen Coronation will remain an inclusive event, open to all students.

Metiva said in a statement to WLUC-TV6 that a photo of him drinking from a bottle of champagne with the carnival sash on was posted to social media without his knowledge. He added the photo was taken during a private and legal celebration with friends.

He said subsequent meetings with Blue Key board members confirmed the title was revoked because Michigan Tech University and Blue Key discourages consuming alcohol during Winter Carnival and that the queen of the event doing so sends the wrong message.

I ran for queen in order to challenge the view that the queen has to be female and I wanted to make certain that anyone, regardless of gender expression, could feel like royalty during Winter Carnival, Metivas statement reads. I hope that this turn of events does not discourage anyone from running for the position in the future.

Michigan Techs Winter Carnival also made headlines in October when a logo featuring a caveman was deemed offensive to some was changed.

The theme of the 2020 Winter Carnival is Discover What Shines from Prehistoric Times. It runs Feb. 5-8.
English Finnish

Hoivatilat Plc

Stock Exchange Release

4 February 2020 at 11:00 am EET

Decisions of Hoivatilat Plcs Extraordinary General Meeting

The Extraordinary General Meeting of Hoivatilat Plc was held today in Helsinki, Finland. The Extraordinary General Meeting resolved on the remuneration of the Board of Directors, the composition of the Board of Directors and the disbandment of the Shareholders' Nomination Board in accordance with the proposals of Aureit Holding Oy.

Remuneration of the Board of Directors

The General Meeting resolved that the members of the Board of Directors will be remunerated in accordance with Hoivatilat Plcs current practice as resolved by the Annual General Meeting of 26 March 2019, apart from the Vice Chairman of the Board who will be paid a monthly remuneration of EUR 3,333 and the Aedifica representatives who waive their right to remuneration. The meeting compensation payable to Board members other than the Aedifica representatives for meetings of the Board of Directors and its committees will be paid in accordance with current practice as resolved by the Annual General Meeting of 26 March 2019. In addition, all board members including the Aedifica representatives are compensated for travel and other expenses directly related to their Hoivatilat board duties in accordance with the company's current practice.

Composition of the Board of Directors

The following persons were elected as members of the Board of Directors for the term ending at the closing of the next Annual General Meeting: Stefaan Gielens, Pertti Huuskonen, Ingrid Daerden, Laurence Gacoin, Reijo Tauriainen and Kari Nenonen. Stefaan Gielens was elected Chairman of the Board and Pertti Huuskonen was elected Vice Chairman of the Board.

Disbandment of the Nomination Board

The General Meeting resolved to disband the Shareholders Nomination Board.

Minutes of the General Meeting

The minutes of the General Meeting will be available at the companys website www.hoivatilat.fi/en/for-investors/governance/genaral-meeting/ and at the company's head office at Lentokatu 2, 90460 Oulunsalo, Finland on 18 February 2020 at the latest.

In Helsinki, 4 February 2020

Hoivatilat Plc

Board of Directors

Additional information for investors and media:

Jussi Karjula

Hoivatilat, CEO

Tel. +358 40 773 4054

Hoivatilat in brief

Hoivatilat Plc, founded in 2008, specialises in producing, developing, owning and leasing out day care centre, nursing home premises and service communities and lately also schools. Hoivatilat has been working in cooperation with approximately 60 Finnish municipalities and has launched a total of approximately 200 property projects throughout Finland and since 2019 in Sweden as well. Hoivatilat is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki under the trading code "HOIVA". For additional information, see www.hoivatilat.fi
The Nicholas Cage-starrer meta-movie 'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' has been finalized to be released on March 19, 2021.

The Lionsgate production will show Cage playing a character that would be his own version as a Hollywood actor, reported The Hollywood Reporter.

In a previous article, The Hollywood Reporter gave a peek into the storyline of the movie, according to which Cage who is playing himself, is struggling to bag a role in a Quentin Tarantino movie and is also troubled by the crumbling relationship between him and his teen daughter.

In the movie, Cage is also shown to be laden under debt and to ease the financial crunch, he agrees to appear at a Mexican billionaire's birthday party for a million dollars.

When everything seemed right, Cage was intimated by the CIA that the billionaire he made friends with is a drug lord who has abducted the daughter of Mexican presidential candidate.

After this unexpected turn of events, Cage is compelled to work for the American authorities to gather intelligence against the kingpin.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seoul and Beijing have agreed to postpone Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Korea from March or April to June amid the coronavirus crisis in the world's most populous country.

Cheong Wa Dae announced late last year that Xi will visit in the first half of 2020.

But a diplomatic source said, "China has been very reluctant to commit to March or April due to a scheduled visit to Japan as well as internal circumstances in China due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has led to a postponement until June."

The government here said it will consult with the Chinese government and monitor the spread of the virus as well as other developments there.

Opposition lawmakers had voiced suspicion that the government had been dragging its heels over an entry ban for visitors from China to make sure Xi visits before the general election in April.

President Moon Jae-in said in a meeting with his chief secretaries on Monday that the ban on visitors who have been to China's Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak, was "unavoidable" to protect public health but did not say whether it will be extended to all of China. The ban came almost two weeks after the first coronavirus infection was confirmed in Korea.

Moon, who marked his 1,000th day in office on Monday, also said he now faces his toughest challenge yet in fighting the outbreak, although he recalled that he had been "always stacked with tasks" since his inauguration in May 2017.


NEW YORK - Deborah A. Batts, the nations first openly gay federal judge, has died. She was 72.

Batts was found dead on Monday, three months before she was set to preside over a trial of California lawyer Michael Avenatti on charges that he cheated porn star Stormy Daniels, a former client, of proceeds of a book deal. No cause of death was immediately released.

In June 1994, Batts was sworn in after a smooth confirmation process following her appointment to the bench by President Bill Clinton. During her confirmation proceedings, it was never mentioned that she was a lesbian.

But, at that time, she told the New York Law Journal that she did not want to be known as the gay judge.

Im a mother, Im an African American. Im a lesbian, she said.

Deborah Batts was a trailblazer in every respect: an openly gay African-American woman who became a United States District Judge after a distinguished career as a federal prosecutor and law professor, Chief Judge Colleen McMahon said in a statement. It will be difficult to replace her. Our hearts are broken at her premature passing.

McMahon said one of the judges greatest contributions to the court was her last, when she provided oversight to a unique program that enabled people convicted of crimes to earn reductions in their period of supervised release by participating in a special rehabilitative program under intense judicial supervision.

She will be remembered by her colleagues for her devotion to the work of the court, for her mentorship of a cadre of young lawyers of all backgrounds, and for her infectious smile and extraordinary collegiality, McMahon said.

Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a tweet that he was Saddened to hear of the passing of Deborah Batts, a giant of the legal community who blazed new trails for justice and equality.

He called it a major loss for our judiciary and our movement.

Batts received her undergraduate degree from Radcliffe College in 1969 before graduating from Harvard Law School in 1972. She worked at Cravath Swaine & Moore before joining the U.S. attorneys office in 1979.

In 1984, she joined the faculty at Fordham University School of Law, becoming a tenured professor in 1990.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Massachusetts' top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Kylee McCumber

Nominated by The Winchendon School

Kylee, a senior at The Winchendon School, provides weekend meal kits for nearly 500 children in her town and in four nearby towns who otherwise might go hungry when school is not in session, a situation that Kylee herself has experienced. When she was 10, she noticed one morning several children eating breakfast at school, and asked her grandmother why they didn't eat at home. Her grandmother told her they were food insecure. Kylee had never told anyone that she, too, had also once gone hungry. "When I was younger, my mother had a drug addiction and she often fed that instead of feeding me," Kylee said. Determined to help other kids experiencing food insecurity, Kylee and her grandmother founded "Kylee's Kare Kits for Kidz," a nonprofit organization dedicated to feeding children who might not get enough to eat on weekends, when they're not getting meals at school.

Initially, Kylee held two yard sales to raise money to provide food for eight children. She and her grandma installed shelves in their basement to store food, shopped for groceries, packed the kits and delivered them to the school every Friday. But each week, the number of children in need grew, so they recruited volunteers to help and stepped up their fundraising efforts to include online appeals, food drives, "fill-a-truck" events and corporate sponsorships. Today, Kylee's program feeds children in need at all of her district's nine schools, as well as at schools in four surrounding towns. "My goal is to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry," she said. She also has conducted collection drives to provide kids with new backpacks stuffed with school supplies, and with holiday gifts at Christmastime.

Middle Level State Honoree: Jenna Khayal

Nominated by The Islamic Academy for Peace

Jenna, an eighth-grader at The Islamic Academy for Peace, raised money to sponsor three orphans in the Middle East and collected clothing donations that benefitted nearly a thousand people in Syria. As an officer of her student council, Jenna believes she should lead by example. "Student council motivated me to do my volunteer work," Jenna said. "Not everybody gets to live in heated homes with clean water and plenty of food. There are so many people who are struggling to obtain the most basic needs that we forget to even acknowledge what we have as a great privilege."

Wanting to sponsor a child in need in Syria, Jenna began raising money by soliciting donations from fellow students, conducting bake sales at her school, asking parents to contribute, and organizing a "jeans day" at school where, for a $2 donation, students could exchange their school uniforms for informal clothing. After she had raised enough to fulfill her original goal of sponsoring one child through a humanitarian relief organization, "I felt like it wasn't enough," she said. So she redoubled her efforts. So far, Jenna has been able to support two Syrian girls and a Yemeni boy. She also worked with the relief agency to collect clothing including jackets and shoes for people in war-ravaged Syria. She said she would like to sponsor even more children in the future and, as the current president of the student council, wants to explore more ways that she and her fellow students can help make the world a better place.

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized six other Massachusetts students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Massachusetts' Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Ethan Chandler, 17, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, a senior at Fitchburg High School, founded and runs "Karate For Kids," a nonprofit that gives free karate lessons to students in need in his community; his organization has raised more than $7,000 by holding fundraisers and has awarded three scholarships to participants. Through Karate For Kids, Ethan also donated to a local Thanksgiving food drive and helped deliver holiday food baskets to families in his community.

Zev Dickstein, 17, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, a senior at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, developed a mobile app, "Turnout," to help young people become more civically active in their communities; the app includes news, information about upcoming political events, and resources to help users contact legislators and write press releases. Zev has raised more than $60,000 for his initiative and runs a team that includes 15 other young people.

Carson Domey, 15, of Bellingham, Massachusetts, a sophomore at Saint John's High School, regularly volunteers his time to benefit Crohn's disease research; along with speaking at events about his experience with Crohn's, he has helped raise more than $150,000 by leading a team at Boston Children's Hospital's Walk for Kids. Also an advocate for suicide prevention, Carson campaigned to have the suicide hotline number printed on student IDs at his school, and is working to implement this initiative at schools across the U.S.

Anthony Nardelli, 17, of Brockton, Massachusetts, a senior at Cardinal Spellman High School, serves as an alumni mentor for Project 351, a nonprofit youth leadership organization; he helps pack thousands of care packages for troops serving overseas and has participated in an annual spring clothing drive for the past five years. Anthony has also completed service trips to Jamaica, where he volunteered in an orphanage, and to West Virginia, where he helped complete home repairs in underserved communities.

Emma Radford, 18, of South Yarmouth, Massachusetts, a senior at Barnstable High School, is a participating member and secretary of the Best Buddies program at her school, which "buddies up" students with and without special needs; she has secured food donations from local businesses for meetings, helps match pairs of students and plans activities for the club. Emma was inspired to join Best Buddies by a cousin who has autism.

Bipasha Ray, 16, of Andover, Massachusetts, a junior at Andover High School, helped establish "Healthy Heart Initiative," which promotes cardiovascular health awareness in underserved communities; she has travelled to more than 50 schools to reach thousands of students, helps plan fundraisers, and has designed informational brochures, booklets and a website. Healthy Heart Initiative also provides echocardiograms to participants whose survey answers indicate high risk for cardiovascular disease.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com .

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.

Related Links

http://spirit.prudential.com


Jeddah: The Islamic Cooperation Organization, the largest organization of Muslim countries after the Arab League, has rejected the Middle East peace plan of US President Donald Trump. Where OIC called upon all its 57 member countries not to cooperate in the implementation of this peace plan.

Politics intensifies in Punjab, this committee created a new strategy

At the same time, it is being said that this organization, representing the 150 million Muslim population of the world, said that Trump's peace plan also does not meet the minimum aspirations and equitable rights of Palestinian people. Where it also violates the conditions made by the peace process so far. In such a situation, there is no reason to accept it. At the same time, it has been learned that in the meeting of foreign ministers of member countries in Jeddah city of Saudi Arabia, it was said that no member country should have any talks or any kind of cooperation with America on this peace plan. It is also being told not to do any such work which will help the American administration to implement this plan.

Chinese woman detained for hiding Coronavirus

According to the information received, it has been learned that Trump has brought this peace plan to settle the dispute between Israel and Palestine. America is in the role of a mediator in this Middle East dispute. But Palestine has rejected the US effort on this peace plan from the beginning. Under the peace plan, Israel will get full authority over Jerusalem and will be able to make its capital. The eastern part of Jerusalem is currently occupied by Palestine. Whereas Palestine and OIC consider East Jerusalem as the future capital of Palestine. If the Muslim community considers Jerusalem a holy city and has an emotional attachment to it, then this is the situation of Jews living in Israel.

Imran Khan in Malaysia, says- "If India will not buy, then we will import palm oil"
The present glaring issue for the economy has been to infuse funds for a demand pickup  for the agriculture sector, for NBFCs and for infrastructure spend, so as to enable the nation to be back on the growth track. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has endeavoured to address most of the issues with a medium to long-term vision.

In order to take the economy on to a higher growth trajectory, stepping up infrastructure investments is a must. Therefore, for me, the biggest takeaway is perhaps the announcement of allowing Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) 100 per cent tax exemption for investments in Indian infrastructure projects. The other important announcement was the increase in the FPI limit for corporate bonds from nine per cent to 15 per cent. This, coupled with the laying out of the red carpet for SWFs at this juncture, is very good news for Indian infrastructure projects as it will enable long-term funds, both equity and debt, to be invested in India. The global financial markets are flush with abundant funds.

The decision on Dividend Distribution Tax, which has been on the expected lines, is likely to make investments in India more profitable.

On the infrastructure front, one of the notable announcements was to bring the power sector in line with manufacturing companies and provide a concessional tax rate of 15 per cent on the new domestic generation companies. However, I hope the existing power generation companies and the distribution companies should also be included in due course. I welcome the announcement that the Centre would now prod all state governments to adopt smart metering. This can do wonders in improving the financial health of the discoms.

I also welcome the decision to set up a body for improving the modalities of settling commercial disputes. This is something which needs to be fast-tracked.

The finance minister has done well in paying adequate attention to the needs of the tech-driven New Economy and stepped up allocations for fostering the startup ecosystem and incentivising skilling initiatives. Allowing tax benefits to startups by way of deduction of 100 per cent of their profits and increasing the turnover limit and period of eligibility are in the right direction and will encourage both innovation and talent grooming.

The decision to liberalise external commercial borrowing (ECB) and foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for development of institutes of higher skills was also very reassuring. If India has to emerge as a global power, we need to quickly scale up the capacity of our higher education ecosystem.

On the personal income-tax front, once we go through the fine print, we can comprehend better as to the modalities and advantages of the new optional income-tax rate system and how useful it would be in increasing consumption demand. On the real estate front, the finance minister has extended by one year the date of approval of affordable housing projects for availing a tax holiday on profit earned by developers and also the additional `1.5 lakh tax benefit on interest paid on affordable housing loans. Given the huge inventory buildup in the real estate sector, and the fact that this sector is a huge employment generator, I was expecting more incentives.

On the resource mobilisation front, the decisions to offload a part of the governments stake in the Life Insurance Corporation and to sell off the entire government stake in IDBI Bank were noteworthy. It was reassuring to hear from the finance minister that the proceeds from such disinvestment will be mostly used for capital expenditure.

The extension of the Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme for NBFCs will surely facilitate them and I am sure we will soon hear good news for the sector that can address the liquidity availability in the medium to short-term basis.

The decision to increase the Deposit Insurance Coverage from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakhs per depositor will be a huge relief and will encourage further savings, which can be channelised to fund infrastructure and industrial projects.
In 2003, a Ministerial Resolution established February 8 as Pisco Sour Day in order to promote the consumption of the cocktail "purely Peruvian and internationally recognized."

The following year, it was decided that every first Saturday of February homage should be paid to the drink created in 1916 by U.S. bartender Victor Morris.

Japan

The Embassy of Peru in Japan summoned some 100 people who tasted the traditional cocktail whose main ingredient is Pisco : the ultimate distilled from fresh musts of freshly fermented Pisco grapes as well as various Peruvian dishes ( Ceviche , Causa Rellena, etc.)
Arabs have long complained of being second-class citizens of Israel. If the Trump administration's peace plan comes to life, some might not even be that.

Until recently, the idea of redrawing Israel's borders to put hundreds of thousands of Arab citizens into a future state of Palestine existed only on the margins of Israeli political discourse. Now, the Trump proposals unveiled last week have taken it mainstream.

The prospect of creating such a state under the plan is unlikely given the outright Palestinian rejection of the U.S. blueprint. But the fact that the idea has been put to paper has antagonized Israeli Arabs, who already suffer discrimination in the Jewish state and say it only cements something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said before: They're not "real" Israelis.

"We are not a bargaining chip," said Muhammed Majadly, deputy mayor of Baqa al-Gharbiyeh, one of the northern towns that would be affected. "Instead of letting me feel that I belong and the sky is the limit, they are putting me in a position of uncertainty and stress." Arabs make up about a fifth of Israel's 9 million people.

According to the Trump document, residents of 10 Israeli Arab communities in what's known as "the Triangle" could find themselves remaining in their homes but stripped of their Israeli citizenship, in a lopsided swap for West Bank land where settlements stand. About 300,000 people live in this concentration of Arab towns and villages in central and northern Israel abutting the West Bank.

"The Vision contemplates the possibility, subject to agreement of the parties, that the borders of Israel will be redrawn such that the Triangle Communities become part of the State of Palestine," the plan says. These communities, it adds, largely self-identify as Palestinian, and were originally designated to fall under Jordanian control during the negotiations of the 1949 armistice line, but ultimately were retained by Israel for military reasons "that have since been mitigated."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would have no part of it. "Yes, they are our people, yes, it is our land, but I will not accept this idea under any circumstances," he said Monday at the weekly cabinet meeting.

Israeli Arab leaders are working on a way to derail the proposal, and thousands protested on Saturday in Baqa al-Gharbiyeh and in Tel Aviv.

Senior officials in Netanyahu's office say the Trump scheme is unrealistic because it requires the agreement of all sides, Channel 12 reported Sunday. The same channel reported in 2017 that Netanyahu, commonly known as Bibi, had put this suggestion to the Americans, and the Ha'aretz newspaper confirmed this on Tuesday, noting that the prime minister hasn't denied involvement.

The only strategy guiding the Trump plan "is a maximum amount of land with a minimum amount of Palestinians," said Ayman Odeh, chairman of the Joint List of Arab parties. "This is the inevitable end point of Trump and Bibi's racist agenda: a green light to revoke the citizenship of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arab citizens who live in northern Israel."

A spokesman for Netanyahu said the prime minister's office has been working with the U.S. administration on the peace plan for three years and that the work's still ongoing.

Israel was founded in 1948 as a Jewish homeland on land the resident Arab population wanted for its own state. About 700,000 Arabs fled or were expelled in fighting surrounding its creation. Arabs who remained inside the borders of the new state were incorporated, some unwillingly, creating mutual suspicions that persist and have been amplified by Israeli Arabs' identification with the Palestinian cause.

Today they see themselves as a law-abiding minority who identify as Palestinians, Majadly said.

But there are reasons for some of the Jewish misgivings. Some Israeli Arab lawmakers have visited enemy countries like Syria and relatives of dead militants who have attacked Israelis. The northern Islamic Movement has close ideological ties to Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip and has warred with Israel three times. Some Arab citizens belong to a local party, Balad, that wants to eradicate Israel's Jewish identity so it can become a "state of all of its citizens."

Netanyahu has used this to paint a sinister picture of Arab parties and their supporters. The prime minister has repeatedly attacked Arab parties as subversive and exploited fears over the Arab vote to drive right-wing turnout. Last year, after a local celebrity criticized his assertion that Arab parties don't belong in government, he said, "Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people -- and it alone."

A year earlier, Netanyahu pushed through a law enshrining Israel's Jewish character. Supporters contend the law is a bulwark against those who reject Jewish statehood, but critics say it undercuts democracy by omitting the commitment to full equality for all citizens codified elsewhere. It also downgraded the status of the once-official Arabic language.

Expelling citizens to another state would take that affront to a whole new level, Israeli Arabs say.

"To take me and reassign me to the West Bank is like dropping me into Ethiopia," said Naseem Ghanym, a 44-year-old shop owner worried about the future of his 6-year-old daughter. "They are treating us like the merchandise I sell in my shop, selling us and buying us. At the end of the day people want to live, send their children to university, build their future. This is what we are worried about."

_ _ _

With assistance from Bloomberg's Fadwa Hodali.
Ivan Cholakov/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) assessed that the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi last year did not disrupt the groups command structure or operations, according to a report from the Defense Department's inspector general.



Al Baghdadi was killed during the Oct. 26 raid on his compound in northwestern Syria, carried out by the U.S. Army's elite Delta Force.



"USCENTCOM and the DIA both assessed that the October death of al Baghdadi did not result in any immediate degradation to ISISs capabilities," the Pentagon's report -- released every three months -- said on Tuesday. "USCENTCOM told the DoD OIG that following the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the groups capabilities in Syria remained the same."



The IG added, "USCENTCOM said that ISIS remained cohesive, with an intact command and control structure, urban clandestine networks, and an insurgent presence in much of rural Syria."



But the Central Command also reported that the terror group "did not significantly advance its insurgency" and has struggled to attack U.S. or coalition forces.



The military command said that ISIS has had more success with low-level attacks against local government and Kurdish forces in both Iraq and Syria.



Following Turkey's invasion into northern Syria, President Donald Trump initially ordered a full withdrawal of the 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria helping Kurdish forces in the fight against ISIS.



The withdrawal changed in scope after Trump said hundreds of U.S. forces would remain in Syria to prevent ISIS from regaining access to key oil fields in Kurdish held areas from which the terror group might gain revenue for its operations.



There are now 500 U.S. troops still in Syria as part of that mission.



According to the Treasury Department's analysis included in the IG report, ISIS "continues to generate revenue by extorting oil smuggling networks in northeastern Syria."



"It assesses these revenues are small compared with the groups other main sources of income: kidnapping for ransom, extortion, and looting and the use of front companies," according to Treasury officials.



The Treasury said that ISIS continues to "have access to financial reserves in the hundreds of millions of dollars even as it works to rebuild its significantly reduced fundraising networks."



They added, "ISIS primarily uses cash couriers, called hawaladars, and money services businesses to move funds within and out of Syria and Iraq."



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - A performing arts centre at Michigan State University removed a gift shop display featuring dolls depicting prominent black figures that were hanging from a tree-like rack, said school officials, who added that they will provide racial bias training for workers and volunteers.

University spokeswoman Emily Gerkin Guerrant apologized in a statement, adding that people were hurt and offended regardless of the intent of the display at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts. The training will focus on the impact and understanding of intentional and unintentional racial bias, the statement said.

The felt ornaments hung from the tree-shaped rack depicted figures such as former President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Prince. The dolls were noticed by Krystal Rose Davis-Dunn, a black graduate student, who told the Lansing State Journal that there were other trees holding dolls of historic black figures, as well as a few white leaders.

Davis-Dunn said she asked employees if they saw anything wrong with the displays, but they did not. She added for her, it recalled images of African-American people hanging from twine.

That is problematic, she said, adding that she came to the centre for a jazz concert after a day of meetings with university leaders to discuss boosting equality and diversity on campus. Youre lynching black people from trees.

Guerrant told The Associated Press in an email Tuesday that the display of historic dolls and ornaments was part of Februarys Black History Month celebration. The Wharton Center is hosting several events, including We Shall Overcome: A Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. on Feb. 14.

Guerrant said the incident is being investigated by the universitys Office of Institutional Equity.
A female teacher who preyed on young boys, taking them away from school during lunch breaks to have sex in her car, has been pictured for the first time.

Concerns over Jaimee Marie Cooney were raised when an explicit video began circulating around Marlborough Boys' College, in New Zealand's South Island, last year.

Months later, the mother-of-two, now 38, was arrested and charged with several offences relating to the sexual abuse of two boys, both 15.

Concerns over Jaimee Marie Cooney were raised when an explicit video began circulating around Marlborough Boys' College last year

Cooney was the head of the languages department and the the wellness co-ordinator at the New Zealand school (pictured) when she approached the first victim, who was just 14 at the time

Cooney was the head of the languages department and the the wellness co-ordinator at the New Zealand school when she approached the first victim, who was just 14 at the time.

Their relationship then became 'flirty' and the pair were texting every day. They also began spending their lunch breaks together, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Eventually their relationship became sexual and the pair would spent lunch breaks having sex in the back seat of her car at a car park off school campus.

Sometimes the pair would have sex in the back of her car as she waited to pick her child up from school.

The second victim became involved with the teacher when the trio arranged to have a threesome.

The abuse of both boys continued for months, Stuff reported.

The first victim believed they were in a relationship but tried to end it but she would tell him she would kill herself.

Cooney (pictured) pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual connection with minors, and one of exposing a minor to indecent material over a year-long period

Cooney pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual connection with minors, and one of exposing a minor to indecent material over a year-long period.

However, her lawyer argued the case was less serious than other teacher and student relationships as the victims were 'significantly bigger' than Cooney and therefore were not intimated by her.

He also argued the sex acts were not degrading.

But Judge Zohrab said they were 'the bodies of men and minds of children'.

He mentioned that the three-way sex act with with someone 'old enough to be his mother' was 'not vanilla sex' and had to be demeaning.

Cooney was sentenced to to two years and six months behind bars in the Blenheim District Court in December last year.

She had been fighting for name suppression but she was forced to abandon the appeal this week.

She has been placed on the Child Sex Offender Register and had her teaching registration cancelled.
European countries are still among the most attractive immigration destinations, while the United States and Canada have become more popular over the past year.

Almost 20% of Russians would like to leave the country, and the number of those wishing to emigrate has more than doubled in four years.

"A total of 83% of Russians say they wouldn't want to leave Russia, while 17% of Russians consider moving to another country. The number of those wishing to emigrate has more than doubled over the past four years," as evidenced by the results of a survey carried out by the Russian Romir research holding, the largest Russian private holding company specializing in marketing, media and socio-economic research, an UNIAN correspondent in Russia reports.

Most often this was stated by youngest respondents, among whom the share of potential emigrants exceeds one third. European countries are still among the most attractive immigration destinations, while the United States and Canada have become more popular over the past year.

Almost similar results were received in 2018 and 2015, when 88% and 92% of respondents respectively said they would not like to move from Russia. Negative dynamics have been observed on the issue for the fourth consecutive year. However, the share of Russians who would like to move to another country, on the contrary, has more than doubled (from 8% to 17%).

Read alsoRussians see U.S., Ukraine as potential military threats  poll

Russian youths (18-24 years old) state their desire to leave Russia more often (36%). Among Russians over 60 years of age, the idea of emigration is supported by no more than 9%.

In addition, it turned out that 59% of potential emigrants (the question was asked only to those who are thinking about changing their place of residence) would prefer to move to one of the European countries, with Spain (8%), Germany (8%) and Italy taking the lead (5%).

A total of 16% of respondents who are considering emigration would like to move to the United States and Canada, while the majority still prefer the U.S. The share of such responses has increased from 13% to 16% over the year. About 7% of respondents consider moving to one of the Asian countries, 11% of potential migrants would opt for other countries, including Australia and Brazil, while 7% found the question difficult to answer.

The survey involved 1,500 respondents aged 18 years and older, living in all types of cities and in rural areas, in all federal districts of the Russian Federation. The sample represents the adult population.
Former Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi, who ruled the country with an iron fist between 1978 and 2002, has died aged 95, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced Tuesday. Moi's 24-year rule saw his country become a one-party state where critical voices were crushed, corruption became endemic and tribal divisions were stoked and turned bloody. "It is with profound sadness that I announce the death of a great man of an African state," Kenyatta said in a statement. He ordered a period of national mourning until a state funeral is held, on a date not yet announced. The former president died "in the early morning of February 4 at Nairobi hospital in the presence of his family," Kenyatta said. - 'Chequered career' - Moi fought off rivals in a bitter contest to take the top job in 1978, succeeding Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta, when he died. The speaker of Kenya's national assembly, Justin Muturi said that Moi was an "astute politician", who "employed pragmatic nationalism to keep the country together for the 24 years that he led our nation." "He will be remembered for his great efforts towards consolidating peace and tranquility within the Horn of Africa and largely the East African Region, at a very difficult time for the region and the African continent," Muturi added. His son Gideon Moi, a senator, confirmed Moi died at 5:20 am (02:20 GMT). "He passed away peacefully," he said. "I was by his side and, as a family, we have accepted (his death)." One of the defining scandals of Moi's presidency was the loss of $1 billion from the central bank through false gold and diamond exports. A report by Britain-based risk consultant group Kroll in 2007 claimed Moi's family and clique laundered money on a global scale, buying properties and companies in London, New York and South Africa and even a 10,000-hectare (25,000-acre) ranch in Australia. - 'Discipline' - Vice-President William Ruto, who comes from the same Kalenjin people as Moi, mourned his "legendary personal discipline" and said that his "life and work touched every one of us in lasting, impactful ways." Those targeted by his regime included human rights and environmental activists, including the writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o and the future Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. Moi was however praised for keeping Kenya a relative haven of peace during a chaotic period in east Africa which saw the genocide in Rwanda and civil wars in Burundi and Somalia. His later return -- under significant pressure -- to multiparty elections in 1992, and peaceful handover of power to opposition leader Mwai Kibaki in 2002 also won him some praise. Former opponent Raila Odinga, who spent several years in jail under Moi, referred to the late leader's "chequered career", but also spoke of his decision to finally restore multiparty politics. "Moi and I reconciled after the political differences of the 1980s and early 90s, and we were able to work together to bring more reforms to the country," Odinga said. In recent years observers have criticised the "rehabilitation" of Moi as the elderly former president often received visits from President Kenyatta, his opposition rival Raila Odinga and any politician seeking his blessing ahead of elections. Kenyatta revived "Moi Day" in honour of the former president in 2017, after it was scrapped in 2010. Former Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi, seen here in 1998, has died
Considering the farming community vote is regarded as being capable of swinging 20 seats in a Dail, agriculture has barely featured in this general election campaign.

Farming is not unique in this regard. Jobs in tech, manufacturing and services or public sector reform have barely got a look-in either.

The leaders recently all trooped out to Bluebell to make their pitch but the messages were very much aimed at the target audience.

An appetite for change and the catch-all housing and health crises have been the dominant forces in the campaign.

The agri-food sector was described as the backbone of the economic recovery.

During the tough times it was hailed; now it is being taken for granted.

On the canvass, campaigners say the beef price crisis continues to come up as the main farming community issue, but only it seems in areas where farmers are affected - in other words, non-dairy.

Agriculture is featuring primarily through the prism of climate change, where the debate is becoming unnecessarily and inaccurately polarised as farmer versus environmentalist.

Farming can lead the way on climate change; instead it is being scapegoated.

Whether farmers like it or not, there is a perception that emissions from agriculture are a major contributor to emissions.

The debate on agriculture and climate change needs to become more sophisticated than the current blame game. It's still a fledgling discussion that the farming community can influence heavily.

The suspicion towards the Green Party remains in the farmyard.

The party's argument about switching farming systems is overly simplistic, as it depends on a range of factor and there is no 'one-shoe-fits-all' policy.

Within the Greens, there is significant doubt expressed about whether the party's rural affairs agenda is developed enough.

Down the line, if the Greens got its policies right, there is actually a market there.

Show suckler or sheep farmers how to make money from the land and they will evolve.

The link between climate change and agriculture shouldn't be ignored, - rather it should be embraced, with solutions and incentives provided.

The abolition of quotas has resulted in a greater degree of intensification in dairy without an accompanying way of mitigating against the pressure on the land.

At a larger level, the smart farmers will be looking at the CAP and ensuring the cuts are limited without onerous conditions attached.

Brexit means the overall EU budget will go down significantly, by around 10pc.

Where EU agriculture policy goes as a result is an open question.

What's unusual about this general election is that social policies dominate. But the worries about the health service and the lack of supply of housing and costs of rent are as much an issue in Blanchardstown as in Borrisoleigh.

The growing pains of a country struggling to keep up with the rising population is causing a shortage of school places which is cropping up all over the country, an issue in Swords but also in Mullinavat.

The inability to get to grips with insurance premiums on business, house and health and compo culture is hitting rural areas hard.

The pension age is also coming up in a different way in rural areas, as there are fewer white-collar jobs, compared to urban areas, and less movement in the labour market.

The recruitment of staff and finding labourers is getting more difficult everywhere.

This also applies to childcare, where creches are few and far between in rural areas, compared to towns and cities.

Rural crime quite rightly remains on farmers' mindsets, but urban residents feel the same.

An increase in Garda numbers isn't just a village question or a city question.

When it comes to agriculture, farmers feel the urban population doesn't get their cause.

However, farming doesn't help itself at times. The Beef Plan Movement's protests in Dublin have done little to help the cause of farming in urban Ireland. The IFA has missed a step here by allowing that movement to build to a point where it claimed to be the voice of farmers.

To the average worker in the commuter belt of Dublin, they see little difference between the groups.

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed's constituency of Cork North-West shows how there are some areas where the general election trends don't really get a look in.

Once again, it's a straight shoot-out between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

Sinn Fein has no candidate at all in the field, the Green Party isn't at the races and there's no serious Independent making a play, so far.

The wide options available to voters in Booterstown are not there in Buttevant.

In a constituency that stretches from the commuter belt of Cork city into mountainy country out west and the edge of the Golden Vale up north, the hinterland covers the Kerry Group in Charleville, the Carbery Group in Ballineen and Dairygold in Mallow.

It's most definitely farming country, but it's land mixed with dairy, beef, sheep and tillage.

It's a microcosm of farming in Ireland, but it's politically only the Civil War parties.

Right now, Fianna Fail are on top there, but Fine Gael will battle hard to switch the balance.

No wonder Mr Creed's outlook on the world is quite narrow.

The general election campaign encapsulates the problem with farming.

A debate on an issue of national importance affecting everyone and impacting on daily lives, is being carried out only amid the sector itself.

The fear of upsetting anyone within the vested interest is leading to a lack of imagination. The absence of vision is causing the long-term damage.

What's required is a forward-thinking leader who can advocate and critique for farmer and consumer alike.

A Minister for Agriculture with the capacity to lift the head up out of the furrow and take in the entire landscape would be a revelation.





Who's promising what in battle for the farming vote

Ciaran Moran outlines the five main parties' key agriculture policies as candidates chase the rural vote ahead of Saturday's polling day





Fine Gael

Build a coalition of like-minded countries on CAP negotiations

Fair distribution of direct payments to active farmers

Protect agriculture with a hard Brexit farm package, if required, and a market diversification plan

Establish a regulator to police unfair trading practices in the agricultural and food supply chain

Increase the payment per ewe under the Sheep Welfare Scheme from 10 to 15

Plant 22 million trees each year





Fianna Fail

Establish a National Food Ombudsman

Ensure a suckler cow payment of 200 per head

Increase resources to the market access unit

Increase Areas of Natural Constraints and biodiversity payments

Expand Farm Assist

Support the CAP convergence process

Abolish the levy farmers pay to Bord Bia





Sinn Fein

Establish a commission on the future of the family farm

Enhanced suckler cow payments

Root-and-branch review of the processing sector

Rebalance CAP payments towards lower-income family farms

Higher ewe payments and ANC payments for sheep farmers





Green Party

Phase out live exports

Shift focus of dairy and meat sector towards quality over scale

Increased supports for organic farming across all sectors

Shift funding from Pillar 1 (direct payments) to Pillar 2

Scrap the green/marked diesel regime in favour of a tax rebate payable to farmers

A ban on badger culling

Potential overhaul of the nitrates' derogation





Labour

Fairer distribution of supports for small and disadvantaged farmers

Increased environmental incentives

The launch of a Farm Income Diversification Scheme to help boost farm family incomes

Re-introduction of the Early Retirement Scheme

Extending TAMS II beyond 2020
On 31 January, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone call with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Foreign Minister Qureshi first conveyed Prime Minister Imran Khan's best wishes to Premier Li Keqiang. He expressed Pakistan's strong support for China's efforts to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak and Pakistan's readiness to do its best to help China overcome this challenge. Pakistan will be sending a military aircraft carrying assistance supplies to China soon. The people of Pakistan stand by the brotherly Chinese people during this difficult time. While the global community has lauded China's timely and effective response, some elements are trying to create panic, which Pakistan strongly opposes. The government of Pakistan trusts that China is fully capable of ensuring the safety and health of foreign nationals in China and appreciates China taking care of Pakistani nationals in China like its own. Pakistan firmly believes that under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese people will win the battle against the outbreak.

State Councilor Wang Yi passed on Premier Li Keqiang's greetings to Prime Minister Khan. He said that under the direct leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has put in place a nationwide mechanism and taken decisive measures to contain and mitigate the outbreak. With all measures falling into place, China has the capacity, confidence and determination to win the final victory. China and Pakistan are close neighbors with a fine tradition of mutual support and assistance. At a time when the Chinese people are facing difficulties, Pakistan is doing its utmost to help, which once again speaks volumes about the deep friendship between the two countries. The Pakistani government does not intend to hastily evacuate the nearly one thousand Pakistani nationals in Wuhan. This is a vote of confidence for the Chinese government. China will continue to ensure the safety and health of Pakistani brothers and sisters and provide them with all necessary assistance.

Wang pointed out that yesterday the WHO commended China's timely and effective measures to control the outbreak, and that the WHO made it clear about its opposition to travel or trade restrictions against China. Yet as you rightly said, some people are bent on creating panic. Just hours after the WHO put forward its professional advice, certain country announced a blanket travel ban against China. Such an act to take advantage of other people's difficulties is the last thing we need in state-to-state relations. China trusts that Pakistan and the rest of the international community will fully respect the important opinions of the WHO and continue to support China in containing the outbreak.
Disgraced ex-Billabong CEO Matthew Perrin could face questions from police over the $50,000 engagement ring he gave his wife after his early release from jail.

The 47-year-old, who was once worth more than $150million, presented his fiancee Belinda Otton with the custom-made ring at the Sheraton Mirage Hotel at Main Beach on the Gold Coast in August 2019.

Mr Perrin's lavish proposal came just two months after he was mysteriously released from prison a year before he was to be eligible for parole.

The former tycoon was sentenced to eight years in prison in January 2017 for forging ex-wife Nicole Bricknell's signature on documents in order to secure a $13.5million loan from the Commonwealth Bank for their waterfront home.

Matthew Perrin proposed to his partner Belinda Otton (both pictured) with a $50,000 ring in August 2019

Ms Otton pictured wearing the $50,000 ring on the Gold Coast

He had also forged his brother Fraser Perrin's signature as a witness on the same document.

The reasons for his early release have not been made public.

Mr Perrin has never spoken publicly about his early release from jail, but previously told those close to him that he was a 'model prisoner' and his early release was 'unprecedented,' The Courier-Mail reported.

The former surf wear tycoon was spotted celebrating his engagement to Ms Otton with family and friends at the exclusive Crystal Lounge at the Gold Coast Turf Club, just two months after leaving jail.

Ms Otton then appeared on social media wearing the diamond ring, which is believed to have been made by boutique jeweller Birkbecks.

A lawyer for Mr Perrin said there was 'no evidence that the said ring/diamond was not validly owned and acquired by our client.'

Matthew Perrin (center) arriving at his trial in December 2016 with his now fiance Belinda Otton (pictured left) and daughter Larissa (pictured right)

Mr Perrin made his fortune after he bought a 49 per cent stake in Billabong with his brother Scott for $35million in January 1999 and later sold it for more than double the price.

He worked with various investment banks and invested in a speculative Chinese supermarket, before going bankrupt owing $42million in 2009.

At the time of sentencing, Perrin was labelled remorseless for crimes he committed when his lavish life was threatened by his failing ventures.
A Perth prison was put in lockdown on Tuesday morning after the discovery of illegal drugs kicked off an extensive police raid over the weekend.

Bandyup Womens Prison. Credit:ABC

A tip-off led prison authorities to the discovery of a "rock crystal substance", a syringe, a bag with a white powder residue and cannabis in Bandyup Women's Prison on Friday.

The find led officers to drug test 19 of the facility's 300 prisoners, nine of whom tested positive for methamphetamine.

The raid continued over the weekend and culminated with WA Corrective Services Commissioner Tony Hassall ordering a lockdown of the prison on Tuesday morning, as more than 90 staff and sniffer dogs continued to search the facility.
"We wouldn't have the freedoms we have today if it wasn't for our nation's veterans who stepped up for us time and time again," said Kraus and Steve Newton, founders of MISSION BBQ. "We are humbled by the wonderful support of our customers and all the good that will be done for our so deserving American Heroes in remembering their lives, their service and their sacrifices."

Wreaths Across America is best known for its annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, their mission is to Remember our fallen U.S. veterans, Honor those who serve and Teach the next generation the value of freedom. In addition to Arlington, Wreaths Across America coordinates wreath-laying ceremonies at more than 2,100 locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea and abroad.

"The team at MISSION BBQ demonstrate how everyone can play a part in the communities where they live and work. They are providing jobs, a gathering place for stories to be told, and good food to be eaten all across this country, all while giving back locally," said Karen Worcester, Executive Director, Wreaths Across America. "This mindset aligns perfectly with the Wreaths Across America mission and we are so proud to have them as a partner in supporting it."

American Heroes Cups are available year-round, retailing at $3.99 with $2 of every cup purchase donated to a charity supporting national military charities and local first-responders. Customers are encouraged to bring back their American Heroes Cup on return visits to the restaurant and receive $.99 refills.

About MISSION BBQ:

MISSION BBQ opened its doors for business on September 11, 2011, 10 years after the world changed. We believe there is nothing more American than BBQ. And nobody more American than the brave men and women who have sworn to protect and serve Our Communities and Our Country. We do what we do for the love of our soldiers, firefighters, police officers, and first respondersall our loved ones in service. We set across this great land from Texas to Kansas City, the Carolinas to St. Louis...to discover the secrets of great BBQ. Every day we strive to serve you authentic BBQ made from the freshest, most delectable ingredients, and serve it to you in a patriotic dining room filled with tributes to those who've made Our Country great, given to us by the people who earned them. Stop by at 12 noon as we sing Our National Anthem. Everyday.

For more information about MISSION BBQ: http://mission-bbq.com/. Follow MISSION BBQ on Facebook at @missionbbqtheamericanway

About Wreaths Across America:

Wreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992. The organization's mission  Remember, Honor, Teach, -- is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies each December at Arlington, as well as at thousands of veterans' cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond.

For more information, to sponsor wreaths or to sign up to volunteer, please visit www.WreathsAcrossAmerica.org. Follow Wreaths Across America on Facebook at http://Facebook.com/WAAHQ and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/WreathsAcross.

Press contacts:

Amber Caron

Wreaths Across America

(207) 513-6457

[email protected]

MISSION BBQ

[email protected]

SOURCE Wreaths Across America

Related Links

http://www.WreathsAcrossAmerica.org


A vegan who complained to McDonald's about their lack of plant-based options was perplexed to learn the company used his name to promote their new burger.

Shane Bazzi sent tweets to the restaurant's Australian account throughout 2019 asking them why they were so behind their competitors in launching a vegetarian meals.

But on January 31, Mr Bazzi found out fake tweets which were 'inspired' by his real ones had been created and were being used by McDonald's in ads for their new veggie burger, which launched just weeks earlier.

The fast food chain told Daily Mail Australia the campaign was inspired by real tweets.

Shane Bazzi (pictured) said this picture was used by McDonald's, but that they'd blurred out his face

'This is bizarre,' he tweeted.

'I've just discovered McDonald's is using my name and photo to advertise their new veggie burger on their Instagram however I never tweeted that. They just made it up!'

McDonald's shared a sponsored post on Instagram with a message from 'Shane B', which read: 'One day I'll bite into a @maccas veggie burger. One day...'

The blurred photo featured alongside the text was Mr Bazzi's former profile picture.

Mr Bazzi, a refugee advocate from Sydney, told Buzzfeed his boyfriend first saw the McDonald's post.

'My boyfriend saw my name and photo used in the tweet, and he knows I've been contacting Maccas to get a veggie option. He said 'check it out', and I took a look and said 'I never actually said that'.'

'I found it quite cringey and weird to be honest. I was disappointed to have my words twisted and used... For them to make money from my name, image and Twitter account.'

'This is bizarre,' he tweeted after learning of the promotional advertisement McDonald's was using

Shane Bazzi sent tweets to the Australian fast food chain throughout 2019 asking them why they were so behind their competitors in launching a vegetarian option

A spokesman from McDonald's told Daily Mail Australia the tweet wasn't exactly the feedback they received from Mr Bazzi.

'We took inspiration from a handful of tweets. We blurred photos and did not use full names or direct quotes of any of the users who inspired this campaign' the statement read.

'At Macca's, we're constantly listening to our customers and taking inspiration from them when we're innovating and launching new products and offerings.

'In this instance, the appetite on social for a vegetable-based burger option was a factor we considered when deciding to roll-out the McVeggie Burger.

'Our social media approach aimed to celebrate this.'

Mr Bazzi claims he has tried to reach out to the company to solve the issue, but that he is yet to hear back about his grievances.

The campaign has now ended.
Kristal Bryant of K&Js Elegant Pastries in Alabaster has been featured by Southern Living magazine, the Travel Channel, and a host of news outlets throughout Alabama due to her Kollasal milkshakes that come topped with cookies, candy, or even a whole cupcake or cinnamon roll.

But K&Js is more than milkshakes. Offering 50 flavor combinations and eye-catching elaborate designs, Bryants cakesespecially her wedding cakesdeserve to be in the spotlight.

I love the shakes, I love everything about the business, but the cakes are my passion, Bryant says.

The Culinard graduate worked in restaurants for several years, and during that time started baking cakes out of her home as a side gig. Working in restaurants, youre doing the same thing over and over, Bryant says. Once I started dabbling in cakes, I saw that I could be super creative. I can express my artistic side a lot more.

Bryant opened her first shop on Kent Dairy Road in Alabaster in 2013, selling custom cakes as well as cupcakes, cookies, and cinnamon rolls.

The first couple of years were a struggle, Bryant says. She relied heavily on her husbands support. Some days I would come home with $60 made the whole day.

Eventually, business picked up, and in 2017 Bryant moved her store to its current home at 236 First Street South in Alabaster. She added ice cream to the menu and started making her signature monster milkshakes.

A short feature about the milkshakes on AL.com brought a wave of new customers to the shop. Then, those customers shared pictures of their shakes on social media and milkshake mania began.

The line was out the door and we had people all the way down the sidewalk, Bryant says. We went from 10 to 15 customers a day to 300 people a day. The sudden boom in business was hard to handle. I was thankful, but I used to leave like Oh my god what have I gotten myself into, she admits.

As a result of the milkshake craze, Bryant had to cut back on the work she loved most. She says at the time, she was only doing 15 cakes a week, when she typically did 40. Luckily, she had family she could turn to for help.

Everybody pitched in, Bryant says. My parents would come work. My in-laws were helping us clean at night. Her cousins, nieces, and nephews have helped out, too.

The help was fitting since Bryant has always considered K&Js Elegant Pastries a family business. Its in the name. Im the K and theyre the Js, Bryant says of her husband Jonathan, whos part owner of the business, and her daughters JaKaiya and Jaliyah.

More Than Milkshakes

Bryants shop is calmer in the winter when milkshakes arent as in-demand.

Im glad that its settled down because now I can focus more on the cakes, Bryant says.

To ramp up business for her wedding and occasion cakes, Bryant displays beautifully decorated cakes in her shop. She does digital advertising and media appearances promoting her cakes and participates in cake tastings at bridal shows.

Bryant has orders for custom wedding cakes from cities throughout Alabama as well as Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida. Though creating custom wedding cakes is Bryants favorite work to do, she admits that its not always easy.

There is a lot of pressure, Bryant says. Its going to advertise to 200 to 250 people, so it has to be on point.

Wedding cakes give Bryant a larger canvas and a chance to let her creativity loose. Last year, she and her team made a wedding cake that served 500 people. It was a week-long process and it had over 4,000 sugar flowers, Bryant says. That was a ton of work, but it was so much fun. And the bride said, You made my cake dreams come true.

Birmingham Bound

K&Js, which also runs a food truck, is set to open a second location this year in downtown Birmingham.

Thats been my dream because thats my hometown and thats where most of my customers are, Bryant says.

The success of K&Js keeps Bryant busy, but shes never too busy to help other women trying to break into the business, like fellow baker Monique Jones. Ive learned so much from her, says Jones, who met Bryant through Facebook.

Jones recently opened Double Sweetness Cakery in Center Point with her business partner Sheila Henderson. Jones says Bryant has helped her with cake design, business management, and more.

When I reached out to her, she could have said, No, youre competition, Jones says. But shes willing to help anyone. Thats what I admire the most about her.

Bryant says when she was starting her business, she had a lot of questions and no one to turn to for answers. For me to be that for somebody else when I know I was looking for that and didnt have it felt so good, she says.

Though Bryant plans to continue growing K&Js Elegant Pastries for years to come, she has another aspiration, too. A dream of mine is to have a wedding cake boutique, she says. Once Im ready to retire I only want to do wedding cakes.

Details

K&Js Elegant Pastries | 236 First Street South (Alabaster) | 205.663.4827 | Hours: Tues.-Fri., 10 a.m.  7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m.  6 p.m. | kjselegantpastries.com

This story appears in Birmingham magazines February 2020 issue. Subscribe today!
The tiny Eastern Bristlebird is even more vulnerable than it looks.

There are just 180 of the creatures, at most, in Victoria and all of them live on the shore of Mallacoota Inlet in the states far east.

An Eastern bristlebird rescued from bushfire danger east of Mallacoota.

When the devastating bushfires came to the holiday town, destroying houses and prompting the extraordinary evacuation, the bristlebirds remained safe in their home on Howe Flat on the eastern shore of the inlet.

But the fire threat has not gone away and the states Environment Department fears the birds habitat could burn when the weather again turns bad, wiping out what is just one of three populations of bristlebirds in Australia.
ITHACA, N.Y.  A Cornell University student is in isolation after presenting symptoms on Sunday that met criteria for the Coronavirus, according to university officials.

The student, who does not live on campus, is safe and receiving care while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention processes lab tests. Results could take a full week, officials said in a public statement.

Its therefore not yet clear whether the student actually has the virus, which has sickened about 12,000 people across the world, the vast majority of whom with connections to China. The outbreak was first reported in Wuhan, China on Christmas Eve.

There are no confirmed cases in the state of New York at the moment.

The university is working with the Tompkins County Health Department to monitor the situation. The department will contact anyone who had close contact with the student in question, according to Cornells statement.

Cornell officials asked students to be aware of their health and surroundings but also to be careful about their reactions to the fear the virus might create.

It is understandable to feel uncertain or anxious during a public health crisis, and we need to remember to care for one another and not make assumptions about others perceived symptoms or any characteristics of identity, officials said in a statement.

The university is providing additional information and updates about the situation as it develops on its Cornell University novel coronavirus website.
Emergency legislation to delay the release of terrorist prisoners could create a dangerous cliff edge where they are freed without any restrictions, the government has been warned.

Under plans announced in the wake of the Streatham attack, which was launched by a terror convict days after he was released from jail, automatic release will be cancelled for inmates who have already been sentenced.

The Parole Board does not currently have any say in the release of terror offenders on determinate sentences like Sudesh Amman, who are freed halfway through their term regardless of risk.

But under the new law the board would assess all inmates convicted of terrorism and keep them inside for longer if they are still thought to be a threat.

The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation warned that offenders would still have to be released at the end of determinate sentences, which are currently served half in prison and half under licence.

Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Show all 22 1 /22 Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Armed police officers on Streatham High Road. The Metropolitan Police warned people to stay away from the Streatham area boguta37/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings The man was shot dead by police after two stabbed in 'Islamist-related' terror attack in London boguta37/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Sudesh Amman, the attacker, has been named as a convicted terror offender who was released from prison days ago Metropolitan Police/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Items left on the pavement at the scene in Streatham High Road Isis supporter Amman was just 18 when he was jailed in December 2018 after police found a stash of bomb-making manuals and other propaganda. Now 20, he had declared his own wish to carry out a terror attack and stockpiled a combat knife, air gun and black flag at his family home in London PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings He was being monitored by undercover police and being followed as part of a proactive counterterrorism operation when he started the rampage in Streatham AP Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Amman was able to stab two people before being shot dead by armed officers outside a busy row of shops Gabriel Video/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A woman reacts as police officers interview people near to the scene Getty Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings An armed police officer on Streatham High Road Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy DOrsi said Amman was wearing a fake suicide ves Gully/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police forensic officers work outside of a Boots store AFP via Getty Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police officers at the scene Getty Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A police forensic officer works at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Items left on the pavement at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A police officer on the scene Dave Chawner/SWNS Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police forensic officers are seen near the site Reuters Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police officers on the scene outside an Iceland supermarket Andy Bullemor/SWNS Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police are seen near a site where a man was shot Reuters Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A policeman secures the site of the incident EPA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A view of the scene Megan Tobeck Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A view of the scene Michael Owens Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police forensic officers at the scene PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A Police officer is seen near a site where a man was shot Reuters

The difficulty which any new legislation will have to address for this cohort of terrorist offenders is, what happens if the Parole Board refuses to release the offender before their sentence expires? Jonathan Hall QC told The Independent.

If their sentence has expired, they cannot be released subject to conditions, and cannot be recalled for bad behaviour. There is a real risk of unintended consequences.

Mr Hall urged the government to avoid creating a cliff edge where terror offenders are freed from prison without licence conditions, which can include deradicalisation programmes and restrictions on internet usage, movement and association.

The warnings come as one of the victims of the attack was named in reports on Tuesday as teacher Monika Luftner.

In a statement, St Bedes Catholic Infant & Nursery School in Lambeth said a member of staff was making a good recovery after experiencing a shocking attack.

On Monday, Robert Buckland told MPs emergency legislation would see the Parole Board risk assess terror convicts for potential release after serving two-thirds of their sentence, rather than the current half.

The underlying principle has to be that offenders will no longer be released early automatically and that any release before the end of their sentence will be dependent on risk assessment by the Parole Board, the justice secretary added.

We will ensure that the functions of the Parole Board are strengthened to deal even more effectively with the specific risk that terrorists pose to public safety.

Mr Buckland said emergency legislation would apply retrospectively to terrorist prisoners given standard determinate sentences like Ammans.

Downing Street said there would also be a full review of the maximum prison sentences for terror offences, including looking at whether offenders of all levels of seriousness should be held in jail indefinitely until the Parole Board assesses they are no longer a threat to the public.

The plans have raised concerns over radicalisation inside British prisons, where recent cases have shown that terrorists are able to network and spread extremism.

Amman was shot dead by police on Streatham High Road (PA)

Ammans mother claimed he had been further radicalised inside HMP Belmarsh, where a former inmate told The Times he openly stated his wish to carry out a terror attack and conducted a mock Isis execution.

There are already up to 800 flagged extremists in British jails  almost four times the number of terrorist prisoners  and there have been repeated official warnings about Islamist radicalisation including from the Parole Board and a government review.

The Prison Reform Trust urged the government to proceed with caution.

Recommended Terrorist prisoners free to network and radicalise inmates in UK jails

Director Peter Dawson said: Terrorism has always posed a very particular set of challenges for criminal justice systems.

There are examples from history both in this country and overseas where poorly thought through or disproportionate reactions are likely to have made things worse rather than better in the long run. Unfair treatment or disproportionate punishment are both effective recruiting sergeants.

Downing Street acknowledged that there was nothing to prevent prisoners being automatically released until the emergency new law is passed.

The prime ministers official spokesman would not comment on whether they had identified any terrorists due for release before the new law comes in.

The government has not ruled out derogating  effectively partially suspending  the European Convention on Human Rights in order to apply the new measures, which are likely to be subject to legal challenges.

The Streatham stabbing was the third terror attack in just over two months to be carried out by a convicted terrorist in Britain, following the assaults at Fishmongers Hall in London and inside HMP Whitemoor.

Forensic officers outside Boots near where the attack took place (AFP)

Amman, who had previous convictions for cannabis and offensive weapons possession, was initially arrested for planning terror attacks in May 2018, after writing online that he was armed and ready and pledging allegiance to Isis.

But he was charged with the lesser offences of collecting and disseminating terrorist material after consultation with prosecutors, and handed a determinate sentence of three years and four months that saw him automatically released on 23 January.

He was being followed by undercover officers when he grabbed a knife from a shop, removed it from its packaging, and started stabbing passers-by in Streatham on Sunday.

Meanwhile, his father, Faraz Khan, has said he never thought his son would go this far and he did not know he had become radicalised.

Speaking to Sky News on Tuesday, Mr Khan said Amman was reciting the Koran when they last spoke, a day before the attack, and he had been shocked to learn of his sons actions.

He never talked to me about things like that, he said.

He said when his mother came to see him she brought him food  thats the kind of things he talked about.

I told him not to be naughty, be good, and he listened.

Scotland Yard said Amman was shot dead by police within a minute of beginning his attack, which was claimed by Isis in a generic statement on Monday morning. Both stabbing victims survived.

Around 50 terrorists are released from prison each year, according to officials, and the figure is expected to be similar in 2020 unless rules change.

Home Office data shows 41 convicted terrorists were released from jail in the year to June, as well as 12 suspects who had been held in custody but not sentenced.

Among those due for release, according to the Henry Jackson Society, is Mohammed Ghani, who threatened to kill police officers, and Britains youngest terrorist, who plotted to murder police in Australia.

Also on the list are at least five men who aspired to or travelled to Syria to support Isis, as well as Moinul Abedi, who was jailed in 2002 for stockpiling homemade explosives for a terror attack.

Fahim Adam, from Blackburn, who collected extremist magazines, and Mohammed Khilji, from London, who posted beheading videos on WhatsApp, could also be freed.
New York, Feb 4 : The arduous four-month-long impeachment of US President Donald Trump has drawn to a close, but he will still be under its cloud when he faces the nation on Tuesday with his State of the Union address as the definite vote to acquit him will be only on Wednesday.

The Democrat prosecutors from the House of Representatives finally closed their case on Monday with an appeal to Senators to convict him, and his lawyers asking for the President's acquittal.

In closing arguments, the leading prosecutor, Adam Schiff, denounced Trump as a person without an "ethical compass", adding that he cannot be trusted.

Therefore, he said that the President should be removed or history will judge the senators harshly.

Meawhile, Trump's lawyer, Jay Sekulow, denounced the impeachment as an attempt to nullify the will of the people who elected Trump and the case against him was only incidental because Democrats had decided immediately after this election to try to remove him from office.

One of the prosecutors, Hakeem Jeffries, who quoted from the Bible, said that the nation could not wait for the November election to oust Trump from power because he could cheat in the election and it may not be free and fair.

In the end it was all grandstanding by the Democrats and attempts at high drama because even before the impeachment process began in September it was an acknowledged fact that there won't be a two-thirds majority in the Senate to convict Trump.

Despite the certainty of failure to convict Trump and throw him out of office, the impeachment was an opportunity to embarrass the President over a four-month period and try to turn his supporters against him in the forthcoming election by relentlessly focusing on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of justice.

Democrat Senator Joe Manchini suggested to the Senate that it instead consider censuring him, which would only take a simple majority.

Some Republicans like Lamar Alexander, who has criticised Trump's conduct, could join in a censure motion.

Another Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski, said Trump's behaviour of giving more importance to his personal needs over national interests "was shameful and wrong".

But Murkowski added that she would not vote to convict Trump as it would contribute to the destruction of national institutions.

The voters should decide Trump's future in the election that is nine months away, she said.

She also had harsh words for Congress, which she said "wallowed in the partisan mud".

However, Manchini, who is from West Viginia, said on Monday evening that he had not yet decided which way he would vote on conviction.

He is one of four Democrats who are considered as possible defectors to the Republican side to vote against convicting Trump.

They come from states which lean Republican and where Trump had done well in the 2016 elections and may not want to antagonise Republicans who voted for them.

A vote on the verdict to convict or acquit had been expected on Monday after four hours of arguments by the prosecution and the defence, but it was postponed to Wednesday to give senators a chance to blow off steam or to explain their positions.

Senators were not allowed to speak during the Senate trial based on the impeachment charges voted by the House in December and they were required to send written questions for the prosecutors or the defence to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who presided over the trial.

Roberts left the Senate chamber after the closing arguments to allow the senators speak during sessions that are not a formal part of the trial. He will return on Wednesday for the verdict vote.

emocrats tried to get the Senate to agree to hear witnesses in the trial, but the effort was defeated by just one vote even after two Republican senators defected to the Democratic side.

If the Senate had agreed to calling witnesses, the trial could have stretched for weeks as the Republicans could also have summoned others to testify.

The charges of abuse of power arise from Trump asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the dealing of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, in that country.

Hunter Biden was made a director of a Ukrainian gas company with a monthly payment of over $50,000 despite having no experience in the area and his father said that he had gotten Ukraine's leaders to fire a prosecutor looking into the company.

The Democrats say that this was inviting a foreign country to intervene in US elections and was compounded by freezing military aid to Ukraine.

They wanted to call The Senate had voted down Democrat demands for calling witnesses at the start of the trial last week, but it received renewed momentum from a New York Times disclosures that Bolton had written in a manuscript for a yet to be published book that Trump had linked the aid freeze to the probe of Bidens.

Trump has denied that he had linked aid to the probe and Bolton was saying that sell his book.

Trump's lawyers said that the aid was withheld only to ensure that the new president was committed to fighting corruption and getting other European countries to pitch in.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
Deep within the Orthodox heartlands of the Balkans, one might expect local evangelicals to celebrate the passage of Montenegros first religious freedom law.

Instead, as tens of thousands fill the streets to protest against it, the relative handful of believers find themselves on the sideline of a struggle between giants.

And the stakes could further shake the greater Orthodox world.

Europes 6th-least evangelical country is also one of its newer nations. Having achieved independence from Serbia in 2006 through a tightly contested referendum, Montenegro is now seeking autocephalyspiritual independencefor its local Orthodox church, viewed as a schism by the Serbian Orthodox.

Protests have erupted in Belgrade also, with thousands rallying last month against Serbian suffering in Montenegro and other neighboring nations. Crosses, icons, and church banners peppered the demonstrations.

But in Montenegro, rather than waiting for a liberating tomos (decree) similar to the one issued to Ukraine by Archbishop Bartholomew of Constantinople, who is the ecumenical patriarch for Eastern Orthodox communities, the government is acting to register all of its religious communities.

The protesting ethnic Serbian citizens of Montenegro fear the religious freedom law is nothing but a trojan horse for an elaborate ecclesiastic land grab targeting Serbian Orthodox Church properties.

The law is a step forward, as it helps us small religious communities have a legal basis to operate, said Sinisa Nadazdin, pastor of Gospel of Jesus Christ Church located in the capital city of Podgorica and one of the nations five registered evangelical churches.

But none of us want to enjoy this benefit if it will create in Montenegro a divided population, political instability, or potential violence.

The law passed 450 in parliament, as the 33-member Serb-led Democratic Front boycotted the vote. Several MPs rioted within the chamber, and 17 were detained.

Church-led protests have been mostly peaceful, but Serbian Orthodox officials stated Bishop Metodije of Diokleia was assaulted by police.

Do not expect us to go peacefully, Bishop Joanikije of Budimlja-Niksic stated. We will not arm ourselves, but we will defend our property with our very lives.

When it comes to that, there are no rules.

The essential features of the law, published by the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, guarantee the right to change religion, to establish religious schools above the elementary level, and to conscientiously object from military service.

Replacing a 1977 communist-era law, it eases licensing procedures and permits foreign-born leadership and international headquarters.

But its final provisions for property registration fuel the accusations that the law targets the Serbian Orthodox.

Any land or buildings used for religious purposes prior to 1918 that do not have evidence of ownership will constitute state property as a cultural heritage of Montenegro.

Constantine, the fourth-century Roman emperor who issued the religious freedomgranting Edict of Milan, was born in modern-day Serbia. Southern Slavs, however, did not officially adopt Christianity until the ninth century.

The Serbian Orthodox Church was recognized as autocephalous in 1219, and it claims Montenegro was included within its territory.

Gains and losses in the Balkans by the Muslim Ottoman Empire shifted both political and ecclesial borders several times in the centuries that followed.

Montenegro was first used as a marker in the 15th century, and in 1905 it became an independent kingdom.

But in 1918 at the close of World War I, a Montenegrin committee deposed the monarch and integrated into the newly formed Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Two years later, the ruling regent ended what Montenegrin officials say was their own autocephalous church, placing it under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox.

In 1993, a renegade priest split and created a newly proclaimed Montenegrin Orthodox Church. Not recognized by any other Orthodox leaders, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) granted it status as a nongovernmental organization in 2001. (The FRY, consisting of the republics of Serbia and Montenegro, formed following the 1992 breakup of socialist Yugoslavia.)

And in 2018, the Montenegrin parliament officially invalidated the 1918 and 1920 decrees.

The government wants to complete the process that started with the independence referendum, said Nadazdin. Promoting its own Orthodox church is another safeguard to preserve the Montenegrin identity as clearly separate from the Serbian.

Nadazdin, an ethnic Serb, pastors a church of about 20 people. Members are primarily converts from among the Muslim Romacommonly known as gypsiesof Kosovo.

The entire evangelical population of Montenegro is only about 200 believers. Less than half are citizens, and almost none of their leaders are.

Within Montenegros population of 620,000, only 45 percent are ethnically Montenegrin. Nearly 3 in 10 are Serbs. Bosnians and Albanians make up most of the rest, the largest part of the 17-percent Muslim community.

Orthodox believers make up 75 percent of the population, and, according to a 2009 poll, 70 percent of these identified with the Serbian Orthodox Church. Only 30 percent adopted the Montenegrin Orthodox body.

Stanisa Surbatovich, the only evangelical ethnic Montenegrin pastor in the nation, thinks the reality is higher than 30 percent. Though he believes the government is righting a historic wrong, he says most people have not been animated by the controversy.

Until this recent religious law, most people identified themselves as Orthodox as part of their Slavic ethnic identity, he said.

Only the strongly political stressed the Serbian or Montenegrin aspect, and the average citizen is very confused by these demonstrations.

Surbatovich, originally from California, came as a missionary in the mid-1990s. Born to Montenegrin parents and raised in the American parishes of the Serbian Orthodox Church, he appreciates the new law for its religious freedom provisions. Overall there have been few problems with government or church authorities.

Evangelicals are looked down upon as a sect, he said, yet partnered with the Serbian Orthodox Church to bring the renowned Montenegrin-descended evangelist Nick Vujicic of Australiawho was born with no arms or legsto the area to promote handicapped access to churches in 2016.

Not that even the able-bodied attend regularly.

On an average Sunday, Surbatovichs evangelical congregation of 25 people will represent more than 10 percent of churchgoers in Niksic, the nations second-largest city with an Orthodox population of 35,000.

Most havent even bothered to baptize their children, he said. And Thomas Bremer of the University of Muenster told Radio Free Europe that the Montenegrin Orthodox Church wouldnt even have enough priests to populate the churches it wishes to occupy.

Though no clear list exists, there are 700 to 800 Serbian Orthodox churches in Montenegro, and 66 monasteries.

There is also money in play. One of the disputed properties lies along valuable Adriatic Sea coastline, ripe for touristic development.

Government officials deny the purpose of the law is to seize Serbian Orthodox properties. Yet when European Union (EU) officials reviewed a similar draft law four years earlier, they criticized several provisions and judged the plain meaning of pre-1918 property regulations provided for confiscation.

Montenegro, which joined NATO in 2017, wished to join the EU and shelved the law. The version that passed last month met with overall EU approval, including the procedure to revert religious lands to the state as part of its cultural heritage.

Though Montenegrin officials agreed this would not affect the pre-existing rights of the religious community to use the property, legislators ignored the EU recommendation to state this clearly in the text of the law.

Surbatovich was part of the overall consultative process for the first draft law and recommended changes. His colleague Danijel Petkovski, director for Montenegros International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, said evangelicals would have been collateral damage.

But now, the casualty is Serbian Orthodox sanctity.

They may not kick them out, but within a few years the government may say that other churches also applied to use the property, said Petkovski.

For the Orthodox, this is like a Roman soldier entering the Jerusalem templeit will make it unclean.

The founding priest of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church was defrocked by his Serbian body. Parliamentarians who voted for the law were anathematized. And Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church stated it was crucially important to stand with the Serbian church, as no one should remain on the sideline from what is happening in world Orthodoxy.

With Ukraine in the background, Russia sees the pro-Western government of Montenegro playing in church politics to lessen the influence of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which opposed national independence.

And a similar autocephalous bid was requested in 2018 by an Orthodox church in Macedonia, which split from the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1967.

Patriarch Bartholomew rejected both requests. They are different from Ukraine in that each national entity entered into agreement with the Serbian Patriarchate of its own accord, he toldPolitika. So only by their joint consensus can he issue a tomos.

Nonetheless, he recently met with Macedonian Orthodox Church officials for discussions.

Outside of regional politics, Petkovski said, the traditional church in Montenegro viewed itself as a protector of Serbian culture. Montenegrin authorities view it as a barrier to national identity, he believed. And a 2007 poll ranked the Serbian church as the most trusted institution in Montenegro.

Nonetheless, Petkovski is encouraged that the protests have been peaceful. Though its worst scars evaded Montenegro, the Balkan wars of the 1990s killed 130,000 people as some priests in the Serbian church blessed militant action.

Now the church is not calling for war, but praying to God, Petkovski said. It makes some sort of revival, in the Orthodox sense.

But not in the evangelical sense, as there is no preaching of the Word or repentance from sin, he said. Still, for the first time in decades, his Orthodox priest friends say that their churches are full.

And while there is a theological renaissance taking place throughout the Orthodox world, said Bradley Nassif, professor at North Park University in Chicago and an expert in Orthodox-evangelical dialogue, spiritual renewal has largely evaded the Serbs.

He recently visited Serbia in person to promote the Serbian translation of Three Views on Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism, to which he contributed.

The current conflict between the Serbs and Montenegrins exposes the true spiritual condition of manynot allOrthodox clergy and lay people, Nassif said.

The Serbian ambition to maintain control of property reflects a primary desire for political, economic, and religious influence, he added, but only 3 percent of the people attend church on a regular basis.

The most urgent need is for the Orthodox themselves to re-evangelize their own people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Might this happen within the church itself?

Vladimir Lajovic, now a bishop in a second breakaway Montenegrin Orthodox Church, formerly attended a Pentecostal fellowship.

He explained the religious freedom law both politically and spiritually, which he said was liberal, modern, and equal for all communities.

Montenegro was the last theocracy in Europe, until the Serbian Orthodox Church emerged for exclusively Serbian interests, now used to destabilize Montenegro, he said.

This law stops the political use of religion which abuses that most delicate human feeling: faith in God.

For similar reasons, Surbatovich says evangelical churches have been sitting out this debate. And though this new law may offer them greater access to government, Nadazdin cautions this is actually a threat.

The church must be careful to never marry itself to a secular power, he said.

If such access gets too close to your heart, the influence can be hard to resist.
The evening, which is open to families from Maine South, Maine East and Maine West high schools, will include an overview of the process for applying for financial aid, which will be offered in English, Polish and Spanish, according to the district.
Thanks to Brexit, the 760 British local councillors in France will not be eligible to run for re-election in the March 2020 municipal elections. Its a painful change for these expatriates, who are deeply invested in the life of their adopted homes.

"The mayor of Montrollet will lose his Englishman!" cries Norman Cox, who, despite celebrating his 27th year in France, hasn't lost his British sense of humour. Still, the 70-year-old transplant to the village of Montrollet, population 312, in western France's Charente region, hasn't had the heart to laugh lately.



Brexit remains difficult to digest for the Cambridge native, who says he has been in love with France since his first French girlfriend in the early 1970s. "On Friday night [the night of Le Brexit], I turned on my TV a few minutes before the countdown and I was deeply shocked by the nationalist sentiment of the English. It is truly sad," Cox told FRANCE 24 in slightly-accented French.



Mediating between the French and the British



For Cox, Brexit took effect on February 1, when he was struck from the electoral roll. It was a hard blow for this elected municipal official, who cant count the hours he has spent helping with the smooth-running of the municipality. He has been a member of the municipal council for 12 years and sits on five committees, including those that deal with town planning, communication, youth and heritage. A jack-of-all-trades, Cox has also developed a specific role: that of mediator between the British and the French in Montrollet.



"Nearly 10 percent of the population here is British and many don't speak French. So as soon as there are problems between neighbours or translation needs, the mayor calls on me," Cox said. That's why the mayor, Jean-Claude Gillet, sought him out.



"We have always wanted the British community to be well-integrated into the village," said Cox, who himself benefited from local solidarity when he arrived in France without speaking the language. Nevertheless, albeit reluctantly, he will have to resign.

Story continues

Violation of a 'democratic right'



As a result of Brexit, the 760 Britons currently serving as councillors in France will not be able to be run again in the upcoming municipal elections. Like all European citizens, until now they have been eligible to vote and run in local elections. Since the United Kingdom left the European Union, however, that is no longer the case.



"I will no longer be able to vote in France and, as I left the UK more than 15 years ago, I can't vote there either," rued Cox, who believes that "a democratic and citizen's right" has been violated. In order to regain his rights, he has therefore embarked on the long and complicated process of French naturalisation.



Collecting the necessary administrative documents and providing sworn translation is its own obstacle course. Cox finally managed to submit his file in September 2018. Registered at the prefecture of Niort in December 2019, Cox hopes that his file will be favourably treated in the next six months. But nothing is less certain.



'You don't get elected overnight'



Mark Lawrence is a Briton who learned that the hard way, when he was denied naturalization. Like Cox, Lawrence, who is originally from London, has been in France for 27 years. He has been a town councillor in Plazac, a commune in the Dordogne, in the south of France, for six years.

The 48-year-old father applied for citizenship just after the 2016 referendum but was turned down on economic grounds. "I've been paying my taxes and charges in France for 20 years, but a few years ago I had an irregular income," the self-employed roofing and carpentry craftsman explained, adding that he has "never applied for public aid".



"I didn't come to France to ask for anything. I live in France, I'm raising my four children here, I work here and that's not going to change. What's changing is my status," lamented Lawrence, who said he now feels more Perigordian than British. "You don't get elected overnight, as far as I'm concerned; it's the fruit of 21 years of integration," he said.



The puzzle of small towns



Plazac Mayor Florence Gauthier, who is running for re-election, has replaced Lawrence on the electoral roll, which she will be able to file complete, and on schedule, by February 27. But finding replacements for outgoing Britons can prove to be a real headache in smaller municipalities in need of candidates. Thats true in Perriers-en-Beauficel, a village of 214 inhabitants in Normandy's Manche region, where two of the eleven elected officials are British, and in Poupas, a village of 85 inhabitants in the southwestern region of Tarn-et-Garonne, where three of eleven elected officials are British.



In Plazac, Lawrence's departure is also an emotional loss for the municipal staff, who have publicly supported him, as well as for the municipality, which has launched an online petition (34,091 signatures to date). "It's a very cosmopolitan commune with 27 nationalities among 750 inhabitants. The town council was a reflection of that, we had a Briton and two Belgians. It's a shame that Mark is leaving," said Plazac Deputy Mayor Marie-Claude Roussarie.



Lawrence will be able to renew his naturalisation application in 2021 and, before then, apply for a residence permit. But after being denied once, he is not devoid of anxiety. The transition period that runs until December 31, 2020 guarantees his rights for the time being, as it does those of the 185,000 British citizens in France. Beyond that date, questions remain for these British citizens, who are worried about maintaining their social security, about the possibility of continuing to work, or simply about their ability to stay in their long-adopted homeland.






Interview with Dr Vimal Shah, Chairman of Bidco Africa

What is your assessment of the sector currently? What are latest trends?

We are in manufacturing, sales and distribution, as well as farming and agriculture. We look at all these sectors as being quite opportunistic. There is a lot of scope for improvement. When we look at our agribusiness, the yields per acre and hectare are still very low. We need to go to more scientific farming where we can be precise with what we are doing irrespective of climate which can always be managed through greenhouses, etc. Ten years ago, the population was 40 million. Today it is 50 million. By 2050 we should be around 60 million. The question is, does that mean opportunity or does that mean doom? We see this as opportunity. People will still consume, clean themselves, bathe themselves, eat. Therefore, consumption will happen. The rapid pace of urbanization and urban centers becoming bigger all the time, population increase means that consumerism will always be. I had a cow when I lived in the rural area and got all my food from the farm. Not anymore. In the city, I need to buy everything. Packaged goods and consumer goods will still be required. Therefore, demand will keep going up. Who will serve that demand and that market? Will it be China, India, America, etc.?

Is the market competitive?

We want to go across all 54 countries in Africa. We want to grab, grow, and sustain number one market share in the African markets by 2030, which is only 11 years from today. Where we are going now is in a sustainable manner.

The markets here in Eastern Africa are not like West Africa where the margins are very big, there is asymmetry, half the people do not know what is happening. Here, it is switched on. There is a lot of IT being used in processes, in systems, enablers for route to market. Mobile phones, mobile payments are in. You can get your money SMS transferred to whoever you want. The speed of change is rapid. It is getting competitive and it will always be competitive. You as a manufacturer or a processor or a farmer need to be in the full value chain to make sure that you are able to get value added. That value add will need to keep on becoming leaner because as competition goes up, as the population goes up, people are learning more, there are more startups and entrepreneurs. The way work is done will be different. The way consumption will be done will be different. It used to be more of a product push in the past, but it is now going towards emotional and excellence in manufacturing. It will also be extremely digital oriented.

What competitive advantages do you offer compared to the other players in the sector? What do you bring to the market that is different, not only in Kenya but the region?

Firstly, we at Bidco operate like we are a startup at every stage. It has been 34 years now. Secondly, we employ world-class practices, from ISO 14000, 9000, 18000, 22000, working with the UN Global Compact, eLean, Kaizen. We adopt all the best practices that you would use in an international setting. What a multinational has we also have here and we employ it on the ground. We are able to do faster decision making because we realize the ball is on the ground and we can change track as soon as we need to. Responsiveness is quite fast for us. We also understand the consumer in Eastern Africa and Africa better. We still do not know West Africa or Southern Africa well and we will keep on looking at what to do there. The way the markets are served is different. We have local people who know what is happening, we know where the resources are, we know what the competitive advantages of doing things are. Ultimately, we have local ground knowledge of the pulse. That is quite important for us because even here, the consumer is changing and they will continue changing. The way Africa is growing and the way we are growing here is going to be leapfrogging. We will not go through the same slow-paced improvement incremental growth, but we will grow exponentially. That is where we have to be prepared. At Bidco, we can change management quickly and rapidly implement ideas. Apart from that, we are now expanding into many more adjacent sectors in the consumer goods area. We are looking at many more hygiene and personal care products, food products, animal feeds, agriprocessing. We work on a system where there is zero waste. We have a full value chain but we have reduced our waste and making our business sustainable is very important for us. It is not just about profits or people or planning; it is all of it together. We put in the systems, the processes, the people, and we have continuous learning. Our people are continuously trained through our training centers in the factories where they learn by doing. We have to change ourselves faster than the pace of change, otherwise we will not be relevant anymore.

How do you approach investment opportunities?

There are plenty of opportunities that we see right now. There is a lot of product that comes in from overseas that is not made here. We see all that as opportunities. Value addition locally is also important. But at the same time, building brands in Africa is important. Not everybody is a brand person where they go to buy expensive global brands. A lot of the global brands we are bringing onboard here to make them work locally at a different category or price level. The market here behaves differently than it would in America or Europe. We have to work at the bottom, middle, and top of the pyramid. We need to have a product available for all parts of the market. In that sense, we ensure that the categories and the products we go into are future relevant, sustainable, and enhance happy, healthy living. We do not touch anything that is not healthy such as alcohol, cigarettes, or meat products. There are many more things that are consumer goods that are consumed on a daily basis. We will not go into cars or hardware or selling machines. That is not our business.

What is your international reach?

We are in manufacturing today in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Madagascar. We are also in the full agricultural value chain. We farm the products, process them, get them into finished packaged products branded in our own brand names, and sell in those four markets. Apart from these four countries, we export to about 16 countries. We have ground coverage across Africa and sell our products to those markets. Our goal is actually much bigger. We want to go across all 54 countries in Africa. We want to grab, grow, and sustain number one market share in the African markets by 2030, which is only 11 years from today. Where we are going now is in a sustainable manner. Along with that, we need to make sure we do this the right way. We employ global practices and make sure we can operate at world class levels. The uniqueness is that in Africa, we can be world class. It does not have to be something that is made in Japan or America or Europe.

Are you looking to attract technological improvement or partners?

Technology is something that we employ all the time. Today, we buy German equipment, Swiss equipment, Swedish equipment, and all these brand names. But at the same time, we employ SAP in all our systems. Everything we talk about now is available online. Sales across the region to production are available in real time online. We use that system to address customer needs. Apart from that, technology is not just digital. It is also processes. We employ processes which are world class. We can bring those processes here, manufacture in Africa, and sell for the markets. We see the huge opportunity coming through in the ACFTA, the African Continental Free Trade Area, whereby the whole African continent will become one trading area with a customs border outside the territories and no tariffs within. Also, wherever we are least cost producers we will go and manufacture in every country in Africa where the resources are available and where can we put the technology to work. We look at technology on process, innovative methods, appropriate methods, water, steam, energy, power. We have technology now that reduces our entire environmental footprint. We make sure that our water usage and power usage is optimized and that is also technology. We also have solar and LED now. Our lighting is LED across the board. Anywhere where we can conserve energy and produce more for less, we will.

Are you looking to open shares?

We are open to many things, but right now, we are not looking at listing. Listing will slow down our progress. If you are in a growth phase, you do not go and list because then it slows you down by declarations and all the top management is doing is working for the markets and perceptions. In Africa, there are so many media people who create very different perceptions about Africa. Some make it out to be very bright or very poor and there are a lot of mixed feelings. A lot of the multinationals really do not have the knowhow to enter Africa because they do not want to pay attention to 54 countries. There are a lot of fragmented supply chains. We are best placed to make sure this gets reorganized in Africa. Wherever there is a challenge, we see that as an opportunity. If there are no roads, that is an opportunity. For example, Africa bypassed plastic money. Instead of cards, we went straight to M-PESA. With no roads, we could go straight to drones. There is a lot more that would improve in Africa using technology as an enabler and a tool to really enhance our consumer markets.

What is one of your success stories?

We have a lot of firsts at Bidco. We are uniquely placed to do a lot of new things. We have also gone to the full value chain. One product was palm oil plantations in East Africa. Nobody had ever done it. They were all skeptical and thought it was not possible and that it would only be able to be done in Indonesia or Malaysia. We did an economic study and today we have the largest plantation in Eastern Africa in Uganda processing a complete value chain and we are expanding. These things are development projects. This plantation is a 13-year project. The first five or six years, you might get nothing out of the plantation. The banks will not support you and financial institutions will not support you. We did it through our own equity and our own perseverance and conviction and today it is a model for full value chain agribusiness. We have removed all hydrocarbons. We do not burn any fuel oils and our carbon footprint has lowered. We generate our own power from biomass. There are various things we have done in terms of being first in the market, then you see everyone else joining in. The biggest thing we would look at is inspirational leadership. We start something and inspire other people and they start to copy us. When you start a new product or a new market, you will get copied. There is nothing wrong with that. You just have to make sure that you keep up and become better and better.

What is your new venture and what does it bring to the market and to the company?

Our new venture now is in ready to drink products such as CSDs, juices, water, energy drinks, and also noodles. We see the food business as a growing market which will continue to grow. There are so many occasions (breakfast, lunch, dinner) where something is going into a persons mouth and we want to be a part of that. That is where we see a lot more scope in staples, convenience foods, packaged goods, and doing it much better on the ground here rather than everything being imported. The avenues that have opened up for us now are much bigger. We also see the market size increasing with the ACFTA opening. We see Africa as a hub where we can achieve economies of scale and scope. Our new industrial park has the capability to put up another 10 to 20 industries in the same park because we have done all the infrastructure so we can plug and play. That is how we are operating going forward. We ran some very good partnerships with animal feeds with an American company. We worked with a Danish company as a partner in juices. We have many more offers coming in to partner for one or three things. We are now converting ourselves from just being a manufacturer that is product based to being a marketing company. As a marketing company, we can do so much more across Africa.

What is your vision for the medium term, two to three years time? What do you want to achieve?

We as a group are planters. We are not harvesters. We are here to stay. We were born and brought up here in Africa and we will die here. We want to have much more long-term play. The biggest issue going forward is creating a new way of growth in Africa. There are a lot of small companies and operators who are very good, but they either lack succession, management capabilities, capital, or vision. We would like to bring all of them together to form one large incorporate across Africa and really be able to help them. A lot of family owned and managed businesses need or want to transform into corporatization but they never get to that point because it is too costly for them. We would like to make that possible. If that works, we can bring them onboard, make it professional, and offer them the benefits of the entire organization. In that manner, we see capital coming in in a new way which is long-term, at least 10 to 15 years, and then we see a lot more companies coming together to make a larger ship. In Africa, we can do more throughout the entire supply chain of many more fast-moving consumer goods. With Africa now liberating itself, there is so much more reform happening in government and politics, everybody is going towards the same idea of fewer barriers to obstruct us. That is a serious opportunity for us. We see international capital coming in. It is all about creating better, solid partnerships now, but being very clear on our code of ethics. We do not pay bribes or money to people. We are very clear on the way we operate. We are ethical, above board, real time online. With that, we have a human capital that is second to none in Africa.

Do you have anything to add in conclusion?

I have spoken to many investors overseas and when they see Africa, they do not see the numbers stacking up. They see the African continental GDP is equivalent to one of these western countries. That is true. But Africa today has 1.2 billion people and we will be at 2.5 billion in 2050. When you see those factors, there is a real opportunity to get in right now. I see all these as opportunities where we can make bigger things happen. It is not about where we are today, it is about where we are going. Africa is open for business and this is where the opportunity lies. Not everybody is going to be able to see this because a lot of the global CEOs are three year or four year term CEOs. We have a longer term view and Africa is in it for the long term. If somebody wants to come to Africa, they need to be a long term player, not a short term player. In the short term, you will not be able to harvest, but in the long term you will get multiples you have never seen before.

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Meghan King Edmonds has defended her decision to give her three-year-old daughter a melatonin gummy.

The 35-year-old reality TV star faced backlash after posting a picture of her sleeping daughter Aspen to her Instagram Stories on Saturday, along with a caption explaining that she had allowed the toddler to take the sleep aid.

'It is completely safe,' the native Missourian told People in a statement on the scandal.

'Completely safe': Meghan King Edmonds has defended her decision to give her three-year-old daughter a melatonin gummy

The post in question was captioned 'This angel found a melatonin gummy in mama's purse leftover from our flight.'

She then said that Aspen fells asleep half an hour later that 'was 2 hours ago', along with a picture of the sleeping daughter she shares with ex Jim Edmonds.

Melatonin is a hormone supplement meant to help aid in sleep.

Meghan explained in her statement, 'It was a melatonin gummy for kids, not a sleeping pill and certainly not for an adult. It is completely safe.'

Calpping back: Meghan explained in her statement, 'It was a melatonin gummy for kids, not a sleeping pill and certainly not for an adult. It is completely safe'

'Aspen found the one little gummy in a little baggie while rummaging through my purse,' continued the mother-of-three.

'She asked me if she could have it and since it was nap time I told her "Yes." In fact, the recommended dosage for this particular brand of melatonin for kids is 2 gummies and I let her have one.'

The RHOC star also denied deleting the post from her social media.

'I never deleted the post, it stayed on my Instagram Stories for the full 24 hours because nothing wrong or dangerous happened.'

Ex appeal: Currently, the mother-of-three is in the middle of a divorce with her former MLB star husband Jim Edmonds following their October split

'Aspen was fully supervised by me the entire time and didnt take the gummy without my express permission.'

Continued King Edmoinds: 'The post was cheekier because its Instagram thats what social media is about: a glimpse into our lives  not usually the full story.'

'But, since the parent police are out in full force, Ive felt compelled to give a full explanation to this silliness.'

Currently, the mother-of-three is in the middle of a divorce with her former MLB star husband Jim following their October split.

Family: Apart from Aspen, the former couple also share twins Hayes and Hart, one

Reports allege that during their five year marriage, Jim was unfaithful and cheated on Meghan with their nanny, Carly Wilson.

Both Jim and the nanny have denied that was ever the case. But, while the affair may all be unknown, Jim has since moved on to Playboy model Kortnie O'Connor.

The two have been spending more and more time together and recently jetted off to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for a wedding together.

Apart from Aspen, the former couple also share twins Hayes and Hart, one.
The Vice Prime Minister, Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov took part in the C5+1 ministerial meeting in Tashkent. The meeting was attended by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as well as foreign ministers Abdulaziz Kamilov of Uzbekistan, Mukhtar Tleuberdi of Kazakhstan, Chingiz Aidarbekov of Kyrgyzstan and Sirojiddin Mukhriddin of Tajikistan.

The meeting discussed a wide range of issues in the political, economic and cultural-educational spheres. In particular, the sides exchanged views on cooperation in the areas of border management, trade, energy and transport.

Special attention was paid to Afghan issues. In this regard, the Turkmen side informed the meeting participants of the progress in constructing the TAPI gas pipeline, a power transmission line and fiber-optic communication line along the route Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan and railways from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan.

In conclusion, the meeting participants adopted the Joint Statement of the Ministerial Meeting in the C5 + 1 format.

As part of the talks, the Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan met with the US Secretary of State. The sides discussed a number of topical issues relating to bilateral cooperation, as well as regional topics of mutual interest.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2022
Prices of copper, a barometer for the health of the global economy, have dived more than 12% since mid-January, as the coronavirus outbreak pushed China to extend a shutdown in its manufacturing regions.

Copper prices fell for the 13th straight day on Monday to a low not seen since September last year, as the outbreak grew more widespread.

From electronics to construction of homes, copper is used extensively in manufacturing and demand for the metal  dubbed Dr. Copper  is an indicator of the economy's health. China is the world's largest metals consumer.

"Copper's ... really tied to the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing's been the weakest front in the global economy," Jeffrey Kleintop, chief global investment strategist at Charles Schwab, told CNBC on Tuesday. "The concern is, this is another shock to the global economy, and manufacturing after the trade shocks of last year. And it's enough to keep copper and other base metals used in the manufacturing process in ... a period of weakness."

Prices of copper traded in Shanghai also fell to a three-year low on Monday as Chinese markets reopened after an extended Lunar New Year break. The most traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell by its daily limit of 7%.

The Shanghai Futures Exchange has suspended night trading till further notice.
The Maharashtra Government on Tuesday flew a burns specialist doctor to Nagpur, where a college teacher from Wardha district who was set on fire by a stalker is battling for life.

Home Minister Anil Deshmukh tweeted that Sunil Keswani, a specialist from the Navi Mumbai-based National Burns Centre, was accompanying him to Nagpur to supervise the treatment of the victim.

Residents of Hinganghat and Samudrapur areas in Wardha took out a protest march, demanding death penalty for the accused, Vikesh Nagrale (27).

Nagrale allegedly set Ankita Pisudde (25) ablaze at Hinganghat town on Monday morning while she was on her way to college.

She is being treated at Orange City Hospital in Nagpur, where doctors said her condition was "very critical".

"At present, her condition is still very critical," a medical bulletin issued by the hospital said, adding that she was on oxygen support.

"In view of her very critical condition, prognosis has been repeatedly explained to relatives and police personnel," the bulletin said.

Wardha's guardian minister Sunil Kedar and Hinganghat BJP MLA Samir Kunnawar visited the hospital on Tuesday.

Around 7,000 people, including members of political parties, women and college students, marched from Nanduri Chowk to Ambedkar Square in Wardha town, demanding a fast- tracked trial and death penalty for the accused.

A few demonstrators also demanded that the accused be "handed over to the public for ten minutes", an official said.

Residents of Hinganghat town and neighbouring areas also called for a shut-down.

Home minister Deshmukh said the incident was a "blot on humanity". "The case will be tried in a fast-track court and the accused would be punished severely," he tweeted.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asked the police to ensure that the accused was convicted.

Thackeray took a serious note of the incident, a statement from his office said, adding that expenses of the woman's treatment would be borne from the Chief Minister's Medical Assistance Fund.

The Maharashtra State Commission for Women on Monday directed the Wardha Superintendent of Police to submit a report on the incident.

According to the police, Nagrale, who was arrested soon after the incident, and the woman were friends till two years ago when she severed ties with him due to his "irrational behaviour".

"Nagrale is a married man and has a seven-month-old son. He works in a firm in Balharshah. He used to stalk the woman. He had even tried to commit suicide last year," the official said.

The victim's cousin Shubham Pisudde told PTI that Nagrale had been harassing her for the last many years despite repeated warnings. "Her marriage (engagement) was broken last year due to Nagrale," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered competent authorities to quarantine people who come from all of Chinas 31 provinces and provincial-level administrative units for 14 days upon their entry into Vietnam to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

The order will apply to everyone who has traveled to any of the 31 provinces and administrative units in China where the 2019-nCoV infection has been reported.

Those who arrive in the Southeast Asian country from the Chinese province of Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak, must be treated as infected patients and quarantined at a hospital upon arrival.

People coming from other parts of China can be quarantined at home under the supervision of local authorities, PM Phuc stated, adding that they must not leave their isolation areas or interact with others.

Family members must take preventive measures and limit contact with the quarantined individuals.

Residential areas where in-house quarantines take place must be thoroughly sterilized.

The premier also ordered localities to declare an epidemic if there is an infection case, allow students to stay home, and cancel all public activities or gathering of large crowds.

The novel coronavirus, which first surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has caused 427 deaths and infected more than 20,600 people globally as of Tuesday.

The virus has spread to 24 countries and territories, including Vietnam, the U.S., Germany, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and more.

Vietnam confirmed its ninth case on Tuesday. Six Vietnamese, one Vietnamese American, and two Chinese were among the infected patients.

One of the Chinese patients has fully recovered after being quarantined for treatment at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City and was discharged on Tuesday morning.

A Vietnamese patient in north-central Thanh Hoa Province had also recovered as of Monday.

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She has become known for sharing smouldering snaps on Instagram.

And Halle Berry was up to her old tricks once more as she recently posted a sizzling shot on her feed, in which she went topless and sent temperatures soaring.

The Catwoman beauty, 53, wowed as she made the most of her youthful physique following her recent reveal of her hard-worked abs.

Hot stuff: Halle Berry was up to her old tricks once more as she shared a sizzling shot on Instagram in which she went topless and sent temperatures soaring

Halle looked sensational in the snap, in which she held her arms over her assets to best protect her modesty yet still gave a hint of her curves.

She wore a pair of over-sized sunglasses while shielding her face behind some foliage and wearing her hair in loose beachy waves.

Halle - a mother-of-two - has been working hard to get in shape for her new project Bruised, a MMA film she is both directing and starring in.

Last year it was reported that recent UFC featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega had also been appointed to get Berry whipped into shape for the film.

Incredible: Halle - a mother-of-two - has been working hard to get in shape for her new project Bruised, a MMA film she is both directing and starring in

'I've been teaching since I was 16 years old - jiu-jitsu. I'm 28 now, so that's not going to be an issue,' Ortega told TMZ.

'Of course, because it's Halle, we're not going to fight. But the whole thing is, jiu-jitsu is a beautiful art. [It's one of] those few arts you can go 100 percent and not get hurt.

'So my main goal is to get her jiu-jitsu looking dope as f***  We're going to see some cool-ass things in [the movie]. We're going to drill her hard,' he continued.

In Bruised, Berry will play a former MMA fighter named Jackie Justice 'who has failed at the one thing she's ever been good at - fighting.

Fight scene: In Bruised, Berry will play a former MMA fighter named Jackie Justice 'who has failed at the one thing she's ever been good at - fighting

'When 6-year-old Manny, the son she walked out on years ago, returns to her doorstep, Jackie has to conquer her own demons, face one of the fiercest rising stars of the MMA world, and ultimately fight to become the mother this kid deserves,' according to a synopsis via Deadline Hollywood.

In addition to an Oscar, Berry boasts two Screen Actors Guild awards, a Golden Globe and an Emmy.

She juggles her workload with parenting 11-year-old daughter Nahla and six-year-old son Maceo.
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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung  Tue, February 4, 2020 11:14 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206269d88 1 National Cianjur,West-Java,kidnapping,child-protection,rape,teenagers,Sexual-assault,teenage-pregnancy Free

Police arrested a man, identified as SF, 57, on Jan. 23 in Cianjur, West Java, for allegedly kidnapping his teenage neighbor four years ago. The girl, who is now 15 years old and pregnant, was returned to her parents.

The girl was 11 when she was reported missing by her parents on Feb. 26, 2016, and was in advanced pregnancy when she was found by the police.

Cianjur Integrated Care Center for the Empowerment of Women and Children operations head Lidya Indayani Umar told The Jakarta Post that the victim was reintroduced to her parents but is currently being sheltered in the agencys rehabilitation center for trauma healing and childbirth preparation.

Her parents are staying in the village, while shes with us until the childbirth is done. We feared that there would be many people going to her house and she would become depressed, she said on Jan. 31.

Cianjur Police chief Adj. Sr. Coms. Juang Andi Priyanto said it took almost four years for the police to track down the suspect as he moved around a lot and made it difficult for the police to find him.

He accused the alleged kidnapper of also forcing the victim to work to generate income for their daily needs. He said they were eventually traced by the police when the suspect returned to their village after the victim requested to meet with her parents.

Lidya said the victim is currently being supervised by a psychologist in the shelter to support her mental being.

Currently, shes only 15 years old, which means she has a high-risk [pregnancy]. Were preparing her so she could have a normal childbirth, she said.

She added that the victims mental condition is improving and she has already engaged in conversation with the psychologist.

Psychologically, we see that the trauma has been decreasing as she started to become more active in conversation. She also wants to return to school but she has the responsibility of taking care of her child, she said.

We keep observing her condition so there wont be additional trauma.

She said further analysis by the psychologist who is supervising the victim is needed to determine whether she is ready to be reintegrated into her family.

We have to ensure her security and well-being. We dont want her to get stigmatized by her surroundings when she returns to her family, she said.

She said she also appreciated the police for charging the suspect under the 2002 Child Protection Law and Article 335 of the Criminal Code regarding kidnapping.

[The police] charged the suspect using Article 81 clauses one and two [of the 2002 Child Protection Law] because there were sexual acts with a minor and the [Criminal Codes] Article 335. The laws carry a minimum sentence of a five-year imprisonment to a maximum sentence of 15 years, she said.

However, she said she hopes the attorney would also prosecute with additional charges because of the suspects close relationship with the family, which is regulated by Law No.17/2016 on the stipulation of the government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) No.1/2016 regarding child Protection.

Lidya said upon conviction the judge could sentence the suspect to 20 years' imprisonment based on the 2016 law.

Children Rights Advocacy Agencys executive director, Andi Akbar, urged the government to protect the victim and provide her with psychological consultation, especially as she faced potential stigmatization by people in her surroundings.

The most important thing is the personal psychological treatment. Moreover, the family and local communities need to be educated so there wont be any stigma that could worsen her condition, he said. (mpr)
The caucus system, a staple of the American political process for more than two centuries despite its diminishing role, may have taken a fatal blow Monday with the epic fail in Iowa.

Widespread technical glitches prompted a struggle to reconcile conflicting numbers from across nearly 1,700 precincts statewide in the caucus for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. Results were delayed until Tuesday amid howls of protest.

Partial results were finally released around 4 p.m. Central Time and they showed Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, holding a slim lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. With 62% of the precincts reporting, Buttigieg had garnered 26.9% of the delegates, compared with 25.1% for Sanders.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was third with 18.3% of the delegates, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden  the leader in national polls  at 15.6%.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price acknowledged Monday's failure to report the voting results in a timely fashion was "unacceptable.'' But amid heavy questioning from members of the media, he declined to discuss what that might mean for the future of caucuses, which have been criticized for excluding people who can't commit the considerable amount of time required to participate.

"When I ran for chair, I made a commitment to see the caucus process through,'' said Price, who promised a thorough review of Monday's events. "That is what I'm working on, that is what I will continue to work on. Whatever happens after that is to be determined.''

Others warned that the election night chaos could get momentum started toward major changes.

"The Iowa fiasco will certainly invite extra scrutiny about the caucus process," said Nathan Gonzales, editor and publisher of Inside Elections. "The system was already in danger, and this certainly doesn't help its longevity."

Before the results were announced, Biden's campaign cited "considerable flaws" in Iowa's efforts and demanded answers from the state Democratic Party. Warren's campaign reiterated its call for a review of the caucus system, calling the process "a broken way" to select candidates.

Story continues

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, expressed similar sentiments on Twitter.

"It's a mess in more ways than one," Sabato tweeted. "If this were a primary, we'd have a larger turnout AND the damn results would be known by now."

Democratic Party officials, backed by the state's Republican senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley, urged patience as leaders rallied around Iowa's process  and its first-in-the-nation status. Ernst and Grassley issued a statement saying the state's "unique role encourages a grassroots nominating process that empowers everyday Americans, not Washington insiders or powerful billionaires."

Rachel James, a Drake University student, and Amy Klobuchar, argue with Ben Mowat, a Pete Buttigieg supporter, between caucus rounds at Precinct 38 inside Drake University on Feb. 3, 2020, in Des Moines.

Jacob Neiheisel, an assistant professor at the University at Buffalo who specializes in election administration, isn't convinced that Iowa's woes will mean the end of the caucus system in American politics.

"Once in place, institutions have a way of sticking around well past the point that most everybody agrees that something else might provide a better alternative," he said. "I would be shocked if we saw the death of such a system anytime soon."

The caucus system, however, was already on life support. State Democratic parties held caucuses in 13 states in 2016. Iowa will be joined only by Nevada, North Dakota and Wyoming in 2020. Republicans, which held caucuses in 12 states four years ago, will only have Iowa this year.

Iowa was feeling pressure to drop the caucus system even before Monday night's chaos, said Chris Larimer, professor of political science at the University of Northern Iowa.

The criticism was already heightened in this election cycle, he said. What happened last night is only going to heighten that more.

Caucuses actually date to 1796, when party congressional delegations met informally to nominate their presidential and vice presidential candidates. The general public had no direct input in the process.

Modern caucuses are run by state parties and differ by state. They involve party meetings by precinct, district or county, where people gather to discuss the candidates and select delegates. Caucuses usually require voters to arrive by a set time and prepared to wade through hours of political back-and forth.

Caucuses generally demand a heavier commitment than primaries that allow voters to drop in for few minutes any time of day. Thus caucuses generally mean less participation and more power for party officials.

"Because they ask more of voters, caucuses are going to disproportionately attract participation from those with the resources to do so," Neiheisel said. Thus, he said, participants "may not necessarily reflect the overall composition of the rank-and-file of the party."

But they also can give candidates with less financial backing a fighting chance. Bernie Sanders dominated Hillary Clinton in 2016 caucuses by tapping into his smaller but more fervent supporters. President Barack Obama, an upstart in 2008, saw similar caucus success.

To do well in a caucus, you have to be good at retail politics on a small-group basis, Larimer said. People expect to see their candidates early and often.

Contributing: Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY

Follow John Bacon and Adrianna Rodriguez on Twitter: @realjohnbacon @AdriannaUSAT.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iowa Democratic caucus results: Fiasco may push system to extinction
Credit Suisse, which has faced a scandal related to spying on senior executives, also conducted espionage against Greenpeace, Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported.

Then-Chief Operating Officer Pierre-Oliver Bouee ordered his head of security to infiltrate the environmental group after Greenpeace disrupted the bank's annual shareholder meeting in 2017, the paper said in an article published on Sunday.

Credit Suisse, which has been criticised by Greenpeace for investing in fossil fuels, gained access to emails, tipping the bank off to demonstrations planned against it, the report said.

A spokesman for Credit Suisse declined to comment on security matters. Greenpeace said it was following up the report and had no comment yet.

Bouee was dismissed in December over the surveillance of former executive board members Iqbal Khan and Peter Goerke. Switzerland's market supervisor FINMA is investigating the issue.

Credit Suisse has said CEO Tidjane Thiam was unaware of the surveillance, and that Bouee had acted alone.

The affair has triggered a power struggle between Thiam and chairman Urs Rohner, with one expected to leave the bank soon, SonntagsZeitung reported. A board meeting is due to be held this week. The bank has rejected a Bloomberg report that Rohner is drawing up a list of potential successors to Thiam.

Greenpeace gatecrashed Credit Suisse's AGM in 2017 to protest against its dealings related to the Dakota Access Pipeline in North America. Credit Suisse says it has committed to halting the financing of new coal-fired power plants and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of ships it finances.
Australians stranded in Wuhan have caught an Air New Zealand rescue flight to get them out of the virus-stricken Chinese city.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed a group of 35 Australians left Wuhan on Wednesday morning on an Air New Zealand flight.

The aircraft also evacuated up to 100 Kiwis and a number of Pacific islanders to Auckland, where the Australians will then be transferred to Christmas Island.

The prime minister warned Australians still in Wuhan - the epicentre of the outbreak - that a second assisted evacuation flight home could possibly be the last.

'What I want to tell people is that they can't count on a further flight beyond that,' he told Nine Network.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed a group of 35 Australians left Wuhan on Wednesday morning on an Air New Zealand flight (file picture)

The details of the second evacuation flight are still to be negotiated with Chinese authorities.

Australia now has 13 confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus after an eight-year-old boy was isolated in a Queensland hospital.

The child, from Wuhan - the epicentre of the virus outbreak - was a member of a tour group travelling in Australia in late January.

Two other people from that group, a man, 44, and a woman, 42, also had the virus and Queensland health authorities had been scrambling to contact other people on their flights in case the infection had spread.

'The child remains in isolation at the Gold Coast University Hospital and is currently stable,' the state's Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young said.

The case of the boy takes the number of confirmed cases in Queensland to three, adding to the four cases in each of NSW and Victoria and two in South Australia. The nation infection rate now stands at 13 people.

The Australian people travelling to Auckland will then be taken to Christmas Island, off the north-west coast of Western Australia, where they will join about 241 citizens and permanent residents who arrived on Monday and Tuesday.

The Air NZ aircraft was flying over the Phillippines around 7.30am AEDT.

Medical staff are seen wearing protective clothing outside a hospital in Wuhan after the coronavirus outbreak

So far, there have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus infection among the men, women and children already on Christmas Island, where they are being held for up to two weeks.

A team of specialist doctors and nurses is closely monitoring the evacuees, who were flown out of Wuhan on a Qantas flight.

Up to 600 Australians initially registered for the evacuation flights home but some have decided to remain in Wuhan. It is not clear how many will join the next flight.

Globally, 426 people - mostly Chinese citizens - have died from the virus, including one death in the Philippines. The number of confirmed cases stands at 20,630.
An outspoken lawmaker in Iran has written to the country's head of Judiciary demanding more information on reports saying middlemen have been arrested who were brokering approval for parliamentary candidates.

In a letter to Ebrahim Raeesi (Raisi), the Mahmoud Sadeqi who first blew the whistle on corruption in connection with the country's election watchdog, the Guardian Council, called on the Chief Justice to ensure that in addition to the middlemen who have been arrested, "possible elements inside" the Council are also investigated and brought to justice.

In a tweet on January 27, Sadeqi (Sadeghi) said middlemen demanded up to 40 billion rials (about $300,000) from would-be candidates in parliamentary elections to ensure they were approved by the Guardian Council. The middlemen, Sadeqi said, had claimed they had influence with the Guardian Council.

In his letter to the Raeesi which he has published on his Twitter account today, Sadeqi said in the past two weeks the Intelligence Organization of the Guardian Council has identified a number of individuals, both inside and outside the Guardian Council, in connection with the bribery cases and made some arrests.

Sadeqi urged Raeesi to order the prosecutor's office to take over the case and request the public to come forth with information regarding these cases. He also said if the Judiciary directly gets involved, "the main perpetrators" within the Council can be held responsible.

Conservative Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi who was appointed to the post by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei a year ago has tried to build an anti-corruption image. After being appointed to the post he maintained that the country's judiciary was infested with financial corruption and widespread bribery.

Akbar Alami, a former lawmaker, has also confirmed the arrest of a number of middlemen in the bribery case involving the Guardian Council. In a Telegram post, Alami promised to publish the names and phone numbers of these middlemen and explain their methods of work.

The members of the Guardian Council which is dominated by the hardliners appointed by Khamenei has the power to disqualify individuals from running in any election. Reformists allege that the Council has eliminated their chances of winning in 230 out of the 290 seats of the Parliament in the upcoming elections by disqualifying their candidates.
The CPI(M) on Monday said the repeated cases of firings at Jamia Nagar and Shaheen Bagh were a direct outcome of the "continued silence" of PM Narendra Modi as ministers and BJP leaders incite violence.

BJP leaders including MP Parvesh Verma and Union minister Anurag Thakur have been sent notices by the Election Commission over their hate speeches during the ongoing campaign for the Delhi Assembly polls.

"Repeated firings are an ominous and direct outcome of continued silence of PM as ministers and BJP leaders incite violence. That one incident happens after another points to complicity. Peaceful protesters are demonised, while those instigating & initiating violence go scot-free, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted.

On Sunday, two unidentified persons allegedly opened fire outside Jamia Millia Islamia, police said. No one was injured in the attack.

Earlier on January 30, a minor fired at anti-CAA protesters preparing to march from Jamia towards Rajghat, injuring a student.

Two days later, a 25-year-old fired two rounds in the air at Shaheen Bagh, where a protest against the citizenship act has been going on. No one was hurt in the incident.

"When govt ministers provoke violence or thuggery, then no one is safe. Govts are responsible for every citizen's safety. Peaceful protests is a right of every citizen. All govts must respect that. Dissent is democracy. It cannot be met with hate-speech by those in high offices," he tweeted.

"Law and order in the national capital comes under the Centre. Responsibility and accountability for repeated provocative violent incidents falls directly and solely on the Union home minister and the Prime Minister," he tweeted.
States mishaps are re-energising the debate over whether the US should look elsewhere to kick off the primary season.
WASHINGTON  The U.S. military has deployed a new addition to its nuclear arsenal  a long-range missile armed with a nuclear warhead of reduced destructive power. The so-called low-yield missile joins other, more powerful weapons aboard stealthy submarines prowling the oceans.

The debut deployment aboard long-range submarines, known as boomers, is a landmark in U.S. nuclear weapons policy. It is the first major addition to the strategic nuclear arsenal in recent decades and is a departure from the Obama administrations policy of lessening dependence on nuclear weapons in pursuit of a nuclear-free world.

In confirming the missile deployment to The Associated Press, the Pentagons top policy official asserted that the weapon makes Americans safer by making nuclear war less likely. Critics, including some Democrats in Congress, call it a dangerous excess that increases the risk of war.

John Rood, the undersecretary of defense for policy, said in an AP interview Monday that adding the low-yield warhead, known as the W76-2, to submarines which tote Trident II ballistic missiles lowers the risk of nuclear war. He said the United States will continue its stated policy of using nuclear weapons only in extraordinary circumstances. He also said the warhead will help the United States dissuade Russia from risking launching a limited nuclear conflict.

This supplemental capability strengthens deterrence and provides the United States a prompt, more survivable low-yield strategic weapon, Rood said, adding that it supports the U.S. commitment to deter attacks against allies, and demonstrates to potential adversaries that there is no advantage to limited nuclear employment because the United States can credibly and decisively respond to any threat scenario.

Rood declined to provide details about the deployment, including when or where the deployment began; all details, he said, are classified secret. The deployment was reported last week by the Federation of American Scientists, citing anonymous sources and reporting that it was believed to have begun in the final weeks of 2019 with an Atlantic deployment of the USS Tennessee.

Adding the W76-2 fits President Donald Trumps stated interest in beefing up the nuclear arsenal, although he has not commented on this specific weapon. His administration is committed to a broader, costly modernization of the nuclear force.

The essence of critics argument against the low-yield weapon is that it makes the world less safe because it offers decision-makers another option for using a nuclear weapon in a conflict that could then escalate to a full-blown nuclear war. They also contend that lower-yield air-launched nuclear weapons already in the U.S. arsenal make the W76-2 redundant.

Rood, however, said the submarine-launched low-yield missile is important because it can more reliably penetrate air defenses than could an airplane armed with nuclear weapons.

The W76-2 is the Trump administrations answer to what it calls a Russian misconception of an exploitable gap in U.S. nuclear capabilities. By deploying missiles at sea with a lower nuclear yield, or destructive power, the administration aims to dissuade Moscow from thinking it could win a war in Europe, for example, by firing its own low-yield nuclear weapon first, forcing Washington and its NATO allies to either commit to full-scale nuclear war or capitulate.

The yield, or destructive power, of the W76-2 is classified. Experts say it may be about 5 kilotons, or roughly one-third the destructive power of the Little Boy nuclear bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in the final days of World War II, killing tens of thousands of people. By comparison, the missile that has been deploying aboard strategic submarines for decades has carried the 90-kiloton W76 warhead and the 475-kiloton W88 warhead.

The newly deployed warhead was produced by modifying the W76. Last February the administration said it expected to have the new version ready for use by late 2019.

The W76-2 has been fitted atop an undisclosed number of Trident ballistic missiles carried aboard the Navys Ohio-class submarines. This submarine fleet, split between bases at Bangor, Washington, and Kings Bay, Georgia, represents one leg of the U.S. nuclear triad, along with the Air Forces long-range B-2 and B-52 bombers and land-based Minuteman 3 missiles.

The newest addition to the arsenal comes amid important shifts in the U.S.-Russia strategic relationship. Doubts are growing that the Trump administration will accept Moscows offer to extend the New START arms control treaty before it expires next February. It is the only remaining treaty limiting the number of U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapons.

Rood noted that deploying the new lower-yield missiles has not increased the total number of American weapons under the New START limits because each of the warheads replaces one of the more powerful versions that had been exclusively deployed aboard the subs.

Bruce Blair, a former Air Force nuclear weapons officer and co-founder of Global Zero, an international group that advocates the elimination of nuclear arms, said he sees merit in reducing the destructive power of nuclear arsenals.

But we must not delude ourselves into thinking lower-yield nukes are more usable in a conflict, he said. Any use of this sea-based weapon  either first or second  will risk stoking the flames of conflict and escalating to all-out nuclear war. A wiser response to an enemys use of one or two low-yield nukes would be to refrain from nuclear escalation while unleashing Americas ferocious and decisive conventional juggernaut.

Blair, who testified to Congress last year in opposition to the new weapon, also argues that the rationale has been overtaken by events. The Russians, in his view, have shifted their focus to non-nuclear means, including with cyberweapons, of striking primarily Western civilian infrastructure.

Instead of using small numbers of tactical nukes to frighten the U.S. and NATO into suing for peace, the Russians today plan to paralyze civilian financial, energy, communications and transportation grids to incite NATO populations to demand an end to hostilities, he said.

The Trump administration moved quickly to produce and deploy the new weapon after announcing its intentions in a nuclear policy document published two years ago this month.

Opposition in Congress was led by Rep. Adam Smith, a Washington Democrat who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. The House version of the 2020 defense bill prohibited deployment of the modified warhead, but that was dropped in the final version passed by Congress and signed by Trump in December.

I maintain that this is one weapon that will not add to our national security but would only increase the risk of miscalculation with dire consequences, Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said in Senate floor speech in December.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 07:54:16|Editor: mingmei

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House impeachment managers and President Donald Trump's defense team clashed Monday in their closing arguments of the Senate impeachment trial.

In a four-hour session equally divided for both sides, House manager Adam Schiff said "history will not be kind to Donald Trump," accusing him of betraying "the national interest and security to help with his reelection."

Hakeem Jeffries, another House manager, said in his remarks that they have proven their case against Trump with "a mountain of evidence."

White House counsel Pat Cipollone, for his part, defended the president's acts by alleging Democrats were aimed at overturning the results of the 2016 presidential election and interfering in the ongoing presidential race.

Cipollone, in addition, urged senators to reject the articles of impeachment against Trump.

The Senate adjourned after they wrapped up the closing arguments.

The chamber, where Republicans have a narrow majority over Democrats, will proceed to votes on the articles of impeachment Wednesday afternoon amid wide expectations that Trump will be acquitted.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, speaking from the Senate floor in a legislative session on Monday, called on the Senate to censure Trump.

"Censure would allow this body to unite across party lines and as an equal branch of government to formally denounce the president's actions and hold him accountable," Manchin said.

However, Manchin and his Democratic colleagues Doug Jones of Alabama and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have left open the possibility that they might vote to acquit Trump.

Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe tweeted on Monday that he believes "Manchin's censure move could serve only to give him and Jones cover to acquit, yielding a 55-45 acquittal margin and no majority to censure."

Monday's session came days after Senate voted mostly along party lines to reject the effort in seeking witnesses and documents for the proceeding, paving the way for a quick end.

The House, controlled by Democrats, impeached Trump in December last year for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, charges that the White House has refuted.

A whistleblower raised concern in an anonymous complaint last summer about the White House's interactions with Ukraine, triggering a Democrat-led impeachment inquiry against Trump.

The U.S. president was alleged to have pressed his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, into launching investigations that could politically benefit him. Furthermore, the White House allegedly tried to cover it up.

In tweets on Monday, Trump called the impeachment a partisan "hoax," while lashing out at the whistleblower and Democrats.

"Where's the Whistleblower? Where's the second Whistleblower? Where's the Informer? Why did Corrupt politician Schiff MAKE UP my conversation with the Ukrainian President???" Trump wrote. "Why didn't the House do its job?"

According to the U.S. Constitution, the House shall have the "sole Power of Impeachment," while the Senate shall have the "sole Power to try all Impeachments."

Conviction can only happen in the Senate and requires at least two-thirds of its members, or 67 senators, to vote in favor of at least one article of impeachment after a trial. Currently, the Senate has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and two independents who caucus with Democrats.

No sitting U.S. president has ever been removed from office by Congress through impeachment.
But under pressure to salvage the caucuses from a humiliating logistical debacle, Iowa Democratic leaders decided to go ahead with releasing numbers from a majority of precincts without waiting for the counting process to be completed.

The halting and hectic process in Iowa was an unsightly spectacle for the Democratic Party at the start of its presidential nominating process, offering President Trump an easy target for gloating and ridicule and raising serious questions about whether Iowa would be allowed to retain its first-in-the-nation status in future elections.

Troy Price, the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, appeared downcast on Tuesday as he described the process as unacceptable in remarks to reporters. As chair of the party, I apologize deeply for this, he said.

Mr. Price repeatedly stressed that the data was accurate and said the security of the returns was his paramount concern.

The returns posted on Tuesday largely mirrored the scenario that the leading presidential campaigns detected during the caucuses, gathering precinct-level information on their own and in some cases releasing it to the media to make up for the void of hard results.

Should the rest of the Iowa results mostly mirror the data published on Tuesday, it could represent a significant embarrassment for Mr. Biden, who entered the race as a front-runner last spring but has struggled mightily in recent months to compete with fresher-faced and more liberal rivals in both Iowa and New Hampshire. For a period in January, his campaign had grown hopeful that he had a chance of winning Iowa and establishing early dominance, but by caucus night that seemed a remote prospect.

Mr. Biden is aiming to retake control of the race later in February, when the competition moves to Nevada and South Carolina, two far more diverse states long seen as friendly to his candidacy. But first he may have to explain his Iowa slump to the political donors whose support he needs to compete in the larger primary states that vote at the beginning of March.
Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine, a popular spritual landmark in Bangkok on January 27, 2020. MLADEN ANTONOV | AFP via Getty Images

The "most important" way to stop the spread of China's coronavirus is to wash your hands, according to the professor who headed the World Health Organization's (WHO) global response to SARS. China's National Health Commission on Tuesday confirmed 20,438 cases of the coronavirus in the country and 425 deaths. The outbreak of the deadly pneumonia-like virus, which is thought to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has been recognized as a global health emergency by the WHO. As of Monday, there were thought to be nearly 200 cases of the virus in at least 23 countries outside of China. "One of the most important ways of stopping respiratory outbreaks such as this is washing hands," David Heymann, who led WHO's infectious disease unit at the time of the SARS epidemic in 2002-2003, said at a Chatham House press briefing in London on Tuesday.

That's because "if you touch a patient, if you shake hands, if you touch a door that has a droplet on it  which could theoretically happen  then you touch your face (or) your mouth and you become infected." "So, handwashing is the most important. And second is, people who are suspected as being patients, be very careful when you are dealing with them. Avoid face-to-face contact and wash hands when you're treating," Heymann said. "It is very important that people understand that they can prevent themselves from being infected if they follow a few simple measures," he added.

'Not a lot of evidence' to support wearing masks

Late last month, health experts told CNBC that the panic buying of face masks to protect against the coronavirus was "completely understandable," but ultimately unwarranted. They also warned a shortage of masks could pose a risk to health workers. It was thought wearing masks might be useful if you're sick in order to prevent you from sneezing or coughing into somebody's face, Heymann said. But, "a mask that is used to stop getting an infection is sometimes not very effective because people take it off to eat, many times they are worn improperly (and) if they get wet and somebody sneezes on that mask it could pass through. So, there is really not a lot of evidence (to support wearing masks)." "I would think that there is way too much wearing of masks although some places like Hong Kong have required that people on the underground use masks  and that is their sovereign right to do that. That is their risk assessment," he added.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that usually infect animals but can sometimes evolve and spread to humans. Symptoms for people tend to include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, which can progress to pneumonia. Physicians have compared it to the 2003 outbreak of SARS, which had a short incubation period of two to seven days. During the period of infection for SARS (2002-2003), there were nearly 8,098 reported cases and 774 deaths, according to the WHO. It means the virus killed roughly one in 10 people who were infected.

Rampant misinformation
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Six people were attacked by three loose dogs Monday, the same animals that bit at least a dozen residents and have continued to terrorize a South Jersey neighborhood, authorities said.

Police released video Tuesday of a man facing off against the pack of barking canines, swinging a pole or stick-type object and shouting as the animals advanced on him in Little Egg Harbor Township.

In the Monday attacks, officers were called to reports of a dog bite around 2:15 p.m. near Lake Winnipesaukee Drive, where they found a 69-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man suffering from multiple bites, according to police. Those dogs were well-known to locals and authorities.

Over the course of the next hour, officers and residents frantically attempted to contain the animals as they continued to terrorize the neighborhood, the police department said in a statement.

Officers found at least six people were bitten. In at least seven incidents within the last four months, police were called about the same dogs. The department reported a dozen confirmed cases of bites from the pack along with more unconfirmed cases.

Police said officers were eventually able to contain the dogs and brought them to animal control officials.

The owner of these animals had been issued multiple summonses in relation to these prior incidents, police said.

Animal control officers removed the dogs from the owner Dec. 10, but were remarkably, returned to the owner at some point, the police statement said.

We would like to extend our sympathies to the victims and all of the residents of that neighborhood, police said. Yesterday's events were horrific, and nobody should live in fear of allowing their children to play outside, walk down the street or simply get the mail.

The Little Egg Harbor Police Department will do everything in its power to ensure these dogs are never returned and allowed to menace this neighborhood in the future, the department said.

Officials said an investigation was continuing. The owners name and more details about the case were not immediately released.

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The Ohio-class USS Florida sails off the coast of the Bahamas on Jan. 22, 2003. (David Nagle/U.S. Navy/Getty Images)

Low-Yield Nuclear Missile Added to Submarine Arsenal, Pentagon Confirms

A new type of low-yield nuclear missile has been added to the U.S. militarys undersea arsenal, the Department of Defense has confirmed, with reports suggesting the weapons pack much less power than the Hiroshima bomb.

These so-called tactical nukes aim to negate similar Russian warheads, which are designed not to level cities but for use on the battlefield.

The funding and legislation for the W76-2 missile were approved by Congress over the past two budgets, in line with the demands of the Trump administrations 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).

A report last week by the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the missilemade by tweaking regular submarine-launched warheadswas now aboard Trident submarines.

Each W76-2 is estimated to have an explosive yield of about five kilotons, its report stated.

Thats about one-third of the explosive power of the Little Boy nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.

The Pentagon confirmed today that the submarine-launched W76-2 missile has been deployed, but provided no further details, other than outlining the rationale for its creation.

In the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review, the department identified the requirement to modify a small number of submarine-launched ballistic missile warheads to address the conclusion that potential adversaries, like Russia, believe that employment of low-yield nuclear weapons will give them an advantage over the United States and its allies and partners, John Rood, the under secretary of defense for policy, said in a statement.

The precise explosive power of the warhead isnt confirmed.

A Trident Ii, or D-5 Missile, is launched from an Ohio-class submarine in this undated file photo. (Getty Images)

A report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) in January noted that the W76-2 would be configured for primary-only detonation, as per the NPR.

According to the CRS report, This could mean a yield of less than 10 kilotons.

The United States already has low-yield nuclear weapons. However, these were limited to cruise missiles and B61 bombs, with limited capacity to pierce the defenses thrown up by Russia in recent years.

Russia has been expanding its arsenal of low-yield nuclear weapons, according to the NPR.

The recent Russian statements on this evolving nuclear weapons doctrine appear to lower the threshold for Moscows first-use of nuclear weapons, according to the NPR. Russia demonstrates its perception of the advantage these systems provide through numerous exercises and statements. Correcting this mistaken Russian perception is a strategic imperative.

Some reports in the previous two or three years had already suggested that the United States should consider submarine-based, low-yield weapons of its own to counter the Russian threat.

Opponents of the W76-2 say that it raises the risk of nuclear war. They argue that its reduced destructive power could make it a more tempting option than the unthinkable full-scale nuclear optionbut that its use would quickly escalate.

The NPR emphasized that the intention of the low-yield missile was to reduce the possibility of nuclear conflict, not to raise it.

To be clear, this is not intended to enable, nor does it enable, nuclear war-fighting. Nor will it lower the nuclear threshold, the NPR states.

Rather, expanding U.S. tailored response options will raise the nuclear threshold and help ensure that potential adversaries perceive no possible advantage in limited nuclear escalation, making nuclear weapons employment less likely.

The new missiles will travel under the ocean aboard the Navys Ohio-class submarines, along with the submarine-based Trident missiles that make up a third of the nuclear triad. The other two legs are currently the long-range B-2 and B-52 bombers, and the Minuteman 3 missiles scattered throughout the United States.
Federal regulators are penalizing five San Antonio hospitals for high rates of what they deem preventable complications, which include infections, blood clots after surgery, sepsis cases, bedsores and hip fractures after a fall.

The facilities are University Hospital, Christus Santa Rosa Medical Center, Methodist Hospital, Southwest General Hospital and Legent Orthopedic and Spine, formerly known as Cumberland Surgical Hospital.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said it will dock the hospitals Medicare payments by 1 percent this year under the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program. The hospitals exceeded CMS thresholds for infections and patient safety.

Methodist Metropolitan Hospital, Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital, Northeast Methodist Hospital and Methodist Texsan Hospital will also be penalized under the program.

CMS plans to withhold $350 million in payments to hundreds of U.S. hospitals for the fiscal year that runs through September.

Since the program, known as a pay-for-performance program, started six years ago, more than 35 percent of the nations hospitals have been penalized for at least one year, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis.

On ExpressNews.com: Three San Antonio hospitals penalized for patient safety, infections

University, Bexar Countys public hospital, has faced penalties for its rate of hospital-acquired complications in each of the programs six years, amounting to a significant loss of federal reimbursement dollars. This year, University Health System estimates a loss of $960,000 in payment cuts.

Mike Fisher/Staff Artist

I think its important for the community to understand that the leadership at University Health System absolutely takes these numbers very seriously, said Dr. Emily Volk, the systems senior vice president of clinical services. We acknowledge that we have historically had the opportunity to perform better. We are learning from these numbers.

Brian Lewis, UHS vice president of quality and clinical outcomes, said he formed a multidisciplinary committee last year to monitor and review all cases of patient complications and to make changes to prevent future instances.

He said CMS program doesnt take into account University Hospitals role as a teaching hospital, through its partnership with UT Health San Antonio, or that it is designated as a Level I trauma center that accepts some of the sickest patients in South Texas.

Dr. Kenneth Davis, chief medical officer for the South Texas region at Christus Health, noted the lag time in the CMS data. The agency assessed claims data collected between July 2016 and June 2018 and data on infections from Jan. 1, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2018.

Over the past four years, we have maintained a sharp focus on our journey toward meeting the cutting-edge performance measure that we have established for ourselves, Davis said. Already, we have noted a dramatic improvement in our infection prevention rates, as well as other measured patient safety indicators.

Among the complications that CMS measures are bloodstream infections caused by central lines, urinary tract infections caused by catheters, certain surgical site infections and serious bacterial infections.

We are working daily to ensure the care we provide is of the highest quality, Davis said.

A spokesperson for Southwest General Hospital, which has been penalized each of the past four years, said in an email that the hospital is taking steps to address preventable complications and improve its performance.

A new leadership team has recently started and has begun to implement new processes and procedures to enhance the quality of care we provide to the patients of south San Antonio, the spokesperson said.

According to recent CMS data, 786 U.S. hospitals rank in the bottom quarter of hospitals for high rates of complications under the pay-for-performance program.

For hospitals operating on razor-thin margins, youre taking away the funds they need to improve, said Chad Mulvany, a policy director for the Washington, D.C.-based Healthcare Financial Management Association.

Federal regulators also recently published data on a program that tracks unplanned patient readmissions  patients returning to a hospital within 30 days of receiving treatment.

Under the Hospital Re-admissions Reduction Program, 2,583 U.S. hospitals will see cuts to their upcoming Medicare reimbursements, which represents a savings of more than $563 million for the government.

CMS can withhold up to 3 percent of payments for hospitals that have higher-than-expected readmissions for heart attacks, heart failure and bypass surgery, pneumonia, hip and knee replacements, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Among the 230 Texas hospitals facing readmission penalties, several in San Antonio made the list, including University Hospital, Christus Santa Rosa Medical Center, Southwest General Hospital, Methodist Hospital, Methodist Stone Oak and the now-closed Nix Healthcare System.

Two specialty hospitals on the North Side will have payments docked by more than 2 percent: South Texas Spine and Surgical in Stone Oak and Legent Orthopedic and Spine at 5330 N. Loop 1604.

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Readmissions, regulators say, are costly and disruptive to a patients life and increase their chances of infection.

Nationally, 15.3 percent of Medicare patients on average are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge.

Baptist Health System, which includes the downtown acute care hospital near the Central Library and four other hospitals, performs better than other local hospitals in avoiding readmissions, according to CMS consumer website, Hospital Compare.

Federal officials say readmission rates show whether a hospital is doing a good job of preventing complications, providing clear discharge instructions to patients, and safely transitioning them to their homes or nursing homes.

UHS estimates a loss of about $40,000 under the readmissions program, but officials wont know the exact amount until later this year.

The online version of this story has been updated to reflect that several hospitals operate under Methodist Hospital name in government records and will also be penalized.

Laura Garcia covers the health care industry in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her stories and more local coverage on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | laura.garcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @Reporter_Laura
by Giuseppe Pezzolla

The young researcher Domenico Benvenuto, from the Biomedical Campus of Rome, managed to discover the mutant gene that allowed the coronavirus to pass from bats to humans. The Roman university has been collaborating with Chinese scholars since the SARS epidemic. To combat the virus, quarantine and isolation are useful, racist and synophobic attitudes are useless. The young researcher was born in the same city as Giovanni da Montecorvino, first bishop of Beijing (1247-1328).

Rome (AsiaNews) - Collaboration between Italian and Chinese researchers on coronavirus mutations: this is what Rome Biomedical Campus university student Domenico Benvenuto, hopes for. 10 days ago he discovered the genetic point where coronavirus mutates and attacks humans, a fundamental discovery for the search for effective therapies against the epidemic that is spreading throughout China and in the world. The research director, Dr. Massimo Ciccozzi, and Domenico Benvenuto (photo 2) tend to emphasize that the epidemic is fought with quarantine and isolation and that there is no need for racist and "synophobic" behavoir. One detail: the young researcher was born in the same city as Giovanni da Montecorvino, the first bishop of Beijing (1247-1328).

The Rome Biomedical Campus has collaborated with China since the time of Sars (2003). In the following years, a Chinese delegation came to Italy to study its care models and initiate Beijing's health care reform. From those contacts the China-Italy-Shaanxi Vacational Training Program was born. The Istituto Superiore di Sanita and the Rome Biomedical Campus also worked with Chinese researchers from Xi'an Medical University and Provincial People's Hospital.

Below our interview with Dr. Massimo Ciccozzi and Domenico Benvenuto.

Prof. Ciccozzi, we are facing a new common enemy, how can we defeat it?

The epidemic stops with quarantine and isolation, precautionary measures that the Chinese first and gradually we and all other countries have already adopted.

Your team has reconstructed what we can call the "family tree" of the coronavirus and its mutant gene. What more can you tell us?

We made a mathematical model that serves to show how this protein underwent a mutation at a specific point that allowed it to move from bats to humans. The Journal of Medical Virology and Pathogen and Global Heath have already published our work and other articles are about to be published in prestigious scientific journals. The author of this discovery is Domenico Benvenuto. Who will now explain the details.

D.B .: This protein is the Spike glycoprotein that is outside the Coronavirus and pretends to be a molecule that is already physiologically present in our body. So when it encounters the receptor responsible for connecting to that molecule, the virus takes advantage of it: as it is similar to this protein, it attacks and begins to enter the human cell and viral contagion

What weapons are there against this protein?

We studied it from a genetic point of view and through the sequences we reconstructed the protein and through homology models we recreated the three-dimensional protein.

Will your study help develop a specific vaccine?

Certainly it puts the mutations that are present in this protein in a different light and identifies some amino acids that have changed and that are typical of this virus, just like the knurling of a key that are different for each lock. We have identified some of the typical knurling of the virus.

How do you explain the fear of contagion that is feeding a certain synophobia these days?

This fear of the Chinese community is unmotivated. Attention must certainly be paid to people who come or have stayed in areas where there are viruses and epidemics. But it is not said that they are Chinese. In any case, synophobia is an irrational fear.

A few days after your unpublished study, the coronavirus was isolated and sequenced at the Spallanzani Institute in Rome. You first in the world, they first in Europe. In Padua, on the other hand, Italian researchers created the synthesis of the rapid diagnostic kit for coronavirus. The third result for Italian research in just three days. What can such research say to Chinese research friends?

These important results are part of an international network of collaboration between researchers. The results are shared online and validated from a scientific point of view, then they can be used by everyone. This is already a first phase of collaboration with the Chinese. This time they shared their information in a timely manner and immediately implemented control measures, so as an international community of researchers, we can all work together to stem this epidemic.

Can the results obtained develop research in Chinese laboratories?

To my knowledge, it seems to me that in Hong Kong they have already identified some possible therapies. They too are already at work.

Montecorvino Rovella, your hometown (just 15 thousand inhabitants) is well known in China. Or am I wrong?

Well, there is a coincidence that makes me smile. Giovanni da Montecorvino, the first Catholic bishop of Beijing, who is revered as a saint in China, is my fellow citizen: he and I come from the same village near Salerno.
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EDITORS NOTE: On March 10, NJ Cannabis Insider hosts its first semi-annual, daylong industry conference, featuring top leaders in the medical marijuana, hemp and legal cannabis industries. Tickets are now on sale.

A medical marijuana cultivation facility may replace an 81-year-old airport in Green Township, but not everyone is on board.

The townships governing committee held a closed-door discussion Monday night to review a zoning law amendment, adopted in July, that would allow medical marijuana growing, production and manufacturing within an agriculture/industrial zone that includes Trinca Airport.

The airport is closing Sept. 1 and the possibility of a marijuana facility is prompting some pushback in Green Township, a rural municipality that is home to 3,400.

Mayor Margaret Phillips declined to discuss what might be in store for the airport site after the executive session concluded after 9 p.m.

She told NJ Advance Media two weeks ago that one company has expressed interest in leasing land and installing solar panels, while others have proposed a medical marijuana growing facility.

It remains a hypothetical discussion at this point, the mayor said Monday.

Theres no applications, Phillips said.

Some in the audience at the township committee meeting, which began two hours earlier, shared their thoughts on the topic.

John Skorski told the committee that he opposes a medical marijuana cultivation facility in Green Township, where he moved about a year ago.

Skorski said he fears that it would attract crime.

Its not from the person whos going to buy it. Its from the other people who want to steal it," Skorski said.

Medical marijuana is legal in New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill in June expanding the states program, which currently serves more than 60,000 patients.

Josephine Fracasso rebutted objections when she spoke at the meeting.

Its not going to create crime. Its not going to be people coming from the outside to purchase. Its going to be a growing facility and I dont feel that the people in that immediate area understand the purpose of this building, Fracasso said.

Green Township Mayor Margaret Phillips at a meeting of the township committee, Feb. 3, 2020Rob Jennings / NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

There are 11 active cultivation sites in New Jersey, including a Sussex County location in Franklin Borough used by a dispensary in Montclair, according to the state health department.

Green Townships zoning ordinance outlines multiple security precautions, including 24-hour monitoring, and prohibits on-site marijuana sales to the public.

The township committee held a public hearing two weeks ago, but ended the meeting without taking a vote on any changes in the ordinance. According to the New Jersey Herald, some at the Jan. 22 meeting questioned whether a medical marijuana facility would run afoul of the states drug free school zone law, though it prohibits all growing facilities within 1,000 feet of any school buildings.

Then the plan was to hold a vote Monday night, before officials decided late last week to instead hold a closed-door discussion, citing attorney-client privilege" as the justification on the meeting agenda.

Phillips did not say when, or whether, the matter will be revisited.

Marge Vivian of Green Township was in attendance Monday but did not address the committee. Vivian said after the meeting that she and her husband, who has lung cancer, are among the more than 60,000 patients in the states marijuana program.

Vivian said she has had one hip and one shoulder replaced, and her other shoulder is a constant source of pain. She said she drives 90 minutes each way to pick up CBD oil and marijuana for herself and her husband of 46 years, Doug.

Asked about the possibility of a local growing facility, Vivian was enthusiastic.

I support it, Vivian told NJ Advance Media.

If it brings down taxes too, thats wonderful," she said.

The committee voted 5-0 five months ago to close Trinca Airport, which opened in 1939 and uses a turf runway, effective Sept. 1.

Green Township bought the airport in 2002 for $2.28 million in order to hold off a private developers plan for a large housing development at the site.

A gate blocks the entrance to Trinca Airport in Green Township, Jan. 17, 2020.Rob Jennings / NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Phillips previously said that financial and safety factors drove the decision.

Green Township receives zero revenue from Trinca Airport, which is one of 42 public-use airports in New Jersey and does not charge for flying in or out. Annual expenses are $15,000, including approximately $6,000 for a part-time airport manager and maintenance, such as cutting grass on the turf runway.

While some pilots have expressed dismay at the airports impending closure, airport manager Pete Sklannik was at the meeting Monday and said that, even on weekends, it attracts little interest.

The pilots need fuel. We dont have fuel," Sklannik said afterward.

This airport - its run its course. Its not like there arent other airports in the immediate area, Sklannik added.

Skorski, though not a pilot, is a fan of Trinca Airport.

I wish the airport would never close, Skorski said.

Green Township officials are meeting with the state Department of Transportation on Wednesday to work through the logistics of shutting down the airport.

In the meantime, the discussion about replacing it with a medical marijuana cultivation facility seems likely to continue. The zoning amendment adopted last year allows for up to 10 buildings, with a maximum height of 35 feet.

Fracasso said Green Township would benefit from leasing the facility for medical marijuana production.

We really do need tax reform here. Our taxes are getting to the point where people cant exist in the township, Fracasso said, adding that it would be a safe facility.

If youre worried about things being built in your neighborhood, then dont buy a house ... where its an industrial zone in your backyard. Thats a risk youre taking."

Skorski, though, alluded to a township committee member who, on an unrelated discussion, said she would be willing to accept a tax increase to avoid cutting services.

I would pay more taxes not to have this industry in here, he said.

A sign at the entrance to Trinca Airport in Green Township, Jan. 17, 2020Rob Jennings / NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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The long-awaited delivery of modular units for a 60-bed ward block at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) has commenced.

The 19.5 million project is a temporary measure aimed at helping to address a lack of bed capacity in the Mid West region by tackling the ongoing trolley crisis at UHL.

The modular units were delivered on a site on the grounds of the Limerick hospital as 80 patients languished on trolleys.

UHL is consistently the most overcrowded hospital in the country as it does not have enough bed capacity to deal with demand, management has acknowledged.

In 2009, the then Fianna Fail/Green coalition government implemented a plan reconfiguring all 24-hour Accident & Emergency units in Clare, Tipperary and Limerick into one 24-hour Emergency Department (ED) at UHL.

A permanent 96-bed unit has also been sought by management to help alleviate overcrowding pressures on the emergency department and wards.

A spokesperson for UL Hospitals Group and HSE Estates said the 60-bed block project is on schedule and the beds will be open before the end of 2020.

The modular units were being delivered by a fleet of 40-foot articulated lorries.

The modular units for hospital ward levels 1 to 3 have been prefabricated offsite and are being parked up in an area within a few miles of the hospital awaiting delivery. A mobile crane is being used to install the units on arrival at the site, the spokesman said.

Installation of these units is due to be complete by end of this month and the concrete floor screeds, internal fit-out, mechanical and electrical installation etc will then commence. The modules sit on the pre-cast basement roof which has already been constructed by traditional build.

The ward block will provide an additional 60 beds for the hospital, all single-patient rooms with en-suites. The additional single rooms will help to improve patient comfort, safety, privacy and dignity and assist with the management of infection control in the hospital.

Colette Cowan, CEO, UL Hospitals Group, described the delivery of the modular units as another milestone for the hospital.

We expect the beds will be available for patients before the end of this year after all the equipment has been installed and tested and all the staff recruited and trained, Ms Cowan added.

A spokesman added that UL Hospitals Group is currently finalising the details of a specific recruitment campaign for the approximately 140 whole-time equivalent staff required for this significant expansion of UHLs bed capacity.

This project will help considerably in reducing the long wait times experienced by too many of our patients, especially in our Emergency Department, said Ms Cowan.

Meanwhile, the organisers of a march highlighting patient overcrowding in UHL, which saw thousands take to the streets of Limerick city last Saturday, said they will now focus on forging alliances with other such groups across Ireland, building towards a mass national demonstration.
A draft national strategy on environmental protection from 2021-2030 focuses on fighting sources of pollution while boosting a low-carbon emission economy.



The idea is to help Vietnam realise the UNs Sustainable Development Goals by2030.



In 2012, the first national strategy for environmental protection with a visiontowards 2030 was launched.



Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan said thestrategy had created positive changes to environmental protectionawareness. The Government had stuck to the principle of not sacrificingthe environment to reach its economic development goals.

However, according to the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resourcesand Environment (IPONRE), environmental pollution would continue due toweak management of solid waste and pollution sources in industrial zones,river basins and traditional handicraft villages.



Environmental quality had continued to deteriorate, especially airand water quality in urban areas. Environmental incidents such as themass fish deaths in Ha Tinh in 2016, mercury contamination caused by afire at a lightbulb company in Hanoi last year, and contamination ofthe Da River that affected thousands of people in the capital in2019.



Response to these incidents had been passive, according to theenvironmental ministry.



Dr Nguyen Trung Thang from IPONRE said the implementation of the nationalstrategy for environmental protection had its shortcomings.



Vietnam has been unable to control sources of pollution, he told aconference last November to review the strategy.



According to the MONRE, increasingly severe climate change required newsolutions. The draft was presented for the first time at a conference lastNovember which reviewed the strategy's implementation.



The ministry is working on the draft and collecting feedback.



Nhan said the national strategy for environmentalprotection needed to consider the environment as the foundationfor socio-economic development, and focus on financial sources fromthe State budget and private sector.



The draft strategy includes stiffer fines for environmental violations.



One of the most important solutions proposed is to reform administrativeprocedures towards transparency in order to encourage private enterprises toinvest in environmental protection.



It also calls for improving air quality in cities, managing toxicand solid waste, preventing biodiversity deterioration,and responding to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions./.VNA

How high is the environmental cost? Vietnam has reported high GDP growth rate of 7.02 percent for 2019, which was created mostly by industrial production and the construction and service sectors.
The visit was a great success, and we made great achievements. This is what head of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Ruben Rubinyan told reporters today, touching upon the subsequent session of the PACE.

In particular, the new members of the delegation were able to be nominated for major posts of the PACE a year after restructuring of the delegation, including vice-chair of a political group, chairman of the human rights and legal affairs committee, representative of the Venice Commission within the committee and vice-chair of sub-committee on media and information society, he declared, adding that this serves as a good opportunity for the Armenian delegation to have a greater impact within the PACE.

Rubinyan informed that the Armenian delegation had presented a draft declaration on the 30th anniversary of the Baku pogroms, collected the required signatures, after which the declaration was posted on the official website of the PACE.

In her turn, member of the delegation Naira Zohrabyan stated that Azerbaijan had been succeeding in overturning the draft at the PACE with its laundromat and caviar diplomacy for many years, but now there is a criminal case against former vice-president of the PACE who received 2.3 million from Azerbaijan for overturning the draft. Its clear that Azerbaijan cant work with its tools anymore, at least not at the PACE. The Armenian delegation also made its contribution. The main speaker stated that Azerbaijan is the only Council of Europe-member state where the situation regarding human rights protection remains devastating, she said.
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Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat, on Monday called on Congress to censure President Trump as he remains undecided on whether to vote for acquittal in the impeachment trial.

What the president did was wrong, the West Virginia Democrat said on the Senate floor Monday, but he added, I see no path to the 67 votes required to impeach.

However, I do believe a bipartisan majority of this body would vote to censure President Trump for his actions in this manner, Manchin said. Censure would allow this body to unite across party lines, and as an equal branch of government to formally denounce the presidents actions and hold him accountable.

Manchin, who represents a state Trump won by a large margin in 2016, plans to share with senators a censure resolution, which would rebuke Trump for his behavior toward Ukraine but not remove him from office.

Manchins resolution reportedly states that Trump used the office of the president of the United States to attempt to compel a foreign nation to interfere with domestic political affairs for his own personal benefit and wrongfully enlisted his personal lawyer to investigate a domestic political rival by meddling in formal diplomatic relations in a manner that is inconsistent with our established National Security Strategy.

The resolution adds that the president hindered the thorough investigation of related documents and prohibited Congress and the American people from hearing testimony by first-hand witnesses with direct knowledge of his conduct.

The Senate voted Friday not to call additional witnesses to testify during the trial and is expected to vote to acquit Trump on Wednesday.

More from National Review
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Delhi needs a government that will not resort to appeasement but supports the CAA, abolition of Article 370 and issues of national security

New Delhi: Attacking the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Delhi needs a government that will not resort to appeasement but supports the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), abolition of Article 370 and issues of national security.

Addressing an election rally ahead of the 8 February Assembly elections, the prime minister touched on various issues, including the 2008 Batla House encounter, surgical strikes and his government's flagship Ayushman Bharat scheme, during a speech that lasted a little over an hour.

In his second rally in the city in two days, Modi also referred to the armed forces while training his guns at the AAP government and the Congress and exhorting voters to back the BJP.

"You must punish those who insult the armed forces. You should vent your anger through your vote. Delhi does not need a government which gives opportunity to enemies to attack us," he said at the rally in Dwarka.

He said the National Capital also needs a government that will give direction and not resort to blame games.

The anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in Shaheen Bagh and other places in the city did not find any mention in his speech, unlike his address in Karkardooma on Monday when he said they were not a coincidence but a political conspiracy to destroy the country's harmony.

"Delhi needs a government that will not resort to appeasement but support the CAA, abolition of (special provisions of) Article 370 and issues of national security," he said in Dwarka, taking up the theme of the earlier day.

He also accused the Opposition of spreading lies and rumours about the CAA, a legislation which seeks to give citizenship to the persecuted minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Muslims have been excluded from it.

Modi attacked those who questioned the surgical strike and air strike on terror camps across the Line of Control but did not take any names. The surgical strike was launched on terror launch pads by the Indian Army in September 2016 after the Uri attack. The Balakot air strikes were launched by the Air Force in 2019, post the Pulwama terror attack.

Slamming the AAP and the Congress, he said both parties cry for Batla House terrorists, put security forces in dock and instigate people but can not develop the national capital.

Two Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists were killed and two arrested in the encounter at Batla House in Jamia Nagar area on 19 September, 2008. A Delhi Police inspector, who was injured in the encounter, also died.

The prime minister accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP dispensation of not implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme, the flagship initiative of the Centre, in the national capital and asked if the AAP government's 'mohalla clinics' will work if Delhiites fall sick outside the city.

The people of Delhi have seen how the AAP government practises the politics of hate, he said. "People of Delhi have seen how the (AAP) government practises politics of hate. Delhi needs a government that will give direction and not resort to blame game," he said.

Many Central government schemes in the last five years were opposed by the Delhi government even before their implementation, he alleged. The people of Delhi say the country has changed, and now is the time for Delhi's transformation, the prime minister told the gathering.

Modi enumerated steps taken by his government for Delhi -- including the Eastern Peripheral Expressway and Western Peripheral Expressway and extending the Metro network.

His government, Modi added, opened more bank accounts for the poor than the population of US, and built more houses than the population of Sri Lanka.

Votes for the Delhi elections will be counted on 11 February.
Currently, Ram Charan is busy shooting for SS Rajamouli's ambitious project RRR along with Jr NTR and Ajay Devgn. The period action-drama also stars Alia Bhatt in the lead and she'll soon join the cast on the sets of the film. While fans are eager to see Ram Charan in the most-awaited Telugu film of the year, we hear the actor is planning what to do next after RRR hits the theatres.

As per the latest buzz, the Magadheera star may join hands with two directors. Yes, you heard that right! Reports are doing the rounds that Ram Charan may sign Jersey director Gowtam Tinnanuri's next venture. It seems the talented filmmaker has already narrated a story to Ram Charan and the latter seems quite impressed with it. Of course, if all goes well, then these two will indeed collaborate for a film very soon.

That's not all! Another director who seems to be eyeing Ram Charan for his film is Sujeeth. While his magnum opus Saaho starring Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead turned out to be dud, megastar Chiranjeevi's son is still interested in working with the 29-year-old filmmaker. At least that's what that the grapevine suggests.

Since Ram Charan is occupied with Rajamouli's directorial venture, we think any announcement about his upcoming films will only happen once RRR wraps up. Talking about the highly-anticipated film, it's a fictional story about freedom fighters who fought against the British empire and the Nizam of Hyderabad back in the day.

Ajay Devgn, who is basking in the success of his latest release Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, recently started shooting for RRR. And to make Alia's role more prominent, the makers have apparently decided to add a special song just for the Bollywood beauty. So now let's wait and watch how Rajamouli's film turns out. It's expected to arrive in the cinema halls this year on August 14.

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RRR: Ram Charan And Alia Bhatt Shoot A Romantic Number For SS Rajamouli's Movie?Post RRR, Ram Charan To Do A Movie With UV Creations?

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February 4, 2020 Lack of leadership, problem in stemming nCoV spread, fear: Pangilinan Lack of leadership is the main problem in alleviating the actual spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019 nCoV) and the fear of infection among Filipinos, Sen. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan said Tuesday. Pangilinan took Health Secretary Francisco Duque to task for seeming unprepared for the worst, and not knowing basic numbers involving the spread of the disease, including the number of flights from China and other affected areas over the last two weeks. At the Senate hearing, Pangilinan, who called on a travel ban from China on January 27, said these figures would make the government realized "how exposed we are". "If we knew the volume, then we would know what we need to do," he said. Pangilinan wanted to know how DoH is tracing all visitors from Wuhan, but Duque initially did not know the numbers right away; later the DoH secretary said 31 of the 80 patients under investigation are from Wuhan. "That flight came from Hong Kong. For all you know you have 15 to 20 asymptomatic passengers. You err on the side of caution, you go the whole mile and figure out where these 300 are. You cannot try to minimize the problem and say apat lang, dito lang, eh kung labinglima nga dalawampu galing doon asymptomatic, eh 'di lahat 'yun nagkahawa-hawa. And that's why that 17 percent of having contacted, 17 percent of those passengers is completely unacceptable," Pangilinan said. "I do not think that it is just a failure of communication but a failure of leadership from the Secretary of Health," Pangilinan said at the Senate hearing on the 2019 nCoV. On detailed questions from the senators, Duque started pointing fingers to other agencies and his own staff on the low rate of contact-tracing among the fellow flight passengers of the first confirmed case of the disease who arrived in the country in January 21, or 14 days ago. In his defense, Duque said no issues on contact-tracing were raised. "This is quite operational and I have been in touch with our epidemiology bureau. In fact, for the record, I would like to state his name. His name is Director Ferchito Avelino and in all of our meetings, there has been no indication or no issues raised to me that this is a problem. He is saying that he has already spoken to my undersecretary but I am not aware that this is the -- As Secretary of Health, I don't know the specific measures of how this should be done," Duque said. "I can see here an issue of lack of transparency on the part of some of my people here. I would like to investigate this," the health secretary said. Pangilinan also appealed to some Cabinet secretaries who were asking permission to leave the Senate hearing to address the problem of communication. "May we just appeal to the other Cabinet secretaries who are meant to leave that can we get the problem of communication addressed so that we can-at least when you leave, we are given the assurance that the matter will be addressed," Pangilinan said. Duque blamed the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the Bureau of Immigration and even the Bureau of Quarantine under his department for being only able to trace 17 percent of the 331 passengers who shared the same flight as the first confirmed case who travelled from Wuhan to Hong Kong to Cebu to Dumaguete to Manila. When Pangilinan asked Duque if the national government will follow the World Health Organization's declaration of public health emergency, the health secretary said not yet as no local transmission has been noted. Pangilinan also suggested that the DoH hotline be manned 24-7 so that those who have nCoV concerns will have someone informed respond to their queries. "Minsan kailangan lang may makausap. Doon sa maraming sisipunin, sana may makakasagot agad. Kung merong pupuntahan, mababawasan ang takot," he said. Earlier, Pangilinan suggested that to remain on top of the situation, government agencies concerned should identify and try to locate all potential carriers of the virus from the list of all passengers of flights that arrived in the country from Wuhan and other Chinese cities in the last two weeks or so. He said these agencies should should start with all the passengers on the flight from Wuhan that arrived last January 21 together with the two confirmed nCoV carriers. Pangilinan said the concerned government agencies must as best as they can identify, quarantine, and monitor all suspected carriers as the first step in containing the spread of the disease. "Nababahala tayo dahil kulang ang nakikitang proactivity sa pamahalaan sa kabila ng lahat ng disaster na ito," Pangilinan added.
PARIS, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Inato , a platform that helps biopharmaceutical companies increase the pool of available patients engaged in clinical trials, announced it has raised a $14 million Series A round of venture capital financing. The financing was led by Obvious Ventures and Cathay Innovation, with participation from previous investors Serena and Fly Ventures.



The Inato platform increases the pool of available patients engaged in clinical trials by unlocking research site potential. The platform matches the best sites for any given study and ensures that site partners in the Inato network are successfully delivering trials. To date, Inatos platform has helped biopharmaceutical companies and clinicians across more than 2,000 research sites and over 50 global trials. In addition, more than 3,500 doctors across 75 countries have used it to offer promising treatments to their patients.

Five percent of the worlds research sites are conducting the vast majority of todays clinical trials. When you consider that the average cost of bringing a drug to market is around $2 billion, with about two-thirds of those costs tied to clinical trials, its clear theres an urgent need for greater efficiency, said Inato Co-Founder and CEO Kourosh Davarpanah. Our mission is to bring new doctors and their patients into the clinical research ecosystem to unlock the potential of the many unengaged research sitesso biopharma can bring innovative therapies to market faster.

Inato will use the funding to expand its predictive capabilities to match the right sites with the right studies and develop a comprehensive network of clinicians worldwide. There are thousands of sites around the world that are fully capable of recruiting patients but are currently not taking part in the research process, said Davarpanah.

As a part of the financing, Nan Li, managing director at Obvious Ventures, has joined Inatos board of directors.

Inato recognizes that the future of clinical trials is sitting right in front of us. Their managed marketplace approach ensures that sites are selected based on merit and their ability to contribute towards the only outcome that matters: enrolling patients and helping to get treatments to market, said Nan Li, Managing Director with Obvious Ventures. There is a long history of manual, inefficient marketplaces being streamlined by technology - clinical trials is next, and may be the most important category of them all.

Denis Barrier, Co-founder and CEO of Cathay Innovation added, We are proud to participate in this major step in Inatos development. Our team was deeply impressed by Inatos growing platform and capabilities. We believe that Inatos approach is likely to revolutionize medical trials and drug discovery and we will make sure to support the managements vision and plan through our global network. The massive changes happening in healthcare have triggered both an important investment focus for our funds and a deep involvement between our platform and our ecosystem partners.

Davarpanah and William Pambrun founded Inato in 2016, along with Pr. Philippe Ravaud and Dr. Jean-David Zeitountwo physicians who had a shared concern for the historically low engagement of doctors in clinical research and, as a result, the scarcity of available patients for clinical testing.

Our platform is explicitly designed to increase doctor engagement in clinical trials by reducing the burden of participation and allowing them to focus on what they do bestcare for patients, said Dr. Zeitoun, Inato co-founder and Chief Medical Officer.

Inatos financing comes on the heels of a series of notable company milestones in 2019:

Inato has partnered with biopharma companies to create an extensive dataset of historical site performance covering 1,500 studies, 17,000 sites and 700,000 patients across 80+ countries.

It has significantly improved the platforms predictive capabilities: the algorithm can help reduce the number of sites needed in a study by 29%.

Inato has scaled its partnership with key clients to cover study planning at the global level for major Phase II-IV trials.

Inato has continued to build a world class team across product, data science and clinical operations with presence in France, the US and the UK.

Inato has started growing its network of high-potential but often overlooked sites, initially focusing on oncology, by partnering with leading investigators such as Pr. Christophe Massard, head of the early phase trials center at the Institut Gustave Roussy.

In April, Inato appointed pharmaceutical industry veteran Liz Beatty as its CSO .

About Inato

Inato helps biopharmaceutical companies increase the pool of available patients engaged in clinical trials by discovering untapped research site potential. Inatos platform matches the best sites for any given study and ensures that sites are successfully delivering trials. The platform is built with doctors and for doctorsto navigate the hurdles of todays increasingly complex research environment. Headquartered in Paris with offices in New York and London, Inato has raised $17 million in financing from Obvious Ventures, Cathay Innovation, Serena and Fly Ventures.

About Obvious Ventures

Obvious Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in entrepreneurs reimagining every sector of the global economy. Since launching in 2014, Obvious has backed over 50 companies using technology to create a smarter, healthier, more sustainable world. Obvious was co-founded by Ev Williams, James Joaquin, and Vishal Vasishth, with Andrew Beebe and Nan Li now also serving as Managing Directors. More information is available at www.obvious.com .

About Cathay Innovation

About Cathay Innovation Cathay Innovation is a global venture capital partnership, created in affiliation with Cathay Capital. It was founded around the shared conviction that supporting innovation entrepreneurs by providing them with a platform bridging 3 continents  North America, Europe and China  constitutes a particularly powerful value-creation strategy. As a multi-stage fund, Cathay Innovation partners with visionary entrepreneurs, committed to the sustainable transformation of the world through innovation and technology. Such transformation is accelerated by leveraging Cathay Capital extensive network with corporates and solid experience in operational excellence. Cathay Innovation has offices in San Francisco, Paris, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore. To learn more, please visit www.cathayinnovation.com or follow us on Twitter @Cathayinnov.
Dwarka Delhi Assembly Constituency Election Results 2020 Live Updates - Read Dwarka constituency vidhan sabha chunav latest news, party, constituency, candidate name wise winner, loser, leading, trailing live updates online at Firstpost.com.

Delhi Assembly Election 2020, Dwarka profile: AAP's Vinay Mishra defeated BJP's Parduyman Rajput from Dwarka Assembly constituency by a margin of 14,387 votes.

has got 40,207 votes as per the latest trends available at 13.45 pm.

A part of the West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, the affluent sub-city of Dwarka will go to polls on 8 February. The results of which will be declared on 11 February.

The incumbent AAP is expected to be in a close contest with the BJP and the Congress in this constituency. The contest here has taken an interesting turn, with the incumbent MLA Adarsh Shastri quitting the AAP after being denied a ticket. He will now contest as a Congress candidate against Vinay Kumar Mishra of the AAP and Pradyuman Rajput of the BJP.

Here is a brief profile of Dwarka:

Constituency Name: Dwarka

Constituency Number: 33

District Name: South West

Total Electors: 1,99,223

Female Electors: 86,101

Male Electors: 1,13,115

Third Gender: 7

Reserved: No

Results in previous elections: The constituency came into existence after the delimitation exercise. Veteran Congress leader Mahabal Mishra won the seat in 2008 but, the BJP wrested the seat in the 2009 by-polls. BJPs Pradyuman Rajput won the 2013 polls but lost in the following elections in 2015 to AAPs Adarsh Shastri by a massive margin of nearly 40,000 votes.

Demographics: A major sub-city in Delhi, often considered Asias largest residential area, Dwarka is one of the most sought-after areas in the city. Its demography is largely cosmopolitan in nature. However, Dwarka, as per media reports, also faces the problem of bad roads, poor street lighting and the lack of security for women.

Located in South-West district of Delhi, Dwarka comes under the West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. The Scheduled castes (SC) and Scheduled tribes (ST) ratio is 12.64 and 0, respectively of the total population.
The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) started with some controversy, but its first images are already changing the field of solar science. The Maui observatory captured the highest-resolution photos of the sun ever taken, revealing detail down to a mere 18 miles in size. The image above shows turbulent kernel-like cells made up of boiling gases influenced by the Sun's strong magnetic field, each one about the size of Texas.

The DKIST images show the highly energetic actions that move heat from inside the sun to its surface. The convection process forces solar plasma to the surface where it forms the bright cell centers, which may channel energy into the solar atmosphere.

Those bright spots could heat the corona at up to a million degrees Celsius and explain why the sun is hotter on the outside than the interior. The plasma eventually cools and sinks, shown as dark lanes between cells. Bright areas in those lanes also map out the sun's magnetic fields, as shown in the animation below.

Those magnetic fields often get tangled up by the motion of the plasma. That can lead to solar storms that knock out radio communications and even power transmission. For instance, a solar magnetic storm knocked out radio communications right in the middle of Hurricane Irma, disrupting first responder services.

The Inouye Solar Telescope could help scientists figure out why, when and how that happens by showing the magnetic fields in unprecedented detail. "We have to not only be able to clearly see these tiny structures from 93 million miles away but very precisely measure their magnetic field strength and direction near the surface and trace the field as it extends out into the million-degree corona," said DKIST director Thomas Rimmele.

That could help scientists develop warning systems that work 48 hours ahead of time instead the current standard of 48 minutes. That kind of notice would help authorities secure critical infrastructure or place communications satellites in safe mode.

Story continues

Solar convection shown lose up, with bright spots showing the sun's magnetic field

Grabbing images of this detail was no easy feat. DKIST not only uses the world's largest solar telescope mirror at 13 feet across, but has crystal clear viewing conditions at the 10,000-foot Haleakala summit. There's still some atmospheric distortion, even at that altitude, so it also has adaptive optics that warp the mirror to compensate for it. It also uses a system that can precisely focus the telescope.

On top of that, DKIST absorbs 13 kilowatts of solar power heat that must be removed via a cooling system that protects the optics. Over seven miles of piping distribute coolant around the observatory, augmented by ice created on site in the evenings.

Native Hawaiins protested the construction DKIST when it was schedule to begin at Haleakala back in 2015. The mountain is important to their culture and already holds multiple observatories. The DKIST teams helped allay those concerns with a $20 million Maui College program that teaches science and Hawaiian culture. The observatory also reserves two percent of telescope time for Native Hawaiians.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that it's India, and not the US, that can compete with China on the economic front, but the of hate and division was not letting India grow.

He also attacked PM Narendra Modi for not creating sufficient number of jobs and only giving slogans like 'Make in India' though the fact is that India is consuming goods made in China.

Addressing his maiden election rally in Delhi's Jangpura, Rahul Gandhi said: "Global investors want to invest in India. But the present day India is about violence, hatred, rape, hooliganism, murder."

He said that the country's economic growth was being affected due to political volatility as investors are keeping away.

At another rally in city's Sangam Vihar area, Gandhi repeated: "PM Modi says the New India is one which is divided on communal lines. PM Modi does not want a united India which could take on China."

"Whatever goods we are using are being manufactured in China. The world knows that only one country can balance China and that is India. The entire world is saying that many factories can be set up in India. The biggest factory in China employs 12 lakh people," he added.

At both the rallies, the Congress leader accused PM Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of not delivering on their promises.

"Today the country faces a big challenge. The future of the youth of India is at stake. When Narendra Modi became the prime minister, he had promised that two crore jobs to the youth. Modi has been in power for more than five years and Kejriwal has been in power in Delhi for five years. I want to ask the youth whether they got employment. The fact is that no jobs were created in these years," he said.

"The youth of the country should not come under the illusion that they do not have any worth. Indian youths are chained because of the improper policies of the Modi government. The day they throw away these chains, 'Make in India' will shine through the entire world," the Congress leader added.

The Congress leader went on to say that the people themselves are the nation and Congress did work for them.

"The Congress built infrastructure in the capital and strengthened the education and health services here. Why did Congress do all this? This was because the people themselves are the nation. We hear your voice and we respect your voice. If something has happened in the country, it is not because of the political parties but because of the common people's efforts," he said.

"The most important thing in the country today is employment and only Congress is the party which can do something in this regard," he added.

Delhi Assembly polls are scheduled to be held on February 8 and the counting of votes will be done on February 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Masked health professionals check the driver of vehicle at a screening checkpoint on a highway toll station on the outskirts of Shanghai, China, on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020.

"I'm not one to take offense very easily so I wasn't angry, just kind of chuckling under my breath like 'wow, this is really happening'." Han said he did not report the driver to Uber. Weeks earlier, Han said he was told by a group of strangers in downtown Seattle to "go back to my homeland."

The driver commented that his cough meant he might have the coronavirus, and opened a window.

Eric Han, who works in a Microsoft retail store in Seattle, told CNBC he called an Uber on Monday, stepped into the car and coughed. It was a cold day. His driver immediately asked if Han was from China, and he responded that he was not.

A CNBC search found dozens of tweets involving riders and drivers reluctant to share a car with a person of Asian appearance. Many of these tweets were posted in the past week, as fears have been stoked by reports that there are now confirmed cases of the virus in more than half a dozen countries.

For ride-sharing platforms Lyft and Uber , these incidents appear to be happening despite their efforts to curb discriminatory behavior. One member of a Facebook group with more than 12,000 Lyft and Uber drivers noted that at least five posts per day mention the virus. The member, who shared screenshots with CNBC, said that many drivers were saying they did not want to pick up riders of Asian descent and that it was not safe to do so.

Han is far from alone. When Lilian Wang attempted to get into her Lyft ride share at San Francisco airport on Sunday, a driver refused to open the car door.

According to Wang, who is Asian American and works in the technology sector, the driver let them in only after a Caucasian friend showed up  CNBC video producer Katie Schoolov, who says she put in the request for the ride.

Once in the backseat, the driver asked if the pair were returning from China and Schoolov responded that they'd just returned from Mexico. "OK, so not China," he responded.

Their driver then noted that he's been told to be careful and has refused ride requests from people with Chinese-sounding names. He also asked Wang if she was in fact, a rider called "He," and noted that he had already turned down that request.

After registering a complaint, Schoolov received a call from a representative from Lyft's support team informing her that the driver had been removed from the platform.

On Saturday in Chicago, Indra Andreshak said she took a shared ride in a Lyft and the driver was alerted to two other riders who needed a pickup nearby. The app pulled up a profile picture of the first passenger, who Andreshak noted was "visibly Asian and named Hero." She then said she heard her driver say "Hero, Heee-ro, Hero in Chinatown."

"I hope he doesn't give me the coronavirus," the driver muttered. Andreshak said she reported the incident.

Myeonghoon Han said five days ago in London he called an Uber with some Korean friends. They piled in and the driver looked annoyed and waved his hands, indicating he did not want them in the car. Han said his friend said "we're not Chinese," and the driver's demeanor changed drastically and he was happy to drive them to their destination. The group did not report the incident.

Lyft spokesperson Dana Davis said in a statement that the company takes "any allegation of discrimination very seriously." Davis added that Lyft is "monitoring official updates on the global outbreak closely, and taking our cues from international and domestic public health experts."

"Our priority is to keep our riders, drivers and employees safe, with as little disruption as possible. We will continue to evaluate the situation as it unfolds, and base our policies and recommendations on official guidance," she said.

Lyft did not respond to CNBC about whether the company would be rolling out any broader policies to combat discrimination, including public health resources and education. Instead, they are asking riders to share their experiences with their safety team.

Uber referred CNBC to its community guidelines that drivers are required to acknowledge. Those guidelines specify that drivers should "foster positive interactions" with people who "might not look like you or share your beliefs." It also said it has a portal for public health authorities, and that it is in regular contact with these groups.

In Mexico City, Uber confirmed on Saturday that it suspended the accounts of 240 users who may have recently come into contact with the coronavirus.

China's National Health Commission confirmed on Monday that there have been 361 deaths from the virus. So far, there have been 11 confirmed cases in the U.S., out of more than 17,000 total. Public health officials say the flu is a higher threat in the U.S., and has led to 10,000 deaths during the influenza season.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Delhi needs a government that will not resort to appeasement but supports the CAA, abolition of Article 370 and issues related to national security.

Addressing an election rally ahead of the February 8 assembly elections, the prime minister touched on various issues, including the 2008 Batla House encounter, surgical strikes and his government's flagship Ayushman Bharat scheme, during a speech that lasted a little over an hour.

In his second rally in the city in two days, Modi also referred to the armed forces while training his guns at the AAP government and the Congress and exhorting voters to back the BJP.

"You must punish those who insult the armed forces. You should vent your anger through your vote. Delhi does not need a government which gives an opportunity to enemies to attack us," he said at the rally in Dwarka.

At the rally which was also attended by JJP ally Dushyant Chautala, Modi said the national capital also needs a government that will give direction and not resort to blame games.

The anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in Shaheen Bagh and other places in the city did not find any mention in his speech, unlike his address in Karkardooma on Monday when he said they were not a coincidence but a political conspiracy to destroy the country's harmony.

"Delhi needs a government that will not resort to appeasement but support the CAA, abolition of (special provisions of) Article 370 and issues of national security. Delhi does not want complicated politics but sorted politics," he said in Dwarka, taking up the theme of the earlier day.

He also accused the opposition of spreading lies and rumours about the CAA, a legislation which seeks to give citizenship to the persecuted minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Muslims have been excluded from it.

Modi attacked those who questioned the surgical strike and air strike on terror camps across the Line of Control (LoC) but did not take any names.

The surgical strike was launched on terror launch pads by the Indian Army in September 2016 after the Uri attack. The Balakot air strikes were launched by the Air Force in 2019, post the Pulwama terror attack.

Slamming the AAP and the Congress, he said both parties cry for Batla House terrorists, put security forces in dock and instigate people but cannot develop the national capital.

Two Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists were killed and two arrested in the encounter at Batla House in Jamia Nagar area on September 19, 2008. A Delhi Police inspector, who was injured in the encounter, also died.

The prime minister accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP dispensation of not implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme, the flagship initiative of the Centre, in the national capital and asked if the AAP government's 'mohalla clinics' will work if Delhiites fall sick outside the city.

The people of Delhi have seen how the AAP government practises the politics of hate, he said.

"People of Delhi have seen how the (AAP) government practises politics of hate. Delhi needs a government that will give direction and not resort to blame game," he said.

Many central government schemes in the last five years were opposed by the Delhi government even before their implementation, he alleged.

The people of the national capital say the country has changed, and now is the time for Delhi's transformation, the prime minister told the gathering.

Modi enumerated steps taken by his government for Delhi, including the eastern and western peripheral expressways and extending the Metro network.

His government, Modi added, opened more bank accounts for the poor than the population of the US and built more houses than the population of Sri Lanka.

"The number of people who have got loans under the Mudra scheme is more than the population of Brazil. The number of toilets constructed under the Swachh Bharat scheme is more than the population of Egypt. The number of people who have got gas connections under the Ujjwala scheme is more than population of Germany," he said.

Votes for the Delhi elections will be counted on February 11.
This is the incredible moment a missing kayaker was pulled to safety after his phone washed up on a riverbank and authorities were able to use its data to locate him.

Mark Miele, from Williamsburg, Virginia, embarked on a solo trip in the Florida Everglades on January 22. The 67-year-old was due back January 29, officials said.

But he did not return and four days later a bag containing his wallet and phone washed up on the bank of the Lopez River.

National Park Service rangers found the belongings and asked the sheriff's office to assist in a search. Deputies then downloaded data from Miele's phone Sunday night.

His most recent location had been recorded Friday, giving the sheriff's aviation unit a place to target its search.

A helicopter crew eventually spotted Miele floating in the water face-up and wearing a life jacket several miles from where his belongings were found. Boats soon reached the area and took Miele to safety.

Scroll down for video

Mark Miele, from Williamsburg, Virginia, embarked on a solo trip in the Florida Everglades on January 22. The 67-year-old was due back January 29, officials said

A helicopter crew eventually spotted Miele floating in the water face-up and wearing a life jacket several miles from where his belongings were found

Boats soon reached the area and took Miele to safety. Officials didn't immediately say how or when Miele lost his kayak

A helicopter crew spotted Mark Miele, 67, and led a marine unit to his location, the Collier County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook. He was being treated Monday at a Naples hospital

Aerial footage of his rescue posted on Facebook by the Collier County Sheriff's Office shows as Miele is pulled onto a lifeboat.

He was being treated Monday afternoon at a Naples hospital and was understood to have been in the water for two days before he was found.

Pictures posted to social media show as Miele was taken away on a stretcher. He was understood to have been dehydrated and hypothermic.

Officials did not immediately say how or when Miele lost his kayak.

His wife Beverly said: 'I felt devastated and very nervous that something terrible happened to him.

'It's truly a miracle that he survived, and I'm very thankful to all the search and rescue rangers for all that they did.'

Pictures posted to social media show as Miele was taken away on a stretcher

Miele embarked on a solo kayaking trip in Everglades National Park on January 22 and was due back January 29, officials said. He was rescued Monday, pictured

A bag containing Miele's wallet and phone washed up Sunday on the bank of the Lopez River. National Park Service rangers found the belongings and asked the sheriff's office to assist

Corporal Ed Henderson spotted the missing kayaker. He told Wink News: 'First concern when we found him it didnt look like he was moving and we didnt know if it was going to be a recovery or a rescue.

'Turns out when I talk to a guy after the fact that was on scene, he goes, no, he was convulsing. Hed been in the water for two solid days and its been really cold.

'Coming back and watching the video and seeing the expression on his face and holding the rescuers hand, that was justyeah.'
A special flight carrying the fishermen arrived at Cairo airport on Tuesday

Thirty-two Egyptian fishermen detained by Houthi rebels in Yemen have returned home, Expatriate Affairs Minister Nabila Makram announced, after nearly two months in detention for having breached Yemeni waters.

A special flight carrying the fishermen arrived at Cairo airport on Tuesday evening, state television footage showed, with Makram receiving the fishermen at the airport.

The fishermen were detained by Houthi rebels in December as they attempted to fish in restricted zones in the Red Sea extending to Yemen's Aden.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has praised the moves to bring the fishermen home.

"I have followed with all pride exerted efforts to end the detention of 32 fishermen in Yemen. Such efforts have led to preserving their lives and transferring them safety to Egypt," El-Sisi said.

Egyptian fishermen have been arrested in the territorial waters of neighbouring countries like Sudan, Libya and Tunisia on several recent occasions.

Egypts foreign ministry has repeatedly intervened in these cases to ensure the release of the fishermen and has warned against trespassing in foreign waters.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said a wave in favour of BJP is making many people sleepless four days before the Delhi assembly elections.

For the last four days a wave in favour of the BJP is making many people sleepless, he said addressing his second election rally in Dwarka for the Delhi assembly polls.

He accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of stalling the Centres welfare scheme for the poor, such as the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme.But that wont happen after February 11, he said.

If a Delhi resident falls in Gwalior during a visit, will the Mohalla clinic go there? But if Ayushman Bharat was applicable, if a beneficiary went there and fell ill, he could be treated for free. If at least one person could be saved, it could be worth it. But there is a heartless government here that isnt concerned for you, PM Modi said, listing some of the central schemes that he accused the AAP government of blocking.

ALSO WATCH | Why PM Modi called Shaheen Bagh protest an experiment in Delhi rally

PM Modi said the national capital needed a government that wont spend its time blaming others but works for the poor. Not one that practises the politics of hate.

We have to show the path for the next decade and voters have to take that decision on February 8. We have to stand with all our strength  Delhi needs a government which can give directions.

Hours before Modis rally, Delhi chief minister and AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal had challenged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to name its chief ministerial candidate and said he was ready for a debate with anyone it names.

The country has changed after the Lok Sabha election when you reposed faith in the BJP. Delhi will change with this election, he said.

Modi reminded the crowd of the surgical strikes and asked, Should those who questioned the surgical strikes and are now asking for your votes, should not be punished? He exhorted the electorate to exercise their votes to punish those parties.

He said other parties question security forces but are not interested in Delhis development.

He accused the AAP of going slow on the regularization of Delhis unauthorized colonies and claimed the BJP was brave enough to change the status quo by giving housing rights to 40 lakh residents of unauthorized colonies.

The BJP has shown the courage to give 40 lakh Delhites their rights Your votes that sent 7 MPs from Delhi made that possible, he said

A Colony Development Board would be set up for the development of the unauthorized colonies, he said.

Modi said the NDA governments importance for infrastructure ensured the completion of the eastern and western peripheral highways that now divert 40000 trucks a day outside Delhi and save the capital from pollution.

We plan to expand the Delhi metro network. We will work to make Delhi beautiful and safe. We are working to make a Yamuna riverfront. It will not only be a new iconic spot but also be a lung for Delhi but will also work as green corridor, lung of the city, he said
The Social Security Administration launched a new Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign to continue warning people about the ongoing nationwide telephone impersonation scheme.

The PSAs feature a message from Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul. Social Security and its Office of the Inspector General (OIG) continue to receive reports about fraudulent phone calls from people falsely claiming to be Social Security employees. The scammers mislead victims into making cash or gift card payments for help with purported identity theft, or to avoid arrest for bogus Social Security number problems.

I want every American to know that if a suspicious caller states there is a problem with their Social Security number or account, they should hang up and never give the caller money or personal information. People should then go online to oig.ssa.gov to report the scam call to Social Security, said Commissioner Saul.

People should also be on the lookout for a new version of this scam. Fraudsters are now emailing fake documents in attempts to get people to comply with their demands. Victims have received emails with attached letters and reports that appear to be from Social Security or the OIG. The letters may use official letterhead and government jargon to convince victims they are legitimate; they may also contain misspellings and grammar mistakes.

The new PSA addressing the telephone impersonation scheme is available online at www.youtube.com/socialsecurity.

Social Security employees do occasionally contact people -- generally those who have ongoing business with the agency -- by telephone for business purposes. However, Social Security employees will never threaten a person, or promise a Social Security benefit approval, or increase, in exchange for information or money. In those cases, the call is fraudulent and people should just hang up.

Generally, the agency calls people who have recently applied for a Social Security benefit, someone who is already receiving payments and requires an update to their record, or a person who has requested a phone call from the agency. If a person is not in one of these situations, they normally would not receive a call from the agency.

Social Security will not:

Tell you that your Social Security number has been suspended.

Contact you to demand an immediate payment.

Ask you for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.

Require a specific means of debt repayment, like a prepaid debit card, a retail gift card, or cash.

Demand that you pay a Social Security debt without the ability to appeal the amount you owe.

Promise a Social Security benefit approval, or increase, in exchange for information or money.

If there is a problem with a persons Social Security number or record, in most cases Social Security will mail a letter. If a person needs to submit payments to Social Security, the agency will send a letter with instructions and payment options. People should never provide information or payment over the phone or Internet unless they are certain of who is receiving it.

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The Federal Trade Commission is trying to split up Axon, the most prominent body-camera-maker in the U.S., and a rival firm that Axon acquired in 2018. Axon is suing the FTC for denying it due process.Now, the FTC is arguing that Axon is simply trying to use the court system to evade circumvent the commission's authority.The FTC's new motion is a response to a federal lawsuit by Axon on Jan. 3 seeking to stop an administrative review initiated by the FTC, and asking the court to declare parts of the FTC unconstitutional.According to Axons complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief filed with the U.S. District Court of Arizona, Axon learned in December 2019 that the FTC had a problem with its acquisition of VieVu in May 2018 . The company made an offer to avoid litigation: It would sell all its assets from VieVu and give the buyer $5 million in working capital. The FTC was concerned that the merger of VieVu and Axon, the nations largest provider of police body cameras, would drive up prices and reduce competition, so Axon felt its offer would ameliorate those concerns.The FTC wasnt satisfied, and it told Axon to also give the new buyer a license to Axons technology and intellectual property. Rejecting this possibility and anticipating litigation from the FTC, Axon pre-emptively sued the FTC in federal court. The FTC filed its own complaint later that day for an administrative proceeding, and now the two cases appear to be moving forward in parallel.On Jan. 23, opposing Axons motion for a preliminary injunction in federal court, the FTC argued that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to grant Axons request. Counsel for the FTC cited seven cases adjudicated by six different courts between 2016 and 2019 that rejected constitutional challenges to an administrative law judges proceeding. Furthermore, the FTC argued that Axon couldnt challenge an administrative proceeding until its finished, and any challenge must still allow the FTC to carry out its congressional mandate of enforcing the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. If Axon wants to fight the FTCs administrative hearings, the FTC said, it must do so during that process and then through a court of appeals, not by seeking relief from a different court.The issue of jurisdiction is part of Axons lawsuit. For its part, Axon has contended that a federal court should weigh in because the FTCs administrative proceedings dont grant due process since theyre overseen by the FTCs own judges who Axon alleges consistently rule in the FTCs favor.An FTC administrative law judge in Washington, D.C., is scheduled to hear arguments in May.
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

Armenia flag to be permanently raised on buildings of some more institutions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit trial judge to not self-recuse

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit court case resumes

298 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Artsakh emergency service: Remains of another participant in hostilities are found

816,660 tourists visit Armenia during 11 months of 2021

US proposes to UN Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea

World oil prices dropping

Newspaper: Amnesty process suspended in Armenia indefinitely

Newspaper: Those in Karabakh are resisting Armenia authorities arbitrariness

FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

Slovak government approves defense treaty with US

US imposes sanctions on 6 North Koreans

US senators unveil bill to impose sanctions against Russia

EU wants to help Lebanon avoid economic collapse

CSTO to approve Kazakhstan peacekeepers withdrawal order

German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

Boris Johnson apologizes for attending party during lockdown

Global COVID-19 cases rise by 55% percent, deaths stable

Thailand introduces $9 tourist fee

Erdogan vows to tame Turkish inflation as scepticism grows

Turkey's Turkic world ambitions face reality check in Kazakhstan

Teacher in Baku beats student

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Turkish FM expresses concerns to Chinese counterpart

OSCE Chairman-in-Office speaks on situation along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021

China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

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Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

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DETROIT, MI -- Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg told Detroiters packed into a trendy venue on the edge of Eastern Market that he is their best chance of ousting President Donald Trump in November.

The former New York mayor and billionaire visited Detroit Tuesday for the second time since launching his campaign last fall. Most of Bloombergs speech, which lasted around 15 minutes, was focused on drawing distinctions between himself and Trump, with Bloomberg making the case that he is uniquely positioned to beat Trump and already has through his activism.

Bloomberg acknowledged a recent spat with the president that was kicked off with dueling $10 million ads the two men purchased to run during the Super Bowl last Sunday. Trump used part of his pregame interview to mock Bloombergs height and called the five-foot-eight-inch billionaire mini Mike in a weekend Twitter post.

Standing in front of a large Michigan state flag, Bloomberg said Trump has tried to bully his business and political rivals for years, but that wont work on him.

Donald Trumps insults dont bother me," Bloomberg said. "Im a New Yorker. I never back down from a bully or run away from a fight. Theres nothing Donald Trump can do or say that will hurt me.

Bloomberg said he ran for mayor after feeling frustrated that people in power werent solving New Yorks problems. Bloomberg said he finds himself in a similar situation now, saying Trump is more focused on tearing the country apart.

We have an angry out of control lawless president dividing the American people and abusing his office, Bloomberg. Let me be clear: I am running to defeat Donald Trump. I am running to bring out country back together and start putting united in the United States of America.

Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg held a Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020 campaign rally near Eastern Market in Detroit, Mich. Bloomberg is seeking the Democratic nomination for president. (Malachi Barrett | MLive.com)

The event venue was full of signs with variations on Bloombergs 2020 slogan Mike will get it done. He said the slogan means providing health insurance to every American who lacks it and lowering health costs for everyone else, passing common-sense gun safety laws, providing good-paying wage jobs, fixing a broken immigration system and making America a global leader in the fight against climate change.

The campaign estimated 450 people attended. The crowd was largely composed of older white supporters, though there were many people of color in attendance as well.

Supporters said Bloomberg is proven business success and job-creator, attributes Trump also flexes on the campaign trail. David Caddy, a 70-year-old Royal Oak man, said Bloomberg is a real businessman, not a charlatan" and was hoping he would enter the race.

I think everything hes done, hes done well, Caddy said. I think hes done a great job as mayor of New York. Even with some of the errors, he was attempting to make it a great place and I think mostly he did.

Bloomberg is skipping the primary contests of the first four states in favor of visiting delegate-rich states like California, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Michigans primary is scheduled for March 10, but voters can already turn in absentee ballots, so Bloombergs campaign is turning its attention here to take advantage of early voting.

Bloomberg might have the most well-organized Democratic campaign in Michigan. Hes is one of only two candidates to open a field office in Michigan, has 60 full-time staff on the ground and staff said they plan to add 30 more organizers this year.

This is a crucial state, and organizing here now for the primary means we will have the infrastructure for the general election, said Michael Kurtz, Michigan state director for the campaign. We lost by around 11,000 votes in Michigan last time and having that infrastructure built early is what is not going to allow that to happen next time.

Bloomberg has spent $7.6 million on advertisements in the Great Lakes state, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network. Each of the dozen people MLive talked to at the event said theyve seen Bloombergs face in an ad on their television, phone or computer screen.

Abby Clark, president of progressive communications firm Athena Strategies, said the investment will have an impact on voters. However, she said wealthy candidates dont have a great track record of success in Michigan.

I think what Bloomberg is doing acknowledges the importance of Michigan and I also have a tremendous amount of respect for the fact that hes very focused on going after Trump, Clark said. I do think that many of the ads are as much or more focused on Trumps vulnerabilities than Mike Bloomberg himself. But I dont know about what it will do in terms of will it translate into people actually casting a vote for him in the primary?

Warren resident Susan West said she had an epiphany after watching one of Bloomberg ads, which strengthened her feeling that former Vice President Joe Bidens campaign is faltering. Biden touts strong support among Detroits African American community and was endorsed by the citys mayor.

I think (Bloomberg) can stand up to Trump and push back on every issue, West said.

However, Kurtz said the campaign doesnt consider itself as only competing for Bidens supporters. Kurtz said Bloomberg can build a strong coalition of supporters in Michigan thanks to his activism in gun control, climate change and other progressive causes.

Bloombergs campaign said he is in the strongest position to beat Trump, citing surveys released in January by Michigan pollsters EPIC-MRA and Glengariff group. The polls found Bloomberg with a 7-point and 6-point edge against Trump in hypothetical head-to-head match-ups.

Kurtz said the campaign is building an organizing machine to help Democrats retake Midwest battleground states that surprisingly flipped for Trump in 2016.

Bloomberg hired a team of high-profile advisers, including Jill Alper, who worked on campaigns for Bill Clinton, Al Gore and former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Detroit political consultant Jamaine Dickens and former state Sen. Ian Conyers, D-Detroit. Bloomberg planned to meet with mayors of cities in Southeast Michigan and local faith leaders after the Detroit event.

Nationally, Bloombergs campaign spent $188 million from October 2019 to the end of last year, according to Federal Election Commission data. Thats more than any candidate except fellow-billionaire Tom Steyer, who dropped $200 million on the race. Bloomberg more than doubled the $96 million spent by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who was projected to win Iowa.

Republicans said Bloomberg is wasting his fortune on the race. Michigan GOP Chairman Laura Cox said Bloomberg is trying to buy the state of Michigan, while Republican National Committee spokesperson Michael Joyce said hes lighting his money on fire.

Tuesdays event was held the day after Iowa became the first state in the nation to hold its presidential primary contests, though there were no concrete results available when Bloomberg took the stage.

Yesterday, I hear something happened in Iowa, or didnt happen, Bloomberg said. "But while all the other Democratic candidates have flown to New Hampshire, Im here in Michigan because this is a state we absolutely must win in November if were going to beat Donald Trump.

Kurtz said uncertainty about who won the Iowa caucus gives Bloomberg a chance to connect with voters who remain undecided.

I dont believe theres any clarity coming out of Iowa, Kurtz said. Our advantage here in-state is weve been on the ground organizing and talking to these voters while those absentee ballots have been out in their mailboxes and on their kitchen tables.

One of those undecided voters is Douglas Tibbs, a 68-year-old Southfield man, who said hes basing his decision on who can beat Trump. Tibbs said hes still listening to candidates make their pitch as they visit Michigan.

This is the first time Ive been this active, since we got that orange apparition in the office, Tibbs said. Im surprised this many people follow and support him.

Brian Deruy, a 48-year-old Pleasant Ridge man, said any of the Democrats would be a more responsible president than Trump. Deruy said hes also leaning toward former South Bend, Ind. mayor Pete Buttigieg or U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Bloomberg pledged to support whoever becomes the Democratic nominee.

The campaign event was held hours before Trump was scheduled to brief the nation through what Bloomberg hopes will be the president's last State of the Union address. Trump is expected to celebrate economic growth and new trade deals secured under his administration as he actively campaigns for a second term.

Meanwhile, senators are expected to vote this week on whether to convict Trump with two articles of impeachment approved by the U.S. House.

Trump is the only president to ever seek re-election after being impeached, though it appears unlikely that the Republican-led U.S. Senate will vote to remove him from office.
At A Glance: Once again, under Gov. Tom Wolfs proposed 2020-21 budget, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission would see a slight increase in funding.

What It Means: The governors budget calls for a funding level of $22.8 million for General Government Operations - an increase of $1.2 million over last year. Last years funding was around $21.5 million.

Howard Pollman, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, welcomed the proposed plan. Its good news, he said. It continues the investment in preserving Pennsylvania history.

The proposed budget would also fund two digital archive positions, helping to cover the cost of maintaining the Commonwealths digital historical records.

Thats good, Pollman said. Those two digital positions are important to us.

Yet again, the budget would include $2 million for Cultural and Historical Support Grants, which would provide operating support for local museums and county historical societies.

The commission oversees about 40 state-owned sites across the commonwealth, including museums, zoos and popular destinations like the Railroad Museum of PA, Landis Valley and Washington Crossing Historic Park.

Verdict: Winner

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
Congress MLA and former Assam Assembly speaker Pranab Gogoi died at a hospital here due to old age ailments.

He was 84 and is survived by his wife and three sons.

Gogoi, the MLA of Sibsagar, was ailing for the past few days. He was admitted to a hospital where he breathed his last late last night, family sources said.

Gogoi was elected from the constituency for four consecutive terms since 2001.

An advocate by profession, Gogoi served as the law minister from 2006 to 2011 and was the Speaker of the state Assembly between 2011 and 2016.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal expressed his condolence to Gogoi's bereaved family members.

His last rites will be held with full state honours, Sonowal said.

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Ripun Bora also expressed his grief over the death of Gogoi.

"Gogoi was a senior political leader of the state and his passing away is an irreparable loss not only to the state's political scenario but also to Assamese society," he said.

The veteran Congress leader will always be remembered as a sincere and committed party worker.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A former Santa Clara police officer who claimed to be disabled but was seen performing rigorous workouts in a Las Vegas gym has been charged with workers compensation fraud  the same offense for which his wife, a former sheriffs lieutenant, was convicted last year, officials said.

Former officer Kenneth Henderson, 53, will be arraigned Wednesday in San Jose.

Henderson retired from the police force in 2016 and moved to Las Vegas after being injured in 2015 while picking up traffic cones, according to the Santa Clara County district attorneys office. He continued to present himself as completely disabled, Deputy District Attorney Vonda Tracey said.

Hendersons doctor, Tracey said, reported that Henderson appeared to be like a stroke victim.

The charges bear a striking similarity to those filed against Mandy Henderson, 41, formerly of the Santa Clara County Sheriffs Office. She was arrested in 2018 and convicted last year in connection with making false claims in connection with her own workers compensation claim. Like her husband, she was a competitive body builder.

The Hendersons met investigators in 2018 at a Starbucks in Las Vegas, where Mandy Henderson appeared to be disabled, according to prosecutors. But soon afterwards, the couple was allegedly photographed in a surveillance video working out vigorously. At that time, Kenneth Henderson was observed climbing a treadmill, using a stair-climbing machine and lifting weights, Tracey said.

Mandy Henderson was sentenced to six months house arrest and ordered to make repayments. Kenneth Henderson faces imprisonment if convicted.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Those involved in this type of fraud are stealing from a system intended to help law enforcement officers who are seriously injured while protecting the public, Tracey said.

A call to Kenneth Hendersons attorney was not immediately returned.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@SteveRubeSF
A group called Friends of the Lake Station Civic Center, led by then-mayor Shirley Wadding, held a campaign to raise money to refurbish it. Red bricks line the walkway in front of the entrance with names of residents who donated to the center.
The Paramount Chief of the Tumu Traditional area, Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton VI, has appealed to President Nana Akufo-Addo to redeem his promise to construct a Municipal Hospital in Tumu in the Sissala East Municipality to improve healthcare delivery.



He said the people of the area deserve quality healthcare delivery and that the construction of a Municipal hospital, equipped with modern facilities would improve conditions in the area.



He made the appeal in Tumu at the weekend during a durbar of chiefs and people of the area to mark the Centenary celebration of the Tumu skin and the enskinment of Kuoro Wokorei Kanton II and his successors.



The President promised the chiefs and people of Tumu a Municipal Hospital in March 2019, during the Paaragbielle festival of the Sissala people at Tumu when he was the guest of honour.



Kuoro Kanton VI said after the President's promise, nothing had been done to show that the President will redeem his promise.



The Tumu Kuoro therefore asked the Upper West Regional Minister, Dr. Hafiz Bin Sali to follow-up on the Presidents promise and remind him of the need honour his promise to the people.



Kuoro Kanton VI also appealed to the government to take pragmatic steps to improve the poor road network in the area especially the Tumu-Wa road, which was left out of governments critical roads.



He said the Tumu Customs Barrier needed urgent upgrade to improve revenue collection, while the area was in dire need of a dam for dry season farming.



Kuoro Kanton VI, who is also a member of the Council of State and President of the Upper West Region House of Chiefs, said infrastructure development was necessary in solving unemployment in the area.



Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper West Regional Minister, said the NPP government was people centred and assured that the national cake would be distributed equitably.



He appealed for lasting peace in the area to attract investors and commended the people of Tumu for the centenary celebration, which would continue to bond them as one people.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 16:12 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20627e283 1 World coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,travel-ban,tourism,China,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia Free

Beijing is seemingly displeased with Jakarta's decision to impose a travel ban to and from China amid its efforts to prevent a deadly coronavirus from spreading to the archipelago, with a Chinese envoy saying that such a ban could harm Indonesia's tourism and economy.

The travel ban, which is to be in effect from 12 a.m. on Wednesday, would prevent people who have stayed more than two weeks in China to visit or transit in the country. Indonesia is to also suspend visa-free and visa-on-arrival provisions for Chinese nationals.

Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xiao Qian asked Indonesia to follow the advice of the World Health Organization, which -- despite having declared a global emergency over the deadly coronavirus -- is not recommending countries restrict travel or trade with China.

Read also: 'We are not overreacting': Indonesia responds to China's criticism of trade restrictions

In this situation, we need to be calm. Dont overreact and cause a negative impact on investment and the economy, he told reporters in Jakarta during a press briefing on Tuesday.

By imposing a travel ban, Indonesia has followed in the footsteps of some other countries, such as the United States and Singapore -- all countries with confirmed coronavirus cases -- in implementing travel restrictions to and from China.

Xiao said he understood that some countries were taking rational action in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, such as by tightening immigration security. However, he said the ban was against the WHO's recommendation.

Indonesia and China are neighbors and good friends, he said. I believe that actions other than restrictions will have a direct impact on the relationship.

He said China is one of the biggest sources of investment for Indonesia, as well as the second-largest contributor of foreign tourists with roughly 2 million Chinese travelers going to the Southeast Asian country per year.

[The ban] actually harms Indonesias tourism and economy, Xiao said, adding that the impact from the restrictive measures still needed to be calculated but he hoped that such measures would not need to be taken.

We hope that Indonesia can be rational and not experience any negative impact, he said.

As of Friday, the new coronavirus originating from the city of Wuhan in China has killed 427 people, including two deaths outside China, and infected nearly 20,000 people globally, Reuters reported. (eyc)
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Photos of Harvey Weinstein's naked body were passed around to stony-faced jurors at the end of Tuesday's court session at his rape trial, leading some to laugh.

The jury was given hard copies of the images which they passed around - but they were not shown on the big screen to the rest of the court.

The pictures were taken by a photographer with the Manhattan District Attorneys office on June 18, 2018 who confirmed their authenticity to the court.

However, the DA would not confirm to DailyMail.com whether those images were of the naked producer.

Earlier in the trial prosecutors said they wanted to use seven of 72 images of Weinstein's body to corroborate 'identifying characteristics' of his torso.

One young female juror swallowed hard when she was given her first photo and looked disturbed.

A short time later she spoke to a female juror next to her and they laughed and shook their heads.

As he left the court for the day Weinstein was asked by a journalist: 'Were those nude photos of you that the jury looked at?' Weinstein chortled and turned to one of his lawyers and said: 'No, it was Playboy.'

The photos were handed out after key witness Jessica Mann wrapped up her exhaustive testimony and cross-examination after three days on the stand. She described Weinstein's body as 'deformed' with 'extreme scarring', said he had no testicles, and revealed at first she thought he was intersex.

Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzi said they had no desire to 'humiliate' Weinstein so the hard copies appear to have been a way to avoid that.

Mann wrapped up her grueling testimony and cross-examination at the rape trial on Tuesday.

Scroll down for video

The jury was given hard copies of the images which they passed around - but they were not shown on the big screen to the rest of the court

One young female juror swallowed hard when she was given her first photo and looked disturbed. Jurors are seen above viewing the photos in a court sketch

Jessica Mann finally wrapped up her testimony after three intense days on the witness stand at Harvey Weinstein's rape trial in New York. Pictured leaving the DA's office on Thursday after court adjourned

Under a grueling cross-examination on Tuesday, Mann said that she once caught the producer trying to film her in a hotel room, admitted she once defended Weinstein to her boyfriend, and on one occasion thanked the mogul after a sexual encounter saying he made her feel 'fabulous and beautiful'

Weinstein pictured leaving Manhattan Supreme Court after the jury was supposedly shown pictures of his naked body on Tuesday after Mann's testimony

Weinstein looked wearing as he clutched onto a railing as he exited the Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday

Weinstein 'masturbated in front of Mann to console himself over his mother's death'

During her time in the witness box it was revealed Harvey Weinstein allegedly comforted himself over his mother's death by masturbating in front of rape accuser Jessica Mann and having her perform oral sex on him.

Mann, who accuses the producer of rape but admits to having a consensual relationship with him for several years, said that her last sexual encounter with him was in February 2017, three months after Weinstein's mother's death in November 2016.

'He needed to be consoled for his grief, and he wanted to talk to me because I understood grief,' she told jurors, as her father died a year earlier.

She said she met Weinstein and found him naked on a bed, adding 'all he wanted to do is something sexual.'

'I think he masturbated in the mirror and put himself in my mouth and that was the second time fluid came out of his (penis). It disgusted me and brought back a few bad memories,' she said.

She said that she remembered something about 'only I could understand him because my father died'.

Mann looked downcast as she entered court on Tuesday morning in a brown coat to wrap up her cross-examination

The 67-year-old movie mogul arrived to the Manhattan courthouse in a suit hunched over his decked-out walker

Weinstein allegedly comforted himself over his mother's death by masturbating in front of rape accuser Jessica Mann and having her perform oral sex on him in February 2017, his rape trial heard today. Weinstein pictured with mother, who passed away in November 2016

Under an exhaustive cross-examination on Tuesday, Mann said that she once caught the producer trying to film her in a hotel room, admitted she once defended Weinstein to her boyfriend, and on one occasion thanked the mogul after a sexual encounter saying he made her feel 'fabulous and beautiful'.

Mann at times wavered during the intense questioning on Tuesday in Manhattan criminal court after she broke down in the witness box yesterday.

The cross-examination ended with defense attorney Donna Rotunno questioning Mann's mental health. Mann acknowledged she suffered from depression, but denied Rotunno's question asking if she had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

Mann shot back at one point: 'Are you my psychiatrist?'

Mann is a key witness in the rape trial and claims Weinstein assaulted her on three occasions in 2013 into possibly early 2014. Three of the five felony charges he faces in New York stem from her allegations.

Mann's cross-examination ended at 3.16pm, after approximately 10 hours of being hammered by Rotunno.

Towards the end of the day Tuesday Weinstein struggled to stay awake. At one point his eyes closed and his head nodded forward before he caught himself and woke up.

At the end of the questioning Mann was asked about her psychiatric history and acknowledged that she had been diagnosed with mixed anxiety and depressed mood disorder. She also said she engaged in self-harm and contemplated suicide.

'I've just been depressed,' she said.

Rotunno asked if she's been angry, to which Mann bit back, 'Yes, I'm angry. Are you my psychiatrist?'

Weinstein appeared to close his eyes and put his head down as Mann was questioned by his defense lawyer Donna Rotunno. At the end of Tuesday's cross-examination Mann acknowledged that she had been diagnosed with mixed anxiety and depressed mood disorder. She also said she engaged in self-harm and contemplated suicide

Mann messaged Weinstein 'THANK YOU SO MUCH' after sexual encounter that left her feeling 'fabulous and beautiful' and allegedly caught him secretly filming her

Earlier on Tuesday the film producer's lawyers showed an e-mail Mann sent Weinstein on April 27, 2016 after they met up at the Peninsula Hotel in Los Angeles for what is believed to be their second to last sexual encounter.

The two planned to meet up for a coffee at 5pm but ended up spending four hours together at the hotel.

Mann emailed Weinstein she was at the bar and ordered a snack because she was 'famished'.

Weinstein wrote to her: 'Im in 340, come up.'

Four hours later, Mann emailed Weinstein: 'THANK YOU SO MUCH. I feel so fabulous and beautiful'.

Weinstein replied: 'Ur all of the above and more.'

Timeline of Harvey Weinstein and Jessica Mann's relationship February 2013: Mann and Weinstein allegedly met at a Hollywood party when she was an aspiring actress February 24, 2013: Weinstein allegedly arranges threesome between him, Mann and Italian actress Emanuela Postacchini at a Beverly Hills hotel Spring 2013: Weinstein allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on Mann after inviting her to read for an acting role March 13, 2013: Mann says Weinstein raped her in at the Doubletree hotel in Manhattan, New York April 27, 2016: Mann e-mailed Weinstein after a sexual encounter at the Peninsula Hotel in Los Angeles saying, 'THANK YOU SO MUCH. I feel so fabulous and beautiful' February 2017: Last alleged sexual encounter to console Weinstein three months after his mother died Advertisement

Attorney Rotunno asked if the April 27 encounter was consensual sex but she avoided giving a direct answer.

She said: 'You sent this to him because you had consensual sex with him?'

Mann shot back: 'Thats what you want it to be. I dont remember if I had consensual sex with him.'

Rotunno snapped back: 'The food made you feel fabulous and beautiful?'

Mann said that Weinstein 'probably said something nice' to her.

Mann explained that though she had some consensual sexual encounters with the producer, not all of them were.

Mann claimed that she once 'freaked out' after catching Weinstein trying to film her when they were in a hotel room together.

She said: 'There was a lamp in the room and he had his cellphone with the camera turned on. The camera was facing me. I freaked out.'

Rotunno challenged Mann asking if she stayed with Weinstein for her own benefit.

'Its true knowing and if people know you know him it can open doors and people want to get to him through you, yeah,' Mann said. 'I don't want to be associated with him for my acting stuff.'

Rotunno then pointed out that Mann continually went to Weinstein for help.

Mann said: 'I was living in a garage in Compton and I had nothing and I had to better my life.'

Weinstein freaked out when Mann e-mailed him 'I love you but hate feeling like a booty call'

Mann e-mailed Weinstein on February 8, 2017 saying, 'I love you but hate feeling like a booty call.'

That e-mail exchange was already made public before the trial.

On the stand Mann said that Weinstein 'yelled' back in all caps in his return message.

He typed back: 'Dear jessica, please text me, at (number):  i know you were joking in your last note, but some people dont think its a joke.'

'Yes, I was joking. I know hollywood loves to harass you, unfortunately, and the stand-up comedian in me was just teasing you,' she replied.

Mann defended Weinstein to her boyfriend, who slammed her as 'naive'

The court heard Tuesday how Mann defended the movie mogul when her boyfriend claimed the film producer snubbed him for an acting job.

The court was shown e-mails between Mann and her former actor boyfriend that she posted on advice website Relationship Reinvented on June 16, 2014 and reveal she told him he 'shouldn't take it personal' when the movie mogul chose another actor over him. It's not clear when the e-mails themselves were sent.

The boyfriend, whose identity has not been revealed and is being called 'Edi', said he believed Weinstein was to blame and called Mann 'naive' when she stuck up for him.

In the exchange Edi asked: 'Did you ever tell Harvey about me?'

Mann wrote that Weinstein 'blessed me, he was always kind to me'.

Edi said: 'Just found out he overruled the director and cast another actor.'

Mann replied, 'I wouldnt take it personal' and Edi replied that it 'feels very personal'.

Mann replied that Weinstein would 'never compromise making the best movie. The other actor is probably right.'

Edi replied: 'You sound so naive. Hes one of the most vindictive people in this f****** industry.'

Mann pictured being questioned at the witness stand by Weinstein attorney Donna Rotunno as the film producer watches

Soon after Mann posted another message to the website.

It read: 'Harvey emailed me and asked if I can have a drink with him on Tuesday. I havent responded. The friendship we had makes me of course want to catch up with him and see all that is going on.'

In another post she said: 'He gave me good advice on how to continue to be an artist...hes always extended his hand to help should I come to him with something'.

The court was also shown an e-mail between Mann and Weinstein where the film producer offered his condolences for the death of her father at least a year after he allegedly raped her for the last time.

In January 2015 Weinstein invited Mann to a SAG awards party in Los Angeles but she was in Washington state with her father. On January 23 Mann wrote: 'My father passed this morning at 4am. Im not sure if I will make it back to LA by the 25th' when the party was happening.

Weinstein replied: 'I send you my deepest condolences.'

Weinsteins lawyer Donna Rotunno then read through some of the 'tons' of e-mails Mann and Weinstein exchanged of the years.

In one from August 2014 Mann told him: 'Life is life darling'. On September 2nd Weinstein emailed her saying he is coming to Los Angeles and they arranged to meet for a drink at 10.30pm at the Peninsula Hotel.

Weinstein told Mann: 'You are worth it' and she replied: 'Kool and the gang'.

On September 14, 2014 Mann e-mailed Weinstein saying she had a 'rough day' and 'went through a breakup, was hoping for dinner with you'.

Mann even emailed Weinstein when she had the flu and he responded sympathetically.

Weinstein was the person who Mann turned to in early 2014 when she was applying for a membership to Soho House in Los Angeles for the company she was working at.

Rotunno asked why Mann was turning to her rapist to get a referral to the exclusive members club.

Mann said: 'I do want the jury to know he is my rapist and I hope I can continue to explain the dynamic of why I engaged with him'.

Weinstein arranged for a threesome with Mann and Italian actress Emanuela Postacchini, but Mann panicked and broke down in tears

Harvey Weinstein 'tricked' an Italian actress into having a threesome with him and accuser Mann, but his plan failed when Mann panicked and broke down crying in fetal position on the ground, his rape trial heard today.

Emanuela Postacchini, 28, took the witness stand at the movie mogul's rape Tuesday to corroborate Mann's claims that Weinstein wanted them to have a threesome, and allegedly became outraged and barked 'What's she doing?' when Mann freaked out.

The actress was given special permission to take the stand even though Mann's cross-examination has not been completed, as she had to leave for Los Angeles on a 6pm flight for a work commitment.

Italian actress Emanuela Postacchini, 28, took the witness stand at the movie mogul's rape Tuesday to corroborate Mann's claims that Weinstein wanted them to have a threesome, and allegedly became outraged and barked 'What's she doing' when Mann freaked out. Postacchini pictured right on February 23, 2013 at The Weinstein Company Academy Award Party hosted at Soho House, where she first met Mann

The judge's permission outraged the defense, who claimed the work commitment was an audition that could be rescheduled.

Under cross-examination Postacchini said she had 'no idea' Mann was at the Montage Hotel room in Beverly Hills that Weinstein brought her to on February 24, 2013. Weinstein ordered the two women to have sex but noted he did not force her or Mann to do anything.

The actress first met Mann at an Oscars party hosted by Weinstein at Soho House in Los Angeles the prior day.

Mann looked downcast as she arrived back in New York court for a third day of testimony on Tuesday after she suffered a panic attack and broke down in court yesterday as she was grilled by lawyers and painted as a manipulative liar.

Mann, a 34-year-old hairstylist and former aspiring actress, is one of the key witnesses in the trial and claims the film producer assaulted her on three occasions in 2013 into possibly early 2014, but she still maintained a relationship with him.

In Friday's testimony Mann described how Weinstein asked her to take part in a threesome with another women who did not speak much English after they all met at the SoHo House in Los Angeles and they all went back to his hotel, but she panicked and fled to the bathroom.

Postacchini said Tuesday that Weinstein e-mailed her to wait in a bar for him and picked her up and took her to his suite at the hotel, where Mann was waiting on the night of the failed threesome.

Postacchini said she felt 'tricked' by the situation saying: 'I did not have any idea that there would be a woman in the room.'

Witness Emanuela Postacchini pictured testifying on Tuesday beside prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon and lawyer Damon Cheronis as Weinstein looks on

'Obviously I felt that I was in a situation that I did not want to be in,' she said.

Asked what happened next, she said: 'He told us to do something. He was directing us, telling us to do something together.'

'I cant recall exactly what he was telling us to do, it was interacting with a female (Mann).'

Postacchini said that at some point Mann left the bedroom and became upset.

She said: 'Jessica left and ran away crying and I went after her and she was crying in the fetal position, she was on the ground crying.'

Postacchini said that Mann left shortly afterwards and that Weinstein grew angry.

She said: 'He said: "Whats she doing?"'

Asked about his reaction, she said: 'He was surprised that she left, he wasnt expecting that.'

Under cross examination Postacchini said she met Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 2012 and that he put her in touch with a dialect coach to improve her English.

In Friday's testimony Mann (pictured Friday in court) described how Weinstein asked her to take part in a threesome with another women who did not speak much English after they all met at the SoHo House in Los Angeles and they all went back to his hotel, but Mann panicked and fled to the bathroom

Postacchini is an Italian actress who recently appeared in Sacha Baron Cohen's Showtime series Who Is America (together on show above)

She said she had one other sexual encounter with Weinstein once before the failed threesome.

Speaking on that occasion she said: 'I was called in for a meeting and he showed up in his bathrobe and asked for a massage.'

'I wanted to forget what happened and move on with my life,' she added, noting Weinstein didn't force her to engage with him.

Weinstein lawyer Damon Cheronis read out an e-mail Postacchini sent to Weinstein on February 28 2013, a few days after the threesome that said: 'Thank you so much for giving the possibility to know Ivan and being so helpful for both my career and my life.'

'Im so happy to hear your words and Im so THANKFUL to you especially for believing in me...'

'...Yesterday has been a great day as you said. All my best. Love Emanuela.'

'I wanted to keep in touch with him and wanted to keep on good terms,' she said. 'Obviously, he was one of the most powerful men in Hollywoodhe could have spoken badly about me, so I wanted to keep in touch with him after what happened.'

Weinstein's defense was outraged that Judge James Burke allowed Postacchini to testify saying her LA commitment was an audition.

On Friday Mann had given her account of events and said threesome happened the night they all met in Soho House - Postacchini appears to contradict this and say that it happened the next night.

Mann said Weinstein 'orchestrated' events and told them both to undress and ordered Postacchini to perform oral sex on Mann.

Mann said: 'He said (to the other woman) I want you to go down on her (Mann). I said I don't want her to do that. She started to be very tense.'

Mann understood that the other woman had never had a threesome before but she could not express what she was feeling because of her poor English.

Mann said that 'I saw myself in her, unable to communicate, and I broke down'.

She fled into the bathroom and Weinstein was 'upset and said Ill never do that again with you.'

Mann told psychic she had Weinstein under her control in 2014

Towards the end of the day, the court heard a recording of a conversation between Mann and a psychic in which Mann said that she had Weinstein under control in 2014.

In the audio from April 7, 2014, shortly after the last alleged rape, Mann told the clairvoyant she was 'seeing a big Hollywood producer'.

Mann said: 'Harvey Weinstein is a good example. Hes my client, hes been a part of my life. I cant share that because of who he is. He tried to cross boundaries in my life but I dont allow him to.'

Rotunno asked if Weinstein never crossed boundaries with her.

'I guess I was lying then,' Mann said.

The defense also brought up messages that Mann sent to her friend Nadia Tyson that she intended to send to her boyfriend Edi.

She apparently sent them on Nov 25, 2014 to Tyson deliberately as a way of venting as if she were talking to Edi.

One read: 'Dear Edi, I would like you know that when I first met you not only did I f**k you I f**ked another dude so go f**k yourself.'

Another read: 'Dear Edi I suppose when the relationship starts off with me f**king other men, having a one night stand in Vegas and blowing a super rich Hollywood producer who could ruin ur career its not gonna work out long term.'

Weinstein looked serious as he strolled into the trial, where he was seen nodding off with his eyes closed just yesterday

Weinstein briefly flashed a smile as he entered the Manhattan courthouse on Monday flanked by his lawyers

Jessica Mann breaks down as she reveals she tried to make Weinstein a 'pseudo father' and she was abused when she was younger

On Monday Weinstein's lawyers combed through Mann's 'positive' e-mails exchanged with Weinstein and pummeled her with questions to the point that she sobbed and court was adjourned early. Mann was seen leaving clutching a stress ball.

During the exhaustive questioning she described how Weinstein performed a 'Golden Shower' on her by urinating on her in a shower.

Weinstein attorney Donna Rotunno repeatedly called Mann manipulative saying she faked an orgasm with the mogul when he forcibly performed oral sex on her, and told him he was the 'best she ever had'.

She accused Mann of staying in contact with Weinstein to advance her career and get invited to Hollywood parties.

Mann became overcome with emotion on Monday when she read an e-mail she sent her boyfriend at the time in May 2014 where she acknowledged her relationship with Weinstein for the first time and revealed she was sexually abused when she was younger.

Her breakdown Monday has slowed the trial schedule for this week and will push other witnesses to later in the week.

Mann testified that she tried to turn Weinstein into a 'pseudo father' as she had a rough upbringing in highly religious community in Washington state and her parents divorced when she was young.

She said he believed in her as an actress and so she continued to see him and send him flattering e-mails even after he allegedly raped her in March 2013, because she didn't want him to halt her fledgling career.

Mann claims Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her on one occasion. On another raped her at the Doubletree hotel in Manhattan in March 2013, after injecting his penis with an erection-inducing drug. He allegedly raped her again after that March 2013 rape.

Key accuser Jessica Mann had a panic attack and broke down in court (above) on Monday after enduring long day of exhaustive and grueling questioning. She admitted she was 'manipulative' towards Harvey Weinstein and kept in contact with him after he allegedly assaulted her multiple times in 2013

Mann pictured above in the white ribbed sweater holding onto what appears to be a stress ball as she was ushered into a car following an exhaustive cross-examination on Monday

Harvey Weinstein pictured leaving court on Monday as his sex-crimes trial has entered its fifth week. During Monday's session Weinstein was seen apparently sleeping and nodding off as Mann was cross-examined

He allegedly assaulted her again eight months after the New York hotel attack at a Los Angeles hotel after she told him she had a boyfriend and wanted to end their relationship.

Mann admitted to having a twisted relationship with the mogul in which they had multiple consensual sexual encounters, including a threesome.

Rotunno zeroed in on these consensual sexual encounters. Mann said she only did it after 'a long negotiation' with Weinstein. Even then she said, 'I wasn't happy to do it.'

'You manipulated Mr. Weinstein every single time, isnt that correct?' Rotunno asked.

'I felt there was an aspect to the way I felt I needed to protect myself that had an element of manipulation,' Mann responded.

'You made a choice to have sexual encounters with Harvey Weinstein when you werent sexually attracted to him. ... You liked the parties and you liked the power,' Rotunno fired back.

Mann's allegations against Weinstein, along with a former production assistant named Mimi Haleyi, are behind the five felony charges he faces.

He faces three sex crime charges for alleged sexual assault encounters with Mann. The two other charges stem from Haleyi's allegations that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her at his Soho apartment in 2006.

The 67-year-old denies the allegations and insists any sexual encounters were consensual. A conviction could put him behind bars for life.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Oregon's top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Kaiya Laguardia

Nominated by Roosevelt High School

Kaiya, a senior at Roosevelt High School, produced a 16-minute documentary film to raise awareness of the planned construction of a military base in Okinawa and the movement opposing the project on the Japanese island. Kaiya's mother was born on Okinawa, and from a very young age, Kaiya has felt a deep connection to the island. So when she learned that many islanders were protesting the building of a new U.S. military base on landfill in Henoko Bay, "I had to see it for myself," she said. "When I got to Henoko, elders were lying in the streets blocking bulldozers." She said she also learned that the bay is the second-most biodiverse ocean habitat in the world, and that construction of the proposed base would have a profound impact on its ecosystem and the fishing lifestyle of Okinawans.

When Kaiya returned to Portland, she sold cookies to raise funds to make a documentary that would raise awareness of the project's impact on the ocean, she said. Then, with video camera in hand, she spent weeks interviewing student and community activists, war survivors and politicians, and shooting scenes in Okinawa. She edited hundreds of hours of video footage in her school's computer lab, added subtitles and played a song over the closing credits. Kaiya released the final product, titled "Our Island's Treasure," last June, and promoted it through news media interviews, social media and film screenings. Noting that it's been viewed thousands of times around the world, Kaiya said "I hope it will help spread awareness of the true urgency of this crisis for our people."

Middle Level State Honoree: Jacob Van

Nominated by Washington County 4-H

Jacob, a seventh-grader at International School of Beaverton, raised money to help a local woman and boy pay for cancer treatments, and to provide hundreds of Christmas presents for people experiencing homelessness in downtown Portland. Jacob is motivated, he says, simply by "my desire to help out the less fortunate. Every time I volunteer, I get a good feeling." Last August, Jacob hosted a gala dinner and silent auction that raised more than $16,000 for a woman who had lost her insurance but needed surgery and chemotherapy for breast cancer. He wrote letters and handed out fliers to promote his event, persuaded local businesses to donate flowers and auction items, recruited entertainers to perform, sold tickets, and gave a speech in front of 300 attendees.

Less than two weeks later, Jacob set up a cookie and lemonade stand at his parent's workplace at lunchtime to help a boy named Wyatt with a rare type of cancer. "All he wanted was to get mail from people to brighten up his day," said Jacob. So, in addition to selling his refreshments and accepting donations for the boy, Jacob asked customers to convey their best wishes to Wyatt on hundreds of cards he had purchased. Jacob also has used funds from his cookie and lemonade stand  plus allowance money  to buy hundreds of winter accessories for homeless people at Christmastime. "I wanted to share my love, care and compassion for others in need," he explained.

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized four other Oregon students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Oregon's Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Rachel Loberger, 16, of Hillsboro, Oregon, a junior at Liberty High School, created "Boys Build IT!," a week-long STEM summer camp that aims to provide its young male participants with female role models in STEM; for this program, Rachel helped design the curriculum, advertise the camp, schedule guest speakers and secure supplies and a location. Rachel was inspired to create Boys Build IT! by her two older sisters, who ran a similar STEM camp for female students.

Britton Masback, 18, of Portland, Oregon, a senior at Catlin Gabel School, is the founder and executive director of "Youth Educating Police (YEP)," a nonprofit designed to foster positive relationships between young people and police through education and open dialogue. For his initiative, Britton helped design a curriculum to train police about interacting with young people, hosts regular forums between the police and the community, and has helped students in other places develop similar initiatives.

Michael Murray, 17, of Lake Oswego, Oregon, a senior at Lake Oswego High School, founded and runs a food pantry that has provided more than 34,000 meals to people in his community; to do so, he secured a location for the pantry, solicited and organized donations, partnered with local businesses and recruited volunteers. Michael was inspired to start this initiative after learning about the high number of students in his school experiencing food insecurity.

Elliot Shin, 17, of Portland, Oregon, a junior at Lincoln High School, is the founder and president of "Olivenbaum," a nonprofit that provides academic tutoring and music lessons to refugees in the Portland area; his oboe performances in a dozen benefit concerts have helped to raise more than $30,000 to fund three scholarships and purchase instruments for program participants. Elliot was first inspired to start his nonprofit after learning about the experiences of his grandmother, a refugee from North Korea.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com .

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.

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Bhopal, Feb 4 : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath has been trending in India on the Twitter charts since Monday, and the veteran politician can thank Bollywood glamour for as much.

Nath happened to attend the press conference of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in the city. While IIFA has given up on its traditional, much-touted USP of taking Hindi cinema to a new world city every year, the 21st edition of the awards weekend will be held in Indore this year, it was announced at the conference.

In between official announcements and tie-up strategies inviting Bollywood to shoot in the state, Nath found time for photo-ops with the Bollywood glitterati present, particularly Salman Khan and Jacqueline Fernandes.

A lot of the pictures and videos soon found their way into social media.

However, the pictures have received mixed reactions from the netizens. There's one image in which Nath can be seen putting his hand around Jacqueline's waist and, strangely, a slew of people find it objectionable.

A user commented: "#Kamalnath can't let go such an opportunity." Another tweeted: "Look at Kamal Nath's hand." On the other hand, several social media users were happy to see "Dabangg" superstar Salman strike a pose with Nath.

"Superb," a Twitter user praised.

"Jai Jai Kamal Nath," another one wrote.

IIFA 2020 will be held from March 27 to 29.
Prince Harry is 'missing' his British pals and is using their WhatsApp group chat to send them funny pictures and videos from Canada, a source has claimed.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have settled in British Columbia, following their step back as senior members of the Royal Family last month - but Harry, 35, is reportedly making a point of being in close contact with old friends in the UK.

An insider told The Sun that the former royal is still a member of the group chat he's been part of for 'years' and is keeping up with his friends 'more than ever' since he left the UK.

This comes after claims Harry 'pushed aside' some of his old friends after marrying Meghan Markle, 38, in May 2018.

Prince Harry (pictured on a visit to Canada House in London last year) is 'missing' British pals and is using their WhatsApp group chat to send them funny pictures and videos from Canada, a source has claimed

'Harry has been in WhatsApp Group with his mates for years and he uses that more than ever now to keep in touch and send pictures,' the source claimed.

'He doesnt think being on the other side of the world means that he will lose touch with the people he has been mates with all his life

The source also claimed that Harry is constantly sending over funny pictures and videos from North America.

The Duke of Sussex and his wife and are poised to split their time between the UK and North America and the source claimed that Harry won't forget his friends, despite being on 'the other side of the world'.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Pictured in Johannesburg, South-Africa last year) settled in British Columbia, following their step back as senior members of the Royal Family last month - but Harry, 35, has remained in touch with his UK friends

Reports have emerged over recent years that suggest Harry and Meghan have slowly weakened ties with the prince's old crowd of drinking buddies as they drew closer to the likes of Serena Williams and George and Amal Clooney .

An article published in the May 2019 issue of Tatler magazine claimed Harry had 'banished' childhood friend Mr Inskip, affectionately known as 'Skippy'.

The article stated: 'Hang out with the Clooney/Beckham/Soho House set and be assailed for being too Hollywood, for forcing your hen-pecked husband to abandon his old, country-set muckers  including Tom "Skippy" Inskip, the ultra-loyal, tight-lipped Harry pal, who, its said, advised Harry not to marry Meghan and has paid the price: banishment.'

Prince Harry is said to have grown apart from former wingman Tom Inskip in recent years, although Mr Inskip attended Harry and Meghan's wedding in May 2018 (pictured with wife Lara)

A separate report in the Daily Express in October 2018 stated that Mr Inksip, along with PR guru Astrid Harbord, another former friend of Harry, had been 'airbrushed out'.

It doesn't seem that the pair will be returning to the UK anytime soon, as last month, it was reported that the couple are 'hoping' to spend their summer in Los Angeles.

It was also said that Meghan has been 'actively looking' for a manager or agent for future projects - two years after giving up her acting career to Marry Harry.

Meghan quit her role in the US legal drama Suits in 2017 after becoming engaged to the Duke of Sussex, 35, and joining the Royal Family as a working member.

But the couple have since stepped back as senior royals as they 'work to become financially independent'.
Downhill is a remake of the Swedish movie Force Majeure but you dont need to have seen the original to get it. Its also not your typical Will Ferrell comedy, although it does have a bit more in common with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss show Veep, in tone if not politics.

Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Jaap Buitendijk/ Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

If you have seen Force Majeure, Downhill goes in enough different directions that it feels like its own movie. Downhill premiered at the Sundance Film Festival so Showbiz Cheat Sheet can bring you a review in advance of its February 14 opening.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell go Downhill

Pete (Ferrell) and Billie (Louis-Dreyfus) Stanton take their kids on a ski trip in Austria. When an avalanche comes towards their resort, Pete bolts leaving Billie alone with their sons. Once the snow clears, the Stantons are left with the awkward knowledge that Pete abandoned his family in a crisis.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell | Jaap Buitendijk/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Both Force Majeure and Downhill deal with couples debating the cowardice of the father. In both films, the father denies it and tries to spin what happened. The paths may diverge, but they both go downhill, as it were.

Cringe comedy with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell

The term cringe comedy definitely applies to Downhill. The very situation makes you cringe, and everything that happens after only makes it worse. The immediate aftermath of the avalanche is an awkward silence where you can tell Pete is ashamed and Billie cant even look at him.

L-R: Alex MacQueen, Miranda Otto, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell | Jaap Buitendijk/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Pete uses another couple (Miranda Otto, Alex MacQueen)s awkwardness to avoid his own situations. In a new scene to the American version, Billie and Pete complain to the mountain safety office, who wont acknowledge they mishandled a controlled blast. Pete kind of gets punished when his plan for a family helicopter trip falls apart, but thats not really enough penance for what he did.

From this point, all bets are off

Both Force Majeure and Downhill have a scene where the wife outs her husband in front of another couple. In this case, Pete invited Zach (Zach Woods) and Rosie (Zoe Chao) over to be another distraction but Billie cant contain herself anymore.

In Force Majeure, the other couple goes off and has their own argument too but Downhill stays with Pete and Billie. The cringe comedy is bigger than the social foibles of Curb Your Enthusiasm or the political sniping of Veep. This is life and death here that Pete is rationalizing. The longer the trip goes on, the worse it gets.

L-R: Will Ferrell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Kristofer Hivju | Jaap Buitendijk/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

After that centerpiece argument, Downhill really goes off in its own directions. Billie and Pete each spend solo days on the mountain dealing with things their own way. It gives Louis-Dreyfus a chance to perform some physical comedy in a hilarious bathroom scene, and Ferrell even more chances to show hes not playing the lovable goofball here.

Downhill has a better ending than Force Majeure

Both films leave the couple on somewhat ambiguous footing. Given the subject of the films, you wouldnt want to just give an answer and say everything is okay now. The way Downhill does it seems to fit more in line with the situation the couple is in. Force Majeure sort of constructs a new situation to reverse the husband and wifes situation. Its more organic in Downhill but appropriately ambiguous.
Palam Delhi Assembly Constituency Election Results 2020 Live Updates - Read Palam constituency vidhan sabha chunav latest news, party, constituency, candidate name wise winner, loser, leading, trailing live updates online at Firstpost.com.

Palam Assembly Elections 2020 | Counting of votes in the Palam Assembly constituency in South Delhi too place on Tuesday. According to the Election Commission's website, Aam Aadmi Party's Bhavna Gaur won the seat with a margin of 32,765 votes. Gaur received 92,775 votes against BJP's Vijay Pandit who received 60,010 votes.

Palam was one of the four constituencies in Delhi that the RJD had contested. The party's candidate Nirmal Kumar Singh had to forfeit his deposit as he managed to receive just 552 votes.

Here is a brief profile of the constituency:

Constituency name: Palam

Constituency number: 37

District name: South West

Total electors: 227210

Female electors: 102220

Male electors: 124977

Third gender: 13

Reserved: No

Results in previous elections: The constituency came into existence in 2008. Dharam Dev Solanki of the BJP was the first MLA after the delimitation process. He retained the seat in the 2013 polls before losing to AAPs Gaur by over 30,000 votes in the last elections.

Demographics: Coming under the Dwarka subdivision of South-West Delhi district, Palam is a residential area and is host to the Indira Gandhi International Airport. It is considered a BJP stronghold where the OBC community constitutes around half of the population.

There are also a sizeable number of Jats, Brahmins and members of the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. The constituency has an influential Purvanchali population, which reportedly influenced the Bihar-based RJD to try its luck in the upcoming polls.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) -- A Purdue Professor is leaving for the Vatican Tuesday to have a chat with Pope Francis about climate change.

Dr. John Sheffield teaches engineering technology in Purdue's Polytechnic Institute.

He said he will be discussing the role of Hydrogen as an energy source to help relieve climate change.

Sheffield is also the president of the International Association of Hydrogen Energy.

He said one of the challenges will be getting the public on board.

"To the consumer level it is one of those challenges how do we really make it not just safe but fully safe," said Sheffield. "How do we protect them. That is part of the implementation to a new technology."

Sheffield says this process is seven years in the making.

He along with four team members will present a one-page petition to the pope with a private audience.

"We have to address climate change, we have to address depleting fossil fuels, we have to address economic disparities and if we have to look at that we look at the infrastructure," said Sheffield.

Sheffield has been researching Hydrogen's role in the climate his whole career.
Bucharest, Feb 4 /Agerpres/ - The allocations of resources for research must gradually increase, to a level close to 1 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said on Tuesday.

The prime minister, present at the Team Romania meeting hosted by the University of Economic Studies (ASE), added that the discussions focused on the future of research in Romania and an analysis of the evolution of the energy system.

"The debate was extremely useful, beneficial, some conclusions, in my opinion extremely important, were drawn. (...). The allocations of resources for research should gradually increase, to a level as close as possible to, let's say, 1 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. Secondly - there must be a trend to clarify the fundamental research and the applied research so that there is adequate funding for research programs and projects. Thirdly - we should take into account the market test for research programs by involving in the research programs not only the research institutes, but also the academic environment and especially of private companies. Where there is interest from the private environment, companies, groups of companies for research projects, there is certainly an interest for applying the research results," said Orban.

He went on to say that Romania must be well prepared both from an institutional point of view and from the point of view of the capacity to elaborate projects for the future multiannual financial year.

"Romania will benefit from an extremely important allocation, which will probably exceed five billion euros, and in order to use this money in the interest of Romania's development, we will have to develop the whole institutional mechanism, but to develop an active policy for preparing the potential beneficiaries, whether they are public institutions, private environment, universities, in order to be able to generate those projects that can use these financial resources to ensure beneficial effects," affirmed Orban.

The prime minister pointed out, also referring to research, that it is necessary to shift the focus from financing the functioning of research entities to research programs that should be awarded "competitively".

As for the energy field, Orban specified that the discussions were aimed at finalizing the energy strategy and the effects that the new European policy will have on the energy production capacities.

"We have discussed about the great advantages that Romania has both in terms of resources and in terms of geographical position, which must be exploited so as to turn Romania into an energy hub. We have also discussed about concrete projects, meant to ensure the growth of energy production and especially the use of energy resources, natural gas, in order to be able to ensure a development or a support for the economic development," Ludovic Orban further stated.

Team Romania is a platform for debate, analysis and action of the most relevant and current issues, which brings together representatives of the public, private and non-governmental sectors.
A new app has helped cause chaos in the first chance voters had to determine who could be the next president of the US.

The app was intended to help gather information from across Iowa on who the roughly 1,700 caucus sites had chosen to be their presidential nominee.

But it has ended up contributing to chaos that means that there is no clarity over who won the contest, hours after it has finished.

At the time of publication, officials were still scrambling to find and verify the results. And they were scrambling, too, to explain how one of the most closely-watched moments in the lead-up to the election could have gone so dramatically wrong.

What was the app supposed to do?

The plan was that caucus organisers would be able to use the app to send in their results, allowing the state party to easily collate them from those submissions. It is the first time that such a system has been used in the Iowa caucus.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

The decision to use the app came together at the last minute, according to the New York Times, which reported that the Iowa Democrats had been preparing to use a different system that would involve people calling in their results over the phone. That plan was pulled with just two weeks to go, the paper reported.

What is so wrong with the app?

Very quickly, users started reporting glitches and errors, and organisers were able to input the information as intended. Many complained that they were being shown error messages and that the app would not load properly, forcing them to call in rather than use the app as planned.

Recommended The Iowa caucus fiasco is a metaphor for the state of US democracy

Jonathan Green, who chaired a precinct in Lone Tree, said that when he tried to put the results into the reporting app, he kept getting a confusing error message: Unknown protocol. The address specifies a protocol (e.g., wxyz:??.) the browser does not recognise, so the browser cannot properly connect to the site.

The backup plan of having people call in their results also ran into trouble because the phones they had been asked to use in case of problems were not being answered, according to Des Moines County Democratic Chair Tom Courtney.

Issues were further exacerbated by the fact that the app was only made available at a later stage, in an attempt to stop outside interference. That meant it had not been fully tested, and that organisers had little experience of it before the caucuses.

Officials have stressed that the delays and problems are not the result of a hack or intrusion, and that the results will remain safe despite the problems.

We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results, the party said in a statement. This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.

Who made the app?

The creation of the app still remains mired in some mystery: very little is known about the process of its creation, or where it came from. Though it is reported to have been made by a company called Shadow, the exact details of that startup are still unclear.

In fact, many of the organisations  such as nonprofit Acronym, which was reported to be an investor  have actually distanced themselves from the creation of the app in the wake of the mess.

What happens now?

All of the information is also kept in paper backups, and officials can now scour through those to find less high-tech but more reliable results for who has won. Local Democratic officials have claimed that means that the result will still arrive as normal, and will be reliable when it does, with the problems only meaning that they will take longer to actually report.

But the fallout could have broader implications beyond Iowa  into the rest of the primaries and caucuses, and even into further elections. As well as further scrutiny of the app, it could lead to yet more questions about why Iowa gets to be the first state in the country to declare, and whether that privilege should go to somewhere else in the wake of such high-profile mistakes.

Additional reporting by agencies
Amid the widening public corruption scandal surrounding disgraced Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, two top San Francisco officials provided a glimpse into the contours of the citys internal investigation into Nurus suspected wrongdoing.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera and Controller Ben Rosenfield released a joint statement Tuesday outlining the scope of what their respective agencies are probing to keep the public informed about a matter that has further corroded the publics faith in city government.

When the integrity of San Franciscos government is called into question, it is our duty to get to the bottom of it and change what isnt working, Herrera said in the statement.

Their investigation began last Tuesday, the day federal officials announced they had arrested Nuru and restaurateur Nick Bovis on fraud charges, accusing the two men of concocting several separate schemes, including an attempt to bribe an airport commissioner, to give Bovis an edge in securing city contracts. Mayor London Breed called for the investigation, but in their joint statement, Rosenfield and Herrera said the investigation was under way and would have continued regardless.

Nuru has also been accused of accepting gifts from a billionaire Chinese developer in exchange for help with a development deal, lying to the FBI, and receiving free and discounted building materials that he did not disclose. Both men face 20-year sentences if convicted.

Herreras Public Integrity and Investigations Team is leading the overall investigation to identify any government employee involved in potential lawbreaking that may tie back to Nurus alleged self-dealing. Theyll be looking to identify any contracts, grants and other decisions that may be tainted by conflicts of interest.

Rosenfields team is diving into whether any contracts, grants or purchase orders may be the product of corruption and need to be canceled. Theyll also be auditing Public Works contracting processes and making recommendations about how to shield those processes from potential abuse. Rosenfields team will also check into how the Airport Commission and the Transbay Joint Powers Authority  both of which have been tied to the scandal  review and approve contracts.

My office is focused on ensuring that public funds are spent wisely and properly. That is our job. Anytime there are allegations that public funds are being abused, we are going to review what occurred and promote practices to prevent it from happening in the future, Rosenfield said.

In an effort to try to restore the publics faith in the citys contracting process, Herrera and Rosenfield announced that both of their agencies will now review any significant modifications made to city contracts or the use of any non-standard methods for awarding contracts.

In addition to the investigation, the interim public works director, Alaric Degrafinried, who was appointed Wednesday, was described as an expert at contracting integrity who will bring transparency to the department. He had been the city purchaser, overseeing city contracts for most departments, not including Public Works.

On Tuesday, Degrafinried issued a directive to Public Works staff mandating new, stricter requirements meant to better ensure fairness and transparency in the departments contracting. The directives included soliciting bids from a minimum of three qualified contractors and instructions for how and where the bids should be posted publicly.

The unusual step of providing an update on an ongoing city investigation  however light on specifics it may be  follows calls by several supervisors for a separate probe conducted by a firm entirely outside City Hall.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Last week, Supervisors Matt Haney, Dean Preston and Gordon Mar said they had begun the process of hiring an outside auditing firm to look for evidence of corruption in any city department that may have been wrapped up in Nurus alleged schemes.

We absolutely cannot rely on the executive branch of government in the city and county of San Francisco to investigate itself. That does not work, Preston said last week.

The insinuation that the city attorney and controller could not produce an independent investigation privately rankled officials in both departments, which may have prompted the joint statement that outlines whats been done so far.

The city attorney is independently elected and does not fall within the executive branch. The controller is appointed by the mayor for a 10-year term and must be approved by the Board of Supervisors, one of several provisions meant to shield the office from political influence. Rosenfield was reappointed to a second term by then-Mayor Mark Farrell in 2018. The controller can be removed for cause, but only after a two-thirds supermajority vote by the board.

Breed issued a statement Tuesday about the investigations status and her confidence in it.

I encourage the city attorney and controller to follow every lead, every dollar, and every complaint, and to make policy recommendations to help prevent future wrongdoing. If laws were violated, we will hold people accountable, she said.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa
SEAL Team 6, officially known as United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), and Delta Force, officially known as 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D), are the most highly trained elite forces in the U.S. military.

Both are Special Missions Units (SMU) under the control of the secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), they perform various clandestine and highly classified missions around the world. Each unit can equally perform various types of operations but their primary mission is counter-terrorism.

So what's the difference between the two? Delta Force recently took out ISIS bad guy Abu Sayyaf in Syria; DevGru took out al Qaeda bad guy Osama Bin Laden a few years ago. Same-same, right?

Wrong.

WATM spoke with former DEVGRU operator Craig Sawyer as well as a former Delta operator who asked to remain anonymous to uncover 5 key differences between the two elite forces.

1. Selection

Delta Force is an Army outfit that primarily selects candidates from within their own special forces and infantry units. However, they will also select candidates from all branches of service, including the National Guard and Coast Guard.

SEAL Team 6 selects candidates exclusively from the Navy's SEAL team community. If a candidate does not pass the grueling selection process they will still remain part of the elite SEAL teams.

"It's a matter of can candidates quickly process what they are taught and keep up," Sawyer says.

2. Training

Both units have the most sophisticated equipment and are highly trained in Close Quarters Combat (CQB), hostage rescue, high value target extraction, and other specialized operations. The difference is the extensive training DEVGRU operators have in specialized maritime operations, given their naval heritage.

"Each unit has strengths and weaknesses, neither is better or worse," according to our Delta operator source.

3. Culture

Delta Force operators can be vastly diversified in their training background since they can come from various units across different military branches (including DEVGRU). Delta operators will even be awarded medals of their respective branch of service while serving with the Army unit.

"No matter what your background is, everyone starts from zero so that everyone is on the same page," says our former Delta operator.

DEVGRU operators come from the SEAL community, and while the training is intensified and more competitive, they all retain their roots in familiar SEAL training and culture.

"Candidates have proven themselves within the SEAL teams," Sawyer says. "It's a matter of learning new equipment, tactics, and rules of engagement."

4. Missions

Generally speaking, both units are equally capable of executing all specialized missions that JSOC is tasked with. Again, because of DEVGRU's extensive training for specialized maritime operations, they are more likely to receive missions like the rescue of Captain Phillips at sea. Delta's known and successful missions include finding Saddam Hussein and tracking down Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi.

"These are two groups of the most elite operators the military can provide," says Sawyer.

5. Media exposure

Photo: YouTube.com

Members of both units are known as "quiet professionals" and are notorious for being massively secretive. Unfortunately, with today's social media, 24-hour news coverage and leaks within the government, it can be difficult to keep out of the media no matter what steps are taken to ensure secrecy. While both units carry out high profile missions, SEAL Team 6 has gained much more notoriety and (largely unwanted) exposure in the media in recent years thanks to government leaks and Hollywood blockbuster films such as Zero Dark Thirty (photo above).

"We are very strict with our quiet professionalism. If someone talks, you will probably be blacklisted," says our former Delta operator.

For more detailed differences between these elite forces check out this SOFREP article.

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We Are The Mighty (WATM) celebrates service with stories that inspire. WATM is made in Hollywood by veterans. It's military life presented like never before. Check it out at We Are the Mighty.
Medical staff members wearing protective clothing walk at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan on Jan 25, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Hector Retamal)

Fifteen more people have died and at least 688 new cases of the coronavirus have now been confirmed, according to the National Health Commission.

Among the new deaths, 13 were in Hubei, the province at the heart of the outbreak, while Shanghai reported its first death.

Chinese authorities have so far reported 1,975 cases nationwide.

President Xi Jinping warned on Saturday that China faced a "grave situation" as authorities raced to contain a respiratory illness that has caused the widespread abandonment of Chinese New Year celebrations nationwide and overwhelmed health facilities in Hubei.

The contagion remained centred on the Hubei provincial capital of Wuhan, which accounted for seven of the new deaths and 46 of the new confirmed cases, said the Hubei Health Commission.

Wuhan and more than a dozen other cities in the province have been locked down in a rapidly expanding quarantine effort marked by transport shutdowns and other restrictions on movement.

A second major Chinese city is set to halt long-distance buses as China scrambles to contain the deadly virus.

SUSPENSIONS, LOCKDOWNS

Starting Monday, Tianjin - a city of about 15 million inhabitants - will suspend long-distance buses and chartered buses that enter and leave the city, local officials said on their official Twitter-like Weibo account, a day after Beijing announced a similar measure.

China also announced a partial lockdown in the southern city of Shantou, the first such measure taken outside the epicentre of the disease.

From midnight, non-emergency vehicles will be prohibited from entering the city of 5.6 million people, which is a 1,100-kilometre drive from Wuhan, the heart of the epidemic.

People arriving at Shantou train stations will be screened and "urged to return", said city authorities.

Buses, ferries, public transport and taxis will be suspended, Shantou authorities said on their official social media account.

The measures are to "spare no efforts in doing a good job of preventing and controlling" the epidemic, Shantou officials said, and to "cut off the channels of spreading the virus".

The previously unknown virus has caused global concern because of its similarity to the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) pathogen, which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.

It also has struck at possibly the worst time for China, when hundreds of millions of people are travelling across the country or overseas to celebrate the Chinese New Year holiday, China's most important festival.

FEAR IN WUHAN

Instead of New Year revelry, Wuhan has been seized by an eerie calm that deepened on Sunday as new restrictions banned most road traffic in the metropolis of 11 million.

Loudspeakers broke the silence by offering tips slathered with bravado.

"Do not believe in rumours. Do not spread rumours. If you feel unwell, go to the hospital in time," the message said.

"Wuhan is a city that dares to face difficulties and keeps overcoming them," the female voice added, mentioning the deadly 2002-03 SARS epidemic and 1998 Yangtze River flooding.

But some foreigners in Wuhan expressed deep concern, saying they feared going outside even though their food supplies were running low.

"The bustling city looks like a ghost town from my window. The shops are all shut down," Bangladeshi doctoral candidate Israt Zahan told AFP by phone.

"I am rationing the food at my home. It will last for two days, then I don't know what I will do."

Hundreds of military doctors have been sent to Hubei and authorities are rushing to build a pair of field hospitals to deal with the crisis as patients swamp local medical facilities.

The virus has spread nationwide in China and cases have been reported in several other countries as far away as the United States, France and Australia.
President Trump will give his third State of the Union address tonight at 9 p.m. ET, seven weeks after he was impeached by the House of Representatives and one day before he's set to be acquitted by the Senate.

Why it matters: The president typically strikes a more measured tone during formal, teleprompter-guided speeches like the State of the Union, but all bets could be off as an emboldened Trump looks ahead to a scorched earth election campaign.

What to watch

Impeachment: Bill Clinton, the only other president to deliver a State of the Union address in the midst of an impeachment trial, did not once mention the charges brought against him during his 1999 speech.

A senior administration official declined to answer whether Trump would address impeachment, but said the theme of the speech will be "the great American comeback" with an overtone of "relentless optimism."

Some Republicans have said they would advise the president against bringing up impeachment, but as Axios previewed this weekend, everything we've heard from Trump's aides over the last month suggests he plans to give less and less credence to voices urging caution.

As the president flexes his heightened sense of invincibility, he'll be flanked to the left by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who helped him achieve one of his primary policy goals  the USMCA trade deal  while simultaneously impeaching him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Whether Democrats applaud any of the achievements touted by a president they've called a legitimate threat to democracy will be a fascinating dynamic to watch.

2020: The 2020 campaign will be front of mind one day after the debacle that was the Iowa Democratic caucuses. The president will seek to highlight what the White House believes are his strongest arguments for his re-election  economic growth, energy production and trade deals, among other things  while accusing his Democratic opponents of favoring "socialist" policies.

A senior administration official did not confirm whether the president would directly call out any of his potential 2020 opponents  some of whom will be sitting in the audience  but said he would be "comfortable" doing so.

Worth noting: Trump's approval rating has risen to 49%, his highest rating in that poll since taking office, according to Gallup's tracking poll.

Guests: White House officials say Trump's favorite speechmaking device for the State of the Union is to point to guests in the audience and use their stories to dramatize his points.

Based on conversations with aides, and on past experience, we expect the White House has at least one surprise guest to create the kind of emotional made-for-TV moment that Trump requires for these speeches.

But we can glean a lot about the White House's priorities for the speech from the guests they've already announced:

Trump wants to highlight "Opportunity Zones"  the policy, born out of his 2017 tax bill, that uses tax breaks to encourage businesses to invest in poor neighborhoods  as well as his care for veterans.

Trump wants to highlight the importance of being "tough on the border." He'll lionize the deputy chief of U.S. Border Patrol and has invited the brother of a man killed by an undocumented immigrant.

As expected, Trump will celebrate his killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani. The president and first lady have invited the widow and son of a U.S. soldier killed by a roadside bomb the White House says was supplied by Soleimani.

And he's expected to use a man who escaped from Venezuela to the U.S. to cite the need for regime change  a topic Trump has largely dropped since U.S.-led efforts to force out Nicolas Maduro failed last year.

The other side: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar will deliver the Democratic rebuttals to Trump's speech in English and Spanish, respectively.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 21:09:42|Editor: yhy

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MUMBAI, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- India's GMR group has signed an agreement to operate Bidar airport in the country's southwestern state of Karnataka by connecting a daily flight to state capital of Bengaluru, the company said in a statement.

Located in the northeastern part of Karnataka state, Bidar city, which is home to important religious shrines and historic monuments, is renowned for Bidriware metal handicraft products recognized with the coveted Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

"We are very pleased to partner with the government of Karnataka to support efforts for all-round development Bidar and nearby regions and we are confident that the start of commercial operations at Bidar will provide a boost to the local economy through better connectivity for the people of Bidar and the large number of tourists who visit the area," said SGK Kishore, executive director of GMR Airports.

GMR Group's Airport portfolio has around 325 million passenger capacity in operation and under development, comprising of India's busiest Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and Mactan Cebu International Airport in partnership with Megawide in the Philippines.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:

Some 6.7 million tons of agricultural products were produced in Irans north-western West Azerbaijan province this Iranian year (began on March 21, 2019), Rasul Jalili, Director of the Agriculture Organization of the province, said, Trend reports referring to the organizations website.

Jalili added that 6.4 million tons were produced last Iranian year, 1.1 million tons of apples were harvested this Iranian year, and 750,000 tons of apples were stored in the warehouses.

"Presently, 2,500-3,000 tons of apples are exported to neighboring countries, namely, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India," the director said.

Some 400,000 tons of apples remained in the warehouses of the province, Jalili said. By the end of the year (March 21, 2020), additional products are expected to be exported or transported to other Iranian provinces.

He added that 1.2 million tons of sugar beet were harvested this year compared to 2.4 million tons two years ago.

According to him, 235,000 farmers work in the province.
The first-ever award bestowed to a student film based on review from the whole community of CILECT Full Member Schools.

AFDA is proud to announce the selection of three AFDA 2019 graduation films to compete for the prestigious CILECT Prize 2020, the first-ever award bestowed to a student film based on review from the whole community of CILECT Full Member Schools. This includes 160 institutions from 60 countries, of which AFDA is a full member. Each CILECT Member School is permitted to submit one film in each category.The CILECT Prize, founded in 2005 at the proposal of the (then) Vice-President Conferences and Festivals Prof. Dr Stanislav Semerdjiev, Rector of the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA), Sofia, Bulgaria. It appeared as a result of his long-term research on world student festival activities and after a thorough survey between all CILECT Full Member Schools on the eventual importance of such a competition.The formal ceremony of presenting the award is usually held at the annual Conferences of CILECT. The first such ceremony took place at ECAM, Madrid, Spain, on 21 November 2006.CILECT, The International Association of Film and Television Schools (Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de Cinema et de Television), was founded in Cannes, France, in 1954 and is most strongly committed to maintaining the highest possible standards of audiovisual educational in its member schools by establishing and organising global and regional forums for the exchange of managerial, pedagogical, methodological and research best practices.CILECT also strives to contribute to the world cultural and communication processes by stimulating a multitude of networking and sharing collaborations among its members (workshops, conferences, symposia, festivals, co-productions, joint degrees, etc.).AFDA has submitted films in three categories. AFDA Cape Town postgraduate film,, directed by Esther Jo Mbulawa, represents AFDA in the fiction film category. The animation category slot is taken by third-year AFDA Johannesburg film,, directed by Nuha Suliman, and AFDA Johannesburg third-year television documentary,, directed by Paballo Seletisha, is selected in the documentary category.Congratulations to all the cast and crew!
Last month, an Old Forge resident contacted a DEC Environmental Conservation Police Officer about sightings of a small bear. On Jan. 19, the resident expressed concerns that the cub was malnourished and had been wandering on his property for several days. ECO Robert How arrived at the property, captured the bear and transported it to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

That incident and others reported by the state Department of Environmental Conservation Police Officers occurred between Jan. 15 to 23rd. All specifics below were supplied by the DEC.

Red-tailed Hawk Injured - Sullivan County

On Jan. 15, ECOs Christopher Doroski and Michael Hameline responded to Low Road in the town of Neversink to investigate a report of a red-tailed hawk that appeared to be injured and was unable to fly. Upon arrival, the ECOs observed the hawk with a broken wing. The ECOs captured the bird and placed it in a carrier for transport to a nearby wildlife rehabilitator.

Hazardous Obstacles Marked for Lake Safety - Great Sacandaga Lake

On Jan. 17, ECOs Paul Pasciak and Wes Leubner, along with Forest Rangers Michael Thompson and Ian Kerr, conducted a patrol on Great Sacandaga Lake to assess docks that broke free from shore and became frozen in ice south of the Batchellerville Bridge. The docks likely broke free during heavy rains in early winter and became frozen in the main portion of the lake when temperatures dropped. Due to unsafe ice conditions, Forest Rangers Kerr and Thompson piloted an airboat with ECOs Pasciak and Leubner on board to locate the docks. The three docks could not be removed, but the ECOs and Forest Rangers used reflective signs and high visibility flagging tape to ensure the docks are noticeable during the day and at night. As always, snowmobilers are encouraged to use caution operating on trails and frozen waterbodies, keeping in mind that with changing ice conditions, potential hazards can be difficult to predict. For more information on snowmobile safety when traveling on ice visit DECs website.

Hawk Rescue - Dutchess County

On Jan. 20, while on patrol in Orange County, ECOs Heather Carl and William Chomicki received a report of an injured hawk in the city of Poughkeepsie. When the ECOs arrived, the red-tailed hawk was perched on a low branch with what appeared to be a broken wing. The hawk was quickly captured without incident, transported to New Paltz Hospital for observation, and later picked up by a wildlife rehabilitator for treatment.

Bald Eagle Rescue - Chemung County

On Jan. 20, a New York State Police (NYSP) Trooper contacted a wildlife rehabilitator after observing an injured eagle on the bank of a pond in Horseheads. Attempts to catch the eagle were unsuccessful, because the bird continued to jump into the pond, evading capture. ECO Travis McNamara was contacted and asked to assist. With the help of Troopers Nathan Lowmaster and Brandon Salyerds, and Elmira Animal Control, ECO McNamara tracked down and cornered the eagle near the pond. The ECO used a landing net to safely capture the eagle and transport it to Cornell Wildlife Health Center.

Cub Scout Outreach - Oneida County

On Jan. 23, ECO Jeff Hull spoke to the VVS Cub Scouts about an ECOs training and responsibilities. The children asked a variety of questions, such as where does Santa get his reindeer, have you ever seen a black mamba, and is it true you can suck venom out of a bite. A few youngsters were quick to offer up information about family members shooting more than their legal limit of deer and using illegal traps. Before departing, one young cub scout approached ECO Hull with a stuffed animal that had a globe stuck on its head, mimicking the deer in the globe ECO Hull rescued in 2016. The young lady asked the officer how he would handle such a situation, which caused everyone to laugh. ECO Hull reported that the outreach opportunities are often the most enjoyable part of the job.

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What time does President Donald Trumps 2020 State of the Union Address start? What TV channel is it on?

The 2020 State of the Union speech (SOTU, for short), Trumps fourth since taking office, will be delivered tonight, Tuesday, February 4, 2020, at 9:00 p.m. ET in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. It takes place less than 24 hours before the Senate will vote on two articles of impeachment and acquit the president.

The theme of the speech will be The Great American Comeback and it is expected to have a tone of relentless optimism. That will be a stark contrast to his 2019 State of the Union, when Democrats had just taken back control of the House of Representatives.

Trump is expected to highlight his current position of strength and contrast it with pessimism seen from Democrats in the House. He will highlight the strong economy including gains in blue collar wages, and tout his new trade deal with China.

What TV channel is President Donald Trumps 2020 State of the Union Address on?

The speech will be broadcast live on several major news networks, including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and more.

Channel finder: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, Cox, DIRECTV, Dish

How to watch the 2020 State of the Union Address for free online

The following streaming services will broadcast the debate:

The debate can also be streamed live for free on the White House website, or on the White Houses YouTube channel.

CBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC will all provide live streams on their websites or apps with a cable provider login. Apps are available for iOS, Android, Roku, Amazon Fire and other devices.

It can also be streamed on FoxBusiness.com and will be broadcast live on NPR.org or on most local member stations.

Who will deliver the Democratic response to the State of the Union Address?

After the president finishes delivering his remarks, the Democrats will deliver a response. This year, theyve tapped Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer for the rebuttal. Whitmer became Governor of Michigan in 2018, two years after the battleground state helped Donald Trump win the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton.

Will there be any additional SOTU coverage?

Most major TV news networks will begin pre-address coverage by 8 p.m. ET with full panels of experts on for analysis and predictions. Coverage will continue to 11:00 p.m. and even beyond that for some networks.

NPR will also provide live fact-checking and analysis of Trumps address and the Democratic response on NPR.org.

What special guests will be there?

The president and First Lady Melania Trump have invited:

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin

Debra Bissell, Heather Armstrong, and Madison Armstrong, who represent three generations of the family of Gerald and Sharon David of Reno, Nevada, who were murdered by an illegal immigrant.

Matthew Charles, a former drug dealer who became the first prisoner released as a result of the First Step Act after completing his GED, mentoring fellow inmates and completing numerous Bible studies.

Grace Eline, a 9-year-old girl who recently completed chemotherapy and has been asking for charitable donations instead of birthday presents from a young age.

Other invitees include a recovering opioid abuse victim, a human trafficking investigator, the manager of a lumber facility, an Auschwitz survivor, a WWII veteran and more.

What to expect?

Preview from the Associated Press

TRUMP AND PELOSI

They haven't spoken since Pelosi stood up, pointed at Trump across a table at the White House and bluntly suggested he is controlled by the president of Russia. All roads lead to Putin, she said, before stalking out.

The extraordinary moment last October was captured in a now-famous photograph that Trump released and Pelosi slapped across the top of her Twitter page. At other times, shes questioned his manhood and hes called her crazy.

Impeachment has only inflamed things. Pelosi last week said Trump will never have a true acquittal because the Senate did not hold a real trial with witnesses. But, she's said with relish, he'll be impeached forever.

Trump, meanwhile, is poised to claim vindication in yet another witch hunt by Democrats who, he says, just wanted to overturn the 2016 election.

Watch them for any spark of civility. Pelosi and many Democratic women are expected to wear suffragette white to the speech.

____

TONE

The White House said last week to look for can-do optimism in the face of unjustified pessimism we are hearing from some in Congress."

But officials would not guarantee that Trump will stick to his speech. The president will be in the same room as his accusers at a moment of impending victory. He has a strong and often-stated sense of grievance and is known for going off-script.

Look for roaring applause and cheers from Republicans, who have almost completely stuck with the retribution-loving president.

___

THE BIG PICTURE

Trump is sure to use the speech to try to remind the country of what he's accomplished.

The White House would not say whether it is modeling Trump's speech on President Bill Clinton's in 1999, amid his own impeachment trial. Clinton never mentioned the I-word.

Look for Trump, like Clinton, to promote a strong economy. Trump is expected to lead with talk about what the White House calls a blue-collar boom. There have been gains in blue-collar wages under Trump, though some of those gains have faded as Trump's trade war hurt manufacturing.

Watch to see if Trump can stick to the high road rhetorically, in his own style. Clinton ended his by asking the nation to envision a State of the Union speech 100 years from that night, from the mountaintop of the American Century.

Let it be said of us then that we were thinking not only of our time, but of their time; that we reached as high as our ideals. That we put aside our divisions and found a new hour of healing and hopefulness; that we joined together to serve and strengthen the land we love."

At the time, some said his rhetoric was over the top.

____

UKRAINE?

Will Trump even mention Ukraine? Republicans have started to come out and agree that the president had inappropriately tried to get political help from that country while he held up military aid.

The House impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for his actions in response to the House investigation.

The issue clearly puts Republicans in a bind. Several have said that House prosecutors proved their case, but even so, the wrongdoing didn't rise to the level of impeachment or removal from office.

___

CORONAVIRUS

Will he make any mention of the new coronavirus?

Weve offered China help, but we cant have thousands of people coming in who may have this problem, the coronavirus," Trump said Sunday. At the same time, the president has tried to avoid angering China by being too outspoken, according to confidants.

Under new rules, U.S. citizens who have traveled in China within the last 14 days will be re-routed to one of eight designated airports, where they will undergo enhanced health screening procedures.

___

MIDEAST PEACE

Trump is focused on re-introducing himself to Americans as a president who has made the country  and voters' lives specifically  better. So listen for any mention of foreign policy and national security issues.

Trump's Mideast peace plan is a good test. Trump said that his efforts to solve the long-running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians would gain support because its a win-win for both sides. In fact, Trumps plan favors Israel on key contentious issues and attaches nearly impossible conditions for granting the Palestinians their hoped-for state. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plan as nonsense.

If Trump says nothing about the plan during the speech, that could signal that Trump knows it's in trouble.

___

IRAN

Listen for how harsh Trump is on Tehran in the wake of Irans bombing that injured U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The attack was retribution for the U.S. killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. In the month since, an uneasy quiet has settled over the region.

Will Trump suggest he'll eventually want to sit down and talk with the Iranians, signal the door is closed for talks, or poke Tehran?

The White House said to expect Trump's tone to be determined and forceful.

___

AFGHANISTAN

Will Trump announce a troop withdrawal?

The Taliban want U.S. and other coalition forces to leave. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says a deal is close, but it wont happen without a reduction in violence and a pathway for talks between the Taliban and other Afghans about a peaceful way forward for the nation.

___

IN THE ROOM

There's always some suspense over who shows up and who stays away.

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren's campaign said late Monday it was unlikely that the Massachusetts senator will attend Trump's speech, coming the day after the Iowa caucuses. Another Democratic contender, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, has an event in New Hampshire scheduled earlier Tuesday evening.

Other legislators have their own reasons for attending  or not.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said shell attend to bear witness.

That means that I do not clap. I do not acknowledge. Im just there as a witness, she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
SPRINGFIELD  A man was injured in a shooting Saturday night.

The victim walked into the emergency room of Mercy Medical Center at about 9:15 p.m. and reported that he had been either shot or stabbed. A doctor examined him and determined the victim was suffering from a gunshot wound, said Ryan Walsh, police spokesman.

The man suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Walsh said.

Springfield detectives spoke to the victim at the hospital but were unable to locate a crime scene. They continue to investigate the crime, he said.
Montana State professor receives lifetime achievement award for work in remote sensing

BOZEMAN -- A longtime Montana State University professor was recognized last month for his pioneering work in the field of remote sensing and geographic information systems over his 21-year career.

Rick Lawrence, a professor in the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences in MSU's College of Agriculture and director of the Spatial Sciences Center, received the lifetime achievement award from AmericaView, a national nonprofit that seeks to advance applications for remote sensing technologies on a state and local level across the U.S. The recognition came at an apt time; Lawrence retired at the end of January after more than two decades at MSU.

From 1979 to 1993, Lawrence worked as a corporate lawyer in the Los Angeles area. After nearly 15 years working with large international law firms, he sought a career change, wanting to pursue something that could make positive differences to the natural world. Ultimately, he returned to college, receiving a master's and doctorate in forestry, the latter with an emphasis on geographic information systems and remote sensing.

AmericaView's lifetime achievement award recognizes Lawrence's work in creating MontanaView, which at its inception was the 18th state-level organization in the collection. Now, there are 40 state bodies. It also notes his years spent on AmericaView's national board of directors, including three years as chairman, the longest term as a chairperson in the organization's history. For the roughly 20 years AmericaView has existed, Lawrence has helped lead it for 15 of those.

The national nonprofit oversees state-level organizations that are led by researchers at universities in their respective states. After arriving in Bozeman in 1998, Lawrence helped AmericaView create MontanaView. He was instrumental in creating the consortium -- made up of MSU, the University of Montana, Montana Tech and Salish Kootenai College, along with agricultural and governmental bodies -- to apply remote sensing technology to their fullest potential in Montana.

"Over the years, we've used remote sensing for looking at habitat for endangered species, including Canada lynx, grizzly bears and wolverines, used it heavily for agriculture to look at herbicide applications and agricultural inputs and even down in Yellowstone looking at geothermal features and changes in those features over time," said Lawrence. "The goals of these state consortia were to look at the needs that could be fulfilled to advance remote sensing and make a difference in people's lives."

But arguably most notable are Lawrence's contributions to the field of remote sensing itself, introducing novel uses for state-of-the-art algorithms and applying them to natural resources in ways they never had been before.

"With something like Google Earth, you can see things, but sometimes you want more than a picture. You want to know how much biomass is out there, or what the composition of a forest is in terms of species, or what the geothermal energy is if you're looking at Yellowstone," said Lawrence. "How can we use these techniques from the computer science, machine learning and statistical worlds to make better maps? I was able to bring some of those over into the remote sensing world to help more accurately extract useful map data from the imagery."

And while academia was his second career, Lawrence has made an indelible impact on those around him.

"This lifetime achievement award, coinciding with his retirement, is an ideal way to recognize Dr. Lawrence's accomplishments," said Scott Powell, an assistant professor in the land resources and environmental sciences department and faculty member in the Spatial Sciences Center. "I have worked closely with Rick for 20 years, first as a graduate student and then as a faculty peer, and I have seen few people who have approached their work with as much integrity, pride and joy as he has."

For Lawrence, that impact goes both ways. The people of MSU, and particularly the students, that he has worked with over two decades are the thing upon which he looks back most fondly, he said, calling his time in Bozeman a dream.

"I remember when I first interviewed here, I told the committee that if I ever had to choose between research and teaching, I would choose teaching," he said. "That's the focus for me. I see in our students a strong desire to learn, and even when they struggle, it's with the desire of moving forward. It's been such a pleasure, and it's been worth every minute of it."

###

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Photo: Sierra Bell/Unsplash

Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Houston.

Repeat DWI offender charged with felony murder after deadly crash, sheriff says

A man with prior 'driving while intoxicated' convictions on his record will be charged with felony murder after a deadly crash in northwest Harris County, the sheriff's office said.

Read the full story on KHOU 11 News.

Police do not believe METRO bus was intended target of gunfire

Witnesses told police a gunman fired multiple rounds, shattering a window on the bus.



Read the full story on KHOU 11 News.

Truck plows into apartment building near Beltway 8 in southwest Houston

Houston police responded to a southwest Houston apartment complex near Beltway 8, where a pickup truck slammed into an apartment building Monday evening.

Read the full story on KPRC2 / Click2Houston.

Houston Symphony clarinetist seeks priceless stolen instrument

A backpack that had contained the clarinets case surfaced in a garbage bin, but the instrument remains missing.

Read the full story on Houston Chronicle.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
SAP is taking a carrot-and-stick approach to moving customers from its legacy ERP software, Business Suite 7, to its newer S/4HANA platform.

The carrot is a bold promise to support S/4HANA at least through 2040, meaning that businesses switching today will get over two decades use out of the new platform.

Thats what you should expect, says Joshua Greenbaum of Enterprise Applications Consulting. At the beginning of the cycle of uptake you would want to have an absolute rock-solid assurance that you can make a 20-year investment in your technology.

SAP co-CEO Christian Klein says enterprises are keen to move to S/4HANA, but some of the larger ones are telling him they wont be ready by 2025, the deadline SAP had previously set to end support for its legacy software. For those companies, Its not so much about the technology, its really about adapting long-standing business processes, adapting to the needs of the customers in the digital world, Klein says.

Theres also been some concern that an SAP skills shortage could leave some customers without the help they need to migrate their systems.

The demand is high, but the partners now are ramping up as we speak, Klein says. I just talked to the three largest systems integrators and they are very confident that we overcome this shortage of skilled SAP resources really near term.

Thats why SAP has chosen to use a softer stick.

What we dont want to do is leave a customer behind, Klein says. We will provide mainstream maintenance for Business Suite 7 up to the end of 2027, followed by extended maintenance until the end of 2030.

The 2 percent solution

Extended maintenance will cost an additional 2 percent of the annual license fee, on top of the 20 percent fee for mainstream maintenance.

The new cut-off date will affect users of SAPs core enterprise software component, ERP 6.0, and the core applications of SAP Business Suite 7, including Customer Relationship Management, Supply Chain Management and Supplier Relationship Management.

Procrastinators hoping that SAP will relent and offer another extension in future are out of luck: For extended maintenance for the Business Suite 7 core applications, the end of 2030 is really the final date, Klein says.

Unless, that is, they are willing to pay for a custom maintenance agreement. That kind of thing can get expensive quickly, as organizations paying Microsoft for security updates for the no-longer-supported Windows 7 OS are finding. The Irish Health Service Executive faces a bill of 1.1 million ($1.22 million) this year to continue receiving patches for its 46,000 machines running Windows 7, while the German government will pay 800,000 ($880,000) to patch its 33,000 Windows 7 machines.

Even 2027 will be too soon for some, says EACs Greenbaum, noting that there are companies still running instances of R/2, a version of SAPs ERP system that was superseded in the early 1990s.

The extension will remove a key commercial argument for SAP competitors such as Oracle, who have been playing on the uncertainty of what will happen after 2025 to tempt customers to switch, says Greenbaum.

Its not a sign that CIOs should relax, he says. I dont think the customer of any vendor in this industry should be putting their feet up on the table and relaxing about digital transformation and about upgrading their business processes, Greenbaum says. But on the other hand, this allows for a calmer and more measured strategy, and thats what people want.
Des Moines, Iowa  The closing themes of the Democratic candidates who apparently finished in the top three in Iowas caucuses were neatly distilled by the chants of college students who gathered to caucus at Drake University field house on Monday night.

The students for Bernie Sanders chanted, Not me, us! Not me, us! underlining the Sanders campaigns message of socialist solidarity.

The students for Pete Buttigieg chanted, I-O-W-A! Mayor Pete all the way! highlighting the extent to which Buttigiegs campaign is built on his burgeoning cult of personality.

The students for Elizabeth Warren chanted, Its time! Its time! Its time for a woman in the White House! making clear that Warrens campaign was about identity.

It wasnt always that way for Warren. She started out as the candidate of big, structural change who had a plan for everything. Then Buttigieg whacked her at the October Democratic debate for not having a plan to pay for Medicare for All. This forced her to release a proposal that drew intense criticism. She then retreated and promised not to push for Medicare for All until the third year of her first term. By the end of November, half of her supporters had abandoned her.

When the January Democratic debate rolled around, Warren tried out a new closing line of attack against Bernie Sanders: identity politics. She suggested he had committed a sexist sin by privately telling her a woman couldnt win the White House  an allegation he denied, noting that hed recruited her to run in the 2015 Democratic presidential primary against Hillary Clinton. Her hot-mic moment after the debate drew national coverage. I think you called me a liar on national TV, she told Sanders. Then the race was drowned out by impeachment.

How did the attack on Sanders work out for Warren? While we dont have final results from Iowa, partial results show she finished behind Sanders and Buttigieg. With 62 percent of precincts reporting, Buttigieg and Sanders are battling for first place, while Warren is a distant third at 18.3 percent, just a bit ahead of Biden at 15.6 percent. Elsewhere, the polls show that Sanderss lead over Warren has only grown since the January 14 debate: He entered that clash running five points ahead of her in the RealClearPolitics average of New Hampshire polls; by Monday, February 3, that lead had been stretched to twelve points. In the same time period, his advantage over her in the RCP average of national polls increased by six points.

Story continues

There is a good argument to be made that suggesting Sanders is a sexist liar was never going to end well for Warren. One of Sanderss greatest strengths among Democrats is that they see him as someone who tells it like it is. One of Warrens greatest weaknesses is her trouble with telling the straight truth. Whats more, she was not primarily competing with Sanders for Boomer feminists but for young Democratic voters, who polls suggest care more about authenticity and a left-wing policy agenda than about identity.

Due to the colossally botched caucus process, which has delayed the release of results and prevented any candidate from credibly claiming momentum, Warrens campaign isnt quite dead yet, and it wont be even if she does indeed end up finishing third in the Hawkeye State. But Sanders appears to be in control of the progressive lane of the Democratic primary, and Warren has not yet inspired much confidence that she knows how to beat him.

More from National Review
Everyone knows that when a liberal is out of ammo, his first recourse is to accuse those who disagree with him of being racists. This dodge is so familiar, and so ineffective, that I usually dont bother to comment on it. But today we saw an extreme instance, and one that involves the organization that I run, Minnesotas think tank, Center of the American Experiment. So here goes.

By way of background, my home state of Minnesota has a lot going for it, but in the 21st Century has suffered from slow population growth, below-average per capita GDP growth, below-average job growth, and below-average income growth. One of the states problems is a chronic net outflow of higher-earning workers. The Center published a paper on this in 2016 that received a great deal of attention. That paper was based mainly on the IRSs vast database that tracks the movements of tax filers from state to state.

For a considerable time, the IRS did not update that database. They finally did, a few weeks ago, with two years worth of information. So our senior economist, John Phelan, analyzed the new IRS data and published an op-ed on it in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It was the most-read column in the newspaper today, according to the Stribs Editorial Editor, who predicted that it would have a lot of influence in the states upcoming legislative session.

John Phelan is British, with an advanced degree from the London School of Economics. His style is inflammatory only in comparison with some other economists. Here are some excerpts from his op-ed:

On net, in every year from 2001 through 2016, Minnesota lost residents to other states. This was a source of much discussion in our state, prompting fears of slower economic growth and a lost congressional seat. So there was some celebration when, in 2017 and 2018, the Census Bureau found that there were net in-migrations of people into Minnesota from other states, in the net amounts of 7,941 and 6,769, respectively. Unfortunately, that uptick of migration into Minnesota has proved to be temporary. Figures for 2019 show that in-migration dropped essentially to zero, a positive net of 65 people. And another new data set provides more cause for concern.

***

The IRS database has just been updated with the addition of two more years of statistics on the movement of taxpayers across state lines, covering the years 2016-17 and 2017-18. Unfortunately, these new data show that the trend that existed as of 2016 continues: Minnesota gains low-income residents from other states, but loses middle- and upper-income residents, generally to lower-tax states. In fact, the IRS data show that Minnesota, on net, lost $900 million in income to other states between 2016 and 2018. 

***

In Minnesota, we often hear talk about whether our high tax rates drive away the rich. Unfortunately, that is only one of our problems. The IRS database shows that Minnesota was a net loser of residents in every income category from $50,000 up in 2017-18. Out-migration is very much a middle-class issue. By contrast, the state attracted a net inflow of domestic migrants with incomes of $25,000 or less.

***

In the long run, repelling the middle class and high wage earners is not a sustainable strategy for any state. How can Minnesota do better? High taxes are an obvious culprit. The large and growing body of evidence on the effects of taxation on migration was summarized recently by economists Henrik Kleven, Camille Landais, Mathilde Munoz and Stefanie Stantcheva. They found there is growing evidence that taxes can affect the geographic location of people both within and across countries. If Minnesota wants to prosper in the 21st century, we must attract, rather than drive away, highly productive citizens. Whether we like it or not, we are competing with other states for jobs and taxpaying residents.

That is the kind of solid, data-based analysis my organization prides itself on, and it is highly influential with both voters and legislators. But a lefty on Twitter saw something completely different:

As soon as I got to the paragraph about the influx of low income people (code for people of color), I knew it had to be from the Klan-robe crowd at the Center of the American Experiment. Migration out of Minnesota is on the rise. https://t.co/35HMxowwBe  Bob Collins (@MyLittleBloggie) February 3, 2020



This is stupid almost beyond belief. Low income is code for people of color? No, income is an economically significant fact, not code for anything. Maybe Mr. Collins is so bigoted that he doesnt believe that people of color can make money. Welcome to the 20th century, you troglodyte: they can, and most often do. But Phelans point has nothing to do with race: it has to do with economics. If you chase away people who make money, and attract only people who dont, you are in trouble. Liberals cant argue with that obvious proposition, so they name-call instead: the Klan-robe crowd at the Center of the American Experiment.

Does publishing data-driven studies of spending, taxes, energy, natural resources, education, economic growth, etc., make you a Klan-robe crowd? Sure, if your opponent is a leftist who has absolutely no idea what he is talking about and zero ability to engage in rational debate.

You might assume that Bob Collins, the author of the Klan-robe crowd absurdity, is just another mothers basement moron on Twitter. Perhaps so. But he was also, until a few months ago, one of Minnesota Public Radios top political commentators. This post from MPRs web site bids farewell to Collins on his retirement in April. It congratulates Collins on not trying to be a fair and neutral journalist, but rather one who would tell us when someone is just wrong. That someone, of course, always being a conservative.

John Phelan, a gentleman as always, tweeted to Collins: I say nothing about ethnicity in this article.

I say nothing about ethnicity in this article.  John Phelan (@Minnesotanomics) February 3, 2020



He gave Collins too much credit. Leftists have their own definition of racism that neednt, as in this case, have anything to do with race. Its just a pathetic smear. Collins replied, pitifully, to John:



You could say that Bob Collins is just a poor dumb lefty who cant muster an argument to save his life, and who no longer has any influence over anyone. You would be right. But until a few months ago, he was spreading his hateful ideology throughout the state of Minnesota, in large part at taxpayer expense, under the imprimatur of public radio.

This is the insane leftism that we deal with every day. If you disagree with the lefts party line, whatever it may be at the moment, you are a racist, whether or not race has anything to do with the topic at hand. It is stupid, it is weak, and I doubt that it persuades anyone. But it provides a window into the evil that is leftism.

UPDATE: John Phelan responded with his usual restraint here.
Since Tuesday midnight, Russian-led forces have been observing the ceasefire.

Russia's hybrid military forces on February 3 mounted 12 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, with two Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action.

"The armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire 12 times on February 3. Two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in enemy shelling," the press center of the Joint Forces Operation Headquarters said on Facebook in a morning update on February 4.

Read alsoSBU busts ex-"DPR" militant six years after putting him on wanted list

The enemy opened fire, employing proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and rifles.

Under attack were Ukrainian positions near the town of Avdiyivka, and the villages of Pavlopil, Opytne, Pisky, Novotoshkivske, Orikhove, and Novoluhanske.

Since Tuesday midnight, Russian-led forces have been observing the ceasefire.

No casualties were reported among Ukrainian troops on Tuesday so far.
WASHINGTON, DCSo, the Iowa caucuses. What the heck was that?

After a year of hype for the contest that kicks off the U.S. presidential primary season, the big reveal Monday was, to use a polite term, an omnishambles. Problems with the app that was supposed to revolutionize reporting of the quaint, complicated caucus system instead meant there were no results to report at all on caucus night.

A day later, as the Iowa Democratic Party finally revealed some of the results Tuesday afternoon, its possible to start to form a picture of who won and who lost  though its important to note these are only 62 per cent of the precincts and the remainder could certainly change the picture. The official partial results in the Democratic nomination contest, by percentage of the delegates: Pete Buttigieg 27, Bernie Sanders 25, Elizabeth Warren 18, Joe Biden 16, Amy Klobuchar 13.

The thing to understand is that the 41 pledged convention delegates actually at stake in the Iowa caucuses arent the real measure of victory  they are a tiny drop in an ocean of 4,750 delegates who will choose the eventual nominee. The caucuses are so influential because theyre tea leaves to read about whats about to happen in the rest of the race. They give everyone a first look at how real voters are reacting to candidates, which shapes the race to come in the minds of voters in the following states and donors who are essential to keeping the campaigns running. Heres a look at who won, who lost and who to watch after Iowa.

WINNERS

Pete Buttigieg: Some people thought he was overplaying his hand in his triumphant speech before any results were known, but being ahead in these early returns backs up his big talk. As a self-proclaimed moderate, hes in a contest with Joe Biden (and to a lesser extent Amy Klobuchar) to be the anti-Bernie. But after a media-darling period last year followed by a backlash, he might have fallen out of contention with a weak showing in Iowa. First place  or even second, if the remainder of votes should shift things  make him a key part of the conversation again.

Donald Trump: Not just because he gets to crow about how his Democratic opponents are in a shambles. And certainly not because he overwhelmingly won the Republican caucus. The real victory for Trump is that Democratic caucus turnout was reportedly on pace to be about the same as in 2016  far short of the record 2008 turnout. With an electorate deeply and nearly evenly divided on Trump, 2020 is an election where whoever gets their voters to the polls may be the winner. The first chance Democrats had to register disapproval of Trump didnt demonstrate an historically motivated support base.

Bernie Sanders: It was expected that hed do well in Iowa based on polling in recent weeks, but vying for the lead in delegates and outright winning the early raw vote totals cements his place as a front-runner  possibly the front-runner  in the race for the nomination. Especially since hes thought to be a likely winner of the New Hampshire primary in one week.

New Hampshire primary voters: Their vote next week takes on added significance in shaping what has been a very uncertain race.

LOSERS

Joe Biden: When youve led polls since before you even announced your candidacy, and the main argument you offer in favour of voting for you is that people will elect you, a likely fourth-place finish in this first actual contest isnt encouraging. Bidens supporters have long predicted his real strength comes later, especially in South Carolina, but voters in those states base their decisions in part on viability demonstrated in the early, smaller states. A candidate who seemed to be inevitable (like Hillary Clinton in 2008) suddenly seems imminently evitable.

Iowa caucus organizers: The states influence as the first in the nation to weigh in on potential presidents was already under fire because of its small size and the overwhelmingly pale complexion of its voters. The foul-up reporting the results adds an aura of incompetence to proceedings on a night meant to showcase the partys hopes of leading the country. The problems make it more likely that Democrats will shake up the order of primary and caucus season soon.

TOO CLOSE TO CALL

Elizabeth Warren: The cliche says there are three tickets out of Iowa. There may be more than that in a divided contest like this one, but a third-place finish ahead of Biden keeps her alive as a progressive alternative to Sanders.

Mike Bloomberg: His decision to sit out Iowa and focus on later, larger states was predicated on Biden not running away with the nomination before then. In the midst of Iowas confusion, he announced hes doubling his advertising budget.

Amy Klobuchar: She needed to break through in Iowa. Is 13 per cent and fifth place a breakthrough? Shes saying she punched above her weight and is fighting on, and her popular raw vote was within 1,000 votes of Bidens.

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The seller was Boyce-Haas Properties LLC, which had owned the property for decades.





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Former mayor Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders were in the lead after the first round of Iowa Democratic caucus results were released Tuesday. But results from the state party only accounted for 62% of all precincts across the state's 99 counties, and there was no timeline for when additional results would be reported.

They were followed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, with former Vice President Joe Biden in fourth place.

By late Tuesday night, 71 percent of the state's Democratic precincts had been reported, but the additional precincts did not impact Buttigieg's and Sanders' front-runner status.

Stung by a massive meltdown in producing the results for the Iowa Caucuses, state Democratic party officials were still unable to declare a winner Tuesday evening, nearly 24 hours after caucusgoers began gathering. Instead, 62 percent of all Iowa Democratic precincts would be reported shortly after 5 p.m. ET, state party chair Troy Price said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

For decades, the winner of Iowas caucuses has been decided by a complicated system of state delegate equivalents, which operates kind of like the Electoral College. Unlike in the November presidential vote, though, Iowa's tally of popular support was never released.

But this year, the Iowa Democratic Party is publishing two raw vote totals and the delegate numbers from caucus night. So one candidate could win one or both of the delegate counts but lose the popular vote.

The results debacle unfolded under the glare of the national spotlight and drew sharp criticism from voters, the candidates themselves and even President Donald Trump, who handily won the Republican side of the caucuses.

Price said he could assure voters and candidates that the results were accurate and were backed up by a paper trail.

"We have worked with several security experts, nationally known security experts to test this out," Price said.

Story continues

Iowas first-in-the-nation presidential contest had been revamped this year to try to avoid problems that arose in the 2016 caucuses, which were also plagued by late reporting and questions of whether the popular vote winner ended up winning the state delegate equivalents.Iowa Democratic Party officials said this years problems were not caused by outside interference. Rather, they were the result of a new reporting process involving a smart-phone app that caucus chairs were supposed to use to upload results. A coding glitch prevented many of the precinct chairs from reporting, which caused a backup telephone reporting system to be overloaded, leaving some chairs on hold for more than two hours.

Sanders rallies with fans in New Hampshire

MILFORD, N.H.  Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday night touted his performance in Iowa from the night before as the Iowa Democratic Party continued to count votes.

"I'm very proud to tell you that last night in Iowa we received more votes on the first and second round than any other candidate, Sanders told more than 1,000 cheering supporters at a rally here.

His remarks came as the state party had released 62.7 percent of Iowa votes, showing former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg ahead with 26.9 percent of the vote and Sanders with 25.1 percent.

"For some reason in Iowa, they're having a little bit of trouble counting votes, Sanders said. But I am confident that here in New Hampshire, I know theyll be able to count your votes on election night. And when you count those votes, I am going to win here in New Hampshire."

Sanders, who was set to give a public response to President Donald Trumps State of the Union in Manchester later Tuesday, said he would be returning to Washington to vote on President Donald Trumps impeachment Wednesday.

Tomorrow the votes may not be there to impeach Trump, but I am absolutely confident that in November the votes will be there to defeat Donald Trump, he said. And with your help next Tuesday, we begin and continue the process of winning here in New Hampshire, going on to Nevada, going on to South Carolina, going on to California, to win those states and become the Democratic nominee.

Sanders, who has been polling in first in New Hampshire for weeks, concluded his approximately 30-minute speech by telling the crowd, New Hampshire goes first in terms of primaries. You go first. The whole country will be watching. And a week from tonight, New Hampshire has the opportunity to tell not only this nation, but the entire world, that we together will stand for justice, for compassion and for children.

- Joey Garrison

Candidates tout standings as partial results trickle in

Shortly after the Iowa Democratic Party released initial caucus results, several candidates touted their standings in the partial results that the party released.

Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigeig while speaking at an event in Laconia, New Hampshire, choked up after speaking about the preliminary results.

"It validates the idea that we can expand a coalition not only unified around who it is we're against but around what it is that we're for," he said.

Live results updates:

"It validates for a kid somewhere in a community wondering," he continued, "if he belongs, or she belongs, or they belong in their own family. That if you believe in yourself and your country, there's a lot backing up that belief."

Sen. Bernie Sanders' senior advisor Jeff Weaver praised the Vermont senator's standing with the raw vote totals, not state delegate equivalents.

We want to thank the people of Iowa. We are gratified that in the partial data released so far its clear that in the first and second round more people voted for Bernie than any other candidate in the field," Weaver said in a statement.

Warren in a tweet said she's proud of the "powerful grassroots movement" her campaign has built.

"Weve come out of Iowa in the top three and we are in a strong position heading into New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, and Super Tuesday," she continued. "Lets go!"

Following the release of the partial caucus results, Klobuchar's campaign said that this is now a five person race.

"What these results make clear is that this is a five person race," Klobuchar campaign manager Justin Buoen wrote on Twitter. "Some of Amy's strongest counties haven't been fully reported and the current data doesn't tell the full story. We're in a virtual tie with VP Biden and we look forward to making our case in New Hampshire."

 Rebecca Morin

Bernie Sanders says he's proud of Iowa, confident in New Hampshire

MILFORD, N.H.  Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday night touted his performance in Iowa from the night before as the Iowa Democratic Party continued to count votes.

"I'm very proud to tell you that last night in Iowa we received more votes on the first and second round than any other candidate, Sanders told more than 1,000 cheering supporters at a rally here.

His remarks came as the state party had released 62.7 percent of Iowa votes, showing former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg ahead with 26.9 percent of the vote and Sanders with 25.1 percent.

"For some reason in Iowa, they're having a little bit of trouble counting votes, Sanders said. But I am confident that here in New Hampshire, I know theyll be able to count your votes on election night. And when you count those votes, I am going to win here in New Hampshire."

Sanders, who was set to give a public response to President Donald Trumps State of the Union in Manchester later Tuesday, said he would be returning to Washington to vote on President Donald Trumps impeachment Wednesday.

Tomorrow the votes may not be there to impeach Trump, but I am absolutely confident that in November the votes will be there to defeat Donald Trump, he said. And with your help next Tuesday, we begin and continue the process of winning here in New Hampshire, going on to Nevada, going on to South Carolina, going on to California, to win those states and become the Democratic nominee.

Sanders, who has been polling in first in New Hampshire for weeks, concluded his approximately 30-minute speech by telling the crowd, New Hampshire goes first in terms of primaries. You go first. The whole country will be watching. And a week from tonight, New Hampshire has the opportunity to tell not only this nation, but the entire world, that we together will stand for justice, for compassion and for children.

 Joey Garrison

Buttigieg chokes up over historic significance of his bid

Pete Buttigieg, the candidate known for his unflappability but criticized for not showing more emotion, let his heart show Tuesday.

Relaying to New Hampshire voters the breaking news that he is leading in Iowa caucus returns, Buttigieg choked up when describing the significance of that for gay people and others who have felt excluded.

It validates for a kid, somewhere in a community, wondering if he belongs, or she belongs, or they belong, in their own family, that if you believe in yourself and your country, there's a lot backing up that belief, Buttigieg said.

The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, did not come out as gay until 2015. He has said that he long believed he could either be out or be in politics, but not both.

Mayor @PeteButtigieg chokes up in (possible) Iowa victory speech: It validates for a kid somewhere in a community wondering if he belongs or she belongs or THEY belong in their own family, that if you believe in yourself and your country, there is a lot backing up the belief. pic.twitter.com/hFIL6IdgLc  Matt Wilstein (@mattwilstein) February 4, 2020

After his strong showing in Iowa, where the results are still being tabulated, the leader of a group that backs openly gay candidates said Buttigiegs candidacy represents a revolution in American politics.

Annise Parker, head of LGBTQ Victory Fund, said Buttigieg is upending traditional notions of electability and proving America is ready to elect its first openly gay president.

A recent national USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll showed, however, some qualms remain about the electoral appeal of a gay candidate.

Being a gay man makes a candidate less appealing, according to 32% of Americans and 23% of Democratic voters. Half of Americans and two-thirds of the Democratic voters said it doesn't make a difference.

#PeteButtigieg precinct captain in rural Iowa responds to a caucus-goer flipping out upon learning that he has a same-sex partner. Its a masterclass in patience, persistence, and love. Bravo @nikkiheever #IowaCaucuses #cresco #howardcountyiowa pic.twitter.com/PhX7vRFh8X  Annabel Park (@annabelpark) February 4, 2020

It made a big difference to one Iowa caucusgoer, captured on video, who wanted to withdraw her support for Buttigieg after learning hes married to a man.

I dont want anybody like that in the White House, she said. So can I have my card back?

The precinct captain responded that she respects the other womans view but suggested she dig deep inside and ask if Buttigiegs sexuality really matters.

What I teach my son is, love is love and were all human beings, she said.

 Maureen Groppe

Majority of results to be released by 5 p.m., Iowa Dems say

Officials from Iowa's Democratic Party told the candidates' campaigns in a private conference call Tuesday that they planned to release a majority of the results by 5 p.m. EST, an Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson told the Des Moines Register.

The state party chairman, Troy Price, told the campaigns they expected to have at least 50% of the results by that time but was unable to say when they expected to have the rest of the data compiled.

"We will continue to work through the process," Price said, according to AP, which monitored the call. "We want to get some results out there."

 William Cummings, USA TODAY

Biden spokesperson: The integrity of the Iowa caucuses at stake

NASHUA, NH  The national communications director of Joe Bidens presidential campaign said Tuesday the integrity of the Iowa caucuses is at stake as she urged the state party to take their time to get the results right but denied reports suggesting the campaign is weighing litigation.

What we are saying is theres some inconsistencies with the process, the integrity is at stake, and the Iowa Democratic Party needs to check that data, check it again, check it a third time, and check it a fourth time, because its important to get it right, the campaigns National Communications Director Symone Sanders said.

Her remarks came after the release of the results of Mondays Iowa caucus was put on hold after a new cell phone app used at caucus sites had malfunctions. Unverified internal numbers put out by the campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders showed Biden in a distant 4th place. But Biden, addressing supporters at a girls social services nonprofit in Nashua Tuesday, offered optimism about his Iowa performance.

"As my mother would say, hope springs eternal, pal, Biden, appearing with former New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, told a crowd of a couple hundred people. Were not giving up. Were not giving up."

I said it last night. Lets give them time, he said of the Iowa Democratic Party. Im not being critical. Lets give them time to work out those issues carefully because a lot depends on them.

Biden left the event without taking questions from reporters. I dont know what happened in Iowa this morning, he said, raising his hands and walking away.

 Joey Garrison, USA TODAY

Warren on releasing half the results: 'I just don't understand'

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, said at a campaign event in New Hampshire that she was confused by Iowa Democrats' plan to release at least half the results by 5 p.m. EST.

"I just don't understand what that means, to release half of the data," she said. "I think they ought to get it together and release all of the data."

She said her campaign was sharing what data they had to assist in the vote count and called on other campaigns to do the same.

 William Cummings, USA TODAY

Sanders 'extremely disappointed' Iowa Democratic Party hasn't released results

As Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., prepared to board a plane for New Hampshire, he told the Des Moines Register that he is "extremely disappointed" that the results of Monday's Iowa caucuses have not been released.

"Obviously, I suspect I speak for all of the candidates, I am extremely disappointed by the inability of the Iowa Democratic Party to come up with the results in a timely manner. I dont know why in 2020 it should take so much time," Sanders said in a car at the Des Moines airport tarmac.

Iowa Democratic Party officials have said they would release partial results from Monday's caucuses at 5 p.m. ET, amid critiques and confusion over the lack of any results data Monday night.

 Nick Coltrain, Des Moines Register

Sen. Durbin questions whether a credible result will come out of Iowa

Democratic senators expressed concern about the management of this years Democratic caucuses, and a top Democrat called the delay in results a political asterisk.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the second-ranking Senate Democrat, told reporters the caucuses might not conclude in a credible result.

Right now it's turned out to be a political asterisk. We just don't know if it's going to end up a credible result. That's a shame for everyone, he continued.

Yeah, I think it needs to be changed, said Sen. Michael Bennet, when asked about the process for the Iowa caucuses. Bennet, D-Colo., is also a Democratic presidential candidate.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who was the partys 2016 vice presidential nominee, said the situation in Iowa was unfortunate.

I think what happened last night is so unfortunate for all the volunteers, for all the voters, for all the candidates, he said.

Kaine prefers the open primaries in Virginia.

I like our system and I think primaries lead to more participation than caucuses, but I've never felt like it was my duty to tell a state party how to do their process, but certainly that's going to have to be a discussion, he said.

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said the general election was more important than any stumbles in February.

A lot is going to happen between now and November, it's probably not going to be how the Iowa Democratic Party stumbled in February that determines a single person's vote, he said.

 Nicholas Wu, USA TODAY

Nevada Dems confident they won't suffer same fate as Iowa

As in Iowa, Nevada's state Democratic Party plans to use an app to report the results of its caucuses. But party officials said they don't anticipate the same problems for their voters on Feb. 22.

"NV Dems can confidently say that what happened in the Iowa caucus last night will not happen in Nevada on February 22nd," said the party's chairman, William McCurdy. "We will not be employing the same app or vendor used in the Iowa caucus.

"We had already developed a series of backups and redundant reporting systems, and are currently evaluating the best path forward."

 James DeHaven, Reno Gazette Journal, and Mike Snider, USA TODAY

App that contributed to reporting issues linked to Clinton 2016 campaign

The smartphone application blamed in part for the ongoing delay in reporting results of the Monday Iowa caucuses is linked with key Iowa and national Democrats associated with Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign.

The app was issued by Jimmy Hickey of Shadow Inc., metadata of the program the Des Moines Register analyzed Tuesday shows. Gerard Niemira and Krista Davis, who worked for Clintons 2016 campaign, co-founded the company

Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price worked as Clintons 2016 Iowa political director. He did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday about the relationship between the party and Shadow, which it paid $63,184 for website development and travel expenses, according to reports filed with the Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board.

Security watchdogs had called on Iowa Democrats to be more transparent about the development and testing of the app prior to Mondays caucuses. But Democrats declined to name the developer or provide testing details, saying top cybersecurity experts advised against releasing too much information because it could result in the vendor being targeted.

 Jason Clayworth, Des Moines Register

Buttigieg addresses early 'victory' declaration

"I think its safe to say no one in the country is more impatient than I am to hear the official results from the party," former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg said Tuesday on "CBS This Morning."

When asked if his boast of victory was "premature," Buttigieg  whose declaration was derided by supporters of other candidates using #MayorCheat on Twitter  repeated his claim.

"Looking at all the data we've got it was an extraordinary night. And we are absolutely victorious coming into New Hampshire," he said.

Elaborating on what he meant by victory, Buttigieg said, "The fact that this campaign was able to gather support in urban, suburban, and rural areas alike  in counties that Hillary Clinton won, counties that Donald Trump won  we are thrilled and absolutely consider that a victory."

 William Cummings

'Coding issue' caused incomplete reports, Dems say

The Iowa Democratic Party said early Tuesday the "underlying data collected" on the app used to report caucus results "was sound" but the system was only reporting out partial data.

The error was caught early as precinct caucus results started coming in and the Iowa Democratic Party ran them through accuracy and quality checks, said party chair Price in a statement. He added precinct chairs reported data accurately, and it will take time to finalize results.

"We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed," he said in the statement. "The applications reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately."

Price did not say when results from the Iowa caucuses would be released.

"Because of the required paper documentation, we have been able to verify that the data recorded in the app and used to calculate State Delegate Equivalents is valid and accurate," he said in the statement. "Precinct level results are still being reported to the IDP. While our plan is to release results as soon as possible today, our ultimate goal is to ensure that the integrity and accuracy of the process continues to be upheld."

He added the party has "every indication" the app was secure and there was no cyber intrusion or hacking of the system.

The Iowa caucuses kicked off at 7 p.m. CT Monday in church basements and school gyms across the state.

At about 10:30 p.m. CT, when no results had rolled in, the party issued a statement saying the party found inconsistencies in the three data sets  the first alignment, the second alignment and the overall delegate numbers  and that it would take longer than expected to report results.

 Kim Norvell, Des Moines Register

'Duh Moines': Newspapers take on Iowa's 'chaos'

Newspapers across the country used various approaches to describe the uncertainty in the wake of Iowas Democratic caucuses Monday night after the state party did not report any results.

Duh Moines, the New York Posts frontpage headline read.

Today's cover: In a Democratic disaster, the Iowa caucuses descended into chaos as 'inconsistencies' in reporting delayed results https://t.co/voUWtTpHmB pic.twitter.com/ugQ07H4WPb  New York Post (@nypost) February 4, 2020

Three other newspapers summed up the situation as chaotic -- a description the New York Post also used.

Iowa delivers caucus chaos, the Minneapolis Star Tribunes front page headline read.

The Chicago Sun-Times used the same phrase.

Good morning,



Here are today's top stories from the Chicago Sun-Times: https://t.co/O1hC1bnAMW



Subscribe to our newsletters here: https://t.co/TGv2h7Oret pic.twitter.com/6wCzWtQlbl  Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) February 4, 2020

And the Los Angeles Times used the headline Iowa caucuses turn to chaos as party fails to name victor.

Anticipation quickly turns to apprehension in Iowa, was the Boston Globes front page headline.

In today's paper: Anticipation gives way to apprehension in Iowa, New Hampshire braces for frantic week of voting, Amid coronavirus outbreak, Mass. businesses face uncertainty, more. https://t.co/DC05lvzVu1 pic.twitter.com/T4LEN1liW3  The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) February 4, 2020

And the Miami Herald called the results delay in Iowa, a poor start to the 2020 nomination season.

Good morning from the Miami Herald newsroom. Keep up with the news at https://t.co/SUDth1TjN2 ... And subscribe to get all the digital coverage: https://t.co/bSkGcEiqHc pic.twitter.com/QYhjLaCMk6  Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) February 4, 2020

Joshua Gargiulo, USA TODAY

Iowa Democratic Party: Results expected 'later' Tuesday following manual recount

The head of the Iowa Democratic Party said the organization is manually recounting the results of the Iowa Caucuses and he expects the numbers to be released sometime Tuesday.

Its unclear how quickly the state that kicks off the presidential nominating process will be able to reveal who won the contest.

But the integrity of our process with the results have and always will be our top priority, Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) Chair Troy Price told reporters at a conference call at 1 a.m. CST. At this point, the IDP is manually verifying all precinct results. We expect to have numbers to report later today. 

Price repeated the partys early assertion that the technical glitch with the system is a reporting issue not a hack or an intrusion. And its exactly why we have a paper trail and systems in place to uphold the integrity of our process.

Theyre validating every piece of data we have against our paper trail, he said. The system is taking longer than expected but its in place to ensure we are eventually able to report results with full confidence.

Price said the IDP has reached out to the various campaigns and is keeping them updated.

Piyce comments followed criticism from some campaigns, notably former Vice President Joe Bidens who called the reporting problems acute failures.

- Ledyard King

Biden campaign slams Iowa Democratic Party for acute failures

Joe Bidens campaign is slamming the Iowa Democratic Party, saying the considerable flaws holding up election results for the Iowa Caucuses demand a complete and speedy answer.

We appreciate that you plan to brief the campaigns momentarily on these issues, and we plan to participate, Dana Remus, general counsel for the former vice presidents campaign wrote in a letter Monday night as delays extended into early Tuesday morning.

However, we believe that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond before any official results are released, the letter said.

The Iowa Democratic Party which runs the caucuses reported inconsistencies in the reporting of the result.

In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report, said Mandy McClure, a spokeswoman for the state party. This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results."

- Ledyard King

Vice President and current Democratic presidential candidate hopeful Joe Biden speaks to supporters following the Iowa Caucus at the Olmstead Building at Drake University in Des Moines on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020.

Trump campaign blasts Democrats for caucus delays, calling it 'sloppiest train wreck in history'

The Trump campaign was quick to seize on Monday night's delays in caucus results, calling it the "sloppiest train wreck in history."

"Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history," Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in an emailed statement.

He also raised concerns about "the fairness of the process" after suggesting in a tweet that the "quality control" issues Democrats cited in the delay were part of a scheme to rig the results.

Quality control = rigged?  https://t.co/rJY3gdRccE  Brad Parscale - Text TRUMP to 88022 (@parscale) February 4, 2020

"And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?" he asked.

Parscale also touted the president's easy victory earlier in the night in Iowa's Republican caucuses, where he faced no significant challenge.

"Tonight President Trump posted a record performance in the well-run GOP Iowa caucuses with record turnout for an incumbent," Parscale added.

In the days leading up to the Iowa caucuses, the Trump campaign sought to project a massive GOP show of force in the Midwest state, deploying 80 presidential surrogates, including much of Trump's cabinet and members of his family.

The president also held a campaign rally in Des Moines on Thursday that brought out more than 7,000 supporters to the city's Drake University.

Meanwhile, Iowa's GOP chair Jeff Kaufmann said he supported the IDP's decision to ensure the results are "correct rather than quick."

"Accuracy doesn't run on deadline," he tweeted.

I stand with IDP in ensuring #IACaucus results are correct rather than quick. Accuracy doesn't run on deadlines. #IACaucus #FITN https://t.co/cuNpTT2e8D  Jeff Kaufmann (@kaufmannGOP) February 4, 2020

- Courtney Subramaniam

Buttigieg: Iowa has proved the skeptics wrong

The last of the Democratic frontrunners to speak while the candidates still waited for results, Pete Buttigieg went farther than others had in claiming victory.

We dont know all the results. But we know by the time its all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation, Buttigieg said. Because, by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.

The boisterous crowd alternatively chanted Boot-edge-edge and President Pete! throughout his speech.

The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said there were plenty of skeptics who said: not now, not this time of a presidential bid by the 38-year-old, openly gay candidate.

Iowa, you have proved those skeptics wrong, he said.

Buttigieg said his campaign brought together a coalition of progressives, moderates and a good number of what we like to call future former Republicans.

His campaign had said it exceeded internal projections in counties that had voted for President Barack Obama before flipping to Trump that hed heavily targeted.

This is the coalition that no pundit saw coming, Buttigieg said. And its the coalition the president wont see coming either.

- Maureen Groppe

Results from Iowa caucuses delayed because of 'inconsistencies'

Iowa Democratic Party officials are holding a phone call with campaigns amid delays in reporting caucus results, and pushing back on reports that of a voting app malfunction and hacking.

People familiar with the decision spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to describe the private call.

The Iowa Democratic Party said earlier Monday night that it was experiencing a delay in reporting results from the first-in-the-nation caucuses because of unspecified quality checks.

Communications director Mandy McClure said in a statement Monday night that the delay is also the result of the party reporting three sets of data for the first time.

McClure says the party has data so far from around 25% of the states 1,765 precincts and and early data indicates turnout is on pace for 2016."

"We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report," she said in a statement.

"This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results."

Bret Niles, chairman of the Linn County Democratic Party, said he was aware of eight of 86 precinct officials in that county that had trouble logging into the app as of about 2:30 p.m. Monday.

Precinct chairs were provided a PIN to test the mobile app, which was different than a login required for Caucus Day. Some might have entered the wrong login credentials Monday, creating temporary problems, Niles said.

Several Democratic precinct chairs reported Monday afternoon they were unable to log into a new phone app to report results.

- Courtney Subramaniam, Lee Rood and Jason Clayworth, Des Moines Register, Associated Press

Bernie Sanders: Change is coming

Hours after the caucusing ended, Sen. Bernie Sanders started his remarks to supporters saying he imagines that, at some point, the results will be announced.

And I have a good feeling were going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa, he said while flanked on stage by his wife, son and grandchildren. The message that Iowa has sent to the nation, the message shared by the American people, is that we want a government that represents all of us, not just wealthy campaign contributors and the 1%.

Sanders said Mondays caucus marks the beginning of the end for Donald Trump. He called the president a pathological liar who is corrupt and doesnt understand the Constitution,

Sanders went through his campaign promises on health care, minimum wage, student debt and climate change before declaring: Change is coming.

Vermont Senator and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks with his family on stage during his Caucus Day rally on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in Des Moines.

Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! the crowd responded.

He called his campaign the strongest grassroots movement this country has ever seen.

And now it is on to New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, California, he said while smiling, and onward to victory!

- Maureen Groppe

Warren: One step closer to defeating Trump

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren isnt sure how she did in the Iowa Caucuses due to reporting delays, but she told supporters Monday shes confident Donald Trumps days as president are numbered.

Tonight as a party, we are one step closer to defeating the most corrupt president in American history, she said.

U.S. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., accompanied by her grandchildren take the stage to address the crowd at her caucus night party on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, at Forte in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. At the time of her speech results of the caucuses were still unknown.

Tomorrow Donald Trump will make a speech about the state of the union, she told a cheering throng gathered. But I have a message for every American: Our union is stronger than Donald Trump. And, in less than a year, our union will be stronger than ever when that one man is replaced by one very persistent woman.

The true winner of the Iowa Caucuses may not be known for hours due to technical glitches in the election reporting system.

"It is too close to call," Elizabeth Warren tells supporters, "so I'm just going to tell you what I do know."

"You won!" a man in the audience shouted. The crowd cheered and Warren laughed.

The Iowa Democratic Party is reporting inconsistencies in the reporting results, and that it will take time for official results to come out.

- Ledyard King

Victory speeches before the winner is known

The candidates are not waiting for the election results of the Iowa Caucuses to declare victory.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar gave her remarks in Des Moines. Former Vice President Joe Biden followed shortly after. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are expected to follow suit.

Its rare for candidates to speak without knowing the final outcome. But glitches with the new reporting program has made it unclear when the delegate totals will actually be known.

Were going to be here, it looks like, a really long time tonight, Klobuchar told her supporters as she promised to head to the next campaign stop in New Hampshire.

- Ledyard King

Amy Klobuchar takes the stage in Iowa before results

Addressing supporters in Des Moines, presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar vowed late Monday to continue her campaign into the New Hampshire primary  even before the results in Iowa are anywhere near clear.

Klobuchar, who has not polled in the top tier of candidates in the weeks leading into the Iowa caucuses, spoke during a delay in results that left the nation hanging for the results. Her early remarks underscored an important concern for many of the candidates: They must quickly shift focus from Iowa to the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire. That could be particularly true for Klobuchar, who will face headwinds in the New England state where Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Bernie Sanders will have something of a home-state advantage.

Klobuchar, speaking through a hoarse voice, said she is feeling so good tonight and hinted at the delay in the results.

Someway, somehow Im going to get on a plane tonight to New Hampshire, Klobuchar said.

"We are going to be here, it looks like, a really long time tonight," Klobuchar said, joking that the national audience watching her remarks would have extra time to visit her campaign website.

-- John Fritze

Diverse turnout on Des Moines' north side

More than 130 people filled the Bosnian Islamic Center Zen Zen on Des Moines north side for a satellite caucus that catered to immigrants and non-English speakers on Monday night. The caucus is being held in a mosque, so everyone removed their shoes before entering.

As the proceedings got underway, Deven Sapkota volunteered to translate what caucus chair Zlatka Kendic, 34, was saying into Nepali. As volunteers began to count the caucusgoers, Sapkota said he didnt expect to be translating for the room.

Most of the attendees picked up Sen. Bernie Sanders stickers or signs before taking their seats around 7 p.m. Volunteers from Sanders campaign handed out flyers that outlined his biography and positions in Bosnian and English.

Hari Pokhrel, who attended the caucus with her two daughters, said she liked Sanders plans for Medicare for All and debt-free college. She had written statements of support on her Sanders sign in both English and Nepali.

At 7:34 p.m., a volunteer had all the caucusgoers raise their hands to be counted. He then counted each of them aloud. Preference groups would need 21 supporters to meet the 15% viability threshold.

-- Austin Cannon, Des Moines Register

Iowa resident 'tired of the phone ringing'

Married couple Chris Martin, 53, and Melissa Murphy, 51, walked into their Liberty High caucus site in Johnson County still undecided. With twenty minutes until the doors closed, the two argued about who to support. Martin leaned toward Warren or Biden, who he feels has powerful connections in Washington. Murphy disagreed, leaning toward Warren or Buttigieg, saying she likes the way they both speak and feels like their tweets would not be misspelled.

They do, however, both agree they are ready for campaign staff to leave Iowa. Murphy estimates shes had more campaign volunteers knock on her North Liberty door in the last year than shes had trick-or-treaters in the last 15 years.

I will be freaking relieved, because Im so tired of the phone ringing, Murphy said.

- Aimee Breaux, Iowa City Press-Citizen

Iowa caucus:: What is a delegate equivalent? Or a viability threshold? The Iowa caucuses, explained.

Misinformation spreads in Iowa

Iowas Republican secretary of state chastised a right-wing D.C.-based foundation Monday for circulating false claims on social media suggesting inaccurate voter registrations heading into Caucus Day.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said on Twitter, Facebook and in a news release that eight Iowa counties had total voter registration rates larger than the eligible voter population.

But Secretary of State Paul Pate said early Monday that Fittons claims were patently false," providing a link to actual county-by-county voter registration totals.

"Its unfortunate this organization continues to put out inaccurate data regarding voter registration, and its especially disconcerting they chose the day of the Iowa Caucus to do this," Pate said in a news release.

- Jason Clayworth and Lee Rood, Des Moines Register

More: How do the Iowa caucuses work and how they are different than a primary?

President Donald Trump wins Republican caucuses in Iowa

President Donald Trump is the winner of the 2020 Iowa Republican caucuses, a largely symbolic vote as he was facing no significant opposition.

Still, Trumps campaign was using Monday's contest to test its organizational strength, deploying Cabinet secretaries, top Republican officials and Trump family members to the state.

It's unusual for Iowa to even be holding a GOP contest with an incumbent in the White House. The Iowa Republican caucuses were canceled in 1992 and 2004. But GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufman said state officials were determined to keep the caucuses in place this year to maintain the states status as the first in the nation to cast its ballots.

- Associated Press

A bar where the hamburger is cheaper than a can of chew

Grant, Iowa, population 92 as of 2010, is hosting a Democratic caucus for the first time ever Monday evening  and its being held at The Hayloft, the towns local bar and grill.

The Hayloft is owned by Zelda Swartz, a spry 74-year-old open Republican whos run this establishment for 48 years. Hamburgers cost $2.50. Theres a Skoal chew dispenser behind the bar, at $7 a can.

The original plan was to host this precinct at Grants firehouse, just up the road, but they declined, Swartz said, because they would have to move the trucks outside. So the Iowa Democratic Party called Swartz. Of course, she said.

The front bar features signs and a TV in the far corner  and would later host a Grant City Council Meeting before the caucus. A rustic vibe fills the back room, where farm memorabilia is scattered, old signs hang and a pool table sits prominently. In the back, horse saddles and a Santa-like sleigh sit in the back.

On the floor, supporters for Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg claimed tables on both sides. They are friendly with one another and are collectively hopeful that 30 people show up to help decide who will receive the three delegates up for grabs in Montgomery Countys fifth precinct.

 Cody Goodwin, Des Moines Register

The political questions answered tonight

With caucus night upon us, there are some questions that caucusgoers across the state  and voters throughout the country  will see answered when the night is over.

The big question will obviously be momentum coming out of Monday night and heading into next weeks New Hampshire primary. Campaigns, pundits and even voters look at Iowas results to see who has a chance of continuing to the New Hampshire primary or who should call it quits.

Although the Iowa results wont predict what happens in New Hampshire, it will be looked on as a guide.

Another question that will be answered is whether one of the big four candidates  former Vice President Joe Biden, former mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren  will win. All four candidates at some point have led the Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll over the past several months. In addition, those four candidates have been within the top five nationally over the past couple of months.

Voters will also be looking to see whether Sen. Amy Klobuchar makes a run at the top tier. Klobuchar has seen a small bump in polling since a strong debate performance in December. And well see Monday night whether that momentum continues. If she does well, it could lead to a bump in New Hampshire.

But several campaigns might declare themselves the winner, which the Associated Press will determine by state delegate equivalents. The Iowa Democratic Party will for the first time release raw numbers from the first grouping, as well as the final vote total after realignment.

- Rebecca Morin

The Trumps are making their presence known in Iowa

There's bustle outside of the Democratic caucuses today, too. President Donald Trump's eldest son was speaking in West Des Moines when a male protester interrupted to say that the president's policies and rhetoric have led to more Jewish deaths than those of any past president.

Security pulled the man out of the conference room as Donald Trump Jr. shouted back about misinformation spread by Democrats and members of the national media. His surrogates rose in applause as he yelled into the microphone.

At the press conference in West Des Moines, members of Trump's family also attacked Democrats as out of touch. Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend, Trump Victory Finance Committee National Chair Kimberly Guilfoyle, both described Democratic presidential candidates as "socialists" and "communists."

"We're going to beat them again," said the president's other son, Eric Trump. "We're going to beat them so much harder this time."

Trump's children also took shots at some specific candidates. Donald Trump Jr. referred to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as "mini Mike." (Bloomberg's height was trending on Google as 5 feet, 8 inches.)

Donald Trump Jr. also recalled campaigning for his father at Pizza Ranches in Iowa before the 2016 caucuses. He said he drew only about 15 people in the early events, a crowd size he compared to that of what former Vice President Joe Biden has drawn.

"That is a fight I would pay a lot of money to see," he said of a potential Biden-Trump match-up in the general election.

Among the Republican heavyweights in Iowa Monday: Trump's daughter-in-law and campaign adviser Lara Trump; Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross; Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos; U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows; U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise; and U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz

- Tyler Jett, Des Moines Register

Group gathers to demand union rights

An hour before the 4:30 p.m. caucus at the Drake University Fieldhouse began in Des Moines, the building was already awash in activity.

Demonstrators from the Fight for 15 movement gathered outside the building on the corner of Forest Avenue and 27th Street to demand a $15-an-hour minimum wage and union rights.

We chose the caucus site tonight because we want our voices to be heard and we know this is where its gonna happen, said 33-year-old organizer and Popeyes employee Delores Davis.

Fight for 15 has not endorsed a candidate for president in 2020. Several Democratic contenders have marched with workers from the movement.

Davis said she plans to caucus later tonight, but she hasnt decided which candidate shell support.

I want somebody thats going to stand with us on the union, she said.

To the tune of muffled chants from outside, student-athletes in the Fieldhouse practiced discus and softball on an astro-turf field. Drake softball players Kristen Arias, 19, and Emily Valtman, 18, finished a game of catch about 30 minutes before the event began.

Valtman is from Newton, but said shes not sure if she will caucus tonight, as she was planning to attend a study hall instead.

 Katie Akin, Des Moines Register

Iowans caucus around the world

Hours before the caucuses got underway in the United States, Iowans were taking part all over the world.

Des Moines native Colyn Burbank hosted a mixture of Iowans, observers and press, at his apartment in Glasgow for one of the three International caucus events aimed at helping Democrats pick someone who can beat President Donald Trump in 2020.

On a blustery and rainy Monday, 20 Iowans showed up at Burbanks' residence in Scotland's capital to express their preference for who should be the Democrats' next standard-bearer. Despite a Friday NBC/WSJ national poll that showed Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden statistically tied, the former vice president did not receive a single vote.

Fifteen Wapello County-area Democrats came to satellite-caucus on Feb. 3, 2020 at the UFCW Local 230 Union in Ottumwa, Iowa. Upon first alignment, 14 caucusgoers stood for Bernie Sanders and one for Elizabeth Warren.

Sanders garnered the most support, with 9 Iowans backing him to receive the nomination, followed by 6 for Elizabeth Warren and 3 for Pete Buttigieg. One voter chose not to express a second preference after her candidate did not receive enough backing to make it to a second round. Another was unable to vote because she turned up late.

"Not to put too fine a point on it but it feels like the future is at stake with this election," said Lucy Schiller, 31, who is teaching American literature and creative writing at a college in Germany and traveled to Glasgow for the caucus. She previously taught at the University of Iowa, in Des Moines. "This is the last off-ramp we have before climate disaster."

Schiller, who backs Sanders, said the Vermont Senator's policies were the most appropriate to meet this challenge.

Burbank, who is studying for a master's degree in social care in Glasgow, lives in the apartment with his wife and young daughter along with another Iowan couple, and their cat, Lewis. The couples had decorated their home with pictures of famous Iowans such as the actor John Wayne, American late-night television host Johnny Carson and Grant Wood's iconic 1930 painting "American Gothic," which shows a farmer holding a pitchfork next to a stern-faced woman.

They also put on an Iowan-type spread of corn chips, homemade chocolate cookies, pretzels and what they claimed was an Iowan staple called "puppy chow": a twisted midwestern masterpiece consisting of Chex cereal, peanut butter, chocolate and powdered sugar. Lewis, the cat, darted in and out of the room amid heated political discussion.

Mondays very first Iowa caucus took place without a hitch in a city that has spent long periods under Persian and Russian rule. Tbilisi, in Georgia, is an ex-Soviet republic and the heart of the Caucasus region, an area that straddles eastern Europe and Western Asia. Tbilisi was also the first of the so-called Iowa satellite caucuses to see action Monday, as voters there chose their preferred Democratic candidates for the 2020 race for the White House. No matter that only three Iowans showed up.

The Tbilisi caucus was conducted successfully, over a traditional Iowan meal of pizza and ranch dressing  accompanied by a Georgian wine, its organizer Joshua Kucera tweeted, about 8 hours ahead of when many of the caucuses in Iowa are due to kick off. Alongside his comments, Kucera posted a picture of Iowas vertical red, white and blue tricolor flag with a bald eagle in its middle.

The caucuses - internal party meetings, essentially - dont guarantee a candidates nomination but can provide momentum ahead of primaries this summer. Kucera said that the results from the Tbilisi event would be reported after the rest of the Iowa caucuses take place.

At stake Monday in Iowa are 41 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Iowas Democratic Party has permitted this year 87 satellite caucuses, three of them international. In addition to Tbilisi, caucuses will also be held in a graduate students apartment in Glasgow, Scotland, and in Paris, France, where the mayor of Frances capital has agreed to let an American overseas college student host an Iowa caucus event.

All of the satellite caucus sites are being treated as one big county, so the out-of-state and international results wont be known until all of the non-precinct locations report their results.

- Kim Hjelmgaard

Want to talk more about politics?: Join our Facebook group: Across the Aisle, Across the Nation.

The media has taken over Iowa

Not only have presidential campaigns taken over Iowa, so has the media.

Hundreds of reporters from across the country, and even internationally, have descended on the state for the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

In downtown Des Moines, the NBC network has taken over a local coffee shop, Java Joes Coffee House. Several large trucks for the network crowded the street outside the shop. A sign that says MSNBC at Java Joes is displayed right when you walk in.

MSNBCs Morning Joe was hosted live from there, and MSNBC anchor Katy Tur also went live at 2 p.m.

Dell Radcliffe, 68, said she went down to Java Joes to see what was going on after missing Morning Joe in the morning. But when Radcliffe, who is from Des Moines, walked in, she found out that Tur  whom Radcliffe said she didnt know  was going to go live in the afternoon and decided to stick around.

I started plugging my meter, Radcliffe said. Radcliffe said she is still undecided with who she is going to caucus for but is leaning to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, but her husband, Mike Delaney, is going to caucus for Joe Biden.

Diane Miles, who is also from Des Moines, was sitting at Java Joes with a volunteer for Biden that she is hosting for the caucuses. The volunteer, John Douglass, is a retired Air Force general who is going around different states volunteering for Bidens campaign.

- Rebecca Morin

First Iowans caucus overseas and in the state

OTTUMWA, Ia.  The Iowa caucuses have officially begun, with Democrats in southeastern Iowa declaring their preferences and kicking off a day that will help determine the fates of the seven presidential hopefuls who have staked everything on this state.

The Ottumwa satellite precinct caucus  which kicked off at noon at the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 230 union hall  was the first of roughly 1,700 caucus locations in Iowa to meet Monday.

At those locations across Iowa, the country and the world, Democrats will get the first take on what voters think about the field of presidential contenders. Before the vast majority of the country gets to weigh in, Iowans will already have made their mark.

Were here at the Ottumwa satellite precinct, which is the first Iowa precinct to caucus today. Theyll kick off at noon. So far there is a group of Ethiopian immigrants here who work at the local pork processing plant in the evenings. They like Bernie Sanders. pic.twitter.com/ouAZtYJ4WI  Brianne Pfannenstiel (@brianneDMR) February 3, 2020

Though nearly all of Iowa's precincts will convene their caucuses at 7 p.m. CDT, local Democrats petitioned the Iowa Democratic Party to host this so-called satellite location earlier in the day. It's designed to accommodate those who work the second shift at the local pork processing plant and during the evenings at other service industry jobs when the caucuses are traditionally held.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont won the precinct's first alignment, with 14 of the precinct's 15 people. One person caucused for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Warren's supporter said she did not wish to caucus for Sanders on the second alignment. The Iowa Democratic Party will award delegates from the satellite caucus locations based on their final turnout later in the evening. The ultimate winner of Iowa's caucuses will be based on those delegate numbers.

 Brianne Pfannenstiel, Des Moines Register

Monday's first caucus was overseas

Mondays very first Iowa caucus took place without a hitch in a city that has spent long periods under Persian and Russian rule. Tbilisi, in Georgia, is an ex-Soviet republic and the heart of the Caucasus region, an area that straddles eastern Europe and Western Asia. Tbilisi was also the first of the so-called Iowa satellite caucuses to see action Monday, as voters there chose their preferred Democratic candidates for the 2020 race for the White House. No matter that only three Iowans showed up.

The Tbilisi caucus was conducted successfully, over a traditional Iowan meal of pizza and ranch dressing  accompanied by a Georgian wine, its organizer Joshua Kucera tweeted, about 8 hours ahead of when many of the caucuses in Iowa are due to kick off. Alongside his comments, Kucera posted a picture of Iowas vertical red, white and blue tricolor flag with a bald eagle in its middle.

The caucuses  internal party meetings, essentially  dont guarantee a candidates nomination but can provide momentum ahead of primaries this summer. Kucera said that the results from the Tbilisi event would be reported after the rest of the Iowa caucuses take place. At stake Monday in Iowa are 41 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. This year, Iowas Democratic Party has permitted 87 satellite caucuses, three of them international. In addition to Tbilisi, caucuses will also be held in a graduate students apartment in Glasgow, Scotland, and in Paris, France, where the mayor of Frances capital has agreed to let an American overseas college student host an Iowa caucus event.

The Paris mayor's office has donated a room for Iowans to caucus in. In Glasgow, a student is hosting in his apartment. And in an ex-Soviet republic, at least 3 Iowans will, at a prescribed time Monday, form into Democratic preference groups https://t.co/qhSEiOQlWG #IowaCaucus  Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard) February 1, 2020

All of the satellite caucus sites are being treated as one big county, so the out-of-state and international results wont be known until all of the non-precinct locations report their results.

More: Iowa's caucusgoers have a new place to vote: Overseas

 Kim Hjelmgaard

For Iowans, the day has finally arrived

DES MOINES  The Iowa caucuses are finally here.

After a campaign season that literally started in 2017, Iowa Democrats and Republicans will head to caucus sites tonight and make their choice for who they want to be president. The USA TODAY Network will have more than 60 staff members spread across Iowa to bring you the latest, most up-to-date information from caucus sites.

In a field that once included more than 20 candidates, 11 remain. Many of them  including former Vice President Joe Biden, former mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, billionaire activist Tom Steyer and entrepreneur Andrew Yang  have been blanketing the state for weeks, making their case that they are best positioned to beat President Donald Trump in November.

Iowa Caucus Results: Follow live Iowa caucus results here on Monday night.

More: What is a delegate equivalent? Or a viability threshold? The Iowa caucuses, explained.

The early part of the campaign season saw the debate over Medicare for All dominate the conversation around candidates and illustrate the range of beliefs on health care in the Democratic Party. But the past month has seen escalated tension with Iran and the impeachment trial of Trump bring other issues into the conversation. At times, several candidates have traded jabs over experience, past comments, and where they think the Democratic Party should go.

Polling has shown a tight race, with Biden, Buttigieg, Sanders and Warren all at times leading Iowa polling. In recent weeks, Sanders has taken the lead in RealClearPolitics' rolling average of Iowa polls.

The Republican caucuses are not expected to bring any surprises: Trump remains popular with his base in Iowa, and his challengers have failed to gain traction.

Others Democrats, including Sen. Michael Bennet, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, and former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, are focusing their efforts in New Hampshire, where the primary is Feb. 10. Billionaire and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has skipped the early voting states all together.

 Annah Aschbrenner

Check back for live updates as we follow the candidates on the ground in Iowa and caucusgoers around the world.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iowa caucus results: Sanders, Buttigieg lead, but no winner named
Maldives has rejoined the Commonwealth, bringing the total number of nations in the global organisation to 54, it has been announced.

The change came into effect at one minute past midnight on Saturday February 1  just over an hour after the UK left the EU.

The republic quit the Commonwealth in 2016 after being threatened with suspension over its human rights record and lack of progress on democratic reform.

President Ibrahim Ibu Mohamed Solih, a campaigner for democracy during decades of autocratic rule who was elected in 2018, pledged change and swiftly applied to rejoin.

The island nation has been readmitted after showing evidence of functioning democratic processes and popular support for being part of the family of nations.

President @ibusolih attends function to mark World Human Right Day 2019 pic.twitter.com/6xBrYUcZMB  The President's Office (@presidencymv) December 10, 2019

Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Scotland, announcing the decision, said: I warmly congratulate Maldives on its successful application.

We are delighted to welcome the country and its people back to the Commonwealth.

The reform process under way in Maldives aligns with the values and principles of the Commonwealth and we encourage the nation to continue on this path.

Commonwealth members were pleased to note these developments and are happy once again to count Maldives as a member of the family.

Together we will support Maldives to realise its ambitions.

Baroness Scotland consulted the other Commonwealth nations, who all had to agree to Maldives readmission for it to go ahead.

Famed for its sandy white beaches and luxury tourist resorts, the Indian Ocean archipelago  home to around 500,000 people  is formed of nearly 1,200 islands, most of them uninhabited.

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Many resorts in the Maldives need to be reached by seaplane. With unbeatable window seat views like this, the seaplane ride itself is a remarkable adventure. : aburrn via IG#Maldives #VisitMaldives #SunnySideofLife pic.twitter.com/4IW5j3pyUg  Visit Maldives (@visitmaldives) January 23, 2020

During his election campaign, Mr Solih vowed to promote human rights and, since his surprise win, political prisoners have been freed and exiled opposition figures have returned to the islands.

Within months of taking power, he wrote to the Commonwealth Secretary-General expressing interest in rejoining the Commonwealth, before making an official application.

Mr Solih said: Today is a happy day for Maldivians as we return to the family of Commonwealth nations.

As a young democracy, the Commonwealths foundational values of the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, multilateralism and world peace remain relevant to us more than ever.

We gratefully acknowledge the support and help of the Commonwealth to the Maldivian democratic movement, and we look forward to the support of fellow member states to ensure the long-term entrenchment of these values in our society.

The country faced an assessment including two site visits and consultations in accordance with the rules and procedures agreed by the Commonwealth Heads of Government in Kampala in 2007.

The Queen, head of the Commonwealth, and Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Scotland (right) with Commonwealth leaders in 2018 (Yui Mok/PA)

In 2016, the Maldives government quit the global body under former president Yameen Abdul Gayoom, saying it had been treated unjustly and unfairly.

The country had been threatened with sanctions including suspension if it failed to show progress in key democratic governance issues, including the prompt release of political leaders and misuse of anti-terrorism legislation.

Mr Yameen, who was elected in 2013, was accused of a crackdown on political rivals, courts and the media.

But he was replaced by opposition leader Mr Solih in a shock result in elections in 2018.

The islands, which became a multi-party democracy in 2008 after decades of autocratic rule, had been in political turmoil since its first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, announced his resignation in 2012.

It followed a mutiny by the police and weeks of demonstrations against his order to arrest the senior judge. He later said he was forced out in a coup.

All member countries of the Commonwealth must subscribe to the values and principles of the Commonwealth Charter, including a commitment to the development of free and democratic societies and the promotion of peace and prosperity.

Maldives, which last joined the Commonwealth in 1982, will now be part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda, in June.

The Queen is the symbolic head of the Commonwealth, and more than 2.4 billion citizens make up the voluntary association.
Tim Mannah has taken to social media with an emotional tribute to his cousin - the father of three children killed in a devastating accident in Sydneys north-west.

Samuel William Davidson, 29, was allegedly three times the legal blood alcohol limit on Saturday night when his ute hit and killed four children.

DISGUSTING: 'Fake' Facebook page emerges after four children killed

Abdallah siblings Sienna, 8, Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13, died at the scene in Oatlands alongside cousin Veronique Sakr, 11.

Mannah, a former Parramatta Eels star, has expressed his devastation for the childrens parents - cousin Danny Abdallah and his wife Leila Geagea.

Tim Mannah has expressed his heartbreak over the tragedy. Image: Getty/AAP

Heartbroken. Still trying to comprehend it all, Mannah posted on Instagram on Monday.

I have looked up to my cousin Danny since I was a kid. Ive always admired his huge heart for others and especially his children.

His wife, Leila, is an actual hero. She raises six kids with ease and grace. Her life revolves around them.

And just like that, theyve lost three children.

Cant imagine what pain they must be feeling right now, but my admiration for them has gone to a new level. They live out their faith and it inspires everyone around them.

Antony, Angelina and Sienna may not have lived long lives on earth, but their impact will echo into eternity. Psalm 34:18.

Mother 'forgives' driver after fatal crash

On Monday Leila said she forgave Davidson as she visited the scene of the tragedy.

"I think in my heart I forgive him. But I want the court to be fair. I'm not going to hate him because that's not who we are," she told reporters.

"It feels very unreal. I feel like I'm still waiting for them to come home."

Danny pleaded with drivers to be more careful as he came to grips with the loss of three of his six children.

"I don't know what to say. I'm numb, probably that's what I feel at the moment. All I want to say is please, drivers, be careful," he said.

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Hundreds of people gathered at the Oatlands crash site on Monday night to lay flowers and show support for the grieving families.

Flowers are placed at a makeshift memorial at the site of the accident in Oatlands. (Photo by FAROOQ KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The fatal crash has sparked a renewed push for a road rules overhaul in NSW.

Sydney University professor David Levinson says the NSW government should look at lower residential speed limits and tougher drink-driving penalties.

"We need a more serious response to driving under the influence. It's not taken seriously enough in our society," Prof Levinson told AAP on Monday.

"Speed limits are also relatively high. If you hit someone at a high speed you do more damage and are more likely to kill them."

Pedestrian Council of Australia chief executive Harold Scruby told AAP on Monday there should be no tolerance for drink-driving.

"Why are all other drugs prohibited but we have a tolerance for alcohol?" he said.

"What we want is zero drinking. No drink or driving at all. This is a wake-up call."

Sienna Abdallah (left), eight, Antony Abdallah (centre), 13, Angelina Abdallah (right), 12. Source: Facebook

The four children were going for ice cream at the time of the crash.

An 11-year-old boy has been put into an induced coma and remains in a stable condition at The Children's Hospital in Westmead.

Two girls, aged 10 and 13, were treated by paramedics at the scene and are in a stable condition.

Davidson was arrested after returning a positive roadside breath test result and allegedly recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.15.

He has been charged with 20 offences including four counts of manslaughter, dangerous driving occasioning death and grievous bodily harm, negligent driving and drink-driving.

He'll next appear in court in April.

with AAP
Dozens of Bangladeshi drug kingpins surrendered in a meth hub along the border with Myanmar, authorities said Tuesday, as fears grow over a Philippines-style violent crackdown against traffickers.

Addiction to "yaba", a cheap and addictive methamphetamine pill, has soared in the impoverished South Asian nation in recent years, experts say -- even in remote rural villages.

Authorities say the border towns have become hotspots for trafficking as Rohingya refugees -- 740,000 of whom fled Myanmar in 2017 following a military crackdown -- turn to drug smuggling to try and make ends meet.

Some 21 smugglers from Teknaf -- a major transit point used by dealers to bring in tens of millions of yaba pills from Myanmar's border states -- surrendered late Monday, police said.

"I welcome those who surrender today because we will not let any drug dealers sleep in peace," regional police chief Golam Faruk told the surrender ceremony Monday. The smugglers also surrendered thousands of yaba pills as well as weapons, while swearing publicly never to smuggle or sell narcotics again.

The soaring addiction rate has sparked a Filipino-style anti-drug campaign, with security forces killing nearly 500 alleged traffickers -- including dozens of Rohingya refugees -- from May 2018, rights groups say.

Activists say many were killed in staged confrontations, where police execute unarmed suspects and later claim it as self-defence. More than 25,000 people were also arrested for allegedly taking part in drug-dealing activities.

The deadly crackdown saw 102 yaba traders surrender to the country's home minister last February, also in Teknaf.

Police said those who surrendered Monday would not escape prosection, but would be given fair opportunities to fight their cases.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Sydney dermatologist and skin surgeon charged with raping a Victorian doctor, when he allegedly took his condom off without permission, has been awarded a prestigious Order of Australia medal in the latest controversy to plague the countrys top accolade.

The Age and Sydney Morning Herald can reveal high-profile NSW dermatologist, Liang Joo Leow, was one of 1099 people awarded an Australia Day honour for his service to "medicine and to the community".

Dermatologist Liang Joo Leow.

While Dr Leow is entitled to a presumption of innocence, it has raised further questions about the selection and screening processes of Australia Day honours recipients.

The revelation follows heated calls for men's rights activist Bettina Arndt to be stripped of her Order of Australia.
The problems started with the app. And picking up the phone didn't help.

Chaos spread across Iowa as the reporting methods for the nearly 1,700 precincts failed, throwing the state's Democratic caucuses into confusion and embarrassment, county party chairs, Iowa Democratic Party officials and precinct captains told CNN.

The heart of the problem stemmed from a new app the party had developed as a way -- they hoped -- to streamline reporting. The opposite happened.

Many then turned to the phones to directly report the results to the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters in Des Moines. But as the app failed, the phone lines backed up, with precinct chairs reporting a wait of more than an hour on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

"I couldn't use the app, couldn't get on the dang phone. The phone was the problem for the most part," said Linda Nelson, a precinct chair in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Bill Brauch, caucus chair for precinct 59 in Des Moines at Des Moines University, said the app "glitched" on Monday night after working before. When the Iowa Democratic Party told him to un-install and re-install the app minutes before the caucus began, Brauch was unable to because he forgot his Apple password.

"At that point, the app wasn't on my iPad," he said.

The breakdown left campaigns and news organizations without official results and largely in the dark on when and how the outcome of the year-long caucus campaign would be reported. This led some candidates to spin using their own internal data, as campaign war rooms across Des Moines demanded results and clarity -- at one point in a tense private conference call with Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price.

The chaos called into question Iowa's treasured first in the nominating calendar status and, to a large degree, undermined the countless days, millions of dollars and hours of door knocking and organizing that campaigns invested in Iowa over the last year.

Precinct captains from across Iowa began realizing days before the caucuses that the app was not working properly. Some complained to their county party leadership, others said nothing and hoped it would work at the needed moment and some just planned to call in their results, as has been done in the past. And most county party chairs openly worried about the lack of training on the reporting system.

Some precinct chairs ended their caucuses without reporting results. In some cases, the precinct leaders called local officials to unofficially report, while others took pictures of their caucus math sheet and texted them to Price and other senior Iowa Democrats.

But those weren't official ways to report, so when the Iowa Democratic Party began looking to precincts that failed to report their results, it often meant waking up already exhausted caucus workers.

"The Iowa Democratic Party called at 1:23 a.m., I was fast asleep," said Linda Nelson, the former Democratic chairwoman in Pottawattamie County and the caucus chair of her precinct in Council Bluffs. "I had to go out to my car, retrieve my materials and shared with them totals after both alignments and delegate distribution."

Nelson added: "They are probably still making calls."

Indeed, they are. A senior Democratic official tells CNN they estimate that about 250 precincts were still outstanding Tuesday morning.

But even hours after the process started, no results have been reported, leading campaigns that may have performed well in Iowa without the momentum they hoped and campaigns that may have performed poorly already attacking the process as undercutting the results whenever they come out.

"Bunker mentality"

Democratic presidential campaigns remained out of the loop on Tuesday morning over when -- and how many -- results of the Iowa caucuses will be released today, two officials say.

"We haven't heard a word from them overnight," a senior adviser to a Democratic campaign told CNN. "They are in bunker mentality."

The Iowa Democratic Party released a statement Tuesday morning, hoping to ease some of the backlash filling the national airwaves.

"While our plan is to release results as soon as possible today, our ultimate goal is to ensure that the integrity and accuracy of the process continues to be upheld," Price said on Tuesday morning.

A senior Iowa Democrat described a chaotic and tense scene inside the Iowa Democratic Party's boiler room at the Iowa Events Center on Monday night as senior party leadership began to realize the app had failed and the call line was overrun.

"There was not going to be a good choice here," said a senior Iowa Democrat, "and to buckle under the pressure to kick something out last night that was wrong would have been much worse."

The Democrat added: "The focus was on understanding the challenge, doing everything we could to maintain the integrity of the results."

Arguably the sharpest moments were when Price held an intense, heated conference call with the different campaigns.

Price sought to defend the Iowa caucus process, arguing that the delay in reporting results stemmed from the party's desire to "ensure the integrity of the process" but that the party was working to keep "campaigns in the loop throughout this entire process."

That failed to quell concerns from a host of campaigns, which raised questions about the integrity of the process, when the numbers would be reported and if the party was sure certain aspects of the process were maintained.

The most direct criticism of process came from Jeff Weaver, senior adviser to Bernie Sanders' campaign, who said claims that the delay stemmed from the need to report three numbers -- the number of first alignment, the number of second alignment and the number state delegate equivalents -- was "bogus."

"We are hearing some chatter that (the party is) blaming this delay on you having to report three numbers, not one," Weaver said.

When Price began to said the delay was caused by a "reporting issue," Weaver called the excuse "bogus" and said, if true, "the whole process has been a fraud for 100 years."

"We want to make sure (this) is accurate and that preserves the integrity of those results as well," Price said. "We have not had those numbers reported before, so we want to make sure those results are accurate, just like all information we put out."

Weaver told Price that his answer was "disappointing."

No training

A key issue, according to Iowa Democrats, was the fact that training on the app was not required for precinct chairs. In some case, this was because the app was not ready to be tested in time to training.

"Please test the app today," read directions provided to precinct leaders on the eve of the caucus. "Play around with it, get comfortable with it."

The chairs were instructed to email the party -- at an email specific to the app -- with concerns and questions.

According to people like Polk County Democratic Chairman Sean Bagniewski, the training and preparation for the app was wholly inadequate.

"When you have 1,700 precincts in one state, it should be a couple month long process of training folks, testing out the app, making sure it is downloaded, and that wasn't happening here," Bagniewski said.

Little of that happened, Bagniewski added, so days before the caucus, the Polk County chair told those who couldn't get the app to work to call in their results to the Iowa Democratic Party as they had in previous years.

When that failed, some precinct chairs in Polk County -- the largest county in Iowa -- just failed to report their numbers officially to the Democratic Party, and instead they took photos of their caucus math sheets and delivered all their documents to the Polk County headquarters.

Over two hours after the caucuses began, Judy Downs, the executive director of the Polk County Democrats, decided to get into her car and take all the photos she had to the Iowa Democratic Party boiler-room in Downtown Des Moines

She arrived at about 9:15 p.m., but was turned away, and told that precinct chairs should call their results in as usual.

"There's no way to report them," Bagniewski said after his party tried to report in-person. "We've got them."

Once the Iowa Democratic Party began demanding precinct chairs call in the standard way, representatives from the Polk County Democratic Party began going to the doors of those precinct chairs, Bagniewski said, in some cases waking people up well past midnight.

"We don't know which precincts they haven't received by app or phone," Bagniewski said. "We're asking them to tell us so we can give them their results."
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Christian Kinch today announced to the Board that he will resign as CEO of Bactiguard Holding AB (publ) after close to 16 years. The Board has appointed CFO and Deputy CEO Cecilia Edstrom as new CEO of Bactiguard and Stefan Grass (CMO) as Deputy CEO. Until a permanent CFO has been recruited, Financial manager Lina Arverud will hold the position as acting CFO.

Prior to the Board's decision, the Nomination Committee held an extraordinary meeting and decided to propose that Christian Kinch is elected new Chairman of the Board at the Annual General Meeting on April 28, 2020. The current Chairman of the Board Jan Stahlberg has announced that he will be available for re-election as a Board member. The Nomination Committee proposes Jan Stahlberg as Deputy Chairman of the Board.

Christian Kinch is one of two main shareholders of Bactiguard and has been the CEO of the company since it was founded in 2005, except for one year (2014 - 2015) when he was Chairman of the Board.

"I have been the CEO of Bactiguard for almost sixteen years. During that time, we have grown from a company with a handful of employees to a listed company with business in approx. 40 countries and nearly 200 employees, following the acquisition of Vigilenz. Everything has its time and every time has its leadership. I now feel it is time to hand over the management responsibility and focus on my role as owner," says Christian Kinch.

"Cecilia Edstrom and I have worked closely for six years and together we have developed the company both commercially and structurally and at the same time turned the profitability around. I am confident that she is the right person to assume the CEO role in the new phase that lies ahead of us. It is with great pleasure I hand over the leadership responsibility to her," Christian Kinch continues.

"I am proud and delighted to be able to lead Bactiguard into the next phase, where my experience from significantly larger companies will be useful. The focus ahead will be to continue to grow by increasing sales of our own product portfolio and developing new licensing deals, as infection prevention becomes more important for patient safety. In that perspective, the licensing deal with Zimmer Biomet and the acquisition of Vilgilenz pave the way for new opportunities and we have an exciting time ahead of us," says Cecilia Edstrom.

Cecilia Edstrom was recruited to Bactiguard ahead of the IPO in 2014 and has had several roles in the company since then, most recently as CFO and Deputy CEO. She has earlier been a member of the executive management teams of both Scania and TeliaSonera.

She started her career in corporate finance at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken and was thereafter recruited to Scania ahead of the company's IPO. At Scania, she was responsible for investor and corporate relations, business development, strategy and communication for a total of thirteen years in the company. In connection with Volkswagen's acquisition, she left Scania and became Head of Group Communications at TeliaSonera. Cecilia Edstrom was born in 1966 and holds a degree in business economics from the Stockholm School of Economics.

Cecilia Edstrom owns 243,264 B shares in Bactiguard.

Stefan Grass has extensive clinical experience as a physician and researcher, combined with senior positions in the pharmaceutical industry. In October 2019 he was appointed to a newly established, global role as Chief Medical and Technology Officer of Bactiguard.

Stefan Grass was born in 1972 and holds a medical degree from the Karolinska Institute and is specialized in anaesthesia and intensive care. He has a PhD in neurophysiology, with focus on pain from the Karolinska University Hospital and has been active at the cardiothoracic department, among others.

The Nomination Committee in Bactiguard consists of Jan Stahlberg (Chairman of the Board of Directors), Helena Borglund, appointed by KK Invest and Chairman of the Nomination Committee, Thomas von Koch, appointed by Bactiguard B.V., Mats J Andersson, appointed by Nordea Investment Funds and Per Colleen, appointed by The Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund (AP4). Together they represent 66 percent of the capital and 83,6 percent of the votes in Bactiguard.

The complete proposals of the Nomination Committee will be presented in the invitation to the Annual General Meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, 28 April 2020 at the company's headquarter in Botkyrka.

This information is information that Bactiguard Holding AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below 2020-02-04, at 22:15.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/bactiguard-holding-ab--publ-/r/christian-kinch-resigns-as-ceo-of-bactiguard-and-is-proposed-as-new-chairman-of-the-board--cecilia-e,c3027428

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/9686/3027428/1188028.pdf 200204 Christian Kinch resigns as CEO at Bactiguard and is proposed as new Chairman of the Board. Cecilia Edstrom appointed new CEO. https://news.cision.com/bactiguard-holding-ab--publ-/i/cecilia-edstrom,c2743676 Cecilia Edstrom https://news.cision.com/bactiguard-holding-ab--publ-/i/stefan-grass,c2743675 Stefan Grass

For further information, please contact:

Cecilia Edstrom, mobile: +46 722 262 328
What if you get stuck on the highway in a storm? Here are some tips
NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C., announced that applications are now open for its 2020 Avonte Oquendo Memorial Scholarship. Now in its fifth year, the fund has increased from $1,000 to $5,000 to aid students on the autism spectrum, or students with close family members with autism, to pursue higher education.

The scholarship commemorates the life of Avonte Oquendo, a nonverbal 14-year-old boy with autism who left his Queens public school undetected in 2013 and tragically drowned in the East River. David Perecman, Founder and Lead Trial Lawyer, represented Avonte's mother, Vanessa Fontaine, in a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of her son and assisted in efforts to pass Kevin and Avonte's Law, legislation aimed to make schools safer for special needs students.

"We are proud of the strides we've made to help further children's education in remembrance of Avonte Oquendo," said Mr. Perecman. "With this annual scholarship and increased fund for 2020, we strive to keep Avonte's story alive, and empower deserving students as they continue their education and pursue their career goals."

Applicants must be currently enrolled in, or have been accepted to, an accredited higher-level education institution for an undergraduate or postgraduate program; complete an application form; provide academic transcripts; and submit an essay on one of three provided prompts. The submission deadline is Friday, July 31, 2020, at 11:59 pm ET. Winners will be notified in August 2020.

For more information on the scholarship program and the full application form, visit perecman.com/avonte-oquendo/autism-scholarship.

About The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C.

Founded in 1983 by David Perecman, The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C. is a full-service personal injury law firm with offices in New York, New York, and Jericho, New York. The firm's attorneys concentrate their legal practices in all aspects of personal injury, including construction accidents, premises liability, motor vehicle accidents, wrongful death, and civil rights matters, as well as workers' compensation and Social Security Disability. Recognized by U.S. News for the past eight consecutive years as one of the Best Law Firms in America for Plaintiff's Personal Injury in New York, and distinguished among their peers for their professionalism, knowledge, and results by nationally-recognized organizations, including Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers, the firm and its attorneys have recovered more than $500 million in verdicts and settlements on their clients' behalf. For more information, visit www.perecman.com.

SOURCE Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C.

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European Chief Negotiator for the United Kingdom Exiting the European Union Michel Barnier (C) flanked by the EU deputy chief negotiator for Brexit Sabine Weyand (L) and the Michel Barnier Director Strategy, Coordination, Communication @MichelBarnier @EU_Commission; Negotiations with the #UK Stephanie Riso (R) arrive ahead of a European Council meeting on Brexit at The Europa Building, the European Council on April 10, 2019 in Brussels, Belgium.

Getty

The EU won't agree to a trade deal with the UK unless European fishing boats have access to British waters.

The bloc's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said a deal should include "reciprocal access to markets and waters."

Boris Johnson has insisted the UK will reclaim its fishing waters after Brexit.

Barnier said Brussels would be "very demanding" in insisting that the UK would have to follow EU rules in exchange for high levels of access to European markets.

Johnson in a speech on Monday ruled out signing up to EU rules in any new free trade deal.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The European Union will only agree a trade deal with the United Kingdom if Boris Johnson gives European fishing boats access to UK waters, the bloc's chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned on Monday.

Barnier outlined his "very demanding" mandate for negotiations with the UK, and said there was an "inextricable link" between a free trade agreement and continued reciprocal access to British waters for European trawler men.

Presenting his draft negotiating mandate on Monday, Barnier said: "Our free-trade agreement must include an agreement on fisheries. This agreement should provide reciprocal access to markets and waters, which contains quota shares."

Barnier's comments risk sparking a row with Johnson's government, which has insisted that the UK will reclaim full control of its fishing waters as part of its departure from the EU, which finally took place on Friday.

This sort of arrangement would also likely be governed by the EU's European Court of Justice, which the UK government is determined will not play a role in settling disputes between London and Brussels after Brexit.

Barnier also warned that Britain would have to say aligned to a whole set of EU rules if it wants a close trading relationship with Brussels, to prevent British firms from being able to undercut their European counterparts.

Story continues

He said that tariff and quota-free access to EU markets would require "a mechanism to uphold the high standards we have on social, environmental, tax, and state aid matters today and in their future developments."

Boris Johnson

Frank Augstein - WPA Pool/Getty Images

The question of how aligned the EU and UK will be after Brexit is set to define this year's trade talks.

Barnier said Brussels would be "very demanding" in its insistence that the UK should not be allowed to stop following EU rules and said its objective was "to ensure that divergence doesn't become an instrument for unfair competition whereby there would be disadvantages for EU industry."

It came as Boris Johnson laid out the UK's own approach to talks in a speech in London.

The prime minister insisted that Britain would not seek to undercut the EU in its future trade, and said that the UK in some cases would adhere to higher than those followed by the EU.

"We are not leaving the EU to undermine European standards. We will not engage in any kind of dumping, whether commercial, or social, or environmental," he said in a speech in London.



"And don't just listen to what I say or what we say, look at what we do.



"And I say respectfully to our friends that in all those three crucial areas the anxiety should really be on our side of the Channel, not yours."



"Look at state aid: France spends twice as much on state aid as the UK, and Germany three times as much, who is using subsidies to undercut? Not the UK."

Johnson said he would be willing to accept tariffs on trade with the EU if it meant that London was free to diverge from Brussels on rules and regulations, a blow to businesses which are hoping for a close trading relationship.

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While Gov. Charlie Baker addressed reporters in the House Speakers office Monday afternoon, activists with empty bellies sat on the floor of Nurses Hall chanting protest songs.

Licencias, si! Promesas, no, they said, which means yes to licenses, no to promises in English. About two dozen activists with Movimento Cosecha, an immigrant advocacy group, spent the first day of their hunger strike rallying for a bill that would expand drivers licenses to immigrants regardless of legal status.

But the controversial immigration bill is among hundreds competing to advance before the legislative session ends in July. The drivers license bill, re-filed by Sen. Brendan Crighton and Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, will either move forward or effectively die when the Joint Committee of Transportation submits its reports on pending bills to the Legislature.

Its not the first time the bill has been introduced, but Gov. Charlie Baker suggested the bill isnt likely to pass.

I tend not to comment on legislation thats currently pending before the branch because it depends in many respects on what the details have to say, but generally speaking, we think the bar on this ones pretty high, Baker, a Republican, said in the House Speakers office Monday afternoon.

Movimento Cosecha members hold a rally outside the Massachusetts State House.

Fifteen states have passed laws to pass a bill letting immigrants without legal status obtain licenses, Vermont, Connecticut and New York. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a similar bill in December, making his state the latest to approve such a law.

Currently, residents need to show a work permit or other proof of legal status to be eligible for a Massachusetts drivers license.

When lawmakers passed a two-tiered system as part of the budget to comply with the federal REAL ID requirements, Baker amended the provision to close a loophole that would have allowed undocumented immigrants to apply for drivers licenses.

Bills authorizing immigrants, regardless of legal status, to obtain drivers licenses has failed to pass multiple sessions. Sen. Brendan Crighton and Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier re-filed the legislation in early 2019. Bills H.3012 and S.2061 propose expanding access to standard licenses to immigrants without legal status. An estimated 185,000 undocumented immigrants stand to benefit from this bill if it becomes law, according to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.

The bill has gained support from a group of progressive lawmakers, business owners and a handful of law enforcement officials.

People need to have a license, people need to have insurance, said Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes, president of the Massachusetts Major City Chiefs of Police. If theres an accident, people certainly need to be responsible.

But Baker said in early 2019 that he will veto any bill that would grant undocumented immigrants driving privileges.

The House isnt likely to take up the drivers license proposal unless its veto-proof, and some representatives consider the bill too controversial.

Rep. Nika Elugardo, a Boston Democrat who supports the bill, said in December that some representatives, like her, are willing to teach their constituents and be taught by them about evolving policy. Others, however, have told her they arent likely to vote for a bill if the residents in their bill oppose it.

Some people would be put out of office if they start trying to start changing the minds of their constituents. So that means you have to start changing the minds of their constituents, Elugardo said during a panel discussion about drivers licenses in the State House.

Unlike other immigrant rights groups that work with state officials and lawmakers, Cosecha chapters in multiple states stage protests calling out local politicians who have expressed support for bills protecting immigrants without legal status but failed to move the legislation forward.

Cosecha activists shared a large dinner Sunday night before starting their hunger strike. They plan to protest daily at the Massachusetts State House until they see movement on the bill.

Among those demonstrating was Irma Lemuz, a Honduran womens rights and environmental activist. Lemuz said she left in the spring with her son after receiving multiple death threats.

Now a Massachusetts resident, she joined Cosecha activists in the hunger strike and demonstration at the State House.

I wanted to keep fighting. My life has been a big fight," said Lemuz.

Lemuz and her son entered the U.S. in early July, just days before the implementation of a federal rule that makes people who try to enter the country ineligible for asylum if they crossed through another country and didnt seek asylum there.

The Trump administration had already implemented a series of restrictions on asylum seekers at the southern border. The most widely known program is Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the Remain in Mexico program. The administration created MPP in December 2018, sending certain asylum seekers at the border to Mexico to await immigration court appearances.

Lemuz was among a group of migrants who arrived before the July 16 rule and were not sent to Mexico under MPP. She was detained by immigration authorities for five days and then released.

Lemuz is filing for asylum through an immigration attorney. She doesnt have a work permit yet, but she said she cant be indifferent to the struggles of undocumented immigrants who havent gotten a shot at obtaining work permits and are driving without licenses, driving to work or taking their children to school.

We have a lot of families that are separated, Lemuz told MassLive in a Spanish-language interview. You cant live in fear. You cant live in fear when Massachusetts is supposed to be Democratic state and when the lawmakers are Democrats.

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A row broke out today over the Streatham terror attack as ministers were accused of ignoring warnings from security chiefs nearly two years ago about the release of dangerous extremists.

As the investigation into Sudesh Amman continued, Labour MP Kevan Jones said that Parliaments intelligence and security committee was told by security services in 2018 that they were worried about the number of terrorists who were due for release.

Mr Jones, who was on the committee at the time, said ministers  who yesterday announced sweeping sentencing changes to keep terrorists in prison for longer  needed to explain why they had not acted sooner.

His rebuke came as Richard Walton, a former head of counter-terrorism at Scotland Yard, also stepped up the pressure on the Government by disclosing that police had been calling for terrorists to be kept in prison for longer for some time.

Former head of Scotland Yard's counter terrorism command Richard Walton / PA Archive/PA Images

He said the Government had been too soft on all this and that a new Australian-style system of indefinite detention was needed to ensure that the public were properly protected from highly dangerous offenders who would otherwise be released.

Cabinet minister Michael Gove responded by saying that ministers were ready to introduce indefinite detention if necessary, while Home Secretary Priti Patel conceded that ministers were rushing to close loopholes that had been allowing terrorists to be freed.

The ministers comments came as Mr Gove indicated that emergency legislation, announced yesterday by Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, would be introduced in Parliament this week.

It will ensure that existing terrorist prisoners serve at least two thirds of their sentence and are only released then if the Parole Board decides that they are safe.

They will still have to be released, however, when their sentence expires.

Streatham terror attack - In pictures 1 /28 Streatham terror attack - In pictures Police are dealing with an incident in Streatham Andy Bullemor Police officers conduct a search of a bail hostel in south London AFP via Getty Images A woman reacts near to the scene where a man was shot and killed by armed police Getty Images Forensic officers at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road PA Police cordon off a property in Streatham PA Forensic officers outside a property on Leigham Court Road, Streatham PA Police activity at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road PA Police officers look under a bus as they work at the scene of Sunday's terror stabbing attack in the Streatham area of south London AP Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Police officers at the scene after a man was shot by armed police Getty Images Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Armed police officer on Streatham High Road PA Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Police officers guard a cordon on Streatham High Road, at the junction of Prentis Road AFP via Getty Images Forensics investigate the scene Nigel Howard Police officers at the scene after a man was shot by armed police Getty Images Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Items left on the pavement at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Police secure the area in Streatham AP Forensics investigate the scene Nigel Howard

The Government hopes to have the legislation passed within days to ensure that the new regime, which is expected to face legal challenges, is in place quickly before more terrorists are automatically released.

In a further blow, however, the Governments terrorism watchdog, Jonathan Hall QC, told the Standard that the new system could backfire by leading to cliff edge releases under which terrorist offenders are released without any controls, if they are no longer freed on licence and let out instead at the end of their sentences.

But the main focus of controversy today, amid the investigation into Sundays stabbings in Streatham by freed terrorist Amman, was the disclosure by Mr Jones that ministers had failed to act on warnings given in 2018.

Amman was shot in Streatham / PA

Mr Jones, a senior Labour MP, said the warning had come when the intelligence and security committee, which was investigating terror attacks the previous year at Westminster, the Manchester Arena, London Bridge, Finsbury Park and Parsons Green.

He told the Standard: The Government has known for at least a year and a half that these individuals were due to be released and it was considered that they still posed a serious risk once released. The question ministers need to answer is what they did about it.

Mr Jones revealed the earlier warnings yesterday during a Commons debate on the Streatham attack when he told MPs: When, in the last Parliament, the intelligence and security committee took evidence on the Westminster Bridge attack, the security services raised with the committee concern about 38, I think, individuals who would be released in the next two years and considered as dangerous.

He stressed that the counter-terrorism experts had real, serious concerns about these people on quite short sentences.

Asked today why ministers had failed to act sooner to stop dangerous terrorists being released, Ms Patel insisted that Boris Johnsons Government was acting swiftly to close down loopholes responsible for the problem.

She told ITVs This Morning: We simply cannot have individuals halfway through their sentence being released in a way in which they are not supervised and they are not assessed.

"The public will rightly ask why have we not had those checks and balances in place in the first instance. That is why we are doing this... there will be a pipeline of prisoners.

Pressed on why it had taken so long, she added: Ive been Home Secretary for six months these are the type of loopholes that we have had to shut down.

Priti Patel

Mr Walton said he welcomed the Governments action but said that ministers had been too slow to act in the past.

This has been long overdue. I have been calling for longer sentences for terrorism offences for some time as have many of my colleagues and former colleagues, he said.

But theres still a further step Id take and thats potentially to introduce post-sentence preventative detention orders for the small number of very highly dangerous offenders to prevent release if the intelligence services think they remain a threat to security.

"Weve become too soft on this: release on licence is a privilege not a right and the public expect protection.

If the individual, the offender, continues to pose a very serious risk to public safety and it is judged on intelligence that that offender is going to go out and commit heinous crimes  mass murder and the like  then the Government should have the power to detain that offender for a further period of time, for a renewable period, under an order.

Mr Gove said that indefinite detention would be considered if necessary.

Michael Gove arrives in Downing Street / Getty Images

He told Sky News: We need to be able to prove that people are no longer a danger to the public.

"If you have people who are in the grip of an ideology, that ideology means they want to kill innocent people in order to advance a particular religious and political view, they are a danger to society.

However, there were growing calls for the Government to re-introduce control orders which were ditched when Theresa May was Home Secretary.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 14:11:51|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese education authorities, schools and after-school training providers are offering students online courses during the winter break, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said Tuesday.

The courses are related to infection prevention, mental health and educational activities and content, rather than subjects that put extra pressure on students of primary and secondary schools, the ministry said.

The MOE also asked schools and after-school training centers not to start their new teaching syllabus via online platforms before the date schools are supposed to begin.

The MOE announced in late January that the 2020 spring semester for schools will be postponed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
VAL-DES-MONTS, Que. - A retired RCMP officer has been charged with murder in the weekend deaths of two tenants at his home in the western Quebec community of Val-des-Monts.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VAL-DES-MONTS, Que. - A retired RCMP officer has been charged with murder in the weekend deaths of two tenants at his home in the western Quebec community of Val-des-Monts.

Yvon Mercier, 69, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one of arson during a court appearance late Monday at the courthouse in Gatineau, Que.

He was ordered held and will return to court for his next appearance on Feb. 17.

On Sunday, police found two bodies inside a residence following a fire on Mercier Street in the Outaouais community, about 35 kilometres north of Ottawa.

The victims were identified as Pierre Dupuis, 50 and Celine Labelle, 54, and police confirmed the victims and the suspect knew each other.

Sgt. Marc Tessier of Quebec provincial police said the investigation was ongoing and police are awaiting autopsy results and other expertise.

Mercier owns the home where the bodies were found and had recently put it up for sale, according to a post on the online classifieds site Kijiji.

He retired from the RCMP in 2007, the police force confirmed in a statement, adding it would provide no further information.

Several people who went through the force's training academy in Regina when Mercier was a drill sergeant there in the late 1980s posted online Tuesday recalling him and expressing shock at the charges.

The mayor of Val-des-Monts, a community of 12,500, said residents were stunned by the events.

Jacques Laurin said Mercier, whom he'd encountered socially from time to time, was renting out part of his house.

"It's a very peaceful area, people just walk around with their dogs," Laurin said on Tuesday. "Unfortunately, this is something that just happened."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2020.
Mobile World Congress is the event the world -- or at least, our particularly nerdy corner of it -- looks to for annual updates in smartphones, networking technology and more. This year, as concerns over a growing coronavirus outbreak continue to mount, LG has decided that the Barcelona-based trade show simply isn't worth the risk.

"With the safety of its employees and general public foremost in mind, LG has decided to withdraw from exhibiting and participating in MWC 2020 later this month in Barcelona, Spain," a statement emailed to reporters said. "This decision will prevent needlessly exposing hundreds of LG employees to international travel, which most health experts have advised."

Instead, LG will hold separate events in the "near future" to reveal its batch of 2020 smartphones, which is expected to include a sequel to last year's ambitious, underwhelming G8 ThinQ.

The show, which officially begins on February 24th, played host to over 100,000 attendees last year, many of whom were based in China or attended on behalf of Chinese companies. Unfortunately, the coronavirus situation -- which the World Health Organization now considers a global health emergency -- has hit China hardest of all. At time of publication, of the 20,630 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, 20,471 are inside China, and 425 people diagnosed with coronavirus in China have died.

So far, LG is the first major company we're aware to pull out of Mobile World Congress entirely, though at least one other has drastically altered its plans for the show. A spokesperson confirmed this afternoon that China-based ZTE, which has been lying low since the United States lifted an export ban in July 2018, will not be holding its customary MWC press conference.

Meanwhile, GSMA, the organization that stages MWC each year, said that the outbreak has had "minimal impact on the event thus far" and that it will continue to "monitor and assess the potential impact of the coronavirus." Beyond that, though, GSMA was quick to outline the measures it is taking to mitigate the spread of the virus. For now at least, the show must go on, but that might not be the case if companies that tend to anchor the show follow LG's lead.
A Thailand on Tuesday gave birth during a flight from Doha to Bangkok.

The unnamed woman passenger went into labour and delivered the baby with the help of a cabin crew of Qatar airways at around 3 am.

The aircraft made the emergency landing in Kolkata and the woman was admitted to a private hospital here. Both the mother and the baby are doing fine.

"An unscheduled flight from Doha to Bangkok QR-830 landed around 03:09 am at Kolkata airport in medical priority landing. The pilot of Qatar flight had asked SOS to ATC for medical priority landing. The flight landed safely, the airport team with the doctor was attending the concerned." Kolkata Airport official said while speaking to ANI.

More details in this regard are awaited.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CHICAGO and DENVER, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CQG, a leading global provider of high-performance technology solutions for traders, brokers, commercial hedgers, and exchanges, today announced the establishment of a partnership with DVeX, a new cryptocurrency exchange built by and for institutional traders. The firms have collaborated to offer CQG front-end platforms to DVeX clients for cutting-edge trading tools and analytics, effective immediately.

Created by the founders of DV Trading, DVeX was designed to deliver a world-class institutional cryptocurrency trading platform to meet the demands of professional traders by leveraging decades of experience as market makers and liquidity providers on traditional exchanges.

Dino Verbrugge, Founder, DV Group, said: "The DV team is excited to announce our partnership with CQG, which will enable DV to advance our vision of creating a true institutional trading environment for crypto assets. DVeX is now integrated with CQG's platform, streaming live, reliable and actionable cryptocurrency prices directly to CQG's clients, who will now be able to add DVeX as an additional venue to transact cryptocurrencies just as they would any other exchange."

Alli Brennan, CQG Chief of Staff, said: "CQG's suite of trading products, along with our connectivity to futures exchanges listing cryptocurrencies, gives DVeX customers consolidated access to more trade opportunities and the tools they need to make smart decisions. We're excited to partner with DVeX to reach new institutional crypto traders and offer an exciting opportunity to our existing network of customers who will have access to this important new marketplace."

About CQG:

CQG provides the industry's highest performing solutions for traders, brokers, commercial hedgers, and exchanges for their market-related activities globally, including trading, market data, advanced technical analysis, risk management, and account administration. The firm partners with the vast majority of futures brokerage and clearing firms and provides Direct Market Access (DMA) to more than 45 exchanges through its global network of co-located Hosted Exchange Gateways. CQG technology serves as the front end for a variety of exchanges, and the firm's technology is increasingly employed as the over-the-counter matching engine for important new markets. CQG's server-side order management tools for spreading, market aggregation, and smart orders are unsurpassed for speed and ease of use. Its market data feed consolidates 85 sources, including exchanges worldwide for futures, options, fixed income, foreign exchange, and equities, as well as data on debt securities, industry reports, and financial indices. One of the longest-serving technology solutions providers in the industry, CQG is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2020. CQG has received the Prop Traders' ISV of the Year award from FOW (now Global Investor Group), the Best Technical Analysis Platform award from The Technical Analyst, and the Best Product for Traders award from Finance Magnates for its multi-asset trading platform. CQG is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with 16 sales and support offices and data centers in key markets globally.

About DVeX:

Created by the founders of DV Trading, DVeX is a cryptocurrency exchange built for professional trading firms. Clients can access DVeX and trade multiple physical cryptocurrency pairs denominated in multiple fiat currencies using traditional trading applications, connect directly via its FIX or REST API, or simply use the DVeX Pro trading application. Physical delivery and custody is provided by a trusted independent custodian ensuring the segregation and safety of clients' assets. Clients can also lend their assets or borrow additional assets with other clients on the DVeX platform knowing that their assets are tracked and physically stored and maintained with the same independent custodian.

For more information on DVeX, please visit dvex.io or send an email to [email protected].

SOURCE CQG

Related Links

https://www.cqg.com


The issue of delay in hanging of convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape case figured in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, with the Aam Adami Party demanding intervention of the President or the CJI in the matter.

Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said the matter was "very sensitive and serious" and the court judgement must be implemented at the earliest.

Raising the issued during the morning session of the House, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said despite the punishment awarded to the four convicts, their hanging is being postponed.

He also said that political remarks were being made regarding the case.

The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gangraped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital.

The brutality of the crime shook the nation, leading to country-wide protests and a change in India's rape laws.

Singh said while the entire country was on the streets following the gangrape in 2012, the culprits have been able to get a new date every time to delay the execution.

"Tarikh per Tarikh (date after date)," Singh said, in an apparent reference to a famous dialogue of the film 'Damini' revolving around a rape trial.

TMC and Congress MPs, who were raising slogans against the citizenship amendment law, NRC and NPR, stopped sloganeering as the issue was discussed.

Observing that people are agitated and concerned over the delay in execution of the court order, Chairman Naidu said those in the system must fulfil their responsibilities.

He said the convicts were given all legal opportunities.

"We cannot allow such things to go on in the country... People are getting restive...It must be seen that judgement is implemented at the earliest," he said.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar blamed the Delhi government for the delay in executing the punishment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NSW Health issued two separate alerts for measles on Tuesday, with a person who visited the University of Sydney campus last week and a flight attendant who spent January 26 at The Golden Sheaf at Double Bay the latest cases.

One of the measles patients spent time at the University of Sydney campus while infected, and people who were at the Laneway cafe in the Wentworth building between 8am and 4pm on Janurary 28 should be alert for signs and symptoms, the department said.

A woman with measles visited the Laneway Cafe inside the University of Sydney's Wentworth Building. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Sydney Local Health District's Clinical Director of Public Health, Leena Gupta, said people with measles symptoms should stay home from school or work and not go out in public.

"The measles virus is highly contagious and is spread through the air by someone who is unwell with the disease," Dr Gupta said.
A BJP member on Tuesday made a plea to the Government in Lok Sabha to bring the National Register of Citizens (NRC) across the country.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Nishikant Dubey (BJP), said, "Today, I make a request to the Centre to implement NRC nationwide."



He alleged that vote bank was being done in the name of Muslims of Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Congress, he said, wanted division of the nation and the country should be saved from it.

Navneet Kaur Rana, an Independent Lok Sabha member from Amravati, raised the issue of women being burnt alive in Hinganghat area of Wardha district of Maharashtra and said there was a need for a strict law to deal with such incidents.

She said women like her (a member of Parliament) were also not safe.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Wind Gap Middle School student who reportedly made comments to other students about plans to make a hit list has been identified, school officials said.

"The appropriate disciplinary and legal consequences are being taken, Pen Argyl Area School District Superintendent Wally Schlegel Jr. wrote in a letter to parents shared Tuesday on Facebook.

The districts administration launched an investigation after learning of the comments; Slate Belt Regional Police Department assisted in that investigation, the letter says.

The administration and the (Slate Belt Regional Police Department) were unable to determine that a list was created, in addition the student has denied making any list, Schlegel wrote, adding the administration and law enforcement take all tips and threats seriously.

In the letter, the superintendent thanked those who alerted the district about the matter and noted that the district felt it was important to share the information with parents.

Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters

If youre the type of person who thinks the Democratic party is a creaking, incompetent entity whose leadership needs overthrowing, the Iowa caucuses certainly validated your point of view. None of us knew who would win, but we had at least expected a result. We didnt get one, at least not on caucus night. State Democratic party officials announced that due to quality control issues, release of the result would be indefinitely delayed. On a conference call with representatives of the candidates, party officials hung up the phone when asked when the totals would be released.

So what do we know? Well, one thing we can say confidently is that frontrunner Joe Biden flopped. There were places where Biden didnt even meet the 15% threshold needed to maintain viability from the first round to the second round  at one caucus site, the attorney general of Iowa had to switch from Biden to Buttigieg when Biden was disqualified. It explains why Bidens surrogate John Kerry was heard on the phone the other day asking whether it would be possible for him to enter the race at the last minute to save the Democratic party from being conquered by Sanders.

Internal numbers released by the Sanders campaign, showing results from 40% of caucus sites, showed Sanders winning with approximately 30% of the vote, Pete Buttigieg coming in second with 25%, Elizabeth Warren third with 21%, and Joe Biden a very distant fourth with 12%. If those numbers match the ultimate totals, they are great for Sanders and absolutely horrific for Biden. Sanders will have kicked the crap out of the frontrunner, Barack Obamas former vice-president and the man most favored to win the nomination. It would be a stunning upset.

But Biden caught a lucky break. With the party not releasing the actual result, his campaign sent a letter demanding that the result be suppressed until such time as the quality control issues were resolved. If it takes long enough to get the official count, Biden may hope that Iowa is old news, or that the issues surrounding the caucus are discussed far more than the actual result. (Thats one reason we need to make sure we dont get bogged down too much in talking about the procedural issues rather than the actual outcome.)

Story continues

So what went wrong? Its still not quite clear, though there were reports that a special app used to transmit vote totals had malfunctioned. Questions were immediately raised about who built the app and how it had been deployed. Ironically, it was introduced in order to get results out to the public quicker and had been hastily put together over the last two months. There had been security concerns from the start, and when NPR questioned the state party chairman, he declined to provide more details about which company or companies designed the app, or about what specific measures have been put in place to guarantee the systems security. Ironically, it was apparently developed by a firm literally called Shadow, partly funded by the Pete Buttigieg campaign.

Related: What to make of the Iowa fiasco? Our panelists react

If youre a Sanders supporter, you have reason to be suspicious. We had already seen the Des Moines Register suppress the results of its gold standard poll on the eve of the election, after a complaint from Buttigieg. And with 0% of caucus results in, Buttigieg declared himself victorious, praising the incredible result and saying Iowa had shocked the nation. The only thing that had shocked the nation at this point was Iowas total inability to perform the relatively simple task of counting peoples votes. But Buttigieg, good McKinseyite that he is, was getting a head start on deploying the PR spin.

For Sanders supporters, being denied a rightful victory in Iowa gives feelings of deja vu. In 2016, Sanders may well have won Iowa, possibly by a lot, but the state party did not release the vote totals. Instead, it only released delegate numbers, which showed Bernie narrowly losing the state 701-697 to Hillary Clinton. The delegate numbers are calculated strangely (this time around, in one precinct, Sanders beat Buttigieg 111 votes to 47 votes in the first alignment but both ended up with two delegates). If the vote totals had been known in 2016, it might have been clear Bernie had won. With his New Hampshire victory shortly after, Clinton would have been seen as losing the race, and the whole election might have turned out differently. Thats why, this time around, the Sanders campaign ensured that the vote totals would be released (and took a count of its own for good measure). This time, if he wins, everyone will know  eventually.

Despite the chaos, certain aspects of the Iowa caucus were inspiring. For the first time, a caucus was held in a mosque, and hundreds of Muslims and non-Muslims came together to vote for Bernie. In the first caucus of the day, immigrant pork plant workers, whose evening shifts prevented them from joining the main event, came out early to line up for Bernie. Internationally based Iowans caucused around the world, including in Scotland and Tblisi, Georgia. The Iowa caucus might seem like a good illustration of the dysfunction in American democracy, but some of its participatory elements are beautiful. It would be a shame if the lively, communal caucus system disappeared entirely in favor of secret ballots in voting booths, as some were already recommending as the vote-counting mess unfolded.

If the Sanders teams count is close to accurate (bear in mind, it was only 40% of caucus sites), he had the night he needed to have. The progressive vote is still being split between Sanders and Warren, but at least Biden hasnt managed to capitalize on that so far. The good news for Sanders is that, even if Buttigieg does unexpectedly well, Mayor Pete is destined to struggle as the campaign moves toward more racially diverse states. But all of the results remain speculative, since the Iowa Democratic party seemed determined to prove that we need a political revolution that overthrows the party establishment.
[February 04, 2020] Trualta and University of Florida study evaluates impact of family caregiver education

OTTAWA, Ontario and GAINSVILLE, Fla., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Trualta (www.trualta.com), the only skills-based learning management platform for the family caregiver, is partnering with the University of Florida (UF) to demonstrate how healthcare system outcomes can be improved by empowering informal family caregivers with the skills and confidence they need to ensure the best possible care for their loved ones. The UF-Trualta study will follow family caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's, dementia or mild cognitive impairment who are having surgery. The study participants will each benefit from Trualta's skills-based training and support program  which adapts and tailors professional-level training to the individual family member. How the trial will work Participating caregivers will use Trualta's training portal, which includes modules developed by Trualta and UF expressly for the care of someone with dementia or mild cognitive impairment.

They will have the option to choose the modules that best apply to their needs and interests, and the mode of delivery that best fits their learning styles  text, video, audio or eLearning.

Participants will be surveyed about their confidence with caregiving skills at the beginning, end and throughout their engagement. The study is expected to conclude and the results made available by the fall of 2020. Trualta's training modules range from behavioral symptom management, safety and injury prevention, pain and medication management and moving and transferring patients, to nutrition and daily care, and resources that help family caregivers look after their own well-being. Reducing strain on the system "Plenty of education and training on these topics exist for professionals, but none of that content is made available in a format that works for the family members who need it most," said Jonathan Davis, Founder and CEO of Trualta. "We take pofessional-level training and adapt it for the family caregiver  regardless of their background or previous healthcare knowledge. This improves their confidence and ability to deliver care, which in turn reduces strain on the healthcare system overall."



Dementia and mild cognitive impairment are just two of many costly health challenges that are growing more acute with an aging population. The family caregiver who is unpaid and often lacks the necessary skills and training provides 80-90 per cent of the care for aging seniors in North America. Lack of family caregiver training and support increases the likelihood of ER visits, ambulance and paramedic calls to the home and the risk of readmission  all of which increases costs for healthcare payers and providers, as well as social service organizations.

Improving patient outcomes Participants in the UF-Trualta study are being identified through the Perioperative Cognitive and Anesthesia Network program, or PeCAN. This is a clinical service at UF Health Shands Hospital that works to improve brain health for presurgical patients at risk of cognitive problems. "As clinicians, we want to be able to offer resources to support family caregivers and help them feel more empowered, but often lack the resources to do so," said Dr. Catherine Price, Director of PeCAN. "In partnership with Trualta, we intend to demonstrate how a relatively simple learning platform  simple both in terms of its user experience and program delivery  can give clinicians the means to bridge this gap and set up family caregivers for success." The UF-Trualta study is being funded by the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI) through its Industry Innovation Partnership Program. The program pairs private companies with healthcare institutions that can offer a real-world setting for testing new products and services to address the needs of aging adults. To learn more, schedule a demo or arrange an interview To learn more about engaging families with caregiver education, or to schedule a demo, visit www.trualta.com. CEO Jonathan Davis is also available for media interviews or other inquiries at [email protected]. About Trualta Trualta (www.trualta.com) partners with innovative healthcare payers and providers, as well as social service organizations, to better support families managing care at home and help reduce healthcare system costs. Each partner organization is equipped with a customized and co-branded learning portal through which healthcare professionals can deliver an innovative and skills-based training program that helps family caregivers develop the ability and confidence to better care for their aging loved ones. Trualta's program includes an online learning management system that is accessible via desktop, tablet, or smartphone with companion print material, personalized for each family's care situation. Topics include personal care, safety and injury prevention, cognitive decline and brain health, and caregiver wellness. Trualta is engaging in research partnerships and clinical validation trials with leading health organizations to demonstrate how more capable and confident caregivers do lead to improved patient outcomes. About the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI)

A Toronto-based solution accelerator for the aging and brain health sector, CABHI provides funding and support to innovators for the development, testing, and dissemination of new ideas and technologies that address unmet brain health and seniors' care needs. Established in 2015, it is the result of the largest investment in brain health and aging in Canadian history. CABHI is a unique collaboration of health care, science, industry, not-for-profit and government partners whose aim is to help improve quality of life for the world's aging population, allowing older adults to age safely in the setting of their choice while maintaining their cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trualta-and-university-of-florida-study-evaluates-impact-of-family-caregiver-education-300998106.html SOURCE Trualta

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The Taliban lashed out at Washington on social media Tuesday, accusing the US of holding up negotiations over a potential withdrawal deal that would see the Americans end their 18-year war in Afghanistan.

Washington and the Taliban are still wrangling over a possible deal that would see US troops begin to leave Afghanistan in return for security guarantees.

However, there appears to have been little progress in reaching a deal in recent weeks, prompting the insurgents to saddle blame on the White House and what they say are a growing list of demands by the Americans to pave the way for a deal.

The Taliban "has the intention & capacity for a resolution," said spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a tweet.

"Negotiation process has been harmed by Trump's tweet, numerous US demands & quarrel b/w US & Kabul officials. @SecPompeo should refrain from blame-shifting. Our stance in principled & concerted - unlike them," he added.

The Taliban's remarks came a day after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the insurgents must make "demonstrable evidence of their will and capacity to reduce violence" in order to reach an agreement during a meeting with Central Asian officials in Uzbekistan.

Taliban sources told AFP last month they had offered to initiate a brief ceasefire of seven to 10 days to help secure a deal, but there was no announcement of the details of the proposal by either party.

The tweet also came days after Zalmay Khalilzad -- the US special envoy leading negotiations with the Taliban -- launched a new round of shuttle diplomacy by travelling to both Pakistan and Afghanistan to brief officials on the status of the talks.

In recent weeks, the US has been largely quiet on the exact status of the negotiations, while the Taliban have insisted they were prepared to reduce fighting to move talks forward.

The US and Taliban had been negotiating the deal for a year and were on the brink of an announcement in September 2019 when President Donald Trump abruptly declared the process "dead", citing Taliban violence.

Talks were later restarted in December in Qatar, but paused again following an attack near the US-run Bagram military base in Afghanistan.

As talks have fluctuated, violent attacks in the country have raged, with the number of clashes jumping to record levels in the last quarter of 2019, according to a US government watchdog report released last week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Some Tauranga schools are reducing back to school cost for families in hardship, an effort to get learning underway immediately as term-one kicks off.

Gate Pa School is providing every pupil with free stationery this year and principal Rochelle Jensen says this move will help ease the financial burden on parents.

No student will come with that angst of being the only one without stationery. We can focus on their learning straight away, she says.

A primary school in Matapihi has been providing students with stationery packs for the past three years.

They also alleviate back to school costs by not asking parents for an annual donation.

Te Kura o Matapihi principal Tui Rolleston says free stationery helps each student start school on a level playing field.

It means students can come to school, enjoy their learning and get on with being a kid rather than being anxious about stationery.

Other barriers that can disrupt learning is pupils coming to school without food, and not owning the appropriate uniform, says Tui.

The school's breakfast club, supported by youth organisation KidsCan, serves toast, cereal and smoothies to students before each day begins.

We are super lucky to receive kai to give all the students in the mornings. This is for everyone.

A nationwide KidsCan survey on back to school costs has revealed that students are often absent on the first day or week of school because they dont have the necessary supplies.

About 210 decile 1-4 schools responded to the KidsCan survey, with one teacher reporting that some parents have to choose between feeding their children or stationery.

And stationery will always lose, they wrote.

Many parents do keep their children home until they can afford some books, uniforms also hold parents back, another teacher wrote in the survey.

Rochelle says stationery and uniforms combined can cost families hundreds of dollars.

We have families that have lots of children at our school, so you are multiplying a $40 stationery pack by three of four. And on top of that, you have uniforms.

Both Gate Pa School and Te Kura o Matapihi have reduced uniform costs, the principals saying parents only need to purchase the compulsory polo shirts.

Students can wear any bottoms, as long as they are plain black, says Rochelle.

Tui says their school polos are priced between $35-40 depending on size.

Merivale School, who are also supported by KidsCan, offer a pay as you go plan for struggling parents.

Those families that we know that are needing assistance, we contact them confidentially and many of them want to do the pay as you go plan, says principal Tom Paekau.

He says thanks to generous community support, they can keep back to school costs to a minimum.

KidsCan assists more than 70 schools across the Bay of Plenty, providing them with food, shoes, raincoats and health supplies.

The charity is bringing 47 schools off its waiting list this term, meaning it now supports 787 schools across the country.

Were pleased that more children will be able to focus on learning, without sitting in class feeling cold and hungry, or not coming to school at all, says KidsCans CEO and founder Julie Chapman.

But this is not a milestone to be celebrated. It just highlights the level of hardship in New Zealand right now, and the enormous impact its having on our kids.
Stayhealthy has announced that it is partnering with Dr. Judy Ho, the highly respected clinical and forensic neuropsychologist, media personality and author, on a new campaign to support the companys healthcare platforms for children and adults. The initiative will focus on promoting Stayhealthys apps including Color Quest AR, Body Fact Index, and OWL (Own Your Wellness and Living) and supporting content across social and traditional media.

We are both honored and excited to be joining forces with Dr. Judy, stated Ziggy Kormandel, Stayhealthys President. She is such a highly respected voice in the healthcare conversation today and shares a common passion with us to address wellness from a highly practical point of view. Through her television and radio appearanceslike on The Doctors, CNN, and Doctor Drewas well as through her books and teaching careershe has dedicated herself as a mental health professional to helping individuals and families live healthier, less stressful lives.

Im impressed with what the Stayhealthy team has accomplished with healthcare education that is science-backed, observed Dr. Judy. The companys platforms have been developed with engagement and retention in mind and offer evidence supported, practical tips that people can really use in their daily lives. The work that they are doing to address the epidemic of excess body fat squarely fits with what Ive also witnessed during the course of my career as a primary cause of many chronic diseases. I am truly looking forward to working with their team to get this critical message out.

Dr. Judy Ho is not only an award-winning professional, but a media star, added John Collins, CEO of Stayhealthy. She brings her acclaimed expertise along with an understanding that technology and media are key to educating and engaging the public how to take control of their own health and wellness. Her dedication to at-risk youth and prevention through her STAGES non-profit aligns with our mission to intervene at the earliest stages of childrens lives to make a difference in their future well-being, and to reduce their lifetime healthcare costs.

Dr. Judy Ho is a triple board-certified and licensed Clinical and Forensic Neuropsychologist who maintains a private practice in Los Angeles and is a tenured Associate Professor of Psychology at Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology. Dr. Judys consulting includes two research fellowships supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, as a neuropsychological educator and trainer for Centers for Disease Controls Legacy Project, and as a consulting neuropsychologist for Kaiser Permanente. Her book, Stop Self-Sabotage, which details an evidence-based six step program to help people unlock their motivation, harness their willpower, and change unhealthy habits; was published by HarperCollins in August 2020 and available wherever books are sold and has already been translated into seven other languages.

About Stayhealthy, Inc.

Founded in 1995, Stayhealthy Inc. is a healthcare technology company that has brought together the most advanced tools to measure, track and change the health and wellness status of millions of users. Over the decades, Stayhealthy has learned what doesnt work in healthcare, and as a result, has identified engagement, education and retention as its core strategic initiatives. Stayhealthy is now launching a mobile platform with apps based on highly accurate, clinically valid screening tools delivered with patented augmented reality technology.

Led by Chairman and former Secretary of Health and Human Services, Governor Tommy Thompson, Stayhealthys mission has been focused on successfully addressing the growing epidemic of diseases that are linked directly to excess body fat such as many cancers, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
Australia suspended its parliament for a day to honour the victims of its summer of devastating wildfires, as protests against the governments handling of the crisis continued.

On the first day back after the summer recess, prime minister Scott Morrison postponed ordinary business in the capital Canberra.

Instead, he and other MPs paid tribute to those killed by the raging bushfires, which include nine firefighters and three American Air Force personnel whose plane crashed while battling a blaze in New South Wales last month.

This is the black summer of 2019-20 that has proven our national character and resolve, Mr Morrison said.

These fires are yet to end and danger is still before us in many, many places, but today we gather together to mourn, honour, reflect and begin to learn from the black summer that continues.

Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? Show all 21 1 /21 Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-15.JPG Photos Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-19.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-10.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-17.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-16.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-12.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-6.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-13.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-18.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-1.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-11.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-14.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-3.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-9.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-8.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-7.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-5.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-2.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-0.JPG Reuters Australia fires: What's next for towns devastated by wildfires? AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-COMMUNITY-4.JPG Reuters

Although more than 100 fires continue to rage, the cooler weather means none currently posed an immediate threat, Australias meteorological authorities have said.

Families of some of those who had died were sat in the public gallery as the embattled leader, who was castigated for going on holiday to Hawaii at the height of the crisis in December, vowed Australia is not and will never be overwhelmed.

Since September, the wildfires have destroyed about 12 million hectares across the country, claimed the lives of 33 people and one billion animals, and razed 2,500 homes, according to Reuters.

Outside Parliament House as Mr Morrison spoke, hundreds of protestors gathered to attack his governments record and demand tougher action on the climate emergency.

Members of the government have pushed back against suggestions, supported by most scientists, that the fires were exacerbated by climate change.

Australia remains one of the worlds largest exporters of coal and gas and has been ranked by international studies as among the least active among G20 nations in reducing emissions.

One environmental demonstrator in Canberra among the many gathered under a sky hazy with wildfire smoke wore a Morrison mask and carried a sign reading: My Bushfire Plan? Hawaii!

 Rescuers use cherry picker to reach koala in tree in fire-ravaged area in Australia

Jane Baker, 65, and her friend Judith Thompson, 67, drove five hours from their hometown of Wangaratta in rural Victoria state to take part in the protest.

Were both frustrated at sitting on the couch and yelling at the politicians on the television, so weve come out to yell at them in person today  to have our voices heard, she told the AP news agency.

On Monday, hundreds of scientists penned an open letter to the government urging it to step up efforts to cut greenhouse gases and accept the scientific consensus which connects the catastrophe with the climate emergency.

Mr Morrison announced in parliament he had written to provincial leaders across Australia to begin setting up a royal commission which would investigate the official response to the wildfires, including the role climate change played.
Amid protests and sloganeering by opposition Congress and Trinamool Congress MPs, Rajya Sabha carried on with its listed business during the morning session and as many as 21 issues of public importance were raised.

MPs from different parties highlighted issues like the spread of coronavirus, onion exports, Nirbhaya rape case, and locust attack on crops in some states amid noisy scenes during the Zero Hour.

The trouble started at the outset when Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur rose to lay the paper listed against his name.

The moment his name was called, some opposition members started shouting slogans against him. The Election Commission recently barred Thakur from campaigning for the Delhi assembly elections in the wake of a controversial remark made by him at a poll rally.

Soon after Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu dismissed notices from several opposition members to suspend the routine business of the day and take up issue of CAA, NPR and NRC, TMC MP Derek O'Brien insisted that his notice should be taken up.

Naidu said the issue of CAA has been mentioned in the speech of the President, and the matter could be discussed while debating the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address.

However, some TMC MPs trooped into the Well of the House and started slogans like 'Goli Marna Band Kero', 'Modi Tere Tanashai Nahi Chalegi', 'Loktantra Ke Hatya Nahi Chalege', and several other slogans against NRC, CAA, and NPR.

The Chairman asked protesting members to return to seats. He even warned that he would take action against protesting members or adjourn the House for the day.

"This is killing democracy, not allowing the House to function," Naidu said as some opposition members were raising slogans like 'save democracy'.

Naidu asked opposition members to support, oppose or make suggestions while speaking on the Motion of Thanks, and let the House function.

Soon, several Congress MPs too joined the TMC members in sloganeering, and also joined them in the Well.

However, the Chairman continued with Zero Hour proceedings.

While opposition members stopped shouting slogans when MPs from Congress, AAP and DMK were raising their points, they again shouted slogans when MPs from ruling party or its ally stood up to speak.

Some ruling party members as well as YSRCP MP V Vijyasai Reddy too objected to the selective protests by TMC and Congress.

Just before the start of the Question Hour at noon, TMC members stagged a walkout form the House.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[February 04, 2020] Lift & Co. Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2020 Results

-Announced strategic partnerships with Nielsen and Enlighten and the addition of Adobe demand-side-platform to enhance the Companys data-as-a-service Cohesion product-

-Revenue increased by 41%, loss from operations decreased by 17% for the nine-month period- TORONTO, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lift & Co. Corp. ("Lift & Co." or the "Company") (TSXV:LIFT) (OTCQB:LFCOF) is pleased to announce results for its third quarter ended December 31, 2019. All amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise specified. Additional details may be found in the Companys financial statements and MD&A filed on SEDAR. MANAGEMENT COMMENTARY The Company is pleased to report strong financial results for the period. Total revenue increased by 41% to $4.6 million for the nine-month period, compared to the same period last year, and loss from operations decreased by 17% to $4.8 million. These improvements were driven by revenue growth across all segments and a focus on improved operational efficiency. During the quarter, the Company announced important partnerships in the development of its Cohesion platform: an exclusive strategic partnership with Nielsen, a leading global measurement and data analytics company, in developing Cohesion Segmentation  powered by Nielsen, a new cannabis consumer profiling and segmentation data product;

a strategic partnership with Enlighten, which will provide Lift & Co. with access to over 1,000 US retailers as well as product data, and marks the beginning of the Companys expansion into the United States; and

the addition of Adobe Advertising Cloud demand-side-platform, which will enable Cohesion clients to seamlessly deliver compliant programmatic advertising to their target consumer segment and brings much-needed industry-standard advertising solutions to the cannabis industry. We are proud to announce strong results from our third quarter fiscal 2020 and year-to-date, with growth across all Lift & Co. business lines, said Matei Olaru, CEO, Lift & Co. We are at the beginning of a pivotal calendar year for brands in the cannabis industry, within which Lift & Co. is establishing a leadership position, particularly with its Cohesion and CannSell platforms. The introduction of new product formats known as Cannabis 2.0  edibles, topicals and extracts  and retail expansion across the country, most notably in Ontario, are market factors which have contributed to growth across Lift & Co.s CannSell retail training platform and its Trade Marketing capabilities, as well as the Event Marketing channel during the third quarter of fiscal 2020. In 2020, cannabis brands must focus on building legacy and resonance with cannabis consumers. Lift & Co. is empowering brands to identify and seamlessly target their key demographics with Cohesion, deliver important product education directly to budtenders across the country through CannSell, talk to consumers directly at Lift & Co. events, and further differentiate their brand with a Canadian Cannabis Award win. The Lift & Co. platform is designed to meet the needs of the industry and deliver results to drive growth in Canadian cannabis. We are excited to scale this proven model in Canada and the United States over the next year. THIRD QUARTER 2020 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS Total revenues increased 11% to $926,429 for the three-month period ended December 31, 2019 nd increased 41% to $4.6 million for the nine-month period, compared to the same periods in the prior year

Trade Marketing revenue increased 145% to $139,094 for the three-month period and increased 77% to $363,685 for the nine-month period

Data Insights revenue increased 30% to $360,131 for the three-month period and increased 73% to $748,281 for the nine-month period

Event Marketing revenue decreased 15% to $427,204 million for the three-month period and increased 33% to $3.5 million for the nine-month period

Loss from operations decreased 7% to $2 million for the three-month period and decreased 17% to $4.8 million for the nine-month period



THIRD QUARTER 2020 OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS The Company launched its flagship data-as-a-service platform, Cohesion, last quarter and has recently announced invaluable strategic partnerships with Nielsen and Enlighten alongside the addition of Adobe DSP. Together, these further develop the capabilities of this platform by providing an additional consumer profiling and segmentation data product, enabling clients to deliver programmatic advertising to their target consumer segment, and expanding the product offering and data collection into the United States

This quarter was the first for profitability for the Trade Marketing segment, where the Company sold almost 900 CannSell licenses and launched two branded modules for PAX Labs and TerrAscends Haven St. Premium Cannabis brand

Ontario regulators plan to license approximately 20 new stores per month beginning April 2020, which are guaranteed to adopt CannSell per the multi-year exclusive mandate from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario

approximately 20 new stores per month beginning April 2020, which are guaranteed to adopt CannSell per the multi-year exclusive mandate from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario Lift & Co. held another successful Canadian Cannabis Awards gala this quarter, where 32 awards were announced, the gold-standard for excellence in the industry, and revenue increased by 29%; subsequent to the quarter, the Company held its Vancouver Expo and recognized revenue of $2,574,832, a 14% increase over the previous year

Also at the Vancouver Expo, Lift & Co. launched an early version of the Lift & Co. App, which allows consumers to capture a photo of product labels in-store to immediately access thousands of reviews on Lift.co, then upload their purchase receipts at the point-of-sale to earn Lift points, while enabling essential consumer and retail data insights that will become available to the industry through Cohesion Conference Call Details:

The Company will also hold a conference call on Wednesday, February 5, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, hosted by Matei Olaru, Chief Executive Officer, and Kasia Malz, Chief Financial Officer. A question and answer session will follow. Participant Dial-in Numbers:

Local - (+1) 866-211-3050

International - (+1) 647-689-6572

Conference ID: 3789264 Recording Playback Numbers:

Local - (+1) 416-621-4642

Toll Free - (+1) 800-585-8367

Expiry Date: March 5, 2020 11:59 PM About Lift & Co. Lift & Co. is a publicly traded technology company modernizing the cannabis industry. Forward-looking statements This news release and each of the documents referred to herein contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as plans, is expected, expects, scheduled, intends, contemplates, anticipates, believes, proposes or variations (including negative and grammatical variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Such statements are based on the current expectations of management and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Although management believes that the assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this press release may not occur by certain specified dates or at all and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the Company. Although Lift & Co. has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release, and subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and the Company does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Lift & Co. Corp. Contact information: Lift & Co.:

Nikki Laoutaris

Director of Communications

647-464-0148

[email protected] Kasia Malz

Chief Financial Officer

416-953-6657

[email protected] Investor Relations:

Thesis Capital

Prit Singh

905-510-7636

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Pilot of helicopter that crashed heralded for 'miracle' landing

The crew of a Hagerstown-based helicopter and the juvenile patient they picked up in Chambersburg, Pa., are OK after a crash near Philadelphia.
The Seattle City Council, one of the most powerful city councils in the US, on Monday unanimously passed a resolution condemning India's recently-enacted Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Reaffirming Seattle as a welcoming city and expressing solidarity with the city's South Asian community regardless of religion and caste, the resolution "resolves that the Seattle City Council opposes the National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship Amendment Act in India, and finds these policies to be discriminatory to Muslims, oppressed castes, women, indigenous, and LGBT people".

Introduced by Indian American City Council member Kshama Sawant, the resolution urges the Parliament of India to uphold the Indian Constitution by repealing the CAA, and to stop the National Register of Citizens, and take steps towards helping refugees by ratifying various UN treaties on refugees.

"Seattle City's decision to condemn CAA should be a message to all who wish to undermine pluralism and religious freedom. They cannot peddle in hate and bigotry, and expect to have international acceptability at the same time," said Ahsan Khan, president of Indian American Muslim Council.

Thenmozhi Soundararajan of Equality Labs, which organized the community in support of resolution, welcomed its passage. "We are proud of the Seattle City Council for standing on the right side of history today. Seattle is leading the moral consensus in the global outcry against the CAA, she said.

Soundararajan said that thousands of organizers across the country have called, e-mailed, and visited Seattle City Council members to amplify this resolution, and it sets an example to cities across the United States.

"At a time when members of the Indian ruling party sided Trump, the Muslim ban, and his war on immigrants as justification for targeting hundreds of millions of Indian minorities, Americans have a unique responsibility to stand up and speak about this human rights crisis. We are glad that Seattle is leading the way on this," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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A new study finds that students perform better on end-of-year standardized tests when their teachers are tough gradersand argues that the mindset that says everybody gets a gold star does more damage than good.

The report, published today by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute , a conservative think tank that focuses on school choice and high expectations for students, found that this effect holds true for students across racial and ethnic groups, gender, socioeconomic makeup, and previous academic background. The study also found evidence of longer-term learning gains for students.

Author Seth Gershenson, an associate professor at American University, studied a decade of 8th and 9th grade Algebra 1 course grades and end-of-course test scores in North Carolina public schools (the data was from 2006 to 2016). He compared students of teachers with higher grading standardsmeaning they assign lower grades than expected, given students scores on standardized teststo their peers who have teachers with lower grading standards, meaning they assign good grades to students who perform relatively poorly on the end-of-course test.

He found that teachers with the highest grading standards increase their students end-of-course scores on standardized tests by 16.9 percent of a standard deviation over teachers with the lowest grading standards. Even teachers who are in the middle with their grading standards are more effective than those with the lowest standards, the study found.

And the students of teachers with the highest grading standards performed significantly better a year later in geometry (by 7.3 percent of a standard deviation) and two years later in Algebra II (by 8.6 percent of a standard deviation).

Fordham staff also interviewed middle and high school teachers across the country about their views on grading, and found that many teachers said they felt pressure from administrators, parents, or the students themselves to award higher grades.

In the short run, that makes peoples lives easier, Gershenson said. In the long run, that really hurts students. It gives them a false sense of security; it sets them up for failure or at least lower performance down the road.

Rethinking Traditional Letter Grades

Gershenson said this study is focused on the A-C range of grades, and the erosion of what it means to have an A. In interviews with teachers, some said that a B is almost like the new average, and that an A means that [students] probably turned everything in.

In recent years, many educators have been rethinking how they assign grades . Some have shifted to standards-based grading, in which the teacher gives detailed feedback for each assignment and students performance is measured against specific course standards for mastery of the content. Theres also competency-based learning, which allows students to progress at different rates based on how well theyve mastered a set of standards or competencies.

Some schools have no zero policies that say the lowest score a student can receive on an assignment is a 50, at times even when a student fails to turn anything in. (The idea there is that a zero can tank a students chances of passing the course.) And some teachers have even ditched the gradebook altogether , in favor of giving students detailed feedback on their performance throughout the year and working with students to jointly assign a final report card grade, when the school requires it.

Many of these educators say that the traditional A-F system doesnt inspire students to learn for the sake of learning, and that letter grades are too heavily based on nonacademic factors, like punctuality and compliance. They say that grades can stress students out and cause othersparticularly those from disadvantaged backgroundsto give up.

Even so, Gershenson said his study found zero evidence that high grading standards hurt students. There is no effect on high school graduation, although this might be because students who are taking Algebra 1 in 8th or 9th grade are already unlikely to drop out. The study also found some evidence that having a teacher with higher grading standards can slightly increase students intent to attend a four-year college or university, although this result is only marginally statistically significant.

That contradicts the concern that kids are going to get discouraged by having a realistic grade, Gershenson said.

And his study did not find any significant differences between students backgrounds: No matter how you slice it, everybody benefits from high grading standards, he said.

He also found that grading standards tend to be higher in suburban schools and schools serving more affluent students. In the study, Gershenson wrote that this points to what President George W. Bush once called soft bigotry of low expectations.

Assigning good grades for mediocre work signals to students that excellent work is beyond their reach, he wrote. When students who have not mastered the material receive passing marks anyway, they can become complacent and fail to reach their full potential.

Recommendation for More Training

The study found that teachers who attended selective colleges, hold graduate degrees, and have more experience tend to have higher grading standards. Teachers with graduate degrees have grading standards that are about 19 percent of a standard deviation stricter than teachers without higher degreespossibly because they experienced a more challenging academic environment.

Also, new teachers have grading standards that are 29 percent of a standard deviation lower than average, while veteran teachers are tougher than average.

Gershenson said these findings indicate that theres an opportunity for teacher-preparation programs and district-led professional development trainings to focus on grade assignment. Thats typically an area thats overlooked, he saidyet teachers need support.

He also recommends that school leaders share with teachers how their grading standards compare to the standards of their peers teaching the same subjects and at the same grade level. The transparency, he said, might encourage educators to aim higher.

I think school leaders can certainly look and see how much variation in grading standards there is, and if theres a lot of variation, that suggests that some teachers are doing it right, and some teachers are doing it wrong, he said. Are there kids whose grades would essentially change from an A to a B depending on who their teacher is? Thats the kind of thing we want to eliminate.

An Arizona man has been charged by federal authorities of threatening to kill Rep. Adam Schiff (Cal-D) in an obscenity laden voicemail.

Jan Peter Meister, a 52-year-old registered sex offender, told investigators that he was under the influence when he left the voicemail for the Democrat's Washington D.C. office.

Meister shared that he made the call after watching Fox News and googling the politician's number, according to The Informant - a publication that focuses on violent extremism.

Jan Peter Meister, a 52-year-old registered sex offender, told investigators that he was under the influence when he left the voicemail for the Democrat's Washington D.C. office

He later told authorities that he strongly dislikes Democrats and blames them for the problems with the country.

'I'm gonna f***ing blow your brains out you f***ing piece of s**t,' Meister is said to have blurted out in the voicemail.

Schiff was originally listed as 'Congressman A.S.' in court filings.

'I'm gonna f**king blow your brains out you f**king piece of s**t,' Meister is said to have blurted out in the voicemail to Schiff

Investigators searched Meister's home and found an AR-15 style rifle and two pistols inside. There was more than 700 rounds of ammunition at the property.

Meister has been charged with making interstate threats and being a felon in posession of firearms and ammunition.

The sex offender faces a total of 15 years for the two charges.
A full flattening of CAP payments could result in the transfer of close to 14m from Cork to Kerry over the course of the next CAP programme.

Farmers in Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Sligo, Leitrim and Clare would be the other big winners from full convergence of Pillar I payments.

This is a premium article Premium articles will soon be available only to Independent.ie subscribers.

Farming Independent calculations confirm a major movement in direct payments from the south and east to farmers along the western seaboard should full flattening get the green light under the next CAP regime.

The calculations estimate that full convergence would result in payments moving to an average of 268/ha and are based on a simple division of the total Pillar I envelope of 1.17bn by the total national eligible area of 4.37m hectares.

Twelve counties would see an increase in total payments, with 14 suffering losses.

Mayo would be the biggest beneficiary of full convergence, with the total value of Pillar I payments increasing by 15m, rising from 72m to 87m. This would be worth an additional 1,300 on average for the county's 11,300 farmers.

Kerry's farmers would receive a further 14m annually, while 12m extra would be paid to farmers in Donegal, with an additional 6.5m going to Galway.

Farmers in Sligo and Leitrim would enjoy a payments boost of 4.9m, while Clare farmers would share in an extra 3.9m. Pillar I payments to Roscommon would be 1m higher.

The big losers under full flattening would be Cork (13.8m), Tipperary (9.4m), Wexford (7.7m), Kilkenny (6.8m), Laois (5.5m) and Meath (5.2m).

While these figures are not definitive, they help paint a picture of future movements in terms of direct payments and the likely winners and losers from full convergence.

However, they are 'broad brushstroke' figures in that the real movement in payments will be from farmers with high payment rates per hectare to those with low payment rates per hectare, irrespective of where they farm.

The calculations are also based on the assumption that the CAP budget is retained, and that full convergence will be implemented.

While the European Parliament has called for the CAP budget to be retained, there are proposals to cut it by as much as 5pc. In addition, while full convergence is being sought by the European Parliament, it is opposed by many member states, including Ireland.
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Hundreds of Dickinson College students cycled through a massive sit-in in the campus Holland Union Building on Monday as part of an ongoing protest against the schools alleged shortcomings in dealing with Title IX issues.

The protest is intended to last until Dickinson accedes to a list of reforms on its Title IX policy, student organizers said. Title IX refers to the federal law requiring measures against gender discrimination for schools that accept federal funding.

The sit-in is going to go until the school agrees to take on a significant number of those [reforms] and shows that theyre willing to negotiate on the rest, said Rose McAvoy, the student whose own experience with an allegedly botched Title IX investigation by the school touched off the student movement.

McAvoy published her account in the student newspaper, the Dickinsonian, last week. Internal correspondence from the school corroborates the major details of McAvoys case.

In July 2018, eight months after the school was aware of the alleged assault on McAvoy and seven months after it began a Title IX investigation, McAvoy was notified that the schools review board determined that there is sufficient information, based upon a preponderance of evidence, to believe that McAvoys alleged assailant had indeed violated the schools sexual assault policy.

McAvoy was notified at the same time that the male student in question would receive probation through the end of the year, a punishment she described as a slap on the wrist.

McAvoy was also informed in that correspondence that the no-contact order placed upon him was being rescinded, despite the college simultaneously confirming that it agreed he had committed a sexual assault violation, something McAvoy said she found baffling.

The Title IX investigation stemmed from an incident in October 2017 in which the student forcibly got on top of her, kissed her and removed some of her clothing without her consent, McAvoy said.

McAvoy also said she believes that two other students were victimized by the same man during the time her case was being adjudicated. One of the those students, Lissy Gold, said the man stalked and harassed her in January 2018 after she rebuffed his sexual advances. The male student in question subsequently transferred schools, students said.

At a student meeting Friday night, and again on Monday, students said Dickinsons administration seemed to lack a sense of urgency when it came to Title IX investigations and the measures that were needed to ensure student safety.

I had to go pressure the school to do what I thought shouldve happened from the very beginning, said Ellis Tucci, a Dickinson senior who said he had initiated a Title IX process last semester after an ex-girlfriend began stalking him.

Tucci said he had difficulty getting the school to issue a no-trespass order, even though his ex was not a Dickinson student.

I have talked to a lot of other students who have dealt with the Title IX system, and Ive not heard a single good thing about it, Tucci said. [Dickinson administrators] werent exactly gung-ho with dealing with it.

People still talk about the sit-in from 2011, Tucci said, referring to the protests that year that also centered on Title IX issues. I think this is something that is going to have a lot of staying power.

Demands

Students demands center around correcting some of the errors they see in McAvoys case: A maximum investigation time should be codified, and expulsion should be automatic for those found to have violated sexual assault provisions, among other changes.

Correspondence between McAvoy and Dickinson officials also confirms another of the issues the students want to address: McAvoy was not allowed to get copies of the interviews conducted in her case, and the final investigation report did not include all of the material she thought was relevant.

Filing an appeal on the report was difficult, given that she wasnt allowed to have a copy after viewing the draft, McAvoy said. She also said her accused attacker used an attorney as his Title IX adviser, whereas she did not, creating an uneven playing field.

On Friday, Dickinsons Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness and Inclusivity Brenda Bretz said that limited access to Title IX materials was pretty common due to concerns about the privacy of third parties, and that investigation timelines are dependent on the number of necessary witnesses. Bretzs own op-ed, responding to some of McAvoys claims, was also published in The Dickinsonian.

At Mondays sit-in, Bretz said the administration was open to tweaking how such cases are handled to correct some of the issues in McAvoys case.

I think that Rose and the students demands probably address the ways to avoid that happening again, Bretz said. The way forward is to look at those and deal with those.

Dickinsons standing working group on Title IX is scheduled to meet Tuesday, Bretz said, a meeting that was already planned due to anticipated changes to Title IX rules by the Trump administration.

Dickinsons faculty also has a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, where the topic is likely to come up, several professors said.

I think it will be unavoidable [Tuesday], Dickinson professor Santiago Anria said. Were still figuring out what to do, how to support the students in this.

Faculty members were sent emails over the weekend from Dickinson President Margee Ensign and Provost Neil Weissman encouraging them to provide a safe environment for students to speak on the Title IX reform movement, according to professors.

The students already have the ear of the administration, and there will be consequences from this  at least I hope so, professor Mireille Rebeiz said.

Both Anria and Rebeiz said they had students leave class on Monday to attend the sit-in, with professors saying they planned to make accommodations for anyone taking part in civic activism.

The faculty is often in-between the students and the administration, professor Kathryn Heard said. Its important for us to be available to listen to the students concerns and help them articulate those concerns.

Heard is teaching a political science course this semester called Democracy and Disobedience, part of which will now be devoted to looking at the Title IX protests.

Dickinsons Title IX office reported that, in the 2018-19 academic year, the college fielded 65 reported sex- or gender-based incidents. The majority of these were resolved without a formal Title IX investigation; six were not, according to the report.

Two of the investigations resulted in the dismissal of a Dickinson employee. One resulted in a student placed on probation, and another was found not responsible; two of the investigations are still outstanding.

Those reports are in addition to the required tallies of campus offenses under the federal Clery Act. In addition to enhanced reporting, Dickinson also in 2018 hired two full-time Title IX administrators, according to Bretz, and ramped up its campus prevention programming.

Email Zack at zhoopes@cumberlink.com.

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Price control for face masks as virus raises demand to 40-50m pieces

THAILAND: The government is putting face masks and alcohol-based hand sanitiser on the state price control list as part of efforts to deal with the deadly virus outbreak.

healthSafetyCoronavirusCOVID-19

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 4 February 2020, 08:35AM

Children wear face masks at Don Mueang airport to protect themselves from the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb

Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, who chaired the central committee on prices of goods and services yesterday (Feb 3), said the committee approved inclusion of face masks and alcohol-based hand sanitiser on the list and will propose the move to the cabinet today (Feb 4).

Once on the price control list, manufacturers, distributors, exporters and importers have to inform the Internal Trade Department the production cost, sales prices, production volume, export and import volume and stocks as wells as price labels.

Those who export more than 500 pieces need to gain prior approval from the department.

Similar measures are applied to hand sanitiser, except for the limit on export volume as there are still adequate quantities for domestic demand.

The latest measures are just short-lived and will last until the epidemic passes, said Mr Jurin.

The price control list covers essential items for daily use, such as food, consumer goods, farm-related products, paper, petroleum and medicine.

There are 170 items on the state priority watch list, 52 of which are the price control list.

Mr Jurin said the inclusion of the two products into the price control list is essential, because the demand for the face masks has surged to 40-50 million pieces per month after the new virus outbreak from 30 million pieces a month previously.

Thailand produces about 30 million pieces a month.

Whichai Phochanakij, director-general of Internal Trade Department, said the government may limit face mask purchases to 10 pieces per person per purchase, considered sufficient for 15 days.

Mr Whichai said once put on the price control list, those who are found to hoard or charge unfair prices will be subject to not more than seven years in jail or fined up to 140,000 baht, or both under the Price of Goods and Services Act of 1999.

Those who refuse to comply will face five years of imprisonment, a fine of not more than 100,000 baht, or both.
Is Telecom Plus PLC (LON:TEP) a good dividend stock? How can we tell? Dividend paying companies with growing earnings can be highly rewarding in the long term. If you are hoping to live on your dividends, it's important to be more stringent with your investments than the average punter. Regular readers know we like to apply the same approach to each dividend stock, and we hope you'll find our analysis useful.

In this case, Telecom Plus likely looks attractive to investors, given its 3.5% dividend yield and a payment history of over ten years. We'd guess that plenty of investors have purchased it for the income. Some simple analysis can reduce the risk of holding Telecom Plus for its dividend, and we'll focus on the most important aspects below.

Click the interactive chart for our full dividend analysis

LSE:TEP Historical Dividend Yield, February 4th 2020

Payout ratios

Companies (usually) pay dividends out of their earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, the dividend might have to be cut. As a result, we should always investigate whether a company can afford its dividend, measured as a percentage of a company's net income after tax. In the last year, Telecom Plus paid out 125% of its profit as dividends. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, from the perspective of an investor who hopes to own the company for many years, a payout ratio of above 100% is definitely a concern.

In addition to comparing dividends against profits, we should inspect whether the company generated enough cash to pay its dividend. Telecom Plus paid out 212% of its free cash flow last year, suggesting the dividend is poorly covered by cash flow. Paying out such a high percentage of cash flow suggests that the dividend was funded from either cash at bank or by borrowing, neither of which is desirable over the long term. As Telecom Plus's dividend was not well covered by either earnings or cash flow, we would be concerned that this dividend could be at risk over the long term.

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Is Telecom Plus's Balance Sheet Risky?

As Telecom Plus's dividend was not well covered by earnings, we need to check its balance sheet for signs of financial distress. A quick check of its financial situation can be done with two ratios: net debt divided by EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), and net interest cover. Net debt to EBITDA measures total debt load relative to company earnings (lower = less debt), while net interest cover measures the ability to pay interest on the debt (higher = greater ability to pay interest costs). With net debt of 0.56 times its EBITDA, Telecom Plus has an acceptable level of debt.

We calculated its interest cover by measuring its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), and dividing this by the company's net interest expense. With EBIT of 29.68 times its interest expense, Telecom Plus's interest cover is quite strong - more than enough to cover the interest expense.

We update our data on Telecom Plus every 24 hours, so you can always get our latest analysis of its financial health, here.

Dividend Volatility

One of the major risks of relying on dividend income, is the potential for a company to struggle financially and cut its dividend. Not only is your income cut, but the value of your investment declines as well - nasty. For the purpose of this article, we only scrutinise the last decade of Telecom Plus's dividend payments. During this period the dividend has been stable, which could imply the business could have relatively consistent earnings power. During the past ten-year period, the first annual payment was UK0.17 in 2010, compared to UK0.52 last year. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 12% a year over that time.

Dividends have been growing pretty quickly, and even more impressively, they haven't experienced any notable falls during this period.

Dividend Growth Potential

Dividend payments have been consistent over the past few years, but we should always check if earnings per share (EPS) are growing, as this will help maintain the purchasing power of the dividend. Earnings have grown at around 2.8% a year for the past five years, which is better than seeing them shrink! Still, the company has struggled to grow its EPS, and currently pays out 125% of its earnings. As they say in finance, 'past performance is not indicative of future performance', but we are not confident a company with limited earnings growth and a high payout ratio will be a star dividend-payer over the next decade.

Conclusion

When we look at a dividend stock, we need to form a judgement on whether the dividend will grow, if the company is able to maintain it in a wide range of economic circumstances, and if the dividend payout is sustainable. It's a concern to see that the company paid out such a high percentage of its earnings and cashflow as dividends. Earnings growth has been limited, but we like that the dividend payments have been fairly consistent. In summary, Telecom Plus has a number of shortcomings that we'd find it hard to get past. Things could change, but we think there are likely more attractive alternatives out there.

Earnings growth generally bodes well for the future value of company dividend payments. See if the 5 Telecom Plus analysts we track are forecasting continued growth with our free report on analyst estimates for the company.

If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of dividend stocks yielding above 3%.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
LIC IPO news: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) employee unions staged an hour-long protest strike (walk-out) on Tuesday to protest against the government's decision to sell part of its holding in the life insurer through an initial public offering (IPO).

The three major trade unions of LIC demonstrated before all offices of the life insurance behemoth across the country.

"As an immediate reaction to the proposal to list LIC, All India LIC Employees Federation will hold one-hour walk-out strike on 4 February," the union said in a statement.

Mumbai: All India LIC employees Federation and other organisations hold protest against Centre's budget announcement regarding disinvestment plan of LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/eAYnRmwBGg - ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2020

Also Read: LIC unions to stage protest against govt's stake sale in life insurer

The unions, which staged agitations on Monday during lunch break, held an hour-long protest strike on Tuesday as well.

The joint forum of LIC's (three) major trade unions -- Federation of LIC Class-I Officers' Associations, National Federation of Insurance Field Workers of India and All India Insurance Employees Association -- took the decision following Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's announcement to divest a part of the government's holding in LIC in her Budget 2020 speech.

The three trade unions represent around 90 per cent of the life insurer's total workforce. LIC had 2.85 lakh employees as of March-end 2019.

Listing of LIC is against national interest as over the years it has been playing a pivotal role in nation-building activities, it said.

Also Read: Once listed, LIC will be officially bigger than Reliance, TCS

On a capital base of Rs 5 crore, the union said LIC's valuation surplus was Rs 53,211.91 crore, life fund stood at Rs 28.28 lakh crore and asset under management over Rs 31.11 lakh crore at the end of FY19.

"Being one of the biggest financial institutions of the country, any move to privatise LIC will shake the confidence of the common man and will be an affront to our financial sovereignty. The very purpose of LIC to provide insurance coverage to socially and economically backward class at a reasonable cost will be defeated and motto will change from service to profit," the statement said.

Also Read: LIC investments worth Rs 67,000 crore see downgrade; Reliance Capital, YES Bank top drags

Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said the listing of LIC would help bring in greater transparency, public participation and also deepen the equity market.

"Government came out with the idea (LIC listing). The details will follow and it will be in the interest of LIC and its policyholders. Interest of LIC and policyholders will be safeguarded," Thakur recently told PTI.

Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar on Sunday said the listing might be done in the second half of the next financial year.

Also Read: LIC IPO: Govt to sell part of its holding in life insurance company, says Sitharaman

(With inputs from agencies.)
Netanyahu appeared to acquiesce to U.S. pressure Tuesday, saying he would hold off on annexation action until a new government is formed after Israeli elections next month. Kushner and other U.S. officials had sent signals both publicly and privately that Israel should not move too fast to reap what many of Netanyahu's pro-settlement political base saw as the rewards of the plan released last week.
Monash IVF Group Limited (ASX:MVF), which is in the healthcare business, and is based in Australia, saw significant share price movement during recent months on the ASX, rising to highs of AU$1.09 and falling to the lows of AU$0.98. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Monash IVF Group's current trading price of AU$0.98 reflective of the actual value of the small-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Lets take a look at Monash IVF Groups outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

See our latest analysis for Monash IVF Group

Is Monash IVF Group still cheap?

Great news for investors  Monash IVF Group is still trading at a fairly cheap price. My valuation model shows that the intrinsic value for the stock is A$1.81, but it is currently trading at AU$0.98 on the share market, meaning that there is still an opportunity to buy now. Whats more interesting is that, Monash IVF Groups share price is theoretically quite stable, which could mean two things: firstly, it may take the share price a while to move to its intrinsic value, and secondly, there may be less chances to buy low in the future once it reaches that value. This is because the stock is less volatile than the wider market given its low beta.

What kind of growth will Monash IVF Group generate?

ASX:MVF Past and Future Earnings, February 4th 2020

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that its the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. Though in the case of Monash IVF Group, it is expected to deliver a relatively unexciting earnings growth of 9.2%, which doesnt help build up its investment thesis. Growth doesnt appear to be a main reason for a buy decision for the company, at least in the near term.

Story continues

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? Even though growth is relatively muted, since MVF is currently undervalued, it may be a great time to accumulate more of your holdings in the stock. However, there are also other factors such as capital structure to consider, which could explain the current undervaluation.

Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on MVF for a while, now might be the time to make a leap. Its future outlook isnt fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means its not too late to buy MVF. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the track record of its management team, in order to make a well-informed buy.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters  the fundamentals  before you make a decision on Monash IVF Group. You can find everything you need to know about Monash IVF Group in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Monash IVF Group, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Karnal With the Punjab government filing a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court that it had no objection to a separate gurdwara body in Haryana, members of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) (ad hoc) are upbeat on the formation of a separate Sikh gurdwara body in the state.

As of now, the SGPC, based in Amritsar, manages Sikh shrines in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

This development has given a boost to us. Now, only the Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (Amritsar) is against the formation of the HSGMC. We are expecting a judgment in our favour, fulfilling demands of lakhs of Sikhs in Haryana, claimed Didar Singh Nalvi, senior vice-president of HSGMC (ad hoc).

In 2014, the outgoing Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government in Haryana had passed the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Act, 2014, for the formation of the HSGMC. A few days later, however, SGPC member from Kurukshetra Harbhajan Singh challenged the Act pleading that the Haryana government did not have any right to form a parallel committee to monitor gurdwaras.

Nalvi added that in its affidavit, the Punjab government, which is a party, has clarified that it does not have any objection to the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Act, 2014, passed by the state assembly, which allows the formation of separate Sikh body in Haryana. Nalvi claimed that the present BJP-JJP coalition government was also not in position to object to the law.

The Haryana government will not oppose it. The verdict will be in our favour as SGPC does not have any right to deprive Sikhs of other states from forming a separate Sikh body, Nalvi claimed. The next date of hearing in the apex court is February 18.

Our opposition

remains: SGPC member

SGPC members claimed that they will continue to oppose the division of Sikhs by the formation of a parallel committee for the management of gurdwaras in Haryana. Our stand is clear. We will not allow division of Sikhs for personal gains, said Ravinder Kaur Ajrana, an SGPC member.

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Vodacom South Africa is lining up a 5G launch for this year.

The operators ambitions became attainable when it signed a sharing agreement for 3.5GHz spectrum with Liquid Telecom late last year. Additionally, it has signed a roaming deal with local 4G provider Rain which will facilitate its goals.

Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO, said: Having been the first network to commercially launch 5G in Africa through Vodacom Lesotho, we expect to be able to launch 5G services in South Africa this year. This is possible thanks to a recent roaming agreement with Liquid Telecom, as 5G spectrum is largely unassigned in South Africa.

In regards to Vodacoms roaming agreement with Rain, Joosub added: Looking ahead, customers can expect to experience the benefit of our revised roaming deal with Rain, which will further expand our 4G capacity in an environment where delays in assigning available spectrum will constrain capacity for all networks.
Nollywood actor, Emeka Ike has shared photos of how he celebrated his South African wife, Yolanda Pfeiffer who recently turned a year older.

Read Also: Photo Of Emeka Ikes Newborn Daughter At 2-Months-Old Emerges

The actor who organized a party for his bae on the occasion of the special day then took to his official Instagram page to share some photos from the event.

He wrote:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOLO Ike Tx for being my lover, wifey and best friend.. I love you plenty my forever thank you prince adeyinka and family, Engr. Victor Aruwah & family @theonevic_  all the surprise team you made my wife shy Tx all

More photo below:
A magnitude 5.0 aftershock rattled southern Puerto Rico on Tuesday, causing some cracks but no reported injuries in a region that has been shaken by continuing quakes for more than a month.

Officials in the southwest coastal town of Guayanilla reported a cracked wall and arch near a municipal pool that had already been closed to the public.

It also prompted re-inspections of homes, schools and other buildings.

A home is seen collapsed after an earthquake in Guanica, Puerto Rico last month

A magnitude 5 earthquake on Tuesday struck Puerto Rico, where people are still on edge from a series of quakes after last month's deadly event

'The fear is that that they've once again been affected,' Guayanilla spokesman Danny Gonzalez told The Associated Press. 'It was a strong one.'

A couple of homes in the nearby city of Ponce also were damaged, prompting authorities to close several streets in the downtown area for safety as engineers inspected deep cracks.

The 10:45am quake struck 9 miles south-southeast of Guanica at a shallow depth of 4 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was felt across the island.

Victor Huerfano, director of Puerto Ricos Seismic Network, told the AP that the quake is part of a string of tremors that have followed a 6.4 earthquake that hit January 7, killing one person and damaging or destroying hundreds of homes and schools.

The Inmaculada Concepcion church, built in 1841, is seen partially collapsed after an earthquake hit the island in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico on January 7. Aftershocks have continued

The earthquake's center was 13 miles southeast of Guanica on the coast, according to the US Geological Survey

The new quake re-energized the area, leading to 10 aftershocks in the hour that followed, he said.

'This is going to continue, and its going to continue for some time,' Huerfano warned.

Some 1,000 people remain in shelters in Puerto Ricos southern region, and officials expected that number to rise with the latest quake.

Authorities have noted that the majority of those sheltered are simply scared to return home but have reported no damage in their house.

Guanica Mayor Santos Seda said that while no damage was reported in his town, he worried about the emotional toll the tremors are having on people.

'Its a setback to progress we've made emotionally,' he said of the latest quake.
The factories have been operating in Kherson and Khmelnytsky regions since 2013.

The Avangard agricultural holding is stunned over the allegations voiced by the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) and the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) claiming two poultry factories that are part of the holding don't exist. At the same time, the company still hopes for a reasonable settlement of such a misunderstanding.

It is about Eurasia's two largest full-cycle egg production complexes, namely Avis in Khmelnytsky region and Chernobaiyvska in Kherson region.

Director of Avis poultry complex Mykola Laktionov told UNIAN today the factory is fully operational as usual, with a 600-strong staff, including specialists with higher education, veterinarians, technologists, and engineers.

"Construction began in 2008, we launched the first industrial zone in 2009, and the construction was completed in 2013, that's when the factory started operating at full capacity. Today, Avis production facilities are a area where younger birds are held (2.63 million birds, including 5.2 million laying hens), with a design capacity of 1.6 billion eggs per year," he said.

Moreover, Laktionov says, no such production has been set up literally "from scratch"anywhere else  the company harvests its own grain and produces feed in its own mill to cover its needs.

Products from both Avangard factories are supplied to local supermarket chains, as well as for exports. The company received permits for egg supplies to 22 countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and others.

According to Avis chief veterinarian Natalia Tkachuk, clinical examination of birds and vaccinations are carried out at the factory on a daily basis, while employees undergo strict sanitary control.

"We don't allow people unrelated to production to enterprise premises. The poultry factory works in closed mode, all employees work in overalls and fill out health form. We also use modern vaccines that develop lifelong immunity in chicks to prevent outbreaks of any disease," she said.

Employees believe the work of these factories is not only a question of food safety in Ukraine, but also a question of maintaining the economy of regions.

"Frankly speaking, we were stunned by the allegations voiced by some law enforcement agencies that these factories allegedly didn't exist, because they are one of the largest specialized production companies  not only in Ukraine but also in Eurasia. These enterprises are the basis of the country's food safety, filling the domestic market with quality products, as well as playing a key role in revitalizing regional economies. These are multi-million taxes and a good employer who pays decent salaries, enabling youths with specialized education to stay in Ukraine," Head of the Avangard's Public Relations Department Yevhen Manzhenko said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Avangard and UkrLandFarming Group of companies appealed to the president of Ukraine about the fact that NABU and the PGO failed to locate factories in Khmelnytsky and Kherson regions and were exerting pressure on the companies.

UNIAN memo. In late December last year, upon a NABU request, the PGO reopened two two- and three-year-old cases against the Avangard company, which had been investigated by NABU and then closed. In particular, law enforcement officials claimed that two poultry factories had never been built.

The Avangard holding is one of the largest agricultural groups in Ukraine, whose companies specialize in the production of eggs and egg products. The company is part of UkrLandFarming, Ukraine's agricultural giant.

Avis and Chernobayivska poultry factories were fully launched in 2013. They have a total capacity of 11.2 million laying hens and a production capacity of 3.5 billion eggs a year.

The share of Avangard in the industrial production of eggs in Ukraine is 30%, while dry egg products amount to 70%.
Following the announcement of the fifth veterans home in Alabama coming to the Enterprise, Enterprise State Community College met with local officials to discuss how both colleges can provide training and education to a workforce that will be growing in the coming years.

We have been preparing for months to serve the needs of our local workforce in anticipation of the new veterans home, wherever it would be located in the Wiregrass, ESCC President Matt Rodgers said. We know we have great programs already in place to fill the jobs created by this facility, but were also researching new programs because of the impact it will have in our service area.

The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs (ADVA) made the announcement of a fifth home after conducting a study regarding the need for an additional veterans home. The study found that by 2045, 1,440 veterans would require a skilled-care bed, and it identified the Wiregrass region as an underserved area for veterans.

In 2023, Enterprise will be home to a new, 175-bed facility with an estimated 300 employees, including nursing and other healthcare staff, maintenance and administration staff.
Hard on the heels of its recent 5G announcement comes more good news for Vodacom in the form of recently published results for the company that indicate impressive growth, especially in South Africa.

Its consolidated revenue for the fiscal third quarter ending 31 December 2019 increased 6.6 percent year-on-year to $1.58 billion. Vodacom added 484,000 customers in South Africa, supported, the company says, by a successful summer campaign. In its international operations it added 1.7 million customers during the period.

South African revenue and service revenue growth rates improved to 5.9 percent and 4.6 percent respectively, supported by increased data uptake. International operations also continued to perform with strong growth in data and M-Pesa revenues. The announcement indicated that operations outside South Africa now contribute over 40 percent to group service revenue.

One minor cloud over this upbeat news is the fact that in January the company had to disconnect 1.7 million customers in Tanzania as a result of customer registration requirements, primarily due to the lack of government-approved identification documents. Vodacom does, however, expect to reconnect many of these customers over the short-to-medium term once they have been biometrically registered.

And now, as we have reported elsewhere today, Vodacom South Africa is planning a 5G rollout, helped by a recent roaming agreement with Liquid Telecom. Who, where, or how big the initially targeted subscriber market will be is not yet clear, however.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-05 03:51:29|Editor: xuxin

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Abraham Liu, Huawei's chief representative to the European Union Institutions, speaks at the company's spring reception in Brussels, Belgium, Feb, 4, 2020. Chinese technology firm Huawei said here on Tuesday that it has decided to set up 5G manufacturing bases in Europe, so that to "truly have 5G for Europe made in Europe." (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

BRUSSELS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese technology firm Huawei said here on Tuesday that it has decided to set up 5G manufacturing bases in Europe, so that to "truly have 5G for Europe made in Europe."

Abraham Liu, Huawei's chief representative to the European Union Institutions, said in the company's spring reception that the company has already had candidate places in mind, and "that is an ongoing process."

When asked by a Xinhua reporter whether this decision would improve Europe's confidence in the security of Huawei's products, former European Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding replied "yes, of course", since the manufacturing would be "under European rules, and so that will really be a boost to credibility."
RTHK: Brexit takes place as UK leaves the European Union

Britain has ended almost half a century of European Union membership, making a historic exit after years of bitter arguments to chart its own uncertain path in the world.

There were celebrations and tears across the country as the EU's often reluctant member became the first to leave an organisation set up to forge unity among nations after the horrors of World War II.

Thousands of people waving Union Jack flags packed London's Parliament Square to mark the moment of Brexit at 11 pm (2300 GMT) -- midnight in Brussels.

"We are a free nation," declared John Moss, a 44-year-old businessman who joined the crowd, which erupted into cheers as the clock ticked down.

Many pro-Europeans, including many of the 3.6 million EU citizens who made their lives in Britain, marked the occasion with solemn candlelit vigils.

Brexit has exposed deep divisions in British society.

One Brexit supporter set fire to an EU flag in central London.

Away from the celebrations, many fear the consequences of ending 47 years of ties with their nearest neighbours.

It has also provoked soul-searching in the EU about its own future after losing 66 million people, a global diplomatic big-hitter and the clout of the City of London financial centre.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a figurehead in the seismic 2016 referendum vote for Brexit, acknowledged there might be "bumps in the road ahead" but said Britain could make it a "stunning success".

As he held a party in his Downing Street office, a clock projected on the walls outside counted down the minutes until Brexit.

Johnson has promised to unite the island nation in a new era of prosperity, predicting a "new era of friendly cooperation" with the EU while Britain takes a greater role on the world stage.

"The most important thing to say tonight is that this is not an end but a beginning," he said in a televised address.

EU institutions earlier began removing red, white and blue Union flags in Brussels ahead of a divorce that German Chancellor Angela Merkel called a "sea-change" for the bloc.

French President Emmanuel Macron described it as a "historic warning sign" that should force the EU and its remaining nations of more than 440 million people to stop and reflect.

Britain's departure was sealed in an emotional vote in the EU parliament this week that ended with MEPs singing "Auld Lang Syne", a traditional Scottish song of farewell.

But almost nothing will change straight away, because of an 11-month transition period negotiated as part of the exit deal.

Britons will be able to work in and trade freely with EU nations until December 31, and vice versa, although the UK will no longer be represented in the bloc's institutions.

But legally, Britain is out.

And while the divorce terms have been agreed, Britain must still strike a deal on future relations with the EU, its largest trading partner.

Both will set out their negotiating positions on Monday.

"We want to have the best possible relationship with the United Kingdom, but it will never be as good as membership," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels.

Getting this far has been a traumatic process.

Britain resisted many EU projects over the years, refusing to join the single currency or the Schengen open travel area, and eurosceptics have long complained about Brussels bureaucracy.

Worries about mass migration added further fuel to the Brexit campaign while for some, the 2016 vote was a chance to punish the government for years of cuts to public spending.

But the result was still a huge shock.

It unleashed political chaos, sparking years of toxic arguments that paralysed parliament and forced the resignations of prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May.

Johnson brought an end to the turmoil with last month's decisive election victory which gave him the parliamentary majority he needed to ratify his Brexit deal.

But Britons remain as divided as they were nearly four years ago, when 52 percent voted to leave and 48 percent voted to remain in the EU.

In Scotland, where a majority voted to stay in 2016, Brexit has revived calls for independence and there were protests on Friday outside parliament.

"I think it's shameful that Scotland has been pulled out against its will," said Joe Harrow, a tourist guide in Edinburgh.

In Northern Ireland, where there are fears Brexit could destabilise a hard-won peace after decades of conflict over British rule, a billboard read: "This island rejects Brexit."

Johnson, who remains a polarising figure, has avoided any big official celebrations that might exacerbate divisions.

He hosted a special cabinet meeting in the northeastern city of Sunderland, which was the first to declare for Brexit in 2016.

He later held a private party at Downing Street, serving English sparkling wine, while the building itself was lit up in the red, white and blue of the British flag.

Millions of commemorative 50 pence coins have also been issued.

The rally in Parliament Square was organised by ex-MEP Nigel Farage, who has spent decades campaigning to leave the EU.

Crowds sang the Queen anthem "We Are the Champions".

At a "Big Brexit Bash" in Morley, northern England, Raymond Stott described the four years since the referendum as "a right cock-up".

"I am just glad it's all over. We will look after ourselves. We don't need Europe," said the 66-year-old.

But for many pro-Europeans, Friday marks a day they hoped would never come.

"Today is a day of mourning," said Katrina Graham, 31, an Irish women's rights activist who lives in Brussels, at a protest in central London.

From Saturday, Britain will be free to strike trade deals around the world, including with the United States.

Johnson has given himself just 11 months to negotiate a new partnership with the EU, covering everything from trade to security cooperation -- despite warnings this is not enough time.

He also discussed with his ministers on Friday an aim to get 80 percent of Britain's commerce covered by free trade agreements within three years, a spokesman said.

US President Donald Trump is an enthusiastic supporter of Brexit, and his envoy to London on Friday hailed an "exciting new era".

"America shares your optimism and excitement about the many opportunities the future will bring," ambassador Woody Johnson said. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A: I always loved social media. It had gotten sad in the political climate and divisive nature of it. I had contemplated quitting all of it. On New Years Day I thought, What could I do every day this year? Hope springs eternal on New Years Day. My mom often said, Instead of taking something away, why not put something in? That resonated with me. I thought, Wouldnt it be great if I could tell everyone what I thought of them publicly? Too often, we wait until someone dies. I thought I could do it every day for 365 days. I posted on Facebook. I said I hope youll follow along. I didnt care if anybody did. I knew it was going to be a challenge. On Jan. 2, my aunt was about to undergo major eye surgery. She was my first person. Then, there were several other family members in the days that come. Nothing was preplanned, nothing was thought out in advance. It was just the spirit that moved me. It dawned on me pretty quickly that I didnt know many people I interacted with or saw. I knew I had to expand the idea to those people.
Hashem Abedi, the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi, is on trial for mass murder. (Force for Deterrence in Libya via AP)

The brother of the Manchester bomber is just as responsible for the murder of the 22 people killed as was his sibling, a court has heard.

Hashem Abedi, 22, appeared in court on Tuesday charged with mass murder.

He is alleged to have been involved in planning the suicide attack at an Ariana Grande concert on May 2017, which killed 22 people and injured 260.

His brother Salman detonated a bomb as fans left the event at Manchester Arena.

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Hashem Abedi, younger brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, in the dock at the Old Bailey in London accused of mass murder (PA)

Police help concert goers close to the Manchester Arena after the terror attack at an Ariana Grande concert (PA)

Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC described how Salman Abedi detonated a large home-made improvised explosive device packed with shrapnel.

Mr Penny said that, by helping his brother, it was as if Hashem Abedi had detonated the bomb himself.

He said: He is equally guilty of the attempted murder of many others and in doing so he was guilty of agreeing with his brother to cause an explosion or explosions of a nature likely to endanger life.

Mr Penny said Abedi had assisted and encouraged his brother.

People look at flowers and tributes left in St Ann's Square in Manchester a week on from the attack at the Ariana Grande concert (PA via AP)

Abedi allegedly obtained chemicals for a home-made bomb; got metal containers to construct it; found an address in Manchester to manufacture the explosive and store it and bought screws and nails for shrapnel.

The bomb was made of chemicals which Mr Penny said are readily available to the public online.

The improvised device was packed with nuts, cross dowels and screws, he told the jury.

Salman Abedi detonated the bomb at 10.31PM in the foyer of the Manchester arena.

Such was the ferocity of the explosion that Salman Abedi was dismembered in the process, Mr Penny said.

The scene that met the survivors and those that attended thereafter, as youll understand, was one of destruction and chaos.

Investigators the began to take an interest in Hashem Abedis alleged involvement, he added.

In mid-April 2017, he also purchased a Nissan Micra to store bomb-making equipment, the court heard.

Mr Penny said the explosion was the result of months of planning, experimentation and preparation by the brothers.

He said: The bomb which was detonated was self-evidently designed to kill and maim as many people as possible.

Story continues

It was packed with lethal shrapnel and it was detonated in the middle of a crowd in a very public area  the intention being to kill and to inflict maximum damage.

The 22 victims of the terror attack during the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in May 2017. (top row left to right) Off-duty police officer Elaine McIver, 43, Saffie Roussos, 8, Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, Eilidh MacLeod, 14, (second row left to right) Nell Jones, 14, Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15, Megan Hurley, 15, Georgina Callander, 18, (third row left to right), Chloe Rutherford,17, Liam Curry, 19, Courtney Boyle, 19, and Philip Tron, 32, (fourth row left to right) John Atkinson, 26, Martyn Hett, 29, Kelly Brewster, 32, Angelika Klis, 39, (fifth row left to right) Marcin Klis, 42, Michelle Kiss, 45, Alison Howe, 45, and Lisa Lees, 43 (fifth row left to right) Wendy Fawell, 50 and Jane Tweddle, 51.

Abedi, who was raised in Manchester, travelled to Libya before the attack and was arrested in Tripoli before being extradited to the UK last year. He faced 22 counts of murder, one count for each death.

Abedi also faces one count of attempted murder for the other victims, and conspiring with his brother to cause explosions.

He has previously denied the charges. The case is due to last eight weeks.

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Press Release 002/2020

Hanselka: Pooling Competencies  Excellent Strategic Partnerships at KIT

In an interview with the German Press Agency (dpa), the Minis-ter-President of Baden-Wurttemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, de-mands enhanced collaboration of the states universities.



Close collaboration of universities with each other is a success factor of our state. For many years now, KIT has established close strategic partnerships and strategic collaborations with other univer-sities in Baden-Wurttemberg, says the President of Karlsruhe Insti-tute of Technology (KIT), Professor Holger Hanselka. The strategic added value of the partners are both the prerequisite and the objec-tive of collaboration. The Heidelberg Karlsruhe Strategic Partnership (HeiKA) of KIT and Heidelberg University, for example, represents a strategic collaboration with the declared objective to create a re-search and development space that is unique in Germany and inter-nationally visible. Just like HeiKA, the Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage Ulm & Karlsruhe (CELEST) run in cooperation with Ulm University and the Helmholtz Institute Ulm together with Ulm University and other partners have been crucial to the success of all partners in the Excellence Strategy. Within the framework of the Excellence Strategy, KIT acquired the Cluster of Excellence 3D Matter Made to Order with Heidelberg University and the Cluster of Excellence Post Lithium Storage together with Ulm University.



At the Innovation Campus Future Mobility funded by the State of Baden-Wurttemberg with EUR 10 million, which is officially opened in Stuttgart today, KIT and the University of Stuttgart conduct re-search in the areas of additive manufacture and zero-emissions drives. To adequately cope with the big topics and challenges of society, such as energy, mobility, and artificial intelligence, strategi-cally coordinated collaboration across institutions is of crucial im-portance, Hanselka emphasizes. We can only develop solutions when the strongest partners pool their complementary competen-cies. Strategic collaboration projects are of major significance to research, teaching, and innovation at KIT. In the trinational confed-eration of EUCOR, KIT and Freiburg University closely cooperate with the universities of Basel, Strasbourg, and Mulhouse in re-search, teaching, and innovation. Collaboration of universities and further partners also is an important factor of the Baden-Wurttemberg Test Area for Autonomous Driving (TAF-BW) and the Karlsruhe High-performance Center for Mobility Research.

Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,300 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 24,400 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.
An Uber driver described as a 'pathetic little man' by his own barrister planned to drive a van into an 'evil' Gay Pride parade to kill non-Muslims, a court has heard.

Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, 28, also singled out Madam Tussauds and a double decker tourist bus as targets, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

It was part of his plan to 'unleash death and suffering on non-Muslim members of the public,' it is claimed.

Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, 28, also singled out Madam Tussauds and a double decker tourist bus as targets, Woolwich Crown Court heard. It was part of his plan to 'unleash death and suffering on non-Muslim members of the public,' it is claimed

Jurors heard Chowdhury was cleared of preparing to commit an act of terrorism by an Old Bailey jury in December 2018.

He is now standing trial for engaging in the preparation of acts of terrorism and his sister, Sneha Chowdhury, 25, is accused of two charges of failing to notify the authorities of a potential terror attack.

Chowdhury's plans were foiled by three undercover officers posing as like-minded extremists.

He sent letters to his sister with quotes justifying what he had done showing he was the same man in 2019 as he was when he was prosecuted in 2017, it is claimed.

In his closing speech prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said: 'He wrote about 'paradise under the shades of swords' and wanting to discuss this with an imam,' he said.

'The crossover, the common factors between those that he posted in 2019 that show he was the same man with the same inspirations as 2017.

'The Black Sahaba story, tale of gaining paradise by fighting disbelievers and being killed in the end, he posted that within days of being released from prison.'

Undercover officer Mikael provides a significant portion of the evidence against Chowdury, made through covert recordings.

'Within days of first meeting with undercover officers and within no time when he learned Mikael was about to become a martyr,' Mr Atkinson said.

'In his interview he denied his postings were designed to encourage terror, rather general islamic conversation, discussing both the nice and the not nice.

'But if you look at what he posted, it was not debate it was evangelising, advancing his view.

Chowdury considered targeting of London's gay pride parade with a van after realising attacking remembrance Sunday was too difficult due to security (file image of a gay pride event)

'It was a nonsensical explanation you may think, that he was posting to confirm, in prison, despite himself he couldn't help himself just a habit, boasting to friends who knew what he was saying and to everyone in his family and home.

In 2019 he was still listening to the sermons of Muslim cleric Anwar Awlaki, who he told undercover officers he played for inspiration while he drove to Buckingham Palace in 2017.

On 17 March he played and sent Islamic State propaganda videos calling for battle between believers and non-believers, the court heard.

Mr Atkinson said: 'He told you that he agreed with what Sheikh Faisal [Abdullah el-Faisal] had to say, he was sending them to undercover officers to educate them, you may think he was seeking to encourage those he sent them to support the views he expressed and shared.

'He was attracted to Tommy Robinson's interpretation of Islam as a violent religion you may think his explanation of the book shows both that he had read it and was excited by it.

'The reordering of the Koran, a non-watered down version, he shared with others as guidance and approach to the Koran, he refers to the killing of those in Charlie Hebdo in France as beautiful.

'He described the killing of Lee Rigby as amazing.'

Chowdury speculated he could 'do so much' with an 'AK' in covertly recorded conversation with officers, the court heard.

He replied 'yes please' when Mikael offered a contact to buy a gun, he also booked himself on a firearms course, which he later cancelled after becoming concerned about arising suspicion.

On one occasion he told his sister he had 'bare [lots of] friends from the mosque who he was radicalising.

In covert recordings Chowdury discussed the rewards of violent jihad.

The recordings read: 'He'll give you his paradise, what you have to do you have to fight, you kill and then they are killed, it doesn't get much clearer than that does it?

'Allah says its a bargain, it's just a few minutes fighting you kill and you are killed, every road has a shortcut, and a shortcut to Islam is a jihad..'

Chowdury considered targeting of London's gay pride parade with a van after realising attacking remembrance Sunday was too difficult due to security.

He believed it was 'halal permitted' for jihadis to target gays.

'Mikael brought it up again to find out if serious or not, affording him chance to say he was joking,' said the prosecutor.

'He gave him a chance to back off, on the 7th of April he says he wants to wait, he thinks not ready yet.

'He keeps talking about it himself, so for example, 'It sounds like it's a bit separated for heavy loads, you should raise the bumpers, the heavier the better, these gay parades it's all forbidden, it's all evil'.'

Recordings and damage to his bedroom wardrobe shows he was practicing using knives and a sword, the court heard.

'Evidence shows slits and slashes on side of wardrobe, his sister told you were only visible when inside his room, less likely to attract notice of others, particularly his father who had earlier taken away his bokken.

'He talks to her about getting the motion right, what vital areas you need to stab and how you nee to stab them, demonstrates techniques he has practiced.

Mr Atkinson said the sister was well aware what of Chowdury was plotting.

'How likely is it that these would forget acting with a bokken (sword) with him and a kitchen knife with him,' he asked.

'Is it a lack of memory or is it evasion? Was she simply not telling the police in interview the truth?

'She knew better than anyone, sat through both trials, she would have known what her brother had done, he drove to Windsor, he drove to Buckingham palace, with a sword.'

Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, of Kirkwood Road, Luton, denies engaging in the preparation of acts of terrorism, collecting information contrary to section 58 of the Terrorism Act.

He is further charged with sharing a video called 'The Establishment of the Islamic State Pt 6' in March of this year intending it to be a direct or indirect encouragement or other inducement to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism or being reckless as to whether it would have such an effect.

Chowdhury is also accused of possessing a document titled 'Guidelines for doing just terror operations' said to be useful to someone preparing or committing an act of terror on July 3.

Sneha Chowdhury, of the same address, denies two charges of failing to disclose information about terrorism between January 24 and July 3 last year under section 38B (2) of the Terrorism Act 2000

It is alleged she had information which she knew or believed might be of material assistance in preventing the commission of an act of terrorism and failed to disclose the information as soon as reasonably practicable to a police officer.

The trial continues.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 15:17:43|Editor: zh

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Xu Guobin talks with recipient on the phone in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Feb. 3, 2020. Deliveryman Xu Guobin has continued to work during the Spring Festival holidays for straight 12 days. Influenced by the outbreak of novel coronavirus, Xu has to deliver packages three times more than the last years. When asked if he was worried about being infected, Xu responded by saying that although he had such concern, what he could do was to well protect himself while delivering packages to the people who needed them. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)
While he enjoys immunity from prosecution and unfettered access to taxpayers fund as the executive governor of Kebbi State, the United States and Jersey authorities have repatriated N112.05 billion ($308 million) stolen and laundered by Abubakar Bagudu on behalf of the infamous military dictator, Sani Abacha.

Before he became governor, Mr Bagudu, was a prolific bagman for Mr Abacha helping the kleptomaniac tyrant who died in 1998 to launder a large chunk of the estimated $2.2 billion stolen from Nigerias coffers.

The amount was described as the largest single asset repatriation the Island (Jersey) has undertaken, and among the largest in the world, in a joint press statement on Monday by the Nigerian government, US Department of Justice, and the government of Jersey.

Yesterdays repatriation is the latest in a series of other funds stolen by Mr Abacha and his family, repatriated from Europe and the United States, which the Nigerian media now describes as the Abacha loot.

The amount to be repatriated to Nigeria following a tripartite agreement on Monday does not include the more than N59.3 billion ($163 million) Mr Bagudu agreed to return to Nigeria in 2003 in exchange for Jerseys withdrawal of an extradition request to the United States for him to face criminal prosecution in the island nation.

Last September, PREMIUM TIMES had obtained a January 2019 ruling of the US District Court of Columbia in a suit between Ibrahim, Mr Bagudus elder brother, who was laying claim to $287 million deposited in one account owned by Doraville Properties, a shell company set up by Mr Bagudu to primarily launder funds stolen from Nigeria.

This newspaper revealed that Mr Bagudu spent six months in federal detention in Texas while awaiting extradition to Jersey. However, before he was handed over to criminal trial in Jersey, he quickly agreed to return $163 million to Nigeria and was released on bond to Nigeria where he was meant to be prosecuted for money laundering. However, on returning to Nigeria, he was neither questioned. He was instead cleared to contest in three different election cycles  one as a senator and two as governor  all of which he won.

Battle to repatriate laundered funds

The tripartite statement revealed details of how the funds were stolen and laundered through the United States banking system before being held in bank accounts in the name of Doraville Properties in Jersey.

According to the statement, Doraville was registered in British Virgin Island, a notorious tax haven, in the name of the elder son of Mr Abacha, Mohammed.

In 2014 a U.S. Federal Court in Washington DC forfeited the money as property involved in the illicit laundering of the proceeds of corruption arising in Nigeria during the period from 1993 to 1998 when General Abacha was Head of State, the statement revealed.

This case is a result of extensive co-operation between the Jersey authorities, the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with crucial assistance from other governments around the world.

At the time the case was filed as part of the U.S. Department of Justices Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative in 2013, it was the largest U.S. kleptocracy forfeiture action ever commenced. In 2014 the Attorney General of Jersey applied for and was granted, a Property Restraint Order over the Jersey bank account balance of Doraville.

This was challenged in the Royal Court of Jersey and Court of Appeal, and an application for permission to appeal to the Privy Council by Doraville was refused. France and the United Kingdom restrained additional funds at U.S. request, it added.

Negotiation to repatriate funds

The statement also revealed that negotiation to return the stolen funds started in 2018. It was agreed that the funds would be used for projects administered by the Sovereign Investment Authority of Nigeria and would be independently audited. The Nigerian government was also required to set up a Monitoring team to oversee the implementation of the projects and to provide regular progress reports.

The Nigerian government, in consultation with the other Parties, will also engage Civil Society Organisations, who have expertise in substantial infrastructure projects, civil engineering, anti-corruption compliance, anti-human trafficking compliance, and procurement to provide additional monitoring and oversight, the statement explained.

This Agreement represents the culmination of two decades of intensive work by Law Officers in Jersey, the United States and Nigeria. The return of the assets to Nigeria had been delayed by a number of hard-fought challenges by third parties which were defeated in the Courts in Jersey and the United States, said Mark Temple, The Solicitor General and Attorney General designate of Jersey.

The Agreement establishes a framework based on fruitful co-operation, trust and respect so that the forfeited funds can be repatriated to benefit the people of Nigeria, from whom they had been taken. The use of the funds will be subject to monitoring and reporting obligations.

This is a very significant achievement, and, once again, demonstrates Jerseys commitment to tackling international financial crime and money laundering, he added.

Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Nigeria who signed on behalf of the Nigerian government noted that this agreement has culminated in a major victory, for Nigeria and other African countries as it recognizes that crime does not pay and that it is important for the international community to seek for ways to support sustainable development through the recovery and repatriation of stolen assets.

More funds expected

According to the statement, another $18 million could be repatriated to Nigeria after a pending resolution of Jerseys Royal Court.

The amount is being withheld after a claim on it was made by an unnamed third party, believed to be Ibrahim, Mr Bagudus elder brother who court documents revealed is the only party still challenging the repatriation of some of the funds.

Meanwhile, Jersey and the United States will keep $5 million each to cover the costs and expense in the recovery of assets.

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According to the agreement, the repatriated funds would be spent on the Lagos  Ibadan Expressway, Abuja  Kano Road and the Second Niger Bridge.
Nigerian Ruler, Muhammadu Buhari, has said the terrorist group, Boko Haram, is setting Nigerians against one other.

Buhari, who made this known in a statement made available on the website of his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, also lamented the kidnap and murder of the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Rev. Lawan Andimi.

Buhari regretted that Andimi, whose church was located about 60 miles from Chibok town, could still be taken by the terror group seven years after the abduction of 267 schoolgirls in the same town.

He said, Pastor Andimis ministry was located only 60 miles from the town of Chibok, from where in 2014 the world witnessed the shocking kidnapping of 267 schoolgirls. That even one individualthis time a man of the churchcould still be taken by the terror group seven years later might be viewed as evidence the terrorists are fully functional, and undefeated. But it is not.

Since I was first elected to office in 2015, 107 of the Chibok girls have been freed. Today we seek the others. Boko Haram is no longer one, unified threat, but fractured into several rivals. These splinters are themselves degraded: reduced to criminal acts whichnonetheless no less crueltarget smaller and smaller numbers of the innocent. We owe thanks to the Nigerian defence forces, bolstered by our partnership with the British, American militaries and other countries that we are winning this struggle in the field.

Buhari cautioned Nigerians neither to allow terrorist activities sow the seed of discord in the country nor allow the country to be divided on religious or tribal lines.

He said, It is a simple fact that these now-failing terrorists have targeted the vulnerable, the religious, the non-religious, the young, and the old without discrimination. And at this point, when they are fractured, we cannot allow them to divide good Christians and good Muslims from those things that bind us all in the sight of God: faith, family, forgiveness, fidelity, and friendship to each other.

The terrorists today attempt to build invisible walls between us. They have failed in their territorial ambitions, so now instead they seek to divide our state of mind, by prying us from one from anotherto set one religion seemingly implacably against the other.

The retired major general extolled the virtue of the late CAN chairman, especially his refusal to renounce his faith in the face of his captors, describing it as an inspiration to all of us.
The evening before he boarded his Feb. 2 flight to Uganda for a historic meeting with the head of Sudans Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dropped by a Bar Mitzva celebration for the twin sons of the Likud's Knesset faction head Knesset member Miki Zohar. The hall was packed with some 2,000 Likud members who endured lengthy security checks as well as government ministers and Knesset members from the ultra-Orthodox parties aligned with the Likud. The brief appearance at the event must have been important for Netanyahu, despite its timing on the eve of one of his most important diplomatic missions of recent years.

From now until election day on March 2, Netanyahus campaign will swing between forays into Likud territory and party bastions in Israels geographic periphery and diplomatic missions abroad. In between, he may even manage a small US-approved territorial annexation in the West Bank, perhaps of the settlement town of Maale Adumim  all designed to obscure the fact that the candidate for the countrys top job has been indicted for bribery.

A week after the indictment was filed in Jerusalem District Court on Jan. 28, Netanyahu can boast of significant achievements. He stemmed the bleeding of his party and even picked up a few additional Knesset seats in the polls thanks to a diplomatic blitz, which began with his Jan. 23 hosting of the prestigious summit of world leaders who came to Jerusalem for the World Holocaust Forum. It continued with his participation in the Jan. 28 White House ceremonial unveiling of President Donald Trumps plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Though Netanyahu and his right-wing allies had hoped the plan would allow them to immediately annex West Bank territories, obtaining US support in principle for settlement annexation was no mean feat.

The Trump plan is distinctly pro-Israel. It changes the paradigm of the 1993 Oslo Accord, which had served as the basis for negotiations between the sides for almost three decades. It is the legacy Netanyahu seeks to leave and it enjoys broad public consensus: Even the opposition Blue and White Party views the so-called deal of the century as historic.

The US display of warmth and close friendship at the launch of the plan, on the very day the Knesset was scheduled to discuss Netanyahus request for immunity from prosecution, was no coincidence. The diplomatic blitz was meant to cushion the shock of the immunity debate, and Trumps gift and Netanyahus last-minute decision to withdraw his immunity request got the prime minister through the day with flying colors. On his way home, he dropped by the Kremlin to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and took back with him young Israeli woman Naama Issachar, whom Putin pardoned under heavy Israeli pressure after she was sentenced to a lengthy jail term for drug offenses.

In a world without indictments, these achievements would have earned Netanyahu a tremendous leap in support. However, given his deep legal woes, the fact that he turned the tide for his party, stopping the Likud's decline in the polls and even gaining support will maintain Netanyahus key role in the upcoming elections and probably in their wake, too.

Netanyahu is now working to portray himself as an exceptional leader. He already knows he will be unable to poach voters from the political center and his focus now is on preserving his current standing and boosting the performance of the right-wing/ultra-Orthodox bloc.

Meanwhile, Blue and White and its leader Benny Gantz are being dragged along by Netanyahus agenda. Netanyahu pulled the rug out from under Gantz' feet by withdrawing his Knesset immunity request, which Gantz had planned to squeeze for all it was worth. Now neither Gantz nor anyone else can accuse Netanyahu of fleeing prosecution, and all the good news has been effectively eroding the oppositions corruption-centered campaign.

Netanyahu had a blast in Uganda. The reason for his trip was kept secret even when he landed in Entebbe on Feb. 3, with his wife Sara and Mossad chief Yossi Cohen at his side. Reporters waited speculating for hours outside the presidential palace.

That afternoon, after meeting with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Netanyahu also held a historic meeting with the leader of a state Israel had long considered an Arab enemy that served as a conduit for arms smuggling from Iran to Gaza. The two-hour meeting with Sudan's leader led to a surprise declaration of an agreement on cooperation between the two countries with an eye toward normalizing their ties. Normalized relations would mean distancing Sudan from the eastern Mediterranean and another step toward Irans diplomatic isolation. The new relationship is also an economic and military achievement, for example allowing Israeli airlines to overfly Sudan, which will considerably shorten flights from Israel to various destinations, such as countries in Latin America.

All these issues are generating media coverage and interest, meaning less focus on Netanyahus criminal predicament.

Netanyahus standing within the Likud is also improving. Just over a month ago, he defeated Knesset member Gideon Saar in the Likud leadership primaries, burying the option of his replacement as party leader for now. His standing as leader of the right-wing/ultra-Orthodox bloc is also stable.

Even Defense Minister Naftali Bennett and his Yamina slate of Knesset candidates will no longer be able to defect from the bloc following the presentation of the Trump plan. Should they decide to hook up with Blue and White instead, they would demand annexation of the West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley as a precondition, which the Blue and White would be hard pressed to deliver.

A month prior to the elections, Israels third in less than a year, the emerging picture is a copy of the one prior to the September 2019 vote. Netanyahu is still going strong politically, despite predictions to the contrary after his planned indictment was announced in November. He has received renewed recognition as leader of the Likud and is almost single-handedly setting the campaign agenda. That probably presages yet another inconclusive election. It's no wonder senior Likud ministers are saying that if needed, Netanyahu will have no problem scheduling a fourth round of elections later this year.
At her first meeting as a city councilmember, Kendra Brooks, who won an at-large seat in November as a member of the Working Families Party, introduced a resolution calling for hearings on rent regulations in Philadelphia. For Brooks, this resolution makes good on a key campaign promise. She is one of two renters currently on Council. (Jamie Gauthier, also a freshman legislator, rents in West Philadelphia.) There are more than 300,000 rental units in Philadelphia.

This is not the first time renters rights have been discussed in Council. During her first term, Councilmember Helen Gym pursued an aggressive agenda that resulted in the passage of several renter protection laws, including right-to-counsel  guaranteeing low-income renters a lawyer in landlord-tenant court. Also in 2019, Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. worked to ensure passage of the Good Cause eviction bill, which prohibits landlords from unjustly evicting tenants.

Rent control measures were recently adopted in New York and Oregon as a means to assist low-income renters. In introducing the measure, Brooks noted that over half of Philadelphias renters are cost-burdened and over a third spent more than half their incomes on rent. However, critics of rent control worry that the policy would be a short-term solution to a long-term problem, ultimately discouraging development and leading to a housing shortage that would disproportionately impact citizens most in need.

The Inquirer reached out to the Philadelphia Tenants Union and the Pennsylvania Apartment Association to debate: Does Philly need rent control?

Pro: Rent control is a lifesaving and essential regulation.

By Karen Harvey

If you are a resident of Philadelphia, you know that housing is getting more and more expensive, and for many of Philadelphias poorest and most marginalized residents, it is becoming impossible to live in this city. Not coincidentally, these are often long-term residents of Philadelphia, who are being displaced by a younger, whiter, and richer set of newcomers moving into the city and driving up the cost of rent.

The most important solution to this problem is to pump the breaks on the increasing cost of rent, which is driven primarily by landlords increasing it. Around the world and in our own county, there is a simple and effective policy that achieves this goal: rent control. Rent control protects tenants from excessive rent increases by creating a schedule of reasonable and gradual rent increases. Under rent control, a locally controlled Rent Board sets a cap on annual rent increases, preventing landlords from increasing rents beyond the cap.

Rent control will reduce the displacement of our most vulnerable citizens: black and brown people, especially single mothers of color who are far too often at the bottom of the income ladder. It prevents rents from skyrocketing when neighborhoods in urban communities are developed and gentrified and allows tenants to plan and save for reasonable rent increases.

Rent control increases housing affordability. Tenants in cities with rent control pay less for housing, which frees up a familys household funds to cover bills, utilities, food, and other essentials that many Philadelphians increasingly cannot afford. The executive director of the NYC Rent Control Board said that rent regulations have been [New York Citys] single greatest source of affordable housing for middle- and low-income households.

Rent control will reduce the displacement of our most vulnerable citizens: black and brown people, especially single mothers of color who are far too often at the bottom of the income ladder. Karen Harvey

Compared with other housing policies, rent control can be implemented quickly and cheaply. The state of Pennsylvania does not prohibit rent control, so Philadelphia can enact the policy right now, without waiting for state or federal action. Because rent control would require only the establishment of a Rent Board, the cost to the city would be low, covering only administrative costs. And setting regulations on rent increases is actually low cost compared to building and maintaining affordable housing and subsidy programs.

Rent control would predominantly benefit low- to middle-income households, which are the most rent-burdened households in the city.

Rent control represents a win-win for tenants and developers alike. Opponents of rent control say that it depresses the construction of new housing. But in cities with rent control, a review of construction rates found no discernable decrease in construction following the adoption of rent control. Rent regulations keep money in the local economy by allowing renters to redirect money that would have been spent on rent to other household expenses. The citys small businesses would benefit, as consumers would have more money to spend on goods and services of neighborhood vendors. Additionally, rent control still allows landlords to get a fair return on their investment.

There are many myths about rent control, but a critical eye shows that these are just poor excuses for this lifesaving and essential regulation. The real question for Philadelphia is not why rent control, but when.

Karen Harvey is the campaign director for rent control for the Philadelphia Tenants Union.

Con: Let New York and San Francisco keep their rent control.

By Marlynn Orlando

Rent control and stabilization policies have become a hot topic across the country lately, sparking much debate as to whether they are effective in reining in urban housing costs. On one side, we have Oregon and New York, which recently adopted new statewide rent control laws. On the other side, we have economists from across the country, like those on NPRs Freakonomics, who dedicated a whole podcast episode to explaining Why Rent Control Doesnt Work.

Something both sides have in common is the desire to find a real solution in providing quality affordable housing for all urban residents. However, as seen in rent-controlled or rent-stabilized New York City and San Francisco  where the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is around $3,680  so-called rent control not only doesnt work. It backfires.

Over the years, the negative impacts of rent control have been thoroughly researched, and its harm to communities thoroughly documented. A resounding 93% of economists polled by the American Economic Review agree that a ceiling on rents actually reduces the quantity and quality of housing available  and 36 states currently prohibit municipalities from imposing ceilings on rents altogether. But how quickly we forget lessons learned, even when learned the hard way.

Rent control and stabilization policies limit annual rent increases to a certain percentage, like NYCs stabilized rate of 2.5% for a two-year lease. Which sounds great, right? Wrong. That means landlords are going to start setting their rents higher during unit turnover than they would have in the first place, because once they set a price, theyre more or less stuck with that price until the tenant leaves, regardless of how much their taxes and other expenses go up.

Secondly, rent control and stabilization discourages investors from embarking on new construction in a city that has them, which limits the citys overall supply of housing. And a smaller housing market means more competition among renters, making prices go up even more.

Rent control and stabilization discourages investors from embarking on new construction. Marlynn Orlando

Rent controls disastrous effects dont stop there. Less investment means fewer buyers and lower value of rental properties in the city, which in turn can adversely impact local and state governments since the resulting decline in property values leads to a decline in property taxes.

In short, rent control would actually worsen Philadelphias housing shortage and disproportionately impact residents the city is trying to help  those with the least amount of housing options. And lets face it, how often have we heard of someone in New York with a fabulous rent-controlled apartment who was not actually low-income and in need of that apartment? All the time.

Ultimately, the way to keep rents lower is to ensure we create policies and programs that encourage the development of affordable rental units and responsible management of quality housing in our neighborhoods, as well as subsidies to those who need them. Implementing rent control in Philadelphia will only make it more like New York  where, to paraphrase Jimmy McMillan, the rent is just too high.

Marlynn Orlando is the chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Apartment Association.
Storyful

An affable deer created somewhat of a buzz in a neighborhood near Salt Lake City, Utah, he regularly visited over the holiday period.The deer, nicknamed Cooper by local residents, has been playing with children in the neighborhood of Herriman and was even spotted posing for photos, reports said.Herriman resident Angelica Lujan recorded footage of the tame deer interacting with her children outside of her home on South Rowell Drive.Speaking to KSTU, a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources representative said despite the deers friendly attitude, the best thing for the animal is for people to leave him alone.People dont realize these beautiful, cute deer can be aggressive as they get older. Weve had times in the past where these friendly deer, they do get aggressive, said Scott Root, Conservation Outreach Manager, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.Weve had kids hurt at bus stops. Bad things happen when we feed deer in a residential area, Root added. Credit: Angelica Lujan via Storyful
Chennai, Feb 4 : The proposed new income tax slab rates - a lower rate without any tax deductions - may put some money in the hands of taxpayers but would affect the agents selling life or general insurance policies and post office saving instruments, said a top leader of the state-run LIC agents' association.

"In India, a life insurance policy is sold and not bought. It is a social security product. The new tax rates give the option to the tax payer to pay tax without opting for tax saving measures such as buying insurance policies like life, health, or investing in public provident fund (PPF) and others," P.G. Dileep, General Secretary, LIC Agents' Organisation of India.

According to him, Asian insurance giant Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has about 11.89 lakh agents.

"Bulk of the policies sold are with a sum assured of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. The proposed tax slab rates may leave some money in the hands of the taxpayer and he/she may not buy a life insurance policy to save on tax," Dileep said.

He said this would make it even more difficult for agents to sell life policies.

"It will be a big blow for the insurers as insurance cover is sold and not bought. Taxpayers buy insurance covers - life and health - in order to save tax outgo. When there is an option, then the general human tendency is not to buy insurance," practicing chartered accountant P.S. Prabhakar had told IANS.

A senior insurance industry official told IANS preferring anonymity: "Health and life insurance policies are bought mainly as a tax saving measure. Now there seems to be a disincentive for an individual to buy such insurance covers, thereby putting his family finances at risk." A senior official of a private sector life insurer not wanting to be quoted told IANS that insurance penetration, which is very low in India, will come down further.

According to Prabhakar, such tax proposals are fine in countries where there is a strong social security system, whereas in India a person has to fend for himself during his old age. Thus, compulsory tax saving schemes taken at a younger age provide social security during old age.

"There is no guarantee that the government would continue with the old systems and can very well scrap the same in the future, Prabhakar had said.

The one solace now for the policyholders is that the government has not decided to tax the maturity proceeds of a life insurance policy.

Perhaps one via media is to offer tax deduction for term life insurance under the new tax rates.
Nigeria is set to receive around $308 million seized from former military dictator Sani Abacha under a deal backed by the United States and the island of Jersey, US prosecutors said Monday.

The sum is the latest to be recovered from the accounts of Abacha, an army officer who ruled Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998 aged 54, which sparked an ongoing search for hundreds of millions of dollars he stole and hid abroad.

The repatriation of the money from Jersey, in the English Channel off the coast of northern France, follows a 2014 US court ruling authorizing the seizure of $500 million of cash laundered by Abacha in accounts worldwide, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.

The $308 million recovered represents "corrupt monies laundered during and after the military regime of General Abacha" together with his son and a number of associates via US financial institutions and the purchase of bonds, the Justice Department said.

After several court challenges to the 2014 ruling, the government of Jersey seized the $308 million located on the island.

"General Abacha and his cronies robbed Nigerians of vast public resources and abused the US and international financial systems to launder their criminal proceeds," Brian Benczkowski, an assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice's criminal division, said in a statement.

"Today's landmark agreement returns to the people of Nigeria hundreds of millions of the embezzled monies through a lawful process that ensures transparency and accountability."



The agreement includes provisions to ensure "transparency and accountability," the Justice Department said, and after the US and Jersey transfer the money to Nigeria it is set to be spent on three major road projects across the country which has long struggled with waste and fraud in infrastructure projects.

In April 2018, Nigeria announced that it had received more than $300 million from Switzerland as part of money seized from the family of Abacha.

Those funds went to pay part of the bill of a government welfare scheme targeted at the country's poor. The Justice Department is also seeking to recover other sums linked to Abacha, including $30 million in Britain, $144 million in France and $177 million located in trusts that name Abacha's associates and relatives as beneficiaries, according to the statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 54-year-old woman from Charlotte, North Carolina, found a unique way to call for help after both of her hands were crushed while she was changing a tire on the side of the interstate in South Carolina on Sunday evening.

According to a release from the Colleton County Fire-Rescue, the woman  whose name was not revealed  called 911 for help by slipping off one of her shoes and using her toes to manipulate her cell phone.

Police got the call around 6:57 p.m. local time, dispatching officers to the rural stretch of I-95 where she was waiting.

The woman had pulled her car over into the breakdown lane after she noticed the flat. Though she was able to remove it, her jack slipped while she was replacing it with the spare  causing the car to fall and crush both of her hands between the tire and the fender in the process.

It took her a total of 35 minutes, and multiple attempts, before she was finally able to dial 911.

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Police say she was experiencing excruciating pain the entire time, as she was trapped alone on the side of the dark road.

Luckily, officers arrived just eight minutes after receiving her call.

Freeing her wasnt easy, and took multiple attempts. [The first officers] used a prybar without success and then deflated the tire to remove the air, however the car just dropped as the tire deflated, the Colleton County Fire-Rescue team wrote. Using the prybar, they were able to free one hand. [Firefighters] arrived a short time later and the crew deployed a Holmatro Hydraulic Spreader to lift the car. This freed her other hand.

RELATED: Houston School Bus Bursts Into Flames with Student in Wheelchair On Board

The woman suffered severe injuries to both her hands and all of her fingers, authorities said. Those on the scene gave her pain medication before she was transported to the trauma center at a local hospital.

All in all, the woman said she was trapped for 45 minutes. Her current condition is unknown.
OpenArc, the leading full-service provider of IT staffing and recruiting solutions, announced today that they have earned the Best of Staffing Client and Talent Diamond Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates for five (5) consecutive years. The award is presented in partnership with presenting sponsor, CareerBuilder, and gold sponsors Indeed and Glassdoor, ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award.

OpenArc has proven to be an industry leader in service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and candidates. On average, clients of winning agencies are 3.3 times more likely to be completely satisfied, and candidates who have been placed by winning agencies are 1.7 times more likely to be completely satisfied with the services provided compared to those working with non-winning agencies

With fewer than 2% of all staffing agencies in the U.S. and Canada earning the Best of Staffing Award, OpenArc received a Net Promoter Score of 87.5% from their clients, more than 89 times the industry average of -2% in 2019.

Focused on helping to connect people with the right job openings at local and nationwide companies, OpenArc sent surveys to every client and talent contact, and the highest percentage of respondents scored OpenArc as a 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10.

More than ten years ago, OpenArc anticipated the need for a firm that focused on establishing long-term relationships through a unique listen and learn process, which emphasizes both the client and candidates business and career objectives, said Bethany Simon, President at OpenArc. OpenArcs relationship approach to staffing and track record of 90% of first submittals hired, has helped many clients and candidates find success in achieving objectives and career goals. As a five-time winner and a WBENC-Certified Women's Business Enterprise, were honored to express appreciation for our amazing clients and candidates, said Simon.

Now more than ever, it is important for staffing firms to deliver consistently remarkable experiences to the clients and talent they work with, said ClearlyRateds CEO Eric Gregg. This years Best of Staffing winners have shown their commitment to exceptional service, committing to not only measuring satisfaction, but taking action on the feedback. I couldn't be prouder to showcase these industry leaders alongside feedback from their actual clients and candidates on ClearlyRated.com and applaud them for their commitment to making improvements at their respective firms!

About OpenArc

OpenArc is a technology consulting firm providing industry-leading technical talent placement, software development, and technology strategy services to clients nationwide. OpenArc has recently been named one of Inc. 5000's Fastest Growing Companies and Best Places to Work in Western Pennsylvania. OpenArc works closely with business clients and talented candidates to understand their strategies and goals for a customized approach to their needs. More information about OpenArc can be found by visiting http://www.openarc.net. Connect with us on Linkedin @ https://www.linkedin.com/company/openarc-llc-/

About ClearlyRated

Rooted in satisfaction research for professional service firms, ClearlyRated utilizes a Net Promoter Score survey program to help professional service firms measure their service experience, build online reputation, and differentiate on service quality. Learn more at https://www.clearlyrated.com/solutions/.

About Best of Staffing

ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Award winners are showcased by city and area of expertise on ClearlyRated.com  an online business directory that helps buyers of professional services find service leaders and vet prospective firms  based exclusively on validated client and talent ratings and testimonials.

###

Contact

Eve Turzillo, Marketing Director

press@openarc.net
PLYMOUTH, Mass. - Prosecutors have dismissed charges against two Massachusetts women who had been accused of hurting and threatening two children during what authorities described as a Voodoo ritual.

Sisters Rachel Hilaire, 42, and Peggy LaBossiere, 53, were scheduled face trial Monday on charges including assault and battery on a child with injury, but the Plymouth district attorneys office withdrew the case last week, according to The Enterprise of Brockton.

The case was withdrawn because the children would not be available to testify at trial, the prosecutor wrote.

Without the testimony of the children in this case, the Commonwealth does not have a good faith basis to proceed to trial at this time, the prosecutor wrote. The district attorney could refile charges if circumstances change or additional evidence is developed, a spokeswoman for the office said.

The East Bridgewater women were arrested in January 2018.

They tied down and burned a 5-year-old girl in a Voodoo ritual meant to rid her of a demon, authorities said. LaBossiere also threatened to cut off the head of the girls 8-year-old brother with a machete, authorities said.

The rituals were requested by the childrens mother, police said.

Hilaire and LaBossiere denied harming or threatening the children. The newspaper left messages with their attorneys.

Voodoo is a religion primarily practiced in Haiti and parts of Africa; it is known in Haiti as Vodou.
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No coronavirus case has been reported in Nagaland so far, and the administration has taken up all measures in conformity with the Central guidelines related to the deadly virus, an official said.

Out of the 33 persons who had come to Nagaland recently from the coronavirus affected countries, none was found to have symptoms of the virus, health and family welfare department Principal Director Dr Vizolie Z Suokhrie said.

However, those coming from China have been quarantined in compliance of the protocol set by the Centre, Suokhrie said in a statement here on Monday.

The department has taken up all precautions to monitor such persons and set up measures adhering to the guidelines of the Centre to face any untoward event, he said and urged people not to panic.

Nagaland Health and Family Welfare Minister S Pangnyu Phom has held a meeting to review the preparedness of the department to meet any exigency in case of coronavirus outbreak in the state, Suokhrie said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The University of Wyoming acknowledged Friday that its board investigated former president Laurie Nichols after it received two complaints against her last year, the first time the board has publicly commented in any detail on the end of Nichols tenure.

After leaving UW, Nichols became the interim president of Black Hills State University until she had the interim title removed recently and assumed the title under a permanent contract.

The admission came in the same statement in which the university also announced it wouldnt be appealing an Albany County judges ruling earlier this month that a batch of documents related to the investigation should be released to a group of news outlets, including the Casper Star-Tribune, that sued UW last June. The judge had set a Feb. 3 deadline to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.

In early 2019, the Board of Trustees was made aware of two instances when reports were made to human resources by university staff members regarding President Nichols, the board said. We retained an employment matters firm to do preliminary interviews and inquiry. The firm reported that the resulting inquiry identified multiple individual accounts or perspectives of a similar and consistent nature.

The exact nature of the reports  and what prompted them  is unclear. In September, the Star-Tribune and WyoFile jointly reported that the board had quietly investigated Nichols in early 2019, in the weeks before she  and the rest of the state  was informed that her contract would be allowed to run out on June 30.

Frank Mendicino II, who sits on the board of the UW Foundation, told a reporter last year that there was an incident between Nichols and a foundation employee that caused the employee to leave. The incident, which he described as a brouhaha, may have led to a complaint being filed, he said.

According to documents previously obtained by WyoFile and the Star-Tribune, the board paid $8,550 to Employment Matters LLC Flynn Investigations Group to investigate Nichols, which included contacting at least 14 people. The Star-Tribune and WyoFile have a request outstanding on how much it has cost the university to fight the news organizations in court.

Nichols previously denied in interviews that she knew of any investigation. The former president is also a party to the public records lawsuit and had also sought to have the records blocked. She may still appeal.

Nichols reacts

Through an attorney, Nichols said Friday that she remained unaware of what was in the records and that she still has not been told by the board why her contract was not renewed. She said the comments she had received about her performance were quite positive and that her contract renewal was fully negotiated when the board informed her she wouldnt continue.

In the statement, Nichols said repeatedly that she was not made aware of the complaints, nor was she involved in the investigation at all. She added that before UW released its statement Friday, she never knew there were any reported instances by university staff members, nor was she ever asked to respond or reply to the reports. She said she repeatedly asked for an explanation and never received one.

As I would do with any other employee, I would have expected an opportunity to be told of any employment concerns, have an opportunity to respond and then an opportunity to address the issues, she wrote. However, I have learned today, that the Board conducted investigations about me in secret and without giving me any notice or any opportunity to try and fix the concerns which were apparently made. I am sincerely disappointed.

Board of trustees chairman Dave True did not respond to a message left Friday. A message sent to a Black Hills spokeswoman seeking comment was not immediately returned.

In a statement, WyoFile editor Matt Copeland praised the boards decision not to appeal.

We commend the board of trustees decision to discontinue its secrecy and to share its reasoning, he said. Lets hope the position theyve adopted today, and the costs incurred to get there, will inform the decisions of future boards on similar matters. If by pursuing these questions for more than a year we arrive at more responsive, transparent and accountable public institutions everyones efforts will have been well spent.

Quiet dismissal

For months, it was unclear what caused the board to effectively dismiss Nichols, who was a widely popular president whod steered the university through tough times. After UW announced in late March that Nichols wouldnt continue, none of the parties involved would provide details. Board members declined to comment and Nichols said she was never given an explanation, a claim shes stood by for nearly a year.

But three sources with knowledge of the circumstances told the Star-Tribune and WyoFile last year that Nichols was the subject of a weekslong investigation, beginning in February and ending just days before the boards four leaders interrupted Nichols vacation in Arizona to tell her she wouldnt continue. One source said the investigation was into Nichols conduct.

In the days and weeks after the decision was announced on March 25, the Star-Tribune and WyoFile filed several public records request attempting to get more information about the decision, including requests specific to an investigation. The university blocked most of the responsive documents, claiming they were protected records. WyoFile and the Star-Tribune, joined by the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and the Laramie Boomerang, filed a lawsuit in June, alleging the records were improperly withheld.

The lawsuit played out in court, with Nichols joining in October and adding her voice to UWs request that the court block the records. But in early January, Judge Tori Kricken sided with the news organizations and ordered nearly all of the records  including some related to an investigation  to be released.

A university spokesmen said they were likely to appeal the decision. But on Friday, after a special executive session meeting of the board, UW announced it was conceding.

While the board continues to believe a policy of confidentiality in personnel matters is most respectful to university employees, both current and former, we are confident the material shows our decision not to renew President Nichols contract reflected prudent judgment and was in the best interest of the University of Wyoming and its people, the statement said.

In court filings, Nichols had suggested UW violated its own policies by investigating her without her knowledge and without giving her an opportunity to respond. She was not specific as to what exact policy she was referring. But a presidential directive from 2016 lays out how an investigation would occur, including that the respondent  Nichols in this case  should have the chance to participate in the process.

Nichols had previously asked the court to let her see the records. The judge dismissed that request. Earlier this week, her attorney informed the lawyer for the news organizations that Nichols was again trying to see the records before they were publicly released. The news organizations opposed that effort, and as of Friday afternoon, no such request has been filed.

Editors note: A UW attorney previously said the board was still deciding whether to appeal. A previous version of this story misstated attorneys statements about the appeal.

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The Verkhovna Rada has appointed Denys Shmyhal as Ukraine's deputy prime minister and minister for communities and territories development.

A total of 278 people's deputies voted for a respective resolution at a parliament meeting on Tuesday, with at least 226 votes needed to make a decision, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk said from the parliament's rostrum: "Here is this man. I recommend him to you and I ask you to appoint him as Ukraine's deputy prime minister and minister for communities and territories development. Why? It's very simple. Because this person understands perfectly how the region works. He is a great manager."

On August 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Shmyhal head of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration.

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) United States  Tue, February 4, 2020 06:38 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20625877e 2 World Middle-East,Arab-League,OIC,US,UN-Security-Council Free

The United States has requested a closed door UN Security Council meeting Thursday for President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, to present the administration's new Mideast peace plan, diplomatic sources told AFP Monday.

Kushner intends to set forth the plan that Washington unveiled last week and to listen to the positions of the council's other 14 members, the sources said.

The meeting would take place a few days before Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas comes to the United Nations -- he is expected February 11 -- to express opposition to the US plan and to demand adherence to international law.

On the occasion of Abbas' visit, the Palestinians have indicated they plan to submit a draft resolution to the Security Council, through Tunisia, a non-permanent member of the council

The resolution's content has not been divulged as yet, but the United States would likely oppose it, using its veto, if necessary, should it gain the support of nine council members, the minimum required for passage.

In late 2017, a Palestinian-inspired resolution condemning Washington's unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital received 14 votes in the Security Council, but the United States quashed it with its veto.

A similar resolution proposed during the UN General Assembly, a 193-member body in which no country has a veto, was approved by a vote of 128 in favor, nine against and 35 abstentions. The remaining 21 countries chose not to be present for the vote.

Kushner is the architect of the plan unveiled by the president a week ago, and rejected Saturday by the Arab League and by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Monday

It makes numerous concessions to Israel, proposing the establishment of a Palestinian capital in Abu Dis, a suburb of Jerusalem. The Palestinians have long sought the whole of east Jerusalem as their capital.

The US proposal also gives consent for the annexation of Israeli settlements as well as the Jordan Valley, Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967.

The US mission at the United Nations would provide no details on the request for a Security Council meeting.

In a statement Saturday, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said he has launched a campaign to persuade member countries not to support any Palestinian action that is hostile to the US plan.
Cosmopolitan magazine has pulled a cover that was to feature a contestant on The Bachelor after discovering she previously modelled clothing adorned with the slogan White Lives Matter.

During Monday evenings episode of the American reality dating programme, contestant Victoria Fuller was awarded the prize of being featured on the digital cover of Cosmopolitan alongside Bachelor Peter Weber after winning a challenge.

However, in a statement published on the Cosmopolitan website, editor Jessica Pels explained that the publication decided to pull the plug on Fullers cover after finding out she had taken part in a controversial modelling campaign.

Pels stated that all she knew of The Bachelor contestants when selecting a winner was their first names and the energy they conveyed through the camera lens.

It wasnt until a few weeks ago that I found out that the woman Id chosen had, in her past, modelled in an ad campaign wearing White Lives Matter attire, she wrote.

Its been reported that what she modelled for was actually a Marlin Lives Matter organisation focused on preventing white and blue marlin from being overfished, which used white lives matter and blue lives matter messaging on its promotional shirts and hats.

In my view, the nature of the organisation is neither here nor there  both phrases and the belief systems they represent are rooted in racism and therefore problematic.

Pels added that the White Lives Matter movement does not reflect the values of the Cosmo brand.

We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, and any cause that fights to end injustices for people of colour.

Pels said she and her team had many long discussions about what action they would take regarding Fullers planned cover.

Wed already printed the fashion shoot in our March issue, complete with an inset of the cover, and of course the episode had already been filmed, the editor said.

Ultimately what felt right was choosing not to publish the digital cover on our website or social feeds, and simply being honest with you, the audience we respect about what happened and where we stand.

Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Show all 15 1 /15 Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Kandy Freeman participates in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Hawk Newsome, a Black Lives Matter activist, leads a protest outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Hawk Newsome (C) leads a chant during a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, US. January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower An NYPD officer speaks with a Black Lives Matter leaders during a protest in the snow outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Kandy Freeman participates in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower An NYPD officer speaks with a Black Lives Matter leaders during a protest in the snow outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Carol Garza, a Black Lives Matter supporter, protests outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower A Black Lives Matter supporter protests in the snow outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter activists march in front of Trump Tower on January 14, 2017 in New York City. Kevin Hagen/Getty Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter activists march in front of Trump Tower on January 14, 2017 in New York City. Kevin Hagen/Getty Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter supporters protest in the snow outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter Kandy Freeman marches in front of Trump Tower on January 14, 2017 in New York City. Kevin Hagen/Getty

The Independent has contacted Fuller for comment.
A judge in South Africa issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday for former president Jacob Zuma for failing to appear in court on a corruption case that he has sought to avoid for months - now by asserting that he is ill.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) requested the warrant, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported.The warrant does not come into effect until the case resumes on May 6.

Reports have said Zuma is in Cuba seeking treatment.The NPA requested Zuma's medical records as evidence of his claim, the state broadcaster reported.

(Image Credit: AP )
My niece, London Sophia Bribiescas, was brutally murdered Jan. 10, 2019, in Boerne. She was 10 years old. Her sister, Alexa, and mother, Nichol, also died with her that night in what the media has coined as the Anaqua Springs Murders.

The investigation into what happened that night is still open, and because there are so many unknowns, our family hasnt said much publicly about the case until now.

Over the last year, several people have shared their concerns about the family dynamics, the number of guns and the handling of these guns in that home before that night.

But despite their desire to help, no laws were blatantly being broken. And especially in an affluent neighborhood like Anaqua Springs, the chances of police knocking on that front door, without something concrete to lean on, were pretty slim. Despite so many people seeing the same red flags, they felt powerless to speak up about what they saw. Even after what happened, they werent sure how to articulate their concerns.

So despite everything we still dont know about the case, we do know one thing: The gun that killed London, Alexa and Nichol did not belong in that home, regardless of who pulled the trigger. We dont need to wait for the investigation to close to know this. That gun in that home was essentially a ticking time bomb.

Our family has our share of responsible gun owners. We have no interest in infringing on our own Second Amendment rights or the rights of other responsible gun owners. But when one or more factors  such as a history of violence, domestic abuse, certain mental illnesses or risk of suicide  are present, the parties involved are no longer responsible gun owners. Anyone who says otherwise also is not a responsible gun owner.

So-called red flag laws prevent individuals with these types of histories from obtaining guns or having guns in their possession during periods of crisis, and the existing research on these laws is pretty conclusive. These laws are effective in reducing the risk posed by this small percentage of gun owners.

Would a gun have found a way into that home at some point if red flag laws were in place? Possibly. If someone wants to break a law, they generally find a way.

But would the implementation of red flag laws allowed others to report their concerns to the police, with at least some certainty of an intervention? Every single person who has spoken up about their concerns has said yes. And if even one of those people is telling the truth, then London, Alexa and Nichol might be alive today.

This is National Gun Violence Survivors Week. Londons birthday is Tuesday, so this is the same week we would have likely spent finalizing the details of her 12th birthday party  her last birthday before becoming a teenager.

Were often told people are praying for us, and that is appreciated. But we ask that you, please, even if just this week, relay your messages to Congress, to your representatives voicemails and inboxes. Then, if you find it in your heart to think of us again, we ask that you reach out to groups like Moms Demand Action and Texas Gun Sense, who know when these decisions are being made at the state and federal levels, and can help guide your messages to the right people at the right time.

Some of these groups have different ideas about what gun control should look like, but just about everyone agrees that red flag laws are a good idea. Check out several of them and find the best fit for you.

We ask you keep our family in mind when you vote and advocate for political candidates. The decisions they make are too often influenced by lobbies, deep pockets and their own chances at re-election. We alone dont have the ability to influence them this way. All we have are the ashes of a murdered little girl and a family who will never fully recover from this loss. We need your help to keep this from happening to someone else.

Please contact your representatives and tell them we need red flag laws in place as soon as possible, and do so as often and in as many ways as you possibly can. Its the one birthday gift any of us can still give London.

And we would be terribly grateful.

Emma Bribiescas Mancha-Sumners is a researcher and fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, and Londons paternal aunt.
TRS MP Nama Nageswara Rao on Tuesday lauded Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and said that the voting on a draft resolution in the European Parliament concerning the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was deferred due to his efforts.

Rao made the remarks while participating in the debate on the motion of thanks to the President's address.

He said the European Union wanted to "adopt a resolution" but it was stopped due to intervention by the Speaker.

Rao said that the address made mentioned federalism and said the Centre should assist a young state like Telangana in its development efforts.

The Speaker had last month written to European Parliament President David Maria Sassoli over the draft resolutions that have been tabled by some of its members on the CAA, saying that it is inappropriate for one legislature to pass judgment on another, a practice that can surely be misused by vested interests.

The Speaker in his letter noted that the Act provides for granting "easier citizenship to those who have been subjected to religious persecution in our immediate neighbourhood and is not aimed at taking away citizenship from anybody.

He said the legislation was passed after "due deliberation by both the Houses of the Indian Parliament".

The letter also said that as members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, "we should respect the sovereign processes of fellow legislatures, especially in democracies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Derf Backderfs new graphic novel, Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio, which will be published in April by Abrams ComicArts, is a meticulously researched, emotionally gripping account of the era-defining tragedy of its title.

On May 4, 1970 four unarmed college students were shot and killed by the Ohio State National Guard during a student Vietnam War protest on the campus of Kent State University. Nine other people were seriously injured as well. As the 50th anniversary of the event approaches, Backderf, a veteran cartoonist and author who grew up in Richfield, a small town near Akron, Ohio, tells PW that he has carried the story of the shootings around in his mind for years as a potential book. I followed the court cases, he says. And the cover-ups.

Indeed, Backderf meticulously documents the mounting college anti-war protests in the period before the shootings. He examines the anti-communist paranoia and the fear of local and state authorities in the wake of previous local clashes with the Students for a Democratic Society (and its violent Weather underground chapter), as well as the targeting of student organizations by FBI undercover agents.

Looking through Backderfs past work reveals a penchant for mixing, to varying degrees, autobiographical elements of his into his storytelling. Discussing the making of Kent State, Backderf reports that he always felt connected to the university, due to its close proximity to Akron, and more importantly, to the citys vibrant music scene: I was a teenage punk rocker, he says.

Known as The Rubber City (four major tire companies were founded there), he says that Akron, had a surprisingly lively scene that spawned some important acts: Devo, the Cramps, and Chrissie Hynde. Backderf continued to be a part of the scene while attending Ohio State in Columbus during the early 1980s, a time in his life filled with idealism: It was our time and we felt like we were changing the world. Ah, the optimism of youth.

The music, the clubs, the energy of a generational moment like that; it sparked something in me, he reflects. Although it took a few years for it to manifest itself in my comics. In the mid-1980s, thats when I found my voice. He also cites 1980s alternative comic anthologies Weirdo, founded and edited by R. Crumb, Aline Kaminsky-Crumb and Peter Bagge, and Raw, founded by Art Speigelman and Francoise Mouly, as important inspirations.

Backderf began cartooning in earnest while attending Ohio State, spending three years drawing political cartoons for the student paper until he was fired, for general tastelessness, he says, with a laugh. Then in the late 1980s he began his weekly comic strip The City, which ran in a total of about 150 alternative/independent newspapers. It was a gritty comic, often relating true incidents taken from the city streets and it was filled with jagged, wiseacre punk humor and recurring satirical characters such as White Middle Class Suburban Man. He credits the feature for solidifying his creative path: I found my voice with the strip. But Backderf ended the comic in 2014, as alternative press venues declined, and he opted to focus his creative energies on book-format graphic novels.

Backderfs first book, the well-received Punk Rock and Trailer Parks, was published by Slave Labor Graphics in 2008, but it was his 2012 graphic memoir My Friend Dahmer that propelled his career to new levels of popularity. A chilling account of Backderfs uneasy high school friendship with a strange young man who would grow up to be the notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, the book received near-universal acclaim and racked up several industry nominations and was awarded the Angouleme International Comics Festival's Prix Revelation award. A well-received film version, of which Backderf says he approves, was released in 2017.

Backderf noted that the book was initially rejected by every major comics publisher before Abrams signed the book. The big success of My Friend Dahmer, so deep into his career, was an amazing feeling, he said, and turned "a big negative personal history into a positive."

His next book was Trashed (2015), a gleeful, no-holds-barred mix of semi-autobiographical fiction about earning a living as a trash collector (which Backderf did for a year after high school), and a skillful journalistic investigation into our countrys checkered history of waste management. Backderf said working on the book was fun after the darkness of My Friend Dahmer, and he credits his miserable time working on a garbage truck with finally getting him "laser focused" on his art. Trashed earned Backderf an Eisner Award in 2016.

In Kent State, Backderf adds a dash of autobiographical material at the outset, as my way into the story. Though he was only 10 years old in 1970, he depicts his and his familys fearful uncertainty of seeing armed national guardsmen on the streets of his suburban neighborhood.

Backderf is also careful to document the racial dimensions of the story, an aspect that is often omitted in other chronicles of the event. He shows that an African-American campus organization, Black United Students (BUS), opted out of any of the protests once the National Guard arrived. The BUS kids, you see, had experience with the Guard, Backderf explains.

They were mostly from inner-city Cleveland and Akron and had lived through the big civil uprisings in 67 and 68 in those cities. The governor dispatched the Guard to their neighborhoods, in overwhelming force, to restore order. There were cities in flames, houses and stores shot up, and tanks rolling down city streets. The BUS leaders knew full well what the Guard could do and sent out the word that black students were to stay in their dorms and avoid any protests.

Tragically the white student protestors, most from quieter parts of those cities, or from suburbs or small towns, had no first-hand experience with the Guard. They didnt even think their weapons were loaded! Backderf exclaims. So, there was a good measure of naivete to this tragedy. Most of the white protestors thought the Guard was a joke and failed to realize how deadly serious the situation really wasuntil bullets started flying.

Backderf is blunt about the relevance of Kent State to todays political moment: What were going through today circles right back around to the 1970s, with its us vs. them mentality. When discussing the aftermath of the shootings, Backderf does not mince words: It took Kent State a half a century to finally own this history.

The most wrenching sequence of the narrative is obviously the shootings. Thats the reason I recreate them in such detail," Backderf saID. To counter that strain of reactionary invective. These images have never been seen before. We have photos of the Guard opening fire, then of the grisly aftermath five minutes later, but not the actual moments of impact, because all the photographers were wisely diving for cover, he said.

Heres what it looks like when copper-jacketed bullets over an inch-long tear through flesh and bone, fired from a combat rifle so powerful it can send a bullet straight through a foot-thick tree trunk, he said. The horror of students being shot in the back, and most of them were, will hopefully take the air out of the shoot em all argument.

In addition to his commitment to showing the unvarnished brutality of the shootings, Backderf takes great care to methodically recreate the lives of the four slain students in the days approaching the shootings. His account serves as a tribute to their humanity and as a rebuke to those that had smeared them as anti-American in the aftermath of the shootings.

Backderf claims creating Kent State was not cathartic, at least not in the way My Friend Dahmer was. But he does offer: I gave it all I had. I was totally spent by the time the book was turned over to production. He will spend much of the next five months promoting the work in advance of the 50th anniversary of the Kent State shootings.

The news media will be all over it leading up to May 4th, but afterward they will move on. And the book will have to make it [on the basis] of comics alone. Hopefully, it will. Asked if he considers himself a comics memoirist and a journalist, Backderf said ultimately, Im a storyteller.

Ive always made the comics I wanted to make, how I wanted to make them, and Im proud of that, he said. Now, you pay a price for that, and I did for many years. Ive been fired from gig after gig, heard a lot of nos for 20 years, and was consigned to the outskirts of comic-dom. Mainstream opportunities were completely denied. I came up through the alt-press and self-publishing because I had no other choice. It worked out in the end.
WASHINGTON  Disney and its powerful trade association have fought to stop the laws spread abroad.

Marriott has asked Congress to amend the law.

IBM has a plan to slim it down.

An unusual constellation of powerful companies and industries are fighting to weaken Big Tech by limiting the reach of one of its most sacred laws. The law, known as Section 230, makes it nearly impossible to sue platforms like Facebook or Google for the words, images and videos posted by their users.

The companies motivations vary somewhat. Hollywood is concerned about copyright abuse, especially abroad, while Marriott would like to make it harder for Airbnb to fight local hotel laws. IBM wants consumer online services to be more responsible for the content on their sites.

But they all see an opening as both Democrats and Republicans increasingly raise their own concerns about the power of the tech industry and the law. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 has helped Facebook, Google and YouTube grow into giants by holding only the people who post the billions of pieces of content on their services responsible for libel or other legal issues.
NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 31, 2020, ERI Solutions, LLC ("ERI") successfully consummated its acquisition of BLOC Environmental Solutions, LP ("BLOC"), a San Antonio, TX based health, safety, and environmental compliance services provider. "BLOC's great industry reputation, service offerings and top-notch management team made them a top target for ERI," stated Nathan VanderGriend, President & CEO of ERI. "We believe that this integration will lead to business growth providing opportunities for the members of the team to grow professionally and for our shareholders' value to increase."

"We are excited about our future together with ERI. Our customers can still expect excellent service as we strengthen our companies with a more diverse service line," stated Colin K. Sheffield, President and CEO of BLOC. The two companies have shared values and a vision to bring the best risk control and compliance services to the market as they combine their product lines.

ERI will maintain its headquarters in Colwich, KS and continue to operate remotely out of multiple locations, including those acquired with BLOC. All BLOC owners and team members will come over to ERI as part of the transaction. BLOC will continue to operate under their current brand as a division of ERI.

About Spire Capital Partners

Spire Capital (https://spirecapital.com/) is a leading, small market private equity firm with an investment focus within the technology-enabled business services, media, communications and education sectors. Spire Capital was founded on the principle of partnering with management teams and founders to help effectuate the next stage of growth for their companies. Spire professionals have a broad array of past operating, investing and advisory experiences they leverage to help portfolio companies accelerate growth, guide strategic direction and execute their business plan. Spire Capital is a New York-based investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

About EIR Solutions

Founded in 2007, ERI is a rapidly growing provider of risk control solutions that were specifically designed to control operational risks in higher-hazard businesses. Its service categories including safety, process safety management (PSM), industrial hygiene (IH), environmental compliance, asset integrity management/inspection, training, and insurance program management services. The team at ERI believes that all incidents (excluding acts of God) are preventable and are passionate about turning that belief into a reality in its clients' businesses.

SOURCE Spire Capital Partners
Reality has a habit of interrupting the stories people tell themselves. The 18th century philosopher George Berkeley constructed complex arguments to prove that matter doesnt really exist. In response, Samuel Johnson famously kicked a rock and said, I refute (him) thus. Like Berkeley, our politicians spend too much time imagining how they might shape society to achieve their preferred outcomes. But they dont live in the real world. When you earn enough that you dont have to ask how much things cost, and youre surrounded by people who are afraid to tell you when youre full of it, you wont often know when youre thinking stupid thoughts.

But once in a while, someone like Samuel Johnson comes along, and with a few words brings reality back into sharp focus. We received two such welcome doses of reality this month. January opened with Ricky Gervais reminding the Hollywood glitterati who pontificate on economics and politics that they have no idea what theyre talking about. And now it closes with an angry father confronting presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren about her proposal to forgive student loans.

The father, who worked two jobs so his daughter could graduate college with no debt, asked, Am I going to get my money back? Warrens reply: Of course not.

With those three words, reality intruded into Warrens story about student debt forgiveness, and everyone except Warren appeared to realize it. The father drove the lesson home: My buddy had fun, bought a car, went on vacations. I saved my money. He made more than I did. We did the right thing, and we get screwed. But still, Elizabeth Warren didnt get it.

Politicians elaborate plans for fixing things so often go awry because, in their minds, we will all respond to their policy tinkerings in exactly the way they intend. In Warrens mind, her plan to have the government forgive student loans will magically resolve with students everywhere being debt free, and everyone elses lives being the better for it.

But thats not how it works. People dont respond to laws. People respond to incentives. When politicians decide to forgive debt, they give people an incentive to borrow more, and to borrow less prudently. For the same reason that peoples menu choices change when someone else is picking up the tab at the restaurant, so too will students and parents behaviors change if Warren forces someone else to pay the tuition bill.

Too many students already choose majors that have little market value. Imagine how much worse this will be when students dont have to pay back the money they borrow for their degrees. College tuition is already too high. Imagine how much worse this will be when students dont care how much college costs because someone else is paying the bill. Too few high school students already choose to go into the trades. Imagine how much worse this will be when high school seniors face a choice of working to learn a trade or spending four years partying on the taxpayers dime. The federal government already runs trillion-dollar deficits. Imagine how much worse this will be when the government has to spend even more money each year to pay off student loan debts.

The stark reality is that forgiving student debt really means forcing people who didnt go to college to pay for those who did, and forcing people who scrimped and saved for college to pay for those who didnt. This punishes prudent, frugal choices while rewarding their opposite. The father who confronted Elizabeth Warren knows this, but Warren just cant see it. He is Samuel Johnson, kicking her rock.

Apparently he didnt kick hard enough.

Antony Davies is associate professor of economics at Duquesne University. James R. Harrigan is managing director of the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom at the University of Arizona. They host the weekly podcast, Words & Numbers.
New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Bihar legislative assembly Tejashwi Yadav took a swipe on Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) Nitish Kumar for going back on his party's stand on not having any truck with the Bharatiya Janata Party outside Bihar.

Tejashwi, whose party RJD is contesting on four of the 70 seats in Delhi election in an alliance with Congress, attacked Nitish for sharing the stage with Union Home Minister Amit Shah while campaigning for the upcoming assembly election in the national capital. "Nitish Kumar has displayed a sense of desperation to share stage with Shah and in doing so has broken all past records of uttering lies," Tejashwi said.

Calling the Union Minister Nitish's lover, Tejashwi said, "Respected Nitish Kumar ji, you shared the stage with your 'mahboob' (lover) Amit Shah ji in Delhi for the assembly election. Your political compulsion, plight and shrewdness were evident despite your efforts to hide them. You broke all your past records of uttering lies in your sheer desperation to share the stage with Amit Shah in Delhi yesterday (Sunday). You were not even ashamed at all in branding the national capital as a city worse than anyone in Bihar."

"Is this a ploy to please Shah," Lalu's younger son said, asking Nitish to explain his 15-year 'good' governance in the state for not being able to stop the migration of its people.

Taking a swipe at Kumar's regime, Tejashwi questioned why crores of Biharis are migrating despite the 15-years of 'so-called good governance. "If you think that infrastructure, education and health care system of Delhi are worse than in Bihar then only God can fathom your mental state," he said.

Tejashwi's caustic remarks on Nitish drew sharp reactions from both JD(U) and the BJP.

Live TV

Hitting back at Tejashwi, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said in a tweet that the joint rally of Kumar and Shah in the national capital was a big success whose 'jerk' has been felt badly by the rivals in Bihar. Sushil Modi said RJD which has thrown anti-Congress ideology of veteran socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia into "dustbin" is busy searching good words for itself in the dictionary and invectives for the opponents.

Bihar JD(U) chief spokesman Sanjay Singh said, "What else one can expect from a 9th fail man. We all have witnessed the scene that prevailed during his parents' regime of 15 years. Bihar has marched ahead from RJD's misrule in the state. It is the sanskar that he is speaking in such a manner...RJD and its leaders have no agenda except making such absurd statements, " he said.

On Sunday (February 2), Nitish shared the dais with Amit Shah in Delhi while stumping for his party's nominees at Burari and Sangam Vihar constituencies. He had claimed during the campaign meetings that the Delhi government has not performed at all on any front.
Top BJP leaders on Tuesday combined the party's core planks of nationalism and Hindutva to target the AAP, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking people to vote for a party that supports the CAA, surgical strikes and Article 370 abrogation, and does not practice politics of vote bank.

At his second poll rally here, Modi highlighted his government's works, including the building of peripheral highways and extension of metro network. He also attacked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying he did not fulfil his promises and instead blocked the Centre's schemes for health insurance and houses for the poor.

While the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in Shaheen Bagh did not figure in Modi's speech, Home Minister mentioned the agitation that has become a dominant theme of the saffron party to galvanise its voters.

Seeking votes for his party, Shah said that in the Delhi polls leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal, who are "supporting" Shaheen Bagh protests, are on one hand while "patriots" under Modi are on the other.

At a rally in Delhi Cantt, Shah made light of Kejriwal's dare to the BJP to name its chief ministerial candidate so that he could debate him on the issue of development. The BJP leader said any party worker can do it and that every Delhi citizen is BJP's chief ministerial candidate.

Another leading BJP campaigner, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, took potshots at Kejriwal and said the Delhi CM has started reciting 'Hanuman Chalisa' and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi can now be expected to follow suit.

Addressing a meeting in Kirari, Adityanath cited Modi government's initiatives to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status and to build Ram temple in Ayodhya to seek votes for the BJP.

Modi told a rally in Dwarka, where he was joined by the BJP ally and Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, that voters must punish those who insult the armed forces and that Delhi does not need a government which gives opportunity to enemies to attack us.

The prime minister touched on various issues, including the 2008 Batla House encounter, surgical strikes and his government's flagship Ayushman Bharat scheme during a speech that lasted a little over an hour.

Modi trained his guns at the AAP government and the Congress, and exhorted voters to back the BJP.

"You must punish those who insult the armed forces. You should vent your anger through your vote. Delhi does not need a government which gives opportunity to enemies to attack us," he said.

He said the national capital needs a government that will give it direction and not resort to blame games.

Everyone remembers how the head of the Delhi government had used "derogatory" language for the police force, Modi said.

"It shows their mindset. In contrast, our government has built National Police Memorial honouring their sacrifices. It shows our values," he said, adding that his party unlike its rivals does not practice the politics of appeasement and vote bank.

"Delhi needs a government that will not resort to appeasement but support the CAA, abolition of (special provisions of) Article 370 and issues of national security," he said in Dwarka and asked people to get rid of the AAP government on February 8 when polls are to be held.

Touching on development issues, Modi said his government built peripheral expressways around Delhi, doing away with the need for thousands of vehicles to enter the capital, and is working on rapid rail system to connect the capital with nearby cities to save commuting time.

"You voted for the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to change the country and it is happening," he said, adding that they should now vote for his party to change Delhi.

The BJP had won all seven Lok Sabha seats.

At his rally, Shah said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Kejriwal did not want Article 370 scrapped due to their vote bank politics but the BJP believes in doing proudly what is in the interest of the country.

He claimed that Ganga river was cleaned in Uttar Pradesh but Yamuna in the national capital remains dirty and said the Kejriwal government has failed to fulfil most of its promises about education, health and other issues.

The BJP is heading towards a "big and historic" victory in the polls, as people have made up their minds to remove the AAP which practices the politics of "lies and confusion".
To their supporters they are fearless activists, agitating against the Islamic Republic of Iran while dodging regime operatives dispatched to hunt them down.

But according to Danish and Dutch authorities, the four men arrested late on Monday were also spies for Saudi Arabia. Since at least 2012, they allegedly conducted surveillance of European businesses and individuals and reported back to the regime in Riyadh.

Police and security officials announced the arrest of the as-yet unnamed members of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA), which Irans regime has described as a terrorist organisation behind a number of violent attacks inside the Islamic Republic.
Britain and the European Union set out clashing opening gambits on striking a post-Brexit trade deal, making it clear that each side is willing to walk away without an agreement rather than compromise on key issues.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent a bravado-filled salvo toward Brussels on Monday, three days after Britain left the bloc, the first country to exit.

In a speech to business leaders and international diplomats in London, Johnson said, "We want a free trade agreement", but not at any cost.

"I see no need to bind ourselves to an agreement with the EU," he said, insisting that the UK would "restore full sovereign control" over its borders, rules and economy.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier was equally emphatic that the EU's 27 remaining nations wouldn't agree to any British trade deal just to avoid a costly, chaotic "no-deal" at the start of 2021, when an 11-month post-Brexit transition period ends.

"We are in favour of free trade, but we are not going to be naive," Barnier said. "If the request is to have broad access to a market of 450 million European consumers, zero tariffs, zero quotas that won't happen for nothing, or in any kind of condition."



In their divorce agreement, Britain and the EU agreed to strike an "ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership", including a free trade deal and agreements for security and other areas.

The details are to be worked out during a transition period lasting until the end of 2020, in which relations stay essentially unchanged. For the rest of this year the UK will continue to follow EU rules, although it will no longer have a say in EU decision-making.

After that, a cliff-edge looms. But Johnson insisted the choice facing Britain was not "deal or no deal".

"The question is whether we agree a trading relationship with the EU comparable to Canada's or more like Australia's," Johnson said.

Australia does not have a free-trade deal with the EU, and Australia-style trade would mean a panoply of new tariffs and other barriers between the UK and the EU, its near neighbour and biggest trading partner.

Britain is aiming for a "Canada-style" free trade agreement with the EU, which would eliminate almost all tariffs and cover both goods and services. But it is adamant it won't agree to follow the EU's entire rule book in return for unfettered trade because it wants to be free to diverge in order to strike other new deals around the world.

The bloc insists there can be no trade deal unless Britain agrees to a "level playing field" and doesn't undercut EU regulations, especially when it comes to the environment, workers' rights and health and safety standards.

"There is no such thing like a free ride to the (EU's) single market. It is always rights and obligations in a good balance," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Johnson, however, doubled down on Britain's tough stance in Monday's speech. Even as he set out a vision of trade that would impose new barriers between Britain and the EU, Johnson said the UK would become a champion of free trade in a world where "the protectionists are gaining ground". And he sought to allay EU fears that a post-Brexit UK will slash workplace and environmental protections in order to gain a competitive edge.

"The UK will maintain the highest standards in these areas better, in many respects, than those of the EU without the compulsion of a treaty," Johnson said.

His bullish message was aimed as much at a domestic audience as it was at the bloc, but EU leaders are unlikely to be reassured by what they'll see as British intransigence and wishful thinking.

"The UK can independently decide not to respect the rules," said France's Europe Minister Amelie de Montchalin before pointedly adding: "But when it passes the frontier, it concerns the place where it arrives...It is important for European citizens to know that the single market will be protected."



Barnier signalled that one flashpoint in the talks will be fishing. He said the EU would link access to its market for British products directly to the access that EU boats are given to UK waters.

"That agreement on fisheries will be inextricably linked to the trade agreement," he said. Formal trade talks won't start until next month, once they have been approved by all 27 EU nations.

EU leaders have repeatedly warned that the timetable is tight to strike any kind of deal.

If there is no deal by the end of 2020, and the UK refuses to extend the negotiating period, Britain faces an abrupt, disruptive economic break from the bloc with tariffs and other obstacles to trade imposed immediately between the UK and the EU.

That prospect alarms many businesses, especially in sectors such as the auto industry, which depend on the easy flow of parts across borders.

The devil will be in the details, and Britain's position as outlined in a government document is less set in stone than Johnson's speech suggested. It said Britain would negotiate with the EU "on access to waters and fishing opportunities", and also spoke of possible "regulatory and supervisory cooperation" in financial services, a key area for the British economy.

However, Barnier said the EU would continue to prepare for no deal.

"If we cannot manage by the end of the year, there will be a widespread cliff," he said.

Johnson, however, brushed off the idea of a "no-deal" Brexit though that is essentially what Australian-style trade means.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Introducing a new free tier only available on the official Elasticsearch Service.

Elastic N.V. (NYSE: ESTC) ("Elastic"), the company behind Elasticsearch and the Elastic Stack, is excited to announce the general availability of Elastic App Search on Elasticsearch Service.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005809/en/

Unlock the power of Elasticsearch no experience necessary. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Elastic App Search is a ready-to-use, fully complete search solution with user-friendly relevance tuning and analytics built in. And starting today, users can deploy App Search instances with the click of a button right from the Elasticsearch Service dashboard. Now all the tooling needed for a powerfully relevant search experience is available with the operational flexibility and scale of Elastic Cloud.

This milestone also unlocks a whole new choice of geolocation options for Elastic App Search users: from Sao Paulo to Singapore and California to Germany, App Search can be hosted everywhere you find our Elasticsearch Service.

Elastic didn't just make getting started on App Search easier they've also simplified pricing by switching to the same resource-based pricing model that Elasticsearch Service uses. With App Search on Elasticsearch Service, users only pay for the resources they consume, without worrying about artificial constraints around the number of users, documents, or operations made. It's a whole new approach to pricing search that's transparent and fair.

As with all Elastic products, Elastic is committed to making App Search accessible to everyone who wants to run a trial, build a prototype, or go into production. To get new users started, Elastic is introducing a new tier of App Search on Elasticsearch Service that includes a free 2GB instance to get up and running even faster.

"Elastic App Search is the best way for any developer to add powerful search capabilities to their applications," said Matt Riley, Product Lead for Elastic Search Solutions. "Enabling App Search on Elastic Cloud will give Elastic customers the best possible experience, access to all of our features, and support from the source, in addition to the many benefits of being available at every location of our globally distributed cloud infrastructure."

Elastic App Search lets users of almost any skill level easily add a powerful and customizable search experience to any application, website, or mobile app using a refined set of APIs and management tools, including:

Fast data ingestion with focused APIs and comprehensive clients

A powerful, pre-tuned search engine built on Elasticsearch

Comprehensive relevance, tuning, and curation controls from an easy-to-use interface

Actionable user analytics to close the loop on the search experience cycle

Elastic App Search has never been easier to deploy, scale, and manage alongside all Elasticsearch Service deployments and use cases. New users can get started today by signing up for a trial of Elasticsearch Service.

About Elastic

Elastic is a search company. As the creators of the Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Kibana, Beats, and Logstash), Elastic builds self-managed and SaaS offerings that make data usable in real time and at scale for use cases like application search, site search, enterprise search, logging, APM, metrics, security, business analytics, and many more.

Elastic and associated marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Elastic N.V. and its subsidiaries. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005809/en/

Contacts:

Elastic

Dan Reidy

press@elastic.co
Washington

Closing arguments Monday in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial were directed more toward history than to sway the outcome, one final chance to influence public opinion and set the record ahead of his expected acquittal in the Republican-led Senate.

The House Democratic prosecutors drew on the Founding Fathers and common sense to urge senators  and Americans  to see that Trump's actions are not isolated but a pattern of behavior that, left unchecked, will allow him to "cheat"' in the 2020 election.

Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff implored those few Republican senators who have acknowledged Trump's wrongdoing in the Ukraine matter to prevent a "runaway presidency" and stand up to say "enough."

"For a man like Donald J. Trump, they gave you a remedy and meant for you to use it. They gave you an oath, and they meant for you to observe it," Schiff said. "We have proven Donald Trump guilty. Now do impartial justice and convict him."

The president's defense countered the Democrats have been out to impeach Trump since the start of his presidency, nothing short of an effort to undo the 2016 election and to try to shape the next one, as early primary voting begins Monday in Iowa.

"Leave it to the voters to choose," said White House counsel Pat Cipollone.

He called for an end to the partisan "era of impeachment."

All that's left, as the Senate prepares to acquit Trump on charges that he abused power and obstructed Congress, is for Americans to decide now and in the November election, as the third presidential impeachment trial in the nation's history comes to a close.

Most senators acknowledge the House Democratic managers have essentially proven their case. Trump was impeached in December on two charges: that he abused his power like no other president in history when he pushed Ukraine to investigate rival Democrats, and that he then obstructed Congress by instructing aides to defy House subpoenas.

But key Republicans have decided the president's actions toward Ukraine do not rise to the level of impeachable offense that warrants the dramatic political upheaval of conviction and removal from office. His acquittal in Wednesday's vote is all but assured.

GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska called the president's actions "shameful and wrong," but in a powerful speech late Monday she also derided the highly partisan process. "I cannot vote to convict," she said.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Marco Rubio of Florida and Rob Portman of Ohio are among those who acknowledged the inappropriateness of Trump's actions, but said they would not vote to hear more testimony or to convict.

"What message does that send? " asked Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., a House prosecutor. He warned senators that for Trump, the "past is prologue." He urged the Senate to realize its failure to convict will "allow the president's misconduct to stand."

One by one, the Democrats drew on their life experiences to remind senators, and Americans, of the simple difference between right and wrong in the case against Trump.

Rep. Val Demings, a former police chief, argued that the president is not behaving like someone who is innocent. She warned that if senators do not convict, Trump will try to "cheat" again ahead of 2020. "You will send a terrible message to the nation that one can get away with abuse of power, cheating and spreading of false narratives," she told them.

The president registered his views on Twitter, decrying the whole thing  as he often does  as a "hoax."
Customers wear masks as they are buying foods at a food market, in Hong Kong

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The risk of further contraction in the Hong Kong economy, which was buffeted by anti-government protests last year, has increased due to the coronavirus epidemic, Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Sunday.

"As it (the economy) enters 2020, it has not shaken off the risk of continued decline, but has encountered the threat of a new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, which will definitely cause a double blow to the economy," Chan said in a blog post.

"It is estimated that the epidemic situation will greatly increase the risk of continued economic contraction this year, and this will also affect the reduction of government revenue and increase in expenditure."

Hong Kong sank into recession for the first time in a decade in the third quarter as political protests plunged the city into its worst crisis since it reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

Chan said catering, retail, tourism and consumer sectors, which have been hit in the last six months, would "fall into a deeper winter,". The government will continue to monitor closely to ensure the financial stability of Hong Kong, he added.

A total of 304 people have died in China, the country's National Health Commission said on Sunday. Infections in China jumped to 14,380 as of Saturday.

Authorities have announced 15 confirmed infections in Hong Kong but no deaths.

(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; additional reporting by Jessie Pang; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko will pay a working visit to the Czech Republic today, February 4, the ministrys press service has reported.

On February 4, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko will make a working visit to the Czech Republic. The visit envisages talks of Minister Vadym Prystaiko with Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek, Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Czech Parliament Radek Vondracek, reads the statement.

It notes that the parties intend to discuss the issues of consolidating efforts in strengthening peace and security, developing inter-parliamentary cooperation, bilateral cooperation in the trade and economic sphere etc.

iy
The Congress on Tuesday fielded its top guns, Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, for campaigning in Delhi, with the former party president saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could "sell the Taj Mahal", the way he was selling the PSUs.

While the former Congress president addressed two poll rallies in Jangpura and Sangam Vihar, his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi joined him in his second rally where they launched scathing attacks on Modi and the BJP, besides Arvind Kejriwal and AAP, for "spreading hatred" and doing nothing to provide jobs.

This is the first time in the Delhi poll campaign that top Congress leadership came out to campaign for their candidates. On Monday, only Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh addressed election rallies.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh said it was a "matter of shame" that despite being educated, youths had to run around for jobs and asserted that "solid steps" would be taken to deal with unemployment if the Congress came to power in Delhi.

Addressing Congress supporters at a poll meeting in Tilak Nagar, he said, "I don't want to condemn any party on this occasion."



"I want to highlight some of the issues which are bothering the youth today. Even after eduction, and spending so much money on it, they have to run around for jobs. It is a matter of shame," he said.

Singh, a noted economist, also said that unemployment rate in Delhi in the last four months was 15 per cent, much higher than elsewhere.

"The Congress is committed to the people and solid steps will be taken to deal with the unemployment issue if the Congress comes to power. Our major thrust will be on employment," he said.

Accusing the BJP and the AAP of spreading hatred in society, Rahul Gandhi said Modi and Kejriwal were not interested in providing jobs to youngsters, but were keen on making one Indian fight another for staying in power.

Addressing his first rally ahead of the polls, he said the current environment in the country, the hatred, the violence and the attacks on women were harming India and people were not benefitting from it.

He hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not addressing the economic slowdown and the issue of unemployment, but instead, encouraging violence.

"They (BJP) talk about the Hindu dharma, they talk about Islam, they talk of Sikhism. They have no knowledge of religions. In Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism where is it written that attack other people, suppress them," he asked.

What kind of "Hindu dharma" is of Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) because Hinduism talked about taking everyone along, Rahul Gandhi said at the rally organised to garner support for the Congress candidate from Jangpura, Tarwinder Marwah.

"The person who makes 'deshbhakts' (patriots) fight among each other, can he be a deshbhakt," Gandhi asked the crowd.

Referring to coronavirus, he said the countries manufacturing in China were looking at India for taking on the mantle of a leading manufacturer.

"The whole world, except China, wants to invest in India. But when they look at India now, they see hatred, violence, rapes, goondaism, killings. Wherever you see in the last five years, one Indian talks to another Indian with hatred. This is not our history. This is a country of love," Rahul Gandhi said.

He accused the government of selling state enterprises such as Indian Oil, Air India, Hindustan Petroleum and the railways as well as the Red Fort.

"He (Modi) may even sell the Taj Mahal," the former Congress chief said.

Training his guns on Kejriwal, he alleged that Modi and Kejriwal could only think about power and said, "They can announce anything in two minutes to stay in power."



Priyanka Gandhi attacked the prime minister over the issue of job losses and took a dig at his "sanyog-prayog" remarks on Shaheen Bagh, asking whether the rise in unemployment was a coincidence or his experiment.

"When PM comes to give a speech in front of you, he does not even make a mention of it. Can he tell us whether the job losses was 'sanyog or prayog'. Can he tell us that in 35 years, the unemployment rate is the highest, 'ye kya sanyog tha, ya prayog tha unka'? (Was it coincidence, or his experiment)," she said at a joint rally with Rahul.

Attacking Modi, Priyanka Gandhi said the prime minister says that the opposition does not allow him to work, but he is still working at a fast pace.

"This is true that state firms are being sold at a fast pace. They sold LIC, BPCL, Air India, BSNL and our even planning to sell railways. Really, his pace is really fast," the Congress leader alleged.

She also attacked Home Minister Amit Shah, saying that he has said, "We (the BJP) will make Delhi like UP."



"I am the Congress general secretary of UP, let me tell you what he has made of UP. It was a state that had the most potential. What is the state of affairs now? The BJP government has harassed people," she alleged.

Priyanka Gandhi also slammed AAP, alleging that it is claiming credit for the work done by former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi invests Rs 5,200 crore in publicity, Arvind Kejriwal is not far behind and has spent Rs 611 crore for Delhi polls," she claimed.

"What is the need for publicity if work is doing the talking for them," Priyanka Gandhi said, adding they are doing so because they have done less work.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A man convicted in one of the largest dogfighting busts in recent history is charged with five counts of animal abuse after Cleveland police found a dead dog and 11 other injured dogs caged in the backyard of his home.

Angelo McCoy, 48, is charged with drug trafficking and six counts of animal neglect. He was released from the Cuyahoga County Jail on $25,000 bond.

McCoy has been convicted in Summit and Cuyahoga counties for dogfighting, including for his involvement in a 2014 raid on an Akron home where spectators from around the country came to watch dogfights.

A woman who also lives at the home, Nylajennel Mobley, 29, is charged with drug trafficking and five counts of animal neglect.

Cleveland police on Jan. 2 raided McCoys home on Minnie Avenue, north of Kinsman Road, as part of a drug investigation.

Officers seized 112 grams of heroin, 21 grams of cocaine, more than 400 prescription pills, $8,591 cash from inside the home. They also found three dogs inside the home that were kept in filthy conditions, according to court records. Investigators also seized security cameras throughout the home.

Outside, investigators found a dead dog that appeared emaciated, court records say. They also found 11 other injured dogs in cages without adequate food or water, with no shelter and in filthy conditions and dog-fighting equipment, according to court records.

Several of the dogs were bleeding from fresh wounds, and others had parasites that a veterinarian determined caused the dogs to suffer, court records say.

McCoy in November 2014 was one of 47 people from five states arrested after Akron police and federal agents raided a dog fight. Officers found eight pit bulls, including two bloodied dogs inside a dog-fighting ring, a concession stand selling refreshments and $30,000 scattered throughout the yard.

McCoy ran from officers during the raid and was arrested with $436 in cash in his pockets. A jury found him guilty of dogfighting and he was sentenced to one year on probation.

In June 2015, Cleveland police raided McCoys home and seized 13 scarred and injured pit bulls, treadmills for training dogs to fight, dog-fighting manuals and six guns. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

In both cases, judges ordered that McCoy was not allowed to own any more dogs.

To comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments page.

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She returned to work on the show last week after a month long Christmas break in the Caribbean.

And Vogue Williams found herself in a fit of giggles with Lorraine just moments before her fashion segment on Tuesday after presenter Andi Peters offered to show the pair his 'chopper'.

With a glowing tan the 34-year-old model looked sensational in a scarlet and cream floral dress paired with burgundy patent PVC boots, but her first day back didn't go exactly to plan.

Fit of giggles: Vogue Williams and Lorraine burst into laughter after Andi Peters hilariously tried to show Lorraine his 'chopper' during a competition segment on Monday's show

The pair burst out laughing after they cut to presenter Andi Peters who was explaining a competition while at the Riverside Museum in Glasgow.

The presenter was in a rush to show Lorraine his 'chopper' bike before the segment ended.

When the camera cut back to the studio Lorraine said: 'Thanks Andi, thanks for showing me your chopper, that's a first.'

Vogue covered her giggles with her prompt cards laughing at Lorraine's cheeky sense of humour.

Look at my chopper: Presenter Andi Peters who was explaining a competition while at the Riverside Museum in Glasgow where he was in a rush to show Lorraine his 'chopper' bike

Important matters: Andi managed to show Lorraine before the segment ended. When the camera cut back Lorraine said: 'Thanks for showing me your chopper, that's a first.'

Later speaking to Lorraine about Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's recently revealed minimalist home Vogue revealed her own home interiors style as she explained: 'I kind of love it, but where are her bits?.

Kim and Kanye opened the doors to their futuristic Los Angeles mansion for Architectural Digest on Monday, and also showed off North's entirely pink bedroom.

Lorraine commented: 'It's absolutely beautiful, but no wee children with chocolatey fingers in that house. Stunningly beautiful.'

Adding: 'There must be a big cupboard somewhere with loads of stuff in it.'

Pretty petals: With a glowing tan the 34-year-old model looked sensational in a scarlet and cream floral dress paired with burgundy patent PVC boots and crocodile belts

Tanned: The star looked gorgeous after recently returning from her extended Christmas break with her family

Radiant: Vogue's weeks in the sun seem to have done her well as she glowed during her appearance on the show on Tuesday

Vogue is back at work after an extended Christmas break with her husband Spencer Matthews and their son Theodore, 16 months, as well as her in laws.

Spencer's family own the famous Eden Rock resort in St Barts, and the whole family, including Spencer's brother James Matthews and his wife Pippa Middleton decamp there every festive season.

Vogue and Spencer met on Channel 4 series The Jump, and married in an intimate ceremony in Scotland in June 2018, just ahead of Theodore's birth in September of that year.

Laughing out the building: Lorraine was still laughing as she exited the show in a leopard print number while Katie Piper (right) also made a stylish exit from the ITV studios

No tweed: Despite doing a fashion segment on tweed the star opted for a floral dress

Ruby red: The star paired her perfectly coordinated look with a cream soft leather bag
The country is still gripped in shock and grief following a bizarre stampede at a Kakamega school on Monday, February 3, that left at least 13 pupils dead as reported by the top five dailies on Tuesday, February 4.

Another report given prominence is the spread of China's coronavirus and newspapers try to investigate whether or not Kenya has the capacity to deal with the menace if it comes.

READ ALSO: Men reveal exact 7 things they actually, really want for Valentines Day

Another report given prominence is the spread of China's coronavirus. Photo: UGC.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Retired president Daniel Moi is dead

1. People Daily

Authorities in Kakamega county are still trying to get to the root of Monday's tragedy at Kakamega Primary School that left at least 14 pupils as they left school at around 5pm.

According to the daily, the deadly stampede might have been caused after one pupil spotted a teacher holding a whip and tried to run away.

All the other learners who were behind the scared pupil followed with speed leading to the accident that has also left scores seriously injured.

Most of the pupils injured were in class four and five whose classes are hosted on higher floors of the building.

READ ALSO: Meet Lena, late wife to retired president Daniel Moi whom they separated in 1974

2. The Star

A court has directed the Kiambu County Assembly to supply impeached Governor Ferdinand Waititu with Hansard records of proceedings that led to his ouster.

This comes as a little sigh of relief to Waititu who has vowed to contest the swearing in of James Nyoro as the new county chief.

According to Waititu, his impeachment at the assembly level did not meet merit. He argues that the house did not have the required quorum

Earlier, Baba Yao had claimed that the Speaker of the County Assembly was tampering with the records to accommodate about 30 MCAs who were absent during the impeachment vote.

A court has directed the Kiambu County Assembly to supply impeached Governor Ferdinand Waititu with Hansard records. Photo: The Star.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: TSC yawahamisha walimu wasiokuwa wazawa wa Garissa

3. Taifa Leo

The daily reports that widening rift between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto has been of immense benefit to ODM chief Raila Odinga.

Raila has taken the advantage of infighting in the President's Jubilee Party to gain access to State House and also gain favour in the eyes of Kenyans as a unifying factor.

The Opposition chief has also leveraged on the formation of teams Kieleweke and Tanga Tanga within Jubilee to solidify his ODM Party even as the two factions allied to Uhuru and Ruto respectively continue to fight.

According to Taifa Leo, the Uhuru-Ruto tiff has even gone a notch higher following launch of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report and the ODM Party seems to be using it to cement its formation ahead of 2022 elections.

Jubilee Party, however, remains in combat mode since its chiefs appear to be reading from different scripts.

Photo: Taifa Leo.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: At least 14 pupils killed in stampede at Kakamega Primary School

4. Daily Nation

Even as authorities continue to insist that the country is on high alert to detect coronavirus, it has emerged that Kenya may not be able to contain the disease if it comes.

Kenya has at the moment set aside 16 isolation beds at the ever busy Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) but this may not be enough in case the virus finds its way in.

According to the daily, the only bet that we have is to ensure coronavirus does not find its way within our borders since even testing for its presence has remained a challenge.

Specimens still have to be sent to far flung testing centres among them one based in South Africa which is also yet to be fully established to handle the menace.

Kenya has at the moment set aside 16 isolation beds. Photo: Daily Nation.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Viongozi watoa rambi rambi kwa waathiriwa wa mkanyagano wa Kakamega Primary

5. The Standard

Section of leaders from Ukambani region has apologised to Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria after he was manhandled during Saturday, February 1, BBI meeting held in Kitui.

Led by Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua and Kitui Central MP Makali Mulu, the leaders faulted utterances made by Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu who demanded that Kuria be ejected from the venue.

The leaders said remarks by Ngilu did not reflect the will of Ukambani people and the leader should be personally held responsible by authorities.

"We are greatly disturbed by the intolerance and outright incitement of the masses by Governor Charity Ngilu against Kuria," said Wambua.

The leaders said remarks by Ngilu did not reflect the will of Ukambani people. Photo: The Standard.

Source: UGC

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Crime of passion | Tuko TV | Tuko Investigates.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Pamala Holladay allegedly attacked the unidentified man with the cutting utensils last month

A 72-year-old woman has been arrested and jailed for stabbing her boyfriend in the face during a drunken argument about sleeping arrangements.

Pamala Holladay allegedly attacked the unidentified man with the cutting utensils last month in Tennessee.

The victim told cops it was because she was unhappy about her sleeping conditions, the details of which are unknown.

The altercation broke out on the 4400 block of Whittle Springs Road around 2.30am according to WVLT 8.

It's unclear whose property was the scene of the incident.

The Knoxville Police Department said both people involved in the fight were 'extremely intoxicated'.

Holladay's boyfriend was treated at the scene for a laceration next to his eye, WATE reports.

The woman did not sustain any injuries in the fight but she was taken to UT Medical Center for a medical evaluation.

Now she has been charged with felony aggravated assault.

Holladay's mug shot shows her wearing an oversized red smock and looking worse for wear with her curly hair loose.

Her arraignment is scheduled for next Tuesday.
Cars leave the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019. The company announced it is immediately laying off most of its workers at the refinery complex, which closed after a June explosion and fire. Read more

Several key parties, including former owner Sunoco Inc., filed protests Monday of the proposed Philadelphia Energy Solutions bankruptcy reorganization, complicating a scheduled Thursday confirmation hearing that could include the sale of the refinery complex, shut down since a devastating June fire.

Sunoco, which owned the refinery before 2012 and is responsible for remediating the contaminated property, objected to the efforts of PES to remove restrictive covenants added to the propertys deed in 2012 that limit the ability of a potential buyer to reuse the property for a nonrefining use. Sunoco says that PESs attempt to remove the language, which was added to protect Sunocos interests, is in direct violation of Pennsylvania law and the Bankruptcy Code.

Sunocos objections are just one of several protests filed by a deadline Monday to a proposed reorganization plan for PES, which agreed to sell its 1,300-acre refinery complex for $240 million to Hilco Redevelopment Partners, a Chicago company that reuses industrial properties.

Hilco indicated to Sunoco that it intends to redevelop the land where the refinery is located for a use or uses unrelated to the refinery, which Sunoco contends may not be permitted by the covenants and restrictions contained in the deeds, Sunoco said in its filing.

The deed restrictions, first reported by The Inquirer on Thursday, provide that the land can be used only for nonresidential commercial or industrial activity, and also limit disturbances of its soil  contaminated after 150 years of oil processing  to only uses related to refining, chemical production, or the energy industry.

Some parties that support the sale to Hilco suggest the deed restrictions could be removed by state environmental regulators, with PESs concurrence. But Sunoco said the restrictive covenants are for the benefit of Sunoco because they protect its interests in the property, and its interests would be extinguished without the restrictive covenants.

The last-minute filings in the bankruptcy proceeding added a huge workload for the lawyers negotiating an exit plan for PES, which filed for bankruptcy in July after a devastating June 21 fire and explosion shut down the refinery, the largest oil-processing facility on the East Coast.

At least one party, the Committee of Unsecured Creditors, was expected to formally protest the award by a deadline Monday because it says a rival bidder, Industrial Realty Group, offered $25 million more than Hilco and plans to keep the site operating as a refinery.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross has scheduled a confirmation hearing on Thursday in Wilmington.

There is complete uncertainty about any recovery for unsecured creditors and it appears that creditors will be at the mercy of other parties post-effective date, the United Steelworkers said in its objections to the plan, which it said failed to protect the interest of the refinerys unionized workforce. The refinery employed 1,100 people before its closure, including 640 Steelworkers.

Other parties filing objections before a Monday deadline included the U.S. Trustee, an arm of the Justice Department, which said the proposed reorganization plan does not comply with the Bankruptcy Code and should be rejected.

Point Breeze Renewable Energy LLC filed objections, saying the proposed sale of the refinery to Hilco casts doubt over its existing 2017 lease agreements with PES to build a renewable fuel plant on the refinery site. Point Breeze Renewable Energy is allied with Philadelphia Energy Industries, a refinery operator headed by former PES chief executive Philip Rinaldi, which is also linked to the Industrial Realty Group bid.

Several other parties, including creditors and an insurance company, complained that the proposed reorganization would leave major issues unresolved even after Thursdays scheduled confirmation hearing.

In addition to the formal objections filed with the court, an organization of community activists, Philly Thrive, held a day-long protest Monday at the South Philadelphia refinery site on West Passyunk Avenue to renounce the refinerys reopening as an oil-processing facility. The group called its protest the peoples confirmation.
WASHINGTON  The Senate is so far cleaving neatly along party lines in advance of Wednesdays virtually certain votes to acquit President Trump on two impeachment charges, with just two or three undecided members even considering breaking with their party.

The chambers top Republican, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, again slammed the impeachment drive of House Democrats as the most rushed, least fair and least thorough in history and confirmed that he will vote to acquit Trump.

The trial is cruising to impeachment tallies that will fall short of even a majority of the GOP-held Senate, much less the two-thirds required to remove Trump from office and install Vice President Mike Pence.

McConnell said the two charges against Trump  that he abused his power and obstructed Congress ensuing investigation  are constitutionally incoherent and dont even approach a case for the first presidential removal in American history.

The Kentucky Republican opened the Senate with a scathing assessment of the case presented by House Democrats, but he did not address whether Trumps actions were inappropriate or wrong, as some Senate Republicans have conceded.

McConnell has dodged question about whether Trumps actions  pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce an investigation into Trumps political rival Joe Biden  were inappropriate. He led an effort last week to deny Democrats any opportunity to call witnesses before the Senate, and he has worked closely with the Trump White House in shepherding the case through the Senate.

No member of either party has indicated yet that they will break with their party colleagues. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York weighed in immediately after McConnells remarks, accusing the Republican leader and his GOP colleagues of sweeping Trumps misconduct under the rug.

The administration, its top people and Senate Republicans are all hiding the truth, Schumer said. The charges are extremely serious. To interfere in an election, to blackmail a foreign country, to interfere in our elections gets at the very core of what our democracy is about.

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the two impeachment articles Wednesday afternoon.

Andrew Taylor is an Associated Press writer.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4)  The Department of Education is shelving national events initially scheduled this month because of the threat of novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV.

"We have been advised to take care of exposing our children to crowded places. Right now the policy is for temporary postponement of all these activities because it will be drawing in learners, teachers, family members from all regions," Education Secretary Leonor Briones said during a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

She earlier said this includes the multi-sport event Palarong Pambansa, which is expected to draw around 30, 000 students and their family members.

The DepEd later clarified on social media that only "specific national DepEd events usually held in February" will be suspended. Palarong Pambansa is slated in May.

The agency also issued a memorandum on the suspension of certain activities, including the National Science and Technology Fair, National Festival of Talents, and National Schools Press Conference.

The memorandum released Monday evening outlined what actions schools should take to protect students and personnel from coronavirus.

Among the items included in the memo would be the formation and activation of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) in regional offices of the department as well as schools, a preventive alert system, and the strict compliance of preventive measures set by the Department of Health that aims to stem the spread of the virus in schools and other institutions.

The DepEd memo also gave instructions on how school administrations can educate individuals on how to stay on guard against seasonal influenza.

Briones said DepEd is also discouraging schools from holding field trips, although they are not prohibited from doing so.

The Philippines has two confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV, with one Chinese national, who was travelling from Wuhan, dying from the infection. A total of 105 patients are under close watch for possible infection.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department from the Sint Maarten Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, advises the Sint Maarten community to practice prevention measures listed below to prevent common influenza flu/cold illness.

Influenza is a highly contagious viral infection. Unlike the common cold, influenza can cause severe illness and life-threatening complications such as pneumonia and bronchitis, which often require hospitalization.

The flu and the common cold are both respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by different viruses. These two types of illness have similar symptoms and can be difficult to tell the difference between them based on the symptoms. In general, flu is worse than the common cold, and symptoms are more intense.

Colds are milder than the flu. Colds generally do not result in serious health problems such as pneumonia and bacterial infections.

The flu poses a risk or can be especially dangerous for certain groups such as the elderly (65-years and over), pregnant women, and very young children (aged six months and over) as well as for people with underlying medical conditions known as immunocompromised (such as severe asthma, lung or heart disease, low immunity, diabetics).

The aforementioned groups are considered high-risk groups and it is highly recommended that these persons get their flu shot (vaccine).

With respect to flu-prevention guidance, the vaccination offers effective protection against influenza. Persons are also reminded to adhere to proper handwashing and cough etiquettes. Vaccines need to be given each year as flu viruses are always changing.

Influenza spreads from an infected person to others through the air by droplets (secretion) as a result of coughing and/or sneezing, or by direct contact with the virus on hard surfaces or peoples hands that have the viruses on them then touching the mouth, nose or eyes.

The flu usually differs from a cold as symptoms develop suddenly and can lead to complications such as chest infections and pneumonia  particularly among the elderly and young children.

Flu symptoms tend to develop abruptly one to three days after infection and can include: tiredness, high fever, chills, headache, coughing, sneezing, runny noses, poor appetite, and muscle aches.

Most people who get the flu will suffer from mild illness and will recover in less than two weeks. However, some people can develop longer-term health problems, including pneumonia, bronchitis, chest and sinus infections, heart, blood system or liver complications, which can lead to hospitalization and even death.

As adults consult your physician to assure the correct information as it relates to your vaccination and your health diagnosis, to obtain laboratory confirmation of the condition and acquire treatment for the respective conditions.

According to CPS, let us prevent the spread or increase of influenza cases by Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Patients who have cold-like symptoms should cover their mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing (cough etiquette) and wash your hands frequently and correctly (with soap and water for at least 20 seconds  hand hygiene).

Avoid sharing cups and eating utensils with others and refrain from kissing others and stay at home when you are sick.



Handwashing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds is an effective and affordable way to prevent infections and diseases.

It is very important to wash hands with soap before cooking or preparing food, before eating, and before feeding someone (including breastfeeding) or taking care of others ill or not.

Help children to stay healthy by teaching them about handwashing and show them how proper handwashing is done.

The CPS calls on residents to be vigilant and to implement handwashing with soap as one of the most important public health interventions as clean hands save lives.

Many infections start when hands are contaminated with disease-causing bacteria and viruses. This can happen after using the toilet, changing a childs diaper, coughing, sneezing, touching other peoples hands, and touching other contaminated surfaces.



Handwashing with soap works by removing bacteria and viruses from hands before they get a chance to cause infections or spread to other people.



For more information, you can call CPS 542-1322, 1122, 1222, 1570 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Passaic County Surrogate Bernice Toledo, in a formal response to state allegations she named a friend to administer a mans estate and lied to investigators about it, downplayed her relationship with the friend.

Toledo, a lawyer, was charged earlier this month by he states Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct (ACJC) with mishandling the estate, valued at $600,000, specifically by naming the friend over the dead mans cousin.

Toledo, who was re-elected to her position four years ago, appointed Keith Stewart to administer the estate of Mark Halchak after his death in January 2017. Stewart and Halchak knew each other from working as Wayne municipal employees.

"I welcome the opportunity to answer for all I said and did in this matter. I was open and honest with all. I have never and would never compromise my integrity in the discharge of my duties as Surrogate, Toledo wrote in an answer to the ACJC complaint, published last week.

Estate administrators in New Jersey are entitled to collect commissions on estates they settle. Halchaks estate mostly consisted of a vacant house, Toledo said.

In her answer, Toledo again downplayed her relationship with Stewart, who she is Facebook friends with and who allegedly previously helped her with her campaign. The ACJC alleged the two exchanged 63 texts and spoke six times on the phone leading up to her June 2017 decision to name him administrator.

The calls between the two include 23 minutes three days after Halchaks cousin - Estelle Halchak - filed her application to be administrator.

But Toledo said a number of those messages were short and insignificant, and that any encounter she had with Stewart at political functions were out of her control.

She also testified that she spoke to Stewart four times on the phone, but said each conversation was limited to permissible issue and administrative in nature. She said she is not prohibited from using her personal cellphone to carry out court business.

There is no prohibition against the use of personal cellular telephones to accommodate the needs of the Court, Toledo wrote in her response.

Toledo also argued Estelle Halchak did not disclose seven relatives with an interest in the estate, including an aunt who would have been the first person entitled to be administrator. Court rules require those applying to be estate administrators to supply the names of next of kin. Those relatives also did not file timely applications, Toledo contends.

Toledo said she ultimately chose Stewart as the administrator because Estelle Halchak did not claim the administration within 40 days after Mark Halchaks death and, in her accounting of the estate, deprived other heirs of their full inheritance.

Toledo also cited a strained relationship between Mark Halchak and his relatives before he passed.

"Mr. Stewart testified that Mr. Halchak disliked his family so much that after a hunting trip in Pennsylvania, Mr. Halchak castrated a deers testicles and left them in his Pennsylvania-familys mailbox, the answer reads.

When determining fitness, (Estelle Halchaks) was reduced by her contradictory testimony, her manifested intent to disregard the law and her lack of a meaningful relationship with her cousin," Toledos response says.

The complaint alleges Toledo violated multiple points, or canons, of the states Code of Judicial Conduct and Court Rules, including a rule requiring jurists to disqualify themselves in proceedings if their impartiality could be in question.

However, before making her decision, Toledo said she disclosed she knew Stewart outside of court proceedings and offered both parties an opportunity to object if they felt her impartiality was affected.

Three months after naming Stewart as administrator, Toledo said it was discovered the estate was valued at $600,000. Thats when Estelle Halchak filed an order to show cause in Superior Court asking the court appoint Brian Hurtt, an in-state family friend, to jointly serve with her as administrator, which was granted, the complaint reads.

(Estelle Halchak) was emphatic about proceeding, accompanying her verbal agreement to proceed with enthusiastic nods and a cheerful smile. Ms. Halchak insisted on (Toledo) hearing the matter, Toldeos response argues. "(Toledo) bore no bias or prejudice of any kind. She took time to elicit testimony, gather facts, and gave each opportunity to object, present, and speak.

Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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By IANS

NEW DELHI: With coronavirus cases mounting in China and three people testing positive for it in Kerala, residents of Hyderabad on Monday wrote to the police to stop the use of breathalysers saying they could help spread the disease.

In Hyderabad, 20 people with coronavirus symptoms have approached Fever Hospital. Their blood and swab samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

But physicians say it will not be correct to do away with breathalysers, a device used by the police for measuring the amount of alcohol in a driver's breath.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus outbreak - Death toll in China rises to 425

Atul Kaker, senior consultant at Sir Gangaram Hospital, told IANS, "Why should the police end using breathalysers? It's important for finding drunken drivers."

Stating that such viruses can be transmitted through various other mediums, like door knobs and public amenities, the doctor said, the police could always go for disposable breathalysers. "You can't ask for ending its use," he said.

Former Indian Medical Association (IMA) president K.K. Agarwal said, "All respiratory instruments should be equipped with a hepa filter or they can use disposable instruments with droplet precautions. A person with flu standing 3 feet away from the person who is testing him can pass the infection. The best practice for the traffic cops will be to wear disposable gloves and masks."

Manjeetha Nath Das, senior internal medicine consultant at Columbia Asia Hospital, told IANS, "Breathing in breathalysers can potentially cause various communicable diseases to people with weak immunity. The attachments should be sterilised and cleaned before giving using it for the next person."

P Venkata Krishnan of the internal medicine department at Paras Hospital said, "There are chances of catching diseases and illnesses that are highly communicable, like coronavirus. I would advise that the attachment in which people blow should be changed for every person and as the next person can get diseases if the use device is used."
The countdown was like a New Year celebration - although it happened at 11 o'clock instead of at midnight, in January instead of December, and the Big Ben 'dongs' were recorded since the real clock was under repair. But the joy was real among the thousands of Brexiteers rallying in London's Parliament Square as the UK left the European Union legally on Friday (31 January).

Euobserver reports in its article Brexit: 'We're out!' after 47 years, but what's next? that the day marked a milestone in European history as the EU went from 28 member states to 27 and lost 66 million citizens.

"To mark this milestone in the United Kingdom's history", a new 50p coin would be circulated on the day, the Royal Mint announced in advance. The new coin features the inscription "peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations".

In Brussels the divorce was marked with a red-blue-white light show at the Grand Place while the UK flag was lowered outside and inside EU institutions. MEPs sang "Auld Lang Syne" in the last plenary with UK MEPs in their seats, a song that is based on a Scots-language poem.

Scotland left the European Union on Friday as part of the UK, but a majority of the Scots would like to return, according to opinion polls.

A majority in the Scottish parliament voted last week in favour of holding a second referendum on independence while first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, keeps all routes open for her country to return to the EU club as soon as possible.

At Parliament Square in London thousands of predominantly-white male Brexit fans celebrated the end of the UK's EU membership by singing "Rule Britannia" and other national songs while waving the Union Jack. Alcohol was banned from the square. The lyrics were displayed on a big screen but with a bit of a delay, however most of the fans in the muddy square knew their national classics by heart and managed to keep in sync. They watched highlights from the 47 year-long EU membership on a big screen, including recordings of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who famously demanded "we want our money back" from Brussels.

Apart from a short TV speech, current prime minister, Boris Johnson kept away from any public appearance on the Brexit evening - most likely in order to not split his already highly-divided people further. It was instead former Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, and his speech to the crowds together with the count down that formed the culmination of the celebrations. "The single most important moment in the modern history of our great nation", Farage called the moment, that saw grown men shed a tear and a lot of kissing and hugging.

Now, it is over to "Boris", Farage told them, while promising to keep a good eye on him. Meanwhile, inside 10 Downing, Johnson celebrated the Brexit hour with his closest allies and ministers. As the TV broadcast feed failed in the most important minutes, the prime minister turned to a manual countdown, using a real gong to mark the Brexit moment.

What's next?The coming eleven months are planned to be a standstill transition period where the EU and the UK will discuss their future relations.

Johnson is expected to deliver a key speech on Monday (3 February) about the UK's negotiation position, while the European Commission's lead negotiator, Michel Barnier, is set to respond by revealing also on Monday what the EU mandate for the talks will be like. Johnson is said to prefer a deal like the one the EU has with Canada - but it could also end up with a no deal and future trading based only on World Trade Organisation terms. Signs of Johnson wanting to play it hard have emerged. His foreign minister, Dominic Raab, sent a telegram last week to all overseas missions telling UK diplomats to distance themselves from EU diplomats and sit separately from them in international organisations.

From the EU's side Barnier has demanded a "level playing field", meaning trading between the EU and the UK must be based on EU rules in order to not undercut standards. Johnson is expected to stick to the EU rules on food, workers rights and environment but the question is if the UK would accept a judgement from the European Court of Justice if not keeping in line with EU rules. Meanwhile the EU is going to be busy with its own internal affairs, such as migration policy, the green deal or its new seven-year budget.

EU budget discussions were always difficult, but this time round it will be more complicated without the UK contribution. The UK has been the third- or fourth-largest contributing country to the EU budget in recent years, paying around 13 percent of the total budget. The talks on the UK's future relationship with the EU could turn "nasty", creating anger towards the EU, Lord Kerr of Kinlochard warned in an interview with the Sunday Times.

Lord Kerr drafted the famous Article 50 in the EU treaty, which allows for a country to leave the Union. "As it becomes clear that the negotiations will not end happily, people will tend to blame the foreigners", he predicted, adding that without the UK, the rest of the EU itself will also change. "We were, with the Dutch and the Danes and then the other Scandinavians when they arrived, the keenest on free trade with the outside world", he said. The Baltic countries would also be more worried after losing the British, who were traditionally strong in standing up to the Kremlin.

But history's judgement of Brexit will above all hang on how well the UK and the European Union are doing economically after Brexit, which in turn might depend on a well-cut trade deal that serves the long-term interest of both parties.
European Army Flag, Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

The European Union rejected parts of the new U.S. peace plan for the Middle East on Tuesday, saying the plan broke with internationally agreed parameters, and any Israeli annexation of Palestinian land would be subject to challenge.

President Donald Trumps plan, announced last week, was warmly welcomed by Israel and rejected outright by the Palestinians. It would give Israel most of what it has sought during decades of conflict, including nearly all Palestinian land on which it has built settlements.

The EU, which often takes time to respond to international developments because of a need for unanimity among its 27 members, had said last week that it needed to study the Trump plan before it would give its verdict.

It made its conclusions public on Tuesday in a statement from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
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Linkedin Chris Kahn (Reuters) Washington, United States  Tue, February 4, 2020 10:32 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2062664e8 2 World Iowa,Democratic-party,Bernie-Sanders Free

As Iowa's Democrats entered their party's caucuses on Monday, defeating President Donald Trump in November's election was at the top of their minds when considering which candidate to support for the party's 2020 presidential nomination, according to preliminary findings by the National Election Pool (NEP).

The NEP, a consortium of news organizations including Reuters that runs election-day polling through Edison Research, found most caucus-goers were simply looking for a winner instead of someone who agrees with them on the issues.

Here are some highlights from the entrance poll based on interviews with 1,512 Iowa Democrats as they headed into the caucuses that kick off what could be a months-long nominating fight. The results will be updated as more interviews are collected.

-- Sixty-two percent of caucus-goers said they were looking for a Democratic nominee who they think can beat Trump. Thirty-six percent said they wanted a nominee who agrees with them on major issues.

-- Fifty-seven percent said they supported "replacing all private health insurance with a single government plan for everyone," an initiative known as Medicare for All, based on the government healthcare plan for older Americans. Thirty-eight percent said they opposed it. The results may be a good sign for progressive candidates US Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who have championed Medicare for All on the campaign trail.

-- Thirty-seven percent said they were attending the Iowa caucuses for the first time, which appears to be below that of 2016. Four years ago, 44 percent of people attending the Iowa caucuses said they were doing so for the first time. In 2008, 57 percent said they were new to the Iowa caucuses.

-- Thirty-five percent of Democrats said before entering the caucuses that they picked their candidate in the last few days. That appears to be higher than the number of late deciders in 2016. Four years ago, 16 percent of caucus-goers said they had made their choice in the last month or earlier.

-- Forty-one percent of Iowa caucus-goers said healthcare was the issue they cared most about when thinking about picking a nominee. Twenty-two percent said it was the climate, 17 percent said it was income inequality and 14 percent said foreign policy.

-- The entrance poll also asked Democrats about which candidate they were supporting for the nomination. The selections are not predictive of the outcome, however, given that many Democrats will change their preferences if their chosen candidate does not win enough support in the caucuses.

Edison, a Somerville, New Jersey-based exit polling firm, has been providing election-day poll data to a consortium of news organizations through the National Election Pool since 2004.
DENVER, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Gates Industrial Corporation plc (NYSE:GTES), a global manufacturer of innovative, highly engineered power transmission and fluid power solutions, today announced that L. Brooks Mallard has been appointed as executive vice president and chief financial officer, and will join Gates effective February 24, 2020. He will be based out of Gates headquarters in Denver.

"Brooks has an impressive career and a track record of building and leading the finance function in both private and public companies," said Ivo Jurek, chief executive officer of Gates. "We are excited to have him join our team and look forward to working with him as we continue to drive Gates forward," he added.

Mr. Mallard joins Gates with broad experience in corporate and operational finance. Prior to Gates, Mallard was chief financial officer of Henniges, a global supplier of highly engineered sealing and anti-vibration systems for the automotive market. Prior to Henniges he was the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Jeld-Wen where he helped take the company from being private equity held through an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. He also has held senior financial leadership roles with TRW, Cooper Industries, Thomas & Betts and Briggs & Stratton during his 25-year career. Mallard earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Master of Business Administration from Georgia Southern University.

About Gates

Gates is a global manufacturer of innovative, highly engineered power transmission and fluid power solutions. Gates offers a broad portfolio of products to diverse replacement channel customers and to original equipment ("first-fit") manufacturers as specified components. Gates participates in many sectors of the industrial and consumer markets. Gates products play essential roles in a diverse range of applications across a wide variety of end markets ranging from harsh and hazardous industries such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing and energy, to everyday consumer applications such as printers, power washers, automatic doors and vacuum cleaners, and virtually every form of transportation. Gates products are sold in 128 countries across four commercial regions: the Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa; Greater China; and East Asia and India. More about Gates can be found at www.gates.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "outlook," "believes," "expects," "potential," "continues," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seeks," "projects," "predicts," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates" or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including, among others, the ability of Gates Industrial Corporation plc (the "Company") to successfully execute a smooth transition of chief financial officer functions and to retain and recruit qualified executives, as well as risks inherent to the manufacturing industry, macroeconomic factors beyond the Company's control and the significant influence of the Company's majority shareholders, investment funds affiliated with The Blackstone Group Inc. Additional factors that could cause the Company's results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found under the section entitled "Risk Factors" of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2018, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), as such factors may be updated from time to time in the Company's periodic filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in the Company's filings with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

Contact

Bill Waelke

(303) 744-4887

[email protected]

SOURCE Gates Industrial Corporation plc

Related Links

http://www.gates.com


U.S. to slap new sanctions against Russia's Nord Stream 2  German media

19:57, 04.02.20 7612

They are expected in February or March 2020.
Manipur: Community fish farming may change the economic landscape of our wetlands

February 04,2020 | Source: The Sangai Express

Today one of the focuses of our economy is 'wealth creation'. I am not an economist but certainly I am committed to the development of my State and prosperity of my people. The Union Budget and the Economic Survey 2019-20 provides ample scope for rethinking or reworking on our economic activities. Pisciculture and fish production is going to be one of the priorities. The objective is to produce 200 lac tons of fishes in the years to come, by 2023. And 500 fishing organizations are going to be encouraged. Here our state may take a pro -active role. We are a fish consuming state.



We are importing fishes from other States and also from Myanmar. According to an estimate we consume approximately 52 thousand tons of fishes in a year and our annual production is about 32 thousand tons . That means we import nearly 20 thousand tons of fish from outside. New initiatives and incentives are in the pipeline from various agencies for pisciculture and for increasing the fish production. We the people of Manipur and particularly those who are living in the appropriate locations must take the advantage of the new policy . Hopefully the DoNER and NEC will also be activated to give importance to fish production in the northeast.



Those who are already in fishing or fish - farming may look for the novel opportunities which are likely to come sooner or later. Our fishing communities may organize themselves as fishing co-operatives or organizations and do business unitedly. They may pull in resources and do fish farming in the local water bodies. Community fish farming may change the economic landscape of our wetlands. The State Government may extend all kinds of support to such activities. As projected by the Fisheries Dept we are likely to become self-sufficient in fish within a few years from now. Fish farmers will definitely be benefited if they play an active role in the new policy initiative of the Government of India.



The proposed PPP ( public private partnership) model in the health sector will prove to be a boon for us. This positive signal may bring about a boom for medical tourism in the State. Our doctors and nurses are one among the best in country. If we are in a position to set up better and bigger hospitals thousands of patients will come to us for treatment. As of now many patients are coming from Myanmar and neighbouring States. This PPP model will also give us a boost in setting up super specialty hospitals in the State which is again going to be a blessing for us. This will not only encourage medical tourism but generate huge employment in the State. We will be able to establish more number of private hospitals like Shijas, Babinas ,Chambers ,Christians, etc. I am extremely confident that the entire people in the northeast will come to our State for treatment. We will have more patients than Assam.



Another wealth propagation initiative is the use of MGNREGA for fodder farming. We certainly need fodder for our cattle , pony and pigs. If MGNREGA fund is utilizable for fodder production this will create more money for the rural folks. This option is going to bring financial comfort to many families in the remote hills and valley. One Fruit one district may prove very beneficial for the State. For instance orange for Tamenglong .We have plum friendly areas ., lemon suitable sites, pineapple plausible region accordingly we may arrange and take advantage of the schemes and program as stipulated by the Budget and subsequent policies.



Another focus is on assembling things .By assembling alone China becomes the biggest supplier of electronic items, computers and mobile phones. Our State Manipur may follow the dragon model and become an assembling hub for mobile phones which is futuristic. The components can be procured from the ASEAN countries through Myanmar. Now we should be more open with Tamu and Mandalay. The most important thing is that we must keep our eyes and ears open so that we become aware of what is going on in the economic front. And in the interest of the State and people we must take up and pursue the economic activities and pursuits which are best suited for us. We must explore all possible opportunities for creating wealth for the people. Finally for creating wealth I would like to say "Buy land, they are not making it anymore " Mark Twain.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has described Nigeria as the freest country to live in the world.

The Minister stated this when he received the Finland Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Jyrki Pulkkimen and his team, who were on a courtesy visit in his office on Monday.

He also said that the President Muhammadu Buhari government had not tampered with the freedom of speech or rights of individuals.

The Minister said the government was only sanitising the media on hate speech and abuse of the freedom of speech.

He said this was not an attempt to clip the media. He said the social media regulation was only to sanitised and not deny the rights of individuals.

He said whatever is tolerated on the streets would be accepted online.

According to him, the government, through the Ministry of Information, had begun the fight against hate speech since 2017.

The Minister pointed out that if people were allowed to do whatever they want on social media in a country like ours with diversity of religion and political interests, there will be chaos.

He said the government will not slack in its quest to bring sanity to social media.

Reacting via his tweeter account, a Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode said: Given these words I have every reason to believe that Lai Mohammed is totally and completely insane. He is not just a pathological liar but also an insensitive, callous, delusional, raving lunatic.
Explosions rocked the city of Marib in central Yemen in the night from Monday to Tuesday, after a strike hit a weapons storage facility belonging to forces fighting for the country's internationally recognized government.

The government's army officials said that no causalities had been recorded in the blasts or fires, and that the strike was believed to have come from their rivals, the Houthi rebels.They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the subject.

Fighting between the Saudi-led military coalition and Houthi rebels has intensified in the past week.Yemen's capital has been controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group since 2014.

A coalition of Gulf Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, began a military campaign the following year in support of Yemen's internationally recognized government.More than 100,000 people have been killed in Yemen's conflict since 2015, according to data published last October by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Project.Millions of Yemenis live just a step away from famine and rely on food aid.

(Image Credit: AP )
CARLINVILLE  Aaron Bellm of Carlinville has filed a petition seeking the Democratic nomination for Macoupin County states attorney.

Bellm is a Carlinville native and the son of Karen Bellm and the late Darrell Bellm. He completed his undergraduate education at Illinois State University and Quincy University and obtained his law degree from Western Michigan Universitys Thomas Cooley Law School in 2006.

After graduating from law school, Bellm moved back to Macoupin County and began practicing law as an associate with Phelps, Kasten, Ruyle, Burns and Sims PC. He became a partner in the firm in 2010.

In 2015, Bellm opened his own law practice, Bellm Law Firm. He has also served as public guardian and public administrator for Macoupin County.

Bellm has prosecuted civil cases and served as criminal defense counsel. More than 85% of his practice is dedicated to litigation. He said he believes his business expertise and his experience practicing outside the Macoupin County courthouse are assets.

He said his goals if elected would be to restore confidence and communications with law enforcement, leverage new technologies to streamline communications with victims and their families, thoroughly review cold cases, encourage the enactment of mental health courts and veterans courts, revisit truancy enforcement efforts, and work with local law enforcement to combat the use of methamphetamine and drug-exposed babies, both of which continue to rise.

Bellm and his wife, Deidra, are the parents of three boys.

Regulatory News:

Gentyotex (Euronext Paris Brussels: FR00011790542 GKTX) (Paris:GKTX) (Brussels:GKTX), a biopharmaceutical company and the leader in NOX therapies, today announces its schedule for the publication of financial information in 2020 and the date of its 2020 Annual General Meeting.

February 27, 2020 2019 Annual Results April 23, 2020 Business Cash Position Update 1st Quarter 2020 June 10, 2020 Annual General Meeting in Paris July 23, 2020 Business Cash Position Update 2nd Quarter 2020 September 17, 2020 Half-Year Results 2020 October 22, 2020 Business Cash Position Update 3rd Quarter 2020

This financial calendar is for indicative purposes only and Genkyotex could change its publication dates if deemed necessary. Each publication will be released after Euronext market closing.

About Genkyotex

Genkyotex is the leading biopharmaceutical company in NOX therapies, listed on the Euronext Paris and Euronext Brussels markets. Its unique platform enables the identification of orally available small-molecules which selectively inhibit specific NOX enzymes that amplify multiple disease processes such as fibrosis, inflammation, pain processing, cancer development, and neurodegeneration. Genkyotex is developing a pipeline of first-in-class product candidates targeting one or multiple NOX enzymes. The lead product candidate, setanaxib (GKT831), a NOX1 and NOX4 inhibitor has shown evidence of anti-fibrotic activity in a Phase II clinical trial in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC, a fibrotic orphan disease). Based on its positive results, a phase 3 trial in PBC is being planned. setanaxib is also being evaluated in an investigator-initiated Phase II clinical trial in Type 1 Diabetes and Kidney Disease (DKD). A grant from the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) of $8.9 million was awarded to Professor Victor Thannickal at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to fund a multi-year research program evaluating the role of NOX enzymes in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic lung disease that results in fibrosis of the lungs, the core component of the program will be to conduct a Phase 2 trial with the setanaxib in patients with IPF. This product candidate may also be active in other fibrotic indications.

Genkyotex also has a versatile platform well-suited to the development of various immunotherapies (Vaxiclase). A partnership covering the use of Vaxiclase as an antigen per se (GTL003) has been established with Serum Institute of India Private Ltd (Serum Institute), the world's largest producer of vaccine doses, for the development by Serum Institute of cellular multivalent combination vaccines against a variety of infectious diseases.

For further information, please go to www.genkyotex.com or investors@genkyotex.com

Disclaimer

This press release may contain forward-looking statements by the company with respect to its objectives. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs, estimates and expectations of Genkyotex's management and are subject to risks and uncertainties such as the company's ability to implement its chosen strategy, customer market trends, changes in technologies and in the company's competitive environment, changes in regulations, clinical or industrial risks and all risks linked to the company's growth. These factors as well as other risks and uncertainties may prevent the company from achieving the objectives outlined in the press release and actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements, due to various factors. Without being exhaustive, such factors include uncertainties involved in the development of Genkyotex's products, which may not succeed, or in the delivery of Genkyotex's products marketing authorizations by the relevant regulatory authorities and, in general, any factor that could affects Genkyotex's capacity to commercialize the products it develops. No guarantee is given on forward-looking statements which are subject to a number of risks, notably those described in the universal registration document filed with the AMF on January 16, 2020 under number 20-0012, and those linked to changes in economic conditions, the financial markets, or the markets on which Genkyotex is present. Genkyotex products are currently used for clinical trials only and are not otherwise available for distribution or sale.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005813/en/

Contacts:

Genkyotex
Travel ban should be expanded, only if necessary



China's new Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming has cautioned against "unnecessary" travel restrictions some countries have imposed on his homeland in an effort to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.



In a press conference at the Chinese Embassy in central Seoul, Tuesday, Xing, who arrived in Seoul last week, stressed that all anti-virus measures should be based on "scientific" data and methods, citing the World Health Organization (WHO)'s guidance that countries don't need to take measures that could unnecessarily dampen international travel and trade in containing the virus.



Although he refused to comment on Seoul's entry ban for foreigners who have been in China's central Hubei Province in the past two weeks, which became effective at midnight, Tuesday, the ambassador's words could be interpreted as pressuring the government to avoid further strengthening its travel ban. We believe this is so because there are growing calls from the public to ban the entry of all non-citizens not only from Wuhan, where the new virus emerged, and the surrounding Hubei Province, but also from other parts of China.



In fact, an increasing number of countries, including the U.S., Japan, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand and the Philippines, have imposed entry bans on non-citizens who have been to China recently, despite criticism from Beijing and the WHO guidance. Of course, any measures against the virus should not be driven by xenophobia, racism, fake news or excessive fear. There should be careful consideration of all the factors before Seoul makes any decision concerning inbound and outbound travelers, and they should be evidence-based and consistent, as WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated Monday. China and Ambassador Xing should know this is a matter of our sovereignty.



What is awful is that there have been political attempts here to portray the government as being indifferent or incapable with respect to public safety because it didn't follow the lead of the U.S. and other countries to expand its travel ban. But as shown in South Korea's latest case, an entry ban for all non-Korean travelers from China cannot be the best or only possible solution. Seoul's 16th confirmed patient, a 42-year-old woman, tested positive after returning from a trip to Thailand on Jan. 19. She has not been to China recently.



One other big reason we should base any anti-virus measures on science is that the ongoing crisis in China offers a crucial opportunity for South Korea to normalize bilateral diplomatic and economic relations. It couldn't come at a worse time because Beijing has softened its stance on maintaining economic retaliatory measures on Seoul, which have been in place since the latter's deployment of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile system in 2016. It has been widely speculated that China may scrap most of them on the occasion of President Xi Jinping's possible visit to Seoul this year.



So President Moon Jae-in was right when he said during a Cabinet meeting, Tuesday, that there should be thorough countermeasures to stop the spread of the virus and address public concerns, and what is also important is to make concerted efforts to minimize damage on domestic companies and the economy.



There should not be misjudgment of the situation because of irrational fears or wrong information about the virus. It is important to maintain close cooperation with China in overcoming the crisis.


WINONA  The Minnesota State College Southeast Winona campus was locked down Monday afternoon due to a threat against people on campus there.

According to a statement from the college, the lockdown was initiated at about 2:15 p.m. and was cleared at about 3:27 p.m. without incident or injuries.

The Winona Police Department was called to campus to help investigate the incident.

The Winona campus will be closed for the remainder of the day Monday, and classes after 3 p.m. are canceled for both the Red Wing and Winona campuses.

"The safety and security of our college community is our most important priority," said Larry Lundblad, interim college president. "If you ever become concerned about a threat to the college, call 911."

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Both the Winona and Red Wing campuses will be open on Tuesday, with classes resuming as scheduled.
Two Iranian Students Heading To Boston Colleges Challenge Removal From U.S.

02/04/20

Source: RFE/RL

Two of at least 10 Iranian college students who have been denied entry since August to study in the United States have filed civil rights complaints with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), saying they were wrongfully deported and mistreated by federal officials at Boston's Logan International Airport. Separate complaints were filed with requests for the agency to investigate the conduct of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials who the two said illegally denied them entry into the country.

The plaintiffs are Shahab Dehghani, a student at Northeastern University, and Reihana Emami Arandi, who had been scheduled to start classes at Harvard University.



Arandi, 35, said in her complaint filed on January 30 that she was detained on September 18 and questioned for nearly eight hours about her life and viewpoints, including recent events in the Middle East.



Dehghani's lawyers said their client was admitted to the United States three times in recent years to study in Boston. He was denied entry and deported in January.



Both plaintiffs had valid U.S. visas upon their arrival and said they were thoroughly vetted by the State Department prior to receiving them.



Federal officials also allegedly ignored an emergency court order temporarily staying Dehghani's removal until the case could be heard in court.



CBP subsequently said it was not aware a court had temporarily blocked the student's removal.



CBP was "unaware of the issuance of any court order barring the removal of the subject from the United States" when Dehghani boarded the deportation flight, the agency said in a statement.



Civil rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Muslim Justice League say Iranians have been deliberately subject to extra screenings and interrogations at airports ever since President Donald Trump issued a ban on travelers from several predominantly Muslim countries in 2017, including Iran.



In January, civil rights groups and public officials in the state of Washington made inquiries over reports that dozens of Iranians and Iranian-Americans were held up and questioned for hours as they returned to the United States from Canada after the winter holidays.

The Washington state branch of the nonprofit Council on American-Islamic Relations said more than 60 Iranians and Iranian-Americans of all ages were detained for up to 10 hours or more, questioned about their political views, and had their personal belongings confiscated like passports, car keys, and smartphones at Washington state's border with Canada.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT: "The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Expresses Concern Over Treatment of Iranian Americans"



Full statement available here:https://t.co/drCvqaNupH



Images Below: pic.twitter.com/9zOJyg9EAM  USCCR (@USCCRgov) January 30, 2020

With reporting by CNN and AP
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) announced Monday that he's taking researcher Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of slain Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as his guest to this week's State of the Union.

Driving the news: It's an attempt to press President Trump to step up action against Saudi Arabia for its role in his death. A CIA report concluded in November 2018 that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggi's killing. The prince denies doing so.

A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted.

The big picture: Connolly, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has introduced the Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act to hold the country accountable for Khashoggi's murder. It would prohibit arms sales to Saudi security services for 120 days and every 120 days thereafter until the country meets certain human rights conditions.

The legislation would require a report on whether Saudi authorities engaged in intimidation or harassment of Khashoggi or any individual in the U.S. and for the intelligence community to report on whether it fulfilled its duty to warn the journalist of an impending threat against him.

A State Department official noted the Trump administration has taken several actions in response to Khashoggi's murder, including last April, when 16 Saudi nationals were banned from entering the U.S.

A State Department official noted the Trump administration has taken several actions in response to Khashoggi's murder, including last April, when 16 Saudi nationals were banned from entering the U.S. In November 2018, the Treasury Department, in consultation with the Departments of State and Justice, imposed sanctions on 17 people and in October 2018, the visa restrictions were announced for 21 people connected to the killing.

What they're saying: "Hatice's courage to sit in the House Chamber Tuesday night should serve as a clarion call to the President that no matter how high it goes, Saudi Arabia must be held accountable for the murder of this loving father and fiance, respected journalist, U.S. resident, my constituent, and reformer," Connolly said. "Congress has acted. Now too must the President."

A State Department official said in a statement to Axios that its officials were continuing to track the judicial process in Riyadh regarding the murder of Khashoggi, which the official called a "heinous, unacceptable crime."

"It is crucial that the Saudi government hold accountable those responsible for the murder," the official said. "We have spoken out publicly about many of our concerns, and continue to do so in our private diplomatic engagement as well."

Go deeper: UN report says Khashoggi killing was "deliberate, premeditated execution"

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from the State Department.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
An Imperial guard wearing a face mask stands outside Gyeongbok Palace, the main royal palace during the Joseon Dynasty, in Seoul, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020. A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 20,000 people globally. Korea has 16 cases. AP



By Jung Min-ho





Hakim Djaballah

An infectious disease specialist is urging the government to deny entry to all people coming from China immediately to better prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus from Wuhan, saying, without drastic measures, the world is on track for a pandemic.

"I urge the Korean authorities to close the border with China, and quarantine any passengers arriving in the country, by air or sea, for at least three weeks, and those who've been in China during the past two months," Hakim Djaballah, former CEO of Institute Pasteur Korea, told The Korea Times.

"The Moon Jae-in administration is in a very tough spot between neighborly diplomacy and doing the right thing for the country.

"Thus far, we have seen the first death and the first human-to-human viral transmissions outside China. I fear that we are on track for a pandemic and by mid-March we will know for sure if this epidemic is contained or growing into a real pandemic."





Commuters at Seoul Railway Station wear masks to protect themselves against the corona virus, Feb. 3, 2020. Reuters



His comments come two days after the Korean Medical Association said the government's ban on foreign travelers coming from or through China's Hubei Province only was insufficient.

Since emerging in Wuhan, the capital of the central Chinese province, about a month ago, the virus has killed at least 490 people and infected more than 20,000 in 25 countries, as of Tuesday (KST).

Djaballah, who led Institute Pasteur Korea during the 2015 outbreak of the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)  also caused by corona virus  believes the statistics from the Wuhan outbreak have been deliberately underestimated.



"I believe the reported numbers by the Chinese authorities are underestimated in order not to cause a global panic and affect China's economic growth," he said. "The rapid change in the World Health Organization (WHO) policy very soon after its general director visited China is a strong indication of a real problem ahead."



"I believe the reported numbers by the Chinese authorities are underestimated in order not to cause a global panic and affect China's economic growth," he said. "The rapid change in the World Health Organization (WHO) policy very soon after its general director visited China is a strong indication of a real problem ahead."

Korean protesters stage a rally near Cheong WA Dae in Seoul on Jan. 29 calling for a ban on Chinese people entering Korea. The sign reads "No Entry." AP



On a positive note, however, Djaballah says some existing small molecular medication seems to be working against the virus; including the Gilead experimental drug for Ebola remdesivir, which blocks the virus from replicating.

"But I remain very skeptical of any ongoing efforts to make a vaccine against this virus," he said. "Now is not the ideal time for making vaccines and it is also unwise for the leadership of the British Wellcome Trust to advise us through social media to get flu vaccines in the hope of protecting oneself against this virus.

"As we remember the race to make a vaccine against the MERS virus in Korea, sponsored partly by Samsung, led to the funding of several research groups and companies to produce vaccines, but five years later, nothing of value came out of it. I urge the Korean authorities to start using remdesivir as a prophylactic and preventative treatment for all quarantined and suspected individuals."

The WHO declared the Wuhan virus outbreak a global health emergency last week, but did not recommend restrictions on travel and trade or other measures against China.

On Tuesday, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming stressed China's capability to fight the virus and called on Korean authorities to listen to the WHO when taking measures  a comment apparently aimed at Seoul's current travel restrictions.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LibraryBub is an industry first. Founded in 2015, it is dedicated to making vibrant connections between indie and small-press authors and an extensive network of libraries. Imbued with the enthusiasm and ambition of its founder, the bestselling author Alinka Rutkowska, the core commitment of the LibraryBub service, which has been working with all major libraries for four years, is to help librarians to identify acclaimed books from the independent publishing sector. Offering an extensive range of outreach and output, Rutkowska enables thousands of emerging authors to achieve publishing success.

The February list of notable books by self-publishing authors appears below. The selected publications have been praised by independent critics and are quickly proving popular with devotees and newfound readers alike. Some have already become Amazon best sellers in their particular categories. The cream of the selected books are award winners within the independent publishing sector. LibraryBub introduces thousands of librarians to bestselling and award-winning books from the independent publishing sector. These books hold immense potential for enhancing the lives of their readers. Beverly Cleary recalled "The first grade was separated into three reading groups Bluebirds, Redbirds and Blackbirds. I was a Blackbird. To be a Blackbird was to be disgraced. I wanted to read, but somehow could not." Librarians were instrumental in changing her outlook, enabling her to catch up with her reading and encouraging her to write. The result was that she became a librarian and an award-winning children's author. Librarians enable writers to make that kind of difference to people's lives and LibraryBub CEO Alinka Rutkowska is delighted to support them in that role.

Below is February's selection by category.

FICTION

Literature & Fiction

Bonds of Love and Blood by Marylee MacDonald ISBN: 978-1732078734

Inside a Hollow Tree by Kevin P. White ISBN: 978-1494308247

Light of the North Star  Part One: The Descent by Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharya ISBN: 978-1732243200

The Mind of a Deviant Woman by Paula Paul ISBN: 978-1478798835

The Spanish Teacher by Barbara de la Cuesta ISBN: 978-1948288712

Mystery & Thriller

Closer than You Think by Lee Maguire ISBN: 978-1631610608

Rough Diamonds by I. Robinson ISBN: 978-0620749015

Science Fiction & Fantasy

House of Pain (Book One of the Forsaken Ones series) by Denna Holm ISBN: 978-1681606873

Sorrowfish (Book One of the Call of the Lorica series) by Anne C. Miles ISBN: 978-0578612195

Children's

The Chronicles of Pukupai by Bijit Chakraborty ISBN: 978-1660150151

Dare to Be Brave: the magic of thinking big (Book Two of the Braving the World series) by Eevi Jones ISBN: 978-1732373327

Green Toenail Soup and Bat Fuzz by Sharon CassanoLochman ISBN: 978-1734288100

The Plastic Pollution Adventure (Book One of the Rescue Elves series) by Monty J. McClaine ISBN: 978-1973899525

Who Are You?: first day of school (Book One of the Fargone series) by Dr. Qooz ISBN: 978-1981074051

NON-FICTION

Business

The 60 Minute Startup by Ramesh Dontha ISBN: 978-1733465137

Surviving in the New Retail Marketplace by Douglas D. Kelly ISBN: 978-1982231019

Health & Fitness

Breaking Thru the Fibro Fog: scientific proof fibromyalgia is real by Kevin P. White ISBN: 978-0986788109

History

The Perfect 36: Tennessee delivers woman suffrage by Paula F. Casey ISBN: 978-0974245652

Self-Help

The Art of Good Enough: the working mom's guilt-free guide to thriving while being perfectly imperfect by Ivy Ge ISBN: 978-1640859517

Just Do Your Dream!: a 7-step guide to help you do what you always wanted by Montrie Rucker Adams with Angela Ali ISBN: 978-0976192794

"The results from the LibraryBub promotion were so impressive," says author Charles Veley. "The newsletter got great open and click rates!" He's convinced that "this was a great way to increase discoverability".

Librarians are encouraged to sign up for LibraryBub at http://librarybub.com/

Independent publishers should visit http://librarybub.com/authors/ to submit their books for consideration.

Media Contact:

Alinka Rutkowska

[email protected]

SOURCE LibraryBub
The crisis over local government administration in Oyo State worsened on Monday when a man identified as Abdulasisi Isa was shot dead during a clash in Surulere Local Government Area of the state.

The deceased is a member of the PDP in Surulere local government.

He was killed when supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and those of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) clashed over who is the authentic chairperson of the local government.

There have been pockets of violence between supporters of the local council chairpersons who were sacked by Governor Seyi Makinde and those of the caretaker committees he appointed in their place.

The sacked officials are members of APC while those he appointed are members of PDP.

PREMIUM TIMES learned that many people were also injured when the supporters of the two parties clashed in the local government area.

It was gathered that several weapons were on display during the fracas.

Prior to the Surulere mayhem, there were violence in other local government areas such as Ogbomoso North Local Government.

Olamiju Alao-Akala, son of a former Governor of the state, Adebayo Alao-Akala, alleged that he was also attacked.

Mr Alao-Akala junior who is the Chairman of Ogbomoso North Local Government before he was sacked by Mr Makinde with his counterparts in other councils. Early Monday morning, he said he was attacked by hoodlums believed to be supporters of PDP.

The caretaker chairperson in the local government area, Ibrahim Ajagbe, denied the claim.

Mr Ajagbe said it was the son of the former governor that led armed thugs to disperse his own group from the council secretariat.

Mr Ajagbe said eight people that were injured by the APC loyalists were taken to hospital.

The

Publicity Secretary of PDP, Akeem Olatunji, while reacting, said the deceased is a chieftain of PDP in the local government area.

Mr Olatunji alleged that he was shot dead by APC loyalists.

A chieftain of PDP in person of Hon Abdulasisi Isa was shot dead and another person was hospitalised as a result of gunshots. They were allegedly shot by the former Chairman of Surulere North local government, Hon Ogunniran Akinwumi Master. Also, some APC thugs led by Hon Ibraheem Gbodeniyi, and Hon Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala, with one Akeem Alaroje and Sunday Adeniran.

READ ALSO:

But, Publicity Secretary of APC, Abdulazeez Olatunde, insisted that it was the PDP that caused the violence.

Mr Olatunde said that despite the Court injunction which certified that the elected chairpersons were the authentic occupants of the seats, the PDP still went ahead to cause trouble.

It is very unfortunate that despite the court injunction that affirmed APC as the authentic occupants, PDP still went ahead to attack our people. Despite all these, they still went ahead to cause trouble. It was yesterday that we got the information that they will attack us. It is not APC that attack them. PDP is the one that is causing trouble, he said.

All efforts made by Premium Times to get reaction of the police spokesperson,. Olugbega Fadeyi, failed.

Several calls put through Mr. Fadeyis telephone line were not successful.

Similarly, an SMS sent to him, asking him to react to the matter has not been replied as at the time of filing this report Monday evening.

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Uganda is open to creating an embassy in Jerusalem, according to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

If a friend says I want your embassy here rather than there I dont see why there would be said Museveni to the press before trailing off. He continued: We are really working, were studying that.

The reveal came during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus visit to Africa, according to Reuters.

You open an embassy in Jerusalem and I will open an embassy in Kampala, said Netanyahu. We hope to do this in the near future.

Should the countries find a place for each others embassies, it would be considered a major win for Netanyahu, who faces the countrys third national election in a year on March 2.

But the alliance would be controversial in light of the recent peace plan presented by the US between Palestine and Israel. The plan intended to place Palestines capital outside of Jerusalems municipal limits. Palestine has rejected the plans.

Museveni has justified his desires for an Israeli embassy in Jerusalem based on the 1947 UN Partition Plan, which he believes gave the west part of Jerusalem to Israel.

According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu has been on a campaign to call other countries to move their embassies to Jerusalem, as the US recently did. Only Guatemala has followed suit so far.

For his most recent visit to Uganda, Netanyahu landed at the Entebbe International Airport near the capital of Kampala. The airport is home to the infamous raid that freed Jewish hostages 43 years ago and killed Netanyahus brother.

Israel is returning to Africa, big time, said Netanyahu before his meeting with Museveni. Africa already returned to Israel. These are relations that are very important, in the diplomatic, economic and security areas, and many other realms.

He hoped that by the end of Monday, he would have very good news for Israel.

Photo courtesy: Pixabay

Mikaela Mathews is a freelance writer and editor based in Dallas, TX. She was the editor of a local magazine and a contributing writer for the Galveston Daily News and Spirit Magazine.
Jerusalem, Feb 4 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan's sovereign council, agreed on taking initial steps to "normalize" relations.

The meeting between the Israeli and Sudanese sides, which do not have official diplomatic relations, took place as part of Netanyahu's one-day trip to Entebbe, Uganda, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to a statement by Netanyahu's office, the meeting was held upon an invitation by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

Netanyahu and Burhan agreed "to start cooperation leading to normalized relations between the two countries," the statement read.

The Israeli prime minister said Burhan is "eager" to end the isolation of his country and wishes to "modernize" it.

On Sunday, the US State Department said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a phone call with Burhan and invited him to visit Washington.
(Photo : REUTERS/Aly Song) A men wearing a mask walk at the Shanghai Stock Exchange building at the Pudong financial district in Shanghai, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, February 3, 2020.

TF Securities analyst Ming Chi-Kuo believes that the ongoing coronavirus scare is partly to blame for an anticipated 10% drop in iPhone supply this 2020. In the Ming Chi-Kuo Coronavirus iPhone supply analysis, Ming predicted that there might be only between 36 to 40 million units shipped for a 10% decrease for the first quarter of 2020 as concerns about the Wuhan coronavirus spread to become more prevalent. This is comparable to the 38 million units shipped for the same quarter in 2019, Ming said. Ming admitted though that this prediction is not 100% certain due to the uncertainties about the virus scare and the lack of consumer confidence.

Read Also:Coronavirus Outbreak is Hurting Apple's China Operations More Than You Could Imagine

Coronavirus triggers heightened alert among companies in China

On the upside, the Ming Chi-Kuo Coronavirus iPhone analysis noted that earnings and the Apple stock price might remain the same. However, one major supplier of Apple products located in Wuhan, China, namely Foxconn, initiated higher health monitoring at the factory due to the Wuhan coronavirus concerns. Apple itself has chosen to shut down temporarily its offices within China as well as its retail stores there up to Feb. 9. The company is observing the situation in China to determine what it will do next.

READ ALSO: Apple Closes China Stores Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Apple Contends with Five Big Risks Due to Coronavirus

Earlier reports said that analyst Ming believes that Apple has five risks to contend with regarding the spread of the coronavirus, even before March 2020 has arrived. These risks are:

Fears about the virus will probably hammer consumer confidence.

There may be a labor shortage for assembly of Apple products in China, leading to lower shipments of parts and finished products in the supply chain during the first two quarters of 2020. (Among the Apple products affected by this trend are the Mac series, iPhone SE 2, and iPad Pro.)

Ming speculates that Apple might even "delay new material adoptions or lower test requirements for components" to cut the qualification processes plus meet its own deadlines for launching new products in the last two quarters of 2020. He believes this would probably affect the "ASP" of materials or components. (Ming did not elaborate on what "ASP" refers to.)

The development phase of new products by Apple lasts for the first two quarters of 2020, meaning the launch of such products for the first half of 2021 will be affected because Apple employees who are not based in China will not be traveling yet to China due to the Wuhan coronavirus scare. There will be no one in China to make the big decisions as to what products to develop or launch.

The Face ID feature of Apple smartphones may need to be amended with a biometric solution such as a fingerprint scanner because Face ID cannot be used on a face with a protective mask on it.

The Ming Chi-Kuo Coronavirus iPhone analysis was made after the Wuhan coronavirus became the latest in a series of viruses that have hit China in the past. Other strong coronaviruses that became household names are SARS and MERS. The Wuhan coronavirus is believed to have caused the deaths of over 100 people as of January 29, 2020.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Katsina State Police Command has arrested a suspected cult member, Samaila Musa, 30, for chaining and enslaving his two wives over a long period of time.

The Commands spokesperson, Gambo Isah, a superintendent of police, made this known on Tuesday in Katsina.

He said that Mr Musa lives in Yan-Nabayye village in Rimi Local Government Area of the state.

Mr Isah said the suspect was arrested following a tip off.

On January 23, 2020, at about 15:30 hours, based on a tip off, the command succeeded in arresting one Samaila Musa, 30, of Yan-Nabayye village, Rimi local government area of Katsina State suspected to be a notorious member of secret cult group.

A team of policemen led by DPO, Rimi Division, uncovered the house where the suspect incarcerated his two wives and shackled them with chain in one room.

In the course of investigation, the police discovered that the victims were having marks and signs of brutalisation on their bodies.

They defecate in the same room where they were chained, their hair barbed for ritual purposes by the suspect.

He also ground pepper and put in their private parts and eyes during their menstrual periods.

The suspect also asks them to clean up semen on their clothes after having sex with them and forces them to drink the water, he said.

Mr Isah further said the police also arrested one Suleiman Salisu, 35, of Yar-Tsamiya village, who was his accomplice adding that investigation was ongoing.

When interviewed by journalists, the suspect said that he chained them because they abuse drugs, but denied brutalising them.

However, the victims affirmed what the police earlier told journalists.

One of the victims was chained for 10 weeks, while the other was chained for 10 months.

They further said they lived in isolation because nobody wanted to visit their house.

(NAN)
Yorkville police began investigating allegations of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child on Dec. 1, 2019. An arrest warrant was issued on Dec. 17 for Alfaro-Ortiz and he was taken into custody at his house in the 1900 block of Weston Avenue, according to the release.
Syria: Minister reports drone attacks on oil and gas sites

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, FEBRUARY 4 - Syrian authorities on Tuesday denounced an attack on Monday night on four different oil and natural gas sites in central Syria.



In a statement by the government news agency SANA, Syrian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Ghanem said the attacks were carried out with drones and targeted plants in Ebla and Rayyan, east of the city of Homs.



No one has thus far claimed responsibility for the attacks, and Ghanem accused unspecified "terrorists".



In recent days, "acts of sabotage" were reported on oil pipelines off the shore of the Syrian refinery in Baniyas, on the Mediterranean coast.(ANSAmed).




Billionaire and former mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg speaks at the Democratic National Convention in 2016.

Reuters

The Democratic National Committee changed its rules in a way that allows Michael Bloomberg to participate in the next presidential primary debate.

The organization eliminated the minimum donor threshold. Bloomberg is financing his own campaign, drawing from his $62 billion personal net worth.

Bloomberg is also the only candidate to personally donate to the DNC, giving it $300,000.

The debate rules change drew ire from left-leaning groups who allege that Bloomberg is leveraging his wealth to buy votes.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg could appear onstage at the February 19 presidential debate  thanks to a last-minute change in the rules from the Democratic National Committee.

Until recently, the billionaire former New York City Mayor was almost guaranteed to be barred from the next presidential primary debate. But the DNC announced Friday that it was dropping an eligibility condition: Candidates no longer need to meet a minimum number of donations, previously in the hundreds of thousands, to win a spot at the DNC-sponsored debate. The Bloomberg campaign is not soliciting donations, which would have made it almost impossible for him to qualify by those rules.

Now, presidential hopefuls need only to reach 10% in four polls, hit 12% in two polls in South Carolina and Nevada, or receive at least one delegate in either Iowa or New Hampshire. Contestants in the January 14 debate needed 225,000 donations each. A month earlier, the December 19 debate required that candidates receive 200,000 donations apiece.

Bloomberg is the only candidate to personally donate money to the DNC, according to Federal Election Commission records. He gave more than $300,000 of personal money to the DNC in one day last November  and more than $800,000 to a DNC-adjacent fundraising PAC the same day. The only campaign that donated to the DNC was Friends of Andrew Yang, which gave $125,000 in 2019.

Story continues

Michael Bloomberg.

Andrew Burton/Getty Images

The path to the White House typically involves stumping around the country, engaging would-be constituents and drawing donations in the process. Bloomberg has pursued a different strategy: drawing from his personal wealth to buy more advertising than any of his competitors.

"Mike has run for office three times and never taken a dime from special interests, allowing him to act independently, on the merits, without having to do what donors expect," Kevin Sheekey, Bloomberg's campaign manager, told Vice News. "He is proud to be doing the same with this campaign."

Left-leaning candidates criticized the DNC's decision

When DNC announced its decision to change the rules, critics railed against the Democratic Party's ruling body and Bloomberg alike, linking his donations to the change.

"Billionaire Bloomberg just bought the DNC," wrote presidential candidate and Representative Tulsi Gabbard.

"Now, suddenly because Mr. Bloomberg couldn't satisfy one of the prongs, we see it get changed?" Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders, told Politico. "That's the definition of a rigged system where the rich can buy their way in."

"F--- the DNC," tweeted The Gravel Institute, a non-profit founded by former Senator Mike Gravel. Gravel, who rose to social-media virality with an online presence of irreverent, far-left memes, dropped out of the presidential race last summer.

Bloomberg is on pace to spend more than $1 billion in advertising in one year. He's doled out more than $250 million since filing campaign paperwork on November 21, 2019. Donald Trump, by comparison, spent less than $80 million of his own money over the course of his 2016 campaign.

Even though he is not soliciting donations from voters, Bloomberg's campaign is gaining steam. Of the Democratic voters whose primary is after Super Tuesday, he polls at 12%, according to Monmouth University data. In Texas, he is tied for third place with Senator Elizabeth Warren.

A Bloomberg spokesperson declined to comment on the record.

Read the original article on Insider
By PTI

BRUSSELS: The European Union on Tuesday rejected US President Donald Trump's proposal for securing peace in the Middle East and expressed concern about Israel's plans to annex more Palestinian land.

Trump's plan, which was unveiled last week, would foresee the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, but it falls far short of minimal Palestinian demands and would leave sizable chunks of the occupied West Bank in Israeli hands.

In a statement, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell underlined the bloc's commitment to a two-state solution, based along the 1967 lines, with the possibility of mutually agreed land-swaps, made up of the state of Israel and "an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable state of Palestine."

Borrell said the US initiative "departs from these internationally agreed parameters."

"To build a just and lasting peace, the unresolved final status issues must be decided through direct negotiations between both parties," Borrell said.

"This includes notably the issues related to borders, the status of Jerusalem, security and the refugee question," Trump's plan was welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has dismissed it as 'nonsense.'

Gulf Arab states also rejected the White House plan as 'biased'.

While Israeli officials were present for its unveiling, no Palestinian representatives attended.

Netanyahu has said he wants to move forward with plans to annex West Bank territory.

"We are especially concerned by statements on the prospect of annexation of the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank," Borrell said.

He suggested that the EU might consider legal action by saying that any "steps towards annexation, if implemented, could not pass unchallenged.

"The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, for an independent state and the removal of more than 700,000 Israeli settlers from these areas.

But the plan sides heavily with Netanyahu's hard-line nationalist vision for the region and shunts aside many of the Palestinians' core demands.

EU foreign ministers have discussed in recent months whether the bloc should modify its Middle East policy amid growing concern that settlement activity and US diplomatic moves like the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, are undermining the chances of a two-state solution.

Ireland and Luxembourg are among a small group of countries that support a change of position but no heavyweight member country is backing them.

In a letter to Borrell, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn wrote that hopes for a two-state solution are "being dismantled piece by piece, day after day," and that it is time to consider recognizing Palestine as a state.

Borrell has noted that member countries are "very much divided" over how to handle Middle East peace moves.

In Tuesday's statement, he also underlined the EU's "fundamental commitment to the security of Israel."
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T he last place I expected to find myself five weeks after Boris Johnsons election victory was on a farm owned by a woman called Shayne, 270 miles from Downing Street, being nuzzled by an alpaca. I was still dressed in my pillarbox-red telly coat, and still talking Brexit, but I was far from Westminster. I was in Rookhope, County Durham.

This remote part of the Pennines turned Tory for the first time ever last year, and became a trophy brick after Johnsons comprehensive demolition of Labours red wall. Now first-time Tory voters such as Shayne are waiting to see if he can keep his promises.

A lifelong Labour voter, Shayne could not bring herself to vote for the party this time around. She wanted Brexit to be sorted, didnt believe Labours promises and thought Corbyn was weak.

But shes not sure whether Johnson will keep his word when it comes to better broadband, transport links and more doctors appointments for places like Rookhope. In this pocket of the North-East, where there are just four buses a day to the nearest market town, Westminster feels a long way off.

A different political fight is emerging, and it starts in places such as Rookhope with voters like Shayne. Johnson has five years to turn his toehold in seats he didnt even dream of winning into a real foothold. And he seems to be on the front foot. In the past week alone hes pledged to protect services at Bishop Aucklands hospital (Conservative majority 7,962) and reopen the train station at Blyth (majority 712). Local pledges married to big ambition.

Beth Rigby outside Westminster / Matt Writtle

With big promises on NHS spending and infrastructure investment, Johnson has no problem at all in borrowing Labours clothes to dress up his Government as one which wants to level up the country, which is why its almost certain he will go ahead with HS2.

It is also why, despite this weeks hard talk, he needs to land a decent trade deal. Go for a Canada deal, and the UK economy could be 4.9 per cent worse off in the next 15 years, according to the most recently published Treasury forecasts. Go for a no-deal exit  this week rebranded the Australian arrangement  and GDP would be a projected 7.7 per cent lower.

Johnson understood Brexit wasnt about economics but about identity, and for that he was richly rewarded by voters. But he didnt just promise to deliver Brexit, he also promised his supporters the possibility of a more prosperous future, which is why economic pragmatism should trump ideology in the next round of negotiations.

Put simply, a big-spending PM needs a healthy economy. And for that Johnson needs a good deal with the UKs biggest trading partner. Voters like Shayne are watching and waiting. If he falls short, she believes this country could easily turn Labour again. He won Rookhope. Now he has to prove he deserves to keep it.
The former Coast Guard officer and white supremacist Christopher Paul Hassonwho was arrested a year ago for planning to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this countrywas sentenced on Friday by a federal judge in Maryland to over thirteen years in prison on multiple firearms and drug charges.

Weapons cache belonging to Christopher Paul Hasson at the time of his arrest in February 2019 (Photo credit: Associated Press)

Hasson was arrested on February 15, 2019 and pleaded guilty in October to four federal counts including unlawful possession of unregistered silencers, unlawful possession of firearm silencers unidentified by serial number, possession of firearms by an addict to and unlawful user of a controlled substance, and possession of a controlled substance.

US District Judge George Hazel, in sentencing the 50-year-old Hasson to 160 months plus four years of supervised release, said the former Coast Guard lieutenant was preparing to carry out a mass casualty assault as a way to act out his white nationalist views. The judge added, The need to protect the public is of paramount importance.

As reported at the time of his arrest by the World Socialist Web Site, Hasson is a neo-Nazi whose idol is Anders Breivik, the neo-Nazi who murdered 77 Labour Party campers in 2011 in a bloody rampage in Norway. Hasson was also inspired by the white supremacist march through Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11 and 12, 2017 which ended with the murder of Heather Heyer when a fascist drove his car into a crowd of anti-Nazi protesters.

While federal prosecutors had sought a sentence of 25 years in prison and called Hasson a domestic terrorist, they did not bring terrorism charges against him.

When law enforcement agents entered Hassons residence in Silver Spring, Maryland in February 2019, they found an arsenal of 15 weaponsseven rifles, two shotguns, four pistols, two revolvers, and two silencersalong with more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

He was found to have compiled a list on January 17, 2019 of Democratic Party officialsincluding candidates running for the 2020 presidential nomination along with US representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesotapolitical activists and organizations and MSNBC and CNN media figures that he was targeting for assassination. Included on Hassons list, which was found in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet on his computer, was DSA for Democratic Socialists of America.

Hassons computer contained an email draft that included the following, Much blood will have to be spilled to get whitey off the couch. For some no amount of blood will be enough. They will die as will the traitors who actively work toward our demise and Have to take serious look at appropriate individual targets, to bring greatest impact. Professors, DRs, Politi[ci]ans, Judges, leftists in general. Hassons browser history also showed that he had searched online in February 2018 for the addresses of Supreme Court justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

In a letter written seven weeks after the Charlottesville events, but never sent to its intended American neo-Nazi recipient, Hasson said of himself, I am a long time White Nationalist, having been a skinhead 30 plus years ago before my time in the military. I have served in 3 branches currently serving as an Officer (never attended college) with 2 years till I hit mandatory retirement at 30.

At the sentencing on Friday, Hassons lawyer Elizabeth Oyer described her client as a decorated member of the Coast Guard, a devoted father and husband with no prior criminal record. She said that Hasson had gone through a midlife crisis and had become addicted to opioid drugs. She was particularly concerned about the labeling of Hasson by the prosecution as a domestic terrorist and racist when they had not charged him with offenses connected to these claims.

While federal prosecutors and Judge Hazel declined to make the obvious connection between the defendants preparations for mass murder and the fascistic politics of the Trump administration, who routinely portrays the Democrats as socialists who pose an imminent danger to America, the timeline of Hassons online search activity, drafted email messages and weapons purchases are undeniable. Beginning on February 13, 2017three weeks after the swearing in of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United StatesHasson began purchasing and stockpiling the firearms and accessories needed to establish a white homeland.

Another extremely significant aspect of this case is that Hassons white supremacist views were undoubtedly known by superiors and others in the Coast Guard, a branch of the US military. He worked at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, DC as an acquisitions officer responsible for the National Security Cutter program since 2016. Hasson was kept on active duty with Coast Guard pending the outcome of his criminal case.

There is no question that the Trump administration is mobilizing the most right-wing, fascistic and racist elements within American society to bolster his extreme right-wing agenda as part of the 2020 reelection campaign. This has been demonstrated in Trumps defense of the fascistic Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher, who indiscriminately murdered civilians in Afghanistan and threatened to kill fellow soldiers who were reported his depravity to superiors. The White House is protecting other such elements within the military from prosecution and counting on them as part of the reelection political base.

A distinct feature of Trumps 2020 campaign has been the sustained denunciation of socialism and communism as anti-American and the whipping up of hostility and violence against those who hold left-wing and anti-capitalist political positions.

Trumps incessant anti-socialist rants took a particularly ominous form on Friday when Rodney Garcia, a Republican state legislator from Montana, complained that he was concerned that there were socialists everywhere in his district of Billings. When asked to clarify what he meant, Garcia said, So actually in the Constitution of the United States, [if you] are found guilty of being a socialist member you either go to prison or are shot.

The conviction of Hasson and the threats by Garcia must be taken as a serious warning by the working class that extreme right-wing violence is being prepared against the growth of the class struggle and popular embrace of socialist politics.
Security Correspondent Cormac OKeeffe examines the manifestos to see what they propose for beleaguered communities

The main thing people in communities bearing the brunt of anti-social behaviour, violent crime, gangland feuds and a booming drugs trade will want to know from parties is will things actually change on the ground.

Can they let their children out on their own, can they travel to and from school safely without fearing being knocked down by scramblers, assaulted by other youths, many armed with iron bars or knives, or having to witness open drug dealing and intimidating drug-related behaviour.

Can they themselves feel safe to cycle on pathways without being assaulted and robbed, can they go down to the local pub or chipper without running the gauntlet of intimidating gangs of youths?

At the more severe end, what will be done to stop gang wars and the related drug-debt intimidation, shootings, petrol bombings and murders?

Will policing numbers on the street actually increase and will there be  at a fundamental level and as recommended by the Policing Commission in September 2018  a complete reorganisation of policing to actually become, in practice, a community policing organisation.

What voluntary, community drug projects want to know is will funding be increased for community projects, will there be a renewed investment in genuine community-state partnership and what will be done to bring drug deaths down?

Youth projects want to know what specifically will be done to try and reduce the number of young kids being pulled into criminal networks, lured by the status and trappings of wealth the drugs trade promises?

All these issues have been graphically highlighted in the first month of this year, not least in the events in Drogheda and north Dublin, with the horrific murder of Keane Mulready-Woods, aged just 17.

So what do the parties promise in this area?

One of the central pledges of many parties is to increase garda numbers  Fine Gael repeating its plan to have 15,000 by 2021.

As a result of austerity under the last Fianna Fail-led government, numbers were cut from 14,716 in September 2009 to 12,799 in December 2014, with a detrimental impact on communities.

It now stands at 14,300 on foot of the Fine Gael-led government reopening Templemore for garda recruitment in September 2014.

In their manifestos, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein promise 16,000 gardai  with the former costing it at 115m and the latter costing it at 142m - though neither say by when.

It is also not clear how they plan to increase the annual intake. While recruitment numbers into Templemore were 800 in the first few years after reopening, it was 600 last year and is around 700 this year  in large part because the college and accommodation provision is at capacity.

Concerns have also been expressed at the risk to the quality of training if too many recruits are crammed through  issues previously raised in judicial inquiries.

The Labour Party makes numerous references to increasing garda resources at community level, while both the Green Party and Social Democrats also mention increasing community policing. Solidary-People Before Profit makes no reference to the issue.

Both the Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein manifestos do mention the experience of many communities, with Sinn Fein claiming both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael had abandoned working class and rural communities.

Only Fine Gael and the Green Party make explicit reference to implementing the Commission on the Future of Policing, which recommended expanding policing to include community safety and reorienting divisional policing to serve the community's needs.

Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour make general promises to expand the Criminal Assets Bureau, though the other parties do not mention CAB.

On community safety, Fianna Fail talk about establishing community safety networks in every part of the country, comprising local gardai and local communities, including the new Town Teams and restored Town Councils. How this would happen is not clear, nor the duplication with existing fora. Labour promises to promote local policing fora.

Labour also proposes to set up local commissions to deal with violent drug gangs, though little detail is given, and to establish a gun crime commission.

Fianna Fail has promised both a Public Transport Police section and a Rural Crime Bureau, but do not explain how these will be staffed  and from where in the Gardai they will come.

While the transport police is more specific, a Rural Crime Bureau would appear to be impractical and duplicate the work of existing divisions.

As has been previously aired publicly, Fianna Fail will also introduce laws which will allow the 'belief' of a Chief Superintendent that an accused is involved in gangland activity to be admissible as evidence  modelled on similar legislation to tackle dissident republicans.

There have been problems with this belief evidence in the courts. Other issues might be that gangland activity is far looser an activity that terrorist offences and may be difficult to prove.

There is also existing legislation on being a member of, contributing to or directing a criminal organisation.

Fianna Fail also plan to bring in laws to tackle those who use minors in drug distribution, something Fine Gael has already promised.

Only Sinn Fein and the Social Democrats have promised to restore or increase resources to local garda drug units, which were heavily hit since austerity.

In relation to young people and crime, the Fine Gael manifesto cites the Youth Joint Agency Response to Crime, which is in early development, but is considered to have promise in targeting prolific offenders aged 16-21. It also refers to the promised Youth Justice strategy on early intervention.

Sinn Fein promises to establish new Garda youth diversion projects while the Green Party will increase the age limit from 18 to 24. The Green Party will also increase funding for youth engagement programs.

On anti-social behaviour, Fianna Fail has most to say, promising new garda powers, including public space protection orders, disperse orders and community protection orders.

There is no detail on what these are, other than what they suggest. Their legal status is unclear and, as with other powers, it's the ability of gardai to implement them that is key.

The party also wants to compel parents to attend parenting courses and parents who fail to comply with orders to be fined or have social welfare payments stopped.

The party also wants greater powers to evict anti-social tenants and promises new powers to deal with the dangers posed by scrambler bikes. The Labour Party also promises action on scramblers.

Sinn Fein, which first published a bill on scramblers some years ago, does not include it in its manifesto.

Fine Gael proposes a forum on anti-social behaviour and the effectiveness of legislation on it.

Fianna Fail wants a mandatory minimum 12-month sentence for carrying a knife in public. The lessons from the 10-year mandatory minimum drug sentence and the concerns of the Law Reform Commission are well known.

Again, the issue is enforcement, and the ability of gardai, given their resources, to enforce existing legislation which already allows for a possible five-year term for carrying knives.

On drugs and addiction, Fine Gael promises a number of measures: support schools on education programmes; 'work' (no more specific than that) with local drugs task forces; open the new supervised injecting centre; expand services for pregnant women; progress the national clinical programme for dual diagnosis (mental health and addiction issues); a general awareness campaign and a new 24-hour helpline for families of drug users.

Fianna Fail said it will increase funding to drugs taskforces by 6m over the next two years, undertake an education campaign and appoint representation at a senior level from the Department of the Taoiseach to the National Oversight Committee of the National Drugs Strategy.

In addition, it will review the methadone treatment programme as more than 10,000 people are on it.

Sinn Fein promises a minister with responsibility for the drugs crisis who will sit at the Cabinet table. It said it will increase funding to drug strategy and among drug task forces by 12m and mandate all relevant agencies to fully engage with them.

They will increase funding for mental health and addiction and introduce guidelines on dual diagnosis and establish a No Wrong Door policy to ensure no one turned away.

The party said they will increase medical detoxication and rehabilitation beds by 20 and ensure structured release into treatment and other services for prisoners.

In addition, they will establish drug-free zones of 300m radius around a primary school and monitor prescriptions of drugs.

The Green Party indicates it would decriminalise possession of drugs, and specifically states this for cannabis.

It said it would remove criminal penalties for possessing less than a week's supply of drugs. This would, no doubt, conflict with gardai, who would see this as being used by low-level dealers to operate.

The Green Party also plans to pardon and release non-violent, minor, drug offenders, support dual diagnosis, expand low threshold residential stabilisation and increase drug quality testing services, particularly at festivals and nightclubs.

The Labour Party said it will not penalise minor possession of drugs by people who are addicted, but does not include other drugs users.

It said they would increase funding to local drug task forces, introduce Ireland's first overdose prevention strategy and increase addiction treatment services.

The Social Democrats said it would enact all sections of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill, address the widespread problem of street trading in, and abuse of, prescription drugs, conduct a fundamental review of drug treatment services and enhance the role of drug and alcohol task forces.

In its analysis, Alcohol Action Ireland said five of the six main parties (Sinn Fein being the exception) committed to implementing the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill.

Promises aside, communities will wait and see what actually changes.
SHANGHAI, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- OneSmart International Education Group Limited (NYSE: ONE) ("OneSmart" or the "Company"), a leading premium K-12 education company in China, today outlined the active measures it has taken to adapt its business and support students in response to the evolving situation associated with the coronavirus outbreak in China.

Leveraging its recently launched OneSmart Online platform, OneSmart has begun substituting all offline courses with its premium online education services platform to protect the health and safety of students and teachers and allow students to continue their education while public schools and learning centers remain temporarily closed. Within the first week of the initiative, OneSmart has successfully migrated 43-76% of our existing students to online platform for the three main business lines including OneSmart VIP, HappyMath and FasTrack English, with expectation of further increased rate in coming weeks. The strong momentum is underpinned by OneSmart's highly effective personalized teaching programs, customer loyalty and strong demand.

OneSmart is currently arranging for existing students to transit to online courses through its user-friendly online platform until public schools and learning centers are reopened. These online courses will be taught by the student's regular teacher with the same curriculum, support real-time interaction between teachers and students, offer unlimited playback for each course, and are provided at potentially improved frequency due to improved convenience. OneSmart is currently focused on ensuring a seamless transition to online courses for all students and parents across the country. The online network is based on an industry leading cloud operator which has proven track record of stability of handling massive online traffic volume.

OneSmart takes pride in maintaining the highest standards of corporate social responsibility. The Company is jointly-launching a charitable program with the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, Shanghai Women's Federation and the Shanghai Children's Foundation where the Company will donate RMB18 million worth of online classes for its OneSmart VIP, HappyMath, Fastrack English and family education programs to children of front-line medical professionals in Shanghai or those who have volunteered to go to Wuhan, the Chinese city hit the hardest by the virus. The charitable program was created to support front-line medical professionals and ease any concerns they may have over their children's education during this time. This offer to front-line medical professionals will be effective immediately and will last till April 1, 2020. OneSmart may extend the scope and coverage of these programs as the situation develops.

In addition to jointly-launching the charitable program, OneSmart is donating over RMB20 million worth of online courses to primary and secondary students in Wuhan. The online courses will be offered in conjunction with the Zhen Wei Education Technology Special Fund, a subsidiary of the China Next Generation Education Foundation. Family education courses for students in Wuhan will also be offered by OneSmart's strategic partner "Family Education Magazine". The donated online courses will include OneSmart VIP courses which offer one-on-one live broadcast classes with renowned teachers who graduated from tier-1 universities in China such as Tsinghua University or Peking University as well as HappyMath and FasTrack English courses for students aged 3 to 12 years old which will cover mathematics and English language classes taught by native English speakers. The Company believes this initiative will allow students in Wuhan to continue their study during the quarantine and help alleviate parent's anxiety.

In addition, OneSmart is working with WeDoctor, China's leading technology-enabled healthcare solutions platform, to offer online medical consultations via mobile phone to all OneSmart employees, students, and parents.

Mr. Steve Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OneSmart, commented, "OneSmart is a leading premium K-12 education company in China and is committed to maintaining the highest standards of corporate social responsibility. We have always prioritized the needs of our students and their parents and will continue to offer our support as the nation battles with the coronavirus. The recently launched OneSmart Online platform which incorporates our cutting-edge OMO technologies and fully integrates with our offline courses provides the ideal platform for students to continue their education at their homes while public schools and learning centers remain temporarily closed. These technologies are intended to greatly enhance student interest in learning and improve customer satisfaction. We take pride in the strong reputation in the market we have built with numerous students who have achieved outstanding academic results throughout the years, and will continue to do so by offering the highest-quality educational services and improving customer satisfaction, regardless of the situation. We are proud to be taking an active role in donating to charitable causes that support the front-line medical professionals who are leading the fight and the children unable to leave their homes in Wuhan. I am confident that our efforts to provide free access to our premium online learning platform will provide effective support and extend education to all affected."

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. OneSmart may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Any statements that are not historical facts, including statements about OneSmart's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements that involve factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, but not limited to the following: OneSmart's goals and strategies; its future business development, financial condition and results of operations; its ability to continue to penetrate premium K-12 after-school education services market; diversify and enrich our education offerings; enhance the development and management of our teacher team and teaching materials; competition in our industry in China; its ability to maintain and expand online education presence; relevant government policies and regulations relating to the corporate structure, business and industry; and its ability to protect our students' information and adequately address privacy concerns. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is current as of the date of the press release, and OneSmart does not undertake any obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

About OneSmart

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Shanghai, OneSmart International Education Group Limited is a leading premium K-12 education company in China. Since commencement of our business, our vision is to build the most trusted "Third Classroom" outside of home and school and our mission is to bring out the utmost learning power in each student by cultivating his or her study motivation, capability and perseverance, and enable our students to pursue their life-long success. Our company culture is centered on the core values of customer focus, execution, innovation and teamwork.

The Company has built a comprehensive premium K-12 education platform that encompasses OneSmart VIP business (Premium K-12 1-on-1 training services), HappyMath (Premium math education programs), and FasTrack English (Premium English education programs). As of August 31, 2019, OneSmart operates a nationwide network of 432 learning centers across 35 cities in China.

For more information on OneSmart, please visit http://www.onesmart.investorroom.com.

For more information, please contact:

OneSmart

Ms. Rebecca Shen

+86-21-5255-9339 ext. 8139

[email protected]

Christensen

In China

Mr. Christian Arnell

Phone: +86-10-5900-1548

E-mail: [email protected]

In the US

Ms. Linda Bergkamp

Phone: +1-480-614-3004

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE OneSmart International Education Group Limited

Related Links

www.1smart.org


Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt could be close to reaching solutions over the issues related to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) after the involvement of the US and the World Bank as observers in the dam negotiations, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told the country's parliament, according to Ethiopia's state news agency ENA.

During a question-and-answer session held in parliament on Monday, the prime minister said that the negotiations between the three countries over the dam had been "tiresome, long and fruitless," which led to the involvement of the World Bank and the US as observers.

Ahmed stressed that Ethiopia will not enter into any agreement that harms "its national interest" nor causes significant harm to the downstream countries.

He reiterated his countrys commitment to "the principle-based stance of win-win solutions."

During the session in parliament, which addressed various other economic and political topics, the Ethiopian prime minister underscored that our support of Somalia is visible evidence that we never intend to cause harm to our neighbours.

The ministers of foreign affairs and water resources of Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan had agreed on a detailed schedule for the filling and operating of the dam during the latest round of negotiations in Washington held in late January.

A final and comprehensive agreement with the detailed schedule is set to be formulated by technical and legal teams from the three countries over the next two weeks, but it will be subject to a final look during a ministerial-level meeting in the US capital on 12-13 February prior to the signing by the end of the month.

The US stepped up to host negotiations in November after the three countries announced that talks had reached a dead-end, and after Egypt asked for an international mediator.

Tensions had been building between Egypt and Ethiopia over some technical details regarding the operation and filing of the dam.

Ethiopia hopes that the massive $4.8 billion project on the Blue Nile, which has been under construction since 2011, will allow it to become Africas largest power exporter.

Egypt, which is downstream from the dam, fears that the project will diminish its share of Nile water, on which it is almost entirely reliant for its fresh water.

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YEREVAN.  The court hearing on the criminal case involving Armenias second President Robert Kocharyan started with the discussion of the absence of some defense lawyers at the previous hearing.

Hayk Alumyan, one of Kocharyan's lawyers, stated that his absence was the only way to show his attitude towards the incident. He said that the injured party's representative, Edik Harutyunyan, had made a statement which was considered by the defense as a threat and a manifestation of hatred.

Alumyan added that lawyers should deal with legal defense, not respond to threats.

Aram Orbelyan, another defense attorney, in turn, said he was absent to ensure his own safety.

"I do not agree with the court's assessment that it was not a threat, and I object," Orbelyan added, and asked the court to react to such manifestations from now on.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 23:02:59|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities on Tuesday deployed further measures to improve patient admission and survival rates and reduce infection and mortality rates in China's central province Hubei and its capital Wuhan amid efforts to curb the pneumonia epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus.

More measures will be taken to ensure the supply of medical resources and daily necessities, according to a meeting of the leading group of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and also head of the aforementioned leading group, presided over the meeting.

Among measures to provide more beds to patients, a number of hotels, venues and training centers will be used as sites to carry out centralized treatment of suspected infections and patients showing mild symptoms or medical observation over close contacts, according to the meeting.

A number of mobile hospitals and an additional 2,000 medical and nursing workers will be organized to support Hubei.

To concentrate a superior force for patient treatment, authorities said, teams of quality medical personnel will be organized to take over the management of intensive care hospitals or wards.

Authorities required efforts to improve the detection and diagnosis capacity, shorten the testing period and dispatch testing personnel and materials from disease control systems nationwide to support Wuhan, saying that qualified third-party institutions will be allowed to carry out nucleic acid testing.

Regarding the improvement of the novel coronavirus diagnosis and treatment guideline, the meeting stressed that measures proved effective in clinical use should be included in the treatment guideline, calling for integrating traditional Chinese and Western medicine in treating patients to improve effectiveness.

Authorities underscored concentrating medical and protective resources on the frontline in the epidemic battle while ensuring the supply of daily necessities.

The meeting called for timely solutions to problems in trans-regional transportation, improvement in the efficiency of supply distribution and ensuring market supply.

Daily allocation of essential medical resources for curbing the epidemic should be further improved, according to the meeting.

The meeting also required efforts to avoid a large-scale, concentrated travel rush after the Spring Festival holiday ends.

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the leading group, attended the meeting.
For beginners, it can seem like a good idea (and an exciting prospect) to buy a company that tells a good story to investors, even if it completely lacks a track record of revenue and profit. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.'

In the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, my choice may seem old fashioned; I still prefer profitable companies like MTU Aero Engines (ETR:MTX). Even if the shares are fully valued today, most capitalists would recognize its profits as the demonstration of steady value generation. Loss-making companies are always racing against time to reach financial sustainability, but time is often a friend of the profitable company, especially if it is growing.

View our latest analysis for MTU Aero Engines

How Quickly Is MTU Aero Engines Increasing Earnings Per Share?

The market is a voting machine in the short term, but a weighing machine in the long term, so share price follows earnings per share (EPS) eventually. That makes EPS growth an attractive quality for any company. Over the last three years, MTU Aero Engines has grown EPS by 14% per year. That growth rate is fairly good, assuming the company can keep it up.

One way to double-check a company's growth is to look at how its revenue, and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins are changing. While MTU Aero Engines did well to grow revenue over the last year, EBIT margins were dampened at the same time. So it seems the future my hold further growth, especially if EBIT margins can stabilize.

The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.

XTRA:MTX Income Statement, February 4th 2020

Fortunately, we've got access to analyst forecasts of MTU Aero Engines's future profits. You can do your own forecasts without looking, or you can take a peek at what the professionals are predicting.

Are MTU Aero Engines Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Story continues

I always like to check up on CEO compensation, because I think that reasonable pay levels, around or below the median, can be a sign that shareholder interests are well considered. For companies with market capitalizations over 7.2b, like MTU Aero Engines, the median CEO pay is around 4.1m.

MTU Aero Engines offered total compensation worth 2.8m to its CEO in the year to December 2018. That seems pretty reasonable, especially given its below the median for similar sized companies. CEO compensation is hardly the most important aspect of a company to consider, but when its reasonable that does give me a little more confidence that leadership are looking out for shareholder interests. I'd also argue reasonable pay levels attest to good decision making more generally.

Is MTU Aero Engines Worth Keeping An Eye On?

One important encouraging feature of MTU Aero Engines is that it is growing profits. On top of that, my faith in the board of directors is strengthened by the fact of the reasonable CEO pay. So I do think the stock deserves further research, if not instant addition to your watchlist. Of course, identifying quality businesses is only half the battle; investors need to know whether the stock is undervalued. So you might want to consider this free discounted cashflow valuation of MTU Aero Engines.

You can invest in any company you want. But if you prefer to focus on stocks that have demonstrated insider buying, here is a list of companies with insider buying in the last three months.

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Russia-backed offensive against rebel enclave forces 520,000 from their homes in two months, mostly women and children.

The United Nations has sounded the alarm over a severe humanitarian crisis unfolding in Syrias northwest, where a Russian-backed Syrian government push against the countrys last rebel-held stronghold has forced more 500,000 people from their homes in two months.

Since 1 December, some 520,000 people have been displaced from their homes, the vast majority  80 percent  of them women and children, David Swanson, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said on Tuesday.

He added that the latest wave of displacement compounded an already dire humanitarian situation that saw more than 400,000 people displaced from the end of April through the end of August, many of them multiple times.





Swanson said the UN was alarmed by the plight of more than three million people  half of whom were transferred there en masse from other parts of Syria that were taken by government forces  who live in Idlib province and the surrounding areas.

Last Saturday, UNICEF, the UNs children agency, said the violence has forced 6,500 children to flee daily, and estimated that 1.2 million children are in desperate need amid short supplies of food, water and medicine.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 50 health facilities have suspended their services as of January 31.

The current situation in northwest Syria  characterised by lack of access and medicine, insufficient hygiene, chaos and mass displacement  poses a significant risk of outbreaks of measles, diarrhoeal diseases and other diseases, said Rick Brennan, WHOs regional emergency director.

Northwest Syria represents one of the worlds most severe humanitarian crises, where civilians are suffering on an extraordinary level, he added, calling for a renewed international commitment to bring an end to this protracted and devastating crisis.

Syrian government push against the countrys last rebel-held stronghold has forced more than 500,000 people from their homes in two months [File: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP]

Pushing refugees closer to Turkish border

In recent weeks, Syrian government troops and allied militias, backed by Russian and other forces, have ramped up the pressure on the last rebel enclave in the country.

They have retaken dozens of villages and some major towns  including the erstwhile rebel bastion of Maaret al-Numan  and are pushing northwards, sending displaced populations ever closer to the Turkish border.

Turkey, which hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees and is wary of a new influx, has in recent days sent military vehicles, trucks and other reinforcements to the region,

Tensions rose on Monday as Ankara said at least seven Turkish soldiers and one civilian contractor working with the Turkish military were killed in shelling by Syrian government forces in Idlib.

Turkey retaliated by hitting 54 targets in Idlib and neutralising 76 Syrian government soldiers, the state-owned Anadolu agency quoted Defence Minister Hulusi Akar as saying.

The developments threaten to cause friction between Turkey and Russia, who have sought to coordinate their actions in Syria even though they back opposite sides in the conflict.
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Linkedin Mas Achmad Santosa and Andreas Aditya Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4 2020

Enforcing the law: A Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry vessel, the Hiu Macan 01, escorts a number of foreign fishing boats caught poaching in Natuna waters in Riau Islands. The ministry sank the boats as part of its law enforcement against illegal fishing. (Courtesy of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministr.)

Public discourse on the North Natuna Sea has been full of argument. Condemnations are addressed over the recurring presence of Chinese fishing vessels that harvest fish in the North Natuna Sea with protection from their countrys coast guard.

Nothing new has come from the recent incidents except a tougher diplomatic response and provoking publications. Chinas obduracy was reflected in a statement from Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman, who said whether Indonesia accepts it or not, it cannot change the objective fact that China has rights and interests in relevant sea areas.

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Lisbon: Reacting to people who spoke out against waste from other countries being dumped in Portuguese landfills, the country's Socialist government has announced urgent measures to tackle the issue.

Two weeks ago, Reuters revealed that a private landfill in Sobrado, a village in Portugal's northern region, was receiving waste from various European nations.

Much of Europe's rubbish is ending up in landfills in Portugal. Credit: Graham Tidy

Some 330,000 tonnes of "amber list" rubbish, which includes waste containing hazardous substances and needs prior approval, arrived in Portugal from abroad in 2018, a 53 per cent increase from the year before, the country's environment agency APA said.

Around 110,000 tonnes have ended up in landfills, with the remaining waste being routed for valorisation, the process of turning waste into a resource.
Des Moines, Iowa: The Democratic Party's search to find a presidential nominee has been derailed by an embarrassing technical error, leading to a major delay in the release of the results of the influential Iowa caucuses.

Americans went to bed on Monday night (Tuesday AEDT) unsure of which candidate had won the most votes in Iowa, the first state in the nation to have a say on who will be on the ballot in November's presidential election.

The campaign team of US President Donald Trump, who will deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday (Wednesday in Australia), leapt upon the snafu to sow doubt about the legitimacy of the results.

"Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history," Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement.
The Ukrainian side hopes for further cooperation to step up security in the Black Sea region.

Ukraine and Turkey have signed a framework agreement on cooperation in the defense sector.

The document was signed by Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk and Turkish Minister of Finance and Treasury Berat Albayrak after talks between the two countries' delegations in Kyiv on Monday, February 3, which were chaired by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on its website.

The agreement is to facilitate cooperation between the countries in the defense sphere on the basis of reciprocity, as it forms legal grounds for expanding of Ukrainian-Turkish defense cooperation, the ministry said.

Zagorodnyuk, in particular, emphasized that cooperation in the defense-industrial and military spheres between Ukraine and Turkey is based on friendly relations, constructive dialogue, mutual respect and is an important component of strategic partnership between the states.

"Cooperation in the field of armaments and military equipment is one of the key elements of the development of both countries' defense capabilities," he said.

Read alsoTurkey to provide financial support to Armed Forces of Ukraine  Zelensky

He thanked the Turkish side for comprehensive assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "This concerns the issues of rehabilitation of Ukrainian servicemen and their families. Since 2016, some 800 Ukrainians have been rehabilitated on a free basis in Turkey," he said.

He also said that Ukraine hopes for further cooperation to step up security in the region.

"We are looking forward to developing cooperation to step up security in the region by exchanging information on the naval situation in the Black Sea region, as well as enhancing air defense capabilities through joint participation in the NATO Air Situational Data Exchange Program with the Armed Forces of the Turkish Republic," he said.

A visit of the delegation of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and representatives of defense industry enterprises to Turkey is planned soon, he said.

"In March, we will have the honor of receiving the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Turkey with an official visit to Kyiv, where we will discuss the first steps towards the practical implementation of provisions of the [signed] agreement," he added.
WASHINGTON - Hyundai Motors is suspending production in South Korea, a sign that the economic fallout from Chinas viral outbreak is spreading.

For other companies bracing for losses from coronavirus, the damage has so far been delayed, thanks to a stroke of timing: The outbreak hit just when Chinese factories and many businesses were closed anyway to let workers travel home for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday .

But the respite wont last.

If much of industrial China remains on lockdown for the next few weeks, a very real possibility, Western retailers, auto companies and manufacturers that depend on Chinese imports will start to run out of the goods they depend on.

In order to meet deadlines for summer goods, retail experts say that Chinese factories would need to start ramping up production by March 15. If Chinese factories were instead to remain idle through May 1, it would likely cripple retailers crucial back-to-school and fall seasons.

Theres complete uncertainty, said Steve Pasierb, CEO of the Toy Industry Association. This could be huge if it goes on for months.

Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak hit hardest, is a centre of automotive production. Its been closed off, along with neighbouring cities, isolating more than 50 million people and bringing factories to a standstill.

So far, U.S. automakers havent had to curb production for want of Chinese parts. But David Closs, professor emeritus at Michigan State Universitys Department of Supply Chain Management, said the clock is ticking.

I would say its weeks at the most, Closs said. One to two to three weeks.

Hyundai said Tuesday that it was suspending production in South Korea due to disruptions in the supply of parts resulting from the coronavirus outbreak in China and that it was seeking alternative suppliers in other regions.

The partial shutdown of Wuhan has already harmed the production of TV display panels and raised prices, according to a report by research group IHS Markit. The city has five factories making liquid crystal displays, known as LCDs, and organic light-emitting diodes, known as OLEDs, both of which are used for television and laptop monitors. China accounts for more than half of the global production capacity for making these display panels.

David Hsieh, an analyst at IHS Markit, said in a report that these factories are facing shortages of both labour and key components as a result of mandates designed to limit the contagions spread, leading suppliers to raise panel prices more aggressively.

Phone-maker Motorola, which has a facility in Wuhan, said that so far, it expects little impact because it has a flexible global supply chain and multiple factories around the world. Its priority has been the welfare of local employees, Motorola, which is owned by the Chinese electronics giant Lenovo, said in a statement.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts last week that the companys contractors in China had been forced to delay reopening factories that closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. Cook said the company is seeking ways to minimize supply disruptions. Some of its suppliers are in Hubei, the Chinese province at the centre of the outbreak. Most of Apples iPhones and other devices are made in China.

In the meantime, economists are sharply downgrading the outlook for Chinas economy, the worlds second-biggest. Tommy Wu and Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics have slashed their forecast for Chinese economic growth this year from 6% to 5.4%. They expect most of the damage to be inflicted in the first three months of 2020.

But a more serious and long-lasting impact cannot be ruled out, they wrote Monday.

Forecasters are contending with unknowns. No one knows how long the outbreak will last, how much damage it will cause or how policymakers will respond to the threat.

Were grasping for precedents, said Phil Levy, chief economist at the freight company Flexport who was an economic adviser in the administration of President George W. Bush.

Some look back to the SARS outbreak, which paralyzed the Chinese economy for the first few months of 2003. But the damage from SARS faded quickly: China was booming again by years end. And the world economy emerged mostly unscathed.

But times have changed in ways that are not favourable to containing the economic damage. Back then, China was the worlds workshop for cheap goods  toys and sneakers, for instance. Now, China has moved up to sophisticated machine parts and electronics like LCDs. And it accounts for about 16% of global economic output, up significantly from just 4% in 2003.

Levy said he was struck by how U.S. airlines reacted to the coronavirus: They suspended flights between the United States and mainland China for weeks  American airlines through March 27, United through March 28 and Delta until April 30.

The move doesnt just affect tourists, students and business travellers. Caryn Livingston, editor of Air Cargo World, noted that about half of air cargo has historically been transported in the bellies of passenger aircraft.

When you see them loading those big 747s, thats not just your luggage, Levy said. That can be pallets full of electronics and other things.

The health crisis coincides with an especially difficult time for Chinas factories. A 19-month trade war with the United States  in which the Trump administration imposed tariffs on $360 billion of Chinese imports  has already led U.S.-based multinational corporations to look for alternatives to Chinese suppliers. Many are moving to Vietnam or other low-wage countries to dodge President Donald Trumps taxes on Chinese-made goods.

The Trump administration and Beijing last month reached an interim trade deal. China agreed to step up purchases of U.S. imports by $200 billion this year and next. But Trumps top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, told Fox Business Network on Tuesday that the viral outbreak means that the expected export boom from that trade deal will take longer.

The coronavirus, along with fears that U.S.-China tensions over trade and geopolitics will persist, gives them one more reason to reduce their reliance on China. Among multinational firms, there is increasing unease that China is starting to become quite risky, said Johan Gott, an independent consultant who specializes in political risks for businesses.

But it isnt easy to completely abandon China, where specialized suppliers cluster in manufacturing centres and make it convenient for factories to obtain parts when they need them.

Basic Fun, a toy company based in Boca Raton, Florida, has sought suppliers in Vietnam and India with no luck yet. Its CEO, Jay Foreman, said he is hoping that the factories in China will resume production by early April, which he considers the best-case scenario. But he fears that any more delays could mean that the factories dont start to ramp up production until after May 1.

The stakes are high. Basic Fun gets about 90% of its toys from China. And Foreman has been contending with the trade war and disruptive protests in Hong Kong.

The coronavirus, he said, is just a continuation of sitting on the knifes edge ... sleeping on the bed of nails from tariffs to the riots in Hong Kong and the virus. We just cant get a break.

__

DInnocenzio reported from New York. AP Business Writers Tom Krisher in Detroit, David Koenig in Dallas and Matt OBrien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.
Kato said sometimes they had to go against the advice of doctors and even family. Before doctors operated on her leg when she was 97, Kato said they warned her the stress of the surgery could kill her and they suggested taking her to hospice care to prepare for the end of her life. Kato called two of her sisters who were nurses and, Kato said, they agreed the doctors had a valid concern.
To the Times:

The Republican senators are about to acquit President Trump of all the impeachment charges  not because he didnt commit them (the evidence is overwhelming) but because they dont rise to the level of impeachment.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., actually admitted this reasoning. Hes going to vote against further witnesses because the Democrats have proven their case, and he doesnt need additional proof. (Then he will vote to acquit.)

Lets examine this. Richard Nixon was facing impeachment, and eventually forced to resign, because although he said I am not a crook, his cronies burgled the Watergate Hotel. He was in on the planning, he arranged the funding, and he covered it up. He was a crook, too.

Now we have Donald Trump. Its true, he didnt burgle anybody. His actions were more in the line of a mob boss; he extorted election interference from the Ukraine. He did this by dangling a White House meeting with their president and by withholding millions of dollars of defense aid to this ally, who was literally fending off the Russian wolf at their very door. (Who would do that?) This offense is several magnitudes worse than the simple burgling of an apartment, yet the Republicans say that it doesnt rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors.

So whereas before we wouldnt tolerate a crook, now we will tolerate the mob boss, who likely employs dozens, if not hundreds, of crooks. Its indefensible. What is our country coming to?

David Williams, Media

Shady folks

To the Times:

To say that Donald Trump runs government like an organized crime boss would be an understatement. He is surrounded by shady operators. He uses Twitter to kneecap anyone who strays or as a threat to any one of his lieutenants in the Senate. If all else fails he has an army of radicals willing to do anything he asks and weve seen the dangers of that.

Its amazing how Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham and others in the Republican family-friendly Senate went from haughty never Trumpers to actual profiles in cowardice as they have abandoned all the good sense of the Constitution and will now allow this man to govern as he pleases.

Edmund Burke must have foreseen this when he said, The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Here we are, we citizens must decide between a raging, undisciplined executive or the Constitution in November. We must do the right thing or the founders idea of functional democracy is dead.

Roy Lehman, Woolwich Township, N.J.
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Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe is still taking flak for calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign from office for alleged failure to provide adequate security across the country.

The Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide describes the call as selfishbecause it didnt represent the aspiration of the Igbo to produce Nigerias president in 2023.

According to the group, Abaribes action was a personal political gimmick designed to manipulate the conscience and emotions of the citizens for his personal gains.

In a statement signed by its Secretary General, Dimm Uche Ukwukwu and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, the group said, The call by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign from his position as President and Commander-in- chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is an affront on Ndi Igbo worldwide and Nigerians at large.

It explained how Abaribe lost out in the power game, and now decides to manipulate the conscience and emotions of Nigerians for his personal gains as though he has preferred a solution to the problem the nation is facing.

Assuming without conceding that Buhari resigns, it means Osinbajo will become president automatically against Igbo interest. So who is Enyinnaya Abaribe working for? How does his actions serve the interest of Ndi Igbo whom he is representing?

Th group recalled how kidnapping was rampant way back in the southeast, but has died down now in the region under Buhari.

Regrettably the North-East is still being battled to outrightly free it from Boko Haram which started under the PDP government where Abaribe belongs.

He should have been the one along with his party to apologise to Nigerians for their inability to stop Boko Haram before Buhari took over.

Today Enyinnaya Abaribe has within his personal right stood against the Buhari Administration as an arch opponent, yet, Buhari has won his election twice in 2015 and 2019 without the contribution of Abaribe.

The group calls on Ndi Igbo to continue to support the Buhari presidency until 2023 when he will hand over power to Ndi Igbo for the good of Nigeria and in the interest of all in the spirit of unity, patriotism and nationalism.

PV: 0
The Dundalk Democrat put six questions to all 15 candidates standing in the Louth constituency for General Election 2020.

Two specific questions in each of the three categories, crime, healthcare and climate change were put to the candidates.

Seven out of the 15 candidates responded. Over the next seven articles we share their responses.

The questions were as follows and the responses from Labour candidate Ged Nash are below:

Crime

What resources would you provide for people in Louth to keep them from drifting into criminality?

Do you favour decriminalisation of drugs as part of a range of measures to combat addiction?

Environment

Would you support the idea of making school buses mandatory for all school goers who do not cycle of walk to school - as a means of combating climate change, promote healthy lifestyles and cutting down on rush hour traffic?

What public transport measures would you implement in Louth to combat climate change? - would it include free public transport for all? What investment would you make towards electric buses and when would it happen?

Healthcare

Would you end the use of agency healthcare workers, including nurses? Timeline?

What facilities would you make available in Louth to help fight mental illness and help promote good mental health?

Ged Nash responses:

Crime

Q1 I think we need to give young people a sense of purpose, a sense of community and a sense of a shared future. That means providing the best education possible, well-paid jobs and it means tacking crime so that it becomes clear to all that crime doesnt pay and is a one-way path to a life in jail or worse.

We need properly resourced Gardai, we need the IDA to fill Louths business parks with employers and we need to be at the forefront of education in Ireland  for instance, getting University status for DKIT.



Q2 Yes, I do. I know that some will disagree but I am very much taken from similar approaches taken elsewhere, such as in Portugal. The sooner we start to address this issue as a medical problem and not a criminal matter is the sooner we loosen the hold of drug barons on Irish society.



Environment

Q1 Im not sure would mandatory work, but I certainly think we can do more to reduce the dependence of pupils on cars. Labours proposal in the last election was to abolish all school transport charges and make travel to school using leap cards free for children. Thats what Id like to see done.



Q2 Id like to see more investment in public transport, over time leading to a reduction in fares. I'm glad to see the increased frequency on the D1 and the D2 and on proposals for additional local routes around County Louth and East Meath.

If we are serious in our quest to combat the crisis, then we need thinking like this. I support the plans of the NTA to bring in Electric buses across the country within the next 15 years.



Healthcare

Q1 Yes, I would end agency staff, and Id do this, as soon as possible. We need a fully-funded adequately resourced health care system to meet the demand of our population growth and demographic changes.



Q2 This is often the part of the health service that falls through the cracks. We need to give child, adolescent and adult mental health services the funding they need to ensure that people can access the services when they need it.

We will redirect funding to local primary care centres, which will bring health services closer to closer to communities including mental health services.

These services should be free-of-charge at the point of access. Staffing will include counsellors. Improving services at local primary care level will reduce overcrowding and waiting times.

Primary care is internationally proven to lead to more efficient treatment, is more cost-effective and reduces healthcare inequalities.
Richard King Award

The Richard King Award honors the man who founded the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon in 2000. Richard directed Solar Decathlon until his retirement from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2015. He continues to support international Solar Decathlon events globally.

The first Richard King Award was given to the Solar Decathlon founder at the 2017 Solar Decathlon in Denver, Colorado. Future awardees will be selected based on their contributions to the transition to a clean energy economy.

Nominee Eligibility Criteria

Nominees must be affiliated with the U.S. Solar Decathlon in one of the award categories (i.e., student alumni or faculty advisor).

Nominees must have proven dedication and outstanding contributions to at least one edition of the U.S. Solar Decathlon Design Challenge, including past Race to Zero competitions, or Build Challenge.

Nominees do not need to be currently working directly with Solar Decathlon.

Award Categories and Award Criteria

Outstanding Faculty Advisor Demonstrates outstanding commitment to preparing students to design and/or build highly efficient buildings powered by renewables.

Outstanding Student Alum Demonstrates outstanding accomplishment in the transition to a clean energy economy.



Nomination Forms

Nominations must be submitted by February 18, 2022, to be considered for the April 2022 award cycle.

2021 RECIPIENTS

Winners were honored during the Solar Decathlon Competition Event in April 2021.

Prasad Vaidya, Outstanding Faculty Advisor

Prasad Vaidya is the Director of Solar Decathlon India and a Senior Advisor at AEEE and IIHS. He is a LEED Fellow with 25 years of experience in energy policy, program development, and net-zero energy building projects in the USA, Korea, the Middle East, and India, on over 150 buildings. He is an Adjunct Professor at Manipal Academy of Higher Education, and a former Professor and Area Chair for Building Energy Performance at CEPT University. At CEPT, he also mentored student teams for the US DOEs Race to Zero and Solar Decathlon Competitions. Prasad led the development of an online energy simulation tool for code compliance in India, co-authored the book Fundamentals of Integrated Design for Sustainable Building, and has served as member of the Technical Resources Group for the Clinton Climate Initiative.
The EU Commissioner for Trade, Phil Hogan, has welcomed todays approval by the EU Commission of a 200 million investment scheme for processing and marketing of agricultural products in Ireland. The scheme will run until the end of 2025.

Speaking after the announcement of the Commissions decision, Commissioner Hogan commended the Irish authorities for developing the scheme which he said will provide grant-aid to SMEs and large companies in the Irish agri-food sector, which employs more than 173 000 people and accounts for 10 per cent of the value of total Irish goods exports.

Both in terms of my previous role as Agriculture Commissioner and in my current role as Trade Commissioner, I am well aware of the economic importance of the sector, in terms of job creation and economic added-value. I am confident that the scheme approved today will encourage innovative investments in this important sector which would otherwise not have occurred. This scheme must also been seen through the prism of Brexit and the need for the sector to adapt to the new situation and to improve its resilience and become more diversified through the identification of new markets.



The scheme reflects the wish of the Irish authorities to support long-term investments in the primary food processing sector in order to make it stronger and more resilient, by bringing value-added through greater product and market diversification. Market research shows that there is potential for growth in the sector, in particular on global markets.



The scheme will also contribute to the EU objectives of ensuring viable food production and promoting intelligent and sustainable growth. Its approval reflects the Commissions conclusion that it is in line with EU Agricultural State aid rules.
Representative image

The death toll in China from the novel coronavirus rose to 425, with the total number of cases increasing to 20,438.

The latest figures are up from 361 deaths and 17,205 confirmed cases.

This comes at a time when China has opened a new hospital  built in 10 days  in Wuhan, infused cash into tumbling financial markets and further restricted people's movement in a bid to contain the rapidly spreading virus and its escalating impact.

The specialized 1,000-bed hospital  in the province at the epicentre of the outbreak  started treating patients and a second hospital with 1,500 beds is to open within days.

Japanese officials were deciding whether to quarantine more than 3,000 people on a cruise ship that carried a passenger who tested positive for the virus, according to a report by news agency PTI.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Other countries are continuing evacuations and restricting the entry of Chinese or people who have recently travelled in China.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the number of cases will keep growing because tests are pending on thousands of suspected cases.

Third case in India

The third case of novel coronavirus was confirmed in Kerala, India. The patient has a travel history from Wuhan.

The patient is currently in isolation in the Kanjangad District Hospital, the health ministry said. Keralas Health Minister KK Shailaja informed that the patient is stable.

Chinese President chairs meeting

Chinese President Xi Jinping, presiding over a special meeting of the country's top Communist Party body for the second time since the crisis started, said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic."

He told the Politburo standing committee that the country must race against time to curb the spread of the virus and that those who neglect their duties will be punished, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Medical teams from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) were arriving in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, to relieve overwhelmed health workers and to staff the new hospital. The hospital is located in the countryside far from the city centre.

Coronavirus impact

China's Shanghai Composite stock index plunged nearly 8 percent on the first day of trading after the Lunar New Year holiday. This was despite a central bank announcement that it was putting 1.2 trillion yuan ($173 billion) into the markets.

"We are fully confident in and capable of minimizing the epidemic's impact on the economy," Lian Weiliang, deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a news conference in Beijing.

Hong Kong to shut all but two crossings

Hong Kong's leader, Carrie Lam, announced that the semi-autonomous territory will shut almost all but two land and sea border crossings with the mainland at midnight, to stem the spread of the virus. Only the land checkpoints at Shenzhen Bay and the bridge to Macao and Zhuhai will remain open.

More than 2,000 hospital workers went on strike on February 3, demanding a complete closure of the border, and their union has threatened a bigger walkout February 4.

Hong Kong was hit hard by SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in 2002-03, an illness from the same family of viruses as the current outbreak and which many believe was intensified by official Chinese secrecy and obfuscation.

Beyond China

Meanwhile, South Korea, which has 15 confirmed cases, quarantined 800 soldiers who had recently visited China, Hong Kong or Macao or had contact with people who had, defence ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyunsoo said.

The Philippines banned the entry of all non-citizens from China after two cases were confirmed there, including the only death outside China.

The US, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia have imposed similar restrictions despite criticism from China and WHO's guidance that such measures were unnecessary.

(With inputs from PTI)
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday urged all health ministers to improve data-sharing on coronavirus immediately and said he would send a team of international experts to work with Chinese counterparts.

The UN agency was sending masks, gloves, respirators and nearly 18,000 isolation gowns from its warehouses to some two dozen countries that need support, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told its Executive Board.

So far 22 nations have reported trade or travel-related measures linked to the coronavirus, which Tedros said should be "short in duration, proportionate to public health risks" and reviewed regularly.

"Such restrictions can have the effect of increasing fear and stigma with little public health benefit," he said.

Chen Xu, China's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, told the WHO Executive Board that some restrictions went against the UN agency's advice. He cited prohibitions on entry of foreigners who have visited China in the past 14 days, suspension of visa issuance and cancellation of flights.

"Do not engage in over-reaction," Chen said. "You should follow WHO suggestions and refrain from restrictions on international travel or trade, stay clear of discriminatory actions and stigmatisation."

There have been 20,471 confirmed cases of coronavirus in China, with 176 cases in 24 other countries, and one death, in the Philippines, according to the WHO's latest figures.

"This is still and foremost an emergency for China," Tedros said, noting that 99% of cases are in China and 97% of deaths are in Hubei province, including the epicentre of Wuhan city.

Hong Kong reported its first coronavirus death on Tuesday, the second outside mainland China from a fast-spreading outbreak that has killed 427 people and threatened the global economy.

So far 27 cases of person-to-person spread of the virus have been documented in nine countries outside of China, WHO officials said.

The overall public health cost of the response from February to April is estimated at $675 million, which does not include the social or economic consequences of the outbreak, said Scott Pendergast, WHO director of strategic planning and partnerships.

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Pacific Palisades, California--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2020) - Green Stream Holdings Inc. (OTC PINK: GSFI) a Holding company with a focus in currently unmet markets in the solar energy space through innovative proprietary solar product offerings financed for customers via its public and private partnerships, announces today that it has signed an agreement to begin work on the Ferry Street community project in Newark, NJ in line with its agreement to install and maintain a 151 kw solar panel system delivering power directly to a customer base of the community's residents.

GSFI CEO Madeline Cammarata states, "We are very excited to announce this endeavor as it is demonstrative of our ability to partner with some of the solar industry's most innovative architects such as Anthony Morali of Morali Architects and Renewable Energy Development (R.E.D.) and installers with cutting edge industry technologies in order to create the highest yield from our solar panels."

Green Stream will own both the project and its revenue generating panels for the next 20 years.

As well, Green Stream Holdings welcomes Mike Sheikh as the Company's new Chief Financial Officer. Sheikh is a US Air Force Academy graduate and pilot with a degree in Economics. He began his civilian career as a stock broker with Dean Witter and with broker/dealer National Securities before becoming research analyst and publisher of reports in the aerospace sector.

Sheikh's financial expertise is in venture capital and asset based lending, and his most notable success was taking MMI International Trade from $150k in annual sales to over $2.5m in annual sales within a period of two years. All the while, he cultivated an effective sales force and management team, upgraded manufacturing, modernized operations and instituted quality controls that enabled the company to catapult into global success. MMI now has over $10m in sales annually and is an industry leader.

Story continues

Cammarata comments, "Mike is uniquely qualified to utilize his wealth of hands-on importer experience, factoring knowledge, and purchase order finance structuring to accommodate our niche client base and believe he will be instrumental in expedited growth for our company."

For more company information please visit https://www.greenstreamholdingsinc.com

Please direct any investor or press enquiries regarding any of our solar current and planned solar projects throughout the nation to info@greenstreamfinance.com

On another note please visit Green Stream Holdings Inc.'s newest website regarding the Company's solar construction projects at: www.greenrainsolar.com

About Green Stream Finance, Inc.

Green Stream Finance, Inc., a Wyoming-based corporation with satellite offices in Malibu, CA and New York, NY, is focused on exploiting currently unmet markets in the solar energy space, and is currently licensed in California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Colorado, Hawaii, and Canada. The Company's next-generation solar greenhouses, constructed and managed by Green Rain Solar, LLC, a Nevada-based division, utilize proprietary greenhouse technology and trademarked design developed by world-renowned architect Mr. Anthony Morali. The Company is currently targeting high-growth solar market segments for its advanced solar greenhouse and advanced solar battery products. The Company has a growing footprint in the significantly underserved solar market in New York City where it is targeting 50,000 to 100,000 square feet of rooftop space for the installation of its solar panels. Green Stream is looking to forge key partnership with major investment groups in order to capitalize on a variety of unique investment opportunities in the commercial solar energy markets. The Company is dedicated to becoming a major player in this critical space. Through its innovative solar product offerings and industry partnerships, the Company is well-positioned to become a significant player in the solar space.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. That includes the possibility that the business outlined in this press release cannot be concluded for some reason. That could be as a result of technical, installation, permitting or other problems that were not anticipated. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Green Stream Finance, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. Except for any obligation under the U.S. federal securities laws, Green Stream Finance, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Company Contact/Address

Green Stream Finance Inc. & Green Rain Solar, LLC

16620 Marquez Avenue

Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Phone: 310-230-0240

For All Inquiries Contact:

info@greenstreamfinance.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52065
The technology company Datch Systems offers factories a voice assistant that allows workers to dictate maintenance orders and other requests without having to hand-write or type. Company representatives spend two full days training each new set of employees to use the tool.

Mark Fosdyke, the companys CEO and co-founder, recently showed the Datch tool to his younger brother, whos in his early 20s. He picked it up in five minutes, Fosdyke said. His 5-year-old niece, meanwhile, is even more comfortable with voice assistantsshe already knows how to seamlessly request a specific song from her Google Home device.

She speaks to it in a completely different way than she speaks to me or her parents, Fosdyke said. Its a lot more structured, its a lot more patient.

Voice technology has quickly become a common tech tool in homes and workplaces, and many children are as comfortable giving verbal instructions to an Amazon Echo or Google Home device as they are talking to a person. These developments are forcing educators to think more deeply about the role they play in developing the technological fluency necessary for students to communicate effectively with artificially intelligent machines.

But the use of voice-activated technologies in school settings also raises big concerns about the privacy of student data and whether schools should allow them in the classroom at all. What if a child shares personal information while talking to a device that is then stored for others to see?

Recent news reports have highlighted instances in which private conversations recorded by voice assistant devices were posted online or monitored by outside observers. The U.S. Education Department provides a list of several instances in which recordings from voice assistants in the classroom could be considered violations of federal student privacy laws, such as an audio recording of a student being disciplined or having a medical emergency.

That worries student-data privacy advocates like Leonie Haimson, the founder and executive director of Class Size Matters.

I dont see any evidence that students are being taught here how to use these devices appropriately or warned of their risks, Haimson said. Instead, it appears that there is a push to condition students early to accept the inevitability of surveillance and the violation of privacy it entails, as well as the mechanization of their classroom experiences, rather than resist this.

Teachers generally are not designing lessons around explicit goals to teach students how to communicate effectively with voice-activated technologies. But one real-world consequence of using voice tech as a classroom tool is that students become more familiar with how the tools function and will be able to use them more effectively in the workplace. Some educators, while acknowledging unresolved privacy issues, emphasize that getting experience using these technologies could help students later in life become critical evaluators and developers of them.

We all just need to make sure that were giving the students opportunity to know how the things happening now could impact the future, said Rachelle Dene Poth, who teaches foreign languages and STEAM at Riverview Junior/Senior High in Oakmont, Pa.

Poth has asked students in her Spanish class to ask Siri to read them a childrens story from Bolivia, and to respond to questions she cant immediately answer. In the process, she helps them understand the pace of technological evolution by explaining how she would have found that information when she was a student.

We had to go to the library, look it up in a book, Poth said. Its not just instant knowledge coming at you.

Testing Classroom Use

During the 2017-18 school year, Tonia Dousay, an associate professor of education at the University of Idahos Doceo Center for Innovation + Learning, conducted a study in which she and a colleague used voice assistants and other artificial intelligence tools in classrooms across four Idaho K-12 school districts. She witnessed a wide range of uses, from helping students with learning disabilities develop communication skills to getting students excited about specific research projects.

In a geography class Dousay observed, students got into a heated debate when an Amazon Alexa told them the capital of Australia was different from what they had previously learned. They realized that Australia has had several capital cities, which led them to wonder why, and where else such transitions had occurred.

This could have been completely missed had it been a traditional classroom, Dousay said.

Knowing how to get the most out of voice assistants, while understanding that theyre fallible, will be essential as workforce needs evolve, according to Sanjay Pothen, the director of Emerson Launch, the entrepreneurial hub at Emerson College in Boston.

Just as when mobile [technologies] arose, there was a big need for mobile designers, we feel the same things going to happen in voice, Pothen said.

11 percent percent of educators say their school districts are integrating the use of voice technologies such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home a lot or some into teaching and learning. Source: EdWeek Research Center survey, 2019

To prepare to meet that demand, Emerson has begun offering a professional studies certificate program in voice design, and a minor is soon to follow, he said. The college has received support from Amazons Alexa Fellowship, which provides some funding as well as resources and technical support for a handful of higher education institutions nationwide.

Writing skills are crucial for people developing voice technologies, Pothen said. The ability to game out human-tech interactionsknown as conversational design"is also crucial. That is why script writers and people with storytelling or film experience tend to be natural fits for Emersons voice program, Pothen said.

The minor will incorporate voice design as well as voice ethics, to ensure that students examine all the potential ramifications of voice tech.

Instructional Obstacles

Data privacy concerns are the principal obstacle to wider adoption of voice technology as classroom tools, said Julie Daniel Davis, the director of instructional technology and innovation for the Chattanooga Christian School in Tennessee. Davis is one of the leading K-12 advocates for voice technology use in classrooms and has worked hard to get educators on board.

Davis would love to eventually see students building their own Alexa skills, verbal tactics and strategies which are comparable to using apps on a smartphone. But shes wary of letting students create an Amazon account, with all of the potential privacy problems that come with doing that.

And just getting teachers to experiment with new technologies can be challenging. Teachers dont have a lot of time. When something doesnt go right, its really hard to get them to use it, she said.

Still, Davis has seen firsthand at recent voice tech conferences that voice assistants are already taking hold in industries such as health care (for doctors taking notes and accessing records) and finance (for managing bank accounts). Using these tools requires shifts in thinking that might not be intuitive, such as tailoring search terms to meet a voice assistants specifications.

Weve got to start preparing students to figure out what that looks like for their future, Davis said.

For the Montour school district in Pennsylvania, that means training students to be technology producers, not just consumers, said Justin Aglio, the districts director of academic achievement and district innovation.

Students worked with the company WIT Lingo to produce school- and district-specific Alexa knowledge, including a set of school facts and a series of interviews with students and teachers about what middle schoolers can expect at Montour High. That information became part of Alexas database. The district is also starting to offer lessons on the ethics of voice tech, designing voice technology attributes that contribute positively to society.

To Use or Not to Use?

But data privacy advocates like Haimson see such initiatives as troubling. If high school students are now able to develop the information that Google or Alexa provide to device owners, who is doing the fact-checking at these companies, and how do we know that others may not make up fake news and spread it via these devices in order to sow disinformation and division? she asked.

Haimson believes any device that collects student voices should require informed parental consent of all the students in the classroom whose voices may be captured by the device, along with strict limitations as to how that data will be processed and shared and requirements for deletion. Many school districts agree. To protect against potential problems, they have policies prohibiting teachers from using voice assistants in classrooms.

Others see the positives significantly outweighing the negatives. Voice assistants can encourage creativity, said Rebecca Dwenger, an instructional technology consultant for schools in Hamilton County, Ohio.

After seeing her young son, who has some language-learning difficulties, successfully getting homework help from her at-home device, Dwenger has been pushing instructors to experiment with it. One teacher in her district tells students to publish their written work on a voice device authoring platform so they can share it with other users and have it read aloud.

Were at the cusp, Dwenger said. In Hamilton County, I would say there might be one or two teachers in every school trying to use it. Theres a lot of work that still needs to be done.
Posted on: January 31, 2020 12:37 PM

[ACNS, by Staff Writer] The Church of England Pension Board has launched a Transition Pathways Initiative (TPI) Climate Transition Index to guide investors on companies progress towards alignment with the Paris Agreement on climate change. The FTSE TPI Climate Transition Index will enable investment funds to link their investments on the London Stock Exchange to the progress companies are making in line with the Paris Agreement. The move follows calls from Mark Carney, the outgoing Governor of the Bank of England, for pension funds to tackle the financial risk of climate change.

The Pensions Board has announced an initial investment of 600 million in the index, which is also backed by 62 funds with over US $18 trillion (approximately 13.75 trillion GBP) of combined assets under management or assets under advice.

The new index has been developed in partnership with the Environment Agency Pension Fund and the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics.

The new index works by analysing companies which are floated on the London Stock Exchange and their performance on five key climate considerations: fossil fuel reserves, carbon emissions, green economic initiatives, mechanisms and measures to prevent, mitigate or adapt to the risks posed by climate change, and their carbon performance  an assessment of how efficiently and cleanly fossil fuels are consumed.

The index will enable investors to make environmentally responsible investments, rewarding companies with public targets aligned to the Paris Agreement whilst significantly penalising or excluding those that do not.

The launch of the index means that the Pensions Board will no longer invest in companies such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, and BP, since their emissions targets are not in line with the Paris Agreement, which seeks to keep the increase in global temperature below two degrees Celsius. The C of E Pensions Boards Director of Ethics and Engagement, and Co-Chairman of the initiative, Adam Matthews, said: the Church of England Pensions Board will no longer be invested in several household names in the oil industry.

Matthews is clear, however, that if the companies set emissions targets in line with the Paris Agreement, they will be eligible for investment again. The index leaves open a path for any one of these excluded companies to transition in line with the Paris Agreement and claim their place in the index at a later date.

The message is clear to all publicly listed companies: put in place targets and strategies aligned to Paris and be rewarded with inclusion in the index, or work against the long-term interests of beneficiaries and wider society and be excluded.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said there was a moral and financial imperative to support the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement in tackling the urgent issue of climate change. For Christians and people of conscience, this is even more so when you see the impacts on the worlds poorest and least equipped to adapt to extreme weather, as well as the impacts on the beauty of Gods creation, he said.

The index was launched at the London Stock Exchange on Thursday 30 January with the support of representatives from other church bodies. Amongst those in attendance was the Anglican Communions Director of Finance, Michaela Southworth, a member of the C of E Pensions Board.

The Pensions Board oversees retirement funds for Church of England clergy and a number of other Church-based employees, including London-based staff of the Anglican Consultative Council, the publisher of the Anglican Communion News Service.
Double vanities are common in today's bathrooms, but apparently having your own sink to spit in isn't enough. Enter the latest trend in bathroom design: having not just one, but two toilets in the same loo.

That's what was on display at the International Builders' Show, an event where nearly 60,000 industry professionals gathered in January to tour the New American Homea spec house in Henderson, NV, designed to highlight innovations in home construction.

Among the many stylistic flourishesincluding curved exterior walls and multiple water featuresthe 6,428-square-foot, four-bedroom, five-bath home sported a master bathroom with two toilets, each in its own water closet. Talk about privacy!

The New American Home at the International Builders' Show featured two toilets in the master bathroom.

Two toilets: The next big bathroom trend?

In a sense, having double toilets is understandable: If you have the room and the money, who wouldn't want their own personal porcelain throne in a private stall? That way, both members of a couple can answer the call of nature in a convenient location at the same timeno one has to be exiled to the bathroom down the hall.

"The main benefit of double toilets would be that you and your partner can 'do your business' at the same time without having to leave the master suite," says Drew Henry, founder of Design Dudes.

Furthermore, having one toilet per person allows each to customize the space to their taste.

"I understand the rationale behind it since toileting is highly personal, and with the advent of 'supertoilets' that include heated seats, night lights, and even Bluetooth syncing, you can have a variety of options tailored to individual preferences," says Doris Pearlman, president and founder of Possibilities, an interior design firm in Denver.

Will two toilets catch on?

But are double potties really a must-have for the masses? Experts are divided on this question.

"Design could be a challenge if the space is small, but as long as the plan is well thought out, there shouldn't be any pitfalls," says Anna Shiwlall, owner of the interior design firm 27 Diamonds.

But others argue that depending on the layout, the extra plumbing that two toilets would entail might be challenging and costly. Henry has seen the issue of double toilets come up a lot, even on a recent episode of "House Hunters."

"Two toilets were on the wife's wish list at the start, and then she moved it up to a must-have," Henry recalls. "But needless to say, the perk didn't fit in their budget."

The resale value of two toilets

No doubt, two toilets are certainly a conversation starterand, some real estate agents argue, could be that extra something that might inspire luxury buyers to make an offer.

"If the home is large enough to accommodate two toilets, then it'll definitely give it some 'wow' factor," says Shiwlall.

But if space is tight, then the ROI on such a feature might be slim.

"If you have to give up a bedroom to create this large bathroom suite, it's much harder to recoup your investment," says Shiwlall.

Henry is also dubious whether such an upgrade is worth the money.

"In an average home, these doubles take up valuable space," he says. "And in a luxe estate, a potential buyer will likely have ample budget to remodel the house to his taste anyway."

And besidesaesthetically speaking, two toilets in their own stalls also run the risk of feeling more like a hotel than a home.

"A major design mistake to watch out for is making sure your home space doesn't start to feel too commercialas in, is this your master bathroom or an upscale gym locker room?" says Henry.

Some designers say that a better use of space would be a bigger shower instead.

"Most people are electing for a luxury shower experience, not two toilets in the bathroom," Pearlman says. "So while this is fun to look at, it's not relevant for today's buyer."

Other designers suggest that if space is plentiful, a better idea would be just to build two separate bathrooms.

"I'm getting more and more requests for his-and-her bathrooms in Southern California because couples need to get ready for work at the same time, and most can't agree on a design style," says Shiwlall. "So this way they have exactly what they want in their most intimate space."

The post 1 Bathroom, 2 Toilets: Will This Odd Upgrade Catch On? appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
DRANCY, France - The girls and boys in the room were just a little older than Victor Perahia was when he was finally freed in 1945, his body wracked with tuberculosis and typhus, his mind anguished by the suffering and death he had seen. After 40 years of self-imposed silence, he now returns time and again to bear witness at Drancy, the transit centre from where the French government deported tens of thousands of Jews into the hands of Nazis.

From the day of my arrest to the day of my liberation, I will tell you my story, Perahia said. He sat with his back to the window overlooking the Drancy housing project, where he spent 21 months. It was the last place in France his father and grandfather saw before they were loaded into a train bound for the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.

The students from a middle school in nearby Livry Gargan held their breaths, their eyes fixed on Perahias lined face.

Perahia spoke to the students last week amid a series of events to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Surveys in recent years, including one released this year, show young people in France and elsewhere in Europe increasingly question the scale of the Holocaust, although outright denial is rare.

Perahia told the students he was 9 when six German soldiers stomped upstairs to the family apartment in the coastal town of Saint-Nazaire. They kept him hostage while his mother ran to fetch his father, who demanded to know what was happening.

We are here for a simple identity check. You will follow us, along with your wife and your child, and in 48 hours, you will be home again, the officer told his father.

The lie was revealed two days later. They were in a detention camp near the city of Tours when still more German officers separated men from women and children, Perahia told the teens, his voice steady.

The room fell utterly silent as he spoke.

My father looked me deep in the eyes, as if he felt that it was going to be a difficult moment to live through. Because maybe he thought that it would be the last time that we would see each other. Perahia paused briefly. Ill tell you right away, that was the last time I saw my father Because he was deported in convoy Number 8.

Convoy Number 8, like nearly all the convoys from Drancy, was bound for Auschwitz. The students from Livry Gargan  a town about 7 kilometres (4 miles) away  by then already had learned from their history teacher, Valerie Maloberti, that the vast majority of the 57,977 people deported from Drancy perished at the Nazi death camp.

But here before them was a man for whom this was not history but bitter memory. He told them about the children he had known, the teens who took care of babies whose parents were deported, before they themselves were gathered up and told they would join their families. He described what they experienced, nearly minute by minute, after they arrived on the platform at Auschwitz, where German soldiers greeted them with dogs and shouts, where they were told they were going to take a shower and instead walked into a gas chamber. And where every last one of them died.

I who knew them, I who loved these children, I always talk about them with a lot of emotion, and I talk about them freely because it feels like when I talk about them again, it brings them back to life a little, he said.

By now, Malabertis students were wiping tears from red eyes, thinking of their parents, their siblings, themselves being loaded into livestock cars from the French national railway like the one they could see through the window. Perahia and his mother barely survived the Bergen Belsen labour camp and were liberated by Russian soldiers on their way to Berlin.

When we returned home, we thought we would reconnect with the past, rediscover an identity deeply altered by three years in the camps. But no one was waiting for us. We were confronted with an incredulous society, incapable of understanding us, he said. So for decades we did not speak. I personally could not speak for 40 years, not even to my family, not even to my children, who had questions that I could not answer. he said.

Finally, he decided that he owed it to his family and to the future to speak.

In the French equivalent of ninth grade, classes spend about eight hours on World War II, which includes around two hours devoted to the Holocaust, Maloberti said. But visiting Drancy is different.

It seems unreal to them. So there it is, its true, it really existed, she said. The numbers are there. The buildings, the documents are there. I have never had a student who denied the information once we gave it.

But what Perahia was after was something more powerful than just teaching the truth. An atheist, he has visited Auschwitz repeatedly to intone the Jewish prayer for the dead for his father and grandfather who died there.

And for the children listening to him on this day, organized jointly by the Drancy memorial and the Jewish umbrella organization CRIF, it seemed he had succeeded in leaving something behind.

Victor Perahia will leave a mark. Thats the thing that will leave a mark, what I will tell my family, my children, if I have any. This will surely stay with me the rest of my life, said Iness Boubaajat-Lebreton.

By now, the light was fading but Perahia said he would join the class outside. More than two dozen teens surrounded him, slowing their pace to his as they walked toward the buildings where he had spent almost two years of his life, before being deported to Bergen Belsen.

The transit camp buildings were converted into apartments almost immediately after the war for people whose homes had been bombed. This troubled some of the students, but not Perahia.

After all you have survived, all you have gone through, are you happy? came one of the final questions of the day.

I am happy, Perahia said. But it is a little late.
What you need to know for the Iowa Caucuses

The Iowa Caucus is an event like no other in modern-day politics. Community members across the state will gather in 1,600 school gyms, libraries and other public buildings to cast their votes in the first vote tally of the 2020 presidential election. We have the breakdown of where to look, what to expect and what it means for you in the coming months.

How does the caucus work?

The Iowa caucuses are different than other state primaries, and even as reporting and rules have changed, the Democrats want to maintain the distinction of the caucuses, which includes public debate.

Rather than casting a secret ballot, caucus-goers gather in support of a candidate and later might change their mind depending on how their candidate fares. For more on how the "voting" works in caucuses, we recommend this New York Times interactive explainer.

Can I follow the caucuses live?

Most of the major news outlets will be running real-time results. If youd like to see more from Iowa news outlets, The Des Moines Register has these tips on following the results live. But with the new rules in place, determining the winner in Iowa is tougher than it seems as the Washington Post writes.

Why does Iowa matter so much?

In the last nine contested races for the Democratic nomination, the candidates who won the Iowa Caucus went on to win the partys nomination seven times. Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter (in 1976) won both the Democratic nomination and the presidency.

When is it my turn?

Iowa goes first in picking delegates during the primaries, and New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina will follow later this month. Super Tuesday on March 3 will give 14 more states the chance to select delegates for a candidate. Then on Tuesday, March 10, Missouri joins in along with Michigan, Washington, Mississippi, Idaho and North Dakota. If you want to participate, make sure you register to vote by Feb. 12. You can fill out a voter registration form and check your polling place on the Missouri Secretary of State website.
WASHINGTON -- If you're thinking of writing a novel, be sure to write only about your own race and culture. Or else.

The recent controversy over "American Dirt," a book that was first widely acclaimed -- before its author became the target of violent threats -- reminds us yet again that freedom is fragile and that democratic ideals of tolerance and fairness dangle by a thread.

Author Jeanine Cummins doubtless thought she was acting nobly when she spent five years researching the immigrant border crisis -- traveling to Mexico, interviewing immigrants, volunteering at a soup kitchen that serves migrants, and visiting orphanages.

But thanks perhaps to the overindulgence of her publisher (Flatiron) -- Cummins reportedly received a seven-figure advance -- and a high-profile rollout, Cummins earned the contempt of critics who considered her unworthy of her topic, not because the book wasn't quite good enough (as some critics have noted) but because she wasn't sufficiently Latina. Poor Cummins had only one Latina grandmother. And, get this: Her Irish husband, once an illegal immigrant, wasn't quite underdoggish enough. (Never mind that many Irish immigrants came to America as indentured servants, or that it was common for signs on stores and restaurants and for job listings to say: "No Irish." Or "No Irish Need Apply.")

Once Cummins' genetic shortcomings caught the attention of social media's literati, it was off to the bonfires. Not only was she condemned, prompting her to cancel her book tour in fear for her safety, but a petition was circulated asking Oprah to remove Cummins' novel from her book-club list.

Regardless of the author's relative value to the genre of fiction, it should be obvious that one's DNA does not predict literary talent, insight or even wisdom born of experience.

How dare William Styron write "Sophie's Choice" when he was neither Jewish, a woman nor a Holocaust survivor. A list of authors who have written great books without meeting today's ancestry requirements would fill, well, a library.

Critics have to say something, of course -- and, apparently, there's plenty enough to say about "American Dirt" without requiring the author to expectorate into a test-tube. Even Cummins seemed to foreshadow what would come her way when she wrote in her own afterword, "I wished someone slightly browner than me would write it." Had I been her editor, I'd have questioned her grammar -- "browner than I" -- but not her right to pursue a topic of her choosing.

This is what the threats essentially aimed to do -- censor Cummins based on her genetic background. Merely reading the preceding sentence should send chills up one's spine. And seeking to silence or shame her with threats of violence is a scene from some other dystopian novel about a country or time not our own.

Any columnist worth her salt has been the target of hatred countless times, though it's become more frequent in recent years. It's much harder to sustain vitriol through the laborious process of a handwritten letter than it is to vent one's spleen with a few characters that can be read by millions in a nanosecond.

A high-tech mob can be marshalled in moments and next thing you know: A book tour is cancelled; a cartoonist goes into hiding; an artist decides no painting is worth his life. Such conditions put not only freedom at risk but also the creative imperative. Provocative art and literature are doomed in a censorious society, which is why, until now, we've tolerated the worst examples of human creativity in order to protect the best.

The trend of punishing certain folks for expressing unpopular thoughts -- or for not meeting standards set by a given special-interest group -- has been gaining traction for decades. And I should know. I've abandoned certain issues to avoid the wrath of sensitivity monitors, who are doing their best to eliminate humor.

This isn't to say all things should be said or printed -- and I am thankful to my editors (most of the time). But wariness isn't enough against threats of violence. All thinking people should rail against the bullying of self-anointed censors whose methods have no place in a free, democratic society. I may not read it, but I plan to buy Cummins' book in solidarity. It's a small, revolutionary act, but it seems the least one should do.

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At Scholastic, Cassandra Pelham Fulton has been promoted to editorial director of Graphix, from executive editor.

Kathy Ishizuka has been promoted to editor-in-chief of School Library Journal, and will take on the additional title of partnerships and innovation director at Library Journal and School Library Journal. She was formerly executive editor of SLJ.

Noa Wheeler has joined Bloomsbury Publishing as executive editor, responsible for the Sarah J. Maas publishing program, and will continue her freelance editorial work. Alexa Higbee will join Bloomsbury Children's Books as publicist on January 8. She was previously associate publicist at Holiday House.

Jalissa Corrie has been promoted to marketing and publicity manager at Lee & Low Books, from marketing associate.

Penguin Young Readers has a new hire and four promotions. Zareen Jaffery will join the Kokila imprint as executive editor on January 13, and will acquire and edit books across age groups. She was previously executive editor at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, and co-founder of the Salaam Reads imprint. Draga Malesevic has been promoted to associate director, subsidiary rights for Penguin Young Readers and World of Eric Carle, from senior manager. Siaurui Goh has been promoted to senior manager, subsidiary rights, Penguin Young Readers, from manager. Peter Facente has been promoted to assistant director, business management, from business manager. Jasmin Rubero has been promoted to art director at Kokila; she was previously associate art director at Kokila and Dial.

Christina Quintero has joined Odd Dot as creative director; previously she was executive art director at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Nancy Brennan is joining Candlewick as executive art director later this month; she has worked at Viking Children's Books for the past 18 years, most recently as art director.

Random House Children's Books has one promotion and one new hire. Emily Duval has been promoted to manager, library marketing, from assistant manager. Natalie Capogrossi has joined as assistant manager, school marketing; she was formerly a teacher and intern at Writers House.

Abrams has two new hires in the children's department. Megan Carlson has joined as associate managing editor; she was previously assistant editor in the higher education division at Oxford University Press. Megan Kelchner has joined as junior designer; most recently she worked at Carrot New York, designing and illustrating educational materials.

Lisa Donovan, v-p and executive managing editor at Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, will retire on March 20, after 20 years with the company.

Jennifer Baker has joined Random House Children's Books as managing editor; previously she was production editor at Teachers College Press.

HarperCollins Children's Books has one new hire and one promotion. Audrey Steuerwald will join the company on January 13 as art director for the ad/promo design group; most recently she was at assistant art director for marketing at Random House Children's Books. Xander Hollenbeck has been promoted to senior designer, from designer.

At Penguin Young Readers, Vanessa DeJesus has been promoted to senior publicist, from publicist.

At Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Savannah Kennelly has been promoted to digital marketing associate, from digital marketing assistant.

Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing has two promotions. Jessi Smith has been promoted to associate editor for Simon Pulse and Aladdin, from assistant editor. Anna Parsons has been promoted to assistant editor for Aladdin, from editorial assistant.

Dinah Stevenson, editor-at-large at Clarion Books, has retired after 30 years with the company, effective January 10. She can be contacted here.

Random House Children's Books has one new hire and several promotions. Jennifer Baker has joined as managing editor; previously she was production editor at Teachers College Press. Alison Kolani has been promoted to executive director, copyediting, from director, copyediting. Tracy Tyler has been promoted to senior executive art director, from executive art director. Roberta Ludlow has been promoted to executive art director, from senior art director. April Ward has been promoted to senior art director, from art director. Nicole de las Heras has been promoted to senior art director, from art director. Jinna Shin has been promoted to assistant art director, from design manager. Bob Bianchini has been promoted to senior designer, from designer.

Scholastic has several new promotions and new hires. Shannon Pender has been promoted to marketing associate, young adult, from marketing coordinator. Caroline Noll has been promoted to sales coordinator, national accounts, from sales assistant. Mary Kate Garmire has joined as production editor; she was previously a development editor at Oxford University Press. Jake Snyder has joined as production editor; he previously worked at SaveAround. Sydney Niegos has joined as field sales assistant; she was previously an intern in Scholastics publicity department. Melanie Wann has joined as sales assistant; she was previously a bookseller at Barnes & Noble. Carlee Maurier has joined as sales assistant, educational sales; she was previously a bookseller at Barnes & Noble.

Little Bee Books has two new hires. Terence Campo has joined as production manager; previously he was production manager at Sterling. Elizabeth Peskin has joined as production manager; she was previously production coordinator at Random House Childrens Books.

Rakeem Nelson has joined Pippin Properties as agency assistant. Previously he was an intern at Celadon Books.

Beth Clark has been named v-p and senior creative director, FSG Books for Young Readers, Roaring Brook Press, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, Feiwel and Friends, Swoon Reads, and Square Fish. Previously, she was creative director at Roaring Brook Press and FSG Books for Young Readers.
How to follow it: The New York Timess White House and congressional teams will be following all of the developments of the day around Washington and providing real-time analysis during the speech. Visit nytimes.com for coverage throughout the day and a live stream of the address in the evening.

[Read more about the guests at Trumps 2020 State of the Union.]

On trial by day, on the dais by night, Trump will use his speech to move beyond impeachment.

While tempted to show up at his Senate trial to defend himself, Mr. Trump deferred to lawyers and advisers who warned against it. But in effect, the defendant will now appear in the Capitol in a different format to offer the best case for his presidency, all without having to worry about cross-examination.

Many inside and outside the chamber will be watching to see how or if he directly addresses the constitutional showdown that has been playing out for months. Mr. Trump had hoped to have the trial behind him by now so he could use the nationally televised appearance as a show of victory, but senators delayed a final vote until Wednesday to give speeches explaining their decisions.

As a result, during the day on Tuesday, senators will rise one after another on their side of the Capitol to announce whether they support conviction or acquittal on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress stemming from Mr. Trumps efforts to pressure Ukraine to help him tarnish Democratic rivals. Then, after dark, the same president they are judging will make his way down the House aisle, shaking hands with lawmakers and laying out his agenda for the year.

If Mr. Trump does address the trial in his speech, it may be less bombastic than his usual fare. While he has been outspoken denouncing what he calls a hoax and witch hunt against him, the president traditionally has been more measured and less confrontational during his State of the Union addresses, carefully following the texts prepared for him.
T ravel firm Tui has been ordered to pay out 8,500 after a massage therapist was struck down with a severe bout of food poisoning on a wellness break to Morocco.

Jennifer Irving, 60, fell ill on the fifth day of her week-long stay at the four-star Les Jardins dAgadir hotel in March 2018 and had to be taken off the flight home in a wheelchair after fainting.

She was sick for a further two weeks after getting back to the UK, missing several days of work at her Natural Beauty From Within massage therapy salon in Hampstead.

Tui denied being to blame but has been ordered to pay 8,639 in costs and damages after a judge found contaminated food at the hotel was the likely cause of the illness.

Tui denied being to blame / PA Wire/PA Images

I suddenly started feeling really ill and felt like I needed to be sick, Ms Irving told Central London county court.

She had booked an all-inclusive package through Tui at the hotel, which has its own spa and wellness centre, and did not eat anywhere else during her stay.

She told the court she had only ventured out of the resort for short walks, had not swum in the sea or the pool and had not had contact with the animals during a trip to a local zoo.

In evidence, Ms Irving said serving areas in the hotel restaurant were not as clean as they should be and she had been concerned by large birds in the outside eating areas, who gathered when the cooks were preparing pancakes.

She was also troubled by waiters handing over glasses of Moroccan mint tea which were held from the top.

Ms Irving said the symptoms of her illness were acute for the final two days of the holiday and told the judge: I felt sick [on the plane] and before I realised, I had fainted.

She agreed the service from Tui on the flight home had been excellent, including having a wheelchair waiting when the plane landed.

Tui disputed the claims, insisting no other guests had complained of sickness, and relied on the hotels reputation for good hygiene and food safety.

But Judge Jonathan Hand QC accepted medical evidence pinpointing the hotel as the likely cause of the illness.

Of course the court cannot rule out the possibility of some other cause, he said. But it seems to me that the conclusions of the expert remain good. [Ms Irving] does not need to prove the cause of the contamination, simply that her symptoms were caused by contaminated food.
Imran Aliyev, a 44-year-old blogger from Chechnya, was found dead on January 30 in a hotel room in the city of Lille, according to French news agency AFP and two fellow Chechens -- an acquaintance of the victim and a Chechen opposition journalist based in France. Police have made no arrests but suspect the killing could have a political motive.



Aliyev was no friend of Ramzan Kadyrov. Under the pseudonym Mansur Stary, or Old Mansur, he regularly produced and uploaded onto YouTube videos critical of the Kremlin-backed strongman who has ruled Russia's southern Chechnya region since President Vladimir Putin appointed him in 2007.

Tumso Abdurakhmanov, a video blogger living in Europe, said that he had received information before Aliyev's death that a hit man from Chechnya had been sent to Europe to hunt Aliyev down.



However, Musa Taipov, a Chechen opposition journalist based in Strasbourg who claimed to have been in regular contact with Aliyev, is skeptical of that. Taipov told The Guardian that Aliyev had made many enemies in Ingushetia, a region neighboring Chechnya, for recent remarks over a border dispute between the two North Caucasus regions.



One thing is clear: Another critic or rival of Kadyrov has died a violent death abroad or apparently been targeted, one of many over the past decade or so. Here are some of the most prominent cases.



Zelimkhan Khangoshvili

An ethnic Chechen who was a Georgian national, the 40-year-old Khangoshvili had several brushes with death. In the early 2000s, he fought with Chechen separatists against Russian forces during the Second Chechen War. In 2015 in Tbilisi, he was targeted in an apparent assassination attempt. He survived with wounds to his arm and shoulder after facing a hail of bullets. Later in Ukraine, he was tipped off about another planned hit and went into hiding.



He arrived in Berlin in late 2016, possibly thinking he was safe at last. But on August 23, 2019, a man approached him in the city's Kleiner Tiergarten and shot him twice in the head, killing him immediately.

A Russian national, allegedly traveling under a false identity, was arrested as a suspect. Russia denied any role. Germany on December 4 expelled two Russian diplomats after federal prosecutors took over the case following the collection of evidence that a "foreign intelligence agency" was behind the slaying.

Two security experts told The Times of London that evidence pointed to a contract killing commissioned by Kadyrov. After the killing, Putin -- without providing evidence -- asserted that Khangoshvili had been a "murderous fighter" who was involved in several terror attacks in Russia.



Umar Israilov

A former Kadyrov bodyguard, Israilov was gunned down in Vienna on January 13, 2009, while trying to evade capture by four Chechens allegedly ordered by Kadyrov to abduct him and take him back to Chechnya. Israilov, 27, had been granted asylum in Austria in 2006 and brought a case against Chechnya's Kremlin-backed regional administration in the European Court of Human Rights.

Months before he was killed, Israilov told The New York Times that he witnessed Kadyrov and his henchmen torturing people suspected of abetting the insurgency that persisted in Russia's North Caucasus after the two post-Soviet wars in Chechnya. A Vienna jury in 2011 convicted three Chechnya-born men in Israilov's murder, though Lecha Bogatyryov, a Chechen policeman accused of pulling the trigger, managed to flee Austria after the crime and is believed to be in Russia. Bogatyryov was included in the United States' inaugural Magnitsky Act blacklist of accused Russian rights abusers.



Sulim Yamadayev

Yamadayev, who belonged to a powerful clan that rivaled Kadyrov, was shot in the head outside his apartment building in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on March 28, 2009. The slaying came six months after his brother, former State Duma Deputy Ruslan Yamadayev, was gunned down in central Moscow.

Both brothers fought on the Kremlin's side during the Second Chechen War, and Sulim headed the Vostok Battalion, which was directly subordinate to Russian military intelligence.

Sulim Yamadayev fled Russia in late 2008 after falling out with Kadyrov, whose cousin and ally Adam Delimkhanov -- also a Duma deputy -- was accused by Dubai authorities of organizing Yamadayev's assassination.

Delimkhanov denied the allegation. A Dubai court in 2010 convicted two men -- a Tajik national and an Iranian national -- of involvement in the killing.



Slayings In Turkey



In September 2011, three Chechen men accused by Russia of terrorist ties were shot dead in an Istanbul parking lot. Turkish prosecutors said they were killed by Russian agents who subsequently fled the country.

Russian authorities allege that two of the slain men were involved in an attack in which a suicide bomber killed 37 people at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport in 2011.

The third was allegedly an associate of Chechen militant Doku Umarov, who led the Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus from 2007 until his death in 2013. Three other prominent Chechens were killed in Istanbul in 2008 and 2009.



Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev

Yandarbiyev, a former Chechen separatist leader, died of injuries he sustained in a February 2004 bomb attack on his car in Doha, Qatar. Yandarbiyev, who was Chechnya's acting president in 1996-97, part of the time between the two separatist wars there, was wanted by Russia on charges of leading an armed revolt and had been living in exile in Qatar.

Two Russian intelligence officers were convicted by a Qatari court in Yandarbiyev's death and handed life sentences. The judge in the case said the officers had acted on orders from the Russian government, a charge Russian officials denied.

The convicted agents were later transferred into Russian custody to serve out their sentences, but they were reportedly freed. In 2003, the United Nations put Yandarbiyev on a list of people with alleged links to Al-Qaeda.



Said-Emin Ibragimov

Said-Emin Ibragimov, a former Chechen separatist official, claimed in 2014 that he was abducted in Strasbourg, France, and tortured by men he believes were Russian security agents exacting revenge against him for accusing Putin of war crimes in the Second Chechen War, which helped propel the Russian leader to power in 1999.



Magomed Ocherhadji

In a 2009 video posted on YouTube, a young Chechen man claimed that Kadyrov tasked him with assassinating Magomed Ocherhadji, a leader in the large Chechen exile community in Norway. The alleged would-be hitman, identified as Ruslan Khalidov, has said he was tortured and threatened in an attempt to force him to comply.



Ocherhadji told RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service in 2009 that Khalidov had told him of the plot against him. "I went to speak to [Khalidov] after he sent me a message saying that Kadyrov wanted me to be killed," he said. "Naturally, I was somewhat taken aback. He told me Kadyrov and his people view me as a threat. Because of me, he said, they are afraid to travel to Norway."



Adam Osmayev

Osmayev, a Chechen man accused by Russian authorities of plotting to kill Putin, survived an October 31, 2017 ambush near Kyiv that killed his wife, Amina Okuyeva. Both husband and wife had fought on the Ukrainian side against Russia-backed separatists in the Donbas.



It was the second apparent attempt on Osmayev's life that year. In June, a gunman posing as a French journalist opened fired at Osmayev in Kyiv, but Okuyeva fired back, wounding the man, who was reportedly a Chechen with a criminal record.

In 2012, Russia accused Osmayev of plotting with Islamic militants to kill Putin. Russia later asked Ukraine to turn Osmayev over but Kyiv refused, saying it would wait until the European Court of Human Rights considered his appeal against extradition. He was freed after 2 1/2 years in a Ukrainian prison.
There is a hope that the majority of the Crimean Tatars will be included in the lists

Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko stated about the preparation of the prisoner swap between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, as Ukrinform reported.

We really prepare another exchange. We still believe in the possibility of holding of all for all prisoner swap soon, Prystaiko reported.

He notes that big lists are prepared and he hopes that the majority of the Crimean Tatars, who did not participate in recent exchanges, will be included in them.

On February 3, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the dates of the return of detainees in Crimea and Russia would be announced in the near future.

However, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic believes that the exchange of detained persons with Ukraine in 'all for all' format is impossible until the military actions are discontinued.

As we reported earlier, on December 29, Ukraine and representatives of the militant-held Donbas exchanged prisoners; these are political prisoners, POWs, and civilians, some of which were not even convicted. The venue was the Mayorske checkpoint in the Donetsk region.

Ukraine passed 127 people to the non-controlled territory, and the Russian mercenaries passed 76 people to Ukraine; 12 of these were military servicemen. Another 14 people refused to be exchanged.
If people in Cork East vote the way they say they will, Fianna Fail or Sinn Fein will top the poll followed by Labour but Fine Gael will get hammered and Fianna Fail might even gain a second seat.

Fine Gael is going to need some pretty hard canvassing if its wants any success, say voters.

A majority of those asked how they plan to vote in the four-seat constituency say they are determined to give the government a kicking.

As a result, outgoing Minister of State David Stanton has a fight for survival on his hands.

An early sign of the mood in the constituency was the muted reception Taoiseach Leo Varadkar received when he visited Fermoy town last month.

The biggest crowds around him were either school children looking for selfies with him or his entourage, including Minister Stantons running mate Pa ODriscoll.

The Irish Examiner canvassed around 400 people in towns and villages at random and, other than a few people keen to vote Fine Gael for 'stability', found a high level of dissatisfaction with the Government party.

Fine Gael had two seats in this constituency in 2011, but this fell to just one in 2016 and there is a real chance it could end up delivering no seats at all this time around.

Fianna Fail, which had no sitting TDs in Cork East in 2011, managed to gain one back at Fine Gaels expense in 2016.

In 2016, its share of the vote was up 8% on 2011 while Fine Gaels share was 8% down.

Reasons for dissatisfaction include long hospital waiting lists, child care, rent, housing, the State pension age and a perceived failure by the government to adequately engage with farmers during the beef crisis.

Added to that are the broken promises, including former Taoiseach Enda Kennys vow in October 2015 to scrap the savage Universal Social Charge.

Controversies like the Dails Vote Gate or Senator Catherine Noones autistic remark about Leo Varadkar have had - despite what some commentators would have you believe - almost zero impact.

Very few people mentioned either Brexit or the Black and Tans commemoration controversy.

And while a proportion in the constituency plan to - or say they will - switch their allegiances, a striking number insist they are simply not going to bother voting.

They say they are sick of the same old promises and dont believe a word coming out of any politicians mouth, regardless of which party they come from.

Frank Nash, who owns one of Corks oldest garages, said many of his customers in the small village of Castletownroche are planning to vote for none of the above.

The 71-year-old, whose garage was opened by his father in 1923, said: A lot of my customers are very unhappy. A lot of the same promises are coming up again, like they have in previous elections and they just dont believe it anymore.

Thats what I am hearing. You hear a lot of them saying whats the point in voting?. They cant see the future in these promises.

One man who is definitely voting is Ciaran Monks, who works as a pilot launch coxswain for the Port of Cork.

This time for the first time, I will be voting for Sinn Fein, he said as he enjoyed a quiet pint with pals at Mansworths Bar, Cobhs oldest bar.

I have just had enough of the coalitions that are there at the minute and Im going to give Sinn Fein a go.

Hes annoyed at the lack of accountability over the Childrens Hospital cost overruns and hes angry that the Universal Social Charge is still in place.

But what makes him most annoyed is the governments decision to increase the State pension age to 67 next year and to 68 from 2028.

Pensions are hugely in my craw, he said. Im 57 and have to retire at 65 because its the system at the Port of Cork at the moment.

I have to then wait for two years before I get my State pension on Jobseekers Allowance, if I am entitled to it because means-testing has come into it. I will have put a few bob away and I am going to be crucified.

I feel bitter about that because Ive worked hard and paid into the system since I was 16 and this is what I get in return. Yet ministers can retire after a couple of years of service. Its the unfairness of it that gets to me. Its just not right.

He added: I dont believe the State pension age decision will be rowed back and I think its just hot air from a man who is under pressure and has his back against the wall.

Almost everyone had a complaint about the health service.

Michelle OCallaghan, from Mallow, suffers from the chronic inflammatory disorder, Ankylosing Spondylitis.

I have struggled to get proper health care over the past five years, the 32-year-old mother-of-two said. Im still no closer to getting proper treatment and I find the whole system overwhelming. I dont like to complain and I normally dont. Its just that its been very difficult for me and I feel the current government is not addressing (this).

Given the Taoiseachs description of Fianna Fail TDs who voted against the legalisation on abortion as backwoodsmen, its worth mentioning the issue is still a live one for some in rural Cork East.

Donie Turner, who lives outside Mallow: I feel pro-life is the most important issue. There are approximately 10,000 abortions in Ireland which will have an awful effect on the population as time goes on.

And its so easily available and I regret that very much. A semi-retired dairy farmer, the 79-year-old added of other issues: When I used to farm full time, nobody from any political party ever came out to me and said they would milk my cows for me.

Once I gave the vote, that is all I saw.

With Labours Sean Sherlock and Fianna Fails Kevin OKeefe very likely to retain their seats in the north of the constituency, Sinn Feins Pat Buckley is more than likely to keep his in the southern part.

But that leaves Mr Stanton, Mr ODriscoll, Fianna Fails 22-year-old James OConnor, four independents, the Green Partys Liam Quaide, Aontus Conor Hannon and the Irish Freedom Partys Frank Shinnick to fight it out for the last available seat.
Photo: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images

Jessica Mann, who accused Harvey Weinstein of raping her in 2013, provided more details on an alleged incident between her and the movie producer during which he purportedly urinated on her. The details emerged while Mann testified Monday in Weinsteins Manhattan rape and sexual-assault trial.

Mann had said during her direct testimony Friday that Weinstein urinated on her during a consensual encounter; she provided additional graphic details during cross-examination this morning.

Lead Weinstein attorney Donna Rotunnos strategy in cross-examining Mann largely appeared to be portraying Mann as craven and flaky  casting her as an unsuccessful actress who had a consensual relationship with Weinstein to boost her lackluster career. In an attempt to make Mann look unreliable, Rotunno pressed her on details about the alleged urination.

Ms. Mann, on direct examination, you stated that Mr. Weinstein peed on you, to use your own words? Rotunno said. When was that?

I dont know.

Was that before the incident in New York? Rotunno said, referencing the alleged rape.

Mann said she believed it was before this alleged incident, but she couldnt be sure because she had had a few encounters with Weinstein going into 2016.

Rotunno asked whether it allegedly happened in Los Angeles or New York.

It had to have happened in Los Angeles, because he didnt pee on me in New York, Mann said.

I knew where Harvey and I were, Mann recalled. We were in the shower. He wanted to shower first, which was beneficial to me, and he asked me to come into the shower and then he said to me, Have you ever had a golden shower? And I said, No. And then I felt him he peeing on me.

Rotunno asked Mann whether she left. Mann said no.

I was in shock by it, it was gross, Mann explained, breaking into tears. I turned into the corner of the shower and just looked away.

Weinstein is charged in New York City for allegedly raping Mann about seven years ago, as well as for an alleged sexual assault on onetime actress Mimi Haleyi. Prosecutors have used Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorras claim that Weinstein raped her around late 1993 to back up their accusation that he has a pattern of predatory sexual behavior. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to the indictment.

During todays cross, Rotunno also pressed Mann on why she spent any time with Weinstein, and had intimate interactions with him, if she didnt have any sexual or romantic interest.

Your entire relationship with Mr. Weinstein, you lied to him every single time?

In what way?, Mann asked.

Well, you made him believe you wanted to be there?

For my safety, yeah.

As manipulated as you claim you felt, isnt it true that you manipulated Mr. Weinstein because you continued to see him after every single sexual encounter?, Rotunno asked at one point.

How I handled it to survive and process it, yeah, I guess you could say it was manipulation, Mann replied.

Weinstein dozed off repeatedly throughout cross-examination. One juror was also spotted nodding off this afternoon.

Rotunno repeatedly questioned Mann on emails exchanged with Weinstein that appear to show an amicable relationship with him. One missive showed that Mann gave Weinstein her new phone number. In one message, Mann emphatically praised Weinsteins work.

This line of questioning took a bleak turn right around 3:40 p.m., when Rotunno asked Mann about an email to her ex-boyfriend dated May 22, 2014. Mann sent this note after their relationship had soured. Rotunno asked Mann to read this aloud.

My secret and my fear is knowing that a part of the dynamic I had with Harvey would mean you would never talk to me  Mann said, reading from the email. I was close enough to him to tell you that he no longer has a working penis. On the lower half of his body, he had some kind of surgery or burn and hes lucky to have his parts. I never asked what happened  I told you how sometimes I felt hopeless and that I should just be with an older man because Im a lost cause.

I accepted that my father was that older man, who dated girls younger than me. Harvey validated me, he always offered to help me in ways that my parents didnt. I felt approval to pursue the industry because he encouraged me, she continued to read.

Harvey was my fathers age, and he gave me all the validation I needed, she continued reading. A big part of myself avoided him because I didnt yet control the situation  I held on because I did feel a sense of friendship with him and felt the situation was  defined  I remember the day I realized I was controlling my world because I was sexually assaulted and that story played out where I played into sexual dynamics with people  I tried to make him my pseudo-father, Mann said, still reading aloud.

This sexual assault youre talking about is from when you were younger, correct? Rotunno asked.

At this point, Mann started weeping on the witness stand, her breath strained. The judge decided to have a brief break. Mann was escorted out of the courtroom through a side door to an area where witnesses are kept until theyre called.

When Mann came back into the courtroom, she was carrying a stress ball. When she sat back down, she wept once more.

Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi came to the bench and tried to calm her down.

Mann, who was inconsolable, was led out of the courtroom once more, clutching her chest. For a time, her cries were audible after she left.

After it was clear Mann couldnt testify anymore for the day, Justice James Burke decided that proceedings would resume Tuesday morning. At that time, Mann will return to the stand for additional cross-examination.

Update, February 24: Harvey Weinsteins verdict has been announced.
Stillcanna Expands Product Offerings By Manufacturing THC-free CBD Distillate

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Stillcanna Inc. (OTCPINK:SCNNF) (CSE:STIL) (FRANKFURT:484) ("STIL" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an array of white labeled finished products for its customers including products formulated with CBD Distillate (Honey Oil) that is Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), pesticide, heavy metal and microbial free.

The recent successful deployment of the Company's industrial scale centrifugal chromatography equipment at its Polish-based NEXUS facility equips Stillcanna with a broad range of new product offerings. Chromatography allows for the isolation and/or separation of specific molecules within a substance. Stillcanna uses chromatography to isolate and remove the THC molecule, enabling its THC-free CBD Distillate product offerings. The technology can also be calibrated to isolate any cannabinoid molecule present, which includes CBN, CBG and others that are popular in current scientific research for their potential health benefits.

With the technology in place to meet the CBD industry's product requirements, Stillcanna is launching a white-label program, allowing customers to put their own brand and logo on stock Stillcanna CBD product offerings. These offerings will initially include tinctures in various sizes, concentrations and flavors; CBD Isolate packaged in 1g, 3g and 10g quantities; and CBD gel caps of varying sizes and strengths. In working with various nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic manufacturers in Europe, the Company intends to broaden its CBD-infused product offerings to eventually also include lip balms, topicals for skin and muscle care, as well as vape products. For product inquiries, please email sales@stillcanna.com.

In the latest edition of Stillcanna Stories (https://youtu.be/rignynUEgJg), the Company's seed-to-CBD process is highlighted as one of the only such operations in Europe. Controlling every aspect of production provides end users with the knowledge that the products are derived from the highest quality biomass that is heavy metal, pollutant and pesticide free; extracted and formulated in approved facilities; and adheres to EU-standard testing by both in-house and third party lab facilities. Of the many CBD retail brands available throughout Europe, very few formulate and package their own products. The majority of existing brands use a company like Stillcanna to supply them with a finished and branded CBD product with traceable documentation from seed-to-cbd. In conjunction with its white-label services, Stillcanna will still continue to supply larger consumers with its bulk CBD products.

"We have been eagerly anticipating the arrival and installation of this chromatography equipment," stated Jason Dussault, CEO of Stillcanna. "There are a handful of suppliers in Europe that can offer companies a turnkey CBD solution to meet their pre-packaged CBD needs. While CBD continues to be our main focus, we cannot ignore the market potential that other cannabinoids hold. As the global research and scientific study of Cannabis and its compounds continues, we want to become a consistent and trusted source of specific cannabinoid profiles unique to our customer's needs."

The Company is also pleased to announce it has recently secured a membership in the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) https://eiha.org/. Officially founded in 2005, EIHA is the only pan-European membership association in the industrial hemp sector. Membership spans 25 EU countries, and with over 200 active members represents the whole supply chain from seed-to-shelf. The association is active in advocating for reforms and updated regulations that promote a standardized framework for the hemp industry as a whole.

About Stillcanna Inc .

Stillcanna Inc. (CSE: STIL) www.stillcanna.com is a Canadian early-stage life sciences company focused on the large scale manufacturing of CBD in Europe. The Company believes its proprietary intellectual property allows it to extract CBD at a lower cost. The Company has signed an initial extraction contract in Europe to be the exclusive extractor for Dragonfly Biosciences LLC, a United Kingdom-based supplier of CBD. The Company also recently completed the acquisition of Olimax NT SP. Z .O.O, a multi-generational hemp agricultural firm that is expected to increase the Company's market share in the European CBD industry.

On Behalf of the Board

Jason Dussault, CEO

CONTACT:

Mauricio Inzunza

Mauricio@stillcanna.com

1(844)-442-STILL (7845)

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements: This release includes certain statements and information that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, including that the Company anticipates adding a broad range of new product offerings. And that the Company, can provide the scientific community a specific molecular profile of cannabinoids desired for research and customers can put their brand and logo on stock Stillcanna CBD product offerings.

Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should" or "would" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on certain material assumptions and analysis made by the Company and the opinions and estimates of management as of the date of this press release, including the Company will initially provide tinctures in various sizes strengths and flavors, CBD Isolate packaged in one, three and ten gram jars, and CBD gel caps of varying sizes and strengths. And that the Company in working with various Nutraceutical, Pharmaceutical and Makeup manufacturers in Europe the company will broaden its CBD infused product offerings to include lip balms, topicals for skin and muscle care and vape products.

Although the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking statements in this release are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

The CSE has not in any way passed upon the merits of and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

SOURCE: Stillcanna Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575124/Stillcanna-Offers-CBD-White-Label-Services-in-Europe
The Haryana Police arrested 7,821 proclaimed offenders (POs) and bail jumpers last year, state Director General of Police Manoj Yadava said on Tuesday.

Yadava said that during 2019, police had nabbed 3,423 POs and 4,398 bail jumpers across the state.

"Among the arrested offenders, many of them were evading their arrest for a very long time," he said.

The DGP said the state Crime Branch had captured 1,577 POs and bail jumpers, whereas 6,244 were apprehended by various units of the police, including the Crime Investigating Agency.

In view of the parliamentary and state assembly elections in 2019, a special drive had also been undertaken to nab them to ensure peaceful polling, he said.

"We identified such offenders by gathering data from courts and other inputs to keep an effective tab on their movements and activities. Our concerted and effective efforts also ensured free, fair and incident-free elections in the state," Yadava said.

Giving details of other crackdowns, Yadava said the police had also registered 2,677 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act between January and December 2019.

"Over 16 quintals of drugs, including opium, charas, poppy husk, smack, ganja and heroin worth crores of rupees, was also seized from the arrested persons," the DGP said.

He said the Haryana Police has been constantly making efforts to keep a tab on movements and activities of the criminals and anti-social elements.

"We will continue to speed up our operations against the POs, bail jumpers as well as other hardened criminals to further instil a sense of security and safety among the people," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is a mainstay in the headlines, most recently due to the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Though Pelosi has a monumental amount of political pressure on her shoulders, shes had plenty of training in preparation of tough situations. As the mom of five kids, the Speaker knows how to take charge.

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi | Aurora Samperio/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Married college sweetheart

Married to Paul Pelosi since 1963, whom she met in college, the Speaker makes an effort to leave work behind when she gets home while Paul tends to stay out of his wifes role in politics. Ive made a conscious effort to not be involved or give the appearance of being involved in her political career, he told The Chronicle in 2004. People should realize that shes the one.

A year after the couple tied the knot, they had their first child. By the end of 1970, they had four daughters and a son  Nancy Corinne, Christine, Jacqueline, Alexandra, and Paul, according to the Washington Post.

Dealing with the daily tasks involved in raising kids, Pelosi managed the day-to-day routine of carpools, laundry, and house cleaning in their home. Yet despite having her hands full with her own brood, her awareness of children living in poverty motivated her to enter the political arena to enforce change. What took me from the kitchen to Congress was knowing that 1 in 5 children in America lives in poverty, she said. I just cant stand that.

The power of parenting

Pelosi emphatically credits her experience of parenting five children into adulthood as preparing her for her demanding career today. I was really forged by my kids I became so energized and efficient in the use of time and willing to delegate, to the children, responsibilities, she told the Washington Post in February 2019. It really shapes you. Theres no question.

The Speaker aims to bring awareness to society as a whole on how being a parent equips you for almost any job. Thats one of the hardest things, she said of raising kids. Makes going to work look easy, doesnt it?

Though her kids are grown now, Pelosi claims she currently gets less sleep than when she had five kids under 7 years old. But then I didnt have to get up and get dressed, she admitted. Just pull on my jeans, wash my long hair. I didnt even notice it.

The political figure encourages mothers to embrace their power as a parent and never to minimize the work and tenacity it takes to be a stay-at-home mom. Know your own power, she advised. Dont let anybody diminish for one moment the time you spend at home. . . Because probably nothing is more energizing, purposeful, better to orient you to know how to use time, delegate authority.

Training ground for todays political climate

Other moms in politics recognize that parenting equips you with skills like no other training. You learn a lot as a parent and a mother that is directly applicable to leadership, Dee Dee Myers, former press secretary for Bill Clinton, told the Washington Post. Five kids can be relentless. Having five toddlers or preteens or teenagers  all of which she had  really does prepare you for Donald Trump.

Pat Schroeder, a former congresswoman from Colorado, has seen Pelosi utilize some parenting tactics in how she deals with the President today. Shes nicely pointing out to him  graciously, with great poise  that no, hes not in charge 24 hours a day, all by himself, Schroeder said. And that isnt that different than what you do in motherhood.

Pelosi is quick to spot unnecessary outbursts of anger when dealing with fellow politicians. Im the mother of five, grandmother of nine, Pelosi said. I know a temper tantrum when I see one.

Yet parenting has sharpened Pelosis diplomacy skills, where she learned to be the peacemaker when disagreements would arise between her five kids. If we were asking to go on a trip and she didnt want us to go, shed say, Tell me why you want to go. And then shed say why she didnt want us to go, her daughter Nancy Corinne Prowda shared. Then shed say, Ill let you make the decision. It was our choice. It wouldnt be as much of an Im telling you not to go.

Myers also sees parenting multiple children as having a leg up on attaining consensus in a group, which is a bonus when it comes to politics. Lets say youre trying to get five kids to watch one video, Myers said. If you have one who ends up angry or left out, thats not helpful. . . You try get everybody to an agreement where everybody feels good.

Having five kids within six years has certainly prepared Pelosi for the high-profile, demanding role she holds today.
The century-long attempt to kill capitalism in America gained a dramatic head of steam in the 1960s with the rapid ascendency of progressivism, a Marxist movement that would quietly seize control of the Democratic Party over the last half-century.

Which was something different. For most of Americas 244-year history, the dominant political parties that evolved had a common goal constantly working to improve the country they both loved. In the 1860s, a Republican president went to war to end slavery. A century later, a Democratic president launched another well-intentioned war, a war on poverty. Democrats and Republicans alike largely saw their country as a force for good, both at home and abroad. Beginning in the 1960s, that widely- shared view began to show cracks as the progressive movement began tightening its grip on the modern Democratic Party. Democrat icons of the 1960s -- Adlai Stevenson, Henry Scoop Jackson, Sam Nunn, Hubert Humphrey and JFK, to name a few -- were genuine patriots who loved their country, a sentiment that was shared by a large majority of that eras rank and file Democrats. Such is no longer the case. Here are four ways Democrats are looking to end the idea of America altogether:

Killing America by replacing patriotism with socialism

In October 2018, The New York Times reported that 69% of progressive Democrats are ashamed of being American. Increasingly influenced by the progressive wing of their party, Democrats as a whole have moved sharply away from that love of country, and veered toward socialism that sounded like communism: In February 2019, Public Opinion Strategies found that an astounding 77% of Democrats who plan to vote in 2020 self-identify as socialists. Aided and abetted by the complicit mainstream media, the modern Democratic Party has been remarkably successful at driving down patriotism: Gallup found that less than a third of Democrats are extremely proud of their country. That's less than a third, and trending sharply downward.

Killing America by making citizenship meaningless

Why has the modern Democratic Party worked so diligently to erode patriotism? Because love of country is a major impediment to convincing voters to support what they really want, which is yielding their nations sovereignty to an international governing body, ultimately the United Nations. With patriotism marginalized, a societys populace can more easily be led to no longer see themselves as citizens of their country, but as citizens of the world. (In his July 2008 speech in Berlin, progressive presidential candidate Barack Obama told an adoring crowd of 200,000 cheering Europeans, I come to you as a Citizen of the World.)

In Europe, the long-standing national identity of every progressive-run nation is already being intentionally erased, and it stands as a sort of bellwether of things to come over here.

Government-encouraged mass migration is its instrument, and the same thing is being attempted in America by the modern Democratic Party. This particular phenomenon is particularly associated with billionaire globalist George Soros. The Hungarian-born "stateless statesman" is the most prolific financier of the progressive push for a world without borders.

In his anti-capitalist best-seller, The Crisis of Global Capitalism, Soros sets out the progressive strategy. Complaining bitterly about the sway of sovereign nations, Soros has advocated for, and since spent immense sums each year fostering open society alliances among sovereign nations. The goal of these alliances is to indoctrinate citizens of western nations to accept the high-mindedness of doing away with national identities in favor of a collectivist world identity. With national identities erased, people no longer see themselves as patriotic citizens of their countries, but as united citizens of an enlightened global society. People who oppose the unfettered influx of migrants and refugees are shouted down as racists and xenophobes. Once open-border alliances have been solidified, the last obstacle is cleared for a borderless world governed by the UN. For global governance to become a reality, the sovereignty of every western nation, including America, must be eliminated, Soros believes.

When the election of Donald Trump dealt a calamitous setback to the near-term realization of fundamentally transforming America, Soros penned an angry rant comparing Trump to Hitler, and calling him a racist and a xenophobe. Known as the puppet master because of the enormous influence he exerts on Democratic Party hierarchy, Soross foremost target in taking down sovereign western democracies is the crown jewel of them all: the United States of America. In working toward the culmination of that takedown, the billionaire globalist mastermind has powerful allies at the highest levels of the modern Democratic Party.

Killing America through identity politics

To overthrow a capitalist society, The Communist Manifesto calls for fomenting a titanic struggle by pitting an alleged victim class against an alleged oppressor class. In the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks rose to power by pitting the proletariat against the bourgeoisie.

Over the last half-century, the Democratic Party has taken the concept of Marxist/Leninist dialectical struggle to new heights through its use of identity politics. The term refers to politically subdividing the electorate into multiple factions (voting blocks), whose members are told they are singled out for persecution by a bigoted and unjust society. To wit: People of color are persecuted by racists & white supremacists, women by sexists & misogynists, refugees & illegal immigrants by nativists & xenophobes, Muslims by Islamophobes, gays & lesbians by homophobes & religious bigots, the 99% by the 1%, and so on. The goal of identity politics is to turn a majority of the American electorate against their country.

The self-serving narrative of identity politics is that caring, inclusive and tolerant Democrats will righteously defend the members (voters) of each identity group from the constant onslaught of outrages inflicted on them by an oppressive society. Identity politics is used as a political bludgeon to deceive Americans into believing their country is an incurably unjust place where things can be set straight only by killing off its existing economic and governing systems.

That is the observed pattern and it's important. It tells us why the 2020 elections will determine whether our free market Republic survives, or falls from within to single-party socialist rule.

An electrical engineering graduate of Georgia Tech and now retired, John Eidson is a freelance writer in Atlanta.

Image credit: Daily Wire // Twitter screen shot
Two persons were shot dead and the Bihar unit president of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party's student wing was injured by gunmen in separate incidents in Bihar, police said on Tuesday.

In the first incident, Balal Raza, the Bihar unit president of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party's student wing, was shot at by gunmen at his native village in Samastipur district on Monday evening.

Four unidentified gunmen who came on two motorbikes shot at Raza, when he was standing near his father's petrol pump at Satmalpur village.

One of the bullets fired by the criminals hit Raza's right shoulder, injuring him badly, police said.

The gunmen fled from the spot under cover of darkness.

Superintendent of Police Vikas Burman said, the reason behind the incident was yet to be ascertained.

Raza was initially rushed to a nearby hospital. Later, he was taken to a nursing home by his family members, police said.

An FIR will be lodged on the basis of Raza's statement after he regains consciousness, they said.

In another incident, two employees of a private road construction company were shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Bharaul village in Begusarai district on Monday night.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Ashish Anand said, prima facie it appears to be a case of extortion.

The police is investigating the matter and also questioning the office staff.

The company was engaged in the construction of a 2.5-km-long road at Bharaul village under the 'Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana (MMGSY)'.

The deceased have been identified as 27-year-old Kaiser Alam and 25-year-old Rajnish, police said.

Kaiser, a resident of Vaishali district, was the driver of an earth-moving machine engaged in the construction work, while Rajnish, a resident of Muzaffarpur district, was the 'Munshi' of the company.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Under the existing provisions, the contribution by the employer to a recognised provident fund exceeding 12 per cent of salary is taxable.

New Delhi: The Budget prescribing a Rs 7.5 lakh per annum cumulative upper ceiling for tax-free contribution by employers under employee provident fund (EPF), National Pension System (NPS) and superannuation fund will impact only those with an annual salary of more than Rs 60 lakh, Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said on Monday.

The proposal is not something unique to India as similar ones are followed in other countries as well, he said.

Pandey further said taxing dividend income at the hands of the receiver is "most fair" rather than charging a dividend distribution tax (DDT) on the companies paying dividend because the rate of tax levied is then decided on the basis of the total income of the recipient.

Speaking about the Budget provision that proposed a combined upper limit on tax-free employers' contribution towards the NPS, superannuation fund and provident fund at Rs 7.5 lakh annually for an employee, Pandey said if there is no limit, it will allow structuring of the salary into various components to lower the tax outgo.

"If you consider the Rs 7.5 lakh (threshold), it will affect only those with an annual salary of more than Rs 60 lakh," Pandey said at a post-Budget interaction organised by Ficci.

"Having no limit also allows structuring of the salary into various components where this particular thing could be hiked up and then actual tax could be very less. This threshold is not something very very unusual we have done. It is being developed in many parts of the world," he added.

Under the existing provisions, the contribution by the employer to a recognised provident fund exceeding 12 percent of salary is taxable.

The Budget 2020-21 also proposed to withdraw DDT saying that henceforth, the tax will have to be paid by the recipients at the applicable rate.

Currently, companies are required to pay dividend distribution tax (DDT) on the dividend paid to its shareholders at the rate of 15 percent plus applicable surcharge and cess, in addition to the tax payable by the company on its profits. The total rate works out to be 20.5 percent.

Pandey said there has been a demand from every section of industry that DDT is "very very regressive" on many counts particularly for retail investors falling in lower tax slab and, hence, the government has accepted in principle that it should be taxed at the hands of investors at applicable rate.

Also, foreign investors were unable to claim credit in their home country because DDT did not exactly qualify as an income tax.

"We did a study on how dividends are taxed in various parts of the world. In many jurisdictions, it is taxed at the applicable rate and that seems to be most fair. The best option available is that it should be charged at the applicable rate and that should be (calculated as) part of income because every income is taxed at applicable rate and then nobody will have grudge," Pandey said.

The DDT has been in place for more than 20 years. In 2002, it was abolished but in 2003, it was brought in again.
BOSTON, Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MassRobotics, the independent, nonprofit serving as an innovation hub for robotics and smart connected devices, officially opened its expanded facility which provides more space and services to this rapidly growing industry. The new facility helps meet the demand for the prototyping labs, test space and equipment needs of startups, provides room for robust STEM programming for Massachusetts students, and gives corporate partners and industry investors a world-class facility to explore and advance innovative and disruptive ideas in robotics hardware and software.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, MassRobotics' founders, partners, residents and the regional robotics industry joined in a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the grand opening.

"In 2015, we invited MassRobotics to locate to Boston because we saw what a tremendous opportunity it was to be a global hub for this growing industry," said Mayor Walsh. "We're thankful for their work inspiring our children in the Boston Public Schools, and look forward to seeing them nurture even more local talent and attract innovators from around the world to bring their talents to our city."

Established in 2015, MassRobotics opened its initial alpha space in February of 2017. This purpose-built expansion adds 25,000 s.f., giving MassRobotics a total of 40,000 s.f. in Boston's Seaport Innovation District. A $2.5M MassWorks grant assisted in funding more than half the design and construction investment in the new facility. The balance of the funding was raised from more than 35 corporate partners with the largest contributions from Analog Devices, Amazon Robotics, iRobot, Harmonic Drive, Mitsubishi Electric, MITRE, General Motors and Cowen, making this initiative a truly public-private partnership.

With this expansion, MassRobotics will be able to support more than 70 companies and more than 200 employees. The facility's new 100-person event space is a needed addition, providing a venue for industry presentations, networking events and STEM education programs.

The organization's unique "escalator" model allows startups to get established, grow and provide meaningful employment for the future workforce, and to provide ongoing value for MassRobotics' partner organizations, enabling MassRobotics to achieve its goals including:

Supporting and advocating for Massachusetts' more than 250 robotics companies along with the connected devices, artificial intelligence and machine learning companies that enable robotics hardware.

more than 250 robotics companies along with the connected devices, artificial intelligence and machine learning companies that enable robotics hardware. Offering best-in-class infrastructure and prototyping facilities to enable unfettered development of robotic/automation systems.

Inspiring the next generation of innovators and builders through in-house, hands-on STEM collaboration and initiatives.

MassRobotics attracts resident startups from across the U.S. and the globe  current residents hail from Canada, Singapore, Germany, Spain, Israel and other worldwide locations  and its alumni have stayed in Massachusetts and grown here in the state.

"The dynamic, impressive and innovative robotics industry, both here in Massachusetts and around the world, deserves a state-of-the-art facility to call home. At MassRobotics, we're proud to provide it," said Tom Ryden, executive director, MassRobotics. "Our expansion is driven by the needs of our community, residents and partners. The world looks to Massachusetts for advances in robotics, and the robotics industry looks to MassRobotics to provide the resources, community and physical infrastructure so the next generation of robotics startups can grow. We're excited to welcome the industry to our new home, and we're already thinking about what comes next."

About MassRobotics

MassRobotics is the collective work of a group of Boston-area engineers, rocket scientists and entrepreneurs. With a shared vision to create an innovation hub and startup cluster focused on the needs of the robotics community, MassRobotics was born. MassRobotics' mission is to help create and scale the next generation of successful robotics and connected device companies by providing entrepreneurs and innovative robotics/automation startups with the workspace and resources they need to develop, prototype, test and commercialize their products and solutions. www.massrobotics.org

SOURCE MassRobotics
Montreal, Canada  Canadas Federal Court of Appeal on Tuesday dismissed a challenge to a contentious, multibillion-dollar oil pipeline, effectively giving the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project the green light to move forward.

In its unanimous decision, the court said the governments consultation process with indigenous groups was anything but a rubber-stamping exercise.

The legal challenge centred around whether Canada had adequately consulted with a handful of Indigenous groups along the 1,150 kilometre (715-mile) Trans Mountain route. Some of those groups had raised concerns about the projects effects on the environment and their rights.

The evidentiary record shows a genuine effort in ascertaining and taking into account the key concerns of the applicants, considering them, engaging in two-way communication, and considering and sometimes agreeing to accommodations, the court said. It is true that the applicants are of the view that their concerns have not been fully met, but to insist on that happening is to impose a standard of perfection, a standard not required by law.

The Trans Mountain pipeline runs tar sands oil from Edmonton, Alberta, to a terminal on the British Columbia (BC) coast.

Steel pipe to be used in the oil pipeline construction of the Canadian governments Trans Mountain Expansion Project lies at a stockpile site in Kamloops, British Columbia [Dennis Owen/Reuters]

The $5.6bn ($7.4 billion Canadian) expansion project, which Ottawa purchased in 2018 and approved in June 2019 amid widespread opposition, would see the pipelines capacity nearly triple to as many as 890,000 barrels of oil per day.

In December, the Federal Court of Appeal heard from four indigenous groups who said they were not adequately consulted by the government between August 2018 and June 2019.

The Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations, the Coldwater Indian Band, and a coalition of smaller indigenous nations from the BC interior said their concerns about the projects effects on their way of life and the environment were not meaningfully considered.

They also raised fears that an increase in tanker traffic off the BC coast near Vancouver  from where the oil will be exported abroad  could lead to a spill.

Very disappointing

Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, one of the applicants in the case, said the courts decision was very disappointing.

Reconciliation stopped today, said George, speaking to reporters from a podium marked with Together Against Trans Mountain in Vancouver on Tuesday afternoon.

But he said the Tsleil-Waututh always said we would do what it takes to make sure that we stop this pipeline.

We have proven that its not in the best interest of our nations that are standing here  for Vancouver, for British Columbia, for Canada, he said.

The Tsleil-Waututh are awaiting a decision on an earlier appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada to widen the scope of its legal challenge against the expansion project and George said the community would not give up its fight.

This government is incapable of making sound decisions for our future generations, so we are and we will, he said.

Canada has what is called a duty to consult indigenous groups when their rights may be affected by resource development projects that cut through their territories.

The more a project could affect indigenous rights, the higher the duty to consult, Canadian legal scholars have explained.

Chief Lee Spahan of the Coldwater Indian Band, a Nlakapamux Nation community in the BC interior and another applicant in the case, said contrary to the courts decision, Canadas consultation with his community was not meaningful at all.

It wasnt meaningful. Canada had their mindset already on this decision, Spahan said.

Coldwater chief Lee Spahan holds a feather at a briefing with other First Nations chiefs and Coast Salish drummers before Federal Court of Appeal hearings on the Trans Mountain Pipeline in Vancouver, British Columbia [File: Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters]

He said the decision states, however, that the pipeline route through the Coldwater area still has to be determined and that the projects potential risks to the communitys drinking water source still need to be studied.

The court has confirmed Canada has ongoing duty to consult with us on these very important issues, Spahan told reporters. We will continue to stand strong and do everything in our power to ensure our sole source of drinking water is protected.

Khelsilem, a councillor and spokesman for the Squamish Nation said the community and its legal advisers would evaluate the courts decision and then decide on next steps.

We will continue to fight to enforce our jurisdiction within our territories no matter what project that is because we have an absolute obligation to protect the interests for our people, he said.

Government welcomes decision

The Trans Mountain project has been an important source of contention with indigenous leaders, environmental groups and politicians at the federal, provincial and municipal levels coming out in opposition to the pipeline.

Canada has what is called a duty to consult indigenous groups when their rights may be affected by resource development projects.

The Federal Court of Appeal in August 2018 overturned an earlier approval of the project after it found that the government had failed to meaningfully engage with indigenous groups.

But in its decision on Tuesday, the court said it rejected the indigenous applicants submissions, which it said essentially [posited] that the project cannot be approved until all of their concerns are resolved to their satisfaction.

If we accepted those submissions, as a practical matter there would be no end to consultation, the Project would never be approved, and the applicants would have a de facto veto right over it, the court said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has insisted that the Trans Mountain pipeline is in the best interests of all Canadians and he has pledged to use the revenue generated by the pipeline to help transition to a clean economy.

Trudeau has also promised to rebuild Canadas strained relationship with indigenous peoples.

His government welcomed the courts decision on Tuesday.

I think what the courts decision says is that if you go about things the right way, if consultations are meaningful and in good faith and you roll up your sleeves and you do the work and listen  you can get stuff done, Seamus ORegan, Canadas minister of natural resources, told reporters.

The ruling was also celebrated by right-wing Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, a top backer of the Trans Mountain project. Another win on the #TMX pipeline for Alberta! he tweeted. Now lets get it built.

A Trans Mountain sign warning of high-pressure petroleum [Jillian Kestler DAmours/Al Jazeera]

Construction under way

Trans Mountain hailed the start of construction activities on the pipeline right of way in early December, just days before the Federal Court of Appeal hearings began.

The federal government also welcomed continuing construction on the Trans Mountain following the courts decision.

We see this project as one that will enable us to get our resources to international markets, Bill Morneau, Canadas finance minister, told reporters on Tuesday.

We also know of course that this is a project that can deliver significant economic benefit: economic benefit to Alberta, economic benefit to Canadians across the country.

But indigenous leaders, lawyers and economists have questioned the pipelines viability.

In December, environmental advocacy groups launched a petition calling on the federal government to publish an updated cost analysis for the project.

The Trans Mountain pipeline is already a massive multi-billion dollar subsidy and Canadians have the right to know how much the price has increased, Eugene Kung, staff lawyer at West Coast Environmental Law, said in a statement at the time.

Canadians were told this would be a profit-generating investment and the profits would be devoted to renewable energy. Instead, its operating at a consistent loss and it isnt even clear the government will be able to sell it, without taking another loss of billions of taxpayer dollars.

Leah George-Wilson, chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, also said the Trans Mountain case raised questions about Canadas commitment to reconciliation with indigenous peoples.

Is not reconciliation the most important item on the prime ministers agenda? Did he not say reconciliation was important and the most important relationship to him was with First Nations? Well, we need to see some of that now, George-Wilson told reporters on Tuesday.

When we say that this project cannot go through, we are standing on our own indigenous law and on the path laid forward for us by our ancestors, she added.

Tsleil-Waututh will always exercise every legal option that we have.
TBILISI -- Georgian opposition groups have postponed a rally in the capital, Tbilisi, due to a deadly fire in the central town of Baghdati that claimed six lives, including four children, a pregnant woman, and an elderly female.



Gigi Ugulava, a leader of the European Georgia party, confirmed the rally scheduled for February 4 in front of the parliament has been postponed and expressed condolences to friends and relatives of the deceased. He also called on lawmakers to postpone their session due to the tragedy.

"In the wake of a dramatic tragedy of such a scale, we all need time to mourn, to commemorate, to contemplate, and postpone our ambitions. I would like to call the current parliament to move today's session to another day," Ugulava said.



Parliament opened its session on February 4 with an expression of condolences to the relatives of the fire victims.



The head of the parliamentary committee for human rights, Sopio Kiladze, said that despite the tragedy, parliament "had to follow the requirements of the constitution."



"Under the constitution, we are obliged to open the session on the first Tuesday of February," Kiladze said.



Georgian opposition parties have complained that the country's electoral system unfairly favors the ruling Georgian Dream party.



Several mass protests were held in Tbilisi over the summer, which were violently dispersed by police.



Changing the electoral system to a proportional one from 2020 was one of the demands of the thousands of demonstrators who rallied for weeks in Tbilisi in June and July.

The United States and the European Union have called on the Georgian government, political parties, and civil society to engage in a "calm and respectful dialogue."



U.S. lawmakers recently expressed their frustration over what they call "backsliding" on Georgias commitments to build democratic institutions in the country, a development that could potentially result in the United States reducing support to the Caucasus nation.



In a letter to Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia that was released on January 29, Senator Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen wrote that they were "increasingly concerned" about the state of democracy and governance in the country.



Risch is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, while Shaheen is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation.



That letter followed on the heels of a similar warning from Republican Congressmen Adam Kinzinger and Michael McCaul and Democrats Gerald Connolly and Eliot Engel, who wrote a letter to Georgian officials dated January 21 that said it was "unacceptable" that the ruling Georgian Dream party had funded "an extensive network of accounts" on Facebook, "apparently spreading antidemocratic, anti-Western sentiments" just a year before parliamentary elections.



Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani is currently in Washington on an official visit.
VANCOUVER - B.C. health officials believe a woman in her 50s in the Vancouver area has contracted the new coronavirus.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (705 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix looks on as Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry addresses the media during a news conference at the BC Centre of Disease Control in Vancouver B.C, Tuesday, January 28, 2020.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

VANCOUVER - B.C. health officials believe a woman in her 50s in the Vancouver area has contracted the new coronavirus.

The provincial health officer says the woman is in stable condition in isolation at home, where a small number of her family members visiting from Hubei province in China are also staying.

Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday it is a presumptive case of the virus until positive test results come back from samples sent to the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, which she expects to happen.

Hubei, especially the city of Wuhan, is at the centre of the outbreak in China.

The patient was assessed in hospital after becoming ill a few days ago, said Henry, and the testing for the new coronavirus came back positive late Monday night.

She said a small number of family members from China are also staying at the woman's home.

If the case is confirmed, it would be the fifth case in Canada, with one other case in B.C. and three in Ontario.

"This case is not unexpected. It tells us that our system is working, that we're finding people, that we're assessing them safely in the hospital setting," Henry told a news conference.

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said health officials are taking all the necessary steps both to assist the woman and also to ensure that people she may have come in contact with are safe as well.

The woman's family members left Wuhan before travel restrictions were put in place by the Chinese government, said Henry, and they have been minimizing contact with people outside the home.

Vancouver Coastal Health is following up with anyone the woman has been in close contact with before reaching out to anyone who may have had more peripheral contact, Henry said.

In a joint statement, Dix and Henry said the risk of the virus spreading within B.C. remains low.

The transmission of the new coronavirus depends on proximity to someone who is infected, said Henry.

"It's very different if you're living in a household with somebody versus walking your dog down the street every now and then," she said.

The virus has sickened more than 23,000 people in mainland China and killed 490 people.

A charter plane for Canadians in China is expected to leave Thursday. As of Tuesday, the federal government said 308 Canadians have asked for help to leave the country, but the plane only has room for about 250 passengers.

Henry said it's estimated that about one third of the passengers on the flight will return to B.C. after a 14-day isolation period at Canadian Forces Base Trenton.

The plane is set to refuel at Vancouver International Airport, she said, and officials are preparing in case anyone needs to be taken from the plane before it continues on to Ontario.

Canadian Forces medical personnel will be on board the flight from China and the plane will allow for a separate isolation area should a passenger develop symptoms during the flight, said Henry.

To prevent the transmission of the virus, Henry advised people to wash their hands regularly, cover their mouths when coughing and to stay home if they are sick. She also urged anyone who has been in Hubei province within the last two weeks to stay away from other people until the incubation period for the virus has passed, and to contact public health officials with any concerns about symptoms.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2020.
Asghar Bashpour, a commander from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been killed in battle, although it is not known where writes Al-Masdar.

On Monday, Tehran Radio announced that Asghar Bashpour, one of the commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, was killed during clashes in northern Syria.

According Tehran Radio, Bashpour was killed during battles with the jihadist rebels near the city of Aleppo.

The radio station indicated that the commander of the Quds Force, who hails from the city of Ray, south of Tehran, was at the forefront of those who went to war in Syria, accompanied by Major General Qassem Soleimani, the late commander of the Quds Force.

Al-Alam TV said that he was a senior commander in the Quds Force, and was responsible for the organization of special operations in Syria.

The location of Bashpours death in Aleppo was not reported; however, it is likely that he was either killed at the IRGC base in Nayrab (southern Aleppo), which has been targeted by militant missiles, or on the Khan Touman front, where the jihadist rebels from the Turkistan Islamic Party launched a counter-offensive against the Syrian Arab Army and Local Defense Forces.

The death of Asghar Bashpour comes one month after the killing of Soleimani during a US airstrike carried out by a drone near Baghdad International Airport.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Grow Solutions Holdings, Inc. (OTCPink: GRSO) Engages Engineering Firm, Engcomp to facilitate construction documentation for the first $1.5 million purchase of the $10.5 million total Foundation Farms Purchase Order.

Grow Solutions Holdings, Inc. (OTCPink: GRSO) wholly owned subsidiary, AeroGrow Manufacturing, has engaged the engineering firm, Engcomp, to deliver certified construction documents for the $1.5mm Foundation Farms, Corp. (f/k/a Pure Roots Urban Farms B.C.) purchase order, while additionally, providing design project management, and permitting support. This Pure Roots Urban Farm facility will consist of 3 AeroPods (growing modules) connected to a processing building.

The certified construction documents that are necessary for Foundation Farms to obtain their building permits for the planned facility are estimated to be completed by the end of February 2020, at which time the Company is ready to quickly proceed to the construction phase. Grow Solutions Holdings, Inc., through this process, will have positioned itself with a repeatable design to mass produce these turnkey Pure Roots Urban Farm facilities.

In addition to the Foundation Farms build that is contracted, Grow Solutions Holdings, Inc., is in final discussions to build an additional 3 Pure Roots Urban Farm facilities in Canada in 2020. The Company is really starting to find its footing in the sustainable food/indoor ag industry and will be making great strides during 2020 to make its Pure Roots Urban Farm facilities a household name in those same industries, while delivering our beyond organic produce. We will provide additional information on the Foundation Farms build and other potential contracts in future corporate communications.

"We are very pleased to work with a professional engineering firm that has strong ties to our community and our designs, while additionally having a solid track record of delivering complex projects on schedule and on budget," says Chad Fischl, President & CEO of Grow Solutions Holdings, Inc.

Engcomp, is a Saskatoon based Engineering firm that has been crucial in delivering many medium-large scale projects across Western Canada. Engcomp is a multi-disciplined engineering firm that also has specialty services in risk analysis, cost estimating, planning, and strategic decision consulting. Additionally, Engcomp is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company for design and project management services. While Engcomp was involved in the Company's plans from inception, we have just re-engaged them to allow us to deliver the vital plans to our customers so that they may be able to start permitting and prepping the land to place our fully functional facility.

"Having been involved with the designs since its inception, it is exciting to see this project moving through to a commercial facility, we see these facilities as a solution for the future of food security, low carbon footprint farming, high-quality traceable produce, and are excited to be able to say that we were a part of making the AeroPod a possibility," says Jason Mewis, President of Engcomp.

Read more about the Grow Solutions Holdings, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary Pure Roots Holding, Ltd., on our official website, as well as further information about the Company and its latest news releases at http://www.aerogrowmanufacturing.com, www.purerootsfarms.com, www.grsoinvest.com.

Chad Fischl

Chief Executive Officer and Director

PO Box 2869

Jackson, WY 83001

(360) 612-0180

This press release may include certain statements that are forward-looking in nature and that involve a number of uncertainties and risks. Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on Grow Solutions Holdings, Inc., current expectations and projections regarding future events, which are based on currently available information. The forward-looking statements in this press release may also include statements relating to Grow Solutions Holdings, Inc.'s anticipated new developments, business prospects, financial performance, strategies and similar matters. Grow Solutions Holdings, Inc. disclaims any obligation to update any of its forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

SOURCE Grow Solutions Holdings, Inc.
Press Release

February 4, 2020 Dispatch from Crame No. 714:

Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the Efforts of Ambassador Romualdez and DFA Secretary Locsin to Sanitize her Persecution PH Ambassador to the US Babes Romualdez and DFA Secretary Teddyboy Locsin are trying hard to convince US officials that I am going through the regular Philippine judicial process. They obviously want to impress upon them that I'm no victim of persecution. A superficial report by Amb. Romualdez on the status of my cases will not convince the US Senators to change their minds on the questionable character of the charges against me. What they need are answers to questions about my persecution - the intensity of the vilification, slut-shaming, and character assassination, the coordinated assault of a whole government machinery on my person, and Duterte's declaration of my guilt way before any official investigation or trial even started. As articulated already by the proponent US Senators, they have not seen any credible evidence against me. The fact that there is an ongoing trial does not at all negate the fact of persecution. The trial is based on fake charges and manufactured evidence. The trial is the mere backdrop to the stage of persecution in Duterte's theater of the macabre. SFA Locsin reportedly told his US counterparts that the Philippine justice system is a mirror image of the United States'. It's the perfect analogy, Mr. Locsin, because a mirror image is actually a reverse image of reality, even while it superficially replicates it. A mirror image of "justice" is its reverse, in this case injustice and oppression, its mimicry only successful in reflecting the superficial aspects of justice, its window dressings, but all the while its underpinnings epitomize the travesty of justice. This is the Philippine justice system under Duterte, which only makes sense when understood from the perspective of Lawfare, or the weaponization of the law and the deployment of the strong arm of the State to immobilize and obliterate opposition and dissent. Unwittingly, Mr. Locsin has made it perfectly clear to the US what justice is in the Philippines in the time of Duterte.
Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu held a historic meeting with Sudans sovereign council head Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Monday.

Sudans former President Omar al-Bashir was a fierce opponent of Israel, and his government was accused of helping arm militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Sudan is a longtime member of the Arab League and joined other members in rejecting US President Donald Trumps plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Gen Burhan flew to Uganda to meet Nethanyahu who was on a one-day visit there for talks with President Yoweri Museveni.

In a tweet in Hebrew, Netanyahu said he and Gen Burhan had agreed to start a cooperation that will normalize relations between the two countries. History!

After meeting Burhan, Netanyahus office released a statement saying the premier believes Sudan is headed in a new positive direction and that he expressed this to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo phoned Burhan on Sunday and invited him to visit the US, Sudans ruling sovereign council said.

However in Sudan, the transitional ruling council said it was not informed of a meeting Monday between the African countrys leader and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyanu.

The council said it is waiting for Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to return from Uganda to give clarification.

Burhan heads Sudans sovereign council, a transitional body of military officials and civilians that was created as part of a power-sharing agreement following the overthrow of the longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir last year.
Two separate studies looked at the effects that greenery has on our health  finding that the greener our surroundings, the better.

Published in Environmental Pollution and Science of the Total Environment, the international research team looked at whether green space around schools, such as an area of grass or trees, was associated with lower blood pressure in children and if there was a link between community greenness and obesity in adults living in urban areas, respectively.

University at Albany Environmental Health Science professors Michael Bloom and Shao Lin, who worked on both studies led by Guanghui Dong at Sun Yat-sen University in China, explain that while previous studies have shown that exposure to green spaces may help protect against negative health outcomes, few studies have considered the associations between green space around schools and blood pressure among children.

For the study on blood pressure in children, the team recruited 9,354 children from 62 schools in northeastern China. The children were given a physical examination and a blood pressure test while their parents submitted a questionnaire to capture demographic information and data on environmental exposures. Greenness around each child's school was measured using satellite data.

Results indicated that the more green space there was around schools was consistently associated with lower systolic blood pressure and with lower odds of hypertension in children. The beneficial effects of greenness were even stronger for overweight and obese children.

For the study on the association between community greenness and obesity in adults living in urban areas, the team analyzed data on 24,845 adults in 33 urban communities in northeastern China. Participants completed a questionnaire about their demographic characteristics, lifestyle and diagnosed health problems while measurements of height, weight and waist circumference were obtained during a clinical exam. Community greenness was assessed by remote sensing data from satellites.

Analysis showed that greater amounts of green spaces in a community were associated with lower body mass index (BMI) and obesity. "In particular, the impacts appeared to be most substantial among women, older individuals and for those with lower household incomes," the authors write.

The authors note that China provides an ideal setting for exploring the health effects of greenness due to its rapid urbanization and dramatic increase in obesity rates combined with a sharp decline in green space and greater air pollution.

"Though these studies took place in China, similar associations are likely to occur in other parts of the world, such as US and other developing nations, as well," said Bloom and Lin. "Greenery appears to be an important tool to protect against several negative health conditions."
Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra took to Twitter to share a picture of Team India player Sanju Samsons six-stopping effort in the fifth T20I against New Zealand.

I dont think I need to explain this pic to anyone in India or New Zealand. Its my screensaver for this week. No better Monday morning inspiration... Anand Mahindra wrote and shared the picture of the player.

Not just Mahindra, the fielding style also intrigued many. However, before knowing what they wrote, heres what the business mogul tweeted:

I dont think I need to explain this pic to anyone in India or New Zealand. Its my screensaver for this week. No better Monday morning inspiration... pic.twitter.com/YHyFKq6lmN  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) February 3, 2020

The player took notice of the post and also dropped a thank you for Mahindra. Heres what Sanju Samson tweeted:

People couldnt stop dishing out all sorts of comments on the picture. While some applauded the player, others took a more hilarious route. Heres what they tweeted:

Superman of indian team.



S for superman and S for Sanju Samsan.  Dharam DP (@dharampal818) February 3, 2020

This picture is surely 'worth a thousand words'!   Charuhas (@charuhasmujumd1) February 3, 2020

A lot can be interpreted from this.



-Never Give up

- There is always hope even after you have failed.

- Always try to move out of comfort zone

- Limits only exist in mind

- Never underestimate yourself thinking you can't do it.  Vishesh (@vishthecomic) February 3, 2020

A Twitter user also shared a video of the catch:

It all happened in the eighth over of New Zealands run-chase when Ross Taylor pulled the last ball off Shardul Thakur for what seemed like a certain six. But Samson took a whirlwind jump and retrieved the ball mid-air to save four runs for his side.

As the post went viral, social media became abuzz with reactions. Thanks to #SanjuSamson acrobatic effort...Otherwise we would have seen a Super over at the end.

Another user wrote, Agreed Sir... One requires dedication and determination.. and this is the proof and probably The Best pic to prove it.

A post read, I thought it still went to six and people and players were applauding for effort but he actually saved 4 runs... Even if the ball went for six it was a fantastic effort.

A Tweeple remarked, Absolutely sensational what Sanju Samson did. What a save, effort and the commitment level. Jaw dropping stuff. It took me a few seconds to register the entire sequence of events and replayed it again and again. Hats off Sanju Samson. Great.
The Chairman of the South-West Governors Forum, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, will meet with the Nigerian Ruler, Muhammadu Buhari, to discuss the details of the Operation Amotekun security initiative being championed by South-West Governors.

A reliable presidency source on Monday revealed that the governor had secured an appointment to meet with the President to explain the issue to him.

The source said, The governor has an appointment to meet with Mr. President on the Amotekun issue tomorrow (Tuesday).

However, the Ondo State Commissioner for Information, Mr Donald Ojogo, said, I am hearing this from you. I just left a meeting with my governor and there was nothing like that. So, I dont know where this is coming from.

Recall that the Ondo State governor, had on Friday, January 24, told reporters in Abuja that he and his colleagues would meet with the President to explain the Amotekun to him.

This followed the pronouncement by the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN, declaring the Amotekun initiative illegal.

An earlier meeting had to be rescheduled because the date of the meeting coincided with the period of the Presidents official trip to the United Kingdom.
Almost a month after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced their plans to step back from the royal family, people think Queen Elizabeth may have made a subtle show of support for the couple.

Over the weekend, the Queen made a public appearance for a morning service at Sandringham, where she was photographed wearing a Canadian snowflake brooch, gifted to her by then-Governor-General David Johnson on behalf of the people of Canada in 2017. The sartorial choice could be seen as a subtle nod to Meghan and Harry's decision to possibly move to Canada, after expressing their desire to split their time between the U.K. and North America.

Joe Giddens - PA Images/Getty Images

Though Meghan and Harry haven't officially announced where they'll be living in North America, it's been theorized that Los Angeles and Canada are two front-runners. After all, Meghan grew up in L.A., where her mother still lives, and Meghan spent years living in Canada while filming Suits. The commonwealth country holds a special place for the couple  they made their public debut at the Invictus Games in Toronto in 2017. Not to mention, there might be some privacy perks that come with a move to British Columbia.

Following the announcement that they'd be stepping back from the royal family, Meghan and Harry have been photographed in Canada with their son, Archie.

RELATED: Why Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Might Benefit From Moving to British Columbia

In a statement following Meghan and Harry's announcement, the Queen said she is "entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan's desire to create a new life as a young family."

"Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working members of the royal family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as family while remaining a valued part of my family," she said.
A sessions court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to a catering professional for killing his four-year-old stepson by drowning him in a water tub in a fit of rage in 2017.

The accused, Vikas Jaiswal, a resident of Tulinj town in Palghar district of Maharashtra, was convicted by Sessions Judge S R Vadali.

The judge pronounced the 26-year-old guilty under IPC sections related to murder, voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation, and sentenced him to life in prison.

The court held that the prosecution, led by Additional Public Prosecutor Jaiprakash Patil, has proved all the charges against the accused.

The victim's mother, Pooja Kothari, 24, had married Jaiswal in 2015 after separating from her husband, the prosecution said. Kothari had two other kids besides the deceased.

On November 10, 2017, Jaiswal forcibly drowned his stepson in a water tub in the bathroom, the prosecution said.

The accused was annoyed with the child's habit of frequently going to a neighbour's house and killed him in a fit a rage, it said.

The victim's mother was not at home when the incident took place.

During the trial, the deceased child's mother, the complainant in the case, turned hostile, according to Patil.

The court relied on circumstantial evidence that a boy with a height of around 3 feet cannot get drowned in a tub of 2 feet depth, he said.

Hence, it was clear he had been forcibly drowned in the water tub by the accused, the court said, according to Patil.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Becoming a success in the world of retail takes dedication, countless hours of hard work along with a little bit of courage and willing to take a risk.

No-one knows that better than John McDade, who owns two busy Centra stores in the west of the province. The first is a thriving food market and filling station located in Clogher, on the main road between Enniskillen and Belfast, while the second is a convenience supermarket in Ballygawley, Co Tyrone.

Both are very different shops, catering to very different markets, but in many ways, John adopts a similar approach in the way they are managed.

"One thing that never changes is that overheads go up almost on a weekly basis," he says

"The cost of electricity, rates are increasing significantly, and in order to meet all those increases, you have to find ways of driving sales or reduce margins.

"Margins are very difficult to influence because customers are becoming more and more savvy about prices.

"That means you have to constantly looking at getting new sales and ways to squeeze a few more pounds out of the business.

"It's about looking ahead and meeting new demands that may be there.

"If we don't drive sales of margins, then we are effectively worse off this year than last year because of overheads, so we're always looking for small improvements here and there."

This ethos is behind the recent extension and refurbishment of the store in Clogher and why John is already considering revamping his shop in Ballygawley.

"The business is performing well but we are looking at freshening it up this year and spending some money on it," John explains.

"It was only done in 2015 but we're constantly looking at ways to innovate and improve."

It comes after John completed major works at the Clogher store, which he said has resulted in increased customer numbers and profit.

The primary objective for thework was to improve the customer experience and range of products on sale.

"It took significant investment," says John. "We're on a main thoroughfare so we always had a decent footfall but we were underdelivering on what modern customers expect, so we wanted to improve our coffee and hot and cold food offering.

"Prior to the work, we also had about 18 to 20 parking spaces and they were a bit cramped and disorganised, but now we have about 40. We also have designated HGV spaces and the flow is much more efficient, the parking is much more customer friendly.

"There's much less messing about and that has helped our footfall."

While John is passionate about the world of retail, his path into the sector wasn't exactly straightforward.

He spent his younger years helping out on the family farm and working for his father's fruit and vegetable wholesaler business, before officially joining the business after university and a number of years spent in the food industry.

As the years went by, however, a decision was taken to expand and diversify, so John, his brother and father, took a leap of faith and diversified into retail.

They bought a small store in Derrylin in Co Fermanagh and quickly updated it and increased profits at the same time.

"We went from taking about 4,000 a week and moved up to about 20,000," says John.

"We could see how spending money and attention to detail helped drive business and then the opportunity to buy another two stores came up.

"I wasn't worried about moving into retail when we bought the first store.

"I had been in and out of shops doing delivery for the wholesalers, so I had seen the successful and not so successful shops and had seen what made them work.

"You need good, fresh produce, you need the right products, high standards of cleanliness, high standards all round really.

"It seemed like going from one shop to three shops was a bigger risk because the first investment was smaller.

"When it came to the other two shops, you were talking millions as opposed to hundreds of thousands."

John, who's the sole owner of the stores at Clogher and Ballygawley, adds: "I supposed when it comes to risk, I try and see the bigger picture.

"It might sound ridiculous, but if I believe that something can work, then I believe I can make it happen.

"If you believe in yourself, there's a good chance it's going to happen.

"You have to be prepared to work hard, set yourself targets and then do your best to meet those targets.

"You also have to hold your nerve - when you first draw down a significant amount of money, there is a period where you can start to panic.

"Last year, when we did the refurbishment of the Clogher store, it would have been easy to worry in the first few months if things didn't happen immediately because we had drawn down a big chunk of money.

"However, if you keep the faith and keep meeting your standards and attention to detail, everything will work out."

The difficulties endured by shops in Belfast city centre after the Primark fire of August 2018 are well documented.

A number of retailers pulled down their shutters on that fateful day and never opened again, while others limped along until footfall in the affected area increased again.

Michael Quinn, who owns a Mace shop on Castle Street, was part of the latter group and he cites the period as the greatest challenge he has faced during his almost 40-year career in business.

Despite this, however, Michael is optimistic that the future is bright for both his chain of Mace and Centra stores and Belfast in general.

Expand Close Michael Quinn, who owns four Mace shops and opened a Centra at City Hall before Christmas / Facebook

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Whatsapp Michael Quinn, who owns four Mace shops and opened a Centra at City Hall before Christmas

The aftermath of the Primark fire was my worst time in 40 years

I remember seeing the flames going up over the Primark building and thinking they would put it out fairly quickly, but of course that isnt how it happened, he says.

At the time, we were three weeks away from opening our new Mace on Castle Street.

We had moved two doors down from our old shop to bigger premises.

The fire didnt delay our opening but it did affect the footfall  even though people in Belfast are very resilient, they came through the Troubles, and they did still come into the city, but it definitely affected custom.

But I stuck to our aim and while it was very, very difficult for everyone, not just me, we were fortunate to get through it.

Now the shop is doing great and has even won an award.

Michael, who owns Mace shops at Queens Elms, Castle Street, Royal Avenue and High Street, and a Centra in Donegall Square East, has worked in retail since leaving school.

He had no great burning ambition to go into business  rather he spotted a job vacancy in a newspaper for a trainee manager role at a supermarket close to his home in Ballynahinch, Co Down.

However, he found he enjoyed the job and he had a natural aptitude for retail.

He worked in a number of roles, learning the trade and gaining experience, before an opportunity came up to take a job helping to run a number of Mace shops.

After about five years, Michael became a partner in the franchise and when his colleague decided he wanted to step back in 2009, he made the decision to buy a number of the shops.

With such a lengthy career in retail, it is little wonder that Michael has seen a massive shift in the behaviour of customers over the years.

With this in mind, the service he provides is constantly evolving.

Catering to your customers is the most important thing, he said.

Belfast has changed so much over the years. There are now so many hotels and we would see a lot of people coming in and asking do we sell razors or shaving foam, or whatever else they have forgotten to bring with them.

So we are constantly bringing in new stock, trying to meet those demands.

People dont have as much time either, they come in with their earphones in, but that doesnt mean that we dont build a rapport with our repeat customers.

We also target the workers in the city now  whereas they used to make coffee in the office and bring their lunch in, now they want to pop out and grab something and thats very much the idea behind the Centra we have opened.

Michael continues: The brand is new and exciting and its the direction that Musgrave, the parent company of Mace and Centra, wants to go and were more than happy to do that too.

We had our shop on Donegall Square East and we were looking to expand when Musgrave approached us with the opportunity to open a Centra a few doors down, so we jumped at the chance.

It couldnt have worked out any better, it was an old Santander bank and we renovated the premises.

I was really pushing to get it open before Christmas because we wanted it open in time for the Christmas market, and we managed to meet the deadline.

Our old premises were about 800 sq ft and the new Centra is about 2,500 sq ft.

It wasnt a risk for us to take, we did our homework and we knew it was what people wanted.

The risk was basically, how do we get it right, how do we make it right and provide what people want?

Its so important in business to consider everything  if youre opening a shop, you need to look at footfall, what people want, the competition, whether youre in a suitable area, whether its secure.

Consider everything before you make a decision and most importantly, listen to other people and get advice.

I work very closely with Musgrave and they are very supportive and the Ulster Bank has also been a great help.

We have had tough times, but Ive had a nice wee journey as well.

I am so passionate about Belfast, I love the city centre, and I want all the retailers to do well.


High Grade Drill Results and Resource Update for Rose Hill

Perth, Feb 4, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Horizon Minerals Limited ( ASX:HRZ ) is pleased to announce drilling results from Rose Hill and updated Mineral Resource estimates for the Rose Hill, Gunga West and Golden Ridge projects located in the Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie regions in the heart of the Western Australian goldfields (Figure 1*).The projects were acquired under an asset swap with Northern Star Resources Limited ( ASX:NST ) as announced to the ASX on 12 September and 20 December 2019. Northern Star acquired the projects as part of the purchase of Westgold Resources Limited's ( ASX:WGX ) South Kalgoorlie Operations as announced to the ASX on 8 March 2018.During January 2020, the Company completed 12 Reverse Circulation ("RC") holes for 1,200m at Rose Hill to a maximum depth of 200m. The aim of the program was to:- Conduct due diligence on certain historic holes to assess the reliability in regards to grade, width and reproducibility.- Infill a number of areas to improve the geological confidence within the current resource model and future reclassification to the Measured and Indicated categories for mine development evaluation. In addition, extensional drilling was conducted outside the current resource envelope, testing extensions both along strike and at depthRose Hill Project GeologyRose Hill is located 0.5km southeast of Coolgardie and lies on the western margin of the Archean Norseman-Menzies Greenstone Belt. Mineralisation is hosted within the main Rose Hill porphyry, adjacent to the hanging wall ultramafic and an eastern porphyry unit. The mineralised porphyry is believed to have dioritic affinities.Summary of ResultsA list of significant assays is shown in Table 2*. Gold is found within a steep dipping, porphyry host rock and is associated with stock work quartz veining and increased pyrite abundance. Strong gold mineralisation was confirmed beneath the pit floor. Remnants of old workings are still visible.Drilling close to these workings returned 11m @ 8.79g/t Au from 43m (RHRC2006) and 10m @ 6.28g/t Au from 28m and 6m @ 2.23 g/t Au from 40m (RHRC20001). Twin holes RHRC20007 (7m @ 3.76g/t Au from 45m and 2m @ 5.05g/t Au from 56m) and RHRC20009 (7m @ 7.26g/t Au from 27m and 7m @ 1.46g/t Au from 36m) both validated their respective historic counterparts (RH1090/3 8m @ 3.23g/t Au from 43m and 2m @ 2.93g/t Au from 57m, 18m @ 4.02g/t Au from 28m).It is anticipated that much of this shallow ore will be upgraded to a measured category once the old pit is surveyed. Further infill pit drilling is planned.Drilling outside the pit was more infill in nature. Two holes (RHRC20002 and RHRC20003) at the northern end of M15/652 tested the block model in the oxide zone with satisfactory results. Three holes were drilled deeper beneath the pit (RHRC20004, RHRC20005 and RHRC20012). RHRC20012 returned 16m @ 4.10g/t Au from 93m and confirms the underground potential at Rose Hill. Historic drilling has shown the mineralisation extends to 300m vertical depth.Three drill holes were also drilled near some old workings close to the eastern edge of M15/652. These workings are unrelated to the main Rose Hill mineralisation to the west. Previous drilling had intersected shallow, but patchy high grade mineralisation presumably beneath these workings. No significant shallow gold was observed, however strong, visual mineralisation was confirmed at depth in RHRC20010 (7m @ 2.72g/t Au from 112m) and RHRC20011 (6m @ 3.04g/t Au from 97m).*To view tables and figures, please visit:About Horizon Minerals Limited

Horizon Minerals Limited (ASX:HRZ) is a gold exploration and mining company focussed on the Kalgoorlie and Menzies areas of Western Australia which are host to some of Australia's richest gold deposits. The Company is developing a mining pipeline of projects to generate cash and self-fund aggressive exploration, mine developments and further acquisitions. The Teal gold mine has been recently completed.

Horizon is aiming to significantly grow its JORC-Compliant Mineral Resources, complete definitive feasibility studies on core high grade open cut and underground projects and build a sustainable development pipeline.

Horizon has a number of joint ventures in place across multiple commodities and regions of Australia providing exposure to Vanadium, Copper, PGE's, Gold and Nickel/Cobalt. Our quality joint venture partners are earning in to our project areas by spending over $20 million over 5 years enabling focus on the gold business while maintaining upside leverage.
AMSTERDAM, HollandYu and Pauline Shou are both dancers, so the opportunity to see the worlds top classical Chinese dancers was one they could not pass up. After seeing New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts at the RAI Theater in Amsterdam, Yu said, I can only describe it with superlatives.

Magnificent, it was absolutely fantastic, said Yu after the last of three sold-out Shen Yun performances in the city on Feb. 2, 2020.

They were so in sync, it was presented so very straight, the nimbleness, and all of it so light. It was really unbelievable. This is from an unparalleled level, he said.

There is dance and there is music and internationally speaking you dont need words.  Yu Shou

I also believe it is so special because there are certain characteristic elements in it that are typically Chinese, he said. There is dance and there is music and internationally speaking you dont need words. You dont need subtitles to understand what is happening on stage. I found it absolutely magnificent.

He saw in Shen Yun ancient myths and stories and vignettes that captured the essence of China, the ancient civilization of 5,000 years that so many of us, including Yu who has some Chinese ancestry, are unfamiliar with. It entertained as well as informed, Yu said.

According to Shen Yuns website, this is exactly the goal. The classical Chinese dance companys mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture and share it with the world through the universal languages of music and dance. It is a divinely inspired culture, and the scenes in Shen Yun include deities and heavenly scenes and arts that were believed to have been passed down to humankind by the divine.

Yu said that while the performance and culture were lofty, there was also humor and attention down to the details that made it at once both a playful and impressive performance.

From my perspective as a dancer, I would recommend other people to go see it. But also from the perspective of a non-dancer, there are more than ample elements in it, he said, calling Shen Yun an artistic achievement.

Pauline was moved by the performance, both on an impressive technical level, and also by the emotions and efforts of the artists behind it.

It was very impressive and very tangible because we could see that the dancers were doing it with their heart and soul, she said. It is very beautiful to see how elegant and supple and in sync, the dancers were dancing.

They are a group of people who very strongly form a team, Pauline said. She saw in the artists a certain belief that gives you inspiration and keeps you going, the good and the evil, the yin and the yang, constantly looking for balance between yourself and the environment, and everybody you meet. I feel that that is really central to the dance as well, that is what I have seen.

I can only say I was really impressed by all the things that went on and how it was expressedbeautiful, Pauline said.

With reporting by Gohkan Tunc.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time and has covered audience reactions since the companys inception in 2006.
Construction companies will make money building detention centres.

IT companies will make money on the enumeration of the CAA, NRC, NPR, notes Devangshu Datta.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

In March 1971, about 100 employees of Polaroid demonstrated in front of their corporate headquarters.

They ceremonially burnt several cameras.

This group called itself the Polaroid Revolutionary Workers Movement, PRWM.

It was led by two black American employees. The PRWM had a three point agenda: It wanted Polaroid to exit South Africa completely; it wanted the company to issue a statement that condemned apartheid; it wanted Polaroid's profits from its South African operations to be donated to support African liberation movements.

At that point of time, the American multinational corporation possessed cutting edge photographic technology that made it a world leader.

Its technology was integral to the South African Passbook system.

The Passbook was an internal passport that every non-white had to carry.

It carried all sorts of details about the individual, which had to be endorsed by the police and his or her employer.

Anybody caught without a Passbook risked a jail sentence and was subjected to brutal interrogation at the minimum.

Anybody in a whites only area, carrying a Passbook which did not authorise him or her to be that place was also liable to a jail sentence.

Polaroid sacked the two employees.

It also sent a mixed race team to investigate the South Africa situation.

It issued a statement saying it abhorred apartheid.

It made a partial pull out, stating that it would stop servicing government contracts, but it would continue to operate in South Africa.

It committed to equalising salaries and supporting various organisations working for people of colour.

Much later, it was learnt that Polaroid equipment was still being sold to the South African government through various local distribution channels.

Ambiguous or wholly evil? Many corporates have done much worse.

Polaroid was, as it happens, the first major multinational to exit South Africa.

Most stayed right in there for sound economic reasons.

White South Africa was first world in terms of per capita income, and it had a vast pool of skilled, cheap, coloured labour.

The profit margins were approximately twice that of other First World countries as a result of these factors.

By the mid-1980s, moral pressure had built up on corporates operating there.

Although Margaret Thatcher chortled that really 'teeny sanctions' were being imposed (her son Mark had business interests), corporates had started feeling the heat.

Oddly enough, it was another camera company, Eastman Kodak, which genuinely exited.

Kodak quit South Africa cold, refusing to allow its products to be sold there.

Other MNCs tried the effect of officially pulling out while allowing the distribution of their products.

McKinsey pulled out of South Africa when an up and coming Rajat Gupta stated he felt uncomfortable with that nation's colour bar.

Corporates tend to stay with undemocratic regimes and to enable them if there's profit to be made.

Polaroid enabled the South African colour bar with its technology.

In an earlier era, IBM helped Hitler set up the enumeration system in concentration camps.

Once America ended up at war with the Axis Powers, Big Blue doubled up by using its punch card technology to set up the internment camps for Japanese American citizens.

Siemens used slave labour sourced from German concentration camps during the war.

There are countless other examples of corporates supporting horrible regimes.

United Fruit, Shell, Rio Tinto are some of the better known cases.

In recent times, there's Cambridge Analytica and, arguably, Facebook.

Then there are all the companies working in face recognition, AI-driven autonomous weaponry and other technologies that enable evil regimes.

Corporates are supposed to maximise profits.

But how far will they go in that endeavour? It's a question Indian corporates need to ask themselves.

Starting with Aadhaar, there's a raftload of government schemes, which will generate profits, if moral considerations are ignored.

Construction companies will make money building detention centres.

Information technology companies will make money on the enumeration of the CAA, NRC and NPR.

Being evil pays. Does it pay enough?
It is necessary to conduct a demanding and productive dialogue with the Russian Federation, French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Ponsen said in an interview with Kyiv-based Hromadske ezine.

"That is, the dialogue is needed, but the dialogue which is demanding, and producing results, because we are considering a return to the Normandy format. This is directly related to the fact that we worked to restore confidence between [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and [President of Ukraine Volodymyr] Zelensky," he said in an interview published on the Kyiv-ezine's website on Tuesday.

At the same time, the ambassador emphasized that the position of France had not changed either regarding the territorial integrity of Ukraine, nor regarding the sanctions against Russia, which were regularly extended, including recently at the level of the European Union.

"Russia is a major partner, it has military strength, as well as economic power. And we have economic interests in Russia, as well as in Ukraine. Therefore, it makes no sense to put Russia in a corner as a student in a school class. We need to hold a dialogue with them," said de Ponsen.

The diplomat explained that the situation in which the Russian Federation was isolated or kept at a distance was not a good tactic and strategy, because it did not give good results, in particular, the Normandy Summit didn't gather for years.

"So, the primary desire of the president [of France Emmanuel] Macron was to try to restore confidence, start talking with them, in particular, with Vladimir Putin, to restore contact, but at the same time with strict observance of the conditions for such a dialogue," he noted.
A team of researchers has used X-rays from DESY's research light source PETRA III to explore the amazingly diverse self-organisation of liquid crystals in nanometre-sized pores. The study, led by Patrick Huber from the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), shows how liquid crystals arrange themselves in pores of different sizes, exhibiting different electrical and optical properties. These could be of interest for applications such as sensors and novel optical metamaterials, as the group around first author Kathrin Sentker from TUHH reports in the journal Nanoscale. The research will be continued within the framework of the planned Centre for Multiscale Materials Systems (CIMMS), in which TUHH, University of Hamburg, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht and DESY are involved and for which the Hamburg Science Authority has just approved approximately four million euros funding.

The researchers had studied a special liquid crystal material called HAT6 (2,3,6,7,10,11-hexakis(hexyloxy)triphenylene; C 54 H 84 O 6 ), whose single molecules are disc-shaped. Below about 70 degrees Celsius, they arrange themselves into a liquid crystal; by heating to about 100 degrees, the order can be broken. The scientists filled this material into pores in an aluminium oxide substrate and cooled it down. The cylindrical pores were 17 to 160 nanometres (millionths of a millimeter) in diameter, 0.1 millimetres long and situated on a regular, hexagonal lattice.

At DESY's PETRA III, at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility ESRF in Grenoble (France) and at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS II) on Long Island (USA), the team observed how the liquid crystal material behaves in the nanopores. The geometry and chemical properties of the pores force the liquid crystal's disk molecules to arrange themselves in different ways. The pore size and an optional coating of the pore wall control how the liquid crystals self-organise when they cool down, reports co-author Milena Lippmann from DESY. This can result in nanometer-sized rings or straight columns, for example.

The slower the temperature drops, the better the respective order is formed. With a hydrophilic or hydrophobic (water-attracting or water-repelling) coating of the pore wall, it can be controlled whether the disc-shaped molecules attach themselves to the pore wall with the flat side or their edges. The different collective orders of the liquid crystals have different electrical and optical properties, explains Huber. For example, the axial arrangement of the molecules is electrically conductive, which is lost when the order is destroyed during heating. This could be used to construct switchable, one-dimensional nanowires, for example, adds co-author Andreas Schonhals from the Bundesanstalt fur Materialforschung und -prufung, who is interested in the dielectric properties of these systems.

The different orders also polarize light differently. Since each pore is smaller than the wavelength of visible light, the ensemble of nanopores can control the polarization state of transmitted or reflected light, and this can further be modified by controlling the liquid crystal order at the level of individual pores  this opens up possibilities far beyond what is achievable with the ingredients, liquid crystal and aluminum oxide, alone," Huber emphasizes. Such tailor-made and adaptive metamaterials are the basis for the rapidly developing transformative optics. Here, light paths can be realised in materials that are not possible with classical materials. Examples are extremely thin optical lenses with high refractive power, which could perhaps please any spectacle wearer in the future, or coatings that make objects invisible.

These liquid crystal-solid hybrids are also suitable for various types of sensors, for example temperature sensors. HAT6 is just one of many types of liquid crystals whose self-organisation can be used in nanoporous media for materials with tailor-made properties, emphasizes Marco Mazza from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Gottingen and Loughborough University, who headed the computer simulation study on the self-organisation of the liquid crystals. Different geometries and thus different properties are possible with other types of liquid crystals.

From a materials science perspective, the study also shows how the gap between so-called bottom-up and top-down self-organisation can be bridged in order to design mechanically stable, macroscopic material systems. Bottom-up means that structures are formed from smaller units. Top-down means that smaller structures are created in large units.

In the present case, the pores were produced by an etching process in which regular nanocylinders form in a macroscopic substrate  a top-down self-organisation. These pores were filled with the liquid crystal material, in which the individual molecules form structures by bottom-up self-organisation. The nanostructured aluminium oxide thus forms a mechanically robust framework for the rather soft and fragile liquid structures, resulting in a self-organised hybrid material that is mechanically stable and can also be used in macroscopic components, emphasises lead author Sentker. The lack of mechanical stability is still a major hurdle for the technological use of many other functional nanomaterials.

This study was carried out within the framework of the Collaborative Research Centre SFB 986 Tailored Multiscale Material Systems M3, which is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). The study involved the Hamburg University of Technology, the Bundesanstalt fur Materialforschung und -prufung, the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, the Czestochowa University of Technology in Poland, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical Modelling at the University of Loughborough in Great Britain and DESY.

The studies are to be continued at the new Centre for Multiscale Materials Systems (CIMMS) on the research campus in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld. This centre, which has just been approved by the Hamburg Science Authority within the HamburgX funding line, aims to develop the fundamentals for the production of three-dimensional, multiscale, multifunctional and hybrid material systems based on nanoscale structures. These material systems differ fundamentally from existing materials in that they are bioinspired by the hierarchical structures of natural biological materials, using this concept for technologically novel base materials and enabling a more sustainable materials management by reducing chemical diversity, adds Gerold Schneider from TUHH, spokesperson of the new research network involving also the University of Hamburg, the Helmholtz Centre Geesthacht and DESY.
Training to identify sex trafficking victims, health care works on front line to protect kids

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WASHINGTON  Before President Trump signed an executive order to combat human trafficking and online child exploitation Friday, leading medical providers came together to discuss how they're training healthcare professionals to recognize the signs of trafficking victims.

At an event hosted by the Global Strategic Operatives for the Eradication of Human Trafficking in collaboration with The Selah Way Foundation, anti-trafficking advocates announced an they've initiative launched in conjunction with U.S. Homeland Security to help victims get to safety.

GSO co-founder Deb OHara-Rusckowski said in remarks Thursday that while exact numbers are difficult to obtain, a 2014 study of survivors of the commercial sex trade indicates that approximately 88 percent of victims seek medical care while being trafficked.

Thus, OHara-Rusckowski said, "healthcare has a great opportunity to identify and provide these victims with a path to freedom."



She went on to explain how GSO has, since the fall of 2019, begun training front-line healthcare providers to identify trafficking and take appropriate action in several large healthcare systems in the U.S. Thus far, 1,368 people have been trained across four such systems. The organization plans to soon submit a proposal to the World Health Organization for the purpose of creating a universal policy on human trafficking for healthcare providers worldwide, a policy that does not presently exist.

Elizabeth Melendez Fisher Good, co-founder and CEO of Selah Freedom & Selah Way Foundation and the author of the recently released book, Groomed: Overcoming the Messages That Shaped Our Past and Limit Our Future, mentioned in her comments that it's essential that, as a culture, the deep dark secrets that many have preferred to keep hidden are spoken of so children can get past theirs.

An 11-year-old girl who ran away from home that her organization served once told her, "Whatever is on the streets has to be better than what happens in my bedroom every night with my dad and my brothers."

"And so in their mind, they think out there is freedom. And the stats tell us that within 48 hours 80 percent of them will be approached by a predator," Fisher Good explained.

With the proliferation of smart phones and digital technology, one of every nine children will at some point be approached by a predator through social media, she said. When the 11-year-old girl first hit the streets the first guy who came up to her was, according to her, "probably in his 50s," Fisher Good recounted.

He told her, "I'll give you ten bucks to have sex with me."

"And in her 11-year-old brain, she thought, 'Great, it's not my dad. This is awesome. I can buy McDonald's,'" she said.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chronicled some of the recent legislative history on trafficking in addition to other recent developments. The president just signed Smith's fifth bill into law, the Frederick Douglas Trafficking Victim's Prevent and Protection Act, he noted.

Healthcare systems participating in the collaborative effort include: Advocate Aurora Health, Baptist Health, Common Spirit Health, Hackensack Meridian Health, Harris Health System/Baylor College of Medicine, Northwell Health, RWJBarnabas Health, and Selah Freedom.

The Global Strategic Operatives for the Eradication of Human Trafficking was initiated at the United Nations in 2018.

Trump signed an executive order Friday creating a new position within the domestic policy council "solely devoted" to combating human trafficking, said White House Domestic Policy Council Director Joe Grogan. The person who will fill that position has not yet been named.

This is an all-of-government approach with a number of agencies involved, Grogan said Friday. Having someone established here in the White House who can coordinate on all these activities is going to really give us a leg up in combating human trafficking.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
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LAS VEGAS, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Continuing its focus on improving the communities in which the company operates, Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) today announced a partnership with education nonprofit Nevada Succeeds for the establishment of the InspirED Global Fellowship. Sands is funding the first cohort of the Fellowship, being in the unique position to connect two of the regions in which the company operates  Las Vegas and Singapore. The Fellowship will lead Nevada teachers and administrators through an eight-month program of study ultimately designed to cultivate new ways of thinking in the Nevada school system. As a springboard for developing long-term education solutions that can be rapidly put into practice, the Fellowship includes a 10-day community immersion in Singapore, internationally recognized as a standard-bearer in education. While there, participants will study the successes and unique attributes of the region to draw inspiration for their own work.

"This is a new way of approaching improving education in Nevada, and Sands is providing the catalyst that will enable the first cohort of the Fellowship to dive deeply into the issue and develop real solutions," said Ron Reese, senior vice president of global communications at Sands. "One of our core tenants of corporate responsibility is to improve the communities in which we live and do business. With the InspirED Global Fellowship, we're bringing two of our business regions together to tackle an issue that is important to us: ensuring our young people have access to high-quality education, to give them the best opportunity for success in life."

The Fellowship is built around a unique design-thinking framework, wherein participants will carefully and collaboratively work to help design the next iteration of public education in Nevada. Focusing on viewing local education through a global lens, the program will see Fellows engaged in applied, hands-on research and document their findings in a white paper and thesis presentation at a community showcase alongside statewide education stakeholders. In alignment with the work of Nevada Succeeds as a policy organization, the fellows will not only explore potential areas of improvement for the Nevada school system, but will draw on their experiences in Singapore and through the program as a whole to collectively advise on policy initiatives for the 2021 Nevada legislative session.

"The design-thinking framework is a creative, rapid approach to problem solving," said Jeanine Collins, executive director of Nevada Succeeds. "It is intentionally collaborative and focuses on action. The framework keeps us conscious of who we are designing for, and ensures we take those complexities into account when working for real, long-term change. With Sands' partnership, we're looking at new ways of operating, now and into the future."

Nevada Succeeds is currently accepting applications for the Fellowship through early March. Nevada K-12 classroom teachers and administrators can apply by visiting nevadasucceeds.org.

About Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS)

Las Vegas Sands is the world's pre-eminent developer and operator of world-class Integrated Resorts. We deliver unrivaled economic benefits to the communities in which we operate.

Sands created the meetings, incentives, convention and exhibition (MICE)-based Integrated Resort. Our industry-leading Integrated Resorts provide substantial contributions to our host communities including growth in leisure and business tourism, sustained job creation and ongoing financial opportunities for local small and medium-sized businesses.

Our properties include The Venetian Resort and Sands Expo in Las Vegas, and the iconic Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Through majority ownership in Sands China Ltd., we have developed the largest portfolio of properties on the Cotai Strip in Macao, including The Venetian Macao, The Plaza and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Sands Cotai Central and The Parisian Macao, as well as the Sands Macao on the Macao Peninsula.

Sands is dedicated to being a good corporate citizen, anchored by the core tenets of serving people, planet and communities. We deliver a great working environment for our team members worldwide, drive social impact through the Sands Cares charitable giving and community engagement program and lead in environmental performance through the award-winning Sands ECO360 global sustainability program. To learn more, please visit www.sands.com.

About Nevada Succeeds

Nevada Succeeds is an education nonprofit dedicated to maximizing the human talent in our system, ensuring education professionals are empowered to operate at their highest levels. We work with educators, school districts, government officials and policy experts to overcome systemic barriers while engaging with those stakeholders and the business community as partners in catalyzing improvement, innovation, and success. Grounded in research, Nevada Succeeds recognizes that student outcomes change when adult actions change. How might we define and redefine success together?

For more information, visit nevadasucceeds.org.

Contact:

Las Vegas Sands:

Kristin Koca

[email protected]

(702) 414-3218

Nevada Succeeds:

Jeanine Collins

[email protected]

(702) 306-4871

SOURCE Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Related Links

http://www.sands.com


Feb 4  Airlines are suspending flights to China in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak.

Here is the latest on their plans (in alphabetical order):

AIR CANADA

Air Canada said on Jan. 28 it was canceling select flights to China.

AIR FRANCE

Air France said on Jan. 30 it had suspended all scheduled flights to and from mainland China until Feb. 9.

AIR INDIA

Air India said it was canceling its Mumbai-Delhi-Shanghai flight from Jan. 31 to Feb. 14.

AIR NEW ZEALAND

Air New Zealand said on Feb. 1 it would suspend its Auckland-Shanghai service from Feb. 9 to March 29 due to travel restrictions affecting crew and a decline in forward bookings.

AIR SEOUL

South Korean budget carrier Air Seoul said on Jan. 28 it had suspended all flights to China.

AIR TANZANIA

Tanzanias state-owned carrier said it would postpone its maiden flights to China. It had planned to begin charter flights to China in February.

AMERICAN AIRLINES

American Airlines said it would cancel flights to Beijing and Shanghai starting Jan. 31, and run through March 27, though it would continue to fly to Hong Kong.

AUSTRIAN

Austrian Airlines said it was suspending flights to China until the end of February.

BRITISH AIRWAYS

BA said on Jan. 30 it had canceled all flights to mainland China for a month.

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS

Hong Kongs Cathay Pacific said it would progressively reduce capacity to and from mainland China by 50% or more from Jan. 30 to the end of March.

DELTA AIR LINES

Delta Air Lines accelerated earlier announced suspensions: the last China-bound flights were due to leave on Feb. 1, and the last returning flights from China were due to leave China on Feb. 2.

EGYPTAIR

Egypts flag carrier said on Jan. 30 it would suspend all flights to and from China starting Feb. 1.

EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES

El Al Israel Airlines said on Jan. 30 it was suspending flights to Beijing until March 25. Israels Health Ministry said it would not allow flights from China to land at its airports.

EMIRATES/ETIHAD

The United Arab Emirates, a major international transit hub, on Monday suspended flights to and from China, except for Beijing. The UAE suspension, which state media said was until further notice, effects Dubais Emirates, one of the worlds biggest long-haul airlines, and Abu Dhabis Etihad Airways.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES

The African carrier on Jan. 30 denied reports it had suspended all flights to China. The airlines statement contradicted its passenger call center, which told Reuters earlier in the day that flights to China had been suspended.

FINNAIR

Finlands Finnair said on Jan. 31 it was canceling all flights to mainland China between Feb. 6 and Feb. 29 and to Guangzhou between Feb. 5 and March 29.

HAINAN AIRLINES

Chinas Hainan Airlines has suspended its flights between Budapest, Hungary, and Chongqing from Feb. 7 until March 27, Budapest Airport said on its Faceook page.

IBERIA AIRLINES

Spanish airline Iberia said on Jan.29 that it was temporarily suspending all flights to Shanghai, its only mainland Chinese destination.

KENYA AIRWAYS

Kenya Airways said on Jan. 31 it had suspended all flights to China until further notice.

LION AIR

Indonesias Lion Air Group said on Jan. 29 it would suspend all flights to China from February.

LOT POLISH AIRLINES

Polish carrier LOT said it had decided to temporarily suspend its flights to Beijing until Feb. 9.

LUFTHANSA

Germanys Lufthansa on Feb. 3 extended until Feb. 29 its suspension of flights to Beijing and Shanghai by Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines, and said it did not expect to resume flights to other Chinese cities before March 28. The airlines in the group continue to fly to Hong Kong.

OMAN AIR

National Carrier Oman Air suspended flights to China on Feb. 2.

PAKISTAN

Pakistan said on Feb. 3 it was resuming flights to and from China, three days after it suspended them.

PHILIPPINES AIRLINES

Philippine Airlines said it would cut the number of flights between Manila and China by more than 50%. It said it would continue to serve Filipinos and Chinese nationals returning from the Lunar New Year holidays.

QANTAS AIRWAYS

Australias Qantas said on Feb. 1 it was suspending direct flights to mainland China. The Australian national carriers direct flights from Sydney to Beijing and Sydney to Shanghai will be halted from Feb. 9 until March 29.

QATAR AIRWAYS

Qatar Airways said on Feb. 1 it would suspend flights to mainland China from Feb. 3 until further notice.

ROYAL AIR MAROC

Moroccan airline Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has temporarily suspended its direct flights to China, the company said on Jan. 30. RAM had on Jan. 16 launched a direct air route with three flights weekly between its Casablanca hub and Beijing.

RUSSIA

All Russian airlines, with the exception of national airline Aeroflot, will stop flying to China, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Jan. 31.

Moscow Sheremetyevo airport later said small Russian airline Ikar would also continue its flights between Moscow and China. Four Chinese airlines  China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Air China, China Eastern  will keep flying to Moscow. All planes arriving from China will be sent to a separate terminal in the Sheremetyevo airport, it said.

RWANDAIR

Rwandan carrier RwandAir has halted flights to and from China until further notice, the airline said on Jan. 31. The decision will be reviewed later in February, it said.

SAS

Nordic airline SAS said on Jan. 30 it had decided to suspend all flights to and from Shanghai and Beijing from Jan. 31 until Feb. 9. It subsequently extended the suspension to Feb. 29. SAS offers 12 regular weekly connections from and to Shanghai and Beijing.

SAUDIA

The state airline of Saudi Arabia suspended flights to China on Feb. 2.

SCOOT

Singapore airline Scoot said it was suspending all flights between Singapore and China from Feb. 8, media reported.

SHANGHAI AIRLINES

Shanghai Airlines said on Jan. 31 it would suspend its Chengdu-Budapest flight between Feb. 4 and March 28 and its Xian-Budapest flight between Feb. 6 and March 26 according to a statement on the website of the Budapest Airport operator.

The airlines Shanghai-Budapest flight is unaffected.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES

Singapore Airlines Ltd said on Jan. 31 it would reduce capacity on some of its routes to mainland China in February.

The cuts include flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xiamen and Chongqing, some of which are flown by regional arm SilkAir. Its budget carrier Scoot is also cutting back on flights to China.

TURKISH AIRLINES

Turkeys flag carrier Turkish Airlines suspended all flights to China on Jan. 31.

Turkeys Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said all flights from China would be suspended from Wednesday until the end of the month and that passengers on flights from Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia would be screened with thermal cameras.

TURKMENISTAN AIRLINES

Turkmenistan Airlines, the Central Asian nations state carrier, said on Feb. 1 it had suspended flights to and from Beijing.

UNITED AIRLINES

Chicago-based United announced cancellations, saying its last flights out of mainland China would be Feb. 5, running through March 28.

United had previously suspended 24 U.S. flights to Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai between Feb. 1 and Feb. 8 because of a significant drop in demand.

UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC

UPS has canceled 22 China flights, as a result of the Wuhan quarantines and normal manufacturing closures due to the Lunar New Year holiday, UPS Chief Executive David Abney said on Jan. 30. He did not specify how many flights cancellations were due to the virus.

VIETJET

Vietnams Vietjet will suspend all flights to and from China from Feb. 1, the company said on Jan. 31.

VIETNAM AIRLINES

Vietnam Airlines will suspend its flights to destinations in China next week over coronavirus concerns, the company said Jan 31.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC

Virgin Atlantic said on Jan. 30 it would suspend its daily operations to Shanghai for two weeks from Feb. 2. It cited declining demand for flights and the safety of its customers and staff.

(Compiled by Jagoda Darlak and Tommy Lund in Gdansk; editing by Diane Craft, Mark Potter and Barbara Lewis)

Topics Carriers COVID-19 China Aviation
Nepal's Federal Socialist Party MP Pradeep Yadav has hit out at the Nepal government for not having decided a location to set up a quarantine facility for those infected with the Coronavirus. During a Parliament session, Yadav asked the government if the Parliament should be used as a facility.

READ: China Opens Coronavirus Hospital Constructed In 8 Days To Nearly 50 Patients On 1st Day

MP questions government

"The government has said that the aircraft to evacuate them (Nepali citizens) are kept ready. Then when will they fly-off for China? It's already been 5 days that the Nepal government has been searching on for a place to keep those to-be-evacuated from China. No location has been identified until now. Should we vacate the Parliament building? Let's vacate it (the Parliament building) and keep those returning from China here. Let's move our parliamentary meeting out under the tarpaulins."

Minister of Health, Bhanubhakta Dhakal replied and said that the party was looking at some options but could not finalise it since the conditions were not met. "Some of those locations are near residential areas and the government believes that places far from the urban settlement would be appropriate," he added.

READ: China: Red Cross Officials Punished For Donation Errors In Coronavirus-hit Hubei Province

The outbreak took place in Wuhan in January and has claimed more than 425 lives. Over 20,000 people with Coronavirus have already been confirmed in the country and the virus has spread to multiple countries across the globe. Multiple countries have started evacuating their citizens from the country, and have decided to restrict the entry of foreigners returning from China. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Coronavirus as a 'global public health emergency'.

READ: Kerala MPs Demand Govt Statement On Coronavirus In LS

Director-General of WHO Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "The vast majority of cases outside China have a travel history to Wuhan or contact with someone with a travel history to Wuhan. We dont know what sort of damage this 2019nCoV virus could do if it were to spread in a country with a weaker health system. We must act now to help countries prepare for that possibility. For all of these reasons, I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of 2019nCoV."

READ: Coronavirus Casts Shadow On Auto Expo; Chinese Executives To Stay Away From Exhibit Areas

(Image credits: AP)
A Singaporean ramen chain owner once convicted of sedition for writings that caused social discord says he is a victim of discrimination despite paying his debt to society.

Yang Kaiheng, who served five months in prison for articles published online, says he was denied space at a Clementi mall for his new shop after a deal had been struck. He said the lease holder cited his conviction for not want[ing] to have any dealings with him in an email.

I personally felt very strongly when I read the email as I dont believe that those facing discrimination should suffer in silence, Yang told Coconuts Singapore on Friday.

He said he was also denied return of his S$16,000 deposit until after he went public with what happened in a post that included images of the email, his response and his police complaint, which has been shared more than 2,000 times. The money was returned Friday, two days after his post was published.

The lease holder, Ministry of Food, has not responded to multiple messages sent via Facebook since Thursday, though the company owner has publicly denied any wrongdoing.

Yang said he became aware of its reason to refuse to rent to him Jan. 23 when Aaron Siow, his property agent, forwarded him an email hed received from Ministry of Food owner Lena Sim.

Dear Aaron, it is to my horror to discover the background of Takagi Ramens owners. No wonder they are so aggressive, unreasonable, threatening and even abusive, the email began.

I have no discrimination, but I do not want to have any dealings with this young couple. The man was jailed eight months and the wife 10 months, it continued. He confessed he lied also. Both are convicted of sedition, which is a serious offense to the nation.

In 2016, Yang and his wife Ai Takagi were handed down sentences of eight and 10 months, respectively, after being convicted of sedition for articles published on The Real Singapore, a now-defunct site they had started. Yang was freed from prison after only five months due to good behavior.

Story continues

Yang responded to the email saying that the comments were completely irrelevant and utterly discriminatory.

She has brought up old history which is completely irrelevant to my request for my goodwill deposit back  I have not been aggressive, threatening, nor abusive.

Though Singapore has anti-discrimination laws in the workplace, they do not cover private contracts.

He said that he went public with the dispute because former prisoners are routinely discriminated against.

I have a lot of friends I met in prison on my Facebook and through catching up with them over coffee I know that this type of discrimination is still very very common. Thats why I felt so strongly that I needed to share about it.

Yang said he had submitted a letter of intent and the goodwill deposit through property agent Aaron Siow on Dec. 29 to secure the space for what was to be his fifth shop.

They accepted the [letter] and sent us back a signed copy of [it] together with a photocopy of the cheque we had passed them prior to banking in the deposit, Yang said.

Yang said it was uncommon for goodwill deposits to be banked until a tenancy agreement is signed. Yang said he gave the lessor three deadlines to return the money, which all passed.

I was well within my rights to ask for the goodwill deposit back immediately, he said, as he had a business deadline to find a new space.

In his Jan. 22 police complaint, Yang accused Sim and property agent Siow of using delay tactics which led him to believe his money had been misappropriated.

The S$16,000 deposit was deposited into Ministry of Foods account Jan. 6, the police complaint showed.

While neither Siow nor Ministry of Food have responded inquiries from Coconuts Singapore, Sim denied Yangs allegations to Yahoo Singapore.

Yang refuted her refutation, saying he had made no false statements or allegations.

He did post a photo of the returned check for his deposit Friday and asked readers to refrain from making personal attacks against Sim.

While I was very hurt by her remarks, I also feel that making personal attacks against her is uncalled for and we certainly should not label her or her company indefinitely over this incident. In fact, doing so would go against my original intention in making the issue public in the first place, he wrote.

Yang said he found his time in prison to be instructive, if boring.

Prison is very clean, strict and organized. For me, the main punishment was the separation from our loved ones and the boredom. There is not a lot of mental stimulation and the daily routine is very strict, Yang said.

The articles that had landed him and his wife behind bars were related to racial and religious issues and were deemed by the authorities to have sown discord among Singaporeans. At least one contained information deemed false.

I think a lot of people who are not exposed to people who have been to prison have this misconception that everyone inside is a hardened criminal  Most of the people I met inside were first-time offenders and I could tell that most of them acknowledged their mistakes and thats also why I feel strongly about the discrimination of ex-cons who have already made amends.

Takagi Ramen was launched in 2015 and has outlets in Ang Mo Kio, Pasir Ris, Jurong West and the National University of Singapore campus. Yangs family members had helped him run his business while he was behind bars.

More news from the Little Red Dot at Coconuts.co/Singapore.

This article, Ramen shop owner denied lease receives shocking email calling out criminal past, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!
As I watched the possible peace plan for Israel and a Palestinian state and the spirit of all who attended as the president of the United States and prime minister of Israel presented the plan, I had tears for the possibility of it happening. And I prayed for the Palestinian people to accept it as a real end to what has gone on for decades. I was absolutely stunned when I decided to check other channels than Fox News and discovered not one was covering our president's program. Instead they were just going on with the impeachment trial, which is so unnecessary and made up by those who hate him. It is time that they finally admit they lost the election and decide to do better for our country. God has truly blessed us with this president, and he forgives him just as he does any of us as we have all sinned. Let he who has not sinned throw the first stone.

President Trump has done so much and literally turned America around, as he promised. I am so ashamed of the media and the leaning of the politicians in our great country. I am 81 and have never felt so afraid to even express my views to anyone before as I have in the past three years. But today I have to speak up and take a stand.

Arlene Laughlin, Fairview
Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR), or RBI, has big plans for profitable expansion this decade. The parent company of Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen declared its intention, back in May 2019, to increase its restaurant empire from the current 26,000 to 40,000 locations worldwide during the 2020s. Such a bold expansion would almost certainly lift its share value to a much higher level, but some questions remain about its indebtedness and its ability to actually deliver on launching 1,000 or more franchises each year to stay on target.

Attempting expansion but falling short

As part of its drive to expand its global empire of burgers, fries, coffee, and crunchy chicken, RBI outlined its strategy in its 2019 Investor Day presentation. The company currently has slightly more than 26,300 franchises open worldwide. While market penetration is highest in North America and Europe, several thousand outlets operate in Central America, South America, and Asia.

RBI identifies plenty of "unit gap" on the map that's still ripe for filling in with new restaurant openings. The biggest potential growth area is Asia, with a "gap" of approximately 27,000 restaurants. The gap measures the difference between RBI franchises and the largest competing chain. In the Asian market alone, RBI notes that the gap is 7,139 restaurants focused on burgers, 8,764 focused on coffee, and 11,472 serving chicken. The company identifies a 22,000-unit gap in North America, plus smaller totals still running into the thousands elsewhere.

While RBI opened over 1,300 new restaurants each year in 2017 and 2018, with the majority of these being Burger King -- its most popular and successful brand -- its new openings faltered somewhat in 2019. While whole-year 2019 figures aren't available yet for new openings among the three franchises, Burger King grew by a net 436 outlets during the first nine months of the year. Popeyes and Tim Hortons opened franchises more slowly, so the company only added 567 new franchises, total, during the first nine months of 2019. A shortfall of several hundred below the goal of 1,000 openings seems certain.. However, the fact that RBI opened a "surplus" of approximately 300 restaurants per year in 2017 and 2018 likely means that the slower growth in 2019 hasn't derailed its goal of reaching 40,000 stores in the 2020s.

Does debt put RBI at risk?

RBI enjoys the advantage of having very little capital expenditure (capex) while expanding its number of branches. More than 99% of locations are franchised, with the franchisee shouldering most expenses. Its brands remain competitive with rivals such as McDonald's (NYSE:MCD), as seen in the recent results of the clash between McDonald's chicken sandwich versus Popeyes'.

Still, RBI carries a somewhat unusual amount of debt for a company that should have very low capex on operating expenses. This debt comes both from acquisitions and from property leases: RBI leases or owns 21% of physical restaurant locations, subleasing these to franchisees, while franchisees own or lease (from owners other than RBI) the remaining 79%. These leases represent RBI's single biggest capital expenditure in maintaining the restaurants themselves. The company debt totals $13.8 billion.

Shareholder equity, at the time of RBI's latest 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, stood at $4.1 billion. Its debt-to-equity ratio is approximately 336%, indicating a very high level of debt well above the restaurant industry's average 101%. However, the company's solid fundamentals in other areas, and the fact that its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) provides 3.7:1 coverage on the debt, somewhat mitigates the risks involved. Operating cash flow rose more than 35% year over year from 2018 to 2019, and RBI currently musters about $1.7 billion in cash reserves. Around 70% of free cash flow is used to pay its 3.2% dividend yield, with the rest rolled back into building up the business.

RBI offers good value to investors

For those interested in restaurant stocks, Restaurant Brands International may indeed represent a good buy. If it maintains its current level of success, it will continue to grow in value while offering a decent dividend yield. However, in my opinion, it may achieve even stronger growth in the medium to long term.

The company's three component brands don't have much menu overlap, dodging internal competition or redundancy. This helps RBI maintain exceptional flexibility in filling in the blank areas on its world restaurant map. Tim Hortons features a menu heavy on coffee, an extremely popular $6 billion a year market sector in China that's growing at a very rapid pace. Chicken is in high demand in South America, in particular Brazil, offering an excellent environment for developing a widespread network of Popeyes franchises. If RBI meets its ambitious expansion goals, it has the potential for large gains during the 2020s. If its actual performance is more modest, it still offers steady growth and an adequate dividend.
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Digital Editor
New Delhi, Feb 4 : The government is taking steps to prevent people from becoming victims of online frauds, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Krishan Reddy informed Parliament on Tuesday.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Reddy said that the government has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Phone Frauds with stakeholder organisations like the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Department of Financial Services, Department of Telecommunication, Reserve Bank of India and law enforcement agencies as its members.

"FCORD-FICN Coordination Agency has been designated as Central Nodal Agency for this purpose and ADGP/IGP Crime in each State/UT is the State Nodal Officer," the Minister said.

In a bid to create more awareness regarding these online frauds, the government has issued advisories and alerts and has been training law enforcement personnel for the same, Reddy said.

"Steps have been taken to spread awareness about cyber crimes, issue of alerts/advisories, capacity building/training of law enforcement personnel/prosecutors/judicial officers, improving cyber forensics facilities, among others in association with police departments in different States/Uts," he said.

"An advisory dated February 12, 2018, was issued on 'steps to check phone frauds' to all state governments/UT administrations, which is available at www.mha.gov.in," he added.

Referring to the measures taken by the Centre to ease complaint filing in cyber crime cases, Reddy said: "The Central Government has also launched the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, www.cybercrime.gov.in to enable complainants to report complaints pertaining to all types of cyber crimes, including net and online frauds." As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, 3,466 and 3,353 cases of online frauds were registered in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The NCRB started to collect data separately about online banking frauds since 2017.
Panaji, Feb 4 : Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat on Tuesday urged State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane to take adequate precautions and install mechanisms to screen movement of people from Kerala to Goa, in order to keep the coronavirus spread at bay.

"There is a need to take precautions against the coronavirus. Few people come from China to Goa, but there is a lot of movement of people coming from Kerala to Goa," Kamat told the state Assembly, during a discussion on the precautions which need to be taken in the state.

Former Chief Minister Churchill Alemao also urged Rane to set up screening mechanisms at various railway stations in Goa to screen passengers from Kerala.

"There are a lot of people moving between Kerala and Goa in trains. We have asked the Government of India to give Goa thermal scanners," State Health Minister Rane said, while responding to the concerns expressed by the MLAs.

Three coronavirus patients have been detected in Kerala over the last few days, even as the Southern state has declared the disease as a state calamity.

As of now five persons, including two tourists who had travelled from China, have been kept in the isolation ward of a state government hospital, following suspicion of their being affected by the virus. Two of the suspect patients were released after their tests proved negative.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Member of Parliament from West Bengal's Medinipur constituency Dilip Ghosh on Tuesday hit out at Mamata Banerjee led West Bengal government accusing it of doing "untouchability politics" and that there was "no democracy" in the state.

Explaining his charge on the Trinamool government, Ghosh referred to one incident when he had a word with a Trinamool Congress leader at a function, the BJP state unit chief said that particular leader was issued a show cause notice by his party.

"Politics of untouchability is being spread in West Bengal by the government," Ghosh was speaking during motion of thanks on the President's address in the Lok Sabha.

Ghosh said despite being an MP, "I and other leaders of BJP" are not given time by the Superintendents of Police and the District Magistrates in West Bengal.

The 56-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader accused the Mamata Banerjee government of "discriminating" against the saffron party leaders and alleged that they were not even allowed to arrange functions to celebrate the central government's or Prime Minister's Narendra Modi's achievements.

"There is no democracy in West Bengal." The MP accused the state government of welcoming "infiltrators" from Bangladesh and opposing the Prime Minister's entry into the state.

Talking about the ongoing agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Ghosh said maximum properties have been damaged in West Bengal by the anti-CAA protesters.

Noting that the political parties who have professed allegiance to constitution to oppose CAA -- which grants citizenship to six-non Muslim communities comprising Sikh, Hindu, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist and Christian who migrated to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.

The law which was passed in Parliament in December 11, 2019 during winter session and came into force on January 10 -- the MP said have already "made the Constitution look just like only a bundle of paper".

Ghosh said that there was a time when Communist Party of India (Marxist) was on top but its seat reduced because it cheated the people and now they are limited to only three seats.

"A time will come when CPI-M will be reduced to zero." Hitting out at the opposition, the MP said: "You say no to CAA but a time will come when people will say no to TMC, no to Congress and no to CPM."
A 39-year-old man from Hong Kong who traveled to Wuhan, China, last month died on Tuesday from the new coronavirus, hospital officials said.

The highly contagious coronavirus originated in Wuhan, and this is the second death from the outbreak to take place outside of mainland China. The man went to Wuhan on Jan. 21 and returned to Hong Kong two days later, and was hospitalized on Jan. 31. Officials said he had a preexisting condition. His mother did not go to Wuhan but has contracted the virus; the man's wife, two children, and a person who works for the family have all been quarantined.

People in Hong Kong are calling on the government to seal its border with mainland China. Thousands of medical workers have gone on strike, in an attempt to convince the government to close all of the border checkpoints. On Monday, all but three of the 16 checkpoints were shuttered.

There are 20,438 confirmed cases of Wuhan coronavirus in mainland China, where more than 400 people have died.

More stories from theweek.com

Trump just won the Iowa Democratic caucuses

Should financial markets be freaked out by coronavirus?

America is doing so much better than you think


A 21-year-old trans-identified student, who was charged with sedition for reportedly raising slogans during the Mumbai Pride Solidarity Gathering on February 1, approached the sessions court for anticipatory bail on Tuesday, and their plea is likely to be heard on Wednesday.

The student, whose name given at birth is Urvashi, but uses the name Kris Chudawala, is among 51 persons against whom the Mumbai Police registered by a First Information Report after former Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament Kirit Somaiya lodged a complaint on February 2.

The students mother also gave her statement to the Mumbai police on Tuesday. Someone would have instigated her to shout those slogans; she is not the kind of person who would do that, their mother said, addressing media after recording her statement.

The Azad Maidan police station, which is conducting the probe is expected to submit a response by Wednesday. Chudawalas lawyer Vijay Hiremath said that he would comment on the case only after the hearing.

On February 2, Somaiya tweeted a video of a group of persons raising slogans pertaining to Sharjeel Imam, a PhD student of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, who was booked for sedition last week after making allegedly inflammatory speeches in Delhi and at Aligarh.

A day later Somaiya tweeted, I filled complaint with Mumbai Police on anti national demonstration/slogans in support of Sharjeel Imam during 1 Feb LGBT program. Thackeray Govt asked police not to register FIR. I will start DHARNA at Azad Maidan Police Station if action not taken in 3 day @BJP4Maharashtra.

The FIR, lodged by the Mumbai police on Monday, lists sections 124(A) (sedition), 153(B) (assertions prejudicial to national integration), 500 (defamation), 505 (public mischief) and 34 (Common Intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

The student was one of the estimated 3000 persons who attended the solidarity gathering on Saturday, held at the citys Azad Maidan ground after the Queer Azadi March (QAM) organisers were denied permission to hold a Pride march. The reason cited by the police was that slogans against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens, would be raised during the march.

Soon after the video surfaced, QAM released a press statement which they also handed over to the police, a QAM volunteer who wished to remain anonymous, told HT. We completely dissociate ourselves from and strongly condemn the abrupt radical slogans in support of Sharjeel and/or any other slogans against the integrity of India at the gathering, the statement read.

A group of queer individuals and allies have started a petition against what they call the systematic targeting of a young trans student, Kris Chudwala (referred to by their deadname in the FIR).

-- With inputs from Yesha Kotak, Presley Thomas
NEW ORLEANS  A federal appeals court was set to hear arguments Tuesday over a Louisiana citys decision to bar the Sons of Confederate Veterans from marching in a 2015 Christmas parade.

Court records show the Louisiana Division of the group was denied permission to march in a parade in the city of Natchitoches that year amid concerns that many would be offended by the group carrying a Confederate flag.

Tuesday's arguments before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal concern the resulting lawsuit filed by the Confederate-honoring group. It alleged that city officials and the nonprofit that hosts the parade violated its constitutional rights to freedom of speech and due process of law.

Last year, U.S. District Judge Dee Drell dismissed the lawsuit. Among his reasons were that the denial of the permit was done by the nonprofit  the Historic District Business Association  not a government agency. Drell noted in his opinion that city officials were worried about protests and that Mayor Lee Posey had expressed concerns in a letter to the HDBA that the group's display of the Confederate flag would offend some and could result in disruption or interference with the parade.

But, Drell said, it was the private, nonprofit agency's decision to deny the permit  not the city's.

The denial of the permit came months after the slayings of nine black worshippers at a South Carolina church by white supremacist Dylann Roof. Pictures on social media of Roof posing with Confederate battle flags led to renewed opposition to public displays of Confederate iconography and successful efforts in some locales, including New Orleans, to remove memorials to Confederate leaders from public display.

By KEVIN McGILL, Associated Press
Kim Kardashian West has admitted she has cellulite (Getty Images)

Kim Kardashian West has revealed the lighting in her bathroom is designed to hide all her cellulite.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashian star - famous for sharing selfies in her underwear with her 159 million Instagram followers - joined husband Kanye West to chat about their favourite features in their $60 million home.

Ms Kardashian West, 39, told Architectural Digest: The lighting in the bathroom is so good that it smooths out all cellulite. We had this light panel that we saw - maybe we saw it at the Chanel store, and the whole ceiling was just light. But we did it and its so cool - the whole ceiling is just one giant light but it smooths out everything.

I start my day, I get in the shower feeling so good about about myself, like Oh my god Ive been working out so hard my cellulite is going away! And then I get in the closet to get dressed and I realise its just the lighting.

Read more: Kim Kardashian sometimes pees on herself while using the toilet in shapewear

But one room that does not make her feel so comfortable is the wardrobe she shares with her husband.

She revealed: He completely took away the bars in the closet and you have like a whole new system for how you like to fold your clothes and how you like to organise your clothes.

"It gives me full anxiety, because then you have to steam it instead of just being hung."

During the question and answer session about their home - co-created by Belgian designer Axel Vervoordt - Ms Kardashian West also admitted she had never used the swimming pool.

She said: Ive never used our pool actually. Can you believe that? But I love our pool.

During the video daughter North, six, bursts in and pulls up a stool to join her parents.

Ms Kardashian West tells her: Youre right in the middle of our shot, before claiming their children were the inspiration for their predominantly white house, decorated with priceless works of art.

Story continues

Read more: Kim Kardashian related to Scottish royalty

The couple are parents to North, four-year-old son Saint, two-year-old Chicago and son Psalm, born last may.

Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West with daughter North (AP)

She said: The kids ride their scooters down the hallways and jump around on top of the low Axel tables, which they use as a kind of stage. This house may be a case study, but our vision for it was built around our family,

Mr West agreed: Everything we do is an art installation and a playroom.
Iowas impact

Win, lose or spin

Determined to beat Trump, conflicted on how

(TNS)  Iowa Democrats gathered across the state Monday night to winnow the 2020 presidential field, but a glitch with a mobile reporting app kept the state party from releasing any caucus results, leaving the top contenders each to declare victory even as they seethed.The delay, which officials attributed to the glitch in a mobile app, prompted gut-churning frustration for supporters packed into hotel ballrooms ready to cheer or commiserate.When those results are announced I have a good feeling that were going to be doing very, very well, Sen. Bernie Sanders told cheering supporters at a Holiday Inn. Today was the beginning of the end for Donald Trump.In the final week, Iowa looked like a competitive race, with Sanders, former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren bunched tightly, with former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar showing life, too.Well it looks like its going to be a long night, but Im feeling good, Biden declared to a crowd at Drake University. Were going to walk out of here with our share of delegates... So its on to New Hampshire.Officials said a new mobile app was supposed to help Democratic officials quickly gather information from some 1,700 caucus sites, The Associated Press reported. Instead, its being blamed for the delays.Some caucus organizers had to call in results to be recorded manually. The glitch was not the result of a hack, caucus officials told AP.Among the problems -- precinct chairs couldnt test the app in advance and werent even allowed to download it until after the caucuses had started, AP reported.Warren told her supporters that it is too close to call, which wasnt quite true, with no results yet released when her and her rivals finally went before the cameras. Either way, she added, Tonight as a party we are one step closer to defeating the most corrupt president in American history.The caucuses kick off the 2020 presidential nomination contest and also, this year, one of the most extraordinary weeks in political history: a president under impeachment delivering a State of the Union on Tuesday night and then, almost certainly, winning an acquittal vote the next day.Without results, pundits and candidates were left to speculate when they otherwise would have spent the evening spinning the implications. The campaigns had some inkling informally through their networks of precinct captains, and with no one to dispute them, each declared some measure of success.What a night. Because tonight an improbable hope became an undeniable reality, Buttigieg declared at another venue on the Drake campus. Iowa, you have shocked the nation. Because by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.He had a morning town hall event scheduled for Manchester, as candidates hopped chartered planes for an overnight flight to the next battleground. New Hampshire hosts a debate Friday night, and the first in the nation primary next Tuesday.President Donald Trump, who breezed to victory in the Iowa GOP caucuses, cast an enormous shadow over the scramble.Dismay with the president prompted Democratic voters to prioritize electability over any other attribute or policy. In Iowa, the candidates all pitched themselves as the one best equipped to stand up to Trump, make inroads with the disaffected voters who sent him to the White House, and restore the political norms he has shattered as president.In a very direct way, his impeachment trial added remarkable uncertainty. Jury duty in the Senate waylaid three of the top contenders for most of the final two weeks before the caucuses.Warrens vaunted ground game and Sanders residual affection from his 2016 bid mitigated the damage for them.But Klobuchar, from neighboring Minnesota, was still playing catch-up, steadily gaining ground and clawing her way into a respectable fifth place. She had hoped to complete a second tour of Iowas 99 counties. Time ran out.Their absence left Iowa to Biden, entrepreneur Andrew Yang and investor Tom Steyer. Yang and Steyer each have modest national support but nowhere near the critical mass needed across Iowa to thrive under the caucus system.We are bringing this ticket to New Hampshire. Even in a crowded field of candidates, even during the well-earned impeachment hearing of Donald J. Trump which kept me bolted to my Senate desk for the last two weeks, we kept fighting, Klobuchar told supporters in downtown Des Moines on Monday night.Iowas importance can vary from one election cycle to the next.As the first contest, its a critical testing ground with a tradition not of picking winners so much as winnowing the field, hobbling front-runners who fall short of expectations, and giving a boost to those who exceed expectations.Those expectations, however, are fluid, subjective and even somewhat arbitrary, which means campaigns go to great lengths to manage them.Bidens team tried hard to deflate expectations in the run-up to caucus night."Joe Biden is anything but doomed," former Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, a longtime Biden friend, insisted at a Bloomberg News reporter roundtable in Des Moines  raising a specter even more dire than journalists had raised.Biden senior adviser Symone Sanders tried to inoculate the candidate against any outcome by arguing that hed been written off from the outset."We have been taking incoming since before Vice President Biden got into this race. Since before April 25, people have been writing our campaign's obituary. Tuesday morning will be no different," she said.Buttigieg, puzzlingly, declared Sunday that We are just one day away from victory in the Iowa caucuses.A gang tackle of Biden would blow the race wide open, but Buttigieg was far more aggressive than rivals.The idea that we are going to take on someone like Donald Trump with the old playbook by saying I understand the ways of Washington, I hung out with Strom Thurmond 20 years ago -- thats not going to happen, said Buttigieg strategist Lis Smith.The caucus process has always been arcane. Rule changes this year only boosted the possibility of a muddle.Voters gather in school gyms and church basements and sort into groups for each candidate. But anyone who fails to get 15% in that precinct isnt deemed viable, and those voters have to pick another candidates, or declare themselves officially undecided  a designation that actually has led the field in some years.The number of votes then translates into delegates for the national convention.The wrinkle this year: For the first time, under orders from the national party, the Iowa Democratic Party will report raw numbers for that initial sort --not just the final numbers.That meant laggards could claim more traction. In the old system, someone who got 10% of the vote statewide might end up with no delegates and the perception of being shut out. On Monday, a candidate in that position might look like a serious contender, or could at least claim to be.Even so, state party chairman Troy Price insisted that there couldnt be three winners.Theres someone who gets the most delegates out of the state of Iowa, he said, and at the end of the day, this comes down to a race for delegates. ... This is about whos going to get 1,991 delegates on the first ballot in Milwaukee in July.  Campaigns are going to spin as campaign spin.Democratic voters in Iowa were united by a determination to defeat Trump but often torn about how to translate that into a vote.Would it be better to vote for a Warren or Sanders promising more transformational change, or a Biden with his decades in Washington, including eight years as vice president? Or perhaps Klobuchar or Buttigieg, as younger alternatives to Biden who likewise avoid alienating large blocs of voters with plans for costly health care overhauls and big tax hikes.Sanders, the oldest of the three septuagenarian candidates, enjoyed the most enthusiasm by far among college students and other young voters. Biden was shut out Monday night at some campus precincts.The fact that Republicans will hammer Sanders as a socialist didnt faze voters like Annabel Higgin-Houser, 22, a fourth-year student at Grinnell College from suburban Minneapolis. Like many out of state students, she registered in Iowa in order to vote for the Vermont senator.Socialism, she said, is not a word that we should be scared of.Nick Nelson, 37, a graphic designer from New Sharon, also rejected fears that Sanders is too radical to go the distance.If were going to change this country the way I feel it needs to be changed, we need a candidate whos not going to settle for the status quo, he said.But many Democrats did go to the caucuses with big qualms about Sanders.I am a Warren supporter. I like her passion. I like her principles. I believe in the big structural changes she wants to make, said Holly Kilborn ONeall, 46, a consumer strategist from Des Moines. I would happily vote for any of them, but there are degrees of enthusiasm, for sure.Amy Burrell, 50, a marketing director from Urbandale, brought her 10-year-old son, Miles, to a Buttigieg rally.Warrens vow to fight, fight, fight turns her off. That was a central tension in the caucuses, as Democrats weighed whether to choose a pugilist to stand up to Trump or a conciliator compelling enough, perhaps, to ease America past the Trump era.Im just so tired of conflict, Burrell said.As for Buttigieg, she said, Hes intelligent, articulate, passionate. He embodies hope. Granted, hes going to have to learn the ropes having only risen to small-town mayor in elective politics.And as she noted, the Iowa caucuses dont even represent the entire viable set of candidates. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is sitting out the first four contests, and spending lavishly in Texas and around the country, aiming for a splash on Super Tuesday in March.Trump will be so intimidated to be on a stage with Bloomberg. Bloomberg is everything Trump pretends to be  a successful New York billionaire. Smart. Accomplished, Burrell said.
The Bihar Police on Tuesday resorted to lathi-charge on students and used water cannons to stop protests against the leak of state Police Examination papers near the Science College in Patna.

The protesters have alleged that the papers got leaked and they were demanding a CBI probe into the matter when the incident happened.

To stop the students from protesting, the police resorted to lathi-charge and even used water cannons.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The organisers insist it has undergone a 'cultural change' after previous complaints of 'blatant sexism' and threats of boycotts.

But most of the 35,000 visitors to the Ice London gambling conference yesterday would probably have struggled to pinpoint this shift as they were greeted by scores of scantily clad hostesses dressed as Playboy bunnies, Bavarian maids, mermaids, angels and Greek goddesses or wearing leather cat-suits, complete with plunging tops, ears and extended tails.

MPs yesterday denounced the use of hostesses at the event  one of the world's biggest gambling conferences which aims to 'explore the future of the industry' and 'drive revenues'  as 'sordid and irresponsible' and like 'something from another age'.

More than 600 exhibitors filled two halls at the ExCeL Centre in London, each the size of an aircraft hanger.

'Sordid and irresponsible': MPs yesterday denounced the use of hostesses at Ice London gambling conference yesterday

Most of the 35,000 visitors to the Ice London gambling conference yesterday would probably have struggled to pinpoint this shift as they were greeted by scores of scantily clad hostesses, some dressed as Bavarian barmaids (pictured)

Others appeared as angels, with giant wings attached to their backs, apparently inspired by the raunchy Victoria's Secret underwear fashion show

Lavish stands were packed with casino tables, slot machines and giant screens featuring live computer games as gambling companies battled to attract business.

One delegate described it as being like 'Las Vegas on tour.' But the main means of promoting exhibitors' products to the predominantly male clientele was with provocatively dressed young women.

At stand after stand they were handing out goody bags and leaflets, often dressed in revealing outfits  predominantly featuring mini skirts and low-cut necklines.

Interblock  which produces electronic products for casinos  had five women dressed as Playboy bunnies who blew kisses as they posed for pictures and distributed details about the company.

The women's outfits were presumably a nod to the deal that the Las Vegas-based firm announced last year to make and distribute electronic tables branded with the Playboy bunny logo.

At an exhibit for online casino company Kajot, women wore black leather cat outfits.

At a German betting company, 'Bavarian maids' handed out chocolates. Elsewhere, women dressed as mermaids smiled as they held signs for BoleGaming.

At another stand, women dressed as alluring Greek goddesses  in glittering red and green dresses, in crowns and low-cut tops  as they distributed leaflets for Synot, which boasts that it is creating a 'new dimension of gaming'.

Elsewhere, women dressed as mermaids smiled as they held signs for BoleGaming

In a section promoting slot machines, a woman dressed as a 'jackpot' playing card, in a short skirt and high heels, posed with visitors for photos.

Others appeared as angels, with giant wings attached to their backs, apparently inspired by the raunchy Victoria's Secret underwear fashion show.

Not much seemed to have changed since 2018, when the Mail revealed how the same event included the appearance of a pole dancer in leather lingerie at 4pm, and young women dressed as cheerleaders and burlesque dancers.

Other women that year wore low-cut dresses with the logos of the companies they were promoting painted on their backs, prompting the charity Gamble Aware to accuse the trade show of 'blatant sexism'.

Back then, the then Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson was a fierce critic of what he called 'sexist and chauvinistic behaviour.'

But Mr Watson, who stood down as an MP at the general election, was one of the keynote speakers at the Ice Vox conference which ran alongside this week's exhibition  though he delivered his speech a day before the exhibition floor featuring the hostesses opened.

The Gambling Commission, which two years ago threatened to boycott the event unless it stopped using 'promo girls', had a stand at this year's event, and its chief executive Neil McArthur gave another of the keynote speeches at Ice Vox.

Interblock  which produces electronic products for casinos  had five women dressed as Playboy bunnies who blew kisses as they posed for pictures and distributed details about the company

Ronnie Cowan, vice chair of the all-party parliamentary group on gambling, called on the Gambling Commission to condemn the use of models to promote companies at the conference.

He said: 'It's from another age  it's not from the 21st century. It seems to be an industry that does its own thing regardless of public opinion.

'It has a reputation as a macho-driven industry and presenting itself in this way does nothing to dispel that.

'I can only assume they are detached from reality, and they have this attitude that money buys you anything.'

Carolyn Harris, shadow minister for women and equalities, said: 'I am shocked and saddened to see women still being used as sex symbols to drive business by the men in suits throughout the gambling industry.

'This outdated marketing tactic feels sordid and irresponsible. This should not be happening in the UK.'

Clarion Gaming,  which organises the ICE conference  and the European Casino Association, wrote an open letter to exhibitors before the 2017 event, urging them to be aware of potential allegations of sexism 'in the spirit of the 21st century'.

At stand after stand they were handing out goody bags and leaflets, often dressed in revealing outfits

That came after the Gambling Commission's then chief executive, Sarah Harrison, had threatened to boycott the event, at which she said women were 'expected to wear nothing more than swimsuits'.

After being contacted by the Mail, the event organisers said Kajot  which was responsible for the cat-suits  had breached the conference's code of conduct and that its management had been spoken to.

It did not comment on the Playboy bunny girls or other promotional women used by the various exhibitors.

Kate Chambers, managing director of ICE London, said: 'Our Code of Conduct was developed with the help of a cross-industry Diversity Working Group, and we treat any breach with the utmost seriousness.

'There's no doubt that a cultural shift has been required in our industry for some time, and the overwhelming majority is supportive of the importance of inclusion and diversity.

'I believe we're seeing progress being made, but there's no room for complacency and we remain fully committed to providing a safe working environment for everyone across our events.'

A Gambling Commission spokesman said: 'We called out the organisers about this two years ago and they have since launched a code of conduct.

'It is a matter for the organisers to enforce that code.

'Our focus at the conference is on making gambling safer for British consumers.'

Tom Watson could not be reached for comment.
| By Wanda Haskel

The average age in University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law classrooms decreased by a few years on Jan. 31 when 200 Prince Georges County high school students filled the seats to experience what law school is all about.

William H. Billy Murphy, JD 69, delivered inspiring remarks to over 200 high school students from Prince Georges County who were visiting Maryland Carey Law.

The visitors started the day divided into small groups to participate in mock classes taught by some of Maryland Carey Laws most prestigious professors. One lucky set landed in class with dean and professor Donald B. Tobin, JD, who led them in an exercise resulting in a spirited debate on the legal issues surrounding the placement of a tank in a public park. The lesson, Tobin explained, is part of an actual first-year legal writing class. Students, including a Prince Georges County high school Student Government Association president, class president, and volleyball team captain, eagerly argued for and against the tank, using relevant statutes and legislative history.

Other sections were taught by Leigh Goodmark, JD, professor and co-director of the Clinical Law Program; Sherri Keene, JD, professor and director of the Legal Writing Program; Bill Piermattei, JD managing director of the Environmental Law Program; Michael Pinard, JD, professor and co-director of the Clinical Law Program; Markus Rauschecker, JD, director of the Cybersecurity Program; and Maneka Sinha, JD, assistant professor and director of the Criminal Defense Clinic.

Tobin closed out his class by inviting the high school students to view the law school as a place where you belong  a place where you can hone the skills to become great leaders in society.

Next, it was on to historic Westminster Hall, where the teens had a chance to grill current law students and recent alumni on their law school experiences and the legal profession.

Panelist Shane Doyle, a first-generation college graduate who is earning his law degree at night, shared his story of wanting to represent people convicted of crimes who cant afford representation.

A native of a war-torn country in the Middle East, panelist Susan Ansari described her journey toward using her law degree to help refugees.

Students also asked questions about applying to law school, managing stress, and how to get the most out of the law school experience. Taylor Nichols, a student attorney in the Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic, answered the query, What would you tell your younger self? with the words, I would tell my younger self to do what scares you.

After the panel concluded, the high schoolers were treated to remarks from legendary lawyer and former judge William H. Billy Murphy, JD 69, founding partner at Murphy, Falcon & Murphy. Murphy, who represented the family of Freddie Gray and was a founder of Maryland Carey Laws Black Law Students Association, told the audience that the law school inspires people to greatness, and that, you can be as great at something as you have the will to be. He wrapped up by offering students the opportunity to visit his law office if they wanted to learn more about being an attorney.

This is an extraordinary opportunity for our students, said Frantz Deetjen, Prince Georges County Public Schools college readiness coordinator. Getting a taste of what life is really like in law school helps students see the law as an attainable career path. It helps them envision their own bright futures.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Several community groups are planning a rally today to protest an initiative from Republican leaders of the Onondaga County Legislature seeking to roll back New York states recent bail reforms.

County legislators are due to vote this afternoon on a resolution asking the state legislature to suspend or amend new bail and discovery laws that they say "will endanger the people of New York.''

At noon, an hour before the legislature meets, protesters plan to rally on the steps of the county courthouse to show support for the reforms. Among those expected to protest are representatives from the Syracuse NAACP, the Alliance Network, the Center for Community Alternatives and the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Yusuf Abdul-Qadir, regional director for the NYCLU, said the reforms that took effect in January were long overdue measures designed to give poor and minority people accused of crimes an equal right to the presumption of innocence. To roll back those reforms would re-introduce an unfair duality in which the rich go free before trial but the poor remain jailed.

"We either have a Constitution where youre innocent until proven guilty, or we dont,'' he said. "Trying to keep people incarcerated who have not been in front of a jury of their peers -- who havent been given judgment or convicted of a crime -- isnt fair.''

Legislature Chairman David Knapp said the proposed resolution, which he and other GOP leaders sponsored, aims to amend the states bail reform, not repeal it. Knapp said he has long supported efforts to keep people out of jail while they await trial on non-violent offenses, but he believes the state law needs several amendments to fix problems.

Knapp said there are two key requests in the resolution: that judges be given discretion to impose bail for any defendants whom they deem a danger to the community; and that prosecutors be given more time -- 45 days instead of 15 -- to provide trial-related materials to defense attorneys.

"Were not calling for repeal,'' Knapp said. "We are calling for what I think are common-sense modifications to this that will make it much more safe for the community.''

New Yorks criminal justice reforms have been controversial since they took effect the first of the year. Unlike many other states, New York does not allow judges to impose bail based on the dangerousness of the accused, or public safety.

Onondaga County Court Judge Stephen Dougherty, for one, criticized state lawmakers for usurping "the discretion of the judiciary'' by passing the new law. But others question whether judges should be able to decide who is dangerous enough to keep locked up before trial.

"How do you have a dangerousness standard that isnt subjective?'' asked Abdul-Qadir. Studies have shown that African-Americans and Latinos often receive longer prison terms than whites who commit the same crimes, an indication they are perceived to be more dangerous, he said.

No Democrats signed on to sponsor the resolution. Republicans hold an 11-6 majority. Besides Knapp, sponsors include GOP legislators Brian May, Debra Cody and Kevin Holmquist.

If the resolution passes, it will be sent to state lawmakers as an expression of support for amending the bail reforms.
Photo: Brian Papantonio/Flickr

Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Denver.

Pit bull advocates on why Denver should finally end ban after 30 Years

TV stations, in particular, have been demonizing pit bulls for years.

Read the full story on DenverWestword.

Denver's 'Sweet Tooth Bandit' arrested, accused of robbing Haagen-Dazs, Jamba Juice, Yogurtland

Emanuel Martinez, 22, was charged with 16 counts of aggravated robbery.

Read the full story on 9NEWS.

Jogger fights off attacker in Denver

The incident happened around 7:30 a.m. Sunday near South Cherokee Street and West Alameda Avenue.

Read the full story on 9NEWS.

Denver International Airport flights canceled or delayed as snow rolls in

Eight airlines canceled 144 flights in and out of DIA on Monday, according to the website FlightAware. SkyWest canceled the most flights, a total of 61 by noon Monday, FlightAware said.

Read the full story on Denver Post.

Council OKs sublease of top floor of Denver Post building

City of Denver staff can soon move into the top floor of The Denver Post building downtown after the City Council approved the same lease agreement it shot down just a month ago.

Read the full story on Denver Post.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
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Protesters hold signs calling for a ban on Chinese people entering South Korea near the Chinese embassy in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 4, 2020. The signs read: "Release the information for Wuhan Coronavirus." Read more

Rosalind Vo was westbound on SEPTAs Route 34 trolley, heading home from class at the University of the Arts on Friday, when she noticed a man watching her. It was the day after the World Health Organization had declared a global health emergency over coronavirus.

He was the only guy wearing a medical mask, staring at me, and I was one of the only Asians on the trolley, said Vo, 21, who is Vietnamese American. I just felt off  especially when he took the mask off getting off the trolley.

In the weeks since the epidemic emerged from China, Asians across the globe have recounted episodes of discrimination. No cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Philadelphia region. But amid quarantines and travel alerts, fear is spreading faster than sickness in America.

It just feels like Im kind of an outsider, like theyre scared to be around me, said Vo, who grew up in Perkasie, Bucks County. Just because were Asian does not mean we have it."

 READ MORE: Coronavirus panic in Philly and beyond taps into fears of immigration, globalization, bioterrorism

Even without cases of the illness, the local impact of the virus first detected in Wuhan, China, has already been dramatic: College students studying in China or hoping to do so have had their semesters disrupted, and others have become stuck abroad. An area church serving Chinese Americans asked those who had recently returned from China to avoid coming to services and saw its Sunday attendance plunge.

Businesses and groups intending to celebrate the Lunar New Year have scuttled their plans. Even the Delaware Valley chapter of Families With Children From China, which supports and connects adoptive families, postponed its annual banquet.

In China, at least 425 people have died and more than 20,000 are infected, according to Chinas National Health Commission, and at least 170 other cases have been confirmed in 27 countries around the world.

In the United States, 11 cases of coronavirus have been identified in five states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  Massachusetts, Illinois, Washington, California, and Arizona. Nine of those people had traveled to China. Test results are still pending in 82 additional cases.

There have been no confirmed cases in Pennsylvania or New Jersey. Those states and 34 others initially reported more than 200 patients to the CDC as possible cases.

At least six New Years banquets have been canceled in Philadelphias Chinatown, where memories linger of the economic damage caused by 2003 rumors around the SARS virus. One church canceled some fellowships and streamed other classes online so people could stay home.

Meanwhile, a Chinese person wearing a surgical mask was reportedly pushed on a Washington subway car or platform on Monday evening by someone they believed was frightened of coronavirus, according to a spokesperson for the Fujian Association of Greater Philadelphia.

The issue is particularly acute at American colleges and universities, which both enroll Chinese nationals as students and participate in exchange programs that allow students to study in China. Students at Philadelphia-area schools said the virus has been a constant topic of discussion among their Asian American campus communities.

At least two students enrolled in area colleges are indefinitely stuck in quarantined Wuhan, and others elsewhere in China. One Lehigh University student in Wuhan will take her last course online so she can complete her masters degree, said Cheryl Matherly, vice president and vice provost for international affairs. Two other Lehigh graduate students remain in China.

And a student from the University of Pennsylvania has been forced to take a leave of absence for the semester, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported, after he didnt receive his expected student visa renewal in time for his trip back to Philadelphia and got stuck in Wuhan.

There are hundreds of people [who are] very much suffering in China, said Lark Yan, a Penn sophomore who penned an opinion piece for the school newspaper urging people not to respond to fear of coronavirus with racism. I just wish that the general attitude, at least in America, in regards to coronavirus wouldnt be one of fear of Oh, my gosh, what if I get it? but more so, How are these people doing? Are they OK? How can we help?

 READ MORE: Coronavirus update: How cases are confirmed and more facts to know

Colin Jiang, a 19-year-old freshman at Temple University from Chinas Guangdong province, where his parents are confined at home, said he hasnt personally experienced stereotyping or racism. But, he said, I saw on Twitter lots of attacking language, abusing [language] towards us. I cant understand that.

Others said theyve noticed awkward glances or quick jokes in an America that has a long history of anti-Chinese and anti-Asian racism  stretching back to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which made it illegal for Chinese laborers to enter the U.S. and banned them from becoming American citizens.

Asians have been tagged as agents of disease even in the names of outbreaks, said scholar and veteran Philadelphia Chinatown activist Mary Yee, like the Asian flu of the 1950s and the Hong Kong flu of the late 1960s. And the 2003 SARS virus also brought out discrimination.

The legacy of racism against Chinese [and] Asians in this country can rear its ugly head at moments like this, said Tao Jiang, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Its still very much a developing story. But we should never allow coronavirus to become a metaphor or a joke targeting a vulnerable minority group.

On Sunday evening, Alix Webb, executive director of the pan-Asian rights group Asian Americans United, overheard neighborhood kids incorrectly saying coronavirus had been found in Philadelphia.

I really shut it down, Webb said. I said, This is sending out fear of the Asian community and anti-Asian bias. Its not true.

Worry over the virus has gripped Chinese communities, too, and upended the most celebratory time of year for many who have canceled flights or events.

"A lot of people are not going out.  People are saying, lets meet in our house, said Kevin Jiang, chairman of the elder board at Trinity Christian Church of Greater Philadelphia. People are in general asking people who have been in China not to show up in group gatherings.

At the church, which serves the Chinese community in Havertown, attendance at the weekends main worship service was down almost 40%. About 145 people came to church instead of the usual 230, Jiang said, and one Sunday school class had 10 students instead of 25.

Because the outbreak coincided with the New Year  the Year of the Rat in the Chinese calendar  many church members had recently traveled to China or hosted visitors from there, he said. Thats fueled worry, and the church has asked anyone newly returned from China to stay home. Meanwhile, many are buying surgical masks and canceling flights to visit overseas friends and family, worried about not being able to come back, Jiang said.

There has been quite a commotion within the Chinese community, Jiang said. There is a lot of conversation about, If its somebody from China, be careful, that type of thing, but I didnt take it as malicious or racist or anything.

Yan, the Penn sophomore, said friends in China have told her theyre worried and asked for moral support to stay positive and encouraged as the situation worsens. Her dads side of the family is from Wuhan, but he told her they were fine.

I thought that was interesting, because theyre the ones actually in the situation, Yan said, "whereas people here who dont have family in China or havent ever been to China  theyre the ones who seem to be exhibiting the most amount of fear.

Clarification: A previous version of this story cited a report by the Fujian Association of Greater Philadelphia of a possible attack against a commuter on a SEPTA platform. The association has since amended that report to say the incident occurred in Washington, not Philadelphia.

Staff writers Susan Snyder and Sam Wood contributed to this article.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud discussed cooperation under the OPEC+ format during recent phone talks, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.



"On the whole, the issue of interaction within OPEC+ appeared yesterday during a telephone conversation between President Putin and the king of Saudi Arabia," RIA Novosti cited Peskov as saying.

Russia "is ready to cooperate in this format," the Kremlin spokesman noted.



He added that Russia may be represented at an OPEC meeting in February if it is held.



Of course, if such meetings are held, Russia at some level may well be represented, like it was before, he said.



A source said earlier that OPEC+ states decided to hold a meeting of the technical monitoring committee on February 4-5, ahead of schedule, to discuss the situation with coronavirus and its impact on the oil market and are also considering moving the day of ministerial meetings from March 56 to an earlier date, but there is no final decision yet.
Joaquin Phoenix has made a name for himself as one of the most respected actors working today, however even he tried to adhere to royal protocol when he met Prince William. The pair were introduced at the BAFTAs over the weekend and a video has emerged of Phoenix curtsying to the Duke of Cambridge after the show.

The video - which can be seen above - saw Prince William greet Phoenix and say, Lovely to meet you.

In response, Phoenix said "hello" dropped low in a grand curtsy.

Getty Images

According to the Royal Familys official website, the correct protocol for men meeting members of the Royal Family is to actually perform a neck bow. Previously, Prince Charles former butler and royal expert Grant Harrold told Evening Standard Insider, There are no obligatory codes of behaviour when meeting The Queen or a member of the Royal Family, but many people wish to observe the traditional forms.

Whatever you choose to do, I can assure you that you will not be escorted to the Tower! he continued.

Regardless of Phoenixs gaffe (or joke), Prince William clearly didnt seem to mind as he was later seen having an animated conversation with him, BAFTA winning director Taika Waititi and another woman. Phoenix was also seen patting Prince William on the back, another action which typically is advised against when meeting royals.

Kate Middleton with Renee Zellweger / Getty Images

Lucy Hume, the associate director of etiquette experts DeBretts, said to Reuters that it was, best not to initiate personal physical contact with a member of the royal family.

In some instances, she said an exception could be made. She said, It may be that they offered to give you a hug or to put their arm around you, but usually wait and see whats expected or whats appropriate for the event.

Given that Prince William revealed he was a fan of Phoenixs award-winning turn in Joker, it doesnt seem that he would have had any problems.Prince William was heard saying, I absolutely loved The Joker. It was brilliant.

PA

"I put it off and put it off watching it, as people kept telling me "be careful when you choose to watch it", but when I did it blew my mind, he continued. It was really good.'

Beyond Joker, Prince William and Phoenix both also gave speeches criticising the BAFTAs for its lack of diversity - with no actors of colour nominated for awards this year.

Prince William said that it simply cannot be right in this day and age, while Phoenix used his winners speech for Best Actor to reveal he felt conflicted about his award - saying, I think we send a very clear message to people of colour that youre not welcome here...We have to do the hard work to truly understand systemic racism.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2020) - HEYBRYAN MEDIA INC. (CSE: HEY) (OTCQB: HEYBF) ('HeyBryan'), the creator of the HeyBryan app that connects home-maintenance Experts to homeowners for help with small tasks around the home, is excited to announce that the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has chosen HeyBryan as a feature story in the latest issue of Public Entrepreneur Magazine published by the CSE.

HeyBryan Selected as a Cover Story in the Inspiration Issue of Public Entrepreneur Magazine

To view an enhanced version of this image, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6572/52060_8edf51d2a46e3838_001full.jpg

As described by the CSE, "the first issue of the new decade shares captivating entrepreneurial stories, offering exclusive insights into how the featured business undertakers have harnessed the power of innovation to become genuine disruptors in their respective industries".

Public Entrepreneur's feature story is an interview with HeyBryan's Founder & CEO Lance Montgomery who reveals the story behind the app creation, how long it took to develop it, HeyBryan's business model, having HGTV's Bryan Baeumler as the face of the brand, expansion plans, and the growth of the marketplace economy.

Lance Montgomery, CEO of HeyBryan, says: "We are excited to have been selected as a cover story by the CSE, the Exchange for Entrepreneurs. HeyBryan's goal is to add technology to a very outdated industry that also happens to be a massive market. We would like to think of ourselves as innovators bringing value to both the homeowners and the experts."

HeyBryan Media became public on October 1, 2019, and in the past few months the Company improved technical and operational efficiencies of the app, launched in Calgary, introduced a user referral program, and announced several strategic partnerships. These initiatives, together with HeyBryan's AI-enabled, data-driven ad campaigns, contributed to the quarterly gain in the app adoption as well as accelerated brand recognition."

Now HeyBryan is gearing up to release a further enhanced version of its app, with significant internal, customer and expert facing improvements.

ON BEHALF OF HEYBRYAN MEDIA INC.

Lance Montgomery

CEO, President & Director

About HeyBryan Media Inc.





HeyBryan Media (CSE: HEY) is a peer-to-peer marketplace app offering a friendly and seamless way for customers to connect with trusted and vetted Experts for everyday home-maintenance needs. Founded in 2018, the app is named after Canadian HGTV personality and one of the country's most trusted contractors, Bryan Baeumler.

Payments are processed through the HeyBryan app, eliminating the need for any in-person money exchange. Every Expert is background checked and credit checked to ensure a safe and secure experience for consumers. Typical tasks booked include handyman services, mounting or installation, furniture assembly, plumbing, painting, cleaning, lawn and yard maintenance, and more. HeyBryan accommodates busy schedules by allowing the independent workforce and consumers to communicate and work together. It's about real experts doing real work for real people.

Investor Relations Contacts:

Lance Montgomery, President & CEO

604-240-8192

lance@heybryan.com

CHF Capital Markets

Cathy Hume, CEO

416-868-1079 x231

cathy@chfir.com

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release.





Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking information and statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements") under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates, forecasts, beliefs and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and factors include, but are not limited to: risks related to the development, testing, licensing, intellectual property protection, and sale of, and demand for, the HeyBryan App and the services offered thereby, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals where applicable, and the state of the capital markets. HeyBryan cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements provided by HeyBryan, as such forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future results or performance and actual results may differ materially. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and HeyBryan expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements containing any forward-looking information, or the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52060
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DES MOINES, IOWAThe top Democratic presidential candidates sparred on Tuesday with leaders of the Iowa Democratic Party, and at times with each other, in a strenuous effort to shape the terms and timing of the release of results from the presidential caucuses here.

Fault lines that emerged between the campaigns Monday night quickly deepened Tuesday, as several campaigns pressed the state party for a speedy and full release of the results and representatives of former Vice President Joe Biden continued to criticize the legitimacy of the process.

The state party said in a midday statement that it would begin to announce partial results late in the afternoon, frustrating campaigns that feared a partial release of data would offer a misleading picture of the outcome and throw the presidential race into further disarray. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont did not wait for Iowa officials; citing his campaigns internal data, he all but declared victory as he waited to fly to New Hampshire.

Troy Price, the state party chairman at the centre of the maelstrom, declined to lay out a timeline for completing the tabulation and releasing the results.

On a midday conference call and in other private conversations with Iowa party leaders, representatives for Sanders, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota urged local officials to provide the most complete set of results possible, and several campaign emissaries pushed for access to the paper trail that the party was using to verify returns from the caucuses.

Bidens campaign took a more combative approach, repeatedly questioning  in public and private  the integrity of the caucuses and objecting to the partys plans for releasing the results.

If you put out 50 per cent of results, people are going to take that as final, Jesse Harris, a Biden adviser in Iowa, said on the conference call with the party. Thats only half. Thats not the total picture of what happened yesterday.

It was perhaps not a coincidence that Biden also appeared most at risk of embarrassment in the caucuses, once the results are reported. Senior strategists for all of the other major campaigns said information gathered from caucus sites by their campaign representatives indicated that the former vice president was headed for a dismal finish.

In an uncharacteristic reversal of roles, it was Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to Sanders, who spoke up to defend the party against criticism from the Biden camp on the conference call. Four years ago, it was the Sanders camp that raised alarm about the reliability of Iowas opaque results, in a clash that yielded a more complex set of data-reporting requirements that appear to have snarled the state party this time around.

Weaver praised the officials on the call, noting that you do have a paper trail, and warned rival campaigns against discrediting the party. He suggested that those raising the sharpest objections had motives beyond concern for the sanctity of election returns.

I do want to urge people in the interest of not discrediting the party, that folks who are just trying to delay the return of this because of their relative positioning in the results, last night, I think thats a bit disingenuous, Weaver said. Those results should be rolled out as we get them.

But how long the process could take was not answered.

Today, tomorrow, the next day, a week, a month? Harris asked on the call.

Were continuing to work through our process and just as soon as we can, Price replied.

If Bidens camp was working most aggressively to reduce Iowa to an asterisk in the 2020 process, the former vice president was not alone Tuesday in expressing open frustration about the state of affairs in Iowa.

Warren, in her first appearance in New Hampshire, said Iowa had to get it together and set a high bar for the release of caucus results. She suggested that the plan Price outlined, to post a large but incomplete tranche of results, was an insufficient step.

I just dont understand what that means to release half of the data, Warren said at an event in Keene. So, I think they ought to get it together and release all of the data.

Sanders, scheduled to arrive in New Hampshire later in the day, struck a balance between lamenting the procedural breakdowns in Iowa and defending the ultimate significance of the vote there. Of all the candidates, Sanders and Buttigieg were by far the most optimistic about emerging as victors in the end.

I think we should all be disappointed in the inability of the party to come up with timely results, Sanders said. But we are not casting aspersions on the votes that are being counted.

This is not a good thing, he added. This is not a good night for democracy.

Sanders, 78, projected confidence Monday night that he would ultimately take the top spot in Iowa, where he nearly upended Hillary Clinton in his first insurgent campaign for the Democratic nomination in 2016.

A first-place finish could lend new momentum to his candidacy, just four months after he had a heart attack and four years after he lost the caucuses by only the smallest of margins. It would also most likely prompt his competitors to confront Sanders in New Hampshire with the sort of hard-edge attacks that were largely absent in Iowa. Even before the caucuses began, Buttigieg previewed the sort of warnings mainstream Democrats were likely to issue about the risk of nominating a candidate who would be the most liberal in the countrys recent history.

Buttigieg was the most aggressive Monday night in asserting he would prevail in Iowa, saying, By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious. An early triumph of a mayor who has not yet seen his 40th birthday, over a former vice president and the runner-up for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, would be an emphatic demonstration of just how uncertain the race remains.

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The new Central Vista in Delhi will have a dedicated tunnel road for the movement of Prime Minister from his residence to office and the parliament building. In the redevelopment of seat of Parliament, special routes are being designed, in the line of American Mall, that will separate the movement of high-risk politicians from the general public that will end the regular traffic blockades and inconvenience caused during the VIP movements.

While sharing the details of the planning in a presentation on "Central Vista Project: Reimagining and Renewing A National Icon" last week at CEPT university, where he is the President, the master planner Bimal Patel said that idea is to free these spaces so that they are more accessible.







"Prime Minister's motorcade goes away because he gets a tunnel from his home to his office and perhaps even other places. So, one way in which you free public places from security concerns is to separate out the people who need high security and put them away inside compounds. Thats how the US mall works," he said during the two-hour power point presentation.

The presentation showed that the PMs house will be shifted near the South Block and Vice-Presidents house behind the North Block. The existing offices of defense personnel will be removed and be replaced with Special Protection Group (SPG) office. According to the master design, these two blocks, which house several ministries, will be converted into a national museum. According to the plan, South Block will be converted into a museum of India up to 1857. The idea is to make North and South block a grand national museum of our country, said Patel said while repeatedly stating that the design is constantly changing with new and better ideas.

According to Patel, whose firm HCP Design has designed the master plan, the Central Vista or Rajpath will house ten new buildings for accommodating between 50,000 to 60,000 government employees. Presently, they are scattered everywhere in the capital. The new arrangement, Patel said, will save Rs 1000 crore per year which is spent on rent. He said that to make their commuting easy, underground shuttle services will be provided. He said that the height of these buildings will be 36 metres tall, from ground plus eight floors, which is six metres lower than the India Gate.

"The ambition is to build an underground shuttle that goes and connects all buildings. The employees arrive at the basement level and rise up into the building- like Dubai and Singapore airports- from terminal to terminal. Central secretariat will be a Transit Oriented Development (TOD)," he said.

After the presentation, the Padma Shri recipient architect, was also questioned by the audience about the environmental concerns arising from the project. He was questioned on how bringing 50,000 to 60,000 people at the heart of Delhi that is also considered to be the "green lung" of capital, will impact the pollution which is already choking Delhi.

He said that even a large portion of parks at Rashtrapati Bhavan may also be opened for the public for good. He also assured that the debris of the demolished building be used in the new construction.

The full house capacity of the parliamant will be 1548 seats. There will be over 1000 officer chambers for the members of parliamant. The new parliamant buiding will also have a spire in golden colour. The project is likely to be completed by 2024.
In a classic case of the hunter becoming the hunted, a man was gored to death by an Indian Gaur (bison) after he opened fire at it. The incident happened inside the Kurangani forest in the Theni District of Tamilnadu, near the state's border with Kerala.

Three men, identified as Mariappan, Shaju, and Rajesh all residents of Idukki district in Kerala had trespassed into the Bodi Reserve Forest for an illegal hunt on Sunday. Inside the forest, they came across a herd of Indian Gaurs and Mariappan opened fire at one of them.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE

WIKIMEDIA/ REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE

After waiting for some time, Mariappan approached the fallen animal to check if it had died. But to the shock of the hunting party, the Gaur launched itself on to the hunter, leaving him seriously injured. The two others who initially fled the scene after seeing their friend being trampled, returned to the spot after the Gaur had gone and took Mariappan to a hospital in Theni and later to the Theni Medical College, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Mariappan's accomplices had told the doctors that he had fallen from a tree, but the medics who became suspicious informed the Theni Police. By the time police arrived the duo had fled to Kerala. The cops in Theni then contacted their counterparts in Kerala and the two men were arrested from their homes on Monday.

Illegal arms including country-made rifles were recovered from the two accused. Upon interrogation, the two arrested men have admitted that they had trespassed inside the Kurangini forest and that Mariappan was killed by the bison.

Kurangini forest was in the news in March 2018 after 23 people were burned to death in a wildfire there. They were part two unauthorized trekking team who had gone inside the forest without the knowledge of the authorities and had camped there in the night. Following the fire, the Tamil Nadu government had banned all trekking activities in the state between February 15 to April 15.

Bison are the largest species among the wild cattle, reaching a shoulder height of up to 220 cm and can weigh around 600 kg to 1500 kg. The beast is also known for being super agile for its massive size and can run at speeds of 56 km/h.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE

Due to habitat loss and huntings, Indian Bison is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

It is also listed in the Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972, which means that the animal is provided absolute protection. The minimum imprisonment for hunting a bison is three years which may extend to seven years, with a minimum fine of Rs. 10,000.
New York

George Steiner, who became one of the world's leading public intellectuals through his uncommon erudition, multilingual perspective and the provocative lessons he drew from his Jewish roots and escape from the Holocaust, died Monday. He was 90.

His son, David Steiner,said that his father died at his home in Cambridge, in the United Kingdom. He had been in failing health.

Steiner, a native of Paris whose family fled to the U.S. in 1940, indulged a rich life of the mind. Praised by author A.S. Byatt as a "late, late, late Renaissance man," he wrote hundreds of essays, poems, book length works and a novella, "The Portage of San Cristobal A.H.," which enraged some readers with its depiction of Hitler justifying his horrors and connecting them to the modern rebirth of Israel.

In works such as "After Babel," "The Poetry of Thought" and "The Death of Tragedy," Steiner drew upon what he called his "utter passion for scripture and the Classics, for poetry and metaphysics." He celebrated the world's diversity of languages and ideas and inquired into everything from Greek tragedy to the linguistics of sex. But he would also brood over art's power to advance civilization and over what he called "the roulette wheel of survival," why he managed to escape the Nazis and so many he knew did not. A nonbeliever, he saw himself as a longshot winner in a "game of chance," one who somehow "picked the right number."

Steiner was often in conflict with fellow Jews. His heroes were not religious figures, but literary and political thinkers such as Marcel Proust, Franz Kafka and Karl Marx. He called Israel "an indispensable miracle" but otherwise challenged the purpose of a Jewish state. The Jews were better off in exile, he wrote, "Instead of protesting his visitor-status in gentile lands, or, more precisely, in the military camps of the diaspora, the Jew should welcome it."

Steiner contributed to The New Yorker, the Times Literary Supplement and The Guardian among other publications and was credited with exposing English-language readers to such European writers as Walter Benjamin and Paul Celan. He also taught at numerous schools and was on the University of Geneva faculty for 20 years. His honors included the French Legion of Honor, membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Truman Capote Award for lifetime achievement in literary criticism.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

"His European and Jewish heritage inform his powerful, sometimes bleak but never pessimistic perspective," the Capote citation read. "Perhaps his most distinguished achievement is that in the process of writing such criticism, he has re-cast the traditional role and identity of the critic itself. In his generous, fearless, challenging prose he has looked at the limits of language, as well as its powers and at the deceptions of the intellect as well as its discoveries."

Steiner married historian Zara Shakow in 1955. They had two children: David Steiner, who directs the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy, and Deborah Steiner, chair of the classics department at Columbia University.
Twitter announced today that over the holidays it identified and shut down "a large network of fake accounts," as well as many others "located in a wide range of countries," collectively abusing a feature that let them match phone numbers to user accounts.

TechCrunch previously reported this same issue on December 24, which is also the day Twitter says that it "became aware" that the abuse was taking place. Security researcher Ibrahim Balic found that a bug in Twitter's Android app let him submit millions of phone numbers through an official API, which returned any associated user account.

We recently discovered an issue that allowed bad actors to match a specific phone number with the corresponding accounts on Twitter. We quickly corrected this issue and are sorry this happened. You can learn more about our investigation here: https://t.co/Z6Q4geQ8jo  Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) February 3, 2020

The feature is intended, if you have enabled it, to let friends who have your number look up your Twitter handle. But obviously submitting millions of numbers goes "beyond its intended use case."

If you had turned this feature off, you weren't affected by this bug. Fortunately for users in the EU this was opt-in there. But for the rest of the world it's opt-out  so if you had a phone number associated with your account, you may have been affected.

Furthermore, the phone numbers include those provided for purposes of two-factor authentication, so those outside the EU may have been vulnerable to this exploit without realizing it.

It seems that after Twitter was alerted to the issue and shut down the original network (presumably Balic's), its investigators identified many more accounts that were exploiting this flaw, though a representative declined to provide a number or estimate.

Story continues

"We observed a particularly high volume of requests coming from individual IP addresses located within Iran, Israel, and Malaysia," wrote the company in a security bulletin. "It is possible that some of these IP addresses may have ties to state-sponsored actors," the post continued.

This suspicion was justified by the observation of unrestricted access to Twitter from the IPs in Iran, where the platform is blocked from general access  suggesting government involvement. Belic, when contacted by TechCrunch, said that his work was not state-sponsored in any way.

Any account suspected of abusing the feature was suspended, and the API itself has been modified to prevent any further exploitation of this type. I've asked the company how many accounts were suspended and will update this post if I hear back.

Twitter has had numerous incidents where it exposed or leaked user data over the last year. In addition to sharing rather too much data with its ad partners, the company admitted it used phone numbers used for two-factor authentication to serve targeted ads.
The Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection (MGCSP) has identified with several women inmates currently being held at the Kakata central prison and the South Beach (Monrovia Central Prison).

The Ministry's mission to the two prison facilities is in fulfillment of the 2019 International Women Day (IWD) objective which highlighted identifying with women inmates and patients in several hospitals through gifts and encouragement.

A Ministry of Gender's delegation headed by Deputy Minister of Gender, Alice Johnson-Howard included members of the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL), Liberia's Children Representative Forum, formerly the Liberian Children Parliament, and students representing over Eight Schools from both Monrovia and Kakata.

During the visit, members of the delegation were allowed to hold conversation with several women inmates to ascertain the cause of their imprisonment, whether they were tried or not, and the possibility of assisting them seek redress through legal intervention. While at the prison facilities, the Gender Team also sensitized the women inmates to take seriously their health and hygienic condition. Additionally, the inmates were afforded the opportunity to share their experiences and narrate vividly what led them to prison as well as the status of their respective cases.

Following interactions with the inmates, representatives of the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia promised to provide legal assistance aimed at addressing the situation of pre-trial women inmates who are currently languishing behind bars at the various prison facilities.

Speaking on behalf of the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia, Cllr. Vivian D. Neal - President of AFELL commended the Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection for organizing such endeavor. Cllr. Neal described the prison-outreach initiate as a life-saving venture that should be seriously considered for other prison facilities across the country.

She noted that the visit was actually fruitful as it will now set the stage for securing legal intervention or assistance for several other pre-trial women inmates who may have given up on getting legal redress.

For her part, Deputy Minister for Gender and head of delegation, Madam Johnson-Howard lauded the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL), the Liberia Children Representative Forum and the student community for honoring the ministry's invitation for the prison's visitation.

The Deputy Gender boss urge the women inmates to regain courage as the Ministry has initiated a firm relationship with AFELL so as to intervene for pre-trial women inmates and other women inmates who are kept at those prison facilities with minor offenses.

Meanwhile, several sanitary materials were distributed to women inmates at the two prison facilities. The presentation was made on Thursday, January 30, 2020 by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection with support from UNICEF, KTK and IRC.
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By STAN CHOE

AP Business Writer

NEW YORK  Stocks rose in much of the world Monday and recovered some of their losses from earlier weeks, but markets are still far from giving the all-clear on the virus that has spread to more than 20 countries and infected more than 17,000 people.

Chinese stocks tumbled nearly 8% after investors there got a chance to catch up to losses that already swept through other markets. Monday was the first day of trading in more than a week in Shanghai, and the losses would likely have been bigger if not for moves by Chinese authorities, including the pumping of $173 billion into the financial system.





. . .
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that the state government will not tolerate any kind of Maoists activities and the law will take its own course in the case of two students who were arrested by the state police and charged under the UAPA for allegedly having Maoist links.

Replying to the notice of adjournment motion moved by Opposition in the state Assembly demanding discussion on the arrests and NIA case against the students, Allan Shuhaib and Thaha Fasal, Vijayan said: "The CPI-M's stand is very clear. We oppose Maoism and we were against Naxalism too. Everybody knows what Maoists do...The government will not interfere in a police case. The law will take its own course. "

Vijayan said that Mao Zedong did not ask people to snatch others' money or kill them. "Mao never supported such things. The term 'Maoists' is wrong. The extreme Maoists ideas should never be encouraged," the CM said.

Reacting to the Opposition's demand to request Investigation Agency (NIA) to withdraw the case, the CM told the state Assembly, "During the last United Democratic Front (UDF) tenure, the NIA had taken up seven cases. NIA has taken over Allan and Thaha case on its own and the state government cannot interfere in it. To withdraw the NIA case should I go and plead before Amit Shah (Union Home Minister)? "

The NIA reports to the Union Home Ministry and it can investigate any cases pertaining to security.

Before staging a walkout for rejecting the adjournment motion, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala alleged that Pinarayi Vijayan was "speaking like Amit Shah", and said, "Only Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan will praise leaders like Mao Zedong and Joseph Stalin who are responsible for killing many people. Kerala will be the only state which will keep Stalin's photo. His statues are being destroyed by people even in his hometown Georgia."

Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader MK Muneer, who had moved the adjournment motion in the state Assembly, said that Kerala CM has failed to answer as to why the two students were charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

"Instead of answering it, the Chief Minister is taking classes on Mao and Stalin," said Muneer.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi, Feb 4 : The Chinese delegation has cancelled their visit to the 11th edition of the biennial mega defence exhibition, DefExpo 2020, due to the coronavirus scare, sources said on Tuesday.

Last week, the government had said that the delegates coming from coronavirus-affected countries for DefExpo 2020 in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow will undergo proper screening.

"We are aware about coronavirus. We will have made necessary arrangements. We will follow the standard operating process. Screening will be done as part of the national efforts," Union Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar had said on January 31.

Kumar made the remarks while explaining the modalities about the DefExpo 2020 which is slated to begin on Wednesday till Sunday.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Chinese government has reported 20,438 confirmed cases of the coronavirus so far and a death toll of 425.

Five individuals, who were kept at the Armys Base hospital after showing symptoms of cough and cold, have tested negative for coronavirus.

New Delhi: In a bid to prevent the spread of Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) in India, the government on Tuesday prohibited the entry of Chinese nationals into the country and cancelled all visas, including e-visas, issued to them.

Chinese delegations that were to travel to India to participate in two mega exhibitions  DefExpo 2020 and Auto Expo  starting this week, will also not be visiting due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

The Foreigners Regional Registration Office under the home ministry has issued orders to all airlines not to take on board any passenger from China, including Chinese or other foreign nationals, who may be holding valid ETA-E-visa to board their aircraft for any destination in India. Air India, which has suspended flights to major Chinese cities, on Tuesday announced suspension of its flights to Hong Kong after it reported its first death from the virus.

It is clarified that existing visas are no longer valid. Intending visitors may contact the embassy in Beijing or the consulates in Shanghai and Guangzhou to apply afresh for an Indian visa All those who are already in India (with regular or e-visa) and had travelled from China after January 15 are requested to contact the hotline number of ministry of health and family welfare  Visa Section of the embassy/consulates of India in China can be contacted to ascertain the validity of visa before undertaking any visit to India, the Indian embassy in China tweeted.

The Chinese government has reported 20,438 confirmed cases of the coronavirus so far and a death toll of 425. The virus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Five people, who were among those evacuated from Wuhan and were being kept at an ITBP facility in Delhi, were shifted to Safdarjung Hospital as a precautionary measure after they showed basic symptoms like cough and sneezing and some had a medical history.

ITBP officials said that samples of all the people quarantined at the facility have been collected and are being sent to laboratories in AIIMS and Pune for further tests.

Five individuals, who were kept at the Armys Base hospital after showing symptoms of cough and cold, have tested negative for coronavirus.

The team of Army doctors and officers are interacting with the students on a regular basis to know their problems and keep them motivated. Residents are provided with TV facilities, carom and cards for indoor recreation, an Army official said.

Many of them are also playing volleyball. Laundry is set up in the camp itself with the complete set changed every second day. The linen is dipped in hypochlorite and then washed with hot water and dried in the sun. Rooms are fumigated with a strong, high-level disinfectant. Toilets are being cleaned and disinfected thrice a day with WHO-approved high level disinfectants, he added.

The government has decided to use aerobridges at dedicated gates of seven international airports (Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Cochin, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai) to screen passengers from China, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong for nCoV to ensure effective prevention, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.

The decision was taken at a meeting held by health secretary Preeti Sudan to review the preparedness of states with the ministries or departments concerned on nCoV through video-conference.

India has so far reported three positive cases of nCoV from Kerala.

Ms Sudan said that screening of passengers was being done at all the 21 airports, international seaports and border crossings.

A total of 89,500 passengers of 777 planes have been screened so far at 21 airports, she said.

As many as 454 samples were tested, of which 451 were found to be negative and the remaining three positive, Ms Sudan said, adding that 3,935 passengers were under community surveillance in 29 states and Union Territories (UTs).

The Union health secretary reiterated that new visa restrictions and advisories were issued in view of the emerging scenario globally and asked the states to raise awareness on those.

The states bordering Nepal too are taking necessary measures and following up on the guidelines issued by the government on screening people and surveillance management.

The World Health Organisation said that the outbreak of the nCoV, which has spread from China to about two dozen countries, does not yet constitute a pandemic.
Its starting to feel like with every new year, theres a new case of Ferrari bullying someone with legal action. Last year, it happened when the company threatened to file suit against someone for posting a picture of a Ferrari 812 Superfast with a pair of one-off shoes sitting on it. This year? Well, it looks like Ferrari has decided to file suit against a non-profit charity for using the Purosangue name. Is there merit to the suit or is it just another case of bullying by a company thats overly aggressive with protecting its image?

I better be careful in how I write this news or I might be next one to get sued... LISTEN 02:23

Ferrari Says The Charity Hasnt Used the Name Enough Seriously?

Ferrari has been overly aggressive with protecting its image to the point that it feels like it produces as many lawsuits as it does cars. Of course thats just my opinion Either way, the company is in another legal battle, this time over the Purosangue name  the same name it has chosen for its upcoming performance SUV. The word means thoroughbred or pure blood, which is why it makes so much sense for Ferrari to use it on one of its models.

But, the name has also be tied to The Purosangue Foundation, a non-profit charity that advocates against doping in sports. The company has also set up training camps for runners in Kenya and even funds health check-ups for the elderly. Believe it or not, the company has been using the name since it was trademarked for clothing and other products back in 2013, yet Ferrari claims the company hasnt used the name enough to warrant exclusivity, specifically in relation to its use over the past five years.

According to a story ran by the Financial Times, the foundation is represented by Alessandro Masetti, who claims that this is clearly a David versus Goliath case, and there there is more than enough activity to warrant use of the name. Apparently, there was even a paternship with Adidas to produce branded sneakers and clothes. It sounds like The Purosangue Foundation is prepared to fight with found, Max Monteforte, saying,

I am not going to be scared off, even knowing that we are up against one of the most important brands in the world.

The case will be heard in court in Bologna on March 5, and I have to admit that Im a little curious to see the outcome. Ferrari is so worried about protecting its image that I cant help but wonder if its hurting its image by picking on and bullying people.

Source: Financial Times
[February 03, 2020] NICE Specification Announces Foray Into Cloud Platform Service for IoTs and IP Cameras

NICE Alliance today released its 1.0.1 version of specifications, including key updates to expand support for non-image data produced by IoTs and support for containerized deployments of NICE applications for all types of edge devices, allowing availability of many existing IoT devices within the NICE ecosystem. The current security practice for IoT devices is limited to a controlled encryption focus between a given IoT device and the Cloud. IoT devices, and specifically integrating image sensors, generate very sensitive video image data stored and processed in the cloud and on mobile devices. Existing solutions do not address who and what can access and process sensitive data once it has reached the cloud. Typical implementations require complex manual password management to enable multiple applications, and disabling the application requires the resetting of multiple passwords to avoid unauthorized access to devices and the data generated by devices. Coming to the table with a practical solution, the NICE ecosystem separates device, data and application securities, enabling each to be managed independently. For example, when a user enables an application to interact with the device, the application does not have access to the user's account or device identity and passwords. The duration of the application's access can be time-limited without requiring the user to update their passwords. The same approach can be applied when accessing a user's data - an application can provide time-limited access to a given subset of data without requiring the user to change their personal or device passwords. NICE implements these security provisions using online cloud license authority to (i) bind the device with unique ID and security keys at manufacturing, (ii) secure the device to a particular user when it is being registered to the user and (iii) specify user permission for each application instance maintained by NICE License Authority. "Riscure performed an independent security review of the NICE Alliance specifications, version 1.0.1. The goal was to provide objective feedback, and recommendations regarding the security measures defined by the specification, in accordance to their predefined threat model. We believe the actions taken by NICE Alliance positively contributes to a more trustworthy ecosystem for network cameras and IoT devices," said Mr. Maarten Bron, Managing Director of Riscure, Inc. The audit conductedby the Riscure focused on three main components of the specification:



Device access management to control the device and receive data Data management within the cloud, including several stages of analytics Data privacy authority, particularly for personal and private images The foundation for the secure operation of NICE is the safe handling of keys that are used to encrypt data and control access to IoT data and devices. Microsoft (News - Alert) Azure Key Vault is complementary to NICE security and its secure cloud process and management. Azure Key Vault is fully certified in accordance to several international security standards, elevating the NICE ecosystem to a massive scale, while maintaining security and adhering to established industry security practices. "NICE Alliance is pleased to have qualified a security audit from industry partner Riscure and further collaborate with Microsoft to bring a world-class security and data protection system for IoT Video Intelligence Solution globally," said David D. Lee, CEO of Scenera, which plays an integral role in spearheading the key innovations in NICE Alliance.

Matt Fleckenstein, Senior Director for Azure Product Marketing at Microsoft Corp. said, "Microsoft is pleased to be supporting NICE achieve the highest levels of security for keys supervision in the cloud in a scalable and cost-effective manner. The success of IoT deployments ultimately relies on the security of device and data being generated and Microsoft is committed to enabling its customers the highest levels of security and data protection." NICE Alliance continues to develop its infrastructure and establish guidelines for the ecosystem, which will be open for all companies and interest groups who would like to participate in contributing and adopting the specifications. NICE Specification V1.0.1 can be found here: www.nicealliance.org/specs. About NICE Alliance Industry leading consumer electronics manufacturers and brands Foxconn, Nikon, Scenera, Sony Semiconductor Solutions and Wistron formed the NICE Alliance, an innovative ecosystem standard for smart camera and IoT markets, to provide an open data sharing platform based on image data and AI to enhance the synergistic effect of multi-brand, multi-camera and multi-service/apps. NICE Alliance believes that its specification will enable entire new classes of IoT applications including those where private media never leave the sensor, providing enhanced privacy and security. About Riscure Founded in 2001, Riscure is a leading global advisor on the security of connected and IoT devices, as well as a recognized vendor of advanced security tools and security training. Riscure helps customers around the world to build robust hardware and software solutions and to speed up the process of secure development and certification. Riscure serves Semiconductor, Mobile and Electronic Payment, Automotive and Premium Content industries as well as Government sector. Riscure is headquartered in Delft, The Netherlands with offices in San Francisco, USA, and Shanghai, China. Follow Riscure on Twitter @Riscure and LinkedIn (News - Alert). About Scenera Scenera is forging a new standard data platform for the IP cameras and IoT devices for efficient ways to manage and analyze the data. The visionary founders see the paradigm shift from simple streaming data to rich scene information that enables new and powerful analytical capabilities. Standard compliant devices generate abundant scene-based information for surveillance and monitoring applications for business and consumer users. Scenera's goal is to align key industry players with the same vision to create an interoperable ecosystem that will bring a new generation of the smart edge devices. For more information, please visit www.scenera.net. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200203005008/en/

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Nearly two weeks after the Syro-Malabar Church, the largest Christian body in Kerala triggered a controversy after it expressed concern 'Love Jihad' in the state, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that there were no such cases in the state.

BCCL/FILE

Responding to questions about whether the central government is aware of the observation of Kerala High Court that there is no case of love jihad in Kerala, MoS Home G Kishan Reddy told the house in a written reply that Love Jihad is not defined under the extant laws and no such cases have been reported by any central agency.

The term Love Jihad is not defined under the extant laws. No such case of Love Jihad has been reported by any of the central agencies. However, two cases from Kerala involving interfaith marriages have been investigated by the NIA, said the reply.

Recently, the Syro-Malabar Church Synod (meeting of the bishops of the Church) had claimed that incidents of so-called "love jihad" are increasing in Kerala and they pose a danger to the secular harmony and social peace of the state.

It also alleged that Christian girls were being lured using Love Jihad and are recruited to ISIS.

"It's a matter of fact that planned 'love jihad' is happening, targeting Christian girls. According to what police have said among the 21 who went to ISIS half of them were Christian converts it is a serious matter that many who are not in the records are being converted and used for terrorist activities," read a press release from the media wing of the Syro-Malabar Synod.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had welcomed the Church statement and called for a united fight against Love Jihad in Kerala Society.

Kerala has a long history of 'love jihad', a term coined by the rightwing to refer to interfaith marriages involving Muslim boys and girls from other faiths.

The most high profile of them being the case of Hadiya, a Hindu girl, whose original name was Akhila Ashokan. In 2016, the medical student had converted to Islam and married a Muslim youth called Shafeen Jahan.

Her father Ashokan had approached the court claiming that his daughter was a victim of love jihad and that Shafeen had terrorist links. Though the Kerala High Court had annulled the marriage, in 2017 the Supreme Court overturned the verdict.

BCCL

Despite the NIA and various courts stating that there is no evidence for 'love jihad' it has been regularly used by the right wing, including some top BJP leaders to vilify the Muslim community.

The MHA's admission on Love Jihad comes weeks after the MHA, responding to an RTI query, said it has "no information" concerning the 'Tukde Tukde Gang' -- a term that has been used a number of times by PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to attack opponents.

The RTI application was filed by activist Saket Gokhle on December 26 last year. In his RTI application, Saket Gokhle said Home Minister "Amit Shah addressed a public event in New Delhi, and in his address said, 'The Tukde Tukde Gang of Delhi needs to be taught a lesson and punished'." Gokhle's RTI asked for details of the 'Tukde Tukde Gang'.

The home ministry, in its reply to Saket Gokhle's RTI application, said, "Ministry of Home Affairs has no information concerning tukde-tukde gang."
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Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, says motorcycles were banned in several parts of the state following a review of available statistics on accidents and crimes.

Sanwo-Olu, who was reacting to a statement he made while speaking at The Platform in October, said his administration would harmonise okada operations and develop a regulation system for better accountability.

Since February 1, the Lagos state government had begun full implementation on the ban on okada and tricycle in 15 local councils in the state.

Read Also: Adekunle Gold Reacts As Lagos Bans Okada, Keke Napep

His words: To also solve the traffic issue of Lagos is also to talk about the okada issue; okada is everywhere, anywhere you see. Part of the things that we are going to be doing is not to leave anybody behind. People are currently using a system that is working for them.

You see some okada riders that are branded, that use smart ways to pay when you finish the journey. We are trying to harmonise all of them and be able to come up with a regulation system where we can account for every okada rider.

We will know who they are, we can manage them. In fact, the solutions that some of them are bringing, they can disable those okadas remotely. That is where we are planning to get to but it is also something that we need to think through very well and be sure that nobody is disenfranchised.
Passengers cross the gate as they arrive at the Lo Wu MTR station, where one of the border checkpoints Hong Kong government announced to be shut down, on Feb. 3, 2020. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

Hong Kong Reports First Death From Coronavirus

The novel coronavirus that originated from Wuhan has caused a second death outside of mainland China.

In Hong Kong, the local Princess Margaret Hospital confirmed that a 39-year-old local resident died from the virus in the morning after his heart stopped beating, local media reported.

The man had a travel history to China. He traveled from Hong Kong to Wuhan on a high-speed train on Jan. 21 and returned two days later after boarding another train at Changsha South Railway Station in southern Chinas Hunan Province.

On Jan. 29, he began having muscle pain and then developed a fever. He was immediately isolated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where he was initially receiving treatment.

He tested positive for the virus on Jan. 31the 13th confirmed case of coronavirus in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has another 14 known cases of the virusamong them the mans 72-year-old mother.

According to Hong Kong media, the man did not visit a wet market, seafood market, or come in contact with any wild animals before he tested positive for the virus.

The escalating coronavirus outbreak started in Wuhan, a city in central Chinas Hubei Province. Health authorities in the city have said they suspect the 2019-nCoV strain originated from a local wet market where wild animals, such as porcupines and snakes, were sold.

Hong Kong health officials have yet to confirm the death. Local media reported that Hong Kongs Department of Health and Hospital Authority, a statutory body managing Hong Kongs public hospital services, will hold a joint press conference at 4:30 p.m. local time to discuss the citys first coronavirus victim.

First Death Outside China

The first death outside of China was reported in the Philippines on Feb. 2, when a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan died from the virus. He was the second confirmed case in the Southeast Asian country and a companion of the woman who was the first confirmed case.

The novel coronavirus has spread to more than 20 countries and territories in Asia, Europe, Middle East, North American, and Oceania.

Residents and hospital visitors wearing facemaks walk outside the Government Medical College in Thrissur, India, on Jan. 30, 2020, where the first confirmed case of the SARS-like virus is kept in isolation. (AFP via Getty Images)

Outside of China, Japan continues to have the most confirmed cases of coronavirus with 20, followed by Thailand with 19, Singapore 18, South Korea 16, and Germany and Australia 12 each.

In South Korea, the latest confirmed case involved a 42-year-old Korean woman who developed chills on Jan. 25, according to a Feb. 4 press release by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Prior to that, she visited Thailand and returned to South Korea on Jan. 19. She tested positive for the coronavirus on Feb. 4.

At the time of writing, the Korean woman did not have a recent travel history to China.
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc.s major suppliers in China, including iPhone-maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., plan to resume full-scale production in the country Feb. 10, despite the coronavirus that has infected thousands and limited travel.

Foxconns Hon Hai, the most important manufacturer for the U.S. company, said Tuesday it still expects to be able to restart facilities throughout China on schedule, according to a text message sent to Bloomberg News. Suppliers such as Quanta Computer Inc., Inventec Corp. and LG Display Co. also said they would go back to work next week in China.

While Chinese officials and companies have targeted Feb. 10 as the date to resume work in much of the country, doubts about the timing have grown in recent days as the virus death toll rises, workers find themselves stuck in municipal lockdowns and the transport of people and goods has been hampered. More than 20,000 people have been infected with the virus and more than 400 have died.

Virtually all of the worlds iPhones are made in China, primarily by Hon Hai at its so-called iPhone City in Zhengzhou and by Pegatron Corp. at an assembly site near Shanghai. Each of those locations is more than 500 kilometers away from Wuhan in central China, the epicenter of the viral outbreak.

The main variable is whether the government will push back the time for resuming production, though it is not very likely given the complexities of organizing transportation for the returning migrant workers, said GF Securities analyst Jeff Pu. He added that any potential labor shortage is a serious issue that weighs on the minds of suppliers.

Apple said this week that it would close its corporate offices, stores and contact centers in mainland China through February 9, out of an abundance of caution and based on the latest advice from leading health experts.

Last week, Apple reported holiday-quarter revenue that beat Wall Street expectations on rebounding iPhone demand, sending its shares to a record. It issued a forecast that was wider than usual due to uncertainty created by the spread of the virus.

Story continues

An Apple spokesman referred questions to Cooks remarks last week that the company is monitoring developments in China closely and working with employees and partners in the region.

Apple has roughly 10,000 direct employees in China, across its retail and corporate entities. Its supply chain also has more than a million workers manufacturing products like the iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch.

--With assistance from Mark Gurman.

To contact the reporter on this story: Debby Wu in Taipei at dwu278@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at echan273@bloomberg.net, Peter Elstrom

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
A Delhi court on Tuesday said it will announce the quantum of sentence for Brajesh Thakur and 18 others, convicted of sexually and physically assaulting several girls in a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, on 11 February.

New Delhi: A Delhi court Tuesday said it will announce on 11 February the quantum of sentence for Brajesh Thakur and 18 others, convicted of sexually and physically assaulting several girls in a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district.

The CBI sought that Thakur be imprisoned till the remainder of life and the rest of convicts be given maximum punishment. The convicts on the other hand sought minimum punishment.

Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha reserved the order for February 11.

The court had on 20 January convicted Thakur, who once unsuccessfully contested assembly polls on Bihar People's Party (BPP) ticket, of several offences including aggravated penetrative sexual assault under section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and offences of rape and gang rape under the Indian Penal code (IPC).

In its 1,546 page judgement, the court had also convicted Thakur of offences under Indian Penal Code sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and those relating to abetment, section 21 (failure to report commission of an offence) of the POCSO Act and section 75 (cruelty to child) of the Juvenile Justice Act.

The offences entail a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

The court had acquitted one Vikki in the case for want of evidence.

One of the female accused, Rosy Rani, former assistant director of child protection unit in Muzaffarpur, was convicted of offences under section 21(1) (failure to report the commission of an offence) of the POCSO Act.

Since the maximum punishment for the offence was six months, which she had already undergone, she was granted bail by the court.

Dilip Kumar Verma, former chairman of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of Muzaffarpur, child protection officer of District Child Protection Unit Ravi Roshan, member of CWC Vikas Kumar and other

accused Vijay Kumar Tiwari, Guddu Patel, Kishan Kumar and Ramanuj Thakur were held guilty of the offences of aggravated penetrative sexual assault under POCSO Act, criminal conspiracy, rape,

gang rape, causing hurt, abetment to rape under IPC and POCSO Act, and section 75 of the JJ Act.

Two of the accused  Rama Shankar Singh and Ashwani  were convicted of the offences of criminal conspiracy and abetment to rape.

Rama was also convicted under sections 323 of IPC, 75 of JJ Act and 21 of POCSO Act.

Female accused  Shaista Praveen, Indu Kumari, Minu Devi, Manju Devi, Chanda Devi, Neha Kumari, Hema Masih, Kiran Kumari -- were held guilty of criminal conspiracy, abetment to rape, cruelty to child and failure to report the commission of an offence.

Advocates P K Dubey and Nishaank Mattoo, appearing for Thakur, had told reporters that they will challenge the verdict in the higher court.

Advocate Gyanendra Mishra, representing Dilip, too had said there was no evidence against the accused and he will challenge the judgement in the higher court.

The court had recorded the statement of 69 witnesses produced by the CBI which was represented by Public Prosecutor Amit Jindal.

It had recorded the statement of 44 girls who were physically and sexually assaulted at the shelter home, of which around 13 were mentally disabled.

It had examined 20 defence witnesses, said advocate Dheeraj Kumar, appearing for some of the accused.

The court had on 30 March 2019, framed charges against the accused in the case in which former Bihar Social Welfare Minister and the then JD(U) leader Manju Verma also faced flak as allegations surfaced that Thakur had links with her husband. She had resigned from her post on 8 August 2018.

The case was transferred on 7 February 2019 from a local court in Muzaffarpur in Bihar to a POCSO court at Saket district court complex in Delhi on the apex court's directions.

The matter had come to light on 26 May 2018 after Tata Institute of Social Sciences submitted a report to the Bihar government highlighting the alleged sexual abuse of minor girls in the shelter home for the first time.

The report had been submitted to the Bihar Social Welfare Department by TISS in February that year.
Britain is finally out of the European Union. Its citizens woke up on February 1 to mixed reactions that mirrored the narrow margin represented in a 51.9 per cent vote in favour of leaving the EU on June 23, 2016. While many rejoiced in a newfound sense of independence, others were left despondent for breaking away after 47 years. The reconciliation of such divergent views appears to be the biggest challenge, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson declaring his job was to bring his country together and take it forward. This is not an end but a beginning  were his words, where he may have paraphrased Winston Churchill, but they are as likely to linger in history as Britons move on.

Brexit marks yet another blow to globalisation as economic nationalism triumphed, much as it has in the past few years in which strong leaders are finding ways to make populist rule legitimate. What were open borders will have to close soon. For most Britons, the painful Brexit debate was much less about economics and far more about identity. This hankering for freedom, partly premised on old glory, might have been a throwback to the heyday of the colonisers when the sun was said to never set on the British Empire. And yet it was mostly the young and those living in the country who favoured Brexit more than London.

The situation is riddled with problems as Britain left in a hurry, even before a proper deal could be struck with the EU. The negotiating positions on trade are seen to be hardening now as EU leaders are offering an icy reception to the British PMs insistence on the UK not countenancing jurisdiction of European courts in trade. Mr Johnson is not wrong in seeking a pragmatic agreement, but the sharp deadline of December 31 looms, and a no-deal Brexit could be far more damaging than the all the freedom the exit has brought.

The world order has changed somewhat, including in politics. The emergence of Boris Johnson, seen as the man who got Brexit done, could reshape Britains electoral map for years to come. Given the dynamics of an American election year, it is moot whether President Donald Trump would deliver on the great trade deal he promised when the UK was dithering in multiple parliamentary votes on Brexit, to settle which the Conservative leader called a general election.

In emerging stronger as his December election gambit paid off, Mr Johnson himself will be a much wanted leader as the rest of the world, including India, senses an opportunity for trading with Britain on favourable tariff terms. Given Indias steady and durable relationship with the UK, its on the cards that old bonds will mean something as India tries to fill gaps even as Britain and the EU go through a tortuous negotiating process, complicated by Northern Irelands geographical contiguity with the Irish Republic. The hunt for a new playing field in trade will only get more intense.
The removal of multiple tax footprints for securities, lending and real estate investment schemes will stimulate activities in different segments of the Nigerian capital market, an expert has said.

Wole Obayomi, partner and head of Tax, Regulatory and People Services at KPMG, said this in Lagos on Monday.

Mr Obayomi spoke at the capital market stakeholders symposium hosted by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) at the Exchange in Lagos. The programme, tagged Finance Act 2019, was held in collaboration with KPMG Nigeria to highlight the implications of Nigerias Finance Bill 2019 passed into law by the National Assembly in October 2019.

The KPMG partner explained that generous incentives for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is a timely intervention that will drive the growth of the economy through the SMEs.

Finance Act 2019 is landmark legislation that should be embraced by all stakeholders to ensure it achieves its laudable objectives, he said.

The removal of multiple tax footprints for securities lending and real estate investment schemes is expected to stimulate activities in those segments of the market. The generous incentives for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Finance Act coupled with the launching of the Growth Board for capital raising by that sector from the Nigerian Stock Exchange, are timely interventions to drive the growth of the economy through the SMEs. Overall, the Finance Act 2019 is a welcome development.

The Finance Act, which took effect earlier in the year, has the objectives to promote fiscal equity, align domestic laws with global best practices, support MSMEs, increase government revenues and incentivise activities in the capital market.

Also speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Oscar Onyema, said the signing of the Finance Bill into law represents a landmark achievement for the Nigerian capital market.

He said: Since 2014, the Exchange alongside Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as well as other capital market stakeholders have been at the forefront of advocacy with policy-makers and tax authorities for favourable tax structures for primary and secondary markets activities in the Nigerian capital market.

The NSE, in its efforts to support the growth of the Nigerian economy and its issuers, is, therefore, happy to collaborate with a leading tax expert, KPMG to highlight the implications of these new rules and provide guidance on how to effectively navigate the provisions of the bill, especially as it relates to taxes.
I think that we have pulled back a veil of behavior totally unacceptable to our founders, and that the public will see this with a clearer eye, an unblurred eye, she said, adding: Whatever happens, he has been impeached forever. And now these senators, though they dont have the courage to assign the appropriate penalty, at least are recognizing that he did something wrong.

Impeachment has been a tricky enterprise for both parties on both sides of the Capitol. In the Senate, where Democrats are in the minority, Mr. Trumps impeachment trial  which is expected to conclude with his acquittal on Wednesday  forced vulnerable Republicans in swing states to align themselves with a president who brooks no dissent. They bristled at being painted as beholden to Mr. Trump, reacting angrily when the lead House impeachment manager referred to a news report that said Republican senators had been told their heads would be on a pike if they voted against him.

But in the House, impeachment was widely viewed as a gamble for moderates who represent districts where Mr. Trump is popular. While Ms. Pelosi gets generally good marks from her rank and file, some centrist members now grumble privately that she made some tactical missteps.

Her refusal to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for several weeks after the House adopted them, which forced a delay in the Senate trial, generated blowback in swing districts, said Democratic lawmakers who insisted on anonymity to speak candidly. They cringed when Ms. Pelosi made a spectacle out of the eventual signing of the articles in January, when she distributed commemorative pens to colleagues. Critics said it undermined her own oft-stated message that this was a somber and prayerful moment for the country.

Her whole thing was this was a solemn moment, and that was undignified to do a pen ceremony, said one moderate Democrat in Congress, who insisted on anonymity for fear of retribution from the speaker. A lot of us in the front line felt that wasnt helpful.
A Malaysian citizen who had not visited China has contracted the new coronavirus after travelling to Singapore, health authorities reported Tuesday.

The 41-year-old man had visited neighbouring Singapore for a week from January 16 during which he attended meetings that also involved delegates from China, Malaysian Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said.

"The Malaysian victim has not been to China. He met Chinese delegates from Wuhan in Singapore," Noor Hisham Abdullah, director-general of health, Ministry of Health, told AFP.

The man is the country's first citizen to be infected with the virus. Malaysia's nine other confirmed cases are all Chinese nationals who came from Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus was first detected.

It has so far infected more than 20,000 people, killing at least 425 in China, and spread to more than two dozen countries.

At a press conference earlier, Malaysia's health minister Dzulkefly said the country was contacting Singapore authorities to find out the possible source of the infection by the Malaysian man.

Dzulkefly said the individual is in a stable condition in hospital, and that his family members are being monitored.

Malaysia has imposed an entry ban for Chinese nationals from Wuhan in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, two out of the 107 peopleMalaysians and Chinese nationals married to Malaysianswho arrived on a special flight from Wuhan early Tuesday were found to be feverish and were being treated in a hospital.

Malaysia had sent the special flight to evacuate its citizens and their families trapped in the Chinese city which has been under quarantine by the authorities.

The remaining 105 people on the flight are being held in a facility for 14 days, the incubation period for the virus.

Explore further Malaysia imposes ban on Chinese tourists from Wuhan

 2020 AFP
Presidency University Vice- chancellor Anuradha Lohia returned to the campus on Tuesday, hours after making a dramatic exit through the side door of her chamber to escape the clutches of agitating students.

Lohia quietly slipped through the side door of her chamber on the first floor around 6 am, after remaining in confinement for nearly 16 hours, university officials said.

The vice-chancellor, however, made her way back to the campus at 3 pm, even as over 100 protesting students sat outside the main door and shouted slogans.

"Yes, I am back in the university," she told PTI when contacted on Tuesday evening, without elaborating.

The agitating students said they will not prevent her from leaving, but continue with their sit-in outside Lohia's office.

Among other demands, the protesters want immediate completion of the repair work in three of the five wards at the 130-year-old Hindu Hostel. They also want the eight sacked hostel employees be reinstated without delay.

The agitators had kept the VC hostage in her chamber since 2 pm on Monday to press for their demands.

"We had demanded a categorical reply from the VC over our demands, a written note listing all the issues before allowing her to leave, but she escaped through a side door even as we were sitting outside the main door.

"We will not allow her to get away like this when she visits the campus again," Subho Biswas, one of the protesting students had said earlier in the day.

The protesting students also demanded that the VC express regret in writing over the issue of female students allegedly been prevented from taking part in a convention on the day of Saraswati Puja in the campus, due to the hostel renovation.

Another student, Debnil Paul, on Tuesday evening said they do not want to disrupt academic or administrative work of the varsity.

"We have met some of the faculty members this afternoon and told them we are not at war with our teachers, and are hopeful they will communicate our stand to the higher authorities and act as the bridge," he said.

Biswas alleged that despite repeated reminders, the authorities did not expedite the repair work of Hindu Hostel, and took "vindictive" action against those demanding its quick completion.

Secretary of girls' common room, Shruti Roy Muhuri, said the university officials were dilly-dallying over timely completion of repair work in wards 3, 4 and 5 of the Hindu Hostel since last year.

Two wards of the hostel, under repair for three years, were opened in November 2018 after agitation by students.

The Hindu Hostel building, located adjacent to the university, was shut down for repairs in July 2015, and the boarders were shifted to a rented accommodation at New Town.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
by Kamran Chaudhry

The insects are destroying crops in several provinces. The government allocates US$ 48 million to deal with the crisis. Local Caritas complains of delays in prevention and counteraction. The devastation has affected local producers and consumers. A minister jokingly suggests eating locusts.

Lahore (AsiaNews)  The Pakistani government declared a national emergency on 31 January to counter an invasion of desert locusts that are destroying crops in the province of Punjab, after destroying 22,000 acres (8,900 hectares) of farmland in Sindh province.

For the first time in the country's history, the insects have also gone all the way to the north, reaching the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The invasions of 1993 and 1997 had affected only Punjab and Sindh.

According to the Minister for National Food Security Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, the locust infestation is due to climate change.

To deal with the crisis, Prime Minister Imran Khan has set up a high-level federal committee.

Federal Ministers and officials from the country's four provinces approved a 7.3 billion rupees (US$ 48 million) national action plan to eliminate locust swarms.

Manshad Asghar, Caritas executive secretary in Hyderabad, notes that local media have not published news about the affected areas and people because to avoid being unduly alarming.

However, locusts have quickly attacked "already impoverished districts which have water and food shortages," he told AsiaNews.

In 2018, Caritas offered courses on livestock management, food and fodder preservation, seed storage, crop management, soil conservation and water management in the desert districts of Nagarparkar and Tharparkar. Five thousand people took part in the training, which ended in March 2019.

Caritas Pakistan director Amjad Gulzar chaired an emergency meeting last weekend with a unit in the apostolic vicariate of Balochistan, where locusts appeared for the first time in May 2019.

We are planning to carry out necessary preventive measures, he said, and play a bigger role in [raising] awareness among poor farmers.

For the latter, Crops and livestock are their only means of survival. The loss of seasonal crops and vegetables can result in further price hike of essential food items.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is already facing a serious wheat crisis affecting its main cities.

Flour and bread prices shot up last month as wheat disappeared from stores and wholesale markets.

Bakers reacted by shutting down to protest government's pressure to sell their products at controlled prices.

Wheat is the staple food in Pakistan, grown on 60 per cent of the arable area.

According to Ashgar, one minister made matters worse by joking about the whole affair.

Last November, a video of Sindh's Minister of Agriculture, Ismail Rahu, went viral. In it, he suggests people eat insects: They came here, so residents should eat them. They can be grilled on the barbecue, eaten with 'biryani'[*], roasted in a karahi,[] or [cooked] in many other ways.

Rahu pointed out that locusts are commonly eaten in desert areas, adding that people should not worry "because they are not harmful".

[*] A mixed rice and meat dish.

[] A deep, wok-like cooking pot.
A former Uniting Church minister who also ran one of the country's most prominent gay conversion therapy programs has been charged with committing historical child sexual offences more than 30 years ago.

Former Reverend Ron Charles Brookman, 70, faced a Sydney court on Tuesday over allegations he indecently assaulted a 13-year-old who was in his care between September and October 1989.

Former Reverend Ron Brookman (centre) leaves Newtown Court on Tuesday morning with his wife Ruth Brookman (left). Credit:Kate Geraghty

The offence allegedly took place while Mr Brookman was serving as a minister at Newtown Mission Uniting Church.

It was first reported to officers from Inner West Police Area Command in October 2018, prompting an investigation that culminated in Mr Brooker's arrest at Newtown Police Station on January 14.
A team that had travelled to Wolf Volcano for a 10-day expedition returned on January 31 and conservationists say that they have found 30 giant tortoises partially descended from two extinct species, including that of famed Lonesome George. According to Galapagos Conservancy, the group found a female tortoise that has a 16% genome of Chelonoidis abingdonii, the extinct species from Pinta Island to which Lonesome George belonged.

Read: Experts Now Believe That Koalas Are 'functionally Extinct' Due To Devastating Bush Fires

Lonesome George was the last of those tortoises that belonged to Chelonoidis abingdonii species of Pinta Island in Ecuador, before it died in June 2012. Lonesome George was believed to be over 100 years old when it was found dead in the Galapagos National Park in Ecuador. Currently, the frozen body of Lonesome George is on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Read: SHOCKING: Chocolate Lovers Beware! Your Favourite Bar Is Likely To Go Extinct By 2040

The great expedition

As per Galapagos Conservancy, a 45-member team of park rangers and scientists travelled approximately 77 square miles of tortoise habitat on Wolf Volcano to collect approximately 50 blood samples in order to perform genetic analysis to determine the species to which they belong. According to the web page of the organisation, the 30 tortoises collected on this expedition were transferred to the Fausto Llerena Breeding Center on Santa Cruz Island before they were given an identification microchip.

Read: 'Polar Bears Will Become Extinct If Trophy Hunting Doesn't End,' Warns Conservationist

According to Galapagos Conservancy, 19 (12 females and eight males) of the giant tortoises found have known partial lineage of the species considered extinct on Floreana Island. Ten other tortoises (seven females and three males) had not been genotyped but had highly saddleback shells, typically of Floreana and Pinta species. The ten others will be genotyped soon to determine where they came from. The Galapagos Conservancy said that pirates and whalers released tortoises collected on other islands and left them near the volcano in previous centuries.

Read: Effects Of Climate Change Pushing Australia's Platypus Population Towards Extinction


TEHRAN,Iran, Feb.4

Trend:

Foreign companies do not have a permit to catch lanternfish in Iran's waters, the right to do so is granted only to domestic companies, said the head of Iran Fisheries Organization Nabiallah Khan Mirzaie, Trend reports via IRNA.

At the same time, he added that domestic companies rent foreign ships and equipment to catch lanternfish due to lack of proper domestic ships and technology," he said.

"Foreign fishing companies are only allowed to fish 12 miles outside the onshore fishing territory, but certain violations have occurred," he said.

"There have been efforts to monitor and control the fishing ships, including online control systems to confront violations. Certain preventive measures will be intensified," he added.

"There are 70 to 94 active fishing ships that catch lanternfish, but due to some violations in the current Iranian year (began March 21, 2019) permits of 16 ships have been revoked," he said.

Mizaie noted that is possible to increase fishing capacity in Iran to 300,000-400,000 tons.

"Iran should manage its fishing from the joint fishing territory between Iran and Oman," he said.

The official has also rejected the news of Iran allowing China to fish in its waters.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Samir Ali - Trend:

Immediately after the negotiations held between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Geneva through the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group, Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan expressed a provocative opinion about bringing "elected representatives of the Artsakh people" to the peace process, thus tried to cast a shadow over the negotiations, Head of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan Tural Ganjaliyev said, Trend reports.

Ganjaliyev made the remark commenting on the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

Ganjaliyev noted with regret that the Armenian side, using such provocative statements during the negotiations, constantly creates obstacles to the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

"Despite the fact that the concept of 'people of Artsakh', which has no foundation, and this has been repeatedly clarified, Armenia continues to raise this issue repeatedly, demonstrating its destructive position. Armenia ignores the opinion of the global community, thereby becoming the object of condemnation," Ganjaliyev said.

"The most significant answer to the ruling circles of Armenia in this matter was given last year by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, saying that the 'concept of the people of Nagorno Karabakh' does not exist, there's only population of Nagorno Karabakh," Ganjaliyev noted.

"Once again, we were convinced of the firmness of the position that the population of Nagorno Karabakh consists of Azerbaijani and Armenian communities, which is reflected in last year's statements by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and in a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his last visit to Baku. This issue is enshrined in the document of OSCE (previously CSCE) of March 24, 1992, Ganjaliyev said.

"The baseless statements of the official circles of Armenia will not be able to prevent the joint habitation of the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno Karabakh within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan. We will return to our lands, restore our violated rights and destroyed heritage," the head of the Azerbaijani community added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Nexus provides secure solutions that make it easy to issue, manage and make valuable use of trusted identities for both people and things. The company specialises in software that empowers a smooth, automated and governed solution to manage the full lifecycle of both physical and digital identities for both people and objects. These solutions include a powerful Public Key Infrastructure (PKI platform), Card Management System (CMS), mobile and desktop-based identity apps (middleware) and a digital access gateway.

The integration of these new digital identity solutions will enable the group to provide clients in France, Europe and globally a consolidated portfolio of differentiated offers, based on cutting edge technologies. The combined set of technologies will ensure that IN Groupe's services for governments and corporate customers are more secure, more robust and more competitive than ever.

IN Groupe continues its transformation as a European-based, global identity leader dedicated to the transition from physical to digital identity.

For 10 years, IN Groupe has demonstrated its unique ability to transform its business in keeping with the digital evolution of the identity sector. Today, the acquisition of Nexus represents a new stage in consolidating IN Groupe's technological capabilities after the acquisition of SURYS in December 2019.

The acquisition of Nexus gives IN Groupe, a state operator for identity, the ability to lead the transition from physical to digital identity in the European regulatory environment.

Furthermore, IN Groupe expands its activities into the field of IoT and the identification of objects on the internet  such as connected cars. Nexus is known for being the world leader when it comes to certificate-based identity services enabling the future of autonomous cars and V2X.

IN Groupe will give Nexus access to its world class capability to integrate global legal and digital identity systems. It will also introduce new opportunities with respect to an international complementary customer portfolio.

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Air India will suspend all its flights to Hong Kong from February 8 over coronavirus risks. The national carrier has said its AI314 will on February 7 will be its last flight to Honk Kong from Delhi.

Air India has also curtailed operations in Delhi to Shanghai route. IndiGo has also suspended all three flights between India and China.

In the last two days, Air India has evacuated 647 Indian from China in two batches. Out of which 252 Indians are kept under quarantine for two weeks in Manesar.

Also, India has also temporarily suspended e-visa facility for Chinese travellers and foreigners residing in China

Coronavirus death toll has mounted to 425 in China.

On Sunday, Cabinet secretary held a high level meeting with government departments on the preparedness to deal with coronavirus. So far, three cases

have been reported in India - both in the southern state of Kerala. The patients are being monitored and are clinically stable, the government has said.

Also read: Kerala uses Nipah experience to effectively control Coronavirus spread

Also read: Coronavirus update: China runs out of medical masks, also needs protective suits, safety goggles
Former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson said at an energy conference in Houston that his experience in the private sector gave him an appreciation for the value of an interconnected world and he brought that philosophy with him to the Trump Administration as secretary of state.

Tillerson, who served about a year in Trumps State Department after 41 years in the energy industry, said he believes global connections between people and nations is to everyones benefit, whether for national security or trade or other economic reasons. But that view was not shared by many people in the White House including the president himself, said Tillerson, speaking at the Argus Americas Crude Summit in Houston.

EDITORIAL: Rex Tillersons troubled tenure as Trumps top diplomat

Tillerson, who called himself a long-time proponent of free trade, said the U.S. economy is strengthened by its trading partners and efficient supply chains, which ultimately benefit consumers with lower prices and higher quality products. The United States, he added, is strong because it has so many allies around the world.

Tillerson said he hoped that Trump would remind those allies during Tuesdays State of the Union address that the United States has their backs. These alliances and friendships are critical to the survival of democracy in the United States, said Tillerson.

Theyre friends and allies because they know they can count on us and we have always been able to count on them in times of conflict and in times of tragedy, he said. Our adversaries do not have that.

Tillerson had a short, but rocky tenure in the Trump administration. Tillersons statements on U.S. policy were at times contradicted by President Donald Trump.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: With tensions high, Tillerson struggles to navigate Washinton tumult

Tillerson told the oil executives that it wasnt an easy transition joining government service after his 41 years at ExxonMobil, which he described as a well-oiled machine with discipline and processes. Tillerson was fired two years ago by Trump in a tweet.

Several months later Tillerson said in a speech at a charity event in Houston that he was pushed by Trump to take illegal actions. Trump shot back in a tweet that Tillerson was as dumb as a rock and lazy as hell.

But its a high honor to serve, said Tillerson, who said he has no regrets.

Id do it again in a minute, he said.
Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is following an assertive and aggressive foreign policy, from northern Syria to the eastern Mediterranean. His policy of brinkmanship contains the dangers of a military confrontation with too many players, although such a possibility means a lose-lose scenario for all players involved.

Ongoing escalation in Syria will undoubtedly influence the situation in Libya, as Erdogans policies have linked the two matters. Besides, the course of the events in Libya will influence the balance of power in the eastern Mediterranean.

The offensive of the Russian-backed Syrian regime forces against Idlib, where eight Turks were killed by shelling, has cracked Turkey and Russia's partnership, which had looked solid since 2016.

Erdogan said that Turkey would be unable to deal with a new influx of Syrian refugees. We will not shy away from doing whatever it takes to prevent this, including using military force, he said.

More interestingly, Erdogan declared the Astana process moribund" and leveled a rare rebuke against Russia, accusing it of violating its commitments under the 2018 Sochi deal.

The timing of the apparent rift between Turkey and Russia regarding the military situation in Idlib has also blown up the expectations on the ultimate amelioration of relations between Ankara and Damascus, which comes in the wake of the Russian-brokered meeting between Turkish and Syrian spymasters in Moscow Jan. 13.

Erdogans disgruntlement with Russia coincided with French President Emmanuel Macrons unusually straightforward rebuke of Erdogan. I want to express my concerns with regard to the behavior of Turkey at the moment," he said. "We have seen during these last days Turkish warships accompanied by Syrian mercenaries arrive on Libyan soil. This is an explicit and serious infringement of what was agreed in Berlin. Its a broken promise.

Macron's remarks indicate that Turkey has not abided by the agreement made at the Berlin conference on Libya Jan. 19. Yet Turkey denies it has deployed Syrian fighters to Libya. To add insult to injury, Macron made these statements during a press conference with the prime minister of Greece. He also announced that France would send its warships to the eastern Mediterranean to support Greece.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis hailed the French decision, describing the warships as guarantors of peace.

While French warships sail the eastern Mediterranean and Macron supports Khalifa Hifter's Libyan National Army on the battlefield, two Turkish frigates and a flotilla of warships have been spotted off the coast of Tripoli. Turkeys commitment to Libyas Tripoli-based government, the Government of National Accord, (GNA), even includes the provision of sophisticated air defense systems.

During his recent tour of Africa, Erdogan described Hifter as a "putschist" and a traitor" to late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. He also criticized the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company, for increasing Hifters chances at ousting the GNA.

As with Idlib, Libya constitutes another crack in Turkeys partnership with Russia, and mirrors the downside of prioritizing personal relations in foreign policy. It's no secret that Vladimir Putin courted Erdogan for years to woo Turkey away from NATO and to create fissures in the trans-Atlantic alliance.

Erdogan responded positively to Putin, to the extent that he is now seen as Putin's Trojan horse in NATO. However, it is now apparent that the Russian military has persisted in its support of the Syrian regime and Hifter in Libya.

Syria and Libya also reveal the limits of Putin. For example, Putin could not secure Hifters consent to sign the cease-fire document during talks in Moscow  a loss of prestige for Russian diplomacy. Putin also could not curb the Syrian regimes ambitions in Idlib, as he had done previously. It is also unclear whether Putin could force Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Hifter in Libya to back down to have Erdogan on board.

There are also allegations that many within the Russian military and diplomatic community are dissuading Putin from adopting positions that would satisfy Erdogan, who has conflicting interests with Russia in Syria and Libya.

The situations in Syria and Libya could end the Turkey-Russia partnership that has emerged over the last four years, and the Russian policy of turning Turkey away from NATO and the West may go up in smoke.

Yet a rift with Russia would not be a relief to Erdogan, given his increasingly problematic relationship with the West. His seemingly revived fraternity with Germanys Angela Merkel may not compensate for his falling out with Macron and the majority of the European Union, despite his fear-mongering tactic of threatening to flood Europe with Syrian refugees.

Marc Pierini, the former EU ambassador to Ankara, wrote in an analysis for Carnegie Europe: Although British, French, and German leaders may express their views in different styles, the EUs political mood has become increasingly critical of Turkey and especially of its president. The substantive reason is the perception that Turkey is pivoting away from the values it once said it was sharing with the European Union and the [trans-Atlantic] alliance.

Erdogans policies are now between the Russian hammer in Syria and the French anvil in Libya and the eastern Mediterranean. Erdogan's political survival could hinge on the debacles and blunders of these two interlinked fronts. Nonetheless, it's too early and imprudent to write off his chances of success, too.

Erdogan is risking possible military confrontations with too many players due to his aggressive foreign policies in Syria and the eastern Mediterranean. For now, this scenario is widely seen as a lose-lose situation for everybody involved. Yet there is now doubt that ongoing developments in Syria will influence the situation in Libya.

The disunity, in terms of political choices, between Europe and Russia will play into Erdogan's hands. As long as real options to deter Turkeys unilateralism and aggressive foreign policy are produced, Erdogan may get over his problems with a face-saving deal.

Erdogans gunboat diplomacy in Libya and the eastern Mediterranean, and European fears of Syrian refugees, might still pay dividends.
The Majority Leader of Parliament and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu wants the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), Attorney Generals Department, Auditor-Generals Office and other state anti-graft agencies to partner the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the Airbus bribery scandal.

On January 31, 2020, Ghana was cited as one of five countries in which global aerospace group, Airbus SE, allegedly bribed or promised payments to senior officials in exchange for business favours between 2009 and 2015, according to the UK's Serious Fraud Office.

This led to a record 3 billion in settlement by Airbus with France, the United Kingdom and the United States to avoid corporate criminal charges.

President Nana Akufo-Addo subsequently referred the matter to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for investigation.

These investigations are expected to be conducted in collaboration with the United Kingdom authorities, according to a statement from the presidency.

Speaking on the Point Blank segment on Eyewitness News, the Majority Leader, who raised concerns over the deal when it was brought before Parliament in 2011, noted that the Special Prosecutor will do a better job with the help of other state security agencies.

Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said, although the Special Prosecutor is competent enough to probe the issue, a collaboration with the Attorney General and other security agencies will not be bad.

If EOCO can also assist the Special Prosecutor because you see the Special Prosecutor can only prosecute when he is furnished with the relevant information. And so I think in this case, the Attorney General's department, the Special Prosecutor's office, the EOCO, BNI and the Auditor-General should combine efforts, he added.

2011 Hansard shows NPP Minority raised questions about Airbus deal

Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu raised concerns about the cost of the two military aircraft the then National Democratic Congress (NDC) government wanted to procure in 2011.

Parliamentary records available to Citi News showed that Mensah-Bonsu had expressed shock in how the processes to purchase the aircraft, which had become a subject matter in the recent Airbus bribery scandal, were rushed through.

James Klutse Avedzi, who was the Chairman of the Finance Committee at the time, on 20th July 2011, submitted the committee's report on the motion to secure a loan from the Deutsche Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola (Spain) for the acquisition of two C-295 Military Aircraft for the Ghana Armed Forces.

While debating the matter, at the time, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu , the Member of Parliament for Suame said he found that the price of the C-295 as captured on Airbus' website as US$22 million but was shocked to see that the documents tabled before Parliament pegged the price of the aircraft at 24 million per piece.

 Mr Speaker, the cost price of the C-295, the Shell is US$22 million from the manufacturers  their own website. Here, we are saying that it is 24.5 million. Again, you wonder where these figures are being conjured from, he said.

Mr Speaker, the 24.5 million euros certainly, is going to be in the region of about US$35 million  US$35 million for the purchase of one, when we know that the manufacturers themselves are saying that the cost of the C-295, also known as 'Persuader' is going for US$22 million, he noted.

The Suame MP took a serious view of the situation saying it was unacceptable.

He also said he was surprised that within just a day, the document had been sent to Attorney General's office for advice, forwarded to the Minister for Finance and sent to the office of the President for executive approval.

Mr Speaker, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice proffered his opinion on it on 21st June, 2011. The same day, it went to the Hon Minister for Finance and Economic Planning and on the same day, he also okayed it and sent it to the Presidency  the Office of the President  on the same day, 21st June, 2011, we had Executive approval. Aba! Aba! What is this, he quizzed.

---citinewsroom

Princeton University has ordered 20 students who recently travelled to China to quarantine themselves following the growing threat of coronavirus, as the flu-like illness has infected more than 20,000 people worldwide and killed more than 400 people.

Students from the Ivy League university who recently visited mainland China, where the outbreak was first reported, were ordered to "self-isolate" for two weeks. Students were told to remain indoors and not attend classes or enter other buildings on campus.

More than 100 students and staff were initially under the quarantine order, but a new guidance issued by the New Jersey Department of Health limited the scope to roughly 20 students.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported only 11 people in the US with coronavirus.

In a letter to students and staff, the university also ordered that "until further notice, no students, faculty, or staff will be approved to travel to mainland China on University business or as part of a university-sponsored program".

University spokesman Michael Hotchkiss told NJ.com that "each student's needs are being evaluated on a case-by-case basis to ensure they receive appropriate assistance."

He said: "We recognise that self-isolation is a very challenging situation for our students, and we are working to fully support them while following guidance from government and health officials."

The university's response follows reports of a surge in cases as the World Health Organisation faces pressure to determine whether to declare the outbreak a pandemic.

Though only two deaths have been reported outside of mainland China, the death toll in the country has risen precipitously, with hundreds of deaths reported due to the virus or complications within the last week.

On Monday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy issued an executive order creating a coronavirus task force in the state to "coordinate all state efforts to appropriately prepare for and respond to the public health hazard" posed by the virus.

The state's Newark Liberty International Airport set up additional screenings for travellers entering the US from China, among several airports added to the CDC's initial list of international ports of entry with enhanced screening and quarantine efforts following the outbreak's spread.
DUBLIN, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Organic Baby Food Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecasts (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Organic baby food is gaining popularity among parents due to growing concern over children's' health. Due to their costly raw material sourcing and production process requirements, the organic baby products available in the market are expensive. Despite the excessive costs, parents are considering buying premium products for their children, even in developing countries like China. Increased household income in developing regions is the major driving factor for the sale of organic baby food. The robust growth of the distribution channels worldwide is further accelerating the market's growth.



The North American region accounts for the largest share of the organic baby food market, followed by Europe. The United States dominates the market, driven by the growing demand for organic food products. Asia Pacific is also expected to see significant growth in the global baby food market in the coming years. The growth of this market in this region will largely be due to the increasing size of the population, the growth of emerging economies, the declining rate of infant death, and the increased awareness of the importance of proper nutrition for babies. India, China, and Indonesia are expected to be the major contributors to the growth of the baby food industry in the Asia Pacific.



Companies are focused on developing new marketing strategies and introducing new products based on value-added ingredients, to compete in the market.



The Global Organic Baby Food Market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 11.1% by 2024, during the forecast period (2019 - 2024).

Organic baby food is manufactured in a certified organic environment, right from the sourcing of raw materials, and is completely free from any artificial additives/ingredients, trace amounts of chemical fertilizers, etc.

Organic baby food is gaining popularity among parents due to growing concern over children's' health. Due to their costly raw material sourcing and production process requirements, the organic baby products available in the market are expensive.

The organic baby food market has segmented based on product type and distribution channel. By product type, the segmentation includes prepared baby food, dried baby food, infant milk formula, and other products. Due to increasing organic infant formula segment is anticipated to record the fastest growth. By distribution channel, the segmentation includes - supermarket, hypermarket, convenience stores, online, and other distribution channels. Moreover, the study provides an analysis of the organic baby food market in the emerging and established markets across the world, including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, and Middle East & Africa.



Key Topics Covered:



1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Study Assumptions and Market Definition

1.2 Scope of the Study



2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



4. MARKET DYNAMICS

4.1 Market Drivers

4.2 Market Restraints

4.3 Industry Attractiveness - Porter's Five Forces Analysis



5. MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 By Type

5.2 By Distribution Channel

5.3 By Geography



6. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Most Active Companies

6.2 Key Strategies Adopted

6.3 Market Share Analysis

6.4 Company Profiles

6.4.1 Abbott Laboratories

6.4.2 Nestle SA

6.4.3 Hero Group

6.4.4 Danone SA

6.4.5 Amara Organics

6.4.6 Plum Organics

6.4.7 North Castle Partners LL

6.4.8 Baby Gourmet Foods Inc

6.4.9 Hipp Gmbh & CoThe

6.4.10 Hein celestial group



7. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ja60u1

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.



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Hong Kong confirms first death in coronavirus outbreak

The medical employees in Hong Kong are demanding a total shutdown of the border with the Chinese mainland.

Hong Kong on Tuesday reported its first death due to the fatal novel coronavirus, known as 2019-nCoV, which originated in central China in December. At least 426 people have died of the disease in China itself, China's CGTN news reported.

THE DECEASED HAD TRAVELED TO CHINA

The deceased, 39, was a long-time diabetic who had traveled to Wuhan -- the epicenter of the virus -- in January and returned home after two days, Hong Kong Free Press reported.

The autonomous region has reported 15 cases due to the virus which has affected over 20,000 others in China. One person died of the same disease in the Philippines last Sunday.

The Hong Kong deceased, whose identity remains unknown, had experienced pain in muscles since Jan. 29 followed by fever. He was hospitalized at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei for treatment and later shifted to Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung where he lost his life.

The number of people affected by the virus reached 15 in Hong Kong, while Macau reported eight cases. Both Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions under China.|
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. Member of Parliament of Armenia Tatev Hayrapetyan, who is also a member of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE), considers PACE winter session successful for Armenia. This session was the last one for the current delegation of Azerbaijan at PACE.

Tatev Hayrapetyan gave an interview to ARMENPRESS, summing up the results of the session and introducing what changes she is expecting from the upcoming members of the Azerbaijani delegation.

-The Armenian delegation recorded some success at the PACE winter session: Vladimir Vardanyan was elected chairman of PACE Sub-Committee of Human Rights, Edmon Marukyan was elected first deputy chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Sos Avetisyan  vice-chair of Sub-Committee on Media and Information Society, Hovhannes Igityan  vice-chair of ALDE faction. What will this give to Armenia, and what is the reason of electing so many Armenian parliamentarians to these key positions?

-I think this was a result of the major active works done by our delegation. This gives new opportunities for deepening our ties to use it for the benefit of Armenia. I think this also raises visibility and gives an additional opportunity to us to demonstrate ourselves.

-Can this be linked with Armenias recent Velvet Revolution?

-Of course, the attitude towards Armenia has changed, and this is a fact. Recording and welcoming Armenias democratic processes is also a fact. This is also linked with the fact that now our parliamentarians are also part of a pan-European agenda in addition to being engaged in the Armenian-Azerbaijani debates, and this is a very important recording for the future success. In the past PACE has been viewed exclusively as a platform for the Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes, but now, in addition to responding to the Azerbaijani delegation members, we also push forward topics in accordance with the pan-European agenda and establish our relations and ties also in this context which is again useful and contributes to strengthening our positions.

-During the PACE winter session the resolutions Threats to media freedom and journalists security in Europe and Reported cases of political prisoners in Azerbaijan were adopted which angered official Baku. What will these two resolutions give us?

-We should record that the PACE resolutions have exclusively a consulting nature, but they can be considered as key recordings connected with that particular country. Remember the previous caviar diplomacy and the provisions put by Azerbaijan, and the current situation Azerbaijan is in. Moreover, if in the past even comparisons were made with Armenia, now these are just ruled out, Armenia is absolutely in another camp and is not viewed as equal with Azerbaijan. This further angers Azerbaijan because such kind of reports record the real situation of human rights, political prisoners and other issues existing in Azerbaijan. Even the author of the report on topic of political prisoners stated that the presence of such a country in the Council of Europe is problematic and they should take action to solve these issues.

-Snap parliamentary elections will be held in Azerbaijani in February. Its expected the Azerbaijani delegations composition at PACE will change. What are your expectations from this new staff? What staff do you expect?

-The faces, but not the policy and approaches, will change, because in reality, any change in that corrupt, authoritarian country is very formal and cannot give any hope. There will be young people, I dont know to what extent its staff at PACE will change. I think changes will take place, but they are only changes in faces, not in the policy or values.

-Are you expecting any change in their approaches on thinking and various issues?

-I am not expecting such a change. Moreover, maybe in the beginning they [the Azerbaijani delegation at PACE] will try to be tougher as they have something to show to their public.

-How do you assess the PACE winter session for Armenia in terms of parliamentary diplomacy?

-Quite successful. I am very happy to record that our 1-year activity brought such good and positive results, but the new achievements are ahead.

Interview by Norayr Shoghikyan

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski has said that he expects Spain, the last country that needs to ratify its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) accession, to be ready to do so next month.

"If everything goes according to plan concerning the political process, around March 10 that process should finish. There will remain some technical details that our parliament in Skopje will have to deal with," Pendarovski told reporters during a visit to Poland on February 4.

North Macedonia was granted a protocol on accession to NATO membership in February last year, after a 2018 agreement with Greece that changed the former Yugoslav republic's name from Macedonia, resolving a decades-long dispute between Skopje and Athens.

So far, 28 of NATO's 29 member states have ratified the accession protocol.

Based on reporting by Reuters
As the leading Democratic presidential candidates delivered their closing arguments in Iowa before the first-in-the-nation caucus, one billionaire White House hopeful was instead campaigning in California after being the last person to join the race.

Mike Bloomberg met voters in Sacramento a day after releasing a 60-second campaign ad focused on gun safety during the Super Bowl. The president released ads during the big game as well, attacking the former New York City mayor in a series of late-night tweets that dubbed Mr Bloomberg Mini Mike and claimed he was part of the fake news.

Pitching himself as a viable opponent against the Republican incumbent, Mr Bloomberg has sought to assure voters his late entry in the Democratic primaries wont be an issue for his campaign.

Im not running against the other Democratic candidates, he reportedly told voters at the California event. Im running against Donald Trump.

He added: We are going to win this.

The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Show all 25 1 /25 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Bernie Sanders The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Joe Biden The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling EPA The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial "stop and frisk" programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor Getty Images The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Pete Buttigieg The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Deval Patrick The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party's various voting blocs AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Steve Bullock The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated "We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people's voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone." He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor's seat in a red [Republican] state Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Andrew Yang The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tom Steyer Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor AFP/Getty

Still, not everyone is sure the billionaire  who has self-funded his 2020 campaign  can pave a way to victory without winning in key early-voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

At least one voter who attended the California event told the Associated Press that Mr Bloomberg skipping the first caucus and other crucial states will turn people off to his candidacy.

Mr Bloomberg has already greatly outspent his Democratic opponents on advertising, spending more than $250m to date according to several reports.

He has meanwhile seen a boost in national polls to fourth place, with nearly eight per cent of support among primary voters according to a RealClearPolitics polling average.

The former mayor also got into a war of words with Mr Trump after the president attacked him on Twitter, likely elevating his status in the crowded field  if only temporarily.

Mr Bloombergs campaign spokesperson described the president as a pathological liar following his tweets, saying Mr Trump lies about everything: his fake hair, his obesity, and his spray-on tan.
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Police officers in Streatham, South London, after at least two people were stabbed in a suspected "terrorist-related" incident on Feb. 2, 2020. (Isabel Infantes/AFP via Getty Images)

UK Introducing Emergency Terror Law to End Early Prisoner Release

The UK government is introducing emergency legislation to prevent convicted terrorists from being automatically released from prison before the end of their sentence, Secretary of State for Justice Robert Buckland announced on Feb. 3.

The Conservative lawmaker said the new legislation is aimed to keep people safe following a terror attack over the weekend in Streatham, South London, that left two people dead and another injured.

Under the new rules, the earliest point at which a convicted terrorist will be considered for release from jail will be once theyve served two-thirds of their sentence.

The legislation requires that terror offenders arent released before they have completed their full jail term unless the parole board agrees.

Buckland said the new legislation will also subject those terror offenders released from prison to robust safeguards, and review whether or not the current maximum penalties are sufficient for all terrorist offenses.

Sudesh Amman, 20, was released from prison last week after serving just half of his three-year and four-month sentence for 16 counts of distributing extremist material, and for the possession of material likely to be useful for the purposes of preparing a terrorist act.

The parole board had no involvement in Ammans release as the current law requires automatic unconditional release at the halfway point.

Just days after his release, Amman, an alleged ISIS supporter, stabbed a man and a woman on the busy high street in Streatham on Feb. 2 while wearing what has now been confirmed by officials as a fake explosive device. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said in a statement was in response to calls to attack the citizens of coalition countries.

The convicted terror offender was being monitored by counter-terrorism officers when he conducted the attack, and was immediately shot dead by officers.

One man in his 40s was initially left in a life-threatening condition following the Feb. 2 attack but officials said he remains in hospital in stable condition.

A woman in her 50s also suffered non-life-threatening injuries and has since been discharged from hospital, while a third woman in her 20s suffered minor injuries, believed to have been caused when police officers discharged their firearms at a glass window. She has also been discharged from the hospital.

Preventable and Predictable

Following the Feb. 2 attack, London Mayor Sadiq Khan told LBC radio the attack was preventable and predictable after the November 2019 London Bridge attack in which convicted terrorist Usman Khan, who had been released from prison on license, killed two people.

Im actually angry about the incident yesterday but also, when you add it to the incident in November, what worries me and makes me angry is weve got an example of somebody who has been convicted of terrorist-related offenses, somebody who the police had arrested, had been charged and prosecuted.

And this was clearly an incident that was both preventable and predictable. But for the knife injuries being one each on either side, but for the brilliance and speed of the police, but for the excellence of the medical staff, we could have be having a conversation today about a number of people having lost their lives as a consequence of a terrorist attack that need not have occurred.

Khan said that governmental changes in 2012 meant judges didnt have the tools to enforce the indeterminate sentence to protect the public and that due to prison cuts, not only are inmates not being punished and reformed but instead further radicalized.

On Feb. 3, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised the new legislation would end automatic early release for convicted terrorists but that the difficulty is how to apply that retrospectively to the cohort of people who currently qualify.

We do think its time to take action to ensure that people, irrespective of the law were bringing in, people in the current stream do not qualify automatically for early release, people convicted of terrorist offenses.

I hope people understand that the anomaly we need to clear up is the process by which some people are still coming out under automatic early release without any kind of scrutiny or parole system, the prime minister added.
EU's 'unnecessary' gas splurge threatens climate goals: analysis



Paris, Feb 4 (AFP) Feb 04, 2020



Europe is set to spend more than 100 billion euros on "unnecessary" natural gas infrastructure, boosting its import capacity by a third and imperilling the continent's climate goals, new analysis showed Tuesday.

In the first survey of its kind, the Global Energy Monitor (GEM) think tank looked at proposed natural gas infrastructure projects -- including power plants, import terminals and pipelines -- throughout the European Union and Britain.

It found that planned projects and those under construction would add 223 billion cubic metres annually to the EU's import capacity.

But the bloc already has import capacity nearly twice as high as its gas consumption, the study said.

Given that infrastructure such as pipelines have a shelf-life of decades, GEM warned of a substantial risk of stranded assets as the EU undergoes its transition away from fossil fuels.

"The UK and European economies are setting themselves up for losses running into the tens of billions by betting on unnecessary new gas infrastructure projects which are incompatible with Europe's climate goals," said GEM executive director Ted Nace.

European governments, with the exception of hold-out Poland, agreed last year to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050.

The EU Commission estimates that for the bloc to hit its climate and energy target for 2030, fossil gas use will need to fall by 29 percent by then.

Yet companies and governments are throwing billions behind projects that will drastically increase Europe's gas capacity, with more than 50 billion euros earmarked for new pipelines alone.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said last year that natural gas was driving around half of global energy demand increases.

While less polluting than other fossil fuels, notably coal, natural gas extraction and transport produces excessive amounts of methane -- a greenhouse gas dozens of times more potent than carbon dioxide.

GEM said that spending on planned gas infrastructure would average 12 billion euros annually this decade -- around 50 percent higher than the total fossil fuel investment in the IEA's "Sustainable Development Scenario".

GEM added it would amount to 117 billion euros.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that for the best chance to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, natural gas consumption would fall a quarter by 2030 and three-quarters by mid-century.



- 'Billions in overinvestment' -



The European Investment Bank (EIB) recently announced it was withdrawing from almost all fossil-fuel lending by the end of 2021, including natural gas projects.

"From both a policy and from a banking perspective, it makes no sense for us to continue to invest in 20-25 year assets that are going to be taken over by new technologies and do not deliver on the EU's very ambitious climate and energy targets," said the EIB's vice-president for energy Andrew McDowell.

EU lawmakers are set to vote next week on energy infrastructure projects to receive direct public funding and EIB loans. On the list are 32 fossil gas projects.

A recent study by Artelys consultancy group said that most of these projects were "unnecessary from a security of supply point of view" and posed a risk of "overinvestment in tens of billions of euros" of taxpayers' money.

"While talking about the climate emergency, the EU and national governments are still using taxpayers' money to shackle Europe to decades more fossil fuel use," Colin Roche, from Friends of the Earth Europe, told AFP.

"Gas is not a transition fuel -- the climate emergency means we must end the fossil fuel age fast."
DETROIT -- An alleged dog-fighting ring was busted Tuesday morning by the Detroit Police Department, according to WDIV Detroit. Police say 21 dogs were rescued form a home on Abington Avenue in the citys west side.

A suspect was arrested at the house and is now in police custody. Police were assisted by members of the Michigan Humane Society in rescuing the dogs as several vans were called in to transport the animals. According to officials, the dogs are in need of various levels of medical attention.

Officers busted up the ring around 8 a.m. Tuesday morning and discovered several pieces of dog fighting paraphernalia. Police were alerted to the alleged ring by concerned neighbors, according to officials.
[February 04, 2020] Giveffect Inc. Powers Nation's Largest Food Bank

NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The largest food bank in America, Houston Food Bank, has selected Giveffect as its all-in-one software provider. Giveffect will now proudly serve as HFB's CRM/Database Software, Volunteer Management Software, Email Marketing System, Events and Fundraising System (including peer-to-peer, corporate fundraising, ticketed events and more), Text-to-Give and Card Reader Functionality - just to name a few. "When we started Giveffect six years ago, our goal was to build the best all-in-one comprehensive software exclusively for nonprofits. To that end, we are thrilled to welcome Houston Food Bank to the Giveffect family of clients. As the largest food bank in America, Houston Food Bank's confidence in our software is a testament to the commitment our company has to being best in product and service. We are deeply honored to see Feeding America members of all sizes switching to Giveffect," said Anisa Mirza, Chief Executive Officer. Giveffect, Inc. Trailblazing Food Banks Choose Giveffect: "The Houston Food Bank is so pleased to be working with Giveffect to bring all our supporters into one database. We are particularly thrilled to be able to offer self-service functionality to many of our supporters who will be able to print records of their volunteer history or retrieve donation information for tax returns. Having donor and volunteer history in the same database will give us an unprecedented understanding of the needs and interests of our constituents and we are excited to use that information to better communicate the impact they make on our mission," said Amy R. Ragan, Chief Development Officer, Houston Food Bank. About Houston Food Bank Housto Food Bank's mission is to provide food for better lives. Last year, we provided access to 104 million nutritious meals in 18 counties in southeast Texas through our 1,500 community partners which include food pantries, soup kitchens, social service providers, and schools. We have a strong focus on healthy foods and fresh produce. In addition to distributing food, we provide services and connections to programs that address the root causes of hunger and are aimed at helping families achieve long-term stability, including nutrition education, job training, health management, and help with securing state-funded assistance. We are a resource for individuals and families in times of hardship. We are a solution to food waste, working with grocery stores and growers to rescue food before it reaches landfills. In collaboration with our community, we advocate for policy change and promote dialogue on ways to increase access to food and to improve the lives of those we serve. Houston Food Bank works alongside our partner food banks in Montgomery County, Galveston Country, and Brazos Valley. Houston Food Bank is a certified member of Feeding America, the nation's food bank network, with a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.



About Giveffect Inc. Giveffect Inc. is the leading all-in-one nonprofit software provider. With offices across San Francisco, Atlanta and New York City, Giveffect enables nonprofits to save over 30 hours a month on manual data entry. At Giveffect, we believe you are what you measure. While tracking and interpreting data on constituents, donors and volunteers is a core pillar of nonprofit development teams, this task is challenging with fragmented systems. With Giveffect's 10 system All-In-One Nonprofit Software, you get a 360 view on all data points.

To learn more and schedule a demonstration, visit www.giveffect.com. For press inquiries, email [email protected]. Related Images image1.png Related Links Learn More About Giveffect View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/giveffect-inc-powers-nations-largest-food-bank-300998780.html SOURCE Giveffect Inc.

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The United States has advised its citizens to reconsider their travel to Pakistan due to terrorism and issued the highest level of travel alerts for the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) along with the Line of Control (LoC) where terrorist groups "are known to operate".

US State Department, released a travel advisory on January 31, asserting that country's government has limited ability to provide emergency services to citizens in Pakistan due to the security environment.

"Reconsider travel to Pakistan due to terrorism. Some areas have increased risk... Do not travel to -- Balochistan province and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, including the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), due to terrorism and kidnapping. The immediate vicinity of the Line of Control due to terrorism and the potential for armed conflict," the advisory said.

Noting that large scale attacks have resulted in numerous casualties, the department said that terrorist attacks continue to happen across Pakistan, with most occurring in Balochistan and KPK, including the former FATA.

The Level 4 travel advisory has been issued for Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the vicinity of LoC.

Washington also asked its citizens to not travel to the India-Pakistan border as terrorist groups are known to operate in the area.

Moreover, the statement said, that India and Pakistan maintain a strong military presence on both sides of the border.

"Indian and Pakistani military forces periodically exchange gunfire and artillery fire across the Line of Control (LoC). The only official Pakistan-India border crossing point for persons who are not citizens of India or Pakistan is in the province of Punjab between Wagah, Pakistan, and Atari, India," the advisory said.

"Travellers are advised to confirm the status of the border crossing prior to commencing travel. An Indian visa is required to enter India, and no visa services are available at the border," it further stated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

Armenia flag to be permanently raised on buildings of some more institutions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit trial judge to not self-recuse

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit court case resumes

298 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Artsakh emergency service: Remains of another participant in hostilities are found

816,660 tourists visit Armenia during 11 months of 2021

US proposes to UN Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea

World oil prices dropping

Newspaper: Amnesty process suspended in Armenia indefinitely

Newspaper: Those in Karabakh are resisting Armenia authorities arbitrariness

FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

Slovak government approves defense treaty with US

US imposes sanctions on 6 North Koreans

US senators unveil bill to impose sanctions against Russia

EU wants to help Lebanon avoid economic collapse

CSTO to approve Kazakhstan peacekeepers withdrawal order

German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

Boris Johnson apologizes for attending party during lockdown

Global COVID-19 cases rise by 55% percent, deaths stable

Thailand introduces $9 tourist fee

Erdogan vows to tame Turkish inflation as scepticism grows

Turkey's Turkic world ambitions face reality check in Kazakhstan

Teacher in Baku beats student

NEWS.am daily digest: 12.01.22

Turkish FM expresses concerns to Chinese counterpart

OSCE Chairman-in-Office speaks on situation along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021

China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded

Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation

Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods

Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day

3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings

Copper rises in price

One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning

About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions

Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night

French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly

289 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Gold slightly rises in price

North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile

OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

Oil is trading without a single dynamic

US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee

MOD: Armenia soldiers dead body found at midnight after Azerbaijan provocation

Newspaper: Casualties of Armenia PM Pashinyan's 'era of peace'

US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen

German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan

WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State

India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death

Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded

NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22

Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States

Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia

Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death

Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded
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Residents of Upper Mount Bethel Township are facing a property tax increase for 2020.

The townships Board of Supervisors voted Monday to advertise a 2020 budget that includes a 1.5 mill real estate tax increase. That equates to a 23% increase and would bring the rate from 6.5 mills to 8 mills.

A final vote is scheduled for 4 p.m. Feb 14 at the municipal office at 387 Ye Olde Highway.

A mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of a propertys assessed value. A home in the township valued at $100,000 would pay $150 more in 2020.

The $3.7 million proposed 2020 budget is $300,000 higher than 2019s budget. A major part of that increase is $256,000 slated for a traffic light at the intersection of Route 611 and Route 512.

Supervisors have said in the past that the traffic light is needed to deal with speeding drivers and increased truck traffic on Route 611 and Route 512. Trucks and other drivers often travel well over the 35 mph speed limit on Route 611 heading to and from the Portland/Columbia bridge that leads to Interstate 80 in New Jersey, they have said.

The total cost for the light will be about $500,000, according to Township Manager Ed Nelson. The township will look for help with financing from the state for the balance of the cost, Nelson said.

Nelson provided supervisors with several budget scenarios that included tax increases up to 3.5 mills.

The 1.5 mill increase would cover basic expenses and maintain current road conditions but a higher increase would be needed to pave roads and upgrade older road maintenance equipment, Nelson said.

Anything lower than a 1.5 mill increase would cause problems for the township and require cuts to services.

I do not see any way, shape or form how you can get away without raising taxes, Nelson said.

Supervisor Martin Pinter said he supported a tax increase from 3 mills to 3.5 mills. The 1.5 mill increase will mean that roads will be patched or tar-and-chipped instead of being completely paved, as is needed, and older equipment will continue to deteriorate, Pinter said.

Past boards have avoided making the financial decisions that are required to keep the township in good shape, he said. The 1.5 mill increase will kick the can down the road as past boards have done, he said.

This is why we are in the situation that were in, Pinter said. Were going to continue to cut things in there (the budget) that already need more money.

Supervisor Robert Teel said he doesnt want to raise taxes at all but he thought a minimum 1.5 mill increase was necessary. He said he would not support a 3 mill or 3.5 mill increase.

Theres just too many people that cannot afford that, Teel said. I would like to raise taxes by 0 (percent).

Supervisors voted 5-0 to advertise the $3.7 million budget. The vote for the 1.5 mill tax increase was 3-2 with supervisors John Bermingham and David Due voting against the increase.

Bermingham said he spoke to developer Lou Pektor, an operating member of River Pointe Logistics Center LLC, which recently purchased 725 acres of land in the township.

Bermingham said Pektor will provide the township with an economic impact statement, which will detail potential money that may come into the townships coffers from development of the property.

Pektor indicated an initial development could be a food processing plant with 1,600 employees, according to Bermingham.

Bermingham said he would like to see the statement of what potential revenue the commercial development could generate before he would vote to increase taxes.

However, Supervisor Anthony DeFranco, who voted for the increase, warned that revenue from commercial development would be years away from becoming a reality.

John Best is a freelance contributor to lehighvalleylive.com. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
KAFR RUMMAN, Lebanon  There is a Lebanese phrase that translates, roughly, to a slapping. That seems to be what happened to several antigovernment protesters who were caught on TV denouncing Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Islamist militia and political party Hezbollah, in the early days of the now monthslong Lebanese uprising.

The smacking they received from a party that brooks little pushback, and wields tremendous influence in Lebanons government, might have been physical or it might have been verbal. Either way, the protesters appeared again on TV a few days later, looking subdued  this time, to apologize.

Sayyid means a lot to me. There are thousands who admire him, but Im like No. 100 on the list, one man said, his voice meek, using a respectful honorific for Mr. Nasrallah, whom the protester had previously accused of letting his community starve.

The on-camera apology was a prelude to more violent retributions against protesters from the Shiite Muslim community, the largest of Lebanons 18 recognized religious sects, which for decades has drawn on Hezbollah for protection, jobs, social services and, for many, a sense of shared struggle against Israel and other enemies.
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. -- It could be months before an investigation into a fatal crash involving a pedestrian is complete, Springfield police say.

Nathan Nelson, 40, was killed in mid-December 2019 after he was struck by an SUV while walking on the sidewalk on 42nd Street.

He was an employee at the Arc Lane County, a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities, and was walking with a client.

RELATED: MAN DIES AFTER BEING STRUCK BY CAR IN SPRINGFIELD

Springfield police said they have nearly finished up their crash reconstruction work and are waiting on a toxicology result from the driver Kenneth McQuown, 56, of Springfield.

Police said McQuown provided them with a urine sample that they have turned over to an Oregon State Police forensic lab. Capt. Tim Fox, a spokesperson for OSP, said it could take six to nine months to get the results.

He said the delay all comes down to capacity. He said they only have so many personnel and so much equipment that can process all the requests they get from law enforcement agencies around the state.

"We're usually at the point now where we are getting out what we're taking in," Fox said. "But we are still slowly cutting down that backlog, not very much, and we're going to get down, but until then it's a capacity issue."

Crystal Leslie lives just down the road from where Nelson was hit and hopes his family finds closure soon.

"That's too long. I'm sure his family wants to know what's going on," Leslie said. "They lost somebody that they love. That's just not fair."

Once the toxicology result comes back from OSP and the crash reconstruction work is done, police said the case will be ready for review by the District Attorney's office.
Update, June 1, 2020: The Hershey Volunteer Fire Companys final report on the Feb. 3, 2020 Draymore Court fire in Derry Township concluded the blaze was sparked by ashes from a fireplace that were placed in a plastic trash can on a deck to the rear of unit 1185, which was the home of Tom Brier and his parents. The deck and rear wall of the home ignited while the family was sleeping.

Among the victims in Monday mornings townhouse fire in Derry Township is 10th District congressional candidate Tom Brier.

Brier, a 28-year-old Hershey native, attorney and author who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House district covering all of Dauphin and parts of Cumberland and York counties, said he was awakened by the frantic barking of his dog, a Siberian Husky named Dawkins, around 4:15 a.m.

Smelling smoke, Brier said he ran downstairs to investigate and saw the ground floor back porch engulfed in flames.

At that point, Brier and his parents, with whom he shares the home on Draymore Court, quickly dressed, got out and started assisting with rousting their neighbors.

The fire, for which no cause has been publicly announced yet, left the Briers home totally destroyed, including personal possessions, cars and furnishings. But, Brier said, fortunately no one was hurt. He and his family are staying with friends temporarily while they work out a longer-term solution.

Hershey Fire Company spokesman David Sassman said the Briers was one of three residences that were extensively damaged in the blaze, while two other home on either side of the fires center also sustained fire, smoke and water damage. All five households have been temporarily displaced by the fire.

Sassman said while investigative work as to the cause is continuing, preliminary indications are that it was accidental, and not suspicious, in nature.

Brier also said, as hard a blow as Mondays tragedy is to him and his family, he intends to continue with his congressional campaign. This is the period in which - besides continued fundraising - all candidates must round up a certain number of signatures from registered voters to qualify for a spot on the April 28 primary ballot.

Brier said he will be able to do so because of the commitment of his campaign staff and volunteers who have pledged to soldier forth while the family continues to get its feet back on the ground.

We are so lucky to have such a strong support network, Brier said.

Brier is opposing Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale for the Democratic nomination. The winner of the primary will then be faced with trying to unseat incumbent Republican Scott Perry.
The World Health Organization is warning that false information circulating on social media about the new coronavirus is hampering efforts to tackle the epidemic. This fast moving disease so far has infected more than 20,000 people and killed at least 427. The overwhelming number of cases and all but two deaths have occurred in China.

Health officials say a disease epidemic is likely to quickly generate an epidemic of information. This is not unusual, they explain, because at the start of an outbreak, a lot is unknown about the nature of the disease and the risks it entails.

Unfortunately, they say the search for answers often triggers a lot of misinformation and harmful rumors. Sylvie Briand is the director of WHO's Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness unit. She says trying to deal with the mass of false information and rumors circulating on social media is challenging.

A few centuries ago, this phenomenon existed as well. But at that time there was no social media and so the information was spreading as well, but much slower than now," said Briand. "Now, the information is spreading very fast and is amplified immediately in every corner of the world, basically. This speed is very difficult to address in a timely manner.

WHO is teaming up with Google, which has launched a new project called SOS Alert. The system allows people to easily access key and correct information about the coronavirus. It says other social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook and Tiktok also are taking steps to limit the spread of misinformation.

Briand tells VOA that getting the right message out to the public is not always easy.

But I think it is a challenge of the 21st century because we are all beneficiaries of those extremely intense and fast communications, but also we could be the victims of it," said Briand. "This is why it is very important to characterize the phenomenon and to develop methods to tackle it appropriately.

Briand says confronting false information head on is not censorship. Rather, she says, it is a way of responding to people's concerns in the best way possible given the evidence that exists at the moment. As evidence and understanding about the new coronavirus grow, she says more and better information will become available.
China reacted furiously today to a U.S. decision to deny entry to all foreign nationals who had been to China in the past two weeks, denouncing it as a violation of WHO advice that would only spread fear.

The big picture: Some public health experts warn that travel bans are ineffective in fighting outbreaks and discourage international cooperation and transparency. But several governments are now employing them amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Any American who visited Hubei province over the past two weeks, meanwhile, will be quarantined for up to 14 days.

The global picture: Australia is also barring foreigners who recently visited China, and it has evacuated citizens from Wuhan to remote Christmas Island.

Other countries are denying entry to foreigners traveling directly from China (Japan, South Korea), while still more have suspended flights from China (Indonesia, the U.K., Italy), per the BBC.

Russia, which has been carefully tightening its bond with China, took the politically delicate step of closing most of its shared border to people (but not goods).

Mongolia also closed its border with China, giving citizens until Feb. 6 to return home.

Hong Kong's position is perhaps most sensitive of all.

Carrie Lam, the city's Beijing-friendly leader, said today that she'd close more border checkpoints but not meet the demands of striking hospital workers to close the border entirely.

But some Southeast Asian countries have seemed to focus their public responses on not provoking China, the NY Times reports.

"In Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen told a packed news conference on Thursday that he would kick out anyone who was wearing a surgical mask because such measures were creating an unwarranted climate of fear. 'The prime minister doesnt wear a mask,' he said, 'so why do you?'"

Officials from the Philippines had also downplayed the threat but changed course after the first death was reported there.

Go deeper: Virus tests China's system
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on February 4 released its manifesto for the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election.

Speaking at the manifesto launch event, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said AAPs vision now is to make Delhi a modern city and capital of a developed India.

Attacking rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the February 8 election, Kejriwal said the BJP should declare its chief ministerial candidate. I am ready to debate with BJPs chosen CM candidate at a place of their choosing. People want to know who BJPs CM face is. People, not [BJP leader] Amit Shah, will decide who will become Delhis chief minister, Kejriwal said.

Speaking at the launch event, Deputy Chief Minister said that AAPs roadmap is divided into two parts  guarantees and what they plan to do over the next five years.

He said AAP's focus in its second term will be on education, healthcare and sanitation.

The party said it will push the Centre to pass the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill, which was passed by the outgoing Legislative Assembly in 2015.

AAP has promised to take up 28 initiatives such as door step delivery of ration, sending 10 lakh senior citizens for Tirth Yatra, including deshbhakti (patriotism) in school curriculum, establishing English language and soft skills programmes for those who have already completed schooling and riverside development along the Yamuna in partnership with the Centre.

Sisodia said the deshbhakti programme in the curriculum will help induce a sense of nationalism, love for India's armed forces and respect for the tricolour.

It has also promised to increase the number of Mohalla Marshals to enhance womens safety.

The party said it would extend the Delhi Metro network by 500 km to connect places like Narela and Bururi.

It said the Centre would be pressurised to revoke sealing of businesses and will allow functioning of shops 24x7 to help boost tourism.

The party will urge the Centre to include Bhojpuri to the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which would give it an official language status.

Sisodia said the manifesto was an extension to Kejriwals guarantee card that was released earlier. In the guarantee card, AAP had listed 10 promises that AAP would deliver on if it is elected to govern Delhi again.

The card has promised to continue the scheme for free electricity up to 200 units, free health facilities and to plant two crore saplings in the national capital over the next five years.

It has also promised to acquire more than 11,000 public transportation buses.
Hong Kong tightened its border controls with mainland China yesterday after thousands of hospital workers went on strike to demand greater protection from the deadly coronavirus that has infected more than 17,000 people.

The unprecedented strike came as Beijing, which is struggling to contain the virus, blamed the US for stirring fear by evacuating diplomatic staff and warning citizens not to travel at all to the country.

"All it [the US] has done could only create and spread fear, which is a bad example," China's foreign ministry said.

Russia said yesterday it may deport foreigners who test positive for coronavirus as Russian military planes flew into Hubei, the province at the centre of the outbreak, to evacuate citizens. Two Chinese nationals were diagnosed with the virus last week in Siberia.

Moscow also halted passenger trains to China and the last train from Beijing rolled into Russia empty after 136 passengers, all Chinese nationals, were taken off at the border, the RIA news agency reported.

Hua Chunying, a ministry spokesperson, accused "some countries, and especially the US" of an "overreaction" and taking "excessive measures, which are obviously contrary to what the WHO [World Health Organisation] suggested".

"They were the first to evacuate consulate staff from Wuhan, the first to suggest partial withdrawal of embassy staff, and the first country to announce a complete travel ban on Chinese nationals... it took a very bad lead," she said.

In China itself, drones warned residents in some areas to stay indoors rather than risk spreading infection.

According to a report in China's 'Global Times', a group playing the traditional tile game mahjong in Chengdu was stopped mid-game by a drone that hovered nearby.

"Playing mahjong outside is banned during the epidemic," said a voice from the drone.

"You have been spotted. Stop playing and leave the site as soon as possible."

Hong Kong, which lost close to 300 residents during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) outbreak in 2003, remains on edge as fears grow that coronavirus will spread further.

It has so far confirmed 15 cases.

Authorities in China said there had now been 361 deaths as a result of the virus out of 17,205 cases. ( Daily Telegraph, London)
A worker was killed at an Amazon delivery hub under construction at an airport in northern Kentucky, authorities said.

The workplace accident occurred Saturday at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, WXIX-TV reported.

The Boone County coroners office confirmed the fatality, the airport said in a statement.

Details about the accident, which remains under investigation, were unavailable. The construction workers name wasnt immediately released pending notification of relatives.

Ground was broken on the $1.5 billion Prime Air hub last May.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Training Development Construction Amazon Kentucky
They have been blissfully married for 18 years and are often spotted enjoying date nights.

And Joan Collins looked sensational when she stepped out on Monday night for a romantic meal with her doting husband, Percy Gibson, at Craig's restaurant in West Hollywood.

The 86-year-old actress looked elegant in all white ensemble whilst her long-term-love, 55, looked dapper in a camel blazer.

Elegant: Joan Collins looked sensational when she stepped out on Monday night for a romantic meal with her doting husband, Percy Gibson, at Craig's restaurant in West Hollywood

Joan opted for a chic coat paired with a polo neck for her evening out.

She carried a quilted white clutch bag and stayed on trend in a pair of cream ankle boots.

The Dynasty icon added a pop of colour in the form of a glossy pink pout and looked to be in high spirits as she held hands with her husband.

Romantic: The 86-year-old actress looked elegant in all white ensemble whilst her long-term-love, 55, looked dapper in a camel blazer

Percy paired his blazer with a fitted black polo neck and grey tartan trousers.

He could not mask his smile as he led his gorgeous wife to the car following their delicious meal.

The pair also bumped into Alana Stewart, daughter of pop legend Rod, at the restaurant, who looked chic in a black and white mini skirt.

Joan and Percy tied the knot in 2002 at Claridge's Hotel in London, the fifth time walking down the aisle for the star.

Glamorous: Joan opted for a chic coat paired with a polo neck for her evening out. She carried a quilted white clutch bag and stayed on trend in a pair of cream ankle boots

In May 2018, the legendary actress revealed her top tip for 'lasting marriage' to Hello!

She said that the reason it works is because they 'really support each other'.

She said: 'You won't always agree about everything, but you need to enjoy each other's company. Percy is such an amazing man, he is so kind and so caring

Adoring hubby: Percy paired his blazer with a fitted black polo neck. He could not mask his smile as he led his gorgeous wife to the car following their delicious meal

'People get married on the crest of lust. Once that's gone, they look and think: 'What the hell? Who is this person?

'There has to be something else to fall back on. If there isn't, they start looking.'

Joan's acting career has spanned more than six decades with her most recent roles being in the hit TV series American Horror Story and Hawaii Five-0.
KYODO NEWS - Feb 4, 2020 - 23:15 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

Japan may expand its ban on foreign nationals who have recently been to China's Hubei Province to those from other areas in order to stem an outbreak of a deadly coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday.

"We are analyzing the data on patients within China to determine which regions have a high risk," Abe told a lower house committee. "We remain open-minded on what measures to take, including the possibility of expanding the regions" subject to the travel ban.

"The situation is changing by the minute," he said, as the pneumonia-causing virus has killed at least 425 people and infected nearly 20,500 on China's mainland.

Japan's health ministry said Tuesday night it has confirmed three more cases of the virus in the country, bringing the total number of infections to 23.

They are a woman in her 50s who returned to Tokyo on Thursday from Wuhan on a government-chartered flight, a woman in her 30s who resides in the Chinese city and arrived in Japan on Jan. 21, and a man in his 50s who came from the Chinese province on Jan. 22, according to the ministry.

The government is stepping up efforts to stem the spread of the virus, which originated in Wuhan in central China, with 20 cases of infection confirmed in Japan so far. Abe said the development of a rapid test kit for the virus is under way so more institutions, including private ones, can conduct screenings.

Japan has been scrambling to keep the outbreak from spreading on its shores, and on Saturday imposed a ban on foreigners who have been to Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the center of the outbreak that has been put under lockdown, and other parts of Hubei Province in the last two weeks even if they show no symptoms of being infected with the coronavirus.

Holders of Chinese passports issued in Hubei have also been prohibited from entering the country in principle. A total of 11 people have been turned away at the border as of Monday, immigration authorities said.

Abe made the comments in response to an opposition lawmaker who pointed out that parts of China's Zhejiang Province were also put under lockdown as the epidemic has spread.

Meanwhile, 3,700 people remained in quarantine aboard a cruise ship in Yokohama on Tuesday after an 80-year-old passenger who disembarked in Hong Kong late last month tested positive for the coronavirus.

(Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Feb. 4, 2020, shows luxury cruise ship Diamond Princess off Daikoku Pier in Yokohama near Tokyo.)

The passenger from Hong Kong toured Kagoshima Prefecture by bus before the Diamond Princess arrived in his home city on Jan. 25, according to a Japanese government official.

Those on the cruise with symptoms such as a fever or cough have undergone virus testing and are awaiting the results.

The Japanese government also said Tuesday that nationals who evacuated Wuhan on government-chartered flights and are quarantined in designated facilities can leave in 10 days instead of the current 14 days.

For that, they must test negative for the virus after taking additional exams on the last day of the quarantine period.

More than 560 Japanese have returned from the Chinese city since last Wednesday, when the first evacuation jet arrived in Tokyo.

Related coverage:

Japan quarantines 3,500 on cruise ship Diamond Princess over coronavirus

Dozens of Malaysians quarantined after being evacuated from Wuhan

Nissan to delay restart of China operations amid virus outbreak
Quarantine officials in Japan have boarded a cruise ship to screen its crew and passengers for the coronavirus. The move came after a Hong Kong traveler was found to have been infected, after disembarking in his home city.

The vessel returned to Yokohama after making stops in southern Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Taiwan.

Japan's health ministry says about 2,500 passengers and around 1,000 crew members are on board.

Ministry officials say people with a fever, cough, or other symptoms will be tested for the virus.

Everyone will reportedly stay on the ship until the quarantine procedures and checks are finished.

Officials expect to receive the test results before the end of Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the health ministry says it is trying to determine whether the Hong Kong voyager disembarked in the Japanese city of Kagoshima, when the ship stopped there last month.

The boat docked nearby in the Japanese city of Naha on Saturday. No passengers were found to have symptoms at that time. About 10 people got off. Officials plan to find out if any of them had close contact with the Hong Kong resident.
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By Trend

Iran will launch Zafar (Victory) satellite into space by the end of this week (the week ends in Iran on the 5th day), Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahrami wrote on his Twitter page.

Zafar satellite will be launched via Simorgh missile and will be located 530 kilometers from Earth, Jahrami added, Trend reports.

The minister has recently said that less than two million euros were spent on the production of Zafar 1 and Zafar 2 satellites.

The average life of the satellite is two years and a half, said the official.

Iran's Zafar satellite weighs 113 kilograms. The purpose of launching the satellite is to renew the maps covering the changes in Iran's oil reserves, agriculture, forests and lakes.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
PINELLAS PARK, Fla., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly all employees (92%) say that having workplace wellness initiatives are important, but new research released today finds that far fewer of their employers (just 60%) are actually offering these initiativesand its impacting productivity, quality of work and overall health.

According to the new Transitions Optical Workplace Wellness Surveyi, employees say the top way to improve their overall productivity and quality of work would be encouragement by employers to take breaks to rest their eyes and prevent eyestrain. Half of all employees agree that taking this step is criticalfollowed by receiving financial assistance for fitness programs (45%) and getting catered lunches (40%). Despite this, fewer than one-third of employers are encouraging these types of wellness initiatives.

The value placed on resting eyes makes senseconsidering nearly all employees (99%) say that seeing well at work makes it easier to do their job (i.e., being able to read their screens without straining their eyes or being bothered by light or glare). Despite this, almost three-quarters of employees say they frequently experience digital eyestrain in the workplacewith 8 in 10 saying they experience negative symptoms from looking at a screen all day. These symptoms include eyestrain, back, neck and shoulder pain and headaches.

Furthermore, lack of natural lighting and bright, fluorescent lighting are also negatively impacting the ability for employees to perform their best. And, when employees do take a break, they are still looking at their screensdoing activities such as texting (65%), checking email (61%) and looking at social media (52%). With employees saying that workplace eye health would boost productivity and overall healthand particularly younger generations who are making up an increasing portion of the workplacethe opportunity is ripe to arm employers with the tools they need to implement a successful workplace wellness program, including offering comprehensive vision benefits plans that cover premium eyewear options.

Steps to Protect Eyes at Work

While eight in 10 employees say they have taken measures to protect their eyes from digital eyestrain (such as dimming screen brightness, limiting screen time and dimming lights in their workplace), few employees are taking advantage of simple ways to further protect their eyes. Though many comprehensive vision plans offer full or partial coverage of eyewear options to help protect the eyes and enhance vision, just 22% of those surveyed wear lenses with anti-reflective coating, 16% wear lenses with a blue-light filter, and only 15% wear photochromic lenses, which automatically adapt their level of tint to changing ultraviolet (UV) light and offer additional protection from harmful blue light and glare, both indoors and out, such as Transitions Light Intelligent Lenses.

"Today's workforce is savvier than ever when it comes to overall health and wellness, and they know protecting their eyes is crucialespecially as screen usage continues to increase," said Drew Smith, director, North America channels, Transitions Optical. "Employers canand shouldtake simple measures to implement wellness programs in their offices, such as encouraging their employees to take breaks to rest their eyes. In addition, offering a vision benefits plan that covers eyewear options to correct common visual problems, and offering ongoing education about sight-enhancing eyeglass lens options, are all steps to address the needs of today's employees."

See Well, Work Well with Premium Vision Benefits

Employees not only need vision benefitsthey want them, and they're more likely to engage with employers who offer them. In fact, nearly two in three employees say they would be more likely to accept a job offering vision benefits. Brand name matters, as well. Eight in 10 employees say they'd be more likely to enroll in or keep a vision plan that covers eyewear options like Transitions Light Intelligent Lenses. And, seven in 10 say it's important to have authentic Transitions brand lenses covered by their company's vision plan. Among the most desired premium lens options include:

Anti-reflective or no-glare coatings: 62% of employees

62% of employees Scratch-resistant lenses : 62% of employees

: 62% of employees Photochromic lenses, like Transitions lenses: 37% of employees

37% of employees Blue light protection: 31% of employees

Older generations are especially interested in these types of premium lenses, with six in 10 Gen X employees and seven in 10 Boomers wanting no-glare coatings. This is an opportunity to reach and educate younger generations about the benefits these types of lenses bring, and also encourage them to get a yearly eye exam. The Workplace Wellness survey revealed nine in 10 employees say they're likely to get a comprehensive eye exam in the next yearbut only half of Gen Z employees are very likely. With these workers showing interest in eye health, now is the time to keep them informed and engaged.

To help elevate the importance of comprehensive eye exams and quality eyewear available through vision benefits, Transitions Optical offers a variety of broker, employee and employer focused tools and education. These can be accessed at HealthySightWorkingforYou.org.

i 2020 Transitions Workplace Wellness Survey conducted online in January 2020 by Wakefield Research on behalf of Transitions Optical among 1,300 nationally representative U.S. adults, ages 18+, who are employed full-time or part-time and whose employers offer vision benefits.

Melissa Rieger Jonathan Ormsby Red Havas Transitions Optical 412-251-2172 727-545-0400 x 2220 [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Transitions Optical
In the runup to the 2014 general elections, it was one of the biggest promises BJP and the then Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi purportedly made - to bring back black money and deposit Rs 15 lakhs from it to the accounts of every Indian.

It is considered one of the key factors that made a lot of people to vote for the BJP in the elections in 2014.

BCCL

But after coming to power the BJP never walked the talk and even claimed that Modi never made any such promise.

While this is partly true, there are any number of tweets, speeches by BJP leaders saying that Modi will bring back the black money and deposit Rs 15 lakhs in the accounts of all Indians.

In 2015 Amit Shah, who was the then BJP President had told in a television interview that it was a political jumla and that it was a metaphor and not to be taken for the literal meaning.

BCCL

But the Rs 15 lakh promise never left the BJP and even in 2019 the then Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said that the BJP "never said Rs 15 lakh will come to accounts of people. We had said that we will take action against black money."

But now a court in Ranchi, Jharkhand has started proceedings in a case where Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Union minister Ramdas Athawale are accused of cheating and dishonesty for not fulfilling this promise.

The proceedings were initiated in a complaint by a Ranchi-based lawyer called HK Singh.

In his complaint lodged under sections 415 (cheating) and 420 (dishonesty) of the Indian Penal Code, and section 123(b) of the Representation of the People Act, Singh argued that false promise cannot be made to seek votes. "It amounts to fraud with the people," India Today reported.

He also argued that in 2019 Home Minister Amit Shah said the government introduced the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) because it was one of the main promises made by the BJP in its election manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

"Why was the promise on CAA delivered but the promise on crediting Rs 15 lakh in each person's account, a promise made in BJP manifesto, not honoured?" HK Singh asked.

However, it is worthwhile to note that the BJP's manifesto for 2014 never made any such promise. It should also be noted the Modi has never explicitly made any promise to deposit Rs 15 lakhs in every Indian's accounts.

BCCL

One of the early mentions of this is in a speech by Modi in Kanker, Chhattisgarh where he said the amount of black money stashed overseas is so much that if it is brought back it is enough to deposit Rs 15 lakh rupees in the account of every Indian.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Brooklyn woman who couldnt talk her way out of an arrest admitted Tuesday to driving drunk on Todt Hill with a young boy in her car last spring.

The events unfolded shortly before 8 p.m. May 27 while Jessica Lanausse, 44, was behind the wheel of a 2013 Audi bearing Pennsylvania license plates, said court papers.

Lanausse, who lives on the 300 block of Bay 8th Street, struck a wall near the intersection of Todt Hill and Willow Pond roads, prosecutors court filings said.

The collision damaged her car, in which the boy was riding in the back seat, said prosecutors court documents. Another child also was a passenger, those documents said.

Lanausse then drove off, but not before backing into another car, court records said.

Cops tracked her down and busted her about an hour later a short distance away on Fairview Place in Dongan Hills, said court filings.

The defendant was sweaty, her eyes were watery, and there was a strong odor of alcohol on her breath, court papers said.

Lanausse told police she had been drinking much earlier in the day.

If I had three glasses of wine it was a lot, court papers quote her as telling cops.

She then tried to soften up the officers.

My aunt is a sergeant. Would that do anything? she said, according to court documents.

The defendant was indicted on two counts of aggravated driving while intoxicated, a felony, and misdemeanor counts of driving while intoxicated, child endangerment and leaving an accident scene.

She pleaded guilty Tuesday in state Supreme Court, St. George, to the felony and misdemeanor driving-while-intoxicated charges.

In admitting to the felony charge, Lanausse said she drove drunk while a boy, 8, was a passenger.

In exchange, she will be placed on intensive supervised probation for a year.

During that time, she must also complete a continuous six-month alcohol-monitoring program called SCRAM.

If Lanausse complies, the felony plea would be vacated, and she would be sentenced on the misdemeanor conviction to three years probation and fined $1,000.

Her drivers license would be revoked for six months.

In addition, the defendant would be required to take an anti-drunken driving program and attend a victim-impact panel.

The panel puts individuals face-to-face with victims of drunken drivers and their families, who relate their stories of loss and pain.

She would also have to install an ignition-interlock device on her car for one year if her license was re-instated.

Lanausse would potentially face jail time on the felony conviction if she fails to adhere to the terms of her interim probation or the alcohol monitoring.

It was a lamentable decision which Ms. Lanausse deeply regrets, said defense lawyer Biju Koshy outside court. Im glad we were able to negotiate this plea in which my client can ultimately avoid a felony conviction.

Assistant District Attorney Frank Prospero is prosecuting the case.
Her lawyer Richard Malka has accused the left of failing to defend secular values

The girl, known as Mila, said Islam is 'a s*** religion' and the Koran is 'full of hate'

The French teenager who received death threats after footage of her saying that Islam was a 's**t' religion went viral online has come out of hiding to defend her strong atheist convictions.

The teenager, identified only as Mila, appeared on the French TV programme Quotidien last night to say she 'does not regret' her comments.

It comes after France's left-wing elite was criticised for failing to support a 16-year-old girl who has faced death threats for insulting Islam.

The teenager, identified only as Mila, appeared on the French TV programme Quotidien on Monday evening to say she 'does not regret' her comments

Mila est notre invitee dans #Quotidien pour sa seule et unique interview. pic.twitter.com/cZ1VqObHrR  Quotidien (@Qofficiel) February 3, 2020

She was removed from her sixth-form college in Lyon, south-east France, by police 'for her own safety' and has faced a torrent of insults and threats to rape and kill her.

During the interview Mila defended her right to her strong atheist convictions. She said: 'I would like to clarify that... I would like to come back to the subject about the fact that I absolutely do not regret what I said, that it was really what I thought.'

Then show host Yann Barhes says: 'That you don't regret the right to blaspheme?'

Mila replies: 'Yes, that's right. The right to blaspheme. And I don't have to hide for this reason. I don't have to stop living for this.

'But I would still like to say that in some way I am a little bit sorry towards the people who I might have hurt who practise their religion in peace, and I never wanted to target human beings.

'I simply wanted to... blaspheme... I wanted to talk about a religion, and say what I thought about it, and that's all.'

Mila also told the show host: 'There are two things I regret in this story. The first is that I said it on social media because I had not taken into account how big it could get and [I also regret] having said it in such a vulgar way, because I could have argued my point better.'

When asked by Yann Barthes: 'Could you have said these words about another religion?'

Mila replies: 'Yes, of course.'

Barthes then asks: 'Have you always been an atheist?'

And Mila replies: 'I have always been an atheist.'

Barthes then says: 'The law says something very simple. One can insult a religion but not citizens because of their religious beliefs. And you say in the video "one cannot be racist towards a religion." Is this a question you had already thought about?'

Mila replies: 'Yes, of course.'

Barthes says: 'To be so on point.'

Mila then replies: 'There is a difference between religion and people. And people who are not capable of telling the difference are morons.'

Mila (pictured) was removed from her sixth-form college in Lyon, south-east France, by police 'for her own safety' and has faced a torrent of insults and threats to rape and kill her

Mila's original post, which went viral online, caused heated debate in France, where the country's left-wing elite has been accused of cowardice for not speaking out in defence of the teenager, who faced death threats for insulting Islam.

Police reportedly told her that it is too dangerous for her to return to her high school and she is said to be struggling to find another that would be willing to take her in.

Richard Malka, her lawyer, told The Times: 'It is the left that traditionally defends secularism in this country. It saddens me that it has not done so in this case', adding that her situation had been ignored by feminist and left-wing groups, which are usually quick to defend female victims of verbal and physical violence.

Mila told French publication Bellica how she feels 'the whole of France wants me dead' after no one stood up for her following the attacks, and as though she can 'no longer set foot in my high school, and I can't even change my high school'.

The teenager's lawyer, Richard Malka, said her plight has been completely ignored by the left, and accused them of disregarding the values laid down by Voltaire in the 18th century

The threats came about after Mila, who loves singing and whose profile is adorned with an LGBT flag, was talking with her followers on Instagram and one of them reportedly began harassing her.

After rebuffing the follower's advances, he reportedly began insulting her with homophobic attacks and accusations of racism.

Then the attacks took a religious tone, with some users reportedly accusing Mila of insulting 'our God Allah, the one and only' and hoping that she would 'burn in hell.'

It is then that Mila decided to post footage criticising religion in general and Islam.

'I hate religion, [...] there is nothing but hate in the Koran, Islam is s**t, that's what I think,' she said in the videos posted to her Instagram stories on January 19.

'I am not racist, not at all. You cannot be racist towards a religion. I said what I thought, you will not make me regret it. There are still people who will get excited, I clearly don't give a damn, I say what I want, what I think.'

French media point out that under French law, Mila has done nothing illegal, there being no restrictions on 'blasphemy' in France.

The prosecutor's office in Vienne, near Lyon, is understood to be investigating the comments on Mila's profile in an attempt to identify the perpetrators of the abuse against her.
The wolves and wolfdogs eat raw meat donated by restaurants, groceries and hunters. Wolf jaws are powerful  exerting a force of up to 1,500 pounds per square inch at the back  and can chomp bones easily. They are fed six times a week here; in the wild, wolves may eat once a week. Wild wolves usually live four to eight years, but at the sanctuary we admired 17-year-old Swayze and Cinderella, pure wolf mates.
NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association (NYMCIA) is pleased to announce that Green Thumb Industries (GTI), Curaleaf, and Cresco have joined its coalition.

The association, which is now under new leadership, was created in 2016 to advocate for the interests of medical cannabis patients and, amid the debate over regulated adult-use, ensure the medical program continues to serve those patients.

NYMCIA's growth demonstrates an increasing recognition that the medical cannabis industry is stronger when it stands together, and also better able to advocate for a comprehensive legalization bill that addresses key social equity, economic, and fairness issues while also strengthening the state's burgeoning medical cannabis program.

"The coalition is optimistic about the state expanding medical cannabis and legalizing adult use in the current legislative session, and will do so in a way that makes New York a model for how to do this right," said Katie Neer, chair of NYMCIA and Director of Government Affairs for Acreage Holdings.

"Understanding that social equity will, and should, be at the forefront of this discussion, we're prepared to be an advocate and source of investment for the communities that have been most adversely impacted by the war on drugs," added Ngiste Abebe, President of the NYMCIA and Director of Public Policy for Columbia Care. "We will also continue to protect  and if possible, expand  access to medical cannabis for New Yorkers who need it, regardless of their income level or where they live in the state. "

There are 40 medical cannabis dispensaries operating in New York. They serve approximately 500,000 residents within a 1,400-square-mile radius per location. Thousands of New Yorkers are underserved under the current law, and, in some cases, they are forced to travel as long as three hours to obtain much-needed medication.

New York's dispensary-to-patient ratio  one to every half-million people  is more than twice as high as that of Illinois, three times as high as that of Michigan, and more than seven times as high as Florida's ratio. Increasing access to medical cannabis requires increasing the number of dispensaries permitted to operate in the state.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly indicated that the legalization of adult-use cannabis will be among his top priorities this year. His executive budget proposal demonstrates that he is indeed committed to accomplishing this goal while safeguarding the health and safety of New Yorkers. The governor has called for funding cannabis and hemp research as well as a statewide cannabis education campaign  both concepts that we as an association support.

The state estimates a fully implemented adult-use cannabis program would create thousands of jobs, generate billions of dollars of economic activity, and result in $300 million in tax revenue over five years.

While the governor has proposed a strong framework for how legalization might work, many details remain unclear - including the question of co-location of medical and adult-use dispensaries. The NYMCIA believes co-location is the safest and most effective way to fully implement a robust and successful adult-use program while protecting affordable access to medical cannabis patients. Indeed, every other state that has implemented an adult-use program with an existing medical cannabis program has co-located products at dispensaries.

Fully integrating medical and adult-use dispensaries also provides a significant timely revenue that could better and more fully fund social equity programs while making sure that New York has the safest, strongest, and most comprehensive cannabis program in the nation.

To learn more visit https://www.protectnymedmar.com/.

ABOUT THE NEW YORK MEDICAL CANNABIS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

The New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association is comprised of Columbia Care, Cresco, Curaleaf, GTI, The Botanist and Acreage NY, iAnthus, Pharmacann, and Vireo Health. Our mission is to protect and serve the patients in New York's medical marijuana program while leading the way for proposed adult-use across the state. Learn more about NYMCIA at https://www.protectnymedmar.com/

ABOUT CRESCO

Cresco Labs is one of the most trusted and fastest growing cannabis companies. With dispensaries in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Huntington, Long Island, Cresco Cresco entered the New York market with four strategically located dispensaries. From careful cultivation to consistent distribution, they provide a portfolio of brands thoughtfully made for every patient. Cresco products provide safe, consistent, and trusted alternatives to traditional pharmaceuticals like opioids. Recognizing that the cannabis industry is poised to become one of the leading job creators in the country, Cresco has launched a comprehensive Social Equity and Educational Development (SEED) initiative designed to ensure that all members of society have the skills, knowledge and opportunity to work in and own businesses in the cannabis industry. Learn more about Cresco Labs at www.crescolabs.com.

ABOUT CURALEAF

Curaleaf NY began its operations in April 2018 and currently operates four dispensaries in New York in the North Country, Hudson Valley, Queens and Nassau County. As a health and wellness company, Curaleaf's mission is to help patients live life well by providing them with high-quality medical cannabis at affordable prices. Curaleaf's state of the art cultivation and manufacturing facility located just outside of Albany was approved by state Health Department and began manufacturing Curaleaf medicines in August 2018.

Since its inception, Curaleaf has contributed nearly $500,000 in compassionate care assistance to economically disadvantaged patients and veterans. The company forged new ground in the state with its innovative, affordable products and is the only cannabis operator to make whole plant available to its patients in the form of ground flower pods. In addition, Curaleaf is the first company to offer medical cannabis gel tablets for patients who are seeking a new method of administration. Learn more at https://ny.curaleaf.com/.

ABOUT GTI

Green Thumb Industries (GTI) is a cannabis cultivator, processor, and dispensary operator dedicated to providing dignified access to safe and effective cannabis, while giving back to the communities in which they serve. Earlier this year GTI acquired New York-based Fiorello Pharmaceuticals, one of only 10 companies approved to operate a medical cannabis company in the state. Assets include a manufacturing and cultivation facility in Schenectady County and a retail store in each of the following locations: Manhattan, Rochester, Halfmoon and Nassau County, three of which are open. More information is available at GTIgrows.com.

SOURCE New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association
The Dundalk Democrat put six questions to all 15 candidates standing in the Louth constituency for General Election 2020.

Two specific questions in each of the three categories, crime, healthcare and climate change were put to the candidates.

Seven out of the 15 candidates responded. Over the next seven articles we share their responses.

The questions were as follows and the responses from Fianna Fail candidate Declan Breathnach are below:

Crime

What resources would you provide for people in Louth to keep them from drifting into criminality?

Do you favour decriminalisation of drugs as part of a range of measures to combat addiction?

Environment

Would you support the idea of making school buses mandatory for all school goers who do not cycle of walk to school - as a means of combating climate change, promote healthy lifestyles and cutting down on rush hour traffic?

What public transport measures would you implement in Louth to combat climate change? - would it include free public transport for all? What investment would you make towards electric buses and when would it happen?

Healthcare

Would you end the use of agency healthcare workers, including nurses? Timeline?

What facilities would you make available in Louth to help fight mental illness and help promote good mental health?

Declan Breathnach's responses:

Crime

Q1 I have spoken in the Dail many times over the past four years on the escalation of crime in Louth, and in particular, Drogheda. I have requested Commissioner Drew Harris on more than one occasion to hold a meeting with public representatives in Louth to discuss resolutions, but this never happened.

Fianna Fail will:

Increase Garda numbers nationally to 16,000 and the Garda reserve to 2,500

Smash gangland crime with new special anti-terror laws

Introduce mandatory sentences on knife crime attacks

Tackle antisocial behaviour with new laws including eviction powers

Establish an independent gambling regulator

Establish a new Community Investment Fund to build new facilities and amenities.

Q2 I believe that more research needs to be done on whether the decriminalisation of drugs would contribute to combatting addiction. I attended a briefing and meeting recently where the Drugs Taskforces, the HSE Drug Addiction Services and other voluntary groups in the North East presented a bleak future all due to lack of funding.

Fianna Fail will:

Introduce legislation that will severely punish those who purchase drugs from children and those who use minors as cogs in their distribution network.

Increase funding to drugs taskforces by 6m over the next two years and then review the situation further.

Undertake a major education campaign on the hazards of casual drug use for which we will allocate 3m.

Appoint representation at a senior level from the Department of the Taoiseach to the National Oversight Committee (NOC) of the National Drugs Strategy.

Review the methadone treatment protocol as more than 10,000 people are currently on a methadone treatment programme.

Fully implement the National Drugs strategy.

Ensure additional Garda resources are targeted at key areas.

Environment

Q1 This would be great if it could be achieved. At present, school transport has been a huge problem in some parts of rural Louth with not enough capacity and students who had a seat on the local service being cut off this year.

I would support more collective or supervised walking initiatives, to stop local traffic around schools for those within walking distances. I am not sure it would be achievable to have school transport for all school goers from every corner of rural Ireland.

Fianna Fail are planning to introduce a Kids go Free scheme on public transport for U.18 at a cost of 27m.

Q2 I dont think free public transport for all will happen. People would be more interested in having a decent transport system and improving connectivity. I would support incentives to bus companies to purchase electric buses when replacing or enhancing their fleet.

I have brought up transport issues many times over the past four years through asking Parliamentary Questions on extending the Dublin Suburban short hop zone to areas such as Laytown, Bettystown and Drogheda and supporting the use of leap cards on all public transport to avail of discounts.

I am committed to seeing an expansion of rural transport. This government has all but closed rural Ireland. People living outside of the M50 have no public transport options, and it is harming quality of life. Fianna Fail will:

Provide subsidies to rural hackney drivers to help them meet insurance costs at a capped cost of 6.5m.

Introduce a Kids go Free scheme on public transport for U.18 at a cost of 27m.

We will prioritize the electrification of rail lines around the country, particularly on commuter services as part of rail investment within the capital spending envelope;

Revise Irelands legislation to support car-pooling;

Pilot Bus Lanes on Motorways and National roads with an initial 1m investment;

Roll out new Park and Ride facilities with a competitive 10m fund for transport companies to avail of.

Healthcare

Q1: In our Manifesto Document Fianna Fail are committing to:

Recruit 4,000 additional nursing staff over the next five years.

Within this number we will ensure that GPs practice nurse numbers are increased by 300 and Public Health Nurses by 350.

Implement the safe staffing framework in all hospitals plan.

Target increased numbers to decrease the overreliance on agency staff. This measure has been costed at 212m.

Q2: Mental health services for children and adolescents and adults remain well short of what is required with long waiting times for services.

There have been shameful instances of children being admitted to A & E in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital suffering acute episodes through having no access to childrens mental health services.

I would like to see a large increase in funding for Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health to build on their existing network of early intervention and prevention services and supports. Early intervention is key.

I am committed to increasing community services and ensuring access, quality and integration in mental health services.

Fianna Fail wish to see Vision for Change implemented fully and have allocated the 200m in additional spending required by that policy to finance the specific measures included.
General Daniel Ruggles turned his back on his Yankee roots to fight for the Confederacy

Daniel Ruggles was unusual. He was one of only three men born in Massachusetts to become a general in the Confederate Army. He was also fortunate. The general avoided Yankee bullets, outlasted political and military opponents in the Confederacy, and died in Fredericksburg in 1897 at the age of 87. How and why did a man from the state considered the cradle of abolition come to fight for the Southern cause?

Ruggles was born on January 31, 1810, in Barre, Mass.still a small town in the central part of the stateto a family with a colorful military background. He was named after his grandfather, the Honorable Daniel Ruggles, who hailed from neighboring Hardwick and served as a lieutenant in the American Revolution and as a justice of the peace afterward. His great uncle was Edward Ruggles, a Minuteman, who fought at the Battle of Lexington in 1775 and, a few years after the Revolution, helped put down Shays Rebellion in western Massachusetts.

Ruggles followed in the family military tradition. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1833. A mediocre student, he finished 34th in a class of 43 cadets. His years at West Point, however, began a military career that lasted 32 years and took him all over the United States. After leaving West Point, he was stationed in Wisconsin Territory, and then saw his first action in Florida during the Seminole Wars of the late 1830s. In the Mexican War, Ruggles was twice breveted for bravery, won a promotion to captain, and fought with General Winfield Scotts forces as they captured Mexico City. In the 1850s, Ruggles served on posts along the Mexican border, Utah, and Texas.

Given his long United States service and his deep Yankee roots, it seems mystifying that he ended up siding with the Confederacy during the Civil War. Part of the reason, however, was personal. In 1859, he was sent to Fredericksburg, Va., to recover from an illness. While there, he married Richardetta Barnes Mason Hooe, a niece of Virginia Founding Father George Mason. The couple married and had four boys, two of whom served in the Confederate Army.

When the Civil War broke out, Ruggles, despite his Massachusetts heritage, suffered none of the uncertainty that plagued some officers, such as Robert E. Lee for example, before he joined the Confederacy. A staunch believer in the cause, in 1861 Ruggles wrote that his countrymen must make each house a citadel, and every rock and tree positions of defense were he and his men to drive out the insolent invader. Ruggles had no sympathies with the abolitionists of the North.

In 1861, a week after the firing on Fort Sumter, Ruggles was made a brigadier general of militia in the newly created Provisional Army of Virginia and put in charge of the Aquia District, just north of Fredericksburg. There, the commander faced the daunting task of recruiting soldiers in the fledgling Confederacy. The war might have ended early for Ruggles. He fought at the June 27 Battle of Mathias Point in Virginia, where his forces beat back a Union Navy landing party trying to establish a shore battery on the Potomac River. During the fight, Ruggles narrowly avoided getting shot in the head by a Yankee scout.

After Lee took over the Confederate forces in Virginia, Ruggles was transferred to Fort Pickens in Florida, where he became friends with the famously prickly General Braxton Bragg. In October 1861, Ruggles was ordered to move yet again, this time to New Orleans, the largest city in the Confederacy. Bragg was sad to see Ruggles go, for he wrote he had the confidence and affection of the troops. Ruggles may have been friendly with Bragg, but he later clashed with other high ranking officers out west.

Ruggles fell ill in Louisiana in October 1861, a sign of difficulties to come. Ruggles was joining a Western army that was raw, untested, andas events developedprone to infighting. In Louisiana, Ruggles commanding officer was Marylander Mansfield Lovell, who had recently been made a major general in charge of defending New Orleans.

In early 1862, Louisiana passed a law that reorganized the state militia, which disrupted Lovells defense of New Orleans. Lovell reluctantly ordered Ruggles to Columbus in northeastern Mississippi in February 1862. Lovell found himself at odds with state politicians whose allegiance to states rights often conflicted with Confederate operations. Ruggles didnt stay in Mississippi long. On February 20, he was ordered to defend the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, a vital link protecting Memphis, Mobile, and New Orleans.

As he struggled to master his new duties, Ruggles began a spat with Thomas O. Moore, the governor of Louisiana. It was a war of words that lasted more than a year. Ruggles essentially wanted more authority than Moore was willing to grant. Over the course of the war, some Confederate officers killed each other over real or pretended slights. Ruggles disputes never resulted in duels, but he could be abrasive toward others.

After his victories at Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862, Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant sought even greater control of Tennessee. By March 1862, Ruggles, then in northern Alabama, complained that his situation was an unpleasant one, being indeed without any troops at all, except a battalion of Arkansas troops, badly armed. It was perhaps because of his situation that on March 23, Grant said, If Ruggles is in command, it would assuredly be a good time to attack. Grant might have doubted Ruggles abilities, but Ruggles was wise to Grants movements. He was also concerned that Albert Sidney Johnston was ill-prepared to check the Federal advance into southern Tennessee.



The Battle of Shiloh by Alfred Edward Mathews (Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown Digital Respository, Brown University Magazine)

The ensuing bloodshed at Shiloh on April 6-7 exceeded anything Americans had yet experienced. It was during this battle that Ruggles had his finest hour. He again served under General Bragg, whose respect he had won in Florida. Ruggles was placed in command of the 1st Division in Braggs Second Corps. Ruggles men consisted of Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Texas, and Tennessee troops. On the first day at Shiloh, Ruggles men were in the thick of the fighting at the Hornets Nest, where stubborn Yankees withstood horrendous Rebel artillery fire.

Bragg described April 6 as twelve hours incessant fighting, without food. After a day of savage combat, Federals at the Hornets Nest surrendered, though Grants men rallied the next day and regained their lost ground. Ruggles lost almost 1,700 men at Shiloh, roughly 25 percent of his effective force. Ruggles son, Edward Seymour Ruggles, was hit in the left arm by a shell. He survived and fought in other bloody battles in the West.

After the fighting at Shiloh, Ruggles again fell ill. In his belated report of the fight, he praised his troops steadiness, organization, and good conduct, despite the Southern armys defeat. He said the troops of my division displayed almost uniformly great bravery and personal gallantry worthy of veterans in the cause. The Union Army under Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck was soon on the move against Ruggles and the Confederate Army.

Ruggles had some success in slowing Hallecks already leisurely advance on Corinth, and won a small victory at Farmington, Miss., just to the east. As Yankees moved farther south, Confederates continued to bicker. Ruggles came into conflict with Lovell, who had lost New Orleans the previous month. Lovell complained to General P.G.T. Beauregard about Ruggles supposed authority over the cities of Jackson and Vicksburg, areas that Lovell believed he commanded. Of Ruggles, Lovell complained, for Heavens sake dont send him into my department, where he will raise a row in a week. Beauregard chose to send Ruggles to Grenada, Miss., and establish a headquarters for Ruggles new command: Gulf Coast Supply Depots Department No. 2. Confederate higher-ups eventually got rid of Lovell, who was charged with incompetence for his loss of New Orleans.

Ruggles already impressive record of annoying fellow Confederates included subordinates as well as rival commanders.

Private Robert Patrick, a clerk in the Commissary and Quartermaster departments of the 4th Louisiana Infantry, and known for his account of the war published as Reluctant Rebel, served under Ruggles in 1862. He described his former boss as an old brute. Patrick wrote that it was because Ruggles was a longtime officer and New Englander that he had no conscience nor mercy on any one. Patrick eventually obtained a transfer away from Ruggles and the miasmatic conditions at Corinth.

In the wake of the loss of New Orleans, Confederates scrambled to defend another vital river townMemphis. The Rebels, however, were ill prepared to do so. Stationed in northern Mississippi, Ruggles received desperate messages from men such as Brig. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson, the Swamp Fox of the Confederacy, and Colonel Thomas H. Rosser, the latter of whom complained we have no defenses. On June 6, Memphis fell to the Yankees.

In late June, Ruggles was given yet another command, which put him in charge of a district that included southern Mississippi and East Louisiana. As Federal armies marched farther into the Deep South, they implemented a hard war strategy that involved burning supplies and buildings, razing and stealing crops, and seizing slaves from panicked masters. Armies were also increasingly likely to live off the land, making life harder for civilians struggling to keep their farms and families together. Ruggles and his men put cotton to the torch to keep it out of Yankee hands and impressed slave labor to assist with building projects.

Despite Ruggles harsher tactics, he did not appreciate Union generals taking similar actions. On July 15, 1862, Ruggles, then in Louisiana, complained to Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler about the mistreatment of Rebel prisoners and what he saw as the brutal Yankee way of conducting war. Ruggles lamented women and children fleeing from homes, plantations being destroyed, property plundered, and crops laid waste. Such acts, he said, were crimes against humanity.

Ruggles, despite being a non-slaveowner, had no sympathy toward the abolitionists. And the fact that he had to write to the notorious anti-slavery politician-general Butler undoubtedly increased his anger. He decried Federal efforts to inaugurate a servile war, by stimulating the half-civilized African to raise his hand against his master and benefactor, and thus make war upon the Anglo-Saxon racewar on human nature. Ruggles saw fit to lecture Butler about the nature of revolutions in the United States and South America and how the Federal government had violated the principles of Christian nations. Butler sent back a terse reply, notifying Ruggles that when it came to supposedly mistreating prisoners, it was the intention of the United States Government to let these men go on their parole and one of them has been gone more than a week.

With the capture of New Orleans and Memphis, Federals concentrated on conquering other cities along the Mississippi. Ruggles commanded a small division at the Battle of Baton Rouge, fought on August 5, 1862. The fighting took place on a foggy morning, where Confederates under the overall command of Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge were defeated. Federals could claim the capture of another Rebel capital, though by then Confederate politicians had already moved to Shreveport. Ruggles praised the conduct of officers and the men in his Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi units as gallant and daring, every movement being performed with characteristic promptitude. Ruggles lost 215 men.

Baton Rouge was the last significant battle in which Ruggles fought. Rumors of his death circulated for some time. But Ruggles was not dead, and he was eager to protect the rebellions hold on the Mississippi. He alerted authorities in Richmond to the need to strengthen fortification at Vicksburg and Port Hudson, La. On October 3, 1862, Ruggles complained to Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dornthen at Corinththat the defenses at Port Hudson there were far from completion due to a lack of guns, ammunition, and slave laborers. Given his past differences with Governor Moore, Ruggles doubted Louisiana would send militia to him. Once again, Ruggles trusted more in Confederate officials, not state ones, to help him.

In the fall of 1862, Ruggles was one of the Confederate commandersalong with Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor and otherswho dreamed of retaking New Orleans. Such a campaign, however, never materialized. Poor communication and personal sniping at the higher levels continued to undermine Confederate strategy out west. While Rebels bickered, citizens were increasingly worried about slave unrest and the need to have armed men protecting their homes and communities. Some historians believe the high tide of the Confederacy happened in the fall of 1862. But in the Far West, the war had gone badly for the rebellion all year.

By 1863, the Confederacy had addressed manpower shortages through two drafts, the second of which included the infamous Twenty Slave law of October 1862. This draft allowed for the exemption from military service of one white man on a plantation holding 20 or more slaves. As did those who were critical of the new draft, Ruggles complained about the protection of the planter interest at the expense of citizens struggling to feed their families.

During the Vicksburg Campaign, Ruggles was far from the main action. He was reduced to shuffling around small numbers of troops and skirmishing with small Federal detachments in northern Mississippi. Once again, Ruggles found himself in a tense relationship with other officers. He annoyed Mississippi cavalryman Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers, who was operating near Ruggles, as well as Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, who had to remind Ruggles that Vicksburg, not Ruggles command, was the priority for getting reinforcements. In May, Ruggles complained of want of harmony among the commanders of my battalions, but his forces were in good enough shape to rout 800 Federals at the Battle of Rocky Ford on the Tallahatchie in late June.

The fall of Vicksburg was a shattering blow to the Confederacy, and in August 1863, Ruggles wrote to Benjamin S. Ewellthen serving on Johnstons staffto complain that the spirit of volunteering has ceased to exist and that there was a want of patriotic fervor among his countrymen. In his indictment of Confederate patriotism, he targeted the wealthy slaveholders who were able to purchase substitutes, believing they put their property before the interests of their country. Southern militias also irritated him because he felt they gave able-bodied men a way to stay out of the Confederate Army.

Following the loss of control of the Mississippi River, Confederates had plenty of blame to throw around. In August, James Phelan, a senator from Mississippi called Ruggles an old, easy, courteous, pleasant nobody! Maj. Gen. S. A. Hurlbut, a Federal commander in Memphis, also had little respect for Ruggles, saying he will not fight, but run. Ruggles was not the kind of commander to run from a fight, but clearly, by the end of 1863, he could do little good for Confederates in Mississippi.

By 1864, Ruggles was without a major field command. He returned to the East, where Jefferson Davis gave him a position as commissary for prisoners of war in Georgia. Ruggles, however, longed to return to the field. In February 1865, a town council in Fredericksburg noted with pride and pleasure Ruggles steady devotion to the Confederate cause and appreciated his distinguished and arduous services. His lack of a field command left the council mortified. In March 1865, when asked by Jefferson Davis about Ruggles possible promotion to major general, Robert E. Lee, as diplomatic as ever, said Ruggles was an officer of standing & truth, but I know of no Division to which he can be assigned. Once again, Ruggles had been frustrated by a superior officer.

Lees surrender did not put an end to Ruggles family drama. After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Ruggles son Mortimer, then in Virginia, chanced upon the fleeing John Wilkes Booth and helped him escape across the Rappahannock into Port Royal. Daniel Ruggles had not been involved, but his familys complicity in the assassination further solidified their Rebel credentials.

After the war, Daniel Ruggles farmed in Texas for a few years, but he spent most of his postwar life in Fredericksburg. In 1866, he was in the local news when his horse, Shiloh, was stolen, though the animal was found later in Warrenton. He served on the board of regents for West Point. He was also an inventor who petitioned Congress for funds to develop a system for producing precipitation through explosions in the atmosphere. Ruggles thought it no coincidence that Civil War battles were often fought in rainy weather.

Daniel Ruggles died in Fredericksburg on June 1, 1897, at the age of 87. A local paper remembered him as much respected and loved by our people, adding that he was a gentleman of the most polished manner and pleasing address, and a citizen of unblemished character. The generals life and Civil War career was more complicated than that. As a general, Ruggles was a capable tactician and administrator, but in a Western Theater plagued by difficult commanders, Ruggles made enemies easily. Even so, he managed to stay on the good side of Bragg and President Davis.

Ruggles is one of six generals buried in the Confederate cemetery in Fredericksburg. His archive is as scattered as his career. His military and personal papers are housed at University of Texas at Austin, Louisiana State University, and Duke, just to name a few. His story is not very well known, but it sheds much light on the loyalties and personalities of the Confederate high command in the West, where the Southbest by logistical challenges, incompetent leadership, and political infightinglost the war.

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Ruggles Grand Battery

Daniel Ruggles most famous Civil War moment came on the first day of the Battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862, when he is credited with organizing between 53 and 62 cannons, depending on the source, to deliver massive artillery barrages at a position in the center of the Union line since called the Hornets Nest. Federal troops under Union generals W.H.L. Wallace and Benjamin Prentiss had formed a defensive line on the north side of Duncan Field in what is termed the Sunken Road, even though it was not really sunken. Eleven Confederate charges had failed to break the Union line. About 4 p.m., the Southerners began massing the amalgamation of mixed-caliber batteries from Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama. The largest concentration of artillery ever seen in North America up to that time soon began pounding the Union forces across Duncan Field with shot and shell.

A Union officer described the barrage as a mighty hurricane sweeping everything before it. But the attack was not one-sided. Union artillery responded, and for a while, the Confederates still proved unable to dislodge the Yankees from their positions. The Union flanks gave way, however, a retreat had begun even before the Rebel artillery opened up, and only the troops in the center were left to continue the fight against the Confederates. As darkness began to fall, Southern troops captured the position and about 2,250 Federal troops.

Other Confederate officers also claimed credit for organizing the row of deadly fieldpieces, including Maj. Gen. Hardees chief of artillery, Major Francis Shoup, and Brig. Gen. James Trudeau, and it was likely a team effort. But the term Ruggles Grand Battery is still synonymous with a roaring line of cannons that helped break the Union armys Hornets Nest line. C.W.

Colin Woodward is the author of Marching Masters: Slavery Race, and the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He is currently working on a book about Johnny Cash. An archivist who lives in Richmond, Va., he is host of the American Rambler history podcast.

This story appeared in the April 2020 issue of Civil War Times.
Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman was one of 74 convicted terrorists let out on licence in Britain under an automatic early release scheme brought in 15 years ago.

The 20-year-old who was shot dead by police in South London after stabbing two people on Sunday had been freed from prison less than a fortnight earlier.

Fears have now been raised over how many more jihadis are roaming Britain's streets with police said to be monitoring at least 20 of them on a daily basis.

It comes after Usman Khan, who killed two people in the London Bridge attack on November 29 last year, was let out despite a judge saying he should not be freed.

Here are a series of convicted terrorists and hate preachers who have been freed, many of whom were granted early release in Britain:

Kazi Islam a loyal follower of Anjem Choudary, was allowed out to go and live next to his uncle Kazi Rahman, who is also a convicted terrorist, in Manor Park, East London. Islam was put behind bars for plotting to kill British soldiers, but he was freed last year after serving just half of his eight-year sentence. He tried to groom a vulnerable teenager with learning difficulties and convince him to buy ingredients for a pipe bomb. Kazi Rahman who is Kazi Islam's uncle, was jailed for a string of terror offences in 2006 but later released. He is a convicted terrorist and associate of the banned terror group Al Muhajiroun that Anjem Choudary used to lead. Rahman had tried to buy missiles to shoot down planes, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and Uzi submachine guns. But Rahman, a plumber from East London, was released from jail in 2011.

Mohammad Shahjahan was one of the eight terrorist plotters jailed along with London Bridge attacker Usman Khan in 2012. He was part of an Al Qaeda-inspired cell which plotted to blow up the London Stock Exchange and kill Boris Johnson. Shahjahan was one of three initially handed indefinite prison terms, but the trio won an appeal in 2013 which changed them to fixed sentences. Shahjahan was then re-sentenced to 17 years and eight months, and is thought to have been let out in 2018. Shah Rahman was part of a terror gang who planned a Mumbai-style bomb blitz in London. The four Muslim fanatics intended to unleash a Christmas campaign of atrocities with targets including the Stock Exchange and Big Ben. They could have expected a sentence of 20 years, but at the 11th hour decided to plead guilty after a judge indicated they would receive lesser sentences for admitting the plot. Rahman was was jailed for at least 12 years in 2012 but has already been released on licence.

Anjem Choudary was jailed for five and a half years for inviting support for a terrorist organisation when he swore an oath of allegiance to Islamic State. The hate preacher was released automatically on licence in October last year after serving less than half his sentence. The father of five is now thought to be living back in his family home in East London where he previously masterminded an Islamist extremist network. Rebekah Dawson is a Muslim convert from Hackney, East London, who was jailed for six months in 2014 after refusing to remove her niqab in court. She made three videos glorifying the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby, and was also sentenced to a further six months for terrorising a security guard at the Finsbury Park Mosque in North London because he allowed non-Muslim women inside without veils.

Royal Barnes, who had been associated with of one of Lee Rigby's murderers, pleaded guilty to posting sickening videos on YouTube glorifying the horrific killing. Barnes, of Hackney, East London, and his wife Rebekah Dawson, recorded and uploaded three videos shortly after the murder in Woolwich in 2013. He was jailed for five years and four months - and in one clip could be seen laughing as he drove past floral tributes to Rigby. Ibrahim Abdullah-Hassan, a member of the now banned group Al Muhajiroun, was arrested in May 2013 after being interviewed on BBC Newsnight and claiming MI5 had offered a job to his friend Michael Adebolajo, the killer of Lee Rigby. He was jailed in 2014 for three years for inciting terrorism then later released. He had his sentence reduced by nine months despite also calling for Tony Blair's assassination.

Gabriel Rasmus was jailed for years and three months in 2017 after an undercover police operation revealed his plans to join ISIS by escaping Britain in the back of a lorry. Rasmus boasted if he stayed in Britain 'he would commit a terrorist attack here', and praised the Charlie Hebdo attackers a for doing a 'good job'. South African national Rasmus, a former worker at Swarovski fashion accessories on Regent Street in London, pleaded guilty to seeking to join ISIS on his fifth attempt. Houria Chahed Chentouf was sentenced to two years in prison after admitting concealing 'a mini encyclopedia of weapons making' in the sleeve of her burka. But the memory stick fell out in front of police when she was stopped at Liverpool's John Lennon airport after she arrived from Holland. It contained more than 7,000 files that might have been useful to terrorists. Upon being sentenced in November 2009, she was already free to go having served 382 days on remand since her arrest.

Habib Ahmed, a Manchester taxi driver, was jailed for ten years - nine for being a member of a terror group and an additional one year for possessing a document for terror-related purposes in 2008. But he was freed on licence after serving less than a third of his sentence. He was caught in possession of two diaries which had details of top Al Qaeda operatives written in invisible ink - described as a terrorist's contact book. Khuram Iqbal, a student from Cardiff, called himself the 'Father of Terrorism' while posting links to extremist videos on Facebook and Twitter. He fled to Kenya in 2011 but was deported back to Britain after being arrested 12 miles from the Somali border in October 2013. Iqbal admitted disseminating terrorist publications after posting more than 800 links and was jailed for three years and three months in September 2014.

Mohammed Benares, a Royal Mail worker, who had links to Anjem Choudary, was jailed for two years for terrorism offences in 2013. He had terror guides showing how to make a bomb and detonator and how to handle an AK47 assault rifle. Benares, of Birmingham, was said to have been released well before the end of his term. Omar Latif was part of the cell jailed for the plot to blow up the London Stock Exchange with London Bridge attacker Usman Khan. He was jailed for ten years and four months in 2012 for assisting in preparation for terrorism, plus a further five on extended licence  and is thought to have been freed last year automatically halfway through his sentence.

Shah Jalal Hussain had his 2008 sentence for fundraising for terrorism in Iraq and breaching bail reduced by nine months. In 2014 he was jailed a second time for encouraging terrorism and spreading terrorist propaganda online and then released again the following year. But since his second release, he has been allowed to spread support for hate preachers on Facebook. Simon Keeler was jailed for two years in 2016 after being caught heading towards the Middle East despite being told he could not leave the UK. The Islamic hate preacher and friend Trevor Brooks were arrested in Hungary on a train bound for Romania. The pair had both been convicted in 2008 on terrorism charges. He was the first white British Muslim to be convicted of terrorism offences.

Trevor Brooks, also known as Abu Izzadeen, acted as Al Muhajiroun's internal enforcer. The London-born convert was jailed for four and a half years for terrorist fundraising and inciting terrorism, and released in May 2009 after serving three and a half years, including time on remand. He and friend Simon Keeler were jailed for two years in 2016 after travelling towards the Middle East, but have since been released. David Souaan, a radical Muslim student who wanted the black flag of ISIS to fly over Downing Street, was jailed in 2015. He was found guilty of planning to join rebel forces in war-torn Syria. Souaan had visited the country in 2013 and was on his way back to fight the jihadist cause when he was arrested at Heathrow. He was jailed for three-and-a-half years but served 13 months before being released on licence after eight months on remand.

Iftikhar Ali was jailed for more than three years in January 2018 after sending WhatsApp text messages glorifying terrorism. The Sainsbury's shop assistant was arrested over a payment of 140 via Western Union to a man in Turkey, which he claimed in police interviews was for 'charitable purposes'. After his arrest, counter terrorism officers discovered he had typed 'Kuffar', 'Jihad' and 'Sharia4UK' into his phone so much the terms were stored in the device's user dictionary. He was released last year. Imran Mahmood was jailed for more than nine years in 2013 for his involvement in a plot to attack soldiers in Royal Wootton Bassett and murder the heads of MI5 and MI6. He was caught at Manchester Airport bringing two rucksacks with traces of explosives on them back from Pakistan. Mahmood is thought to have been released in 2019 after serving two thirds of his sentence. He was sentenced alongside Jahangir Alom, a former police community support officer, ex-BBC security guard Richard Dart.

Jahangir Alom, a former Metropolitan Police community support officer, was also convicted over the plot to attack Wootton Bassett. Bangladesh-born Alom was jailed for four years and six months in 2013 after being convicted with Richard Dart and Imran Mahmood. He had said in a YouTube video that he left the police force after 'brothers' showed him the true path. Jordan Horner was one of three members of a so-called 'Muslim Patrol' who was jailed in December 2013 for repeatedly trying to enforce Sharia law in East London. Horner and another Islamic extremist told one couple they could not hold hands while walking down the street, because it was in a 'Muslim area'. Horner was jailed for 17 months in 2013, then released on licence the next year.

Mizanur Rahman, an associate of Anjem Choudary, was jailed for five-and-a-half years in 2016 alongside Choudary for inviting support for Islamic State. He had been released in 2010 after serving three quarters of a four-year sentence for soliciting murder, before being arrested again in 2014. Rahman was released from prison in October 2018. Last February he was banned from being involved in the running of schools in order to protect children from 'dangerous influences'. Umran Javed was jailed for six years in 2007 after calling for American and Danish people to be murdered during a protest in London against cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Javed, of Birmingham, was a former spokesman for Al Muhajiroun. He served half his sentence before being re-arrested in 2012 for possession of terrorist-related material. Javed served six weeks of a year-long term after his remand period was taken into account.

Abdul Muhid, also known as Abu Walaa, was convicted of soliciting murder in 2007 during the Danish cartoon row, alongside Urman Javad and Mizanur Rahman. While in jail he is said to have set up www.muslimprisoners.com, a website where inmates were able to voice their hate-filled opinions. Muhid, who is an ex-member of Al-Muhajiroun, has since been released. Abdul Rahman Saleem was an Islamic activist sent to prison for four years in April 2007 after being convicted of inciting racial hatred during a protest in London against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. He was also filmed shouting '7/7 on its way'. However he served less than three years in prison and was released in August 2009.

Umar Arshad was an Al Qaeda inspired terrorist was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison for his part in a plot to blow up a Territorial Army base in Luton with a bomb strapped to a toy car. A four-strong terror gang also discussed attacking MI5, the US Air Force, English Defence League and their local shopping centre. He is thought to have served half of his prison sentence. Syed Farban Hussain was also involved in the plot to blow up the TA base in Luton by sending a bomb in a toy car. Hussain was jailed for five years and three months in April 2013 and is believed to have been released having served half of his sentence. After being arrested in a major operation by the police and security services, the four men admitted a joint charge of preparing for terrorism.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are New Hampshire's top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Lillian Murray

Nominated by Portsmouth High School

Lillian, a senior at Portsmouth High School, founded "Portsmouth Community Closet," a nonprofit through which she has collected new and gently used clothing for families in need, provided eight of the families with washers and dryers, and enhanced the services available to kids at a local recreation center. It all began when Lillian's ecology class talked about conducting a clothing drive but didn't move forward with the project. "I knew it was a good cause and I wanted to finish what we started," she said. So she personally solicited clothing donations from local shops and community members, recruited volunteers to help wash and sort the collected clothes, and then handed them out to residents of a low-income housing development.

While at the development, Lillian learned that the local laundromat had closed and public buses did not allow bags of laundry to be brought on board. A few weeks later, she started raising money to buy washers and dryers. Then, after collecting more than $4,500 and several donated machines, Lillian presented eight energy- and water-efficient washers and dryers to families that needed them. Still eager to help those facing social and economic challenges, Lillian began working with a recreation center serving kids from low-income families. She created new activities for the center's after-school program, helped kids with their homework and brought in other student volunteers to assist. She also organized summer field trips for the kids there, and collected money and books to create a "book nook" at the center. "Giving back to a community which has given you so much, is so rewarding," said Lillian. "And volunteering has become a key component in the way I carry myself as I go through life."

Middle Level State Honoree: Natalie Geissler

Nominated by Portsmouth Middle School

Natalie, an eighth-grader at Portsmouth Middle School, travels for 45 minutes to a rescue animal shelter every other Sunday to care for quarantined dogs that have been transferred from overcrowded or kill shelters in other locations. Natalie first began volunteering when she joined the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls in 2017. As a member, she tie-dyed T-shirts for families with sick children, built picnic tables for a summer camp, participated in numerous fundraisers, and took part in other service activities. Later, she volunteered to send off and welcome home soldiers in Portsmouth. "The feeling I got from helping others inspired me to look for even more volunteering opportunities," said Natalie.

That's when she found out about a shelter called Mary's Dogs Rescue & Adoption. "I love animals and want to be a veterinarian someday," said Natalie, so she was immediately drawn to the prospect of caring for the canines there. "I have a special love for these animals because they come from bad circumstances and do not choose where they end up." For four hours at a time, Natalie plays with the puppies, walks older dogs, measures food and medicine, helps with feeding, cleans cages, washes dishes and folds blankets and towels. Many of the dogs she cares for have been abused or mistreated. "The cases of animal cruelty I have seen have astounded me," she said, "but it has made me realize that heroes are not always those who perform extraordinary acts. People can be heroic by performing little, ordinary acts of kindness each day."

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized two other New Hampshire students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are New Hampshire's Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Yunseo Choi, 17, of Exeter, New Hampshire, a junior at Phillips Exeter Academy, contributes her math and computer science skills to a variety of organizations; she helped develop a program to measure patient vision at a research hospital and volunteers her time as a website analyst for Givology, an online platform that connects donors to students in developing countries. Yunseo is also the editor-in-chief of the High School Journal in Mathematics, which helps increase mathematical literacy in students in need.

Chloe Tardif, 18, of Hudson, New Hampshire, a senior at Bishop Guertin High School, created and leads a lacrosse program for 15 Special Olympics athletes in her community; along with recruiting volunteers, she secured equipment, field time and support from a local lacrosse department. Chloe started volunteering her time with Special Olympics more than 10 years ago, and was first inspired to become involved by her sister, who has cerebral palsy and is a Special Olympics athlete.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com .

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.

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For whatever reason, Elizabeth Warren, who has lived life as a straight female, has decided that she'll win if she can just capture that elusive transgender vote  which, at its highest estimate, accounts for about 0.6% of the American population. According to the latest Project Veritas video, at least one of her campaign staffers thinks this obsession is harming, not helping, her campaign.

Ever since she set her sights on the presidency, Warren has been cultivating the transgender vote.

Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, and Im thinking about the 325 transgender people  in the US & around the world  who have been murdered in the past year for being themselves. #TDOR  Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) November 20, 2017

When Black Womxn, an organization for "all black folks that do not claim male identity," including "black trans & cis women, gender non-conforming folks and others," endorsed her, Warren not only parroted back their mission statement, but elevated them to hitherto unseen heights:

Thank you, @BlackWomxnFor! Black trans and cis women, gender-nonconforming, and nonbinary people are the backbone of our democracy and I dont take this endorsement lightly. I'm committed to fighting alongside you for the big, structural change our country needs. https://t.co/KqWsVoRYMb  Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) November 7, 2019

Still, when it came to wooing that all-important transgender vote, for Warren, that wasn't enough. She soldiered on, finally reaching peak pander last week when she promised she would never nominate a secretary of education unless a "young trans person" first interviewed the possible nominee and signed off on that person's transgender bona fides.

Republicans, when looking at Warren's desperate bid for transgender attention, can be forgiven for thinking Warren is not a statesman but is, instead, a two-bit faux socialist trying to cobble together an identity politics bloc to support her presidential bid. What the latest Project Veritas video reveals is that one of Warren's campaign workers, who seems to like her policies well enough to stick with her, nevertheless also has serious doubts about the wisdom of her surrounding herself with "trans" and "non-binary" people and focusing her campaign on their concerns.

Meet Angel Alicea, a Hispanic man who thinks the whole pronoun and transgender madness is stupid. While Angel thankfully has a healthy ego, it's apparent that he is frequently on the receiving end of discrimination from Warren's female, gay, and transgender staff because he is a straight male.

The video is short and worth watching in its entirety. Angel says what people who are not mired in identity politics are thinking when they hear they must "identify" their pronouns. He states, forthrightly, that if Warren continues with this narrow obsession, instead of the core work of improving American lives, she's going to lose.

By the time the short video is over, it's unclear why Angel is even bothering with Warren's campaign. He seems like someone who needs another, more normal, candidate to support:
Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi will meet for the first time since October on Tuesday when the president arrives in the House chamber to give his annual State of the Union address.

The two will be watched closely for how they interact as relations between them grew even frostier in the wake of the impeachment inquiry.

Pelosi down played the president's remarks, which the White House is billing as 'The Great American Comeback,' asking what was the big deal.

'It will have a beginning, a middle and an end  and then it will be over,' she told The New York Times. 'So what's the big deal?

Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi will meet for the first time since October on Tuesday when the president gives his State of the Union address - above are the two are pictured at last year's speech

The last meeting between the president and the speaker was the October 16 meeting at the White House where Pelosi stood up to him

After the House sergeant at arms announces the president Tuesday evening and leads him into the chamber, Speaker Pelosi will greet him from the speaker's dais, the same spot where, in December, she presided over the House's vote to impeach him for abuse of power and obstruction of justice.

She told The Times that Democrats would treat the president 'as a guest in our House - and we hope he will behave as a guest in our House.'

'But,' she noted, 'we never have that expectation.'

Trump has been clear with his anger at the impeachment inquiry, calling it a hoax and a witch hunt. The president is expected to be acquitted in the Senate when the Republican-controlled chamber votes on his fate Wednesday.

'The president has expressed clearly his frustration' with the 'partisan and petty impeachment,' Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Pence said in response to a question from DailyMail.com about relations between the two, at the White House on Tuesday.

The last time the president and speaker spoke was an October 16 meeting on Syria at the White House, according to Pelosi's office, where she and other top Democrats walked out.

As they left the room, Trump reportedly said: 'Goodbye, we'll see you at the polls.'

The speaker and other Democrats accused President Trump of having a meltdown during that meeting.

Trump, in response, tweeted a photo of Pelosi standing at the table in the Cabinet Room, finger pointed at him. 'Nervous Nancy's unhinged meltdown!,' he wrote as the caption.

The image went viral - and likely not in the way Trump imagined. The speaker's office made it the profile picture on her official Twitter account and Democrats cheered her for standing up to the president.

The president and the speaker have a fraught history of derailed meetings, going back to December 2018, when Pelosi met with Trump in the Oval Office to talk about a pending government shut down and funding for his border wall.

The 15 minutes grew more and more contentious, culminating in a heated exchange between the two leaders - all in front of the cameras.

'Mr. President,' Pelosi told him at one point, 'please don't characterize the strength that I bring to this meeting as the leader of the House Democrats, who just won a big victory.'

Pelosi was photographed walking out of the White House in an orange coat, putting on her sunglasses - yet another image of her that went viral.

Nancy Pelosi's walk out of the White House - in her orange coat and sunglasses - in December 2018 went viral

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham moved to put the onus of the two leaders' upcoming meeting on the speaker.

'I'm looking at what she's going to do. Her behavior has shown that she doesn't mind going quite low. So we'll see what she's going to do. I hope she can rise to the occasion,' she said on 'Fox and Friends' Tuesday morning.

At last year's State of the Union address, a photo captured Pelosi smirking at the president while she clapped sideways - another image that went viral.

But the question, going forward, is will the two leaders - each the head of their respective branches of government - be able to work together.

The president said it would be 'pretty hard.'

'I'd like to, but it's pretty hard when you think about it, because it's been -- I use the word witch hunt, I use the word hoax. I see the hatred. I see the -- they don't care about fairness, they don't care about lying,' Trump told Fox News in an interview that aired Sunday.

A spokesperson for Pelosi said the speaker would try to find 'common ground.'

'Speaker Pelosi has always said that we have a responsibility to find common ground where we can and stand our ground where we cannot,' Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill told DailyMail.com.

And then he proceeded to outline their differences.

'President Trump ran in 2016 on the Democratic policies of making health care affordable for everybody and negotiating lower drug prices. He has broken both of those promises with his ongoing crusade to repeal protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions, putting a pharmaceutical executive in charge of drug prices, and siding with Big Pharma against the House's game-changing Lower Drug Prices Now Act. This is Americans' #1 pocketbook issue and President Trump has sold them out.'
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Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
The announcement by the Communist Party leadership came as the government was applying familiar authoritarian techniques  like asking neighbors to inform on one another  to help control an outbreak that had killed 427 people as of this morning, all but two in mainland China.

Many people from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, are desperate for treatment, but the governments approach has led many to be ostracized. Experts warn that the approach could further damage public trust across China, and send people who should be screened and monitored deeper underground.

Context: The death toll from the new coronavirus has exceeded that of the SARS outbreak in 2002 and 2003 in mainland China  and the impacts on the global economy may prove more severe. Still, the number of people who have recovered nationwide has been rising, suggesting that the new viruss fatality rate is relatively low.

Hong Kong: The semiautonomous Chinese city, which recorded its first death from the outbreak today, shut all but three of its border checkpoints on Monday. But more than 2,500 medical workers went on strike to demand a fully closed border.

Map: The disease has been detected in every Chinese province and in least 23 other countries. Most cases involve people who traveled from China.
Queen Letizia of Spain opted for sleek monochrome style this morning, as she chaired a cancer forum in Madrid.

The Spanish royal, 47, looked elegant in a structured white shirt with a silver button detail at the waist, and added edginess to her look by sporting an leather midi skirt.

At the 9th edition of the Madrid event, delegates focused on the economic and social impacts of cancer in Spain.

Addressing the attendees, the Queen looked self-assured as she asked the crowd to think about the struggles citizens on low incomes face when they are diagnosed with cancer, Hola magazine reported.

Queen Letizia , 47, chaired the Forum Against Cancer in Madrid this morning to coincide with World Cancer Day

The Spanish royal asked the crowds to reflect on the fate of low-income or unemployed cancer sufferers

The forum is organised by the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), of which Letizia is the honourary president. It is starting today to coincide with World Cancer Day at the Royal Tapestry Factory.

Matching her outfit in a pair of black suede heels, the Queen kept a stylish clutch bag in her hand throughout the event.

She kept the look formal with minimal jewellery, aside from a favourite gold ring on her index finger and a pair of hoop earrings.

Her brunette locks were parted on each side of her face in an impeccable blow-dry

Letizia looked stylish in a deconstructed white blouse tied at the waist and a black leather midi skirt this morning. Pictured next to Spain's Health Minister Salvador Illa (left)

The Spanish Queen is the honourary president of the Spanish Association Against Cancer, which hosted today's event

Letizia was joined by Spain's Health Minister Salvador Illa, members of the AECC and Maria Neira, the director of the Department of Public Health and Environment of the World Health Organisation.

During her morning address, which kick-started the event, the royal told attendees the forum would reflect on: 'What happens when a person is unemployed, is self-employed, when a person receives an income less than or equal to the minimum interprofessional salary and is diagnosed with cancer?'

Cancer survivors will share their stories all day today at the event.

Queen Letizia of Spain, 47, cut a stylish figure in a white dress and black coat as she arrived at the opening of the 14th legislature at the Spanish Parliament in Madrid today

The royals looked deep in thought as they sat down inside the Spanish parliament earlier today (pictured)

Princess Leonor (pictured) opted for a tweed red blazer and coordinating skirt, which featured gold button detail

Letizia's week is off to a busy start. The queen and her husband King Felipe VI , 52, attended the opening of the Spanish Parliament yesterday which saw their eldest daughter and heir to the throne Princess Leonor, 14, looking as poised as her illustrious parents.

The young princess sported a coordinating tweed blazer and skirt in red, which featured matching gold buttons.

She wore her blonde hair down in loose waves, and completed her outfit with a pair of coordinating shoes.

Princess Leonor and Princess Sofia (pictured), sat side-by-side as the attended the solemn opening of the 14th legislature at the Spanish Parliament

Pedro Sanchez, King Felipe VI of Spain, Queen Letizia of Spain, Princess Leonor of Spain and Princess Sofia of Spain

President of the Congress Meritxell Batet, King Felipe VI of Spain, Queen Letizia of Spain, Princess Leonor, Princess Sofia, all stood to attention inside

Meanwhile, Queen Letizia looked typically chic in monochrome, donning a black cape-style coat over a calf-length white dress, which featured a V-cut neckline.

The mother-of-two wore her dark locks swept back off her face in a low bun, and accessorised with a pair of pearl earrings to add a touch of glam to her outfit.

She kept her makeup minimal, adding a touch of bronzer and a few layers of mascara
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has congratulated President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka His Excellency Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

I wholeheartedly congratulate you and your people on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf on the occasion of the national holiday of your country  the Independence Day, President Aliyev said.

I believe that the friendly bilateral ties between Azerbaijan and Sri Lanka and our cooperation within the Non-Aligned Movement, in particular, will successfully continue further, the Azerbaijani president added. I wish you good health, successes in your activities, and peace and prosperity to the friendly people of Sri Lanka.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
As Rochesters Outside Oversight Committee plans to discuss finances at the Rochester Civic Theatre on Tuesday, one City Council member voiced support for rescinding funding for the nonprofit organization.

Shaun Palmer suggested the idea at the end of the regular council meeting Monday night. The oversight committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday to examine how city funding is being used by the Civic Theatre and look at the overall financial health of the organization.

Randy Staver said the suggestion was premature before the Tuesday meeting and without a formal motion.

Broadway assessments

In formal business Monday, the council approved adjusted assessments to property owners for a planned North Broadway Avenue reconstruction project.

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The assessments are based on appraisals of the potential benefit property owners would see from the reconstruction project, which extends from Civic Center Drive to 14th Street.

However, property owners representing about 30% of the $1.75 million in assessments toward the project can still appeal the assessment in Minnesota District Court.

Michelle Hill, owner of a 20-unit apartment building at 820 N. Broadway, said the assessment makes it difficult to keep the buildings apartments at an affordable rent of $550 to $650 per month.

"You are directly and negatively contributing to the current affordable housing shortage," Hill told council members at the meeting.

Samaritan Bethanys nursing home complex, west of Broadway at 24 8th St. NW, saw the biggest jump, from $28,303 proposed in April to $218,972.

"I hope you take into account Im trying to take care of elderly people," Susan Knutson, Samaritan Bethany mission leader and CEO, told the council Monday night.

In a letter to the city, Knutson said Samaritan Bethany plans to appeal the assessment to district court. Property owners have 30 days to file an appeal in court.

The adjusted assessments were estimated by Hosch Appraisal and Consulting based on their assessment of the potential benefits to property owners.

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Previous assessments were based on how much property abutted North Broadway Avenue.

Councilman Michael Wojcik suggested to Hill that she apply for affordable housing tax credits with the county.

Facilities costs put spotlight on Civic Theatre

Revised North Broadway assessments stun nursing home
(Newser)  The coronavirus outbreak has now killed a second person outside mainland China. Hong Kong reported its first coronavirus death Tuesday. Authorities say the patient who died was a 39-year-old man who had traveled to Wuhan, the mainland city that has been the epicenter of the outbreak, before being hospitalized. The announcement came as hospitals cut services because medical workers were striking for a second day to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely, the AP reports. All but two of Hong Kong's land and sea crossings with the mainland were closed at midnight after more than 2,000 hospital workers went on strike Monday. As many as 9,000 medical workers could join the bigger walkout Tuesday to demand closure of the border.

story continues below

The mainland's latest figures of 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed infections of the new coronavirus were up from 361 deaths and 17,205 cases the previous day. Outside mainland China, at least 180 cases have been confirmed, including a death in the Philippines. Late Monday, China's President Xi Jinping presided over a special meeting of the top Communist Party body for the second time since the crisis started, saying "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." Xi threatened punishments for those who neglect their duties, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Other countries are continuing evacuations and restricting the entry of Chinese travelers or people who have recently been to the country.

(Read more coronavirus stories.)
WASHINGTON  Immigrants facing possible deportation, a sexual assault victim of Jeffrey Epstein, an antiwar activist.

Several lawmakers from the Bay Area are making undeniably political statements with the guests theyve invited to attend President Trumps third State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Per tradition, senators and members of the House invite guests to sit in the House gallery for the presidents annual speech. Often, the guests are friends, spouses or supporters. But sometimes, their presence is an act of protest in itself.

For Trumps address, which he will deliver starting at 6 p.m. PST, lawmakers from the Bay Area have invited:

 Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.: Elder Joseph Paul, Jr., an ordained minister and former inmate who works as a reentry professional in the Los-Angeles area. He counsels ex-offenders about how to adjust to life outside prison and avoid repeat offenses.

I was proud to work with him during my time as attorney general of California and witness firsthand how his path has inspired so many, Harris said in a statement.

 Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.: Her husband, Richard Blum, a wealthy investment banker and philanthropist. He founded the San Francisco firm Blum Capital in 1975 and has been married to Feinstein since 1980.

 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco: California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, who founded a clinic for underserved residents in San Franciscos Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood.

Pelosi has also invited six guests who she says have been harmed by Trumps stance on health care issues. They are Jonah Cohen, who has diabetes, and his mother, Jennifer Pliner; identical twins Cheyanne Faulkner and Morgan Faulkner, who both have diabetes; and Xiomara Hung, who has a chronic illness and receives treatment under Medicaid, and her mother, Elena Hung.

 Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord: Isabel Bueso, a woman with a disability who previously faced deportation to Guatemala under Trumps policies. She has been granted deferred action to remain in the United States for at least two more years to receive medical care for a rare genetic disorder.

Isabel is one of my personal heroes and she deserves to stay in this country, DeSaulnier said in a statement.

 Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto: Diane Borrison, a 13-year survivor of pancreatic cancer and San Jose resident. Borrison has often traveled to Washington to demand more government funding for cancer research.

Her advocacy has given hope to patients, survivors, and their families and her engagement has been critical in advancing legislation to improve outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients, Eshoo said in a statement.

 Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael: Ernie Bergman, a Vietnam War veteran, antiwar activist and retired financial planner. Bergman is president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Marin County Chapter.

His experience of combat, and his work with students in the decades since, has led him to be a thoughtful counterpoint to President Trumps careless and dangerous treatment of our military, Huffman said in a statement.

 Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont: The Rev. Jethroe Moore II, a longtime civil-rights leader and president of the San Jose/Silicon Valley chapter of the NAACP.

From his advocacy for greater access for Black Americans to the technology jobs of the future, to his efforts to tackle police brutality, Rev. Moore has done incredible work across the South Bay, Khanna said in a statement.

 Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland: Sherry Hirota, chief executive officer of Asian Health Services, an Oakland nonprofit that works to expand health-care access among low-income and minority communities.

Sherry has committed her life to ensuring that everyone, regardless of their race, gender, income, or immigration status, has access to quality, affordable health care, Lee said in a statement.

 Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose: A constituent from her South Bay district. Lofgrens office declined to name the person or provide their occupation.

 Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo: Courtney Wild, a victim of Epstein, the convicted sex offender who hanged himself in his jail cell last year. Speier has proposed legislation, named after Wild, to ensure that victims of federal crimes can give input on plea agreements and other case developments.

By attending this years SOTU as my distinguished guest, Courtney is helping me send a clear message that women are done with being treated as second-class citizens in our own country, Speier said in a statement.

 Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley: Pablo Martinez, a former farmworker who grew up working alongside his parents in the fields of Californias Central Coast. Martinez, who is undocumented, supports legislation by Panetta to give legal status to many agricultural workers.

Every strawberry you eat and every head of lettuce you buy was hand-picked by a farmworker, Martinez said in a statement.

Trump is making his own statement about immigration with his guest list. Among those he has invited is Jody Jones of Farmersville (Tulare County), whose brother Rocky Jones was shot and killed by an undocumented immigrant in 2018.

Jody Jones is one of 11 guests Trump has invited. Others include a deputy Border Patrol chief and the family of an Army sergeant killed in Iraq.

Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner
Labour shadow minister Tracy Brabin told today how she was abused after wearing an off-the-shoulder dress while speaking in the House of Commons last night.

Shadow culture secretary Tracy Brabin, 58, was accused of looking like a 'hungover tart' and as if she had 'just been banged over a wheelie bin' after she wore the black dress that exposed one of her shoulders yesterday.

One Twitter user shared a photograph of her wearing the controversial outfit and asked: 'Is this really appropriate attire for parliament?'

In a sharply worded response, Ms Brabin, who used to be an actress on the ITV soap Coronation Street, replied: 'Sorry I don't have time to reply to all of you commenting on this but I can confirm I'm not....

'A slag, Hungover, A tart, About to breastfeed, A slapper, Drunk, Just been banged over a wheelie bin. Who knew people could get so emotional over a shoulder...'

Ms Brabin, who played Tricia Armstrong in the programme between 1994 and 1997, replaced Jo Cox as Labour MP for Batley and Spen in West Yorkshire, after she was murdered by far-right extremist Thomas Mair in 2016.

Shadow culture secretary Tracy Brabin took matters into her own hands after being confronted over an an off-the-shoulder dress she chose to wear during a debate last night

One Twitter user shared a photograph of her wearing the controversial outfit and asked: 'Is this really appropriate attire for parliament?'

Ms Brabin, 58, posted a sharply-worded response hitting back at the people who called her names for the dress

Ms Brabin admitted the 35 dress was off-the-shoulder but it slipped slightly further as she stood up to speak.

She wore the dress yesterday while raising a point of order on Downing Street's decision to order senior journalists from some of the UK's major news organisations to leave before a briefing on Boris Johnson's Brexit plans.

A Parliamentary Secretary replied claiming the Government is 'committed to being open in their dealings with the press and the principles of media freedom'.

She added that: 'No journalists are barred from official media briefings hosted by the Prime Minister's official spokesperson.'

The Government spokesman said it is 'entirely standard practice' to hold 'smaller meetings' as was the case on Monday.

But it was her outfit, not the relationship between the Government and political journalists, which caught the attention of social media.

Dozens slated the former actress for having her shoulder exposed while she spoke a the dispatch box.

Dozens slated the former actress for having her shoulder exposed while she spoke a the dispatch box

One person asked: 'Has she just fallen out of the pub?', while somebody else commented: 'She should be asked to leave'.

One woman wrote: 'It was inappropriate dress for HofC or any workplace other than a nightclub. You looked silly.'

But others leaped to her defence, with one supporter claiming she could 'wear a bikini' as long as he continues to fight for social causes.

Another posted in support of her: 'Are people forgetting how Boris Johnson rocks up every day? Permanently scruffy, but I guess that's ok...'

Ms Brabin told the BBC the social media backlash is simply 'another example of the every day sexism women face'.

She said in a statement: 'They were playing top trumps on how rude they could be.

'They are idiots and they are rude but I am not going to lose much sleep over them.'

The 58-year-old received 17,506 votes in October 2016, despite turnout in her Yorkshire constituency being just 26 per cent - one of the lowest by-election turnouts since the Second World War.

Ms Brabin was named Mrs Cox's successor after all other main parties decided not to run against the Labour candidate as a mark of respect.

The off-the-shoulder dress divided Twitter users, some of whom called her derogatory names and others who supported her

She was forced to restart her acceptance speech after being heckled by people at the vote count branding her a 'racist' and shouting the words 'Coronation Street' over her.

The 58-year-old said at the time: 'This has been a difficult experience for all of us and tonight is a bittersweet occasion for me. That this by-election has had to take place at all is a tragedy, she said.

'I hope Jo will be proud tonight of our community. We have shown that we stand together with one voice choosing unity and hope.'

Tracy Brabin is pictured playing Tricia Armstrong on Coronation Street in 1996 alongside co-star Michael Le Vell

New MP: Tracy Brabin is pictured after winning the by-election for Labour in Batley and Spen, West Yorkshire, on October 21 2016

Who is Tracy Brabin? The Coronation Street actress who swapped TV for politics after murder of Labour MP

Tracy Brabin was born in Batley, half of the West Yorkshire constituency she now represents in Westminster, in May 1961.

She went to grammar school before studying drama at Loughborough University.

Brabin became known for her role as a clumsy waitress called Sandra opposite Only Fools N Horses star David Jason in the ITV sitcom A Bit of A Do in 1989.

She later bagged the role of Tricia Armstrong in Coronation Street in 1994 where she stayed until 1997.

The now-58-year-old also starred in EastEnders as Roxy Drake in the early 2000s.

Tracy Brabin (pictured second from right) is pictured with the late Jo Cox (second from left) before her death and the by-election that saw her replace her as MP for Batley and Spen

Her political interest was first made clear in 1997 when she wrote a newspaper article endorsing the Labour Party, telling of how her father-in-law died on a hospital trolley while waiting to see a doctor.

In 1998 she appeared in a Labour Party political broadcast urging people to join.

She was the lead member of a group of nine actors who wrote an open letter in The Observer newspaper claiming that while they opposed Britain's intervention in the Iraq War, they still supported the re-election of a Tony Blair Labour Government in 2001.

The former actress, who also appeared in Emmerdale, expressed her interest in running for office after the death of Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox in June 2016.

The former actress played Tricia Armstrong (centre) in Coronation Street on ITV between 1994 and 1997

Tracy Brabin is pictured (left) as Roxy Drake in EastEnders alongside Michelle Ryan as Zoe Slater in 2001

She was one of two women who threw their hat in the ring to replace Mrs Cox after she was shot and stabbed on the way to a constituency surgery in Birstall, West Yorkshire, on June 16 that year.

Brabin had canvassed for Labour in the Kirklees Council election of 2012 and had worked with Mrs Cox on her campaign against local library closures in the area.

Brabin was voted in as Batley and Spen MP in October after all the other major parties promised they wouldn't contest Labour's seat as a mark of respect for the late Mrs Cox.

A source told The Sun during the by-election campaign: 'Tracy worked very closely with Jo on a number of local issues and is keen to carry on her work.

'She's well known locally, she grew up around here and is seen as the best candidate by the local Labour party.'
Imperial Valley News Center

Harvard University Professor and Two Chinese Nationals Charged in Three Separate China Related Cases

Boston, Massachusetts - The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that the Chair of Harvard Universitys Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department and two Chinese nationals have been charged in connection with aiding the Peoples Republic of China.

Dr. Charles Lieber, 60, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, was arrested this morning and charged by criminal complaint with one count of making a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement. Lieber will appeared before Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts.

Yanqing Ye, 29, a Chinese national, was charged in an indictment with one count each of visa fraud, making false statements, acting as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy. Ye is currently in China.

Zaosong Zheng, 30, a Chinese national, was arrested on December 10, 2019, at Bostons Logan International Airport and charged by criminal complaint with attempting to smuggle 21 vials of biological research to China. On January 21, 2020, Zheng was indicted on one count of smuggling goods from the United States and one count of making false, fictitious or fraudulent statements. He has been detained since December 30, 2019.

Dr. Charles Lieber

According to court documents, since 2008, Dr. Lieber who has served as the Principal Investigator of the Lieber Research Group at Harvard University, which specialized in the area of nanoscience, has received more than $15,000,000 in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Defense (DOD). These grants require the disclosure of significant foreign financial conflicts of interest, including financial support from foreign governments or foreign entities. Unbeknownst to Harvard University beginning in 2011, Lieber became a Strategic Scientist at Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) in China and was a contractual participant in Chinas Thousand Talents Plan from in or about 2012 to 2017. Chinas Thousand Talents Plan is one of the most prominent Chinese Talent recruit plans that are designed to attract, recruit, and cultivate high-level scientific talent in furtherance of Chinas scientific development, economic prosperity and national security. These talent programs seek to lure Chinese overseas talent and foreign experts to bring their knowledge and experience to China and reward individuals for stealing proprietary information. Under the terms of Liebers three-year Thousand Talents contract, WUT paid Lieber $50,000 USD per month, living expenses of up to 1,000,000 Chinese Yuan (approximately $158,000 USD at the time) and awarded him more than $1.5 million to establish a research lab at WUT. In return, Lieber was obligated to work for WUT not less than nine months a year by declaring international cooperation projects, cultivating young teachers and Ph.D. students, organizing international conference[s], applying for patents and publishing articles in the name of WUT.

The complaint alleges that in 2018 and 2019, Lieber lied about his involvement in the Thousand Talents Plan and affiliation with WUT. On or about, April 24, 2018, during an interview with investigators, Lieber stated that he was never asked to participate in the Thousand Talents Program, but he wasnt sure how China categorized him. In November 2018, NIH inquired of Harvard whether Lieber had failed to disclose his then-suspected relationship with WUT and Chinas Thousand Talents Plan. Lieber caused Harvard to falsely tell NIH that Lieber had no formal association with WUT after 2012, that WUT continued to falsely exaggerate his involvement with WUT in subsequent years, and that Lieber is not and has never been a participant in Chinas Thousand Talents Plan.

Yanqing Ye

According to the indictment, Ye is a Lieutenant of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), the armed forces of the Peoples Republic of China and member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On her J-1 visa application, Ye falsely identified herself as a student and lied about her ongoing military service at the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), a top military academy directed by the CCP. It is further alleged that while studying at Boston Universitys (BU) Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering from October 2017 to April 2019, Ye continued to work as a PLA Lieutenant completing numerous assignments from PLA officers such as conducting research, assessing U.S. military websites and sending U.S. documents and information to China.

According to court documents, on April 20, 2019, federal officers interviewed Ye at Bostons Logan International Airport. During the interview, it is alleged that Ye falsely claimed that she had minimal contact with two NUDT professors who were high-ranking PLA officers. However, a search of Yes electronic devices demonstrated that at the direction of one NUDT professor, who was a PLA Colonel, Ye had accessed U.S. military websites, researched U.S. military projects and compiled information for the PLA on two U.S. scientists with expertise in robotics and computer science. Furthermore, a review of a WeChat conversation revealed that Ye and the other PLA official from NUDT were collaborating on a research paper about a risk assessment model designed to decipher data for military applications. During the interview, Ye admitted that she held the rank of Lieutenant in the PLA and admitted she was a member of the CCP.

Zaosong Zheng

In August 2018, Zheng entered the United States on a J-1 visa and conducted cancer-cell research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston from Sept. 4, 2018, to Dec. 9, 2019. It is alleged that on Dec. 9, 2019, Zheng stole 21 vials of biological research and attempted to smuggle them out of the United States aboard a flight destined for China. Federal officers at Logan Airport discovered the vials hidden in a sock inside one of Zhengs bags, and not properly packaged. It is alleged that initially, Zheng lied to officers about the contents of his luggage, but later admitted he had stolen the vials from a lab at Beth Israel. Zheng stated that he intended to bring the vials to China to use them to conduct research in his own laboratory and publish the results under his own name.

The charge of making false, fictitious and fraudulent statements provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of visa fraud provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of acting as an agent of a foreign government provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of smuggling goods from the United States provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Field Division Joseph R. Bonavolonta; Michael Denning, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Boston Field Office; Leigh-Alistair Barzey, Special Agent in Charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Northeast Field Office; Philip Coyne, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and William Higgins, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement, Boston Field Office made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys B. Stephanie Siegmann, Jason Casey and Benjamin Tolkoff of Lellings National Security Unit are prosecuting these cases with the assistance of trial attorneys William Mackie and David Aaron at the National Security Divisions Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

These case are part of the Department of Justices China Initiative, which reflects the strategic priority of countering Chinese national security threats and reinforces the Presidents overall national security strategy. In addition to identifying and prosecuting those engaged in trade secret theft, hacking and economic espionage, the initiative will increase efforts to protect our critical infrastructure against external threats including foreign direct investment, supply chain threats and the foreign agents seeking to influence the American public and policymakers without proper registration.
CMA welcomes Union Budget infrastucture spending

04 February 2020

The Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) welcomed the major announcements on infrastructure, logistics, climate change and environment in the Union Budget 2020-21 presented by the India's Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.



"The Government's commitment to invest over INR100 lakhs crore (US$1.4trn) in infrastructure will help fast track the projects that have been identified under the infrastructure pipeline. The focus on disaster resilient infrastructure in the budget is a move in the right direction," CMA said.



Mahendra Singhi, CMA president and managing director and CEO of Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd, said, "The emphasis on highways and roads development is well placed. This captures the priorities of economic development and an aspirational India. We would hope that rural demand gets revived and it assists in job creation."



We are actively engaged in a dialogue with the Ministry of Commerce on the National Logistics Policy and would expect some of our considerations for upgradation and modernisation of rail infrastructure are particularly carried through. The cement industry has also been an active partner to the Government in the Swachh Bharat Mission. Reference and priority in this context being accorded to source segregation and processing should add to creating a more facilitating environment for the role expected of the cement industry in waste management given that 'Polluter to Pay' principle has been outlined in the National Resource Efficiency Policy.



"Overall, it's good to see the Budget 2020-21, which reiterates the priorities for economic development. We would look forward to these taking shape. The reaffirmation of commitment towards clean air, Climate Change mitigation efforts are most welcome. More policy interventions to revive real estate and housing would be welcome. Infrastructure development, new 100 airports and emphasis on road would go a long way to revive cement demand," Mr Singhi said.



Neeraj Akhoury, vice president of CMA and CEO and managing director of ACC Ltd, said, "The special emphasis on infrastructure development that the Government has undertaken over the past few months has been strengthened in the budget announcement today by the Honourable Finance Minister. The focus on project preparation facilities for infrastructure projects and the national logistics policy that will be released soon should help boost infrastructure and have a positive impact on the economy. Budget 2020-21 aims at making growth more inclusive while retaining focus on the immediate priorities. Priorities given to household, roads, railways, economic corridors, solar power, accelerated development of highways should help boost development and wealth creation. The cement industry is committed towards playing a strong role in the Government's aspirational agenda for transformative economic growth."

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NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

Entrance Matting market worldwide is projected to grow by US$2.2 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 4.6%. Walk-off, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 5%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$4.7 Billion by the year 2025, Walk-off will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798529/?utm_source=PRN



- Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 3.6% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$78.5 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$63.4 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, Walk-off will reach a market size of US$252.8 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 7.3% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$645.7 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies.



- Competitors identified in this market include, among others, 3M Company; Bergo Flooring AB; Birrus (Australia) Pty Ltd.; Cintas Corporation; Eagle Mat and Floor Products; Forbo International SA; Justrite Safety Group EMEA B.V.; UniFirst Corporation







Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798529/?utm_source=PRN



I. METHODOLOGY



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW

Global Competitor Market Shares

Entrance Matting Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide

(in %): 2019 & 2025

2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS

3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS

4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE

Table 1: Entrance Matting Global Market Estimates and Forecasts

in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 2: Entrance Matting Global Retrospective Market Scenario

in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 3: Entrance Matting Market Share Shift across Key

Geographies Worldwide: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 4: Walk-off (Type) World Market by Region/Country in US$

Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 5: Walk-off (Type) Historic Market Analysis by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 6: Walk-off (Type) Market Share Breakdown of Worldwide

Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 7: Anti-fatigue (Type) Potential Growth Markets Worldwide

in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 8: Anti-fatigue (Type) Historic Market Perspective by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 9: Anti-fatigue (Type) Market Sales Breakdown by

Region/Country in Percentage: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 10: Logo and Specialty Mats (Type) Geographic Market

Spread Worldwide in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 11: Logo and Specialty Mats (Type) Region Wise Breakdown

of Global Historic Demand in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 12: Logo and Specialty Mats (Type) Market Share

Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

Table 13: Residential (Application) Demand Potential Worldwide

in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 14: Residential (Application) Historic Sales Analysis in

US$ Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 15: Residential (Application) Share Breakdown Review by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 16: Non-Residential (Application) Worldwide Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 17: Non-Residential (Application) Global Historic

Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 18: Non-Residential (Application) Distribution of Global

Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025



III. MARKET ANALYSIS



GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS

UNITED STATES

Market Facts & Figures

US Entrance Matting Market Share (in %) by Company: 2019 & 2025

Table 19: United States Entrance Matting Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 20: Entrance Matting Market in the United States by Type:

A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 21: United States Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 22: United States Entrance Matting Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 23: Entrance Matting Historic Demand Patterns in the

United States by Application in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 24: Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown in the United

States by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CANADA

Table 25: Canadian Entrance Matting Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 26: Canadian Entrance Matting Historic Market Review by

Type in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 27: Entrance Matting Market in Canada: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 28: Canadian Entrance Matting Market Quantitative Demand

Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 29: Entrance Matting Market in Canada: Summarization of

Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by Application for

2009-2017

Table 30: Canadian Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

JAPAN

Table 31: Japanese Market for Entrance Matting: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 32: Entrance Matting Market in Japan: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2009-2017

Table 33: Japanese Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 34: Japanese Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Entrance

Matting in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 35: Japanese Entrance Matting Market in US$ Million by

Application: 2009-2017

Table 36: Entrance Matting Market Share Shift in Japan by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CHINA

Table 37: Chinese Entrance Matting Market Growth Prospects in

US$ Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 38: Entrance Matting Historic Market Analysis in China in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 39: Chinese Entrance Matting Market by Type: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 40: Chinese Demand for Entrance Matting in US$ Million by

Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 41: Entrance Matting Market Review in China in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 42: Chinese Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

EUROPE

Market Facts & Figures

European Entrance Matting Market: Competitor Market Share

Scenario (in %) for 2019 & 2025

Table 43: European Entrance Matting Market Demand Scenario in

US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 44: Entrance Matting Market in Europe: A Historic Market

Perspective in US$ Million by Region/Country for the Period

2009-2017

Table 45: European Entrance Matting Market Share Shift by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 46: European Entrance Matting Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 47: Entrance Matting Market in Europe in US$ Million by

Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 48: European Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 49: European Entrance Matting Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 50: Entrance Matting Market in Europe: Summarization of

Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application for the Period

2009-2017

Table 51: European Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

FRANCE

Table 52: Entrance Matting Market in France by Type: Estimates

and Projections in US$ Million for the Period 2018-2025

Table 53: French Entrance Matting Historic Market Scenario in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 54: French Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 55: Entrance Matting Quantitative Demand Analysis in

France in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 56: French Entrance Matting Historic Market Review in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 57: French Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis: A

17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025

GERMANY

Table 58: Entrance Matting Market in Germany: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 59: German Entrance Matting Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 60: German Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 61: Entrance Matting Market in Germany: Annual Sales

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Application for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 62: German Entrance Matting Market in Retrospect in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 63: Entrance Matting Market Share Distribution in Germany

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ITALY

Table 64: Italian Entrance Matting Market Growth Prospects in

US$ Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 65: Entrance Matting Historic Market Analysis in Italy in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 66: Italian Entrance Matting Market by Type: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 67: Italian Demand for Entrance Matting in US$ Million by

Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 68: Entrance Matting Market Review in Italy in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 69: Italian Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED KINGDOM

Table 70: United Kingdom Market for Entrance Matting: Annual

Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 71: Entrance Matting Market in the United Kingdom:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2009-2017

Table 72: United Kingdom Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 73: United Kingdom Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Entrance Matting in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 74: United Kingdom Entrance Matting Market in US$ Million

by Application: 2009-2017

Table 75: Entrance Matting Market Share Shift in the United

Kingdom by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SPAIN

Table 76: Spanish Entrance Matting Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 77: Spanish Entrance Matting Historic Market Review by

Type in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 78: Entrance Matting Market in Spain: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 79: Spanish Entrance Matting Market Quantitative Demand

Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 80: Entrance Matting Market in Spain: Summarization of

Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by Application for

2009-2017

Table 81: Spanish Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

RUSSIA

Table 82: Russian Entrance Matting Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 83: Entrance Matting Market in Russia by Type: A Historic

Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 84: Russian Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 85: Russian Entrance Matting Latent Demand Forecasts in

US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 86: Entrance Matting Historic Demand Patterns in Russia

by Application in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 87: Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown in Russia by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF EUROPE

Table 88: Rest of Europe Entrance Matting Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 89: Entrance Matting Market in Rest of Europe in US$

Million by Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 90: Rest of Europe Entrance Matting Market Share

Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 91: Rest of Europe Entrance Matting Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 92: Entrance Matting Market in Rest of Europe:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application

for the Period 2009-2017

Table 93: Rest of Europe Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 94: Asia-Pacific Entrance Matting Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 95: Entrance Matting Market in Asia-Pacific: Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country for the Period

2009-2017

Table 96: Asia-Pacific Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis

by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 97: Entrance Matting Market in Asia-Pacific by Type:

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for the Period

2018-2025

Table 98: Asia-Pacific Entrance Matting Historic Market

Scenario in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 99: Asia-Pacific Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 100: Entrance Matting Quantitative Demand Analysis in

Asia-Pacific in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 101: Asia-Pacific Entrance Matting Historic Market Review

in US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 102: Asia-Pacific Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis:

A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025

AUSTRALIA

Table 103: Entrance Matting Market in Australia: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 104: Australian Entrance Matting Historic Market Analysis

in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 105: Australian Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 106: Entrance Matting Market in Australia: Annual Sales

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Application for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 107: Australian Entrance Matting Market in Retrospect in

US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 108: Entrance Matting Market Share Distribution in

Australia by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

INDIA

Table 109: Indian Entrance Matting Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 110: Indian Entrance Matting Historic Market Review by

Type in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 111: Entrance Matting Market in India: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 112: Indian Entrance Matting Market Quantitative Demand

Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 113: Entrance Matting Market in India: Summarization of

Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by Application for

2009-2017

Table 114: Indian Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SOUTH KOREA

Table 115: Entrance Matting Market in South Korea: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 116: South Korean Entrance Matting Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 117: Entrance Matting Market Share Distribution in South

Korea by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 118: Entrance Matting Market in South Korea: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Application for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 119: South Korean Entrance Matting Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 120: Entrance Matting Market Share Distribution in South

Korea by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 121: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Entrance Matting:

Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 122: Entrance Matting Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2009-2017

Table 123: Rest of Asia-Pacific Entrance Matting Market Share

Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 124: Rest of Asia-Pacific Demand Estimates and Forecasts

for Entrance Matting in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to

2025

Table 125: Rest of Asia-Pacific Entrance Matting Market in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 126: Entrance Matting Market Share Shift in Rest of

Asia-Pacific by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

LATIN AMERICA

Table 127: Latin American Entrance Matting Market Trends by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2018-2025

Table 128: Entrance Matting Market in Latin America in US$

Million by Region/Country: A Historic Perspective for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 129: Latin American Entrance Matting Market Percentage

Breakdown of Sales by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 130: Latin American Entrance Matting Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 131: Entrance Matting Historic Market Analysis in Latin

America in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 132: Latin American Entrance Matting Market by Type:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 133: Latin American Demand for Entrance Matting in US$

Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 134: Entrance Matting Market Review in Latin America in

US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 135: Latin American Entrance Matting Market Share

Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ARGENTINA

Table 136: Argentinean Entrance Matting Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 137: Entrance Matting Market in Argentina in US$ Million

by Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 138: Argentinean Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 139: Argentinean Entrance Matting Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 140: Entrance Matting Market in Argentina: Summarization

of Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application for the Period

2009-2017

Table 141: Argentinean Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

BRAZIL

Table 142: Entrance Matting Market in Brazil by Type: Estimates

and Projections in US$ Million for the Period 2018-2025

Table 143: Brazilian Entrance Matting Historic Market Scenario

in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 144: Brazilian Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 145: Entrance Matting Quantitative Demand Analysis in

Brazil in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 146: Brazilian Entrance Matting Historic Market Review in

US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 147: Brazilian Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis: A

17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025

MEXICO

Table 148: Entrance Matting Market in Mexico: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 149: Mexican Entrance Matting Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 150: Mexican Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 151: Entrance Matting Market in Mexico: Annual Sales

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Application for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 152: Mexican Entrance Matting Market in Retrospect in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 153: Entrance Matting Market Share Distribution in Mexico

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF LATIN AMERICA

Table 154: Rest of Latin America Entrance Matting Market

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 155: Entrance Matting Market in Rest of Latin America by

Type: A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 156: Rest of Latin America Entrance Matting Market Share

Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 157: Rest of Latin America Entrance Matting Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 158: Entrance Matting Historic Demand Patterns in Rest of

Latin America by Application in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 159: Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown in Rest of

Latin America by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

MIDDLE EAST

Table 160: The Middle East Entrance Matting Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 161: Entrance Matting Market in the Middle East by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 162: The Middle East Entrance Matting Market Share

Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 163: The Middle East Entrance Matting Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 164: The Middle East Entrance Matting Historic Market by

Type in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 165: Entrance Matting Market in the Middle East:

Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 166: The Middle East Entrance Matting Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 167: Entrance Matting Market in the Middle East:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by

Application for 2009-2017

Table 168: The Middle East Entrance Matting Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

IRAN

Table 169: Iranian Market for Entrance Matting: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 170: Entrance Matting Market in Iran: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2009-2017

Table 171: Iranian Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 172: Iranian Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Entrance

Matting in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 173: Iranian Entrance Matting Market in US$ Million by

Application: 2009-2017

Table 174: Entrance Matting Market Share Shift in Iran by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ISRAEL

Table 175: Israeli Entrance Matting Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 176: Entrance Matting Market in Israel in US$ Million by

Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 177: Israeli Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 178: Israeli Entrance Matting Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 179: Entrance Matting Market in Israel: Summarization of

Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application for the Period

2009-2017

Table 180: Israeli Entrance Matting Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SAUDI ARABIA

Table 181: Saudi Arabian Entrance Matting Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 182: Entrance Matting Historic Market Analysis in Saudi

Arabia in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 183: Saudi Arabian Entrance Matting Market by Type:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 184: Saudi Arabian Demand for Entrance Matting in US$

Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 185: Entrance Matting Market Review in Saudi Arabia in

US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 186: Saudi Arabian Entrance Matting Market Share

Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Table 187: Entrance Matting Market in the United Arab Emirates:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 188: United Arab Emirates Entrance Matting Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 189: Entrance Matting Market Share Distribution in United

Arab Emirates by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 190: Entrance Matting Market in the United Arab Emirates:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by

Application for the Period 2018-2025

Table 191: United Arab Emirates Entrance Matting Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 192: Entrance Matting Market Share Distribution in United

Arab Emirates by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF MIDDLE EAST

Table 193: Entrance Matting Market in Rest of Middle East:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 194: Rest of Middle East Entrance Matting Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 195: Rest of Middle East Entrance Matting Market Share

Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 196: Entrance Matting Market in Rest of Middle East:

Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by

Application for the Period 2018-2025

Table 197: Rest of Middle East Entrance Matting Market in

Retrospect in US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 198: Entrance Matting Market Share Distribution in Rest

of Middle East by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

AFRICA

Table 199: African Entrance Matting Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 200: Entrance Matting Market in Africa by Type: A

Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 201: African Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 202: African Entrance Matting Latent Demand Forecasts in

US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 203: Entrance Matting Historic Demand Patterns in Africa

by Application in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 204: Entrance Matting Market Share Breakdown in Africa by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025



IV. COMPETITION



3M COMPANY

BERGO FLOORING AB

BIRRUS (AUSTRALIA) PTY

CINTAS CORPORATION

EAGLE MAT AND FLOOR PRODUCTS

FORBO INTERNATIONAL SA

JUSTRITE SAFETY GROUP EMEA B.V.

UNIFIRST CORPORATION



V. CURATED RESEARCH

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798529/?utm_source=PRN



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

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SOURCE Reportlinker

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GREENWICH, Conn., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) announced that the Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation (FCF) is among a select group of patient-led rare disease organizations, including rare cancer foundations, to receive the first CZI Rare As One Network grant.

Founded by Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg in 2015, CZI is committing $13.5 million to the Rare As One Project to support and lift up the work patient communities are doing to accelerate research and drive progress in the fight against rare diseases, like fibrolamellar carcinoma (Fibrolamellar or FLC). Fibrolamellar is an aggressive, ultra-rare liver cancer affecting children and young adults, with no curative therapies and an alarmingly low five-year survival rate.

"No one is more committed to finding cures for rare diseases than the patients, and families of those affected by these disorders," said Priscilla Chan, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of CZI. "We are proud to support patient-led organizations as they pursue diagnoses, information, and treatment options in partnership with researchers and clinicians."

CZI is providing funding, training, community mentorship, and capacity-building services to assist FCF as it pursues diagnoses, information, and treatment options in partnership with researchers and clinicians.

"Our Foundation has grown tremendously over the past 10 years since it was founded by our son Tucker, before he lost his battle with this cancer," said Marna Davis, Co-Chairman of FCF. "We're confident that the CZI partnership will spread awareness and help FCF continue to pursue its mission of finding a cure for this disease."

FCF President John Hopper noted, "Recognition and partnership with CZI is an enormous game changer for the children and young adults fighting rare cancers, such as fibrolamellar, which are too often overlooked. CZI's support will bring much needed global awareness to FLC, and significantly increase the power our patients will have to influence research across academia, industry and government. Our hope is this will accelerate discoveries of curative therapies, which currently do not exist, to give our young fighters a better chance to survive this cancer."

About the Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation:

The Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation, Inc. was founded in 2009 by Tucker Davis and his close friends when he was diagnosed with fibrolamellar carcinoma. The purpose of the foundation is to help find a cure and treatment options for this often-fatal disease, raise awareness, and connect and support the fibrolamellar community of patients and their families. 100% of net donations go towards research. For more information, please visit www.fibrofoundation.org.

About the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative:

Founded by Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg in 2015, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) is a new kind of philanthropy that's leveraging technology to help solve some of the world's toughest challenges  from eradicating disease, to improving education, to reforming the criminal justice system. Across three core Initiative focus areas of Science, Education, and Justice & Opportunity, we're pairing engineering with grant-making, impact investing, and policy and advocacy work to help build an inclusive, just and healthy future for everyone. For more information, please visit www.chanzuckerberg.com .

Media Contact:

John Hopper

[email protected]

(203) 550-4410

SOURCE Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation

Related Links

http://www.fibrofoundation.org


Health care emerged as the most important issue for choosing a nominee among Iowa Democratic caucusgoers, according to the entrance polls conducted Monday before the caucuses began.

Two in five chose health care, and about 1 in 5 said climate change, while fewer chose foreign policy or income inequality.

Visit CNN's Election Center for full coverage of the 2020 race

The party has been bitterly divided over health care throughout the primary campaign. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have called for replacing private insurance with "Medicare for All," while candidates like former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota have called for a public option while maintaining existing private insurance systems.

Almost 3 in 5 Iowa Democratic caucusgoers support replacing private insurance with a government plan. Almost 2 in 5 oppose that.

Caucusgoers for whom health care is the top issue in choosing a nominee were split between Sanders and Buttigieg, with around a quarter supporting each. Almost 2 in 5 support Warren while 1 in 6 support Biden and the same for Klobuchar.

Among caucusgoers who oppose replacing private insurance with a government plan, 3 in 10 supported Biden, and another 3 in 10 went for Buttigieg. About 1 in 6 in this group supported Klobuchar.

The early entrance polls showed Biden, Buttigieg, Sanders and Warren leading with Iowa caucusgoers.

Biden led the field among caucusgoers whose top issue for choosing a candidate is foreign policy, with nearly half of that group backing his campaign. Two in five in this group backed Buttigieg.

Electability mattered to caucusgoers. About 3 in 5 Iowa caucusgoers say they would prefer a nominee who can beat President Donald Trump over a candidate who agrees with them on the issues. Among those, a quarter are supporting Biden and a quarter are supporting Buttigieg. Klobuchar, Warren and Sanders each drew support from about 1 in 6 of this group.

Almost 9 in 10 Biden backers say they prefer a candidate who can beat Trump over one who agrees with them on the issues. The only candidate in the top five whose supporters prioritize agreement on the issues over beating Trump are those backing Sanders.

Fewer than 2 in 5 Iowa caucusgoers had never attended a caucus before, down from 44% in the 2016 caucuses and 57% in the 2008 caucuses. More than 6 in 10 had caucused before.

Young Iowans overwhelmingly back Sanders

Almost half of Iowa caucusgoers under 30 years old supported Sanders, significantly higher than any other candidate among young voters, according to preliminary entrance polls. Young caucusgoers made up a similar share of the Iowan electorate on Monday as they did in 2008, the highest mark in entrance polling stretching back to 2000. Fewer than 1 in 5 back Buttigieg and 1 in 10 support Warren.

Almost 3 in 10 Democratic Iowa caucusgoers are over 65 years old, roughly even with 2016. A third of them support Biden, 1 in 5 back Buttigieg and 1 in 5 support Klobuchar.

'Very liberal' voters choose Sanders and Warren

Caucusgoers who described themselves as "very liberal" went overwhelmingly for Sanders and Warren. More than 2 in 5 support Sanders; more than a quarter support Warren. Fewer, around 1 in 10, support Buttigieg.

Among moderate Democratic caucusgoers, a quarter each supported Biden and Buttigieg. Almost 2 in 10 support Klobuchar.

Overall, about a quarter of caucusgoers are very liberal, 2 in 5 identified as somewhat liberal and a third as moderate.

More than a third of caucusgoers made their minds up late

More than a third of Democratic caucusgoers decided who to support in the last few days or today, roughly double the 16% who made up the minds in the same timeframe in 2016. Almost 2 in 3 Sanders supporters made up their minds last year. Half of Klobuchar's supporters made up their minds in the last few days.

More than 4 in 10 decided who to support before January.

The Democratic entrance poll estimates how much support a presidential candidate has at the start of the caucus process and will more closely reflect the first round of voting. It does not reflect the final caucus result, which is used to calculate the state delegate equivalents that a candidate is expected to win.

The top finisher in the Iowa Democratic caucuses has gone on to win the nomination in 7 of 9 contested races since 1976.

Entrance polls were conducted among Iowa caucusgoers as they entered precincts Monday night. Edison Research conducts the poll for the National Exit Pool, a consortium of news organizations.

This story has been updated with the latest entrance poll data.
The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) has launched an online survey on the potential introduction of a European minimum wage, Klara Dobrev (pictured on top), an MEP of the party, said.

The idea of an EU-wide minimum wage is now a mainstream policy issue within the bloc, she told a press conference, noting that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has put forward a document on the matter for a debate.



The EU is scheduled to debate the basic structure of the mechanism over the next six weeks, after which the commission will put forward a specific proposal, Dobrev said.



Meanwhile, she said it appeared that the Hungarian government was uninterested in taking part in the discussions on a European minimum wage, adding that this meant that the views of the Hungarian people would not be represented in those talks.



This is why, she said, DK has initiated consultations with social partners, employers, unions and the people themselves. Dobrev said her party sent its proposal out to sector chambers, industry bodies, unions and research institutes last week.



Asked why the surveys respondents had to provide personal details such as their address in order to submit their responses, Dobrev said DK wanted to canvass the views of people all over Hungary.



Responding to another question, she said the European Peoples Party, the Greens, the Social Democrats and the Liberals all supported the idea of a European minimum wage. If Hungarys Fidesz were also open to it, DK would be prepared to work together with the ruling party, she added.



Ferenc David, DKs economic spokesman, pointed out that 21 EU member states had an administratively defined minimum wage. Because of its widespread presence throughout the bloc, the minimum wage had become a part of European work culture, David argued, adding that it was also linked to a number of family and social benefits.



MTI Photo: Ujvari Sandor
SHANGHAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge funds are holding their nerve on Chinas ability to rebound quickly from a coronavirus outbreak that has rattled global markets, but many are also adding caveats as they try to predict the potential economic fallout.

Mainland China stocks tumbled on Monday, when Shanghai and Shenzhen markets opened after an extended Lunar New Year break, wiping out nearly $700 billion in market capitalization.

But the broad blue-chip CSI 300 .CSI300, which fell almost 8% on Monday, rose 2.5% on Tuesday. European and U.S. markets followed later in the day: the S&P 500 .SPX benchmark U.S. index was up more than 1% in early trading.

In a crisis, everyone feels the sky is falling. But the sky does not fall in the end, said Gu Weiyong, chief investment officer at Shanghai-based hedge fund manager Ucom Investment Co.

He favored the battered stocks of airport operators such as Shanghai Airport (600009.SS), betting on an economic recovery.

Shares in Shanghai Airport, down 19% so far this year as of Mondays close, gained 8% on Tuesday.

Oil prices, often a barometer of investor confidence in the global economy, eased off 13-month lows hit on Monday, with benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 gaining 0.7% to $54.83 a barrel.

The market seems to have reacted quite reasonably, said Switzerland-based David Nietlispach, portfolio manager for Pala Asset Management. He added it was a wait and see moment for Chinese stocks, as the government continued to battle the epidemic and assess economic damage.

George Schultze, founder of Schultze Asset Management in New York, said he saw some opportunity in metallurgical coal producers, where he has added to positions.

Most of these companies have already restructured their debt several years ago, so they are operating with an excessive amount of liquidity, said Schultze. Eventually the crisis will subside and people will travel more and build things again and youll see a rebound in demand for steel. It is a value play.

Schultze also said that companies in the travel industry and their suppliers, if they are over-leveraged, may be good short sell candidates.

HEDGES, VOLATILITY BETS

Stock market volatility  a favored play for many hedge funds - has risen sharply in recent days. On Monday, the VIX index measuring U.S. market volatility reached its highest in more than three months.

Christopher Stanton, chief investment officer at Sunrise Capital Partners LLC, bought stocks shortly after trading opened Monday morning.

Am I happy about it? No. Because everything in my body tells me this is not over yet, he said.

His fund, which uses computer-driven strategies to time short-term market swings, reduced its position in stocks later Monday and purchased derivatives that would rise in value if volatility increased.

The epidemic has claimed more than 420 lives in mainland China but has spread to several countries.

Yuan Yuwei, who manages a global macro fund from Chinas eastern city of Hangzhou, said property, retail, luxury goods, travel and leisure sectors were most vulnerable to an epidemic.

He shorted several stocks ahead of Chinas Lunar New Year holiday, including Yum China Holdings Inc (YUMC.N) and Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O), while betting on some potential gainers such as Chinese online video platform Bilibili Inc (BILI.O).

In such a crisis, if youre cool-headed, there are plenty of opportunities to jump into a trend, he said.

Yang Xiaofan, a Japan-based hedge fund manager, was more pessimistic, and was shorting copper, whose price typically tracks global growth, while buying silver as a less crowded safe-haven trade than gold.

The new virus itself is not that horriblebut the supply chain disruptions and factory closures caused by city lock-ins and holiday extensions would deal a real blow to the economy in the near term, he said.

UBS OConnor, the Swiss banks hedge fund unit, is selling some of its positions in mainland China equities and using options in the Hong Kong markets to manage its net exposure to China, said chief investment officer, Kevin Russell. The funds long-term view on China remains bullish, though.

For now, it appears the virus is likely a very short-term blip, Russell said.

However, if we start to see things not stabilizing  factory closings or store closings extending past another week to 10 days  then we and others will be acting more aggressively.
Two cities are trying to protect the way of life -- and bring order to the chaos of their prosperity -- through strategic zoning changes.

Homewood in Jefferson County and Chelsea in Shelby County, face different challenges but both have turned to the Regional Planning Commission to guide the way forward.

This is the tale of two cities.

Chelsea is one of the fastest growing cities in Alabama. A map of plans to fix the congested intersection of County Road 39 and 47 is displayed on a folding board in Mayor Tony Picklesimers office. The display, which includes the intersection solution and other plans, is placed near the window where he watches traffic back up every morning.

Every day around school time, theres a traffic jam, Picklesimer said, pointing out the window. The intersection was built to handle about 2,000 vehicles per day. Now, around 10,000 vehicles pass through it daily.

Picklesimer, who has served as Chelseas mayor since 2016, says the city has had to make strategic decisions about its growth. The congested intersection -- and traffic -- is just one growing pain.

The young city, incorporated in 1996, has grown more than 10-fold since its incorporation. Census data estimates the citys population was more than 13,000 in 2018. Its the second fastest growing city in Alabama, just behind Fairhope. Picklesimer expects the citys population to be around 15,000 in the 2020 census.

Picklesimer said families are moving to Chelsea because they want the convenience of being close to the jobs and opportunities in Birmingham, but they also want a smaller, more country area in which to spend their free time and raise their kids.

People want to enjoy this country lifestyle that we have but have access to major shopping such as the Summit. Any restaurant in the world you think of is on 280, he said.

As the population has grown, so has the demand on city services. Chelsea recently had to add a fire station and began charging a membership fee for the city community center. Chelsea also adopted an overlay district, which sets requirements on the type of building materials allowed for new structures. Chelsea officials worked with the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham on the project.

These decisions havent been popular with all residents, but Picklesimer is confident hes making decisions that are best for the people of Chelsea.

We want to manage our growth. When I make decisions like the overlay district, I'm not doing it to penalize people. I'm doing it to protect the people that are already here, Picklesimer said.

Protecting residents and Chelseas family-friendly country lifestyle is his goal. That means prioritizing the development of single-family homes instead of the development of apartments.

More than 92 percent of Chelsea residents own the home they live in, according to Census data. The median value of these homes is around $220,000.

Nine out of every 10 homes in our city are owned and not rented, so there's a sense of community here, he said.

Chelseas housing growth is just part of the fast-growing housing market in Shelby County.

Housing estimates show more than 1,700 lots will be added to Calera by 2025. Hoover comes in second with an estimated 889 lots being added. Chelsea and Pelham are expected to add about 700 lots each.

While Chelsea has grocery stores, restaurants and businesses, its still a bedroom community, meaning residents commute to outside cities for work. The average commute time for Chelsea residents is 30.1 minutes, according to census data.

We also have our own essentials here. We have our own Walmart Supercenter. We have our own Publix. We have our own Winn Dixie. We have 30 or so restaurants here. Weve got all the things for the daily business here, but we have access just across the mountain to anything you might need, Picklesimer said.

With the citys dependence on sales taxes, Picklesimer said hes hoping to attract more jobs to Chelsea, which will increase the citys daytime population and sales tax revenue.

My focus now is to try to bring jobs to Chelsea. But we don't want smokestacks, Picklesimer said. He wants to attract companies and light manufacturing to the business park in hopes of increasing the citys daytime population, and therefore, the citys sales tax revenue.

Chelsea doesnt have a property tax, so the citys budget depends heavily on sales taxes. As the city grows, so does the demand for revenue.

In January, the city approved an incentive for a chemical company, Therachem, to open a lab in Chelsea. The company mixes chemicals to be used in medicines. Itll be the first company in the citys new Foothills Business Park, which is in the early stages of construction.

Now, the city is working with the RPC to create a long-term master plan for the city.

The RPC cant force a city to abide by the plan, it only provides suggestions and recommendations for the city, said Lindsay Puckett, principal planner for the RPC.

The RPC helps cities secure federal funding and conducts various studies to inform its planning recommendations. Puckett said most of these cities are looking to increase their tax revenue, like Chelsea, and protect or improve the quality of life.

The city of Homewood, which borders Birmingham to the south, exemplifies an equally successful area, but with challenges on a larger scale.

Discussions as a long as five years ago began about how to ensure coming development is smart and keeps the feel of its downtown business scene. Currently, there are 13 different zones in the citys 1.25 square mile downtown area. The city wants to reduce it to three: Low-Intensity (LI), Medium-Intensity (MI) and High Intensity (HI).

Changing the ordinance will make zoning easier to enforce and allow the city to protect its downtown and small business owners, said city councilor Jennifer Andress, who represents Ward 5, Place 1.

The plans have been much discussed in the community, and Andress fears the reasoning behind the rules get lost in some of the discussion.

We understand the value of what we have, Andress said. We cant have a big developer come in and wipe a whole block out. We love our local businesses and want them to remain.

The new zones will allow the city to further restrict the height of buildings. The current zoning ordinance allows for buildings with up to 11 stories, she said.

The Aloft hotel, which is part of SoHo square would still be in compliance with the five-story rule. The new four-star Curio Hotel will also be compliant with the new zoning.

The Curio is expected to open this fall with accompanying retail space. It is expected to generate millions after $10 million in incentives from Homewood is paid over 20 years. It is the kind of development that is necessary in a largely landlocked Homewood where the median value of a home is around $330,000. About 62 percent of Homewood residents own their home.

The Curio Hotel by Hilton is under construction in Homewood. It is expected to open in Fall 2020. This image captured on Jan. 15, 2020. (Anna Beahm | abeahm@al.com).

Andress said another goal of the zoning changes is to protect existing businesses on 18th Street and 29th Avenue. Residents and business owners have been vocal about protecting the area from being bought by a large developer, which could drive out small business owners.

We love it. Its interesting and funky and historic. We want to do all we can to make sure it remains as it is, Andress said. Were trying to control development. We dont want to overdevelop.

Andress said the new zoning would also support residents desire for downtown to be more friendly to bike and foot traffic. She envisions downtown Homewood as a place where residents could park and safely walk or bike to any shop or restaurant in downtown.

The zoning plans for downtown Homewood are not final. A public hearing before the city planning commission is at 6 p.m. tonight in the city council chambers. The council plans to hold a public meeting March 9. Meeting details and more about the plan is here: Heart of Homewood plan.

Are you concerned about growth and development in your community? Let us know about it through this link or through the form below:
Parliament refused to send Zelenskys bill on his right to appoint NABU, SIB heads to improvement

Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine The Verkhovna Rada

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine refused to submit for improvement the draft amendment to Basic law #1014 on authorities of the president to create independent regulatory bodies and appoint heads of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and State Investigation Bureau (SIB). 214 MPs supported the decision as 112 Ukraine reported.

According to the proposed amendment of Article 106 of the Constitution, the president creates the NABU and appoints and dismisses the heads of NABU and SIB in the order established by the law.

Moreover, it is offered to provide the leader of the country with the authorities to create independent regulatory bodies, which hold the public regulation, monitoring, and control over the activity on management in particular spheres, appoint and dismiss their members in the order established by the law.

Article 106 of the Constitution contains the list of authorities of the president of Ukraine.

At the same time, the law on NABU provides that the Head of the Bureau is appointed by the president from the candidates selected by the competition commission. The Verkhovna Rada may dismiss the head on the submission of at least 150 MPs with the presence of one of the conditions.

The SIB law provides that the Head of the Bureau is appointed by the president on the submission of the premiere, according to the submission of the competition commission.

The Constitutional Court recognized this bill as unconstitutional.
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The soaring number of workers who are either jobless or under-employedstruggling to get more workespecially in outer working-class suburbs and regional areas, is driving down wage levels and fuelling seething unrest in Australia.

In parts of the country, such as the Shoalhaven region, south of Sydney, Mandurah, south of Perth, and western Brisbane, the official underutilisation rate has risen sharply over the past six years to near 18 percent. This is more than three times the official national unemployment rate of 5.1 percent.

This rate was registered before the ongoing bushfire disaster devastated lives, homes and businesses, and travel bans imposed to try to curb the coronavirus epidemic further crippled tourism-related industries.

While the share market hit record high levels earlier this month, reflecting the vast accumulation of wealth in the hands of the financial elite, that enrichment is taking place at the expense of the working class. That is especially so for the young people and other workers pushed into the ruthless and insecure gig economy of casualised, temporary and part-time employment.

Regional figures, compiled by the federal Parliamentary Library based on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), provide a clearer picture of the mounting pressure on low-paid workers who cannot get the hours they want, and need, but who do not show up in the ABSs official unemployment figures.

The ABS defines underutilisation as those who are unemployed, under-employed or marginally attached to the labour force. Someone who works only one hour a week is not counted in its unemployment rate but would be considered under-employed and therefore appear in the underutilisation rate.

The analysis showed that ABS national underutilisation rate rose to 13.8 percent in October owing to an increase in under-employment to 8.5 percent from 8.3 percent. But the figures varied markedly by region, with the highest levels and steepest growth in outer suburbs and regional centres, where there are large concentrations of working-class households.

Even before the bushfire calamity hit the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven regions of New South Wales (NSW), the underutilisation rate in those areas was 18 percent.

In Western Australia, the unemployment and under-employment rate had gone from 11.5 percent to 17.5 percent in southwest Perth since 2013 and 12.2 percent to 18.1 percent in Mandurah, an outlying southern suburb.

In Queensland, the proportion of unemployed and under-employed workers had swollen over six years to 16.2 percent from 11.4 percent in west Brisbane and to 14.8 percent from 6.9 percent in the Darling Downs, further to the west.

The underutilisation hit 16.1 percent in southeast Melbourne, 18.1 percent in the mid-north-coast of NSW, 15.5 percent further north in and around Coffs Harbour and Grafton, 15.5 percent on the Gold Coast, and 18.6 percent in the northern area of Moreton Bay near Brisbane.

Corporate and academic economists told Nine Media outlets that the underutlisation rates, among the highest in the world, were a major factor in driving down wages, which have stagnated or fallen in Australia since the global financial crisis of 2008-09.

AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said the underutilisation rate was now a chronic problem, higher than in other developed economies and twice the rate of the United States.

It has been trending up this year and has been high for a while now, since the global financial crisis, Oliver said. Its indicative of a greater level of hardship for some workers.

Far from Australian capitalism being isolated from the global processes driving the staggering growth of social inequality, it is one of the most exposed economies in the worldlargely because of its high dependence on mineral exports to Asiaas corporations scour the planet for cheaper resources and sources of labour.

Last week, Prime Minister Scott Morrisons Liberal-National government hailed a drop in the ABS jobless rate from 5.2 percent to 5.1 percent in December. Yet full-time employment fell by 300 to 8,834,700, while part-time employment increased by 29,200 to 4,146,900, continuing the long-term trend. A wave of retrenchments by retail chains that have gone into liquidation since late 2019 has taken place since.

The ABS underutilisation statistics analysed by the Parliamentary Library understate the situation. The latest data from the privately-run Roy Morgan monthly employment surveys showed that in December more than 1.2 million Australian workers were unemployed (8.7 percent of the workforce), with an additional 1.38 million (9.9 percent of the workforce) under-employed. That amounted to a national underutilisation toll of over 2.5 million workers, or 18.6 percent, which was up 118,000 workers during 2019.

This too may be an underestimate. The biennial ABS survey, the Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation, last released in late 2017, produced a higher figure of 2.7 million people who would like a job or to work more hoursincluding 1.1 million who wanted a job but were not classified as being currently in the Labour Force.

This reality is producing a sea change in sentiment about the future under the capitalist profit system. A Roy Morgan survey last December showed that a record low 12 percent of people thought 2020 would be better than 2019. That was down precipitously by 23 percentage points from a year earlier. Two-fifths (40 percent) thought 2020 would be worse than 2019. The net negative rating of 28 percentage points was the largest negative gap in the surveys history, going back nearly 40 years.

The Parliamentary Library analysis was requested by the Labor Partys spokeswoman on innovation and the future of work, Clare ONeil. Today, almost a third of all Australian workers are part-time, she said in a speech last year. And, for the first time ever we are working in an economy where we have on-demand work through companies like Uber or Airtasker.

But the Labor Party is pledged to assist big business to intensify the gig economy in order to boost corporate profits and investment. Last November, in his first major speech since being installed as Labor leader following its devastating May 2019 federal election defeat, Anthony Albanese vowed that his party would be first and foremost in the business of creating wealth.

Albaneses vision speech to a corporate audience specifically pledged a Labor government would ensure that businesses thrive and flourish, including by restructuring the industrial relations system to produce a 21st century workforce that would need to be as flexible as the gig economy jobs that workers would fill.

Albanese depicted the gig economy as a fait accompli, glossing over the role of governments, both Labor and Coalition, aided by the trade unions, in imposing it. In fact, he vowed to emulate the Hawke and Keating Labor governments of 1983 to 1996, which worked with the unions to smash up workers jobs and conditions in the quest to make Australian capitalism globally competitive.

The commitment by the entire political establishment to intensify the decades-long imposition of the requirements of the ruling class is generating explosive political disaffection, that has already seen levels of public trust in the political system fall to historic lows.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Australia had almost 8500 opioid-related deaths in six years as pharmaceutical companies with links to the US drug crisis spent millions of dollars aggressively marketing powerful painkillers to doctors. New data from the National Coronial Information System and obtained by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald shows that opioid-related deaths skyrocketed between 2010 to 2016 (the last year nationally consistent court records were available) fuelled by some of the strongest narcotics on the market. In 2016 opioids killed more people than the road toll. Of the 8421 fatalities over that period, 1881 involved oxycodone, an addictive painkiller trading under brand names like OxyContin or OxyNorm; while a further 757 involved fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to 100 times more powerful than morphine. The rise of opioids in Australia has seen deaths double in a decade, opioid dispensing rates increase 15-fold since the 1990s and some people becoming addicted via prescriptions from GPs before "doctor shopping" for more. Some even turn to the dark web to find fentanyl or forge scripts for drugs such as OxyContin. Governments and regulators have reacted slowly to the crisis despite years of warnings from coroners, families and the medical profession.

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Its obscene, said Central Coast mother Deb Ware. Her son Sam developed a devastating addiction after he was given a packet of Panadeine Forte at 18, following a wisdom tooth extraction in 2015. The pills contain the opioid codeine. Families are being torn apart. Whats it going to take for our leaders to step in - and step up? Deb Ware, whose son Sam became addicted to opioids after having his wisdom teeth extracted as a teenager. Credit:Wolter Peeters Pharmaceutical opioids such as OxyContin, Endone and Tramadol are often prescribed by GPs to ease chronic pain, and people with severe conditions say they genuinely need them to get by. But they are also addictive, commonly misused, and potentially deadly. Australia now has the eighth-highest per-capita opioid consumption in the world. Out of 167 countries and territories it's ahead of New Zealand and the UK but still well behind the United States, where opioids have claimed an estimated 400,000 lives since 1999 and prompted serious political and legal backlash. However documents reveal that at the same time as opioid abuse was rising in Australia, drug companies were going to great lengths to promote their products using similar tactics as pharma giants in the US. One of those companies, Mundipharma Australia - an affiliate of US-based OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma - spent millions of dollars to fund and sponsor thousands of medical conferences, dinners and training seminars, according to transparency reports filed between 2011 and 2015.

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Among them was a $66,000 conference in Italy for the International Association for the Study of Pain where Australian and New Zealand delegates were wined and dined in Milan; an $8200 product launch meeting for pharmacists over drinks and canapes in NSW; and an all expenses paid pain master class weekend for GPs at Brisbanes Stamford Plaza, costing $128,000. Mundipharma says it "has always been firmly committed to strict compliance" with relevant codes, laws and federal regulations governing the way drug companies can promote their products in Australia. Documents also show that other producers of opioid-based drugs have also spent millions of dollars on educational and promotional activities over the same period, including Sanofi, Pfizer and Janssen Global Services. Responsibility now sits with the states and territories. A spokesman for Federal health minister Greg Hunt "Mundipharma is committed to providing the highest standard of accredited educational programs and quality resources for healthcare professionals, in response to their educational needs and in line with ensuring safe and appropriate prescribing of opioid-based treatments," a spokeswoman said. But the issue is sensitive because Purdue Pharma and its owners, the billionaire Sackler family, are now facing a string of lawsuits in the US by communities seeking to hold them to account for their role in the nation's opioid epidemic. Sam Ware Credit:AP Eleven members of the Sackler family sat on the inaugural board of Mundipharma Australia from 1998 - as Purdue was ramping up sales of OxyContin on the other side of the globe - until 2012. A company spokeswoman insisted, they did not have an active day-to-day role in the management of Mundipharmas business, which was led by a professional management team. The board has since changed.

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Concerns around the use and abuse of opioids have renewed pressure on the Morrison government to create a national monitoring system to stop people obtaining staggering amounts of painkillers from GPs. In theory, such a system would mean that any time a doctor or pharmacist is about to hand out opioids or other high-risk Schedule 8 medicines, they would type their patients name into the software and receive a real-time alert about any other drugs the patient had already been given by other doctors. Court records show many people are currently falling through the cracks. One Victorian man was given 58 prescriptions for 1500 OxyContin tablets and a further 29 scripts for diazepam, a dangerous benzodiazepine used for anxiety, in the months before his death from an overdose. In another case, a 33-year-old security guard ended up overdosing after being prescribed oxycodone 22 times in 15 months, which hed crush and inject for a quicker hit, along with pethidine, morphine, codeine and tramadol. Just last week, Daniel Eckersley was given a shortened sentence for murdering his wife and mother of his three children with a 120 millimetre kitchen knife during a drug-induced psychotic episode brought about by tramadol, which he had been prescribed by his doctor. The judge deemed Eckersley's drug use to be a mitigating factor that "significantly reduced" his "moral culpability". While legal painkillers are a large part of the problem, law enforcement agencies are also concerned about a rising illegal market supplied by criminal entrepreneurs obtaining pills through doctor-shopping, theft, or forging scripts. In the US, dealers have even started lacing heroin and counterfeit pills with fentanyl, resulting in an alarming new wave of overdoses by unsuspecting victims. The response to the issue remains one of prevention, to ensure the illicit market does not develop as it has in North America, a spokeswoman from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission said. Tom Ballantyne, the principal lawyer in the medical negligence department at plaintiff law firm Maurice Blackburn, said many of Australias opioid deaths could be prevented if the medical system didnt incentivise quick consultations where decisions arent properly reviewed and patients arent properly assessed.

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The issue is complex, because millions of people live with genuine chronic pain and rely on opioid based medication to cope. With an ageing population, the prevalence of painful conditions is likely to increase. But specialist services are limited, particularly in country towns. Pain medicine specialist Malcolm Hogg said GPs often lack appropriate training in pain management, which is why some drug companies provided educational programs to fill the void. Its easy to criticise the drug companies, said Professor Hogg, who has been a guest speaker at Mundipharma-sponsored events, but often theyre the ones stepping up. Health Minister Greg Hunt said the Morrison government was deeply committed to directly addressing the needless loss of life from the misuse of prescription medicines such as opioids. However three years after pledging $16 million to roll out national prescription monitoring, the government still cannot say when the project will be delivered. Mr Hunts spokesman said that the program relies on the states and territories to integrate their different software systems. Some states are more advanced than others - for instance, Victoria has its own monitoring system in place, while NSW lags behind most of the country - so it is not known when the project will become a reality. Responsibility now sits with the states and territories, the spokesman said. The Minister has written to State and Territory Health Ministers urging them to integrate their systems to the National Data Exchange as a matter of priority.

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By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Armenias former National Security Service (NSS) Chief Georgi Kutoyan was recently found dead with a gunshot wound on his head.

Although Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan initially said that the data obtained by the investigation indicate suicide, the Armenian society is skeptical about the high-profile officials sudden death.

Head of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (HCA) Vanadzor Office, human rights activist Artur Sakunts believes that Kutoyans death deprived Armenian society of another opportunity to receive detailed information about the state capture process that took place during the years of his tenure.

"It is obvious that Kutoyan was not the only one who had this information. However, it was he who worked as the Deputy Prosecutor General, Assistant to the President of Armenia, headed the NSS during the period characterized as the period of state capture. The deceased, of course, had information about the governance of state during this period, which the society is practically not aware of," Sakunts noted.

In this light, Sakunts believes its very important to understand who benefited from the Kutoyans death.

The death of Kutoyan, he added, and the preceding death of high-ranking Armenian officials is aimed at concealing larger crimes. Accordingly, behind all these killings there are forces interested in not disseminating information about these crimes.

Last autumn, under the same circumstances, the former head of the Armenian Police Hayk Harutyunyan was found dead, after which the former head of the Yerevan Police Ashot Karapetyan died in a gas explosion in Russia.

"The deaths of the key figures of the previous regime involved in serious crimes against Armenia and its citizens, aware of these crimes, can in no way be an accident. At the same time, this indicates the insufficient efforts of the current government to curb such crimes. This means that further delay of reforms in the judicial sector and relevant agencies is becoming a challenge to national security," Sakunts concluded.

Armen Ashotyan, the Deputy Chairman of Republican Party of Armenia, expressed shock at the murder of Kutoyan. This tragic incident is very strange and raises many questions, he wrote.

Alen Simonian, a senior lawmaker representing the ruling My Step bloc suggested vaguely that Kutoyans death is one of the echoes of the past which we are still hearing.

Kutoyan is the second former senior security official found shot dead in the last four months. Hayk Harutyunyan, a former chief of the Armenian police, was found dead in his country house in September. Harutyunyan reportedly had a gunshot wound to his head. Investigators suggested that he committed suicide.

A lawyer by education, Kutoyan had worked as an assistant to ex-President Serzh Sargsyan from 2011 until his appointment as Armenias NSS director in February 2016. He was sacked by newly elected Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in May 2018. Kutoyan has made no public statements since then. He also kept a low profile during his tenure.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Malviya Nagar Delhi Assembly Constituency Election Results 2020 Live Updates - Read Malviya Nagar constituency vidhan sabha chunav latest news, party, constituency, candidate name wise winner, loser, leading, trailing live updates online at Firstpost.com.

Delhi Assembly Election 2020, Malviya Nagar profile | Somnath Bharti of the Aam Aadmi Party has won the election from Malviya Nagar against the Bharatiya Janata Party's Shailender Singh with a margin of 18,144 votes.

Bharti was up against former councillor Shailendra Singh Moti of the BJP and Congress candidate Neetu Verma, a former DUSU president.

The constituency was a part of the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency.

Here is a brief profile of the constituency:

Constituency Name: Malviya Nagar

Constituency Number: 43

District Name: South Delhi

Total Electors: 1,39,987

Female Electors: 63,370

Male Electors: 76,604

Third Gender: 13

Reserved: No

Results in previous elections: The incumbent MLA is the high-profile AAP leader Somnath Bharti. He had defeated Congress leader Kiran Walia in the 2013 Assembly polls by a margin of over 11,000 votes. In the next election in 2015, he defeated his nearest BJP rival by a margin of over 16,000 votes. Prior to 2008, veteran Congressman Yoganand Shastri represented the seat for two consecutive terms.

Although the AAP government doled out freebies ahead of the polls, the voters in this constituency were unimpressed. And if their mood is anything to go by, AAPs sitting MLA Somnath Bharti is in for a tough fight this year. An explanation for this sentiment could be the fact that this constituency has some upmarket areas such as Hauz Khas, Safdarjung Enclave and Malviya Nagar. People living in these areas appreciate their MLA but are against giving away public services for free.

The voters also complain of lack of focus on infrastructural development despite the segment falling under a high-profile Parliamentary constituency. Arjun Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Humayunpur, Begum Pur, Malviya Nagar and Geetanjali Malviya Nagar are other areas that fall in this constituency.

Demographics: Once populated by refugees from Pakistan in the 1950s, Malviya Nagar is now made up of up-scale areas that share boundaries with unauthorised colonies.

Located in South district of Delhi, Malviya Nagar comes under the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. The Scheduled castes (SC) and Scheduled tribes (ST) ratio is 8.59 and 0, respectively of the total population.
Media have reported allegations of creative cheating strategies at universities across Canada, including hacking grades, bribery and breaking into offices to steal exams.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Media have reported allegations of creative cheating strategies at universities across Canada, including hacking grades, bribery and breaking into offices to steal exams.

Nursing students at Brandon University faced disciplinary action after a final exam at the end of the fall 2019 term became "compromised." A spokesperson for the university said the exam was "widely available," according to CBC.

During final exams at Simon Fraser University (SFU) this past December, police arrested a 26-year-old woman who allegedly possessed forged documents. A letter to students from SFUs registrar and vice-provost said: "We caught someone impersonating a student in order to write an exam in exchange for money," CBC reported. No charges were laid and the person was released on a promise to appear.

That was not the first time in recent years that police were called after a university suspected identity fraud during exams; other cases have included alleged exam impersonation.

Scant research

In Canada, news reports about academic cheating may be viewed as isolated, unrelated stories, or nothing as concerning as the situation in the United States last year related to the college admissions scandal. American authorities charged at least 50 people with a range of offences related to bribing university officials to cheating on entrance exams, and critics say the scandal has revealed the admissions system to be "exploitable."

Yet in Canada, when we start to consider the number of cases that continue to make the news, a picture begins to emerge that Canada is not immune to academic dishonesty. An urgent question also arises: do the reported incidents point to systemic issues at different levels of post-secondary systems that require broader or co-ordinated responses?

In 2018, a graduate student and I delved into the research literature from Canada on academic misconduct. Our findings showed that scant research has been undertaken in Canada to probe academic cheating. There is a disconcerting lack of information about the current state of academic misconduct in Canada.

The last time large-scale research results were published was in 2006, and they showed that more than 50 per cent of undergraduate students had committed some form of academic misconduct. The survey was conducted at 11 Canadian higher education institutions (10 universities and one college) between January 2002 and March 2003. Respondents included more than 14,000 undergraduate students, over 1,300 graduate students and over 1,900 faculty members. One limitation of this study was that it relied on self-reported data.

To date, research on academic misconduct in Canada has been poorly funded and as a result, remains under-researched.

Contract cheating

In our digital age, one key problem in academic integrity is students buying assignments online, or paying someone to complete academic work on their behalf  whats sometimes called contract cheating.

In Australia, a scandal occurred in 2014 when a media investigation revealed that up to 1,000 students from 16 universities purchased academic work online using a company called MyMaster. It was reported that students had paid AUD$160,000 (more than C$180,000) in fees to MyMaster in one year.

The global market for online assignment completion has since been estimated to be worth US$1 billion. In the United Kingdom, contract cheating was declared a "cheating crisis" by 2016.

To date, in Canada, there has been some news coverage about the existence of contract cheating, but little investigation of its extent. For example, in 2018, a CityTV news report discussed how post-secondary students in Toronto can buy completed assignments cheap and fast from online providers.

Scope of the problem

In my preliminary research, I estimate that more than 70,000 post-secondary students in Canada may engage in contract cheating each academic year.

This estimate is based on results from a meta-analysis that found approximately 3.5 per cent of students engage in contract cheating every year. Statistics Canada data shows post-secondary enrolments of around two million students every year, consistently from 2012 to 2017. I multiplied two million students by 3.5 per cent estimated to engage in contract cheating every year to come up with the 70,000 figure.

However, the actual scope of contract cheating isnt known. A more recent study suggests that contract cheating is on the rise, with up to 15 per cent of students worldwide engaging in the practice, which would mean the estimate for Canada may be low.

In recent research I conducted with colleagues about how college policies address contract cheating, we studied policies of 22 Ontario colleges and concluded that at these institutions exemplary policy has yet to be developed.

Degrees withdrawn

To uphold institutional integrity, universities have stripped graduates of their degrees years after conferring them. In 2017, the University of Toronto withdrew a doctoral degree from the director of the Toronto District School Board after an investigation found 67 instances of plagiarism in his 1996 thesis.

A year later, an Alberta judge ruled that the University of Calgary had the right to rescind a masters degree awarded 15 years prior when it learned a thesis included plagiarism. The incident happened years after graduation, when the degree recipient was teaching at Saint Marys University.

These cases are important, because in both instances the individuals involved went on to work in the education sector. This is problematic given that educators serve as role models for students.

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Learning from global response

In other Commonwealth countries, higher education quality assurance is monitored at the federal level. In Australia, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency oversees quality assurance. In the U.K., the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education provides oversight.

But in Canada, higher education quality assurance is largely left in the hands of provincial bodies. There are currently no large-scale initiatives underway to monitor academic integrity in Canadian higher education nationally.

Last year, a national symposium was held in Canada to address the issue of academic integrity violations, including contract cheating. It was the first time researchers, policy-makers and educators gathered to discuss how to tackle these issues on a larger scale.

As we enter a new decade, Canada must take a stronger stance on ensuring academic quality standards are upheld across the country. This includes having more opportunities for funded research to study academic integrity nationally.

Sarah Elaine Eaton is an educational leader in residence, academic integrity, and an assistant professor at the University of Calgary.

This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca.
(Reuters) - Airlines are suspending flights to China in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak. Here is the latest on their plans (in alphabetical order): AIR CANADA Air Canada said on Jan. 28 it was cancelling select flights to China

(Reuters) - Airlines are suspending flights to China in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak.

Here is the latest on their plans (in alphabetical order):

AIR CANADA

Air Canada said on Jan. 28 it was cancelling select flights to China.

AIR FRANCE

Air France said on Jan. 30 it had suspended all scheduled flights to and from mainland China until Feb. 9.

AIR INDIA

Air India said it was cancelling its Mumbai-Delhi-Shanghai flight from Jan. 31 to Feb. 14.

AIR NEW ZEALAND

Air New Zealand said on Feb. 1 it would suspend its Auckland-Shanghai service from Feb. 9 to March 29 due to travel restrictions affecting crew and a decline in forward bookings.

AIR SEOUL

South Korean budget carrier Air Seoul said on Jan. 28 it had suspended all flights to China.

AIR TANZANIA

Tanzania's state-owned carrier said it would postpone its maiden flights to China. It had planned to begin charter flights to China in February.

AMERICAN AIRLINES

American Airlines said it would cancel flights to Beijing and Shanghai starting Jan. 31, and run through March 27, though it would continue to fly to Hong Kong.

AUSTRIAN

Austrian Airlines said it was suspending flights to China until the end of February.

BRITISH AIRWAYS

BA said on Jan. 30 it had cancelled all flights to mainland China for a month.

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS <0293.HK>

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific said it would progressively reduce capacity to and from mainland China by 50% or more from Jan. 30 to the end of March.

DELTA AIR LINES

Delta Air Lines accelerated earlier announced suspensions: the last China-bound flights were due to leave on Feb. 1, and the last returning flights from China were due to leave China on Feb. 2.

EGYPTAIR

Egypt's flag carrier said on Jan. 30 it would suspend all flights to and from China starting Feb. 1.

EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES

El Al Israel Airlines said on Jan. 30 it was suspending flights to Beijing until March 25. Israel's Health Ministry said it would not allow flights from China to land at its airports.

EMIRATES/ETIHAD

The United Arab Emirates, a major international transit hub, on Monday suspended flights to and from China, except for Beijing. The UAE suspension, which state media said was until further notice, effects Dubai's Emirates, one of the world's biggest long-haul airlines, and Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES

The African carrier on Jan. 30 denied reports it had suspended all flights to China. The airline's statement contradicted its passenger call centre, which told Reuters earlier in the day that flights to China had been suspended.

FINNAIR

Finland's Finnair said on Jan. 31 it was cancelling all flights to mainland China between Feb. 6 and Feb. 29 and to Guangzhou between Feb. 5 and March 29.

HAINAN AIRLINES

China's Hainan Airlines has suspended its flights between Budapest, Hungary, and Chongqing from Feb. 7 until March 27, Budapest Airport said on its Faceook page.

IBERIA AIRLINES

Spanish airline Iberia said on Jan.29 that it was temporarily suspending all flights to Shanghai, its only mainland Chinese destination.

KENYA AIRWAYS

Kenya Airways said on Jan. 31 it had suspended all flights to China until further notice.

LION AIR

Indonesia's Lion Air Group said on Jan. 29 it would suspend all flights to China from February.

LOT POLISH AIRLINES

Polish carrier LOT said it had decided to temporarily suspend its flights to Beijing until Feb. 9.

LUFTHANSA

Germany's Lufthansa on Feb. 3 extended until Feb. 29 its suspension of flights to Beijing and Shanghai by Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines, and said it did not expect to resume flights to other Chinese cities before March 28. The airlines in the group continue to fly to Hong Kong.

OMAN AIR

National Carrier Oman Air suspended flights to China on Feb. 2.

PAKISTAN

Pakistan said on Feb. 3 it was resuming flights to and from China, three days after it suspended them.

PHILIPPINES AIRLINES

Philippine Airlines [PHL.UL] said it would cut the number of flights between Manila and China by more than 50%. It said it would continue to serve Filipinos and Chinese nationals returning from the Lunar New Year holidays.

QANTAS AIRWAYS

Australia's Qantas said on Feb. 1 it was suspending direct flights to mainland China. The Australian national carrier's direct flights from Sydney to Beijing and Sydney to Shanghai will be halted from Feb. 9 until March 29.

QATAR AIRWAYS

Qatar Airways said on Feb. 1 it would suspend flights to mainland China from Feb. 3 until further notice.

ROYAL AIR MAROC

Moroccan airline Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has temporarily suspended its direct flights to China, the company said on Jan. 30. RAM had on Jan. 16 launched a direct air route with three flights weekly between its Casablanca hub and Beijing.

RUSSIA

All Russian airlines, with the exception of national airline Aeroflot , will stop flying to China, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Jan. 31.

Moscow Sheremetyevo airport later said small Russian airline Ikar would also continue its flights between Moscow and China. Four Chinese airlines - China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Air China, China Eastern  will keep flying to Moscow. All planes arriving from China will be sent to a separate terminal in the Sheremetyevo airport, it said.

RWANDAIR

Rwandan carrier RwandAir has halted flights to and from China until further notice, the airline said on Jan. 31. The decision will be reviewed later in February, it said.

SAS

Nordic airline SAS said on Jan. 30 it had decided to suspend all flights to and from Shanghai and Beijing from Jan. 31 until Feb. 9. SAS offers 12 regular weekly connections from and to Shanghai and Beijing.

SAUDIA

The state airline of Saudi Arabia suspended flights to China on Feb. 2.

SCOOT

Singapore airline Scoot said it was suspending all flights between Singapore and China from Feb. 8, media reported.

SHANGHAI AIRLINES

Shanghai Airlines said on Jan. 31 it would suspend its Chengdu-Budapest flight between Feb. 4 and March 28 and its Xi'an-Budapest flight between Feb. 6 and March 26 according to a statement on the website of the Budapest Airport operator.

The airline's Shanghai-Budapest flight is unaffected.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES

Singapore Airlines Ltd said on Jan. 31 it would reduce capacity on some of its routes to mainland China in February.

The cuts include flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xiamen and Chongqing, some of which are flown by regional arm SilkAir. Its budget carrier Scoot is also cutting back on flights to China.

TURKISH AIRLINES

Turkey's flag carrier Turkish Airlines suspended all flights to China on Jan. 31.

Turkey's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said all flights from China would be suspended from Wednesday until the end of the month and that passengers on flights from Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia would be screened with thermal cameras.

TURKMENISTAN AIRLINES

Turkmenistan Airlines, the Central Asian nation's state carrier, said on Feb. 1 it had suspended flights to and from Beijing.

UNITED AIRLINES

Chicago-based United announced cancellations, saying its last flights out of mainland China would be Feb. 5, running through March 28.

United had previously suspended 24 U.S. flights to Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai between Feb. 1 and Feb. 8 because of a significant drop in demand.

UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC

UPS has cancelled 22 China flights, as a result of the Wuhan quarantines and normal manufacturing closures due to the Lunar New Year holiday, UPS Chief Executive David Abney said on Jan. 30. He did not specify how many flights cancellations were due to the virus.

VIETJET

Vietnam's Vietjet will suspend all flights to and from China from Feb. 1, the company said on Jan. 31.

VIETNAM AIRLINES

Vietnam Airlines will suspend its flights to destinations in China next week over coronavirus concerns, the company said Jan 31.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC

Virgin Atlantic said on Jan. 30 it would suspend its daily operations to Shanghai for two weeks from Feb. 2. It cited declining demand for flights and the safety of its customers and staff.

(Compiled by Jagoda Darlak and Tommy Lund in Gdansk; editing by Diane Craft and Mark Potter)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The government has not included AGR dues payment in the Budget 2020-21, Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty said on Monday

New Delhi: The government has not included AGR dues payment in the Budget 2020-21, Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty said on Monday.

It is pertinent to mention here that 15 entities owe the government about Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues -- Rs 92,642 crore in unpaid licence fee and another Rs 55,054 crore in outstanding spectrum usage charges.

"AGR dues payment has not been taken into account in the Budget," Chakraborty said at a post Budget event in FICCI.

Sources, meanwhile, said that past AGR or statutory dues payments have not been included as the matter is in the court. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Tata Teleservices have jointly filed a modification application in the Supreme Court seeking more time to pay their statutory dues.

They indicated that spectrum auction component may have been included in the receipts although the same could not be confirmed.

The government on Saturday increased the revenue estimate from the debt-ridden telecom sector by over two-folds to Rs 1.33 lakh crore for 2020-21. The government, in the receipt budget, has pegged a revenue collection of Rs 1,33,027.2 crore for financial year 2020-21 under communications head.

It expects a revenue of Rs 58,686.64 crore under communications head in the current fiscal year against budgeted amount of Rs 50,519.8 crore in 2019-20.

The Supreme Court, in October last year, had upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-core businesses in calculating the annual Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer.

In the case of Bharti Airtel, the liabilities add up to nearly Rs 35,586 crore, of which Rs 21,682 crore is licence fee and another Rs 13,904.01 crore is spectrum usage charge dues (not including the dues of Telenor and Tata Teleservices).

Airtel, which recently raised $3 billion through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) and convertible bonds route, is scheduled to announce its third quarter results on Tuesday.

Vodafone Idea, which is staring at unpaid statutory dues of Rs 53,038 crore, including Rs 24,729 crore of spectrum dues and Rs 28,309 crore in licence fee, has already warned of shutdown if no relief is given.

Most of the remaining liability is with state-owned BSNL/MTNL and some of the shut/bankrupt telecom companies.
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Ben Christopher | CalMatters

You might not guess it given the president's subterranean approval numbers among California voters, the more than 40 mean tweets he's issued about the state or his regular spats with Gov. Gavin Newsom. But the latest raft of numbers from the Federal Elections Commission do not lie: The top beneficiary of California-based campaign contributions in 2019 is none other than President Donald Trump.

See for yourself.

Last year Trump's reelection campaign took in almost $12.2 million in itemized contributions from California donors, more than any other candidate.

Before you revise your understanding of California politics, two caveats.

All the Democratic contenders take together actually leave Trump in the dust -- they've collected 83% of California's reported donors. Remember, the president isn't facing any significant challengers from within his own party, whereas the Democratic field is still split 11 ways.

Second, under federal election law, campaigns only have to "itemize" contributions if a particular donor has given more than $200 over the course of a year. Donations below that threshold aren't reported with name, address, and homestate attached.

Some campaigns are more reliant on these "small dollar" donors than others. Of all the money that Americans gave to the campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders, for example, 63% was unitemized. It's impossible to tell how much of that came from California.

What the new campaign finance data can tell us is where the state's "donor class" -- the most well-heeled and deeply committed contributors -- are parking their money.

And that can be instructive.

Breaking California's largesse into monthly increments tells the story of each political campaign.

See the meteoric rise and then slow and steady collapse of Sen. Kamala Harris. Or check out the Pete Buttigieg bump and the surprise breakout by Andrew Yang. Joe Biden's steady, if middling, performance in most California polls also registered in the financial figures. And from a small share of total contributions, you can watch Sanders' star ascend in the final months of the year.

Some campaigns are more dependent on California than others.

Tom Steyer, the former hedge fund manager who became a philanthropist and Democratic super-donor, pulled half of his itemized donations from the state he's called home for decades. That isn't much of a surprise given the many political connections (and political careers) he's built here.

But this number comes with a caveat too: Only 1.5% of Steyer's campaign money comes from donors. The rest -- a little over $202 million for his entire national operation -- comes from Steyer himself.

That's compared to the other billionaire in the race. If you're wondering why Michael Bloomberg is not listed in any of these graphics, it's because he isn't accepting donations from anyone other than Michael Bloomberg. Through the end of 2019, that added up to $200 million. By all accounts he's spent a lot more since then.

Tracking the campaign finance haul says as much about the state's economic and political geography as it does about the trajectory of any one campaign.

The 10 zip codes that gave the most to presidential candidates in 2019 are, no surprise, among the toniest in the state. And -- also, no surprise -- their political preferences skew away from the candidates advocating a wealth tax and the abolition of private health insurance, and toward the more moderate Buttigieg and Biden.

But candidates have gathered a wide array of donors from all across California. And their varied preferences from one zip code to the next offer an indication of the state's ideological diversity.

In the map below, each zip code is shaded based on the candidate who earned the most in that small segment of the state. But the height of the zip code represents how much money that candidate raised. (The map allows you to zoom, tilt, spin and explore the towers and valleys of California campaign cash -- for Mac users, for instance, use your Command and Control keys.)

Of 2,433 zip codes in California, Trump has raised more than any other candidate in 1,009. That isn't necessarily a measure of the president's financial might. With a few exceptions in San Diego and Orange counties, the president's financial support is geographically broad, but not especially towering in any one area.

The big donor money race, zip by zip, in 3D

The greater the total itemized contributions, the taller the zip code

Click the map to view it in a larger window. Note: We've only tested in Chrome. The interactive won't work for Safari users. (CalMatters)

Likewise in the Democratic camp, Sanders has the most dispersed financial support. The Vermont senator earned more than any other candidate in 399 zip codes -- though in none did he crack six-digits in total.

In contrast, candidates such as Buttigieg and Harris (prior to her decision to drop out in December) were able to raise millions from a smaller number of cities and neighborhoods -- mostly in and around Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

While raising money offers one (imperfect) measure of a campaign's public support and future viability, political campaigns are also in the business of spending money.

And this is how they did that in 2019:

If you've spent any time in front of a television lately, it might not surprise you to see Tom Steyer is leading in California spending. The fact that his family office is also based in San Francisco means that much of the billionaire candidate's salary expenditure has California as a destination.

Bloomberg, who announced his candidacy in late November, had already vaulted to fourth place in total annual spending in California by the end of the year.

But despite the large numbers, neither Steyer's nor Bloomberg's total in California represent a particularly large share of their total spending. That would be 9.5% and 3.5% respectively.

Instead, the candidates who are prioritizing the largest share of their campaign war chests on the nation's largest delegate prize are Tulsi Gabbard (33%), Pete Buttigieg (21%) and Andrew Yang (20%).

CalMatters originally published this story earlier today, Feb. 4.
An arrest warrant was issued on Tuesday for South Africas former president Jacob Zuma after he failed to appear at a pre-trial hearing on fraud, corruption and racketeering charges related to a 1990s arms deal.

Zumas lawyers blamed ill-health for the 77-year-olds absence, and the execution of the warrant was deferred until May 6, when the long-running case is due to resume.

It is far from the first scandal to hit Zuma, who reluctantly stepped down under pressure from his ANC party in February 2018 in the face of mounting allegations that his friends, the wealth Gupta family, had undue influence on his adminstration.

Here are five of his biggest scandals:

 Arms deal 

Corruption charges have long loomed over Zuma in relation to a multi-billion-dollar arms deal signed in 1999, when he was deputy president.

He and other officials are alleged to have accepted bribes from five European arms manufacturers to influence the choice of weaponry bought in the deal.

But the charges were shelved in 2009  the year Zuma became president.

After protracted back-and-forth court cases, in March 2018  a month after he resigned as president  national prosecutors decided Zuma was liable to face prosecution on 783 counts of corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering charges relating to the arms deal.

Zumas advisor, Schabir Shaik, was jailed for 15 years in 2005. He was released on medical parole in 2009 after Zuma became president.

The former president faces jail for the criminal charges over hundreds of payments he allegedly received, valuing a total of $270,000.

Zuma denies the charges.

 Nkandla residence upgrades 

South Africas graft watchdog in 2014 found Zuma to have benefited unduly from so-called security upgrades to his rural Nkandla residence in KwaZulu-Natal province.

The work, paid for with taxpayers money, cost $24 million and included a swimming pool  which was described as a fire-fighting facility  as well as a cattle enclosure, an amphitheatre and a visitors centre.

For two years, Zuma fought the order to repay part of the money. The scandal came to dominate his presidency, with opposition lawmakers chanting Pay back the money! every time he appeared in parliament.

In March 2016 the constitutional court ordered Zuma to pay back the cash, the judges accusing him of failing to respect and uphold the constitution.

 Guptagate 

As the Nkandla debacle built to a climax, its place in the headlines was overtaken by a new scandal, known as Guptagate.

The scandal involved the presidents allegedly corrupt relationship with a wealthy family of Indian immigrants headed by three brothers  Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta  who built a business empire in mining, media, technology and engineering.

Smouldering rumours of the familys undue influence on the president burst into the open in 2016 when evidence emerged that the Guptas had offered key government jobs to those who could help their business interests.

Former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas revealed that the Guptas had offered him a promotion shortly before Zuma sacked respected finance minister Nhlanhla Nene in December 2015.

 Rape charges and HIV myth 

Before taking office, Zuma was put on trial in 2006 for rape, in a case that dismayed many South Africans.

Zuma said the sex with the 31-year-old family friend was consensual and he was acquitted.

But he told the court he had showered to avoid contracting HIV after having unprotected sex with his HIV-positive accuser  a common but dangerous myth.

Zuma was head of the South African National AIDS Council at the time, and was pilloried for his ignorance.

Nearly a fifth of South Africans aged between 15 and 49 are HIV-positive.

 Omar al-Bashir 

Then Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was allowed to attend a meeting of the African Union in Johannesburg in 2015, despite an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in the conflict in Darfur.

The government said the fact that he was attending the summit as a head of state meant he had immunity, but the court disagreed.

Zuma faced an impeachment vote in parliament over the issue in September 2016, but ANC lawmakers voted overwhelmingly against it.
The former European Council president Donald Tusk has said that Scotland, which is already seeking to remain a part of the 27-nation-bloc, would be welcomed 'enthusiastically' if it wins independence from rest of the United Kingdom. Just days after Britain officially left the European Union on January 31, Tusk said in an interview with an international news agency that Scotland would be treated with 'empathy' and he has been feeling 'very Scottish'.

Read - Pro- And Anti-EU Rallies Near Scotland Parliament

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has indicated towards the intention of rejoining the bloc after gaining independence from the UK. However, according to international reports, her opponents have said that there is no guaranteed access to the European Union. German member of the European Parliament and European Greens co-president Ska Kellar has said that it would be 'stupid' for the EU states to veto the membership of an independent Scotland.

Tusk's comments in the interview came after a poll which revealed that the majority of Scottish people support independence which is for the first time in five years. Scotland has also been a major issue related to Britain's exit from the bloc and has witnessed multiple debates and discussions.

Tusk had also said that EU would not accept Scotland into the group until 'formalities' and treaty agreements are not adhered to. Meanwhile, media reports also suggest that the next Scottish referendum for independence might not take place in at least four years.

Read - EU Supporters In Scotland Bemoan Brexit

Most disputed aspect of Brexit

Brexit did not mark the end of the saga as the most disputed aspect of the UK being identified as the third country remains the 300-mile border will share with the Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. The Brexit issue has reportedly resulted in real divisions between the four nations that make up the UK and there are fears over the splits to become permanent.

While England and Wales voted to leave the bloc, Scotland and Northern Ireland opposed the decision. However, Johnson has assured that all four nations will be involved in the discussions that will take place during the transition period with the EU.

Read - 6N: No 8 Haining To Debut For Scotland Vs Ireland In Dublin

Read - Scotland Friends Of India Hold Rally In Favour Of CAA

(Image credits: AP)
Theres another new entry on the Portland local TV news scene, with the arrival of KOIN News AM Extra, which airs weekday mornings on KRCW-TV, also known as Portlands CW. The new program is produced by KOIN-TV, but airs on KRCW-TV, the Portland affiliate of The CW. Both KOIN and KRCW are owned by Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.

KOIN News AM Extra airs from 7 to 9 a.m. weekdays on KRCW, when KOIN, Portlands CBS affiliate, is broadcasting CBS This Morning. The new morning show debuted Monday, Feb. 3, featuring the anchor team of Ken Boddie, Jenny Hansson and Emily Burris, with Kelley Bayern handling weather, and Carly Kennelly delivering traffic updates.

Boddie, Hansson and Bayern also currently appear on KOINs 4:30 a.m., 5 a.m., 6 a.m. and noon newscasts. Burris most recently anchored weekend newscasts at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.

The KOIN News AM Extra program begins with about 20 minutes of commercial-free news, weather and traffic reports. The mix also includes recurring segments, including Mayor Monday, which on Feb. 3 featured Hansson and Burris sitting on a couch and talking with Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler. The segment will focus on interviews with local leaders, the anchors said.

Mondays initial show also featured Move It Monday, with Hansson and KOIN reporter Kohr Harlan being put through their paces by a personal trainer. Regular segments coming up include Tech Tuesday, Wallet Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday and Foodie Friday.

In September, KOIN took over producing a 10 p.m. weeknight newscast on KRCW after KGW-TV had done it for several years. The change happened after Nexstar Media Group purchased Tribune Media, which had formerly owned Portlands CW affiliate.

As a press release notes, KOIN News AM Extra will add 10 hours per week of local news content to KRCWs schedule, nearly doubling the total number of news hours delivered by the station each week to communities across Oregon and southwest Washington.

In the release, Patrick Nevin, vice president and general manager of KOIN and KRCW, says, Offering a local news alternative to viewers in the morning, at a time period predominately filled with network news, enables KRCW-TV to connect with local viewers in a new and unique way and deepens our engagement with the local community and our marketing and advertising partners."

KOIN News AM Extra airs weekday mornings from 7-9 a.m. on KRCW-TV.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
The Print, 3 January, 2020

For the first time, India is seeing secularism go from a top-down decree to a street slogan

When Gandhi talked about secularism, he was shown black flags. When Indira Gandhi amended the Constitution to add it, she was asked to clarify what she meant.

by Neeti Nair

For the first time in Indiaas history, secularism has moved from being a top-down slogan and concern voiced by political leaders and intellectuals, to becoming a battle-cry forged on the ground by citizens with much to lose because of the Narendra Modi governmentas Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens.

aHindu Muslim Sikh Isai, aapas mein hain bhai bhaia ; aInquilab Zindabada .

Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, we are all brothers; Long live the revolution.

As these slogans reverberate down Indiaas roads and gullies, and bind us to earlier moments of collective resistance, it behoves us to understand the significance of this historical moment. When was the last time India resonated with slogans celebrating fraternal ties that underscored oneas religious identity?

Adding aseculara to the Preamble

When M.K. Gandhi brought all his political acumen to the last All India Congress Committee session that he would attend, in November 1947, he was fighting against the tide of popular sentiment on the question of minority rights. Despite and because of Partition, Gandhi emphasised that:

aIndia has been and is a country with a fundamental unity and the aim of the Congress has been to develop this great country as a whole as a democratic secular State where all citizens enjoy full rights and are equally entitled to the protection of the State, irrespective of the religion to which they belong. The Constituent Assembly has accepted this as the basic principle of the Constitution. This lays on very Indian the obligation to honour it.a

Yes, Gandhi did use the word aseculara; he also spelt out that it was athe basic creed of the Congress that India is the home of Muslims no less than of Hindusa . For his insistence in prayer meeting after prayer meeting that Muslims belonged in Delhi, that they had to be brought back from refugee camps to which they had been driven by fear, violence, and arson, he was met with black flags and crowds of young men shouting aGandhi Murdabad (death to Gandhi)a . In the wake of the violence unfolding across partitioned north India, his was a voice that sometimes seemed solitary. Yet, it was what we aspired to be. That aspiration to become a country where people of every religious community might belong, with equal respect and dignity. This guided the drafters of the Indian Constitution.

Almost three decades later when Indira Gandhi moved to pass the 59-clause 42nd Constitution Amendment Bill in both houses of Parliament in 1976, her opponents accused her of not having the right to amend the Constitution. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagamas Era Sezhiyan reminded her that she had jailed several of their colleagues; that they had not had the opportunity to debate this mammoth bill; that she could not, like Hitler, be allowed to use the Constitution to subvert the Constitution. In a private letter to prime minister Morarji Desai, former Chief Justice of India, P.B. Gajendragadkar revealed that he had urged Indira Gandhi to have a anational debatea on the provisions of the bill because of their extraordinary importance. Among the 59 clauses was one seeking to alter the Preamble so as to substitute the expression aSovereign, Democratic Republica with aSovereign, Democratic, Secular, Socialist Republica . Gajendragadkar had urged Indira Gandhi to clarify what she meant by secular.

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha debates are indicative of the deep wellspring of positive sentiment, regard, and attachment that accrued to the word asecular.a Members from the Jana Sangh, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Indian Union Muslim League, the Republican Party of India, the DMK, Indira Gandhias Congress, people from every corner of India and representing a very wide range of castes, tribes, and religious communities spoke out in favour of clarifying what the executive meant by the term aseculara in order to further astrengthen and secularise the content of our democracya (a pithy phrase used by CPM member Indrajit Gupta). Whereas several of the amendments pushed forward by Indira Gandhi were overturned by the succeeding Morarji Desai government, the amendments to the Preamble remained untouched. Secularism, as an aspiration, had genuine cache and resonance at the time.

Lip service secularism

What did it mean for India to wish to be secular in 1976? This is a worthy question because at least at the level of the political elite in Parliament, there appears to have been a consensus that this was a good thing, a genuine good. Member after member rose to clarify that secularism in India was aneither anti-god nor anti-religiona a it actually meant equal respect to all religions. Therefore, several members such as Jambuwantrao Dhote of the Forward Bloc and Prakash Veer Shastri of the Jana Sangh asked law minister H.R. Gokhale not to write secular as adharm-nirapekshaa or aniddharmia when the newly amended Preamble would be translated into Hindi (it was eventually translated as apanth-nirapekshaka). While the law minister brushed aside these concerns with barely disguised impatience, the chair of the Congress Committee on Constitutional Changes Sardar Swaran Singh held that:

aaaseculara now is a word which I think has become part of our Indian languages. You may go to the Punjab, to Gujarat, even to the South; when they make speeches in their own languages they always use the word aseculara because it has assumed a definite meaning and that meaning is that there will be equality before the eye of the law in our Constitution with regard to people professing different religions. a there is no connotational element of any anti-religious feeling, but it is really respect for all religionsaa

But when parliamentarians including eminent Congresspeople such as Khurshed Alam Khan, Communists such as Bhupesh Gupta and Indrajit Gupta, members of the Republican Party such as N. H. Kumbhare spoke in favour of amendments that would provide reservations to religious minorities in employment and education, or set up a minorities commission, or provide for measures so that Scheduled Castes and Tribes who converted out of Hinduism or Sikhism were not disadvantaged, they found themselves to be very few in number. Their demands that the government define secularism and add substantive safeguards to better explain what was being intended by the addition to the Preamble were met with Congress ministersa stonewalling, gestures to trust Indira Gandhi to do what would be best for minorities, and then outvoted. The dismissal of each and every substantive amendment to the clause seeking to amend the Preamble shows the exercise of adding aseculara to it to be mere lip-sympathy towards secularism.

This is particularly important to remember at a conjuncture when the Preamble is being carefully and almost aprayerfullya enunciated by citizens across India.

Fight on the streets

To now recall that adding secular to the Preamble was an act that was not accompanied by substantive changes, the need for which was widely recognised, might still help us recover secularism as an aspiration in the present. Secularism has always carried high burdens and always fallen short; it is these demands and hopes that remained unexplored and unmet that will be our light out of an otherwise seemingly endless tunnel. The battle for a secular India will have to be fought and won by Indians, without the expectation of substantive and consistent support from the political class.

Neeti Nair is associate professor of history at the University of Virginia and Global Fellow at the Wilson Center. Views are personal.

o o o

Hindustan Times, Jan 17, 2020

Indians are reclaiming, and redefining, the idea of secularism | Opinion

What it means for Indians to be secular in everyday life has emerged with renewed vigour

Yamini Aiyar

Rather than dismissing and wishing away the assertion of religious identity, understand it as a part of Indiaas conversation with secularism and definition of its practice

They have withstood the governmentas sticks and stones, threats of arevenge vowsa and daily attempts to delegitimise and label them as atukde tukdea , anti-national, groups with vested interests, creating a afear psychosisa . For over a month now, Indiaas students, Indiaas women, and most prominently, Indiaas Muslims, have remained resilient in the face of brutal repression, armed with the Constitution, determined to reclaim their democratic rights.

One month on, what do these protests, now spread across many parts of the country, tell us about this current moment in Indiaas democracy? Are these protests no more than an inchoate and a leaderless response to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) that, in the absence of formal political organisation, will dissipate in the face of State repression? Or, do they hold out the possibility of shaping a new politics for India that restores meaning to constitutional values of secularism, equality and justice?

Writing in these pages days after Parliament passed the CAA and the protests began, I had argued that the greatest challenge for the movement against the CAA and its sinister twin, the National Register of Citizens (NRC), is that of reclaiming secularism and finding a new vocabulary through which to defend its cause. This is not an easy task. Competitive party politics has hollowed out the true value of secularism, leaving in its place an opportunistic politics of religion. Being aseculara has been reduced to a politics of religious appeasement and chasing vote banks, rather than affirming values of tolerance, equality and peaceful coexistence. Party politics has stripped secularism of its true meaning, and as a result, even committed asecularistsa have shied away from the term, preferring the language of tolerance and pluralism.

But in this last month, secularism has slowly found its way back into the public discourse as a constitutional value worth fighting for. The word itself has made regular appearances on posters, and is now integral to the grammar of the current wave of protests. It has also made its presence felt loud and clear, in the repeated chanting of the Preamble of the Constitution, which is the rallying point of the protests. But it is at the now iconic Shaheen Bagh that secularism, and the idea of what it means for Indians to practice being aseculara in everyday life, has truly emerged with renewed vigour and meaning.

On January 12, thousands gathered at Shaheen Bagh to participate in a simultaneous inter-faith prayer. Verses from the Koran and the Bible were read out alongside a kirtan and havan and reading of the Preamble. The imagery was powerful. A Muslim-dominated residential area, demonstrating to India what the practice of secularism, of tolerance, of aSarva Dharma Sambhavaa (a doctrine with Hindu origins that defined the freedom movement and the idea of secularism in modern India) means to ordinary Indians. There is a powerful video doing the rounds that I would urge all readers to watch of Muslim women (identified clearly by what they are wearing) loudly chanting aJai Sia Rama . The symbolism of this image is inescapable.

This is how India is defining secularism. Shaheen Bagh is perhaps the first moment in independent Indiaas history that the idea of secularism is being defined and given meaning by ordinary people. This is not secularism as imagined by intellectuals, lawyers, or career politicians. This is ordinary people, finding ways to articulate what secularism means to them, on Delhias streets. And in this act, secularism has not just reappeared but being ascribed a more robust meaning, one that has deep roots in everyday Indian life.

Equally important, these protests are also witnessing a visible, unabashed assertion of religious identity, or more specifically, Muslim identity, including through the now controversial chanting of aLa illaha illallaha . This religious assertion has made some supporters of the protests uncomfortable. This discomfort is misplaced. Rather than dismissing and wishing away the assertion of religious identity, it ought to be understood as part of Indiaas conversation with secularism and definition of its practice. Through the protests, Muslims are asserting their identity as Muslims and as Indians who believe in values of tolerance and harmony. This is Indiaas definition of secularism.

But does this spontaneous, protest-led reclamation of secularism hold the possibility of translating into a new politics, in the long term? Despite opposing the CAA and taking a strong stance at the state government-level , Opposition parties, particularly the Congress, have failed to seize the opportunity to generate a new discourse on secularism and democracy in to mainstream politics. This doesnat leave much hope. But as sociologist Patrick Heller reminded me in a conversation recently, we should be careful not to reduce democracy to mere party politics. Democracy begins and its practice is strengthened in the interstices of associational life. What we are witnessing today is democracy in its truest sense. It may not disrupt the status quo immediately, but it holds the promise of a better future.

Yamini Aiyar is president and chief executive, Centre for Policy Research

The views expressed are personal
NEWSALERT-PADAYATRA Karnataka Congress has decided to temporarily halt Mekedatu padayatra due to COVID concerns and in the interest of public health: Siddaramaiah.
The Eastwood Anaba Ministries will on March 11th to 13th, 2020 host some influential spiritual leaders at this years Shepherds Summit.



The summit which will be held at the National Theatre will be graced by the founder of the Word Miracle Church International, Bishop Charles Agyinasare; the General Overseer of the Global Revival Ministries, Rev. Dr. Robert Ampiah-Kwofi; Rev Kingsley Appiah-Agyei of the Trinity Baptist Church, UK and Prophet Agyemang Prempeh, Overseer of Springs of Joy Ministries International, among other well-known men of God.



Shepherds Summit is an annual event that brings pastors and church leaders together to strengthen their faith in Christ and draw closer to God.



The summit includes a variety of formats including sermons, roundtables, workshops, seminars and video presentations. Participants will also have the opportunity to network and build relationships with other pastors and church leaders, meet mentors and receive tools to help them thrive in ministry.



This years submit will be mega with lots of spiritual activities to encourage believers.



All are warmly invited.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Culture Ministry on Tuesday informed Parliament that the mercy petitions by V D Savarkar to the British are not displayed at the Cellular Jail Museum at Andaman and Nicobar as there is no record of them available with the Department of Art and Culture there.

Replying to a query on the display of the petitions by the Hindu nationalist leader, Union Culture Minister Prahlad Patel said no such record was available with the Andaman and Nicobar administration.

"As per the information received from Andaman & Nicobar (Directorate of Art and Culture), such mercy petitions are not displayed at Cellular Jail since no record is available with the Department of Art and Culture, Andaman & Nicobar Administration," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ground for the dismissal of Babak is her persona desire

Open source

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine dismissed Alyona Babak from the post of Minister for Regional Development of Ukraine. 226 MPs supported the draft decision #2767, as 112 Ukraine reported.

The ground for the dismissal of Babak is her persona desire.

"This application is written by me on personal desire because it is necessary and important at this moment. It is my personal decision. I ask not to speculate on it. What does it mean that the system puts pressure on me? The system does not put pressure on me because the system of law enforcement bodies protects me. It is not the issue," Babak said.

She noted that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenksy personally controls this whole system and due to it, the law enforcement bodies study the cases.

On January 16, the number of mass media reported about the possible resignation of Alyona Babak.

The Committee on State Governance Organization supported the resignation of Babak.

Denys Shmyhal, the Chair of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration, is the candidate for the post of Babak.

Babak started to work in the government of Oleksiy Honcharuk since the end of August 2019.

Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Roman Truba from the post of the Director of the State Investigation Bureau (SIB). Iryna Venediktova became the Acting Director of the State Investigation Bureau.
Bay of Plenty

Tired of lock down and want to get back too work? Are you looking to step up and become Supervisor? Well, my client might...



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Caucus voting began across Iowa Monday night as Democrats balanced their desire for fundamental change with their craving to defeat President Donald Trump in the opening contest of the 2020 presidential primary season.

Des Moines: Caucus voting began across Iowa Monday night as Democrats balanced their desire for fundamental change with their craving to defeat President Donald Trump in the opening contest of the 2020 presidential primary season.

Nearly a dozen White House contenders were still vying for the chance to take on Trump in November, although Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses were expected to provide some clarity for what has been a muddled nomination fight for much of the last year.

As the evening caucuses opened their doors, there were signs of major enthusiasm. Outside Iowa City's Englert Theatre, long lines stretched a block in two directions. Organizers bracing for a large turnout opened the balcony for extra seating and warned early arrivals to expect delays.

By day's end, tens of thousands of Democrats were to have gathered at community centres, high school gyms and more than 1,600 other caucus locations in the premiere of more than 50 contests that will unfold over the next five months. The caucuses were rendering the first verdict on what the party stands for in the age of Trump  and who it feels is best positioned to take on the Republican president, whom Democratic voters are desperate to beat this fall.

One unsurprising development: Trump won the Republican caucus, a largely symbolic victory given that he faced no significant opposition.

For Democrats, the moment was thick with promise for a party that has seized major gains in states since Trump won the White House in 2016. But instead of clear optimism, a cloud of uncertainty and deepening intraparty resentment hungover Monday's election as the prospect of an unclear result raised fears of a long and divisive primary fight in the months ahead.

"I'm the one who can pull our party together," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren told supporters on a telephone call before voting began, suggesting her rivals could not. They said they were the ones to bring unity.

Polls suggested that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders might have a narrow lead, but any of the top four candidates  Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, Warren and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg  could score a victory in Iowa's unpredictable and quirky caucus system as organizers prepared for a record turnout. Senator Amy Klobuchar, who represents neighbouring Minnesota, was also claiming momentum, while outsider candidates including entrepreneur Andrew Yang, billionaire activist Tom Steyer and Hawaii Rep Tulsi Gabbard could be factors.

If anybody tells you they know whos going to win, either theyve got a whisper from God or they're loony because nobody knows, said Deidre DeJear, who announced her support for Warren on Monday and was the first black woman to win a statewide primary in Iowa.

Roughly two-thirds of Iowa caucusgoers said supporting a candidate who would fundamentally change how the system in Washington works was important to their vote, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of voters who said they planned to take part in Mondays Democratic caucuses.

That compared to about a third of caucusgoers who said it was more important to support a candidate who would restore the political system to how it was before Trumps election in 2016.

Iowa Democrats reported two major issues dominating their thoughts: health care and climate change.

By midday Monday, a handful of satellite caucuses had already taken place_some thousands of miles away from Iowa. In Glasgow, Scotland, Sanders received the most support from the 19 caucus-goers who attended, while Warren came in second and Buttigieg came in third. No other candidates were viable.

In Iowa, some 200,000 voters were expected.

The four senators in the field left Iowa late Sunday to return to the US Capitol for Trump's impeachment trial but did what they could to keep their campaigns going from Washington. While Warren held her telephone town hall, Klobuchars husband and daughter appeared at a canvass launch in Des Moines.

In suburban Des Moines, Buttigieg delivered about 100 volunteers a last shot of encouragement before they stepped out into the chill to knock on doors for him around midday Monday.

We are exactly where we need to be to astonish the political world, he said, igniting cheers for the 38-year-old former midsize-city mayor, who was an asterisk a year ago and is now among the top candidates.

Meanwhile, Biden and his wife, Jill, delivered pizza Monday to a few dozen volunteers working the phones at his south Des Moines field office.

I feel good, he said as he walked in, sporting his signature aviator sunglasses.

Iowa offers just a tiny percentage of the delegates needed to win the nomination but plays an outsize role in culling primary fields. A poor showing in Iowa could cause a front-runners fundraising to slow and support in later states to dwindle, while a strong result can give a candidate much needed momentum.

The past several Democrats who won the Iowa caucuses went on to clinch the party's nomination.

The 2020 fight has played out over myriad distractions, particularly congressional Democrats' push to impeach Trump, which has often overshadowed the primary and effectively pinned several leading candidates to Washington at the pinnacle of the early campaign season.

Meanwhile, billionaire Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, is running a parallel campaign that ignores Iowa as he prepares to pounce on any perceived weaknesses in the field come March.

The amalgam of oddities, including new rules for reporting the already complicated caucus results, was building toward what could be a murky Iowa finale before the race pivots quickly to New Hampshire, which votes just eight days later.

New party rules may give more than one candidate an opportunity to claim victory in Iowa, even if they aren't the official winner.

For the first time, the Iowa Democratic Party reported three sets of results at the end of the states first-in-the-nation caucuses: a tally of caucus-goers initial candidate preference; vote totals from the final alignment after supporters of lower-ranking candidates were able to make a second choice, and the total number of State Delegate Equivalents each candidate receives.

There is no guarantee that all three will show the same winner.

The Associated Press will declare a winner based on the number of state delegates each candidate wins, which has been the traditional standard.
Police hunting for a missing 18-year-old man and his 17-year-old girlfriend after their abandoned car was found near a hiking trail believe they have found the couple's bodies.

Austin Grote and Alicia McCaskill were last seen on Saturday afternoon at a Safeway grocery store in Enumclaw, Washington. They were reported missing by family on Sunday when they didn't return.

Bodies found around 8.30am on Tuesday by police hunting for the couple are believed to be the teens.

No foul play is suspected.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO.

Austin Grote, right, and Alicia McCaskill, left, were last seen in Enumclaw, Washington

Relatives found Austin's car on Sunday more than six miles away after using a phone app to track where the young couple's phones were last on. A search team is pictured

Video courtesy Q13

Relatives found Austin's car on Sunday more than six miles away from the supermarket where they were last seen after using a phone app to track where the young couple's phones were last on.

His vehicle was parked on Mud Mountain Dam Road, north of Mount Rainier National Park, but there was no trace of the teens or their cell phones, which are now both off. The car was found in an area police say 'is hard to get lost in'.

After more than 40 deputies and search and rescue workers joined the hunt, two bodies were discovered around 9.30 am on Tuesday, February 4.

'No foul play is suspected,' Sgt. Ryan Abbott told The Courier-Herald.

It is unclear where exactly their bodies were found.

A tweet from the King's County Sheriff's Office also confirmed the discovery.

'Earlier this morning KCSO and @KCSAR located a deceased male teen and deceased female teen. It is believed to be the missing hikers from Mud Mt Dam area,' the tweet read.

'The official ID of the victims as well as cause of death will be determined by the MEs Office, there is no sign of foul play.'

The discovery was confirmed in a tweet from the King's County Sheriff's Office in Washington

Austin's, left, vehicle was parked on Mud Mountain Dam Road, north of Mount Rainier National Park, but there was no trace of the teens or their cell phones, which are now both off. The car was found in an area police say 'is hard to get lost in'. Alicia McCaskill is right

Sergeant Jason Stanley said: 'They didn't give any information to their family as to why they were here. They are not avid hikers, by any means.

'It's a hard area to get lost in. There are roads crisscrossing all over the place and some of the area is cleared cut so it's wide open, it's kind of a mystery out here.'

After the bodies were recovered, Enumclaw School District sent out an email to students and their families.

'Our EHS counselors have been meeting with students and staff to provide support during this difficult time of loss,' the district wrote, adding that Grote and McCatskill were former students.

'Thank you for working together to support each other during this difficult time.'

Police found two bodies on Tuesday morning they believe to be the missing couple

Austin's dad had issued a desperate plea to help find his son, writing on Twitter: 'Please pray. My son has been missing for 24 hours. Dozens of search and rescue searching for him and his girlfriend in wooded area. Not far from our home. Very worried.'

He added: 'Plz pray and SHARE!!! My son Austin Grote and his girl friend Alicia McCaskill have been missing for 48 hours. They were last seen in Enumclaw WA at 2:45pm Saturday Feb 1. Austin's car was found near the Mudd Mt. area just past Enumclaw. A search of the area has yielded little.'

He also shared pictures of the young couple and the search teams looking for them.

The King County Sheriff's Office tweeted: '#Missing teens,18 yr old Austin Grote his GF, 17 yr old Alicia McCaskill have been missing since Sat, Feb 1.Last seen at Safeway in Enumclaw at 2:45PM. Austin's car found off Mud Mt Dam Rd. KCSO and @KCSAR has been searching since yesterday. If you see Austin or Alicia call 911.'
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Christian Kinch today announced to the Board that he will resign as CEO of Bactiguard Holding AB (publ) after close to 16 years. The Board has appointed CFO and Deputy CEO Cecilia Edstrom as new CEO of Bactiguard and Stefan Grass (CMO) as Deputy CEO. Until a permanent CFO has been recruited, Financial manager Lina Arverud will hold the position as acting CFO.

Prior to the Board's decision, the Nomination Committee held an extraordinary meeting and decided to propose that Christian Kinch is elected new Chairman of the Board at the Annual General Meeting on April 28, 2020. The current Chairman of the Board Jan Stahlberg has announced that he will be available for re-election as a Board member. The Nomination Committee proposes Jan Stahlberg as Deputy Chairman of the Board.

Christian Kinch is one of two main shareholders of Bactiguard and has been the CEO of the company since it was founded in 2005, except for one year (2014 - 2015) when he was Chairman of the Board.

"I have been the CEO of Bactiguard for almost sixteen years. During that time, we have grown from a company with a handful of employees to a listed company with business in approx. 40 countries and nearly 200 employees, following the acquisition of Vigilenz. Everything has its time and every time has its leadership. I now feel it is time to hand over the management responsibility and focus on my role as owner," says Christian Kinch.

"Cecilia Edstrom and I have worked closely for six years and together we have developed the company both commercially and structurally and at the same time turned the profitability around. I am confident that she is the right person to assume the CEO role in the new phase that lies ahead of us. It is with great pleasure I hand over the leadership responsibility to her," Christian Kinch continues.

"I am proud and delighted to be able to lead Bactiguard into the next phase, where my experience from significantly larger companies will be useful. The focus ahead will be to continue to grow by increasing sales of our own product portfolio and developing new licensing deals, as infection prevention becomes more important for patient safety. In that perspective, the licensing deal with Zimmer Biomet and the acquisition of Vilgilenz pave the way for new opportunities and we have an exciting time ahead of us," says Cecilia Edstrom.

Cecilia Edstrom was recruited to Bactiguard ahead of the IPO in 2014 and has had several roles in the company since then, most recently as CFO and Deputy CEO. She has earlier been a member of the executive management teams of both Scania and TeliaSonera.

She started her career in corporate finance at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken and was thereafter recruited to Scania ahead of the company's IPO. At Scania, she was responsible for investor and corporate relations, business development, strategy and communication for a total of thirteen years in the company. In connection with Volkswagen's acquisition, she left Scania and became Head of Group Communications at TeliaSonera. Cecilia Edstrom was born in 1966 and holds a degree in business economics from the Stockholm School of Economics.

Cecilia Edstrom owns 243,264 B shares in Bactiguard.

Stefan Grass has extensive clinical experience as a physician and researcher, combined with senior positions in the pharmaceutical industry. In October 2019 he was appointed to a newly established, global role as Chief Medical and Technology Officer of Bactiguard.

Stefan Grass was born in 1972 and holds a medical degree from the Karolinska Institute and is specialized in anaesthesia and intensive care. He has a PhD in neurophysiology, with focus on pain from the Karolinska University Hospital and has been active at the cardiothoracic department, among others.

The Nomination Committee in Bactiguard consists of Jan Stahlberg (Chairman of the Board of Directors), Helena Borglund, appointed by KK Invest and Chairman of the Nomination Committee, Thomas von Koch, appointed by Bactiguard B.V., Mats J Andersson, appointed by Nordea Investment Funds and Per Colleen, appointed by The Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund (AP4). Together they represent 66 percent of the capital and 83,6 percent of the votes in Bactiguard.

The complete proposals of the Nomination Committee will be presented in the invitation to the Annual General Meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, 28 April 2020 at the company's headquarter in Botkyrka.

This information is information that Bactiguard Holding AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below 2020-02-04, at 22:15.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/bactiguard-holding-ab--publ-/r/christian-kinch-resigns-as-ceo-of-bactiguard-and-is-proposed-as-new-chairman-of-the-board--cecilia-e,c3027428

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/9686/3027428/1188028.pdf 200204 Christian Kinch resigns as CEO at Bactiguard and is proposed as new Chairman of the Board. Cecilia Edstrom appointed new CEO. https://news.cision.com/bactiguard-holding-ab--publ-/i/cecilia-edstrom,c2743676 Cecilia Edstrom https://news.cision.com/bactiguard-holding-ab--publ-/i/stefan-grass,c2743675 Stefan Grass

For further information, please contact:

Cecilia Edstrom, mobile: +46 722 262 328

SOURCE Bactiguard Holding AB (publ)
DES MOINES, Iowa - Democratic party officials in Iowa worked furiously Tuesday to deliver the delayed results of their first-in-the-nation caucus, as frustrated presidential candidates claimed momentum and plowed ahead in their quest for the White House.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/2/2020 (707 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden walks out of his campaign field office, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in south Des Moines, Iowa, with his granddaughter Finnegan Biden. (AP Photo/Bill Barrow)

DES MOINES, Iowa - Democratic party officials in Iowa worked furiously Tuesday to deliver the delayed results of their first-in-the-nation caucus, as frustrated presidential candidates claimed momentum and plowed ahead in their quest for the White House.

Technology problems and reporting inconsistencies kept Iowa Democratic Party officials from releasing results from Monday's caucus, the much-hyped kickoff to the 2020 primary. It was an embarrassing twist after months of promoting the contest as a chance for Democrats to find some clarity in a jumbled field with no clear front-runner.

Joy Bailey, 1, pulls on her mother Rachel's Presidential preference card during a Democratic satellite caucus at the Cedar Rapids Public Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette via AP)

Instead, caucus day ended with no winner, no official results and many fresh questions about whether Iowa can retain its coveted first status.

State party officials said final results would be released later Tuesday and offered assurances that the problem was not a result of a hack or an intrusion." Officials were conducting quality checks and verifying results, prioritizing the integrity of the results, the party said in a statement.

The statement came after tens of thousands of voters spent hours Monday night sorting through a field of nearly a dozen candidates who had spent much of the previous year fighting to win the opening contest of the 2020 campaign and, ultimately, the opportunity to take on President Donald Trump this fall.

As voters in Iowa decided on a candidate to support, AP VoteCast measured whether change in Washington or a return to the way things were was more important.;

The candidates didn't wait for the party to resolve its issues before claiming, if not victory, progress and moving on to next-up New Hampshire.

It looks like its going to be a long night, but were feeling good," former Vice-President Joe Biden said, suggesting the final results would be close.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said he had a good feeling we're going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa once results were posted. Today marks the beginning of the end for Donald Trump," he predicted.

Caucus goers check in before Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks at a caucus at Roosevelt Hight School, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

"Listen, its too close to call," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said. "The road wont be easy. But we are built for the long haul."

And Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was most certain.

So we dont know all the results, but we know by the time its all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation, he said. "By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.

Caucus goers check in before Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks at a caucus at Roosevelt Hight School, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Democrats faced the possibility that whatever numbers they ultimately released would be questioned. And beyond 2020, critics began wondering aloud whether the Iowa caucuses, a complicated set of political meetings staged in a state that is whiter and older than the Democratic Party, are a tradition whose time had past.

The party has tried to accommodate critics, this year by promising to report three different data points about voters' preferences, presumably improving transparency. But the new system created new headaches.

State party spokeswoman Mandy McClure said it had found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results," forcing officials to try to verify results with underlying data and the paper trail.

Local residents enter an Iowa Democratic caucus at Hoover High School, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Some of the trouble stemmed from issues with a new mobile app developed to report results to the party. Caucus organizers reported problems downloading the app and other glitches.

Des Moines County Democratic Chair Tom Courtney said the new app created a mess. As a result, Courtney said precinct leaders were phoning in results to the state party headquarters, which was too busy to answer their calls in some cases.

Organizers were still looking for missing results several hours after voting concluded.

Local residents wait to enter an Iowa Democratic Party caucus at Hoover High School, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Shortly before 2 a.m., the state party was making plans to dispatch people to the homes of precinct captains who hadn't reported their numbers. That's according to a state party official in the room who was not authorized to share internal discussions publicly.

Earlier in the night, Iowa Democrats across the state cast their votes, balancing a strong preference for fundamental change with an overwhelming desire to defeat Trump. At least four high-profile candidates vied for the lead in a contest that offered the opening test of who and what the party stands for in the turbulent age of Trump.

It's just the first in a primary season that will span all 50 states and several U.S. territories, ending at the partys national convention in mid-July.

Caucus goers seated in the section for Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg wait to have their first votes counted at the Knapp Center on the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

For Democrats, the moment was thick with promise for a party that has seized major gains in states since Trump won the White House in 2016. But instead of clear optimism, a growing cloud of uncertainty and intraparty resentment hung over the election as the prospect of an unclear result raised fears of a long and divisive primary fight in the months ahead.

One unsurprising development: Trump won the Republican caucus, a largely symbolic victory given that he faced no significant opposition.

The president's campaign eagerly seized on the Democrats' problems.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks to supporters at a caucus night campaign rally Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history," Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said. It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?

Pre-caucus polls suggested Sanders entered the night with a narrow lead, but any of the top four candidates  Sanders, Biden, Warren and Buttigieg  was positioned to score a victory. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who represents neighbouring Minnesota, was also claiming momentum, while outsider candidates including entrepreneur Andrew Yang, billionaire activist Tom Steyer and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard could be factors.

"We know one thing: We are punching above our weight, Klobuchar said late Monday, promising to keep fighting in New Hampshire.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks to supporters as she is accompanied by her husband John Bessler, second left, and daughter Abigail Klobuchar Bessler, left, at her caucus night campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

New voters played a significant role in shaping Iowa's election.

About one-quarter of all voters reported that they were caucusing for the first time, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of voters who said they planned to take part in Mondays Democratic caucuses. The first-timers were slightly more likely to support Sanders, Warren or Buttigieg, compared with other candidates.

At the same time, VoteCast found that roughly two-thirds of caucusgoers said supporting a candidate who would fundamentally change how the system in Washington works was important to their vote. That compared to about a third of caucusgoers who said it was more important to support a candidate who would restore the political system to how it was before Trumps election in 2016.

Not surprisingly, nearly every Iowa Democrat said the ability to beat Trump was an important quality for a presidential nominee. VoteCast found that measure outranked others as the most important quality for a nominee.

The 2020 fight has already played out over myriad distractions, particularly congressional Democrats' push to impeach Trump, which has often overshadowed the primary and effectively pinned several leading candidates to Washington at the pinnacle of the early campaign season.

Meanwhile, ultrabillionaire Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, is running a parallel campaign that ignored Iowa as he prepares to pounce on any perceived weaknesses in the field come March.

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The amalgam of oddities was building toward what could be a murky Iowa finale before the race pivoted quickly to New Hampshire, which votes next Tuesday.

For the first time, the Iowa Democratic Party planned to report three sets of results: a tally of caucus-goers initial candidate preference; vote totals from the final alignment after supporters of lower-ranking candidates were able to make a second choice; and the total number of State Delegate Equivalents each candidate receives.

There is no guarantee that all three will show the same winner when they're ultimately released.

The Associated Press will declare a winner based on the number of state delegates each candidate wins, which has been the traditional standard.

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.
ROME - Italy is not looking to leave the European Union but wants reforms that would shift the Britain-less blocs centre of gravity away from bureaucratic institutions in Brussels to elected bodies like the European Parliament, the countrys populist foreign minister said Tuesday.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio also expressed incredulity that an increasing percentage of Italians are Holocaust deniers, as indicated by a recent survey.

Di Maio, 33, a leader of the populist 5-Star Movement that has had a role in governing Italy since mid-2018, deplored the rise of anti-Semitic incidents in his country and described Holocaust deniers as an enormous problem.

His Movement, which has taken stances that lean toward the euroskeptic, became the largest force in the Italian Parliament two years ago. But since then, it slumped badly in the EU parliament election and in regional elections and opinion polls in Italy.

Asked about the potential power of populists to pull more member nations out of the EU now that the U.K. has departed, Di Maio defended the 5-Stars brand of populism.

In some way we have tried to intercept the anger of the people, he said, adding that populists havent fueled hatred.

While populist politicians fill a large swath of Italys legislature, Di Maio dismissed the idea of them creating the momentum to drag one of the European Unions founding nations out of the economic bloc. Italy also is one of the EU countries that use the euro as the official currency.

There is no risk of an Italexit because theres no (political) group in Parliament that has dangled that possibility, he said.

But Di Maio said that reforms could revitalize the bloc. Reform of the institutions should shift the centre of gravity on those who are directly elected by the people, that is, the European Parliament, as compared to the European Commission and Council.

The 33-year-old Di Maio was one of two deputy premiers in an all-populist Italian government led by Premier Giuseppe Conte. The other was Matteo Salvini, whose right-wing, anti-immigration League consistently ranks in opinion polls as Italys most popular party.

In a botched move to trigger an early election, Salvini pulled the League out of the coalition and collapsed Contes government. Conte formed another government five months ago that kept the 5-Star Movement as the senior coalition partner but replaced the League with centre-left Democrats.

Lately, though, infighting has plagued Di Maios 5-Stars, and he recently stepped aside as the Movements political leader while concentrating on his foreign ministry post.

Last week, a survey by the Italian think-tank Eurispes last week showed 15.6% of respondents saying they dont believe the Holocaust happened, a steep jump from the 2.7% who held that view in 2004.

Di Maio said: I struggle to truly imagine a person who denies the Holocaust but among his many defects must be total ignorance.

The minister called for heavy government education spending in schools as the only antidote to this great problem.

Before the 5-Stars became a power broker in national Italian politics, populist tirades by its co-founder, comic Beppe Grillo, were largely viewed as a benign outlet for disgruntled voters.

But when the Movement emerged in 2013 as kingmaker in the formation of a Italian government, Grillos history of anti-Semitic statements raised concerns outside Italy, including from the Anti-Defamation League.

In the interview, Di Maio sidestepped a question about possible internal scrutiny for anti-Semitic elements among the 5-Stars.

Anti-Semitism monitoring groups in Italy have noticed a sharp uptick in incidents. Last month, when ceremonies in Europe, Israel and elsewhere commemorated the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp operated by Nazi Germany, Italy saw a rash of incidents .

They included graffiti painted on doors of homes to indicate the people living there were Jewish families or descendants of those who fought Italian fascism after dictator Benito Mussolinis rise to power.

Humanitarian groups last week decried the Italian government extending a deal with Libya that facilitates the return of migrants to detention centres in the northern Africa country where they are at risk for rape, torture and other maltreatment.

In the AP interview, Di Maio revealed that Italy has asked Libya to modify the deal to give humanitarian groups responsibility for migrants who are intercepted by the Libyan coast guard so they wont end back up in the detention centres.

Italy, Libyas former colonial ruler, for decades boasted of strong economic and energy ties with the northern Africa county, including generally good relations with Moammar Gadhafi during the Libyan strongmans 1969-2011 rule.

But as Italy focused its relations with Libya mainly on stopping asylum-seekers from trying to reach Italian shores in human smugglers boats - an annual flow that reached into the hundreds of thousands several years ago - its geopolitical influence in that country waned.

Di Maio acknowledged that countries such as Turkey and Russia that got involved in arming or otherwise supplying Libyas warring factions have eclipsed Italy.

He also lamented the difficulties in being an influential world power for a country like his, where governments often dont last long.

Having four (foreign) ministers in 4 1/2 years, this doesnt help, Di Maio said ruefully. He has held the post since September.
A fossilised leafy branch from the early Eocene in Patagonia described in 1941 is still often cited as the oldest bamboo fossil and the main fossil evidence for a Gondwanan origin of bamboos. However, a recent examination by Dr. Peter Wilf from Pennsylvania State University revealed the real nature of Chusquea oxyphylla. The recent findings, published in the paper in the open-access journal Phytokeys, show that it is actually a conifer.

The corrected identification is significant because the fossil in question was the only bamboo macrofossil still considered from the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana. The oldest microfossil evidence for bamboo in the Northern Hemisphere belongs to the Middle Eocene, while other South American fossils are not older than Pliocene.

Over the last decades, some authors have doubted whether the Patagonian fossil was really a bamboo or even a grass species at all. But despite its general significance, modern-day re-examinations of the original specimen were never published. Most scientists referring to it had a chance to study only a photograph found in the original publication from 1941 by the famous Argentine botanists Joaquin Frenguelli and Lorenzo Parodi.

In his recent study of the holotype specimen at Museo de La Plata, Argentina, Dr. Peter Wilf revealed that the fossil does not resemble members of the Chusquea genus or any other bamboo.

"There is no evidence of bamboo-type nodes, sheaths or ligules. Areas that may resemble any bamboo features consist only of the broken departure points of leaf bases diverging from the twig. The decurrent, extensively clasping leaves are quite unlike the characteristically pseudopetiolate leaves of bamboos, and the heterofacially twisted free-leaf bases do not occur in any bamboo or grass," wrote Dr. Wilf.

Instead, Wilf linked the holotype to the recently described fossils of the conifer genus Retrophyllum from the same fossil site, the prolific Laguna del Hunco fossil lake-beds in Chubut Province, Argentina. It matches precisely the distichous fossil foliage form of Retrophyllum spiralifolium, which was described based on a large set of data - a suite of 82 specimens collected from both Laguna del Hunco and the early middle Eocene Rio Pichileufu site in Rio Negro Province.

Retrophyllum is a genus of six living species of rainforest conifers. Its habitat lies in both the Neotropics and the tropical West Pacific.

The gathered evidence firmly confirms that Chusquea oxyphylla has nothing in common with bamboos. Thus, it requires renaming. Preserving the priority of the older name, Wilf combined Chusquea oxyphylla and Retrophyllum spiralifolium into Retrophyllum oxyphyllum.

The exclusion of a living New World bamboo genus from the overall floral list for Eocene Patagonia weakens the New World biogeographic signal of the late-Gondwanan vegetation of South America, which already showed much stronger links to living floras of the tropical West Pacific.

The strongest New World signal remaining in Eocene Patagonia based on well-described macrofossils comes from fossil fruits of Physalis (a genus of flowering plants including tomatillos and ground cherries), which is an entirely American genus, concludes Dr. Wilf.

###

Original source: Wilf P (2020) Eocene "Chusquea" fossil from Patagonia is a conifer, not a bamboo. PhytoKeys 139: 77-89. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.139.48717
Srinagar, Feb 4 : Expressing deep shock and grief over the death of a civilian in mortar shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir's Kupwara district, former Finance Minster Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Tuesday appealed the Centre to sanction funds for immediate construction of underground bunkers in forward areas where bunkers have not been constructed.

In a statement issued, Bukhari while echoing the concerns of former Legislators Raja Manzoor Khan and Javed Ahmad Mirchal, expressed solidarity with the bereaved family of Saleem Ahmed, a 60-year-old civilian, who was killed in the Tadd village of the Karnah sector in Kupwara district on Monday evening.

The former Legislators, while expressing sympathies to the family of another civilian who sustained injury in the incident, prayed for his early recovery. "It is unfortunate that there is no let up in shelling even during the winters, causing more worries to the civilian population living in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir," they remarked.

Referring to a Defence Ministry report indicating an increase in the incidents of ceasefire violations along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir since August 2019, Bukhari said that in view of the heightened cross-border shelling, the Centre must sanction and order speedy construction of concrete, underground bunkers for all the left out border areas in the Union Territory, especially in Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipora districts.

He said that the bunkers have been found to be an effective response to cross-LoC shelling, providing the residents a safe place to save themselves during the shelling incidents.

"The residents of border/LoC areas of Jammu and Kashmir have been the worst victims of hostilities on the India-Pakistan border and along LoC. So all of them should be treated equitably without any feel of discrimination vis-a-vis measures taken for their safety and security," said the former finance minister.

He added that amid escalated tensions between India and Pakistan, it is incumbent upon the Government of India to provide safe shelters to its citizens, especially living in the border areas.

"People living near the LoC in Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipora districts and their fellow citizens living in border areas of Jammu province live in constant fear and agony. They have no option, but to run for safe shelter. People have suffered injuries and loss of property amid intense firing and mortar shelling. The Ministry of Home Affairs in Government of India must ensure availability of sufficient funds to district administration for construction of additional bunkers in the left out areas," Bukhari demanded.

He urged the Union Home Minister to sanction the requisite funds for the construction of underground bunkers for the left out areas in Teetwal, Tanghdar, Keran in the Kupwara district, Gurez area of Bandipora district and various places in Baramulla districts.
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

Armenia flag to be permanently raised on buildings of some more institutions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit trial judge to not self-recuse

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit court case resumes

298 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Artsakh emergency service: Remains of another participant in hostilities are found

816,660 tourists visit Armenia during 11 months of 2021

US proposes to UN Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea

World oil prices dropping

Newspaper: Amnesty process suspended in Armenia indefinitely

Newspaper: Those in Karabakh are resisting Armenia authorities arbitrariness

FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

Slovak government approves defense treaty with US

US imposes sanctions on 6 North Koreans

US senators unveil bill to impose sanctions against Russia

EU wants to help Lebanon avoid economic collapse

CSTO to approve Kazakhstan peacekeepers withdrawal order

German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

Boris Johnson apologizes for attending party during lockdown

Global COVID-19 cases rise by 55% percent, deaths stable

Thailand introduces $9 tourist fee

Erdogan vows to tame Turkish inflation as scepticism grows

Turkey's Turkic world ambitions face reality check in Kazakhstan

Teacher in Baku beats student

NEWS.am daily digest: 12.01.22

Turkish FM expresses concerns to Chinese counterpart

OSCE Chairman-in-Office speaks on situation along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021

China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded

Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation

Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods

Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day

3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings

Copper rises in price

One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning

About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions

Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night

French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly

289 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Gold slightly rises in price

North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile

OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

Oil is trading without a single dynamic

US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee

MOD: Armenia soldiers dead body found at midnight after Azerbaijan provocation

Newspaper: Casualties of Armenia PM Pashinyan's 'era of peace'

US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen

German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan

WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State

India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death

Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded

NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22

Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States

Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia

Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death

Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded
Photo:

My first visit to chef Vanarin Kuchs new EaDo bakery cafe took place weeks ago, but the textures I encountered there were so vivid it feels as if it were yesterday.

That first bite of Kuchs beef pho kolache told the tale: a thin crackle of shiny, deeply browned crust; a scent of star anise; the give of soft baked dough, the slight resistance of beef chunks. Finally the big surprise  a delicate, puddinglike center that turned the whole bun celestial.

Hey, even the unusual Salty Cambodian coffee drink had texture for days. Kuch calls on his Cambodian roots to change up Houstons much-loved Vietnamese coffee by adding house-cultured butter to the creamy, lightly sweetened espresso mix. Sip this rich, slightly viscous liquid all the way down, and you encounter snappy salt crystals lurking at the bottom.

Flavor: Get the best food newsletter in Houston sent directly to your inbox

Kuch, the Houston-reared son of Cambodian refugees, has had an interesting career. After serving as the opening pastry chef for Tiny Boxwoods, he competed on TV chef shows Top Chef: Just Desserts and Chopped. Hes spent time honing his skills in New York and Chicago.

Now, in the same EaDo district where his relatives have operated seafood and doughnut shops, he presides over a cool, crisp sliver of a room with an inviting long counter, midcentury-modern lounge furnishings and an Astroturfed back patio shared with neighboring businesses. The musics great  I clocked everything from James Brown to contemporary R&B the early afternoon I was there  and the light-filled surroundings make the pastry case shine.

The daily assortment of baked goods might include Kuchs buzzed-about Hot Cheeto Croissant with nacho cheese, one of those pop-culture items beloved of the Instagram set. No, I have not summoned up the courage to try it, or the Hot Cheeto Grilled Cheese, either. Go ahead and sue me.

What I did try, and admire, was a vast cinnamon roll swirled with an exceptionally savory cream cheese icing, all fluff and smoothness. And a Danish pastry studded with cherries and a lively, tart goat-cheesecake mixture. I thought the croissants and laminated pastries were on the heavy side and could use some lightening up. But the flavors and ideas were there, and I cant wait to see how Kuch develops his repertoire. He strikes me as a huge talent.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Alison Cooks review of Christine Has Blind Goat

After all, his version of a gluten-free pineapple upside-down cakelet, rimmed in patterned tiles of white chocolate, fairly sparkled with bright fruit. The days purple-potato and mushroom quiche arrived like a gorgeous mosaic slab, its consistency as trembly as just-made custard. (Our server, one of a team of exceptionally nice staff, advised us to note the jiggle.)

Even the simple green salad served with the quiche hit all the right notes. I could spend way too much time at this counter, I told the friend who had joined me.

I expect big things of this promising new spot. And I expect that very Houstonian beef pho kolache  its brittle top crust achieved with an air fryer, as I have since learned  to become a staple in my life.

Please note, if you go, that Koffeteria is cashless.

alison.cook@chron.com

twitter.com/alisoncook
Appointment

3 February 2020

Grand Hyatt Baha Mar announces the appointment of David Samuel as the director of food & beverage. In his new role, Samuel will oversee daily operations of the 1,800-room oceanfront resort's more than twenty globally inspired food and beverage outlets, which range from haute Chinese cuisine to casual Bahamian fare.

Most recently with Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa in New Mexico, Samuel increased large party dining revenue in all outlets by 50 percent during his tenure as food, beverage & event planning director. He also led his team at Park Hyatt Chicago to win a Forbes 4-star rating for the first time in over a decade while simultaneously earning a top three ranking amongst all Park Hyatt brand hotels in the world for quality of food and beverage. Under his leadership, the hotel also won The World of Fine Wine's best wine list award.

Originally from India, Samuel received his bachelor's degree in hospitality management and culinary arts at Osmania University and his associate's degree in hospitality management at International College of Hospitality Management "Cesar Ritz" before joining Hotel Trident in Chennai, India as industrial management trainee and in-flight culinary assistant (in partnership with Lufthansa and British Airways).
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has dismissed the speculations that his Tuesdays meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari was meant to discuss Amotekun, a South West security outfit.

Mr Akeredolu, who made this known to State House correspondents at the end of the closed-doors meeting with the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said he was at the villa to invite Mr Buhari for inauguration of some projects executed by his administration.

He said the state had achieved a lot in the past three years under his leadership.

The governor said he was in the presidential villa to invite Mr Buhari to inaugurate a N5 billion flyover constructed by the state government.

He said: As you all know, Ill be three years in office on February 24 and activities lined up in celebration of our third year in office include the inauguration of many of the projects which we have concluded.

And that is why I have come to see the president and to personally invite him to inaugurate our iconic flyover that we have in Ore, which Ondo State built over a federal road because we have enough carnage at that spot in Ore.

The flyover cost us over N5 billion. It is an important project to us.

He said the project was an important one that had made the people of the state happy because previous administrations in the state failed in their attempts to execute it.

When asked whether his meeting with the president touched on the much-publicised issue of the South-West security outfit code named Amotekun, he said they didnt discuss the matter at all.

President Buhari meets with Ondo State Governor RotimiAkeredolu in State House

That is probably why I had to brief you journalists because as I was coming here, I read in one of our papers that I was coming in here to discuss about Amotekun with the president. I did not discuss that with him in anyway. We didnt even mention it. He wouldnt have asked me because I was not here for that purpose.

Issue of Amotekun, is something to do with security and the vice president has come into the matter; we have held a meeting and we are having subsequent meetings on February 6.

The Governors of states in the South-West will meet with the Inspector-General of Police to sort a few things out and smoothen edges.

He dismissed speculation that he was championing Amotekun to secure a second term in office next year, saying he has done enough to endear him to the people of Ondo state.

He said: On the forthcoming election, you need to go to Ondo; I know that we have done more than enough. We are in the hearts of the people of Ondo state, we dont need Amotekun to be in the hearts of the people.

You need to go there, by the grace of God, not our calling but for what God has enabled us to do in Ondo state is there for you to see.

Satellite view of the Ore flyover bridge.

The governor renewed his earlier calls for the legalisation of the farming of marijuana, which he said has a lot of socio-economic and health values to the society.

Its not because I take it; I take CBD, thats the oil, for medical purposes. I am convinced about the use to which we can put marijuana.

I know of the fact because we had to bring in experts who have gone round and believe that the strain of marijuana that we grow in Ogbese in Ondo State is the best in the world.

So, if you have that then a government must find a way to put it into good use.

Our own is that the pathway to growing marijuana is for medical reasons, not for anybody to smoke, he added.

(NAN)
A 'cyclops' puppy has been hailed as lucky by Thai villagers after he was born with only one eye in the middle of his head.

The mutant mutt - called Kevin after the Minions cartoon character - was in a litter of two in Chachoengsao, central Thailand.

Two days after the unusual dog's birth on Sunday February 2 he appears to be fit and healthy, with his owners bottle feeding him every day.

'Cyclops' puppy Kevin has been called lucky by surprised villagers after he was born in Chachoengsao, central Thailand, on Sunday

Owner Somjai Phummaman, 45, a government worker, said he was getting dressed when he noticed his Aspin dog had given birth to two puppies on the bedroom floor.

He put them in a basket to keep warm then noticed the fascinating mutation on one of the new arrivals.

Mr Phummaman said residents who visited his home pointed out the puppy's likeness to cartoon characters the Minions, from the popular animated film.

He said: 'We are wishing that the puppy survives, even though it has a deformity. We want to keep him as a pet until he grows up.

'Everybody has been amazed by him and saying that it is lucky sign. People said that he looks like the yellow cartoon character with one eye, so we can nicknamed him after that.'

After the news spread across the village, other neighbors came to Mr Phummaman's house to see the lucky puppy, using the day he was born for their lottery numbers.

Owner Somjai Phummaman, 45, and his family are bottle feeding the unusual arrival and hope that he will survive to be an adult dog

Kevin's brother Mah was born without any deformities and the pair are seen wriggling around together in video footage

Mr Phummaman's daughter, Parn, added that all the family were delighted to have a newborn puppy with the physical abnormality.

It is still not clear if the puppy's single eye will function properly as it typically takes around two months for a dog's sight to develop fully.

She said: 'We have taken good care of the puppy so far. He cannot be breastfed the proper way, so we have to hand feed him with the milk bottle.'

Video footage shows the newborn pup snuggling up to mother Khainui and being sniffed by his brother Mah.

Villagers said the puppy's arrival was 'lucky' and used his birth date for their lottery numbers

Now two days old, Kevin is growing stronger as he's bottle fed by his doting owners

Kevin is also seen trying to wriggle around while being held by one of his owners in a green and black striped blanket.

The abnormal puppy has only one-eye in the middle of his head and a mouth with large pink lips.

Mr Phummaman added there were many friends asking him to give them the pup, but he wants to keep him to raise alongside his wife Amphan, 49.

He said: 'The puppy and mother dog Khainui are both healthy so our family will raise them by ourselves.'
WASHINGTON (AP)  Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, endorsed Joe Biden on Tuesday, calling the former vice president Democrats best bet to win the White House.

The Kennedy family has been a major force in Massachusetts politics for generations, and Caroline Kennedy's sought-after endorsement came the day that the 2020 Democratic contest landed in neighboring New Hampshire, which holds its presidential primary next week.

Kennedy, a former ambassador to Japan, announced her decision to endorse Biden in an opinion article in The Boston Globe.

We need a nominee who can compete in every state, who can bring wandering Democrats and independents back to the fold, and even attract some Republicans, Kennedy wrote. Biden at the top of the ticket is our best bet to win the White House, keep the gains we made in the House, and put the Senate in play.

Kennedy's endorsement of Biden came before there was a declared winner in Monday's Iowa Caucuses, which devolved into chaos because of technical problems with an app that was supposed to be used to report results.

Recent public opinion polls showed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with a slight edge in Iowa, but Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg were all positioned to win.

Kennedy said that President Donald Trump has been a destructive force and shredded our credibility around the world.

Biden, she wrote, would be a calming presence who could bring people together, who knows how to get things done at home and abroad, whose word we can count on, and who can nurture the next generation of leaders.

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NEW HAVEN  Mayor Justin Elicker, in his State of the City address, touted a new tone of inclusion and the appointment of talented staff, establishing affordable housing here and in the region as a major goal, while issuing a warning to bad landlords: we are coming for you.

After 34 days in office, in addition to affordable housing, he placed an emphasis on jobs, safety and quality education for city residents.

But while the report is mainly upbeat on what he expects to set in motion, he said the state of the city is precarious given underfunding and income inequality.

Given the title of his speech, Elicker remarked that most political leaders when they give State of the Nation, State of the State and State of the City speeches would answer, that the State is Strong.

But frankly, I think the answer for New Haven is much more complicated. The State of New Haven, the State of the City is unequal - income inequality in our city is extreme and must be dealt with. The State of our City is underfunded - we have extreme budget challenges that will have severe consequences in the years to come; and I believe the State of our City precarious  we are at an opportunity inflection point.

The new mayor said the solution is for everyone, political leaders, area towns, major employers and state partners to take advantage of the growth we are experiencing and harness it for the betterment of all.

Or we could work at odds, squandering this exciting moment of change in New Haven. Im optimistic that the overwhelming majority of us will work together and achieve what now seems unachievable. Accomplish what the naysayers say we cant. The State of the City is What We Choose to Make of it. Im confident that we will make the right choice, to be a part of his journey together.

Elicker was critical in his campaign against Toni Harp that the city had to face up to its large debt and underfunded pensions to keep it stable, even as it is praised by the state for attracting new businesses associated with Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital, along with major apartment growth and cultural amenities.

Elicker will have to present his proposed budget to the alders by March 1 and has been indicating that fiscal 2021 will be a tough year for New Haven.

After he delivered the address, he said there will be months to discuss the specifics of that budget and he did not offer any details on potential cuts. Elicker did say that the main issue is a lack of revenue. More than 50 percent of the citys grand list is tax exempt by state statute given the presence of universities and hospitals.

On the many positive notes, Elicker in his address to the Board of Alders said the 500 jobs associated with 101 College Street, the newest planned biotech center to be built by developer Carter Winstanley, will be part of a new program - sourceNHV - that will help bring startups to the next level. He said the city will help some 300 small business customers this year with technical assistance and boot camps.

He said it will not just be about a new building and taxes, but backing small startups from the neighborhoods as well from Yale, focusing on pathways to connect students to careers in in the bio/life sciences.

The sourceNHV approach will provide the needed ongoing support, taking a start-up from the boot-camp to sustainable levels of growth with a community conversation planned and construction of the needed lab spaced planned to start later this year.

He promised the administration will also work with the alders to connect local contractors to the $1 billion Neuroscience building at Yale New Haven Hospitals St. Raphaels campus. He said the goal is to increase by 20 percent the number of registered contractors in city programs and help workers obtain the necessary certificates to work in hospital and patient care settings.

Elicker said the Livable City Initiative will work with the surrounding neighborhood to make sure the major change is done responsibly, a project that will include revitalization of commercial districts around St. Raphaels with stores that serve the residents who live there.

On affordable housing, he said it is foundational to a successful city, and said he is committed to implementing the Housing for All Initiative that came out of the Affordable Housing Task Force appointed by the alders.

Elicker said everyone is talking about affordable housing which makes it the right time to press the issue at the state level. As part to its legislative agenda, the city will propose a regional affordable housing fund to help towns meet the 10 percent affordable housing standard that few achieve, and help subsidize units in New Haven and other cities like ours.

More than one-third of city residents spend over 50 percent of their income on housing, a number that is expected to get worse with so many market rate units coming on line. New Haven has seen a renaissance of apartment construction downtown with the latest projects moving into the neighborhoods, leaving residents worried about gentrification.

As promised in his campaign, he said the city is studying a strong inclusionary zoning ordinance that will require large developers to set aside affordable and deeply affordable housing. It has already been suggested that developers could be given the option of contributing to an affordable housing fund, rather than building these units.

On the existing housing stock in New Haven, Elicker said lets face it, so much of our rental housing is a mess, with some absentee landlords benefitting while our residents live in substandard and dangerous conditions. He thanked the good landlords, of which he said there are many.

To counter those who do not take care of their properties, he said the city will be implementing Housing Inspections 2.0 to increase inspections, expose the violator and ensure accountability.

On the lead issue, Elicker reiterated that the city is working to settle the last lawsuit brought by New Haven Legal Assistance on behalf of the estimated 300 children age six and under who have elevated blood lead levels due to flaking lead paint or lead dust.

He said the Health Department, which is in the process of hiring more inspectors, will use the latest $5.6 million in HUD funds to help landlords abate these properties. He said he will be soon submit names for appointment to the Lead Paint Advisory Committee.

On education, he praised Interim Superintendent of Schools Ilene Tracey who has brought a much needed level of calm and stability to our school system. He said Darnell Goldson the outdoing school board president put his all into the position, but with the new board president, Yesenia Rivera we have an opportunity to take things to the next level.

Elicker said the city will not only attempt to influence the state on affordable housing policy and other issues, but it plans to work with New Haven Public School Advocates to advise the Dalio Foundation to implement our vision for equitable funding.

As he promised, the mayor wants to focus on teaching the whole child - early childhood education, play-based learning, restorative practices. But he said the most important is investing in our disengaged youth, an area that was a focus of Mayor Harp, who set up several successful efforts.

Elicker delivered the speech in the same room where he deliberated with colleagues as the alder from the 10th Ward six years ago. After he gave the address, he was asked how he felt delivering his message to the board.

It was good to be back in the Board of Alders chambers in a formal way. I have been there many times since I was on the Board of Alders as a member of the public. But it was nice to be in front of every one again, he said.

As is the tradition, the new mayor was escorted to the aldermanic chambers by a contingent of alders.

Before talking about his policies in the address, he said he is establishing a new tone of transparency and openness that invites public discussion, The 51st mayor of the city said he attended 56 meetings in his first 34 days in office.

On safety issues, he said he wants to expand what it means to have community policing and will implement changes to make the city streets safer in light of the growing number of pedestrian deaths. He said the administration also made clear that police accountability is important and pointed to the state police shooting of Mubarak Soulemane after he led police on high-speed chase, following an alleged car jacking in Norwalk.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577

.
Lucknow, Feb 4 : A civil engineer has been arrested by the Lucknow police on Monday night for threatening to shoot protesters at the Clock Tower where an anti-CAA agitation is on.

The accused Shravan Sharma, 24, a resident of Thakurganj, who works with a private firm in Chinhat area, was arrested from Thakurganj area of Lucknow.

In a Facebook post on January 30, Shravan had threatened to shoot the protesters at the Clock Tower and even claimed that he had bought a pistol for the purpose.

According to police reports, Shravan Sharma, a resident of Unnao district, has completed a diploma course in civil engineering from a private institute in Sitapur.

SHO Thakurganj Pramod Kumar Mishra said Shravan had gone to a friend's home in Thakurganj from where he was arrested.

He has been booked on charges of creating hatred between two communities, and provoking breach of peace.

Additional deputy commissioner of police, west zone, Vikas Chandra Tripathi said police are probing whether Shravan had been influenced by some radical group.

The accused told the police that he was coaxed by some friends to post the inflammatory message on his Facebook page.
SEOUL, KOREA / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Korea Blockchain Week, South Korea's flagship blockchain event, has appointed the world's leading blockchain marketing agency, MarketAcross. The partnership will see MarketAcross support marketing and PR efforts in the build-up to the June 15-21 event hosted by FactBlock.

Scheduled to take place at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul, Korea Blockchain Week (KBW2020) will bring together leading speakers, influencers, thought leaders, developers and industry figureheads from across the globe. MarketAcross will support pre- and post-event promotion and media coverage, while helping to raise the profile of the prestigious event outside of South Korea.

Announcing the partnership Elad Mor, CEO of MarketAcross said: "We're delighted to be appointed as an official marketing partner for Korea Blockchain Week. It promises to be one of the most highly anticipated events of its kind in Asia, and we look forward to sharing the many highlights across crypto media in the run-up to June 15. With FactBook pulling the strings and MarketAcross supporting, I'm confident that Korea Blockchain Week 2020 will be the biggest and best event yet."

KBW 2019 saw more than 4,000 attendees gather to hear over 50 speakers including Vitalik Buterin, Adam Back, and Nick Szabo discuss key technical and ideological issues affecting the cryptosphere. At the 2020 event, other industry names will join South Korean blockchain evangelists and business leaders to discuss emerging trends and defining narratives for 2020. The week-long event will feature a series of conferences, seminars, workshops, hackathons, and networking events that will provide an opportunity for delegates to gain an insight into the future of blockchain and to meet industry experts.

South Korea is known as a hotbed of crypto adoption and innovation, with its tech-savvy government and business sector embracing blockchain to solve an array of real-world problems across multiple industries and verticals. Korea Blockchain Week 2020 is an eagerly anticipated event that will dictate the trends that shape 2020 through Asia and beyond.

About MarketAcross

MarketAcross is the blockchain industry's preeminent marketing firm, specializing in PR, SEO, content marketing, brand reputation and social promotions. Based in Tel Aviv, MarketAcross serves many of the industry's largest exchanges and blockchain projects, including Binance, Huobi, TRON and many others.

About FactBlock

FactBlock, a subsidiary of media conglomerate Financial News with over 20 years of experience in Korea, is a blockchain consulting firm focused on connecting global companies to the Korean markets, conglomerates & governments. It has been hosting events in Korea for the past 20 years such as Korea Blockchain Week, Waves Summit, ICT conference and FactBlock VIP Nights as well as global networking events and roadshows.

CONTACT

pr@marketacross.com

Elad Mor, CEO

+972-545-464-238

SOURCE: MarketAcross

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575177/Blockchain-PR-Agency-MarketAcross-Joins-Korea-Blockchain-Week-as-an-Official-Marketing-Partner
Potato growers and buyers have been warned against applying sprout suppressant chlorpropham (CIPC) at 2020 store loading.

The popular active, previously used on over 90% of the circa 3.5m tonnes of potatoes stored in Britain, has had withdrawal removed by the European Commission.

The maximum use-up period of nine months was set by the EU, with member states able to set their own date within that timeframe.

This means the last possible use-up date is 8 October  during the very early stages of potato store loading in a typical season.

This date has now been officially confirmed as the use-up date in the UK.

Dr Mike Storey, chair of the Potato Industry CIPC Stewardship Group (PICSG), said that businesses who have not been monitoring technical messages will be at risk of crops not passing inspection:

This will become an issue at the point at which the Maximum Residue Level (MRL) of CIPC allowable on potatoes for human consumption, which is currently 10 parts per million (ppm), drops to a new temporary MRL (tMRL).

We think this will happen before the 2020 harvest comes out of store, he said.

We dont yet know the tMRL rate, although AHDB has been part of a Europe-wide effort to submit data from commercial stores to inform this.

We know where we hope it will be, and it is at a level that will be achievable if youre using stores that have previously used CIPC, as long as cleaning guidelines are followed  but if you apply CIPC to crop this year it will not pass an inspection, Dr Storey added.

Some countries, including potato superpower Belgium, have taken this possibility out of the equation by bringing the use-up period forward to June.

Adrian Cunnington, Head of Crop Storage Research at AHDB, believes many growers are aware of the changes and will know that the 2019 harvest is the last that can be treated with CIPC.

He said: Most growers are on top of this situation, but we are still receiving some worrying reports that there are producers who are not fully aware of the changes and their consequences.

Any grower who applies CIPC in autumn 2020 is at high risk of being unable to sell that crop. Our message is quite simple when it comes to CIPC at 2020 store loading  if you fog them, you cant flog them.
The US on Tuesday said there is enormous potential for industry partnerships with India on state-of-the-art defence equipment and also hoped for a revival of the economy so that Delhi can spend more on the sector.

Addressing a conference ahead of a five-day Defence Exposition which begins here on Wednesday, US Ambassador Kenneth Juster urged interoperability of defence systems deployed by partner countries.

"It is critical that India moves toward systems, not just weapons, that are effective, agile, and resilient," he said.

"We believe that India must ultimately move toward systems that are interoperable with the equipment and networks of its security partners," the envoy added.

From virtually no defence sales between India and the United States in 2001, the figure today is about US$ 18 billion, Juster said.

Asked if it the US should tone down its expectation on defence sales to India now because of its lack of funds, he said, "India's own Defence budget obviously is a matter of internal choice.

But he added that one concern over the economic slowdown is that it affected a country's ability to modernise its defence capability.

"So, my first hope is that the economy is revived and growth increases, because that will also increase the money available for defence expenditure, which is very important for India as this region continues to transform," he said.

He said along the pathway to a deeper industry-to-industry relationship between India and the US "there are, of course, barriers that we must overcome".

Juster is leading the US delegation at the 11th edition of the government of India's defence exhibition which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Asked if any defence cooperation agreement was on the cards during the anticipated visit by the US President, he said Donald Trump has expressed his strong desire to come to India but the visit has not been announced yet.

"Regardless, we are hoping to announce a range of defence deals in near future. We are working on several of them, he said.

The theme of the DefExpo this year is ''Digital Transformation of Defence".

He said the "greatest value of the occasion is it provides for our companies to foster closer industry-to-industry ties in what is a key pillar of the US-India relationship".

"I have found in my travels in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere in India that the potential for industry partnership between our two countries on state-of-the-art defence equipment is enormous," he said.

US firms participating in this event are at present partnering with companies across India, including in Uttar Pradesh's Defence Corridor, to produce defence equipment "not just for our countries' militaries, but for those of partner nations," Juster said.

For example, he said, Tata has partnered with Lockheed Martin to build all C-130 tails and F-16 wings here and Boeing is collaborating with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to produce all AH-64 Apache fuselages in Hyderabad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVE ADAM SCHIFF, SAYING:

"They gave you a remedy, and they meant for you to use it."

A day after Democrats mustered every argument at their disposal to persuade senators that President Donald Trump should be convicted and removed from office, and a day before the impeachment trial is set to end, the likely result appears as foregone a conclusion as it did they day the impeachment inquiry began.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. REPUBLICAN SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL, SAYING:

"Vote to acquit the president of these charges."

The Republican-controlled Senate seems ready to acquit the 45th president of charges he abused his power and obstructed Congress.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. REPUBLICAN SENATOR LISA MURKOWSKI OF ALASKA, SAYING:

"The president's behavior was shameful and wrong."

Some members of the president's own party conceded in varying degrees that Trump engaged in misconduct.

But even a so-called moderate Republican, such as Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, said on Monday she did not believe removing an elected president in an election year was the right course of action.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. REPUBLICAN SENATOR LISA MURKOWSKI OF ALASKA, SAYING:

"The response to the president's behavior is not to disenfranchise nearly 63 million Americans and remove him from the ballot."

Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said that even if the president had committed the misconduct Democrats allege, removal was too harsh a punishment.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. REPUBLICAN SENATOR MARCO RUBIO OF FLORIDA, SAYING:

"My argument is even if everything they allege they had proven it true, it does not rise to the level of the kind of offense that you would remove a president from office."

Democrats accused Trump of trying to pressure the government of Ukraine into announcing corruption probes potentially damaging to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, and of stonewalling Congress's investigation into the alleged scheme.

Story continues

The president's attorneys argued the Democrats failed to prove their case, and that the Senate owed it to the voters to acquit the president.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL PAT CIPPOLONE, SAYING:

"We know you will put your faith in the American people. You will leave this choice to them where it belongs."

The impeachment effort was spearheaded by Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, who used his closing argument on Monday to demand Congress use an extreme measure to remove a president he called a threat to national security.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVE ADAM SCHIFF, SAYING:

"When the president tries to coerce an ally to help him cheat in our elections and then covers it up. We must say, 'enough.' Enough."

And after all the testimony and efforts to persuade one side or the other, the final vote on Wednesday could come down to cold political calculation.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. DEMOCRATIC SENATOR JOE MANCHIN, SAYING:

"I remain undecided on how I will vote."

Democratic Senators from Republican-leaning states where Trump is popular, such as Joe Manchin of West Virginia, seemed caught between their party and their hopes for reelection.

Manchin on Monday said he wanted the opportunity to vote to censure the president without voting to remove him.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. DEMOCRATIC SENATOR JOE MANCHIN OF WEST VIRGINIA, SAYING:

"His behavior cannot go unchecked by the Senate, and censure would allow a bipartisan statement condemning his unacceptable behavior in the strongest terms."

Democrat Doug Jones of Alabama was tight-lipped about how he planned to vote.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. DEMOCRATIC SENATOR DOUG JONES OF ALABAMA, SAYING:

"I'm not going to tell you."

And he offered this somewhat fatalistic take on the arguments over impeachment:

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. DEMOCRATIC SENATOR DOUG JONES OF ALABAMA, SAYING:

"Overall, I don't think that they persuaded anybody. I think votes for most people were pretty much locked in. They were persuasive, but I don't think they persuaded too many people."

A final vote to convict or acquit Trump is set for Wednesday.
[February 04, 2020] Lieff Cabraser Files California Wrongful Death Case Against Alkermes Over Vivitrol Opioid Dependence Drug

Lieff Cabraser has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against biopharmaceutical manufacturer Alkermes, Inc. on behalf of the family of California resident Clayton Stafford relating to Clayton's mandated prescription use of Vivitrol that led to a tragic and preventable opioid overdose in February 2018. The lawsuit alleges that Clayton, his parents, his rehabilitation counselors, and healthcare providers were misled into believing that Vivitrol would be an appropriate solution for the treatment of his opioid addiction, and that if defendants properly marketed and warned about the limitations of Vivitrol, Clayton would not have used the drug that led to his death. "Clayton Stafford's tragic death could have been avoided," notes Lieff Cabraser partner Fabrice N. Vincent, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Stafford family. "The well-reported defects in Vivitrol made Clayton's overdose a near-foregone conclusion, and had the Staffords received accurate information about Vivitrol's risks and effective deficiencies from Alkermes, they would never had consented to its use by Clayton." Plaintiffs bring their lawsuit for wrongful death and a survivor's action for the pain and despair suffered by Clayton and themselves as a direct and proximate result of defendants' negligent and wrongful misconduct in connection with the design, development, manufacture, testing, packaging, promotion, advertising, marketing, distribution, labeling, and sale of the naltrexone drug known as Vivitrol. Vivitrol is an injectable release-version of Alkermes' prescription drug naltrexone, marketed and sold to patients in need of drug addiction rehabilitation and therapy. The complaint alleges that defendants have known for years that naltrexone is an ineffective drug for the use treating opioid dependence; although the drug temporarily blocks the ability to feel the euphoric effects of opioid drugs, unlike longstanding and proven methods for treating addiction like methadone and buprenorphine, naltrexone does nothing to treat the patients' continued addiction and powerful opioid cravings. As the complaint notes, because Vivitrol only blocks the brain's opioid receptors without treating the brain's neds, patients' cravings for opioids remain, so patients are not weaned off their drug addiction. "At the end of a Vivitrol cycle, a patient's opioid tolerance is highly diminished, which leads to a greatly heightened chance of overdose. Further, because Vivitrol blocks the body's natural endorphins from attaching to the brain's receptors, the patient remains in a mentally deficient state and more likely to seek external drugs for relief. Because the patient's addiction is not adequately treated, the patient requires indefinite Vivitrol use to merely block the euphoric effects and keep the patient from seeking opiates. Patients therefore remain highly likely to relapse despite indefinite use of Vivitrol."



The complaint further alleges that undeterred by the lack of evidence for Vivitrol's efficacy, defendants engaged in a highly aggressive marketing campaign to raise awareness about Vivitrol and promote policies to permeate the product as widely into the marketplace as possible. This effort included significant lobbying to influence legislators, judges and government officials to incorporate Vivitrol into the criminal justice system. Defendants also engaged in a campaign to persuade addiction rehabilitation centers to use Vivitrol rather than the other more proven treatment methods. Defendants further disseminated widespread marketing to the public to encourage as many people as possible to use Vivitrol. Patients who take the older and more established methadone and buprenorphine treatments are not required to endure a tormenting process of detoxing before beginning treatment, which means they can immediately begin treatment once they receive a prescription. Unlike Vivitrol, methadone and buprenorphine enable their users to control cravings, withdrawal symptoms, and the feeling of physical dependency to opioids. For these reasons, methadone and buprenorphine have long-standing reputations as the gold-standard treatment options among the medical community for treating opioid dependence.

Indeed, as the complaint goes on to argue, in their own economic self-interest -- and despite the lack of evidence -- defendants intended to mislead the public into believing that Vivitrol was superior to methadone and buprenorphine and to stigmatize those safer and more effective methods of treatment. Meanwhile, defendants knew that Vivitrol's lack of effectiveness could have highly destructive effects on patients but failed to adequately inform the public of these dangers. "This lawsuit is brought by and on behalf of Clayton Stafford's surviving family, but the justice it seeks goes far beyond the pain and suffering of a single family," notes Lieff Cabraser partner Wendy R. Fleishman, who also represents the Staffords. "Alkermes' marketing of Vivitrol led to sales exceeding $200 million by as far back as 2016, profits that should not matter more than putting the lives of thousands upon thousands of Americans in peril due to Vivitrol's manifest dangers and defects." The complaint notes that prior to marketing Vivitrol, Alkermes had not conducted a single study comparing the effectiveness of Vivitrol to methadone or buprenorphine. In addition, no independent studies were ever conducted comparing these treatments during this time period. Despite lacking any scientific basis for promoting Vivitrol over methadone and buprenorphine, defendants engaged in a calculated campaign to mislead the policymaker community, including drug courts, legislators, and law enforcement, into believing that Vivitrol was more effective than the other treatments because it contains no opioids. The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of California in the County of Los Angeles stating claims for wrongful death, design defects, negligence, strict liability, failure to warn, and fraud and deceit, among other claims, and seeks wrongful death damages, survival damages, economic damages, and punitive damages, along with such other relief as the court may deem just and proper. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204006028/en/

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TERRELL, Texas, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Unified Power is pleased to announce Scott Orsini as our new Vice President of Business Development. Scott joins Unified Power's Business Development team after 20+ years working in the mission critical services industry. His responsibilities include the development of new accounts, growth within existing accounts, and the sale of critical power services and products.

"Scott brings a comprehensive understanding of account and project management to our team," said Robert Parrish, Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. "His years of industry experience will allow him to approach opportunities and offer the best solution with the client in mind."

Scott accepts this position after progressive growth within operations management positions, ultimately leading to an executive role. His past responsibilities have included: creating, developing, and managing national sales and service operations of electrical and mechanical infrastructures, direct engagement with strategic customers, and oversight of administrative, project, and field staff.

Before joining Unified Power, Scott was Chief Operating Officer of a leading predictive analytics company focused on providing power systems data to the telecommunications industry. Mr. Orsini also co-founded Lionheart Power Systems, a successful independent service provider with a local and national presence.

"Unified Power is a dynamic player in the business services industry whose customer-centric focus, operational, and technical standards of excellence align deeply with my professional standards," says Mr. Orsini.

The Unified Power brand began in January 2011 when On Computer Services, a national critical power service company located in Terrell, Texas, invested heavily into systems, product training, technical support, and parts logistics in order to maximize the service experience and reduce risk for its rapidly expanding group of Fortune 500 customers.

Part of Incline Investments, LLC's portfolio, the Unified Power strategy has been well-received in the marketplace, catapulting Unified Power to continued double-digit growth while maintaining a world-class service quality rating. Currently providing services to more than 5,000 customers, the company is well-capitalized and aggressively seeking to acquire additional customer-focused, critical power service companies that share the vision.

Under various brands, Unified Power has provided thousands of companies across the nation with affordable and reliable critical power services for their UPS, DC Plant, and battery systems for more than two decades.

Companies operating under the Unified Power brand include Power Protection Unlimited (Maryland), Sun Sales Company (New Mexico), UPSCO (Ohio), Power Protection Services (Texas), Critical Power USA (Maryland), 24/7 Technology (Georgia), SEPS Power (Illinois), the UPS division of LionHeart Power Systems (Illinois), and CORE Power Systems (California).

Media Contact:

Chase Hanna

Phone: 972.524.7951

Email: [email protected]

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The final round of the Washington-sponsored talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) ended on Wednesday, Al-Ahram Weekly followed the arduous road of talks

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudans foreign and irrigation ministers kicked off a scheduled two-day meeting on Tuesday under the auspices of the US Treasury and the World Bank.

The officials were in the US capital ostensibly to put the final touches to an agreement on the framework for filling and operating GERD.

This weeks meeting was preceded by a technical meeting in Khartoum on 22 January. During the two-day talks in Sudan the delegates penciled a draft agreement and followed up on negotiations that took place between the foreign and irrigation ministers of the three countries in Washington the week before.

The 13-15 January meeting in Washington was the third since negotiations started under US sponsorship. The three countries agreed the dam should be filled in stages during the rainy season in July and August, in an adaptive and cooperative manner that takes into consideration hydrological conditions and the impact of the filling on downstream reservoirs.

After nearly 10 years of negotiations this was regarded as a breakthrough.

May 2010: Nile Basin states sign the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement, aka the Entebbe Agreement. Egypt and Sudan refuse to sign, arguing the new agreement does not protect their historic share of Nile water.

The Entebbe Agreement was meant to replace the 1929 and 1959 Nile Water agreements which allocated 55.5 billion cubic metres of water to Egypt and 18.5 billion to Sudan and gave them the right to veto any projects upstream.

April 2011: Ethiopia begins construction of the Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, 20km from the Sudanese border.

May 2011: A popular diplomacy delegation visits Ethiopia and the two countries agree to resolve their differences and widen cooperation.

September 2011: Cairo and Ethiopia agree to form an international committee to study the impact of the dam on Egypt and Sudan. The committee begins its work in May 2012.

May 2013: The committee issues a report calling for more studies to assess the impact of the dam on downstream countries.

June 2013: Negotiations come to a halt following the 30 June Revolution. When President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi comes to power in June 2014, Cairo and Addis Ababa agree to resume negotiations.

August 2014: Egypt and Ethiopia agree to implement the recommendations of the 2013 report and choose two consultancy firms to conduct the required studies.

September 2014: Water ministers from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan sign an agreement to form a tripartite committee to hold regular meetings to study the dam and oversee the work of the consultancy firms.

October 2014: The tripartite committee selects a French and a Dutch consultancy firm to conduct the studies.

March 2015: Leaders of the three countries sign the Khartoum Declaration of Principles which sets out 10 principles to be adhered to. They include not causing significant damage to any of the three states and cooperating to reach a timetable for filling the dams reservoir and its operating protocols.

The declaration states the three countries should agree the guidelines for the initial filling of the dams reservoir and its operation policies in tandem with the construction of the dam. It also states the guidelines can be adjusted from time to time according to conditions.

July 2015: In the seventh round of tripartite talks, held in Khartoum, the three countries agree on the principles governing the work of the consultancy firms.

September 2015: The Dutch consultancy firm withdraws, citing concern over the absence of guarantees the work will be impartial.

December 2015: Foreign ministers from the three countries sign the Khartoum Agreement restating their commitment to the Declaration of Principles. A month later French engineering consultancies Artelia and BRL are chosen to undertake impact studies. They are expected to complete their work within a year.

May 2016: Ethiopia announces more than 60 per cent of the dam is complete.

May 2017: The French consultancy firms issue their first preliminary report.

October 2017: Egypts water minister visits the site of the dam. Cairo accepts the preliminary report. Sudan and Ethiopia express reservations.

November 2017: The 17th round of tripartite talks is held in Cairo. After disputes over the preliminary report Egypt says the talks have failed.

December 2017: Egypt suggests the World Bank becomes a party to negotiations.

January 2018: Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn pays a three-day visit to Egypt during which a number of cooperation agreements are signed. Although the visit was expected to ease tensions Desalegn rejects Egypts suggestion the World Bank become involved soon after he returns to Ethiopia. Sudan backs Addis Ababa.

January 2018: President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi meets his Ethiopian and Sudanese counterparts on the margins of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa. They agree to resume tripartite negotiations.

February 2018: Tripartite talks are postponed as unrest in Ethiopia leads to the sudden resignation of Desalegn. Abiy Ahmed is appointed to replace Desalegn in March.

April 2018: The three countries hold the first nine-party meeting attended by the ministers of irrigation and foreign affairs and the intelligence chiefs of the three states. They discuss the impact of the dam on the water shares of Egypt and Sudan. The meeting concludes without an agreement.

5 May 2018: A tripartite meeting takes place in Addis Ababa between the irrigation ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. During the meeting the three countries submit their observations on the technical report issued by French consulting firms Artelia and BRL.

15 May 2018: The three countries hold the second nine-party meeting attended by heads of intelligence, ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation in Addis Ababa. A document fixing the mechanism for organising future meetings is issued.

The document establishes a National Independent Scientific Research Study Group (NISRSG) to discuss means of enhancing the levels of understanding and cooperation among the three countries through addressing equitable and reasonable utilisation of shared water resources while taking all appropriate measures to prevent the causing of significant harm.

June 2018: Prime Minister Ahmed visits Egypt and reassures President Al-Sisi that he wants only to aid development in Ethiopia without harming the Egyptian people.

Egypts share of the River Nile will be maintained... and even increased, Ahmed tells a news conference in Cairo after talks with Al-Sisi.

August 2018: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri and General Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel visit Addis Ababa to meet Ahmed and deliver a message from President Al-Sisi.

September 2018: The NISRSG holds a meeting in which Ethiopia proposes the timetable for filling the reservoir be determined by annual studies of the floods and rainfall in each year.

The scientific group briefs irrigation ministers on the latest recommendations on the timeframe to fill the dams reservoir during a meeting held in Addis Ababa.

After the meeting Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Ati says the three countries have reiterated their commitment to continuing talks in order to reach a satisfactory agreement on the timing and method of filling the reservoir as per the Declaration of Principles.

February 2019: Al-Sisi, his Sudanese counterpart Omar Al-Bashir and Ahmed call for negotiations to be accelerated at a tripartite summit held on the sidelines of the 32nd session of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa.

June 2019: In a meeting with his Ethiopian counterpart Gedu Andargachew, Shoukri calls for negotiations to be fast-tracked.

August 2019: The Minister of Water Mohamed Abdel-Ati hands a proposal outlining Egypts vision of the filling and operation rules of the Dam to his Ethiopian counterpart Seleshi Bekele during a visit to Addis Ababa. In the proposal Egypt officially requests that the dam be filled over a period of seven years and that Ethiopia release a minimum of 40 billion cubic metres of water annually.

Bekele says the proposal will be discussed in a September meeting though other Ethiopian officials reject it as not practical.

September 2019: A ministerial tripartite meeting is held in Cairo and ends without agreement.

September 2019: During the UN General Assembly in New York President Al-Sisi calls on the international community to help Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia reach a resolution. Addressing the UN General Assembly Al-Sisi said the international community should play a constructive role in urging all parties to be flexible in negotiations in order to reach an agreement.

October 2019: The last round of ministerial tripartite talks is held in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia refuses to discuss Egyptian proposals to resolve the problematic issues of filling and operating the dam.

Egypt declares that tripartite talks with Sudan and Ethiopia have reached a deadlock and calls for international mediation to help reach a fair and balanced agreement.

23-24 October: President Al-Sisi meets Prime Minister Ahmed on the sidelines of the African-Russian summit.

October 2019: The Donald Trump administration sends an invitation to the foreign ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to meet with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and president of the World Bank Group David Malpass to discuss the dam. The meeting is scheduled for 6 November.

6 November 2019: The first Washington meeting issues a joint statement. The three foreign ministers set a timetable for meetings to resolve outstanding issues and stressed joint commitment to reach a comprehensive, cooperative, adaptive, sustainable, and mutually beneficial agreement on the filling and operation of the Renaissance Dam and to establish a clear process for fulfilling that commitment in accordance with the 2015 Declaration of Principles.

They agree to hold four rounds of negotiations and set mid-January as the deadline for reaching agreement.

November 2019: The first round of negotiations is held in Addis Ababa.

December 2019: The second and third rounds are held in Cairo and Khartoum. After the second round the three ministers head to Washington to attend the second Washington meeting and report to the US Treasury and World Bank on progress so far.

9-10 January 2020: The fourth and final round takes place in Addis Ababa. All four rounds ended without agreement.

13-15 January 2020: The three foreign ministers hold their third meeting in Washington with Mnuchin and Malpass.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 30 January, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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STAMFORDA Bridgeport man who was in the same car as another man who allegedly tried to shoot a police officer last year will avoid jail if he stays out of trouble after pleading guilty to a drug charge Monday.

Matthew Gregory Sholomicky, 30, who was with Lawrence Moore on the afternoon of July 9, 2019, on Seaton Road when Moore allegedly pulled out a semiautomatic pistol and shot at police officer Bryan Cooper several times, pleaded guilty to possession of narcotics with intent to sell Monday morning at the Stamford courthouse.

When Sholomicky returns to court April 20, Judge Bruce Hudock said he would give him a five-year suspended sentence and three years of probation. If Sholomicky violates the probation, he could be made to serve all or part of the the suspended five-year sentence.

But Hudock said Sholomicky was making it very difficult for the court to show him lenience because his drug tests show he has not been clean. Hudock also said that if he does not show up in April, he has an open felony plea that could get him as many as 15 years in jail.

Matthew is a good kid with a bad addiction problem, who is looking to get the help he needs to resolve it, defense attorney Sefton Brown said.

Police say Moore was driving Sholomickys green Toyota sedan when it pulled up to an address on Seaton Road where, unbeknownst to the pair, they were about to meet up with the Stamford Police Departments Narcotics and Organized Crime squad.

The two had arranged a drug deal at around 3 p.m. that day in a parking lot attached to a residential complex, according to police.

After the officers pulled into the parking lot, they parked nose-to-nose with Sholomickys vehicle and hopped out and rushed toward the Toyota. Thats when Moore allegedly shot through the drivers side window at officers from a close distance and continued to fire at police after the window shattered, officers said. One of the bullets was later found lodged into a nearby car.

Officer Bryan Cooper was just feet away from Moore but was able to find cover and avoid being hit by the gunfire, police said. Stamford officers did not shoot back at Moore during the incident, police said.

Once Moore was out of bullets, he laid down low in the car seat and crawled to the back of the car. Police soon found him and Sholomicky in the car and arrested them both.

The gun used in the shooting had been reported stolen from a local attorney, who has since been charged with taking too long to report that eight of his guns had been stolen by a woman he met at a strip club in Stamford.

The prosecutor on the case, Supervisory Senior Assistant States Attorney Paul Ferencek, said that inside the car police found heroin, crack cocaine, powder cocaine and fentanyl. He also said Sholomicky has a New York arrest for drug possession.

Moores public defender, Howard Ehring, said the attempted murder, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and stealing a firearm charges are still pending against his client. The case remains in the pretrial stage and Ehring said he is having discussions with prosecutors in order to find a way to resolve the case without taking it to trial.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com
CENTRAL POINT  Police are investigating the circumstances behind a Friday night shooting in southwestern Oregon that sent two people to the hospital and sparked a manhunt that lasted less than an hour before the alleged shooter took his own life.

At about 7:30 p.m. Friday, the Mail Tribune reports a woman called 911 and told dispatchers that shed been shot, according to Central Point police Capt. Dave Croft.

Central Point police found the bleeding woman, along with a man who was bleeding from an unspecified gunshot wound.

Both were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated. Police said both were conscious and able to provide information about the person who shot them.

Other witnesses told police about the suspected shooter and the vehicle he used to flee the scene.

At 8:12 p.m., police said an unidentified caller reportedly found the vehicle in Gold Hill, along with a man who was apparently beyond help from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Officers at the scene determined the dead man to be the suspect in the shooting, police said.

 The Associated Press
The Russian airforce is continuing to target the homes of civilians, while also attacking the vehicles that they are using to flee in reports Alsouria Net.

Nine civilians from one family were killed when Russian warplanes struck a bus they were using to flee the al-Rahal village in the western Aleppo countryside.

The Syrian Civil Defense said on Monday that Russian warplanes struck a bus carrying a displaced family, killing nine civilians, including four children and three women, while wounding others.

The Civil Defense added that the bus was hit in the Rahal Association area in the western Aleppo countryside.

The western and southern areas of the Aleppo countryside are experiencing an escalation by Russian warplanes, alongside attempts by Assads forces to advance on three fronts towards areas controlled by opposition factions.

According to the Civil Defense, nine civilians, including women and children, were wounded in an airstrike that targeted homes in Atarib city in the western Aleppo countryside.

The group said that four people, including a woman, were killed on Sunday, and 14 people were wounded, including four children, after heavy airstrikes and artillery shelling by Assads forces and Russia on the western, southern and northern parts of Aleppo, including Urum al-Kubra.

Meanwhile, 12 civilians, including five children and three women, were killed and nine others were wounded on Sunday when Russian and Assad regime warplanes struck villages and towns in the eastern Idleb countryside.

The Aleppo Media Center said that the Russian airstrikes hit the towns of Kafr Dael and Mansoura in the western countryside of Aleppo, in addition to the cities and towns of Saraqib, Sarmin, Ephesus, Neirab and Qaminas in the eastern countryside of Idleb and the vicinity of Jabal al-Arbaeen, south of Idleb.

Assads forces have advanced over the past two days in the south of Idleb, where they entered Maarat al-Numan and continued north to the village of Ma`radbasa, south of Saraqib, on the international Aleppo-Damascus highway.

Fighting also continued on the southwestern fronts of Aleppo, where Assads forces are trying to advance, and are facing resistance from rebel groups, especially at the Khan Toman, al-Sahafiyeen and Khalsa fronts.

With these attempts to advance, Russian warplanes are staying active, focusing on civilian areas, whether in the southern and western Aleppo countryside or the eastern and southern Idleb countryside.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
The more concerning thing is that the Democrats victory in last falls Virginia legislative elections is indeed regarded by many Republicans in Richmond as akin to the invasion of a horde intent on expropriating their way of life. Hyperbole that would have been regarded as unhinged not long ago is now the stuff of quotidian sound bites. Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, an evangelical campus with 15,000 students, said he wished his college town of Lynchburg, Va., would secede to West Virginia to escape the barbaric, totalitarian and corrupt Democratic regime in Richmond. At the time he spoke, Democrats had held power for less than three weeks.
BOSTON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Haemonetics Corporation (NYSE: HAE) announced that financial results for its third quarter fiscal 2020, which ended Dec. 28, 2019, are available on its Investor Relations website.

In addition, the Company is also posting the earnings release and results tables that will be referenced on its webcast.

Direct link to Earnings Release 3Q and YTD FY 20:

https://haemonetics.gcs-web.com/static-files/28d44ae0-77bd-466e-849c-d7e80649f964

Direct link to Results Tables 3Q and YTD FY 20 for reference on webcast conference call:

https://haemonetics.gcs-web.com/static-files/723e144b-2518-4289-8080-3b343725ba29

The Company will host a conference call with investors and analysts to discuss and answer questions about the results at 8 a.m. EST Feb. 4, 2020. The call can be accessed with the following information:

U.S. / Canada toll free (877) 848-8880; International (716) 335-9512

toll free (877) 848-8880; International (716) 335-9512 Conference ID required for access: 1906607

A live webcast of the call can be accessed on Haemonetics' Investor Relations website.

Direct link to conference call webcast: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/fuq43ous

ABOUT HAEMONETICS

Haemonetics (NYSE: HAE) is a global healthcare company dedicated to providing a suite of innovative hematology products and solutions for our customers to help them improve patient care and reduce the cost of healthcare. Our technology addresses important medical markets: blood and plasma component collection, the surgical suite, and hospital transfusion services. To learn more about Haemonetics, visit our website at http://www.haemonetics.com.

Investor Contact Media Contact Olga Guyette, Director-Investor Relations Carla Burigatto, VP-Communications (781) 356-9763 (781) 348-7263 [email protected] [email protected]

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TORONTO, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WeedMD Inc. (TSX-V:WMD) (OTCQX:WDDMF) (FSE:4WE) (WeedMD or the Company), a federally-licensed producer and distributor of medical-grade cannabis, announced today that it has appointed Angelo Tsebelis as Chief Executive Officer replacing Keith Merker, who has elected to step down from the CEO and board director roles effective immediately.



WeedMD has gone through a tremendous transformation over the past few years under Keiths leadership and we want to thank him for establishing the building blocks of the company - particularly its successful cultivation platform that is widely recognized as a benchmark of excellence in the industry, said George Scorsis, Executive Chairman of WeedMD. In recognition of the Companys solid footing, we now look to accelerate growth with a renewed focus on expanding sales and distribution initiatives. With his strong business acumen in sales, marketing, and supply chain management, we welcome Angelo to the role of CEO who will look to execute high-margin, commercial transactions that will bring immediate shareholder value.

WeedMD is perfectly positioned to move into the next phase of growth and Im honoured to be taking the reins as we steer towards fully monetizing our distribution channels, said Angelo Tsebelis, CEO of WeedMD. Im looking forward to working closely with the integrated team, our partners, patients and stakeholders to accelerate our commercial growth and business development initiatives.

Mr. Tsebelis has close to 20 years of commercial experience in the pharmaceutical, healthcare and cannabis industries. Responsible for setting the strategic commercialization, and product development initiatives for both WeedMD and Starseed, Angelo previously held positions of increasing responsibility with Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaw Corporation where he built strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical manufacturers, insurers, adjudicators and brokers in the Canadian market. Prior to this, Angelo held various commercial leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline, Bell Canada and Harrison Associates.

Access WeedMDs investor presentation here .

About WeedMD Inc.

WeedMD Inc. is the publicly-traded parent company of WeedMD Rx Inc., a federally-licensed producer of cannabis products for both the medical and adult-use markets. The Company owns and operates a 158-acre state-of-the-art greenhouse, outdoor and processing facility located in Strathroy, Ontario. WeedMD also operates CX Industries Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of WeedMD Inc., from the Companys fully-licensed 26,000 sq. ft. Aylmer, Ontario production facility which specializes in cannabis extraction and processing. With the recent acquisition of Starseed Medicinal Inc., a medical-centric licensed holder with operations in Bowmanville, Ontario, WeedMD has expanded its multi-channeled distribution strategy. Starseeds industry-first, exclusive partnership with LiUNA, the largest construction union in Canada, along with other employers and union groups complements WeedMDs direct sales to medical patients. The Company maintains strategic relationships across the seniors market and supply agreements with Shoppers Drug Mart as well as six provincial distribution agencies where its adult-use brands Color Cannabis and Saturday are sold.

Follow WeedMD, Color Cannabis & Starseed:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weedmd/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weedmd/?originalSubdomain=fr

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeedMD

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weedmd/

https://www.instagram.com/callitcolor/ & https://www.instagram.com/starseedca/

For further information, please contact:

For Investor Enquiries:

Stephen Ng

Chief Strategy Officer

Email: investor@weedmd.com

For Media Enquiries:

Marianella delaBarrera

VP, Communications & Corporate Affairs

Tel: 416-897-6644

Email: marianella@weedmd.com

To learn more, visit us at www.weedmd.com

Forward Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation which are based upon WeedMD's current internal expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and beliefs and views of future events. Forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expect", "likely", "may", "will", "should", "intend", "anticipate", "potential", "proposed", "estimate" and other similar words, including negative and grammatical variations thereof, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "would" or "will" happen, or by discussions of strategy.

The forward-looking information in this news release is based upon the expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and views of future events which management believes to be reasonable in the circumstances. Forward-looking information includes estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, targets, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Forward-looking information in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to internal expectations, expectations with respect to actual production volumes, expectations for future growing capacity and the completion of any capital project or expansions. Forward-looking information necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions; adverse industry events; loss of markets; future legislative and regulatory developments; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms; the cannabis industry in Canada generally; the ability of WeedMD to implement its business strategies; competition; crop failure; and other risks.

Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and, except as required by law, WeedMD does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for WeedMD to predict all such factors. When considering this forward-looking information, readers should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in WeedMD's Annual Information Form dated June 21, 2019 (the "AIF") and other disclosure documents of WeedMD filed with the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . The risk factors and other factors noted in the AIF and other disclosure documents could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in any forward-looking information.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE
Last May saw an electoral drubbing for Sinn Fein in the Irish Republic. In the Euro Elections, just one Sinn Fein MEP was returned, compared to three last time. In the local elections the same day, Sinn Fein lost nearly half its councillors  it made net losses of 78, ending up holding just 81. Yet recent opinion polls point to a dramatic change in fortune, as the Irish prepare for a General Election on Saturday. There was a survey published by the Irish Times this morning which put Sinn Fein in the lead:

Sinn Fein has surged into first place in the general election race, with a quarter of all likely voters now saying they intend to vote for the party, according to the final Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll of the campaign.

The poll puts Fine Gael back in third place at 20 per cent, behind Fianna Fail on 23 per cent and Sinn Fein on 25 per cent.

The findings of the poll, which was taken on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of last week, will shock the Government party and suggest that Ireland is on the brink of an historic general election result on Saturday.

This does not mean that Sinn Fein will be running the country. Ireland uses the Single Transferable Vote electoral system, not first past the post. It is not even likely that Sinn Fein will end up in coalition. The Irish Times report adds:

However, Fianna Fail remains the most popular choice for government, with more voters expressing a preference for a coalition government involving that party than any other, while Sinn Fein is the party that the highest number of voters do not want to see in government.

In addition, Sinn Fein is limited by running by running just 42 candidates in 38 constituencies and is unlikely  even on these figures  to be the largest party in the next Dail.

That still leaves the puzzle of why Sinn Fein has advanced so far. It is an extremist outfit, tarnished by its support for terrorism for decades  a stance it has still not repented. A clue to its wider allegiance is that it is part of the European United Left  Nordic Green Left, which means it sits alongside assorted Portugese, Czech, and German Communists in the European Parliament. It is likely that Sinn Feins funding has indirectly come from an IRA bank raid in 2004.

On the other hand, should we be shocked? Over ten million British people voted for Labour in December. I know they lost but that is still a lot of votes. That was despite the Party being led by Jeremy Corbyn whose long-standing support for Sinn Fein / the IRA was well established. Last month we saw the restoration of power-sharing arrangements in the Northern Ireland Executive. It was generally regarded as good news. As a result, Michelle ONeill of Sinn Fein is the Deputy First Minister. Her Party colleague, Conor Murphy, has the finance portfolio. He served five years in prison for possession of weapons and membership of the Provisional IRA. Yet the Democratic Unionists work alongside them.

But when we look further at the latest polling, we see another mystery. Fine Gael is in third place. Its leader is Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister. (The British media usually refer to him as the taoiseach. Why do they not call Angela Merkel the Kanzler?) Those of us attempting to make sense of the Brexit machinations felt that Varadkar played a blinder. He played up his populist anti-British rhetoric. He also managed to get a lot of EU focus on Irish grievances (whether real or imagined) about border arrangements.

Then there is the economy. The success of the Celtic Tiger is absolutely world class. In 2018 it grew by 8.2 per cent. A low rate of Corporation Tax has attracted investment. There is a budget surplus. Perhaps there is some complacency, that it can be taken for granted. Yet Ireland was badly hit by the international financial crash of 2008. Varadkar says:

One of the earliest recorded examples of economic strategising appears in the very first book of the Bible. Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, was able to predict the trajectory of Egypts economy  a period of boom, followed by a period of bust. Forewarned, he was forearmed, and he was able to guide the country through the worst of the crisis, saving his own people as a result.

Sinn Feins increased support is considered to partly derive from Irish discontent over housing. Incomes have risen, but house prices have risen faster  leaving young people locked out of homeownership and angered at rent increases. Inward migration has increased the pressure. Sinn Fein promises to introduce legislation to reduce rents by up to 1,500 a year, via a refundable tax credit, and freeze them for three years and to build 100,000 homes over 5 years. This will include council housing and affordable homes for renters and first time buyers. Rent controls have proved harmful where-ever they have been tried. Yet the idea has a natural attraction to those annoyed by how high rent is. The real answer, of course, is to increase supply by easing planning restrictions. But some are resistant to development, fearing it will be ugly. These issues are familiar to those of us on the other side of the Irish Sea.

Another grievance concerns health care, due to overcrowding. Capacity has not kept up with the increased population. Ireland has a mixed public sector/private sector system. Some are entitled to free treatment, others have to pay. Sinn Fein proposes free GP care and 1,500 more beds. Nearly half of Irish people have private health insurance. Sinn Fein wants to put a stop to it  which would greatly increase pressure on the system that is already struggling.

What about Fianna Fail? They have also made spending pledges and challenged Fine Gaels record. But Sinn Fein can argue that Fianna Fail isnt a real opposition  as they have sustained the Fine Gael with a confidence and supply arrangement.

Fine Gael is even more on the defensive. They can point out that health spending has already increased, but as the resulting improvements in output have been marginal this is not much of a boast.

Durng the Second World War the IRA backed Nazi Germany. This was on the maxim: Englands difficulty is Irelands opportunity. It now seems that Irish complacency is Sinn Feins opportunity

The Irish should be proud of their achievements. Economic progress has been dramatic. That broadens out into wider achievements. Life expectancy has increased faster there than anywhere else in Europe  which put complaints about health care into some perspective. Yet it is difficult to find any of the political parties very inspiring. There is a duty though, to vote for one of the democratic parties to secure the defeat of Sinn Fein. There have been some powerful pleas to voters by the relatives of victims of the IRA. Let us hope they are listened to.
Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings has distanced himself from comments associated to him on the latest Airbus bribery scandal.

A statement from the office of the former president also described as false, media reports that Mr. Rawlings has spoken about last weeks distribution of ambulances to the 275 constituencies as well as the election ruling controversies in Malawi.

We wish to advise members of the public that the former President has issued no statement on the Airbus bribery scandal. The former President has also not commented on the recent distribution of ambulances to constituencies neither has he issued a statement on the Malawian election dispute ruling.

While advising the public to seek information on the official Facebook page of the former President, the statement also warned persons behind such unscrupulous publications to desist from the practice.

Members of the public who are unsure of any statement purported to emanate from the former Presidents office should please verify such publications on his official page as all official statements are posted there, the statement added.

Read the full statement below:

It has come to the attention of the office of His Excellency Jerry John Rawlings, former President of the Republic, that certain unscrupulous persons have been putting out statements locally and internationally purportedly authored by him or issued by this office.

We wish to advise members of the public that the former President has issued no statement on the Airbus bribery scandal, The former President has also not commented on the recent distribution of ambulances to constituencies neither has he issued a statement on the Malawian election dispute ruling.

Perpetrators of these falsehoods are urged to desist from such acts.

Members of the public who are unsure of any statement purported to emanate from the former Presidents office should please verify such publications on his official page as all official statements are posted there.

---citinewsroom
Razor-maker Harry's last May agreed to be acquired for $1.37 billion by Schick parent Edgewell and, for the next six months, there were few concerns at either company.

But, but, but: Shortly before Christmas, everything changed. "[Regulators] started asking different sorts of questions, and you could see where they were heading," says a source familiar with the situation.

On Jan. 16, Harry's co-CEO Jeff Raider posted a pro-merger argument via Medium, which suggests he felt the writing was on the wall.

On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission said it will sue to block the deal, believing that it would further strengthen a duopoly between Edgewell and market leader Procter & Gamble.

The FTC argues the direct-to-consumer business of Harry's and rival Dollar Shave Club did little to lower industry prices or spur innovation, but rather those things happened in 2016 when Harry's entered physical retail.



Read the FTC's full administrative complaint.

Sources say that Edgewell and Harry's haven't yet decided on next steps, but expectations are that they'll fight this in court. And, if so, expect them to be emboldened by the FTC's recent failure to block a merger of hydrogen peroxide companies, with a judge ruling that the agency's argument amounted to an "oversimplification."

The FTC's new complaint mostly ignores the impact of Dollar Shave Club, which was purchased for $1 billion in 2016 by Unilever  suggesting that its business model was already viewed as appealing before either it or Harry's moved big into physical retail.

Plus, it's odd to argue duopoly when a company with such major resources as Unilever is now involved. Let alone the recent, U.S. entry of South Korea's Dorco, which also supplies razors to Dollar Shave, or the continuing presence of Bic (which is working on a connected razor product, speaking to the innovation angle).

And don't forget about Billie, the brand focused on women, that P&G recently agreed to buy (possibly to take it off the antitrust chessboard, or perhaps as a strategic replay of the mid-1980's soda wars).

The bottom line: One possibility is that the FTC is missing the boat on direct-to-consumer. Another is that this is actually its way to test the limits of omnichannel retail, maybe as a precursor to future actions against giants like Amazon. But no matter the backstory, this one will come down to the numbers  particularly pricing  and each side thinks it has the data to prove its case.

Go deeper: FTC's move to block Harry's deal could impact ad spending
A British teenager was arrested in Benidorm after he filmed himself scaling an 11-storey building without safety equipment.

The unnamed parkour fan was also filmed by shocked locals as he precariously clung to the brickwork 150ft above the street.

He later posted the heart-stopping footage on his Instagram account where he goes under the name of 'the little nuisance' and describes himself as a 'professional idiot from the UK.'

He also cheekily posted a clip of himself in the back of a Spanish police car after being arrested where he says: 'There's no handles to get out and he's got my GoPro, I really hope he doesn't delete this footage because it's actually quite funny.'

The teenager clings on with one hand so he can record a selfie clip with his phone near the top

Spanish police said the teenager was fined an unspecified amount and later released after his exploits on Sunday.

In the video, the teenager - who has his GoPro strapped to his head - clings on with one hand so he can record a selfie clip near the top of the building.

With the street far below, he says: 'Quick little free solo.'

A separate clip taken by locals shows him climbing near the top of the tower block and one onlooker is heard saying 'call the police'.

The unnamed parkour fan was also filmed by shocked locals as he climbed the building

He also cheekily posted a clip of himself in the back of a Spanish police car after being arrested

The teenager, who has a northern English accent, is said to have arrived in the Alicante resort a few days earlier and had been recording himself doing parkour near Levante beach.

Local media reported that he had also been seen climbing a hotel in Benidorm on Monday and posted footage of that as well, but he has since deleted his Instagram account.

A police spokeswoman said 'the man was on holiday' and 'police acted in this event because the security of the environment required it.'

She added that the teenager was fined but refused to reveal the amount and said his name was being withheld for privacy reasons.
The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) acting leader said on Tuesday that there are enough votes for the censure motion to pass, mentioning that he will have meetings with Pro Romania leader Victor Ponta and other parliamentarians to support this motion.

"We have enough votes [for the censorship motion to pass - ed.n.], it means that we have more than 233," stated Marcel Ciolacu.He said he is going to meet with Pro Romania leader Victor Ponta."Possibly this evening and not only with him. At the moment, with or without a discussion with Mr. Ponta, we have the necessary votes to bring down the Orban Government. After today's emergency ordinances, I am actually glad," added Ciolacu.Marcel Ciolacu has shown that the PSD MPs will support the censure motion."In principle, I think that both myself and my colleagues, we are serious people. (...) We will have groups reunited at 11:00 hrs," asked if it is certain that all PSD MPs will vote the censure motion.The censure motion, titled "Orban Government/PNL - putting Romanian democracy into private hands" and submitted by 208 PSD and the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) parliamentarians, after the Government's assumption of responsibility on the bill of the election of mayors in two polls, will be debated, and voted, as of 12:00 hrs, in Parliament.For the censure motion to pass, as many as 233 votes in favour are needed. PSD has 202 MPs and UDMR - 30.

AGERPRES
Boris Johnson has said the UK would not accept 'diminution of standards' on food and animal welfare in trade talks with the US.

The prime minister made the comments on Monday (3 February) as he set out his goals for trade after Brexit.

While the UK would not accept lower standards, he criticised 'America bashers' for taking a 'hysterical' attitude to US food production.

UK farming industry groups fear lower quality food imports would force farmers to drop their standards in order to compete.

The NFU has warned that farmers in the United States could 'outcompete' British farmers after Brexit.

But Mr Johnson said the UK would be 'governed by science, not mumbo-jumbo' when deciding what food imports are safe for consumption in trade negotiations.

I totally understand the concerns about chlorinated chicken, because it's not a hygiene issue, it's an animal welfare issue, he said during his speech at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich.

And what we will do is use our negotiations and persuade our partners, if they want to trade freely with us, then obviously they will have to accept our approach to animal welfare.

But there are other issues where I think that I've heard a certain amount of hysterical... there is a sort of thing about as if American food was somehow inferior.

Mr Johnson said people in the United States 'don't complain' about the quality of the food offered, and urged public discourse to leave 'paranoia out of the argument'.

I look at the Americans, they look pretty well nourished to me. And I don't hear any of these critics of American food coming back from the United States and complaining, he said.

The Labour Party have called for food standard protections to be included in the Agriculture Bill, warning that a failure to do so would be bad for the British public.

However, this amendment was defeated last night (3 February), and the Bill will now go through to the committee stage.

Despite this, shadow environment secretary Luke Pollard said Labour 'won't accept' chlorinated chicken on UK shelves.

The Plymouth Sutton and Devonport MP said: Promises that ministers have made to maintain standards arent worth anything until they are written into law, and unless they do so we must surely conclude that they intend to break these promises during trade talks with the US.

We wont accept chlorinated chicken in our supermarkets or Boris Johnson selling out our animal welfare, food and environmental protections in a bid for a trade deal with Donald Trump.

It follows recent comments by the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said chlorinated chicken must be included in UK and US trade talks.

While he admitted the issue would be 'real contentious', farmers in the United States would also insist on the product's inclusion.

Speaking to Iain Dale's programme on LBC on 30 January, Mr Pompeo said: Our ask will be as it has been in the other negotiations, we need to be open and honest about competitiveness.

We need to make sure we dont use food safety as a ruse to try and protect a particular industry.
On a recent weekday, workers in the Cypress Centre in northwest Harris County prepared food, worked on cars and groomed dogs. Across the parking lot, two men in orange safety vests sat in plastic chairs beside a white pickup and took water samples.

The contractors for the Environmental Protection Agency were testing some of the wells surrounding the site of a former dry cleaning business that was found to have contaminated the groundwater underneath. They repeat the process every six months to monitor the progress of clean-up efforts at the polluted nondescript site in a corner of Jones Road strip mall.

To varying degrees, federal and state environmental agencies have been working to improve conditions at what is officially known as the Jones Road Ground Water Plume since it was first identified nearly 20 years ago.

Ken Ellis/Staff

The continuous monitoring will give federal environmental officials a better idea of whats going on and help determine the next steps, said Raji Josiam, remedial project manager for EPA Region 6. Our main thing is that we dont want any exposures, we want to keep it safe.

Based on the monitoring that the federal environmental agency has done, she said, we dont know of any exposure right now.

The Jones Road Superfund site was placed on the National Priorities List in 2003 after the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found tetrachloroethene, a dry-cleaning solvent also known as PCE, in several private water wells nearby. It was later determined that the culprit was Bell Dry Cleaners, which operated in the strip center from 1988 to 2002. The PCE, which the EPA has said may have been dumped out behind the store near a drainage ditch or poured down store drains that led to a septic tank, eventually made its way down to lower aquifers, where multiple private water supply wells were.

Superfund sites are contaminated locations prioritized by the federal government for cleanup. There are 66 sites in the state, 19 of which are in the Houston metro area. There are at least two other contaminated groundwater plumes tied to dry-cleaning businesses in Texas, according to TCEQs list of Superfund sites by county. About a handful of others are contaminated with the same kind of chemicals, but the source is not known.

Cleaning some of these sites is a long, arduous process.

The objective of the EPAs efforts on Jones Road is to clean up the groundwater, Josiam said, and recent sampling shows progress, as the level of chemical contaminants in the shallow groundwater has gone down.

In 2018, the EPA installed an indoor exhaust system in three of the suites of the shopping center to remove contaminants that had made their way into the building from the soil below. According to the agency, recent sampling shows the indoor air is safe now.

Last July, the agency added a type of vacuum to extract chemical contaminants from the soil, which officials say removes sources of pollution to the groundwater and prevents additional indoor contamination. Currently, the system sits in a shed in the back of the shopping center, connected with pipelines that go underground. The removed vapors are then processed through a carbon filtration system before being released into the air.

The plan is for the system to remain in place through 2021, Josiam said. After that, it may need to run intermittently until theres no trace that it is still pulling vapors out of the soil.

At that point, she added, they will have a better idea of what is going on with the groundwater and what steps need to be taken to remediate it.

Right now, we know (the plume) is within this footprint of this parking lot, Josiam said Wednesday from the strip center, where the pavement is dotted with sewer-like lids marked with the words monitoring well and a white triangle. The only visible no trespassing signs identifying it as a Superfund site are behind the shopping center, where EPA officials run the vapor vacuuming system.

We are fortunate here in Harris County to have leaders who have worked with the federal government to clean up sites like the Jones Road Site that have languished for decades, said Jackie Young, who leads the Texas Health and Environmental Alliance, which advocates for the cleanup of Superfund sites.

There are only a handful of Superfund sites across the nation that the EPA is funding a clean-up for and this site is one of them, she added.

Residents are also relieved to see progress being made.

Im glad to see (the EPA) making some effort in trying to clean up the contaminated ground close to the site, said Kerry Sanderlin, who lives less than a mile from the former dry cleaner.

He hasnt switched to a public water line because he lives outside the boundaries and because tests of his well met national drinking-water standards for the five contaminants of concern. While he is more at ease now, he said he would like to see the EPA improve communication with residents, including having a more user-friendly website and notifying residents by mail if any of the monitoring wells show levels that dont meet standards.

The EPA is planning a community meeting for the summer to update residents. In the meantime, Josiam said, officials encourage area homeowners to allow the agency to inspect their wells and to sign up to connect to a water line. So far, about half of those within the boundaries of the contaminated groundwater plume have given up their well to connect to a water system.

Her message to residents: It doesnt cost you anything, we want to test your well to make sure you are safe.

perla.trevizo@chron.com
The kitchen and master bath had been done, but they turned around and quickly remodeled both of them and were able to customize the house to be exactly what they wanted it to be for their family, Sellen said. They also enclosed two decks on the upper floor to become two more rooms inside the home, so they each got a nice office space.
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Survey reveals perceptions of LinkedIn as a 'professional networking platform' have changed dramatically

LONDON, Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

Key findings:

62% of LinkedIn users surveyed say that less than 21% of their LinkedIn connections have provided value to their personal career

45% agree that LinkedIn has become more about sales and marketing than professional networking

59% say that LinkedIn is mostly about recruitment

28% find LinkedIn full of spam

61% of LinkedIn users have met fewer than half of their LinkedIn connections

Only 10% of respondents aged 45+ agree that the statement LinkedIn is for networking with their valued professional connections is very accurate

New research from Guild, a messaging app built for business, reveals that most professionals no longer see LinkedIn as a platform for valuable business networking but use it for sales, marketing and recruitment.

The survey also shows that users are realising that worthwhile networking is about quality not quantity. Having spent years adding connections of people they do not really know, and have not met, it is becoming clear this is not the way to create real business value.

68% of those surveyed believe that their "little black book" of professional contacts they actually value contains up to only 15 contacts. However, 61% have over 150 LinkedIn connections.

"The use of LinkedIn has greatly changed since it launched nearly seventeen years ago," said Ashley Friedlein, CEO and founder of Guild. "In the early years there was a sense of membership and belonging and the quality was higher. Due to a natural tendency to accept new contacts to grow our networks, many users now find themselves with an experience that is too noisy. Senior people, in particular, get a lot of sales approaches and few would now choose to run high value groups or networks on LinkedIn."

Almost four out of ten (38%) LinkedIn users believe that the platform has become too cluttered for their professional network to be functional. 28% find that LinkedIn is now "full of spam". Over half of users (58%) feel it is now more about curating new contacts and business development than looking after the connections they have already built during their career.

"We know from the Dunbar number that humans cannot know, or maintain, more than around 150 relationships," continued Ashley "and this is true in our professional lives as much as our personal lives. We're realising we need to focus more on the relationships that actually matter rather than chasing connections for the sake of it."

Guild has created a new model for professionals recommending how best to manage both real-world and digital business networking: 'A Model for Professional Networking'.

The model is inspired by the 'Dunbar Number'. Professor Robin Dunbar, a world-renowned anthropologist, and advisor to Guild, revisited his famous research finding to confirm it still holds true in our digitally connected world.

Launched in November 2018, Guild offers professionals and businesses a safe, privacy-by-design messaging space to communicate.

The app was built with valued connections in mind and has professional users from the likes of The Institute of Directors, Deloitte, University of Cambridge Judge Business School, Wunderman Thompson and National Portrait Gallery.

For more information, visit: https://guild.co.

Methodology

Censuswide?surveyed 2,016 LinkedIn users in the UK (January 2020)

About Guild

Guild is an app designed for professionals and businesses who want the simplicity and ease-of-use of a consumer messaging app, but with the privacy, legal compliance, control, sophistication and service you'd expect for business.

It has an ad-free, business and enterprise subscription funded business model. Guild is a safe space for professionals to connect, communicate and collaborate to progress their careers and build valuable networks.
Rome, Feb 4 : Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte on Tuesday urged his people not to discriminate against Chinese citizens amid the Coronavirus epidemic after reports of stone-throwing and attempts to exclude Chinese children from school.

"Signs of discrimination that can also turn violent are unacceptable," Conte said during a visit to London.

"There is no cause for alarm or panic... the situation is under control and politicians have a responsibility to send such a message," he added.

On Monday stones were reportedly thrown at the Chinese students of the Fine Arts Academy of Frosinone between Rome and Naples and signs put up in shops in several cities telling Chinese people not to enter.

Meanwhile, Governors of the northern regions of Veneto, Lombardy, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Trentino Alto Adige regions wrote to the Health Ministry asking for pupils who return to Italy after visits to China be quarantined.

On this, Conte said: "I call on the northern governors to trust those who have specific competence (for this issue)." Italy had two confirmed coronavirus cases - a Chinese tourist couple being treated at Rome's military Spallanzani hospital. The government last week halted commercial flights to and from China and earmarked five million euros to safeguard citizens against the coronavirus.

The deadly coronavirus has killed 425 people in China, one in the Philippines and one in Hong Kong since the outbreak began in mid-December. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in China stands at 20,438 and the disease has been detected in at least 23 other countries, most involving people who travelled from China.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Missed the most recent top news in Berkeley? Read on for everything you need to know.

Berkeley's only youth shelter is probably leaving the city

YEAH! has to leave its longtime home in the Lutheran Church of the Cross, but it's struggling to find an alternative site within Berkeley city limits.

Read the full story on Berkeleyside.

Oakland man linked to spate of Bay Area bank robberies including 3 in Berkeley

Police have arrested an Oakland man on suspicion of three unarmed bank robberies in Berkeley in January and one in Pinole, authorities report.

Read the full story on Berkeleyside.

Disney sends $250 bill to Berkeley elementary school for screening 'The Lion King'

In November, a Berkeley elementary school held a PTA fundraiser where they screened the new 2019 remake of Disney classic "The Lion King"  and apparently, Disney took notice.

Read the full story on SFGATE.

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Export of KP Onion variety from Andhra Pradesh will be permitted in a day or two, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Rose onions are locally called KP Onion in Andhra Pradesh.

Earlier, during the morning session of the House, V Vijayasai Reddy of YSRCP had raised the issue.

"The government is seized of the matter. And, I would like to reassure the member and the entire House that we are considering the matter and very soon, maybe within a day or two, we will permit the export of onion from Andhra Pradesh," he said.

Reddy said the government has banned exports of onion to check prices.

"But, to ban export of KP Onion is not justified. It should be noted that there is a variety of onion called KP Onion grown in 5,000 acres on and around YSR Kadapa and Prakasam districts of Andhra Pradesh," he said.

The YSRCP MP further said KP Onion is not for domestic use and it is grown exclusively for export purposes.

It is not used in kitchen due to its size and pungency. The onions are imported by Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore, he said.

The ban on KP Onion has adversely impacted thousands of farmers as they cannot sell this edible bulb in the domestic market.

The government should lift the ban on exports of KP Onion immediately as the shelf life of this variety of onion is fast running out, he said.

The Centre had banned export of onions from the country after prices of the kitchen essential started rising sharply. At one point, onion was selling at as high as Rs 160 kg and the government had to resort to imports.

However, prices have started falling following arrival of new crop and were selling in the range of Rs 40-60 a kilogram.

Meanwhile, Goyal also informed the House that the government has no plans to shift the principal bench of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) from Chennai.

He said that during the course of a hearing in the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of India had expressed an opinion and a desire that the government should examine either shifting the principal bench from Chennai to some part of central India such as Nagpur, Jabalpur or Bhopal or setting up an additional bench.

"We are examining it and we are making every effort that we don't not shift the bench from Chennai, rather we will try and create an additional bench in one of the central parts of India.

"We will discuss it within the government and then put it up for final orders of the Supreme Court," said the commerce and industry minister.

Goyal was responding to Vaiko (Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) who said the central government was proposing to shift or relocate the principal bench of the IPAB from Chennai.

He said there is huge pendency of cases before the IPAB not because of the location but due to inordinate delay in appointment of the chairperson and the technical members.

The Centre instead of proposing to shift the IPAB can establish benches at various other places in the country to maintain the regional balance and for the convenience of the litigants, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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[February 04, 2020] VirTrial Expands Internationally with a Fully Scalable Global Telemedicine Platform and a 31 Country Network of Virtual Trial Capable Research Sites

VirTrial today announced its international expansion with a newly appointed International Director of Business Development, a network of virtual trial capable research sites across 31 countries, policies supporting GDPR compliance, and product enhancements that support language translation into any left to right reading language. Recognizing the need to support VirTrial's customers around the globe, Emil Hoeck has been named International Director of Business Development and will be based in Denmark. Hoeck's CRO and site background makes him an ideal candidate to manage company interests abroad including strategic customer and site relationships across Europe and new international partnerships. VirTrials Virtual Care Management (VCM) platform is HIPAA, HITECH and Privacy Shield Compliant and VirTrial has implemented policies to support GDPR compliance. The mobile app and web interface can be translated and displayed into any left to right reading language worldwide.



"Clinical research requires collaboration at a global level and the ability to recruit a diverse representation of patients from around the world," said Mark Hanley, VirTrial CEO. "Our VCM platform and network of trained research professionals provide a unique opportunity for sponsors and CROs to develop more expansive studies than what has been possible in the past." VirTrial provides free 'Virtual Trial Capable' training for any interested clinical research site globally and has certified more than 1000 clinical research professionals across 31 countries.

About VirTrial VirTrial is a telemedicine company providing a stable, long-standing virtual care management (VCM) platform to transform the clinical trial industry. The platform combines video, text, and email allowing pharmaceutical companies and CROs to create patient centric Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCTs) by replacing some study visits with virtual visits. The vision is for 25-50% of visits to be conducted virtually creating a hybrid model. This model is ideally suited for Phase III/Phase IV trials where patient compliance can be assessed from any location. The VirTrial app is supported on any device (Android, Apple (News - Alert), tablet, computer) and can be used by any site. It is hosted in a secure cloud-based environment and is HIPAA and GDPR compliant. VirTrial enables greater accessibility to trials for patients, higher performance by clinical trial sites, and improved outcomes for pharmaceutical companies. Working together we can bring better medications to market more quickly. To learn more about VirTrial, visit https://www.virtrial.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005035/en/

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The terrorist who attacked stabbed two people on a busy London street days after his release from prison had reportedly told a fellow inmate that he wanted to murder an MP.

Sudesh Amman was shot dead by undercover police around a minute after launching an attack on two bystanders in Streatham High Road, south London, on Sunday. A third person was injured by flying glass during the gunfire.

Police said he began stabbing the victims about 60 seconds after entering a shop, where he stole a knife and removed the packaging as he ran from a staff member.

The 20-year-old, who was jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents in December 2018, was freed from prison less than a fortnight ago and had been staying at a bail hostel in nearby .

A former prisoner who spent time with Amman in Belmarsh high-security prison told The Times: "The guy was definitely insane and he never hid his intentions, so it's crazy how he even got out of jail."

Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Show all 22 1 /22 Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Armed police officers on Streatham High Road. The Metropolitan Police warned people to stay away from the Streatham area boguta37/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings The man was shot dead by police after two stabbed in 'Islamist-related' terror attack in London boguta37/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Sudesh Amman, the attacker, has been named as a convicted terror offender who was released from prison days ago Metropolitan Police/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Items left on the pavement at the scene in Streatham High Road Isis supporter Amman was just 18 when he was jailed in December 2018 after police found a stash of bomb-making manuals and other propaganda. Now 20, he had declared his own wish to carry out a terror attack and stockpiled a combat knife, air gun and black flag at his family home in London PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings He was being monitored by undercover police and being followed as part of a proactive counterterrorism operation when he started the rampage in Streatham AP Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Amman was able to stab two people before being shot dead by armed officers outside a busy row of shops Gabriel Video/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A woman reacts as police officers interview people near to the scene Getty Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings An armed police officer on Streatham High Road Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy DOrsi said Amman was wearing a fake suicide ves Gully/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police forensic officers work outside of a Boots store AFP via Getty Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police officers at the scene Getty Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A police forensic officer works at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Items left on the pavement at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A police officer on the scene Dave Chawner/SWNS Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police forensic officers are seen near the site Reuters Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police officers on the scene outside an Iceland supermarket Andy Bullemor/SWNS Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police are seen near a site where a man was shot Reuters Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A policeman secures the site of the incident EPA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A view of the scene Megan Tobeck Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A view of the scene Michael Owens Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police forensic officers at the scene PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A Police officer is seen near a site where a man was shot Reuters

The man said Amman wanted to copy the murder of MP Jo Cox and told him "the only way to get these filthy kafirs (non-believers) out of Syria is to take out MPs like that white guy did with the lady in 2016," The Times reported.

The former inmate told the newspaper that Amman "wanted to do something real, something organised like the [IRA] used to do".

Isis supporter Amman, who at the time of his sentencing was 18 and living in Harrow, smirked as he was jailed for three years and four months at the Old Bailey in December 2018.

Amman was jailed after he stockpiled terrorist propaganda, an air pistol and a knife at his home in northwest London.

He also told his girlfriend he wanted to carry out a terror attack and urged her to behead her parents because they were kuffar (non-believers).

On Monday, his former partner told ITV News the Streatham attack had left her shaking, traumatised, horrified.

She added: I just want to move on and have a normal life and I felt like I was starting to, but now it feels like Im reliving it all, reliving the nightmare."

The Metropolitan Police said he was released from prison on January 23 2020.

Meanwhile, analysis by foreign policy think tank, the Henry Jackson Society, suggests that more than 10 terrorists are due to be released from prison in 2020.

On Monday, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said emergency legislation was needed to make sure terrorists are not released automatically from prison half way through their sentence.

Mr Buckland said offenders will not be considered for release until they have served two-thirds of their sentence and that no terrorists will be released before the end of their full custodial term unless the Parole Board agrees.

The Parole Board would be "strengthened" to deal more effectively with the risks that terrorists pose and steps would be taken to introduce the plans "as soon as possible", he said.

The government will also consider making new legislation to ensure that extremists are more closely monitored on release and will review whether the current maximum sentences for terrorist offences are sufficient.

Legal experts raised concerns about plans to apply the new rules to prisoners who have already been sentenced, with former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Lord Carlile telling BBC2's Newsnight: "I think it may have gone too far.

"The decision to lengthen the sentences of people who have already been sentenced, and therefore expected to be serving half the sentence the judge imposed upon them, may be in breach of the law.

"It is certainly going to be challenged."

Scotland Yard said armed officers were following Amman on foot as part of a "proactive counter-terrorism surveillance operation" when the incident took place.

The three victims were taken by ambulance to south London hospitals.

One man, in his 40s, is in a serious but stable condition, police said.

A woman in her 50s, a teacher at a nearby school, had non-life threatening injuries and has been discharged from hospital.

Police said a second woman, in her 20s, who suffered minor injuries believed to have been caused by glass following the discharge of a police firearm, has also left hospital.

Investigations continue with officers also searching two addresses in south London and Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire.

Additional reporting by PA
Rotunda Rumblings

Vouchsafe: School voucher advocates sued the state Monday after the Ohio legislature decided to delay by 60 days open enrollment for EdChoice, cleveland.coms Laura Hancock reports. The lawsuit includes descriptions of how the states choice upends several families, who wanted to send their children to private schools.

Late news: Were still waiting to see a 2019 campaign-finance report from Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts, the group that pushed unsuccessfully to stage a referendum overturning House Bill 6. As cleveland.coms Jeremy Pelzer explains, the groups organizers could be fined up to $100 for every day theyre tardy in disclosing their donors and spending, though in practice state officials give such groups ample opportunity to turn in reports late without penalty.

Drug money: Twenty-seven anti-drug task forces around Ohio will receive a funding bump totaling $5 million over the next two years, Pelzer reports. The money will help law enforcement catch drug traffickers, raise awareness about drug abuse, and help addicts get treatment.

Eye on Iowa: Cleveland.com chief politics reporter Seth Richardson has the latest from the all-important Iowa caucuses, which turned out to be a reporting disaster for the Democrats. You can catch up with his reports here.

Path cleared: State Rep. Jay Edwards, a member of House Speaker Larry Householders leadership team and a top GOP House fundraiser, will have no Democratic challenger following a Friday vote by the Athens County Board of Elections, cleveland.coms Andrew Tobias writes. The board ruled Katie ONeill, a 2013 Ohio University graduate, didnt meet state residency requirements.

Be my guest: Cleveland.coms Sabrina Eaton rounds up the list of guests that Ohio members of Congress are inviting to tonights State of the Union address by President Donald Trump.

Upping the pressure: Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder publicly requested Monday that the House Civil Justice Committee resume hearings on House Bill 249, which would narrowly lift the limited statute of limitations for Ohio State University. This would allow victims of former team Dr. Richard Strauss to sue the university over sexual abuse. We expected Ohios flagship state university to step up by now and do the right thing for students that parents placed in their care. It appears a trust has been broken, the Republican said in a statement.

Gun battle: The Cincinnati Enquirers Jessie Balmert got a hold of a batch of emails that detail how internal squabbles and external forces came to a head earlier this month when Buckeye Firearms Association removed its longtime lobbyist and board president Jim Irvine. The backdrop for the disputes was a package of gun reforms proposed by DeWine, an alternative legislative proposal and a rival gun group that considered Buckeye Firearms too moderate, Balmert reports.

Drug interactions: The New Yorkers Paige Williams looked into the national trend of prosecutors charging people who score drugs for friends or acquaintances who take them, overdose and die -- zeroing in on the death of Courtney Penix in Columbus. These friends are sometimes treated in courts like drug dealers, even though many of these acquaintances, called brokers by academics, usually dont make money from the drug trade.

Lobbying Lineup

Five groups that are lobbying on House Bill 97, which would require bicyclists under age 18 to wear helmets. The bill was introduced Feb. 21 but hasnt yet had a committee hearing. State lobbying forms dont require people to disclose what side of a bill they are on.

1. The Ohio chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics

2. Akron Childrens Hospital

3. Buckeye State Sheriffs Association

4. Dayton Childrens Hospital

5. Nationwide Insurance Co.

On the Move

Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Val Lewis II of Georgetown as a judge on the Brown County Common Pleas Court, Probate and Juvenile Division. Lewis replaces Judge Danny R. Bubp, who is resigning May 31.

Straight from the Source

Clermont County would be a great place to start.

-State Rep. John Becker on Twitter on Monday, in response to Deon J. Hampton announcing he had been made an investigative reporter at the Enquirer. Becker said last week that he believed the countys GOP leadership was corrupt.

Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free.
The air charter services market is poised to grow by USD 7.35 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 5% during the forecast period. Request free sample pages

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005414/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled global air charter services market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

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Rising demand for cargo charters and the introduction of membership programs is anticipated to boost the growth of the air charter services market.

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Major Five Air Charter Services Companies:

Air Charter Service Group Ltd.

Air Charter Service Group Ltd. has business operations under three divisions, such as aircraft charter brokerage, onboard courier services, and other travel services. The company offers air charter services to private charter owners.

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Air Partner Plc operates its business through four segments, namely commercial jets, private jets, freight, and consulting and training. The company offers a range of aircraft charter options, ranging from a one-off aircraft charter to a long term flight program, or an all-economy airliner to a VIP configured aircraft.

Asia Jet Partners Ltd.

Asia Jet Partners Ltd. has business operations under three segments, comprising of charter, management, and maintenance. The company provides private jet charter services through the charter business segment.

ASIAN SKY GROUP

ASIAN SKY GROUP operates the business through the following three segments: consultancy, aircraft listings, and charter services. The company offers air charter services through the charter services business segment.

Delta Private Jets, Inc.

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By Lee Seong-hyon





Below is a snapshot of what the world has learned over the past two years of negotiations between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump. The views expressed are not my own. They were taken from various seminars and conferences I attended throughout these years.



The first view seems to suggest that Kim is, after all, not likely to forgo nuclear weapons. Observers and scholars pointed out that the collapse of the Hanoi summit, held in February 2019, as the "eureka" moment. Since then, the negotiations have been in a protracted comatose state.



Furthermore, economic sanctions on North Korea caused far more disruption than what was originally anticipated. This was another lesson drawn from the Hanoi summit. There were  and still are  some analysts and scholars who have questioned the effectiveness of sanctions. Therefore, the American side has been wondering, "What makes North Korea tick?" In Hanoi, Kim made a singular demand for an end to sanctions. The American side took it as a "revelation."



In Trump's own words, "Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we couldn't do that. They were willing to de-nuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldn't give up all of the sanctions for that."



These two views are the most common reactions in the policy community since the Hanoi summit.



Regarding the sanction, Kim himself also appeared to bluntly acknowledge the fatal effects of the sanctions. In his remarks to a four-day Workers' Party plenum in late December, Kim said, "The DPRK-U.S. standoff which has lasted century after century has now been compressed to a clear standoff between self-reliance and sanctions."



Those in support of sanctions feel the approach had a profound impact on North Korea from the second half of 2017 when additional U.N. resolutions against the hermit state were imposed after Pyongyang test-fired ICBMs and carried out its sixth nuclear test.



These sanctions completely banned North Korea from exporting its three main exports: minerals, textile products and seafood. They also banned the export of North Korean laborers and cut annual importable supplies of refined petroleum exports from 2 million barrels a year to 500,000 barrels in December 2017.



Combined, these measures reportedly reduced more than 90 percent of North Korea's exports to the outside world.



Now what? Initial hopes for a nuclear breakthrough that started from the Singapore summit in June 2018 were very high but pessimism rose after the collapse of the Hanoi summit. The deadlocked talks between Washington and Pyongyang continues. People begin to wonder whether this marks the end of denuclearization negotiations.



Skeptics seem to share this sentiment. The recent two-year nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the U.S. signaled the end of denuclearization negotiations, argued Lee Yong-joon, a former deputy foreign minister, in a recent media column. Lee has handled nuclear negotiations with North Korea. Even if other types of nuclear negotiations take place in the future, they will no longer be "denuclearization" negotiations but nuclear "disarmament" negotiations, according to him.



Does this mark the end of an era for North Korea? Not necessarily.



As long as U.N. sanctions persist, it is highly unlikely that North Korea's economy will prosper even if limited smuggling through China were to continue. The stunted economic state will continue to serve as a destabilizing factor for the domestic system. It will never achieve economic prosperity through foreign investment and trade Kim envisions.



No matter how favorable a North Korean regime is to South Korea, it will be difficult for Seoul to provide massive economic aid to the North due to U.N. sanctions in place. This is the "curse of success" brought by North Korea's nuclear armament. After all, North Korea is likely to face another arduous march of hardship for a prolonged period ahead.



This is Kim's dilemma. He has nuclear weapons, but his country continues to live in poverty. Based on the realization that the possibility of achieving prosperity through nuclear armament is slim, Kim might reconsider his nuclear game. This is the logic presented by proponents of continued negotiations with North Korea.



Interestingly, Kim reportedly told Mike Pompeo during the latter's visit to Pyongyang (when he was the CIA director): "I'm a father and a husband. And I have children. And I don't want my children to carry the nuclear weapon on their back their whole life."



This insinuates Kim's willingness to trade off nuclear weapons when conditions are met. Well, then, the nuclear negotiations are not yet dead, the optimistic camp may argue.





Lee Seong-hyon (sunnybbsfs@gmail.com), Ph.D., is director, the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute.


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Federal and local public health authorities are expanding efforts to contain the new coronavirus that has blown up across China in the hopes of preventing it from getting a foothold in the United States.

There are now 11 cases of the new coronavirus in the U.S., including four people being treated in the Bay Area: two patients in Santa Clara County and a husband and wife from San Benito County who were moved to UCSF for treatment on Monday.

The number of cases worldwide has skyrocketed from just a few dozen at the start of the year to more than 20,000, including 427 deaths, and its now more widespread than SARS. But the virus is not yet passing freely from person to person in the United States  in the Bay Area or elsewhere  and the goal is to keep that from happening, infectious disease experts said.

The next week or two will be key in that effort. Authorities have increased airport screenings, will likely order more mandatory quarantines and are rapidly tracking down anyone who may have been exposed through contact with known cases. Individuals already infected have been isolated and interviewed about anyone they may have been in contact with.

This is an unprecedented situation, and we have taken aggressive measures, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a news conference Monday. We have the opportunity to slow it down before it gets into the United States.

Bay Area medical facilities are taking extra steps to identify possible coronavirus cases and make sure that patients at risk of having the virus are kept away from others, either by asking that they stay at home or keeping them in isolation rooms in emergency departments or other parts of hospitals.

So far, no Northern California cases have turned up unexpectedly in medical centers  everyone who has tested positive was already isolated at home and being monitored by public health authorities. Local and state public health officials will not say how many people have been tested for coronavirus in the Bay Area. Nationwide, 260 people have been tested, 167 have come up negative and results are pending on 82, according to the CDC.

Six people have tested positive for the new coronavirus in California  two in Southern California and the four people now in the Bay Area. The San Benito County patients, who are both 57, were at home until early Monday, when they were taken by ambulance to UCSF after their symptoms suddenly worsened. They are being cared for in isolation at the hospital.

In a statement, UCSF said that it specializes in the care of patients with complex illnesses, including infectious diseases like the novel coronavirus. Doctors there also treated patients during past epidemics, such as SARS in 2003.

Five of the six California patients were almost certainly infected in China before returning to the United States. The sixth patient is the San Benito County woman, who was infected by her husband. Other than the San Benito couple, only one other U.S. case of coronavirus passed from one person to another.

Public health officials foremost concern is preventing sustained human transmission of the virus from person to person outside immediate, close contacts like people who live in the same household. That hasnt yet happened in the United States, but the virus clearly is capable of widespread transmission based on whats been reported in China.

Once you actually do start seeing sustained transmission, it becomes very difficult to stop the outbreak, said Dr. Charles Chiu, an infectious disease expert at UCSF. The next couple of weeks are going to be pivotal in the U.S. Were going to find out whether theres evidence of sustained transmission, or if the cases are going to be restricted to travelers returning from Wuhan, China, and maybe a spouse or family member.

The next two weeks are critical because the incubation period of the new virus is thought to be up to 14 days. China began restricting travel outside the most impacted regions on Jan. 21, but people were still leaving the country until Jan. 24. Some passengers continued to arrive via other countries last week.

On Sunday, U.S. authorities began much more extensive screening of people arriving in the United States from China. All travelers are being diverted to one of 11 airports, including San Francisco International Airport. Foreign travelers who have been anywhere in China in the previous 14 days will be denied entry to the country.

U.S. citizens who have been to Hubei province in China  the epicenter of the outbreak  will be quarantined for 14 days, regardless of whether they have symptoms of the illness including fever, cough and difficulty breathing. People who are sick may be isolated in a nearby medical center. Those who are not symptomatic will be held at quarantine locations nearby. Americans returning from other parts of China may also be subject to quarantine depending on their risk of illness.

In the Bay Area, Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield has been designated a quarantine facility, with space for up to 250 people. In Southern California, 195 Americans who were evacuated from China last week are currently quarantined on an air base in Riverside County.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

People who entered the country from China before the new restrictions took effect are being asked to isolate themselves at home for two weeks, and to contact their doctor or local public health department if they feel ill. So far, both people who tested positive in Santa Clara County, plus the husband and wife in San Benito County, isolated themselves at home before they became sick.

This couple self-isolated. They had no contact with the outside world after the husband returned from Wuhan, China, on Jan. 24, said Sam Perez, a spokeswoman for the San Benito County Department of Public Health. Our county health officer continues to stress that San Benito County residents are at low risk.

CDC officials said the coronavirus cases in the United States have ranged from mild to serious, and some patients have needed help breathing while hospitalized. The two patients in Santa Clara County have had mild illness and have not required hospitalization.

Hospitals are typically equipped with negative pressure rooms, which have a separate air-circulation system from the rest of the hospital and suck out contaminated air using an exhaust system. This is where patients with any infectious disease, such as measles, tuberculosis or, now, coronavirus, are taken so that they dont contaminate others.

Health care workers are taking extra precautions when treating patients suspected of having coronavirus by wearing gloves, gowns and goggles. The CDC set this guideline because its not yet clear how the new coronavirus spreads, said Cheryl Flesner, infection prevention director at Dignity Health Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City.

Bay Area hospitals are doing everything they can to screen patients for potential exposure before they arrive at a clinic or hospital. At Kaiser Permanente, patients who go directly to a clinic or hospital without having first gone through a phone screening will be given a surgical mask upon arrival. If needed, theyll be taken to an isolation room.

All Kaiser patients who book appointments online are asked if theyve traveled to China recently, and if so, theyre directed to call a primary care doctor who will ask whether the patient has a fever or shortness of breath. Patients who call to make appointments go through a similar screening process.

Its a pretty good filter, said Dr. David Witt, lead epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

Erin Allday and Catherine Ho are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com, cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday, @Cat_Ho
AKRON, Ohio -- Akron police are asking for the publics help in identifying a man who threatened to kill everyone inside a bank during a robbery.

Around 4 p.m. Friday, the suspect entered the KeyBank on the 200 block of South Main Street, across from Lock 3, walked up to the teller and demanded cash out of the drawer, according to police.

The teller didnt hand over any cash and the suspect tried to grab money from a customer inside the bank, but was unsuccessful, police said.

The man threatened to kill everyone inside the bank before running from the scene with no money, police said.

No one saw a weapon during the incident, but police said he should be considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information is asked to call Akron police detectives at 330-375-2490, Summit County Crimestoppers at 330-434-2677 or text TIPSCO with your tips to 274637. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

To comment on this story, visit Mondays crime and courts comment section.

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Linkedin Teresa Yovela Tio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 15:06 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206277047 1 People students,special-needs,Kyriakon-School Free

I saw Victor raise his head today; it makes me really happy, Untje Gunadisastra smiled as she chatted recently with Kris Sri Rahayu and The Jakarta Post.

Untje is the founder of Kyriakon School for Special Needs Children in South Jakarta, while Kris is the principal.

Responding with a huge smile, Kris explained that Victor, one of their high school students, has autism and would look down most of the time. Autistic children usually have difficulties making eye contact and have very short attention spans.

We appreciate their progress one step at a time, Kris said.

Built in 1996, Kyriakon School offers integrated education and therapy to students with special needs, mainly cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Tourette syndrome and combinations of them.

Kyriakon provides a full-day program [9 a.m. to 4 p.m.], with an upgraded version of the governments curriculum, ranging from playgroup to high school, Untje explained. We also have a workshop class for those who have graduated from school.

This workshop class consists of activities such as cooking, music, art and painting, which they were happily doing when we visited. The students are also taught daily life skills in a program called Activity Daily Living (ADL), where they learn how to shower, groom, brush teeth, put on clothes, tidy their rooms and even making beds and ironing.

They have to be able to help themselves and others, Untje insisted. Here, everybody likes to help. Theres one who likes to tidy up. He would stack all the chairs, even if someone is sitting on it. Another one likes to close doors. Another would turn off the lights over and over. Its always surprising, but we are all learning together.

Despite graduating from school, most of these students conditions are severe, which means that they have limited abilities. Even though its already quite an achievement if they can just take care of themselves, we still want them to maximize their abilities and improve their quality of life too.

These graduated students have tried several types of jobs before, like cooking and selling food, but their abilities are so limited that they couldnt fulfill the demands.

They have also tried making greeting cards, but it took them almost a whole day to finish a single card. So its a long process, Untje explained as Kris laid out several cards on the table, each one decorated with shapes made of leftover cloth.

According to Kris, one of the things students with special needs often face is being underestimated, whether by the world, or even by their parents. Some parents care about them, others dont. Its not that they dont have the money. They just choose to prioritize using it for their normal children, which is very common in Indonesia.

Not being able to contribute to their families income is also something these students understand and feel helpless about.

Untje, whose own son Gerry has cerebral palsy, recalled what being able to make money meant to her son. He once told his dad Sorry, I cant help by working, she recounted. But being able to create scarves with Terartai changed that. He was so happy. I helped him open a bank account so he could see the printed book and the amount hes able to make.

Terartai is a scarf business the students made with the help of 27-year-old Amanda Maringka, who volunteers at school. They would design and color pictures on paper and then Amanda would print them on scarves and market them online. For every scarf purchased, these students receive a 20 percent royalty.

Many parents who used to underestimate their children were also surprised by the money their children made, Kris revealed. They werent expecting the amount.

Pointing to a sample of the communication board used by the students, Untje told the story of how Gerry led them to its founder, Rosemary Crossley of the Anne McDonald Center in Melbourne, Australia. Crossley is an author and advocate for disability rights and facilitated communication. She was made a member of the Order of Australia in 1986.

Sam (second right), 26, a Kyriakon workshop student, uses his iPad to communicate with teacher Ratmi (left), and a volunteer, Amanda, as he chose colors for his drawing. (JP/Teresa Yovela Tio)

The one thing Rosy likes to point out is, If youre not talking, it doesnt mean you dont understand anything, Untje said. Especially in Indonesia, children still have to talk to be considered able.

Back in the days when we did not have these communication boards, wed have to constantly guess what they wanted. They couldnt express what they wanted to say.

The use of these communication boards is simple. Teachers would hold the students elbow, arm, or wrist to support them as they point to letters on the board and spell words. It is slow but effective.

Untje also highlighted that many of the students feel lonely and need to socialize, especially with those other than teachers. You know, Kris, when we entered the class earlier, Derrick asked: What did you come here for? and What are you writing about? said Untje excitedly, pointing out that the students dont always get a lot of visitors their age.

If they are well behaved and understood, they will be more accepted in the world. So we teach them to have good character. We want them to be able to go to events, dine with family outside, go to restaurants because children with special needs are often left at home by their family.

Throughout the 24 years Kyriakon has operated, it has successfully helped many students improve their quality of life, including many who are studying in universities or are working in companies.

Untje remembered when Alvent, a former student with a mild case of autism who is currently enrolled at Diponegoro University Medical School, came to visit, asking to learn how to tie his shoelaces. Its like they are puzzles, missing little pieces here and there. Just like us, we have our own tics. We cant be 100 percent perfect.

However, despite the ongoing efforts to provide better education and therapy, both Untje and Kris are already concerned about their next "big assignment": How will the students continue to live when their parents arent around anymore?

Im almost 70 and I started thinking about what will happen to Gerry when Im not here, Untje admitted. Well, I dont know yet. We are still waiting for a miracle. Hopefully, there will be a solution soon. (kes)

__________

The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post
Its a huge deal to me, said Molly about being selected for the position. It means so much because our family has been following HRC for a while. We have lots of bumper stickers and they do such good work. Itd be really amazing to work for them and do good work for the country.
At least 13 children died and dozens of others were injured in a stampede as they left their primary school in Kenya on Monday, local police said, with investigators still trying to ascertain the cause of the tragedy.

The police have launched an inquiry into what caused the crowd of students to panic, leading to the crush at around 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) at the school in the western town of Kakamega.

But one of the children's mothers blamed the teachers.

"Those who survived said they were running because there were teachers who were beating them, and that is why they were escaping and fell on each other," the mother said in an interview with local media.

She said the children were mostly in grade five, aged between 10 and 12.

Corporal punishment is banned in Kenya.

The Kakamega Primary School did not immediately comment on the incident. In the aftermath of the stampede, the police cordoned off the school and took statements from the teaching staff.

Kakamega's police chief David Kabena said that 13 students had been killed in the stampede.

"We have launched an investigation to establish what exactly happened," he told reporters at the scene of stampede.

Kenya Red Cross said on Twitter that it was setting up psychological support services, as well as a "tracing desk" to help relatives locate potentially affected students.

The Red Cross said that 39 students had been admitted to a local hospital.

St John's Ambulance meanwhile tweeted that at least 14 students had been killed and more than 50 injured, including two who were in an intensive care unit. Some 37 had been treated and discharged from hospital.

The tragedy comes just two days after 20 people were killed in a stampede at an open-air evangelical Christian church service over the border in Tanzania.

In 2016, nine students were killed by a fire at a girls' high school in the Kibera neighbourhood of Kenya's capital Nairobi.
Angel Rosemond has always had a knack for languages. She easily picked up the Spanish her mother taught her as a child in their home.

"I actually loved learning languages," Rosemond said.

The 20-year-old from Douglasville, Georgia, also loved helping her community and felt called to serve her country after she joined the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC).

"When I thought about what I wanted to do in the future, I wanted to help people. Then I thought, 'How do I want to help America?'" Rosemond said. "By joining the military I can help in a small way."

Rosemond combined her two loves at the University of North Georgia (UNG). The junior is pursuing a degree in modern languages with a concentration in Arabic as a member of the Corps of Cadets.

"I wanted to major in something that I could use in the military that was interesting to learn. I landed on Arabic," said Rosemond, who hopes to attend the Defense Language Institute.

Rosemond has progressed toward that goal since she earned early acceptance to UNG coupled with an ROTC scholarship. After she graduated high school in 2017, she attended UNG's Summer Language Institute (SLI) for Arabic and earned eight academic credit hours during the six-week summer session. In summer 2018, Rosemond studied abroad in Fes, Morocco.

"It was an amazing experience!" Rosemond said. "I got to experience a different culture and grow my language skills in the real world. My favorite part of the study abroad was my host family who lived in the old city."

SLI and her study abroad trip were funded through a Project Global Officer (Project GO) scholarship.

"The scholarships are really important," Rosemond said. "I try my hardest to get them and keep them and get more."

Hard work is in store for her in spring 2020 as she prepares for Advanced Camp in the summer at Fort Knox in Kentucky. The rigorous, 12-week training is a program cadets must complete to be commissioned in the military. Cadets are tested on rifle marksmanship, buddy-team live fire, hand grenades, first aid, Army combat fitness, land navigation and much more.

"Training for Advanced Camp is the most difficult thing I've done aside from one other thing," said Rosemond, who is the squad leader for Delta Company.

The other thing is becoming a member of Sigma Gamma Rho, one of nine historically black international Greek-lettered sororities and fraternities. Rosemond along with UNG students Imani Arnold and Uriyah Davis made history Nov. 17 when they were presented as the newest members of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc., the first African American sorority presence at UNG.

"I want a little bit of legacy," she said. "I'm hoping Imani, Uriyah and I can ramp up interest and build a community here because there are not that many people on campus who look like me here."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-03 19:40:06|Editor: huaxia

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A medical worker helps a patient drink water at an isolation ward at a hospital in southwest China's Chongqing, Feb. 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Quanchao)

BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- China has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), shoring up its economy and providing support for local governments and individuals to fight the epidemic as a growing number of confirmed cases of infections is reported.

Here are the latest developments:

-- Chinese health authorities Monday said they had received reports of 2,829 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection on Sunday, bringing the total to 17,205 from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. A total of 361 people had died of the disease on the Chinese mainland by the end of Sunday.

-- By the end of Sunday, 15 confirmed cases had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), eight in the Macao SAR and 10 in Taiwan.

Doctors encourage a patient during making ward rounds in Zhangzhou Municipal Hospital in Zhangzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Feb. 2, 2020. (Photo by Xiao Heyong/Xinhua)

-- The novel coronavirus epidemic will only have a temporary impact on China's economy, and the country's good economic fundamentals for long-term growth remain unchanged, said Lian Weiliang, deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a press conference Monday in Beijing.

-- Several departments of China's central government have rolled out favorable policies or provided funds for local governments and individuals to fight the novel coronavirus, according to Li Bin, deputy director of the National Health Commission, at a press conference on Monday.

-- Eight large transport aircraft dispatched by the Chinese People's Liberation Army air force Sunday landed at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, delivering 795 military medical staff and 58 tonnes of supplies to help the city fight the epidemic.

Military medical staff airlifted by eight large transport planes of the air force of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) arrive at Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

-- Medical supplies to control the outbreak of the novel coronavirus are in a "tight balance" in central China's Hubei Province while related production capacity is recovering fast, according to Tian Yulong, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

-- The supplies of daily necessities across the country remained ample with stable prices amid the epidemic, the Ministry of Commerce said Monday.

-- Chinese experts warned that the novel coronavirus could be transmitted through the digestive system, according to the latest findings.

-- Multiple medical institutions are conducting clinical trials for the anti-novel coronavirus drug Remdesivir, Chinese health authorities said Monday.

-- Six biotech companies in Hubei Province have developed new products for detecting the novel coronavirus, according to Wang Wei, director of the Hubei Provincial Department of Science and Technology.

-- At least seven small-molecule drugs, specifically targeting the RNA polymerase and protease of 2019-nCoV, are currently in clinical research, renowned Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

-- The headquarters for the control and treatment of the epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus in Hubei Province has announced that it will conduct centralized isolation of all suspected infection cases to better contain the epidemic.

Aerial photo taken on Feb. 2, 2020 shows the Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

-- China has built a makeshift hospital in 10 days to battle against the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak. Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital with 1,000 beds was delivered Sunday in Wuhan.

-- A pregnant woman with novel coronavirus pneumonia has delivered a healthy baby in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, doctors said Monday.

-- Eight patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia were discharged from Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital in Hubei on Monday after they had been cured by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) or a combined treatment of TCM and Western medicine.

-- Southwest China's Yunnan Province has shut down 2,673 live poultry trading markets and banned the sales of wildlife and related products at farm produce fairs, supermarkets, restaurants and online stores for the epidemic control, provincial market supervisory authorities said Monday. 
P rince Charles appeared delighted during his first ever visit to TK Maxx as he was mobbed by royal fans.

The Prince of Wales toured the budget retailer in Tooting, south London, for a Princes Trust programme which helps young people get into the retail industry.

As he was leaving the store, a huge crowd gathered and dozens of people tried to shake his hand and take a photo.

Instead of heading straight for his car, he embarked on a mini walkabout and was soon completely surrounded by people.

The Prince of Wales meets members of the public, after a visit to the TK Maxx store / PA

On his way out, he said: Im really worried weve stopped all the customers coming in.

The Tooting shops team leader, Rachel Crawford, 29, chatted to Charles during his visit and shared her experience of doing a six-week retail course in conjunction with The Princes Trust before taking up employment in TK Maxx.

The Prince of Wales is greeted by members of the public as he leaves a TK Maxx store on Tooting High Street. / PA

Speaking about what Charles thought of the store, Ms Crawford said: He walked in and said it was amazing.

He didnt expect it to be so bright and so luxurious, the way everythings displayed.

Prince Charles met young people and their mentors who have participated in TK Maxxs Get into Retail programme / Getty Images

He said it was very fresh. And he liked how the layout of the store looked."

She said he asked her how she manages not so friendly customers, adding: I said I kill them with kindness, I give them this smile. He laughed.

Prince Charles was given a tour around TK Maxx / POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Ms Crawford said if she was to bring Charles to a particular section of the store she would bring him to the ladies department so that he could get a nice hat or scarf for the Queen, adding that there has been a lot of cashmere in lately.

The Queen would love to wear that, she said.

The Prince of Wales spoke to young people about their experiences / Getty Images

Ms Crawford also said Charles had very soft hands, and said she would have liked to have asked him what moisturiser he wears.

Im so privileged that hes actually come out of his own personal time to come to the store, to meet us one on one.

The prince had a lovely time speaking to young people at the store / PA

It must be a very busy schedule, she said.

Charles also joined a discussion with young people to hear about what it is like to be a young Londoner and the challenges they have overcome to gain stable employment.

A member of the public caresses the Prince's face / PA

The Princes Trust has helped more than 950,000 young people since it was founded by Charles in 1976.

TK Maxx has supported The Princes Trust since 2013 and operated a partnership with the charity that has helped more than 1,000 young people through the Get into Retail programme.
Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals (GSK Pharma) reported a net loss of Rs 661.16 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against a net profit of Rs 113.67 crore in Q3 December 2018.

Shares of GSK Pharma slumped 11.06% to Rs 1465.25. The stock declined 13.24% to hit the day's low at Rs 1429.25, its lowest intraday level since 4 November 2019.

Pre-tax loss stood at Rs 634.32 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against a pre-tax profit of Rs 170.48 crore in Q3 December 2018.

Net sales declined 5.7% to Rs 778.59 crore in Q3 December 2019 from Rs 825.35 crore in Q3 December 2018.

Total expenses of the company increased by 104.6% to Rs 1408.10 crore in Q3 December 2019 from Rs 688.20 crore in Q3 December 2018. Employee expenses rose 32.77% to Rs 166.69 crore year-on-year (YoY).

The results were impacted due to voluntary global recall of ranitidine products including Zinetac in India and trigger-based impairment charges primarily towards the firm's manufacturing facility at Vemgal, Karnataka.

Following the recent decision to initiate a global voluntary recall (pharmacy/retail level) of ranitidine products including Zinetac in India, GSK is continuing with investigations into the potential source of the NOMA and has initiated a comprehensive strategic review of the impact of this recall on all related assets in India.

Exceptional items recognized in the quarter include the financial impact related to the voluntary recall of Zinetac.

As part of this review, GSK India has assessed the current financial impact of the voluntary recall and has taken a financial impairment of Rs 640 crore connected to the under-utilization of GSK India's manufacturing facilities; and Rs 97 crore on account of other related assets/ costs. As part of this strategic review, GSK India will explore future options for the Vemgal facility including a potential sale of the site.

The reported sales number for the quarter declined due to portfolio optimization and voluntary recall of Zinetac. Adjusting for the same the underlying sales growth is +6%.

The company's YTD underlying sales growth stands at +13% and EBIDTA margins have improved on account of various operation efficiencies, cost saving and working capital initiatives taken during the year.

Commenting on the results, A. Vaidheesh, managing director, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals said, Our global innovation, performance & trust (IPT) strategy underpinned by our culture, has guided investment of our resources in focus therapies which is continuing to show encouraging results with our promoted brands recording +11 % growth for the quarter. The results were impacted due to voluntary global recall of ranitidine products including Zinetac in India and trigger-based impairment charges primarily towards our manufacturing facility at Vemgal.

Our YTD underlying sales growth stands at +13% with our key promoted brands recording +20% growth. We continue to witness strong performance of Nucala (Mepolizumab) which is a humanized monoclonal antibody and indicated as an add-on treatment for severe refractory eosinophilic asthma in adult patients. We successfully launched Menveo vaccine for protection against meningococcal disease.

At GSK we operate a global manufacturing network and keep our operations under regular review to ensure we deliver high-quality products that our patients need and deliver on our Innovation, Performance and Trust priorities. The strategic review and its outcomes will not affect GSK India's broader commitments to improving public health in India. We will continue with our existing - commitments that support the government's larger vision of addressing the disease burden in India," Vaidheesh added.

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals is a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline pie, one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.

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Eir is to begin charging tens of thousands of people and organisations 5.99 per month for its Eircom.net email service, which has been free for almost 20 years.

From March 31, Eircom.net account holders who don't pay won't be able to open individual email messages.

If they don't pay within two months, their email account will be deleted.

While the company will not say how many free Eircom.net email addresses it supports, sources close to the company say that it is tens of thousands.

This includes community associations, schools and voluntary associations.

Since their introduction, Eir email services have typically been set up and relied upon by people in areas with little choice but to use Eir for internet and broadband services over the last decade.

Eir is understood to be implementing the move as the email service is a loss-making one that requires customer service resources.

In the UK, telecoms companies have been introducing similar charges on once-free services. BT customers reacted with dismay when it recently raised prices to 7.50 (8.80) per month for customers to use its email, while TalkTalk charges 5 (5.88) per month.

The 5.99 charge by Eir is the same price as some popular online streaming services, such as Amazon Prime Video and Disney's upcoming Disney Plus.

Eir executives say they do not make money from email services, unlike Google, which sometimes uses the data from its Gmail to supplement its advertising business.

However, it may leave thousands of people feeling trapped into paying a new monthly subscription to avoid losing access to long-standing business, community and personal contacts.

It may also put more pressure on homeowners' monthly subscription bills, which are already soaring from services such as Netflix, Spotify and iCloud.

Eircom.net email users who do not wish to start paying the new monthly subscription can export their emails and contact addresses to free services such as Gmail. Instructions for doing so can be found at support.google.com and involve setting up a Gmail account or using an existing Gmail account.

A spokesman for Eir said the company will not waive the monthly fee for those who already subscribe to its broadband, phone, mobile or bundled products.

"Eir will introduce a 5.99 per month subscription charge for the Eircom.net email service from March 31, 2020," said the spokesman.

"The charge will be used to invest in the maintenance and improvement of the service going forward.

"If an account holder does not get in touch with Eir to arrange payment, the service will cease after 60 days and the account will be permanently deleted after that time.

"Service users can visit eir.ie/support/webmail to learn more," he added.
The Big Number: 25 per cent, the reduction in the number of total Toronto council meeting hours to date this term, after Premier Doug Ford cut the size of council by 43 per cent.

This is a record, noted Speaker Frances Nunziata before banging her gavel to end last weeks lightning-fast meeting of Toronto city council after just a single day of debate.

I checked, and shes right. A search through councils online meeting minutes, which date back to 1998, finds no record of any shorter meeting where a full agenda was up for debate. Call Guinness  the council meeting of Jan. 29, 2020 is one for the record books.

And last weeks quickness wasnt an anomaly. Its part of a trend  Mayor John Tory and members of council have been speed demons this term, working through agendas faster than ever before.

So the question needs to be asked: Was Premier Doug Ford right? Has the premiers move to cut the number of councillors in the summer of 2018 been justified by shorter meetings?

Nah.

The time saved needs to be put into context. To date, the current roster of 25 councillors plus the mayor have sat for 159 council meeting hours this term. That compares to 211 hours at the same point in the previous term, when there were 44 councillors and the mayor. Thats a 52-hour difference.

Significant, but hardly earth-shattering. Reducing the number of councillors by 43 per cent has resulted in a 25 per cent reduction in total meeting hours so far. That feels like a modest outcome for a political move that disrupted an election, sparked fierce protest, came with a threat to override the constitution and led to an ongoing legal fight that could go all the way to the Supreme Court.

Budget savings from the move turned out pretty modest, too. Ford said the move would save $25 million over four years, but the citys draft 2020 budget shows total spending on council salary and expenses at $21.9 million, down just $2.8 million from 2018, when there were a lot more councillors.

But even if those numbers impress you, the point of the council cut was never pitched simply as a way to make meetings faster or budgets cheaper. It was also pitched as a way to make Torontos government work better.

On that count, its hard to find real signs of success.

Action on major files like housing and transit is chugging along at basically the same pace as before. And there are worrying signs that the smaller council has made local democracy worse.

Last November, a report to the now-shuttered special committee on governance included feedback from councillors to the change in workload. Some said that its now very difficult to balance their role as local representative addressing local community and constituent issues and their role in making decisions on citywide strategic policy.

Feedback from community associations was more dire. The pressure on councillors, particularly in the central south/north corridor is intense, and unsustainable, says a letter from the Federation of North Toronto Residents Associations.

To be fair, some councillors say theyre fine with the larger wards, but that makes sense, given just how different the gig can be depending on what part of the city a councillor is representing. The day-to-day job representing Ward 23 Scarborough North, where population declined by 2.3 per cent in the recent census update, is different than the job representing Ward 10 Spadina Fort-York, where population shot up by 40 per cent, and development proposals pop up every day.

A more effective governance model could take that into account. But the suburban majority on council last fall opted to shut down the special committee on governance and voted against funding studies of potential reforms like an office of neighbourhoods that could create a formal role for residents associations, or further delegation of some council functions to local boards.

Instead, council voted to stick with the interim governance model hastily put together after Fords 2018 cut. The meetings are faster, sure, but the push for more effective local democracy seems to have been lost in the rush.

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By Trend

Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Army General Valery Gerasimov and NATOs Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), General Tod Wolters will meet in Baku Feb. 6-7, Azerbaijani political analyst Shabnam Hasanova told Trend.

This is not the first meeting between the two power centers held in Baku, Gerasimov and Wolters already met July 10 last year in Baku, Hasanova added.

The political analyst noted that during the meeting, the parties discussed the state of European and global security, the prevention of possible conflicts on the Russia-NATO line, the issues of combating terrorism.

Two power centers - Russia and NATO - see Azerbaijan as a reliable partner, therefore they choose namely Baku to hold such important meetings, said Hasanova.

The meetings of the generals in Baku have a number of important reasons. First of all, this is related to the strengthening image of President Ilham Aliyev in the international arena, Azerbaijans position as a partner in defending the principles of international law and security mechanisms, and Azerbaijans non-alignment with political blocs," said the political analyst adding that the fact that Azerbaijan is a reliable partner, and undoubtedly, the factors of stability and security in the country also play an important role.

Hasanova emphasized that today no one is questioning why Baku is the venue for a meeting.

"The reason is that Azerbaijan has gone through difficult stages to take its rightful place in the system of international relations, she added. Baku is hosting not only regional but also worldwide events.

By all existing criteria, the capital of Azerbaijan - Baku - has become a favorable, safe platform for dialogue, in particular, for meetings of military leaders of the two power structures of the world and for discussion of existing global problems, the analyst said. These meetings have important political significance not only for NATO and Russia, but also for the whole world because the issues which are discussed at them concern the whole humanity."

Hasanova said that Azerbaijan has great experience in providing support to maintain security in the world.

"The country has been cooperating with NATO for many years in combating terrorism and restoring stability in the hotbeds of conflict, the analyst said. The Azerbaijani president attended a meeting of the North Atlantic Council of NATO in Brussels on November 23, 2017. The presidents participation in such a high-status event upon the invitation is a clear example that NATO assesses Azerbaijan as a reliable partner."

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Boris Johnson's maverick aide Dominic Cummings has been reading up on the Chinese secret services.

Mr Cummings was photographed carrying a copy of Chinese Spies by journalist Roger Faligot as he walked into Downing Street this morning.

The book tracks the development of Beijing's intelligence network since the 1920s - suggesting that it might now be the 'most powerful in the world'.

The No10 adviser is known to be a keen student of the internal workings of governments, having written lengthy blogs on organisation and management techniques.

The UK government has been focused on China's spying capabilities recently as it considered whether to grant Huawei a role in the 5G network.

Dominic Cummings was photographed carrying a copy of Chinese Spies by journalist Roger Faligot as he walked into No10 this morning (pictured)

The book tracks the development of Beijing's intelligence network since the 1920s - suggesting that it might now be the 'most powerful in the world'

Ministers announced last week that the Chinese tech giant will be allowed a 'limited' role in the huge project, despite objections from the US.

On a visit to the UK last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated Donald Trump's view that Huawei posed a 'very great risk'.

He said the US had an 'obligation to protect American information that might travel across these systems'.

According to its publicity material, Chinese Spies 'exposes the sprawling tentacles of the world's largest intelligence service, from the very birth of communist China to Xi Jinping's absolute rule today'.

What is the book Dominic Cummings was pictured carrying? Boris Johnson's top aide Dominic Cummings was pictured entering Downing Street this morning carrying a copy of Chinese Spies. The non-fiction book was written by journalist Roger Faligot and it tracks the development of Beijing's intelligence network. The book goes all the way back to the 1920s and argues that the Chinese ssecurity services may now be the 'most powerful in the world'. Advertisement

The book seeks to tell the 'global' story of Chinese espionage.

'This murky world has swept up Ho Chi Minh, the Clintons and everyone in between, with the action moving from Cambodia to Cambridge, and from the Australian outback to the centres of Western power,' the publicity material says.

Mr Cummings posted a review of another book about China on his blog in 2017, discussing how the West could address the challenge of the rising Eastern power.

'China erects skyscrapers in weeks while Parliament delays Heathrow expansion for over a decade,' he wrote.

'The EU discusses dumb rules made 60 years ago while China produces a Greece-sized economy every 16 weeks.

'China's economy doubles roughly every seven years; it is already the size of America's and will likely dwarf it in 20 years.

'More serious than Europe, it invests this growth in education and technology from genetic engineering to artificial intelligence.'
World-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay is known for his delicious culinary creations as well as his piping hot temper. With a portfolio of restaurants and televisions shows, the food icons foul language and abrasive manner have become his calling cards on the air and in the kitchen.

Yet even someone as brash as Ramsay was taken aback when he was confronted by gang members bearing guns while filming this television special.

Masterchefs Gordon Ramsay | Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Ramsays massive TV presence

Ramsay has become one of todays most popular television personalities in the culinary space. With a myriad of shows including Masterchef, Hells Kitchen, Hotel Hell, The F Word, and Kitchen Nightmares, he recently added the adventure series Uncharted on National Geographic. And those are just his shows in the U.S.!

The culinary icon also makes a point of staying social, with consistent posts on Twitter and Instagram. His YouTube channel has attracted almost 13 million subscribers, where viewers can see Ramsay in action whipping up every day meals to fine cuisine.

Delving into more serious content, Ramsay covered a one-hour special examining the shark industry, which ended up getting him in some dangerous waters.

In too deep

In 2011, Ramsay took part in Gordon Ramsays Shark Bait, a one-hour documentary that explored the shark fishing industry, as reported by Mashable. Filmed in London, Taiwan, and Costa Rica, the special investigated the illegal practices involved in acquiring fins for shark fin soup, and how the demand for the Chinese delicacy was affecting the shark population.

Ramsay soon found out that boat crews were reeling in more than just fish. It is a multi-billion dollar industry, completely unregulated, Ramsay said, according to BBC America. We traced some of the biggest culprits to Costa Rica. The day before we got there, a Taiwanese crew landed a haul of hammerhead sharks  police searched the boat and found bails of cocaine. These gangs operate from places that are like forts, with barbed-wire perimeters and gun towers.

While working on the documentary, the Hells Kitchen star and his film crew were met with opposition from armed gang members. After Ramsay was able to sneak off, he was barraged with a barrel of gasoline.

I managed to shake off the people who were keeping us away, ran up some stairs to a rooftop and looked down to see thousands and thousands of fins, drying on rooftops as far as the eye could see, Ramsay revealed. When I got back downstairs they tipped a barrel of petrol over me. Then these cars with blacked out windows suddenly appeared from nowhere, trying to block us in. We dived into the car and peeled off.

Gordon at gunpoint

Ramsay and his crew were able to talk their way onto a boat that was linked to illegal fishing activities, as reported by BBC America, where they found more evidence of unlawful action.

I swam under the keel and saw this sack tied to it. I opened it and it was full of shark fins, huge ones from 20-year-olds. How they do it is quite upsetting, Ramsay explained. They shock them with an electric prod, but the sharks still moving while they cut it up and throw it back dying into the water. No wonder they wanted to hide the evidence. The minute I threw this bag on deck, everyone started screaming and shouting.

Once again, the Uncharted star and his crew were met with ammunition. Back at the wharf, there were people pointing rifles at us to stop us filming, Ramsay said. A van pulled up and these seedy characters made us stand against the wall. The police came and advised us to leave the country. They said if you set one foot in there, theyll shoot you.

Even with Ramsays red-hot temper, he knew when to stand down. Despite the extreme opposition, the documentary was able to be completed. Gordon Ramsays Shark Bait can be viewed on Amazon.


A five-foot carpet python hiding in a family's back patio has been captured on camera - but almost no one could spot it.

Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers were called to capture the snake from a Queensland family's BBQ area on Monday.

The business's official Facebook page shared a picture of the snake hidden in the communal area, which was full of hiding spots such as a clothing rack, a coffee table, couches and a shelf.

'Lets see if you can spot the snake in the photo. Bonus points if you can guess the species as well,' the post was captioned.

Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers were called to capture a stealthy snake from a Queensland family's BBQ area on Monday. The reptile specialists challenged followers to find the hidden reptile in the back patio are (pictured) on Facebook

Keen snake spotters flooded the comments desperately guessing where the reptile was hidden.

'Looks like a tail on the floor between the two chairs. Carpet python? Or something under the Coffee table but I can't call on what that might be?' a Brisbane man incorrectly guessed.

'Thats snake paradise. Is it in the bra?' a Gymie man also incorrectly guessed.

Meanwhile, a Newcastle woman was completely stumped: 'Either I'm blind... Or there ain't no snake... I've been looking for 10 minutes!'

Several people guessed that a snake's head was poking out from the corner of the bluish-grey couch.

After two hours of guessing, Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers finally confirmed where the snake was hiding.

'I think I made that too easy haha. Carpet Python head at the base of the couch! Well done to those who got it!' they wrote.

Many people were unable to guess where the snake was hiding. After two hours, Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers finally confirmed a carpet python's head was poking out at the base of the bluish-grey couch

Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers said the snake was five-foot long, roughly 1.5 metres.

The most common carpet python subspecies on the Sunshine Coast is the Coastal carpet python, also known as McDowell's carpet python.

Also found in northeastern NSW, coastal carpet snakes can be unpredictable and aggressive towards humans and while their bites are not venemous, they can cause lacerations and tetanus infections.

On average, the large reptiles reach 2.7 to 3 metres (9-10 feet) in length when they are mature.

Since the pictured snake was only 1.5 metres long and appeared to have a small head, it was likely a juvenile.
HANOI - Vietnams government said on Monday the coronavirus epidemic will hurt its farm produce exports to China, the Southeast Asian countrys largest trading partner.

The government said last week that cross-border trade between Vietnam and China was not encouraged and on Sunday announced it would ban all flights to and from China over coronavirus concerns.

Limited transport activities will hinder farm produce transactions between companies from the two countries, the government said in a statement.

As of Sunday night, 175 trucks carrying 3,500 metric tons of dragon fruit were stuck at border gates in the northern province of Lang Son, the government said.

Exports of milk and seafood have also faced trouble as Chinese importers have postponed taking deliveries, the government added.

Vietnam confirmed an additional three cases of the new coronavirus, the health ministry said, bringing the countrys total to eight cases.




By Park Si-soo







Incheon International Airport has set aside three arrival gates for all passengers who fly from China, as part of government-led efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus.







The segregated gates are A and F of Terminal 1 and A of Terminal 2.







Dozens of health officials with state-of-the-art equipment are checking the body temperatures and other health conditions of all arrivals from China before they reach immigration checkpoint. All passengers from Wuhan, the ground zero of China's epidemic, are denied entry starting today in accordance with the government countermeasure announced on Sunday.







All arrivals from China have to give their phone numbers in Korea so authorities can make immediate contact in an emergency. The arrivals must also give their addresses in Korea and any details of visits to Wuhan. Travelers who fail to meet the requirements are denied entry.







The gates opened at midnight of Tuesday and the first users were from Korean Air KE854, which arrived from Beijing at 12.40 a.m.






You May See Fewer Starbucks Coffee Shops at U.S. Airports: Heres Why

You soon may see fewer Starbucks stores at U.S. airports, after HMSHost, which operates all of the roughly 400 terminal locations nationwide, severed its nearly 30-year-old exclusivity agreement with the famous coffee chain.

Since 1991, HMSHost has been the only concession company that could partner with Starbucks at U.S. airports. Starbucks has been a boon for business, with some airports choosing HMSHost to operate many of their food and beverage outlets because they wanted the iconic coffee company. But interests change, and in recent years, Starbucks hasnt been the draw for airports it once was.

Still, this doesnt mean Starbucks will disappear from airports. A lot of HMSHost locations have 10-year agreements with airports, so many will remain for many years. Also, other concession companies will now be free to bid for Starbucks airport locations.

Blame the Local Craze

For HMSHost, sales are not necessarily the problem. Starbucks outlets still perform well at airports, because customers know and trust the brand and may prefer it over unfamiliar options. And coffee overall is good business, as airport customers buy it at all times of the day, not just breakfast.

The majority of U.S airports, however, are run by cities, counties, or state governments. Most have gone on a local brands kick, forcing concessionaires to strike deals with smaller companies with roots nearby.

Nearly all U.S. airports use giant concessionaires like HMSHost, OTG, or SSP America to bid on and operate a wide swath of food and beverage outlets. Each company makes agreements with local or national brands and then bids to operate their stores on their behalf. Airports usually award bids in groups, so HMSHost might be responsible for operating all concessions in a concourse or terminal.

Sometimes, Starbucks holds the company back. An airport might seek bids for a concessionaire to run six businesses at once, but if a local authority did not want a Starbucks, HMSHost could lose the bid for all six concepts, even if the airport liked the other five.

Story continues

Airports still will choose national brands, but many specifically solicit for local businesses. In a 2017 request for proposals for a coffee kiosk, San Francisco International Airport said it is committed to the participation of local owners featuring local concepts in its concession opportunities. SFOs food and beverage program is largely local, featuring fresh ingredients and enticing restaurateurs.

New Concepts

In a release, HMSHost said it plans to work with emerging coffee brands to rethink the airport coffee experience. Its release teased innovative mobile carts that move from gate to gate and coffee shops built for speed that use the latest technologies to facilitate fast ordering and production.

A representative for Starbucks did not reply to a request for comment.

The news was first reported by The Moodie Davitt Report.

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Indigenous leaders call on the British government to help stop exploitation of the Amazon.

Indigenous leaders from the Amazon rainforest have called on the British government to stand up for their rights.

They have urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ban imports of minerals or agricultural products from the Amazon.

Al Jazeeras Sonia Gallego reports from London.
 Flash

The Security Council will hear a briefing behind closed doors from Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's senior adviser, on the U.S.-proposed Middle East peace plan on Thursday, the council president said Monday.



"The understanding is that the United States will request closed consultations in order to brief council members on the American plan. The idea, as I understand, will be that Mr. Kushner, as the special envoy, would be participating in that meeting," said Belgian UN ambassador Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve, whose country holds the Security Council presidency for the month of February.

The closed-door meeting will be held on Thursday probably between noon and 1 p.m. EST (1700 and 1800 GMT), he told reporters.

The Security Council will also hold a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Feb. 11, said the ambassador.

The council has been approached informally with a request of organizing a meeting with Abbas. A formal request is expected on Monday, he said.

Trump on Tuesday revealed a controversial Middle East peace plan designed by Kushner, which calls for a two-state solution while recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided capital."

In an emergency meeting at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Saturday, Arab foreign ministers unanimously agreed to boycott the U.S. plan and not to cooperate "in any way" with Washington in its implementation.
Written by Freddy Sherman

Jan 20, 2020

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The South Asian island nation of Sri Lanka offers visitors a dizzying array of things to see and do. You can experience tourist attractions like the towering new Lotus Tower in the capital city of Colombo, or visit the Pinnawalla Elephant Sanctuary, where you can help feed the elephants. There are also outdoor attractions like doing a leopard-watching safari at Yala National Park or hiking a pilgrimage trail to the summit of Adam's Rock.

All these exciting things to do are joined with some beautiful natural landscapes offering varied environments, from tropical beaches to mountains to rainforests. Add in thousands of years of culture, interesting foreign colonial influence, and very friendly people, and you get one of the world's great vacation destinations.

Plan your sightseeing in this captivating country with our list of the top tourist attractions in Sri Lanka.

Note: Some businesses may be temporarily closed due to recent global health and safety issues.
Fine Gael ministers have derided Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein as the wreckers and reckless parties in their election promises and said all is to play for still in the coming days.

Speaking in the wake of the latest poll which

Read More:

Fianna Fail were "rerunning" election promises, with the pledge for an SSIA-type housing deposit scheme, echoing the original saving plan launched on the eve of the 2002 election, outlined Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe.

He said their "populist" housing promises were "reckless" and a "recipe for fewer homes to be built" and could reap havoc on the housing market.

He was equally critical of their promised capital gains tax reductions, which were also a sweetener for the property sector and some owners

The minister said there were no costings for public pay increases under Fianna Fail, that their numbers on housing were fuzzy while their welfare plans would see actual cuts for claimants.

Mr Donohoe said Sinn Fein's plans would create a huge risk to the economy and were a conjob to the irish people. These plans are built on sand, he said.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney said the election was still to play for in the coming days before polling on Saturday. He said he was speaking to thousands of voters and a lot of the electorate had still to make up their mind.

There is a huge amount to play for in the last few days, he said in Dublin city centre.

But he also admitted that, while Fine Gael had campaigned strong on Brexit during the campaign that voters were punch drunk hearing about Britain's EU exit.

Data courtesy of The Irish Times

Mr Covenehy also said there was no question about Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's leadership of Fine Gael.

Both Mr Coveney and Mr Donohoe called on voters to trust their party, especially after its management of the economy.
The Moscow-based First Czech-Russian Bank issued the loan in September 2014 to Le Pen's National Front party, which has since been renamed National Rally.

An obscure Russian aircraft parts company is suing the political party led by French far-right politician Marine Le Pen to recover a $10.8 million that was lent in 2014 to help fund election campaigns in France.

The first hearing in the case is scheduled for June 2 at the Moscow City Court of Arbitration, Russian investigative website Open Media reported on February 3, citing court records, according to RFE/RL.

Le Pen has made no secret of her sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin and visited Moscow for high-level talks numerous times. She has criticized Western sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The Moscow-based First Czech-Russian Bank issued the loan in September 2014 to Le Pen's National Front party, which has since been renamed National Rally.

The money was sought because French and other European banks had refused to lend money to the political party ahead of the 2017 presidential and parliamentary elections, then-party treasurer Wallerand de Saint Just told RFE/RL.

At the time the loan was given, critics accused the National Front of being used as a vehicle by the Kremlin to lobby its political interests in France.

Read alsoElite Russian spy unit used French Alps region as logistical base  media

De Saint Just insisted the deal with the now-defunct Russian bank had "nothing do with Mr. Putins politics."

After the bank lost its license in 2016, rights to the loan passed for unknown reasons to Konti, another little-known Russian company.

According to Open Media, Konti is registered on the outskirts of Moscow and owns a car rental agency.

It subsequently transferred claiming rights to the loan to Aviazapchast, "an aviation company involved in high-priority strategic partnerships for the Russian state, including exports to the Syrian Ministry of Defense," a report by the U.S.-based German Marshall Fund said in 2018.

Specifically, it supplies Russian aircraft navigation equipment and spare parts to Asia and Africa, as well as special metals for Indias and Syrias aerospace and aviation industries, according to The Moscow Times.

Aviazapchast filed its claim on the loan on December 4.

The Russian aircraft components company and its sole shareholder, Valery Zakharenkov, allegedly have links to Russian intelligence services, the think tank's report said.

The German Marshall Fund at the time said the value of the loan to the French party was equivalent to Aviazapchasts pretax profit in 2016.

Russia's Justice Ministry blacklisted the U.S. think tank in March 2018 among other foreign and international nongovernmental organizations, "whose operation has been recognized as undesirable on Russian territory."
Saratoga Springs Police Department

DWI: Theresa Skaine, 51, of Saratoga Springs was arrested at 12:45 a.m. on Jan. 31 following a traffic stop on East Avenue and charged with driving while intoxicated: first offense, a misdemeanor.

Petit Larceny: Augustus Balsamo, 36, of Saratoga Springs was arrested at 2:25 p.m. on Jan. 31 on Ballston Avenue and charged with petit larceny, a misdemeanor.

Welfare Fraud: Doris Mendez,46, of Saratoga Springs was arrested at 3:10 p.m.on Jan. 31 at 5 Lake Ave. and charged with welfare fraud fifth degree, a misdemeanor and offering a false instrument to file:first degree, a felony.

Assault: Tammy Clark, 52, of Saratoga Springs was arrested at 12:49 a.m. on Feb. 1, on Allen Drive and charged with assault third degree: with intent to cause physical injury, a misdemeanor.

Assault: Thomas Butterfield, 52, if Gansevoort was arrested at 12:49 a.m. on Feb. 1, on Allen Drive and charged with assault third degree: with intent to cause physical injury, a misdemeanor.

Criminal Mischief: Anne Kenkel, 24, was arrested at 6:38 p.m. on Feb. 1 on Aletta Street and charged with criminal mischief third degree: damage to another persons property greater than $250, a felony and criminal trespass second degree: entering or remaining unlawfully in a dwelling, a misdemeanor.

Assault: Maurice Magee, 29, of Glens Falls was arrested at 6:32 p.m. on Feb. 1 on Caroline Street and charged with assault third degree: with intent to cause physical injury, and obstruction of governmental administration second degree, both misdemeanors.

DWI: Nicholas Petro, 21, of Granville was arrested at 7:32 p.m. on Feb. 1 on Route 50 and Rock Street and charged with driving while intoxicated: first offense, and operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent: first offense, both misdemeanors.

Obstruction of Governmental Administration: Darian Duell, 26, of Greenfield was arrested at 8:55 p.m. on Feb. 1 on Caroline Street and charged with obstruction of governmental administration second degree, both misdemeanors.

DWI: Joseph Jacobs, of Inwood, West Virginia was arrested at 3:16 a.m. on Feb. 2 following a traffic stop on Lake Avenue and charged with driving while intoxicated: first offense, and operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent: first offense, and aggravated DWI, with a blood alcohol content of .18 percent or more, all misdemeanors.

Criminal Trespass: Christopher Hansen, 31, of Buffalo was arrested at 9:51 p.m. on Feb. 2 on Route 9 and charged with criminal trespass second degree: entering or remaining unlawfully in a dwelling, a misdemeanor.
: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday reiterated his governments determination to establish three capitals of the state and maintained that justice was being done to all three regions by this.

The Chief Minister spoke to a group of farmers from four villages in Mangalagiri Assembly constituency that form part of Amaravati region, even as the Amaravati Joint Action Committee took its fight to New Delhi to prevail upon the Centre against the state governments move to relocate the capital.

When I sit in the CMs chair, I have to think like a father. There are no drains, roads and other infrastructure in Amaravati region and we need to spend Rs 2 crore per acre for creating the infrastructure. Whats the benefit if we spend Rs one lakh crore on a region where nothing tangible could be seen, Jagan asked the farmers.

It would rather be prudent to spend 10 per cent of that amount in developing Visakhapatnam, which would be the executive capital of the state, the Chief Minister added.

He, however, sought to assure the farmers that Amaravati would continue to be the legislative capital while Kurnool would be the judicial capital.

That way, justice will be done to all three regions (Rayalaseema, north-coastal Andhra and coastal Andhra) of the state. No injustice is being done to anyone, Jagan asserted, seeking to mollify farmers of Amaravati who have been agitating for over 40 days against the move to relocate the capital.

Interestingly, the farmers who were taken to the Chief Minister by local MLA A R K Reddy were indeed known YSR Congress supporters and had refused to part with their lands for the capital development during the previous regime.

The farmers alleged the previous government used various coercive tactics to make them fall in line and some farmers gave in.

Now, there is no work for hundreds of farmhands, who hitherto used to earn at least Rs 400-500 a day, they said.

They wanted the government to withdraw the notification for land acquisition in Undavalli, Penumaka, Nidamarru and Tadepalli and also disband the Capital Region Development Authority.

In a press release, the Chief Minister promised the farmers that developmental works would be taken up in the villages in the next 2-3 months.

Along with Tadepalli and Mangalagiri municipalities, developmental works will be taken up in these villages as well. Suggest two or three major works per village so that they can be taken up on priority, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin Yulia Savitri (The Jakarta Post) Palembang  Tue, February 4, 2020 19:46 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20628c36e 1 National coronavirus,students,South-Sumatra,Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia Free

Indonesian university students who returned from China amid the coronavirus outbreak thought they could rest easy once they arrived in South Sumatra on Saturday.

However, the students, instead of receiving a warm welcome at home, were met with suspicion and outright paranoia among locals, some of whom were not convinced that they were completely free of the deadly virus.

Adam Amrismafasyah, a 19-year-old Jiangsu Normal University student from Muaraenim regency, said the locals had been treating him differently ever since he returned from China.

Some of my neighbors have steered clear of me, others asked me upfront whether I had been thoroughly examined and whether I was completely free of the coronavirus, Adam told The Jakarta Post in a phone interview on Tuesday.

He said the situation grew even more uncomfortable after health officials paid him a visit at his home. The officials were just doing their job, as they were ordered to examine Adam on a daily basis to determine whether he was exhibiting any symptoms of the coronavirus. However, such visits quickly became a nuisance because they attracted a crowd, Adam said.

[The neighbors] peeked inside the house because theyre curious. It made me uncomfortable, he said.

Adam said he had noticed people reacting negatively to him and his colleagues as they were having lunch at a local restaurant. He said some of the patrons left the restaurant shortly after they arrived.

He said such an attitude was frustrating, especially considering the fact that his university was located in Xuzhou, Jiangsou province  approximately 676 kilometers from the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province. Furthermore, he also explained that he had been declared free of the virus after a thermal scan prior to his arrival in his hometown.

Despite his frustration, however, Adam said he fully understood why the locals would scrutinize him as there were fears of the coronavirus spreading to Indonesia. He said he had complied with established safety procedures to alleviate public concerns by wearing a mask, which he must do for 14 days, and limiting outdoor activities.

I think Id do the same thing if I was in their position, he said, adding that he would still have to wait and see whether his university in Jiangsou would be open once his semester break ends in March.

Another student, Annisa Sekar Ayu Utami, 18, a student of Changchun University in Jilin city, Jilin province, got the same treatment. She said as quoted by kompas.com that when her friends learned about her return to Palembang, South Sumatra, they posted negative comments on her social media account.

"When I attended a family gathering in Palembang, they stayed away from me," said Annisa.

The South Sumatra Health Agencys head of surveillance, Yusri, said nine students who returned from China were immediately examined upon arrival on Saturday. They were then instructed to report their health on a daily basis throughout the 14-day incubation period, he said.

There were nine students returning from China who switched flights in Singapore. Two of them are from Muaraenim, two from Prabumulih, four from Palembang and one from Ogan Komering Ilir regency. We have made sure that none of them are from Wuhan, Yusri said. (rfa)
SACRAMENTO, Calif.  A man plead guilty after authorities said he was found distributing marijuana to customers through the darkweb.

On Monday, 29-year-old Eric Friccero pleaded guilty with an intent to sell drugs.

According to the Department of Justice, Friccero operated under the BudgetBudsExpress and distributed marijuana through the darkweb.

Back in January, the Northern California Illicit Digital Economy Task Force searched the 29-year olds home. Inside, NCIDE located the sales on the darkweb, along with bitcoin and cash.

A hearing for Friccero is set for Aug. 17. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
Josep Borrell calls for direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, who have rejected US presidents vision.

The European Union has rejected parts of the proposed US plan for the Middle East, saying it broke with internationally agreed parameters, and any Israeli annexation of Palestinian land would be subject to challenge.

President Donald Trumps plan, announced last week, was welcomed by Israel and rejected outright by the Palestinians.

It would give Israel most of what it has sought during decades of conflict, including nearly all Palestinian land on which it has built settlements.

The EU, which often takes time to respond to international developments because of a need for unanimity among its 27 members, had said last week that it needed to study the Trump plan before it would give its verdict.

It made its conclusions public on Tuesday in a statement from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

To build a just and lasting peace, the unresolved final status issues must be decided through direct negotiations between both parties, Borrell said, noting the issues of the borders of a Palestinian state and the final status of Jerusalem were among those still in dispute.

The US initiative, as presented on 28 January, departs from these internationally agreed parameters, Borrell said.

Steps by Israel to annex Palestinian territory, if implemented, could not pass unchallenged, Borrell said.

EU policy in the Middle East tends to be cautious, as the bloc includes members with varying degrees of sympathy towards the Palestinians and Israel.

Some EU members have already recognised a Palestinian state, although the bloc as a whole says this is a matter to be resolved in peace talks.

The EU condemned Trumps decision in 2017 to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital, saying Washington had compromised its position as a mediator for peace.

EU governments reject Israeli settlements on land Israel has occupied since a 1967 war, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, and Borrell reiterated that position.

Germany, the EUs most powerful player, earlier called for a balanced approach.

Only a negotiated two-state solution, acceptable to both sides, can lead to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.

The United Kingdom, which left the EU on Friday and has long had a special relationship with Washington, gave the warmest reaction.

This is clearly a serious proposal, reflecting extensive time and effort, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.

On Monday, the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) rejected Trumps plan, as it called on all member countries not to engage with this plan or to cooperate with the US administration in implementing it in any form.

Palestinian leaders have denounced the plan as a new Balfour Declaration that heavily favoured Israel and would deny them a viable independent state.
Hubei : The death toll from coronavirus in China's Hubei province rose to 426 on Tuesday, RT reported citing Chinese state TV. The confirmed cases of coronavirus in China have now surged past 20,000.

The virus was diagnosed first in December in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and has spread to most parts of the world. As the virus spread, Beijing faced global isolation with neighboring countries like North Korea Russia, Mongolia closing its borders with China.

China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year.

Health authorities around the world are taking action to prevent a global pandemic as the virus continues to spread, with cases reported in Australia, France, the United States and seven Asian countries besides China.

The US, Australia, and Singapore have temporarily shut their doors to non-citizens who have recently traveled to China. Vietnam has also barred all flights to and from China.
Gardai are planning to mount targeted high-visibility evening foot and bike patrols in Cork city centre to enhance public safety.

They have also increased the number of inspections of licensed premises in the city as part of a nationwide assault reduction strategy.

Details of the new policing measures were announced by Chief Superintendent Barry McPolin during a meeting of the Cork City Joint Policing Committee (JPC) yesterday, which heard that, despite a recent spike in serious violent crime, there was a 13% fall in reported assaults in the Cork city garda division during the Christmas period compared to the same period last year.

JPC members were told that, during a special operation called Open City, the number of reported assaults in the division between December 15 2019, and January 6, 2020, dropped eight, from 62 to 54, compared to the same period last year,

A breakdown shows the number of reported minor assaults dropped from 18 to 12, while the number of reported assaults causing harm dropped from 44 to 42.

Chief Supt McPolin said that, since January, 12 gardai have been allocated to the division  eight probationer gardai and four gardai who have been transferred.

These additional gardai will be allocated straight into frontline policing, said Chief Supt McPolin.

And, pending the allocation of new gardai expected this month, he said he hopes to deploy the additional resources to continue on from the success of operation Open City.

We will have a high visibility presence who will be working on foot patrol and mountain bike patrol during the evenings when we are seeing a spike in our assaults, public order, and robbery incidents, he said.

The JPC also discussed the surge in violent crime in the city in recent weeks.

Chief Supt McPolin insisted that the citys streets are safe, and said that while each of these recent incidents is very serious, and some involved unprecedented levels of violence, none are linked and were an unfortunate spike in violent crime.

Paying tribute to detectives working in the serious crime investigation unit under Det Supt Michael Comyns, he said significant progress has been made in all the serious cases.

A woman has been charged with murder following the death last July of toddler Santina Cawley; two people have been charged arising out of the murder probe into the death of Paul Jones on Bandon Rd last September; a file is being prepared for the DPP after two people were arrested following the beating to death of homeless man Timmy Hourihane last October; a man has been arrested and a file is being prepared for the DPP following the death last October of James Duncan following an assault a month earlier on St Patricks St; gardai investigating the murder of homeless man Frankie Dunne last December have travelled to Romania to take one of numerous statements, and the investigation is progressing well; and a juvenile has been charged with murder following the fatal stabbing of Cameron Blair last month.
This next car comes as a tip from Erik202 who writes: I am a huge fan of Group 2, Group A, DTM and silhouette cars in general and one of my favourite stories from that era has to be the TWR Rover SD1s. Im not sure I have strong enough feelings about this particular rover to pay what Im sure are ridiculous shipping costs but if they ever had a deal for free shipping on black friday or something i just might be tempted to live out my DTM fantasies. Find this 1985 Rover SD1 2600 Van den Plas offered for $13,600 via Hemmings.com located in Waalwijk, Netherlands.

From the seller:

Location: Waalwijk, NETHERLANDS

Mileage: 30,378

Transmission: Manual

Condition: Good

Exterior: Blue

Interior: Grey Cloth





Sellers Description:

Rover 2600 Van den Plas 1985 Nice condition









This beautiful Rover 2600 Van den Plas (SD1) is finished in a light blue metallic paint with a grey cloth interior. The Rover was built in 1985 and is equipped with a 2597cc 6-cylinder engine and a manual gearbox. This spacious 5-seater is easy and very comfortable to ride. Given the state of the Rover, the mileage reading of 30,378 km seems plausible. This 2600 Van den Plas is equipped with a sliding roof, leather steering wheel, electric window controls and light-alloy wheels. Both optically and technically this Rover 2600 is in very good condition and is ready for the next enthusiast!





For US customers:





Our cars can be picked up from our New Jersey warehouse (Linden, NJ) from Monday till Saturday.





Price for shipping a car from The Netherlands to our New Jersey warehouse is USD 1800. This price excludes 3% import duties and excludes shipping from NJ to your home address.





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The National Institute of Design (NID) here in Gujarat has postponed its annual convocation ceremony scheduled on February 7, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vocal critic and noted danseuse Mallika Sarabhai was invited as the chief guest, due to "unforeseen circumstances".

Sarabhai had also criticised the BJP government over the new citizenship law.

The new date for the convocation will be decided soon, an NID official said.

When asked about the invitation extended to Sarabhai for the event, an official told PTI on Tuesday: "Some people were selected as probable chief guests on the suggestions of various people, and the final decision was taken on the basis of their availability on given dates".

Earlier, in its communication to the graduating students, the NID stated: "On behalf of the Governing Council of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, we deeply regret to inform you that the 40th convocation scheduled on Friday, February 7, 2020, stands postponed due to unforeseen circumstance".

The official said the decision was taken by the governing council of the institute.

The governing council comprises senior officials of the Union Ministries of Commerce and Industry, Human Resources Development, and Electronics and IT among its members.

Explaining the decision to put off the event, the official said a lot of preparations had gone into organising the convocation.

"There are some unforeseen circumstances. The institute continues to remain in a preparatory mode as it (new dates) can be announced any time soon," he said.

Sarabhai, daughter of noted dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and space scientist Vikram Sarabhai, has been a vocal critic of PM Modi since he was the chief minister of Gujarat.

She had unsuccessfully contested the the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Gandhinagar seat as an Independent against BJP leader L K Advani.

Sarabhai had also joined protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The NID is an autonomous institute under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

It has branches inGandhinagar and Bengaluru.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On Tuesday, in the morning, at Parliament House, Brisbane, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey attended the Cancer Council Queensland morning tea to mark 20 years of World Cancer Day, and the Governor addressed guests.

In the afternoon, at the Electoral Commission Warehouse, Coopers Plains, His Excellency received a briefing from the Electoral Commissioner of Queensland and Electoral Commission of Queensland representatives.
Robbins LLP Is Investigating the Officers and Directors of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. (SPR) on Behalf of Shareholders

Shareholder rights law firm Robbins LLP is investigating whether certain officers and directors of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPR) breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders. Spirit designs, manufactures, and supplies commercial aero structures in the United States and internationally and is the biggest supplier in the Boeing (News - Alert) Co. 737 MAX program.

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204006055/en/
Bigg Boss 13: Himanshi Khurrana Will Not Date Asim If His Family Disapproves, Says Main Waisi Ladki Nahi Hun"
The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (SFOD-D) unit, otherwise known as Delta Force, is a highly selective, extremely secretive unit under the Joint Special Operations Command.

Since its inception in 1977, it has been involved in several high-profile and high-risk operations, like the 1993 mission in Somalia that inspired the movie "Black Hawk Down," as well as classified operations the public will likely never know about.

Here's what is publicly known about Delta Force.

1. Delta Force is the Army's secretive, elite special operations group. Along with the Navy SEALs, it is the most highly trained special operations force in the US military and the world.

Graduates of one of Delta Forces Operator Training Courses in 1978. Blue Light would be disestablished that same year (US Army)

Delta Force, headquartered at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, draws candidates from throughout the military, including the Coast Guard and National Guard, but mostly selects from the Army. Many of the operators likely come from the Army Rangers and the Green Berets.

The classified group was established in 1977 by Col. Charlie A. Beckwith, who wrote a memoir about founding the elite group called "Delta Force," according to We Are The Mighty.

Beckwith saw the need for a force that could mobilize quickly to fight unconventional threats  a force like the British Special Air Service, with which he served as an exchange officer in 1962.

2. Delta Force's operations are often secret, but we do know that the unit was involved in the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a video released in April 2019. (Reuters)

Delta Force was famously involved in the 1993 operation to capture Somali militia leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid in Mogadishu and the subsequent effort to rescue Army pilot Michael Durant after his helicopter crashed during the mission.

Five Delta operators were killed in that incident, as well as 14 other US troops. Several hundred Somali fighters and civilians were also killed.

Delta was also involved in a failed effort to retrieve hostages from the US Embassy in Iran in 1980.

Delta Force has been heavily involved in the war in Afghanistan and both Iraq wars and was instrumental in capturing Saddam Hussein.

Delta pulled out of Iraq when US forces there left in 2011, but it has been a consistent presence in the fight against ISIS in the country, Wesley Morgan wrote in The Washington Post in 2015.

Delta Force had close ties with the Iraqi Kurds who were fighting ISIS and operated in Syria, including killing high-ranking ISIS leader Abu Sayyaf there in 2015, Morgan wrote.

3. There were approximately 1,200 Delta Force operators as of 2017.

Delta Force operators in Afghanistan, their faces obscured to protect their privacy. (Courtesy of Dalton Fury.)

Source: Insider

4. Delta Force, also called The Unit or Task Force Green, is a counter-terrorism Special Missions Unit under Joint Special Operations Command, or JSOC.

Col. Charles Beckwith, who started Delta Force. (Bettmann via Getty Images)

The military doesn't officially acknowledge Delta Force, but its existence is well known. Many of its operations are classified and will likely never be known to the public.

In addition to physical qualifications, Delta Force operators must be psychologically fit to conduct grueling operations.

After recruits pass the physical and psychological portions of the assessment, they are taught skills like marksmanship and covert trade craft  CIA tactics like dead drops and other espionage methods  during a six-month Operator Training Course, former operator Eric Haney says in his book, "Inside Delta Force."

More From Business Insider:
New adventures in silicone. Credit: David Anderson, CC BY-SA

It's easy to spot someone wearing a mask, right? Well, new research suggests that it can be much harder than you think.

Masks are a great way to help actors get into character and scare young children at Halloween. Unfortunately, they can also help criminals to commit identity fraud. Hyper-realistic silicone masks of the kind that get torn off in Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible movies are being are being used to commit identity crimes.

These masks are incredibly detailed, complete with hair, freckles and wrinkles. They cover the head and chest of the wearer, and include holes for the eyes and mouth which blend seamlessly with the wearer's skin to create a lifelike appearance.

There have been a number of prominent cases of people successfully using these masks to fool others. In 2010, CNN reported that an Asian man in his twenties passed through Hong Kong Passport Control undetected, despite wearing a mask that disguised him as an elderly white man which resembled the individual in his stolen passport. He was only detected when a fellow traveler noticed that he had removed the mask during his flight to Canada. The mask wearer was apprehended by the police on landing.

In 2016, in a widely reported story, an African American man was arrested after being identified from CCTV as the assailant in a bank robbery. It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity, however. It later transpired that the bank robber was in fact a white man wearing a mask. The true perpetrator was only caught when his girlfriend phoned the police to say that she had found a hyper-realistic mask and a bag of money in his closet, after which the police finally put two and two together.

More recently, in 2019, the BBC ran a report entitled, "The fake French minister in a silicone mask who stole millions". Here, identity fraudsters used a hyper-realistic mask to mimic France's minister of defense, Jean-Yves Le Drian, as they sought money from people in a hostage scam. It was estimated that the scheme defrauded individuals of around 70 million. The suspect was only rumbled after a linguistic slip of the tongue in which he used the word "vous" rather than "tu" during a conversation.

Nothing to see here? Credit: Jenkins et al

Research findings

These real-world cases show that hyper-realistic silicone masks are believable enough to provide a viable route to identity fraud. But perhaps these fraudsters just got lucky. Perhaps hyper-realistic masks are usually much harder to get away with. Rob Jenkins research group and Mike Burton's FaceVar lab from the University of York, set out to address this question. Across several studies, they showed that detecting people wearing hyper-realistic masks in photographs and from memory was indeed extremely difficult.

But what about up close in a real-world border control context? In new research published in the academic journal Perception, Jenkins and his team created a mock airport border control scenario during a public engagement event at the London Science Museum, which included a "traveler" wearing a hyper-realistic mask. Members of the public were asked a series of graded questions to assess whether they had detected that the individual sitting just two meters in front of them was wearing a mask.

The findings showed that only 13% of participants detected the mask straight away. Of the remaining participants, only 11% reported that they had detected the mask when presented with a series of questions, one of which asked if they thought the traveler was wearing a disguise.

Finally, at the end of the test, participants were told about hyper-realistic mask fraud and asked explicitly whether or not the traveler was wearing such a mask. Remarkable, 10% of participants still failed to detect that the individual in front of them was wearing a mask.

It was remarkable that mask detection rates were so low. And interestingly, even those participants who did detect the mask after being asked explicitly, provided nuanced reasons for their decisions. That is, rather than all of a sudden realizing "ah yes, this is quite obviously a mask!", they reported things like "well, the hairline doesn't look quite right", or '"there is a lack of expression".

Our study will add to concerns that these masks are a route to identity fraud. The task now is to find ways to improve people's rates of detecting when someone is wearing a mask. Some people are much better than others at distinguishing masks from real faces. That opens the door to personnel selection and training.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kokrajhar in Assam, on February 7, to participate in the celebrations over the recently signed Bodo Agreement.

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to address the gathering to hail the historic Bodo Agreement signed in January this year.

More than 4,00,000 people from the BTAD (Bodoland Territorial Area Districts) districts - Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri and Chirang and all over Assam will attend the event which includes a cultural programme of ethnic groups of the state.

As per the agreement signed in New Delhi on January 27, nearly 1615 cadres of different factions of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) surrendered their arms and joined the mainstream within two days of the signing of the agreement.

A special package of Rs 1500 crore has been earmarked for the development of the region.
Legislation seeking to transform British farming after the Brexit transition period has passed its second reading in the House of Commons.

The Agriculture Bill, first introduced to Parliament on 16 January, has moved a significant step forward, and will now enter the committee stage.

It passed the second reading last night (3 February) as MPs voted against an amendment to the Bill, tabled by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The amendment said the legislation 'fails to to provide controls on imported agricultural goods, such as chlorinated chicken, and does not guarantee the environmental, animal welfare and food safety standards which will apply'.

It was voted against by 320 to 206.

MPs have voted against an amendment to the Agriculture Bill, tabled by the Leader of the Labour Party @JeremyCorbyn.

It was voted against by 320 to 206.

The Bill has passed its second reading. pic.twitter.com/EDKvAId3bk  UK House of Commons (@HouseofCommons) February 3, 2020

Defra Secretary Theresa Villiers opened the session with a speech setting out how the Bill will help safeguard nature in England.

She said it will protect the countryside, with the future Environmental Land Management scheme already being tested and trialled with farmers.

For farmers, it will signal that the Common Agricultural Policy is on the way out, to be replaced by a better system of public money for public goods.

I look forward to working with parliamentary colleagues to progress this Bill and write our new agricultural legislation into law, she said.

The Agriculture Bill will replace the EUs Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) with a system where farmers are rewarded with public money for public goods.

This includes payments for cleaner air and water or improved animal welfare standards.

At the same time, it seeks to boost productivity and maximise the potential of land for sustainable food production.

The legislation will now go to the committee stage, with report stage and third reading following this, before transferring to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.

Committee stage is where detailed examination of the Bill takes place. It usually starts within a couple of weeks of a Bills second reading, although this is not guaranteed.
Hawaiis journey provides lessons for many aspects of energy system innovation, which other jurisdictions can benefit from said Dan Cross-Call, principal at RMI.

Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) today released its new report Powering Paradise: How Hawaii Is Leaving Fossil Fuels and Forging a Path to a 100 Percent Clean Energy Economy. The report provides a comprehensive review of Hawaiis clean energy journey, exploring the various elements which have come together to make this possible.

In 2015, Hawaii was the first US state to proclaim a 100 percent renewable energy target. Since then, 14 other states, over 110 cities, and at least 19 utilities have followed suit to set 100 percent clean or renewable energy goals. These and other jurisdictions can learn from Hawaiis relentless pursuit of innovation as they develop strategies to make their own energy targets a reality.

People refer to Hawaii as the postcard from the future because the state is confronting grid transformation issues sooner and is leading on pioneering approaches to the energy transition, from how the electricity system is planned, to how energy resources are procured and managed, to re-envisioning the role and business model of the utility, said Dan Cross-Call, principal at RMI and coauthor of the report. Hawaiis journey provides lessons for many aspects of energy system innovation, which other jurisdictions can benefit from.

Drawing on interviews with key stakeholders, RMIs first-hand experience working on the ground in Hawaii, and extensive research, the report distills lessons from Hawaiis experiences that are transferable to other U.S. utilities and energy professionals considering, or in the midst of, their own transition to a 21st century clean energy paradigm. These include:



A willingness to try  Hawaii is constantly pushing boundaries, without always having a clear script for where it will go. Others can learn from Hawaiis missteps, but should also be emboldened to take their own risks, assured that rapid feedback loops will accelerate rather than impede progress toward solutions.

Clear guidance from leadership  From the justification for the 100 percent renewable energy target, to the framing for the utility of the future and expectations for stakeholder engagement in regulatory proceedings, Hawaii demonstrates the importance of establishing reasoned, clear, and compelling intentions for the energy transition.

Stakeholder engagement  As it steps into the unknown across so many fronts, Hawaii has consistently crowdsourced invaluable wisdom from local stakeholders, as well as drawn upon national and international experience. Ensuring broad support for its actions has been critical for maintaining momentum and making progress toward targets that benefit everyone.

Hawaii is the paragon for the clean energy transition, and the working prototype for all others attempting the clean energy transition, said Jason Prince, manager at RMI and coauthor of the report. It's been lab, case story and an example of the relentless, collaborative effort that others can learn from and adapt to their own circumstances.

It is the state where deliberate leadership across legislative, regulatory, utility, and grassroots levels is steering market forces in the right direction to demonstrate that 100 percent targets are not merely aspirational, but practical and necessary.

RMI has written this report with the express aim of informing actors in other states so that they can develop and successfully execute against their own 100 percent renewable energy targets.

To download the report, visit https://rmi.org/insight/powering-paradise

Media Contact:

Nick Steel, Media Relations Manager

t: +1 347.574.0887 e: nsteel@rmi.org

Notes to Editors

About Rocky Mountain Institute

Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)  an independent nonprofit founded in 1982  transforms global energy use to create a clean, prosperous and secure low-carbon future. It engages businesses, communities, institutions and entrepreneurs to accelerate the adoption of market-based solutions that cost-effectively shift from fossil fuels to efficiency and renewables. RMI has offices in Basalt and Boulder, Colorado; New York City; the San Francisco Bay Area; Washington, D.C.; and Beijing.
Algeria is continuing to bring its historic diplomatic weight to bear on international attempts to stabilize Libya. However, despite Algeria's best efforts, the supply of international arms and fighters to Libya's warring parties continues apace, with the international community locked inside a venomous circle of accusation and counter-accusation.

After a period of relative absence, Algeria is keen to regain its role as a leader within the region's tangled political networks. Bolstered by the election of its new president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, in December, Algiers has been striving to reassert its presence in efforts to bring Libyas warring parties together and stem the growing presence of proxy forces massing beyond Algeria's eastern border.

From its experience as a French colony, through its brutal war for independence onward, Algeria has maintained a dogged fixation with the primacy of sovereignty and the dangers of intervention in other countrys affairs, concerns it has consistently seen ignored in Libya, from NATOs intervention in 2011 to the chaos of the present.

Algeria has a strong ideological commitment against any form of foreign interference in its own and in regional affairs, Riccardo Fabiani, North Africa Project director for the Crisis Group, told Al-Monitor. This is backed up by how badly foreign military interventions have gone over the past years, with 2011 in Libya being a strong example of the negative repercussions. This kind of event has only reinforced Algeria's perception that foreign states can only make the conflict worse by intervening directly.

Inevitably, Algeria sharing a long border with Libya, the thinking in Algiers is that an intensification in the war in Libya will have repercussions on its domestic security as well, Fabiani said.

By almost any measure, Algerias efforts to secure a political inter-Libyan deal free from foreign interference have not been a success. On Jan. 29, French President Emmanuel Macron angrily accused Turkey of deploying its allied militias from Syria, along with warships, to the region in support of the embattled UN-backed government in Tripoli, without mentioning a larger deployment of arms that had been made to eastern Libya by other nations. Ankara maintains that its warships are present to support NATO operations within the Mediterranean and are anchored within international waters. Qatar and Italy are also supporting the government in Tripoli, though to a lesser degree.

In the east, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Sudanese and Chadian fighters and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group are all backing the anti-government so-called Libyan National Army, with limited support alleged to be coming from France.

The embargo on international arms supplies to Libyas warring parties, which was reasserted in Berlin in mid-January, is unraveling, and the strength of the international proxy forces continues to grow.

However, despite increased fighting, Algeria does seem to be making some headway. In the wake of the Berlin conference, Algeria assembled the foreign ministers of Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Chad, Mali and Niger to attempt to hammer out some kind of regional consensus. Morocco did not attend. Most recently, Algeria suggested to the African Union that it should play host to a forum of national reconciliation that would at least explore the possibility of compromise between the Libyan factions.

However, although Algeria appears to have arrived at the party, it does so in a weakened condition. Algerias attempts to establish any kind of consensus are inevitably hampered by its own regional rivalries. First, there is Algeria's competition with its longstanding foe, Morocco, which assumed a leading role in 2015 by proving instrumental in founding the Skhirat Agreement that led to the establishment of the UN government in Tripoli. Second, there is Algeria's rivalry with Egypt, which has been supporting the eastern forces within Libya and gas been a longstanding competitor of Algeria for regional dominance.

Domestically too, Algeria arrives enfeebled. Years of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflikas infirmity saw the country lose much of the diplomatic heft it had previously exerted over the region. This and the massive protests that engulfed the country in 2019 and effectively drew much of Algeria to a standstill did little to help Algiers' foreign policy focus.

However, beyond the short term, more fundamental problems apply. Algeria has always enjoyed significant international diplomatic respect, Willam Lawrence, who teaches political science and international affairs at American Universitys School of International Service in Washington, told Al-Monitor. Algerians were leaders in the postcolonial nonaligned movement and helped end wars and release hostages." Lawrence said Algerians served as the right-hand men of Kofi Annan when he was UN secretary-general. Lawrence added, "When I used to visit the UN, it seemed every other office had an Algerian in it. Algerian diplomats have always been known for their capacity to analyze a situation and for their access to back channels.

However, Lawrence said, the exodus of some of the countrys best and brightest during the carnage of Algerias civil war in the 1990s created a sort of hourglass shape within Algerias bureaucracies, including its Foreign Ministry, where you have the older generation providing leadership at the top, and a younger group of  enthusiasts below. However, the middle group, who might normally effectively enact policy, are relatively thin on the ground. He said this gap extended to almost every strata of Algerian public life, from the army to industry.

Right now, Algeria's priorities need to be to restore coordination on Libya with Morocco and Egypt, which will allow it to play the regional role they need to before they can play a more effective international one, Lawrence continued. Essentially, theyll need to do what theyre good at, bringing people to the table."

Nearly every external player in the Libyan conflict has chosen sides at some point. Only Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia have remained assiduously neutral. This gives Algeria a better position to influence the outcome. Do they have the capacity to bring all sides together? Maybe not, he said, while adding that as everyone else involved in the current peace processes, from Germany to the UK, is politically weak right now, Algeria could still play a critical role.
TEHRAN  Iran said Tuesday that its top court confirmed a death sentence for an Iranian man convicted of spying for the CIA, with state media alleging that he had shared details of the Islamic Republics nuclear program with the American spy agency.

Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili identified the purported spy as Amir Rahimpour and said he would be executed soon. Esmaili did not elaborate on what Rahimpour was accused of doing, nor on his age or background.
For the second time in a year, a federal judge rejected a plaintiff attorneys argument that an insurance carrier acted in bad faith by using the Mitchell Decision Point program when calculating the value of a Colorado policyholders underinsured motorist claim.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Tafoya in Denver denied a motion that sought summary judgment in favor of plaintiff Austin Benson in a bad faith suit against Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Co.

Denver attorney Heather E. Hackett argued that Allstates use of the automated medical bill payment system known as Mitchell Decision Point violated the states collateral source rule. The statute requires insurers to pay the full cost of any covered medical treatment, before any discounts provided by insurance network agreements are granted, and without deducting payments from other insurers.

Judge Tafoya said in her decision that just because the Mitchell program may produce data that is inadmissible in court, that doesnt necessarily mean it cannot be used at all.

Plaintiff has provided no evidence from which the court could conclude that the use of MDP software as part of the evaluation process engaged in by Allstate adjusters is per se unreasonable, especially given the testimonial evidence that use of MDP was only a part of the overall process, she said in an opinion issued Monday.

Benson suffered injuries to his spine, head, neck and left shoulder during an April 2015 single-vehicle car accident. He was driving his friend Jocelyn Thomas car on Highway 15 in Clarke County, Nevada, when Thomas unexpectedly leaned over him and jostled the steering wheel, causing the vehicle to run off the road.

Allstate insured both Thomas and Benson separately under a policy issued to his father. The carrier paid $50,000, the maximum limits of Thomas policy, but Benson claimed that did not cover the full extent of his losses. He filed an underinsured motorist claim under his fathers policy with Allstate, which he says has a limit of $100,000.

Allstate initially offered to settle the claim for $10,000. After Benson submitted $57,970.21 in medical bills, an Allstate claims adjuster determined that only $25,501 of those charges were reasonable and customary, according to Bensons civil complaint. Whats more, the adjuster deducted $10,000 in Medical Payment Benefits Law payments that Benson had received. An Allstate attorney later agreed to remove that deduction.

Benson refused to accept the $20,000 final offer and filed suit, claiming he was entitled to not only the $100,000 policy limits but also an additional $200,000 in punitive damages for the unreasonable delay in paying the claim.

During discovery, Bensons attorneys asked Allstate to reveal how the Mitchell Decision Point program works. The insurer refused. In August, Hackett filed a motion for summary judgment.

The motion says that Allstates adjuster testified that she did now know how the Decision Point program arrived at different amounts than the medical bills that were submitted.

Reliance on other undisclosed information to ignore the billed amount of medical bills in order to devalue an insureds claim is unreasonable on its face as it directly contradicts controlling Colorado law, the motion states.

Judge Tafoya found that the case isnt so clear cut. She said the facts are in dispute, as to whether Allstate based its decision to deny the claim on the Mitchell software or reached it after a fair review of the entire claim file. Moreover, the question of whether an insurers decisions are reasonable involves both questions of law and fact, Tafoya said.

Ultimately, the jury must determine whether Allstates methodology for evaluating plaintiffs injuries and required medical care was reasonable, including its use of the MDP software program, the opinion states. This central factual dispute cannot be resolved on summary judgment.

Chief District Judge Marcia S. Krieger heard a similar argument in a case decided last April. In that case, plaintiff Linda Murway argued that Allstate had acted in bad faith by using Mitchell Design Point when calculating its settlement offer.

Even though a jury awarded Murway the entire $250,000 limit of her policy, Murway filed a separate bad-faith action after the case was resolved.

Judge Krieger ruled that Murways claim had already been decided in the first action and she could not have a second bite of the apple.

Topics Carriers Legislation
The two countries' delegations agreed to speed work on the free trade agreement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says trade between Ukraine and Turkey should grow to US$10 billion.

"We have a very ambitious goal of raising bilateral trade to US$10 billion. We have agreed to give a boost to our representatives working on the text of a free trade agreement (FTA)," he said after the 8th session of the High Level Strategic Council between Ukraine and Turkey chaired jointly with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Read alsoZelensky sees investment as most promising area of Ukraine-Turkey partnership

"Delegations of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation will receive a corresponding signal as well," he said.

Zelensky also noted that the parties had agreed to strengthen cooperation in trade, economic and investment spheres.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine and Turkey in March 2016 resumed negotiations on a free trade area, which were suspended in 2013. In November 2018, Turkish President Erdogan said that the work on signing the FTA with Ukraine should be completed before the end of that year. "We believe we will be able to achieve our goal due to this agreement  a trade balance of US$10 billion," he said.

In 2018, trade between the two countries amounted to about US$4 billion.
A push to ban cash payments of $10,000 or more could hurt small businesses and bushfire victims, a consumer group claims.

The Australian Government framed the legislation as a way to crack down on tax evasion and the black market, but experts say the controversial Cash Ban Bill could harm people in bushfire affected communities.

Under the proposed legislation, cash transactions of more than $10,000 would carry a fine of up to $25,500 and two years' jail.

While the restrictions were softened to allow citizens to pay for car using large amounts of cash, the Australian Taxpayers' Alliance (ATA) slammed the Bill urging the senate to vote 'no'.

Locals line up outside an IGA supermarket in Batemans Bay in the hope of stocking up on supplies

'Many Australians still use cash and wish to continue using this legal tender for their privacy and security,' it said.

'Look at the bushfire crisis and the thousands of Australians forced to use cash during a natural disaster.'

EXPLAINED: THE $10,000 CASH PAYMENT BAN Australians will be banned from paying companies than $10,000 in cash for goods and services, under the proposed law. The bill would force people to use electronic transactions (or cheques) instead of cash. If they don't, people could face fines of up to $25,200 or a two year jail sentence. The Bill has been introduced to the Senate. The measure was proposed by the Black Economy Task Force in 2019. Advertisement

The statement comes after evacuees on the New South Wales South Coast were forced to steal from petrol stations and convenience stores after a series of devastating bushfires caused power outages, rendering ATMs useless.

People were also filling up their cars at petrol stations and driving off without paying, as they had no cash to spend.

Sue Mazzuoli, a shopkeeper from Sussex Inlet on the state's South Coast, said her town had turned into 'chaos' as holidaying families were taking up resources that locals desperately needed.

'They were stealing from the supermarket because they had to feed the family and they had no money,' Ms Mazzuoli previously told A Current Affair.

'You can't access petrol, gas ran out, chaos at the supermarket.'

In a petrol station in Batemans Bay, drivers were forced to wait hours until they could receive fuel only to find out the ATMs were down.

In a petrol station in Batemans Bay, drivers were forced to wait hours until they could receive fuel only to find out the ATMs were down in January

Many residents on the NSW South Coast were stealing food off the shelves of supermarkets as a power outage caused ATMs to break down

Motorists at a petrol station in Bermagui were forced to queue for four hours as they waited for a generator to drive the fuel pumps.

'I feel like I'm a refugee in my own country,' one resident told 7 News.

The ATA also said the cash ban would harm small businesses, give more power to corporate banks, and would fail to restrict any criminal activities.

'Law-abiding citizens, not lawless criminals, obey laws.'

'Experts in Europe have proven restrictions on cash fail to impact money laundering, tax evasion, and terrorism. This bill would cost Australians dearly without addressing the problems it claims to fix.'

he ATA also said the cash ban would harm small businesses, give more power to corporate banks, and would fail to restrict any criminal activities (stock image)

'Ordinary Australians attempting to contribute to the economy through legal means will face the consequences should this bill become law.'

Since the Federal Government first announced the proposed law during the 2018-19 budget, critics have openly slammed the idea.

Professional accounting body CPA Australia general manager external affairs Paul Drum feared innocent people would be unfairly caught up in a system designed to crack down on criminals.

'To link all large cash transactions to criminality is a step too far,' he told the ABC.

Economist John Adams claimed the proposal was an attack on civil liberties and rued the idea of giving banks more control.

The Bill has been introduced to the Senate and is making its way through Parliament.


Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs of Qatar, Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Attiyah here on Tuesday.

"Held fruitful talks with Deputy Prime Minister & MoS Defence Affairs of Qatar, Dr. Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Attiyah. Several subjects pertaining to deepening bilateral defence cooperation were discussed. Today's discussions will add new vigour to India-Qatar Defence relations," Defence Minister tweeted.

The Qatari Minister was earlier given a guard of honour.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Brazil's Health Minister said on Monday that the country will increase the alert level to the maximum, after the government started to plan the evacuation of Brazilian citizens from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the new coronavirus originated.

Luiz Henrique Mandetta said Brazil had no confirmed cases of the new virus, but needed to raise the alert as part of efforts to speed up the evacuation.

Health authorities in Brazil confirmed they were currently monitoring 14 suspected cases in the country.
Prior to joining MS Amlin, Ho held several broking and underwriting roles in various firms, such as Hardy Underwriting, Faraday Reinsurance Company, and Alwen Hough Johnson.

Since joining MS Amlin, Will has been an integral part of the reinsurance senior leadership team, originally in London and more recently in Singapore, said Tom Clementi, CEO of MS Amlin Underwriting Ltd. Will has a wealth of experience that will be invaluable to the business going forwards.

Simon Clarke has been at MS Amlin for the last 10 years and has led our business in Asia over that period with distinction. I would like to thank Simon personally for his energy and dedication to the business and wish him the very best for the future.
St. Barnabas School, 10121 S. Longwood Drive, was closed Tuesday after the students and a handful of staff had cold and flu-like symptoms, according to Susan Thomas, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Chicago. School administrators made the decision to cancel classes preemptively late Monday.
BEIJING  Masked men in hazmat suits came in the night and knocked on Fang Bin's door in Wuhan, China, demanding to put him in quarantine.

"You went to such a dangerous place, couldn't you have been infected?" one of them asked.

"What if your sickness spreads to others?"

Fang grew suspicious. He wasn't sick, and none of them was a doctor.

"My temperature is normal," he argued. "Come back with an inspection warrant."

They broke into his home, confiscated his electronic devices and took him away  not to a hospital, but to a police station. Such was the perilous turn for a clothes seller who enlisted as a "citizen journalist" to report on his nation's secrecy and mishandling of the coronavirus epidemic that has killed at least 360 and infected more than 17,300.

Fang was interrogated about videos he'd posted online, including one in which he spotted eight corpses within five minutes, at public hospitals in Wuhan, the center of an outbreak that has now surpassed China's death toll during the SARS crisis in 2002-03.

"There wasn't a single doctor" who interviewed me, Fang said in a phone interview Sunday. "They were all police."

He said authorities accused him of receiving money from foreign organizations to make online videos, and ordered him to stop posting "rumors" that would "spread panic" online. Fang's videos were potent: In one he counted several body bags outside a hospital, then went into a room where a man was gasping and sobbing as doctors spoke over a patient who had apparently just died:

"It's over. It's over," a voice says.

"Who is he to you?" Fang asked the man.

"My father," the man cried.

As the new strain of coronavirus that originated in China spreads across the world, authorities are cracking down on Chinese activists' attempts to investigate the severity of the outbreak. At least 254 Chinese citizens have been detained, fined or otherwise punished by authorities for "spreading rumors" about the coronavirus crisis so far, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a nonprofit coalition that tracks human rights in China.

China's inability to contain the virus in the early days of the outbreak has embarrassed it abroad and ignited a backlash at home as President Xi Jinping tries to calm panic at a time he is consolidating his power. Beijing has attempted to present a face of simultaneous transparency and control, urging foreign diplomats not to evacuate their citizens, and uncharacteristically allowing domestic media a modicum of freedom to report on the outbreak in the last two weeks.

Social media posts criticizing local government officials have been permitted to gather momentum, along with devastating stories of Wuhan and Hubei residents trying and failing to save family members' lives because of the government's failure to provide information, resources or access to medical facilities.

Harsh criticism has been directed at the local police decision to punish eight whistleblowers, including at least one doctor, who tried to alert the public about a contagious new virus on Jan. 1. They were detained briefly for "spreading rumors" and made to sign a promise that they would stop "making untrue comments" that "severely disturbed the social order."

One of them, Dr. Li Wenliang, was later diagnosed with coronavirus after treating patients at the frontline.

In an unusual admonishment of a government institution, China's Supreme People's Court reprimanded the Wuhan police last week in a WeChat post, saying the whistleblowers should not have been criticized. Li and the others have since been heralded as heroes online and by a high-ranking scientist.

"The coronavirus outbreak requires a swift and comprehensive response that respects human rights," said Yaqiu Wang, China researcher for Human Rights Watch, in a report on China's coronavirus response.

"Authorities should recognize that censorship only fuels public distrust, and instead encourage civil society engagement and media reporting on this public health crisis," Wang said.

But such openness runs contrary to the Communist Party's instincts for secrecy and top-down rule. In recent days, censorship and propaganda have again intensified. Doctors and nurses in Wuhan and other localities have reportedly been ordered to stop speaking to the press. Many of the social media posts from sick individuals or their family members have disappeared.

Foreign journalists have been forced to delete video filmed near hospitals and escorted away from affected areas. State news channels meanwhile broadcast stories celebrating China's fast construction of new hospitals, factories producing face masks to fill the shortage, and medical personnel holding hands with patients in hospital beds, singing patriotic songs to soothe them.

One of the most popular articles in more independent-leaning local media, a report by business publication Caijing about the "uncounted people" who had died without being tested or reported as potential coronavirus victims, was wiped off the Chinese internet on Monday.

Fang, who runs a traditional Chinese clothing shop in Wuhan, said he had decided to try "citizen journalism" because of a dearth of reliable information, especially for Wuhan residents stuck in their homes and afraid to go outside.

"I wanted to go and see what's actually happening. It's what any normal citizen should do," he said.

He put on a mask and a hanfu, the traditional outfit he usually sells, and ventured into ground zero.

Fang spent the morning visiting public hospitals in Wuhan and posting videos online. In a video filmed at one of Wuhan's hospitals, one of the designated locations for treating coronavirus patients, he counted eight corpses within five minutes, including bodies in bright yellow and orange bags.

"How can there be so many?" he said.

That night, the men in medical suits came to his door.

Fear spread across the community of Chinese civil society activists in Wuhan, many of whom have been organizing volunteer efforts to share medical supplies and donations from other "online friends" across the country who don't trust the official channels.

A group of them went to Fang's residential compound. Unsure of which building he was in, they shouted his name to the sky in the dark. There was no response.

Panicked, they began sharing videos of Fang's confrontation online  and as their posts went viral, the police questioners' tone changed, Fang said.

Around 12:30 a.m., the police let Fang go with just a warning, though they kept his computer. He found a bike, made his way home, and posted another video online, thanking the other activists and calling for more citizens to speak up.

"There's no use if you're afraid and you're begging. The more afraid you are, the more they'll act like this," he said. "Only if everyone stands up together  that's why I say our movement right now, all the people saving themselves, should become all the people saving one another.

"You're the ones who saved me," he said.



(c)2020 Los Angeles Times

Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.




SAN DIEGO - An African-American man fired from his TV talk show producer job at One America News Network was not harassed on the basis of racial prejudice, but was fired in part because he lodged his complaint, a California jury found.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SAN DIEGO - An African-American man fired from his TV talk show producer job at One America News Network was not harassed on the basis of racial prejudice, but was fired in part because he lodged his complaint, a California jury found.

The San Diego Superior Court jury on Monday awarded Jonathan Harris nearly $290,000 in damages, the Union-Tribune reported. The bulk of the award was for non-economic losses including pain and suffering.

The panel will reconvene Wednesday to decide whether to award Harris punitive damages.

Harris' lawsuit claimed he was harassed at work based on his race and because of his liberal political views, which clashed with OANs conservative bent, according to the newspaper.

The San Diego-based cable channel gained national prominence after President Donald Trump praised it, while critics have questioned its journalistic standards.

The lawsuit named Graham Ledger, the host of a talk show that Harris helped produce and Robert Herring Sr., OAN's founder and the CEO of its parent company, Herring Networks Inc.

Jurors decided Harris was not harassed or discriminated against because of his race. However, they did conclude that he had complained about race-based harassment and discrimination, and that those complaints helped motivate his firing.

The jury also found that the network failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment, or discrimination, or retaliation, the Union-Tribune reported Tuesday.

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In addition, the jury found that Ledger and the network engaged in conduct with malice, oppression or fraud toward Harris.

However, the attorney representing the defendants said that the jury had mistakenly answered that question on the jury form.

Attorney Patrick Nellies said that was because the panel  in an earlier question on the form  had already unanimously cleared the defendants, including Ledger, of harassing Harris on the basis of race.

Once they were cleared of that allegation, Nellies said, Ledger and Herring were no longer part of the lawsuit.

Because Mr. Ledger had already been exonerated on the harassment claim, it was legally impossible for the jury to find that he acted with malice, fraud, or oppression, Nellies said.

Harris attorney did not immediately respond to an email from the Union-Tribune for comment on the verdict.
Laois based music and arts festival Electric Picnic has launched a big 2020 ART CARAVAN competition.

Organisers are offering grants of up to 2,000 to people who want to create their own amazing caravan for Trailer Park, with eight passes per caravan to man it over the festival.

"Would you like to become a producer at Electric Picnic this year, building your own stage/area/installation and hosting it for the weekend? We are now on the hunt for creative teams to invent, design, build and host their own caravan or mobile structure at this years Electric Picnic. The most jaw-dropping and inspiring ideas will be given pride of place in the bustling metropolis of Trailer Park"

The co-host of television show Amazing Spaces Will Hardie is back for the second year to judge the winners.

"Trailer Park has teamed up once again with Will Hardie, the master craftsman behind Channel 4s Amazing Spaces and Shed of the Year, to choose the successful applicants. Those selected will be given financial aid to help towards the costs, and invited - with a team of friends - to host the creation at Electric Picnic".

Will Hardie commented;

Im so delighted to be involved for the second year in this competition - I love how Trailer Park has supported the creative visions of so many people, and harnessed their passion for festivals. The idea of transforming the humble caravan into so many wonderful and wacky creations is part of the story - but to then be given the opportunity to unveil it at the largest and most artistically ambitious festival in Ireland is pure genius. From my television work, I have come to understand that Ireland and the UK are home to so many alternative thinkers who demonstrate incredible vision, ingenuity and skill in the projects they build at home, and this competition coaxes them into the public eye.

Bigger Trailer Park announced

"Trailer Park at Electric Picnic is going to increase significantly in size this year, with more grants given than ever. Artists, architects, theatre-makers, performance groups and creators of all sorts, with an appetite for what makes a festival really sing, will be given an opportunity to let their creative hair down. Up to 20 grants (ranging between 500 and 2000 are being offered) for designing, building and presenting your own ART CARAVANS at Electric Picnic."

"You turn a caravan (or a vehicle/trailer with wheels that can come and go) into something implausibly wonderful, and we will give it a home from home, in Trailer Park, the mobile-tropolis in the centre of the festival. Your design proposals will be read by our judging panel, and well choose the best ideas and work with you to bring your designs into being."

"If all goes according to plan, you will then come  with a team of your friends  to host the creation at Electric Picnic. We have given out over 75 grants to Irish makers in the past few years for the eponymous Electric Picnic, and some incredible ideas have materialised (see examples below). Have a look because they will give you a sense of scale and expectation!"

The deadline for entries is 4th March, so its time to get creative!

The organisers have some practical tips.

"These bursaries are not for your labour; they are for materials or skills that you do not have! We are looking for projects that stand on their own as installations, independent of performances or activities, although these may well accompany and complete the installation. They do not need to be roadworthy, but it would definitely help if they were. They do need to be safe. They need to be about the design of the exterior as well as the interior, and applicants should think about lighting as the area operates at night-time as well as daytime."

"Please note that this project will require a significant time investment, and the ability to adhere to firm deadlines, and is going to need to be fuelled by artistic and practical passion.

"The number of crew passes required to host your venue for the three full days of the festival is 8, and these obviously include camping. They cant be shared."

Final decisions will be made by April 25th.

To get you thinking, some past submissions have included:

1. To Let  A team of real estate agents try to sell a decrepid caravan to passers-by.

2. Caravan Club Extravanaganza  the front side folds down to become a stage for bands.

3. Police check-point  a officious police van checking passers-by for anything out of order

4. Crappervan  yes one of them.

5. Turbante  a Brazilian collective who dress people in turbans and dance.

6. Narnia  into a caravan and out the back is a snowy kingdom.

7. Ceili Kitchen - everyone (two at a time) is invited to a trad session inside a Monza 57 TDI model.

8. Trailer Tower  a viewing platform in a caravan that is craned into the sky.

9. Caravagina  a rebirthing experience.

10. Redneck Wedding  a mobile home with a confederate flag outside and an extended and compicated family within.

11. Lord Ganeshs Larder  A regular delivery van given the vibrant Calcutta bus makeover, including an elephant carriage on the roof.

12. Terrible Terrys Jail  A caravan with jails bars on the windows for misbehaving festival goers, who then have to find the escape plan.

13. Gangsta Granny  A collection of senior ladies knitting everything that moves, and serving tea to a hip-hop soundtrack.

14. Seagulls Nest  seagulls scavenge the nearby neighbourhood for debris to bring back to their giant nest (including a broken caravan).

15. Mad De-Programming Machine  a scientific experiment using submarine parts, wires and colanders to give your brains a fresh start.

16. The Vaniel ODonnell Experience - containing The Daniel Disco, a Loveliest Lookalike Competition, and lovely wee buns.

17. Who Let The Dads Out? - a hip festival experience to those in their late thirties and forties, a safe house for air guitar performance, and a dad-dancing competition judged by wives bent double in giggles.

18. Band Wagon - a state-of the art recording studio in a caravan.

19. Quizivan - unveils an annual game show quiz hosted from inside a caravan.

Click here for the application form.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday for Amanda Garrard Foster, one of the eight victims of the deadly Jackson County boat dock fire.

Services will be held Wednesday at Hulett-Winstead Funeral Home in Sumrall, Mississippi. Foster was one of eight people killed in the Jan. 27 blaze at the Scottsboro marina. Services were held yesterday for Annette Miles and six of her children who were also killed in the fire. Funeral arrangements for the eighth victim, Yancey Ferrell Roper, have not been announced.

Garrard Foster has been hailed as a hero for her efforts to save children who were on the dock during the blaze. The Oak Grove, Mississippi resident was in the area visiting her boyfriend when the fire broke out.

[I] was told she was trying to help gets some special needs kids off and didnt make it herself, her stepmother, Clara Garrard, said on her Facebook page. The guy she was with survived and told me the story.

The Mississippi House of Representatives adjourned its Jan. 29 meeting in her honor and Speaker of the House Philip Gunn sent a letter to her family to inform them of the honor.

Garrard Foster, 38, is survived by four children, her parents and a host of other family members.

A GoFundMe account has been established by Garrard Fosters step-sister, Monica Howard. The proceeds will go towards her son, Grant, a high school senior, to help cover the cost of his education.

Alabama boat dock fire victims: A mother, 5 kids, a woman who died saving others; 8th victim named
Dividend paying stocks like Union Medical Healthcare Limited (HKG:2138) tend to be popular with investors, and for good reason - some research suggests a significant amount of all stock market returns come from reinvested dividends. On the other hand, investors have been known to buy a stock because of its yield, and then lose money if the company's dividend doesn't live up to expectations.

With a four-year payment history and a 6.9% yield, many investors probably find Union Medical Healthcare intriguing. It sure looks interesting on these metrics - but there's always more to the story . Before you buy any stock for its dividend however, you should always remember Warren Buffett's two rules: 1) Don't lose money, and 2) Remember rule #1. We'll run through some checks below to help with this.

Click the interactive chart for our full dividend analysis

SEHK:2138 Historical Dividend Yield, February 3rd 2020

Payout ratios

Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Comparing dividend payments to a company's net profit after tax is a simple way of reality-checking whether a dividend is sustainable. Looking at the data, we can see that 58% of Union Medical Healthcare's profits were paid out as dividends in the last 12 months. A payout ratio above 50% generally implies a business is reaching maturity, although it is still possible to reinvest in the business or increase the dividend over time.

We also measure dividends paid against a company's levered free cash flow, to see if enough cash was generated to cover the dividend. Union Medical Healthcare paid out 247% of its free cash last year. Cash flows can be lumpy, but this dividend was not well covered by cash flow. Paying out more than 100% of your free cash flow in dividends is generally not a long-term, sustainable state of affairs, so we think shareholders should watch this metric closely. While Union Medical Healthcare's dividends were covered by the company's reported profits, free cash flow is somewhat more important, so it's not great to see that the company didn't generate enough cash to pay its dividend. Were it to repeatedly pay dividends that were not well covered by cash flow, this could be a risk to Union Medical Healthcare's ability to maintain its dividend.

Story continues

With a strong net cash balance, Union Medical Healthcare investors may not have much to worry about in the near term from a dividend perspective.

Consider getting our latest analysis on Union Medical Healthcare's financial position here.

Dividend Volatility

One of the major risks of relying on dividend income, is the potential for a company to struggle financially and cut its dividend. Not only is your income cut, but the value of your investment declines as well - nasty. Union Medical Healthcare has been paying a dividend for the past four years. The dividend has not fluctuated much, but with a relatively short payment history, we can't be sure this is sustainable across a full market cycle. During the past four-year period, the first annual payment was HK$0.019 in 2016, compared to HK$0.35 last year. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 107% a year over that time.

The dividend has been growing pretty quickly, which could be enough to get us interested even though the dividend history is relatively short. Further research may be warranted.

Dividend Growth Potential

Dividend payments have been consistent over the past few years, but we should always check if earnings per share (EPS) are growing, as this will help maintain the purchasing power of the dividend. It's good to see Union Medical Healthcare has been growing its earnings per share at 27% a year over the past five years. With recent, rapid earnings per share growth and a payout ratio of 58%, this business looks like an interesting prospect if earnings are reinvested effectively.

Conclusion

To summarise, shareholders should always check that Union Medical Healthcare's dividends are affordable, that its dividend payments are relatively stable, and that it has decent prospects for growing its earnings and dividend. First, we think Union Medical Healthcare has an acceptable payout ratio, although its dividend was not well covered by cashflow. We were also glad to see it growing earnings, although its dividend history is not as long as we'd like. While we're not hugely bearish on it, overall we think there are potentially better dividend stocks than Union Medical Healthcare out there.

Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 3 analysts we track are forecasting for Union Medical Healthcare for free with public analyst estimates for the company.

If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of dividend stocks yielding above 3%.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
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In the runup to the 2014 general elections, it was one of the biggest promises BJP and the then Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi purportedly made - to bring back black money and deposit Rs 15 lakhs from it to the accounts of every Indian. Read more

Here's more top news of the day:

1) Coronavirus Kills 425 & China Finally Agrees For US Help After Accusing Them Of 'Fearmongering'

Reuters

The situation in China isn't getting any better, the country said it would welcome assistance from the United States to fight a coronavirus outbreak. Just a day earlier, it had accused Washington of scaremongering. On Tuesday, the death toll rose to more than 420. Read more

2) Bail To Chinmayanand, Judge Refers To Silence When 'Virginity Is At Stake'; Twitter Slams Order

On Monday, the Allahabad High Court granted bail to former Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand, who was arrested last September on the charge of sexually assaulting a student of a law college he runs in Shahjahanpur. Read more

3) AAP Releases Manifesto With Plan For 24-Hour Markets, Promises Quality Education, Clean Water

BCCL

The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday released its manifesto for the February 8 polls, focussing on quality education, health, clean water and 24-hour electricity in the national capital. Read more

4) 4-Month Old, A Regular Presence At Shaheen Bagh Dies Due To Cold, Mother Returns To Protest

bccl

Mohammed Jahaan used to be at the protest venue almost every day until last week, accompanied by her mother. But the four-month-old died last week after acquiring a severe cold and congestion following exposure to the winter chill at the outdoor demonstration. Read more

5) 200 Pakistani Hindus Enter India Through Attari-Wagah Border, Hope To Get Citizenship After CAA

The Pakistani Hindus came on a visitor's visa but some of them claimed that they felt unsafe in Pakistan and hoped to get India citizenship after the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act. Read more
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The director of Auburn Universitys Rural Studio program, Andrew Freear, will be recognized in April with the Architectural League of New York's highest honor, the 2020 President's Medal.

The accoladebeing officially bestowed at the discretion of the leagues president and board of directors in New York City on April 14recognizes individuals for extraordinary achievements in architecture, urbanism, art, design and the environment. In the past, the award has gone to such high-profile names as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, Italian architect Renzo Piano, climate activist and United Nations Paris Agreement negotiator Christiana Figueres, architect Henry N. Cobb, artist Richard Serra and planner Amanda Burden.

Im absolutely delighted and, given the previous recipients, I feel very humbled by this honor," said Freear. "The award acknowledges the value of our teaching method and our desire to address challenges of rural living, and validates our belief that good design should be for everyone."

Since 2001, Freear has directed Rural Studio, a Newbern, Alabama-program of the Auburn University College of Architecture, Design and Construction. During that time, he has shaped a deeply considered, widely influential model of architectural education that has enriched and intensified the training of more than 1,000 architecture students, helping them develop as citizen architects prepared to use design as a tool for social good.

The studio is a residential, off-campus, hands-on design/build program based in rural Hale County, Alabama. It was founded in 1993 by architects Samuel Mockbee and D.K. Ruth on the belief that everyone, both rich and poor, deserves the benefit of good design. As director, Freear has developed the pedagogical approach of the studio to emphasize design learning through making, the practical discipline of achieving design quality while hewing to stringent budgets, and deep engagement with communities to discern what should be built, rather than what can be built.

Through semester- and year-long programs, architecture students work in teams to research, propose, design, present, modify and construct projects for the benefit of individual residents and the overall community. Through the years, Rural Studio has built more than 200 projects, ranging from houses, to a farm, to a library and community hub for Newbern in a former bank building, to a firehouse for Newberns new volunteer fire department, to multiple projects in Lions Park in Greensboro, Alabama.

Recognizing the systemic drivers and pervasive nature of poor housing conditions in rural America, Rural Studio has also developed projects such as the Front Porch Initiative, which aims to develop a scalable, agile and resilient delivery process for beautiful, well-designed high-performance homes titled as real property while supporting an industry to home building in under-resourced rural communities. Through two decades of sustained effort, Andrew Freear has transformed what matters in architecture and architectural education through the agency of design and action in rural communities.

Freear will be celebrated at the April 14 dinner in remarks by architects Billie Tsien, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners, New York City and President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters; Marlon Blackwell, Marlon Blackwell Architects and E. Fay Jones Chair in Architecture and a Distinguished Professor in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville; and Architectural League President Paul Lewis, LTL Architects, New York City.

Freear will also deliver a lecture, Stories from the Hinterland, in the Architectural Leagues Current Work lecture series on April 15.
Woman activist Sandhya Rani on Monday said that the agenda of the RSS is to make the country a 'Hindu Rashtra'.

Protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Population Register (NPR) at a demonstration organised by women here, Rani said, "Now, we can see Shaheen Bagh everywhere. They have gathered and protest so that their voice can be heard. As the BJP government has said that NPR will start in April, so there is a hidden agenda to make India a 'Hindu Rashtra'. This is the agenda of the RSS."

"It is against the Constitution and an attack on Secularism. They expect that their vote bank is safe and that is why they are planning such an agenda. That is the reason we give slogans like 'Woh Todne Wale Hain, Hum Jodne Wale Hai' (they want to break, we want to unite)," she added.

Another activist, Khalida Parveen said, "Why can't Shaheen Bagh be started at Hyderabad? I ask the state government. It is our democratic right to protest."

"Shaheen Bagh is considered a historic protest as it is done to ensure that the country remains secular and democratic," she said.

Since December last year, demonstrations have been going on against the amended citizenship law in various parts of the country. It is to be noted that the protest against the CAA has been ongoing at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi for over a month now.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BEIJING - Hong Kong hospitals cut services as thousands of medical workers went on strike for a second day Tuesday to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely. The new virus caused its first death in the semi-autonomous territory, adding to growing fears it is spreading locally.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

People wear protective face masks as they make purchases from a convenience store in Hong Kong, Monday, Feb, 3, 2020. Lam says the city will shut almost all land and sea border control points to the mainland from midnight to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus from China. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

BEIJING - Hong Kong hospitals cut services as thousands of medical workers went on strike for a second day Tuesday to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely. The new virus caused its first death in the semi-autonomous territory, adding to growing fears it is spreading locally.

All but two of Hong Kong's land and sea crossings with the mainland were closed at midnight after thousands of hospital workers went on strike Monday. Hong Kong health authorities reported two additional patients without any known travel to the virus epicenter, bringing the number of locally transmitted cases to four.

The growing caseload "indicates significant risk of community transmission" and could portend a "large-scale" outbreak, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch at the Center for Health Protection.

Workers arrange beds in a convention center that has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (Chinatopix via AP)

More than 7,000 health workers joined the strike Tuesday, according to the Hospital Authority Employees' Alliance, the strike organizer.

Hong Kong was hit hard by the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, a virus from the same family as the current outbreak. Trust in Chinese authorities has plummeted following months of anti-government protests in the Asian financial hub.

The territory's beleaguered leader, Carrie Lam, criticized the strike and said the government was doing all it could to limit the flow of people across the border.

Important services, critical operations have been affected," including cancer treatment and care for newborns, Lam told reporters. So Im appealing to those who are taking part in this action: Lets put the interests of the patients and the entire public health system above all other things."

In this Feb. 2, 2020, photo, Polish military personnel wearing protective suits talk with evacuees from Wuhan, China, after their arrival at an airport in Marseilles, France. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (AP Photo/Arek Rataj)

China reported 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed cases, up sharply from the previous day. Outside mainland China, at least 180 cases have been confirmed, including two fatalities, the one in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.

The patient who died in Hong Kong was a 39-year-old man who had travelled to Wuhan, the mainland city where the outbreak started. The Hospital Authority said Tuesday he had pre-existing health conditions but gave no details.

Most deaths have been among the elderly and those with other health problems, authorities said. More than 80% were over 60 years old, and more than 75% had an underlying disease, Jiao Yahui, a National Health Commission official, told a news conference Tuesday.

Dr. David Heymann, who led the World Health Organizations response to the SARS outbreak, said its too early to tell when the new virus will peak, but that it appears to still be on the increase.

A medical worker in a protective suit writes on a tube after collecting a sample for nucleic acid tests from a suspected virus patient at a hotel being used to place people in medical isolation in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. Hong Kong hospitals cut services as thousands of medical workers went on strike for a second day Tuesday to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely, as a new virus caused its first death in the semi-autonomous territory and authorities feared it was spreading locally. (Chinatopix via AP)

He said the spike in Chinas caseload in recent days is partly attributable to the fact that officials have expanded their search to include milder cases, not only people with pneumonia. He declined to predict whether the virus would ultimately cause a pandemic, or worldwide outbreak. WHO defines a pandemic as sustained transmission of a disease in at least two world regions.

Heymann said as the new virus starts to spread beyond China, scientists will gain a better understanding of it. What we will see is the clearer natural history of the disease, he said, as those exposed to the virus are being traced and watched very closely, he said.

Nevertheless, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to share more data on infections outside China, adding that detailed information has been provided in only 38% of cases.

In particular, he said, some high-income countries are well behind in sharing this vital data with WHO. ... Without better data, its very hard for us to assess how the outbreak is evolving or what impact it could have and to ensure were providing the most appropriate recommendations.

Pro-China supporters wearing masks urge government to deliver masks to local people during a protest in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. Hong Kong on Tuesday reported its first death from a new virus, a man who had traveled from the mainland city of Wuhan that has been the epicenter of the outbreak. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

In Wuhan, patients were being transferred to a new 1,000-bed hospital that was built in just 10 days, its prefabricated wards equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and ventilation systems. A 1,500-bed hospital also specially built is due to open soon.

Elsewhere in the city, authorities were converting a gymnasium, exhibition hall and cultural centre into hospitals with a total of 3,400 beds to treat patients with mild symptoms. Television video showed beds placed in tight rows in cavernous rooms without any barriers between them.

Authorities hope that will help relieve what is being described as an overwhelmed public health system in Wuhan and surrounding areas.

One man, Fang Bin, said he saw wards so crowded during a visit to the city's No. 5 Hospital on Saturday that some patients were forced to sit on the ground.

"There are too many patients, it's overcrowded," Fang told The Associated Press. He said he was taken from his home and questioned by police after he posted a video of what he saw online.

Thailand confirmed six more cases Tuesday, raising its total to 25, the highest outside China. Two were motorcycle taxi drivers who had driven for Chinese tourists. Earlier a Thai taxi driver was also diagnosed with the virus. The cases are concerning because they suggest the virus can spread more easily between people.

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WHO officials reported slower progress than expected in equipping laboratories across Africa to test for the new virus. No confirmed cases have been reported on the continent, but WHO health security adviser Dr. Ambrose Talisuna said the risk is very, very high.

China has struggled to maintain supplies of face masks, along with protective suits and other items, as it seeks to enforce temperature checks at homes, offices, shops and restaurants, require masks be worn in public and keep more than 50 million people from leaving home in Wuhan and neighbouring cities.

The European Union office in Beijing said member states have shipped 12 tons of protective equipment to China, with more on the way.

Japanese health officials, meanwhile, were conducting medical checks on some 3,700 passengers and crew on board a cruise ship docked off the coast of Yokohama after a passenger tested positive after leaving the vessel while it was in Hong Kong. At least 133 people who have symptoms or had close contact with the infected man have been identified and any confirmed to have the virus will be sent to hospitals for isolation treatment, health ministry officials said

___

Associated Press writers Alice Fung in Hong Kong, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.
Hashem Abedi is just as responsible for the Manchester Arena bombing as his brother after helping build the device that killed 22 people, a court has heard.

Prosecutors said that although Salman Abedi blew himself up amid young Ariana Grande fans flooding out of a concert in May 2017, his brother was just as guilty as if he had selected the target and detonated the bomb himself.

Duncan Penny QC told the Old Bailey that the explosion was the culmination of months of planning, experimentation and preparation by the two of them.

This defendant is just as guilty of the murder of the 22 people killed as was his brother, he said. He is equally guilty of the attempted murder of many others and, in doing so, he was guilty of agreeing with his brother to cause an explosion or explosions of a nature likely to endanger life.

The court heard heard that as well as the 22 people who died, including several teenagers, police had identified almost 1,000 other victims. Of those, 273 people were physically injured and 670 have reported psychological trauma following the explosion.

Mr Penny said the bombing was a shared goal of the two brothers, although it would be Salman Abedi who detonated the device.

He told the jury that both men had obtained precursor chemicals for the improvised explosive device (IED), and had then attempted to distance themselves from the purchases by using fake identifies and other peoples bank details.

The prosecutor said Mr Abedi obtained and experimented with metal containers for constructing an IED, fashioned improvised cylinders to be used as detonators and obtained a property in outer Manchester in which the bomb could be manufactured and stored.

The 22-year-old was allegedly involved in the purchase of screws and nails to kill, maim and injured as many people as possible in the detonation.

Mr Penny said that shortly before the brothers returned to Libya in April 2017, Mr Abedi purchased a Nissan Micra that was used by the pair as a storage facility for their bomb-making equipment.

This body of evidence suggests that the defendant in this case, the surviving brother, is just as responsible for the crimes which resulted in so much death, injury and damage following the detonation of the bomb on 22 May 2017, he added.

The law is that Hashem Abedi is just as responsible for this atrocity and for the offences identified in the indictment, just as surely as if he had selected the target and detonated the bomb himself.

Mr Abedi appeared in the dock wearing a dark blue shirt and glasses, watched by survivors of the bombing and relatives of the victims, while others attended a broadcast of proceedings in Manchester.

Salman Abedi, the defendant's brother, killed 22 people in an attack at Manchester Arena (Handout)

The court heard that Mr Abedi, who denies all charges, had asked the owner of a Stockport takeaway where he worked if he could take home empty vegetable oil cans. He allegedly claimed that he was planning to sell them for scrap but modified the metal into a container and six small cylinders.

Mr Penny said forensic examination showed that a scrap of metal found at the scene of the bombing was from the same can cut up by Mr Abedi.

The jury was told that the container was found at the brothers family home in Fallowfield, while the cylinders had been with Salman Abedi in the Granby Row flat where he assembled the bomb up until the evening of the attack.

Mr Penny said the bomb was not contained in a vegetable oil can but  the device ultimately used was not the brothers first attempt at construction and the items collected by Mr Abedi played a pivotal role.

He allegedly helped acquire chemicals used to make the highly sensitive explosive TATP, as well as large bags of nails and screws for shrapnel.

The jury heard that between January and April 2017, Mr Abedi gave untruthful explanations to associates in order to use their online shopping accounts and addresses to obtain sulphuric acid and hydrogen peroxide.

In January 2017 he had been due to travel to Germany but texted an associate saying he had some problems and was unable to leave Manchester.

The following month, the brothers rented a flat in the Blackley area of north Manchester, which they allegedly used to store chemicals and manufacture explosives.

People paying their respects in central Manchester on the first anniversary of the attack (AFP)

Mr Penny said they chose the area because it was miles from family or friends who would recognise them, meaning they could operate without unwanted or uninvited interruption.

The prosecutor told jurors that after the bombing police had found Mr Abedis fingerprints inside the flat alongside traces of TATP.

The court heard that Mr Abedi also bought a Toyota Aygo that was insured fraudulently in his eldest brothers name and used to drive between the different properties.

During the period, the court heard that the brothers both changed their mobile phone numbers frequently, switching between different sim cards and handsets. They were living alone at the family home after their parents, originally from Libya, returned to the country in 2016.

In the years leading up to the bombing, the brothers had begun to display some signs of radicalisation, Salman more than Hashem, Mr Penny said.

He told the jury a male relative recalled a conversation as he travelled with the brothers in a car during which Salman spoke of jihad and told him: Do chemistry so you can build a bomb.

All of this was said in he presence of this defendant, who later told police he had no inkling of the radicalisation of his brother and believed that Salman required the acid for family reasons rather than for the purpose of terrorism, Mr Penny said.

Mr Abedi, originally from Manchester, denies 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and conspiring with his brother to cause explosions.

The trial continues.
Dhaka, Feb 4 : The pilots of a special flight that brought back 312 Bangladeshis from China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, were being barred from other countries over fears of spreading the fatal disease, a media report said.

The situation was complicating plans to evacuate another 171 Bangladeshis stranded in the locked-down Chinese city, bdnews24 said in the report citing Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam as saying on Monday.

He made the remarks after a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on World Health Organization's declaration of a global health emergency over the virus which has killed over 425 people in China and has spread to 25 countries.

"We are having problems sending out our aircraft. The pilots of the plane which flew to China are not being allowed to enter other countries.

"We have to see if we can charter another plane as that will be the best option. Our first preference is to charter a Chinese plane," Islam added.

Amid mounting fears over the outbreak, 312 Bangladeshi students and researchers were brought back from Wuhan onboard a Boeing 777-300 aircraft on February 1, said the bdnews24 report.

They are currently undergoing a 14-day quarantine at the Ashkona Hajj Camp in Dhaka.

Among them, eight were found to have high body temperatures and subsequently hospitalised.

But they have since tested negative for the coronavirus, according to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research.

In South Asia, India has confirmed three cases of the coronavirus, while Sri Lanka and Nepal have reported one case each.
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Authorities rescue missing kayaker in Florida Everglades originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

A Virginia man who vanished last month while kayaking in the Florida Everglades was found alive on Monday, authorities said.

Mark Miele, 67, embarked on a solo kayaking trip in the Everglades National Park on Jan. 22 and was due back Jan. 29 but he didn't return. Miele's bag, with his cellphone and wallet, washed up on the bank of the Lopez River on Sunday.

National Park Service rangers discovered the belongings and asked the Collier County Sheriff's Office to assist in a search.

PHOTO: Mark Miele was rescued on Feb. 3, 2020 nearly two weeks after he embarked on a solo kayaking trip in the Everglades National Park in Fla. (Collier County Sheriff's Office)

Deputies downloaded data from Miele's phone that night and found his most recent location had been recorded on Friday, giving the aviation unit an area to target the search, according to the sheriff's office.

MORE: Woman rescued from icy waters after falling in while fishing

A helicopter crew located Miele shortly before noon on Monday, who was wearing a life jacket and floating in the water a few miles from where his belongings were found the day before.

PHOTO: Mark Miele was rescued on Feb. 3, 2020 nearly two weeks after he embarked on a solo kayaking trip in the Everglades National Park in Fla. (Collier County Sheriff's Office)

The sheriff's marine unit, alongside National Park Service rangers and officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservative Commission, reached the area and took the man to safety.

MORE: Community holds out hope for Dulce Maria Alavez who has been missing for months

Miele was transported to a Naples hospital for treatment.
Senior Congress leader and former Union minister B Janaradhan Poojary on Tuesday visited Lord Gokarnanath temple at Kudroli and the Dargah at Ullal to offer special prayers for the health of AICC president Sonia Gandhi.

Poojary, who has not been keeping well for the last few months, told reporters at the Kudroli shrine that the Gandhi family had been devotees of the temple since long.

Sonia Gandhi had initiated the shrine's centenary programmes in 2012.

He said he has prayed the Lord to give her good health and long life.

Poojary later went to Ullal Dargah to pray for the Congress chief, who is undergoing treatment for stomach infection at a hospital in Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Miss Plus Size San Antonio is preparing to crown an inaugural group of women who wear size 12 and up, regardless of what social media has to say.

Roxanne Quintero, founder and director of the upcoming pageant, said she's had the vision for a stage "committed to the plus-size woman" for years. Her motivation was stalled in the past by what she was sure she'd read online.

I contemplated for many years leading up to today if San Antonio was ready for a plus-size pageant, I debated putting it out there because I was terrified of social media," she shared online. "Until I realized that social media or any negative comments werent going anywhere, and neither was my vision. Why was I going to keep all of San Antonio from recognizing so many beautiful, talented, educated, independent, curvaceous and most of all courageous women who would be participating?

RELATED: Fashion Week SATX will be a statewide event in 2020 hosted in San Antonio

Quintero shared her plan of action for any negative reactions to the pageant: "I'm just going to ignore them. The trolls won't go away."

"At least those people are paying attention," she added.

The June 26 pageant will welcome three age groups: 18-29, 30-40 and 40 and up. The production will include "trendy attire," evening gown and interview portions, Quintero said.

Live from the Southside, a media outlet focused on the area of town, is hosting the pageant from 4 to 7 p.m. at Pica Pica Plaza on Southeast Military Drive. Hopefuls are able to submit applications online. Quintero said she and co-host April Monterrosa are looking for 20 to 25 contestants. The usual pageant regalia, like a crown, will be awarded as well as a cash prize, though an amount has not been decided.

Madalyn Mendoza is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @MaddySkye
has joined hands with EV cab operator Prakriti E-Mobility to set up 50 charging stations for in a phased manner.

Last month, three Tata Group had unveiled a mega plan for the electric mobility space along with group company Tata Motors.

The two will jointly set up 30 slow chargers and five fast chargers over a period across the Delhi-NCR, said Prakriti, an app-based EV taxi service provider in the national Capital.

As part of the tie-up, will be responsible for designing, procuring, installing and managing the charging stations near the Delhi airport, Gurgaon and north Delhi.

The have opened the first fast charger at Jasola area of southeast Delhi on Monday.

The chargers to be installed by will primarily be used by Prakriti's EV car fleet, the statement added.

Nimish Trivedi of Prakriti said this partnership will help strengthen his company's plan to rolling out 5,000 EV cabs over the next two years and also boost the overall EV ecosystem.

Ramesh Subramanyam of Tata Power said partnerships like this are key to the journey to be a one-stop integrated charging service provider to all forms of transport and all categories of user.

Tata Power already has a network of over 100 charging points across public, captive, residential and corporate segments addressing different charging standards.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Los Andes Copper Ltd. ("Los Andes", or the "Company", TSX Venture Exchange: LA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Harry Nijjar, CPA, CMA, as Chief Financial Officer who will be taking over from Aurora Davidson with immediate effect.



Mr. Nijjar received his CPA CMA qualification in 2012 and is a Managing Director of Malaspina Consultants Inc., a private company that provides accounting and administrative services to Canadian public companies. Mr. Nijjar serves as Chief Financial Officer for other Canadian public companies.

The Company would like to thank Aurora for all her hard work and dedication to Los Andes over the past 12 years serving as Chief Financial Officer. Aurora leaves to take a position as Chief Executive Officer for her principal employer and Los Andes wishes her all the best in her new role.

For more information please contact:

Fernando Porcile  Chairman Tel: +56 2 2954-0450 Antony J. Amberg, CEO  Chief Geologist Tel: +56 2 2954-0450 E-Mail: info@losandescopper.com or visit our website at: www.losandescopper.com

Los Andes Copper Ltd. is a Canadian company focused on developing the Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum porphyry project in Chile.





The Company owns 100% of the Vizcachitas project, one of the largest advanced copper deposits in the Americas. The Company believes that Vizcachitas is set to become Chiles next major copper mine. The project is a copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit, located 150 km north of Santiago, in an area of very good infrastructure.



The Project is currently undertaking a pre-feasibility study.

Certain of the information and statements contained herein that are not historical facts, constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of the Securities Act (British Columbia) and the Securities Act (Alberta) (Forward-Looking Information). Forward-Looking Information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as seek, anticipate, believe, plan, estimate, expect and intend; statements that an event or result is due on or may, will, should, could, or might occur or be achieved; and, other similar expressions. More specifically, Forward-Looking Information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such Forward-Looking Information; including, without limitation, the Companys belief about the potential for the Vizcachitas Project to be Chiles next major copper mine. Such Forward-Looking Information is based upon the Companys assumptions regarding global and Chilean economic, political and market conditions and the price of copper. Among the factors that have a direct bearing on the Companys future results of operations and financial conditions are changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, a change in government policies, competition, currency fluctuations and restrictions and technological changes, among other things. Should one or more of any of the aforementioned risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from any conclusions, forecasts or projections described in the Forward-Looking Information. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise Forward-Looking Information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has said that he will not fly IndiGo till their ban on Kunal Kamra is lifted. The film director took an early morning Vistara flight to Kolkata for an event and landed seven hours before the event in the city, instead of taking an afternoon IndiGo that he was earlier booked on.

The filmmaker told The Telegraph in an interview, I was booked on IndiGo by the organisers to come to Dum Dum... After Kamra was banned, I told the organisers I will not fly IndiGo. I told them I will not fly this airline because I thought the ban was very unreasonable.

My thing is: there is nothing I can do about it. It does not make much of a difference. But as I wanted to register my dissent, I thought that I would not fly IndiGo. I want to fly Vistara. The IndiGo flight was on Monday afternoon and the Vistara flight was in the morning. They (the organisers) informed (me) that to fly Vistara, you have to wake up at 4am. I said, I will wake up at 4am, but I will not fly IndiGo, Kashyap said. He flew from Mumbai to Kolkata with Vistara on Monday.

Earlier, Kunal also took a Vistara flight and updated a photo on social media, My airport look all thanks to @airvistara following due process... #lovevistara.

Also read: Alia Bhatt believes in living within a budget, owns houses in Mumbai and London and fancies buying a private jet

Kamra was accused of heckling journalist Arnab Goswami onboard IndiGos Mumbai-Lucknow flight on January 28 and was barred by the airline for six months. The airline had said the artists behaviour on its flight 6E 5317 was unacceptable. Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir followed suit with bans.

Rohit Mateti, who was the captain of flight 6E5317, wrote a letter to the airline asserting that Kamras conduct on the flight may be considered unsavoury but could not be classified as that of a Level 1 Unruly passenger.

Kamra has now issued a legal notice to IndiGo seeking an unconditional apology from the airline as well as monetary compensation for causing him mental pain and agony.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
By PTI

IMPHAL/AIZAWL: Two swine flu cases have been detected out of six samples sent for testing for novel coronavirus, a senior Manipur health official said on Tuesday.

Six samples of people entering the state were sent to the National Institute of Biology in Pune to test for coronavirus, Director of Manipur Health Services, K Rajo told reporters.

"We have received three reports so far. Though none of them tested positive for coronavirus, swine flu virus has been detected in two of them," the official said.

Of the two affected persons, one had recently visited China while the other came in contact with that person, Rajo said.

Rajo said being a "mild case" of swine flu, the affected persons will be monitored through "home isolation" and their family members will be provided medicines.

ALSO READ: Are HIV drugs going to help win the war on coronavirus?

The official said that five centres have been opened in the different border towns of the state and at the Imphal International Airport to screen people for coronavirus.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Mizoram has begun screening people entering the state through the India-Myanmar border, officials said.

A screening centre has been set up at Zokhawthar in the border district of Champhai, besides one at Lengpui Airport, they said.

ALSO READ | Coronavirus: India cancels valid visas to Chinese, foreigners who visited China in last two weeks

The health department said that no coronavirus cases have been detected in the state so far and urged people not to believe in rumours making rounds on social media.

It said two medical students who had returned from China on January 15 have tested negative for coronavirus.
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Chris Combs, the Dee Howard Endowed Assistant Professor in UTSA's Department of Mechanical Engineering, is one of 40 young researchers who will receive a grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research's Young Investigator Research Program.

The three-year grant, totaling $450,000, will support Combs as he investigates the effects of hypersonic shock waves on future U.S. Air Force flight systems in his research effort titled "Effects of ablation-induced distributed roughness on shock-wave/boundary-layer interactions." The Young Investigator Research Program fosters creative basic research in science and engineering while enhancing early career development of outstanding young researchers.

Hypersonic flight, with velocities faster than five times the speed of sound, is an emerging national priority that has the potential to be a truly disruptive technology with an impact on commercial aviation, defense and space exploration. Hypersonic speed, or Mach 5, is a velocity of roughly 4,000 miles per hour.

Sustained flight at these speeds has obvious appeal when one considers that a hypersonic trip from New York to Los Angeles would take only 30 minutes. This flight regime is also significant for military and defense applications, since a rapid-response capability to hotspots and crisis points around the world is highly desirable.

Recent demonstrations of hypersonic technology by Russia and China have put pressure on the United States to develop hypersonic systems of its own; however, hypersonic flight poses many technical and engineering challenges owing to the extreme flow velocities, temperatures and pressure loads imposed on a vehicle system. One of the many issues with sustained and reusable hypersonic flight is the extreme heat experienced by these vehicles, which can approach the temperature of the surface of the sun.

For this reason, most hypersonic cruise vehicles employ protective surfaces called thermal protection systems that are designed to keep the system safe. These thermal protection systems are often designed to ablate, which means that a sacrificial outer surface is designed to burn and erode away as heating loads are applied to protect the primary vehicle. Previous research has shown that this ablation can generate roughness on a vehicle surface. Some thermal protection systems are also designed using woven composite materials, which naturally have a complex, textile and rough surface architecture, like a thick wool blanket. Very little previous work has been conducted to study the impact of these rough surfaces on a hypersonic flow.

The design of hypersonic systems is further complicated by the presence of shock waves on the surface of a vehicle. These shock waves are generated by fins and control surfaces and can create catastrophic pressure and thermal loads leading to vehicle damage or failure.

"Moving at such high speed, if a shock wave is interacting with a vehicle surface it can quite literally burn a hole through your aircraft, so that's obviously something we'd like to avoid," said Combs. "The problem is that the underlying physics of these interactions is very complex and the necessary experiments and computations are quite challenging. So after over 50 years of research in this area we still do not have a good feel for how to control or mitigate these interactions, particularly when they occur over realistic vehicle surfaces."

To address these issues, Combs will employ real-world materials to study the effect of surface roughness on the dynamic behavior of hypersonic shock-wave interactions in UTSA's Mach 7 Ludwieg Tube facility. Coupled with the deployment of a variety of laser-based experimental measurement techniques, this approach should reveal key insights into the nature of these flows that will aid in the design of the next generation of Air Force flight systems.

The hypersonic Ludwieg Tube facility, which is anticipated for completion in March 2020, consists of a long section of pressurized pipe--the driver tube--which creates a hypersonic flow in the test section by exhausting through a nozzle and into a vacuum reservoir.

Ludwieg tubes are classified as impulse test facilities that are characterized by a rapid release of energy and short windows (tens to hundreds of milliseconds) of test time. However, by using high-speed data acquisition these relatively short test windows still result in hundreds of thousands of data points for each wind tunnel run.

Hypersonic wind tunnels like UTSA's Mach 7 facility are rare, with approximately one dozen Mach 5+ facilities at U.S. universities. Once complete, UTSA will be operating one of only three Mach 7+ hypersonic facilities housed on an academic campus in the United States.

###
Hong Kong has today reported its first death in the coronavirus outbreak after a 39-year-old man died in hospital this morning.

Medics said the patient had an underlying illness and had visited the city of Wuhan at the centre of the outbreak in January.

His death is just the second coronavirus fatality outside mainland China, after a 44-year-old man died in the Philippines last week.

The news has sparked fresh demands for Hong Kong to shut the border with mainland China, with hundreds of medical workers already on strike.

A guard in protective gear checks the temperature of a woman outside Princess Margaret Hospital today where a coronavirus patient who died this morning was being treated

Hong Kong has today reported its first death in the coronavirus outbreak after a 39-year-old man died in hospital (pictured: medical staff join a strike in the city yesterday)

Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam announced the closure of all but two land border crossings to the mainland, but protesters want a complete closure.

'As Carrie Lam refused to close the border, more [deaths] might come,' said a 26-year-old nurse attending the strike yesterday.

'We are not threatening the government, we just want to prevent the outbreak.'

Holding red and white placards reading 'Save HK now', masked medical workers took to the streets in Kowloon and more were expected to join the strike today.

The city's hospital authority said some emergency services had been 'severely' affected by the strike.

The strikes have added pressure on the city's beleagured public hospital network which was already struggling to cope with staff shortages.

Lam has rejected calls to seal the entire border, saying it would be inappropriate, impractical and discriminatory.

On Monday, authorities announced the closure of four more border crossings with mainland China, leaving open the international airport, a bridge connecting the city to Macau and the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai as well as Shenzhen Bay Port.

An ambulance driver wearing a face masks sits in his vehicle outside the Infectious Disease Centre at Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong today

The news has sparked fresh demands for Hong Kong to shut the border with mainland China, with hundreds of medical workers already on strike

The latest coronavirus epidemic has rekindled memories in Hong Kong of the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), another coronavirus that emerged from mainland China and killed nearly 300 people in the city.

The former British colony has had 15 confirmed cases of the newly discovered coronavirus, including one that was transmitted locally.

The Hong Kong resident who died on Tuesday had been kept in an isolation ward at the city's Princess Margaret Hospital after the coronavirus was confirmed last week.

He had visited Wuhan in January, authorities say.

His 72-year-old mother, who contracted the virus locally and had no travel history, was staying at home during the incubation period.

The United States, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and Vietnam are among countries that have denied entry to foreign nationals who have recently been in China.

The World Health Organization has declared the latest coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency but says travel restrictions are unnecessary to contain the epidemic.

In Macau, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said he had asked all casino operations in the world's biggest gambling hub to halt operations for two weeks.

The former Portuguese colony reported 10 cases of the virus and restricted movement in and out of the territory. Residents were told to wear masks when travelling around the city and to stay at home as much as possible.

No immediate details were given about when the casino suspension would begin. Macau's casinos are usually packed with Chinese high-rollers and are the life-blood of the territory's economy.
NEW ORLEANS - A group that was denied permission to march in a Louisiana citys Christmas parade when it insisted on carrying Confederate battle flags asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to revive its lawsuit alleging constitutional violations.

The permit for the Louisiana Sons of Confederate Veterans was denied in late 2015, months after the slayings of nine black worshippers at a South Carolina church by white supremacist Dylann Roof. Pictures on social media of Roof posing with Confederate battle flags led to renewed opposition to public displays of Confederate iconography around the nation.

In the city of Natchitoches, a non-profit group that organized the annual parade denied a permit to the SCV after city officials expressed concerns that some in the city would be offended by the display of Confederate battle flags, and that protests might disrupt the procession.

Judges with the 5th U.S. Circuit court of Appeals panel that heard arguments Tuesday made clear that the Confederate group had legitimate freedom of speech issues if a governmental agency denied them a permit  even amid security concerns.

Judge Catharina Haynes rhetorically asked whether African Americans could be denied permission to march in a parade if white supremacists threatened to disrupt the event.

But the case hinges largely on the role of a non-profit group  the Historic District Business Association. That group, which runs the parade under an agreement with the city, denied the permit.

Last year, U.S. District Judge Dee Drell dismissed the lawsuit, which named the city and the HDBA as defendants, saying the HDBA was not a government agency, or a state actor in legal terms, and that the city did not issue the permit.

Arguing for the SCV, attorney Dick Knadler cited a letter written by the mayor and concerns expressed at city public hearings. He argued that the HDBA acted at the behest of the city and in a government role.

My client is not a government entity, responded Jack Truitt, attorney for the HDBA. And attorney Ronald Corkern, arguing for the city, insisted that permitting was not a city decision.

Attorneys questioned both sides closely on how city officials actions might have influenced the HDBA.

The mayor had his lawyer conduct the meetings, Judge Jennifer Elrod noted when Corkern discussed city officials efforts to reach a compromise with the SCV.

Questioning Knadler, Haynes questioned whether the mayors public opposition was a binding city policy, absent a vote by the City Council.

The three-judge panel  Elrod, Haynes and Leslie Southwick  gave no indication when they would rule.
WASHINGTON - Chief Justice John Roberts, lately a fixture at the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, was among the four Supreme Court justices in the House of Representatives for the presidents State of the Union speech Tuesday.

Roberts has never missed a presidential address to Congress since joining the court in 2005, and arrived to the opposite end of the Capitol from the Senate Tuesday evening, despite an apparent cold he picked up during the trial over which he is presiding.

Trump stopped to greet Roberts, shaking his hand and speaking with him as Roberts stood stone-faced. The justice said, Thank you, as the president walked past.

Roberts predecessor, Chief Justice William Rehnquist, was not present for the State of the Union speech President Bill Clinton delivered during his Senate impeachment trial in 1999. But Rehnquist rarely showed up for the speeches, and Roberts once related that Rehnquist missed one State of the Union because it conflicted with the watercolour class he was taking at the local YMCA.

Three other justices, Elena Kagan and Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, joined Roberts Tuesday. Kagan also has been to every State of the Union address since she became a justice in 2010. Gorsuch and Kavanaugh also have perfect attendance, though they have shorter records. It is common for justices to be present for speeches by the president who chose them.

Justice Stephen Breyer often attends, but he is travelling and has flu-like symptoms that prevented him from returning to Washington for the speech, the court said.

Breyer was the only justice to cross the street from the court to the Capitol for at least four presidential speeches, including President George W. Bushs first speech to Congress in 2001. That took place a couple months after the justices voted 5-4 in Bush v. Gore to stop Floridas ballot recount and ensure Bushs presidency. Breyer had opposed halting the recount.

In 2000, no justice attended Clintons last State of the Union. Breyer had the flu then, too.
There are dozens of climate models, and for decades theyve agreed on what it would take to heat the planet by about 3 Celsius. Its an outcome that would be disastrousflooded cities, agricultural failures, deadly heatbut theres been a grim steadiness in the consensus among these complicated climate simulations.

Then last year, unnoticed in plain view, some of the models started running very hot. The scientists who hone these systems used the same assumptions about greenhouse-gas emissions as before and came back with far worse outcomes. Some produced projections in excess of 5C, a nightmare scenario.

The scientists involved couldnt agree on whyor if the results should be trusted. Climatologists began talking to each other like, Whatd you get?, Whatd you get?' said Andrew Gettelman, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, which builds a high-profile climate model.

The question is whether theyve overshot, said Mark Zelinka, staff scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Researchers are starting to put together answers, a task that will take months at best, and theres not yet agreement on how to interpret the hotter results. The reason for worry is that these same models have successfully projected global warming for a half century. Their output continues to frame all major scientific, policy and private-sector climate goals and debates, including the sixth encyclopedic assessment by the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change due out next year. If the same amount of climate pollution will bring faster warming than previously thought, humanity would have less time to avoid the worst impacts.

For now, however, there are doubts and worries. A higher warming estimate probably isnt the right answer, said Klaus Wyser, senior researcher at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute. His model produced a result of about 4.3C warming, a 30% jump over its previous update. We hope its not the right answer.

This uncertainty over how to read the models highlights one of the central challenges of climate change. On the one hand, policy makers and members of the public are turning to scientists as never before to explain historic wildfires, devastating droughts and spring-like temperatures in mid-winter. And the bedrock of the science has never been more solid. But the questions vexing experts now are probably the most important of all: Just how bad is it going to getand how soon?

Earth-system models are the workhorses of climate research, helping scientists test ideas about the impact of ice-sheet melting, soil moisture and clouds, all without waiting for the actual planet to fall apart. There are more than a hundred models used to forecast the relationship between carbon dioxide and warming, developed by about two dozen independent research groups.

One question modeling can help answer is called climate sensitivity, an estimate of how much warmer the planet will be once it has adjusted to atmospheric CO at double the pre-industrial level. (At current rates, CO could reach a doubling point in the last decades of this century.) This is the old, reliable number thats come out to 3C for 40 years. It was as close as anything gets to certainty.

It takes climate modelers, who run hugely complex calculations on supercomputers, more than a biblical six days to create their virtual worlds. Modules for air, land and sea all churn together and interact, and through early runs the researchers will make adjustments for troubleshooting and debugging that amount to re-wiring the whole world. The first step is to replicate actual conditions of the 20th century within the model; then you can trust the software to forecast the future.

The model run by NCAR, one of Americans main climate-science institutions, started producing unusual data last year while trying to reproduce the recent past. We got some really strange results, Gettelman said.

The scientists went on to try 300 configurations of rain, pollution, and heat flowssomething they can do as gods of their own digital earthbefore matching the model to history. But by solving that puzzle, Gettelmans team sent future projections upward at an unheard-of rate. NCAR found that CO doubling would lead to 5.3C world, a 33% jump from the models past reading on global warming.

Soon there were multiple teams at other institutionsputting out new climate-sensitivity numbers that looked like worst-case scenarios on steroids. The Met Office Hadley Center, the U.K.s main research group, found a doubling of CO would deliver 5.5C warming. A team at the U.S. Department of Energy ended up with 5.3C, and the Canadian model topped out at 5.6C. Frances National Center for Meteorological Research saw its estimate jump to 4.9C from 3.3C.

In all, as many as a fifth of new results published in the last year have come in with anomalously high climate sensitivity. There are dozens still left to report, and their results will determine whether these grim forecasts are outliers or significant findings.

If there does turn out to be a consensus around these new, higher estimates, that could have real impact on how governments and businesses respond to climate risk. The 2015 Paris Agreement asks nations to keep global warming below 1.5C, an increasingly distant hope given that were now two-thirds of the way there. But the timetable on which the world agreed to act in the name of that goal was formed, in part, by reading the very same climate models that are now producing higher estimates.

And that could mean the goal envisioned by Paris is already out of reach.

Wyser was expecting to get calls from journalists about the disturbing hot-model results. It was known in the research community for, lets say, about a year, he said. But he didnt know how to go about communicating the findings, and almost no one outside of the tight network of researchers came looking for answers. It more or less just passed unnoticed.

Two researchers recently suggested that the world is currently on a pathway to warm 3C by 2100. But that estimate could be as low as 1.9C or as high as 4.4C, depending on how sensitive the real-world climate turns out to actually be. That question hinges on if the hot-running models are a match for reality or missing something.

Climate models have been doing a fine job projecting warming for a long time. A recent studycompared models as old as 1970 with observations made in the decades since. Some models warmed up too much, and some too little, but 14 of 17 past projections turned out to be consistent with the measured path of global average temperatures.

Particularly impressive were models from the 1970s because there wasnt much observable evidence for warming at that time. Back then, the paper noted, the world was thought to have been cooling for the past few decades.

To a degree, every scientist suspects their model is wrong. Theres even an aphorism about this: All models are wrong, but some are useful. Those now attempting to figure out the mystery of the hot climate models think one factor might have caused the recent unusual results: clouds. It turns out simulated clouds often cause headaches for climate modelers.

Klaus Wysers group switched off some of the new cloud and aerosol settings in their model, he said, and that sent climate sensitivity back down to previous levels. A new research paper co-authored by Zelinka from the Lawrence Livermore National Lab likewise pointed to the role of virtual clouds in determining the results.

Its not as simple as reverting to older versions of these simulations. The challenge ahead, Gettelman said, lies in figuring out how tweaks to models can introduce such turmoil into the final results. What really scares me is that our model looked better for some really good physical reasons, he said. So we cant throw them out yet.

In the next year, climate-modeling groups will peruse each others results to figure out how seemingly good improvements in cloud and aerosol science may have pushed the models into hotter states. These conversations happen in the open, through peer-reviewed journals, conferences and blog posts. The authors of the main UN climate-science reports will follow along and try to stitch together a big picture, for release in 2021.

In the meantime, Gettelman and colleagues around the world will push ahead. Its like a giant puzzle, he said, where everybody gets a little piece. With Akshat Rathi

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
Mahmoud Mohieldin, former Egyptian investment minister and World Bank senior vice president, has been appointed as the UN's Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda.

According to a statement on Tuesday, Mohieldin, 55, will focus on global, regional and national issues related to public finance and supporting the implementation of the secretary-generals Strategy for Financing the 2030 Agenda across the United Nations system, in close collaboration with international financial institutions and the private sector.

He will ensure that there is collective action by UN agencies, development partners and the private sector to work with member countries in scaling up financing for the 2030 Agenda in the Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, and address barriers and challenges that constrain public finance for sustainable development.

The Strategy for Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was first released in September 2018, and the UN says it has a clear vision for transforming the global financial systems and economic policies in line with the 2030 Agenda, enhancing sustainable financing strategies and investments at regional and country levels.

Mohieldin was the investment minister from 2004 to 2010, and most recently served as the World Bank Group senior vice president for the 2030 Agenda, United Nations relations and partnerships.

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Hamilton, Feb 4 : Jasprit Bumrah was at his lethal best in the fifth and final T20I where he returned magical figures of 3/12 to help India sweep the series 5-0 against New Zealand. On the eve of the first ODI here, pace spearhead Bumrah is hungry for more and is ready to be the "hardest worker in the room." "Be honest. Be hungry. And be the hardest worker in the room," Bumrah said in a tweet with a stylish picture of him in a suit.

Returning from a long injury layoff, Bumrah looked rusty initially in the T20I series and was taken to the cleaners by Kane Williamson in the third game. But the pacer was at his best on Sunday as he hardly gave anything away and executed his yorkers to perfection.

"Feeling very good. The match got close at one point but we had belief that if we can squeeze in one or two good overs, the match can get close," he had said after the match.

"It was windy, I was trying to use the wind and the longer side of the boundary. Very happy with the learnings, different ground dimensions, first time in New Zealand; great result," he said.

Bumrah gained 26 places to reach 11th position too in the ICC rankings.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
NEWSALERT-PADAYATRA Karnataka Congress has decided to temporarily halt Mekedatu padayatra due to COVID concerns and in the interest of public health: Siddaramaiah.
Do not fall prey to BJP's promise of citizenship, Matuas told

Will make Assam govt party to case against CAA in SC if voted Congress to power: Gaurav Gogoi

Karnataka police quizzes school children for 4 hrs on anti-CAA play

India

oi-Mousumi Dash

Bengaluru, Feb 04: The CEO of the Shaheen Institution, Tauseef Madikeri, on Tuesday said that the police is continuing to harass students over the anti-CAA play staged on January 21 at school in Bidar, Karnataka.

Madikeri said, "Police have invoked sections 124A, 505 and 504 IPC against the institution, over a play staged against CAA & NRC. It is beyond anyone's imagination. Dy SP visited the classroom & interrogated the students."

The school administration has informed that the children are interrogated even after the school's headmistress and a student's mother were arrested last week.

A police officer arrived in the afternoon today and questioned the students for four or five hours.

The children were questioned repeatedly, regarding who taught them the play, whether teacher's forced them, said the CEO of the institution.

Earlier, several parents in Bengaluru have written an open letter and condemned the arrest of the parent and the headmistress and the repeated interrogation of the children.

According to the reports, the parent who has been arrested is a widow, and her child the student of the institution allegedly said the line in the play that was sharply against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

Reportedly, on January 30, after questioning the students and teachers, the student's mother and the headmistress were arrested by the police.

Karnataka school headmistress, parent arrested for "abuse" of PM Modi in drama

However, Dy SP Basaveshwara Hira has said that they had to ask for the details from those involved as the investigation is underway.

Bidar SP Nagesh has cleared that the police have not violated the Juvenile Justice Act during the investigation.
MURPHYS, CALIF. -- Karl Karlsen, the man who killed his son for insurance money in 2008 in Central New York, has been convicted of killing his first wife in California.

A jury found Karlsen guilty Monday in Calaveras County Court of murdering Christina Karlsen in Murphys, California, according to the Calaveras Enterprise.

The verdict came 29 years after Christina Karlsen died in a smoke-filled bathroom of her home on New Years Day 1991, trapped behind a boarded-up window. The death was investigated, but eventually ruled an accident.

Karl Karlsen and the couples three children escaped the blaze.

Karlsen collected a $200,000 life insurance policy for his wifes death. He used the money to buy a home in Upstate New York.

Seventeen years later, Karlsen killed a second family member for insurance money: Levi Karlsen, his and Christina Karlsens 23-year-old son.

In 2008, Karl Karlsen took out a $700,000 policy on his son. Then, weeks later, he hoisted a truck onto a wobbly jack in a barn at his Varick, Seneca County home and convinced son to work underneath the vehicle. He then knocked the truck onto Levis chest and walked away, leaving his son to die.

Karl Karlsen eventually pleaded guilty in November 2013 to killing his son.

Karl Karlsen was serving 15 years to life in a New York prison for murdering his son.

After his sons death, authorities in California reopened the investigation into his wifes death. Authorities charged him with murder and he was extradited to California to face trial for his first wifes murder,

Karlsen is set to be sentenced on March 17, reported the Calaveras Enterprise.

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Media and consumers are invited to watch live as the Chrysler and Jeep brands reveal new products during the first media day of the Chicago Auto Show on Thursday, Feb. 6.

Chrysler Brand Product Reveal

Thursday, Feb. 6, 9 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. CST/10 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. EST

Watch live on the Chrysler brand website at Chrysler.com

Jeep Brand Product Reveal

Thursday, Feb. 6, 2 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. CST/3 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. EST

Watch live on the Jeep Facebook or Jeep Twitter social channels

Press Conference Location

McCormick Place

South Hall, FCA Display

2301 S. Lake Shore Drive

Chicago, Illinois 60616

Chrysler Brand

The Chrysler brand has delighted customers with distinctive designs, craftsmanship, intuitive innovation and technology since the company was founded in 1925. The Chrysler Pacifica continues to reinvent the minivan, a segment Chrysler invented, with an unprecedented level of functionality, versatility, technology and bold styling. The Pacifica Hybrid takes this revolutionary vehicle a step further with its class-exclusive, innovative plug-in hybrid powertrain. It's the first electrified vehicle in the minivan segment and achieves more than 80 MPGe in electric-only mode, has an all-electric range of more than 30 miles and a total range of more than 500 miles. The Chrysler 300 lineup delivers on the brand's promise of iconic and elegant design executed with world-class performance, efficiency and quality  all at an attainable value. Chrysler is part of the portfolio of brands offered by global automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. For more information regarding FCA (NYSE: FCAU/ MTA: FCA), please visit www.fcagroup.com.

Follow Chrysler brand and FCA news and video on:

Company blog: http://blog.fcanorthamerica.com

Media website: http://media.fcanorthamerica.com

Chrysler brand: www.chrysler.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/chrysler or https://www.facebook.com/FiatChrysler.NorthAmerica/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrysler or www.instagram.com/FiatChrysler_NA

Twitter: www.twitter.com/chrysler or www.twitter.com/FiatChrysler_NA

YouTube: www.youtube.com/chrysler or www.youtube.com/fcanorthamerica

Jeep Brand

Built on more than 75 years of legendary heritage, Jeep is the authentic SUV with class-leading capability, craftsmanship and versatility for people who seek extraordinary journeys. The Jeep brand delivers an open invitation to live life to the fullest by offering a full line of vehicles that continue to provide owners with a sense of security to handle any journey with confidence.

The Jeep vehicle lineup consists of the Cherokee, Compass, Gladiator, Grand Cherokee, Renegade and Wrangler. To meet consumer demand around the world, all Jeep models sold outside North America are available in both left- and right-hand drive configurations and with gasoline and diesel powertrain options. Jeep is part of the portfolio of brands offered by global automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. For more information regarding FCA (NYSE: FCAU/ MTA: FCA), please visit www.fcagroup.com.

Follow Jeep and FCA news and video on:

Company blog: http://blog.fcanorthamerica.com

Media website: http://media.fcanorthamerica.com

Jeep brand: www.jeep.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeep or https://www.facebook.com/FiatChrysler.NorthAmerica/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jeep or www.instagram.com/FiatChrysler_NA

Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeep or www.twitter.com/FiatChrysler_NA

YouTube: www.youtube.com/thejeepchannel or www.youtube.com/fcanorthamerica

SOURCE FCA
New Orleans police officer Ryeisha Warrens marked patrol unit had just come to a stop at Dauphine and St. Louis streets in the French Quarter when a man who had been accosting pedestrians left the sidewalk, pulled a handgun from the waistband of his pants and pointed it at Warren.

Police said Austin Bentel, who had been screaming I dont care moments earlier, had taken the magazine out of the pistol but nonetheless pulled the weapons slide back as if preparing to shoot.

Warren and three other police officers who approached the scene on foot that Jan. 25 morning had no way of knowing Bentels gun wasnt loaded. They fired 15 shots, and Bentel, 21, was hit in the face, torso and extremities, Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said Tuesday.

The tires on Warrens cruiser were struck as well, sending air hissing out of them.

Police on Tuesday released videos of the officers encounter with Bentel to conform with transparency policies that the NOPD adopted as part of a federal reform pact signed in 2012.

Taken from body-worn, in-car, surveillance and city crime cameras, the footage  and accompanying audio  clearly shows Bentel pointed a handgun at Warren as well as at three strangers who happened to walk by him shortly before that.

Bentels mother last week said her son had been struggling with his mental health since the May 25 death of his father, and she believes those issues were exacerbated when he went out drinking in the hours before his shooting.

Ferguson declined to say whether he believed Bentel was trying to coax officers into shooting him. But Ferguson said he was grateful Bentel had not loaded the 9mm pistol he leveled at Warren and was regretful officers had to resort to shooting him  a difficult but correct decision, he said.

She might not be here with us today, Ferguson said of Warren while discussing the video with reporters on Tuesday. We are relieved that this situation did not result in the loss of anyones life.

Bentel remained hospitalized Tuesday, 10 days after officers shot him. He is alert and conscious, Ferguson said.

Warren and the other officers who fired their weapons  Steve Nolan, Matthew Tippett and Sierra Cochran  remained on desk duty Tuesday as the NOPDs internal investigation into the Bentel case continued. But Ferguson said that assignment was more about making sure the officers had emotionally recovered from the shooting.

Theyre human, he said. Theyre disturbed  having to shoot someone.

Many of the circumstances that led Bentel to cross paths with Warren and the other officers were spelled out in a sworn police statement filed in Criminal District Court last week.

+3 Man wounded in French Quarter gun battle with police 'not the same' since father's death, mom says The man accused of pointing a gun at passersby in the French Quarter before New Orleans police shot and critically wounded him Saturday mornin

Bentel had been drinking in at least two French Quarter bars before he started walking along St. Louis Street with a co-worker about 7:35 a.m. As Bentel walked he pointed a gun he was carrying at two strangers near St. Louis and Dauphine.

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The pair, seeing the gun, walked briskly away and past a third man. Bentel then approached that man, pointed the gun at the back of his head and declared, Ill shoot the (expletive) out of you, the police statement said.

That man headed toward Bourbon Street as officers arrived to confront Bentel, who at that point had been reported to police by at least three different people.

Bentel was screaming, I dont care, as Warren pulled up in her vehicle and the other three officers walked toward him.

Bentel is seen on the video raising his gun, pulling back the slide and pointing the weapon at Warrens open drivers window. On the video from her vehicle and body cameras, Warren can be heard twice shouting Move! before she fires her gun six times through the vehicles open window.

Standing on the passenger side of the cruiser, Nolan, Tippett and Cochran also fired at Bentel, who fell to the pavement in a heap.

Tippett fired six shots as well. Nolan fired twice and Cochran once, police said.

Video from Nolans body camera shows him approach Bentel, take a pistol from his hand and toss it aside. Nolan can he heard remarking in a tone of disbelief that Bentel was still pulling the trigger even after being shot.

That video also captured panicked screams from Bentels co-worker.

NOPD to release video showing shooting of man who pointed gun at others in French Quarter The New Orleans Police Department on Tuesday afternoon will release video footage showing officers shooting a man who pointed a gun at them as

Sgt. David Barnes, who is leading the NOPDs investigation into the case, said Tuesday it wasnt until later that police learned Bentels pistol didnt have a magazine loaded in it. The magazine had not been recovered Tuesday.

A live round matching the caliber of Bentels gun lay near where he had been shot. Police stopped short of saying that the bullet had been ejected from the chamber of Bentels gun when he racked its slide. But they noted its proximity to Warrens vehicle.

Paramedics rushed Bentel to University Medical Center. While he was still hospitalized, police used the New Orleans jails remote booking process to book him with three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and one count each of aggravated assault upon an officer and possessing a gun on the premises of an alcoholic beverage outlet.

Each assault count can carry up to 10 years in prison.

Tuesdays videos showed Bentel was wearing a black T-shirt reading security in white letters. Barnes said Bentel wore that shirt to his job at a club on Bourbon but didnt specify which one.

Bentel is not licensed to work as an armed security guard in Louisiana, according to the state board which regulates the private security industry.

But the boards director said the agency does not have the authority to regulate arrangements where clubs hire people directly to work on their staff as bouncers, though they are supposed to be unarmed.
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) announced today that the company plans to host an Investor Day event on Tuesday, March 31, 2020.

SAVE THE DATE

Brookdale Senior Living

INVESTOR DAY

March 31, 2020

We cordially invite you to attend the Brookdale Senior Living Investor Day

at the New York Stock Exchange.

7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast

8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Executive Team Presentations and Q&A

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Executive Interactions during Lunch

Please save the date. More details and registration will follow.

SOURCE Brookdale Senior Living Inc.

Related Links

http://www.brookdaleliving.com


Seeking political cover in a state Donald Trump won easily in 2016, one Democratic senator is calling for a lighter punishment for the president.

Senator Joe Manchin III hails from Trump-friendly West Virginia and has been among a small handful of Senate Democrats who have said they are open to voting with Republicans on Wednesday to acquit President Trump on charges of abusing his office and stonewalling Congress.

Mr Manchin signalled Monday he could be poised to do just that -- but also try pleasing Democratic voters back home by pushing his colleagues to censure Mr Trump over his actions towards Ukraine.

The coming votes on the House-passed impeachment articles poses political risks for some moderate Republican and Democratic senators who represent states where the electorate is not merely red or blue.

For instance, Maine GOP Senator Susan Collins faces a tough re-election fight. She voted on Friday with Democrats on motions to call witnesses in the now-concluded Senate trial. All those motions failed.

All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Show all 6 1 /6 All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Alan Dershowitz Dershowitz is a controversial American lawyer best known for the high-profile clients he has successfully defended. Those clients have included OJ Simpson, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. One longtime Harvard Law associated told the New Yorker Dershowitz "revels in taking positions that ultimately are not just controversial but pretty close to indefensible." Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Ken Starr Starr became a household name in the 1990s as the independent counsel who led the investigation that led to Bill Clinton's impeachment. That investigation began as a look into a real estate scandal known as Whitewater, and eventually led to impeachment after Mr Clinton lied under oath about having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. AP All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Jay Sekulow Sekulow is the president's longtime personal attorney, and, now, personal lawyer in the White House. He has been accused by former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas of being "in the loop" during the Ukraine scandal. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pam Bondi Bondi is the former attorney general in Florida, and a longtime backer of the president's. She made a name for herself in Florida for taking hyper partisan stances on issues, and her penchant for publicity. She is likely to be a prominent public-facing figure during the trial. AFP/Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pat Cipollone Cipollone is the White House counsel, and leading the president's defence team. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Rudy Giuliani While not officially named as one of the president's impeachment lawyers, it is hard to ignore Giuliani's outsized role in this process. The former mayor of New York has been making headlines for months as he defends his client, and for his apparent role in the effort to compel Ukraine to launch the investigation into Joe Biden. We'll see how he figures in the actual trial, which he has said he would like to be a part of. Reuters

The West Virginia Democrat rolled out a censure resolution that states Mr Trumps actions were an attempt to compel a foreign nation to interfere with domestic political affairs for his own personal benefit and that he wrongfully enlisted his personal lawyer to investigate a domestic political rival by meddling in formal diplomatic relations.

Mr Manchins measure also states the president hindered the thorough investigation of related documents and prohibited Congress and the American people from hearing testimony by firsthand witnesses with direct knowledge of his conduct.

President Trump won 68.5 per cent of the vote there in 2016.
On February 3, the armed formations of the Russian Federation violated ceasefire in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in eastern Ukraine 12 times.

The enemy used 120mm and 82mm mortars banned under the Minsk agreements, grenade launchers of different systems, heavy machine guns and other small arms to fire on positions of the Joint Forces, the press center of the JFO Headquarters reports.

As noted, the enemy launched eight attacks in the zone of action of tactical force East and four more attacks in the zone of action of tactical force North.

One member of the Joint Forces was wounded and another one was injured as a result of the enemy shelling over the past day.

Today, the Russian-occupation troops have not opened fire yet.

ish
Drum for the money

"Yesterday, with decimal currency approaching, Mr Vincent Smith of Bankstown decided to turn in his hoard of pennies and silver to the bank. Staff at the Bankstown branch of the ANZ Bank were taken by surprise when he arrived with his drum 'roll'. He pushed through the main door with his savings in two drums  a 9 gallon and a 2 gallon. He had pushed them in a handcart for a mile. Before depositing, he had to use a cold chisel and hammer to open them."

Luna-9 lands

"Western scientists today hailed Russia's moon triumph as a historic achievement. President Johnson told Russia: 'Your accomplishment is one that can benefit all of mankind and all mankind applauds it.' Soviet scientists began receiving coded information from Luna-9 as soon as the spacecraft landed on the moon in the area of the Ocean of Storms. They are studying television close-ups of the surface in preparation for a manned moon landing."

Substandard
Kellogg Company K is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2019 results on Feb 6. This renowned convenience food provider has trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 7.9%, on average. Lets discuss the factors that are likely to get reflected in the upcoming quarterly results.



Which way are Estimates Headed?



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2019 earnings is pegged at 86 cents per share, which suggests a decline of 5.5% from the year-ago quarters reported figure. Nevertheless, the projection has moved up by a penny in the past 30 days. The consensus mark for revenues is pegged at $3,198 million, which indicates a decline of 3.6% from the prior-year quarters figure.



For 2019, the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $3.89 per share that suggests a decline of 10.2% from the year-ago figure. The consensus mark for 2019 sales is pegged at $13,553 million.

Kellogg Company Price and EPS Surprise

Kellogg Company Price and EPS Surprise

Kellogg Company price-eps-surprise | Kellogg Company Quote





Factors at Play



Kellogg has been focused on undertaking efforts to restructure its portfolio. In this regard, the company completed the sale of its cookies, fruit snacks, pie crust and ice cream cones businesses in July 2019. However, the divestiture has been hurting the companys performance. In fact, during the last earnings call, management guided adjusted earnings decline of 10% (at cc) in 2019. Further, Kellogg anticipates adjusted operating profit (at cc) decline of 4-5% in the same time period. Apart from this, the company has been struggling with higher input costs. Additionally, volatile currency movement is a concern.



Nevertheless, Kellogg has been gaining from investment in Nigeria-based food distributor  Multipro  that has been contributing to its top-line for more than a year. Also, the companys top line has been benefiting from the acquisition of renowned nutrition bar brand, RXBAR (completed in 2017). Pringles brand has also been a key driver for Kellogg. .



Further, Kelloggs focus to augment its portfolio through product launches, innovation and marketing initiatives bodes well. Also, the company has been investing in in-store capabilities like increasing the sales forces of its struggling businesses like cereals. Notably, management expects 1-2% organic sales growth for 2019.



What the Zacks Model Unveils?



Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Kellogg this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But thats not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.



Kellogg carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%.



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The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. HAIN currently has an Earnings ESP of +5.26% and a Zacks Rank #2.



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Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on February 4 purportedly put up posters in Panvel, Navi Mumbai, warning "Bangladeshis" to leave India or be driven out "MNS-style".



Maharashtra: Posters of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) stating 'Bangladeshis leaves the country,otherwise you'll be driven out in MNS style' seen in Panvel of Raigad dist. Posters also shows the pictures of MNS Chief Raj Thackeray&his son & party leader Amit Thackeray. (03.02) pic.twitter.com/0mnNk5b0YR

 ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2020

According to images posted by news agency ANI in a tweet, the posters read: Bangladeshis leave the country, otherwise, you will be driven out in MNS style. The posters also feature pictures of MNS chief Raj Thackeray and his son Amit Thackeray, who was recently inducted into the party.

This comes days after MNS declared its support to the Narendra Modi government over the eviction of Bangladeshi and Pakistani infiltrators.

On January 23, while unveiling his partys new flag, Raj Thackeray had defended the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC).

He had also announced that the MNS would stage a protest march on February 9 seeking eviction of illegal migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The MNS was set up in 2006 after Raj Thackeray split from the Shiv Sena.
Museums in China are holding online exhibitions amid curbs on outdoor activities during the epidemic.

In recent years, visiting museums has become a new way to celebrate Spring Festival for many Chinese people, thanks to the popularity of variety shows on cultural relics, as well as information on exhibitions and souvenirs that have become popular through discussions on social media.

During last year's weeklong Spring Festival, about 40 percent of tourists went to museums, according to a data analysis by an affiliate of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The percentage is not surprising considering other statistics, for example, from the National Cultural Heritage Administration, which suggests museums in China drew more than 1.1 billion visits last year.

However, the scenario is set to pause for the prolonged Spring Festival holiday due to the coronavirus outbreak. Since Jan 22, when efforts to fight the epidemic increased, museums nationwide started to announce temporary closure to control the spread of the virus among people.

In Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, the Hubei Provincial Museum, known for its collection of the globally famed 2,400-year-old bronze chime bells of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State, will remain closed at least through Saturday, the date for this year's Lantern Festival, according to an official announcement.

In Beijing, the Palace Museum and the National Museum of China, with the biggest collections of cultural relics in the country, announced they will remain closed until further notice. The Capital Museum had earlier planned to take measures such as setting daily caps on visitor numbers and cutting educational and celebratory events, but it has also announced its closure for now.

"We had already prepared many activities for you during Spring Festival. However, in our point of view, it is vital to control the virus and ensure your safety," says a notice from the museum.

According to the demand by the National Cultural Heritage Administration, hygiene, public security and fire departments in museums across the country have to stay vigilant during the closure, and their social media accounts need to stay active to respond to questions from visitors.

However, this does not mean people are now thoroughly isolated from cultural treasures.

On Jan 27, the cultural administration held a special meeting to encourage museums to launch online exhibitions of their collections, making full use of the digitization projects of recent years.

"It will promote the combination of new technology and inheritance of our country's cultural heritage and gather resources of the museums through 'cloud' displays," a statement from the administration says.

Many museums followed suit as people continue their "visits" to these venues via virtual means.

The Palace Museum, for example, has adopted virtual reality technology to offer online tours. The project, named Panoramic Palace Museum, covers all major places of interest within the 720,000-square-meter compound. The Capital Museum, Suzhou Museum in Jiangsu province, Hunan Museum in Changsha, and many other such institutions have also "opened" their galleries digitally.

In recent years, many museums have had digital exhibitions. As in the past, QR codes are provided on social media by the museums for people to easily access their collections online.

The National Administration of Cultural Heritage has so far recommended around 50 such exhibitions through its official account on WeChat. Chinese culture enthusiasts who had earlier planned to physically visit museums during the vacation, but are staying indoors due to the epidemic, have welcomed the digital shows.

The cultural administration further announced on Saturday the opening of national databases of the country's cultural institutions, including even more information on registered cultural relics, "unmovable" cultural heritage sites (referring mainly to ancient architecture and historical monuments), digitized images of statues and frescoes, and more content for public-viewing.

In a letter to Guan Qiang, deputy director of the National Administration of Cultural Heritage, Suay Aksoy, president of the International Council of Museums, writes: "We have learned that following the closure of museums  your organizations have been campaigning for and promoting a maximum use of the museums' online exhibitions and other projects to minimize the effects of the closures.

"We applaud the actions taken by China during these extraordinary days of the coronavirus emergency.

"It goes without saying that ICOM is always ready to help in any way that is possible within our mandate."

Museums are also joining hands to fight the virus. The National Museum of China has donated 5,000 medical masks to the Hubei Provincial Museum to support its preventive efforts. In a letter of thanks to the national museum, Fang Qin, director of the Hubei museum, writes: "This gives us impetus to perform well during this campaign."
FPT Industrial has a reputation for technological excellence and innovation - its world-leading engines and drivelines are designed with a specific focus on sustainability. Find out what happens when the same qualities are applied to the brand's unconventional sustainability programme in this latest episode of Behind the Wheel: cnhindustrial.com/artenvironmentsustainability_en

London, February 4, 2020

Our first location is the pretty seaside town of San Benedetto del Tronto located on Italy's Adriatic coast, not only a popular tourist destination but a busy commercial port with a strong fishing heritage. It is here that FPT Industrial, the global powertrain brand of CNH Industrial N.V. (NYSE:CNHI / MI:CNHI), launched its "Fishing for Plastic" initiative in collaboration with "Clean Sea LIFE", a European project whose aim is to raise awareness about marine waste and to empower local communities to become part of the solution. The results were quite astonishing with some three tons of plastic "fished" from the sea in a mere month. Following a successful debut, the initiative has now been rolled out in South America.

From the sea to the foothills of Alps - our next stop is a reforestation project in the Basse di Stura area to the north of Turin where FPT Industrial is working with the local community to plant some 1,000 trees transforming it into an all-around sustainable area. It is estimated that this project will help reduce carbon dioxide by some ten tons annually.

The final setting for the video is the iconic city of Venice and its world famous Biennale International Art Exhibition. FPT Industrial sponsored American artist Christian Holstad whose installation was made entirely from plastic waste and was inspired by the firsthand testimonies of the fisherman of San Benedetto del Tronto. The video follows Christian as he produces and delivers the artwork; its striking form truly encapsulates the importance of such an initiative.

The diverse locations, communities and projects highlight what can be achieved when committed groups of people come together.

WATCH IT NOW AT: cnhindustrial.com/artenvironmentsustainability_en

CNH IndustrialN.V.

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Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

New York-headquartered investment management company Neuberger Berman has acquired 100% of real estate manager Almanac Realty Investors in its biggest acquisition to date.

Almanac has $4 billion in assets under management, said a press release from Neuberger Berman, which has $356 billion in total AUM.

The addition of Almanac deepens Neuberger Berman's real estate solutions, complementing public REIT strategies of $1.8 billion, including the Neuberger Berman Real Estate Fund, real estate private equity secondaries, and public and private mortgage credit.

The terms of the deal are not being disclosed. The transaction closed Jan. 31

Almanac was formed in 1981 as the real estate and advisory business of Rothschild North America and spun out as an independent firm in 2007.

"Private real estate is an important asset class. We've looked for a decade for the right partner here and are thrilled with the outcome. We respect the Almanac team deeply as investors, fiduciaries, and professionals and welcome them to our firm," said George Walker, CEO, Neuberger Berman.

Almanac's primary strategy is to make investments in independent real estate firms seeking capital to fuel further growth. It has committed over $5.5 billion of growth capital to 44 public and private real estate companies, partnering with established, mid-sized owners and operators of real estate within their niches across industrial, office, retail, multifamily, ho......................

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BarcelonaAfter being stripped of his seat in parliament ahead of the Supreme Courts definitive ruling on his disbarment, on Monday Catalan president Quim Torra saw a fresh probe launched against him by Catalonias Hight Court [TSJC in Catalan]. The reason is the same that led to Torras conviction for disobedience: his refusal to remove a banner hanging on the facade of the seat of the Catalan government bearing a message in support of the political prisoners and exiles. Following a complaint lodged by [unionist platform] Impulso Ciudadano, on 19 September last year the TSJC gave Torra 48 hours to have the banner taken down. The Catalan leader refused to and eventually Catalan police officers removed it on September 27.

Now the TSJC has launched a fresh case against Quim Torra and Justice Carlos Ramon Rubio the judge that also handled the previous case has been tasked with leading the examination phase. Therefore, president Torra is likely to be summoned and deposed before the court decides whether to go ahead with the hearing phase or not. Both the public prosecution and Impulso Ciudadano pushed for it when they presented their case in court, whereas the Catalan governments legal team argued against it.

Impulso Ciudadano aimed to ensure that government buildings would remain neutral by insisting that no banner should be hung at any time, no merely during an election campaign. Now the TSJC has opened a separate probe to establish whether Torra disobeyed the courts orders, ahead of a judgement about the crux of the matter: are the Catalan authorities allowed to hang a banner on the facade of the governments building?

Furthermore, the unionist platform have announced that they will ask for a third case to be brought against Quim Torra, as on January 3 the banner was hung up again by members of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) after Torra handed it over to them.

Revenge

The Catalan president was quick to respond by means of a statement denouncing that the reason behind the fresh suit is to exact revenge as part of the all-out lawfare waged against the Catalan independence movement. It has become apparent that the key issue was neither the election nor the institutions neutrality during the campaign contrary to what many had claimed, but the fact that the Spanish State has a problem with freedom of expression and upholding basic rights, the statement says.

The presidents department emphasises that Catalan president Quim Torra has always been consistent and honest in his defence of freedom of expression, as well as civil and political rights. That is why he did not remove the banner until the police turned up to do so, following a court injunction and the statement goes on to say that the presidents legal counsel will take any decisions necessary against this new judicial attack, which is to be examined by the same judge who saw the previous case.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020

Members of the House of Representatives have questioned a government plan to sign free trade deals with a number of countries this year, saying that such initiatives could further increase imports.

During a hearing between the House Commission VI overseeing industrial, investment and business competition and Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto in Jakarta on Jan. 30, commission member Evita Nursanty questioned the urgency of the agreements.

The government has so far signed 14 international agreements, but our trade volume and exports continued to decline somehow, she added.

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Beijing: Hong Kong has reported its first coronavirus death, local broadcaster TVB says, the second fatality outside mainland China.

The 39-year-old male had previously been reported by local authorities as having an underlying illness, TVB said on Tuesday. Hong Kong has had 15 confirmed cases including one that was transmitted locally.

South Korea also confirmed a case involving a woman who contracted the virus after visiting Thailand.

The news comes as China's Communist Party leadership said the month-old epidemic was a "major test" for the country. The new coronavirus strain has killed more in mainland China than the SARS outbreak in 2002 and 2003, with government officials confirming it as one of the deadliest epidemics in recent Chinese history.
By Alex Ho

Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose on Tuesday in Asia after the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to hold the official cash rate steady at 0.75% in its board meeting today.

The decision was in line with expectation, as some analysts said the next rate cut is likely to occur in April. The central bank made no changes in its last two meetings.

The AUD/USD pair traded 0.4% higher to 0.6715 by 1:05 AM ET (05:05 GMT).

Meanwhile, the Chinese yuan recovered against the U.S. dollar today, although concerns about the widening coronavirus outbreak kept gains capped.

The number of cases and deaths showed little sign of slowdown, as China reported on Tuesday that its total death toll from the virus increased to 425 and cases rose to more than 20,000.

"The question is how long it will take to contain the epidemic. While some people are selling risk assets, there are also lots of people who are looking for a chance for bargain-hunting," said Ayako Sera, market economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, in a Reuters report.

"If we start to see a decline in the number of new cases, then we could see an end. But at the moment, it is hard to say when that will happen."

The USD/CNY pair last traded at 6.9961, down 0.3%.

The USD/JPY pair gained 0.1% to 108.80 as risk assets traded mostly in the green today.

The U.S. Dollar Index was little changed at 97.660.

Overnight, the ISM manufacturing index for January showed an uptick to 50.9, beating expectations of 48.5. A reading above 50 in the ISM index indicates an expansion in manufacturing, which accounts for about 12% of the U.S. economy.

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OTTAWA - The Metis National Council says Sen. Lynn Beyak should consider resigning for reportedly claiming to be Metis because her parents adopted an Indigenous child.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Senator Lynn Beyak waits for the Throne Speech in the Senate chamber in Ottawa, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019. The Metis National Council is demanding an apology from Sen. Lynn Beyak and says she should consider resigning for reportedly claiming to be Metis because her parents adopted an Indigenous child. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Wattie

OTTAWA - The Metis National Council says Sen. Lynn Beyak should consider resigning for reportedly claiming to be Metis because her parents adopted an Indigenous child.

David Chartrand, vice-president of the national council, called Beyak's comments, as described in a Senate committee report, insulting, racist and a total misrepresentation of Metis identity.

"That's clearly such an insulting attitude toward our nation," he said in an interview Tuesday.

"To so easily whitewash our identity in such a callous way of mockery is shameful."

He is sending a letter to the upper chamber to demand an immediate apology from the Ontario senator, who had not responded to a request for comment on the specific allegation by Tuesday evening.

The alleged comments from Beyak were described in an appendix to a report from the Senate ethics committee, which last Friday recommended that Beyak be suspended again without pay over racist letters about Indigenous Peoples she had posted to her website.

The appendix detailed concerns from staff at the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC) in Toronto, where Beyak took Indigenous cultural training sessions, as demanded by the Senate.

During a pre-evaluation to gauge the senator's knowledge and understanding of Indigenous issues and culture, Beyak identified herself as Metis because her parents adopted an Indigenous child who became her sister, according to a letter written by training co-ordinator Nicole Meawasige to the Senate's ethics officer Pierre Legault.

"The senator's understanding and presentation of her Metis identity were flagged as a concern by the trainers delivering the (training) and by other participants," Meawasige wrote.

Chartrand said too many Metis people have suffered while fighting to have their distinct Indigenous identity recognized and a statement like this from a Canadian senator inflicts further damage on the people of the Metis Nation.

"I will make it very clear to the Senate that I am demanding an apology from her and she should consider stepping down. This is a serious matter right now for our nation."

The letters in the appendix also allege resistance from Beyak to the training and outline further concerns about comments from the senator, including that she reportedly stated that there is no racism in the northern Ontario community where she lives.

Following a request for comment last week on the committee report, a staffer in Beyak's office, Shirley Molloy, pointed to a letter from Beyak's lawyer, Donald Bayne. It's also in the appendix to the report.

In it, Bayne disputed the characterizations of Beyak's conduct in the training sessions and alleged disorganization on the trainers' part. The letter says some of the training sessions consisted only of unstructured conversations, including one on "white privilege" and not Indigenous history or relations between Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian government.

The letter says the OFIFC did not provide the training that Beyak was required by the Senate to complete and that she remains willing to attend a further training program but asks that it not be administered by the OFIFC.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2020.
The spotlight is now turned on the connect between Wuhan and Kerala as India's all three positive novel coronavirus cases so far are students of a university in the historic Chinese city, the epicentre of the epidemic.

Wuhan has been a popular destination for Keralites and others as an educational hub with quality and affordable medical courses attracting overseas scholars.

Impressed by factors like affordability, amenities and international standards in medical education, offered in English, students from Kerala have been flocking to Wuhan University School of Medicine in China.

Wuhan, over 1,000 km from Chinese capital of Beijing and 800 plus km away from the top class metropolis Shanghai, is a historic city and played a key role in the 20th century history of China.

"I am very happy about the medical system at Wuhan university. They offer quality at an affordable fees," a student who had returned from Wuhan said here on Tuesday.

Aiswarya Hariharan, a third year MBBS student, returned to India early January soon after the school was shut for vacation.

According to her, the Wuhan University School of Medicine has become a centre of attraction for MBBS aspirants from Kerala because of its international standard.

The six-year-long at the university is very thrilling as the classes are in English for the overseas students.

"In our batch, there are about 70 international students. Interestingly, 50 of them are from Kerala," said Aiswarya from Tripunithura near here.

Parent of another MBBS student studying in the Wuhan said he sent his daughter to Wuhan because of its high standard education system in a fees affordable for him.

"I spent Rs 5 to 6 lakhs for fee, accommodation and food annually for my daughter. This fee amount is very less when compare with many of the self-financing medical institutes with least facilities in India. Besides, studying overseas is beneficial for the students as they get an international exposure," the parent said.

Revathy Krishnan from Thiruvananthapuram is also doing MBBS in Wuhan.

The third year student said she was very happy about her institute and its faculty which offer medical education at par with any other reputed Indian medical institute.

The students claimed that the facilities the institute offer at Wuhan university, which is also recognised by the Government of India, is of international standard.

The students said around 500 from Kerala are doing MBBS course at Wuhan University School of Medicine.

They expressed confidence that the Asian giant would overcome the crisis due to outbreak of novel Coronavirus very soon and they would be able to continue their education there.

According to students, though there are about 35 medical colleges in Kerala, not all of them could aspire to get a seat in one of them.

Educational consultant, Jacob George, General Manager of the Asian Educational Consultancy, however, felt the number of students who go to China for MBBS were minimal as several others preferred countries like Russia.

Of the three students who tested positive for coronavirus in Kerala, two are medicos from Wuhan the epicentre of the deadly epidemic which has claimed 425 lives in China.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Head of Communications at the Presidency during Ex-President Mahamas regime, Stan Xoese Dogbe says "Ghana did not lose any money" in the Airbus deal and so believed the government will be wasting time investigating the scandal.



The aide to the former President, in a Facebook post, says President Akufo-Addo should rather probe his corrupt "family and cronies" appointees and their dealings which are "still fresh in the minds of Ghanaians".



"Ha ha ha!! Finally, the SP [Special Prosecutor] will have some work to do....But please, Mr. Akufo-Addo, given that Govt of Ghana did not lose any money in this Airbus matter, and yet you are willing to attempt some so-called investigation, just asking, why wont you rather investigate the nepotism-induced $24m tax waiver you gave to your in-law which will be at a cost to the tax payer?...The criminal PDS scandal involving your family and cronies is also still fresh in our minds ooo!" Stan Dogbe's posted.



Reacting to Stan Dogbes assertion, NPP Deputy Communications Director, Mame Yaa Aboagye has cautioned him to stop deceiving Ghanaians.



To Mame Yaa, NDC party should not be allowed to get close to power again because corruption now appears to them as normal business of the day which is shambolic.



Airbus corruption scandal has clearly exposed NDC party led by Mr. Mahama and that they have nothing good to offer Ghanaians but to come and chop money for the next four years.



She called on Ghanaians to vote President Akufo-Addo for another term in office.



Four more for Nana to do more, she said.





Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The issue here is that Sharjeel dared to question the Assam NRC, the detention camps and the general status quo that has emerged after the Assam Movement.

Sharjeel Imam was arrested recently on charges of sedition. His crime? Calling for a blockade against Assam in response to the possible disenfranchisement of 1.9 million people on the back of the Assam NRC. Many of the solidarity statements, while condemning the application of draconian anti-sedition laws and the UAPA [Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act], have simultaneously distanced themselves or outright condemned Sharjeels call for a blockade. At this juncture, we need to break down the implications of these half-hearted solidarity statements.

There can be two objections to this particular statement, one is that these groups oppose the manner of protest and the other relates to a condemnation of what has transpired in Assam until today. Sharjeels call for a blockade in the so-called chicken neck against Assam is being interpreted as a call for aggression against the people of the state and its people and the North East at large, hence the sedition charges lodged by the governments of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, apart from those in Assam, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. However, while one can understand that BJP ruled states (or in the case of Delhi, where the police fall under the control of the BJP-run Central government) would be trigger-happy with regards to sedition cases, this does not account for the objections of progressive activist circles in the so-called mainland.

It is important to note here that highway blockades are nothing new in the region. These have been employed multiple times, notably by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the United Naga Council. Neither of these has led to such condemnations from the same progressive activist groups. Objections about this mode of protest often are about concerns that this will lead to a shutdown of a state causing distress to its residents, but one can argue that this is certain for any such protest.

As a matter of fact, the anti-CAA protests in Assam also involved bandhs which by the same logic, would have caused the same kind of distress to its residents. A similar logic can be used to delegitimise everything from bandhs to transportation strikes, but one would never find progressive activist groups opposing any of this. This is nothing but hypocrisy and this isnt the actual issue for which such objections are being raised at this juncture.

On the contrary, the objection is concerning the second. The issue here is that Sharjeel dared to question the Assam NRC, the detention camps and the general status quo that has emerged after the Assam Movement. As a litmus test, those who have condemned Sharjeels statement, have they also condemned the Assam NRC in principle and not simply as a matter of implementation? For instance, the CPM while strongly opposing an All India NRC, has an unsavoury record of supporting the NRC in Assam, demanding a foreigner free Assam. There are a vast majority of such organisations and politicians who have condemned Sharjeel while opposing the sedition charges, in reality, have supported the Assam NRC.

The duplicity and hypocrisies of many of these groups, who while opposing an All-India NRC, support an NRC in Assam is attributable to the acceptance of the premise of the Assam Movement and the resultant Assam Accord i.e., the people of Assam can be cleanly divided into khilonjiya (the indigenous) and the outsiders (illegal Bangladeshi migrants). That Assam has been swamped by (mostly) Bengali immigrants, that they constitute an existential cultural threat to the khilonjiya and the first claim upon Assam lies with the former.

It is a matter of fact that colonial Assam saw the merger of three districts (Sylhet, Cachar and Goalpara) from Bengal to Assam. So is the migration of Bengalis from say, Mymensingh to Goalpara internal, or as many contend, external? If the precolonial status quo is the basis for making such judgements, then such migration would be internal migration. These mainly Muslim migrants from Mymensingh to the fertile chars of the Brahmaputra Valley as cultivators have faced unspeakable horrors resulting from structural xenophobia and Islamophobia from the 1930s, culminating in the infamous Nellie Massacre in 1983. The Muslims of the chars remain among the most marginalised people in Assam today.

There is an unstated assumption at work here that assumes that Assam has been unfairly burdened with Partition and post-Partition refugees from the fallout of the Bengal Partition by the Indian State. Except, this completely ignores the fact that Assam too saw its own Partition, where Sylhet saw a referendum, through which Sylhet minus Karimganj became a part of East Pakistan (although Karimganj voted for merger with Pakistan, whereas Moulvibazar voted to stay in Assam) -- a process which had the support of the Assamese Hindu elites.

Furthermore, after Partition, large numbers of Muslims were expelled from Assam on the back of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 and the NRC in 1951. The stories of the Sylhet Referendum and Partition of Assam are little recorded and spoken of either in popular discourse in the Brahmaputra Valley or the mainland and scholarship on the same, remains much poorer than that of the Partitions of Bengal and Punjab but this hardly means that these should remain unspoken of today.

Even if the claims of the Assamese nationalists were true and that Assam was indeed burdened by an influx of immigrants for which it had no responsibility historically, any process that leads to the mass disenfranchisement of 1.9 million people, the construction of concentration camps, the talk of stripping people who are not khilonjiya of property and political rights are horrific and condemnable.

The recent, but belated public interest in the NRC in Assam has thrown up shocking stories like that of Sandhya Chakraborty and Moimunnissa -- of the horrors of the detention camps, the Foreigners Tribunals and so on when these have been ignored and waved away by activist and political groups in the mainland. The list of over 30 suicides in response to the NRC may be termed as nothing but institutional murders in the face of a state that rejects the value of the life of anyone they deem as a migrant and an outsider.

This uncertainty that the people find themselves in did not escape the report of even the mainstream newspapers, so on what basis has Sharjeels concern towards these people earned the ire of narratives in Assam and caused discomfort among progressives in the mainland?

There are also differences in response to the solidarity offered to Sharjeel Imam and Akhil Gogoi. While the worst thing Sharjeel has probably said in his speech was expressing a nihilistic view of politics, where he cannot comprehend the possibility of solidarity towards Muslims from mainstream Hindu society or secular groups, except cynically, Gogoi had infamously stated in Bidexi Somsya Aru Jatiyo Andolonor Path that constituencies, where minorities are less than 50 percent, should be reserved for the khilonjiya, extending such a regime to local bodies and simultaneously restricting land rights as well.

Similar policies have been echoed by the ruling BJP government in Assam over the past couple of months with discussions of policies that will evict millions of outsiders in Lower Assam, restrict the sale of property by khilonjiya to other khilonjiya and restrict political rights for those who arent seen as the same in what used to be undivided Goalpara once. However, in spite of such proposals, Gogoi has been welcome in progressive activist circles in the mainland for years with no disclaimers being associated with solidarity statements for his condemnable arrest under the UAPA. On the other hand, statements of solidarity with Sharjeel are almost universally accompanied by a condemnation of his statements on Assam, even from people like Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM.

Until the recent interest in the NRC, voices of dissent against NRC in Assam, from Assam itself whether Bengali, Na Axomiya, khilonjiya or otherwise, have hardly found an audience in progressive circles. The gradual emergence of such voices in these circles has now caused indigestion to a lot of voices who have thus far claimed to be the authentic voices from the state.

Sharjeel is one of the very few to have openly spoken about the 19 lakh population who are excluded from the NRC list and incarcerated or would be. The ones who have raised their strong disagreement with Sharjeels comment, have never been found to be sensitive towards the victims of NRC and detention centre, rather many of them are even tacitly complicit in their explicit support for NRC.
Underfire Nairobi County Governor Mike Sonko is set for more woes after Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji directed police to record a statement from him over allegation of land grabbing and missing people in Kilifi County.

This follows Hajis meeting with locals during the opening of the Kilifi Social Justice Center in Mtwapa on Monday, February 3.

Families evicted from the disputed 230-acre piece of land in Majengo Kanamai said Sonko should be probed over the disappearances of people in the area over the land tussle.

One of the residents, Beatrice Osino, told Haji that her late husband, Moses Charo Pombe, died after spending four years hiding in the bush because the Sonko had allegedly threatened him.

My husband is dead. He died last year in the process of following up on this land case. Because of the land case, I was left a widow with five children. His brothers were hijacked and we dont know their whereabouts up to date. We need the government to intervene and help us, Osino said.

Police have always been on our necks. They have been using tear gas canisters and destroying our homes whenever they comeMy husband had been under constant threat. He had been receiving calls from unknown people who threatened to kill him.

Another victim, Cathrine Wangeci, said her husband who was also pursuing a land case was abducted by unknown people and has never been seen again.

He was in a matatu on his way home from Shanzu Law Courts for mentioning of the ongoing land case alongside a colleague when people believed to be police reportedly forced them to alight, she said.

Reportedly, the two were then hounded into a car that had four occupants and have since disappeared.

The DPP said he will personally look into the cases as he directed Kilifi County police boss to ensure that all individuals mentioned in the matter have recorded statements.

I have listened to the cases and I think that I will personally follow up I want that file with me by Wednesday. And I want statements from all those mentioned in the cases. It doesnt matter whether they are prominent individuals or not If the files come to me without the statements, you should be prepared to give me proper reasons, Haji said.

It is disturbing how the public suffers these injustices at this rate, their land being grabbed left right and center, children being raped and their rights violated from every direction. It is because of corruption that such cases are happening, he added.

Although we have made our own arrangements as ODPP to try and reach the public, forces of corruption have always resisted. They are even in courts and that is why we are wondering how the corrupt are being allowed to pay the bond in installments, the DPP said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 22:44:56|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- While some countries have extended a helping hand to China as it is combating a pneumonia epidemic, some others have displayed a more twisted and self-serving mindset, seeking to profit from the Asian country's most pressing concern.

In a recent interview with Fox Business Network, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said the novel coronavirus epidemic in China could help quicken the pace at which jobs and manufacturing return to the United States.

Such a jaw-dropping and callous comment contradicts the very spirit of humanitarianism and tramples on the most basic of moral principles.

Already, some have come out against Ross. Noah Smith, an opinion columnist with Bloomberg, a U.S. news agency, described Ross's words as "spectacularly insensitive" and "heartless."

In fact, Ross's reaction is not just ethically erroneous, but also lacks common sense.

The global supply chain has been put together over decades based on the rational choices of companies worldwide, including those from the United States. No chance occurrence, such as the ongoing epidemic, can profoundly change it.

What is even more alarming is that Ross's statement offers a glimpse into the mindset of some policy-makers in Washington, who are obsessed with maintaining U.S. hegemony, unable to cope with a multilateral world, and panic about China's economic and social development.

Washington worships a zero-sum Cold War mentality, even at a moment when universal fraternity and solidarity are badly needed.

Those with such a twisted worldview will naturally see a world where an epidemic can be leveraged to boost its own domestic manufacturing industry.

China's development over the past few decades has been achieved through the hard work of several generations of Chinese people and the country's active engagement with the rest of the world.

As the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century and becoming increasingly interconnected, nations worldwide must come together to cope with their shared challenges.

Yet it seems that some in the U.S. are reluctant to embrace China's development, choosing instead the parochial vision of "America first."

They have no idea that in an era of globalization, a prosperous China and a thriving United States are important not only to each other but the world at large.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. In the face of the epidemic, people in many parts of world including the United States have provided help in various ways, an embodiment of the values of a community with a shared future for humankind.

China is fully confident and capable of winning the battle against the epidemic. When the battle is won, Ross's insensitive and heartless comments will be proven wrong.
Increasing houses in Wrexhams planning blueprint would have severe adverse consequences, council warns

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Feb 4th, 2020

Increasing the number of houses included in a key development blueprint for Wrexham would have severe adverse consequences, its been warned.

Wrexham Councils Local Development Plan (LDP) outlines areas where approximately 8,500 houses could be built in the county and was subject to a public examination during the autumn.

However, planning inspectors voiced concerns that the document was flawed after questioning the local authoritys decision to reduce the amount from an original figure of 11,715.

Officers have now set out their response to the issues raised ahead of a series of additional hearings due to be held over the next two months.

They said more than 1,000 houses would need to be built every year to meet the numbers outlined in the initial plan, which would impact on local services.

They also questioned whether the construction industry would be able to keep pace with demand.

In a statement, they said: If the preferred strategy figures were used it would require an extra 3,190 dwellings.

This would result in a significant misalignment between aspiration and delivery, while the level of growth proposed would have severe adverse consequences for the plan, for sustainable development and for the people of the county borough.

In terms of deliverability, it is difficult to see how the development industry can build significantly higher numbers of housing than prior to the recession.

Increasing the housing requirement would also impact on the provision of infrastructure which is fundamental to the delivery of the plan.

Last week, the Welsh Government also gave its backing to the number of houses included in the LDP based on the latest population figures.

It came after North Wales AM Llyr Gruffydd raised fears that imposing the higher number would result in the creation of an urban sprawl.

The council has also responded to what the inspectors described as fundamental issues with the selection of three Gypsy and Traveller sites in Llay, Brymbo and Hanmer.

The land in Llay proved to be one of the most contentious choices as it forms part of Alyn Waters Country Park and is subject to a restrictive covenant.

But the council has stood by the three locations and warned the lack of a valid plan was leaving the area open to speculative housing developments.

Officials added: After many years looking, the council has exhausted the list of potential private and public sites for the allocation of Gypsy and Traveller accommodation and feels that any further reassessment would be unnecessary and prove fruitless.

However, it is prepared to undertake such further work as the inspectors think necessary to ensure that the plan can be adopted.

The absence of an up to date plan is subjecting the county borough to speculative development and planning by appeal and the adoption of the plan is essential to bring about proper plan-led development for the benefit of the people of Wrexham.

The first hearing on Gypsy and Traveller sites will be held at Wrexhams Guildhall on Tuesday, February 25.

By Liam Randall  BBC Local Democracy Reporter (more here on the LDR scheme)
With the Budget overhang gone, investors are breathing a sigh of relief and are back to make fresh calls.

Investors' wealth increased Rs 3.57 lakh crore in two days of market rally where the Sensex zoomed 917 points on Tuesday in a broad-based recovery after the Budget-day fall.

The 30-share BSE Sensex settled 917.07 points, or 2.30 per cent, higher at 40,789.38 on Tuesday. It hit an intra-day high of 40,818.94.

On Monday, the index had gained 136.78 points.

Recovery in the market led to a rise in market capitalisation of the BSE-listed firms which climbed Rs 3,57,044.43 crore to Rs 1,56,61,769.40 crore since Saturday.

The 30-share BSE key index had ended 987.96 points, or 2.43 per cent, lower at 39,735.53 on the Budget day.

"Indian bourses tanked on Saturday after the Budget disappointed the Street's expectations.

This was a knee-jerk reaction but as investors realised that the Budget will aid in the long-term growth of the economy, the market picked up.

With the Budget overhang gone, investors are breathing a sigh of relief and are back to make fresh calls," Umesh Mehta, head of research, Samco Securities said.

Mehta also said January auto sales numbers were comparatively decent and with no other negative news, the Indian bourses saw a sudden rally on Tuesday.

Religare Broking vice-president (research) Ajit Mishra said, "Indian markets witnessed a sharp surge in today's session led by positive global cues and declining oil prices."

From the 30-share BSE Sensex pack, 28 companies closed with gains led by Titan Company, ITC, HDFC and Bajaj Finance.

On the BSE, 1,618 scrips advanced, while 885 declined and 181 remained unchanged.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap Index gained 1.37 per cent and small-cap rose 1.29 per cent.

Vikas Jain, senior research analyst, Reliance Securities, said: "Positive global market also led to the upward momentum."
Two women were killed and a child was wounded in a shooting Monday morning at a university dormitory in Texas, officials said.

A recommendation for students and employees to shelter in place was lifted early Monday afternoon at Texas A&M University-Commerce, and police said there appeared to be no other threats. Officials have not identified the suspected shooter.

University police Chief Bryan Vaughn said officers responding to a call at about 10:17 a.m. found two dead women in a room at Pride Rock residence hall on the campus in Commerce, about 65 miles northeast of Dallas. He said a boy about 2 years old was also in the room and was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition.

Vaughn did not take questions after a news conference and did not say if the women were students.

The university canceled classes after the shooting and later said classes will not resume until Thursday.

The university lifted the shelter-in-place recommendation about an hour and a half after it was announced on Twitter. But the university said that even with the lifting of the recommendation, the residence hall and the surrounding area was still blocked off due to the ongoing investigation.

The university said the student center would be available for displaced students and that counselors were available there.

Larry Cooper III, a freshman who lives in the Pride Rock residence hall, told the Dallas Morning News that he left his room Monday just before the shelter-in-place was announced. He said he was waiting in a friends room on the first floor of the residence hall.

Theres police blocking the doorways, but other than that were all just kind of sitting in and waiting on the news to happen, Cooper said.

Last October, two people were killed and a dozen others injured in an off-campus shooting at a homecoming and Halloween party involving Texas A&M-Commerce students.
Authorities are searching for family members of three Jefferson County residents who died over the past week, including a man who was fatally struck while he was a pedestrian on Interstate 59/20 in Bessemer.

No foul play is suspected in any of the separate deaths, but their bodies are ready to be released for burial and the Jefferson County Coroners Office has not been able to locate next of kin. Family is sought for Elaine Margaret Klein, 91, Mark Anthony Aldridge, 51, and Paul David Potts, 62.

Klein died Tuesday, Jan. 28, at her home in the 4300 block of Mountaindale Road in east Birmingham. She had previously worked at Childrens of Alabama. Neighbors and former co-workers have tried to help coroners officials find family but to no avail. Authorities believe one of Kleins siblings preceded her in death. She was possibly estranged from a second sibling.

Aldridge died on the 28th as well. The crash happened about 7 p.m. that Tuesday in the northbound lanes at the Interstate 459 junction. He was pronounced dead on the scene. The driver did stop and is cooperating with police.

Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said Aldridge was known by many at The Foundry Ministries in Bessemer. Based on information from a friend there, they have looked for possible relatives in Cullman and Decatur but have not yet located any relatives.

Potts was discovered ill on Jan. 28 when an unknown person dropped him off at UAB Hospital and drove away. Authorities learned he had been living in an abandoned commercial building on Vanderbilt Road.

He arrived at the hospital at 11:03 p.m. and died the following day at 9:11 a.m. Authorities have not determined a cause of death. There was no trauma to him, and foul play is not suspected.

Yates said a friend told them that Potts has a nephew with the same last name who is a minister in Birmingham, possibly in the southern part of the city.

Relatives are asked to call the coroners office at 205-930-3603.
Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco on Tuesday accused the ruling BJP of "using the Church" as per its power goals, a day after many Catholic MLAs of the saffron party supported a motion in the Legislative Assembly hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for passage of the CAA.

Referring to the motion, which was passed after MLAs of Opposition Congress and the Goa Forward Party (GFP) staged a walk-out, Lourenco said the move reflected the "use and throw policy" of the saffron party.

"In the year 2012, the BJP used the Church to come to power. Yesterday, they were speaking against the Church," Lourenco told reporters in an obvious reference to the state assembly elections in 2012 when the Goa Church had supported the BJP led by Manohar Parrikar.

An anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest was organised last month by the Goa Church's Council for Social Justice along with other bodies demanding a resolution against the CAA in the Legislative Assembly.

"Use and throw policy... They (the BJP) are making it clearer. That is why in Maharashtra their own allies don't trust them," the MLA said.

He was apparently referring to the break-up between the BJP and the Shiv Sena after the results of the Maharashtra assembly polls in last October.

The Sena later joined hands with the NCP and the Congress to form a government.

During the passage of the congratulatory motion, many Christian MLAs of the BJP, including Micheal Lobo, Mauvin Godinho, Isidore Fernandes, Glenn Ticlo, Nilesh Cabral and others, had spoken in favour of the CAA.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senate Majority Leader on Tuesday slammed House Democrats' drive to impeach President Donald Trump as "the most rushed, least fair, and least thorough" in history and said he will vote to acquit Trump.

McConnell said the two impeachment charges against Trump that he abused his power and obstructed Congress' ensuing investigation are constitutionally incoherent and don't even approach a case for the first presidential removal in American history."



The Kentucky Republican opened the Senate with a scathing assessment of the case presented by House Democrats, but he did not address whether Trump's actions were inappropriate or wrong, as some Senate Republicans have conceded.

McConnell has dodged question about whether Trump's actions pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to announce an investigation into Trump's political rival Joe Biden were inappropriate.

He led a drive last week to deny Democrats any opportunity to call witnesses before the Senate, and he has worked closely with the Trump White House in shepherding the case through the Senate.

McConnell argued that concerns about whether the president's motivations were public or personal, and a disagreement over whether the exercise of the power was in the national interests" are not enough to remove a president.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York weighed in immediately after McConnell's remarks, accusing the Republican leader and his GOP colleagues of sweeping Trump's misconduct under the rug.

The administration, its top people and Senate Republicans are all hiding the truth," Schumer said. The charges are extremely serious. To interfere in an election, to blackmail a foreign country, to interfere in our elections gets at the very core of what our democracy is about."



The Senate is scheduled to vote on the two impeachment articles Wednesday afternoon. Trump is delivering his State of the Union address Tuesday night, a platform in which he appears before Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the powerful House speaker who orchestrated last year's House impeachment drive.

Trump is virtually certain to be acquitted, and no member of either party has indicated yet that they will break with their party colleagues. Republicans hold 53-47 majority.

A vote by two-thirds of the chamber would be necessary to convict Trump.
Bucharest, Feb 4 /Agerpres/ - The Economy, Energy and Business Environment Ministry initiated a draft emergency ordinance for the amendment of the Oil Law so that no transfer or sale of oil agreement shares be possible without the Government's approval.

"The relevant authority can refuse, on grounds of national security, the concession and execution of oil exploitation operations, development and exploitation of an oil reserve by legal persons that are effectively controlled by EU third countries or EU third country nationals. In the case of oil agreements in force, at the proposal of the relevant authority, the Government, for reasons of national security, can approve the termination of the oil agreement," the draft ordinance text shows.

The holder of an oil agreement can transfer to another legal person the rights acquired and obligations assumed only with the approval of the Government, at the proposal of the relevant authority, and any transfer made without the Gov't's approval becomes null.

In the event of an operation of control take-over of a holder of an oil agreement or if there is a change in the shareholding structure with the right of control over the holder, the new conditions are notified to the relevant authorities in view of approval through the Government Decision to maintain validity, amend or terminate the oil agreement, at the proposal of the relevant authority.

Failure to comply with the provisions will result in losing the title as holder of the oil agreement of the respective Romanian or foreign legal person, in case the oil agreement has several holders, and in case the oil agreement has one sole holder, it ceases.

"The current emergency ordinance transposes the last paragraph of article no. 2 paragraph (2) of Directive No.94/22/EC on the conditions for granting and using authorisations for the prospection, exploration and production of hydrocarbons, published in the Official Journal of the European Communities No. L164/1994," the draft ordinance also shows.

In the preamble, the initiators of the draft ordinance explained the fact that this amendment is necessary so national security doesn't get affected.

In this period, ExxonMobil is negotiating the sale of 50 percent of the Neptun Deep project and relevant Minister Virgil Popescu recommended them that the transfer of license be made through a Government Decision. AGERPRES
[February 04, 2020] Starburst Announces 6X Revenue & Customer Growth in 2019, Bolsters Leadership Team

Starburst today announced a 600% year-over-year annual recurring revenue growth, and a 620% customer growth for 2019. On the heels of raising one of the largest Series A investments to date in the Northeast led by Index Ventures, Starburst is on a mission to modernize big data access & analytics. Every large enterprise in the world suffers from a data silo problem, where data is created and stored in a variety of disparate systems. Traditional data warehouse products approach the problem by requiring customers to create duplicate copies of data from those source systems, transform it, and load it into one "single source of truth." This approach is extremely time and resource-intensive and results in painful vendor lock-in. Open source Presto is the fastest-growing distributed SQL query engine available today and addresses these data silo and speed of access problems. Starburst Presto is purpose-built to ensure Presto security, performance, and connectivity to meet the needs for big data access at scale. Presto was created in 2012 at Facebook (News - Alert) by David Phillips, Martin Traverso, and Dain Sundstrom. In 2019 Starburst welcomed David, Martin, and Dain to the Starburst founding team, and with the Presto community, they completed 28 releases comprised of more than 2850 commits. This growth is also driven by some of the world's most innovative companies, and Starburst was able to bring this community together over two Presto Summits in San Francisco and New York. "I truly believe we're ushering i a new era for data access & analytics," said Starburst co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Justin Borgman. "This is the beginning of the end of overly complex and cost-intensive ways of moving & preparing big data for analysis. The volume and variety of data will continue to grow at a fast pace, and today's approaches involve too much ETL and too many data warehouses & lakes that still don't get data to analysts fast enough. We're on a mission to power analytics anywhere. We're making it possible to extend the benefits of data warehousing to data where it lives, and I'm excited to see our team address this opportunity in 2020 and beyond."



Starburst customers experience significant benefits related to reducing their ETL workload and being able to run analytics on data anywhere. EMIS Health (EMIS Group PLC) is a UK-based software company providing healthcare solutions to 60% of the UK population. "We're in the business of making sure the right data is available at the right time to save lives," said Richard Jarvis, Chief Analytics Officer at EMIS Health. "In working with Presto and Starburst, we're able to provide fast and secure access to patient records to ensure the right care is administered. This can only be achieved by querying the data where it lives instead of having to move it, and we've experienced great benefits as a result." Starburst 2019 highlights include:

Three major software releases including Starburst Mission Control which simplifies the management of Starburst Presto clusters, Kubernetes support for Presto, high availability for Presto clusters, and high performance Teradata, Snowflake, Google BigQuery, and IBM (News - Alert) DB2 connectors to ensure customer's Presto success on the platform of their choice. A final product highlight was enabling statistics for the Starburst cost-based optimizer for Oracle, DB2, Teradata, PostgreSQL, and other data sources, delivering even faster performance.

Significant customer growth in industries such as retail with Zalando, high tech with Prezi, and financial services with FINRA.

New exciting partnership agreements with the largest cloud platforms include Starburst Presto Enterprise availability on Google (News - Alert) Cloud Platform (GCP), Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2, and direct purchase via the Amazon Web Services Marketplace. Starbursts' support of Kubernetes is enabling usage of Presto on Google Kubernetes Engine, Red Hat's (News - Alert) OpenShift Container Platform, Azure Kubernetes Service, and Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service. To support this growth, Starburst has grown the team 230%. Key leadership hires include Jordan Ostroff as the Vice President of Sales, who formerly led sales at Rubrik, Jess Iandiorio as the Chief Marketing Officer, who formerly led marketing at Mirakl and product marketing at Acquia; and Jason van Zyl, the creator of the Apache Maven Project. To cap it off Starburst received excellent recognition being named one of the 10 Hottest Big Data Startups by CRN, 2019 'Top 5 Vendors to watch' by Datanami, and one of BuiltInBoston's 50 Startups to Watch in 2020. About Starburst Starburst is on a mission to power analytics anywhere. We help companies quickly unlock the value of their data by making it easy to access. We do this with Presto, an open source SQL query engine that enables data consumers to access any data where it lies. Starburst Enterprise Presto is purpose-built to ensure Presto security & performance at scale. Starburst also provides enterprise-grade features and 24x7 support from the Presto experts. Organizations like Zalando, Comcast (News - Alert), and FINRA rely on Starburst to execute fast queries across their data lake, and even federate queries across different sources. Stop moving data, start using data. For more information: www.starburstdata.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005160/en/

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Three of southeast New Mexicos most notorious oilfield roads are in for major rebuilds in the coming years as the New Mexico Department of Transportation aims to use surplus state funds from oil and gas revenue to ensure workers in the industry can travel safely through the region.

In a Monday meeting with Carlsbad area business leaders in Santa Fe, New Mexico Cabinet Secretary of Transportation Michael Sandoval said a $130 million project to update U.S. Highway 285 from the Texas State Line 22 miles north to Loving was fully funded.

The road became increasingly dangerous as truck traffic increased during the areas recent oil boom as workers traveled south from Carlsbad out to the oilfield and back into town at the end of their shifts.

Sandoval said NMDOT was also working to develop alternate routes to be used during the rebuild, committing to match up to $10 million in funds provided by the industry or local community.

We know that project will be a big inconvenience to the oil and gas industry. We want to make sure people have options, he said. We want to make sure oil and gas is still mobile in that area.

Eddy County Director of Community Services Wes Hooper said funding for the alternative route off 285 would likely come from the industry, as the routes would be primarily used by oil and gas workers.

Were going to industry to help us fund projects that will help the industry run a bit more smoothly, he said.

Another project to upgrade New Mexico State Road 31 to four lanes, between its intersections at U.S. 285 and U.S. 128 was also funded to the tune of about $110 million, Sandoval said.

A project to add another four lanes to US 128 from Carlsbad to Jal had about $60 million funded of the $200 million needed, he said.

Overall, Sandoval said about $150 million was still needed to fully repair and update the three priority roads in southeast New Mexico: 285, 128 and 31.

He said the projects would be conducted gradually so as not to interrupt the dense industrial traffic.

We want to be sensitive about how we release these projects, Sandoval said. We dont want there to be construction ever five miles.

The southeast region of New Mexico, known for heavy oil and gas development generating most of the states recent budget surpluses, must be prioritized, Sandoval said, in order to maintain the states fiscal momentum.

NMDOTs budget was at about $980 million, he said, with a $300 million surplus. About $250 million of that would go to the agency, with the rest dedicated to local road projects.

We want to support oil and gas, he said to the Eddy County leaders. Youre county is one of the main reasons we have this money. We want to try to bring in as much money as we can to go to local infrastructure. Some of that would definitely go to southeast New Mexico.

We care about the entire system. We just want all of it to just work together.

Jerry Fanning, Eddy County public and government affairs director urged lawmakers to support policy allow for tax exemptions to private companies which donate funds to local oilfield roads.

If we can keep those trucks running we can keep getting that money to Santa Fe, Fanning said. Its also a big safety issue. Those are our goals.

Ryan Flynn, executive director of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association said the industry already invests heavily in southeast New Mexico where operations are concentrated.

He said the Association supported a bill to add a tax credit for road projects.

The southeast generates the majority of the revenue and they dont receive their fair share of the revenue, Flynn said. We agree that if the southeast is the economic engine of the state, we need to make sure were investing in the engine. Thats not a popular opinion outside of the southeast.

We take roads very seriously.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.



2020 the Carlsbad Current-Argus (Carlsbad, N.M.)

Visit the Carlsbad Current-Argus (Carlsbad, N.M.) at www.currentargus.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) signed an agreement to operate Bidar Airport in North Karnataka from February 2020.

Under the Government of India's Regional Connectivity - UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) Scheme, GHIAL has signed the concession agreement to commission, operationalize and maintain the civilian enclave at the Bidar Airport in North Karnataka. GHIAL is expected to start the airport operations in the first week of February 2020 with the operations of one daily flight connecting Bidar with Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka.

GHIAL is a joint venture company promoted by the GMR Group (63%) in partnership with Airports Authority of India (13%), Government of Telangana (13%) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (11%).

SGK Kishore, executive director - South, GMR Airports and CEO - GHIAL, said, "The operationalization of Bidar Airport is a testimony to our commitment to support the Government of India's flagship Regional Connectivity Scheme. We are very pleased to partner with the Government of Karnataka to support efforts for all-round development Bidar and nearby regions and we are confident that the start of commercial operations at Bidar will provide a boost to the local economy through better connectivity for the people of Bidar and the large number of tourists who visit the area."

Located in the north-eastern part of Karnataka state, Bidar city is the headquarters of the Bidar District and is home to important religious shrines and historic monuments including Guru Nanak Jhira Sahib which is one of the holiest sites of the Sikh religion in this part of the country. Bidar is also renowned for Bidriware metal handicraft products which have been recognized with the coveted Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

GMR Infrastructure is a leading global infrastructure conglomerate with interests in airport, energy, transportation and urban infrastructure.

GMR Infra reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 458.50 crore in Q2 September 2019 as against a net loss of Rs 218.86 crore in Q2 September 2018. Net sales fell 1.1% to Rs 1,790.33 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018.

Shares of GMR Infrastructure rose 2.09% to Rs 21.95. The stock was seen trading in the range of Rs 22 to Rs 21.45.

On the technical front, the stock's RSI (relative strength index) stood at 44.25. The RSI oscillates between zero and 100. Traditionally the RSI is considered overbought when above 70 and oversold when below 30.

The stock was currently trading between its 50-day moving average (DMA) placed at Rs 22.17 and its 100-DMA placed at Rs 20.49.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, Feb 4 : The Lok Sabha on Tuesday appeared divided even on the 'Lunch Time' for the members.

After the zero hour mentions, when Speaker Om Birla, around 1.15 p.m., announced adjournment for lunch, some members refused. They opposed the time of the announcement and said that lunch should be skipped.

A few Congress members asserted that the House should continue its business and drop the idea to go for lunch.

Amid uproar, Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM suggested the Speaker should get the members to vote on the Luch timing -- whether the House should skip the lunch.

Om Birla amused by the turn of events, then suggested that the "important decision should be left on senior leader Mulayam Singh".

The Samajwadi Party patron, who was seating in the front row of the opposition benches then stood up and smiled.

The Speaker said: "Mulayam Singhji, lunch hona chahiye ya nahi ...lunch zaroori hai ya nahi. Aap decide kar de aaj (Should there be lunch? Is lunch important or not? You decide it for the House today?" The happy-looking septugenarian said: "Bahut zaroori hai (Its very important)." The entire House most willingly accepted the senior leader's decision. It was then the Speaker finally announced that the House was adjourned for lunch.
The second biggest buyer of Malaysian palm oil, China, bought just 2.4 million tonnes last year, while the third largest buyer was Pakistan with 1.08 million tonnes, according to data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council.

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia said on Tuesday that Indias move to cut back on palm oil purchases from the Southeast Asian nation is temporary and will be resolved amicably between the two nations.

Having long-standing bilateral ties, the two nations will overcome the current challenges, and prevail towards mutual and beneficial outcomes, the Malaysian Palm Oil Council said in a statement, citing Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok.

Malaysias push to implement B20 biodiesel starting this month will also help sustain high crude palm oil prices, the statement read.

Last month, Indian government restricted imports of refined palm oil and asked importers to avoid purchases from Malaysia after its criticism of Indias actions in Kashmir and a new citizenship law.

India relies on imports for 70 percent of its edible oil consumption, up from 44 percent in 2001/02. Palm oil accounts for nearly two-thirds of Indias edible oil imports of around 15 million tonnes, according to data compiled by SEA.

The government's move to restrict palm oil imports from Malaysia will create a huge challenge for the worlds second biggest producer of the edible oil as India has been its top market for the past five years, Reuters reported earlier.

India, the worlds largest buyer of edible oils, last week restricted imports of refined palm oil and effectively halted all palm oil purchases from Malaysia in retaliation for criticism by the Malaysian prime minister of Indias policy towards Kashmir.

The Indian government withdrew the autonomy of Kashmir last year to tighten its grip on the region, shutting down internet access and detaining activists and politicians. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said recently that Hindu-majority India was invading and occupying the country of Jammu and Kashmir.

India has been Malaysias top import market since 2014, according to industry data.

Last year, India bought 4.4 million tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia, accounting for 24% of all Malaysian palm oil exports.

The second biggest buyer of Malaysian palm oil, China, bought just 2.4 million tonnes last year, while the third largest buyer was Pakistan with 1.08 million tonnes, according to data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council.

Malaysia is talking to the Indian government and trade officials in a bid to resolve concerns over New Delhis import restrictions, Teresa Kok, Malaysias minister in charge of palm oil, said.

She has flagged Africa and central Asia as emerging markets for Malaysian palm oil, and said Malaysia will continue efforts to increase share in the Middle East.

But replacing India and getting other countries to buy Malaysian palm oil may not be easy.

Indonesia, the worlds biggest producer of palm oil, boasts lower production costs and has a bigger share of the market in many palm oil-consuming countries. It has also historically offered palm oil at cheaper prices than Malaysia, although recently Malaysian export prices have slumped below Indonesian rates as Indian buyers retreated from the market.

Leading industry analyst James Fry said Indias restrictions will shift Indian crude palm oil purchases from Malaysia to Indonesia, and Malaysia may end up selling more refined palm oil globally.

India is the seventh biggest market for all Malaysian exports, while Malaysia is Indias 17th largest export market.
by Larissa Faw , February 4, 2020

Three industry pros--Chris Godfrey, Alissa Khan-Whelan and CJ Brown--are joining forces to launch their own creative agency Happy Yolk (HY).

The London-based agency is backed by two European agencies Blurred and Tin Man with Nik Govier (Blurred) and Mandy Sharp (Tin Man) sitting on the Happy Yolk board and providing strategic and business advice.

Our ideas are engrained in culture and focused on real business outcomes, says Khan-Whelan. We take a refreshing approach to briefs that is nimble and focuses acutely on the task at hand.

The three veterans have long known one another through industry ties. Creative director Godfrey, previously toiled at The & Partnership and Karmarama. Brown, also a CD at the new agency, previously worked at Nike. Khan-Whelan, HYs head of production, formerly worked as creative producer at The Communications Store.

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They will be supported with freelancers and with a new hire to bolster the consumer PR side of things, soon to be announced, according to Khan-Whelan.

In the run-up to launch, the trio have already completed work for telecom firm TalkTalk, free-range egg marketer Happy Egg Co and teamed up with Sony Music and DJ Khalid on the release of Khalids latest album.

This agencys origin story centers around a stunt designed to vie with Kylie Jenner for Instagram popularity. The three came together on a self-initiated project  titled World Record Egg Campaign  to transform a simple egg photograph into the worlds most liked posted image toppling Jenners record. This initiative then went on to champion mental health via a Super Bowl reveal last year, in partnership with Hulu and Mental Health America. This connection to culture and cause will drive the strategic thinking and creative output of Happy Yolk.

We were able to get a picture of an egg from a sofa in South London to the Super Bowl within four weeks, jokes Godfrey. So we cant wait to see what we can create with like-minded people and brands that want to stand out.

The decision to name their agency was obvious, says Khan-Whelan. It serves both as a reminder of our work on the Egg and where weve come from, but also that at the core of what well deliver as an agency is positive, effective ideas that bind brands with people, culture and causes.
Photo credit: Getty Images

From Car and Driver

Tesla's recent surge in stock price is puzzling to those of us who know the auto industry well. We know, empirically, that Tesla does not make cars that are as well built and reliable as those from traditional automakers. We've read through Tesla's financial reports, and we know how close they have skated to the edge of bankruptcy. We watch Tesla's stock price soar, feeling just as puzzled as we were in the '90s when people spent ridiculous amounts of money on Beanie Babies and called it an investment.

We wonder: Are we missing something? Or are all those people just high on the Tesla cult?

Even Wall Street seems a bit puzzled by Tesla's increasing share price. Tesla stock has gone from $230 a share at the end of September to trading at over $900 a share on Tuesday. It's a meteoric rise, baffling considering that the company produced just 367,500 cars in 2019 and posted a net loss of $775 million for the year. Compare that to Toyota, the world's largest automaker, which sold 10.7 million vehicles across all of its brands in 2019. Toyota's shares on the New York Stock Exchange hovered around $140 a share Tuesday.

Tesla True Believers are not investing in Tesla solely because they have blinders on and can't see the flaws in Tesla's current product lineup. Many of them believe that an investment in Tesla is an investment in making the world a better place. They believe that an investment in Tesla is a vote against Big Oil. They believe that climate change is happening, and happening fast, and that Tesla is one of the few companies that can handle the rocky transition to a postBig Oil future.

And they may have a point. Some bankers are beginning to sound the alarm over the financial risks associated with climate change. Last April, a group of 34 central banks from around the globe put out a research paper called A Call for Action: Climate Change as a Source of Financial Risk, which warns that climate change is poised to have a massive impact on traditional industries and affect the financial health of economies worldwide.

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There is almost nothing the traditional automakers can do to compete with the storyline that Tesla is better for the world than any other carmaker. They can't make a better, faster, higher-quality electric car. Or SUV, or pickup truck, or an entire brand dedicated to electric vehicles. None of that matters to the die-hard fans, because those efforts are still part of companies that make a lot of money off traditional gas-powered vehicles. And so that makes those brands tainted by Big Oil.

The only way to change the narrative would be for another automaker to go 100 percent fully electric. Thats not a recommendation, incidentally. There's little evidence that enough consumers want to buy electric cars to make a leap like that. The traditional automakers have plants and buildings full of workers they are trying to support, and so they have to be less risk-averse than smaller startups that have fewer obligations to meet.

All stock-market investments are a bet on the future. And it's clear that investors see Tesla as the future. What that means for the other automakers remains to be seen.

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A British woman jumped 250 feet to her death from the balcony of her family's luxury apartment in China.

Mother of two Gill Smith, 44, had appeared to be happy after setting up home in a wealthy part of Shanghai with managing director husband Peter and their young sons.

Mr Smith, who is a recruitment consultant with Michael Page has worked in Shanghai since 2012, however, it is not clear when his family joined him.

According to her inquest, Mrs Smith's family were unaware she had 'got herself in a hole' after she encountered a problem which she thought she was unable to resolve and kept it to herself.

The exact nature of the problem was not revealed during her inquest.

Gillian Smith, pictured with her husband Peter jumped to her death from the balcony of their riverside apartment complex in Shanghai in July 5, 2019

Mr Smith, pictured with his wife, told her inquest that she had been 'in a bit of a hole' in the weeks before her death

On July 5 last year Mrs Smith, formerly of Bramhall, near Stockport, Greater Manchester, fell 38 floors from the family home near the Huangpu River after sending her sons to have lunch with their father.

She suffered multiple injuries and was found in the grounds of the apartment complex in the Weifang Xincun area of the city.

Inquiries found the apartment had waist high metal and glass panels surrounding the edges and Mrs Smith would have required her to use a stool in order to step over them.

The hearing in Stockport was told Mrs Smith had moved to Shanghai along with her husband and two sons but had seemed quiet in the weeks before her death - some days being unable to get out of bed.

The family were due to fly out to Spain to start the beginning of the children's summer holiday along a trip back to the UK to visit family.

Mrs Smith, who was originally from Stockport, Greater Manchester had been unable to get out of bed in the weeks before her suicide

Mr Smith who is Managing Director of Michael Page China told the hearing: 'I knew she wasn't her normal self over the two weeks prior to her death. She became quiet and wasn't her normal self in terms of chatting when I would get back in the evening.

'I did specifically ask her three times what was wrong and I sat with her and asked what's going on, it's not right. And she said nothing was going on.

'We were due to go on holiday five days later. We were all due to come back to the UK and Gill would normally come back for about five to six weeks between the UK and a summer holiday in France. But this year we were going to Spain for 10 days and then France.

'My last conversation was over the phone she phoned to say I have just put the boys in a car and they will be with you in 20 minutes. When it was the school holidays they would come and see me and we would got something to eat as I did a lot of travelling.

'A meal had been arranged earlier in the week and at one point Gill was going to come. I didn't notice anything unusual. I know on the Monday she had stayed in bed all day. I had gone to work and she was in bed and I came back and she said she didn't feel up for getting up and wanted to watch TV.'

Recalling the day of the tragedy he added: 'As we finished lunch and were coming down in the elevator, as we came out a text message came through and and as soon as I got that message we set off back home.

'I phoned my PA to try phone the building and get someone to get up to the apartment and phoned my friends wife. My friend's wife was sat with Gill and my PA phoned me really upset and saying she was so sorry.

'Gill had never talked about doing anything like this before, but weirdly enough there had been a few suicides in Shanghai over the last year and it had been a topic of conversation at a BBQ we were at four weeks before.

'She just got herself into a hole and I don't think she meant it. I think it was just a moment of madness.'

After the tragedy unfolded police found Mrs Smith's phone and a note with passcodes written down. Leading them to uncover a draft email that had been saved explaining her reasons and how she was sorry.

Mr Smith said following his wife's death he found her mobile phone and some pass codes. On the phone there was a note explaining all of her actions

Coroner Alison Mutch said: 'It's difficult to understand what was going through her mind at the time, she clearly didn't want to talk about it. Clear from the notes that where recovered that she felt she was in a situation that for reasons not entirely clear, felt was not resolvable'

Police coroners officer Colin Price, told the hearing: 'She had left the access codes to her phone so that somebody could look at the phone and the draft email on the phone. And would appear the underlying theme of what she was saying was that she was sorry.'

Recording a conclusion of suicide due to multiple injuries caused by her fall, Coroner Alison Mutch, said: 'Cleary Mrs Smith along with her family lead a very happy life in China where they where living at the time. And that they had a very close family with two children that she clearly thought the world of.

'Clear from the all the messages I have seen that her family where a huge part of her life and she cared immensely for her family.

'It's clear on the evidence before this court that in the short time proceeding her death she had become quite distressed and quieter than usual.

'It's difficult to understand what was going through her mind at the time, she clearly didn't want to talk about it. Clear from the notes that where recovered that she felt she was in a situation that for reasons not entirely clear, felt was not resolvable.

'But of course we know her family who are clearly devoted and supportive had they known would have done everything they could to help understand the situation that was more than resolvable.

'Given how close she was to her family and incredibly supportive was one of the tragic features of this particular case that she didn't speak to any of her family about what was in her mind at the time.

'I extend my condolences to all of you for the loss of somebody you all cared immensely about, I'm very sorry you have lost her from your lives.'

For confidential support in the UK call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details
An Australian couple have been left in limbo on a cruise ship after the vessel was banned from its planned journey to the Philippines over coronavirus fears.

The Holland America cruise liner left Hong Kong on Saturday but David and Judy Holst, from Adelaide, said the captain then informed them about a day into the trip to Manila the ship would not be allowed to dock there.

Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte extended the country's travel ban on Sunday to anyone coming directly from Hong Kong, China and Macau in the past two weeks.

Couple David and Judy Holst, from Adelaide, (left and right) have been left in limbo on a cruise ship after the vessel was banned from its planned journey to the Philippines over coronavirus fears

It came as the Philippines confirmed a man in the country had died from the deadly virus on Sunday and the number of people who had died in the outbreak surpassed 300.

Mr Holst, who was about midway through a month-long cruise on the Westerdam ship across Asia, said the decision to stop in Hong Kong was 'dumb'.

He said about 800 passengers joined the cruise in Hong Kong, bringing the total number of passengers to 2,000.

'My wife and I were at dinner and I said "the boat's slowed down",' Mr Holst told ABC Radio Adelaide.

'A little while later an announcement came over the PA saying Manila has denied us entry.'

The disability advocate said he had been told to 'be quiet and go away' when he went to guest services to question the decision to stop in Hong Kong.

David and Judy Holst, from Adelaide, said the captain then informed them about a day into the trip to Manila the ship (pictured) would not be allowed to dock there as the Philippines put a travel ban in place on those coming directly from Hong Kong

On Monday, Mr Holst said the cruise ship had then been refused entry to Hualien in northern Taiwan and would instead go to Kaohsiung in the island's south on Tuesday.

'Holland America brought this on when they recklessly went to Hong Kong,' Mr Holst said in a Facebook post.

'The captain in his broadcast said he hopes we are all feeling grateful for the huge effort of Holland America to find us port docks? OMG.'

Holland America said the Holst's cruise would dock in Hong Kong but end in Japan and not Shanghai on the Chinese mainland in a January 28 update.

In a separate update, the cruise provider said from February 15 none of their cruises would stop in Hong Kong.

In a statement provided to Daily Mail Australia, Holland America said they were closely monitoring the evolving coronavirus situation.

They said measures being implemented included pre-boarding medical evaluations and coronavirus medical screenings for all guests who report to their onboard medical centre with symptoms of respiratory illness.

People wearing face masks queue for hours at a cosmetic store on Monday to buy sanitary masks in Hong Kong amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak . Mr Holst said it was 'reckless' of Holland America to dock in the city

For those who had to change their flights as a result of the change to Japan as the cruise's end point, a spokesperson said a $250 airline change fee would be covered by Holland America.

'Our medical experts are coordinating closely with the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to implement enhanced screening, prevention and control measures for our ships globally,' the spokesperson said.

It comes as Japan's government said on Monday it would quarantine a Yokohama-bound cruise ship, after a Hong Kong man who sailed on it last month tested positive for coronavirus.

The 80-year-old man flew to Japan and boarded the Diamond Princess, run by Carnival Japan Inc, in Yokohama on January 20 and disembarked on January 25, NHK public broadcaster said.
Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) will be arranging a cinematic evening with the screening of an Iranian film titled "Damascus Time" here in PNCA auditorium on Friday

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Feb, 2020 ) :Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) will be arranging a cinematic evening with the screening of an Iranian film titled "Damascus Time" here in PNCA auditorium on Friday.

Collaborated by Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the screening of the film is in lines with the aim to bring about an introduction to 40 years of Iranian Cinema to the people of twin cities as cinema has always been instrumental in enhancing the people to people contact among countries.

"Damascus Time" is a film by famous the internationally renowned director/producer Ebrahim Hatamikia who described the a story of two Iranian pilots, carrying a cargo of humanitarian relief supplies in a special mission to save the people of a Syrian city surrounded by ISIS terrorists. However; they face many challenges as ISIL soldiers attack and capture them.
This is how Monday nights Democratic caucus in Iowa was expected to go:

Tens of thousands of voters would gather at some 1,700 voting locations across the state in a caucus meeting lasting about an hour or so where they would publicly vote for their preferred Democratic candidate: former Vice President Joe Biden or Sen. Bernie Sanders, maybe, or former Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg or Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Through the somewhat complicated rules of Iowa caucusing, in which some voters first choice would be eliminated and they would have to switch their public vote to their second choice, one of the Democrats would emerge the winner.

And the Iowa caucus, which for decades has been the start of the Democratic primary process, would continue its outsized role of spotlighting a winning candidate whom voters seem to really, truly prefer after all the campaign speeches and events are over and done.

Instead, here is what happened on Monday night:

The voters did, indeed, gather and they did really caucus. At the 1,678 precincts across the state, with an additional 99 satellite precincts, Iowans went through the various steps of caucusing: physically sorting themselves in a room by their voter preference  Biden voters in one corner, say, with Sanders voters in another  and then re-sorting as necessary if their first choice didnt get enough votes to make the cutoff.

From there, the so-called viable groups of votes that met the minimum cutoff of support (usually 15 percent of the total) were counted as the final results for a given precinct and then those votes were converted, by a mathematical formula, into a state delegate equivalent that would be used to determine who the states caucus winner was.

All of that appears to have been done correctly.

The problem was in reporting these results to the public.

RELATED: Who Is Still Running for President in 2020

Precinct officials tally the votes during a caucus at Lincoln High School in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday. | CRAIG LASSIG/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Supporters for Sen. Elizabeth Warren raise their hands to be counted at a caucus site during the Iowa Democratic caucus at Hoover High School, in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday. | Charlie Neibergall/AP/Shutterstock

As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly 24 hours later, the Iowa Democratic Party had not yet released official results from its caucus.

Story continues

The candidates were frustrated and confused, party officials were doing damage control and the media  which had swarmed Iowa for months given that it was to be the first chance to see actual voters actually vote on candidates  was more or less really, really upset to not have any numbers to inform their coverage.

On social media, especially after early reports that party officials said the delay was because of quality control being done on the results, some conspiracy theories spread about what was taking so long.

The delay and surrounding issues really *are* a huge story right now, its not just that people are too impatient these days and should just sit back, grab a drink, and wait for results to come when they come, NBC News editor Benjy Sarlin tweeted in a larger thread about the controversy. It dramatically impacts how those results are framed.

In a statement on Tuesday, the state party blamed a coding issue with a smartphone app that it had planned to use to gather voting information from each precinct.

RELATED: Every 2020 Presidential Candidate Celebrities Have Supported So Far

According to various media reports, some caucus workers also reported being unable to submit their voting results by phone.

In a surreal, only-on-live-TV moment Monday night, CNNs Wolf Blitzer was on the phone with a caucus worker who was on hold on the other line while trying to report voting numbers from their precinct. The worker then got someone on the phone to report their results but the person hung up on them while Blitzer was trying to get CNN access to listen in.

As precinct caucus results started coming in, the IDP [Iowa Democratic Party] ran them through an accuracy and quality check. It became clear that there were inconsistencies with the reports. The underlying cause of these inconsistencies was not immediately clear, and required investigation, which took time, the Iowa party chair, Troy Price, said in a statement on Tuesday.

As this investigation unfolded, IDP staff activated pre-planned backup measures and entered data manually. This took longer than expected, he continued.

RELATED VIDEO: Iowa Caucus 2020  Whats a Caucus? Who Are The Ones to Watch? Everything You Need to Know

As part of our investigation, we determined with certainty that the underlying data collected via the app was sound. While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data, Price said. We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed. The applications reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately.

More than 50 percent of the caucus results were set to be released starting at 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday (or 5 p.m. on the East Coast), Price told the campaigns on Tuesday morning, according to reports.

A party spokeswoman told The Des Moines Register that half or so of the results would be released.

But the key question remained: When would all of the results be made public?

While our plan is to release results as soon as possible today, our ultimate goal is to ensure that the integrity and accuracy of the process continues to be upheld, Price said in his statement Tuesday.

The confusion also fueled ongoing criticism about Iowas first-in-the-nation status, given that it is older and whiter and more rural than many places where American voters live and because its caucus rules are more complicated (and more exclusionary) than the conventional voting with which most Americans are familiar.

Voters in the Republican Iowa caucus, which is held on the same night though with different rules, overwhelmingly chose President Donald Trump as their winner, in what amounted to little more than a formality.
The process to choose Iraq's new prime minister Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, who won the nomination by a nose, was selected using the same playbook the Lebanese Iran-backed Hezbollah has followed in setting up the new government in Beirut.

The Lebanese cabinet was formed last month, despite all the public objections. Protesters filled Beirut streets hoping for change, and their demands were sidelined. They asked for a breakaway from sectarian quotas in the country's political system. They also demanded a cabinet of technocrats. However, the outcome reflected the stark difference between the protesters' aspirations and the reality. Hassan Diab, who served as education minister in a previous Hezbollah-backed cabinet, was named new prime minister. And while a government of technocrats is what has been unveiled, the members are widely seen as beholden to Hezbollah  itself backed by Iran  and its Shia and Christian allied movements. For Tehran, stripping the uprising of its momentum was important.

Things dont look any better in Iraq, despite the deaths of more than 600 protesters and the wounding of 20,000 others since October. They are calling for a secular government, free of Irans influence, and an end to corruption. Their demands were met with live ammunition and repression from the security forces and militias aligned with Tehran. They seem able to take it all, but what they cant endure is yet another government that just repeats history. They are also losing any trust in Muqtada al-Sadr, one of the most powerful clerics in the country.
The World Health Organization said Monday it was working around the clock with internet and social media giants to combat widespread misinformation surrounding the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned of the dangers posed by the spread of rumours and misinformationas China saw a surge in deaths and infections from the highly contagious virus.

We have worked with Google to make sure people searching for information about coronavirus see WHO information at the top of their search results, Tedros said in opening remarks to the UN health agencys Executive Board meeting in Geneva.

Social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Tencent and Tiktok have also taken steps to limit the spread of misinformation, he said.-

His comments were interrupted by a fit of coughing, but the WHO chief assured the assembly that there was no need to worry: It is not corona.

He spoke as the death toll in China surged above 360, surpassing the number of fatalities in the country from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002-03.

The number of infections in China also jumped signficantly on Monday, passing 17,200.

The 57 confirmed new deaths on Monday was the single-biggest increase since the virus was detected late last year in the central city of Wuhan, where it is believed to have jumped from animals at a market into humans.

The virus has since spread to more than 24 countries, despite many governments imposing unprecedented travel bans on people coming from China. The first foreign death from the virus was reported in the Philippines on Sunday.

 Infodemic 

WHO warned late Sunday that the 2019-nCoV outbreak has been accompanied by a massive infodemic, which it defined as an over-abundance of information - some accurate and some not - that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it.

The agency said it had risk communication and social media teams working 24 hours a day to identify the most prevalent rumours that can potentially harm the publics health, such as false prevention measures and cures.

The WHO last week declared the crisis a so-called Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), with Tedros reiterating Monday that the rare declaration was not taken due to lack of confidence in Chinas handling of the situation.

It was taken primarily because of the signs of human-to-human transmission outside China, and our concern of what might happen if the virus were to spread in a country with a weaker health system, he said.

WHO has also advised against measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade, at a time when a wide range of countries are advising against travel to China and even closing their borders to people travelling from the country.

SOURCE: AFP | PHOTO: AFP
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) Technical problems have hounded the burial and cremation procedure for the Chinese man who died of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the Philippines, with several operators backing out from previous deals, the Health Department said Tuesday.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said some crematoriums mostly run by Chinese operators withdrew their commitments, thus causing the delay of the patients cremation.

There were many groups who initially said they would cremate, they would bury in the Chinese cemetery only to find out later on that they changed their minds. They don't want to cremate anymore, Duque told CNN Philippines The Source.

It's very unfortunate that they're backing out. These are Chinese as well. So I don't understand, he added.

It has been three days since the death of the 44-year-old Chinese man the countrys second confirmed case of coronavirus and the first reported fatality of the illness outside of China.

He was the partner of the Chinese woman who first tested positive for the new virus. The couple arrived in the country on January 21 via Hong Kong from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the epicenter of the virus outbreak.

Instant cremation sought

Chinese health officials previously advised that cadavers of those who have died from coronavirus should be cremated close by and immediately.

Chinas health ministry has also banned burials and funerals of coronavirus patients in an effort to curb the spread of the virus, which has left over 400 people dead in its wake.

While local health authorities continue to exercise caution for the possibly infectious remains, Duque, for his part, remained optimistic the Chinese mans body will be cremated as soon as possible.

I just wanted to know if finally the place that agreed to cremate hasn't changed its mind. ... Now there's one, hopefully this will be facilitated within the day, the Health chief said.

Duque also appealed to the Chinese crematorium operators to help in the case of their fellow national.

If they have cemeteries or cremation facilities, crematorium, they should help. They should not discriminate.

80 remain on governments coronavirus watch

At least 80 individuals have been placed under close observation by the Philippine government for suspected coronavirus infection, 67 of whom are currently hospitalized.

Patients under monitoring include eight people who came in close contact with the Chinese couple, and showed flu-like symptoms after the encounter.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday expanded the countrys temporary travel ban, which now covers passengers to and from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau or those who had been to those places within 14 days before their arrival in the Philippines.

Filipinos and holders of permanent resident visa coming from the said places will be allowed to enter the country, but will be required to undergo 14 days of mandatory quarantine.

The new coronavirus has since spread to at least 27 countries and territories outside China, with over 19,000 cases reported globally as of publishing.

CNN Philippines' Glee Jalea contributed to this report.
Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Proctor Prof Afifullah Khan on Tuesday resigned from his post, though he did not specify any reasons for the decision.

He stepped down days after the university's Students Coordination Committee demanded resignation of top university officials, including the Proctor, "on moral grounds" in the wake of the campus violence on December 15.

"Khan has resigned and his resignation has been accepted," AMU spokesperson Omar Peerzada said.

He said Khan has resigned "voluntarily" and no reasons have been cited for this sudden move.

In his place, the Vice Chancellor appointed as Proctor Professor Mohamed Wasim Ali from the department of law.

After the campus violence on December 15 last year, the Students Coordination Committee has been demanding the resignation of top university officials including the Proctor on moral grounds for the alleged police excesses on campus.

Spokesperson of the Committee Faizul Hasan told media persons that while the Proctor's resignation was "welcome", the student community would not dilute its demand for the resignation of other officials.

Meanwhile, five students of AMU have been booked for burning the effigies of Union Home Minster Amit Shah and UP CM Yogi Adityanath during protests against the CAA.

Circle Officer Anil Sharma said they had been booked for raising slogans against Shah and Adityanath and burning their effigies at Duck Point inside the AMU campus.

They were protesting against the recent law and order problems in the state during ongoing anti-CAA demonstrations.

Those booked are Amirul Jaish, Ammar Ahmad, Farhan, Asif Hussein and Nihad PV and some other unidentified persons.

When contacted for details of the charges against the students, AMU officials said, "We are awaiting details".

Declining to comment further, they said, "Necessary action will be taken once details of the incident are received".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Kerry-based hotel group behind the last-minute legal challenge to the 50m state-funding package for Cork's event centre has been accused of lodging a nasty, vexatious, commercial ambush on the stalled project.

And there are fears that it could cost Cork City Council up to 500,000 to deal with the legal issues amid new concerns about the apparent lack of transparency around the process which led to the funding deal announced in early January.

It was hoped that the new funding package was the last major hurdle facing the project.

But former Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Terry Shannon, launched a blistering attack on the Gleneagle Group, the operators of the INEC in Killarney, for taking a legal against the funding deal to the High Court.

He said there was a stunned silence in a meeting of the councils corporate policy group (CPG) on Monday afternoon when council chief executive, Ann Doherty, confirmed the latest hurdle to hit the event centre project.

He said he believes the legal challenge is motivated purely by commercial reasons.

This group has not been involved at any stage in this long tender process, he said.

Its a nasty, commercial ambush designed to try and stall this project in the hope that people might give up. To ambush it at this late stage is outrageous.

But we as a council will meet this challenge head-on. We are united with the executive to deliver this project. It has to go ahead, from a reputational point of view for the city.

"Cork City Council has to be seen to be able to deliver. This isnt just about Cork city. This will be a regional piece of infrastructure that will help the region.

I would urge Cork people to wake up, and consider carefully where you might stay if youre thinking of taking a holiday in Kerry, Mr Shannon said.

The Gleneagle Group declined again to comment given that the matter is the subject of court proceedings.

Another former Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Mick Finn, described the groups legal move as a challenge for the sake of it.

Are they lodging a challenge for the sake of it or are they saying they can deliver something similar, and come up with 35m, as is the case with BAM and Live Nation? he asked.

I would ask them to reconsider and recognise that whats being proposed in Cork is a different offering, a different product to what they have."

However, Labour Cllr John Maher has raised fresh questions about the apparent lack of documentation charting the contacts between the city council and government on the new funding package, which was unveiled in early January.

Through Freedom of Information requests it would appear that there was nothing put in writing by either side to get the 50m payment over the line, he said.

That just doesnt sit well with me or anyone else involved in the transparency of the project. Was every meeting on this not minuted?

"No memo exists at all. Its just ludicrous and underpins the scepticism that people have on the delivery promises for this project.

Following the submission by the Gleneagle Hotel Ltd last Friday of a notice of motion to the High Court seeking a judicial review of the funding decision, the city council has a week to prepare its response.

Gleneagle Hotel

The matter is listed for an initial court hearing on February 17.

Meanwhile, An Bord Pleanala has yet to issue its decision on the appeal against the council's grant of planning for the enlarged venue.

Next Wednesday is the fourth anniversary of the 2016 pre-general election sod turning on the site.

The hotelier taking the legal challenge was at the centre of a rezoning controversy in Killarney at the height of the Celtic Tiger.

The Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) investigated a complaint against Patrick O'Donoghue in 2006 when he was a Fianna Fail member of Killarney Town Council.

He is the current CEO of the Gleneagle Group, which runs the INEC.

The complaint from the Killarney town manager was in relation to a motion passed by the council a few months earlier to rezone 20-acres of land around The Gleneagle and its sister hotel, The Brehon, and designate the lands as part of the town centre.

Officials were opposed to the motion.

SIPO found Mr ODonoghue had breached the Local Government Act and the Standards in Public Office Act by failing to disclose the full nature of his personal interest in the motion and failing to withdraw from the discussion and the vote, and more seriously, that he had sought to influence the council's decision by seeking the support of councillors in relation to the motion.

On foot of SIPO's findings, Mr ODonoghue pleaded guilty before the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee in March 2009 to a charge of seeking to influence the town council to rezone lands in which he himself had a beneficial interest, and he was fined 5,000.
Control room operators Scott Trezise, front, and Dion Montalvo work at the Vicinity Energy cogeneration plant in Philadelphia's Grays Ferry section on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. The plant, originally opened by Philadelphia Electric, produces electricity and steam for heating Center City buildings. Read more

The Center City district heating system produces steam at a central power plant and delivers it by underground pipes to about 500 buildings. The system is nearly 100 years old, and to casual observers, it seems like a relic of another era.

But William DiCroce, the chief executive of Vicinity Energy, which bought the system recently, would like to cast the district heating network into a different light: Rather than looking at it as one of the citys largest producers of greenhouse gases, or as an aging industrial eyesore along the Schuylkill, he said it should be viewed as a model of energy efficiency, and as a potential vehicle for introducing renewable fuel to a broader market.

I try to remind people that these big district energy systems were built back in the day by public utilities, and it would be cost-prohibitive today to replace that, DiCroce said in an interview. So it is a diamond in the rough.

The system, also known as the Center City steam loop, provides high-pressure steam to about 162 customers, including skyscrapers such as the new Comcast Technology Center, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and such institutions as the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. It heats about 100 million square feet of space, the equivalent of 150 art museums or more than 60 times the space of the new Comcast tower, the citys tallest.

The district system was built by Philadelphia Electric Co., now known as Peco, but it has changed owners several times in recent decades. Veolia North America, a French company that bought the system in 2007, sold it last year to Antin Infrastructure Partners of Paris as part of a $1.25 billion transaction. The Philadelphia system was the largest of 13 systems that Antin bought.

Pennsylvania regulators approved the sale in December.

The company, headquartered in Boston, has adopted Vicinity Energy as its brand. DiCroce, who headed Veolias North American operations, including water and wastewater assets, moved over to the new company, which is focused exclusively on district energy systems.

Were now owned by an infrastructure fund with great access to low-cost capital, so we want to invest to grow our infrastructure, or maybe help customers retrofit or grow their own green infrastructure, he said. Were in a much better position to work alongside them and invest and increase our positive impact on the energy environment.

But political pressure to address climate change  the city has formally pledged to cut carbon emissions 80% by 2050  may increasingly put Vicinitys district heating system into the crosshairs.

Vicinitys Grays Ferry cogeneration plant at 2600 Christian St., which uses natural gas, is the largest customer of Philadelphia Gas Works; the steam plant is responsible for more than 3% of Philadelphias carbon footprint, according to a city report last year.

The cogeneration plant accounts for about 80% of the systems steam demand. The remainder is produced from smaller generators at the Christian Street site, or the Edison Plant at 908 Sansom St., which is located amid the Thomas Jefferson University complex. DiCroce said the Edison site only produces about 2% of the systems steam but is an important part of keeping the system balanced on cold days.

In addition to natural gas, the plants air permits allow it to use oil, including No. 6 fuel oil, a residual product that contains a high level of sulfur and other impurities. The city has enacted a phasedown in the use of heavy fuel oil, but the Clean Air Council, an advocacy group, says the Vicinity plants should be weaned more quickly.

To continue to permit heat and electricity generators to use fuel oil No. 6, essentially a waste product, in the city of Philadelphia is detrimental to air quality and goes against new regulations passed by City Council and the Air Pollution Control Board, said Russell Zerbo, a Clean Air Council advocate. The citys gradual ban on fuel oil No. 6 will take effect over years, but it makes little sense to continue to allow centrally located, major pollution sources like the electricity generators at 2600 Christian St. and 908 Sansom St. to use this dirty fuel while a ban slowly takes effect.

Because Vicinitys big cogeneration plant simultaneously produces thermal energy and electricity, it achieves higher levels of efficiency that are difficult to match. But DiCroce believes there may be room to innovate with new fuels at some of the smaller generation units on its system, which are primarily powered by fuel oil.

DiCroce said the company has already experimented with using renewable biofuel at the Sansom Street plant as a replacement for fuel oil and is open to using renewable natural gas at its Grays Ferry plant if its customers demand it or regulators require it.

The decision on which fuel to use is largely determined by availability and economics, and DiCroce suggested one way to increase the use of renewable fuels is to increase market subsidies to make them more competitive with fossil fuels.

The lions share of incentives have gone to solar and wind, but if we go to look at the thermal side of the system, we could incentivize whether it was renewable natural gas, he said.

Electric boilers could replace some of the oil generators at the Christian Street site, drawing renewable power from the grid, if the market conditions were right, he said, though currently, the cost of electricity is prohibitive. Climate change activists are campaigning to convert buildings from fossil fuels to electricity, which would require big upgrades to the electric distribution system. Converting the boilers of a central power would achieve the same result, affecting 100 million square feet of space.

The district energy system is indifferent to fuels, he said.

The Philadelphia power plant may also face increasing pressure from its neighbors as more affluent residents migrate into the area surrounding the Grays Ferry plant  newer townhouses on 26th Street, next to the power plant, have sold recently for more than $600,000. On online bulletin boards, there is some grumbling from neighbors about the plant.

The cogeneration plant has been cited several times in the last five years, and fined $79,100, for exceeding permissible emissions of nitrogen oxides and for visible emissions. Zerbo, the Clean Air Council advocate, also noted the Schuylkill Station at 2600 Christian St. is continually in violation of the Clean Water Act because of discharges of chlorine and suspended solids.

Nicole Koedyker, the executive director of the South of South Neighborhood Association, said the groups interactions with the power plant have been pretty positive. Some residents are employed at the plant, she said, and under Veolias ownership, the company installed more street lighting after a mugging last year.

She said she had not heard of any complaints about emissions or smells. And as for the plants industrial appearance, she said, I think a lot of people have just gotten used to it.

This story was updated to correct the number of customers served by the Vicinity Energy system, based upon a recent company filing with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
Certified Acumatica Shipping Software "Were proud to recognize StarShip as an Acumatica-Certified Application. It masterfully utilizes the Acumatica platform to meet customers growing shipment automation demands, said Christian Lindberg, Vice President of Partner Solutions at Acumatica.

V-Technologies, a leading provider of integrated Acumatica shipping software, today announces its status as an Acumatica-Certified Application (ACA). V-Technologies' StarShip multi-carrier shipping application seamlessly integrates to Acumatica resulting in streamlined shipping and accounts receivable operations, lower costs, higher productivity and overall efficiency. The latest Acumatica shipping software interface has been enhanced to offer rate quote across carriers and modes direct from sales order entry as well as capturing item to package detail defined on the Acumatica shipment.

To become an Acumatica-Certified Application, V-Technologies has demonstrated commitment to quality by passing the Acumatica software test and aligning to future Acumatica releases. V-Technologies has been an Acumatica partner since 2016.

About V-Technologies, LLC:

V-Technologies, LLC was founded in 1987 and provides integrated multi-carrier shipping software that connects your warehouse to the front office. They partner with dozens of parcel and LTL carriers such as DHL, FedEx, Holland, USPS, UPS, YRC as well as regional carriers like OnTrac and Pitt Ohio. Providing the integration between those carriers and popular ERP, EDI, accounting and ecommerce platforms such as Amazon, Acumatica, eBay, Magento, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Sage, SAP Business One, Shopify and QuickBooks.

About Acumatica

Acumatica provides cloud-based business management software that enables small and mid-size companies to accelerate their businesses. Built on cloud and mobile technology and a unique customer-centric licensing model, Acumatica delivers a suite of fully integrated business management applications, such as Financials, Distribution, CRM, and Project Accounting, on a robust and flexible platform. For more information, visit http://www.acumatica.com.


President Rodrigo Roa Duterte reads a report on the 2019 novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) during a briefing at the Malacanan Palace on February 3, 2020. TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

President Rodrigo Duterte has called on the public to stop blaming the Chinese people for the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

After the emergency meeting with Cabinet officials and the World Health Organization (WHO) representative, Duterte said the spread of the virus is no ones fault.

And this kind of mentioning the Chinese and blaming them, its like a xenophobia. You hate anything that is Chinese. It is not good, he said.

One is that, we have many Filipinos in China. Second is, even if there are none, you know, we are a community of nations. We cooperate. China has been kind to us. We can only also show the same favor to them, Duterte added.

The President also assured the public there is nothing to worry about amid the 2019-nCoV threat.

Everything is well in the country. There is really nothing to be extra scared of that coronavirus thing. Although it has affected a lot of countries, one or two [patients] in any country is not really that fearsome, he said.

There are two confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV in the Philippines. The Department of Health (DOH) also reported 80 patients under investigation for possible 2019-nCoV.AAC (with reports from Rosalie Coz)

The post Duterte calls on the public to stop blaming Chinese nationals for 2019-nCoV appeared first on UNTV News.
The outbreak of pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus has not only touched the hearts of all Chinese, but also attracted close attention from many foreigners in China.

Dr. Ammar (Photo/People's Daily Online)

In Yiwu, where foreign businesses gather, Yemeni doctor Ammar Albaadani receives dozens of calls and WeChat inquiries from friends and patients every day. His patient and professional answers to the epidemic have reassured foreign friends in China.

Dr. Ammar studied in China in 1996 and continued to work in China after obtaining the degree of doctor of medicine.

"There are thousands of Yemenis and tens of thousands of Arabs in China, said Dr. Ammar, adding that many have limited understanding of the virus due to the language barrier.

However, it's easy to cause panic after reading foreign news, thus, many people come to me. When they don't understand the news, they will ask me. When they have a headache and a fever, they will have to come to me," according to Dr. Ammar.

"Although I am a brain doctor, and I am not on the front line, my general medical knowledge is certainly better than that of the average person. I can explain well such questions as the pathogenesis of epidemic diseases, the measures to be taken, therefore, they all trust me."

After repeatedly answering questions from his friends, Dr. Ammar has provided the following suggestions for foreigners in China.

First, don't panic. Have faith. China has a lot of experience in controlling and treating pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus. There are many exaggerations in the foreign media reports.

Second, obey the orders of the Chinese government; stay indoors; do not believe in rumors; do not spread rumors. The more conflicting information, the more panic. "Listen to advice" is the best antidote.

Third, there is no need to go back to your home country to escape the disease. Returning home brings potential dangers to family members, and the possibility of becoming an exporter of the virus put new pressure on the country.

As a doctor who witnessed China's fight against SARS, Dr. Ammar is confident that the Chinese government will overcome the epidemic.

"With the experience of fighting SARS, the measures taken by the Chinese government in dealing with the new coronavirus have been transparent, professional and effective, Dr. Ammar pointed out.

He believed that China is a great country with strong mobilization capacity. This is a very Chinese advantage that no other country can match  when the country gives the order, the people unite as one, and everyone can listen to the advice.

There are volunteers in every community and the society is orderly. In the face of the epidemic, the Chinese people have impressed the world. China is fully capable of fighting the virus, said Dr. Ammar.
With the United Methodist Church talking about a plan for a possible denominational split that could be voted on in May, Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett of the North Alabama Conference has set dates for talking about the plan.

The plan, called the Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation, was released Jan. 3 and could be voted on at the General Conference in May.

Some people are embracing the protocol concept with enthusiasm, Wallace-Padgett said in her announcement of meetings. Others are disappointed with it, even feeling disenfranchised by it.

Bishop Wallace-Padgett said in a letter issued Feb. 3 that informational gatherings will be held in Huntsville on March 21 and April 4 in Birmingham, where clergy and lay people can gather to talk about issues that will come up when the denominations governing body gathers for the 2020 General Conference in Minneapolis.

The main issue is a plan that would allow conservatives opposed to same-sex marriage to leave the denomination and take their property with them. Those remaining in the United Methodist denomination would keep the structure and update rules to allow same-sex marriage.

If a plan for a split is passed, then the regional United Methodist conferences could meet and vote to either stay in the denomination or to join the breakaway group.

Wallace-Padgett also set a date for a possible called meeting that would presumably take that vote if the split plan passes at the General Conference.

That special called conference would be held on Aug. 15, 2020, at Asbury United Methodist Church in Shelby County. After conferences vote, then individuals churches would vote on whether to stay in the denomination or leave.

Conservatives gathered for a meeting Jan. 25 at Clearbranch United Methodist Church in Trussville to discuss the potential split. The Rev. Vaughn Stafford, pastor of Clearbranch and a leader of the group talking about forming a new traditionalist denomination, said he welcomed the informational meetings called by the bishop.

Im pleased that we will have this opportunity to discuss it, Stafford said.

Im hoping it will do away with misunderstandings people have, said the Rev. Joseph DeWitte, pastor of Pinson United Methodist Church, who wants to remain in the historic denomination.

Text of the bishops letter

Dear Friends,

Many questions are being asked across the UMC about the protocol that became public on January 3, 2020. Some of the questions are unanswerable until the actual protocol legislation becomes public in the near future. However, enough information was stated in the protocol to give people a sense of what could be ahead if a legislative version of it passes at the May 2020 General Conference.

Some people are embracing the protocol concept with enthusiasm. Others are disappointed with it, even feeling disenfranchised by it. Still others are waiting to read the actual legislation before evaluating it.

The protocol has created much conversation across the connection. People are asking questions like:

Will the protocol legislation be approved by the General Conference?

If yes, what amendments will be required for its passage?

If yes, will our Annual Conference stay with the post-separation United Methodist Church or go with the new traditional Methodist denomination? What will happen to my local church?

If the protocol legislation is not approved, what is ahead for United Methodism?

In either case, what happens to clergy pensions?

First things first. Breathe deeply. Pray often. Read the legislation. Engage others. Discern prayerfully. Make disciples of Jesus Christ.

If approved, some of the legislation that will be considered by the General Conference could result in Annual Conferences being faced with major decisions. With that in mind, I encourage you to join me in six actions named above.

Breathe deeply. The uncertainty of our future brings anxiety with it. When anxious, I follow the recommended pattern of slowing down, breathing deeply and collecting my thoughts before making decisions and taking action. This season in our church is a time for us to breathe in the calm that Gods Holy Spirit offers and breathe out our anxiety. As we do so, we are better prepared to navigate whatever is ahead for us.

Pray often. Many of us began the practice of daily prayer for our denominations future during the 2018 and 2019 Praying Our Way Forward initiative. I continue to pray daily that we will move through our denominational impasse in a way that honors Christ, shows love for all persons and respects the full range of diverse convictions, perspectives and biblical interpretations of United Methodists.

Read the legislation. Read the 2020 General Conference Read the 2020 General Conference legislation that is currently posted as well as the protocol legislation once it is made available. Read blogs of persons who have different perspectives about the pluses and minuses of various pieces of legislation. Ask yourself, What will be gained if this legislation passes? What will be lost? Who is disenfranchised by this legislation? Are there ways to amend the legislation to minimize the losses and maximize the gains?

Engage with others . Various opportunities will be provided by the Conference leadership team and our General Conference delegation in March and April for North Alabama United Methodists to learn details about General Conference proposed legislation, including the protocol. All interested persons are invited to attend one of the informational gatherings in Huntsville or Birmingham on March 21 and April 4. In addition, every North Alabama clergyperson and designated lay member to Annual Conference is asked to participate in either the Huntsville or Birmingham informational event and/or one of several fireside chats led by teams of District Superintendents at various geographic locations. Details will be forthcoming soon about the locations and times of the informational gatherings and the fireside chats.

Discern. As we breathe, pray, read and engage together, individual and collective discernment will take place. Note that plans for a special called Annual Conference are being made for August 15, 2020, at Asbury United Methodist Church in Birmingham in the event that it is needed to address legislation that passes at General Conference 2020. This would give clergy and designated lay Annual Conference members the opportunity to have several weeks to pray, inform themselves and discern before voting on weighty General Conference legislation. The special called Annual Conference will only convene if needed.

Make disciples. Yes, there are many questions being asked across the UMC in these days leading up to General and Annual Conference. They are important questions that deserve our collective and individual attention. Even as we do so, let us continue to pour ourselves into our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. For 150 years North Alabama Conference Methodists have shared our faith, reached new people for Christ and made a positive difference in our communities and world. May it be so in increasing measures during 2020.

As always, it is a privilege to serve as your bishop.

Blessings, Debra Wallace-Padgett Resident Bishop North Alabama Conference
The State Bar of Wisconsin is partnering with Identillect Technologies as the official email security provider for the State Bar of Wisconsin

IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Identillect Technologies Corp. (the "Company" or "Identillect") (ID.V), a trusted leading provider of compliant email security, announces The State Bar of Wisconsin has selected Delivery Trust as the preferred solution provider for bar members to assist in meeting regulatory requirements and protect their sensitive communications. Identillect is the most widely partnered security provider in the legal community, partnered with many bars across the United States.

The State Bar of Wisconsin is a professional association, with more than 25,000 members. The State Bar aids the courts in improving the administration of justice, provides continuing legal education for its members to help them maintain their expertise, and assists Wisconsin lawyers in carrying out community service initiatives to educate the public about the legal system and the value of lawyers.

Todd Martin, chair of the State Bar of Wisconsin's Insurance & Member Benefits Committee, stated, "It is our continued goal to provide access to products and services which best serve our members and help them operate their firms more effectively. The State Bar has partnered with Identillect to provide cyber-security products and education to continually meet their technology needs."

Identillect CEO Todd Sexton states, "We are honored to serve the cyber-security needs of the members of another respected legal bar in the United States. The State Bar of Wisconsin is a respected partner which encourages the most up-to-date cyber-security measures. The State Bar of Wisconsin is the 17th state bar to partner with Identillect and we are honored to keep advancing the security standards of the legal community."

The 2019 Survey results show that a good number of lawyers, unfortunately, have experienced a security breach. In fact, 26% of respondents report that their firms have experienced some sort of security breach. Formal Opinion 483 makes clear that "the potential for an ethical violation occurs when a lawyer does not undertake reasonable efforts to avoid data loss or to detect cyber-intrusion, and that lack of reasonable effort is the cause of the breach.

Story continues

Cyber-security threats are increasing, with 43% of cyber-attacks aimed at small businesses due to the lack of security infrastructure. The damage to businesses resulting from cybercrimes have been monumental and are only increasing. It is estimated that businesses will incur more than $6 Trillion annually by 2021 from cyber attacks. The best way a business can combat being another statistic is through employee education and security protocols.

About Identillect

Identillect Technologies is the leading provider of email encryption service Delivery Trust, empowering enterprises of all sizes to protect their business and their client's critical information against cyber security attacks.

Delivery Trust is an award-winning, multi-platform plug-in, which gives users complete control of their emails, for one low price. One simple integration complies with all regulations and most importantly provides peace of mind.

For more information, or your free trial, please visit www.identillect.com

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of:

IDENTILLECT TECHNOLOGIES CORP.

Todd Sexton

Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (949) 468-7878

Email: todd.sexton@identillect.com

About State Bar of Wisconsin

The State Bar of Wisconsin is the mandatory professional association, created by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, for attorneys who hold a Wisconsin law license. With more than 25,000 members, the State Bar aids the courts in improving the administration of justice, provides continuing legal education for its members to help them maintain their expertise, and assists Wisconsin lawyers in carrying out community service initiatives to educate the public about the legal system and the value of lawyers. For more information, visit www.wisbar.org.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws.

SOURCE: Identillect Technologies Corp.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/575041/The-State-Bar-of-Wisconsin-Partners-with-Identillect-for-a-February-2020-launch-of-Identillects-Secure-Communication




Krueger: With some care over the years, the old family barn keeps standing
It seems every win for Joaquin Phoenix means a new controversial speech.

After his Golden Globes win, the "Joker" actor got a nod again and made it to the headlines after delivering another critical acceptance speech.

On Sunday, Phoenix walked up on stage again during the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTAs). He is the recipient of this year's Best Actor award for his leading role in the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, "Joker."

However, instead of wholly saying a heartwarming speech, the 45-year-old actor unexpectedly condemned the awards system and the film industry.

Though he started to acknowledge BAFTAs' initiatives to support him and his career, Phoenix eventually took his speech to another level. He made all the guests that were present at the Royal Albert Hall in London to be witnesses of the awards system's dirty and unfair treatment.

"But I have to say I also feel conflicted because so many of my fellow actors that are deserving don't have that same privilege," he told the crowd. "I think that we send a very clear message to people of color that you're not welcome here."

From a dead-silent audience, the spectators started to cheer and applaud the actor. His fellow nominees, Adam Driver and Saoirse Ronan, were seen supporting his criticism.

Nonetheless, Phoenix clarified that his message was not some kind of criticism where everything was hypocritical since he also became part of the problem.

Before ending his speech, Joaquin also said that the problem with BAFTAs was not only about "multicultural" sets but also about "systematic racism."

He concluded his acceptance speech by reminding everyone with a note, saying: "It's the "obligation of the people that have created and perpetuate and benefit from a system of oppression to be the ones that dismantle it, so that's on us."

Phoenix Did it Again!

This is not the first time Phoenix delivered a controversial speech.

He previously took home the Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama award for his controversial role as "Joker" during the Golden Globes.

During his acceptance message, the 45-year-old expressed his gratitude toward the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for serving vegan meals ... and then his speech slightly went off the rails.

Phoenix went on to talk about the current world events.

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't want to rock the boat. The boat is f******** rocked. It's so nice, but we have to do more than that. We don't have to take private jets to Palm Springs," Phoenix exclaimed.

The Problem With BAFTAs And Other Awards

Britain's lack of diversity in the film awards like BAFTAs has been persisting problem.

Last month, the chairman of BAFTAs' Film Committee, Marc Samuelson, expressed his annoyance over this year's list of acting award nominees since it allegedly represented "lack of diversity."

"It's just a frustration that the industry is not moving as fast as certainly, the whole BAFTA team would like it to be," Samuelson said.

In addition, even BAFTAs director of awards Emma Baehr opened up with The Hollywood Reporter, saying that while the diversity in the nominations improved over the past years, it still continues to be an industry-wide issue.

The issue is expected to occur again on Sunday at the 92nd Academy Awards where Phoenix is a candidate to win another Best Actor award.
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Silicon Valley is buzzing over Sheryl Sandbergs engagement, nearly five years after the death of her husband, Dave Goldberg. (Want this in your inbox each morning? Sign up here.)

Alphabet draws back a curtain on YouTubes billions

The tech giant surprised Wall Street yesterday when it offered some financial information about YouTube, long a closely guarded secret. But the new information was part of a quarterly report from Alphabet, the parent company, that didnt meet investor expectations.

YouTube collected over $15 billion in revenue last year, which Rob Copeland of the WSJ says was on the lower end of projections. It suggests that YouTube took in less than $8 a year from each of its two billion users.

 YouTubes revenue figure is higher than Viacoms for its 2019 fiscal year, our colleague Kevin Roose points out.
It's been a long trip for NASA astronaut Christina Koch. This week, the record-breaking astronaut will return to Earth after living and working in space for 328 days  the longest single spaceflight made by a woman.

Today (Feb. 4), Koch spoke to the media about her space experience, including what it means to have broken a spaceflight record and made history on the first all-female spacewalk with her colleague, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, last October.

"For me," Koch told NBC News from the International Space Station, "it's all about the honor that I feel to follow in the footsteps of my heroes." Koch added that, she also looks at these milestones that she's reached for women in spaceflight "as an opportunity to hopefully inspire the next generation of explorers."

Koch launched to the space station on March 14, 2019 and will return to Earth early Thursday (Feb. 6) on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft alongside crew mates Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov.

Video: Peggy Whitson sends zero-G congrats to Christina Koch's record

Related: Women in space - A Gallery of firsts

NASA astronaut Christina Koch demonstrates microgravity while chatting with the media from aboard the International Space Station on Feb. 4, 2020. (Image credit: NASA/YouTube)

A couple of the media outlets asked if she thought that the milestones she reached in space were as big of a deal as we made them out to be on Earth, and whether or not it mattered that she was a woman setting those records.

"I definitely look forward to a time when demographics are transparent and we don't have any underrepresented groups," Koch said. But, she added, "highlighting this story helps us to move towards a world where everyone who has a dream has to work equally hard to achieve that dream."

Related: The amazing spacewalks of Expedition 61 in photos

While Koch is looking to the future, she also had some wisdom so share about her time spent in space.

Koch shared that, in addition to the moment she first entered the hatch and saw the space station, her favorite moment in space was on that first spacewalk with Meir. (The two have since performed two more spacewalks together.)

There was a moment, Koch said, just after she and Meir had first left the station and were holding onto a handrail, when they caught each other's eye. They had a moment of recognition for what they were accomplishing, she said.

Koch also pointed to how amazing it was when, while riding the Canadarm2 robotic arm during the spacewalk, she was able to take a look at Earth down below.

Previously, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson set the record for the single longest space mission by a woman, which was set at 289 days, 5 hours and 1 minute. Koch officially broke this record on Dec. 28.

Following the historic first all-female spacewalk made by Koch and Meir, the two continued on to complete both the second and third all-female spacewalks in history.

Related: The International Space Station's Expedition 61 mission in pictures

Following almost a year setting these records and working tirelessly in space, "I'm definitely looking forward to being on the same planet as everybody else pretty soon," Koch told NBC News about her return to Earth. Following this mission, which has been chock-full of historic moments and important scientific research, Koch shared that she is excited to continue her career with NASA.

"You never know," she said. "Maybe another spaceflight's in my future."

NASA plans to first return humans to the moon with the Artemis program before landing the first humans on Mars, Koch told Westwood One Radio Network that she would absolutely accept an offer to fly on a crewed mission to Mars in the future.

"If that were something that were offered to me it would absolutely be my honor," she said.

Visit Space.com Wednesday and Thursday (Feb. 5 and 6) for complete coverage of Koch's return to Earth. NASA's webcasts will begin Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST (0200 GMT) with Soyuz MS-13 hatch closure, then resume for undocking at 12:15 a.m. EST (0515 GMT) and at 3 a.m. EST (0800 GMT) for landing.

The Soyuz landing in the remote steppes of Kazakhstan is scheduled for 4:14 a.m. EST (0914 GMT).

Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
Daily production of diagnostic kits restored to 70% of normal levels: official

Global Times

By Leng Shumei and Chen Qingqing Source:Global Times Published: 2020/2/3 23:08:41

As more than 20,000 patients suspected of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection in China were waiting for a definite diagnosis, Chinese officials said on Monday that the daily output of diagnostic kits for the novel coronavirus reached 40 times more than patients suspected of contracting the virus and can basically meet demand.

The production capacity of diagnostic kits has been restored to about 60 to 70 percent of normal levels and about 773,000 kits are produced per day since Saturday, Tian Yulong, chief engineer of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said at a press conference on Monday.

Tian noted that the current output can basically meet the demand of patients suspected of the virus infection.

A shortage of testing kits at the early stages of the epidemic was due to the epidemic emergency and the low capacity of producers during the Spring Festival holiday period, Tian explained in response to media reports claiming a shortage of testing kits had resulted in many suspected cases not getting diagnosed in time.

Nucleic acid tests are a mature approach to detect infectious diseases, Tian said. The technology is widely used by Chinese hospitals to determine whether a patient is infected with the coronavirus throughout the current epidemic.

China's genome sequencing company BGI Group told the Global Times that they could produce 50,000 test kits per day. Test results can be determined in three hours.

However, some medical workers doubted the reliability of the tests following reports that a patient in North China's Tianjin was diagnosed after four attempts: the first two results came back negative while the last two were positive.

We can't solely rely on nucleic acid tests due to existing errors, a doctor from the Wuhan Union Hospital who preferred not to be named, told the Global Times. "CT chest scans are more accurate," she said.

According to Zhou Zijun, a professor at the Peking University School of Public Health, CT results can show the symptoms of pneumonia, but cannot tell doctors what caused it. But the nucleic acid tests can clearly differentiate whether the disease is caused by the coronavirus, so it should be used as a measure to make final diagnosis while the CT results can be used as a reference, he said.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 22:32:55|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed Monday hosted celebrations of the Chinese New Year at City Hall and highlighted her city's global ties.

The event, sponsored by Chinese Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco and Asian Pacific American Heritage Foundation, is an annual tradition hosted for many years by the mayor and other elected officials, supervisors, community leaders and law enforcement officers, to promote the city's cultural diversity.

Calling the celebration "a time-honored tradition" observed in the city on "a momentous occasion," Breed said the attendance of the event by Chinese Consul General in San Francisco Wang Donghua, and consuls general of other countries including the Philippines, Vietnam and South Korea, represented a "partnership that exists between San Francisco and countries throughout the world."

She noted that San Francisco is going to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the sister city relations between the city and China's Shanghai in the Year of the Rat, which began on Jan. 25, 2020.

For his part, Wang underscored the importance of maintaining the friendship between China and the United States, citing the phase-one trade deal signed by the two countries last month to address their differences.

"It's the right direction to normalize the trade and economic cooperation between our two countries," he said.

He pledged to work with San Francisco to bolster its ties with Shanghai and make their partnership a model of cooperation between China and other jurisdictions in the U.S.

Regarding the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, Wang said there should be no reason to overreact or panic.

"We have been communicating and collaborating with the United States and other countries in an open, transparent, and responsible manner," he said.

"By working together more closely, China and the United States can make a great difference in our common efforts to combat the virus," Wang said.

Monday's celebrations featured vivacious performances of traditional Chinese musical instruments, as well as singing and dancing by Chinese American children, and art groups from the Filipino and South Korean communities.
Pakistan has resorted to 2,335 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu region since May 30, 2019, till January 20, 2020. In addition, 177 incidents of cross-border firing along Indo-Pak international border in Jammu region since May 30, 2019, till January 15, 2020, also took place.

A total of eight Army personnel had fatal casualties since May 30, 2019, so far, Union Defence Minister for State (MoS) Shripad Naik said in a written reply to Rajmani Patel and Dr AmeeYajnik in Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Live TV

On Monday, a civilian was killed and four others were injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Tangdhar sector, officials had said. The deceased was identified as Mohammed Saleem Awan, 60, they had said.

Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing and the Indian Army retaliated in adequate measure, the officials had said. Four civilians sustained injuries in the firing by Pakistani troops, they had added.

From August-October, 2019, Pakistan had resorted to 950 ceasefire violations along LoC and 79 incidents of CFVs along International Border in Jammu region during the last three months. As per the casualties classified, three Army personnel were martyred and seven injured. Appropriate retaliation to the ceasefire violations, as required, were carried out by the Army.
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
An off licence worker who was attacked and threatened with a knife during a robbery has launched a High Court action against his employer over the incident.

Macartan Kelly, the High Court heard, was closing up The Goose off licence, Sion Hill Road, Drumcondra, Dublin, when he was pushed violently through the door and dragged to the till by two masked men. He was also threatened with a knife to his throat and shouted at to open the safe.

CCTV footage of the attack on a Holy Thursday, one of the busiest days in the off licence calendar, was shown to the court.

Mr Kelly said he had finished locking two manual shutters and before an electronic shutter came fully down on the front door, two robbers entered the off licence.

Mr Kelly has sued claiming he suffered post traumatic stress disorder as a result of the robbery.

The off licence owners have claimed Mr Kelly allegedly failed to follow proper procedure for closing the security shutters and allegedly stood outside smoking with the off licence door unlocked while closing the shuttering.

Macartan Kelly (aged 58) of Calderwood Road, Drumcondra, Dublin, has sued his employers Sion Hill Off Licence Ltd and Pilot Lounge Bars Ltd, both with offices at Sion Hill Road, Drumcondra, Dublin, as a result of the incident on April 17, 2014.

He has claimed there was an alleged failure to ensure he was trained in the correct procedure to be followed when closing the off-licence. He has further claimed there was an alleged failure to instruct him not to close up the premises without being accompanied by appropriate security personnel.

Mr Kelly has further alleged he was allowed to work and lock up on his own at night. The claims are denied and the off licence owners say the robbery was not caused by any wrong on their part.

Mr Kelly, they say, allegedly engaged in an unsafe practice when closing up the shop and they allege he took it upon himself to stand outside smoking with the off licence door unlocked while closing the shuttering.

It is further claimed Mr Kelly allegedly failed to have any or any adequate regard for his own safety.

In evidence Mr Kelly, who said he smokes 25 cigarettes a day said he lit up a cigarette before he pulled down the first manual shutter and locked it.

I had a cigarette while doing the shutters, he said and added that he went inside to the porch and he does not remember anything after that.

I was grabbed as the shutters came down. That is all I remember, he said.

When the CCTV footage was shown to the court, Mr Kelly said the robbers were shouting looking for the key to the safe.

I didnt have it. There was a knife to my throat . He was threatening me, he said.

The case before Mr Justice David Keane continues tomorrow.
michael barbaro

From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today: The kickoff to the 2020 campaign was undercut on Monday night by major delays in the reporting of the results from the Iowa caucuses. The story of the day. Its Tuesday, February 4.

lisa tobin

Here comes Alex.

alexander burns

Ill just grab a water.

michael barbaro

Yeah, yeah. (WHISPERS) That was Alex Burns. Hi.

alexander burns

Hi.

michael barbaro

Happy caucus day.

alexander burns

Happy caucus day.

michael barbaro

Is that a thing people say out here?

alexander burns

I dont know. Its something we say out here.

michael barbaro

Exactly. So lets just set the scene a little bit. Its 4 p.m. Were in Des Moines. In about 2.5 Iowans are going to start heading to these caucus locations around the state. Were going to do the same. And I want to talk with you about how this is going to work. So can you just give me a quick primer on this very particular tool of American democracy, the caucus?

alexander burns

Well, calling it a tool of democracy is generous in the view of some people. It is not a secret ballot. This is not something where people take 10 minutes in the middle of their workday, go vote and then return to their desk. This is an in-person, out in the open exercise of demonstrating your public support for a candidate. The way this works  literally, physically, in practice  is there are hundreds of predesignated caucus locations around the state. And around 7 p.m. local, people show up at these locations, and theyre asked to gather themselves into groups according to which candidate theyre supporting. They do that. There is an assessment made about which candidate has 15 percent of the support in the room and which candidates do not hit that threshold of support. So when people refer to the threshold, thats what theyre talking about  15 percent support at the caucus site.

michael barbaro

Of everybody in the room  15 percent of everybody who has showed up.

alexander burns

Thats right. If you havent hit that 15 percent threshold, your candidate does not qualify to get delegates. And then the voting goes to a second round, where you get to reallocate yourselves to candidates who did hit the 15 percent threshold. So if you go in there expecting to caucus for Alex Burns, and Alex Burns in the first round only has 9 percent of the people in the room supporting him 

michael barbaro

Highly possible.

alexander burns

Entirely possible. Hes not super popular in Iowa. You can reallocate your support to somebody else in the room, perhaps Michael Barbaro, who just barely cleared the threshold at 16.5 percent.

michael barbaro

So what might be the impact of this process on the field of 2020 Democratic candidates and what we know about those dynamics? Im thinking about Bernie Sanders, for example, who has been polling in the lead and who we understand has benefited from more moderate Iowans splitting their support among the other leading candidates in the race.

alexander burns

Well what the Sanders campaign believes will certainly be good for him, or almost certainly be good for him, is having that first-round popular vote ultimately released to the public. They believe that however the reallocation process ultimately sorts itself out, that he is very, very likely to have the most support on that first round of caucusing. So that even if he ends up slipping behind somebody else, they will be able to brandish that as a symbolic victory.

michael barbaro

Which is another way of saying he predicts he might lose some support through the process as it goes along.

alexander burns

Exactly. And for the more moderate candidates, those candidates have been competing for a lot of the same indecisive voters who are trying to sort out which of these candidates is the best bet against Trump, but Im not for Bernie Sanders. Right? So if you are a moderate woman in the suburbs of Des Moines and you are tempted by three or four of these candidates, you may very well have the chance to vote for one and then change your mind in the second round. And its really anyones guess right now as to whether you are going to see more moderates moving towards Joe Biden on the second round, or women moving towards Elizabeth Warren on the second round, or perhaps Pete Buttigieg supporters scattering across the field. It is wildly unpredictable. And because of the way that 15 percent threshold works, it is hugely important whether somebody in the first round is at 16 percent or at 14 percent. Not only because whether they hit the threshold for themselves, but because it will determine whose supporters are actually deciding what happens on the second round. And in a caucus site where Elizabeth Warren is at 16 percent, her people are locked in. In a site where shes at 14 percent, thats a place where suddenly Bernie Sanders is in a position to pick up all the support from liberals who preferred Elizabeth Warren but might consider him on the second round.

michael barbaro

Right. Right. But if Elizabeth Warrens at 16 percent, Bernie Sanders cant go after any of her supporters because theyre locked in.

alexander burns

Right. So if you are Pete Buttigieg or Joe Biden, you are looking at the other guy and really hoping he doesnt clear 15 percent in a lot of places. Because youre betting that most of those voters are moderates and are likelier to go to me  by a lot  than they are to go to Bernie. But if both Biden and Buttigieg mostly end up at 16 or 17 percent, then they could find themselves sort of persistently stuck behind Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.

michael barbaro

So what should we be most on the lookout for as we head out to these caucuses?

alexander burns

A lot of voters here are not necessarily going to make up their mind based on the ideological factors that we perceive as the national media looking at these candidates from afar. There can be a real sort of oversimplification for the way we see the lanes in this race that we think that somebody who is an Elizabeth Warren supporter is more likely to go to Bernie Sanders than to Joe Biden, as I just said. But it may be that somebody is an Elizabeth Warren supporter, not because they are left populist ideologically, but because they like her experience and they saw her in television ads with Barack Obama and they liked that.

michael barbaro

So they could easily go to Pete Buttigieg, not Bernie Sanders.

alexander burns

Right, or to Joe Biden or anybody else, right? That if youre a Klobuchar voter, I think we in the national media tend to think of her as a centrist candidate, and by and large she is. Shes also the only other woman with a real shot at clearing the 15 percent threshold in this process. And if youre for Amy Klobuchar, not just because shes a centrist, but because you feel like its important to elect a woman president, you might end up moving to the ideological left on a second round just because Elizabeth Warren is the option available to you.

michael barbaro

Got it. So youre saying dont make assumptions.

alexander burns

Im saying that anybody who is gaming this out in advance, with ideology as the sole or defining characteristic of how these voters make up their minds, is really risking missing the way real people are going to experience this.

michael barbaro

Thank you, Alex.

alexander burns

Thank you.

michael barbaro

So we will talk to you four hours  five hours?

alexander burns

Hopefully four.

michael barbaro

O.K. Good luck.

alexander burns

You too.

clare toeniskoetter

Here we go.

michael barbaro

Prepare yourself for some extremely unpleasantly cold weather. O.K. I dont know  oh actually thats Reid.

clare toeniskoetter

Yeah.

lisa tobin

Hello!

clare toeniskoetter

Hi!

sam dolnick

Hi, Reid.

reid epstein

Hi, how are you?

lisa tobin

Thank you for being our chauffeur. I feel like my dads taking us all to the soccer game.

reid epstein

Its really wild.

michael barbaro

What are you listening to, Reid?

reid epstein

I have Les Mis on. I told you.

sam dolnick

Are you a big Les Mis guy?

reid epstein

No, but this is like the last day, so this is the song that 

clare toeniskoetter

Last day of Iowa?

reid epstein

The last day of Iowa.

michael barbaro

So this is the idea of the song, is like one day more.

reid epstein

One day more.

clare toeniskoetter

Can we crank it?

reid epstein

We can crank it. Hold on.

["one day more" of "les miserables" playing]

One day more. Watch them run amuck. Catch them as they fall. Never know your luck when theres a free for all. Well be ready for these school boys. Tomorrow well be far away. Tomorrow is the judgement day.

group

(SINGING ALONG) Tomorrow well discover what our God in heaven has in store. One day more!

reid epstein

Can you pull the lyrics up on your phone?

group

(SINGING ALONG) One more day! One day more!

gps voice

Continue on Second Avenue for four miles.

michael barbaro

So were pulling into Johnston Middle School, and the parking lot is getting pretty 

reid epstein

Theres a lot of cars here.

michael barbaro

 pretty full. Id say theres a couple  maybe 150 cars here.

speaker 1

Were asking you to stay right in this area here.

speaker 2

O.K.

speaker 3

And then when 

speaker 4

Press?

speaker 5

Press. Right over here on the left.

[cheering]

speaker 6

Ill take it. Ill just go over here.

speaker 7

Ts over there and see if youre on the 

michael barbaro

O.K. Its 6 oclock and the doors have just opened.

speaker

Precinct One is on this side. Precinct Two on this side.

michael barbaro

We are now in a very crowded main hallway of the school, and I think theyre going to go register.

speaker 1

Youre not on here either.

speaker 2

Yes I am.

speaker 1

Oh good. Thank heavens.

speaker 2

Thats my husband 

michael barbaro

Checking IDs.

speaker 1

Thank you.

speaker 3

Hi.

speaker 1

How are you?

clare toeniskoetter

You know each other? Do a lot of people know each other?

speaker 3

Yeah, neighbors.

speaker 1

Two houses down.

speaker 2

Yeah.

michael barbaro

And then they head into the caucus room.

clare toeniskoetter

Which is a gym.

michael barbaro

Which is, I believe, a gymnasium. Im just  Im having flashbacks to high school. So now were in the gymnasium. Theres a huge set of bleachers in the back, and that is where the candidate alignment is going to begin. There are signs for Bernie, and people are sitting on those bleachers. There are signs for Pete, people are sitting on those bleachers. Warren, Klobuchar, Yang.

tom leffler

The sign-in is practically done and its 7 oclock. So how about that? [APPLAUSE]

reid epstein

(WHISPERING) Its Tom Leffler. Hes the precinct chairman. Hes running the caucus.

tom leffler

 in the vicinity.

speaker

Testing, testing.

michael barbaro

(WHISPERING) Amy Klobuchar is outside.

clare toeniskoetter

Is she allowed in?

michael barbaro

Yeah.

speaker

All right.

michael barbaro

Amy Klobuchar has just walked into the room.

[applause]

michael barbaro

Dramatic entrance.

amy klobuchar

It is so great to see all of you here. So my story, just so you know, I am from Minnesota. I am a granddaughter of an iron ore miner. Im the daughter 

michael barbaro

(WHISPERING) Why is Klobuchar here, and why is she allowed to be here?

reid epstein

Any candidate who shows up can speak.

michael barbaro

(WHISPERING) And whats the point of her showing up at the last minute right before the caucus?

reid epstein

Because this is really the time when she has to convince undecided caucus goers to come for her. And more important, people who their candidates might not be viable on the second alignment, to get them to come to her on a realignment. Iowans love people to show up, and shes literally shown up at the caucus.

michael barbaro

Yeah, its a really dramatic gesture.

amy klobuchar

 what unites all of you in your separate groups is bigger than what divides us. I would love to have your support, but I also want us to win big in the general election. Lets do it. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. [APPLAUSE]

[indistinct speech]

clare toeniskoetter

Do you know whats happening right now?

speaker 1

Excuse me?

clare toeniskoetter

Do you know whats happening right now? Is now the time you vote?

speaker 1

Yeah see what were doing is 

speaker 2

I dont think we have to.

speaker 1

 they told us we had a total of 358 people here to caucus, registered voters. We have to have 15 percent to be viable. Well, that figures out to 54 is a count that you have to have to be viable.

michael barbaro

So I was going to ask, does it look like anyones in, at this moment, in danger of not being viable, and who isnt?

reid epstein

Well the Yang group is probably not going to be viable. Doesnt look they have 54 people over there. Biden  it doesnt look like Biden is going to be viable here.

michael barbaro

So Biden and Yang may not make 15 percent 

reid epstein

May not make 

michael barbaro

 may not have 54 people.

reid epstein

Right.

michael barbaro

(WHISPERING) Are you surprised that Biden doesnt seem viable at the moment?

speaker 1

Very surprised.

michael barbaro

Are you upset?

speaker 1

Well, what happens happens, but I think thats a mistake. I cant understand the lack of support. Of course, my wifes supporting somebody else.

michael barbaro

Who is your wife supporting?

speaker 1

Warren.

michael barbaro

O.K.

speaker 1

Yeah.

michael barbaro

So if you dont become viable, where do you think youre going to go next?

speaker 1

Warren.

michael barbaro

O.K.

speaker 1

Yeah.

michael barbaro

Well see you over there.

speaker 1

Yeah.

michael barbaro

(WHISPERING) Are you guys the Yang gang?

speaker 2

(WHISPERING) Yes we are.

michael barbaro

How are you guys doing? Were from The Daily with The New York Times. Hows your vote count?

speaker 2

Were about 20 short to viability. Were also looking at a very small Biden crowd and hoping we can pop over there. I dont know how 

michael barbaro

And then maybe negotiate?

speaker 2

Were hoping. Thats my hope.

clare toeniskoetter

So you want to convert them to Yang? You think 

speaker 2

My hunch is the Yang is probably more of a group of true believers, versus hoping just for the most electable candidate. So well find out.

michael barbaro

The Yang people are now heading over to the Biden people to do some business. Do you want to 

speaker 3

Over here, wed be willing to tell you why hes a good candidate.

speaker 4

For me, I really like Yang. I really want to see him in the government. He needs to be in the government. I dont see him as president quite yet. Hes still young. Hes got a lot to do, but we need him in the government now. And I think that 

speaker 3

I would agree, cabinet member at least.

speaker 4

Cabinet member or something, and so he will be there. Let me tell you why I think Joe, and we would love to have Joe 

speaker 3

No, were not going to go Joe because he caucused when I was 24  his first election. 1988.

speaker 4

He is solid as a rock.

speaker 3

No hes not. He just almost got impeached, or caused our whole country to fall apart with the impeachment. And his son  he got his son that job for $50,000 a year. Thats crooked. 100 percent. And thats going to come up during the election. If you dont think thats not going to come up when he runs against Trump 

speaker 4

Have you fact checked that?

speaker 3

Yes, I have. Yes.

speaker 4

Have you fact checked the whole thing 

speaker 3

Yes, I have.

speaker 4

 and about the legitimacy of it?

speaker 3

His son  yes, his son  his son has not done anything for that money. His son has not done anything for that money.

michael barbaro

So this is your overture to the Biden people?

speaker 3

Yeah Im sorry. I know, it didnt work very well, did it? It fell flat on its face, so Ill go back.

speaker 5

God, these people scare me.

speaker 4

That amazes me. Im so sorry about that.

sam dolnick

You didnt seem swayed.

speaker 4

What?

sam dolnick

You didnt seem swayed.

speaker 4

Im not swayed.

clare toeniskoetter

Are you angry?

speaker 4

No Im not angry. Im disappointed.

michael barbaro

Your face is a little red.

speaker 4

O.K.? Well yeah, because Im hot. But not that kind of hot.

michael barbaro

Did that feel like a winning argument from the Yang people to you?

speaker 4

No, not to me.

clare toeniskoetter

Do you know where you might go?

speaker 4

Biden.

clare toeniskoetter

No, but are you going to go somewhere else if hes not viable?

speaker 4

If he is not viable, Amy would be my second choice.

clare toeniskoetter

Will you try to convince your group to go to Amy?

speaker 4

I dont know what Ill do. Ill have to think about that. I have to think about that because I  but Amy would be my second choice.

michael barbaro

Final results are being read now for the first allocation.

speaker 1

Biden has 37. 37 will not be viable.

speaker 2

You can come over here.

emcee

O.K., this is Pete. Pete Buttigieg has 70. Viable. [APPLAUSE] Viable. Warren has 59. Viable. [APPLAUSE] Klobuchar has 75. [APPLAUSE] Viable.

michael barbaro

So at 8 oclock, here is the count from the first round, the first allocation as its called: Sanders has 76. Klobuchar has 75. Buttigieg has 70. Warren has 59. Biden has 37, is not viable. Yang has 33, is not viable. Steyer has four, not viable. Gabbard has three, not viable. And there are now 77 votes among the nonviable candidates that will be redistributed in the coming minutes, and that could obviously  given the spread between the top candidates  completely change everything. Of course, some voters may just walk out because dinners at home getting cold or because they dont believe in any of the other candidates.

speaker 1

If you want your voice to be heard, join us. Join team Bernie.

speaker 2

I think were going to go  Im going to go with Amy. Amy Klobuchar.

michael barbaro
Results from the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses were delayed as the state's Democratic Party said a "reporting issue" caused "inconsistencies" in some data.

As the party's struggle to put out results dragged into Tuesday morning, the leading candidates in Iowa  Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar  put an optimistic gloss on their performances and looked ahead to the Feb. 11 New Hampshire primary. The candidates had plans to head to the Granite State on Tuesday  with the Iowa caucuses behind them.

Doors at caucus sites across the Hawkeye State closed at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, when voters worked through a frenetic process of persuasion and changing allegiances to pick their favorites in the 2020 presidential nominating contest. By about 11:30 p.m. ET, Iowa Democratic Party spokeswoman Mandy McClure said the party "found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results."

She added that, "in addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report."

"This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results," McClure said.

The contest was too early to call, according to NBC News, as the party worked to release results. A source told NBC News that technical glitches hit an app for reporting results and a backup phone line for relaying information was "a disaster."

In a statement early Tuesday, Iowa Democrats Chairman Troy Price said the results will be released later in the day and the party is manually verifying its data.

The Iowa party held a testy call with Democratic campaigns, and party representatives hung up when campaigns pushed to learn more about the reporting problems and when they would see results, two Democratic campaign staffers told NBC News.

Read more:

Here's what happens after the chaos in Iowa

Iowa caucus: What it is, how it works and why it's important

Democrats get their first chance to choose their 2020 presidential candidate in Iowa

Most of the top Iowa candidates spoke to supporters as the party tried to tabulate results. As confusion swirled around the results, the candidates all talked up their performances in Iowa.

"By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious," Buttigieg said to applause.

Sanders dryly poked at the delay as he spoke to backers.

"Let me begin by stating that I imagine, have a strong feeling, that at some point the results will be announced," the Vermont senator said to cheers Monday night. "And when those results are announced I have a good feeling we're going to be doing very, very well in Iowa."

Behind the scenes, campaigns appeared more frustrated with the reporting delays.

A Biden campaign lawyer sent a letter to the state party saying "we believe that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are released," NBC News reported.

The data problems muddied a period of time when campaigns typically try to declare victory or put a positive spin on their performances. A strong showing in the Iowa  or even a showing better than perceived expectations  can boost fundraising and give candidates a measure of legitimacy.

Typically, but not always, the winner in Iowa goes on to become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.

Early data indicate turnout was about on pace with the 2016 caucuses, McClure said earlier Monday. Turnout four years ago was about 171,000, well below the record levels of 2008, according to NBC News.

Iowa caucus voters were overwhelming white, according to entrance polling data. More than half, or 58%, identified as women, while 42% identified as men.

Just over a quarter, or 27%, of attendees were 65 or older. With 28% of respondents, the biggest group was 45 to 64-year-olds. Another 24% were 17 to 29 years old, while 21% were between 30 and 44.

Sanders typically performs better with younger voters, while Biden is stronger among older voters.

The top issues for Iowa caucus voters reflected trends seen nationally: 42% said health care mattered most in deciding who to support, while 21% answered climate change, 18% said income inequality, while 13% chose foreign policy.

More than half, or 57%, of respondents said they support replacing all private health insurance with a single government plan, while 38% answered that they oppose such a system. Sanders and Warren want to move to single-payer health insurance, while Biden, Buttigieg and Klobuchar do not.

Self-described liberals more than doubled those who identified as moderates, by a 68% to 32% margin, the entrance polls found.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020

The Jakarta Flood Victims Legal Advocacy Team, which represents a group of flood victims in their class action suit against the Jakarta administration, is considering replacing three of its plaintiffs who failed to show up to the opening session of the trial on Monday.

The five plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which was registered on Jan. 13, represent flood victims from each of Jakartas five municipalities. The lawsuit cites Law No. 24/2007 on disaster mitigation, which stipulates that the central and regional governments are responsible for disaster mitigation.

However, Bilmar Limbong, 46, representing West Jakarta, Tri Agus Arianto, 51, representing East Jakarta and Yunita Turnip, 46, representing South Jakarta did not appear at the Central Jakarta District Court as their family members did not support their participation in the lawsuit, legal team member Fathi Hanif told The Jakarta Post by phone on Monday evening.

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SAN JOSE (BCN)

A man who died early Sunday morning in a crash on U.S. Highway 101 in San Jose was identified Monday as Esteban Ontiveros Jr., according to the Santa Clara County medical examiner's office.

Ontiveros, a 22-year-old from Morgan Hill, was pronounced dead at the scene after being ejected and struck by another vehicle in a multiple-vehicle collision at about 12:40 a.m. Sunday along northbound Highway 101 near Bailey Avenue.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Ontiveros was speeding in a 2010 Hyundai Accent when he crashed into the rear of a 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander. The Hyundai spun out and was struck on its right side by a 2019 Freghtliner Cascadia big-rig, which caused the Hyundai to overturn and catch fire.

Ontiveros was ejected from the vehicle and struck by a 2012 Mazda 3. He died at the scene.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Following the success of the first three editions of Travel Tech Middle East (TTME), Verve Management will be hosting the fourth edition of Travel Tech Middle East Congress from March 2324 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.



The fourth edition Travel Tech Middle East gives an emphasis on the implementation of the technologies in the travel industry and discusses the key insights in travel and tourism sector in Saudi Arabia.

TTME Saudi is going to be attended by leading airlines, travel agencies, developers, hoteliers and online travel agencies from across the globe to discuss Saudi Vision 2030  Launch initiatives to promote travel technology, How companies in travel and tourism ecosystem can generate revenue by expanding payment options, Understanding the modern travellers mindset and the use of digital technology to capture Saudi Travel Industry, The future of air travel industry, The secrets behind a winning OTA strategy, Corporate booking tool, Building on-demand booking systems for an on-demand society and How can travel companies keep pace to become real time.



The 2020 All-Star Line-up will include Haitham Mattar (Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage), Abdulrahman Mutrib (Seera Group), Albert Fernando (Travelwings), Amit Taneja (Cleartrip), Andrew Pearson (Intelligencia), Hazem Sonobol (Saudi Airlines), Ibrahim Al Nasser (Ministry of Communication and Information Technology), Kashif Rana (Etihad Airways), Mandar Vaidya (OYO), Sherif Omar (Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts), Stefan Pichler (Royal Jordan Airlines), Zaeem Gama (Kanoo Travels) and many more.



The third edition Travel Tech Middle East Awards will also take place during the congress. TTME Awards serve to celebrate, identify and reward excellence in the Middle Easts growing travel and tourism industry through the annual awards programme to continually raise their standards of their products and service offering. Nominations are now open for the following categories: Tech Savvy Luxury Hotel, Tech Savvy Spa & Resort, Tech Savvy Budget Hotel, Tech Savvy Car Rental Site, Tech Savvy Travel Booking Website, Tech Savvy Travel Agency, Disruptive Travel Tech Provider, Innovative Airline, Most Promising Travel Tech Start Up and Tech Savvy B2B Player.



TTME is also calling all the university and college students across the Middle East to join the Travel Tech Innovation Challenge 2020. Get a chance to present the business idea at the congress and win an internship opportunity at one of the top online travel agencies in Middle East.



Verve Management is UAEs business facilitating platform that connects people, partners and ideas. Verve Management delivers remarkable events and provide solutions through Congresses & Summits, Trainings & Workshops, Exhibitions, Association Management, Industry Meetings and Managed Events in Asia, Middle East and Africa. - TradeArabia News Service
DETROIT - Last Thursday, Andrea Grieb didnt know she was days away from a federal court hearing that could have resulted in her 14-month-old son being put on a plane and sent to the United Kingdom.

Upon learning of a international child abduction lawsuit by Christopher Worcester, the childs father, she scrambled to find legal representation in time for the Monday afternoon, Feb. 3 hearing in front of U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland in Detroit federal court.

She hired Russell Brown, a Saline attorney, in time for the hearing. Finding a lawyer to take the case, plus Browns torn rotator cuff, won her another month to build a case to keep her son.

Cleland on Monday decided to delay the hearing to give Brown and Worcesters attorney Jennifer Paine time to build their respective cases for their clients. He also continued a temporary restraining order to keep Grieb from relocating her son outside of the Eastern District of Michigan.

Part of the delay comes from Griebs contention that she wasnt served, so Mondays ruling was partly about confirming that she was unaware of Worcesters lawsuit against her. Paine said her office has service delivery confirmations for two different addresses.

Brown said Grieb found out about the lawsuit was when a reporter asked her about it last week.

Days from custody hearing, Michigan mother discovers British father seeks return of son

In a federal lawsuit, service papers must be delivered in person or by mail to an address where the defendant currently resides, according to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Grieb has multiple previous Michigan addresses, according to court records.

Cleland also order Grieb to provide proper travel documentation, including passports and visas, for her son.

The next hearing would typically happen within a few weeks, Paine said. However, Brown, who wore a sling on his right arm in court, expected the next hearing to occur in March. This gives him time to review the facts of the case once he can work again, he said.

He must sift through more than a hundred pages of an Aug. 21, 2019 court ruling from London between Grieb and Worcester.

Judge Philip Moor of the Royal Courts of Justice Family Division ruled then that while Grieb used subterfuge to bring the child to Washtenaw County, his court does not have jurisdiction to return the child to the United Kingdom.

That case was based on Article I of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects International Child Abduction. In the current lawsuit, Paine petitioned for the childs return to Worcester under that article, which mandates the secure prompt return of children wrongfully removed to or retained in countries that agreed to abide by the convention, which includes the United States.

Grieb was born a U.S. citizen, but moved to the Netherlands in 1999, later becoming a Dutch citizen, according to Moors ruling.

She settled in England and Wales in 2012 to attend university. She met Worcester and started living with him three years later, the ruling said. While she was pregnant during the summer of 2018, they broke up, according to the court documents.

She bounced from residence to residence after the breakup and during the early months of the childs life, the ruling said. In order for the child to be returned to Worcester in London, Moor said he needed to determine that the mother and son were habitual residents of the United Kingdom, which he deemed dubious with her unstable living situation.

Moor did note that Grieb did not inform Worcester of her intentions to relocate to Michigan. This subterfuge, as Moor put it, included not informing social workers assigned to her and the child, as well as keeping the information from friends, school supervisors or immigration authorities of her relocation plans.

It follows that, with some reluctance, and a considerable degree of sympathy for the fathers position, particularly given the subterfuge Moor said, I have concluded that (the child) was not habitually resident in England or Wales when these proceedings commenced.

Worcesters lawsuit demands the immediate return of the child to him, for Grieb or a third-party to supervise the childs travel to the United Kingdom and for Grieb to cover attorney, court and travel costs.
Jeremy Christian told Portland police they would have to shoot him as he fled after fatally stabbing two men on a MAX train in 2017, officers testified Monday.

It was the first time police have described in detail their takedown of Christian after a tense confrontation about a mile from the Hollywood MAX station where passengers from the train had tracked Christian.

Also Monday in the fifth day of Christians trial, prosecutors played 37 minutes of video of Christian ranting while in custody during a medical check-up and his ride to the Multnomah County Detention Center in the back of a police cruiser.

Christian shouted Just stabbed a bunch of (expletives) in the neck; Tell me what the (expletive) to do in my country ... you get stabbed in the neck" and Thats right, this is a hate crime. ... Hope they all die."

Before playing the video, prosecutors called on five police officers to describe the moments leading up to Christians arrest and Christians demeanor afterward.

Sgt. Brad Kula said he was the first to arrive at an access road between Providence Portland Medical Center and Interstate 84. He recounted how he pointed his rifle at Christian and kept telling Christian to drop the knife he was holding and get on the ground. He said Christian wouldnt listen, so Kula lowered his voice and said, This is it. Youre caught. Just give up.

Kula said Christian told him that he had been shot in the face before by police and Kula couldnt hurt him. (In 2002, police shot Christian once in his right check after he pulled out a gun fleeing from the armed robbery of a convenience store, records show. He pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery with a firearm and second-degree kidnapping and was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison.)

He said Id better shoot him because he was not going to drop the knife or get on the ground, Kula testified.

Prosecutor Don Rees asked: How close were you to shooting him?

I cant exactly tell you," Kula said. "It was a few times. The safety was off my rifle and the finger was on the trigger.

Kula said he would have shot Christian if Christian had moved toward him and that it would have taken an instant to take Christian down with the highly accurate rifle.

44 Jeremy Christian Trial - Feb. 3, 2020

A three-minute cellphone video taken by one of the MAX passengers who trailed Christian to outside the hospital shows Kula as the only officer at the scene, holding his rifle and Christian lifting his arms in the air and shouting. Seconds later, two more police cars speed into the camera frame, boxing Christian in on both sides.

Christian points his finger, swears and takes a swig out of a drink container. He can be heard saying Shoot me! and Kill me!" but the nearby freeway drowns out most of his words. By the time the video clip ends, Christian is walking away from officers and they follow. A total of six police cars arrived by then.

Officer Edward Johnson testified he showed up as Kula was shouting commands. Johnson said he thought the encounter might turn into a police shooting.

Johnson pulled out his Taser and Christian yelled, You going to Tase me, (expletive)? I see you holding your Taser, the officer said.

Christian used a slur for an African American, said Johnson, who is black.

Christian began running alongside the hospital, officers said.

Johnson fired his Taser and one prong of the two prongs went in, he said, but that wasnt enough to cycle electricity into Christian and it had no effect.

Eventually, Johnson said, Christian threw his knife toward a police car and officers were able to handcuff him after a struggle.

Christian faces first-degree murder charges in Multnomah County Circuit Court for the deaths of Ricky Best, 53, and Taliesin Namkai-Meche, 23. Christian also is charged with the attempted first-degree murder of Micah Fletcher, then 21.

Christian stabbed the three men after, according to witnesses, commuters on the crowded train started complaining about his loud racist and xenophobic tirade. Some witnesses thought Christian was targeting two teenage girls on the train, one who was wearing a hijab. Christian also faces charges of second-degree intimidation, which is a hate crime in Oregon.

Sgt. Andrew Jenson said he arrived as another officer was ordering Christian to put down his knife. He said Christian was using a lot of expletives as he refused.

Then an officer yelled that Christian had thrown down the knife and Christian indicated he was giving up.

He said something like, Come do it, Jenson said. And he put his hands behind his back."

Jenson said he and another officer tried to handcuff Christian but Christian pulled away and they all fell to the ground. A third officer got the cuffs on Christian, Jenson said.

Once in the back of Jensons patrol car, Christian reeled off a stream of unsolicited comments.

I was shocked by what he said so I made sure to write them down, Jenson said. ...He said, I want to go on the record. I hope these (expletives) are dead. (Expletive) them.'

Christian later spat in the back of the car, Jenson testified. He said Christian was yelling, "Theres going to be spit and (excrement) in the back of the car. The taxpayers have to pay to clean this up.

Jenson said Christian also yelled, Youre a Jew. Youre the worst piece of humanity. And then he said, I stabbed them in the neck. I hope they die. Self-defense is illegal in Oregon?

The ranting continued when 250 yards away, medical staff at Providence examined Christian to make sure he wasnt injured before he made the trip to jail, police said. Officers put a mesh bag over Christians head to prevent his spit from making contact with any of the medical staff or police around him.

During his harangue, Christian complained that he would get gangrene because his handcuffs were too tight, talked about an episode of Star Trek" and the Klingons space ship, shared his plan for world peace, repeatedly used a racial slur to refer to African Americans and talked about Muslims and Christians killing each other. Christian also repeatedly admitted he stabbed the men and talked about how he planned to bring his case to trial, the jails and prisons where hell be locked up and that hell die in prison a happy man.

While sitting in court and listening to the video, Christian nodded repeatedly. At times, he appeared to laugh.

Garrett Chase Robinson, a U.S. Bank employee who was on his way home that afternoon, testified that he heard Christian yelling on the train, thought a fight might break out and was prepared to pull people apart. He said he then saw Christian stab two of the three men.

Robinson didnt have any medical training and saw others were helping the men, so he said he followed Christian as he left the Hollywood Transit Center, crossed an Interstate 84 overpass and walked down a pedestrian trail.

Robinson said Christian threatened him with the knife when he got close at one point. Robinson had tried to call 911 at the transit center, but said he couldnt focus on getting through the push- button prompts at the beginning of the call.

While following Christian, Robinson said he called again and got through to 911. He kept a dispatcher updated on Christians location.

Robinson said when he and a few other people following Christian got to Providence, they saw a police officer in a car, which according to Kulas testimony turned out to be him. The group flagged the officer down and police surrounded Christian.

Robinson made the three-minute cellphone video of Christian that was played in court.

Testimony in Christians trial began last week and could last throughout the month. The prosecutions case continues Tuesday.

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimee

Keep up with key trial events and takeaways by signing up for The Oregonian/OregonLives Jeremy Christian trial newsletter at oregonlive.com/newsletters.

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.
Absentee balloting, also known as early voting, is permitted in South Carolina for voters who are members of the Armed Forces, American Red Cross, United Service Organization or employed by the government and working outside their county of residence on Election Day or those that are a spouse or a dependent of such a person that resides overseas. It is permitted for voters who are physically disabled, who are students or spouses or dependents of students who are attending school out of their county of residence. It is permitted for voters who cannot vote because of employment on election day, or those who plan to be on vacation on Election Day, or those who are in the hospital within a four-day period before Election Day or had a death or funeral in the family within three days of the election, or those who care for sick or disabled people. It also is permitted for voters who are working the election and that are serving as jurors.
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The Left parties will hold nationwide protest marches from February 12-18 against the union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, they said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The Left parties CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML), AIFB and RSP - said the nationwide protests will be held against the "anti-people Budget" which "will further squeeze the livelihood conditions of the vast majority of our people".

"The Modi government has destroyed the Indian economy, imposing unprecedented burdens on the people. At the same time, it has been giving concession after concession to the rich and the corporates, which has widened economic inequalities amongst our people to levels never seen before in independent India," the statement said.

The protests, the statement said, will demand rollback of the large-scale privatization of national assets including the disinvestment of LIC, which is a repository of people's lifelong savings and security.

"Against the unprecedented levels of unemployment and retrenchment due to closure/downsizing of factories; provide for a minimum wage of Rs 21,000 and adequate unemployment allowance," the statement said.

It added that the protests will be held against the "deepening agrarian distress" and in support of the Left parties' demand for one-time loan waiver for farmers.

The parties also said the protests will highlight the large-scale cuts in government spending in crucial areas like food subsidy, agriculture and allied activities.
The Opposition in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday tore into the government, accusing it of hiding the real picture of economy and creating "destructive" issues like the CAA and the NRC to polarise the society and divert attention from key challenges like economic slowdown, farm distress and unemployment.

As the House took up the debate on Motion of Thanks on the President's Address, the BJP launched a frontal attack on opposition parties specially the Congress for their stance against the Citizenship Amendment Act, saying they were trying to divide the nation.

Initiating the debate, senior BJP leader Bhupender Yadav accused the Congress and the Aam Adami Party of giving "moral support" to Shaheen Bagh stir and said young minds were "poisoned through hate-filled speeches" in the name of freedom of expression during the anti-CAA protests.

He said none of these leaders or parties supporting the protests have raised issues of atrocities against minorities in Islamic nations and were busy politicising the issue for petty self interest.

Yadav alleged that by passing resolutions against the CAA, states ruled by non-BJP parties were hurting the Constitution. "Oppose us but don't divide India.... Don't like us but let positive development happen," he said.

He quoted a statement by Trinamool MP Derek 'O Brien on how his relatives who went to Pakistan had to migrate and how those who came to India prospered. "We have got the citizenship law so that O'Briens remain O'Briens and are not forced to convert to other religions," Yadav said.

Hitting back, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Triple Talaq, CAA, NPR issues are being talked about by you to divert attention on key issues of unemployment, black money, slow GDP growth.

"Your ideas or proposals are not constructive but destructive."



Azad also expressed the hope that the government would soon realise its "mistake" of bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir into union territories and bring a bill in this session to restore its statehood.

As many as 477 amendments to the Motion of Thanks were listed in the House.

Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray alleged that the government is using the name of Mahatma Gandhi to hide its "camouflaged agenda of religious persecution and division" through CAA and NRC.

"They are using the name of Gandhiji, just to mask it.... A minister of this government is publicly asking to shoot the people," he alleged.

He targeted the government over the state of the economy and criticised its disinvestment policy, saying it is on a mission of "beecho (sell) India".

The government is selling PSUs along with LIC, which are properties of the people and steps are being taken without inviting any suggestions from policy makers and employees unions, he said



Ray said his party has moved amendments seeking changes in the President's address as it does not give the real picture of the economy.

"President's speech has not mentioned about the growth of the economy. It is the first time in the history that RBI has changed the growth forecast three times," he said.

Talking about the ongoing agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act, TRS member Keshava Rao asked the government to sit with the protesters to find a solution.

He alleged that attempts were being made to polarise the society.

Elamaram Kareem of CPI (M) said the President's speech missed the real issues of the people and the country as it did not mention the ongoing economic crisis.

The government has failed in upholding the Constitution, he alleged and added that mandate does not mean that the government would "pass legislations on its whims and fancies".

Participating in the debate, Tiruchi Siva (DMK) said "federalism is crumbling, secularism is fading and socialism is becoming capitalism" under the present dispensation.

He also accused the BJP-led government of "polarising the society"



"The entire country is on road, students are agitating. Democracy is under threat. Everyone in the country is living in a fear," Siva claimed.

The DMK leader claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "devalued India".

Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena, a former ally of the BJP, alleged that an atmosphere of hate is being created to break the country and there is a "civil-war like situation".

On the agitation against the CAA, Raut said the protesters are citizens of this country and the government should sit with them and allay their fears.

The government should follow it own agenda of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas', he said.

Raut claimed Shiv Sena was "betrayed" after its 30-year association with the BJP.

Taking a jibe, he said economic growth will not increase by giving the longest Budget speech.

On repealing Article 370, Raut said Shiv Sena had supported this decision, but there is still unrest in the Valley. As many as 12 army personnel from Maharashtra have died in Kashmir, he added.

He asked the government how many jobs have been created and industry set up in Kashmir. Raut said he wants to buy land in Kashmir but has not succeeded.

Raut welcomed the Prime Minister's comment that India can defeat Pakistan in 8-10 days, but said the government should fulfil its duty towards the forces as paramilitary forces are facing economic problems and "not getting salary and wages on time".

Raut said the forces also do not have bullet proof jacket, ice boots and other necessary items. "This is not the report of tukde-tukde gang but of CAG."



The Sena MP's remarks led to a heated exchange of words between Shiv Sena and BJP members.

Rakesh Sinha (Nominated) opposed Raut's comments but could not be heard. Opposition parties including the Congress, DMK and Left parties supported Shiv Sena members.

However, Raut said he was mentioning this from the CAG report, which was tabled in Parliament.

Raising the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, Azad told the House that government reports indicate that on a total 114 parameters related to education, health, education, sanitation and food, J-K's performance was better on 80 indicators than national average.

He said Gujarat scored better on 52 parameters than national average and if performance was the criteria then there are many states which need to reconstituted.

Azad appealed to the government to release all political leaders in the Valley. He claimed the bifurcation of the state has caused loss to industry, agriculture and employment.

"I hope that the government would admit its mistake and bring a fresh bill to make Jammu and Kashmir a state," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The British government on Tuesday defended proposals to extend prison sentences of convicted terrorists after two knife rampages in London -- despite warnings it could face a challenge in court.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland on Monday promised "emergency legislation" to end the automatic release of terror offenders half-way through their sentences.

That followed attacks by two men on early release on Sunday in the Streatham area of south London and near London Bridge in November.

Both attackers were shot dead by police. Two people were stabbed to death in November and the latest stabbing injured three.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to raise the minimum time served to two-thirds of the sentence and have a parole board review and approve every early release. That could keep dozens of convicts up for release this year behind bars.

Senior cabinet minister Michael Gove maintained that some terrorist offenders should be imprisoned indefinitely "if necessary".

"Until we know that they are comprehensively de-radicalised and that it is safe to have those people on our streets then public protection must come first," Gove told Sky television.

But Alex Carlile -- a respected legal expert who served as an independent reviewer of anti-terror legislation -- said the new proposals "may have gone too far".

"The decision to lengthen the sentences of people who have already been sentenced, and therefore expected to be serving half the sentence the judge imposed upon them, may be in breach of the law," Carlile told BBC television on Monday night. "It's certainly going to be challenged."



The main opposition Labour party's justice spokeswoman Shami Chakrabarti -- a former head of rights group Liberty -- also expressed concern.

She said the government was "going to go down the road of punishment without trial or extending sentences of people who have already been sentenced." An unnamed government source told the Politico site that Johnson's team was "quite willing to have that battle with the lawyers".

Johnson appears to have the public on his side.

A YouGov poll conducted before Sunday's attack indicated that nine in 10 respondents backed life sentences for terror offenders "if the circumstances are serious enough".

The south London attack by 20-year-old Sudesh Amman dominated newspaper coverage for the second day running.

A former prisoner who claimed to have served time with Amman was quoted as saying by The Times that the "guy was definitely insane and he never hid his intentions, so it's crazy how he even got out of jail".

Debates over terror legislation are not new to Britain.

Prime minister David Cameron and his interior minister Theresa May in 2011 scrapped measures introduced under the previous Labour government because they were "excessive and unnecessary".

Those included "control orders" allowing security services to monitor and restrict the movements of people considered a terrorist threat but with insufficient evidence to charge them.

Conditions included nightly curfews of up to 16 hours and restrictions on their use of the telephone and internet.

Critics likened the system to house arrest.

May opted for more targeted measures after succeeding Cameron as prime minister in 2016.

But Carlile told Britain's domestic Press Association agency that Johnson should re-introduce the control orders because they could tackle the "immediate problem".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sydney's Millett family is poised to more than double its money on the historic Thomasetti House.

The Milletts, who run an upmarket backpacking franchise called Wake Up!, bought the 277-279 Flinders Lane address in 2014, paying Rich-Lister Shesh Ghale $16. 2 million.

The Milletts snapped up the seven-level building less than two weeks after it listed, having spent years trying to break into the Melbourne market. But now they are selling.

The ornate Tomasetti House in Flinders Lane, Melbourne is being brought to market.

Despite a permit being obtained for the conversion of the property into a hotel, the booming Melbourne office market means its value is tied up in its existing use.
Four-legged friend, furry companion, faithful hound, cat baby, loveable feline  refer to your dogs, cats and bunny rabbits however you like, just dont call them pets, advises PETA.

The comments were first made by Ingrid Newkirk, president at the animal rights charity known in full as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, in an interview with the Daily Mail.

Newkirk suggested referring to animals as pets makes us treat them as a commodity rather than sentient beings.

Animals are not pets  they are not your cheap burglar alarm, or something which allows you to go out for a walk. They are not ours as decorations or toys, they are living beings, the 70-year-old activist told the publication.

PETA has suggested we should stop using the word "pet". [Photo: Getty]

A dog is a feeling, whole individual, with emotions and interests, not something you 'have'.

READ MORE: Megan Fox has revealed she sends her sons to an 'organic, sustainable, vegan school'

She added: How we say things governs how we think about them, so a tweak in our language when we talk about the animals in our homes is needed.

A pet is a commodity but animals should not be things on shelves or in boxes, where people say, 'I like the look of that one, it matches my curtains or my sense of myself.

The debate was raised again on this mornings Good Morning Britain show, with Senior Media Officer at PETA, Jennifer White, representing the organisations view.

While White stressed that the organisation was not trying to ban the word pet, she explained: Were encouraging people to use a better one.

Were not telling anyone its offensive, were suggesting people could use the word companion because it means so much more, she added.

But it would seem GMBs viewers werent too sympathetic to the suggestion  with some 96.6% voting against dismissing the word pet in a Twitter poll circulated by the programme.

Is it derogatory to call your four-legged friends 'pets'?



The President of PETA has called on animal owners to stop using the word claiming it's a patronising term comparable to the treatment of women before feminism.  Good Morning Britain (@GMB) February 4, 2020

White rebutted host Piers Morgans suggestions that they should rename the organisation because it contains the word pet, asserting, Its an acronym.

Story continues

READ MORE: Vegan campaigners claim nurseries offering free cow's milk is 'indirectly discriminating'

PETA has hit headlines in the past for encouraging people to change their language in sympathy with animal rights issues.

Back in November 2018, they requested that the village of Wool in Dorset should rename itself Vegan Wool.

Also in late 2018, PETA suggested people stop using terms and phrases which are derogatory to animals including kill two birds with one stone.
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India and Norway on Tuesday signed four MoUs in the field of research and higher to strengthen their bilateral partnership.

The agreements were signed here during the visit of a delegation of prominent and research institutions from Norway led by Director-General, Anne Line Wold, Norwegian Ministry of and Research.

One agreement was inked between the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, for cooperation in fields such as bio-photonics, health and diagnostic tools, nanotechnology, water management and renewable energy.

Another MoU was signed between the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology and UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, to facilitate exchange of students and staff and consolidate joint efforts towards project initiatives in national and EU arena.

The other agreements were signed between IIT Jammu and Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and IIT Mandi and Norwegian University of Science and Technology with special focus on activities in landslides, tunnels, water management, hydropower, project-based learning, student and researchers mobility and cold region technologies.

The agreement signing was witnessed by Norwegian Ambassador to India Hans Jacob Frydenlund and the head of the delegation.

"The visiting delegation from Norway has had fruitful meetings with their Indian counterparts to discuss increased student mobility between Norway and India," Frydenlund said on the occasion.

"As a part of the Norwegian government's India Strategy 2030, research cooperation and higher education are of high importance in our bilateral relationship," he said.

This visit is a key step towards achieving the goals of a stronger and deeper bilateral relationship with India in the field of higher education, Frydenlund said.

Wold said India is an important strategic partner for Norway within higher education and research.

"For Norway, exploring potential partners and connecting researchers and institutions with their counterparts in India is extremely crucial. During this visit, we have had an excellent dialogue with the Indian authorities and found several areas of common interest that will benefit both countries," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
She's renowned for sharing snaps of her bikini clad body all over social media.

But Tammy Hembrow took her saucy antics to the next level on Monday, as she was filmed giving an incredibly raunchy lap dance to a male pal in New York City.

The mum-of-two - who is in an on-off relationship with rapper Jahkoy Palmer - was seen grinding her body against her friend Sam Mangan during a wild night with her pals.

Saucy! Tammy Hembrow (pictured) was filmed giving a lap dance to a male friend on Monday night, as she continues to spend time in America

The celebrity publicist and podcast creator was seen cheering on Tammy, 25, from his chair, sporting a fancy dress pearl necklace and holding a luminous glow-stick in his hand.

To Shakira's Hips Don't Lie, Tammy was seen mouthing the lyrics to Sam before shaking her pert derriere in front of his face.

Tammy then broke out into laughter, as her female pans screeched around her.

There is nothing to suggest there is anything romantic is going on with the pair, and it appears the duo are nothing more than close friends.

Hips don't lie! Tammy was seen grinding her body against her pal Sam, as he sat behind her waving a glow stick

For the fun-filled night out, Tammy donned a skin-tight black dress which showed off her toned back and never-ending pins to perfection.

She wore lashings of make-up to accentuate her striking features, and whipped her blonde locks into a high ponytail.

Tammy, who lives in Australia's Gold Coast, has been dating on-off boyfriend Jahkoy since June last year.

Despite being linked to the Canadian rapper for over six months, the fitness influencer recently defended her decision to not flaunt their romance publicly.

Just friends! Sam, who is a celebrity publicist and podcast owner, is believed to be close pals with the Instagram influencer

Candid: Tammy said of her relationship, 'I don't hide him. It was more of... I had a very public relationship before, so until I know something is going to be forever, I don't want to put it in the public eye.' Pictured: Tammy and Jahkoy Palmer (left) in Sydney last year

Speaking on her podcast, Hanging with the Hembrows last month, Tammy responded to a listener's question about why she was 'hiding' her relationship.

Tammy said: 'I don't hide him. It was more of... I had a very public relationship before [with ex-fiance Reece Hawkins], so until I know something is going to be forever, I don't want to put it in the public eye.

'I feel like I just want to keep things private at the beginning of a relationship.

While Tammy remains coy, Jahkoy said he considers Tammy his muse, referring to her as his 'obsession', 'soulmate' and 'perfect girl' in endless Instagram posts.
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BEIJING, Jan. 28 -- The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) said the WHO speaks highly of the decisive measures the Chinese government has taken and is confident in China's epidemic prevention and control ability.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the remarks when meeting with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.

Tedros said the WHO and the international community speak highly of and fully affirm the decisive measures the Chinese government has taken, and appreciate China's great efforts in curbing the spread of pneumonia.

He said the WHO does not recommend the evacuation of nationals, and called on the international community to remain calm and not overreact. The WHO is confident in China's epidemic prevention and control ability.

After the outbreak of pneumonia, China identified the pathogens in record time, shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus with the WHO and other countries, and carried out a series of effective measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, Tedros said, adding that the power of China's system and the effectiveness of its measures are "rarely seen in the world" and are "admirable."

He said the WHO hopes to strengthen cooperation with China and is willing to provide all necessary help.

Wang said China appreciates the WHO's objective and just stance and its full recognition to China's anti-virus measures. "Your visit to China not only shows your support for China but also injects impetus into China's cooperation with the WHO," said Wang.

"We have full capability, confidence and resources to overcome the epidemic at an early date," Wang said.

China is willing to continuously deepen cooperation with the international community, especially the WHO, in an open and transparent manner to contribute to global public health, Wang said.
Authorities in Colombia dismantled a local gang, including its leader who moonlighted as a pastor at his neighborhood church at night.

Diego Banguero was arrested along with 10 others last Tuesday during 15 raids that were carried out across several neighborhoods in the southwestern city of Cali, where he spent the daylight hours commanding the dangerous 'Double A' gang.

The Cali Metropolitan Police said Banguero concealed his weapon inside a special bible his parishioners thought he used to preach from at the local Jesus King Church in the district of Aguablanca.

'He used the sacred book to camouflage the firearm with which he committed some of the incident that will have to be charged with,' Cali police General Manuel Vasquez said.

The police also confiscated five weapons during its operation.

Police arrested Diego 'Crilin' Banguero last Tuesday in the southwestern city of Cali. He is the alleged leaders of the Double A gang but also was a pastor at a local church in the district of Aguablanca

The Colombia police dismantled a local gang last Tuesday after launching 15 raids and arrested 11 of its members, including its leader, who at night served as the pastor of a local church

Colombian authorities confiscated five weapons during last week's take down of a local gang that sold drugs and is suspected of being involved with 12 murders

Police in Cali arrested 11 gang members, including its leader who at night lived a different life as a church pastor

Banguero's gang is allegedly responsible for at least 12 homicides in Cali and the nearby city of Jamundi.

It is also being investigated for the killing of a taxi driver in 2017 and has been linked to the murder of two students who accidentally walked in a town area controlled by Double A.

Banguero was under house arrest after he was found guilty in 2011 of an attempted aggravated homicide charge as well as three counts of illegally carrying firearms, ammunition and explosives.

The Cali police said the gang had five drug selling points and generated $18,000 to $24,000 per month by selling 35,000 packets of drugs

In the criminal world, the 35-year-old Banguero, known as 'Crilin,' who was under house arrest after serving several years in prison for an attempted aggravated homicide charge as well as three counts of illegally carrying firearms, ammunition and explosives.

Banguero was in charge of overseeing the gang's five drug selling points where it sold 35,000 packets of drugs on a monthly basis. Authorities said it generated the group a profit between $18,000 to $24,000.

Authorities said the pastor also intimidated crime victims by stopping them from reporting the gang's criminal doings.
State Department Photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain(WASHINGTON) -- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's attacks on National Public Radio and what he called the "unhinged media" are being heard around the world.



While traveling in Central Asia over the weekend, the top U.S. diplomat faced questions from a local reporter about whether he retaliated against the radio network after being pressed by one of its reporters on his treatment of the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine -- and what message doing so sends to repressive governments.



Pompeo said that his actions send "a perfect message about press freedoms," but it seemed to undermine his message to the former Soviet states about increasing transparency and civil liberties.



Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus all hosted Pompeo this past weekend for high-level visits, where he encouraged each government to implement reforms, according to his spokesperson, including to strengthen fundamental freedoms.



But each state is known for its repressive policies, particularly against a free press. According to Reporters Without Borders, Belarus ranks 153rd out of 180 countries for press freedom, Kazakhstan is 158th, and Uzbekistan, 160th. Journalists in each country have been harassed and arrested, media outlets have been shut down or censored, and much of the media is government-controlled.



Journalists from the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Kazakh service were attacked last March while covering an anti-government protest in Kazakhstan's newly renamed capital, Nur-Sultan, while two of the network's reporters were arrested. Authorities have not arrested or held anyone accountable for the attack, according to RFE/RL's Kazakh service Radio Azattyq.

It was a correspondent from Radio Azattyq who pressed Pompeo on his own lashings of the press.

Aigerim Toleukhanova asked Pompeo, "Last year RFE-RL journalists were physically attacked while doing their jobs, multiple times, and authorities have made no progress to try to find those responsible. Before you departed to this trip you had a confrontational interview with a National Public Radio reporter, and after that trip your department removed another NPR reporter from the press pool. Did you retaliate against NPR? What kind of message does it send to countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus, whose governments routinely suppress press freedom?"



Days before leaving on the trip, Pompeo berated Mary Louise Kelly of NPR in his office -- according to her account that he didn't deny -- calling her a liar, using the f-word, and challenging her to find Ukraine on an unmarked map -- after she asked him whether he should apologize to Marie Yovanovitch, the career ambassador who was ousted from her post in Kyiv after being smeared by President Donald Trump, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and their associates.



Pompeo said Kelly agreed to not ask about Ukraine, although emails released to the Washington Post show otherwise, and not to discuss their post-interview meeting, which Kelly also says is not true.



Days after the tirade, the State Department kicked another NPR reporter off Pompeo's trip to Europe and Central Asia, even though they were the only pool reporter for radio outlets. The State Department did not respond to questions about that decision, but Pompeo seemed to confirm that he made the decision to do so to punish NPR.



"I always bring a big press contingent, but we ask for certain sets of behaviors, and that's simply telling the truth and being honest. And when they'll do that, they get to participate, and if they don't, it's just not appropriate," he told Radio Azattyq Sunday.



The Trump administration has limited the number of reporters traveling with the secretary of state. While it improved from an initial zero under Pompeo's predecessor, Rex Tillerson, to six seats now, it's still less than half the press pool that traditionally traveled.

The once-daily press briefing with the department spokesperson in Washington has not been held since Sept. 12 and hasn't been held regularly under Trump. Instead, the department has in recent months held more off-camera briefings with senior officials, but the daily briefing was a critical opportunity for journalists to question the department on a variety of urgent and longer-term issues.



Pressed by Toleukhanova from Radio Azattyq on what message his attacks on NPR send, Pompeo doubled down, saying, "It's a perfect message. It's a perfect message about press freedoms."



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
One of the main streets in Myeongdong which is empty. Myeongdong is hit by a decreasing number of tourists from China./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Kim Se-jeong



In Myeongdong, one of the most famed tourist spots in Seoul, people are feeling the fallout from the new coronavirus outbreak heavily.



A new case was confirmed in Korea, Tuesday, pushing the total number of infections to 16; while in China, the epicenter of the outbreak, 425 people have died, and Hong Kong confirmed its first fatality from the virus the same day.



"I only sold three today," said a vendor of street-food running a stall selling the Korean version of "egg in the basket" (egg cooked in bread) on a street close to a shop run by Nature Republic, a leading Korean cosmetic company. "Normally, by this hour (right before noon), I would have a long queue of people buying my snacks. Today there is nobody. I used to start my day at 8:30 but now I come at 10."



She is one of hundreds of street businesses that rely on Chinese tourists, whom Myeongdong's economy is dependent on  they have been the predominant inbound tourists to Korea in recent years.



Chinese is the most frequently heard language in Myeongdong and almost all businesses have a Chinese-speaking employee to attract the tourists.



The vendor who refused to disclose her name said her business began a drastic downward turn around the Lunar New Year Holiday, China's biggest holiday. While some Chinese tourists did come to Korea, the numbers were down sharply due to the coronavirus outbreak.



The main and side streets are not completely deserted  the Chinese language is still heard and there are some people wearing masks hopping from one shop to another.









"Compared to what it used to be, what you see is nothing," said a pharmacist running a drugstore near the UNESCO building, Monday evening. "Usually, there are so many people that they look like a big wave. And many times, you don't see your feet because it's so crowded. But you don't see that today"



A Korean woman who led a group of Taiwanese tourists said she has almost no Chinese groups and is seeing more and more Taiwanese people cancelling their trips. Her company caters for mainly Taiwanese and Chinese tourists.



Businesses have reasons to be worried. They had a painful experience in 2015.



"We know what happened during the MERs outbreak," said Kim In-soo, director of the Myeongdong Special Tourism District Association, representing business owners in the area. The MERs outbreaks in 2015 cut profits by more than half, according to news reports. Kim said the mood during a Monday meeting of local business owners was quite gloomy.



Particularly hard hit are cosmetics and clothing stores, Kim said, adding that Myeongdong is also being shunned by Koreans, making the situation more worrisome.



Bad business in Myeongdong is also bad news for the Jung-gu office. While the office is aware of the situation, at the moment all its efforts are channeled toward infection prevention, even opening a temporary clinic to receive walk-in patients with fever.



With the spread of the coronavirus and the government's recent ban on the entry of foreign nationals who have visited Hubei Province in the past two weeks, the number of Chinese tourists is expected to decrease further.



Chan, a lady in her 20s from Hangzhou, China, said the coronavirus outbreak didn't discourage her from traveling to Korea. Nor did she feel any discrimination during her stay.



Asked about the entry ban, Chan said, "it's normal. If the outbreak happened in Korea, China would do the same."





The Jung district government set up a temporary clinic in Myeongdong, Seoul, Tuesday, for people with symptoms of the new coronavirus./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
OneDigital Acquires Resources Investment Advisors

OneDigital, the nation's leading strategic advisory firm focused on driving business growth for employers of all sizes, has acquired Resources Investment Advisors, LLC ("Resources") located in Overland Park, Kansas. The acquisition represents the largest assemblage of deals in the company's history-13 in all-and is the first to bring retirement plan consulting and wealth together with healthcare benefits under the OneDigital brand. The addition of Resources is a significant milestone in OneDigital's growth as Resources will provide key services to help employers integrate cost-effective benefits that focus on overall employee wellbeing through financial wellness and participant advising.

"Rising healthcare costs and saving adequately for retirement are two of the most pressing financial issues facing Americans-regardless of income level-today. It makes sense to bring them together, as we see a future convergence of health, wealth and retirement as a holistic solution," said Mike Sullivan, co-founder and chief growth officer at OneDigital. "We are going to be different than the traditional benefits consulting firms that offer 401k plans: in adding Resources, we're building an integrated approach to wellbeing, integrating healthcare and retirement planning so that employers can better support individuals and families. By bringing economic balance to our offering, insurance and retirement economics are not competing with each other in the future."

"Over the past 20 years, our singular focus has been to help our customers achieve business growth and advise them in providing the best possible employee benefits solutions for their employees," said Adam Bruckman, president and chief executive officer at OneDigital. "As we enter this next chapter, we see Resources and their affiliate companies as an important and strategic expansion of our services. It's clear that taking a holistic approach to employee benefits, retirement planning and wealth management is at the forefront of our client's needs and their employees' wellbeing."

Founded in 1987, Resources is an SEC (News - Alert)-registered investment advisory ?rm that helps employers build and implement a retirement plan that meets the needs of their organization and employees. Resources offers retirement plan sponsors a consistent investment process to enhance employee retirement readiness, while also helping organizations ease the administrative burdens associated with managing retirement plans. Currently, Resources provides advice to 2,600 employer-sponsored retirement plans and a total of $45 Billion in assets under management.

"For the past few years, we have been looking to partner with a company that would help us expand upon the solutions we offer our customers and provide access to growth capital, enabling us to offer both an affiliation and acquisition option to firms looking to join our platform," said Vincent Morris, president at Resources. "From our first conversationwith OneDigital, it was apparent that in addition to their benefits expertise and well-established national scale, their corporate culture, growth strategy and convergence of health, wealth and retirement benefits gave us the best path forward to continue our superior growth and provide our clients with the optimal holistic solutions."







OneDigital is now the first employee benefits and retirement-only broker in the small and medium-sized business space to integrate both types of benefits together under a single brand. The initial collection of deals, in addition to Resources as the integrated platform provider, includes the following advisor practices: Bukaty Companies Financial Services, 401k AIM, Cafaro Greenleaf, Capstone Advisory Group, Chepenik Financial, SHA Retirement Group, Strategic Retirement Group and Teros Advisors. The deal also includes three advisor teams of Retirement Benefits Group and Fulcrum Partners in Newport Beach, CA (News - Alert), which will be leading the non-qualified retirement planning division. Charleston, S.C.-based M&A consulting firm Wise Rhino Group advised OneDigital and Resources in the transaction.

About OneDigital

OneDigital is the nation's leading strategic advisory firm focused on driving business growth for employers of all sizes. Combining people and technology, OneDigital offers employers a sophisticated combination of strategic benefit advisory services, analytics, compliance support, human resources management tools and comprehensive insurance offerings. Headquartered in Atlanta, OneDigital's more than 2,000 employee benefits and human resource strategists serve the needs of over 50,000 employers across the nation. OneDigital has been named to the Inc. 5000 List of America's fastest-growing companies every year since 2007, one of only 12 companies to do so. Currently listed as 18th on Business Insurance's 2019 list of 100 Largest U.S. Brokers, OneDigital's experience offers a fresh thinking and strategic perspective that will improve all aspects of plan design and performance.

About Resources Investment Advisors, LLC

Founded in 1987, Resources Investment Advisors, LLC ("Resources") encompasses an independent hybrid registered investment adviser (RIA) firm registered with the SEC, as well as a Super-OSJ group, that specializes in supporting independent financial advisors across the country who are focused on the corporate retirement plan space. Resources delivers industry-leading growth platforms, tools, technology and education to its community of affiliated independent financial advisor businesses, each of which are independently managed, while also connected through shared ideas, values and best practices in client service. In 2017, Resources was named the Fastest Growing RIA in the country by WealthManagement.com. For more information, please visit www.riaadvisor.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005182/en/
Sci-fi classic "2001: A Space Odyssey," lands at the Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) in Queens, New York.

"Envisioning 2001: Stanley Kubrick's Space Odyssey," a new, temporary exhibition, showcases imagery from and the history of the beloved movie directed by Stanley Kubrick, who collaborated on the screenplay with the novel's author, Arthur C. Clarke.

Since the film premiered in 1968  even before the first crewed moon landing  the film has remained an iconic pillar of sci-fi, inspiring countless other works of fiction. From its stark, boundary-pushing visuals with pioneering special effects, to the way it tackles humankind's evolving relationship with technology, "2001" continues to influence the world at large.

Related: Dangling on a Wire: A Tale from the Making of '2001'

Considered one of the greatest match cuts of all time, Stanley Kubrick bridges the enormous gap between primitive tools and space technology in a matter of seconds. A reproduction of the iconic satellite and additional models are on view now: https://t.co/GwUyJ1ud59 #2001momi pic.twitter.com/TyBZbOvihvJanuary 28, 2020 See more

Director Rian Johnson checked out the "2001: A Space Odyssey" exhibit at the MOMI after speaking before a film screening in January, 2020. (Image credit: @MovingImageNYC/Twitter)

Two nights, two events to celebrate the unveiling of Envisioning 2001: Stanley Kubrick's Space Odyssey at the @MovingImageNYC. Open to the public now. https://t.co/lqsMEEHpMS pic.twitter.com/iwI23fkX8lJanuary 18, 2020 See more

This new exhibit, which opened at the museum on Jan. 18 and will be on display until July 19, 2020, explores the research, production work and inspiration that went into Kubrick's masterful film. The show includes original artifacts from the making of the film from international collections, the museum's own collection and from the Stanley Kubrick Archive at the University of the Arts in London.

Included among the pieces on display are concept sketches for Clavius Base, the fictional lunar settlement in the film, created by Douglas Trumbull, the special photographic effects supervisor on the movie. The exhibit also includes costumes, such as a spacesuit worn at Clavius Base, and a Moonwatch ape suit that was originally worn by actor Dan Richter during the "Dawn of Man" evolution scene. Additionally, you 'll find 2001 storyboards, contact sheets, test film and photographs.

Accompanying the exhibit is a series of movie events and public programs.

Feb. 8: The museum will screen the film "Contact" as part of a "Science on Screen" series. The screening will be introduced by a scientific researcher.

Feb. 16: Trumbull and Piers Bizony will introduce a 70mm screening of "2001." The museum is hosting monthly 70mm screenings of the film.

March 7: Astronomer and data scientist Jana Grcevich will introduce a screening of "Woman in the Moon."

April 11: Geneticist Christopher Mason will introduce a screening of "High Life."

2001 Screenings: The museum is hosting weekly matinee screenings of "2001" throughout the duration of the exhibition.



"See It Big! Outer Space": This series will screen some of the best space movies ever made.

Tickets to "Envisioning 2001: Stanley Kubrick's Space Odyssey," cost $20 and include general admission, though there are discounts available for seniors, students and museum members.

Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
In Washington, the start time is generally 9 a.m. each day. Thats pretty late for Nebraskans. So, on Wednesday, we set the clock back. Any Nebraskan who is in town is invited to gather for the Nebraska Breakfast. At 8 a.m., we start to Get R Done.

When both houses of Congress are in session, the entire Nebraska federal delegation hosts this event for our visitors to Washington. The oldest and only ongoing state gathering for constituents on Capitol Hill, the Nebraska Breakfast offers a chance for Nebraskans to meet with their representatives and hear important legislative updates. We start each breakfast with a brief welcome and overview of whats going on in DC, giving visitors a backstage pass to happenings on Capitol Hill.

Heres how it started. Away from his family, in 1943, U.S. Senator Hugh Butler had the idea to welcome the entire Nebraska Delegation as they went off to work for the American people. Members of the Nebraska delegation began inviting guests to the weekly gatherings, and soon a tradition was born.

The 77th anniversary of the Nebraska Breakfast will be hosted by my office. All Nebraskans visiting Washington D.C. and their guests are welcome to attend. It will be held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Cafeteria from 8  9 a.m. If youd like to attend, do us a favor and please fill out this form at least one week in advance. Otherwise, please contact my DC office (202-225-4806).

At this years Nebraska Breakfast, we hope to bring in a variety of exciting guests to add a little sizzle to our Nebraska steak. Honestly, in this current environment, we are happy to see friendly faces from back home. Raise your hand, tell us your story. Let us know how we can enhance your Washington adventure.

But please remember: The Nebraska Breakfast is not technically a breakfast, since we do not offer food, though we do have a great time.

The dates for the 2020 Nebraska Breakfast are as follows:

February 5, 12, 26

March 4, 11, 25

April 1, 22, 29

May 13 & 20

June 3, 10, 17, 24

July 22 & 29

September 9, 16, 23, 30

Congressman Jeff Fortenberry is the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations.

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The funeral service will be Friday for a Red Bank Police officer who was shot and killed by his wife.

The service for James Howard Chip Smith, 41, of Soddy Daisy, will be at 2 p.m. at Williamson Funeral Home, 8852 Dayton Pike, Soddy Daisy.

Melissa Smith, 37, is under a $1 million bond in Sevier County on a murder charge. Police said the couple argued, then pulled off the road. Ms. Smith retrieved a handgun and shot her husband in the stomach.

Officer Smith graduated from Soddy Daisy High School in the class of 1996. Chip served as a police officer since 1998 in several local police departments. He was a member of the Soddy Daisy Volunteer Fire Department since 1994.

He was a hunter safety instructor for TWRA and served as a game warden. He enjoyed fishing and coon hunting.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents, George H. and Helen Smith and Leroy and Clarice Smith.

Survivors include his son, Logan Smith; parents, Jerry and Alma Smith; sister and brother-in-law, Melissa and Peeper Beach ; nephew, Hunter Stolz; niece, Erin Stolz; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Mike and Trisha Marlow.

Bishop Calvin Nunley will officiate at the service. Burial will follow at Poe Cemetery.

Honorary Pallbearers will be the Soddy Daisy Police Department, Soddy Daisy Fire Department, Red Bank Police Department, Hamilton County Sheriffs Department and the Honor Guard of the Chattanooga Police Department.

Visitation is Thursday from 4-8 p.m. at the funeral home.

Condolences and memories can be shared at www.williamsonandsons.com.

Arrangements are by Williamson and Sons Funeral Home, 8852 Dayton Pike, Soddy-Daisy, TN 37379.
Urinary tract infections (UTI's) are painful and usually short lived -- but for millions of people this is simply not the case.

Low levels of infection can be found long after it's thought to have cleared, and research suggests this could be an unknown, but leading cause of chronic bladder dysfunction.

But the fight against pain, discomfort and a constant urge to urinate has taken a step forward with scientists identifying how the immune systems defence against bladder infection causes nerves to magnify the sensations felt by patients.

Flinders University researchers at SAHMRI in collaboration with Griffith University on the Gold Coast, have analysed how the immune system responds to urinary tract infections and the direct link this response has to magnifying bladder pain.

Clinical Pharmacology Research Fellow & Head of Bladder Research, Dr Luke Grundy, says understanding how nerves in the bladder transmit different sensations to the brain could potentially help limit bladder dysfunction in overactive bladder patients.

"We believe that chronic pain and bladder dysfunction are a failure of these nerves to reset after inflammation, so by understanding how these nerves function with a UTI and what causes them to become more sensitive over time, we can develop effective treatments."

"This is important, as many people diagnosed with an overactive bladder, a disorder that is currently considered to have no specific cause, have a history of urinary tract infections, and have been shown to have persistent low levels of UTI. This may lead to enhanced patient diagnosis and alternative treatment options for those suffering with an overactive bladder."

With the number of antibiotic resistant UTI's growing globally each year, many can no longer be treated with common antibiotics despite the fact one in every two women will develop a UTI in their lifetime.

Dr Grundy says this study provides new information into how UTI causes hypersensitivity of the nerves that carry sensation from the bladder to the brain, resulting in the symptoms of urinary frequency, urgency, and pelvic or suprapubic pain.

"Our study provides a new understanding of why some overactive bladder patients do not respond to traditional medications and continue to suffer in silence, and opens the door for the development of more specific and effective treatments in the future."

The 4th Meeting of the Federation of NeuroGastroenterology and Motility is hosted by the Australasian NeuroGastroenterology and Motility Association Inc, the American NeuroGastroenterology and Motility Society, the Asian NeuroGastroenterology and Motility Association, the European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility, and the Latin-American Society of Neurogastroenterology.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-05 04:33:32|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- UN General Assembly (UNGA) president Tijjani Muhammad-Bande on Tuesday urged the international community to avoid further destruction and safeguard oceans for future generations.

In his remarks to 2020 UN Ocean Conference preparatory meeting, Muhammad-Bande stressed that life under water is essential to life on land.

The ocean produces "half of the oxygen we breathe" and provides food for millions of around the world, playing a "fundamental role in mitigating climate change as a major heat and carbon sink," he said.

He added the worldwide ocean economy is valued at around 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars annually, as aquaculture is the fastest growing food sector and 350 million jobs world-wide are linked to fisheries.

"A healthy marine environment holds untold potential for achieving the entirety of the Sustainable Development Agenda," he said. "Yet the unsustainable use, and misuse, of ocean resources, climate change, and pollution all threaten the ability of our ocean to provide for us all."

While coral reefs are home to a quarter of all marine life, half have been lost, adversely impacting global food security, said Muhammad-Bande, adding that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing further burdens ecosystems.

Moreover, sea level rise induced by climate-change poses an existential threat, with small island developing states at the frontline, he added.

"We must stand with them in solidarity and support. This is for us all," the assembly president stated, further emphasizing improving ocean health as "key to safeguarding our future."

The Ocean Conference, which will run in Lisbon from June 2 to 6, aims to propel science-based innovative solutions in the form of global ocean action.

Also speaking at the preparatory meeting, Peter Thomson, Special Envoy for the Ocean, and himself a former president of the General Assembly, warned that problems associated with acidification, deoxygenation and ocean warming are difficult to fix, all of which are linked to greenhouse gas emissions.

Thomson urged everyone to focus on the "positive tipping points," claiming they "are closer than you think." These include scaling up of science and innovation and other solutions that will be concentrating on in Lisbon, he elaborated.
France is ready to explore on-board recorders of the 737 Boeing aircraft of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), shot down near Tehran in January, if there is such a request from the Ukrainian side, said French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Ponsen.

"The position of France regarding the opportunity to investigate the black boxes in France is quite positive. I officially informed the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry about this. If there is a request from the Ukrainian side, we are ready," he said in an interview published by the Kyiv-based Hromadske ezine on Tuesday.

The diplomat emphasized that Ukraine can count on the help of Paris if there is a request for the transportation of black boxes to France and added that France has one of the best laboratories for analyzing black boxes in the world.

"We have the technical ability and the political will to do it," he added.

At the same time, de Ponsen noted that Ukraine must first receive "black boxes" from Iran, and then French experts are ready to examine them both in Ukraine and in France.

"That is, it is first necessary for the Iranians to give these boxes to the Ukrainians. Then we are ready to examine them - either here, on the spot, if technically possible, or transport them to France and examine them in our laboratory near Paris," he said.

As reported, Ukraine International Airlines' (UIA) Boeing 737-800 performing flight PS752 from Tehran to Kyiv crashed in the vicinity of Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport in the early hours of January 8, shortly after takeoff.

None of the 167 passengers and nine crewmembers aboard survived the crash. The casualties included 11 citizens of Ukraine, including nine crewmembers, 82 Iranian citizens, 63 Canadians, ten Swedish citizens, four citizens of Afghanistan, three Germans, and three citizens of the UK.

On February 2, an audio recording of negotiations between Tehran's airport control room and the co-pilot of the Aseman Airlines Iranian company was aired by the TSN Week program. According to the record, a man at the controls of an Iranian liner saw a rocket launch and an explosion.

On February3, Hassan Rezaifar, director of disaster investigations at the Iranian civil aviation organization, said that Tehran would no longer share materials with Ukraine on the Ukrainian International Airlines (UIA) plane crash because of the publication of an audio recording of negotiations between the dispatcher and the pilot of the Iranian aircraft.

After that, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said that Kyiv insists on a comprehensive and complete investigation of all the circumstances of the tragedy of the airplane shot down in Iran.
Jean-Marc Pontroue has an orderly mind, and he likes an orderly life. After putting the final touches to a presentation at 10 pm, he gets up for a run the following morning at 7.30, has a couple of meetings from 8.30, then heads back to Geneva. Hes a man on a mission, and hes putting his pedal to the metal at Panerai. Over at Roger Dubuis, he expertly steered a three-way marketing relationship between the watchmaker, Lamborghini and Pirelli.

So is this a case of... different ingredients, same recipe? Jean-Marc Pontroue certainly has no qualms about taking this kind of best practice and applying it to Panerai. Experience first, product after. It might seem obvious, but the Panerai CEO implements this strategy by turning it on its head, just as he did at Roger Dubuis. Clients dont buy watches that give them access to an experience: they buy an experience, and a watch is part of that. The COMSUBIN commando experience, enjoyed by a select few clients, has generated enough column inches by now to keep people dreaming about Panerai for a good few years to come. Obviously, Jean-Marc Pontroue is intending to repeat the exercise.

Dramatisation

The watch has to be dramatised, the CEO explains. We will also be focusing on anniversaries. Between 1950 and 2020 our Luminor case was never celebrated. Translation: the Luminor will be the main theme of 2020. Another theme will take its place in 2021, and so on over the next few years. In concrete terms: At Watches & Wonders we will be introducing 44 new models, with a new immersive booth, half digital, half underwater, including a real shipwreck. We dont yet know the products concerned, but we do know that we can expect to see a new calibre and a new material, and a focus on dual material construction, which is a new departure for Panerai. The backdrop to all this is the recently introduced Pam.Guard client programme, which offers a minimum 8-year guarantee. Yes, minimum. Panerai has already announced a limited edition model that comes with a 70-year warranty! Nevertheless, while this is all great publicity, its not necessarily a driver of growth.

Luminor Marina Carbotech  Panerai

Luminor Sealand Year of the Rat  Panerai

New horizons

The driver remains the Luminor, which represents considerably more than half our business, as Jean-Marc Pontroue notes. But the Submersible, which became a 100% independent collection last year, comes a close second. Its our second major pillar and a real success. At the same time, the average price of a Panerai watch has increased significantly. When I arrived, it was between 7,000 and 8,000 euros. Now, its 10,000 euros. Given that were not about to increase our output, the only way to drive growth is to raise our average prices.

Submersible Verde Militare  Panerai

Fewer retailers, more boutiques (plus airports)

Retailers will certainly feel the effects, but they will also be thinner on the ground in any case. We currently have 550 retailers: 400 multi-brand and 150 Panerai boutiques. Were cutting back on the former and increasing the latter. We opened 15 of our own-brand boutiques last year, the CEO continues. There will be other targets, such as airports: 50 airports account for 95% of traffic worldwide. Thats where were going.

These developments are unlikely to affect Panerais main markets, such as the United States, which remains Panerais biggest market by far. And what about the internet? Not for the time being. We launched a very successful operation recently. We made available three hundred 42 mm Submersibles for CHF 8,900. They sold out in 10 days. But for online sales to work, you need to have a very good story to tell. Thats not something our boutiques can do. You have to have something more. The same goes for our limited series. We rely on them for visibility, but they represent no more than 10% of our sales. You have to be careful with limited series. We cant overdo them, or our clients will quickly lose interest.

Those clients, should they wish, can also buy a CPO (certified pre-owned) Panerai in a few selected shops (Paris, Hong Kong, Munich and London). Its an operation that Panerai has kept relatively low-key. But the market for certified second-hand watches is growing and, as Jean-Marc Pontroue explains, it also provides access to some incredibly valuable data on clients and what theyre buying, which is also the backbone of the Pam.Guard programme. Were still in the very earliest stages, Jean-Marc Pontroue points out. First we have to acquire the data, then we need the IT systems to collate that data, and finally analysts to exploit it. Its a very costly evolution, but its the future.
SALEM  Oregon lawmakers opened their short session Monday with Democrats urging compromise and collaboration on a contentious climate change bill and Republicans warning against government overreach.

I truly believe there is more that unites us than divides us, House Majority Leader Barbara Smith Warner, D-Portland, said in a floor speech. In the days and weeks ahead, I hope that we have spirited debates, I hope we search for common ground and where our policy views diverge, I hope that we always assume best intentions from each other.

Rep. Carl Wilson, a Grants Pass Republican, suggested that would be all but impossible.

Cap-and-trade, we all know in our heart of hearts theres no room for compromise on that, Wilson said during a House floor speech. Weve got to quit poking the bear. And if you want to know again what poking the bear looks like, just hang around here later this week.

Wilson was referring to a rally planned for Thursday morning by a rural advocacy group formed in opposition to the 2019 version of Democrats climate bill. Timber Unity brought protesters and a parade of log trucks to Salem last year in support of Senate Republicans who fled the state to shut down Senate business and stop the cap-and-trade bill.

Ill tell you what, they are very representative of most of Oregons land mass, Wilson said.

Beat Check podcast Reporters Hillary Borrud and Ted Sickinger preview the legislative session. Subscribe to Beat Check with The Oregonian wherever you listen to podcasts.

Smith Warner pointed out that each House lawmaker represents roughly the same number of Oregonians and we all represent people whose views span the political spectrum and are very different than our own.

But that appears unlikely to sway Republicans such as Wilson, who suggested the only way for Democrats to avoid another shutdown  possibly in the House this time  is by referring the carbon cap-and-trade bill to voters. Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger Jr. of Grants Pass has taken the same position, which could mean Democrats attempts to compromise might be for naught.

Under both last year and this years cap-and-trade proposals, Oregon would limit greenhouse gas emissions and require most large polluters to buy increasingly limited allowances to emit carbon. One of the goals is to incentivize polluters, including gas and diesel sellers and manufacturers, to seek greener options.

Democrats have said that referring the plan to voters would make it impossible to begin implementing it in 2021 as they plan.

Senate Democrats need to lock down enough support for the climate bill in their own party, and it remained unclear Monday whether they have yet achieved that. Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson, D-Gresham, was one of three members of the caucus whose opposition last year doomed the bill. Sen. Arnie Roblan of Coos Bay is now onboard but with Sen. Betsy Johnson of Scappoose still likely opposed, supporters appear to have tweaked the bill to appeal to Monnes Anderson.

On Monday, Monnes Anderson declined to tell reporters whether she supported the Senates cap-and-trade bill as it was introduced. Architects of the bill expected new amendments to be made public later Monday or Tuesday, and Monnes Anderson said she was waiting to read them.

Im excited about the changes that I have been made aware of, Monnes Anderson said.

Sen. Michael Dembrow, a Portland Democrat, said that under the newest proposed amendments, Democrats would set carbon fees on gas and diesel purely by region, rather than by quantities of fuel sold. Its more county-based, more similar to what we did with the minimum wage, Dembrow said.

Democrats are trying to respond to criticism that fuel fees would be costlier, and alternative transportation more difficult to come by, in rural areas of the state. Under the current Senate proposal, gas and diesel fees might never apply in much of rural Oregon.

Hearings in the carbon bill are scheduled to begin Tuesday and continue through Saturday, which Dembrow said is intended to allow an opportunity for people who work Monday through Friday to come testify on the bill.

Rhetoric was less heated Monday in the Senate, where Senate President Peter Courtneys surprise return appeared to temporarily supplant potential speeches or posturing over the climate bill. The Salem lawmaker had been in the hospital for nearly a month fighting an infection in his replacement hip and conceded last week he might not make it back for the opening day of the session.

Courtney made a point of congratulating and welcoming new Republican Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, who was recently appointed to fill the seat of former Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, who stepped down to run to replace Greg Walden in the U.S. House of Representatives.

You do an extraordinary job working on behalf of your people and that means all of Oregon, Courtney said. So I really look forward to working with you.
New Delhi: Shortly after Delhi police released pictures claiming that Shaheen Bagh shooter Kapil Gujjar is a member of Aam Aadmi Party, the party MP Sanjay Singh hit back at the police asserting that they are working on the direction of BJP and openly violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

Launching an attack on DCP Crime Branch Rajesh Deo, Sanjay said, ''Investigation has not been completed yet, and a police officer is taking a party's name, at a time when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in place, this is completely unfair,'' adding, ''Is BJP asking Delhi police to say all this and on whose direction is Rajesh Deo working?''

Taking a jibe at BJP, the AAP leader said BJP is trying to play dirty politics few days ahead of the election, AAP will file a complaint to Election Commission (EC) against DCP Crime Branch Rajesh Deo.

Addressing a press conference in AAP office, Sanjay said, ''See, Amit Shah is the Home Minister of this country at this moment. Now, you will get various pictures, videos and conspiracy theories before elections. We have been waiting for this. There are three to four days are left for the elections. BJP will create as many conspiracies as possible in these days."

Live TV

On Tuesday evening, Delhi police released several pictures of Kapil Gujjar in which he can be seen taking the membership of AAP along with his father Gaje Singh. As per the police reports, the picture was taken in 2019 and was found in Kapil's phone during investigation. Kapil deleted his Whatsaap account after the firing incident.

In the photographs released by the police, Kapil can also be seen standing with AAP leaders Atishi Marlena and MP Sanjay Singh. The police claimed that Kapil along with his other friends joined AAP in 2019.

In its investigation, the police also found that Kapil came through the DND flyover via Maharani Bagh to Holy Family hospital where he adjusted his pistol and then went to Shaheen Bagh and fired two bullets in the air.

Kapil, 25, is a college dropout and he was angry at the protests which have been going on at Shaheen Bagh for the last 50 days because there was a wedding of his cousin and he had to take a detour to buy goods, claims his family members.

His father Gaje Singh is a politician who has contested Municipal Corporation election of Delhi (Jungpura in 2008 and Patparganj in 2012) as a candidate from the Bahujan Samaj Party but lost in the election.
China has extended its coronavirus lockdown to within nearly 100 miles of Shanghai today with a further 12million people now under quarantine.

Millions of residents in the cities of Taizhou, Hangzhou and Ningbo were told that only one person per household can go outside every two days to buy goods.

People in Taizhou will have to present ID every time they leave their residential communities, and train services into the city have been suspended.

Many Hangzhou residents have also been ordered to wear face masks and have their temperatures checked to stop the spread of the virus.

Passengers have their body temperatures checked after arriving in the city of Hangzhou by train. The city has announced drastic new restrictions to stop the spread of the virus

Millions of residents in the cities of Taizhou, Hangzhou and Ningbo were told that only one person per household can go outside every two days to buy goods

Hangzhou is only 110 miles from Shanghai and the city has reported 200 coronavirus cases so far, including one death.

The Zhejiang province where the city is situated has confirmed 829 cases - the highest number outside the central region of Hubei, which includes Wuhan.

The latest restrictions follow similar measures announced Sunday in Wenzhou, which has a population of nine million people.

The city has restricted the movement of residents, and closed roads.

The disease is believed to have emerged in a market in Wuhan that sold wild animals, spreading rapidly as people travelled for the Lunar New Year holiday in late January.

Nationwide, more than 20,000 people have been infected by the new virus, with 425 now known to have died.

Most of the deaths have been in Wuhan and the rest of surrounding Hubei province, which has largely been under lockdown for almost two weeks.

Under the latest restrictions, landlords in Taizhou have been forbidden from renting property to people from 'severely affected areas such as Hubei' if they have travelled to their hometowns recently.

The virus has so far spread to more than 20 countries, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency.

A medical worker wearing a mask, goggles and a protective suit speaks to a colleague at a laboritary in Hangzhou yesterday

Taiwan today became the latest foreign government to restrict entry to visitors from China while many airlines have also suspended flights.

In addition, Hong Kong today announced that a 39-year-old coronavirus patient had died in hospital - only the second fatality outside mainland China.

The US, Australia, New Zealand and Israel have banned foreign nationals from visiting if they have been in China recently, and they have also warned their own citizens against travelling there.

Russia has halted most of its air and rail traffic with China, shut down its land border with China and Mongolia and temporarily stopped issuing work visas to Chinese citizens.

China's Communist leadership made a rare admission of fallibility on Monday as it acknowledged 'shortcomings and difficulties exposed in the response to the epidemic'.

The elite Politburo Standing Committee called for improvements to the 'national emergency management system' at the meeting, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

'It is necessary to strengthen market supervision, resolutely ban and severely crack down on illegal wildlife markets and trade,' the Politburo said.

The government also said it 'urgently' needed medical equipment such as surgical masks, protective suits and safety goggles as it battles to control the outbreak.

A 1,000-bed field hospital in Wuhan built from scratch within two weeks to relieve overburdened medical facilities started receiving patients on Tuesday.

A second makeshift hospital is due to open later this week.
(Newser)  A woman trapped in "excruciating pain" next to a highway in South Carolina had to use her toes to summon help, authorities say. Trouble began for the 54-year-old resident of Charlotte, NC, when she got a flat tire on I-95 Sunday night, CNN reports. She was in the breakdown lane replacing the tire "when the jack slipped causing the car to fall, crushing both of her hands between the tire and the fender," the fire department in Colleton County says. Officials say the woman, whose hands were trapped, spent 35 minutes trying to get her shoe off and dial 911 with her toes. When she finally succeeding in making the call, help arrived within 8 minutes and firefighters used a prybar and a hydraulic spreader to free her. NBC reports that she was taken to a trauma center with severe damage to her hands and fingers. (Read more South Carolina stories.)
The BJP is desperate to win the elections for two key reasons. It has to stall the march of the Opposition in Assembly elections and equally, it needs to capture power in the capital city on behalf of the business tycoons who shore up the party and who have been riled by Kejriwals campaign to keep crony capitalism at bay. (Photo: File)

The gunman half danced, half walked with a swagger towards the swarming crowd of Indias bravest women. His movements resembled a Shyam Benegal movie sequence around an obscure ritual to propitiate a remote southern deity. The women had been protesting for weeks in Delhi against Prime Minister Modis communally framed citizenship law that excludes Muslims. Then the gunman shot one man in the forearm but luckily no further damage was done. The experienced women remained calm and didnt respond to the provocation. The police then escorted the man away and instantly declared him a minor, which means he is not liable to be prosecuted. The age was clearly cooked up but that was not the only thing unreal about the incident that took place on Jan 30, the dark day of Mahatma Gandhis assassination at a prayer meeting.

A picture showed the man aiming the gun at the crowd while the policemen looked on indulgently. One of the officers was standing arms crossed as if there was nothing happening he should be disturbed by. The picture circulating on the web carried the telling remark: Ye jo dahshatgardi hai/ Iske peechche vardi hai. A friend from Karachi claimed the lines were actually lifted from Pakistan, where they were apparently used to describe complicity between assorted terrorists and adjuncts of the state. An American professor of history told me the slogan was coined in Pashto in Afghanistan.

For an Indian, it is difficult not to see the picture in the context of the recent arrest of police officer Davinder Singh in besieged Jammu and Kashmir. The top cop was in charge of the anti-hijacking unit at the Srinagar airport. And now he was found in a car headed for Delhi just before the R-Day celebrations with two alleged Hizbul Mujahideen men, the same group media says had claimed responsibility for the deadly Pulwama attack. It must be a coincidence that Davinder Singh also belongs to Pulwama.

Earlier, Davinder was named in a little known letter that Afzal Guru wrote to his lawyer before being executed following his conviction to salve the conscience of the society in the 2001 parliament attack case. Researchers and writers, including Arundhati Roy, have recorded many gaping holes in the police story. Guru claimed Davinder tortured him brutally, which the cop admitted. He had pressed him to help the alleged attackers in the parliament case with logistics in Delhi, which the cop denied.

In a similar vein, questions were raised by informed individuals, including a retired top cop from Maharashtra, about the mysterious shooting of anti-terror police officer Hemant Karkare. Karkare was investigating a far-right Hindu group in false flag bomb attacks in which Muslims were blamed. One woman he charged in the crime was elected as Modis handpicked candidate for the LS elections last year. Meanwhile, nationwide protests against Modis new law, of which Shaheen Bagh has emerged as the rallying point, and even described as a second freedom movement, is finding itself caught in the political crossfire of Assembly elections in Delhi. The BJP is campaigning against the Shaheen Bagh women, painting their peaceful sit-in as the hub of Muslim terrorism. Leading ministers have used vicious imagery to attack the protesters, some have openly called for them to be shot.

Following the calls another young man showed up with a pistol at the protests, asserting that only Hindus had the right have a say in the country. The police took him away too.

But the threats are becoming bolder and the election commission is doing little to rein in the situation. In the last contest in 2015, Arvind Kejriwals AAP had swept Delhi with 63 seats of the total 70, with three going to the BJP. The BJP has started describing Kejriwal as a terrorist who supports the Shaheen Bagh protests. Kejriwal, on his part, is mindful of the sensitive Hindu votes he needs to garner. The votes went to Modi in the May elections last year, as the BJP won all seven seats in Delhi. Kejriwal accuses the BJP of raising a false bogey of Hindu-Muslim disharmony in the current elections. But the barrage of communal innuendo wont end. One of the BJP leaders, in fact, claimed that victory for Shaheen Bagh in the elections would lead to mass rape and murder of Hindu women. While Shaheen Bagh is not a contestant in the elections, it has clearly become a factor in the polarised campaign.

The BJP is desperate to win the elections for two key reasons. It has to stall the march of the Opposition in Assembly elections and equally, it needs to capture power in the capital city on behalf of the business tycoons who shore up the party and who have been riled by Kejriwals campaign to keep crony capitalism at bay.

Gandhis freedom movement consisted of a series of protests, which he called, suspended and abandoned for reasons that were never fully explained though they seemed to yield results. The current Congress leaders, on the other hand, called for a second independence movement in October 2018 but no one knows its whereabouts if it ever took off.

The Shaheen Bagh anti-fascist campaign, on its part, is poised at a critical moment in Indias history. It must not give traction to the BJP in Delhi, and it cannot abandon the movement it inspired the entire nation to become part of.

By arrangement with Dawn
A day after the Kerala government declared the coronavirus outbreak a state calamity, it sought immediate central assistance on Tuesday to tide over the crisis even as more people were placed under observation.

The state sounded an emergency on Monday after the third patient tested positive for coronavirus in Kasaragode in north Kerala. All three patients have lower respiratory infection and they are responding to symptomatic treatment well, said the state health ministry. The total number of people under observation rose to 2500 and 80 have been admitted to various hospitals, it said.

We want the Union Government to release more funds to meet the emergency. Proper surveillance and isolation involve a lot of expenditure. The union health minister has assured us all help. We expect urgent assistance, said state health minister K K Shailaja. The emergency status will help the government to allot more funds to preventive measures and police will also get additional powers to deal with truant China-returnees who dodge health authorities and rumour mongers, said officials.

But despite a high alert and increased surveillance two men who came from China, left for Saudi Arabia on Monday without informing health authorities in Kozhikkode. We have identified them and efforts are on to bring them back, said Kozhikkode district medical officer Dr V Jayashree.

At least 70 per cent of the returnees report on their own. But some skip thinking they can approach hospitals once they develop some symptoms. Since majority of the returnees are medical students they understand the gravity and co-operate fully. At times their relatives argue and we convince them, said Dr Satheesan P V, district programme manager of Thrissur.

Health minister Shailaja had already warned those who dodge authorities and warned such attitude will be treated as crime.

Besides opening more isolation wards, the government has also started training doctors and paramedical staff to meet the emergency. Though the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended 14 days isolation the state has raised the bar to 28 days to weed out any possibility. Health officials said they are using the experience gained while fighting the nipah virus outbreak two years ago, to fight coronavirus.

On Tuesday, Keralas tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran said in the assembly that tourism industry has been badly hit after detection of coronavirus positive cases in the state. This is another blow to tourism industry. Came out of two consecutive floods there were good bookings this time. But many hotels now say they are getting mass cancellations, he lamented
Malawian President Peter Mutharika plans to challenge a court decision overturning his 2019 poll victory, his spokesman said on Wednesday, in a move that could spark fresh opposition protests. After six months of hearings that gripped the southern African country, five top judges on Monday ruled that Mutharika was "not duly elected", citing massive and widespread irregularities including the use of correction fluid on results sheets. The judges ordered a fresh poll within 150 days. But Mutharika's spokesman, Mgeme Kalilani, described the ruling as "a serious miscarriage of justice and an attack on the foundations of the country?s democracy", telling AFP that Mutharika would appeal. He did not say when Mutharika would bring the challenge, but the 79-year-old president has up to six weeks to appeal. On Tuesday, Lazarus Chakwera, the leader of the main opposition Malawi Congress Party, who came a close second to Mutharika, hailed the landmark verdict as a victory for democracy and Africa. Addressing more than 10,000 jubilant opposition supporters who thronged his party's Lilongwe headquarters, Chakwera said "this is a great day". "It is democracy that has won. It is Malawi that has won. It is Africa that has won. And now justice has been served," he said. Mutharika was declared the winner of the May 21 election with 38.5 percent of the vote, Chakwera losing by just 159,000 votes. Chakwera went to court to challenge the result. - Results 'cannot be trusted' - In their unprecedented ruling, the constitutional court judges concurred that "the irregularities and anomalies have been so widespread, systematic and grave... that the integrity of the results has been seriously compromised". The court said only 23 percent of the result sheets had been able to be verified, and that the outcome announced by the electoral commission "cannot be trusted as a true reflection of the will of the voters". It is the first time a presidential election has been challenged on legal grounds in Malawi since independence from Britain in 1964, and only the second African vote result to be cancelled, after the 2017 Kenya presidential vote. Allegations of vote-rigging sparked protests across the normally peaceful country shortly after results were announced. Mutharika's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) urged citizens to "maintain peace and order". In Zomba, the former colonial capital and now fourth-largest city, opposition supporters sang and danced in the streets on Tuesday, calling on Mutharika to step down following the historic ruling. The Southern African Development Community commended the court for "upholding the Malawian constitution" and pledged to "support... the election process". Mutharika, 79, will remain president until the new election, the court ruled. "It is a good time to be alive in Malawi. We have demonstrated that democracy does and can work in Africa. And this victory is not for us, it is for generations to come," said Lameck Hango, who celebrated with his friends in Lilongwe. Another Lilongwe resident, Johnson Banda, said he was "very happy with this judgement". "It's a true indication that Malawi has true democracy." But Mutharika supporter Chimpele Tsamwa was less pleased. "The judgement is not what I expected nor wanted -- but then all in all we trust the courts and have to go with what they have said. That's the beauty with democracy," he said. The international community has urged calm. "We call upon all Malawians to respect the decision of the court and to adhere to the path outlined in Malawi's constitution and electoral laws, including on the right to appeal," said Tibor Nagy, the top US diplomat for Africa. "Democracy has won," Lazarus Chakwera, leader of the opposition Malawi Congress Party, told cheering supporters The thousands of jubilant supporters sang anti-Mutharika songs and danced in the streets The court said only 23 percent of the results sheets were verified and it "finds this to be a serious malpractice that undermined the elections" Malawi President Peter Mutharika waving to supporters following last May's election, annulled Monday Opposition supporters celebrated in the capital Lilongwe and other major cities
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LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Naqvi Injury Law kicked off the 21st annual 98.5 KLUC Chet Buchanan Toy Drive with a $20,000 donation on the event's first day.

"This is something we love to support year after year because it's truly about the community - it's about all of us coming together and helping our neighbors, our friends, our kids' schoolmates and for anyone in need of support and joy through the holiday season," said Farhan Naqvi, managing attorney of the firm.

The 2019 toy drive marked seven consecutive years that Naqvi Injury Law has participated as a sponsor and donor. The toy drive broke records with 41 semitrailers full of donated toys, 9,540 bikes and $603,320 in cash donations and gift cards. All donations benefited needy families in the greater Las Vegas area through HELP of Southern Nevada, a local non-profit that supports families and individuals through occupational training, referrals and direct services to help those in need to become more self-sufficient.

Naqvi and his firm have been involved with several charities throughout the valley, including Cure 4 The Kids Foundation, Grant A Gift Autism Foundation, Fox 5 Shining Star, Olive Crest, Dress for Success, Opportunity Village, Nevada Donor Network and many other education and community-based organizations. With a passion for enhancing the lives of children in need, Naqvi also serves on the board of directors for the Cure 4 The Kids Foundation.

ABOUT NAQVI INJURY LAW

Naqvi Injury Law was founded in 2008 by Farhan Naqvi, an award-winning personal injury attorney. In the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 "Best of Las Vegas" Readers Poll, the Las Vegas Review-Journal named the firm a Gold Winner in a record-setting three categories: Best Personal Injury Lawyer, Best Law Firm and Best Customer Service. In 2019 the firm was also recognized in the new category of Best Trial Attorney. Farhan Naqvi has received the highest possible rating of AV Preeminent from Martindale Hubbell and holds an Avvo "Superb" rating. For more information, visit http://naqvilaw.com or call 702-553-1000.

Contact:

Sarah Thornton

sarah@sarahthorntonpr.com

https://naqvilaw.com/

SOURCE: Naqvi Injury Law

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575147/Naqvi-Injury-Law-Donates-20000-to-KLUC-Toy-Drive
MOSCOW -- The Moscow City Court has upheld a decision to keep former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan in pretrial detention until March 29, pending trial on charges of espionage.

The court announced the ruling on February 4, upholding the extension that was first handed down in December.

The 49-year-old Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian, and Irish passports, was arrested in a hotel room in Moscow in December 2018 and accused of receiving classified information.

He was charged with espionage, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Whelan denies the charges and says he was framed.

His family said he was in Moscow at the time for a wedding.

After visiting Whelan last week, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, urged Moscow to release Whelan and slammed Russian authorities for their "shameful treatment" of him.

"Despite the Russian government's immediate claims that they caught Paul, quote 'red-handed' unquote, the investigators have shown no evidence. Zero. Paul's case has gone on far too long, shielded in secrecy and hidden from view," Sullivan said days after taking up his new post.
The Iowa Democratic Party will begin to release results from Mondays caucuses at 5 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, the party chairman, Troy Price, told the Democratic presidential campaigns in a conference call.

Des Moines, Iowa: The Iowa Democratic Party will begin to release results from Mondays caucuses at 5 pm Eastern time Tuesday (3.30 am Wednesday, IST), the party chairman, Troy Price, told the Democratic presidential campaigns in a conference call.

Price told the campaigns that the majority of results would be made public later in the day but dodged questions about when final totals would become available. He and the partys executive director, Kevin Geiken, said officials were in the process of collecting paper preference cards and results worksheets from more than 1,600 precincts in Iowa.

The pending release of results was certain to upend the Democratic contest once more Tuesday, as a frustrated pack of Democratic presidential candidates arrived in New Hampshire and sought to turn the mood of chaos to their own advantage.

Even before the candidates boarded chartered jets late Monday and headed east, their senior aides were effectively backstabbing one another  and leaders of the Iowa Democratic Party. Some campaigns were trying to cast their likely Iowa caucus outcome in the best possible light, as the final results remained in limbo because of inconsistencies in the reporting of data. Others were angling to make a rival pay for a potentially dismal finish.

And a new order could be glimpsed in the race, as former vice president Joe Biden did his best to play down the significance of Iowa and several other candidates positioned themselves as victors even in the absence of official results.

Price said in a statement Tuesday morning that the party hoped to release the results as soon as possible but that the integrity and accuracy of the process was the paramount concern. He attributed the delay to inconsistencies in the reporting of results to a new app that Democrats were using, which he said reported only partial data due to a coding issue".

But the top candidates were also moving on to New Hampshire, with events scheduled across the state Tuesday. Others who sat out Iowa, like Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado and Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, were also campaigning in New Hampshire.

Pete Buttigieg, alluding to precinct-level data he said his campaign gathered Monday, repeated the claim Tuesday morning that his campaign had prevailed in Iowa  the most aggressive effort by any candidate to claim credit for a win based on private and unverifiable data.

Its clearly a victory for us, Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said in an interview on CNN, adding, By any reckoning, we had an extraordinary night that is propelling us toward a win in New Hampshire.

He made an early morning appearance in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Tuesday, where he was endorsed by the citys mayor, Jim Donchess, meeting him for coffee at a cafe and chatting with several voters. He ignored questions from reporters about whether his speech last night in Iowa, seemingly declaring victory absent any official results, was premature.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts landed in Manchester, New Hampshire, shortly after 4 am (2.30 pm Tuesday, IST), surrounded by senior aides and top surrogates. In brief remarks to supporters, Warren said she felt good about her campaigns position  even as the official Iowa results remained unclear.

When I left Iowa, I said it is too close to call, and it still is  but I feel good, she said. We are in 31 states and have thousands of people on the ground.

What unfolded in the hours before was an extraordinary spectacle of political gamesmanship, from a group of campaigns that had long anticipated the Iowa caucuses as a moment that could bring the first dose of clarity to a volatile primary season.

The delay kept the still-unknown winner from being able to quickly harness his or her triumph to raise money and build momentum while shielding those who finished poorly from an immediate reckoning. It was also an embarrassment for a party trying to show unity and strength as it prepares to take on President Donald Trump.

Trump called attention to the chaos, writing on Twitter that the Democrats caucuses were an unmitigated disaster".

The Iowa contest was already wedged in between a number of high-profile news events that threatened to siphon attention from the caucuses and dull their impact, including the Super Bowl, Trumps State of the Union address and an expected vote in the Senate to acquit Trump of impeachment charges.

Democratic officials in Iowa said the delays Monday were because of a breakdown in the reporting of results, but the chaos across more than 1,600 caucus sites appeared widespread. As the night proceeded, caucus leaders and volunteers described struggling with a byzantine new system of tabulation and an app that confused many of those responsible for reporting final tallies.

With no official returns to trumpet as the night proceeded, a handful of leading candidates released their own data portraying themselves in a favourable light and sought to use the uncertainty to cripple Biden, who has led in most national polls but appeared highly vulnerable in Iowa. Advisers to three different campaigns suggested that the final outcome could represent a tepid finish for Biden based on their own internal data, and his campaign did little to rebut that analysis.

The campaigns of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Buttigieg released portions of their own caucus-night intelligence, both claiming that they were on track to emerge triumphant. And aides to Warren forecast a close finish among her, Sanders and Buttigieg while chastising her opponents for releasing partial information.

Any campaign saying they won or putting out incomplete numbers is contributing to the chaos and misinformation, said Joe Rospars, a top adviser to Warren, alluding to Sanders and Buttigieg.

But Sanders campaign made no apologies for the projection of strength, arguing that it would be reflected in the final results.

We feel very confident about our performance in Iowa, said Ari Rabin-Havt, a senior adviser to Sanders.

It was not only the top-tier candidates who clashed as Monday gave way to Tuesday, however. The campaign manager for Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota posted on Twitter that their data suggested that Klobuchar could overtake Biden in the vote count  an unverifiable claim for outside observers, but one that could be debilitating for Biden if it came to pass. Klobuchar has been running well behind the four leaders in both national polls and surveys of Iowa.

With the numbers weve seen internally and publicly, were running even or ahead of Vice President Biden, wrote Justin Buoen, Klobuchars top aide. Wheels up to New Hampshire!

Bidens campaign released no data of its own and appeared eager to turn the page on the contest. In brief remarks to supporters Monday, Biden raised an eyebrow at the disorder; both he and his campaign manager, Greg Schultz, said little about what they expected, other than Biden would win his fair share of delegates in Iowa.

Our own model shows that Biden overperformed in key districts we needed to be competitive in, and we feel confident that this is a tight race with bunched up candidates, Schultz said in a statement.

In a far more aggressive tactic, a lawyer for the Biden campaign sent a letter to the Iowa Democratic Party expressing alarm at the acute failures of the procedures intended to tabulate votes on caucus night.

We believe that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are released, wrote Dana Remus, general counsel to the Biden campaign.

Altogether, it appeared to be the approach of a candidate aiming to throw a permanent shadow over the Iowa results  and to obscure what could be a poor showing.

Bidens campaign was not the only one to raise questions about the caucus process: speaking to reporters after midnight, Roger Lau, Warrens campaign manager, said the interminable delays were damaging the vote.

Every second that passes undermines the process a little bit, Lau said.

Lau said that the campaign saw Warren in a really tight race with Sanders and Buttigieg but declined to list an order.

Like senior strategists for other campaigns, Lau offered a clear and negative prognosis for one prominent competitor, even without definitive results to back up his argument.

Its clear that Bidens a distant fourth, he said.

Alone among the candidates in enjoying the Iowa meltdown may have been Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City who is not contesting any of the earliest primary and caucus states. Bloomberg has been counting on a split decision or a weak finish by Biden in February, opening the way for him to vigorously compete for delegates starting in March.

One of Bloombergs closest aides made little effort to hide his delight at the events of Monday evening. Bloombergs campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, quipped in a television interview that had Iowa Democrats used the financial-information technology marketed by Bloombergs company  the source of the fortune he is now spending on his campaign  they would have assembled the results in a timely fashion.

Obviously a Bloomberg Terminal would have delivered your results by tonight, Sheekey said.

Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin c.2020 The New York Times Company
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Citing inaction and unnecessary delay, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Tamil Nadu Advocate General to tell it, by February 14, when will the Assembly Speaker decide on disqualification petitions filed in March 2017 against Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and 10 other MLAs for defying the whip and voting against the E.K. Palaniswami government in the February trust vote.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant queried the state's top law officer to tell when the Assembly Speaker will take a call on the matter.

"Tell us what you propose to do," the bench asked Advocate General Vijay Narayan, representing the Assembly Secretary.

The bench added that the Speaker should have decided the matter.

"Notice should have been issued. There is no reason for not to decide it. It is inaction. Delay is unnecessary...." said the Chief Justice citing the three-year delay on the process on the disqualification pleas.

"There is a judgment by this court now, which says the Speaker should decide within three months... But apart from this judgment, the Speaker cannot hold on to disqualification proceedings as long as three years," he added.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Paneerselvam and others, submitted before the bench that the plea made in the writ petition filed by DMK MLA and whip in Assembly, R. Sakkrapani and others in the Madras High Court to declare the 11 AIADMK MLAs as disqualified was given up, and as a result, the matter should have been closed.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the DMK leader, contended it has already been three years and the Speaker is yet to decide the matter. "The term of the Assembly will end in May 2021... as on date, no notice have been issued," he contended.

Sibal, to back his arguments, cited the apex court's January 21 verdict on a petition by Congress MLA Keisham Meghachandra Singh from Manipur Assembly. He said the verdict rules that the Speaker must decide the disqualification petitions within three months.

Rohatgi contested this argument stating whether a mandamus can be issued to the Speaker has been referred to the Constitution Bench. Contending the January 21 judgement proceeded on the basis of the reference was wrong, he said: "It is not open for a three-judge to quash the reference." To this, the Chief Justice replied: "This judgement holds the field... This judgement is there, it is the law... for three years the Speaker cannot sit on a notice." He reckoned the delay, on deciding the disqualification petition, as inaction. "There is a judgement of this court, which is not set aside and it does not matter if somebody likes it or not. At the moment you (Advocate General of Tamil Nadu) must take action, when are you going to take action, tell us now," said the Chief Justice.

The court also observed "If there is inaction, there should be a cure. Let the Advocate General tell (the top court), if the judgement is not binding or not a good law." The bench asked the Advocate General to furnish a reply on the matter on February 14.

The plea seeks disqualification of Panneerselvam and 10 others for voting against the Palaniswami government when they were in the rebel camp, and by voting against the trust motion, they violated the whip and as a result they face disqualification proceedings under the anti-defection law.

--IANS ss/vd

A

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A fraudster who sold the same two forests "over and over again" to unsuspecting investors has been given an extra two years in jail following an appeal by prosecutors.

Garret Hevey (43) used the pseudonym James Baker when he incorporated Arden Forestry Management Limited, which offered investment opportunity in the Irish forestry sector, in November 2013.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard 5.5m from 143 investors passed through an AIB bank account in Dun Laoghaire between it being opened in January 2014 and its freezing in June 2016.

Gardai began investigating the company when one of the investors discovered Arden FML was not the registered owner of the land in which he had invested 52,000.

The investor had asked to visit what had been identified as his investment, at which point an email was sent to Hevey by his co-accused saying "s**t, he wants to visit the Land Registry, how do we get over that?"

The Finnish investor was taken to a forest in Frenchpark, Co Roscommon, but when he asked to go to the land registry he was told there was no time. Upon returning home to Greece, the investor carried out inquiries with the Land Registry and was "dismayed" to find the land registered to someone else.

Hevey, of Brookdene, Shankill, Dublin 18, pleaded guilty to one count of dishonestly inducing investment in Arden FML between January 1, 2014 and June 13, 2016 and three counts of inducing individuals by deception to make payments between September 2015 and May 2016.

He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment with the final year suspended by Judge Melanie Greally on July 27, 2019 which was found to be "unduly lenient" by the Court of Appeal yesterday.

Resentencing Hevey to six years' imprisonment, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said the same two forests were being sold "over an over again". If the monies had been used for the intended purposes, he said 858 acres of forestry should have been acquired but in reality, the company purchased a mere 30.2 acres of forest.

Mr Justice McCarthy said the fraud must fall into the most serious category.

He said the sentencing judge erred in selecting a headline sentence lower than "in or about nine years".

Mr Justice McCarthy said the sentencing judge also fell into error by attaching too much weight to the mitigating factors. He said a two-year reduction from the headline sentence would have been appropriate for Hevey's "relatively late" guilty plea.
By Trend





Turkmenistans Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov participated in the meeting in C5+1 format attended by foreign ministries of Central Asia in Tashkent, Trend reports referring to Turkmenistans Foreign Ministry.

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo also participated in the meeting.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the delegation of Turkmenistan met with the US State Secretary, the ministry said. The parties discussed pressing issues of bilateral cooperation, as well as regional topics of mutual interest.

The sides also exchanged views on issues of cooperation in the field of border management, trade, energy and transport.

Special attention was given to the issues related to Afghanistan. In this context, the Turkmen delegation told about the progress in the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline, the power transmission line and fiber-optic links on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) natural gas pipeline, and the railways from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan.

Following the negotiations, the participants adopted a joint statement of the ministerial meeting in C5+1 format.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 17:00:11|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Esmaili said Tuesday that the country's Supreme Court has approved the death sentence of an Iranian who was spying for the United States, semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"Amir Rahimpour, who was the CIA spy and received huge money to give part of the information of Iran's nuclear program to the intelligence service of America, had already been sentenced to death and it was recently approved by the country's Supreme National court," Esmaili was quoted as saying.

"He (Rahimpour) will be punished soon," the spokesman said.

He added that two others have been sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of spying for the United States.
A New Orleans grand jury has formally charged two men with the 2016 murder of a pregnant woman - and feticide in the death of her unborn child.

Raven Veal, 22, was shot and twice run over by a car on Sullen Place near General Meyer Avenue in Algiers on Nov. 9, 2016, New Orleans police said then. Veal was 9 months pregnant when she was killed, according to police.

Jermaine Brisco, 24, and Duvuri Devall, 22, were charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit second-degree murder, second-degree murder and first-degree feticide, the indictment states. Devall's first name is also spelled Duvuri in online court records. Neither man has been booked into the Orleans Justice Center jail, and court records show they failed to appear at an arraignment hearing scheduled for Monday.

Orleans Parish Coroner Dr. Jeffrey Rouse said last year that Veal's unborn child was "of an advanced and viable age" when Veal was killed. The coroner said he considered the unborn child's death a homicide, which he noted would be subject to prosecution under the state's feticide statute.

The grand jury found probable cause to charge them in an indictment handed down Friday (July 28).

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Witnesses told detectives they heard her arguing with the man who killed her prior to hearing between four and five gunshots, police said in a preliminary report after the murder. She then tried to run from the car. Police said the driver hit her once with the vehicle, ran over her, backed up and ran over her a second time.

According to a GoFundMe page set up by her mother, Veal was a "sweet, spoiled little cupcake with eyes like the ocean and a smile like the sun. She was loved dearly and had a heart bigger than this world." She had a 3-year-old daughter who was thrown out of the car during the confrontation that killed Veal, the GoFundMe page says.

It was not immediately clear what, if any, relationship the men arrested in the case had with Veal.

Diana Samuels contributed to this report.

Note: This story was updated Friday (Aug. 4) to reflect the correct spelling of defendant Duvuri Devall's first name. The story initially noted his charging document spelled his name differently than online court records. Devall's attorney on Friday confirmed the correct spelling of Devall's name.
India and the US are finalising a limited trade package, centred around medical devices and agricultural products, that is expected to be unveiled during President Donald Trumps visit in the third week of this month, people familiar with development said on Tuesday.

The final touches will be given to the package when US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer visits New Delhi early next week for talks with Indian interlocutors, including commerce minister Piyush Goyal, the people added on condition of anonymity.

One of the highlights of the visit is expected to be a public event featuring Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, though there is a question mark on whether the US president will travel to locations other than New Delhi during his short visit, said the people who declined to be identified.

As reported earlier by HT, Trump is set to visit India sometime between February 21 and February 24. Over the past few weeks, both sides have been busy hammering out the trade package so that it can be presented as a tangible outcome of the visit.

The trade package will centre around medical devices such as stents and agricultural products, said a person familiar with planning for the visit. India and the US have sparred over the pricing of medical devices and access to US agricultural imports.

The negotiations are going well and some mutual understanding is expected before the visit, two Indian officials from two different ministries said on condition of anonymity. The US is an important trade partner and the two sides are negotiating various issues of mutual interest, one of the officials said.

The Indian officials said the trade package will focus on mutual gains as India cannot make decisions under any pressure that go against the interests of farmers or retailers. The same philosophy was articulated in the budget presented on February 1, they said.

The US is keen on increased and hassle-free access to Indian markets for agricultural products, such as dairy items, and medical devices, including knee implants and stents. It wants India to remove tariff and non-tariff barriers for key exports and is willing to reciprocate in the same proportion, the two Indian officials said.

As part of the trade package, India expects the reinstatement of benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) scheme, which were withdrawn last June. The scheme allowed zero tariffs on exports to the US worth $5.6 billion.

India is also willing to purchase more oil and gas from the US and talks are ongoing in this regard, one of the Indian officials said. Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan recently said India will discuss long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) deals during Trumps visit as part of a strategy to promote a gas-based economy that may attract 4 lakh crore in investments over the next five years.

Indias top gas importer Petronet LNG and American LNG developer Tellurian are expected to sign a $2.5-billion deal during Trumps visit for rights to up to 5 million tonnes of LNG a year, according to a Reuters report. Petronet will invest the money over five years in Tellurians proposed $27.5-billion Driftwood LNG export project in Louisiana and gas supplies will begin from 2024.

India has stepped up diversification of its oil sourcing to reduce over-dependence on imports from the volatile Middle East and plans to double imports from the US. Oil purchases from the US, which started in 2017-18, have already crossed 6 million tonnes, officials said.

US security and logistics teams have visited Agra and Ahmedabad as part of preparations for Trumps visit, though it is yet to be finalised whether he will travel to locations other than New Delhi, the people cited above said.

When you have a visit that isnt of a very long duration, travelling to a second venue takes up time and adds to logistical issues, said one of them.

Preparations for the visit have included looking at locations such as stadiums in New Delhi as a possible venue for the public event featuring Trump and Modi, the people said.

Former ambassador Rajiv Dogra said Trump will be a relieved man by the time he arrives as the impeachment trial is not expected to go against him. The visit will also have a feel good factor such as a photo at the Taj Mahal if the US president decides to travel to Agra, he said.

But the important thing for India to ponder over is Pakistan holding the US to ransom over Afghanistan. Why are we so dependent on the US to set the agenda for the subcontinent? More than trade, strategic issues will decide the fate of the subcontinent, he said.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Hawaii's top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Joie Agoo

Nominated by YMCA of Honolulu - Mililani West Oahu

Joie, a senior at Mililani High School, worked with a group of friends to prepare and serve sack lunches with fresh produce once a week for 50 people who live in encampments or on the streets of her community. As members of the Mililani YMCA, Joie and her friends obtained a grant to identify a problem in their area and work to solve it. After some research, they decided to focus on providing local people experiencing homelessness with lunches containing fresh fruits and vegetables that they might otherwise not have access to. So in May of 2018, the group founded the "Houseless Project."

Every week, the group plans a shopping trip to buy fresh food. After school on Wednesdays, they form an assembly line and prepare sandwiches, bag fresh produce, and stuff other items such as chips, fruit bars, snacks and water bottles into individual lunch sacks. They load the lunches into an YMCA bus and head to the places where they know they will find unsheltered people in need of something nutritious to eat. In addition to supplying a weekly meal to people often overlooked by others, Joie said her friends have established relationships with many of the people they serve. "It's important for us to show them that people care about them, and that they are significant and shouldn't be looked at any differently than anyone else," said Joie. "We don't just feed their stomachs; we strive to feed their hearts and souls."

Middle Level State Honoree: Rylee Brooke Kamahele

Nominated by Kipapa Elementary School

Rylee, a seventh-grader at Mililani Middle School, launched initiatives that organize Christmas celebrations for children in need, facilitate a variety of volunteer opportunities for young people, and educate youth around the world about the effects of humans on the planet. Rylee grew up volunteering with her parents in a program for at-risk youth, but by age 8 wanted to start making an impact on her own. "We had to fight for me to get involved," she said, "because programs didn't want to babysit kids during community service." But with a lot of persistence and hard work, she gradually persuaded charitable organizations to let her volunteer with them and recruit other young people to join her.

From there, Rylee started an organization called "Love Is A Verb" that has organized numerous youth-run projects, including annual beach cleanups, working to protect animals, providing Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless, entertaining kids at shelters and engaging in other community service activities. Rylee also co-founded a "Secret Santa Project" to make Christmas brighter for children in need of holiday cheer. To do that, she held a donation drive and raised money to provide gifts for children staying in a shelter, and then began hosting holiday parties for them. This project has since expanded to include three shelters and one youth program, treating more than 300 kids to a memorable day with food, gifts, games, shave-ice trucks and slush machines. Rylee also co-founded "Promise To Our Keiki (PTOK)" an initiative that cultivates young leaders and raises awareness about the impact humans have on the planet. All of her initiatives are under the umbrella of "The Catalyst Club," an organization she founded to equip young people to be agents of change.

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized two other Hawaii students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Hawaii's Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Dyson Chee, 17, of Honolulu, Hawaii, a home-schooled senior, founded "Project O.C.E.A.N.," through which he has educated thousands of people about the environmental impact of single-use plastics; he has also distributed more than 1,800 reusable straws, worked with schools to eliminate their use of single-use plastic bags, and testified before the state legislature about this issue. Dyson has given educational presentations in more than 60 classrooms and community events, and has raised more than $3,500 for his project.

Yucheng Wu, 17, of Honolulu, Hawaii, a senior at Maryknoll High School, has volunteered more than 1,000 hours of her time translating learning materials from English to Chinese for Khan Academy, a web-based nonprofit that offers free educational resources to students around the world, including those in rural and undeveloped regions. Yucheng was inspired to start volunteering for this organization after using Khan Academy's resources to improve her English when she relocated to Hawaii from China.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com .

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.
Appointment

4 February 2020

Rosewood Hotel Group is pleased to announce the promotion of Caroline MacDonald from vice president of global sales & marketing to group vice president of sales, distribution and business performance. In this role, Caroline will be responsible for leading the global sales, revenue management and partnership marketing teams across the group's distinct brands including Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, New World Hotels & Resorts and KHOS.

In her four-year tenure with Rosewood Hotel Group, Caroline has played an important role in the company's successful expansion and growth, driving performance and elevating the identity of the brand. Most notably, Caroline's sales leadership has proved essential to the commercial success of ten hotel openings across the globe, where she provided strategic oversight and spearheaded the development of superlative sales, marketing, revenue and distribution teams to ensure the properties were quickly established as market leaders.

Boasting nearly 30 years of experience in the luxury hospitality industry, Caroline originally joined Rosewood Hotel Group in 2016 as vice president of sales and marketing, Americas and Europe. She was promoted to vice president of global sales and marketing in 2019. Prior to joining Rosewood, Caroline spent fifteen years with Auberge Resorts & Hotels, initially as senior vice president of sales and marketing before assuming the position of chief marketing officer. Having entered into hospitality at the DoubleTree in Monterey, California in 1990, Caroline's experience in the industry also includes roles with Pinehurst Company and Carefree Resorts.



Caroline holds a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University, The George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management, and a Bachelor's degree from University of Maryland, along with an Associate's degree from Community College of the Air Force. Throughout her career, Caroline has been recognized by a number of high-profile industry awards programs, including "The HSMAI Top 25: Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality Sales, Marketing, Revenue Optimization" and "Los Angeles' Women of Influence" by American City Business Journals and Bizwomen. In her free time, Caroline serves as a Milken Scholars Program Mentor, an educational institute that honors and supports exceptional young men and women based on their academic performance, community service, leadership activities and ability to overcome obstacles. She is also on the Board of Chrysalis, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a pathway to self-sufficiency for homeless and low-income individuals.
OU study finds the fingerprint of paddy rice in atmospheric methane concentration dynamics

NORMAN, OKLA. - A University of Oklahoma-led study shows that paddy rice (both area and plant growth) is significantly related to the spatial-temporal dynamics of atmospheric methane concentration in monsoon Asia, where 87% of paddy rice fields are situated in the world.

Methane is one of the major greenhouse gases. It has a lifetime of 12.4 years and its global warming potential is approximately 86 times higher than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.

"Rice paddy is a large source of methane emission; however, it has been a challenging task to attribute relative role of rice paddy in the spatial distribution, seasonal dynamics and interannual variation of atmospheric methane concentration as measured by spaceborne sensors," said Xiangming Xiao, a member of the Earth Observation and Modeling Facility at OU and a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology who coordinated this interdisciplinary study.

Over the past few years, researchers at OU developed annual paddy rice maps at 500-meter spatial resolution and quantified the spatial-temporal changes in rice paddy area in monsoon Asia during 2000-2015. By combining the annual paddy rice maps, rice plant growth data and atmospheric methane concentration (XCH4) data, researchers found strong spatial consistencies between rice paddy area and XCH4 and seasonal consistencies between rice plant growth and XCH4, including both single rice and double rice fields. Results from the study also yielded a decreasing trend in rice paddy area in monsoon Asia since 2007. This suggests that the change in rice paddy area could not be one of the major drivers for the renewed XCH4 growth since 2007.

The findings of this study demonstrate the importance of satellite-based paddy rice datasets in understanding the spatial-temporal dynamics of XCH4 in monsoon Asia. These annual maps of paddy rice are the first of their kind and could be used to further improve simulations of biogeochemical models that estimate methane emission from paddy rice fields, which are critically needed for analysis of spaceborne XCH4 data and simulations of atmospheric chemistry and transport models.

###

This OU-led study, "Fingerprint of rice paddies in spatial-temporal dynamics of atmospheric methane concentration in monsoon Asia," was published by Nature Communications. The lead author of the paper, Geli Zhang, completed a large portion of the work as a post-doctoral researcher at OU and recently returned to work at China Agricultural University, Beijing, China. Three graduate students, including two from OU, have also made contributions to the study.

For more information about this study, please contact Professor Xiao at xiangming.xiao@ou.edu.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Dublin, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Manufacture of Edible Salt in South Africa 2019" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



This report focuses on the manufacture of edible salt in South Africa, including the state of the industry, the factors that influence its performance and continental and global production information. Official information on the size of the industry and other data dates back to 2017 and 2018, the last time the department issued statistics.



There are comprehensive profiles of 13 companies in the sector, including major players such as Cerebos and Salt Refiners and Packers. Other profiles include Velddrift Salt Company, which supplies Khoisan Trading with brine and produces coarse salt and Upington Super Salt.



Manufacture of Edible Salt



Manufacturers of salt in South Africa continue to struggle to compete against cheap imports, mainly from Botswana and Namibia. These imports, as well as increasing input costs and the exchange rate, have resulted in the number of local salt producers decreasing from 86 to 17 in the past eight years.



According to the Department of Mineral Resources, less than 50% of the country's salt consumption requirement is produced locally. Only 12% of the salt produced is used in the food industry, with the bulk being used in the industrial sector in areas such as petrol refining, petrochemistry, animal feed, the production of cooling brines and other applications.



Opportunities for SMMES and Artisanal Products



Abundant salt reserves and growing demand create further opportunities for increased supply of salt. The extreme dryness of the Northern Cape makes it ideal for salt production. Small scale operators with an area of 1.5ha or less can apply for a mining permit, which is less onerous than a mining right, and the Department of Mineral Resources has committed to supporting black-owned junior mining companies.



A number of producers are taking advantage of demand for artisanal products including Khoisan Trading, which said its salt is the only hand-harvested natural unrefined solar salt, Oryx Desert Salt, which said its salt is 100% pure, crystal-white, natural desert salt and Baleni Sacred Salt, which harvests salt using 2,000-year old techniques.



Key Topics Covered



1. INTRODUCTION



2. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY

2.1. Industry Supply Chain

2.2. Geographic Position



3. SIZE OF THE INDUSTRY



4. STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

4.1. Local

4.1.1. Corporate Actions

4.1.2. Regulations

4.1.3. Enterprise Development and Social Economic Development

4.2. Continental

4.3. International



5. INFLUENCING FACTORS

5.1. Economic Environment

5.2. Government Initiatives

5.3. Rising Operating Costs

5.4. Technology, Research and Development (R&D) and Innovation

5.5. Labour

5.6. Cyclicality

5.7. Environmental Concerns

5.8. Crime and Security



6. COMPETITION

6.1. Barriers to Entry



7. SWOT ANALYSIS



8. OUTLOOK



9. INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS



10. REFERENCES

10.1. Publications

10.2. Websites



Company Profiles

Bloemhof Salt And Chemical Company (Pty) Ltd

Cerebos Ltd

Crystal Salt Cc (The)

Donald Brown Group (Pty) Ltd

Dwaggas Soutwerke (Pty) Ltd

Kalkpoort Soutwerke Cc

Kimberley Salt Company (Pty) Ltd

Kliphoek Soutwerke (Pty) Ltd

Orange River Salt Works (Pty) Ltd

Salt Refiners And Packers (Pty) Ltd

Swartkops Seesout (Pty) Ltd

Upington Super Salt (Pty) Ltd

Velddrift Salt Company (Pty) Ltd

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/v2y1d3

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Kokrajhar in Assam on Friday to participate in an event to celebrate the signing of the Bodo Agreement.

A statement from the Prime Minister's Office said Modi will address a gathering there to "hail the historic Bodo Agreement" signed on January 27.

This will be the prime minister's first visit to the north-east since it witnessed several anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in which three people were killed.

More than 4,00,000 people from the Bodo Autonomous Tribal Districts and other areas of the state are expected to attend the programme.

A cultural programme of ethnic groups of Assam is being organised to showcase the diversity of the state, the statement said.

In a recent tweet, the prime minister had termed the day the accord was signed "a very special day for India" and said that it "will lead to a transformative results for Bodo people, ushering in a new dawn of peace, harmony and togetherness".

The agreement is in accordance with the prime minister's vision of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas and is a commitment towards a holistic development of the north-east, the statement said.

Over 1,615 cadres of different factions of the NDFB surrendered their arms and joined the mainstream within two days of the signing of the agreement.

In his latest 'Mann ki Baat' radio address, the prime minister had appealed to all those on the path of violence to return to the mainstream and lay down their arms.

A summit meeting between Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, scheduled to be held in Guwahati in December, was also cancelled due to the anti-CAA protests.

Modi was also invited for the inauguration of the recently-concluded 'Khelo India' games in Guwahati but he did not attend it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The absence in the title of In the Absence, the Oscar-nominated documentary short from director Yi Seung-jun, refers to the absence of the government. The film is about the sinking of a South Korean passenger ferry in 2014, an incident that claimed more than 300 lives, most of them high school students on a field trip. The disaster is now widely blamed on government negligence and helped lead to the impeachment of South Koreas president.

But a different kind of absence is also the source of the documentarys strength, as Yi approaches the tragic subject matter with a considered restraint. The effect is a documentary that does not engage with the speed and amnesia of a rapidly moving news cycle but rather encourages a more muted, persistent form of remembrance. As Yi put it to me, the film starts from the pain and suffering of the families of the deceased students and the civilian divers who helped with the rescue or salvaging and then works its way back to the source of this suffering. (The film is also available to watch in full on YouTube, below.)

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Following the films history-making nominationit and Parasite are the first South Korean films to ever receive recognition from the Academy AwardsI spoke to Yi and producer Gary Byung-seok Kam. In our conversation, which has been condensed and edited for clarity, we discussed the context and resonances of the Sewol sinking, the shorts strategic omissions, and the unique challenge of balancing respect for the subjects of the film with respect for the film as a work of cinematic journalism.

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Slate: What compelled you to make this documentaryabout a 2014 incidentat this particular point in time?

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Gary Byeong-seok Kam: There were several documentaries about the Sewol ferry immediately following the incident. Most of them were closer to investigative reportage, concerned with uncovering truths, identifying causes, and assigning blame. While we believe that these documentaries were also important, we wondered whether there was another story to tell. Thats where our questions began. For three years, wed observed the news cycle churn out various Sewol-related images for consumption, but we wondered how it all fit together during that day. Director Yi in particular was concerned with exploring the suffering of the family members and the rescue divers, the silent suffering of an ordinary citizen faced with the reality of a broken system. We wanted to explore the sense of betrayal that comes with realizing that a government we expected would protect us is not, in fact, functioning properly.

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As documentary filmmakers, how were you able to approach the subject differently from the way it was coveredas you say, extensivelyin the news?

Kam: Youve seen the news and its images: of the children, especially their last moments, of the sinking ferry, and of the hovering rescue helicopters. You saw these images and understood that there was some rescue attempt, and that there were people in danger. But these simplistic characterizations of the situationthat there was an accident and that the rescue mission was a failurewere not enough. The important thing was that such a tragedy would never happen again. We started this film about three years after the incident, just as people were starting to say that enough was enough. People wondered why we needed to keep talking about it. But had we allowed the issue to fade away, without any conclusions about the origins or causes of the incident, we would most definitely have been setting ourselves up for a repeat of this issue in the future.

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Director Yi hoped that by piecing together the source material in such a way, the film would convey just how egregiously inadequate the system was, and how much suffering was directly due to this inadequacy. Its not easy to watch this suffering on screen, but I believe its necessary to sit with this pain, as well as the pain we feel when we empathize. Only then can we ask the right questions. This was why Director Yi put so much emphasis on the effect of pain. It was an emotionally taxing project, especially for the director. We saw things we should not have seen, although we could not bring ourselves to include them in the film.

Yet the documentary doesnt feel gratuitous with regard to pain. How did you decide what to include?

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Yi Seung-jun: I made a point of consulting the families of the victims during production. Our principle was this: We prioritized the position of the victims families. The characters in a documentary are real people, and so documentary filmmaking demands a particular ethical sensibility. I felt this all the more strongly because I was ultimately making a disaster documentary. There were some clips that we personally felt that we should not include, and others that we solicited the opinions of the families on. Everything in the film was included with support from the victims families.

We also communicated a lot with our partners at Field of Vision, especially during the editing process. For example, it enabled us to recognize that we had quite different ways of expressing ourselves and responded differently to certain expressions of emotion on screen. You see a lot of unreserved sobbing among Koreansfor example, at funerals. But what we heard was that it could come across as strange among audiences here, so we made slight adjustments to accommodate for these differences in expressions of sadness.

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It was actually much harder during my breaks, when these images would float into my mind, unbidden.  Yi Seung-jun

Ultimately, I didnt want the documentary to be merely heart-rending, or to appeal to that kind of sentiment. Rather, I was interested in provoking a broader and deeper response, one that would linger. I thought this could be best accomplished not through depictions of weeping, or graphic imagery, but rather through a considered interior portrait of the divers and the families. You can see for yourself in the interviews with the survivors or the families, but there are quite a few moments when they are silent. I included these pauses in the filmto me they felt significant.

What were some examples of footage you decided not to include?

Yi: There were many pictures from inside the boat, pictures sent from children via mobile phone. Pictures of their faces. As a director, I included them because I recognized that they were powerful images. Later I changed my mind. It was too much.

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Kam: Theres a scene where the students are talking among themselves, wondering what the captain is doing. At the time, of course, none of them had any sense of the danger, because they had faith in the system and they thought they would be fine. But there are videos from a bit after that, where the students are addressing their mothers, telling them: Mom, I dont want to die. I really dont want to die. We knew this had happened, and we knew that these clips would elicit a certain kind of reaction from the audience. But we were also ambivalent about how far we should go in our portrayal of others pain. We ultimately opted to leave this part out and instead included the shot of the shoes, submerged. We trusted the audience to understand without our pushing them to witness this, or that. The net effect was that the film became, perhaps, a bit drier and more aloof. But we believed that this was important ethically, and important in that it allowed the audience to approach the film on their own terms.

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Sifting through the source material must have been difficult.

Yi: Ive been making documentaries for more than 20 years. Its a profession that requires you to be dispassionate. And in fact, once youve worked in documentary film, you do become more dispassionate, in a sense because you have no other choice. You have to maintain some sense of distance from your subject. So it wasnt so difficult when I was actually shooting or editing footage. It was actually much harder during my breaks, when these images would float into my mind, unbidden. I have a daughter who is a sophomore in high school, so I almost cant help myself.

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The documentary is not really about the candlelight protests, but the candlelight protests are part of the subtext. Can you say a little more about the larger significance of Sewol in this regard?

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Our primary aim isnt retaliation but to prevent such a thing from happening again.  Gary Byung-seok Kam

Yi: The parents of the victims, and the civilian divers, had raised questions about government culpability at the outset. A few months after the sinking on April 16, 2014, they discovered inconsistencies and unexplained circumstances, and they demanded an explanation. The administration initially tried to discourage this line of questioning, and at this stage there were many people who were also doubtful.

But then the full story began to emerge. We found out about the existence of the infamous government blacklist, containing the names of thousands of artists and culture industry figures who had criticized the government for its response to Sewol. It became increasingly likely that the government had made a concerted effort to silence any sort of investigation into the Sewol sinking. None of this, of course, was directly the cause of the impeachment, but Sewol did become a cause in another sense, one that represented some of the growing mistrust in the government. The sadness, frustration, and trauma of the Sewol accidents crystallized into an anger against the government at the candlelight protests, and fueled the fire. In that sense, the Sewol ferry incident was very much a part of the story of the protests.

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What is the legacy of the incident today?

Kam: Theyre still investigating exactly what happened and identifying responsible parties. But as you know, theres a statute of limitations. This means that theres a likelihood that those who should be held responsible will be let off the hook. At the same time, our primary aim isnt retaliation but to prevent such a thing from happening again.

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As the parents of the victims have always told us, they did not become activists for their own childrennothing will bring their children back. Rather, theyre doing it because they believe that people have a right to demand a certain guarantee of safety from their country. That a parent who sees a child off with a see you later should be able to welcome the child back with an Im back. But its not just South Korea where these basic guarantees of safety are threatened, where children might leave on a field trip and end up drowning. Children are shot to death in the U.S. They might die in a fire in the U.K., like in the Grenfell Tower fire. So we hope to expand the scope of the discussion to encompass not just questions about South Korean society, but about what a country fundamentally owes its people.
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As many as 62 police personnel and 127 others were injured during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act at Jamia Millia Islamia, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy also said as reported by the Delhi Police, they entered the university campus chasing the violent congregation of students/mob, to nab/disperse the offenders, control the situation and to protect the government property as well as saving the lives of innocent students residing in the area.

"As reported by the Delhi Police, three cases were registered against the mob, who were found involved in unlawful activities and defacing the public property while protesting against the amended law.

"Fifteen persons have been arrested by the Delhi Police. Sixty-two police personnel and 127 persons, including 36 students, were injured," he said replying to a written question.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A mother-of-one who visited her GP with strange bruises died a week later after a rare cancer diagnosis.

Sarah Armstrong, 22, died on February 1 after doctors told her she was living with acute myeloid leukemia.

Ms Armstrong, a health care assistant at Aintree Hospital in Liverpool, suffered a stroke after visiting her doctor with 'flu-like symptoms' and unexplained bruises on her body.

Sarah Armstrong, 22, died on February 1 after doctors told her she was living with acute myeloid leukemia

Ms Armstrong, a health care assistant at Aintree Hospital in Liverpool, suffered a stroke after visiting her doctor with 'flu-like symptoms' and unexplained bruises on her body

Her friend from childhood Danielle Johnson, also 22, said Ms Armstrong, who has a two-year-old daughter, thought she might have caught the flu while working at hospital, the Liverpool Echo reported.

Ms Johnson said: 'Sarah was coming out in all these bruises and she had been telling me she couldn't explain where they were coming from.

'I said you need to get an appointment and go to the doctors.

'She went to the doctor and they said she would need to get a blood test. On the same day they called her to say 'you need to go to A&E, you're going to have to go now'.'

Her friend Danielle Johnson said: 'Sarah was coming out in all these bruises and she had been telling me she couldn't explain where they were coming from'

A GoFundMe page has now been set up to help pay for Ms Armstrong's funeral following her unexpected death

WHAT IS ACUTE MYELOID LEUKAEMIA? Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a type of blood cancer that starts in young white blood cells in the bone marrow. AML affects around one in 200 men and one in 255 women in the UK at some point in their lives. Approximately 19,500 new cases occur every year in the US. It is most often diagnosed in older people. Symptoms can include: Fatigue

Fever

Frequent infections

Bruising or bleeding easily, including nosebleeds or heavy periods

Weight loss

Bone and joint pain

Breathlessness

Swollen abdomen

Pale skin AML's exact cause is unclear, however, risks include: Smoking

Being overweight

Radiation exposure

Previous chemotherapy

Certain blood disorders, such as myelodysplastic syndrome

Some immune conditions, like rheumatoid arthritis AML is usually treated via chemotherapy. A bone marrow or stem cell transplant may be required. Source: Cancer Research UK Advertisement

Ms Armstrong, from Fazakerley, north Liverpool, was given the heartbreaking diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia - a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells.

She was diagnosed on January 24 and started chemotherapy on January 29, but tragically died on February 1.



Ms Johnson said Ms Armstrong was 'very positive' despite receiving the diagnosis, and was still 'full of life'.

The two of them had been relaxing and laughing together the night before Ms Armstrong's death.

Ms Johnson revealed that on February 1 she received a message from Ms Armstrong's partner Joel who revealed how the health care assistant had suffered a stroke and died.

A GoFundMe page has now been set up to help pay for Ms Armstrong's funeral following her unexpected death.

The page reads: 'Sarah was a beautiful 22-year-old girl who was dedicated to looking after others working within the NHS.

'Not only was she loved by her patients and work colleges but by everyone she met.

'Sarah has a loving boyfriend Joel and a beautiful two-year-old daughter who will have her own guardian angel watching over her.'

It adds: 'We would really appreciate if people could donate anything you can afford, the funds will be going towards Sarahs funeral costs, her baby girl and loving boyfriend Joel.

'Sarah wanted the images and story to be shared to raise awareness and hopefully help others catch this sooner.'
Former speaker of Nagaland Assembly Imtiwapang Aier on Tuesday filed his nomination for the post of the speaker of the House, election to which will be held on February 7.

The name of Aier, a Naga People's Front legislator, was proposed by legislators of his party, Chotisug Sazo and Khriehu Liezietsu before Assembly secretary P J Antony.

With Aier filing his nomination, the election to the post of the speaker will be a straight fight between him and incumbent deputy speaker Sharingain Longkumer, who is the consensus candidate of ruling People's Democratic Alliance.

Longkumer had filed his nomination on Monday.

A candidate can withdraw his name between 1 pm and 3 pm on Wednesday.

The post of the speaker of the Assembly fell vacant after the death of incumbent Speaker Vikho-o Yhoshu on December 30 last year following a prolonged illness.

In the 60-member House, the functional strength of ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) is 20 while that of its ally BJP is 12.

Opposition NPF has 25 MLAs and there is one Independent legislator in the House while two seats are vacant.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. The 2021 Annual Meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will be held in Yerevan, Armenia, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan said on Facebook.

We have just received the decision of the EBRD Board of Governors. We are happy to announce that Yerevan has been chosen as the venue for the EBRD Annual Meeting 2021.

The Annual Meeting is one of the key events of the Bank. This means that in spring 2021 Armenia will be under spotlight of EBRD 69 member states and other guests. This is an important achievement and a worthy assessment of the progress made by Armenia in political and economic sectors.

And starting from now we begin working for holding this event at the highest level, the Armenian deputy PM said.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Latest News MFAA calls submissions for 2022 Excellence Awards The association also reveals a new award

Playing it safe? Here are 50 of most consistent suburbs to invest in Hotspotting founder claims investors should look into stable markets, not booming ones

The housing value rebound in Australia has continued into 2020, with the CoreLogic national home value index showing a slight increase over the first month of the year.

While the index was up by just 0.9%, the uptick took the annual growth rate to 4.1%  the fastest pace of growth for a twelve-month period since December 2017.

Further, housing values rose across every capital city and rest-of-state region, excepting regional South Australia.

According to CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless, these results indicate the recovery trend which began in Sydney and Melbourne in mid-2019 is spreading to other areas of the country.

However, the unexpected speed with which the housing recovery began has lost some momentum, slowing from a monthly peak of 1.7% in November to 0.9% in January.

The latest results indicate a reduction in the speed of growth across most markets, especially for Sydney and Melbourne where affordability constraints are once again becoming more pressing. As advertised stock levels rise over the early part of the year, we could some further dampening of growth rates," said Lawless.

Seasonal factors deliver a reduction in sales activity, auction markets become quieter and listing numbers drop sharply. Through February, we will receive a much better feel for housing market trends as activity returns to normal."

In capital cities, house prices rose by 1.1% and apartment prices lifted by 0.4%, with dwelling prices increasing in value by 5.2% over the year to January.

In regional areas, home prices rose by 0.7% in January; over the year, values were up 0.4%.

In the first month of 2020, the average price of a home in an Australian capital city was $663,844 and the average unit price was $572,374.

Prices rose across all eight capital cities in January, with Melbourne up 1.2%, Sydney 1.1%, and Hobart 0.9%. Brisbane came in middle of the road, showing a 0.5% increase. At the lower end of the pack, Canberra showed a 0.3% increase, Adelaide 0.2%, and Perth and Darwin both just 0.1%.

Year on year, home prices were higher in six of the eight capital cities in January, with Darwin (down 8.1%) and Perth (down 5.7%) proving the outliers.
BIG RAPIDS  After seeing a photo of the White House surrounded by a watermelon field during Barack Obama's earliest days as president, Inger Holst sat, baffled, confused as to what the significance of the photo was.

Soon she would learn about the image's racist background, and draw parallels from American history to her own.

"For us, watermelons are a relatively new phenomenon," Holst said. "I tasted it for the first time in the '70s."

Residing in Aarhus, the second-largest city in Denmark, Holst spends much of her time dealing with American culture, as she said Denmark has been greatly influenced by America over the years.

It wasn't until viewing the latest meme  or photo  on social media, however, that Holst learned of an Americanized racist aspect she had never heard of.

"What a mockery to all African Americans that is in this symbol," she said.

As someone who spent much of her time as a journalist for local TV stations and Danish newspapers, Holst's curiosity was piqued, and she began researching racism in America and toward African Americans. It wasn't long before her search brought her to the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia in Big Rapids.

"As I said, I've been dealing with American culture, but there was a racist aspect to them I had never heard of," Holst said. "I didn't have to Google quite much until I found the Jim Crow Museum."

The Jim Crow Museum resides at Ferris State University and shows an abundance of racist objects spanning the segregation era, from Reconstruction until the civil rights movement and beyond.

"It was a walk down one of the museum hallways that gave me the angle of history," Holst said.

Now, with a virtual walk down the museum halls and a better understanding to the judgement behind the social media photo of Obama in the White House, Holst declared the image a "very gross and racist meme."

Social media's reach

As Holst became aware of the museum, which is located in Ferris, she noticed her social media news feed displaying more of the goings-on in Big Rapids, and she suddenly felt closer to the small city thousands of miles away.

However, she also was reminded of the negative effects social media can have on people around the globe.

Spread through various inanimate objects, stories and beliefs, racism and prejudice has taken hold of many outlets over the years, finding a home on different social media platforms.

"I love Facebook  and I hate it," Holst said when asked about her take on social media in her country. "I love it when it makes the world bigger, but hate that all sorts of ugly things like racism, anti-antisemitism and all sorts of older, very dangerous prejudice can now fly around the globe at the speed of light."

The effects of social media, topic eagerly discussed in Denmark, Holst sees social media as a tool to learn more about other countries, but has seen the technology abused by those seeking to create their own news or terror.

While Holst sees the good and bad in social media, Big Rapids Director of Neighborhood Services Paula Priebe is fascinated with the role Facebook played in bringing Holst, a Danish woman, into the lives of Big Rapids residents.

"What I do with the city is I'm their public relations officer," Priebe said. "I manage the city's newsletter, and I'll monitor the city's Facebook page."

One day on their Facebook page, Priebe said she saw a woman from Denmark shared the city's post regarding Christmas tree disposals. The woman was later known to be Inger Holst, who had a story to share about her experience with America and the Jim Crow Museum.

The fact someone in a completely different continent learned about regular business were doing in Big Rapids because of that tool, it just caught my eye, Priebe said.

After discussing Holt's views on racism, Priebe quickly found connections with the Danish woman she'd only seen on Facebook.

A lot of the time we feel like social media divides us, and in many ways, in my personal opinion, it can," Priebe said. "But as someone whos traveled and lived abroad and has friends all over the world, I learn a lot about what's happening all over the world through social media."

Spending her 20s in the Peace Corps Priebe also learned a lot about cultural differences as she resided in South Africa.

"In my experience in South Africa 16 years after apartheid ended, skin color was the major dividing factor," she said. "I think I see through that lens sometimes because that's part of my lived experience. However, I think in the United States  speaking personally  we seem to divide people every way we can.

"I guess we are equal opportunity dividers."

Having the chance to visit the Jim Crow Museum in December, Priebe was able to see the diversity of types of artifacts and memorabilia racism has permeated over the years.

"It seems to be everywhere," Priebe said. "There's memorabilia from hundreds of years ago, and there's memorabilia from two years ago."

The Danish racism debate

Though the visual racism in the Jim Crow Museum is something Holst considers "Americanized racism," she was reminded of her own country and the prejudice history Denmark holds as she virtually walked the museum's halls.

"In Denmark, the 'racism debate' is not about former slaves, although our history also has a serious blemish," Holst said. "But slavery never became part of Danish everyday life. With us, the debate is rarely about skin color and more about religion, culture and people of Middle Eastern background."

Learning the difference between genetic racism in America and the religious prejudice in her own country, Holst quickly began drawing parallels between the two cultures, though the topic of discussion differs.

"It was at the Jim Crow Museum that I became aware of the huge difference between genetic racism and prejudice against foreign cultures," Holst said. "Of course, we also have genetic racists in this country."

Aside from genetic racists, or people who are prejudiced against people based on skin color, Holst said her country's prejudice is mostly about religion.

"Just 50 years ago, Denmark was a homogeneous society," Holst said. "Most were 'white,' and most had a Christian cultural background."

Today, however, Holst said Islam is the second largest religion in Denmark and is highly debated and seen as a step back for many Danish people, causing issues in her own country.

Interested in the various racism debates across continents, Holst recently wrote an article for Weekendavisen, a weekly Denmark newspaper, about the uncritical import of concepts from American racism to the Danish.

Now 70 and writing about racism as an adult, Holst spent much of the 1960s as a teenager, watching the topic of race explode in the U.S.

"We watched it all on TV every single night," she said. "African Americans became my heroes. I've never grown an inch from that point of view, but how terrible it must have been to live under Jim Crow. You only get the impression when you see the horrible pictures and things collected in the museum.

"Being African American and having to live with that mockery of everyday life  it must have been a nightmare. Racism has permeated everything."

Those interested in learning more about African American history and the Jim Crow Museum may visit the museum from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, at 1010 Campus Drive, Big Rapids.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital to immediately constitute a medical board to examine a minor girl, who is seeking termination of her 24-week-old pregnancy.

A single bench of Justice Vibhu Bakhru directed the medical superintendent of the Hospital to constitute a medical board to examine the victim expeditiously and submit a report by February 6.

The court also asked for a doctor of the medical team to be present in the next hearing.

A plea, filed before the court, stated that the rape victim is 16 years old and her medical examination was conducted on January 25, 2020, in a Hospital in Rohini and the matter was further referred for an opinion as the victim was found 24 weeks pregnant.

According to the petitioner, pursuant to her medical report, an FIR was registered under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in Swaroop Nagar police station on January 25.

Advocate Prachi Nirvan, representing the petitioner, requested the Delhi High Court to direct concerned authorities to ensure that the pregnancy of the petitioner is medically terminated.

The hospital asked her to get approval from the court to terminate her pregnancy, advocate Prachi Nirvan said.

She also informed the court that the petitioner is aggrieved as Section 3 of Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971, does not permit the termination of pregnancy in case the period of gestation is more than 20 weeks old.

She said that the pregnancy poses a substantial risk to the petitioner as she herself is of tender age.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Returning to its pre-budget level, market benchmark Sensex zoomed 917 points on Tuesday, helped by hectic buying across the board as investors seemed relieved sensing stability in global markets

Mumbai: Market gauge Sensex on Tuesday shot up 917 points to clock its best day in over four months, recouping losses incurred in a brutal sell-off on Budget day, as investors globally seemed gathering confidence amid efforts to contain coronavirus.

Rising for the second straight session, the BSE benchmark closed at 40,789.38, up 2.30 percent or 917.07 points. This was the biggest single-day rise for the Sensex since 23 September, 2019.

Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty settled at 11,979.65, surging 2.32 percent or 271.75 points -- gaining the most in a single day in over four months.

#MarketAtClose | Market regains budget days losses, Sensex up 1,054 points in 2 sessions; Nifty back near 12,000, up 318 points in the last two sessions pic.twitter.com/gPav8Y0Vcu  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) February 4, 2020

Giving a thumbs down to the much-awaited Union Budget, the Sensex took a massive plunge on last Saturday to mark its worst session in over a decade as the government failed to meet market expectations.

But the benchmark indices gaining for the last two sessions shows investors have shrugged off Budget disappointment and focussing now on other market moving factors like corporate earnings and macroeconomic data.

Investors cheered the country's manufacturing sector activity climbing to a near eight-year high in January, helping domestic stocks end higher on Monday -- the very first session after Budget.

On Tuesday, Titan was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 7.97 percent, followed by ITC, HDFC, Bajaj Finance, and Tata Steel.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto and HUL were on the losing side.

All sectoral indices ended with gains with BSE consumer durables, metal, oil and gas, energy realty and finance indices rallying up to 3.52 percent.

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices advanced up to 1.37 percent.

"Indian markets witnessed a strong rally on the back of rally in global markets. The Indian markets have wiped off all the losses incurred on the budget day to close almost at the pre-budget level. Investors have shifted their focus back on earnings and are finding solace in healthy margins reported by many companies," Hemang Kapasi, Portfolio Manager - Equity Investment Products, Sanctum Wealth Management, said.

Brent crude oil futures advanced 0.96 percent to $54.97 per barrel.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee appreciated by 11 paise to 71.27 per US dollar.

Most analysts said efforts to contain the deadly coronavirus in China and a significant drop in global crude oil prices in recent days also helped improve investor sentiment.

In Asia, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul markets settled with firm gains.

Stock exchanges in Europe too opened on a positive note.
Sinn Fein's march towards Election Day faltered last night as Mary Lou McDonald struggled to explain how her party will finance its multi-billion euro programme.

Ms McDonald also floundered when questioned about her partys links to the Provisional IRA, and in particularly its treatment of the family of murdered Paul Quinn. She refused to ask her finance minister in the Northern Assembly, Conor Murphy, to apologise to Mr Quinns grieving mother for suggesting he was involved in criminality.

An IRA gang is believed to be behind the brutal killing of the 21-year-old in Monaghan. Every bone in his body was broken after he was lured to a shed near Castleblayney.

Last night, Breege Quinn pleaded with voters: Im saying to the people remember Paul Quinn when you are marking your X.

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However, Sinn Fein was on 25pc in the latest opinion poll, the first time it has ever been ahead of Fianna Fail (23pc) and Fine Gael (21pc).

The Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll results came after Ms McDonald was robustly interviewed by Bryan Dobson on RTE television.

She was forced to defend her partys record in the North, including plans to increase the State pension age and massive hospital waiting lists.

And she admitted that her partys plan to raise 107m through a Vacant Site Levy would see a large chunk of that windfall collected from local authorities.

She could not explain who would pay the 12bn subvention Northern Ireland receives from Westminster in the event of a united Ireland.

However, she said the British would not walk off the pitch scot free.

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Ms McDonald also said a Border poll was not a "red line" issue for her in government formation talks, but added that whoever is in power after the election should prepare for a referendum.

The interview came shortly after RTE did a U-turn and invited Ms McDonald onto a televised election debate with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin tonight.

The move followed a surge in support for Sinn Fein in recent opinion polls and calls from the party to include Ms McDonald in the final debate.

However, she was under pressure last night over her grasp of her own election pledges and how they would be funded.

She was asked to explain how her plans to increase the vacant site levy from 7pc to 15pc would raise 107m when last year it only raised 882,000.

Ms McDonald responded: "I'm not the costing unit of the department concerned."

She said she was aware most of the vacant sites being charged the levy are owned by local authorities and that an increased charge could affect council services.

Under questioning from Mr Dobson, she also accepted the purpose of the levy was to release land meaning that, if it works, there would be less revenue raised in the long term.

However, she added: "It will be offset by the fact that as homes are being constructed people are paying their income, as homes are being constructed Vat is being paid on material on the construction of those."

She could not provide figures for how much she expected to raised from income tax or Vat on new homes.

She also admitted her party was given a free vote on increasing the State pension age to 66 in the North and decided to support the move due to concerns it would have on budgets.

She said keeping the pension age at 65, as Sinn Fein is promising in the General Election, would have "blown a hole of 70m" in the Northern Assembly's budget. She blamed the record high hospital waiting lists in Northern Ireland on the Conservative Party.

Yesterday, the Taoiseach said tonight's debate will be a chance to scrutinise Sinn Fein's policies. Mr Varadkar said the party's promise to abolish carbon tax, property tax, college fees and USC cuts would be funded by "massive taxes on business".

"So it will be a chance I think to expose some of those policies," he said adding: "They didn't work in East Germany, they didn't work in Venezuela. They're certainly not going to work in Ireland."

However, The 'Irish Times'/Ipsos MRBI poll has Ms McDonald as the country's most popular political leader, up seven points to 41pc.

Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar's and Mr Martin's personal ratings had both dropped and were level on 30pc. Satisfaction with the Government is down six points and now stands at just 20pc.

RTE has also offered to hold a debate for the smaller parties.
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Its necessary to have this capability to close a gap in the credibility of our deterrence, because you have to put yourself in the mind not of some nuclear disarmament advocate but of a Russian general or the Kremlin, said Tim Morrison, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former senior director for weapons of mass destruction on the National Security Council under President Trump.
Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals reported a net loss of Rs 661.16 crore against a net profit of Rs 113.67 crore on 8.69% fall in total income to Rs 795.09 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. The reported sales number for the quarter declined due to portfolio optimization and voluntary recall of Zinetac. Adjusting for the same the underlying sales growth is 6%.

Reliance Industries (RIL) informed that the RIL-BP joint venture has completed the safe cessation of production in a planned manner, from the D1 D3 field in Block KG D6 (KG-DWN-98/3), off the east coast of India. The D1 D3 field was India's first deepwater gas field to be put on production in April 2009. New production from KG D6 project is on track to start by mid 2020.

Deepak Nitrite reported 294.74% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 156.71 crore on 47.79% rise in total income to Rs 1,134.60 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. Basic Chemicals, Fine & Speciality Chemicals and the Performance Products segment resulted in robust topline performance during the quarter. This was supported by encouraging demand scenario of company's products in the export markets.

Affle India reported 31.35% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 21.45 crore on 29.90% rise in total income to Rs 96.22 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. Historically, third quarter which has always been financially robust driven by festive season sales, continued its performance trend this time too.

J.K. Cement informed that the company has commissioned a 1-mt-per annum grey cement grinding capacity in Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan and a 1.5 mt per annum utility in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. Both units have already started commercial dispatches. Work at split-grinding unit in Balasinor, Gujarat is in advanced stage of completion.

GMR Infrastructure informed that GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Ltd, has signed a concession agreement to commission, operationalise and maintain the civilian enclave at Bidar airport in north Karnataka. The agreement is under India's regional connectivity scheme UDAN, or Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik.

Tata Consultancy Services has expanded its long-standing partnership with Walgreens Boots Alliance, a global leader in retail and wholesale pharmacy, to transform the latter's IT operating model. The contract is valued at over $ 1 .5 billion over a ten-year period.

Punjab National Bank has informed that the board of the bank has granted permission for raising funds through issuance of Basel-III compliant Tier-II Bonds amounting up to Rs 1000 crore in one or more tranches.

Astrazeneca Pharma India reported 8.22% fall in net profit to Rs 26.70 crore on 3.950% rise in total income to Rs 227.32 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

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Growing tensions between Turkish and Syrian military forces in northwestern Syrias Idlib province erupted into bloody fighting yesterday. Dozens of Syrian soldiers were killed after Turkish forces blamed forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for shelling Turkish positions, leading to the death of six Turkish soldiers. This violence threatens to escalate into a direct confrontation between Turkey, a NATO member state, and the Syrian regimes nuclear-armed ally, Russia.

A Turkish Armed Forces convoy is seen at the northern town of Sarmada, in Idlib province, Syria. (AP Photo/APTN)

In a statement, the Turkish Defense Ministry claimed that Syrian shelling targeted our elements sent as reinforcements to prevent clashes in Idlib, despite their positions being coordinated beforehand.

Before departing for Ukraine on an official visit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Turkey has retaliated against this attack as it did previously, and it continues the retaliation. He added that Some 40 positions have been targeted in an ongoing operation, claiming that 30-35 [Syrian] regime troops were killed by Turkish howitzer shells and bombs dropped from F-16 fighter jets. Subsequent reports indicated that 12 Syrian troops were killed and approximately 20 wounded.

Erdogan continued, We are determined to continue our operations to ensure the safety of our country, our nation and our brothers in Idlib, that is, remaining Al Qaeda-linked Islamist militias. He threatened Russia not to stand in Turkeys way.

However, the Russian military denied Turkeys claims that it had notified Moscow of the Turkish troops position. According to RT, the Russian Center for Syrian reconciliation declared: Units of the Turkish military conducted movement within the Idlib de-escalation zone during the nighttime from February 2 to February 3 without informing the Russian side and came under fire from Syrian government troops, which were targeting terrorists west of Saraqib.

At least 4 of Turkeys 12 military observation posts in Idlib are still besieged by Syrian regime forces.

The clash came amid growing tensions between Turkish officials and their Russian and Syrian counterparts over Syrias offensive against Al Qaeda-linked forces in Idlib, and the significant gains by Russian- and Iranian-backed Syrian troops in recent weeks. They seized Maaret al-Numan, a strategic town.

Last week, Erdogan criticized his Russian partner reportedly for the first time since the 2016 military coup launched against him with US and German backing. He alleged that Russia doesnt comply with the 2018 Sochi agreement, a September 2018 agreement to establish a jointly patrolled demilitarized zone between Syrian government troops and the Western-backed rebels concentrated in Syrias northwestern Idlib province. He added that the Astana process negotiations between Russia, Iran and Turkey is dead.

Erdogan also threatened on Friday that We will not watch the situation in Syria.  We will not hesitate to do whatever it takes, including using military force.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded: Russia is in full compliance with the Sochi agreements on the Idlib zone, adding that A large number of terrorists remain in the area.

Subsequently, on Saturday, Turkish-backed Islamist fighters from al-Bab, an area controlled since 2017 by Turkey and the opposition Syrian National Army militia, launched a counterattack against Syrian regime forces. The Russian air force responded by bombing al-Bab. According to Moscow, Islamist fighters have killed at least 40 Syrian soldiers alone last week. After the Russian strikes, many Turkish military vehicles entered Syria from the Kafrlosin border crossing, Al-Arabiya reported Sunday.

Despite growing military-strategic ties between the two countries, with the deployment of Russian S-400 anti-air missiles to Turkey and the TurkStream gas pipeline, which Washington has denounced, the shaky alliance between Ankara and Moscow is the closest it has been to collapse since November 2015. At that time, Turkish jets shot down a Russian bomber along the Syrian-Turkish border, bringing Russia and Turkey, and potentially the entire NATO alliance, to the brink of war.

As top US officials denounce Syrian and Russian forces fighting in Idlib province, it appears that the Turkish government is tacking back towards closer alignment with Washington. At the end of December, Trump tweeted on Idlib that Russia, Syria, and Iran are killing, or on their way to killing, thousands of innocent civilians in Idlib Province. Dont do it! Turkey is working hard to stop this carnage.

Similarly, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared last week: The United States is monitoring with grave concern the situation in northwest Syria where the combined forces of Russia, the Iranian regime, Hizballah, and the Assad regime reportedly are conducting a large-scale assault upon the people of Idlib and western Aleppo provinces.

Meanwhile, US Air Force General Tod Wolters, the commander of the US European Command and NATOs Supreme Allied Commander Europe, visited Ankara on January 30 for talks focused on Syria. He met with both the defense minister and the Turkish chief of the general staff.

The grave war danger in Syria is the direct product of a nearly decade-long proxy war for regime change waged since 2011 by the imperialist powers in Syria, backed by the Erdogan government. The 2011 NATO war in Libya and the subsequent arming of Islamist militias against the Assad regime were the imperialist powers response to revolutionary uprisings in the working class that toppled imperialist-backed dictators in Egypt and Tunisia. Their goal was to undermine Russian and Iranian influence across the region, and to use Syria as a base for operations.

The fighting between Turkish and Syrian troops is the bloody outcome of the repeated maneuvers and strategic shifts carried out by the imperialist powers during this decade of war.

Initially, the imperialist powers led by Washington, the Persian Gulf oil sheikdoms and Turkey poured tens of thousands of Al Qaeda-linked Islamists into Syria, especially through Turkeya process coordinated by the CIA that created the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Washingtons own Frankensteins monster. In 2014, after ISIS invaded Iraq from Syria, threatening Washingtons Iraqi puppet state, the NATO powers launched a renewed intervention in Iraq and Syria in a so-called war against ISIS.

With their Islamist allies in Syria divided and defeated, the imperialist powers made the Kurdish-nationalist Peoples Protection Units (YPG) militia their main proxy force inside Syria. However, Ankara saw the YPG, linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), against which Ankara has fought a bloody counterinsurgency in southeast Turkey for the last 35 years, as a fundamental threat to Turkeys territorial integrity. Erdogan moved closer to Moscow against the YPG, leading to the US- and German-backed coup attempt in July 2016 and to repeated Turkish incursions against the Kurdish forces in northern Syria.

Last year, Washington abandoned its Kurdish proxies in northern Syria, after which both Turkish and Syrian regime forces invaded the area. As the World Socialist Web Site warned at the time, As the Syrian army backed by Iran marches north to meet Turkish invasion forces and their Al Qaeda-linked Syrian rebel allies, the Middle East and the world are on the brink of all-out war.  Turkey has plunged into the maelstrom produced by three decades of imperialist war in the Middle East.

While Moscow negotiated an unstable truce between Turkish and Syrian government forces in the region last year, this truce is now on the verge of collapsenotably as tensions surge between Turkey and Russia in Libya, where they are backing rival sides of the civil war triggered by the 2011 NATO war.

Above all, Washington is still escalating tensions in Syria as it threatens Iran with a region-wide war. It continues to occupy the oil and gas fields of Syrias northeastern Deir Ezzor province with its YPG proxies and has inflamed tensions throughout the region with its drone murder of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani on January 3 in Baghdad. These policies, part of a large-scale preparation for great power conflict with Russia and China across the Middle East are bringing the world to the brink of all-out war between nuclear-armed powers.
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The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Montana's top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Jadyn Bellander

Nominated by Jefferson High School

Jadyn, a senior at Jefferson High School, established a food pantry at her high school that provides weekend food to the families of 28 students who rely on free or discounted hot lunches on school days for a substantial part of their weekly nutritional needs. Jadyn used to help pack bags of food with a program for elementary school kids in need, and then realized that they lost this essential support once they entered high school, which is in session only four days a week in her district. "Many of these students went hungry over the long weekend," she said. "I couldn't imagine how they could possibly focus in school if they were [malnourished]." She proposed the idea of creating a food pantry at the high-school level to her school district's superintendent and school board, and then persuaded a local food bank to help get it started.

Jadyn began preparing bags of food and delivering them to students every other Thursday. When her initial supply of food ran low, she started a county-wide food drive. To do that, she appealed for donations through a newspaper article, a radio advertisement and promotional fliers, and asked businesses and organizations to host collection boxes. The local library system also agreed to participate by accepting food donations in lieu of overdue fines for one month. Once her drive had yielded enough food to last until the end of the school year, Jadyn devoted all of her free time to keeping her pantry organized, packing food bags and making discreet deliveries to students. An entire class at her school has now taken on Jadyn's "Panther Pantry" project, making it likely that it will continue well beyond Jadyn's time at the school.

Middle Level State Honoree: Kael Hesford

Nominated by Boulder Elementary School

Kael, an eighth-grader at Boulder Elementary School, led a service learning club that conducted several community service projects over the past three years, including winter clothing drives, a student weekend food program and fundraising for playground equipment at his school. Kael managed these activities as one of seven student voices ambassadors in the U.S. Department of Education's 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. "The projects I worked on were very important to me because our town has high poverty rates," said Kael. "This results in families that may not be able to afford a good meal and good clothing for the winter, so I wanted to help support families."

Kael's club decided to run a winter clothing drive after seeing fellow students coming to school in just sweaters and running shoes despite sub-freezing temperatures. To obtain donations, they hung posters around town, placed collection boxes at small businesses and asked large stores to contribute needed items. Last year, they were able to distribute more than 80 articles of winter clothing to students in need at a school-wide family night. The club also conducted community drives to provide more than 40 students with "KidsPacks" full of food to take home every weekend. In addition, Kael and his fellow volunteers raised more than $5,800 to buy a "spinning orbitron" for their school's playground. Kael created a display on the impact of his projects and presented it at national symposium in Washington, D.C., last summer.

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized two other Montana students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Montana's Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Rebecca Deming, 17, of Fairview, Montana, a member of Richland County 4-H and a senior at Fairview High School, started the project "Lettuce Eat," through which she prepared and served free summer meals twice a week for more than 40 children from her community; her efforts included spreading awareness of her cause, soliciting donations and prepping and serving each meal. Rebecca started this program to benefit local children who regularly receive free or reduced lunch during the school year.

Mailee Windauer, 18, of Kalispell, Montana, a senior at Glacier High School, started "Project WIND," a summer-long program that provided meals and snacks to students in her community; she held a fundraising spaghetti dinner, shopped for food, and packed and distributed 75 grocery bags of food each week. Mailee started her project after learning that more than half the students in her community depend on free or reduced lunch during the school year, but do not receive similar support in the summer.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com .

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.
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Samsungs Good Lock is a very powerful customization app for Galaxy devices, and as the company promised last month, it has now been updated with support for Android 10 and One UI 2.0. Good Lock 2020 is now available for download from the Samsung Galaxy Store.

Until now, Good Lock was not compatible with Samsung smartphones running the Android 10-based One UI 2.0. Apparently, the app requires a complete rework with every Android version upgrade and hence takes a bit more time to update.

The latest version of Good Lock includes support for system-wide dark mode and follows the One UI 2.0 design principle. It also brings improvements in individual plugins.

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Note that youll have to update both the main Good Lock app and the plugins to make use of the new features. And if youve updated your phone to Android 10, youre recommended to uninstall and reinstall all Good Lock plugins. A restart may also be necessary.

Good Lock 2020 new features

To begin with, Task Changer gets a new vertical stack layout for the recents screen. The carousel layout option also has a new cube effect. NotiStar gets a new handler (a lock screen icon) that indicates where to swipe from.

You can customize the handlers icon, color, position, and opacity. QuickStar gets improved color coordination and an updated default theme list.

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A new MultiStar feature now lets you quickly launch multi-window by long-pressing the recents key.

Improvements have also been made to Sound Assistant, One Hand Operation, EdgeTouch, EdgeLighting+, Nice Catch, and ThemePark. The latter finally gets the much-needed dark mode support. Some of the new features are Android 10-exclusive, though.

Reports last month said Lockstar will get an ability to automatically arrange elements to match the background. However, the module hasnt yet been updated and hence isnt functional on devices running Android 10.

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NavStar hasnt been updated with Android 10 support either. Youll have to wait a little bit longer to use these two Good Lock plugins on your Android 10-powered Galaxy smartphone.

Unfortunately, Good Lock still isnt available in every market where Samsung sells its Galaxy smartphones. The app may still be compatible, though. So you might want to sideload the APK if the app isnt available on the Galaxy Store for you.

Youll have to sideload the main Good Lock app as well as all the plugins. Note that some of the plugins only work on Android 10. So if your device runs Android 9 Pie and a Good Lock plugin doesnt work, you will have to sideload an older version of it.
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[February 04, 2020] Carnegie Learning and The University of Memphis to Create a Learner Data Institute to Improve Educational Outcomes

Carnegie Learning announced today its commitment to a new National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project to build a Learner Data Institute that will harness the power of data to better understand how people learn, improve adaptive instructional systems, and make the learning technology ecosystem more effective and cost-efficient. The project, led by Dr. Stephen Fancsali, Director of Advanced Analytics at Carnegie Learning, and Dr. Vasile Rus, Professor of Computer Science at The University of Memphis (Tennessee), will bring together researchers from universities, government agencies, and private companies to collaborate on improving educational outcomes everywhere. "Harnessing the Data Revolution (News - Alert)" is a National Science Foundation "Big Idea," a national-scale activity through which data-driven, multi-disciplinary discovery projects are funded to ask and answer new fundamental questions at the frontiers of science and engineering.1 This "framework" grant brings together a world-class team of researchers from disciplines including computer and data science, statistics, psychology, educational research, and related areas to conceptualize key challenges and define research priorities to address real-world problems in education. Project researchers will also develop prototype solutions to address these challenges and priorities, using Carnegie Learning's MATHia as a target adaptive learning platform for innovative, data-driven enhancements to both student and teacher learning experiences. "We're active collaborators with some of the world's leading learning scientists," says Dr. Stephen Fancsali, Director of Advanced Analytics at Carnegie Learning and co-lead on the new LDI project. "We are excited to partner with the diverse group of collaborators at University of Memphis and LDI partner institutions. Their expertise in areas like natural language processing serves as a great complement to our statistical and machine learning approaches to using learner problem-solving data to provide actionable insights to teachers and iteratively refine the cognitive models that underlie MATHia." MATHia, the 1:1 artificial intelligence-driven math learning software from Carnegie Learning, plays a significant role by providing learning data from billions of student actions gathered as hundreds of thousands of students solve complex, real-world math problems in classrooms across the country. Analyses of such data provide fundamental insights into how students learn math, drive product innovation and improvement, and help MATHia developers better understand how to communicate actionable insights to teachers and other stakeholders.



"Carnegie Learning's ability to innovate with initiatives like the Learner Data Institute is a reflection of our commitment to continuous improvement, the power of our adaptive MATHia platform, and our singular focus on driving better student outcomes," says Barry Malkin, CEO. "Our company was built by some of the most brilliant minds at Carnegie Mellon University with research and data at its core. We are thrilled to embark on this new project with the University of Memphis and the National Science Foundation to create new solutions to some of educators' top challenges." Committed to Research from the Start

Since its founding at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in 1998, Carnegie Learning has collaborated with academic researchers to translate innovative, interdisciplinary research into practice. With an exceedingly diverse cast of contributing researchers from learning science, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, the Learner Data Institute is part of Carnegie Learning's continued commitment to leveraging the power of innovative research and "big data" to deliver 21st century blended learning experiences. The project aims to give teachers superpower insight into student learning while it occurs, while ensuring that learning is engaging and meaningful for all students. For more information about Carnegie Learning's research, visit www.carnegielearning.com/research. ABOUT CARNEGIE LEARNING, INC. Carnegie Learning is a comprehensive, dynamic and progressive learning technology company. Advocating a belief in teaching and determination to help students develop as learners and thinkers, Carnegie Learning is seeking to re-define the role of technology across the K-12 landscape. It delivers research-proven mathematics curriculum and the MATHia platform for grades 6-12, project-based digital solutions for computer science, and best-in-class K-12 professional learning services. EMC (News - Alert) School, part of Carnegie Learning, delivers blended learning resources and services for 6-12 world languages and English language arts. Mondo Education, also part of Carnegie Learning, provides high-quality literacy resources and services for K-5 classrooms. For more information please visit: www.carnegielearning.com. 1 https://www.nsf.gov/cise/harnessingdata/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005062/en/

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Hyderabad, Feb 4 : Accenture on Tuesday opened a new innovation hub in Hyderabad, where clients can co-innovate with the company by ideating, rapidly prototyping and then scaling products and services for the digital economy.

One of the highlights of this innovation hub is that it houses Accenture's first Nano Lab in the Asia-Pacific region, offering clients a window into the latest breakthroughs in applied research from Accenture Labs worldwide.

The Nano Lab showcases uses for a range of advanced technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), extended reality and security, and allows clients to connect with researchers located in Accenture Labs globally through immersive sessions and workshops.

"Our research shows that organisations are struggling to achieve their innovation goals, due to the lack of an enterprise-wide strategy for technology investments and adoption," Bhaskar Ghosh, Group Chief Executive, Accenture Technology Services, said in a statement.

"Through our leading advanced technology capabilities, we help clients scale their technology investments and bridge the innovation achievement gap," Ghosh said.

The facility is spread over 300,000 square feet, Accenture said.

The innovation hub in Hyderabad will join others in Bengaluru; Recife and Sao Paulo in Brazil; Toronto in Canada; Shenzhen, China; Helsinki, Finland; Tokyo; Zurich; Perth, Australia; Singapore; and 11 Innovation Hubs in the United States, including Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Detroit; Houston; New York; San Francisco; Seattle; and Washington, D.C., to seamlessly bring the best of Accenture's innovations to clients across geographies and industries.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Two women were killed and a child was wounded in a shooting Monday morning at a university dormitory in Texas, officials said.

A recommendation for students and employees to shelter in place was lifted early Monday afternoon at Texas A&M University-Commerce, and police said there appeared to be no other threats. Officials have not identified the suspected shooter.

University police Chief Bryan Vaughn said officers responding to a call at about 10:17 a.m. found two dead women in a room at Pride Rock residence hall on the campus in Commerce, about 65 miles (105 kilometres) northeast of Dallas. He said a boy about 2 years old was also in the room and was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition.

Vaughn did not take questions after a news conference and did not say if the women were students.

The university cancelled classes after the shooting and later said classes will not resume until Thursday.

The university lifted the shelter-in-place recommendation about an hour and a half after it was announced on Twitter. But the university said that even with the lifting of the recommendation, the residence hall and the surrounding area were still blocked off due to the ongoing investigation.

The university said the student centre would be available for displaced students and that counsellors were available there.

Larry Cooper III, a freshman who lives in the Pride Rock residence hall, told the Dallas Morning News that he left his room Monday just before the shelter-in-place was announced. He said he was waiting in a friend's room on the first floor of the residence hall.

Theres police blocking the doorways, but other than that were all just kind of sitting in and waiting on the news to happen, Cooper said.

Last October, two people were killed and a dozen others injured in an off-campus shooting at a homecoming and Halloween party involving Texas A&M-Commerce students.
The World Bank called for countries to step up programs to fight the new coronavirus outbreak, and said it was considering mobilizing its own resources against the disease.

"We are calling on all countries to strengthen their health surveillance and response systems, which is essential to contain the spread of this and any future outbreaks," the institution said in a statement.

"The World Bank Group is reviewing financial and technical resources that can be mobilized quickly to support affected countries," and also "closely coordinating with international partners to accelerate the international response."

Since breaking out in China, the virus has killed 425 people in the country, exceeding the 349 dead in the Chinese mainland from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002-03, which eventually killed nearly 800 globally.

The new virus has infected 17,200 people and spread to more than 20 countries amid fears it could paralyze China and harm the global economy.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

The World Bank said it was "monitoring the wider economic and social impacts of this crisis," and would support "China's efforts to respond, including its efforts to maintain resilience in its economy."

If the epidemic reaches the same severity as the Spanish flu in 1918, which killed 30 million people, it could cost the global economy between one percent and ten percent of growth, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said at the end of January.

International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said last week that negative impacts on the economy in the first half of 2020 were likely but "it would be irresponsible to offer any speculations around what may happen."
Dublin, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "The Agri-Business Sector in Ethiopia 2019" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



This report on the Agri-Business Sector in Ethiopia examines the sector and its subsectors involved in the more than 140 different types of crops that are grown in the country. The report describes the size and state of the industry and the factors that influence it.



There are profiles of 19 companies. These include the state-owned Ethiopian Sugar Corporation, the country's only sugar producer and National Tobacco Enterprise, which has an out-grower scheme with more than 10,300 smallholder farmers. Other profiles include AQ Roses, which produces 15 rose varieties and Horizon Plantations, which owns the Bebeka coffee estate, one of the largest coffee plantations in the world.



The Agri-Business Sector in Ethiopia



Ethiopia's agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors, which contributed 31.1% to the country's GDP in 2018, are crucial sectors as they employ two thirds of its labour force. Smallholder farmers account for 95% of the sector's production and commercial farms account for the balance. The agri-business sector depends on traditional farming methods and a rain-fed farming system, and the cost of production inputs and transportation is high. Ethiopia's main staple crop is maize, while the main cash crops are coffee and sesame seed.



Coffee Production



Ethiopia is the birthplace of Arabica coffee and is the biggest coffee drinking country in Africa. Coffee is Ethiopia's largest export product and a high-value cash crop, and is considered of strategic national importance as it employs many of the country's people. One of the challenges faced by the coffee sector is that many coffee farmers, especially in the eastern parts of Ethiopia, are replacing the cultivation of coffee with other crops. Coffee production is decreasing due to rising temperatures and decreasing rainfall, caused by climate change. The government is advising farmers to move their coffee plantations to higher altitudes where temperatures are lower and rainfall higher.



Low Crop Yields



Despite favourable conditions for the production of a variety of crops, crop yields are low because there is limited use of improved seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, and irrigation is not widely used.



Key Topics Covered:



1. INTRODUCTION



2. COUNTRY INFORMATION

2.1. Geographic Position



3. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY

3.1. Industry Value Chain



4. SIZE OF THE INDUSTRY



5. STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

5.1. Local

5.1.1. Trade

5.1.2. Corporate Actions

5.1.3. Regulations

5.2. Continental

5.3. International



6. INFLUENCING FACTORS

6.1. Government Support

6.2. Foreign Aid

6.3. Economic Environment

6.4. Technology, Research and Development (R&D) and Innovation

6.5. Environmental Concerns

6.6. Labour



7. COMPETITION

7.1. Barriers to Entry



8. SWOT ANALYSIS



9. OUTLOOK



10. INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS



11. REFERENCES

11.1. Publications

11.2. Websites



A-Z List of Companies Profiled



Addis Modjo Edible Oil Complex S.C.

Ah-Wan PLC

Ahadu PLC

Alema Koudijs Feed PLC

AQ Roses PLC

East African Agri-Business PLC

ELFORA Agro-Industries PLC

Ethio Agri-CEFT PLC

Ethiopian Sugar Corporation

Hamaressa Edible Oil S.C.

Horizon Plantations PLC

Kaliti Food S.C.

Kebire Enterprises PLC

Melange Coffee Roasters PLC

METAD Agricultural Development PLC

National Tobacco Enterprise (Ethiopia) S.C.

Olira Agro Industry PLC

Raya Horti Farm

Sher Ethiopia PLC

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/g9v103

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2019. Read more

State of the Union speech

Date: Tuesday, Feb. 4

Start time: 9 p.m.

TV: All major broadcast and cable news networks

President Donald Trump will give his third State of the Union address Tuesday night, one day before he will likely be acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate in his impeachment trial.

Trump is expected to avoid any mention of the Senate trial and instead use the annual speech to promote the Great American comeback." According to administration officials, Americans can expect an optimistic speech, despite the fact that many of the Democratic foes he targets relentlessly on social media will be sitting in the U.S. Capitol listening to his speech.

Trump isnt the first president to deliver the State of the Union amid impeachment proceedings. On Jan. 19, 1999, former President Bill Clinton delivered a lengthy speech in the middle of his Senate impeachment trial. Some Republicans, such as former Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, refused to attend the speech, and thought it was inappropriate for the House to even offer Clinton an invitation to speak.

 READ MORE: From the archives: Trump isnt the first president to give State of the Union amid impeachment proceedings | Will Bunch

Trumps speech also comes hours after a debacle in Iowa, where Democrats still dont know who won the states first-in-the-nation caucus due to technical issues and what the party described as inconsistencies in the reporting data. Its unclear if Trump will mention the caucus in his speech, but called them an unmitigated disaster on Twitter Tuesday morning.

The State of the Union will air on all major broadcast networks and cable news channels to an expected audience of 40 million to 45 million viewers. It will also be streamed live online. Heres what you need to know ahead of the address:

What time does the State of the Union start and end?

Trump is expected to begin his address live from the Capitol shortly after 9 p.m. Trumps first two State of the Union speeches took more than 1 hour and 20 minutes each, while his first address to Congress in February 2017 lasted a little more than an hour.

The average length of Trumps speeches to Congress is 1 hour and 14 minutes. Using that measure, Trumps address should end around 10:14 p.m.

 READ MORE: A Philadelphia student and her mom are among Trumps State of the Union guests

Who is delivering the Democratic response?

Following Trumps speech, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will deliver the Democratic response, a high-profile spot often reserved for up-and-coming politicians.

Whitmer, who once aspired to be an ESPN broadcaster before attending law school, has served as the battleground states governor for just a year. Prior to that, the 48-year-old mother of two served 14 years in the Michigan statehouse as a state senator and state representative.

During her rebuttal, which shell deliver from her daughters high school in East Lansing, Whitmer is expected to hardly mention Trump and instead focus on the fundamentals such as fixing deteriorating roads and helping train people for better-paying jobs.

Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar, who famously said Trump was not welcome in El Paso following a shooting that killed 22 people, will deliver the Democrats Spanish-language response.

 READ MORE: Sister Mary Scullion, Philly homelessness expert, to be among lawmakers guests for State of the Union address

Who is Trumps designated survivor?

The White House has not yet said who will be this years designated survivor  the sole member of the Cabinet who doesnt attend the State of the Union at the Capitol in the unlikely event an attack or disaster wipes out the entire government during the speech.

We do know it wont be acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf or acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, because Cabinet members serving in an acting capacity are ineligible to act as the designated survivor. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is also ineligible due to the fact she was born in Taiwan, and only individuals born in the United States may serve as president.

Last year, Trumps designated survivor was former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who left the administration in December.

How are the networks covering the State of the Union?

ABC

Start time: 9 p.m.

Anchor: Chief anchor George Stephanopoulos

Analysis: World News Tonight anchor David Muir, chief global affairs correspondent and This Week co-anchor Martha Raddatz, and contributors Chris Christie, Rahm Emanuel and Yvette Simpson

Streaming: Live coverage on ABCNews.com at 8 p.m., anchored by World News Tonight weekend anchor and chief national affairs correspondent Tom Llamas

Local affiliate: 6ABC (Channel 6)

CBS

Start time: 9 p.m.

Anchor: CBS Evening News anchor Norah ODonnell

Analysis: Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan and senior political correspondent John Dickerson

Streaming: Live coverage on CBSN starting at 6 p.m., anchored by CBS Weekend News anchor and Red & Blue co-host Elaine Quijano

Local affiliate: CBS3 (Channel 3)

FOX

Start time: 9 p.m.

Anchor: Fox News chief news anchor Bill Hemmer

Analysis: Fox News contributors Ari Fleischer and Marie Harf

Streaming: Live coverage on FoxNews.com at 9 p.m.

Local affiliate: FOX 29 (Channel 29)

NBC

Start time: 9 p.m.

Anchor: NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt and TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie

Analysis: Meet the Press moderator and political director Chuck Todd, senior Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell

Streaming: Live coverage on MSNBC.com at 8 p.m. and NBCNews.com at 9 p.m.

Local affiliate: NBC10 (Channel 10)

PBS

Start time: 9 p.m.

Anchor: PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff

Streaming: Live coverage on PBSs YouTube and Ustream accounts

Local affiliate: WHYY-TV (Channel 12)

How are the cable networks covering the State of the Union?

C-SPAN

Start time: 8 p.m.

Analysis: Following the speech and the Democratic response, C-SPAN will take viewers phone calls and read opinions from Twitter and Facebook.

Streaming: Live coverage on C-SPAN.org

CNN

Start time: 7 p.m.

Anchors: The Situation Rooms Wolf Blitzer, The Leads Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper 360s Anderson Cooper, and political correspondent Dana Bash

Streaming: Live coverage on CNN.com and across mobile devices through the CNN app

Fox Business

Start time: 8 p.m.

Anchor: Cavuto: Coast to Coast anchor Neil Cavuto

Analysis: Lou Dobbs Tonight host Lou Dobbs, Trish Regan Primetime host Trish Regan, Kennedy host Lisa Kennedy Montgomery

Streaming: Live coverage on FoxBusiness.com at 8 p.m.

Fox News

Start time: 9 p.m.

Anchors: Special Report anchor Bret Baier and The Story anchor Martha MacCallum

Analysis: FOX News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace, The Daily Briefing host Dana Perino, The Five co-host Juan Williams

Streaming: Live coverage on FoxNews.com at 9 p.m.

MSNBC

Start time: 8 p.m.

Anchor: The Rachel Maddow Show host Rachel Maddow and The 11th Hour anchor Brian Williams

Analysis: Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace

Streaming: Live coverage on MSNBC.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Building a safer CAR-T therapy

FEBRUARY 3, 2020, NEW YORK -- A Ludwig Cancer Research study has devised a new type of chimeric antigen-receptor (CAR) T cell--a family of promising immunotherapies for cancer--that can be switched on and off on demand. The study, led by Melita Irving of the Lausanne Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, George Coukos, director of the Branch, and their colleague Bruno Correia of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), addresses a central conundrum of CAR-T therapies: their tendency to provoke potentially deadly runaway immune responses against healthy tissues in patients. Their report appears in the current issue of Nature Biotechnology.

"We wanted to develop a way to dampen CAR-T cell therapy as a safety mechanism in the event of an adverse reaction in a patient," says Coukos. "To do that we designed CAR-T cells that can be reversibly inactivated with small molecules that can be given systemically and act rapidly."

CAR-T cells are designed to detect specific molecular markers, or antigens, and destroy the cancer cells that bear them. To that end, researchers engineer a chimeric molecule, expressed on a T cell, that is stitched together from the functional units--or "domains"--of a few key proteins. The external part of the CAR protein does the antigen detecting. The inner part has two other key components. One is the signaling domain of a protein named CD3-zeta that is absolutely required to activate the T cell. The other is the signaling part of another protein, usually CD28, that supports the proliferation and survival of the activated T cell.

These cellular immunotherapies have been approved for the treatment of some blood cancers, and researchers are working on targeting them at solid tumors. But the treatment has significant risks. CAR-T cells can inadvertently elicit cascading, systemic immune reactions known as cytokine release syndrome, which can cause serious side effects.

Researchers have sought to blunt these risks by, for example, engineering CAR-T cells to commit suicide on demand or require a drug to become activated. "The former approach leads, however, to the waste of a very expensive immunotherapy, while the latter has been challenged by the short half-lives of the drugs," says Irving. "Our approach offers novel and unique solutions to this difficult molecular engineering problem."

To build their "STOP-CAR-T" system, the researchers stuck the CD3-zeta activation domain on one molecule and the antigen-detecting portion on the another. To link the two chains together, so that they'd function as a single unit, they added to each chain the interacting domains of two unrelated proteins that spontaneously pair up inside the cell. The researchers also ensured that the binding could be disrupted by existing small molecules administered systemically. Elegant computational modeling and protein engineering done in Correia's laboratory identified ideal molecular partners for these binding domains and ensured that these newly added binding domains would not interfere with the complex protein interactions within the cell required for the signaling that activates T cells.

The researchers first confirmed in cell cultures that this two-protein CAR-T system--targeted to a prostate cancer antigen--worked as well as a similarly targeted but traditionally designed CAR-T system and could be switched off by a drug-like molecule. They then grew tumors expressing that antigen in the flanks of mice and showed that while both types of CAR-T cells could slow tumor growth, only the STOP-CAR-T system's effects could be abrogated with the administration of the small molecule before or after the initiation of CAR-T therapy.

"This really shows that, in principle, we should be able to directly control the activity of the STOP-CAR T cells in patients," says Irving.

The researchers are now developing a STOP-CAR-T system that can be controlled by an approved drug and tweaking the system in various ways to see if they can lower the amount of drug required to control the cells.

"This work itself, and its potential, is really exciting," says Coukos, "but I think it is also illustrative of how well-orchestrated, multidisciplinary collaborations can yield significant scientific breakthroughs. Working with EPFL and our other partners in the region, we hope to bring STOP-CAR-T therapy as quickly as possible to cancer patients."

###

This study was supported by Ludwig Cancer Research, the Biltema and ISREC Foundations, the European Research Council, the National Center of Competence for Molecular Systems Engineering, The Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, Whitaker and the National Research Foundation of Korea.

In addition to his Ludwig post, George Coukos directs the Department of Oncology at the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV-UNIL), as well as co-directs the Swiss Cancer Center, Leman. Melita Irving is also a group leader within the department of oncology UNIL CHUV. Bruno Correia is an assistant professor in EPFL's Institute of Bioengineering.

About Ludwig Cancer Research

Ludwig Cancer Research is an international collaborative network of acclaimed scientists that has pioneered cancer research and landmark discovery for 48 years. Ludwig combines basic science with the ability to translate its discoveries and conduct clinical trials to accelerate the development of new cancer diagnostics and therapies. Since 1971, Ludwig has invested $2.7 billion in life-changing science through the not-for-profit Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the six U.S.-based Ludwig Centers. To learn more, visit http://www. ludwigcancerresearch. org .

For further information please contact Rachel Reinhardt, rreinhardt@lcr.org or +1-212-450-1582.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Photo: Paul J. Everett/Flickr

Missed the most recent top news in Philadelphia? Read on for everything you need to know.

Police search for armed suspects who broke into Oak Lane rec center, filmed video

Police released surveillance video of a group of people who allegedly broke into the center last Thursday before it opened. The suspects were on site for about two hours, police said.

Read the full story on CBS Philly.

Vice President Pence to visit Philadelphia school on Wednesday

Pence will speak at St. Francis de Sales School in West Philadelphia on Wednesday to celebrate School Choice Week.

Read the full story on CBS Philly.

Stallone thinks Kobe should have statue next to Rocky at art museum

Some are saying Kobe Bryant should get a statue right next to the famous Rocky statue on the Art Museum steps. Its an idea that has the full support of Sylvester Stallone himself.

Read the full story on CBS Philadelphia.

Flyers mascot Gritty cleared of assault allegations

The Flyers mascot has been cleared of allegations that he assaulted a 13-year-old boy during a photo shoot, police said.

Read the full story on CBS Pittsburgh.

Lawmakers push for new gun laws after more than 100 people shot in city in January

Survivors and advocates joined forces at the State Capitol on Monday to demand change.

Read the full story on CBS Philadelphia.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Some parents start right at the top.

After one anxious dad contacted the college presidents office to voice concerns that his daughter wasnt registered for the right classes, I followed up with the student directly.

It turned out that she and her father werent on the same page at all. Not only was she satisfied with her courses; she had no idea that her dad intended to intervene on her behalf  and she was mortified that he had done so. Being embarrassed by parents who meddle in your affairs is a normal, healthy response for a college student. I worry about the ones who have been taught to be helpless. What will happen to them when their moms and dads are no longer around to solve their problems?

Fortunately, there are many ways to support young people as they learn to speak up for themselves, solve their own problems and make important decisions.

Here are a few:

Encourage them to take small steps. If your student tells you something isnt going well  a roommate whos abusing alcohol or drugs, a less-than-stellar exam grade  encourage the student to take a first step: Send an email to an adviser on campus, or tap in a phone reminder to call an appropriate person and set up an appointment.

Help them write scripts. If your student is scared to talk to a professor or feels intimidated by a dean, help write a script for the occasion. Chances are youve had experience talking to your boss or manager, so tell your student what words to use. I tell students who have trouble talking with professors to write down a few sentences like, Hi, Professor X, Im Sally, and Im in your intro to biology course. I wondered if I could speak with you about my midterm. I made a lot of mistakes, and Id like to understand how to do better next time. Ask your student to write down your suggestions in a notebook or type them into a phone, somewhere your student wont forget to look right before stepping into a professors office.

Encourage them to follow up. Sometimes a student will work up the courage to find a professor, only to hear something disappointing: They are failing the course, or the next exam will count as their final grade, or they cant possibly take a makeup exam after missing the first quiz. Some students will take this disappointing news and turn it inward, feeling terrible and using negative self-talk. (Im so bad at this subject, I should just drop out of school. I dont belong here.) If your student has a tendency to do this, help to reframe the disappointment as a learning opportunity: Your student should follow up with an email or another visit to the professor with specific questions like, What can I do to be better prepared for the next exam? or If I cant make up this quiz, is there another way for me to try to understand the material and raise my grade?

Remind them to talk to more than one person. A professor, a friend or a teaching assistant might have one answer to a question, but others on campus might have advice of a different kind. Encourage your student to get to know other adults on campus who might be able to help navigate a less-than-ideal situation. Getting lots of information and input can help them make better decisions. Remind them that learning to live with disappointment is a facet of self-advocacy. Even students who are great at asking for what they need may not get the response they want. Remind them that this is O.K.: Rejection is a part of life. Too many parents have a dont-take-no-for-an-answer mind-set, and their children adopt the same attitude. This approach rarely works for self-advocacy. Remember that every conversation is a give-and-take, and coming off as angry or inflexible is only going to create tension with the very people who are in a position to help. Students need to learn when to accept no as the final answer and when it is appropriate to push back or ask more questions.

With time, your student will become better at self-advocacy  but only if you step back and let them practice.

Natalie Friedman is the director of family engagement at Barnard College.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

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Linkedin Jason Lange (Reuters) Fresno, United States  Tue, February 4, 2020 11:27 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20626a450 2 World #USA,#Elections,Democratic-party,Iowa,michael-bloomberg,Donald-Trump Free

US Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg vowed on Monday he would not let President Donald Trump bully him as the war of words between the two New York business tycoons and political rivals became nastier.

Trump told Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity in an interview that aired on Sunday that Bloomberg, who stands about 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) tall, against the president's 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), had requested a box to stand on during the Democratic debates.

The jab came after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) scrapped a rule last week requiring that candidates meet a threshold of grassroots donations, opening the door for Bloomberg to participate in a Feb. 19 debate in Nevada.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday showed Bloomberg moving into third place among registered voters for the 2020 Democratic nomination after he spent millions of dollars of his own money on advertising. [nL1N29Z1TQ The party's nominee will face Trump in the November election.

Bloomberg is skipping Monday's nominating contest in Iowa as well as three other early voting states to focus on larger, delegate-rich states that start voting in March.

Coupled with a series of recent Twitter posts dismissing Bloomberg as "mini Mike," Trump's remarks indicate Trump is keeping a wary eye on the billionaire businessman and former New York mayor as a potentially tough competitor who has the funds to outspend him.

Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. continued the taunt about Bloomberg's height at a rally in Iowa on Monday.

Trumps insults just dont bother me, Bloomberg told a campaign event at a community college in Fresno, California, on Monday.

Hes not going to bully me, Bloomberg said. I have never backed down from a bully or run away from a fight.

On Sunday, Bloomberg's campaign denied it had requested a box and taunted the president's "fake hair, his obesity and his spray-on tan."

With campaign stops across California on Monday, Bloomberg displayed his extremely well-funded campaign. Worth at least an estimated $60 billion, Bloomberg is the only candidate with deep enough pockets to essentially start a general election campaign, while his 10 Democratic rivals focus on the four early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

California is the largest of the 14 states to vote on March 3, a date known as Super Tuesday, when nearly a third of the 3,979 state delegates who select the Democratic nominee will be up for grabs.

As of Monday, Bloomberg had 220 full-time staffers in California, which will grow to 300 by the time the state votes, his campaign said. US Senator Bernie Sanders, who is believed to have the second-largest presence, has about 80 staffers in the state.

Many California voters said they were just getting to know Bloomberg. I came to see more about what his plans are, said Jesse Gomez, 18, a student at the community college in Fresno, where Bloomberg spoke on Monday.

Gomez said his family was barely getting by on his fathers Social Security check and he wanted to know how Bloomberg would help families like his.
LAS VEGAS  A growing number of U.S. states are considering a ban on the sale or import of cosmetics that have been tested on animals, as advocates argue testing products such as lotions, shampoos and makeup on rabbits, mice and rats is cruel and outdated.

The cause has gained support from consumers and many cosmetics companies, but the biggest hurdle is China, which requires that cosmetics sold in its large, lucrative market undergo testing on animals.

California, Nevada and Illinois all saw new laws take effect this year that ban the sale or import of animal-tested cosmetics.

The laws, which apply to tests performed after Jan. 1, arent expected to cause much disruption for the industry because many companies already use non-animal testing. Instead, they draw a line in the sand that puts pressure on the U.S. government to pass a nationwide ban and help end Chinas requirement that most cosmetics sold in that nation of more than 1.4 billion people undergo testing on animals by Chinese regulators.

Animal-tested cosmetics already are banned in Europe, India and elsewhere. A ban in the United States, one of the worlds largest economies, would put further global pressure on China to end its policy and push Chinese cosmetics companies to rely on non-animal tests if they want to sell their products in the U.S.

Were not trying to create an island out here in Nevada, said state Sen. Melanie Scheible, who sponsored Nevadas law. We are trying to join a group of other communities that have stood up and said, We dont support animal testing.

Animal-rights groups like Cruelty Free International and the Humane Society of the United States hope to get more states to pass bans this year.

Legislation has been introduced or will soon be made public in Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Virginia, according to Cruelty Free International, and a national ban has been introduced in Congress since 2014, though the bipartisan measure has been slow to advance. The most recent version introduced in November marks the first time the countrys leading cosmetics trade group, the Personal Care Products Council, has become a vocal backer of the ban, support that should ease lawmaker concerns about business opposition.

Supporters note that science has advanced, allowing companies in most cases to use non-animal alternatives  such as human cell cultures or lab-grown human skin and eye tissue  to test whether a product or ingredient is safe.

For example, EpiDerm, a synthetic skin tissue made by Massachusetts-based MatTek Corp., is created from cells taken from skin donated during procedures such as breast reduction surgery, circumcision and tummy tuck procedures.

Michelle L. Price is an Associated Press writer.
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project which is said to be one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet projects has been a highly polarizing one, to say the least.

The 508-km-long high-speed railway corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad which will reduce the travel time between the two cities to a little over two hours has its fair share of controversies.

AFP

Many environmentalists have pointed out that the mega project will be an ecological disaster to the city which is rapidly losing its greenery. It has also faced stiff opposition from farmers and tribals whose lands are to be acquired.

Now Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has reignited the debate over it after he termed the bullet train project to a "white elephant", saying a decision on it will be taken after he is convinced it will boost industrial development of the state. In an interview to 'Saamana', the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Thackeray said there should be a comprehensive discussion on its viability.

AFP

"Who will benefit from the bullet train? How will trade and industry in Maharashtra get a boost because of it? If it is useful, convince me and then let's go before people and decide what to do," the chief minister said.

The proposed ticket rate for the bullet train is Rs 3,000 between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and as low as Rs 250 between Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Thane.

"The bullet train may be a dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but when you wake up, it is not a dream, you have to face the reality," he said.

Developmental projects need to be prioritized considering the state's financial situation, Thackeray said. "We have to see what is urgent and not take up something because we are getting a loan at zero interest or less interest. We acquire farmers' land for no reason and then look after these white elephants. This is not right," he said.

The bullet train is being built at a cost of Rs 1 lakh crore through a mega soft loan from Japan.

BCCL

Of the 508.17-km-long bullet train corridor, 155.76 km will be in Maharashtra, 348.04 km in Gujarat and 4.3 km in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. One of the biggest environmental casualties of the mega project will be the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary. Despite the proposed railway line passing to a tunnel under the sanctuary, it is estimated that a total of 5.2km of mangroves and mudflats will be lost on either side of the Thane creek.

The Narendra Modi government has set the deadline for completing the bullet train project by August 15, 2022, when India marks 75 years of Independence.
President Trump just gave final approval to a new rule that will strip federal protections for roughly half of the nations wetlands, and permit dumping of chemical waste directly into thousands of waterways that have, until now, been protected.

This is not environmental policy; it is vandalism. It is based not on science, but on a blind hostility to sensible regulation.

Even the scientists appointed by Trumps Environmental Protection Agency couldnt stomach this one, saying the new rule neglects established science and poses substantial new risks to human and environmental health.

The big change is an act of legal trickery: Trump wants to remove protections from wetlands and streams that go dry for portions of the year, and from streams that travel underground for stretches.

If you are trying to protect water quality, that makes little sense. When seasonal rains bring a river back to life, chemicals and fertilizers can still be washed downstream. This is a legal dodge, nothing more.

Take the Colorado River, which supplies water to 17 Western states. Most of its tributaries run dry during portions of the year and would lose protections under this new rule. But when the rains come, pollutants could still be washed into the Colorado.

This rollback will affect almost every single stream that flows into the Colorado River, Ean Thomas Tafoya, a clean water activist, told the New York Times. The toxins or poisons that lie dormant will still be there when the streams are reactivated. They will still get into the larger bodies of water.

You can see why the EPAs own scientists found no scientific justification for the move.

New Jersey has its own rules to protect streams and wetlands, and they are generally tougher than the federal rules. But environmentalists say that Pennsylvanias rules are not as strict, and that the 3 million New Jersey residents who rely on water from the Delaware River are vulnerable.

About half the streams in the Delaware Water Basin are intermittent, says Doug OMalley of Environment New Jersey. And does Pennsylvania have protections that are as strong as ours? Of course not.

Attorney General Gurbir Grewal filed objections to the rule change and is almost certain to join the inevitable lawsuits over this stunt, and the Trump administration has been setting records for losing lawsuits, often because they fail to follow the steps the law requires before changing regulations. So, keep hope alive.

The great psychological challenge of the Trump era is that he does so many awful things at such a blazing pace. One day, he tries to cheat on the 2020 election, and the next he is encouraging the construction of new coal plants.

But bring it on. Trump will do as much damage to our environment as he is allowed to do. The rest of us have to fight him, every day, as long as he remains our president.

More: Tom Moran columns

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or call (973) 836-4909. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
A Wuhan medic has said there are more deaths from coronavirus than reported, as patients are dying before they can even be tested for the virus.

Hospital worker Jeisi Luo, not his real name, also made the shocking claim that there are far more cases than official figures suggest, because the waiting list for diagnosis is too long.

Official figures from China claim there are 24,000 cases in the country, with 13,522 of these recorded in the virus epicentre and surrounding Hubei province, although the actual figure is suspected to be higher.

A video emerged two weeks ago from the province of a medical worker claiming there are as many as 90,000 cases in the city.

Footage filmed at Wuhan's Number Three hospital this week showed eight body bags loaded in a bus, with more allegedly added while the recorder was inside the hospital for five minutes.

Hospital worker Jeisi Luo, not his real name, made the shocking claims. Pictured above is a hospital worker in a Wuhan hospital yesterday

There have been 24,000 cases of coronavirus worldwide so far, and more than 13,500 in Wuhan

Mr Luo warned that the problem lies in an inability to carry out enough nucleic acid tests (NAT), which diagnose the virus.

'When preliminary tests determine that a patient has a lung sickness, the nucleic acid test which detects the virus, cannot always be carried out because the waiting list is too long,' he told DW. 'The patient is therefore not diagnosed.'

He said medics were dealing with this crisis by 'prescribing medicine' and sending patients home to 'self-isolate'.

'The waiting rooms are full of people coughing,' he said. 'Healthy people who have to wait in these conditions risk infection.'

He added that China's emergency 120 number is totally overwhelmed and that, with insufficient taxis to take everyone to hospital, some sufferers are walking there to receive treatment.

Mr Luo warned that the problem lies in an inability to carry out tests for the virus fast enough

Pictured above is one of the 1,000 bed hospitals in Wuhan, China, which has been built to help the country handle the virus outbreak

China has raced to build two hospitals with more than 1,000 beds to help it handle the crisis, as well as putting Wuhan in lock-down.

However, it is expected that the new hospitals will not provide high enough capacity as there won't be enough doctors and medical staff available to run them.

Pictures from inside the new hospital show rows and rows of beds next to each other.

Appeals have also gone out on social media for face masks and other essential supplies to be sent to the beleaguered city.

The virus has managed to spread to 27 other countries so far, with Belgium being the latest to report a case.

The number of cases in China jumped by more than 3,000 in a day yesterday.

Many nations including France and the US have flown their citizens out of China, and the UK foreign office has advised all 30,000 British nationals in the country to leave China.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Michelle Jewsbury, international philanthropic, speaker and author of "But I Love Him", has launched her national speaker tour with Inspiration 2020. Jewsbury has been invited to promote her breakthrough story, share her expertise as a global breakthrough specialist, and teach her proprietary program, Overcoming Obstacles.

Michelle Jewsbury, Author, Speaker and Global Breakthrough Specialist Michelle Jewsbury, on National Speaker Tour with Inspiration 2020

Jewsbury is a valuable asset in the speaking community. Her story of survival from domestic violence is being used in the media to encourage and motivate others to overcome. Her best-selling book, "But I Love Him" is a painful yet inspirational story of a strong, independent woman caught in the horrifying cycle of domestic violence, and how she got out. Jewsbury is helping women all around the globe break the cycle of trauma and abuse. She is the founder of Unsilenced Voices, a nonprofit focused on inspiring change in communities, and has been approved by the Sierra Leone government as a leading resource.

Jewsbury is slated to speak all across America at the Inspiration 2020 conference. Those who hear Jewsbury's story will walk away with a newfound understanding about conquering obstacles and trauma, and how to build a new, healthier life.

To learn more about Unsilenced Voices, and to begin your journey of Overcoming Obstacles, visit www.unsilencedvoices.org.

About Michelle Jewsbury

Michelle Jewsbury is an international philanthropic, speaker and author who is traveling the world as an advocate for the less fortunate. She is known for her acclaimed one-person show "But I Love Him", which has been turned into a memoir about her personal experience in an abusive relationship. Michelle Jewsbury also formed Unsilenced Voices to specifically open up the conversation about domestic violence.

Unsilenced Voices educates the public about abuse laws while working to shift the cultural mentality to keep silent.

To learn more about Unsilenced Voices visit their website at www.unsilencedvoices.org.

Media Contact:

Angel Tuccy

Vedette Global Media for Michelle Jewsbury

720-271-5942

Media Contact

Company Name: Vedette Global Media

Contact Person: Angel Tuccy

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 720-257-9265

Country: United States

Website: http://vedetteglobal.com

SOURCE Michelle Jewsbury
PADEN, Okla.  Three children whose mother is accused of killing them last month have been remembered at a funeral in Oklahoma where photos and videos of the children brought many audible cries from those gathered.

The childrens father, Pedro Rios, sat in the front row of their funeral Saturday at a church in Paden, his head bowed down as tears streamed down his face. His children  3-year-old Zane, 23-month-old Mireya and 7-month-old Cataley  were in white-draped caskets, each adorned with bouquet of flowers and a favorite toy, The Oklahoman reported.

The hourlong service included songs of loss and longing along with a sermon about the struggles and faith.

This isnt fair, said officiant Bryan Logan as he addressed a crowd of about 50 family and friends, gesturing to the three white caskets This is not fair to anybody sitting here this morning.

It is not fair.

Police allege the childrens mother, Rachel Henry, admitted to smothering them on Jan. 21 in Phoenix, Arizona. Henry, 22, was indicted last week on three counts of first-degree murder. Her arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.

Images of Zane showed the toddler playing with toy cars and a Buzz Lightyear action figure. Another photo showed infant Cataleya sleeping in her grandmothers arms

(Cataleya) was her brother and sisters biggest fan, Logan noted. She could not stand to be away from them.

In one video of Mireya, someone asked her, What do you want to say?

I love you, she answered.
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Victoria's tourism and trade sectors have taken a "significant" hit from the coronavirus outbreak, with the Andrews government bracing for further economic turmoil.

Tourism Minister Martin Pakula said he expected the state to suffer more damage amid the global rush to stop the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 400 people since it broke out less than a month ago.

Tourism Minister Martin Pakula says the coronavirus outbreak has had a 'significant' impact on the economy. Credit:Joe Armao

Visit Victoria will amp up its marketing campaigns in coming weeks to lure tourists from south-east Asia, New Zealand, Europe and the Americas to fill the void left by Chinese tourists, who make up 40 per cent of international visitor numbers to Australia.

"Certainly Chinese tourists disperse around many parts of Victoria, certainly down the Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island ... near Paynesville and East Gippsland, so there are a number of regional locations," Mr Pakula said.
STEM

Competition Recruits CC Students to Find STEM Solutions for Real-World Problems

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and the National Science Foundation have opened up the Community College Innovation Challenge. The mission: for teams of community college students to create STEM solutions for real-world challenges. This is the fifth year the challenge has run.

Working in teams of two to four and under the guidance of a mentor from their school's faculty or administration, students will spend up to six months molding proposals into business pitches. The best pitches will be presented in front of industry experts and be featured in posters shown to members of the United States Congress.

The finalist teams will compete for cash awards and earn travel support to attend an innovation boot camp in Alexandria, VA, adjacent to Washington, DC. There, they'll network with other team members, STEM leaders and members of Congress and learn more about startup activities, including business planning, stakeholder engagement, communication and marketplace analysis.

Previous winners have developed solutions such as a thermal electric solar water heater that uses a heat collector on the back of a solar panel to capture unused thermal energy to heat water for people without homes; and a web-based program that brings together individuals who need help after a disaster and the engineers or other professionals who would like to volunteer to help find solutions for them.

"The Community College Innovation Challenge is a national competition designed specifically to offer community college students a seat at the STEM innovation table," said Ellen Hause, program director of Academic & Student Affairs at AACC, in a statement. "We encourage students to submit their novel research and innovative ideas and look forward to working with the finalist teams to provide them the tools to make their ideas a reality."

Team applications and proposals can be submitted until March 31, 2020 by 11:59 p.m. to the Community College Innovation Challenge 2020 website.
As the deadly coronavirus has spread worldwide, it has carried with it xenophobia -- and Asian communities around the world are finding themselves subject to suspicion and fear. When a patient on Australia's Gold Coast refused to shake the hand of her surgeon Rhea Liang, citing the virus that has killed hundreds, the medic's first response was shock. But after tweeting about the incident and receiving a flood of responses, the respected doctor learned her experience was all too common. There has been a spike in reports of anti-Chinese rhetoric directed at people of Asian origin, regardless of whether they have ever visited the centre of the epidemic or been in contact with the virus. Chinese tourists have reportedly been spat at in the Italian city of Venice, a family in Turin was accused of carrying the disease, and mothers in Milan have used social media to call for children to be kept away from Chinese classmates. In Canada, a white man was filmed telling a Chinese-Canadian woman "you dropped your coronavirus" in the parking lot of a local mall. In Malaysia, a petition to "bar Chinese people from entering our beloved country" received almost 500,000 signatures in one week. The incidents are part of what the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine has described as "misinformation" which it says is fuelling "racial profiling" where "deeply distressing assumptions are being made about 'Chinese' or 'Asian-looking' people." - Typhoid Marys - Disease has long been accompanied by suspicions of foreigners -- from Irish immigrants being targeted in the Typhoid Mary panic of 1900s America to Nepali peacekeepers being accused of bringing cholera to earthquake-struck Haiti in the last decade. "It's a common phenomenon," said Rob Grenfell, director of health and biosecurity for Australia's science and research agency CSIRO. "With outbreaks and epidemics along human history, we've always tried to vilify certain subsets of the population," he said, comparing the behaviour to 1300s plague-ridden medieval Europe, where foreigners and religious groups were often blamed. "Sure it emerged in China," he said of the coronavirus, "but that's no reason to actually vilify Chinese people." In a commentary for the British Medical Journal, doctor Abraar Karan warned this behaviour could discourage people with symptoms from coming forward. Claire Hooker, a health lecturer at the University of Sydney, said the responses from governments may have compounded prejudice. The World Health Organization has warned against "measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade", but this has not stopped scores of countries from introducing travel bans. The tiny Pacific nation of Micronesia has banned its citizens from visiting mainland China altogether. "Travel bans respond largely to people's fears," said Hooker, and while sometimes warranted, they often "have the effect of cementing an association between Chinese people and scary viruses". Abbey Shi, a Shanghai-born student in Sydney, said the attitude shown by some of her peers has "become almost an attack on students who are Chinese". While Australia's conservative government has banished its citizens returning from Wuhan -- the central Chinese city at the epicentre of the virus -- to a remote island for quarantine, thousands of students still stuck in China risk their studies being torpedoed. "Right now it looks like they have to miss the semester's start and potentially the whole year, because of the way the courses are set up," Shi said. According to Hooker, studies in Toronto on the impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS -- another global coronavirus outbreak in 2002 -- showed the impact of xenophobic sentiment often lasted much longer than the public health scare. "While there may be a cessation of direct forms of racism as news about the disease dies down, it takes quite a bit of time for economic recovery and people continue to feel unsafe," she said. People may not rush back to Chinese businesses or restaurants, and may even heed some of the more outlandish viral social media disinformation -- such as one popular post imploring people to avoid eating noodles for their own safety. "In one sense you might think the effects lasted from the last coronavirus to this one, because the representation as China being a place where diseases come from has been persistent," Hooker said.
Concurs repetat pentru selectarea unei companii sociologice, care sa efectueze un studiu tematic "Barometrul opiniei publice in domeniul schimbarilor climatice"
A man is in custody after a woman was stabbed to death in Melbourne's south-east.

Emergency services were called to Whitby Way in Seaford just before 5pm on Tuesday and found the woman with horrific injuries.

The victim, aged in her 40s, died at the scene despite desperate efforts from paramedics to revive her.

Police arrested a man, 44, at the scene and is currently in custody.

Emergency services were called to Whitby Way, Seaford, where a woman died on Tuesday

Police believe the man and deceased woman are known to each other.

No charges have been laid as of early Wednesday morning.

Homicide Squad detectives and forensic officers are investigating and remained at the scene on Tuesday night, where they received assistance from SES crews.

Both ends of the street in the seaside suburb remain blocked by police.

A sheet was draped over the driveway of a home in the street, the Herald Sun reported.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Washington: Even with acquittal seemingly assured, the Democrats prosecuting US President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial made a forceful appeal for conviction on Monday, calling him a man with no moral compass who must be removed to protect American democracy.

House impeachment manager Adam Schiff announces the charges against President Donald Trump. Credit:AP

Congressman Adam Schiff wrapped up closing arguments for the seven US House of Representatives lawmakers who prosecuted Trump in the historic proceedings after the Republican president's lawyers in their own arguments called the case against him politically motivated, reckless and baseless.

"We have proven Donald Trump guilty. Now do impartial justice and convict him," Schiff, assailing Trump in unusually personal terms, told the assembled senators.

"He has betrayed our national security and he will do so again. He has compromised our elections and he will do so again. You will not change him. You cannot constrain him," Schiff said. "If you find the courage to stand up to him, to speak the awful truth to his rank falsehood, your place will be among the Davids who took on Goliath - if only you will say, 'Enough.'"
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Inside Hook

Its no secret that Rhone is one of our favorite brands for workout gear, but were also pretty big fans of their clothing that extends beyond the gym. Naturally, we were thrilled when today Rhone dropped the first offerings of their Spring collection.

Included in the release is their commuter wear, like their commuter jogger and commuter short, the former made from Flexknit fabric and the latter made from Japanese warp stretch fabric. If theres one thing Rhone is known for, its their fabrics, and just like their workout clothing, these clothes will allow you to breathe, meaning youre less likely to show up to work drenched in sweat.
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong speaks at a grand rally in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 3, 2020. A grand rally to celebrate the 90th founding anniversary of the CPV was held here on Monday. (VNA/Handout via Xinhua)

HANOI, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- A grand rally to celebrate the 90th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) was held here on Monday.

Delivering a speech at the event, General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong said the history of Vietnam's revolution demonstrated that the right, clear-sighted leadership of the party has been the key factor leading to the country's great achievements and victories.

Over the past 35 years of reform, Vietnam has transferred from a poor country with outdated socio-economic infrastructure to a developing middle-income country with its people enjoying better living conditions, Trong said.

He noted that 2020 is the last year of the term of the 12th CPV National Party Congress, the anniversary year of several important political events, and the year Vietnam assumes ASEAN's annual rotating chair and takes on the role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The domestic and international context poses both opportunities and challenges for Vietnam, requiring the whole party and army and the entire people to make great efforts to complete the assigned tasks, Trong said.

He said the focus in 2020 is to realize socio-economic development plans, enhance macroeconomic stability, strengthen the implementation of strategic breakthroughs, restructure the economy in accordance with the innovation of the growth model, ensure social security and welfare as well as expand external relations.

The rally was attended by current and former senior leaders of the CPV and the country as well as representatives of international organizations in Vietnam.
CHICO, Calif.  The Robert Burns Charity Dinner will be a night of bagpipes, haggis, whisky tasting, and other Scottish treats.

The Butte County Scottish Society, the Chico-Leland Stanford Masonic Lodge No. 111, and the Chino Shrine Club is honoring Scottish culture at the Chico Masonic Family Center on Feb. 15 from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Tickets purchased by Feb. 10 are $45 and will be $50 after.

Multiple celebrations are held around the world to honor Burns influence.

For more information, contact chicolelandstanford111@gmail.com.
State of art Fujifilm Bangalore office reflects the companys philosophy of bringing Value from Innovation

Fujifilm India Private Limited, a global pioneer in imaging technologies, has announced the opening of its new office in Bengaluru, India. This new set-up will help the company further expand its presence in southern India, better serve its existing customers, and also provide an exciting and fun working environment to its workforce.

The new office, located on Infantry Road, comes equipped with best-in-class amenities and service capabilities. Multi-coloured workstations along with Wi-Fi meeting rooms with HDCOM facility, collapsible training rooms. It will also offer endoscopy and DSC camera service centers to serve its ever-increasing customer base in the region. With this, we will able to provide better customer service to our customers in the Bangalore region.

With the new workplace, Fujifilm plans to increase the workforce by 30% in the city across functions like Electronic Imaging Division, Instax, Industrial Products and Medical Systems. The Bengaluru team will work closely with the Gurugram head office and other offices in India and around the world to drive value from collaborative innovation.

Speaking at the launch of the new Bengaluru set-up, Mr. Haruto Iwata, Managing Director, Fujifilm India Pvt. Ltd., said, India is the most important market for us in the Asia-Pacific region, and we see huge potential in the country from a market, innovation, and talent point. Our new office is reflection of our commitment and trust in the promise that the country holds. Our vision has always been to provide an open, fair and clear workplace culture that allows individuals to ascertain their objectives sincerely, make rational decisions, and continuously take on challenges with courage. With this new set-up, we are offering a collaborative and efficient workspace that reflects our style of business, boost productivity and helping themselves and firm grow.

Speaking at the launch Mr Navneet Kumar Ahluwalia, Head - Human Resources & Administration, Fujifilm India said, At Fujifilm India, we ensure that we are equally committed towards our customers and workforce. The new space in Bangalore is an ergonomically designed workspace, with an open and collaborative work environment, and a capacity for different teams to work together, driving synergies and contributing to business outcomes. We are focused on offering a dynamic workplace with immense growth potential to all our employees.

Sharing his views on the new office, Mr Sanjeev Kohli, Project coordinator and Senior Manager, Admin at Fujifilm India said, The setup of the new office was completed in around 70 days. We have designed this new office keeping in mind the vibrant colours define the setting of a workplace and influence an employees mood and the entire office environment. With the Endoscopy and Camera Service centre established in our Bangalore office we want to provide full support to our customers in and around the city of Bangalore

Fujifilm India is currently serving its customers across the country with five offices located in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and with its head office in Gurugram. The energetic, contemporary and distinctive culture of the new office reflects Fujifilms vision and efforts of empowering the local management to bring the best of products and services for our consumers and focus on India as well as a new growth area.
A Belgian person who was one of hundreds of Europeans repatriated from the Chinese city of Wuhan via France at the weekend has tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Tuesday.

Belgiums health agency said the person who tested positive was in good health and not showing any symptoms of the virus. It gave no information about the persons identity.

The person was one of nine repatriated Belgians who had had undergone tests in a military hospital in Brussels. The agency said the eight others had tested negative.

The group was on board a flight of 254 people of 30 mostly European nationalities who had been living in or around Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, and who had returned to Europe via France on Sunday.

All the other countries had been notified of the case, said Belgian Health Minister Maggie De Block.

No coronavirus detected among repatriated French nationals

French health officials said Monday all of its nationals repatriated from China on the Sunday flight and on an earlier flight last Friday tested negative for the coronavirus.

After two repatriation flights, a total of 216 French nationals are being kept in quarantine at Carry-le-Rouet near Marseille in southern France. Another site at nearby Aix-en-Provence is hosting 23 French nationals, 18 from the European Union and 40 non-Europeans.

All were subject to a test upon their arrival on the territory and today several hundred of these tests are negative, said Jerome Salomon, Frances director general for health, on Monday.

There is no epidemic in France, Salomon said. The virus is not circulating on our territory.

Six cases of the virus have been confirmed in France, all of which are isolated in hospital. No new cases have been reported in the country since last Thursday.

The disease has killed more than 400 people and infected a further 20,000 in China, nearly all of them in Hubei, and spread to two-dozen countries since it emerged in December.

Hong Kong and the Philippines have also reported deaths, and the World Health Organization has declared the crisis a global health emergency.
New York: Islamic State extremists are mounting increasingly bold attacks in Syria and Iraq following their loss of territory in both countries and are planning for the breakout of their fighters in detention facilities, UN experts said in a new report.

The panel of experts said in the report to the United Nations Security Council that the militant group - known as IS and ISIL - is also exploiting weaknesses in security in both countries.

The experts monitoring sanctions against IS and al-Qaeda said it was unclear whether new IS leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi, can effectively lead the extremist group's diverse and far-flung supporters and affiliates.

The aftermath of a US military operation targeting Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi near the village of Barisha in Idlib province, Syria, last year. Credit:AP

But the panel said unidentified UN member nations have made a provisional assessment that the strategic direction of the extremist group is unchanged when it comes to administration, propaganda and recruitment - and that command and control between its "core in the conflict zone and affiliates abroad will be maintained."
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Macys, the struggling department store chain, is planning another round of store closings and job cuts.

The company said that it would close about 125 of its least productive stores in the next three years and also cut about 2,000 of its corporate and support function positions, according to a statement on Tuesday. The company said it was not clear how many additional jobs would be lost because of the store closures. Jeff Gennette, Macys chief executive, first announced the news in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Macys, which also owns Bloomingdales and the off-price Macys Backstage chain, has been working to adjust its enormous brick-and-mortar portfolio to suit the shopping habits of todays consumers. In 2016, the company announced plans to shutter 100 stores, which it later said would include the elimination of more than 10,000 jobs.

The 125 stores will be in lower tier malls, Macys said, highlighting the widening chasm between Americas best and worst malls as a variety of chains trim their store portfolios in the digital age. Macys said it would elaborate on the announcements at a meeting with investors on Wednesday.
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New Delhi, Feb 4 : Budgetary constraints have been blamed for the failure to procure high-altitude clothing required by soldiers posted in Siachen, according to a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in the Lok Sabha.

The audit report pointed to shortage of Extreme Cold Clothing and Equipment (ECC&E) stocks, ranging between 24 per cent and 100 per cent and 41 per cent and 100 per cent at the two depots, which are used by the Northern Command's Army Headquarters Reserve to stock such items.

The CAG report presented on Monday had noted that shortage of specialised clothing and gear such as snow goggles and boots for troops stationed in high-altitude regions in Siachen and Ladakh is compelling the troops to reuse old and recycled products.

The Army Headquarters Reserve is maintained for contingency operations, dual task formations on the Pakistan and China fronts, and for the movement of additional troops.

In March 2019, the Defence Ministry attributed "budgetary constraints" to the reduced procurement. The ministry had also clarified that a shortage in the Army Headquarters Reserve was caused by an increase in the authorisation of ECC&E sets by 64,131 in 2017.

The CAG report, prepared on the basis of information compiled between 2015-16 and 2017-18, also drew attention to the shortage of special rations for such soldiers, resulting in a calorie deficiency of 82 per cent.

The report also noted the failure of a pilot project aimed at improving the housing conditions of high-altitude zone troops while pointing out that the undue delay in handing over assets to the units led to deprivation of resources in the forbidding climate.
[February 04, 2020] BJ's Charitable Foundation Donates $50,000 to Support City Harvest's Mobile Market Program BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ), a leading operator of membership warehouse clubs in the Eastern United States, today announced a $50,000 donation to City Harvest, New York City's largest food rescue organization and a Feeding America member food bank. The donation from the BJ's Charitable Foundation is part of the retailer's initiative to help end hunger in New York. "BJ's is dedicated to nourishing our communities and helping families thrive by improving access to basic essentials including fresh, nutritious food," said Kirk Saville, executive director, BJ's Charitable Foundation. "We're thrilled to donate $50,000 to City Harvest to support its mobile market program. This grant will help increase access and feed more families in food insecure communities." BJ's grant to City Harvest is part of its recent $1 million donation to Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization. The donation will support programs that expand direct access to food, including the School Pantry, mobile market, and BackPack programs. With these programs, families facing food insecurity will be able to more easily access fresh, nutritious food to help put meals on the table. "Thousands of New Yorkers rey on City Harvest's mobile market program to help feed themselves and their families," said Jilly Stephens, Chief Executive Officer of City Harvest. "With BJ's generous support, we will be able to increase the amount of fresh, nutritious food distributed to communities in need and better serve the nearly 1.2 million New Yorkers who are struggling to put meals on their tables." BJ's donation supports City Harvest's nine mobile markets, which distribute fresh fruits and vegetables free of charge, to thousands of New Yorkers across the five boroughs each month. These markets also provide healthy meal cooking demonstrations and free wellness programs such as blood pressure screenings, provided by one of City Harvest's many community partners. Each year, City Harvest's mobile markets provide close to three million pounds of produce to nearly 10,000 households. BJ's grant marks the third yearly $1 million donation to the Feeding America network from the BJ's Charitable Foundation. Since 2011, BJ's has provided ongoing support to the Feeding America network through the BJ's Charitable Foundation and BJ's Feeding Communities program, helping local food banks successfully expand their programs to reach wider audiences. BJ's Feeding Communities program is a food rescue partnership, where the company donates all unsold perishable food to Feeding America member food banks in its footprint, helping to get wholesome food onto the plates of more families. To date, BJ's has donated more than 100 million pounds of food including meat, produce, dairy and bakery items - which equals more than 84 million meals* - to Feeding America member food banks. To learn more about BJ's Wholesale Club, visit BJs.com. *Based on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines, a meal is equal to 1.2 pounds of food and grocery product. About BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc.

Headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts, BJ's Wholesale Club is a leading operator of membership warehouse clubs in the Eastern United States. The company currently operates 217 clubs and 143 BJ's Gas locations in 17 states. The Company's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BJ). About City Harvest

City Harvest is New York City's largest food rescue organization, helping to feed the nearly 1.2 million New Yorkers who are struggling to put meals on their tables. We will rescue 64 million pounds of food this year and deliver it, free of charge, to hundreds of food pantries, soup kitchens, and other community partners across the five boroughs. Our programs empower individuals through nutrition education, increase our partners' capacity, and strengthen the local food system, helping New Yorkers who are experiencing food insecurity to access, afford, and consume nutritious food. To learn more about our work, visit cityharvest.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005278/en/

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SPRINGFIELD, Ore.  Springfield Police are warning residents after they received reports of two cougar sightings in two days.

Police said a couple reported seeing a cougar and hearing it growl Monday night when they were near 747 64th Street in the Thurston Park area. The couple said they last saw the cougar walking along a fence line.

Officers searched the area but did not locate the cougar.

Police said they received another report of a cougar that was seen in the 6500 block of E Street on Sunday evening. A resident reported seeing a cougar in the backyard.

Residents are advised to use caution in this area of Springfield.

The Oregon Department of Wildlife recommends the following if you encounter a cougar:
H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media

BRIDGEWATER  The rollover crash that shutdown Route 67 for several hours Thursday night was caused by an unlicensed driver who illegally passed another vehicle, according to authorities.

Renee Lynn Whiteman, 28, of Wingdale, N.Y., was charged with driving without a license and passing in a no-passing zone after crashing a 2004 Ford Ranger into another vehicle on New Milford Road West shortly before 6 p.m. Jan. 30.
The death toll in mainland China from the new type of virus has risen to 425, with the total number of cases now standing at 20,438, officials said Tuesday.

Beijing: The death toll in mainland China from the new type of virus has risen to 425, with the total number of cases now standing at 20,438, officials said Tuesday.

The new figures come after the country opened a new hospital built in 10 days, infused cash into tumbling financial markets and further restricted people's movement in hopes of containing the rapidly spreading virus and its escalating impact.

Japanese officials were deciding whether to quarantine more than 3,000 people on a cruise ship that carried a passenger who tested positive for the virus.

The latest figures are up from 361 deaths and 17,205 confirmed cases.

Other countries are continuing evacuations and restricting the entry of Chinese or people who have recently travelled in the country. In the province at the epicentre of the outbreak, a specialized 1,000-bed hospital started treating patients and a second hospital with 1,500 beds is to open within days.

Other countries continued evacuating citizens from hardest-hit Hubei province and restricted the entry of Chinese or people who recently travelled to the country. The World Health Organization said the number of cases will keep growing because tests are pending on thousands of suspected cases.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, presiding over a special meeting of the country's top Communist Party body for the second time since the crisis started, said: We have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic.

He told the Politburo standing committee that the country must race against time to curb the spread of the virus and that those who neglect their duties will be punished, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Medical teams from the People's Liberation Army were arriving in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, to relieve overwhelmed health workers and to staff the new 1,000-bed hospital, located in the countryside far from the city centre.

Its prefabricated wards are equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and ventilation systems. A second hospital with 1,500 beds is due to open within days.

China's Shanghai Composite stock index plunged nearly 8% on the first day of trading after the Lunar New Year holiday, despite a central bank announcement that it was putting $173 billion into the markets.

"We are fully confident in and capable of minimizing the epidemic's impact on the economy," Lian Weiliang, deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a news conference in Beijing.

Hong Kong's leader, Carrie Lam, announced that the semi-autonomous territory will shut almost all but two land and sea border crossings with the mainland at midnight to stem the spread of the virus. Only the land checkpoints at Shenzhen Bay and the bridge to Macao and Zhuhai will remain open.

More than 2,000 hospital workers went on strike earlier in the day, demanding a complete closure of the border, and their union has threatened a bigger walkout Tuesday.

Hong Kong was hit hard by SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in 2002-2003, an illness from the same family of viruses as the current outbreak and which many believe was intensified by official Chinese secrecy and obfuscation.

Chinese scientists said they have more evidence that it likely originated in bats. In a study published in the journal Nature, Shi Zhen-Li and colleagues at the Wuhan Institute of Virology reported that genome sequences from seven patients were 96 percent identical to a bat coronavirus.

SARS is also believed to have originated in bats, although it jumped to civet cats before infecting people. Scientists suspect the latest outbreak began at a seafood market in Wuhan where wild animals were on sale and in contact with people.

Meanwhile, Japanese health officials said a passenger on a Japanese-operated cruise ship tested positive for the virus after leaving the vessel in Hong Kong on 25 January.

The Diamond Princess returned to Yokohama carrying more than 3,000 passengers and crew after making port calls in Vietnam, Taiwan and Okinawa. A team of quarantine officials and medical staff boarded the ship Monday and began medical checks of everyone on board, a health ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with department rules.

The passengers and crew members may be quarantined on the ship if the captain agrees to do so, the official said.

The ship's captain said Hong Kong's health authorities notified the ship about the passenger's infection on Saturday, six days after he got off the ship after not being caught on thermal screening, according to a recording of the announcement tweeted by a passenger. The patient is currently recovering and is in stable condition, and his travelling companions so far have not been infected, the captain said.

I wish we were informed as soon as they found out, then I could have worn a mask or washed hands more carefully," the passenger said. I was in Hong Kong nine days ago and it seems to be too late now.

South Korea, which has 15 confirmed cases, quarantined 800 soldiers who had recently visited China, Hong Kong or Macao or had contact with people who had, defence ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyunsoo said.

The Philippines banned the entry of all non-citizens from China after two cases were confirmed there, including the only death outside China. The U.S., Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia have imposed similar restrictions despite criticism from China and WHO's guidance that such measures were unnecessary.

About 150 cases have been reported in two dozen other countries.

With no end to the outbreak in sight, authorities in Hubei and elsewhere extended the Lunar New Year holiday break, due to end this week, well into February to try to keep people at home and reduce the spread of the virus. All Hubei schools are postponing the start of the new semester until further notice.
TROY  Dennis LePage, the Brunswick resident accused of killing a man in San Diego 44 years ago, might not return to California for at least another month.

The 62-year-old made a brief appearance in Rensselaer County Court on Monday, but local prosecutors did not have a warrant from California that would have set in motion his transfer to that state. LePage is being held on a felony fugitive-from-justice charge filed by the New York State Police.

Rensselaer County Court Judge Jennifer Sober adjourned the case until March 9, though LePage could be returned to court  and then to California  sooner if what's known as a "governor's warrant" arrives before then.

A governor's warrant is a legal demand that allows a prisoner to be returned to the state where he or she faces charges after being arrested in another state. Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Hauf said the Rensselaer County district attorney's office is waiting for the paperwork to be completed by San Diego prosecutors before any action can be taken.

LePage, who leaned on a cane throughout the proceedings, is being held without bail at the local county jail.

LePage was taken into custody on Jan. 24. A local official with knowledge of the matter said a palm print found on the victim's body allegedly linked him to the killing of 28-year-old Alvardo Espeleta, who was found dead in his San Diego apartment on Dec. 31, 1975.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

LePage's arrest near his apartment on McChesney Avenue Extension in Brunswick may close a cold case that had vexed San Diego police for decades, in part because Espeleta's killer managed to avoid contact with police, and therefore automatic fingerprint screening, for decades.

A man and a woman who attended LePage's hearing Monday sat behind him in court. They declined to comment about the case as they left the courthouse after the hearing.

Officials said LePage has expressed his intention to put up a legal fight to block his return to California.
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante is accusing a former close ally, Sue Montgomery, of attributing "completely false and inaccurate statements" to her.

The day after a tumultuous borough council meeting in Cote-des-NeigesNotre-Dame-de-Grace, Plante released a statement Tuesday that accuses Montgomery of making comments that are "defamatory and go beyond the bounds of reality."

Plante is asking Montgomery, now an independent borough mayor, to retract her comments.

Montgomery was kicked out of Plante's Projet Montreal party on Jan. 24 for refusing to fire her chief of staff, Annalisa Harris, following a harassment investigation by the city's comptroller general.

At Monday's borough council meeting, the three remaining party members in the borough turned their backs on Montgomery, but the embattled politician didn't pull any punches as she defended her decision to keep Harris on staff.

She said she will not fire Harris without due process, which includes having access to the comptroller general's report  a report that Montgomery said Plante knows is bogus.

Montgomery, a former journalist, went as far as quoting Plante as saying the comptroller's report is "bullshit." Her assertion drew gasps from the jam-packed council chamber.

Plante's office denied the accusation immediately after the meeting.

In her Tuesday statement, Plante goes on to say that Montgomery is asking her to release a confidential labour relations report, and that would be a violation Canada's Privacy Act.

"It is high time Ms. Montgomery stops fabricating stories and creating alternative facts," Plante says in the statement.

She said Montgomery has already received a formal notice from the city for her "defamatory comments."

Instead of going on a "personal crusade," Plante said, Montgomery should be doing "the job she was elected to do."

Montgomery's lawyer disputes claims

Story continues

Montgomery's lawyer, Eric Oliver, told CBC News Tuesday that releasing the comptroller general's report would not be a violation of Canada's Privacy Act, as it involves borough employees.

The borough mayor is named in the report for "turning a blind eye" to the alleged psychological harassment and therefore is not being allowed access to the report, the city says. But Oliver said, even if that is true, sensitive sections or names can be redacted. He said an employer cannot be expected to fire an employee without knowing why. Were the labour dispute to end up in court, Montgomery would have no way to justify her reasoning, Oliver said, because she has not seen the evidence.

Simon Nakonechny/CBC

His law office, Municonseil avocats, sent a demand letter to the city's comptroller general Monday, insisting that the report be released. That latest move comes after Montgomery filed an access to information request to see the document last week.

Speaking to CBC Montreal's Daybreak Tuesday, Montgomery insisted that Plante used the term "bullshit" to describe the comptroller's report.

"She knows that she said that," Montgomery said. "We were speaking in English."

Montgomery said she is giving up her own and her chief of staff's right to privacy by asking Plante to compel the comptroller general to release that report in the name of transparency and accuracy.

So far, she said, the comptroller general is the only one to have seen it.

"They can redact names," she said. "I think the citizens have the right to see what happened here, and I will do what's right  what's in the best interest of the residents and the employees  when I see the evidence."
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Trump wants to have John Bolton criminally investigated after the Senate impeachment vote because he believes Bolton mishandled classified information.

Gabriel Sherman at Vanity Fair reported:



Trump intends to ratchet up the pressure, and some Republicans close to the White House fear how far Trump will take things after hes gotten off for a second time (Trump famously made his July 25 call to Volodymyr Zelensky the day after Robert Mueller testified before Congress.) Trump has been calling people and telling them to go after Bolton, a source briefed on the private conversations said.

The source added that Trump wants Bolton to be criminally investigated. A person familiar with Trumps thinking said Trump believes Bolton might have mishandled classified information. According to a former official, the White House is planning to leak White House emails from Bolton that purportedly allege Bolton abused his position at the National Security Council.

Sherman also reported that Trump is putting together an enemies list and planning revenge against anyone who crossed him on impeachment.

It is clear now why Senate Republicans didnt vote to have witnesses and documents at Trumps trial. They are terrified of this president, and the revenge that he might seek against them if they cross him.

An attempted criminal prosecution of John Bolton would not be the first time that this president has threatened such a stunt. Trump has at various times demanded that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, James Comey, and John Brennan among others be criminally prosecuted.

Trump is going to be a whole new level of lawless after Senate Republicans acquit him, and the responsibility of the damage that he does will be on the shoulders of Mitch McConnell and his GOP accomplices.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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The Pentagon is preparing to house as many as 1,000 more coronavirus evacuees from China in what would effectively be a 14-day quarantine at four U.S. military bases, chief spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said Monday.

But he "wouldn't rule out more" evacuees, he said, should the virus continue to spread.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper held discussions with Air Force Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, head of U.S. Northern Command, centered on arrangements for the additional evacuees and assurances the command has the necessary resources, Hoffman said at a briefing.

The 1,000 evacuees taken to the four bases will be in addition to the nearly 200 who arrived last week at March Air Reserve Base in California.

Related: Hacking Leads to Fake Story Claiming US Soldier in Lithuania Has Coronavirus

Charter flights are expected to leave the U.S. for China throughout the week to evacuate American citizens from Wuhan in central Hubei province, where the coronavirus is believed to have originated, according to the State Department.

The charters will take the evacuees to Travis Air Force Base and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California; Fort Carson in Colorado; and Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

Hoffman said about 198 evacuees are currently at March and will be monitored by the Department of Health and Human Services and local health officials for 14 days from their arrival. Similar restrictions will be in effect at the other four bases, he added.

There have been no reports of confirmed cases of coronavirus among the evacuees at March.

Efforts are being made to provide each evacuee with an individual bathroom and access to quality care at local hospitals should they show symptoms of the pneumonia-like coronavirus, Hoffman said. He stressed that DoD personnel will have no contact with the evacuees.

Hoffman said he "wouldn't rule out" requests for more assistance from the military.

Last week, Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, banned travel to China for all service members and civilians in his command and ordered those in China to leave immediately.

Hoffman didn't have figures on how many command personnel are in China on leave, but said there are still flights out they could take. Once back at the command, the personnel will be monitored for 14 days.

The latest report Monday from the World Health Organization in Geneva said there had been 361 deaths from coronavirus in China; the number of confirmed cases there had risen to more than 17,230.

Outside of China, 153 cases had been confirmed in 23 countries, including at least 11 in the U.S., the WHO said.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Read more: USS Fitzgerald Returns to Sea More Than 2 Years After Fatal Collision
[February 04, 2020] Clinical Validation Study Highlights Accuracy of EarlySense System for Continuously Monitoring High-risk Hospital Patients

WOBURN, Massachusetts, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- EarlySense, the global leader in contact-free, continuous monitoring solutions for the healthcare continuum, today announced a clinical validation study published in Anesthesiology comparing the performance of the EarlySense system and that of two wearable sensors and a patient worn monitor. The study determined that EarlySense's contact-free, bed-based system which measures heart rate and respiratory rate can be valuable in predicting clinical deterioration. The article titled Vital Signs Monitoring with Wearable Sensors in High-risk Surgical Patients, written by Martine Breteler and carried out under the supervision of Prof. Cor Kalkman, University Medical Centre Utrecht, aimed to determine whether EarlySense's bed-based system, two wearable patch sensors (SensiumVitals and HealthPatch) and a patient-worn monitor (Masimo Radius-7) can reliably measure heart rate and respiratory rate continuously in patients recovering from major surgery. In an observational method comparison study spanning 700 hours of data, the heart rate and respiratory rate of high-risk surgical patients admitted to a step-down unit were simultaneously recorded with the devices under test compared with an intensive care unit-grade monitoring system. "Current hospital practice includes intermittent spot checks by clinicians, andthis can pose a high risk as early signs of patient deterioration can be easily missed," said Prof. Cor Kalkman. "EarlySense's under-the-mattress monitoring solution has proven to be valuable in continuously measuring heart rate and respiratory rate, and can serve as an important tool to detect abnormal patterns and help reduce failure-to-rescue events."



"This clinical validation study highlights the value and accuracy of Contact-Free Continuous Monitoring, supporting its role as the new standard of care in non-ICU environments," said Matt Johnson, CEO, EarlySense. "The ability to effectively track heart rate and respiratory rate, two key indicators of deterioration, not only helps clinicians save lives, but also improves clinical workflow and creates substantial financial savings. EarlySense is proud to lead the charge for continuous monitoring across the healthcare continuum." About EarlySense

EarlySense is the global leader in contact-free, continuous monitoring solutions for the healthcare continuum. Used worldwide in hospitals and post-acute care facilities, the EarlySense system assists caregivers in early detection of potential patient adverse events, including code blue events resulting from cardiac or respiratory arrest, patient falls, pressure ulcers, preventable ICU transfers and hospital readmissions. The EarlySense system captures critical information from the patient, alerting caregivers of potentially adverse events early on. The company has partnered with leading global technology companies including Hillrom, Philips, Welch Allyn, and Mitsui. EarlySense is based in Ramat Gan, Israel and Woburn, Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.earlysense.com. Follow EarlySense on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook Media Contact:

Ellie Hanson

Finn Partners

+1-929-222-8006

[email protected] EarlySense US Contact:

Jaime Donahue

T: 781-373-3228 ext. 212

[email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clinical-validation-study-highlights-accuracy-of-earlysense-system-for-continuously-monitoring-high-risk-hospital-patients-300998294.html SOURCE EarlySense

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USA: Director Christopher Wray Returns from Overseas Visit to Paris and The Hague

FBI Director Christopher Wray traveled this past week to France and the Netherlands to meet with several of the FBIs key international partners.

During the trip, Director Wray met with our national security and law enforcement foreign counterparts in Paris and The Hague. Throughout all of his meetings, Director Wray emphasized our united goals in protecting our citizens against cyber crimes and terrorism, as well as the importance of collaboration and sharing information. Director Wray also took this opportunity to meet with U.S. Embassy staff and FBI legal attache employees and their families.

At each stop, Director Wray reiterated the FBIs appreciation for the overarching cooperative efforts amongst our international partners, while also reaffirming the FBIs continued commitment to combatting potential threats to U.S. citizens at home and abroad.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Over the last four years, Texas has added more voters in the 22 counties along Interstate 35 than in the states 232 other counties combined.

Since 2016, Texas voter rolls have grown by almost 2 million voters. More than 1 million of those voters live in communities along the I-35 corridor, sometimes likened to a blue spine.

That slice of Texas geography  extending northeast from the border through San Antonio and Austin and all the way to Dallas  has become steadily less conservative and more Democratic. It has helped make Democratic candidates more competitive in statewide contests over the last two election cycles.

In 2018, Democrats flipped 12 seats in the Legislature in districts along I-35, and a strong Democratic showing along the corridor helped Beto ORourke come within 2.6 percentage points of defeating incumbent Republican Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate race. It would have been the Democrats first victory in a statewide election in Texas since the 1990s.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

At the same time, voter registration numbers have dropped or remained flat in Republican-leaning counties in the Panhandle, South Texas and East Texas.

Texas Democrats are rising and showing our strength from South to North Texas, said Cliff Walker, deputy executive director of the Texas Democratic Party.

Growing voter registrations 10 Texas counties with the biggest vote registration gains since 2016 1. Hays, 31% 2. Williamson, 26% 3. Comal, 24% 4. Brazos, 24% 5. Travis, 23% 6. Rockwall, 23% 7. Denton, 22% 8. Parker, 21% 9. Collin, 21% 10. Guadalupe, 20% Primary 101 Voting Early voting begins Feb. 18. To cast ballots in person, registered voters must bring an acceptable form of photo identification. Those are: a Texas driver's license, a Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by the Department of Public Safety, a Texas personal identification card, a Texas handgun license, a U.S. military identification card, a U.S. citizenship certificate containing a photo or a U.S. passport. Voters can bring printed materials, such as a sample ballot, into the booth, but may not use cellphones or photographic devices while casting ballots. Voters Guide Everything you need to know about this year's election, only on HoustonChronicle.com and ExpressNews.com. See More Collapse

Walker said the I-35 corridor is loaded with rapidly diversifying suburbs and college-educated adults who have gravitated to the Democrats over the last four years.

But none of that means Texas is about to turn blue, said longtime GOP strategist Karl Rove.

They dont have a shot as long as Republicans use this as an opportunity to get our act together, Rove said.

Republicans have to be more aggressive about registering voters and mobilizing volunteers, he added.

The influx of new residents combined with the Democrats more aggressive voter registration efforts have allowed the party to find more voters that side with them in elections, said University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus.

The problem Democrats had for the longest time was that they didnt have enough people to even talk to, Rottinghaus said.

But now, he said, as the counties along I-35 change, Democrats are able to identify voters who better align with their issues.

Mike Fisher/Staff Artist

Texas is one of a few states in which voters do not register with a political party when they sign up to vote. But demographic characteristics and recent voting trends show that voters along I-35 have shifted from voting mostly Republican to mostly Democratic over the last 4 years.

An Austin-area surge

The biggest surge of new voters has come in two counties on either end of Austin.

Williamson County, just north of Austin, has seen a 26-percent increase in registered voters since 2016.

Just south of Austin, Hays County experienced a 31-percent increase.

ORourke carried both counties in the 2018 Senate race.

After Williamson and Hays, the biggest gains in registration were in Comal, Brazos and Travis counties. All three have seen increases of more than 23 percent since 2016.

In Bexar County, the number of registered voters increased 16 percent, making it the 26th fastest-growing county in Texas for voter registration.

Harris County  the states most populous  saw a 14-percent increase.

By contrast, in 82 Republican-leaning counties, mostly in the Panhandle, West Texas and East Texas, registered voter rolls have grown 2 percent or less over the last four years. In 55 of those counties, the numbers have declined  by a total of more than 7,000 voters.

(The latest registration totals from the Division of Elections dont include thousands of new voters likely to have registered since January. Updated figures are expected in about two weeks.)

GOP responds

Republicans have answered Democratic registration efforts with their own drive to sign up voters.

A super PAC created last year called Engage Texas reported that it has raised more than $11 million for a registration campaign.

A second group organized by the Republican Party of Texas, called the Volunteer Engagement Project, has promised to add 100,000 more voters to the rolls this year, with help from Rove.

The 22 counties along I-35 are a big reason Democrats have been gaining ground in Texas elections.

In 2014, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, won those 22 counties by more than 350,000 votes. But in 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton won the corridor by more than 115,000 votes en route to posting the best statewide showing for a presidential candidate in Texas in more than 20 years.

In 2018, Democrats made further gains in the corridor. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz lost those counties by 440,000 votes in narrowly defeating ORourke. That nearly 800,000-vote swing along the blue spine helped make the race closer than any U.S. Senate race in more than 20 years in Texas.

Cruz was able to overcome the shift along I-35 thanks to three key areas of Texas. Cruz targeted the Texas Panhandle, a half-dozen counties in East Texas and the Houston suburbs as he closed his campaign. And those conservative voters delivered, providing Cruz with almost 250,000 more votes than ORourke  slightly more than Cruzs margin of victory statewide.

The I-35 corridors clout was felt beyond the Cruz-ORourke contest. Five Republican candidates for Congress in those 22 counties, almost all of them heavy favorites, won with less than 51 percent of the vote.

In the Texas House, Democrats flipped 12 seats previously held by Republicans, 10 of them in districts along I-35.

In the Texas Senate, Democrats flipped two seats, both along I-35.

However, the shift along I-35 has not changed the fact that every statewide elected official in Texas is a Republican. The margins grew tighter in 2018, as Republicans Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller all won 51 percent of the vote or less. Four years earlier, all three of those Republicans won 58 percent or more.

Double-digit gains

Overall, Texas has been adding voters faster than it has been adding people.

Since 2017, the states population has grown about 5 percent while the number of registered voters has risen 8 percent. The increase has been dramatic in urban areas such as Harris County. The countys population has grown 4 percent since 2014, while voter registration has jumped 14 percent.

In Bexar County the population has grown 11 percent since 2014, while voter registration has increased 19 percent.

Early voting in the Texas primary starts on Feb. 18 and runs through Feb. 28. Election Day is March 3.
Arizona authorities say two people are dead in a murder-suicide that occurred during a traffic stop.

The state Department of Public Safety said 57-year-old Kyle Don Axtell of Kingman pulled out a gun and killed 50-year-old Kelly Susanne Nickolson and then killed himself Sunday in Kingman.

The DPS said the state trooper who pulled over Axtell learned during the traffic stop that Axtell and Nickolson were sought in Colorado on felony warrants alleging drug crimes.

The DPS said that as the trooper returned to the pickup, Axtell pulled out a gun and killed Nickolson. The trooper drew his gun and fired while Axtell simultaneously turned his gun on himself and fired. Nickolson's place of resident wasn't available.


The news regarding Rishi Kapoors hospitalisation left everyone including fans and the fraternity worried. As soon as the news spread, his fans took to their social media handles to convey their wishes and prayers for their beloved actor.



Recently, Rishi Kapoor himself clarified that there was nothing to worry about. It was just a case of infection, given the pollution in Delhi, where he had been shooting for Sharmaji Namkeen. The veteran took to social media to thank his fans and well-wishers. He wrote, Dear family, friends, foes and followers. I have been overwhelmed by all your concern about my health.Thank you. I have been filming in Delhi past 18 days and because of the Pollution and my low count of neutrophils, I caught an infection whereby I had to be hospitalized. (1)....."







He also said that he looks forward to entertain people after recovering. "I was running a slight fever and on investigation,Dr.s found a patch which could have lead to pneumonia,was detected and is being cured. People seem to have assumed a lot different. I put to rest all those stories and look forward to entertain and love you. I am now in Mumbai," wrote the actor.





Recent reports had stated that Rishi will star along with Deepika Padukone in the remake of The Intern, as well as the remake of The Departed and Housefull 5.




The British royal family is constantly in the spotlight. From Prince Andrews shocking scandal with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussexs resignation as working royals  Queen Elizabeths family is continually under scrutiny.

The queens husband, Prince Philip, who was once one of the most vocal members of the royal family has all but vanished from the spotlight. The Duke of Edinburgh was a constant pillar at the queens side since they wed in 1947. However, since August 2017 once he retired from public life, Prince Philip has rarely been seen.

In fact, the last time he was seen in public was in May 2019 when he attended, Lady Gabriella Windsors royal wedding at St. Georges Chapel in Windsor. However, his lack of presence doesnt mean the duke doesnt have strong feelings about Megxit.

Prince Philip is one of the most outspoken members of the royal family

Though the British royal family is known for biting their tongues  Prince Philip never really followed that rule. In fact, he used to say outlandish and bombastic things that often got him into a bit of hot water. Also, though the queen is the public face of the family  its the Duke of Edinburgh who made the most division about his family internally. An insider once told The Daily Beast, He rules the Royal family with a rod of iron.

The duke has been living at Sandrgium Estate in Norfolk  while the queen handles business from Buckingham Place in London. However, that has left a heavy strain on the queen to handle things without his advice and support. Im sure its been good for his health not to be there getting involved in the day-to-day stresses and strains but I think the queen has missed his hands-on approach to family matters, a royal source explained.

Prince Philip is very fond of Meghan Markle

Like his son, Prince Charles who adores, the Duchess of Sussex, the Duke of Edinburgh is also fond of the former actress. Though he initially warned Prince Harry about marrying Markle because of her profession, she won him over when they first met. Meghan asked a lot of questions, about Philips side of the family and his connection to Greece, an insider told Express.

That was a turning point for the duke. The Duke of Edinburgh really got on with her, the source told the publication. He liked Meghans personality, so he felt it was OK if she dated his grandson. The reason he liked her was because she was very bold.

This is how Prince Philip really feels about Megxit

Though Prince Philip has not publically made a statement about Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex royal experts are speculating that the prince, who sacrificed his navel career for the monarchy, isnt too pleased.

During his whole life the Duke has shown devotion to the Queen and service to the monarchy and it is likely he will have taken a dim view of Harry and Meghans recent activities, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told Express. These included releasing a statement saying they intended to step back as senior royals without warning the Queen and other senior royals.

Initially when they announced their resignation  the Sussexes hoped to be part-time royals. Fitzwilliams speculates that Prince Philip was the one to advised Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles against this option as well as stripping Prince Harrys military titles and discontinuing the Sussexes use of their His/Her Royal Highness titles. He may well have played a part in her decision not to allow them to use their royal titles or to perform royal duties part-time, Fitzwilliams added.

It looks like Megxit was a tad too bold for Prince Philip.
The government has mooted helping North Korea with efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus even though the North has shut its borders and replied to no overtures from South Korea for months.

"The government's position is that there's a need for inter-Korean quarantine cooperation," Unification Ministry spokesman Yeo Sang-ki told reporters Monday. "We're going to find out the best time to discuss it with the North depending on the situation on each side."

North Kora insists no patients there have tested positive for coronavirus and has not asked the South for help. But there are suspicions that at least some patients have come down with symptoms since state media have been broadcasting warnings every day.

When African swine fever broke out in the crackpot country last year, it snubbed all South Korean offer to help.


The Supreme Court asked a Delhi BJP leader on Tuesday to approach its mentioning officer to get an early date of hearing on his plea seeking removal of anti-citizenship law protestors from Delhi's Shaheen Bagh

New Delhi: The Supreme Court asked a Delhi BJP leader on Tuesday to approach its mentioning officer to get an early date for the hearing of his plea seeking the removal of hundreds of anti-citizenship law protestors occupying a road-stretch in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area.

BJP leader Nand Kishore Garg has urged the top court for an urgent hearing, considering the difficulty faced by residents due to the nearly-two-month-long protest on a road connecting Delhi and Noida. Also, various other arterial roads of Delhi have been facing traffic congestion due to the protest.

Restrictions have been imposed on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch and Okhla underpass since 15 December, when hundreds of women sat on a protest against the amended law.

"You go to the mentioning officer," the SC bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde told Garg.

Saying that the law-enforcement machinery has been "held hostage to the whims and fancies of the protesters," the plea has sought to lay down of guidelines for protests leading to obstruction of a public place.

"It is disappointing that the state machinery is muted and silent spectator at hooliganism and vandalism of the protesters who are threatening the existential efficacy of the democracy and the rule of law and had already taken the law-and-order situation in their own hand," said the plea.

It said the Shaheen Bagh protest is "undoubtedly within the constitutional parameter" but it has lost its legality as constitutional protections were being "blatantly and brazenly flouted and violated."

The State has a duty to protect the fundamental rights of its citizens, who have been facing trouble due to the road blockade, it said.

"Hence, it is urgently required that the public places must not be allowed to be abused and misused for ulterior and mala fide purposes such as staging a protest against the constitutional amendment in the heart of the capital city and thereby causing incalculable hardships and difficulties to the common people," it said.

It said a similar plea was filed by another litigant in the Delhi High Court, which on January 14 directed the local authority to deal with the situation. The litigant has filed an appeal in the apex court against the high court order and sought supervision of the situation in Shaheen Bagh by a retired Supreme Court judge or a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court.
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Based on partial data released Tuesday, which accounted for 62 percent of the nearly 1,700 precincts, it appeared possible that the eventual winner will have the lowest percentages of state delegate equivalents, as Iowa Democrats calculate results, of any previous winner. The results also could have one candidate with more state delegate equivalents, and therefore the official winner, and another with more total votes among those who showed up at the precincts, who will claim a moral victory.
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(CNN)  Sorry, BlackBerry fans. The iconic, full-keyboard smartphones may be disappearing once again.

TCL Communication, the electronics company that has been making BlackBerry smartphones, said Monday that the partnership has ended and it will stop selling BlackBerry-branded mobile devices in August. TCL no longer has the rights to "design, manufacture or sell" any new Blackberry devices, the company said in a statement posted to Twitter. TCL will continue supporting existing devices with customer and warranty service until 2022.

For BlackBerry fans, that could mean losing the chance to buy one of the devices that were once so popular that people nicknamed them "CrackBerries." It is unclear whether BlackBerry will partner with another production company to continue selling the devices. The company did not immediately return a request for comment.

"For those of us at TCL Communication who were blessed enough to work on BlackBerry Mobile, we want to thank all our partners, customers and the BlackBerry fan community for their support over these past few years," TCL Communication said in the statement.

TCL Communication worked with BlackBerry to produce the KEY series smartphones, including the BlackBerry KEYonne Motion, KEY2 and KEY2 LE. In addition to the keyboards, BlackBerry devices have also been lauded for the company's well-regarded security features.

While potentially a loss for keyboard-loving smartphone users, BlackBerry itself no longer relies on mobile device sales for the bulk of its business.

The company stopped making its own smartphones in 2016, and instead outsourced production of the devices to manufacturing partners such as TCL Communication.

The decision came amid falling phone sales  there were fewer new smartphone customers to serve as the market became more saturated. BlackBerry was also slow to the touchscreen game, causing it to lose out to Apple's iPhone, Samsung's Galaxy and other Android devices.

Instead, BlackBerry turned its attention to the more lucrative business of software, particularly for cybersecurity and "Internet of Things" connected devices like cars. While the company is still struggling to turn a profit in fiscal 2020, the strategy has helped bring BlackBerry back from the brink of failure just under a decade ago, when investors were concerned about the company's survival.

BlackBerry's stock was up around 1% following the smartphone announcement Monday.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Somewhere, someone is still using a Blackberry phone. They're about to be very disappointed."
Shari L. Heyen, shareholder and co-chair of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLPs Global Restructuring & Bankruptcy Practice, will speak on a panel at the Fifth Circuit Bankruptcy Bench-Bar Conference, Feb. 5-7, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Greenberg Traurig is a sponsor of annual conference.

Heyen will participate in the third breakout session titled, Whats Wrong With Chapter 11? on Feb. 7 at 10:05 a.m. Fellow panelists include Professor Charles J. Tabb and R. Patrick Vance. The panel will address the conditions and intricates of reorganization under Chapter 11.

The conference is put on by The Center for American and International Law (CAIL). According to its website, CAIL is a nonprofit institution dedicated to improving the quality of justice through the education of lawyers and law enforcement officials in the United States and throughout the world.

Heyen is Co-Chair of the firms Global Restructuring & Bankruptcy Practice and Co-Managing Shareholder of the Houston office. Heyen has experience in complex restructuring, bankruptcy, insolvency, and complex commercial litigation matters. She has represented numerous creditors' committees, debtors, bank groups, acquirers, and other significant constituencies in national chapter 11 cases and workout proceedings, including complex oil, gas, and energy cases. Heyen has broad experience in the prosecution and defense of fiduciary litigation, real estate, oil and gas, health care, receiverships, and alternative energy matters.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP  Texas: Texas is important to Greenberg Traurig and part of its history. With more than 125 Texas lawyers in Austin, Dallas, and Houston, Greenberg Traurig has deep roots in the Texas business, legal, and governmental communities. Greenberg Traurig Texas works with clients to address their interdisciplinary legal needs across the state utilizing the firms global platform. The Texas attorneys are experienced in industries key to the states future, including: aviation, chemicals, construction, education, energy and natural resources, financial institutions, health care, hedge funds, hospitality, infrastructure, insurance, media, medical devices, pharmaceutical and biotechnology, real estate, retail, sports, technology and software, telecommunications, transportation, and video games and esports.

About Greenberg Traurigs Womens Initiative: Greenberg Traurig is committed to its women lawyers success, which includes a firmwide womens affinity group encompassing recruiting, retention, and business development. The firm regularly collaborates with like-minded organizations to address these issues on a broader scale in a variety of industries and communities. Greenberg Traurig also takes thoughtful action to address issues such as maintaining a healthy work-life balance, breaking the glass ceiling, mentoring, creating and maintaining healthy lifestyles, and giving back to the community. Twitter: @GTLawWomen.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has approximately 2,100 attorneys in 41 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com, Twitter: @GT_Law.
Stressed power assets, which were planning to bid for coal under the new SHAKTI auction, have now complained against the national miner for offering a lower coal volume than the demand. The power industry has alleged that Coal India has done so to jack up the price of coal in the auction by more than 100 per cent over the notified price.

The new round of coal auction is for those stressed power projects which do not have any coal linkage and power purchase agreement (PPA) to sell power. SHAKTI, or Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India, was launched in 2018 ...
Trouble had come to Pizza Paradise. A police car sat outside 12 West 18th Street on Monday. Two protesters paced the sidewalk, bearing saffron-yellow placards and handing out fliers printed with an all-caps battle cry: DONT EAT HERE.

Inside, two police officers conferred with the pizzeria owners. Solo diners hunched over triangles of pepperoni.

The counters to the left of the front door were bare  a conspicuous blank spot in a city where every inch of real estate is exploited and fought over. For seven years, that corner belonged to one of Manhattans most charming and serendipitous pop-up restaurants: Taste of Persia NYC.

There, Saeed Pourkay, a print-shop manager turned chef, stocked chafing dishes and pots with the likes of fesenjan, a stew of crushed walnuts and pomegranate molasses, sour and sweet. His ash reshteh, a dense noodle and bean soup, was simmered for hours down to a heavy ink and topped with bronzed shards of garlic, crispy onions, dried mint and a cooling daub of sour kashk (fermented whey).
Just a few days after rumors about Rihanna dating A$AP Rocky surfaced, her ex Hassan Jameel followed her footsteps and got involved in a more serious relationship gossip: an engagement!

On Instagram, Hassan's alleged family member posted photos that fueled the engagement speculations.

The said user, who shares the last name as the Saudi billionaire, shared photos of an engagement celebration including a "Mr & Mrs" cakes with the words "She said yes" and "Will you marry me."

In the next image, it showed a dinner set decorated with "bride to be" balloons on the wall.

Since the user only tagged Hassan and a woman, it caused Rihanna and Hassan's fans to theorize that the woman is the 31-year-old businessman's fiancee.

Nicole Watson, the blonde woman who got tagged on the post, is not following Hassan on Instagram, but she is following Rihanna. She is allegedly connected with the Saudi tycoon on LinkedIn, and she is even following his art page.

The "Fiancee" Spoke The Truth

As soon as the rumors went viral, Nicole got the new nickname "Blonde Becky" from Rihanna's fans and received hate messages because of the news.

One fan wrote on her latest Instagram photo, "You'll never be like Rih and your old as f*** Becky."

"WE WANT RIHANNA AND HASSAN," another one commented.

However, Nicole clarified that the reports are fake and said that she is not familiar with Hassan. She took her dismay on her Instagram Stories and defended herself.

"Wow, being accused of breaking up the relationship of and getting engaged to someone I've never met is pretty extreme," Nicole wrote on her IG Story. "Do not believe everything you read on some weird post."

Good thing some of RiRi's fans stood up for their fandom and defended Nicole from the "immature" fans.

"Y'all making us look bad. Rihanna isn't proud of y'all. It's crazy how fake stories are believed nowadays. Y'all need to leave this woman alone," one fan said.

Another fan said they are sorry that she had to go through all those inconveniences. They also hope that she would soon gain her peace and privacy back after the issue.

Rihanna, Hassan Relationship Timeline

In 2017, the former couple started seeing each other but kept their relationship low-key.

Rihanna only spoke about him last year the night before her Vogue interview. The 31-year-old Savage x Fenty designer was spotted with her mother and Hassan at a restaurant in Santa Monica.

When asked if she is in a relationship, she admitted she is dating and is actually in an exclusive relationship with "someone."

Earlier in August, the couple was also caught having dinner in Beverly Hills. A month later, in November, Riri sparked breakup rumors through her Instagram account and revealed that she is dealing with personal struggles for the past few months.

Months later, the reported split happened. After which, The Sun reported that Rihanna rekindled her relationship with rapper A$AP Rocky, whom she had a romantic relationship with years ago before Hassan.

On Jan. 17, media people spotted the "old friends" getting cozy during the 2020 Yams Benefit Day Concert right after the pop star broke up with the 31-year-old Hassan.
04.02.2020 LISTEN

The Paramount Chief of Ziavi Traditional Area in the Volta Region, Togbe Koku Ayim, has expressed deep appreciation and gratitude to President Nana Akufo-Addo for granting Ziavi and its satellite towns, a traditional status, in 2018.

He said the move had not been an easy one, but it took the personal intervention of President Akufo-Addo and the Volta Regional House of Chiefs to attain the feat.

Togbe Koku Ayim made the acknowledgment last Sunday, at Ziavi Dzogbe, when he addressed a traditional council meeting made up of sub-chiefs, assembly members, and unit committee members.

The meeting was held to discuss preparations towards the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Dututudo Za Festival scheduled to take place on October 10, 2020, at Ziavi Dzogbe.

Togbe Koku Ayim IV said he and former Managing Director (MD) and Group CEO of Goil, Dutorfia Togbe Adja Nyi, would soon lead a 20-man delegation of chiefs and queens drawn from the Ziavi Traditional Area to the Jubilee House in Accra to thank the President for all that he had done for the people of the Ziavi Traditional Area.

In addition, he said the visit would also afford him the opportunity to formally invite President Akufo Addo to grace the 20th Dututudo Za Festival on October 10, 2020, at Ziavi Dzogbe.

He said it would be an additional high point for the people of the traditional area to have another sitting President of the Republic visit and grace the occasion.

He said the people of Ziavi Traditional Area, through self help, constructed an 18-unit three-storey classroom block for the Ziavi Technical Institute, which has enrolled a lot of natives and students from surrounding towns over the years.

Togbe Ayim said he would appeal to the President, during the visit, to absorb the Ziavi Technical Institute into schools under the Ghana Education Service, to relieve the strain and burden on Togbe Adja Nyi IV, the Dutorfia of Ziavi Dzogbe, who single handedly had been paying the salaries of the teachers and the school fees of most of the students who could not afford the fees.

Togbe Koku Ayim IV said he and his delegation would also appeal to the President to fund more development projects, including the establishment of cottage industries in the area to generate employment for the idle youth.

He asked people to disabuse their minds that, all the people from the Volta Region, are anti-NPP, adding that, it is the progress and development of the Ziavi Traditional Area that should be supreme.

The delegation, Togbe Ayim said, would include the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Archibald Letsa, and the Minister for Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr Kofi Dzameshie.

---Ghanaian Times
Sudbury, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2020) - Transition Metals Corp (TSXV: XTM) ("Transition", "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has staked 91 mining claims covering approximately 1,900 hectares, located east of Lake Nipigon in northwest Ontario. The property covers most of the Eva Kitto Intrusion, an early rift, mafic ultramafic body similar to those that host the Sunday Lake (Ontario), Thunder Bay North (Ontario), Tamarack (Minnesota) and Eagle (Michigan) nickel copper and platinum group (Ni-Cu-PGM) deposits.

CEO Scott McLean commented, "Robust Palladium and Rhodium metal prices have encouraged us to further expand our PGM portfolio. Eva Kitto is a known mineralized intrusion with a number of similarities to our Sunday Lake and Saturday Night projects located closer to Thunder Bay. The Company now has excellent leverage to the rising PGM market with a bundle of projects, share holdings of PGM focused companies and royalties."

Transition Shareholders have significant leverage to the PGM markets through:

25% free carried interest in the Sunday Lake PGM project currently being drilled by Implats Canada (see Company news release of January 20, 2020).

100% interest in the Saturday Night PGM project located 16 km west of Sunday Lake (see Company news release of January 23, 2017 and May 6, 2019).

100% interest in Eva Kitto PGM project (announced today).

100% interest in the Maude Lake PGM-Ni-Cu project (see Company news release of October 15, 2019).

100% interest in Raglan Hills PGM project located near Bancroft Ontario (see Company news release of January 25, 2016).

100% interest in the Revell PGM property located in northwestern Ontario (see Company news release of September 5, 2018).

15,000,000 shares of SPC Metals; a company focused on exploration of advanced PGM-Ni-Cu properties in the Sudbury Mining Camp.

1,529,000 shares of Class 1 Nickel and Technologies Inc; a company focused on exploring the PGM-rich Dundonald property near Timmins Ontario (see Company news release of April 15, 2019).

2.5% Net Smelter Return royalty on the PGM-rich Dundonald property.

About the Eva Kitto Intrusion

The Eva Kitto intrusion is one of the largest known Mesoproterozoic mafic to ultramafic intrusions associated with the Midcontinent Rift (MCR), similar in size to the footprint of other known magma conduits hosting word class Ni-Cu-PGM deposits. It is geochemically and temporally related to the earliest MCR magmatism, referred to as 'early-rift' type intrusions that host a number of recently discovered deposits including Sunday Lake deposit, discovered by Transition Metals in 2013 located approximately 150 km to the southwest of Eva Kitto (please refer to Figure 1). Transition holds a 25% carried interest in the Sunday Lake deposit which is currently being explored aggressively by one of North America's largest producers of palladium, Impala Canada Ltd. (Implats). With production facilities at Lac Des Illes located nearby, Implats has resumed drilling to test for additional high-grade PGM mineralization as follow-up to encouraging results obtained in 2019. Drilling in 2019 returned significant mineralization including hole SL-19-026 which returned 41.20 metres @ 5.51 g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3.22 g/t Pt, 2.08 g/t Pd, 0.21 g/t Au, 0.57 % Cu) (see Company news release of April 29, 2019).

At Eva Kitto, Ni-Cu-PGM mineralization was first discovered at the Phoenix Prospect by the OGS in 2001 where grab sampling returned up to 1.07 combined PGM's (Pt + Pd + Au). Between 2003 and 2012, mapping and prospecting, coverage of the property by fixed and helicopter borne magnetic and electromagnetic (EM) surveys, resulted in the completion of 9 diamond drill holes totaling 2,353 metres by companies including East West Resources, Kennecott Explorations Canada (Kennecott), Mega Uranium, and Rainy Mountain Royalties. From the limited data set, the base of the intrusion is interpreted to be mineralized over a broad area. Drilling by Kennecott in 2003 in the vicinity of the Phoenix Prospect returned elevated mineralization which assayed 0.28% Ni, 0.13% Cu and 563 parts per billion (ppb) Pt+Pd over 1.22 metres in hole 03EK-02. Drilling at other locations on the property encountered additional sulphide mineralization at the base of the intrusion as well as elevated PGM concentrations in a reef style environment developed higher in the intrusive stratigraphy. Despite these prospective indications, less than 1% of the intrusion has been explored as large portions of the system underlie and intrude rocks of the Beardmore Geraldton greenstone belt and barren Nipissing Gabbro.

Qualified Person

The technical elements of this press release have been approved by Mr. Greg Collins, P.Geo. (PGO), a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.

Transition Metals Corp

Transition Metals Corp (TSXV: XTM) is a Canadian-based, multi-commodity project generator that specializes in converting new exploration ideas into discoveries. The award-winning team of geoscientists has extensive exploration experience which actively develops and tests new ideas for discovering mineralization in places that others have not looked, often allowing the company to acquire properties inexpensively. Joint venture partners earn an interest in the projects by funding a portion of higher-risk drilling and exploration, allowing Transition to conserve capital and minimize shareholder's equity dilution.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Information

Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this news release constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "plans", "proposes", "estimates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "may", "will" and include without limitation, statements regarding estimated capital and operating costs, expected production timeline, benefits of updated development plans, foreign exchange assumptions and regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, metal prices, competition, risks inherent in the mining industry, and regulatory risks. Most of these factors are outside the control of the Company. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, the Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Further information is available at www.transitionmetalscorp.com or by contacting:

Scott McLean

President and CEO

Transition Metals Corp.

Tel: (705) 669-1777

Figure 1. Location Sketch





To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2766/52095_2e440f5364f3aa5e_002full.jpg

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52095
Receiving the Malaysian diplomat Dato Shariffah Mustaffa, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc lauded her contributions to Vietnam visit by the Malaysian Prime Minister in 2019.

He suggested that both sides continue stepping up high-level visits and exchanges, and expressed wishes to welcome Malaysian PM to Vietnam for the ASEAN Summit.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and Malaysian Ambassador Dato Shariffah Mustaffa (Photo: VNA)

The leader proposed the early signing of an action plan to realise bilateral strategic partnership for the 2020 - 2025 period, and suggested Malaysia limit trade barriers on Vietnamese goods, especially farm produce and Halal food for Muslims.

Lauding the two countries for being one of the top 10 trade partners of each other, he asked for lifting two-way trade from USD11.1 billion in 2019, equivalent to that in 2018.

He also expressed his delight at the launch of Vietnam Market in Kuala Lumpur scheduled for March.

The PM asked the ambassador to help simplify procedures to receive and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese workers in Malaysia.

The host urged Malaysia to continue facilitating the expansion of cooperation in the field of oil and gas exploration and exploitation, and technical oil and gas services.

Mustaffa, for her part, pledged to work to help hold the sixth meeting of the Vietnam  Malaysia joint committee this year, adding her country will do its best to support Vietnam during its ASEAN Chairmanship Year.

She thanked the Vietnamese government for providing all possible support for Malaysian firms in the country, and wished that both sides would boost coordination across food technology, Halal food, auto manufacturing, and aviation.

She agreed to work so as to help lift two-way trade further as the potential remains huge.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Armenian Ambassador Vahram Kazhoyan (L) (Photo: VNA)

During a reception for Armenian Ambassador Vahram Kazhoyan, PM Phuc wished to intensify ties with Armenia and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to which Armenia is a member.

According to him, the two countries should tap the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the EAEU to step up bilateral trade and investment, and in other fields.

The host proposed holding the second meeting of the Vietnam  Armenia Inter-Government Committee on an early date to reach consensus on measures further promoting bilateral ties.

He thanked Armenia for supporting Vietnams role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020  2021 tenure.

As ASEAN Chair 2020, Vietnam is ready to serve as a bridge between ASEAN and Armenia, he said.

Kazhoyan, for his part, suggested both sides hold a business forum to boost trade and investment.

He described 1,000 Vietnamese students in Armenia as a bridge to bolster bilateral ties, and proposed boosting cultural exchange and tourism link, given that more and more Armenians will travel to Vietnam./.
Director General of the State Tretyakov Gallery Zelfira Tregulova, speaking to the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, said that next year the museum plans to organize an exhibition of famous artist Tahir Salakhov in Venice in collaboration with the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.



"We look forward to organizing an exhibition of great artist Tahir Salakhov with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation as part of the Venice Biennale 2021 at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, which hosted the exhibition of Gely Korzhev last year," Zelfira Tregulova said.

"When all the representatives of modern museums and galleries, all artists gather in Venice, its very important to show what is serious, deep and interesting for us. It is no coincidence that the exhibition of Tahir Salakhov was one of the first projects that I proposed in the museum. Perhaps this was my first project at the Tretyakov Gallery," the director general of the museum drew attention.



"I hope that this exhibition will be given no less attention than the exhibition of Gely Korzhev. These two artists both participated in the biennale in the early 60s. At Korzhev's exhibition, all the documentation and photographs about this event were presented, we even made the 3D model of the Soviet pavilion. Then Korzhev and Salakhov were very young artists, under 35 years of age," Zelfira Tregulova said.
(CNN)  After a monthslong battle with brain and spinal cancer, 4-month-old Lillian Grace finally rang the "cancer-free" bell at the hospital  and the moment, posted on Facebook by Lily's mom, pulls at the heartstrings.

September 5, 2019, couldn't have been a more exciting and life-changing day for Leann and Patrick Borden of Reno, Nevada. They were at the hospital for the birth of their first baby  a daughter who would be named Lillian Grace.

But when Lily was born, a nurse noticed the baby's limbs weren't moving.

"She came out paralyzed, pretty much," Leann Borden told CNN. "Her limbs weren't moving like they should and that's what caused curiosity, like something's not right. So after she was born, one nurse was checking her out, and then all of a sudden, five nurses were in the hospital room."

Multiple tests were done while Lily lay in the neonatal intensive care unit, but nothing showed that anything was abnormal. The moment she was about to be sent home, another doctor ordered an MRI.

"And there it was  an ominous spot on her brain stem," according to the family's GoFundMe page.

After days of testing and anxious waiting, the Bordens finally learned their daughter was born with a tumor on her brain stem. By the time of the next MRI, the tumor had grown and moved down her spinal cord to below her shoulders. A biopsy revealed the tumor was a stage 3-4 glioma brain tumor.

"I was devastated. I think maybe as a woman, as the mom, because you're the one carrying the kid, you feel a lot of guilt. You're like, 'What did I do to cause this?' And for (the doctors) to look at you and say, 'It's just bad luck,' I think that devastates me even more because you can't even blame yourself," Borden said.

Lily underwent emergency surgery as the tumor cut off her airway. Then she went through targeted chemotherapy. While the harsh treatment is difficult even for adults, Borden said Lily handled it like a "rock star."

After weeks of chemotherapy at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in Oakland, California, Lily was finally declared cancer-free in January. With the help of her mom, Lily's small hand rang the bell January 25, signaling the successful end to her cancer treatment.

"We are so thankful for everything you guys have done," Borden said to hospital staff in the video. "We would have lost everything in this journey and you guys are absolutely incredible."

As for Lily's future, Borden said she just hopes her daughter will grow up healthy and shares her survival story with others.

"I hope that (Lily) shares her story, to let people know that there is hope," she said. "I hope she inspires other people to keep fighting the good fight and to not give up."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "After a tough battle with brain cancer, a 4-month-old rang the 'cancer-free' bell in emotional video"
A female glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca) will shine for hours to attract her mate, yet brightening skies will dim her prospects. Photo: Jason Steel

By Mike Silver

3 February 2020

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Massachusetts (Tufts Now)  Habitat loss, pesticide use and, surprisingly, artificial light are the three most serious threats endangering fireflies across the globe, raising the spectre of extinction for certain species and related impacts on biodiversity and ecotourism, according to a Tufts University-led team of biologists associated with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Fireflies belong to a widespread and economically important insect group, with more than 2,000 different species spread out across the globe. To better understand what threats are faced by fireflies, the team led by Sara Lewis, professor of biology at Tufts University, surveyed firefly experts around the world to size up the most prominent threats to survivial for their local species.

Their perspective piece, published today in Bioscience, sounds a warning bell about the insects future, highlighting specific threats and the vulnerability of different species across geographical regions.

Geographic variation in scores for the four most serious threats to fireflies (bars show mean + one standard error, 05 scale) as reported by 49 respondents surveyed in JanuaryFebruary 2019. Graphic: Lewis, et al., 2020 / Bioscience

According to survey respondents, habitat loss is the most most critical threat to firefly survival in most geoographic regions, followed by light pollution and pesticide use.

Lots of wildlife species are declining because their habitat is shrinking, said Lewis so it wasnt a huge surprise that habitat loss was considered the biggest threat. Some fireflies get hit especially hard when their habitat disappears because they need special conditions to complete their life cycle. For instance, one Malaysian firefly [Pteroptyx tener], famous for its synchronized flash displays, is a mangrove specialist. As reported in the article, previous work has revealed drastic declines in this species following conversion of their mangrove habitat to palm oil plantations and aquaculture farms.

One surprising result that emerged from the survey was that, globally, light pollution was regarded as the second most serious threat to fireflies.

Artificial light at night has grown exponentially during the last century. In addition to disrupting natural biorhythms  including our own  light pollution really messes up firefly mating rituals, explained Avalon Owens, Ph.D. candidate in biology at Tufts and a co-author on the study. Many fireflies rely on bioluminescence to find and attract their mates, and previous work has shown that too much artificial light can interfere with these courtship exchanges. Switching to energy efficient, overly bright LEDs is not helping. Brighter isnt necessarily better, says Owens.

Among the top threats to fireflies globally are habitat loss and artificial light at night. (a) In Malaysia, clearing of riverbank mangroves along the Selangor River for agriculture and aquaculture destroys display trees used by Pteroptyx adults for courtship, and disturbs larval habitat (photograph: Laurence Kirton). (b) In Delaware, residential development threatens declining populations of Photuris bethaniensis that are restricted to interdunal freshwater swales. (c) Global map of ALAN based on 2006 satellite data, colors indicate ratio of artificial to natural sky brightness: yellow represents 13 times brighter, orange represents 39 times brighter, red represents 927 times brighter. Map by David Lorenz. Graphic: Lewis, et al., 2020 / Bioscience

Firefly experts viewed the widespread agricultural use of pesticides as another key threat to firefly survival.

Most insecticide exposure occurs during larval stages, because juvenile fireflies spend up to two years living below ground or under water. Insecticides such as organophosphates and neonicotinoids are designed to kill pests, yet they also have off-target effects on beneficial insects. While more research is needed, the evidence shows that many commonly used insecticides are harmful to fireflies.

A few studies have quantified firefly population declines, such as those seen in the tourist-attracting synchronous fireflies of Malaysia, and the glowworm Lampyris noctiluca in England. And numerous anecdotal reports suggest that many other firefly species across a wide range of habitats have also suffered recent declines. However, Lewis points out, we really need better long-term data about firefly population trends  this is a place where citizen science efforts like Massachusetts Audubons Firefly Watch project can really help.

The researchers also highlight risk factors that allow them to predict which species will be most vulnerable when faced with threats like habitat loss or light pollution. For instance, females of the Appalachian blue ghost firefly [Phausis reticulata] are flightless. So when their habitat disappears, they cant just pick up and move somewhere else, explains co-author J. Michael Reed, professor of biology at Tufts. Yet the researchers remain optimistic about fireflies future. Here in the U.S., were fortunate to have some robust species like the Big Dipper fireflies [Photinus pyralis], notes Lewis. Those guys can survive pretty much anywhere and theyre beautiful, too.

Fireflies in Smoky Mountains National Park. Photo: Radim Schreiber

By illuminating these threats and evaluating the conservation status of firefly species around the world, researchers aim to preserve the magical lights of fireflies for future generations to enjoy. Our goal is to make this knowledge available for land managers, policy makers, and firefly fans everywhere, says co-author Sonny Wong of the Malaysian Nature Society. We want to keep fireflies lighting up our nights for a long, long time.

All authors of the study are affiliated with the IUCN SSC Firefly Specialist Group, and include: Choong Hay Wong, co-chair and conservation officer at the Malaysian Nature Society; Candace Fallon and Sarina Jepsen, conservation biologists at Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation; Anchana Thancaroen, associate professor of entomology at Kasetsart University (Bangkok); Chiahsiung Wu, lecturer at National Taiwan University; Raphael De Cock, associate researcher, University of Antwerp; Martin Novak, researcher, University of Life Sciences (Prague); Tania Lopez-Palafox, graduate student at the Institute of Ecology, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico; and Veronica Khoo, researcher at Forest Research Institute of Malaysia.

Lewis, S.M., Wong, C.H., Owens, A.C.S., Fallon, C., Jepsen, S., Thancharoen, A., Wu, C., De Cock, R., Novak, M., Lopez-Palafox, T., Khoo, V., and Reed, J.M. A Global Perspective on Firefly Extinction Threats Bioscience (3 February 2020); DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biz157

Lights out? Fireflies face extinction threats of habitat loss, light pollution, pesticides

A Global Perspective on Firefly Extinction Threats

ABSTRACT: Insect declines and their drivers have attracted considerable recent attention. Fireflies and glowworms are iconic insects whose conspicuous bioluminescent courtship displays carry unique cultural significance, giving them economic value as ecotourist attractions. Despite evidence of declines, a comprehensive review of the conservation status and threats facing the approximately 2000 firefly species worldwide is lacking. We conducted a survey of experts from diverse geographic regions to identify the most prominent perceived threats to firefly population and species persistence. Habitat loss, light pollution, and pesticide use were regarded as the most serious threats, although rankings differed substantially across regions. Our survey results accompany a comprehensive review of current evidence concerning the impact of these stressors on firefly populations. We also discuss risk factors likely to increase the vulnerability of certain species to particular threats. Finally, we highlight the need to establish monitoring programs to track long-term population trends for at-risk firefly taxa.

A Global Perspective on Firefly Extinction Threats
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AIB has set aside a further 300m to deal with the tracker mortgage scandal.

The move comes after a decision by the Financial Ombudsman which has yet to be published. It brings the total fund for tracker mortgages at the bank to 570m.

AIB said that following "a preliminary decision issued by the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman" that the board "understands that redress may be due to a previously identified group of customers who had an option of a prevailing tracker rate".

The statement added that the board "recognises that there is a range of possible outcomes and has created a provision of 300m which will be taken in full-year 2019 financial results.

"The Board also recognises it is in the interests of the Group, our customers and our other stakeholders to bring this matter to a resolution and discussions are ongoing with the Central Bank of Ireland with regard to potential appropriate treatment of this group of customers.

"The Board expects to propose an ordinary dividend in line with our approach of between 40-60% of attributable earnings, subject to regulatory approval.

"The Group maintains a capital position above regulatory capital requirements and will record a CET1 ratio in excess of 16% at 31 December 2019."

The bank said that they will announce full year 2019 financial results on March 6.

Last year,

Read More:

The fine comes "in respect of serious failings to 2,007 tracker mortgage customer accounts which were impacted for the period between August 2004 and October 2018," according to the Central Bank.

This fine was the largest imposed to date by the Central Bank under the Administrative Sanctions Procedure.
Update: The Attorney General's Office is said to be examining legal arguments that claim delaying the General Election vote in Tipperary may be unconstitutional.

It comes after the death of Independent candidate Marese Skehan in the constituency on Monday.

As a result James Seymour, returning officer for Tipperary, announced last night that the poll on Saturday would be postponed.

However, RTE News has reported that the decision is being reviewed after a threat of legal action from Independent candidate Mattie McGrath.

The Constitution holds that an election has to happen within 30 days of the dissolution of the Dail, meaning the poll in Tipperary could not be delayed until February 29, as initially thought.

For the vote to take place this Saturday, the Minister for Local Government would have to sign an order.

Earlier: Tipperary General Election candidate Marese Skehan to be laid to rest on Thursday

Tipperary General Election candidate Marese Skehan who was found dead in her home on Monday is to be laid to rest on Thursday.

Ms Skehan was a member of the highly respected and well known Skehan family who were farmers and owned a pub in Thurles.

She had clashed with the Catholic Church on many occasions in her bid to have women ordained to the priesthood and had protested at the Churches stance on many occasions.

Ms Skehan, was a home help co-ordinator with Thurles Community Social Services, Mid-Western Health Board and HSE since 1982 and had been due to attend an open meeting with the candidates in the Anner Hotel in Thurles on Monday evening alongside others on the ballot paper.

As a result the meeting was cancelled.

Ms Skehan, is survived by her brothers Jim, Gerard, Fr William, sisters Hilary, Kay and Michelle, sisters-in-law Margaret and Betty, brothers-in-law Sean and Liam and aunt Phillis. She is predeceased by her parents Liam and Mai.

She will be reposing at Hugh Ryans funeral home, Slievenamon Road in Thurles on Wednesday from 5pm to 7pm. Ms Skehans funeral service will be held at the funeral home at 10am with burial afterwards in St Patricks cemetery.

The Independent candidate from Thurles, Co Tipperary, was described by locals as a lady who was determined to stand up for the values she believed in.

The family have asked that donations instead of flowers be made to Thurles Meals on Wheels.

Her death has resulted in General Election voting on Saturday being postponed until at the earliest February 29. Legalities around the naming of the new date to allow voting to be carried out in the county to determine the five-seat constituency are still being determined.

James Seymour, returning officer for Tipperary, announced last night: "I hereby give notice that I am countermanding (revoking), with immediate effect, the poll scheduled to take place in the constituency of Tipperary on Saturday 8th February 2020, following the death of the nominated candidate, Marese Skehan of Cabra Road, Thurles, Co Tipperary.

I hereby give notice that all acts done in connection with the election (other than the nomination of the surviving candidates) are void and that a fresh election will be held (date to be confirmed by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government), according to Mr Seymour.

He added that following the news Ms Skehan's death he "had to notify the Minister for Housing Planning and Local Government and also the clerk of the Dail, which he did on Monday night.
Waukegans Criminal Investigations Division (CID) was immediately brought into the case based on the seriousness of the injuries on the first day, according to police. Grandison was taken into custody and appeared in bond court Friday, and he is scheduled for a court appearance on Feb. 14, according to a police statement.
Poland's president on Tuesday signed into law controversial legislation aimed at disciplining judges who question government judicial reforms that the European Union says are out of step with the rule of law.

Poland's human rights commissioner and opposition politicians immediately criticised the move as undermining judicial independence, calling it a first step in the direction of a "Polexit" out of the EU's legal order.

Spokesman Blazej Spychalski told Poland's PAP agency that President Andrzej Duda had signed the amendment that critics, including Poland's Supreme Court Justice Malgorzata Gersdorf, have dubbed a "muzzle law".

The amendment allows the disciplining of judges "whose public activities are incompatible with the principles of the independence of the courts and the independence of judges."



Drafted by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party and pushed through parliament by its lawmakers, the measure has been widely criticised by the European Commission and top European legal bodies as undermining judicial independence.

Judges from nearly all EU members joined hundreds of their Polish colleagues in Warsaw last month in an unprecedented street protest against moves to discipline judges and so to effectively gag critical magistrates.

Liberal presidential candidate Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska, Duda's main rival in this May's presidential election, said on Tuesday that the new law was "removing Poland from Europe's legal system".

This was echoed by Adam Bodnar, Poland's human rights commissioner.

"Today Poland has taken a huge step towards legal Polexit," tweeted Bodnar, adding that it was "a sad day for Poland, the EU, the rule of law and the legal security of citizens."



Since taking office in 2015, the PiS has introduced a slew of controversial judicial reforms that it insists are designed to tackle corruption.

But critics, including top European judicial bodies, argue they undermine the rule of law, so threatening Poland's democracy.

In late 2017, the EU launched unprecedented proceedings against Poland over "systemic threats" posed by the reforms to the rule of law that could see its EU voting rights suspended.

Duda signed the law just hours after visiting French President Emmanuel Macron warned Poland against undermining European values and rules.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A well-known Sydney criminal lawyer, accused of perverting the course of justice over a $700,000 bag of cash, has won an appeal allowing him to delay his trial for the third time in three years.

The key prosecution witness will now have to be returned to jail in the United States before the trial of Michael Croke begins.

Mr Croke has pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice, giving police false information and knowingly or recklessly helping a criminal group.

Lawyer Michael Anthony Croke leaves the Downing Centre Local Court on Monday. Credit:AAP

The matter relates to a bag containing $700,000 in cash that was seized from a person staying in Sydneys upmarket Hilton Hotel in August 2011. The Crown case is that Mr Croke assisted a criminal group in their attempts to convince the police that the money was from a legitimate source.
Chinese state media outlets have urged investors not to panic after mainland markets plunged on Monday amid concerns over the spread of a new coronavirus.

Monday was the first trading day for mainland Chinese markets, after the government extended the Lunar New Year closure for financial markets in a bid to stem the spread of the virus. The Shanghai composite closed 7.72% lower, while the Shenzhen component and Shenzhen composite dropped 8.45% and 8.41%, respectively.

Government-backed Securities Times said in an op-ed on Tuesday that it's normal to see large fluctuations in markets following major events that occur suddenly, according to CNBC's translation of the Chinese-language text.

"Historically, there have been many events that caused panic such as the Sept. 11 terror attacks and SARS outbreak  but they eventually proved to be a one-time impact on markets," said the op-ed.

The new mysterious coronavirus has killed more than 420 people so far  majority of them in China. More than 20,000 cases in the country were confirmed by the end of Monday, according to China's National Health Commission.

Another state-affiliated media, China Securities Journal, said in an op-ed on Tuesday that the market decline is a "black swan" event that will not alter China's long-term fundamentals, according to CNBC's translation of the Chinese-language text.

The paper added that most of the negative economic impact from the virus outbreak will be felt in the first quarter. But the Chinese economy could stabilize after that with support from government, it said in the op-ed.

"Looking at the longer term ... there's no need to overestimate the impact of black swan events  such as a sudden public health threat  on the financial markets," it said.
Slezak for the first time this year the first four attempts to count people will be made online. Only after that will contact efforts by mail or through door-to-door efforts be used. She said older people may not be comfortable using online communications.
Saturday Sunday lockdown in Delhi: Know timings, guidelines, rules, What is allowed, what is not allowed

DDMA orders DMs to number all shops within 24 hours as odd-even rule being violated in markets

Family of Shaheen Bagh shooter Kapil Baisala refutes claim

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Feb 04: Kapil Baisala who opened fire at the Shaheen Bagh protest site last week is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), police said on Tuesday, sparking a war of words between the BJP and the AAP.

While the BJP accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of "playing" with the security of the country, the AAP hit back, stating the saffron party was indulging "dirty politics".

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Rajesh Deo said that Baisala and his father joined the AAP in early 2019. Baisala's family, however, refuted the police's claim.

Kapil Baisala's uncle Fatesh Singh told PTI, "I have no idea where these photographs are circulating from. My nephew Kapil had no association with any political party nor does any other member from the family. My brother, Gaje Singh, (Baisala's father) fought assembly elections in 2008 on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket and lost. After that, no one from our family had any links with any political party."

Singh added that Baisala also doesn't have friends associated with the AAP or any other political party. Gaje had also contested the 2012 civic body polls from the BSP, the police said.

The police officer said they seized Baisala's mobile phone and retrieved WhatsApp data. On Saturday, Baisala fired two rounds in air at Shaheen Bagh. According to eyewitnesses, the man shouted "Hindu Rashtra Zindabad" and fired two rounds.

He was overpowered by the police and later arrested. In the pictures, it was seen that he and his father joined the party in the presence of Atishi Marlena, Sanjay Singh and other leaders, sources said.

The police said on Thursday, Baisala, along with his friend Sarthak Larolla, went to Shaheen Bagh from his village on a bike. Through CCTV footage, it was found they took the DND flyover, Maharani Bagh, Sarai Jullena and reached Holy Family hospital, a senior police officer said.

"Baisala was not comfortable on the bike as he had hidden the pistol near his waist. They entered the hospital's parking where he adjusted the pistol, used the washroom and headed towards Shaheen Bagh," the senior official added.

When they reached the protest site, Larolla left the spot with the motorcycle and Baisala's mobile phone. Later, Baisala fired two rounds in the air and was apprehended.

The weapon was recovered from near the spot, the police said. Larolla joined the investigation and the mobile phone was seized from his residence.

Baisala has been remanded to police remand for two days. He had bought the pistol around seven years ago for his brother's marriage.

Second shooter at Shaheen Bagh, has Muslim friends, not radical says family

The source of the weapon from where he procured it is yet to identified, police said. The sources said Baisala was previously also involved in firing incident but was never caught nor was a case registered against him.

Hitting out at the AAP, BJP president J P Nadda accused Kejriwal of playing with the security of the country and said that the people will give the party a befitting reply.

"I want to make clear to Kejriwal that this country is bigger than any election, any government, and the country will not forgive those who play with its security. The people of Delhi will give a befitting reply," Nadda tweeted.

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh asked on whose directions was the Delhi Police accusing his party.

"Before the police revealed it (Baisala being an AAP member), how did BJP's Delhi president Manoj Tiwari come to know about it," Singh asked and accused the police of maligning the party.
"When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law 55 years ago, America was in the midst of a healthcare crisis with 56% of seniors lacking healthcare. Today, we continue to have a crisis with 29 million uninsured Americans. Glucophage, a diabetes medication, costs $3 in Mumbai, $17 in Dubai, and $109 in San Jose! Over the past two decades, the opioid crisis killed thousands of people while pharmaceutical companies raked in the profits. Meanwhile, many American families are just one medical emergency away from bankruptcy.

"Our healthcare system is run by greed. Now is the time to fight for the healthcare rights of the American people. It's time to pass legislation that American families need and deserve. Medicare for All has tremendous support in Congress: Representative Jayapal's House bill H.R 1384 currently has 118 co-sponsors."

However, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo does not support Medicare for All. (H.R. 1384) The pharmaceutical industry has given over $43M to politicians to oppose Medicare for All. Congresswoman Eshoo is in fact the #1 recipient of Pharma money in United States Congress.

"Anna Eshoo's record on drug prices is terrible, and the reason why is obvious. She's taken enormous sums of money from drug corporations, and she does their bidding in Washington." -- David Mitchell, founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Action

Rishi Kumar supports Medicare for All, and has pledged to NEVER accept PAC money or Special Interest Group money. "American families deserve quality, affordable health care. That's why I pledge as your congressman to fight for your needs above those of Big Pharma. I am the only candidate in the race who has taken the No Health Industry PAC Pledge. I will continue to prioritize the health of the American people over the profits of the pharmaceutical industry."

*Rishi Kumar, a progressive capitalist, is running for U.S Congress from Silicon Valley CA-18 challenging Rep. Anna Eshoo in the March 3rd, 2020 open top-2 primary election. Currently a hi-tech executive, councilmember of Saratoga, CA, and executive board member of the California Democratic Party (AD28), Rishi is the only Democrat in this race who has pledged to reject PAC money and Special Interest Group campaign money.

SOURCE Rishi Kumar for Congress 2020

Related Links

www.rishikumar.com



Do these actions rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors necessary to justify the most obviously anti-democratic act the Senate can engage in  overturning an election by convicting the president? In 1999, then-Sen. Joe Biden answered his own question by voting against removing President Bill Clinton from office.

It is this constitutionally grounded framework  articulated well by Biden  that guided my review of President Donald Trumps impeachment and, ultimately, my decision to oppose his removal.

House Democrats impeachment articles allege that President Trump briefly paused aid, and withheld a White House meeting with Ukraines president, to pressure Ukraine into investigating two publicly reported corruption matters. The first matter was possible Ukrainian interference in our 2016 election. The second was Bidens role in firing the controversial Ukrainian prosecutor investigating a company on whose board Bidens son sat. When House Democrats demanded witnesses and documents concerning the presidents conduct, he invoked constitutional rights and resisted their demands.

The presidents actions were not perfect. Some were inappropriate. But the question before the Senate is not whether his actions were perfect. It is whether they constitute impeachable offenses that justify removing a sitting president from office for the first time and forbidding him from seeking office again.

 READ MORE: Trump impeachment trial closing arguments aim at voters, history

Lets consider the case against President Trump: obstruction of Congress and abuse of power. On obstruction, House Democrats allege the president lacked lawful cause or excuse to resist their subpoenas. This ignores that his resistance was based on constitutionally grounded legal defenses and immunities that are consistent with long-standing positions taken by administrations of both parties. Instead of negotiating a resolution or litigating in court, House Democrats rushed to impeach. But as House Democrats noted during the Clinton impeachment, a presidents defense of his legal and constitutional rights and responsibilities is not an impeachable offense.

House Democrats separately allege President Trump abused his power by conditioning a White House meeting, and the release of aid, on Ukraine agreeing to pursue corruption investigations. Their case rests entirely on the faulty claim that the only possible motive for his actions was his personal political gain. In fact, there are also legitimate national interests for seeking investigations into apparent corruption, especially when taxpayer dollars are involved.

 READ MORE: State of the Union 2020: Everything you need to know to watch Trumps speech

Here is what ultimately occurred: President Trump met with Ukraines president and the aid was released after a brief pause. These actions happened without Ukraine announcing or conducting investigations. The idea that President Trump committed an impeachable offense by meeting with Ukraines president at the United Nations in New York instead of Washington, D.C. is absurd. Moreover, the pause in aid did not hinder Ukraines ability to combat Russia. In fact, as witnesses in the House stated, U.S. policy supporting Ukraine is stronger under President Trump than under President Barack Obama.

Even if House Democrats presumptions about President Trumps motives are true, additional witnesses in the Senate, beyond the 17 who testified in the House, are unnecessary because the presidents actions do not rise to the level of removing him from office. Nor do they warrant the societal upheaval that would result from his removal from office and the ballot months before an election. Our country is already far too divided, and this would only make matters worse.

As Biden also stated during President Clintons trial, the Constitution sets the bar for impeachment very high. A president can only be impeached and removed for Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. While theres debate about the precise meaning of other high Crimes and Misdemeanors, its clear that impeachable conduct must be comparable to the serious offenses of treason and bribery.

The Constitution sets the impeachment bar so high for good reasons. Removing a president from office, and forbidding him from seeking future office, overturns the results of the last election and denies Americans the right to vote for him in the next one. The Senates impeachment power essentially allows 67 senators to substitute their judgment for the judgment of millions of Americans.

The framework Biden articulated in 1999 for judging an impeachment was right then, and it is right now. President Trumps conduct does not meet the very high bar required to justify overturning the election, removing him from office, and kicking him off the ballot in an election that has already begun. In November, the American people will decide for themselves whether President Trump should stay in office. In our democratic system, thats the way it should be.

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey is a Republican from Pennsylvania.
Fines for even one day of lapsed car insurance will be $200, according to Cleburne County officials.

During the monthly work session of the Cleburne County Commission Monday night, Ryan Robertson, probate judge and commission chairman, informed the commission that the state is tightening fines for motorists who let their car insurance lapse even a single day.

Robertson said the fine for insurance coverage lapse for just for one day is $200.

We of course have to administer that and we get 15 percent, which is $30 ... it takes up time and people who switch from Progressive to Geico or Geico to Progressive, sometimes they will lose a day and it costs them an extra $200 and these people are mad at me, said Robertson.

He said that the $200 per vehicle fine is a little steep, especially for individuals who own multiple vehicles.

If the vehicle was parked and not being driven there was a lot more leniency and the probate office, could almost take their word for it, he said.

Its just a mess. We can explain all day long, Hey, this is the state, but theyre looking at me, he said.

Robertson said he hopes to put the new stringent insurance requirements on the county website to alert motorists.

Today a customer had to pay $400, Robertson said.
Struggling to adopt a new byzantine process of tabulating results, Iowa Democrats offered little explanation for the problem for hours after the caucuses began

Des Moines, Iowa: A night that was supposed to bring clarity to the Democratic presidential contest turned into a long ordeal of confusion and delays Monday, as the Iowa Democratic Party failed to report results from more than a handful of precincts for hours after the states famed caucuses began.

Struggling to adopt a new byzantine process of tabulating results, Iowa Democrats offered little explanation for the problem for hours after the caucuses began. Eventually, not long before midnight on the East Coast, a spokeswoman for the state party said there was no issue with the integrity of the vote but it was taking longer than anticipated to collect and check the reported data for irregularities.

This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion, said Mandy McClure, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Democratic Party. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.

In the absence of hard results, election watchers in Iowa and across the country who had eagerly been awaiting the start of the Democratic nominating process had to make do with televised snippets of scenes from caucus sites, many of them playing out in messy fashion on college campuses and local meeting halls and gymnasiums.

By 10.15 pm Central time (9.45 am IST), the Iowa Democratic Party acknowledged in an emergency conference call with representatives for the candidates that there had been difficulties with the tabulation, according to a senior official with one of the campaigns.

While precinct captains across the state struggled to report the results, first with the app and then after calling and waiting on hold, the campaigns vented quiet fury at the lack of clarity about the outcome in a contest most of them had spent hundreds of days and millions of dollars to win.

As the throng of candidates waited for the results, none ready to declare victory or concede defeat, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, an underdog in the caucuses, finally broke the silence before a crowd of supporters in downtown Des Moines.

Briefly noting the delays, Klobuchar declared, We do know one thing: We are punching above our weight. With her actual standing in the caucuses unknown, she said she would be headed to New Hampshire soon to continue campaigning there.

This was not the first caucus  a process staffed by volunteers at more than 1,600 precincts across the state  that did not produce clear results on the night of the vote.

Four years ago, Hillary Clintons narrow victory over Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont was not clear until early the next morning after delays in reporting results. And in 2012, Republican state party officials declared a split decision only to reveal more than two weeks later that former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania had narrowly won, a delay that robbed him of momentum he could have taken into New Hampshire.

But for the leading Democratic campaigns this year, Iowa remained a prize well worth winning: After a year of trying to differentiate themselves in what began as a sprawling field, each candidate hoped that finishing well here would encourage Democratic voters to see him or her as a strong general-election challenger for President Donald Trump.

Even as Democratic voters were united chiefly by a ravenous hunger to oust Trump, many Iowans went to register the first verdict of 2020 still undecided or convinced more of the risk of the candidate they opposed than of the promise of the one they ultimately backed.

Democrats here and beyond are deeply divided along generational lines, with Sanders building deep support among millennials, former vice-president Joe Biden appealing to those over 65 and each drawing sharp opposition from those voters in the opposite demographic.

As revealing was the chasm between Iowa progressives, who sided with Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and more moderate voters who backed Biden, Klobuchar and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana.

Those five candidates, along with businessman Andrew Yang and California billionaire Tom Steyer, were putting forth competitive efforts in the state.

A pre-caucus survey conducted for The Associated Press found that a majority of voters participating in the Iowa contest were female, a slight majority had graduated from college and about two-thirds were over age 45. Notably, in a contest in which voters have been divided by age, 34 percent of caucusgoers were over 55.

And in a reflection of how little Iowas demographics resemble those of the nation, nine in 10 respondents in the survey were white.

The survey found the caucus-going electorate ideologically divided, with somewhat more moderates than liberals. But there was near unanimity that it was important to nominate someone who could defeat Trump.

The candidates made their final pitches throughout the day Monday, with an undercurrent of urgency that Iowa would be a critical test of their viability going forward. Everything comes down to today, said Buttigieg, 38, as he spoke to a crowd in West Des Moines. All of the dates, all of the appearances, all of the conversations with friends and neighbours.

Buttigieg, accustomed to speaking to large crowds during the final days of his Iowa effort, admitted that he was not quite sure what to say to his supporters, who included a few babies and dozens of people who had travelled from out of state to provide a last lift for his campaign.

He said he had no regrets about how his Iowa campaign had gone. Im looking at you and counting on you to put us over the top, he said, and I can tell that youre ready to make it happen.

This state helped catapult Barack Obama to the Democratic nomination in 2008, but it has not always been so prescient. Representative Richard Gephardt of Missouri triumphed in the Democratic caucuses in 1988 but did not capture the nomination, and the past three Republican standard-bearers failed to win here but went on to win the nomination.

Still, the caucuses offered a first indication of Democratic voters preferences after an unusually unsettled primary season, defined mainly by voters angst and indecision about finding a strong challenger for Trump. The diffuse nature of the Democratic field has already given rise to temporary surges by several candidates  including Warren, Buttigieg and Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who dropped out of the race in December  and drew two late entrants from the partys moderate wing, Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, and Deval Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts.

At the heart of the partys schism is a debate over whether Democrats are more likely to defeat Trump by appealing to the electoral middle, nominating a pragmatist of the sort who helped them prevail in the 2018 elections, or by elevating a progressive who can galvanise some of the young and nonwhite voters who sat out the 2016 General Election.

Even before the caucuses got underway Monday evening, Buttigieg offered a warning about deviating from the partys midterm formula.

Pointing to the largely moderate class of freshman Democrats in Congress, Buttigieg said there was a lot of concern in their ranks about running with Sanders. Look at how we actually took the House, he said of 2018.

Jill Biden, the former second lady, pressed that case in a television interview Monday morning, warning that voters dont want somebody too far Left, too far Right. She did not attack Sanders but made plain her skepticism about the wisdom of nominating a candidate like him.

I think that people who may have voted for Trump or are on the fence, theyre going to go for Biden, she said on CNN.

Yet Sanders, in his final appeals to Iowa Democrats, said that the party would tempt another presidential defeat if it did not nominate a candidate who could excite the partys base. If it is a low turnout election, Trump will win, he warned over the weekend.

Iowa voters have always liked to carefully weigh their choices and decide whom to support only near the end of the campaign. But the partys all-consuming angst over which candidate represented the best chance to defeat Trump made for an even more agonising decision this year.

Just two weeks before the caucuses, a New York Times-Siena College poll indicated that nearly 40 percent of Democratic voters here were undecided or willing to change their minds.

And while all of the leading candidates had their ardent supporters, many Iowa voters seemed even more passionate when discussing those contenders they were most opposed to the party putting forward this fall.

As he has since he was sworn in three years ago, Trump could ultimately prove to be the most powerful force for Democratic unity.

But that prospect seems elusive now and may grow only more difficult over a long primary race. After New Hampshire, a larger and more diverse array of states will cast ballots that may further highlight the partys generational, ideological and racial divisions.

The Democrats left flank has been emboldened by the demagogy of Trump and all but assures Sanders a small-dollar fundraising well he can return to across a 50-state race. To many of Sanders younger supporters, the idea of surrendering to an establishment figure eager to find consensus, like Biden, is barely more appealing than reelecting Trump.

Of all the candidates, none may have a more fraught relationship with Iowa than Biden, whose last attempt at the presidency in 2008 disintegrated after a dismal finish here. In the 2020 race, Biden for months took an ambivalent approach to the state, seeming wary of an all-out push that would raise expectations for him to win outright. But he took a more decisive stance by late fall, deploying senior aides to the state and approving the creation of a super PAC that has devoted millions of dollars to television advertising here.

Over the last weekend of the race, Biden kept pace with his rivals television advertising only as a result of super PAC spending. His campaign was far outspent on the airwaves by every major rival and a few lower-profile ones, including Yang and Steyer.

The former vice-president has been a far from commanding presence on the stump, often drawing modest crowds and several times losing his temper with voters and reporters in outbursts that drew wide notice. In the final weeks of the Iowa race, his allies in the state conceded that his operation on the ground fell far short the machinery his leading opponents had put in place.

With Biden unable to take control  and Sanders showing few signs of momentum for most of past year  there was ample open space for other Democrats to make their cases to Iowans.

Warren has appeared to be a resilient force in Iowa, even amid her shifting fortunes at the national level. But her strength has been sorely tested by Sanders recovery here, given their overlapping bases on the populist left.

In the closing weeks of the campaign, Warren shifted her political strategy, taking a more direct approach to talking about the subjects of electability and gender, and branding herself in television ads as the candidate best positioned to unite the party.

Women win, Warren told supporters on a conference call Monday morning, in a refrain she has used frequently over the past month.

Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin c.2020 The New York Times Company
The Montana Republican Party issued a statement Saturday censuring Garcias comments. When Garcia spoke Friday there was laughter after his question; some of those asked by a reporter about it said it was a response to an uncomfortable situation.

Garcia said that party leadership didn't confront him Friday after the remarks.

"I'm getting my head so big from people saying, 'Thank you, Rodney, for bringing this up,'" he said. "If people don't want me in the Senate they can say: 'Well, I'm not going to vote for ya.' That's their prerogative."

Garcia also told the Associated Press also received some threats.

"They can't come up to me and talk to me, but they want to shoot me," Garcia said. "That's fine, but if you miss, I won't."
PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation recently visited the Miss Lalie Youth Detention Center on Bush Road on invitation of center representative Alfred Williams.



The foundations five volunteers, who made the visit, took the opportunity to share a message of love and also spread seeds of love by donating packages to the five clients and four staff members at the center.



Each package contained a pack of playing cards, face towel, soap, toothbrush, juice, cup noodles, club social biscuits, mints, Chinese plum, sketchbook, color pencils, and Jing Si aphorisms book, which are in five languages.



This was the first time Tzu Chi visited the Center and volunteers were initially uncertain about how the youths would react to their visit to speak about love and care. However, with pure hearts volunteers delivered their powerful message about love. The interaction with the youths was positive. They listened intently and showed interest.



Volunteers explained how Tzu Chi began from a simple vow to help others to a worldwide movement, when 30 poor housewives set aside just two cents daily, leading to the formation of the foundation.



It started with a little amount of money, but with pure thoughts, tens of thousands of people have now joined to help others, said one volunteer. Tzu Chi is now in 62 countries around the world and its work never stops. Volunteers also gave an insight into Tzu Chis work post-Hurricane Irma.



Some volunteers also took some time to speak about their experience with Tzu Chi. Volunteer Philip van Delden spoke about choices and making the right ones in life. He spoke about the power of giving and shared about his opportunity to visit Tzu Chis headquarters in Taiwan, noting that he could feel the love and indicated that it was a great learning experience for him. Tzu Chi, he added, is an organization that embraces compassion.



Another volunteer, who is battling cancer, shared about her strength to use the opportunity that she has to volunteer and give back to society despite her personal circumstances. Another volunteer said she is grateful to be part of Tzu Chi and have the opportunity to follow its founder Master Cheng Yen and share her story.



Volunteers also performed sign language song One more candle to the light, which seemed to strengthen the bond between volunteers and clients.



The five clients seemed to have absorbed the information given and were receptive during the session. The packages as well as Master Cheng Yen' s teaching aphorisms were presented to the clients and staff.



During the visit, volunteers observed the deep care and concerns shown to the youth in the center. The clients requested regular visits from Tzu Chi and expressed interest in learning more about the power of love.



Tzu Chi Commissioner Sandra Cheung is grateful to the Miss Lalie Center for the invitation to speak to interact with the youth; appreciative to the youth for being receptive to the visit and humbled by volunteers for their selfless actions.
Illinois cannabis dispensaries sold nearly $40 million in cannabis in just 31 days, an average of $1.3 million a day.

Numbers provided by Gov. J.B. Pritzkers office show since the adult-use cannabis market launched Jan. 1, 972,045 items sold for $39.2 million.

Of that, Illinois residents spent $30.6 million and out-of-state residents spent $8.6 million.

The successful launch of the Illinois legal cannabis industry represents new opportunities for entrepreneurs and the very communities that have historically been harmed by the failed war on drugs, said Toi Hutchinson, Pritzkers senior adviser for cannabis control.

While official tax revenue numbers from those sales arent yet available, if the average tax were 35 percent, the total revenue could be more than $13 million.

The tax revenue is split several ways.

The bulk of the tax revenue the state gets, 35%, goes to the states general revenue fund. A quarter of every tax dollar generated from recreational cannabis will go to the newly created Restore, Reinvest and Renew program with grants going to community groups from certain areas of the state.

The rest of the tax money will be divided up, with 20% going to substance abuse and mental health services, 10% to the states backlog of unpaid bills, 8% to local law enforcement and 2% for public cannabis education and safety campaigns.

Beginning July 1, municipalities that approved a local sales tax can tack on up to 3% in recreational cannabis taxes to spend as they see fit. In Springfield, for example, part of the revenue will go to police and fire pension funds.

The first month of sales saw some hiccups, with limited supply and few dispensaries around the state leading to long lines and some stores closing during normal business hours.
Skechers U.S.A., Inc. SKX is slated to release fourth-quarter 2019 results on Feb 6. This renowned footwear designer, marketer and distributor reported a negative earnings surprise of 2.9% in the last reported quarter. However, the company boasts a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 20.4%, on average.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter earnings stands at 39 cents, indicating an improvement of 25.8% from the year-ago quarter. We also note that the Zacks Consensus Estimate has remained unchanged in the past 30 days. The consensus estimate for revenues is pegged at $1,247.6 million, suggesting growth of 15.4% from the year-ago reported figure.



We note that total revenues of this California-based company improved 15.1% in the last reported quarter, while earnings grew 15.5%. In the last earnings call, Skechers guided fourth-quarter 2019 earnings per share in the range of 35-40 cents and net sales in the band of $1.225-$1.250 billion.



Factors at Play



Skechers enhanced focus on new lines of products, cost-containment efforts, inventory management and global distribution platform are likely to show on fourth-quarter performance. Further, the company's domestic e-commerce business has been contributing to the companys top line. The company operates e-commerce sites in Chile, Germany, U.K., Spain and Canada.



Certainly, Skechers international and direct-to-consumer businesses are primary catalysts. Europe and China are key markets for the company outside the United States. The companys efforts to expand global reach in the footwear market through its distribution networks, subsidiaries and JVs are likely to have aided net sales in the quarter. In this regard, the joint venture in Mexico with its distribution partner is paying off well.



Amid the aforementioned tailwinds, concerns related to higher general & administrative expenses, unfavorably currency fluctuations and stiff competition cannot be ignored.

Story continues

Skechers U.S.A., Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise



Skechers U.S.A., Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Skechers U.S.A., Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Skechers U.S.A., Inc. Quote

What the Zacks Model Unveils



Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Skechers this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But thats not the case here.



Although Skechers carries a Zacks Rank #3, it has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.



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Zumiez ZUMZ has an Earnings ESP of +0.24% and a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



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Gap GPS has an Earnings ESP of +5.43% and a Zacks Rank #3.



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Zacks Investment Research
LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Britain told its citizens on

Tuesday to leave China if they could after airlines suspended

flights, making it increasingly difficult to get out.

In an update to its travel advice, the Foreign Office also

said some staff and dependants from the British Embassy and

consulates were being withdrawn from China. Essential staff,

such as those providing consular assistance, would remain.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Stephen Addison)
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Technavio has been monitoring the captive power generation market in India and it is poised to grow by 15,076.23 MW during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 5% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

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Technavio announced its latest market research report titled global captive power generation market in India 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire)

High industrial power tariffs has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, challenges with a shortage of coal for captive power generation might hamper the market growth. Request a free sample report

Captive Power Generation Market in India 2019-2023: Segmentation

Captive power generation market in India is segmented as below:

End-User

Metals and Minerals

Petrochemicals

Cement

Sugar

Others

Fuel Source

Coal

Diesel

Gas

Renewables

Geographic segmentation

Blank

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30688

Captive Power Generation Market in India 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our captive power generation market in India report covers the following areas:

Captive power generation market in India size

Captive power generation market in India trends

Captive power generation market in India industry analysis

This study identifies increasing adoption of cogeneration plants as one of the prime reasons driving the captive power generation market in India's growth during the next few years.

Captive Power Generation Market in India 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the captive power generation market in India, including some of the vendors such as Bharat Heavy Electricals, Essar Steel, Hindalco, Jindal Steel Power, and Reliance Industries. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the captive power generation market in India are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Captive Power Generation Market in India 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist the captive power generation market in India growth during the next five years

Estimation of the captive power generation market in India size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the captive power generation market in India

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of captive power generation market in India vendors

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called the situation in Libya a "scandal" even as his envoy cited a "genuine will" by rival military factions as they planned their first meeting to secure a lasting ceasefire.

"I am deeply frustrated with what's happening in Libya," Guterres said in a press conference in which he was critical of countries that last month met in Berlin to push for progress in Libya peace talks.

"They committed not to interfere in the Libyan process and they committed not to send weapons or participate in any way in the fighting," Guterres said at the United Nations headquarters in New York. "The truth is that the Security Council (arms) embargo remains violated."

He called the mediation efforts of UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame "the only good news" there.

Salame told reporters earlier Tuesday that there was a "genuine will to start negotiating" between opposite sides, though he added that an arms embargo was being violated by both sides and that new mercenaries and arms were still arriving "by air and by sea" in Libya.

Libyan National Army (LNA) led by commander Khalifa Haftar have been trying to take the capital, Tripoli, from the Government of National Accord (GNA) for the past 10 months.

The talks bring together five senior military officers from the Libyan National Army and five from forces aligned with the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli.

Fighting has continued on the ground despite a call for a truce by Russia and Turkey starting on Jan. 12 and the international summit on Libya in Berlin on Jan. 19 aimed at reducing international interference.

LNA has had material support from countries including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, and Russia, UN experts and diplomats say, while the GNA is backed militarily by Turkey.

Salame deplored the presence of more than "20 million pieces of weaponry" in the country and said he had asked the UN Security Council to pass a resolution to reaffirm an existing arms embargo and pass measures to ensure it is respected.

Talks between the two sides, who did not meet face-to-face in Geneva on Monday, were aiming "to bridge the gaps in their views on how the lasting, sustainable ceasefire can be organised on the ground," Salame said.

"We started yesterday to discuss with them a long list of points on our agenda, starting on an attempt to transform the truce into a more solid one, less often violated by either side and also to transform that truce into a real agreement on a lasting ceasefire," he said.

The conflict that developed in Libya in the years since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011 has given space to militants and migrant smugglers and crippled Libya's oil reliant economy.

A blockade of oil ports and fields by LNA forces that began just before the Berlin conference has reduced oil output by about one million barrels per day (bpd).

Asked if he would press Haftar to end the blockade, Salame said it was mainly an issue being pursued on the ground, urging foreign powers to back a broader UN bid to resume production.

* This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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Rise in prevalence of psoriasis & psoriatic arthritis disease, increase in number of pipeline drugs, and surge in government expenditure on healthcare drive the growth of the global psoriatic arthritis treatment market

PORTLAND, Oregon, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Psoriatic Arthritis Treatment Market by Drug Type (NSAIDs, DMARDs, Biologics, and Others), Type (Prescription, and OTC), and Route of Administration (Topical, Oral, and Injectable): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026". According to the report, the global psoriatic arthritis treatment industry was pegged at $7.86 billion in 2018, and is expected to reach $13.74 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 7.2% from 2019 to 2026.

Prime determinants for growing market

Rise in prevalence of psoriasis & psoriatic arthritis disease, increase in number of pipeline drugs, and surge in government expenditure on healthcare have boosted the growth of the global psoriatic arthritis treatment market. However, poor demand in under-developed countries hamper the market. On the contrary, growth potential in the emerging market is expected to create lucrative opportunities in the near future.

Request Sample Report at:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/6316

Biologics segment dominated the market

By drug type, the biologics segment held the largest share in 2018, contributing to more than three-fifths of the global psoriatic arthritis treatment market. Moreover, the segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 7.9% during the forecast period. This is due to surge in patient awareness toward the availability of DMARDs drugs for psoriatic arthritis treatment, rise in prevalence of psoriatic arthritis, presence of biologics & biosimilars, and increase in healthcare expenditure in developed regions. The report includes an in-depth analysis other segments such as NSAIDs, DMARDs, and other.

Prescription segment to manifest the fastest growth through 2026

The prescription segment is expected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 7.4% during the forecast period, owing to rise in demand for prescription drugs during the treatment of psoriatic arthritis without causing side effects. Moreover, the segment dominated the global psoriatic arthritis treatment market in 2018, accounting for more than four-fifths of the market. The report also analyzes the OTC segment.

North America held the largest share

The global psoriatic arthritis treatment market across North America held the largest share in 2018, contributing for more than half of the market, owing to presence of key players in the region. Moreover, rise in prevalence of psoriatic arthritis disease, surge in demand for psoriatic arthritis treatment drugs, presence of advanced healthcare facilities coupled with trained medical professionals, and surge in number of R&D centers significantly contribute toward the growth of the North America market. However, the Asia-Pacific segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 9.1% during the forecast period, owing to high population base, surge in awareness about psoriatic arthritis treatment products, and increase in prevalence of psoriasis & psoriatic arthritis disease in various countries.

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Major market player

AbbVie Inc.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

Amgen Inc.

Eli Lilly And Company

Celgene Corporation

Merck & Co Inc.

Johnson & Johnson

Pfizer Inc.

Novartis AG

UCB S.A.

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Madhya Pradesh, which regained the coveted 'tiger state' tag last year, has added another feather to its cap by emerging on top in the count of gharials (fresh water crocodiles) this year, state Forest Minister Umang Singhar claimed on Tuesday. As per a report of the Wildlife Trust of India, there are 1,255 gharials in the Chambal river of Madhya Pradesh and 255 in the Gandak river of Bihar, Singhar told PTI.

The minister further said according to a departmental census report of Morena's Divisional Forest Officer P D Graviel, there are 1,876 gharials in the Chambal river.

"Besides being the tiger state, Madhya Pradesh has also emerged as the 'gharial state' in the country," he said.

Efforts made for their conservation and protection have started bearing fruits now. It is basically the result of hard work done by officials," the minister added.

With 526 tigers, Madhya Pradesh last year regained the coveted "tiger state" status after losing it to Karnataka nearly a decade ago, thanks to its focus on conserving the wildlife outside the protected areas of reserves. A state forest department official said in 1980s, only about 200 gharials were left in the world. At that time, their number in India was 96, including 46 in the Chambal river that flows across Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Later, the river spread over an area of 435 km and was declared as the Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, he said. Graviel said one of the major reasons for the increase in number of gharials in the state is the creation of Devri Eco Centre where crocodile eggs are reared. After the eggs mature, the hatchlings are kept under observation for three years before being released in the Chambal river.

"Every year, 200 gharials are released into the Chambal river under the 'grow and release' programme for conservation of this aquatic species," he said.

He also informed that gharials are found in very few countries in the world, including India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Gharials were earlier on the verge of extinction in the country, but now efforts to conserve the aquatic animal have paid and "Madhya Pradesh has emerged at the top spot in this area also," Graviel said. Though gharials are found in many rivers of the country, their number there is quite less as they traverse only in deep and clean water.
Attacking the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Delhi needs a government that will not resort to appeasement but supports the CAA, abolition of Article 370 and issues of national security.

Addressing an election rally in Dwarka three days before the February 8 assembly elections, the prime minister said the national capital also needs a government that will give direction and not resort to blame games.

The prime minister accused the AAP dispensation of not implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the national capital and asked if the AAP government's 'mohalla clinics' will work if Delhiites fall sick outside the city.

Modi, who addressed a rally in east Delhi's Karkardooma locality on Monday, said the people of Delhi have seen how the AAP government practises the politics of hate.

The people of Delhi say the country has changed, and now is the time for Delhi's transformation, the prime minister told the gathering.

"Delhi does not need a government which gives opportunity to enemies to attack us," he said.

The Centre, he added, opened more bank accounts for the poor than the population of US, and built more houses than the population of Sri Lanka.

Modi said opposition parties are spreading lies and rumours about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act but people of Delhi understand this.

ALSO READ: Delhi election LIVE updates: PM Modi addresses public rally in Dwarka



Slamming the AAP and Congress, he said both parties cry for Batla House terrorists, put security forces in dock and instigate people but can't develop the national capital.

Appealing to people to vote for the BJP, he asked them to punish those who insult armed forces.

The national capital goes to the polls on February 8 and the results will be declared on February 11.
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In her campaign for president, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) continues to tout several big-government priorities that are a direct attack on job creation and economic growth. Her efforts have landed her the coveted endorsement of the Des Moines Register.

In their endorsement, the editorial board claims that the senior senator from Massachusetts will push an unequal America in the right direction. No doubt this statement is motivated in part by Senator Warrens outright hostility toward private equity.

Senator Warren says private-equity firms are like vampiresleaving enriched while the company suffers and sometimes succumbs. Her language is over-the-top and an unfair representation of private equity firms.

Every day in communities across Iowa, local businesses partner with private equity to help them unlock and reach their full economic potential. According to a recent EY report, private equity supported 313,000 jobs and $35 billion in economic activity in Iowa in 2018.

Happy Joes Pizza, United Life Insurance, Inland Coatings and Grape Tree Medical Staffing are a few examples of success stories for private equity in Iowa. Targeting private equity with more regulations and higher taxes would discourage investment and, consequently, put an end to the innovation and job creation that often comes when private-equity funds are used to purchase and expand businesses.

In some cases, private equity funds purchase and rejuvenate floundering businesses. Sometimes the funds simply help restore the business ability to turn a profit and the business remains under the same ownership.

A recent Chamber of Commerce study finds that the restrictions and taxes proposed by Senator Warren would be so impactful that, if enacted, even in a modest-case scenario, the countrys workforce would be reduced by approximately six million jobs, and combined federal, state, and local tax revenues would drop by approximately $109 billion per year in the long run.

Across the country, 8.8 million workers, who earn $71,000 per year in wages and benefits on average, work for private-equity-backed businesses. When looking at the full impact, the private equity industry supports more than 26 million US jobs and approximately 5% of U.S. GDP, according to a new report by EY and the American Investment Council (AIC).

A large portion of the monies used for investment by private equity comes from pension funds that look to the returns from these investments to secure the retirement of public employees. The continued growth of public-employee pension funds depends upon high-yield investments.

Public employees depend upon retirement investments that yield a relatively high rate of return, and private-equity funds get some of the best bang per buck, with a median 10-year annualized return of 8.6 percent.

In Senator Warrens home state of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Trust (Mass PRIT) earned a 10-year annualized return of 13.63 percent from their returns Private Equity. The Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (MassPRIM) saw its private equity investments boast the strongest returns for the year with a seismic 18.51%.

What problem is Senator Warren trying to fix, exactly? The private equity industry benefits investors, companies, workers, and communities.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is urging the Iranian authorities to drop the cases against the editors of three news outlets convicted of defamation and spreading false news.

Tehran's Media Court on February 2 found three editors in chief of the semiofficial ISNA news agency, the Bultannews news website, and the energy news website NeftEMA guilty of the charges, according to the official judicial news agency, Mizan.

"If the Iranian government has a credible case against the editors of ISNA, NeftEMA, and Bultannews, they should try them openly and publicly," Sherif Mansour, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, said in a statement on February 3.

"Closed-door trials of journalists cannot be considered fair or impartial," Mansour said, adding that the Iranian judiciary had "a history of holding opaque judicial proceedings that lack credibility."

Neither the court nor Mizan's report disclosed the names of those convicted, details surrounding the case, or the potential sentences the editors may receive. It was unclear whether they were being held in custody.

Mizan quoted Ahmad Momenirad, the spokesman of Iran's Media Court system, as saying that the ISNA and Bultannews editors were eligible to be spared from sentencing, without explaining why.

According to ISNA, the case is related to a complaint filed by a subsidiary of the Oil Ministry against NeftEMA, accusing its editor in chief of "spreading misinformation, defamation, and insult."
Pedestrians wear protective masks as they walk in Toronto on Jan. 27, 2020. Parents and other primary caregivers will accompany their Canadian children back to Canada after leaving Wuhan, the epicentre of an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, even if they are not citizens themselves. (The Canadian Press/Frank Gunn)

Non-Citizen Parents Allowed to Return Home With Canadian Children From Wuhan

OTTAWAThe federal government insisted China let parents and other primary caregivers accompany their Canadian children after leaving Wuhan, the epicentre of an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, even if they are not citizens themselves.

We insisted on the concept of family unity, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Monday in Ottawa.

A chartered plane will soon be in Hanoi, Vietnam, where it will wait to pick up Canadian citizensand some permanent residents accompanying their childrenfrom Wuhan, the city of 11 million people in the central Hubei province that is currently under quarantine in response to the outbreak.

The federal government is awaiting final approval from the Chinese government to fly through the restricted airspace and land at the closed airport in Wuhan, but Champagne said other preparations are already well underway.

We will be in touch with Canadians in Wuhan later this afternoon to provide them all the necessary details, he said.

Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said 304 Canadians have asked for assistance to return home, but only 280 have Canadian passports.

The numbers remain fluid and Canada has secured a second flight, as well as seats on other flights, should they be needed.

Indeed, only a few hours after Hajdus update, a Foreign Affairs official briefing the House of Commons health committee pegged the number seeking to leave China at 312.

China is allowing only foreign nationals from all countries to board repatriation flights, but Champagne said Canada insisted that children be able to fly with their primary caregivers, even if they are permanent residents, and China agreed to let this happen.

That will not apply to families where no minors are involved.

Hajdu said China will not allow anyone who is showing symptoms of coronavirus to board a flight to leave the country, even if they are Canadian citizens, as part of that countrys efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus.

I dont anticipate we will be able to get the Chinese to concede on that point, she said.

Those who remain will be offered consular services from the rapid deployment team already on the ground in Wuhan.

Passengers will be screened twice, once by Chinese authorities and then again before they board, and will be monitored during the flight for possible symptoms of the virus.

If any fall ill, they will be transported to a health facility in British Columbia while the plane refuels. Otherwise, passengers will not be allowed to leave the plane until they arrive at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, where they will be held in isolation for 14 days.

The Ontario base was chosen because it has the space to allow large numbers of people to be processed quickly, and a facility where people can be housed with dignity, Hajdu said.

I want to remind people that these are Canadians who have been through a very traumatic experience over the past couple of months and in many cases will have significant stressors, she said.

The repatriated Canadians will be housed at the nearby Yukon Lodge until they are cleared to return home.

Part of the reason were offering social support is they will also be isolated from one another, Hajdu said. So if one person falls ill, that wont necessitate the start of an entire other quarantine for all of the passengers.

Opposition MPs questioned Monday why it is taking so long for Canada to repatriate its citizens when other countries have already done so. In the House of Commons, deputy Conservative leader Leona Alleslev suggested the hold-up is due to Canadas disastrous relations with China.

Champagne flatly denied that and said China has been very co-operative in the effort to repatriate Canadians.

Officials with Foreign Affairs, Transport Canada, and Public Safety later echoed that view and told the Commons health committee that they dont see how Canada could have acted any faster.

Heather Jeffrey, assistant deputy minister for consular security and emergency management at Global Affairs Canada, noted that the number of Canadians asking to be evacuated has jumped from none to over 300 in a matter of days. Documentation and authorizations must be obtained for each one to enable passage through multiple check points within Hubei province, where unprecedented travel restrictions have been imposed in a bid to prevent spread of the virus.

Whereas other countries have consular missions in Chinas Hubei province, Jeffrey noted that Canada does not.

The plane is actually not the most complicated part. The most complicated part is getting Canadians from across this province to the place where we can help them directly, Jeffrey told the committee.

With a pandemic response of this nature, its the first time weve had to assist such a large number of Canadians from within a quarantine zone.

By Laura Osman
With $4 million in matching funds from the National Institutes of Health, the University of Washington has created a new integrated center to match biomedical discoveries with the resources needed to bring innovative products to the public and improve health.

"The University of Washington and regional partner institutions produce some of the most exciting biomedical discoveries and technologies in the world, but we always find it challenging to support their product development as they move into the early commercialization phases," said the new center's executive director Rodney Ho, a professor in the UW School of Pharmacy.

With well over a billion dollars in research funding annually, the University of Washington is an engine of discovery and generates more than $15 billion in the state's economy.

UW's newly funded Washington Entrepreneurial Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (WE-REACH), with an annual budget boosted to $1.4 million by contributions from other partners, is organized to mentor and support biomedical entrepreneurs as well as provide project funding to fuel four to six biomedical startups a year with up to $200,000 each.

Those projects will include innovative disease treatments, new drugs, diagnostics, genetic testing and health technologies. Ho said the center will support innovation steps not typically supported by research grants, such as human clinical trials or the development of and access to products.

In addition to the NIH, WE-REACH partners include the UW Institute of Translational Health Sciences, UW CoMotion, the Institute for Protein Design and the School of Pharmacy. Innovators will receive guidance from multiple academic departments and regional institutions. Those institutions include the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute, Seattle Children's and other universities in the five states that make up the WWAMI region.

"We are delighted to welcome WE-REACH as a partner," said Tong Sun, executive director of the Institute of Translational Health Sciences. "At ITHS we are committed to accelerating the translation of discoveries to the clinic. WE-REACH investigators will be able to leverage ITHS programs and resources, so they can help us in our mission to improve health in our communities. This is a very exciting area of translation that we are happy to support."

WE-REACH is one of five national commercialization hubs selected for funding by the NIH in 2019.

"The journey of biomedical discoveries to products that improve people's health is expensive and risky. The process requires strategic investment of know-how as well as financial support from public-private partnerships," said Ho.

"Spinning life science innovations out of research institutions requires expertise and funding that is hard to source in the academic environment," adds Fiona Wills, assistant vice president, innovation development at CoMotion, UW's collaborative innovation hub. "WE-REACH builds on the infrastructure CoMotion has developed, including our gap fund and training, to provide critical resources needed to de-risk promising technologies into preclinical and clinical development."

The new center will be located in the South Campus Center on the University of Washington's Seattle campus and at the Institute of Translational Health Sciences in UW Medicine South Lake Union. It will be staffed by Professor Rodney Ho, Executive Director; Terri Butler, Associate Director of Outreach and Partnerships; Matthew Hartman, Coordinator; Christine Jonsson, Administrator; and new hires in project management and technology management roles.

###

For information on the new center and how to submit a grant proposal, please contact Matthew Hartman at WEREACH@uw.edu or 561-339-0676. The next round of grant funding requires a declaration of intent by Feb. 7 and complete submission by May 1.
 Close Claire Perry O'neill says Boris Johnson admitted he 'doesn't really get' climate change

Cabinet office minister Michael Gove sparked anger after claiming the UK doesnt need a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, insisting it is better to stand up for Britain than accept any rules from Brussels.

It comes as a former Tory minister and ex-president of the COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow  sacked last week by the government  launched a blistering attack on Boris Johnsons record on climate change.

Claire Perry ONeill claimed Mr Johnson doesnt really get climate change and said his promises are not close to being met. Ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband said the PM didnt understand the scale of the issue and described his handling of the COP26 summit as amateur hour.

However Mr Johnson spent the day alongside ir David Attenborough and Giuseppe Conte, prime minister of summit co-host Italy - while saying the nation should lead the way to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

Meanwhile in the commons the SNP railed against a vote on NHS funding in England which they were barred from voting on amid increasing frustration from the nationalists as they seek to hold a second independence referendum.

Here are the day's events as they happened:
Samaritan House Ministries has asked the provincial government for year-round funding to help operate its Safe and Warm Shelter.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Samaritan House Ministries executive director John Jackson speaks to Brandon City Council on Monday evening. (Drew May/The Brandon Sun)

Samaritan House Ministries has asked the provincial government for year-round funding to help operate its Safe and Warm Shelter.

Executive director John Jackson was at Brandon City Council on Monday night to give an update on the winter time shelter. He said the shelter would need a total of $94,695 to start operating from April 1 to Oct. 31 each year.

Currently, the shelter only operates during the winter months, but there is a need for a summer time shelter as well, Jackson said. The shelter provides a place for homeless people to spend the night in the winter so they dont have to sleep on the street.

Similar shelters, like Siloam Mission in Winnipeg, get year-round funding from the province. He said its a matter of "equity" for Brandons shelter to get similar funding.

"In the interest of equity and the belief for us that the residents of Brandon  and folks who are homeless in Brandon  deserve the same services, Samaritan House Ministries has made a request of the province of Manitoba to consider funding the shelter," he said.

He said the 25-bed shelter costs approximately $17.70 per bed, per day to run.

Samaritan House made the request for funding through Brandons local MLAs in December, but hasnt heard back yet, Jackson said. It was the appropriate time to make the ask, he said, and Spruce Woods Progressive Conservative MLA Cliff Cullen suggested Samaritan House make a proposal last fall.

Without having a shelter open in the summer, he said Samaritan House is missing opportunities to connect people with housing or other resources.

While many homeless people are transient, Jackson said the majority of people the shelter serves are living in the Brandon area.

The Safe and Warm Shelter has seen a busy season so far this winter, with more than 700 bed nights by the end of 2019.

In November 2019, 66 people stayed a total of 309 bed nights, and in December, 59 people stayed for 435 bed nights.

Last season was a record year for the shelter. The overnight shelter, which was open from the beginning of November to the end of March last year, saw a total of 160 people stay 1,774 nights in the 2018-19 season. Thats a big increase from the 2017-18 season, when 150 people stayed a total of 600 nights.

During Mondays meeting, Coun. Jan Chaboyer (Green Acres) asked that the city write a letter to the provincial government in support of the shelter getting funding.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
Matthew Current (back to camera), from Clinton, Iowa, and a supporter of former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, tries to persuade other caucus-goers to align with his candidate at a satellite caucus at Penn (from left): Jessica Anderson, from Titonka, who organized the caucus; Patrick Weiss and Chris Page, both from Iowa City; and Mary Thompson, from Johnston, in Philly on business. Read more

Back home in Clinton, Iowa City, Grinnell, and Johnston, their families gathered in caucus rooms under the spotlight of the entire nation.

But about 1,000 miles away in Philadelphia, they walked around a lecture room at the University of Pennsylvania to register their preferences for president of the United States.

For the first time this year, the Iowa Democratic Party allowed and registered out-of-state satellite caucuses, part of several changes to make the caucus process more inclusive. The state party approved 99 satellite caucus sites within Iowas borders, including several in remote areas, nursing homes, or firehouses. And 22 out-of-state satellite caucuses were approved, some as far-flung as Scotland and France.

Philadelphias was the lone satellite caucus in Pennsylvania, open to any Iowa Democrat who pre-registered with the party to attend.

Fourteen people showed up, mostly college students and one woman in town for business. At the end of the evening, Philadelphias caucus awarded their equivalent of two delegates to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and one each to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind.

As of late Monday, overall results for the Iowa Democratic caucuses  the first votes in the 2020 Democratic nominating contest after more than a year of campaigning  were still suffering from significant delays.

Because we are the first-in-the-nation caucus, we do take our role very seriously, said Jessica Anderson, a junior biology major at Penn, who organized the caucus. Anderson, who is from Titonka, supported entrepreneur Andrew Yang in the first round, but when Yang didnt have enough votes to be viable, she moved over to Buttigieg.

These settings are really precious to me, because its an opportunity for us to engage in civilized, hopefully very sincere, conversation with one another about what we think is important," Anderson said.

Observers and journalists, who far outnumbered participants, got a taste for how things work in Iowa. Promptly at 8 p.m. (7 p.m. Iowa time), the participants took seats in the front of a room. EJ Carlson, a Penn student who was trained by the Iowa Democratic Party, acted as chair, reading instructions aloud and passing around an envelope with a request for donations to the Iowa Democratic Party. One person gave $1. The room cheered.

Along the periphery, about a dozen Warren supporters stood by a table with Federal Donuts food. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar also had some campaign volunteers on site.

There were a few speeches on behalf of each candidate. Then it was time to caucus.

After a first 15-minute alignment, in which people moved to the areas of the room designated for supporters of a given candidate, only Warren and Sanders had the required three supporters, or 15% of the room, required to move on.

Thats when the negotiating began. Mary Thompson, 55, who was in town for a work trip, and Matt Current, 19, a college student from Clinton, teamed up to try to get a third Buttigieg supporter. They chatted up Chris Page, a 30-year-old from Iowa City studying at the Wharton School, who was the lone Biden supporter in the first round.

Page was waffling. To be honest, I really dislike Pete personally, but I think hes most aligned with me politically, he told them. Ultimately he came around, persuaded in part by Thompsons argument that she liked Buttigiegs immigration policies better than Warrens.

Anderson, who caucused for Yang, moved over to Buttigieg. Theyre both young, new, and they have a real grasp of the issues," she said as Thompson and Current nodded.

Patrick Weiss, a 19-year-old at Swarthmore College who supports Sanders, tried to interject an argument about electability, saying Sanders has a better chance against President Donald Trump.

The newly formed  and now viable  Buttigieg group of four wasnt quite buying it.

If you want to vote for Pete, vote for Pete, Weiss said, returning to the Sanders corner.

At the end of the evening, Sanders had six supporters, while Warren and Buttigieg each had four. Mathematically that worked out to two delegates for Sanders and one each for Buttigieg and Warren.

Weiss said he hoped it would reflect the results in Iowa.

Its a small sample and its a skewed sample  a lot of the people here are college students  but its kind of a representation of what young voters want, Weiss said. I think [Sanders] will do well, and I think thats a very strong sign to the entire nation that hes got what it takes to in the very least win the nomination.

Page, alternatively, worried about a Sanders win.

I think its concerning in terms of the general election and if we can actually win" with Sanders, Page said. Im concerned if he keeps winning, the moderate lane wont have anywhere to go.
She may have missed out an award for Best Supporting Actress award at the BAFTAs on Sunday night.

But Margot Robbie, 29, was winning in the fashion stakes as she jetted into JFK airport in New York on Monday.

Flanked by her security guard, the Bombshell star looked effortlessly stylish in a black duster coat, high-waisted 'mom' jeans and a white T-shirt.

Margot Robbie, 29, looked effortlessly chic in a duster coat and retro sunglasses as she jetted into New York on Monday - after missing out on Best Supporting Actress award at BAFTAs

She gave her look a grungy edge by slipping on some lace-up leather boots and a black Chanel backpack with chain detailing.

To complete her '90s look, Margot wore a pair of retro, square-framed sunglasses and gold crucifix earrings.

For makeup, the Neighbours alum painted her perfect pout with a light pink lipstick and accentuated her cheeks with peach-hued blush.

High-flying style: Flanked by her security guard, the Bombshell star looked stylish in a black duster coat, high-waisted 'mom' jeans and a white T-shirt

Edgy: She gave her look a grungy edge by slipping on some lace-up leather boots and a black Chanel backpack with chain detailing

Margot wore a serious expression for most of her stroll through the terminal, but at one point manged to crack a smile while chatting with her security guard.

On Sunday night, Margot was left crestfallen at the BAFTAs after losing out twice in the Best Supporting Actress category for her roles roles in Bombshell and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

She lost to Laura Dern, 52, who won for her role in Marriage Story, but the Australian actress still got to give an acceptance speech.

Perfect pout! For makeup, the Neighbours alum painted her perfect pout with a light pink lipstick and accentuated her cheeks with peach-hued blush

Trend setter: To complete the look, Margot wore a pair of retro, square-framed sunglasses and gold crucifix earrings

Margot accepted the award for Best Supporting Actor on behalf of her Once Upon a Time in Hollywood co-star Brad Pitt, who was absent.

Reading a pre-prepared speech, Margot's joke about Prince Harry's move to Canada prompted laughter from Prince William and Kate Middleton in the audience.

'He says he is going to name this [award] Harry because he is really excited about bringing it back to the States with him. His words not mine,' she said.

After collecting the award on her co-star's behalf, Margot acted as custodian of the trophy throughout the evening.

What's so funny? Margot wore a serious expression for most of her stroll through the terminal, but at one point manged to crack a smile while chatting with her security guard

Taking it in her stride! Margot managed to smile despite losing out twice in the same category at the BAFTAs hours earlier
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By Trend





Kazakhstan will soon resume oil export to China, Kazakhstans Minister of Energy Nurlan Nogayev said, Trend reports with reference to Kazakh media.

According to Nogayev, currently oil export is not being carried out at all.

On Jan. 16, 2020, KazTransOil detected an excess of organochlorine compounds in the fractions during crude oil receiving into the trunk pipeline system from CNPC-Aktobemunauygas.

KazTransOil suspended crude oil receiving from CNPC-Aktobemunaygas on the same day until the oil quality issue is resolved. As of Jan. 22, 2020, the acceptance of crude oil from CNPC-Aktobemunaygas was not restarted.

Kazakhstans Ministry of Energy, given the decline in volume of oil delivery for transportation through trunk oil pipelines system, adjusted the schedule for oil transportation to the refineries of Kazakhstan and for export for Jan. 2020. In particular, the scheduled volume of export to China was reduced.

The transit of Russian crude oil to China through the system of trunk oil pipelines of KazTransOil JSC is not suspended and is carried out in full compliance with contractual obligations and quality in accordance with GOST (quality standard).
Sophomore Emma Glasser (center with megaphone mic) leads the protest on fossil fuels outside the building when Penn's board of trustees was meeting in November 2019. Read more

For years, a student group at the University of Pennsylvania has called on the school to divest its financial portfolio of oil, gas and coal investments because of concerns about their impact on climate change.

Penn steadfastly refused, contending that investment decisions and the endowment should not be used to make public policy statements.

But now, the Ivy League university has made an announcement that its critics hailed as a step, if a small one, in the right direction. Penn said the school has no direct investments in the thermal coal or tar sands industries and doesnt expect to put its money there in the future.

Environmentally conscious critics often point to those industries as the most problematic: Thermal coal and tar or oil sands are used in power production, and the extraction, transportation and burning of those fossil fuels is often cited as factors in climate change.

Factoring the implications of a decarbonizing economy into investment decisions will materially limit the scope of fossil fuel-related investments in the portfolio, said an email last week to the community from president Amy Gutmann, provost Wendell Pritchett, and executive vice president Craig Carnaroli. They said the university did not hold any such direct investments and would not expect to hold going forward.

Students were cautiously optimistic about the announcement.

This is a monumental statement, said members of Fossil Free Penn, a student group that in 2018 asked the university to divest of coal and tar sands holdings. "Penn is acknowledging that its investment decisions have consequences beyond the returns they generate, and that this reality will influence Penns investment strategy going forward.

But students said they will continue to demand a town hall meeting on the topic because questions remain: Did Penn ever directly invest in these areas? Does it invest in other fossil fuels?

Were very happy they made this very tiny step, but theres still a lot to do, said Emma Glasser, a Penn sophomore who helped lead a fossil fuels protest at the board of trustees meeting in November.

Stephen J. MacCarthy, Penns vice president of university communications, said the statement from the leaders does not mean the university went through a formal divestment.

The effect is very much the same, but divestment is a formal procedure requiring approval by the trustees that involves, among other things, liquidating holdings of particular investments, he said. Since the university did not directly own coal or tar sands investments and does not expect to own them in the future, the university did not go through the formal divestment process.

He declined to comment further.

 READ MORE: From 2016: Penn to stay invested in fossil fuels

Mark Alan Hughes, faculty director of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at Penn, said the schools tightly scripted announcement either means they were smarter than everybody else and never had any of these  or they had some and already got rid of them.

Either way, Penn, which has a $14.7 billion endowment, is striking the right balance, he said. Pulling back from all fossil fuels in one swoop wouldnt be fiscally responsible. If you stopped all fossil fuels tomorrow, the economy would become disrupted, Hughes said.

More importantly, he said, Penn leaders signaled that they evaluate investments in relation to the Paris Climate Agreement, which has very ambitious targets for decarbonizing the economy. They also noted other promising initiatives, including negotiations for a power purchase agreement that will support the development of two new solar energy facilities in Pennsylvania.

At Penn, the controversy over fossil fuels has been ongoing for several years. Penn trustees in 2016 decided not to divest, asserting that the industry isnt a moral evil.

Students continued their campaign, holding weekly sit-ins outside Gutmanns office. In November, protesters disrupted the board of trustees meeting.

Other universities have cut ties with fossil fuels. Johns Hopkins University, Middlebury College, Stanford University, and the University of California are among those that have divested from at least some fossil fuels.

But schools including Harvard, Yale and Swarthmore have declined to do so.

Following a 32-day student sit-in, Swarthmore in 2015 announced it would not divest, citing investment guidelines that called for the endowment to yield the best long-term financial results, rather than to pursue other social objectives.

 READ MORE: A new wave of activism on campus: Students are aggressively seeking their demands

Last year, a group of Penn faculty wrote a letter encouraging their university to engage with the protesting students and join other schools that have divested. Among them was Simon Richter, a professor of Germanic languages and literatures. He regards Penns announcement as a welcome change in stance.

Up until this semester, students and faculty felt they were working against a stubborn and non-communicative administration, he said.

Though Penns announcement did not credit students, Richter did. An awful lot of credit goes to the persistence, the creativity, and the authenticity of our students, he said.

Last Friday, students again sat outside Gutmanns office, this time with party hats to celebrate what seemed like a small victory, Glasser said.

But theres still a lot to do, she said.
(Newser)  Four children lost amid blizzard conditions in Western Alaska have thankfully been found alive, though all are suffering from severe hypothermia. The groupidentified as Christopher Johnson, 14; Frank Johnson, 8; Ethan Camille, 7; and Trey Camille, 2had departed Nunam Iqua, a remote village near the Bering Sea, around 1pm Sunday on a snow machine but failed to return as scheduled. Help was requested when they still weren't back by 6:30pm, as winter storm warnings were in effect throughout the area. CNN notes the National Weather Service warned of a wind chill as low as -45 degrees, which could "cause frostbite in as little as 10 minutes to exposed skin."

story continues below

Local, state, and federal agencies took part in the search before the childrencold, famished, and exhaustedwere found some 22 hours later, per the Anchorage Daily News. Searchers on foot located them 18 miles south of the village, where they'd reportedly found shelter, per KTUU. They were then taken to a hospital in Bethel by helicopter. "It immediately brought me to tears," Alphonso Thomas, father of 2-year-old Trey, says. "I never would have thought that he would make it ... People usually don't make it." A rep for Emmonak Search and Rescue suggests the children got lost. "Our storms are very bad," the official tells CNN. "Sense of direction is not to be played with." (Read more rescue stories.)
The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

Vote

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Sarah Thompson, of Tall Poppy Bagels, pulls a pan of bagels out in anticipation of the crowd that will come down to the pop down at Liberty Kitchen on Sunday, January 26, 2020. She sent a notice out on Instagram that she would be selling bagels on Sunday morning and fans of her bagels showed up to buy them. Read more

It used to be hard to find a decent bagel in Philly. But the 2010s brought us into a new age.

The Bon Appetit-approved Philly Style Bagels set up shop in Fishtown. Stalwart South Street Philly Bagels expanded to Center City, Graduate Hospital, and East Passyunk. Knead in Washington Square introduced nontraditional flavors, topping bagels with then-novel flavors like zaatar and togarashi.

Since then, Montreal-style Spread Bagelry has grown a flagship shop in Rittenhouse to four locations  two of which include taprooms  with two more on the way. And full-service bakeries like Kettle Black in Northern Liberties and Essen and Vanilya in South Philly are turning out their own excellent takes.

And yet another Philly bagel boom is bubbling, driven by bakers who started selling bagels from their home ovens, at few and far between pop-up brunches, and via Instagram. These scrappy bagel makers match the economic and culinary mood, often taking creative approaches to how they structure their businesses, raise capital, and reach customers. More than just breakfast, their products are highly personal labors of love.

Butcher, baker, and brewer Sarah Thompson has been popping up with chewy, crackle-crusted bagels at Fishtown deli Liberty Kitchen under the name Tall Poppy since last summer. New York-born and Maryland-raised, she grew up eating poppy seed bagels every day. (While attending high school in Bucks County  in a twist straight out of Seinfeld  she once tested positive for opiates thanks to her devotion to her favorite flavor.) She learned to make bagels herself at a post-culinary school gig baking for restaurants in Washington state.

That was really my zen space, Thompson said. The process of rolling out [dough] was so centering, and I loved it.

Now, she uses periodic pop-ups to keep her skills sharp while she focuses on charcuterie production for a Philly restaurant during the week. Her sort of New York-style bagels are served hot along with cream cheese blended with roasted garlic and sage or smoked bluefish, her fathers favorite.

The pop-up model allows Thompson to flex and explore  not only with bagels, but with lofty, cat-head buttermilk biscuits and maybe her own charcuterie someday  without having to commit to baking full-time.

I love making bagels, [but] I don't want to make it like a chore, she said. I want to do that for the love of bagels, [not] for money.

That passion and independence also drove Dodo Bagels founder Alex Malamy to grow his home-bagel habit into a business.

I knew that I loved making bagels and getting them in people's hands. And I knew that I wanted to work for myself in some capacity, Malamy said.

His sturdy, crisp-crusted bagel remixes New York, New Jersey, and Montreal styles. Its  a piece of my heritage, the native New Yorker said. I want to be making a bagel that feels traditional, but if I want to do something more creative with the bagel itself or the sandwich, it's still approachable and familiar.

Dodo Bagels toppings are mostly traditional, aside from the floral, aromatic French Thing, sprinkled with lavender buds, fennel seeds, thyme, sesame, and salt. But his rotating selection of offbeat bagel sandwiches  like the Ramen Thing, with sliced-to-order boiled egg, pickled ginger, bamboo shoots, fresh scallions, fresh-ground toasted sesame seeds, crispy dried seaweed, and spicy mayo  has become one of Dodos biggest draws.

After piloting a successful subscription for friends and neighbors out of his home oven in early 2017, Malamy decided to leave his longtime gig as a buyer for West Phillys Mariposa Co-op. He spent a month apprenticing with artisan bakery Lost Bread, then quit his day job to devote himself to building a business, doing preorder bakes out of his apartment for a small army of fans.

Last year, he hooked up with the owners of Pitruco Pizza at Franklins Table, University of Pennsylvanias food hall, to use their space to mix ingredients, shape, boil, and bake his bagels once a week. He got a stand at the Clark Park farmers market on Saturdays, where hed often sell out of sandwiches before noon. When logistics at the pizzeria pushed his production night to Saturday, he began popping up on select Sunday mornings at Lil Pop Shop in University City, where lines typically snake out the door.

Despite clear demand, Malamy is still looking for a shop to call his own somewhere in Spruce Hill or Cedar Park. Finding the right fit has been a challenge: Start-up costs, high rents in a gentrified neighborhood, and a low stock of vacant restaurant spaces in the area have kept him from moving to the next step.

Across the river in South Philly, Phil Korshak found himself in a similar situation: a baker in search of a home.

Korshak baked his first bagels to sate wife Kendras craving for the real thing after the couple moved from New York to Texas. For him, baking is a form of self-expression.

Youre making this small-batch stuff by passion, because you have to, he says. Everything that you make starts, and a couple days later, it will be the bagel that its supposed to be. Youre making this food that you love because you love it. Not because you know that if you sell a thousand more of them, youll get to go to [the] Caymans.

After moving to Philly two years ago, the poetry Ph.D. and former manager of Austins Home Slice Pizza, started selling his substantial yet ethereally fluffy bagels  he likens their shiny, leathery crusts to go-go boots  to eager Instagram followers.

During a yearlong stint in 2019 making dough for Angelos Pizzeria in the Italian Market, Korshak was able to share oven space and hold a few pop-up sales. In recent months, he has paused sales to devote himself to finding his own place to open a bakery full-time.

As with his sourdough-fed recipe, which takes two and a half days from start to finish, Korshak envisions an operation in which employees are paid at least double the current minimum wage and provided with health care, where he and his staff can work at a sane pace  a shop that develops a positive and long-standing relationship with its community.

I want to run this tiny, tiny shop that  exists for the livelihood of the neighborhood around it and vice versa, he says.

Recently, his search paid off: Hes signing a lease for a former deli space at 10th and Morris. Even better, the property has a baking legacy: It was owned by the Varallo family, who have kept the neighborhood in breads, cakes, and cannoli for nearly 40 years. Im so ridiculously lucky, Korshak said.

If all goes well, hell open in early summer. As for funding, hes encouraged by the way Philly Style Bagels purchased its oven in 2015  with help from a crowdfunding campaign that raised $24,000 in donations.

In Mantua, just west of the Drexel University campus, the shiny, just-opened Barts Bagels represents another path to a brick-and-mortar. Founder and co-owner Brett Frankel started baking at home four years ago in an attempt to recreate the chewy, crusty Brooklyn-style bagels he and his brother/business partner, Kyle, ate on trips to New York as kids.

After debuting two years ago with a brunch pop-up at now-closed Jewish deli the Rooster in collaboration with Zahav and Abe Fisher, the Bala Cynwyd-raised Frankel brothers focused on securing a production space that could one day become a shop.

They partnered with nonprofit community organization Peoples Emergency Center to lease their bakery at 40th and Lancaster, which also secured government grants that would pay for much of the build-out and large-scale equipment like a rotating bagel oven, dough mixer, and bagel shaper. From a window that opens into the bakery, customers can see their breakfast going from kettle to oven.

The retail shop also sells a wide array of hard-to-find smoked fish to go with their bagels, scratch-made schmears, and breakfast sandwiches  part of the New York bagel-shop vibe the Frankels set out to create.

Food has always been a passion of mine, Brett Frankel said. The whole experience  seeing bagels baked in morning, seeing people in the back prepping  youre a part of it, and you belong there.

Barts Bagels is open Wednesday through Sunday at 3945 Lancaster Ave. Catch Dodo Bagels at Lil Pop Shop on the Sunday mornings of Feb. 9, 16, and 23. Follow Tall Poppy on Instagram (@tallpoppy_projects) to find out about her next pop-up, and stay up-to-date on Phil Korshaks bagel dreams on @korshak.bagels.poetry.
The relevant bill was backed by 236 MPs out of 393 registered in the session hall.

The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has sealed a preliminary approval of the presidential bill on amending Articles 76 and 77 of the Constitution of Ukraine (on reducing the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and consolidating the proportional electoral system) (No. 1017).

The relevant bill was backed by 236 MPs of 393 registered in the session hall, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

According to the bill, Article 76 establishes that the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine shall be 300 (now 450) lawmakers, who are elected for a five-year term.

A lawmaker shall be elected among citizens of Ukraine who have reached the age of 21 on election day, have the right to vote, have been resident in Ukraine for at least the last five years, and speak the state language.

A citizen who has a criminal record for committing a deliberate crime cannot become legislator if this criminal record has not been cleared and removed in the manner prescribed by law.

Article 77 establishes that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is elected by the proportional election system.

Section XV "Transitional Provisions" is proposed to be supplemented with Paragraph 17, which establishes that after Law of Ukraine "On amendments to Articles 76 and 77 of the Constitution of Ukraine (on reducing the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and consolidating the proportional electoral system)" enters into force, the already elected parliament shall continue exercising its powers until the next parliamentary elections.

Read alsoAt upcoming session, Rada may consider bill on depriving MPs of mandate for "piano voting"

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, forwarded the relevant bill to the Constitutional Court on September 3, 2019.

The bill proposes amending Article 76 of the Constitution of Ukraine, pointing out that the constitutionally binding composition of the Verkhovna Rada is 300 lawmakers (instead of 450 MPs), who are elected for five years.

Article 77 is supplemented by the norm that the lawmakers are elected under proportional representation.

The Verkhovna Rada asked the court to veto the bill for compliance with Articles 157 and 158 of the Fundamental Law.

On December 17, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the bill was in line with the Constitution.
The attack on Turkish military personnel in Syria damages joint peace efforts in the region, Turkeys President Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Tuesday, Trend reports citing Reuters.

Erdogan also told Putin that Turkey will use its self-defense rights in case of a similar attack, the Turkish presidency said.

Turkeys military hit dozens of Syrian government targets on Monday after eight Turkish military personnel were killed by shelling in Idlib in northwest Syria in an attack by Russian-backed Syrian government forces.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

Kazakhstans Consumer Protection Committee has sued Bek Air airline company, the plane of which crashed on Dec. 27, 2019 for not refunding returned tickets, Trend reports with reference to Kazakh media.

The committee filed a lawsuit in the court of Nur-Sultan city on Jan. 31, 2020 due to violation of consumer rights of Bek Airs customers. The committee said the some 20 customers of the company who purchased tickets worth 444,434 tenge ($1,166) appealed to the committee due to the situation.

Earlier this year Bek Air company has on multiple occasions announced cancellation of flights.

Currently, due to technical difficulties, implementation refunds is not possible. However, all refunds will be provided, the company said back then.

The company's message said that in order to get the refund, one must contact the place of ticket purchase. In case if the tickets were purchased online, a refund inquiry must be sent to [email protected]

On the morning of Dec.27, 2019, the Fokker-100 plane of Bek Air airline implementing flight on the route Almaty  Nur-Sultan lost its height during take-off and broke through a concrete fence, colliding with a two-story building.

According to the latest data, 12 people died, and 66 were injured as a result of the Bek Air's plane crash on Dec. 27. A total of 98 people were on the plane, including nine children and five crew members.

Shortly after the accident, Bek Air companys operations as well as the use of Fokker-100 type aircraft in Kazakhstan have been suspended.

---

Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
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The mother of an asthmatic man who died after going into cardiac arrest while being detained by NYPD officers has now reached a $2.55million settlement with New York City.

Barrington 'BJ' Williams, 25, was arrested and handcuffed for allegedly selling illegal MetroCard swipes in 2013.

Williams suffered an asthma attack and went into cardiac arrest while he was handcuffed and lying on the floor of the Yankee Stadium subway station in the Bronx.

Police officers stood over him, but didn't give him CPR or use a nearby automatic defibrillator on him.

The settlement comes five years after the man's mother, Karen Brown, sued the city.

Barrington Williams, 25 (in green hoodie), is pictured here being tackled to the ground by NYPD officers in surveillance camera footage from September 2013

The arrest - during which Williams was tackled at the top of a flight of stairs - and the officers' subsequent actions were captured by the subway station's surveillance cameras.

Brown filed a wrongful death suit against the city in 2015, claiming that her son was the victim of excessive police force and was denied medical care.

The $2.55million settlement was made public Monday.

'Ms. Browns determination to achieve justice for her son and make our community safer by holding the NYPD accountable has sent a strong message to all officers  that using CPR and an [automated external defibrillator] is not optional. Officers trained to save lives must follow their training,' Browns attorneys Jason Leventhal and Joshua Moskovitz said in a statement obtained by the New York Daily News.

The attorneys added that 'This case now shines a bright light on BJs life, which would have been saved if the officers had used their training.'

Williams (on the floor) died after having an asthma attack and going into cardiac arrest while in police custody. His mother filed a lawsuit against the city for wrongful death in 2015

Video footage (pictured) showed the officers did not attempt to give Williams CPR or use a defibrillator on him after he went into cardiac arrest

The lawyers said that the five year lawsuit revealed that the officers who were at the scene of the arrest 'had been extensively trained and knew how to use CPR and an [automated external defibrillator] but they all shockingly testified that this training was optional.'

Court documents showed that not only did police not provide Williams with CPR, but that they also didn't make the 25-second walk to where the subway station's defibrillator was kept. By the time a fire department medic arrived and started chest compressions on Williams, it was too late.

An NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau investigation stated that there was no wrongdoing on the part of the officers, while the city claimed that police don't have a constitutional obligation to provide CPR.

'There was no clearly established right to have a police officer perform CPR, or use an [automated external defibrillator], on an individual who has an asthma attack during the course of an apprehension,' city attorney Angharad Wilson wrote, according to the NY Daily News.

The city's law department said in a statement to the newspaper that 'Settling this longstanding and tragic case was in the best interests of all parties. We hope this agreement brings some measure of closure to the family.'

Almost a year after Williams died, Staten Island man Eric Garner drew national attention in July 2014 after he died after police put him in a chokehold. Garner was asthmatic and had been arrested on suspicion of selling individual cigarettes from packets without tax stamps.

The city reached a $5.9million settlement with Garner's family in July 2015.

Brown's attorney, Moskowitz, also represented Garner's family in the lawsuit.
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Two sisters were killed and the 2-year-old son of one was wounded in a shooting at a university dormitory in Texas that police say was an isolated event without identifying a shooter.

Texas A&M University-Commerce police said Tuesday that Deja Matts, 19, and Abbaney Matts, 20, were killed in the Monday morning shooting at Pride Rock residence hall on the campus in Commerce, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of Dallas. Abbaney Matts son has been released from the hospital and is in the care of family.

School officials said Deja Matts, of the Dallas suburb of Garland, was a freshman at the university pursuing a bachelors degree in public health. Abbaney Matts was not enrolled at the school.

Police said Tuesday that the shooting appears to be a targeted, isolated event, adding that authorities are continuing to investigate. Following the shooting Monday, police said there appeared to be no other threats.

The university has cancelled classes until Thursday and says counsellors are available for students..

In October, two people were killed and a dozen others injured in an off-campus shooting at a homecoming and Halloween party involving Texas A&M-Commerce students.

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February 3, 2020 Julie Van Stappen , 7157799119

BAYFIELD, WISCONSIN  Join us for the second 50th Anniversary lecture hosted by Northland College. Damon Gezhiibideg Panek, Park Ranger, will be presenting on Ojibwe Culture and Fire, February 6 at 7:00 pm, at the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute in Ashland, Wisconsin. The event is free and open to the public.



For generations, Native people in the Great Lakes region utilized prescribed fire to improve habitat, increase blueberry production, and clear the understory of vegetation. These frequent, low-intensity fires promoted fire adapted and dependent ecosystems. The medicines, species abundance and diversity, and foods created are what our Anishinaabe culture is rooted in. Our way of seeing the world was developed here around this lake and with fire. said Damon.



"Damon integrates Ojibwe culture, language, and history into the parks education and interpretation curriculum to provide visitors with a unique way of experiencing the islands, said lakeshore superintendent, Lynne Dominy. He is also the fire management coordinator for the park and has been able to integrate the traditional cultural practice of landscape burning into the parks priorities. The overall goal of this integration is to restore a cultural practice and connection to the landscape of the islands. 



Mark your calendars for the next in the series: Vegetation Legacies and Change (Feb. 27) and the Apostle Islands 50th Anniversary Resource Stewardship Symposium (March 30-31).



For information about the Apostle Islands 50th Anniversary, visit our website. Send 50th Anniversary inquiries via email to info@apostleislands50th.com.



To add an event to the 2020 Anniversary calendar, become a sponsor, or partner with Friends to create an anniversary logoed product, visit the website for Friends of the Apostle Islands. Its not too late to become an Apostle Islands Anniversary partner, said Friends of Apostle Islands President, Erica Peterson. Create an anniversary event, activity or product and we will help promote it for your organization or business while encouraging visitors to join our events and find anniversary logoed products.



For more information about Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, please visit our website or call (715) 779-3398. Join Apostle Islands on-line conversations on .
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A SCHEME encouraging more disabled passengers to use trains in and around Goring has been launched following pressure from the villages mobility issues group.

Great Western Railway, which operates services on the main line, has appointed a team of 10 roving staff who will offer assistance free of charge at dozens of stations between London Paddington and Oxford.

These will also include Henley, Wargrave and Shiplake stations on the Henley branch line and Pangbourne station, which serves Whitchurch.

The staff will travel across the area offering as much help as needed to any disabled person who books a trip using the national freephone assisted travel line. This could include escorting them for all or part of their journey.

The service is available to those with hidden disabilities such as epilepsy or autism as well as physical ones.

Help was previously only available from staff at individual stations, meaning unmanned ones were hard for disabled people to use.

The service, which is the first of its kind in Britain, was launched with a party at Goring station.

John Boler, chairman of the mobility group, and GWR business director Joe Graham cut a commemorative cake depicting a wheelchair user being helped to board a carriage using a ramp.

About 40 villagers attended the event, where they met GWR staff and heard Mr Graham explain how the service works.

Maureen Whitcher, who lives in Goring and walks using a frame, then became the services first user as she was helped to board a train bound for Reading.

GWR came up with the idea after the mobility group produced a leaflet in 2018 called Accessible by Train, which outlined ways in which disabled passengers could use Gorings shops, services and surrounding countryside.

As part of the project, villager Frank Tomlinson travelled home from London by train but had to be taken off by GWR staff at Reading as no one was available to help him at Goring station. The company then paid for a taxi to take him the rest of the way.

The group complained to the company and the rail regulator and soon afterwards the regulator published a report saying all train operators should provide roving assistance when stations are short staffed.

Members of GWRs roving team, who have been specially trained in railway safety, are available between 7am and 10pm daily.

Anyone needing their services should book 24 hours in advance, although passengers who request assistance on the day will still get help once a member of staff becomes available.

Mr Boler said: Were pleased that this has been introduced, although the real test of its success will be whether or not it increases the number of people with mobility problems who have the confidence to use the train.

Theres often a fear that they wont be able to manage things like boarding, disembarking or changing at stations but hopefully this will give them more confidence and make it an option where previously it wasnt.

We want to see this succeed as it will be a just reward for GWR in being the first to address an issue thats being felt nationwide.

Neil Craig, GWRs mobility and inclusion manager, said: Last year more than 160,000 people used our assisted travel service but were always looking at how we can improve the service we offer and reduce barriers for those with disabilities.

We hope this new service will allow even more people to take advantage of our train services and will be monitoring its success.

This is the latest in a series of achievements for the mobility group, which successfully campaigned for three passenger lifts to be added to the new Goring station footbridge when it was built in 2016.

Network Rail, which carried out the work as part of the electrification of the Great Western mail line, said it didnt have the budget but the group organised a petition which Henley MP John Howell presented to Parliament, forcing the company to think again.

The group also part-funded the widening of the pavement approaching the station in Wallingford Road, which once was barely wide enough for a wheelchair user to safely pass a pedestrian, and it is currently awaiting a decision on a 10,000 grant from GWR for automatic doors at the station booking office.

Other recent improvements include the installation of a disabled toilet and a booking counter at a lower height for wheelchair users.
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BELOIT, Wis., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Regal Beloit Corporation (NYSE: RBC) will host an Investor Day on March 3, 2020, in New York City beginning at 8:30 a.m. EST. The management presentations will be webcast live and all presentation materials will be accessible on the Company's website at www.regalbeloit.com. An archive of the webcast will be available until March 2, 2021, at the link referenced above.

Regal Beloit Corporation is a global leader in the engineering and manufacturing of electric motors and controls, power generation solutions and power transmission products serving customers throughout the world. We create a better tomorrow by developing and responsibly producing energy-efficient products and systems.

Our company is comprised of four operating segments: Commercial Systems, Industrial Systems, Climate Solutions and Power Transmission Solutions. Regal is headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin and has manufacturing, sales and service facilities worldwide. For more information, visit RegalBeloit.com.

SOURCE Regal Beloit Corporation

Related Links

http://www.regalbeloit.com


The Progressive Peoples Party [PPP] is unhappy with the organizers of the anti-new register, Inter- Party Resistance Against the New Voters Register for unlawfully using the partys logo.



The party in a statement copied to Peacefmonline.com has strongly warned the group to desist from using its logo in any form of protest now or in future.



The group has logos of the Peoples National Convention [PNC], National Democratic Congress [NDC], All peoples Party [APC], United Peoples Party [UPP] and the PPP on its banners and placards during their demonstration in Accra.



But PPPs National Secretary, Murtala Ahmed Mohammed said his party is not interested in the move, hence, they should be excluded



Kindly desist from using the Partys logo for your activities. The Progressive Peoples Party is not part of your demonstrations, picketing or any form of resistance.



We shall be grateful if you could engage the party formally on any future activity, portions of the statement read.





Below statement



3rd February, 2020



The Chairman



Interparty Resistance Against New Voters Register



Accra, Dear Sir,



THE PPPs LOGO



My attention has been drawn to the usage of our Partys logo on your Posters and hoardings for a demonstration under the group name Inter Party resistance against new voters register.



Kindly desist from using the Partys Logo for your activities. The Progressive Peoples Party is not



part of your demonstration, picketing or any form of resistance.



We shall be grateful if you could engage the Party formally on any future activity. Thank you.







Murtala Ahmed Mohammed National Secretary [email protected]



+233 (0) 243807244



NO 62, 5TH CRESENT. ASYLUM DOWN. ACCRA  GHANA

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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As Madagascar, located in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), was ravaged by the Cyclone Ava, Malagasy president Andry Rajoelina made an appeal to the international community for sending in relief supplies. Responding to his appeal, India immediately launched Operation Vanilla.

Less than a year ago, in March 2019, Cyclone Idai caused havoc in Mozambique, another state located in the WIO. India sent three naval ships which undertook humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations. In the case of Cyclone Idai as with Cyclone Ava, India was the first country to send relief supplies.

Both these operations underlined Indias role as a first responder to the crises in the Indian Ocean. In both these cases, Indian naval ships were operating in the region and therefore, could be diverted easily to carry out HADR operations. Such operations help India to demonstrate its capabilities as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean. HADR operations also serve the purpose of projecting power in a benign way.

In the past, India undertook similar relief and rescue operations in the wake of the tsunami of 2004 that struck Southeast Asia. For providing much-needed medical and food support, the Indian navy operated in concert with the American navy which laid the foundation of closer ties between Indian and American navies.

Seen in this context, Indias relief operations in the WIO cannot be separated from larger geopolitical imperatives underpinning the region. India considers the WIO as part of the Indo-Pacific region. Recently, the United States also broadened its definition of Indo-Pacific to include the WIO, which includes the littoral and island states of east and southern Africa.

Growing Importance of the Western Indian Ocean

In the last few years, WIO has emerged as a geo-strategically significant region. China opened its first overseas military base at Djibouti in 2017. It invested billions of dollars for building dual-use infrastructure (like ports and railways) in WIO states such as Kenya and Tanzania.

China has also been regularly sending its warships to the region for engaging in defence diplomacy and for familiarisation exercises. For example, in November 2019, the Chinese navy held military exercises in the Western Indian Ocean with the Russian and South African navies.

Apart from China, other major states such as France and the US are also active in the WIO. France maintains its largest military base at Djibouti as well as controls territories like Reunion and Mayotte in the WIO. Moreover, the region between Somalia and Madagascar is rich in hydrocarbon resources as well.

India in the Western Indian Ocean

In this unfolding geopolitical competition within the WIO, Indias interest and continued presence in the region become imperative. The Indian Ocean is a natural theatre for Indias influence and WIO is integral to it.

Recently, India reorganised its Ministry of External Affairs to better reflect the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region. The Indian navy has been active in this region since the days of the Cold War. In the 1980s, India had assisted regimes in Seychelles and Mauritius to guard against subversive activities.

Similarly, the India-Mozambique security relationship is not new. In 2003 and 2004, when Mozambique hosted the African Union (AU) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) summits, respectively, the Indian navy had assisted Mozambique by deploying ships off the coast of Mozambiques capital, Maputo. In 2011, India and Mozambique also signed an agreement for maritime security. Last year, India had gifted interceptor boats to Mozambique for ensuring security in the Mozambique Channel.

Apart from Mozambique, Madagascar is another important state overseeing the Mozambique Channel. Madagascar is also home to the second-largest Chinese Diaspora in Africa and is also emerging as a major focal point of Chinas Africa strategy.

However, the latest Cyclone Alva should demonstrate that there are limits to what China can do for Madagascar. Even though in the latest crisis as many as 92,000 people in Madagascar were affected, China could not provide assistance as fast as India could  given the limitations of Chinas naval capabilities and geographic reality.

India, in contrast, has been assisting Madagascar as and when needed. In 2018, as Madagascar struggled with a triple drought in the southern parts of the country, ENAWO cyclone and a plague outbreak, India supplied 1,000 tonnes of rice and 100 tonnes of medicines. Growing naval capabilities and diplomatic willingness further underscore Indias importance for the region. However, so far, India has not yet established any formal military base in the region.

In the future, the complexity of regional geopolitics, need to respond quickly to crises  man-made and natural, and the imperative of protecting Indias expanding national interests may perhaps push India to open a military base in the region.

(Sankalp Gurjar is a Research Fellow with the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi. Views expressed in the article are personal)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the authors own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
Pim Tuyls, Intrinsic ID CEO, to speak at The Aerospace Corporation Tuyls will deliver the presentation In a World Full of Attacks, Secure your Devices and Systems with SRAM PUF"

Intrinsic ID, the worlds leading provider of digital authentication technology for Internet of Things security, today announced Chief Executive Officer Pim Tuyls will speak during the Microelectronics Reliability and Qualification Workshop, hosted by The Aerospace Corporation.

WHAT: Tuyls will deliver the presentation In a World Full of Attacks, Secure your Devices and Systems with SRAM PUF. The MRQW provides a forum for discussing issues in all areas of microelectronics reliability and qualification for high-reliability and commercial applications. Technical sessions and keynote speakers cover the latest results or work in progress in microelectronics devices. For more information on the workshop visit the events website.

WHEN: The Microelectronics Reliability and Qualification Workshop will be conducted Feb. 4-6, 2020. Tuyls speaks February 5 at 4:15 p.m. PST as part of Session IX: Microelectronics Trust and VS&E.

WHERE:

The Aerospace Corporation

2310 East El Segundo Blvd., Building A1 - Titan IV Conference Center

El Segundo, Calif. 90245

WHO:

Pim Tuyls is CEO of Intrinsic ID, a company specializing in IoT security technology. He initiated the original work on Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) that forms the basis of Intrinsic IDs silicon fingerprinting technology while at Philips Research, where Tuyls was Principal Scientist and managed the cryptography cluster. In 2008 he founded Intrinsic ID and has headed the company since 2010. He holds a Ph.D. in mathematical physics from Leuven University, holds more than 50 patents and is widely recognized for his work in the field of SRAM PUFs and security for embedded applications. He has written significantly in the field of security, including his co-written book Security with Noisy Data, a survey into the theory and practice of new technologies in the field of security based on noisy data, which describes applications in the fields of biometrics, secure key storage and anti-counterfeiting.

About Intrinsic ID

Intrinsic ID is the worlds leading digital authentication company, providing the Internet of Things with hardware-based root-of-trust security via unclonable identities for any IoT-connected device. Based on Intrinsic IDs patented SRAM PUF technology, the companys security solutions can be implemented in hardware or software. Intrinsic ID security, which can be deployed at any stage of a products lifecycle, is used to validate payment systems, secure connectivity, authenticate sensors, and protect sensitive government and military systems. Intrinsic ID technology has been deployed in more than 150 million devices. Award recognition includes the Cyber Defense Magazine InfoSec Award, the IoT Breakthrough Award, the IoT Security Excellence Award, the Frost & Sullivan Technology Leadership Award and the EU Innovation Radar Prize. Intrinsic ID security has been proven in millions of devices certified by Common Criteria, EMVCo, Visa and multiple governments. Intrinsic IDs mission: Authenticate EverythingTM. Visit Intrinsic ID online at http://www.Intrinsic-ID.com.

Intrinsic ID and the Intrinsic ID logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intrinsic ID, B.V., and are protected by trademark laws of the United States and other jurisdictions. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
by Paromita Datta last updated -  Evidence Based

If there was ever a tea with a misleading name, it is orange pekoe. It has nothing to do with oranges or China from where the word pekoe comes from. It is actually a grade of tea and while it may have had its origin in China, today it is used in reference to black tea which comes from India or Sri Lanka. One school of thought believes that the orange comes from Hollands House of Orange, the first European monarchy to import tea from China. The word pekoe may have had its origins in the Chinese word pek, which meant the tiny hair at the underside of a bud. Eventually, it was used by the British to grade the tea coming from India and Sri Lanka.

For tea snobs, the orange pekoe is among the highest grades of tea where every aspect matters. In fact, there is an entire industry that categorizes the quality of the tea by the quality of the leaves used, its aroma, and flavor. This multi-million dollar industry determines the fate of many tea manufacturers.

What is Orange Pekoe?

Orange pekoe is a grade of black tea originating in South Asian countries. Over the years it has come to denote a particular genre of black teas that mostly originate in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The grades are decided based on the size of the processed and dried black leaves. Although many people see it as a synonym of black tea, it is actually just a grade. There are also many different types of grades within orange pekoe.

Variations of Orange Pekoe

Orange pekoe is an umbrella term for many different grades. It depends on the type of tea leaves and how they are processed. These variations are:

Orange pekoe: It mainly consists of long wiry leaves, but without tips. It is further categorized as OP1 (delicate, pale liquor), OPA (stronger than OP1), and OPS (OP grade from Indonesia).

Flowery orange pekoe: It consists of long leaves that are picked in second or third flush. It includes an abundance of buds.

Finest Tippy golden flowery orange pekoe: This is considered the finest grade in this category. This high-quality tea includes plenty of fine golden tips. The abbreviation is also jokingly known as Far Too Good For Ordinary People, an indication of its snobbish status in the tea world.

Tippy golden flowery orange pekoe: Usually found in Darjeeling and Assam tea. It contains a very high proportion of golden fresh buds and tips.

Benefits of Orange Pekoe

Orange pekoe is one of the best grades of black tea. A cup of this tea, therefore, means a premium quality black tea. Drinking this tea gives you the benefits that are associated with black tea, such as managing diabetes, heart diseases, stress, and asthma. High in antioxidants, it also shows anticancer potential. To know more about the health benefits of black tea, check out our comprehensive article on the subject. [1]

How to Make Orange Pekoe Tea?

Considered to be among the best grades of black tea, it has long been revered by tea snobs. Connoisseurs of black tea are even particular about the addition of lemon or milk with opinion divided on whether or not one should add them. Many tea lovers consider these additions unnecessary that dilute the quality of the tea. If you want to enjoy this tea, here are a few tips that you should follow:

Heat the teapot by rinsing it with warm water before steeping your tea leaves. It ensures that tea leaves are exposed to warm temperatures.

The orange pekoe has a very delicate aroma and flavor. But it gets bitter the longer you steep. People have their preference for how strong they want their tea. If it seems too light, try steeping it for longer. However, avoid steeping it for longer than 5 minutes.

For a true tea connoisseur, the aroma of the tea is also very important. Steeping time ensures that the fragrance develops.

Many people consider that the addition of milk, sugar, or lemon dilutes the flavor of the tea. However, if you like it, go ahead.

Orange Pekoe Tea Recipe As one of the best grades in black tea, the orange pekoe is meant to be sipped leisurely and savored for its delicate flavor and aroma. 0 from 0 votes Print Pin Cook Time: 3 minutes Steeping time: 5 minutes Total Time: 3 minutes Servings: 1 cup Author: Paromita Datta [2] [3] Pin Ingredients 1 tsp orange pekoe tea leaves

1 cup water boiled

1 tsp sugar optional

1 tsp [4] milk optional

1 tsp [5] lemon juice optional Instructions Before you make the tea, rinse your teapot with warm water. Add the tea leaves to the pot and pour over the hot water.

Let the tea steep for 5 minutes. Keep in mind that the tea can get bitter if you soak it for too long.

Strain the tea into a teacup. You can take it without milk. But if you do want milk, add no more than a scant teaspoon. Add sugar as per taste.

Your cup of hot tea is ready. Notes The orange pekoe goes excellently with cake or cookies. The steeping time is important here and is usually as per one's preference. Some like it lightly brewed, while some like a strong, slightly bitter tea.

Proper storage of the tea: The orange pekoe has a delicate flavor. Hence, you must store it carefully. Store it in an airtight container in a dry and dark place to minimize exposure to any moisture or light in the atmosphere. Keep it away from any strong smells, such as spices or perfumes.
India and Sri Lanka are expected to discuss trade, defence and maritime security initiatives and finalise the implementation agenda for a USD 450 million line of credit offered by New Delhi during Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's first overseas visit from February 7-11, according to a media report.

During the visit, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will have high-level bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other senior government officials, the Daily Financial Times said, citing a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.

The scheduled meetings will build on the strong relationship that already exists between the two countries and include discussions on politics, trade, development, defence, culture and tourism, among others, the statement added.

With the aim of enhancing engagement in sub-regional maritime security cooperation, the two delegations are expected to discuss key areas under the defence and maritime security initiatives that include the Sri Lanka-India Annual Defence Dialogue and the Trilateral Maritime Security Cooperation with India and Maldives.

"The two countries are expected to finalise the implementation agenda during this forthcoming visit of Prime Minister (Mahinda) Rajapaksa, the statement said.

The bulk of the line of credit, USD 400 million, will be for infrastructure projects while remaining USD 50 million will be given as a grant for Sri Lanka to fund security needs including resources needed to fight terrorism, the report said.

The line of credit was announced by Indian Prime Minister Modi during President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's state visit to India in November shortly after his victory in the presidential election, it said. It was Gotabaya Rajapaksa's first state visit.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is visiting India from February 7-11 on his counterpart's invitation.

This visit will be the first overseas visit by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa after assuming office in November 2019.

In addition to that, follow-up discussions on the Indian assistance to enhance training opportunities for Sri Lanka are expected in the fields of vocational training and in the area of public services.

In light of the deep historical, cultural and religious relations, the two sides will also pay attention to strengthening people-to-people contacts by expanding aviation links to the sacred Buddhist sites in India, including the Sanchi Buddhist Complex' in Madhya Pradesh.

Following his high-level engagements, Prime Minister Rajapaksa is scheduled to visit several historic religious sites including, Varanasi, Sarnath, Bodhgaya and Tirupati.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
L awyers for the US State Department have declined a meeting with the parents of Harry Dunn.

The British teenager's mother Charlotte Charles and father Tim Dunn had hoped to discuss their son's case with the State Department after advice from the British embassy in Washington, it is understood.

Declining a meeting, State Department lawyers said a "decision on this case has already been made".

Dunn family spokesman Radd Seiger said the refusal to meet the family came after his written request and that the latest development made him ashamed to be American.

Harry Dunn's family have been campaigning for Anne Sacoolas to be returned to theUK / AP

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Seiger added: "Not only has the State Department turned down a perfectly lawful request for a meeting, they're not even abiding by the terms of the extradition treaty.

"They're cowards and they have their heads in the sand.

Mr Dunn's family claimed that US secretary of state Mike Pompeo "made a political decision" to reject an extradition request for 42-year-old Anne Sacoolas.

The 19-year-old's parents have said Mr Pompeo made the decision prior to "the legal process outlined in the extradition treaty being completed".

Mr Dunn was killed when his motorbike collided with a car outside a US military base in Northamptonshire on August 27 last year.

Mrs Sacoolas, the wife of a US intelligence official based at RAF Croughton, claimed diplomatic immunity after the crash and was able to return to her home country, sparking an international controversy.

Addressing the request for a meeting with the State Department, Mr Seiger said: "The parents have now discovered that the US government could not even bring itself to follow the legal and judicial process that should have been followed prior to the rejection having been made.

"Secretary Pompeo interfered by making his political decision first without regard to the rule of law or due process.

"Harry's parents accordingly sought a meeting with the lawyers in the State Department so that the situation could be explained to them.

"Not denying that that the process had not been followed, the lawyers have simply stated that the decision has been made and they are not in a position to discuss it any further.

"We are now in a shocking position of having to come to terms with the fact that the world's leading nation is not only abusing the conventions governing diplomatic immunity but now also cannot even be bothered to follow the process agreed in the treaty between the US and UK.
She is the daughter of Judy Garland and Vicente Minnelli, and a star in her own right.

And Liza Minnelli revealed that she as no interest in seeing the film Judy, a biopic about her mother with Renee Zellweger in the starring role, she said in her Variety cover story.

Liza, 73, said of the film: 'I hope [Zellweger] had a good time making it.'

Candid: Liza Minnelli revealed that she as no interest in seeing the film Judy, a biopic about her mother with Renee Zellweger in the starring role, she said in her Variety cover story

In June 2018, Liza took to her Facebook page to slam reports that she bonded with Renee after she landed the role of her mother in the film.

Liza had said: 'I have never met or spoken to Renee Zellweger... I don't know how these stories get started, but I do not approve nor sanction the upcoming film about Judy Garland in any way. Any reports to the contrary are 100% Fiction.

Renee plays Judy in the film released last year, during the movie star's last year of her life after she moved to London; while at first Judy had success overseas withe sold out concerts, things went south due to health issues.

The film had both commercial and critical success, with Renee also winning a multitude of accolades.

Good wishes: Liza, 73, said of the film: 'I hope [Zellweger] had a good time making it;' Renee Zellweger picture after winning her Golden Globe on January 5 in Beverly Hills

Candid: In June 2018, Liza took to her Facebook page to slam reports that she bonded with Renee after she landed the role of her mother in the film

Renee, 50, won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama, a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, a British Academy Film Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

She is nominated for Best Actress for an Academy Award, which airs on Sunday.

Liza was born on March 12, 1946 to Judy and Vicente, a stage and film director; Judy died on June 22, 1969 in London at age 47 due to a barbiturate overdose and Vincente passed away at age 83 from emphysema and pneumonia.

The actress said 'it took a minute' to listen to her mom's music after she passed away.

Liza was three when she first performed onstage.

In character: Renee plays Judy in the film released last year, during the movie star's last year of her life after she moved to London; while at first Judy had success overseas withe sold out concerts, things went south due to health issues; pictured in character

The actress said eight years after her first time on a stage, her mom would sing Swanee from A Star Is Born and made her dance to it.

'I'd say "I don't have a choreographer," which made her laugh. She got such a kick out of it. It was like, "Look what I made." And I was so happy whenever she was happy.'

Liza said: 'my parents were my parents,' when asked when she knew they were famous, adding: 'I didn't know I had to dodge questions about mama until people started asking me questions. I asked my father what to do, and he said, "Be as good as you can and as good as you are.'"

She continued: 'He said something like, "So what? They ask me the same questions." Mama got angry. She was one who got angry at people for asking me questions about her.'

Family: Liza was three when she first performed onstage

Mom and daughter: Liza said: 'my parents were my parents,' when asked when she knew they were famous; pictured in 1963 on The Judy Garland Show together

On what kind of happy her mom was, Liza said: 'She was funny, very funny, clear, incredibly intelligent, but more than you could even imagine, and in the moment.'

If she was angry of upset, Liza recalled at about age five she would 'tickle her' or 'take her by her hips and put her on the bed or the couch.'

Liza said the hardest part about showbusiness was 'getting to be known as myself as opposed to somebody's daughter.'

She said her mother would tell her: '"Now don't get upset because of the way they may compare you to me because you're an entertainer too." I said, "I won't."

Then Judy would read something about her being compared to her, and she would say, '"How dare they? You're your own woman. Dammit! Can't they see?' And she'd throw it down in the trash. She was so wonderful and so overprotective. She tried saving us from any stuff that other people said, except the great stuff.'

Icon: On what kind of happy her mom was, Liza said: 'She was funny, very funny, clear, incredibly intelligent, but more than you could even imagine, and in the moment'

Liza said she always wanted to be a dancer: 'I remember going to dancing school because I asked my dad. I went all my life. And then, I was always hoping that I'd get to be in the yearly show. Twice I didn't make it, But the third time, I got it.'

She used to dance for her dad because he loved it: 'He'd be sitting on the bed, and Mama loved to say, "Come dance."'

Liza won an Oscar for her role in the 1972 film Cabaret at the age of 26.

She didn't think she was going to win and she hadn't planned an acceptance speech.

Gene Hackman and Raquel Welch announced her as the winner and she said her father 'screamed and he gave me tinnitus. I had tinnitus because of the way my father screamed at the Oscars, honestly.'

She went to rehab for her addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs in the early eighties.

She went to rehab at Betty Ford after she told her father she had a problem: 'I knew, and I told my father. He said, "Well, let's see what can we do about it." I said, "Well, all these people talk about the Betty Ford Center," and he said, "Then you'll go there." And just like that, So he took me there.'

Liza said 'everything' about her mom was her fondest memories: 'We had such fun because she was so funny. She was funny, and she loved her kids so much. She was protective and very strict. She wanted you to do the right thing, like any mother. It's that simple.'
An outspoken French teenager has reignited a polarising debate over free speech in the country after an expletive-laden Instagram rant against Islam that has forced her to stay home from school on safety fears. The case of 16-year-old Mila -- who has received a slew of death threats for calling Islam "a shitty religion" -- has come just over five years after a group of French cartoonists from the Charlie Hebdo magazine were gunned down by jihadist gunmen after poking fun at the Prophet Mohammed. On Tuesday, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced that the teen, whose full name has been withheld by French media, and her family had been put under police protection. Right-wing politicians have accused the government of failing to show enough support for the teen in the face of what they call "Islamist" threats over the last two weeks. In a TV interview Monday, Mila said she did "not regret" her remarks and defended her right to "blaspheme". Far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen responded by tweeting: "This young girl is braver than the whole political class in power over the past 30 years." The Senate leader of the main opposition Republicans party, Bruno Retailleau, also issued a robust defence of Mila against "this political Islam which is trampling our values". But some on the left, like former Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal, appeared torn between the desire to defend the unfettered free speech for which the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists died and reprimand the teen for her foul-mouthed outburst. While defending Mila's "total" freedom to criticise a religion, Royal said she should have shown more "respect, manners and knowledge" and should not be made into "a paragon of freedom of expression." - Freedom of expression? - Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet declared the death threats received by Mila were "unacceptable in a democracy" but added her remarks about Islam were "clearly an infringement on freedom of conscience". Belloubet's remarks caused an outcry from the opposition with the Republicans' leader in the lower house of parliament Damien Abad fuming: "It's called freedom of expression!" The furore began when Mila, a striking figure with short hair dyed purple and piercing blue eyes, live streamed footage of herself doing her makeup on Instagram on January 18. Recounting the events to the host of the popular chatshow Le Quotidien on Monday, Mila said: "A guy was hitting on me heavily during the live, telling me 'you're beautiful, you're hot, what age are you?". She duly informed those watching that she was lesbian and that "blacks and Arabs" were not her type. Cue a stream of insults and threats, followed by her now infamous response, spoken directly to camera. "The Koran is a religion of hatred, there is only hatred in it. Islam is shit, your religion is shit," she said, describing in lewd terms what she would do to "your god". - 'Right to blaspheme' - The video was widely shared on social media, where it elicited more threats, including of death and rape. Fearing for the girl's safety, the regional education board told Mila to stay home from school, where she remains two weeks later. "You reap what you sow", a senior member of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), Abdallah Zekri, told French radio, arguing that the youngster had "asked for it" (the threats). The president of the CFCM, Mohammed Moussaoui, however expressed unease at these comments declaring that "nothing justified death threats." For Denis Lacorne, researcher at Sciences Po university in Paris and author of a book entitled "The Limits of Tolerance", the case raises questions about the boundaries between free speech and tolerance in France. "What is worrisome is not that blasphemy might be considered a crime -- the right to blaspheme is a real right -- it's the risk of self-censorship," he told AFP. "No-one now dares stage a play by (Enlightenment playwright) Voltaire called "Le Fanatisme ou Mahomet" ("Mahomet in English) because it is considered insulting towards religions," he deplored. Mila on Monday said she apologised "a little bit" to those people who may have been "hurt" by her remarks but insisted she had every right to speak out. "I never wanted to target human beings. I wanted to blaspheme. I wanted to speak about a religion and say what I think," she said. burs-cb-meb/sjw/lc French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said the teen, whose identity has not been revealed, has been given police protection French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) president Marine Le Pen said the teen is braver than politicians for speaking out
New Delhi, Feb 4 : The government on Tuesday told the Lok Sabha that the Delhi Police have registered three cases and arrested 15 persons in connection with the violence that broke out at Jamia Millia Islamia in December.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State (Home) Nityanand Rai said, "Till now, the government has not taken any decision to prepare the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) at the national level." The opposition on Monday had staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha as BJP MP Parvesh Verma, who was recently banned by the EC as BJP's star campaigner for Delhi polls for 96 hours, moved the motion of thanks on President Ram Nath Kovind's address when the session kicked off.

Ruckus prevailed in the Lok Sabha as the opposition cornered the Modi government over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the firing incidents in Jamia and Shaheen Bagh in the Parliament.

The opposition MPs started chanting 'goli maarna band karo, desh ko todna band karo' as Minister of State (Finance) Anurag Thakur began addressing the House.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi accused the government of committing atrocities on students, while Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhry said the government is "mercilessly" killing the people of India. "Say no to CAA," "save our democracy" and "save our Constitution" were the other slogans raised by the Opposition.

Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Choudhary and Congress MP Manickam Tagore have given adjournment notice in the Lok Sabha over 'environment of fear and intimidation' in the country due to Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 04, 2020) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that its partner company Azincourt Energy Corp. ("Azincourt") has commenced drilling at the 25,000+ hectare East Preston Uranium Project located 50 km southeast of Patterson Lake in the Western Athabasca Basin, northern Saskatchewan, Canada.



Preston Uranium Project Map:

http://skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/SYH-Patterson-Lake.pdf

Drilling has begun at pad EP20PADB, which is located along the northern part of the A-Zone conductor corridor. One hole in the abbreviated 2019 drill campaign targeted a nearby parallel conductor. Hole EP19003 successfully intersected a graphite-pyrite bearing shear zone that explains the geophysical conductors determined by previous ground and airborne EM surveys. The 2019 results validate the geophysical interpretation in the Five Island Lakes project area and were paramount in determining the target priority sequence for the 2020 program.

Drill target prioritization for the current campaign is based on a detailed compilation of results from the 2019 winter drill program, 2018 and 2019 ground-based EM and gravity surveys, property-wide helicopter-borne Versatile Time-Domain Electromagnetic (VTEM Max) and magnetic surveys.

The approximately $1.2 million drill program is focused on prospective targets in the Five Island Lakes area with 2000m to 2500m in up to 15 holes of diamond drilling at up to 10 pad locations. The majority of proposed holes will test multiple subparallel EM conductors (A-zone and B-zone conductor corridors), in an area of marked structural disruption. Portions of the A-zone were drilled during the 2019 winter campaign verifying that the conductor hosts significant graphite in strongly deformed (sheared) host rocks that offer both fluid pathways and a reducing host rock conducive to uranium deposition.

2020 Drill Targets - East Preston Uranium Project

http://skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/2020-Drill-Targets-East-Preston-Uranium-Project.pdf

Initial drilling is also proposed for the Swoosh zone, a 7+ km long east-west structural lineament with strongly anomalous, spatially consistent geochemical anomalies (lake sediments, radon, soil) and coincident magnetic and gravity geophysical anomalies. Two holes are proposed for this area near the upstream terminus of the geochemical anomalies. This zone is located along strike approximately 5 km southwest of the A-zone. The 2020 drill program is being conducted under the guidance and supervision of Azincourt director Ted O'Connor, M.Sc., P.Geo, and Jarrod Brown, M.Sc., P.Geo, Chief Geologist and Project Manager with TerraLogic Exploration.

Option Agreement:

Skyharbour and Dixie Gold Inc. entered into an Option Agreement (the "Agreement") with Azincourt whereby Azincourt has an earn-in option to acquire a 70% working interest in a portion of the Preston Uranium Project known as the East Preston Property. Under the Agreement, Azincourt has issued common shares and will contribute cash and exploration expenditure consideration totaling up to CAD $3,500,000 in exchange for up to 70% of the applicable property area over three years. Of the $3,500,000 in project consideration, $1,000,000 will be in cash payments to Skyharbour and Dixie Gold, as well as $2,500,000 in exploration expenditures over the three-year period.

Project Location - Western Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada

http://skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/Project-Location-Western-Athabasca-Basin-Saskatchewan-Canada.pdf

About East Preston:

Extensive regional exploration work at East Preston was completed in 2013-14, including airborne electromagnetic (VTEM), magnetic and radiometric surveys. Three prospective conductive, low magnetic signature corridors have been discovered on the property. The three distinct corridors have a total strike length of over 25 km, each with multiple EM conductor trends identified. Ground prospecting and sampling work completed to date has identified outcrop, soil, biogeochemical and radon anomalies, which are key pathfinder elements for unconformity uranium deposit discovery.

Azincourt completed a winter geophysical exploration program in January-February 2018 that generated a significant amount of new drill targets within the previously untested corridors while refining additional targets near previous drilling along the Swoosh corridor. Ground-truthing work confirmed the airborne conductive trends and more accurately located the conductor axes for future drill testing. The gravity survey identified areas along the conductors with a gravity low signature, which is often associated with alteration, fault/structural disruption and potentially, uranium mineralization. The combination/stacking of positive features has assisted in prioritizing targets.

The Main Grid shows multiple long linear conductors with flexural changes in orientation and offset breaks in the vicinity of interpreted fault lineaments - classic targets for basement-hosted unconformity uranium deposits. These are not just simple basement conductors; they are clearly upgraded/enhanced prospectivity targets because of the structural complexity.

The targets are basement-hosted unconformity related uranium deposits similar to NexGen's Arrow deposit and Cameco's Eagle Point mine. East Preston is near the southern edge of the western Athabasca Basin, where targets are in a near surface environment without Athabasca sandstone cover - therefore they are relatively shallow targets but can have great depth extent when discovered. The project ground is located along a parallel conductive trend between the PLS-Arrow trend and Cameco's Centennial deposit (Virgin River-Dufferin Lake trend).

In early 2019 Azincourt conducted a small initial diamond drill program totaling 552m. The results confirmed the prospectivity of the East Preston project, as basement lithologies and graphitic structures intersected at East Preston were found to be very similar and appear to be analogous to the Patterson Lake South-Arrow-Hook Lake/Spitfire uranium deposit host rocks and setting.

Qualified Person:

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Richard Kusmirski, P.Geo., M.Sc., Skyharbour's Head Technical Advisor and a Qualified Person.

About Skyharbour Resources Ltd.:

Skyharbour holds an extensive portfolio of uranium and thorium exploration projects in Canada's Athabasca Basin and is well positioned to benefit from improving uranium market fundamentals with six drill-ready projects. Skyharbour has acquired from Denison Mines, a large strategic shareholder of the Company, a 100% interest in the Moore Uranium Project which is located 15 kilometres east of Denison's Wheeler River project and 39 kilometres south of Cameco's McArthur River uranium mine. Moore is an advanced stage uranium exploration property with high grade uranium mineralization at the Maverick Zone with drill results returning up to 6.0% U 3 O 8 over 5.9 metres including 20.8% U 3 O 8 over 1.5 metres at a vertical depth of 265 metres. Skyharbour has signed option agreements with Orano Canada Inc. and Azincourt Energy whereby Orano and Azincourt can earn in up to 70% of the Preston Project through a combined $9,800,000 in total exploration expenditures, as well as $1,700,000 in total cash payments and Azincourt shares. Preston is a large, geologically prospective property proximal to Fission Uranium's Triple R deposit as well as NexGen Energy's Arrow deposit. The Company also owns a 100% interest in the Falcon Point Uranium Project on the eastern perimeter of the Basin which contains a NI 43-101 inferred resource totaling 7.0 million pounds of U 3 O 8 at 0.03% and 5.3 million pounds of ThO 2 at 0.023%. The project also hosts a high-grade surface showing with up to 68% U 3 O 8 in grab samples from a massive pitchblende vein, the source of which has yet to be discovered. The Company's 100% owned Mann Lake Uranium project on the east side of the Basin is strategically located adjacent to the Mann Lake Joint Venture operated by Cameco, where high-grade uranium mineralization was recently discovered. Skyharbour's goal is to maximize shareholder value through new mineral discoveries, committed long-term partnerships, and the advancement of exploration projects in geopolitically favourable jurisdictions.

Skyharbour's Uranium Project Map in the Athabasca Basin:

http://skyharbourltd.com/_resources/SYH_Landpackage_2014.jpg

To find out more about Skyharbour Resources Ltd..

SKYHARBOUR RESOURCES LTD.

"Jordan Trimble"



Jordan Trimble

President and CEO

For further information contact myself or:

Simon Dyakowski

Corporate Development

Skyharbour Resources Ltd.

Telephone: 604-687-3800

Toll Free: 800-567-8181

Facsimile: 604-687-3119

Email: info@skyharbourltd.com

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4)  The Health Department admitted Tuesday that it has contacted only 17 percent of passengers on the same Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific flights as the Chinese couple who both tested positive for the novel coronavirus after they arrived in the Philippines two weeks ago.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said during a Senate hearing that they have only been able to assess 58 of 331 plane passengers who may have come in contact with the couple who travelled from Wuhan to the Philippines via Hong Kong on January 21.

Philippine Airlines Vice President for Security Cesar Ordoyo said they have submitted the names of passengers onboard the same plane as the couple to the Bureau of Epidemiology. He added that they have also contacted 74 of 132 passengers on the flight, with 21 of them having sat close to the couple.

Ordoyo said that they were given the impression that health authorities have contacted the passengers.

Cebu Pacific also said in a statement that it is closely coordinating with the Health Department, Bureau of Quarantine and other agencies to manage the risk of possible novel coronavirus infection.

Duque said that of those who have been contacted by health authorities, 53 are quarantined in their homes and five have exhibited symptoms similar to coronavirus infection. However, of the five, only four have been admitted to hospitals for isolation, while one refused admission.

He assured senators that they can complete contacting all passengers on the same flights as the couple in 48 hours.

Senate Health Committee chair Christopher Bong Go said the Health Department should work with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Philippine National Police to track down passengers on the same flights as the Chinese couple.

Senator Ronald Bato dela Rosa, a former top cop, also suggested that the Health Department submit to the PNP passenger manifests from airline companies. He said the PNP would be able to track down those people in 24 hours.

However, Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Ed Monreal said there is no need to contact all passengers onboard the same flights as the couple. He said international airline standards only require contacting passengers seated at the four rows nearest to the front, back, left and right of an infected person.

He added that all commercial carriers are equipped with filters that should clean the air inside aircrafts.

He also said passengers onboard the same flights as the couple would likely be the first to contact authorities.

People, as long as you tell them the exact flight number, rest assured, if you were onboard, you will initially also volunteer yourself, Monreal said.

The couple from Wuhan  the Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak  came to Cebu on January 21 from Hong Kong on Cebu Pacific flight 5J 241. The two then boarded Cebu Pacific flight DG 6519 from Cebu to Dumaguete and Philippine Airlines flight PR 2542 from Dumaguete to Manila.

Both airlines companies have said they are contacting passengers on those flights and have placed their crews under quarantine. They also said that their planes have also been disinfected.

Failure of leadership

Senators were dissatisfied at the apparent sluggishness of the Health Department at contact tracing, or the process of tracking down people who may have come in contact with those infected with the novel coronavirus, officially known as 2019-nCoV.

I think this is not just a failure of communication, I think this is also a failure of leadership on the part of the Health Department, Senator Francis Kiko Pangilinan said.

Duque blamed the slow contact tracing on a lack of manpower, the supposed reluctance of airline companies in disclosing contact details of passengers due to the Data Privacy Act and an alleged lack of transparency among his subordinates at the Health Department.

Yung mga ganito pong operational details eh hindi po nalalaman ng Secretary of Health yan, he lamented. Mahirap naman po na Secretary papakialaman ko lahat ng detalye, and then we lose sight of the big picture, the more strategic intervention.

[Translation: These kinds of operational details would no longer be known by the Secretary of Health  Its difficult if I would meddle in all details, then well lose sight of the big picture, the more strategic intervention.]

Privacy Commissioner Raymun Liboro said no law keeps airlines from releasing passenger data to authorities like the Health department.

Cebu Pacific also said that there is "no impediment" for them to provide all information needed by the Health department and Bureau of Quarantine.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade suggested that the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the Civil Aeronautics Board should be taking the lead in contact tracing instead of the Health Department as airlines are not likely to heed the directives of the latter.

If the Department of Health would be the one to follow up the airline, and the Department of Health has no ascendancy nor power to put suspension or to force compliance, theyll not follow, Tugade said.

But Senator Panfilo Ping Lacson said the Health Department should be taking the lead on all fronts of the governments response to the novel coronavirus outbreak as it is a health issue.

The DOH should be the first line of defense and should be designated as the office of primary responsibility. We shouldnt be blaming any other people, Lacson said.

According to the DOH case tracker, 105 people have been placed under watch for possible coronavirus infection, including eight people who came in contact with the Chinese couple, who were the first two cases of the new virus in the Philippines.

Ninety of the105 are confined and isolated in various hospitals around the county, while 12 have been discharged but remain under strict monitoring.

Duque, however, said during the Senate hearing that 48 of the patients under watch have already left the country.

Those who have not been contacted by Cebu Pacific who were aboard flights 5J 241 and DG 6519 can call +632 87020886 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison will appoint a permanent independent commissioner to investigate veteran suicide.

The new National Commissioner for Defence and Suicide Prevention will reportedly have the powers of a royal commission to probe the deaths of more than 400 serving and ex-service men and women who have taken their own lives since 2001.

An interim report will be handed over in 12 months with a final report due in 18 months.

Andrew Perry, was an Air Force sharpshooter He spent eight years serving in Afghanistan After returning home the 47-year-old tried to kill himself multiple timesHe died in December 2015

Ashley Meek of the Australian Army. He served in Iraq and East Timor. The 29-year-old died in March 2017

'This is about being forever vigilant for the care and wellbeing of our veterans,' Mr Morrison said.

'Those veterans and all serving men and women protect our community and our freedoms. It is our duty to do the same for them.'

The prime minister's decision comes after federal opposition leader Anthony Albanese backed calls for a commission.

Mr Albanese endorsed the public campaign after meeting with Julie-Ann Finney, whose son David died by suicide earlier this year.

Lenny Fay served with the Australian Navy. He died May 2019, aged 36, after being sent out during the asylum seeker drownings off Northern Australia

Scott Williams of the Australian Navy. After serving in East Timor, Solomon Islands and the Gulf struggled when he returned home. The 35-year-old killed himself in 2015

The suicide rate for ex-servicemen is 18 per cent higher than the broader population and ex-servicewomen are twice as likely to take their own lives than other Australian women.

The government will spend $40 million to set up the office of the commissioner but would provide more funding if needed.

Apart from investigating past and new deaths, the commissioner will also make recommendations to improve mental health and wellbeing.

Dave Finney served with the Australian Navy. He served in Bougainville, East Timor and the Middle East. He suffered PTSD and begged for helpThe 38-year-old had to wait months to see a psychiatrist. He died in February 2019

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will appoint a permanent independent commissioner to investigate veteran suicide

The watchdog will deliver an annual report to parliament to assess the reduction of suicide risk factors.

'It's all about being permanently vigilant about their welfare,' Mr Morrison said.

The government will also establish a Veteran Family Advocate alongside the new commissioner role to communicate with veterans and their families and help develop related policy.

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636
Though it has not even been one month since Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex announced that they will be stepping back from their duties as working royals, they have already settled into life in North America.

The duo are currently on Vancouver Island in Canada with their son, Archie Harrison. Though the paparazzi have snapped some photos of the duo out and about on the picturesque island, theyve mostly been keeping to themselves as they decide how to press forward in their new independent lives.

Still, one of the duos major concerns is their safety and security. The cost of their protection, as well as the duties of their current royal protection team, are causing a bit of strife.

Inside Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys happy new life

The Duke and Duchess of Sussexs choice to step away from their royal roles was so they could have a peaceful life. In fact, after watching the bulling and harassment that his wife endured  it was Prince Harry who decided enough is enough. The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly, Prince Harry revealed in a candid speech.It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I havent always got it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option.

Thankfully, it looks like the move to Canada was the right choice for the Sussexes.

Meghan is so happy, an insider explained to US Weekly, She doesnt come from millions. Shes worked hard to get to where she is today. Meghan loves the idea of being the breadwinner. She has no plans to do another show like Suits, but Harrys been encouraging her to do more voice-over work, writing, producing and directing in her free time. As for Prince Harry, Hes really excited about the next chapter in their lives.

However, the Sussexes security is causing a major headache.

This is who is paying for Prince Harry and Meghan Markles security

Though they are no longer working royals, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry are still two of the most recognizable people on the planet. Therefore, for their safety, they have 15 highly-trained close protection experts guarding them 24-hours a day. Currently, British taxpayers are still footing the bill for their security.

It is the British taxpayers who are going to be funding the security, royal expert Dickie Arbiterwith to The Evening Standard. It will have to happen because Harry has served in the army and is a risk. Prince Harry is a terrorist target and he has to be protected.

However, Canada could take over the bill at some point moving forward. No, we havent spent any time thinking about this issue, Bill Morneau, Canadas finance minister. told CBC reporters in Jan. 2019. We obviously are always looking to make sure, as a member of the Commonwealth, we play a role. We have not had any discussions on that subject at this time.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys security officers are furious

Unfortunately, things are so chill in Canada that the Sussexes royal protection officers are complaining about how little they have to do.

While the guys are happy to be out there doing the jobs, there is a feeling they are carrying out menial tasks, like picking up takeaways and groceries, an insider told The Sun. They are close protection officersand should be sticking solely to close protection rather than running errands. It is dangerous for one thing, because if something were to happen it would not be good if one of them was away running an errand or picking up coffee. And they are the ones who would get it in the neck from their bosses if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Hopefully, the Sussexes can work out their security issues too.
Panaji: The Goa Legislative Assembly has become the first to pass a 'congratulatory motion' in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has claimed. Sawant said this reflected the real gratitude of people of Goa towards the "historic decision" taken by the BJP-led central government.

The state Assembly on Monday passed the motion congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for enacting CAA, amid a walkout by members of the opposition Congress and Goa Forward Party. "I am delighted that the Goa Assembly has had the privilege of being the first to pass a congratulatory motion in support of #CAA2019.

This is the real sentiment of gratitude and support from the people of Goa towards the historic decision by PM @narendramodi ji and HM @AmitShah ji," Sawant said in a tweet late Monday evening.

BJP Goa president Sadanand Tanavade on Tuesday said the coastal state leads the way in support of the CAA. "Goa leads the way in support of CAA. After a successful, massive rally in Panaji, now the Goa Legislative Assembly has passed a congratulatory motion, supporting the CAA. Sentiments of the Goan people have to be resounded in the assembly. #GoaSupportCAA," Tanavade tweeted on Monday evening.

In the 40-member House, the ruling BJP has 27 MLAs including the speaker, who all were present during the passage of the congratulatory motion, besides two Independent legislators who support the saffron party-led government.

NCP MLA Churchill Alemao, who also supports the state government, was absent. The majority of Catholic MLAs of the BJP supported the motion, which was moved by Atanasio Monserratte and Clafacio Dias on the first day of the Assembly's budget session.

The opposition MLAs in the House include five members of the Congress, three of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), one of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and an Independent.

Members of the Congress and GFP, led by Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat, on Monday created ruckus and rushed to the Well of the House demanding that Speaker Rajesh Patnekar disallow the motion. They later staged a walkout saying they had submitted a notice seeking a discussion on the new citizenship law and the proposed country-wide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The CAA, under which non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship, came into force from January 10. It was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019.
Google has admitted to sending people's private videos to stranger in a mix-up with its photos service.

A technical error meant that people received personal videos that were not theirs after using Google Photos.

For four days last year, people using a specific part of the site will have received personal videos from other people, the company said.

Google has written to affected users informing them of the problem and indicating that it will not happen again.

It is not clear exactly how many people were affected by the issue or how many videos would have been leaked in the process.

The problem focused particularly on Google's Takeout service, which allows people to download an archive of the data that they have stored with Google, for safe keeping or to move it to another site.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

The feature is intended to allow people to have more control over their data. It is of course intended only to give people access to their own files, but the technical issue meant that those videos were then passed onto other people using the service.

While some users had their videos leaked, others may have found themselves with files taken from someone else's photos. Others still may have simply noticed that their download was incomplete.

Google says the breach affected less than less than 0.01 per cent of people using the Takeout service, according to 9to5Google. But the photo service has more than a billion users, Google announced this summer, and so the problem could still have hit a substantial number of people.

In a statement, Google said the issue was only around for a few days in November and that it was sorry for the problem.

We are notifying people about a bug that may have affected users who used Google Takeout to export their Google Photos content between November 21 and November 25," the company said in a statement to 9to5Google.

"These users may have received either an incomplete archive, or videosnot photosthat were not theirs. We fixed the underlying issue and have conducted an in-depth analysis to help prevent this from ever happening again. We are very sorry this happened.
Pilot of helicopter that crashed heralded for 'miracle' landing

The crew of a Hagerstown-based helicopter and the juvenile patient they picked up in Chambersburg, Pa., are OK after a crash near Philadelphia.
Huge clouds of smoke spilled off the southeastern coast of Australia in this NASA Terra satellite image taken with the MODIS instrument (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on Jan. 31, 2020.

No rain clouds are in sight to quench the fires and smoke that are streaming over the Southern Pacific Ocean from New South Wales, Australia. The data from Terra was uploaded to the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) which then distributes the Near Real-Time (NRT) active fire data within 3 hours of satellite observation from both MODIS and NASA's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). The fires in this image have burned hundreds of miles of Australian land leaving behind scorched earth. These fires have also decimated wildlife across the region. Many residents have lost homes to the fires and some have lost their lives.

NASA's satellite instruments are often the first to detect wildfires burning, and the locations of new fires are sent directly to land managers worldwide within hours of the satellite overpass. Together, NASA instruments detect actively burning fires, track the transport of smoke from fires, provide information for fire management, and map the extent of changes to ecosystems, based on the extent and severity of burn scars. NASA has a fleet of Earth-observing instruments, many of which contribute to our understanding of fire in the Earth system. Satellites in orbit around the poles provide observations of the entire planet several times per day, whereas satellites in a geostationary orbit provide coarse-resolution imagery of fires, smoke and clouds every five to 15 minutes. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS's thermal bands, are outlined in red. For more information visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/fires/main/missions/index.html

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Brian Wilson has called on his former band The Beach Boys to cancel a planned performance at a trophy-hunting convention (Ian West/PA)

Brian Wilson has called on his former band The Beach Boys to cancel a planned performance at a trophy-hunting convention where Donald Trump Jr will be among the speakers.

Wilson said he and his fellow Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine have nothing to do with the groups appearance at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada.

The 77-year-old tweeted saying it was a version of the band fronted by Mike Love, another founder, who owns the legal rights to the Beach Boys name.

It has been brought to my attention that on Wednesday February 5, The Beach Boys touring group licensed by Mike Love are headlining at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada...  Brian Wilson (@BrianWilsonLive) February 3, 2020

This organization supports trophy hunting, which Both Al and I are emphatically opposed to. Theres nothing we can do personally to stop the show, so please join us in signing the petition at https://t.co/vOUtJDq6t2  Brian Wilson (@BrianWilsonLive) February 3, 2020

Longtime Beach Boys member Bruce Johnston is also part of the band, who are set to appear at the convention on Wednesday.

Wilson said: It has been brought to my attention that on Wednesday February 5, The Beach Boys touring group licensed by Mike Love are headlining at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada.

Wilson said both he and Jardine are emphatically opposed to trophy hunting and asked fans to share a petition demanding the Beach Boys pull out of the event.

According to the Safari Clubs website, attendees will be able to shop for the latest weapons and organise hunting trips. Mr Trump Jr, a long-time trophy-hunter, will deliver the keynote speech.

The petition demanding the Beach Boys pull out was launched by Eduardo Goncalves and has so far attracted more than 65,000 names.

Addressed to the bands manager Elliott Lott, it asks: Wouldnt it be nice if all the Beach Boys, Stayed away from those who kill for fun?

The petition also threatens a boycott against the group if they go ahead with the appearance.

It states: We the undersigned pledge to stop buying or downloading all Beach Boys music, going to Beach Boys concerts, and purchasing any Beach Boys merchandise until the Beach Boys withdraw from the SCI Convention and publicly state their opposition to this sick sport of killing animals for fun.

We will call on the Beach Boys record label, agent and publicists to disown the Beach Boys, and on members of the public to protest at forthcoming Beach Boys concerts, unless they do so.

The Beach Boys were founded in sBrian outhern California in 1961. Perhaps their most acclaimed album, 1966s Pet Sounds, features a cover showing the band feeding goats at a zoo.
The delegates at the event (Photo: VNA)



In the speech at the ceremony, Mr. Pham Van Thuong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Overseas Vietnamese Association in Kharkiv city, highlighted the important leadership role of the Party in resistance wars to seize independence and freedom for the nation as well as in the cause of construction and protection of social republic of Vietnam today.



In the current period, with flexible policies, the CPV continues to successfully lead the innovation process, bringing the country to strong development, becoming a bright spot in the region and the world.

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Ukraine Nguyen Anh Tuan explained the ideology and correct ways of the Party in the modern era, with the goal of protecting independence, sovereignty and integrity of the nation, and at the same time, maintaining the peaceful environment, friendly relations and good traditions with international partners, for the sake of the nation.

He stressed that throughout the 90-year history of growth and development, the CPV under the wise leadership of President Ho Chi Minh has brought the country of Vietnam from victory to victory and brought the country confidently forward to keep pace with the world today.

On this occasion, Ambassador Nguyen Anh Tuan presented 30, 40 and 50-year party badges to some party members in Kharkiv city.

The ambassador acknowledged and praised the spirit of perseverance and effort of the party members in Kharkiv, who always try to maintain activities of the Party organization and actively contribute to the building of the community in the condition that Ukraine has many particular difficulties and especially not enjoying any regimes and incentives.

The diplomat emphasized that the party badges are a recognition of the contributions of the Party members.

On behalf of those awarded the party badge, Mr. Nguyen Quang Thoai, 73, the first person in Kharkiv to receive the 50-year party badge, expressed his gratitude to the Party. He said that throughout his life, he always tries to be exemplary, to abide by the regulations of the Party and obligations of a good citizen. In his life, the 50-year party badge will be a motivation for him to continue to operate and teach his descendants to follow the Party's ideals.

At the meeting, the ambassador also answered questions of party members and overseas Vietnamese about regimes and policies of the Party and state and new regulations of the law relating to overseas Vietnamese./.
The proposed stake sale of the government in the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) through an initial public offering (IPO) has been slammed by the insurer's employee union. The union is planning to go on a nationwide protest till the proposal is rolled back.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on February 1 had announced that LIC IPO will be a part of the disinvestment policy.

It is likely that the IPO will come out in the second half of FY21 via a 10 percent stake sale by the government.

LIC is 100 percent owned by the government of India and is the country's largest insurance company as well as the largest institutional investor. It has 1,30,000 employees on its rolls.

Rajesh Nimbalkar, General Secretary of the All India National Life Insurance Employees Federation, told Moneycontrol that LIC is the most trust-worthy financial institution in the country.

"Why does the government need to sell its stake and give it to crony capitalists? LIC is not a loss-making institution but gives almost Rs 2,600 crore dividends every year to the government," he said.

Nimbalkar added that the life insurance giant has also been able to buy stake in ailing public sector bank (IDBI Bank) that have been ridden with non-performing assets. He questioned the need to sell stake when LIC is working purely in public interest.

"Employees are walking out and protesting all over India outside the LIC offices. This will soon become a mass movement because the general public will also oppose it," he added.

The disinvestment and subsequent IPO will need an approval from the Parliament. This will then go to the LIC Board and the insurance regulator which approves all IPOs in the sector. A final clearing will be required from market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

For the April to December 2019 period, LIC collected new premiums of Rs 1.37 lakh crore, showing a 45.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) rise. In fact in one month (December 2019), LIC wrote Rs 16,861.98 crore.

Despite the insurance industry having been privatised in 2000, LIC still remains the largest life insurer with 70.52 percent market share (by premiums as of December 2019). It is the only insurer offering sovereign guarantee meaning that the policyholders funds are completely secure. This is the reason that LIC policy premiums are higher than private sector counterparts.
Emilie McKinney and her mother and business partner Natalie Foidart expect to launch their red jingle-dance cones come Thursday, with a plan to contribute part of their profits to Indigenous families experiencing the trauma of missing or murdered women.

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This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Emilie McKinney and her mother and business partner Natalie Foidart expect to launch their red jingle-dance cones come Thursday, with a plan to contribute part of their profits to Indigenous families experiencing the trauma of missing or murdered women.

McKinney, now 19, recalled the day a few years ago when she and her mother bought cones at a Winnipeg store. On the drive back to their home at Swan Lake First Nation, McKinney, a hoop and a jingle dancer, realized the cones were not only costly, but actually made in Taiwan. She felt insulted.

Swan Lake First Nation's Emilie McKinney, seen here in 2018, and her mother and business partner Natalie Foidart will launch a red-cone fundraiser via their business Anishinaabe Bimishimo Feb. 6 to help support grieving families. (File)

"Its a non-Indigenous company profiting off Indigenous people and ceremonial items," she said.

Her mother, who McKinney figures was annoyed at her complaining, egged her on: "If you dont do something, who will?"

Anishinaabe Bimishimo is now a thriving business, and McKinney said its the first to manufacture jingle-dress cones in Canada.

The young entrepreneur feels equally troubled about fundraising related to missing and murdered Indigenous women. While she and Foidart always did intend to move beyond silver, gold and nickel cones, they wanted to make an impact, a difference.

Red made sense.

"Wed seen a lot of red-dress videos and a lot of awareness campaigns. But something we noticed is that a lot of the money doesnt go directly to the family. A lot of people are hosting big events, but where does the money go? This is going to sound harsh  Are people really pocketing off of dead women?"

The red cone, then, is not just about bringing something new to the table, but is intended to demonstrate how to be impeccable for a cause.

"Weve secretly been working on this red cone project for over a year, now. From choosing the right colour to choosing the right organizations to choosing the right partners  we wanted it to be as perfect as possible. We want to be a positive influence."

Anishinaabe Bimishimo has teamed up with four Canadian, four U.S. and four international Indigenous fashion designers whose work will be showcased with the launch of the red cones.

"Theyre not all going to be dresses. Its up to their own creativity," said McKinney, adding the designs will be featured of her website.

The launch of the red cones is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. at the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre in Winnipeg, which is one of the organizations the red cones project

is raising funds for.

 mletourneau@brandonsun.com

 The Local Journalism Initiative is a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism.
Today we'll take a closer look at Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF) from a dividend investor's perspective. Owning a strong business and reinvesting the dividends is widely seen as an attractive way of growing your wealth. Yet sometimes, investors buy a stock for its dividend and lose money because the share price falls by more than they earned in dividend payments.

A 1.8% yield is nothing to get excited about, but investors probably think the long payment history suggests Associated British Foods has some staying power. Some simple analysis can reduce the risk of holding Associated British Foods for its dividend, and we'll focus on the most important aspects below.

Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Associated British Foods!

LSE:ABF Historical Dividend Yield, February 4th 2020

Payout ratios

Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. So we need to form a view on if a company's dividend is sustainable, relative to its net profit after tax. In the last year, Associated British Foods paid out 42% of its profit as dividends. This is a medium payout level that leaves enough capital in the business to fund opportunities that might arise, while also rewarding shareholders. Plus, there is room to increase the payout ratio over time.

In addition to comparing dividends against profits, we should inspect whether the company generated enough cash to pay its dividend. Of the free cash flow it generated last year, Associated British Foods paid out 46% as dividends, suggesting the dividend is affordable. It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

With a strong net cash balance, Associated British Foods investors may not have much to worry about in the near term from a dividend perspective.

Story continues

Consider getting our latest analysis on Associated British Foods's financial position here.

Dividend Volatility

From the perspective of an income investor who wants to earn dividends for many years, there is not much point buying a stock if its dividend is regularly cut or is not reliable. For the purpose of this article, we only scrutinise the last decade of Associated British Foods's dividend payments. The dividend has been stable over the past 10 years, which is great. We think this could suggest some resilience to the business and its dividends. During the past ten-year period, the first annual payment was UK0.20 in 2010, compared to UK0.46 last year. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 8.6% a year over that time.

Companies like this, growing their dividend at a decent rate, can be very valuable over the long term, if the rate of growth can be maintained.

Dividend Growth Potential

While dividend payments have been relatively reliable, it would also be nice if earnings per share (EPS) were growing, as this is essential to maintaining the dividend's purchasing power over the long term. Associated British Foods has grown its earnings per share at 2.9% per annum over the past five years. Associated British Foods is paying out less than half of its earnings, which we like. However, earnings per share are unfortunately not growing much. Might this suggest that the company should pay a higher dividend instead?

Conclusion

To summarise, shareholders should always check that Associated British Foods's dividends are affordable, that its dividend payments are relatively stable, and that it has decent prospects for growing its earnings and dividend. It's great to see that Associated British Foods is paying out a low percentage of its earnings and cash flow. Earnings per share growth has been slow, but we respect a company that maintains a relatively stable dividend. Overall we think Associated British Foods scores well on our analysis. It's not quite perfect, but we'd definitely be keen to take a closer look.

Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 19 analysts we track are forecasting for Associated British Foods for free with public analyst estimates for the company.

If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of dividend stocks yielding above 3%.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Dallas, Texas, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Worksoft  , the industry's premier continuous automation platform for packaged applications, today announced that its Board of Directors named Tony Sumpster to the role of chief executive officer, effective January 28, 2020. The leadership appointment is considered a vital component of the strategic foundation Worksoft is building to position the organization for accelerated innovation and growth.

Jerry Dolinsky will step down from his role as interim CEO and maintain his position as Chairman of the Board for Worksoft.

"I am delighted to welcome Tony to Worksoft. He brings deep experience in technology, strategy and operations leadership, and he is the ideal leader to drive greater adoption of Worksoft's unique automation offerings. As Chairman, I look forward to working closely with Tony to accelerate Worksoft's goals and deliver on our vision of an end-to-end automation platform to support the diverse and evolving needs of our enterprise customers and partners," said Dolinsky.

As the industry's leading provider of automation for SAP and other packaged applications, Worksoft provides top global systems integrators and Forbes Global 2000 organizations with proven, scalable automation for their complex, mission-critical business processes and helps drive operational efficiency through continuous test automation and robotic process automation (RPA). The Worksoft automation platform supports discovery, validation, analysis and automation of end-to-end business processes that span ERP, CRM, HR, and SCM applications.

"I am honored to assume the role of CEO at this exciting time, which is pivotal for both the industry and the Worksoft organization. There is a tremendous opportunity to deliver increased business value through automation, and I look forward to playing an integral part in that expansion, as well as strengthening Worksoft's relationship with its stellar line up of global customers and partners," said Sumpster. "On behalf of the entire team, I would also like to thank Jerry for his leadership during the transition, creating a strong foundation to launch us into the next chapter."

Sumpster has extensive expertise in leading global technology organizations, most recently serving as CEO of Data Intensity, a managed services provider for hybrid multi-cloud environments. Before that, he was SVP and GM of Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE) largest software business unit.

Sumpster will attend and present at TRANSFORM 2020, the company's annual customer conference March 31-April 2 in Dallas.

About Worksoft

Worksoft is the industrys leading continuous automation platform for enterprise packaged applications, offering a diverse ecosystem of service providers, software integrations, and machine learning solutions to enable true end-to-end, unattended automated test and execution of mission-critical business applications, including SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, Workday, SuccessFactors, ServiceNow, and more. Microsoft, Deutsche Telekom, P&G, Honda R&D, Lufthansa, Hershey and Accenture are among the worlds leading global companies that depend Worksoft to achieve unparalleled continuous testing at scale and realize Agile+DevOps initiatives. Chosen by the worlds foremost Global System Integrators, Accenture, IBM, InfoSys, and Cognizant, Worksoft is embedded in these partners ERP practices to support Agile, DevOps, and SAFe methodologies and accelerate digital transformations.

For more information, contact Worksoft at info@worksoft.com or visit www.worksoft.com. For media inquiries, contact Liz Blackman, info@worksoft.com, or +1 (972) 993-0425.

###
Slate's Who Counts? series is made possible by the support of Slate Plus members and readers like you.

As President Donald Trump plans a triumphant State of the Union address anticipating his likely acquittal by the Senate, the White House is reportedly awash in a sense of invincibility.

Trumps certainty that he simply cannot lose could have a real impact on this years election. Since assuming office in January 2017, Trump has made at least 27 references to staying in office beyond the constitutional limit of two terms. He often follows up with a remark indicating he is joking, kidding, or saying it to drive the fake news media crazy. Even if Trump thinks that hes only joking, the comments fit a broader pattern that raises the prospect that Trump may not leave office quietly in the event hes on the losing end of a very close election. And unfortunately this possibility is only one of a number of potential election meltdowns we may face in November.

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Trump tends to float the possibility of staying in office for extra years as an aside when speaking to a supportive audience. For example, in remarks delivered on Dec. 7, 2019, at the Israeli American Council National Summit in Hollywood, Florida, Trump told a story about how he supposedly was going to build the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem by renovating an existing building owned by the United States for about $500,000, rather than waiting years to build a new building at a worse site for $2 billion. Trump referenced GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson, saying:

So were going to spend $2 billion. It wouldnt be built, Sheldon, for 10 years, fif Dont forget: At some point, whether its five years from now, nine years from now, 13 years from nowIm doing this to drive the media crazy. [Applause.] Because a lot of them say, You know hes not leaving, dont you? One of these charactersthese people are so stupid. One of them saidone of them said, You know hes going to win, dont you? And you know, at the end of his second term, you know hes not leaving. Hes not leaving. You know that. And I thought hes a comedian. I thought he was kidding. Hes for real. So now we have to start thinking about that, because its not a bad idea. [Applause.] No, but these people are going crazy. When they all scream, Four more years, four more years, I always say, Make it 12 years and youll drive them crazy. Twelve more years. But if I dont get the build AUDIENCE: Twelve more years!

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What should we make of Trumps remarks? The most charitable explanation is that they are mostly innocuous, just intended to needle liberals. He told NBCs Chuck Todd in June 2019 that there wont be a third term and responded 100 percent. Sure, when asked if he will accept the results in 2020. Yet just a few weeks later, he told an audience at a petrochemical plant, Go do #thirdterm, #fourthterm. Youll drive them totally crazy.

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Trump returns again and again to these remarks, often at campaign rallies or among sympathetic supporters. It feeds his tremendous ego by giving his followers a chance to show adoration for their dear leader; the message is that he is so indispensable he should stay in office maybe 16 more years. He appears to love chants like 12 more years!

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Whether or not they are meant as jokes, the comments reflect Trumps authoritarian tendencies. In March 2018 Trump expressed envy that Chinas President Xi Jinping gets to be president for life. I think its great. Maybe well have to give that a shot someday, he remarked in a closed-door speech to Republican donors at Mar-a-Lago.

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The 2020 election is expected to be a close one, and it could give Trump an opening to emulate his authoritarian role models. During the 2016 election, he playfully suggested he would not accept the results of the election if he was on the losing end. As I recount in my book Election Meltdown, Trump refused to promise to abide by the results if he lost to Hillary Clinton, relying on his claim of a rigged or stolen election. On Oct. 20, 2016, at a rally in Delaware, Ohio, he declared: Ladies and gentlemen, I want to make a major announcement today. I would like to promise and pledge to all of my voters and supporters, and to all the people of the United States, that I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential electionif I win. His dramatic pause before if I win was followed by Trump pointing to the crowd and offering a big smile so that everyone knew that this was his punchline.

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Trump also has a tendency to describe results of elections he doesnt like as rigged or stolen. In a Jan. 25, 2017, interview with ABC News David Muir, Trump claimed without evidence that 3 million to 5 million illegal votes were cast in the 2016 election, more than the popular vote victory of his rival Hillary Clinton: And I will say this, of those votes cast, none of em come to me. None of em come to me. They would all be for the other side.

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There are a few possible scenarios that could test whether Trump might try to remain in office even if he loses, a possibility raised first by national security expert Joshua Geltzer a year ago and explored further by Dahlia Lithwick and Geltzer in September.

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For example, imagine if the 2020 election comes down again to Pennsylvanias 20 Electoral College votes. Pennsylvania recently adopted a new law allowing for no-excuse absentee balloting. Election officials expect a crush of absentee ballots, which take longer to count. Trump declares victory when he is ahead in Pennsylvania on election night, but the results of the election would not be known for days. There is reason to believe that later-counted ballots tend Democratic, and it is possible that Trumps lead would evaporate thanks to the blue shift of ballots. Trump could claim that any change in the vote totals going against him is the result of Democratic voter fraud, an unsupported claim he has made dozens of times as well, focusing on heavily Democratic areas full of minority voters like Philadelphia.

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This could happen in other states besides Pennsylvania, such as Michigan. Indeed, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and local election officials are trying to get permission to start the absentee ballot count early to prevent delays in announcing results.

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We saw Trump try to prematurely call an election in 2018, as the Florida Senate and governors races came down to just a few thousand votes. He tweeted: The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possibleballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night! There was no proof of massively infected ballots or a dishonest vote count.

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Its not just Trump whos spreading fears of a stolen election, as Democrats have taken the lead with later-counted votes. Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan also called it bizarre as California congressional races in 2018 shifted from red to blue as hundreds of thousands of votes were counted after Election Day. And Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin waited days to concede his election to Andy Beshear, citing unexplained election irregularities and harvested votes in urban communities, which in the end amounted to nothing more than a concern that black voters showed up at the polls. These claims could be supersized in 2020.

The lack of trust in election results could go both ways. Democrats might believe Trump has won election via Florida or Georgia thanks to voter suppression, an argument that foreign actors could try to amplify on Election Day to stir up social unrest. Lots can go wrong either before or on Election Day.

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But one of the most realistic scenarios, given Trumps past remarks, is that the president and his supporters dig in if hes ahead on election night, even if the race is not called and the later-counted ballots erase his victory. Trumps 27 comments about staying in office beyond his constitutionally prescribed term offer little comfort that he would respect the rule of law in the event of a protracted election dispute. Those comments go more directly to whether he would leave office in 2024, but my immediate concern is what might happen in 2020. No joke.

Listen to Rick Hasen and Dahlia Lithwick discuss this and other election meltdown possibilities in a special Amicus series.
The father of two women who allegedly went missing from the local ashram of absconding godman Nithyananda moved the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday, seeking CBI probe into their disappearance.

Janardhana Sharma, father of Lopamudra Sharma (21) and Nandhitha Sharma (18), said the police investigation was being influenced by "affluent people".

Considering the "lacuna in the present investigations and limitation of the local police investigation agency," the case should be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the application said.

Sharma had filed habeas corpus petition in the high court in November 2019. A habeas corpus petition is filed for seeking a direction to the police or any authority to produce a person.

Sharma's latest plea said the police initially refused to register a First Information Report for abduction of his daughters and registered only a missing person complaint, that too after fifteen days.

The police were protecting "many affluent people", it alleged, seeking a direction to the Gujarat government to transfer the case to the central investigation agency.

Acting on Sharma's complaint, the police in November registered a case of kidnapping and wrongful confinement against Nithyananda and arrested his two disciples who were in-charge of his ashram in Ahmedabad.

The Police also sent a request to the CBI, the nodal body for Interpol matters in India, seeking a Blue Corner Notice against Nithyananda who had by then fled the country.

Last month the police told a court here that Interpol had issued a Blue Corner Notice, which is issued to locate or obtain information about a person in a criminal investigation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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By Allison Lampert and Jamie Freed MONTREAL/SYDNEY (Reuters) - A meeting of international aviation officials due to be held in Singapore on the eve of Asia's largest annual aerospace event has been canceled because of coronavirus fears, participants said, raising doubts that the broader event will go ahead. The U.N. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and three industry sources confirmed on Monday that the Feb.

By Allison Lampert and Jamie Freed

MONTREAL/SYDNEY (Reuters) - A meeting of international aviation officials due to be held in Singapore on the eve of Asia's largest annual aerospace event has been canceled because of coronavirus fears, participants said, raising doubts that the broader event will go ahead.

The U.N. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and three industry sources confirmed on Monday that the Feb. 10 Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit had been abandoned.

The news adds to a series of pullouts by companies from the main Singapore Airshow, which is scheduled to begin on Feb. 11, under the shadow of the fast-spreading virus.

Speakers at the Leadership Summit were due to include ICAO President Salvatore Sciacchitano, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Steve Dickson and International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General Alexandre de Juniac.

Organisers said on Monday the broader show would go ahead, albeit with reduced attendance due to travel restrictions. Organisers of both the show and the summit could not immediately be reached for comment after an ICAO spokesman confirmed the summit cancellation.

Singapore has denied entry to all Chinese visitors and foreigners with a recent history of travel to China, where the virus originated.

Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), which is developing the C919 narrowbody jet, along with nine other Chinese companies, would no longer be participating in the show, organisers said.

Other companies to announce their non-attendance in recent days include business jet manufacturers Bombardier Inc, , Textron Inc and General Dynamics Corp's Gulfstream division.

"Out of an abundance of caution," Bombardier will not have any business jets on display at the show, a company spokeswoman told Reuters by email.

However, Boeing , Airbus and Lockheed Martin Corp , among the biggest exhibitors, said on Monday they still plan to attend the show.

The death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 361 in China, bringing the number of confirmed infections to 17,205. The flu-like virus, which can be transmitted from person to person, has spread to more than two dozen other nations and regions.

Experia Events, the organiser of the Singapore Airshow, said last week the show would continue as planned, but the government measures meant it would "undoubtedly see a reduction in terms of the number of expected exhibitors and visitors this year."

The organiser said there would be doctors and medics on standby to attend to visitors who were feeling unwell.

In 2018, there were 54,000 trade attendees from 147 countries and 1,062 participating companies who come to network, examine products and sign deals covering commercial aviation, defence, maintenance and repair operations and business jets.

Typically, it is not a major show for commercial plane orders but talks during the show can set the stage for deals that are completed later in the year.

Bombardier, Textron and Gulfstream said their decision to not attend this year was a precautionary measure to protect the health of employees.

South Korea's air force said on Monday it had decided not to participate as part of broader precautions against the coronavirus. Its Black Eagles aerobatic team has taken part in the flying display at Singapore airshows in recent years.

Russian aerospace group Rostec plans to send a reduced delegation to the show, Russian media reported. Rostec did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The FAA said Dickson, who had been scheduled to speak at the conference, still plans to go to Singapore as of now.

Dickson, however, cancelled a trip this week to Brussels following a declaration on Friday of coronavirus as a health emergency of international concern, the FAA said in a statement.

The outbreak of the new virus has sent shivers through financial markets, with investors drawing comparisons to the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that also started in China and killed 800 people globally.[MKTS/GLOB]

Singapore, a Southeast Asian tourism hub where Chinese nationals make up the largest share of visitors, was among the worst hit outside of China during the SARS outbreak.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Jamie Freed in Sydney; additional reporting by David Shepardson in Washington, Anshuman Daga in Singapore, Joyce Lee in Seoul and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Bill Berkrot and Jane Wardell)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Azernews





By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers have discussed the possible next steps to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during the meetings held in Geneva on January 28-30 under the auspices of the OSC Minsk Group.

Timing and agenda for advancing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process were the topic of discussion during the meetings, according to the joint statement made by Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers and co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the U.S.) and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk on January 30.

As was noted, over the three days of intensive discussions, the FMs also discussed implementation of agreements and proposals discussed in 2019 and possible next steps to prepare the populations for peace; principles and elements forming the basis of a future settlement and the possible next steps to resolve the long-lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"The co-chairs reiterated their full commitment to helping the sides find a peaceful solution to the conflict and the principle of confidentiality in the settlement process, as well as the need for creativity and a spirit of compromise to achieve a fair and lasting peace. The ministers agreed to meet again in the near future under co-chair auspices," the statement reads.

Earlier, a meeting consisting of two rounds between Azerbaijani and Armenian FMs was held in Geneva with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office on 28-30 January 2020.

The meeting in Geneva was marked with the most intensive discussions held between the sides over the last years. The sides held thorough discussions over the agenda items presented by the co-chairs.

In particular, the proposals put forward in 2019 and the agreements, in particular, humanitarian exchanges focusing on preparation of the population of both countries for peace, were discussed.

This includes the issues related to the implementation of agreements and proposals discussed in 2019, particularly the humanitarian exchanges for preparation of the populations of both countries for peace, the basic principles and elements of the settlement process.

It also includes the conflict resolution based on the provisions and principles of the Helsinki Final Act, and lastly, the ways of further intensification of the settlement process. In this regard, the ministers agreed to meet again in the near future.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on the country. Since the war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied around 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The Minsk Groups Co-Chairs are mandated to provide an appropriate framework for conflict resolution in the way of assuring the negotiation process; to obtain conclusion by the Parties of an agreement on the cessation of the armed conflict in order to permit the convening of the Minsk Conference, and to promote the peace process by deploying OSCE multinational peacekeeping forces.

Unfortunately, for nearly 25 years, the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem have yielded no concrete results.
An international human rights commission said Tuesday that the government of President Nicols Maduro has blocked its members from boarding a plane for Venezuela, where they planned to investigate alleged abuses.

The rejection had been expected in large part because the group from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had been invited by the country's congress.

The legislature and Maduro mutually consider one another illegitimate.

The three members of the group posted a picture on Twitter holding their boarding passes at the airport gate in Panama.

They said Maduro's government told the Panama-based Copa Airlines not to allow them on the flight to Caracas.

We will press ahead with our objective, meeting victims on the Colombian border with Venezuela, said Paulo Abrao, executive secretary of the commission.

Venezuela's opposition-led National Assembly had invited the group, which is a branch of the Organization of American States, the Washington-based body representing more than 30 nations in the Western Hemisphere, whose leaders have been among the fiercest critics of Maduro.

Maduro's Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza on tweeted on Friday that they would be blocked.

"Venezuela has not invited or accepted a delegation visit from the IACHR," Arreaza said, adding that the visit is not authorized.

Maduro's government in 2017 started a two-year process to leave the OAS, saying that it is a pawn of the United States.

The OAS itself has joined the U.S. and more than 50 other nations in withdrawing recognition of Maduro on grounds his reelection in 2018 was illegitimate.

It recognised congressional leader Juan Guaid as acting president.

Maduro, however, controls all the mechanisms of government, including the military and courts, and he recognizes an alternative version of the National Assembly led by a minority of lawmakers allied with him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Press Release

February 4, 2020 Bong Go, key officials assure public amid nCov issue: gov't is on top of the situation During a Senate public hearing on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Acute Respiratory Disease (2019-nCoV ARD), Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go on Tuesday, February 4, sought answers from concerned officials and health experts on how the government can step up its efforts and ensure that the virus will not spread further throughout the country. "Nandito po tayo para maliwanagan ang publiko tungkol sa isyu na ito," he said. "Unahin natin ang kapakanan, kalusugan at interes ng bawat Pilipino. Sa mga panahong tulad ngayon na ikinakakaba natin ang magiging kalagayan ng ating pamilya at mga mahal sa buhay, dapat ay mas lalong magtulungan tayo. Magkaisa at magbayanihan tayo para sa ikabubuti ng bawat Filipino," he added. Key government officials invited in the hearing took the opportunity to communicate to the public the precautionary measures already in place to protect Filipinos from the spread of the virus. In his opening statement, Go also assured the public that the government has been on top of the situation and is committed to assist Filipinos and the rest of the world in laying down measures to mitigate the impact of the 2019-nCov ARD on the worldwide community. "Since day 1, the whole Duterte Administration has said that it has been on top of the situation and is doing everything it can to address the issue. The President, and even a key official from the World Health Organization, have commended the efforts of this government in responding to this worldwide health concern," Go, who is chair of the Committee on Health, said. "Gayunpaman, gamitin natin ang pagkakataong ito para makinig at makatulong. Hindi naman po basta-basta lang ang pag-decide sa mga ganitong klase ng problema. Kailangan masusi ang pag-aaral at evidence-based po ang ating mga desisyon," he added. World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in the Philippines, Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, affirmed the senator's statements, lauding the government for its efforts and response to the disease. "WHO lauds PH government for its efforts and response on the spread of novel coronavirus, cites travel ban was announced after WHO's declaration that the deadly virus is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern," he said. The WHO representative also reissued its plea to the public to remain calm even as the novel coronavirus threat persists. Seeking to further enlighten the public, Go posed questions to the government officials and experts regarding the nature of the disease, severity of the problem, its impact on the country including the economy, and the best way forward for the government to mitigate its effects. The first to address Go's questions, Department of Health (DOH) Francisco Duque III gave updates on the novel coronavirus in the Philippines. "80 patients are under investigation in the Philippines, 67 are currently admitted and isolated, 10 discharged under straight monitoring," Duque said during his presentation. The secretary cited that the fatality rate of 2019-nCoV ARD is much less than SARS and MERS-CoV but it is more easily transmissible. Duque also clarified the mode of transmission of the disease, saying "Ang ating pinaka-available na info ay coronavirus can survive and stay for as long as ten hours on inanimate objects like keyboards, tables, and fomites." DOH also mentioned that President Duterte has approved the budget needed for the procurement of personnel protective equipment for around 5,000 workers who will need them amid the threats of the 2019-nCoV ARD. As for the economic impacts of the disease, Department of Finance (DOF) Carlos Dominguez III said that the economic costs of the infection on the economy will most likely be centered on the tourism sector. That said, the secretary also said that "it's too early to estimate the economic impact of the novel coronavirus." To counter the identified economic impacts, Dominguez said that the Department of Tourism will further strengthen the promotion of local destinations. While these developments may slightly restrain economic expansion, Dominguez stated that the country is standing by DOF's Gross Domestic Product growth projection at 6.5-7.5 percent for 2020. Meanwhile, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea also gave updates on the President's directives amid the threats of the 2019-nCoV ARD. "President Rodrigo Duterte has expanded the travel ban to include travelers to and from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau amid the threat of the novel coronavirus," Medialdea said, adding that President Duterte "has also ordered the establishment of repatriation and quarantine facility for novel coronavirus." Medialdea also mentioned that the establishment of quarantine facilities is still being studied. In his statement, Go expressed his trust and confidence in the health officials, saying "I know that you are all working double time to address this current threat. Not only those who are present here today, but (all) health workers and practitioners who sacrificed their time and their own lives to serve their country and protect fellow Filipinos." Further, he expressed his appreciation to the frontliners of the government who are first to respond to initial complaints and criticisms against the government. He also reminded local governments regarding their duties and responsibilities in combating the disease. The senator also hit back against critics who continue to spread false information with the view of misleading the public and causing widespread panic. "Yung mga panay dada naman diyan para lang makapagsalita, mga bashers na sumasakay sa sitwasyon para sa pansariling interes, mga taong gusto lang magdulot ng panic, at mga nagpapakalat ng fake news, kayo ang dapat i-quarantine para hindi kayo makahawa," he said. Go urged the public to cooperate with the government and help address the issue, adding that now is the right time for the nation to unite. "This is a very emotional issue for all of us, but I appeal to everyone for your cooperation. We have our officials here and our health experts to provide us with answers. We are doing this because we care for your families, our country, and the worldwide community," he added. Ending his statement, Go reminded the public that the President will always prioritize the health and welfare of Filipinos. "Alalahanin niyo rin po na inuuna ni Pangulong Duterte at ng gobyernong ito ang kapakanan, interes at kalusugan ng bawat Pilipino. Bilang siya ang tumatayong ama nating lahat, concerned po siya sa kapakanan ng kanyang mga anak," he said. "Nakikinig ang President sa hinaing ninyo pero ang desisyon niya ay base na rin sa kung ano ang tama at kung ano ang makakabuti sa pangkalahatan. Binabalanse niya lahat. That is why we elected one leader. We chose one leader to decide and to lead our country especially in these trying times," he added.
U N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned "a wind of madness is sweeping the globe", pointing to escalating conflicts from Libya and Yemen to Syria and beyond.

At a wide-ranging news conference on Tuesday, he said: "All situations are different but there is a feeling of growing instability and hair-trigger tensions, which makes everything far more unpredictable and uncontrollable, with a heightened risk of miscalculation."

The UN chief also expressed great frustration that legally binding UN Security Council resolutions "are being disrespected before the ink is even dry."

Guterres singled out Libya where he called the current offensives by the warring parties "a scandal" - coming soon after world powers and other key countries adopted a road map to peace in Berlin on January 19 that called for respect for a UN arms embargo, an end to foreign interference in the fighting by rival governments and steps toward a cease-fire.

Syrian boys sitting on a ledge watch traffic in the town of Hazano in the northern countryside of Idlib, Syria on February 4, 2020, as people flee northwards in vehicles transporting their belongings, amid an ongoing regime offensive / AFP via Getty Images

Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed.

A weak UN-recognized administration that holds the capital Tripoli and parts of the country's west is backed by Turkey and to a lesser degree Qatar and Italy. On the other side is General Khalifa Hifter, whose forces launched a surprise offensive to capture the capital last April from their base in the country's east and are backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt as well as France and Russia.

Guterres said the 55-point Berlin agreement has been repeatedly violated by fighting and continuing arms deliveries.

"We are seeing more and more civilians being targeted... migrants in a desperate situation and all the commitments that were made apparently were made without a true intention of respecting them," he said.

People stand with Libyan national flags above armoured military vehicles of forces loyal to the UN-recognised Tripoli-based "Government of National Accord" (GNA) during a celebration in the capital's Martyrs' Square on January 31 / AFP via Getty Images

The secretary-general also expressed "enormous concern" at the escalation of attacks in Idlib, Syria's last rebel-held province with a population of three million, and said the UN is "particularly worried" that the escalation now includes the Syrian and Turkish armies bombing each other. He again urged a cessation of hostilities "before the escalation comes to a situation that then becomes totally out of control."

As for Yemen, Guterres said he was very encouraged recently to see Iranian-backed Houthi Shiite rebels stop attacking Saudi Arabia and the Saudis, who back the country's internationally recognised government, limiting their military actions. But unfortunately, the last few days have seen "a new escalation," he said, adding, "We are doing everything we can for this escalation to be reversed, and everything we can to create the conditions for a true political dialogue to be re-established."

In Iraq, which has faced mass anti-government protests since October 1 in which at least 500 demonstrators have been killed, the secretary-general called for the human rights of protesters to be protected. The protesters have decried rampant government corruption, poor services and lack of employment and are demanding the overthrow of the political establishment, electoral reforms and snap elections.
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This is a story about how the one per cent live.

On Tuesday, a special condo sales event is being held in Toronto where invited guests will be able to purchase pricey downtown condo units for as much as $8 million and get a chance to spin a wheel for prizes that include a new Porsche, a Rolex watch, ultra expensive Hermes Birkin handbags and shopping sprees at Holt Renfrew.

The Lunar New Year party, set to take place in the evening in a third-floor ballroom at the upscale Shangri-La hotel on University Avenue, is being hosted by the people behind the planned King Toronto project, a luxury condo development slated for the King Street and Spadina Avenue area.

Based on the idea of a mountain range, the shape of the King Toronto building will feature a pixelated design that forms four mountain peaks. The design calls for foliage to be running up the sides of the building, and units with tree-lined terraces.

Designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, the plans call for the peaks of the building to be made out of glass blocks. This means construction will be substantially more expensive than your typical condo tower and thats why the King Toronto units are pricier, says the developer, Vancouver-based Westbank, which is working with Allied Properties REIT.

Due to be completed sometime around 2023, King Toronto will feature about 480 units, the majority already sold except for about 30 units on the west mountain that have been held back for sale by the developer. Sales were staggered because with 480 units and so many different floor plans, it would be overwhelming to customers if all the condos were on sale at the same time, the developer says.

Invitees to the one-night-only party will get a chance to buy one of these remaining units and guests are being asked to bring their chequebooks and identification.

In a telephone interview, Michael Braun, director of sales and marketing for Westbank, said the value of the prizes on the spinning wheel will depend on how much a guest spends on a condo unit.

There will be certain prizes for units $2 million and under, other prizes for $2 million to $3 million units, and $3 million and up, Braun explained.

I imagine most people who own a $2 million to $3 million condo can probably buy a luxury car, Braun said, referring to the Porsche 911 prize that buyers who purchase a penthouse suite, listed at just under $8 million, are eligible to spin the wheel for.

(There will be suites on sale starting at $850,000 but you dont get a chance at the prize wheel at that price point).

Toronto realtor Jackson Wong, one of the people helping to organize the event, described invited guests as professionals and clients in our database who are interested in high-end products like the condos.

The event is not an auction.

Its no different functionally from when a developer offers bonus commission or free maintenance fees or a car as an incentive or when a store gives you a gift or gift card when you spend a certain dollar amount, Braun said in an email.

But Desmond Brown, a veteran Toronto realtor with Royal LePage Estate Realty, says it isnt common to see condo sales events in Toronto where expensive prizes such as luxury cars and watches are up for grabs.

For the people who will be attending this event and possibly purchasing one of these units, winning a fruit basket just wont cut it. So why not a Rolex? Brown said.

Frankly, I think the prices theyre asking for these condos are a bit ambitious, but then again Im blown away by the amount of money there is in this city and what some people are willing to pay, Brown added.

The Shangri-La event promises a traditional lion dance and complimentary dim sum buffet. Last year 1,000 people attended a similar event put on by Westbank during which King Toronto condos were for sale.

The idea for the Lunar New Year party is based on a similar but much smaller event Westbank began putting on in Vancouver starting a few years ago, Braun says.

The Vancouver event was launched due to the influence of that citys thriving Chinese community, Braun pointed out.

The community makes up about 20 per cent of Vancouvers population, statistics show.

Braun explained that Westbanks Vancouver party draws a large crowd  about 13,000 attended last weeks event at Oakridge Centre, a Westbank-owned shopping mall. (Westbank also built the Shangri-La hotel in Toronto).

Most people are there (at the Vancouver event) to party and experience the festival  dragon dances, ballet performances. Theres also an auto show. For people interested in purchasing a condo they can spin a prize wheel, but its more of a big community celebration than selling condos, Braun says.

The Toronto event, meanwhile, features people of various ethnic backgrounds, and in addition to clients the invitees include realtors and architects, he says.

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This is the first picture of the nursery school teacher who was stabbed in Sunday's Streatham terrorist attack as she cycled home from coffee with friends.

Monika Luftner, 51, was 'extremely lucky' to be alive after recently freed terrorist Sudesh Amman, 20, knifed her in the back as she left a cafe.

The married mother-of-one's husband was too distraught to talk when approached at the family home close to Streatham today, saying simply: 'I can confirm that my wife is the woman who was stabbed.'

Mrs Luftner was one of two passers-by stabbed by Amman during a horrific one-minute rampage on the busy south London High Street.

Amman, who was wearing a fake suicide vest and being trailed by a five-strong police surveillance team, stole a 10-inch knife from a shop before stabbing people. He was shot dead 60 seconds later.

He had been released early from Belmarsh prison in south-east London two days before the attack, where he had boasted to fellow inmates about his plans to 'take out an MP'.

It was the second terror attack in the capital in three months after Usman Khan killed two on London Bridge.

The fresh bloodshed sparked a row today over the automatic early release of jihadis from jails - which sees extremists automatically freed after serving half their sentences under laws passed by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's Labour governments .

Both Amman and Khan launched their stabbing sprees after being automatically released from prison without going in front of a parole board.

At least 18 terrorists are due to be released automatically from prison in the coming months, including convicted bomb-makers and ISIS fighters.

Scroll down for video.

Monika Luftner, 51, was 'extremely lucky' to be alive after Sudesh Amman, 20, knifed her in the back, friends said

The popular primary school teacher riding her bike (left) which was pictured at the scene of the terror attack on Sunday evening

Amman (pictured left and right as a child), 20, was being monitored by the security services on Sunday when he stole a knife from a hardware store and went on the rampage in Streatham

Boris Johnson is this week racing to close the loophole and hope to have a new law keeping all dangerous terrorists in prison in place within 10 days.

But even if the PM succeeds in passing the legislation, he faces a major court battle over his bid to keep terrorists in prison because human rights lawyers will try and overturn the measures in court arguing that it is unfair to change the terms of individuals' sentences retrospectively.

Home Secretary Priti Patel today defended the government's failure to close a loophole that sees terrorists automatically released from prison after serving half of their sentences.

She told This Morning: 'We've been working on this for 6 months, I've been Home Secretary for 6 months and it wasn't until the incident with Usman Khan, which was Fishmongers Hall, that is when we announced that we would bring in new legislation through a Counter Terrorism Bill.

Human rights lawyers will try to OVERTURN Boris Johnson's law to stop terrorists being automatically released early Boris Johnson is facing a major court battle over his bid to keep terrorists in prison by scrapping automatic early release. The government will pass legislation this week to stop terrorists being freed without going before a parole board. It comes after terrorist Sudesh Amman stabbed two people in London on Sunday before being shot dead by police. Amman had been automatically freed from prison, despite boating of his plans for a terror attack and ambition to kill an MP, months after London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan killed two after also being released automatically. At least 18 more terrorists are due to be freed from prison without a review within months under a law passed by Tony Blair's Labour government in 2003. The Prime Minster's emergency legislation will stop their automatic release - but legal experts say it will 'certainly' be challenged by human rights lawyers acting for the terrorists. They are set to try and overturn the legislation in court because it breaches the convention that individuals' sentences should not be changed retrospectively. Advertisement

'We've announced that and that is coming within the first 100 days These are the type of loop holes we've had to shut down.'

Speaking about the last two terror attacks, she said: 'Those two individuals [Khan and Sudesh] did not go up in front of anybody they did not go through a parole board process. They were not assessed, they were not checked over essentially. They were not assessed on their conduct in prison and if they were suitable to be released.

'My own view, and the Prime Minister agrees as well, we cannot keep having terrorist offenders we've got to stop that, we've got to stop them from having early release and this automatic release where they're not checked and they're not sitting in front of a parole board.'

Today, parents of children at St Bede's Catholic Nursery and Primary School, where Monika Luftner worked, reacted after hearing she had been caught up in the rampage.

One mother told MailOnline: 'We were all so shocked and upset when we heard that Miss Luftner was hurt in the terrorist attack.

'She is a really lovely lady and very popular with the children. She is really into cycling and comes to work by bike.'

Another mother added: 'I heard that it was Miss [sic] Luftner who was injured. It's awful. You never think something like this could happen so close or to someone you know.'

A third parent called her 'very brave', before adding: 'She is a lovely teacher and is a credit to everyone at the school.'

A school spokesman said: 'We can confirm a member of staff was injured in Sunday's terror related incident in Streatham. She is now making a good recovery after experiencing a shocking attack.'

Before Sunday's attack, Mrs Luftner had travelled to Streatham with her 12-year-old daughter to meet friends at a nearby cafe. She yelled 'he stabbed me', as Amman went on the rampage, and witnesses said passers-by rushed to protect her in the aftermath.

One friend described how the victim, who moved to the UK from Poland around 20 years ago, was caught up in the attack after she turned down another coffee to head home by bike, leaving her daughter in her friends' care.

He said that she is a nursery teacher at a nearby Catholic school and a prominent environmental campaigner and added: 'She is an amazing woman with such a good spirit who is very involved in community life.'

Mrs Luftner (pictured left with a colleague) was stabbed as she cycled home from coffee with her friends and reportedly yelled 'He's stabbed me!' outside Cash Converters

Armed police shot dead terrorist Amman, who was wearing a fake suicide vest, after he grabbed a knife from a shop and a female nursery teacher and another man

Today it emerged the father of the Streatham terrorist told his son 'don't be naughty' just hours before his knife rampage.

Faraz Khan, who left the UK three months ago, said he had only learnt about the horror his son unleashed after a cousin messaged him.

He told Sky News: 'I spoke to Sudesh one day before he passed away. I didn't know he had become radicalised.

Home Secretary Priti Patel under fire for failing to close loophole that freed terrorists Home Secretary Priti Patel today defended the government's failure to close a loophole that sees terrorists automatically released from prison after serving half of their sentences. She said on This Morning: 'We've been working on this for 6 months, I've been Home Secretary for 6 months and it wasn't until the incident with Usman Khan, which was Fishmongers Hall, that is when we announced that we would bring in new legislation through a Counter Terrorism Bill. 'We've announced that and that is coming within the first 100 days These are the type of loop holes we've had to shut down.' She also slammed the Labour legislation that was passed under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's government that automatically freed Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman and London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan. She said: 'Those two individuals did not go up in front of anybody they did not go through a parole board process. They were not assessed, they were not checked over essentially. They were not assessed on their conduct in prison and if they were suitable to be released. 'My own view, and the Prime Minister agrees as well, we cannot keep having terrorist offenders we've got to stop that, we've got to stop them from having early release and this automatic release where they're not checked and they're not sitting in front of a parole board. Advertisement

'He was a very calm and very good boy. He got angry nothing else. A good boy. Nothing bad to say about him. I told him not be naughty, be a good boy.'

The terrorist's mother previously revealed how he asked for his favourite mutton biryani meal just hours before he was shot dead, as she told of her 'disgust' at what her son had done.

Amman had been under constant surveillance following his early release from prison on January 23.

While at Belmarsh, a prisoner claimed Amman told him he wanted to copy the murder of Jo Cox, saying: 'The only way to get these filthy non-believers out of Syria is to take out MPs like that white guy did with the lady in 2016.'

The inmate, a Muslim convert convicted for drugs offences and violence, said Amman was a volatile and outspoken extremist who 'wanted to do something real, something organised like the [IRA] used to'.

He said Amman was 'strange' and prone to mood swings and jihadist outbursts, adding to The Times: 'I've served time with a lot of convicted terrorists, but this guy was definitely the scariest  his eyes had no life in them.'

Official sources said the fanatic associated with extremists behind bars and praised the London Bridge terror attack in November.

Before being jailed in 2018, Amman asked his girlfriend to behead her parents because they were 'kuffar' and wrote about how his goal was to be a martyr.

His stash of manuals on bomb making, knife fighting and close combat included the titles Bloody Brazilian Knife Fighting and How to Make A Bomb In Your Kitchen.

The North West London College student jotted down how to make explosives in a notebook and was planning a terrorist attack in Queensbury, northwest London, during Skype chats.

Amman posted a link to a pdf copy of the 'Inspire' magazine focusing on the idea of the 'Lone Jihad' in a family WhatsApp group in January this year, exposing children as young as 11 to extremist material.

The document contained an article about 'the successful pressure cooker bomb' and provided detailed instructions on how to maximise casualties through the use of IEDs.



Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman is pictured as a young boy while holding a vacuum cleaner in his living room

The Streatham attack was the second terror incident in the British capital in the past three months, coming soon after former terrorist prisoner Usman Khan stabbed and killed two people on London Bridge in November.

It prompted Boris Johnson to promise sweeping new laws that will see hundreds of terrorists already in jail locked up for longer.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland also announced a major review yesterday which could see terrorists jailed for life or permanent conditions placed on their release.

The UK faces an 'unprecedented situation of severe gravity', he said.

In an extraordinary move, ministers will introduce emergency legislation this week to stop 220 extremists already in jail being set free half way into their sentence.

Mr Buckland said serving terrorist prisoners will not be released before their full sentence has been served without a risk assessment from a beefed-up Parole Board, in a move likely to face a huge backlash and legal challenge.

The wave of 18 terrorists counting down the days to their automatic early release as Boris Johnson races to pass law keeping them off YOUR streets

These are the faces of 18 extremists who are set to be back on Britain's streets as soon as this month under existing laws which allow them to be released midway through their prison sentences.

Yesterday, Boris Johnson vowed to overhaul this current system and stop 220 terrorists from being freed early.

Terrorists are currently freed after serving half or two-thirds of a sentence, depending on when they were jailed and the type of punishment imposed.

Some may have had to serve longer if their behaviour behind bars was disruptive.

The Prison Service refuses to discuss individuals, but the Daily Mail and MailOnline below names convicted terrorists eligible for release this year - as the rules currently stand. However, they could be affected by the Prime Minister's plan to extend sentences.

Out by November - Mohammed Ahmed and Yusuf Sarwar: 'Fundamentalist pair' who were 'intent on jihad' were jailed for 13 years after leaving Britain to join al-Qaida-linked terror group

Mohammed Ahmed (left) and Yusuf Sarwar (right) were jailed 15 years and three months in 2015 for preparation of terrorist acts. Their earliest release date is November

Yusuf Sarwar and Mohammed Nahin Ahmed were jailed in 2014 for going to Syria to join rebel fighters.

The pair, from Birmingham, were sentenced for engaging in conducts in preparation of terrorist acts.

At the time of sentencing, the judge imposed an extended licence period of five years. They could be back on the streets in November.

Judge Michael Topolski described the two men as 'deeply committed to violent extremism'.

He said they had 'willingly, enthusiastically and with a great deal of purpose, persistence and determination embarked on a course intended to commit acts of terrorism'.

West Midlands Police said they were first alerted to the case when Sarwar's parents reported him missing last year.

The two friends travelled to Syria in May 2013, where they are believed to have spent eight months with the al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group affiliated with al-Qaeda.

November - Moinuk Abedin: Britain's first al-Qaeda inspired terrorist was jailed for 20 years in February 2002

Moinul Abedin was jailed 20 years in 2002 for intent to cause an explosion. Earliest release date: November

Moinul Abedin was arrested in November 2000, after police discovered bomb-making material at a rented property in Birmingham. His earliest release date is November.

Abedin, 27 at the time of his trial, lived in a terraced house in Sparkbrook, Birmingham with his young family, but rented a house nearby.

Detectives found nearly 100kg of chemicals used to manufacture the explosive HMTD.

He claimed that he and a co-defendant, who was acquitted, were setting up a fireworks business.

At the time of his sentence, current terror laws did not exist and he was prosecuted under the 1883 Explosives Act.

The terms of the 1883 legislation meant the evidence which was heard in the trial concentrated on the explosives and not Abedin's connections or any potential plot.

It was not until 2007, five years after his conviction and nearly seven after his arrest, the security services acknowledged his significance.

Now Abedin's name appears on the MI5's list of terrorists convicted this century.

May - Aras Hamid was jailed eight years in 2016 for preparing acts of terrorism

Aras Mohammed Hamid, then aged 27, was jailed for seven years for preparing acts of terrorism after he tried to join Islamic State fighters in Iraq.

He was jailed along with friend Shivan Hayder Azeez Zangana, 21, who was sentenced to three years in prison.

Azeez of Sheffield, was sent to the UK by his family to keep him safe after battling extremists with the Kurdish Peshmerga separatist group.

He was turned by fellow Kurd, asylum-seeker Hamid, and agreed to change sides and go with him to fight for so-called Islamic State.

The pair were discovered by police sleeping at a Birmingham mosque days after Azeez's relatives had called 999 with concerns.

He had fled his home and bought a plane ticket to Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq. Hamid was found two days later in a lorry on the A2 trying to flee the UK with a fake passport.

His earliest release date is May.

Aras Hamid (left) was jailed for eight years in 2016 for preparing acts of terrorism. His earliest release is May. Patrick Kabele jailed six years for preparation of terrorist acts. Earliest release: February. Attempted to travel to Syria to join Islamic State

This month - Muslim convert Patrick Kabele who tried to join ISIS was jailed for six years

Muslim convert Patrick Kabele, 32, who tried to join ISIS was jailed for six years after police discovered a diary in which he said he wanted to buy a nine-year-old slave girl,

The scaffolder from Willesden, North London, was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court and jailed for six years with an extended licence of four years in May 2017.

The jury was not aware that Kabele had expressed violent sentiments towards women, writing in one entry about 'seeding some women over here, UK white.'

In another entry, he wrote: 'My plan remains the same. It's only my [attitude] towards women and children, ie not giving a f***.

'I am talking seeding women. Chinese, Indian, whatever. In Uganda, multiple wives and s*** on the side.'

In the diary, which was found on his phone as he tried to leave the country, Kabele said he had a 'death wish' and wanted to die young.

Kabele was found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism by trying to get to Syria. He could be released this month.

March - Jamshed Javeed was jailed six years in 2015 for preparing acts of terrorism

Jamshed Javeed was jailed for six years in 2015 for preparing to fight with ISIS in Syria. His earliest release date is March

Radicalised chemistry teacher Jamshed Javeed was jailed for six years in 2015 for preparing to fight with ISIS in Syria.

Police said the 30-year-old was 'determined' to leave his job and 'fight jihadi' but his family, including his pregnant wife, grabbed his 'go bag' of money, supplies and his passport.

He had intended to travel with a man he had met only three months beforehand but could not travel without his documents.

When he applied for a new passport and received it last December anti-terror police swooped and arrested him.

Javeed taught 11 to 16-year-old pupils at Sharples High School in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

His brother Mohammad Azzam, 19, is missing and presumed dead in Syria after travelling there last September.

Javeed also admitted to transferring 1,400 into his brother's account to pay for his and a friend's flights to the warzone shortly before his own arrest.

The other man was Anil Khalil Raoufi, 20, from Didsbury, who died in the fighting in 2015.

His earliest release date is March.

November - Imam's son who claimed he travelled to Syrian border because he was 'stressed over his A-levels'

Zakariya Ashiq (left) was jailed for six years in 2015 for preparing for terrorism. His earliest release is November

Zakariya Ashiq was jailed for six years after dropping out of his A-level studies and travelling to Turkey with his imam father to join ISIS.

Ashiq made recordings on WhatsApp telling friends 'there is no life without Jihad' and 'the second I get a chance I am doing martydom'.

When he was caught, the 20-year-old told police he was 'studying A-levels exams and becoming stressed' and said he had planned to go to Egypt but his father had persuaded him to go to Turkey instead.

Ashiq described how his mother travelled out to Turkey and tricked him into meeting her before taking his passport and escorting him home.

On his return Ashiq began working in a tyre warehouse and engaged in conversations on the website known as ChatRoulette which pairs random people around the world for conversations over webcameras.

In the conversations Ashiq told one person he met, speaking in Arabic: 'Thanks Allah, the Islamic State is lived by Muslims. They kill the infidels and the apostates.'

He encouraged another person to join the Islamic State, telling them: 'It's easy to join dawla [the State]they will pay u good wagefind u a wiferespond to the calling brotherimmigrate to the State of Islam.'

On July 11, Ashiq made a second attempt to travel abroad, this time telling police who stopped him at Birmingham Airport that he was heading for Kavos in Corfu because he didn't want to take part in Ramadan and his parents were strict and he had begun to 'rebel against them.'

He was then charged with preparing acts of terrorism and jailed for six years in 2015. His earliest release date is November.

March - Teenager jailed for five years for sharing beheading videos on WhatsApp

Mohammed Khilji (left) jailed five years for encouraging terrorism. Earliest release: March

Mohammed Khilji was jailed for five years in June 2018 for sharing graphic beheading videos on WhatsApp.

The 19-year-old first came to the attention of police after he posted a video on YouTube in which he had digitally altered footage of a wargame video to make it appear that the featured soldiers were Daesh fighters.

Khilji had superimposed black Daesh flags on the 'Battlefield' video and overlaid it with a terrorist battle song and a quote from a Daesh propaganda magazine.

Detectives searched his home on 4 July, recovering his mobile phone and a computer.

Experts examined the devices and found he had been sharing graphic videos of Daesh beheading soldiers and videos, calling for violence against non-Muslims.

One of the videos included footage of the 2017 Westminster terror attack, and concluded by offering the viewer advice on preparing a vehicle-borne bomb.

Khilji was eventually found guilty of eight counts of encouraging terrorism.

His earliest release date will be March.

March - Extremist who threatened to kill police officers while he was on an official deradicalisation programme

Meanwhile Mohammed Ghani jailed 28 months in May 2019 for possessing documents containing terrorist information. Earliest release: March

Mohammed Hamza Ghani told officers he found terror magazines 'entertaining and informative' when they were found in his possession.

Officers search the 28-year-old's home in Barnet after he phoned 999 and the anti-terrorist hotline and claiming he was looking to kill 'people or police'.

Ghani was already known to officials because he was undergoing the Channel intervention programme after expressing extremist views.

When officers visited him at home, the terrorist confessed that electronic devices in his bedroom contained electronic copies of terrorist magazines, including Isis and al-Qaeda propaganda.

Commander Clarke Jarrett, head of the Metropolitan Police counterterror command, said: 'The officer seized his devices, including USB sticks and a laptop, and these were later analysed by digital forensic specialists. They did indeed contain terrorist publications, featuring horrendous articles about how to make different types of bombs, where to carry out terrorist attacks and how to assassinate people.'

When police asked him about the magazines, which included an issue commemorating the 11 September 2011 terror attacks, Ghani said he considered them 'entertaining and informative'.

Ghani was jailed for 28 months in May 2019. His earliest release date is March.

September - Fanatic who left terror propaganda inside the shoes of Muslim worshippers while they were praying

Omar Ashfaq left memory sticks containing terrorist propaganda inside shoes while Muslim worshippers were praying. His earliest release date is September

Omar Ashfaq left memory sticks containing terrorist propaganda inside shoes while Muslim worshippers were praying.

One was found by a nine-year-old boy who had gone to the mosque with his father and older brother.

During Ramadan in May and June 2018, the 24-year-old travelled to mosques in Luton, Derby, Loughborough, Coventry and Birmingham to leave extremist and violent material.

On Friday 1 June, three USB drives containing imagery and words promoting and encouraging terrorism, were found in the shoes of people attending a mosque in Leicestershire.

The following day the same thing happened at two mosques in Bedfordshire, in which four USB drives in total were found. Five drives were also discovered at a mosque in the West Midlands.

Two days later another three devices were found at a Derbyshire mosque. A further stick was discovered at another mosque in the West Midlands shortly after.

Worshippers who found the memory sticks informed mosque authorities who were able to identify Ashfaq from CCTV footage and notified the police.

The suspect, formerly from Derby, was arrested and a search of his home and a vehicle uncovered numerous bags of USB sticks as well as notes outlining his plans.

One document labelled 'Target: 1 week' was a map on which a route was drawn, taking in as far north as Leeds, east to Peterborough, south to London and west to Stoke-on-Trent.

He was jailed for four-and-a-half years in May last year. His earliest release date is September.

March - 'I'll behead you', extremist told officer after his stash of 'grotesque' execution videos were uncovered

ISIS supporter Atiq Ahmed threatened to behead a police officer when his stash of 'grotesque' execution videos was uncovered.

The 32-year-old, from Oldham, pleaded guilty to two counts of dissemination of a terrorist publication by posting links to disturbing IS propaganda videos, one of which was viewed on YouTube more than 37,000 times.

Ahead of his sentencing, where he was jailed for two-and-a-half years, the Old Bailey heard how his family had raised concerns in March this year, fearing he was a danger to society, citing his violent behaviour, mental health problems and solvent abuse.

He could also be out next month.

Mohammed Zahir Khan (left) tweeted his support for ISIS. Atiq Ahmed was arrested at a primary school after telling a teacher they were an 'infidel' and would 'burn in hell'. They could both be released next month

Shopkeeper who tweeted his support for ISIS and called for Shia Muslims to be burned alive

Mohammed Zahir Khan, from Sunderland, was jailed for four-and-a-half years in 2018 for expressing his support for ISIS on social media.

He was found guilty after posts emerged of his called for 'death to Shias', while pro-ISIS videos were also discovered on his computer.

He could be released next month.

Terror magazine collector who was caught after police seized his phone while investigating a car crash

Fahim Adam first came to police attention after he was caught up in a car crash in November 2017, prompting officers to seize his phone.

After analysing the device, they found he had downloaded several extremists magazines which encouraged people to commit acts of terrorism and provided information about how attacks could be carried out.

They included two editions of the ISIS propaganda publication 'Rumiyah' which gave Jihadists tips on how to carry out random 'lone wolf' knife strikes.

The 30-year-old, from Blackburn, was charged with possessing information useful to terrorism and jailed for 30 months in February 2019.

He is due for release within months.

Fahim Adam (left) was jailed 30 months in February 2019 for having documents useful for terrorism. Earliest release: May. Shazib Khan - who tried to travel to Syria - is due to be released this year

Uncle jailed for trying to travel to Syria with his nephew

Shazib Khan was jailed for eight years in May 2016 for preparing to travel to Syria to join ISIS.

Mr Justice Edis, sentencing, said he had rejected English law in favour of Sharia, and had sought to fight with the terrorist group.

He was also handed an extended period of five years on licence.

Shazid Khan's nephew, delivery driver Junead Khan, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years for plotting to kill US personnel outside Lakenheath US air base.

A court heard Junead had used his job to scout for potential victims. He had also planned to travel to Syria with his uncle.

Shazib Khan is due to be released this year.

British ISIS fighter who called himself 'Supaman' but returned to UK because Syria was too cold is jailed for seven years

Mohammed Uddin who referred to himself as 'Supaman' - travelled to the war-torn region on November 4, 2015 intending to join ISIS

Mohammed Uddin travelled to Syria to join ISIS but returned home because he disliked the 'cold water', 'bland food' and 'doing absolutely jack'.

The security guard - who referred to himself as 'Supaman' - travelled to the war-torn region on November 4, 2015 intending to join ISIS.

On December 12, he crossed the border back into Turkey where he was held by the authorities because he did not have any travel documents.

He was stopped by counter terrorism officers at Gatwick Airport when he returned to Britain on December 22, who believed he was involved in terrorist-related activity and found extremist material in his possession.

Uddin, who had earlier boasted it was 'p*** easy' to cross the border from Turkey into Syria, quickly became disillusioned with life in the Middle East.

The 29-year-old was jailed to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of preparing acts of terrorism.

He could be released within months.

And others who are due for release as soon as this month...

Yahya Rashid: The already convicted terrorist was freed from prison on licence after attempting travelling to Syria to join ISIS but jailed for a year for hiding a phone from police.

The 23-year-old also kept an email address secret from officers but he was exposed when he made an application to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) with the undisclosed contact details.

He could be released in September.

Mina Dich: Mother who led the first all-female British ISIS cell and helped her daughter, Rizlaine Boular, plan a knife attack on the Palace of Westminster in May 2017.

She was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison and could be released in August.

Yahya Rashid (left) was freed from prison on licence after attempting travelling to Syria to join ISIS but jailed for a year for hiding a phone from police. Mina Dich led the first all-female British ISIS cell and helped her daughter, Rizlaine Boular, plan a knife attack on the Palace of Westminster in May 2017

Boy X: The child became Britain's youngest terrorist in 2015 when he was convicted for planning to attack an Anzac Day parade in Australia.

The 14-year-old had planned to behead his teachers before moving on a hit list of targets.

He was jailed for life but will be eligible for parole this year.
Islamic State extremists are mounting increasingly bold attacks in Syria and Iraq following their loss of territory in both countries and are planning for the breakout of their fighters in detention facilities, U.N. experts said in a new report.

The panel of experts said in the report to the U.N. Security Council that the militant group known as IS and ISIL is also exploiting weaknesses in security in both countries.

The experts monitoring sanctions against the Islamic State and al-Qaida said it is unclear whether the Islamic States' new leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi Al-Qurayshi, can effectively lead the extremist group's diverse and far-flung supporters and affiliates.

But the panel said unidentified U.N. member nations have made a provisional assessment that the strategic direction of the extremist group is unchanged when it comes to administration, propaganda and recruitment and that command and control between its core in the conflict zone and affiliates abroad will be maintained.

Al-Qurayshi's predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in a U.S. raid last October in Syria's last rebel stronghold in Idlib province.

The experts said the issue of foreigners who came to fight for the Islamic State and were part of its so-called caliphate in Syria and Iraq remains acute.

Member states assess that between one-half and two-thirds of the more than 40,000 who joined the caliphate are still alive, they said in the report circulated Friday.

The panel said the reduction in U.S. forces in Syria has raised concerns about the ability of security forces in the country's northeast to maintain adequate control over a restive population of detained ISIL fighters, as well as family members, numbering more than 100,000.

Many dependents remain equally ideologically committed and their fate is a major concern for the international community, the experts said. Some 2,000 foreign terrorist fighters remain in detention in the area.

While some countries believe the best way to address the issue is to repatriate Islamic State members, others are reluctant to accept returnees, the panel said, and the issue is expected to aggravate the global threat posed by ISIL, and possibly al-Qaida for years to come.

The experts said Idlib province, the last rebel stronghold where Syrian forces launched an offensive in December, remains dominated by groups affiliated with al-Qaida but also hosts relocated IS fighters and their families.

Parts of Iraq, especially areas in Anbar province near the Syrian border, also represent a permissive security environment for the movement of ISIL fighters, the panel said.

Beyond Syria and Iraq, the experts said U.N. member nations are most concerned about the conflict in Afghanistan, which by some measures suffers the heaviest toll from terrorism of any country in the world.

Al-Qaida and foreign fighters aligned with it, under protection of the Taliban, pose a long-term global threat, the panel said.

Islamic State extremists suffered sever losses and were largely expelled from their Afghan stronghold in Nangarhar province in November 2019, but the panel said IS has proved resilient in the past and is still assessed to pose a serious threat.

The experts said threats from al-Qaida and Islamic State affiliates also persist in parts of Africa and southeast Asia.

They called the Islamic State West Africa Province in the Lake Chad Basin the extremist group's most successful affiliate in the last six months of 2019 for its high tempo of attacks and raids on security forces in Niger, which garnered significant arms, military materiel and other supplies.

It also cited the steady pace of attacks on security forces and foreign targets by al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, which is based in Somalia.

IS affiliates are also active in the Philippines, where the panel said fighters from Indonesia and Malaysia contribute to insurgent attacks, as well as in their own countries.

The experts also stressed that al-Qaida remains resilient and increasingly threatening, saying its affiliates are stronger than ISIL in many conflict zones, especially the Sahel, Somalia, Yemen and northwest Syria.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Sometime on Thursday night, terrorists in the Gaza Strip launched three rockets into Israel in hopes of killing Israeli civilians who live in Sderot. These would-be murderers almost achieved their goal even though two of the rockets were stopped by Israels Iron Dome defense system and a third landed in an empty field.

They almost achieved their goal of killing civilians when an Israeli woman picked up her three-week old baby and ran toward a safe room in her house. As she made her way down the stairs, she tripped.

She tripped.

The poor woman tripped while carrying a three-week old baby and as a result, the infant suffered a head injury. A few inches in either direction, a little bit more force to the fall, the child would have died, on the spot.

Imagine the horror. Imagine the terror.

Fortunately, Israel is a modern country. Israeli doctors  Jewish, Christian and Muslim  will work to provide the care the mother and child need to live healthy and productive lives.

That child, born in Sderot, can flourish and be a blessing to the world. Given what we know about Israel and Israelis, mother and child will, over the long run, choose blessing over trauma and future hope over past resentment.

If the terrorists were, by some miracle of modern technology  or moral imagination  able to watch the scene unfold, they would have a choice to make. Would they cheer that their efforts to terrorize Israeli civilians came to such horrifying fruition?

Or would the remnants of their better selves, which have been so badly undermined by years of indoctrination, rebel  even weakly  at the horror they have inflicted on a young mother and her innocent child? Would they transcend the circumstances of their upbringing and question what they were doing?

The sad fact is that if any of the terrorists on that rocket team did suffer from a pang of conscience at the harm they inflicted on a young mother and her baby, he could say, Well, at least we have the World Council of Churches on our side.

And hed be right.

The terrorists were launching rockets in protest of a peace plan put forth by the Trump Administration on Jan. 28. The plan, which has been in the making since 2017, was created without any input from the Palestinian Authority because President Mahmoud Abbas refused to speak with anyone from the Trump Administration about the proposal.

The proposal requires the Israeli government to freeze settlement expansion for four years. It requires the Palestinians to bring Hamas under control, stop paying terrorists, stop telling lies about Jews, establish a democratic government, reduce corruption and build a free economy.

The plan for Arab and Jew to live in peace is based on an exchange: the Israelis get security and in return the Palestinians get self-governance and prosperity. Between the Palestinian refusal to negotiate and the real demands of reform it makes, the Trump plan has been born into difficult circumstances.

Soon after the 181-page proposal was released, Olav Fykse Tveit, the WCCs Secretary General, issued a statement that urged members of the international community not to support this proposal or to recognize its implementation unless and until a better plan has been negotiated and agreed with the representatives of the Palestinian people and in compliance with the principles of international occupation and human rights.

Instead of calling for the Palestinians to come to the table and negotiate in good faith, something they have refused to do for years, Tveit rewards Abbas intransigence by tripping up a peace process that has already been endorsed by numerous Arab countries in the region.

With his statement, Tveit gave Abbas the cover he needs to not come to the table. He even affirmed the grievances Palestinians have used to justify their intransigence over the years proving yet again that forgiveness is a Christian value except when Jews are involved.

Tveit, who based his career as an ecumenical leader on pontificating about the conflict, thinks he knows better than folks who live in the region who want it to end and have told Abbas to start negotiating, to at least look at the plan.

Its a terrible thing to behold.

Tveit and the organization he leads havent been all that vocal in condemning Palestinian terrorism, or the incitement against Jews by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

Under Tveits leadership, the WCC said very little about the stabbing intifada in 2015 that terrorized Jews living in Israel.

The WCC has been pretty quiet about the balloon bombs that terrorists have been launching into Israel from the Gaza Strip in recent months.

The WCC has said virtually nothing about the corruption and authoritarian rule by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Over the years, the WCC has itself to be a friend to Palestinian acts of violence and an adversary to Jewish self-defense.

With its recent statement, the WCC has revealed itself to be an obstacle to peace itself. Trumps peace plan, like the infant Jesus, was born in some pretty difficult circumstances. And instead of working to protect it, breath life into it, Tveit works to abort the process, to trip it up.

During the Christmas season, Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek, founder of the anti-Israel organization, Sabeel, invoked the image of Herod, who in the Gospel of Matthew tries to enlist the three wise men in a plot to kill the infant Jesus.

He wrote, Herod's reaction to the coming of a new world order cautions us to stop and ask, how do we react when the order of things is threatened?

The three wise men knew enough not to assist in the effort to murder an infant in its crib.

But Tveit? Not so much.

Dexter Van Zile is Christian Media Analyst for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).
An Australian mother has divided the internet after sharing a photo of her teenage son's school lunchbox, which contained two sandwiches, two bananas, a punnet of tomatoes and grapes, two muesli bars and three cheese-related snacks.

The woman, who is based in Victoria, said the 17-year-old boy eats the sizeable portions on the bus to and from school, during recess and lunch and after school while doing his homework.

'The contents of a growing boy's snack and lunch bag for school. If I could fit more in I would as he never stops eating,' she captioned the image.

She had purchased everything from Aldi except the two fruit and nut muesli bars.

Is this too much? A mother shared this image of her 17-year-old son's lunchbox

While the food was predominately made up of fruits and vegetables, there were plenty of parents on social media prepared to criticise the amount of plastic she used and the 'monstrous' serving.

'Healthy choices but that's still a lot of food. Bet that kid never stops moving,' one woman said.

'Wow he eats more than me over two days,' another lady said.

A third added: 'This is way too much'.

While the food was predominately made up of fruits and vegetables, there were plenty of parents on social media prepared to criticise the amount of plastic she used and the 'monstrous' serving (stock image)

What is in the lunchbox? * Extra tasty cheese snacks * Two cheese stringers * Two wrapped up sandwiches * A punnet of tomatoes * A cut up carrot * Two nectarines * One apple * A packet of almonds * Two bananas * A cut up cucumber * Two homemade muffins * A packet of roasted chickpeas * A punnet of grapes * Two muesli bars Advertisement

Despite the criticism there were plenty of people who said their son's eat a similar amount of food, and needed it to keep up with their busy and sport-filled lifestyles.

Poll Is this too much for school lunches? Yes No Is this too much for school lunches? Yes 963 votes

No 1867 votes Now share your opinion





'What an awesome mum you are. That looks like a fantastic assortment of food for your growing boy and all healthy. You're doing an amazing job,' one said.

'Looks delicious... on the other hand when my boy starts eating that much he will be up for sale,' said another.

According to nutritionist Lyndi Cohen, the most important thing when it comes to school lunches is to avoid over-complicating things.

'While ideally we would mix up our children's lunches every day, if you know that your children eat cherry tomatoes, grapes, Babybel cheese and eggs, then give them those things,' she told FEMAIL.

'A child is unlikely to try something for the first time when it arrives in a lunchbox.'

THE GOOD LUNCHBOX GUIDE * SLOW-RELEASING CARBS: Grainy bread, pasta salad and wholemeal wraps all work well here, according to Lyndi Cohen. They help with energy levels hugely. * PROTEIN: Protein is so important for kids' growth. Whether it's Vegemite and cheese, egg mayonnaise in a sandwich or chicken, it's key to balance out the carbs and help kids to feel full. * HEALTHY FATS: Healthy fats are also important. * SNACKS: Your children will need snacks throughout the day, and so you need to be prepared with healthy things they can eat. Air-popped popcorn is great, as is fruit, a little bit of cheese or a small yoghurt. Stick to whole foods where possible and you won't go wrong. Advertisement

Ms Cohen recommends packing a balanced mix of slow-release carbohydrates, healthy fats and protein.

'It's so important to have a slow-releasing carb like a wholemeal wrap of grainy bread,' she said.

'The combo of the carbs, fat and protein will give kids enough energy to actually function.'

One of Ms Cohen's tricks is to mix up your vegetables with a pasta salad in order to increase the chance that your kids will eat them.

'Putting things in separate zip lock bags is fussy, and hugely increases the chance that they come home uneaten,' she said.
Boris Johnson

Frank Augstein - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Boris Johnson says opponents of a trade deal with the US are "juvenile" and "conspiracy theorists."

The prime minister said he could not wait to "get going" with negotiating a trade deal with Trump  and told staunch opponents of a trade agreement to "grow up" and "get a grip."

Johnson dismissed suggestions that such a deal would give US firms access to the NHS and flood Britain's markets with lower-quality food.

Britain left the EU on Friday, and has made striking a deal with the US one of its first priorities.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Boris Johnson has told opponents of a post-Brexit free trade deal with the United States to "grow up" and "get a grip."

In a speech in south London on Monday, the United Kingdom's prime minister said that some opponents of a free trade deal with the Donald Trump administration are "naive and juvenile anti-Americans."

Johnson delivered a speech on Britain's trading ambitions after the country completed its departure from the European Union.

Speaking to an audience which included Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK, the prime minister said he cannot wait to "get going with our friends" in the US on a trade deal, and attacked those who have warned against it.



"And I say to all the naive and juvenile anti-Americans in this country if there are any  there seem to be some  I say grow up  and get a grip," Johnson said.



"The US already buys one fifth of everything we export."

Opponents of a deal with the Trump administration warn that it could give US firms access to the National Health Service. They also say it would open up British markets to US food products which are of a lower hygiene standard.

However, Johnson dismissed these concerns, and dubbed those who express them "conspiracy theorists."

Story continues

The prime minister said: "And it goes without saying to all those conspiracy theorists who may still be in existence, all those believers in the Bermuda Triangle or who think that Elvis will be found on Mars, it goes without saying that of course the NHS is not on the table."



"And no we will not accept any diminution in food hygiene or animal welfare standards."

"But I must say to the America bashers in this country if there are any that in doing free trade deals we will be governed by science and not by mumbo-jumbo because the potential is enormous."

Johnson sets up trade showdown with Brussels

Donald Trump Boris Johnson

Getty

While Johnson spoke enthusiastically about negotiating a trade deal with the US, he accused the Trump administration and other actors of a protectionist approach to trade which has "choked" global growth.

"I'm afraid it is the politicians who are failing to lead, the mercantilists are everywhere, the protectionists are gaining ground. From Brussels to China to Washington, tariffs are being waved around like cudgels."

"There is an ever-growing proliferation of non-tariff barriers, and the resulting tensions are letting the air out of the tires of the world economy," the UK prime minister said.

On a trade deal with the EU, Johnson set himself on a collision course with Brussels, warning the bloc that he would rather walk away without a free trade agreement than sign Britain up to EU rules and regulations.

The prime minister said his government wanted a Canada-style free trade with the EU but would adopt Australia's approach to the bloc if talks break down.

Australia does not have a free trade deal with the EU, and trades largely on World Trade Organisation with the 27 EU member states.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Here are todays leading news stories:

Politics

-- Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong chaired a ceremony marking the Communist Party of Vietnams 90th founding anniversary in Hanoi on Monday.

Society

-- Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered competent authorities to quarantine all people who come from all of Chinas 31 provinces for 14 days upon their entry into Vietnam to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

-- Hundreds of people flocked to a drugstore on Nguyen Gian Thanh Street in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City, which is considered one of the biggest retailers of medicine in the metropolis, on Monday to buy face masks at reasonable prices amid the rising concerns over the novel coronavirus.

-- Two men on a motorcycle were killed after having an accident while trying to pass a truck along Ca Pass in the south-central province of Phu Yen on Monday afternoon.

-- Border guard officers in the north-central province of Ha Tinh confirmed on Monday they had apprehended a Laotian man for smuggling four kilograms of synthetic drugs and 36,000 pills of amphetamine from Laos into Vietnam.

-- Aside from face masks and hand sanitizers, body thermometers have become increasingly sought after in Ho Chi Minh City as residents are taking all possible measures to avoid being infected with the novel coronavirus.

Business

-- Vietnam attracted US$5.33 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in January, up by 2.8 percent compared to the same period in 2019, according to statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

-- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a conference in Hanoi on Monday to seek ways to promote the trade and production of farm produce, given the complicated development of the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
BJP MP Dilip Ghosh on Tuesday used 'Shikhandi' barb in Lok Sabha against the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal as he alleged lack of action against violent anti-CAA protesters in the state.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is shown banners like "go back" when he visits the state, Rohingya Muslims from neighbouring countries are given "welcome" because they are seen as voters by the ruling party in West Bengal, he said.

Participating in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, Ghosh hit out at protests, including at Shaheen Bagh in the national capital, against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

He claimed that protesters there were enjoying themselves feeding on "foreign biryani bought from foreign money".

The BJP is opposed to this drama, Ghosh added.

West Bengal suffered the worst during the anti-CAA protests as trains were burnt and rail tracks uprooted by protesters, the West Bengal BJP president said.

"Unfortunately, these 'shikhandis' are in power there. The police did nothing. It did not use its baton nor did it file an FIR, let alone firing bullets. I opposed it. Now I am being defamed. I am a patriot," Ghosh said.

Shikhandi was a transgender warrior in Mahabharata epic. He was used as a human shield to kill Bhishma in the battle. A reference to his name is often made to take a swipe at others for showing cowardice.

Ghosh had recently courted controversy, saying anti-CAA protesters who indulged in violence were "shot like dogs"in BJP-ruled states.

In Lok Sabha, he accused the TMC government of working against the Constitution and democracy, saying the BJP was not allowed to undertake rallies, including in support of the CAA, in the state.

The decision to grant citizenship to minority refugees from neighbouring countries was a "historic" step, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Estimates of how deeply outbreak could dent oil demand vary widely, making it difficult for OPEC to gauge response.

OPEC consulted with China in an urgent assessment of how the coronavirus may hurt oil demand, and what measures the group could take to stop prices falling any lower.

The unusual appearance at the cartels headquarters of Wang Qun, Chinas ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, underscores how the outbreak has upended the global market. Crude sank below $50 a barrel in New York for the first time in more than a year on Monday on signs that fuel consumption in the worlds biggest oil importer may have plunged by as much 3 million barrels a day, or about 20%.

For oil markets, this is the worst crisis, at the worst place, and the worst time, said Roger Diwan, vice president of financial services at IHS Markit Ltd. OPEC has no option but to cut production as China is going to buy a lot less crude.

Its no easy task for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to evaluate the impact of the disease, which continues to infect thousands of people each day and cause massive economic disruption. Estimates of how much demand will be wiped out in the coming months vary widely, making it difficult to gauge the size of a production cut that would trigger a price recovery.

Officials didnt discuss deeper output cuts on Tuesday, but will revisit the matter when talks continue on Wednesday morning, said one delegate.

Differing Views

OPECs own internal analysis, presented in the Austrian capital on Tuesday, showed a modest drop in global demand growth of about 400,000 barrels a day for about six months even for a worst-case epidemic, according to delegates.

Earlier in the day, BP Plc predicted the outbreak would have a bigger effect, erasing 300,000 to 500,000 barrels a day of consumption for 2020 as a whole. S&P Global Platts said its worst-case scenario was for a hit of about 1 million barrels a day, which would take annual demand growth down to 320,000 barrels a day, the weakest since the 2008 to 2009 financial crisis.

After meeting with experts on the OPEC Joint Technical Committee, Wang told reporters that the virus would inevitably affect oil demand, but cautioned against overreacting. Behind closed doors, he told cartel officials that the impact would be limited and localized, said delegates, who asked not to be named because the talks were private.

Any exaggeration and any overreaction is not in the best interest of the general public let alone the market, Wang told reporters.

The committees assessment may help determine whether the 23-nation alliance- which pumps about half the worlds oil-convenes an emergency ministerial meeting later this month to consider new production cuts. Saudi Arabia, OPECs biggest member, has been pushing for such a gathering, but has faced some reluctance from Russia.

OPEC only just started a fresh round of deeper cutbacks last month, the latest step in a three-year effort to prevent plentiful U.S. shale supplies putting the global market into surplus. But the outlook has deteriorated rapidly in the last few weeks.

OPECs research department in Vienna presented two models with different estimates of how the virus may affect oil consumption, according to a delegate. The worst-case scenario envisaged a fast-spreading epidemic that lasts six months and wipes out about 400,000 barrels a day of demand, before a market rebound to pre-virus growth levels in the second half of the year.

If OPEC were to maintain its current output reductions throughout that period, there would be a surplus of 600,000 barrels a day in the first quarter and 1 million in the second, the analysis showed. The committee hadnt yet discussed whether the group should deepen its cutbacks, delegates said.

Justified Worries

While West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, stabilized on Tuesday after slipping below $50 on Monday for the first time in more than a year. Prices are still far below the levels that most OPEC members need to cover government spending.

While Riyadh has urged fellow producers to meet and act, theres so far been a more cautious attitude from its most important partner, Russia. Though not an OPEC member itself, Moscow has proved to be an influential voice since the OPEC alliance was established three years ago.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz discussed the global energy markets by phone Monday evening, the Kremlin said in a statement, adding that both leaders confirmed readiness to continue cooperation within OPEC .

Moscow doesnt face the same budgetary need for elevated oil prices as most OPEC members. Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday his country is prepared to meet this month, and intervene if necessary, but the impact of the virus should be assessed first.

Iraq, which is OPECs second-largest producer but has a poor record of implementing output cuts over the past three years, said it supported a response to the coronavirus.

Theres definitely a justified worry over whats happening, given the importance of China as a consumer, a spokesman from the countrys oil ministry said in a statement. We believe that the wisdom of the members of OPEC are capable of containing this crisis in the coming period.
Ways to make an ever-popular New Year's resolution a reality

Getting started on a healthy program can be easy with some professional help.
A former aide to Nicolas Sarkozy has been charged as part of an inquiry into allegations that Libyan funds helped finance the French ex-president's 2007 election campaign, a judicial source said on Monday.

Thierry Gaubert, 68, was charged on Friday with taking hundreds of thousands of euros from the government of Moamer Khadafi that may have been funnelled to Sarkozy's campaign, the source said.

Allegations that the campaign received up to 50 million euros ($53.3 million at current rates) from Libya first emerged during Sarkozy's failed 2012 re-election bid.

Sarkozy helped to remove Kadhafi from power when France and Britain led a NATO-backed military offensive in 2011.

Gaubert worked for Sarkozy when the future president was budget minister in the mid-1990s.

He is suspected of accepting a transfer of 440,000 euros in February 2006 from Rossfield, a company of Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine -- another figure who has been charged in the affair.

The investigative news site Mediapart reported in December that Rossfield took six million euros from Libya in 2006.

Gaubert, as well as his ex-wife, are also on trial for tax fraud and money laundering over Rossfield funds allegedly routed through the Bahamas in 2006.

Gaubert has said the money had no links to Libya.

Sarkozy was charged in 2018 with taking bribes, concealing the embezzlement of Libyan public funds and illegal campaign financing.

He denies the allegations, claiming that an explosive Libyan document presented by Mediapart as proof of the corruption is a fake.
A newly confirmed case in the northern province of Vinh Phuc has raised the number of Vietnams novel coronavirus infections to nine as of Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Health.

T.C.P., who is living in Vinh Phuc Provinces Tam Dao District, was among an eight-people group that recently returned to the Southeast Asian country after having attended a vocational training program in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the viral outbreak.

Four of the eight had been confirmed with the novel coronavirus infection.

P., 30, is the fifth of the group and the ninth cases in Vietnam that have tested positive for the virus.

Since P.s arrival at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on January 17, his public interactions have included boarding his companys bus to its headquarters, joining a meeting, and commuting from there to home, like other members in the group.

After the first three members in the group tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Friday, the other five, including P., were quarantined and sampled by health ministry experts.

By that time, P. and another woman in the group had already showed symptoms of infection.

The health ministry confirmed on Monday morning that the test sample of the woman, 29-year-old V.H.L., returned positive for the killer virus.

The same result was announced for P. on Tuesday morning.

P. is being treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi alongside three others of the five infected group members, while one woman has been cured after ten days of treatment at the Thanh Hoa Province General Hospital.

The woman, the second patient after a Chinese man to have fully recovered from pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus in Vietnam, was discharged from the hospital on Monday afternoon.

According to the health ministry, all five patients were not critically ill thanks to their young age and healthy conditions.

The ministry said that one more person in the group is expected to be discharged from the hospital this week.

The novel coronavirus, which first surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has caused 427 deaths and infected more than 20,500 people in 24 countries and territories globally as of 9:30 am on Tuesday.

Vietnam has confirmed nine cases so far, including six Vietnamese, one Vietnamese American, and two Chinese.

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By the close of Monday, on the first day of trading after the Lunar New year holiday, the Shenzhen Composite Index posted an 8.4 percent loss trading at about 9,780, while the Shanghai Composite fell 7.72 percent to close at about 2,747. Yet, in most of the major financial markets, stocks regained some of their losses from earlier in the week, likely due to news that the Chinese would pump $173 billion into the financial system.

Concerning, however, is that oil prices have fallen by more than 2 percent over concerns that the coronavirus epidemic will dampen Chinas demands. Brent crude was down $2.17, trading at $54.43 per barrel, its lowest level since last January. The drop in Chinese markets on Monday meant investors losses totaled $393 billion from Chinas benchmark equities index.

China is the worlds top oil importer and uses over 10 million barrels per day according to data released by the General Administration of Customs in October 2019. This was a 10.8 percent increase over the previous year. Presently, because of the lockdown in several provinces encompassing 16 cities and over 50 million peoplewhich has steeply affected vital production in the industrial baseestimates place Chinese demands for oil at 2.5 million barrels a day, or only about 20 percent of last years high.

According to the New York Times, officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), including Russia, have agreed to meet this week to discuss their concerns over the oil markets. On the agenda is the plan for an emergency ministerial-level meeting ahead of schedule to consider production cuts of up to 1 million barrels a day. This accounts for about 1 percent of world supplies.

According to Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects, They are absolutely trying to put a floor under prices  people are fearing the worst. Gary Ross, chief executive of Black Gold Investors, told the Times that the cuts in Chinese oil purchases would lead to massive gluts in Europe and the United States, leading to a vicious circle of selling pressure with no hope in sight.

President Xi Jinping met with senior party leaders on Monday, calling the epidemic a major test of Chinas system and capacity for governance. He stated that control of the infection is Chinas main priority. Meanwhile, the globe has rapidly moved to isolate China, as news of the epidemic suggests an additional 2,000 infections or more per day reported.

There are calls by leading infectious disease experts to call the outbreak a pandemic. Public health officials from Hong Kong who are tracking the outbreak are concerned that they do not see a pattern of decline. China has reported 425 fatalities, with cases now at 20,622.

Vice-Premier Lie He will be meeting with European leaders in Brussels for an economic discussion as planned, though concerns on the progress in containing the outbreak may lead to postponement or cancellation. The forum also includes briefing European Union leaders on Beijings trade deal with Washington.

According to Reuters, Chinese officials are hoping that the United States will agree to flexibility on some promises in the phase 1 trade deal as China deals with the outbreak of coronavirus. The deal signed last month stipulates that the two countries consult in the event of a natural disaster or other unforeseeable events.

James Zimmerman, a former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said, The outbreak is the biggest distraction of the week, and until the situation stabilizes and the lockdown is reversed, the global economy will face economic deceleration at an unprecedented level as travel continues to be canceled and large swathes of the Chinese economy remain offline.

Beijing officials have attempted to reassure the country that shortages in medical supplies were being addressed expeditiously. Medical workers and construction workers have been sent to Wuhan and adjacent cities to provide local services much needed assistance.

Construction of two hospitalsHuoshenshan and Leishenshanshould help alleviate some of the needs for medical treatment, but experts believe much more will be needed, as some expect more than 100,000 cases to be confirmed. Estimates are that at least 25 percent of these cases will need higher-level medical attention, such as intensive care units. One factor that can increase the fatality rate is the lack of medical supplies.

The health of medical staff has been little mentioned and remains a critical factor. A hospital in Xinyu, Jiangxi, had to shut down after 14 of its staff fell ill with the infection. Forty staff at Number Four hospital in the city had been isolated. The health commissioner told reporters that 15 of the 17 new cases that had been confirmed involved hospital staff.

New cases in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, have reached 2,345, with 414 deaths.

The present political brinksmanship undermines the urgent need for planned response to the epidemic. Instead, nationalist and isolationist tendencies only hamper the essential tasks at hand. According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, The world may be dangerously unprepared for the next pandemic. He urged the United Nations to invest in preparedness and not panic.
SANTA ROSA (BCN)

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office Monday identified a man who died in their custody Saturday as Rickey Estrada, 42, of Santa Rosa.

Estrada had an argument with another person around 9:25 a.m. along Challenger Way near Capricorn Way, Santa Rosa police said.

When a separate person intervened, Estrada, who was homeless, turned his attention to him and stabbed him three times with a pointed instrument, according to police.

Estrada then allegedly barricaded himself in a trailer that was parked on Challenger Way and refused to leave. He finally was taken into custody after lengthy negotiations, Santa Rosa police said. According to police, Estrada had an extensive criminal past and was on post-release community supervision.

Estrada was booked in the county jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.

Sonoma County Sheriff's Sgt. Juan Valencia said Estrada was booked in the jail at 1:49 p.m. At 5:18 p.m., Estrada had a medical emergency in the booking area and jail personnel performed CPR, Valencia said.

Estrada was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead, Valencia said.

The Napa County coroner's office is performing an autopsy on Estrada to determine the cause of death.

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The White House hosted a secret trilateral meeting in December between the U.S., Israel and the UAE on coordination against Iran, Israeli and U.S. officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: The meeting, which took place on Dec. 17, is one in a series of steps from the Trump administration to facilitate closer ties between Israel and the Arab states. It included discussion of a UAE-Israel nonaggression pact  an interim step on the way to diplomatic normalization.

Jared Kushner has been a key proponent of this initiative within the White House.

In the room: The December meeting included national security adviser Robert O'Brien and his deputy, Victoria Coates, as well as special envoy for Iran Brian Hook.

The Israeli team was led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus national security adviser, Meir Ben-Shabbat.

The UAE was represented by its ambassador to Washington Yousef Al Otaiba, a very close adviser to the UAE's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.

Israeli and U.S. officials said the secret meeting explained an unusual tweet from UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed on Dec. 21.

Bin Zayed tweeted an article headlined: Islams reformation, an Arab-Israeli alliance is taking shape in the Middle East."

Netanyahu responded a day later, at the start of a weekly Cabinet meeting:

The UAE Foreign Minister, Abdullah bin Zayed, spoke about a new alliance in the Middle East: An Israeli-Arab alliance.  I can only say that this remark is the result of the ripening of many contacts and efforts, which at the moment, and I emphasize at the moment, would be best served by silence."

 Benjamin Netanyahu

Between the lines: Netanyahu has made great efforts to strengthen a secret alliance with the UAE against Iran.

The breakthrough took place in February 2019 in Warsaw, during a U.S.-led anti-Iran conference attended by Israel and the Gulf states.

After the Warsaw conference, the Trump administration decided to establish a trilateral forum  the U.S, Israel and the UAE  to strengthen cooperation against Iran.

At least three meetings took place in the last year. One of them was previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Emirati officials declined to comment for this report.

Another sign of warming ties was the presence of Otaiba, the UAE ambassador, at last week's unveiling ceremony for Trump's Middle East peace plan.

Netanyahu and the Trump administration want to move this process forward even more.

They're pushing for nonaggression deals with the UAE and other Gulf states, along with direct flights and public trips by Israeli officials to the Gulf, Israeli and U.S. officials say.

What to watch: Netanyahu might have a tight timeline to deliver. He's facing three corruption indictments and a tight election in March.

What they're saying:

"While the United States would certainly welcome expanding relationships between our critical allies and partners in the Middle East, were not going to detail private diplomatic conversations, nor do we have anything to announce."

 Senior White House official

Go deeper:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) walks through the Senate subway area during a break in impeachment proceedings, in the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 28, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Murkowski Cannot Vote to Convict Trump, Says Impeachment Process Rotten

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), considered a possible swing vote in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, said Feb. 3 that she cannot vote to convict the president, while calling the foundation of the inquiry process rotten.

Ahead of a vote on whether to convict or acquit Trump on Feb. 5, Murkowski told the Senate floor on Feb. 3 that while she believed the presidents actions were shameful and wrong, removing Trump from office would be the political death penalty.

I cannot vote to convict, she said. The constitution provides for impeachment, but does not demand it in all instances.

Murkowski had previously been considered a possible vote against the acquittal of the president. However, she criticized the House investigation as rushed simply to meet an artificial, self-imposed deadline.

Voicing her frustration over the House and Senates handling of the impeachment inquiry, she referred to the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton in 1999, which she described as a fair, honest, and transparent process. Prior presidential impeachmentsunlike Trumpsshe said, resulted from years of investigation.

Meanwhile, she said, members who were present during the Clinton trial took the exact opposite stance from their stance today. That level of hypocrisy is astounding, even for a place like Washington, D.C., she said.

The House failed in its responsibilities. And the Senate should be ashamed by the rank partisanship that has been on display here.

We cannot be the greatest deliberative body when we kick things off by issuing letters to the media instead of coming together to set the parameters of the trial and negotiate in good faith on how we should proceed.

And for all the talk of impartiality, it is clear to me that few in this chamber approached this with a genuinely open mind.

Murkowski added that she made up her mind not to convict Trump after several days of deliberation over the rotted foundation of the process.

All of this led to the conclusion  that there would be no fair trial. While this trial was held here in this Senate, it was really litigated in the court of public opinion.

What started with political initiatives that degraded the office of the president and left the Congress wallowing in partisan mud, threatened to drag the last remaining branch of government down along with us.

She said, however, that Trump shouldnt place his personal interests above those of this great nation.

The president has the responsibility to uphold the integrity and the honor of the office. Not just for himself, but for all future presidents. Degrading the office by actions, or even name-calling, weakens it for future presidents, and it weakens our country.

Murkowski said that the response to the presidents behavior shouldnt be to disenfranchise nearly 63 million Americans and remove him from the ballot.

The House could have pursued censure and not immediately jumped to the remedy of last resort, she said, adding that voters should decide Trumps fate.

The voters will pronounce a verdict in nine months. We must trust their judgment.

On Feb. 5, a simple majority vote is required to acquit the president and dismiss the articles. A supermajority is needed to convict the president and remove him from office.
Construction of what will be Canada's largest solar farm will soon start in southern Alberta after the project secured a major funding partner.

Greengate Power announced Monday that the Travers Solar project in Vulcan County will receive $500 million in funding from Denmark-based Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

Construction is set to start midway through this year and will finish in 2021.

Greengate Power president and CEO Dan Balaban said the investment demonstrates investor confidence in Alberta's renewable energy market.

"It's a $500-million foreign investment in Alberta, and at a time where we're talking about the flight of capital from Alberta  this is an example that demonstrates Alberta is still a very attractive place to invest.

"It'll create more than 500 jobs during construction, provide an ongoing income stream for landowners that are participating in the project, and a really substantial form of annual municipal taxes that'll be realized for Vulcan County," he said.

The project will consist of 1.5 million solar panels that will generate about 800 million kWh per year, enough to power more than 100,000 homes.

"To put that in perspective, that's about the size of a third of the island in Manhattan. So it's a large project that will have the ability to make a very substantial positive impact on our economy and our environmental performance," Balaban said.

Greengate is also responsible for the largest wind energy project in the country, also located in Vulcan County.

Balaban said he sees renewables as the obvious solution as the province looks to phase out coal. But, he doesn't think supporting green energy should contribute in any way to political polarization.

"As long as the world is using oil and gas, I believe it should be Alberta oil and gas but at the same time, we should be investing in the way the energy system is heading. We've got phenomenal renewable energy resources in this province and a great opportunity to diversify our economy," he said.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners said in an emailed release that the investment is the fund management company's first in Canada.

"Alberta is an attractive market for investment, and we look forward to working with Greengate, one of Canada's leading renewable energy developers, to bring Travers Solar online," CIP senior partner Christian Skakkebaek said.
A little girl found dead in a hot car may have been playing a game of hide and seek with her siblings when she became trapped inside.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal Emily Lever's distraught mother remains sedated in hospital days after her three-year old was found dead in the back of her SUV outside her Morwell home, in the Latrobe Valley area of Gippsland in south-east Victoria.

Sources close to the investigation have revealed detectives believe the inquisitive toddler could have been playing with her older sister Alice, 5, and 18-month-old sister Jaina in the hours before the tragedy.

A tribute to Emily was left outside her Morwell home on Tuesday

Emily Lever, three, was found dead in Morwell, in Gippsland, on Friday, when temperatures in the town had reached 42C

'The one time she'd gone missing before was when she had been playing a game of hide and seek,' a source told Daily Mail Australia.

A lone tribute remained outside Emily's home on Tuesday as her relatives rallied together at her grandparents' home a short distance away.

A sign read 'Fly High Sweet One' next to a pot of flowers and a plush toy.

Emily's paternal grandfather Leslie Spark would not comment when approached by Daily Mail Australia.

A day earlier, he had told the Herald Sun her family had been planning to celebrate Emily's birthday on Wednesday - but will now have to organise her funeral instead.

'It is a tragic accident. The worst is to come,' Mr Spark said.

Emergency crews discovered Emily inside the car about 8.30pm, although it is unclear how long she had been there.

She was pronounced dead at the scene after desperate attempts to revive her were unsuccessful.

The temperatures had soared to up to 42C last Friday.

'I don't think we'll ever truly know what has happened and how she got stuck in the car,' a source told Daily Mail Australia.

Detectives are working to ascertain how Emily not only managed to get out of her home, but inside the hot car.

It is understood the tiny three-year old would have needed to have stood on a chair to gain access to her home's door handles.

She would have also needed to have pushed in a button to gain access to her mother's Jeep SUV.

Emergency services discovered her inside the car outside The Boulevard (pictured) in Morwell around 8.30pm

Emily's siblings remain in the care of a relative while their mother recovers in hospital.

'They're too young to understand what has happened,' the source said.

Emily's parents, Monica and Shaun Lever, had separated some years ago, but her father remained in constant contact.

Mr Lever is understood to be totally devastated by the death of his beloved daughter and struggling to come to terms with her loss.

He remains in the dark about what happened while the coroner prepares a report on Emily's body.

That report could take up until Thursday to be completed.

Speaking to the Herald Sun, Mrs Spark added: 'It doesnt feel real... [Emily] had so much life in her. She was a chatterbox. She was a loving, sweet, happy girl.

'I don't know what we are going to do on Wednesday on her birthday.'

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Mr and Mrs Lever in anyway played a part in the the tragedy.

In a separate tragedy, Chloe-Ann (left) and Darcey Conley (right) died in November after being found in a hot car outside their mother's home south of Brisbane

Mrs Spark said her son Shaun had an 'amazing' relationship with his three daughters and has been left distraught over Emily's death.

The tragedy comes after the NRMA revealed more than 130 children had been rescued from being stuck inside vehicles since the start of this year alone.

Five-year-old Natasha Gorjup (pictured) from Newcastle, died in December after she was pulled from a hot car unconscious on a 38C day

About 150 were rescued in December, 156 in November and 172 in October, with the majority of cases involving children under the age of two.

NSW Ambulance services also revealed there has been a 30 per cent spike in call-outs, over the last year.

'In most circumstances it's a simple accident but the consequences can be catastrophic,' NSW Ambulance inspector Carolyn Parish said.

In December, a five-year-old girl died in hospital after she was found in a hot car unconscious on a 38C day.

Aloiz Gorjup pulled his daughter Natasha from the car outside his home in Port Stephens, north of Newcastle in late November.

He called paramedics before she was airlifted to hospital where she later died in what police said was a tragic accident.

The tragedy came just days after two girls, aged one and two, died after being left in a car for hours in hot conditions outside their mother's home south of Brisbane.

Chloe-Ann and her older sister, Darcey, two, died after being cooped up in their mother's black Mazda station wagon outside her home in Waterford West in Brisbane's southern outskirts on November 23.

Their mother Kerri-Ann Conley, 27, was charged with the girls' alleged murder, under a new definition which includes reckless indifference to human life.

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said most cases are accidental and that most of the time parents themselves need help.

'Most cases are people inadvertently locking children in a car but there are still far too many cases of parents where children have been simply forgotten,' he said.

'On the 49C day we had a couple of weeks ago, inside the car within a few minutes it could reach 80C - which is cooking temperatures. That's no place for a child or pet.'
The Jan. 27 editorial Guantanamos cost rightfully called attention to the 40 prisoners still languishing. Having just returned from Guantanamo, where I spent a week observing dysfunctional military commissions as director of national security advocacy for Human Rights First, I have seen firsthand how shortsighted policies adopted after 9/11  particularly the use of torture  made Americans less safe and trampled on American values in the process. After nearly two decades, it is past time to pull the plug on George W. Bush-era war on terrorism policies in favor of sustainable and effective counterterrorism approaches aligned with American values. The ill-conceived military commissions should simply be shut down, and Congress should remove the ban on transferring detainees to the United States, where they can finally be prosecuted in our far more effective federal courts.
People pass by a screen warning about a new coronavirus in a subway station in Seoul, South Korea (AP)

Chinese authorities said on Tuesday that the death toll in mainland China from the coronavirus outbreak had risen to 425, with the number of cases standing at 20,438.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that it is still early in the outbreak, but coronavirus does not yet constitute a pandemic.

Cases of the deadly disease have already been confirmed in dozens of major cities across the globe.

But which cities are most at risk, and what is being done to stop the spread of coronavirus?

Travel bans have been put in place in several countries around the world (AP)

The virus has been spreading rapidly across the globe as people flee China (PA)

Which countries have been infected so far?

About 150 cases have been reported in two dozen other countries.

According to research carried out by analysts at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, the city of Hubei at the heart of the viruss epicentre in Wuhan has seen the most cases and deaths so far.

A total of 414 people have died in the city and there have been 13,522 confirmed cases.

In Beijing, by comparison, there have been 228 confirmed cases and just one death  according to research from the universitys Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Outside China, Bangkok in Thailand has seen the most recorded cases at 25, followed by Singapore with 24.

As of Tuesday there have been 17 confirmed cases in Hong Kong, with one recorded death.

The worst affected Western nation is Germany, with 12 people diagnosed with coronavirus so far in Germersheim.

Isolated cases have also been confirmed in the US cities of Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago.

The Chinese government has constructed a brand new hospital in the city of Hubei in response to the crisis (Getty)

Where have travel bans been put in place?

All but two of Hong Kongs land and sea crossings with the mainland were closed at midnight on Tuesday after more than 2,000 hospital workers went on strike.

The Philippines banned the entry of all non-citizens from China after two cases were confirmed there, including the only death outside China.

The US, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia have imposed similar restrictions despite criticism from China and WHOs guidance that such measures were unnecessary.

Story continues

South Korea, which has 15 confirmed cases, quarantined 800 soldiers who had recently visited China, Hong Kong or Macao or who had contact with people who had.

Britons in mainland China have been told to leave in case authorities force more towns and cities into lockdown, an expert said.

A total of 94 UK nationals and family members have been evacuated to Britain from Wuhan, the city in Hubei province at the epicentre of the outbreak, on two flights which arrived on Friday and Sunday.

The UKs Department of Health said that, as of Tuesday, 414 people have tested negative for coronavirus.

---How four years of utter Brexit chaos unfolded---
Actor Josh Quong Tart has been charged with behaving offensively and assaulting police.

He was allegedly found behaving in an offensive manner near a public place before he was arrested on the night of January 27 following a performance in Betty Blokk-Buster Reimagined during the Sydney Festival.

News.com.au reports Tart (Underbelly, Home & Away, All Saints), 44, was near the corner of William and Yurong streets in Darlinghurst,near where he had been performing in the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent in Hyde Park.

Police allege he behaved in an offensive manner, and assaulted a male police constable.

Police also laid a third charge of resisting arrest.

Tart was remanded on bail and will appear at the Downing Centre Court next week when he is expected to enter a plea.
Photo Illustration by Lyne Lucien/The Daily Beast/Getty

MILFORD, New HampshireA chaotic Iowa caucus descended into further uncertainty on Tuesday when officials released partial results showing that Mayor Pete Buttigieg enjoyed a small lead among delegates in the Hawkeye State while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) had a lead among actual voters.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the numbers announced represented 75 percent of the precincts from all of the states 99 counties and the decision to release them sparked backlash among several campaigns, who argued that the state was further botching an election that was already marred by bureaucratic and technological ineptitude; never mind that each had used the intervening time to put their own spin on the still-secret data. State officials had earlier announced partial results with only 62 and 71 percent of precincts reporting.

Speaking to reporters, Troy Price, the chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, said he was confident in the accuracy of the data but he did not put a date for when he expected the final results to be released.

We'll take the time we need, he said.

Pete Buttigieg Makes History, and Makes America Face the Meaning of LGBTQ Equalityand Reality of Prejudice

According to the figures released Wednesday afternoon, Buttigieg enjoyed 26.9 percent of the state delegatesthe metric by which the nomination will be decidedSanders had 25.2 percent, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) had 18.2 percent, and former Vice President Joe Biden had 15.6 percent.

By the time the partial numbers were made public, all the campaigns had left the state, decamping to New Hampshire, where voters will cast their own ballots next Tuesday. But even hundreds of miles away, the candidates couldnt escape the shadow of the Iowa debacle, which had thrown the Democratic primary into a state of confusion right as it had started.

Speaking in Laconia on Tuesday evening, Buttigieg offered an emotional response to the partial results showing him with a narrow lead.

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It validates for a kid somewhere in a community wondering if he belongs or she belongs or they belong in their own family, that if you believe in yourself and your country, there is a lot backing up the belief, he said.

Buttigieg, who on Monday had claimed victory before results were released, immediately lined up five town halls across the Granite State, hoping to pivot to the next contest where hes banked much of his candidacy. Earlier Tuesday, at the Rex Theatre in Manchester, he avoided discussing the Iowa catastrophe altogether. But longtime Rep. Annie Kuster, one of his highest profile endorsers, seemed to make light of it. Im sure when the results are all in, we are going to have a fantastic result! she said. That thought was later bolstered by the Indiana Democrats own campaign, which sent an email on Tuesday afternoon, stating, While the numbers are being verified, what cant be denied is we made history last night.

The decision to proclaim himself victorious had rankled competing campaigns when Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor, first made it on Monday night. But for his supporters, it was a shot in the arm. Stacy Snell, a Derry resident and registered Independent who is backing Buttigieg, said she was incredibly encouraged by the results she saw from his campaign in the caucuses.

I think it depends on how you term victory, she said when asked about the candidate talking up a win before any results were announced formally. I dont think anyone claimed that they won the entire thing. The idea of performing well and getting your message out and getting people to show up is a victory.

But Buttigiegs team wasnt the only one shouting vindication from Iowa. Sanders team put out their own abridged delegate math on Tuesday showing the Vermonter with a lead among caucus voters. But their tally only included 60 percent of precincts and didnt list the final delegate count, which is the actual metric by which the nominee will be chosen.

On Tuesday, as Sanders was prepping to make his case to voters ahead of President Donald Trumps State of The Union address, he started off in Milford, the manufacturing center of the Souhegan Valley with a population of 15,000. The once thriving manufacturing town is, in many ways, a snapshot of the new political dynamics that the Democratic field now faces: with voters who had defected to Trump but also signs that the party could make inroads. A scattering of closed signs and vacant buildings dot the roads and the Red Arrow Diner, which was open for a decade, abruptly shut down last month, shocking members of the community and leaving many employees without work just ahead of the holidays.

Its here that Sanders seems keen on making inroads and scoring the definitive win that eluded him and others on Monday. Sanders team has built an oversized army in New Hampshire with more than 150 staff spread across 17 offices. His campaign points out that hes held one of New Hampshires largest 2020 rallies to date.

Bernie has laid out a vision for a better future that speaks to the anxieties and struggles of working families who are more concerned about making ends meet than they are about party ideology, Sanders New Hampshire State Director Shannon Jackson told The Daily Beast, adding that his consistent and authentic message has always been a clarion call for bringing new and non-traditional voters into our movement.

But not everyone has bought into the Bernie buzz wholesale. Hannah Brown, a 29-year-old bartender at the Pasta Loft, another popular eatery in town, said she likes a lot of what Sanders said. Still, she was a little bit scared that if Bernie were to do well that we might have a lot more angry Americans.

And then there is Warren. The Massachusetts Democrat left Iowa on Monday night claiming that her campaign had made a stronger-than expected showing. And her campaign spent much of Tuesday saying their internal numbers had her close to the Iowa leaders.

Though she, like Sanders, is a neighbor of the state, New Hampshire could prove more difficult than Iowa. Currently, Warren is polling an average of nearly 12 points behind Sanders. But her campaigns state operation, which started under-the-radar in 2018 well before her official national launch, remains amply staffed and shes traveled here often, racking up several top endorsements along the wayincluding from Kathy Sullivan, one of the most influential Democrats in the state and the former party chair.

Forget about whats happened before and look forward to the next round, Sullivan said, downplaying the potential impact Iowa would have on the Granite State voters preferences. A lot can happen between Iowa and New Hampshire. Were going to have a clean slate right now.

While Warrens fate in New Hampshire seemed uncertain, Bidens seemed downright bleak. If not for the bureaucratic mishaps counting the vote, the main story out of Iowa would likely have been his poor showing there. And there is little to indicate that his team views the first-in-the-nation primary as a state to have a bounceback. The campaign is not advertising on air and top officials reportedly told donors that they have their eyes on Nevada and South Carolina, which they expect to win.

For their part, Bidens vast network of party loyalists and top campaign allies did their best to express confidence on Tuesday.

The Biden campaign feels very good about last night, an influential Biden surrogate here in New Hampshire said. Everyone expected the Iowa caucuses were going to be very competitive among numerous candidates and it appears that is the case, although everyone is still awaiting the final results.

But in a speech in Nashua for an event with Girls Inc, in which Biden received loud cheers of applause for repeatedly denouncing Trumps division just hours before he addressed the nation, the former VP seemed to momentarily temper down expectations on his own.

Look folks, we had a good night last night in Iowa, he said.

Be careful what you say because its not done yet. I said last night, lets give it time.

Fox News Host Grills Pete Buttigieg: How Can You Call Trump Racist After Super Bowl Ad?

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Netflix could be making as much as 68.5m in annual profit from its 11.5 million UK subscribers. Photo: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The former head of the UKs public accounts committee has branded tax avoidance by streaming giant Netflix (NFLX) as scandalous, intolerable, and unfair.

Netflix, according to Dame Margaret Hodge, has deliberately constructed a devious financial structure that has no other purpose than to avoid paying their tax.

It is nothing less than superhighway robbery, she said, complaining that the UK taxpayer is being taken for a ride.

READ MORE: UK aviation industry promises net zero carbon emissions by 2050

Speaking at a debate in the House of Commons on Monday, the Labour MP for Barking said that the streaming giant took more from the public purse than it contributed in corporate taxes.

Netflix demands our attention for a number of reasons, Hodge said. Not only do they deliberately dodge their corporation tax bills, but they in fact receive monies from the public coffers through the high-end television tax relief.

Hodge referred to figures compiled by think tank Tax Watch UK, which estimates that Netflix could be making as much as 68.5m ($88.7m) in annual profit from its 11.5 million UK subscribers.

Based on the countrys 19% corporate tax rate, a company should pay roughly 13m on profits of that size.

But, in large part because Netflix subscriptions are processed in the Netherlands, Netflix paid no taxes on its profits in 2017/18 and received almost 1m in tax breaks.

And while HMRC fails to collect money from the corporation, the US government is extracting tax from the very same profits that they earn here and then hide in unknown tax havens, Hodge said on Monday.

Netflix create their content here, supported by grants they receive here through our tax credit system, and yet they pay tax on the profits they make here in the US. Frankly I say to the minister: You couldnt make it up.

Hodge asked the government to amend the upcoming digital services tax  which will see a 2% tax levied on social media platforms, search engines, and online marketplaces  so that Netflix would have to pay it.

Story continues

Responding on behalf of the UK government, treasury minister Jesse Norman noted that some multinational companies avoid paying taxes by entering into contrived arrangements to divert profits to low tax jurisdictions.

READ MORE: Petrol, diesel, and even hybrid cars to be banned by 2035

Norman noted, however, that the digital services tax was designed to tackle a different problem, and would have to be rewritten entirely to take into account the case of Netflix.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Netflix pointed to international proposals that would force companies to pay more tax in the countries where their operations help generate value.

In the meantime, we comply with the rules in every country where we operate, they said.

They said the Tax Watch report had a number of inaccuracies, noting that Netflix no longer has a Caribbean-based entity.

Netflix continues to invest heavily in the UK  spending more than 400m on local productions in 2019, which helped to create over 25,000 jobs and training placements.
Pakistan has urged its nationals residing in China to register themselves with its embassy in Beijing as the flight operations resumed between the two countries amid the coronavirus outbreak that has claimed 425 lives.

Pakistan on Monday allowed two Chinese flights to land here, a day after it received special medical kits from Beijing to detect the deadly virus cases.

A public notice was put out on Pakistan Embassy's website on Sunday after several students in China contacted Pakistani TV channels and complained that the embassy had no proper database about its citizens in China.

All Pakistani nationals residing in China are kindly requested to register themselves and their family members with the Embassy of Pakistan as early as possible, according to the notice.

It said that the registration can be made by filling electronic forms given at the embassy's website.

It is further requested that complete details of all family members including spouses/children may also be furnished during the registration, said the embassy.

The Pakistan Foreign Office said that nearly 30,000 Pakistani students, including 500 in Wuhan, were in China, apart from many business persons.

While India, the US, Sri Lanka and many other countries evacuated their nationals from Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic, Pakistan has declined pleas by its stranded citizens in the city to airlift them.

Pakistan's Ambassador to China Naghmana Hashmi on Sunday said that Pakistani students should not be evacuated from Wuhan as the medical facilities back home did not meet the standards required to treat a patient diagnosed with the coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, speaks during a news conference after a weekly caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020.

Senators took turns explaining their stances on whether President Donald Trump's impeachment was warranted on Tuesday, the day before they vote on a likely acquittal that would bring the trial to a culmination.

Republican senators sought to convince their colleagues to acquit the president, echoing the same arguments that Trump's legal team made when laying out their case on the floor.

Democrats primarily stressed the evidence uncovered by House committees and implored their Republican colleagues to vote with them.

The Senate is scheduled to hold a vote to acquit or convict Trump on Wednesday afternoon. It is highly unlikely that the Senate, with its GOP majority, will vote to remove Trump from office.

With the spectre of Trump's removal taken off the table, speculation has focused instead on whether moderate senators will vote with their parties or not. As of Tuesday evening, three senators had yet to reveal how they plan to vote Wednesday: Democrat Doug Jones of Alabama, Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Another moderate lawmaker, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of just two Republican senators who broke with the majority of her party Friday when she voted to admit additional evidence in the trial, said on the Senate floor that she will vote to acquit Trump on both articles of impeachment.

"I do not believe that the House has met its burden of showing that the president's conduct, however flawed, warrants the extreme step of immediate removal from office, nor does the record support the assertion by the House managers that the president must not remain in office one moment longer," Collins said.

Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has openly sided with Trump since the House concluded its own investigation in December. On the floor Wednesday, he once again tore into House Democrats and their investigation, urging senators to vote for Trump's acquittal to "keep factional fever from boiling over and scorching our republic."

"Impeachment is not some magical constitutional Trump card that melts away the separations between the branches of government," McConnell said. "Any House that felt it needed to take this radical step owed the country the most fair and painstaking process, the most rigorous investigation, the most bipartisan effort. Instead we got the opposite."

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., used his time to ask a question that Chief Justice John Roberts refused to read aloud on Friday during the question-and-answer portion of the trial.

Paul's question included the name of a federal official who has been alleged to be the anonymous whistleblower whose bombshell complaint about Trump's July 25 call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spurred Democrats to support an impeachment inquiry.

Amid the Senate discussion, Trump told reporters he is "not bitter" toward House reps who voted to impeach him in December. On Tuesday he tweeted about approval rating and has tweeted about the impeachment "hoax" feverishly in the last months while proceedings went on.

Trump will deliver the annual State of the Union address Tuesday night, and while the White House has said the word "impeachment" is not in his speech text, it's difficult to imagine that the president will gloss over the most significant threat to his presidency that he has faced so far.

Trump will be sitting just feet away from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one of the architects of his impeachment, and the audience will include hundreds of House members who voted to approve the articles of impeachment against him last year.

The House voted on Dec. 18 to pass two articles of impeachment against him, charging that Trump abused the power of the presidency and obstructed Congress when he withheld nearly $400 million in congressionally appropriated military aid to Ukraine last summer, then stonewalled a congressional investigation into his actions. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. With three confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Kerala, India, the state has declared a state-specific disaster to prevent further spread, the Times of India reported.

Local authorities have said there are more than 80 people who have been in direct contact with the patients who have tested positive for the disease.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Trade between India and Mexico is expected to increase 10 percent during the current financial year, Mexican Ambassador to India Federico Salas said on Tuesday. The volume of bilateral trade was USD 10 billion last fiscal, he said.

"Mexico is the first trading partner of India in the Latin American region. India has also emerged as one of the top 10 trading partners of Mexico," Salas told reporters at the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

This fiscal, Salas said, the volume of bilateral trade is expected to rise 10 per cent due to trade dynamism between the two countries. Mexico exports oil, automobile products and communication gadgets to India, and imports technology, auto parts, chemicals and pharmaceuticals from this country.

More than 200 Indian businesses are operating in Mexico, the envoy said. He also said women entrepreneurs from India are welcome in Mexico. Due to issues of human trafficking, Salas said Mexico has become strict in issuing visas.
Roughly two dozen countries around the world have taken precautionary measures to stem the spread of the new coronavirus as the death toll continues to rise.

This page has updates from Feb. 4. For updates from Feb. 5, click here.

10 Test Positive in Japan Aboard Quarantined Cruise Ship

Cases of coronavirus in Japan have jumped to 33 after 10 passengers aboard a quarantined cruise ship tested positive.

Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told a news conference on Wednesday morning local time that the 10 cases were among 31 results from 293 people tested so far on Carnival Japan Inc.s Diamond Princess cruise ship, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The ship, docked in the Japanese port of Yokohama, was put on lockdown as screenings continue. The screenings started late Monday after an 80-year-old man from Hong Kong who was on the ship last month tested positive for the coronavirus.

From around 7:30am (2230 GMT Tuesday), we had them (the 10 who tested positive) get off the vessel, and with cooperation with the coastguard we are sending them to medical organizations, he said, AFP reported.

Kato added that the rest of those on board are required to remain on the ship for 14 days. The ship carries around 3,700 passengers.

Chinese Regime Muzzles Media Coverage

The Chinese regime is tightening its grip on information about the coronavirus outbreak, as it seeks to control the narrative on the worsening epidemic that has seen daily surges in infection and death numbers.

Various courts across the country have issued regulations or guidelines clamping down on spreading rumors about the illness. Meanwhile, the government has issued censorship orders on local media that are reporting about the crisis, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Feb. 3.

The measures come amid escalating criticism at home and abroad of the communist regimes mishandling of the outbreak, with ordinary citizens, experts, and commentators accusing the regime of masking the true scale of the crisis to maintain control over the social order.

Read more here.

Funeral Home Worker in Wuhan: Were Working 24/7 to Cremate Bodies

Workers at crematoriums in Wuhan City, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, say that their workload has increased dramatically in recent days, constantly picking up bodies from hospitals and private homes.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, a worker describes long working hours in order to cope with the sudden increase in bodies to cremate.

Read more here.

Russia Setting Up Quarantine Zone in Siberia

Russia announced Tuesday it will set up a quarantine zone in Siberias Tyumen region, where nationals who will be evacuated from coronavirus-ravaged Wuhan, China, will be held for 14 days.

Russia previously said that it would send planes to evacuate Russian nationals in Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said that in addition to the Siberian quarantine zone, Russia will temporarily restrict the entry of foreigners arriving from China starting Tuesday. Those restrictions wont apply to Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport.

On Monday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said that foreigners who test positive for the virus will be deported back to their country of origin.

Read more here.

Australia Confirms 13th Case

An eight-year-old boy has been diagnosed with the coronavirus in Queensland, Australia, bringing the nations total number of cases to 13.

The boy is Chinese and comes from the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the viral outbreak. Queensland health officials confirmed the case on Tuesday night, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The boy was part of a tour group traveling in Australia in late Januarythe same tour group as that of a couple, a 44-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman who were confirmed as the other two known cases in Queensland.

Read more here.

Chinas Top Biowarfare Specialist Helms Efforts Against Coronavirus

Chinas state-run media reported Feb. 3 that Chinese troops started to assist with deliveries of essential supplies to Wuhan, the coronavirus-stricken city of 9 million in central Chinas Hubei Province.

According to China Central Television (CCTV), soldiers of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Hubei Garrison in the Central Theater Command deployed to Wuhan on Feb. 2, where their first task was to transport more than 200 metric tons (about 220 tons) of goods to the citys supermarkets.

The previous day, the Peoples Liberation Army Daily reported that Chen Wei, Chinas top expert in biological warfare, has been leading the efforts to overcome the deadly, pneumonia-like pathogen for the last nine days.

Chinese authorities confirmed the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) on Dec. 31, 2019, but recently published studies show that the first patient was diagnosed on Dec. 1. So far, the virus has spread to at least 27 countries, while all provinces and regions of China have confirmed cases.

Read more here.

684 Patients Have Recovered: WHO

Six hundred and eighty-four patients who had the new coronavirus have recovered from the illness, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Feb. 4.

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease expert on the organizations Emergency Committee, said in a briefing of United Nations member states that 684 people who contracted the coronavirus have recovered.

Asked later for details about the recoveries, she said she didnt have any other information to share.

Kerkhove said that patients are presenting symptoms including fever, a cough, shortness of breath, and confusion, with 2 to 3 percent experiencing diarrhea. The true case-fatality ratio is difficult to assess, she said, because the real number of infections is unknown. The source of the disease, probably an animal, is also still not known.

US Wont Suffer Economic Disaster

The United States wont suffer an economic disaster due to the coronavirus outbreak, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said.

The outbreak that began in mainland China will likely have some impact on U.S. supply chains, but the effects will probably not be catastrophic, Kudlow said during an appearance on the Fox Business Network.

Its not a catastrophe. Its not a disaster, he said.

Weve been through this before and I just think the impact is minimal, he said later.

China is a key trading partner of the United States. Kudlow said he thought the virus outbreak could spur business investment and lead to increases in production in the United States.

Asked if component shortages could be a result of the outbreak, Kudlow said, Yes. To a point. Its not across the board.

Chipmakers are not going to be affected that much. Pharmaceuticals probably will be affected much more. Some things are kind of in the middle, when you get to automobiles and auto parts.

WHO Pushes Back on Misinformation

The World Health Organization (WHO) said there was no evidence of folk cures for the new coronavirus, pushing back on a number of claims.

The international health agency said there was no evidence that eating garlic has protected people from the virus.

It also said there was no evidence to support claims that gargling mouthwash could protect people or that putting on sesame oil does so.

There are some chemical disinfectants that can kill the 2019-nCoV on surfaces, including bleach or chlorine-based disinfectants, the organization said.

Some tech companies are taking action against misinformation about the coronavirus outbreak Facebooks Head of Health said last week that the company would start removing content with false claims or conspiracy theories that have been flagged by leading global health organizations and local health authorities that could cause harm to people who believe them. Google said it would start displaying information from WHO in search results for the virus.

Attack on Asian in Germany Prompts Warning

An attack against a 23-year-old Chinese woman prompted the Korean embassy in Germany to issue a warning.

The embassy said the woman was taken to a hospital in Berlin after the severe beating, which followed racially charged remarks and abusive speech.

Or people should always keep in mind that similar events may occur and pay attention to personal safety, the embassy said.

Koreans were told to call German police or other authorities if they need assistance.

They were also told to check with public health centers if they suspect theyve contracted the coronavirus.

Macau Shuts Down Casinos For 2 Weeks

Macau leader Ho Iat Seng announced in a press conference that casinos and related entertainment in the city will be shut for two weeks.

He added that he would be meeting with local casino operators in the afternoon.

As for when the suspension will start, Ho said that it could start as early as this evening, tomorrow, or the day after.

Ho also announced a suspension of all government services. Following his press conference, Macaus transportation bureau announced that it is suspending of all its services.

Ho said, however, that emergency services would continue without disruption.

Ho added that civil servants will continue to work from home during the shutdown period.

Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam Report New Cases

Four Thai nationals and two Chinese have contracted the coronavirus in Thailand. The four Thais included a couple who had visited Japan and two drivers who had picked up Chinese passengers in Thailand.

It is not known if the couple contracted the coronavirus in Japan or in Thailand. Thailand now has 25 confirmed cases of coronavirus, six of them Thais and 19 Chinese.

A 41-year-old man from Selangor, a state in western Malaysia, has been tested positive for coronavirus, local English-language newspaper The Star reported, citing local health officials.

The man is the first Malaysian to be infected with the virus. He went to Singapore on Jan. 16 and returned home on Jan. 23. On Jan. 29, he went to a hospital for treatment for a cough and fever.

Another new case involves a 61-year-old Chinese national who arrived in Malaysia on Jan. 18 and began having a mild fever on Jan. 23. He tested positive on Feb. 2. Malaysia now has 10 confirmed cases, while Singapore has 18 confirmed cases.

In Vietnam, a 30-year-old man from Tam ao District in Vinh Phuc Province has tested positive for coronavirus, Viet Nam News reported on Feb. 4, citing the local health ministry.

The man is reportedly in stable condition and has been isolated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi. A 23-year-old woman from Vinh Phuc has also been tested positive, according to local media.

The two new patients were among eight Vietnamese coworkers who returned to Vietnam from Wuhan on Jan. 17. All of them were employed by Japan-based Nihon Plast Company. Five of the eight have been infected with the virus.

Also in Vietnam, local authorities have planned to quarantine 950 people returning from China at two military camps outside Hanoi for at least 14 days. It is not known when these people will return to Vietnam.

Belgian National Tests Positive for Coronavirus

A woman from Belgium who was repatriated from Wuhan on Feb. 2 has tested positive for coronavirus, according to Reuters, citing Belgiums health agency.

A total of nine Belgians were tested at a military hospital in Brussels, but the woman was the only one who tested positive.

A number of European countries have confirmed coronavirus cases, including France, Germany, and Sweden.

Taiwan Bans Entry to All Foreigners Who Have Passed Through China

Taiwans Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that all foreign nationals who have been to China in the past 14 days will be denied entry to the island.

The ban excludes foreign nationals who have a current residence certificate issued by the Taiwanese government. These individuals will still be required to self-quarantine at home.

The ban takes effect on Feb. 7.

Currently, Taiwan has 10 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

Macau Shuts Down Casinos For 2 Weeks

Macau leader Ho Iat Seng announced in a press conference that casinos and related entertainment in the city will be shut for two weeks.

He added that he would be meeting with local casino operators in the afternoon.

As for when the suspension will start, Ho said that it could start as early as this evening, tomorrow, or the day after.

Ho also announced a suspension of all government services. Following his press conference, Macaus transportation bureau announced that it is suspending of all its services.

Ho said, however, that emergency services would continue without disruption.

Ho added that civil servants will continue to work from home for the shutdown period.

Chinese City Hangzhou Imposes Partial Lockdown

Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Chinas Zhejiang Province, has announced ten measures for seal-off management of the city.

The tightening measures include allowing only one person per household to go outside to buy necessities every two days.

Another measure prohibits companies from calling employees back from areas heavily infected by the virus before Feb. 9. Companies are also prohibited from starting their businesses before that date.

People must carry valid identification and have their temperature taken before entering and exiting areas such as villages and community neighborhoods.

Locals are not allowed to have weddings, and they must report any funerals to local authorities.

People who have returned to the city from areas heavily infected with coronavirus in the last 14 days have been told they must report to the local authorities. Those who fail to report will be punished in accordance to the law, a notice said.

Macau and South Korea Report New Coronavirus Patients

In Macau, a 29-year-old female and a 57-year-old male have both tested positive for the virus, according to the citys health bureau. The two cases brings the total in Macau to 10.

The local 29-year-old female resident contracted the virus while staying at the home of an infected patient for four hours on Jan. 24.

She began having a running nose, cough, and fever on Jan. 25, and is now being treated in isolation at a local hospital.

The local male had visited Guangzhou, a city in southern Chinas Guangdong Province, for a one-day trip on Jan. 25. He developed a runny nose, cough, and fever the following day.

In South Korea, a 42-year-old Korean woman has been confirmed to be infected with the virus, according to a press release by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Korean woman, who developed chills on Jan. 25, recently visited Thailand and returned to South Korea on Jan. 19.

Currently, South Korea has 16 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Hong Kong Hospital Workers Continue With Strike Against Open China Border

Winnie Yu, chairwoman of local Hong Kong union Hospital Authority (HA) Employees Alliance, said that about 9,000 hospital workers will continue with strike action today after talks broke down last night.

The alliance has five demands for the government, including a full border closure with mainland China.

If there is no full border closure, there wont be enough manpower, protective equipment, or isolation rooms, to combat the outbreak, Winnie Yu, the alliances chairwoman, told reporters on Sunday.

On Monday, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam closed four additional crossing points with China but left open three: Hong Kong International Airport, Shenzhen Bay, and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

About 2,400 members of the alliance took part in the first day of the strike yesterday. The alliance submitted a petition letter to representatives of Hong Kongs Hospital Authority, a statutory body managing Hong Kongs public hospital services, outlining their demands and the plans for their five-day strike.

However, after talks broke down last night during a meeting with several senior executives of the Hospital Authority, the alliance announced that strike action would continue today.

One Death Confirmed in Hong Kong Due to Coronavirus

A 39-year-old man, a resident in Whampoa Garden located in Hong Kongs Kowloon, has died from the novel coronavirus, according to Hong Kong media. He passed away at Princess Margaret Hospital.

The man was the 13th confirmed case of the coronavirus in the Chinese city. His 72-year-old mother is also infected with the virus.

The man was on a high-speed train from Hong Kong to Wuhan on Jan. 21 and returned to Hong Kong two days later after boarding another train at Changsha South Railway Station in Changsha, a city in southern Chinas Hunan Province.

On Jan. 29, he began having muscle pain and then developed a fever.

Hong Kong has another 14 known cases of the virus.

The death marks the second outside mainland China after the Philippines reported the first death on Feb. 2a Chinese national from Wuhan.

US Confirms Second Case of Human-to-Human Transmission

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control confirmed a second case of human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus on Monday.

The case involves a 57-year-old man in San Benito County, California, who infected his 57-year-old wife after returning from a visit to Wuhan, China, local authorities said Sunday. Both had not left home since his return.

The first case of human-to-human transmission in the United States was confirmed on Thursday involving a couple in Chicago. The wife had recently returned from Wuhan.

Taiwan Evacuates First Group From Wuhan, Announces Limit on Mask Purchases

Taiwan has evacuated the first batch of an estimated 500 Taiwanese stranded in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been locked down by the government as it tries to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus first discovered there.

Taiwan had complained that China had not responded to requests to fly out its citizens, even as Beijing gave such permission to other governments, including the United States and Britain.

Taiwans Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement on Tuesday that 247 people had arrived at Taipeis main international airport late on Monday.

The passengers will be quarantined for 14 days. Anyone showing symptoms of the virus will be sent to a hospital.

Taiwan has also announced it will begin rationing face masks. People will be able to get two masks per week by showing their national insurance cards, a policy the government said would prevent hoarding.

Taiwanese health authorities have repeatedly said that most people do not have to wear masks unless they are unwell or going to high-risk areas like hospitals, but there has been a run on masks in shops and many people are wearing them.

Taiwan has banned most travelers from mainland China, and on Sunday said it would postpone the re-opening of schools after the Lunar New Year holiday by two weeks to Feb. 25.

Frank Fang, Melanie Sun, Zachary Stieber, Jack Phillips, Nicole Hao, Mimi Nguyen Ly, the Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this article.

For updates from Feb. 3, click here.

From The Epoch Times
A ridiculous stand off between two mums in their SUVs has brought a supermarket car park to a halt.

The video taken at a shopping mall in Seaford, south of Adelaide, was shared to a community page on Monday where both drivers were mocked.

In the footage a black Jeep and white Nissan SUVs could be seen stopped in the middle of the two-way section of road with neither giving an inch.

Poll Who was in the wrong? White car Black car Unsure Who was in the wrong? White car 6 votes

Black car 2 votes

Unsure 1 votes Now share your opinion





The man who filmed the video said the two women had been in a 'Mexican standoff' and were not backing down.

'One wants to go in, one wants to go out, so it's a bit of a Mexican standoff at the moment guys,' he said.

Another man asked: 'Who's going to put their pride aside?'

The community page labelled the pair 'Karens', an expression for a stereotypical older person that complains and causes trouble unnecessarily.

'S**ts getting real at Seaford this afternoon as Karen one and Karen two are both in a rush to speak with a manager,' it joked.

In the footage a black Jeep and white Nissan SUVs could be seen stopped in the middle of the two-way section of road with neither giving an inch

The page held a poll asking its followers if 'Black Karen' or 'White Karen' were at fault.

In the poll, an overwhelming 78 per cent voted the woman driving the white Nissan was in the wrong.

While people were quick to blame the driver of the white car, many agreed that both were being ridiculous and should move on.

The Adelaide community page held a poll asking who was in the wrong with an overwhelming 78 per cent agreeing it was the woman driving the white Nissan

'When you have so much time to waste squabbling over dumb s***. Move along whitie, looks like you cut the corner when turning into the side road,' one man said.

'If they learnt how to drive they'd both fit, idiots,' a woman added.

'Only way to settle it, is handbags at dawn,' another joked.
Foreign ministers of the five countries which citizens died in the downing of a Ukraine International Airlines plane in Iran on January 8 will meet on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on February 14-16.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said this at a joint press conference with his Czech counterpart Tomas Petricek in Prague on Tuesday, February 4, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

During the Munich Security Conference, we plan to hold a meeting of five foreign ministers of nations affected by the downing of our aircraft in Iran. The Munich Conference is a very convenient platform for meetings," the minister said.

Answering the question of whether President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky refused to receive compensation from Iran, Prystaiko assured that that is not so.

We demand from Iran not only to plead guilty, but also to send us the black boxes immediately, and secondly, to solve the issue of compensation to the families of the victims and, finally, even the plane, which they destroyed, the minister said.

A Ukraine International Airlines plane (Flight PS752) heading from Tehran to Kyiv crashed shortly after taking off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport at about 06:00 Tehran time (04:30 Kyiv time) on Wednesday, January 8. There were 176 people on board  nine crew members (all Ukrainians) and 167 passengers (citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK).

On January 11, Iran admitted that its military had accidentally shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accepted full responsibility for the downing of the Ukrainian airliner.

ish
ROME, N.Y.  Rome police have found a teen boy who was reported missing over the weekend, saying he was located "safe and sound."

Police posted on social media Saturday asking for the publics help locating 15-year-old Joseph Mendoza.

It is not clear where the teen was over the weekend or where police found him.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 16:00 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20627bf45 1 National Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,coronavirus,tourism,Bali-tourism Free

The Bali administration has allowed Chinese tourists in the island to extend their visas despite the governments travel restrictions to prevent a coronavirus outbreak.

Bali Deputy Governor Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati said he welcomed Chinese tourists with open arms if they felt safer in Indonesia.

The Chinese tourists in Bali did not have to return to their country because of the temporary restrictions, he added.

Our immigration will be more flexible toward Chinese tourists who overstay their visits, said the deputy governor.

Moreover, Tjokorda said he would do his best to prevent discrimination against Chinese tourists, in light of the coronavirus.

By installing thermal scanners in the airport, as well as other methods, we hope the public will stop worrying about the virus, which could lead to discrimination against Chinese tourists in hotels or other places in Bali, he said.

Bali has prepared anticipatory measures against the spread of the coronavirus by implementing a monitoring system, which has been used since the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in the early 2000s.

We believe that the government will be able to handle the coronavirus case properly so that the relationship between Indonesia and China, especially in the tourism sector, will be able to return to its previous state, Tjokorda said as quoted by Antara, adding that the province, also known as the Island of the Gods, would hold mass prayers at Pura Batur temple in Bangli, hoping for an end to the outbreak.

Meanwhile, Chinese Consul General in Denpasar Gou Haodong said he felt touched by the Bali administration and the publics friendly attitude toward Chinese residents in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

He also appreciated the Indonesian government's efforts to protect the country.

We hope for everyones support if the Chinese government picks up the Chinese tourists to return to the country, Haodong said. (dpk)
At this time we dont need any folks going into Washington, D.C., new at the job, she said. We need someone who can somewhat step the way that Elijah was stepping. Everybody has their own style, of course. Kweisi has proven himself in many ways politically. . . . There are no perfect politicians, period.
The previous administration took the view that if the United Kingdom made this decision theyd be at the back of the line, said Mike Pompeo, on a recent trip to London. We intend to put the United Kingdom at the front of the line. The secretary of state was referring to Obamas remarks in 2016, when, threatening to make a post-Brexit trade deal difficult, he attempted to dissuade Brits from voting to leave the European Union. Pompeo said that he expects a U.K.U.S. trade deal to commence by November. Which is quite the contrast with the feet-dragging Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commissions president, who said it would be impossible for Britain to get a trade deal by the end of 2020.

President Obama saw Britains continued membership in the European Union as a worthy enterprise: one that secured peace, freedom of movement, and a common market. But despite the best efforts of liberal globalists in the House of Commons, on Friday the process of Brexit officially began.

At the dawn of a decade, as Great Britain heaves its ancient head from east to west, we enter a new chapter of the AngloAmerican alliance.

In one sense, its odd that this didnt happen sooner. By the end of the First World War, New York had overtaken London as the financial capital of the world. Britain was still buoyed, however, by the embers of its empire. After the Second World War, its optimism seemed less credible. Britains strength, combined with the Soviet Union and the United States, was critical in stopping Europe from becoming a vast Nazi-German empire. And when Winston Churchill, prime minister, coined the term the special relationship, it was clear to him that Americas military support during the war, and its monetary bailouts after, were not merely special but essential for Britains survival. A fact the Suez crisis later proved.

At first, Britain did not look to Europe for economic betterment. The U.K. did not sign the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which established the creation of the European Economic Community (later known as the European Union). And it was not until 1973 that Edward Heath, the leader of the Conservative Party, brought the U.K. into the EEC. In the years that followed, opposition was slow, steady, and from both sides of the political aisle. Continuing membership of the Community would mean the end of Britain as a completely self-governing nation and the end of our democratically elected Parliament as the U.K.s supreme lawmaking body, said Tony Benn, a Labour politician and socialist, before the 1975 referendum. This sentiment was shared by many, including Margaret Thatcher, as John OSullivan recounts in his gripping insiders account.

Story continues

As John notes, Thatchers Euroscepticism made her ahead of her time. And the foreign policy of transatlantic conservatism during the ReaganThatcher golden years was dominated by the Soviet Union. But decades later, things had only gotten worse: After the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 had transformed the EEC into the European Union and eroded the sovereignty of its member states; after the Single European Act of 1987 had blown free movement wide open; after the Schengen Convention of 1995 established a common visa policy and effectively created open borders; after the single currency and 2008 financial crash spurred Greece and Spain into crises, and after floods of migrants in boats began to drown crossing the Channel  this question needed revisiting. It was answered by an electoral majority in a referendum in 2016. And has been enacted by a parliamentary majority, voted for in 2019. John, who saw the evolution of Brexit in full, testifies, I am inclined to think of Brexit as Mrs. Thatchers last victory and the fulfillment of Thatcherism. He wonders whether to look now to America. And hes not the only one.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he cannot wait to get going with our friends in the U.S., adding, And I say to all the naive and juvenile anti-Americans in this country if there are any  there seem to be some. I say grow up and get a grip. Of course, from Huawei to protectionism, Johnson will face many challenges. But perhaps the biggest one is in turning 40 years of British self-identification as a virtual European state into a sovereign nation, whose key ally lies not east but west.

More from National Review
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Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. on Monday asked U.S. regulators to keep them off a list of companies deemed national security threats, a label that would bar the Chinese telecommunications equipment makers from selling gear to subsidized U.S. carriers.

Mobile broadband providers separately told the Federal Communications Commission that it would be costly for them to replace gear made by ZTE and Huawei if ordered to do so.

The agency in November made an initial determination that ZTE and Huawei, both based in Shenzhen, China, pose a national security risk.

The U.S. has long contended that Huaweis equipment could be used by China to spy on the West. The company has repeatedly denied that it poses any security risk, and insists that its independent of the Beijing government.

The FCC is now considering whether to require wireless broadband providers to remove and replace equipment from companies considered a security risk, and how to establish a reimbursement fund for such a policy.

Huawei in a Monday filing said the FCCs action was designed to implement a campaign by certain government officials, including members of Congress, to single out Huawei for burdensome and stigmatizing restrictions, put it out of business in the United States, and impugn its reputation.

ZTE, in its Monday FCC filing, denied it was a threat and said it complies with U.S. export controls and is working to provide secure products. FCC had set Monday as the deadline for comments on its proposal.

The agencys action is part of the continued pressure by U.S. officials, diplomats and lawmakers who have said Huawei and ZTE pose a threat of espionage, especially as networks are transformed into fast 5G systems that can share masses of information quickly.

The campaign stumbled last week when Britain and the European Union decided that Huawei could play a role in their 5G networks.

ZTE was brought to the brink of disaster in 2018 with a ban on buying needed U.S. parts after the Trump administration accused it of violating sanctions on Iran and North Korea  a step President Donald Trump reversed shortly afterward, at the request of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

ZTE paid a fine of $1.4 billion.

Huawei gear is cheaper than competitors and is popular with smaller, rural U.S. telecommunications providers, which often rely on government subsidies.

In a Jan. 31 filing at the FCC, a company, Union Wireless, predicted extraordinary costs to replace equipment in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and Montana across 80,000 square miles  an area larger than England.

Union, based in Mountain View, Wyoming, said failure to adopt a sufficient reimbursement mechanism providing an appropriate path to replace its network in an orderly fashion would be an existential threat to its business.

The FCC in November estimated it would cost the average wireless company $40 million to $45 million to replace its Huawei and ZTE equipment. That month, the agency barred the use of federal subsidies for equipment from such companies.

Congress is considering legislation to provide funds, with one bill offering $1 billion.

The Rural Wireless Association on Monday told the FCC that small carriers might be forced to shut service in some markets if they cant spend subsidy funding on networks that include the equipment.

The trade group said some older, slower networks should be allowed to operate until they wear out. Congress would need to provide money to pay for replacement equipment, the group said.

Without adequate funding for replacing equipment, some carriers might be forced to divert resources from extending broadband to more households, the Competitive Carriers Association trade group told the FCC.

Now read: Huawei still wants to use Google services
By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 04, 2020 | 10:16 AM | MAYFIELD

Trial dates are set for two men connected to last year's fatal drive-by shooting in Mayfield.

A jury trial for 27-year-old Dimitri Ross is set for May 19. A jury trial for 30-year-old Stanford Shelton is scheduled for July 7. Both men are charged with murder.

The drive-by shooting took place on June 18, 2019 at a duplex on West Lee Street, resulting in the death of 23-year-old Savannah Hancock. Hancock suffered a gunshot wound to her neck and died three days later at an Evansville hospital.

Police have said that Ross and Shelton intended to shoot someone else, but fired into the wrong home.

A third person, 26-year-old Hayden Dunigan, pleaded guilty last week to facilitation to murder. She'll be sentenced to five years in prison.
An obscure Russian aircraft parts company is suing the political party led by French far-right politician Marine Le Pen to recover a $10.8 million that was lent in 2014 to help fund election campaigns in France.



The first hearing in the case is scheduled for June 2 at the Moscow City Court of Arbitration, Russian investigative website Open Media reported on February 3, citing court records.

Le Pen has made no secret of her sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin and visited Moscow for high-level talks numerous times. She has criticized Western sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.



The Moscow-based First Czech-Russian Bank issued the loan in September 2014 to Le Pens National Front party, which has since been renamed National Rally.



The money was sought because French and other European banks had refused to lend money to the political party ahead of the 2017 presidential and parliamentary elections, then-party treasurer Wallerand de Saint Just told RFE/RL.



At the time the loan was given, critics accused the National Front of being used as a vehicle by the Kremlin to lobby its political interests in France.



De Saint Just insisted the deal with the now-defunct Russian bank had nothing do with Mr. Putins politics.



After the bank lost its license in 2016, rights to the loan passed for unknown reasons to Konti, another little-known Russian company.



According to Open Media, Konti is registered on the outskirts of Moscow and owns a car rental agency.



It subsequently transferred claiming rights to the loan to Aviazapchast, "an aviation company involved in high-priority strategic partnerships for the Russian state, including exports to the Syrian Ministry of Defense," a report by the U.S.-based German Marshall Fund said in 2018.



Specifically, it supplies Russian aircraft navigation equipment and spare parts to Asia and Africa, as well as special metals for Indias and Syrias aerospace and aviation industries, according to The Moscow Times.



Aviazapchast filed its claim on the loan on December 4.



The Russian aircraft components company and its sole shareholder, Valery Zakharenkov, allegedly have links to Russian intelligence services, the think tank's report said.



The German Marshall Fund at the time said the value of the loan to the French party was equivalent to Aviazapchasts pretax profit in 2016.



Russia's Justice Ministry blacklisted the U.S. think tank in March 2018 among other foreign and international nongovernmental organizations, "whose operation has been recognized as undesirable on Russian territory."

With reporting by The Moscow Times and Open Media
Hyundai to halt South Korea output as China virus disrupts parts supply FILE PHOTO: A man walks past the logo of Hyundai Motor during the 2019 Seoul Motor Show in Goyang

By Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin

SEOUL (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor <005380.KS> will suspend production in South Korea because the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted the supply of parts, it said, becoming the first major carmaker to do so outside of China.

The flu-like virus has killed more than 400 people and its economic impact has spread beyond mainland China.

In China, global automakers have already extended factory closures in line with government guidelines. Those manufacturers include Hyundai, Tesla <TSLA.O>, Ford <F.N>, PSA Peugeot Citroen <PEUP.PA>, Nissan <7201.T> and Honda Motor <7267.T>.

"Hyundai and Kia may be more affected as they tend to import more parts from China than other global automakers," said Lee Hang-koo, senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade.

European carmakers have suffered disruptions only to their Chinese factories so far, with their European and U.S. plants still running thanks to localised supply chains in keeping with a "build where you sell" strategy.

Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE>, Audi <NSUG.DE>, BMW <BMWG.DE>, Fiat Chrysler <FCHA.MI>, General Motors Co <GM.N> and Ford said their factories outside of China remain unaffected by supply bottlenecks.

Hyundai has built huge production capacity in China over the past two decades.

"South Korean parts makers followed and built their own facilities along with Hyundai," Lee said.

South Korea imported $1.56 billion worth of auto parts from China in 2019, up from $1.47 billion in 2018, trade data shows.

Most of Hyundai's South Korean factories will be fully idled from Feb. 7, with some production lines expected to restart on Feb. 11 or Feb. 12, a union official said, declining to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.

Schedules for suspension will vary by production line, a Hyundai spokeswoman said.

'EMERGENCY'

The move follows a shortage of wiring harnesses, which Hyundai sources mainly in China, industry officials said.

Story continues

Two of the affected suppliers, Kyungshin and Yura Corporation, said they were trying to boost production at their factories in South Korea and Southeast Asia to compensate for the disrupted supply from China.

Both also plan to resume production at their Chinese factories after Feb. 9.

"We are in an emergency," a Kyungshin official told Reuters.

Hyundai has seven factories in South Korea, catering for the local market and the United States, Europe, Middle East and other markets.

Its production in South Korea accounts for about 40% of the company's global output.

Hyundai's decision to halt assembly lines at home could delay supplies of its popular sport utility vehicles (SUVs), such as the Palisade and Genesis GV80.

The automaker recently turned in its best quarterly profit in more than two years and said it was on track for higher profit margins, aided by increased sales of SUVs.

The virus outbreak may slow manufacturing activities in the automotive and other sectors, Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co <8031.T> has warned.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin; additional reporting by Ilona Wissenbach, Joern Poltz and Jan Schwartz in Germany, Giulio Piovaccari in Italy; editing by Miyoung Kim, Jason Neely and David Goodman)
[February 04, 2020] Hunt Club Launches First-Ever "Expert Network" Platform to Help Companies Land the Best Talent

CHICAGO, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hunt Club, a new category of search firm helping companies leverage the power of relationships and referrals to achieve a better hiring experience, launches a web-based platform that allows members of their Expert community to connect with job opportunities and refer top talent directly from their professional networks to some of the most coveted roles across the country. Hunt Club's Candidate Referral Platform allows members of the Expert network to play matchmaker, leveraging their social capital for some of the most impactful opportunities on the job market. Experts are presented with the most relevant referral opportunities that align with their industry expertise and location and are able to search their connections and refer their contacts directly from the platform. In celebration of the launch, Hunt Club joins forces with Cara, a Chicago nonprofit organization creating a pathway out of poverty since 1991. As part of the partnership, Hunt Club will donate $50 to Cara for every Expert that makes a referral between February 3 and March 2, 2020. "We are excited to launch our Candidate Referral Program for our Expert and candidate community as well as partner with Cara on this effort. We're always striving to better engage with our Experts and to leverage their relationships in order to drive top talent for our partners," said Nick Cromydas, Co-Founder & CEO, HuntClub. "Our partnership with Cara is a perfect fit for Hunt Club and allows us to give back to an incredible organization with a powerful mission."



"We are thrilled to partner with Hunt Club to help build their amazing talent network and open more opportunities for people to find quality employment," said Maria Kim, President & CEO, Cara. "In keeping with Cara's core value of community, we look for partnerships with organizations that share our belief in the power of hope, jobs, and opportunity. The synergies between Hunt Club and Cara are great and we look forward to growing and strengthening this partnership." About Hunt Club

Hunt Club is a new category of search firm helping companies leverage the power of relationships and referrals to achieve a better hiring experience. Hunt Club's proprietary technology transforms thousands of subject matter experts into the world's most powerful talent network. Through our network of over 10,000 experts and 5M+ candidates, Hunt Club has helped over 500 companies find and engage the very best talent. To join our Expert network, please visit experts.huntclub.com.

About Cara

Cara's mission is to unlock the power and purpose within our communities and ourselves to create real and lasting success. Through its personal and professional development and access to employment opportunities, Cara serves as a leader in poverty alleviation in Chicago and beyond. Since 1991, more than 6,500 people have been placed into more than 10,000 jobs and started on their path to self-sufficiency. Learn more at www.carachicago.org. Media Contact Lori McInerney Vice President of Marketing 949.689.7969 [email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hunt-club-launches-first-ever-expert-network-platform-to-help-companies-land-the-best-talent-300998139.html SOURCE Hunt Club

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Investors look at stock prices at a securities firm in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

The VN-Index edged up 0.1 percent to 929.09 points Tuesday, ending three consecutive sessions of losses which had cost it 6.39 percent.

Order-matched transactions on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, fell to VND3.32 trillion ($143.1 million) from a three-month high of VND4.35 trillion ($187.5 million) in the previous session.

After three sessions of mass new coronavirus-triggered equity selloffs, the VN-Index fell to 920 points in the morning, but recovered thanks to bottom-fishing cashflow in the afternoon, analysts said.

By the end of the session, 148 HoSE stocks had gained and 160 lost. HoSE accounts for 90 percent of market cap for all of Vietnams listed companies.

The VN30-Index for Vietnams 30 biggest market caps gained 0.34 percent, with 13 stocks gaining and 15 losing.

Banking stocks led gains this session, with CTG of VietinBank, one of Vietnams three biggest state lenders by assets, rising 7 percent to reach its ceiling price. BID of BDIV and VCB of Vietcombank, the other two, rose 1.7 percent and 1.2 percent respectively.

After CTG, MBB of state-owned mid-sized lender Military Bank and VPB of private VPBank were the next best gainers, up 3.9 percent and 3.8 percent respectively. HDB of HDBank and TCB of Techcombank also posted gains of above one percent each.

VJC of budget carrier Vietjet Air pulled back from a five session losing streak to gain 2.8 percent, while PNJ of PhuNhuan Jewelry added 1.4 percent.

In the opposite direction, ROS stocks of real estate developer FLC Faros continued to be the biggest losing stock, falling 6.9 percent, its floor price, as it has done for most sessions in the past month.

Oil and gas stocks all lost this session. POW of PetroVietnam Power and GAS of PetroVietnam Gas, two blue chips related to state-owned oil and gas group PetroVietnam, dropped 4.9 percent and 1.4 percent respectively, while PLX of state-owned petroleum distributor Petrolimex also shed 0.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnams second main bourse for small and midcap stocks, rose 1.25 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for unlisted public companies gained 0.67 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers on all three bourses to the tune of VND232 billion ($9.97 million). Buying pressure was focused on VJC shares of Vietjet Air, and VNM of Vietnams biggest dairy firm Vinamilk, which shed 3 percent this session.

On Tuesday morning, chairman of the State Securities Commission (SSC), Tran Van Dung, had said that sell-offs in the last three sessions were overreaction by investors to the coronavirus outbreak that has infected nine people in Vietnam, and that a market recovery is imminent.

In the past, when there were epidemics like SARS and H5N1, the market fell too but recovered as soon as countries started announcing that they had contained the outbreak, he pointed out.

Dung said he expects a similar trend this time, with the Vietnamese government showing determination to contain the outbreak.
WHO to Ship 250,000 Coronavirus Test Kits as Human-to-Human Cases Rise

The World Health Organization (WHO) is sending 250,000 coronavirus test kits to labs around the world as the number of cases from human-to-human transmission rises.

The test kits will be shipped on Tuesday from Germany to 70 labs globally to support an influx of test samples, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the head of the Outbreak Investigation Task Force at Institut Pasteurs Center for Global Health in Paris, told United Nations member states during a briefing on the virus on Tuesday.

Specialized laboratories in Africa, the United States, Europe, and Asia will get the kits to facilitate faster testing for the virus.

Tens of thousands of cases have been officially reported in China, though some health experts believe the true number of cases is higher. A number of deaths have been reported in China. There are 176 cases in 24 other countries, WHO said on Tuesday. One death occurred in the Philippines and another in Hong Kong.

WHO officials urged member states to take action, including submitting information and assisting the agency with combating the spread of the new coronavirus, which started in Wuhan in December 2019.

A patient waits as medical workers in protective suits prepare to collect a sample for nucleic acid tests at a hotel being used to place suspected virus patients in medical isolation in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province on Feb. 4, 2020. (Chinatopix via AP)

We have a window of opportunity while 99 percent of the cases are in China, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states at the briefing. There is a window of opportunity because of the strong measures China is taking at the epicenter, at the source, so lets use this opportunity to prevent further spread and to control it.

WHO said there are now 27 human-to-human coronavirus cases outside of China, across nine countries.

In Germany, 10 people were infected from a female work colleague who got the virus in Shanghai. Four people in Singapore contracted the illness either from a tour guide or at a health store while three people in Japan contracted the virus from a bus driver.

Vietnam had three cases of human-to-human transmission, the United States had two, and Thailand, France, and Malaysia each had one.

The other cases were primarily driven by close contact with family members who had traveled to China.

Patients are experiencing symptoms including fever, coughing, shortness of breath, confusion, and headaches. Two to 3 percent of the patients are experiencing diarrhea. Severity of the illness ranges from mild to severe disease resulting in death.

Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China, on Feb. 4, 2020. (cnsphoto via Reuters)

The true number of fatalities per sickness is difficult to assess because the denominator, or the real number of infections, is not known, according to WHO. Experts still have not confirmed the animal source of the coronavirus, which spreads through droplets and contact with infected people. The incubation period is estimated to be between one to 14 days, WHO said.

Chinas representative at the briefing and Ghebreyesus both reiterated opposition to the travel restrictions that some countries have imposed to try to stop the spread of the disease. Ghebreyesus claimed that such restrictions were inconsistent with international health regulations and can increase fear and stigma with little public health benefit.

We believe overreaction by adopting restriction, isolation, and blocking measures are not beneficial to international collaboration and such measures may lead to more complicated outcome and interference in prevention control efforts, Chinas representative added.

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Center for Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on Monday that the United States imposed restrictions to try to stem the spread of the virus.

I would say is this is an unprecedented situation and we have taken aggressive measures, she said in a call with reporters, citing the number of deaths inside China, the first death outside of China, and the rising number of cases as well as data indicating that people who are asymptomatic, or not showing symptoms, or mildly symptomatic could be transmitting the disease.

We made an aggressive decision in front of an unprecedented threat that action now would slow this down, and action now has the biggest potential to slow this thing down. And thats what the theory is here, she said.
In light of recent controversy, Slate is proud to reprint Anne Fadimans classic 1995 essay, originally published in Civilization and later collected in her book Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader.

When I was eleven and my brother was thirteen, our parents took us to Europe. At the Hotel dAngleterre in Copenhagen, as he had done virtually every night of his literate life, Kim left a book facedown on the bedside table. The next afternoon, he returned to find the book closed, a piece of paper inserted to mark the page, and the following note, signed by the chambermaid, resting on its cover:

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SIR, YOU MUST NEVER DO THAT TO A BOOK.

My brother was stunned. How could it have come to pass that hea reader so devoted that hed sneaked a book and a flashlight under the covers at his boarding school every night after lights-out, a crime punishable by a swat with a wooden paddlehad been branded as someone who didnt love books? I shared his mortification. I could not imagine a more bibliolatrous family than the Fadimans. Yet, with the exception of my mother, in the eyes of the young Danish maid we would all have been found guilty of rampant book abuse.

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During the next thirty years I came to realize that just as there is more than one way to love a person, so is there more than one way to love a book. The chambermaid believed in courtly love. A books physical self was sacrosanct to her, its form inseparable from its content; her duty as a lover was Platonic adoration, a noble but doomed attempt to conserve forever the state of perfect chastity in which it had left the bookseller. The Fadiman family believed in carnal love. To us, a books words were holy, but the paper, cloth, cardboard, glue, thread, and ink that contained them were a mere vessel, and it was no sacrilege to treat them as wantonly as desire and pragmatism dictated. Hard use was a sign not of disrespect but of intimacy.

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Hilaire Belloc, a courtly lover, once wrote:

Child! do not throw this book about; Refrain from the unholy pleasure Of cutting all the pictures out! Preserve it as your chiefest treasure.

What would Belloc have thought of my father, who, in order to reduce the weight of the paperbacks he read on airplanes, tore off the chapters he had completed and threw them in the trash? What would he have thought of my husband, who reads in the sauna, where heat-fissioned pages drop like petals in a storm? What would he have thought (here I am making a brazen attempt to upgrade my family by association) of Thomas Jefferson, who chopped up a priceless 1572 first edition of Plutarchs works in Greek in order to interleave its pages with an English translation? Or of my old editor Byron Dobell, who, when he was researching an article on the Grand Tour, once stayed up all night reading six volumes of Boswells journals and, as he puts it, sucked them like a giant mongoose? Byron told me, I didnt give a damn about the condition of those volumes. In order to get where I had to go, I underlined them, wrote in them, shredded them, dropped them, tore them to pieces, and did things to them that we cant discuss in public.

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Courtly lovers always remove their bookmarks when the assignation is over; carnal lovers are likely to leave romantic mementos.

Byron loves books. Really, he does. So does my husband, an incorrigible book-splayer whose roommate once informed him, George, if you ever break the spine of one of my books, I want you to know you might as well be breaking my own spine. So does Kim, who reports that despite his experience in Copenhagen, his bedside table currently supports three spreadeagled volumes. They are ready in an instant to let me pick them up, he explains. To use an electronics analogy, closing a book on a bookmark is like pressing the Stop button, whereas when you leave the book facedown, youve only pressed Pause. I confess to marking my place promiscuously, sometimes splaying, sometimes committing the even more grievous sin of dog-earing the page. (Here I manage to be simultaneously abusive and compulsive: I turn down the upper corner for page-marking and the lower corner to identify passages I want to xerox for my commonplace book.)

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All courtly lovers press Stop. My Aunt Carolwho will probably claim shes no relation once she finds out how I treat my booksplaces reproductions of Audubon paintings horizontally to mark the exact paragraph where she left off. If the colored side is up, she was reading the lefthand page; if its down, the right-hand page. A college classmate of mine, a lawyer, uses his business cards, spurning his wifes silver Tiffany bookmarks because they are a few microns too thick and might leave vestigial stigmata. Another classmate, an art historian, favors Paris Metro tickets or those inkjet-printed credit card receiptsbut only in books of art criticism whose pretentiousness I wish to desecrate with something really crass and financial. I would never use those in fiction or poetry, which really are sacred.

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Courtly lovers always remove their bookmarks when the assignation is over; carnal lovers are likely to leave romantic mementos, often three-dimensional and messy. Birds of Yosemite and the East Slope, a volume belonging to a science writer friend, harbors an owl feather and the tip of a squirrels tail, evidence of a crime scene near Tioga Pass. A book critic I know took The Collected Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe on a backpacking trip through the Yucatan, and whenever an interesting bug landed in it, she clapped the covers shut. She amassed such a bulging insectarium that she feared Poe might not make it through customs. (He did.)

The most permanent, and thus to the courtly lover the most terrible, thing one can leave in a book is ones own words. Even I would never write in an encyclopedia (except perhaps with a No. 3 pencil, which Id later erase). But Ive been annotating novels and poemstransforming monologues into dialoguesever since I learned to read. Byron Dobell says that his most beloved books, such as The Essays of Montaigne, have been written on so many times, in so many different periods of his life, in so many colors of ink, that they have become palimpsests. I would far rather read Byrons copy of Montaigne than a virginal one from the bookstore, just as I would rather read John Adamss copy of Mary Wollstonecrafts French Revolution, in whose margins he argued so vehemently with the dead author (Heavenly times! A barbarous theory. Did this lady think three months time enough to form a free constitution for twenty-five millions of Frenchmen?) that, two hundred years later, his handwriting still looks angry.

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Just think what courtly lovers miss by believing that the only thing they are permitted to do with books is read them! What do they use for shims, doorstops, glueing weights, and rug-flatteners? When my friend the art historian was a teenager, his cherished copy of DAulaires Book of Greek Myths served as a drum pad on which he practiced percussion riffs from Led Zeppelin. A philosophy professor at my college, whose baby became enamored of the portrait of David Hume on a Penguin paperback, had the cover laminated in plastic so her daughter could cut her teeth on the great thinker. Menelik II, the emperor of Ethiopia at the turn of the century, liked to chew pages from his Bible. Unfortunately, he died after consuming the complete Book of Kings. I do not consider Meneliks fate an argument for keeping our hands and teeth off our books; the lesson to be drawn, clearly, is that he, too, should have laminated his pages in plastic.

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How beautiful to a genuine lover of reading are the sullied leaves, and worn-out appearance  of an old Circulating Library Tom Jones, or Vicar of Wakefield! wrote Charles Lamb. How they speak of the thousand thumbs that have turned over their pages with delight!  Who would have them a whit less soiled? What better condition could we desire to see them in? Absolutely none. Thus, a landscape architect I know savors the very smell of the dirt embedded in his botany texts; it is the alluvium of his lifes work. Thus, my friend the science writer considers her Mammals of the World to have been enhanced by the excremental splotches left by Bertrand Russell, an orphaned band-tailed pigeon who perched on it when he was learning to fly. And thus, even though I own a clear plastic cookbook holder, I never use it. What a pleasure it will be, thirty years hence, to open The Joy of Cooking to page 581 and behold part of the actual egg yolk that my daughter glopped into her very first batch of blueberry muffins at age twenty-two months! The courtly mode simply doesnt work with small children. I hope I am not deluding myself when I imagine that even the Danish chambermaid, if she is now a mother, might be able to appreciate a really grungy copy of Pat the Bunnya book that invites the reader to act like a Dobellian giant mongoosein which Mummys ring has been fractured and Daddys scratchy face has been rubbed as smooth as the Blarney Stone.

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The trouble with the carnal approach is that we love our books to pieces. My brother keeps his disintegrating Golden Guide to Birds in a Ziploc bag. It consists of dozens of separate fascicles, says Kim, and its impossible to read. When I pick it up, the egrets fall out. But if I replaced it, the note I wrote when I saw my first trumpeter swan wouldnt be there. Also, I dont want to admit that so many species names have changed. If I bought a new edition, Id feel I was being unfaithful to my old friend the yellowbellied sapsucker, which has been split into three different species.

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My friend Clarks eight thousand books, mostly works of philosophy, will never suffer the same fate as The Golden Guide to Birds. In fact, just hearing about Kims book might trigger a nervous collapse. Clark, an investment analyst, wont let his wife raise the blinds until sundown, lest the bindings fade. He buys at least two copies of his favorite books, so that only one need be subjected to the stress of having its pages turned. When his visiting motherin-law made the mistake of taking a book off the shelf, Clark shadowed her around the apartment to make sure she didnt do anything unspeakable to itsuch as placing it facedown on a table.

I know these facts about Clark because when George was over there last week, he talked to Clarks wife and made some notes on the back flyleaf of Herman Wouks Dont Stop the Carnival, which he happened to be carrying in his backpack. He ripped out the page and gave it to me.
TOPEKA, Kan. - Kansas is dropping its fight against the compensation claim from a man who spent 23 years in prison for a double homicide before a judge vacated convictions that were secured even though no physical evidence or motive tied him to the crimes, the states attorney general said Tuesday.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt said in an Associated Press interview that his office made the decision after reviewing 900 pages of documents from Lamonte McIntyres attorney that had not been provided to it previously. He also said an ongoing Kansas Bureau of Investigation review of the 1994 crimes for which McIntyre, from Kansas City, Kansas, was charged turned up new information.

Schmidt said his office will work with McIntyres attorney on a settlement to present to a Shawnee County District Court judge. He said that under a 2018 Kansas law, McIntyre is likely to receive $1.5 million from the state  $65,000 for each year he spent in prison  plus money to cover attorney fees and other expenses.

McIntyres case was one of several that prompted the law requiring the state to compensate victims of wrongful convictions, and Schmidt, a Republican, had received bipartisan criticism for resisting McIntyres compensation claim while agreeing to two others.

Because we knew there was evidence that was never placed in front of a court, before we just signed off on a claim, we had an obligation to the new court to collect and review all of the evidence, Schmidt said. Weve now done that.

McIntyre was 17 in 1994 when he was arrested for the killings of 21-year-old Doniel Quinn and 34-year-old Donald Ewing, who were shot in broad daylight.

McIntyre received two life sentences in their deaths, but he was freed in 2017 after a local prosecutor asked the court to vacate his convictions and to drop all charges, calling his case an example of manifest injustice. Prosecutors case had largely hinged on testimony that was allegedly coerced.

Todays decision by the Kansas Attorney General goes one step further, by recognizing that Lamonte qualifies for compensation under the Kansas statute, Cheryl Pilate, McIntyres attorney, said in a statement. Lamonte is still dealing with the effects of 23 years of wrongful imprisonment, but the funding and other support provided by the statute will now make his load a little easier to bear.

When signing the wrongful-conviction compensation law, then-Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer apologized to McIntyre and the other men and said, We will make it right.

A bipartisan group of legislators had been planning a Feb. 17 rally to show their support for McIntyre and pressure Schmidts office into backing McIntyres compensation claim. State Rep. Cindy Holscher, a Kansas City-area Democrat, said it was retraumatizing for McIntyre to face a court battle over whether he was compensated.

Holscher said many of her fellow lawmakers thought McIntyre had already received compensation from the state.

I think there was the assumption that, well, of course, he was exonerated, why wouldnt he have been paid already? Holscher said. Many were not aware of the fact that this was going to be dragging out.

Schmidt said a compensation claim is essentially a lawsuit involving the state. In some cases, he said, his office can decide that compensation is warranted by reviewing the existing court record, but in McIntyres case, he wanted to review the additional evidence available.

As for paying McIntyre, he said: Im hopeful there wont be much further delay.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and the top eight leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature would have to review any settlement language.

Under the law, McIntyre also is due health insurance benefits, financial assistance for higher education and counselling and various social services.

Legislators cited two other mens cases from northeast Kansas as examples of why the compensation law was necessary.

Kansas agreed to pay $1.1 million to Richard Jones, of Kansas City, Kansas, who spent 17 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of a 2000 robbery that he says was committed by someone who looks just like him. And the state agreed to pay $1.03 million to Floyd Bledsoe, who spent nearly 16 years behind bars for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl northeast of Topeka  a crime that his brother confessed to in a suicide note. ___

Associated Press writer Roxana Hegeman in Wichita, Kansas, also contributed.

___

Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna
New Delhi: West Bengals lone ISIS member Mohammed Musiruddin alias Abu Musa, who was arrested in 2017 for his alleged role in the Burdwan blast, on Tuesday (February 4) attacked a Calcutta session court judge during a hearing.

According to reports, Musa got furious during the hearing and hurled his shoe towards the judge Prasenjit Biswas. However, the shoe missed its target and instead hit a lawyer at the court. Musa, whp has been in the NIA custody, has been lodged in the Presidency Jail in Kolkata.

Following the incident, the NIA has filed a petition seeking his trial through video conferencing.

Musa has a history of aggressive behaviour and has so far attacked several people inside the jail. In January this year, Musa attacked head warden Amal Karmakar with a PVC pipe that was fitted to the outlet of a basin inside cell no. 7. The on-duty head warder sustained severe injuries on his head and was rushed to the jail hospital for the treatment.

In another incident that took place in 2017, Musa had attacked a warden of Alipore central jail and slashed his throat with an iron nail.

Musa was arrested in 2016 after CID received a tip-off about his presence at the Burdwan station. He was travelling in the Howrah-Viswabharati Fast Passenger train at the time of the arrest. Police had also recovered a knife and a firearm from his possession.

During the interrogation, Musa admitted that he was planning to kill several people in Birbhum and confessed of being in touch with some of ISIS handlers since 2014.
Oman ICT has signed an agreement with IFS, a global enterprise applications company, towards a partnership that will help the Oman ICT Group to develop the ICT sector for national advancement and Omanisation.



It creates the path and provides a competitive IFS ERP solution into the Oman market while upskilling Omani consultants. Customers in Oman will now have a choice of an easy to deploy solution either on premise or in the Cloud and benefit from a low total cost of ownership.



The Oman ICT Group is mandated to create synergies between various operating companies, and is aligned with the National ICT Strategy to provide the necessary technology inputs whenever and wherever required. The partnership with IFS is focused on bridging the gap between the way business is done and technology, while preparing for the changes that are taking place within the world of digital transformation.



What is important is that IFS is able to provide flexible and tailor-made solutions across a wide range of sectors including, Aerospace & Defence, Energy, Utility & Resources, Engineering, Construction & Infrastructure, Manufacturing and Service industries. This covers some of the most vital sectors in Oman.



Said Al-Mandhari, CEO, Oman ICT Group, said: Keeping pace with technological advancements is very important in ensuring that we are more effective and efficient in our operations. The strategic partnership with IFS goes beyond the commercial aspects and creates a new market for IFS. Simultaneously it also strengthens Oman ICTs growth prospects by helping us capitalize on the international experience that IFS brings to the table. We are keen on serving our community to the best of our abilities and such partnerships are the need of the day.



On entering a new phase of expansion in the Middle East, IFS is very pleased to join hands with a premier entity such as Oman ICT Group who are instrumental in driving the ICT investments in the country. We will be focused on having intensive training programs at the initial stage to ensure that local Omanis have the right IFS skills. There is a definite move to transition into an expanded market and we will support them with our large portfolio of products and solutions that address a range of business verticals, said Mehmood Khan, managing director and vice-president for the Middle East and South Asia at IFS.



Oman ICT Group will provide IFS implementation and Managed Services for the entire IFS product suite and will also maintain and manage all IFS customers in Oman. To support this, IFS will enable them in the pre-sales, sales and implementation services.



Both partners are keen to add value to the customers and provide unparalleled best-of-breed products, services and solutions, thereby helping to them to transform their organization, processes and systems.  TradeArabia News Service
Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for release, publication, distribution or dissemination directly, or indirectly, in whole or in part, in or into the United States.



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Velocity Minerals Ltd. (TSX.V: VLC) (Velocity or the Company) announces that the previously announced (see news release dated January 23, 2020) non-brokered private placement (the "Financing") will be increased from $3,000,000 to up to $5,800,000 due to higher than expected investor demand for the Financing and the exercise of existing shareholder pro rata participation rights.

The Financing will now consist of up to 14,500,000 units of the Company (each, a Unit) priced at $0.40 per Unit for total gross proceeds of up to $5,800,000. Each Unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a Share) and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a Warrant), with each Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Share at a price of $0.55 per Share for a period of 18 months from the closing of the Financing.

The proceeds of the Financing are intended to fund ongoing work at the Companys gold projects in Bulgaria and for general working capital. All securities issued in connection with the Financing will be subject to a hold period of four-months and one day in Canada. The closing of the Financing is subject to TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) and other regulatory approval.

The Company may pay finders fees on a portion of the Financing consisting of a cash commission equal to 7% of the total gross proceeds raised under the Financing and non-transferrable finders warrants (each, a Finder's Warrant) equal to 7% of the number of Units issued. Each Finders Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Share at a price of $0.40 per Share for a period of 12 months from the closing of the Financing.

This news release does not constitute an offer of sale of any of the foregoing securities in the United States. None of the foregoing securities have been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 1933 Act) or any applicable state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) or persons in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor will there be any sale of the foregoing securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Velocity Minerals Ltd.

Velocity is a gold exploration and development company focused on southeastern Bulgaria. Velocitys strategy is to develop a low cost centralized Hub and Spoke operation whereby multiple projects within this emerging gold district produce gold concentrates for trucking to a central processing plant for production of dore. The Company envisions staged open pit mining of satellite deposits and processing in a currently operating carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant. Velocity has a 70% joint venture interest in the Rozino gold project and has entered into option agreements to earn a 70% interest in the Obichnik, Makedontsi and Sedefche gold projects, with Gorubso Kardzhali A.D., an established and respected mining company in Bulgaria. Velocitys management and board includes mining industry professionals with combined experience spanning Europe, Asia, and the Americas as employees of major mining companies as well as founders and senior executives of junior to mid-tier public companies. The team's experience includes all aspects of mineral exploration, resource definition, feasibility, finance, mine construction and mine operation as well as a track record in managing publicly listed companies.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Keith Henderson

President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Keith Henderson

Phone: +1-604-484-1233

E-mail: info@velocityminerals.com

Web: www.velocityminerals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release includes certain forward-looking information (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the amount of the Financing (and any potential upsizing thereof), the intended use of the proceeds from the Financing, the payment of finder's fees, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Often, but not always, forward looking statements can be identified by words such as will, plans, expects, may, should, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates, believes, potential or variations of such words including negative variations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that market fundamentals will result in sustained gold demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future development of the Companys Bulgarian gold projects in a timely manner, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the development, construction and continued operation of the Companys Bulgarian gold projects, the completion of the Financing, and the Companys ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws.

Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development and mine development activities for the Companys Bulgarian gold projects, estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, the availability of a sufficient supply of water and other materials, lack of investor interest in the Financing, requirements for additional capital to fund the Companys business plan, future prices of precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates, possible failures of plants, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, the inability to or delay in obtaining governmental and regulatory approvals (including of the TSXV for the Financing), permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, hedging practices, currency fluctuations, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage and the timing and possible outcome of pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, risks related to joint venture operations, and risks related to the integration of acquisitions, as well as those factors discussed under the heading. Risk Factors in the Companys annual managements discussion and analysis and other filings of the Company with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under the Companys profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking information in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.
Ancestry.com refused to comply with a search warrant pushed by a Pennsylvania court for police to gain access to its database of about 16 million DNA profiles, the company confirmed to Axios via email Monday night.

Why it matters: Per Axios' Kim Hart, firms that trace customers' ancestry have amassed huge DNA databases. Some have agreed to share access with law enforcement. The privacy questions this raises could become a "Supreme Court issue," retired investigator Paul Holes, who led the 2018 Golden State Killer case that used genetic data to identify the suspect, earlier told BuzzFeed, which first reported Ancestry's stand.

Ancestry hasn't received any follow-up from law enforcement on the Pennsylvania matter, but protecting customers' privacy is the firm's "highest priority," the company said in a statement issued to news outlets including Axios.

When asked by Axios if Ancestry would fight such a case if it were to end up in the Supreme Court, the spokeswoman said, "[W]e will also always advocate for our customers privacy and seek to narrow the scope of any compelled disclosure, or even eliminate it entirely."

Details: The search warrant seeking access to Ancestrys DNA database was documented in its 2019 transparency report released last week.

"The warrant was improperly served on Ancestry and we did not provide any access or customer data in response," the firm said in its statement.

"Not only will we not share customer information with law enforcement unless compelled to by valid legal process, such as a court order or search warrant, we will also always advocate for our customers' privacy and seek to narrow the scope of any compelled disclosure, or even eliminate it entirely."

 Ancestry statement

The big picture: Genetic testing companies that have been amenable to police search requests include the Verogen-owned GEDmatch "and the database run by FamilyTreeDNA," BuzzFeed notes.

FamilyTreeDNA apologized for not disclosing this agreement to consumers, the New York Times reported in February last year. Ancestry's rival 23andMe told BuzzFeed it "received no warrants to search its database as of the end of 2019."

Of note: Drug makers and app developers have also sought access to genetic testing companies' DNA database information.

Both Ancestry and 23andMe  the largest companies that, combined, have DNA data of 15 million users  both share anonymized genetic data with outside researchers and companies with customers' "informed consent."

Go deeper: Genetic testing firms share your DNA data more than you think
Sydney, Feb. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communications focus report on Czech Republic outlines the major developments and key aspects in the mobile telecoms markets.

Click here to access the report : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Czech-Republic-Mobile-Infrastructure-Operators-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses

The Czech mobile market is dominated by three operators, of which two are the local units of the major pan-European players Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone Group. O2 Czech Republic was sold by Telefonica to an investment firm, the PPF Group, and has been split into a network management business and a separate retail business, while the mobile services provider U:fon was acquired by Nordic Investors and now trades as Nordic Telecom.

Although the government in 2017 amended the Telecommunications Act to improve pricing for end-users the market remains relatively uncompetitive. To address this the regulator planned to attract a new market player when it auctions 5G-suitable spectrum at the end of 2019.

All telcos have focused on growing revenue by marketing mobile broadband and other value-added services such as mobile content and applications. To this end they have invested in LTE infrastructure and technologies. LTE coverage reaches about 98% of the population, while technologies including LTE-A and tri-band carrier aggregation are being widely deployed. T-Mobile and O2 are both active in developing services and applications based on 5G.

This report covers the Czech Republics mobile market, providing an overview of the network operators Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2 and Nordic Telekom, as well as developments in technologies and regulatory affairs. A range of market and company statistics provide an insight into the state of both the mobile voice and data markets, as well as the performance and strategies of the key network players.

Key developments:

Regulator delays 700MHz and 3.4GHz spectrum auction for 5G to mid-2020;

Antitrust regulators rule against T-Mobile CR network sharing deal with O2 CR;

Regulator assigns 3.6GHz spectrum blocks to licensees;

T-Mobile switches on LTE in the 2600MHz band, adding to services in the 800MHz and 1800MHz bands;

MNOs promote m-payment services;

T-Mobile to close 3G services by 2020;

Report update includes the regulators annual reports and market reports to December 2018; telcos operating and financial data to Q4 2019; recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

O2 Czech Republic, T-Mobile Czech Republic, Vodafone Czech Republic, Nordic Telecom (MobilKom, U:fon).

Table of Contents

Market analysis

Mobile statistics General statistics

Mobile infrastructure 5G 4G (LTE) 3G GSM Analogue networks Other infrastructure developments M2M IoT Mobile voice Mobile data SMS and MMS Mobile broadband

Regulatory issues Significant market power (SMP) obligations Roaming tariffs Mobile Termination Rates (MTR) 2G licences 3G licences Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Network sharing Spectrum auctions 3.6-3.8GHz 700MHz Spectrum allocations

Major mobile operators O2 Czech Republic T-Mobile Czech Republic Vodafone Czech Republic Nordic Telecom (MobilKom/U:fon) Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)

Mobile content and applications Location-based services Mobile advertising M-commerce M-payments

Appendix  Historic data

Related reports





List of Tables

Table 1  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration rate  2009  2024

Table 2  Change in the ratio of prepaid to postpaid subscribers  2001  2017

Table 3  Change in the number and proportion of T-Mobile CRs prepaid subscribers  2009  2019

Table 4  Change in the number and proportion of O2 CR prepaid subscribers  2009  2019

Table 5  Change in the number and proportion of Vodafone CR prepaid subscribers  2009  2019

Table 6  Growth in the number of M2M connections  2012  2017

Table 7  Growth in mobile voice traffic  2009  2017

Table 8  Growth in average mobile broadband data use per subscriber  2011  2017

Table 9  Decline in the number of SMS messages sent  2009  2020

Table 10  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Table 11  Growth in the number of dedicated mobile broadband subscribers by type  2007  2017

Table 12  Change in the number of O2 CR subscribers  2006  2019

Table 13  Development of O2 CRs mobile service revenue (CZK)  2012  2019

Table 14  Development of O2 CRs mobile ARPU (CZK)  2012  2018

Table 15  Growth in the number of T-Mobile CRs mobile subscribers  2006  2019

Table 16  Growth in T-Mobile CR mobile service revenue  2009  2019

Table 17  Development of T-Mobile CRs blended mobile ARPU  2004  2019

Table 18  Change in the number of Vodafone CRs mobile subscribers  2008  2019

Table 19  Historic  Mobile subscribers and penetration rate  1995  2009

Table 20  Historic - Annual mobile number portings  2006  2016

Table 21  Historic - SMS messages sent  2003  2009

Table 22  Historic  Ration of prepaid to contract subscribers  2001  2009

Table 23  Historic - T-Mobile CR prepaid subscribers  2005  2009

Table 24  Historic - O2 CR prepaid subscribers  2004  2009

Table 25  Historic - O2 CR prepaid subscribers  2004  2009

Table 26  Vodafone CR prepaid subscribers  2005  2009

Table 27  Historic - O2 CR mobile service revenue ()  2006  2013

Table 28  Historic - O2 CR ARPU ()  2006  2013

List of Charts

Chart 1  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration rate  2009  2024

Chart 2  Change in the ratio of prepaid to postpaid subscribers  2001  2017

Chart 3  Change in the number and proportion of T-Mobile CRs prepaid subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 4  Change in the number and proportion of O2 CRs prepaid subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 5  Change in the number and proportion of Vodafone CR prepaid subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 6  Growth in the number of M2M connections  2012  2017

Chart 7  Growth in mobile voice traffic  2009  2017

Chart 8  Growth in average mobile broadband data use per subscriber  2011  2017

Chart 9  Decline in the number of SMS messages sent  2009  2020

Chart 10  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 11  Growth in the number of dedicated mobile broadband subscribers by type  2007  2017

Chart 12  Change in the number of O2 CR mobile subscribers  2006  2019

Chart 13  Development of O2 CRs mobile service revenue (CZK)  2012  2019

Chart 14  Development of O2 CRs mobile ARPU (CZK)  2012  2018

Chart 15  Growth in the number of T-Mobile CRs mobile subscribers  2006  2019

Chart 16  Development of T-Mobile CR mobile service revenue  2009  2019

Chart 17  Decline in T-Mobile CR blended ARPU  2004  2019

Chart 18  Vodafone CR subscribers  2008  2019

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1  2G spectrum  1999

Exhibit 2  Multi-spectrum auction  2013





Click here to access the report : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Czech-Republic-Mobile-Infrastructure-Operators-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses
If youre driving during the afternoon rush on Wednesday, particularly in East Pennsboro Township, be prepared to stop.

With Wednesdays visit from Vice President Mike Pence and several other administration officials, some traffic delays are likely, but any road closures are not expected to last very long.

The only road closures are when the actual motorcade is coming in or departing, said East Pennsboro Township Police Chief Mark Green.

Pence, along with administration spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, will be part of the Women for Trump event, set for 5 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel, 1150 Camp Hill Bypass.

Multiple motorcade routes and arrival times are planned for security purposes, so its difficult to say just which roadways will be closed and when, only that anyone traveling in the area late Wednesday afternoon or early evening may run into them, Green said.

While the state police will help escort the motorcade to the event, East Pennsboro Township Police will be onsite to help with security and provide a police presence, Green said.

The township is not new to high-profile dignitaries, though. They hosted Pence during his visit last summer when he spoke at the Pennsylvania Republican Partys annual dinner.

During the 2016 presidential election cycle, Sen. Ted Cruz and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich visited the township.

And Green expects an even busier 2020 when the primary heats up.

Were no stranger to it here, Green said. We coordinate with all the people involved and make sure its a safe event for everybody.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
Democrats have said they plan to release most  but not all  of the delayed results of the Iowa caucuses by 4pm local time.

In an announcement that threatened to add more confusion to the vote in Iowa, officials from the Iowa Democratic Party said it hoped to make public 50 per cent of the results by 4pm local time (5pm EST).

We are going to release the majority of results that we have by 4pm, party chairman Troy Price told the presidential campaigns on a conference call on Monday morning.

He he said the party was collecting paper records from more than 1,600 caucus sites to make sure we have all of the documented information in place.

He added: We want to get some results out there.

The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Show all 25 1 /25 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Bernie Sanders The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Joe Biden The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling EPA The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial "stop and frisk" programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor Getty Images The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Pete Buttigieg The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Deval Patrick The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party's various voting blocs AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Steve Bullock The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated "We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people's voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone." He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor's seat in a red [Republican] state Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Andrew Yang The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tom Steyer Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor AFP/Getty

The announcement came after a night of chaos and embarrassment for Democrats, on what was supposed to have been a showcase for the party as it held its first vote in the 2020 cycle.

But as minutes stretched into hours on Monday night, and with no results in sight, candidates anxious to catch flights to New Hampshire and continue their presidential campaigns, spoke to supporters without knowing precisely how well they had done.

Several of them  including Bernie Sanders  claimed some sort of victory in the contest, which is widely watched and usually gives the winning campaigns a boost as they head into New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

As it it, with just partial results being released, and with campaigns immediately involving their legal teams in the discussions with the state party, the likelihood exists that some supporters will not believe whatever details are now made public.

 US Election: What is the Iowa caucus?

Already, social media is lit up with conspiracy theories about whether the delay was a post by the Democratic establishment to undermine Mr Sanders campaign. In 2016, hacked emails revealed the that several officials within the supposedly neutral Democratic National Committee, had been working against Mr Sanders, and in favour of Hillary Clinton.

As he left Iowa, Mr Sanders said he was disappointed by the problem and said it was important that officials figured out what happened.

In Nevada, which also holds caucus rather than a normal ballot, officials were quick to try and quell fears of a repeat of Monday nights chaos when people vote on February 22. The party says it can confidently say that the problems Iowa Democrats experienced with reporting their caucus results Monday will not happen in Nevada.

Nevada Democratic party chair William McCurdy II said in a statement on Tuesday morning that Nevada would not be employing the same app or vendor used in the Iowa caucus.

The party had previously announced plans to use an app to tabulate results at caucuses, as Iowa did, along with a second app that would be pre-loaded onto tablets available for voters to use at caucus sites during four days of early voting.

Meanwhile, Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York who is sitting out the four early voting states, sought to capitalise on the woes of his rivals by stepping up his multi-million adverting campaign in battleground states.
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If you read the Bible cover to cover, youll see there is no ambiguity when it comes to extra-marital sex. Simply stated, it is forbidden. Sex before marriage is called fornication. Sex outside of marriage is called adultery. And marriage is defined as the lifelong union of a male and a female. Thats how Genesis defines it and thats how Jesus defines it.

Church standards through history would reaffirm all these points.

All sexual relations outside the confines of marriage (which, to repeat, has always and only been the union of a man and a woman) are considered immoral and sinful.

But in todays morally confused society, right is now wrong and wrong is now right, to the point that the Church of England has apologized for reaffirming basic, biblical morality.

As reported by CNN, Top archbishops in the Church of England have apologized for guidance issued by the church last week that said only married heterosexuals should have sex  while same-sex or heterosexual Christians in civil partnerships should remain abstinent.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Archbishop of York John Sentamu said in a statement Thursday that they took responsibility for last week's announcement, which we acknowledge has jeopardized trust.

We are very sorry and recognize the division and hurt this has caused, Welby and Sentamu wrote.

The pastoral guidance statement was issued in response to the extension of civil partnerships to heterosexual couples in the UK.

The guidance, published January 22, said for Christians, marriage  that is the lifelong union between a man and a woman, contracted with the making of vows  remains the proper context for sexual activity.

From a biblical standpoint, what is controversial in this pastoral guidance statement?

Is not marriage the lifelong union of a man and woman? Is not sex outside of this union, be it heterosexual or homosexual, strictly forbidden?

The pastoral guidance statement was met with outrage and disappointment, to the point that the open letter written in response has received more than 3,500 signatures. According to the radical inclusion website, this includes nearly 90 members of General Synod and a range of other senior church leaders. This shows the strength of concern that exists across the Church of England that its mission is being significantly damaged and that their promise of a radical new Christian inclusion must now be delivered.

Yes, the open letter states, The Church of England has this week become a laughingstock to a nation that believes it is obsessed with sex. More importantly this statement has significantly damaged the mission of the Church and it has broken the trust of those it seeks to serve.

We ask you to consider how we can, together, build a truly radically inclusive Christian Church.

In other words, We ask you to consider rewriting the Bible. We ask you to consider trashing the unanimous testimony of 2,000 years of Church history. We ask you to lower your standards to those of a fallen world rather than calling on a fallen world to repent and conform to Gods Word. We ask you to become to moral relativists and to abandon the outdated, outmoded morals of the Scriptures. And we ask you to do so in Jesus name!

In the words of Rector Marcus Green,

As an openly gay man serving as a vicar in the CofE [sic] I understand what it means when you hope for better and receive less. God loves people, its as simple as that.

The church is a bit more broken, but we need to remember the simple message and do the obvious stuff. People are people. Everyone matters. No one is second rate. Thats what the Bible teaches, thats Jesus for you. So Im keen to support anything that calls us to live up to that standard.

Yes, people are people. Everyone does matter. No one is second rate. And God is full of compassion and grace.

At the same time, morals are morals, marriage is marriage, sin is sin, and Gods ways are best.

He did not make males to have sex with males or females to have sex with females. Nor did He make sex something to be enjoyed with one or more people outside the sacred union of marriage.

The same God who sent Jesus to die for all of us sent an instruction manual on how we should live. We cannot have the one without the other.

Ironically, as noted above, the open letter claimed that, The Church of England has this week become a laughingstock to a nation that believes it is obsessed with sex.

But is it not the nation, rather than the church, that is obsessed with sex? Put another way, if sex was not such a big issue, why get so upset with the churchs statement? Why not say, All clear! If were a gay couple in a committed civil partnership, well abstain from sex. And if were unmarried heterosexuals, well be sure to remain celibate.

Not a chance. Thats not how human beings are wired.

Thats because sex is a big issue. Just ask the human race throughout recorded history. Just look at the plague of online porn. Just look at the never-ending rapes and sex-related crimes. Just look at marital infidelity.

Thats why, any time Paul listed the sins of the flesh, he always put sexual sin at the top of the list (see, for example, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). He too understood that sex was a big deal. He also understood that, with Gods grace and help, we could live above sexual sin.

Of course, the real conflict within the Church of England now is not so much related to adultery and immorality in general. Rather, it is related to homosexual practice. And thats why the pastoral guidance statement stirred up so much controversy. It classified homosexual practice, even within a civil partnership, as forbidden.

To quote the statement directly (which, to be sure, is way too accommodating to civil partnerships in general), It has always been the position of the Church of England that marriage is a creation ordinance, a gift of God in creation and a means of his grace. Marriage, defined as a faithful, committed, permanent and legally sanctioned relationship between a man and a woman making a public commitment to each other, is central to the stability and health of human society. We believe that it continues to provide the best context for the raising of children, although it is not the only context that can be of benefit to children, especially where the alternative may be long periods in institutional care.

Rather than apologizing for standing with God and His Word, Church leaders should have reaffirmed their position in the face of protest.

Unity without truth will not stand. Neither will unity without morality. Neither will unity without the blessing of God.

Church of England, which will it be?
Sydney, Feb. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communications focus report on Austria outlines the major developments and key aspects in the mobile telecoms markets.



Click here to access the report : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Austria-Mobile-Infrastructure-Broadband-Operators-Statistics-and-Analyses



Austrias competitive mobile market is dominated by the three operators 3 Austria, Magenta Telekom (T-Mobile Austria) and Telekom Austrias own unit A1. However, the market also benefits from a growing number of new entrants in the MVNO sector, which collectively have about 7% of the market by subscribers. The growth in the MVNO sector is partly due to regulatory concessions by which 3 Austria, as a condition of its take-over of Orange Austria, was obliged to provide a third of its network capacity to support up to 16 MVNOs.

The competitive environment has led to relatively low ARPU for operators, as well as some of the regions lowest tariffs for consumers. The operators LTE networks have benefited from regulatory measures which have allowed operators to refarm existing 2G and 3G spectrum for LTE, while spectrum in the 700MHz has also been set aside for mobile broadband use once this band is released from broadcasters.

In March 2019 the regulator concluded an auction of spectrum in the 3.4-3.6Hz range to be used for 5G services. Investment among MNOs has been focussed on 5G, and by early 2020 5G services were available in a large number of localities. A multi-spectrum auction planned for mid-2020 will include blocks in the 700MHz band. The regulator has engineered the auction to promote coverage rather than generate maximum revenue.

Key developments:

Regulator planning 700MHz auction for 5G use by mid-2020;

H3 Austria launches a nationwide NB-IoT network, expands reach of 5G services;

Regulator concludes 3.4-3.6GHz auction for 5G services;

Magenta Telekom expands Narrowband IoT capabilities, trials 5G, launches VoLTE service;

ZTE and 3 Austria set up Innovation Lab to trial 5G;

A1 Austria launches 5G services with Nokia;

Regulator reclassifies GSM spectrum for 3G and LTE use;

700MHz spectrum to be assigned for 5G use from 2020;

Report update includes the regulators market data to June 2019, telcos financial and operating data to Q3 2019, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

H3 Austria, Telekom Austria (A1), Magenta Telekom (T-Mobile Austria), Orange Austria, Tele2, Mundio, Lycamobile, Yesss!, M:Tel Austria, Hofer Telekom.

Table of Contents

Market analysis

Mobile statistics General statistics

Mobile infrastructure Digital networks 5G 4G (LTE) 3G Other infrastructure developments Internet of Things (IoT) Machine-to-Machine (M2M)

Mobile voice

Mobile data Short Message Service (SMS) Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) Mobile broadband

Regulatory issues Regulatory authority Spectrum regulations and spectrum auctions 450MHz 900MHz 800MHz 2.6GHz Spectrum auctions - 2013 3.4-3.6GHz 700MHz, 1.5GHz, 2.1GHz Roaming Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Mobile termination rates (MTRs) Network sharing

Major mobile operators Orange Austria 3 Austria (Drei Austria) A1 Austria Magenta Telekom Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)

Mobile content and applications M-commerce

Related reports





List of Tables

Table 1  Mobile market revenue by service  2017  2019

Table 2  Development of mobile service revenue, retail and wholesale  2009  2019

Table 3  Average mobile subscriber use of services  2012  2018

Table 4  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration rate  2009 - 2024

Table 5  Change in mobile numbers in use, contract and prepaid  2009  2018

Table 6  Change in the number of A1s prepaid subscribers  2009  2019

Table 7  Change in the number of Magenta Telekoms prepaid subscribers  2014  2019

Table 8  Growth in the number of M2M SIM cards  2012  2019

Table 9  Change in mobile voice traffic  2003  2019

Table 10  Decline in the number of SMS messages sent  2009  2019

Table 11  Change in the number of mobile broadband subscribers  2010  2019

Table 12  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Table 13  Growth in mobile broadband traffic  2008  2019

Table 14  Growth in the number of A1s mobile broadband subscribers  2009  2019

Table 15  GSM spectrum distribution among MNOs (MHz)  2010

Table 16  European data roaming charges  2017 - 2022

Table 17  Growth in the number of mobile number portings  2010  2019

Table 18  Change in the number of 3 Austrias active subscribers  2013  2019

Table 19  Change in the number of 3 Austrias registered subscribers  2009  2019

Table 20  Development of 3 Austrias financial data  2008  2019

Table 21  Development of 3 Austrias annualised ARPU  2008  2019

Table 22  Change in the number of A1s mobile subscribers  2009  2019

Table 23  Development of A1s mobile service revenue  2010  2019

Table 24  Change in A1s mobile service revenue by quarter  2015  2019

Table 25  Change in A1s monthly mobile ARPU  2009  2019

Table 26  Development of Magenta Telekoms mobile service revenue  2003  2019

Table 27  Magenta Telekoms mobile service revenue by quarter  2015 - 2019

Table 28  Change in the number of Magenta Telekoms mobile subscribers  2009  2019

Table 29  Decline in Magenta Telekoms annualised mobile ARPU  2006  2019

Table 30  Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate (regulator data)  1999  2009

Table 31  Historic - Mobile numbers in use, contract and prepaid  2004  2009

Table 32  Historic - A1 prepaid subscribers  2005  2009

Table 33  Historic - GSM SIM cards in service  2012  2017

Table 34  Historic - LTE SIM cards in service  2013  2017

Table 35  Historic - 3G SIM cards in service  2009 - 2017

Table 36  Historic - A1 M2M connections  2015  2016

Table 37  Historic - Mobile data traffic  2015  2017

Table 38  Historic - SMS messages sent  2004  2009

Table 39  Historic - Text messaging revenue  2013  2017

Table 40  Historic - A1 SMS sent  2006  2015

Table 41  Historic - Mobile broadband download speed by technology  2013  2017

Table 42  Historic - Household broadband penetration by fixed/mobile platform  2012  2017

Table 43  Historic - Roaming revenue  2015  2017

Table 44  Historic - Roaming traffic  2015  2017

Table 45  Historic - Mobile termination charges by operator (historic)  2008  2011

Table 46  Historic - Orange Austria mobile subscribers (historic)  2009  2012

Table 47  Historic - A1 subscribers (Austria)  2000  2009

Table 48  Historic - A1 monthly ARPU  2004  2009

Table 49  Historic - T-Mobile Austria subscribers  2004  2009

Table 50  Historic - UPC Austria mobile subscribers  2016  2018

Table 51  Historic - Mobile voice traffic  2003  2009

Table 52  Historic - Mobile service revenue, retail and wholesale  2000  2009

Table 53  Historic - A1 - mobile service revenue  2004  2009

Table 54  Historic - T-Mobile Austria mobile service revenue  2003  2009

Table 55  Historic - Mobile market revenue by service  2012  2017

List of Charts

Chart 1  Development of mobile service revenue, retail and wholesale  2009  2019

Chart 2  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration rate  2009 - 2024

Chart 3  Change in mobile numbers in use, contract and prepaid  2009  2018

Chart 4  Change in the number of A1s prepaid subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 5  Change in the number of Magenta Telekoms prepaid subscribers  2014  2019

Chart 6  Growth in the number of M2M SIM cards  2012  2019

Chart 7  Change in mobile voice traffic  2003  2019

Chart 8  Decline in the number of SMS messages sent  2009  2019

Chart 9  Change in the number of mobile broadband subscribers  2010  2019

Chart 10  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 11  Growth in mobile broadband traffic  2008  2019

Chart 12  Growth in the number of A1s mobile broadband subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 13  Growth in the number of mobile number portings  2010  2019

Chart 14  Change in the number of 3 Austrias active subscribers  2013  2019

Chart 15  Change in the number of 3 Austrias registered subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 16  Development of 3 Austrias financial data  2008  2019

Chart 17  Development of 3 Austrias annualised ARPU  2008  2019

Chart 18  Change in the number of A1s mobile subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 19  Development of A1s mobile service revenue  2010  2019

Chart 20  Change in A1s monthly mobile ARPU  2009  2019

Chart 21  Development of Magenta Telekoms mobile service revenue  2003  2019

Chart 22  Change in the number of Magenta Telekoms mobile subscribers  2009  2019

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1  2G spectrum allocations by operator

Exhibit 2  3G spectrum allocations by operator

Exhibit 3  3G licence results  2000

Exhibit 4  450MHz licence results  2006

Exhibit 5  2.6GHz spectrum auction results  September 2010

Exhibit 6  Multi-spectrum auction results  Oct 2013

Exhibit 7  3 Austria spectrum concessions





Click here to access the report : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Austria-Mobile-Infrastructure-Broadband-Operators-Statistics-and-Analyses
India and the US are set to seal a trade deal during President Donald Trump's planned visit to India in the last week of this month, multiple sources said on Tuesday.

Trade officials of Indian and the US are giving final touches to the proposed deal which is expected to cover certain specific sectors, they said.

Trump is set to visit India on a two-day trip between February 23 and 26 and both sides are in the process of fine-tuning his schedule, sources said.

The main segment of the visit will take place in the national capital, though an option of having a short visit by Trump to another city is being explored.

The cities which are being considered include Agra and Ahmedabad.

A high-level logistics team from Washington handling Trump's foreign trips visited India last week as part of preparations for his maiden tour of India.

"The trade deal and a pact on further enhancing defence cooperation are likely to be sealed during the visit by the US president," said a source.

India is seeking exemption from high duties imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products as well as resumption of benefits on tariff on certain products under their Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).

India is also pressing the US to facilitate greater market access for its products in the US in sectors such as agriculture, automobile, auto components and engineering.

On the other hand the US wants greater market access for its farm and manufacturing products, dairy items and medical devices in India.

In 2018-19, India's exports to the US stood at USD 52.4 billion, while imports were USD 35.5 billion. Trade deficit dipped from USD 21.3 billion in 2017-18 to USD 16.9 billion in 2018-19.

India received FDI worth USD 3.13 billion from the US in 2018-19, higher than USD 2 billion in 2017-18.

India had invited Trump to grace the Republic Day parade as the chief guest last year but the US President could not come due to scheduling issues.

During his visit to the US in September last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reminded Trump of his invitation to him to visit India along with his family



External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during their visit to Washington last month conveyed to the US side that India was waiting to host Trump.

Trump will seek re-election in presidential polls scheduled to take place in November.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 17:00:11|Editor: yhy

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NEW DELHI, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Bangkok made an emergency landing on Tuesday morning in India's eastern city of Kolkata after a pregnant Thai woman delivered a baby onboard, confirmed a statement issued by the airlines to Xinhua.

The flight landed at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.

Replying to a query raised through Twitter about the emergency landing, the airlines said the flight number QR830 was diverted to the Kolkata Airport after a woman passenger reported birth onboard.

"Both, the mother and the child, reportedly to be well and transferred to a local hospital. The aircraft was re-fueled and the flight continued to Bangkok," added the airline's statement.
Sudan's military leader met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and agreed to work toward normalizing relations, in what would be a historic step for the Arab League member that's never officially recognized the Jewish state.

The surprise meeting between Netanyahu and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan's sovereign council, came Monday at the end of a visit by the Israeli leader to Uganda that was part of his latest drive to build ties in sub-Saharan Africa.

Recognizing Israel, a key U.S. ally, could help Sudan's campaign to persuade Washington to remove it from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, as the country edges toward democracy after longtime leader Omar al-Bashir was ousted last year. The initiative may also be a boost for Netanyahu's re-election bid, allowing him to tout a diplomatic victory ahead of the March 2 vote.

U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo welcomed the meeting and "thanked General al-Burhan for his leadership in normalizing ties with Israel." Sudan is being run by a joint civilian-military administration until elections slated for 2022 and it wasn't immediately clear if all participants agreed with the step.

Information Minister Faisal Saleh said the government hadn't been notified or consulted and would seek clarification. No government of Muslim-majority Sudan since independence in 1956 has officially recognized Israel. Soldiers from Sudan have fought in Arab wars against Israel, while the capital, Khartoum, was the scene of a 1967 Arab League summit that famously declared the so-called "Three No's": no peace, no recognition and no negotiations.

Sudan, which Bashir ruled for three decades until his overthrow during mass protests in April, had already begun shifting its Middle Eastern alliances. Long an ally of both Iran and Saudi Arabia, the North African nation in 2015 dramatically reduced ties with the Islamic Republic to support the Saudi war against Yemeni rebels, supplying thousands of troops. Israeli officials had previously identified Sudan, which under Bashir espoused a form of Islamist government, as a conduit for Iranian weapons bound for Israel's enemies.

Israel, Sudan and the U.S.'s histories have been intertwined before. In 1984-1985, Israeli intelligence operatives began secretly airlifting Ethiopian Jews to Israel from Sudanese refugee camps. When the covert operation was revealed, Sudan ended it, but later ceded to pressure from the U.S. to allow it to resume with American military aircraft. The Israeli operation was dramatized in a 2019 Netflix film, 'The Red Sea Diving Resort.'

In Sudan, the move met condemnation from the Communist Party, a prominent former member of Bashir's National Congress Party and other Islamist factions. Some leading political activists also decried the statements, although a few voiced support.

The Israeli move is part of a wider initiative to normalize relations with Arab and Muslim-majority states, including some in the Persian Gulf, adding them to Jordan and Sudan's neighbor, Egypt, with which Israel already has ties. It comes as Netanyahu is in a fight for his political life, dogged by corruption charges and consecutive failures to form a government after back-to-back elections last year.

The Ugandan visit also included talks with President Yoweri Museveni's government on opening embassies and potential direct flights between Tel Aviv and Uganda.

The Israel premier last visited the East African nation in 2016, four decades after an Israeli raid on Uganda's Entebbe airport to rescue Israeli hostages held by Palestinian hijackers. Netanyahu's brother, Yonatan, was killed in the 1976 operation.

Uganda and Israel already cooperate in sectors including agriculture, security, health and information technology, Museveni said in a statement.

- - -

Bloomberg's Jon Herskovitz, Zaid Sabah and Mohammed Alamin contributed to this report.
Kota, Feb 4 : A Rajasthan court has ordered reinvestigation into the case of a woman army major who was allegedly molested by one of her colleagues, after she challenged the final FIR report prepared by the police in the Bhimganj Mandi police station here, sources said.

The court, in its hearing on the case on January 22, also nixed the report.

According to sources, the accused named in the FIR has been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. It was learnt that the victim is in the Engineering Corps of the Indian Army while the accused Lieutenant Colonel (Major at the time of the incident) is posted in the Army Supply Corps in Allahabad.

IANS also spoke to the Indian Army Public Relations Officer Aman Anand about this entire matter.

He said, 'Even after a lot of efforts, I have not been able to get any information in this matter so far. As soon as we discover some facts related to the case, we will inform." According to the FIR lodged by the victim, she was alone in her government flat (Kota Dadwada Military Cantt) on June 24, 2018 at around 2 a.m. (after midnight). At that time, the accused barged into her flat in an inebriated state and allegedly tried to force her on to the bed, besides touching her inappropriately. The victim fought back after which the accused jumped off from the roof and fled from the spot.

The victim told IANS over phone, "The next day, when the accused reached my flat with his wife to offer me an apology, I recorded the conversation. But the police did not produce the recorded conversation as evidence." On being asked why she did not inform the army authorities about the incident, the aggrieved victim told IANS, "I had informed the army officials about the incident, but I don't know where the departmental inquiry has headed in the last two years." "So far no information has been disclosed to me by the army. The first time, when I took a complaint in English to the Bhimganj Mandi police station in Kota city, I was told by the policemen that I should file the complaint in Hindi. When the complaint written in Hindi reached the police station, the policemen, while registering the FIR, did not enter the name of the accused Major named by me in the "column" of the suspect/accused and left it blank." According to the victim, "It is clear that the intention of the police was to save the accused from day one. Even after he was named, the police did not arrest the accused." The investigation into the case made some headway after lawyer Satendra Sharma took up the woman's case and went from Delhi to Rajasthan and filed a petition before Additional Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate of North Kota (Rajasthan), against the accused.

According to the petition, the accused himself admitted during investigation that he went to the the victim's flat that night and the next day (June, 24, 2018), he went with his wife to apologize to the victim for his conduct.

Now the court of Additional Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate, North Kota (Rajasthan) Sonal Parikh has put the police investigation in the dock. The court order issued on 22 January 2020 stated that despite mentioning in the written complaint of the victim, non-registration of the name of the accused in the 'accused/suspect' column of the FIR reflects the negligence of the investigating officer.

The mobile recording of the accused, which was done by the victim, was also not included in the investigation by the investigating officer as evidence.

In the evidence of the statement of the accused, the officer has not presented any document-evidence, in which the accused has said that the victim, the woman Major, is accustomed to making complaints over such allegations. Therefore, Bhimganj Mandi police station should reinvestigate this matter as per the rules, and present the report immediately.

(Sanjeev Kumar Singh Chauhan can be reached at sanjeev.c@ians.in)
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has disclosed that a brother of former president John Mahama was involved in the procurement of the two Airbus C-295 aircraft between 2009 and 2015.

He said Mahamas brother was with the then Minister for Defence, Lieutenant General Joseph Henry Smith and other officials who visited Airbus offices overseas as part of processes to procure the aircraft.

Some of us raised these matters even then in 2011, that how come his [Mahama] own brother was with General Smith in Brazil, Spain and in France in the purchase of these things [aircraft], he said in a Citi News interview.

The procurement process has recently been cited in the global bribery scandal involving the aircraft manufacturer, Airbus.

That scandal has resulted in Airbus being slapped with an amount of 3 billion in settlement fines.

The UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in stating facts of the case said between 2009 and 2015, a number of Airbus employees made or promised success based commission payments of approximately 5 million to Intermediary 5, who is said to be a close relative of a high ranking elected Ghanaian Government official (Government Official 1).

Significantly, Government Official 1 was a key decision-maker in respect of Government of Ghana aircraft orders.

The payments to Intermediary 5 by officials of Airbus SE were, thus, intended to induce or reward improper favour by Government Official 1 over the purchase of three (3) C-295 military transport aircraft. Indeed, out of the 5 million promised Intermediary 5, 3.85 million was paid between March 2012 and February 2014.

Although no individual names were mentioned in the documents there are wild speculations and guesses about who the persons involved in Ghanas case may be, especially as the period the investigations focused on, was during the administration of the late Prof. Evans Atta-Mills and John Mahama.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) at a press conference on Monday said they were certain that the top official cited was John Mahama and the supposed close relative was one Samuel Mahama whom the former president talked about in his book, My first coup detat.

The claim, as of yet, cannot be confirmed but Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, who was a key opposing voice in a Parliamentary debate on the purchase of the aircraft, said it was curious that a brother of John Mahama joined the team to Airbus offices and later was involved in the ownership of a refurbished aircraft.

and when not too long after [purchase of the aircraft], they came to own a plane refurbished by the same people [Airbus]. It was really something else, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu told Citi News Umaru Sanda in an interview.

Nobody said he is number 1 [GO 1]. Dont forget that he himself said that he was the luckiest vice president and that in many of these things, the president [Prof. Atta-Mills] allowed him to go ahead.

Watch Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsus interview below:

---citinewsroom
Sounthone Sayachak, a member of the LPRPs Central Committee and head of the LPRP Central Committees Commission for External Relations, made the comment when she led a delegation of the commission to visit the Vietnamese Embassy in Vientiane on February 3 to offer congratulations on the occasion of the 90th founding anniversary of the CPV (February 3, 1930  2020).

The Lao official affirmed that the February 3, 1930 is a historic day for not only the Vietnamese people but also people in the Indochinese peninsula, as the Indochinese Communist Party is the predecessor of the LPRP, the CPV and the Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP).

She stressed that over the past 90 years, under the sound leadership of the CPV, the Vietnamese people have continuously reaped many great victories, establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, defeating the invading French colonialists and American imperialists, and defending and developing the country.

According to the official, the CPV has always given the utmost support and help to the LPRP. There is no word that can describe the special great relationship between Laos and Vietnam, she said, describing the relationship as an invaluable asset of both nations and the factor ensuring their success.

Sounthone Sayachak took the occasion to express, on behalf of the Party, State and people of Laos, sincere gratitude to the Party, State and people of Vietnam for the great, effective and timely support and help to Laos.

She affirmed that the LPRP and Lao people commit to preserving, consolidating and developing the special relations between the two Parties, States and peoples.

Vietnams Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung said that all Party members and people of Vietnam are well aware that the development of the CPV would not be possible without the great support of the fraternal Lao party.

The same day, many delegations of Lao agencies and organisations also came to the Vietnamese Embassy to offer their congratulations to the CPV.
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Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 07:45 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20625c2d1 1 Editorial China,China-Indonesia,bilateral-relations,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,#Editorial Free

Indonesias decision on Sunday to ban air traffic to and from China comes at the potential high cost of an economic slump, but both China and Indonesia must swallow this bitter pill in spite of Beijings best efforts to contain the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and despite Jakartas measured response to the global health crisis.

Chinas response to the outbreak  from erecting hospitals in 10 days to the back-channel diplomacy it undertook to allay the fears of the World Health Organization  has been nothing short of commendable, despite the increasingly heavy economic impact of shutting down businesses across the mainland, affecting the production lines of resident global brands.

The Shanghai stock market plunged almost 8 percent on the first day of trading since the Lunar New Year holiday, as investors played catch-up with last week's global retreat.

The Indonesian government is also preparing to ban live animal imports from China and is open to imposing an even broader ban in the coming days, likely putting a pin in business with the countrys largest trading partner and third-largest foreign investor.

The virus, cases of which were reported as early as December last year, had already surpassed the national record for deaths and infections caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the result of another strain of coronavirus that originated in China in 2003.

At least 57 new deaths were confirmed on Monday, the single-biggest daily increase since its detection, bringing the death toll to more than 360. The virus has since spread to more than two dozen countries despite unprecedented travel bans, and the first foreign death from the virus was confirmed in the Philippines on Sunday.

Although we must bear the loss of Chinas tourists, among others, Indonesia counts itself lucky as of Monday evening for the lack of reported infections among citizens working and residing in Chinas Hubei province, particularly in Wuhan, a major industrial hub at the center of the virus outbreak that has since been placed in lockdown.

The government in Jakarta has received some flak for its decision to isolate the 237 repatriated citizens and one other noncitizen on the far-flung island of Natuna in Riau Islands province, the site of recent tensions between Beijing and Jakarta prior to the virus outbreak.

Natuna residents have protested against the use of their island for quarantine, but officials have rallied behind the plan, citing its effectiveness so far.

Although one diplomat said the move to make Natuna a quarantine location was by design, the official also rejected the notion that there was an underlying political or geostrategic component to the decision. Overall, anti-Chinese sentiment remains muted despite the potential backlash.

Unlike countries like the United States, which was criticized for actions that had stirred panic over the outbreak, Jakarta has struck a fine balance between giving Beijing some courtesy while also standing up for the fate of its citizens.

After all is said and done, "a friend in need is a friend indeed" rings true for both sides, who have supported one another to weather the unfurling storm  no questions asked.
Ticker Symbols: ADZNV, ADVZF-OTCQX

TORONTO, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Adventus Mining Corporation ("Adventus" or the "Company") (TSX-V: ADZN;OTCQX: ADVZF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dustin Small, P.Eng. as Director of Projects to lead the continuing engineering development of the Curipamba project which is centred on the El Domo deposit.

Mr. Small is an engineering, construction, and project management professional with 20 years of experience primarily in the global mining sector, as well as experience in the water treatment, power generation, and oil and gas industries. He is expected to bring a proven track record in the successful planning and execution of projects in the Americas to Adventus, including disciplines such as process plant design, contract and risk management, project controls and cost estimation. Mr. Small comes from a strong EPCM/EPC background and brings knowledge and expertise in all aspects of project development ranging from conceptualization, feasibility studies, engineering, construction, and commissioning. Most recently, he has held project and construction management roles on small to large scale mining projects ranging in size from US$100 million to over US$4 billion with Wood plc (formerly Amec Foster Wheeler) in North America and with Hatch Ltd in Santiago, Chile. Mr. Small holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) from Dalhousie University and is a registered Professional Engineer in Ontario and British Columbia, Canada.

As Adventus continues its significant exploration and engineering programs in advancing the Curipamba, Pijili and Santiago projects in Ecuador, it continues to build its leadership team with proven professionals. Christian Kargl-Simard, President and Chief Executive Officer of Adventus, commented: "We are excited to welcome Dustin and his extensive project experience to lead our Curipamba trade-off and engineering studies which have been ongoing since the completion of the Preliminary Economic Assessment in 2019. Dustin will work closely with Adventus' multi-disciplinary management team based in Toronto and Quito. The advancement of the engineering and exploration programs at Curipamba will allow Adventus to commence the feasibility study in the second half of 2020."

Grant of Restricted Share Units and Stock Options

Adventus announces award of an aggregate of 147,500 restricted share units ("RSUs") under the Company's share compensation plan to employees. Each RSU represents a right to receive one common share of the Company, following the vesting of such restricted share units following a two-year period. Adventus has also granted an aggregate of 500,000 incentive stock options (the "Options") under the Company's share compensation to employees of the Company with an exercise price of C$0.86 per Option, exercisable for a period of five years from the date of grant and vesting over a three-year period.

About Adventus

Adventus Mining Corporation is a well-financed exploration and project development company, focused in Ecuador. Its strategic shareholders include Altius Minerals Corporation, Greenstone Resources LP, Resource Capital Funds, Wheaton Precious Metals Corp., and the Nobis Group of Ecuador. Adventus is leading the exploration and engineering advancement of the Curipamba copper-gold project in Ecuador as part of an earn-in agreement to obtain a 75% ownership interest. In addition, Adventus is engaged in a country-wide exploration alliance with its partners in Ecuador, which has incorporated the Pijili and Santiago projects to date. Adventus has an investment portfolio of equities in several junior exploration companies and exploration projects in Ireland with South32 as funding partner. Adventus is based in Toronto, Canada, and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol ADZN and trades on the OTCQX under the symbol ADVZF.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This press release contains "forward -looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, identified by words or phrases such as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "is expected", "scheduled", "estimates", "pending", "intends", "plans", "forecasts", "targets", or "hopes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "will", "should" "might", "will be taken", or "occur" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking information herein includes, but is not limited to, statements that address activities, events or developments that Adventus expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Although Adventus has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Adventus undertakes to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Adventus Mining Corporation

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UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday called for international cooperation to combat the novel coronavirus and stressed the need to avoid overreaction, while senior UN officials expressed confidence in China's fight against the epidemic.

China's Permanent Representative to the UN Zhang Jun told reporters on the sidelines of a UN meeting that it is vital for the international community to maintain solidarity and cooperation to overcome the epidemic.

China appreciates the understanding and support of international organizations, including the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO), and relevant countries, Zhang said.

"We call on all countries to adopt recommendations of the WHO, not to overreact, not to take unnecessary intervention in international travel or suspension of flights, etc., and not to take discriminatory actions against China and Chinese nationals," Zhang said.

He noted that the situation remains challenging, but "we are taking all measures to fight the epidemic, treat patients and control the spread of the epidemic."

He said medical teams from all over China have arrived in Wuhan at this crucial moment, new hospitals have been put into use, and a large number of medical supplies have been delivered.

"More lives have been saved, and more patients have recovered. This shows that facing the outbreak, the determination of the Chinese government and people is firm, and the measures adopted are timely, powerful, unprecedented and responsible, and the effects are being shown," said Zhang.

Under-Secretary-General of the UN office of Counter-Terrorism Vladimir Voronkov expressed his solidarity with China, noting that the Chinese government has taken a series of measures and he believes that China will overcome the difficulties in a short period of time.

During the opening session of the meeting on security of sporting events, the head of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Angel Moratinos, said that he appreciates and supports the effort made by the Chinese government and people in the battle against the epidemic, and believes that China will overcome the difficulties.
Weve said it before and well say it again: this season of The Bachelor is on drama overload. If its not Champagne-Gate then its someone talking to Peter about another girls drinking habits. Now, after Sydney Hightowers one-on-one date with Peter Weber in Costa Rica, theres some off-camera drama that could be stirring.

Sydney Hightower on her first night meeting Peter Weber on The Bachelor | ABC/John Fleenor

Hightower told Weber about the bullying she received in high school

After the joys that Cleveland, OH had to offer the women, Weber decided to take the contestants to Costa Rica this week. While there, his very first one-on-one date was with Hightower. He took her off in a helicopter and then settled on a picnic later, where he told her she was the best kisser.

Then, for the dinner portion, Weber wanted to know more about her, so shed seem less mysterious to him. Shes mentioned this before, but growing up as a mixed-race woman in the South was tough. Hightower recalls not having a lot of money or resources with a single mom, and only meeting her dad five times.

On top of all that, her high school years were horrible memories for her as well. Girls would call me, like, Oreo Girl they would vandalize our home and write, like, awful things on our pavement, she told Weber. I ate my lunch, like, literally in a bathroom stall my whole senior year.

Hannah Brown and Sydney Hightower went to the same high school and college in Alabama

In a surprising turn of events, Bachelor Nation actually knows someone Sydney went to high school with: Hannah Brown. The former bachelorette is also a proud Alabama native, and according to Marie Claire, they both attended Tuscaloosa County High School.

Marie Claire also pointed out that a promotional introduction video for Hightower included host Chris Harrison stating the connection. As they also noted, Hightower shared the video to her Instagram. Shes obviously not hiding the shared high school experience, but she also hasnt commented on it further.

Brown and Hightower also attended the same college: the University of Alabama, which is a massive state school. While sharing that particular college didnt mean they crossed paths, going to the same high school of 1,558 students (as of last year) brings a higher chance they knew each other.

There are rumors that Hightower was a bully in high school

This brings a whole new lense to Hightowers claims of being bullied in high school. Especially when Hightower seemed to have negative feelings towards pageant girls. Could Brown be one of her bullies she spoke of? Well, not so fast.

Rumors are swirling all over Reddit and Twitter about how Hightower was a bully in high school. Reddit user u/Lokis_Mom shared a comment from Facebook that claims she went to the same school as well and alleges Hightower said horrible things about her and ruined her relationship at the time.

Bachelor production works hard but I work HARDER!!!!! #BachelorNation pic.twitter.com/zr7uTXGRPO  jc me rollin (@jc_me_rollin_) February 4, 2020

Ate lunch in the bathroom everyday of highschool #bachelornation Im selling my yearbooks for $200 a pop, who wants the tea pic.twitter.com/Kjz9LuMEru  jc me rollin (@jc_me_rollin_) February 4, 2020

Twitter user @jc_me_rollin_, who also went to the same high school, posted photos from their yearbook that proved Brown and Hightower were in the same class. It also showed Hightower participated in pageants at the school. She wrote, Ate lunch in the bathroom every day of high school #bachelornation Im selling my yearbooks for $200 a pop, who wants the tea. She seems to be mocking Hightowers story she told on the show.

But Hightower is defending herself and her story on social media

While Brown hasnt commented on any of this to confirm or deny her relationship with Hightower as teens (if there was one), Hightower has. To combat the pageant pictures posted about her, seemingly discrediting her story, she wrote on Twitter,

Feels ridiculous I even have to address this. But correct I did win a beauty pageant my senior year of high school. That was voted for by 5 judges. Not by my peers. Winning a pageant based off of outer beauty does not take away the racial bullying, and isolation Ive been through.

She also said she was on the cheer team and other clubs during school, which she did to fit in. She reiterated that just because she did these things to look good for college doesnt mean she was accepted and doesnt mean she was lying.

There are still some discrepancies with the user who posted the yearbook pictures in the first place. In screenshots from direct messages on Twitter, she states that no one was mean to Hightower and that The Bachelor contestant was one of the biggest bullies at their school. Hightower responded, insisting that @jc_me_rollin_ was friends with racists and that her story still stands as her truth.

Its all a matter of she-said, she-said at this point, but the off-screen drama is not going anywhere, just like whats on-screen.
A fellow resident at his assisted living home in Stockton, California, suggested it would be fun for White to receive Valentine's Day cards from the public to put in a scrapbook. So, I put the word out, thinking we might get about 100 of them. Boy did we  and more, he says.

To White's surprise a resident's social media post garnered widespread attention online and spread to local and national news outlets. So far, White has received about 50,000 Valentine's Day cards  and they keep pouring in. He expects the total to reach close to 100,000 by Feb. 14.

"It's indescribable, he says of the flood of mail. I never imagined people would send me so many cards, in my wildest imagination. White's daughter, Mary Huston, says her father constantly shakes his head in disbelief whenever they talk about how many cards have been delivered to him.

Iwo Jima left a lasting impression on White

The veteran recounts how, in 1945, he was sent to Iwo Jima, a Pacific island that was the scene of fierce fighting between U.S. and Japanese forces, and was told to relieve another Marine upon his arrival. Once he tapped his fellow service member on the shoulder to switch positions, he realized the man was his lone brother-in-law. They only had the opportunity to say hello and then goodbye.

Weeks later, White led his men in the direction of the Japanese front line. Under fire, a Japanese grenade hit close to White, slamming him against a wall. He was listed as a GSW, meaning gunshot wound, and was sent back to the U.S. despite his protests.

What happened in Iwo Jima still resonates with White to this day. He says of all the Valentine's Day cards he has received so far, his favorite is one showing the iconic image of the American flag being raised on Mount Suribachi.

After returning from the war, White worked 12 years with the Huntington Beach California Police Department in California and volunteered for 30 years with the Huntington Beach Search and Rescue Explorer Post 563. These days, he says, I like to make myself available for anything anyone wants me to do. I don't like to sit and twiddle my thumbs. I like to stay busy."

When asked what his secret to longevity is, he answered, Just keep breathing."
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England's only polar bear park has welcomed its latest arrival in 1,100lb-Rasputin from Russia, whose transfer to Yorkshire was recommended after he fathered three cubs at his last home.

Huge and hulking polar bear Rasputin, born in Moscow Zoo in 2008, arrived at the park in Doncaster last week, after making a 1,000-mile journey from Marineland in southern France.

The 12-year-old recently became a father to three cubs with female Flocke, with whom he has had four in total in the past five years, at his former home in Antibes, but needed to be separated from them for their safety.

Huge and hulking polar bear Rasputin (pictured), born in Moscow Zoo in 2008, arrived at the park in Doncaster last week, after making a 1,000-mile journey from Marineland in southern France

Rasputin is the fifth polar bear to arrive at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, the UK's 'polar bear capital', recommended as the best home for him by the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) .

His two-day move last January had to occur during a cold weather period, was months in the planning, and was overseen by an experienced team of vets and transport specialists.

The polar bear is now chilling out in quarantine in Doncaster, before joining Victor, Pixel, Nissan and Nobby in Project Polar, the 10-acre enclosure of reserves and lakes up to 25ft deep.

The 12-year-old recently became a father to three cubs with female Flocke, with whom he has four in total, at his former home in Antibes, but needed to be separated from them for their safety

Rasputin is the fifth polar bear to arrive at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, the UK's 'polar bear capital', which was recommended as the best home for him by the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP)

The polar bear, now in Doncaster, will spend four months in quarantine before being moved to join Victor, Pixel, Nissan and Nobby in Project Polar, the 10-acre enclosure of reserves and lakes up to 25ft deep

Bruce Walton, 'Ra Ra' Rasputin's former zookeeper in southern France, called him a 'lovely bear', adding: 'I can see he will be very happy here and have a ball.'

Dr Matt Hartley, head of animals at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, called Rasputin's arrival 'very exciting', saying: 'I am sure he is going to settle in very well.

'We were pleased when we found out the park was recommended by the EEP as Rasputin's new home.

'We are committed to our conservation work at the park and, through the Yorkshire Wildlife Park Foundation working together with Polar Bears International, believe that he will be another great polar bear ambassador.

Bruce Walton, 'Ra Ra' Rasputin's former zookeeper in southern France, called him a 'lovely bear', adding: 'He is a lovely bear and I can see he will be very happy here and have a ball'

Dr Matt Hartley, head of animals at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, called Rasputin's arrival 'very exciting', before adding: 'I am sure he is going to settle in very well. We were pleased when we found out the park was recommended by the EEP as Rasputin's new home. We are committed to our conservation work at the park and, through the Yorkshire Wildlife Park Foundation working together with Polar Bears International, believe that he will be another great polar bear ambassador'

'He will help us move forward in our fight to ensure polar bears can ultimately survive the damage climate change is causing to their environment.'

Polar bears are the largest land carnivore and are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, due to climate change.

The loss of sea ice through global warming, which reduces the amount of time they can spend feeding on seals, is regarded as the single biggest threat to polar bears in the wild.
Chain-link cages with mannequins that look like children appeared Monday throughout Des Moines, Iowa, to make a bold statement about immigration.

The hair and shoes of each "child" poke out from underneath silver thermal blankets. The mannequins play recordings of children who have been detained, many whom are heard crying from inside the cage installation.

The realistic mannequins were meant to represent migrant children who have been detained at the US-Mexico border and other centers in the United States, said immigration advocacy group RAICES.

"The horrors at our border and throughout our immigration system are too often ignored by the public and politicians," said Erika Andiola, the chief advocacy officer for RAICES, in a statement. "We're asking people in Iowa and across the country: Don't look away from the terrors enacted in your name."

The timing was targeted to get the attention of voters, as Monday is the day of the Iowa caucuses. The dozen cages were places outside caucus sites and other prominent places in Des Moines with a sign that read "#DontLookAway."

The image of the cages and the sounds were disturbing to some, as officers responded to multiple calls about the "suspicious structures" Monday morning, Des Moines police told CNN.

They removed eight of the cages from public sidewalks and a park.

"The City of Des Moines enjoys the privilege of hosting and participating in Iowa's 'first in the Nation' caucuses, and has a long history of supporting the expression of differing opinions and accommodating the right to lawful protest," said Des Moines Sgt. Paul Parizek in a statement.

"Keeping with that spirit, the Des Moines Police Department welcomes this piece of the political process, however we would like to request that when placing items to promote political agendas, candidates, or expressions of opinion, please consider not abandoning these items on public sidewalks or other public property."

RAICES said it placed the cages around the city because it wants voters to think about immigration as one of the top issues this election.

"We're doing this because almost no politicians in this country are laser-focused on immigration," the group said in a statement. "While some do far better than others, the horror at our border still goes ignored far too often, absent from the policy debates and statements from elected officials."

This isn't the first time the Texas non-profit has placed "children in cages" in public view. It placed cages with child-sized mannequins around New York in June to protest the treatment of children at immigration detention centers.
The Opposition in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday tore into the government, accusing it of hiding the real picture of economy and creating 'destructive' issues like the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens to polarise the society and divert attention from key challenges like economic slowdown, farm distress and unemployment.

As the House took up the debate on Motion of Thanks on the President's Address, the Bharatiya Janata Party launched a frontal attack on opposition parties specially the Congress for their stance against the CAA, saying they were trying to divide the nation.

Initiating the debate, senior BJP leader Bhupender Yadav accused the Congress and the Aam Adami Party of giving 'moral support' to Shaheen Bagh stir and said young minds were 'poisoned through hate-filled speeches' in the name of freedom of expression during the anti-CAA protests.

He said none of these leaders or parties supporting the protests have raised issues of atrocities against minorities in Islamic nations and were busy politicising the issue for petty self interest.

Yadav alleged that by passing resolutions against the CAA, states ruled by non-BJP parties were hurting the Constitution.

"Oppose us but don't divide India.... Don't like us but let positive development happen," he said.

He quoted a statement by Trinamool COngress MP Derek 'O Brien on how his relatives who went to Pakistan had to migrate and how those who came to India prospered.

"We have got the citizenship law so that O'Briens remain O'Briens and are not forced to convert to other religions," Yadav said.

Hitting back, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Triple talaq, CAA, NPR (National Population Register) issues are being talked about by you to divert attention on key issues of unemployment, black money, slow GDP growth.

"Your ideas or proposals are not constructive but destructive."

Azad also expressed the hope that the government would soon realise its 'mistake' of bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territories and bring a bill in this session to restore its statehood.

As many as 477 amendments to the Motion of Thanks were listed in the House.

TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray alleged that the government is using the name of Mahatma Gandhi to hide its 'camouflaged agenda of religious persecution and division' through CAA and National Register of Citizens.

"They are using the name of Gandhi ji, just to mask it.... A minister of this government is publicly asking to shoot the people," he alleged.

He targeted the government over the state of the economy and criticised its disinvestment policy, saying it is on a mission of 'beecho (sell) India'.

The government is selling PSUs along with Life Insurance Corporation, which are properties of the people and steps are being taken without inviting any suggestions from policy makers and employees unions, he said

Ray said his party has moved amendments seeking changes in the President's address as it does not give the real picture of the economy.

"President's speech has not mentioned about the growth of the economy. It is the first time in the history that RBI has changed the growth forecast three times," he said.

Talking about the ongoing agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act, Telangana Rashtra Samiti member Keshava Rao asked the government to sit with the protesters to find a solution.

He alleged that attempts were being made to polarise the society.

Elamaram Kareem of Communist Party of India-Marxist said the President's speech missed the real issues of the people and the country as it did not mention the ongoing economic crisis.

The government has failed in upholding the Constitution, he alleged and added that mandate does not mean that the government would 'pass legislations on its whims and fancies'.

Participating in the debate, Tiruchi Siva (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) said 'federalism is crumbling, secularism is fading and socialism is becoming capitalism' under the present dispensation.

He also accused the BJP-led government of 'polarising the society'.

"The entire country is on road, students are agitating. Democracy is under threat. Everyone in the country is living in a fear," Siva claimed.

The DMK leader claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi has 'devalued India'.

Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena, a former ally of the BJP, alleged that an atmosphere of hate is being created to break the country and there is a 'civil-war like situation'.

On the agitation against the CAA, Raut said the protesters are citizens of this country and the government should sit with them and allay their fears.

The government should follow it own agenda of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas', he said.

Raut claimed Shiv Sena was 'betrayed' after its 30-year association with the BJP.

Taking a jibe, he said economic growth will not increase by giving the longest Budget speech.

On repealing Article 370, Raut said Shiv Sena had supported this decision, but there is still unrest in the Valley. As many as 12 army personnel from Maharashtra have died in Kashmir, he added.

He asked the government how many jobs have been created and industry set up in Kashmir. Raut said he wants to buy land in Kashmir but has not succeeded.

Raut welcomed the Prime Minister's comment that India can defeat Pakistan in 8-10 days, but said the government should fulfil its duty towards the forces as paramilitary forces are facing economic problems and 'not getting salary and wages on time'.

Raut said the forces also do not have bullet proof jacket, ice boots and other necessary items. "This is not the report of tukde-tukde gang but of CAG."

The Sena MP's remarks led to a heated exchange of words between Shiv Sena and BJP members.

Rakesh Sinha (Nominated) opposed Raut's comments but could not be heard.

Opposition parties including the Congress, DMK and Left parties supported Shiv Sena members.

However, Raut said he was mentioning this from the Comptroller and Auditor General report, which was tabled in Parliament.

Raising the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, Azad told the House that government reports indicate that on a total 114 parameters related to education, health, education, sanitation and food, J-K's performance was better on 80 indicators than national average.

He said Gujarat scored better on 52 parameters than national average and if performance was the criteria then there are many states which need to reconstituted.

Azad appealed to the government to release all political leaders in the Valley. He claimed the bifurcation of the state has caused loss to industry, agriculture and employment.

"I hope that the government would admit its mistake and bring a fresh bill to make Jammu and Kashmir a state," he said.
The global mobility devices market size is projected to reach USD 14.86 billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.9% during the forecast period. Staggering rate of growth of geriatric population across the globe will be one of the crucial factors driving this market in the upcoming decade. Old age entails a plethora of disorders that generally restrict mobility in aged individuals and render them helpless. Given the rate at which the world population is ageing, the demand for devices aiding mobility is likely to spike.

According the UNs Population Division, DESA, people at or above 60 years of age are currently numbered at 962 million. In the next three decades, the global geriatric population will reach 2.1 billion, predicts the DESA. Furthermore, old people are more susceptible to accidents associated deteriorating motor functions. For instance, the National Council of Aging estimates about 2.8 million aged Americans are rushed to hospital emergency rooms annually as a result of falling. Thus, a combination of aging and mishaps associated with the process will fuel the mobility devices market trends during the forecast period.

For more information in the analysis of this report, visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/mobility-devices-market-100520

Top Players Profiled in the Mobility Devices Market Report:

MEYRA GmbH

Permobil

Sunrise Medical Limited

Invacare Corporation

GF HEALTH PRODUCTS, INC.

21st Century Scientific, Inc.

Pride Mobility Products Corp.

Ottobock

North America to Lead the Pack; Europe to Follow Closely

Among regions, North America is set to dominate the mobility devices market share owing to the rising prevalence mobility-related disorders in the region. Coupled with this is the increasing number of aged people in the region, which will propel the regional market.

Europe is anticipated to be the second most dominant region in this market on account of high proportion of aged people with mobility impairment. Asia-Pacific is touted to be the most promising region as geriatric population in the region is growing, while unmet needs of the people in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa will create lucrative market opportunities.

Request a Sample Copy of Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/mobility-devices-market-100520

Key Segmentation:

By Product

Wheelchairs

By Type

Manual

Powered

By Application

Standard Wheelchair

Bariatric Wheelchair

Sports Wheelchair

Others

Mobility Scooters

By Wheels

3 wheels

4 wheels

Others

Walking Aids

By End-user

Personal User

Institutional User

By Region

North America (Florida, Virginia, Oregon, California, New York)

Europe

Asia-Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/mobility-devices-market-100520

Growing Aging Population and Rise in Mobility Impairment Disorders to Drive the Market

The older population around the globe is continuously growing at an unprecedented rate. Aging decreases the ability to move and reduces the ability to perform physical tasks to maintain independent functioning among the elderly population. The growing older population count is likely to increase the percentage usage of mobile devices during the forecast period. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2017, the global population aged 60 years or over was around 962 million and is projected to reach about 2.1 billion by 2050. Rising prevalence of chronic conditions such as arthritis, cerebral palsy, and muscular dystrophy among every age group is expected to increase the demand for highly advanced mobility aid devices during the forecast period.

Report Focus:

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Comprehensive analysis of the Mobility Devices Market growth drivers, obstacles, opportunities, and other related challenges.

Tracks the developments, such as new product launches, agreements, mergers and acquisitions, geographical expansions, and joint ventures.

Identifies market restraints and boosters.

Identifies all the possible segments present in the market to aid organizations in strategic business planning.

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Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST

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MEERUT, India  Under the shade of a banyan tree, a group of worshipers recite Sanskrit mantras. A couple men step forward and light a fire. Then they start walking, hands folded, as if in a trance, toward a statue.

Some drape flowers over it. Others sing songs of valor to the statue. It is of Nathuram Vinayak Godse, who assassinated Mohandas K. Gandhi, the revered father of Indian independence and a symbol of nonviolent resistance the world over.

Indians consider Gandhi one of the fathers of their nation. But the rise of a Hindu nationalist government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has uncorked many extremist beliefs, and admiration for Gandhis killer, among some, has become more open. It is a sign of how much India has changed in the five and a half years since Mr. Modi took power.

Gandhi was a traitor, said Pooja Shakun Pandey, who blames Gandhi for partition and who participated in a recent ceremony worshiping Mr. Godse on the anniversary of Gandhis assassination. He deserved to be shot in the head.
WATERLOO  Fewer people flew out of the Waterloo Regional Airport last year.

Airport reports show 22,260 passengers flew out of Waterloo on American Airlines last year, a drop of 152 enplanements from calendar year 2018.

It was the third straight year use of the airports lone commercial passenger air carrier dropped, and it comes as key competitors saw growth.

The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids saw an 11.7% jump in commercial air passengers while the Des Moines International Airport saw 5.3% growth in enplanements.

The citys airport board hired a marketing firm in December to embark on an intensive four-month campaign designed to drive more passengers to fly ALO.

Advance Media-New York has a track record of working with airports similar to Waterloos and will be focused on an internet and social media campaign under a $15,000 contract with the city.

A volunteer air service working group through Grow Cedar Valley also is hoping to expand service at the airport by working to attract an additional flight to another destination.

American Airlines currently offers just two daily flights between ALO and Chicago OHare International Airport. Those limited options along with fare discrepancies are seen as the key reasons Waterloos enplanements arent growing.

David Deeds, a member of the air service working group, is optimistic the marketing and air service campaigns can boost the Waterloo airports use.

The tagline of this marketing effort is smaller is better, Deeds said. The idea is that its easier to get in and out of the (Waterloo) airport. Security is quick. Parking is cheaper. With one stop you can get to 154 places around America and the world.

American Airlines offers nonstop flights from Chicago to 154 destinations.

But the biggest thing is its close to home, said Deeds, noting theres a value in the convenience for Cedar Valley residents who dont have to drive an hour or more to catch a flight.

More than 50,000 passengers boarded planes in Waterloo in 2001, but that number declined rapidly to just over 18,000 passengers in 2012. Ridership then grew to 25,332 passengers in 2016 before dropping the following three years.

An airfare comparison also presented to the airport board with the passenger numbers showed the cost of round-trip tickets from the Waterloo Regional Airport were higher in many cases than Cedar Rapids, Des Moines or Dubuque.

But many of those rates were competitive, and ALO had cheaper flights during the survey period to Miami, Orlando, Fla., and Denver, Colo.

Were close in some markets, but were way out of whack in others, said Airport Director Keith Kaspari.

A round-trip ticket to LaGuardia Airport in New York City leaving Feb. 20 and returning Feb. 23 was $434 from Waterloo and $396 from Cedar Rapids. Round-trip tickets for those same dates to Atlanta were $170 more expensive from Waterloo, while tickets to Miami were $197 less costly from Waterloo than Cedar Rapids.

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The Bihar unit president of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party's student wing was shot at by gunmen at his native village in Samastipur district, police said.

Four unidentified gunmen who came on two motorbikes shot at Balal Raza, the student leader, when he was standing near his father's petrol pump at Satmalpur village on Monday evening.

One of the bullets fired by the criminals hit Raza's right shoulder, injuring him badly, police said.

The gunmen fled from the spot under cover of darkness.

Superintendent of Police Vikas Burman said, the reason behind the incident was yet to be ascertained.

Raza was initially rushed to a nearby hospital.

Later, he was taken to a nursing home by his family members, police said.

An FIR will be lodged on the basis of Raza's statement after he gains consciousness, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[February 04, 2020] UMC Leads all Semiconductor Foundries with CDP "Leadership Level" Designation on Global Climate Change Assessment

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) ("UMC"), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced that for the fourth consecutive year, the company has achieved "Leadership Level" status in the annual global CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) Climate Change Program. UMC became the only semiconductor foundry worldwide to receive this award from CDP, which is currently the most widely recognized carbon, water, forest and other natural resource management disclosure system for global companies. CDP has a high degree of indexation, with close to 8,400 companies actively participating in this year's CDP-sponsored climate change project, the highest in years. UMC was awarded four of the highest "A-level" honors among 11 important indicators. S.C. Chien, co-president of UMC, said: "UMC was invited along with 129 companies from Taiwan to participate in CDP's latest evaluation. We are honored to be recognized for our climate change leadership for the fourth time, while achieving the highest marks in the categories of Scope 3 emissions , Scope 1 & 2 emissions , Governance , and Emissions Reduction Initiatives." UMC announced its climate change policy 10 years ago and was the first in the semiconductor industry to promote a "fluorine-containing greenhouse gas reduction plan" to replace C3F8 with C4F8, which has a higher gas utilization rate, to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the IC manufacturing process. The positive response and follow-up of many partners within the semiconductor industry have enabled C3F8 to be almost fully eliminated from the IC production process. UMC is leading by example, and has been promoting gas reduction in its manufacturing facilities since 2010, with gas usage having been reduced by more than 20% compared to before the plan's implementation. In addition, UMC reduced fluorine-containing greenhouse gases by 1.285 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in 2018, which is equivalent to the carbon absorption of approximately 254 of New York's Central Park. After completing the only carbon rights transaction approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in Taiwan, UMC has donated to society with its "Eco-Echo Award" environmental protection fund throughout the past four years. In 2018, more than 20,000 people participated in Eco-Echo Award program-related activities. In 2019, a "Youth Environmental Action Award" was also newly set up, providing young people with the opportunity to actively speak on behalf of environmental issues and protect the ecology under UMC's initiative. Co-president hien continued, "UMC takes sustainable operation and fulfilling corporate citizenship as its top priority and will continue to invest in climate change prevention. After years of efforts, as of 2019, the fluorine content per unit area of greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by more than 50% compared to 2010. A large number of greenhouse gas reduction equipment is also being added, and carbon assets have been deployed in accordance with the voluntary reduction incentive mechanism announced by the government."



UMC took the lead in responding to the spirit of the CDP, linking industry value chains, inviting partners, suppliers and other global stakeholders to attach importance to the risks and opportunities brought by climate change and to integrate climate issues into overall business decisions. Looking to the future, UMC will also strengthen its own advantages and commit to the three aspects of environment, society, and governance (ESG) to continue to promote the concept of sustainability and exert key influence. UMC Climate Change Related Initiatives

UMC carries out carbon footprint checks on all its manufactured products and has formulated standards as a reference for downstream manufacturers to promote greenhouse gas reduction. The company also requires that all new fab equipment be installed with high efficiency gas treatment systems that reduce fluorine gas in waste exhaust by more than 90%. In terms of manufacturing technologies, UMC introduced a low-carbon, low power process to reduce power consumption in end products and lessen the impact to the environment. In the supply chain, UMC's Carbon Partners program was launched in 2010 to encourage suppliers to use carbon management concepts incorporated into the organization's operating system, and then set and achieve annual reduction goals. UMC also launched its "Triple R League " in 2017 to promote the three goals of Reuse, Recycle, and Reduce, and held sharing sessions to invite suppliers for information exchanges. About CDP The CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) is an independent non-profit organization, headquartered in London, co-sponsored by 534 investment institutions with a total asset management of US $64 trillion and 60 procurement organizations. The purpose of the CDP is to encourage the public and private sectors to measure and manage greenhouse gas emissions, thereby reducing the impact of climate change, and using the concept of investment risk to promote companies to disclose and reduce greenhouse gas information. The Climate Change Program, initiated by the CDP, began in 2000 and invites thousands of companies worldwide to disclose their carbon management-related data, risks, and opportunities, and is about to enter its 20th year. At present, CDP represents more than 525 investment institutions that manage more than US $96 trillion and 120 brands that have a total purchase value of more than US $3 trillion. They respectively send invitations to their investment companies and suppliers to respond to the CDP questionnaire to influence and urge enterprises to pay attention to climate change issues, identify related risks and opportunities, and consider integrating climate issues into business decisions, while setting energy saving and carbon reduction goals to jointly combat global warming. Through past efforts, CDP has become the world's most extensive disclosure system for carbon, water, forest and other related natural resource management. About UMC UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry. The company provides mature and advanced IC production with a focus on Specialty Technologies to serve applications spanning every major sector of the electronics industry. UMC's comprehensive foundry solutions enable chip designers to leverage the company's sophisticated technology and manufacturing, which include high volume 28nm High-K/Metal Gate technology, volume production 14nm FinFET, specialty process platforms specifically developed for AIoT and 5G applications and the automotive industry's highest-rated AEC-Q100 Grade-0 manufacturing capabilities for the production of ICs found in vehicles. UMC's 12 wafer fabs are strategically located throughout Asia and are able to produce more than 700,000 wafers per month. The company employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide, with offices in Taiwan, China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005419/en/

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OTTAWA - U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to slap visa restrictions on six new countries could affect immigration flows to Canada, if history is any indication, as those caught up in the changes find new reasons to come here.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/2/2020 (707 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

President Donald Trump waves from the top of the steps of Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Md., Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to slap visa restrictions on six new countries could affect immigration flows to Canada, if history is any indication. Past moves on immigration policy by his administration on Haiti and Iran saw asylum claims and student visa applications in Canada jump. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Susan Walsh

OTTAWA - U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to slap visa restrictions on six new countries could affect immigration flows to Canada, if history is any indication, as those caught up in the changes find new reasons to come here.

Past U.S. immigration policy moves on Haiti and Iran saw asylum claims and student visa applications for Canada jump, and now Trump is targeting Nigeria, Sudan and Eritrea, already among the largest sources of refugee claims lodged by people crossing irregularly into Canada from the U.S.

Later this month, citizens of those and three other countries will be largely restricted from obtaining permanent residency in the U.S., though some will still be able to qualify for tourist and business visas.

Past internal government analysis of the border crossers found many hold U.S. visas, sometimes obtaining them expressly to travel to Canada to claim refugee status.

Now, with the door slamming shut on permanent residency in the U.S., more people could eye Canada, suggested Robert Falconer, an immigration researcher at the University of Calgary policy school.

"One of the potentially negative impacts is that I think we will see a reversal in the decline of (refugee) claims, especially from Nigeria," he said.

"You could see people who thought they might be able to obtain a green card in the United States instead shift their prospects to Canada."

Not all may seek asylum.

In 2017, Trump sharply restricted immigration from several countries, including Iran. The year before, 2,437 Iranians applied to Canada for a study permit. In the first 11 months of 2019, 13,277 people applied.

With Nigeria's booming middle class, there could be a similar positive impact, said Falconer.

"We're likely to see an increase in high-skilled individuals moving their prospects to Canada," he said.

Still, Nigeria is currently the largest source country for border crossers, making up 14,621 of the 50,635 claims lodged between February 2017 and September 2019, the most recently available data.

Those crossing between formal border points do so because of the Safe Third Country Agreement, a deal prohibiting people from requesting asylum at land border offices.

Though people have always skirted the deal by crossing at unmarked border points, the problem began to escalate the year Trump took office.

In 2016, the RCMP intercepted 2,464 people crossing irregularly into Canada. In 2017, 20,593 were stopped. The Liberal government has repeatedly said modernizing the agreement is a priority, but briefing notes for the federal immigration minister have suggested little real work is getting done.

That's not surprising, said Sharry Aiken, an expert on immigration and refugee law at Queen's University.

"In an election year, would Trump agree that the Safe Third Country Agreement should be modernized so that more refugees should stay in the United States at a time when Trump is doing his level best to ensure more refugees stay out of the United States?"

"It's hard to imagine."

When asked what impact, if any, Trump's new restrictions could have, a spokeswoman for Public Safety Minister Bill Blair did not directly answer the question.

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"While there are ebbs and flows in the number of monthly arrivals of irregular migrants, we remain prepared for these fluctuations," Mary-Liz Power said in an email.

Canada was nearly caught off guard in the early days of Trump's hard line on immigration.

A 2017 decision to signal the end of program giving Haitians a reprieve from deportation prompted thousands to seek asylum in Canada, with sometimes hundreds crossing in a single day.

Among other things, the surge prompted the Liberals to launch multiple campaigns to thwart the crossings, including sending MPs to Haitian communities to warn against crossing the border irregularly to request asylum.

Statistics suggest there was an effect. In 2017, 8,286 Haitians sought asylum in Canada, according to the Immigration and Refugee Board. In 2018, that number was 1,496.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2020.
In recent weeks, President Trump has been accused of starting a war with Iran. Democratic media activists  and even some never-war, "America First" isolationists among the Trump base on the right  have reacted with a bit of hysteria over his major punch back at the Islamic regime. In a remarkably surgical strike, Trump took out the hostile Islamic Republic's "beloved hero," General Qassem Soleimani. So Trump has now been branded a "neocon" who committed a "war crime" and started a third world war. But if we look back at the Iranian regime's past behavior, it is clear that Trump's missile strike was a rare act of defensive retaliation against four decades of Islamic jihad.

On November 4, 1979, a terrorist gang of the Muslim Students of the Imam Khomeini Line stormed the United States embassy in Tehran. They kidnapped 52 American diplomats and civilians. By definition, an embassy is the sovereign territory of one nation on the soil of a host nation. When the host regime allows  or actually plots  invasion of an embassy, that is an act of war.

In that case, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, as first "supreme leader" of Iran, had brought the country under rule by Islamic law that past January. So sanctity of the embassy simply no longer mattered to the Muslims who seized that power. As the Quran commands them by verse 47:35, "[s]o do not weaken and call for peace while you are superior; and Allah is with you and will never deprive you of [the reward of] your deeds."

By the Islamic supremacism of Allah's law, Khomeini's embassy invasion was a righteous act of war. Such warfare intent even became codified in the newly imposed Islamic constitution. As it declares for itself, "the constitution prepares the ground for continuing this revolution at home and abroad." To be clear, "abroad" means the entirety of the non-Islamic world  and especially America. That is why when I grew up there, I was trained to chant "Death to America!" in school.

That Islamic constitution spells out for the Muslims of Iran their "ideological mission, i.e. striving ( jehad) on the path of God and struggle on the path of expanding the sovereignty of the law of God in the world; in accordance with the Qur'anic verse: 'Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies' (8:60)."

As one of Iran's first acts of Islamic war, the embassy attack was triggered by President Carter's refusal to hand over the Shah  Mohammed Reza Pahlavi  who had sought treatment in the U.S for stomach cancer. Khomeini's war hostages remained captive for 444 days, until release on Ronald Reagan's inauguration on January 20, 1981.

Over the past forty years, Islamic Iran has maimed and killed many hundreds of Americans, and others, in endless acts of warfare and terror. Some people might think to explain those casualties as the folly of American interventionism abroad  if only America would stay out of Islamic lands, then Muslims would not fight us, is their hope. But repeatedly, the Quran proves them wrong, as commanded in verse 2:216: "[f]ighting has been enjoined upon you while it is hateful to you. But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not."

Even if we put all of that aside, it remains fact that over the past forty years, there has never been any peace treaty or ceasefire declared between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States. The two countries have been effectively at war ever since the embassy invasion. We have no indication that Iran will ever stop, as long as the regime remains in power.

On December 31, 2019, in echoes of the 1979 invasion, a mob organized by Soleimani's terrorist army, the Quds Force, attacked the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. It also seemed to be a replay of attacks on America's compounds in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.

But President Trump's resolve to defend Americans in the war zone proved to be the weakness of neither 1979's Jimmy Carter nor 2012's Barack Obama. By Trump's leadership, on January 3, 2020, both Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Iraqi allies of the Quds Force, were killed in a U.S. drone strike.

President Trump did not start this war, either forty years ago or last year. He has no intent to perpetuate it for another forty years. In fact, President Trump's strong actions have moved the region farther away from devastating war. The sanctions he has put in place have crippled the Islamic Republic's ability to scale up any war it might fuel. Trump negated the $150-billion bribery deal Obama paid in hopes to pacify the regime's nuclear ambitions. The 2019 embassy attack  like the oil tanker attacks that summer  was a loser's gamble by the regime.

By standing strong against the Islamic regime, President Trump has won the hearts of the Iranian people, most of whom detest their own oppressive and warmongering government. Iranians celebrated Soleimani's death. In fact, the tweet President Trump sent out in Farsi in support of the Iranian protesters became the most "liked" Persian-language tweet in the history of Twitter.

President Trump's moral clarity and support are indispensable to the protesters in Iran, who are being murdered in the streets because they hate being ruled by Islamic law while they show love of America's flag.

Khomeini was fond of saying, "America can't do a damn thing." However Trump proved that America can. Strong American leadership could result in a new Iranian Revolution for freedom, rather than the "World War III" of the doomsayers. They consistently fail to understand why Iran's Muslim soldiers have kept making war upon us non-Muslims in the world for the past forty years  and for the past fourteen centuries.

Image: Ninara via Flickr.
There is no connection between leaving the European Union and Sundays terror attack in Streatham. But that is not how it will seem to some voters. They were told that Brexit means taking back control. Which they will believe means incarcerating terrorists permanently. They will not take kindly to being told that this cant be done because of our membership of the European Convention of Human Rights  and the obligations that flow from it.

Others will be more cynical. They will remember that it was briefed, after the London Bridge terror assault in November, that Boris Johnson would lock up terrorists and throw away the key. The key was not disposed of in the case of Sudesh Amman. It was turned in the lock and used to let him out halfway through his term, as the law required in his case. He then stabbed three people last weekend.

Robert Buckland told the Commons yesterday that emergency legislation will be introduced to minimise the risk of a similar attack. The underlying principle must be that offenders will no longer be released early automatically and that anyone released before the end of their sentence will be dependent on a risk assessment by the Parole Board, he said.

Which is all well and good. But, first, such change wont prevent terrorists from being released sooner or later. Second, risk assessments can go wrong. Finally, future sentences dont cover present offenders. Bill Cash raised that last point with the Justice Secretary, demanding that the legislation will be fully retrospective, notwithstanding article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Bucklands reply was non-commital.

One wonders what he made of the Number Ten source who said yesterday that responsibility for the Streatham attacks lies with terrible decisions made over past 15 years and the shocking influence of lawyers on policy [our italics]. On the face of it, this is an astounding claim: after all, Cash himself, for example, is a lawyer. It is not obvious that this hero of the Eurosceptic movement somehow shares the responsibility for terror attacks.

But Downing Street is getting at the issue that the Stone MP raised yesterday, and that we highlighted at the start of this article. After Brexit, Dominic Cummings once wrote, well be coming for the ECHR referendum and well win that by more than 52-48: he is exactly where those angry voters are on taking back control. The Conservative Manifesto addressed the issues concerned less vividly: indeed, it didnt specifically address the ECHR at all.

It did however promise a Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission to probe the Human Rights Act, administrative law and judicial review. Many eyes will be on it when the Government forms it and selects a Chairman. Before then, there will doubtless be a legal tussle about whether Ministers can legislate restrospectively in relation to present terrorist prisoners in the way that Buckland promised yesterday.

That will suit Cummings and company just fine. As this site wrote after the London Bridge assault, elected MPs, not ECHR judges, should have the final say  whether the matter in question is votes for prisoners, say, or detention without trial. Ultimately, the policy aim should be for a British Bill of Rights, which would be writtento strike a better balance, inter alia, between national security and civil liberties.

It will be said that longer incarceration is unnecessary: that better deradicalisation programmes, stricter monitoring and lie detector tests (according to the Justice Secretary yesterday) can do the trick. They all have their part to play but none can guarantee public safety. A final point may be worth making. The most likely next leader of the Labour Party is not only a lawyer but a former Director of Public Prosecutions  during the past 15 years, is he not?




Nigeria police

The Federal Government has clarified that the special constables to be recruited nationwide preparatory to the implementation of its community policing policy will not be paid salary.

According to FG, those recruited will be on voluntary basis. The clarification is coming after the FG had on January 23 directed the police hierarchy to commence recruitment of special constables nationwide.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, in a wireless message directed state police commands to set up screening committees for the recruitment of community policing constables.

The IG ordered all state commissioners of police, assistant commissioners of police and divisional police officers to liaise with traditional rulers and community leaders in their domains to screen volunteers who would be engaged after passing the screening tests.

The Federal Government plan came on the heels of the South-West states launching of a security outfit, Operation Amotekun, to address incessant killings and kidnapping in the zone.

As part of the moves to recruit community policing constables, the Ekiti State Police Command on Sunday said it had sent recruitment forms to all police stations in all the local government areas of the state. According to the command, applicants must be between the ages of 21 and 50.

Explaining in details about the recruitiment, the Commissioner for Police in Ebonyi State, Sola Awotinde, in an interview with Punch on Monday, said the proposed recruitment was meant for Nigerians who were already employed.

He said that it was important for Nigerians to be told the truth so that whoever wanted to be part of the scheme, should be prepared to know what to expect.

The police commissioner added that people had misconstrued the recruitment order of the IG into the community policing to be another paid job opportunity.

He said, We have not been given the green light to recruit anybody. We are just at the committee level. I mean the committee that will screen the would be special constables. No command has been given the go-ahead to commence the said recruitment. The Force Headquarters has not done that.

It is the headquarters that would say go ahead and we will start. But no command has been given such an order. The first stage is screening and we are just setting up the screening committee.

And please, people should be told this truth and sound it clear to them; it is not remuneration-based job. It is voluntary. It is just going to be like the special marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps.

It is for those who are gainfully employed or self-employed. There is no salary for anybody in the community policing scheme. People are misconstruing it to mean another job opportunity and I have received so many calls over this.

It is not a paid job. Again, it is a voluntary job. And there is nothing like recruitment of constables. Also those to be engaged must be between the age of 21 and below 50.

Also, the Police Public Relations Officer for the Ekiti State Command, Sunday Abutu, said that the special constables that would be recruited would not be paid.

Abutu, in an interview with The PUNCH, said the special constables would work voluntarily in their communities.

When asked if the special constables in Ekiti State would be paid, he said, It will not be different from what is applicable across the federation. For now, what we know is that these people are coming voluntarily. It is going to be voluntary, no monetary attachment for now.

The Ogun State Police Command also said it would not pay any of the recruits for the special community policing scheme.

Oyeyemi said the exercise started on Monday with a meeting held between the Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, and the executive members of the Police Community Relations Committee in the state.
The Karnataka government on Tuesday launched the Janasevaka scheme in a few municipal corporation wards to ensure home delivery of various services like ration cards, senior citizen identity and health cards.

The scheme, which was launched by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, will pertain to 53 services involving 11 departments.

"Janasevaka under the Sakala scheme is a programme to avail the benefits of government schemes at the doorstep.

Our objective is to make the lives of the citizens of Karnataka easy by launching this scheme," the Chief Minister said.

Sakala aims to ensure in-time delivery of government services to citizens by practising innovative and efficient management systems through capacity building in government and empowering citizens to exercise their right to service.

Minister for Sakala and Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar said "The scheme that was implemented in Dasarahalli area on a pilot basis will now be extended to Mahadevapura, Bommanahalli and Rajajinagar areas."



He added that it will benefit the senior citizens of the city.

If the scheme works well, it will be implemented across Bengaluru in all the 27 assembly segments, Kumar said, adding that based on the experiment in Bengaluru, it will be extended to Mysuru, Mangaluru and Hubballi-Dharwad.

Under the scheme, there will be one volunteer in each ward.

These volunteers have been outsourced.

A toll-free helpline has been set up for this scheme which will work from 8 am to 8 pm.

A sum of Rs 115 will be charged to provide the home delivery services.

In addition to it, the Karnataka government has also decided to seek information under the RTI Act easy by making it online.

People can apply from home by paying the fee online.

This will make the process hassle-free, the Chief Minister said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Tamilla Mammadova  Trend:

Visits by international travelers (who stay in a country for more than six months not for tourism, but for the purposes of education, employment, family reunion, etc.) to Georgia amounted to 633,201 in January 2020, which is 19.8 percent more compared to the same period of last year, Trend reports referrong to Georgian National Tourism Administration.

As reported, out of the total number of visits by international travelers, 523,689 (19.8 percent increase) were carried out by international visitors, defined as visits of people who are over the age of 15 and travel for less than one year.

In the first month of 2020, out of international visits, tourist-type visits (visits of people who stayed in Georgia for at least one night) accounted for 363,614 (an 18.9 percent increase).

As reported, the top countries from where most international visits were paid to Georgia in January 2020 include Azerbaijan  34.9 percent, Russia  1.1 percent, and Turkey  16.6 percent.

The major EU countries from where an increase of international visits was recorded include Italy -133.1 percent, Poland - 82.9 percent, France - 46.8 percent, and Lithuania - 43.7 percent.

The countries with the most significant increase of international visits include Israel - 57.3 percent, Saudi Arabia - 49.8 percent, Kazakhstan - 44.8 percent, and Kuwait  44.6 percent.

As reported, the income Georgia earned in 2019 from international travelers' visits amounted to $3.3 billion which is an increase of 1.4 percent compared to 2018.

In December 2019, Georgia earned $217 million from international travelers' visit (up 5.4 percent), says tourism administration.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356
Toronto politicians and residents frustrated by the delay in regulating the citys short-term rentals need look only as far as Oakville to see the complexities of restricting operations of online accommodation platforms such as Airbnb.

The renewed calls for a clampdown on short-term rentals used as party houses come after Friday nights fatal shooting of three people in a downtown condo. Of particular concern are homes rented by landlords who dont live there and are simply operating them as de facto hotels.

The uproar has sparked fresh questions about the corporate citizenship of rental platforms  not just Airbnb, but Expedia, VRBO and others.

Oakville passed its short-term rental regulation in March 2018. Like Toronto, it confined short-term rentals to the principal residence of the landlord. It is ahead of Toronto in delivering letters to landlords informing them they are required to pay an annual $237 licence fee and informing online rental operators of a $44,500 charge  money designed to cover Oakvilles enforcement costs.

While some operators have moved out of the short-term market there, Airbnb continues to advertise Oakville rentals. There were more than 300 on its site on Monday. But it has yet to pay the registration fee making its operation there illegal from the towns perspective.

They dont have a licence to operate so I would say they are operating in violation of the licensing bylaw, said Jim Barry, director of municipal licensing.

Oakvilles licensing fee looks to be among the highest in North America. But Barry says that may not be accurate given many larger municipalities, including Toronto, have additional nightly rental fees in their systems.

Still, the town is now reconsidering its short-term fee structure and Airbnbs objections are a factor in what Barry described as a broader licensing fee review that will go before council in the spring.

He says Airbnb has been adamant that it opposes the fee structure.

A spokesperson for the company would only say, We are currently in discussions with the Town of Oakville regarding their regulatory framework.

Barry stressed that Oakville was taking a progressive approach to short-term rental enforcement and didnt want to rush into charges or going to court.

The best outcome for residents and businesses in the area is if we can figure out how this licensing program works and provides the necessary health and safety, consumer protection, nuisance control for the residents while being reasonable for the businesses involved, he said.

In Toronto, where it is believed Airbnb alone has more than 20,000 listings, the online companies will have to pay a one-time $5,000 licence fee and an ongoing $1 for every night booked.

Torontos short-term rental enforcement may not be happening fast enough for some but the city is working aggressively to get its licensing and enforcement in action, said Carleton Grant, executive director of Municipal Licensing and Standards.

He said it would have been unwise to move ahead during the provincial Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT). But now that the decision has favoured the city, another attempt to appeal the bylaw through the courts wont slow the process down.

Still, it will be at least the fall before the system is up and running. Its a huge undertaking, Grant said. The technology the city looked at two years ago is already out of date.

This is really transitioning to a new regulatory regime where people have been renting out their places going back years, Grant said.

We will not sacrifice accuracy for speed. When we do things too quickly we make a ton of mistakes and then its not enforceable, he said.

Fairbnb, a pro-regulation coalition, maintains that it is already illegal for landlords to rent properties that arent their principal residences. Spokesperson Thorben Wieditz says the rental platform operators, including Airbnb, are bad corporate citizens.

Around the world we have seen many times over that municipalities come up with rules and regulations and Airbnb is doing everything they can to either drag out regulations, to avoid playing by the rules or to sue municipalities and government every time rules are being put in place that cut into the business model. Their business model is to operate in legal grey zones. Their business model relies on the wholesale conversion of residential housing stock into hotels. They know exactly what that does to residential communities and city fabrics, he said.

Business professor William Mitchell of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto says that violent incidents like the one seen on the weekend are not the rental platforms fault.

We certainly had violent incidents in Toronto long before Airbnb and we continue to have violent incidents that have nothing to do with Airbnb, he said.

It is in Airbnbs interest to keep its business model robust and it has found a market, Mitchell said. But he added he cant see how the company can ban party houses.

For them sitting in California trying to enforce a party house ban in Toronto seems a little challenging, he said.

A timeline of Toronto short-term rental rules

Dec. 5, 2017: Toronto City Council adopts a zoning bylaw to regulate short-term rentals with implementation set to begin in June 2018.

January 2018: Landlords appeal the citys bylaw to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).

Nov. 4, 2019: Airbnb bans party houses on its platform.

Nov. 18, 2019: LPAT rules in favour of Torontos short-term rental bylaw.

Dec. 3, 2019: Jason Cherniak, the lawyer representing seven short-term rental landlords, announces a court application that would allow another appeal of the LPAT decision. That application is expected to be heard next month.

Spring 2020: Toronto will begin licensing short-term rental companies and registering individual operators. They will have three months to register.

Summer 2020: Short-term rental operators will be required to be registered with the city and pay a quarterly four per cent a Municipal Accommodation Tax.
I started as an actor. I went to school for that. So really, anything where I get to tell stories would be great, he said. Acting is my primary wheelhouse. But I do standup too. Ive been simultaneously doing it all. I think that you have to do everything if you want to keep yourself well-fed. When Im not performing with Second City, I might be doing a stand-up show that I wrote all the concept for that. Or might be doing an acting gig and maybe Ill pop up on TV sometime. Im always working. I take vacation to work on other projects.
Russia's hybrid military forces have violated the ceasefire regime in Donbas four times on February 4, no casualties have been reported among Ukrainian servicemen, the Defense Ministry of Ukraine said.

"The enemy shelled our positions near Maryinka the Donetsk direction from 07:00 using tripod-mounted and hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers and heavy machine guns for 25 minutes. Despite the threat to their lives and health the defenders of this town opened counterfire from authorized infantry small arms," spokesman for the Defense Ministry of Ukraine Maksym Prauta said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.

In addition, the mercenaries attacked the Ukrainian positions near Krasnohorivka using tripod-mounted anti-tank grenade launchers and heavy machine guns at around 11:00.

"The situation remains escalated near Novotoshkivske in the Luhansk direction. The occupants launched eight 82mm mines on the positions of the Joint Forces Operation from 07:20 to 07:50," the ministry said.

The enemy also opened fire on the Ukrainian positions near Travneve using tripod-mounted and hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms.

No casualties among Ukrainian servicemen have been reported as of 12:30.
Time Hotels, the UAE-based hospitality company and hotel operator, has debuted its Time Express Hotels brand with the opening of a new property in Sharjah this month.



The three-star Time Express Hotel Al Khan comprises 55 keys in total, spread across five floors, including five suites which feature well-equipped kitchenettes and 50 standard rooms.



Mohamed Awadalla, CEO, TIME Hotels, said: This is a very exciting chapter in Time Hotels history as we open our first property under Time Express Hotels  our newest hotel brand in the Time portfolio.



Built with both business and leisure visitors in mind, this hotel is fully equipped with everything the modern, budget-conscious traveller requires, delivering a fresh and stylish environment at unbeatable value for guests not looking to compromise on quality.



Time Express Hotel Al Khan is located just 15 minutes drive from Dubai International Airport, 20 minutes from Sharjah International Airport and a 15-minute walk from Al Khan Beach.



The hotel will feature Foodio, an all-day dining outlet which serves sumptuous international dishes as well as authentic Arabic cuisine, offering guests both buffet and a la carte dining options.



Guests will also have access to a temperature-controlled rooftop swimming pool as well as a 24-hour fitness centre which is fully equipped with top-of-the-line equipment, a prayer room and underground car parking spaces.



The hotel will also feature two multi-purpose conference rooms which are suitable for a range of different events, providing state-of-the-art equipment in an efficient and comfortable environment. Accommodating up to 30 guests, Time Express Al Khan has an experienced conference and events team on hand to ensure a stress-free and successful delivery of all events.



The opening of Time Express Hotel Al Khan is part of a huge expansion programme, with the company set to extend its footprint in the UAE with further openings in Dubai as well as other properties across the Mena region including Egypt.



Awadalla added: 2020 is set to be a busy year for Time Hotels with several properties due to come online over the next 12 months. We have been very strategic with our upcoming openings, identifying and assessing demand within the market and working to implement the most suitable brand from the Time portfolio that best matches that demand. - TradeArabia News Service
The death toll from coronavirus in China's Hubei province rose to 426 on Tuesday, RT reported citing Chinese state TV.

The confirmed cases of coronavirus in China have now surged past 20,000.

The virus was diagnosed first in December in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and has spread to most parts of the

As the virus spread, Beijing faced global isolation with neighboring countries like North Korea Russia, Mongolia closing its borders with China.

China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year.

Health authorities around the are taking action to prevent a global pandemic as the virus continues to spread, with cases reported in Australia, France, the United States and seven Asian countries besides China.

The US, Australia, and Singapore have temporarily shut their doors to non-citizens who have recently traveled to China. Vietnam has also barred all flights to and from China.

Many countries, including India, the US, Germany, Iran and Sri Lanka have repatriated their citizens from China.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Agawam native who served as a longtime aide to former U.S. Sen. John Kerry died Saturday at the age of 61.

James D. Shaer, of Melrose, had a 40-year career in politics, public policy and government, according to his obituary.

He was a terrific guy, very smart and really astute politically, said Richard Theroux, a retired Agawam city clerk and former city councilor. He was from a wonderful, close-knit family.

His parents owned Shaers Market in Feeding Hills and Shaer and his siblings worked there from time to time, so everyone knew the entire family, Theroux said.

Shaer became active in politics as a teenager and graduated from American International College in Springfield with a bachelors degree in politics. He was in his early 20s when he joined the campaign to elect Kerry as lieutenant governor of Massachusetts.

Deb Kozikowski of Chicopee, vice chairwoman of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee, said she first got to know Shaer when he jumped into the campaign early, in 1981 or 1982, and they both worked long hours as Kerry supporters.

I worked closely with him, she said of the grassroots effort that many had their doubts would be successful. That was the little campaign that could, and we did.

Kerry served as lieutenant governor for two years under Gov. Michael Dukakis. When Kerry was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984, Shaer joined his staff and held different positions, including assistant state director, for 15 years, his obituary said.

After leaving Kerrys staff, Shaer was government relations director for universities and a communications company. His most recent position was executive consultant for advocacy and public policy for the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, his obituary said.

It was just a few weeks ago that Kozikowski got a message from Shaer teasing her about the cooking posts she put on Facebook. He had suffered some health problems and was focused on eating healthy, so he asked her about her recipes, she said.

We kept in touch all these years, Kozikowski said. He was a great guy and we will miss him terribly.

Shaer leaves his wife of 26 years, Nancy Shaer, five siblings and their families and multiple other relatives.

Family and friends will gather from 4-8 p.m. Thursday at the Gately Funeral Home, 79 W. Foster St., Melrose, for the wake. A funeral Mass will be held at St. Mary of the Annunciation Church, 9 Herbert St., Melrose, at 11 a.m. on Friday.
BOSTON - The government must release some documents that will shed light on two grand juries that sat in Boston nearly 50 years ago to investigate the leak of the Pentagon Papers, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

The records detailing the probe into the publication of records that exposed the deceit of American policymakers during the Vietnam War were sought by Jill Lepore, a Harvard University professor and New Yorker staff writer.

Lepore filed a petition in 2018 seeking the long-secret documents from the 1971 grand juries, saying the records would fill a significant gap in the publics understanding of the Pentagon Papers episode and contribute to contemporary debates over press freedom and national security.

But federal prosecutors fought their release, arguing that it is critical to keep grand juries secret in order to encourage witnesses to testify freely and protect the privacy of people who are later cleared of accusations.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said in her written decision that she would grant a limited disclosure of the grand jury materials but not allow the unfettered access Lepore sought.

Burroughs is allowing the release of transcripts and exhibits for witnesses who supported making the files public but will allow officials to request redactions. The judge is also allowing the release of transcripts and exhibits for witnesses who are dead, unless the government can prove they need to stay secret to protect surviving family members.

If the government objects to the release of other documents, it has 60 days to explain why they should stay under wraps, Burroughs said. The judge signalled that she may be willing to delay the release of the records so the government has a chance to appeal, given the importance of this issue.

The U.S. attorneys office in Boston didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. An email was also sent to Lepores attorneys Tuesday.

Burroughs said she was allowing the documents to be released reluctantly, expressing concern it could have unintended consequences or open the door to the release of other secret grand jury documents in the future.

All of that being said, the authority of the court to allow the disclosure sought in this case seems clear and given the passage of time, the historical significance of the materials at issue and the fact that much of the matter is already in the public domain, the court must conclude that the limited disclosure allowed herein does not run afoul of any of the purposes of grand jury secrecy, Burroughs wrote.

Among those who supported their release was Daniel Ellsberg, the former government consultant who gave the papers to The New York Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers.

Ellsberg said in a declaration filed in court that it is important now more than ever to release the grand jury investigation records because it represented one of the governments earliest attempts to use the Espionage Act to indict journalists for doing journalism.
Gardai are searching for a teenager who has been missing for four days.

Ryan McGuinness, aged 15, is missing from the Naul area of county Dublin, since Friday, January 31.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 19:35:30|Editor: yhy

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb.4 (Xinhua)--Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday inaugurated the Chinese built 254 Mega Watts (MW) Genale Dawa III hydro dam project.

The Ethiopia Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, Seleshi Bekele and Ethiopia Minister of Innovation and Technology, Abraham Belay also attended the hydro dam inauguration ceremony.

The hydro dam project built by the China Gezhouba Group Corporation cost around 451 million U.S. dollars with the majority of the money needed to finance the project sourced through loans from the China Export-Import Bank.

Speaking to Xinhua, Moges Mekonen, Communication Director at Ethiopia Electric Power (EEP), said the 254 MW Genale Dawa III hydro dam is expected to fill a critical gap in Ethiopia's ongoing efforts to meet the energy needs of the country's estimated 110 million people.

The 254 MW Genale Dawa III hydro project is located in southeastern Ethiopia, 630 kms southeast of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

The energy sector is one of Ethiopia's priorities as the country envisages to become a light manufacturing hub in Africa and middle-income economy by 2025.

Ethiopia recently unveiled a 10-year energy roadmap that aims to increase energy generation four-fold using various energy sources such as geothermal, hydro, wind, co-generation and solar power.
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GLASGOW, Scotland  Mondays first Iowa caucus meeting took place 6,000 miles away from the Hawkeye state.

Eight hours before caucuses in Iowa were scheduled to begin, three Iowans showed up in Tbilisi, capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, to choose a Democratic candidate for president of the United States.

Tbilisi was one of 87 satellite caucuses around the world, and it marked the first time Iowans living outside the state have been given a voice in the all-important ritual that marks the official beginning of presidential primary season.

The Republicans held their own caucuses in Iowa Monday, but did not set up out-of-state satellite sites.

Latest on Iowa: Caucus updates

Twenty Iowans showed up to participate in the first ever satellite caucuses in an apartment in Glasgow, Scotland Monday.

More than 6,000 miles from Des Moines, Tbilisi is an ancient city in the heart of the Caucasus region, an area that straddles eastern Europe and Western Asia. It was ruled for long periods of time by the Persians and the Russians, but on Monday, three Americans who live there made a statement about democracy.

The Tbilisi caucus was conducted successfully, over a traditional Iowan meal of pizza and ranch dressing  accompanied by a Georgian wine, organizer Joshua Kucera tweeted, about 8 hours ahead of when many of the caucuses in Iowa were scheduled to kick off.

Alongside his comments, Kucera posted a picture of Iowas vertical red, white and blue tricolor flag with a bald eagle in its middle.

The Tbilisi caucus was conducted successfully, over a traditional Iowan meal of pizza and ranch dressing  accompanied by Georgian wine. The results will be reported along with the rest of the results after the caucuses in Iowa take place. pic.twitter.com/SraYlfxAUq  Joshua Kucera (@joshuakucera) February 3, 2020

The caucuses  internal party meetings, essentially  dont guarantee a candidates nomination but can provide momentum heading into the next round of primaries. Kucera, a freelance journalist specializing in the former Soviet republics, said the results from Tbilisi event would be reported after the rest of the Iowa caucuses take place.

Story continues

At stake Monday in Iowa are 41 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. The Tbilisi caucus was one of three international gatherings organized by Iowas Democratic Party. The other two were held in a graduate students apartment in Glasgow, Scotland, and in Paris, France, where the mayor of Frances capital agreed to let an American overseas college student host an Iowa caucus event.

2020 Iowa Democratic Caucus Election Results | USA TODAY

When will results come?

Out-of-state and international satellite caucus sites are being treated as one big county, so the results wont be known until all of the sites outside of Iowa report their results.

Three thousand miles closer to Des Moines but still a continent away, about 20 Iowans showed up at Colyn Burbank's apartment in Glasgow, Scotland to caucus.

Burbank, a Des Moines native, hosted a mixture of Iowans, observers and press, in Glasgow, where he is studying for a master's degree in social care.

He lives with his wife and young daughter along with another Iowan couple, and their cat, Lewis. The couple has decorated their home with pictures of famous Iowans such as the actor John Wayne, American late-night television host Johnny Carson and Grant Wood's iconic 1930 painting "American Gothic," which shows a farmer holding a pitchfork next to a stern-faced woman.

They also put on an Iowan-type spread of corn chips, homemade chocolate cookies, pretzels and what they claimed was an Iowan staple called "puppy chow:" a twisted midwestern masterpiece consisting of Chex cereal, peanut butter, chocolate and powdered sugar. Lewis, the cat, darted in and out of the room amid heated political discussion.

It was the first time the 31-year-old had hosted a caucus and doing it overseas was a novel experience. At one point he ducked out of the room to call an Iowa Democratic Party hotline to get clarity over whether he could allow the woman who showed up ten minutes late to participate. (He couldn't.)

Iowa residents on vacation and supporters of Democratic Presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar react after she had the most members of support during an satellite Iowa Caucus at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Charlotte County in Port Charlotte on Monday Feb 3, 2020. Iowa residents from all over Florida participated.

In the actual caucus, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders got the most support. Nine people said he was their first choice, followed by six who chose Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and three for former mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Despite polls that have shown him and Sanders in a virtual tie, no one caucused for former vice president Joe Biden.

"Not to put too find a point on it but it feels like the future is at stake with this election," said Lucy Schiller, 31, who is teaching American literature and creative writing at a college in Germany and traveled to Glasgow for the caucus. She previously taught at the University of Iowa, in Des Moines. "This is the last off-ramp we have before climate disaster."

Florida caucusgoers gather

Closer to home in the Florida Gulf Coast community of Port Charlotte, 135 Iowa residents had the luxury of showing up in shorts and T-shirts to choose their candidates.

It was one of four satellite caucuses in the Sunshine State.

At the packed Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Charlotte County, 56 people chose Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Buttigieg received support from 45 caucusgoers. Biden came in third with 33. Warren received support from 12 people.

I was hopeful that shed do better than what the polls have shown, but I didnt expect her to do as well as she did, said Peggy Doerge, a Klobuchar supporter from Iowa City who winters in North Fort Myers.

Sanders earned support from a single caucuser, as did former businessman Andrew Yang.

Other caucus sites in Florida were in Pensacola Beach, Miramar Beach and St. Petersburg. Many of the attendees drove hours to attend.

Among them were Lanny Schwartz and his wife, Jane Allen, of Cedar Falls, Iowa. They drove four and a half hours from Key Largo to participate.

I like Biden, because I think hes most likely to beat Trump, and that seems to be the main thing here. I think all of us here just want to defeat Trump, Lanny Schwartz said. We think whats been going on is outrageous compared to whats right and whats in the Constitution.

Karla and John Hansen were split in their support for Biden and Buttigieg. The couple, from a town just outside Des Moines, drove more than an hour from their vacation condo in Cape Coral to make their voices heard.

Ive caucused every (year) since I was 18, John Hansen said. I felt bad because we scheduled this trip and then I realized it was the caucuses. We were all excited that they were going to have one close by.

Margaret Torrie, of Ames, Iowa, and one of the organizers of the Port Charlotte caucus event, said she had no idea how much interest there might be, if any.

I was kind of thrilled, she said as people lined up at her table to sign in. We havent done this before.

The crowd was mostly older and largely white. Most said they are attend caucuses frequently and vote regularly.

While all had their candidates of choice, one chant heard over and over in the crowd was, Vote blue, no matter who.

Molly Sanders was one of the youngest to caucus at Pensacola Beach. She is a naval aviation student from Ames, Iowa training at NAS Pensacola.

Honestly, just pulling into the parking lot and seeing all the Iowa license plates made my heart warm, Sanders said.

A gathering in D.C.

Up the Atlantic Seaboard, where the nation's capital was enjoying a warm sunny day of its own, Army Col. Candice Frost had been waiting for decades to take part in the Iowa caucuses. On Monday, she she finally got her chance.

A Democrat who works in the Pentagon but who maintains her home residence in Muscatine, Frost, who would only say shes in her 40s, was one of about 90 Iowans who took part in the out-of-state caucus location set up at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers offices in Washington, D.C.

She said she hasnt been able to caucus since the 1990s because of her military responsibilities in Washington.

This is awesome, she said. Ive tried to do this for many years.

2020 candidates on the issues: A voter's guide to where they stand on health care, gun control and more

Frost declined to say who she planned to caucus for but was willing to say, the people Im not caucusing for are trending super-progressive, believing some of the candidates are leaning too far left in some of their proposals.

While some others in the caucus room expressed similar concerns, there were also those ready to embrace more progressive candidates. For instance, Brandon Hanson, 30, of Estherville, works in Washington for political campaigns, though not for any of the presidential candidates.

Hes supporting Sen. Elizabeth Warren, saying, I really like all the policies she has  and I wouldnt mind seeing a woman president. If she were not to hit the 15% threshold of support required, however, Hanson figures he would switch to Sanders.

Democratic officials closed the caucus room at 8 p.m., asking the media to leave, and were not expected to announce results, saying they would be reported back back to Iowa and added to the satellite location totals.

Sue Greene, a 64-year-old substance abuse prevention specialist from Dubuque, was in Washington area attending a conference.

Greene said she thinks Buttigieg "has the tenacity and the compassion this country needs to get out of this mess.

Her second choice would probably be Warren, even though Sanders and Biden have been seen as the likely frontrunners in the polls in recent weeks.

Why cant she vote for them?

Too old, she said.

Participants make their choice for the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate at one of the first Iowa satellite caucus event at University of Pennsylvania's Houston Hall on Monday.

At nearby George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., one of 24 college campuses that hosted caucuses, 15 Iowans met in a classroom at Merten Hall.

Shortly after 7 p.m., GMU student Mary Beth Armstrong, began the caucus.

Warren won the precincts first alignment with eight of the 15 people. Four people caucused for Sanders, two caucused for Amy Klobuchar, and one caucused for Tulsi Gabbard, meaning she did not meet the threshold for viability.

One supporter from each of the viable candidates then gave a brief speech attempting to persuade the lone Gabbard supporter to join their cause. On the second alignment, the Gabbard supporter realigned with the Sanders campaigning giving the Vermont senator a final tally of five.

The group was largely comprised of students who attend George Mason or other local universities. For some, this caucus was not just their first out-of-state caucus, but their first ever.

Another sunshine state

Across the country in Arizona, where the weather was actually a tad colder than in Washington but still warmer than Iowa, so many people signed up for the caucus that it had to be moved to a movie theater.

The gathering of 160 people in the town of Queen Creek outside metro Phoenix, had originally been scheduled for a private home and was one of four caucuses in Arizona. It drew a predominantly white and older crowd of longtime voters who said they were grateful to have a site in town that connected them to home.

It also drew a college freshman who was excited to be taking part in her first presidential election  and first caucus.

Natalie Murphy, an Arizona State University student from Iowa, spoke in support of Buttigieg because he has a hopeful vision. She said his military experience and Midwestern roots align well with Iowa values.

Elizabeth Warren supporter Joanna Courteau (right) of Ames, Iowa tells Pete Buttigieg supporter Michael Goodyear (left) of Davenport, Iowa her reasons for supporting her candidate while trying to sway him during a satellite caucus at the Ann Arbor district library in Ann Arbor on Monday, February 3, 2020. Ex-patriate Iowans gathered to caucus for their preferred presidential candidates.

Marti Wade and Ben Ullem said they were ecstatic they would be able to participate in the caucus, the first presidential cycle since they became "snowbirds." Wade said she was considering flying back to Iowa to participate before she found out about the satellite sites.

Theyre all in for Klobuchar. Wade wore a bright green shirt that said Amy Klobuchar will beat Donald Trump and gave a 1-minute speech before voting began about why people should chose the Minnesota senator.

Theyre residents of Des Moines, where theyre used to seeing candidates and the media circus. With the satellite caucuses, theyre still able to be a part of the excitement, they said. Theyre getting to know more Iowans in Arizona, too  few, if any, of the people at the caucus were people theyd known previously, the north Scottsdale snowbirds said.

One state away

Right next door to Iowa, seven Democrats gathered in a meeting room on Marquette University's campus in Milwaukee surrounded by campaign members and curious members of the public.

Frankly, its a little antiquated, said Maaz Ahmed, a sophomore theater major at Marquette and Iowa Democrat who caucused for Bernie Sanders.

I think the importance placed on the Iowa caucus is a little misguided because I dont think Iowa is the best representation of the nation, he said. But ultimately I still think that overall this is a really, really great opportunity that we have to make a difference in our country.

The little group of caucusgoers was a state away from the center of the action and just over a mile away from the forum upon which Democrats from around the nation will descend this summer for the Democratic National Convention.

Three participants caucused for Elizabeth Warren. Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar had two supporters each. That translated to four delegates from Milwaukee: two to Warren and one each to Sanders and Klobuchar.

DNC Secretary Jason Rae, who will call the roll at the national convention in July, served as the chair of the caucus. Hes participated in the caucus himself in the past and was glad to put his experience to use. The event was good news for Milwaukee, he said.

With the convention coming to town, it certainly is an added awareness of the Milwaukee excitement around this, Rae said. Its a fascinating opportunity to have Milwaukee start the process and end the process.

On another campus

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, 10 people signed up to caucus by a Jan. 17 deadline, but only nine showed up. The small room, however, was filled with a couple dozen Michigan-based supporters of the other candidates who tried to convince the nine to their side before the caucus started.

About 10 supporters of Andrew Yang handed out literature to all the Iowans. Buttigieg had a contingent of observers and Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar each had a volunteer on hand to try and lure caucus goers to their side.

"I've been a supporter of Amy Klobuchar for a long time and went to Minnesota for her announcement. Up until now, I've been phoning people in New Hampshire for her," said Susan Sayre Giovati, a retired nurse from Ann Arbor. "I heard that Port Charlotte (Florida) went for Amy. That gives me a glimpse of optimism."

Andrew Schaeffler, a freshman at University of Michigan from West Bloomfield, wore a Biden Precinct Captain T-shirt surrounded by the outline of Iowa.

"I like his experience and the fact that he has a moderate bipartisan approach to politics because that's been lost a lot," he said.

They left empty-handed, with no one wandering to their corner of the room.

Once an initial count was taken, any candidate that didn't reach at least 15% of the vote in the caucus was deemed "not viable" and those candidates supporters had the chance to move to another candidate who has reached at least 15%.

That's where the persuasion comes in with the viable candidate supporters luring the supporters of non-viable candidates to come to their teams.

Joanna Courteau, a senior citizen from Ames who was recovering from surgery at the University of Michigan, told the Buttigieg holdout that she became convinced that Warren was the best candidate after listening to a town hall meeting Warren had earlier in the day.

"They asked her questions about every single issue you could possibly ask," she said. "And one of the things I really liked is that she said every single senior citizen would get $200 more a month in Social Security payments. My ex-husband doesn't get enough Social Security to afford his medications and $200 would make a huge difference."

Despite the Warren and Sanders' teams trying to convince him to join their side, the one Buttigieg supporter  Michael Goodyear, a law student at U-M from Davenport  decided to drop out of the caucus rather than join the Sanders or Buttigieg camps. He worried that neither candidate had come up with viable plans to pay for all their proposals.

"I'm a fan of moderate policies, I actually went through all the platforms before I came and watched all the debates," he said.

Contributing: Todd Spangler in Washington, DC; Rachel Leingang in Queen Creek, Arizona; Madison Arnold in Pensacola Beach, Florida; Kathleen Gray in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Ndea Yancey-Bragg in Fairfax, Virginia; and Devi Shastri in Milwaukee.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iowa caucus: Satellite caucuses take places all over the world, country
Yahoo Life Videos

Elizabeth Hurley. is serving  as always. On Thursday, the 56-year-old actress and model shared a photo of herself rocking a toffee-colored bikini from her own swimwear line that showed off her toned abs. In the caption she noted that the pic captured a happier time, before a recent accident.
A new grant program in Seattle is helping its micro small-business owners stay in business. Should Philadelphia be doing the same?

Launched late last year, Seattles Small Business Stabilization Pilot Program provides as much as $25,000 to its most vulnerable micro-businesses: those firms with fewer than five employees whose owners earn less than 50 percent of the areas medium income, among other factors.

It is meant to help such businesses navigate through a destabilizing event such as property destruction, a loss of business due to construction, raising rents, crime, a personal emergency, or some other event that reduced business income and or risked displacement of their business. In January, the city awarded grants to eight of its local businesses.

With this pilot program, were telling our small businesses that their city will support them in moments of uncertainty, and they can count on Seattle as a reliable partner and ally, Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan said in a statement. Our small businesses are part of the fabric of our city, and they make Seattle a better, more vibrant place.

Programs such as this are sprouting up across the country as cities such as Seattle are realizing the importance of helping the small businesses that make up its infrastructure through challenges. Does Philadelphia do the same? Actually, according to some, the city does more.

Although not specifically geared toward businesses facing displacement, Philadelphia has targeted programs for small businesses in low-income neighborhoods as well as programs specifically geared to minority-owned businesses to help them survive and hopefully thrive in areas that need them the most.

For example, the citys InStore Forgivable Loan Program helps existing business owners expand and new businesses open on targeted commercial corridors by offering them forgivable loans of up to $50,000. Theres also the Storefront Improvement Program that offers these same business owners grant money for facade improvements.

Jeff Hornstein, the executive director of the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, a nonprofit economic research and networking organization, likes both the Storefront Improvement and InStore Forgivable Loan programs because he thinks both offer better deals to Philadelphia small-business owners than their Seattle counterparts.

Its more money per business, on average, than what Seattle is doing now, he says. The InStore program is designed to help businesses expand and help new businesses become established. The Storefront Improvement Program is nationally recognized as well.

The Citys Water Department also has special assistance grants available for marketing, cleaning, and related activities for businesses in commercial areas that are disrupted by the departments construction projects. Companies that face these hardships can also benefit from lower eligibility requirements for the citys Storefront Improvement Program, according to First Deputy Commerce Director Sylvie Gallier Howard.

Were also pursuing other strategies to mitigate displacement, including establishing a loan fund for small businesses and community organizations that want to purchase real estate in their community, Howard said. As government, its difficult to assess when to help a business in distress, but we have programs that aim to mitigate the challenges faced by these businesses as much as possible.

The city has also partnered with other organizations that provide assistance to small businesses in the area. For example, it helps them get access to capital by providing resources to Community Development Financial Institutions, as well running the Philadelphia Business Lending Network, which simplifies the process of applying for loans by allowing small businesses to apply to more than 40 nonprofit and for-profit lenders with one single form. The citys Commerce Department also has a venture program in partnership with Philly Startup Leaders which offers grants for founders from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Economy Leagues Hornstein also points out that other organizations in the city, such as the Welcoming Center, the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerces Accelerate Latinx, the Enterprise Center, Entrepreneur Works and the Womens Opportunity Resource Center provide resources for local businesses looking for financial help and advice, regardless of their size or need. Hornstein believes that the area has a decent toolbox between what city government and the nonprofit sector is doing. But hes keeping an eye on Seattles program  which he likes a lot  and agrees that it may be a good thing for Philadelphia, too.

Fiscally, Philadelphia is in good shape, and there are lots of worthy programs that the city could find money to support, he says. If there were an evidence base for the program in Seattle, and we dont know yet because its just starting, I think it could probably pass City Council. I dont think there would be many obstacles.
Senate Republicans are poised to complete their cover-up in Donald Trump's impeachment trial this week. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, one of the only Republican holdouts, ultimately voted to refuse to hear from more witnesses, claiming against all historical precedent that impeachment had to be bipartisan.

Alexander's tortured rationale isn't shared by many other members of his party. In fact, at least one Republican senator is already dangling the threat of impeachment over former vice president Joe Biden, should he earn the Democratic nomination and beat Trump in the general election in November. Speaking to Bloomberg News on Sunday, Iowa senator Joni Ernst said, "I think this door of impeachable whatever has been opened. Joe Biden should be very careful what hes asking for because, you know, we can have a situation where if it should ever be President Biden, that immediately, people, right the day after he would be elected would be saying, 'Well, were going to impeach him.'" She added that grounds for Biden's impeachment would be "for being assigned to take on Ukrainian corruption yet turning a blind eye to Burisma because his son was on the board making over a million dollars a year."

Although the specifics of Ernst's allegations have been repeatedly debunked, she's referring to the origin of Donald Trump's efforts to extort political favors out of Ukraine. Trump withheld nearly $400 million in military aid until Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to announce an investigation into Hunter Biden's work at an energy firm. That ultimately got Trump impeached in Congress for attempting to get a foreign power to interfere with U.S. elections, but the president and his allies have maintained that he shouldn't be impeached for that because, among other given excuses, the Bidens are guilty of corruption and nepotism. Despite those arguments, the House voted along party lines to impeach Trump on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, the first president to be impeached since Bill Clinton. In 1999, Clinton was impeached for lying under oath about an extramarital affair, and his trial in the Senate lasted nearly 40 days, more than twice as long as Trump's trial is expected to take.

Story continues

Despite the outcome of the Senate trialwhere 51 Republicans voted against hearing from witnesses and reviewing documentsand Ernst's warning that he could be impeached "the day after he would be elected," Biden remains convinced that he can work with Republicans in Congress. Speaking to Savannah Guthrie of Today, Biden said that the rank partisanship "hasn't shaken my faith in being able to work with at least" some Republicans, adding that he believes Republicans will become reasonable and compliant once Trump is out of office. Biden has repeated this claim several times over the course of his campaign. While he served under Barack Obama, Republicans in the House and Senate routinely refused to work with the White House, even holding a Supreme Court opening vacant for a year so that Obama couldn't appoint a new justice. Despite this experience, Biden is more confrontational with Democratic voters who question his positions than he is with elected Republicans.

In the same interview with TODAY, Guthrie asked Biden if he thought it at least looked bad for his son to take such a lucrative position in a country and industry where he had no experience. "Well, do you agree that it sets a bad image?" she asked. "Do you think it was wrong for him to take that position knowing it was really because the company wanted access to you?" Biden didn't take the suggestion lightly, snapping, "Thats not true. Youre saying things you dont know what youre talking about! No ones said that! Who said that?!"

A Joe Biden Nomination Would Solidify All Our Worst Fears About the Democrats

Drew Magary on the presumptuousness of the current front-runner.

Originally Appeared on GQ
The district authorities in Punjab's Faridkot had to seek the help of local police to make a 38-year-old man with coronavirus like symptoms get admitted to the isolation ward of a government hospital, officials said on Tuesday.

The man had returned from Canada via China and got himself checked at the Kotkapura civil hospital at Faridkot on Monday.

Thereafter, he was advised to get himself admitted to the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot as per guidelines issued by the Union government, they said.

However, the man refused to get admitted to the isolation ward and instead left for home, said Faridkot Civil surgeon Rajinder Kumar.

When the matter was brought to the notice of higher authorities, the district administration asked Faridkot Senior Superintendent of Police to take necessary action in assisting medical officers of the health department to keep the patient isolated.

Faridkot Deputy Superintendent of Police (Kotkapura) Balkar Singh said the patient got himself admitted to the government hospital after being counselled.

The samples of the patient have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, official further said.

The coronavirus is a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has killed people in China is a novel strain and not seen before.

The virus - which first emerged in Wuhan city in China's central Hubei province - has spread to 25 countries, including India (three confirmed cases have been reported from Kerala), the US and the UK.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BenchSci, which uses machine learning to identify and resolve preclinical research inefficiencies in drug discovery, announced today it has raised $22 million in Series B financing, launched its new AI-Assisted Reagent Selection product, and expanded its contract with Novartis in a market worth more than $10.2 billion per year in life science R&D cost-saving opportunities.

F-Prime Capital led the round, with participation from Northleaf Capital Partners and existing investors including Gradient Ventures, Inovia Capital, Golden Ventures, and Real Ventures. BenchSci will use the funds to further develop its suite of products that increase the speed and quality of life-saving research by empowering scientists to run more successful experiments, which are the lifeblood of pharmaceutical R&D. As part of the deal, Shervin Ghaemmaghami, Senior Vice President of F-Prime, will join the board of directors.

"BenchSci has assembled an incredibly talented team at the intersection of machine learning and biomedical research. They're having a real impact at some of the worlds leading pharma companies. We're thrilled to lead the round and excited by the path ahead, says Ghaemmaghami.

BenchSci leverages machine learning to target inefficiencies and unnecessary spend in preclinical research. Approximately half of preclinical research is irreproducible, draining $28.2 billion of R&D spend in the US alone each year, with reagents and reference materials accounting for over 36%.(1) This presents life science companies with a $10.2 billion per year opportunity for savings on reagents alone.

BenchScis machine learning unlocks this opportunity by evaluating published experiments to identify which reagents will work for which experiments. BenchScis first product, AI-Assisted Antibody Selection, focused only on antibodies, one of the most common research reagents. The companys new AI-Assisted Reagent Selection product expands to other important reagents, including antibodies, recombinant proteins, RNAi, CRISPR, cell lines, and more.

The pharmaceutical industry is facing a productivity crisis. R&D costs per drug keep rising while revenue is stagnant. Without major change, this crisis will affect everyone. Low or negative returns will reduce investment in new drugs, says Liran Belenzon, BenchSci CEO and co-founder. Artificial intelligence promises to reverse the trend. But most AI in drug discovery is unproven. BenchScis products, on the other hand, have immediate, quantifiable impact.

Since commercializing its AI-Assisted Antibody Selection product 18 months ago, BenchSci has proven to decrease costs and accelerate research in 15 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and more than 3,600 academic labs. As one of the earliest pharmaceutical companies to benefit from AI-Assisted Antibody Selection, Novartis will also be the first BenchSci customer to deploy the new AI-Assisted Reagent Selection product.

To date, BenchSci has raised $45 million. Its Series B follows a successful Series A led by Inovia Capital, with participation from Gradient Ventures, Googles AI fund. BenchSci is F-Prime Capitals first tech investment in Canada, as was Gradients Series A investment.

ABOUT BENCHSCI

BenchSci exponentially increases the speed and quality of life-saving research by empowering scientists with the worlds most advanced biomedical artificial intelligence to run more successful experiments. Backed by Googles AI fund, Gradient Ventures, BenchSci uses machine learning to diagnose pharmaceutical R&D health from hidden patterns in procurement data. Customers receive a report on failure rates, productivity, and redundancy by department, therapeutic area, geography, and cost center. They can then address inefficiencies by deploying BenchSci's AI-Assisted Reagent Selection, which empowers scientists to select the best reagents and design criteria for their experiments. Thereafter, post-deployment reports confirm impact and ROI. A turnkey application of AI with immediate, quantifiable impact, BenchSci now optimizes reagent procurement and experimental success in 15 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and over 3,600 leading academic centers globally. Learn more at http://www.benchsci.com.

ABOUT F-PRIME CAPITAL

F-Prime Capital is a global venture capital firm investing in life sciences, healthcare, and technology. Since 1969, F-Prime has worked closely with entrepreneurs and academics to create innovative solutions to some of the world's most significant challenges in healthcare and technology. For more information, please visit http://www.fprimecapital.com.

rkohl@fprimecapital.com

REFERENCES

1. Freedman LP, Cockburn IM, Simcoe TS (2015) The Economics of Reproducibility in Preclinical Research. PLoS Biol 13(6): e1002165. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002165
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday held talks with Qatar's minister of state for defence and his South Korean counterpart separately and discussed ways of ramping up India's bilateral defence cooperation with the two countries.

Singh held delegation-level talks with Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah and during the meeting, the two ministers reiterated their commitment to strengthen the bilateral defence cooperation, including defence industry relationship, a statement said.

The visiting minister, who was received by Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik, also inspected the Tri-Service Guard of Honour before his bilateral meeting with Singh.

The Qatari delegation will be visiting the DefExpo, being held in Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow between February 5-9.

Singh held a bilateral meeting with South Korean Defence Minister Jeong Kyeongdoo and during the meeting, both ministers held discussions on enhancing the bilateral security cooperation and collaboration in defence industry and research and development.

A roadmap for defence industries cooperation between India and South Korea was also exchanged after the meeting.

"The roadmap lists a number of possible areas of cooperation, including research and development. It also promotes investment in Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu," the statement said.

The two ministers also exchanged views on regional security situation.

Singh thanked Jeong for his participation in DefExpo.

(Image Credit PTI)
DES MOINES, Iowa  The campaigns of both Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg touted unverified, internal numbers in Iowas Democratic caucuses early Tuesday morning, after technical issues delayed the official results.

A Buttigieg campaign source texted Yahoo News shortly after midnight on Tuesday morning and said the campaign had results from 77 percent of its precinct captains. Based on those numbers, the source said, the outcome was clear.

The results show that Pete is going to New Hampshire victorious, the Buttigieg source said.

The campaign did not provide details on its projection for the final results, or any purported margin of victory in the caucuses.

Sanderss campaign issued a press release shortly afterward, saying it was releasing internal numbers due to the failure of the Iowa Democratic Party to release results tonight and in the interest of full transparency. The Sanders campaign said its data only included nearly 40 percent of precincts in Iowa, far less than the number for which Buttigiegs team claimed it had information.

We recognize that this does not replace the full data from the Iowa Democratic Party, but we believe firmly that our supporters worked too hard for too long to have the results of that work delayed, Jeff Weaver, a senior Sanders campaign adviser, said in a statement accompanying the results.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, with his wife, Jane O'Meara Sanders, in Des Moines on Monday, Feb. 3. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

According to the partial, internal results released by the Sanders campaign, Buttigieg came in second, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in third place, former Vice President Joe Biden in fourth, and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in fifth.

Of course, these internal numbers from the candidates own teams are questionable and incomplete.

If you assume that self-reported results have a bias analogous to when campaigns release internal polls which I don't know is the correct assumption but I can't think of a better one?  this would imply a tossup between Sanders and Buttiegieg, polling guru Nate Silver wrote on Twitter.

Story continues

The issues with the official results came when a smartphone app meant to report the numbers crashed early Monday evening. Mandy McClure, communications director for the Iowa Democratic Party, said in a statement that the integrity of the figures was not in jeopardy, even though the results would not be released in the hours immediately following the caucus.

Winning first or second place would be a major boost for Buttigieg, who was little known nationally before he started getting some real traction in the primary field. Buttigieg had been averaging third place in Iowa polls, behind Sanders and Biden. A third- or fourth-place finish would be disastrous for Biden, who has centered his campaign around his electability and the notion that he is the most likely candidate to defeat President Trump in the general election.

In a terse letter to the Iowa Democratic Party chairman, Troy Price, the Biden campaign said that all the candidates deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are released.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchars campaign manager, Justin Buoen, claimed on Twitter that both internal campaign and public polls put their team neck and neck with, or even ahead of Biden, a surprising result for the former vice president.

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., addresses a caucus night rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

The delay in the official results makes it less likely that the Democratic field will be winnowed down before New Hampshire holds its primary on Feb. 11.

In their speeches Monday night, Buttigieg and Sanders both acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding the caucus.

I imagine  have a strong feeling  that, at some point, the results will be out, Sanders said. And when those results are out, I have a good feeling were going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa.

Buttigieg offered an assessment of the evening that seemed inarguably true.

We dont know all the results, Buttigieg said. But we know, Iowa, you have shocked the nation!

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  A team of graduate and undergraduate students from the Food Science Department has been selected as finalists for the American Society of Bakings (ASB) annual product development competition.

The students exhibit their talent and expertise, network with industry professionals and access a potential launch pad for their newly developed product in the challenge. Graduate students Joseph King, Anbuhkani (Connie) Muniandy and Julia Schmidt constitute the Purdue team headed to this years final competition.

The ASB is a professional organization of the wholesale baking community composed of baking professionals, food technologists and experts in engineering, equipment and ingredients.

Each year the ASB competition issues a different challenge to its competitors. This years challenge was to bake a product using a novel protein source that is not commonly found in food. This could include insects, algae seaweed, rapeseed and many other ingredients.

The Purdue team decided to capitalize on the success of the burgeoning hemp industry and incorporate hemp protein into their product. The herby pie the team developed is a take on the Kentucky classic derby pie, traditionally a chocolate nutty pie, often flavored with bourbon and topped with whipped cream.

Our herby pie is bite size but big on flavor, Muniandy said. It capitalizes on the nutty flavor and intense green color of hemp seed protein. The product consists of vanilla-infused hemp seed protein short crust pastry that encases a sweet filling made from chocolate, walnuts, hemp protein and bourbon extract.

King added, The competition allows me to flex my creative thinking in ways I dont always get to in the lab. What makes the project even more fun is our final product takes major inspiration from the derby festival which is huge in my hometown.

This is the third consecutive year a Purdue food science team has been selected as finalists for the ASB product development competition. The final round takes place on March 1 in Chicago. Contestants from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona College and the University of Florida will compete against the Purdue team for first place and the accompanying scholarship award. According to ASB, this years scholarship awards total over $40,000.

Source: Connie Muniandy, 765-714-8974, amunian@purdue.edu

Writer: Emma E Ambrose, 765-494-2406, eeambros@purdue.edu

Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415;

Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu

Agriculture News Page
Drivers aren't sure what to call these offroad vehicles  but they know they're fun

It combines the thrill of the snowy trail with the comfort of the rear windshield wiper.

You're going off the beaten path, but keeping your heated seats.

It turns heads, but it's not a model you're going to find in TV ads.

Meet the Smart car snowmobile  and the men who drive them.

"We get lots of attention," said Jeff Humphries. "Wherever we go, people taking pictures and wanting to go for rides."

Humphries converted a Smart car himself, after his friend Perry White brought a fully decked-out model to Newfoundland and Labrador from Alberta.

"It's about, I guess, three to four weeks's work to build those cars," he said. "But it's worth it. They're a great bit of fun."

Humphries figures that the pair, alongside a third friend from Valleyfield, own the only three vehicles of their kind in the province. However, Brian Pickett may soon be joining their ranks  he's eyeing one too, saying it would be great for his wife.

"It's comfortable," Pickett said.

Garrett Barry/CBC

"You're in out of the weather, she don't get her hair messed up with the helmet. You know how women is now  get in the cabin, 'I got to fix my hair now,'" he added, laughing.

"If you're on a Ski-Doo or a quad then you got to get dressed."

'Same as driving a normal car'

Besides the obvious  you have to remove the wheels from the Smart car, and install skis and tracks  Humphries says the work required to convert a Smart Car is minimal. A few fuses need to be changed for traction control and anti-lock brakes to be disabled.

"We took off the rotors and calipers and made up some plates and some ski arms. It was all manufactured by ourselves," he said. "Made up some plates to screw our tracks on."

He says the process is fully reversible, too. He plans to put his wheels back on in the spring.

Garrett Barry/CBC

And for the driver, it's even simpler. The steering wheel, pedals and gear stick are unchanged.

Story continues

"Same as driving a normal car," Humphries said. "It is a normal Smart car inside."

"If the roads are rough, it's a little rough," added White. "But for the most part, you know, we have groomed trails and that's where I take it and it seems to ride pretty good."

Cabin ready

And there's a practical element to the vehicle, too. Unlike a snowmobile, the Smart car has a trunk that you can load up for a weekend trip to the cabin.

White said everybody's first question is how fast the cars can go; he limits his speed to about 30 to 35 km/h.

His first Smart car snowmobile was an import, but he's now got a second vehicle in his garage in Centreville that he's planning to work on himself.

Garrett Barry/CBC

The tracks will run anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000, he said, and each of the two skis costs about $1,200.

But Pickett says the costs are well worth it  and he's even musing about importing some vehicles from Quebec, and reselling them inside the province.

White said he first bought his vehicle after seeing the concept on television, and figured it was a great ride for his wife.

"My wife, actually, is from the Philippines so she don't like the cold at all," he said.

Garrett Barry/CBC

It's become a great conversation starter on the trail  even he's not quite sure what exactly to call this new rig.

"It's just something different, you know?" White said. "There's not too many of them around, and wherever we go there's always somebody that's asking questions or taking pictures."

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
It would not let me change his number at all, like to zero. So were going to need each representative to sign off on here from the preference group. So we dont know all the results, but we know by the time its all said and done, Iowa you have shocked the nation. By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious. And when those results are announced, I have a good feeling were going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa. Thank you so much. So listen, it is too close to call. So Im just going to tell you what I do know  Audience member: You won! We dont know exactly what it is yet, but we feel good about where we are. You know technology can fail on us, and we have to go the old-fashioned way and count them by hand  thats what we have to do. This simply is not the way that we should do this. It was a complete mess. It is not reliable in the way that we want this to be reliable when were starting off the process of electing the most important public servant in our country and in the world. Well Id rather them be accurate than rush it. But when you expect the results, and you dont get them, you are disappointed.
Awais Raza isnt sure how old he is. He barely remembers anything from his early years, or perhaps he blocks it out. What the Afghan national does know is that his father, mother and sister were killed when he was very young, and he was subsequently taken to a childrens home  but what he describes sounds more like a prison.

They would tell me to work: Clean the house, take this rubbish, take this bag here, says Awais, wincing at the memory. They told me to go outside and take this bag, small and big bags, and would tell me to take it somewhere. If I didnt do it they would beat me, or burn my feet. They were treating me like this for a long time, doing these things to me.

He parts his hair to reveal a long scar embedded into his scalp, before pushing down his socks to reveal burns on his ankles and feet.

Around 15 years on, the Afghan national sits on a bench in east London. He arrived in the UK nearly a decade ago after an uncle  the term he uses for older men of his nationality  helped him escape the violence, labour exploitation and sexual abuse he was subjected to for most of his childhood. He has since been saved from his exploiters, but faced a different challenge  the battle for protection from the Home Office.

When Awais arrived in Britain he was housed by an Afghan man in Luton. He was at some point given a passport which indicated that his date of birth was 1 June 1994  making him 24. He stayed with the man for just under a year until the man left the country, then he went between various friends he had met in the UK. After two years helping with cooking and cleaning in peoples houses, he came to realise that, in order to access education and employment, he had to apply for asylum.

Awais, at this point aged 20, was invited to a Home Office interview, where he was asked to recount experiences he had learned to bury. After several hours, he was shocked to discover that he was being detained.

I was so scared. I didnt know where they were taking me in this small van, he says, remembering being driven to Harmondsworth removal centre. I had gone to the Home Office in the morning, in the evening I came out in the dark. I didnt know what was happening. I was reminded of the past; I thought [] maybe theyll send me to the house again. I stayed in the detention centre. They locked me in a cell all night. I was alone and I was crying.

He was held in the detention for 13 days, during which a doctor prescribed him medication to relieve flashbacks to the abuse he had suffered as a child. It has since transpired that Awaiss detention was unlawful  forcing the Home Office to pay him 10,000 in compensation.

I struggled to sleep in the night time, he remembers. It was like being in the house again. Sometimes I would sleep for five or six hours in the morning, but at night it was a big problem. I wanted to forget the past  but I couldnt.

Awais was released from Harmondsworth following intervention from his solicitor. A medical report was carried out into his physical and mental health which found that he was suffering from PTSD and depression, which would both worsen significantly were he to be threatened with return to his country of origin.

It also found that during his childhood he had been a victim of beatings, labour exploitation and child sexual abuse.

On the basis of the medical report, his solicitor had referred him to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), the Home Offices official framework for identifying victims of modern slavery. The system aims to decide on cases within 49 days  but in Awaiss case took a year to confirm that he was a victim.

During this time he was moved into asylum accommodation in Newcastle, where he was able to study English at college for two years. When this period ended though, he was left in a rut for two years, unable to work and left to wallow in the fear that his asylum claim would be refused.

It was good when I was going to college because I was busy. But after two years they said I had to stop, and then I just stayed all day at home, Awais says, quietly. You dont know where your life is. You spend all day at home. You wake up in the morning, same day, same thing. I couldnt do anything.

The year after a decision was made on his modern slavery case, he was invited to another asylum interview at the Home Office. They asked me what would happen if I was sent back to Pakistan or Afghanistan, he remembers. I said I dont know, maybe theyd kill me; maybe I would kill myself. I said  maybe if I go there they will make me work and beat me. They wrote it down.

Yet Awais was refused asylum in May 2019, with the Home Office saying that it had been decided he should instead be granted temporary leave to remain for 30 months. His solicitor intervened, and in August of that year an immigration judge overturned the decision, stating that it was unlawful to reject his asylum claim.

When asked about Awaiss immigration case, the Home Office said it did not routinely comment on individual cases, but said that being referred to the NRM did not automatically result in asylum being granted or refused if an asylum claim has been made.

Gabor Nagy of Duncan Lewis Solicitors, who represented Awais, says the Home Office claimed to treat victims of trafficking as a priority in relation to their asylum claims, but that he was seeing a growing number of cases  such as that of Awais  where, despite identifying people have suffered abuse, the department continue to question and delay their right to be granted protection and support in the UK.

 Why is the Home Office getting so many immigration decisions wrong?

The whole process from start to finish took the Home Office an unacceptable five years while my client was left in limbo with his severe PTSD. The waiting around has affected him so much that he still required counselling and psychological intervention long after he had been granted refugee status in the UK, he adds.

Mr Nagy also accused the Home Office of disregarding the medical report and for granting Awais tenuous discretionary leave when in fact the immigration judge had found him to be a refugee.

With his newly granted refugee status, Awais hopes to finally move on from the past and establish a happier life for himself.

Its taken five years  in 2014 I claimed asylum, in 2019 I got my status. It was a long wait. You dont know where your life is, says the 24-year-old, looking down at the floor. Then he looks up again: But now it is better than before. Every day brings something new. I want to start working. I want to only look towards my future, not my past. Im hopeful for the future.
The grieving widow of a young father killed in a raging bushfire has revealed her husband's final words to her before he died trying to defend their home - and how a twist of fate saved her own life.

Renee Salway opened up on the tragic death of her husband Patrick, weeks after he was killed alongside his father Robert near Cobargo on the NSW south coast on New Year's Eve.

The two men died after the massive Badja Forest fire tore through their 600-acre property in the tiny farming hamlet of Wandella.

In new documentary, 'Hellfire: The Battle of Cobargo', Mrs Salway broke down as she recalled the last thing she said to her husband, and credited her three-year-old son for unwittingly saved her life.

Scroll down for video

Widow Renee Salway broke down as she revealed her husband Patrick's final words to her before he died trying to defend their home from an out-of-control blaze

Patrick Salway (pictured with his wife Renee) was expecting a second child but died trying to protect his home from the bushfires in Cobargo, NSW, on New Year's Eve

The mum-of-one had been at home with son Harley at about midnight when the massive blaze began to close in on the town.

'I rang Patrick straightway and I said, "I've gotta get Harley out of here. It is big this fire, it's gonna be big. It's huge, I can hear it,' she said on the Channel Seven documentary.

Mrs Salway made the 34-minute drive to her mum's house in Narooma to drop off her son before heading back home to Cobargo to meet Patrick and his father.

But fate would come in the form of a phone call just minutes later, when her mother called to say Harley was being fussy and wouldn't sleep.

Mrs Salway would then make what would be a life-saving decision to drive back to Narooma, at 4am, with the intent of returning to her husband.

'I called him and I said, "I think the fire's going to be big, you need to get into the showground and get some respite when it gets too intense'',' she said.

'And he promised me, the last thing he said was, "I promise I'll be safe and I'll be here for Harley." I'll never forget that.'

Renee Salway lays a photo on her husband Patrick's coffin after he and his father Robert were killed while trying to protect their home in the tiny farming hamlet of Wandella

Dairy farmer Patrick's wife Renee openly wept as her husband and father-in-law were laid to rest in front of mourners at Cobargo cemetery

The two men died after the massive Badja Forest fire tore through their 600-acre property

Hours later, she would wake up to the heartbreaking news that Patrick and her father-in-law were dead.

'I went up there and Harley was upset. I lied next to him and settled him down, and ended up falling asleep with him, and it was an hour or two after that, that I got a phone call,' she said.

'She said, "I have some bad news to tell you. Patrick and Robert are gone." And I just hung up the phone. I can't even remember after that.

'It's something I would never, ever forget. Getting those words, everything just falls out of you. You're just not even a person anymore. From your head, right through - all your emotion, every bit of feeling, every thought, it just wipes you clean and you feel like this vacant space.'

Reflecting on the tragic turn of events, Mrs Salway said she believes her son played a major role on how she managed to escape death.

'Everything was just for me that night. The phone call, the road access, pretty sure the trees all fell down [later],' she said.

'In some ways it's like a sign, because [Harley] is the reason why I'm here, he's the one who made the phone call. It's amazing, in a way. He could've just kept sleeping.'

The night of the fire, Mrs Salway made what she would later learn was a life-changing decision to drive back to Narooma, around 4am, with the intent of returning to her husband

Mrs Salway revealed she and Patrick were childhood sweethearts, who began dating when she was only 15. They had their first son Harley in 2017

Mrs Salway broke down in tears as she revealed she still struggles with survivor's guilt, often wondering if she could have done anything to help save Patrick's life.

'I'm sad because I wanted to be able to do something, I know I probably would've been hurt, but I wanted to help them. And that is the strongest thing in my heart. I bloody mean it that when I say it.'

Mrs Salway also revealed the heartbreaking moment she told little Harley he wouldn't see his father again.

'He just assumed for a few days that Patrick was just working. I let that play along. The morning I told him, he asked me about three or four times, he had come into the room early and he said: ''Where's daddy, how come daddy's not home?''

'I said, "Daddy's not going to be here. Daddy's up in the stars now, in the sky and he's having fun up there.

'And he looked at me and frowned and said, "so he's not home?" I said, "no, he's not home, he's up in the sky." We had a cuddle after that, and he said, "I'm sad''.'

Mrs Salway revealed she and Patrick were childhood sweethearts, who began dating when she was only 15.

The pair had been 'Cobargo born and bred', and grew up riding horses together and competing.

Mrs Salway also revealed the heartbreaking moment she told little Harley he wouldn't see his father again. In a recent Facebook post, she wished her son a happy third birthday, while adding 'I'm still trying my best for you'

Patrick Salway (pictured with his wife Renee) was found by another family member after trying to tackle a bushfire attacking his family home

'You couldn't keep us away from each other. It's definitely one of those once in a lifetime things,' she said.

'We were so happy. That was it. He used to say to me how much he loved his little family and how much he loved us and his life. He used to say, "I love the simple life."

'That was my whole life. He was my whole life.'

Patrick and Robert Salway were described by devastated neighbours as 'two salt of the earth blokes' who died defending their home.

'They were really good guys, just some salt of the earth blokes. It's sad, it is a bloody tragedy,' Mr Allen told The Daily Telegraph.

'Patrick was a really good, affable guy, he would always help everyone out when they needed it.

'He loved his horses and showjumping, he played footy. It is really sad. Robert was a really community-minded bloke. A great guy. It is terrible, horrific.'

Chair of NSW Farmers Dairy Committee Colin Thompson said the father and son were well-known in the town.

'They are multi-generational dairy farmers who are very well respected in the industry and in the town,' he said.

'Robert was a genuine, hard working, farmer who had survived drought and low milk prices. This is really going to devastate the dairy community in Bega.

'Patrick was very highly regarded in the industry, he also leaves behind a young family. If there is anything we can do to help, we want to.'
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Iran to execute man accused of being 'CIA spy', with sentence to be carried out 'soon' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

The death sentence of an Iranian national accused of being a CIA spy has been approved by the supreme court of Iran, the spokesman of the Islamic Republic judiciary said during a press conference on Tuesday, according to the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency.

The sentence will be carried out soon, Gholam Hossein Esmaili, the judiciary spokesman, added.

Last July, Iran announced that it had arrested 17 spies working for the CIA, adding that some could face execution. According to the Iranian intelligence officials' briefing at the time, all 17 accused spies were Iranian nationals who had been identified and arrested by Iran's intelligence in close cooperation with some Islamic Republic "allied countries."

President Trump dismissed the allegations as "totally false" and "lies and propaganda," after the arrests were announced last year.

MORE: US military resumes operations against ISIS in Iraq after pause due to Iran tensions

Amir Rahimpour, a CIA spy who was in touch with (this) intelligence organization and used to get paid lots of money, had tried to pass on some of the nuclear information of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United States, Esmaili said.

"He was identified, went on trial and sentenced to execution. Recently, the Supreme Court of Iran confirmed his sentence, and Inshallah he will soon face the punishment that fits his crime," he said in a short overview of his case.

MORE: Iran says it has arrested 17 spies working for CIA, some could face death penalty

"Two other CIA spies working under the cover of a charity organization were sentenced to 10 and five years in prison for spying and for acting against national security, respectively. But, as their sentences are yet to be finalized, their names are not announced," Esmaili said.

Story continues

The two people sentenced to imprisonment are also Iranian nationals, the spokesman clarified.

However, the spokesman of the judiciary did not specify if Rahimpour or the two others charged with espionage were among the 17 arrested.

PHOTO: An Iranian flag flies at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Jan. 8, 2020. (Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images)

Those arrested in July had been working as staff at sensitive centers in the country, including "economic, nuclear, infrastructural, military and cyber fields or their counterpart private sector," according to the Iranian intelligence press release.

Some of the accused spies who declined to cooperate with the Islamic Republic intelligence after their arrest, have been sent to the judiciary so their cases can be processed. Iran had warned that their sentences would be execution or long imprisonment.

When asked for a statement by ABC News, the CIA said that it officially had no comment.
Health authorities in China announced on Tuesday that coronavirus fatalities had risen to 425 nationwide and that total confirmed cases hit 20,438 as of Monday. The global death toll is now 427, with a fatality reported in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning.

The updated numbers follow 64 new deaths attributable to the illness in the mainland and 3,235 confirmed cases, according to the countrys National Health Commission (NHC).

Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, announced that coronavirus fatalities there had risen to 414 after 64 deaths  another daily record.

As of midnight on Monday, the health commission of Hubei also reported 2,345 new cases of infection. Of those, 1,242 were reported in Wuhan, the provinces capital and where the contagion, also known as 2019-nCoV, was first reported.

Mortality rate drop predicted

The NHC said the national coronavirus mortality rate would drop further as more suitable treatments and medical resources were mobilised in Wuhan.

Jiao Yahui, deputy director of the NHCs Medical Administration Bureau, said that, as of Monday and based on confirmed cases nationwide, the national fatality rate was 2.1 per cent, with the vast majority of deaths in Hubei province.

The central Chinese province has lost 414 people, or 97 per cent of the mainland death toll. According to Jiao, the mortality rate in the provincial capital Wuhan has reached 4.9 per cent, with 313 deaths so far. The mortality rate for Hubei is 3.1 per cent, the highest of any province in the country.

Jiao said China had taken further measures to bring down the mortality rate in Hubei, especially Wuhan, with another 1,000 beds for critical cases concentrated in hospitals with ICU capabilities and medical teams with relevant experience in handling critical respiratory disease.

With all these measures, I think the mortality rate in Wuhan will fall further, Jiao said.

Jiao said that with the exception of Hubei, the average fatality rate was only of 0.16 per cent, with males accounting for two-thirds of the death toll.

Story continues

More than 80 per cent of those who died were over 60 years old, and over 75 per cent of them had more than one underlying health problem such as diabetes, she said.

Also in Beijing, Li Xingwang, chief infectious diseases expert at Beijing Ditan Hospital, said the coronavirus patients' ages ranged from one-month to more than 90 years old. The population is generally susceptible to this disease, Li said.

Stocks recover

Chinas financial markets closed up on Tuesday, recovering from losses on Monday, as market panic eased. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended the day 1.34 per cent higher after a fall of nearly 8 per cent on Monday.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index finished 1.21 per cent higher. The onshore rate of the yuan against the US dollar gained at 6.9900, firmer than Mondays close of 7.0257.

Chinas central bank continued to pump money in the financial system on Tuesday to drive down money market rates and to restore investor confidence, injecting 50 billion yuan (US$7.13 billion) worth of funds, in addition to the massive 1.2 trillion yuan injection on Monday.

Reuters reported that Chinese policymakers were readying measures to stabilise the economy, especially to support industries hit hard by the virus outbreak and vulnerable to job losses. It said the government was debating whether to lower economic growth targets, adding that the central bank was likely to lower key lending rates and cut the reserve requirement ratio for banks. More fiscal spending is also expected.

Arthur Kroeber, founding partner and research head at Gavekal Dragonomics, said Chinas economy was likely to suffer heavily in the first quarter before recovering in the rest of year.

He warned that Beijings credibility as a trustworthy actor on the world stage would be severely damaged over the longer term.

Foreigners with mainland travel history banned from Taiwan

Taiwan will ban foreigners who have visited or have been living on the mainland over the past 14 days from entering the island, effective Friday due to health concerns amid the coronavirus outbreak, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

The ban, however, would not apply to foreigners living in Hong Kong or Macau, the ministry said.

Foreign nationals seeking to enter Taiwan for special reasons may apply for an entry visa as long as they has not visited or resided in mainland areas severely affected by the coronavirus outbreak, including Wubei, Guangdong and Zhejiang, the ministry said.

They must also provide documents of their travel history in the past 14 days, certificate of a health check-up and relevant documents.

Also on Tuesday, Taiwans coastguard stepped up patrols around the resort island of Penghu, to disperse mainland fishing boats intruding into the island's waters as the deadly coronavirus outbreak escalated.

The action came as the island's foreign ministry condemned Beijing for blocking Taipei from joining the World Health Organisation's anti-epidemic network and obtaining first-hand information about the latest coronavirus control efforts.

According to Taiwans Coastguard Administration, two patrol vessels and helicopters were dispatched to the south and north of Penghu Island, to prevent fishing from mainland boats within its waters.

The coastguard also sent vessels to waters near northern, northwestern and central Taiwan, where mainland fishermen often intruded for illegal fishing and trading with Taiwanese fishermen, the administration said.

The strengthened patrols were necessary, not only to thwart these activities but also to help prevent the potential spread of the virus from the mainland, it added.

Taiwans foreign ministry hit out at Beijings actions in blocking the island from joining the WHO and its emergency coronavirus control conference in Geneva.

The ministry said the safeguarding of the health of 23 million people in Taiwan was an important task of the government, but that Beijings actions not only threatened the health of Taiwanese people, but created a health loophole in the world.

The People's Republic of China has never in a day ruled Taiwan and Taiwan has never been a part of the PRC, the ministry said, adding the WHO should not have bowed to Beijing by excluding Taipei from the global health body.

Beijing has long considered Taiwan a wayward province that must return to the mainland's fold by force if necessary. It has pressured the WHO from admitting Taiwan under the one-China principle, a claim strongly rejected by Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen.

Taiwan's health ministry on Tuesday also demanded the WHO amend the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus, from 13 to 10. The global health body has placed Taiwan under the China listing, with 13 instead of 10 confirmed cases.

Severe penalties for spreading coronavirus, rumours

Courts in different parts of mainland China have released regulations, or guidelines, on the use of laws to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Among them, Heilongjiang appears to be taking the toughest line.

A notice by the northeastern provinces Higher People's Court said anyone who uses the outbreak to spread rumours for subversive activities may be liable to a maximum 15 years in jail for inciting to subvert of state power.

Anyone found intentionally spreading the coronavirus to cause public harm could face a charge of endangering public security by dangerous means, which carries the death penalty, the notice said, without providing details on what constituted spreading the virus intentionally.

Other offences that caused public harm  such as refusing to be quarantined  carried a maximum penalty of seven years in jail.

Courts in other parts of the country also pledged to help contain the spread. The Higher People's Court in Beijing said it would support the crackdown against counterfeit drugs, spreading rumours and trading of wildlife animals facing extinction.

US should provide help as soon as possible

With new infections reported, the spat between China and the US over the outbreak continues to intensify. The White House said China has agreed to allow American health experts into the country to help, but China just gave a very brief response.

China is aware that the US has said many times it is willing to offer assistance to China. We hope the assistance can be delivered as soon as possible, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement.

Hua said the US should assess the situation of the outbreak in a calm and objective manner. The US should respect and work with China to contain the outbreak, she said.

On Monday, Hua made a toughly worded statement against the travel ban on Chinese travellers imposed by Washington, accusing the US of not helping China but of creating fear.

Chinese airlines ordered not to suspend routes

The Civil Aviation Administration of China ordered Chinese airlines not to suspend routes going to and from countries that had not imposed a travel ban on Chinese travellers.

A notice from the administration said 46 foreign airlines had suspended flights to and from mainland China, with some countries also imposing a ban on Chinese travellers.

In order to meet the needs of passengers in and out of the country and international transportation of supplies during this special period, the administration requires domestic airlines  in addition to cutting down the number of flights because of market demand  to ensure continued transportation to nations that have not imposed travel restrictions, it said.

Dozens of countries have restricted travel to China. Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and the US have all banned entry of non-citizens who have travelled to China within the past 14 days.

First patients admitted to Wuhan military hospital

Wuhan's first makeshift military hospital, built specifically to care for coronavirus patients, started taking in its first batch of 50 patients on Tuesday morning, in a first step to relieve the overburdened Wuhan hospitals.

Constructed in eight days and formally handed over to military control on Sunday, the Huoshenshan hospital is being operated by a total of 1,400 army medical personnel.

A second temporary hospital, Leishenshan, is also going up at top speed in the city and is expected to be operational on Wednesday.

Youngest patient recorded

The public health authority in southwest Chinas Guizhou province reported on Monday that a one-month-old infant was infected by the novel coronavirus. She is the youngest known patient in the virus outbreak and is now in stable condition. No details were provided on how she was infected.

There have been previous cases of infant infections reported nationwide, including from Beijing, Shanghai, and the provinces of Guangdong and Zhejiang. Most remain in a stable condition. Public health officers have warned that pregnant women and children are susceptible to the virus and need to intensify protection.

Race for medical supplies continues

A hospital in southwestern China's Yunnan province is looking for tailors to make protective suits in a last-ditch effort to support medical staff in the face of the spreading coronavirus.

In a message widely circulated on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, the Peoples Hospital in Chuxiong autonomous prefecture said the desperate decision was made after the hospital tried several supply channels without success.

To ensure normal operation of disease control and patient treatment, the hospital has decided to self-make protective clothing, it said in the message.

The hospital said zips, between 60 to 80 centimetres long, were also greatly needed.

Chuxiong, in the central part of Yunnan province, has a population of nearly 2.8 million people, about 40 per cent of whom are ethnic minorities.

On Sunday, a 42-year-old man travelling from Wuhan became the first confirmed coronavirus case in Chuxiong.

China has continued to increase overseas purchases of medical protective gear and other equipment to battle the coronavirus. The customs agency said imports reached 810 million yuan (US$115 million) from January 24 to February 2, with protective gear accounting for 75 per cent.

Quarantine for Taiwanese back home

Taiwan has sent three of its 247 citizens to hospital overnight for isolated quarantine soon after they returned from coronavirus-struck Wuhan where they had been stranded due to the city lockdown.

The 247 took a China Eastern Airlines' charter flight back to the island and arrived at Taoyuan International Airport at around 11.50pm Monday. Except for three passengers, the rest were sent to three quarantine centres  two in northern Taiwan and one in central Taiwan  after a series of quarantine and disinfection procedures which lasted till 3am on Tuesday, according to health minister Chen Shih-chung.

The three sent for isolated wards include one who has fever and two who have throat and respiratory problems, Chen said, adding the military had sent its chemical troops to help in disinfecting the plane, baggage and 14 buses which took the evacuees to the three quarantine centres where they will be isolated for 14 days.

Chen said all crew members of the chartered plane remained abroad and the plane returned to the mainland without passengers after the disinfection and fuel supply.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Office said the island would continue to communicate with relevant authorities on the mainland for the evacuation of Taiwanese people stuck in Wuhan and other locked down cities. More than 250 people from Taiwan are still in Hubei province, according to a Taiwan business association based in Wuhan.

Casualties and fear rise sharply

The latest figures come as the number of daily casualties  and levels of global fear  rise sharply.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Americas leading public health institute, on Monday defended what it called aggressive actions it is taking to control the US spread of the coronavirus. These include tough warnings against travelling to China and mandatory federal quarantines for those arriving from the Wuhan area where most of the cases come from. Beijing has criticised the US steps.

Meanwhile, the economic fallout from the virus continued amid growing concern that global growth could suffer. CNBC reported Monday that Goldman Sachs was cancelling its annual partner meeting in New York this week over concern that Asia-based partners wouldnt be able to travel. The US Department of Health and Human Services notified Congress that it may need to tap some US$136 million to combat the outbreak.

On other economic fronts, oil fell to its lowest level in over a year during the US trading day Monday on declining Chinese demand.

The CDC has called the outbreak in China explosive and unprecedented. In response, Beijing has criticised Washingtons quarantine decision and its unfriendly comments.

Also on Monday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organisation, warned that the world may be dangerously unprepared for the next pandemic. He urged the UN agencys 196 member countries to invest in preparedness not panic, adding that funding for outbreak preparedness in surrounding countries has remained grossly inadequate in the past.

No PLA takeover of Wuhan

State-run Hubei Daily has dismissed as rumours claims circulating online that the military will take over Wuhan on February 10 if the coronavirus cannot be contained by then.

It also dismissed speculation that the citys supermarkets would be closed in three days, quoting Wuhans commerce bureau as saying it would be business as usual.

On Monday, the Peoples Liberation Army said it was taking control of delivery of supplies in Wuhan.

Cambodian leader to visit Wuhan

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday that he would visit Cambodian students in Wuhan to give them moral support following criticism of his decision not to repatriate them.

Hun Sen, a close ally of China, said he would fly there on Wednesday from South Korea, where he is attending a summit, and that he had informed Chinese authorities of his trip.

He said in a post on his Facebook page he would visit the students to to show them warmth and to make sure they are not scared of the new type of infectious coronavirus.

Cambodia, which has a large community of expatriate Chinese people, reported its single case of the virus last week, a Chinese man who came with his family from Wuhan to the coastal city of Sihanoukville last month.

Last week, Hun Sen said the coronavirus was under control in Cambodia despite public fears.

He also said Cambodia would allow flights from China and would not evacuate Cambodian students and diplomats, sparking public criticism that he was not doing enough to help them.

Additional reporting by Mark Magnier and Reuters

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Global greenhouse gas emissions once again hit a record high in 2019, even as they fell slightly in the United States as a result of a continued shift away from coal. The United Nations also warned last fall that global temperatures are on pace to rise as much as 3.2 degrees Celsius (5.8 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100, and that emissions must begin to fall by 7.6 percent each year beginning in 2020 to meet the Paris accords most ambitious aims.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump will use Tuesday's State of the Union address to tout his record on the economy and  perhaps  take an early victory lap with the Senate impeachment trial expected to wrap up this week.

Trump, who ran on the slogan "Make America Great Again," has dubbed this year's speech "the Great American Comeback."

"Were going to talk about the achievements that weve made," Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in a Super Bowl Sunday interview.

The address will take place before a joint session of Congress at 9 p.m. EST and offers Trump a high-profile platform to argue for his reelection. It comes a day after problems with the Iowa caucus left the outcome of the first contest in the Democratic nominating contest uncertain. Trump's campaign blasted the Iowa Democratic Party over what it said was a "train wreck."

While it was unclear whether Trump planned to mention impeachment or the election, there could still be moments of awkwardness in the House chamber where he will deliver his speech.

He will be introduced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Trump and the speaker have had a fraught relationship since the Democratic takeover of the House in the 2018 midterms, and the tensions have only grown after the House vote last year to impeach the president over his dealings with Ukraine.

Impeachment trial: House managers, Trump team make closing arguments  live updates

During Trump's speech last year, Pelosi rose to her feet and clapped when the president called for an end to the "politics of revenge." Video of her locking eyes with Trump while clapping went viral on social media.

Sitting in the audience during the speech will be 230 lawmakers  229 Democrats and one independent  who voted in favor of an article of impeachment charging Trump with abuse of power over allegations he withheld military aid to Ukraine to pressure the country to investigate Joe Biden, the former vice president and a 2020 presidential candidate. A second article of impeachment, charging Trump with obstruction of Congress, got 229 votes.

Story continues

Senators who are serving as jurors in the impeachment trial will also be in the audience, including several Democrats who are vying to replace him. The trial is expected to end Wednesday with a vote to acquit in the Republican-led Senate.

Iowa caucuses: Follow along for live coverage from across Iowa, and the world

Jessica Taylor, the Senate and governors editor at the non-partisan Cook Political Report, said the White House will look to use the speech as a "reset."

The question, she said, is whether Trump "will take the bait and talk about impeachment and the Democratic primary. ... Trump is just so unpredictable. Will he able to stay on script and stay on message?"

Aides said Trump will emphasize five themes in the speech.

Economy

Playing up the issue that will drive his reelection bid, Trump will stress what he calls a "blue-collar boom" and likely call for more tax cuts and reductions in government regulations. Trump has repeatedly said he wants to push new "middle-class tax cuts," as well as breaks for businesses.

The economy has performed well under Trump, growing an average of about 2.5% annually during the three years of his term, more than the 2.2% post-recession average before he took office. And average monthly job gains of 191,000 in his tenure are similar to totals under President Barack Obama  after job losses from the Great Recession ended in February 2010. Under Trump, the unemployment rate has fallen to 3.5%, a 50-year low.

Trump is credited with spearheading federal tax cuts and spending increases that juiced economic growth to nearly 3% in 2018. But that stimulus during an economic expansion has swollen the federal deficit and could make it tougher for Congress to boost spending dramatically in the next recession.

Trade fights with China and other countries have created some uncertainty about growth in the year ahead.

Working families

Trump plans to discuss job training initiatives and child care  a signature issue of Ivanka Trump, his daughter and a senior adviser. He is expected to call for tax credits to benefit parents who want to send their children to private schools, the "school choice" issue.

Health care

While touting proposals on on drug pricing and medical billing, Trump is also expected to brand Democratic health care plans as "socialist," a claim he has also made on the campaign trail.

While failing to repeal Obama's health care law, Trump has said he wants to promote plans to reduce drug prices, make medical billing more transparent, and give people more flexibility in choosing doctors and health plans.

Immigration

Trump will tout his plans to crack down on illegal immigration, including his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The president is expected to renew his call to discourage "sanctuary cities" that give shelter to undocumented immigrants.

Since taking office, Trump has touted a signature promise of his 2016 campaign: to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The administration said this month that it had built 100 miles of border wall, but virtually all of that construction has replaced barriers that existed during the Obama administration. That despite a government shutdown in 2018 over wall funding and an emergency declaration that allowed Trump to free up military funding for the wall.

National security

Trump will discuss a litany of foreign policy challenges, from the Middle East and Iran to North Korea and China. He is expected to promote his proposed Middle East plan, his hopes for more nuclear talks with North Korea, and a new trade deal with China.

On Iran, Trump is likely to tout his decision to authorize a strike killing Qasem Soleimani, a powerful Iranian general responsible for the deaths of many American soldiers.

Trump and his national security advisers say Soleimanis death has made the U.S. safer. And they argue Trumps maximum pressure campaign on Iran has crippled that countrys economy and made it harder for Tehran to finance terrorism.

But some believe Trumps actions, starting with his decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, have made Iran a more provocative and dangerous force across the Middle East.

Can he change minds?

As Trump starts his fourth year in office, it may be difficult for him to change many minds with a single speech, analysts said, even the nationally televised State of the Union.

"He's compiled an extensive record of policy accomplishments, judicial appointments and animosity," said Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan political analyst. "I think people who like him will like what he says, and anybody who doesn't like him will dismiss what he says."

Contributing: Paul Davidson, Deirdre Shesgreen and Paul Davidson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's State of the Union comes amid impeachment and election frenzy
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Of the patients who have died in mainland China, more than 80 percent were older than 60, and more than 75 percent had an underlying health condition that put them at greater risk, Jiao Yahui, an official with Chinas health commission, said on Tuesday. Two-thirds of the fatalities were men, she added.

The death in Hong Kong came as the city entered the second day of a strike by hospital workers demanding that the government close the border with mainland China. Many countries have shut off or sharply curtailed traffic to and from China to prevent the virus from spreading.

The patient had traveled to Wuhan by train on Jan. 21, and had returned to Hong Kong two days later, the Hong Kong government said in a statement. Health officials said he also had diabetes, which can impair the immune system.

His death raised further concerns in the city because of the possibility that the disease was transmitted within the mans household. His mother, who did not travel to Wuhan, later contracted the virus. The mans wife and two children and a domestic helper who worked for him are being quarantined.

Hong Kong has 17 confirmed cases of the new strain of coronavirus, including four that are highly likely to have been transmitted locally, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, a health department official.

Dr. Chuang said there was a significant risk of community transmission in Hong Kong and a large-scale local outbreak could not be ruled out.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader

By Vivian Gornick

Of all the things that haunt me about my drafty, tired old house, it is the books, sitting boxed up in the basement without sufficient shelving to hold them, that give me the most distress. Its not that I need them, exactly. If asked to name the titles, I could list perhaps half. But within those Ive read but not revisited while theyve moldered in their cardboard prisons are untold insights. At least, this is my suspicion after reading Vivian Gornicks new book, Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader. What misconception, or plain old error, calcified when I first encountered the books Ive loved enough to tote from home to home? And what kind of revelations would emerge once I had time to reread them?

Time to reread! What a farce! And is there value, with dozens upon dozens of new books published every week, in returning to the piles that have already been consumed? Gornicks new book is part memoiristic collage, part literary criticism, yet it is also an urgent argument that rereading offers the opportunity not just to correct and adjust ones recollection of a book but to correct and adjust ones perception of oneself. The effort required to attain some semblance of an integrated self was going to be the task of a lifetime, Gornick writes, and rereading, as she has it, is an essential part of that task. Bid your therapist goodbye, and dig out your college syllabus.
Britains banks and other credit card lenders started the new week with a yellow card. Sort of. The Financial Conduct Authority delivered to them one of its Dear CEO letters reminding them that theyve been told to behave better with respect to their struggling customers and demanding they review their practices.

These are the sort of things that said CEOs find about as welcome as three separate burglar alarms going off near where they live during the early hours of a Monday morning, particularly with results season looming.

But the warning was timely nonetheless.
2. Superheroes

Two and a half years ago, Leo Sheng was in Ann Arbor, Mich., about to start a masters in social work when a casting agent messaged him on Instagram. Acting was not on my radar, he says. Sheng flew to New York for an audition. As he boarded the plane back to Michigan, his phone rang: He got the part. In Adam, which premiered last August, Sheng plays Ethan, a young trans man so emotionally grounded that he becomes the ballast for the cis characters flailing all around him, thus flipping a trans narrative trope. Soon after, he was cast in The L Word: Generation Q as Micah, an adjunct professor of social work.

Sheng, now 23, recognizes the potential for social and political change in acting: Through characters like Ethan and Micah, hes helping Hollywood revise its depictions of trans men, catching up to trans lives as theyre actually lived. Story lines are moving past transition into love, friendship, work, family  the everything-ness of a mans life. Sheng and the other actors are portraying men not defined by crisis or fear, or hormones and chest-binding, but in the midst of full and (mostly) happy lives  a type of happiness a lot of people want to know is possible, Sheng says.

Sheng uses social media to further complicate the narrative, engaging in an ongoing deconstruction of who and what defines the male self. He posts about going to the gym and his evolving relationship to muscles. He wants people to see trans male bodies as they are, whether ripped or soft, hairy or smooth, boyish or dad-ish, scarred or not. Sheng recently posted about his period, a frankness that drew praise but also online attacks about his identity.

Something we cant forget: Even as the actors appear in more and more celebrated projects, some people continue to deny their existence. The English actor, writer and director Jake Graf, 42, says in the past trans men were invisible, both onscreen and in broader society, in part because many could choose whether to disclose their identity: Largely due to our physicality, weve been afforded the luxury of living that unseen, under-the-radar, stealth life. Their reasons were complex and understandable (personal safety, social and financial stability, for example), but one consequence has been that there is now far less awareness of trans men than of trans women. Society has a long and unfortunate history of gazing at and fetishizing trans women, but that has been less the case with trans men. Thats a generalization, of course, but only in service of sharing a point many of the actors made to me: They now want to be seen; they now want people to know they exist. Trans women have historically been more visible, Graf says. Trans men have been out there doing things much more quietly, which is great for them, but not great for visibility.

Graf used to audition without disclosing his identity, and casting directors saw him as another guy in the gaggle. Only after coming out could he stand out, booking roles in 2018s Colette and 2015s The Danish Girl (based on a novel I wrote). With his square jaw and British charm, Graf embodies the classic leading man while also subverting the very notion. He started making short films, highlighting the fine-grain details of ordinary trans lives: a young man visiting his gynecologist; an older man recalling life before the queer and trans rights movements  a multiplicity of stories Hollywood is only now incorporating.

Theres no one version of a trans guy in Hollywood anymore, says Elliot Fletcher, 23. From 2016 to 2018, Fletcher took on three consecutive trans roles that, viewed together, proved groundbreaking. On MTVs Faking It, he played a high schooler navigating his gender identity and sexuality. On Freeforms The Fosters, he was the sweetly rebellious boyfriend. On Showtimes Shameless, Fletcher plays an L.G.B.T.Q. activist who is simultaneously insulting, raunchy and endearing. The role hed really love, though, is the next Spider-Man. With the right glasses, he could pass for Peter Parker. When I asked the actors about their dream roles, most said they want to play a superhero. A superhero implies someone elite, a status long denied to trans and gender-nonconforming people.
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Linkedin Panarat Thepgumpanat and Patpicha Tanakasempipat (Reuters) Bangkok, Thailand  Tue, February 4, 2020 17:40 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20628505e 2 World coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,Thailand,outbreak,health-concerns,health-issues Free

Thailand confirmed six new cases of the new coronavirus on Tuesday, four of them Thai nationals and two Chinese, bringing the total to 25, the highest number outside China.

The four Thais included a couple who visited Japan and two drivers who picked up Chinese passengers in Thailand, Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, told reporters.

It was not clear whether the couple contracted the virus in Japan or after returning, Suwannachai said.

One of the infected Thai drivers, a 70-year-old, also had tuberculosis and was transferred into government care from a private hospital on Monday with worse condition than the others.

The other driver was tracked down by Thai authorities after being identified as one of the people in contact with an infected Chinese tourist, Suwannachai said.

Thailand confirmed its first case of human-to-human transmission on Friday when a taxi driver tested positive.

Thailand's total 25 cases consist of six Thais and 19 Chinese. Seventeen remain in hospital and eight have gone home, according to the health official.

Earlier on Tuesday, South Korea reported a 42-year-old woman has tested positive for coronavirus after visiting Thailand. It was not clear yet where she had contracted the virus.
The FBI has joined the frantic search for baby Andrew Caballeiro, the disappeared child of one of the victims of a horrifying triple murder in Miami last Tuesday.

The baby was a week old when his father, Ernesto Caballeiro, 49, allegedly kidnapped him after the murders of his mother, Arlety Garcia Valdes, 40; grandmother Isabel Valdes Gonzalez, 60; and great grandmother Lina Gonzalez Licor, 84; all natives of Cuba.

Police suspect Caballeiro murdered the women.

Our detectives are still following all the leads they have in the case. We have the assistance of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI, but at this time theres been no change in the investigation, Miami-Dade county police Detective Angel Rodriguez told el Nuevo Herald Monday.

Michael Leverock, spokesman for the Miami office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, confirmed the agency is assisting in the case.

Authorities are still searching locations where Caballeiro might have taken the baby after he left the house where the three women were murdered Jan. 28, near SW 219th Street and 187th Avenue.

A video shows the father leaving the house with the baby, but there was no trace of Andrew when authorities found Caballeiro dead near his van about 220 miles away in Pasco County. He apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot.

Police launched an intense search of the wooded areas where the fathers body was found but found no trace of the baby.

Authorities are still searching along the route that Caballeiro could have driven from Miami-Dade to Pasco County.

As long as we have leads and several ways of continuing the investigation, it will continue, said Rodriguez. Basically, there is no deadline. The course of the investigation is extensive because the event happened in Miami-Dade and wound up in Pasco county. From here to Pasco, everything is subject to being part of the investigation and thats why were being assisted by the FDLE and the FBI.

The babys family meanwhile issued a dramatic call to anyone who might have the child or know his whereabouts to come forward.

Reina Valdes, an aunt of the babys mother, told el Nuevo Herald that she remains hopeful the baby is alive and wants to hear from anyone who has any information.

I ask the media to continue publishing photos of the baby. I ask the community to get in contact with the media, with the police, she said. We in the family, the only thing we want at this time is to know the whereabouts of the boy.

Days earlier, she had said that the only thing we want is to have the baby with us. The family promises no charges will be filed against any person who might have the child.

Police last communicated with the aunt on Thursday.

But even as the family waits for the babys return, members have been preparing the funerals of the three victims. Those will take place Tuesday in Miami, but Reina Valdes said the family wants to keep the ceremony private and declined to provide details.

Miami-Dade police still have an amber alert for baby Andrew on their Twitter account.

Help us find baby Andrew Caballeiro. Anyone with information about his whereabouts and/or information about the triple homicide should immediately call 911 or @CrimeStopper305 at (305) 471-8477. #FindBabyAndrew.
Almost two-thirds of children from Northern Ireland claim to have witnessed hateful content online, a new report has suggested.

The figures were released in Ofcom's latest study of children's media and online lives for 2019.

The report also suggests that 43% of parents here are increasingly concerned about their child seeing content which might encourage them to self-harm.

Hateful content refers specifically to content directed at particular groups of people based on, for example, their gender, religion, disability, sexuality or gender identity.

However, 85% of parents interviewed did say they were more likely to speak to their children about staying safe on the internet.

Muriel Bailey from Parenting NI said the statistics are "very concerning" and encouraged parents to talk to their children about the use of the internet.

NSPCC Northern Ireland believes that an independent regulator must be introduced across the United Kingdom to hold technology companies responsible for media output to account.

The wide-ranging Ofcom report looked at the amount of children using the messaging service WhatsApp, the possibility of children being bullied via online games, as well as the number of young people using smart speakers.

The study, which was based on around 3,500 interviews with children and parents nationwide, indicates that:

In the UK as a whole, 51% of 12 to 15-year-olds who go online saw hateful content in the last year, but that jumped to 62% in Northern Ireland alone.

55% of parents here believe the benefits of their child being online outweigh the risks.

The main gaming-related problems concerning parents here include in-game purchases (47% of parents) and the possibility of their child being bullied (39%).

WhatsApp is used by almost two-thirds of older children and now rivals Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram;

24% of children in Northern Ireland are using smart speakers, while 77% own smart TVs.

Three-quarters of children here use a tablet to go online, while 43% use a mobile phone.

There was a 20% increase in the number of 10-year-olds likely to be trusted with their own smartphone in 2019 (50%) when compared to 2015 (30%).

Yih-Choung Teh, strategy and research group director at Ofcom, explained that education and stronger regulations will help children embrace their digital independence, while protecting them from the risks of the internet.

"Today's children have never known life without the internet, but two million parents now feel the internet causes them more harm than good," he said.

"So it's encouraging that parents, carers and teachers are now having more conversations than ever before with children about online safety."

Ms Bailey, Parenting NI's director for family support services, explained that the organisation often hears from parents who are increasingly concerned about their children's use of technology and the impact it has on their wellbeing.

"We would encourage parents to talk to their children about their use of the internet and convey that we should treat people online as we would in everyday life, with kindness and respect," she said.

"There are many filters and blocks which parents can explore with network providers to try and limit the risks of children stumbling upon things they shouldn't, as well as reporting features within apps and games.

"However, having open communication with your child is important when it comes to dealing with inappropriate or hateful content."

Ms Bailey added that parents can reassure their children that they can talk to them about anything they see online which they may find offensive or disturbing and they can then explore ways of handling the situation together.

A spokesperson for NSPCC Northern Ireland added that it was unsurprising that some parents feel the internet does more harm than good when "social networks' algorithms are designed to push even the most dangerous suicide and self-harm content at children".

"While it's encouraging that parents are talking to their children about their media use, we must look to tech giants to protect their users and ensure they are a force for good not bad," the charity's spokesperson said.

"We need an independent regulator to be introduced across the UK that will hold tech giants to account and implement tough consequences if they fail."
Kate Harrison, the councilwoman who introduced the Berkeley ban, said that dozens of public officials from around the country had contacted her for advice about how to enact similar legislation.

The 22 other California cities and counties that followed Berkeleys lead, including San Jose, the countrys 10th-largest city, have done so with building codes that encourage electric wiring and appliances rather than ban gas outright.

Brooklines ban, which applies to new construction and gut renovations but makes some exemptions for buildings like research laboratories, awaits review by the Massachusetts attorney general before it can become law.

In nearby Cambridge, Mass., city officials have already held hearings on an ordinance that would block natural gas connections in new buildings and those being substantially renovated.

But the ordinances are facing some pushback.

The Massachusetts chapter of NAIOP, a commercial real estate association, for instance, has joined groups that represent the gas and restaurant industries in opposing the measure. Tamara Small, the organizations chief executive, said the new legislation was premature, and she predicted that the Cambridge ban would be challenged in court if it was passed because of conflicts with state legislation.

Were not saying its not possible at some point, she added. But were moving too quickly.

Some real estate companies, however, are already experimenting with all-electric construction, prompted by their own environmental goals or goaded by investors who want to know what they are doing to address climate risk in their portfolios, said Billy Grayson, executive director of the Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance at the Urban Land Institute, a real estate think tank.

Kilroy Realty, a large commercial developer in Los Angeles, has a portfolio that includes 17 percent all-electric buildings, said Sara Neff, the companys senior vice president for sustainability. Ms. Neff expects that figure to grow.
San Francisco police arrested two men after an alleged auto burglary spree last month that spanned four miles across the northern part of the city and resulted in more than 40 items of stolen property.

San Francisco residents Jared Wilson, 31, and Delvon Carter, 21, were taken into custody on Jan. 27 after the pair broke into five vehicles, according to San Francisco police. Several of the crimes allegedly occurred while they were being shadowed by officers, who were able to contact most of the 18 victims and return their property, police said.

Wilson and Carter were booked into the San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of five counts of second-degree burglary, five counts of possession of stolen property, conspiracy, two counts of fraudulent use of license plates, intercepting police radio broadcasts to further the commission of a crime and resisting arrest.

Wilson was booked on an additional count of committing a crime while having been released on bail on his own recognizance. Carter faces separate allegations of possession of a burglary tool and driving on a suspended license.

Just before 3 p.m. on Jan. 27, plainclothes officers responded to a report of an auto burglary on the 100 block of Jefferson Street. Dispatchers broadcast a description of the suspects vehicle to police, and officers were able to locate the suspects a short time later at the Palace of Fine Arts.

The suspects committed another burglary while under surveillance, police said, but potential safety risks to the public prevented officers from intervening.

The officers continued to tail the pair to the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center parking lot, where the suspects cased and then burglarized three other vehicles in a matter of seconds, police said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Police then followed the suspects to the Stonestown movie theater parking lot, described as a lightly used area, and made the arrests. The suspects fled on foot but were apprehended.

The officers recovered a police scanner, and the suspect vehicle displayed different license plates on the front and the rear, police said.

Auto burglaries in San Francisco remain high but have begun to level off after reaching epidemic levels. The break-ins peaked in 2017 with 31,000 incidents, then declined by 17% in 2018 and then another 3% in 2019.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
European governments could consider a US-style ban on foreign visitors who have recently been to China, in a bid to impede the spread of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, the health ministers of France and Germany said on Tuesday.

"Indeed, there is the question of possible travel restrictions or at least increased examination (of travellers) at the border," Germany's Jens Spahn said at a meeting in Paris with his French counterpart Agnes Buzyn.

He was responding to a question about whether Europe would consider a ban similar to that imposed by the United States, which China has accused of spreading "panic".

"It makes no sense that a single country takes measures," on a continent with border-free travel between most nations, said Spahn.

The new coronavirus has killed more than 400 people and infected a further 20,000 in China since emerging in December and has now spread to more than 20 other countries.

Buzyn agreed that travel restriction "is one of the questions for European ministers. We must have a coherent vision in the (passport-free) Schengen area."



"There is no sense in one country taking this type of decision while citizens move around freely."



Buzyn said they would ask the Croatian presidency of the EU Council to call a meeting of health ministers within days to discuss further measures needed in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

"We would like... closer cooperation so that we have exactly the same measures in all countries in order to be consistent in Europe since there is this free movement of people, and we wish to maintain this free movement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The TRIPS Agreement, to which the Philippines is a signatory, enables governments of member countries with no capacity to manufacture medicines to import/export cheaper pharmaceutical products via a compulsory licence. These are medicines for which they would otherwise have paid a higher price because of existing patents.

On January 8 2020, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) posted the proposed guidelines on the use of special compulsory licences (SCL) and compulsory licences (CL) by way of a Joint Administrative Order (JAO) with the Department of Health (DOH) for comment by the public on or before January 21 2020. This is in line with the government's target of sustainable development goals (SDG). Under the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (IP Code), a CL is a licence issued by the director general of the IPOPHL to exploit a patented invention without the permission of the patent holder. SCL refers to the permission granted to import and/or export patented drugs and medicines.

The JAO allows the DOH to import generic versions of the patented products under any of the following circumstances: (i) national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency; (ii) where the public interest so requires, in particular, nutrition or health as determined by the DOH; (iii) where a judicial or administrative body has determined that the manner of exploitation of the patent is anti-competitive; (iv) in case of public non-commercial use of the patent by the patentee without satisfactory reason; (v) if the patented invention is not being worked in the Philippines on a commercial scale, although capable of being worked, without satisfactory reason; or (vi) when the demand for patented drugs and medicines is not being met to an adequate extent and on reasonable terms.

The JAO provides for payment of reasonable remuneration to the patent holder, but sets the ceiling for the royalty payment at 5% of the price of generics. The royalty rate shall be in accordance with the guidelines of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The patent holder shall be given the opportunity to comment on the petition for the issuance of a SCL/CL, and the proceedings shall be before the IPOPHL. The parties shall be encouraged to avail of any mode of alternative dispute resolution. Should the patentee fail to file its comment within the required period, the director general of the IPOPHL shall issue the SCL/CL which shall be immediately executory and only the Supreme Court can issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) or preliminary injunction or other provisional remedies.

To avoid the commercialisation of the approved generic product, it shall be distinguished by a different special packaging and/or special colouring/shaping, and the issued Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) shall include the statement "FOR DOH PROGRAM ONLY." The process of securing the SCL/CL from filing of the petition should take only 90 days.



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DOBRUSH, Belarus -- Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week to discuss ongoing disagreements over tariffs for Russian oil.



Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on February 4 an earlier statement by the Belarusian leader that the two heads of state will gather in Moscow in three days' time.

The meeting comes at a crucial time in relations between the two countries.



Lukashenka has accused Moscow of pressuring his country to merge with Russia, something the Belarus leader has vowed to not let happen.



On February 1, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks with Lukashenka in Minsk, at which the U.S. diplomat said that Washington is seeking closer ties with Minsk, though Belarus doesn't need to choose between the two superpowers.



"We want fair, clear, and transparent ties [with Russia]. If they don't want them, then should tell us. And don't cry 'Oh, Pompeo came, tomorrow [U.S. President Donald] Trump will come! And what will [Minsk] do next?" Lukashenka said on February 4 while visiting an industrial facility in the southeastern city of Dobrush.



In addition, Russia's dominance over Belarus, which is heavily reliant on Moscow for cheap oil and billions in annual subsidies to prop up its Soviet-era economy, has exacerbated tensions between the two and sparked protests on the streets of Minsk.



Moscow and Minsk signed an agreement in 1999 to form a unified state, but little progress has been made in the ensuing two decades. Belarus was a Soviet republic until the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.



Meetings between Lukashenka and Putin last year failed to bring the two sides together as the Belarusian president noted he was merely seeking "equal" terms.



Belarus was hit by rare public demonstrations in December, with protesters expressing anger over the perceived secrecy of the talks and objecting to closer ties to Russia.



The Kremlin, in defending higher energy prices and lower subsidies for Belarus, argues that Minsk should accept greater economic integration if it wants to continue receiving energy resources at Russia's domestic prices.



"I will directly tell him [Putin] that some sort of moment of truth has come.... If you have promised to bring the [oil] prices to the level of domestic ones like in Russia, then do so. Why are you deceiving us?" Lukashenka said on February 4.



When meeting with Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimer Makey, Pompeo said U.S. "energy producers stand ready to deliver 100 percent of the oil you need at competitive prices."

With reporting by BelTA
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 02/04/2020



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star Jessica Studer admits she couldn't help but question Austin Hurd 's motivation for tying the knot with a stranger on the Lifetime series given it's such a risky thing to do.Jessica and two of her fellow tenth-season brides, Mindy Shiben and Meka Jones , appeared on the January 29 episode of : Unfiltered and discussed some of their concerns heading into this extreme experiment."Is there anything that you're questioning about your husband's motivations for doing this experiment?" Unfiltered host Jamie Otis asked Jessica."For me, I'm still like, 'Why did Austin,' or like, 'Why would any guy sign up for this?' Just the idea that it's crazy," Jessica said."I was the same way," agreed Jamie, who wed Doug Hehner on Season 1 of and is still happily married today. "I was like, 'I get why I did this, but why did you do this?!'"The girls all laughed and Jessica added, "Yeah, like, 'Why are you on the show?!'"Jessica shared she was initially skeptical of Austin's intentions after she, Meka and Mindy watched back a Season 10 clip in which one of Mindy's bridesmaids asked Zach Justice if he had signed up for the show to boost his personal training and modeling career.Zach insisted he was on the show for love and would take care of Mindy's heart, but Mindy's bridesmaids weren't entirely convinced.In fact, the girls wondered why Zach wouldn't just date or marry one of the attractive women he probably worked with every day."It kind of makes me question and be a bit more skeptical myself," Mindy explained of that conversation Zach had with one of her best friends."I did just marry a stranger and I don't know really his intentions or his -- I really don't know him yet."After Meka watched back that clip of Zach getting grilled, she shared, "I think when you're wanting to get married, there are sometimes concerns that you don't think about because you're in it and you're, like, so on Cloud 9."Meka said the wedding day was simply exciting because the participants had "waited all this time" to finally meet their spouses."You just want to be happy and in love, so having somebody who can be logical and say, 'Let's get to the nitty-gritty and let's see why you're really here,' I think we all need somebody like that," Meka explained."So I definitely enjoyed watching that [clip]."Mindy acknowledged that was "perfect" and "well said" of Meka, who married Michael Watson on this season.When asked whether she was confident Michael was "in it for the right reasons," Meka apparently wasn't so sure."You know, coming into this, that was one of my biggest concerns -- was that I know I'm coming into this because I want my forever person, so how do I know he's coming in for the right reasons?" Meka questioned.Although Mindy admitted her bridesmaids brought her back "down to earth a little bit," she remained "very, very hopeful" her marriage would work out and Zach would turn out to be the guy of her dreams."Like, wedding day is very much, like, 'This is perfect! This is perfect,' and then now it's like, 'Okay, this is real life. This isn't just a fairy tale. I do really need to find out what this person is about,'" Mindy reasoned.'s recent episodes have shown Jessica and Austin getting along fabulously , just like Katie Conrad and Derek Sherman , while the other three couples have experienced some major bumps in the road.Zach, for instance, told Mindy several times he wasn't physically attracted to her, and Meka accused Michael of giving her an off-camera ultimatum that they needed to sleep together during their honeymoon in Panama or else he'd want out of their marriage.In the latest episode of Season 10, Jessica and Austin revealed their connection was growing and they had consummated their marriage during their honeymoon., which also stars Taylor Dunklin and Brandon Reid , currently airs on Wednesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on Lifetime.Interested in more news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group
The economic toll has been cushioned by the fact that the outbreak intensified last month during the Lunar New Year celebration, when many factories and businesses in China close as workers travel home to visit family. If the economic disruption lasts only another week or two, the impact on Chicago-area firms may not be dramatic, said Phillip Braun, a finance professor at Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of Management.
Being hardworking, flexible [with] an outgoing and friendly personality is all very well, but British citizens would soon not qualify to work as cabin crew with Ryanair under the conditions of a new job advert. They appear to fall at the first hurdle because of Brexit.

Europes biggest budget airline has a recruitment day in Manchester on 22 February 2020.

Ryanair is seeking applicants who are adaptable and happy to work a shift roster. They must enjoy dealing with the public and have the ability to provide excellent customer service with a can do attitude.

But British citizens would be unlikely to be able to meet the first requirement for anyone seeking a highly competitive salary and amazing staff travel benefits once the Brexit transition period ends in 11 months time.

The first demand is: Applicants must have the unrestricted right to live and work in the EU.

Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Show all 20 1 /20 Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Britain votes to leave the European Union - 23 June 2016 A referendum is held on Britain's membership of the European Union. Fifty-two per cent of the country votes in favour of leaving AFP via Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? David Cameron resigns - 24 June 2016 David Cameron resigns on the morning of the result after leading the campaign for Britain to remain in the EU Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Theresa May takes the reins - 13 July 2016 Theresa May becomes leader of the Conservative party and prime minister, winning the leadership contest unopposed after Andrea Leadsom drops out Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? High Court rules parliament must vote on Brexit - November 2016 - 3 November 2016 The High Court rules that parliament must vote on triggering Article 50, which would begin the Brexit process Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Article 50 triggered - 28 March 2017 The prime minister triggers Article 50 after parliament endorses the result of the referendum Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? May calls snap election - 18 April 2018 Seeking a mandate for her Brexit plan, May goes to the country Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? May loses majority as Labour makes surprise gain - 8 June 2017 After a disastrous campaign, Theresa May loses her majority in the commons and turns to the DUP for support. Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party makes gains after being predicted to lose heavily AFP/Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Negotiations begin - 19 June 2017 David Davis and Michel Barnier, chief negotiators for the UK and EU respectively, hold a press conference on the first day of Brexit negotiations. Soon after the beginning of negotiations, it becomes clear that the issue of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic will prove a major sticking point AFP/Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? MPs vote that withdrawal deal must be ratified by parliament - 13 December 2017 The government suffers a defeat in parliament over the EU withdrawal agreement, guaranteeing that MPs are given a 'meaningful vote' on the deal Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Boris Johnson resigns as foreign secretary - 11 July 2018 Following a summit at Chequers where the prime minister claimed to have gained cabinet support for her deal, Boris Johnson resigns as foreign secretary along with David Davis, the Brexit secretary Reuters Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Draft withdrawal agreement - 15 November 2018 The draft withdrawal agreement settles Britain's divorce bill, secures the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and vice versa and includes a political declaration commiting both parties to frictionless trade in goods and cooperation on security matters. The deal also includes the backstop, which is anathema to many brexiteers and Dominic Raab and Esther McVey resign from the cabinet in protest Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? May resigns - 24 May 2019 After several failed attempts to pass her withdrawal agreement through the commons, Theresa May resigns Reuters Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Johnson takes over - 24 July 2019 Boris Johnson is elected leader of the Conservative party in a landslide victory. He later heads to Buckingham Palace where the Queen invites him to form a government Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Parliament prorogued - 28 August 2019 Boris Johnson prorogues parliament for five weeks in the lead up to the UK's agreed departure date of 31 October. Stephen Morgan MP Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Prorogation ruled unlawful - 24 September 2019 The High Court rules that Johnson's prorogation of parliament is 'unlawful' after a legal challenge brought by businesswoman Gina Miller Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Johnson agrees deal with Varadkar - October Following a summit in Merseyside, Johnson agrees a compromise to the backstop with Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar - making the withdrawal agreement more palatable to Brexiteers Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Final Say march demands second referendum - 19 October 2019 As parliament passes the Letwin amendment requiring the prime minister to request a further delay to Brexit, protesters take to the streets in the final show of force for a Final Say referendum Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Johnson wins 80 seat majority - 12 December 2019 The Conservatives win the December election in a landslide, granting Boris Johnson a large majority to pass through his brexit deal and pursue his domestic agenda Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? Withdrawal deal passes parliament - 20 December 2019 The withdrawal agreement passes through the commons with a majority of 124 Getty Brexit timeline: How did we get here? EU parliament backs UK withdrawal deal - 29 January 2020 Members of the European parliament overwhelmingly back the ratification of Britain's departure, clearing the way for Brexit two days later on 31 January. Following the vote, members join hands and sing Auld Lang Syne AFP/Getty

The airline explains: You must be flexible to relocate as you could operate from any European base within Ryanair Holdings PLC subject to operational requirements.

However, Ryanair insists British passport holders will continue to be eligible to work for the company whatever restrictions Brexit may place on their rights to work within the EU.

A spokesperson for the airline told The Independent: Currently, we require all cabin crew applicants to have the unrestricted right to live and work in the EU. However, we will revise and update this requirement before the Brexit transition period ends on 31st December 2020.

Ryanair has dozens of bases across the European Union, and often assigns crew to work from airports in different countries.

British passport holders can travel and work anywhere in the EU until the end of 2020. But after that they will lose the right as freedom of movement ends.

Non-UK citizens with the right to remain will be able to fulfil the requirement beyond the end of the year.
(Photo : REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch) Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addresses a news conference in Berlin, Germany February 27, 2019

There is an avalanche of complaints from Microsoft Windows 10 users after trying to update with a Microsoft Windows 10 download to fix a File Explorer problem. Most of the claims revolve around the loss of sound quality after installing the update. This occurred even though users are still able to upgrade their Windows 10 from the previous Windows 7 at no extra charge.

Read Also: The Top 10 Features Of Microsoft Windows 10

Microsoft Permits Staggered Update Schedule But Users Complain Due to Inconvenience

Microsoft Windows Corporate Vice President Mike Fortin had earlier stated that Microsoft would give more leeway to Windows users over the timing of the update process. However, the updates process for the Microsoft Windows 10 download still turned out to be a headache for Windows users as they would only be allowed to delay a process update for up to 35 days for the feature updates and monthly updates.

This step, dubbed a "pause", could be staggered into 7-day periods, repeated five times total only. After that, consumers would have to initiate an update. Then the staggered "pause update" process can be started again. This means Windows users would have to keep the update schedule in mind, thus making it difficult to reconcile with their work schedules.

Windows 10 Turns Out to be buggy

This latest problem comes on the heels of two other previous problems with Windows updates. One problem is that the KB4524147 cumulative update triggered difficulties with the Start Menu, printing, and boot capabilities (which are believed to be a reiteration of earlier problems with the KB4522016 updates). Another problem was the KB4517211 optional cumulative update for Windows 10, which seemed to obliterate any use of the search field - even the cursor disappeared when used on the search field.

Read Also: Here's How Microsoft Plans To Keep Windows 10 Always Updated, And You Won't Like It

Such problems with the updates are not new. As early as May 2019, there were complaints from Windows users about the Windows 10 upgrade for version 1903. Specifically, the update could not be installed on certain devices - believed to be a deliberate decision on the part of Microsoft. Some apps and features were being blocked as well after the updates had been installed. It is also believed that the Settings app crashed due to the updates.

Microsoft faces legal hurdles due to buggy Windows 10

Users complained that some features had gone missing and that the "design consistency" was lacking in the update process of Microsoft Windows 10 download. What was most notable about the issue though, was the striking lack of information about these many problems as well as the possible solutions that could help the public handle the upgrade bugs. This is not the least of headaches related to the updates for Microsoft because the company is now deemed liable for damages due to a Windows 10 upgrade initiated on a Finnish man's computer that turned out to be unauthorized. There was even a class-action lawsuit filed for alleged unauthorized updates, in relation to the timing of that complaint.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Last month, author Ransom Riggs set out on a tour in celebration of the release of The Conference of the Birds (Dutton), fifth in his paranormal YA series Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children. Beginning on January 14 and wrapping up on the 26th, the tour featured stops in North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Weve gathered a selection of highlights from the events, which featured readings, signings, cosplay, and more.

Over the course of the tour, Riggs drove in a branded van from Asheville, N.C. to Los Angeles. Photo: Courtesy of Ransom Riggs/Penguin Young Readers

Malaprops Bookstore in Asheville hosted the launch event for Ransom Riggss national tour. Credit: Robert Bradley, Malaprops.

Riggs met fans who were dressed as Miss Peregrine during his meet-and-greet pre-event at Malaprops. Attendees received a Polaroid photo signed by the author, along with a swag bag.

Two young Peculiars tried out some new karate moves during the signing at Homewood Theatre, Brookwood Village in partnership with Books-A-Million in Birmingham, Ala. Photo: Books-A-Million

The staff at Page & Palette in Fairhope, Ala., welcome Riggs to the store. Activity stations open in advance of the public event included photo-ops, a costume trunk, a trivia reel, and custom Peculiar temporary tattoos. Photo: Page & Palette

Author Tahereh Mafi surprised her husband (Riggs) on his tour stop at BookPeople in Austin, where they appeared in conversation. Photo: BookPeople.

Mafi and Riggs discussed The Conference of the Birds at Half Price Books in Dallas. The bookstore set up a photo-op scavenger hunt throughout the store, giving fans the chance to pose with recreations of each of the book covers in the series. Photo: Half Price Books

A view of the crowd at the Barnes & Noble Coronado Mall in Albuquerque, N.M. Photo: Elyse Marshall.

Riggs with booksellers at Barnes & Noble Coronado Mall in Albuquerque. Photo: Marshall.

The author delivering a presentation at Changing Hands in Tempe, Ariz. Photo: Marshall.

Fans attending Riggss tour events frequently bring their own old photos to share with the author, inspired by those in his books. Photo: Marshall.

Joking around with staff at the San Diego Public Librarys Library Shop. The event drew more than 200 fans. Photo: The Library Shop.

The authors hometown fans came out for the last stop on his tour at Barnes & Noble The Grove in Los Angeles.

Photo: Lennie Rohrbacher, B&N The Grove.
EASTON, Pa. - A Northampton County police chief was cited after he was involved in a crash last month, the county district attorney announced during a news conference Tuesday.

Washington Township Police Chief Scott Miller was cited Tuesday for failure to report an accident and driving at an unsafe speed for road conditions on January 6, said DA Terry Houck.

WATCH: DA news conference on Chief Scott Miller Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck discusses the investigation into a crash involving the Washington Township police chief. (Ful

An investigation by the Northampton County district attorney's office found Miller had been at a restaurant for about 8 hours before he totaled his truck on Kesslersville Road in Plainfield Township.

The road was "snowy and slippery" at the time of the crash, Houck said.

A responding officer noted Miller had slurred speech and was "mush-mouthed," and had alcohol on his breath, Houck said.

Miller said at the scene there was no damage at all to the vehicle and "falsely stated" that he had not been drinking, Houck said. Miller denied drinking to the officers two times, Houck said.

Miller never mentioned the restaurant when talking to officers, Houck said.

There was no obvious staggering or falling, and Miller's speech was not continuously slurred, Houck said.

No breath tests were administered to Miller when police arrived after the crash, Houck said. There were no follow-up questions, and no additional efforts were made to determine if Miller had been "under the influence to the degree that it would render him incapable of safely driving," Houck said. No summary citations were issued.

Northampton County DA looking into crash involving local police chief DA Terry Houck says he wants to put an independent set of eyes on a crash involving Washington Township Police Chief Scott Miller earlier this month.

"For the possibility of a DUI charge, the passage of time and the loss of potential evidence if it existed at all, prevented us from establishing a factual basis for us to charge Mr. Miller with this offense," Houck said.

The DA says Miller didn't call police after the accident. He called a towing company which then called police due to the amount of damage that had occurred.

At times, officers shut off the audio, but not the video, when they were near Miller, Houck said.

Police did not inform the homeowner about the crash at the scene. The homeowner found out about what happened when he later went to the police station, Houck said.

The district attorney said he did not believe officers knew that the home had been damaged on the night of the crash.

Houck said the police department could have handled the incident better.

Acting Chief Jonathon Hoadley of the Slate Belt Regional Police Department told 69 News he appreciates the DA's investigation.

He believes the officers involved followed their training.

I'm hoping with DA Houck's press conference that a lot of questions have been answered and people understand that we were dispatched to an accident scene by a tow company and Chief Miller didn't contact us, as he should have. There was a significant amount of time between us getting there and this accident actually happening, Hoadley said.

Hoadley says Slate Belt Regional police conducted an internal investigation and decided no disciplinary action needed to be taken.

DA Houck had said he wanted to put an independent set of eyes on the crash, after different stories about what happened began to surface.
Blind Low Vision NZ Guide Dogs is seeking volunteers for its Red Puppy Appeal street collection on Friday, March 13, and Saturday, March 14.

Guide dogs help people who are blind or have low vision retain their freedom and independence to move around safely and confidently.

Highly valued for the positive and liberating change they bring to a persons life, guide dogs have important roles.

Charged with making what could potentially be life or death decisions on behalf of a person, they have to learn some smart and sophisticated skills.

Ian Styles, 75, from Whangamata, is a Red Puppy Appeal coordinator.

He has been volunteering for the cause for the past 24 years and has personally been supported by three different guide dogs over the years.

Having guide dogs has changed my life. Before I had them, I would ask someone to take me around, but now I can do my own thing. Irish, my current guide dog, knows where all the regular shops I go to are.

Not only have guide dogs supported Ians independence, but they have also been a lifeline.

Ian remembers waiting at a crossing and a pedestrian told him it was clear to cross.

He gave the command to his guide dog Hindi to cross, and Hindi refused to move. He then heard a car speed past him, which he estimates was going 100km/h.

When we got across the road, I knelt down and said to Hindi you saved my life.

Ian is well known in the community as people see him out and about walking with his guide dog  he estimates he walks about 5km a day.

During the Red Puppy Appeal street collection, you will find him outside the Lotto shop and the local New World supermarket shaking a bucket for a cause which is close to his heart.

Blind Low Vision NZ breeds and trains about 100 puppies per year, and only the best graduate as guide dogs.

As New Zealands only guide dog service, it is 100 per cent funded by public donations and it is with thanks to the generosity and support of Kiwis that Blind Low Vision NZ can provide guide dogs to people who need them.

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who supports our Red Puppy Appeal, says Blind Low Vision NZ chief executive John Mulka.

Its also a good opportunity for people to learn more about guide dogs, the special permission they have to access most places, and most importantly the life-changing role they play for people who are blind or have low vision.

If you can spare a few hours to help support the next generation of guide dogs, register online or call 0800 787 743.
SHAMOKIN  A Shamokin area man says he received approximately 50 letters from incarcerated individuals intended for a Northumberland County man charged with practicing law without a license.

Gary Drumheller told chief county Detective Degg Stark he had let William Marshall, 79, use his Coal Twp. address for a very limited purpose and later revoked that consent.

Stark revealed that information Monday when he said he mistakenly used Drumhellers address last week on a document charging Marshall with practicing law without a license. Marshall lives in Shamokin, he said.

Those charges state an attorney in October notified the district attorneys office with allegations Marshall was offering legal advice and assistance as an independent federal paralegal.

An investigation revealed Marshall used social media to advertise his services for fees ranging from $40 to $220, Stark said.

Based on a review of private messages and photographs posted on social media accounts in 2018 and 2019, the detective said he observed a pattern of behavior of Marshall contacting individuals after reading of their arrests in local media.

Because it is an ongoing investigation, Stark would not disclose how many people are believed to have paid for legal advice that he said in most cases was inaccurate.

He often would advise clients to seek a continuance of their cases or have them transferred to federal court although there was no federal issue, the arrest affidavit states.

He also boasted about his access to databases and websites not available to the general public, the document states.

County Prothonotary Jamie Saleski told a couple who accompanied Marshall to her office in a landlord-tenant matter that he was not an attorney and should not be providing them legal advice, according to Stark.

He also learned the late county Judge William Harvey Wiest had warned Marshall not to provide legal advice, he said.

When interviewed last Wednesday, Marshall denied providing legal advice and charging consulting fees but claimed to have the authority to handle certain federal matters, the affidavit states.

U.S. Middle District Court dockets show a 2013 case in which Marshall, doing business under Juris National Legal Support, was a defendant and a 2007 bankruptcy appeal.

Edwards Business Machines in 2013 accused Marshall of failing to pay $3,652 for a copier and office supplies.

The suit had been filed in Northumberland County court in 2011 and Marshall had it transferred to federal court in 2013 the day before trial. Federal Judge Matthew W. Brann sent it back to county court.

The bankruptcy appeal was of an order that resulted in Marshalls property being sold.

--

Other John Beauge stories on PennLive

No Eagles Mere toboggan slide again this year because ice is not thick enough

Northumberland County man charged with practicing law without a license

Weather has slowed cleanup at site of massive I-80 pileup in Union County

Charges against five men accused of sexually assaulting a Pa. woman headed to court

Judge to decide whether dog killings will affect jurors in horrendous murder case

Amicable settlement reported in suit over rare, uncirculated Lincoln pennies
The Iowa presidential caucuses were thrown into chaos late Monday after the state Democratic Party said it found "inconsistencies," delaying results and causing widespread confusion across the state.

The Iowa Democratic Party said early Tuesday that it would release the results of the Iowa caucuses later Tuesday after "manually verifying all precinct results."

Party chair Troy Price said the party is "validating every piece of data we have against our paper trail. That system is taking longer than expected, but it's in place to ensure we are eventually able to report results with full confidence."

The state Democratic party's communications director, Mandy McClure, said on Monday night that there were "inconsistencies" in the reporting of three sets of results. "In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report," McClure said.

"This is simply a reporting issue. The app did not go down, and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results," McClure added.

The state party had earlier said it was carrying out "quality control checks, making sure the numbers are accurate."

The state party hosted a conference call with the campaigns sometime after 11 p.m. ET, but sources confirmed that party leaders hung up as campaign officials pressed for more information about the various reporting issues and when they would receive more data and results. The call became very heated, sources said.

As the state party scrambled to sift through three sets of numbers, election workers struggled to use a new smartphone app created for caucus organizers to calculate and report results.

"The app is the issue, and the hotline is smoked," said Joe Galasso, a volunteer in charge of new registrations for Waukee Precinct 2, in Dallas County. A source familiar with the process said the backup phone line was "a disaster."

Another source was more blunt: "The app is f---ing up," said a senior aide to one of the campaigns, who asked not to be identified. "Can't trust the numbers coming in."

Shawn Sebastian, the caucus secretary in Ames, told MSNBC that he'd been on hold on the hotline for about two hours. "They said that they'll be with me in the order in which you know, I got on hold," he said, "and there was moment where they did connect for like one second about half an hour ago and then I just wasn't responsive quick enough and they just hung up on me. So I'm back in line."

NBC News previously reported that security experts had expressed some concern about the app. The new app  which is supposed to be used in the Nevada caucuses on Feb. 22, as well  first showed signs of trouble earlier in the day, with some precinct leaders and county chairs saying they were unable or unwilling to use it.

The reporting of results was further complicated by new caucus rules that, for the first time, divided the results into three sets:

The "first expression of preference," when caucusgoers pick their favorite candidate.

Vote totals from the "final alignment," when backers of contenders who don't do well have to pick another candidate. "Uncommitted" can be a choice (it won in 1972 and 1976).

The total number of "state delegate equivalents"  the local delegates who will later pick the state's delegates to the Democratic National Convention  won by each candidate.

Some of President Trump's allies capitalized on the delay to sow confusion and doubt. Brad Parscale, campaign manager for the president's re-election bid, tweeted: "Quality control = rigged?"

The delay appeared to rankle some of the campaigns. In a letter to the state party, former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign shredded "considerable flaws" in the night's reporting system.

"The app that was intended to relay Caucus results to the Party failed; the Party's back-up telephonic reporting system likewise has failed. Now, we understand that Caucus Chairs are attempting to  and, in many cases, failing to  report results telephonically to the Party. These acute failures are occurring statewide," Dana Remus, Biden's general counsel, said in the letter.

In an exchange with reporters, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's campaign manager, Roger Lau, said the delay did not inspire confidence: "Every second that passes sort of undermines the process a little bit."

Shortly after 11 p.m. ET, no results had been reported  a much slower process than had been expected. At about the same time in the 2016 caucuses, roughly 90 percent of the vote had been reported. The party said it would release information about the results as soon as it passes quality control, adding that it was taking additional steps out of an abundance of caution.

"What we know right now is that around 25 percent of precincts have reported, and early data indicates turnout is on pace for 2016," McClure said.
Valentines Day is traditionally seen as a day for celebrating romantic relationships. However, a new phenomenon has emerged in recent years in replacement of Valentines Day for people who dont have significant others to celebrate with  "Galentine's Day."
Uber has temporarily suspended 240 accounts in Mexico after the customers traveled with two drivers who are suspected to have come into contact with a coronavirus sufferer.

The driver's had taken the individual, who had not been diagnosed at the time, on trips around Mexico City before picking up other customers.

The ride-hailing app suspended all accounts involved to stop the novel virus being transferred to others using its taxi service.

As many as 20,671 cases of coronavirus have been reported worldwide alongside 426 deaths from the virus. There are no reported cases in Mexico.

Uber temporarily suspended the accounts after a Chinese tourist suffering from coronavirus used two drivers while visiting Mexico City (stock)

Uber was made aware of the risk by Mexico City health authorities on January 31, when they alerted it to trips that may have been made by a coronavirus patient during a two-day trip to Mexico City.

'We have proceeded to send information to these two drivers and the 240 users regarding the temporary deactivation of their accounts,' Uber said on Twitter.

'We directed them to contact the public health authorities for further information.'

The individuals concerned have been monitored by Mexican authorities, which said on Saturday that none of those concerned had developed symptoms of the virus more than ten days after the trips, the virus's incubation time.

The sufferer was diagnosed after they returned to Los Angeles.

There have been 20,671 cases of coronavirus worldwide so far, but none have been reported in Mexico

Mexico has also evacuated ten nationals from Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

Official advice has warned that being within two feet of a sufferer for more than 15 minutes could put you at risk of catching the virus.

Other large companies have been caught up in the coronavirus outbreak with
M Missoni has designed custom cannabis cigarettes in collaboration with Los Angeles-based cannabis brand, Pure Beauty.

The cigarettes will be unveiled today during the brand's autumn/ winter 2020 show in Los Angeles, which will feature a Missoni-branded trolley transporting guests and models through the city to a showcase at Pinks Hot Dogs.

M Missoni is the diffusion line of its mother brand Missoni, which offers a contemporary take on the empires signature style. It was founded in 1988.

Marijuana is legal for recreational use in 11 American states, including California, and the partnership between Pure Beauty and M Missoni is the first collaboration of its kind between a luxury fashion house and a cannabis brand.

Pure Beauty is based in Los Angeles and specialises in pre-rolled cannabis cigarettes.
Larry Ruark is a Sun Chronicle columnist. His essays are published here the first Tuesday of each month. Reach him at lbruairc@aol.com.
Tsai's WHO call 'repetitive manipulation'

Global Times

By Wang Qi Source:Global Times Published: 2020/2/3 0:38:39

Observers in the Chinese mainland said that Tsai Ing-wen's "repetitive" political manipulation is doomed to fail, after the Taiwan regional leader cried out for Taiwan to join the World Health Organization (WHO) but snubbed the mainland regarding medical cooperation and banned mask exports amid the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak.

Tsai made her voice public on Twitter since Thursday, saying that "we hope that the WHO will not exclude Taiwan for political reasons," and "Taiwan's absence from the WHO creates a serious gap in the global network."

According to reports, Tsai's comments received support from certain anti-China politicians such as Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz in the US, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

In a reply to an email from the WHO to the Global Times on Sunday, the organization denied that Taiwan was excluded from the world health network which was indicated by Tsai, saying the organization is collaborating closely with Taiwan authorities through the International Health Regulations (IHR) mechanism in response to the 2019-nCoV outbreak.

Experts from Taiwan were involved in all of the WHO's consultations - clinical networks, laboratory networks, and other multiple health fronts - so they are fully engaged and aware of all of the developments in the expert networks, the WHO told Global Times in the email, noting that throughout 2019, experts from Taiwan were invited to attend WHO technical meetings.

The island of Taiwan is ineligible to join the WHO in any way, as the organization under the UN only allows participation from sovereign states, and Taiwan is regarded as part of China, said a Beijing-based political commentator who requested anonymity.

The commentator called Taiwan's trickery as repetitive which was doomed to fail, as the secessionist stance of Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is unwelcome to the world.

Tsai also drew criticism inside the island after her administration imposed a ban on mask exports to the mainland amid the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province. Some said Taiwan authorities should show more empathy.

Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan's former leader, said on Friday through a Facebook post that Tsai's government should "put off political calculations," and be duty-bound to assist the mainland in controlling the coronavirus, which would also benefit Taiwan residents.

According to Ma, the Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan have signed a cooperation agreement in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases a decade ago, during Ma's tenure.

During the 2009 to 2016 period, Taiwan participated in the World Health AssemblyWHA as an observer under the name of "Chinese Taipei" for eight consecutive years, until Tsai replaced Ma in 2016.

The expert said that this shows the importance of adhering to the "one-China principle." If not, Taiwan will be abandoned by the international community.

"From the case of the mask ban we can see the irresponsibility of Taiwan authorities. They don't lack medical information or international cooperation, what they want is to create antagonism across the Taiwan Straits and expand its 'international space,'" said the expert, noting that the same trick was used in the 2003 SARS epidemic.

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DES MOINES  The Iowa Democratic Party released partial results of its kickoff presidential caucus after a daylong delay late Tuesday showing Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders leading the opening contest of the partys 2020 primary season.

The results followed 24 hours of chaos as technical issues marred the complicated caucus process, forcing state officials to apologize and raising questions about Iowas traditional place atop the presidential primary calendar.

It was too early to call a winner based on the initial results, but Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar were trailing in the tally of State Delegate Equivalents, according to data released for the first time by the state Democratic Party nearly 24 hours after voting concluded.

The results reflected 62% of precincts in the state.

The two early leaders, Buttigieg and Sanders, were separated by 40 years in age, conflicting ideology and different campaign approaches. Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is the first openly gay candidate to earn presidential primary delegates.

We dont know all of the numbers, but we know this much: A campaign that started a year ago with four staff members, no name recognition, no money, just a big idea  a campaign that some said should have no business even making this attempt  has taken its place at the front of this race, Buttigieg declared, his voice filled with emotion, as he campaigned in next-up New Hampshire.

While each campaign was eager to spin the results to its advantage, there was little immediate indication that the incomplete results erased the confusion and concern that loomed over the Iowa contest. It was unclear when the full results would be released.

During a private conference call with campaigns earlier in the day, state party chairman Troy Price declined to answer pointed questions about the specific timeline  even whether it would be a matter of days or weeks.

We have been working day and night to make sure these results are accurate, Price said at a subsequent press conference.

The leading candidates pressed on in New Hampshire, which votes in just seven days. And billionaire Democrat Michael Bloomberg sensed opportunity, saying he would double his already massive advertising campaign and expand his sprawling staff focused on a series of delegate-rich states voting next month.

The partys caucus crisis was an embarrassing twist after months of promoting Iowa as a chance for Democrats to find some clarity in a jumbled field. Instead, after a buildup that featured seven rounds of debates, nearly $1 billion spent nationwide and a year of political jockeying, caucus day ended with no winner, no official results and many fresh questions about whether Iowa can retain its coveted first status.

Iowa marked the first contest in a primary season that will span all 50 states and several U.S. territories, ending at the partys national convention in mid-July.

Buttigiegs early strength reflected his aggressive political pursuit of rural and small-town voters, including some Republicans, who prefer a more moderate approach to address the nations political problems.

The other early leader, Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, has spent decades fighting to fundamentally change the nations politics and economy. He has attracted significant support from young voters in particular.

Before he left Iowa late Monday, the Sanders campaign told supporters its internal monitoring showed him in the lead with nearly half the vote in. Sanders himself said late Monday, Today marks the beginning of the end for Donald Trump.

For the first time, the Iowa Democratic Party reported three sets of results: a tally of caucusgoers initial candidate preference; vote totals from the final alignment after supporters of lower-ranking candidates were able to make a second choice, and the total number of state delegate equivalents each candidate received.

With more than one-third of all precincts left to report, Sanders led on the first alignment.

The Associated Press will declare a winner based on the number of state delegates each candidate wins, which has been the traditional standard.

Early polling had suggested Sanders entered the night with a narrow lead, but any of the top four candidates  Sanders, Biden, Warren and Buttigieg  was positioned to score a victory. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who represents neighboring Minnesota, was also in the running, while outsider candidates including entrepreneur Andrew Yang, billionaire activist Tom Steyer and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard lagged behind.

Campaigning in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Warren also said she was feeling good about her performance in Iowa.

Bidens team downplayed the impact of the contest after predicting the results would be close.

The state party told campaigns Tuesday that the problem was a result of a coding issue in the reporting system that it said had since been fixed. It said it had verified the accuracy of the collected data and said the problem was not a result of a hack or an intrusion.

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Emmanuel Ezeh,44, has heard about prostate cancer but thinks it is just another enigmatic name for a serious ailment that has nothing to do with him.

It affects the heart, abi? the Abuja resident asked. Is it not the same sickness that killed YarAdua (former president Musa YarAdua)? I dont know, is it an abnormal growth? Why should I even know about it?

Prostate cancer, one of the many common types of cancer, is a leading cause of death among, especially black men. Yet many, such as Mr Ezeh, know little about it.

The 44-year-old could not name any symptoms of the ailment.

Men of African descent are twice as likely to die from the disease as white men, reports show. However, it is still quite difficult to accurately describe the burden in Africa due to poor cancer registration systems and awareness.

A 2019 study published in the journal, springerlink, found that the knowledge of prostate cancer and its screening was poor among men in Nigeria.

Men, 40 years and above, should at least go for yearly checkup and screening to monitor the growth of prostate cancer. They need to know the early symptoms of the disease so that they can present every case early for treatment, according to health experts.

Today is World Cancer Day; an international event marked on February 4 to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment.

To mark the day, PREMIUM TIMES spoke to a number of cancer experts on prostate cancer. They explained why the ailment is more susceptible to black men and why awareness is poor.

Poor Awareness

Men have poor health-seeking behaviour and are very poor at compliance with medical orders, keeping appointments, Henry Ewononu, a public health expert said. The male ego is said to be the reason for this, he added.

He said Nigerian men die needlessly from cancer of the prostate  an ailment which can be prevented if detected early  due to poor awareness.

In the last one year, men who died from prostate cancer that I know had similar characteristic features: The symptoms were not detected early; they initially had complaints of low back pain; they are in their 60s, and their disease had rapid progression within three-four years before their deaths, he explained.

The prostate is a walnut-sized gland that is part of the male reproductive system. It is located beneath the urinary bladder and in front of the rectum.

The prostate makes some of the fluid that nourishes and protects sperm cells in the semen. Just behind the prostate are the seminal vesicles, which make most of the fluid for the semen.

Cancer occurs when abnormal cells grow and divide uncontrollably in the prostate and may eventually spread into other tissues.

Often, early-stage prostate cancer has no symptoms or signs, but as it progresses, the ailment can make urinating and ejaculating painful.

Oseremen Aisuodione-Shadrach, a cancer expert, said the best way for men in same age bracket as Mr Ezeh to monitor the prostate is by doing a simple test called PSA once a year.

Another way is to have a doctor do a digital rectum examination by using the finger to examine the prostate once a year in any black man who is more than 40 years. Once you do that, you are being monitored so that if there are abnormalities in the prostate or you pick an abnormality in the result, it can be treated early. But once it is late, prostate cancer usually has no treatment.

If a PSA test or DRE indicates that prostate cancer may be present, more monitoring and testing is needed to diagnose prostate cancer. When prostate cancer does cause symptoms or signs, it is usually diagnosed in a later stage.

These symptoms and signs may include frequent urination, weak or interrupted urine flow or the need to strain to empty the bladder, blood in the urine and blood in the seminal fluid.

It is not just patients who lack knowledge: doctors too do. Spencer says that general practitioners do not have enough experience with prostate cancer, because so few patients go for prostate check-ups.

Causes of Cancer

An ongoing research, which is trying to find the reasons for the high rate of prostate cancer among black men, has already started linking it to genes and race.

The study, MADCAP (Men of African Descent and Carcinoma of the Prostate), is a five-year study that began in 2015. Its aim is to discover the root of the disease in black men, through the collection and genomic analysis of biosamples for the study.

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Mr Aisuodione-Shadrach, the principal investigator of the Abuja site for MADCAP Network study in Nigeria, also shed light on the project and the possible causes of prostate cancer.

Age: The risk of prostate cancer increases with age, especially after age 50. More than 80 per cent of prostate cancers are diagnosed in men who are 65 or older.

Race/ethnicity: Black men have a higher risk of prostate cancer than white men. They are also more likely to develop prostate cancer at an earlier age and to have more aggressive tumours that grow quickly. The exact reasons for these differences are not known and may involve genetic, socioeconomic or other factors.

Family history: Prostate cancer that runs in the family, called familial prostate cancer, occurs about 20 per cent of the time. This type of prostate cancer develops because of a combination of shared genes and shared environmental or lifestyle factors.
Picture two people. Then picture a wall between them. Now imagine that this wall is permeable, so that human connection can take place through it. Even so, the wall is a barrier that partially obscures the identity of the person on the other side, preserving anonymity, or at least the illusion thereof.

Congratulations: You have just imagined either a Catholic confessional or a glory hole. What this episode of The New Pope asks is, porque no los dos?

Bold even by Paolo Sorrentinos iconoclastic standards, the latest installment of his magnificent drama about the mystery of faith concludes with a montage centered on faith in mystery. On one side of the ledger, you have Sir John Brannox, now Pope John Paul III, hearing the confession of his gentle adviser Cardinal Gutierrez. Gutierrez has slept with Freddie, a young man he met while investigating a sexual-abuse scandal in New York during the events of The Young Pope. He wants to ask the Holy Father why, if God satisfies his spirit and this guy satisfies his body, he still feels so empty.

You are not alone, replies the Pope. That is all I can say to you. Then he takes the remarkable step of reversing the polarity of the sacrament, asking Gutierrez to hear his own confession. He has taken his first step toward sin, he says, no matter how much he pretends to himself that he hasnt.

That sin is his attraction to Sofia Dubois, the Vaticans almost ridiculously glamorous and gorgeous head of communications. (One thing thats worth pointing out, though it never really gets talked about, is that shes the only layperson at the top of the Vatican power structure.) Earlier in the episode we see JPIII eyeing her covetously as they cruise through the canals of Venice on the way to visit the comatose Pope Pius XIII; as if to replace his desire to be looked at by her in the same way, Brannox stands up in the boat to let a full fleets worth of paparazzi get a good look at him. (From his dandified wardrobe to his nonexistent relationship with his parents, I get the feeling Brannox is a man whos desperate to be seen, by somebody, anybody.)

During his confession, Brannox imagines  or does he? The dividing line between fantasy and reality here is unclear  Sofia stripping nude in front of a fractured mirror that offers a kaleidoscopic view of her body and face. Bare-ass naked, she then approaches a wall, on the other side of which is her husband Tomas, whose ardor for her seems as much of a driving force in his life as whatever conspiracy he and the scheming Cardinal Spaletta have cooked up with the Italian finance minister. She kneels down on her side and aligns her mouth with a small hole in the wall; Tomas aligns a different part of his body entirely.

To an extent, the purpose of both barriers is defeated by the identities of the people on each side. Unlike slipping into a confessional at your local parish church, where the priest might not recognize your silhouette or voice, Gutierrez and Brannox know full well whos spilling their guts. As a married couple, Sofia and Tomas are quite familiar with the partner on the other side of the hole as well.

But just as the confessional booth distances the priest from the penitent, thus establishing the power differential at play in the sacrament, the glory-hole setup is a way for Tomas and Sofia to indulge a master and servant fantasy that cuts both ways, establishing Tomas as the passive recipient of sexual service and establishing Sofia as a potent enough force to gratify her man without so much as being seen by him; just the idea of her nudity and her skill with the sex act is enough to render him putty in her hands, or mouth as it were. The artificial reintroduction of mystery into these pairings lends them spiritual and erotic oomph.

Into this dynamic a third dyad is entered: Ester, the devout but tormented Pius XIII superfan, goes through with her earlier deal to offer herself sexually to a deformed young man. By this point in the episode weve seen her have two uncomfortable scenes with other men: In the first, her boyfriend Fabiano rejects her as a Sunday morning Christian, afraid to get her hands dirty; in the second, the priest who has been helping her stay afloat gropes her, which she passively either allows or endures. In returning to the lonely young man, whose face is obscured in shadow (another barrier of quasi-anonymity), she appears to derive both power and pleasure from looking at him looking at her with such open awe and desire. Its not hard to imagine Pope John Paul III deriving similar satisfaction from his fantasy of being looked at by Sofia.

If theres a through line that carries through the episode, its this tension between the need to expose secrets and the need to conceal them, the desire to be seen and the desire to hold things private. When the Vaticans nuns go on strike in response to Cardinal Voiellos callous denial of Sister Lisettes request for cash to visit her ailing mother, Voiello responds by cutting off the Vatican Wi-Fi, so the nuns cant get their story out to the world; his majordomo Don Cavallo assembles a blackmail dossier on the nuns using hidden cameras. A similar dossier is used by Cardinal Spalettas co-conspirator in the Italian government to force Voiello to advance Tomas and Spaletta in the Vatican hierarchy; we never see whats in it, but Voiello buckles the moment its shown to him.

Similarly, when Pope John Paul III matches wits with his new Minister of Creativity Cardinal Spaletta, they begin with Spaletta offering him a crude bribe in the form of a Bentley  but they conclude by hinting at dark secrets each knows about the other from their earlier years. Spaletta asks oh-so-innocently about the mysterious silver box Brannox keeps by his bedside; Brannox recalls, as if conjuring up some harmless bit of nostalgia, the parade of young visitors whod visit Spalettas room. They each know what they know, but the air of mystery must be maintained.

Speaking of mystery  literally, this is a mystery about someone speaking  JPIII is stopped on his way from Pius XIIIs hospital by the red-sweatshirted leader of the former pontiffs idolatrous cult. She whispers something in his ear, something he refuses to divulge to anyone, at least anyone on camera. Is he just a big Lost in Translation fan, or is he preserving this secret for its own sake?

Which brings us, inevitably, to Marilyn Manson. The goth-rock icon, previously cited by Brannox as one of his favorite famous people, opens the episode with an official audience with His Holiness. Unfortunately for both parties, it quickly becomes apparent that Manson has no idea which pope hes talking to, having mistakenly believed himself to be visiting Pius XIII. (Turns out he loves Piuss big Venice speech at the end of The Young Pope, but apparently missed the part where that speech ended with a heart attack; he cites long hours in the studio as the culprit. In fact he didnt even know about the interim pontiff, Francis II, at all.) Clearly this relative anonymity is a problem JPIII must overcome if his papacy is to be a success; mystery is well and good, Pius XIII thrived on it, but people still have to be at least somewhat aware that the mystery is even there.

This is not to say that the meeting isnt fruitful. On the contrary, its Manson who suggests  seemingly a bit taken aback by his ability to offer a freaking pope any guidance at all  that Brannox visit Belardo in his hospital room. Have you gone to visit him? he asks. The pope in a coma? Brannox, who at first doesnt even know who Mansons talking about, admits he has not. Maybe you should, Manson says, as politely as hes probably ever said anything to anyone. The coma in which Lenny lingers (mostly; his hand twitches when Ester has her rendezvous with her client) is itself a wall of sorts. If John Paul III is going to be a pope to transcend barriers, this is as good a place as any to start.
The ambassador emphasized that France favors a demanding dialogue that should yield results.

French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins has said Russia cannot be put in a corner as a "student in a school class," while dialogue is needed.

In an interview with hromadske, the ambassador said the starting point for French President Emanuel Macron was that the previous type of relations with Russia could not prevail.

"A situation where we didn't speak with the Russians, where we subjected them to isolation or kept our distance from them  none of this was about good tactics and strategy," de Poncins said.

Read alsoText of Minsk agreements requires clarification  French envoy

"President Macron's initial desire was to try to restore confidence, start talking to them  in particular, with Vladimir Putin  to restore contact, but while strictly observing conditions for such a dialogue," the ambassador said.

He said France's position has not changed regarding the territorial integrity of Ukraine and regarding the sanctions against Russia, which have been regularly extended.

In this regard, the ambassador emphasized that France favors a demanding dialogue that should bring results.

"After all, we are seeing a return to the Normandy format. This is directly related to the fact that we had been working to restore confidence between Putin and Zelensky," the ambassador said.

"Russia is a major partner, it has military prowess, as well as economic power, we have economic interests in Russia, as well as in Ukraine. Therefore, it makes no sense to put Russia in a corner as a student in a school class. We need to maintain a dialogue with them," de Poncins said.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Michele Norris, acclaimed journalist, author, and social advocate, will moderate a panel discussion focusing on social justice at the NAFSA 2020 Annual Conference & Expo in St. Louis, Missouri. The panel, which will be held on May 27, 2020, will feature experts from the greater St. Louis region.

For more than a decade Norris served as a host of NPR's All Things Considered where she interviewed world leaders, American presidents, Nobel laureates, leading thinkers and groundbreaking artists. She has also produced in-depth profiles, interviews and series for NPR News programs as well as special reports for National Geographic, Time Magazine, ABC News and Lifetime Television.

In 2010, Norris started The Race Card Project, a Peabody Award-winning initiative that inspires candid dialogue about race, identity, and diversity. Norris currently serves as the director of The Bridge, The Aspen Institute's program on race, cultural identity and inclusion.

She is also the author of the critically acclaimed The Grace of Silence: A Family Memoir. In the book she turns her formidable interviewing and investigative skills on her own background to unearth long hidden family secrets that raise questions about her racial legacy and shed new light on America's complicated racial history. The Grace of Silence has been selected for community reads in Minneapolis, Seattle, St Cloud, Rochester, and several college & High School campuses including Michigan State, Sacramento State, Coe College, Monmouth and USC.

"This special panel discussion will honor the NAFSA 2020 conference theme of 'Innovate, Influence, Impact' by highlighting the way international education advances social justice," said Esther D. Brimmer, NAFSA executive director and CEO. "Ms. Norris leads stimulating conversations on important issues. She adds a valuable perspective to this exchange. We are excited to have her join experts from the St. Louis region for this important dialogue."

Norris attended the University of Wisconsin, where she majored in electrical engineering, and graduated from the University of Minnesota, where she studied journalism.

About the NAFSA Conference

NAFSA's 72nd Annual Conference & Expo is the world's largest gathering of professionals in international education with an expected 10,000 attendees from more than 100 countries. The conference offers a wide array of learning and networking opportunities for international educators and features more than 200 sessions and workshops focusing on the most crucial topics in international education and exchange and global learning. A major highlight of the conference is the International Education Expo Hall, which features more than 400 exhibitors representing hundreds of organizations from around the world, including colleges and universities; study abroad and intensive-English programs; embassies and government agencies; and more. The conference theme for 2020 is "Innovate, Influence, Impact." It will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, May 24- 29, 2020.

Learn more at www.nafsa.org/stlouis.

About NAFSA

With more than 10,000 members, NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education. Visit us at www.nafsa.org/press. To learn more about our advocacy efforts on behalf of international education, visit www.ConnectingOurWorld.org and @ConnectOurWorld on Twitter. Resources to guide our members on these issues can be found at www.nafsa.org/reginfo.

SOURCE NAFSA: Association of International Educators

Related Links

www.nafsa.org


The Texas business community can breathe a little easier this week about discussing potential deals with other companies now that the Texas Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Houstons Enterprise Products Partners in a battle of pipeline giants, legal analysts said.

The case centered on whether a company is breaking its fiduciary duties when it opts out of a tentative partnership agreement that has not yet been finalized by each business board of directors. Dallas-based Energy Transfer sued Enterprise in 2011 after the Houston firm backed out of a potential joint pipeline venture and teamed with Calgary-based Enbridge on a similar pipeline project.

The case drew comparisons to the infamous Texaco v. Pennzoil battle from the 1980s that experts say had a chilling effect on Houston dealmaking for awhile and largely put an end to the era of so-called handshake agreements.

If the Supreme Court on Friday had ruled in Energy Transfers favor, it could have damaged Texas business environment, legal observers said, making companies hesitant to discuss deals or partnerships for fear that theyd be deemed legally binding.

If the ruling had gone the other way, it probably would have created chaos, said Gina Warren, a law professor and energy fellow at the University of Houston. It could tie the hands of companies.

The lawsuit dates back almost a decade, when Enterprise pulled out of plans with Energy Transfer to build the Double E pipeline that would have carried Canadian and Bakken shale crude oil from an Oklahoma storage hub to the Texas Gulf Coast near Houston.

After signing initial agreements, which were not finalized, and marketing the project to potential customers, Enterprise instead partnered with Enbridge. They completed the expanded Seaway pipeline system in 2014.

Enterprise claimed it legally backed out of a nonbinding agreement, while Energy Transfer said it had been misled and should be awarded damages.

A Dallas jury in 2014 awarded Energy Transfer $535 million in damages, deciding that Enterprise breached its fiduciary duties. But that verdict was overturned on an appeal.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas Supreme Court to decide epic legal battle between Enterprise, Energy Transfer

In siding with the appellate court Friday, the high court ruled that the agreement had not been approved by either companys board and was nonbinding.

The only record evidence that (Energy Transfer) points to  the parties held themselves out as partners and worked closely together on the Double E project  is not relevant to the issue of waiver of definitive, board-approved agreements, Chief Justice Nathan Hecht wrote in the unanimous decision.

Enterprise was quick to praise the ruling.

We are grateful for the hard work of the Supreme Court of Texas and the Dallas Court of Appeals, which correctly reaffirmed the importance of written contracts, said Enterprise appellate lawyer David Keltner. This case needed decisive action because it had the potential to stand as one of the worst for business in Texas since the Texaco v. Pennzoil decision from the 1980s. Sophisticated parties need the right to rely on written contracts.

The Texaco-Pennzoil ruling centered on at what point a deal is considered binding. The landmark case revolved around Pennzoils agreement to acquire Getty Oil. Instead, Texaco swooped in to acquire Getty before the Pennzoil deal was completed.

Pennzoil sued and the scandalous, dramatic case resulted in Pennzoil being awarded $11 billion and Texaco filing for bankruptcy. A $3 billion settlement was eventually reached.

As for the Enterprise case, the Texas high court pointed to the Texas Business Organizations Code that allows companies to enter into conditional deals that arent considered legally binding until they receive final approvals and definitive terms.

jordan.blum@chron.com

twitter.com/jdblum23
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Today

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

Trade borders between Kazakhstan and China are operating as usual as the goods turnover will not affect the coronavirus spread, Kazakhstans Minister of Trade and Integration Bakhyt Sultanov said, Trend reports with reference to the press office of Kazakhstans prime minister.

Goods turnover will not affect the coronavirus spread which is why the border between countries was not closed. The contracts existing between Kazakhstan and China continue being implemented, the minister said.

He added that Kazakhstan is currently working to carry out another export batch to China.

He also noted that the share of Chinas import in total value of Kazakhstans import amounts to 0.1 percent. Thus, in the case that Chinese goods will no longer be sold in Kazakhstan, the fact should not affect the pricing of the goods.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. Since then over 400 people have died, including a doctor who was treating the victims. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.

The symptoms include cough, headache, fatigue, fever, aching and difficulty breathing. It is primarily spread through airborne contact or contact with contaminated objects.

Chinese health authorities say that the majority of the people who have died were either elderly or had underlying health problems.

Aside from Mainland China, the cases of coronavirus spreading have also been confirmed in Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the US, France, Germany, South Korea, Canada, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nepal and Sri Lanka, the UAE, Canada, Italy, Russia, Nepal, Sweden and Finland.

---

Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
Employees later found the dog in the freezer used to store dead animals, according to the veterinary board documents.

A jury convicted Dr. Koller of animal cruelty in that case, and he was sentenced to 100 days in jail.

The veterinary board in California was looking at a range of other concerns. In October 1974, regulators said, Dr. Koller pounded the head of a Lhasa apso dog named Tammy until both eyes were hemorrhaged, according to documents. In 1975, officials found evidence that he beat a dog named Coco for several minutes when the dog would not stop barking; bit and pounded a dog being prepared for surgery; used a slip lead to suspend a dachshund by the neck for at least 30 seconds; and violently slammed a cat on the sides and floor of its cage.

In 1979, the board revoked his license. Five years later, it reinstated it.

Dr. Koller expanded his work to Oregon in the 1980s and franchised a series of Companion Pet Clinics, offering lower-cost services than competitors.

Gretchen Kaehler, who briefly worked with him during that period, said the focus on a high-volume, low-cost model called for cost-saving measures like reusing needles  with sterilization  to the point that they would be difficult to insert into the animal.

Ms. Kaehler said she never saw Dr. Koller abuse animals, noting that he had a dog of his own, and that she recalled him being friendly and smart. But he was so focused on the business, Ms. Kaehler said, that he fired her for spending too much time comforting the animals.

He wasnt going to spend a lot of time petting them, Ms. Kaehler said. He didnt have that nurturing side. It was very much just business.
Zain Bahrain, a leading telecoms operator in the kingdom, has recently hosted a successful masterclass on the new norms for telecoms at Zain Tower, attended by Zain Bahrain senior management team and employees.

The objective of Zain Masterclass was to share the latest state-of-the-art telecom trends, services, and the rapid telecom technological changes with Zain Bahrain employees to support Zains digital growth strategy in a digital innovation culture.

The workshop also provided a clear and comprehensive understanding of how to shift the organization digital strategy in response to changing the customer expectations and experience in a highly competitive dynamic environment.

The workshop was hosted by Intermid Managing Partner, Abdulla Al Hamed. He has over eighteen years of professional experience in various fields, including strategic planning, ICT and proven ability to successfully analyse organisation's critical business requirements, identify deficiencies and potential opportunities, develop innovative opportunities for enhancing competitiveness, and improve customer service offerings.

Zain Masterclass comes in line with one of Zains strategic pillars to develop their employees' career paths and provide them with the latest information to reach their full potential, which in turn improves the performance of the company. -- Tradearabia News Service
Fire incident at Rivers

Twin boys, aged 2, were burnt to death when a fire razed their home while their parents were away.

According to a Facebook user, Pepnosy Amadi who shared the story, the incident happened on Sunday, February 2, in Rivers state.

Amadi said the boys were home alone after their father left for work and the mother allegedly left for a joint to have the hot drink known locally as ogogoro.

While both parents were away, the house caught fire and the boys couldnt be saved in time, a neighbour said on Facebook.

Videos shared online show residents looking on helplessly as the house was razed to the ground.



A police van later arrived the scene of the incident and residents can be heard complaining about their late response. The residents mentioned that the police arrived more than an hour after they called to inform them of the fire.

The neighbour who shared the story said this isnt the first time the mother is losing a child because of her alcohol habit. She alleged that the same woman previously lost her 7-year-old daughter to a ritualist due to her negligence brought on by her addiction to ogogoro.

Sharing videos of the fire, Pepnonsy Amadi wrote:

IT WAS A BLACK SUNDAY INDEED



Never wanted to post this but couldnt bear keeping silent anymore



This happened close to my street early Sunday morning (5 oclock) we were woken up by the screams of people living around with the fear of what might happen to other buildings around and flames of fire.



The said family lived in a Batcher, a man his pregnant wife and two twin boys aged 2yrs.

The information gathered was that early that morning the husband left the house to work, while the wife also left to go take a shot of ogogoro (kai-kai) locking up her twin boys inside the room with a lighted candle, nobody knew how the candle started the fire but because there was a gas cylinder inside the same apartment the cylinder exploded roasting the two innocent twins to death not only that alot of buildings were burnt too causing some people to be homeless, properties were lost too.

The lady in question is a native of Ikwerre in Rivers State and according to people living around they said drinking ogogoro is her every morning routine and she always lock those kids inside whenever shes going out, this same woman as the story was being told lost her 7 yr old daughter to ritualist to this same ogogoro issue



Then I ask is she cursed or shes stupid???



Since Sunday Ive been imagining the faith of those two innocent kids, were they re and if their souls could ever find peace because it was a tragic death, at the same time I ve been thinking out loud the type of mother that did this to her own special gift from God, if she truly deserve to be called a mother??? If she really deserve the gift of children in this life??? wasting the life of her twin boys because of her foolishness and one shot of schnapp.



The only thing I asked is for God in his infinite mercy to grant those kids eternal rest



Negligence of a mother.





Watch the videos below.
The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has arrested the suspended Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Horace Ekow Ewusi over the 500 missing excavators.

The excavators were part of the equipment seized from illegal miners popularly called galamsey.

The arrest follows a letter written by the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng requesting the CID to probe Mr Ewusi over the missing excavators.

In the letter, Mr Ewusi was contracted to cart excavators and pieces of equipment seized by Operation Vanguard to designated areas for safekeeping.

The Ministers letter said the Ministry had received information that he sent an unknown number of equipment to an unauthorized location including one in Tema.

Professor Frimpong-Boateng recently disclosed that hundreds of seized galamsey excavators have disappeared from the District Assemblies around the country.

This revelation has angered the Media Coalition Against Galamsey and pressure group OccupyGhana, who in a joint statement said it is unacceptable.

---classfmonline
A regional human rights organization said Tuesday that Venezuela has denied entry to a delegation that sought to review the human rights situation in the crisis-torn country. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said the delegation would instead meet on the Colombian border with representatives of civic groups. The delegation's leader, Esperanza Arosemena, posted a picture and message on social media saying the group had been prevented from boarding a Copa Airlines flight to Venezuela in Panama. She said they were informed by the airline that it "received instructions from the Venezuelan regime that we were not authorized to enter the country." The government of President Nicolas Maduro had previously indicated it would not authorize a visit by the commission, an autonomous body of the Organization of American States. The OAS recognizes Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's legitimate president. Maduro withdrew his government's diplomats from the organization last year, and its seat was taken over by a representative designated by Guaido. In a statement, the rights commission said the delegation's visit was organized at the invitation of Gustavo Tarre, Guaido's representative. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who heads the National Assembly and is recognized by more than 50 countries as acting president of Venezuela
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Local officials in the Iowa Democratic Party had warned party leaders days before the caucus that the app to report voting results had serious problems.

We knew the app was a problem last Thursday, Sean Bagniewski, the Polk County Democratic Party chair, told the Washington Post. We had had so many complaints about the app that we started telling our chairs that if they were having problems with the app then you should call in the results.

Bagniewski said that state party members referred local officials to a staffer who was working to solve the problems with the app, however that staffer was not able to do so. State officials did not train county officials on how to use the app in the run-up to the caucus, and local party members experienced difficulties downloading the app, obtaining a PIN to log in, and even opening the app after having obtained a PIN.

County officials were told to call in the results if the app didnt work.

When our chairs are calling, its a wait time of an hour and a half or two hours. In some cases they have dropped the call, Bagniewski said.

As of Tuesday morning the final results of the caucus were still unknown.

Its a total meltdown, senior Joe Biden adviser Anita Dunn said of the caucus.

More from National Review
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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Daily Briefing Online on February 4, 2020

2020/02/04

Q: China said this morning that it hopes the relevant assistance from the United States will be provided as soon as possible. Are China and US now discussing the details of this assistance? What kinds of assistance are involved?

A: We noted that the US repeatedly expressed readiness to offer China assistance. We hope such assistance will materialize at an early date.

Q: Can you provide more details (age, nationality, etc.) on the foreigners in China who have been infected with the novel coronavirus?

A: To protect the privacy of the people involved, we dont think it appropriate to disclose their personal information, including their nationalities.

Q: In the 146th WHO Executive Board Meeting yesterday, Director-General Dr. Tedros stressed again that where precaution is necessary, theres no need for overreaction. WHO advises against travel or trade restrictions, calls on all countries to implement decisions that are evidence-based and convincing, and warns of the dangers posed by the spread of rumors and misinformation. I wonder if you have any comment?

A: As we noted, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros repeatedly stressed that this is the time for facts, not fear. Virus is horrible. Whats more horrible is rumors and panic. WHO has been calling on countries to implement decisions that are evidence-based.

The fact is that since the onset of the outbreak, China has taken unprecedentedly strict prevention and control measures, many of which far exceed WHO recommendations and IHR requirements. According to a WHO report released on February 3, there are altogether 153 confirmed cases of the 2019-nCoV outside China, which is less than one percent of the number in China. In contrast, in 2009, the H1N1 flu in the US spread to 214 regions and countries. Thanks to Chinas efforts, we have effectively contained the cross-border spread of the 2019-nCoV. WHO applauded China, saying its setting a new standard for outbreak response.

The fact is that according to media reports, the 2009 H1N1 flu had a mortality rate of 17.4%. The mortality rate of MERS of 2012 was 34.4% and Ebola 40.4%. With Chinas unrelenting efforts, the 2019-nCoV mortality rate in China is about 2.1%, much lower than the figures above. Since February 1, cured cases began to outnumber deaths. As of 12am February 3, a total of 632 patients have been cured and discharged. We have the confidence and the capability to win this battle.

The fact is that the major purpose that the WHO declared the 2019-nCoV a public health emergency of international concern is to help ill-prepared countries with weaker health systems to get necessary international assistance. The WHO doesnt approve of and even rejects travel and trade bans on China. It has said repeatedly that China has taken firm and strong actions, and that it is confident in China winning this battle. However, it was precisely some developed countries with sound health systems and advanced public health capabilities that imposed excessive restrictions on China, which clearly runs counter to WHO advice. Even American media and experts doubted the governments decision, saying that the US governments restrictions on China are precisely what the WHO rejects and cannot really reduce risks of virus spreading. German media stated that in front of the epidemic, if we are compassionate and ready to help, fear and panic will fade away. If we lose humanity, it will not just be a battle against disease that we lose.

I want to stress that virus knows no borders. The epidemic is temporary, but cooperation lasts. Faced with the public health crisis, countries should work together to tide over the difficulties. It serves the common interests of all.

Q: The world is watching the epidemic in China with care and concern. We have seen many Japanese netizens gathering under social media accounts of the Chinese embassy in Japan, telling China to stay strong and showing support to Wuhan. Do you have a comment?

A: I have also seen relevant reports and I am deeply touched. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the Japanese government and people have expressed sympathy, understanding and support to us.

The Japanese government made it clear very soon since the outbreak of the epidemic that it will do whatever needed to help China fight the epidemic. The Japanese government and businesses have donated to China masks, goggles, protective suits and other supplies for epidemic prevention and control. On the packages donated to Wuhan read the words Though miles apart, we are under the same sky Together we stand, my armors thine. Going online, I saw photos with slogans put up at many drug stores in Japan reading Stay strong, China Come on, Wuhan. The Tokyo Skytree has been lit up in red and blue to cheer up and pray for China. An official from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare denounced extreme and discriminatory remarks from some countries at a press conference, saying what is at fault here is virus, definitely not people. I heard that one headmaster of a Japanese school sent a letter to parents, telling pupils that this is not the time to badmouth China and Wuhan.

I believe many Chinese netizens have also noticed these heartwarming details. We thank all the countries for their sympathy, understanding and support during this difficult time. We will keep these in our heart.

What the virus has done is cruel and will not last. What the people has done is touching and will be remembered forever. We will continue to work with the international community to fight against the epidemic with all-out efforts. We will strive to return to normal life at an early date and continue our friendly exchanges with people from all countries.

Q: According to media reports, on February 3 local time, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva expressed deep sympathies to all those affected by the serious situation related to the coronavirus, support for Chinas efforts to respond , and confidence that Chinas economy remains resilient. Whats your comment?

A: We have also seen relevant reports and appreciate Ms. Georgievas remarks. The deputy head of the NDRC Lian Weiliang said at the State Council press conference on February 3 that the epidemic is influencing Chinas economy, especially consumption, and such influence is increasing. But it is temporary and will not change the fundamentals of Chinas economy which will remain sound for a long term. We are capable of and confident in winning this hard battle against the epidemic and will strive to minimize its impact on Chinas economy. We are fully confident in the prospect of Chinas economy.

Q: Do you think Italy overreacted considering that it stopped flights with China?

A: As you may know, the WHO has made it clear that it does not recommend and even opposes travel restrictions against China.

The Chinese government is making all-out efforts to combat the epidemic, releasing information in an open, transparent and responsible manner, and taking the most comprehensive and rigorous prevention and control measures. All this has been fully recognized and highly appreciated by the international community.

China understands that some countries have taken appropriate measures to prevent and control the spread of the epidemic, but hopes that all countries can assess the epidemic situation in an objective, fair, calm and rational manner, understand and support China's epidemic control efforts. The measures they take should be in line with WHO recommendations rather than exceed reasonable levels, and should not affect normal personnel exchanges and practical cooperation in various fields.

Q: After resumption of China-Pakistan airlines, media reports suggested three hundred passengers so far returned to Pakistan. Does this step help airlines of other countries to resume operation?

A: China and Pakistan have been firmly supporting each other. We hope all countries response to the 2019-nCoV will be rational so as not to affect the normal personnel exchanges.

Q: Pakistan is to hold protests tomorrow to express support for people in Kashmir. Whats your comment?

A: China's position on the issue of Kashmir is consistent and clear. It is a dispute left over from history and should be resolved properly and peacefully in accordance with the UN Charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements. As a neighbor to both India and Pakistan, China calls on the two countries to peacefully resolve disputes through dialogue and jointly maintain regional peace and stability.

Q: Yesterday you mentioned that some countries have overreacted. Does this include Germany seeing that Germany has sent a plane to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan?

A: Germany has donated supplies to help us fight the epidemic, and German leaders expressed their support for us. China has also assisted Germany in flying some of its nationals out of Wuhan.

Q: Does China have plans to invite Latin American and Caribbean experts to join investigations on the coronavirus and the development of a vaccine?

A: China has been cooperating with the WHO and the international community in an open, transparent and responsible manner. I refer you to the National Health Commission for more information.

Q: A Chinese delegation canceled its participation at a defense expo in India this week. Could you confirm this?

A: Im not aware of that and refer you to the competent authorities.

Q: First, the Japanese government has confirmed that a 60-year-old Japanese man contracted pneumonia and was admitted to a hospital in Wuhan. Did the 16 foreigners infected in China as you said yesterday include this man in his 60s? Second, speaking of the cases of foreigners in China, does that include places outside Chinas mainland or only refer to the mainland?

A: On your first question, we are not in a position to disclose such information for the protection of the privacy of the people involved.

On your second question, my understanding is that it is Chinas mainland.

Q: In recent days, some media reported that Russia may repatriate patients with the new coronavirus pneumonia. Have China and Russia discussed this issue? What is China's comment?

A: We have noted that on the evening of February 3, the Russian government leader clarified that the patients in Russia will make their own decisions on leaving or staying after they are cured.

At present, there are two confirmed cases in Russia, and both are Chinese citizens. They are receiving professional treatment from the Russian side and are in good conditions. We appreciate that. Going forward, we will continue our close coordination with the international community, including Russia.
Northrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/03/2020 -- The structural health monitoring market to grow from USD 1.5 billion in 2018 to USD 3.4 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 17.9% during the forecast period. Monitoring of structural health is very critical as the catastrophic failure of the infrastructure can results in loss of lives and also incurs high costs. This is one of the major factors driving the growth of the structural health monitoring market.



Stringent government regulations pertaining to the sustainability of structures, and aging infrastructures and the superior benefits of structural health monitoring are other key factors driving the growth of structural health monitoring market. The objective of the report is to define, describe, and forecast the structural health monitoring market size based on technology, offering, vertical, and region.



Download PDF Brochure:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=101431220



By technology, wireless structural health monitoring segment is expected to grow at highest CAGR during forecast period



The market for wireless structural health monitoring is expected to witness highest growth during the forecast period. In wireless technology, the use of wires is eliminated, thereby abolishing the need for installation and protection of cables. Therefore, the cost of the wireless structural health monitoring system is reduced dramatically. Also, the wireless system is flexible in nature. In other words, sensors equipped with wireless communication can be organized into an autonomous network, which makes updating, adding, moving, and replacing of sensors easy after the initial installation.



By vertical, civil infrastructure segment to account for largest market share during forecast period



In this report, the structural health monitoring market, by vertical, has been segmented into civil infrastructure, aerospace & defense, energy, mining, and others. Among these verticals, civil infrastructure segment is expected to hold a largest share of the market throughout the forecast period. Civil infrastructure facilities include numerous critical structures, such as bridges, dams, tunnels, highways, and buildings. All these structures are directly related to the overall demographic and economic growth of any country. Therefore, many governments are taking initiatives to monitor the overall health of the structure. Also, at present, major countries in different regions such as the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, China, India, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are heavily investing in building new infrastructural facilities, thereby ultimately growing their economy of the country. For such increasing infrastructure facilities, there would be growing opportunities for the structural health monitoring market players.



The main purpose of the structural health monitoring system is to support regular visual examinations or inspections using advanced sensor technologies. These systems find their applications in various markets including damage detection market, crack detection market, impact monitoring market, corrosion monitoring market, strain monitoring market, hotspot monitoring market, and others.



Inquiry Before Buying @

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=101431220



APAC to witness highest growth rate during forecast period



APAC is expected to witness highest CAGR in the structural health monitoring market during the forecast period. China, Japan, and India are some of the major countries driving the growth of the structural health monitoring market in APAC. Americas is expected to account for the largest share of structural health monitoring market during the forecast period. The market in this region is also expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period.



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Mike Pompeo

The countries Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited on a five nation-tour over the last week varied from longtime ally Britain to ex-Soviet republics in Central Asia.

But the message he conveyed to his hosts stayed the same: Beware of China. In his trip to Europe and Central Asia, Pompeo denounced China's human rights record, criticized its aggressive trade practices and urged his hosts to be wary of Chinese investment and influence. He warned that China poses a risk as countries develop next-generation, high-speed wireless networks.

His language was blunt. The Chinese Communist Party presents the central threat of our times," Pompeo said last week in London, just days after the European Union unveiled security guidelines for 5G wireless networks that stop short of a ban on Huawei in the latest setback for the U.S. campaign against the Chinese tech company.

Pompeo's tough rhetoric, on a trip coinciding with the rapid spread of a new virus that originated in China and threatens global growth, underscores his preoccupation with the country and its recent diplomatic and trade victories.

His comments contrast with President Donald Trump's more conciliatory language on China. That's partly because Trump is working to complete a trade deal with President Xi Jinping.

When he signed the first phase of the agreement last month, Trump called Xi a "very, very good friend of mine" and said he planned to visit China in the not-too-distant future.

Trump said then that he and Xi have developed an incredible relationship." Pompeo's comments in London, however, maintain the tough approach that he and Vice President Mike Pence have espoused about China, driven mainly by the country's repression of Muslims and ethnic minorities in its western Xinjiang Province, but also by what they say are Beijing's predatory trade practices and development projects that they say put small and poor countries at great risk.

Pompeo's visit to Britain came just 48 hours after the country, which is eagerly hoping to secure a massive post-Brexit trade deal with the U.S., ignored American threats and allowed Huawei to have a role in its 5G network.

The decision highlighted the limits of the Trump administration's ability to lobby for its policies as it defied a U.S. threat to sever intelligence sharing if Huawei had any presence. U.S. officials believe that the security of information on a network that uses Huawei technology or equipment could be compromised.

The U.S. has been lobbying European allies to ban Huawei over concerns it could be compelled to help with the Chinese government with electronic eavesdropping. U.S. officials also worry that 5G networks would rely heavily on software, leaving them open to vulnerabilities, and have repeatedly warned they would have to reconsider intelligence sharing with allies that use Huawei. The company has denied the allegations.

Stung by the British move but still hoping to retain and boost the U.S.-Britain special relationship," Pompeo appeared to step back from the threat on intelligence sharing, saying that he was certain a way could be found to avoid it.

Yet, he made clear that the Trump administration would continue to confront China on multiple fronts, including commerce, infrastructure and technology, militarily and diplomatically, even as the administration pursues a second phase of a massive deal to end a current trade war with Beijing.

We have to collectively  the West  ensure that the next century is governed by Western democratic principles, he said. And that will take a concerted effort not just by the United States but by all of those who love freedom and cherish democracy and the rule of law to ensure that that remains the predominant model for the world for the next century. In Central Asia, where three of the five nations share borders with western China, Pompeo denounced Chinese human rights abuses.

The United States urges all countries to join us in pressing for an immediate end to this repression, he said on Sunday in Kazakhstan. We ask simply for them to provide safe refuge and asylum to those seeking to flee China; protect human dignity; just do what's right. In Uzbekistan on Monday, Pompeo played up the benefits of Central Asia doing business with the U.S. rather than China.

They have long borders, they sit in a region where both China and Russia are present," he said.

What we want them to do and what America is here to do is to support their capacity to make good decisions, to have transparent rule of law investments be present."

We remind them constantly of the benefits of American investment and warn them against state-sponsored, politically driven transactions of the kind favored by China, Pompeo said.
Representative image

Trade between India and Mexico is expected to increase 10 per cent during the current financial year, Mexican Ambassador to India Federico Salas said on Tuesday.

The volume of bilateral trade was USD 10 billion last fiscal, he said.

"Mexico is the first trading partner of India in the Latin American region. India has also emerged as one of the top 10 trading partners of Mexico," Salas told reporters at the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.

This fiscal, Salas said, the volume of bilateral trade is expected to rise 10 per cent due to trade dynamism between the two countries.

Mexico exports oil, automobile products and communication gadgets to India, and imports technology, auto parts, chemicals and pharmaceuticals from this country.

More than 200 Indian businesses are operating in Mexico, the envoy said.

He also said women entrepreneurs from India are welcome in Mexico.

Due to issues of human trafficking, Salas said Mexico has become strict in issuing visas.
The East Midwood Jewish Center in Brooklyn needs $250,000 to replace its aging roof and another $250,000 to repair the water-damaged ceiling of its sanctuary, its director said. Then there is the aging boiler  the size of a small apartment  that has needed $20,000 worth of maintenance so far this winter.

Looming over those everyday concerns is something more existential: keeping everyone in the 96-year-old building alive and well at a time of rising anti-Semitism in New York and around the country.

Enhancing security for Jewish institutions, and how to pay for it, has become an urgent issue for religious leaders and local and state governments.

I lose sleep over this building every night because I care about this institution and I want to protect it and I need the money to do it, said Wayne Rosenfeld, the executive director of the synagogue, which provides Hebrew lessons for 50 students twice a week and social events for 150 older people on weekdays.
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A 12-year old boy from Afghanistan's Ghor Province is the only breadwinner of an extended family of 30, most of them young children. Ahmad Zia's father and three uncles were killed by the Taliban.
Its all Hunter Bidens fault. And by all, I mean everything.

Just imagine how the last few months would have played out had Biden not taken a seat on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma while his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, was leading the Obama administrations push for a less corrupt government in Ukraine. Look at each key event in the process that led to President Trumps impeachment in the House and likely acquittal in the Senate.

By the fall of 2015, a number of U.S. and European officials were calling for Ukraine to remove its top prosecutor, Victor Shokin, because he was not pursuing corruption cases aggressively enough. The complaints included Shokins handling of the allegations against Burisma and the Ukrainian oligarch who founded it, Mykola Zlochevsky.

That pressure campaign intensified in early 2016, culminating when Joe Biden  per U.S. policy, with Congress in the loop  insisted that Shokin be fired if Ukraine wanted to receive $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees. (The International Monetary Fund was also pushing for a more aggressive anti-corruption effort.) The Ukrainian government eventually complied.

End of story, right? Nothing to see here.

For his part, Trump may still have done some bizarre things with Ukraine policy. After all, his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, had been forced to resign under a cloud because of his dealings in that country  the New York Times triggered his departure by reporting that Ukraine had found evidence that Manafort had received millions of dollars in off-the-books payments from a pro-Russian political party there.

As Reuters Andy Sullivan lays out here, Trumps personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani and other supporters of the president viewed Manaforts downfall as the work of Ukrainians trying to meddle in the U.S. election. So theres a good chance Trump, bitter that his 2016 victory was stigmatized by Russias interference on his behalf, would have pressured the new Ukrainian administration to pursue his bizarre and nonsensical theory about Ukrainians hacking the Democratic National Committee server or his belief that Ukrainian government officials improperly aided Hillary Clintons campaign.

(And by the way, writing an opinion piece laying out Ukraines concern about candidate Trumps comments on Russias takeover of Crimea is hardly improper. If it were, Trump has crossed that line multiple times with his tweets supporting foreign candidates such as Boris Johnson.)

Trump may even have gone so far as to withhold the aid to Ukraine that Congress approved, in violation of the Impoundment Control Act. And that might even have led to a tell-all book by an irritated John Bolton after he was fired as Trumps national security adviser.

But violating the ICA is hardly earth-shattering. What kicked things into impeachment territory was Trumps call for an investigation of Biden. And even someone as credulous and factual-gravity-defying as Trump wouldnt have demanded an investigation of Biden if there had been no conflict-of-interest hook to hang it on.

Enter Hunter Biden, who made the jaw-droppingly stupid decision to accept a post on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company founded and tainted by an oligarch widely labeled as corrupt, while his father was the leading Obama administration point person on Ukraine. Even if Hunter Bidens sole interest had been to help Burisma adopt better governance practices and mend its ways  Im offering that just for the sake of argument, not because theres any evidence to support that idea  he should have known better than to lend his name to a company under investigation for money laundering.

That decision allowed Giuliani and his Ukrainian sources to cast Joe Bidens actions in a sinister light, despite the overwhelming evidence that the elder Biden was doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing. It also allowed Shokin to claim, contrary to what other Ukrainian prosecutors and anti-corruption activists have told reporters, that he was investigating Burisma and set to interview the younger Biden at the time he was fired.

That set the stage for Trump to ask a vulnerable foreign leader to investigate one of the presidents top political rivals. This request triggered enough concern among people listening in on the call that it prompted a whistleblower complaint, resulting eventually in Trumps impeachment in the House for abuse of power and obstructing Congress.

Just as Hunter Biden was the tripwire that triggered Trumps impeachment, so too was he the shadowy presence infusing the GOP defense of the president in the Senate. Time and again, Trumps attorneys and allies in the upper chamber pointed to the apparent Biden conflict of interest as a legitimate source of concern for the president. Trump wasnt demanding an investigation of a political rival; he was demanding an investigation into potentially corrupt activity by someone who, three years later, joined the presidential race.

To be clear, I dont buy that argument for a moment. Ive explained why previously; suffice it to say that presidents legitimately concerned about corruption by U.S. citizens seek action by federal law enforcement agencies rather than trying to persuade foreign governments to announce their own investigations. But Hunter Bidens cash grab at Burisma gave Republicans enough material to cover the presidents actions in a layer of legitimacy.

One of the numerous ironies here is that Hunter Biden may also have damaged his fathers presidential bid beyond repair. But we wont find that out for sure until long after the Senate has acquitted Trump.

Jon Healey is the Los Angeles Times deputy editorial page editor.

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Nigerian church torched by suspected Fulani; over 2 dozen killed in attacks

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As many as 32 people were killed in attacks last week said to have been carried out in predominantly Christian areas of the Plateau state of Nigeria by radical Fulani militants who have been blamed for a series of deadly attacks in Plateau this month.

A Church of Christ in Nations church building, as well as a pastors home and dozens upon dozens of other structures, were destroyed as a result of attacks last week, sources told Morning Star News.

Former speaker of the Plateau state House of Assembly Titus Ayuba Alams told the nonprofit persecution news outlet that Islamic militants said to be Fulani herders were blamed for carrying out Jan. 27 attacks in Marish and Ruboi villages that took the lives of about 17 people and a Jan. 26 attack on Kwatas village that took the lives of 15.

However, the figures provided by the Plateau State Police Command differ from those offered by Alams. The Plateau State Police Command has confirmed the death of only 26 people in recent attacks in Bokkos and Mangu Local Government Areas.

In the attacks, 14 persons were killed in Kwatas, four at Sabon Barki, three at Marish and one at Changet in Bokkos, this makes it 22 persons killed in Bokkos, Police spokesperson Ubah Ogaba told The Daily Post. Also, four persons were killed at Marish in Mangu. This makes the total persons killed in the two areas 26.



Fulani are a nomadic people group of about 20 million across West Africa who have for decades competed with farming communities  many of which in Nigeria are predominately Christian  for land use and rights.

In recent years, violence has escalated between the farming communities in Nigerias Middle Belt and Fulani. Fulani radicals have been accused of killing thousands over the years through overnight massacres on sleeping villages while youth in farming communities have been accused of carrying out reprisal attacks.

Even though area residents in Kwatas have blamed Fulani militants for the attacks last week, Police spokesperson Ubah Gabriel Ogaba could only confirm for Morning Star News that the attack was carried out by unknown gunmen.

While Ogaba said that 190 houses were set on fire, 123 were houses belonging to natives of the area and 67 houses were owned by Fulani herders.

Plateau Gov. Simon Lalong condemned the attacks and called for the arrest of Fulani and community leaders.

According to Ogaba, 11 people have been arrested in connection with the attacks. Among those arrested is a local Fulani.

Isa Bappa, the chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, released a statement condemning youth in Kwatas for launching reprisal attacks on Fulani settlements.

Both incidents are barbaric and condemnable, Bappa was quoted as saying by The Premium Times. "We call on the security agencies in the state as a matter of urgency to ensure the arrest of the perpetrators of all the attacks.

Bappa also decried the notion that Fulani militants are suspected of carrying out the attacks. He claims there was no clear evidence that the attack was launched by them.

"We urge the security agencies to always do its homework before any declaration," he said.

The attacks last week follow a series of attacks that occurred earlier in the month.

On Jan. 20, suspected herdsmen invaded Torok village in Riyom County and killed a 25-year-old COCIN member named Reuben Bulus. Two days before Bulus death, 13 COCIN members were killed in the Plateau village of Kulben in Mangu County.

On Jan. 1 in Riyom, COCIN member Ngam Stephen Dachung was said to have been killed by suspected herdsmen.

The United Kingdom-based nongovernmental organization Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust estimated in a report that at least 1,000 Christians in Nigeria were killed in 2019 by suspected Fulani herdsmen or Boko Haram militants. Further, the NGO also estimates that about 6,000 Christians have been killed since 2015, and as many as 12,000 displaced from their villages.

Human rights activists have long called on the Nigerian federal government to take greater action to halt the escalating violence taking place in Nigeria. Advocates for Christian farming communities have argued that the government has done very little to protect their communities from the rise of deadly violence.

In December, the U.S. State Department listed Nigeria for the first time on its special watch list for countries that engage in or tolerate severe violations of religious freedom because of the lack of effective government response to the increasing violence.

As the U.S. is hosting Nigerian government officials for the fifth U.S.-Nigeria Bi-National Commission meeting in Washington, D.C., this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was urged to pressure Nigerian officials about why no protection is being provided for vulnerable communities.

Over 50 religious and human rights leaders signed onto a Jan. 24 letter sent to Pompeo asking him to put religious persecution on the agenda for the Bi-National Commission meetings on Monday and Tuesday this week.

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Christian Post, called for the U.S. to create a special session at the meeting this week allowing members of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable to have a dialogue with the Nigerian government.

Despite your placement of Nigeria on the Watchlist of Persecuting Countries, the egregious killings of Christians continued to occur throughout the Christmas, the letter states. The execution of an abducted Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leader this week is just the latest from daily atrocities that have claimed over 100 lives since last month.

Among the signatories to the letter are activists who participated in the State Departments Ministerial on International Religious Freedom last July, including human rights lawyer and religious freedom activist Emmanuel Ogebe of the U.S. Nigeria Law Group.

The letter was also signed by human rights lawyer Anne Buwalda of the Jubilee Campaign.

In July, the Jubilee Campaign told the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, that the standard for genocide has been reached as it relates to the massacres of Christian communities in Nigeria by Fulani militants and Boko Haram.

The situation has altered considerably and the reality is quite different from 2016, the Jubilee Campaign report adds. Caution is warranted in prescribing guilt to any group but in view of the evidence aggregated, the situation can no longer be called clashes when a group of over 200 raid a Christian village and kill civilians in the early morning hours while they are sleeping. The ICC in their ongoing surveillance of Nigeria should update their information for the record.

Nigeria ranks as the 12th worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution on Open Doors USAs 2020 World Watch List.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked JNU to deliberate with its academic council on how to complete the classes for the monsoon semester, which was disrupted due to a students' agitation on campus, and conduct exams.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher directed the varsity to place before the academic council the recommendations of boards of studies of its various schools and special centres on completing the classes and conducting exams.

He said the decision taken by the Jawaharlal Nehru University's (JNU) academic council, after going through the recommendations of boards of studies, be filed before the court registry by February 7.

The court said the recommendations of boards of studies should also be placed before it.

It was hearing pleas by several students and professors challenging the JNU's decision to hold online open-book or take-home exams for the monsoon semester.

Two separate petitions have been filed by the professors and students, represented by senior advocate Ritin Rao.

They have challenged the varsity's decision to conduct end-semester examinations for the 2019 monsoon semester through an alternative mode of uploading question papers on the university's website or sending them to students by e-mail, and receiving answer sheets through e-mail and WhatsApp messages.

The petitions, filed through advocates Samiksha Godiyal and Abhik Chimni, have also opposed a varsity circular directing the professors to commence course work for 2020 winter semester, saying the directions were issued on instructions of the vice chancellor (VC) in exercise of his extraordinary powers under the JNU Act and the Statutes of the University.

JNU counsel Harsh Ahuja told the court that out of 18 centres, eight have already conducted regular examinations.

The court had earlier asked JNU what was the purpose of having online open-book or take-home exams if classes have not been held.

The petitioners have contended in their pleas that the VC does not have the power to allow such examinations when the entire curriculum had not been covered in various schools and special centres under the university.

The petitions have contended that the circulars have been issued without consultation with the faculty members.

"The impugned circulars direct end-semester examinations to be conducted even though the coursework and syllabus for each course of the 2019 monsoon semester has remained incomplete on account of student agitations at the university.

"The impugned circulars prescribe drastic changes in the pattern of end-semester examinations. They also permit registration of students for the next semester without completion of the academic requirements of the 2019 monsoon semester. These changes are illegal in the absence of approval of the Boards of Schools in duly convened meetings," it said.

The petitioners have sought quashing of the circulars, extension of the 2019 monsoon semester and direction to JNU to conduct classes, examinations and registration for each semester in strict compliance with the mandatory procedures.

The court listed the matter for further hearing on February 10.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
" " Ron Stallworth (right) and John David Washington (who plays him in the movie 'BlaKkKlansman') attend the after-party for the film's premiere on Aug. 8, 2018, in Beverly Hills. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

The new Spike Lee film (sorry, "joint") "BlacKkKlansman" starring John David Washington, won the Grand Prix at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival for its gripping and entertaining retelling of a little-known chapter of black history, when a black Colorado Springs police officer, Ron Stallworth, infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan so deeply that he was asked to lead a local chapter.

While the film takes some dramatic license with Stallworth's memoir, many of the most outrageous scenes in "BlacKkKlansman"  including Stallworth's chummy phone conversations with KKK Grand Wizard David Duke  are absolutely true.

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The story begins in 1978, when Stallworth was the "Jackie Robinson" of the Colorado Springs Police Department, the first black detective on the force. Flipping through the local newspaper, he found a short classified ad for the KKK with a P.O. box address listed for more information. Since it was part of Stallworth's job as an intelligence officer to keep tabs on potential domestic terrorists, he shot off a note. He signed his real name thinking he'd just get a brochure.

A few weeks later, he got a call at his desk from a local KKK organizer. Asked why he was interested in joining the Klan, Stallworth presented himself as a white man who hated blacks, Jews, Mexicans, Asians  the standard KKK bait. For added realism, he claimed that his sister was dating a black man.

"Every time he put his filthy black hands on her pure white body it made me cringe," Stallworth recalled saying, to the Washington Post. "And I wanted to do something to stop those things from happening."

Pleased as punch to find another white supremacist in Colorado Springs, the Klan organizer suggested the two meet in person. That wasn't going to work, obviously, so Stallworth recruited a white colleague to be his supremacist stand-in. And so began a seven-month undercover investigation in which the two "Stallworths" became card-carrying Klansmen and trusted associates of none other than David Duke.

At one point during Stallworth's investigation into Klan activities in Colorado, he came across a phone number for "The Voice of the Klan" and gave it a ring.

"Damned if David [Duke] didn't pick up the line," Stallworth told the Washington Post. "He laughed and said, 'I'm 'The Voice of the Klan.' He identified himself as the grand wizard, the director."

Stallworth and Duke became fast phone friends, having several long conversations about the many threats against the Aryan race in America. Stallworth buttered up Duke with flattery, but couldn't resist toying with the grand wizard's inflated ego. In an NPR interview Stallworth said he once asked Duke if he wasn't afraid of some black person calling up his organization pretending to be white.

"He said, no, he wasn't fearful of that at all, because he could always tell when he was talking to a black person. And I might add, he never used the term 'black.' He always used the so-called N word," Stallworth said.

Duke replied that it could never happen, because he was able to detect a pure Aryan by the way he pronounced certain words and phrases.

"He said, 'Blacks tend to pronounce the word ARE, he said they pronounce it AR-RA. And he said, 'I could tell by listening to you that you're not black because you do not pronounce that word in that manner,'" remembered Stallworth.

When Duke attended a Klan rally in Colorado Springs, Stallworth was giving the task of guarding him. Duke never realized that Stallworth was the person he'd been talking on the phone with for months. Indeed, Duke didn't find out that Stallworth was a black undercover police officer until 2006, when a reporter wrote about it and columnist Leonard Pitts contacted Duke to fact-check Stallworth's incredible story.

Not a fan of Lee's film, Duke recently tweeted that it was "a big lie. Cops infiltrated a Klan chapter. But, if the film is true by depicting them as violent, why no arrests? no trials? no grand juries?"

While it's true that the investigation didn't lead to any arrests or convictions, the whole point of it was to gather information. Stallworth says that it tipped off police to planned cross burnings, revealed the identity of two Klansmen holding high-level posts within the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), and disrupted a plot to bomb two gay bars in Denver.

The investigation was shut down in 1979 when, incredibly, the local KKK organizer nominated Stallworth as the new leader of the Colorado Springs chapter. Stallworth's superiors felt the dangerous ruse had gone on long enough.

After his stint as a black Klansman, Stallworth served more than 30 years as a narcotics investigator in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, becoming an expert in gang culture along the way. He retired in 2006 and self-published his memoir in 2014. He still has his KKK membership card and his "certificate of citizenship" signed by David Duke.

Now That's ... Surprising Ron Stallworh told Time that David Duke was "a very nice guy in person. A very pleasant conversationalist. The problem with David is he can't go very long without talking about race and the minute he gets on the subject of race, Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde and the monster in him is unleashed."
EAST LANSING, MI  The Wharton Center for Performing Arts at Michigan State University removed a display of dolls portraying prominent black figures that were hanging from a tree-like rack.

The felt ornaments hung from the tree-shaped rack depicted figures such as former President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Prince.

A black graduate student noticed the dolls and said that there were other trees holding dolls of historic black figures, as well as a few white leaders, AP reports.

University Spokeswoman Emily Gerkin Guerrant apologized in a statement saying that people were hurt and offended regardless of the intent of the display, the Associated Press reports.

School officials said that they will provide racial bias training for workers and volunteers.

Guerrant told The Associated Press in an email Tuesday that the display of historic dolls and ornaments was part of Februarys Black History Month celebration. The Wharton Center is hosting several events, including We Shall Overcome: A Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. on Feb. 14.
Our system is screwy. Our methods are maddening. Each voter has both a head and a heart but ultimately just one vote between them, and that vote is first cast during the cattle call of a caucus, here in Iowa, where factions split apart and blob together, where some outcomes are tie-broken by coin tosses and then cant even be reported because the caucus app is down and the phone lines are tied up. Democrats are impatient and tired and about ready to lose it. They just want to know what their fellow Americans are thinking, what theyre feeling. They have had to ask themselves: Which candidate do I love the most, which candidate can win, and can one person be the answer to both those questions?
Outspoken role interpreter, Yul Edochie has urged actors in Nollywood to stop demanding for s3xual gratification before offering movie ro...

I condemn sex for jobs completely.

If na ur way, hear this advice.

If you promise a girl a job in exchange for sex, once she gives you make sure you do not fail her.

If she swear for you, your own don finish.

This matter has wrecked many men especially Nollywood practitioners.  Yul Edochie (@YulEdochie) February 4, 2020

Outspoken role interpreter, Yul Edochie has urged actors in Nollywood to stop demanding for s3xual gratification before offering movie roles.The actor, in a tweet on Tuesday, condemned the act, saying it has wrecked many men.I condemn s3x for jobs completely. If na ur way, hear this advice. If you promise a girl a job in exchange for s3x, once she gives you make sure you do not fail her. If she swear for you, your own don finish. This matter has wrecked many men especially Nollywood practitioners, he said.Recall that Edochie had stated that there is no love in Nollywood back in 2018.According to him: They say theres no love in Nollywood. I laugh. Brethren theres no love anywhere, not only in Nollywood. The world is tough, its a jungle out here. My advice: Dont wait for anyone to love you, love yourself, help yourself. Work hard, pray & do whats right in the sight of God, he tweeted.
YEREVAN.  The Embassy of Armenia to China has not received any information on the number of Armenian citizens infected in China with the coronavirus at this time. Mnatsakan Safaryan, Head of the North-East Asia Division of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, stated this in an interview with RFE/RL.

Asked how many Armenian citizens were registered at the Armenian Embassy in China to move to Armenia (or are there any) and how many have recently moved to Armenia, he responded: As of February 3, about 600 Armenian citizens responded to the information spread by the Armenian Embassy in China, whose data were registered by the Armenian Embassy.

Our citizens have raised a variety of issues, with the Embassy responding in the shortest possible time, with various means of access. Among the issues raised is the possibility of moving to Armenia.

The Embassy also provides citizens of the Republic of Armenia with officially circulated notices by Chinas authorities to foreigners residing in China. One of the 11 Armenian citizens at the quarantine zone has already been evacuated from the territory of China. Another Armenian citizen who wishes to be evacuated will be evacuated within the next couple of days. The rest of the Armenian citizens in the quarantine zone have refused the opportunity to evacuate.

Let us noted that the evacuation is done on voluntary basis. At this phase, no evacuation of persons outside the quarantine zone is underway.

The Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in China and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia are currently completing the framework issues concerning RA citizens who wish to move to Armenia, but are facing difficulties related to transport and other problems that have emerged in recent days. Immediate solutions to these problems are currently being discussed in coordination with various agencies in Armenia.

According to the data of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, during the last ten days, about 200 Armenian citizens have returned to Armenia from the territory of China.
NEWSALERT-PADAYATRA Karnataka Congress has decided to temporarily halt Mekedatu padayatra due to COVID concerns and in the interest of public health: Siddaramaiah.
Some stocks are best avoided. It hits us in the gut when we see fellow investors suffer a loss. For example, we sympathize with anyone who was caught holding Great Northern Minerals Limited (ASX:GNM) during the five years that saw its share price drop a whopping 97%. And it's not just long term holders hurting, because the stock is down 73% in the last year. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 16% in the last three months.

We really hope anyone holding through that price crash has a diversified portfolio. Even when you lose money, you don't have to lose the lesson.

View our latest analysis for Great Northern Minerals

Great Northern Minerals recorded just AU$260,309 in revenue over the last twelve months, which isn't really enough for us to consider it to have a proven product. This state of affairs suggests that venture capitalists won't provide funds on attractive terms. As a result, we think it's unlikely shareholders are paying much attention to current revenue, but rather speculating on growth in the years to come. For example, investors may be hoping that Great Northern Minerals finds some valuable resources, before it runs out of money.

We think companies that have neither significant revenues nor profits are pretty high risk. There is almost always a chance they will need to raise more capital, and their progress - and share price - will dictate how dilutive that is to current holders. While some such companies do very well over the long term, others become hyped up by promoters before eventually falling back down to earth, and going bankrupt (or being recapitalized). It certainly is a dangerous place to invest, as Great Northern Minerals investors might realise.

Great Northern Minerals had liabilities exceeding cash by AU$249k when it last reported in June 2019, according to our data. That makes it extremely high risk, in our view. But with the share price diving 51% per year, over 5 years , it's probably fair to say that some shareholders no longer believe the company will succeed. You can see in the image below, how Great Northern Minerals's cash levels have changed over time (click to see the values). You can click on the image below to see (in greater detail) how Great Northern Minerals's cash levels have changed over time.

Story continues

ASX:GNM Historical Debt, February 4th 2020

It can be extremely risky to invest in a company that doesn't even have revenue. There's no way to know its value easily. Would it bother you if insiders were selling the stock? It would bother me, that's for sure. It only takes a moment for you to check whether we have identified any insider sales recently.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 24% in the last year, Great Northern Minerals shareholders lost 73%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 47% over the last half decade. We realise that Buffett has said investors should 'buy when there is blood on the streets', but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Great Northern Minerals better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 7 warning signs for Great Northern Minerals (4 shouldn't be ignored) that you should be aware of.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on AU exchanges.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
A Lawrence man was arrested Sunday on charges of allegedly kidnapping, stabbing and robbing a person at gunpoint after stealing the victims car, police said.

Edward Delossantos was charged with carrying a loaded gun, unlawful possession of a gun, armed assault to rob, armed carjacking, kidnapping and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. The 41-year-old was expected to be arraigned in Dorchester District Court, Boston Police Department said in a statement.

Officers responded to a report of a person with a gun on Lucerne Street in Dorchester shortly after 8:45 p.m. Sunday and saw a gray SUV driving erratically on Callender Street as well as other nearby streets, the statement said. Police eventually caught up with the car after it collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Callender and Don Streets.

At this time, officers observed one male chasing another male in front of 166 Callender St., Boston police said. Officers pursued the two parties to the area of Carlos Street before catching up to one of them."

The man who was being chased eventually stopped and told officers that the person who was pursuing him had been carrying a gun, according to police. The person allegedly chasing the man was taken into custody. Officers then found a knife, a loaded gun and six rounds of live ammunition in bushes on Callender Street when retracing the path of the pursuit.

The alleged victim said he was driving down Callender Street toward Blue Hill Avenue when a SUV driving in the wrong direction on the one-way street struck his car head on. One of two men jumped out of the SUV, and when the person exited his car to speak with the man, the suspect brandished a firearm and fled the area. The driver of the car chased the man until he stopped, turned around and pressed the gun into the mans abdomen before running away again when police approached, authorities said.

Officers found another alleged victim with stab wounds on Arbutus and Irma Streets. He was taken to a local hospital to be treated for his injuries, which were not considered life-threatening, according to authorities.

The person told authorities he was walking toward his gray SUV when he was allegedly approached by a man who brandished a gun and forced the victim into the car with the help of two other men, police said. The suspect entered the back seat of the victims car, while one of the other two men started driving the SUV. The third suspect drove away in a white Mercedes.

The suspect in the backseat allegedly struck the victim in his head with the gun, demanded the victims money and stabbed him multiple times after the driver of the SUV handed the suspect a knife, according to police.

The victim stated he attempted to flee the back seat of the vehicle, at which point the suspect fired one gunshot, the Boston Police Department said in its statement. The victim was successful in exiting his vehicle, as the two suspects fled the scene in the victims SUV.
On Monday, in the morning, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey departed Government House for official travel to Toowoomba.

Following, at Toowoomba City Hall, Toowoomba, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey received a briefing from Toowoomba Regional Council representatives.

Following, at Toowoomba City Hall, Toowoomba, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey received a briefing from Toowoomba Local Disaster Management representatives.

Following, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey visited Crows Nest State and the Governor addressed students and guests and Mrs de Jersey read a book to students and guests.

In the afternoon, at Crows Nest, His Excellency undertook a walking tour of Charlotte Street, and met with local business owners.

Following, at the Nest Cafe, Crows Nest, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey received the Mayor of Toowoomba Regional Council, Councillor Paul Antonio.

Following, at Bunnyconnellen, Crows Nest, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey hosted an afternoon tea for members of the community affected by the recent bushfires, and the Governor addressed guests.

Following, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey returned to Government House following official travel to Toowoomba.
In one, the woman asked Weinstein about meeting up for a drink in Los Angeles. Rotunno also asked the woman about accepting Weinsteins invitation to an Oscar party in 2015, and about her decision to meet with him at the Peninsula Hotel in New York in 2016  the same hotel where she says he'd previously raped her.
BEIJING  China opened a new hospital built in 10 days, infused cash into its tumbling financial markets and further restricted peoples movement in sweeping new steps Monday to contain a rapidly spreading virus and its escalating impact.

Chinese health authorities reported 361 deaths and 17,205 confirmed cases, an increase of 2,829 over a 24-hour period, as other countries continued evacuating citizens from hardest-hit Hubei province and restricted the entry of Chinese or people who recently traveled to the country. The World Health Organization said the number of cases will keep growing because tests are pending on thousands of suspected cases.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, presiding over a special meeting of the countrys top Communist Party body for the second time since the crisis started, said, We have launched a peoples war of prevention of the epidemic.

He told the Politburo standing committee that the country must race against time to curb the spread of the virus and that those who neglect their duties will be punished, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Medical teams from the Peoples Liberation Army were arriving in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, to relieve overwhelmed health workers and to staff the new 1,000-bed hospital, located in the countryside far from the city center.

Its prefabricated wards are equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and ventilation systems. A second hospital with 1,500 beds is due to open within days.

The lack of hospital rooms forced sick people to return home, which is extremely dangerous, Chinese epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan told CCTV. So having additional (beds) available is a great improvement.

Chinas Shanghai Composite stock index plunged nearly 8% on the first day of trading after the Lunar New Year holiday, despite a central bank announcement that it was putting 1.2 trillion yuan ($173 billion) into the markets.

We are fully confident in and capable of minimizing the epidemics impact on the economy, Lian Weiliang, deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a news conference in Beijing.

With the holiday ending, many companies required employees to work from home to minimize the risk of infection. Volkswagen said its 3,500 employees in Beijing would do so for two weeks.

Hong Kongs leader, Carrie Lam, announced that the semi-autonomous territory will shut almost all but two land and sea border crossings with the mainland to stem the spread of the virus. Only the land checkpoints at Shenzhen Bay and the bridge to Macao and Zhuhai will remain open.

More than 2,000 Hong Kong hospital workers went on strike earlier in the day, demanding a complete closure of the border, and their union has threatened a bigger walkout Tuesday.

Hong Kong was hit hard by SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in 2002-03, an illness from the same family of viruses as the current outbreak and which many believe was intensified by official Chinese secrecy and obfuscation.

Chinese scientists said they have more evidence that the new virus likely originated in bats. In a study published in the journal Nature, Shi Zhen-Li and colleagues at the Wuhan Institute of Virology reported that genome sequences from seven patients were 96% identical to a bat coronavirus.

SARS is also believed to have originated in bats, although it jumped to civet cats before infecting people. Scientists suspect the latest outbreak began at a seafood market in Wuhan where wild animals were on sale and in contact with people.

Ken Moritsugu is an Associated Press writer.
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The documentary Advocate, produced and directed by Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaiche, tells the story of Lea Tsemels life in an unsentimental, sober and engrossing way.

Lea Tsemel

The film premiered at last years Sundance Film Festival and screened at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York. It was named best picture in Tel Avivs annual Docaviv Film Festival, a decision that met with condemnation from Israels Minister of Culture Miri Regev.

It has opened in several cities in the US and UK.

Tsemel, a remarkable Israeli human rights lawyer, has defended Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli courts for nearly 50 years, insisting on their humanity and right to a fair trial. Her untiring work has earned her enormous respect among Palestinians. A staunch critic of Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories seized in the 1967 war, she argues that Palestinians who carry out politically motivated violence are freedom fighters, not terrorists.

Advocate weaves the story of Tsemels life in between her work defending two young Palestinians in two separate and terrible cases, following them through their remand, indictments, pleas, testimonies, plea bargaining negotiations, verdict, punishment proceedings, sentencing and appeals that illustrate the nature of Israeli justice.

The daughter of a woman who had emigrated with her mother to Palestine in 1933 and had lost the rest of her family in the Nazi Holocaust, Tsemel was born in 1945 and grew up in Haifa. She was a law student at Jerusalems Hebrew University during the 1967 Israeli-Arab War that saw Israel defeat its Arab neighbours and seize land from Jordan, Egypt and Syria. Israel annexed East Jerusalem and still occupies the West Bank, Syrias Golan Heights and Gaza, which it has subjected to a punishing 12-year blockade.

Advocate

Volunteering for military service, Tsemel was the first Israeli woman to reach the Wailing Wall in East Jerusalem, amid scenes of much Israeli rejoicing. But after the war, as scores of homes were demolished to make way for a large praying plaza, she began to wonder about the people who used to live there and to question the Israeli occupation.

She joined the leftist organization Matzpen, which focuses on the national struggle of the Palestinians, of which she says, From that moment, I never looked back. She later met the man who would become her husband and political co-thinker, Michel Warschawski, who was from a religious background.

After the 1967 War, Tsemel began her legal career, defending those who found themselves subject to abuse and violence that was typically dismissed or covered up, property confiscations, collective punishment administered for whole families, neighborhoods and groups of citizens as well as those arrested for committing violent acts for political purposes.

Her first political trial was in 1972 when she represented Daoud Turki and Udi Adiv, members of an Arab-Jewish Underground movement, the Red Front, that emerged out of Matzpen, who were accused of espionage for undertaking a secret trip to Syria to link up with Arabs fighting Zionism and the State of Israel. The defendants described their interrogations during which they had been forced to confess, that included shackling, sleep deprivation, deafening music, interrogations day and night, and beatings, carried out systematically to avoid leaving marks. The judge dismissed this evidence, finding Turki and Adiv guilty and sentencing them to 17 years in prison, and faulted Tsemel for identifying with Israels enemies.

Advocate

In a later case, she defended her husband, who had set up the Alternative Information Center, an organization of Israeli and Palestinian anti-Zionist activists, in 1984, after his arrest for providing services for illegal (Palestinian) organizations.

In 1989, Warschawski was sentenced to 20 months in prison, with a 10-month suspended sentence, for typesetting a booklet that the judges ruled had come from members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which described torture and interrogation techniques allegedly employed by Israel's security apparatus and gave advice on how to withstand them.

The films focus, however, is not so much on the Israel-Palestinian conflict as on Tsemels daily and dogged struggle for justice for her Palestinian clients.

In the first case, 13-year old Ahmad and his 15-year-old cousin Hassan from Beit Hanina in the occupied West Bank, took very large souvenir knives from their homes to the nearby settlement of Pisgat Zeev, where Hassan stabbed and injured an Israeli man and a boy, and was himself shot by the police. Angry Israelis demanded the police shoot Ahmad as well.

Ahmad, who became Tsemels client, did not use his knife and had urged his cousin not to attack another child.

The second case involves Israa Jaabis, a Palestinian woman charged with attempted murder for what Israeli officials assumed was a botched suicide bombing. Jaabis had driven to Jerusalem with two butane tanks in her car, before setting fire to the car and injuring a policeman lightly and herself severely.

Again, the issue was one of intent. Was it murder or an attempted suicide? According to Jaabis relatives, she was a depressed woman in an unhappy marriage who had attempted suicide twice before. Tsemel wandered whether she had sought to try suicide by cop, by no means an unknown phenomenon among desperate young Palestinians.

Speaking of Ahmads case, Tsemel says, It is as if I live with the illusion that I can do something in the world, make an impact. That there is someone to reason with. It is strange. I am not willing to give up trying.

She adds, This is an occupation! And it must be responded to. And everyone does so according to their capabilities. The victims, the vanquished, the children, the womenrespond in their own way. The expectation that Palestinians can find justice in Israeli courts may have been buried for good. I hope not. I really hope not. The path to the Supreme Court still lies ahead of us. We will appeal as soon as possible, in pursuit of justice.

Towards the end of Advocate, Tsemel says of herself, I am a very angry, optimistic woman. Yet, as she admits, she has few victories to show for all her hard work. For us, a victory is one year deducted from a five-year sentence.

Her only major victory was in 1999, when she won a landmark case in the Supreme Court outlawing the torture of detained Palestinians during interrogations. Yet as the film acknowledges, the security services have ignored the court order.

The valuable and courageous elements in Tsemels work need to be distinguished from the bankrupt political perspective of pleading for liberal reform and a national solution to the long-running conflict.

Advocate exposes the bankruptcy of the pursuit of justice for the Palestinians through the Israeli courts. Israels legal system has now become a major battle ground in the elections to be held next month, the third in less than a year, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complaining of a political coup against him at the behest of the left and pro-Arab forces. If he wins, he intends to bring the judiciary under the direct control of the government.

Matzpen, the party Tsemel joined in 1967, and its offshoots, opposed Israels occupation of the territories conquered in the 1967 War, and sought to create a popular front in favour of a de-Zionized Israelan early variant of the two-state solution.

It rejected the struggle for the unification of the working class across borders and religious and ethnic divisions, against capitalism and for socialism, working instead with petty-bourgeois radical organisations in Europe and Palestinian parties such as the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).

The end result has been to disarm the Palestinian masses and to help perpetuate the subordination of the Israeli working class to their own ruling class.

The judicial, economic, social and political conditions in Israel and Palestine are an indictment of the Zionist project and the nation state, as the solution to the oppression of the Jews. The foundation of the Zionist state was presented as the answer to the Nazi Holocaust and broader European persecution of the Jews, butrealised in the form of a religious-based capitalist state created by the dispossession of another peopleIsrael has instead become synonymous with Palestinian oppression and war crimes.

Moreover, the history of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the umbrella group that includes both the PFLP and the DFLP, has repeatedly demonstrated that the subjugation of the Palestinian people was made possible not simply by Israeli violence, but by the treachery of the Arab bourgeoisie. The leadership of the PLO, which sought to pressure the Arab regimes and maneuver between them as well relying on the Soviet Union as a counterweight to Israel and the US, itself now grows rich through the exploitation of the Palestinian working class, while acting as de facto Israeli police in the Occupied Territories.
Southern Illinois' Len Small levee likely to fail even if repaired, study says

URBANA, Ill. - Alexander County sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, at the southernmost tip of Illinois. The sparsely populated jurisdiction is perhaps best known for devastating floods resulting from repeated failures of the Len Small levee in 1993, 2011, and 2016. Homes and businesses have been severely damaged, residents stranded, and rich agricultural land irreversibly degraded by sand deposition and erosion.

Despite the severity of past flooding, the levee has been left unrepaired since 2016, leaving the area to flood every year since. Residents, land owners, county officials, and area lawmakers are clamoring for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair the breached levee. However, a new study led by a University of Illinois soil scientist predicts the levee will continue to fail even if repaired, and more extensive intervention is needed to prevent future flooding.

"Because the levee is built on unconsolidated ancient Ohio River valley alluvial sediments, which are easily eroded by the Mississippi River, any patch or repair will only be a short-term solution. The levee is very likely to fail again during a future major flooding event," says Kenneth Olson, professor emeritus in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at U of I.

In the study, Olson and co-author David Speidel, retired resource conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, recount the re-alignment of the ancient and modern Mississippi River during the last 15,000 years.

Prior to the 1880s, the Mississippi River had multiple "relief valves" in the region. That is, when the river reached flood stage, excess water would naturally overtop river banks and flow into lowland areas like the Big Swamp, southwest of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Olson and Speidel say shifting land use priorities, such as creating agricultural land by draining wetlands, spurred construction projects that dramatically changed the behavior of the river.

"Between 1880 and 1943, a diversion channel, embankment, and four levees were built in the area. They were designed to capture upland runoff, protect agricultural lands, and channel the river," Olson says. "But the levees cut off water storage areas that acted as relief valves at flood stage and significantly narrowed the river south of the Thebes Gap, increasing the volume, velocity, and water depth in the Mississippi River's main channel."

Compounding the problem, precipitation has increased 37% in the upper Midwest in the past 50 years. Olson says the convergence of fast-melting winter snowpack and high-precipitation events in the upper reaches of the river have increased runoff, exceeding the river channel's capacity.

As the Mississippi River snakes around Dogtooth Bend at the southern tip of Illinois, certain curved segments of the riverbank take the brunt of the river's erosive power. One of those spots, a section of the Len Small levee near Miller City, first failed in 1993. The breach was repaired that year, but the levee breached again in 2011 and 2016. In 2011, farmers patched it themselves, but the 2016 breach was too extensive for a do-it-yourself repair. The cost to fix it was an estimated $16 million, including a required $3-million local match. Without funds to make the necessary repairs, floodwaters now cross the Dogtooth Bend peninsula between river mile markers 33 and 15 every year.

Speidel says, "In the event a solution is not found and acted on to correct the 2016 levee breach, the agricultural land and roads on Dogtooth Bend peninsula will continue to degrade and the channel will continue to extend across the peninsula with each subsequent flooding event."

Navigation in the region has been impacted, as well. When floodwaters crossed the peninsula in 2019, six barges and multiple shipping lane markers got caught in the bypass flow. Eventually, the barges crossed the Miller City road, took out power lines, and finally came to rest on a farmer's irrigation system. Only four of the six barges could be removed before the floodwaters receded.

According to Olson, Dogtooth Bend farmers have been unable to produce crops during the last four growing seasons, and some have already sold their farm equipment. He says, "It is impossible for farmers to pay their farmland assessment tax bill without producing any crops. This degraded land needs an updated soil survey to assess the extent of soil damages, and degraded agricultural lands should now be taxed at a lower rate as either 'other land' or as 'conservation land.'

"As the frequency of intense precipitation events increase, the Illinois and Missouri levee systems are likely to fail repeatedly if maintained at their previous or current height, location, and strength. The current Army Corps solution - temporarily blocking the erosion with large rocks to prevent the navigation channel from moving - is not working in the Dogtooth Bend area," he adds. In fact, flooding has already started in 2020.

Olson and Speidel outline an alternate plan that acknowledges the current realities of the river, which seems determined to cut across the Dogtooth Bend peninsula. "Combinations of land use changes, a floodway bypass, expanded floodwater storage in the confluence area, and river training structures such as weirs, wing dikes, and step dikes are needed to address the flooding and maintain the existing Mississippi River shipping channel," Olson says.

More specifically, the plan calls for a wholesale shift in land use in the Dogtooth Bend peninsula area, from agriculture to wetlands, forest, wildlife habitat, and floodwater storage. "The current land owners will need to be compensated for any land use change," Olson asserts.

In addition, Olson and Speidel propose a new combined levee and causeway to keep the Miller City-to-Olive Branch road passable during flooding. They suggest the project could be funded from local and state highway funds in partnership with the Mississippi River Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The elevated causeway would further protect farmsteads and farmland that have not yet been degraded by past flooding events. Conservation easements are also being proposed for the degraded lands already affected by past flooding events.

###

The article, "Why does the repaired Len Small levee, Alexander County, Illinois, U.S. continue to breach during major flooding events?" is published in the Open Journal of Soil Science [DOI: 10.4236/ojss.2020.101002]. The research was supported by USDA, NIFA, Water Division, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at Illinois.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
COLONIE  BJs has one. Costco is planning one.

Now, Sam's Club is seeking to add a gas station to its store at Latham Farms. The warehouse club's engineers were to present their plans at Tuesday night's Colonie Planning Board meeting.

Details were sparse before Tuesday night's meeting, but the gas station would be located at the southeast corner of the Sam's Club parking lot. The building would take up just 192 square feet  a tiny fraction of the 134,763-square-foot Sam's Club  while the canopy over the gas pumps would be 4,787 square feet.

A site plan suggests either six or eight fueling lanes. Colonie planning officials weren't immediately available to add further details.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

BJs, Costco and Sam's Club restrict sales of their discounted gasoline to members only. Sam's Club hasn't offered gasoline in the 27 years since it opened at Latham Farms. BJs, which opened in what was then known as Northway Mall in Colonie in the mid-1980s, has offered gas since at least 2004. But two other area BJs, in Wilton and Rotterdam, don't offer gas stations.

The addition of a Costco and Sam's Club gasoline stations will likely mean more competition locally. It's not clear how quickly Sam's Club will get planning board approval for its new station at Latham Farms. And with some Guilderland residents opposing the new Costco warehouse club proposed for vacant land adjacent to a Crossgates Mall entrance, it may face some challenges getting the necessary approvals for its first Capital Region location.
COLUMBIA  Iowa's long-awaited Democratic presidential caucuses Monday night produced every election administrator's worst nightmare.

The next day  and many hours after the caucuses were over  results were largely still not available as Iowa Democratic Party officials desperately tried to address reporting glitches, effectively missing their prime opportunity in the national spotlight to impact the race for the Democratic nomination.

But with a few weeks left until South Carolina's Feb. 29 Democratic presidential primary, election officials in the Palmetto State offered firm assurances Tuesday that preparations are already proceeding according to plan and there are no foreseeable reasons why unofficial results here would not be available that same night.

"The big takeaway is: We've got this," said S.C. Elections Commission spokesman Chris Whitmire. "This is something we do every week, and we want voters to know that they can go to the polls on Feb. 29 and vote with confidence knowing that their vote is going to count."

For starters, South Carolina's process could hardly be more different than Iowa's.

Iowa uses an in-person caucus administered by the state party, a unique form of election that requires intense organization. South Carolina uses a typical primary process administered by professional state and county election officials who have extensive experience managing similar elections all the time.

South Carolina's new voting machines, which use a two-factor authentication system by producing paper ballots in addition to the electronic tabulation, have already been used in more than 200 elections since Oct. 1, 2019, according to Whitmire.

Those elections in 42 of the state's 46 counties have seen no significant issues so far, he said.

"We've had a lot of time to train and develop our policies and procedures, and we have a lot of support that we can provide to the counties on election day and election night," Whitmire said.

S.C. Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson said in a statement that the voting machines will be tested at least three days before the primary, with most tested well before then. He said the paper trail will create "an additional layer of security that can be used to verify vote totals."

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"We have confidence in our voting system and the professionals who run the South Carolina Election Commission," Robertson said.

While presidential primaries are high-stakes, they also present one of the easiest types of statewide elections for South Carolina officials to administer. The ballots only contain one question, and turnout for a single-party primary are usually significantly lower than general elections in presidential years.

The highest turnout presidential primary day in recent years was 2008, when 23.7 percent of active registered voters participated in the Democratic primary and 19.8 percent participated in the Republican primary.

By contrast, the lowest turnout recent general election in a presidential year was 2016, with 67.9 percent  substantially higher than both 2008 primaries combined. General elections also feature far more offices on the ballot.

"With a mechanically simple election like this, we'd expect to have results finished on election night," Whitmire said.

After Iowa's debacle Monday, Charleston County Elections Commission Executive Director Joe Debney said they are continuing to follow their typical protocol in preparation for the South Carolina primary.

Between 500 and 600 poll workers have already signed up to help on Election Day, Debney said, a number that he is hoping to boost to 650. The workers are required to participate in a training class that takes about 2-and-a-half hours and then they will work from 6 a.m. on Election Day until the votes have been tabulated.

"It's very similar to everything that we've done in the past," Debney said. "It is a totally different way of counting votes than Iowa does."

Charleston County residents who are interested in becoming a paid poll worker can fill out an online form at vote.charlestoncounty.org, email electionworkers@charlestoncounty.org or call 843-744-8683.
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* Record high local prices dampens demand-dealers

* Jan imports fall to 36.26 T from 69.51 T yr ago-govt source

* Imports seen below 40 T in February- dealers (Adds dealers quote, background)

By Aftab Ahmed and Rajendra Jadhav

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Indias gold imports in January plunged 48% from a year earlier to their lowest in 4 months as a rally in local prices near record highs prompted buyers to curtail purchases, a government source said on Tuesday.

Lower buying by the worlds second biggest consumer of the precious metal could weigh on global prices trading near their highest level in almost seven years, but help New Delhi bring down the trade deficit and support the rupee.

India imported 36.26 tonnes of gold in January, compared with 69.51 tonnes a year earlier, the source said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak to media.

In value terms, January imports totalled $1.58 billion, down from last years $2.31 billion, he said.

Consumers are struggling to adjust with higher prices. They have risen too much, too fast, said a bullion division head of a private bank, adding Many potential customers are delaying purchases hoping prices will correct.

Gold futures in India hit a record high 41,293 rupees per 10 grams in January after rising nearly a quarter in 2019.

The weak demand forced dealers to offer as much $13 an ounce discount over official domestic prices in January, the highest in nearly three months. The domestic price includes a 12.5% import tax and 3% sales tax.

The demand is unlikely to revive in the short-term unless prices fall significantly from the current level, said Ashok Jain, proprietor of Mumbai-based gold wholesaler Chenaji Narsinghji.

Retail demand is muted. Even for weddings, people are cutting back on purchases, Jain said.

Weddings are one of the biggest drivers of gold purchases in India as bullion in the form of jewellery is a popular gift.

Indias gold consumption in 2019 fell 9% from the previous year to 690.4 tonnes, the lowest since 2016, the World Gold Council (WGC) said last week.

Indias gold imports could fall below 40 tonnes in February as prices are still elevated, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a gold importing bank, which would mark a drop from last years 77.64 tonnes. (Reporting by Aftab Ahmed and Rajendra Jadhav; editing by Jason Neely, William Maclean)
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XINING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Qinghai Province will soon publish a Tibetan version of the guidelines on novel coronavirus prevention, to help ethnic minorities in the province, Tibetans in particular, fight against the epidemic.

Published by the People's Medical Publishing House and compiled by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the book is expected to raise public awareness of the new virus in areas with poor medical and health care infrastructure, according to the provincial publicity department.

The book focuses on disease prevention, medical observation at home, medical treatment and psychological counseling for individuals and families. It will provide authoritative and professional knowledge for the minority groups to better protect themselves and dispel panic.

The free electronic version has been available on several online platforms since Sunday, which has received positive responses from viewers.

In the vast rural areas of the plateau province, officials, village volunteers and members of the Communist Party of China have already joined in the anti-virus campaign.

Twenty-four km away from the city of Xining, capital of Qinghai, Huangjiazhai Township, under the jurisdiction of the Hui-Tujia Autonomous County of Datong, has many migrant workers who returned to the town from across the country to celebrate the Spring Festival with their families.

"We have set up epidemic prevention stations covering the 20 villages in the town and carried out monitoring every day around the clock," said Li Wanzhi, Party secretary of Huangjiazhai Township.

Wen Shangbang and his wife, two doctors of Huangxi Village, have been working on the frontlines of virus prevention and control since the Spring Festival holiday.

"A total of 42 people returned to the village, most of whom are migrant workers and undergraduates. We focus on monitoring the physical condition of these returnees every day, and take their temperature four times a day. At present, these villagers are in a stable condition and report no fever cases," Wen said.

Residents of Gucheng Township, located in the city of Haidong, are mainly members of the Hui ethnic group, who typically organize many entertaining activities during the Spring Festival, such as acrobatics and performances.

This year, however, the local residents canceled the celebrations and are participating in the fight against the disease.

"During this special period, villagers cooperated very well with the government. So far, nine mosques and one Tibetan Buddhist temple in the town have been temporarily closed. Weddings and funerals have also been postponed or simplified due to the epidemic outbreak," said Che Guiping, an official of the town.

For herdsmen living scattered in the pastoral areas, the provincial government sends them epidemic prevention and control knowledge through social media platforms. In the Tibetan autonomous prefectures of Yushu and Golog, bilingual short videos on disease prevention and control, in Tibetan and Chinese, are popular with local herdsmen.

Cedain Chow, Party secretary of Zaduo County, Yushu, said government staff have been dispatched to interview students who study in Hubei Province, filed their information and taught local herders animal epidemic prevention knowledge.

Neighboring Tibet Autonomous Region reported the first confirmed case of novel coronavirus last week.

Relevant departments in the region have tightened anti-epidemic measures in local hospitals, airports and railway stations. The region has temporarily closed its scenic attractions to tourists starting from Jan. 27 to prevent gatherings of tourists and cross infections, according to the regional government.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Tibetan Buddhist community in Tibet jointly issued an initiative to suspend the opening of all temples and all religious activities.

On Jan. 31, the health commission of Tibet opened a consulting hotline to guide the public to understand the new virus so that they can deal with the epidemic rationally.

The hotline office has received more than 500 calls over the past four days, according to the regional health commission.

Ruan Shuiliang, head of the office, said she received a call from a tourist from the city of Wuhan, the center of the epidemic, who was crying for help and was worried about being infected.

"We provided her epidemiology knowledge and comforted her, then guided her to take quarantine measures," Ruan said, adding the tourist finally calmed down, and she later tested negative for the novel coronavirus.


LoC Pakistan on Tuesday violated the LoC ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district and Indian troops were returning the fire, the Indian Army said. According to an army statement, Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation, firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along LoC in Shahpur and Kirni sectors of Poonch. "Indian Army is retaliating befittingly," the statement added. A civilian was killed and four others injured in firing by Pakistan in the Tangdhar sector of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday night. According to reports, Pakistan resorted to indiscriminate shelling and firing on Indian defence positions and villages close to the Line of Control. Some of the shells landed in the residential areas in which one civilian was killed and the others were injured. Some houses were also damaged in the shelling. On February 2, there were multiple ceasefire violations by Pakistan in Tangdhar, Gurez, Balakot and Mendhar sectors in which one Indian soldier was injured.




Queen Elizabeth II attended a morning service at Sandringham donning a snowflake-shaped brooch.

It is reportedly an ode to Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan's decision to step down as senior members of the royal family to live a new life abroad in Canada, E!News reported.

The specific piece of jewelry was gifted to the queen in 2017 by her former Canadian Governor General, David Johnston.
Russia-occupation illegal armed groups violated the ceasefire regime in Donbas twelve times on February 3, two Ukrainian servicemen were wounded, the press center of the headquarters of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) has said.

"Yesterday, on February 3, one Ukrainian defender was wounded and another JFO serviceman was wounded in action as a result of enemy attacks," the JFO said on Facebook on Tuesday morning.

The enemy violated the ceasefire regime twelve times using 120mm and 82 mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns and small arms.

In the area of responsibility of the Skhid (East) task force, the enemy mounted eight attacks: four near Pavlopil using 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types and small arms, one near Opytne using anti-tank missile systems, two near Avdiyivka using tripod-mounted anti-tank grenade launchers and small arms, one near Pisky using hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher.

In the area of responsibility of the Pivnich (North) task force, the enemy mounted four attacks: two near Novotoshkivske using 120mm mortars, one near Orikhove using 120mm mortars, one near Novoluhanske using grenade launchers of various types and heavy machine guns.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Goel on Tuesday accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of misleading and instigating people to hold protest in Shaheen Bagh against the amended citizenship law.

"He mislead and instigated people to protest at Shaheen Bagh. He is not speaking in the interests of the country or about development," he said while speaking to ANI in New Delhi.

Goyal also slammed the Delhi Chief Minister for not doing enough for the development of the capital saying, "Kejriwal has made Delhi into a slum."

The BJP leader also exuded confidence that his party will win the upcoming Assembly polls with "full majority."

Election to the 70-member Assembly in Delhi will be held on February 8, while the results will be declared on February 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The coverage on this live blog has ended. For up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's U.S. team. All times below are in Beijing time.

8:05pm: Chinese aviation officials urge airlines to continue flights to non-restricted countries

The Civil Aviation Administration of China told domestic airlines that when they cancel a portion of flights in consideration of market demand, they need to ensure they continue to operate to countries where flights are allowed (other than when the other country has placed restrictions). That's according to an online post from the administration's official news service midday Tuesday.

7:20 pm: Fatality rate 'should gradually decline' - Chinese health officials

"I'm confident that it won't require that long of a time period before the effects [of our efforts] will be evident, and Wuhan's case-fatality rate should gradually decline," Jiao Yahui, deputy director of the medical affairs and hospital administration of the National Health Commission, said Tuesday at a daily press conference in Mandarin, according to a CNBC translation. Jiao pointed out that 74% of coronavirus deaths, or 313, are in the city of Wuhan, where there is a case-fatality rate of 4.9%. That's primarily due to lack of hospital beds in the early days of the virus' spread, she said. At that time, she said there were only three designated hospitals with 110 beds for the critically ill. As a result, the other critically ill patients were dispersed to more than 20 other medical institutions, Jiao said. Now, she said, the city has brought in more professional, national-level health care management, and are trying to improve rotation of medical staff to avoid fatigue. The NHC also revealed Tuesday that of those who have died of the virus, males account for two-thirds and females one-third. Over 80% of the fatalities are over 60 years of age while more than 75% had at least one underlying illness. The fatality rate within China outside of Hubei province is 0.16%.

6:40 pm: Macao closes casinos for two weeks

The semi-autonomous Chinese territory of Macao, the world's biggest gambling hub, has asked all casino operators to suspend operations for two weeks in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

6:20 pm: Singapore confirms six more coronavirus cases, including first local transmission

Singapore's health ministry has confirmed six more coronavirus cases, including four Singaporean nationals with no recent travel history to China. The Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a briefing that there was no evidence yet of widespread transmission in Singapore, according to Reuters, but there have now been 24 confirmed cases.

5:50 pm: Cathay Pacific cuts global capacity by 30% due to outbreak

Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific plans to cut 30% of its global capacity, including 90% to mainland China, owing to the sharp fall in demand caused by the virus outbreak. In a statement on Tuesday, the airline announced that it had seen a "significant drop in market demand" for flights. "These reductions are temporary for now and are driven by the commercial and operational realities at the current time, as well as projections in short-term demand," Cathay Pacific said in the announcement, adding that its current financial position "remains strong."

5:30 pm: Hubei province investigates three local Red Cross leaders

Hubei province's Commission for Discipline Inspection said Tuesday on its website that it removed party member Zhang Qin from the position of full-time deputy chair of the provincial Red Cross, according to a CNBC translation of the Chinese text. The online statement also said Chen Bo, local Red Cross Party member, and Gao Qin, vice chair and party secretary of the local Red Cross, received warnings and penalties to a lesser degree. The Red Cross did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. The charity has come under strong criticism in China for widespread reports of mismanagement of donations.

5:15 pm: Thailand confirms six new cases, including four Thai nationals

Thailand's health ministry has confirmed six new cases of coronavirus, including four Thai nationals. These included a couple who had visited Japan and two drivers who had picked up Chinese passengers in Thailand, the health ministry said. The total confirmed cases in Thailand now sits at 25.

3:41 pm: Hyundai Motor to suspend production lines in South Korea

The automaker said in a statement it decided to suspend production assembly lines from operating at all of its plants in the country due to disruptions in the supply of parts from China, where many factories are shuttered due to the coronavirus outbreak. The suspensions will start from Feb. 7 but some productions lines are expected to resume Feb. 11 or Feb. 12, Reuters reported, citing a union official. Hyundai said schedules for suspension will vary by production line and that it is reviewing ways to minimize the disruption to its operations, including seeking alternative suppliers in the region.

3:30 pm: Chinese shares closed higher

Chinese stocks held onto Tuesday's partial recovery at the open and finished the trading day in positive territory, following Monday's sell-off. The Shanghai composite rose 1.34% to around 2,783.29 while the Shenzhen component gained 3.17% to 10,089.67. Other major Asia Pacific markets also rose while European markets were predicted to open higher.

2:58 pm: Beijing city delays school reopening

In its bid to control the virus outbreak, the Beijing Municipal Government said in an online statement Tuesday that rather than reopening on Feb. 17, as planned, middle and elementary schools in the city will delay the start of the spring semester. Teachers have recorded classes for students to learn from online, the statement said. The announcement also noted that the education ministry would like to make it clear that postponing the opening of schools is an extension of the holiday, and schools are not to organize new classes, or any kind of in-person activities.

2:49 pm: Taiwan to implement entry restrictions and visa control measures starting Feb. 7

Taiwan's foreign affairs ministry said starting Feb. 7, foreign nationals who have travel history in mainland China in the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter Taiwan. The restriction also applies to those who are eligible for visa-free treatment as well as those carrying valid visas. On Monday, China told the World Health Organization that channels of communication with Taiwan had been "unblocked," with Beijing sharing full information on the coronavirus with authorities across the Strait. Taiwan said it has 10 confirmed cases, which are all in stable condition. China considers self-governing Taiwan a wayward province to be brought under its control.

1:11 pm: Singapore Airshow says event will proceed as planned

Organizers of the biennial Singapore Airshow said the event will proceed as planned from Feb. 11 to Feb. 16, but a related summit involving 300 aviation leaders, including government officials, airline executives, and civil aviation authorities, will not take place. More precautionary measures such as additional temperature screening at the venues will be implemented to safeguard the well-being of attendees, the organizers said. Singapore's recent travel restrictions and company policies on employee travel bans are expected to reduce the number of exhibitors and visitors  ten exhibitors from China have confirmed they will not participate in the Singapore Airshow, according to the organizers.

12:18 pm: Japan screens quarantined cruise ship passengers for coronavirus

Japan began screening 3,700 quarantined passengers and crew on board a Carnival Corp's Princess Cruises ship for the new coronavirus, local media reported. The ship was held after a previous guest, who didn't have any symptoms while onboard, tested positive for the deadly virus on Saturday, six days after disembarking. Japan said it would step up the scope and criteria for testing people after initial screenings for some failed to initially detect the infection, Reuters reported. Correction: The post has been updated to reflect the correct timing of the entry.

11:30 am: Hong Kong confirms 39-year-old man died

Hong Kong's Hospital Authority told CNBC that a 39-year-old man died Tuesday morning in the city's first death related to the coronavirus outbreak. Details of the case are set to be announced at a briefing held by the Department of Health and Hospital Authority at 4:30 p.m. local time. This would be the second known death outside of mainland China. On Sunday, officials said a man from Wuhan died in a hospital in Manila, Philippines.

10:59 am: Walmart is cutting rents and fees for its stores in China

Walmart said it is cutting rents and management fees in half for business tenants in community stores and Sam's Club, a membership-based line of stores selling goods in bulk at wholesale prices, from Jan. 25 to Feb. 8. The company, which has more than 400 retail locations throughout the country, said last week it donated 1 million yuan to provide medical supplies and increased support to Hubei province.

10:48 am: Former US FDA commissioner says coronavirus will likely become a pandemic

The outbreak has already been declared an epidemic in China. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, told CNBC it "likely will" become a pandemic at this point. The World Health Organization describes a pandemic as the worldwide spread of a new disease.

10 am: Chinese stocks turn positive after Monday's hammering

After plunging more than 7% on Monday, Chinese shares turned positive in the first half-hour of trade on Tuesday. The Shanghai composite index rose around 0.65% and the Shenzhen component jumped 1.82%  investor sentiment across the region appeared to have improved somewhat as other major indexes also posted gains. Ratings agency Moody's said the coronavirus outbreak would hurt China by lowering discretionary consumer spending on transport, retail, tourism, and entertainment. But, the government has the financial means to absorb the economic shock, according to the firm.

9:39 am: New Wuhan hospital begins accepting patients

Wuhan's new Huoshenshan hospital began accepting patients as of 9 a.m. on Tuesday, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Construction began for two new emergency hospitals aimed at combating the coronavirus outbreak in the city just over a week ago, with crews working around the clock to complete the facilities. The Huoshenshan hospital is said to have 1,000 beds, while the second facility would have 1,500 beds, the Associated Press reported.

9:11 am: Uber, Lyft riders of Asian descent reporting discrimination in the US

Riders told CNBC their drivers are refusing rides from people with Asian sounding names. A Facebook group with more than 12,000 Lyft and Uber drivers had many of its members say they did not want to pick up riders of Asian descent and that it was unsafe to do so. A CNBC search found dozens of tweets involving both riders and divers reluctant to share a car with a person of Asian appearance.

8:59 am: China says it hopes US will provide assistance to battle the outbreak

7:55 am: China confirms 64 additional deaths and 3,235 new cases

China's National Health Commission said there were an additional 64 deaths and 3,235 new confirmed cases. It said all of the additional deaths were in Hubei, where Wuhan is located. That brings the country's total to 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed cases, the government said.

6:43 am: China's Hubei province confirms additional 64 deaths and 2,345 cases

The Hubei Provincial Health Committee confirmed an additional 64 deaths and 2,345 cases through the end of Monday. It confirmed that total cases have risen to 13,522 as the death toll in the province hits 414. The province's capital, Wuhan, is considered the epicenter of the outbreak. Although other countries have reported their own cases, the vast majority are still located in China.

All times below are in Eastern time.

5 pm: Washington State patient has been treated and discharged

The coronavirus patient in Washington State has been treated and discharged from Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington, a spokeswoman from the Snohomish County Health District said. The patient is recovering in isolation at home, the spokeswoman said. "I am at home and continuing to get better," the patient, whose identity remains unknown, said in a statement. "I appreciate all of the concern expressed by members of the public, and I look forward to returning to my normal life."

4:43 pm: Goldman Sachs cancels annual partners meeting

Goldman Sachs canceled its annual partners meeting scheduled for this week because travel restrictions resulting from the coronavirus outbreak prevented some Asia-based employees from making it to the bank's New York headquarters, according to two people familiar with the plans. Chief Executive Officer David Solomon will instead host a townhall meeting for about 250 of the partners able to attend in New York, one of the people said.

4:38 pm: Prepping quarantine facilities for travelers from Hubei
Online car insurance quotes will help drivers find the best insurance deal possible. All they have to do is to provide accurate info about the car and the driving history, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Drivers that compare free car insurance quotes should check all the available coverage deals in their areas. Policyholders can find the best insurance deal just by visiting a single brokerage website.

Drivers that want cheap car insurance should consider the following:



Different car insurance companies have their own rules regarding clients' ratings and costs. Some insurance companies will use price optimization to slowly increase the premiums paid by their customers. This means, that an offer that was considered the best several years ago, will no longer be so advantageous compared with offers made today by other insurance companies.

Online insurance quotes will help drivers find better deals. Drivers only need to obtain several car insurance quotes and compare them. Every policyholder can easily find affordable coverage if he reviews several online car insurance quotes. Drivers are recommended to check the insurance market every six months.

Use brokerage websites. After completing the online questionnaire with correct and accurate info, the insurance offers will be displayed in several minutes. The main advantage of brokerage websites is the fact that it allows its users to obtain multiple quotes from multiple insurance companies. This will allow drivers to quickly find a policy that suits them.

For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.
A new type of heroin is leading one Louisiana sheriff's office to send a message to residents about how dangerous it is --- 10,000 times more potent than morphine, officials said.

Officials with the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office in southwest Louisiana issued the warning last week after making arrests in connection to the new drug.
Formula 1 teams are set to discuss how to handle the deepening coronavirus crisis.

As the epidemic's death toll rises to 425 and the number of cases to above 20,000, we reported on Monday that delaying April's Shanghai race is on the table.

But Russia has played down the possibility of swapping places with China.

"The date for the grand prix was approved by the FIA last October and remains unchanged," Sochi race promoter Alexey Titov told Tass news agency.

The Chinese GP is not the only problem. Vietnam is also set to host its first grand prix in April.

"We understand the concerns but we have not heard anything officially," the Hanoi race's CEO Le Ngoc Chi said. "We are ready with our race date."

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says the coronavirus situation will be discussed by the teams, Liberty Media and the FIA at a strategy group meeting on Wednesday.

"We are keeping a close eye on the situation and will do all the due diligence about possibly delaying, postponing or cancelling," he said.

"But right now we couldn't go because we couldn't get there," Horner smiled, referring to the highly restricted air travel into and out of China.

(GMM)
Napa Valley College (NVC) Performing Arts and This Is My Brave (TIMB) present This Is My Brave as part of the NVC Emergence Festival at 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 8 at the college.

A second performance will be at 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 9 at the St. Helena Performing Arts Center, 465 Main St.

Both productions will feature local youth ages 14-24 who live with mental health challenges or substance use disorders, telling their stories through spoken word, poetry, music, dance and more.

The cast includes the first band to ever perform on the stage for This Is My Brave. The four-member band from Napa High School will perform an original song about anxiety. Chris Marks, a graduate of Chapman University with a BFA in dance performance, will perform an original dance piece about navigating his journey with depression and sharing that those who suffer from mental health challenges arent alone. Emily Long, a sophomore from American Canyon, will share a poem that reflects on her coming to terms with her mental illness and how far she has come in accepting and loving herself.

This Is My Brave was first produced in Napa Valley as a Leadership Napa Valley community project in 2017. Three groups are producing the 2020 show: This Is My Brave, Inc., the national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the stigma surrounding mental illness through storytelling; Napa Valley College Performing Arts Emergence Festival, an annual festival of original works by NVC students, faculty and staff; and the original producers of the show from Leadership Napa Valley.

"I am overjoyed that Napa Valley College Performing Arts is partnering with This Is My Brave, said Jennifer King, artistic director at Napa Valley College Performing Arts Center. We have been programming the Emergence Festival at NVC for the past two years, and this seemed like the perfect centerpiece for the 2020 festival. Im especially excited that our Napa Valley College students are participating both behind the scenes and on stage. Personally, I am inspired to be working as one of the producers for this show.

One in six American youth between the ages of 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, yet the topic continues to carry shame. This Is My Brave aims to end this stigma and silence by celebrating the stories of teens and young adults living successful lives with mental health and substance use challenges. Since its first show in 2014 in Arlington, VA, This Is My Brave: The Show has featured more than 800 people sharing their stories in 67 performances across the United States and Australia.

We are excited to return to the Napa Valley with this new focus, said Jennifer Marshall, TIMB executive director and co-founder. For six years, This Is My Brave has been shining a light on mental illness and the brave people who live and thrive with it all across the U.S. We recently launched high school and college programs, and I am so pleased to extend these efforts to the West Coast to help young people talk openly about mental health issues.

This Is My Brave" is presented by Napa Valley College Performing Arts with generous support from Adventist Health St. Helena, St. Joseph Health Queen of the Valley, Arts Council Napa Valley, American Medical Response, the Staglin Family and the St. Helena Performing Arts Center.

Tickets are $20 general admission; $10 students. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit performingartsnapavalley.org/brave. Due to some mature content and strong language, parental guidance is advised for children younger than 13.
Cote dIvoire announced on Wednesday its decision to open a Consulate General in Laayoune, capital of the Moroccan Sahara, to bring closer the consular services to Ivorian nationals living in this region of the Kingdom.

The Council of Ministers, which convened Wednesday in Abidjan, adopted a decree setting up a Consulate General of the Republic of Cote dIvoire in Laayoune, Morocco, said spokesman for the Ivorian Govt Sidi Tiemoko Toure.

The move aims to bring the consular administration closer to Ivorian nationals living in southern Morocco and to strengthen their consular protection, he added at a press briefing.

This bold decision that will certainly irk the Polisario Front leaders who, with the support of the Algerian government, are demanding a self-determination referendum in Western Sahara, while Morocco affirms that it is an integral part of its national territory and proposes a solution to this conflict, a broad autonomy under its sovereignty.

The Polisario leadership and the Algerian regime are already furious as they were taken by surprise when other African countries have already opened, since last December, consulates general in Laayoune or Dakhla. These countries are the Union of the Comoros Islands, Gambia, Guinea, Gabon, Central Africa Republic and the Republic of Sao Tome and Principe.

The opening of African consular representations in the Moroccan Sahara is a real slap in the face not only to the Polisario but also to Algeria, which spares no efforts to undermine the political settlement of this regional conflict as its Moroccan neighbor endeavors.

The move made by these African countries is also a clear recognition of the Moroccanness of Sahara, by turning words into concrete deeds.
To the Editor:

Re Tensions in Iowa Over Long Delays in Caucus Tallies (front page, Feb. 4):

The Iowa Democratic Party tried something new Monday night. Instead of simply giving the world one winner, the party wanted all of us to know who was the caucusgoers first pick, their second pick and, ultimately, the candidate who received the most delegates.

That process failed. Was it frustrating? Yes. Was it exhausting? Yes. Was it expensive? Yes. Are people angry? Of course. The new process failed. Is it the end of the world? Not at all.

It was human error. And after the years of lies from President Trump, admitting honest human mistakes is almost a breath of fresh air. No one is trying to cover it up, or make up some lie or give some pathetic line.

Take a deep breath and be reminded of the words of the humorist Will Rogers: I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.
I want us all to start the work day with great news. Armenias Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan wrote this on Facebook.

"We have recently received the decision of the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)," he added. I am glad to inform you that Yerevan has been selected the venue holding the EBRD 2021 annual meeting.

The [EBRD] annual meeting is the most important event of the Bank. That is, in Spring 2021, Armenia will be in the spotlight of 69 EBRD member countries as well as other guests. This is an important achievement and a worthy assessment given to the progress Armenia recorded in both the political and economic spheres.

And from this very moment we are starting working to hold the event at the highest level."
Few suitable locations for a long-awaited police station and evidence archive in northwest Winnipeg have forced the city back to the drawing board.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Few suitable locations for a long-awaited police station and evidence archive in northwest Winnipeg have forced the city back to the drawing board.

The City of Winnipeg property, planning and development department is reconsidering its plan to build the proposed North District station and archive facility on the same property, according to a quarterly update headed to the standing policy committee on finance.

Some properties offered up during a request for proposal process last year would restrict Winnipeg Police Service operations, the report suggests. The department is now looking at other options for housing the evidence archives, including a new facility on civic land or leasing commercial property.

The city did not accommodate a request for an interview Monday. In an email, a spokesman said it could not share how many bids were received or how many properties were shortlisted.

The project is now four years behind schedule, with construction of the new station expected to commence in 2022 and an opening date tentatively set for early 2023, according to the report. The approved budget of $23.3 million has also been surpassed with the current price tag sitting at $37.6 million.

Coun. Kevin Klein, chairman of the Winnipeg Police Board, said the latest setback is not surprising.

"It seems to be the never-ending saga of the north end police station," Klein said. "Theres growing concerns that are not being addressed, and now the saga continues."

As part of the move to a four-district model more than a decade ago, three new WPS stations were built in the east, west and south. The north district facility is the last outstanding to be built.

It will replace the Hartford Avenue station, which isnt located to handle growth in the northwest communities and doesnt meet contemporary policing needs, according to the city.

Money was set aside three years ago to build the new station on the Old Exhibition Grounds, a 44-acre, city-owned site in the Dufferin neighbourhood. Public opposition forced city council to abandon that plan and ask the public service to issue a request for proposal.

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The city was seeking a plot of land between 4.5 and eight acres in size within the northwest police district, and had a number of requirements for zoning, location and transportation infrastructure. The requests for proposal closed in January 2019; the contract has yet to be awarded.

The WPS is also in need of a new facility to house its evidence collection. Its expected the current archive will surpass its capacity by the end of the year.

The department has identified potential commercial properties for an interim and long-term evidence storage and is developing an implementation study and cost evaluation, the report states.

"I would hope that they would have a discussion about looking at city-owned facilities before looking at third-party facilities, because I dont know why wed add that expense to the taxpayer while certain buildings sit empty," Klein said.

The public service is expected to report back to council in April.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
Morgans initial sense of the look that Ailes created was straightforward: Its just overdone, she says. But she soon came to believe that there was something more disturbing at work. When you go down the rabbit hole, you see the sexuality thats placed on them, she says of the women she was helping to depict. And we take it for granted that that was normal, that thats not a big deal. (Carlson and Kelly did not respond to requests for comment. Fox News has said that the network has changed since Ailess departure and the work environment depicted in the film doesnt reflect its current one.)
Mark Lennihan / Associated Press

NEW YORK  A key accuser in the New York City rape trial of Harvey Weinstein broke down in tears on the witness stand on Monday during an exhaustive cross-examination over the nature of her relationship with the once-powerful movie mogul.

The drama, which prompted the judge to send the jury home about an hour earlier than usual, came after the defense sought to paint the 34-year-old woman as an opportunistic manipulator who took advantage of Weinstein while pursuing an acting career, even after he allegedly raped her. The woman said she tried to make him my pseudo father after a rough upbringing.

The government will not compromise the interest of patients while handing over district to private medical colleges through public-private partnership (PPP) mode, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Such experiments have successfully been implemented in the last 25 years and even government think-tank Niti Aayog has taken note of this and come out with draft guidelines, he said during the Question Hour.

The Minister asserted that the step is permitted under Sector 2(5) of the Medical Council of India (MCI) Act 1999 and made it clear that it is not being done to promote the private sector.

Responding to a supplementary query, the Health Minister said: "We will offer district hospitals to the private sector without compromising the interest of patients."



A private sector can have medical colleges but cannot have hospitals with patients. The government has many district hospitals with patients. The private sector has money to run the hospitals, he said.

After seeing the successful cases, the Niti Aayog also deliberated on the issue and has come out with draft norms and plans to link existing private medial colleges with functional district hospitals through the viability gap funding which was announced in the Budget 2020-21 for aspirational districts, he added.

The Minister also disagreed with CPI member's view that the entry of private sector in medical education was eroding the quality of education.

"Some of the best medical colleges in the country are of international repute and providing better services," he added.

The government said the Clause 2(5) of the MCIs Establishment of Medical College Regulations, 1999, prescribes that the appropriate government may allow utilisation of facilities of a hospital owned and managed by it for establishing a medical college by a person/agency /trust/society/company by entering into a Memorandum of Understanding for this purpose.

The Minister said that the hospital to be transferred would be of minimum 300 beds with necessary infrastructural facilities capable of being developed into teaching institution for the proposed medical college.

Responding to a separate query on dialysis for poor patients, the Health Minister said dialysis services are provided at district hospitals for management of chronic kidney diseases under the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme (PMNDP).

Dialysis services under PMNDP are provided free of cost to Below Poverty Line (BPL) patients. In Andhra Pradesh, the programme has been implemented in all 13 districts with 35 centres, he said.

As per central government norms, there is no provision of pension for BPL dialysis patients. However, Andhra Pradesh government has informed that the state government is paying monthly pension of Rs 10,000 to BPL dialysis patients, he added.
Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu and German ambassador to Romania Cord Meier-Klodt discussed on Tuesday the situation of the German minority in Romania and the developed and complex ties between the two countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a release.

The Romanian chief diplomat highlighted the special significance Romania attaches to the relationship with Germany and the strategic character of the bilateral relationship. In this context, the two officials discussed a series of preparatory aspects related to the Romanian Foreign Minister's upcoming bilateral visit to Berlin occasioned by the celebration, in February 2020, of 140 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations.As regards the German minority in Romania and the Romanian citizens who reside in Germany, the two officials reaffirmed that they represent "a solid connecting bridge between the two states and stand in the focus of attention of both the Romanian and German authorities; the sides also mentioned the important role of the relevant bilateral joint commission," the release said.The agenda of the talks also included topical issues on the European agenda, in the light of Germany's holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of this year, as well as regional and international themes, with Minister Aurescu expressing Romania's interest in deepening the dialogue with Germany, against the backdrop of multiple common challenges.The exchange of views of the two officials brought to the fore the similarity of opinions on developments in the Republic of Moldova and the importance of implementing the obligations committed to in the relations with the European Union for the continuation of this country's European course.Bogdan Aurescu also brought into discussion Romania's goal of joining the Schengen Area, mentioning that all the necessary criteria have been met and underlining Romania's important contribution to EU security.The Romanian minister also expressed thanks on the part of Romania for the support offered for the repatriation of a Romanian citizen on a flight organised by Germany on February 1 out of the Chinese areas affected by the coronavirus epidemic.

AGERPRES
The journalists found the pensioner and her dog - a 14-year-old blind mongrel called Sharik and Lyubov Kolyucha had no plans to sell him

Mrs Lyubov Kolyucha has no plans to sell her 14-year-old blind mongrel called Sharik bbc.com/VALERIY LEBID

The shaggy dog story on air of 112 Ukraine TV Channel not only causes outcry in Ukraine but also hits the trends on the English-language segment of the Internet.

Answering the question of a pensioner Lyubov Kolyucha, 66 years old, from the Kirovograd region regarding how to live on a pension of 2 000 UAH (80 USD) and at the same time pay utility bills, Yevhen Brahar suggested she should sell the dog if she has any.

Living in these conditions is difficult, but we still do not know if she has any other property. [...] If there is a dog of the elite breed, then she can sell it at any time and easily pay, the MP said.

Mrs Lyubov Kolyucha has no plans to sell her 14-year-old blind mongrel called Sharik bbc.com/VALERIY LEBID

Mr Brahar, 25, of the ruling Servant of the People party, later apologised on his Facebook page, saying he was a "novice in politics".

On Sunday, BBC News Ukraine journalist Anastasiya Dzubak visited Mrs Kolyucha in her small town.

As BBC revealed the dog is a 14-year-old blind mongrel called Sharik and Lyubov Kolyucha had no plans to sell him.

Mrs Lyubov Kolyucha has no plans to sell her 14-year-old blind mongrel called Sharik bbc.com/VALERIY LEBID

Responding to Mr Brahar's response to her complaint about her small pension, she believed he had embarrassed himself.

"I would tell him to sell his brain! One has to think first who, where and what to say," she said.

As we reported, from January 1, 2020, the minimum pension in Ukraine is 1638 UAH (65,5 USD), from July 1 it will increase to 1712 UAH (68,4 USD), from December 1 - up to 1769 UAH (70,7 USD).

Pension Fund of Ukraine has published data on the number of retirees and average pensions as of January 1, 2020.

According to the Pension Fund, as of January 1, there were 11,3 million pensioners in Ukraine, and the average pension was 127 dollars.

Gas prices for the people of Ukraine have increased 10 times since 2014, while four out of five retired Ukrainians receive a pension of less than 3,000 hryvnias ($119; 92) per month.
Boris Johnson once admitted he does not really understand climate change, the former president of the upcoming UN climate summit in Glasgow has claimed.

Claire ONeill, a former Tory minister, was sacked from her job on Friday of running the COP26 summit due to be held in November.

She is expected to be replaced with a serving minister at the imminent cabinet reshuffle.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Tuesday morning, ONeill hit out at Johnson and said anyone given a promise by him should make sure the money is in the bank before agreeing.

The prime minister has made incredibly warm statements about this over the years, she said of his approach to tackling climate change.

He has also admitted to me that he doesnt really understand it. He doesnt really get it, I think is what he said.

Johnson told school children at the Science Museum this morning he wanted people to focus on reducing carbon dioxide emissions, which, as I understand it, is swaddling the planet like a tea cosy, he said.

Asked if Johnson understood climate change, the prime ministers official spokesman said: You can see his speech today.

He has positioned the UK as a world leader on tackling climate change with the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth.

The PM today refused to answer questions over why he fired ONeill from her post.

The prime minister has today outlined new measures, including a ban on sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles being brought forward to 2035.

But ONeill slammed the governments progress. We have seen a huge lack of leadership and engagement, she said.

Our efforts right now are somewhere around the middle of League One. We are playing at Oxford United levels when we need to be Liverpool if we are going to do what the world actually needs us to do.

Of Johnson, she added: My advice to anybody to whom Boris is making promises  whether it is voters, world leaders,...

Continue reading on HuffPost
Storytelling is the key to achieving that connection, he said. Each volunteer is expected to tell voters a story about a person he or she loves  and listen to the voter tell a similar story. In a role-playing exercise, Mr. Barbanel-Fried talked about his 93-year-old father, who read history books to him when he was young. He really taught me that history doesnt just happen and isnt just a random series of dates you have to memorize, but that theyre a series of choices that people make, he said. This year, when I vote, Im thinking about my father.

After the volunteers divided into subgroups to practice their own stories, each was given a two-page script. Canvassers were to begin by asking voters what they would say to President Trump if given the opportunity. Then, after acknowledging that they usually vote Democratic, they were to ask voters to rate their likely voting preference on a scale of zero (for unwaveringly Republican) to 10 (steadfastly Democratic).

Then came the personal story. Try to use the word LOVE, the script advised. After the voter told his or her own story, the canvasser was to note how the voters values seemed to conflict with those of the president, who, they would say, appeals to the worst human tendencies. At the end, the canvasser was to ask the voter to again rate her or his preference on the zero to 10 scale.

Some volunteers said they thought that talking about love was corny or too personal. Mr. Barbanel-Fried insisted that it was critical to connecting. There is a group of Trump loyalists whose votes cant be affected, he said, but there are people whose values we share, and were trying to show them that theres a cognitive dissonance in their lives between their love of people and their support for Mr. Trump. We need to lead with love, not hate. He ended by encouraging people to sign up for the December canvass in Bucks County.

Each of the 30 people, including some local residents, who did show up was given a list of people from across the political spectrum with spotty voting histories. I accompanied Cindi Sternfeld, a 58-year-old psychotherapist living in nearby Lambertville, N.J. She told me that she had been canvassing since she was 18 and had found deep canvassing more effective than the traditional kind. I like canvassing that advances the discussion, she said. Being angry is not the answer because it pushes people away.

At her designated neighborhood, she found stately three- and four-bedroom homes on spacious lots. After a string of unopened doors, Ms. Sternfeld spotted one of her target voters standing in his driveway, preparing to put up Christmas lights with his daughter. Tall and lanky, with closely-cropped hair, James genially returned our greeting.

Im usually Republican, but I go by the candidate, he said. In the last presidential election he wanted change, and Mr. Trump seemed more likely to deliver it. He said he had a Trump sign in his garage. A neighbor had a sign saying, Hate Has No Home Here. James asked his neighbor if she hated Mr. Trump, and she said yes. Then why do you have that sign? he asked. Because of such encounters, James said, he would rate himself a two or three on the zero to 10 scale.
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The death toll in China's coronavirus rose sharply to 425 with 64 deaths on Monday alone while 3,235 new confirmed cases were reported, taking the number of those infected with the deadly disease to 20,438, Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday.

IMAGE: A Chinese woman wears a protective mask as she rides in a nearly empty subway car during the evening rush hour in Beijing, China. China continued to lock down the city of Wuhan in an effort to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease which medical experts have confirmed can be passed from human to human. In an unprecedented move, Chinese authorities have put travel restrictions on the city which is the epicentre of the virus and neighbouring municipalities, affecting tens of millions of people. The World Health Organization has warned all governments to be on alert and screening has been stepped up at airports around the world. Photograph: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

The 64 people who died on Monday were all from the Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus, China's National Health Commission said.

Also, 3,235 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection were reported, a big increase in a day.

Another 5,072 new suspected cases were reported on Monday, said the commission, adding that 492 patients became seriously ill.

The commission said that 2,788 patients remained in severe condition and 23,214 people were suspected of being infected with the virus, a pointer that it is increasingly turning virulent.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 20,438 by the end of Monday, the commission said, noting that a total of 425 people had died of the disease.

A total of 632 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

As the virus spreads from human to human, 221,015 close contacts had been traced, with 171,329 others still under medical observation.

By the end of Monday, 15 confirmed cases had been reported in Hong Kong, eight in the Macao and 10 in Taiwan.

The Philippines reported the first overseas death from the virus on Sunday while 148 cases have been reported from abroad.

India has reported three cases of the coronavirus. All the three patients from Kerala recently returned from the affected Wuhan city.

Currently, 647 Indians and seven Maldivians who have been evacuated from Wuhan and Hubei are in 14-day quarantine at a medical camp in Manesar, near Delhi.

As the virus continued to spread at an alarming rate, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday warned officials of punishment if they shirked responsibility in tackling the virus outbreak.

On Monday, China has opened a 1,000-bed hospital built in record nine days in Wuhan city and started trials for new drug to contain the virus and is set to open another 1,300 bed hospital next to it on Wednesday.

The ruling Communist Party of China on Monday held its political bureau meeting presided by President Xi to review the steps being taken on various fronts to halt the spread of the deadly virus.

The outcome of the epidemic prevention and control directly affects people's lives and health, the overall economic and social stability and the country's opening-up, Xi said.

"Those who disobey the unified command or shirk off responsibilities will be punished," Xi was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Xi said that the party and government leaders supervising them would also be held accountable in severe cases.

Chinese armament firms, including those building aircraft carrier and military aircraft, have postponed planned work in order to concentrate on controlling the risk of coronavirus, state-run Global Times reported.

Noted Chinese health expert Zhong Nanshan has said that based on the fresh evidence, the novel coronavirus, which is spreading rapidly in China and the world, may reach its peak in the next 10 to 14 days, contrary to earlier estimates of climaxing sooner.

This means that the cases would drastically increase in the next two weeks before slowing down.

Also, China has begun clinical trials to test a drug to treat the patients of the coronavirus which till now has no cure.

Currently, patients are being treated with a combination of antivirals and other measures, as scientists race to find a vaccine.

Some reports said drugs to treat HIV too was being tried to treat the patients.

The experimental antiviral drug, Remdesivir, to be tested in field trials is developed by US-based Gilead Sciences. It is aimed at treating infectious diseases such as Ebola and SARS, South China Morning Post reported.

It was given to the first US patient last week - a 35-year-old man whose condition appeared to improve within a day, it said.
Deepak Nitrite rose 1.71% to Rs 416.3 after the chemical manufacturer announced decent Q3 2019 numbers after market hours yesterday.

The stock hit an intraday high of Rs 423.85 in morning trade, which is also a record high for the counter.

Deepak Nitrite's consolidated net profit jumped 294.7% to Rs 156.71 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Rs 39.74 crore reported in Q3 December 2018. Net sales advanced 46.1% to Rs 1119.86 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

Year on Year (YoY) numbers are not comparable due to the addition of Phenol Segment starting Q4FY19.

On a standalone basis, net profit jumped 348.7% to Rs 141.88 crore in Q3 2019 over Q3 2018. Net sales rose 29.3% to Rs 584.91 crore on YoY basis.

Balanced growth across basic chemicals, fine & speciality chemicals and performance products segment resulted in robust topline performance during the quarter. Overall, topline was also supported by encouraging demand scenario of company's products in the export markets.

EBITDA grew by 200% in Q3 FY20 to Rs 215 crore, as against Rs 72 crore in the same period last year. Robust EBITDA performance was a result of operating leverage from higher volumes, realisation gains across most products and management efforts to optimise production schedules as well as focus on high-value high-margin products.

Deepak Phenolics (DPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deepak Nitrite, operates a Global Scale Plant to manufacture Phenol & Acetone, with a capacity of 200,000 MTPA and 120,000 MTPA respectively. This is supported by capacity to manufacture 260,000 MT of Cumene for captive consumption.

DPL registered revenue growth of 24% to Rs 550 crore in Q3 FY20, with EBITDA of Rs 58 crore and has delivered its maiden profitable quarter with PAT of Rs 15 crore. Despite the challenges in the Phenol and Acetone market globally and slowing economic growth in the domestic market, the company has beenable to increase sales volumes to sustain its leadership position in the domestic market. The capacity utilisation continued to remain high, at over 100%.

Commenting on the performance, Deepak C. Mehta, chairman & managing director, said, "Our profitability increased manifold with PBT and PAT increasing by 298% and 349% respectively. We have capitalised on growth opportunities across global markets by demonstrating agility and nimbleness throughout our operations. We have exercised tight controls over production and inventories, constantly monitored global industry developments, taken appropriate actions while closely engaging with customers, all of which has helped us to optimise our performance. Deepak Phenolics, which was established, last year, performed extremely well in terms of volumes. However, as a commodity product, it is susceptible to the global cycle of slowing economic growth and impact of input prices which have suppressed the margins. It is hoped that the commodity cycle will improve in the latter half of the next fiscal."

The company has a positive outlook and said it is well placed to address the opportunities emerging across the chemicals industry landscape on the back of its diversified product portfolio across key product categories. Global customers are also seeking to establish operations in alternate markets other than China for which India is better placed. Furthermore, the company in filing said that uncertainties caused by the corona virus are exacerbating the concerns around China. This is a tailwind for the speciality chemical industry and the company is well placed to continue to build upon its success in recent years. The firm is secure on the raw materials front, since it sources most of its raw materials locally and has a well-integrated facility. It has also undertaken positions to ensure that supply of imported raw materials are covered for the current quarter causing no disturbance to operationsas a result of the developments in China.

Deepak Nitrite offers sodium nitrite, 2 ethyl hexyl nitrate and optical brightening agent (OBA). The firm's segments include bulk chemicals and commodities (BCC), fine and speciality chemicals (FSC), and fluorescent whitening agent (FWA). The BCC segment offers nitro tolunes, fuel additives and sodium nitrite/nitrate.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
/ -- To enjoy a memorable vacation, one aspect of travel that travellers must get right is the accommodation. While 4- and 5-star hotels and resorts seem attractive, tariffs here can burn a hole in one's wallet. However, high prices listed needn't dampen the spirit as today online travel channels offer impressive discounts, which customers can avail through financial offerings such as the Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank SuperCard. The SuperCard is a 4-in-1 credit card that offers the functionalities of an ATM card, loan card and an EMI card as well and gives the cardholder access to stellar deals on hotel accommodation.

Read on to know about the SuperCard offers on hotels:



Save 30% on hotel bookings made via FabHotels



One benefit of being a SuperCard holder is that customers can avail impressive money-saving deals on hotel accommodation booked through FabHotels. By using the SuperCard to finance one's stay, the customer stands to get a whopping 30% flat discount. The customer needs to use the coupon code FABRBL before making the payment to avail the discount, which is valid till 31 March 2020.

Avail a 25% discount on booking hotels via Lemon Tree Hotels



On using the SuperCard to book hotel accommodation at Lemon Tree Hotels, customers stand to get 25% off. Customers also get complimentary breakfast at the coffee shop and meal credit worth Rs.500, which they can redeem in lieu of lunch or dinner. Further, they are eligible for a complimentary Gold Membership to Lemon Tree Hotels' lucrative reward program, Lemon Tree Smiles. To avail these offers, they can use the coupon code LTH-GOALS101 before payment.

Bag attractive deal on stays through the reward points system



Bajaj Finserv and RBL Bank honour all spends with reward points and helps customers accumulate a large sum by offering welcome gifts, milestone bonuses and ways to earn points at an accelerated rate. Later, customers can redeem these points in lieu of hotel accommodation. One can visit https://www.rblrewards.com/SuperCard to view the available deals, which currently include offers at Keys Prima Hotel Parc Estique, Pune, The Lalit Great Eastern, Kolkata, Sterlings Mac, Bangalore, White Pearl Suites, Goa and Royal Tulip, Shimla Kufri.

While helping one book luxury hotels at a pocket-friendly rate, the SuperCard makes the entire travel more affordable through exclusive deals on flight bookings too. These include:



A 10% discount, up to Rs.7,500, on a minimum international flight booking of Rs.20,000 made via MakeMyTrip or Goibibo



A 4% discount, up to Rs.5,000, on international flight bookings made via EaseMyTrip



A flat 12% off up to Rs.1,200 and Rs.1,500 on domestic flight bookings made via MakeMyTrip and Goibibo respectively



Apart from these benefits, the provisions for 50-day interest-free cash withdrawals at ATMs and a 90-day interest-free loan allow one to obtain liquidity which they can use to finance different aspects of their travel.

To maximise the holiday experience, customers can simply select the SuperCard variant that's best suited to their requirements. For instance, when they opt for the World Plus SuperCard they not only benefit from the credit card offers on hotels, but also get complimentary airport lounge access, up to 8 times a year, and can earn accelerated reward points on dining and international spends.

So those planning on traveling this year can look up hotels they would like to stay and find the SuperCard variant that best suits their profile and check the pre-approved offer from Bajaj Finserv to enjoy a hassle-free application process. On sharing basic details, one can avail instant approval through a customised deal and a welcome gift of up to 20,000 reward points.

About Bajaj Finance Limited



Bajaj Finance Limited, the lending company of Bajaj Finserv group, is one of the most diversified NBFCs in the Indian market catering to more than 36 million customers across the country. Headquartered in Pune, the company's product offering includes Consumer Durable Loans, Lifestyle Finance, Digital Product Finance, Personal Loans, Loan against Property, Small Business Loans, Home loans, Credit Cards, Two-wheeler and Three-wheeler Loans, Commercial lending/SME Loans, Loan against Securities and Rural Finance which includes Gold Loans and Vehicle Refinancing Loans along with Fixed Deposits. Bajaj Finance Limited prides itself on holding the highest credit rating of FAAA/Stable for any NBFC in the country today. It is also the only NBFC in India with the international 'BBB' with stable outlook for long-term, by S&P Global Rating.

To know more, please visit: https://www.bajajfinserv.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Municipal emergency services are allowed to charge you for call-outs, depending on what they are called out for.

According to the Fire Brigade Services Act, a controlling authority can charge fees for the attendance of the service, for the use of the service and equipment, or for any material consumed.

This had led to situations where residents in several municipalities have been charged thousands of rands for fire department call-outs.

One Johannesburg resident was invoiced for over R6,000 by the fire department for their help in putting out a fire which completely destroyed her home.

Communities are expected to pay for the services rendered by the fire department  just like any other services offered by the City of Johannesburg. There is a perception that the services are free, which is not correct, Johannesburg EMS told the Randburg Sun.

Charging citizens

MyBroadband spoke to the City of Tshwane and the City of Cape Town about the practice of charging for call-outs.

Tshwanes emergency services department confirmed that a call-out fee was charged by the fire department based on the resource type required and a further utilisation cost.

Fees are for actual working of a resource type at an incident and subject to any exemptions that may be applicable for a particular incident, it said.

Citizens are invoiced for the amount owed as part of their monthly municipal bill, and they can contest these fees by submitting a request to the municipality.

Billing is in accordance with council policy, and a resident who has utilised the service will be invoiced for such service as part of his/her monthly service utilities invoice from the City, but only after it has been confirmed against the exemptions provided for in the Tariff Policy that such a resident is liable for such fees payable, the department said.

Provision is further made that, should a person who is billed for emergency services be aggrieved by the fees payable, such a person may submit a request for a reassessment of the fees payable. This is in accordance with Section 10(3) of the Fire Brigade Services Act, 1987.

Costs  Tshwane

It should be noted that the fire department does not charge for urban search and rescue operations, including confined space rescue, trench rescue, structural collapse rescue, water rescue, rope rescue, and other specialist rescue operations.

The approved call-out and hourly utilisation cost for Tshwanes fire and rescue operations are shown below:

Type of vehicle Call-out cost Utilisation cost per hour Engine pumper R636 R1,895 Ariel apparatus R636 R1,935 Hazmat vehicle R636 R1,445 Water tanker R636 R1,890 Bush pumper R636 R900

The above gives an idea of how much it costs for vehicle and equipment call-outs, but the fire department may also charge citizens for the cost of firefighting materials.

The cost of dry chemical powder (DCP), carbon dioxide, and other extinguishing resources is listed below.

Resource Cost DCP  4.5kg R181 DCP  9kg R350 CO 2  2.5kg R100 CO 2  5kg R200 Foam  1 litre R78 Flamezorb  25-litre bag R135

Costs  Cape Town

City of Cape Town executive director for safety and security Richard Bosman told MyBroadband that their charges depend on the category of the call-out.

Emergency responses are categorised in various categories which are determined on arrival at an incident by the responding incident commander and the levy charged is in respect of a category applied, Bosman said.

He added that house fires, accidents, and other emergencies fall under category 1 and would not incur a charge by the municipality.

Bosman detailed the categories as follows:

Category 1  No charge is levied for this category, which includes residential properties owned by a person and not a business or a trust,multi-vehicle accidents including persons trapped, any rescue including high angle swift water diving incidents, medical and trauma which is classed as a special service call.

No charge is levied for this category, which includes residential properties owned by a person and not a business or a trust,multi-vehicle accidents including persons trapped, any rescue including high angle swift water diving incidents, medical and trauma which is classed as a special service call. Category 2 (Low Risk)  For this category, there is a basic levy raised for businesses and trusts. The levy is charged from time of vehicles arriving on scene until departure. The cost is calculated per 15 mins or part thereof. On arrival at the incident the incident commander can call for further assistance depending on what specialized vehicle is required.

For this category, there is a basic levy raised for businesses and trusts. The levy is charged from time of vehicles arriving on scene until departure. The cost is calculated per 15 mins or part thereof. On arrival at the incident the incident commander can call for further assistance depending on what specialized vehicle is required. Category 3 (Moderate Risk)  This category is levied at storage facilities heavy-duty horse and trailers vehicles transporting goods as well as when we are dealing with a structure fire more than three stories. In these types of fires a lot more vehicles and personnel are required as breathing apparatus would definitely be used and we would conduct search and rescue throughout the premises to ascertain if any person has been overcome by smoke.

This category is levied at storage facilities heavy-duty horse and trailers vehicles transporting goods as well as when we are dealing with a structure fire more than three stories. In these types of fires a lot more vehicles and personnel are required as breathing apparatus would definitely be used and we would conduct search and rescue throughout the premises to ascertain if any person has been overcome by smoke. Category 4 (High Risk)  This category is levied dealing with high-risk incidents, chemical factories, paint factories, petrol chemical. Where we are required to use various types of foam to suppress hydro carbon and poly carbon fires and the risk of fighting this fire poses a greater threat to personnel.

This category is levied dealing with high-risk incidents, chemical factories, paint factories, petrol chemical. Where we are required to use various types of foam to suppress hydro carbon and poly carbon fires and the risk of fighting this fire poses a greater threat to personnel. Category 5 (High Risk)  High-risk category which includes the use of aircraft and ships.

The cost per category for vehicle call-outs is detailed below. The price listed for each category is per 15 minutes of utilisation or part thereof.
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Grey Matter, the intelligent hybrid mesh platform for zero-trust security, compliance management, and business intelligence was recently featured in reports published by both Forrester Research Inc. and 451 Research LLC.

Forrester's With Microservices, A Service Mesh Helps Developers Focus on the Business authored by Randy Heffner, VP And Principal Analyst, Applications Development & Delivery Professionals, was originally published in October 2019. The report focuses on the service mesh's potential as a basis for operational and telemetry-data powered value-added capabilities. As stated by Forrester, microservices strategy extends beyond just core service mesh capabilities. Higher-level value-added features like zero-trust security, governance and compliance are now emerging as key considerations.

Specifically, the report calls out Grey Matter's features for automated service-level management and services for data governance, compliance, caching, and analytics as examples of value-add features vendors are introducing atop the mesh.

In December, 2019, 451 Research LLC published Decipher has scale, paying customers for its Grey Matter service mesh authored by Founder & Research VP William Fellows. In the report, Fellows calls out Grey Matter as "an important addition to [the service mesh] market", citing "how Grey Matter captures, stores, learns and summarizes operations throughout its service mesh network layer" as key to the platform's claimed value-add.

Complimentary .pdfs can be downloaded at https://greymatter.io.

About Decipher Technology Studios

Decipher Technology Studios is a hybrid infrastructure software company supporting the Department of Defense (DoD), Intelligence Community (IC), and the private sector. Decipher produces Grey Matter for enterprise microservice and hybrid service mesh intelligence and automation.

About Grey Matter

Grey Matter unleashes the multi-tiered, value-add potential of hybrid mesh technology. Some of these potential game-changing features include:

Dynamic policy governance, regulatory compliance and reporting,

Zero-trust security with full attribution backed by forensic analysis,

Business intelligence and analytics,

Service level objective (SLO) management,

Digital twin creation and testing, and

Intent-based networking and AIOps.

Offering interlacing service control, data management, and neural net functions, Grey Matter:

Facilitates the zero-trust secured management of hybrid distributed workloads,

Analyzes east/west mesh telemetry to enable deep audit and business insight,

Controls network traffic policy and compliance, and

Smartly scales infrastructure to meet business demands.

Grey Matter will be on display at the Cloud Native Computing Foundation's KubeCon Europe event, March 30  April 2, 2020 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Press Contact: Brian L'Italien, 703-371-5994, [email protected]

Related Images

grey-matter-logo.png

Grey Matter Logo

The Grey Matter Logo represents the three Grey Matter pillars, Fabric, Data, and Sense, all working in conjunction to deliver systems intelligence and automation to the enterprise.

Related Links

Grey Matter Blog

SOURCE Decipher Technology Studios
The team is currently in pre-production and gearing up to shoot the film at the end of March, although they are still fundraising on gofundme. Shooting will take place in a rented home in south Oak Park. There will be a private viewing in Chicago on June 1 and it will also premiere on June 12 at the Mental Health America conference in Washington, D.C., ---where Kitley was recognized as Social Worker of the Year.
Aerial view of koala beach art by the artist known only as Edward on 21 January 2020. The artist said he was inspired to create the work, which has now been seen by more than 110 million people online, by the overwhelming emotions he felt during the Australia bushfire crisis. Photo: Edward / Adam Stan

By Sarah Jane Bell

21 January 2020

(ABC Ballarat)  An image of a koala clinging to a tree branch that has been etched in the sands of a Victorian beach has garnered international attention.

A photograph of the 120-metre-long artwork near Barwon Heads, south of Geelong, shows a sunset obscured by bushfire smoke and has touched the hearts of many people who have felt helpless about the devastation to wildlife this summer.

The artist, known simply as Edward, said he was inspired to create the work, which has now been seen by more than 110 million people online, by the overwhelming emotions he felt during the fire crisis.

Art by Breathe a Blue Ocean. Filmed and edited by Adam Stan Photography. Video: Adam Stan

You could smell the [incredibly] thick smoke  and I went to that beach, near Point Impossible, and the smell and everything just hit my emotional SOS, he said.

That feeling I connected to. I think most people have that. I cant think of a single person in the country who wouldnt see the strange sunsets in the smoke and not feel for everything living.

People ended up on the beaches at Lakes Entrance and Mallacoota, but where did the wildlife go? [more]

Banksy of Barwon Heads explains reason behind koala etched in sand on Victorian beach
Skoda could re-enter the small car segment in India if demand for such cars continues to remain robust in the coming years, a top company official said on February 3.

Skoda Auto CEO Bernhard Maier told Moneycontrol, "We will not say no to being in that segment. At this point in time, we decided to serve the increasing amount of customers who are in the middle class who are seeking cars above four meters. Once these cars are successfully implemented in the market we do have the capacity to think further."

"I have had numerous discussions about the sub 4 meter and its advantages. We need predictable and reliable guidelines for the development of cars. If there is a clear and sustainable need for cars below four meters then this platform is versatile to do any kind of product," Maier said.

Part of the Volkswagen (VW) group, Czech car brand Skoda phased-out the Fabia hatchback in 2012-13, and has not been serious about the sub-4 meter segment since the exit. The segment generates almost half of Indias passenger vehicle (PV) volumes and is dominated by local heavyweight Maruti Suzuki.

Fabia served as Skodas response to Maruti Suzukis runaway hit Swift. But, as most of its parts were imported, it exposed itself to forex fluctuations. Mounting competition and loss of consumer interest forced Skoda to withdraw the Fabia from the market.

The possibility of churning out a hatchback on the MQBA0 platform will depend on the success of the platform in India.

Both VW and Skoda have just one model on sale in the below 4 meters space. The Polo is the only hatchback model on sale in India presently. Hatchbacks command a share of about 45 percent in India. VW had to withdraw the built-for-India Ameo compact sedan following poor response.

Some of the biggest names in the automotive world such as Ford, Fiat, Honda, Nissan, Renault and Toyota have failed to make a mark in the hatchback space. These companies have found it difficult to be price competitive in India or offer products with the same quality and safety as they do in developed markets.

VW and Skoda are recharting their route in India after having struggled for several years against strong competition from Japanese and Korean companies. The two brands are witnessing a joint investment of Rs 7,900 crore that will give birth to several products using the MQBA0 platform. The first of such products by Skoda, an SUV, will hit the market in early 2021.
New Delhi, Feb 4 (UNI) He might have been banned for 72 hours for controversial remarks, but BJP lawmaker and Union Minister Anurag Thakur continues to court controversies.

On Tuesday, he made a remark that could yet again fetch him criticism from political detractors.

".....after the results on February 11, Shaheen Bagh will be cleared," Mr Thakur remarked at an event held at party's Delhi unit office.

"......People of Delhi should cast their votes in favour of the Lotus symbol," he remarked.

BJP leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah and others have been accusing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia of backing the Shaheen Bagh protesters.

In his election rally on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also suggested that there was political motives behind Shaheen Bagh protest.

Mr Anurag Thakur was put on a 72-hour long ban by the Election Commission after a video went viral wherein he allegedly urged party workers and supporters in Rohini area to raise controversial slogan - "Goli Maro .....shoot the traitors".



Meanwhile, the BJP has stepped up campaigning in the city to unseat Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP from the corridors of power in Delhi.

The BJP is out of power in the capital since November 1998 and has finished poorly with only three seats in 2015 Delhi polls.

Sources said newly elected party chief J P Nadda informed party's parliamentary party meeting in presence of PM Narendra Modi and others that as any as 240 party MPs is now campaigning to ensure party's return to power in the national capital.

BJP MPs will be reaching out to voters of all castes, religions, age and social stratification.

The party MPs have been asked to campaign till February 6 - the last date of campaigning - especially in slum dwellings and areas populated by poor residents.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi among others felicitated Mr Nadda in the party's parliamentary meeting.

State Chief Ministers including Manohor Lal Khatter (Haryana), Vijay Rupani (Gujarat), Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam) and Jai Ram Thakur (Himachal Pradesh) also campaigned for BJP candidates in the city trying to reach out to all segments of people.

UNI DEVN ADG 1911
As cases of the coronavirus mount in China and elsewhere, health officials are focused on containing its spread.

The Chinese government is restricting people's movements as part of a "war of prevention of the epidemic," said President Xi Jinping. Controlling its spread in China helps protect people there and may buy time for health officials in other countries to prepare.

The Public Health Agency of Canada stresses that the risk of contracting the illness in this country remains very low. Travellers returning from the affected area are asked to watch for flu-like symptoms and to call ahead before seeking health care.

Officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the goal of screening travellers from the epicentre of the outbreak near Wuhan, China, is to slow the entry of the virus into the U.S.

These graphics aim to put the outbreak into perspective.

As the death toll rises, the recovery total does, too. The vast majority of coronavirus cases have occurred near Wuhan and surrounding cities.

Less than 15 per cent of the lab-confirmed cases in China to date have caused severe health complications, like pneumonia, after infection.

Many have experienced symptoms similar to the flu and don't require emergency medical attention.

Globally, as of Wednesday, there are an additional 191 cases, including one death in the Philippines, not shown in the above image.

Ebola and influenza are not in the same family as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) or the 2019 coronavirus (2019-nCoV)  a temporary name for the new virus that was first detected in 2019. The other viruses are used here to put the severity of coronaviruses into perspective through comparison.

Lab-confirmed flu and pneumonia-related deaths in 2018 in Canada alone are higher than those of all three coronaviruses combined.

The lab-confirmed flu and pneumonia totals (shown above in grey) are not definitive. Many Canadians who become infected during any given year do not seek medical help, and therefore never get tested.

Story continues

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that includes SARS, which affected 26 countries and resulted in more than 8,000 cases in 2003.

While the 2019 and SARS coronavirus seem to be closely related genetically, less is known about how transmissible and deadly the former is.

"In essence, it's a version of SARS that spreads more easily but causes less damage. The virus also uses the same receptor, the door used to get into human cells, which explains transmission and why it causes pneumonia. Most encouragingly though, this indicates that treatments and vaccines developed for SARS should work," for the new virus, Ian Jones, a professor of virology at the University of Reading, wrote in an online comment.

To estimate how bad an outbreak could get, experts look at the case fatality rate  the proportion of deaths a disease causes within a group of people.

The problem with estimating the case fatality rate early in an outbreak is that the sickest people tend to go to the hospital or a doctor's office. Those who don't show or have mild symptoms may never seek medical care and won't be counted as cases.

The Lancet, U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Information from the first 99 patients infected in China shows most had fever and cough. Less than a third had shortness of breath. Muscle aches, confusion, headache, sore throat, runny nose and diarrhea were less commonly reported.

Complications can include serious conditions such as pneumonia or kidney failure.
The heartbroken grandmother of four children allegedly mowed down and killed by a drunk driver as they were going to get ice cream says the pain of the tragedy is 'too much to handle'.

Abdallah siblings Sienna, eight, Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13, died in Oatlands, in Sydney's north-west, on Saturday night alongside their 11-year-old cousin Veronique Sakr.

Grandmother Georgette Abdallah visited the site of the tragedy on Tuesday and broke down into tears as she described her grandchildren.

Pictured: Antony Abdallah (far left) 13, killed in the horror crash as he and his siblings went to get ice cream on Saturday evening in Sydney's western suburbs. His younger sisters Angelina, 12, (centre) and Sienna (far right) eight, were also killed

Grandmother Georgette Abdallah visited the site of the alleged drunk driving tragedy on Tuesday and broke down into tears as she described her grandchildren

'They were angels on earth. They were looked after... My Angelina, she slept with a rosary in her hand. She said, ''Teta, look after yourself'' and every time she saw tears in my eyes, she cried,' a distraught Ms Abdallah said.

She said Antony was unlike anyone else his age and promised to look after his grandmother when he grew older.

She described Sienna as her 'cheeky girl' who would always run to hug her grandmother.

A schoolgirl who was killed alongside her three cousins was identified as 11-year-old Veronique Sakr. Veronique's family said in the statement released on Sunday they were 'devastated' by the loss of 'our beautiful girl' in the horrific crash

Ms Abdallah said her grandchildren went with their father every Friday to work at a soup kitchen

'The little one in the hospital is crying. She is asking: 'How am I going to go to school? How are we going to survive without them?',' Ms Abdallah said.

The children all adored their grandmother - particularly her cooking, she said.

She taught them to make cabbage leaves, which is what they had for their last meal.

'Thank you everyone for supporting us,' Ms Abdallah continued.

'Please pray for us. Pray for my son and his wife and all of us. That's too much to handle. Give us strength.'

Ms Abdallah is shattered by the loss of her grandchildren after they were allegedly killed by a drunk driver

Samuel William Davidson, 29, was allegedly three times the legal blood alcohol limit at the time of the alleged crash.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday morning said the tragedy was unthinkable.

'I just pray for their strength as a family. They will be grieving beyond imagination,' he said.

Samuel William Davidson (pictured being taken away in handcuffs and shirtless) was arrested at the scene and remains in custody. He did not appear at Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday and has been refused bail until his next court appearance in April

Davidson's parents on Monday night said they were devastated and their son was deeply remorseful for his alleged actions.

'Those poor families have lost their children. No words can help them and I'm so sorry to them,' Allan Davidson told Nine News.

Hundreds of people have visited the crash site in Oatlands to lay flowers and show support for the grieving families.

The fatal crash has sparked a renewed push for a road rules overhaul in NSW.
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by Melynda Fuller , February 3, 2020

Verizon Media wants to make its programmatic offerings safer and easier for advertisers through its new DSP inventory storefront.

The storefront seeks to connect advertisers with opportunities like sponsorships, homepage takeovers and special packages across Verizon Medias brands, such as Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Finance, HuffPost, TechCrunch and Xbox, as well as other partners.

Storefront users are met with a series of opportunities like TechCrunch Run of News or Engadget Reviews & Buyers Guide and can funnel results by category, brand or buying method.

According to Verizon Media, advertisers are able to gain greater control of their advertising choices and effectiveness through an interface that allows them to propose a deal or request help with one click. Verizon Medias account teams are on hand to assist inventory accessibility.

This latest tool joins Verizon Medias other recent offerings for DSP and SSP clients.

During the summer of 2019, Verizon Media introduced a new omnichannel insights tool that helps marketers using the companys DSP navigate the programmatic ecosystem, aggregating omnichannel insights from all Verizon Media DSP activity and customizing it to reveal a clients optimal purchase paths, supply mix and trends, ad formats, channels, auction type, and more. The solution is powered by machine learning.

Last fall, the company signed publisher CafeMedia to a new ad offering that allows Verizon Media DSP clients to bid directly into CafeMedias header through prebid server technology.

In December, the company unified its digital out of home solution and offers capabilities for both SSP and DSP clients, along with an integration with Verizon Digital Signage.
Jackson County investigators suspicions grew that fugitive Jacob Blair Scott had faked his own death after they showed up at his familys home to tell them he was dead, according to a sworn statement from a U.S. Marshal.

When detectives got there, Scotts relatives, including a stepdaughter, already had all of Jacob Blair Scotts medications, suicide notes and cellphones displayed as if they were waiting for detectives to arrive, U.S. Marshal Jeremy Stilwell said in the complaint.

All of Scotts property was already together on the counter, Stilwell said. Detectives stated that (the stepdaughter) made sure investigators saw the meds and stated Jacob was sick and needed them daily.

In addition, investigators saw an open laptop computer sitting on the kitchen table, and it appeared the family was already looking to pick out a headstone for Jacob Scotts grave as detectives arrived to make the (death) notification.

The detectives had given no warning to the family that they were headed there to inform them of Scotts suspected death on July 30, 2018.

Detectives said the familys reaction was unusual.

That and other information came out in a federal complaint unsealed after Scotts capture last week. A tip to U.S. Marshals led to his arrest in Antlers, Oklahoma, on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Oklahoma hearing

Scott, now 43, had his initial appearance on the federal charge in U.S. District Court in the eastern district of Oklahoma, where authorities found him living in an RV in a campground.

At the hearing, Scott waived his right to a preliminary detention hearing and agreed to be transferred to the Southern District of Mississippi to face prosecution here. He also asked for a court-appointed attorney.

In his financial disclosure, Scott reported he had earned $5,300 in the past year as a laborer, and said his expenses included $500 a month for food and $160 for electricity. The only asset he listed was the RV he had been staying in at the time of his arrest. He listed the RVs value at $14,000.

Residents of Antlers commented on Pushmataha County Sheriff B.J. Hedgecocks Facebook post of Scotts capture, saying they recognized the man who went by Luke.

But Scott is now facing prosecution on federal and state charges.

In Jackson County, he is awaiting prosecution on 14 felony sex crimes charges in which hes accused of child rape, molestation, and exploitation for allegedly filming the minor, then 14, engaged in sex acts.

Authorities and the family of the victim say Scott faked his death to avoid going to prison.

In fact, the child victims mother has told the Sun Herald, Scott had warned her that hed never go to prison and that he would kill everyone involved to avoid it.

The childs mother was among the first to suspect Scott faked his death the moment she heard his inflatable boat was found, but no body.

A trip to a bank and $45,000 in cash

The search for Scott began shortly after Orange Beach, Alabama, investigators found Scotts abandoned dinghy along with what appeared to be a suicide note, a .380-caliber handgun tied to the boat, and small amount of blood. His 1999 Toyota 4-Runner was in parking bay nearby.

Scott had been scheduled for a hearing to enter guilty pleas in the sex crimes case.

After Scott went missing and the boat was found, Judge Kathy King Jackson issued a warrant for his arrest.

Authorities then discovered Scott had two bank accounts, one at The Peoples Bank and the other at The First bank.

A search of the accounts, the complaint said, showed that on June 13, 2018, a $47,000 wire transfer was deposited into Scotts account at The First bank.

The following day, Scott wrote a personal check to himself for $45,000 and cashed it himself, the records say.

Just 11 days before Scotts dinghy was found on July 30, authorities learned Scott had added a stepdaughter to his bank accounts, giving her control to make withdrawals.

According to the federal records, the stepdaughter withdrew $4,300 from the accounts during the first month after Scott went missing.

A cabin trip and a stop see Elvis

Soon after his disappearance, U.S. Marshals were asking for tips on any possible sighting of Scott, and the calls started coming in.

In December 2018, records say, Crime Stoppers got a tip that Scott had been seen at an apartment complex in Denver, Colorado. Scotts brother and sister lived in Denver, and his mother, Melody Scott, had an apartment there, though she also has a home in Moss Point.

In an interview with Scotts brother, authorities learned Scott had signed over the title of his red 1999 Mustang to his brother, and it was parked at his brothers home.

Scott, the brother told authorities, had signed over the car to him because he wanted to prevent his ex-wife from getting the car in the divorce.

On Aug. 16, 2019, marshals got a tip from one of Scotts relatives who said that he had stayed at a cabin in the mountains in Denver with his mother, brother and sister during a trip in July 2019.

Authorities later questioned those involved, but said one of the witnesses told them they did not realize Scott was wanted by authorities.

The same tipster told authorities that Scott had also gone on a trip to Memphis, Tennessee, with his mother to see Elvis.

Marshals later interviewed hotel staff in Tennessee and learned that a man matching Scotts description had come into the hotel lobby with Melody Scott on Aug. 15, 2019, and that the man had followed her in the direction of her room.

After the Memphis trip, the complaint said, the Scott family took another trip to Hawaii, something investigators said they were able to confirm.

In all, authorities said, they received seven tips from people who said Scott was alive. An eighth tip reported to crimeshop.org. said Scott had been with the tipster during a stay at New Genesis Mens Shelter in Denver in November 2018.

In addition, authorities received anonymous tips about possible sightings in Mississippi and Nevada.

Written by The Sun Herald. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A team of Stockton University faculty were awarded a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture last September to promote red maple sugaring in South Jersey. This month they have finally begun a mid-scale operation at Stocktons campus in Galloway Township.

Im a mathematician. We have an economist, an environmental scientist, a soil scientist and a forester, said Judith A. Vogel, a professor of mathematics at the university. We all got together with our love of maple syrup.

The group is focused on promoting awareness of red maples across South Jersey and how tapping could affect the ecology and wildlife. The grant will also allow faculty and students to teach communities how to use these trees for maple syrup production.

Our main concern is to help conserve New Jersey forests, said Aaron Stoler, an assistant professor of environmental science and the projects lead investigator. The Pine Barrens is immense and we want to conserve it at all costs. A lot of folks have forests that are either in or out of the Pine Barrens that they want to conserve.

"South Jersey is a beautiful place and we are trying to conserve its forests as much as possible.

Tapping maple trees is not a very large operation in South Jersey because of the areas freeze-thaw periods. Without a decent period of freezing nights and warm days, syrup production is difficult, but this group of scientists is setting out to find the best conditions in Southern New Jersey for red maple syrup production.

People dont realize that maples are thriving down here, said Stoler. Pine trees are certainly the most dominant but in any wet area you are going to find maple trees. We havent really ever thought about getting syrup out of those trees before because they are not sugar maple trees  If you dont have sugar maple and all you have is red maple, why not tap it. Why not use that resource?

Sugar maple trees are found in northern states from Vermont up through Maine and into Canada. These trees are the usual choice for maple production due to their 2% to 4% sugar content, because syrup is 70% sugar it is easier to start with a sap with a higher sugar content. South Jersey holds a better climate for the growing of red maple trees which hold a sugar content of 1%-2%.

The Stockton scientists believe with new technology they can harvest red maple sap more efficiently in order to create a small business opportunity for farmers and families.

If youre trying to draw a reasonable quantity of syrup from the trees you can use vacuum technology to create a small vacuum that will pull a little more sap from the tree. You can get larger evaporators that can help you boil off more, said Stoler. You can also use technology called reverse osmosis.

Reverse osmosis is usually used to filter impurities out of water for household uses, such as water filters on a sink tap. But this group is using it to filter out the water from red maple sap in order to leave the syrup behind.

According to Vogel, this would save an extensive amount of energy that it would normally take to filter lower sugar content.

In order to research the possible syrup production of red maple trees in South Jersey, this group of scientists is looking to the community for around 100 participants to help.

We are looking for maple trees that are at least 12 inches diameter or more, and people who are interested in tapping trees, said Stoler. We are looking for individuals that would tap their trees for two to three years. We will give them the equipment. We are happy to give them buckets and taps and they collect the sap. They will make the syrup and we will show them how.

According to Stoler, all they are asking in return is the ability to take measurements of soil chemistry, wildlife, and plants around the area. They will use these measurements to determine the best type of land for red maple growth and tapping and spread the word to the communities.

Part of this research is trying to determine where the freeze-thaw actually works. Then you can get syrup, you can get a years worth of sap for your family, said Vogel. Land owners could put up a stand with maple syrup or a campground could sell it in their general store. We are not looking to replace the industry level, we are looking to see if it is a project that families can do, small farm can do.

My family has been producing maple syrup for about five years now using red maple and some sugar maple. Its possible to get syrup from New Jersey trees. Its just about investigating whether or not you can get enough to make it profitable, said Vogel.

Mackenzie Fitchett can be reached at mfitchett@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us.nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.

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Major Apple suppliers in China plan to resume full-fledged production from February 10 despite the coronavirus outbreak.

Foxconns Hon Hai plans to restart production once again in its facilities in China from February 10. Other major suppliers like Quanta Computer, Inventec Corp, and LG Display will also resume production in their facilities from next week.

A report from yesterday had claimed that Foxconn had seen a fairly small impact on its production line due to coronavirus outage. The Chinese government has currently put much of the country in lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus. All major companies have been ordered to shut down their offices until at least February 9.

Apple has also shut down its corporate offices, stores, and offices in China through February 9 as a precautionary measure. The company has nearly 10,000 employees in China working across its corporate offices and retail stores.

Foxconn assembles the iPhone at its Zhengzhou plant in China which is located almost 500KM from Wuhan. Despite that, the company had to stop production for the safety of its workers and to abide by the government orders. If the Chinese government ends up pushing the deadline further then Apple suppliers will have to delay resuming production as well. The production halt could also delay Apples plans to launch the iPhone 9 in March. While Foxconn could shift some of the production of the device outside of China, it is not going to be enough to meet its potential demand.

Apple is not the only one whose supply-chain has been affected by the coronavirus outage. The production of Huawei smartphones has also been affected along with other Android OEMs. Apple is expected to see a 10% decline in iPhone sales due to the coronavirus outbreak.

[Via Bloomberg
Editors note: Today marks the 75th anniversary of the commencement of the Yalta Conference, held February 411, 1945. The following article was published in the February 19, 1982, issue of National Review.

Three times in the last few months I have heard critics of President Reagans sanctions against Poland and the Soviet Union say quite flatly that the United States recognized Russian hegemony over Eastern Europe at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Two were on television so I was helpless, but I asked the third for his source. Its common knowledge; see George Kennans two Op-Ed pieces in the New York Times.

Kennans prose was a bit impenetrable, but in discussing the implications of any Soviet retreat on the Polish question he stated: It would reach to the very foundation of the de facto division of Europe that has existed since World War II. He added. This division itself was a product of the war.

This is accurate; the Soviet armies were rolling all over Eastern Europe and the Balkans and, with the exception of Yugoslavia and Austria, the Russian writ still runs in these occupied areas. But the de facto occupation is in fact a violation of the Yalta Agreement signed by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin.

Stalin must have chuckled as he signed the document, which among other things contained an affirmation of the Four Freedoms and a promise that free elections would be held in the states liberated from the Nazis. Churchill must have known Stalin was chuckling, but by 1945 British policy was limited by the overwhelming American contribution to the war. He was certainly not going to stand on one foot awaiting free elections in Poland, Hungary, Rumania, and the other Red Army conquests.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was a very sick man  in two months he would be dead  and driven at Yalta by one major goal: to get Stalins agreement to enter the war against Japan. The background for this was the ferocious defensive capability of the Japanese army, which had triggered the Joint Chiefs of Staff to hit the panic button. Casualty projections for the defense of the Japanese home islands went over the million mark.

Story continues

What about the A-bomb? You know it worked, but you have 20-20 hindsight. The few then aware of its existence didnt know, and the first successful test was not until July. The Joint Chiefs had good reason to worry; shortly after Yalta the Marines took twenty thousand casualties capturing the tiny island of Iwo Jima. and from April to June the Army and Marines were savagely bloodied capturing Okinawa.

Moreover, the Joint Chiefs wanted the Russians to take on the crack Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria so it could not be recalled to the islands. What General MacArthurs intelligence chief, General Willoughby  who later guaranteed that Chinese troops were not entering the Korean War  didnt know was that the crack army had been shipped out to the Pacific and replaced by kids and middle-aged men.

Stalin was quite aware of Roosevelts agenda and kept pushing for legitimation of Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe, with Poland as the centerpiece. He had a stooge Polish government all lined up and wanted us to ditch the Polish government-in-exile in London. This was not without irony  as Churchill pointed out, Britain had gone to war to fulfill its alliance with the Poles, and the legitimate government was the one in London.

Roosevelt, born without an ideological chromosome, and who, even in the best of health, hated long-range planning, emerged with a compromise. Stalins Lublin government and the Polish exiles in London should form a coalition. Stalin, who had a special sauce for marinating coalitions before putting them through the famous salami slicer, agreed.

The President, then, could with a clear conscience claim that Uncle Joe had agreed to the Four Freedoms and to free elections. And he had accomplished the top priority; Stalin agreed to join the war against Japan. If anyone had told FDR, You have just given the Russians Eastern Europe, he would have been baffled. All he had done was get the London and the Lublin Poles, as Lyndon Johnson would have put it, to reason together.

In the last weeks of his life, Roosevelt did get a sense that Stalin was betraying him, but then he was dead. His successor, Harry Truman, had to learn from scratch; he had never even been briefed on the A-bomb!

Finally, suppose the U.S. had decided Stalin was playing a dirty game, what could we have done? If the American Army in 1945 after the defeat of Germany and Japan had been told it had to fight on to save Poland, or Nationalist China, there would have been the biggest mutiny in the history of the world. We wanted to go home!

More from National Review
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San Francisco, 4 February 2020: The Report Advanced Ophthalmology Technologies Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Diagnostic, Therapeutic), By End Use (Hospitals, ASCs, Ophthalmic Clinics), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2019  2026

The global advanced ophthalmology technologies market size is expected to reach USD 9.6 billion by 2026, expanding at a CAGR of 6.5%, as per a new report by Grand View Research Inc. Frequent introduction of advanced ophthalmology technologies incorporated in various ophthalmic devices such as optical coherence tomography scanner, specular microscopes, excimer lasers, and femtosecond lasers is expected to drive the overall market growth.

Rising geriatric population is contributing toward the growing prevalence of age-related ophthalmic disorders such as cataract, diabetic retinopathy, and myopia. This growing prevalence of ophthalmic disorders is boosting the adoption of ophthalmic treatments, and thus, advanced ophthalmic devices. Major players in the market are focusing on adopting advanced technologies such as SWEPT Source OCT, Partial coherence interferometry (PCI), and Polatest technology. These technologies will help in developing effective ophthalmic devices for efficient diagnosis and treatment of ophthalmic disorders.

Ophthalmic ultrasound imaging systems are one of the most preferred advanced ophthalmic diagnostic device and is expected to grow at a significant pace. The optical biometry systems segment is also expected to grow at steady rate during the forecast period in comparison to the ophthalmic ultrasound imaging systems segment. This is because optical biometry provides more accurate data in comparison to ultrasound as the refinements in its technology help in measuring lens thickness, anterior chamber depth, and other axial length parameters.

Surgical devices held the largest share among advanced ophthalmic therapeutic devices in 2018. This is because of the increasing number of ophthalmic surgeries. Major ophthalmic surgical devices are microkeratome and Vitreo retinal surgery devices. Microkeratome is largely preferred for LASIK and ALK surgery. Excimer lasers are also preferred as one of the advanced ophthalmic lasers because these lasers produce very small and precise spots at a very low wavelength.

Access Research Report of Advanced Ophthalmology Technologies Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/advanced-ophthalmology-technologies-market

Further key findings from the report suggest:

North America captured the largest market share in 2018 owing to factors such as presence of major market players, growing prevalence of age-related ophthalmic disorders, and frequent approvals of advanced ophthalmic devices in the U.S.

The diagnostic segment held the dominant market share in 2018 and is expected to witness the fastest growth rate. This is because of the growing need for early diagnosis of ophthalmic disorders

Optical coherence tomography scanners are highly preferred products under advanced diagnostic ophthalmic devices as these scanners provide accurate results via high resolution images

The therapeutic segment is expected to showcase a lucrative growth rate. Ophthalmic lasers are expected to grow at a significant pace during the forecast period. These lasers are safe and effective in the treatment of ophthalmic disorders

Ambulatory surgery centers are expected to exhibit the fastest growth rate owing to favorable reimbursement provided by these centers for ophthalmology procedures

Key players in the market include Johnson & Johnson Services, Novartis AG, Alimera Sciences, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Bausch & Lomb Incorporated, CooperVision, Alcon Vision LLC, Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Essilor International S.A., Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems Ltd., Nidek Co. Ltd., and Topcon Corporation.

Browse more reports of this category by Grand View Research at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry/medical-devices

Grand View Research has segmented the global advanced ophthalmology technologies market on the basis of type, end use, and region:

Advanced Ophthalmology Technologies Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2026)

Diagnostic Optical Coherence Tomography Scanners Ophthalmic Ultrasound Imaging Systems Wavefront Aberrometers Optical Biometry Systems Corneal Topography Systems Specular Microscopes Others

Therapeutic Ophthalmic Lasers Surgical Devices



Advanced Ophthalmology Technologies End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2026)

Hospitals

ASCs

Ophthalmic Clinics

Others

Advanced Ophthalmology Technologies Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2026)

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

Access Press Release of Advanced Ophthalmology Technologies Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-advanced-ophthalmology-technologies-market

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

For More Information: www.grandviewresearch.com
The Norwegian Armed Forces will conduct exercise Cold Response together with allied and partner nations in March 2020. The winter exercise Cold Response will take place in an area that stretches from the town of Narvik to Finnmark district in northern Norway. The main part of the exercise will be located in the district of Troms.



U.S. Marines with 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion storm a fjord in Namsos, Norway, during Exercise Cold Response 16 (Picture source: Lance Cpl. Brianna Gaudi)

Activities related to the exercise will take place from 2 to 18 March. The field exercise will take place from 12 to 18 March. However, from January there will be visible military activity in some parts of the country, as some of the allied participants arrive in Norway to prepare themselves for the exercise.

The aims of the exercise

Norway is a leading nation in NATO when it comes to cold weather operations, and has extensive experience in this field. It is therefore natural that Norway is hosting winter exercises such as Cold Response. The main aim of the exercise is to secure the Norwegian Armed Forces and allies' ability to conduct multinational joint exercises with a high-intensity combat scenario in demanding winter conditions.

Another important aspect of the exercise is to train the large amphibious capacities. This means practicing how to master the transition between the coast and the shore by, for example, practicing attacking a target on land from ships with the assistance from amphibious assault ships and helicopters.

In order to secure freedom, security, predictability and stability in a part of the world it is vital that Norwegian forces are regularly training together with allies and partners. Through exercises such as Cold Response, the participants are training together in demanding weather conditions in a realistic way. This makes Cold Response an important exercise.

Our ability to receive allied reinforcements is essential when it comes to defending Norway in a crisis situation. As a part of the exercise, the Norwegian Armed Forces will receive allied forces by collaborating with civilian actors through the total defense concept. The concept is the sum of Norway's civilian and military resources working together to prevent and manage a crisis, armed conflicts and wars. This means that if a serious situation arises, civilian and military forces are mutually interdependent.



Openness is important for building trust and preventing misunderstandings. Therefore, the Norwegian Armed Forces will make sure to follow the Vienna Document. This is an agreement made between the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) member states. The agreement aims to secure military stability and reduce the risk of war by imposing states to implement security and confidence building measures. Norway will invite observers from all the 56 member nations in OSCE, which also includes Russia, to the exercise.

Participants

Cold Response is a Norwegian-led exercise in which NATO-allies and partner nations are invited to participate. As of January 2020, forces from the USA, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden  as well as Norwegian forces  are participating in the exercise.

Between 15.000 and 16.000 soldiers will participate in the exercise. The final number of participants and participating nations might change slightly towards the exercise. More information on this will be available on this website closer to the exercise.

Cold Response is lead by the Norwegian Joint Headquarters and has been conducted biennially since 2006. In odd-numbered years, the Norwegian Armed Forces conduct a smaller winter exercise.
The world's most lucrative gambling destination will suspend casino operations, at the request of the government of Macao.

The special administrative region has requested gaming operations at 41 casinos cease for the next 15 days, with a possible extension depending on the severity and duration of the coronavirus outbreak.

MGM Resorts in an email to CNBC responded, "MGM will follow the government's directions in the fight against this epidemic. We are closing our casinos and gaming areas, while maintaining non-gaming facilities to support hotel guests in both of our properties. We will continue to work closely with the Macau government as the situation progresses."

Macao has also enacted a policy requiring casinos to provide local accommodations to non-resident employees (those who live in China) to protect them against contracting and potentially transmitting the virus, regardless of whether the workers are employed in construction, catering, hotels, cleaning or casinos.

Wynn Resorts issued a statement to CNBC: "Our greatest concern and our top priority is the health and safety of our employees, their families and the citizens of Macau. We believe that our goals and the goals of the Macau government during this challenging period are fully aligned. We support the Government's decision to prioritize public safety and temporarily suspend the operations of all of Macau's gaming areas, which we believe is in the best long-term interests of everyone concerned."

Macao has 10 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

Travel to Macao has dropped nearly 80% since the coronavirus outbreak made global headlines in mid-January, when compared with Chinese New Year last year. Macao has considered closing its borders to Mainland China entirely.

Hong Kong is the primary gateway to Macao, and it's closed most of its border with the mainland but not the airport or the bridge that connects Macao to Hong Kong.
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An alarming post claiming to be a Sex Trafficking Alert from the Facebook page North Carolina Breaking News warned of a kidnapping attempt at a Walmart in Greenville over the weekend.

Commenters claimed to have seen the suspect at the same location on earlier visits, a nearby pet supply store a few months ago, a Sheetz gas station on Monday and 140 miles away in Lumberton a few weeks back.

There was just one problem: it didnt happen  at least not in North Carolina, police said Tuesday.

The Greenville Police Department tried to quell residents panic with a warning captioned Lets Talk About Fake News.

Its a scary story, police said on Facebook. Whats even scarier... the incident described below never happened here yet its been shared locally more than 2,000 times.

That number has climbed to more than 3,300 since it was posted Feb. 1.

Police in North Carolina warned users about fake news after a Facebook post about an attempted kidnapping at a Walmart in Greenville was shared over 3,000 times. It did happen  but in Kentucky, cops say.

According to the original post, a man pretending to work at a Walmart in Greenville accused a shopper of stealing before saying hed follow her to her car to make sure.

The woman went to a Walmart associate instead, and store personnel reportedly escorted him out while police were on their way.

North Carolina Breaking News later commented on the post claiming law enforcement was looking for him.

But police in Greenville  home to about 93,000 residents and East Carolina University  did some digging of their own.

The story was true, they said. It just didnt happen in North Carolina.

Roughly 700 miles away, the Kentucky New Era reported about a strikingly similar incident at a Hopkinsville Walmart on Jan. 31. Police had caught the suspect and he was speaking with detectives, according to the newspaper.

Greenville police found the article, calling it a reputable news source and urging residents to do their research before assuming information you read online is true.

The bottom line is this: the administrators of sites like this are smart, police said. They know how to market themselves and what to post to garner shares and likes to their page.

Story continues

Under the About section on Facebook, North Carolina Breaking News lists itself as Satire/Parody. The page was created less than two weeks ago, on Jan. 24, according to the Page Transparency section.

Residents can always check with local law enforcement if theyre not sure about the validity of a post, according to Greenville police.

Do us a favor..., they concluded. #sharethetruth
Dubai suffers a great many afflictions, most of them involving superlatives. This city has the tallest building in the world, the hottest desert, the most ridiculous pudding (profiteroles covered in gold flakes, anyone? More on that later). Ive got another to add to the list: its long-suffering reputation as a stopover city. Tourists stay for an average of three and a half nights, according to local newspaper The National  possibly without ever leaving the confines of some luxed-up five-star resort. Shame.

Since were in the age of slow travel, I wanted to stretch a week-long holiday to the United Arab Emirates glitziest city carpaccio-thin. This would be my sixth visit to Dubai, with most previous visits hovering around the 24 to 48 hour mark, usually before escaping via Emirates excellent terminal to Africa, Asia, or elsewhere in the Middle East. Dubai makes light work out of the 48 hours in template beloved by newspapers, including this one.

Would there be enough to do for a week, I worried? Thankfully Dubai, throwing money at the big-ticket World Expo event in October, churns out a never-ending stream of tourist attractions, new restaurants, cafes, museums, bars... and even new land reclamation sites and weather patterns (cloud seeding, which makes fake rain) to keep even the most neophilic visitor happy. And the best thing about this city is that when youre finished doing, theres plenty of sitting (on beaches and next to hotel pools) to be done.

Heres how to spend a week in Dubai...

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The culture

Alserkal Avenue, in the industrial neighbourhood of Al Quoz, started life as a marble factory. But nothing stays still in Dubai for long, and its cathedral-like spaces were soon bought up by designers, art gallerists and community groups who wanted somewhere a little more bohemian than Dubais typical glassy real estate to work. The original marble factory has since been sensitively expanded with more units and today theres an arthouse cinema, art installations, and a branch of hipster cafe Wild & the Moon that serves terrifying things like bulletproof coffee.

Time to spend here: Two hours

Other new-ish things include the Dubai Design District, a collection of blocky glass buildings across from the Burj Khalifa aimed at being an incubator for the Emirates hot, young design talent; and the Jameel Arts Centre in the still-developing Al Jaddaf waterfront, which wouldnt look out of place in Los Angeles with its cactus-studded garden, white-washed walls and dreamy soundtrack from the outdoor speakers.

Time to spend here: Two hours

Sniff your way around a spice souk in Deira (Visit Dubai)

All good first-time tourists to Dubai should probably spend at least a morning sniffing around the spice and gold souks, although theyre not wildly authentic. The most engaging part of spending time in this section of Deira, one of the oldest sections of the city, is standing by the Dubai Creek, watching the wooden abra boats strung with red, green and white UAE flags heaving up and down the river.

Time to spend here: A morning

Talking of abras: a breezy 10-minute ride across the creek to the Bur Dubai neighbourhood brings you to Al Fahidi, home to the 18th-century styled Dubai Museum and a network of streets housing artful cafes and hotels in time-warped sand-coloured houses, some replete with original wind towers to keep them cool.

Theres the XVA Hotel, in a charmingly restored building, combining a cutting-edge (for Dubai) gallery and easy-breezy cafe space serving coffee and Arabic dishes; Make Art Cafe, which does much the same; and the popular Arabian Tea House. Anybody interested in a skin-deep understanding of Emirati culture should book a lunch at the Sheikh Mohammed Museum of Cultural Understanding, which hosts groups for Emirati food (tiny cups of bitter tea, chicken biryani, dough balls with sticky fig sauce) and conversations with locals.

The new heritage neighbourhood of Al Seef (Visit Dubai)

Just across the road from Al Fahidi is Al Seef, the citys newest heritage neighbourhood, which is all brushed stone buildings and possibly the prettiest Starbucks in the UAE: shaded by a wicker roof, overlooking Dubai Creek. Al Seef was empty during the day, but comes alive at night with locals  so Im told.

Time to spend here: An afternoon

The food

As a city sloshing with cash, there isnt much you cant get your hands on to scoff in Dubai. Over seven days I inhaled everything from tapas at contemporary Portuguese at rooftop tasca and Mediterranean-inspired fish dishes at beachside Rockfish to Indian plates at Ravi, usually after gargantuan hotel breakfast buffets each morning.

However, this slow travel diktat means eating through Dubai in the most immersive way possible. That means ditching the five-star, celebrity-chef-headed restaurants and instead sniffing out the best Indian street food, the best Egyptian pizza, or sitting curled up eating an Emirati meal with your fingers via one of Frying Pan Adventures food tours in the less-visited neighbourhoods of the city.

On a previous trip, Id eaten my way around Deira, one of the oldest, most traditional districts of the city, with Stephanie from Frying Pan, finding Palestinian kunafe (a sweet Middle Eastern dessert made of cheese, honey and pastry) swoon-worthy shawarma and a family-run falafel joint. On this trip, getting the modern Dubai Metro to Deira to find one restaurant offering seven different types of kunafe was worth the half-hour journey.

Time to spend here: Frying Pan Adventure tours take five hours, either spread across a morning or an afternoon

The desert

Spend the morning experiencing traditional Bedouin culture (Visit Dubai)

Drive an hour-ish out of Dubai and the surroundings change entirely: high-rise turns to low, concrete and glass turns to sand. Im spending the morning on Al Marmoons bedouin experience, which takes visitors back to a time when this was all Dubai was. A short 4x4 drive into the sand followed by a 20-minute trot in a camel caravan later and we arrive at a series of bedouin tents arranged around a man-made lake, with tourist-friendly henna painting, a falcon show and traditional Emirati dances and games.

Time to spend here: A morning

Or to really max out the desert experience, book a stay at Al Maha, a luxury camp buried in the middle of the Dubai Conservation Area, where curious gazelles and oryx fawn around the resort. Days are spent blissing out by your private infinity pool while nights are spent eating by candlelight overlooking the dunes and  on clear days  the Jabal Akhdar mountains of Oman.

Time to spend here: Two nights

The beaches

La Mer makes for a great lunch spot (Visit Dubai)

We couldnt not mention the beach. Dubais crown jewel remains its more-than-100-miles of clean, safe, white-sand beaches. Most hotels have their own private slice, complete with sunbeds, staff and drinks on tap; but, if not, top public beaches include Jumeirah Public Beach, where new entertainment complex La Mer is close enough for a lunch spot; and Marina Beach, which has easy access to the cafes, restaurants and laidback waterfront promenade of the marina.

Time to spend here: Two days

The Dubai stuff

You cant spend a week in Dubai without ticking off some of its highlights.

First up is the Burj Khalifa. At almost 830m high, the worlds tallest building has eye-popping alfresco viewing platforms on levels 124, 148 and  for high rollers  a sleek lounge at level 125. Underneath the Burj is the Dubai Mall (the worlds biggest, naturally), stuffed with waterfalls, an aquarium, a souk and more than 1,300 shops.

Time to spend here: One hour up the Burj, one hour in the mall

The baffling Dubai Frame (Visit Dubai)

Opened at the start of 2018, the gold rectangle that is the Dubai Frame offers a new view over the city. Look out one side of the Frame and you seen downtown Dubai, all glass and angles; look out the other and theres old Dubai, all low-slung beige buildings and grid-like streets. (And in between both sides is a glass floor, staring 150m straight down.) Right beneath the frame is genteel Zabeel Park, which, if youre here on a Friday, hosts the Ripe Market: ideal if you want to find hipster accoutrements like crusty sourdough bread and handmade beard oil.

Time to spend here: One hour up the Frame, one hour in the park

Then theres Atlantis, Dubais original OTT resort that wraps in a hotel, a mega waterpark with vertical drop flume and The Lost Chambers aquarium amid the usual shops, cafes and restaurants. The resort has just unveiled a spanking new beach club  White Beach  whose restaurant comes with the most preposterous dessert ever to be served in Dubai: profiteroles drizzled in 18-carat gold sauce. Does it get more Dubai than this?

Time to spend here: An afternoon

When youve maxed out downtown (the Burj Khalifa, the Mall) and Dubais old city and the beaches, the Dubai Marina is a slow-mo way to spend an afternoon. Theres the man-made marina, along which dhow boats chug gently, surrounded by a waterfront promenade that feels less enclosed than the rest of the city. For a lazy lunch, try Pier 7, a cylinder of restaurants set right by the water, most with outdoor seating. (My recommendation: Lebanese Abd el Wahab.) Nearby is Bluewaters Island, a just-opened land reclamation project complete with a giant Ferris wheel and illuminated trees. Get to it by crossing a skinny bridge from the marina.

Time to spend here: An afternoon, or come in the evening for dinner

The hotels

Unsurprisingly, theres no shortage of first-class hotels in which to hole up in Dubai  with a stream of new openings over the past year (the W on the Palm, the Mandarin Oriental, the Waldorf Astoria), as well as established properties constantly updating their pools/restaurants/anything else worth chucking money at.

Jumeirah Al Naseem, part of the gargantuan Madinat Jumeirah hotel complex, is within the shadow of the (whisper it) seven-star, sail-shaped Burj al Arab. Theres a contemporary Arabian elegance to the rooms and suites, organised around the hotels sprawling pool complex, which has a dizzying array of pools for adults and families as well as hot tubs. This hotel has easy access to some pristine beach, and buggies are available to take guests between the other hotels within the complex, including Jumeirah Mina ASalam and Jumeirah Al Qasr.

Rates from 995AED (208), jumeirah.com/en/stay/dubai/jumeirah-al-naseem

The pool at the new Mandarin Oriental (Mandarin Oriental)

The newly opened Mandarin Oriental, on a prized section of Jumeirah Beach, has a couple of excellent in-house restaurants (Portuguese Tasca, plus Japanese steak house Netsu), a double-level spa and spacious suites decked out in pops of urban-in-feel green velvet. Its turquoise sunloungers and daybeds also spill out onto Jumeirah Beach.

Rates start from 1,545 AED (315) B&B, mandarinoriental.com

Travel essentials

Emirates flies to Dubai from 366 return.

For more information, visit visitdubai.com/en
ALBANY  Last September, a State Police official placed a phone call to the owner and manager of the South Albany Airport, Ted Zabinski. The call concerned a flight from the airstrip in 2018 that passed over the state Capitol, towing a banner asking the state Legislature to pass the Child Victims Act.

The flight had been chartered by Kat Sullivan, an alleged rape victim turned outspoken activist.

Both the State Police and Zabinski maintain the phone call was benign. But others, including Sullivans attorney, contend that Zabinski was intimidated by the call, to the point that he didn't allow Sullivan to hire another flight from there in December, with a new banner criticizing New York's government.

While the State Police normally investigate criminal matters, the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which investigates civil violations of ethics and lobbying law, requested last September that the State Police contact the airstrip owner, the police said. The call came as JCOPE was ramping up its controversial probe into Sullivan for potential violations of state lobbying law allegedly committed in 2018.

The call from State Police had an impact, according to David Dempsey, the owner of New Jersey-based High Exposure Inc., an aerial advertising company that Sullivan had tried to hire for the December flight.

Dempsey spoke to Zabinksi on Dec. 19, the day that Sullivan had planned to again fly a banner over the Capitol and JCOPE's office.

According to Dempsey, Zabinski relayed during the conversation that he didn't want Sullivan's flight going out of his airport. The reason, Dempsey said, was that Zabinski wanted to preserve his relationship" with State Police.

Sullivan says she was grounded once it became clear her banner  stating "Dissolve JCOPE," with a cat shooting lasers out of its eyes at the words  had a charged political message.

Zabinski, the South Albany Airport owner, told the Times Union he had rejected Sullivan's flight request because he generally disallows banner tow flights. Those flights pose a safety risk given the number of helicopters that come in and out of the airport, he said. (South Albany Airport is used by the general public, but privately owned.)

Zabinski told the Times Union he had "no idea" how Sullivan had launched a prior banner flight out of the airport in 2018, if they are banned there.

It was unusual that State Police, an agency under the direction of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, became involved in a civil lobbying investigation. Maj. Brent Gilliam made the call to Zabinski last September as a courtesy to someone at JCOPE, according to the State Police.

JCOPE asked NYSP Aviation unit for assistance in locating the name of an aircraft operator who used the South Albany Airport as a take-off point for a banner tow, said State Police spokesman Beau Duffy. As a courtesy, State Police called the airport to request the information. No other details were discussed.

Another State Police official, who spoke to Zabinski after the flight was grounded, had a slightly more expansive description. In a later phone call with Sullivan, which she tape recorded, the State Police official said Zabinski and Gilliam in September had discussed Sullivan's past banner tow in 2018 and "plans for a banner tow."

A JCOPE spokesman, Walter McClure, declined to say which JCOPE employee had requested State Police make the call, or to explain why the JCOPE officials would not make the call themselves.

Lori Donadio, a JCOPE investigator, last September placed other calls investigating Sullivan's 2018 lobbying spending. McClure would not say whether it was Donadio that had made the request of Gilliam. In fact, McClure maintained JCOPE was unaware that State Police called the airport's owner.

"While we routinely reach out to other state agencies and law enforcement partners, like State Police, for background information that may be helpful in our work, we were not aware of any State Police phone calls to the airport," McClure said.

JCOPE in September was pursuing information about Sullivans lobbying spending. It's probe included issuing subpoenas as part of an 18-month inquiry into whether she had exceeded a $5,000 threshold in 2018, which would require her to register as a lobbyist.

Sullivan said she was working on her own to raise awareness of the Child Victims Act, and that she did not stand to personally benefit financially from the laws passage. She argued she should not be subject to the extensive requirements imposed by JCOPE on professional lobbyists.

Sullivan, who has said she was raped by one of her teachers at Troy's Emma Willard School more than two decades ago, spent a portion of a 2016 settlement she reached with the school to advocate in 2018 for the passage of the Child Victims Act.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Cameron MacDonald, who is Sullivans lawyer in a lawsuit she's filed against JCOPE, said the call from State Police was meant to intimidate Zabinski.

Im not aware of any law authorizing JCOPE to use the State Police in its investigations, said MacDonald, executive director of the Albany-based Government Justice Center, which is representing Sullivan pro bono. JCOPE pinpointed South Albany Airport, but couldnt place a phone call? JCOPE had no trouble contacting Ms. Sullivans billboard and banner providers and issuing subpoenas to them. Someone intended for (the) NYSP call to the airport to intimidate and it worked. Now Ms. Sullivan is out thousands of dollars because the South Albany Airport manager was too afraid of the state to let her flight take off in December.

Duffy, the State Police spokesman, said the agency did not provide any further assistance to JCOPE beyond one phone call, and that the agency does not normally assist JCOPE in its investigations.

Making a single phone call as a courtesy to facilitate a point of contact is not prohibited, Duffy said. We were not asked to assist with the investigation or to provide any investigative resources.

In December, JCOPE dropped its investigation into whether Sullivan violated lobbying laws as she pushed for passage of the Child Victims Act. In a letter to Sullivan, a JCOPE official said she had shown outright contempt for the law as demonstrated by ... increasingly defiant and profane emails to JCOPE officials

But in concluding the five-page letter, a JCOPE official wrote that the panel  which had been criticized for so vigorously investigating a rape victim who had lobbied to help other victims  had decided not to take further action.

Two weeks later, Sullivan attempted to launch the new flight with a banner assailing JCOPE.

Sullivan, a registered nurse with a flair for theatrical protest, had planned the December flight as a means to bring media attention to her criticisms of JCOPE, whose chairman she'd previously slammed in highway billboard ads. Sullivan has also been deeply critical of Cuomo, including placing posters and stickers around Manhattan alleging Cuomo supported the "rape" of her First Amendment rights.

The Child Victims Act  which finally passed in 2019 after a decade-long battle  opened a one-year period for victims of past child sexual abuse to file claims that had previously been blocked by the statute of limitations.

Still, Sullivan's activism continues. She said that on Feb. 13 she will again attempt to have a banner flown over the Capitol.
There was a veiled agreement among participants at a recent gathering in Obiaruku, Delta state, South South, Nigeria, that as a nation; if achieving a people-purposed leadership forms part of our aim as a nation, if accelerating economic development is our goal, if social and cultural development is our dreams, if promoting peace, support industries and improve energy sector forms our objective, and if we must escape building a country that future historians will not characterize as a geographical entity reputed for loss of jobs or qualifies as a state where citizens daily slide into poverty and unexpected illness,then,we must be ready to join the global education advancement train.

Apart from creating, supporting and promoting actions and activities for its propagation, the gathering agreed that catalyzing the process, will among other things necessitate; the review of the education curriculum currently in use in the country as the outputs or products of the curriculum no longer find a safe landing in almost any sector in Nigeria today; calls for the allocation of considerable attention to education sector because going by the Global partnership for Education, education is one of the most important investments a country can make in its people and its future. The SDG goal number 4, is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all was explicit on this issue. The event was organized by a civil Society organization to mark the International Day of Education 2020 celebration tagged Learning for people, planet, prosperity and peace,

Indeed, Nigerians cannot agree more with the above argument as education is globally recognized as the bedrock of development; with sound educational institutions, a country in absolute terms is as good as made -as the institutions will turn out all rounded manpower to continue with the development of the society driven by well thought out ideas, policies, programmes, and project. Well impacted education shapes the society and encourages the masses to look beyond the acquisition of certificates in the university and focus on how to create jobs instead of depending on the government for employment that may never come,

But we cannot forget that in the estimation of the government at all levels, such creed or ideology exists more in words than action.

A telling proof to this assertion is the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, which lasted between the year 2000 and 2015, and was among other intentions aimed at eradicating extreme poverty and hunger as well as achieve universal primary education, where Nigeria and other Africa countries performed abysmally below average,there are many more ways government actions and inaction impedes achievement of balanced education.

To take one more example of such, it could be recalled that in a unanimous adoption of a motion moved by Hon. Chinedu Emeka Martins titled: Call for Abolishment of Acceptance fee into Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria during the plenary presided over by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, the house described acceptance fee as exploitative and called on Federal Government, to immediately abolish the payment of such fees in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

But today, despite such effort by the house the practice remain unabated in virtually all the public higher institution of learning in the country.

With this non adherence by the tertiary institutions of higher learning in the country, the questions may be asked; what the acceptance fee signifies. Why must students pay acceptance fee for admission they voluntarily expressed interest and paid the examination fees? Who will stop these Universities from such practice since they have rebuffed the house directives? Or must we as a nation allow the useful and the useless like good and evil go on together allowing our nation to reap whatever fruit that comes out in the nearest future?

Accordingly, this present menace posed by this practice indicates a considerably higher risk. And except the Federal Government intervenes, the potential consequence could be higher than that of other challenges currently ravaging the education sector.

By getting preoccupied with revenue generation without consideration to the students comfort or well being, the tertiary institutions define leaning too narrowly in a manner devoid of process and outcome fairness, forgetting that if learning must persist, stakeholders must look inward, reflect critically on their own behaviour, and identify the ways they often advertently or inadvertently contribute to the institutions problems and then change how they act.

Fundamentally, if we look at the present challenge in our schools and conclude that we dont have mutual responsibility to ensure that these children have access to quality and affordable education, it means the nation will be confronted with two sets of challenges-first, gradual slide of the educational system, and flooding of the nations socioeconomic space with graduates that are extremely educated but ill-informed or misinformed.

To explain these points beginning with the first point, India in the 1960s/70s vividly represented an example of what becomes the fate of any nation that ignores, politicizes educational system or allows tribal/ethnic consideration to take place of meritocracy when taking decision on educational policies.

At independence, India, going by history, had so many outstanding people in all fields of scholarship, but for a number of reasons which ranges from; wastage of decades in state planning and controls that have begged it down in bureaucracy and corruption; their caste system, which has been the enemy of meritocracy-as each caste demand its quota in all institutions, whether recruitment into the IAS or entrance to the universities, and the endless conflict and wars with Pakistan that made both poorer, India allowed the high standards the British left them to be lowered. There was less insistence on meritocracy by examinations for entrance into top schools and universities, the professions and the Indian civil service (ICS). Cheating at examinations became rampant, Universities allotted their quota of places to MPs of their states, who either give or sell these places to their constituents.

Regardless of what others may, Nigerians with critical interest believe that as a nation, there is a very big lesson for us to draw from this narrative as our government daily replicates these factors that led to Indias down fall in the past .

More important than the above, until the nation Nigeria tackles the shocking phenomenon of declining standards of physical infrastructures and the near-total collapse of basic facilities that ought to be functional in a tertiary institution, and stamp out thoughtless demand for fees of varying amounts proposed by the school authorities ahead of logic-which is financially squeezing life out of the innocent students and their parents, the nation will like the Germans of old, continue to experience challenges of youths unrest occasioned by the nations educational sectors producing graduates that are extremely educated but remained ill-informed or misinformed.

It was factually supported that between 1930s and 1940s, many members of the Nazi party in Germany were extremely well educated but their knowledge of literature, mathematics, philosophy, and others simply empowered them to be effective Nazis. As no matter how educated they were, no matter how well they cultivated their intellect; they were still trapped in a web of totalitarian propaganda that mobilized for evil purpose.

From the above, it is evident that being educated is not when one bags a PHD, but when one is equipped to skillfully master the arts of ones vocation. Nations spend millions of dollars to create literate citizens in order to have crime-free environment. When a youth is educated, he or she would weigh their thought before they act. An illiterate society is a virus to the entire community, state, and the nation as a whole.

While we wait for the Federal Government to choose the path we should follow as a nation, one thing stands out. Continuing with the present style of education will never engineer national progress but can only set the stage for development collision.

Jerome-Mario Utomi ( [email protected] . 08032725374), writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
SPRINGFIELD  Former state Sen. Martin Sandoval and SafeSpeed LLC, the red light camera company at the center of federal corruption charges against him, are now the targets of a racketeering lawsuit that seeks to void tens of thousands of traffic citations issued through the companys devices.

Lawrence Gress, a Downers Grove resident and lead plaintiff in the case, filed the suit Monday under the federal Racketeering, Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), a law most often used to prosecute organized crime syndicates. But RICO also allows for private civil suits for actions that are part of a criminal enterprise.

The lawsuit alleges SafeSpeed, its officers and employees, paid bribes to Sandoval and several other local government officials to gain approval for placing its red light cameras at various intersections in Chicago-area suburbs.

Sandoval and the other government officials, the lawsuit alleges, were paid as undisclosed sales agents or consultants based on a percentage of the revenue generated by the cameras.

Sandoval served in the state Senate from 2003 until Jan. 1, when he resigned amid the corruption scandal. Starting in January 2009, he was chairman of the powerful Senate Transportation Committee and was instrumental in securing passage of last years $45 billion capital improvements program known as Rebuild Illinois.

He was removed from his chairmanship in October, just weeks after federal agents executed a search warrant on his Statehouse office in Springfield where they seized a number of computers, cellphones and boxes of documents.

On Tuesday, Jan. 28, Sandoval pleaded guilty to one count each of federal bribery and tax fraud charges as part of a deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to cooperate with their ongoing investigations.

The RICO lawsuit, however, is separate from the criminal case, but it is based largely on the same set of facts to which Sandoval has already pleaded guilty.

It alleges that beginning sometime in 2016 and continuing through October 2019, SafeSpeed operated a corrupt enterprise, known as an association-in-fact, by conspiring with the other defendants to pay bribes or kickbacks to public officials who would steer contracts toward the company for operating red light cameras.

Sandoval is accused of using his position in the Senate to serve as the companys protector by ensuring legislation unfavorable to the company, including bills to ban the use of red light cameras, would never pass and to help override objections from the Illinois Department of Transportation about the placement of certain cameras.

In exchange, the lawsuit alleges, SafeSpeed and its employees arranged to pay $20,000 a year in donations to Sandovals campaigns.

The lawsuit was filed as a proposed class action on behalf of an estimated 100,000 or more individuals who were fined between $100 and $200 for each ticket issued by a red light camera that was corruptly and improperly installed, over repeated objections from IDOT, as a direct and proximate result of bribes paid.

While the claim of each individual member of the class is relatively small, the lawsuit argues, combined they add up to millions of dollars.

Other defendants named in the suit are SafeSpeed co-founders and employees Nikki Zollar, Chris Lai, Khalid Cliff Maani and his son Omar Maani; Oakbrook Terrace Mayor Tony Ragucci; the city of Oakbrook Terrace; Cook County Commissioner and McCook Village President Jeff Tobolski; Tobolskis chief of staff, Patrick Doherty; former Chicago Deputy Aviation Commissioner Bill Helm; former Village of Justice Police Chief Robert Gedville; Worth Township Supervisor and Democratic committeeman John OSullivan; Summit Mayor Sergio Rodriguez; Alsip Mayor John Ryan; former state Rep. Michael Carberry, of Oak Lawn; Summit Police Chief John Kosmowski; and Summit Public Works Chief Bill Mundy.

It is the second RICO case that Gress, the lead plaintiff, has filed that involves Sandoval. Another pending case was originally filed in 2017 after Gress was passed over for a job as community relations representative for the Pace Suburban Bus Company in favor of Sandovals son, Martin Sandoval II.

That suit refers to Sandoval as the kingpin at the center of the wide-ranging and longstanding conspiracy alleged in the case.

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WASHINGTON  Makan Delrahim, the head of the antitrust division at the Department of Justice, has recused himself from investigating Google, even as the agencys examination of the largest tech companies ramps up.

Mr. Delrahim, 50, recently removed himself from looking into allegations of anticompetitive practices at Google because of a potential conflict of interest related to his past work for the internet search company, two people with knowledge of the decision said.

In 2007, Mr. Delrahim, who was in private law practice at the time, had a contract to lobby for Googles acquisition of the ad-technology company DoubleClick, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details are confidential.

As the technology review progressed, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim revisited potential conflicts with previous work with the Department of Justices ethics office, a Justice Department spokesman said. He and the ethics office have decided that he should now recuse himself from a matter within the tech review in an abundance of caution.
On Tuesday morning, Democratic Iowan voters were collectively holding their breath as they awaited the much-anticipated caucus results.

But just hours before, 30 expats  amid a packed room of curious observers and press  made history as they gathered at one of the countrys first satellite caucuses at the Haas Center for Public Service on Stanfords campus nearly 2,000 miles away.

Its an opportunity for Iowa voters  namely out-of-state college students who are unable to travel back home  to ensure their voices are heard, while others have a chance to witness the unusual, experiential process in action.

Organizers Ahmi Dhuna, a graduate student and teaching assistant at Stanford from Burlington, and Nova Meurice, an undergraduate student from Iowa City, were among those watching and waiting five and a half hours after the votes had been submitted Monday night.

Im kind of shocked, Dhuna told SFGATE over the phone Tuesday morning. We waited up last night until about midnight and theres nothing. I was expecting something this morning and still, nothing.

RELATED: 'A Systemwide Disaster': How the Iowa Caucuses melted down

She and Meurice have been working with the Iowa Democratic Party since November to bring a caucus site to Stanford. Its just one of two in the state of California, the other being in Palm Springs. Additionally, 22 out-of-state locations spanned the rest of the country, with three international caucus sites in Paris, Scotland and Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.

Dhuna said she wasnt sure what the discussion would be like  many participants were first-time caucusgoers, herself included  but as soon as they began to count voters and determine each candidates viability threshold, the room exploded into action.

Coalitions started forming, there was lots of debate back and forth between nonviable groups, she said. It was really indicative of what a caucus is like in Iowa I didnt know if wed get that same vibe and energy.

While spectators were not allowed in the tiny room to avoid a misrepresentation of voters, doors and windows were left ajar so they could see and hear what was going on.

In California, everyone thinks its an exotic process, Meurice told SFGATE, laughing.

Kicking off at 5 p.m., the event lasted just over an hour and a half. After all was said and done, Bernie Sanders led with 15 votes, followed by Elizabeth Warren with ten votes and Amy Klobuchar, who had five votes. Two delegates each went to Sanders and Warren, while Klobuchar had one.

Now, Meurice said shes feeling nervous as they anticipate the results back home, noticing other similar levels of anxiety throughout the room.

People are kind of seeing how many hands are involved in this system and how much room for errors like these there is," she said. "Its always a little bit scary."

Huddled around a television screen as the chaos and confusion began to unfold, one participant speculated aloud that this years caucus would be Iowas last.

I dont know if thats true, but it makes me wonder, said Meurice. I think who will win will be more of a predictor than it normally is.

In spite of the technological snafus, she and Dhuna think satellite caucuses are a start for voter accessibility, though she added the Democratic party still has "a long way to go."

MORE: 'They just hung up': Iowa caucus official's bizarre CNN appearance

I hope we get this technology stuff sorted out, that its tried and tested before caucus night, Dhuna told SFGATE as she headed into class this morning; one she's teaching about democracy.

Im not sure what the students will be interested in but I think one or two came and observed, said Dhuna. Well see if they enjoyed watching and learning.

The New York Times reports the Iowa Democratic Party will release "the majority of results" at 5 p.m. ET.

Amanda Bartlett is an SFGATE associate digital reporter. Email: amanda.bartlett@sfgate.com | Twitter: @byabartlett
Burma Myanmar Military Asks Govt to Punish Minister for Police Remark

Military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun at a press conference in Naypyitaw on Feb. 3, 2020. / The Irrawaddy

NAYPYITAWA Myanmar military spokesperson has called on the government to take action against Union Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture U Aung Ko for his statement suggesting that high-profile nationalist fugitives remain at large because the government does not have authority over the military-controlled Home Affairs Ministry, which oversees the police force.

I would like to ask [the government] to respond to and take action against such statements by a minister who is under the control of the government, military spokesperson Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun said at a military press conference in Naypyitaw on Monday.

He called U Aung Kos statement baseless and said that the military, known as the Tatmadaw, would file a complaint with the government according to legal procedures.

Speaking at an interfaith event in Yangon last month, Minister U Aung Ko suggested the fugitives would have been arrested if the Home Affairs Ministry was under the control of the civilian government.

Some ask whether the Home Affairs Ministry is really under the control of the government or not, he reportedly said. But it is not the government that closely supervises Myanmars police force. Everyone knows which organization [controls the police].

U Aung Ko was referring to U Wirathu, a firebrand nationalist monk, and ultranationalist U Hla Swe. U Wirathu has been on the run since May 2019 after officials issued a warrant for his arrest under Article 124 (a) of the Penal Code for his attempt to incite disaffection and disloyalty towards the government.

Nationalist U Hla Swe has been on the run since August 2019 after he was charged with sedition under Article 124 (a) for making comments that the court deemed defamatory to government leaders.

Government spokesperson U Zaw Htay has told reporters that police have promised to arrest the two.

[U Aung Ko] said that everyone knows U Wirathu and U Hla Swe have run away. He said this without evidence and in violation of the law in order to cause misunderstanding, said Brig-Gen. Zaw Min Tun.

Brig-Gen. Zaw Min Tun added that under the 2008 Constitution, the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services nominates the Home Affairs Minister but the government has full authority over him as well as Myanmars police force.

[U Aung Ko] should learn what is being done on the ground regarding Myanmars police force. I would say it is not good to make those statements only in order to defame an organization, said the military spokesman.

The Irrawaddy was unable to reach U Aung Ko, who is currently with Vice President Henry Van Thio attending the Peace, Security and Human Development Summit in South Korea.

Former Lower House lawmaker U Ye Htun said that while the heads of the Home Affairs, Border Affairs and Defense ministries are nominated by the chief of the military, they are still accountable to the government.

The government must be able to effectively handle any ministry. It appears that the government dares not exercise [its authority] as provided by the Constitution and is restricted by its concerns for military-civil relations, U Ye Htun said.

U Aung Ko retired from the military as a brigadier general and was then elected to the Lower House of the Union Parliament in 2010 as a member of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. He then became minister of religious affairs and culture under the National League for Democracy (NLD) government and has close ties to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto head of state.

U Aung Ko received warnings from government leaders after he called Islam an extremist religion of Bengalis, in reference to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, during the funeral of a prominent Buddhist monk in Karen State in November 2018.

In May 2017, hundreds of nationalists and Buddhist monks along with thousands of their supporters called for the ministers resignation in a protest in Naypyitaw, accusing the minister of favoring Islam over Buddhism.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko
The U.S. military has deployed a new addition to its nuclear arsenal a long-range missile armed with a nuclear warhead of reduced destructive power. The so-called low-yield missile joins other, more powerful weapons aboard stealthy submarines prowling the oceans.

The debut deployment aboard long-range submarines, known as boomers, is a landmark in U.S. nuclear weapons policy.

It is the first major addition to the strategic nuclear arsenal in recent decades and is a departure from the Obama administration's policy of lessening dependence on nuclear weapons in pursuit of a nuclear-free world.

In confirming the missile deployment to The Associated Press, the Pentagon's top policy official asserted that the weapon makes Americans safer by making nuclear war less likely. Critics, including some Democrats in Congress, call it a dangerous excess that increases the risk of war.

John Rood, the undersecretary of defense for policy, said in an AP interview Monday that adding the low-yield warhead, known as the W76-2, to submarines which tote Trident II ballistic missiles lowers the risk of nuclear war.

He said the United States will continue its stated policy of using nuclear weapons only in extraordinary circumstances. He also said the warhead will help the United States dissuade Russia from risking launching a limited nuclear conflict.

This supplemental capability strengthens deterrence and provides the United States a prompt, more survivable low-yield strategic weapon, Rood said, adding that it supports the U.S. commitment to deter attacks against allies, and demonstrates to potential adversaries that there is no advantage to limited nuclear employment because the United States can credibly and decisively respond to any threat scenario.

Rood declined to provide details about the deployment, including when or where the deployment began; all details, he said, are classified secret. The deployment was reported last week by the Federation of American Scientists, citing anonymous sources and reporting that it was believed to have begun in the final weeks of 2019 with an Atlantic deployment of the USS Tennessee.

Adding the W76-2 fits President Donald Trump's stated interest in beefing up the nuclear arsenal, although he has not commented on this specific weapon. His administration is committed to a broader, costly modernization of the nuclear force.

The essence of critics' argument against the low-yield weapon is that it makes the world less safe because it offers decision-makers another option for using a nuclear weapon in a conflict that could then escalate to a full-blown nuclear war. They also contend that lower-yield air-launched nuclear weapons already in the U.S. arsenal make the W76-2 redundant.

Rood, however, said the submarine-launched low-yield missile is important because it can more reliably penetrate air defenses than could an airplane armed with nuclear weapons.

The W76-2 is the Trump administration's answer to what it calls a Russian misconception of an exploitable gap in U.S. nuclear capabilities.

By deploying missiles at sea with a lower nuclear yield, or destructive power, the administration aims to dissuade Moscow from thinking it could win a war in Europe, for example, by firing its own low-yield nuclear weapon first, forcing Washington and its NATO allies to either commit to full-scale nuclear war or capitulate.

The yield, or destructive power, of the W76-2 is classified. Experts say it may be about 5 kilotons, or roughly one-third the destructive power of the Little Boy nuclear bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in the final days of World War II, killing tens of thousands of people.

By comparison, the missile that has been deploying aboard strategic submarines for decades has carried the 90-kiloton W76 warhead and the 475-kiloton W88 warhead.

The newly deployed warhead was produced by modifying the W76. Last February the administration said it expected to have the new version ready for use by late 2019.

The W76-2 has been fitted atop an undisclosed number of Trident ballistic missiles carried aboard the Navy's Ohio-class submarines. This submarine fleet, split between bases at Bangor, Washington, and King's Bay, Georgia, represents one leg of the U.S. nuclear triad, along with the Air Force's long-range B-2 and B-52 bombers and land-based Minuteman 3 missiles.

The newest addition to the arsenal comes amid important shifts in the U.S.-Russia strategic relationship. Doubts are growing that the Trump administration will accept Moscow's offer to extend the New START arms control treaty before it expires next February.

It is the only remaining treaty limiting the number of U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapons.

Rood noted that deploying the new lower-yield missiles has not increased the total number of American weapons under the New START limits because each of the warheads replaces one of the more powerful versions that had been exclusively deployed aboard the subs.

Bruce Blair, a former Air Force nuclear weapons officer and co-founder of Global Zero, an international group that advocates the elimination of nuclear arms, said he sees merit in reducing the destructive power of nuclear arsenals.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Economy Minister presents new head of United Airports of Georgia

By Nika Gamtsemlidze

Natia Turnava, the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, presented Tamar Archvadze as the new head of United Airports of Georgia.According to Natia Turnava, Archuadze has extensive experience working in the aviation sector and has been working as a curator in this field for many years.I would like to introduce Tamar Archuadze, the new head of the United Airports of Georgia - a very experienced and young professional who is well known in the field. Until now, Tamar has held the position of deputy chief at the Civil Aviation Agency, and from today on she will start managing airport unions with renewed energy. Together we will more and more effectively develop our airport infrastructure, said Turnava.Turnava said the first thing that the new head was instructed to do was to inspect the Tbilisi International Airport.As you may remember, a few months ago I was already at the Tbilisi International Airport and I provided a few objections to the airport management company. TAV Georgia took note of our remarks about renovating toilets, adjusting the interiors, furniture and I hope the process progresses faster. Of course, we will not stop paying attention to the process, but it is not the only task, Turnava added.According to the Minister of Economy, it is a more important and complex task to complete the expansion of Kutaisi International Airport in a timely manner.According to her, in autumn the country will have a new terminal at Kutaisi International Airport, which will increase the capacity four times. At the moment, the Kutaisi airport serves relatively low budget airlines and allows tourists as well as citizens of Georgia to travel at reasonable prices.In addition, first of all, it is my task to be more open to new airlines and new destinations and to reinforce open-air policies and principles to serve our guests and our citizens more comfortably and better, stressed the Minister of Economy.For her part, as the new head of United Airports of Georgia Tamar Archuadze noted, she is pleased to be joining a team of experienced professionals.I want to add to this team the experience and skills I have gained through working in the aviation sector over the past 20 years. Our main task will be to be passenger-oriented, improve our services and be the best in the region, noted Archuadze.United Airports of Georgia LLC is a 100% state-owned enterprise. As the airports authority of the state, UAG owns all airports in the country, including three international and one domestic airport at the moment. All those airport terminals have been fully rebuilt and all airport infrastructure has been modernized during the last 8 years.Tbilisi International Airport New Terminal opened in February of 2007. The airport is operated by the TAV Airports Holding Co.Batumi International Airport started operation in May of 2007. The airport is operated by TAV Airports Holding Co.Mestia Airport (Queen Tamar Airport) was officially opened in December 2010 to support mountain regions of Georgia and facilitate tourism development. The airport is operated by UAG.Kutaisi David The Builder International Airport was opened in September 2012. Kutaisi Airport is the first low-cost airport in the whole region and is focused to attract low-cost carriers and facilitate tourism development in the country. Kutaisi Airport is also operated by UAG.
Burma Coronavirus Hits Myanmars Travel Agents

Chinese tourists at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon in 2019. / Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy

Yangon  Myanmars travel agents have been further hit by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourisms suspension of visas-on-arrival for Chinese tourists and demands that tour operators cancel Chinese trips to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The ministry canceled visas-on-arrival for Chinese visitors on Saturday and on Monday instructed tour operators to suspend all travel services for Chinese tourists and tours from China.

The move followed the announcement by the World Health Organization that the coronavirus outbreak was a global emergency.

We have to cancel all of the booked tours for February and the remaining tours are at risk until the end of the peak season. Operations have completely stopped for small travel agencies that only handle Chinese tours, said a tour operator from Yangon, who asked not to be named.

Myanmar had been expecting to receive more Chinese tourists this season than in previous years.

We received twice as many Chinese bookings than last year. We pray the coronavirus can be controlled, the travel agent said.

Myanmar received more than 300,000 Chinese tourists in 2018 and more than 750,000 in 2019, according to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.

Many businesses, families and individual trips are being canceled as they fear infection, said Ma Hla Hla Myint, another tour operator in Yangon.

Some of our European customers are also canceling trips because their flights stop in China or Hong Kong, she said.

Transport and car rental services are also affected.

There have been fewer European and US tours visiting in recent years. But we received many Chinese tourists last year and business was very good. We expected this year to be better but this is for our safety and we have to accept it, said the owner of a car rental service in Mandalay.

We have canceled all the inbound and outbound tours for February and informed our customers, said a representative of another operator in Yangon, which arranges visits to Myanmar and China.

Ko Thura, a tour operator from Mandalay, said: International airports are banning Chinese airlines. Many visitors to Myanmar use Chinese airlines and the disruption will increase if the number of infections rises.

Yangon International Airport said around 12 airlines had been banned, including China Eastern Airlines, which flew directly from virus-hit Wuhan to Yangon and Mandalay, China Southern Airlines, Kunming Airlines, Air China, Myanma Airways International and Myanmar National Airlines.

The death toll has reached 425 and over 20,400 confirmed cases were reported in China and more than 150 confirmed cases have been reported outside China, according to the WHO.

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A 63-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly going on a 30-minute shooting rampage and killing three people in Maine.

Maine State Police said Thomas Bonfanti, 63, shot and killed two men and one woman at three different locations across Machias County in Maine on Monday morning.

Another woman was injured in a spree that lasted around 30 minutes.

This photo provided by the Washington County Jail in Machias, Maine, shows Thomas Bonfanti, 63, of Northfield, Maine yesterday

Authorities were first called to a location in Machias, where they found one man, Shawn Currey, 57, dead inside the home.

The surviving woman was discovered outside the property.

Moments later, a 911 call came from a neighboring town a few miles away.

When they attended, police discovered the corpse of 33-year-old Samuel Power.

Another call, this time from Machias again, led police to discover the body of Jennifer Bryant-Flynn, 49.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office tracked down Bonfanti at the American Legion in Machias and charged the 63-year-old with triple murder.

Maine State Police said he knew all three of the victims but wouldn't comment on how.

'Last night we had supper,' one of Bonfanti's friends, Maria Smith, told WabiTV.

Smith added that she thought that the 63-year-old suffered with mental health issues.
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Linkedin Eisya A. Eloksari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 13:55 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206272b5b 1 National coronavirus,Airlangga-Hartarto,Wuhan-coronavirus,China,face-mask,mask,exports,production Free

Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said that China has placed large orders for Indonesian-made masks in an effort to stop the spread of a coronavirus within the country.

All mask production has been locked by China, he said during a seminar on Monday, adding that as much as three months' worth of mask production had been ordered by the East Asian country.

Read also: [UPDATED] Suspected Wuhan coronavirus in Indonesia: What we know so far

The senior minister said that producers should stock up to meet domestic demand to make sure that Indonesians have access to masks.

The 2019-nCoV virus was first detected on Dec. 31 in Wuhan, China and spread to other countries earlier this year. The new strain of virus had killed 426, all but one in China, and had infected more than 20,000 globally as of Tuesday morning.

Airlangga said airlines and tourism were among the first sectors affected by the outbreak as people canceled their travel plans.

"The continuation of the Belt and Road Initiative is also awaiting the developments in China. I think that is one of the biggest effects," he told reporters.

Despite the adverse effects of the virus, Airlangga said that Indonesia should remain optimistic as the country had secured some investment commitments during the 2020 World Economic Forum Meeting in Davos, Switzerland last month.

Read also: Jokowi's coronavirus diplomacy works well to convince desperate China

The minister also said that the country would continue to expand its economic influence to the Asia-Pacific region with more comprehensive economic partnership agreements.

"Optimism is key during these uncertain times," he said, adding that Indonesia should strengthen its domestic markets, expand exports and find import substitutes to keep its economy buoyed.
Guwahati/Agartala, Feb 4 : Around 3,000 employees of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Tuesday observed a one-hour strike across the northeastern region to protest against the union government's budget proposal to sell a part of stake in the state-run financial institution.

The one-hour shut down was observed as part of the LIC employees' nation-wide agitation to protest Union Finance's Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget proposal of partial disinvestment of LIC.

The All India Insurance Employees Association (AIIEA) in alliance with two other organisations had called the strike across the country.

"As part of the country-wide stirs, we have organised protest demonstrations in front of the LICI offices in all the eight northeastern states on Monday. Today (Tuesday) we have observed a one-hour strike. All the three agitating employees organisations would sit together soon to decide the future course of action if the central government remained firm on its decision," AIIEA's Silchar Division Vice-President Shyamal Chakraborty said.

Sitharaman while presenting the 2020-21 central budget in the parliament on Saturday had announced that the government would sell a part of its stake in LICI through initial public offering (IPO).

"When the LIC's enormous contribution to protect the Indian economy is prudent and well-established, the central government's latest decision aimed to allow foreign insurance companies to do business in India and to permit the corporate bodies to grab the LICI's vast assets," Chakraborty claimed.
YEREVAN -- The trial of a Russian soldier charged with beating a woman to death has begun in the Armenian city of Gyumri, although the defendant was not transported from the Russian military base to the court for the proceedings.

As the trial began on February 4, 24-year-old Andrei Razgildeyev remained on the Russian military base in Armenia where he was stationed and where he has been detained for more than a year since his arrest.

The trial was adjourned for a month, court officials said after the day's proceedings.

Razgildeyev was arrested in December 2018 following the violent death of Julietta Ghukasian, a 57-year-old street cleaner from Gyumri. He was charged by Armenian law enforcement with assault and involuntary manslaughter, but a possible motive remains unclear.

If convicted, he faces five to 10 years in prison.

The refusal to transfer the defendant to Armenian authorities has angered the victim's family and rights activists.

Aleksandr Gladyshev, a representative of the Russian military base, said the base commander had in a letter prohibited Razgildeyev from being transported off the territory of the facility until Armenian authorities provided security guarantees for the soldier in writing, something the Russian Defense Ministry says has not yet occurred.

Gladyshev asserted that "since this is a high-profile case, any transfer of the Russian serviceman to the territory of Armenia raises concerns."

"This issue was raised by the Russian Defense Ministry. We are still waiting for permission from the commanders regarding [Razgildeyev's] movement in the territory of Armenia," he said.

The trial had originally been expected to open on September 6, but it has been postponed at least three times without explanation.

Ghukasian's daughter, Anahit, demanded that the defendant be brought to the court, saying: "Bring the Russian here so we can finally see what this trial is going to be like. I have lost a parent, not a chicken."

Her lawyer, Arayik Chaylian, petitioned that the court ensure Razgildeyev's presence at the next hearing. "The fact is that Razgildeyev has failed to appear in court for ungrounded reasons," he said.

Rights activist Artur Sakunts, who also represents Anahit Ghukasian, described the Russian commander's stance as "an exceptionally contemptuous attitude toward the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia."

Armenian lawyer Narine Rshtuni, who is representing Razgildeyev, said she knew nothing about the base commander's decision before the start of the hearing.

But she said of her client, "I can only say that he does not plead guilty. You will see the rest during the trial."

The northwestern Armenian city of Gyumri, where Russia maintains a garrison, was the site of a 2015 deadly attack attributed to a Russian soldier based there.

A local court in 2016 sentenced Private Valery Permyakov to life in prison for the killing of seven members of an Armenian family.

Permyakov was held in detention at the Russian base before and during his trial and was later transferred to Russia to serve his sentence. The case sparked protests in Gyumri and elsewhere in Armenia.
San Francisco, CA--Just as computer scientists developed standards to deliver digital content across the globe to your laptop, neuroscientists are working to break down barriers in data sharing. Neurodata Without Borders (NWB) is an alliance organized around a common mission: make precious brain recordings from individual labs standardized, sharable and open-sourced. By promoting collaboration, NWB has the potential to massively accelerate our understanding of normal brain functions--and when they go wrong.

Novela Neurotech, a startup accelerating the development of digital therapies for neurological and psychiatric disorders, is proud to announce a collaboration with brain research expert Loren Frank, PhD at the UCSF Center for Integrative Neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator, in promoting and converting data to the newest NWB format, NWB2.0.

The need for widespread data sharing has never been greater across the globe. With multiple large-scale brain research projects in action, including the US BRAIN Initiative, the EU-based Human Brain Project, and the global International Brain Initiative, neuroscience is producing an unprecedented amount of data that cannot be effectively shared and analyzed by individual labs. NWB2.0 provides a means to share precious neurophysiological data in a way that allows scientists to reap the full benefits, potentially uncovering insights into troubling and difficult brain disorders including epilepsy, major depression, addiction, chronic pain and autism.

Data sharing among neuroscientists remains the exception, rather than the norm. "By promoting NWB2.0, we hope to encourage collaboration within the neuroscientific community, and accelerate the translation from basic research into effective neurological and psychiatric disorder treatments for patients desperately in need," says Ray Iskander, CEO of Novela Neurotech.

"The brain is an enormously complex organ. To truly understand the neurobiological workings that support cognition, emotion and creativity, as well as relieve the staggering global burden of disability from neurological and psychiatric disorders, we need to have a way to adequately share data to enable collaboration. We are very happy to work with Novela Neurotech and the Neurodata Without Borders alliance to reduce data silos in neuroscience, and in turn, promote better understanding of the brain and its massive computational and storage capacities," says Dr. Frank.

A Hidden Neuro-code

The brain's "base code" is hidden within its electrical activity patterns. By cracking the neural code, scientists hope to understand the mechanisms behind cognitive functions, decipher how they go wrong, and develop new treatments--such as "smart" neural interfaces--to target difficult neurological illnesses, including addiction, chronic pain and depression.

Decoding brain activity relies on massive amounts of neurophysiological data, or the electrical signal neurons generate as they communicate with one another. As neuroscience enters an ever-increasingly collaborative "big data" era, the ability to standardize and share these data across labs, countries and continents becomes ever more pressing.

In 2014, a coalition of research institutions including the Kavli Foundation initiated NWB to begin addressing this problem. The first pilot, dubbed NWB:Neurophysiology (NWB:N) standardized format for electrical data gathered from individual neurons; additional projects, including human brain imaging and high-performance computing, are underway. Today, NWB:N is gaining momentum among high-profile institutions, including the Allen Institute for Brain Science based in Seattle, Washington and the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF) for open and FAIR neuroscience based in Stockholm, Sweden. In October of 2019, NWB:N was selected for an R&D100 Award by the R&D World magazine.

Fundamentally, NWB:N enables collaboration from complex neurophysiological experiments--sharing, reuse, reproduction--across multiple teams and projects. It represents an entire software ecosystem to accelerate the pace of neuroscientific discovery.

"By helping neuroscientists convert existing data into the latest NWB2.0 format, Novela hopes to foster a new era in neurodata sharing and collaboration," says Iskander. Insights from these common, shared data, available for mining, will promote our understanding of the brain's electrical communication, and develop novel effective treatments for neurological disorders. Novela is leading a new era of brain stimulation-based neurological treatments called Dynamiceuticals, tailored to the electrical brain dynamics of each person's brain.

"Dr. Loren Frank is an expert in both NWB and his lab is leading research in how the brain learns, remembers and decides. We are extremely excited to work with his team, to support their collaboration with other research teams in order to improve our understanding of the brain and accelerate the development of new effective brain treatments" says Iskander.

For more information about NWB:N, visit nwb.org. For additional details about Novela's participation in NWB2.0, please contact our press team.

###

About Novela Neurotech

Novela Neurotech, based in Alameda, CA, has been on the forefront of accelerating brain stimulation research. Spun off from Waterloo University in Canada, Novela is developing a full brain stimulation platform NeurekaTM, which includes a smart hardware neural interface and a cloud-based software analysis suite, to aid researchers in developing new treatments.

About HHMI

HHMI is a non-profit scientific research organization with the mission to advance basic biomedical research and science education for the benefit of humanity. More information can be found at hhmi.org.

About the Kavli Foundation

The Kavli Foundation supports the advancement of science and the increase of public understanding and support for scientists and their work. For more information please visit kavlifoundation.org

Press Contact at Novela Neurotech

For more information about the collaboration, please contact Dr. Shelly Fan, Media & University Relations at shelly.fan@novelaneuro.com
A court in central Germany on Tuesday rejected a case calling for a local church associated with Protestant firebrand Martin Luther to remove an ancient anti-Semitic carving from its wall. Widely known the as "Judensau" (Jews' sow), the 13th-century bas relief on the church in eastern German town Wittenberg depicts a rabbi peering into a pig's anus, while other figures suckle milk from its teats. The hateful symbolism is that Jews obtain their sustenance and scripture from an unclean animal. A panel of judges at Saxony-Anhalt state's superior court in Naumburg found the image "did not harm Jews' reputation" because it was "embedded" in a wider memorial context, presiding judge Volker Buchloh said, according to regional broadcaster MDR. After failing at a lower court with his claim that the sculpture was insulting to Jews and should be removed, a local Jewish man had appealed the decision. Announcing Tuesday's ruling, Buchloh said "anyone looking at the relief cannot fail to see the memorial and the information sign the parish put up in 1988," placing it in the proper context. Johannes Block, the pastor at the Wittenberg Stadtkirche (City Church), told Munich-based daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Monday that the image was a "repulsive and tasteless" attack on Jews that "fills me with shame and pain". "We did not ask for this sculpture, but are trying to handle this difficult inheritance responsibly," he added, saying he was in talks with Germany's Central Jewish Council on how to update the memorial. Many churches in the Middle Ages had similar "Judensau" carvings, which were also aimed at sending the stark message that Jews were not welcome in their communities. Another example can be seen at the world-famous Cologne cathedral. But the importance of the Wittenberg relief is tied to Luther, himself a notorious anti-Semite, who preached there two centuries later. It was in Wittenberg that Luther is said to have nailed his 95 theses to another church's door in 1517, leading to a split with the Roman Catholic Church and the birth of Protestantism. The theologian argued that Christians could not buy or earn their way into heaven but only entered by the grace of God, marking a turning point in Christian thinking. But Luther also came to be linked to Germany's darkest history, as his later sermons and writings were marked by anti-Semitism -- something that the Nazis would later use to justify their brutal persecution of the Jews. The superior court's decision not to order the relief removed can still be appealed to Germany's highest court, the Federal Court of Justice.
A diver recently discovered the answer to a mystery in plain sight: A ship that had set out from Charleston almost a century ago but never reached its destination was sitting on the ocean floor off the coast of Florida.

The finding caps decades of speculation over the fate of the SS Cotopaxi, which was thought by many to be a victim of the Bermuda Triangle, even making a cameo in a Stephen Spielberg film about alien visitors.

It's more likely the poorly maintained ship simply encountered bad weather, said Mike Barnette, the diver who examined a well-known angler's spot known as the Bear Wreck off St. Augustine.

After carefully examining the features of the wreck and comparing them to insurance records, he determined it was the Cotopaxi.

For the Rev. Gregory West, the find solved a more personal mystery, giving him closure for the first time about the fate of a family member.

"It's a relief to know exactly what happened because we were always told he disappeared somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle," said West, a Charleston resident and native.

"Especially as kids, that was this great mystery and all kinds of imaginations would run wild as to exactly what happened," he said.

The Cotopaxi, a coal-carrying steamship of about 260 feet long, carried a crew of 32 when it set off for Havana, Cuba, in late November 1925. Most of the crew were Charlestonians, including West's great-uncle, Robert P. Fulcher.

Fulcher was the oldest boy among eight children, part of a working-class family that lived in an alley off East Bay Street, West said. His father worked at a quarantine station at Fort Johnson, and Fulcher himself worked there for a time in between stints in the Navy and on a passenger steamer that ferried people to New York City.

By 1925, he was second mate on the Cotopaxi. The ship was built toward the end of World War I for the war effort and named for a small Colorado town that had been particularly successful in a war bond drive. It was eventually acquired by the Clinchfield Coal and Navigation Co. of New York.

Aside from once being seized in 1920 with contraband alcohol, according to a News and Courier article then, it was largely used to ferry coal to market in Havana, Galveston and elsewhere.

While the ship had set out on a typical run to Cuba on Nov. 29, 1925, newspaper reports about how it encountered trouble are thin. News and Courier articles indicate the ship at one point radioed Charleston to report its hold had taken on water and was listing to one side.

After that, radio communications stopped.

About two weeks after the collier departed, The News and Courier ran a front-page report that the crew had been found safe in Cuba, while the ship itself was lost.

That report was later debunked, and the families of the crew eventually tried to sue Clinchfield for $1 million, or almost $15 million in today's dollars.

Barnette's research relied heavily on documents and testimony from that lawsuit, which showed the ship was in a state of disrepair and unable to weather a serious gale.

A judge, however, ruled in 1928 the sinking of the Cotopaxi could only be blamed on a storm, and the company was not liable, according to a New York Times report from that year.

Barnette said his work doesn't change the end of the story.

"We know the loved ones are lost, but at least now (the families) have some closure," he said.

West's grandmother, who was Fulcher's youngest sister, was hesitant to discuss her brother's disappearance in front of her grandchildren while she was alive.

"I think it was very tragic to the entire family," West said.

West said he did not know the name of the ship his great-uncle died on until after the 1977 release of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," in which the Cotopaxi miraculously shows up in the Gobi Desert after having disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle.

The film got the real story wrong in two respects, Barnette said. First, it depicts a ship of the same name that was built later  not the much-smaller Cotopaxi that sank in the 1920s.

And second, it perpetuated the myth of the ship being lost in the Triangle, an area between Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico where dozens of other ships and planes have disappeared.

"I kind of have a love-hate relationship with the Bermuda Triangle, because it takes away from the real story, the real drama," Barnette said.

The dive that confirmed the wreck will be aired Sunday on Shipwreck Secrets on the Science Channel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said attempts were made to mislead people on the Union Budget, however, even critics now accept that it is the best budget under the prevailing global economic scenario

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said attempts were made to mislead people on the Union Budget, however, even critics now accept that it is the best budget under the prevailing global economic scenario.

Speaking at the BJP parliamentary party meeting in Delhi, Modi hailed the Bodo accord and the agreement to settle the members of Bru-Reang tribe in Tripura, terming them "historic" successes of his government in this decade.

It will usher in an era of peace in the North East which has suffered decades of bloodshed and violence, he said.

Referring to the Union Budget, which was presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, Modi said attempts were made to mislead people on it.

However, people have now realised that it is a very good budget and even critics have acknowledged that this is the best budget under the prevailing global economic scenario, he said.

BJP president JP Nadda, who attended the first parliamentary party meet after becoming the party chief, was felicitated by Modi and others.

Nadda expressed confidence about the BJP's win in the 8 February Delhi Assembly polls and added that over 240 party MPs are spending several days in the poor colonies of the national capital to reach out to voters.
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SANTA FE  State prosecutors and Democratic Rep. Antonio Moe Maestas of Albuquerque moved closer to an agreement Monday on proposed legislation to overhaul New Mexicos rules for probation and parole.

A key aim of the proposal is to reduce the number of people sent back to prison based on technical violations  such as failing to show up for an appointment  rather than a new criminal charge.

In a committee hearing, Maestas introduced a variety of amendments to the legislation, House Bill 263, aimed at satisfying concerns of district attorneys, the Attorney Generals Office and others.

We are close, Dianna Luce, the district attorney for three counties in southeastern New Mexico, said after the hearing. Were trying to reach a compromise thats good law.

The state Public Defender Department, meanwhile, still has serious concerns about parts of the bill.

The legislation is still under development, and a new version  with the amendments introduced Monday  is expected to be unveiled later this week.

Its great to move forward together, Maestas told the House Judiciary Committee. Thirty states have done this. The ones that have done it right have shown (reductions in) recidivism.
"Corruption is a bigger threat to Mexico than organized crime." So says President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He asserts that under his watch "corruption has ended, [officials] will no longer steal." He took Mexico's recent one notch rise in Transparency International's rankings, now besting Russia (though still below Ukraine, Pakistan, and Gabon), as vindication. Yet on corruption, voters' hopes and the president's rhetoric seem to have left rationality and reality behind. Not only has his administration overlooked high-profile cases of public graft, it is dismantling the institutions that could make Mexico more transparent and accountable.

Corruption hits Mexico hard. Surveys show one in three Mexicans pay a bribe every year for basic services, nearly half of businesses say they lost out to others offering kickbacks. This takes an economic toll, estimated at some 9% of gross domestic product. Corruption resonates with voters too, topping their concerns. Indeed, it helped to launch Lopez Obrador into office.

But members of his inner circle seem prone to wrongdoing. Electricity sector head Manuel Bartlett failed to report nearly two dozen luxury homes he owns in Mexico City worth more than $40 million. Senator Napoleon "Napito" Gomez Urrutia, a former labor leader, now travels by private jet, while his son posts YouTube videos of his Mercedes, Porsches, Land Rovers and other luxury cars. And despite his son's lack of professional experience, he's jumping into the mining and energy businesses, economic sectors that his father oversees. The head of Lopez Obrador's political party claims to have "made an accounting error" when filing her 2013 taxes, one that saved her $850,000 in the process.

Government graft seems to go beyond a few "bad apples." Lopez Obrador's flagship apprenticeship program for more than 2 million young people is riddled with fake registrations and repeated names, phantom businesses and addresses, and real companies that had no idea they were enrolled or supposedly hosting grantees. Meanwhile, one-third of the program's $2 billion budget last year looks to have disappeared into the administration's discretionary trough.

The government remains vulnerable, if not drawn, to fake public contractors: Imaginary medical equipment providers paid to supply public clinics, a nonexistent construction company hired to rebuild a Sonora highway, and fake cleaning services and caterers altogether raked in more than $6 million last year.

The opacity of the past also continues: More than 3 out of every 4 public contracts are awarded in a "no-bid" process. One of the biggest deals so far pays billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, one of Lopez Obrador's backers, to supply debit cards to distribute government social program funds. And the government has classified the feasibility studies and contract and payment details for the new Santa Lucia airport, a Yucatan train, and other big infrastructure projects.

The processes and institutions intended to take on corruption are in a shambles. Federal comptroller Irma Sandoval recently ruled that Bartlett's fancy digs weren't an issue as they weren't bought during his current job (even though he has been in public office for years) and were not in his but in his family members' names. She seems nonplussed by the potential conflict of interest of family businesses crossing political lanes. The head of Lopez Obrador's financial investigations unit too seems more interested in going after political enemies (for instance, freezing former supreme court justice Eduardo Medina Mora's bank accounts just long enough for him to resign) than taking a hard look at friends.

The National Anti-Corruption System, created by a 2015 set of constitutional and legislative reforms, is all but dead. Lopez Obrador has ignored it from the start, and hasn't appointed officials to operate its main tribunal. The Supreme Court struck down the capital city's anti-corruption system; in other states many efforts remain poorly funded or dependent on local political bosses. Some states have yet to put in place rules requiring political candidates to release their tax returns and report their assets; in other states with such rules, aspiring officials have mostly ignored them.

Government austerity measures have taken a stiff swipe at the justice system. The Attorney General's budget was slashed nearly $80 million, and other agencies and courts also lost tens of millions of dollars.

Moreover, Lopez Obrador's administration is systematically weakening the independence of the judicial system. The executive branch has taken control of evaluations and promotions for court officials. Judges that don't toe the line are often reassigned - so much so that a current joke likens the frequency of judge relocations to department store weekly sales specials (occurring every Wednesday).

The administration's legal changes aren't making Mexico fairer or more transparent. New rules treat potential tax fraud as organized crime, enabling the government to freeze assets preemptively, even in routine accounting disputes. And leaked documents show plans to roll back the new accusatorial justice system, expanding pre-trial detention, removing checks and balances on prosecutors and even recognizing confessions extracted under duress.

With his strong majority in both houses of congress, Lopez Obrador could actually do something about corruption. To start, he could prosecute bad behavior among his team, since his public support is strong enough to overcome any hit to his political coalition. He could create a fairer system by strengthening courts' independence and increasing their funding. Most importantly, he could consolidate the new oral trial-based justice system, allocating resources to train police officers in forensics, court officials to build cases and cross-examine witnesses, and judges to weigh evidence under the new rules. A better functioning system would lower impunity rates and improve due process.

Instead, he is chipping away at the agencies and organizations that have the best chance at bringing greater balance and accountability. In this, his moves mirror those of the "power mafia" he rails against. Sadly, they will also leave Mexicans, and the poor especially, more vulnerable to crime and corruption.

_ _ _

O'Neil is a senior fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
Als langjahriger Windows-Nutzer kann man sich auf eines verlassen: Egal wie alt die Ursprunge der Programme mittlerweile sind, MS Paint, Wordpad und Notepad wird man auch bei Windows 10 einfach nicht los. Allerdings soll das jetzt ein Ende haben. Wie der internationale Hard- und Softwarehersteller Microsoft bekannt gab, soll es in Zukunft moglich sein, vollig eigenstandig zu entscheiden, ob man die genannten Programme tatsachlich mit installieren mochte oder lieber auf diese verzichtet. Voraussetzung ist dabei allerdings Windows 10 in der Version 20H1, die im Insider Build 19551 bereits schon jetzt getestet werden kann.

Mit dem besagten Windows-Update werden die drei Programme als optionales Feature gefuhrt. Somit tauchen MS Paint, Wordpad und das Notepad in der gleichen Liste auf, in der sich unter anderem schon der Windows Media Player und weitere Windows-Dienste befinden. Wer sich fur eine Installation entscheiden sollte, benotigt fur MS Paint insgesamt rund 7 MB. Fur das Windows-Notepad werden lediglich circa 600 KB benotigt. Wordpad kommt hingegen auf uber 6 MB. Somit lasst sich durch einen Verzicht auf die Anwendungen nicht wirklich viel Speicherplatz sparen. Allerdings ist es auch nicht sinnvoll, ungenutzte Programme weiterhin auf der Platte zu haben.

Mit dem Insider Build 19551 gibt es jedoch auch noch weitere Anpassungen, bzw. wurden diverse Fehler behoben:

We fixed an issue resulting in snipping not working on secondary monitors.

Thank you for reporting that the Optimize Drives Control Panel was incorrectly showing that optimization hadnt run on some devices. Weve fixed it in this build.

Weve fixed an issue causing Remote Desktop Connection crashes when attempting to connect to multiple sessions.

Weve made a server-side fix to address the issue causing Narrator Home to crash when selecting the Whats New button in Narrator Home.

We fixed an issue that could result in the language defaults listed at the top of Language Settings unexpectedly being blank.

Weve done some work to help address feedback reports that screenshots (WIN+Shift+S) pasted into Outlook would be unexpectedly large.

We fixed an issue where, if youd changed the candidate pane font for the Pinyin IME, it would be reset back to default after you reboot your PC.

We fixed an issue resulting in the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the notification area sometimes unexpectedly drawing in white (making it unreadable) when using light theme.

Folgende Fehler sind bereits bekannt:

BattlEye and Microsoft have found incompatibility issues due to changes in the operating system between some Insider Preview builds and certain versions of BattlEye anti-cheat software. To safeguard Insiders who might have these versions installed on their PC, we have applied a compatibility hold on these devices from being offered affected builds of Windows Insider Preview.

We are aware Narrator and NVDA users that seek the latest release of Microsoft Edge based on Chromium may experience some difficulty when navigating and reading certain web content. Narrator, NVDA and the Edge teams are aware of these issues. Users of legacy Microsoft Edge will not be affected. NVAccess has released a beta of NVDA that resolves the known issue with Edge. Further information can also be found in the In Process blog post that goes into more detail about the beta.

The cloud recovery option for Reset this PC isnt working on this build. Please use the local reinstall option when performing Reset this PC.

Were looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build.

Were investigating reports that some Insiders are unable to update to newer builds with error 0x8007042b.

Were looking into reports that some Insiders are unable to update to newer builds with error 0xc1900101.

Were looking into reports of certain external USB 3.0 drives not responding with Start Code 10 after theyre attached.

The Documents section under Privacy has a broken icon (just a rectangle).

The IME candidate window for East Asian IMEs (Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and the Japanese IME) may not open sometimes. We are investigating your reports. As a workaround if you encounter this, please change the focus to another application or editing area and back to the original and try again. Alternatively, you can go to Task Manager and end the TextInputHost.exe task from the Details tab, and it should work afterwards.

[ADDED] There is an issue impacting ARM64 devices from updating to this build successfully. A fix will be coming soon in a future flight.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A Sanitation worker from Great Kills accused of raping a teen five months ago while he was off duty has been deemed mentally fit for trial, it was revealed in court Monday.

However, Matthew Zuntag, the lawyer for Sean McDade, declined to confirm the results of the court-ordered exam for the time being, preferring to wait until his own doctor evaluates the defendant.

The determination of mental fitness means the doctors who examined McDade believe he understands the charges against him and can aid in his own defense.

Should Zuntag ultimately contest those findings, the court would hold a hearing to resolve the issue.

State Supreme Court Justice Marina Cora Mundy adjourned the case to Feb. 25 for further conference.

The defendant, who wore eyeglasses, a brown jacket and tan pants, did not address the court.

The alleged attack on the victim, who is under the age of 17, occurred in the early hours of last Sept. 22, a Sunday morning.

Authorities did not disclose the location.

McDade, then 55, held down the girls arms, pulled down her pants and, by forcible compulsion, subjected her to intercourse without her consent, a criminal complaint alleges.

The alleged victim knew the defendant.

The defendant has been charged with first- and third-degree rape, sexual abuse and sexual misconduct,

McDade was out on sick leave when he was arrested at around 9:20 p.m. on Sept. 22, according to public records and a source with knowledge of the incident.

After the episode, McDade was listed on the non-pay status of absent without official leave, a Sanitation Department spokeswoman previously told the Advance.

Departmental disciplinary charges may also result, pending the outcome of the investigation, for McDade, who was appointed to DSNY on Sept. 15, 2014, the spokeswoman said.

Assistant District Attorney Rhiannon LaTour is prosecuting the case.
Over 100 fishermen and stall owners in Kuwait boycott auctions

February 04,2020 | Source: Arab Times

The fish market crisis was renewed in Sharq in Kuwait City lately where more than 100 fishermen and owners of stalls entered a challenge with the Minister of Trade and Industry Khaled Al-Roudhan due to the new regulations organizing auctions, stipulating its not permissible to sell in the market without a broker licensed by the ministry, reports Al-Qabas daily.



While the regulation was welcomed by a large number of consumers, quite a lot of fishermen and stall owners expressed their grievances and refrained from auctions, which caused the decrease in supplies and disappearance of some types of fish. The Ministry of Commerce responded to what happened by stressing there is no going back on the application of laws to protect consumers.



Market leaders assured Al-Qabas that the regulation preserves everyones rights, especially with regard to the distribution of shares of fish quantities in the markets, whether for individuals, companies or restaurants. They indicated that quantities that entered auctions on that day were somewhat few, compared to the past days.



Consumers stated the need to implement the provisions of regulations by the employees of the Ministry of Commerce with the aim of curbing prices that suddenly rise in auctions, which reflects negatively on the pockets of citizens.



They noted the appointment of an observer and assistants by the ministry will intensify supervision and reduce violations. They stated the regulation included distributing shares of fish quantities at rates of 30 percent for individual consumers, 35 percent for companies and restaurants, and 35 percent for stall holders.



They noted this distribution method ensures that each party gets its appropriate share, and therefore, no price increase occurs on most types except for days when theres less catch. The daily learned from informed sources that a sum of 20 dinars collected by the Ministry of Trade is insurance for those wishing to enter the auction, among owners of stalls, companies and restaurants only, to be recovered immediately after the completion of auction.



The same sources added the Ministry of Commerce will consider the issue of non-entry of owners of stalls for local fish caught that afternoon. They stressed it will implement regulations and procedures in this regard to organize the activities of auctions and the purpose of establishing fish markets.



In a related context, Director of Commercial Control Department Faisal Al-Ansari confirmed validity of the application of fish market regulations that organize market auctions, noting regulations in force in the market is in line with trade control and consumer protection.



Al-Ansari said the new regulation comes within the framework of monitoring the markets and activating governance of fish auctions to ensure stable prices, the regularity of bidding operations and effectiveness of monitoring their procedures. He assured it is to protect consumer interests to achieve the greatest transparency and clarity related to prices.

 2020, Arab Times Kuwait - All Rights Reserved

Theme(s): Others.
Two MQ-4C Triton drones have arrived in Guam as part of the U.S. Navy's first-ever deployment of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the service recently announced.

The UAVs, part of the service's first Triton squadron, known as Unmanned Patrol Squadron (VUP) 19, forward deployed to Andersen Air Force Base on Jan. 26 for an early operational capability (EOC) test, officials said in a release.

The squadron will also take part in patrol, reconnaissance and surveillance missions in support of U.S. 7th Fleet, according to the release. Breaking Defense was first to report the anticipated overseas mission in September.

"The introduction of MQ-4C Triton to the Seventh Fleet area of operations expands the reach of the U.S. Navy's maritime patrol and reconnaissance force in the Western Pacific," said Capt. Matt Rutherford, commander of Task Force (CTF) 72.

Related: Germany Rejigs Reconnaissance System Plan, Drops US Drones

"Coupling the capabilities of the MQ-4C with the proven performance of [P-8 Poseidon], [P-3 Orion] and [EP-3 Aries] will enable improved maritime domain awareness in support of regional and national security objectives," he said in the release.

The Northrop Grumman-made UAV, an enhanced variant of the RQ-4 Global Hawk, is part of the Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance program and boasts next-generation sensors specially engineered for seafaring operations.

The MQ-4C, which made its first flight in 2013, can stay airborne for more than 24 hours, according to Northrop.

The EOC test will push crews on how best to operate the high-altitude, long-endurance drone in the vast maritime region, officials said.

Rear Adm. Peter Garvin, commander of the Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, said the inaugural mission will expand intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance gathering "that the Navy needs."

The deployment brings "capabilities and a broad increase in maritime domain awareness to our forward fleet commanders," he said.

Officials will also test how the Triton can assist with the vital mission of the P-8 spy aircraft, which uses a mix of sophisticated GPS systems, radios, electronic warfare tools, communication nodes, infrared imaging and high-tech radars to detect what's happening on or below the water's surface.

According to the Navy, the Triton was engineered to be employed in concert with the manned surveillance aircraft.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Read more: Troops Treated for TBI After Iran Missile Strikes May Be Getting Purple Hearts
WASHINGTON - Nigeria's foreign minister said Tuesday that he is confident his country will be removed soon from a list of countries facing visa restrictions, because it already is addressing U.S. security concerns.

After meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department, Geoffrey Onyeama acknowledged that he had been "somewhat blindsided" by the visa restrictions announced Friday that as he was preparing to leave for Washington for previously scheduled meetings with U.S. officials.

Onyeama said Nigeria already had been working on ways to share information with international law enforcement about lost and stolen passports, as well as other security issues cited when the Trump administration decided to stop granting immigration visas to citizens of Africa's most populous nation.

"We have been able to tick most of the boxes with regards to lost and stolen passports," Onyeama said during brief remarks to reporters as he stood beside Pompeo.

Vowing to make the data available to Interpol, Onyeama added, "Hopefully once that has been achieved, we look forward to being taken off this visa restriction list."

Immigrants from Nigeria and five other countries no longer will be eligible for visas allowing them to live in the United States permanently, the White House said Friday.

Many Nigerians who have long considered the visa policies of Europe and the United States racist were angered about the new restrictions, scheduled to take effect Feb. 21.

The travel ban would prevent tens of thousands of people from immigrating to the United States. Nigerians still could get tourist and business visas, though they are difficult for them to obtain because so many people from the country overstay their permitted time, U.S. officials say.

In addition to Nigeria, the new visa restrictions apply to Sudan, Tanzania and Eritrea in Africa, as well as Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan in Asia.

Pompeo, apparently pleased with Nigeria's efforts, announced that the United States would give $40 million in humanitarian aid to the West African nation. That is in addition to about $350 million in aid Washington has provided Nigeria in the past year.

Pompeo also noted Nigeria's recent $500 million purchase of American-made A-29 aircraft.

The United States and Nigeria have been allies in fighting militant Islamist groups, including Boko Haram and an offshoot of the Islamic State in West Africa.

"In part due to this terrorism threat, on Friday President Trump announced the suspension of immigrant visas for Nigerians because Nigeria has room to grow in sharing important national security information," Pompeo said, but he added, "I'm optimistic that's going happen."

The United States also played a role in an agreement that will give Nigeria $308 million seized from bank accounts of former military dictator Sani Abacha.

The money is slated to pay for major road projects, and Nigeria's government has promised to repay any money stolen through corruption or fraud.

The return of the money follows a 2014 U.S. court ruling authorizing the seizure of $500 million of cash laundered by Abacha in accounts around the world.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CAQH CORE, a multi-stakeholder organization representing a broad spectrum of health plans, providers, vendors, and government entities, has voted to set two-day time limits on how quickly health plans must request additional supporting information from providers and make final determinations on prior authorization requests.

"Prior authorizations serve as a check on the safety and appropriateness of medical treatments, but when they take too long, they can delay patient care," said Dr. Susan Turney, CEO of Marshfield Clinic Health System and CAQH CORE Board Chair. "With today's announcement, the industry has reached a compromise to ensure they are done efficiently."

With this operating rule, CAQH CORE participating organizations agreed to update requirements in the CAQH CORE 278 Prior Authorization Infrastructure Rule. The new requirements set national expectations for prior authorization turnaround times using the HIPAA-mandated standard to move the industry toward greater automation.

In particular, the updated operating rule establishes maximum timeframes at key stages in the prior authorization process for both batch and real-time transactions:

Two-Day Additional Information Request: A health plan, payer or its agent has two business days to review a prior authorization request from a provider and respond with additional documentation needed to complete the request.

A health plan, payer or its agent has two business days to review a prior authorization request from a provider and respond with additional documentation needed to complete the request. Two-Day Final Determination: Once all requested information has been received from a provider, the health plan, payer or its agent has two business days to send a response containing a final determination.

Once all requested information has been received from a provider, the health plan, payer or its agent has two business days to send a response containing a final determination. Optional Close Out: A health plan, payer or its agent may choose to close out a prior authorization request if the additional information needed to make a final determination is not received from the provider within 15 business days of communicating what additional information is needed.

Under this operating rule, the timeframe requirements must be met 90 percent of the time in a calendar month. This updated rule, coupled with the release of the CAQH CORE 278 Prior Authorization Data Content Rule in May 2019, enhance the information sent in the HIPAA-mandated standard electronic transaction and allow for faster responses. CORE Certification is now available for entities to demonstrate conformance with the CAQH CORE Prior Authorization Operating Rules and show commitment to greater prior authorization automation.

"These industry-led efforts will benefit all stakeholders, and patients in particular," said Tim Kaja, COO of UnitedHealthcare Networks and CAQH CORE Vice Chair. "In 2020, CAQH CORE Participants will continue working to improve the prior authorization process with a focus on how operating rules can streamline the exchange of medical documentation and support the use of new technologies with existing standards."

About CAQH CORE

Industry-led, CAQH CORE was formed to drive the creation and adoption of healthcare operating rules that support standards, accelerate interoperability, and align administrative and clinical activities among providers, payers, and consumers. CAQH CORE Participating Organizations represent more than 75 percent of insured Americans, including plans, providers, vendors, government entities, and standard setting organizations. CAQH CORE Operating Rules and Certification Test Suites addressing seven healthcare business transactions have been issued to date. For more information, visit www.caqhcore.org.

SOURCE CAQH

Related Links

http://www.caqh.org


Two area residents have been honored by the University of Michigan-Dearborn for their work and mentoring efforts.

The universitys Humanities/History Internship Office recently named Lydia Sisko the universitys Fall 2019 Intern of the Year, and Dearborn Heights City Libraries Director Michael McCaffery the Fall 2019 Mentor of the Year.

Sisko, of Allen Park, assisted with archival material and several other projects at the Dearborn Heights libraries. When she graduated at the end of the last semester, McCaffery offered her a paid internship through this spring.

Lydia shows enthusiasm and is a pleasure to work with, always demonstrating a willingness to learn and tackle new responsibilities, said McCaffery, a Dearborn resident. Since she came on board, she was always asking questions of her peers and doing what she could to positively adapt to her work environment.

Sisko is the daughter of now-retired Allen Park City Councilman Harry Sisko. She is a 2014 graduate of Allen Park High School and also works in that citys public library. McCaffery is a University of Michigan School of Information graduate and has led the Dearborn Heights libraries since 2006.
Senate hears impeachment trial's closing arguments

The Senate meanwhile heard closing arguments from House impeachment managers and the presidents legal team yesterday, with Adam Schiff calling the defendant a man without character or ethical compass and imploring opposition senators to vote according to their consciences: You are decent. He is not who you are.

Monday's session saw the House prosecutors directing their remarks more towards history than any last ditch bid to sway the outcome, taking their one final chance to influence public opinion and set the record ahead of Trump's expected acquittal in the Republican-led Senate on Wednesday.

The House Democrats drew on the Founding Fathers and common sense to urge senators - and Americans - to see that the president's actions are not isolated but a pattern of behavior that, left unchecked, will allow him to "cheat"' in the 2020 election.

Schiff called on those few Republican senators who have acknowledged Trump's wrongdoing in the Ukraine matter to prevent a "runaway presidency" and stand up to say "enough."

"For a man like Donald J Trump, they gave you a remedy and meant for you to use it. They gave you an oath, and they meant for you to observe it," he said. "We have proven Donald Trump guilty. Now do impartial justice and convict him."

The president's defence countered the Democrats have been out to impeach Trump since the start of his presidency, nothing short of an effort to undo the 2016 election and to try to shape the next one. "Leave it to the voters to choose," said White House counsel Pat Cipollone, again calling for an end to the partisan "era of impeachment."

All that's left, as the Senate prepares to acquit Trump on charges that he abused power and obstructed Congress, is for Americans to decide now and in the November election, as the third presidential impeachment trial in the nation's history comes to a close.

Most senators acknowledge the House Democratic managers have essentially proven their case. Trump was impeached in December on two charges: that he abused his power like no other president in history when he pushed Ukraine to investigate rival Democrats, and he then obstructed Congress by instructing aides to defy House subpoenas.

But key Republicans have decided the president's actions toward Ukraine do not rise to the level of impeachable offence that warrants the dramatic political upheaval of conviction and removal from office. His acquittal in Wednesday's vote is all but assured.

Republican senators Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Marco Rubio of Florida and Rob Portman of Ohio are among those who acknowledged the inappropriateness of Trump's actions, but said they would not vote to hear more testimony or to convict.

"What message does that send? " asked Democrat Hakeem Jeffries. He warned senators that for Trump, the "past is prologue." He urged the Senate to realise its failure to convict will "allow the president's misconduct to stand."

The House Democrats unveiled a striking case centered on Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, running an alternative foreign policy that drew alarm at the highest levels. As part of the "scheme," Trump held up $391m (302m) in US aid from Ukraine, a fragile ally battling Russia, for his personal political gain, they argued. The money was eventually released after Congress intervened.

As Chief Justice John Roberts presided, the House managers opened with a plea from Jason Crow, a freshman Colorado Democrat and former Army Ranger: "We cannot and should not leave our common sense at the door."

One by one, the Democrats drew on their life experiences to remind senators, and Americans, of the simple difference between right and wrong in the case against Trump. Val Demings, a former police chief, argued that the president is not behaving like someone who is innocent. She warned that if senators do not convict, Trump will try to "cheat" again ahead of 2020.

"You will send a terrible message to the nation that one can get away with abuse of power, cheating and spreading of false narratives," she told them.

Before Trump's celebrity defence mounted its closing argument, the president himself already registered his views on Twitter, where he decried the whole thing - as he often does - as a "hoax."

Ken Starr, the former prosecutor whose investigation led to Bill Clinton's impeachment, complained about the inadequacy of the House prosecutors' "fast track" case.

Trump attorney Jay Sekulow showed political clips of Democrats calling for impeachment - with many lawmakers of colour, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a top Republican foil - to argue this was the "first totally partisan presidential impeachment in our nation's history, and it should be our last."

One key Trump lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, who was forced to walk back a sweeping defense of presidential power in last week's arguments, did not appear.

Trump had wanted his acquittal secured before he arrived at the Capitol for his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, but that will not happen. Senators carrying the power of their votes to the history books wanted additional time to make their own arguments, in public speeches from the floor of the Senate. Those began on Monday afternoon and were expected to continue until Wednesday's vote.

The trial unfolded over nearly two weeks and reached a decisive moment last Friday when senators voted against calling witnesses and documents. Key Republicans said they had heard enough. It becomes the first impeachment trial in the nation's more than 200-year history without any witnesses.

Even new revelations from John Bolton, the former White House national security adviser, whose forthcoming book discloses his firsthand account of Trump ordering the investigations, did not impress upon senators the need for more testimony.

Bolton said he would appear if he received a subpoena, but GOP senators said the House should have issued the summons and the Senate did not want to prolong the proceedings.

Prosecutors relied on a 28,000-page report compiled over three months of proceedings in the Democratic-controlled House, including public and private testimony from 17 witnesses, among them current and former ambassadors and national security officials with close proximity to the Ukraine dealings.

The case stems from Trump's 25 July call with Ukraine that he maintains was "perfect." A government whistleblower alarmed by the call filed a complaint that sparked the inquiry.
In 2005, we wrote in this newspaper that momentum was building for national and universal Pharmacare, a policy change that was long overdue, having been recommended by previous Royal Commissions such as the Hall (1964) and Romanow (2002) commissions. We were perhaps premature in our diagnosis of the political moment, but our conclusions regarding the need for this program remains more relevant than ever.

Employment-based private coverage does not include those who have minimum wage, temporary or seasonal jobs. In fact, it is estimated that one third of Canadian workers do not get coverage from their employer. The gig economy almost guarantees that this percentage will only grow.

Canadians without private coverage fall into two groups  those without any coverage and those who quality for provincial government drug plans, safety nets that vary considerably in breadth and depth of coverage across the country.

Our disorganized system also means we are paying the pharmaceutical companies and retail drug stores far too much for drugs. As a consequence, we have among the highest drug prices in the world, something that we will never be able to fix without an effective public drug coverage system.

Now, here we are in 2020, after two major recent reports, one from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and the second from the federal governments Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare. Both recommend that we establish universal, single-payer Pharmacare.

The experts have spoken. The need is clear. Its time for the federal government to take action. We are encouraged that the prime minister has now repeatedly committed to universal Pharmacare and has in fact included this as a top objective in the mandate letter of the minister of health. This is, by far, the most concrete commitment made by any prime minister on this critical issue.

It is time for the leaders of the Liberal, NDP and Green parties to put their heads together and implement universal Pharmacare. Using the advisory councils report, they can come up with the national criteria for the program in fairly short order. This should be followed by Trudeau convening a first ministers conference to present the federal criteria and begin to work out the details.

As in the case of medicare, the provinces can opt in (and receive federal funding) on their own time, within a reasonable maximum  perhaps two years. If a critical mass of provinces do not enter the scheme within the two years, the federal government should exercise the option of enacting its own program.

Contrary to hospital care, for example, prescription drugs are not within the primary, much less exclusive, jurisdiction of the provinces. The federal government has a firm constitutional foothold over pharmaceuticals in key areas such as safety, price regulation and patent protection.

By agreeing to opt into a pan-Canadian program with some common standards, including a national formulary, the provinces and territories would receive an agreed-upon transfer from the federal government. This would mean increased drug plan coverage for many provincial residents, much lower costs for existing provincial drug plans, and lower costs for employers, especially in Quebec, which mandates employer plans.

As with the Canada Pension Plan, the national framework should be flexible enough to allow for broadly similar provincial plans. If a critical number of provinces do not opt in, a purely federal program would be a constitutionally viable alternative.

Millions of Canadians who cant afford the drugs they need, or who are underinsured, are counting on their federal government to do better.

We can do better with this minority government supported by other parties with the national interest in mind. Remember: the Canada Pension Plan and medicare itself were both introduced in the 1960s by a minority government.

We can ensure that 2020 is the year that truly affordable drug coverage for all Canadians becomes the reality that the founders of medicare always envisaged.
HIT modernization crucial to improve healthcare for Native Americans and Alaska Natives

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indian Health Service (IHS), a division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, needs technology improvements to enhance healthcare for Native Americans and Alaska Natives, according to a Health Affairs blog post written by Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine researchers. The authors urge Congress to support the needs of indigenous tribes by allocating appropriate resources and supporting oversight of a health information technology (HIT) modernization program.

IHS provides health services to about 2.5 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives. This population suffers from large health disparities. On average, they live nearly 5.5 years less than other U.S. citizens and have a 60 percent higher death rate. They face many challenges, including geographic isolation and low income. These conditions combined with the fact that the needs of the 574 recognized tribes vary widely can make providing quality healthcare difficult.

"HIT is a crucial part of improving IHS' ability to deliver quality care to this already marginalized community," said Theresa Cullen, M.D., M.S., senior author of the blog and associate director of the Regenstrief Institute Global Health Informatics Program. "The current system needs extensive improvements, and the proposed federal funding is not sufficient to accomplish this task, which will put the health of Native Americans and Alaska Natives further at risk." Dr. Cullen is also an IU School of Medicine faculty member.

Evaluating the IHS HIT system

HHS' Office of the Chief Technology Officer contracted with Regenstrief Institute on the HHS/IHS HIT Modernization Project to evaluate the HIT system and the needs of its users. The current system, Resource and Patient Management System (RPMS), was developed in the mid-1980s. In the article, the authors write that consistent underfunding of HIT within IHS has hindered RPMS' ability to keep pace with advances in HIT capabilities and user needs.

The researchers used human-centered design methods and engaged with more than 2,000 RPMS users to understand how care providers felt about the system. The findings revealed:

60 percent believe RPMS needs either significant improvements or a complete overhaul to meet healthcare team needs.

30 percent rate the overall quality of RPMS as poor or very poor.

16 percent are very dissatisfied with its ability to help them do their jobs better.

The research team also did a technical evaluation, which found the system will be completely unsupportable in 10 years. In addition, they discovered there was little to no interoperability between most IHS facilities, meaning patients' health records are not available to providers at different locations. Many members of the tribal population often move from one place to another, so the ability to access personal medical histories is crucial.

Recommendations for improvement of IHS HIT

In the Health Affairs blog, the authors write that to address health disparities in the Native American and Alaska Native population, IHS must modernize its HIT infrastructure and solutions, as well as design and implement creative methods to secure appropriate staffing and provide increased support for remote employees. They believe decisions about appropriate HIT solutions should involve input from the communities being served. In addition, they urge the IHS to engage with other government partners, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense, which are currently undergoing their own HIT modernization efforts. The authors state lessons learned by these organizations can result in immediate benefit to IHS and its patients.

The VA and the Department of Defense have received substantial increases in funding to improve their technology systems, but up to this point, IHS has not received similar funding. The authors write, "This presents an opportunity for Congress to solidify their voiced support for tribes while creating an opportunity to innovate around HIT solutions for rural and resource-constrained communities." According to estimates from the National Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup, $3 billion over a 10-year period is needed to successfully complete the modernization. The amount is consistent with VA funding.

The authors' note, "Health care for tribes is a guaranteed, nation-to-nation responsibility between the United States and Tribal nations. The administration must take immediate steps to address unfulfilled trust and treaty obligations with Tribal nations by implementing a strategy to end unacceptable health disparities and urgent life-safety issues facing the AI/AN population. An adequately-sourced HIT program is essential to ensuring quality and safe care. To fulfill its obligations to this marginalized community, the administration must remember this is a start, not a finish."

###

"Closing the Health Disparity Gap for American Indians and Alaska Natives through Health IT Modernization" was published on healthaffairs.org on January 27, 2020. It was written by Theresa Cullen, M.D., M.S., and Shannon Effler, MSW, of Regenstrief Institute, and Matthew Demaree, formerly of Regenstrief.

About Theresa Cullen, M.D., M.S.

Theresa Cullen, M.D., M.S., is the associate director of the Global Health Informatics Program and a research scientist at Regenstrief Institute. She also is the interim director of strategic planning and communications for LOINC at Regenstrief and an associate professor of clinical family medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. Prior to joining Regenstrief, Dr. Cullen served as National Chief Medical Information Officer of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Director of VHA Health Informatics.

About Regenstrief Institute

Founded in 1969 in Indianapolis, the Regenstrief Institute is a local, national and global leader dedicated to a world where better information empowers people to end disease and realize true health. A key research partner to Indiana University, Regenstrief and its researchers are responsible for a growing number of major healthcare innovations and studies. Examples range from the development of global health information technology standards that enable the use and interoperability of electronic health records to improving patient-physician communications, to creating models of care that inform practice and improve the lives of patients around the globe.

Regenstrief Institute is celebrating 50 years of healthcare innovation. Sam Regenstrief, a successful entrepreneur from Connersville, Indiana, founded the institute with the goal of making healthcare more efficient and accessible for everyone. His vision continues to guide the institute's research mission.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
BRISTOL, Tenn.  Bristol Tennessee City Council is set to vote tonight whether to take the first steps toward annexing the proposed site of a commercial development that is just outside the city limits in Sullivan County.

At its meeting at 7 tonight at the Slater Center, City Council will vote whether to approve a resolution that would schedule public hearings on the proposed annexation for the March 3 City Council meeting.

The site is at 1003 Highway 126, and the details of what will be developed there arent yet known, according to Tim Beavers, director of developmental services for the city.

The first hearing would focus on whether the city should annex the 5.25-acre tract of land as well as a 434-foot tract of Highway 126, while the second would be about the city services provided to both tracts once annexed. The hearings would be followed by a formal vote to approve or disapprove: the annexation; rezoning the property to B-3 general business; and a services plan that would extend the citys sewer service, include maintenance of the annexed section of Highway 126, the addition of one street light and police, fire, refuse collection and other standard city services to the tracts.
Envie de vous faire une toile ? Midi Libre vous propose les films a l'affiche, ce mardi 4 fevrier, dans les cinemas de Bagnols-sur-Ceze et de Pont-Saint-Esprit.

Avis aux cinephiles...

BAGNOLS-SUR-CEZE

Cinema Le Casino

rue du Casino,

04 66 89 60 47.

Le lion : 20 h 30 (tarif reduit).

Lesprit de famille : 20 h 30 (tarif reduit).

Bad boys for life : 20 h 30 (tarif reduit).

1917 : 20 h 30 (tarif reduit).
Written by Semsi Toprak for Fethiye Times.

Despite the times when digitalization and virtual communication are developing gradually, sometimes people still prefer to use the channels that can enable them to communicate face to face. Sectoral fairs are crucial for enabling this face-to-face communication and EMITTs (East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Exhibition) place is no different when it comes to Fethiye and tourism.

EMITT welcomes around 60.000 visitors every year and this year 201 stands were set up by more than 1000 exhibitors. Being represented at a high level in EMITT has become a habit for Fethiye especially after the important successes in the past few years. Fethiye had been selected for Best Destination Representation in the last two years and this year it was no different and received the same award for the third time in a row.

Fethiye Mayor Alim Karaca (centre) with Fethiye Governor Muzaffer Sahiner (right) and President of Fethiye Chamber of Commerce and Industry Osman Cral (left) with the award plaque.

This decisive success is of course not easily achieved. Thanks to the tourism council established several years before in Fethiye, the custom of cooperation between the tourism stakeholders and institutions started to increase. Almost every institution operating in the field of tourism sent at least one representative to the organization whose stand costs were covered by the Fethiye Municipality. In addition to the participation of the district governor and mayor, presidents of trade chambers and chairman of non-governmental organizations contributed to the promotion of the destination.

Mugla Metropolitan Mayor Osman Gurun with Mugla representatives

In addition to this recurring success of Fethiye, another remarkable development this year was the union of the important destinations of Mugla, with all the local governments going to the same party. Under the leadership of the Mugla Metropolitan Municipality, Fethiye, Marmaris, Bodrum and Datca Destinations are no longer overlooked as they started to act together on many issues. This partnership is an important development in the name of solving the infrastructure problems of these important destinations of Turkey.

It can be said that important collaborations between the institutions in Fethiye and the districts in Mugla is perhaps one of the most important developments in recent years. This synergy and cooperation are also indicating that apart from tourism promotion, infrastructure problems of these important designations can be solved in harmony.


A fter what must be the longest  and most eagerly anticipated  celebrity home transformation, Kim Kardashian West, 39, and Kanye West, 42, have opened the doors to their mega mansion in California's Hidden Hills nearly seven years after first spotting it while out on a family walk.

The power couple snapped up their estate, with a 16,000sq ft home, for 15.4 million in 2014.

Kimye, as they are now collectively known, moved into their "dream home" last year while works were still ongoing and, millions of dollars later, the reality TV star and her rapper husband can unveil their remodelled home's new minimalist look.

Featured in the March edition of Architectural Digest, the couple share the design inspirations behind their project  which Kanye describes as a metamorphosis from "suburban McMansion to futuristic monastery"  in partnership with Belgian designer Axel Vervoordt.

Stand-out features include an original Jean Royere Polar Bear sofa, which reportedly cost so much Kanye sold his Mercedes-Maybach to buy it; a private theatre and a two-storey playroom for their children North, aged six, Saint, aged four, two-year-old Chicago and Psalm, eight months.

The only splash of colour in photographs released by the couple of their home so far is daughter Norths bedroom, decorated candyfloss pink from floor to ceiling. There's an embossed butterfly motif on the wall, plus a dressing table and chair  all in different shades of the same pretty pink.

Norths room - Vincent VanDuysen pic.twitter.com/cVPSzJZzxD  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) February 3, 2020

What Kim and Kanye think of their new home

In a video posted to Architectural Digest's YouTube account, Kim and Kanye quiz each other on their home design  and Kanye appears shocked to hear Kim hasn't yet tried out the swimming pool.

"But I love our pool," says Kim, "You know, we don't have a Jacuzzi, we just made sure it [the pool] is hot all the time."

"We built this really long stair, and it's not the deepest pool, so the kids love it."

Perfect for selfies

The "theatre" has the best light in the house for selfies, according to Kim, because it's a dark room and she can use a flash for photographs.

Kanye is most proud of the hallway, which he co-designed with Vervoordt. Kim loved it when they first saw the house and now it's a dramatic, soaring space done in off-white plaster, where the children love to ride their scooters.

Peter Wertz landscaping pic.twitter.com/BmSmp27k5C  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) February 3, 2020

Getting the light just right

"The lighting in the bathroom is so good, the whole ceiling is just one giant light," says Kim.

"It smoothes out all cellulite. I start the day feeling so good about myself [...] And then I go into the closet and I realise it was just the lighting.

"Everyone's eyes need that kind of lighting."

Parents-of-four Kim and Kanye have spent years transforming their Hidden Hills home / AFP via Getty Images

Show-stopper bathroom

Kris Jenner, Kim's mum, told the couple they needed a bigger bathroom  which pushed the whole project back by around eight months.

But it's now one of Kanye's favourite rooms in the house.

As for North, she says she likes to play her piano and do cartwheels in her new home.

The colour scheme

Speaking about their minimal, neutral colour scheme, Kim says: Our lives are so hectic, there's always so much going on that I love to come home to full simplicity.
A German court has overturned a school's niqab ban after a 16-year-old girl was told she had to show her face to teachers.

The ruling on Monday, which cannot be appealed, has fuelled debate in Germany over whether schools should allow the niqab, a facial veil worn by Muslims which leaves only the wearer's eyes visible.

Hamburg education officials had ordered the girl's mother to ensure that her daughter did not wear the veil at school, a decision which an administrative court overturned on Monday.

A court in Germany has ruled against an attempt by authorities in Hamburg to forbid a 16-year-old schoolgirl from wearing a niqab during lessons (Stock image)

State law does not currently permit the authorities to impose such a ban, the court said in a statement.

The teenager, who is studying retail sales, has 'a right to unconditional protection of her freedom of belief' the statement added.

Hamburg's social-democratic education senator Ties Rabe immediately said that he would seek to change the state law.

'Only if students and teachers have a free and open face can school and lessons function,' he told local media.

German education laws are made at state level rather than by the federal government, but the case is part of a wider debate across the country.

High profile politicians in the conservative CDU, the economically liberal FDP and the far-right AfD have all voiced support for a niqab ban in the past, but others remain divided on the issue.

The state parliament in neighbouring Schleswig-Holstein failed to pass a ban on full-face veils in its universities and colleges on Monday, after the Green Party voted against it.

In 2015, Germany's Constitutional Court overturned a blanket ban on teachers wearing them, ruling that it was against religious freedom. However, eight of Germany's states maintain restrictions on wearing the hijab by female teachers (Stock image)

Germany's Green party is however divided on the issue, with some in favour of a ban on the garment which covers a woman's face.

Each German state has its own education ministry, and the 16 states have differing laws on headscarves in schools.

In 2015, Germany's Constitutional Court overturned a blanket ban on teachers wearing them, ruling that it was against religious freedom. However, eight of Germany's states maintain restrictions on wearing the hijab by female teachers.
Georgian dance tests the physical limits of the body. Limbs must move with the sharpest of precision, but your figure must also remain rigidstatuesque, even. Its a beautiful art form, pretty in the way that old buildings areenriched by their past, the stories and history that brought them to us, and enchanting because of their total incongruity with the modern world. Above all, Georgian dance is about asserting dominance; it signifies a prideful country positioning itself as a monument of strength.

In the explosive new film And Then We Danced (opening February 7 in the U.S.), a young performer is criticized for lacking strength and being too soft by his troupes aggressive leader. Georgian dance is based on masculinity, the man barks. There is no room for weakness.

Though he grew up in Sweden, the films director, Levan Akin, always loved his native countrys traditional dance. His parents had immigrated to Scandinavia from Georgia years prior, and he would frequently spend his summers there as a child, until the countrys civil warinstigated by clashes between ethnic minority separatist movements and the governmentbroke out in 1991. As a child, Akin says, he was blind to the countrys fraught history within the Soviet Union. I had this utopian idea of Georgia because Georgians are very proud of their culture, he says. It's a very small country that was under the rule of other, larger empires throughout history. In that sense, it's been really important for Georgia to keep their own culture unchanged.

His idyllic memories of his familys homeland were called into question in 2013, when members of Georgias alt-right violently disrupted a Pride event held in the capital, Tbilisi. Around 50 LGBTQ activists congregated in the citys Pushkin Park for what was intended to be a peaceful rally to celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia, but the counter-protesters numbered in the thousands. Police interference couldnt stop the escalating violence, as the counter-protesters beat up and threw stones at anyone they believed to be gay, and over a dozen people were hospitalized with broken bones or blunt-force trauma. One man caught up in the violence was the victim of an attempted lynching.

Story continues

The 2013 Pride attack shocked and rattled Akin, who grew up believing Georgia was open and accepting. But instead of causing him to retreat from his heritage, the cultural divide hed seen between the younger, post-Soviet generation and their patriotic elders inspired him. I wanted to do something about how tradition is up for interpretation, that nobody can tell you how you should be in order to love your culture or cherish your history, he explains. You can do it on your own terms.

And Then We Danced tells the story of Merab, an ambitious member of Georgias National Dance Ensemble. A potential rival arrives in the form of Irakli, a charming rebel with the natural talent that Merab craves. But any competitiveness between the two quickly dissipates, giving way to a tentative romance told through longing glances. In an oppressive country where gay men are unable to voice their feelings, love becomes corporeal. The first time the two men act on their desires, its in darkness, better for avoiding the gaze of others. As clothes are hastily removed, the voices of drunken men can be heard in the backgrounda constant reminder of the threat always lurking in the periphery. Akins film is romantic and tender, but its all too aware of its defiance against a powerful, oppressive system that sees queerness as a threat to the fabric of Georgian tradition. All of this is told through the prism of dance: the hallmark of the countrys national identity forged on traditionalism.

And Then We Danced is one of the most intimate, devastating and euphoric love stories ever told on screen. But in Georgia, its also the most controversial film to ever hit theaters.

Before And Then We Danced, Akin says he felt lost. He had made two films in Sweden, including a YA adaptation of the Scandinavian best-selling novel The Circle, which failed to spawn the franchise that had initially been planned. I had been working for a very long time and I felt like I had lost my curiosity in filmmaking, Akin says. And Then We Danced was, he felt, going to be his ticket back to his roots, of making little movies for fun. He just didnt know what the movie was going to be about.

In 2016, Akin flew to Georgia with a small, inexpensive camera in hand and no money, to interview anyone who would talk to him about what it was like to be young and queer in a country that would prefer they not exist. The director understood the potential dangers of what he was embarking on: here he was, entering an openly homophobic country where LGBTQ people had been attacked in a public park just three years prior. But that Pride parade was the catalyst of this trip, not the deterrent.

Many of the people he attempted to interview would, if they were not openly hostile towards him, just ignore hima gesture that still telegraphed hostility. That was the extent of Georgian hospitality. In one instance, Akin was in the middle of a conversation with a dance teacher. He was civil and courteous, until Akin mentioned the films plot. The teacher instantly switched from civility to outright disgust, storming out of the room, leaving Akin sitting there confounded. The director recalls another encounter with a theater director he emailed to help enlist interviewees. I contacted that person several times, and then I realized: it's because of the topic that I'm researching that they're not getting back to me.

It took some time for Akin to understand that some manipulation and withholding of the truth was needed to get the information he wanted. If he sensed that someone wouldnt be as responsive to the films subject, he avoided the topic completely, instead asking questions about Georgias youth culture. After several trips, hed eventually collected stories from around 50 interviews with LGBTQ organizations and Georgian citizens (both young and old), many of which were incorporated into the finished product. In the film, for instance, the women of the troupe share gossip about a disgraced member who was sent to a monastery after his family discovered he was gay, only to escape when he was sexually assaulted by the priests. This is, as youve likely guessed, based on a real story Akin heard.

Akin assembled a cast of professional actors and amateurs to fill out the cast around his leading man, a 21-year-old newcomer he discovered by accident. Scrolling through Instagram, he came across a dancer with delicate, Elven features framed by soft, brown curls. I remember it so clearly, Akin says. Hes so cute. He put up dance videos [that were just] super endearing. The account belonged to Levan Gelbakhiani, a part-time dancer who was working at a hostel in Tbilisi at the time. Akin reached out to Gelbakhiani to ask if he would act in his movie. He said no. But the director wouldnt relent. It took several more pleas until he finally convinced the dancer to audition. In the room together, Gelbakhiani impressed Akin so much that, according to the director, the film grew from him.

The director scraped together a cast and crew, along with a minuscule budget thanks to funding from the Swedish and French Film Institutes. And though the Georgian Film Center is encouraging of homegrown cinema, the organization refused to give them funding, the one instance in which Akin couldnt avoid the films subject matter.

Akin shot the film in Tbilisi in just four weeks. Securing locations presented challenges: despite providing a fake plot synopsis, they would lose locations on a days notice because the truth had somehow gotten out; bodyguards were hired to protect the cast and crew in case of protests or intrusions; the choreographer is to this day credited only as Anonymous for their safety. Despite the potential danger of what he was doing, Akin reveled in the spontaneity the shoot demanded from him. It was really like a neo-realist approach and it rejuvenated my filmmaking, Akin says. I always want to work like this now.

The first time Akin and I meet is in hotel lobby around the corner from where And Then We Danced had just received a 15-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. Unfamiliar with the festivals unspoken etiquette of prolonged applause, the 40-year-old didnt know how to take it. (He assumed it was just extras who were clapping.) I got uncomfortable, because I'm Swedish, Akin says. We're supposed to be humble. I wish I'd known how it was, because then maybe I would have enjoyed it more. When the applause had finally subsided and Akin left the theater, he was stopped by his publicist. You know they can boo, too? she told him.

And Then We Danced has become the indie film success story directors dream of. Its secured distribution in over 40 countries (rare for a film of its size and budget) and has been embraced by Akins native Sweden, which selected the film as its Oscars submission for the International Film category and awarded the film four Guldbagge awards (the Swedish equivalent of the Oscars) including Best Picture. When Akin calls in late January, hes heading to Utah the next day for the Sundance Film Festival, the last stop on a nine-month whirlwind tour around the festival circuit.

Crucially, though, not everyone has been as kind to And Then We Danced. In Georgia, its stirred something in the cultures deep-rooted attitude towards the queer community. In November, three sold-out screenings were held in Tbilisi and the coastal city of Batumi, all of which were met with violent protests by hundreds of far right demonstrators. The Georgian Orthodox Church had publicly denounced the film as an affront to traditional Georgian values, and prominent right wing figures, many of whom were from Russia, called for the screenings to be cancelled. The protest organizer, Levan Vasadze, condemned the film as a moral threat to the fabric of our society.

The protestors attempted to stop ticket holders from entering the theater, while civil rights activist escorted them inside through a narrow corridor of shame between the angry mobs. Chants of Long live Georgia! and Shame! rang out in front of the entrance to Tbilisis Amirani cinema, while the flames of a rainbow flag being burned lit up the chaos.

I was afraid, because if somebody got hurt because of something that I made, that would really mess with me, Akin says. I had trouble sleeping. It was right around when we were going to L.A. to do the Oscar campaign, so we were all out of it because we were just checking our phones for updates. The news cycle, especially in Georgia, was insane. The only thing every channel was talking about was And Then We Danced.

The film hasnt been screened in Georgia since the incidents. Akin has, he says, resigned himself to the fact that three screenings were enough. However, since the backlash, the film has ignited a movement for LGBTQ rights in Georgia. Young people have mobilized the film as a symbol of hope against the church and governments oppression of queer people. The films soundtracka mixture of folk music (recorded by instrumentalists who remained anonymous for their safety) and pop hits from ABBA and Robynserves as the sound of rebellion. To the rest of the world, And Then We Danced seems like a humble, indie film. Back home, its a landmark work of art with real political power. Akin calls And Then We Danced his love letter to Georgia: a Georgia that can evolve and change for the better.

Perhaps we take for granted the power of film. We tend to dismiss certain stories with a casual its just a movie. But And Then We Danced speaks to what movies are capable of. Film, and especially queer film, is a political act. It has the power to move someone, enrage them or even change their point of view. Akin tells me about an elderly distant relative who recently travelled to Sweden to see the film because it was too dangerous in Georgia. She couldn't stop crying because she loved it so much, he says. And she's super religious but she adored this film because shes never seen any representation. She was like, It's almost a shame that somebody from outside Georgia has shown Georgia better than any Georgian ever has.

The fascinating thing about Akin is that, despite the chaos, backlash, and threatening messages in his Instagram DMs, hes immensely proud to be Georgian. He plans to go back next year to shoot part of his next feature. You know what I love? Akin asks. I love walking in the darkness and not knowing what's around the next corner. Its there, in the scary, unfamiliar darkness, that he finds the stories he most wants to tell.

Every Studio Ghibli Film, Ranked

With the animation titans imminent arrival to streaming, we took a look at the catalog.

Originally Appeared on GQ
We certainly wouldnt expect folks all the way on the North end to be able to make it to the county building to take care of their needs, so there would be a need for satellite offices, Spearman said. Staffing is the most important thing to ensure that were best able to serve the constituents of the community.
DES MOINES, Iowa  Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg claimed a measure of victory in Iowa late Monday, telling supporters at his caucus watch party that the state had "shocked the nation."

The Iowa Democratic Party has not released complete precinct results, saying it is working to validate numbers after finding "inconsistencies" in reporting. But that didn't stop several campaigns from claiming they performed well on caucus night.

"What a night," the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor said from his watch party at Drake University in Des Moines. "Because tonight, an improbable hope became an undeniable reality."

Buttigieg tried to project victory to his supporters. Before he took the stage, his campaign staff tweeted partial precinct results  none official  to showcase strength.

"So we don't know all the results," Buttigieg told the crowd. "But, we know, by the time it's all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation."

A Buttigieg win or top finish in Iowa would be historic, marking the furthest an openly gay candidate has come to securing a party's presidential nomination.

Buttigieg's potential strength in rural areas

In the final weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Buttigieg visited rural areas of the state that could prove beneficial to his overall performance in Iowa once results are released.

He made several stops in less-populated Iowa counties. If he was successful in reaching caucus viability in rural precincts where other candidates failed, it could help him rack up the delegate total that determines a winner.

Buttigieg visited several so-called pivot counties that supported Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 before backing Donald Trump in 2016.

Its partly because were building this politics thats about belonging. Its about addition, not subtraction," Buttigieg told the Des Moines Register in an interview Monday afternoon. "So that means reaching out beyond the kind of the traditional places youd be expected to go."

Story continues

During his campaigning in Iowa, Buttigieg had tried to argue that he can bring in not only Democrats but independents and what he calls future former Republicans. He said thats important in rural areas and industrial small towns where Trump had strength in 2016.

Since so many voters are really just concerned about ensuring we can win in November, demonstrating strength in areas where you can only succeed by drawing in independents and some Republicans is a great way to prove it," Buttigieg told the Register.

 Iowa Republicans back Trump: Overwhelming support for President Trump on Caucus Day

In the final days of his Iowa campaign, Buttigieg tried to highlight how he believes his background as a former mayor from the Midwest, whose faith and military experience have shaped his life, best position him to defeat Trump.

For his only public event on Caucus Day, Buttigieg stopped by his West Des Moines field office to meet with volunteers. He hugged them and took selfies in a room where images of his face were plastered on the walls. A baby grabbed Buttigieg's nose and a dog named Franklin Delano Roosevelt roamed around.

"Happy Caucus Day!" Buttigieg told his supporters, who chanted his name at times.

Frank Webb showed up at a precinct in downtown Des Moines to caucus for Buttigieg. The 56-year-old, who had just moved back to Iowa from Ohio, said it was his first caucus.

When he speaks and answers questions, he doesnt hem and haw, he said. He gives a fresh face to what Id like to see in a president.

Carla Harrington, 60, who was also downtown to caucus for Buttigieg, was convinced he could win Iowa.

I think he can go all the way, she said.

Former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg addresses those gathered on Monday, Jan. 13, 2020, at Iowa State University's Memorial Union in Ames. The presidential hopeful was introduced to the crowd by actress Mandy Moore.

Buttigieg had expected to get a clear picture Monday night of whether his improbable bid for the presidency has a shot. Instead, he left the state after his speech to New Hampshire, the first state to hold a primary Feb. 11.

"With hope in our hearts and fire in our bellies, we're going on to New Hampshire, on to the nomination, and on to charter a new course for this country that we love."

Buttigieg's investment in Iowa

Buttigieg has invested heavily in his ground game in Iowa, with more than 30 offices and about 170 staff members as of mid-January.

His campaign focused on relational outreach, encouraging volunteers to talk to their family and friends to make personal connections with Iowans being inundated with contacts by multiple campaigns.

It culminated in November, when Buttigieg led the Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll for the first time, with 25% support. He then dropped 9 percentage points in the Iowa Poll released in early January.

Buttigiegs rise in Iowa also brought greater scrutiny, with his competitors questioning whether the former mayor has the experience to be president.

But Buttigieg had begun to relish the discussion. In the final days before the caucuses, he had also sharpened criticisms of some of his Democratic rivals as he tries to set himself apart from the crowded field.

Former South Bend Mayor and democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg has his nose pinched by 7-month-old Emmy Buchman during a canvas kickoff event Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, inside a campaign office in West Des Moines, Iowa.

"When people ask me, 'What makes you think a mayor from a city that's not even one of the biggest cities in the country  ought to be running for the White House?' My answer is, 'That's exactly the point,'" he told Iowans at a stop in January in Mason City. "We've got to begin bringing our message from the American people into Washington."

Other Democratic candidates also criticized Buttigieg's high-dollar fundraisers. Buttigieg has defended them, noting he had little name recognition at the start of his campaign and has small personal wealth compared with others seeking the nomination.

 ICYMI: The latest on Iowa caucuses

He also has pointed out that Trump is raising large amounts of money for the general election.

Another challenge for Buttigieg is concern about his ability to draw support from voters of color. He polls low nationally with black voters, a key bloc within the Democratic Party. He's not the only Democratic candidate facing that problem, but he receives the most attention.

Former South Bend Mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks to volunteers during a canvas kickoff event Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, inside a campaign office in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Buttigieg says he's still introducing himself to black voters. He has adopted policy positions aimed at addressing systemic racism in America and often incorporates discussions about racial inequality into his stump speeches in Iowa and other states.

Historic nature of Buttigieg's candidacy

Buttigieg has reminded Iowans in recent days how a 2008 caucus victory helped propel the relatively unknown Obama to the presidency, a parallel that Buttigieg has leaned into for months.

The 38-year-old would become the first openly gay president, as well as the youngest, if elected.

So, are you ready to make history one more time? he asked a crowd in Des Moines on Sunday at his final rally before the caucuses.

At his caucus watch party on Monday night, Buttigieg called his husband, Chasten, the "future first gentleman of the United States."

As his campaign here drew to a close, Buttigieg repeatedly faced questions by reporters about whether he needs to do well in Iowa to continue in the other early voting states.

Asked if that narrative was fair, Buttigieg told the Register before the caucuses: "I think it's certainly true that we need a good performance here. It's important for us to demonstrate that we have the ability to turn folks out. To make that closing argument. Not just to have an appealing message, but an operation that can succeed."

Buttigieg added: "We'll know tonight what a good finish feels like."

Follow Barbara Rodriguez on Twitter: @bcrodriguez.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Pete Buttigieg forecasts win in Iowa after chaotic caucus night
The European Union on Tuesday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal for securing peace in the Middle East and expressed concern about Israel's plans to annex more Palestinian land.

Trump's plan, which was unveiled last week, would foresee the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, but it falls far short of minimal Palestinian demands and would leave sizable chunks of the occupied West Bank in Israeli hands.

In a statement, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell underlined the bloc's commitment to a two-state solution, based along the 1967 lines, with the possibility of mutually agreed land-swaps, made up of the state of Israel and ``an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable state of Palestine.''

Borrell said the U.S. initiative ``departs from these internationally agreed parameters.''

"To build a just and lasting peace, the unresolved final status issues must be decided through direct negotiations between both parties," Borrell said. "This includes notably the issues related to borders, the status of Jerusalem, security and the refugee question,''

Trump's plan was welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has dismissed it as ``nonsense.'' Gulf Arab states also rejected the White House plan as ``biased.'' While Israeli officials were present for its unveiling, no Palestinian representatives attended.

Netanyahu has said he wants to move forward with plans to annex West Bank territory.

``We are especially concerned by statements on the prospect of annexation of the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank,'' Borrell said.

He suggested that the EU might consider legal action by saying that any ``steps towards annexation, if implemented, could not pass unchallenged.''

The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem _ areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war _ for an independent state and the removal of more than 700,000 Israeli settlers from these areas.

But the plan sides heavily with Netanyahu's hard-line nationalist vision for the region and shunts aside many of the Palestinians' core demands.

EU foreign ministers have discussed in recent months whether the bloc should modify its Middle East policy amid growing concern that settlement activity and U.S. diplomatic moves like the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, are undermining the chances of a two-state solution.

Ireland and Luxembourg are among a small group of countries that support a change of position but no heavyweight member country is backing them.

In a letter to Borrell, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn wrote that hopes for a two-state solution are ``being dismantled piece by piece, day after day,'' and that it is time to consider recognizing Palestine as a state.

Borrell has noted that member countries are ``very much divided'' over how to handle Middle East peace moves. In Tuesday's statement, he also underlined the EU's ``fundamental commitment to the security of Israel.''

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Eight people on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which arrived at Yokohama Bay, have symptoms such as fever and quarantine officers are checking all 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew

Japan has quarantined a cruise ship carrying 3,711 people and was testing those onboard for the new coronavirus Tuesday after a former passenger was diagnosed with the illness in Hong Kong.

Eight people on the vessel, which arrived in Yokohama Bay on Monday, have symptoms such as fever, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said.

Television footage showed several quarantine officers boarding the Diamond Princess on Monday evening to check all 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew.

The move comes after an 80-year-old passenger who disembarked on January 25 in Hong Kong tested positive for the virus, which has killed 425 people in China.

The man "did not visit a medical centre inside the ship while he was sailing with us", cruise operator Carnival Japan said in a statement.

"According to the hospital where he is staying, his condition is stable and infection was not found among his family members who sailed with him," the statement said.

A woman in her twenties on the ship with her mother told private broadcaster TBS on Tuesday that all passengers had been asked to stay in their rooms and wait for tests.

The vessel's departure from Yokohama would be delayed by at least 24 hours to Wednesday or later, Carnival Japan said.

The decision on whether to allow the cruise ship to dock and let passengers land on Japanese soil "will be made at the quarantine station," a health official said

'Quarantine station'

The cruise ship had already been through a quarantine procedure on Saturday at a port in Naha in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, and quarantine officials had issued certificates allowing passengers and crew to land, Suga said.

A health ministry official said no-one aboard at that time showed any symptoms, and the case of the man who disembarked in Hong Kong was not known at that time.

After his case emerged, a second quarantine was organised.

Quarantine officials are now checking the condition of everyone on board and testing those with symptoms of illness for the new coronavirus, as well as other infectious diseases, including malaria and Dengue fever, a second health ministry official told AFP.

Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told parliament that tests for the virus would be administered to three groups: those with symptoms, those who got off in Hong Kong, and those who had close contact with the infected passenger.

Until the results are in "everyone on board... will stay there". he said.

The health ministry said as of Monday that 20 people in Japan have tested positive for the new virus, of whom four showed no symptoms

The decision on whether to allow the vessel to dock at Yokohama port and let passengers land on Japanese soil "will be made at the quarantine station," taking into consideration the WHO's estimate of a 10-day incubation period, Suga said.

Since Saturday, Japan has been barring foreign nationals who have been to Hubei in recent weeks, as well as holders of passports issued in Hubeithe Chinese province at the epicentre of the crisis.

Arrivals displaying symptoms of the new virus can also be denied entry.

A total of 11 foreigners have been barred from entering so far, the immigration service agency said Tuesday.

The health ministry said as of Monday that 20 people in Japan have tested positive for the new virus, of whom four showed no symptoms.

Japan has also flown more than 500 citizens out of Wuhan, where the coronavirus originated.

Local carriers have suspended flights to the centre of the outbreak, with All Nippon Airways saying Tuesday its suspension would now be extended through March 28. It also announced it would reduce the number of flights to Beijing from Tokyo's Haneda and Narita airports.

Explore further Countries evaluate evacuation of citizens in virus epicenter

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Washington, D.C., February 3, 2020  Iranian authorities should immediately drop the false news and defamation charges against the editors of three news outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Yesterday, Branch 6 of Tehrans Media Court, which is under the judiciary, found three local editors-in-chiefof the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), the Bultannews news website, and the energy news website NeftEMAguilty of spreading false news and defamation, according to reports by the official judicial news agency Mizan and by the Human Rights News Agency, a website run by Iranian exiles. Neither the court nor the news reports disclosed the names of the editors.

Ahmad Momenirad, the spokesperson of Irans Media Court system, did not disclose any details surrounding the cases or the potential sentences the editors may receive, according to the Mizan report.

CPJ could not determine whether the journalists are being held in custody.

If the Iranian government has a credible case against the editors of ISNA, NeftEMA, and Bultannews, they should try them openly and publicly, said Sherif Mansour, CPJs Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. Closed door trials of journalists cannot be considered fair or impartial and the Iranian judiciary has a history of holding opaque judicial proceedings that lack credibility.

Mizan quoted Momenirad as saying that the ISNA and Bultannews editors were eligible to be spared from sentencing, but he did not explain why.

According to a report by ISNA, the case is related to a complaint filed by the National Iranian Gas Transmission Company, a subsidiary of the Iran Oil Ministry, against NeftEMA, accusing the websites editor-in-chief of spreading misinformation, defamation, and insult.

In 2019, Iranian authorities sentenced journalists to years in jail on charges of spreading misinformation and disturbing public opinion, as CPJ documented at the time. Iran had 11 journalists in jail at the time of CPJs most recent prison census on December 1, 2019.
Photo: Facebook Yvon Mercier

A retired RCMP officer has been charged with murder in the deaths of two tenants at his home in the western Quebec community of Val-des-Monts.

Yvon Mercier, 69, faces two counts of second-degree murder and one of arson.

Mercier appeared late Monday at the courthouse in Gatineau, Que., and is being detained until his next court appearance on Feb. 17.

On Sunday, police found two bodies inside a residence following a fire on Mercier Street in Val-des-Monts, about 35 kilometres north of Ottawa.

The victims were identified as Pierre Dupuis, 50 and Celine Labelle, 54, and police confirmed the victims and the suspect knew each other.

Sgt. Marc Tessier of Quebec provincial police says the investigation is ongoing and police are awaiting autopsy results and other expertise.

Mercier, who owns the home where the bodies were found and had recently put it up for sale on an online classifieds site, retired from the RCMP in 2007.
Governor Bill Lee, in his State of the State address on Monday night, said the upcoming budget sets aside $117 million additional dollars for teachers - equal to a four percent increase in the state's contribution to teacher salaries.

The governor said, "Over the next two years, we will recommend moving the minimum salary schedule for teachers from $36,000 to $40,000, so that no Tennessee teacher is making less than $40,000 per year."

Governor Lee also said he was expanding the outreach capacity of the Department of Mental Health, growing the school-based behavioral health liaison program from 36 counties to all 95 counties.

He is also proposing the creation of a new reserve: a K-12 Mental Health Trust Fund of $250 million in one-time funds to support the growth and placement of mental health support services in the most-at-risk schools.

The governor said, "Fully funding BEP growth, 4% teacher raises, the Tennessee Teacher and Leader Institute, record investments in teacher recruitment, professional development, literacy training, and the K-12 Mental Health Trust Fund, our total new dollars invested in the future of public education in the coming fiscal year will equal more than $600 million."

He also pledged $100 million in aid to local governments, saying local leaders tell him they lack the resources to carry out badly needed projects.

Governor Lee said, "For that reason, my budget proposal recommends $100 million for local government grants to be divided among every county and every municipality across our state.

This money can be used for one-time expenses such as road projects, I.T. upgrades, capital maintenance, utility system upgrades, and public safety projects."

The governor's office said:

The governors address focused on one of his core priorities, supporting public education. The proposed budget includes the largest investment in K-12 teacher salaries in Tennessee history, and a series of initiatives designed to ensure that Tennessee is recruiting, retaining and training the best teachers in America. The governor also announced legislative and budgetary priorities to build a comprehensive approach to advancing literacy across the state which includes additional teacher training and development. In the coming fiscal year, the proposed budget includes more than $600 million new dollars for public education.

Make no mistake: we will do whatever it takes to make Tennessee the best state in America to be a student, and that means making Tennessee the best state in America to be a teacher. That means better pay, as weve said, but it also means better training and professional support, so that our teachers can perform at the top of their trade, said Lee.

Additional education initiatives include:

Investing an additional $117 million in teacher salaries, an amount equal to a 4% increase in the states contribution

Recommending moving the minimum teacher salary schedule from $36,000 to $40,000 over the next two years

Creating the K-12 Mental Health Trust Fund through $250 million in one-time funds to support the growth and placement of mental health services for students through a systemwide, evidence-based, whole child approach

Growing school-based behavioral health liaison program from 36 counties to all 95 counties

Setting new standards for public elementary literacy training and instruction and providing improved literacy supports and interventions for K-2 students

Launching the Governors Teaching Fellowship to support the education of over 1,000 future teachers per year

Supporting district-led Grow Your Own programs with new curriculum and grants

Investing $4 million into professional development and career advancement opportunities for teachers and school leaders

Applying for a new AP education teaching course

Establishing the Tennessee Teacher and Leader Institute which will solicit proposals from across the country to help launch a new initiative to build the best educator preparation program in the nation

Gov. Lee emphasized that these education initiatives are designed to produce economic and workforce development.

The true measure of a successful education system is a cohort of high school graduates who are well-prepared to be productive citizens, whether they choose a career or college. To me, education isn't just about a test score, said Lee.

Key economic and workforce development highlights include:

Cutting the professional privilege tax by 50%

Returning over $100 million to cities and counties

Offering an enhanced incentive package for companies considering locating in Tennessees 15 distressed counties and 24 at-risk counties.

Launching ApprenticeshipTN, a new effort that will realign our approach to getting individuals back into the workforce

Investing $160 million for capital improvements and $70 million for capital maintenance projects on higher education campuses

The governors strong ongoing commitment to rural Tennessee was showcased through initiatives including:

Increasing broadband accessibility through an additional $25 million investment

Expanding the TN Agriculture Enhancement Program through a $7 million investment

Investing $2 million for UT Extension Agents in distressed rural counties

Investing $20 million in the Rural Opportunity Fund which supports site development, main-street development, and critical infrastructure assistance

Investing $4 million for payment increases to rural health clinics and expanding rural access to dental care through the Department of Health and a new public-private partnership with SmileTN

Supporting the Department of Tourisms Office of Rural Tourism through a nearly $2.4 million investment

Governor Lee also outlined plans to improve public safety.

Key public safety initiatives include:



Increasing the criminal penalties associated with theft of a firearm and increasing the criminal penalties associated with reckless endangerment of a police officer or first responder

Revising the occupational licensing process to encourage employment for those leaving prison

Expanding recovery courts and community supervision

Governor Lee further discussed plans to provide all Tennesseans access to high-quality affordable health care by:

Investing $6.5 million additional recurring funds in the Health Care Safety Net

Creating a Childrens Behavioral Health Safety Net through a $7.5 million investment

Funding the third year of the Rural Hospital Transformation Program

Extending postpartum coverage for women on TennCare to 12 months

Providing a dental and oral health benefit to pregnant women on TennCare who do not currently receive dental benefits during the time of pregnancy through 60 days post-delivery

Finally, Governor Lee discussed his previously announced comprehensive pro-life legislation to prohibit an abortion where a fetal heartbeat exists. That legislation also includes provisions to require a mother to undergo an ultrasound prior to an abortion and prohibit an abortion where the physician is aware that the decision to seek an abortion is motivated by the race, sex, or health or disability diagnosis of the unborn child.

Here is the full speech:

Thank you very much.



Lieutenant Governor McNally, Speaker Sexton, Speaker Pro Tem Haile, Speaker Pro Tem Dunn, Members of the 111th General Assembly, Justices, Constitutional Officers, fellow Tennesseans:

It is an honor to once again be with you this evening.

Before I begin, Speaker Sexton, let me offer special congratulations to you on your election as Speaker.

I am looking forward to working with you during this session and in the years ahead as we make our state a leader in the nation.

Last year, I stood at this podium, newly inaugurated as the 50th Governor of Tennessee.

It has been a rewarding year, far more rewarding than I could have ever imagined.

To serve Tennesseans, to help make their lives better, to help give them a better education, to help recruit and create good jobs, and to help make our state a leader in the nation, it has been a humbling and truly honorable experience.

To serve with you, the men and women of the General Assembly, has been a tremendous honor as well.

Thank you for your support during my first year, it means an awful lot to Maria and to me.

With all of the noise in our nation these days, whether it comes from Washington, or New York, or Hollywood, I cant help but look across this room in Tennessee and be inspired.

Inspired by every man and woman in this chamber who sacrifices much and who is dedicated to their beliefs and to the service of their neighbors.

Thank you for what you do, and I look forward to working alongside each of you this session and in the years ahead.

Our state also has another dedicated servant here in this room tonight  our First Lady Maria Lee.

She has been advocating tirelessly in the past year, launching her Tennessee Serves initiative and encouraging her fellow Tennesseans to join her in serving our neighbors.

Shes hit the ground running, and Tennesseans have gotten to see what Ive known for a long time.

Maria, I love you, and Tennessee is fortunate to have you as our First Lady.

My family is here, and Im especially glad to have my mother, Ann Lee, here tonight as well.

Thank you for being here.

As I begin tonight, Id also like to thank my cabinet and my staff.

I am proud of you all and the high level of expertise and dedication that you lend to the people of Tennessee each day.

Thank you for your hard work - keep it going - Tennessee is counting on you.

Serving as your governor over the past year, I have seen a lot of good that we can be proud of.

In 2019, we were for the first time named the number one best fiscally managed state in the country.

Weve been named as the best business climate in the country.

Were number one in the U.S. for advanced industry job growth and the best state for small business growth.

In the past year, this state has garnered 108 project commitments to create 16,500 jobs and $3.6 billion of capital investment in Tennessee.

And while we still have more work to do on rural economic development, Im also proud that more than half of these projects have been announced in rural counties.

This year, Mitsubishi, FedEx-Logistics, JNJ, Pilot.com, Hyosung, Amazon, Smile Direct, Icee, and dozens of other companies made expansions in or relocations to Tennessee.

We are the envy of many states.

Were not just being noticed by our fellow southern states  were gaining recognition from all across the country.

Over the last year, I visited every county in our state for the third time, and in every place I went, I saw Tennesseans working to make our state better.

Tonight, we gather to celebrate the state of our state and discuss ways to continue our momentum, but you and I know the successes we enjoy belong to the 6.8 million hard-working Tennesseans who sent us here.

We work for the people of Tennessee, and when you get back to your districts this weekend, you can tell your bosses, the people, this: Ive seen it with my own eyes, the state of our state is healthy and strong. So, lets work together to keep it that way.

Im proud of what we accomplished together in our first year, and Im excited about whats to come.

In education, we made kids in our schools safer when we invested $30 million new dollars to support school safety and resource officers.

As you know, we launched two major school choice initiatives this year as well.

Our first independent charter school authorizer will ensure quality oversight and accountability for our states public charter schools.

We created the Tennessee Education Savings Account Program, which will serve low-income students in districts with the highest number of low-performing schools.

Disruption is hard and sometimes controversial.

But we cannot expect extraordinarily different outcomes without extraordinarily different inputs, so Im proud of these initiatives, and I look forward to their success.

That said, the vast majority of our students are educated in traditional public schools, and the majority of our efforts must remain focused there.

Through my travels this year, Ive been in dozens of schools from one end of Tennessee to the other.

I always learn something when I visit with students. But, when I visit with teachers, Im inspired.

In this building, we work hard to develop student-centered education policies, but out there in the classrooms is where it happens.

We make it law, but teachers make it happen.

No teacher I know does it only for the money, but you and I know a worker is worthy of their pay.

Teaching is a calling.

We know it is passion that brings teachers to the classroom, but we also know our teachers deserve to be paid more for the important work they do.

Last year, I proposed, and you approved, more than $70 million to support increases in teacher salaries.

This year, Im proposing the largest investment in K-12 teacher salaries in Tennessee history.

My budget sets aside $117 million additional dollars for teachers, an amount equal to a 4% increase in the states contribution to teacher salaries.

We must also work harder to make teaching a more attractive profession for young people.

We know our new teacher numbers are dropping.

As our economy becomes more competitive for jobs, investing in workforce development must include developing the next generation of educators.

Over the next two years, we will recommend moving the minimum salary schedule for teachers from $36,000 to $40,000, so that no Tennessee teacher is making less than $40,000 per year.

This change to the salary schedule will reward teachers across the state while also making the teaching profession even more appealing to young people considering the high call of becoming an educator.

This year, we'll apply to create an AP education teaching course and launch a new series of grants to support district "Grow-Your-Own" programs that support the development of a future teacher as early as high school.

We're also taking the Grow-Your-Own concept one step further.

My budget includes $8.5 million to support the launch of the Governor's Teaching Fellowship, an initiative that will, in conjunction with Tennessee Promise, provide a college scholarship for over 1,000 of our best and brightest as they train to become teachers.

One of the reasons were making these investments is because, when it comes to educating our children, there may be nothing more important than recruiting, retaining, and training the best teachers in America in Tennessee.

To our higher education leaders, I want to say thank you for the work you've put in these last several years to improve how we train the next generation of teachers.

But we cannot afford to rest on our laurels.

That's why our Department of Education will be working much more closely with our schools of education, to ensure that our approach to training teachers is the best in the nation.

In that spirit, Im excited to announce a first of its kind competition to develop the best teacher preparation program in the world, right here in Tennessee.

The Tennessee Teacher and Leader Institute will solicit proposals from across the country to help launch a new initiative that will build the best educator preparation program in the nation.

Make no mistake: we will do whatever it takes to make Tennessee the best state in America to be a student, and that means making Tennessee the best state in America to be a teacher.

That means better pay, as weve said, but it also means better training and professional support, so that our teachers can perform at the top of their trade.

Were investing $4 million to support professional development opportunities for school leaders and innovative career advancement opportunities for our best-performing teachers.

One thing we hear from those teachers, is that many students arrive at school with a host of personal and family issues that classroom teachers dont have the bandwidth to handle.

It creates a nightmare decision for the teacher - when a student is struggling, they can either stop the learning process for everyone else in the classroom to help the one student or ignore that students needs.

Indeed, our mental health challenges in schools are not just anecdotal.

The data supports our concerns.

One in five children has a mental health diagnosis in a given year, and over 60% of children who receive mental health services do so in schools.

The youth suicide rate increased 56% in last decade, making it the second leading cause of death of young people age 10-24.

Scores of teachers and principals, as well as our education commissioner, have pleaded for reinforcements from the state to help schools tackle the mental health and other challenges that students bring with them into the classroom.

Tonight, that help is on the way.

First, we're expanding the outreach capacity of our Department of Mental Health, growing our school-based behavioral health liaison program from 36 counties to all 95 counties.

Second, I'm proposing the creation of a new reserve: a K-12 Mental Health Trust Fund of $250 million in one-time funds to support the growth and placement of mental health support services in our most-at-risk schools.

We will seek private donations to grow the fund over time and use the earnings to make investments for years to come.

It is our expectation that Tennessee will lead the nation in bringing mental health support to our teachers and to our students, and were very proud of that.

In previous years, we've led the nation in other respects, particularly in student growth on our NAEP scores.

That achievement is due to the hard work of many in this room, as well as leaders who've come before us, and our hard-working teachers.

Right now, our biggest academic challenge for our students is literacy.

Currently, only one-third of our third graders are reading on grade level.

Years later, this leads to nearly three out of four students who cannot read their high school level textbooks on the first day of school.

Literacy is the foundation for a student's educational journey.

And if we cant get early childhood literacy back on track, all of our other investments and work in education will be limited.

This year, I'm recommending a new, comprehensive approach to literacy.

I'm introducing legislation to establish new, clearer standards for the training of new teachers and the development of current teachers, grounded in the evidence and science of reading, with proven methods like phonics-based instruction.

We will ensure adequate supports and interventions for students before they reach the critical third-grade milestone.

But moving the needle on early childhood literacy requires more than talk - thats why Im also proposing an additional investment of $70 million to make sure teachers have what they need to accomplish the task at hand.

Its a partnership with districts that will include improved materials, ongoing professional development, and high-quality instructional tools for teachers in the classroom.

Fully funding BEP growth, 4% teacher raises, the Tennessee Teacher and Leader Institute, record investments in teacher recruitment, professional development, literacy training, and the K-12 Mental Health Trust Fund, our total new dollars invested in the future of public education in the coming fiscal year will equal more than $600 million.

So, when youre back home in your districts this year, if someone tells you were not supporting public education, theyre not telling the truth.

Were making these changes and these investments because we want our public schools to be excellent.

But, how will we know if were succeeding?

On one hand, Tennessee moved up nine places on the NAEP in our best-performing area of math, and we avoided the national trend of backsliding on past gains.

On the other hand, the true measure of a successful education system is a cohort of high school graduates who are well-prepared to be productive citizens, whether they choose a career or college.

To me, education isn't just about a test score.

Assessments are valuable tools, but if the adults in education are doing their job correctly, they won't just see academic statistics improve, they'll see the most important stat of all improve:

That our students are prepared to become productive members of society, whether that's entering the workforce, attending college, or earning a high-quality industry credential.

This past year, weve placed special emphasis on career readiness.

Im proud of the GIVE Act that this legislature approved last year, which allowed us to grant $25 million to schools across our state who are helping young adults earn industry certification earlier than ever before.

This year, we launched 28 new work-based learning programs, 18 of which are in rural distressed counties.

Some of my favorite days as governor have been traveling to this states rural counties to deliver a GIVE Grant to launch a new CTE program.

As I stand in a welding shop, I get to look into the eyes of students who, maybe for the first time, are excited about what they are doing at school.

I look at them and say, You have a unique ability to connect your brain to your hands that a lot of students dont have.

I tell them, We need you. We need your skills. Your communities need you.

And I say to them, Stay in your rural county, and build it. Put those gifts and skills to work in your own backyard. We need you.

Im also proud of the Future Workforce Initiative, which is adding 100 new middle school STEM programs by 2022 and tripling the number of STEM-designated schools.

Through this work, weve seen a 100% increase in the number of schools applying to receive STEM-designation.

I'm also proud of our Department of Labor and Workforce Development, who in partnership with the Trump Administration has launched new investments in youth apprenticeships.

Our workforce cabinet members have done a great job this year.

For the first time, state agencies who are involved in workforce development are beginning to pull in the same direction, and their work is already paying off.

The first outcome of that work will be next weeks launch of ApprenticeshipTN, a new effort that will realign our approach to getting individuals back into the workforce.

For those who do take advantage of our states excellent higher education system, we want to make sure that high-quality facilities and standards await them to give them the best possible chance of success.

Last week, the Higher Education Commission released an update to our state's five-year Master Plan, shifting the focus from degrees to jobs.

We're moving forward with bold new goals such as increasing by 10% the number of dual enrollment students and increasing by 20% the number of Tennessee degrees in computer science and data analytics.

In addition to large investments in our salary pool and our outcomes-based funding formula, Ive set aside nearly $160 million for capital improvements and $70 million for capital maintenance projects on our college campuses.

For the time being, we must continue to produce highly skilled workers as fast as we can on whatever track, so that we can keep feeding the tremendous job growth that weve seen across Tennessee.

This year, I met with CEOs and business leaders in Silicon Valley, South Korea, and many places in between who are looking to invest in Tennessee because of the low-tax, conservative approach to government we've developed.

As I mentioned, more than 16,000 jobs have been created across Tennessee over the last year, but too few of them have been in our distressed and at-risk counties.

Thats why I've instructed the Department of Economic and Community Development to raise the stakes when it comes to recruiting industry to rural areas.

Ive directed ECD to restructure our incentive package to companies considering locating in our 15 distressed counties and 24 at-risk counties.

Speaking of our 15 distressed counties, with us tonight are the mayors from those counties.

Please stand and be recognized - Im proud youre here.

For the last several years, our strong economy has been feeding a very healthy budget, and the leaders in this room should be commended for their good stewardship.

Conservative principles work, and as I enter my second year as governor, I pledge to you to continue to lead our state in the direction of conservative fiscal management.

As you know, I asked each of our departments for a 1% budget cut last year, and they responded with cuts totaling 1.7% - $91 million trimmed from our state budget.

A few months ago, I traveled to New York with our constitutional officers and Speaker Sexton to meet with bond rating agencies, sharing our story of fiscal responsibility and consistent results.

They rewarded our collective effort once again with a Triple-A bond rating from all three rating agencies, one of only 13 states to achieve this.

Indeed, our economy is strong, and a rising tide lifts all boats.

Its only fair that when the state is fiscally healthy, some of that money be returned to the taxpayer.

Tonight, I am announcing a proposal to cut the professional privilege tax in half and return $40 million to individuals and small business owners who every year pay this arbitrary and unfair tax.

Indeed, the state is seeing strong economic times, but many of our local governments are struggling financially, and we certainly dont want to see any local tax increases.

In many of the counties I have visited throughout the past year, community leaders almost always tell me about projects or initiatives that could transform their counties, if only they could find funding.

And certainly, on many issues, local government knows better than we do how to direct resources.

For that reason, my budget proposal recommends $100 million for local government grants to be divided among every county and every municipality across our state.

This money can be used for one-time expenses such as road projects, I.T. upgrades, capital maintenance, utility system upgrades, and public safety projects.

Last year, we made the largest single contribution in our states history to our Rainy-Day Fund, bringing the total to $1.1 billion.

Very few states have minimal debt and a growing Rainy-Day Fund, and this year we propose making an additional $50 million contribution, which is 20% more than the statutory requirement.

Even as we save for a rainy day in Nashville, we know that not all parts of our state are seeing the same successes.

You might have heard that rural Tennessee is a priority of mine.

My first executive order focused the attention of state government on rural areas, and later I gathered my cabinet in Perry County for the first-ever Governors Rural Opportunity Summit where we met with leaders from each of our distressed counties.

We invested $20 million in my first budget for broadband expansion to increase services in rural areas that need it most, and this year I am pleased to recommend an additional $25 million investment.

Maria, maybe this will be the year we finally get broadband on the farm.

I'm also recommending $20 million for ECD's Rural Opportunity Fund, which supports site development, main-street development, and critical infrastructure assistance.

We expanded an incentive program in Tennessee medical schools that will grow the pipeline of primary care doctors locating in rural communities.

This year, we plan to do even more for rural Tennessee.

Were adding more than $4 million for payment increases to rural health clinics and expanding rural access to dental care through the Department of Health and a new public-private partnership with SmileTN.

Were adding $7 million to the Ag Enhancement program and an additional $2 million for UT Extension Agents in distressed rural counties.

The Department of Tourism has created an Office of Rural Tourism, and weve set aside nearly $2.4 million for their efforts to draw attention to beautiful parts of Tennessee that are off the beaten path.

Were making these investments because, as our states elected leaders, we must remain aware of serving every part and every person of our state.

Thats why Ive made criminal justice reform such a large priority, because every person in Tennessee wants and deserves to live in a safe neighborhood.

When properly implemented, criminal justice reforms save taxpayer dollars, shrink the size of government, properly punish wrongdoers, and make our communities safer.

Last year, we gave correctional officers a long-overdue pay raise to make Tennessee more competitive with other states.

We added basic education and CTE options for inmates on a path to reentry so they would be better prepared for life on the outside.

This legislature passed each of our proposals last year, and Im proud to bring to you another set of proposals this year.

First and foremost, we must be tough on crime.

Last year, we cracked down on fentanyl traffickers, and this year I propose increasing the criminal penalties associated with theft of a firearm and increasing the criminal penalties associated with reckless endangerment of a police officer or first responder.

But 95% of incarcerated individuals are not serving a life sentence, which means one day they will leave prison and return to a community near you.

Its in the best interest of your family and community that those individuals be prepared to make that reentry successfully, instead of returning to a life of crime.

My Criminal Justice Investment Task Force recently issued 23 recommendations on how we can improve in these areas, and I would like to thank the eight legislators and many other Tennesseans who have given their time and energy to developing thoughtful recommendations.

This year, based on those recommendations, I plan to propose legislation that will improve our probation and parole systems.

First, we want to expand our recovery courts so that veterans and those struggling with addiction or mental health challenges will have access to specialized supervision.

Second, we want to improve our use of community supervision, including at the end of a prison sentence.

Nearly 40% of those leaving our prisons do so with no oversight, and all too often those individuals are the ones who need it most.

Third, we want to encourage those leaving prison to secure employment by revising the occupational licensing process and encouraging employers to hire the formerly incarcerated.

By drawing upon evidence-based best practices, we are confident that outcomes for those on community supervision will improve, and our communities will be safer.

We need to be sure that these individuals are prepared to re-enter society and not re-enter prison.

Another way were preparing individuals to leave prison is through the recently created Volunteer Mentorship Initiative.

We launched in the Fall, and already more than two dozen inmates have been matched with legislators and members of my staff to begin thinking about what life looks like at the end of their prison sentence.

Our second round of mentors have just been matched, and they will be doing their orientation in the next few weeks.

Even more exciting, hundreds of Tennesseans have reached out to express interest in becoming mentors, and we will be including them in this process very soon.

And by the way, if youre interested in serving as a mentor, you can sign up on my website.

Id like to talk about one other public safety budget item were proposing.

For many Tennesseans, the only interaction they have with their government is the Driver Services Division at the Department of Safety.

Tennesseans deserve to have great interactions with our state government, and I have asked our Department of Safety to take steps to improve experiences at our Drivers Service Centers.

I am proposing 80 additional positions and funding to assist in decreasing wait times for our customers as they answer the federal mandate to obtain a REAL ID.

Another issue that impacts every person in this state is health care.

Last year, we added $3.5 million to the Health Care Safety Net to help provide direct care to uninsured adults.

This year, Im proposing an additional $6.5 million recurring to this program.

The resulting $17 million in total annual funding would be the highest of any year since the program was created in 2005.

Were also setting aside more than $7.5 million to create a Childrens Behavioral Health Safety Net.

This initiative will work to ensure that no child in need of critical behavioral health services is unable to access them.

Solving our health care challenges requires more than just increased funding - we have to be innovative and thoughtful as well.

With the encouragement of this legislature, Im proud that Tennessee was the first state in America to apply for a Medicaid block grant from the federal government.

Tennessee runs the most efficient Medicaid system in the country, and the result is that we are one of only a few states who underspend the federal governments estimate for what it should cost to cover our population.

Our proposal to the federal government is that we get to share those savings and spend them to cover more services and more people.

While we do not yet know whether this proposal will be accepted, I am confident that what weve proposed would be a good deal for Tennesseans and that no Tennessean would be worse off if it is approved.

Under the proposed budget, my Administration will fund the third year of the Rural Hospital Transformation Program.

And this time next year, well be in a position to consider recommendations from the Health Care Modernization Task Force.

Throughout this past year, Commissioner McWhorter held multiple listening sessions across the state to better understand the concerns and priorities of patients, providers, and payers.

Building on that foundation, they are moving ahead to find innovative working solutions on how our state can better provide access to quality health care that all Tennesseans can afford.

Why is it we would make these investments in education, criminal justice, and health care?

Because each of these items help us build what were really going after: free and thriving citizens within healthy families and communities.

I'm proud that under our proposal Tennessee would become the first state in America to offer 12 weeks of paid family leave to eligible state employees who experience a significant life event.

Im proud of our state workers and offering them this benefit will help us continue to retain the best and brightest and help those who help our state.

This budget also proposes changes to our TennCare program that will benefit young families.

We know infant mortality and maternal health are challenges for our state.

One in two Tennessee births are covered through our Medicaid program.

That's why we're proposing two new initiatives to expand prenatal and postpartum coverage for our TennCare recipients.

First, we are launching a three-year pilot to extend postpartum coverage to 12 months for mothers covered by TennCare.

Were also expanding preventive dental services to mothers on TennCare.

My proposal would provide a dental and oral health benefit to pregnant women who do not currently receive dental benefits during the time of pregnancy through 60 days post-delivery.

This will support improved health outcomes for both mother and child.

For me, one of the most important things we can do to be pro-family is to protect the rights of the most vulnerable in our state, and there is none more vulnerable than the unborn.

Ive proposed legislation that would defend and protect the life of an unborn baby from the time their heartbeat can be detected.

I want to share a personal story that has strengthened my resolve in this very important subject.

A few months ago, my son and his wife had identical twin baby girls, delivered months before they were due, at a time when most babies their size would still be in their mothers womb.

When I walked into the neonatal intensive care unit, I stared in wonder at a 1lb 5oz baby girl with tubes and cords and monitors, fighting for her life.

As I watched little Annie, I was reminded once again that every life is precious.

Every life is precious, and we will support pro-life policy in this state because everything precious is worth protecting.

My first year as governor has been the most enlightening of my life.

At my age, I thought Id seen it all, but this job provides a new perspective on our state, its people, and our common challenges.

Ive been to every county in this state at least three times now.

Ive seen a lot - some days my heart swells, glad to see a community thriving or a program working.

Other days my heart breaks, frustrated with the failures of an imperfect system and wishing we could do more.

But if I could say one thing to my fellow Tennesseans as I enter my second year as governor, it would be this: I see you.

To the farmer standing in a flooded field, looking over a ruined crop in West Tennessee - I see you.

To the single mom taking night classes at a TCAT, trying to give your family a new opportunity - I see you.

To the young girl with great potential and even greater dreams, stuck in a school that doesnt meet your needs - I see you.

For the police officer putting your life on the line and the crime victim who has been harmed by a broken justice system - I see you.

To these and the rest of the 6.8 million Tennesseans; you dont expect government to solve all your problems, but you do expect to get what you pay for - I see you.

We see you.

And we will keep striving to bring good jobs, good schools, and safe neighborhoods to every corner of this state, because thats what you elected us to do, and thats what you deserve.

As we conclude tonight, lets be reminded that the walls around us are the walls of history.

Remarkable men and women have accomplished much in this very building.

In fact, one of the most important decisions in the fabric of our nation was resolved 100 years ago right here.

On August 18, 1920, the Tennessee General Assembly voted to approve the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which enshrined for women the constitutional right to vote.

Even then, 100 years ago, Tennessee was leading the nation, casting the deciding vote in that revolutionary decision.

In this very chamber, the course of American history was changed.

I mentioned earlier that much of our success is owed to those who came before us.

Many of those trailblazers are women.

Our state and country have thrived in great part due to the pivotal role played by women in society and in government.

Can you believe that was only 100 years ago?

History is funny that way - what seems inevitable now would have seemed far from it to those engaged in the day to day struggle for suffrage.

One hundred years later, certainly, our struggles are different.

But as we celebrate the centennial of Tennessees role in ratifying the 19th Amendment this year, what I hope we remember is this: the long arc of history remembers fondly when leaders do the right thing, especially when its hard, especially when the politics of the day dont offer any rewards.

And my hope is that history records that we were leaders who worked together, who stood firm in our individual convictions but who remembered that differences should not divide us.

Rather, they challenge us to take the higher, harder road of understanding, respect, and common purpose.

God has given us great favor and blessed us with a great responsibility to affect positive change for our families, our communities, and our state.

May we pursue the challenges before us with grace, humility, and courage.

Some 6.8 million Tennesseans are counting on us to do just that.

Lets make them proud.

Thank you, and God bless the great state of Tennessee.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has urged the government to bring a bill in the ongoing session of the Parliament for restoring full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

He also demanded the release of all the political detainees in the state after the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year.

In a major political move, the government had in August last year scrapped Article 370 and enacted a law to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories (UTs) -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

"Bring a bill in the current session itself to restore full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir," Azad said on Tuesday while speaking during the motion of thanks in the Rajya Sabha in response to the President's joint address.

"We hope that the government would now admit its mistake," he added.

Azad noted the role of the security forces in the country, but said that when there are tensions in a border state, it is the common man who first bears the brunt.

The senior Congress leader and former minister also drew the attention of the government to the protests by women at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi and appealed for addressing their concerns.

Hundreds of women have been protesting against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that grants citizenship to non-Muslims facing religious persecution in three neighbouring countries -- Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

"Not a single minister of the government has talked about addressing the issue. The government seems to be on a war path," the Congress leader said.
Identity and access management in 2022 - what will the future look like?

As we enter into 2022, there is still a level of uncertainty in place. Its unclear what the future holds, as companies around the world still contend with the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote working has been encouraged by most organisations and the move to a hybrid working system has become business as usual, for the majority of businesses. Some have reduced their office space or done away with their locations altogether. Following best security practices With all this change in place, there are problems to deal with. According to research, 32.7% of IT admins say they are concerned about employees using unsecured networks to carry out that work. Alongside this, 74% of IT admins thought that remote work makes it harder for employees to follow best security practices. This need to manage security around remote work is no longer temporary. Instead, companies have to build permanent strategies around remote work and security. The coming year will also create a different landscape for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Here are some key predictions for next year and what to start preparing for in 2022: The reality of SMB spending around security will hit home SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working, especially in comparison to their size. They had to undertake significant digital transformation projects that made it possible to deliver services remotely, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Weve seen a shift in mindset for these companies, which are now more tech-focused in their approach to problem solving. According to our research, 45% of SMBs plan to increase their spending towards IT services in 2022. Around half of all organisations think their IT budgets are adequate for their needs, while 14.5% of those surveyed believe they will need more, to cover all that needs to be done. Identity management spending to support remote work For others, the COVID-19 pandemic led to over-spending, just to get ahead of things and they will spend in 2022, looking at what they should keep and what they can reduce their spending on. Areas like identity management will stay in place, as companies struggle to support remote work and security, without this in place. However, on-premise IT spending will be reduced or cut, as those solutions are not relevant for the new work model. Services that rely on on-premise IT will be cut or replaced. The device will lead the way for security We rely on our phones to work and to communicate. In 2022, they will become central to how we manage access, to all our assets and locations, IT and physical. When employees can use company devices and their own phones for work, security is more difficult. IT teams have to ensure that theyre prepared for this, by making sure that these devices can be trusted. Wide use of digital certificates and strong MFA factors Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication There are multiple ways that companies can achieve this, for example - By using digital certificates to identify company devices as trusted, an agent, or strong MFA factors, like a FIDO security key or mobile push authentication. Whichever approach you choose, this can prevent unauthorised access to IT assets and applications, and these same devices can be used for authentication into physical locations too. Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication. Understanding human behaviour Alongside this, it is important to understand human behaviour. Anything that introduces an extra step for authentication can lead to employees taking workarounds. To stop this, it is important to put an employee education process in place, in order to emphasize on the importance of security. The next step is to think about adopting passwordless security, to further reduce friction and increase adoption. Lastly, as devices become the starting point for security and trust, remote device management will be needed too. More companies will need to manage devices remotely, from wiping an asset remotely if it gets lost or stolen, through to de-provisioning users easily and removing their access rights, when they leave the company. Identity will be a layer cake Zero Trust approaches to security Identity management relies on being able to trust that someone is who they say they are. Zero Trust approaches to security can support this effectively, particularly when aligned with least privilege access models. In order to turn theory into practical easy-to-deploy steps, companies need to use contextual access, as part of their identity management strategy. This involves looking at the context that employees will work in and putting together the right management approach for those circumstances. For typical employee behaviour, using two factor authentication might be enough to help them work, without security getting in the way. How enterprises manage, access and store identity data There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time For areas where security is more important, additional security policies can be put over the top, to ensure that only the right people have access. A step-up in authentication can be added, based on the sensitivity of resources or risk-based adaptive authentication policies might be needed. There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time, so that it aligns more closely with those use cases. Identity management critical to secure assets in 2022 There are bigger conversations taking place around digital identity for citizenship, as more services move online as well. Any moves that take place in this arena will affect how businesses think about their identity management processes too, encouraging them to look at their requirements in more detail. Overall, 2022 will be the year when identity will be critical to how companies keep their assets secure and their employees productive. With employees working remotely and businesses becoming decentralised, identity strategies will have to take the same approach. This will put the emphasis on strong identity management as the starting point for all security planning.
South Dakota's chief justice seeks $5 million for courthouse security

In Chief Justice Jensen's State of the Judiciary Address, he mentioned courthouse security, sexual harassment training and a lack of court reporters.
Ugandas deputy Ambassador to China, Henry Mayega, has said Chinese authorities have assured them of safety following the outbreak of coronavirus in China. The outbreak of coronavirus was confirmed in December last year.

Yesterday, World health organisation (WHO) reported that 17336 cases of acute respiratory disease were confirmed in 24 provinces, regions and cities and 21558 suspected cases in China. The virus has claimed 362 people.

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Over 50 cases of coronavirus have also been confirmed in other countries in Europe and Asia. Progress as so far been registered with 505 cured cases. So far no case of novel coronavirus has been confirmed Uganda.

As the virus continue to bite, many countries have been seen airlifting their nationals back home as China continues to launch rapid action against the Wuhan virus.

Currently, Uganda has a total of 71 students in Wuhan, a province where the virus was first confirmed. He also said there is so much business between Uganda and China to a tune of 1 billion US dollars annually and if there is a stoppage due to the Coronavirus, we might get some issues.

The deputy head of mission however said there is nothing to worry since an agreement between Uganda and China for Ugandans to stay in China due to the safety precautions was laid out. We believe the epidemic is going to be handled so that business goes back to normal. He said.

As recommended by WHO, the ambassador urged Ugandans to avoid close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections, Frequent hand-washing, especially after direct contact with ill people or their environment and staying away from unprotected contact with farm or wild animals.

People with symptoms of acute respiratory infect practice cough etiquette of maintaining distance, cover coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing, and wash hands. He said

Yesterday, The President of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has commended the screening of all travelers for Ebola and Coronavirus at Entebbe Airport. These are some of the measures put in place by Ministry of Health with support from partners to ensure that the country is kept safe

The minister of health, Jane Ruth Aceng, has since urged the Ugandan business community travelling back from China to adhere to our strict rules of isolation too. She said the ministry will continue screening all travelers since the virus is spread to many other countries but travelers from China will be isolated for 14 days for follow up.

Please lets do this willingly to ensure our country is safe. I appeal to all of you to wash hands at all times and report any suspected cases to nearest health facility she said.
The level of economic activity in Armenia increased in January-September 2019, said Armenian finance minister Atom Janjughazyan on Tuesday.

His remarks came at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs at the discussion of the report on the execution of the state budget for the 9 months of 2019.

According to him, economic activity amounted to 7.1%, which is 0.8% higher than in 2018. In the first nine months of 2019, industry grew by 9.7%. Industrial growth was mainly driven by manufacturing growth. The mining industry has also made a positive contribution to the growth of this industry. The growth was 3.5% and reached 19.5%.
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

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Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

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Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

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NEWS.am daily digest: 12.01.22

Turkish FM expresses concerns to Chinese counterpart

OSCE Chairman-in-Office speaks on situation along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021

China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded

Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation

Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods

Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day

3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings

Copper rises in price

One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning

About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions

Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night

French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly

289 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Gold slightly rises in price

North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile

OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

Oil is trading without a single dynamic

US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee

MOD: Armenia soldiers dead body found at midnight after Azerbaijan provocation

Newspaper: Casualties of Armenia PM Pashinyan's 'era of peace'

US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen

German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan

WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State

India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death

Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded

NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22

Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States

Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia

Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death

Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded
UN soldiers in Seoul. Credit: Christina Desitriviantie

Former US Private First Class Stephen Green was found guilty of raping and killing a 14-year-old girl and murdering her family in Mahmudiyah, Iraq in 2006. Four years later, US Corporal Jeremy Morlock was convicted of ambushing, murdering and maiming Afghan civilians in 2010.

Investigations revealed that Green had a pre-existing antisocial personality disorder. This effectively made him indifferent to the suffering of others. Morlock, too, had a personal history of anti-social behavior.

Now our recent study, published in Military Psychology, has identified a personality profile linked with such war atrocities. It raises the question of whether military organizations could and should take more care when recruiting people.

The examples of moral transgressions from the global "war on terror" suggest there is a link between antisocial personality traits and breaches of battlefield ethics. This is backed up by scientific evidence, with psychological studies dating back to the aftermath of World War II.

Studies show that a personality cluster known as the "dark triad" is related to negative attitudes towards military ethics. This includes psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism (the power-hungry personality). Socio-political attitudes such as right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientationbelieving that "superior" groups should dominate "inferior" groupsalso belong to this class.

Of these, data on civilian and military samples suggest that psychopathy is the main risk factor for moral transgressions in both civilian and military work. This is perhaps unsurprising given that psychopaths have low empathy and anxiety, but are risk taking and manipulative.

New data

Our research suggests that dark personality traits have a common core. We collected predeployment data on the five "dark triad" traits in a sample of Swedish peacekeepers bound for Mali, Africa.

We then used structural equation modeling, which is a mathematical tool that can find correlations between different variables. For example, it is hard to define what intelligence is. But if you have a hypothesis, you can test people with various exams that you think predict intelligence. You can thereafter feed the scores into the modelthese would be the observed variables. Intelligence could then be discovered as the latent variable to which these observed variables statistically contributed.

Torture of Abdou Hussain Saad Faleh in Abu Ghraib prison. Credit: US government

We used this model to identify the underlying latent variable of the five dark personality traitswhat they have in common. We dubbed this shared content the "core of darkness." We then discovered it was linked both to negative attitudes towards military ethics and higher frequency of self-reported unethical behavior. The latter included anonymously admitting to minimizing cooperation with co-workers so as to limit their success. In an analysis of a sub-sample of the soldiers, the dark core also predicted a higher frequency of insulting and cursing non-combatants.

Based on previous personality research, it is likely that soldiers with high "dark core" scores are more callous and manipulative, so these traits may lie at the heart of the core of darkness. This in turn affects their attitudes towards human rights in general and their fellow soldiers. Therefore, as was also suggested by military psychologists after the systematic abuse of Iraqi detainees in Abu-Ghraib prison in 2003 was revealed, it is important to identify these soldiers.

Double-edged sword

But observations suggest that this is a double-edged sword from the point of view of military recruiters. For example, during previous wars, men judged by some military psychiatrists to be the "best killers" were often the ones with dark traits. And they were preferred for positions where "aggression" was considered important. This suggests that having a dark personality might be viewed positively in certain areas in terms of "getting dirty jobs done."

Another more recent example is the recruitment of soldiers with so-called "moral waivers" in the war against terrorignoring their criminal records. That is concerning as we know that dark personality traits are over-represented among people who have been convicted of crimes in general. This suggests that sometimes, filling the ranks might be prioritized over getting the right people.

From a practical perspective, identifying and screening out soldiers with a high score on the dark core isn't easy. It requires that the military actually develop and routinely implement refined assessment techniques.

What's more, military culture may contribute towards some negative behavior. For example, evidence suggests a tendency to become socially dominant can actually develop during cadet training. There are also many examples where inadequate leadership has had a negative impact on people with pre-existing dark personality traits.

It may be inevitable that atrocities happen in war. But that doesn't mean that some, or even many, ethical violations could not be prevented. To do this, we have to take more notice of the evidence that we have available.

If we are more careful about whom we employ in our professional militaries, and who leads them, there is a good chance that we could eliminate some important risk factors. This would certainly help improve the standard of military ethicssomething we should all welcome.

Explore further How personality predicts seeing others as sex objects

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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The decision by state Rep. Roland Gutierrez to run for a state Senate seat instead of a sixth term in the Texas House means his successor will be a rookie legislator in what will be one of the states most important sessions in years.

What House District 119s next representative will lack in state legislative experience should be made up for with experience in governing and an intimate knowledge of the South Side.
Former Vice President Joe Biden addressed his supporters and viewers Monday night with the results Iowa caucuses still out due to a snafu  telling them he would take his campaign to Nevada, South Carolina and other states that might suit his national campaign.

Biden addressed a crowded ballroom in Des Moines shortly after the Iowa state party held a call with campaigns to announce problems that kept the caucus count from being released  throwing caucus night into chaos.

'The Iowa Democratic Party is working to get these results  to get them straight,' Biden said.

Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden is accompanied by his wife Dr. Jill Biden as he addresses supporters at a rally at the Drake University Olmsted Center in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., February 3, 2020  before any results were in

'And I want to make sure theyre very careful with their deliberations.' He made no effort to declare victory, saying: 'Were going to walk out of here with our share of delegates,' saying he didn't know exactly.

He said indications are that 'it's going to be close.'

'We don't know exactly what it is yet, but we feel good about where we are,' said Biden. His backers have been bracing for a tough result, eager to take the primary fight to South Carolina, which has a large share of black voters and where Biden has performed well in polls.

'Were going to walk out of here with our share of delegates,' said Biden

, accompanied by his wife Jill Biden, thanked 'all the people from Delaware, California  all the people who came from all over to campaign here'

Biden thanked 'all the people from Delaware, California  all the people who came from all over to campaign here.'

One backer who wore an Iowa precinct captain shirts told DailyMail.com he was from Delaware, and firefighters union members from all over came for Biden.

'Most of all I want to thank the Iowans that are here,' said Biden, earning cheers from his supporters.

Biden was performing fairly well in Iowa polls, but a poor showing might have hurt his momentum. Like other candidates, already has events scheduled Tuesday in New Hampshire, the next early state to get a swarm of media attention that will help shape the narrative.

Wrote former to Obama advisor David Axelrod: ' Based on the precincts we saw caucus live on TV, @JoeBiden may have caught a huge break with IA reporting snafu. He was able to leave the state with potentially unfriendly results unreported. The tell is that his was the first campaign to send a letter questioning the process.'

The Iowa results were plunged into crisis Monday night as a new app meant to improve security failed, party organizers warned they had found 'inconsistencies,' and issued a panicked public statement to say they had not been hacked.

'We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report,' Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Mandy McClure said in a statement. 'This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion.'
First years share their hopes as they start university

Wits newest cohorts are looking forward to mingling with one another.

University can be an enthralling experience for high school leavers as they embark on their new academic journey, which will bring them a step closer to realising their dreams.

Classes have commenced at Wits University following a successful Orientation Week at Wits, which ran from 26 to 31 January 2020The Wits O-Week programme featured a host of workshops, tours and activities to equip new students with key skills and knowledge about University structures in order to ensure success.

Wits Communications spoke to some of the first years about their wishes for the year.

Engineering students from the Faculty of Engineering shared their excitement of being part of the Wits community. Tristan Reddy, a mechanical engineering said he is looking forward to making new friends and engaging with other students in his faculty.

Surisha Nadasen who hails from Durban nearly 600 kilometres from Johannesburg wants to build her social network within the University and learn key values.

I am also interested in sports, just to socialise with people. I feel like it is very good to have connections everywhere because you never know when you might need help. You also learn many values by playing different types of sport such as teamwork and learning to listen to people as well as some leadership skills.

With over 50 student clubs and societies on offer, the Durbanite wants to join the Wits self-defence club.

Everyone needs to know how to protect themselves in any situation, she quips.

Nadasen is registered for a biomedical engineering degree, something ofpersonal significance.

My granny is an amputee and does not have both her legs. We have been through a lot of financial problems and I really want to give back by at least building her two legs that she can use properly, she said.

She wants to use her experience to contribute to biomedical solutions that will improve the lives of the amputees and their families.

Medical student Nkateko Sondlane expects that adjusting to University will be quite challenging because of the new environment and system. She, however, feels more relaxed after attendingO-Week The week helped her to understand her faculty (Health Sciences) better and learn about tutorials that will supplement her studies.

With the campus buzzing and all hands on deck to help first-years, the Campus Housing and Residence Life Office also held several events to ease the new Witsies into their new homes.

On Friday, 31 January 2020, students residing on Campus were welcomed at two dinners held on Education and East Campus. Aside from the scrumptious meal, students were treated to a vibrant performance by Clemour Ngubane, the VoiceSA 2016 finalist.

The Dean of Student Affairs Jerome September had a heart-to-heart chat with the cohort and urged them to guard their academics.

Only a few were selected to join Wits. You came through the front door and you are not here by mistake. Study hard and prepare for your lectures ahead of time. University is different from high school. Use this opportunity to become a better person.

He also encouraged the first years to be involved in the University and residence activities so they acquire skills and learn values they would not get from class and to practice acts of kindness by lending a helping hand to those less fortunate.
Justice Department officials will meet on Tuesday with representatives of state attorneys general to discuss their investigations of search and advertising giant Google, Trend reports citing Reuters.

The meeting is in the afternoon, according to one source, and will include officials from six or seven states, including Texas, according to a second source familiar with the matter.

The Justice Department and nearly all state attorneys general have opened investigations into allegations that Alphabets Google has broken antitrust law. The probes focus on search bias, advertising and management of Googles Android operating system.

Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple are all the focus of federal, state and congressional investigations following complaints that the four tech giants abused their clout in dealings with smaller companies.

The probes are being carried out by the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general and the House Judiciary Committee. U.S. Attorney General William Barr has said he would like to see them wrapped up this year.

The companies have come under fire from all parts of the political spectrum, with President Donald Trump critical of the companies and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders calling for the break-up of Amazon and Facebook.
Night Curfew in Maharashtra: Check guidelines, rules; what is allowed, what is not allowed

"Leave India yourself or": MNS warning to Bangladeshi intruders in Mumbai

India

oi-Deepika S

Mumbai, Feb 04: Days after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray joined hands with the Narendra Modi government over the eviction of Bangladeshi and Pakistani infiltrators, posters threatening the Bangladeshis surfaced in Raigad district's Panvel area.

"Bangladeshis leave the country, otherwise you will be driven out in MNS style", the poster read. It also featured MNS chief Raj Thackeray and his son Amit Thackeray, who was inducted into the party last month.

The poster from the party comes ahead of MNS mega rally against illegal intruders on February 9.

In a shift from his previous stand, Raj Thackeray accepted that there could be a debate on CAA. Shiv Sena too taunted Raj's change in stance from 'Marathi manoos' to 'Hindutva' pointing out that he now backed the Act when he had just opposed the act a month ago. MNS has now decided to focus on the 'remove infiltrators' pitch but has not vocally come out in support to a nationwide NRC.

More infiltrators arrested by Army as Pakistan continues to push terrorists into Valley

It is to be noted that Raj Thackeray had unveiled his party's new flag which is saffron in colour, setting tongues wagging in political circles about a possible ideological shift.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 4th, 2020

Thackeray unveiled the new flag, which in the centre bears a 'rajmudra' (royal seal used during the times of warrior King Shivaji), at the party's plenary meeting in suburban Goregaon.
BLACKROCK FRONTIERS INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI: 5493003K5E043LHLO706)

All information is at 31 December 2019 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested.

One

month

% Three

months

% One

year

% Three

years

% Five

years

% Since

Launch*

% Sterling: Share price 5.1 2.3 3.6 16.7 48.1 81.2 Net asset value 0.0 -4.5 1.1 9.2 36.4 76.5 Benchmark (NR)** 2.0 -3.9 1.9 23.1 36.4 63.9 MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 1.9 -0.8 13.4 21.3 34.4 62.7 MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 4.9 4.0 13.9 29.5 54.6 47.2 US Dollars: Share price 7.6 9.9 7.8 25.3 26.1 54.6 Net asset value 2.4 2.7 5.2 17.1 16.1 50.4 Benchmark (NR)** 4.4 3.3 6.0 31.9 15.9 40.4 MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 4.3 6.6 18.0 30.0 14.2 38.2 MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 7.5 11.8 18.4 38.9 31.4 25.1

Sources: BlackRock and Standard & Poor's Micropal

* 17 December 2010.

** The Company's benchmark changed from MSCI Frontier Markets Index to MSCI Emerging ex Selected Countries + Frontier Markets + Saudi Arabia Index (net total return, USD) effective 1/4/2018.



At month end US Dollar Net asset value - capital only: 165.54c Net asset value - cum income: 170.91c Sterling: Net asset value - capital only: 124.96p Net asset value - cum income: 129.02p Share price: 135.00p Total assets (including income): 311.6m Premium to cum-income NAV: 4.6% Gearing: nil Gearing range (as a % of gross assets): 0-20% Net yield*: 5.0% Ordinary shares in issue: 241,522,801 Ongoing charges**: 1.4% Ongoing charges plus taxation and performance fee: 1.4%

*The Company's yield based on dividends announced in the last 12 months as at the date of the release of this announcement is 5.0% and includes the 2019 final dividend of 4.75 cents per share declared on 06 December 2019 with a pay date of 07 February 2020, and special dividend of 1.0 cents per share declared on 11 December 2018 and paid to shareholders on 7 February 2019. Also included is the 2019 interim dividend of 3.00 cents per share announced on 30 May 2019 and paid to shareholders on 28 June 2019.

**Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 30 September 2019.

Sector

Analysis Gross market value as a % of net assets Country

Analysis Gross market value as a % of net assets Financials 25.8 Indonesia 13.9 Consumer Staples 15.2 Thailand 12.3 Consumer Discretionary 14.8 Vietnam 9.3 Materials 12.0 Egypt 8.9 Real Estate 11.7 Saudi Arabia 8.8 Industrials 10.1 Philippines 6.9 Energy 9.2 United Arab Emirates 6.1 Communication Services 3.7 Pakistan 4.4 Health Care 2.1 Kazakhstan 4.1 Information Technology 1.7 Malaysia 3.9 Utilities 1.7 Turkey 3.8 ----- Nigeria 3.4 108.0 Ukraine 3.1 Short positions ----- Colombia 2.7 -1.0 PAN-Africa 2.4 ===== Romania 2.3 Pan-Emerging Europe 2.1 Qatar 2.1 Poland 2.0 Chile 1.9 Greece 1.7 Kenya 1.5 Argentina 0.4 ----- Total 108.0 ----- Short positions -1.0 =====

*reflects gross market exposure from contracts for difference (CFDs).

Market Exposure



31.01

2019

% 28.02

2019

% 31.03

2019

% 30.04

2019

% 31.05

2019

% 30.06

2019

% 31.07

2019

% 31.08

2019

% 30.09

2019

% 31.10

2019

% 30.11

2019

% 31.12

2019

% Long 115.1 112.9 113.1 116.0 111.0 114.1 117.0 111.5 110.1 108.0 107.8 108.0 Short 7.3 6.7 6.6 6.6 8.8 8.1 5.1 4.2 4.1 2.2 1.7 1.0 Gross 122.4 119.6 119.7 122.6 119.8 122.2 122.1 115.7 114.2 110.2 109.5 109.0 Net 107.8 106.2 106.5 109.4 102.2 106.0 111.9 107.3 106.0 105.8 106.1 107.0

Ten Largest Investments

Company Country of Risk Gross market value as a % of net assets Astra International Indonesia 4.1 Charoen Pokphand Food Thailand 3.4 PTT Global Chemical Thailand 3.2 United International Transport Saudi Arabia 3.2 Vincom Retail Vietnam 3.1 Bank Mandiri Indonesia 3.0 Bank of the Philippine Islands Philippines 2.8 Ecopetrol Colombia 2.7 Eastern Tobacco Egypt 2.6 LT Group Philippines 2.5



Commenting on the markets, Sam Vecht and Emily Fletcher, representing the Investment Manager noted:



The Company's NAV returned 2.4%1 versus its benchmark the MSCI Emerging ex Selected Countries + Frontier Markets + Saudi Arabia Index ("Benchmark Index"), which returned +4.4% in December2. For reference, MSCI Emerging Markets Index ended the month +7.5% and MSCI Frontier Markets Index up +4.3%2 over the same period (all performance figures are on a US Dollar basis with net income reinvested).

Our allocations in South East Asia were the top contributors to returns in December with positions in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines all adding to returns. In particular, our holdings in Indonesian conglomerate Astra International (+8.1%), Philippines tobacco company LT Group (+8.7%) and Bank Mandiri (+11.8%) all did well. Our holdings in Energy were additional contributors driven by holdings in Saudi Aramco (+14.8%) and Colombian energy company Ecopetrol (+11.2%).

The largest detractor from returns this month was our holding in United Arab Emirates (UAE) hospital operator NMC Health (-26.5%) after the stock declined sharply given allegations over its accounting practices. We have since exited the position. Holdings in Egypt and Vietnam were additional detractors. In Egypt healthcare diagnostics company Integrated Diagnostics Holdings (IDH) fell 13.8% over the month. In Vietnam, holdings in food and beverage company Quang Ngai Sugar (-9.2%) and mall operator Vincom Retail (-1.5%) were additional detractors.

We made a few recent changes to the portfolio. We exited our holding in Saudi Aramco post strong price performance in the aftermath of its IPO, as well as trimming Ecopetrol on strength.

We added to Saudi petrochemicals company Yansab given our view that the stock price is not reflecting the oil price increase. The company also has a very strong balance sheet which should support their dividend yield. We added back to Argentina given our view that bond restructuring is becoming more likely, which should prove positive for equity holders while protecting the banking sector. In addition, we are positive on the ASEAN countries supported by their recent currency moves which have so far not translated into equity market performance.

The highest conviction country positions in the Company are Egypt, Vietnam and Pakistan while we remain under-weight Saudi, Malaysia and Kuwait.

We see significant value in the smaller emerging and frontier markets and believe a number of these countries are set up for a strong year in 2020. We see the markets well supported by the lower rate environment and improved local and global liquidity. Emerging Market (EM) equities have lagged with the earnings yield not following the decline in bond yields. The asset class should also get some help from foreign exchange and we note that many EM currencies look to have broken out in recent weeks. We note that several stocks in our universe are trading at extremely low valuations, which we view as an opportunity to invest in a wide subset of countries which exhibit good growth and have low government debt levels. We look for companies there with strong cash flow and high dividend yields, trading on some of the lowest valuations in the world.

Sources:

1BlackRock as at 31 December 2019

2MSCI as at 31 December 2019

24 January 2020

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/brfi on the internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV terminal). Neither the contents of the Manager's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on BlackRock's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.
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BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- A total of some 350 tonnes of daily necessities have been delivered by military trucks to supermarkets in the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus, since Sunday.

The special transportation task force, with 130 military trucks and more than 260 officers and soldiers from units stationed in Hubei Province, was formed to aid the shortage of manpower in logistic sector amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The move was approved by the Central Military Commission upon the request of the municipal headquarters of Wuhan on the prevention and control of the epidemic.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday likened the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project to a "white elephant", saying a decision on it will be taken after he is convinced it will boost industrial development of the state.

In the second part of his interview to Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana', Thackeray said the state -- currently ruled by the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi alliance comprising the Sena, NCP and Congress -- was not getting its "rightful share" of central funds which could be utilised for helping farmers.

The Sena president also said the farm loan waiver scheme announced by his government will be rolled out from next month, and assured that not a single industry will be allowed to move out of the state.

Referring to the Centre's ambitious bullet train project, which has faced stiff opposition from farmers and tribals whose lands are to be acquired, Thackeray said there should be a comprehensive discussion on its viability.

"Who will benefit from the bullet train? How will trade and industry in Maharashtra get a boost because of it? If it is useful, convince me and then let's go before people and decide what to do," the chief minister said.

"The bullet train may be a dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but when you wake up, it is not a dream, you have to face the reality," he said.

Developmental projects need to be prioritised considering the state's financial situation, Thackeray said in the interview to Saamana's executive editor Sanjay Raut.

"We have to see what is urgent and not take up something because we are getting loan at zero interest or less interest. We acquire farmers' land for no reason and then look after these white elephants. This is not right," he said.

Notably, the Narendra Modi government has set the deadline of completing the bullet train project by August 15, 2022, when India marks 75 years of Independence.

The introduction of the first bullet train, which is known as the Shinkansen in Japan, is expected to mark India's shift to an era of high-speed trains capable of hitting speeds of up to 350 km per hour.

Of the 508.17-km-long bullet train corridor, 155.76 km will be in Maharashtra, 348.04 km in Gujarat and 4.3 km in Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Thackeray said his government was in the process of reviewing the economic situation of Maharashtra.

"The work is almost complete. Once it is over, we will place it before people. Let them know how the state functioned earlier," he said.

To a question, the chief minister said he recently met industry captains in Mumbai and assured them that their grievances would be addressed.

"I will not allow a single industry to move out of the state. Maximum locals should benefit in terms of employment from these industries," he added.

The chief minister further said the state was not getting its "rightful share" of central funds.

"In December last year, I wrote to the Centre that Rs 15,000 crore was pending, including the GST refund. Last month, we got around Rs 4,500 crore. Now, again the pending amount will increase. Will the opposition take out a morcha for this?" he asked.

"I will not say if the central funds are deliberately delayed. But there is a delay due to which state schemes are delayed," he said.

If the central funds are received on time, the state government can utilise them for farmers, Thackeray said.

He also said the farm loan waiver scheme announced by his government in December last year will be launched next month and debts up to Rs two lakh will be waived off.

"A separate scheme for loans of more than Rs two lakh and for those who regularly repay their loan will be announced soon," he said.

Loan waiver is a primary step to ease hardships of farmers, he said, adding that priority is to ensure cultivators are economically empowered.

"Efforts will be made to work on maximum crop (cultivation) in less space, adequate price for the crops and how it can be marketed well," he added.
The Presidency has lauded the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for rising to its duty of sensitizing Nigerians to stand against ...





The Presidency has lauded the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for rising to its duty of sensitizing Nigerians to stand against the evil being wrecked on the country by bloodthirsty terrorists.





In a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, made available to State House Correspondents Tuesday evening, the Presidency also observed that the protest march, as was carried out last Sunday, was in order and an exercise of a civic right.





The statement observed that all Nigerians, irrespective of religious inclination, must join the government to take actions that disapprove of the activities of the murderous terrorists, respect the rights others to hold their religious beliefs without harassment from anyone.





It emphasizes President Muhammadu Buharis, as well as other members of his government, in the standard that all lives, irrespective of classes or affiliations, are sacred and must be protected.





The actions of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in recent days represent the peaceful right of all Nigerians to protest and express their views on matters of religion, ethics, politics and society.





The origination of their protests is the shocking, unacceptable death of Pastor Lawan Andimi at the hands of Boko Haram. The President feels their pain, and that of his family, for his loss.





The President believes, as does every member of his administration, both Christian and Muslim in the words of CANs placards: All life is sacred.





Whether you are Christian or Muslim, all Nigerians and their beliefs must be respected. The duty of all of us is to uphold the rights of others to worship according their faith  and to respect the rights of each other to do so freely in the spirit of brotherhood and respect  and without interference.





This means, however, that we must stop false claims that only serve to divide one community against the other. There is no place in Nigeria for those who politicise religion. This is the Presidents message to both Muslim and Christian communities alike. This means, however, that we must stop false claims that only serve to divide one community against the other. There is no place in Nigeria for those who politicise religion. This is the Presidents message to both Muslim and Christian communities alike.





In the light of this, the CAN-inspired prayers and street enlightenment in our cities are much welcome as sensitizers to the need for ALL CITIZENS irrespective of faith, religion or language to accept their duty and role in law enforcement, to prevent crime in all its manifestations, be it corruption, theft, terrorism, banditry or kidnapping. Without citizen involvement, there is no miracle with which less than half-a-million policemen can effectively protect a population of 200 million.





CAN is right to arouse popular consciousness to this duty to the state.





One more thing is this: it is the added need for citizen-consciousness to stand up for nation. Nigerians, only Nigerians can defend their nation against these abhorrent killings and all sorts of crimes worrying us as a nation.





From the prayers and advocacy by CAN, citizens need to take an important lesson, which is, that our people must rally around the flag. Together, they rise to defeat the enemy and defend the state. In Nigeria, some groups rally against the government instead of the enemy. This is not right. It has the effect of playing into the hands of the enemy of the state.




COLUMBIA, SC / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Every year, approximately 20 million people visit Lisbon, Portugal. Lisbon has become a top destination for people to visit in Western Europe due to its charming cities, gorgeous beaches, cobblestone streets, and culinary experiences. Lisbon has all the beauty of a charming European city without the high price tag. Bennett Velasquez, a young travel enthusiast, shares the best things to do in Lisbon, Portugal.

Tram 28

There are many tram lines that transport people through the many cobblestone hills of Lisbon. However, Tram 28 route is the most popular with visitors, so expect to meet a few other fellow travelers along the way. The Tram 28 route takes riders through the many areas of Alfama. Bennett Velasquez recommends taking the tram as early as possible, for there can be long waits during peak times.

St. George's Castle

Sitting at the top of a hill, St. George's Castle offers a great view of Lisbon, and it's one of the most popular things to do in Lisbon. Bennett Velasquez mentions that visitors can spend up to 3 hours roaming the castle or people watching.

National Tile Museum

Lisbon is also known for its decorative tiles located all around the city. Those who are intrigued and would like to learn more about this tradition that dates back five centuries should check out the National Tile Museum.

Viewpoint Senhora do Monte

Although Bennett Velasquez mentions there are multiple viewpoints throughout Lisbon, visitors cannot miss Miradouro de Senhora do Monte. This viewpoint at the top of one of the many hills offers spectacular views of Lisbon, especially at sunset.

Carmo Convent

No visit to Lisbon would be completed without visiting the ruins of this former Catholic convent. According to Bennett Velasquez, visitors enjoy seeing the arches, especially under a sunny sky.

Avenida da Liberdade

Those looking for an authentic shopping experience should check out Avenida da Liberdade. Visitors should expect to see anything from large stores to small boutiques.

Get Lost in the Narrow Streets

There's nothing like throwing the map away and getting lost in the streets, according to Bennett Velasquez. Lisbon has so many narrow cobblestone streets full of local businesses and art. Don't forget to throw away the itinerary and explore what Lisbon has to offer.

CONTACT:

Caroline Hunter

Web Presence, LLC

+1 7865519491

SOURCE: Web Presence, LLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575176/Things-to-Do-in-Lisbon-According-to-Bennett-Velasquez
South African activist Nkosi Johnson was only 12 years old when he died. At the time, in 2001, he was the longest-surviving child born with HIV.

Born Xolani Nkosi to an HIV positive mother, he was adopted by Johannesburg public relations officer Gail Johnson after his mother became unable to look after him.

Nkosi was thrust into the public eye in 1997 when he was refused entry to school because he was HIV-positive.

The decision fast gained attention, leading to South Africas constitution being amended to put in place anti-discrimination policies, banning schools from turning down children based on their health.

The school then allowed Nkosi in, the same year that his mother died.

Inside Bucharest's aids orphanages Show all 10 1 /10 Inside Bucharest's aids orphanages Inside Bucharest's aids orphanages Getty Images Inside Bucharest's aids orphanages Getty Inside Bucharest's aids orphanages AFP/Getty Inside Bucharest's aids orphanages Alamy Inside Bucharest's aids orphanages Alamy Inside Bucharest's aids orphanages Alamy Inside Bucharest's aids orphanages Alamy Inside Bucharest's aids orphanages Alamy Inside Bucharest's aids orphanages Alamy Inside Bucharest's aids orphanages Alamy

Together with his adopted mother, Nkosi went on to campaign for children with Aids.

He spoke at numerous high-profile events, including being keynote speaker at the International Aids Conference, where he said: Care for us and accept us  we are all human beings. We are normal. We have hands. We have feet. We can walk, we can talk, we have needs just like everyone else  dont be afraid of us  we are all the same!

Recommended Man becomes first person with HIV to become commercial pilot in Europe

The pair created Nkosis Haven, an NGO still active today that provides treatment and support for families affected by Aids.

The International Childrens Peace Prize was created in 2005 in honour of his efforts to raise awareness of Aids. The award  known as an Nkosi statuette  is given to someone who has promoted childrens rights.

Nkosi died in 2001 and is buried in Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg.

Today, Google is paying tribute to the young campaigner on the anniversary of his birth  4 February 1989  with a doodle by artist Kevin Laughlin.
With Britain now officially out of the EU, theres no going back for Boris Johnson and the Tories.

In late 2019, we saw the Pound briefly visit $1.33 levels as the markets responded to Johnsons landslide General Election victory.

The victory had brought hope of an end to the political wrangling in Parliament and a more aggressive stance with the EU.

Not only did the British PM reunite a divided Tory Party but he also managed to renegotiate with an EU that had been previously unwilling to budge on a previously agreed Withdrawal Bill.

Johnson pushed through his Bill, supported by the sizeable majority in Parliament. The British PM also ensured that there could be no extensions to Britains transition period.

While the Withdrawal Bill raises the chances of a hard Brexit, it also removes the option to drag negotiations out. The last thing the British PM wanted was a repeat of the Brexit negotiations that ultimately led to a series of Brexit extensions.

So, with less than 11-months remaining until Britains set in stone end to the transition period, trade negotiations are the markets area of focus

The Trade Agreement

There are a number of trade agreements that the EU has with non-EU countries. Switzerland and Norway, Canada and Australia are ones that have been the area of focus in recent years, albeit for different reasons

As far as Boris Johnson and the Brexiteers are concerned, however, its a free trade agreement that is Holy Grail. An agreement, however, that comes without strings attached Such an agreement would mirror the existing agreement between the EU and Canada.

The chatter has already begun, however, with Britain having only entered the transition period on Saturday.

Comments from the EUs chief negotiator Michel Barnier raised yet more alarm bells. Similar to those that the markets had experienced over the last 3 odd years.

Story continues

Barnier stated on Monday that, while a highly ambitious trade deal was on offer, Britain would need to agree to the EUs rules

Unsurprisingly, the British PM responded by saying that Britain would prosper even without a trade agreement with the EU.

If there had been hopes of smooth sailing into the sunset, Mondays comments are likely to be a taste of things to come. Over the near-term at least.

We saw the Pound slide back to sub-$1.30 levels in response to the comments from both sides. The last thing that the markets want is for trade terms between the UK and the EU to fall under WTO terms.

To be fair, it is also unlikely that the EU and Britain want WTO tariffs either, but there is one issue.

Boris Johnson will never agree to follow EU rules and the EU is unlikely to give in to Britains demands Not all of them at least.

Brexit isnt Brexit if the UK continues to be beholden to the EU after the transition period. For the EU, giving into Britains demands would give other EU member states reason to consider going it alone.

Its not just about Britain, for the EU it is also about keeping the Union united.

Whats next?

Boris Johnsons Holy Grail is a trade agreement similar to the free trade agreement that Canada enjoys with the EU.

While the Pound took its first blow on Monday, theres a long way to go.

And, with the EU and Britain at polar opposites on what is wanted, there will be plenty of sparring in the early part of the transition period.

After all, it wouldnt be politics without it

The problem for the Pound, the UK economy and even the British PM is that the muscle-flexing will lead to more uncertainty.

At the end of last year, the Tories were more than optimistic in negotiating a no strings attached trade agreement.

Going into February, there will be no agreement at all if strings are attached.

Some will argue that Britains clear intent is positive. It also suggests, however, that WTO tariffs could become an eventuality.

For the Pound

Weve been here before and that should mean limited upside for the Pound near-term.

With the EU unlikely to concede to Britains demands any time soon and Johnson primarily interested in a complete break from the EU, both sides are on for a head-on collision.

The more negative chatter there is, the worse it will likely be for the Pound. Even with the markets experience of the last 3-years.

After Johnsons December General Election victory, there had been the hope of a return to $1.35 levels. It now looks more likely for the Pound to visit sub-$1.20 than bounce back and eye $1.40 levels.

The three scenarios for Britain, the Pound, and Brexit are therefore

A Canadian style free trade agreement, an Australian style trade agreement that is largely in line with the WTO rules but with some side agreements and worst-case scenario, a fall back to WTO rules.

Then there is the question of whether Britain will be truly free. Or will Johnson have to agree to some strings attached in the event of an agreement?

For the Pound, however, the latter is likely to be of less of an issue. Though politically it would be another story if Johnson agrees to strings attached

We saw Theresa Mays political career come undone over the failure to deliver Brexit. Johnson could fall onto the same sword if he fails to deliver a promised free trade agreement. One that has no strings attached. Party unity would certainly be tested should the British PM begin to make concessions early in the process

So, a rollercoaster ride it is and negotiations arent even due to start until March. It could get even more interesting if U.S President Trump gets involved

At the time of writing, the Pound was up by 0.11% to $1.30037.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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Paedophile Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes could be released from jail in a matter of weeks after serving just six years behind bars for abusing four young girls.

The 71-year-old former television star was sentenced in 2014 to a maximum of 10 years and nine months jail with a non-parole period of six years for sexual and indecent assault.

He was convicted of 10 child sex offences for his heinous crimes committed between 1983 and 1991.

But after just six years in jail, the disgraced actor could be back on the streets in April.

This week, the parole board will hold the first of Hughes' two hearings.

Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes was sentenced in 2014 to a maximum of 10 years and nine months jail with a non-parole period of six years for sexual and indecent assault of four young girls

Former co-star Sarah Monahan, who played his onscreen daughter on the hit sitcom, says she and his other victims fear reprisal once Hughes is released

If approved, Hughes will walk free on April 6.

Former co-star Sarah Monahan, who played his onscreen daughter on the hit sitcom, says she and his other victims fear 'reprisal' once Hughes is released.

'Since he has said that we're horrible people for doing this to him, we don't know if he's going to want revenge,' she told A Current Affair.

Ms Monahan said she feels safe while living in New York, but fears running into him on the streets when coming back to Australia to see her family.

'I would be nervous to return to Australia for work or to visit family because he could know that I'm there. If I was doing a life broadcast somewhere he could see it and show up,' she said.

'What if you're walking down the street and you bump into him... everyone's just very nervous of his reaction or what he might do when he gets out.'

'The other girls [who live in Australia] are very fearful for reprisal because who knows what his state of mind is.'

Ms Monahan said she believes Hughes should only be released back into the community if he finally takes responsibility for his crimes.

'If he's going to get out early it should be because he's admitted guilt,' she said.

'The question is whether he admits he's guilty, or if he still think he's the innocent victim here.'

'If he still thinks he's innocent, then he probably should spend some more time in prison thinking about it.'

Eighteen women testified against Hughes, but he was only convicted for the abuse of four of them - including his own niece.

'Robert Hughes grabbed me, tickled me and touched me inappropriately, including on my breasts and genitals on a number of occasions,' she said during trial.

'He also exposed himself to me on a number of occasions and touched his genitals in front of me.'

During Hughes's 2015 sentencing at the Sydney District Court, Judge Peter Zahra said the Hey Dad! actor had not expressed remorse

Ms Monahan (front left, on the set of Hey Dad!) said she feels safe while living in New York, but fears running into him on the streets when coming back to Australia to see her family

During the trial, two women said Hughes had entered their rooms naked during sleepovers with his daughter, and exposed himself or sexually assaulted them as they lay in bed.

Former colleagues who worked on set with the former Hey Dad! star also gave evidence, testifying that Hughes would repeatedly expose himself.

During Hughes's 2015 sentencing at the Sydney District Court, Judge Peter Zahra said the actor had not expressed remorse.

'His conduct continued over 20 years. [Even] after he was questioned by police in 1986 it continued,' he said.

'The offender took advantage of when he was with victims in social settings in his home or at victims' homes.

'He lacks insight into his offending and he is unlikely to access treatment programs.'

Hughes denied all the allegations, screaming 'I'm innocent' in court when he was found guilty.

Hughes was originally placed in Goulburn Maximum Security Prison, where authorities had to build a wall to stop him being pelted by faeces thrown by the other inmates.

It's understood he has since been moved to Long Bay Correctional Centre.
The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday (February 4) announced its decision to scrap the September 2019 Government order that was meant to introduce Public exams for State board students of classes 5th and 8th, starting March-April 2020. After examining the requests received and feedback received from the stakeholders, it has been decided to scrap the earlier Government order and the existing system of exams will prevail, read a statement released by School Education Minister K.A. Sengottaiyan.

Over 20 lakh students across the state of Tamil Nadu sit for the public examinations that are held between March and April, as Tamil Nadu is the first state to implement the amendment to the Right to Education (RTE) Act that scrapped the no-detention policy. However, the government had also stated that it would follow the no-detention policy despite conducting a board exam for three years till 2022.

The move to introduce board exams for classes 5 and 8 had caused uproar amidst activists and educationalists. They have maintained that forcing children from the age of 10 to 13 to sit through a board exam would not just exert unnecessary pressure on them at a young age but also lead to large number of dropouts, especially of girl children, at a time when the enrollment rates are quite high in Tamil Nadu.

Stakeholders highlight that such a policy could end up causing an increase in child labour as parents of non-performing or under-performing students who belong to lesser fortunate sections of society would discourage their wards from continuing their schooling. Activists have emphasized that having board exams for classes 5 and 8 would only deprive the children of the freedom and joy, as they would be pressured by parents to perform well in the board exams right from their 5th grade up until they complete their schooling.

A few days ago there had been reports of a Class 8 student who had committed suicide near Chennai, with parents suspecting that he had taken the extreme step over exam-related stress.

In September 2019, the Tamil Nadu Government had announced that board exams will be conducted for students of classes 5 and 8. Shortly After the then government order was issued, School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan said that the results of these examinations will not be published by the government for the first three years. The Minister added that leniency was being provided so that students could have time to improve their skills gradually over this period of time and that this proposal had received good feedback from parents.

The announcement had drawn flak from political parties in Tamil Nadu including AIADMKs ally PMK, and the opposition DMK and CPI(M).
Today is the debut of Genesis GV80 sport-utility vehicle in North America. Held at a media reveal in Miami Florida, the GV80 is the first SUV from Genesis. It introduced many firsts for the Genesis brand, such as active motion drivers seat, active road noise cancellation, and responsive electronic control suspension.

GV80 is our proof of concept that we infuse the spirit of youth and wonder into everything we do, said Mark Del Rosso, CEO, Genesis Motor North America.

We developed GV80 by looking inward and asking ourselves how Genesis brand DNA could differentiate our very first SUV. Im overwhelmed by the bench strength at Genesis and what the design, engineering and development teams have accomplished with the GV80, he added.

According to Executive Vice President and Global Head of the Genesis brand,William Lee, the GV80 was recently revealed in Seoul, South Korea. The response was overwhelming.

In a few short hours, we received thousands of pre-orders from customers, and this level of enthusiasm is proof to us that were on the right track.

The Genesis GV80

The Genesis GV80 is an upcoming mid-size luxury crossover SUV created by Korean luxury car manufacturer, Genesis. Its the luxury vehicle division of the South Korean vehicle manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Initially envisioned to be part of Hyundais new luxury sedan, the Hyundai Genesis, the Genesis brand was officially announced as an independent marque on 2015.

The companys first SUV, GV80, features three engines for the GV80: a turbocharged 2.5L unit with 300 horsepower, a turbocharged 3.5L unit with 375 horsepower, and a turbocharged 3.0L diesel with 274 horsepower. Meanwhile, the diesel engine will only be available in select markets.

The GV80 boasts of advanced technology and equipment. Some of their best features include: Electric Side Curtains, Driver Controlled 2nd row and 3rd row seats, 14.5 Touchscreen Infotainment display with 18 speakers Lexicon Audio System, 22 Wheels, Nappa Leather Seats, NFC Digital Key, Around View Monitor (AVM), Navigation-based Smart Cruise Control (ASCC), and Remote Smart Parking Assist.

Story continues

Safety features include Automatic High Beam Assist and Lane Keep Assist System (LKAS), Blind Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist, Driver Attention Warning, Reverse Parking Collision-Avoidance Assist, Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, and ten standard airbags.

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The post Genesis Launches Its Newest SUV: The Genesis GV80 appeared first on Carmudi Philippines.
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A supposedly extinct species of tortoise may in fact live on .

According to researchers in the Galapagos Islands, a recently discovered tortoise bears a strong genetic link to an ancestor dubbed, 'Lonsome George' - the last known member of the Chelonoidis nigra abingdonii Pinta subspecies which died in 2012.

Researchers at Galapagos National Parks say the expedition - which launched last month at Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island - discovered a young, female specimen deemed 'a high-importance find because it has a strong genetic component of the species, Chelonoidis abingdonii.'

Researchers made a surprising discovery with a tortoise that genetically resembles a species thought to have gone extinct in 2012. Pictured above is A specimen of the giant Galapagos tortoise Chelonoidis phantasticus, thought until recently to have gone extinct a century ago

They say the genetic link suggests that there could be a pure surviving member of the species hiding out on the island.

'[She] could be a direct descendant of a pure individual, which could still be alive somewhere,' the park said.

The species, like many species of giant tortoise, were over-hunted for their meat by European and other colonists who traveled to the Galapagos archipelago.

Park rangers and scientists from the Galapagos Conservancy say they found an additional 29 tortoises, including 11 males and 18 females, that share part of their genetic makeup with the Chelonoidis niger Floreana subspecies, which are also thought to be extinct.

Lonesome George (pictured in 2009) was roughly 100 years old when he died back in 2012 0 a loss that was thought to mark the official extinction of his species

The discovery of a potential relative to Lonesome George, is the latest sign of hope since a discovery made last year.

In 2019, a species of female giant tortoise believed to have gone extinct more than 100 years ago was spotted in the Galapagos Islands.

The sighting came during an expedition to the island of Fernandina in the western Ecuadorian region of the archipelago funded by Animal Planet for an upcoming documentary series titled 'Extinct or Alive'.

'Much like Lonesome George was an icon of extinction, I believe she can become an icon of wildlife hope. She's the rarest tortoise, if not animal, in the entire world and one of the largest discoveries in the Galapagos in the last century,' said expedition leader Forrest Galante at the time.

Scientists believe that tortoises first arrived in the Galapagos two to three million years ago after drifting 600 miles from the South American coast on vegetation rafts.

They were already large reptiles before arriving on the Islands.

Charles Darwin visited the Galapagos for five weeks on his second voyage and they appeared in his writings, playing a key role in the development of the theory of evolution.

He observed different finches on different islands but theorized they had evolved from the same species.

Differences in beak size and shape married up with the available food sources on the respective islands, birthing the theory of natural selection.
Chemicals and Christians: Compassion and Caution New Book From Redemption Press, Warns That Commonly Used Products May Harm Us All in Surprising Ways and Keep Those with Chemical Illness from Attending Church and Fully Participating in Society



NEWS PROVIDED BY

Redemption Press

Feb. 4, 2020



ENUMCLAW, Wash., Feb. 4, 2020 /



Expertly researched and written by a professional writer, this groundbreaking book is loaded with valuable information, biblical counsel, and personal testimony. It provides steps for biblical victory, offers practical resources, and shows churches ways to help.



Martha McLaughlin and her husband served as international missionaries for 10 years. When her physical breakdown forced them to return to the USA, she feared it was the end of her missionary journey. But instead, God told her, "Just because you're set apart doesn't mean you're set aside."



Today Martha feels called to try to help a different kind of unreached people group: the isolated sufferers of toxic illness, a growing but largely invisible population. Yet, like the canaries once used in coal mines to detect poisonous gases, they are a wake-up call to the effects of the thousands of chemicals used daily in our modern society.



"The chemical/pharmaceutical industry is powerful, well funded, and relentless, and their attempts to discredit chemical illness and those who experience it have been largely successful," Martha writes. "Those already suffering from a devastating illness continue to face hostility and scorn from those who should give them help."



The book's message is clear: Take care. Take care not to let everyday chemicals affect you and take care of those who've already developed chemical illness. Chapters relate to the stages of illness the author has identified in herself and others and offer numerous "Take Care Tips."



Those with toxic illness will find help and hope. Friends and family members can learn more. And those who care about making the world safer for everyone, ensuring that churches are accessible to all, and ministering to the marginalized will find information, inspiration, and a renewed desire to work for change. Powerful endorsements support the author's message.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A professional writer since 2006 with a BS and an MEd, Martha has had more than 500 articles published online in the field of behavioral health. Alongside her husband, she served as a missionary in South America from the late 80s through the late 90s. A widow with two young adult sons, Martha lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and enjoys outdoor activities.



www.ChemicalsandChristians.com

www.facebook.com/ChemicalsandChristians

twitter.com/Chems_and_Chris



Martha McLaughlin

ChemicalsandChristians@gmail.com



SOURCE Redemption Press



CONTACT: Martha McLaughlin,



Related Links



https://www.redemption-press.com/



Share Tweet NEWS PROVIDED BYFeb. 4, 2020ENUMCLAW, Wash., Feb. 4, 2020 / Christian Newswire / -- A key theme is that seemingly small decisions may have profound consequences for people choosing products for themselves and for those around them as well. Everyday items can make healthy people sick and sick people sicker. Because most of the more than 80,000 chemicals in use today haven't been adequately tested, the items that contain them can produce physical and mental symptoms not generally recognized as toxic reactions.Expertly researched and written by a professional writer, this groundbreaking book is loaded with valuable information, biblical counsel, and personal testimony. It provides steps for biblical victory, offers practical resources, and shows churches ways to help.Martha McLaughlin and her husband served as international missionaries for 10 years. When her physical breakdown forced them to return to the USA, she feared it was the end of her missionary journey. But instead, God told her, "Just because you're set apart doesn't mean you're set aside."Today Martha feels called to try to help a different kind of unreached people group: the isolated sufferers of toxic illness, a growing but largely invisible population. Yet, like the canaries once used in coal mines to detect poisonous gases, they are a wake-up call to the effects of the thousands of chemicals used daily in our modern society."The chemical/pharmaceutical industry is powerful, well funded, and relentless, and their attempts to discredit chemical illness and those who experience it have been largely successful," Martha writes. "Those already suffering from a devastating illness continue to face hostility and scorn from those who should give them help."The book's message is clear: Take care. Take care not to let everyday chemicals affect you and take care of those who've already developed chemical illness. Chapters relate to the stages of illness the author has identified in herself and others and offer numerous "Take Care Tips."Those with toxic illness will find help and hope. Friends and family members can learn more. And those who care about making the world safer for everyone, ensuring that churches are accessible to all, and ministering to the marginalized will find information, inspiration, and a renewed desire to work for change. Powerful endorsements support the author's message.ABOUT THE AUTHORA professional writer since 2006 with a BS and an MEd, Martha has had more than 500 articles published online in the field of behavioral health. Alongside her husband, she served as a missionary in South America from the late 80s through the late 90s. A widow with two young adult sons, Martha lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and enjoys outdoor activities.Martha McLaughlinSOURCE Redemption PressCONTACT: Martha McLaughlin, ChemicalsandChristians@gmail.com Related Links
Sri Lanka will not allow extremist organisations to be active in the country, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa vowed at the Independence Day ceremony on Tuesday during which his government dropped the rendering of the national anthem in Tamil for the first time since 2016.

Addressing the nation on the occasion of the 72nd National Day in Colombo, Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that he will be the president of all Sri Lankans.

He said he would ensure civil freedoms like free press and the right to expression.

"We will not allow extremist organisations that pave way for terrorism to be active in the country," Gotabaya Rajapaksa said recalling that thirty years of conflict in the north and east had delayed the development of the country.

"I wish to fully strengthen the freedom of people to think and write freely...my government is ready to tolerate and accommodate opposing views," he said.

"Sri Lanka is a unitary state. A free, sovereign, independent, democratic republic...I pledge to strengthen your independence, Gotabaya Rajapaksa said.

"Every citizen living in Sri Lanka has the right to live freely and securely," he added.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected the country's president on November 16 with overwhelming support from the Sinhala majority community. During the elections, the minority Tamil and Muslim communities had largely supported his main rival.

At today's ceremony, the national anthem was only sung in the Sinhala language.

This was the first time since 2016 that there was no Tamil national anthem at the Independence Day celebrations in the country.

The then Sri Lankan government in 2015 started including the Tamil national anthem as a means of achieving reconciliation with the Tamil minority community.

Sri Lanka's Constitution provides for the singing of the national anthem in both Sinhala and Tamil.

The Tamil version Sri Lanka Thaye' is a direct translation of Namo namo matha' in the Sinhala language.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after his swearing-in ceremony in November thanked the powerful Buddhist clergy for backing his presidential bid and vowed to protect all communities, while giving foremost priority to Buddhism. He also thanked the Sinhala-majority people for electing him.

While the Tamils in 2016 appreciated the symbolic gesture of recognizing them by adding the Tamil version at the Independence Day celebrations, the opposition, then led by the Rajapaksas and a majority Sinhala community member, filed a fundamental rights petition against the move.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa earlier served as the country's president from 2005-2015, a period which was mired by allegations of human rights abuses, especially against the Tamils.

Muslims make up nearly 10 per cent of Sri Lanka's over 21 million people, who are predominantly Sinhalese Buddhists. About 12 per cent of the population are Hindus, mostly from the ethnic Tamil minority. Some seven per cent of the population are Christians.

There are already concerns in the country that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's remarks may have led to apprehensions among the minority communities, who are already worried about the possibility of the return of an iron-fist rule under the Rajapaksa-duo's regime.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[Read: Coronavirus is forcing foreign students in China to choose: stay or go.]

The outbreak has undermined the myth that the Chinese political elites win assignments and promotion purely on merit. China has sold this system as its own unique innovation. Developing countries have sent thousands of their government officials to China to learn its model of governance, a political system that offers security and growth in return for submission to authoritarian rule.

People in China are now questioning that premise. They are focusing much of their anger on Xi Jinping, Chinas top leader and the person many blame for creating a culture of fear and subservience within the Chinese government.

Few people dare to question Mr. Xi openly, for fear of provoking censors or the police. But after Mr. Xi disappeared from public in recent days, some social media users began asking euphemistically, Where is that person? They are also posting online and sharing pictures of former leaders at the site of past crises.

Critics say quietly that, under Mr. Xi, the party began promoting loyal political cadres over technocrats  the experts and skilled administrators who were the backbone of Chinas bureaucracy in 1990s and 2000s, when the country grew the fastest.

Those officials could often be corrupt, but even the partys fiercest critics sometimes acknowledged that they got things done. Liu Zhijun, the former railway minister, is serving a lifetime sentence for taking bribes and abusing power. He also oversaw the creation of Chinas high-speed rail system, which vastly improved life in the country.

The wok tossing in China stems in part from the tension between the technocrats, who hold a large number of positions with Chinas provincial and national disease control centers, and the political cadres  the mayors, governors and the provincial party secretaries. The outbreak and lack of disclosure suggest that the political cadres are winning. In fact, even the technocrats are becoming cadres because none of them had the courage to tell the public what they knew about the virus.
ATLANTA, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dentists across Georgia are providing free dental care for children in the state as part of the Georgia Dental Association and its Foundation's annual Give Kids a Smile Day on Friday, February 7. The volunteer initiative takes place each February in conjunction with Children's Dental Health Month and provides dental screenings, treatment and education at no charge to underserved children in Georgia.

"Although largely preventable, tooth decay remains the most prevalent chronic disease found in children," says GDA Foundation for Oral Health Chair, Dr. Ben Jernigan Jr. "Oral health education and prevention are key to ensuring good oral health from childhood into adulthood."

Give Kids a Smile Day is one of the many programs hosted by the GDA Foundation for Oral Health to provide treatment and educate the public on the benefits of proper oral health. More than 100 Georgia Dental Association member dentists participate statewide, providing approximately $100,000 of donated care and services in just one day.

Give Kids a Smile Day in Georgia is part of a nationwide program launched by the American Dental Association in 2003 as a way for dentists to join with others in the community to provide dental services to underserved children. Each year, about 350,000 children benefit from more than 1,500 events, all because of the efforts of 40,000 or more annual volunteers nationwide.

For more information about Give Kids a Smile Day in Georgia, visit www.gadental.org/cdhm.

About the Georgia Dental Association

The Georgia Dental Association (GDA) is the state's leading professional association representing dentists in the state. The premier source of oral health information in Georgia, GDA has promoted the highest standards of dentistry through education, advocacy and professionalism since 1859. A constituent of the American Dental Association, GDA is based in Atlanta.

SOURCE Georgia Dental Association Foundation for Oral Health

Related Links

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A 1,000-bed hospital in Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel strain of coronavirus outbreak in central China's Hubei Province, was finished and delivered to the People's Liberation Army on Feb. 2.

Aerial photo taken on Feb. 4, 2020 shows medical workers helping the first batch of patients infected with the novel coronavirus move into their isolation wards at Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

The new Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital, which was built to receive highly contagious pneumonia patients, with a total construction area of nearly 33,900 square meters, was completed in less than 10 days after construction began.

During the peak period, there were more than 800 management personnel, more than 4,000 workers, nearly 1,000 large pieces of mechanical equipment and vehicles on the construction site of Huoshenshan Hospital.

The well-equipped facilities of the hospital would ease the shortage of medical beds in the city resulting from an increasing number of patients infected by the novel coronavirus.

In order to promote the Huoshenshan Hospital project in a high-quality and efficient way, young building workers came and participated in the construction work from all parts of the country, according to Zhou Kai, head of the youth league committee of China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd.

Zhou added that young people are the main force in the fight against the outbreak, as the proportion of them is above 60 percent among the total builders.

Huoshenshan Hospital is a replication of Xiaotangshan Hospital, a temporary medical center in the northern suburb of Beijing built in 2003. Beijing built Xiaotangshan Hospital in just a week for the treatment and control of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

At the time of the family reunion during Chinas Spring Festival, thousands of building workers from all parts of the country were pooled together in Wuhan.

In the early morning of Jan. 23, brothers Liu Xing and Liu Fei immediately volunteered to participate in the construction when they learned of the construction task. Their wives also rushed back to Wuhan from their hometown overnight and worked together with their husbands at the construction site.

On the afternoon of Jan. 23, Wei Hui, who was shopping with his wife in the supermarket, received a call from the manager. As an employee in the overhaul and construction area of the power supply company of Caidian District, Wuhan, he had a premonition of the emergency.

He left a truckload of unchecked New Year goods and disappeared from his wife's sight and rushed to the construction site of the Huoshenshan Hospital on the same day.

"We must contribute to the construction of the Huoshenshan Hospital! " That night, Wei Hui and his colleagues dismantled the main supply line within two hours, ensured the entry of large machinery and equipment, and completed the relocation and renovation of a 10 kV line overnight.

At 9 p.m. of February 1, the construction site of Huoshenshan Hospital was in full heat, as the workers of the China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd. were burning the midnight oil.

The construction workers on the site were busy for 24 hours without sleep, so as to deliver the project as scheduled on Feb. 2 on time.

Shortly after holding a wedding with his wife in his hometown, Huang Tian rushed back to Wuhan.

The drawings of Hongshenshan Hospital must be finished in one time efficiently, which was a daunting challenge for Huang, a technician of the China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd., and his colleagues.

At 1 a,m. on Jan. 31, the construction site of Huoshenshan Hospital was brightly lit. This day is the birthday of Huangs new wife, however, Huang was too busy to remember the day.

Two days earlier, Huang had spent his 29th birthday designing throughout the night. "I believe the Huoshenshan Hospital will be completed as soon as possible, and Wuhan will return to its former prosperity," Huang said.
Two drug dealers screamed out and pleaded for their lives from inside a toolbox as it was pushed into a creek before they died, a court has been told.

Cory Breton and Iuliana Triscaru's decomposing bodies were found inside the large metal box after police pulled it from a creek south of Brisbane.

A court sketch of murder accused Tuhirangi-Thomas Tahiat during his trial at the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Tuesday. Credit:Michael Felix/AAP

The pair had been lured to a unit in Kingston 18 days earlier, assaulted and tied up before being forced into the box, the Brisbane Supreme Court heard on Tuesday.

Tuhirangi-Thomas Tahiata, 28, is accused of two counts of murder for allegedly driving the box with Mr Breton and Ms Triscaru inside to Scrubby Creek in Kingston on January 24, 2016.
Britain will ban the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars from 2035, five years earlier than planned, in an attempt to reduce air pollution that could herald the end of over a century of reliance on the internal combustion engine, Trend with reference to Reuters reports.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is seeking to use the announcement to elevate the United Kingdoms environmental credentials after he sacked the head of a Glasgow U.N. Climate Change Conference planned for November known as COP26.

Johnson will launch COP26, a two-week conference seen as a moment of truth for the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat global warming, at an event alongside Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough.

Hosting COP26 is an important opportunity for the UK and nations across the globe to step up in the fight against climate change, Johnson said in a statement released by his office ahead of a speech in London on Tuesday.

As we set out our plans to hit our ambitious 2050 net zero target across this year, so we shall urge others to join us in pledging net zero emissions.

Britains step amounts to a victory for electric cars that if copied globally could hit the wealth of oil producers, as well as transform the car industry and one of the icons of 20th Century capitalism: the automobile itself.

Countries around the world have announced plans to crack down on diesel vehicles following the 2015 Volkswagen emissions scandal and the EU is introducing tougher carbon dioxide rules.

France plans to ban the sale of fossil fuel-powered cars by 2040 and Norways parliament has set a non-binding goal that by 2025 all cars should be zero emissions.
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The BJP and the Congress slammed the ruling Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) manifesto for the Delhi Assembly election that was released on Tuesday, describing it as "hollow" and repackaged poll promises from the past.

At a press conference, Delhi BJP president said the AAP manifesto was a "bundle of lies".

"This manifesto does not deserve any discussion because it contains the same old promises that were in the AAP manifesto for the 2015 Assembly polls, while some points are copied from the BJP's Sankalp Patra," he said.

The AAP released its manifesto for the February 8 polls on Tuesday, focussing on quality education, health, clean water, 24-hour electricity and a "deskbhakti curriculum" in the government schools of Delhi.

Released in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and Labour Minister Gopal Rai as a "28-point guarantee card", the manifesto promised doorstep delivery of ration, free pilgrimage to 10 lakh senior citizens and a Rs 1-crore compensation to the kin of a safai karamchari if he died on duty.

Union minister Harsh Vardhan alleged that the Kejriwal-led party had removed the manifesto from its website thinking they could "cheat" the people of Delhi.

"Not a single one of the 70 promises made by them was fulfilled, so some of those promises have been written in the 2020 manifesto as well," he said.

Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra dubbed the AAP manifesto as a "basket of hollow promises" aimed at "luring" voters.

Taking a dig at the ruling party in the national capital, he said circumstances prevented the AAP from fulfilling its earlier promises, despite its absolute majority in the Assembly.

"What are the new circumstances now that made the AAP to repeat those same promises and assert that it will fulfil them in the next five years?" he asked.

Chopra said the same circumstances and set-up that existed six years ago prevailed even now since the BJP was in power at the Centre again.

"The AAP came to power promising Jan Lokpal but did nothing in the last five years to work on it. Similarly, the Delhi Swaraj Bill was yet another fake promise in the AAP's 70-point manifesto, but it took no initiative to redeem it," he said.

The Congress leader said the AAP was again up to the "old trick", claiming that it would pursue with the Centre to bring a strong Delhi Swaraj Bill.

Chopra also questioned the AAP's promises of appointing sanitation workers, regularising contract workers, statehood for Delhi and expansion of the Delhi Metro network.
(Newser)  Federal antitrust regulators say a proposed merger that would combine old-school shaving company Schick with upstart Harry's would end up costing consumers some skin. The Federal Trade Commission on Monday sued to block Edgewell Personal Care Co.'s $1.37 billion acquisition of Harry's, which was supposed to be finalized this year, the AP reports. The FTC argues that bringing two major shaving brands together would hurt competition. Edgewell's Schick is the No. 2 razor maker in the US, behind Gillette. Both brands were forced to slash prices and overhaul their marketing strategies in recent years in response to the rise of Harry's and rival Dollar Shave Club, which both started as direct-to-consumer digital brands.

story continues below

"The loss of Harry's as an independent competitor would remove a critical disruptive rival that has driven down prices and spurred innovation in an industry that was previously dominated by two main suppliers, one of whom is the acquirer," the FTC said. New York-based Harry's, which has expanded to sell its products at Target and Walmart, had hoped to capitalize on Edgewell's large distribution channels and Schick's blade technology. Edgewell, which has struggled to turn around Schick's slumping sales, had hoped to leverage Harry's direct-to-consumer marketing base and digital savvy. Harry's co-founders Jeff Raider and Andy Katz-Mayfield said Monday they were disappointed by the lawsuit and would evaluate their next steps. We believe strongly that the combined company will deliver exceptional brands and products at a great value, Raider and Katz-Mayfield said in a joint statement.

(Read more mergers stories.)
We will not hesitate to take actions against any threat: Turkey to Syria

Iran Press TV

Monday, 03 February 2020 6:26 PM

Turkey says it will not hesitate to act against Syrian forces pressing ahead with a counterterrorism offensive to liberate the last major terrorist-held territory in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib.

Fahrettin Altun, Turkey's communications director, went brash in a Twitter posting on Monday after Ankara said Syrian shelling had killed five Turkish soldiers in Idlib.

"The Assad regime's attack on our forces is the latest example of its cowardly actions in northern Syria," Fahrettin Altun said.

"If Russia is unable to control the Assad regime from targeting us, we will not hesitate to take actions against any threat, just as we did today in Idlib."

Turkey launched airstrikes against Syrian troops in Idlib, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claiming the raids were in response to attacks on Turkish forces.

Erdogan said Turkey's F-16 warplanes were involved in the strikes.

Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar later said Turkish forces had hit 54 targets in Idlib in retaliation and "neutralized" 76 Syrian government soldiers.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in London and is generally sympathetic to militants in Syria, said 13 members of the Syrian government forces had been killed in Turkish shelling.

Syrian state TV said there had been no casualties among the government forces.

The Turkish president also said Ankara had urged Moscow, which supports the Syrian army in the offensive, "to stand aside" in the escalating conflict.

Russia's Defense Ministry said the Turkish military came under fire from Syrian government forces because Moscow had not been warned about Turkey's operations in Idlib.

Erdogan further accused Russia of violating agreements to reduce the fighting in Idlib.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was fully compliant with its obligations in Idlib, which was a haven for militants targeting Syrian troops and a Russian airbase in Syria.

On Friday, Erdogan thundered from a podium in Ankara that his country would launch a military operation in Idlib if the ongoing counterterrorism operation continued.

Turkey has in recent days sent military vehicles, trucks and other reinforcements to the region.

Idlib is dominated by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group that was once Syria's version of al-Qaeda.

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia signed a ceasefire deal to create a demilitarized zone in Idlib. Turkey also set up a dozen observation points in the region to uphold the ceasefire.

Under the Sochi agreement, all militants in the demilitarized zone that surrounds Idlib, and also parts of Aleppo province and the west-central province of Hama, were supposed to pull out heavy arms by October 2018. Takfiri groups were to withdraw.

However, Turkey has failed to fulfill any of its obligations as Takfiri terrorists have continued to rule supreme in the regions outside the control of the Syrian government.

Turkey has intervened militarily in Syria three times to date in cross-border operations with the declared aim of eradicating Kurdish militants and the Daesh Takfiri terrorists near borders.

Turkey, which supports the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) terrorists, launched two of the operations in northern Syria in August 2016 and January 2018.

Again in October 2019, Turkish troops and its proxies launched a cross-border invasion of northeastern Syria in a declared attempt to push the Kurds from border areas.

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A Belgian woman who has tested positive for coronavirus was on board the same French flight that brought back UK citizens from China on Sunday.

Belgium's health agency said the woman was one of nine Belgians on board the flight back to France, which carried passengers from 30 other countries.

Some 11 UK citizens and family members on the flight were then flown on to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

Of these, 10 continued to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral for a 14-day period of isolation, while Anthony May-Smith was taken to hospital in Oxford to be tested for potential coronavirus.

Some 11 UK citizens and family members on the flight were then flown on to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire (pictured arriving on Sunday)

Nick Phin, National Infection Service deputy director at Public Health England, said: 'Public Health England has been notified that a Belgian national who shared a flight with repatriated British Nationals has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

'All of the individuals who were on this flight are currently in supervised isolation and are being monitored for symptoms.'

Anthony May-Smith, from Lichfield, Staffordshire, developed a cough and sore throat on the second repatriation flight out of Wuhan which arrived at Brize Norton on Sunday.

He was isolated from the rest of the passengers and rushed to an NHS hospital in Oxford when the plane landed at the air base in Oxfordshire at 8pm.

But Mr May-Smith has said he 'feels fine' now but is being kept in isolation while medics await his test results.

Food is delivered at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral on Sunday where almost 100 British nationals are being held in quarantine

Police officers patrol the quarantined area outside Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral on Sunday

He told Sky News: 'When we boarded the plane in France to come to the UK, the nurse asked if any of us had had any symptoms.

'I made myself known to her and she told me to sit away from anybody else on the flight. There were people with babies on the flight and I obviously just didn't want to be anywhere near them.

'I feel fine now, I think it's probably the stress of getting back and being run down more than anything. I'm waiting for the test results to come back tomorrow.'

The other 10 British nationals continued their journey to join 83 other people in isolation at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.

The Department of Health said on Monday that 326 UK tests for coronavirus have concluded, of which 324 are negative.

It comes after the Foreign Office warned it cannot guarantee to bring home an estimated 30,000 Britons still trapped in China.

Three people are spotted disembarking from the evacuation flight from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, shortly before 8pm on Sunday

British nationals and their family members arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Sunday

Today Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: 'We now advise British nationals in China to leave the country if they can, to minimise their risk of exposure to the virus.

'Where there are still British nationals in Hubei province who wish to be evacuated, we will continue to work around the clock to facilitate this.'

The Foreign Office added that commercial flights departing from China were still available throughout the country, except in Hubei where the virus originated.

It comes as Mr Raab told MPs the Government had been 'allocated 14 places on an Air New Zealand fight today for UK nationals and their dependants'.

The Foreign Office has declined to say how many British nationals in Hubei province have come forward to say they wish to return to the UK, but the last flights out of Wuhan are expected to leave this week.

The updated Foreign Office advice comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday there were 'no plans to evacuate all remaining UK nationals in China'.

He added: 'We haven't seen the peak of the coronavirus by a long stretch and we expect more cases in the UK.

'We have a full plan in place to treat all those who have symptoms and test positively for coronavirus and we are working with international partners both to slow the spread and also to do the research that we need to do to find a vaccine.'

Health officials are trying to trace 239 people who flew from Wuhan to the UK before travel restrictions came into force.

A total of 94 UK nationals and family members have been evacuated to Britain from Wuhan on two flights which arrived on Friday and Sunday.

Chinese authorities said on Tuesday that the death toll on the mainland has risen to 490, with the number of cases now standing at more than 24,000.
The nominal complainant in the alleged N170.3 million Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) contract fraud case has petitioned the police against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecutor for alleged threat to life, assault and battery.

Benjamin Joseph, who is also the Managing Director of an Ibadan-based IT firm, Citadel Oracle Concept Limited, accused the anti-graft agencys lawyer, Jude Obozuwa, of slapping him in his office in Abuja.

In the petition dated January 27 and addressed to the Commissioner of Police, FCT Police Command, counsel to Mr Joseph, Messr. Jude Mmuoka of Mmuoka & Associates (Legal Practitioners & Arbitrators), accused Mr Obozuwa of attacking his client on January 17, 2020.

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A copy of the petition was obtained by PREMIUM TIMES on Monday in Abuja. In the petition, Mr Mmuoka said Mr Obozuwa, who is prosecuting some suspects named in the fraud case, assaulted and battered his client in his office.

The allegation

Mr Mmuoka said another counsel to his client, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), had contacted the Head of the Legal Department of the EFCC to complain about the unprofessional and reckless manner Mr Obozuwa was handling the prosecution of the fraud case.

The case is currently ongoing before Justice D. Senchi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Jabi, Abuja.

To enable the Head of the Legal Department of the EFCC to hear from both parties, Mr Mmuoka said Mr Obozuwa and Mr Joseph were invited for a meeting at the anti-graft agencies office in Zone 7 area of Abuja.

At the EFCC office, Mr Mmuoka said when his client saw Mr Obozuwa and stretched out his hand to greet him, he ignored the gesture, and instead shouted at him to remove his filthy hands from him.

He said after some minutes, Mr Joseph, still shocked over the prosecutors strange reaction, went to meet him in his office to enquire the reason for his mode of conduct.

Again, Mr Mmuoka said Mr Obozuwa shouted at Mr Joseph and demanded to know why he wanted to greet him, when his lawyers wrote petitions to criticise his handling of the prosecution of the fraud case.

He threatened to deal mercilessly with our client, and even claimed that he was ready to leave the EFCC job because of our clients case, Mr Mmuoka said.

When Mr Joseph told him he had no reason to threaten to leave his job if his handling of the case and other actions were justifiable, Mr Mmuoka said Mr Obozuwa became angry.

He did not only assault and batter our client, Mr Obozuwa also threatened to deal with our client, Mr Mmuoka said.

We have found this action of a supposed law enforcement official not only reprehensible but a flagrant abuse of power and a naked display of impunity, which must be curtailed, he said.

Consequently, Mr Mmuoka demanded the immediate prosecution of Mr Obozuwa for illegally and unlawfully assaulting and battering Mr Joseph so as to serve as a deterrent to others in the society.

The denial

At the opening of the defence of two of the seven suspects in the fraud case last Thursday, Mr Obozuwa repeated in open court his threat to deal with Mr Joseph.

The prosecutor denied slapping Mr Joseph but said he merely pushed him after he accused him of taking a bribe to compromise the investigation.

Everyone knows I will not take money. Find out at EFCC. I dont take a bribe. I prosecuted governors in 13 states. I did not take money. Who is he? We know what we do around people like him who tell us that? Mr Obozuwa threatened in the courtroom of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Jabi, Abuja.

Mr Obozuwa was reacting to Mr Josephs statement in the same court that the prosecutor slapped him across the face in his office in front of a CTV camera.

My Lord, I am being shut out of this case by the prosecutor. I have not been given the chance to say anything to defend myself of all the allegations against me. The prosecutor even slapped me in his office when I went to see him. He said I wrote a petition against his poor handling of this case.

My Lord, he has been very mean and very wicked to me. I dont think I will have justice in this case with this man (pointing at Jude Obozuwa, the EFCC lawyer) as my prosecutor. My Lord, he slapped me in front of (CTV) camera in his office, Mr Joseph told the court.
From Macau and South Korea to Singapore, businesses are enforcing temporary closures as coronavirus cases escalate.

More businesses across Asia are suspending operations and an international aviation summit has been cancelled in an attempt to curb the spread of the new coronavirus from China.

Macau, the worlds biggest gambling hub, said on Tuesday it had asked all casino operators to suspend operations for two weeks to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

The announcement by Macaus chief executive Ho Iat Seng came as the former Portuguese colony reported 10 confirmed cases of the virus and tight restrictions on movements in and out of the Chinese territory.

Residents have been instructed to wear masks when travelling around the city and advised to stay home as much as possible.

Ho said he would be speaking to casino owners to discuss the closures. No immediate details were given as to when the suspension would begin.

Separately, Hyundai Motor Company plans to gradually suspend production at its factories in South Korea from Tuesday, as the virus outbreak in China has disrupted supplies of vehicle components, a Hyundai Motor union official said.

Such a move would make Hyundai the first large global carmaker to suspend production outside China due to supply chain disruptions caused by the outbreak, which has led to more than 420 deaths.

Most of Hyundais South Korean factories will be fully idled from February 7 to February 10 or February 11, the official, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, said.

The idling, which was under discussion by Hyundai management since Monday, was due to a shortage of car parts called wiring harnesses, auto industry officials told Reuters earlier. The carmaker did not keep a large inventory of the part, which was mostly produced in two South Korean firms China production lines.

A Hyundai Motor Company spokeswoman did not provide immediate comment when contacted by Reuters.

South Korea imported $1.56bn worth of car parts from China in 2019, up from $1.47bn in 2018, according to trade data.

In Singapore, a meeting of international aviation officials scheduled for February 10 has been cancelled, organisers said in a statement on Tuesday.

Experia Events Pte Ltd, the organisers of the airshow, said the cancellation of the aviation leadership summit will allow many aviation executives to work out responses to the virus outbreak.

The summit involves 300 aviation executives, comprising government officials, civil aviation authorities, airport operators and airline executives.

However, Singapore Airshow, Asias biggest gathering of aerospace and defence industry executives from February 11 to 16, will go ahead as planned.

Last week, the city-state denied entry to all Chinese visitors and foreigners with a recent history of travel to China.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 18:03 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20628729d 1 National coronavirus,Natuna,Wuhan-coronavirus,education-agency,health-ministry,quarantine Free

Natuna Education Agency in Riau Islands has revoked a circular issued by the regency's regional secretary ordering schools to dismiss their classes for two weeks after the regency was officially named a quarantine and observation zone for 243 evacuees from Wuhan and surrounding cities in Hubei province, China.

The agency issued another circular on Monday stipulating the revocation of the previous circular.

"All learning activities [in schools] resume normally starting Feb. 4," said the circular, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post.

Natuna regional secretary Wan Siswadi issued a circular mandating a school break lasting from Feb. 3 to Feb. 17 for all elementary and high schools located near Bunguran Island, where the evacuees are being quarantined.

Read also: Natuna closes schools as Wuhan evacuees put under quarantine in regency

The Home Ministry responded to the issuance of the first circular by instructing the Natuna administration to revoke it and resume schooling in the area. The instruction was conveyed in a telegram sent by the ministry's regional autonomy director general, Akmal Malik, on Monday on behalf of Home Minister Tito Karnavian.

"The school break policy will disrupt the student's learning process," Akmal wrote in the telegram.

The government evacuated on Sunday 243 people from the virus-hit region using a Batik Air Airbus A330. The evacuees comprised 242 Indonesian citizens, including five Foreign Ministry officials, and one non-citizen. They arrived at Hang Nadim International Airport in Batam, Riau Islands on Sunday morning and were immediately airlifted to Natuna by the Air Force.

The authorities have provided adequate temporary housing at a military base in Natuna for the returnees, who are under continuous observation. The evacuees will stay there for 14 days to allow them to be observed throughout the virus' estimated incubation period. (gis)
Since 1979, the regime has been using its state-run media, including TV, radio, film, newspapers, magazines, websites, and books, to distort the worlds perception of the MEK. With the advent of social media, the regime has seized upon sites like Twitter and Facebook, which are banned for ordinary Iranians, and created thousands of fake accounts that parrot the regimes anti-MEK narrative.

Twitter removed around 2,800 such accounts in May 2019, while in March, Facebook had removed 513 accounts. This was not the first time they were forced to do so.

The uninformed reader could see these accounts, pretending to be ordinary Iranians and not stooges of the mullahs, and believe that the MEK is weak, corrupt, unpopular, or whatever the regime is claiming this week. They might believe that there is no alternative to the regime and advocate the failed policy of appeasement, which has only ever emboldened the regime.

The regimes demonization campaign against the MEK started early, attacking MEK offices in various cities, lying about improper relationships between MEK members, and generally discrediting them. As the MEK grew in popularity, the lies became more blasphemous, as the regime needed to destroy its main political and ideological opponent.

Here are just some of the lies the regime told about the MEK:

The MEK was involved in the killing of Iraqi Kurds and Shiites

The MEK trained women for suicide attack

The MEK instituted compulsory divorces and forced separation of children from their parents

The MEK held people in the group against their will

The MEK collaborated with ISIS and al-Qaeda

The MEK were spies for the Soviets, the US, and Israel (sometimes all at once)

The regime did this in tandem with their assassinations of MEK members, with the idea being that no one would press too hard for an investigation. They even claimed that the MEK would torture themselves in order to blame the regime.

This ramped up particularly during the MEKs 50th anniversary year when the regime published 14 anti-MEK books and the regimes Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) published a special edition of their anti-MEK magazine. Also, during that year, the regime created 332 anti-MEK movies, documentaries, and TV series.

In addition, the MOIS manages over 13 different anti-MEK websites; most in Farsi-language, but they have a number of sites for different languages, while the IRGC and other Iranian regime entities operate many more. They are experts in fake news, often hiring a foreign reporter to publish an MOIS hit piece on a low-ranking website. The regime even pays foreign media outlets to interview one of their agents and describe them as a terrorism expert or MEK expert without mentioning any regime affiliation.

The regimes media cites this as an independent fact. Its a vicious cycle. In our next piece, we will look at the regimes anti-MEK actions during the 1980s and 1990s.
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A 42-year old man who beat his 15-year old daughter to death for having boyfriend has been sentenced to five years imprisonment. T...





A 42-year old man who beat his 15-year old daughter to death for having boyfriend has been sentenced to five years imprisonment.





The father, Benjamin Mpanduki, a Zimbabwean man, was said to have beaten his daughter to death with a fan belt.





Mpanduki pleaded not guilty to murder but to a lesser charge of culpable homicide. Appearing on Monday before Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Martin Makonese, sitting at the Gweru High Court Circuit, facing one count of murdering his daughterMpanduki pleaded not guilty to murder but to a lesser charge of culpable homicide.





Justice Makonese sentenced him to five years in prison.





The judge said for the murder of his daughter, Pamela Believer, Mpanduki was going to serve four years.





Justice Makonese added that the other 12 months were brought from a sentence that was suspended when Mpanduki was handed a 24-month sentence for domestic violence in 2017.





In 2017, the accused appeared before a magistrate and was handed a 24 month sentence for assaulting his wife. 12 months were suspended on condition of good behaviour and the remainder was suspended on condition he performed 360 hours of community service. The accused was then arrested before he completed his community service and he committed another crime involving violence before five years elapsed meaning the court has brought in the 12 months. So, the accused is sentenced to five years, said Justice Makonese.





According the Chronicles, the judge said parents should exercise restraint when they discipline their children, adding that after assaulting his daughter until she could no longer cry, Mpanduki went and slept in his tuck-shop instead of taking her to receive medical attention.





It will be a miscarriage of justice if the accused got a non-custodial sentence. Children have rights too especially the right to life even if they have erred in the eyes of their parents, he said. It will be a miscarriage of justice if the accused got a non-custodial sentence. Children have rights too especially the right to life even if they have erred in the eyes of their parents, he said.








Press Release

February 4, 2020 Gatchalian: ROTC in HS to help in calamity response The proposed institutionalization of Basic Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) in high school will boost the youth's capacity as responders in times of disasters. This is the view of Senator Win Gatchalian as he underscored the need to build on the skills of the youth in responding to disasters such as the recent eruption of Taal Volcano. He emphasized that in his proposal to restore ROTC, disaster preparedness and capacity-building for risk-related situations is given premium. Gatchalian, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education Arts and Culture, cited the World Risk Report 2019, where the Philippines ranked ninth among 180 countries in terms of disaster risk. This is because the country's geographic location makes 74 percent of its population vulnerable to the effects of hazards such as typhoons, earthquakes, floods, and droughts. "Napapanahon ang ating panukalang ibalik ang ROTC upang mabigyan ng kaalaman at kakayahan ang ating mga kabataang rumesponde sa mga kalamidad. Bilang mga susunod na mamumuno sa ating bansa, mahalagang maituro ng maaga sa mga kabataan kung paano ba rumesponde sa mga sakuna na madalas tumatama sa ating bansa," Gatchalian said. Gatchalian filed Senate Bill 177 or the Senior High School Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) Act last year. Under the proposed measure, basic ROTC for students in Grade 11 and 12 will be part of the basic curricula for Senior High School Education. Aside from military and civic training, basic ROTC enhances students' skills on needs assessment, search, rescue and relief, and early recovery during disaster response operations. The lawmaker reiterated how the youth bear the brunt of disasters. Taal Volcano's eruption, for instance, affected more than 8 million learners in 7,900 schools, according to a situation report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Gatchalian added that if students are skilled in disaster response, they can be mobilized to take part in relief and recovery efforts not just in schools but also in their local communities. ### Gatchalian: Kahandaan sa kalamidad ituturo ng ROTC Sa kabila ng iba't ibang mga sakunang nararanasan ng bansa tulad ng nagdaang pagputok ng bulkang Taal, binigyang-diin ni Senador Win Gatchalian na napapanahon ang pagkakaroon ng Basic Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), kung saan kabilang sa mga ituturo ang kahandaan ng mga kabataan tuwing panahon ng kalamidad. Ibinahagi ng mambabatas ang ulat ng World Risk Report 2019, kung saan pang-siyam ang Pilipinas sa isang daan at walumpung (180) bansang may pinakamalalang kinakaharap na panganib na dulot ng mga bagyo, lindol, pag-baha, tag-tuyot, at iba pang mga sakuna. Ayon sa naturang ulat, mahigit pitumpung (74) porsyento ng populasyon ng bansa ang nanganganib masalanta ng ganitong klaseng mga kalamidad. "Napapanahon ang ating panukalang ibalik ang ROTC upang mabigyan ng kaalaman at kakayahan ang ating mga kabataang rumesponde sa mga kalamidad. Bilang mga susunod na mamumuno sa ating bansa, mahalagang maituro nang maaga sa mga kabataan kung paano ba rumesponde sa mga sakunang madalas tumatama sa ating bansa," ayon kay Gatchalian. Inihain ni Gatchalian ang Senate Bill 177 o Senior High School Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) Act noong nakaraang taon. Sa ilalim ng panukalang batas, kakailanganing dumaan ng basic ROTC ang mga mag-aaral ng Grade 11 at 12. Maliban sa military at civic training, ituturo rin sa mga mag-aaral ang iba't ibang hakbang ng disaster response kabilang ang needs assessment, search, rescue and relief, at early recovery. Dagdag pa ng mambabatas, mabigat ang nagiging epekto ng mga kalamidad sa mga kabataan. Noong nag-alboroto ang Bulkang Taal, mahigit walong (8) milyong mga mag-aaral sa halos walong libong (7,9000) mga paaralan ang naapektuhan ayon sa United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Ayon pa sa senador, ang mga kabataang may kakayahang rumesponde sa mga kalamidad ay may malaking maitutulong sa kanilang mga paaralan at mga komunidad. ###
[February 03, 2020] Studycat Donates Free Use of Its Language Learning Apps for Children in Areas Affected by School Closures

HONG KONG, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Asia-based edtech firm Studycat Limited is donating free use of its award-winning Fun Series language learning apps teaching English, Chinese, Spanish, French and German to families in regions affected by school closures related to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. To sign up, those interested should visit: https://studycat.com/in-this-together/ Access to the apps is effective immediately. If schools close in other locations as the epidemic continues, Studycat will extend this initiative. In suitable cases, the company will also offer complimentary use of its product designed for educational institutions, Fun English for Schools. All languages are available in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan on both iOS (via the App Store) and Android (via Google Play). In mainland China, all languages are available on iOS (Apple devices) and English is available for Android devices.



Mark Pemberton, co-founder of Studycat, said: "The accelerating coronavirus epidemic is scary, with many people getting sick and with very disconcerting casualties. For all people affected, we sincerely hope for a speedy resolution to this crisis. With schools closed at short notice, we parents face a practical challenge of educating our younger children as this situation unfolds. We need easy-to-use resources to provide productive activities for our kids to do at home. It is essential at this time to keep our young ones motivated, active, engaged in their education and with their minds occupied by things other than worrying news about a developing epidemic." "We are deeply concerned for anyone impacted by this virus outbreak. As a company that has built its business in Asia, we are determined to do our part, helping to mitigate some of the burden brought on by school closings," added Mateo Solares, co-founder of Studycat. "We are committed to helping families affected, making a positive impact for young children at this time, allowing them to learn new things while having fun, turning their minds to something constructive. This region is resilient. We can and will beat this thing. We're all in this together!"

Studycat enables safe and convenient home learning of foreign languages, literacy and critical thinking. Its huge variety of fun online games, puzzles, songs and interactive exercises encourage creativity and collaboration. The company's website, studycat.com, also offers hundreds of creative worksheets to help fill time productively, which families in affected areas will have access to as well. Established in 1999, Studycat was started by Asia-based educators Mark Pemberton, Mateo Solares and Jason Bakkum. They began their journey as a bricks and mortar language school before moving into game-based digital learning in 2006 and app stores in 2011. About STUDYCAT Studycat is an international leader in children's online language education, empowering young children around the world to enjoy learning a foreign language with innovative learning applications that connect homes and schools. The company's consumer solutions help children aged 3-8 learn English, Chinese, Spanish, French and German effectively, achieving superior outcomes by using a blended approach of online and offline games and exercises. Studycat's English-language learning content is aligned with Cambridge Young Learners, a well-recognized academic curriculum and exam system. Built on the premise that young children learn most effectively through play and are motivated to study by having fun, Studycat's apps have been downloaded more than 11 million times worldwide. Connect with Studycat on Twitter @Study_cat, Facebook @ Studycat.net. and LinkedIn or visit studycat.com Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200203/2709331-1LOGO SOURCE Studycat

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Workers arrange beds in a convention center that has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (Chinatopix via AP)

Hong Kong hospitals cut services as thousands of medical workers went on strike for a second day Tuesday to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely. The new virus caused its first death in the semi-autonomous territory, adding to growing fears it is spreading locally.

All but two of Hong Kong's land and sea crossings with the mainland were closed at midnight after thousands of hospital workers went on strike Monday. Hong Kong health authorities reported two additional patients without any known travel to the virus epicenter, bringing the number of locally transmitted cases to four.

The growing caseload "indicates significant risk of community transmission" and could portend a "large-scale" outbreak, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch at the Center for Health Protection.

More than 7,000 health workers joined the strike Tuesday, according to the Hospital Authority Employees' Alliance, the strike organizer.

Hong Kong was hit hard by by the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, a virus from the same family as the current outbreak. Trust in Chinese authorities has plummeted following months of anti-government protests in the Asian financial hub.

The territory's beleaguered leader, Carrie Lam, criticized the strike and said the government was doing all it could to limit the flow of people across the border.

Workers arrange beds in a convention center that has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (Chinatopix via AP)

"Important services, critical operations have been affected," including cancer treatment and care for newborns, Lam told reporters. "So I'm appealing to those who are taking part in this action: Let's put the interests of the patients and the entire public health system above all other things."

China reported 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed cases, up sharply from the previous day. Outside mainland China, at least 180 cases have been confirmed, including two fatalities, the one in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.

The patient who died in Hong Kong was a 39-year-old man who had traveled to Wuhan, the mainland city where the outbreak started. The Hospital Authority said Tuesday he had pre-existing health conditions but gave no details.

Most deaths have been among the elderly and those with other health problems, authorities said. More than 80% were over 60 years old, and more than 75% had an underlying disease, Jiao Yahui, a National Health Commission official, told a news conference Tuesday.

Workers arrange beds in a convention center that has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (Chinatopix via AP)

Dr. David Heymann, who led the World Health Organization's response to the SARS outbreak, said it's too early to tell when the new virus will peak, but that it appears to still be on the increase.

He said the spike in China's caseload in recent days is partly attributable to the fact that officials have expanded their search to include milder cases, not only people with pneumonia. He declined to predict whether the virus would ultimately cause a pandemic, or worldwide outbreak. WHO defines a pandemic as sustained transmission of a disease in at least two world regions.

Heymann said as the new virus starts to spread beyond China, scientists will gain a better understanding of it. "What we will see is the clearer natural history of the disease," he said, as those exposed to the virus "are being traced and watched very closely," he said.

Workers arrange beds in a convention center that has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (Chinatopix via AP)

Nevertheless, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to share more data on infections outside China, adding that detailed information has been provided in only 38% of cases.

In particular, he said, "some high-income countries are well behind in sharing this vital data with WHO. ... Without better data, it's very hard for us to assess how the outbreak is evolving or what impact it could have and to ensure we're providing the most appropriate recommendations."

Thailand confirmed six more cases Tuesday, raising its total to 25, the highest outside China. Two were motorcycle taxi drivers who had driven for Chinese tourists. Earlier a Thai taxi driver was also diagnosed with the virus. The cases are concerning because they suggest the virus can spread more easily between people.

Stewardesses take temperatures of passengers as a preventive measure for the coronavirus on an Air China flight from Melbourne to Beijing before it land at Beijing Capital International Airport in China, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Meanwhile, the leader of the gambling enclave of Macao asked the city's casino bosses to suspend operations to prevent further infections after a worker at one of the resorts tested positive for the virus. Macao has recorded 10 cases in all.

WHO officials reported slower progress than expected in equipping laboratories across Africa to test for the new virus. No confirmed cases have been reported on the continent, but WHO health security adviser Dr. Ambrose Talisuna said the risk is "very, very high."

China has struggled to maintain supplies of face masks, along with protective suits and other items, as it seeks to enforce temperature checks at homes, offices, shops and restaurants, require masks be worn in public and keep more than 50 million people from leaving home in Wuhan and neighboring cities.

A stewardess takes the temperature of passenger as a preventive measure for the coronavirus on an Air China flight from Melbourne to Beijing before it land at Beijing Capital International Airport in China, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

The European Union office in Beijing said member states have shipped 12 tons of protective equipment to China, with more on the way.

Germany's Lufthansa became the latest international airline to suspend flights to China, and several countries are barring Chinese travelers or people who passed through China recently. Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways said they were cutting back flights to several Chinese cities from mid-February to late March.

In Wuhan, patients were being transferred to a new 1,000-bed hospital that was built in just 10 days, its prefabricated wards equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and ventilation systems. A 1,500-bed hospital also specially built is due to open soon.

Elsewhere in Wuhan, authorities were converting a gymnasium, exhibition hall and cultural center into hospitals with a total of 3,400 beds to treat patients with mild symptoms. Television video showed beds placed in tight rows in cavernous rooms without any barriers between them.

In this Feb. 2, 2020, photo, Polish military personnel wearing protective suits talk with evacuees from Wuhan, China, after their arrival at an airport in Marseilles, France. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (AP Photo/Arek Rataj)

In this Feb. 2, 2020, photo, Polish military personnel wearing protective suits stand on board a military aircraft that was used to transport evacuees from Wuhan, China, at an airport in Marseilles, France. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (AP Photo/Arek Rataj)

Workers arrange beds in a convention center that has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (Chinatopix via AP)

Workers arrange beds in a convention center that has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (Chinatopix via AP)

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, medical workers in protective suits help transfer the first group of patients into the newly-completed Huoshenshan temporary field hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua via AP)

Workers arrange beds in a convention center that has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (Chinatopix via AP)

Workers arrange beds in a convention center that has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (Chinatopix via AP)

Workers arrange beds in a convention center that has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." (Chinatopix via AP)

Commuters standing in lines to board public transport, wear face masks to protect themselves from air pollution and new virus in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. On Tuesday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a 42-year-old South Korean woman tested positive for the virus, days after she returned from a trip to Thailand with chills and other symptoms. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Commuters wear face masks to protect themselves from air pollution and the spreading coronavirus in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. On Tuesday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a 42-year-old South Korean woman tested positive for the virus, days after she returned from a trip to Thailand with chills and other symptoms. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Commuters wear face masks to protect themselves from air pollution and the spreading coronavirus in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. On Tuesday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a 42-year-old South Korean woman tested positive for the virus, days after she returned from a trip to Thailand with chills and other symptoms. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Authorities hope that will help relieve what is being described as an overwhelmed public health system in Wuhan and surrounding areas.

One man, Fang Bin, said he saw wards so crowded during a visit to the city's No. 5 Hospital on Saturday that some patients were forced to sit on the ground.

"There are too many patients, it's overcrowded," Fang told The Associated Press. He said he was taken from his home and questioned by police after he posted a video of what he saw online.

Such scenes have revived memories of the SARS outbreak that began in China and spread worldwide. The new virus is believed to be much less virulent, however.

Meanwhile, Japanese officials were conducting medical checks on some 3,700 passengers and crew on board a cruise ship docked off the port of Yokohama after a passenger tested positive after leaving the vessel while it was in Hong Kong. At least 133 people who have symptoms or had close contact with the infected man have been identified and any confirmed to have the virus will be sent to hospitals for isolation treatment, health ministry officials said

Explore further Countries with confirmed cases of coronavirus

 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
A ir ambulance medics have called for UK doctors to be trained to work alongside armed police responding to a marauding terrorist attack to ensure victims get immediate life-saving care.

It follows concerns about the three-hour delay in paramedics reaching some victims of the 2017 attack on London Bridge and Borough Market as they were unable to enter the hot zone  where attackers may still be present.

A similar issue occurred on Sunday when terrorist Sudesh Amman was shot dead by armed police after attacking three people with a knife.

London Ambulance crews were on the scene in four minutes but said they were held back by police until they confirmed it was safe for them to approach patients.

Streatham terror attack - In pictures 1 /28 Streatham terror attack - In pictures Police are dealing with an incident in Streatham Andy Bullemor Police officers conduct a search of a bail hostel in south London AFP via Getty Images A woman reacts near to the scene where a man was shot and killed by armed police Getty Images Forensic officers at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road PA Police cordon off a property in Streatham PA Forensic officers outside a property on Leigham Court Road, Streatham PA Police activity at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road PA Police officers look under a bus as they work at the scene of Sunday's terror stabbing attack in the Streatham area of south London AP Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Police officers at the scene after a man was shot by armed police Getty Images Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Armed police officer on Streatham High Road PA Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Police officers guard a cordon on Streatham High Road, at the junction of Prentis Road AFP via Getty Images Forensics investigate the scene Nigel Howard Police officers at the scene after a man was shot by armed police Getty Images Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Items left on the pavement at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Police secure the area in Streatham AP Forensics investigate the scene Nigel Howard

Doctors working for Londons Air Ambulance today said specially trained medics should be able to accompany armed officers to prevent victims dying in a therapeutic vacuum.

In an article in the British Medical Journal, they suggested the UK follows France, the US and Australia in having elite doctors embedded with armed police units and on call 24/7.

During the siege of the Bataclan concert hall in Paris in 2015, two doctors integrated with French counter-terrorism police were able to evacuate 100 casualties in 30 minutes  half an hour before the terrorists were killed.

Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road / PA

A report into the 2017 London Bridge attacks, published last November by Judge Mark Lucraft, the chief coroner, said emergency services performed well and with bravery.

But he said the use of hot zones, which placed areas out of bounds to medics, was inflexible and gave rise to a risk of delay in getting medical help to casualties.

Dr Claire Park, an air ambulance doctor and adviser to the Met, told the Standard: This was a problem before the chief coroner made his recommendations.

"Its the police who lead in the hot zone. Being part of the police response means we would be under their command.

The article, written with LAAs current and former medical directors Gareth Grier and Gareth Davies, and experts in France, the US and Australia, said: The dying process does not wait for a warm or cold zone to be in place or for the threat to be completely suppressed.

Emergency services in Streatham / AFP via Getty Images

A warm zone is where there are no attackers and a threat remains, but medics can enter under armed guard. A cold zone is where no known threat exists.

Dr Park said: The things that kill people kill people in five, 10, 15 minutes, not three or four hours. We know that [medical aid] needs to be done more quickly. We would never be able to do it if we didnt have the appropriate tactical training.
Sanjivani 2 actor Namit Khanna is one of the most popular actors in the television industry. The actor plays the role of doctor Sid on the popular television show. Apart from being an actor, he has mentioned that he is also a model and a photographer. However, his social media account proves that the actor is fond of travelling and is often seen visiting far off places with his camera. He has been giving his fans travel goals as he recently posted a few pictures from his travels. Check out some of the most breath-taking pictures of Sanjivani 2 actor Namit Khanna as he visits the foreign lands.

Namit Khannas Instagram photos

ALSO READ: Sanjivani 2 Cast And The Characters They Play On The Indian Medical Drama Show

Sanjivani 2 actor Namit Khanna visited Vietnam for a vacation. He posted a picture alongside the statue of Lady Buddha, which is one of the prominent attractions of the place. In another picture, he is seen rowing a boat in the Halong Bay in Vietnam. He mentioned that he enjoyed his time in the scenic land to the fullest.

ALSO READ: Surbhi Chandna And Namit Khanna Will Make Your SidIsha Hearts Melt With These Pictures

The Sanjivani 2 actor mentioned that he took a vacation to the exotic, scenic Peru. He posted a picture of himself wearing a jacket and a pair of glasses while he is surrounded by a valley on all sides. In another picture, he wrote that he visited the beautiful Machu Picchu and that he can tick the place off his bucket list.

ALSO READ: Bigg Boss 13s Asim Riaz And Sanjivani 2s Surbhi Chandna Become Top TV Personalities

In the first picture, the Sanjivani 2 actor is seen visiting the snowy peaks in Switzerland. He wore that he visited the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise which is about 12,700 feet above sea level. For his birthday Namit Khanna visited Sri Lanka. He wrote that his birthday began with him taking a walk on the beach, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

ALSO READ: Surbhi Chandna From Sanjivani Shares Cute BTS Video With Namit Khanna

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.
[February 04, 2020] PadSquad Kicks Off 2020 with Shop, a First-to-Market Shoppable eCommerce Advertising Experience for Mobile

NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PadSquad, in partnership with Shoppable, announces the launch of Shop by PadSquad, an exclusive solution with the first universal checkout technology for advertising on the mobile web. Shop by PadSquad offers an end-to-end shopping experience that streamlines the path to purchase while providing brands with valuable insights into consumer buying behaviors. Shop by PadSquad provides consumers with a seamless in-ad shopping experience that can showcase multiple products with interactive hotspots that offer product details and pricing. When ready to purchase, consumers click the Buy Now call-to-action and are taken to a branded Checkout page that offers each of the featured products. The consumer selects the products for purchase and in one tap the transaction is complete. "With the introduction of Shop, we're able to bring the familiar shopping experience found in social to consumers while they're reading their favorite mobile content," states Andrew Augustine, SVP of Revenue for PadSquad. "Shop by PadSquad offers advertisers an opportunity to provide consumers with an improved way to buy the products they crave while gaining full visibility into the path to purchase and the ability to measure the return on ad spend (ROAS)." By combining high impact rich media creative with Shoppable's patented 'Universal Checkout technology,' Shop by PadSquad, allows the entire transaction to take place within the branded experience, providing a closed-loop measurement for advertising partners. The robust reporting and metrics from this solution provide advertisers a deeper understanding of full-funnel shopper behaviors by gathering data on engagement rates, CTR, time spent on pages, product views, add to cart, basket size, and SKU level onversions.



We're making it easier for consumers to shop and quickly complete a purchase once they discover it and make the decision to buy," says Heather Marie Udo, CEO of Shoppable. "With the new Shop product, we're able to leverage PadSquad's expertise in developing engaging creative and pair it with Shoppable's checkout page to make mobile shopping seamless and remove hurdles to transactions." Any of the PadSquad ad formats can be made shoppable through the Shop solution. To learn more about Shop by PadSquad click HERE .

About PadSquad: Founded in 2012 and based in New York City, PadSquad is the preferred creative and innovation partner to Fortune 500 and Direct-to-Consumer brands including Intel, Verizon, The Home Depot, Levi's, Disney, Best Buy, Timberland and many more. The company offers partners a set of innovative tools and a flexible framework to quickly and efficiently deploy memorable digital creative at scale. With countless award-winning and industry-defining rich ad formats under its belt, PadSquad is widely considered the creativity and innovation leader in digital advertising. For more information, visit www.padsquad.com . About Shoppable:

Shoppable is a New York-based e-commerce company and leader in universal checkout technology having been named a Webby Honoree for technical achievement and named one of the "100 Brilliant Companies" by Entrepreneur Magazine. Shoppable is the industry's only patented universal checkout technology that provides users a simple path to purchase from multiple sources within a single order and payment process. Shoppable's distributed commerce technology features a suite of e-commerce products surrounding Shoppable's patented, universal checkout API. By partnering with best-in-class retailers to match products back to consumers looking to purchase them, Shoppable's solutions enable advertisers, retailers, and publishers to create shoppable content, ads, mobile apps, and other innovative commerce experiences. Founded in 2011, the company has evolved from a luxury retail technology to a market leader in broad e-commerce distribution with major clients including top-tier publishers and CPG brands. Sales Contact for PadSquad:

Andrew Augustine

[email protected] Public Relations Contact for PadSquad:

Lance Wolder

[email protected] Public Relations Contact for Shoppable:

Jessica Douglas

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/padsquad-kicks-off-2020-with-shop-a-first-to-market-shoppable-ecommerce-advertising-experience-for-mobile-300998247.html SOURCE PadSquad

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GARDAI in Limerick have launched a probe into the alleged vandalism of Fianna Fail TD Willie ODeas election posters.

It comes as the candidate  who is widely tipped to top the poll on Saturday  said he has never experienced anything like the dirty tricks being played in the 2020 general election campaign.

As part of a targetted campaign against him, the veteran TD added his posters have been torn down and defaced.

"I have met so many people at doors who have been told Willie is safe, Willie will top the poll and Willie doesn't need your vote. Its very disappointing that others in the field are putting out this narrative. Its an age old political trick which is underhand! There is nothing certain in politics and for me to be elected, I need my supporters to come out and vote for me, he urged.

Mr ODea claimed dozens of his posters have been taken down throughout the three week campaign.

I have also had posters defaced with libelous comments painted on them. This has not been caused by a few boisterous students. This is a targeted campaign against me and is a scandalous situation in a democracy, he said, I have reported the matter to the Gardai and I would appeal to members of the public to alert myself or Gardai if they notice any suspicious activity at any of my posters."

Limerick goes to the polls this Saturday, February 8.
The 25th Bond movie is going to release this year in April and this will be Daniel Craig's final stint with the franchise as James Bond.



The official title for the film, No Time To Die was released last year in August. Here's the video in case you missed it.

During Super Bowl on Sunday, a trailer was dropped and we're completely awestruck. Here, take a look:

 Eon Productions

Ian Fleming's James Bond has always been an icon with an aspirational lifestyle in pop culture not just because of the spine-chilling adventures he undertakes, but also because of how impeccably he's dressed while at it. His suits have been the fine works of Anthony Sinclair for the longest time.



 Eon Productions

But more recently, James Bond has been draped by Tom Ford in Spectre. It's interesting to note how intricately each of Bond's suit is designed to accommodate the needs of a spy who is always on the move. This is probably the reason why the Bond suits are resilient to daily wear and tear that the Bond adventures entail. We can't wait to see who is draping Bond in No Time To Die.



 Eon Productions

We also can't wait to see Rami Malek in all his glory as the official Bond villain who is going to face Craig's 'License To Kill' in his 'swan song' film.



 Eon Productions

Blade Runner 2049 star Ana De Armas will also be appearing alongside Daniel Craig, becoming the latest in the long line of 'Bond Girls', while Captain Marvel's Lashana Lynch will also join the cast.



Returning cast members will be, Lea Seydoux (Dr Madeleine Swann), Naomie Harris (Moneypenny), Jeffrey Wright (Felix Leiter), Ben Whishaw (Q), Rory Kinnear (Tanner), and finally, Ralph Fiennes (M).

Phoebe Waller-Bridge also reportedly has had a big part to play in the script. The film is being directed by Cary Fukunaga.

 Eon Productions

According to the YouTube title reveal synopsis:



"In No Time To Die, Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology."

The film is going to drop in theatres on 8 April 2020.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Tue, February 4, 2020 18:56 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20628aed4 2 SE Asia Malaysia,Singapore,novel-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,wuhan,people-to-people Free

A Malaysian citizen who had not visited China has contracted the new coronavirus after traveling to Singapore, health authorities reported Tuesday.

The 41-year-old man had visited neighboring Singapore for a week from January 16 during which he attended meetings that also involved delegates from China, Malaysian Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said.

"The Malaysian victim has not been to China. He met Chinese delegates from Wuhan in Singapore," Noor Hisham Abdullah, director-general of health, Ministry of Health, told AFP.

The man is the country's first citizen to be infected with the virus. Malaysia's nine other confirmed cases are all Chinese nationals who came from Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus was first detected.

It has so far infected more than 20,000 people, killing at least 425 in China, and spread to more than two dozen countries.

At a press conference earlier, Malaysia's health minister Dzulkefly said the country was contacting Singapore authorities to find out the possible source of the infection by the Malaysian man.

Read also: Indonesian maid in Singapore tests positive for coronavirus

Dzulkefly said the individual is in a stable condition in hospital, and that his family members are being monitored.

Malaysia has imposed an entry ban for Chinese nationals from Wuhan in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, two out of the 107 people -- Malaysians and Chinese nationals married to Malaysians -- who arrived on a special flight from Wuhan early Tuesday were found to be feverish and were being treated in a hospital.

Malaysia had sent the special flight to evacuate its citizens and their families trapped in the Chinese city which has been under quarantine by the authorities.

The remaining 105 people on the flight are being held in a facility for 14 days, the incubation period for the virus.
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Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

Armenia flag to be permanently raised on buildings of some more institutions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit trial judge to not self-recuse

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit court case resumes

298 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

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US proposes to UN Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea

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FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

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US imposes sanctions on 6 North Koreans

US senators unveil bill to impose sanctions against Russia

EU wants to help Lebanon avoid economic collapse

CSTO to approve Kazakhstan peacekeepers withdrawal order

German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

Boris Johnson apologizes for attending party during lockdown

Global COVID-19 cases rise by 55% percent, deaths stable

Thailand introduces $9 tourist fee

Erdogan vows to tame Turkish inflation as scepticism grows

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Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

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China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded

Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation

Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods

Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day

3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings

Copper rises in price

One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning

About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

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French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly

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Gold slightly rises in price

North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile

OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

Oil is trading without a single dynamic

US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee

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US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen

German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

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WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

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Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot will make a statement in Lok Sabha on the recent Supreme Court ruling that there is no fundamental right to claim reservation in promotion for SC/STs, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed the House on Monday. Amid demands by opposition to raise the issue in Lok Sabha, Singh said, "The recent SC ruling is a sensitive issue" and the social justice and empowerment minister will make a statement on the subject in the House. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met senior ministers this morning in his Parliament House office. Though such meetings are routine during Parliament sessions, Monday's meet assumes importance in the backdrop of the court ruling. There, however, was no official word on it. The Supreme Court has ruled that there is no fundamental right to claim reservation in promotion for SCs, STs and OBCs in government jobs.

The major topic that the New Orleans City Council faces at its monthly Budget Committee meeting is the hefty price tag of the Hard Rock Hotel collapse and cyberattack expenses, according to a list of costs associated with the disasters attached to the agenda for Tuesday's meeting.

The costs racked up since the Oct. 12 collapse of the unfinished hotel and the Dec. 13 ransomware attack total more than $18 million to cover loss of revenue, personnel payroll, software replacements and fixing email services, among other things.

+10 Hard Rock collapse: Council creates committee to study issues raised by disaster Despite continuing objections from Mayor LaToya Cantrell, the New Orleans City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to hold hearings into issue

Through December, the Hard Rock collapse had cost New Orleans $11,668,106.

Cyberattack expenses came to $7,123,500, which includes past and expected future payments.

The brunt of Hard Rock costs have gone to changing Regional Transit Authority routes, payroll and Rampart Street repairs.

Damage costs:

Street, subsurface and drainage repair estimate for Rampart Street: $1.2 million

Capital damage estimate to streetcars, line poles and infrastructure: $850,000

Roof repair estimate for Saenger Theatre: $750,000

Lost revenue:

Changes to RTA operations, including new and alternate routes: $3,210,000

Lost farebox revenue: $1,605,000

Saenger estimated losses from canceled performances of "Wicked": $100,000

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Personnel:

Public safety, leadership and support payroll: $2,219,000

Public safety costs:

24/7 firewatch at Hard Rock site (estimate): $927,801

Public safety vehicles, equipment, apparatus, etc: $256,115

Engineering consulting contract: $250,000

Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness mobile command: $153,000

Office of Police Secondary Employment details from 10-25 through 11-12 (outstanding invoice owed by 1031 Canal Development): $70,000

New Orleans Police Department mobile command: $20,184

Public safety vehicles -- fuel: $13,000

Trash collection at command center: $10,164

Light tower rental and fuel: $10,000

6x40 containers to protect Saenger (including delivery): $8,000

Miscellaneous supplies (paper, printer ink, pens, markers, batteries): $7,753

Towing vehicles out of garage next to Hard Rock site: $5,000

Door knocker warnings -- English and Spanish: $1,446

State Police transportation bill -- crane: $1,210

Personal protective equipment (earplugs and respirators): $433

The city has incurred most of its ransomware attack costs by paying for fixing city email services and networking infrastructure. Future expenses are also listed in the agenda.

Incurred:

Clean and rebuild environment: $1,220,500

Re-establish city email services: $896,000

Networking infrastructure: $832,000

Personnel -- overtime for ITI staff: $50,000

Future:

Replacement of outdated equipment: $750,000+

Public safety networking investments: $400,000+

New security tools: $875,000+

Supplemental staffing: $750,000+

Cybersecurity team staffing: $350,000+

Legacy software replacements: $1 million+

The Budget Committee meeting will be held in the City Council Chamber at 10 a.m. You can view the full agenda here.
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

Armenia flag to be permanently raised on buildings of some more institutions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit trial judge to not self-recuse

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit court case resumes

298 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Artsakh emergency service: Remains of another participant in hostilities are found

816,660 tourists visit Armenia during 11 months of 2021

US proposes to UN Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea

World oil prices dropping

Newspaper: Amnesty process suspended in Armenia indefinitely

Newspaper: Those in Karabakh are resisting Armenia authorities arbitrariness

FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

Slovak government approves defense treaty with US

US imposes sanctions on 6 North Koreans

US senators unveil bill to impose sanctions against Russia

EU wants to help Lebanon avoid economic collapse

CSTO to approve Kazakhstan peacekeepers withdrawal order

German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

Boris Johnson apologizes for attending party during lockdown

Global COVID-19 cases rise by 55% percent, deaths stable

Thailand introduces $9 tourist fee

Erdogan vows to tame Turkish inflation as scepticism grows

Turkey's Turkic world ambitions face reality check in Kazakhstan

Teacher in Baku beats student

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Turkish FM expresses concerns to Chinese counterpart

OSCE Chairman-in-Office speaks on situation along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021

China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded

Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation

Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods

Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day

3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings

Copper rises in price

One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning

About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions

Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night

French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly

289 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Gold slightly rises in price

North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile

OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

Oil is trading without a single dynamic

US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee

MOD: Armenia soldiers dead body found at midnight after Azerbaijan provocation

Newspaper: Casualties of Armenia PM Pashinyan's 'era of peace'

US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen

German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan

WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State

India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death

Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded

NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22

Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States

Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia

Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death

Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded
New Delhi [India], Feb 4 (ANI): With 95,000 auto-rickshaws and 2.5 lakh auto drivers operating in the nation's capital, political parties are trying to woo this instrumental vote bank for the upcoming Assembly election in Delhi.

This section, in particular, had been a game-changer in the last Assembly poll in the state.

It is to be noted that during 2013 and 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) got massive support from the auto-rickshaw unions. Also, during these two elections, AAP had extensively used auto-rickshaws for campaigning.

However, this time around it is unclear as to which political party is the favourite with this section of voters.

Rajendra Soni, general secretary, Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh, (linked with RSS' Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh) while speaking to ANI said, "We, the auto wallas of Delhi wish for a government that does not use us merely as a vote bank but is serious about us and is determined to resolve our issues. Who else shall we look upon if not the government?"

On the ground, the increase in cab facilities since 2017 has affected the auto-owners directly. Soni said, "Moreover the sharing facility available in the cabs has come as a blow. We thought the scenario will change but with the passage of time, it has deteriorated even further."

However, Surinder Kumar, 34, an auto driver from Laxmi Nagar had something else to say.

"Some of the work done by the Kejriwal government is appreciable. It has helped us immensely. Must mention the waiving of vehicle fitness fees. Moreover the penalty for late fees, registration and re-registration have been reduced. I am happy," Kumar said.

But Kumar also hopes that whoever comes to power in Delhi will abolish Section 66(1)/192A of the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA) that levies heavy fines on commercial vehicles plying outside their authorised permit route/area.

Another auto driver from Shahdara, Subhas Chandra Sharma said, "We are happy with whatever the government has done for us but it seems we are being used only as vote bank. In the ongoing election fervour, challans are causing a serious problem for us. Moreover, with an increase in the number of battery rickshaws, our income has suffered."

The business of auto-rickshaw drivers has further seen a dent after the AAP government declared free bus ride for women.

AAP's Delhi Convener Gopal Rai while speaking to ANI said, "Last time the auto-rickshaws supported AAP and this time their support has increased further. The government has resolved issues for which they were fighting. Corruption has been restricted successfully. We are in touch with them on a regular basis and will resolve issues in future too."

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said, "An auto that cost Rs 1.15 lakh is being sold for Rs 6 lakh. Once we are in power, we will make the entire system very transparent which will bring both ease of doing business and ease of living for the auto wallahs."

With political parties trying hard to convince the auto-rickshaw drivers in the capital with new promises or with promises to fulfil old commitments, it will be seen whether AAP retained their support or not, when the results come on Feb 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 39-year-old man in Hong Kong who was being treated for the novel coronavirus has died, medical authorities confirmed Tuesday, the first fatality connected to the illness in the financial hub and only the second outside of mainland China.

A spokesman for the Hospital Authority said the victim was a resident of Hong Kong who travelled to the Chinese city of Wuhan -- the epicentre of the outbreak -- on January 21 and who returned to the financial hub two days later.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rise in budget outlay for pensions of armed forces personnel is "unsustainable" and three services are conducting a study to analyse the feasibility of extending the retirement age of jawans till 58, said India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) on Tuesday.

consists of two categories, officers and jawans, and the former can retire between 54-58 years of age.

"He (officer) is quite secure till the age of 58. At that age, his children are generally settled or are about to settle. Problem is not there. The problem is with men (jawans)," the CDS told the reporters.

Having recruited jawans at the age of 18-19, the sends them out on retirement at the age of 37-38, he said.

"At that age, he suddenly realises that his salary has been cut by half and his free housing, and affordable health care and education is gone," he added.

"I think one-third of the Indian can go till 58. Today, you are sending a chap home at 38, and he lives till around 70. So, for 17 years of service, you give 30-32 years of pension. Why not give him 38 years of service and then give him 20 years of pension? We are reversing the trend," he mentioned.

The defence budget was increased to Rs 3.37 lakh crore for 2020-21 against last year's Rs 3.18 lakh crore, belying expectations of a significantly enhanced allocation to fast-track long-pending military modernisation.

The CDS said, "Are you doing the right thing by sending a jawan home at the age of 37-38, saying 'I don't need you buddy', but I am giving you some pension as you are going away?...He has joined the Army, he has given 15-16 years...I feel, where is the problem in the jawan also serving till 58 years."



"Let me look at Army Medical Corps (AMC). I feel that 100 per cent of the AMC personnel can serve till 58 year of age...People ask me if you let them serve till 58, how will they serve in Ladakh? But you can do your tours of Ladakh and Srinagar and such places and other places till the age of 45, and then do your remaining postings at other places," he explained.

The CDS said that the pension budget for 2020-21 is Rs 1.33 lakh crore, which has gone up from Rs 1.1 lakh crore of 2019-20.

"Look at the jump that is taking place. If this is the way the jump keeps happening, it is not sustainable," Rawat added.

The size of defence budget for 2020-21 stands at Rs 4.71 lakh crore if a separate allocation of Rs 1.33 lakh crore set aside for payment of pensions is taken into account.

When asked what is the status of the proposal to extend the age of retirement for all armed forces personnel to 58, Rawat told reporters, "All services have been told to give me a communication. A study has been started by them, and by the end of the year, we will get the results."



In a landmark decision, the government on December 24 last year approved the creation of a CDS in the rank of a four-star general who acts as the principal military adviser to the defence minister on all matters relating to the tri-services.

The government also decided to create a new Department of Military Affairs (DMA) under the Defence Ministry, which is headed by the CDS as its secretary.
CAIRO - A surprise meeting between Sudans leader and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stirred controversy in Sudan on Tuesday, with the government saying it wasnt notified ahead of time and critics lambasting the talks on social media.

Others s aid Monday s meeting would improve Sudans standing with the United States and help Khartoum shed its pariah image. For Israel, it was a major diplomatic breakthrough with a Muslim-majority African state, two days after the Arab League rejected President Donald Trumps Mideast plan.

The Uganda meeting between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of Sudans transitional administration, and Netanyahu was kept secret but grabbed headlines late Monday when the Israeli leader announced the two had begun talks on normalizing relations between their countries.

Sudan is desperate to lift sanctions linked to its listing by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terror. That would be a key step toward ending its isolation and rebuilding the economy after the popular uprising last year that toppled autocrat Omar al-Bashir and installed the joint civilian-military sovereign council, headed by Burhan.

But Khartoum is also a longtime member of the Arab League and joined other members in rejecting Trumps plan at a meeting in Cairo on Saturday. The U.S. plan, heavily in favour of Israel, would grant the Palestinians limited self-rule in parts of the occupied West Bank, while allowing Israel to annex all its settlements there and keep nearly all of east Jerusalem.

H.A. Hellyer, a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said Sudan runs the risk of damaging relationships with the wider Arab world, as well as with the opposition at home if it appears to be moving toward normalization with what he described as an extreme Israeli government.

The Uganda meeting between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of Sudans transitional administration, and Netanyahu was kept secret but grabbed headlines late Monday when the Israeli leader announced the two had began talks on normalizing relations between their countries.





Its a cynical choice, Hellyer said.

From Uganda, Netanyahu tweeted: History! while his office said the meeting with Burhan came at the invitation of Uganda. The statement said Netanyahu believes that Sudan is moving in a new and positive direction  an apparent reference to a possible removal from the U.S. terror list.

We agreed to begin co-operation that will lead to normalization of relations between the two countries, Netanyahu said.

Later on Tuesday, Burhan said he met with Netanyahu as part of his responsibility ... to preserve and maintain Sudans national security, and to achieve the higher interests of the Sudanese people, according to a statement released by the sovereign council.

He said Sudan still backs the Palestinians to have their independent state.

Palestinian diplomat Saeb Erekat called the Uganda meeting a stab in the back of the Palestinian nation and a deviation from the Arab consensus.

For Israel, there are several upsides beyond the optics of establishing relations with another Arab League country and burnishing its diplomatic credentials. Israel expects to be granted approval to fly over Sudanese airspace, which would greatly shorten flight times to South America, and also hopes it can repatriate the more than 8,000 Sudanese asylum seekers in Israel.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the Burhan-Netanyahu meeting and thanked the Sudanese leader for his leadership in normalizing ties with Israel, according to the State Department. In a phone call a day earlier, Pompeo invited Burhan to visit the U.S. later in the year.

On social media, some Sudanese denounced the Sudan-Israel meeting, accusing Burhan of trying to get on the Trump administrations good side through Israel. Others applauded, arguing it was good for Sudans future.

Prominent activist Amjed Farid said Burhan had no mandate from the people of Sudan to offer Netanyahu anything.

The pro-democracy movement, known as the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change, released a statement following meetings with Burhan and the Cabinet.

The FDFC said it was not aware or consulted on the meeting between Burhan and Netanyahu beforehand, and that a change in Sudans position on Israel is the Sudanese peoples decision.

The movement said it stands by the Palestinians right to return and to have their independent state.

Former Sudanese Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, leader of the Umma political party, condemned the meeting, saying it does not achieve Sudans national interest, nor does it achieve an Arab interest for us or a Palestinian interest.

He accused Netanyahu of racism for calling Israel a Jewish state, and said his policies do not support a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

We do not know the details (of the meeting), he said. But, on principle, to deal with the current Israeli prime minister is (crossing) a red line, he said.

The Sudanese Communist Party, which is part of the pro-democracy movement, also denounced the meeting, as treason against the Palestinians.

Information Minister Faisal Mohamed Saleh, the governments spokesman, said the Cabinet learned of the meeting through the media and was not consulted beforehand. We will wait for clarifications after Burhan returns home from Uganda, he said.

Sudan hosted the Arab League summit after the 1967 war that became famous for establishing the three nos: No to peace with Israel, no to recognition of Israel and no to negotiations with Israel.

That consensus broke down when Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, and has further eroded in recent years as Israel has improved ties with Gulf Arab nations that share its concerns about Iran. Only two Arab states, Egypt and Jordan, have made peace with Israel.

___

Associated Press writer Aron Heller in Jerusalem contributed.
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1. The dress thats not a dress

Flower Berry Print Silk Top, 159, shop it here. Worn with the Flower Berry Print Silk Skirt, 179, shop it here. / Whistles

As appealing as the prospect of a fling-on-and-go instant outfit is to your morning routine, it can also make for a bunch of very lazy dressers.

Wake up your wardrobe with a co-ord of matching separates designed to work as well together as they do independently. The Limited Edition spring collection from Whistles  crafted from only the most luxurious fabrics and made in exclusively small production runs  has it nailed with this fresh floral and berry print silk skirt and ruffled blouse combo. Wear the top with denim and the skirt with a sloppy jumper when youre not working the full look.

2. The short smock

The Arket Ruffled Crepe Dress, 79, shop it here. / Arket

Much ink has been spilled over the merits of the midi dress. But shorter hemlines need not equal less versatility. Take Arkets ruffled crepe dress  crafted from semi-sheer, airy viscose fabric and cut with a wide silhouette and billowy sleeves, its the perfect dress to layer over kick flare leather trousers and ankle boots now, stompy knee-high boots come spring and your trusty Birkenstocks all summer. Its also available in three colours including plain black and monochrome polka dot, but were fangirling over this trans-seasonal floral print.

3. The one with flex appeal

Chinti & Parker Navy Abstract Cotton-Jersey Dress, 295, shop it here. (Chinti & Parker) / Chinti & Parker

If it were up to us, wed live all day every day in our favourite T-shirt and sweat pants. Unfortunately, head-to-toe jersey is not a look every workplace is accepting of.

Unless its from Chinti & Parker. Designed to be as flattering as it is comfortable, thanks to its demi-turtleneck and loosely belted A-line fit, the bold abstract print of this jersey dress helpfully detracts from the fact that you got dressed in 45 seconds and your mind is still on the sofa.

4. The hard worker

Me + Em Large Dot Keyhole Dress + Tie, 270, shop it here. / ME + EM

Every wardrobe needs an all-rounder, yet not every shop has one. ME+EM  the capitals purveyors of intelligent style  has no such shortage.

This dotty little number, for example, features a crease-free sheer georgette over-layer with a stretch lining, a waist tie which can be worn loose for a relaxed fit or pulled in for a more fitted shape and a flattering keyhole neckline complete with a removable tie that can be styled around the neck in a pussybow. It also boasts two holy-grail requirements  sleeves (in reverse monochrome, to match the flounced under-layer) and a care label that boasts the words machine washable.

(270, meandem.com)

5. The new shirt dress

Kitri Jeanette Check Belted Jacket Dress, 115, shop it here. / Kitri

Somewhere along the line, the shirt dress lost its crown as the capitals most ubiquitous style to the slip dress. This season, the OG is out to reclaim its title thanks in part to a host of Londons most influential young labels which are dusting off the boring boardroom perception and giving the wardrobe hero back its credibility.

Among them, Kitri, which has introduced its check print Jacket Dress which can be worn buttoned up and belted or left open like a coat depending on your mood  or more likely, the weather.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kokrajhar in Assam on Friday to take part in celebrations related to signing of the Bodo peace accord last month.

This will be the PMs first trip to the state after protests started in December last year against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The protests seeking repeal of the legislation, which are still continuing, had claimed five lives in police firing in the initial days.

The Prime Minister couldnt visit Assam in December when the India-Japan bilateral meet scheduled in Guwahati was cancelled due to the protests. His expected visit to the opening ceremony of the Khelo India Youth Games held in Guwahati last month also didnt happen.

On Tuesday, senior Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma reviewed preparations for the Bodo Accord celebrations in Kokrajhar along with other ministers and bureaucrats.

We are excited to welcome PM Narendra Modi to this historic event, Sarma tweeted.

Senior district officials at Kokrajhar, the headquarters of Bodoland Territorial Council (renamed as Bodoland Territorial Region after last months accord), informed that preparations for the Friday event is going on well.

We are in touch with security officials to ensure that the event passes without any glitch. The preparations are going on in full swing, said Partha Pratim Majumdar, deputy commissioner Kokrajhar.

Around 4 to 5 lakh people from all the four districts under Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) are expected to take part in the event, which will include a cultural programme of ethnic groups of the state.

Cadres of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) who laid down arms will be part of the event which will be attended by eminent personalities from the BTAD region, informed Pramod Bodo, president of All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), one of the signatories to last months Bodo Accord.

The Bodo Accord, the third such deal after two earlier ones in 1993 and 2003 was signed at New Delhi on January 27 with leaders of all four factions of NDFB, who were demanding a separate Bodoland state, taking part as signatories.

The deal is expected to bring peace to the Bodo-dominated areas in Assam. With signing of the accord United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I), which is seeking a sovereign Assam, remains the only major banned militant outfit in the state.

Last week, 1,615 cadres of all the factions of NDFB laid down arms in front of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at an event in Guwahati.

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The new Houston Contemporary Dance Company, steadily making strides, will present its second program at the Queensbury Theatre this weekend.

Capitalizing on relationships she built with young choreographers around the U.S. as artistic director of the now-defunct MetDance, founder Marlana Doyle has added five new works to her budding companys repertoire to create an evening of duets called due.

It sounds pretty close to Duo, the Valentines Day programs she used to create for MetDance; but the concept is both manageable to produce and appealing to audiences. Its like an evening of intimately-scaled shorts.

The title shes using this year is Italian for two, Doyle explains. One of the choreographers is an Italian based in New York. Im half-Italian. And were partnering with an Italian restaurant. Brio Restaurant in City Centre, where the theatre is located, is offering a complimentary appetizer or dessert before the show with proof of ticket purchase.

Each of the companys six dancers will perform in two works, including premieres by Hanna Brictson, Joe Celej, Enzo Celi, Alia Kache and Nicholas Ranauro; plus Joshua Manculichs recent Porcelain, created for the company last fall. Hope Stone Dance also will perform a duet. The show runs about an hour.

Doyle hopes to have her new studios in the Heights open by April for the company and its affiliated Institute of Contemporary Dance. Construction is underway, and the company is just kind of rolling, she says. Houston Contemporary has already performed its first tour, traveling last month to San Antonio.

Doyle also is encouraging members of her junior company to try choreography. They will perform their own show, due 2, based on Italian art, music and literature, at 2 p.m. Saturday, also at Queensbury.

molly.glentzer@chron.com
President Moon Jae-in at a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Feb. 3, 2020 Yonhap



By Do Je-hae



President Moon Jae-in has reaffirmed the need for close cooperation with China to overcome the coronavirus outbreak which started in Wuhan, Hubei Province. The President also explained that Seoul's entry ban of people who have visited Hubei Province was an "inevitable measure" considering the mounting public concern here about the spread of the epidemic.



"China is a country with which we conduct the largest people-to-people exchanges and trade. China's difficulties are linked to our difficulties," Moon said during a meeting with his senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. "The two countries should work together to overcome the crisis. As a neighbor, Korea will not spare any efforts to extend all our support and cooperation. True neighbors are those who join forces at a time of need."



The remarks come amid rising concern that Seoul's announcement to temporarily prohibit the entry of foreigners who have travelled to Hubei Province in the last two weeks could hamper relations with China. Beijing has shown discontent toward similar measures taken by the U.S. and Japan, saying that the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised against travel restrictions. New Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming stated that he was against such restrictions in a local media interview.



Moon stressed that the measure was necessary to protect Korean citizens. "We have to tighten our immigration controls to protect our people. Countries around the world are also enforcing immigration controls to prevent the inflow and spread of infectious diseases. The temporary entry limit for foreigners who have visited Hubei Province and the temporary suspension of visa-free entry to Jeju are inevitable measures taken for the safety of our people."



The entry ban came after a Cheong Wa Dae online petition site was flooded with requests to limit the entry of people coming from the epicenter of the coronavirus. Cheong Wa Dae was initially careful to respond to the demands considering the impact it could have on relations with China, especially when the two countries are in the process of arranging a Korea-China summit in the coming weeks. But the government eventually decided to impose the ban Sunday.



The President stressed the need to contain secondary and tertiary infections. "In particular, we must actively respond to the public's anxiety," he said.



Moon also underlined the importance of close cooperation between central and local governments and reassured the people of the government's full commitment to keep on top of the situation. "The situation may be just beginning. We don't know how much more it's going to spread, and when it's going to end. We are at a critical juncture and are determined to do our utmost."


COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder is ready to ditch the high-stakes school report cards as a determinant of whether children can qualify for private school vouchers.

At a forum sponsored by the Associated Press Tuesday morning in Columbus, the Perry County Republican said that hes interested in the Education Choice scholarship being based exclusively on family income. Right now, parents can get vouchers based on income or whether they live in the boundaries of a low-performing school district, determined on its report card grade.

Its become a class problem, Householder said. And I dont mean classroom. I mean a class problem.

For years, low-performing schools were in Appalachia or urban areas where most of the kids were African American, Householder said. People didnt seem to care that public schools were deemed failing and losing money when the students enrolled in private schools, he said.

This year, 700 new schools -- up from the current 500 -- are also considered failing, many of them from wealthier, white areas.

When all of a sudden there were 1,203 schools on the list and some of them are from the wealthiest suburbs in the state of Ohio, suddenly alarms went off and now we've got to fix this, he said. Thats a class problem.

Six changes were made to the school report cards over six years  alterations that were advocated by lobbyists for private schools.

The performance-based system is made for the other party to fail, he said. Thats why theyre created.

Enrollment in Education Choice was delayed by 60 days last week because the Ohio House and Senate could not agree on how to trim down the list of failing schools. Householder wants to use the time to devise an income-based system.

Im here to tell you weve got great schools all over this state," he said. "And weve got great teachers all over this state.

On Monday, supporters of EdChoice sued the state over the delay.

Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof, on the other hand, said he saw the issue of the explosion in eligible EdChoice vouchers as an immediate problem to be fixed.

Discussions of overhauling the system -- and whether there is the desire in the legislature for sweeping changes -- should occur over the long term, he said.

I think well get to that in due course, he said.

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The Opposition in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday tore into the government, accusing it of hiding the real picture of the economy and creating "destructive" issues like the CAA and the NRC to polarise the society and divert attention from key challenges like economic slowdown, farm distress and unemployment.

As the House took up the debate on Motion of Thanks on the President's Address, the BJP launched a frontal attack on opposition parties especially the Congress for their stance against the Citizenship Amendment Act, saying they were trying to divide the nation.

Initiating the debate, senior BJP leader Bhupender Yadav accused the Congress and the Aam Adami Party of giving "moral support" to Shaheen Bagh stir and said young minds were "poisoned through hate-filled speeches" in the name of freedom of expression during the anti-CAA protests. He said none of these leaders or parties supporting the protests has raised issues of atrocities against minorities in Islamic nations and were busy politicising the issue for petty self-interest.

Yadav alleged that by passing resolutions against the CAA, states ruled by non-BJP parties were hurting the Constitution. "Oppose us but don't divide India... Don't like us but let positive development happen," he said. He quoted a statement by Trinamool MP Derek 'O Brien on how his relatives who went to Pakistan had to migrate and how those who came to India prospered. "We have got the citizenship law so that O'Briens remain O'Briens and are not forced to convert to other religions," Yadav said.

Hitting back, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Triple Talaq, CAA, NPR issues are being talked about by you to divert attention on key issues of unemployment, black money, slow GDP growth. "Your ideas or proposals are not constructive but destructive." Azad also expressed the hope that the government would soon realise its "mistake" of bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir into union territories and bring a bill in this session to restore its statehood.

As many as 477 amendments to the Motion of Thanks were listed in the House. Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray alleged that the government is using the name of Mahatma Gandhi to hide its "camouflaged agenda of religious persecution and division" through CAA and NRC. "They are using the name of Gandhiji, just to mask it... A minister of this government is publicly asking to shoot the people," he alleged.

He targeted the government over the state of the economy and criticised its disinvestment policy, saying it is on a mission of "beecho (sell) India". The government is selling PSUs along with LIC, which are properties of the people and steps are being taken without inviting any suggestions from policymakers and employees unions, he said

Ray said his party has moved amendments seeking changes in the President's address as it does not give the real picture of the economy. "President's speech has not mentioned about the growth of the economy. It is the first time in the history that RBI has changed the growth forecast three times," he said.

Talking about the ongoing agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act, TRS member Keshava Rao asked the government to sit with the protesters to find a solution. He alleged that attempts were being made to polarise society. Elamaram Kareem of CPI (M) said the President's speech missed the real issues of the people and the country as it did not mention the ongoing economic crisis.

The government has failed in upholding the Constitution, he alleged and added that mandate does not mean that the government would "pass legislation on its whims and fancies". Participating in the debate, Tiruchi Siva (DMK) said "federalism is crumbling, secularism is fading and socialism is becoming capitalism" under the present dispensation. He also accused the BJP-led government of "polarising the society"

"The entire country is on-road, students are agitating. Democracy is under threat. Everyone in the country is living in a fear," Siva claimed. The DMK leader claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "devalued India".

Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena, a former ally of the BJP, alleged that an atmosphere of hate is being created to break the country and there is a "civil-war like situation". On the agitation against the CAA, Raut said the protesters are citizens of this country and the government should sit with them and allay their fears. The government should follow its own agenda of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas', he said.

Raut claimed Shiv Sena was "betrayed" after its 30-year association with the BJP. Taking a jibe, he said economic growth will not increase by giving the longest Budget speech. On repealing Article 370, Raut said Shiv Sena had supported this decision, but there is still unrest in the Valley. As many as 12 army personnel from Maharashtra have died in Kashmir, he added. He asked the government how many jobs have been created and industry set up in Kashmir. Raut said he wants to buy land in Kashmir but has not succeeded.

Raut welcomed the Prime Minister's comment that India can defeat Pakistan in 8-10 days, but said the government should fulfil its duty towards the forces as paramilitary forces are facing economic problems and "not getting salary and wages on time". Raut said the forces also do not have the bulletproof jacket, ice boots and other necessary items. "This is not the report of tukde-tukde gang but of CAG."

The Sena MP's remarks led to a heated exchange of words between Shiv Sena and BJP members. Rakesh Sinha (Nominated) opposed Raut's comments but could not be heard. Opposition parties including the Congress, DMK and Left parties supported Shiv Sena members. However, Raut said he was mentioning this from the CAG report, which was tabled in Parliament.

Raising the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, Azad told the House that government reports indicate that on a total 114 parameters related to education, health, education, sanitation and food, J-K's performance was better on 80 indicators than the national average. He said Gujarat scored better on 52 parameters than the national average and if performance was the criteria then there are many states which need to reconstitute.

Azad appealed to the government to release all political leaders in the Valley. He claimed the bifurcation of the state has caused loss to industry, agriculture and employment. "I hope that the government would admit its mistake and bring a fresh bill to make Jammu and Kashmir a state," he said. PTI MJH KKS KRH RT
Tehran, Feb 4 : The spokesman of Iran's Judiciary said on Tuesday that the country's Supreme Court has approved the death sentence of an Iranian national who was spying for the US.

"Amir Rahimpour, who was the CIA spy and received huge money to give part of the information of Iran's nuclear programme to the intelligence service of America, had already been sentenced to death and it was recently approved by the country's Supreme National court," spokesman Gholam Hossein Esmaili was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

"He (Rahimpour) will be punished soon," the spokesman said, adding that two others have been sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of spying for the US.

The names of the individuals would not be released yet because the sentence has not been finalized, the spokesman said.

Esmaeeli said that the Supreme Court of Iran has also confirmed the verdict, reports IRNA news agency.

Iran in the past has sentenced alleged American and Israeli spies to death, the Daily Mail said in a report.

The last such spy executed was Shahram Amiri, who defected to the US at the height of Western efforts to thwart Iran's nuclear programme.

When he returned in 2010, he was welcomed with flowers by government leaders and even went on the Iranian talk-show circuit. Then he mysteriously disappeared.

He was hanged in August 2016.

Tensions have escalated between Iran and the US after Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani was killed in an American drone attack on January 3 in Baghdad.

The attack was ordered by US President Donald Trump, who in May 2018 withdrew the US from the historic nuclear accord Iran had signed with Western powers in 2015.


AAM AG Recommences its Capital Increase Process

Perth, Feb 5, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Altech Chemicals Limited ( ASX:ATC ) ( FRA:A3Y ) is pleased to announce that it has been advised by Frankfurt Stock Exchange listed Altech Advanced Materials AG ( FRA:AMA1 ) (AAM), that AAM has recommenced its capital increase process with the scheduling of a shareholder meeting in Heidelberg, Germany on 12 March 2020.The capital increase that is being put to AAM shareholders for approval is comparable to the process that was previously approved. The process comprises:- submission of an updated prospectus to BaFin (German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority);- approval of shareholders to issue 63,102,080 new AAM shares, which would raise EUR69.4 million at EUR1.10 per new share fully subscribed. The approved capital increase would be valid for 6 months;- initially a 1:40 rights offer to existing shareholders (each AAM share currently owned gives the holder the right to subscribe to forty new AAM shares), with each new share priced at EUR1.10 per share;- placement of any remaining unsubscribed new shares to investors (including existing shareholders) at a target price of EUR1.20 per share, with the ability to place and register these shares in multiple tranches;As well as the capital increase, shareholders will be requested to approve: (a) authorised capital of EUR10,000,000 and conditional capital of EUR785,000, each of which may be utilised at the discretion of the AAM supervisory board for a period of up to approximately 5 years (until 1 March 2025) to raise additional new funds; (b) the move of AAM's registration of office from the jurisdiction of Mannheim to Frankfurt, which has more exposure to public company shareholder matters; and c) the election of Mr Wilko Stark to the AAM supervisory board. Most recently, Mr. Stark was divisional director at Mercedes-Benz Cars Purchasing and Supplier Quality and CEO of CASE (Connectivity, Autonomous Driving, Shared mobility, Electromobility) and the product group electric vehicles Mercedes-Benz EQ.About Altech Chemicals Ltd

Altech Chemicals Limited (ASX:ATC) (FRA:A3Y) is aiming to become one of the world's leading suppliers of 99.99% (4N) high purity alumina (Al2O3) through the construction and operation of a 4,500tpa high purity alumina (HPA) processing plant at Johor, Malaysia. Feedstock for the plant will be sourced from the Company's 100%-owned kaolin deposit at Meckering, Western Australia and shipped to Malaysia.



HPA is a high-value, high margin and highly demanded product as it is the critical ingredient required for the production of synthetic sapphire. Synthetic sapphire is used in the manufacture of substrates for LED lights, semiconductor wafers used in the electronics industry, and scratch-resistant sapphire glass used for wristwatch faces, optical windows and smartphone components. Increasingly HPA is used by lithium-ion battery manufacturers as the coating on the battery's separator, which improves performance, longevity and safety of the battery. With global HPA demand approximately 19,000t (2018), it is estimated that this demand will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% (2018-2028); by 2028 HPA market demand will be approximately 272,000t, driven by the increasing adoption of LEDs worldwide as well as the demand for HPA by lithium-ion battery manufacturers to serve the surging electric vehicle market.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  Purdue University is taking a proactive approach against the coronavirus by suspending all travel to China. The university is also ending the study abroad semester early for six students studying in Shanghai. That's a decision Purdue students agree with.

As of Monday, the World Health Organization reported 17,238 confirmed coronavirus cases in China, which has caused 361 deaths. One Chinese Purdue student said Purdue's decision to ban travel is the right thing to do.

"China is not a safe place to travel right now, said Yuqio Jiang. I am from China and am currently a Chinese citizen and I also don't want to go back to China right now.

Jiangs family is still in China. He said that they rarely leave home due to their fear of becoming infected with the virus.

"My parents and my family are just staying at home, added Jiang. The supermarket is the only place need to go otherwise they stay home to be safe."

Other students say Purdue is being responsible by taking the health of the students into consideration.

"I think it's not bad for a safety perspective having the students secure should be the first and utmost priority of the university because they have been under their responsibility," said Purdue student Izza Tariq.

The CDC has confirmed that there have been 11 cases of the Coronavirus in the United States. Although no research has shown that the virus can contaminate food, one Purdue Food Science professor said taking precaution is key to stopping the virus.

"When we talk about prevention of those pathogens avoid cross-contamination, proper cleaning, and sanitization, these are good tips regardless of what we are battling," said Betty Feng, Assistant Professor of Food Science at Purdue University.

As for Purdue students whose family remains in China, they hope the virus will be eradicated soon.

I hope Chinese people get better and that the virus gets killed, added Jing.

Purdue says they have seen no positive cases of the coronavirus on campus and that there have been no patients under investigation at this time.

We reached out to Purdue to see when those 6 students currently studying abroad will be brought back to the states but we have not received a response.
All 11,000 patients of a rogue breast cancer surgeon who maimed hundreds of women must be recalled so checks can be made on their treatment, an official report urged yesterday.

A two-year investigation concluded that a culture of denial enabled Ian Paterson to perform more than 1,000 botched or unnecessary operations over a 14-year period.

It laid bare a litany of blunders which allowed him to continue practising after his bosses and colleagues displayed a wilful blindness to his conduct.

This was despite many staff and patients being concerned about the disgraced doctors behaviour and some making complaints.

But hospital chiefs failure to take decisive action meant Paterson was hiding in plain sight, the damning report concluded.

Ian Paterson, 62, is serving 20 years in jail for 17 counts of wounding with intent (pictured at the Old Bailey)

Amid fears over the extent of his malpractice, the independent inquirys chairman, the Rt Rev Graham James, urged the NHS trust which employed Paterson and a private healthcare firm for which he also carried out treatment to check all of his patients had been recalled.

Paterson, 62, is serving 20 years in jail for 17 counts of wounding with intent.

The disgraced surgeon treated cancer patients at NHS and private hospitals in the West Midlands. His experimental mastectomies, in which in which he failed to remove all tissue, meant the disease returned in many of his patients  with 675 of the 1,207 who had undergone the unregulated procedure later dying.

Others had surgery they did not need, with some finding out years later they did not have cancer.

The Paterson Inquiry, launched in May 2018, published 15 recommendations after hearing 177 first-hand accounts from the surgeons former patients.

Among them was a call for the creation of an accessible single database of key information about consultants performance as a one-stop shop for patients.

Victims demanded that hospital bosses who failed to take action against Paterson should be held to account over the scandal. No senior NHS figure has yet been. They also called for the doctor to face manslaughter charges over his malpractice. Five of Patersons colleagues have been referred to health watchdogs by the inquiry and one matter to the police.

In his report, the Rt Rev James, the retired Bishop of Norwich, appeared to warn that another rogue surgeon could still slip through the net today.

He said: It was striking that while managers and regulators were confident another Paterson would be identified, the clinicians we consulted were not convinced.

They thought it was the culture of avoidance and denial that was the problem, and wherever such a bad culture is found, patients may not be safe.

Ian Paterson (pictured left in 2017) was jailed for 20 years in April 2017 after being convicted of wounding ten of his patients. An inquiry headed up by Right Rev Graham James (right) presented its findings today

In a devastating rebuke of medical staff who failed to act, the Rt Rev James said: My report sets out what can only be described as wilful blindness in relation to Patersons behaviour and aberrant clinical practice.

Colleagues avoided or worked round him. Some could have known, while others should have known, and a few must have known. There was too much keeping heads down. To a surprising degree he was hiding in plain sight.

The Bishop said there were missed opportunities to stop Paterson, describing the failure to suspend him in 2003, when an NHS colleague first raised concerns, as inexplicable. The disgraced surgeon was eventually suspended eight years later  which the Rt Rev James called an appallingly long time.

In the introduction to his 232-page report, he said it was not simply a story about a rogue surgeon. He added: It is the story of a healthcare system which proved itself dysfunctional at almost every level when it came to keeping patients safe, and where those who were the victims of Patersons malpractice were let down time and time again.

This report is primarily about poor behaviour and a culture of avoidance and denial.

Last month, police announced they had asked the senior coroner for Birmingham and Solihull to examine a sample of 23 deaths of former patients.

The Right Rev Graham James, presented a report and its findings of the Ian Paterson inquiry today (pictured above, a person outside the building)

The surgeon was employed by the Heart of England Foundation Trust but also practised on private patients at Spire Parkway and Spire Little Aston in Birmingham.

Paterson was not interviewed in person for the inquiry. A statement on his behalf said he had answered questions in writing and is appealing against his convictions.

Professor Derek Alderson, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: Together, the measures outlined could help prevent another rogue surgeon in the future from getting away with the appalling and criminal behaviour the inquiry has exposed.

However, the test will be whether Government and regulators act on these recommendations.

General Medical Council chief executive Charlie Massey said he was sorry patients were let down and welcomed the recommendations. He added: We must continue to challenge problematic workplace cultures, encourage transparency, and work collaboratively to protect patients.

Health Minister Nadine Dorries said: I deeply regret the failures of the NHS and the independent sector to protect patients from the devastating impact of Patersons malpractice.

We will give thorough and detailed consideration to this report and its findings and will provide a full response in due course.

Victims of butchering breast surgeon Ian Paterson want him charged with manslaughter over botched or needless operations

Survivors of disgraced breast surgeon Ian Paterson vowed to ensure lessons are learned from yesterdays damning report  as relatives of those who died after his operations called for him to face manslaughter charges.

Debbie Douglas, who suffered needless surgery at the doctors hands, said all the recommendations from Bishop Graham Jamess inquiry must be implemented.

In September 2017, more than 750 patients treated by Paterson received compensation payouts from a 37million fund.

Mrs Douglas provided a first-hand account to the inquiry, adding: If you were a Paterson patient you were 50 per cent more likely to get a recurrence of breast cancer because youve been left with breast tissue, basically a time bomb, in your chest, ready to explode and ready to give you cancer because he didnt remove it.

Mrs Douglas welcomed the inquirys referral of individuals to authorities including the police.

Tracey Smith (left) and Debbie Douglas outside The Bond Company, Birmingham, after Inquiry chairman, the Right Rev Graham James, presented a report and its findings of the Ian Paterson inquiry

She said: The fight goes on until the legislation has changed. We dont want somebody from the Government giving us lip service. It sickens me. Lessons arent learned unless legislations change. You look at the GMC  why, when people have reported the same consultant over and over again, is that consultant still working?

Tracey Smith, another former patient, said: Ive always been angry, from 2012 when I was told my breast cancer surgery was unnecessary  hence why myself and Deb [Douglas] went to Whitehall and fought for this inquiry. We will continue to fight so that the recommendations are put in place to stop this from ever happening in the NHS or the Spire or any private hospital in the country.

Lesley Cuthbert, who was also given unnecessary surgery in 2006, said: Vulnerable patients like me were taken advantage of by a supposedly highly respected senior consultant who was given a high level of responsibility and autonomy in the private sector. We need better monitoring of surgeons operating in the private healthcare sector including independent and rigorous appraisals together with proper investigation of any concerns raised about a surgeon.

Victim Lesley Cuthbert following the press conference where The Right Rev Graham James, presented the Ian Paterson inquiry report at The Bond Company in Birmingham, West Midlands

The husband of a patient who died following unorthodox surgery from Paterson demanded he face more justice. Denise Bridgewater was introduced to Paterson after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004.

He performed a cleavage-sparing mastectomy  where he only removed a small amount of tissue to allow some women to keep the shape of their breasts  on her. Her cancer returned in 2010 and she died four years later.

Her husband Alan said: If Paterson had done the surgery correctly in the first place I think shed still have had a fighting chance  she wouldnt have had the septicaemia or renal failure or pneumonia. Hes an evil guy whos just out to make money for himself and people died as a result of that.

Mr Bridgewater called for Paterson to be brought back to court over his patients deaths. If there are charges for manslaughter then he should get life, he added.

Will ex-colleagues who turned blind eye face justice?

No former colleagues of the disgraced surgeon have been named in the probe but five have been reported to medical watchdogs  and one matter to the police.

The findings of inquiry chairman Bishop Graham James raise the prospect of them finally being disciplined over the Ian Paterson scandal or facing criminal charges.

The Rt Rev James said: I did promise that if, during our work, we found healthcare professionals or others whom we believe should be investigated by their disciplinary bodies or the police, I would report them to the relevant authorities.

CHIEF TRIED TO BLOCK FULL RECALL The former medical director of the NHS trust at the heart of the breast cancer scandal tried to block a full recall of Ian Patersons patients despite concerns their health was at risk. In a previous damning report, Professor Sir Ian Kennedy said once it was apparent patients were at risk of their cancer returning, the only sure way was to recall all patients. Heart of England NHS Trust boss Ian Cunliffe But the Heart of England NHS Trust boss Ian Cunliffe rejected the demand in favour of a limited recall. Sir Ian said Mr Cunliffes reasons were not clear but appeared to include a failure to realise how serious the problem was and a desire to safeguard the reputation of the Trust. Mr Cunliffe who was appointed in 2007 and was made aware of concerns then, stepped down as the scandal unravelled but in 2017 when Paterson was jailed, was still employed by the Trust as a consultant ophthalmologist at Solihull Hospital. Advertisement

I have reported five healthcare professionals to either the General Medical Council (GMC) or the Nursing and Midwifery Council. In addition, I have referred one matter for investigation by the West Midlands Police since it seems to go beyond professional misconduct alone.

He declined to give details of the allegations he has referred to health watchdogs and detectives, and his report was careful not to identify those now under close scrutiny.

But the language used in the inquiry report  with references to multiple individual and organisational failures as well as wilful blindness by colleagues who witnessed his conduct  is a warning to those who failed to halt Patersons malpractice earlier.

Mr James said: While patients have been our focus, the impact that is described in this report has been enormous for many clinicians and others who either worked with Paterson or came into contact with him. Those who did take action but were then poorly served by those to whom they reported, have themselves been traumatised.

Some who should have taken action now live with the guilt. Others are in a state of denial.

Many patients felt that some of those who worked closely with Paterson should answer for their actions or negligence. The report revealed that four doctors who raised concerns about Paterson in 2007 were themselves subject later to investigation by the GMC, in order to determine their fitness to practise, since they had worked alongside Paterson.

It added: While we understand that this was not as a direct result of them raising concerns about Paterson, there is a belief among some that becoming visible by raising concerns increased the likelihood of them coming under scrutiny and investigation. A breast cancer nurse who worked closely with Paterson, and who was suspected of malpractice, died in 2017.

In 2017 a Daily Mail investigation revealed an extraordinary series of blunders and missed warning signs meant Patersons malpractice carried on for 15 years.

Whistleblowers who tried to raise the alarm were not taken seriously or were ignored.

NHS bosses deemed protecting his reputation more important than addressing the medical needs of his patients, it was revealed.
T he grieving father of murdered girl scout Jodie Chesney has spoken of the legacy being created in her memory, including a confidential helpline offering parents and young people advice on gang crime.

Peter Chesney, 39, said completing the community work started by 17-year-old Jodie was the only thing that gets him out of bed in the morning.

Mr Chesney, speaking weeks before the first anniversary of her killing, told the Standard: Jodie was fantastic  too good for this life. It seems fitting to build a legacy. Nobody is going to forget Jodies name in a hurry.

Whatever impact we have, even if we save one life, it will be worth it. Because I know the life that has been taken away from me and it hurts.

Peter Chesney, father of the murdered 17-year-old Jodie Chesney / Mark Large / Daily Mail

He has set up the Jodie Chesney Foundation, a charity raising awareness of knife crime and supporting bereaved families.

Drug dealers Svenson Ong-a-Kwie, 19, and Arron Isaacs, 17, were last year jailed for life for the senseless murder of Jodie , a talented A-level student who had visited 10 Downing Street with the scouts.

The thugs had emerged from the darkness to stab Jodie in the back as she sat with friends, mistaking her for a rival dealer in Amys Park, Harold Hill, on March 1.

Her foundation aims to set up a hotline, staffed by youth workers and ex-gang members, that parents, siblings and friends of at-risk children can call with their concerns about knives and county lines drug gangs.

Jodie Chesney with her father Peter / PA Wire/PA Images

Mr Chesney, of Dagenham, said: Parents are scared. They dont know whats going on. And even if they do, they feel like they cant do anything about it because these people kill.

"We desperately need a helpline where they could anonymously speak to a youth worker experienced in that field.

Like what to do if their boy comes home with 100 trainers, cars, clothes and jewellery and youre asking, Where the hell did he get them from?

Parents dont know what to do if their son goes missing for long periods of time or becomes disengaged at school.

Jodie Chesney was killed in Romford / PA

We know the gangs sometimes assault or threaten young people with firearms, knives, bats and acid if they refuse to work for them, or when drugs and money go missing.

Mr Chesney also wants better lighting in public spaces and streets, believing the park where Jodie died was so dark she was mistaken for someone else.

Svenson Ong-a-Kwie, 19, was convicted of the killing and sentenced to life / PA

He called for tough sentencing for knife carriers, with possession treated the same as having a handgun, adding: It should be one strike and youre going to jail.

"Were not going to change the world in a day but the situation is weve got 10-year-olds carrying knives because they think they need to.

"That cannot continue. Theyre not just stabbing each other as a warning, it is being done with an intention to kill and people are being butchered out there."

17-year-old Arron Isaacs was also sentenced for Jodie Chesney's murder. / Met Police

He continued: When I go into schools, I tell year five and six kids Jodies story and it inspires a generation and their parents.

"This charity work gives me a reason to get up in the morning. Jodie was so kind. Im helping others as if I was Jodie.

Judge Wendy Joseph QC handed Ong-a-Kwie a minimum term of 26 years and ordered Isaacs be detained for at least 18 years.

Jodies boyfriend Eddie Coyle, 18, who witnessed the murder, dropped out of college due to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Eddie Coyle, 18, the boyfriend of murdered teenager Jodie Chesney / PA Wire/PA Images

Mr Chesney, whose relationship with Jodies stepmother Joanne, 36, broke down, also gave up his job in the City to attend the trial.

On the night Jodie died, the couple had been in London celebrating Mr Chesneys birthday when police arrived to collect him from a pub.

In a police van racing to hospital he collapsed to his knees when he heard a radio operator say: Jodies gone.

Jodie Chesney with her friends before the stabbing / PA

Mr Chesney said: It is taking a lot of strength and grit to get through this.

"My 40th birthday at the end of this month will be just another day, nothing special. I will celebrate Jodies life because she wouldnt want me to be miserable on my birthday.

Its not good either for Jodies friends who were there. She died in her boyfriend Eddies arms.

"I was happy with the sentences Ong-a-Kwie and Isaacs received. Im grateful we got the person who actually stabbed her. I hope they both rot.

"What happened to Jodie and our family was horrible and tragic, but I really know we are going to make a difference.
DES MOINES  More than 2,500 campaign stops. A field that at times topped 20 candidates. And more than 1,600 Iowa Democratic caucus precincts, primed to kick off the 2020 primary season.

And it only took about three hours for it to start crumbling.

The results of the Iowa Democratic caucuses were delayed Monday night, with the state party citing issues with the reporting process that involved three times the results as previous caucuses.

It wasnt the first time the Iowa caucuses have produced late results, but Monday nights issues come after months of heightened criticism of the caucus process and calls for Iowa to lose its vaunted first-in-the-nation status.

Heres what we know and what could happen next:

Why were the results delayed?

The Iowa Democratic Party released a statement Monday night saying there were "inconsistencies" in the three sets of data from precincts: raw votes from the first alignment, raw votes from the final alignment, and the usual state delegate equivalents.

More: Iowa Democratic Party says caucus results expected 'later today' following manual recount

"We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results," Mandy McClure, communications director for the state party, said in the statement. "In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report."

At the time of her statement, McClure said the party had data so far from around 25% of the states 1,765 precincts, adding that early data indicates turnout is on pace for 2016."

More: Caucusing is long over, but Iowa still doesn't have a winner

However, a number of precinct leaders reportedly had issues using a new reporting app. Polk County Democratic Chairman Sean Bagniewski told the Des Moines Register that reporting issues "became the norm for the evening."

Story continues

Polk County is home to Des Moines, Iowa's largest city.

Bagniewski said boxes from nearly all of the countys 177 precincts were delivered to the countys offices with written preference cards that spell out how individual caucusgoers aligned in the first and final alignments. He said the results are nearly all in  the county just cant report them to the state party.

The Iowa Democratic Party, however, insisted that the app did not create delays.

"This is simply a reporting issue; the app did not go down, and this is not a hack or an intrusion," McClure said in another statement later Monday. "The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results."

More: Trump campaign blasts Iowa Democratic caucus as 'sloppiest train wreck in history'

How did the candidates respond?

Although there were no reported results, several Democratic candidates gave speeches spinning the non-existent results in the best light for themselves.

"I have a strong feeling that at some point the results will be announced," Sen. Bernie Sanders joked with supporters in Des Moines. "And when those results are announced, I have a good feeling were going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa."

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg gave perhaps the most direct claim to victory, despite the lack of results.

We dont know all the results. But we know by the time its all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation, Buttigieg said. Because, by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.

Former Vice President Joe Biden's also addressed supporters in Des Moines, saying, "It looks like it is going to be a long night, but I'm feeling good."

But Biden's campaign also slammed the process, saying the considerable flaws holding up election results demand a complete and speedy answer.

We appreciate that you plan to brief the campaigns momentarily on these issues, and we plan to participate, Dana Remus, general counsel for the former vice presidents campaign, wrote in a letter to the party Monday as delays extended into early Tuesday morning. However, we believe that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond before any official results are released, the letter said.

What happens next?

In a short conference call with media, Iowa Democratic Party officials early Tuesday said they expect results to be released at some point later in the day.

"The integrity of our process with the results have and always will be our top priority, Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price told reporters on the call at 1 a.m. CST. At this point, the IDP is manually verifying all precinct results. We expect to have numbers to report later today.

Theyre validating every piece of data we have against our paper trail, he continued. The system is taking longer than expected, but its in place to ensure we are eventually able to report results with full confidence.

Price said the state party is in contact with the campaigns and will keep them updated.

But Democratic candidates didn't stick around Iowa for the results. Many candidates have already left for the next primary contest in New Hampshire.

'On to New Hampshire': Democratic candidates not waiting for Iowa outcome to give their speeches

What did Trump say?

President Donald Trump's campaign quickly criticized the delay, calling it the "sloppiest train wreck in history."

"Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history," Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in an emailed statement, adding that there were concerns about "the fairness of the process."

Parscale also touted Trump's early and easy victory in the Republican caucuses, which was announced about 30 minutes after the caucuses began.

"Tonight, President Trump posted a record performance in the well-run GOP Iowa caucuses with record turnout for an incumbent," he said.

Contributing: Courtney Subramanian, John Fritze, Ledyard King, Maureen Groppe of USA TODAY; Lee Rood, Jason Clayworth and Brianne Pfannenstiel of the Des Moines Register

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iowa caucus results: What to know about the Iowa caucus results delay
The virus has spread to some two dozen countries and territories and sickened more than 20,000 in Asia. At least 427 people have died, including a man in the Philippines over the weekend.

Other developments: Hong Kong has closed many, though not all, crossings with the mainland. Macau, the gambling hub thats also a semiautonomous region of China, said it would shut its casinos for two weeks, and Japan quarantined a passenger ship with 3,700 people aboard. Hyundai said that it was suspending operations at factories because of supply-chain disruption. Travelers have been struggling to get refunds on canceled flights.

Political dangers: Chinas state-run news media reported that President Xi Jinping on Monday called the outbreak a major test of Chinas system and capacity for governance. China is turning to familiar authoritarian techniques to contain the outbreak, including asking neighbors to inform on one another. And it is making herculean efforts to keep the country fed amid food hoarding.

Analysis: Our New New World columnist, Li Yuan, writes that the crisis has eroded trust in the government, perhaps permanently.
A Chinese-American former engineer at a major U.S. defense contractor has been indicted on charges of violating federal export control laws after he took his work laptop, which contained classified missile technology, without authorization to China.

Wei Sun, a 48-year-old Chinese-born U.S. citizen, had worked as an electrical engineer for a decade at Raytheon Missile Systems, a subsidiary of Raytheon, the fourth-largest U.S. defense contractor, according to court documents. The Tucson-based unit produces missile and missile-defense systems for the U.S. military.

During his employment, Sun held a secret-level security clearance and had access to sensitive advanced missile-defense technology.

In December 2018, Sun told a Raytheon official that he planned on taking his work laptop on an overseas trip, court records said. The engineer was told, however, that doing so would be a violation of company policy and of federal export control law because his laptop contained sensitive data on a missile-defense project that he had been working on.

Sun did so anyway, prosecutors allege. He also logged onto the Raytheon internal network while overseas and, using his work email, sent an email to the company in January 2019 saying he was resigning in order to study and work overseas.

After returning to the United States a week later, he admitted to taking the laptop overseas, the documents said. While he initially told Raytheon security officials he had only visited Singapore and the Philippines during his trip, he later admitted to taking the laptop to China.

Sun was arrested by the FBI the next day, according to Quartz, which first reported the case.

An assessment of Suns laptop by a Raytheon lawyer confirmed that it contained defense data subject to export restrictions under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the complaint said. Under those regulations, a person must apply for a license from the U.S. State Department to export any export-controlled data from the United States.

Suns laptop had sensitive data relating to two missile programs: Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) used on U.S. fighter jets and Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV), a now-canceled Pentagon project that aimed to replace the interceptor that shoots down incoming ballistic missiles in U.S. missile defense systems.

It also contained an IT security program that itself was subject to export controls, the complaint added.

Sun was indicted in February 2019 in a case heard at the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. He has pleaded not guilty and is currently being held without bail. He is expected to change his plea to guilty as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, Quartz reported. Sun is set to appear in court on Feb. 14.

Suns attorney and Raytheon didnt respond to requests for comments. The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Arizona couldnt immediately be reached for comment.

The case forms part of a growing list of federal prosecutions related to espionage by the Chinese state.

Last year, an adjunct professor at the University of California-Los Angeles was convicted for his role in a scheme to fraudulently acquire sensitive microchip technology from a U.S. firm, and illegally export it to China. The semiconductor chips in question had both commercial and military applications, including in missile-guidance systems for the U.S. military.

From The Epoch Times
A local man has been arrested on sexual assault charges after lying about his age and having sex with a 14-year-old girl, according to an arrest affidavit.

Christopher Vincent Mehring-Cruz, 21, was charged with sexual assault of a child after the teenager recently told staff at a local hospital that she began having sexual relations with Mehring-Cruz in 2018, the affidavit said.

The victim told police she had met Mehring-Cruz during the summer of 2018 and he told her he was 16, going on 17. She said she met him in person that August, when she was 14.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

She told police she began going to his house where they would have sexual intercourse over the course of about three months, according to the affidavit. Mehring-Cruz also allegedly filmed the acts, the affidavit continued.

Around January 2019, she said she found Mehring-Cruz's driver's license that showed he was 21 and not 17 as he had previously told her, the affidavit said.

In November 2019, the affidavit said Mehring-Cruz allegedly started sending the girl's mother nude photos of the victim via text message. The victim and her mother reported the incidents last month, saying that Mehring-Cruz was still harassing both of them via text message, the affidavit said.

Mehring-Cruz was arrested Jan. 31 on a $50,000 bond and has since bonded out, according to court records.

Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, MySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway
Fox News Ed Henry on Monday asked Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg how he could still attack Donald Trump as a racist after the presidents controversial Super Bowl ad centered on criminal justice reform and granting clemency to Alice Marie Johnson.

But the conservative networks anchor got an answer that may have surprised him.

Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, acknowledged that Trumps decision to sign the First Step Act when it came to his desk is one of the handful of things I could actually agree with him on.

It doesnt change the incredibly cruel and divisive racial rhetoric that comes out of this White House that is one of the many reasons that Im meeting not only Democrats but Republicans who tell me that they struggle to look their children in the eye and explain to them how this is the president of the United States, Buttigieg explained.

Henry asked Buttigieg if he was the right messenger to question the president on race, when as mayor of South Bend, as you know, Black leaders were quite critical of what you did particularly in terms of police-involved shootings and other matters youve litigated in this campaign.

Because the president is wrong, responded Buttigieg who, per the polls, is failing to connect with Black voters.

He is wrong to attack women of color. He is wrong to compare people to animals. He is wrong to assault entire cities in his tweets, he continued. And you dont have to be a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat to know thats wrong, just as a lot of Republicans in Congress and the Senate, even if theyre providing cover for the president, cant actually bring themselves to say that hes a good leader. And its revealing.

Check out the clip here:

Continue reading on HuffPost
The White House has announced the special guests who will attend President Donald Trump's third State of the Union address.

Below are the special guests who will be mentioned during the president's address to the nation:

Stephanie and Janiyah Davis from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

Janiyah Davis is a fourth-grade student who loves art and math. Stephanie, a single mother, applied for a tax credit scholarship for her daughter, but was put on a waiting list with 50,000 other children after Pennsylvania's governor vetoed a bill that would have expanded taxpayer support for private and religious schools in the state.

Kelli and Gage Hake from Stillwater, Oklahoma:

Gage Hake was just 1 when his mother, Kelli, learned her husband, Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Hake, had been killed when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

The White House says the bomb had been supplied by Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian general that Trump ordered the killing of last month.

Jody Jones from Farmersville, California:

Jody Jones' brother, Rocky, was killed by an undocumented immigrant in California, who had previously been arrested for violent crimes and twice been deported.



The suspect was arrested was arrested for the sixth time in December 2018, but under California's sanctuary law, the Sheriff's Department could not hold them or look up their criminal history as the arrest was for a misdemeanor. Days after their release, they would injure several in apparently random shootings, rob a convenience store, lead police on a high speed chase, and eventually kill Rocky Jones.

Paul Morrow from Montgomery, Alabama:

A United States Army veteran, Morrow started a successful contracting business after leaving the military. Today, he is building a new concrete plant in what's called an "Opportunity Zone" in Montgomery, Alabama. An Opportunity Zone is an area designated by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 allowing for certain investments in lower income areas to spur economic development. Morrow's plant will support the production F-35 jets in the region.

Deputy Chief Raul Ortiz from Del Rio, Texas:

Deputy Chief Ortiz joined the U.S. Border Patrol after serving in the Army.In 2019, Ortiz became chief patrol agent of the Del Rio Sector, and is responsible for 41 Texas counties, including more than 200 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. Ortiz was recently promoted to the deputy chief position. He is the second person in command with more than 20,000 agents and staff under his command.

Tony Rankins from Cincinnati, Ohio:



Tony Rankins became addicted to drugs after suffering post-traumatic stress disorder following his military service in Afghanistan. Rankins would serve multiple prison sentences. He went on to lose his job, family, and even his home, living out of his car. After Rankins was trained in several new skills including carpentry, painting, brick work, he now works in an "Opportunity Zone" in Cincinnati, Ohio. With a new job, Rankins achieved sobriety, and has reunited with his family.

Robin and Ellie Schneider from Kansas City, Missouri:

Robin's daughter Ellie was born after just under 22 weeks of pregnancy, and is one of the youngest babies to survive birth in the United States. The White House says that with prayers from her family and community, as well as a skilled medical team, Ellie has thrived and exceeded milestones.

Today, Ellie is 2 years old, and brings happiness to her whole family.

Ivan Simonovis from Caracas, Venezuela:

The former chief of police in Venezuelas capital city of Caracas, Ivan Simonovis was the nations top cop. He was imprisoned in 2004 on charges of ordering his men to open fire on pro-government protestors, charges that Simonovis denies. He was held in captivity for 15 years before staging his escape from Venezuela in 2019, eventually making it to the United States.
J ewish leaders have condemned Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski for agreeing to speak at a conference alongside some of Europes most notorious far-right politicians.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews called on the Conservatives to discipline the backbencher, and struck out his defence of his appearance on Tuesday as specious.

The MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham was to speak on Tuesday afternoon at a National Conservatism conference in Rome, where speakers included Hungarys far-right prime minister Viktor Orban.

Mr Kawczynski had sought to defend appearing alongside Mr Orban, and Italys Matteo Salvini, by arguing they represent serious ideas and concerns, some of which are shared by many citizens of the UK.

Daniel Kawczynski at a ceremony honouring non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust and WWII / AFP via Getty Images

The group representing Jews in Britain joined veteran Labour MP and leading anti-Semitism critic Dame Margaret Hodge in criticising him, while the Muslim Council of Britain said his behaviour was unacceptable.

Board president Marie van der Zyl said: We condemn the decision by Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski to speak at a conference alongside some of Europes most notorious far-right politicians.

Mr Kawczynskis defence, that it is only common sense to talk with parties and politicians that are either leading their respective countries, or will perhaps take power in the next few years, is a specious one, for the simple reason that the MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham is not any sort of Government representative.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was also attending the conference / AFP via Getty Images

If the Conservative Party fails to discipline Mr Kawczynski, it runs the serious risk of the public assuming that they share his views on association with such people.

Mr Salvini is an anti-immigration hardliner while fellow speaker Ryszard Legutko is a Polish Law and Justice MEP who has reportedly described homophobia as a totally fictitious problem.

Also on the line-up was Marion Marechal, the niece of far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Ms Marechal has described France as becoming the little niece of Islam.

Margaret Hodge has spoken out against the Tory MP / Getty Images

Mr Kawczynski, a Polish-born Brexiteer, had written to local newspaper the Shropshire Star saying he would defy those who had deplored him by speaking at the conference regardless.

Clearly, Messrs Orban and Salvini are not to everyones tastes, he wrote.

But they represent serious ideas and concerns, some of which are shared by many citizens of the UK.

They have certainly proved electorally attractive in their own countries and have every right to speak at a conference on the subject of national sovereignty, the very thing they have pledged to defend and which accounts for their popularity with voters.

Muslim Council of Britain spokesman Miqdaad Versi said: It is unacceptable that anyone holding the position of MP speaks at a nationalist conference alongside Islamophobes and anti-Semites.

It is even more disturbing that the Conservative chief whip appears to have known that Daniel Kawczynski MP was going to speak at a nationalist conference alongside far-right, racist politicians, and yet chose to take no action.

Dame Margaret and the Jewish Labour Movement wrote to Tory chief whip Mark Spencer calling for the party to withdraw the whip from Mr Kawczynski.

In a letter alongside Labour MP Alex Sobel, she said Mr Kawczynski was sharing a platform with a number of far-right European politicians who have made deeply offensive and dangerous comments.

The Conservative Party now has a choice. It can demonstrate that there are lines that should not be crossed by Conservative MPs, they wrote.

Andrew Gwynne MP, Labours Shadow Communities Secretary, said: Its disgraceful that just one week after Holocaust Memorial Day Daniel Kawczynski has shared a platform with anti-Semites, Islamophobes and homophobes.
A suspected case of deadly coronavirus has been detected in Pakistan's Sindh province in an engineering student who has been quarantined by authorities following his return from China.

Shahzaib Ali Rahuja, a petroleum engineering student at a Chinese university situated around 1,000 kms from Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, returned to the country from China via Qatar, his brother Irshad Ali said.

He returned to Karachi on Saturday night on our insistence and unable to take a direct flight he came via Qatar on Saturday. They screened him at the airport in China and also in Karachi but he showed no problems. It was after returning home that he developed a fever and cough and took some medicines but when his nose started to bleed we rushed him to the hospital," he said.

The brother posted a video on social media, showing him sitting on a hospital bed and bleeding from the nose in a government hospital in Pir Jo Goth near Khairpur.

In the video, the brother claimed that doctors have locked them up in a ward and refused to treat his brother.

They left us alone after suspecting that Shahzaib had contracted the coronavirus, he claimed.

He said that after his video went viral, the health authorities took Shahzaib to the civil hospital in Khairpur and it was decided to send him to Karachi for screening and treatment as doctors said they didn't have required facilities in Khairpur.

The provincial health authorities have now put him in an isolation ward in the Civil Hospital in Khairpur.

Sindh Health Minister Azra Fazal Pechuho, however, told media that Shahzaib had shown no symptoms of the coronavirus and it was too early to diagnose his condition.

Several Pakistani nationals stranded in coronavirus-hit China started arriving home as Pakistan on Monday allowed flights to and from China.

The move came as dozens of airlines halted flight services with China and governments increasingly barred entry to anyone who has recently visited the country.

As many as 30,000 Pakistanis are based China, and more than 500 nationals were believed to be in Wuhan.

The first flight from China landed in Islamabad airport on Monday with some 235 passengers, including 11 Chinese nationals, after the government allowed resumption of flights after a suspension lasting few days.

The death toll in China's coronavirus rose sharply to 425 with 64 deaths on Monday and the number of those infected with the deadly disease rose to 20,438, Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Nicolle Wallace tore into Bernie Sanders supporters on Monday for attacking fellow Democratic presidential candidates in a way that will only help Donald Trumps reelection effort this fall.

She reminded backers of the Vermont senator that their real foe is the man who currently resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, not their Democratic primary opponents.

The enemy is the guy in the Oval Office who thinks there were good people on both sides of Charlottesville, the MSNBC host said. The enemy is the guy in the Oval Office who just got a permission slip to cheat in presidential elections.

She added, I am nauseous when I see Democrats fight amongst themselves.

Wallaces takedown of the Bernie bro attack machine came after Sanders supporter Nina Turner called former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg an oligarch who is buying his way through the primary.

Video:

Nicolle Wallace says attacks from Sanders supporters on fellow Democrats makes her nauseous. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/WJrNr94hAJ  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) February 4, 2020

Wallace said:

I think this is a really important debate, and Im really glad you didnt let it get boiled down to the use of a word. It is not about a word. Heres the other  and I understand different views about the system. The enemy is the guy in the Oval Office who thinks there were good people on both sides of Charlottesville. The enemy is the guy in the oval office who just got a permission slip to cheat in presidential elections. The enemy is a guy who called his generals dopes and losers who he didnt want to go into battle with. That is the enemy, and I am nauseous when I see Democrats fight amongst themselves. I know that Republicans get no say  Ive said Ill vote for, if you all pick an automobile, I will vote for it. But I feel so wary when I see these really, really intense fights around someone trying to help yall win.

Bernie supporters could hurt the eventual nominee

Whether or not one supports Bernie Sanders in the primary, there is no question that his backers often lob vicious attacks at Democratic rivals that could do long-lasting damage.

Theres a fine line between drawing healthy contrasts with other candidates and launching attacks on opponents that will ultimately help Donald Trump in the general election campaign.

If supporters of Bernie Sanders arent careful, they could inflict damage on the eventual Democratic nominee and help reelect Donald Trump.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter
MOUNT STERLING  The largest food redistribution business in the country opened a family health center Monday for employees in its hometown.

Dot Foods opened the health center at 108 W. Main St., less than a mile away from the companys corporate headquarters. Services are open to all employees and their family members.

The facilitys opening comes at an important milestone for Dot  2020 will be the companys 60th anniversary.

The 4,795-square-foot facility serves about 5,000 Dot employees. Premise Health will serve as the healthcare provider at the facility and will operate it.

Dick Tracy, president of Dot Foods, said the company has been looking into opening a health facility in Mount Sterling for seven years and it has opened similar facilities in other parts of the U.S. The first of these facilities opened in 2013 near the companys Georgia distribution center. They initially provided some healthcare services in the main facility before procuring a location about a year and a half ago.

Health services will come at a lower cost or no cost to employees and their family, Tracy said. He also believes the service will be better at the Dot Foods Mount Sterling Family Health Center than employees will find elsewhere.

In the companys other locations, Tracy said, some employees initially were skeptical about going to a new location for their medical needs  even if they did not have to leave their current providers for every form of treatment  but they grew accustomed to it.

It was a little hard to get them to go at first, Tracy said. But, eventually, once they got through that trust factor, they were pretty happy with it.

Tracy said the facility will provide procedures for minor issues, check-ups and health and wellness initiatives. The facility also has a rehabilitation center.

Mount Sterling Mayor Matt Bradbury said he hopes the facilitys uptown location will encourage people who come to the facility to support nearby businesses in addition to bringing necessary health care to a nearby location for Dot employees.

Everybodys got to go to Quincy or Hannibal or Springfield or Jacksonville to obtain medical care, Bradbury said. In regards to that, it will save you time and it wont be such a financial burden.

Bradbury said the new facility coincides with efforts to develop the citys uptown and he sees it as part of the strides the city has made.

In remarks during the opening ceremony, Matt Holt, Dots vice president of human resources, said the company considers providing these services to be part of its values as a family-run company.

Employees are our family, Holt said. Its not only that were a family-owned and -operated business, but we truly treat each other like family.
Srinagar, Feb 4 : Undeterred by the challenges that Kashmir often throws up, two women police officers have launched a crusade to rescue young men from the clutches of drug addiction in the valley.

The lockdown and communication blockade that was imposed in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 seems to have spurred drug addiction among the vulnerable men in Kashmir.

But, two women DSPs Nizla Angmo and Farah Nishat of the Jammu and Kashmir Police have now decided to confront the growing problem head on.

Last month when Angmo led a police party to Nasrullah Pora area in Budgam district to nab drug peddlers, she received a rousing reception from the people in the area.

"The village has been notorious for stone pelting, but I was pleasantly surprised when people came out and cheered us," Angmo said. "They raised slogan in our support and against drug addiction." Her crusade to rid Nasrullah Pora of drug addiction began after police arrested a notorious drug peddler from the area and seized psychotropic substances like Tramadol, Chlorodiapoxide, Alprazolam and Clonazepam tablets from him.

She said before venturing into the village she met the village elders who gave her a list of 10 people involved in the drug peddling and addiction and urged her to act against them.

"Half of the addicts have voluntarily admitted themselves in different hospitals," she said. "It was a big encouragement for me the way people supported our move against drug peddlers in that village," the young officer said.

A video showing villagers hailing her has gone viral on the social media and is trending on the Twitter.

She said Kashmir has always been close to her heart. She said when she was selected for the Kashmir Police Service (KPS) in 2018 she opted to train in the valley against her hometown in Leh, Ladakh.

"I requested the DGP twice to allow me to continue my training here and he agreed," she said.

"I wanted to know what is happening in Kashmir and why are people against uniformed people," she said.

"People have been misled, if you give a good response to the public, it will be reciprocated. There is no way they will pelt stones." Farah Nishat, who is posted at the Rajbagh police station in Srinagar, has embarked on a similar mission.

A resident of Ramban in Jammu, she said she chose Srinagar for training.

"Srinagar is a very challenging posting compared to Jammu," she said. "But I love it here and hope I will get to work in Srinagar after my probation." Operations by Nishat against drug dealings in Srinagar over the last two months have led to the arrest of six drug peddlers and seizure of large quantity of contraband substances.

She says that people are now reaching out to her to arrest drug addicts.

"People in Kashmir are very cooperative and support the police against drug addiction," Nishat said. "They are cooperative, very supportive, decent, honest and straightforward people."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 23:20:03|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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HANGZHOU, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Recently, a bilingual letter on how to prevent the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was quickly spread in a WeChat group with more than 100 foreigners who live in eastern China's Zhejiang Province.

Eckhard Goessl, a group member and also a German businessman living in Ningbo in the province for nearly 18 years, immediately shared this letter with his friends living in the province and told them not to fear but to stay at home and take preventive measures.

This letter was released by the Ningbo municipal government, targeted at foreign residents in this city. Since Jan. 29, cities with large foreign populations in the province such as Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou and Lishui have released similar information.

These letters focus on how to follow authoritative information, stay away from sources of the virus, keep good hygiene, cooperate with the community in terms of disease prevention and control and seek medical treatment in a timely manner. All of the above has provided guidance for these foreigners who may otherwise find it difficult to keep up with the latest situation of the epidemic.

"This self-protection information is very effective. After reading it, I immediately shared it with my friends and told them to avoid contact with wild animals and how to wash their hands and sanitize the things around them," said Goessl.

In addition to focusing on his own protection, Goessl is also concerned about the epidemic. He appreciates that he has been able to read a large amount of authoritative information in English and continuously receives updated data to keep up with the current situation of the epidemic, such as the number of confirmed cases and changes in train and bus schedules.

"I must say that the Chinese government is doing a very good job," said Goessl.

He added that China really cares about its people, and prevention and control measures are in place. Measures like the city-wide lockdown on Wuhan, building makeshift hospitals and the extension of the holiday should be well recognized.

Alfonso Guipsot, a Mexican engineer who is in the same WeChat group with Goessl, praised the protective measures in his community as "reassuring."

"On the morning of Jan. 31, I noticed that security guards at the gate were wearing masks. Antibacterial hand sanitizer was provided at the door of the unit, which we can use after touching the door, key, access card and elevator button," said Guipsot.

When talking about his import and export trade, Goessl, also a businessman, said that he has been working at home and communicating with foreign customers and partners.

"At present, our business is running normally. We have just received orders for summer hats and cowboy hats from customers in the United States, and they will be produced in our Wenling and Yiwu factories," he said.

Another Finnish young entrepreneur, Lauri Tammi, who has been in Hangzhou for six and a half years, is optimistic about his business. "A lot of Finnish and foreign companies are waiting for our evaluation opinions," Tammi said. "But it is very important that they still have confidence in China, and they have never said they would give up the Chinese market."

Not long ago, Tammi received an open letter in Chinese and English from the Hangzhou municipal government. Much of the letter's content has come from his and other foreign residents' opinions, giving him a sense of fulfillment and belonging.

The letter not only advocates "focusing on authoritative information, minimizing going out and strengthening self-protection," but also allows foreign friends to "participate in joint prevention and control." "Hangzhou is our home. At this critical moment, let's unite and guard our beloved home."

Although his company's trade consultation activity scheduled in February and March would be impacted, Tammi is still quite positive.

"Honestly, I am not very worried because the Chinese government is devoted to solving the problem with 110 percent of its efforts," said Tammi.

In Tammi's view, the epidemic was actually "a crisis with opportunities" -- opportunities to build mutual trust and help each other. He said that some foreign friends around him are ready to do their part to help with this campaign.

Brett Lyndall Singh, a South African student studying pediatrics at Wenzhou Medical University, is actively playing his role. Singh, who is fluent in Chinese, has uploaded short videos in Tik Tok, China's leading short-video platform. He uses the videos to demonstrate that Wenzhou's epidemic prevention and control has made him "reassured," and he also speaks Chinese to explain the details of wearing a mask.

(Intern Ke Lele contributed to the story)
SOUDERTON  Plans for new playgrounds in Souderton Community Park have been completed, Borough Manager Mike Coll told Souderton Borough Council at its Jan. 3 meeting. "Where the former softball field was is where we are looking to install two playgrounds  a playground for smaller toddlers in an age group up to five and a larger playground structure for...
President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House in Washington on Dec. 18, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Trump Campaign Ejects Bloomberg News Reporter From Event

President Donald Trumps re-election campaign removed a reporter with Bloomberg News from an event in Iowa on Monday.

Jennifer Jacobs, the reporter, was escorted out of a press conference in West Des Moines.

The campaign didnt respond to a request for comment, nor did Bloomberg News. Jacobs didnt comment on the ejection on her Twitter account.

A Trump campaign official told The Hill that the campaign was following a policy to not let Bloomberg News employees cover campaign events.

It was cordial, but she wasnt credentialed per our policy, the campaign official said.

The situation stemmed from a Bloomberg News announcement last year. The outlet said it would continue not investigating its owner, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Because Bloomberg was running for president, the outlet also wouldnt investigate any other Democratic presidential candidates.

We will continue our tradition of not investigating Mike (and his family and foundation) and we will extend the same policy to his rivals in the Democratic primaries. We cannot treat Mikes democratic competitors differently from him, Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait wrote in a memo.

For the moment, our P&I team will continue to investigate the Trump administration, as the government of the day, Micklethwait said. If Mike is chosen as the Democratic presidential candidate (and Donald Trump emerges as the Republican one), we will reassess how we do that.

Former New York City mayor and 2020 presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg during the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington on Jan. 22, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

The unusual decision prompted Trumps campaign to say it wouldnt issue press credentials to Bloomberg News until it investigated the Democratic presidential candidates.

The decision by Bloomberg News to formalize preferential reporting policies is troubling and wrong, Brad Parscale, Trumps reelection campaign manager, said in a statement at the time. As President Trumps campaign, we are accustomed to unfair reporting practices, but most news organizations dont announce their biases so publicly.

Bloomberg News has declared that they wont investigate their boss or his Democrat competitors, many of whom are current holders of high office, but will continue critical reporting on President Trump, Parscale added. Since they have declared their bias openly, the Trump campaign will no longer credential representatives of Bloomberg News for rallies or other campaign events.

Bloomberg News was hit with a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint over its policy, which also sparked complaints among reporters.

Bloomberg in December 2019 told employees complaining about the policy that we have, just have, to learn to live with some things.

They get a paycheck. With your paycheck comes some restrictions and responsibilities, he said. When I started a news business in my company, I hired somebody outside. Their job is to run the news organization. The other job is to set the ethics. I think people have said to me, How can you investigate yourself? And I said, I dont think you can.'

The 77-year-old billionaire argued that because Bloomberg News carried some stories from other outlets, readers are able to get news about the candidates.
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

Armenia flag to be permanently raised on buildings of some more institutions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit trial judge to not self-recuse

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit court case resumes

298 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Artsakh emergency service: Remains of another participant in hostilities are found

816,660 tourists visit Armenia during 11 months of 2021

US proposes to UN Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea

World oil prices dropping

Newspaper: Amnesty process suspended in Armenia indefinitely

Newspaper: Those in Karabakh are resisting Armenia authorities arbitrariness

FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

Slovak government approves defense treaty with US

US imposes sanctions on 6 North Koreans

US senators unveil bill to impose sanctions against Russia

EU wants to help Lebanon avoid economic collapse

CSTO to approve Kazakhstan peacekeepers withdrawal order

German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

Boris Johnson apologizes for attending party during lockdown

Global COVID-19 cases rise by 55% percent, deaths stable

Thailand introduces $9 tourist fee

Erdogan vows to tame Turkish inflation as scepticism grows

Turkey's Turkic world ambitions face reality check in Kazakhstan

Teacher in Baku beats student

NEWS.am daily digest: 12.01.22

Turkish FM expresses concerns to Chinese counterpart

OSCE Chairman-in-Office speaks on situation along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021

China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded

Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation

Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods

Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day

3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings

Copper rises in price

One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning

About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions

Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night

French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly

289 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Gold slightly rises in price

North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile

OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

Oil is trading without a single dynamic

US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee

MOD: Armenia soldiers dead body found at midnight after Azerbaijan provocation

Newspaper: Casualties of Armenia PM Pashinyan's 'era of peace'

US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen

German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan

WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State

India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death

Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded

NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22

Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States

Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia

Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death

Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded
alekhyamaddila93@gmail.com wrote:

I got an admit from Carlson with a scholarship of $30K/Year and Forte Fellowship. I'm an international student from India. Carlson has a very less % of international students. Can someone tell me if it is a good idea to pursue MBA from Carlson for international students?

In light of the situation in the USA now, I urge you to speak to more current students to know more about situation now.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leaders in Maharashtras Raigad district have put up hoardings threatening illegal Bangladeshi immigrants of MNS style action.

The hoardings in Panvel, near Mumbai, have come up in the context of MNS chief Raj Thackerays planned rally on February 9 against illegal immigrants.

They also come after Raj Thackeray in January sought the eviction of Bangladeshi and Pakistani Muslims from the country.

He had also indicated support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), announcing a march at Azad Maidan on February 9 against those protesting the Centres move.

The number of Bangladeshi immigrants has been on the rise in the region of late. However, there has not been commensurate action against them as was expected, a local MNS leader, Mahesh Jadhav, said.

For Maharashtra and Hindu dharma, if we have to take law in our hands, we will ensure that Bangladeshi Muslim and Pakistani Muslims flee from here. It would be good if the administration acts before the February 9 rally of Raj sahib in Mumbai, he added.

Sudhir Navle, another leader said, We have learnt that illegal Bangladeshi immigrant workers are hired as they provide cheap labour. They are given accommodation and food. They are also settled here based on bogus documents.

The administration needs to take strict action in the matter. These illegal immigrants should get out of Panvel or else they will be taught a lesson in MNS style, he added.

Deputy commissioner of police (Zone II), Ashok Dudhe said they have been taking regular action against illegal immigrants, including Bangladesh nationals, in the city.

Seventy-seven Bangladeshi nationals have been deported from the city in the last two years. We shall continue our drive against illegal immigrants in the city. Nobody will be allowed to take law in their hands. We are equipped for any eventuality, Dudhe said.

Twenty-three illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were arrested and 18 deported in 2018 while the numbers rose to 47 and 59 respectively in 2019.

I had issued instructions to conduct a special drive to find illegal immigrants in the city. There are concerns about illegal activities being indulged in by such individuals and hence we have to strike at the root, police commissioner Sanjay Kumar said.

The drives were conducted jointly by Zone I and II and various branches of all police departments including the passport office, which has yielded results, Kumar said.
Beyond that, the caucus system itself is a target of criticism. Unlike primary elections, in which voters can cast their ballots in secret at any time of the day when the polls are open, the caucus process is far more demanding. Participants must arrive by a fixed time in the evening and be prepared to stay for several hours as the process of alignment and realignment plays out.
" Thailand is facing some unique challenges for the year ahead but history shows the country is well experienced in managing whatever the world economic situation can throw at it, " says Panthera Group Co-founder Micky Doherty. " We all know about the strong Baht and the Sino-America Trade dispute, and now there is an emerging crisis of the coronavirus situation in China. Nevertheless, Thailand hosted over 40 million overseas visitors last year and is expecting that total to increase in 2020 ."

Paul Hayward , Doherty's business partner and Co-founder adds, "Thailand is one of the most beautiful, exotic and exciting countries in the world to visit and tens of millions of people verify that every year by taking their holidays and MICE events here. But it is not just the natural resources that are world class. The government has worked relentlessly over the last 25 years to improve the travel and communications infrastructure. New airports, expansion and new terminals in existing airports, the high-speed rail link between Don Muang, Suvarnabhumi and Utapao airports, new motorways and ring roads; these are only some of the incredible improvements that are currently in development."

Micky Doherty said, "The Bangkok subway and sky train systems are so extensive now that the map is beginning to resemble the iconic London Tube map."

In the hospitality sector Panthera is quite bullish for 2020, despite the challenges the Asia Pacific region is facing. Hayward is keen to elaborate; "There has indeed been a slowdown in the level of arrivals from mainland China in the second half of 2019, but the hospitality sector in Thailand, whilst always welcoming the huge Chinese market, has never been solely geared towards a single source of revenue. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) continues to do a great job around the world promoting the obvious attractions such as the amazing beaches and year-round warm weather, but they also highlight the cultural and historical attractions that appeal to more sophisticated and discerning travelers. Medical tourism and the burgeoning medical marijuana industry here, where Thailand is leading the charge in the whole of Asia, are other areas that will add to exponential growth in arrivals in the coming few years."

Doherty continues, "The hotel sector in Thailand is very mature now with quality accommodation and facilities to suit every budget. The Middle East and Indian markets continue to grow beyond expectations and with increasing spending power. The Europeans and Brits will come back as their economies stabilize and Brexit is behind us. More and more Australians are flying past Bali on their way to the southern resorts in Samui and Phuket. Because Thailand has something for everyone the travel and hospitality sectors will always be resilient in the face of adversity".

The Panthera Group already has hotel, hospitality and entertainment venues in the major tourist hubs of Bangkok, Phuket, Koh Samui and Pattaya as it continues its expansion throughout Thailand and beyond.

SOURCE Panthera Group
Doctors wear protective uniforms before going into a quarantine room at Cho Ray Hospital in HCMC, which is treating two patients infected with nCoV, February 3, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

The health ministry said on Tuesday a 30-year-old worker in the northern Vinh Phuc Province returning from Chinas Wuhan City tested positive with the deadly new coronavirus.

This is Vietnam's ninth infection case of new coronavirus that has killed 426 people as of Tuesday morning.

The man, whose name has not been revealed, is being quarantined at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi's Dong Anh District. His conditions are stable, doctors said.

He was among a group of eight workers returning from work training in Wuhan on January 17.

Four of them had tested positive for the nCoV and three are under treatment. The other, a native in Thanh Hoa Province, was discharged from the provincial general hospital on Monday after doctors declared her free of the new coronavirus.

The workers were employees of Japan-based Nihon Plast Company Limited. They were sent for work training in Wuhan City in Hubei Province two months ago. They returned to Vietnam on a Southern China Airlines flight (CZ8315).

They were picked up by the company car at Hanoi's Noi Bai Airport and attended a company meeting in Thien Ke Commune, Binh Son District, Vinh Phuc Province, about 18 km from the airport.

Other confirmed cases in Vietnam are a Vietnamese-American who transited in Wuhan en route to Vietnam, two Chinese nationals, and a hotel receptionist who caught the coronavirus infection from the two Chinese, who have also recovered.

Vietnam's government declared the novel coronavirus an epidemic on Saturday. The country has reported 304 suspected cases with symptoms like high fever and coughing, including some people who had visited infected areas in China, as of Monday. Of them, 214 have tested negative for the virus and 90 are in quarantine pending test results.

The death toll from the epidemic has reached 426, with 425 dying in China and one in the Philippines.
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Reuters

British trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan will visit India this week to hold talks to try to deepen trade and economic ties as part of London's push in the Indo-Pacific region, her department said on Sunday. As part of a two-day visit to New Delhi, Trevelyan will hold bilateral talks with Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Thursday on green trade, the removal of market access barriers and other issues. They are also expected to confirm the launch of official negotiations on a new UK-India free trade deal, the trade department said in a statement.
Things just aren't going well for Democrats right now.

The party is still trying to work out the results of Monday's Iowa caucuses, but across the border in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, another major problem is unfolding. That city is hosting the Democratic National Convention this summer, and is facing allegations of a "toxic and unstable working environment" that have "sidelined" two of the host committee's top officials, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

In a letter sent to the Milwaukee 2020 board of directors, senior women members of the Milwaukee 2020 staff complained the host committee's chief of staff Adam Alonso has "consistently bullied and intimidated staff members," particularly women. This has created "a culture that coddles male senior advisors and consultants who have no clear role or clear lines of management," the letter continues. Host Committee President Liz Gilbert has "enabled" this "mismanagement," and even gone on to "defend" Alonso since staffers first complained in November, they write.

The board has since placed Alonso on administrative leave as it probes the allegations, and said Gilbert would be working outside of the office and "will not have direct contact with staff," per the Journal Sentinel. But this isn't the first problem Alonso and Gilbert have faced: They were also criticized over their continued work with the New Jersey Democratic party that apparently detracted from their full-time work in Milwaukee. Alonso was ousted from his $15,000-a-month consulting job for New Jersey Democrats on Monday.

More stories from theweek.com

Trump just won the Iowa Democratic caucuses

Should financial markets be freaked out by coronavirus?

America is doing so much better than you think


Ming Guo, who needs dialysis three times a week, fears he will die if deported to China in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak there.

As of Monday, there were 17,392 cases globally, with 17,205 in China, and 362 deaths  all but one in China. Although Canada has suspended some deportations to Hubei province, which has the majority of confirmed cases, a lawyer for the Toronto man said all removals to China should be suspended until the global public health emergency is over.

I am already very afraid not being able to get the dialysis. This is adding to my anxiety, said Guo, 52, who is slated to be deported on Monday to Liaoning province, in northeast China, which so far has 36 confirmed cases. A lot of the health-care resources are directed to dealing with the outbreak and I may have great difficulties accessing care.

On Friday, Canada Border Services Agency announced it was deferring removals to Hubei province until further notice, days after China cut off traffic in and out of its capital city, Wuhan, where the virus originated.

The temporary deferral covers those facing removal for overstaying in Canada, breaking the countrys immigration laws and exhausting appeals after their failed asylum claims. According to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 777 asylum claims from China were processed in the first nine months of 2019 and half of them were rejected.

Deportees who are deemed inadmissible to Canada for criminality, human rights violations and national security reasons continue to be subject to removal to Hubei province.

The Canadian government has advised Canadians to cancel all non-essential travels to China and is arranging for voluntary evacuation of Canadians living in the affected zone in China because it realizes it is no longer safe for anyone to go to China in light of the outbreak, said Avvy Go, director of the Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, which currently has 10 clients facing deportation to China.

At the same time, we are deporting someone like Mr. Guo with serious health issues back to China without any assurance of their safety. This is simply cruel and inhumane, and represents a complete disregard for human lives.

At press time on Monday, the Canadian border agency was unable to provide the Star with the number of scheduled deportations to Hubei province that have been deferred or the number of pending removals for China overall.

Guo came to Canada after the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, when Beijing cracked down on the pro-democracy movement in China; he obtained permanent resident status in 1993 under a special program in place for Chinese dissidents.

In 2011, Guo found a credit card at a shopping mall and was arrested when he tried to make a purchase with it. He was convicted of fraud and given a suspended sentence and put on probation for 24 months. As a result of the conviction, he was issued a removal order. An appeal tribunal temporarily stayed his removal with strict terms and conditions, including regularly reporting to the border agency.

On his last reporting date, Guo, who only speaks broken English, said an officer told him he was finished with the reporting but did not inform him he would still need to attend a final hearing before the appeal tribunal to complete the restoration of his permanent resident status. He said he moved without giving his new address to the tribunal and the border agency and hence missed the last appointment.

The border agency tracked him down in December and issued a date for his removal.

Guo, who suffers kidney failure, is the sole caregiver for his aging parents, both 85, in Canada. His father has glaucoma in both eyes and limited mobility while his mother has dementia, diabetes and hypertension. Guo, used to work as a labourer to support his family before his health deteriorated, also has two sons who were born in Canada.

The guy is just very unlucky. If he had gotten a lawyer to help him (then) and if he had not moved after the last reporting was done, things would have turned out differently, said his lawyer. With such a minor criminal offence, he should not have been subject to a removal order.

Read more about:
VAL-DES-MONTS, QUE.A retired RCMP officer has been charged with murder in the weekend deaths of two tenants at his home in the western Quebec community of Val-des-Monts.

Yvon Mercier, 69, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one of arson during a court appearance late Monday at the courthouse in Gatineau, Que.

He was ordered held and will return to court for his next appearance on Feb. 17.

On Sunday, police found two bodies inside a residence following a fire on Mercier Street in the Outaouais community, about 35 kilometres north of Ottawa.

The victims were identified as Pierre Dupuis, 50 and Celine Labelle, 54, and police confirmed the victims and the suspect knew each other.

Sgt. Marc Tessier of Quebec provincial police said the investigation was ongoing and police are awaiting autopsy results and other expertise.

Mercier owns the home where the bodies were found and had recently put it up for sale, according to a post on the online classifieds site Kijiji.

He retired from the RCMP in 2007, the police force confirmed in a statement, adding it would provide no further information.

Several people who went through the forces training academy in Regina when Mercier was a drill sergeant there in the late 1980s posted online Tuesday recalling him and expressing shock at the charges.

The mayor of Val-des-Monts, a community of 12,500, said residents were stunned by the events.

Jacques Laurin said Mercier, whom hed encountered socially from time to time, was renting out part of his house.

Its a very peaceful area, people just walk around with their dogs, Laurin said on Tuesday. Unfortunately, this is something that just happened.

Read more about:
BRISTOL, Va.  The Bristol Virginia Planning Commission agreed Monday to amend its zoning recommendation for two parcels near Interstate 81s Exit 7 after residents of an adjoining neighborhood spoke out.

The commission will recommend that the parcels along Bonham Road remain zoned R-1 residential rather than for commercial development, yielding to concerns raised recently by members of the Robin Circle subdivision. It is one of two changes to a comprehensive revision of city zoning plans that commissioners agreed to during a Monday work session.

Original plans called for changing the parcels  which are opposite busy Linden Drive  from residential to commercial.

We appreciate you all very much, resident Cathy Gott told commission members. We thank you for listening to us.

Several subdivision residents spoke out against the proposed change during the commissions last meeting and open house events last week, when the public got its first look at a series of proposed changes citywide.

The commission received a number of written comments, including this one signed by Robin Circle resident Jeff Evans, No rezone! Plenty of land in The Falls; why are you looking for more? Please leave our subdivision alone! Why dont you put businesses in the vacant building scattered all over the city?

Residents voiced concerns about additional traffic and other impacts further commercial development would create adjacent to the sole entrance to their neighborhood.

Four streets  Robin Circle, Bonham Road, Alexis Drive and Linden Drive  all connect in that immediate area, and Commerce Court is a short distance to the south, city Planner Sally Morgan told the commission.

The commission will also recommend that a triangle-shaped parcel along Island Road, near the citys border with Bristol, Tennessee, be zoned for commercial development rather than residential. That comes at the request of land owner Centre Point LLC, given nearby development in Tennessee, Morgan said.

The draft comprehensive zoning package is expected to go to City Council for a public hearing next month.
France was also affected by the tragedy.

France is ready to help Ukraine analyze the black boxes of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS752, which was downed in Iran on January 8.

"France's position regarding the opportunity to analyze the black boxes in France is quite positive. I've officially informed Ukraine's Foreign Ministry about this. If there is a request from the Ukrainian side, we are ready," French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins has said, according to the news portal hromadske.

France was also affected by the tragedy, the ambassador said.

"The presidents of France and Ukraine were in contact regarding this issue, and Ukraine can count on France's help if there is a request for transporting the black boxes to France. We have one of the best labs in the world to read black boxes. We have technical capabilities and the political will to do this," he said.

Read alsoPS752 downing: Ukraine releases intercepted tower communications proving Iran was aware of missile launch all along

As UNIAN reported earlier, Kyiv-bound UIA flight PS752 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport in the early hours of January 8. It was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members on board. Two passengers and the crew members were Ukrainians. There were also 82 citizens of Iran, 63 citizens of Canada, 10 citizens of Sweden, four citizens of Afghanistan, three citizens of Germany and the United Kingdom each. There were no survivors.

On January 11, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani officially admitted that the Ukrainian airliner had been shot down by accident as a result of a "human error" and that those responsible would be held accountable.

On Sunday, February 2, intercepted communications between Tehran Airport's air traffic control tower and the second pilot of Iran's Aseman Airlines flight at the time of the crash of flight PS752 were released by TSN.Tyzhden.

Tehran blamed the Ukrainian authorities for leaking what it described as confidential evidence, and said it would no longer share material with Ukraine from the investigation into the crash.
WASHINGTON  Some congressional Democrats are boycotting Tuesday's State of the Union address over impeachment while those attending are trying to put the focus on health care.

Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., one of the most high-profile members of the House caucus, tweeted that she could not use her presence to "normalize Trumps lawless conduct & subversion of the Constitution."

"None of this is normal, and I will not legitimize it," she tweeted.

By late afternoon, several other Democrats had likewise said they would not attend the speech that comes on the eve of the Senate's expected vote to acquit Trump after the House impeached him in December.

Some of the Democrats vying to take on Trump this fall were concentrating on winning votes in New Hampshire. That includes Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders who planned on delivering his response to the address from a museum in Manchester.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) walks through Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol ahead of the State of the Union on February 4, 2020.

Democrats attending Trump's address left no doubt about the top theme theyll be pushing.

1) Health care 2) Health care 3) Health care, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

Democrats are bringing more than 80 patients, doctors and health care advocates from across the country to sit in the spectator gallery during Trumps speech.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called it a "a high likelihood" that Trump will gloat about how Republicans want better, cheaper health care for everybody.

But Schumer said Trump and the Republicans have put health care "in grave danger."

Schumer pointed to a pending lawsuit, supported by the Trump administration, that aims at undoing the Affordable Care Act.

In December, a federal appeals court in New Orleans struck down a major part of the 2010 health care law and directed a lower court to decide whether other parts of the law can be saved. The challenge could wipe out insurance for 20 million people, protection for people with preexisting conditions, subsidies for low-income people, Medicaid expansions in many states, coverage for young adults up to age 26 and more.

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Pelosi also criticized the administration's recent announcement that it will allow states more freedom to change Medicaid benefits in exchange for a reduction in the federal government's share of the jointly-run program. Pelosi said that change would be ruinous for rural hospitals and middle class seniors.

"How dare the president to do it," she said.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks at a news conference introducing the 'Peoples Housing Platform' on Capitol Hill on January 29, 2020 in Washington, DC. House progressives are backing the platform which declares housing a 'fundamental human right.'

Pelosi's guests include children with major health needs.

Health care was a top issue for Democrats when they retook the House in 2018 and they're expected to focus on it again in 2020, along with other "kitchen table" issues. Republicans are already attacking Democrats for backing an expansion of health care coverage, particularly those who are calling for the nation's health care system to be replaced with "Medicare for All."

Radio talk show host and activist Joe Madison encouraged most Democrats to stay away from the State of the Union address.

If I were a Democratic member of Congress with the exception of Nancy Pelosi, because she has to preside, I would boycott the State of the Union speech," Madison said on his SiriusXM show Urban View. "I would leave empty chairs in the chamber."

Besides Ocasio-Cortez, others who announced they would not attend include Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Al Green of Texas, Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, Hank Johnson of Georgia, Maxine Waters of California, Bobby Rush of Illinois and Frederica Wilson of Florida.

Some of those also stayed away from Trump's address in 2018 and 2019.

That includes Green who also did not attend Trump's 2017 joint address delivered soon after his inauguration that some Democrats boycotted.

"Because of an impeached, reckless, ruthless, lawless, shameless, corrupt, & unapologetically bigoted president - who is still engaging in a coverup," Green tweeted, 'the state of the House, the state of the Senate, and the #StateOfTheUnion are divided."

Preview: Donald Trump may take early victory lap at State of the Union as impeachment winds down

How to: Watch Trump's third State of the Union address

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's SOTU: Some Democrats to skip speech over impeachment
Mumbai, Feb 4 : A petition has reportedly been filed in Jammu and Kashmir High Court against Vidhu Vinod Chopra's upcoming film "Shikara: The Untold Story Of Kashmiri Pandits", demanding a stay on the film's release.

"Shikara" is set against the backdrop of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus from the Kashmir Valley in late 1989 and early 1990, in the wake of violent Islamist insurgency. The film is scheduled to release on February 7.

The petitioners are Iftikhar Misgar, Majid Hyderi and Irfan Hafiz Lone, who have alleged that the film portrays untrue facts about Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandits, reports newsnation.com.

Sharing a new teaser this morning, Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films' official page tweeted: "In 1990, more than 4,00,000 Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their home. 30 years later, their story will finally be told." One of the screenplay writers of the film, Rahul Pandita, recently replied to a tweet and wrote: "I am a Kashmiri Pandit who lost everything in 1990, while you were doing God knows what in Bombay. I am the writer of #shikara and I would not let anyone compromise on the Pandit story. I will not betray the memory of those who fell to the bullets of radical Islamists." In a separate tweet he shared: "This is what I said in my opening remarks on the day #shikara was screened in Delhi. Unlike makers of soft porn films, Kashmir and the story of what happened to the Pandits in 1990 is not a money-making venture for me. It is what I lived." "Shikara: The Untold Story Of Kashmiri Pandits" marks Vidhu Vinod Chopra's comeback to Bollywood as a director for the first time since his 2007 release, "Eklavya", starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, Raima Sen, Jackie Shroff and Jimmy Sheirgill. Chopra introduces Aadil Khan and Sadia in the lead roles of "Shikara".

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
BUDAPEST, Hungary

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.

Feb. 3, 2020

Budapest

Cambridge, MA

Pittsburgh, PA

September 2019

Peter Meintjes

Gergely Tolgyesi

Peter Meintjes

Nora Nagy

Budapest, Hungary

Cambridge, MA

and/PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Global molecular diagnostics company Omixon, headquartered inwith US offices in, announce that OmniType, the 11-locus, single tube multiplex successor to Holotype HLA is available through an Early Access Program (EAP) from today. OmniType is a best-in-class product featuring locus-multiplexing and short library preparation, for HLA genotyping from sample to answer in less than 24 hours."OmniType paves the way for a better laboratory workflow, reducing time and costs associated with the HLA testing." Efi Melista, Head of Product. "Access for early adopters will be through the worldwide EAP with the first evaluators already receiving their kits in January for immediate testing". The requirements for OmniType were driven by collating customer feedback, and during the vendor collaborations to find the best technology.Omixon has been recruiting labs to join the EAP since it was first announced at the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI) in. Over a dozen labs have already signed up to participate in the EAP and only a limited number of opportunities to be involved remain. OmniType is available worldwide, to existing customers, and potential customers, appropriately resourced to evaluate the technology. The OmniType EAP is expected to last approximately six months, and the data collected by Omixon and by individual participating labs will be published at future ASHI or EFI Annual Meetings."We've long viewed 24 hours from sample to answer as a milestone that will encourage the last remaining Solid Organ Typing labs that have a rapid turnaround time for non-cadaveric samples to switch to routinely typing all non-cadaveric samples at high resolution by NGS" says Dr, CEO at Omixon. "This removes all doubt that a single NGS technology can afford labs the opportunity to abandon legacy technologies like SSP, SSO, SBT and even qPCR for all routine typings except those from deceased donors".Omixon expects OmniType to outperform current NGS-based HLA typing tests on all relevant metrics in clinical labs, i.e. speed, throughput, reliability and accuracy. Users can now benefit from the fastest LR-PCR amplification (2 hours, 15 minutes) of all 11 HLA loci in a single tube and a rapid and simple library preparation workflow that enables DNA samples to be ready for sequencing in about 6 hours."Our number one priority for developing a multiplexed clinical diagnostic has been the genotyping accuracy, but importantly the market has also driven us to improve the speed and reliability. We are delighted by the quality of OmniType" says Dr., Technical Lead of Assay R&D.OmniType is the start of Omixon's innovative molecular diagnostics pipeline with more announcements expected throughout 2020 on new product launches and future EAPs.Labs interested in participation in the Early Access Program for OmniType may email product@omixon.com for more information and acceptance into the program.Contacts at Omixon, PhD Chief Executive Officer peter.meintjes@omixon.com +1 203 947 2772, MBA Head of Market Development and Marketing nora.nagy@omixon.com +36 30 633 3050About Omixon Omixon is a global molecular diagnostics company, headquartered in, with US offices inthat commercializes disruptive technologies for clinical and research laboratories. Omixon's flagship product, Holotype HLA, is the world's leading NGS-based HLA genotyping product that delivers the most accurate high-resolution HLA genotyping available, and is used in more than 50 hospitals worldwide. Omixon's research software, HLA Explore analyzes data from any sequencing technology and determines HLA genotypes from Whole Exome/Genome Sequencing experiments. Omixon maintains an active grant-funded research program with a product pipeline focused on pre- and post-transplantation, and HLA genotyping applications beyond transplantation. For more information, visit omixon.comSOURCE Omixon Inc.
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkeys president said Tuesday his country wont allow Syrian forces to gain additional territory in a northern Syrian province, Turkish media reported, a day after clashes between Turkish and Syrian forces killed soldiers on both sides.

Recep Tayyip Erdogans comments came as Syrian forces reached the western gate of the rebel stronghold of Saraqeb in Idlib province in the north, while the U.N. announced that more than half a million people have fled their homes since Dec. 1, because of the offensive.

At the moment, Syria is trying to gain territory by forcing the innocent and poor people toward our border, private NTV television quoted Erdogan as telling a group of journalists late Monday. We wont give Syria the opportunity to gain territory.

Eight Turkish citizens were killed in an exchange of shelling with Syrian government forces in Idlib on Monday.

The assault on the Turkish troops came amid a Syrian government offensive that has been advancing since December into the countrys last rebel stronghold, which spans Idlib province and parts of nearby Aleppo. Turkish troops are deployed in some of those rebel-held areas to monitor an earlier cease-fire that has since collapsed.

On Tuesday, Syrian government forces were advancing north under the cover of airstrikes, reaching areas held by insurgents for eight years. The bombardment forced more people to flee for safety in areas close to the Turkish border.

Since the first of December, in just 2 months, more than 520,000 people have been displaced from their homes, the vast majority of them being women and children, said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

There are no safe places in Idlib, bombs fall everywhere and anywhere.

Laerke said in the 10 days starting Jan. 20, the U.N. rights office verified at least 83 civilians, including 20 women and 33 children, were killed and dozens more wounded in airstrikes and ground-based attacks.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said in recent weeks Syrian troops have captured more than 60 towns, villages and hamlets. The captures happened as Syrian forces try to open a highway linking the capital Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo, Syrias largest. Rebels have closed the highway in Idlib since 2012 and Saraqeb is the last major rebel-held town in their way.

On Monday, Turkish artillery targeted Syrian government forces in northern Idlib, responding to shelling that killed seven Turkish soldiers and a Turkish civilian. A Syrian war monitor said 13 Syrian troops were killed in the clash.

The deadly exchange increased tensions between the neighbouring countries and threatened to drive a wedge between Russia and Turkey, which have sought to co-ordinate their actions in Syria.

Earlier on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara and Moscow were trying to keep peace efforts for Syria alive. He renewed a call on Russia to rein in Syrian government forces and reiterated Turkeys determination to retaliate against any future Syrian attack on its troops.

The Astana and Sochi peace processes have not been completely destroyed but have lately started to suffer and to lose importance, Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara, referring to Russian-Turkish peace initiatives that have also involved Iran.

He said Turkish officials were in contact with Russian counterparts to keep the Astana and Sochi processes alive, to strengthen them, and to arrive at a political solution.

Cavusoglu, who held a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hours after the Turkey-Syria clash, added: The regimes aggressiveness has to be stopped immediately. That was the message I gave Lavrov yesterday.

Cavusoglu dismissed claims by Russia that it cannot fully control the Syrian government and said the attack came despite a prior notification by Turkey of its troops co-ordinates in Idlib. Russia insisted Turkey failed to notify the Russian military about troop movements overnight.

Funerals were being held across Turkey for the Turkish servicemen that were killed. The deaths marked one of the highest single-day tolls for Turkish troops in Syria.

Meanwhile, Syrian state news agency SANA reported technicians began repairing damage caused by a terrorist attack Tuesday on five oil and gas facilities in central Homs province, including one of the countrys two oil refineries. It said a fire was extinguished shortly after the facilities were shelled.

Three of the facilities attacked had been hit in December in an apparent drone attack.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, the fourth against oil and gas facilities in the country in less than a year. The Islamic State group is known to have sleeper cells in the area.

____

Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
Jamie Morris, 23, from New Tredegar, south Wales, with his girlfriend Camilla (Jamie Morris/PA)

A British man is trapped alone in locked-down Wuhan, the epicentre of coronavirus, and worried UK authorities have left him behind.

Jamie Morris, 23, a teacher who has lived in the city for a year, had recently given his passport to the Chinese government to lengthen his residency permit so has not been able to get on a flight back to the UK.

The news of a British evacuation came very quickly, leaving many people who lived a fair distance from the airport unable to make the flight, Mr Morris, originally from New Tredegar, south Wales, said.

Britons were on Tuesday urged by foreign secretary Dominic Raab to leave mainland China to if they are able to.

Mr Morris, however, said he has been told to be patient by the Foreign Office and that they will be in touch if anything changes.

UK citizens arrive back in the UK after being evacuated from Wuhan (SWNS)

I am currently on my own in my apartment, isolated from the outside world, as you would say.

At this point, I am willing to go to any other country, but its all down to the UK embassy.

Mr Morris added that his girlfriend Camilla had left on Tuesday on a flight to New Zealand as she was a Samoan national, which means he is alone in the city.

It was the hardest decision weve made but she was given the opportunity to leave so I encouraged her with everything I had to take it and make sure she was safe.

Being stuck in a quarantine in New Zealand is a lot better than being stuck in Wuhan.

Im so envious that she got out, but I would choose her getting out over me any day of the week. I love her and as long as she is safe, thats all that matters.

He is worried the military will soon take control of the city.

Before my partner left today, she accompanied me to the local supermarket to stock up on as much as possible, he said.

Dominic Raab has urged Britons to leave mainland China (PA)

Theres no fresh vegetables or fruits left in my local area, but we managed to collect plenty of instant noodles and frozen meats/meals which will last me for at least two weeks.

After that, if I am still here and the military do actually take over food supplies, then it is anyones guess.

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He told the PA Media that he believed he could have contracted coronavirus.

They diagnosed me as having potential pneumonia but couldnt confirm it, he said.

I had all the symptoms, literally everything that has been said by the government, however it was before the virus was made public knowledge.

Jamie Morris teaching pupils in Wuhan (Jamie Morris/PA)

There is a high possibility of it being so, but thanks to my high immune system, I managed to beat it back.

Mr Morris said he had returned to work while ill  potentially with the virus  because he worried about losing his job.

He said the illness lasted for three weeks but his employment agency can terminate his contract after seven days of absence.

So I managed to take a few days off but spent the rest of the time with a mask covering my face while I taught, he said, adding that no students or coworkers had been diagnosed with coronavirus, to his knowledge.
Wardha : , Feb 4 (IANS) Over 36 hours after a 24-year woman college lecturer was burnt in full public view by a married spurned suitor, doctors described her condition as "extremely critical" even as thousands of citizens took to the streets and the Hinganghat town observed a spontaneous shutdown here on Tuesday.

As the matter reverberated in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the victim's weeping family demanded that the accused - Vikesh alias Vicki Nagrale, 27 - should be handed over to the people for meting out similar justice by burning him publicly.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday announced that the state government would bear all medical expenses for the complete treatment of the victim - Ankita Pisudde, a post-graduate in Botany, working as a part-time lecturer with Matoshree Ashatai Kunawar Mahila Mahavidyalaya in Hinganghat.

The shocking incident happened around 7.15 am on Monday outside her college and by the time she was rushed from a Primary Health Centre to the specialised Orange City Hospital & Research Institute, Nagpur, her oxygen levels had plummeted to dangerously low levels.

"The woman has suffered deep burns on her face, scalp, neck, right shoulder, left hand, upper back, eyes and respiratory system. Yesterday, she underwent a tracheostomy, debridement, escharectomy and burns dressing.

"She has suffered 35-40 percent Grade III deep dermal burns with respiratory distress and inhalational injuries with related complications," OCHRI Director (Dr) Anup Marar told IANS on Tuesday.

He described her condition as "very critical" though she is holding onto her vital parameters with intensive care and oxygen support of five litres per minute.

Wardha Guardian Minister Sunil Kedar, Hinghanghat MLA Samir Kunnawar and others visited the hospital to enquire after her condition.

Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has said that the case will be transferred to a fast track court to ensure speedy justice, while Energy Minister and Nagpur Guardian Minister Nitin Raut has assured all help to the victim's family.

Several thousands of people comprising men, women, schoolkids, college students, youth, political activists, business community and others trooped out on the streets of Hinghanghat to protest against the incident.

Many women and girls were seen crying as they staged the silent protests and several people demanded instant capital punishment to the accused for the gruesome crime.

Meanwhile, the accused was produced by police before a local court which remanded him to police custody for five days. He hails from a nearby village Daroda, where the victim also lives and he was acquainted with her.

The Maharashtra State Commission for Women has ordered the Wardha Police Superintendent Basavaraj Teli to submit a detailed report on the incident while the Bharatiya Janata Party state Vice President Chitra Wagh urged the government to shift the victim to a multi-speciality burn hospital.

Political leaders across all parties, social workers, NGOs, youth and students have expressed outrage at the incident and demanded that the culprit must be tried and punished without any delays as in other prominent cases.
As Joaquin Phoenixs Baftas acceptance speech does the rounds, it appears were about to enter yet another period of reflection.

How?!, the mostly white industry insiders cry. How can we make a difference? When will this madness STOP?

Im being facetious. But however well-meaning these expressions of frustration are, each year, again and again, the lack of awareness about why were stuck in this loop is astounding.

Ive seen arguments from Bafta voters, many of whom do genuinely seem to want change, which suggest that the issue is rooted in the membership. There arent enough diverse voices, they need to apply, apply, apply.

Others have suggested that its a matter of age, that voters simply flock to exactly the sort of projects weve always rewarded in Britain  the war films, the more traditional stories and the actors with long histories of picking up such awards.

Baftas 2020: The red carpet Show all 38 1 /38 Baftas 2020: The red carpet Baftas 2020: The red carpet Joaquin Phoenix REUTERS Baftas 2020: The red carpet Scarlett Johansson PA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Saoirse Ronan PA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Florence Pugh PA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Al Pacino REUTERS Baftas 2020: The red carpet Renee Zellweger PA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Olivia Colman PA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Charlize Theron EPA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Daisy Ridley EPA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge REUTERS Baftas 2020: The red carpet Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge REUTERS Baftas 2020: The red carpet Taron Egerton AFP via Getty Images Baftas 2020: The red carpet Daniel Kaluuya Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP Baftas 2020: The red carpet Margot Robbie PA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Emilia Clarke PA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Rooney Mara PA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Robert De Niro PA Baftas 2020: The red carpet John Boyega REUTERS Baftas 2020: The red carpet Rebel Wilson AFP via Getty Images Baftas 2020: The red carpet Adam Driver and Joanne Tucker EPA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Greta Gerwig AFP via Getty Images Baftas 2020: The red carpet Alice Eve PA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Ella Balinska AFP via Getty Images Baftas 2020: The red carpet Naomi Ackie AFP via Getty Images Baftas 2020: The red carpet Anna Elisabet Eberstein and Hugh Grant REUTERS Baftas 2020: The red carpet Song Kang Ho and Bong Joon-ho AFP via Getty Images Baftas 2020: The red carpet Zoe Kravitz AFP via Getty Images Baftas 2020: The red carpet Lily-Rose Depp PA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Gillian Anderson AFP via Getty Images Baftas 2020: The red carpet Jessie Buckley REUTERS Baftas 2020: The red carpet Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner-Smith PA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Naomie Harris REUTERS Baftas 2020: The red carpet Alex Wolff PA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Laura Dern Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP Baftas 2020: The red carpet Graham Norton EPA Baftas 2020: The red carpet Micheal Ward REUTERS Baftas 2020: The red carpet Oliver Cheshire and Pixie Lott Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP Baftas 2020: The red carpet Taika Waititi EPA

But if there really is a desire to change things for good, there needs to be a concerted effort to shake up the entire industry. Emma Baehr, director of the Baftas, almost hit the nail on the head when discussing the embarrassing all-white nominations for actors last month, calling it an industry-wide issue. But its deeper than that.

Asking more people of colour to apply to be voters, or that more films need to be made and entered clearly isnt enough. And the criteria (five years experience in a senior creative, production/post-production or executive role) seem quite restrictive, given how few poc have access to such roles in the first place.

Creatives of colour have been shut out of this industry for as long as it has existed. Telling them to build their own door and force their way in isnt a useful solution, its blame-shifting. This isnt a matter of a lack of initiative from non-white members of the industry, but the other way around.

If the statistics reflect a systemic issue, so do how they are recorded. Last year, Ofcom noted that broadcasters urgently need to undertake better, more regular monitoring of the make-up of their employees, with the TV industry offering ethnicity data for only 81 per cent of its workers, and disability figures for just 69 per cent.

If even the prospect of recording such statistics is an issue in the first place, there needs to be something bolder in place. What that should look like, Im not sure. Quotas, which the Baftas have already explored by requiring films in the Outstanding British Film and Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer categories to meet BFI diversity standards, could help.

But crucially, people at the top of the industry need to show they care for more than 24 hours after a white Hollywood darling (rightfully) tells them they should. After all, people of colour have been raising the issue for years.

As of last year, 6 per cent of senior roles at the BBC were made up of people from ethnic minority backgrounds, while ITV had an even lower proportion. According to a report by The Work Foundation, ethnic minorities have historically faced considerable barriers to both entering and progressing in the British film industry. Prospects are even worse when it comes to management and funding opportunities.

So, please, to the voters, Bafta heads and gatekeepers across this industry, do not punt the issue back to those who can do little about it. Do not tell us you wish things were better. Do not, for self-serving purposes, talk to us about being disappointed.

True disappointment would lead to meaningful change. While the Baftas have vowed to review the awards process, weve seen similar efforts in the past and Im not confident those who can make a difference see this as anything more than a box-ticking exercise, rather than a chance to improve an increasingly bland and predictable roster of mainstream films.

We may see a complete shift come this time next year, we may not. But, as Sharmaine Lovegrove, a publisher at Dialogue Books and Little, Brown, pointed out on Twitter today: I hope everyone working in the European and British creative industry sectors takes a few moments to watch [Phoenixs speech] when they get to their office, takes a look at the few people of colour there and thinks about their demonstrative contribution to change for good.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A years-long delay in the installation of Cuyahoga Countys new property tax system will result in about $3 million in overruns, County Councilman Jack Schron estimated at a Monday committee hearing.

Schron based his calculation on $500,000 a year that the county is paying for new software, even though the county cant use the software until the overhaul is done, and $600,000 a year that is being spent to maintain the old system.

I had no idea this was a train wreck also, Schron said, estimating that the project will run 30 percent over its budget when complete.

County officials blamed the old system last month for the Fiscal Offices inability to produce balance-due bills after mistakenly sending tax bills to property owners in three suburbs that omitted special assessments.

At Mondays hearing, interim Fiscal Officer Michael Chambers told council members that the overhaul of the system began in late 2015 and was originally to be completed two years ago, in January 2018, at a cost of about $10 million.

Chambers attributed the delays to staff changes with the contractor, St. Louis-based MS Govern. He offered no estimation of what the delays have cost taxpayers, but did not dispute Schrons caluations.

MS Govern could not be reached for comment after Mondays hearing.

Schron said the county should seek reimbursement from the contractor for some of the cost overruns.

Were looking at almost $3 million that weve spent on the taxpayers dime for this product that we should not have spent, he said.

Chambers said the county gave the contractor until March 31 to show that it has addressed issues related to the projects completion, at which point the county will re-evaluate whether it wants to continue working with MS Govern.

Schron and several others council members likened the problems to the delays and overruns incurred during the countys ongoing IT system overhaul, known as the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project.

Work on the long-delayed ERP project is expected to continue through the end of this year and bring the cost to about $34.2 million, an overrun of $9.2 million for a project that County Council first approved more than three years ago.




Vilmers fast-tracks customization with second Furniture On Demand by Lectra solution

Lectra's visionary solution facilitates faster delivery and expanded customization options for the European furniture manufacturer

Paris, February 4, 2020 - Lectra is proud to announce that Vilmers has chosen to add a second Furniture On Demand by Lectra solution to its suite of Lectra technology. Gains in time savings due to direct integration between the ERP system and the cutting room, as well as improvements in efficiency and waste reduction were key factors in the company's decision.

Founded in 1997, Vilmers initially mass-produced leather furniture. The company's decision to transition to producing modular, fabric sofa systems has yielded tremendous success, with annual revenue growth of 25%. Vilmers's customers-primarily in the Scandinavian, Benelux and French markets-can choose from over 85 modular sofas, and more than 250 fabrics and colors. They can customize the dimensions, armrests, stitching, and number of seats to create a sofa that is uniquely theirs, and delivered in only 3 to 6 weeks.

"Currently, we produce 170 seats per day, 85% of which are for customized orders. We would like to increase that to 100%. Furniture On Demand by Lectra helps us shorten lead times and offer even more customization options, enabling us to reach this strategic goal," explains Ovidijus Jalonskis, CEO, Vilmers.

The trailblazing solution-comprised of a cloud-connected Digital Cutting Platform and a single-ply fabric cutting solution-integrates Industry 4.0 technology that bolsters the agility, throughput and cost-efficiency of Vilmers's production process. Automated order reception and processing, possible through full integration between the Digital Cutting Platform and the company's ERP system, accelerate and error-proof the lengthy, complex planning and preparation phases. This powerful combination of connectivity and automation has allowed Vilmers to reduce order processing time by an entire day and the rate of waste by 3%.

As the company strives to enhance its customization offer while maintaining its short lead times, Virga, the single-ply cutting solution, ensures reduced cutting cycle time with simultaneous scanning, cutting and offloading. With a connected cutting line, Vilmers has increased efficiency by 25% compared to the previous cutting technology it used.

Furniture On Demand by Lectra is also an integral element in the organization's journey to Industry 4.0. "We are heavily investing in production solutions that will help us implement Industry 4.0 production processes. We think that it is critical for the future of our company. Lectra's Furniture On Demand solution is the first step for Vilmers to become an Industry 4.0 company," says Ovidijus Jalonskis.

"Its willingness to reevaluate and reinvent itself in response to market demand shows that Vilmers is an ambitious, forward-looking company. We are convinced Furniture On Demand by Lectra will help Vilmers flourish in this new age of furniture manufacturing and achieve its Industry 4.0 vision," says Celine Choussy, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Lectra.





About Vilmers

Our modular systems help customers express their uniqueness by choosing different components for a sofa, like the color of the fabric or leather, legs, armrests, accessories. Our large product range enables us to enter homes and become a special place where friends or family members gather to share their World, their Vision, and their Love.

For more information about Vilmers, visit www.vilmers.com/







About Lectra

For companies that breathe life into our wardrobes, car interiors, furniture and more, Lectra is crafting the premium technologies that facilitate the digital transformation of their industry. Lectra's offer empowers brands, manufacturers and retailers from design to production, providing them with the market respect and peace of mind they deserve. Founded in 1973, today Lectra has 34 subsidiaries across the globe, serving customers in over 100 countries. With more than 1,750 employees, Lectra reported revenues of $333 million in 2018. Lectra is listed on Euronext (LSS).

For more information, please visit www.lectra.com

Virga is a registered trademark of Lectra.





Press contacts:



Lectra Headquarters / Press Department

Nathalie Fournier-Christol

t: +33 (0) 1 53 64 42 37

e: n.fournier-christol@lectra.com





Attachments
04.02.2020 LISTEN

Government of Ghana has given 50,000RMB (GHC39,500.05) to the leadership of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) in China for the procurement of food and protective items for Ghanaian students caught up in the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

The money was made available to the students leadership through Ghanas Embassy in the Chinese capital, Beijing, under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.

The coronavirus has so far claimed 213 lives and hospitalised more than 9,000 people.

A statement signed by Mr Felix Gyawu-Addo, President of NUGS, said the initiative was taken in response to challenges that were raised by its representatives during a four-hour meeting held on January 29, 2020 between the Ghana Embassy, the National Executive Council, and representatives of NUGS-China.

During the meeting, chapter representatives unanimously affirmed that all Ghanaian students in their respective cities were safe from the virus. They mentioned that the shortage of nose masks and hand sanitisers had led to some concerns and prevented some members from going out to buy basic needs like food and water.

At the end of the meeting that was chaired by Mr Edward Boateng, Ghanas Ambassador to China, the embassy officials promised to channel all the concerns raised by chapter executives to Accra, the statement said.

It continued: According to directives from the embassy, during another meeting with the National Executive Committee (NEC) of NUGS-China on January 31, 2020, 30,000RMB of the disbursed amount was to be given to the chapters in Hubei Province which is the epicenter of the disease.

The statement further explained that the remaining 20,000RMB was to be committed to the NUGS-China Nkwa Na Hia fund created to provide support for all other chapters outside of the Hubei Province.

It added NUGS-China welcomes any donation either in cash or kind to help provide adequate support for all members under our watch.

NUGS-China is grateful to the government of Ghana, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, and the Ghana Mission in China for such a kind gesture, the statement concluded.

---Ghanaian Times
The first-of-its-kind facial recognition app used in the recently concluded municipal polls in Telangana yielded an accuracy of 80 per cent, officials have claimed. However, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi objected to using the technology alleging that it was dangerous and would invade privacy.

"The result (of face recognition app) was encouraging. The accuracy was upto 80 per cent. Some of the factors such as poor quality of lighting in some polling booths and pictures (of electors photo identitycard) that were fed to the app being old, have impacted the accuracy at some places," a senior official involved in using the app told PTI. Otherwise the result would have been above 90 per cent.

Even then the result was encouraging, the official said. The Telangana State Election Commission used facial recognition app in a bid to counter impersonation of voters. The app was used on a pilot basis in the selected 10 polling stations of Kompally Municipality of Medchal Malkajgiri district in the urban local bodies polls on January 22. The data collected using the app would be deleted after the polls, an official press release had said earlier. An additional polling officer with a smartphone first verified the identity proof of the voters and then took photographs and uploaded to the server using face recognition app installed on the mobile phone provided to him so as to compare the same with the photographs of the orders of the polling station concerned.

The app displays the results of the verification based on the match established with anyone of the voterswith anappropriate message, an official release had said adding the entire process properly encrypted and the data is kept anonymously. The AIMIM, ahead of the polls, had requested the state Election Commission not to use face recognition app alleging that it would invade the privacy of the citizens, among other violations. Use of facial recognition technology is dangerous and will cause irreversible damage to our right to privacy as individuals. There must be a moratorium on its use. Instead, it is seeing widespread use despite SC judgement (Puttaswamy) Owaisi tweeted on Tuesday reacting to a media report.

Telangana State Technology Services (TSTS) developed the app to be used on a trial basis during the municipal polls. A senior official of the TSTS told PTI that the technology was originally developed for pensioners under Pensioners Life Certificate Authentication using a selfie (PLCS) method under which a beneficiary would take the selfie using the app which would be verified using the stored database. The official also said the TSTS has informed the Election Commission of India about the usefulness of the app, but the EC did not respond.

Also read: Delhi Assembly election 2020: Badminton ace Saina Nehwal makes political debut; joins BJP

Also read: Delhi election: AAP will continue to stall Centre's projects if voted to power, says PM Modi
A tribal daily wage labourer in Odishas Nabarangpur district has received a notice from the Income Tax department asking him to pay Rs 2.59 lakh tax for alleged transactions of Rs 1.47 crore made in his bank account in 2013-14.

Sonadhar Gond of Pujari Bharandi village near Umerkote who belongs to the BPL category said he was clueless about the alleged bank transaction mentioned in the I-T notice received last month for the 2014-15 assessment.

The notice from the Jeypore I-T office in Koraput district said Gond had deposited Rs 1,47,82,057 in his bank account during 2013-14 financial year for which he has to pay Rs 2,59,540 lakh as tax.

The account was opened in the name of Gond in ICICI Bank at Umerkote and as per the I-T department notice, all the transactions were made in the said account.

The tribal labourer said he had received several such notices from the I-T department since 2014-15, but as he is illiterate, he could not figure out what the notices were about. He never took these communications seriously.

When he got the latest notice he showed it to an educated man of his village, who told him about it.

Accusing his employer of being responsible for the whole episode, Gond said he has been working with a trader for the last seven years. He claimed that the son of his employer had taken his 'patta', voter ID card and Aadhaar card from him.

The employers son had also taken his thumb impression on blank paper, Gond said, claiming that he handed over the documents to his employer in good faith without apprehending any trouble.

Gond said he has never visited any bank in his life nor has he been to any other town except Umerkote. He said he felt cheated by his employer.

An Income Tax official said the notice has been issued on the basis of bank statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Danish investigative authorities have announced the confiscation of a multi-million-pound property owned by a Dubai-based Indian-origin tycoon in central London over alleged tax fraud.

Sanjay Shah denies any wrongdoing and his spokesperson described Monday's announcement as odd because Shah's assets had been frozen by the Danish tax authority over a year ago.

"Sanjay continues to protest his innocence and repeats that he received two separate legal opinions that the cum-ex trades were legal," said Shah's spokesperson Jack Irvine.

"Sanjay's assets were frozen over a year ago by the Danish tax authority, SKAT. It seems odd that Soik [state prosecutors] now make another announcement. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, he said.

While the Danish authorities have not identified Shah by name, Denmark's State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime said the announcement this week followed the UK authorities confirming that the seizure had been accomplished.

"The seizure of the British property in London was enabled by the investigative effort conducted by the State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime in the end of 2019, said a statement from Demark's State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime.

"Subsequently, the prosecutors in this department presented the pieces of evidence to the Danish court, who approved the confiscation. Now, the English authorities have finally confirmed that the seizure has been accomplished, and the assets has been secured in London," the statement said.

The Danish tax authority claims it was deceived into paying multiple refunds as a result of a fraudulent scheme linked with Shah, a London-born businessman who lives in Dubai.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Britain and the European Union set out clashing opening gambits Monday on striking a post-Brexit trade deal, making it clear that each side is willing to walk away without an agreement rather than compromise on key issues.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent a bravado-filled salvo toward Brussels three days after Britain left the bloc, the first country to exit. In a speech to business leaders and international diplomats in London, Johnson said "we want a free trade agreement" - but not at any cost.

"I see no need to bind ourselves to an agreement with the EU," he said, insisting that Britain would "restore full sovereign control" over its borders, rules and economy.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier was equally emphatic that the EU's 27 remaining nations wouldn't agree to any British trade deal just to avoid a costly, chaotic "no-deal" at the start of 2021 when an 11-month post-Brexit transition period ends.

Also Read: Brexit: Britain finally says goodbye to Europe, leaves EU leaping into unknown

"We are in favour of free trade, but we are not going to be naive," Barnier said. "If the request is to have broad access to a market of 450 million European consumers, zero tariffs, zero quotas - that won't happen for nothing, or in any kind of condition."

In their divorce agreement, Britain and the EU agreed to strike an "ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership," including a free trade deal and agreements for security and other areas. The details are to be worked out during a transition period lasting until the end of 2020, in which relations stay essentially unchanged. For the rest of this year, the U.K. will continue to follow EU rules, although it will no longer have a say in EU decision-making.

After that, a cliff-edge looms. But Johnson insisted the choice facing Britain was not "deal or no deal."

"The question is whether we agree a trading relationship with the EU comparable to Canada's - or more like Australia's," Johnson said.

Australia does not have a free-trade deal with the EU, and Australia-style trade would mean a panoply of new tariffs and other barriers between the U.K. and the EU, its near neighbour and biggest trading partner.

Britain is aiming for a "Canada-style" free trade agreement with the EU, which would eliminate almost all tariffs and cover both goods and services. But it is adamant it won't agree to follow the EU's entire rule book in return for unfettered trade because it wants to be free to diverge in order to strike other new deals around the world.

Also Read: Businesses see promising India-UK ties ahead after Brexit

The bloc insists there can be no trade deal unless Britain agrees to a "level playing field" and doesn't undercut EU regulations, especially when it comes to the environment, workers' rights and health and safety standards.

"There is no such thing like a free ride to the (EU's) single market," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. "It is always rights and obligations in a good balance."

Johnson, however, doubled down on Britain's tough stance in Monday's speech. He delivered it in the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich on the River Thames, a spot steeped in Britain's past military glories. The vast hall, covered in paintings glorifying British achievement, is where Adm. Horatio Nelson lay in state after his death at the Battle of Trafalgar against the navies of France and Spain in 1805.

Even as he set out a vision of trade that would impose new barriers between Britain and the EU, Johnson said the U.K. would become a champion of free trade in a world where "the protectionists are gaining ground."

And he sought to allay EU fears that a post-Brexit Britain will slash workplace and environmental protections in order to gain a competitive edge.

"The U.K. will maintain the highest standards in these areas - better, in many respects, than those of the EU - without the compulsion of a treaty," Johnson said.

Johnson's bullish message was aimed as much at a domestic audience as it was at the bloc, but EU leaders are unlikely to be reassured by what they'll see as British intransigence and wishful thinking.

"The U.K. can independently decide not to respect the rules," said France's Europe Minister Amelie de Montchalin before pointedly adding: "But when it passes the frontier, it concerns the place where it arrives."

She said the EU would be as vigilant about checking the product itself as about the way it is produced, making sure it would respect social, environmental and other standards that are cornerstones of EU policy.

"It is important for European citizens to know that the single market will be protected," she said.

Barnier signalled that one flashpoint in the talks will be fishing. He said the EU would link access to its market for British products directly to the access that EU boats are given to U.K. waters.

"That agreement on fisheries will be inextricably linked to the trade agreement," he said.

Formal trade talks won't start until next month, once they have been approved by all 27 EU nations.

EU leaders have repeatedly warned that the timetable is tight to strike any kind of deal. Free-trade agreements typically take years. The EU-Canada deal that the British government cited as a model took seven years to negotiate.

If there is no deal by the end of 2020, and the U.K. refuses to extend the negotiating period, Britain faces an abrupt, disruptive economic break from the bloc - with tariffs and other obstacles to trade imposed immediately between the U.K. and the EU.

That prospect alarms many businesses, especially in sectors such as the auto industry, which depend on the easy flow of parts across borders.

The devil will be in the details, and Britain's position as outlined in a government document is less set in stone than Johnson's speech suggested. It said Britain would negotiate with the EU "on access to waters and fishing opportunities," and also spoke of possible "regulatory and supervisory cooperation" in financial services, a key area for the British economy.

However, Barnier said the EU would continue to prepare for no deal.

"If we cannot manage by the end of the year, there will be a widespread cliff," he said.

Johnson, however, brushed off the idea of a "no-deal" Brexit - though that is essentially what Australian-style trade means.

One word was noticeably missing from his wide-ranging speech: "Brexit." Asked whether he had banned the term, he said: "It's not banned. It's just over."

Jill Rutter of political think-tank U.K. in a Changing Europe said there was a gap in both style and substance between the two sides.

"The U.K. PM has chosen a speech in a historic setting to lay down red lines, embellished with rhetorical flourishes, while the EU has laid out 167 paragraphs of negotiating demands in a functional conference room in Brussels," she said.

"We have to hope that, behind the Johnson oratory, U.K. ministers have agreed their own parallel version of the EU text."
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn asked a judge to compel New York City to cooperate with immigration authorities in sharing information about an accused killer who is present in the country illegally.

The court filing on Monday accuses Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration of ignoring subpoenas from Immigration and Customs Enforcement demanding information about Guyanese national Reeaz Khan.

Khan, 21, was charged last month with sexually assaulting and killing Maria Fuertas, a 92-year-old Queens woman who was out buying cat food when she was brutally attacked.

Weeks before the murder, Khan was arrested on weapons charges but released without bail by by local officials, in defiance of a detainer that Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it sent to the NYPD.

Reeaz Khan, a 21-year-old immigrant from Guyana, is accused of raping and murdering Maria Fuertes, 92 was sexually assaulted and strangled outside her Queens home earlier this month

The court filing on Monday accuses Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration of ignoring subpoenas from Immigration and Customs Enforcement

The court motion comes amid an escalating conflict between the Trump administration and the nation's largest city over its so-called sanctuary policies.

The court request reflects the federal government's frustration with jurisdictions that do not honor deportation 'detainers' or give any information to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about defendants going in and out of local custody.

Federal prosecutors filed court papers Monday saying New York City has not responded to subpoenas from ICE last month seeking information on a handful of inmates, including Khan, who were released from custody despite requests by immigration officials that they be turned over for deportation.

City officials say the subpoenas lack a legitimate purpose and called them a 'political stunt' that seeks information that ICE could obtain through other means.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has accused ICE of employing 'scare tactics.'

'When Congress authorized administrative subpoenas, it did not intend that they be abused to punish cities and states for exercising the rights afforded to them by the constitutional system of federalism,' James Johnson, head of the city's law department, wrote in a letter to ICE.

ICE has said city officials could be held in contempt of court if they disregard a federal judge's order to comply with the subpoenas.

Matthew Albence (right), the the acting director of ICE, slammed de Blasio at a press conference along with Vincent Vallelong of the Sergeants Benevolent Association

The Khan case became a flashpoint in the conflict after ICE officials said the city had released him on earlier assault and weapons charges rather than turn him over for deportation.

The NYPD said it did not receive a detainer request though ICE insists that it was sent before he walked free without bail on November 27.

Khan was charged with murder January 10 and remains in custody on Rikers Island.

ICE officials have blamed city leaders for Fuertas' death.

'It is this citys sanctuary policies that are the sole reason this criminal was allowed to roam the streets freely and end an innocent womans life,' Acting ICE Director Matthew Albence told reporters last month.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn asked U.S. District Judge Allyne Ross to compel city leaders to provide identification information about Khan, including his home and employment addresses, so federal authorities can locate him in the event he is released from custody.

Those details are 'clearly relevant to ICE's investigation of Khan,' prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

Surveillance video shot near the scene of the savage murder led police to Khan

City Hall spokeswoman Julia Arredondo said Monday that ICE 'is clearly attempting to exploit tragic circumstances in order to intimidate the City of New York into changing its laws and policies.'

'Reeaz Khan has been arrested and is sitting behind bars as he awaits trial, and if convicted, the City will cooperate with federal officials in accordance with local law,' Arredondo said in an emailed statement.

ICE did not respond to a request for comment Monday. The agency has sent similar subpoenas to the city of Denver and warned it might send more to other sanctuary jurisdictions.

Federal prosecutors also filed a request Monday that the city be compelled to turn over details about an inmate who is charged in Manhattan federal court with illegally re-entering the United States after being deported in 2015.

Drug suspect and Mexican national Romero Ramirez-Macias, 38, reportedly remains at large after being released from local custody last year.

That request has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee of Brooklyn.
Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray on Tuesday accused the government of hiding the real picture of the economy and criticised its policy, saying it is on a mission of "beecho (sell) India".

The government is selling PSUs along with LIC, which are properties of the people and steps are being taken without inviting any suggestions from policy makers and employees unions, he said while participating in the debate on Motion of Thanks on President's address in Rajya Sabha.

Ray said his party has moved amendments seeking changes in the President's address to Parliament as it does not give the real picture of the economy.

"President's speech has not mentioned about the growth of the economy. It is the first time in the history that RBI has changed the growth forecast three times," he said.

According to him, in February it was 7.4 per cent for the previous fiscal, then it was changed to 7.2 per cent in April. It was further brought down to 6.4 per cent in November and finally 5 per cent in December.

"This has never happened in the history of RBI," said Ray adding that even IMF and World Bank have downgraded the growth rate.

Citing a report from OXFAM, Ray said that the combined total wealth of 63 Indian billionaires is higher than the total Union Budget of India for the fiscal year 2018-19 which was at Rs 24,42,200 crore.

Moreover, India's richest one per cent hold more than four-times the wealth held by 953 million people who make up for the bottom 70 per cent of the country's population, he said adding that inequality has grown in the country.

"The President has not said anything about this," he said adding that NSSO, the body, which use to come with datas, has been "silenced" the government.

Over the government's disinvest policy, Ray said that it is "selling everything".

Ray claimed that the LIC, which the government wants to list in the market, has lost Rs 30,000 crore just because it invested in loss making companies as Deccan Chronicle, Essar Shipping, Gammon, IL&FS, Bhushan Power, Videocon Industries, Alok Industries, Amtrak Auto, ABG Shipyard, Unitech, GVK Power and GTL etc.

"This was public's money," he said, adding that the money from insurance business fund and pension fund was also invested in these firm.

He alleged this government is on the mission of "beecho India" (sell).

Terming LIC as a "golden goose" of the nation, Ray said that steps are being taken without inviting suggestions from policy makers.

He alleged that the government is using the name of Mahatma Gandhi to hide its "camouflaged agenda of religious persecution and division" through CAA and NRC.

"They are using the name of Gandhiji, just to mask it.... A minister of this government is publicly asking to shoot the people," he alleged.

The government is using tools such as "section 144, lathi charge and tear gas" on the people protesting against it with Azadi slogans. This is to suppress the democratic protest without understating the meaning of Azadi.

"Preamble of the Constitution is being violated every day," he said adding, "You are dividing the country."



While participating in the debate, A Navaneethakrishnan (AIADMK) said the budget is focused on a policy to protect agriculture and farming community.

He added that 11 medical colleges were approved in 2019 by the central government for Tamil Nadu which would have a medical colleges almost in every district.

Navaneethakrishnan highlighted the issue of exemption to oil and gas firms from environmental clearance in hydrocarbon exploration in Cauvery delta saying that it may impact the ecological balance.
Craig Holly was determined to fight when the home health agency caring for his wife decided to cut off services Jan. 18.

The reason he was given by an agency nurse? His wife was disabled but stable, and Medicare was changing its payment system for home health.

Euphrosyne "Effie" Costas-Holly, 67, has advanced multiple sclerosis. She can't walk or stand and relies on an overhead lift system to move from room to room in their house.

Effie wasn't receiving a lot of care: just two visits every week from aides who gave her a bath, and one visit every two weeks from a nurse who evaluated her and changed her suprapubic catheter, a device that drains urine from a tube inserted in the abdomen.

But even that little bit helped. Holly, 71, has a bad back and is responsible for his wife's needs 24/7. Her urologist didn't have a lift system in his office and had told the couple it was safer to have Effie's catheter changed regularly at home.

Holly wasn't sure what to do. Call his congressman and lodge a complaint? Write a letter to the director of the home health agency owned and operated by Hartford HealthCare Corp., one of the largest health care systems in Connecticut?

Things snapped into focus when Holly attended a late November presentation about Medicare's home health services by Kathleen Holt, associate director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy.

If you're told Medicare's home health benefits have changed, don't believe it: Coverage rules haven't been altered and people are still entitled to the same types of services, Holt told the group. (For a complete description of Medicare's home health benefit, click here.)

All that has changed is how Medicare pays agencies under a new system known as the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM). This system applies to home health services for older adults with original Medicare. Managed-care-style Medicare Advantage plans, which serve about one-third of Medicare beneficiaries, have their own rules.

Under PDGM, agencies are paid higher rates for patients who need complex nursing care and less for people with long-term chronic conditions who need physical, occupational or speech therapy.

Holly got lucky. When he reached out to Holt, she suggested points to bring up with the agency. Tell them your wife's urologist wasn't consulted about a possible discharge from home health, doesn't agree with this move and is willing to recertify Effie for ongoing home health services, Holt advised.

Within hours, the agency reversed its decision and said Effie's services would remain in place.

A Hartford HealthCare spokesman said he couldn't comment on the situation, citing privacy laws. "Our goal is to continue to provide the right care at the right place at the right time with the orders reflecting the specific treatment goals and medical needs of each patient," he wrote in an email.

"No patients have had services reduced as a result of Medicare's implementation of the PDGM program."

But therapists, home health agencies and association leaders say that patients across the country are being told they no longer qualify for certain services (such as vitamin B12 injections or suprapubic catheter changes) or that services have to be cut back or discontinued.

What should you do if this happens to you? Experts have several suggestions:

Get as much information as possible. If your agency says you no longer need services, ask your nurse or therapist what criteria you no longer meet, said Jason Falvey, a physical therapist and postdoctoral research fellow in the geriatrics division at Yale School of Medicine.

Does the agency think skilled services are no longer necessary and that a family member can now provide all needed care? Does it believe the person receiving care is no longer homebound? (To receive Medicare home health services, a person must be homebound and in need of intermittent skilled nursing or therapy services.)

"If the therapist or the agency says that Medicare doesn't cover a particular service any longer, that should raise red flags because Medicare hasn't changed its benefits or clinical criteria for home health coverage," Falvey said.

Enlist your doctor's help. Armed with this information, get in touch with the physician who ordered home health services for you.

"Your physician should be aware if you feel you're not getting the services you need," said Kara Gainer, director of regulatory affairs for the American Physical Therapy Association.

"Doctors should not be sitting on the sidelines; they should be advocating for their patients," said William Dombi, president of the National Association for Home Care and Hospice.

Take it up the chain of command. Meanwhile, let people at the home health agency know that you're contesting any decision to reduce or terminate services.

When someone begins home health services, an agency is required to give them a sheet, known as the "Patient Bill of Rights," with the names and phone numbers of people who can be contacted if difficulties arise. Contact the agency's clinical supervisor, who should be listed here.

"Call us and trigger a conversation," said Bud Langham, chief strategy and innovation officer at Encompass Health, which provides home health services to 45,000 patients in 33 states.

Also, contact the organization in your state that oversees home health agencies and let them know you believe your agency isn't following Medicare's rules, said Sharmila Sandhu, vice president of regulatory affairs for the American Occupational Therapy Association. This should be among the numbers listed on the bills of rights sheet.

Contact Medicare's ombudsman. Unlike nursing homes, home health agencies don't have designated long-term ombudsmen who represent patients' interests. But you can contact 1-800-Medicare and ask a representative to submit an inquiry or complaint to the general Medicare ombudsman, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said. The ombudsman is tasked with looking into disputes brought to its attention.

File an expedited appeal. If a home health agency plans to discontinue services altogether, staff are required to give you a "Notice of Medicare non-coverage" stating the date on which services will end, the reason for termination and how to file a "fast appeal." (This notice must be delivered at least two days before services are due to end.) You have to request an expedited appeal by noon of the day after you receive this notice.

A Medicare Quality Improvement Organization will handle the appeal, review your medical information and generally get back to you within three days. In the meantime, your home health agency is obligated to continue providing services.

Shop around. Multiple home health agencies operate in many areas. Some may be for-profit, others not-for-profit.

"All home health agencies are not alike" and if one agency isn't meeting your needs "consider shopping around," Dombi said. While this may not be possible in smaller towns or rural areas, in urban areas many choices are typically available.

Contact an advocate. The Center for Medicare Advocacy has been hearing from patients who are being given all kinds of misinformation related to Medicare's new home health payment system.

Among the things that patients have been told, mistakenly: "Medicare 'closed a loophole' as of Jan. 1 so your care will no longer be provided after mid-January," "Medicare will no longer pay for more than one home health aide per week," and "We aren't paid sufficiently to continue your care," said Judith Stein, the center's executive director.

Some agencies may not understand the changes that Medicare is implementing; confusion is widespread. Advocates such as the Center for Medicare Advocacy (contact them at here) or the Medicare Rights Center (national help line: 800-333-4114) can help you understand what's going on and potentially intervene on your behalf.

We're eager to hear from readers about questions you'd like answered, problems you've been having with your care and advice you need in dealing with the health care system. Visit khn.org/columnists to submit your requests or tips.
An artificial 'virus' that burrows through the walls of bacteria without being spotted by the immune system has been created to fight superbugs.

Antibiotic resistance is considered to be one of the biggest threats facing humanity, alongside climate change and terrorism.

Scientists have now tested a new approach to fighting the escalating public health crisis  taking inspiration from viruses.

Viruses are like 'solid cages' built from tiny blocks, with their shape determining their function.

Experts took the shape and used it as a 'scaffold' to place elements based on those already used in our immune systems to recognise pathogens.

Tests on cells in the laboratory  and on moths  showed the virus inflicted 'rapid and irreparable damage to bacteria'.

An artificial 'virus' has been created to burrow through the walls of bacteria and defeat infection, in a breakthrough which could help to tackle superbugs (stock image)

Researchers at the National Physical Laboratory in London said the breakthrough was 'extremely exciting'.

Dr Maxim Ryadnov and his team hope the new viruses could be tested on humans in three years.

Antibiotics kill bacteria or prevent them from spreading. They can generally be put into six groups  these include penicillins and cephalosporins.

WHAT IS ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE? Antibiotics have been doled out unnecessarily by GPs and hospital staff for decades, fueling once harmless bacteria to become superbugs. The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously warned if nothing is done the world is heading for a 'post-antibiotic' era. It claimed common infections, such as chlamydia, will become killers without immediate solutions to the growing crisis. Bacteria can become drug resistant when people take incorrect doses of antibiotics or if they are given out unnecessarily. Former chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies claimed in 2016 that the threat of antibiotic resistance is as severe as terrorism. Figures estimate that superbugs will kill 10 million people each year by 2050, with patients succumbing to once harmless bugs. Around 700,000 people already die yearly due to drug-resistant infections including tuberculosis (TB), HIV and malaria across the world. Concerns have repeatedly been raised that medicine will be taken back to the 'dark ages' if antibiotics are rendered ineffective in the coming years. In addition to existing drugs becoming less effective, there have only been one or two new antibiotics developed in the last 30 years. In September, the WHO warned antibiotics are 'running out' as a report found a 'serious lack' of new drugs in the development pipeline. Without antibiotics, C-sections, cancer treatments and hip replacements will become incredibly 'risky', it was said at the time. Advertisement

But the researchers explained that a normal antibiotic only has one 'target' on a bacterium.

This means that all that is needed for a bug to become resistant to it and render treatment ineffective is for it to change just one gene.

But the new research from Dr Ryadnov and his colleagues could provide a new weapon in the fight against superbugs.

Existing cells in the body, such as blood cells, are neutrally charged, whereas bacteria are negatively charged.

But the scientists developed the virus to be positively charged, allowing it to seek out the bacteria.

They then engineered the virus to be invisible to the body's own immune system so that it did not destroy it inadvertently. HOW IS IT INVISIBLE?

Dr Ryadnov told The Times: 'This means they are almost invisible to the body, like a phantom that is drawn to bacteria.'

In a paper in the journal ACS Nano, Dr Ryadnov and his team showed that their new virus inflicted 'rapid and irreparable damage to bacterial cells'.

Professor Sonia Contera, of Oxford University, said the research demonstrated the 'future of medicine'.

She told The Times: 'The paper describes a wonderful combination of skills: understanding of protein structure and the physics of protein assembly, biology of bacteria and viruses, computational simulations and characterisation techniques from physics and biology.'

'This work shows clearly the future of medicine, getting inspiration from the strategies produced by evolution to overcome a medical problem and engineering a new version of those strategies at the nanoscale using techniques and expertise across disciplines.'

Around 700,000 people already die yearly due to drug-resistant infections  but it is estimated this will dramatically increase in the next few decades.

Bacteria can become drug resistant when people take incorrect doses of antibiotics, or they are given out unnecessarily.

Figures estimate that superbugs will kill ten million people each year by 2050, with patients succumbing to once harmless bugs.
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Professor Ishaq Akintola

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has said that the arrest of suspected suicide bomber, Nathaniel Samuel, a Christian, after a failed attempt on Bishop David Oyedepos church in Kaduna state on Sunday February 2nd, has shown that there is a Christian version of Boko Haram.

In a statement released last night, MURIC president, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said the arrestof Nathaniel Samuel after attempting to bomb the Sabon Tasha branch of Living Faith church aka Winners chapel, made mockery of the rally organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on the same day.

According to Akintola, the rally was called to protest against the rising insecurity in the country but God works in wonderful ways as he exposed another plot by a fellow Christian to bomb a church on the same day that CAN called for the rally. 

Read the statement below

This arrest is the outcome of our prayers for Allah to expose all those who are behind the bombing of churches. We are not surprised that the suspect happens to be a Christian. We have said it on several occasions that there is a Christian version of Boko Haram. Christians bomb churches and the whole world blame Nigerian Muslims for the atrocity.

The arrest of Nathaniel Samuel for attempting to bomb this church is not a new development. Victor Moses was arrested on 1st March, 2016 for spying for Boko Haram bombers. He confessed that he carried out surveillance before the bombing of Madalla church in Abuja on 25th December, 2011. It must be noted that for every single arrest there must have been several successful crimes committed. There is no doubt that there are many other Christians warming up somewhere to bomb churches and lay the blame on Muslims.

We give kudos to the Kaduna Police Command for this feat. People blame the security agencies for no just cause sometimes. This arrest must have been the outcome of careful planning and prolonged surveillance. Those who handled the operation deserve promotion.

But the arrest of a Christian attempting to bomb a church makes mockery of the rally organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The rally was called ostensibly to protest against alleged rising insecurity in the country. But God works in wonderful ways. He exposed another plot by a fellow Christian to bomb a church on the same day that CAN called for the rally. The coincidence is equally divine and it gives the impression that the rally itself was nothing but a hocus pocus.

CAN would have exploded immediately in its usual self-righteousness if Nathaniel Samuel had succeeded in bombing the church yesterday. A world press conference would have been held this morning to blame the killing on Muslims. Also, there would have been screaming headlines in newspapers across the country : Boko Haram Bombs Church Again: Hundreds Killed! White House would have called Aso Rock: Why are you killing Christians? This scenario is becoming too ridiculous. It is turning our country into a bundle of contradictions. We say enough is enough. This hypocrisy in articulated religiousity must stop.

CAN nurses a false dogma of permanent insecurity, incompetence and persecution. But in reality, Nigeria today is much better than Nigeria in 2015 when the Buhari administration took over. Boko Haram that was controlling 17 local governments at that time has been reduced to a pack of hoodlums hitting and running.

Nigerian soldiers who were running and hiding from the insurgents before are now putting the latter on the run. The fact that Boko Haram tactics have diminished to guerrilla warfare cements our hypothesis of a debilitated insurgency. Ditto for kidnappings and armed robbery. There is a gross reduction in the spate of crime but groups like CAN feed fat on misinformation.

In a nutshell, MURIC calls on patriotic Nigerians to continue to pray for peace, political stability and economic prosperity. But above all, we call on the security agencies to step up their safety measures. Life is sacred and this country can only make progress in an atmosphere of security. Therefore, the security agencies must be alert to their responsibilities. We charge Nigerians to be extra-vigilant. Our enemies are in our midst.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2020) - The Mint Corporation (TSXV: MIT) ("Mint" or the "Company") announces that its subsidiaries, Mint Middle East LLC and Mint Gateway for Electronic Payments LLC (collectively "Mint UAE") have entered into a binding asset purchase agreement dated January 16, 2020 (the "Agreement") to divest its direct payroll disbursement service business through its payroll card portfolio in the United Arab Emirates ("UAE") (the "Transaction") to a leading payroll disbursement and card provider in the UAE (the "Buyer"), a party arm's length to the Company and Mint UAE. Mint UAE will remain focused on payment card processing and prepaid card products across multiple verticals including gift, prepaid, multi-currency and other industry segments excluding payroll cards.

Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, Mint UAE is entitled to receive aggregate net cash consideration of up to AED 102,750,000 (approximately C$36,600,000) (the "Purchase Price"), comprised of an initial payment of AED 82,750,000 (approximately C$29,500,000) (the "Initial Payment"), and a performance-based maximum additional cash payment of up to AED 20,000,000 (approximately C$7,100,000) based on the success of the migration of the card portfolio. Mint UAE has received the Initial Payment as a result of the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent to the Transaction, being the receipt of certain third-party consents and the completion by the Buyer of its diligence with respect to the business of Mint UAE.

The Agreement provides for a migration period of approximately nine months from the Closing Date and includes an obligation of Mint UAE to deliver a financial performance bank guarantee in connection with the Purchase Price and customary representations, warranties, indemnities and covenants typical for a transaction of this nature. In particular, the Agreement contains a three year non-compete clause specific to payroll card program manager business in the UAE by the Mint UAE companies, by Global Business Services for Multimedia ("GBS") the Company's principal shareholder and local UAE partner, and to Mr. Abdul Razzaq Al Abdullah in his personal capacity. GBS manages the operations of the Mint UAE companies pursuant to a management agreement with the Company which will continue subsequent to the completion of the Transaction.

The Transaction has received the consent of the holders of the Company's Series A debentures and is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange pursuant to Policy 5.3 of the TSX Venture Corporate Finance Manual. Trading in the Company's shares will remain halted until the TSX Venture Exchange requirements to allow trading to resume are met. The Transaction may require approval of the shareholders of the Company.

Mint UAE has been consciously investing in digital solutions with aspirations to create a central omni-channel Digital Banking Platform to orchestrate customer interactions across multiple touchpoints. Mint UAE has been developing various services of the Platform including: digital on-boarding of customers, digital KYC (Know Your Customer), authentication, payment gateway solutions, and in-store digital solutions such as mPOS and virtual POS to unbanked merchants.

"Mint UAE's platform straddles the entire payment ecosystem of issuing, processing, payment gateway and merchant management services. This Transaction will enhance the financial position of the Company and complements the business strategy," states Vishy Karamadam, CEO of The Mint Corporation.

Mr. Abdulrazzaq Al Abdullah, representing GBS said: "What we are seeing in our time is unique - we are witnessing platformization. Globally, huge companies like Google and, Amazon have been winning because they don't merely provide products or services. Instead, they aggregate a range of products and services to create a digital-first platform that enriches people's lives. We are also witnessing consolidation of various financial institutions in the region. With time our business activities have grown immensely. Starting from being just a payroll service provider, we have become a multi-channel third party payment service provider offering issuing, acquiring and transaction processing services and continuing with the aggregation model to create a digital platform with a host of services. We would like to thank Mint UAE customers as this would not have been possible without their continued loyalty and support."

Forward-looking Statements.

Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking" statements. These statements relate to future events or our future performance and, in certain cases, can be identified by the use of words such as "estimated" "intends", "plans", "expects", "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases as statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "can", will", "might", "shall", "would" occur, or the negative forms of any of these words and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements include the closing of the Transaction and the anticipated timing thereof, and the satisfaction of the conditions to closing the Transaction including, without limitation: the compliance by the parties with the covenants contained in the Agreement, obtaining the required TSX Venture Exchange approval for the Transaction and shareholder approval, if required, for the Transaction. All such statements involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to vary from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, they should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and they will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, that the closing conditions to the Transaction, including regulatory and shareholder approvals, as applicable, completion of satisfactory due diligence by the Buyer, receipt of third-party consents, are not satisfied or waived (if applicable). Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of Mint believes are reasonable assumptions on the date of this news release, Mint cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from time-to-time in Mint's ongoing filings with the securities regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and Mint disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable securities laws.



NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES

ABOUT MINT

The Mint Corporation through its majority-owned subsidiaries (the "Mint Group"), is a globally certified payments company headquartered in Toronto, Canada with its primary business in Dubai, UAE. Through its mobile-enabled payments platform certified globally by Mastercard and UnionPay, Mint brings modern financial conveniences, at reasonable cost, to merchants and consumers.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release

The Mint Corporation

Vishy Karamadam, Chief Executive Officer

647-352-0666

www.themintcorp.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52103
Just when investors were beginning to come to terms with weak oil demand amidst a synchronized global economic slowdown, a deadly viral outbreak in the worlds most populous nation has put paid hopes for a quick recovery and placed the oil market in danger of a complete meltdown.

Asian jet fuel refining margins have now seen their biggest monthly fall in over 10 years.

Global demand for jet fuel is expected to take a big hit after a series of carriers suspended flights to China amid the marauding coronavirus that has so far claimed 362 lives and infected another 17,300 people across the globe.

Key international airlines that have cancelled or reduced flights to China include British Airways, Lufthansa, American Airlines, United Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Air Lines. Jet crack spreads -- a metric that measures the differential between an oil product and the crude from which it is derived -- have already narrowed against Brent crude amid expectations of lower demand.

Things could get a lot worse if more airlines follow suit.

Chinas foreign ministry has slammed the United States for setting a very bad example after Washington temporarily banned foreign nationals who have traveled to China within the past two weeks entry into the country. Australia, Japan, Italy, Russia, Pakistan and Singapore have announced similar restrictions.

Minding the Crack

Cracks, or refining margins, are trouncing oil right now. In January alone, the jet fuel crack for JETSGCKMc1 (the benchmark Singapore refining margin) plunged 34%--a rate that hasnt been witnessed since the spring of 2009, according to Refinitive Eikon data cited by Reuters.

Jet fuel crack spreads have narrowed considerably in anticipation of weak demand, with the Singapore jet/kero crack spread currently $8.88/b, down from $11.34/b as of January 20 as per Platts data. The Rotterdam jet/kero crack finished last week at $12.90/b, down from $14.17/b January 20 while the US Atlantic Coast jet crack finished the week at $12.68/b, down from $14.18/b January 17. As we explained in a previous article, crack spreads can be used to gauge demand with narrowing spreads a harbinger for weak demand. Related: Traders Scramble To Find Oil Buyers Amid Falling Chinese Demand

China is a major demand hub for jet fuel, with the IEA pegging Chinese jet/kerosene demand at 858,000 b/d in 2019, or 10.7% of global jet fuel demand of 8.01 million b/d.

One jet fuel trader has told S&P Platts that further flight cuts could prove to be a game changer in an already depressed market with S&P Platts estimating that a single flight to China carries around 80-90 metric tonnes of jet fuel.

The China situation has turned the oil outlook strongly bearish, with the European jet market already weighed down by weak demand due to seasonality. Platts Analytics has forecast a catastrophic drop in oil demand of 2.6 million b/d in February and 2 million b/d in March, in its worst-case scenario against global oil demand of 100.83 million b/d. A best-case sees demand dropping by 900,000 b/d in February and 650,000 b/d in March.

The viral outbreak could wreak even more havoc by slowing down the worlds second biggest economy. IHS Markit estimates that the epidemic could lead to a 1.1-percentage-point reduction in Chinese economic growth from its baseline forecast of 5.8 percent growth this year. IHS Markit has based its estimates on a benchmark crafted during the SARS outbreak in 2003.

Another bear market?

With the recent spate of poor earnings coming from the energy sector, it appears that oil stocks are doomed to remain in the doldrums a lot longer than we could have hoped for. ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) and Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX) have all reported disappointing Q4 earnings, setting the tone for another round of selloffs. The sectors favorite benchmark, XLE, is down 11.7% in the year-to-date.

Source: CNN Money

Related: Oil Falls Below $50 As Coronavirus Haunts Markets



As Nick Cunningham of OilPrice has reported, Wall Street and investors are rapidly cooling off on the sector and even juicy dividends are no longer enough to persuade them to stick around. Jim Cramer says fossil fuels are done and its only a matter of time before demand growth hits a plateau and finally reverses course.

S&P Platts is more sanguine, and expects the impact of the coronavirus to fizzle out by June-July.

As the lackluster response to a series of crises and high-profile incidents in the Middle East has shown, oil prices are now driven by demand-side indicators, and one of the biggest drivers is the Chinese economy, which now trumps anything that can happen in or regarding Iran.

Chinas growth forecasts are now being tweaked, and global stocks had lost $1.2 trillion in two weeks, as of the close on Friday--even if European markets have stabilized somewhat on sentiment that the virus isnt accelerating its spread on the continent.

But what Platts is sanguine about is what it sees at a one-off impact on jet fuel, and Wood MacKenzie agrees, seeing a recovery in the second half of 2020.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Authorities in North Macedonia have filed criminal charges against three Pakistanis and a Macedonian man for allegedly imprisoning a group of migrants and holding them to ransom, officials said Monday.

Charges filed

The prosecutors office said the men were believed to have behaved in a particularly degrading and cruel manner to the 12 migrants, including two minors, from India, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

They were allegedly detained for two weeks in October in a house in the countrys north. The four suspects were arrested last year but the arrests were announced Monday.

Read: Macedonia Imposes Urgent Measures Due To Severe Pollution

Read: Macedonian PM Resigns, Caretaker Government To Be Named

According to the prosecution, the suspects caused (the migrants) to lose their sense of time, gave them food only once a day and physically abused them. They also allegedly demanded money from their prisoners relatives in other European countries and threatened to kill the migrants when they asked to be freed.

One migrant managed to contact relatives who reported the case to Serbian authorities, who in turn informed police in North Macedonia, the prosecutors office said.

The three Pakistanis were arrested and are in custody pending trial. If convicted, they face up to eight years in prison. The Macedonian national, who owns the house where the migrants were allegedly being held, has also been charged and is under house arrest.

North Macedonia is a key stage on the route many migrants take through the Balkans towards prosperous European countries after illegally entering neighboring Greece  mostly on small smuggling boats from Turkey.

On the Greek island of Lesbos, where most of the boats arrive, migrants clashed with police Monday during a protest over severe overcrowding at the local Moria camp and delays in Greeces asylum procedure.

Riot police used tear gas to disperse several hundred protesters who had planned to march from the camp to the island capital of Mytilene, about 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) away. No arrests or injuries were reported.

Also Monday, police in Cyprus said they safely escorted to the coastal town of Larnaca a boat with 87 Syrian migrants that had left from the Turkish port of Mersin and was spotted by radar off island nations southeastern tip.

The 61 men, 10 women and 16 children were taken to a reception centre outside the capital Nicosia.

Read: Using Washing Machines For Clothes Can Increase Plastic Pollutants In Oceans

Read: France's Macron Aims To Improve Ties With Poland During Trip

(Graphic Credit: Pixabay)
Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg suggested to an audience in Manchester, New Hampshire Tuesday morning that he was primed to win that primary too.

After declaring victory in Iowa - despite there being no official caucus result - the 38-year-old presidential hopeful kicked off a full day of events in the Granite State, starting with a coffee stop in Nassua and a town hall in Manchester.

'I think it's morning,' he said to laughs at the Rex Theatre in downtown Manchester. 'I took a little nap somewhere between sun down and sun up and now we are excited to be with you as we enter into a week that will lead to a historic moment Tuesday night in the New Hampshire primary.'

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks at the Rex Theatre in Manchester, New Hampshire Tuesday morning - his first speech since proclaiming himself the victory of the Iowa caucuses Monday night

'I think it's morning,' the 38-year-old mayor said to the crowd, garnering laughs. He then suggested this week in New Hampshire will lead to 'a historic moment,' suggesting he was poised to win the Granite State

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg poses for a selfie with an attendee of his Manchester town hall Tuesday morning. Buttigieg has a packed scheduled in New Hampshire Tuesday, as he embraces the momentum from his self-proclaimed Iowa victory

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is trying to show he's the candidate with the momentum. He kicked off a whole day of events in New Hampshire with a stop at the Riverwalk cafe in Nassua

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg talks with Nashua Mayor Jim Donchess at the Riverwalk cafe Tuesday morning after claiming victory in the Iowa caucuses, despite no official tallies being released

Buttigieg, like many of his fellow Democrats, traveled overnight between Iowa, the state that holds the first caucus, and New Hampshire, which holds the first primary - a week from Tuesday.

Unlike the rest of the crop, Buttigieg boldly proclaimed victory at his Des Moines headquarters late Monday night before flying to the east coast.

'We don't know all of the results. But we do know that by the time it's all said and done, Iowa: you have shocked the nation,' Buttigieg told his crowd of supporters. 'Because by all indications we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.'

Buttigieg's announcement forced Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign to put out data from 40 per cent of caucus sites that they observed. Results from Sanders campaign representatives showed the Vermont senator ahead.

According to the Sanders' data, Sanders came in first place by all three measures Iowa Democrats will eventually release, while Buttigieg came in second across the board.

Sanders was leading Vice President Joe Biden by 3.7 points going into the Iowa caucuses, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average, while Buttigieg was averaging third place.

Buttigieg argued to Gayle King on CBS 'This Morning' Tuesday that his campaign had enough data to make the call.

'Well, I think it's safe to say no one in the country is more impatient than I am to hear the official results from the party, but we've also put out the results we've got from over 1,200 districts our precinct organization reported based on the procedure that they were trained to do,' the candidate explained. 'And based on that, it was a phenomenal night for us.'

King pressed Buttigieg on whether he should have said he was going to New Hampshire 'victorious' without seeing any results.

Buttigieg stood his ground.

'Well, we have the results from our organization and if you look at what we were able to do, what happened last night, the fact that this campaign was able to gather support in urban, suburban, and rural areas alike in counties that Hillary Clinton won, counties that Donald Trump won, we are thrilled and absolutely consider that a victory,' the 2020 hopeful answered.

At a caucus site DailyMail.com observed, Buttigieg attracted the most supporters on the first count - 35 - while Sanders got the second-most at 25 caucus-goers. Once Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer weren't viable at that particular site - as candidates needs to have 15 per cent of the caucus-goers support to earn delegates - Sen. Amy Klobuchar bumped up into second behind Buttigieg, leapfrogging Sanders.

The final count at the Norwalk, Iowa site was 55 votes for Buttigieg, 34 for Klobuchar and 32 for Sanders, which awarded Buttigieg three delegates and Klobuchar and Sanders two each.

On Tuesday morning, Buttigieg said his campaign was 'vindicated' by Iowa.

'It was vindicated in a big way last night when we had a chance to quiet those questions of whether we belong in this effort in the first place, building a coalition across so many different communities and types of counties and voters that saw that need for change,' Buttigieg said in Manchester.

'But now so much will depend on what the famously independent- thinking State of New Hampshire decides one week from today,' the former mayor added.
Floodwaters cover Port Arthur, Texas, on August 31, 2017, following Hurricane Harvey. Staff Sgt. Daniel J. Martinez took this photo from a South Carolina Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during rescue operations following the storm. Credit: Staff Sgt. Daniel J. Martinez, U.S. Air National Guard

Alleviating suffering more effectively in the wake of hurricanes may require a shift in relief strategies, says a new committee report by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

In the immediate aftermath, relief agencies rush in survival supplies like water, food, medicine, and blankets. But instead of prioritizing and maintaining the relief supply chains, a transition to restoring a place's normal supply infrastructure could help more people more quickly. That's the first recommendation from over 125 pages of case studies and analyses, issued by an eight-member National Academies committee that included Pinar Keskinocak, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the director of its Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems.

Hurricanes can kill many victims by drowning, and in their wake, mangled homes and roads, contaminated water, and shortages of everything compound suffering. Restoring supply lines, primarily of the private sector, would accelerate recovery, according to the report, but relief efforts can unintentionally conflict with that.

"Relief supply chains inevitably compete with regular supply chains, given limited resources, such as transportation. If the focus is primarily on pushing relief supply rather than restoring infrastructure and supply chains to normalcy, we may unwittingly delay recovery and prolong the aftermath," said Keskinocak, who is William W. George Chair and Professor in Georgia Tech's School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Researchers on the ground

In 2017, in the wakes of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, the last of which killed over 3,000 people, FEMA assigned the National Academies to make recommendations on improving relief response. Keskinocak and her colleagues traveled to the storm-damaged sites to collect information for their report.

"We spoke to stakeholders in affected areaslocal governments, businesses, health systems, and more. We learned about the impact of storms on their community, what their participation was in the response process, and what went well and not so well," Keskinocak said.

Challenges in the coordination of resource allocation, especially in logistics, have caused hindrances to recovery. This led to the report's other major recommendations.

"Areas where hurricanes may strike need to get a good understanding of how supply chains work under normal conditions along with their vulnerabilities, or weak links, so they can be proactive in strengthening supply," Keskinocak said.

Public-private collaboration

Disaster preparedness requires collaboration between government, relief agencies, and the private sector, all compiling and sharing this understanding together. All sectors would benefit from educational programs on supply chain dynamics and from sharing public-private partnership best practices.

"After a big storm strikes, it is typically not possible for any one entity to handle it all alone," Keskinocak said. "Organizations such as FEMA could play the role of a convener to ensure various organizations collaborate, coordinate, and share information well ahead of time and in the aftermath."

The report recommends increasing focus on preparedness over post-disaster response toward preparedness, as this could help alleviate situations in which FEMA marshals ample supplies but then finds that the supplies are not needed or cannot be effectively distributed to those in need.

"I have the utmost respect for what FEMA does because they have to work under the most difficult circumstances, and these conditions may put them into binds that are out of their control," Keskinocak said. "More preparedness on the ground could help get FEMA, local governments, private sector, and non-governmental relief agencies to achieve synergies for saving lives and alleviate suffering."

Explore further How to improve critical hurricane-related supply chains

More information: Strengthening Post-Hurricane Supply Chain Resilience, The National Academies Press (2020). Strengthening Post-Hurricane Supply Chain Resilience, The National Academies Press (2020). DOI: 10.17226/25490
Skyline Enterprises Logo

Skyline Construction Enterprises, Inc., announced today the acquisition of Seattle-based Unimark Construction Group LLC and its sister company Servicemark LLC, a major step in the commercial real estate and construction holding companys nationwide expansion plan. With this acquisition, the Skyline family of companies is able to offer growth and expansion opportunities throughout Seattle, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Skyline Enterprises holds a variety of commercial real estate and construction companies across the country that share similarities in their people-first business model including Bay Area based Skyline Construction Inc. and Skyline Capital Builders LLC, and Chicago based ACCEND Construction LLC. All companies operate as experts in their respective markets utilizing their own brand name and identity while sharing the collective resources of the firms SkyService Team, a group of subject matter experts in the fields of human resources, legal, finance, safety, branding, sales, IT & security.

We are honored to welcome the Unimark and Servicemark teams into our growing family of companies, said Jessica Carps, COO of Skyline Enterprises. Our firms have been partners for many years sharing clients and supporting each other in our individual markets. This acquisition marks the formalization of our partnership, and will allow us to enhance the services and geographic footprint offered to our clients, while leveraging talent and opportunities across our combined companies.

The companies share a natural alignment in core values and workplace culture. They believe strongly in a people-first mindset and position clients, partners and employees at the heart of the business. These clear similarities translate into the way the firms serve clients, conduct business operations, and value employees.

The Skyline structure offers Unimark and Servicemark many wonderful opportunities including scalable growth, succession planning and organizational support, said Chris Henderson, President of Unimark Construction. Most importantly, I am drawn to their Employee Stock Ownership Plan which rewards the hard work of the entire team through employee-ownership.

All day-to-day business operations and teams at Unimark and Servicemark will remain the same. Clients will continue to receive the same consistent, best in class experience they have always appreciated from the commercial interiors general contractor with revenues of $70 million annually. The acquisition affords Unimark and Servicemark the opportunity to capitalize on Seattles booming construction market and grow their business sustainably.

The model created by Skylines family of companies is unique to the commercial real estate and construction industry  giving the ability to provide a national vs. local offering but with a more personal feel then large, national construction companies because of its focus on people and local market brands. All companies remain 100% employee-owned through Skylines Employee Stock Ownership Plan and share operating processes, technology solutions and an innovation roadmap to create a seamless client experience. Skyline is poised for further expansion in the coming years as they look to grow into additional markets nationwide.

About Skyline Enterprises

Skyline Construction Enterprises, Inc. is a people-first organization that invests in commercial real estate and construction services firms. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, the firm owns subsidiaries in Chicago (ACCEND Construction LLC), Seattle (Unimark Construction LLC and Servicemark Construction LLC) and the Bay Area (Skyline Construction Inc., and Skyline Capital Builders LLC). Skyline is 100% employee owned and believes in building better outcomes every day. Skyline is a $550M company and is rapidly expanding, with the vision that transparency, technology and expertise can lead to better employees, expectations, experiences and ultimately, a better end product.

CONTACT

Ali Bedwell

Director of Brand Strategy

650-269-1474

abedwell@skylineenterprises.com
PLA air force dispatches 8 transport aircraft to support Wuhan's coronavirus fight

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 10:05, February 03, 2020

WUHAN, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Eight large transport aircraft dispatched by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force Sunday landed at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, delivering 795 military medical staff and 58 tonnes of supplies to help the city fight against the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Under the command of the Central Military Commission, the aircraft took off in the early hours of Sunday from a military airport and headed for the cities of Shenyang, Lanzhou, Guangzhou and Nanjing. Once loaded with the medical staff and supplies, the aircraft took off again and arrived in Wuhan between 8:55 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. successively.

It is the largest number of large transport aircraft dispatched by the PLA air force in non-combat military operations after its disaster relief efforts in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province and the 2010 Yushu earthquake in Qinghai Province.

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The campaign to limit single-use plastic bags in the wealthy island district is being spearheaded by the VeryNile youth campaign

Egypt's environment ministry has said that single-use plastic bags will be banned in the affluent Cairo district of Zamalek.

The ministry has teamed up with youth volunteer group VeryNile on a new initiative to limit the use of disposable plastic bags on the island, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

VeryNile organises clean-up campaigns in the Nile and works to raise awareness about environment protection.

"The shift to using environmentally friendly bags instead of plastic bags needs a change in the lifestyle and a change of habits in a positive way," Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad said.

The minister suggested a number of measures to curb the use of plastic, including the use of fabric bags for shopping, getting rid of straws, and using thermal coffee mugs instead of plastic ones. The ministry has launched a similar campaign in the Red Sea resort city of Hurghada.

The ministry's support for such youth initiatives comes in line with state efforts to support youth and work with them on the ground, the minister added.

With the help of 3,700 volunteers, VeryNile has removed 35 tonnes of plastic waste over the past year.

Fouad called on citizens to reduce their purchase and use of plastic bags and replace them with fabric bags.

The environment ministry launched an EU-funded initiative called Enough Plastic Bags in 2017 to eliminate the countrys dependency on plastic bags, due to their negative effects on the environment and the economy.

In April, the Red Sea became the first Egyptian governorate to ban single-use or disposable plastics.

Egypt consumes 12 billion plastic bags annually, the ministry has said.

The country's waste output is 16.2 million tons annually, with plastic making up 6 percent, according to the Egyptian Plastic Technology Centre.

Many other African counties have launched similar initiatives to end plastic bag usage; Rwanda imposed a complete ban on thin plastic bags in 2008, complete with stiff fines and even jail sentences for those caught violating the law.

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Assembly elections in the national capital have always been different to those elsewhere. This is because of New Delhis largely urban demography.

The 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election is not only being fought on issues such as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the sit-in at Shaheen Bagh, but also over air pollution, electricity, education, public transportation and prices of essential commodities.

In the last few months, the price of onion has sky-rocketed due to the shortage in produce following a late and erratic monsoon.

As the prices increased in late 2019, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) used the issue as a fodder to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre. AAP alleged that the Centre was not providing onions at a controlled price to Delhi and that a nexus between BJP and onion hoarders was the reason for the sharp increase in prices.

The BJP had hit back, claiming that the AAP government had cancelled an order of four truckloads of daily onion supply to the national capital.

Why were these two parties pointing fingers at each other? This was perhaps because the kitchen staple has the ability to change course of elections, or even dethrone governments. At least thats what happened in 1998  the last time BJP held power in the national capital.

The prices of onions were on a rise across the country. But peoples dismay became more apparent during Diwali. Chhagan Bhujbal, who was then with a Congress leader, sent a box of onions to then Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi saying, Diwali is a festival where you give something precious. This time, onions are very precious.

Joshi was forced to act and made onions available for Rs 15/kilogram to ration card holders. The onion otherwise were being sold for Rs 45/kg in Mumbai.

An India Today article from 1998 documents what comic Jaspal Bhatti did when the onion price touched Rs 65/kg in Chandigarh. One day, Bhatti arrived at a market along with black-cat commandos suggesting that purchasing a precious commodity like onions warranted such protection.

He also organised an onion-themed fashion show in the main shopping plaza in Chandigarhs Sector 17. While fashion models walked down the ramp, the comedian reportedly said that "politicians in power may ignore onions but not the onion beauties".

Steadily, the government became the subject of ridicule over high onion prices. With Legislative Assembly election round the corner, it started negatively impacting the BJP government in Delhi more.

While BJP was said to be facing anti-incumbency and with questions being raised about its performance, the soaring onion prices proved to be the last straw for many voters.

As the prospect of losing the Delhi election sunk it, BJPs leadership panicked. The party swung into action and decided to replace then chief minister Sahib Singh Verma, when it realised that his comment "in any case, poor people do not eat onions" may make matters worse.

With the state BJP unit split in two factions  those of Verma and former CM Madan Lal Khurana  Sushma Swaraj emerged as the consensus candidate.

Swaraj had served as a minister in the Haryana government and was then the Union minister for Information and Broadcasting and Telecommunications. Her stint as the union minister ended when she was asked by the party to take over as the Delhi chief minister.

In what was seen as a rescue mission for her party, Swarajs task was cut out. She was to salvage the situation for BJP with less than two months to go for the Assembly polls.

Swarajs attempts to set up Fair Price Shops and constant counters to rumours about scarcity of salt and other basic commodities, did not work. She reportedly made a promise of making onions available at Rs 5, which only led to questions over her governments credibility.

While the saffron party tried to put up a brave face publically, its leaders remained concerned about the depth of public anger. It was said to be so deep that Verma himself did not contest the election.

They may have also been reminded about how Indira Gandhi had benefitted in 1980 because of rising onion prices under Charan Singhs caretaker government at the Centre.

Congress leader Arvinder Singh Lovely, who was just 29-year-old back then, even coined a campaign jingle: Bijli, paani, aloo, pyaaz, sapnon mein aate hain aaj. (Power, water, potatoes and onions are available only in our dreams now).

But, perhaps only the result reflected the real discontent: BJPs tally fell from what was 49 in 1993 to just 15. Congress capitalised well to win 52 seats against 14 it had clinched in 1993.

Swarajs loss was Sheila Dikshits gain. Dikshit when on to lead the Congress government in the national capital for three consecutive tenures after that.




The refugee strapped himself under a British couriers van

A refugee boy was found strapped underneath a British couriers van in a desperate bid to flee war-torn Dafur for UK, reports Metro UK

The vans driver who said he stopped over at the Ibis Hotel Tunnel Sous la Manche, near Calais border on January 14 while on his way to Paris, said he began hearing a loud bang around 20 miles into the journey the next day. He however ignored it at first thinking it was the goods he was transporting.

The British driver told Metro;

About 25 miles later the banging happened again but it was so loud I thought somebody was in the back of the van.

I s*** myself. I heard bang, bang, bang, like someone was smashing in the back near my head. I absolutely floored it at 90mph and pulled in at the next petrol station.

I got out and saw this kid standing near the back door  he was shivering and scared. I couldnt believe it. He went to run off but I said Im not going to do anything. He was absolutely in shock. He was shaking.

Though the boy said he is 18, the driver believes the Sudanese kid who lost his family to the crisis in Dafur region of Sudan is 15.

The courier further disclosed that the refugee boy identified simply as Saudi said he sat under his van for hours while it was parked in the hotels car park, after seeing the UK registration plate.

The driver added;

He told me the French police had already beaten him up, there is quite a lot of violence in Calais, added Kyle, who has been a European courier for 12 years.

I could smell smoke on him, then he said hed been lighting fires every night because hed been sleeping rough in the woods.

He didnt know where he was but said hed crossed over at Libya, where he lost his passport. At that point he told me both his parents were dead.

I was just so shocked. What can you say to that? He said his country is finished after the civil war so he had to leave.



He later dropped Saudi in the centre of Calais, gave him 100 and left his contact details.

I told him I couldnt take him to England and wished him all the best.

Checking in on the Sudanese kid weeks later via Facebook, the courier was happy to learn that Saudi is now staying in a refugee hostel in Hayes, Hillingdon, west London.

A grateful message from Saudi read: Me now in UK thank you for your help I dont forget you [sic].
Proponents also claim there are robust safeguards in the assisted suicide legislation to protect patients, but it is clear these supposed safeguards are woefully inadequate.

Oregon does not monitor these statistics because the cause of death is never accurately reported. For example, if a patient with terminal lung cancer chooses to die by suicide, the cause of death is listed on the death certificate as lung cancer, not assisted suicide.

If that same patient got hit by a truck, the cause of death would be a motor vehicle accident, not the lung cancer.

If he decided to jump off a bridge, it would be correctly labeled as a suicide.

The bill mandates that the Virginia Board of Medicine not disclose evaluations of assisted suicide even though it is the standard to provide and promote accurate death certificates. If assisted suicide would be such a good thing, why shroud it in secrecy?

There is also a real slippery slope that we see worldwide. Although such legislation often limits euthanasia and assisted suicide to a last-resort option for a very small number of terminally ill people, some jurisdictions elsewhere now extend the practice to newborns, children, the mentally ill, and people with dementia.
Around 20 people were killed over the weekend in Burkina Faso when gunmen on motorcycles rode into a northwestern village and started shooting civilians.

By Devin Watkins

Burkina Fasos government said heavily-armed gunmen arrived in Lamdamol village in the northwestern Seno province late at night.

They began shooting civilians at random, killing 18 people and possibly more.

The regional governor said a newly-appointed chief nurse was among those killed in the attack. He added that security forces are still searching for the gunmen.

Violent region

Lamdamol village lies in the Sahel region, which has seen a sharp uptick in jihadist violence in recent months.

Islamist extremists have gained ground in the north of Burkina Faso and are pushing east.

This latest attack follows a similar one less than a week ago in which nearly 40 people were killed in a neighboring province.



Pope Francis recently appealed for an end to the violence in Burkina Faso, and for the promotion of interreligious dialogue and harmony.

Over 110 civilians have been killed in jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso already this year.

More French troops

The recent violence comes on the heels of Frances announcement that it would send 600 additional troops to the Sahel region to combat extremists.

The new deployments will bring the total number of French troops in the area to more than 5,000.

Over 4,000 people were killed in Africas restive Sahel region in the past year alone.
DES MOINES, Iowa  After a night of problems with the vote-counting process, results from the Iowa Democratic caucuses still werent in as of the early-morning hours of Tuesday.

The first-in-the-nation caucus was supposed to provide clarity to a crowded primary race, but instead questions lingered long into the night with little explanation. The Iowa Democratic Party said inconsistencies in reporting along with a new process for reporting delegate totals led to the colossal setbacks.

We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results, said Mandy McClure, Iowa Democratic Party communications director. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report. This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.

It was essentially a worst-case scenario for Democrats, some of whom have been campaigning for more than a year. Confusion bred even more confusion and with almost no information flow from the state party, it left thousands of reporters, consultants, activists and politicos with only speculation to go on.

As the clock struck midnight in Iowa, official results still hadnt come in. The lack of communication from the party only compounded problems. Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price didnt make any public comments until a 1 a.m. conference call with reporters.

At this point, the IDP is manually verifying all precinct results," Price said. "We expect to have numbers to report later today.

Price, who did not take questions from reporters, said he wanted to emphasize that outside interference was not the issue. He said the party was double-checking reported precinct results against paper tabulations.

That no winner was called Monday night robbed the Democratic presidential hopefuls of their moment in the spotlight. The Iowa caucus is often a make-or-break moment for candidates, but none of the candidates got their chance to shine or the momentum that comes with it.

Former Vice President Joe Bidens campaign was the first to call out the Iowa Democratic Party for its incompetence in handling the high-profile election, as well as the integrity of the results themselves.

We appreciate that you plan to brief the campaigns momentarily on these issues, and we plan to participate, wrote Dana Remus, general counsel for the Biden campaign. However, we believe that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are released. We look forward to hearing from you promptly.

A letter released by the Biden campaign addressed to Iowa Democratic Party chairperson Troy Price on results reporting issues: pic.twitter.com/m50Q9X6leV  KCRG (@KCRG) February 4, 2020

The reporting problems stemmed from a new process for the Democratic Party. The party created an app for reporting results, with a backup plan to use a phone-in system if that failed.

However, both failed, leading to no results as the as midnight came and went. Caucus precinct chairs were also required to log more information than usual, including raw vote totals, leading to further confusion.

Several of the candidates gave quasi-victory speeches as they rushed to board planes to New Hampshire, which holds its primary in one week.

South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg declared he won the state in a speech given shortly before midnight.

So we dont know all the results, but we know, by the time its all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation, Buttigieg said. Because by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign released partial internal results that showed him the victor, with Buttigieg a close second. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was a distant third.

Theres a very real possibility that Monday may have been the last time the Iowa caucus will be the vaunted first-in-the-nation contest it has been since 1972. Scrutiny on Iowas outsized influence has escalated in recent years, both for the arcane caucus system and the states lack of diversity.

David Yepsen, a former Des Moines Register chief politics reporter and host of Iowa Press, said Monday very well could be the death of the caucus.

This is a fiasco, Yepsen said. I think we've seen the end of the caucuses as a significant American political event. And maybe that's OK. Iowa Republicans had a problem with their count in 2012. Now this. If Iowa can't do this right, then perhaps it shouldn't be done at all. I imagine pressures will grow to have a primary  and let New Hampshire go back to being first. They don't have a problem with their ability to count.

The abject failure of the Democratic Party is also a significant victory for Republican President Donald Trump, who easily won the Iowa Republican caucuses on Monday. Instead of the national discussion focusing on who might face Trump in November, the conversation was focused on Democrats somehow losing an election in which only Democrats ran.

Brad Parscale, Trumps campaign manager, seized on the moment in a statement lambasting the party for its blunder.

Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history. It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process, Parscale said. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system? Tonight President Trump posted a record performance in the well-run GOP Iowa caucuses with record turnout for an incumbent.

Read more:

The Iowa caucuses are finally here: The Flyover

Nothing beats being on the ground for Iowa caucus campaigning

While others play it safe in Iowa, Elizabeth Warren says she wants to go big or go home

Joe Biden banks on being the most electable candidate in the Iowa caucuses

Pete Buttigieg is on the attack in Iowa
At the same time, the province was running out of medical facilities able to treat its residents, Syrian and international medical groups said. At least 53 health facilities suspended services in January due to insecurity, threats of attacks or the simple fact that entire areas have been deserted by civilians seeking refuge from violence and daily bombardments, the World Health Organization said in a statement.
The government has started implementing Budget announcements with Department of Financial Services (DFS) conveying the approval of the Centre to DICGC for raising the insurance cover on saving deposits to Rs 5 lakh per depositor, Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar said on Tuesday.

The move will help boost confidence of people in the banking system which has been shaken after a scam last year in Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC Bank) which affected lakhs of customers.

At present, bank depositors get an insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh on their amount by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) if a bank fails.

"Work has begun on Budget announcement. Department of Financial Services has given approval for raising deposit insurance cover from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. The change is being done after a gap of 27 years," Kumar said in a tweet.

Accordingly, he said, the banks will pay a premium of 12 paise against 10 paise per Rs 100 deposited.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on Saturday said a robust mechanism is in place to monitor the health of all scheduled commercial banks and that depositors' money is safe.

"Further, DICGC has been permitted to increase Deposit Insurance Coverage for a depositor, which is now Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per depositor," she had said.

DICGC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India, provides insurance cover on bank deposits.

The deposit insurance scheme covers all banks operating in India including private sector, cooperative and even branches of foreign banks. There are some exemptions like deposits of foreign governments, deposits of central/state governments and inter-bank deposits.

Deposit insurance was static at Rs 1 lakh since 1993.

The Raghuram Rajan Committee on Financial Sector Reforms 2009 had recommended strengthening the capacity of DICGC, a more explicit system of prompt, corrective action, and making deposit insurance premia more risk-based.
Jackson Carlaw is the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Eastwood

Across the United Kingdom, there is a palpable sense of a new chapter beginning. Finally, we have left the European Union. The conversation now moves on from whether, to how. Process is making way for substance.

Everywhere that is, but Scotland. Scraping around in the barrel last Friday, as she sought to squeeze out every last drop of grievance from Brexit as possible, First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, wheeled out yet another attempt to keep the country stuck in her own never-ending story: Why I wont stop demanding a referendum until I get the answer I want. There is to be a new constitutional convention. There is to be a fresh request to examine the question for an Independence Referendum. And civil servants whose time might be usefully served fixing the mess the SNP is making of our schools and hospitals will instead be tasked with coming up with imaginary plans for how an imaginary independent Scotland might one day try to function. It is a pathetic spectacle. The rest of the UK is moving on. Scotland appears stuck.

For those of us who live and work here, it is deeply frustrating. We seem trapped by a government that has given up any pretence of representing the majority and now spends most of its intellectual energy working out how best to keep its own nationalist project alive. But, little more than a year before the 2021 Holyrood elections, it also presents a massive opportunity for the Scottish Conservatives. We now have the chance to set out a very clear choice to people. They can opt for more of the same and another trip down Sturgeons nationalist cul-de-sac. Or they can shift Scotland from the rut that the SNP has put it in, so we can move on like everyone else. We have the chance to go to the electorate next year with a big positive message: you do not need to watch Scotland stay in limbo for another five years. Vote for us, and we can get the country moving  now. Vote for a new Minister for Health to focus on opening hospitals, not on independence. Vote for a new Minister for Transport to devote 100 per cent of his or her time building ferries to the islands, not independence. Vote for a First Minister who wants to create jobs, not break up the Union which guarantees our economic security. That is the message that will win us support over the coming year.

This points the way forward for our party over the coming year. There has been a vibrant debate in the party during the leadership election campaign about the need for us to be more than just the No to Indyref2 party. The truth is, of course, that we need to do both. We need to make clear that we are resolutely opposed to another referendum, and that we are prepared to defend the Union to the hilt. But we also need to set out what this position will deliver. Our support for the United Kingdom isnt just because of a flag or love of country. Its also because we recognise that remaining in the UK is the best way to get back onto the things that matter. So I wont just be asking Unionists to vote for the Scottish Conservatives next year. Ill be asking for votes from anyone in Scotland who wants to put hospitals first, schools first, public services first, decent jobs first.

And if I am elected leader of the party over the coming weeks, that message will go out the moment my feet get under the desk. We will set out fresh plans to restore Scottish Education to its former glory. We will champion a skills revolution for everyone, no matter their age. I am determined to offer a fresh economic plan for Scotland that get the nation growing again. Most of all, we will set out a new vision for cooperation, not conflict, with the rest of the UK. And our clear political point will be this. None of these things will be possible if we vote to put constitutional division first in our politics for another five years. They are only possible if people back change.

Spending 40 years as a Conservative in Scotland tends to give you quite a tough hide and a very wary relationship with optimism. We have seen far too many false dawns and disappointments to get ahead of ourselves. But I have never felt as positive as I am now about the potential for our party, both across the UK and here in Scotland. Its because the aspirations and priorities we hold  to end the division, to get back to what matters most  is in tune with a growing majority of people across the country. The SNP believe they are impregnable  just as we did back in the 80s when it felt like we would go on for ever and ever. But all political feet are made of clay, even nationalist ones.

Under my leadership, the Scottish Conservatives will be ready to take advantage of the times, to stand firm against further constitutional division, so we can set out a clear and positive agenda for Scotland powering ahead into the 2020s.

I say No to Indyref2  so that we can say yes to so much more.
A highly intelligent IT worker strangled his mother and bludgeoned her partner to death before setting off on a tour of Britain, a court heard yesterday.

The bodies of Dr Premm Monti, 51, and Robert Tully, 71, lay undiscovered for a week at her gated home in the village of Branston, Lincolnshire.

A jury was told that resentful son Andrei-Mihai Simion-Munteanu, 22, had killed them before driving Mr Tullys car to Salisbury, Wiltshire.

He then headed to Stonehenge and Tintagel Castle in Cornwall before driving north through Wales and into Scotland, where he was found after his mother had been reported missing.

The bodies of Dr Premm Monti, 51, (left) and Robert Tully, 71, (right) lay undiscovered for a week at her gated home in the village of Branston, Lincolnshire

Dr Monti, a former NHS governor, had failed to turn up for work at a psychiatric clinic, while efforts to trace Mr Tully also failed.

Police traced his Toyota Rav4 using automatic number plate recognition cameras to Aberdeen airport, where Simion-Munteanu was found lying down inside, Lincoln Crown Court heard.

Michael Auty, prosecuting, said: He was asked if he knew where his mother was. He replied that they should probably talk about this at a police station.

The defendant said if he told them where his mother was they would arrest him. PC Simon Madden asked why. The defendant then immediately volunteered that he had killed his mother.

The court heard that Dr Monti was reported missing from work in Dudley, West Midlands. Police there asked their counterparts in Lincolnshire to visit the doctors address but it was only when they returned three days later, after tracing her son, that the two bodies were discovered inside the unlocked bungalow.

After allegedly murdering his mother and her partner, Simion-Munteanu headed to Stonehenge and Tintagel Castle in Cornwall before driving north through Wales and into Scotland, where he was found after his mother had been reported missing (pictured, his alleged route)

The bodies of Dr Premm Monti and Robert Tully lay undiscovered for a week at her home in Branston, Lincs

Simion-Munteanu went on to confess in detail how he lured his mother into his bedroom and placed an oven glove over her mouth and strangled her on the night of July 28 last year, the jury was told.

In the morning when Mr Tully awoke and could not find his partner, the defendant told him to look in the kitchen then repeatedly hit the American over the head with a hammer, fracturing his skull.

The jury has been told that Simion-Munteanu admits the killings but denies murder.

The defendant had failed his final exams at Lincoln University, where he was studying for a degree in computer studies, and had been diagnosed with depression, having previously spent time in a psychiatric hospital in the US while working there.

His defence team say he is guilty of manslaughter through diminished responsibility, but jurors were told a psychiatrist instructed by the prosecution had concluded Simion-Munteanu had carried out the killings because he was angry and resentful towards his mother.

Dr Philip Joseph also found the defendant had a complete lack of empathy towards his victims, the court heard.

Simion-Munteanu, of Branston, denies two counts of murder. The trial continues.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A former Oberlin College & Conservatory professor fired after her anti-Semitic online posts drew international criticism has settled a discrimination lawsuit she filed against the college after her ouster.

The terms of the settlement reached by Joilynn Karega-Mason and the college are confidential. However, the settlement was noted on the docket Monday of the case Karega-Mason filed against Oberlin in November 2018.

Karega-Masons attorney Gary Benjamin said he and his client were happy the lawsuit was resolved. An Oberlin spokesman said the college had no comment.

Karega-Mason, who worked as an assistant professor of rhetoric and composition from December 2013 to November 2016, was fired after some pro-Israel organizations publicized some of her online statements.

She posted that Israel was behind the terrorist bombings on Sept. 11, 2001 and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014. She also wrote that the Islamic State was made up of U.S. and Israeli intelligence personnel and that they  not terrorists  had planned the 2015 attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris.

One post included an image of an ISIS fighter taking off a mask of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to posts preserved by the pro-Israel blog The Tower .

Oberlin and its then-President Marvin Krislov released statements in February 2016 that the professors posts represented her views alone. College trustees later posted a statement that her statements were abhorrent.

The issue sparked debates regarding Karega-Masons First Amendment rights. The college announced in August 2016 that Karega-Mason was placed on paid leave, and officials fired her three months later. It said in a statement at the time that Karega-Mason failed to meet the academic standards that Oberlin requires of its faculty and did not show intellectual honesty.

The professor said in her lawsuit, though, that Oberlin officials engaged in an unrelenting and pervasive conspiracy to terminate the employment of Plaintiff starting in March 2016. She sought more than $885,000.

Karega-Mason said university officials filed false charges of professional misconduct, solicited student complaints, tried to eliminate black people from having the authority to make decisions for the college and ignored racist language and discrimination committed by men and white women.

The lawsuit also said officials solicited professionals from throughout the U.S. in an effort to generate and manipulate adverse opinion(s) against her.

The suit added that the colleges Professional Conduct Review Committee found that none of her actions warranted being fired or suspended, yet Krislov and Oberlin trustees ignored the committees findings.

Read more:

Oberlin professor fired after anti-Semitic posts drew international criticism files discrimination lawsuit

Oberlin College professor who caused controversy with anti-Semitic statements will not teach

Oberlin College campus divided regarding professors anti-Semitic statements

Gibsons Bakery awarded more than $33 million in damages from Oberlin College; total awarded exceeds $40 million
Bernie Sanders in Iowa on February 2, 2020

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), a pro-Israel group, has launched a negative ad naming presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders.

The ad pursues an electability argument against Sanders, and it does not mention his criticisms of the Israeli occupation.

"He really does have a chance to win the nomination," said DMFI's president and CEO Mark Mellman.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A pro-Israel organization that describes itself as Democratic has come out with a negative ad campaign against Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders.

The political action committee of Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) launched a 30-second ad against Sanders in Iowa on Wednesday. DMFI is spending at least $800,000 for it, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission.

Sanders is not the only Jewish candidate in the race  Michael Bloomberg is also Jewish  but he is the only candidate that has vocally opposed the Israeli occupation.

Bloomberg, for his part, has said he is the only Jewish candidate "who doesn't want to turn America into a kibbutz," in apparent reference to rural, agrarian communities in Israel. Sanders lived in an Israeli kibbutz for several months in the 1960s, and some describe the kibbutzim as havens for socialism.

The ad, which is the first to name Sanders explicitly, does not mention Israel or Palestine. Its focus is on the allegation that he cannot win the election.

"I like Bernie," says one individual in the ad. "But in Michigan, Pennsylvania, [and] Iowa, they're just not going to vote for a socialist."

"I doubt if Bernie Sanders can beat Trump," says another.

Sanders leads all candidates in one-on-one matchups against President Donald Trump, leading him 52% to 43%, according to a recent SurveyUSA poll.

Joe Biden comes in second, beating Trump 50% to 43%, according to the poll.

Story continues

A recent poll from the left-leaning Data for Progress found that 47% the respondents would back Sanders  compared to 42% who'd back Trump  even when reminded Sanders is a socialist.

'He really does have a chance to win the nomination. And we thought that would be bad for Democrats'

Mark Mellman, the president and CEO of DMFI, told CNN that the pro-Israel establishment has recently reevaluated its understanding of Sanders.

"I think for many months now, the consensus has been that he really didn't have much of a chance at winning the nomination," said Mellman.

"We looked at the situation a couple of weeks ago and decided that assumption was no longer valid  that he really does have a chance to win the nomination," he added. "And we thought that would be bad for Democrats  and bad for the issues that we care about."

The organization receives financial support from the conservative American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) members, according to a report from The Intercept. Mellmann also serves as a consultant for AIPAC.

One national council member for AIPAC gave $995,000 to DMFI's PAC. Another AIPAC member gave $140,000. A third donor, who is not formally affiliated with AIPAC, gave $500,000 their partner sits on AIPAC's northwest regional board.

While DMFI's chief said he thought Sanders could win, the organization's director of communications said otherwise.

"We don't expect" him to win the nomination, Rachel Rosen told CNN.

On Monday, as Iowa turned out for the first caucus of the election cycle, Sanders held a seven-point lead against his Democratic rivals.

Read the original article on Insider
In Retrospect: News from the Jan. 13, 1922 and Jan. 12, 1972 Souderton Independent
Libya is producing about 204,000 bpd of crude oil at the moment, an unnamed source has told Bloomberg, as a blockade of the countrys export terminals and several fields enters its third week.

This is the lowest production level since 2011, when Libyas civil war began, and a drop from about 1.2-1.3 million bpd pumped before the blockade. Last month, the head of the National Oil Corporation warned that production could fall to zero if the blockade continues.

Forces affiliated with the Libyan National Army, itself affiliated with the eastern Libyan government that is fighting the UN-recognized one in Tripoli, seized Libyas oil exporting terminals in mid-January as well as several pipelines feeding oil from the nearby fields. This in turned prompted the shutdown of the fields, dealing a severe blow to Libyas production that was on its path to recovery after years of outages.

Following the blockade, NOC declared force majeure on oil exports with Sanalla warning that losses could reach $55 million daily. New outlets estimated lost barrels at between 500,000 and 800,000 daily. Yet the current production number, as revealed by the Bloomberg source, shows losses have exceeded 800,000 substantially, reaching 1 million bpd.

As of the end of January, the blockade had cost Libya some $560 million, Petroleum Economist reported last Friday, adding that NOCs Sanalla had once again appealed for help to Western powers. So far, however, help has come in verbal form only, the West unwilling to engage directly in Libya.

The blockade could continue for months, according to one analyst. There is...potential for the oil blockade to stretch on for months as both sides refuse to back down, Hamish Kinnear from Verisk Maplecroft told Forbes Scott Carpenter.

The LNA under General Khalifa Haftar, last year began a surprise offensive against the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord with the ambition to oust it and establish the control of the eastern government and get access to the oil money of Libya. The offense is ongoing, with peace talks failing miserably to produce any results.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-05 04:22:31|Editor: huaxia

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WARSAW, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Poland supports the NATO and EU aspirations of North Macedonia, Polish President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday following a meeting with North Macedonia's president here.

Duda said at a joint press conference that the visit of President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski took place at a very important time for the country.

"This is the time when North Macedonia is already, one can say, on the verge of joining NATO, which we expect not even in the next couple of months, but in the coming weeks," the Polish president was quoted as saying by Polish Press Agency.

"This is also the time when North Macedonia is applying to start accession negotiations with the European Union," he added.

Duda also said that during the meeting with Pendarovski, he had assured him of Poland's support of his country's aspirations, and it is especially important after Britain has left the bloc.

The last NATO member that needs to ratify the accession is Spain. Pendarovski said during his Warsaw visit that he expected Madrid will be ready to do so next month. Enditem
Accepting the dare given by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said BJP is ready to debate with the AAP chief over various issues and asked him to just name the venue and the time.

"Kejriwal ji asked us to declare our candidate for Chief Minister and said he is ready to debate. For this, there is no need to announce a Chief Minister face. He just needs to tell us time and place as people from BJP will come to debate," said Shah addressing a gathering at a roadshow in Moti Nagar.

"As far as the Chief Minister is concerned, our Chief Minister is the people of Delhi," he said.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal said that he is ready to participate in a debate if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declares a chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming assembly elections in the city by Wednesday afternoon.

"We are giving time till 1 pm tomorrow for the BJP to declare a chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections. If they declare a chief ministerial candidate by that time, I am ready to debate with that person," Kejriwal said in a press conference here.

He underlined the importance of debate in a democracy and targetted BJP for not declaring a chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming polls.

The people of Delhi want the BJP to declare a chief minister candidate for the city. If they do so, I am willing to participate in a debate with that person. Amit Shah is asking people to vote for the BJP so he can choose the chief minister," Kejriwal said.

Today, AAP also released its manifesto for the upcoming assembly polls, which are scheduled to be held on February 8. The counting of votes will take place on February 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
These days college affordability is a huge concern, and as a result, more students and their families are wary of applying to pricey private schools.

That is a mistake.

Yes, annual tuition and fees plus room and board at four-year, private universities is much higher  $49,870, on average  compared to public institutions  at $21,950  in the current academic year, according to the College Board.

However, about two-thirds of all full-time students receive aid, which can bring the sticker price significantly down.

Net price: Your net price is a college's tuition and fees minus grants, scholarships and education tax benefits, according to the College Board.

"If you are concerned about taking on too much debt, you are not alone," said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review's editor-in-chief and author of "The Best Value Colleges."

"But the truth is, there are many, many schools that are making college affordable," he said.

When it comes to offering aid, private schools typically have more money to spend, Franek said.

"That hefty sticker cost might be intimidating but find out the average cost that students and parents are actually paying," Franek said. "It could end up being less expensive than your local public college."

To that end, The Princeton Review ranked colleges by how much financial aid is awarded and how satisfied students are with their packages. The report is based on data collected from fall 2018 through summer 2019.

The top schools for financial aid are all private and have eye-popping list prices, including tuition, fees, room and board, yet their very generous aid packages make them surprisingly affordable.

Here are the colleges that made The Princeton Review's top 10:
An arrest warrant was issued for former South African president Jacob Zuma today after he failed to appear in court to face corruption charges.

Zuma, who is accused of taking bribes from French defence company Thales in the 1990s, claims to be too ill and is said to be in Cuba having treatment.

The 77-year-old, who resigned from office in February 2018, has made several attempts to have the case permanently dropped claiming it is politically motivated.

The National Prosecuting Authority requested the arrest warrant after Zuma failed to attend court and also demanded to see his medical records to back up his claims he is too sick.

Former South African president Jacob Zuma has sought to have the corruption case permanently dropped. He is pictured here in October after the court threw out his application

Jacob Zuma failed to appear in court today claiming he is undergoing medical treatment abroad. He addressed supporters outside in October when his application to have the charges dropped was refused by a High Court judge

State advocate Billy Downer told the Pietermaritzburg High Court that Zuma's team has said he will be out of the country for treatment until mid-March, local media reported.

The warrant does not come into effect until the case resumes on May 6.

Zuma's legal team asserted that the former president had two operations in early January before going abroad.

But the judge questioned a letter from a military hospital in the capital, Pretoria, explaining Zuma's absence, noting it had no date.

Zuma, whose past court appearances were marked by defiant speeches and singing and dancing for crowds of supporters, has faded into the background as his legal challenges to the corruption charges have faltered.

A court late last year dismissed Zuma's attempt to appeal a ruling in October that cleared the way for him to be prosecuted.

He is accused of receiving bribes from French arms manufacturer Thales through his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik, who was convicted of fraud and corruption in 2005.

Zuma denies charges of corruption, money laundering and racketeering related to the controversial 1999 arms deal when he was deputy president.

Zuma denies charges of corruption, money laundering and racketeering related to the controversial 1999 arms deal when he was deputy president

State advocate Billy Downer (pictured) told Pietermaritzburg High Court that Zuma's team has said he will be out of the country for treatment until mid-March

He has alleged his case was prejudiced by lengthy delays in bringing the matter to trial. He also has alleged political interference.

The charges were thrown out by prosecutors nearly a decade ago in a contentious decision that opened the way for Zuma to become president.

Prosecutors returned to the case after his rocky presidency.

Zuma, who took office in 2009, resigned in 2018 under pressure from the ruling African National Congress after widespread public outcry over separate allegations of mismanagement and corruption that severely affected state-owned companies.

The corruption is estimated to have cost South Africa billions of dollars.

South Africa and its economy, the most developed in sub-Saharan Africa, have continued to struggle to recover under Zuma's successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has apologized for the past mismanagement and vowed reforms that some critics have said are long in coming.

The scandals sparked outrage and have badly hurt the reputation of the ANC, which has ruled South Africa since the end of the harsh system of white minority rule known as apartheid in 1994.

The scandals also severely hurt investor confidence.
Just as mission planners thought it was out, the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) was recently pulled back into the Middle East.

The Air Force said the E-8C JSTARS aircraft had its sunset mission in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in October, but the aircraft -- capable of developing, detecting, locating and tracking moving targets on the ground -- was spotted back at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, on Jan. 16, according to Air Forces Central Command.

Its arrival came amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran just one week after the Jan. 8 Iranian ballistic missile strike on Al Asad Air Base in Iraq, which houses U.S. troops.

AFCENT noted the aircraft "provides commanders with vital intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to help maintain security and stability in the region" but did not say long it would remain in the region.

Since its return, JSTARS have conducted missions in support of Operation Sentinel Sentry and Spartan Shield, said Maj. Ashleigh Peck, spokeswoman for Al Udeid's 379th Air Expeditionary Wing. The operations are an effort to protect U.S. and allied interests in the Middle East.

"The aircraft flew 13 sorties, including 106 combat support flying hours in support of operations in the Arabian Gulf," Peck said in an email. "The posture of forces at Al Udeid Air Base may fluctuate based on operational requirements and regional threats."

Related: After 18 Years, JSTARS Surveillance Plane Is Coming Home from the Middle East

The aircraft began deploying to the Middle East in November 2001. Shortly after, service officials saw demand surge for the aircraft; as a result, the Air Force in 2002 assembled the first total force initiative wing, or "Team JSTARS," at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. The 16-aircraft fleet resides there.

The airborne command-and-control plane, a modified Boeing 707-300 series commercial airframe that can fly as high as 42,000 feet, is "extensively remanufactured and modified with the radar, communications, operations and control subsystems," including a prominent 27-foot bathtub-like radome under the fuselage, according to the Air Force.

While the E-8 will still fly into the mid-2020s, military officials have looked for alternative solutions to provide the same capabilities.

Proponents have pointed to the next-generation Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), an elite network that will fuse intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensor data from around the world, as being more sophisticated and more survivable, especially since it can't be shot down.

The service originally planned to buy 17 new JSTARS in coming years, but leaders officially put that recapitalization effort to bed in favor of the ABMS in the fiscal 2019 defense budget request.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated with comment from the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Read more: 2 Navy Jets Fly Like Drones in First-of-Its Kind Experiment
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 23:11:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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by Dana Halawi

BEIRUT, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The European Parliament, along with lawyers and political activists, has been recently working with the Lebanese new cabinet to start an investigation into the alleged stolen public funds in Lebanon.

These moves came after Nour al-Ayoubi, a member of Tripoli's Municipality Council, said in a notice in November 2019 that most of the money allocated by the European Union (EU) in 2004 for building a waste management factory in Tripoli, Lebanon's northern city, has disappeared and only a small and poorly operating factory was built.

Experts told Xinhua that al-Ayoubi's notice opened the door for more investigations into public money squandering practices by Lebanese politicians and officials.

The issue of alleged stolen public funds has been particularly highlighted in Lebanon following the transfer of billions of dollars by big depositors from Lebanese banks to European and Swiss banks amid Lebanon's nationwide protests since Oct. 17 of last year, causing a crisis of shortage in U.S. dollar in the country.

The Lebanese become increasingly curious at the identity of the people controlling big amounts of money, especially at a time when they keep complaining about the absence of basic services in Lebanon which is widely recognized to receive support from international donors over the past years.

Lebanese political activist Omar Harfouch told Xinhua that the first step to recuperate any stolen funds from Lebanon is to elect an independent judiciary body capable of acting in an independent manner without allowing any political intervention.

"We are currently pushing for this step to take place but then we should receive a mandate from Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab to follow up on this issue, which will allow us to freeze funds and assets of Lebanese officials and their families in Europe and Switzerland ahead of investigations," Harfouch said.

When he assumed responsibility as prime minister, Diab vowed to follow up seriously on the issue of alleged stolen public funds.

Firas Abi Younes, a lawyer of Houkoukiyoun Group, a group of Lebanese lawyers working on these cases with foreign lawyers in different European countries, praised the approach pursued by Harfouch which is "traditional and fast," but will not necessarily work since the ruling political class will not facilitate the process.

Abi Younes said that Houkoukiyoun is adopting a different approach for recuperating stolen money which is by cooperating with foreign agencies tasked with economic investigations in Switzerland and other European countries whose job is to investigate the money and assets owned by officials around the world.

"European systems have improved their legislations in a way that allows such official agencies to work on securing information about assets and funds of officials and politicians," Abi Younes explained, adding such a process gives a great hope for Lebanon to recuperate its lost money.
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Russian malign influence campaigns are targeting many Eastern European States. These campaigns include attempts to drive and capitalize on corruption, undermine free and fair elections, skirt the rule of law, stifle independent media, and manipulate energy markets.

The United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, is committed to supporting free societies wherever theyre under assault, said USAID Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick in a speech in Poland to the Community of Democracies. USAIDs Countering Malign Kremlin Influence Development Framework identifies areas where the U.S. can best support partner countries.

A primary goal is to strengthen the rule of law and democratic institutions by cultivating an independent civil society and promoting transparency and public accountability.

The Kremlin often seeks to drive divisions and foment uncertainty and instability throughout Eastern Europe. Rather than leave [these countries] in peace, the Kremlin pumps propaganda into their political discourse, said Deputy Administrator Glick. Thousands of Kremlin-paid teams known as trolls flood social media platforms and peddle content designed to create confusion, distrust, and cynicism about democratic and Western institutions.

USAIDs programs, said Administrator Glick, seek to cultivate attitudes, institutions, and practices that create a strong foundation for democracy. This includes encouraging political party development by engaging women and youth participation in the political process.

With regard to independent media, USAID programs help countries resist Russias manipulation of their information sources by helping news outlets provide unbiased coverage.

On the energy front, USAID is helping its European partners diversify the sources of their electricity, improve energy transmission networks, and develop energy markets that are integrated with neighboring countries.

At the same time, USAID supports the democratic aspirations of the Russian people. USAID believes that strong democracies and prosperous economies in Europe and Eurasia can light the way for them. These nations can demonstrate that democracy works. They can exemplify that democracy is the answer to Russias growing socio-economic challenges.

In the past, U.S. assistance helped countries like Poland and the Baltic republics embark upon a democratic path. They have now reaped the rewards of economic growth and membership in NATO and the EU.

As former President Ronald Reagan noted, while democracy is not a fragile flower. . .it does need cultivating. USAID is committed to doing just that.
The central government is reportedly working on a new law to safeguard foreign investment. Although the budget speech of the finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, was silent on this, it is widely believed that the purpose of the proposed law is two-fold. First, offering legal protection to foreign investors from abrupt policy changes. Second, keeping in mind the slowness of the Indian legal system, to provide speedier dispute resolution. Overall, the expectation is that the new law will help in attracting more foreign capital to boost the stuttering economic growth.

The fact that a law of this nature is being contemplated is an admission that foreign investors in India are subjected to abrupt policy changes, which exposes them to high regulatory risks and sours the overall investment climate. For instance, the sudden changes in the foreign direct investment (FDI) rules in 2019 pertaining to e-commerce adversely impacted Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart. Such hasty policy changes are common in the states. After sweeping to power in Andhra Pradesh last year, Jaganmohan Reddy government cancelling or putting on hold several projects involving foreign investors is a case in point.

The roots of this proposed law lie in Indias experience with bilateral investment treaties (BITs)  treaties signed between two States for the protection of foreign investment in each others territory. BITs provides foreign investors the right to directly bring claims challenging the host States sovereign action that breach treaty obligations before international arbitration tribunals. This is known as investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS). In the last few years, more than 20 ISDS claims have been brought against India by different foreign investors challenging a wide gamut of actions such as the imposition of taxes retrospectively, cancellation of spectrum licences and withdrawing tax concessions. Flustered by these claims, in disregard to international law, India started unilaterally terminating BITs and viewing ISDS with scepticism.

Against this backdrop, it is believed that the new proposed law, by offering an expeditious remedy to foreign investors domestically, would make ISDS redundant. However, this argument is flawed for various reasons. First, domestic laws and domestic remedies cannot substitute remedies under international law. A sovereign Act may be legal under domestic law and yet illegal under international law. For example, a law passed by the Indian Parliament imposing taxes retrospectively may be constitutionally valid domestically, and still breach Indias obligations under BITs as part of international law. Moreover, a domestic law can be changed whenever the State wishes. Thus it can never provide the kind of security to foreign investment that international law can do.

Second, it is unclear whether the law will allow foreign investors to challenge all sovereign acts of the State, as it happens under ISDS, or will it be limited to disputes pertaining to contracts, licences or such private law matters. If it were the latter, it would restrict the kind of disputes for which foreign investors can get remedy.

Third, the objective of speedy resolution of disputes to boost investor sentiment, while accomplishing political optics, does not cut much ice. A similar justification was offered when the Commercial Courts Act was enacted in 2015. However, the implementation of the law has been erratic, adversely impacting its effectiveness.

Fourth, while the judiciary in India is independent, a disturbing trend discernible is that when confronted by a powerful executive displaying autocratic tendencies, the judiciary tends not to assert. One witnessed this during Indira Gandhis Emergency rule and traces of the same are evident in the last few years. Thus, foreign investors would prefer international arbitration under ISDS to the Indian judiciary.

Fifth, the real cause of several disputes with foreign investors in India is bad governance such as cancelling licences without following due process or arbitrarily putting projects on hold. Thus, the need is to improve overall levels of governance, and to invest massively in capacity-building of different organs of the State to enable them internalise Indias obligations under BITs.

India is a dualist nation when it comes to international law i.e. treaties are not binding domestically (on courts, state governments etc) till the treaty is incorporated into domestic law usually through enabling legislation. If the proposed law aims to incorporate Indias BIT obligations under domestic law, it would be a welcome development. However, if the proposed law intends to replace protection to foreign investors under BITs and ISDS, it would be a regressive step. India should not shy away from being held accountable under international law for its sovereign actions. Instead, it should work with other countries to reform and improve the ISDS system globally.

Prabhash Ranjan is senior assistant professor of law at South Asian Universitys faculty of legal studies

The views expressed are personal
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday asked the police to properly investigate the shocking incident of a woman being set ablaze by a stalker in Wardha district and build a watertight case to ensure the accused is convicted.

A statement from the Chief Minister's Office quoted Thackeray as saying that the victim, a college teacher whose condition is stated to be "very critical", will be provided treatment from the CM's Medical Assistance Fund.

Thackeray has taken serious cognisance of the brutal crime, which took place on Monday in the Hinganghat area of Wardha district, the statement said.

He directed the police to investigate the case properly and ensure the accused gets stringent punishment, it added.

The woman, Ankita Pisudde (25), was set ablaze allegedly by the accused, Vikesh Nagrale (27), while she was on her way to the college where she taught.

She was initially rushed to a nearby primary health centre from where she was shifted to Nagpur-based Orange City Hospital and Research Centre, where doctors said her condition was "very critical".

The shocking incident is said to be a fallout of unrequited love.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Staten Island charter school is expanding to become a kindergarten through 12th-grade school for the 2020-2021 school year.

John W. Lavelle Preparatory Charter School, Bloomfield, is adding three grades in September -- kindergarten, first and second. The school currently serves students in third to 12th grade.

We are happy to be responding to the request from many of our parents to serve the younger siblings of our students, said Dr. Kenneth Byalin, president of Integrated Charter Schools, an education corporation that operates the school. "Our elementary staff is quite excited as well. Integration Charter Schools [ICS] is extremely proud of our growth and success in serving Staten Island students and their families over the past decade, and we look forward to more opportunities as we continue to grow.

According to Erin Celletti, director of communications for ICS, elementary school grades (kindergarten through fifth grade) will be located in one of the new floors in Corporate Commons 3 at The Teleport in Bloomfield, as long as construction goes as planned.

It was always our intention to be a K-12 school, said Celletti. Once our initial charter was extended to serve elementary grades, we made the decision to begin with grades 3-5 and then work backward with enrollment.

Students in grades six through 12 will remain in Corporate Commons 1 and Corporate Commons 2, Celletti explained.

Lavelle Preps mission is to provide a rigorous college preparatory education that equips and empowers students to go to college and succeed in life. It has been serving students and families since 2009 -- growing from an inaugural class of 75 students to more than 730 students in grades 3-12 for the 2019-2020 academic year.

It welcomes all students, including those living with emotional challenges. The school serves general education and special education students in an integrated setting, allowing each student to develop academic skills, emotional fluency, and confidence required to be successful students and open-minded leaders.

We are so excited now to be offering to add K-2 to our family now as well, said Celletti. We will now truly be able to serve students and their families from the beginning of their primary education to high school graduation.

Staten Island will be home to eight operating charter schools by September 2020.

The borough previously had four operating charter schools, until two new charter schools opened their doors on Staten Island for the first time for the 2019-2020 school year. An additional two charter schools are expected to open for the 2020-2021 school year.

Charter schools are independent public schools founded by non-profit boards of trustees. They operate under a contract of up to five years and are open to all New York City students. Many charter schools have unique educational approaches that could include longer school days, a longer school year or themed programs.

Enrollment for Lavelle is done through a lottery system. Families can apply for Lavelle Prep through the Common Online Charter School Application for the 2020-2021 school year. The application allows families across the five boroughs to apply, through a single application, to 228 different charter school sites in New York City.

Last year, New World Preparatory Charter School, Port Richmond, announced its plans to expand to become a kindergarten through eighth-grade school. In September, it added kindergarten and first grade. By 2021, the transition to include kindergarten through eighth grade will be complete.

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London: The brother of Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi went on trial in London on Tuesday, accused of helping him plot the attack that killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert.

The blast on May 22, 2017 happened in a busy foyer of the venue in northwest England packed with men, women and children, and also injured more than 200 others.

Opening the case at the Old Bailey in London, England's central criminal court, prosecutor Duncan Penny said Hashem Abedi was equally as responsible for the attack as his brother who carried it out.

"The prosecution's case is that this defendant is just as guilty of the murder of the 22 people killed as was his brother," he told the jury.

"He is equally guilty of the attempted murder of many others and in doing so he was guilty of agreeing with his brother to cause an explosion or explosions of a nature likely to endanger life."

The court heard the attack was the result of months of planning, experimentation and preparation by the brothers.

Hashem Abedi, now 22, allegedly obtained chemicals for a home-made bomb and got metal containers in order to construct it.

He also found an address in Manchester to manufacture the explosive and store it and to have bought screws and nails for shrapnel, the court was told.

He also purchased a car to store bomb-making equipment, it was alleged.

"The bomb which was detonated was self-evidently designed to kill and maim as many people as possible," said Penny.

"It was packed with lethal shrapnel and it was detonated in the middle of a crowd in a very public area -- the intention being to kill and to inflict maximum damage."

The lawyer added: "Such was the ferocity of this explosion that Salman Abedi was dismembered in the process.

"The scene that met the survivors and those that attended thereafter was one of destruction and chaos."

The court heard the Abedi family lived in south Manchester but the brothers' parents returned to their native Libya in 2016.

Hashem Abedi denies 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and conspiring to cause explosions. The case is expected to last for up to eight weeks.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that flights could be re-routed for coronavirus screening.

That could affect travelers who have not been to China, if someone on their flight has been in China.

Homeland Security also warned that travelers who show symptoms should be prepared for the possibility of prolonged delay to avoid spreading the infection.

We realize this could provide added stress and prolong travel times for some individuals, however public health and security experts agree these measures are necessary to contain the virus.

Airlines and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will work to identify passengers who have been to China.

Americans flying to the United States from China will be re-routed to certain airports at no cost to the traveler, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Airlines are identifying some travelers that have been to China recently based on information they have on their past itineraries and have also begun asking travelers during the pre-departure Q&A process at the airport if they have been to China in the last 14 days.

Airlines are recommending that travelers flying internationally allow extra time at the airport for check-in.

Officials are adding four more airports to the list designated to receive flights with U.S. citizens who have been in China in the last 14 days, in addition to Atlanta, New York JFK, Chicago OHare, San Francisco, Seattle-Tacoma, Honolulu and Los Angeles.

Dallas, Detroit, Newark and Washington Dulles will now also receive flights with passengers from China.

Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines has suspended flights to China.

U.S. citizens who have been in Hubei province in the last 14 days will be required to undergo 14 days of quarantine.

Others who have traveled elsewhere in mainland China in the last two weeks will be screened and undergo up to 14 days of monitored self-quarantine, according to federal officials.

President Donald Trump also signed an order to temporarily bar entry to the U.S. of foreign nationals who pose a risk of transmitting the disease. It will apply to foreign nationals who have traveled in China within the last 14 days, unless they are immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

Delta said passengers traveling to the U.S. from any country  not just China  are subject to the travel restrictions.

Those who have been in China within the past two weeks and are flying internationally should check with the government of the country they plan to visit and the International Air Transport Association

Hartsfield-Jackson issued a statement Saturday saying some passengers who may have connected through the affected region could be diverted to Atlanta.

The airport also said some employees throughout Hartsfield-Jackson may choose to wear protective masks, but it is not mandatory.

The CDC plans to conduct health screenings to detect travelers entering the United States with fever, cough or difficulty breathing.

Hartsfield-Jackson has quarantine facilities in the international terminal.

The Defense Department said military facilities in Fort Carson, Colorado; Lackland Air Force Base, Texas; and Travis Air Force Base and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California could be used to accommodate 1,000 people who may have to be quarantined, the Associated Press reported.



Kelly Yamanouchi of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote this story.

2020 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.)

Visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.) at www.ajc.com

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Thousands of Lagosians groaned to their places of work and business on Monday morning following the decision of the state government to ban the operation of commercial motorcycles (popularly known as Okada) and tricycles (also known as Keke) on major roads and highways.

Several commuters trekked more than a kilometre to get to their nearest bus stop and joined other people on long, winding queues waiting for the next available bus.

I have trekked from my bus stop down to where I got a vehicle, I spent an hour trekking because the distance is far to the nearest bus stop where I usually take bike (Okada), said a digital marketer at Ikeja who identified herself simply as Miss Oyinlola.

On Mondays, I get to my office 9 a.m., but today I am still on my way by 10 a.m. We need other alternatives, not a ban policy. I work at GRA Ikeja, the route is not trekkable from Ikeja underbridge.

Hard-hitting law

Last week, the Lagos government announced the restriction of the operation of commercial motorcycles and tricycles in 15 local governments and local council development areas across the state.

The enforcement began on Saturday, February 1.

But the weight of the ban became evident two days later, on the first working day of the week.

The masses were not considered, people who do not have cars are really suffering from this situation, Ms Oyinlola said.

Basit Olanrewaju, a student of Lagos State Polytechnic in Oshodi-Isolo, said he found it difficult to get to school.

I have a class for 8 a.m., I am still on my way. The situation is bad, a lot of people are trekking there are no bike and tricycle at bus stop. The walking distance is stressful, the government should lift the ban this is becoming more difficult for the citizens.

A commuter, who identified himself simply as Mr Paul, lamented about his difficulty in getting to his place of business early.

I have been trekking for the past 20 minutes because there is no bike, if there is bike this will ease up the traffic, said Mr Paul, a trader at Oshodi.

If government is concerned about the citizens, the okada riders should be cautioned on how they drive for the benefit of the masses and not for them to be left unemployed.

Endurance Philip, a salesperson, was among those stranded at a bus stop in Oshodi. She said the government ought to have provided more buses to cushion the effect of the ban

Places you are supposed to be at a particular time you are not there because you are stranded, she said.

Oshodi Agege road many road users are stranded.

The government is not considerate at all, the ban has cost many people their jobs. We need more buses not a total ban and this make the economy more difficult on people.

Some of the commuters, however, lauded the governments decision, saying it would help bring sanity to the roads

Adeyemi Seun, a clergyman,described the ban as a good policy.

Movement of the people is not dependent on bikes. We cannot continue to risk lives because there is no alternative to vehicles on highways, he said.

The means of transportation that have been banned are unsafe.

At Ikeja, commercial tricycle operators pleaded with the government to rescind its decision.

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An operator at the Computer Village, who identified himself as Dupetie, said he would find it difficult to feed his family.

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I convey people from Ojota to Ikeja but we have been asked to stop working, Mr Dupetie said.

It is difficult to feed our families, a lot of motorcycles and tricycle drivers have been arrested. What are we supposed to do? A lot of poor masses ride motorcycles to provide for their families because we cannot steal, we are all frustrated by this new ban policy in the state.

Commmuter are still trekking at 9am to thier destination in lagos.

Mr Samuel, another tricycle driver, said he had been driving for 16 years.

I sent my children to the university with the money I make from the business, many people have been arrested among us and lots of money have been collected from them to get back their tricycle.

Government never had a discussion or provide an alternative for us before it was banned. We are not happy, so are the commuters. A lot of them are stranded trying to get to their office and many are still on their way at 10 a.m. on Monday morning. Opebi cost N100 from Ikeja, now bus owners are collecting N200 from people.
Youre no doubt by now researching flights to Ireland as you anxiously await your offer letter from a remote coffee shop. That pastoral life cant come fast enough, but nothing about the pastoral is fast, so you wait. But while youre sitting there flipping between Kayak and Priceline looking for the cheapest fares, might I suggest a quick layover at the Dublin Airport? Sure its on the complete other side of the island and the Cork Airport is the obvious choice, but does it have a brand new 3fe cafe? No? Because the Dublin Airport sure does (or at least it will soon enough).

As reported by the Irish Times, the Dublin-based coffee company will be putting a cafe in Terminal 2 of the Dublin Airport, with an expected opening some time in early 2021. Per the article, 3fe co-owner Colin Harmon began the process last year of potentially opening an airport outpost but it was not until recently that his proposal was accepted. To bring the cafe to life, Harmon will be working with airport catering company SSP, who had originally approached him about the potential project.

Since the day we opened on Middle Abbey Street, over 10 years ago, weve been constantly asked by customers to open a coffee offering in the airport, but until now it hasnt been possible, [Harmon] says. We see the opportunity to provide a speciality coffee offering [there] as some of the most important work we will ever do.

Per the Irish Times, the Dublin Airport may just be the launch point for 3fe becoming a global entity. Though still very much tentative, the brand has plans to roll out further offerings at Dublin Airport and other travel hubs both nationally and internationally in the coming years.

Though still a relative rarity, good airpot coffee isnt the mythical unicorn it once was. Theres a Stumptown in Portland International, a Caffe Vita at SeaTac, a Cartel Coffee Lab at the Phoenix Sky Harbor, and internationally, a Johan & Nystrom at the Stockholm Arlanda Airport. 3fe is the latest entry to the list, and it is one that we hope continues to grow. Because lets be honest, well drink airplane coffee if we absolutely have to, but it sure would be nice if we didnt.

Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
T here is a drawing midway through the Royal Academys new Picasso and Paper exhibition showing the artist as a Minotaur. The information panel next to this violent image says Picasso was fascinated with the half-man, half-bull monster from Greek mythology, and its ability to overpower others.

The figures being ravaged by the beast represent the women in Picassos life: Olga Khokhlova, Marie-Therese Walter and Dora Maar. But the exhibition stops short of going into any gory detail about their fates. It breezily moves on to praise Picassos artistic genius, which is undeniable. He was so talented that how he behaved in the rest of his life paled into the margins, as an inconvenient truth at most. There are albeit less dramatic parallels with those ennervating colleagues we have all had who are so good at their jobs that they get away with being cruel and manipulative.

If you want to know more about these women, watch comedian Hannah Gadsbys Nanette. She argues Picasso should be cancelled because no art, no matter how great, can justify abuse or misogyny. Picasso cheated on Olga Khokhlova with Marie-Therese Walter when Walter was 17 and he was 45. He proceeded to two-time Walter with Dora Maar, who he once beat unconscious. There are plenty more examples. No wonder in some of his self-portraits Picasso looks disgusted with himself.

Picasso and Paper shows the childish delight the artist took in the female body, and his fascination with brothels. Some of the works here are masterpieces, others are just a bit embarrassing, showing him to be an old letch, as Lucian Freuds wife Lady Caroline Blackwood called him. She should know  Freud had 14 children (that we know of) by six women.

The Picasso and Paper exhibition / Daniel Hambury/@stellapicsltd

But once you start judging art by the person who made it, you can tie yourself in knots. So much is tainted. Caravaggio? Murderer. Benjamin Britten? Obsessed with young boys. And Ignition by R Kelly has quite rightly gone from being a playlist staple to a song guaranteed to empty a dancefloor, because of the sexual abuse allegations.

In Picassos case it is less clear cut. I dont think it benefits anyone to simply stop looking at the images. What we should do instead is see them in context, which the Royal Academy exhibition only hints at. Its not as reductive as judge the work, not the man  rather, appreciate the work, consider how many people it has inspired, and at the same time dont put the man on the pedestal. We are intelligent enough to simultaneously enjoy a work of art and know the person who created it was flawed. Anything less sees us falling victim to a cult of purity. As Mary Beards BBC Two show The Shock of the Nude says, paintings of women have long been an excuse for men to gaze at their boobs.

We are intelligent enough to simultaneously enjoy a work of art and know the person who created it was flawed

With Picasso, we can also give a voice to the women he hurt. The Dora Maar exhibition at Tate Modern is a perfect counterpoint to Picasso and Paper. Alongside Maars collages and beautifully observed paintings, it shows how she inspired Picasso to make Guernica black and white; and it is clear about all the anguish that being in love with a great artist caused her.

White wine on ice: the drink of superstars

Tom Waits mainlined whiskey, Beyonce favours 240 bottles of champagne, and now we know that Taylor Swifts bev of choice is a humble white wine with ice.

The pop phenom can afford to drink anything she likes, but in Miss Americana, a new documentary about her, we learn she doesnt feel grown up enough for red wine. Wine snobs may shudder into their Chablis at her choosing such a basic drink, but actually it makes sense.

Taylor Swift / Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

We are judged on our orders  Nigel Farage has built a brand on drinking British beer and I can measure out my twenties in drinks ordered to impress others  straight whisky to seem hard, pints of lager to look low-maintenance. Through my hungover haze I see Swifts wine as part of the narrative of her becoming confident enough to be herself in the spotlight.

We see Swift, pictured, defying her management to speak out against Donald Trump (with only the support of her mother Andrea, who deserves a whole column to herself) and laughing defensively as she admits she likes her wine white. So whatever you order do it with pride  and expect demand for wine and ice to soar.

Beckett or The Boy Who Lived?

Want to persuade hundreds of teenage girls to sit through a gnomic Samuel Beckett play on a Monday night? All you need is a bit of Harry Potter wizardry.
Property rights in Texas suffered a setback recently when the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department approved an unprecedented expansion of regulatory power under the states endangered and threatened species laws.

Even though the proposal was opposed by the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Texas Farm Bureau, and written concerns were expressed by Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian, TPWD barreled forward to add 45 species to the state threatened list  based on flawed data and unreliable, incomplete information.

Texas Parks & Wildlife Departments proposal, published in the Texas Register on Dec. 20, would expand the number of state-threatened species to 147. Being listed carries with it a wide array of regulations, including restrictions on hunting, possessing, transporting, collecting or selling these species. Those who fail to observe these restrictions face not only criminal fines but, in some cases, jail time.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation opposed the TPWD proposal because it expands state regulation of private property and represents an unprecedented expansion in the number of species regulated under state law. Whats more, the TPWD list of 45 species includes 39 species not currently regulated by the federal government. TPWDs actions give radical environmental groups a to-do list of new species to pursue for federal listing.

Since 2001, species have been added to the states threatened species list five times, with four of those instances featuring the addition of only one species. But TPWD now seeks to indiscriminately place three times that many species onto the states lists.

This increase in volume is far from the only cause for concern. Two of the species overlap with liquefied natural gas operations along the Texas Gulf Coast, calling into question whether regulation of these species will disrupt our energy sector. The proposal provides thin justification and little supporting evidence. There is, instead, only a vague statement that the department utilized a protocol developed by NatureServe, a nonprofit environmental group.

Once a species is added, removal is often a slow and arduous process. For example, even though the federal government found the Arctic peregrine falcon had fully recovered in 1994, it took TPWD another 15 years to remove the species from its threatened animals list.

The TPWD proposal is also duplicative of other state programs. The Texas comptrollers office already has such a program, which is dedicated to ensuring the federal government makes transparent listing decisions for species in Texas based on up-to-date and accurate scientific and technical information, with opportunities for meaningful public input. And unlike TPWD, the comptroller manages to accomplish all this without restricting and penalizing private citizens.

In 2016, then-Attorney General Greg Abbott fought the federal Endangered Species Act listing of the scimitar-horned oryx. Abbott described the proposed listing as a burdensome new regulation  that threatened the economic viability of Texas. If one proposed unwarranted listing of a species is this bad for Texas, certainly 45 is much worse, whether the threatened regulatory action comes from the federal or state government.

For Texas to remain a bastion of individual liberty and prosperity, state government must continue to act as a bulwark against federal overreach. And even where it cant stand by its citizens side, it should at least endeavor to get off their back.

Robert Henneke is the general counsel and director of the Center for the American Future at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) multinational NTT Group (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation) will conduct one of Asias first Smart City Proof of Concept (PoC) traffic improvement trials in the Cyberjaya area of Malaysia from February.

The PoC will focus on traffic congestion and road safety, with NTT adapting vehicle monitoring technology that it has previously deployed in its Las Vegas initiative. Cameras will be installed at Cyberjayas busiest intersection to analyse traffic volume and type, with the aim of reducing congestion and detecting stolen vehicles. For the Las Vegas project, NTT deployed high-definition video cameras, sound sensors, as well as IoT (Internet of Things) devices to monitor a geographic area within the citys Innovation District. The NTT solution is a secure, distributed platform that deploys micro data centres to sensors in the designated area to improve situational awareness through video and sound data, while also integrating historical data sources, such as crime, weather and social media data.

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Making use of cognitive analytics, including the NTT Groups Corevo artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies, the system learns normal patterns and can detect and alert the authorities of patterns that appear abnormal to reduce reaction times for first responders.

The project is part of a bilateral relationship between the two countries where Japanese companies are expected to share technologies and best practices to help tackle challenges and boost economic development in Malaysia. Last year, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications launched the Research on Smart City Model for Solving Social Problems in Malaysia project, based on the smart city initiatives that NTT started with the City of Las Vegas in the USA. The PoC will include various divisions of NTT Group, including NTT Communications, NTT Ltd, InfoCom Research, NTT Data and NTT Comware. Also taking part in the trial are local technology hub developer Cyberview, and infrastructure provider Allo, which will supply optic fibre networks.

Established in 1997 close to the capital Kuala Lumpur, the town of Cyberjaya is central to Malaysias Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) and has attracted many high-technology companies to its science park. Cyberjaya is also home to Malaysias first OpenLab and 5G testing network. Due to run until the end of March 2020, NTTs PoC trials will explore whether it is feasible to transfer solutions that it has deployed in Las Vegas since 2019 to Malaysia, taking into account specific market trends, business models, legal systems and local issues. Based on the results of the PoC, NTT aims to promote the deployment of smart city solutions to Cyberjaya and other cities in Malaysia, as well as to ASEAN countries, with the aim of improving peoples living conditions, improving urban sustainability, and creating a smarter society.

The Smart City solution is built on NTTs innovative Cognitive Foundation architecture, which enables remote creation, management and operation of information and communications technology resources, from devices and networks to the cloud. It also incorporates Dell EMCs hyperconverged infrastructure and IoT gateways, as well as VMwares virtualization software hosting predictive analytics applications. NTT will customise the Las Vegas architecture and provide a similar solution to support the needs of local stakeholders in Malaysia.

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A tragic experience sparked the idea for a Cork-based startup designed to help organisers of music festivals and conferences.

Swiftfox Apps co-founder James Gale was following as business studies course in 2016 while working on a startup idea for a mobile app for users to create and send their own personalised postcards.

He jumped at the opportunity to develop the service, StampOwl, when he was offered a place with over 600 entrepreneurs in an incubator programme at the European Innovation Academy in Nice in the summer of 2016. However, at the end of the three-week course, his life changed.

He got caught up in terrorist attacks on July 14, narrowly escaping injury while attending the Bastille Day celebrations after a truck drove into the crowds watching the fireworks on the promenade. Sadly, three of his friends lost their lives in the attack.

The experience changed him: It made me rethink everything.

He says that the idea for Swiftfox Apps came about as he saw the chaos that followed the attacks as he and the people around him tried to find their friends.

He linked up with software developer Jonatan Mosner to develop a platform where event organisers can communicate directly with audiences, allowing organisers to push notifications to keep eventgoers informed.

Mr Gale had participated in Enterprise Irelands New Frontiers programme, was a runner-up in Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur competition, and subsequently tapped a 20,000 grant from his Local Enterprise Office.

Swiftfox Apps has three products, including a management dashboard that allows event organisers a real-time overview, to set up schedules, and announce speakers.

Its progressive web app is a web page for small events, eliminating the cost and time in launching an app in the App Store.

For conferences, it offers a social network application, allowing attendees to scan QR codes and share their personal details and set up a chat or schedule meetings.

The biggest barrier for white label apps is the costs of development and the expense for maintenance and additional features, Mr Gale says.

Organisers are looking to save time and money. The only way we can do this is by consolidating all the different fragmented aspects of their event into one unique system that syncs with everything, he says.

Swiftfox Apps have since worked with Indiependence music festival, Zeminar, Cork Podcast Festival, Kinsale Shark Awards and Beyond Limits in Croke Park.
American father and daughter Tom and Molly Martens have won a challenge against their convictions for the murder of Limerickman Jason Corbett.

They were convicted of the second-degree murder of the Limerick businessman at his home in North Carolina in August 2015.

Ms Martens' uncle said the ruling by a US appellant court is amazing and that the family are very gratified that their faith in the judicial system has been proved correct.

Molly Martens Corbett, 35, and her father Tom, 68, a retired FBI agent with 30 years experience, were convicted of the business executive's murder by a US court in August 2017.

Jason Corbett, originally from Limerick, was murdered in their home in Walburg, North Carolina, in August 2, 2015 while he slept. Mr Corbett, was killed with an aluminium baseball bat and paving stone.

The Martens pair pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed self-defence was the reason behind their deadly actions. Both are serving 20 to 25 jail terms in high security prisons in the US.

The pair appealed their convictions early last year to the Court of Appeal in North Carolina.

Mr Corbetts children Sarah Corbett Lynch (aged 13) and her older brother Jack (aged 15) were orphaned after their father Jason was murdered. They were then aged 8 and 10.

They now live with their aunt and uncle Tracey Corbett Lynch and David Lynch who are their legal guardians.

Lawyers for the pair said they did not get a fair trial and that the trial judge had excluded critical evidence in their case.

In their appeal, lawyers for Molly and Thomas Martens argued that the judge in the case had excluded key evidence that would have corroborated their client's claims.

This included information which they said might have explained Thomas Martens' state of mind on the night of the murder.

They argued that statements Mr Corbett's children had given to social workers should have been allowed as evidence.

In the Court of Appeal ruling today, the three judges described its ruling as "deceptively simple", boiling down to whether the defendants lawfully used deadly force to defend themselves and each other during the tragic altercation with Mr Corbett.

"Having thoroughly reviewed the record and transcript, it is evident that this is the rare case in which certain evidentiary errors, alone and in the aggregate, were so prejudicial as to inhibit defendants' ability to present a full and meaningful defence," the court ruled.

The judges also found that "the trial court erred in instructing the jury on the aggressor doctrine as to Tom, given the absence of evidence to support such an instruction".

Mr Earnest, who is the Martens family spokesperson said: The family and I have always remained confident that justice would prevail for Molly and Tom.

Thirteen points in the appeal judgement point out errors in the trail court ruling. Two of the three appeal judges found in Tom and Mollys favour and that says it all to us.

The ruling is 160 pages long and the first 110 pages back our argument that Molly and Tom did not receive a fair trial from day one. The jury did not have all of the evidence and key to that was the childrens Jack and Sarahs statements (made to authorities after their fathers death.)The third and dissenting judge gave his ruling which was indifferent to theirs.

It has been a long year since the appeal has been heard. Every first and third Tuesday and Thursday of the month we waited for a verdict and its been nerve wracking.

They were never going to be able to receive a fair trial and over the past two and half years since the original court ruling life has been horrendous for us as a family.

Mr Earnest explained that it will take two to three weeks before the ruling is mandated and made fully legal. After that period of time the ruling can be appealed to the Supreme Court of North Carolina by the other side.

The Supreme Court can decide to uphold the original second-degree murder charge or allow the retrial if an appeal is made. It is unusual for a retrial not to be allowed.

We dont know if Tom and Molly will be released at some stage on bail if the Court of Appeal ruling is referred to the Supreme Court.

But we as a family have complete confidence in the Appeal Court ruling as they spent an incredibly long time over their deliberations.

This ruling has turned the whole case against my niece and brother-in-law on its head. In the trial, Molly was found not to be the aggressor and now it has been shown that Tom wasnt an aggressor in this case by the appeal court.

Mr Earnest said he did understand that if he had a loved one who had died, I would want to believe anything if they died when they were not supposed to.

But what I believe is not as important as what the judicial officials think.

Mr Earnest said he did not know how long it would take for a retrial to be held but added it could take anything from up to six to 18 months before it would come before the courts.

He added that he has been able to visit his niece but not his brother-in-law. Molly is doing as well as anyone would could knowing that she is innocent and did not carry out a crime she is convicted of.

We have always had faith in the law and we are so thankful it has found in our familys favour.

A hour-long CBS documentary, aired last April in the US, on Mr Corbetts killing entitled, In the Name of Jason, revealed that key evidence was allegedly not put before the jury which convicted them resulting in the potential for a new murder trial.

Ms Martens was Mr Corbetts second wife and the couple met when the American woman worked as a nanny in his Co. Limerick home. Mr Corbetts first wife Mags Fitzpatrick died of an asthma attack in 2006.

When Sarah was four-years-old she moved to America with her father Jason and brother Jack then six-years-old to begin a new life.

The Corbett family said they would not be commenting on the ruling at this time.
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Allegro Harrington Park

Allegro teamed up with Wohlsen Construction and celebrated the topping-out of Allegro in Harrington Park on Friday, January 24, 2020. The Allegro team gathered to watch the final steel beam installation on the forthcoming senior living community. The project picturesque nine-acre site borders the Oradell Reservoir, which will provide residents with all-inclusive opulent amenities, services and an inspired lifestyle of vibrancy.

Upon its completion, Allegro in Harrington Park will offer 177-units for senior living, including independent living, assisted living and memory care. The community offers resort-style living with luxurious features, attentive personal service, a rich and varied dining culture, and a daily life filled with possibilities and purpose. The community will feature a grand central atrium, bistro, roof pub, indoor pool & hot tub, greenhouse, theater, fitness, spa, salon and penthouse units.

A full-time lifestyle director orchestrates a wide range of lifestyle programming catered to individual and shared experiences that keeps residents actively engaged in their own emotional and physical well-being.

Allegro's development team on this landmark project includes the best-in-class organizations, Wohlsen Construction and Meyer Design. This community will be Allegro's first senior living community in New Jersey.

More information on the community can be found at http://www.allegroiscoming.com.

Wohlsen Construction Company, founded in 1890, provides construction management, general contracting and design/build services to clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Regions. As a leading merit-shop firm, Wohlsen provides construction services in the senior living, education, healthcare, and commercial markets, and maintains offices in Parsippany, NJ; Hamden, CT; Lancaster, Harrisburg and Berwyn, PA; Wilmington, DE; Baltimore, MD; and Vienna, VA.

Meyer Design is a national architecture and interior design firm built by relationships across the corporate real estate and senior living industries. With over 40 years in business, Meyer uniquely leads by a long-tenured group of 3 Business Executives and 5 Design Principals whose leadership philosophy is built around the power of people, relationships, and design. As co-founder of ONE Global Design, an alliance of 20 partner firms, together we rank as a Top 10 Design Firm in the country.

About Allegro:

Allegro Senior Living, a St. Louis based company, is a well-respected leader and expert in the senior living industry with a long-standing reputation of efficiently managing senior communities. Allegro inspires with distinctive, people-centered senior living communities that stand out from the rest. Allegro provides seniors with services and amenities to live an inspired life. To learn more about Allegro, visit http://www.allegroliving.com.
Still, the caucuses offered a first indication of Democratic voters preferences after an unusually unsettled primary season, defined mainly by voters angst and indecision about finding a strong challenger for Mr. Trump. The diffuse nature of the Democratic field has already given rise to temporary surges by several candidates  including Ms. Warren, Mr. Buttigieg and Senator Kamala Harris of California, who dropped out of the race in December  and drew two late entrants from the partys moderate wing, Michael R. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, and Deval Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts.

At the heart of the partys schism is a debate over whether Democrats are more likely to defeat Mr. Trump by appealing to the electoral middle, nominating a pragmatist of the sort who helped them prevail in the 2018 elections, or by elevating a progressive who can galvanize some of the young and nonwhite voters who sat out the 2016 general election.

Even before the caucuses got underway on Monday evening, Mr. Buttigieg offered a warning about deviating from the partys midterm formula.

Pointing to the largely moderate class of freshman Democrats in Congress, Mr. Buttigieg said there was a lot of concern in their ranks about running with Mr. Sanders. Look at how we actually took the House, he said of 2018.

Yet Mr. Sanders, in his final appeals to Iowa Democrats, said that the party would tempt another presidential defeat if it did not nominate a candidate who could excite the partys base. If it is a low turnout election, Trump will win, he warned over the weekend.



While all of the leading candidates had their ardent supporters, many Iowa voters seemed even more passionate when discussing those contenders they were most opposed to the party putting forward this fall.

As he has since he was sworn in three years ago, Mr. Trump could ultimately prove to be the most powerful force for Democratic unity.

But that prospect seems elusive now and may grow only more difficult over a long primary race. After New Hampshire, a larger and more diverse array of states will cast ballots that may further highlight the partys generational, ideological and racial divisions.
Concurs repetat pentru selectarea unei companii sociologice, care sa efectueze un studiu tematic "Barometrul opiniei publice in domeniul schimbarilor climatice"
The inadequate actions of the authorities in the face of a major health emergency could cause more social upheaval.

On 23 January, Hong Kongs Chief Executive Carrie Lam  whose personal brand back home had been battered by months of civil unrest  held a reception for global business and political leaders gathered in Davos. As they were served dim sum and cocktails and offered chocolate gold coins, Lam told them that Hong Kong is open for business.

She reassured them that, despite the continuing protests and economic downturn, the city would emerge stronger from a crisis sparked by a now withdrawn extradition bill and sustained by anger over police brutality. Lam also said she was cautiously confident the city was ready to deal with a new SARS-like illness that originated in the mainland Chinese city of Wuhan, Hubei province, and of which there were then two confirmed cases in Hong Kong.

Just over a week later, her confidence looks misplaced as thousands of health workers kick off a week of unprecedented strike action over her governments refusal to fully close the border with mainland China to contain the epidemic. The disease, dubbed 2019 novel Coronavirus, has spread to 27 countries with more than 17,000 confirmed cases and over 360 dead.

In Hong Kong, health authorities have confirmed 17 cases and reported the first death caused by the virus on Tuesday. The virus has done what eight months of protests failed to do. Local banks closed almost 30 percent of their branches until further notice, civil servants have been asked to work from home, and schools are to remain closed until at least early March.

As many restaurants and retailers report fewer customers, the citys supermarkets and pharmacies are most definitely open for business. Driven by uncertainty and deepening distrust in the government, residents are queueing up to stockpile face masks, hand sanitisers, disinfectants and food.

Hong Kong is no stranger to fear and panic over a new mystery illness. In 2003, the territory scrambled to respond to SARS, which spread from neighbouring Guangdong province amid initial Chinese government secrecy and inaction. A total of 1,750 people were infected in Hong Kong and 286 died.

Even before the current coronavirus outbreak, Hongkongers commonly wore surgical masks when ill and carried plastic bottles of hand sanitiser  habits that were ingrained during the days of SARS.

SARS left other legacies in Hong Kong, the repercussions of which have a direct bearing on the situation we find ourselves in now. Discontent over how the government handled the crisis and the economic recession induced by the epidemic combined with widespread anger over a proposal to enact draconian national security laws brought half a million people onto the streets on July 1, 2003.

It was the first mass protest of this scale to take place in the city since the transfer of sovereignty from Britain to China in 1997, and it took Beijing by surprise. The central government sent teams of fact-finders to Hong Kong and set in motion a gradual change in its Hong Kong policy that spelled the beginning of the end of the hands-off approach of the early post-handover years. Its representative office in Hong Kong began to play a more proactive role in local affairs.

Beijing also rolled out a number of measures to boost Hong Kongs post-SARS economy in a trade pact known as the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement, or CEPA. The deal paved the way for closer economic integration between Hong Kong and the mainland and for far greater numbers of mainland tourists to visit Hong Kong under the Individual Visitor Scheme. In 2002, there were 6.8 million tourist arrivals from the mainland, by 2018 they had increased almost tenfold to 51 million.

That number has prompted many in Hong Kong, including leading public health experts, to call for a halt to visitors coming from the mainland as the virus continues to spread from Wuhan to other provinces across China. Initially, the government only imposed an entry ban  announced late on January 25  on residents of Hubei province or people who had visited Wuhan in the last 14 days.

It was only after a huge public outcry, including from front-line medical workers, that on January 28 the government announced the closing of six minor border crossings, which accounted for approximately 8 percent of cross-border traffic in 2018.

And it did not go unnoticed that in announcing this and several other measures to reduce the flow of people between Hong Kong and the mainland, Lam stressed she had received central government approval and thanked mainland ministries for their cooperation. It was another reminder that increasingly, Hong Kongs leaders must take their orders from Beijing.

Some commentators have suggested Hong Kong needs to remain open to mainland residents so that the well-connected can continue to travel abroad as overseas countries halt flights from mainland China.

On Monday, after the first day of strike action by public hospital workers, Lam announced that all land crossings with the mainland will be closed except for the joint checkpoint at Shenzhen Bay and the Guangdong-Zhuhai-Macau-Hong Kong Bridge. The airport would also remain open for flights to and from the mainland.

Given that the airport and the Shenzhen Bay checkpoint account for the majority of crossings made, it remains to be seen whether this will be enough to placate irate Hongkongers. On social media, some likened the governments measures to slowly squeezing toothpaste out of a tube.

Lams refusal to completely close the border is not the only source of dissatisfaction. The government has also rejected calls to drop an appeal against a court ruling that its ban on the wearing of face masks  enacted due to the protests  is unconstitutional. This is despite medical advice to wear masks in public places to prevent the potential spread of coronavirus.

It is certainly ironic that many of the pro-government supporters and political parties who were demanding a mask ban earlier are now clamouring for and handing out face masks.

And in some neighbourhoods, residents across the political divide have joined forces to oppose the creation of coronavirus quarantine centres near their homes. While there may be public health arguments for such centres, the breakdown of trust in the government and a perceived lack of consultation further fuels suspicion and anger.

Organisers estimated that close to 2 million people marched against an extradition bill that they saw as an existential threat to Hong Kongs promised high degree of autonomy and special status. Many more may consider the current outbreak to be a potential matter of life and death.

The pro-government forces in Hong Kong must be acutely aware of this as the city faces territory-wide elections for its legislature later this year. They were given a historic hiding in last Novembers District Council polls.

While the scale of the pro-democracy camps victory will be hard to repeat given the more complicated voting system in Septembers polls, pro-establishment parties know their support for government policies may come at a cost. There are signs that anger over the governments handling of the outbreak has united ordinary people across the political spectrum and achieved Carrie Lams 2017 election slogan of We Connect.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Those looking outside of Silicon Valley as a potential hub for their startup might want to take a gander at Utah, at least that's the kind of trend the new Silicon Slopes Venture Fund hopes to create.

The newly formed fund, put together by Qualtrics co-founder Ryan Smith, Omniture and Domo founder Josh James and Stance co-founder turned Pelion Venture Partners' Jeff Kearl, pledges to invest solely in Utah-based startups. The goal? To become every bit as notable as a16z or Sequoia Capital.

Qualtrics co-founder Ryan Smith and Domo and Omniture founder Josh James onstage at the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit.

"I grew up in the Bay Area," Kearl told TechCrunch of the energy he feels in the state. "This feels like the 1990s in the Bay Area. You can find hundreds of open jobs up and down the Wasatch Front."

Utah has a reputation as a mostly religious, conservative and sleepy mountain region for outdoors enthusiasts, but tech has fast become the leading job sector in the state, with some salaries from companies like Adobe and Qualtrics rivaling those in Silicon Valley. The state recently pledged a push to include at least one computer science course in every high school in the state by 2022. It also just hosted a massive, 25,000 person startup festival called the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit. The summit held a Utah state governor's debate and both Steve Case and Mark Zuckerberg spoke on stage.

It's unclear how much the fund has set aside for its mission to help Utah become a full-fledged tech ecosystem rivaling Silicon Valley but one would imagine it would have a sizable sum to invest, if, as Smith tells TechCrunch, it is to help Utah's up-and-coming startups go all the way from seed stage to IPO.

"I want to see companies get even bigger than Qualtrics... and do it in this state," Smith said. Qualtrics sold to SAP in 2019 for $8 billion, notably the largest private enterprise software deal in tech history.

Story continues

Silicon Slopes Tech Summit 2020 Gubernatorial Debate

One of the many issues tech hubs around the world face is both the networking capabilities and the ability to invest after the early stage investment. Most startups throughout the globe still find the need to travel and make connections in Silicon Valley to get them through the next step of growth. This has been true for every billion-dollar startup idea in Utah as well so far. Both Smith and James took in Silicon Valley venture for their companies, as did unicorn turned public edtech startup Pluralsight and the recently rebranded sales platform Xant (formerly InsideSales) before making it big.

However, this new fund represents the kind of push needed to create a strong innovation ecosystem in the future, as Steve Case mentioned on stage at the summit event this last week. "Venture capitalists must look at 'whats happening in the Silicon Slopes' and make sure it 'is happening other places', Utah newspaper Deseret News paraphrased the AOL founder as saying.

Pelion Venture Partners, which operates in both Utah and Southern California, will act as a support to Silicon Slopes Venture Fund, providing organizational overhead. Each partner will still keep their day job and donate most fees to support the ongoing operation of the non-profit tech organization, Silicon Slopes, which runs the annual tech summit of the same moniker. However, the Silicon Slopes Venture Fund will be an independent fund from Pelion, with the sole purpose of investing in deal flow the three partners find through their respective networks within the state.

"I used to hate the term 'a rising tide lifts all boats' because I want to be the only boat," James told TechCrunch. "But I really think it applies here for what we are trying to do [in Utah]."
An eight-year-old boy in Washington sold key chains to paid off $4015 of his school district lunch debt after he was inspired by former Seattle Seahawk cornerback Richard Sherman.

Keoni Ching decided to sell key chains for $5 to celebrate 'Kindness Week' at Franklin Elementary in Vancouver, where he is a student.

'We do it every year, once a week and it's where everybody does kind things to each other,' the student explained to KGW.

Scroll down for video

Keoni Ching decided to sell key chains for $5 to celebrate 'Kindness Week' at Franklin Elementary in Vancouver, where he is a student

Ching and his mother, April, started selling the key chains on December 10 for $5

Ching drew inspiration for his plan after hearing about how Richard Sherman paid off lunch debts for schools in Tacoma, Washington, and in California.

'Because if people don't have a packed lunch and they don't have enough lunch money, they will starve,' Ching added.

He later added: 'I know a lot of people that eat hot lunch a lot and they run out of money like I did once.'

In 2018, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill that made it so no child could be denied school lunch, regardless of how much debt they might have incurred.

Ching grew inspiration for his plan after hearing about how Richard Sherman paid off lunch debts for schools in Tacoma, Washington, and in California

Keoni delivered the check to his school last week, with six other schools getting $500 each of the left over funds once $1000 is paid to Franklin

Ching and his mother, April, started selling the key chains on December 10.

'When people go above and beyond to do something kind to help others, I think that's the perfect example of kindness. It doesn't get any better than that,' said Lisa Dimurro, the school's counselor and creator of Kindness Week.

Keoni, a Miami Dolphins fan, explained to CNN that he loves key chains.

'They look good on my backpack,' he added.

April Ching added that beyond the Washington school district, they have had to ship the key chains 'all over the country.'

'I know a lot of people that eat hot lunch a lot and they run out of money like I did once,' he said

'We have sent key chains to Alaska, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Arizona, all over the country,' April Ching said.

'There was one lady who said she wanted $100 worth of key chains so that she could just hand them out to people. ... There were several people who bought one key chain and gave (Keoni) a hundred bucks. It was absolutely amazing how much support the community showed for his whole project.'

Keoni delivered the check to his school last week, with six other schools getting $500 each of the left over funds once $1000 is paid to Franklin.

School lunch debt has become a major topic when talking about education as some 75 per cent of districts having unpaid student meal debt at the end of the 2017/2018 school year, according to the School Nutrition Association (SNA).

Some 43 per cent of districts with unpaid meal debt reported that the number of students without adequate funds increased last school year.
Amid growing tensions over the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) across West Bengal, preparations for the house-listing phase of the census of 2021 has been hit in the state, with district-level preparations running way behind schedule, officials said.

The process of identifying enumerators was originally supposed to be completed by December 2019. After the Trinamool Congress government in mid-December decided against collecting data for NPR during the house-listing phase of the census, West Bengal officials issued fresh orders mentioning only the Census and sought data from the districts by the end of January.

The process has been halted altogether after a series of mob attacks on government employees and workers of non-government organisations (NGOs) who travelled to villages to collect various data in January.

All work related to census has been halted. Nothing is happening for the time being. No enumerator has been identified or appointed, said Biswajit Majumdar, block development officer (BDO) of Raghunathganj II community development block in Murshidabad district.

On January 2, Majumdar had written to government officials of various departments within his jurisdiction to submit details of officers and staff at their respective offices by January 16.

Identification of enumerators has been put on hold. Since the NPR has been linked with census and NPR is the first step towards NRC, we first need to get a clear idea on how to separate the two, said the chairman of a civic body in Hooghly district who did not want to identify himself.

The Centre has asked all states to update the National Population Register, a database of all usual residents in the country, with the house-listing exercise of the Census. The National Register of Citizens would be a subset of the NPR. However, the home ministry informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday that as of now there was no decision on implementing NRC.

Murshidabad zilla parishad sabhadhipati (chairman of the district council) Mosharaf Hossain said that the process had been halted because of tension on the ground where those going to households to collect data could face mob fury if people mistook their intention to be of updating the NPR.

The administration will first wait for the tension to ease, and launch a campaign differentiating between census and NPR, before attempting to start the house-listing exercise, said Gorachand Barman, BDO, Mayureshwar, in Birbhum district.

The house-listing phase has to be completed within a 45-day period at any time between April and September. Enumerators are appointed from among primary and secondary school teachers and other staff and various government departments, including municipalities and panchayats.

With Raghunathganj II, an average-sized block, requiring 105 supervisors and 625 enumerators, and the state having 343 blocks, the required number of enumerators and supervisors for the rural areas is estimated at about 250,000.

There are 22 municipal corporations and 114 municipalities in the state, estimated to require another 100,000 enumerators and supervisors, according to a census official.

While the states can choose the 45-day period according to its preference, a senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) minister who did not want to be identified said that the government was unlikely to push for the exercise before the municipal elections in more than 100 civic bodies, which are expected to be held during April and May.

Asked if the census preparations in West Bengal were as in line with the schedule, Keka Ghosh, a deputy director at the directorate of census operations in West Bengal, said, No comments on the census.

Badaruddoza Khan, a former Lok Sabha member belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a leader of the All Bengal Teachers Association (ABTA), said that a large number of teachers were in a state of panic over getting selected for the Census work.

The ground situation is very tense. An intense campaign needs to be carried out to convince people that the Census has nothing to do with NRC. The state government needs to instil trust in peoples minds that it will never link NPR with the Census. Steps need to be taken very cautiously, said Khan.

To help clear the confusion among the people over the Census, Left parties have decided to distribute leaflets, explaining to the people how to tell the differences between the questionnaires for NRC and Census.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) blamed the TMC and the Left for triggering the panic. TMC leaders are openly asking people to beat up those who would be going to their home seeking information. The chief minister herself said that NGOs are conspiring with BJP to get data for NRC. They are responsible for the entire trouble, said Sayantan Basu, BJPs Bengal unit general secretary.

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A doctor sprays disinfection on a door handle at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City where a Chinese national is being treated for nCoV infection, February 3, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

Chinese employees returning to work in HCMC after the Lunar New Year break have been requested to stay away from their workplaces for 14 days.

The request was made on Tuesday by Ho Chi Minh Citys Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to 187 local companies that have 1,069 Chinese employees on their rolls.

The move is part of safety measures being taken to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) in the city, given that all 31 direct jurisdictions in China have confirmed infections after the virus first appeared in its Wuhan City in Hubei Province last December.

Among the returning Chinese employees are 750 experts, 80 managers, 70 technicians and 30 managing directors who have been asked to stay in their hotels or rented accommodations for 14 days.

The request is made in line with an order issued Monday by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, which is based on the incubation period of the virus inside a human body, currently estimated between two and 14 days.

Phuc directed that anyone entering Vietnam from China will be quarantined for 14 days. The order will apply to everyone who has passed by Chinese areas that have reported the novel coronavirus infection.

On Monday, the Ministry of Industry and Trade had also asked companies in Vietnam to ask their Chinese workers in coronavirus-infected regions not to return after spending their Lunar New Year holiday at home.

The municipal labor department has also suspended acceptance procedures for nine Chinese workers who had requested permission to work in the city, and requested 86 labor export companies to postpose plans to send Vietnamese workers to China and other places that have been hit by the virus.

However, the businesses have said that not all 1,069 Chinese employees will be in HCMC.

Pouyuen Vietnam, a footwear producer based in Binh Tan District, has 300 Chinese employees. Normally, all of them would have returned to work in the city on January 30 after the Lunar New Year, but the epidemic has prompted the company to request them to stay in China.

"The company will receive Chinese employees only when the epidemic in their home country is put under control," said Kim Vinh Cuong, deputy chairman of the companys labor union.

HCMC has reported three nCoV patients, out of the nation's 10, including one who has recovered and was discharged from hospital on Tuesday.

The citys tourism department has sought permission to set up a facility near the Tan Son Nhat International Airport to temporarily quarantine any passenger suspected of carrying the virus.

The PM Tuesday gave the nod for local airlines to send 5,361 Chinese nationals stuck in the central province of Khanh Hoa Province home after all flights to China were suspended on February 1.

Vietnam is also keeping a close watch on its citizens returning from China.

Since last Sunday, 200 Vietnamese citizens returning from China have been quarantined. Of these, 194 returning via land are staying at a military base in the northern province of Lang Son and the remaining six who had flown back are isolated in Quang Ninh Province. Both provinces in northern Vietnam share their borders with China.

As of Tuesday evening, the nCoV has killed 427 people and infected more than 20,600, of whom 730 have recovered.
OPEC members and their ally Russia are discussing a further cut to crude oil output at a meeting in Vienna because of China's coronavirus epidemic, Iraq's oil ministry said Tuesday.

Crude prices have tumbled since the deadly outbreak in the world's second-biggest economy, which is a huge consumer of crude.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is holding a meeting of a "joint technical committee" in Vienna on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the virus's impact and whether an output reduction is needed.

"Depending on the needs of the market and how it's been affected by the coronavirus, will a cut be necessary? This is being discussed as the technical reports are presented," said Iraq's oil ministry spokesman Assem Jihad.

"The technical committees are discussing the recommendations, which they will elevate to their ministers. Any further cut to outputs would only be announced in a ministerial meeting," Jihad told AFP. He said those gathered would also consider bringing forward a March ministerial meeting to February "depending on the market's needs and what happens with the virus." Iraq is OPEC's second-biggest oil producer.

The new coronavirus has killed more than 400 people and infected a further 20,000 in China since emerging in December, and has also spread to more than 20 other countries.

The US benchmark oil contract, WTI, has fallen by around 18 per cent over the past month.

"For now, the market seems content that China will contain and manage the virus situation, and that the worst will soon be over with no accelerated spreading outside of China, and that OPEC+ will step in with cuts and prevent a surplus and a stock building," said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at Nordic bank SEB.

Top oil exporter and OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia said this week that the impact of the virus on oil demand was "extremely limited" and "driven by psychological factors".

But if the virus continues to spread, there could be a more severe hit to the market, said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com in London.

"This kind of oil demand shock has not been seen for over a decade. The longer the lockdown in China and travel restrictions globally, the greater the impact," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Jan. 29, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

54 Nationwide Injunctions Issued Against Admin Since Trump Took Office: DOJ

Federal judges across the country have issued 54 nationwide injunctions against the Trump administration since President Donald Trump took office in 2017, according to the Justice Department (DOJ).

Fifty-four nationwide injunctions have been issued against the Trump Administration since January 20, 2017, the DOJ told The Epoch Times, citing department estimates. This is more than double the number of nationwide injunctions the previous administration had faced during its entire eight years. The proliferating practice of federal judges ruling beyond the scope of a particular case, in some orders known as nationwide injunctions, has been a longstanding cause for concern for the administration and several top members of the judiciary.

Comparatively, an average of 1.5 such injunctions was issued per year against the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. Meanwhile, the administration of President Barack Obama faced 20 nationwide injunctionsor an average of 2.5 per yearduring its eight years, according to Attorney General William Barr.

Attorney General William Barr speaks at a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington on Jan. 13, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

The White House has repeatedly criticized the unprecedented use of court orders by unelected federal judges to impose their policy preferences across the nation. Last year, Trump decried the impact of judicial activism on the nations security, society, and economy.

When judges write policy instead of applying the law, they impose sweeping changes on millions of Americans without the benefit of legislative debate, public rulemaking, or the consent of the governed, Trump said in a November speech. As a result, these highly political rulings inflict painful damage on our security, society, and economy, imposed on workable businesses, workers, families, and law enforcement.

David Reischer, attorney and CEO of LegalAdvice.com, said he believes nationwide injunctions are inconsistent with constitutional limits on judicial power and allow politicians to avoid working together to come up with solutions to national issues.

Nationwide injunctions relieve the politicians of making compromise on important matters and only serves to delay final resolution where final determinations are most desperately needed, Reischer told The Epoch Times in an email. As such, nationwide injunctions only serve to gum up the works and prevent solutions of important social issues.

Many of the nationwide injunctions issued have targeted crucial immigration policies in dispute, preventing their application across the nation while the cases proceed through the courts. This was seen most recently in a case where a federal district court ruling blocked the Trump administration from enforcing its new interpretation of its public charge rulea regulation that restricted new immigrants from receiving green cards if the individual is deemed likely to become primarily dependent on the government for assistance such as food stamps or Medicaid. The rule will consider a person a public charge if they receive at least one government benefit for more than 12 months in any 36month block.

The rule was challenged by several states and immigration groups, leading to injunctions that prevented the rule from going into effect on Oct. 15, 2019. Two federal appeals courtsthe 4th Circuit and the 9th Circuitlifted similar injunctions in December 2019. But the 2nd Circuit has refused to set aside a pair of injunctions issued by a New York District Court, prompting the Trump administration to file an emergency request (pdf) to the Supreme Court earlier in January to lift those blocks.

The Supreme Court reversed the 2nd Circuits decision in late January, allowing the Trump administration to enforce the rule while the appeals are pending.

As part of the order in the public charge case, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch issued a rebuke in a concurring opinion, saying that the court at some point needs to confront the real problem of nationwide injunctions. Justice Clarence Thomas, who previously issued his own rebuke of the practice in the 2018 travel ban case, joined in that opinion.

Today, the Court (rightly) grants a stay, allowing the government to pursue (for now) its policy everywhere save Illinois, Gorsuch wrote (pdf). But, in light of all thats come before, it would be delusional to think that one stay today suffices to remedy the problem.

He says such orders raise serious questions about the scope of courts equitable powers under Article III of the Constitution. Judges have made rushed, high-stakes, low-information decisions because this practice forces parties to rush from one preliminary injunction hearing instead of spending their time methodically developing arguments and evidence in cases limited to the parties at hand.

Thomas issued a similar critique in 2018 in the landmark case, Trump v. Hawaii, which upheld Trumps Presidential Proclamation 9645. The proclamation allowed the administration to enforce the refusal of entry into the United States of travelers from multiple high-risk Islamic countries.

Thomas said these injunctions are beginning to take a toll on the federal court system because they prevent legal questions from percolating through the federal courts, encourage forum shopping, and make every case a national emergency for the courts and the Executive Branch.
The court order is still subject to appeal by the prosecution

A Cairo criminal court has ordered the release of satirist and video blogger Shady Abu Zeid after he spent nearly two years in pre-trial detention.

Abu Zeid was arrested at his house in May 2018 over charges of spreading false news and joining an outlawed group.

The release order can still be appealed by the prosecution, a right usually exercised by the prosecution in similar cases.

Last year, a criminal court ordered the conditional release of Abu Zeid; however, the decision was overturned after an appeal by the prosecution.

Abu Zeid is a video blogger who produced the satirical news show The Rich Content, which he released on YouTube and Facebook from mid-2015 until his arrest.

In 2016, he sparked public outrage after releasing a video showing him and young actor Ahmed Malek handing balloons made of inflated condoms to police officers in Tahrir Square during the fifth anniversary of the uprising against longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

The comedian was also a correspondent for popular satirical television programme Abla Fahita before he was let go over the condom video.

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A new opinion poll as listed Mary Lou McDonald as the "most effective communicator" among party leaders during the election campaign to date.

The result comes after

Read More:

A poll for PR360, by Amarach Research, has placed the Sinn Fein leader ahead of rivals Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin as the leader who has best communicated to voters during the campaign so far.

The poll was carried out on Friday, January 31, sampling 1,000 adults.

The question put to the public was: Which of the main party leaders do you believe has best communicated to voters during the campaign to date?

Ms McDonald came out on top with 32%, ahead of Mr Varadkar on 15% and Mr Martin on 14%.

The full result of the poll was:

Mary Lou McDonald (Sinn Fein)  32%

Leo Varadkar (Fine Gael)  15%

Micheal Martin (Fianna Fail)  14%

Eamon Ryan (Green Party)  6%

Richard Boyd Barrett (SolidarityPeople Before Profit)  6%

Brendan Howlin (Labour)  5%

Roisin Shortall (Social Democrats)  3%

None of the above  19%

"Her tone and ability to cut through appear to have struck a chord with people," said Dan Pender, PR360's Managing Director.

He added: "She has looked comfortable throughout the campaign and has connected with voters on her message that Sinn Fein are the real alternative to the status quo."

PR360's Director of Policy and Campaigns, Amanda Glancy, said: "The poll makes interesting reading for the smaller parties, which have struggled to cut through in the campaign so far.

"The three-way battle between Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, and Sinn Fein has dominated the airwaves, and the smaller parties have been squeezed out."

The stats come as

Read More:

Monday night's poll showed:

Fine Gael has suffered a sharp 11% drop in support among middle class, middle-aged voters aged 35-49 in just two weeks from 29% to 18%;

Sinn Fein's rating among the highest educated and highest earners rises by 4%;

Support for the Greens has plateaued while Labour are down to just 4%;

Support for the government has slumped by 6 points to just 21%;

Satisfaction for Leo Varadkar is down five to 30% and down 21% since October, support for Micheal Martin is down again from 33% to 30% while support for Ms McDonald is up seven points from 34% to 41%.

Ms McDonald is due to take part in a Prime Time leaders'

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She will go head-to-head with Fianna Fail's Micheal Martin and Fine Gael's Leo Varadkar.
T he head of the civil service has been urged to investigate the deeply disturbing decision to order senior journalists from some of the UKs major news organisations to leave before a briefing on Boris Johnsons Brexit plans.

Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill was told the situation  which led to a boycott by journalists who had been allowed to attend the briefing  was damaging to democracy.

The call for him to launch an inquiry came from Labour leadership hopeful Sir Keir Starmer, who warned that the actions of Mr Johnsons political allies in Downing Street risked undermining the integrity of the civil service.

Selected journalists were invited to Number 10 for a briefing from the Prime Ministers chief Europe adviser David Frost on Monday, but correspondents from organisations who were not on Downing Streets hand-picked list also tried to get in.

When political correspondents arrived inside Number 10 they were asked their names and told to stand on opposite sides of the entrance hall  either side of a rug.

Mr Johnsons director of communications Lee Cain  a political appointee  then invited those on one side to enter and told those on the other to leave.

When his actions were questioned he told reporters: We are welcome to brief whoever we want whenever we want.

The journalists excluded included outlets viewed as left-wing or critical of the Government, but the briefing was due to involve senior civil servants  who are politically impartial.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson / REUTERS

In protest at the treatment of colleagues from rival organisations, all the journalists present chose to walk out rather than receive the briefing.

In his letter to the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Keir said: The actions of the Prime Ministers Director of Communications, who is a political appointee, are deeply disturbing.

I am concerned that they have undermined the civil services ability to comply with its core values of integrity, objectivity and impartiality.

Equally, banning sections of the media from attending important briefings about important matters of Government is damaging to democracy.

He said the medias access to the Prime Ministers chief negotiator should not be determined by political favouritism.

I would ask that you investigate urgently this matter and provide assurance that such an incident will not happen again.

A Number 10 source said: We reserve the right to brief journalists which we choose whenever we wish to, and that is not something abnormal.

The source said around eight or nine organisations from across the political spectrum were invited to the briefing, including the BBC, Sky, Guardian, ITV, The Sun, The Daily Mail and The Times.

It was clearly nonsense to suggest the exclusion of some publications was on political grounds, the source said.

The PA news agency, along with other news agencies, were not invited and were not present when the walkout happened.

Shadow culture secretary Tracy Brabin said: It is concerning that Boris Johnson seems to be resorting to tactics imported from Donald Trump to hide from scrutiny.

Cabinet minister Michael Gove, a former journalist who once stood on a picket line in solidarity with his fellow reporters, repeatedly refused to say whether he would have joined the political correspondents in refusing to attend the briefing that their colleagues were barred from.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: I wasnt in the room at the time so I wont pass judgment until, of course, Ive heard from all the people who were.
Ahead of its February 9 rally, MNS workers put up posters warning the Pakistani and Bangladeshi intruders in the Versova area of Mumbai on Tuesday. Moreover, Raj Thackeray's son Amit who formally joined politics in January finds a prominent space on the poster.

Talking to the media about the latest poster, a person working for MNS warned the illegal migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh to go back to their respective countries. Furthermore, he threatened that the MNS would initiate action against such people after February 9. The threat is along similar lines to what MNS has issued in the past, though earlier the rhetoric was against migrants from UP and Bihar.

Read: Raj Thackeray's MNS Tweaks Indian Pledge In Poster: 'Infiltrators Not My Brother-sister'

An MNS worker said, Today, we have put up the banners. It is a warning that you should go back to your own country. This is a warning to the people from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who stay illegally here that they should go away. Otherwise, we will take action after February 9.

Read: MNS Anoints Raj Thackeray As 'Hindu Hriday Samrat', Calls Him 'Rajsaheb' Like Balasaheb

MNS moves towards Hindutva

Raj Thackeray made his party's Hindutva stance official at the party convention on January 23, the birth anniversary of Balasaheb Thackeray. He commenced his speech by saying- My Hindu brothers and sisters. Thereafter, he explained that the newly adopted saffron flag was his original choice at the time of forming the MNS. He also clarified that both the linguistic and the religious cause was equally dear to him. Seen as clear support to the National Register of Citizens, the MNS chief called for the ouster of Bangladeshi and Pakistani Muslims from India. He announced a protest rally at the Azad Maidan on February 9 in this regard. Taking an indirect dig at Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, he observed, I don't change my colours for the sake of government formation.

Read: Amit Thackeray Debuts Alongside Dad Raj In MNS Anti-'Bangladeshi Intruders' Poster

Poster war

After the convention, the MNS has put up several different posters that showcase a pro-Hindutva and pro-NRC agenda. For instance, MNS workers put up a poster in Thane proclaiming their chief Raj Thackeray as the Hindu Hriday Samrat (Emperor of Hindu Hearts) on January 26. For many decades, this title has been used only for the Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray. Subsequently, Raj Thackeray disapproved of his party members addressing him by this title. Thereafter, a poster emerged on which the pledge has been altered to read- 'Infiltrators are not my brothers and sisters'.

Read: 'Kabhi Toh Kareeb Aao': Does MNS Chief Raj Thackeray Have A Reply?
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Northern Ireland's "extraordinary position" in the post-Brexit political landscape means it "risks finding itself caught between a rock and a hard place", according to a new report by an academic think tank.

Boris Johnson's Withdrawal Agreement had placed Northern Ireland "not only with the EU but also within the UK internal market" - but that does not mean it will be "enjoying a 'best of both worlds' scenario".

The warning comes as it was announced that the First and deputy First Minister will chair a new Stormont sub-committee on Brexit.

Writing in The UK in a Changing Europe report, Dr Katy Hayward of Queen's University, Belfast, suggested that this is because "it will remain, in effect, part of the EU's single market for goods and also de facto part of the EU's customs territory", regardless of being nominally in the UK's.

Dr Hayward suggests that "movement of goods across the Irish Sea will be directly affected by the negotiations that the UK and the EU are about to begin".

"This means potential friction within the UK internal market and additional costs for NI businesses," she adds.

Dr Hayward added that it is not yet known if Northern Ireland will benefit from being part of the UK's free trade agreements, or part of the EU's free trade agreements.

"And, on top of this, of course, Northern Ireland will have to navigate what all its parties agree to be the negative impacts of Brexit, including restricted access to labour, especially low skilled EU workers, and friction in the movement of services across the island of Ireland," she writes.

All that, combined with a tight timetable for the transition period, "plus the scale of decisions to be made by the UK-EU Joint Committee that will uniquely impact on Northern Ireland, the scale of the governance and policy challenge is evident".

The Brexit deal means that four years after the end of transition period, MLAs will vote on whether to continue to be aligned to EU rules.

Dr Hayward, a Reader in Sociology at Queen's School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, noted that "given the nature of politics here, this debate will almost inevitably be framed less as a policy or economic matter than as a constitutional and identity one".

She also noted how Brexit has increasingly polarised opinion over the question of Irish unity, with growing number of both unionists and nationalists thinking leaving the EU makes it more likely.

But she warned that "there's increasing polarisation in terms of how people view the prospect. In other words, Brexit has made something that people will disagree about profoundly (i.e. Irish unity) increasingly likely and increasingly consequential".

She concludes: "Northern Ireland will be affected in perpetuity and irrevocably by the UK's withdrawal from the EU - in its relationship with Ireland and with Great Britain. Whether this is for good or ill will in many respects depend on what happens over the course of the coming 11 months."

Meanwhile, speaking during First Minister's Questions at Stormont yesterday, Arlene Foster said the Executive had approved the establishment of a sub-committee on Brexit issues.

Members of the committee, which will meet for the first time today, include Economy Minister Diane Dodds, Finance Minister Conor Murphy, Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots, Justice Minister Naomi Long and Health Minister Robin Swann.

Mrs Foster said other ministers can be invited to attend "should items of particular interest to their portfolio be discussed".

"In summary, the committee will support the Executive by providing a forum for collective discussion and consideration of the implications of the EU exit on Northern Ireland in relation to influencing negotiations," she said. "It will also agree Northern Ireland policy positions on devolved responsibilities for consideration in decision-making by the UK Government and joint committee as well as developing proposals to maximise our influence at any opportunities arising from the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Northern Ireland protocol. It will also commission an assessment of the impact of the institutions and on relations north/south and east/west."

Mrs Foster said the first meeting of the sub-committee is expected to be held today "and I am confident that the wide-ranging membership of this sub-committee will allow us to consider Brexit in a holistic way".
Mumbai, Feb 4 : Actress Ishita Dutta and her "Bepanah Pyaarr" co-star Adhik Mehta recently recreated Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol's iconic train scene from the 1995 film "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge".

Adhik shared the picture on Instagram in which he can be seen extending his hand to Ishita while recreating the DDLJ moment, Only, he is on a vanity van instead of a train.

"Okay so I always wanted to have a DDLJ moment and there it is... P.S - The pose may be wrong but picture looks amazing right @ishidutta," he wrote.

Ishita and Adhik are currently working together on the Colors show "Bepanah Pyaarr". Apart from her performance on the show, Ishita has lately been making waves with her fashion statement. She has been flaunting ethnic chic on the show, particularly in sarees .

Recently, she shared a few pictures on social media in which she can be seen shooting a fun sequence in saree.

"It was a fun sequence, I had to wear a saree and play in the water. I loved it . I love all my looks on the show, and am glad that I have a fab team of designers to create such a beautiful look for me," Ishita said.
Lawyer Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, a Special Aide to former President John Dramani Mahama, says the office of the former President welcomes the decision taken by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to investigate the Airbus bribery scandal.



According to him, Mr Mahama is elated by directive to the Special Prosecutor led by Martin Amidu and not at all troubled.



I have seen that the government of Ghana has issued a statement emphasizing the need for Martin Amidus office to collaborate with the UK to investigate this matter with speed. Hallelujah, I thank God that President is making such move, he asserted.



Speaking on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Lawyer Edudzi Tamakloe said "everybody knows in this country that Martin Amidu does not like John Mahama; no one can say that Martin Amidu is a friend of John Mahama. He doesnt like to see the face of John Mahama and so I am happy that the President has instructed such a person to investigate the Airbus scandal or this allegation of bribery.



He was hopeful that at the end of the investigation on the Airbus scandal, nobody will be able to give the excuse that the report was masterminded to favor former President John Dramani Mahama as the outcome of the investigation will vindicate him.



If you look at the political discourse in this country, you will see that Martin Amidu is the bitterest enemy of John Mahama; he does not want to see the face of John Mahama and that was part of the reasons why Nana Addo handed over the position of the Special Prosecutor to him. He wanted him to hunt John Mahama and his appointees and we welcome the decision of the President to investigate Airbus scandal.



" . . there is something we call, vindication lies in the womb of time and if you want someone to vindicate you, it should be your enemy, he stated.



The Crown Court at Southwark in the United Kingdom passed judgment on 31st January 2020, between the Director of the Serious Fraud Office and Airbus SE, in which the European multinational aerospace corporation was fined $3.9 billion for the payment of bribes to secure deals in five countries, including Ghana.



The London High Court found Airbus guilty and imposed a fine of three billion pounds (3bn) as penalties.



Airbus was charged with five counts of failing to prevent bribery, having used a network of secret agents to pay large-scale backhanders to officials in foreign countries to land high-value contracts.



The Office of the President, in this respect, charged the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, to with immediate effect delve into the bottom of the Airbus bribery scandal and investigate the complicity of any public official, "past or present" who may have been involved in the saga.



A statement signed by Communications Director at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin stated that these investigations are expected to be conducted in collaboration with the United Kingdom authorities.



" . . President Akufo-Addo has taken notice of the judgment and its implications, and has referred it to the Office of Special Prosecutor to collaborate with its UK counterparts to conduct a prompt inquiry to determine the complicity or otherwise of any Ghanaian government official, past or present, involved in the said scandal, and to take the necessary legal action against any such official, as required by Ghanaian law," the statement read.







Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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However, yet is a good word to use in cases like these

An ambulance driver wearing a protective suit prepares to exit the special isolation ward where coronavirus-suspected patients are being quarantined at the Kochi Medical college in Kerala, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. (PTI Photo)

KOCHI: Three people have been found coronavirus positive, all from Kerala, and the state government has declared it a state calamity. But while anxieties are growing, they have not boiled over into panic.

Yet.

Out in the streets of Kochi, surgical masks are not yet ubiquitous, except around the Government Medical College where a suspected case, the CEO of a Kochi-based startup who travelled to China to visit his TCS-employed wife, was quarantined for nearly a fortnight before he tested negative and was sent home.

There have not been any reports of returnees from China being sequestered from community, as we have heard from Chinese provinces far from the epicenter, Wuhan. The first coronavirus suspect has gone home with nary a notice.

This coronavirus thing in Kerala has so far been nothing like the Nipah virus scare seen in this tourist-friendly state in 2018. That outbreak, from fruit-eating bats, took 17 lives in Kerala and triggered familiar panic syndromes, such as people refraining buy all fruits lest they be infected from bats.

The major reason being cited for Kerala keeping its nerve now is the fact there have been no deaths. Even the three positive cases are reportedly in a stable condition in quarantine. And then, the positives have all been directly associated with Wuhan, the eye of the storm, being medical students there.

In the case of Nipah, the outbreak was from within the state and the epicentre was Perambra in Kozhikdoe district. But in the case of the coronavirus, only those who have had a recent overseas travel history are vulnerable, said a source in the health department.

For its part, the authorties have kept ahead of the panic curve by quickly invoking the WHOs privacy protocols of not disclosing the identities of the suspects or the positives. Also, the police also quickly rounded up six people who spread unwanted knowledge sourced from WhatsApp University.

Theres also another good enough reason why this hasnt been a Nipax redux. The mortality rate of coronavirus is only 2-7 per cent, much less than the the Nipah virus which had a high mortality rate of 60-70 per cent.

Since the first circle of suspects -- those exposed to China travel or Wuhan residency -- is well known, unlike the Nipah episode, the authorities have acted with clear knowledge of where to draw the first line of defence. All persons in the contact list of the infected Wuhan University students are being traced and isolated.

However, health minister K.K. Shylaja, speaking in the Legislative Assembly Monday, did not rule out the possibility of more positive cases coming up. All districts of the state have returnees from Wuhan.

There is no room for panic but maximum efforts have to be made to prevent the spread of the virus. While the coronavirus is not known to cause immediate death, it can trigger complications in people with other health issues and in pregnant women. So considering the possibility of more positive cases, the government has stepped up health vigil, she said.

Extensive training is being given to medics and parameds virus preventive measures. The government is focused on preventing the hospital staff from getting infected themselves.

A total of 2239 persons are under observation among whom 84 are admitted in isolation wards at various hospitals.

Meanwhile, the three coronavirus patients in Thrissur, Alappuzha and Kasargod districts are recuperating. Their condition is stable and they will be shifted from the isolation wards after the symptoms fully ease.
A strand of fungi which spawned inside the Chernobyl nuclear reactor and eats radiation could allow humans to insulate against deadly rays.

In 1991, five years after the disaster which rocked Ukraine, the black fungi was found sprouting up the walls of the abandoned reactor which had been flooded with gamma.

Baffled how it managed to survive the extreme conditions, scientists examined the microorganism - and were even more excited with their findings.

In addition to not perishing, they discovered that the fungi actually grows towards the radiation, as if attracted to it.

This is because of its large amounts of melanin - the pigment which turns skin dark - and allows the fungi to absorb normally harmful rays which it then converts into chemical energy.

Inside the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, where in 1991 a black fungi was found sprouting on the walls in the extremely harsh conditions

In addition to not perishing, they discovered that the fungi - called cryptococcus neoformans - actually grows towards the radiation, as if attracted to it

In the same way in which plants convert carbon dioxide and chlorophyll into oxygen and glucose via photosynthesis, the fungi sapped up deadly rays which allowed it to produce energy.

This process - hailed radiosynthesis - has captured the attention of scientists because of its potentially revolutionary implications.

Kasthuri Venkateswaran, a research scientist at NASA who is leading the experiments on the Cryptococcus neoformans fungi, believes that by extracting its radiation-absorbing power and manufacturing it in drug form, it could be used as a 'sun block' against toxic rays.

It would allow cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy, nuclear power plant engineers and airline pilots to operate without fear of absorbing a deadly dose of rays, Venkateswaran envisaged to Scientific American magazine.

The fungi's radiation-converting power could also be used to power electrical appliances, with it being touted as a possible biological answer to solar panels.

One anonymous researcher who specialises in the field also mooted its prospective role in developing biotechnology.

They explained on an online forum: 'The fungi that grow in there (Chernobyl reactor) are radiotrophic fungi, that are rich in melanin.

Kasthuri Venkateswaran, a research scientist at NASA (right) and Professor Clay Wang of the University of Southern California (left) sent samples of the fungi into the International Space Station to see if it mutated further under the hiked radiation levels

The fungi's radiation-converting power could also be used to power electrical appliances, with it being touted as a possible biological answer to solar panels

'Melanin absorbs radiation and converts it into other forms of energy (including electric).

'My research is into the use of melanin in conjunction with water to convert electromagnetic radiation into electrical energy.

'This technology will probably find its place in biotechnology as it is non toxic and biocompatible.'

Advances in using the powers of the fungi for medicinal purposes were gradual, but have been boosted in recent years by an ongoing study which saw samples of it sent into space.

By growing it in the International Space Station, where the radiation level is hiked compared to that on Earth, Venkateswaran and Professor Clay Wang of the University of Southern California were able to monitor mutation.

When microorganisms are put under more stressful environments, they release different molecules, which could further out understanding of the fungi and how it can be used to develop radiation-blocking drugs for humans.

The results of the experiment are yet to be published, leaving the scientific community waiting with baited breath over findings which could revolutionise human's protection against radiation.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 23:30:05|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BERLIN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The sales volumes of Germany's large full-range grocery chains outgrew those of discount supermarkets in 2019, according to the consumer index published by the market research institute GfK on Tuesday.

Traditional supermarket chains, such as Edeka and REWE, increased sales by around three percent, while discount supermarkets, such as Aldi and Lidl, only achieved an overall increase of 0.9 percent.

"In addition to acceptable prices, the shopper demands a pleasant shopping atmosphere and an attractive range of ecologically sustainable products," stated GfK.

Full-range grocery chains as well as drugstores had achieved this balance in the perception of shoppers more effectively than discount supermarkets, GfK noted.

According to GfK, drugstores in Germany grew even faster than supermarkets in 2019 and achieved sales increases of 4.6 percent.

German consumers are increasingly paying attention to quality when shopping. In 2019, 55 percent were focusing on quality, while only 45 percent looked primarily at the price. Ten years ago, most consumers were still mostly price-driven, GfK noted.

At the same time, the financial situation of German consumers has improved significantly. Back in 2009, only 27 percent of German households said that they could "afford almost everything," whereas the figure today is 42 percent, GfK noted.

Consumers paying more attention to quality coupled with a positive assessment of private finances have led to a "solid development" of the market for frequently traded fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), such as food, toiletries or house cleaning products, GfK noted.
A homeless man is suing two Honolulu cops for forcing him to lick a urinal instead of going to jail.

Samuel Ingall, 37, has filed the suit against the Honolulu Police Department and the city after the incident in January 2018.

The homeless man was seeking shelter in the restroom when one of the officers John Rabago told him in an 'aggressive tone' that the 'only way he could avoid arrest was by licking the urinal in the bathroom,' according to the lawsuit filed last week.

The other officer, Reginald Ramones, stood in the doorway, propping open the door, then closed it so they wouldn't be caught on surveillance, the lawsuit said.

Samuel Ingall, 37, (pictured) has filed the suit against the Honolulu Police Department and the city after the incident in January 2018

John Rabago (left) told Ingall in an 'aggressive tone' that the 'only way he could avoid arrest was by licking the urinal in the bathroom,' according to the lawsuit filed last week. The other officer, Reginald Ramones, (right) stood in the doorway, propping open the door, then closed it so they wouldn't be caught on surveillance, the lawsuit said

It said Ingall, determined not to go to prison, 'against his will, knelt before the urinal and licked the urinal.'

After the incident, Rabago then followed Ingall out of the restroom and laughed as he told other officers what had happened, the suit states.

The lawsuit names Rabago and Ramones individually as defendants.

Rabago, who remains on restricted duty, pleaded guilty in December to depriving Ingall of his civil rights.

Rabago (above), who remains on restricted duty, pleaded guilty in December to depriving Ingall of his civil rights. Ramones, who left the department in August, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge that he knew Rabago committed a civil rights violation but didn't inform authorities

Ramones, who left the department in August, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge that he knew Rabago committed a civil rights violation but didn't inform authorities.

Defense attorney Megan Kau said Monday that Rabago's guilty plea 'potentially puts the city at risk because of the civil lawsuit'.

She said that he wasn't allowed to plead no contest, so he pleaded guilty to accept responsibility.

A city spokesman and Ramone's attorney have yet to comment on the lawsuit.

The incident came to light when another officer who was present reported it to the cops' bosses.

The officer who reported it said it happened at around 2pm and that he had left when he saw what his colleagues were doing.

At the time, Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard said the incident 'cast a dark shadow on the department'.

Ballard turned the case over to the FBI in 2018 and two other officers were placed on restricted duty.

Rabago initially denied the allegations and fought the charges after he and Ramones were indicted in April, before changing his story in December.

Ramones pleaded guilty to a lesser charge earlier in the year.

Ramones previously said in court that Rabago tried to cover up what had happened, by persuading him not to tell authorities and to delete their text messages about it.

Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard previously said the incident 'cast a dark shadow on the department'. She turned the case over to the FBI in 2018 and two other officers were placed on restricted duty

Ramones and Rabago had faced 10 years behind bars but, under their plea deals, will only serve up to 30 months.

They are due to be sentenced in February.

Ingall's attorney Myles Breiner said at one of the hearings: 'He was forced to essentially do something that's disgusting. His face was forced into a urinal.

'The police officers thought this was amusing.

'It wasn't as though he was doing anything illegal but they chose to do this to him because he was vulnerable.'

Ingall's relatives have previously said he struggles with drug addiction.

He was filmed as part of 2016 documentary on Hawaiis homelessness crisis.

In the documentary, Ingall is seen recently released from prison with plans to turn his life around.

A few days later he overdosed on crystal meth.

Ingall is currently in a residential substance abuse program and plans to go into a clean and sober house, his attorney, said.
Colombo: Sri Lanka on Tuesday dropped the rendering of the Tamil-version of the national anthem from its Independence Day ceremony for the first time since 2016, raising concerns over the government's policy for national reconciliation after the end of the brutal civil war against the LTTE.

In his first address to the nation on the occasion of the 72nd National Day here, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa however vowed there would be no discrimination.

"As the president today, I represent the entire Sri Lankan nation irrespective of ethnicity, religion, party affiliation or other differences," he said.

He said he would ensure civil freedoms like free press and the right to expression. At today's ceremony, the national anthem was only sung in the Sinhala language.

This was the first time since 2016 that there was no Tamil national anthem at the Independence Day celebrations in the country.

The then Sri Lankan government in 2015 started including the Tamil national anthem as a means of achieving reconciliation with the Tamil minority community.

Sri Lanka's Constitution provides for the singing of the national anthem in both Sinhala and Tamil.

The Tamil version Sri Lanka Thaye' is a direct translation of Namo namo matha' in the Sinhala language.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after his swearing-in ceremony in November thanked the powerful Buddhist clergy for backing his presidential bid and vowed to protect all communities, while giving foremost priority to Buddhism. He also thanked the Sinhala-majority people for electing him.

While the Tamils in 2016 appreciated the symbolic gesture of recognizing them by adding the Tamil version at the Independence Day celebrations, the opposition, then led by the Rajapaksas and a majority Sinhala community member, filed a fundamental rights petition against the move.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa earlier served as the country's president from 2005-2015, a period which was mired by allegations of human rights abuses, especially against the Tamils.

According to UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by security forces during Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime that brought an end to the brutal civil war with with the defeat of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009.

Muslims make up nearly 10 per cent of Sri Lanka's over 21 million people, who are predominantly Sinhalese Buddhists. About 12 per cent of the population are Hindus, mostly from the ethnic Tamil minority. Some seven per cent of the population are Christians.

There are already concerns in the country that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's remarks may have led to apprehensions among the minority communities, who are already worried about the possibility of the return of an iron-fist rule under the Rajapaksa-duo's regime.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa during his address said his government was ready to tolerate and accommodate opposing views.

"I wish to fully strengthen the freedom of people to think and write freely," he said. He also vowed to tackle extremism in the country.

"We will not allow extremist organisations that pave way for terrorism to be active in the country," Gotabaya Rajapaksa said recalling that thirty years of conflict in the north and east had delayed the development of the country.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected the country's president on November 16 with overwhelming support from the Sinhala majority community. During the elections, the minority Tamil and Muslim communities had largely supported his main rival.
If voters delivered one clear message in the last European elections, it was that climate change and sustainability rank at the top of the political agenda. Nord Stream 2 will make an important contribution to achieving the EUs climate objectives, writes Sebastian Sass, EU Representative for Nord Stream 2 AG, in his article How Nord Stream 2 could play a crucial role in reducing CO2 emissions for Belgian The Parliament Magazine.

More than ever, European consumers are demanding that Europes energy, transport and industrial sectors are brought in line with the commitments agreed in Paris in 2015.

In response, and following mounting pressure from MEPs, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the European Green Deal, pledging to raise the EUs 2030 CO2 emissions reduction target from 40 percent to at least 50 percent.

Policymakers will be measured against these promises. Therefore, energy policy needs to remain at the centre of Europes climate action. Notwithstanding the need for additional renewable energy, natural gas can play a crucial role in reducing carbon emissions in the short term. When replacing hard coal, natural gas achieves an immediate 50 percent reduction of CO2 emissions.

It is by far the quickest, most cost-effective and flexible way to support a higher share of renewables by balancing the intermittency of wind and solar energy. It is not possible for Europe to become the worlds first carbon-neutral continent while at the same time ensuring the reliability and affordability of energy supply without sufficient access to natural gas.

For this to happen, policymakers need to set the right framework to unlock the full potential of natural gas. In the short term, this means pushing for a swift and substantial switch from coal to gas. By way of example, as a replacement for coal in power generation, the 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas that Nord Stream 2 will deliver every year once its in operation could save 160 million tonnes of CO2. This is the equivalent of about 34 million passenger vehicles driven for one year or around 14 percent of EU emissions from power generation in 2018.

Beyond 2030, it means promoting the use of hydrogen in the natural gas system to deeply decarbonise all parts of the energy sector. Existing gas distribution grids can play a role in the transition to hydrogen-based energy, and natural gas can be converted into hydrogen. Over the past five years, security of supply has been at the top of the EUs Energy Union agenda.

The previous legislature has made significant progress in strengthening the European Unions energy security. In an already highly diversified internal gas market, any additional gas supply to Europe helps improve energy security by further increasing market liquidity.

This is particularly true for Nord Stream 2, an additional, state-of-the-art import pipeline that will diversify and improve the security of Europes energy supply by supplementing existing import routes. With the rapid decline of domestic gas production in the EU, diverse supply options are needed  this includes liquefied natural gas from the global market as well as piped gas from existing suppliers.

Having suppliers compete on a level playing field benefits the European consumer and enables a rapid substitution of coal in Europes energy supply.
The announcement that Sigmar Gabriel was heading to the bank ended months of speculation about his post-political career. Photo: Christoph Soeder/picture alliance via Getty Images

Sigmar Gabriel, Angela Merkels vice-chancellor during Germanys previous coalition government has defended his decision to join the supervisory board of Deutsche Bank.

I think it is bad that when one takes an economy job after the end of his political career, there is a widespread suspicion that he has sold his soul, the former chairman of the Social Democratic Party told German newspaper Bild on Sunday. He said he would not be or act any differently than he has in the past.

Deutsche Bank, as one of the most important financial institutions in Europe, has the opportunity and the responsibility to help shape the future of the German and European economy, Gabriel said in a statement last week. I want to play a part in this.

Gabriel, 60, was vice chancellor of Germany from 2013-2018 and has also served as foreign minister and economics minister. Deutsche Bank shareholders will vote on his nomination at their meeting in May.

READ MORE: Our survival hinges on achieving Paris climate goals, Merkel tells Davos leaders

Politicians from the right and left of the spectrum accused Gabriel of sending the wrong signal by joining the scandal-battered German lender, which is in the midst of a massive restructuring, which includes cutting about 18,000 jobs.

In his interview with Bild, Gabriel posed the question of what jobs former politicians were actually allowed to do after they quit politics: They shouldn't be getting early pensions, they shouldn't be lobbyists, and they shouldn't be going into business. What then?

The announcement that Gabriel was heading to the bank ended months of speculation about his post-political career. He had been widely tipped to become the new boss of the German Automobile Association.

Gabriel is not the first high-ranking politician to attract criticism for his next career move after leaving the government in Berlin. Former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is a close friend of Russian president Vladimir Putin, and provoked an outcry when he was appointed as chairman of the board of Rosneft, Russias state-controlled oil company, in 2017.
With the new year well underway now, it's not just parents but also office workers who have set New Year's resolutions for packing their lunch for work.

But if you want to make sure your midday meal keeps you full until dinner, then you need to ensure you include the correct nutrients and a good balance of flavours.

Sydney-based teacher and 'meal prep queen' Katie Lolas recently shared how you can pack the perfect adult lunchbox - and her tips for navigating the supermarket to make sure you pick out the best ingredients.

Sydney-based teacher and 'meal prep queen' Katie Lolas recently shared how you can pack the perfect adult lunchbox (her lunches for the week pictured)

If you want a nutritious and well-balanced lunch, Katie (pictured) said you should always start your supermarket shop in the fruit and veg section - where you pick up the bulk of your shop

Tip one: Start with fresh produce

If you want a nutritious and well-balanced lunch, Katie said you should always start your supermarket shop in the fruit and veg section.

'Chances are, the fruit and veg section of your local supermarket is rammed full of pre-prepped options, such as mixed salads, chopped veggies in a roasting tin prepped and ready for the oven, zucchini noodles, microwavable greens and much more,' Katie posted on Instagram.

If you invest in just a few of these, you shouldn't have to do too much in the way of prep once you get home.

Katie recommends you shop seasonally to get the best deals - and keep an eye out for sales and promotions where you might score a good deal.

Right now, you want to be looking out for apples, bananas, berries, passionfruit, peaches, pears, avocados, capsicum, celery, onions, peas and lettuce - all of which should be reasonable in price at the moment.

Secondly in your shop, Katie (pictured) said you should hit up the deli section - where you can find cheap roast chickens that go a long way towards helping you to prepare a decent meal

Katie prepares lunches every Sunday afternoon and spends between one and two hours doing so; she prepares lunches for Monday to Thursday and allows herself to buy lunch on Friday

Tip two: Remember the deli is your friend

Secondly in your shop, Katie said you should hit up the deli section - where you can find cheap roast chickens that go a long way towards helping you to prepare a decent meal.

'The humble roast chook has been a staple at every Aussie gathering since the dawn of time, but not only that, it is a godsend when it comes to getting bang for your buck and minimising your meal prep time,' Katie said.

A barbecue chicken will typically set you back between $8 and $12 in the supermarket - and Katie said this can generate between three and five cups of chicken for you to use in soups, sandwiches, salads, tacos and wraps.

Katie also recommends the butcher section of the supermarket - where you can find all sorts of deals - and get the exact cut of meat that you want

Tip three: Head to the butcher

What are Katie Lolas' 10 pantry staples? 1. Mixed Nuts 2. Chia Seeds 3. Frozen Fruit 4. Whole-Wheat Pasta 5. Rolled Oats 6. Rice Malt Syrup 7. Quinoa 8. Canned Beans 9. Extra Virgin Oil 10. Canned Tuna Advertisement

Katie also recommends the butcher section of the supermarket - where you can find all sorts of deals if you know how.

'It can be tempting to head straight to the refrigerated section for the pre-packed meats and proteins,' Katie said.

'But what seems like ease and efficiency can in fact set you back time and money in the long run.

'Visiting the butcher counter for your meat means that you can purchase the precise amount of meat that you need.

'This eliminates the need to purchase additional pre-packs to cover any shortfall, or conversely, having excess that you don't need, thus saving you money!'

Katie reminded people that many butchers are happy to assist you with slicing, de-boning, tenderising and mincing while you're in the supermarket - meaning less time in the kitchen later on.

'I purchase the majority of my staples like brown rice, quinoa, black beans and chickpeas from Aldi or opt for a Homebrand Woolies or Coles version,' Katie said (her lunches pictured)

Tip four: Invest in grains

Last but not least, you need some sort of grain that will make sure your lunch keeps you full up until 7pm or whenever you eat dinner.

'I purchase the majority of my staples like brown rice, quinoa, black beans and chickpeas from Aldi or opt for a Homebrand Woolies or Coles version,' Katie told FEMAIL.

'The quality, taste and nutritional value is always on par with the more expensive brands, so why not grab the less expensive option?

'Keeping your pantry stocked at all times is great too because you can create quick and easy meals using ingredients that you already have.'

Katie says things like hummus, casseroles and soups are easy to make out of long-life ingredients - and it also saves you a lot of money.

Katie (pictured) said she always keeps her pantry stocked with essentials - so she can get her hands on something nutritious and handy quickly

Katie says things like hummus, casseroles and soups are easy to make out of long-life ingredients - and it also saves you a lot of money (some of her lunches pictured)

Katie has been preparing her meals to take to work with her for several years ago now:

'I cook up my weekly batch of fresh food on a Sunday morning, to ensure I have everything ready for work on Monday,' Katie said.

'It takes between 1.5 to two hours depending on what I make. I always have my groceries ready though, so I can start cooking on Sunday morning.

'I prepare five breakfasts and between four and five lunches each week. To change things up, I usually have morning tea at work on Friday and I grab something different from the shops for lunch.'

To find out more from Katie, please visit her website here.
KALAMAZOO, MI  The city of Kalamazoo has approved a formal agreement with Western Michigan University regarding student interns at the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety.

The Kalamazoo City Commission approved the affiliation agreement between Western Michigan University and the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety during its Feb. 3 meeting.

The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety has had a long standing relationship with Western Michigan Universitys Criminal Justice program and in 2019, WMU asked that an affiliation agreement be established to outline each entities role and also to protect WMU and the city from any potential liability that arises from have student interns, according to the action item.

The agreement lays out responsibilities of the college and of KDPS. It was approved as part of the consent agenda at the city commission meeting.

Commissioner Chris Praedel, who is employed by WMU, abstained from voting on the item.
Aon has announced the appointment of Emma Carpenter as its global super yacht leader. Carpenter will join the company in March and will drive the development of the companys super yacht insurance broking business globally. She will be based in London.

Carpenter has 17 years of experience in the marine sector. She joins Aon from Willis Towers Watson, where she spent more than a decade as a super yacht insurance broker. She has also held positions at Ed (formerly Cooper Gay) and British Marine.
Last week, ahead of Mondays critical first-in-the-nation Iowa Democratic caucus, I was discussing the reliability of the partys new caucus-night results reporting app with Iowa Democratic Party chairman Troy Price. We have backups on backups on backups, Price told me. So, if something does go wrong, we do have systems in place to back that up, to make sure we get the accurate results recorded quickly. So, this just allows us to get the results quicker from the precinct caucus.

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Something went gravely wrong with the quick recording of the results of the caucuses on Monday night. There were widespread reports that the app itself was not functioning properly. Phone lines to the party that precinct chairs used to call in results, one of the backup options, were jammed. There were inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results, a spokeswoman for the party said in a statement, referring to the additional strands of data the party was releasing this year in an effort to be more transparent, which was its own source of confusion in individual precincts. As of just before midnight, the five leading Iowa Democratic contendersAmy Klobuchar, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Pete Buttigieghad all spoken, in that order. It was three hours after the first results were supposed to be released. None of them had come in.

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Monday night was an extraordinary failure for the Iowa Democratic Party. As they do every open election cycle, candidates spent a full year of their time invested in the state in the hope that, on one night, if everything went right, they might be standing onstage in Iowa declaring victory and riding that momentum through the primary calendar. Instead, in the immediate term, the results will (should?) come out on Tuesday just in time to be buried as a president under impeachment delivers the State of the Union in the chamber where he was impeached.

Well  at least some may be happy about this turn of events. As the caucuses were taking place, anecdotal information from reporters and officials in various precincts was not great for Biden, who had been near the top in Iowa polling averages along with Sanders. And though no data had been released, the Biden campaignfor one reason or anotherfelt it was necessary to send a sharply worded letter from its general counsel to Price complaining about considerable flaws in tonights Iowa Caucus reporting system, as though it had a prevailing interest in discrediting the results altogether.

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Klobuchars campaign manager, meanwhile, tweeted that with the numbers weve seen internally and publicly, were running even or ahead of Vice President Biden. Warrens campaign manager said that its close between Warren, Sanders, Buttigieg. I believe the Vice President is a distant fourth. Sanders, himself, told his crowd that when the results are announced, I have a good feeling well be doing very, very well in Iowa.

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It was only Buttigieg who had the audacity to say the following before his supporters when 0 percent of results had been released: By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.

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You could game out a logic to this Buttigieg bet his whole campaign on Iowa, so why not just say it and if its wrong, who cares?but its better to just call it irresponsible. The move prompted the Sanders campaign, then, to release its own internal figures, from nearly 40 percent of precincts in Iowa, in which Sanders was leading Buttigieg by a few percentage points. Buttigiegs team responded with less complete numbers of their own but suggested that they had surpassed internal projections heading into the night, which showed a virtual tie. A good rule of thumb until results are released on Tuesday: Dont believe any of these campaigns.

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Aside from stirring confusion and competing narratives around the outcome, the lack of results offered an excellent trolling opportunity for President Donald Trump, who won the Iowa Republican caucuses (yes, they had them) by 96 percentage points over his nearest opponent. Trumps campaign wasted no time in sowing doubt about the legitimacy of the outcome and ridiculing the Democratic Party for its incompetence. It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process, Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?

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If you believe cable news pundits losing their minds incessantly for four hours as the results were delayed, Iowa should be stripped of its placement as first in the early-state nominating calendar first thing Tuesday morning. I had asked Price last week about whether Iowa was safe in its placement, given already brewing discontent in the party that the overwhelmingly white Iowa was no longer a suitable first caucus state given the partys growing diversity. This was a concern among many even before a catastrophic caucus night passed without a single result being released.

This conversation comes up every four years, and well see what happens in the next few years, Price said, but Im confident Iowa will remain first.

Well see, indeed.
AmorePacific President Bae Dong-hyun, right, shakes hands with MAP Group CEO Virendra Sharma after signing a business partnership at the MAP headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia, last Wednesday. / Courtesy of AmorePacific



By Kim Jae-heun



AmorePacific is aiming to reduce its reliance on the Chinese market by reaching out to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.



The country's No.1 cosmetics maker signed a business partnership with Indonesia's largest retailer PT Mitra Adiperkasa, Tbk (MAP) to open its in-house brands across the nation.



MAP Group owns operating rights for global distribution companies such as SOGO, Galeries Lafayette, Sephora and other popular brands including Starbucks and Zara. It currently operates 2,300 stores in 70 cities in Indonesia, the largest economy in the ASEAN bloc.



Since AmorePacific established its Indonesian subsidiary in Jakarta in 2013, it launched four more of its brands Sulwhasoo, Laneige, Mamonde and Innisfree in the capital city.



However, the cosmetics firm expects the new business deal with MAP will further branch out to local customers in various provinces cities, including Denpasar, Surabaya and Bandung.



"We are happy to sign a partnership with MAP, the largest retailer in Indonesia, where we see big potential," AmorePcific President Bae Dong-hyun said. "MAP's expertise in distribution and AmorePacific's global brand will create synergy to provide top quality products and services to Indonesian customers."



Indonesia is one of the AmorePacific's key clients in ASEAN among six including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.



The cosmetic firm sees Indonesia as having the biggest potential, as it is home to the world's fourth largest population. In 2018, the cosmetics market in Indonesia was estimated at 6.48 trillion won (US$5.45 billion). The market is currently growing at a rapid pace, with the industry predicted to grow to 11.45 trillion won (US$9.64 billion) by 2023.



AmorePacific aims to achieve 500 billion won of sales in ASEAN market by 2023 by focusing more on the Indonesian market.



"We are not expecting to see skyrocketing sales in Indonesia in a short period of time. The market is not big but we are investing in the potentiality there," an AmorePacific official said. "We are developing our brand and strategy there. "Our main target in the Indonesian market is millennials. Although, it already has a large population, it's still growing. Our research shows there are about 40 million young women there and they have great interest in beauty products."



According to the company, young Indonesian customers prefer to shop at offline stores and the distribution system is well established across the nation.



"The retail business is still growing big there and MAP is at the center of it. If we had focused on customers in Jakarta only, we want to open our brands stores in every offline platform operated by MAP within this year," an AmorePacific Official said.



Currently, the cosmetics firm has its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore, which is the most important branch among those in ASEAN countries.



There is a research center studying markets and working out on a strategy specialized for individual countries to successfully localize the brand.



Last year, AmorePacific's entire overseas sales reached 1.97 trillion won. However, it turned out that 90 percent of the revenue came from China. Moreover, the cosmetics firm has conceded its top position in the sales of foreign cosmetics brands to a Japanese company in China last year.




The budget by itself is only an expenditure income plan and nothing more than that





by N.S.Venkataraman





Year after year, national budget is presented in India with much fanfare. The budget would be preceded by National Economic Survey Report which largely reflects the views of the Government of India. The report , of course, contain extensive data and figures and then conclude with prediction of GDP growth for the coming year.









While some students of economics may study the economic survey report carefully, most section of media and general public only read and discuss about the broad statements in the report and little attention is paid to details.





The national budget which follows the economic survey report is now like a festival occasion in India. The budget is preceded by discussions in media about the views , preference and expectations of citizens and some professionals. The budget would be followed by discussions for a few days and then everything would fade from memory , as far as media and people are concerned.





After all, what does the annual budget contain ?





The annual budget rises or lowers taxes with regard to various activities and contains proposals for spending in various schemes and projects and likely income for the government as well as the likely deficit and surplus.





The budget by itself is only an expenditure income plan and nothing more than that.





It has been a matter of routine exercise that the budget proposals would be appreciated by the ruling parties and criticized by the opposition parties and differing views would be expressed by critics depending upon their thought process and prejudices. All these discussions leave the citizens confused.





It has been observed in the past that the budget proposals are not considered sacrosanct by the government and on many occasions, expenditures are incurred by the government on various schemes, which have not been discussed in the budget . Money for such schemes would be found by divesting the resources that are meant for some other schemes , as mentioned and approved in the budget.





While discussing about the new budget in the media, there is little discussion about how the proposals of earlier budgets were adhered to. There is no worthwhile follow up scrutiny by the media about the level of expenditures incurred on various schemes and whether they fall as per the proposal in the budget.





Many seem to think that budget proposals are the be all and end all of economic and development process. On the other hand, what is important is how efficiently the resources are spent and whether the achievements are on the expected and targeted lines as indicated in the budget.





In short, one gets an impression that the budget discussions are carried out in vacuum with no link between the previous budgets and the present budget.





One wonders as to whether the annual budget is necessary at all.





An elected government in India stays in power for five years and it would be appropriate to have one budget for full five years to be presented to parliament in one stroke at the beginning of the five year term of the government. Then, year on year, the progress of implementation of budget proposals can be discussed in the parliament and vote taken on the views of the members of parliament.





This would certainly help in keeping the government on the toes and provide opportunity for purposeful discussions in the media and parliament.





The present pattern of yearly budget appears to be a wasteful exercise, as the proposal for budget period is for only one year and any meaningful progress in one year in large national schemes is not possible to achieve, as several large infrastructure projects and other reform proposals need long gestation time to achieve the intended results and evaluate the results with clarity and understanding.





It also should be kept in view that the annual budget clearly destabilizes the economy, as year on year proposals vary considerably and tax structures are disrupted on annual basis, resulting in lack of continuity in the governments expenditure income plan.
By Marwan Bisharaby

February 03, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - On February 1, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, succeeded in extracting from the Arab League a rejection of US President Donald Trump's Middle East plan by warning its leaders that neither he, nor they, could afford to go down in history as the ones who "sold Jerusalem" and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to Israel.

This is the same argument the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat made to justify rejecting the US and Israeli dictates at the Camp David summit in 2000, knowing all too well that Arab autocrats may not care about Palestinian rights but could not be seen to have surrendered Jerusalem.

The ploy worked.

US arrogance in declaring all of Jerusalem the capital of Israel has backfired on Trump's entire "vision", leaving Washington humiliated and its foolishly dubbed "deal of the century" barely alive.

Furthermore, Abbas severed all relations with the US and Israel. "If Jerusalem is off the table, America is off the table," warned one Palestinian official.

This may have come as a shock to the Americans, who thought he would come back to the table sooner or later, but it was no surprise to their Israeli partner.

American ignorance or Israeli arrogance

It is hard to say whether the Trump plan has been driven mainly by the ignorance of young Jared Kushner, Trump's adviser and son-in-law, or the arrogance of his mentor, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But it is probably both, since gullibility is required for successful manipulation.

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It is embarrassingly clear that the plan is based on Netanyahu's extremist ideas. Indeed, when Trump and Netanyahu stood side-by-side at the White House ceremony to announce it, there could be little doubt whose vision it was. Trump seemed like he was reading it for the first time.

And from there on, it was downhill for the plan as the president's son-in-law parroted Netanyahu's propaganda pointers and debunked cliches.

Indeed there is an eerie resemblance between Kushner and Netanyahu's former spokesman, Mark Regev, in style and spin, both taking their cue from Frank Luntz's Global Language Dictionary, which became Israel's propaganda playbook after its release a decade ago.

It did not help that Netanyahu, the puppet master, wanted the plan to be announced, especially the parts legitimising new Israeli annexations of Palestinian land, not to make peace with the Palestinians, but to win a fourth term.

Unlike Kushner, Netanyahu knows all too well the deal is a non-starter for the Palestinians. He has already tested its main ideas and is familiar with the Palestinian response.

Indeed, such anticipated Palestinian rejection is the very reason he devised and supported the plan in the first place.

All of this begs the question, what now? What will the Palestinians do if or when Netanyahu goes through with the annexation?

A game changer

Netanyahu's refusal to make a deal with "moderate" Abbas - the amenable negotiator, who rejected armed struggle, embraced diplomacy and accepted the principle of a demilitarised Palestinian state on a fifth of historic Palestine - and his insistence on annexing more Palestinian territories, leave the Palestinians with no option but to embrace a new vision and a new strategy of liberation.

What applies to the Palestinians also applies to Abbas. After all, Netanyahu is hoping to do away with both, future Palestinian independence and current Palestinian leadership.

To be clear, Abbas has proven too naive for too long, reckoning that winning the moral argument is enough to change Israel's strategic calculus.

But Abbas misses the cardinal principle of diplomacy: it is a reflection of the balance of power. Palestinian failure to extract an independent state from the disastrous Oslo Accords is the direct result of Israel's supremacy on the ground.

The same goes for Abbas's renewed call for an international conference under the auspices of the international Quartet, namely the US, the UN, the EU and Russia. The US supremacy in such a gathering will ensure no result is disadvantageous to Netanyahu's Israel.

Diplomacy could achieve little without a real change on the ground in Israel-Palestine.

Even Trump, who admires the strong and abhors the weak, may find it in his interest to redress the US position, albeit technically, if the situation changes.

A Palestinian spring

Change requires summoning Palestinian talent, energy and passion for liberty and justice, which in turn needs national reconciliation and unity around a clear national agenda. It also necessitates dismantling the "police state" in the occupied Palestinian territories which has intensified its grip on the civilian population under pressure from the US and Israel.

Abbas's announcement that all security coordination with Israel will be severed and that it will be treated as an "occupying power" rather than a "peace partner", is a first important step towards galvanising popular support for a freedom agenda.

If Abbas indeed goes through with it, this will prove a game-changing development that could transform the conflict for years to come.

Agree with him or not, the octogenarian Abbas should be commended for believing in peace and appreciated for schlepping around the world from the Arab League to the UN to promote coexistence.

But he should not stop there. He must also ensure a smooth transition of power to a new, younger, more vibrant Palestinian leadership that can galvanise and channel people power at home and abroad.

Despite over 70 years of dispossession, 53 years of occupation and a million imprisoned, the Palestinians remain resolute. They may bend but they do not break.

With Palestinians making up some 20 percent of Israel's population - a number that will rise to 25 percent in the not-so-distant future - the "Jewish state" is fast becoming a bi-national state.

And with almost as many Palestinians as Jews living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, and with a maximum distance of a few kilometres separating any Palestinian from any Jew, Israel-Palestine is increasingly a binational reality. Israeli annexation of new territories will only help underline this fact.

In this context, no nukes, no air force and no walls will define the future relationship between the affluent centres and ghettos, between rich cities and their belts of poverty, indeed between next-door neighbours. Israel may continue to use brutal force against the Palestinians, but like every colonising power in the past century, it will not be able to subdue a determined indigenous population with violence.

There is a demand for a change of vision based on ethical not religious awakening, one that transcends fetishist archaeology and sacred sites to honour sacred human rights for all.

It is time for David to face up to Goliath, for liberty to overcome occupation, for democracy to beat fanaticism, and for justice to defeat and uproot racism. Thirty years after apartheid was dismantled in South Africa, it is time it is done away with in Palestine as well.

It is time for a Palestinian and Jewish spring.
As the coronavirus death toll mounted to 425, India on Tuesday further tightened visa rules by cancelling the existing visas for Chinese and foreigners who had visited the country in the last two weeks.

On February 2, India temporarily suspended e-visa facility for Chinese travellers and foreigners residing in China in view of the coronavirus outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

The death toll in China's coronavirus rose sharply to 425 with 64 deaths on Monday and the number of those infected with the deadly disease rose to 20,438, Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday.

All those who are already in India (with regular or e-visa) and had travelled from China after January 15 are requested to contact the hotline number of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Government of India (+91-11-23978046 and email: ncov2019@gmail.com, the announcement by the Indian Embassy here said.

About the validity of the visas, it said the Embassy of India and our Consulates have been receiving several queries from Chinese citizens as well as other foreign nationals, who are based out of China or visited China in the last 2 weeks, as to whether they can use their valid single/multiple entry visas to travel to India.

It is clarified that existing visas are no longer valid. Intending visitors to India should contact the Indian Embassy in Beijing (visa.beijing@mea.gov.in) or the Consulates in Shanghai (Ccons.shanghai@mea.gov.in) and Guangzhou (Visa.guangzhou@mea.gov.in) to apply afresh for an Indian visa. Indian Visa Application Centres (www.blsindia-china.com) in these cities may also be contacted in this regard, it said.

The Visa Section of the Embassy/Consulates of India in China can be contacted to ascertain the validity of visa before undertaking any visit to India, it said.

The deadly virus has spread to more than 25 countries, including India.

India has reported three cases of the coronavirus. All the three patients from Kerala recently returned from the affected Wuhan city.

Currently, 647 Indians and seven Maldivians who have been evacuated from Wuhan and Hubei province are in 14-day quarantine at a medical camp in Manesar, near Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Christus Santa Rosa Health System said Monday it will acquire Central Texas Medical Center, an 170-bed hospital in San Marcos.

The nonprofit system signed a binding agreement with owner AdventHealth, a faith-based hospital operator based in Altamonte Springs, Fla. Neither company disclosed the purchase price.

Our organizations share a common mission to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ and a commitment to making communities healthier by delivering exceptional quality, faith-based and compassionate health care no matter the ability to pay, Ernie Sadau, president and CEO of Irving-Texas based Christus Health, said in a statement Monday.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. Until the deal is complete, which could be this spring, the hospital will continue to operate as part of the AdventHealth system.

On ExpressNews.com: Nix building owners consider turning River Walk property into apartments

The San Marcos hospital opened in 1923 as Hays County Soldiers, Sailors and Marines Memorial Hospital and moved to its current location at 1301 Wonder World Drive in 1983. The hospital has more than 700 employees, and more than 300 active and consulting physicians.

Over time, weve realized that the interests of CTMC and the community it serves would benefit from the hospital joining a strong health system with a robust regional network, said Terry Shaw, president and CEO of AdventHealth.

Christus officials said the acquisition will likely increase access to health care services for residents in the region.

Christus Health is a Catholic health care system known for opening the first hospital in San Antonio, in 1869.

Its parent company operates more than 600 health care facilities in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico, and in Chile, Colombia and Mexico. This includes long-term care facilities, community hospitals and walk-in clinics.

We are thrilled to work with the community of San Marcos and surrounding communities, Sadau said. With hospitals in San Antonio, New Braunfels and now San Marcos, we are better positioned to serve all in the rapidly growing communities in South and Central Texas.

Laura Garcia covers the health care industry in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her stories and more local coverage on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | laura.garcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @Reporter_Laura
A little boy from Washington state is doing his part to eliminate his schools outstanding lunch debt  one keychain at a time.

Keoni Ching has helped wipe more than $4,000 worth of cafeteria debt in his Vancouver community after he recently launched a handmade key chain project for his schools Kindness Week, CNN reported.

With the help of his parents, April and Barry Ching, and his grandparents, the 8 year old has created over 300 key chains, which he sells for $5 each, according to the outlet.

In total, Keoni has earned a whopping $4,015  a sum that will go towards the lunch debt of his school, Benjamin Franklin Elementary, as well as six others  all thanks to his appreciation of key chains and desire to help those in need.

I love key chains. They look good on my backpack, Keoni told CNN, adding that he wanted to help others because it just makes the world a better place.

Though Keoni is a proud Miami Dolphins fan, it turns out his project was actually inspired by San Francisco 49ers player Richard Sherman, who also paid off more than $27,000 of school lunch debt for students in need, his mom April tells PEOPLE.

Keoni Ching

RELATED: Calif. Ends School Lunch-Shaming by Guaranteeing All Students Will Get a Meal

My husband and I had been talking about Richard Sherman and the kindness he showed by paying off school lunch debt, she explains. It was more the act than the man. Keoni was just inspired by Richard Sherman because of what he did.

It wasnt just Sherman, according to April, who says her son has always been a very kind and generous kid with a passion to help others.

He seriously has the biggest heart! she raves. We have tried so hard to teach him that if you are kind to others you will always be happy. The best part is that everyone around us encourages kindness and that just makes Keoni want to be kind even more.

Story continues

Alongside his family, the boy began working on the custom beaded designs, which range from beloved movie characters to team names to favorite phrases. What started as a simple way to help the students at his school has now developed into a nationwide project, his mom explained.

We have sent key chains to Alaska, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Arizona, all over the country, April told CNN. There was one lady who said she wanted $100 worth of key chains so that she could just hand them out to people.

There were several people who bought one key chain and gave [Keoni] a hundred bucks, she added. It was absolutely amazing how much support the community showed for his whole project.

Keoni Ching's key chains | Courtesy April Ching

RELATED: 9-Year-Old Boy Pays Off School Lunch Debt for Classmates  and Sparks a National Discussion

On Jan. 31, Keoni finally got to present his school with a check for $4,015. Standing beside the massive check that appeared to be as big as the 8-year-old boy, he couldnt help but beam for his job well done.

Though Benjamin Franklin Elementary only owed $500 in lunch debt, Keoni gave them $1,000 so that they could pay off the balance and account for any future debt that may build up, according to CNN.

The remaining amount from his key chain sales was divided between six other nearby schools, each of which will get $500 to eliminate their lunch debts and help families in need, the outlet reported.

Lunches here are about $2, Benjamin Franklin Elementary Principal Woody Howard told CNN. But if you have two or three kids and for whatever reason, youve missed [paying for] a week of lunch or breakfasts, that adds up pretty quickly.

This type of a gift takes a little bit of pressure off of your family, Howard added to the outlet.

According to the School Nutrition Association, 75% of responding districts reported having unpaid student meal debt at the end of the 2017/18 school year. The SNA said that percentage has increased substantially, citing that the median amount of unpaid meal debt per district rose by 70% since the 2012/13 school year.

RELATED VIDEO: Billionaire Announces He Will Pay Off Class of 2019s Student Debt During Commencement Speech

In 2018, three-quarters of the 5 billion lunches served in school cafeterias were also offered at a free or reduced price, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported.

For Keonis part in helping eliminate that debt, April says she and her husband are so incredibly proud of him, but know it is our entire village of people.

We have the most amazing friends and family who have rallied to support him and our entire community has supported his goal. This absolutely has been a group effort, she says, noting that Keonis work is not yet done.

Keoni is really excited to keep making and selling keychains, she adds. He wants to buy a new computer, so he would like to keep some of the money from new sales and donate more money to Doernbecher Childrens Hospital in Portland, Oregon.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 11:04:36|Editor: huaxia

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SHANGHAI, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Within 12 hours, 300,000 masks were produced by 20 volunteers in Shanghai, who had no experience working in plants before the novel coronavirus outbreak.

As an effective way to protect oneself from the virus, based on professional advice, masks have been urgently brought to the fore as a daily necessity and a fast-moving consumer good in China, resulting in a huge gap between market demand and supply.

Many medical material manufacturers have resumed production despite the shutdown period of the Spring Festival holiday. However, with inter-city movements restricted to avoid further human-to-human transmission, most home-returned migrant workers are unable to get back, and the shortage of manpower has become a major issue.

Medicom, a mask manufacturer in southwest Shanghai, is also understaffed. After learning about the situation, Zhou Rong, head of the Symphony Charity and Social Development Centre, a charity organization in Shanghai, offered to help.

"At first, I was worried that I would receive little response since it was the Spring Festival holiday, and the 12-hour night shift from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. is tiring," said Zhou.

But soon, over 300 people volunteered to take the 20 positions responsible for quality inspection, packing and sealing of the masks produced at a speed of 50 per minute per machine.

"I can produce 1,600 masks every 35 minutes, so that is around 30,000 in 12 hours," said Sun Jian. With the loud roaring of machines, few people noticed that he was actually hearing-impaired.

"I just want to do my part and hope this epidemic will end soon," said Sun.

Zhang Chengyao, a volunteer and also staff of the charity organization, found it difficult to adapt in the beginning.

"The workshop was stuffy with loud noise. I was all thumbs when I started, even despite our training," said Zhang.

But they soon became proficient. Twelve hours later, 20 volunteers delivered 300,000 masks to the factory. At present, the daily output of masks in Medicom has exceeded 1 million.

With more people mobilized by local authorities, the support from volunteers have been extended from just the night shift to two shifts, guaranteeing 24-hour round-the-clock production.

"Because we need to wear hazmat suits while working, it is not convenient to use the toilet so I'd rather not go. I can sort and pack more than 10,000 masks a day. It's all worth it, said Lu Hongyan, a volunteer and also a member of the Shanghai Urban Management and Law Enforcement Bureau.

According to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, a total of 17 mask manufacturers in Shanghai are gradually resuming their production, and the daily production capacity can reach 4 million after they reach a full production scale.

China is the world's leading mask manufacturer and exporter, with a maximum production capacity of more than 20 million pieces per day. The total mask output in China has topped 10 million pieces daily as domestic mask producers resumed 60 percent of production capacity and will keep resuming in the next days, according to Cao Xuejun, a senior official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Feb. 2.
Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Brid Smith has once more called for Sinn Fein to stay out of Government with both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael and urged it to look left when making its coalition decision.

Extending free State childcare to two-year-olds with an increase to 33 hours of such care per week at a cost of 495m forms the crux of the partys childcare policy, launched today.

At a press event in a playground on Mountjoy Square in Dublin the party said that it would immediately invest 800m into childcare services should it gain a foothold in Government.

TD for Dublin South Central Ms Smith said that it is so clear that the appetite for change is massive, and there is the possibility of an alternative left Government for the first time in the history of the State.

Speaking as to how the partys childcare plan would be funded, Gillian Brien, PBPs candidate in Dublin Central said that a 2% tax on millionaires in Ireland will create 3.9bn for the Exchequer.

Asked if such a wealth tax would not incline the wealthy to leave the jurisdiction, Ms Brien said if that was the case ther would be no people living on the planet. I would completely disagree with that. If they want to leave then let them, and I would guarantee you they wont.

We have to ask ourselves, do we want to invest in children and in Ireland? she said. Do we want to care about our children?

On the question of Sinn Fein in Government, after an overnight Irish Times poll put the party on 25% of the vote, Ms Smith said that the call is to encourage Sinn Fein to look left and to stay out of coalition with any of the right wing parties and to look to form a left block that could provide a real alternative.

Its a historic moment, and we can guarantee that we wont be propping up either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael in Government.

She said that tens of thousands of voters would be massively disappointed if either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael were back in Government after this massive swing towards the left.

There would be huge disappointment among voters that they didnt manage to bury the two conservative parties that have ruled this country and made a mess of our public services for the past eight decades.

She warned Sinn Fein to beware the lessons of history in terms of what happened with the Labour Party when they went into coalition with Fine Gael in 2011 and were subsequently decimated at the 2016 election. If you go prop up the right wing then the compromises you have to make on your left policies are too great, she said.

We want to see the change advance.

It may not be this Government, but it could be the next one when youd have a real possibility of an even further swing to the left and the real possibility of a strong left-wing Government for the first time in our history.
MANZINI - Government should brace itself for abnormal behaviour from civil servants, members of PSAs to be specific.

This is a message from members of the public sector associations (PSAs), who are fighting for their cost-of-living-adjustment (CoLA) from government.

They have adopted an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust Viktor Frankls quote which says; An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behaviour.



It is worth noting that, PSAs are planning to stage two strike actions consecutively.

The PSA members revealed this during their last mobilisation meeting which was held at the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Centre yesterday, where they were mobilising civil servants to vote in numbers for the 2018/19 cost of living adjustment (CoLA) strike. For this financial year they are demanding 6.55 per cent and if everything goes according to their plan, another strike would be held after the 2017/18 CoLA strike, where they are demanding 7.85 per cent.



Situation



We will not allow things to be normal under an abnormal situation, they said, while citing that their salaries had not been adjusted for three consecutive years - 2017/18 to 2019/20. They said as they were going to ballot for or against the proposed strike action this week, they would vote in numbers because they wanted government to see that they really needed the money.



This will also help in influencing the budget speech, they said.

Some of them claimed that they had been told that the budget speech would not have money allocated for CoLA and this could change if they turned to the balloting centres in numbers.



Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg is yet to present that budget speech in Parliament.

On another note, they said the 2017/18 strike for 7.85 per cent CoLA, which was held between September 23 and October 2, 2019, was not successful because some of their members betrayed them by going to work.



This time around, we will not allow sell-outs, they said.

In a bid to make sure that there would be no sell-outs in their planned industrial actions, they said they expected all those who would cast their votes to be visible on the streets during the strike actions.



They said they would ensure this by having vusela exercises. They said this exercise was provided for in the Industrial Relations Act of 2000 as it says union members are allowed to go and persuade their colleagues to join them in their activities.



However, they said they had noted that government was against the vusela exercises and would employ another strategy. They said they would be on the streets during the day and do the vusela exercises at night.



This is not a threat, but a promise and there will be tough love during vuselas, they said.

Furthermore, in a bid to make sure that their planned industrial actions would not be interdicted by the court, the PSA leaders said their lawyers would challenge Section 89 of the Industrial Relations Act. This section allows the Minister of Labour and Social Security to go to court to seek an interdict if he believes that a strike action is a threat to national interest.



Interdict



Currently, our lawyers are consulting with a South African advocate on the matter and once it is in court, then no interdict can be issued until the matter is finalised, they added.

On that note, they said they would be able to roll out both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 CoLA strike actions consecutively.



Meanwhile, when commenting about the civil servants planned strike actions over CoLA recently, Government Spokesperson Percy Simelane said staying away from work in protest of what had been successfully protested for could not be an option to every normal thinking person, but a decayed spot in the backbone of the socio-economic development of Eswatini.



On that note, Simelane was quoted encouraging all civil servants to consider acting responsibly as the country was pulling itself together to revive its ailing economy for the benefit of everyone living in it and not just the public service.



Out of the four trade unions under the PSAs banner, only three will partake in the planned industrial actions and they are SNAT, National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) together Swaziland National Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP). The other trade union, the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SAWDNU), is not allowed to strike for salary adjustment by law and this is because its members are essential service providers.
A painting of Adolf Hitler depicted as the Biblical figure of Cain went on display at the German Historical Museum in Berlin today.

The artwork, created by German artist George Grosz in 1944, shows the Nazi dictator in despair surrounded by skeletons as war rages behind him.

Called 'Cain or Hitler in Hell', it went on display as part of a new permanent exhibition at the museum.

Grosz was one of the most important artists focused on political themes during the Weimar Republic in Germany, a period between the end of World War I and the Nazis' rise to power in 1933.

Grosz emigrated that year to the United States and the Nazis deemed many of his creations 'degenerate art' and destroyed them.

The 1944 painting shows the Nazi dictator surrounded by skeletons as war rages behind him

German artist George Grosz (left) was seen as 'degenerate' by the Nazis who destroyed much of his work. His 1944 painting of Hitler (right) depcited as Cain has gone on display in Berlin

The biblical Cain murders his brother, Abel, and God condemns him to a life of wandering.

The artwork helps illustrate 'how Grosz further developed his critical form after emigration,' said Markus Hilgert, a senior German cultural official.

Grosz himself said the painting shows 'Hitler as a fascist monster, or as an apocalyptic beast.'

The painting, purchased from Grosz's heirs, will be a central part of a new permanent exhibition.

'For me, it is important that now younger people will have access to the painting and the critical view the artist had of Nazism,' Hilgert said.
New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew with President Donald Trump at a Trump campaign rally in Wildwood last month. Read more

New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew ended last year with $1.1 million in campaign cash, driven by a surge of donations from conservative grassroots donors.

Van Drew, who has been in the national spotlight since he voted against President Donald Trumps impeachment, switched parties, and pledged his undying support" to Trump, received fierce criticism from Democrats. Now, his campaign filings show he is starting to shed their financial support and replace it with small-dollar Republican donations.

This is all the Trump phenomenon, said Patrick Murray, director of polling at Monmouth University. Right now, his initial surge is based on name recognition from being the party-switcher."

Since October, Van Drew has brought in $300,000 in individual contributions. Nearly half  or around $145,000  came from conservative donors using WinRed, a Republican fundraising platform that processes online donations. Only 5% of WinRed donations came from New Jersey.

Any time Donald Trump says, Support this person, money flows in, Murray said. Is that a momentary blip is my big question.

Van Drew took in $423,000 in the last quarter of 2019, a drop from his $529,000 haul in the previous quarter. This was driven primarily by a dip in large-dollar donations  down from $353,000 to $157,000  and made up for with a surge in small-dollar contributions, which rose from $21,000 to $145,000. Donations from PACs dropped from $151,000 to $75,000.

Experts say that isnt a surprise. Trumps endorsement will naturally boost Van Drews small-dollar donations from across the country. Meanwhile, many of his established large-dollar donors  who are Democrats  will stop donating to him.

Trumps endorsement alone wont be enough to court money from large-dollar Republican donors and PACs, however. Experts note that Van Drew will need to put in the work.

Van Drew "hasnt gone out there and aligned himself with the big money on the Republican side, Murray said. And those, you either have to ask directly for their money, or hope youre part of a group of members of Congress these PACs will give to.

Longtime Van Drew supporters  many of whom were furious when he switched parties and demanded their money back  have started to get refunds. Campaign filings show Van Drew refunded more than $35,000 in donations to individuals and $49,250 to political action committees, most of which were processed in the days immediately after the mid-December news he would switch parties.

 READ MORE: Ive totally lost all respect for him. Jeff Van Drews Democratic donors want their money back

At the moment, Van Drew is in a strong financial position against his competitors. His lone Republican primary challenger, Bob Patterson, started the year with $95,000.

On the Democratic side, Brigid Callahan Harrison  a professor at Montclair State University  has shown some fundraising strength, raking in $45,000 in the two weeks since filing election paperwork Dec. 16. And 57% of her haul came from small-dollar donors.

Another Democratic candidate, Amy Kennedy  who did not file to run until January and was not required to file a 2019 campaign finance report  is expected to be a strong fund-raiser. Her husband, former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, once chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats campaign reelection arm.

Van Drews race will be one of the most bitterly fought House elections in 2020, but the national Republican Party apparatus has gone to work for him, hoping to ease his path, and Trump cemented his welcome to the GOP at a campaign rally in Wildwood last week. A Trump-affiliated PAC has also poured in $250,000 for political air cover in the form of online and TV ads.

 READ MORE: Trump and Jeff Van Drew completed their political embrace on a winter night in Wildwood

Six Democrats have entered the race, and all have cited Van Drews opposition to impeachment and party switch as significant reasons for running.

His leading Republican challenger, David Richter, dropped out of the race and decided to run in a neighboring congressional district represented by Democrat Andy Kim. Republican Brian Fitzherbert also bowed out.

The district  which stretches from the Philadelphia suburbs in Gloucester County south to Cape May, and from north of Atlantic City into Burlington County  is competitive. Trump carried it by five points in 2016. President Barack Obama won 53% of the vote there each time he ran.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the amount of campaign cash Van Drew had at the end of the year. It is $1.1 million.
People who text while walking face a higher risk of an accident than those listening to music or talking on the phone, a study has found.

The study, published in the journal Injury Prevention, found that smartphone texting is linked to compromised pedestrian safety, with higher rates of 'near misses', and failure to look left and right before crossing a road.

Researchers from the University of Calgary in Canada call for a more thorough approach to exploring the impact of distracted pedestrian behaviours on crash risk.

Worldwide, around 270,000 pedestrians die every year, accounting for around a fifth of all road traffic deaths, according to the researchers.

'Pedestrian distraction' has become a recognised safety issue as more and more people use their smartphones or hand held devices while walking on the pavement and crossing roads, they said.

The researchers looked for published evidence to gauge the potential impact on road safety of hand-held or hands-free device activities.

This included talking on the phone, text messaging, browsing and listening to music.

From among 33 relevant studies, they pooled the data from 14 -- involving 872 people -- and systematically reviewed the data from another eight.

The analysis showed that listening to music wasn't associated with any heightened risk of potentially harmful pedestrian behaviours.

Talking on the phone was associated with a small increase in the time taken to start crossing the road, and slightly more missed opportunities to cross the road safely.

The researchers found that text messaging emerged as the potentially most harmful behaviour.

It was associated with significantly lower rates of looking left and right before or while crossing the road, and with moderately increased rates of collisions, and close calls with other pedestrians or vehicles, they said.

Texting also affected the time taken to cross a road, and missed opportunities to cross safely, but to a lesser extent, according to the researchers.

The review of the eight observational studies revealed that the percentage of pedestrians who were distracted ranged from 12 to 45 per cent, they said.

It also found behaviours were influenced by several factors, including gender, time of day, solo or group crossing, and walking speed.

The researchers acknowledge "a variety of study quality issues" which limit the generalisability of the findings.

"Given the ubiquity of smartphones, social media, apps, digital video and streaming music, which has infiltrated most aspects of daily life, distracted walking and street cross will be a road safety issue for the foreseeable future," the researchers noted.

"And as signage and public awareness campaigns don't seem to alter pedestrian behaviour, establishing the relationship between distracted walking behaviour and crash risk is an essential research need," they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nicola Gobbo, the former gangland barrister at the centre of a royal commission, has admitted she lied about her past to become a lawyer.

Had she told the truth, she may never have been allowed to practise law.

Nicola Gobbo appeared on the ABC last year, but her face wasn't seen in the royal commission on Tuesday.. Credit:ABC

The much-anticipated evidence from the woman dubbed Lawyer X began on Tuesday.

Ms Gobbo, who is in hiding, spoke to the commission over the phone from an unknown location.
Weinstein accuser breaks down on stand as judge ends testimony originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

A New York judge ended testimony early on Monday when a witness who claims Harvey Weinstein raped her became overwrought with emotion detailing her relationship with the disgraced Hollywood mogul on the witness stand at the start of her fifth hour of cross-examination.

Weinstein is charged with raping the woman in a New York City hotel in March 2013 and performing a forcible sex act on another woman, Mimi Haleyi, in 2006.

Monday's witness is not being named by ABC News because she says she is the victim of sexual assault and has not publicly identified herself, as some of the other witnesses have.

MORE: Tearful alleged Weinstein rape victim gives gut-wrenching testimony

The witness acknowledged under cross-examination that after the alleged 2013 attack she had breakfast with Weinstein and two of her friends that morning, then went to a meeting with one of his staffers and ended the day by meeting him at a movie premiere.

The next day, she met with Weinstein and his daughter in another hotel lobby on his birthday, according to her testimony.

Last week, under direct examination, the woman testified that she had engaged in consensual sexual relationship with Weinstein both before and after the March 2013 alleged attack -- as well as a subsequent attack she detailed nine months later at the Peninsula Hotel in Los Angeles, for which Weinstein is not charged.

PHOTO: Film producer Harvey Weinstein and his legal team leave the New York Criminal Court after a hearing for Weinstein's sexual assault trial in New York, Jan. 30, 2020. (Gaia Squarci/Reuters, FILE)

In that incident, she testified that Weinstein violently raped her after she told him she was dating an actor, demanding the sex by telling her beforehand "you owe me one more time" and afterward telling her, "Now you can go and have your relationship and what you can do is bring me other girls."

Weinstein is charged with a total of five felony counts. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied ever engaging in nonconsensual sex.

'Acting'

Story continues

During a daylong cross-examination, defense attorney Donna Rotunno zeroed in on the witness' previous testimony that she was never romantically or sexually interested in Weinstein -- who was more than twice her age when he allegedly raped her.

"Every time you reached out to Mr. Weinstein and made it sound like you wanted to see him, you were acting?" Rotunno asked.

"I wanted him to believe I wasn't a threat," the witness replied.

MORE: Expert witness details 'rape myths' in Harvey Weinstein case

At times the witness' responses to direct questions were vague or inchoate.

Noting that the witness only got one substantial audition -- in 2013 -- from her connection to Weinstein, Rotunno asked, "So you stuck around for the rest of 2013 [and through] 2016, because you thought he was grotesque and you didn't want to have sexual relations with him?"

"I engaged with my abuser because of what I believed in my mind and the perception of the society I lived in and the things and the ways he did threaten me, and it was always in my best interest to feel that the temperature gauges between us, I wanted to know that we were okay and something was not going to happen to me," she responded.

PHOTO: Film producer Harvey Weinstein arrives at New York Criminal Court for his sexual assault trial in New York, Jan. 27, 2020. (Amr Alfiky/Reuters, FILE)

At another point, Rotunno asked her, "You manipulated Mr. Weinstein every single time, isn't that correct?"

"I felt there was an aspect to the way I felt I needed to protect myself that had an element of manipulation," the witness responded.

At another point, the witness explained that "to understand what I say, you have to understand my perspective and my beliefs and that's not something I've really been allowed to dive into." She testified last week that she was raised in what she described as a Christian "cult."

'Panic attack'

It wasn't until 4 p.m, as her fifth hour of cross-examination was beginning, that she finally got the chance to expand upon that part of her thinking.

Throughout her testimony, the witness described a complicated relationship with Weinstein in which she said initially consented to mutual oral sex because she felt sorry for him, but ultimately felt degraded and abused and ultimately ended the relationship in 2016.

MORE: Alleged Weinstein rape victim describes harrowing scene in New York hotel room

She testified on Monday that "oftentimes before we engaged in something sexual, there was a negotiation.  The more I realized I was feeling like I was just being used, I tried not to have sexual encounters with him and we'd get into this back and forth  I wanted to reduce what he wanted from me."

At another point during Rotunno's cross-examination, the witness acknowledged that she arranged with Weinstein to meet her mother.

"This is after you claim Mr. Weinstein raped you in New York, and after [the incident at the] Peninsula?"

PHOTO: Film producer Harvey Weinstein arrives at New York Criminal Court for his sexual assault trial in New York, Jan. 31, 2020. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters, FILE)

The witness acknowledged that it was, saying that her mother was badgering her to meet Weinstein, but had no idea of either their consensual sexual relationship or the witness' claim that Weinstein raped her.

"You made a choice to have sexual encounters with Harvey Weinstein when you weren't attracted to him," Rotunno charged at another point. "You liked going to parties, you liked the power and you liked the opportunities."

"That's your version," the witness replied.

MORE: Weinstein accuser details sexual assault allegation in testimony

In a dramatic May 2014 note to a boyfriend she had been dating during some of the time she said she was also with Weinstein, the witness explained to the boyfriend that, like Weinstein, her father had dated "women younger than me."

As part of her cross-examination, Rotunno asked the witness to read the note aloud to the court.

"Harvey validated me in ways my parents never did," she said, reading from the email. "My parents would never invest in me like that. Harvey was my father's age and he gave me all the validation I needed."

She said she continued to engage in consensual sexual relations with Weinstein after she claims he raped her because she had been sexually assaulted in the past.

I remembered the day I realized I was controlling my world because I was sexually assaulted, and that story played out where I played into sexual dynamics with people to feel like I would never be taken advantage of again."

She began to sob, and struggled without success to compose herself.

A break was called, and the judge ended her testimony for the day. It will resume Tuesday morning.
Trump promises to grant Iraqi Christians facing deportation extensions to stay in US

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President Donald Trump vowed last week to grant extensions to stay in the United States to some Iraqi Christians that his administration had earlier sought to deport despite concerns they could face persecution upon return to the Middle East.

He made the promise to grant extensions to a community of Chaldean Catholic immigrants during his speech last Thursday at an auto parts manufacturing plant in Warren, Michigan.

Hundreds of Iraqi Christian immigrants live in the Detroit area. In the last few years, they have lived in fear of deportation as the administration focused on enforcing outstanding deportation orders from the Obama administration and other previous administrations.

"We're going to make sure that we do everything we can to keep people who have been good to this country out of harm's way," Trump said. "When I get back [to Washington], we're going to give those who need it an extension to stay in our country."

Many of the Iraqi Christian immigrants in Detroit had lived in the U.S. for decades. With the community leaning conservative, many of them were pulling for Trump in the 2016 election.

The administration had sought to deport as many as 1,400 Iraqis nationwide as part of a reported deal with the Iraqi government in 2017. The Iraqi government previously did not accept Iraqis returned by the U.S. until the deal was reached to keep Iraq off the administrations travel ban list.

The administrations plans to deport hundreds of Iraqi Christians back to a land where Christians were recently victims of genocide by the Islamic State drew concerns from evangelical leaders affiliated with the Evangelical Immigration Table and other human rights activists.

Trump explained during his remarks in Warren that he had discussed the deportation of Iraqi Christians with Republican lawmakers from Michigan during their flight from Washington.

According to Reuters, five Republican lawmakers from Michigan attended the Trump event in Warren.

[T]he congressmen were telling me on the plane how rough its been for [the Iraqi Christians], Trump said. Its been a very tough time for a lot of Christians all over the world. And so were going to be extending them. And a lot of people in Michigan have been asking for that. So well work with that when we get back with your great congressmen.

One of the lawmakers who made the trip with Trump was Michigan Republican John Moolenaar.

Moolenaar, along with Michigan Democrat Democratic Rep. Andy Levin, introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives last year that would pause Iraqi deportations.

The bill was introduced months before the August 2019 death of 41-year-old Jimmy Aldaoud, a mentally challenged Chaldean who lived in the U.S. since he was six months old but was deported last year. Aldaoud, who lived in the Detroit area prior to his deportation, was reportedly unable to receive care to treat his diabetes in Iraq.

Levin responded to Trumps vow in a tweet.

The presidents words inspire me with cautious optimism, but let me be extremely clear  relief must be extended to all Iraqi nationals who would face danger if they are deported against their will, Levin stated.

In a tweet following his Air Force One ride with Trump, Moolenaar reiterated that the Iraqi Christian deportation issue has been a key priority for our state.

It is not safe for Christians in Iraq, Moolenaar wrote.
Precinct captain Carl Voss, of Des Moines, Iowa, holds his iPhone that shows the Iowa Democratic Party's caucus reporting app in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 4, 2020. (Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo)

Nevada Democrats Wont Use App Blamed for Iowa Delays

The Nevada Democratic Party said it wont be using the application blamed for delays in compiling the caucus results in Iowa.

NV Dems can confidently say that what happened in the Iowa caucus last night will not happen in Nevada on February 22, William McCurdy II, chair of the Nevada Democratic Party, said in a statement on Feb. 4. We will not be employing the same app or vendor used in the Iowa caucus.

The party has already developed a series of backups and redundant reporting systems, he said. The party was currently evaluating the best path forward.

The Nevada Democratic Party didnt respond to questions about what app it would be using and how its vetted and tested that app. The party paid Shadow Inc., the company that developed the app used in the Iowa caucus, $58,000 in August 2019 for technology services. It had never said which firm developed its app, but some reports indicated it was Shadow.

The Iowa Democratic Party paid the Washington-based company over $63,000 later in 2019.

Shadows app was designed to help precinct chairs report the three results from their precincts. There were initial results, results after supporters from non-viable candidates switched to other candidates, and state delegate equivalents, which were tallied using the second round of numbers.

Inconsistencies with early reports Feb. 3 in Iowa were uncovered through an accuracy and quality check, Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price said in a statement on Feb. 4. An investigation showed the inconsistencies stemming from coding issues on the app.

Because the app wasnt working, precinct officials flooded telephone lines trying to report results, causing major delays.

Caucus-goers check in at a caucus at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 2020. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

The state party said the app wasnt hacked or intruded. Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf said Feb. 4 that his agency offered to test the app from a hacking perspective but was rebuffed.

While there was no evidence of a hack, there were stress or load issues, as well as a reporting issue, he said.

Given the amount of scrutiny that we have on election security these days, this is a concerning event, and it really goes to the public confidence of our elections, he said.

Shadow said in a statement on Feb. 4 that staff members regretted the delay in reporting the caucus results and the uncertainty it has caused to the candidates, their campaigns, and Democratic caucus-goers.

We will apply the lessons learned in the future, and have already corrected the underlying technology issue. We take these issues very seriously, and are committed to improving and evolving to support the Democratic Partys goal of modernizing its election processes, the company said.

The next Democratic Party primary takes place next week in New Hampshire.

New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley told New Hampshire Public Radio on Feb. 4 that voters and campaigns can be confident in the primary there because the state uses paper ballots.

I think it is impossible to hack, because it includes so many human beings and the fact that theres the paper trail, Buckley said.

The state holds regular elections, and the secretary of state oversees them, not the Democratic Party, Buckley said.

The procedure is simple for voters, he said. Go in, mark the ballot.
New Delhi

Locust swarms that entered Fazilka in Punjab on Monday after ravaging mustard, gram and wheat crops in the border districts of Rajasthan like Barmer, Bikaner and Jaisalmer were the result of excess rains in northwest India in November, December and January, scientists said.

Locusts were also seen in parts of Haryana bordering Rajasthan, which has led to agricultural scientists issuing advisories to farmers, but no swarm has reached Haryana yet.

This year in November, December and January we had a series of western disturbances which brought excess rainfall to this region. Wet environment is conducive for locusts to breed. They come from Iran and Iraq where if there is a wet spell there is vegetation in the desert. Locusts feed on it. They breed in wet sandy soil. Our understanding is that meteorological factors this year may have intensified their attacks, said Prabhjyot Kaur Sidhu, principal scientist (agri met) at Punjab Agricultural University.

The western disturbances (WD) have been frequent and active this year, bringing in a lot of rain. In January, we saw 10 Western Disturbances instead of the usual three or four. In February also, usually there are three WDs, but there will be two in the first week itself, said RK Jenamani, senior scientist at IMD.

Pakistan has declared a national emergency due to locus attacks, according to the Dawn newspaper. The locusts are currently at the Cholistan Desert close to the Pakistan-India border, PTI quoted national food security minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar as saying on February 2.

We dont want to create panic because no swarm has entered Haryana yet. They like moist loose sandy soil for breeding; its unusual to see them attack in winter. Climate change-led unusual rains may be a factor. If they attack here (Haryana) we will have to spray Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO- recommended insecticides. Another way to deal with them is to burn all the vegetation where they are settled. But that would mean burning trees and crop, said Yogesh Kumar, head of entomology at Haryana Agricultural University.

Farmers in locust-infested regions of Rajasthan are demanding that locust attacks be declared a natural disaster. Very large stretches of farm land have been completely destroyed in Ganganagar, Bikaner, Barmer, Churu and Jaisalmer. It is such a dangerous pest that it can destroy trees and crops in a few hours. We have read that the state government is planning to compensate for damage only for loss in 2 ha of cropland by paying only Rs 27,000. It is nothing compared to the damage in these districts, said Bhagirath Mann, Bharatiya Kisan Union representative in Bikaner.

Virender Singh Lather, former principal scientist at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, said the attack was intense and prolonged this year because of lack of surveillance by international agencies in Africa and the Middle East. The problem usually begins in north central Africa and travels out, if not contained there. There is usually surveillance by the FAO but there was lax surveillance this year. The problem was also not contained in Pakistan.

Lather said locust attacks may increase in April when the temperature rises. It can be a dangerous situation if conditions are conducive for egg-laying, he added.

Agromet experts are right. We have had above average rains this winter and moist conditions in northwest India due to back-to-back western disturbances, said DS Pai, senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune. From January 1 to February 4 there was 54% above normal rainfall in north-west India and 127% above normal rainfall in west Rajasthan. There were seven western disturbances in January against an average of two to three.

KK. Singh, head of Agromet Advisory Services Division at IMD, said, Its a sensitive issue. I will not comment.

The National Agromet Advisory Service Bulletin for the January 31 to February 4 period said: On arrival/attack of locusts in Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh districts of Rajasthan, inform immediately to locust control roomin arid Western Plain Zone of Rajasthan, where there is attack of locusts in Bikaner and Jaisalmer districts, apply Chloropyriphos (50%) 1 ml/litre or (20%) 2.5 ml/litre of water in standing crops; in Haryana, farmers are advised to keep vigil and immediately contact the nearest Krishi Vigyan Kendra if they notice the locusts.
Kyle Sandilands and his girlfriend, Tegan Kynaston, put on a united front on Sunday following a turbulent few weeks.

The couple were spotted at Sydney Airport en route to Los Angeles, two weeks after Tegan pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer.

The blonde appeared to be in a good mood as she walked ahead of her boyfriend in a pair of skimpy denim shorts and a black and white cardigan.

Still going strong: Kyle Sandilands and his girlfriend, Tegan Kynaston, put on a united front on Sunday as they caught a flight from Sydney to Los Angeles

Tegan, 34, also donned a pair of comfortable DKNY sneakers for the flight.

She slung a fringed black bag over her shoulder and accessorised her look with oversized sunglasses.

Meanwhile, Kyle dressed casually in a black T-shirt, baggy shorts and a body warmer.

The 48-year-old radio host slicked back his grey hair, and also wore sunglasses.

Stunner: Tegan appeared to be in a good mood as she strolled in a pair of skimpy denim shorts

Casual: Meanwhile, Kyle dressed casually in a black T-shirt, baggy shorts and a body warmer

Suave: The 48-year-old radio host slicked back his grey hair, and also wore sunglasses

The couple - who confirmed their long-rumoured romance on New Year's Eve - had plenty of luggage, which airport staff helped them unload outside the terminal.

Kyle recorded his KIIS FM breakfast show live from a studio in LA on Monday.

The sighting comes amid a challenging time for Kyle and Tegan.

On January 21, Tegan pleaded guilty to slapping a policewoman during a public spat with her boyfriend, but will seek to have her case dealt with under mental health provisions.

She was charged with assaulting police after slapping the female officer in Bondi Beach, Sydney, on Saturday, December 7.

Difficult: The sighting comes amid a challenging time for Kyle and Tegan. On January 21, Tegan pleaded guilty to slapping a policewoman during a public spat with her boyfriend, but will seek to have her case dealt with under mental health provisions

During the hearing, it was revealed that Tegan had taken three grams of cocaine and was threatening self harm before she slapped the policewoman in the face.

She faced Waverley Local Court on January 21, where her solicitor Greg Goold entered a guilty plea to assaulting a police officer in the execution of her duty.

Mr Goold told a registrar his client would seek to have the matter dealt with under Section 32 of the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act.

Phoning it in: Kyle recorded his KIIS FM breakfast show live from a studio in LA on Monday

If the matter is dealt with under the Mental Health Act, it may not lead to a criminal conviction.

Tegan is already on a bond for possessing cocaine after being caught with about half a gram of the drug outside a Surry Hills pub in March 2018.

That matter was mentioned in court.

Tegan - who is director of communications for her boyfriend's company, King Kyle Pty Ltd - began dating the shock jock following his split from ex-girlfriend Imogen Anthony last year.

VIPs coming through! The couple, who confirmed their long-rumoured romance on New Year's Eve, had plenty of luggage, which airport staff helped them unload outside the terminal

Kyle announced his split from Imogen, 28, whom he had dated for eight years, live on air on Tuesday, November 5.

'We haven't been with each other for quite a few months now,' he said at the time. 'Unfortunately it's run its course.'

Tegan is due back in the same court on April 14.
More marts are facing closure due to increasing insurance costs and falling suckler numbers.

A coalition of 30 mart managers have come together to highlight their fears for the mart network ahead of the General Election.

The past 18 months has seen the closure of Mountrath, Carrick-on-Suir and Castleblaney marts.

Eimear McGuinness, chairperson of the Mart Managers of Ireland, told the Farming Independent that many marts have seen a huge increase in costs including insurance and rates.

"There has been a dramatic rise in annual insurance premiums for livestock marts nationally," she said, with some marts seeing increases of up to 255pc between 2015 and 2018.

Insurance premium increases are occurring irrespective of the size of the mart or the history of public liability claims, she said.

"For example, in one small mart, the insurance premium has increased from 7,000 in 2015 to 15,000 in 2018; however, there have been no public liability claims in this particular mart in this period."

Earlier this year PJ Buckley of Golden Vale Marts (GVM) said higher insurance costs, in addition to the costs associated with improved health and safety standards, were a threat to the viability of many smaller marts.

Suckler numbers

FBD currently insures 80pc of marts in Ireland and admits they are a loss-making sector for them, but said there has been a decrease in premiums for marts that have demonstrated improved risk management standards.

And the decline in suckler cow numbers is also hitting the marts, said McGuinness. "Over the past four years the number of suckler cows has decreased by 83,936. With numbers decreasing and costs increasing, marts are struggling."
DES MOINES, Iowa  More than 12 hours after Iowa voters met in caucus meetings around the state to choose their pick for Democratic presidential nominee, the results had still not been published.

A technical glitch with the app used to relay results from caucus precincts to the Iowa Democratic Party had coding issues, which generated inconsistent results flagged during "quality checks," party leaders said Tuesday. Feb. 4. And rather than wait around for news of a winner Tuesday, several candidates fled the state to rally support in New Hampshire, where they'll compete in a primary next Tuesday.

While voters, politicos, candidates and others waited for results through the night and into Tuesday, responses to the app's failure ranged from satire to security concerns to suggestions about how to turn out the numbers sooner. And several raised questions about whether the outcome illustrated why Iowa should be bumped from its place as first-in-the-nation to cast votes in presidential primaries.

Despite those questions, Iowa's Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst released a statement Tuesday defending the state's caucusing process, which they said is strong because it "encourages a grassroots nominating process that empowers everyday Americans, not Washington insiders or powerful billionaires."

"The process is not suffering because of a short delay in knowing the final results," they said. "Iowans and all Americans should know we have complete confidence that every last vote will be counted and every last voice will be heard."

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Before the vote totals come out, here's a look at what others are saying about the Iowa caucuses:

A campaigner for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said Tuesday that the Warren camp has "raw documentation" from caucus locations, which they will provide to the state Democratic party "to help ensure the integrity of their process."

Amid Monday night's confusion, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota delivered a triumphant speech in downtown Des Moines despite a lack of official results.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Twitter Tuesday called the Democratic Caucus an "unmitigated disaster." On Monday, Trump's campaign tweeted that he broke the record for an incumbent's caucus turnout."




Corporate Counsel Business Journal, published by Law Business Media, today announced the publication of the 5th Annual Buyers Guide to In-House Tech, an essential resource for corporate law departments. The Guide includes insightful articles from, and in-depth interviews with, leading legal, business and technology experts focused on collaborating with in-house counsel in their ongoing efforts to heighten efficiency, lower costs and otherwise drive operational effectiveness and meet regulatory challenges in areas such as privacy and data security.

Participants in the Guide include such well-known players as AAA, Brainspace, Exterro, FTI Consulting, iDS, LexisNexis CounselLink. OpenText and Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions.

Increased privacy compliance issues in the U.S. and abroad keep legal chiefs, corporate executives and board members up at night, said Kristin Calve, publisher of Corporate Counsel Business Journal. Along with that, legal departments need also think to the future with key staffing generational changes, saving dollars across borders with arbitration, and upcoming changes in e-discovery process management. Thats why the Guide is a key resource to our readers. Its a fast-moving area, and they must keep up with the pace of change.

Among the topics addressed by contributors to the Guide are:



Structured Data Analysis Revolutionizes e-discovery

The Role of Technology in Arbitration

Data Privacy Implications of Cloud-Based Social Collaboration Apps

Technology Road Map that Supports Lawyers of the Future

New Era of Governance, Risk and Compliance

To read the full version of the 5th Annual Buyers Guide to In-House Tech, please download at: https://ccbjournal.com/assets/features/JanFeb-Tech-Guide-2020.pdf.

About Law Business Media

Law Business Media is an integrated digital and print media platform, publishing Corporate Counsel Business Journal, InHouseLegalTech.com and InHouseOps.com. Corporate Counsel Business Journal (formerly Metropolitan Corporate Counsel) has been providing cutting-edge news and analysis to corporate law departments, executives and board members for 25 years. Law Business Media's suite of products are an indispensable resource for leading in-house counsel and executives.

About Corporate Counsel Business Journal

Corporate Counsel Business Journal was founded more than 25 years ago as Metropolitan Corporate Counsel by Al Driver, the esteemed longtime General Counsel of JC Penney. Al, with his wife Martha Driver, a senior finance executive with TIAA-CREF, developed, launched and operated MCC for 20 years following their retirements from their very successful corporate careers. Law Business Media acquired MCC in 2014 and rebranded as Corporate Counsel Business Journal in 2018.

About Kristin and Joe Calve

Kristin and Joe Calve are the co-founders of Law Business Media. Kristin, a serial entrepreneur with experience in startups, M&A, joint ventures and new product development, serves as publisher and editor of LBMs flagship publication, Corporate Counsel Business Journal. A former publisher with ALM Media and business analyst with A&E Television Networks, she is the founder of Topstone Angels, a private investment group, and the former VP, Revenue, for LiftMetrix, a SaaS platform designed to enable brand marketers to maximize ROI across social media channels. (LiftMetrix was acquired by Hootsuite in 2017.) Kristin has an B.A. in English from Fordham University and an MBA in Finance & Marketing from Fordham Gabelli School of Business. Joe, a former practicing lawyer on Wall Street, has served as Chief Marketing & Business Development for four Am Law 50 law firms. Prior to that, he spent 15 years at ALM Media as an editor, publisher, director of business development and vice president. Joe, along with his J.D. from Western New England College School of Law, has a B.A. in English from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Masters Degree in Literature from New York University.
Raj Thackeray needs to refresh his memory before he begins to target Bangladeshis, as he has announced. It is likely to be a futile exercise, similar to the one taken up by his uncle Bal Thackeray when the Shiv Sena first came to power in 1995. The outcome was such, the exercise was never repeated.

After rounding up so-called Bangladeshis from slums across then Bombay, the city police decided to deport them to their country. Accordingly, they accompanied them on the Bombay-Howrah Express, at state expense, to Calcutta, not letting them out of their sight until they were across the border. Within hours most of them were back in India  the Bangladesh Rifles had pushed them right back across the border because they were not Bangladeshis.

For, the Mumbai police, like the Bangalore police who similarly razed a slum in their city last month and then discovered the residents were Indians, had no clue about who a Bangladeshi really was. They had picked up anyone who looked or sounded like a Bangladeshi. Which meant most of their deportees were either Indian Bengali, Bihari, Oriya or Assamese Muslims, who ethnically dressed the same, ate similar food and spoke similar dialects.

When then West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu heard of the crowding of the Howrah railway station by these returnees, he packed them back to Mumbai on the Howrah-Mumbai Mail, again at government expense.

When the Mumbai police found they had returned, all hell broke loose. They could not be deported again because, on Basus advice, the so-called Bangladeshi immigrants had armed themselves with copies of their family ration cards and letters from their village sarpanchs, certifying that they had been born in that particular village in a state very much belonging to India.

But that was not all. The genuine Bangladeshi immigrants, illegal though they may have been, all had Indian passports and Indian ration cards  those are the first things the Bangladeshis acquired even before looking for jobs in Mumbai. When the police began to investigate, they discovered the Bangladeshis had been helped in procuring these documents by Indian touts. The police could not deport people with Indian passports and so that was the end of that particular campaign.

Perhaps it is this experience that compels the current dispensation to declare that an Indian passport along with other documents like a PAN card or Aadhaar, are not proof of citizenship. Raj Thackerays decision to target Bangladeshis could reinforce the same pitfalls on the same grounds and is bound to fail.

How will he identify the Bangladeshis? By the food they eat? Or the clothes they wear? BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, Kailash Vijayvargiya, thinks Bangladeshis can be identified by the poha (puffed and then flattened rice) they eat. But poha is a very popular savoury breakfast item in Western India, including in Maharashtra and Gujarat. In West Bengal, which has a sweet tooth, it is often soaked in milk and eaten with ghee and jaggery. Then again maachh-bhaat  fish curry and rice  is uniformly favoured by the Bengali, Assamese, Bihari and Oriya migrant workers and the Bombay police had equated them with Bangladeshis because fish curry and rice is the staple among them too.

Then again how do you identify a Bangladeshi by his clothing? Those who had been rounded up in Mumbai had all preferred lungis or sarees with a very East Indian style of draping, the pallu thrown twice over the shoulder, also popular in Bangladesh. Even DNA testing will not do the trick. We are all in the same gene pool, after all. Moreover, there are fewer Bangladeshis migrating to India these days, western nations seem a more attractive destination to them for various reasons.

So, demonising Bangladeshis is now passe. It can bring only diminishing returns.

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(Newser)  Coronavirus has found its way to a cruise ship. Princess Cruises says a passenger from Hong Kong was diagnosed with the virus at a local hospital, where he's in stable condition, after departing the Diamond Princess when it docked in Hong Kong on Jan. 25, per USA Today. Hong Kong says the 80-year-old man visited mainland China for "a few hours" on Jan. 10, a week before he flew into Tokyo, Japan. He developed a cough on Jan. 19 and boarded the cruise ship in Yokohama the next day, per CNN. He departed Jan. 25 but reportedly didn't seek medical attention until Thursday. The cruise line notes "he did not visit the ship's medical center  and the family members traveling with him remain symptom-free."

story continues below

But CNN notes several other passengers have reported feeling ill. The two-week cruise was cut short when the Diamond Princess returned to Japan on Monday. It's now docked off the coast of Yokohama as medical officials perform health checks on 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members who will be quarantined until Tuesday night at the earliest. Japanese health officials are also attempting to track down passengers who may have disembarked in other cities, per CNN. Before news of the case, cruise lines including Carnival and Royal Caribbean had already begun barring passengers who'd visited China in the last two weeks, in an effort to prevent a virus outbreak, per CBS News. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
A fire chief has blasted the dangerous and potentially deadly 'Penny Challenge' that is sweeping social media.

The internet trend involves plugging a charger part-way into a wall and trying to create a spark by touching the exposed prongs with a coin.

Michael Clusker has warned that the electric shock from the challenge, which has been spreading on video sharing app TikTok, can kill participants.

Mr Clusker, station manager in Carlisle, Cumbria, said: 'The outcome from this is that someone will get seriously hurt.

'Every year there are numbers of people killed by electrical shocks. It can kill you if it gets you right.

The internet game involves plugging a charger part-way into a wall and trying to create a spark by touching the exposed prongs with a coin (pictured: An outlet following the challenge)

'Anything that interferes with electrical equipment - unless you are a qualified electrician - is very dangerous.'

In one instance in the USA, firefighters had to race to a school when a teen dropped a penny on the prongs of an iPhone charger plugged into an outlet.

Mr Clusker said teens taking inspiration from social media need to be more responsible.

He added: 'I do think social media is an issue, giving people ideas that are probably not ideal.

'People should take responsibility for their own actions.

Firefighters have to warn people not to do a TikTok challenge that involves putting a penny on the exposed prongs of an electrical device in a plug outlet - because it'll set their house on fire

In one instance in the USA, firefighters had to race to a school when a teen dropped a penny on the prongs of an iPhone charger plugged into an outlet (pictured: Penny fused to charger after students perform 'penny challenge' at a US high school)

'In my 25 years in the job I have seen the consequences of people overstepping the mark when it comes to showing off.

'We would encourage people not to mimic or copy some of the reckless stunts that are commonly viewed on social media.

'When emergency services do attend these incidents, it does take up vital resources that should be available for other emergencies.

'People take risks. Some in vehicles, driving recklessly.

'You could get a similar outcome as someone who messes with a switch.'

Mr Clusker said dealing with electrics is even out of bounds for firefighters sometimes.

He added: 'We do occasionally attend electrical-related fires. The majority are due to faulty equipment setting fire.

'When we respond to calls involving faulty electrical equipment we will, if safe, isolate the apparatus.

'If we are in any doubt, we call in the engineers.'

Two Massachusetts high school students, aged 15 and 16, were charged with 'attempting to burn a public building' in relation to damage caused by the challenge last month.

On January 23, police were called to a US high school after reports that two students had caused damage to multiple outlets

The prank involves placing a penny on the exposed prongs of a partially inserted charger

Police were called to Whitman-Hanson Regional High School in Massachusetts on January 23 after the two students who caused damage to multiple outlets were identified.

'This is not just a harmless prank that kids are doing,' Hanson County police chief Michael Miksch told Boston 25 news.

'Causing an outlet to short circuit this way can cause serious injury and could potentially start a fire. Not to mention the damage it can do to a building's electrical system, along with hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of damage. We are taking this issue seriously and anyone identified doing this will be charged criminally.'

The students can not be named but police say they are both male, aged 15 and 16.

They have been charged with attempting to burn a public building and malicious destruction of property.

School officials noticed that several electrical outlets around the school had short-circuited, concluding that the damage must have been caused by the challenge.

No injuries were reported.
The ambassador said France was striving to be pragmatic on the issue of the format of talks.

French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins has said the inclusion of the issue of Russian-occupied Crimea in the Normandy format of talks will pull the "negotiation ship" to the bottom.

In an interview with hromadske, the envoy said France was striving to be pragmatic on the issue of negotiation format.

"Today we don't see a format where we could effectively discuss this issue. The inclusion of the Crimean issue in the Normandy format won't work. On the contrary, the issue will pull the entire ship to the bottom," de Poncins said.

Read alsoText of Minsk agreements requires clarification  French envoy

"At the moment, we prefer the opportunity to deal with the first component, namely the conflict in Donbas, where people are being killed for many years. Let's focus on this, on humanitarian issues, on opening new checkpoints, on de-escalation, etc. When time comes for Crimea, we'll see how we can address this," the ambassador said.

At the same time, he said he could not make predictions in how many years it would be possible to return to the issue of Crimea.

"I can't make predictions for 10 years or more. Once again: let's finish negotiations on Donbas, and as for Crimea, we'll see," he added.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : The government is taking adequate steps to stabilise prices of essential food items, including vegetables, Minister Of State For Ministry Of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Danve Raosaheb Dadarao informed Lok Sabha, on Tuesday.

Potato, onion and tomato together accounted for about 52% of total vegetable production in 2018-19, the minister added.

In a written reply to a question on the issue, the minister stated that the government utilises trade and policy instruments like import duty, Minimum Export Price, export restrictions, imposition of stock limits and advising the states for effective action against hoarders & black marketers etc. to regulate domestic availability and moderate prices.

He also said that government is also implementing Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) to help moderate the volatility in prices of agri-horticultural commodities like onion and potato.

"Government banned export of onions and imposed stock limits on traders under Essential Commodities Act on 29.09.19. Government also imported onions for augmenting availability and moderating its prices." the minister said.
The man accused of attempting to smuggle 63 illegal immigrants through a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint has been identified in a Laredo federal court.

A criminal complaint filed against Leonides Navarro Jr. on Jan. 24 charged him with transport, attempt to transport and conspire to transport the immigrants who had crossed the border illegally.

Navarro, 30, will remain in federal custody pending further court proceedings.

The case unfolded at about 10 p.m. Jan. 21 when a white Volvo tractor bearing Michigan plates hauling a white Wabash trailer approached the primary lane of the checkpoint on Interstate 35.

Authorities identified the driver as Navarro.

Asked what he was hauling, Navarro stated furniture, according to court documents. But Navarro could not provide a bill of lading or any other identifying paperwork. Then, a K-9 unit alerted to the presence of concealed narcotics or persons in the trailer, states the arrest affidavit.

Navarro was referred to secondary inspection.

READ MORE: Man wanted in murder case arrested in Laredo for alleged human smuggling

While (agents) directed Navarro to the secondary inspection area, Navarro drove the tractor and trailer off the paved road and through ground barriers into a nearby open field. Navarro then continued to drive through the field at a high rate of speed until he ran into the fence bordering the northeast corner of the open field, states the affidavit.

Navarro abandoned the 18-wheeler and ran into the brush. Agents inspected the tractor-trailer and encountered 63 immigrants. Border Patrol said the immigrants were from the countries of El Salvador, Brazil, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and China.

With the assistance of the Air and Marine Operations helicopter, agents tracked down Navarro in the brush of the Callaghan Ranch approximately 1.5 miles from the immigration checkpoint. In a post-arrest interview, Navarro stated he was aware there were people inside the tractor-trailer. He then declined to provide further statements.

Homeland Security Investigations special agents took over the case.

To report suspicious activity such as human or drug smuggling, download the USBP Laredo Sector app or contact the Laredo Sector Border Patrol toll free at 1-800-343-1994.

Criminal record

Webb County Jail records show that Navarro has three prior arrests from 2010 to 2017 for felony possession of marijuana, more than 50 pounds but less than 2,000 pounds.

He was indicted in one felony drug possession case in 2011. That case was later dismissed in February 2017, according to court documents.

Navarro did serve time in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. He was originally sentenced to 87 months to run concurrently in August 2013.

But records show that his sentence was later modified and reduced to 70 months in January 2015. The Federal Bureau of Prisons show that he was released on July 7, 2016. Navarro was arrested in 2019 for violating his probation.
Rajesh Kumar Thakur By

Express News Service

PATNA: With heaps of garbage scattered throughout the city, a condition has prevailed in Patna following the strike of workers of Patna Municipal Corporation continuing from last Monday?

Hundreds of workers have gone on strike in support of their demands and are staging dharna at the Maurya Lok.

In Patna, around 700 tonnes of the garbage is produced everyday which is not being lifted and dumped away from the city

The door to door garbage collection has also been affected with no one of PMC turning in for duty.

"As a result of this strike, almost all crossings and isolated places in the city are flooded with heaps of garbage which have started emanating foul smells", said Shambhu Tewary at Rajendranagar, which had recently witnessed a devastating waterlogging.

On Monday, PMC workers demonstrated in front of the Corporation and threw garbage in a token of strike.

The waste materials of hotels, restaurants and other food zones are lying unmoved with hundreds of cows and other animals assembled thereupon.

Approximately, 4000 daily wage workers associated with the PMC have gone on strike demanding regularisation of their services and other facilities due to them.

They went on strike as soon as a letter was issued by Urban Development and Housing Department to all urban bodies to stop taking services of daily wage workers from February 1.

Chandra Prakash, president of Patna Nagar Nigam staff union, alleged that the government was misleading the workers just by extending deadline of stopping services of workers.

"We will not call off strike unless and until the services are regularised and letter is issued confirming it", he said.

Locals said that if the strike continues further, Patna will become a stinking city and breakout of epidemic diseases can't be ruled out.
: In a freak mishap, a third standard student fell off a moving school bus and died after the door of the vehicle opened as his bag got entangled in the handle, police said.

The incident occurred on Tuesday.

The bag of the eight-year-old student Farseen Ahammed (8) got entwined with the door handle and as he tried to pull it off, the door opened and the child fell off, police said.

There was no attender on the bus.

Farseen's mother is also a teacher of the same institution, police said.

Taking a serious view of the mishap, Transport Minister A K Saseendran sought a report from deputy Transport commissioner.

The Malappuram enforcement RTO visited the place and initiated the preliminary investigation and found there were lapses on part of the driver and the bus was plying without an attender, causing the accident, a press release from the minister's office said.

Steps have been taken to cancel the permit of the vehicle and licence of the driver.

"We will request the education department to take action against the school authorities who have operated the school bus without an attender," the release said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The GSMA continues to monitor and assess the potential impact of the Coronavirus on its MWC20 events held annually in Barcelona, Shanghai and Los Angeles and as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional conferences. The GSMA confirms that there is minimal impact on the event thus far. MWC Barcelona 24-27 February 2020, will proceed as planned, across all venues at Fira Gran Via Fira Montjuic and La Farga L'Hospitalet, including YoMo and Four Years From Now (4YFN).

As previously stated, the GSMA has implemented many measures to help to mitigate the spread of the virus and is continuing to add other actions regularly. Measures in place include;

Increased cleaning and disinfection programme across all high-volume touchpoints, e.g. catering areas, surfaces, handrails, WCs, entrances/exits, public touch-screens, etc. along with the use of correct cleaning/sanitising materials and products

Increased onsite medical support

Awareness campaign via online and onsite info-share and signage

Availability of sanitising and disinfection materials for public use

Awareness and training to all staff and associates on standard personal preventative measures, e.g. personal hygiene, frequency of use of sanitising/disinfection products, etc.

Advice to exhibitors on implementing effective cleaning and disinfection of stands, offices along with guidance on personal hygiene measures and common preventive behaviour

Public health guidelines and advice communication to Barcelona hotels, public and private transport, restaurants and catering outlets, retail, etc.

Measures added this week include;

Installing new signage onsite reminding attendees of hygiene recommendations

Implementing a mic change protocol in production for speakers

Communicating advice to all attendees to adopt a 'no-handshake policy'

The GSMA is building on its existing plans to protect the health of our attendees, clients and staff at MWC Barcelona. GSMA colleagues around the world are taking strong measures to contain and lessen any further spread of the virus. These measures include adhering to advice from the WHO and other health authorities, respecting travel restrictions where they exist, arriving early in Spain to allow time for self-quarantine and ensuring access to masks.

Up-to-date WHO advice and facts can be found here: www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance

Spain, the City of Barcelona and the GSMA look forward to welcoming you at MWC Barcelona 2020. The show will inspire! We believe a connected world is a better world. Come get connected.

Further updates from the GSMA, answers to the most frequently asked questions and an outline of the measures that have been implemented, are on our website and can be found on www.mwcbarcelona.com.

-ENDS-

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators and nearly 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces the industry-leading MWC events held annually in Barcelona, Shanghai and Los Angeles, as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional conferences.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005847/en/

Contacts:

Isobel Moseley

GSMA Press Office

pressoffice@gsma.com
WASHINGTON  Newtown resident Bridget Sclafani met U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5, at a town hall event less than two weeks ago. On Tuesday, Sclafani will join the congresswoman at the presidents State of the Union in Washington, D.C.

This is all a big shock to me, said Sclafani, 54. Im very excited.

Sclafani lost her husband to brain cancer in 2018 and started the Paul C. Sclafani Memorial Foundation to help families with their bills while fighting cancer. The foundation has awarded scholarships and hosted a lacrosse tournament in Newtown.

On Tuesday night, Sclafani will be one of many guests attending the State of the Union with Connecticuts congressional delegation.

President Donald Trumps highly anticipated address will come in the midst of his impeachment trial, one day before the Senate is expected to acquit him. The theme of the address is The Great American Comeback," a senior administration official said.

Members of Congress are permitted to bring one guest every year to listen to the address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives. Trump will also have several invitees in the audience. Often lawmakers select a guest whose work or personal story represents an issue that the politician would like to highlight.

Heres who else the Connecticut delegation is bringing:

Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Blumenthal will be joined by the family of the late Marine Staff Sgt. Tyler Reeb.

Reeb, who took his life in October, was a veteran who worked at the U.S. State Department. He grew up in New Canaan and attended college at Widener University before joining the U.S. Marine Corps. As a scout sniper, he lead missions in Iraq and Afghanistan before his honorable discharge in 2015. At the State Department, he helped develop and coordinate training for protective forces leading diplomatic security efforts.

Tyler Reebs uncle Christopher Reeb of Weston will sit in the House gallery as Blumenthals guest. Other members of the Reeb family, including Tylers parents, Jaymie Reeb and Michael C. Reeb, will be in Washington, D.C. for the address.

Our nation has abjectly failed to provide the care our heroes need to fight these invisible wounds  mental health services to diagnose and treat them effectively, Blumenthal said. The loss of Tyler Reeb as well as his courage and strength, should inspire us to do better.

Sen. Chris Murphy

Deborah Davis of Hartford, an organizer with Mothers United Against Violence, will attend the State of the Union with Murphy. Davis lost her son, Phillip Samuel Davis, Jr., to gun violence in January 2010.

I am honored to join Senator Chris Murphy at the State of the Union to shine a light on the work that Mothers United Against Violence has done over the years to strengthen and stabilize our communities, especially after they experience traumatic violence, Davis said. I got involved with Mothers United Against Violence after experiencing trauma myself, and far too often after tragedy, we can fall into hopelessness. But our organization, co-founded by Mrs. Henrietta Beckman and Rev. Henry Brown, provides articles of compassion to families in the Greater Hartford area dealing with the trauma of violence by offering workshops, educational opportunities and spiritual support.

Davis joined Mothers United Against Violence, after the group counseled her following her sons death. She helps the organization provide comfort and support the families of shooting victims.

Rep. Jim Himes

Himes, D-4, invited Gary Mendell, founder and CEO of Shatterproof, a national non-profit focused on addiction.

Like millions of Americans, Garys life was forever changed when he lost his son in 2011 after a years-long struggle with a substance use disorder, said Himes. Gary took that heartbreaking loss and transformed it into action.

Mendell, a Westport resident, said he hopes he can be a voice for individuals suffering from addiction and promote investment in prevention and treatment resources.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro

Shelton resident Kristen Whitney-Daniels will attend the State of the Union with DeLauro, D-3. Whitney-Daniels, 29, has lived with diabetes for 14 years and has often struggled to afford her insulin. She volunteers with T1International as the Connecticut #insulin4all chapter leader to advocate for lower insulin costs.

Whitney-Daniels works full-time as the assistant director of the U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph and part-time for their non-governmental organization at the United Nations. She graduated from Quinnipiac University in 2013.

Rep. Joe Courtney

Courtney, D-2, will bring John Beauregard, the president and CEO of the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board. The nonprofit supports training programs with the goal of producing employees for local businesses like Electric Boat. It receives federal funding from the U.S. Department of Labor and has placed over 1,500 in local jobs, Beauregard said.

Rep. John Larson

Larson, D-1, is not bringing a guest this year.

President Donald Trump

Trump will have several guests in the audience Tuesday night. He invited Tony Rankins of Cincinnati, Ohio, a veteran who struggled with post-traumatic stress order and drug use before finding work in the construction trades. He also invited Raul Ortiz, a deputy chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol in Texas.

Trump also will bring Jody Jones of Farmersville, California, whose brother was killed by an undocumented immigrant, the White House said Tuesday. Other Trump guests include Robin Schneider of Kansas City, Missouri and her daughter Ellie, who was born at 21 weeks and six days old; Stephanie Davis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and her daughter Janiyah, a fourth grader whom the White House says attends a low performing school; and Paul Morrow of Montgomery, Alabama, a veteran who is building a concrete plant in an Opportunity Zone.

Kelli Hake of Stillwater, Oklahoma will attend with her son Gage, after her husband was killed while serving in the U.S. military in Iraq. Also in the audience will be Trump guest Ivan Simonovis of Caracas, Venezuela, a police officer who was imprisoned in that country for protecting protestors and received refuge in the U.S.

This story was updated to reflect guests invited to the State of the Union by President Donald Trump that were announced by the White House Tuesday afternoon.
NEW YORK -- A trio of pioneers in the fields of visual arts, jazz and literature have been named as the 2020 Artists-in-Residence at Columbia's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute. Artist Julie Mehretu, musician Miguel Zenon and author Nicole Krauss will spend the next year collaborating with scientists at the Institute in an endeavor that immerses artists in the cutting-edge field of neuroscience.

"Science and the arts have much to learn from each other, and the Artist-in-Residence program provides a concrete way to bridge these disciplines. I cannot think of a better group of artists to enrich our scientific community," said Rui Costa, DVM, PhD, Director and CEO of Columbia's Zuckerman Institute. "By building bridges between neuroscience and creative expression, while also strengthening our links to our neighboring communities, these artists-in-residence will inspire scientists, artists and the public to think creatively about their work, how each of us, using our own medium and expertise, can provide a positive impact on society."

During their residencies, each artist will work with Zuckerman Institute researchers and scientists across the University, as well as engage with the neighboring communities in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. The artists-in-residence, each hosted by a Zuckerman Institute faculty member, will develop, participate and lead a variety of events, from formal lectures, seminars and performances, to informal workshops, collaborations and conversations. By the end of their residencies, each artist -- as well as the scientists and members of the wider Columbia and neighboring communities -- stands to benefit from access to new knowledge and perspectives.

"My goals for this residency are two-fold: I am excited to learn from neuroscience's best minds about how the brain innovates, how it creates something from nothing, such as a rhythmic pattern or a melodic line," said Miguel Zenon, acclaimed jazz saxophonist and the 2020 Jazz Artist-in-Residence. "I am also eager for this opportunity to connect with musically-minded youth in nearby Harlem and the Bronx -- as well as Washington Heights, where I call home -- and explore together the shared wonder of music and science."

Columbia's Zuckerman Institute is committed to building bridges between science and the arts. In 2019, the Institute hosted contemporary artist and sculptor Sarah Sze, as well as jazz pianist, composer and educator Helen Sung, who was the inaugural Jazz Artist-in-Residence. Both the visual and inaugural jazz artist-in-residencies were made possible by the generous support of Alan Kanzer. The Zuckerman Institute's first artist-in-residence was Jeff Koons in 2017.

This year, the program expands to include literature. Together, these three residency programs touch on distinct yet complementary areas of the arts, each focused on the interdisciplinary pursuit of a deeper understanding of the mind, the brain and behavior.

More about the 2020 Artists-in-Residence:

Julie Mehretu, Alan Kanzer Artist-in-Residence

Julie Mehretu is a world-renowned painter, born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, who lives and works in New York City and Berlin. Mehretu is a MacArthur Fellow and recipient of the US Department of State Medal of Arts Award. She has shown her work extensively in international and national solo and group exhibitions and is represented in public and private collections around the world. Projects include completing two large-scale paintings for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Atrium in September 2017. Recent exhibitions include Venice Biennale and a mid-career survey at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which travels to The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in 2020.

Miguel Zenon, Jazz Artist-in-Residence

Jazz saxophonist Miguel Zenon is a multiple Grammy nominee, as well as a Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow. Widely considered as one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, he has also developed a unique voice as a composer and as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between Latin American Folkloric Music and Jazz. As a composer he has been commissioned by SFJAZZ, NYO Jazz, The New York State Council for the Arts, Chamber Music America and many of his peers. In addition, he has given hundreds of lectures and master classes at institutions all over the world, and is a permanent faculty member at New England Conservatory of Music and Manhattan School of Music. Zenon was born and raised in Puerto Rico and currently resides in Upper Manhattan.

Nicole Krauss, Writer-in-Residence

Nicole Krauss has been hailed by The New York Times as "one of America's most important novelists." She is the author of the international bestsellers, Forest Dark, Great House, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Orange Prize, and The History of Love, which won the Saroyan Prize for International Literature and France's Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, and was short-listed for the Orange, Medicis and Femina prizes. Her first novel, Man Walks Into a Room, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book of the Year. In 2007, she was selected as one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists, and in 2010 she was chosen by The New Yorker for their "Twenty Under Forty" list. Her fiction has been published in The New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, and Best American Short Stories, and her books have been translated into thirty-six languages.

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After outraging fans over the weekend by implying Margot Robbie's successful career is thanks to her looks, Jim Carrey shook off the online hater while arriving to Good Morning America in New York City.

The 58-year-old funnyman, who was promoting his upcoming animated film Sonic the Hedgehog, looked radiant and as he arrived to the talk show wearing a plaid navy and green blazer, black t-shirt, jeans and boots.

Carrey seemed happy to sign autographs and interact with fans on his way in, as he gripped a Sharpie marker and smiled at fans, before making host Michael Strahan crack up on-air with his over-the-top personality.

Funnyman: Jim Carrey shook off online haters while arriving to promote his upcoming animated film Sonic the Hedgehog on Good Morning America in New York City

The actor, who will appear in Sonic as Dr. Ivo Robotnik, told Parade last week his fictional character, who plots for world domination, is more than just a funny character.

'I know we play him for laughs and he's a wacky character and really fun, but there is a real aspect to him,' he reflected to the outlet. 'He does represent something that is looming for us as a society, you know? And I think Sonic represents that free spirit, that youthful energy, that total freedom.'

As for making his own bad choices, he added, 'Yeah, I make bad choices. For me, art is trying to take a mixture of pain and intelligence and create something that wasn't there before.'

Double meaning: The actor, who will appear in Sonic as Dr. Ivo Robotnik said his fictional character, who plots for world domination, reflects society and isn't just for laughs

'Yeah, I make bad choices. For me, art is trying to take a mixture of pain and intelligence and create something that wasn't there before,' he told Parade last week

On Friday night, the Kidding star made a very poor choice while appearing on The Graham Norton Show alongside Margot Robbie.

'I wanted to talk to you because you're amazing and I'm so excited for you,' he told the 29-year-old actress, who has been nominated for two Oscars.

'It's incredible that you've gotten as far as you have with your obvious physical disadvantages,' he told the Bombshell star. 'That's just pure talent there.'

Think before you speak: On Friday night, the Kidding star made a poor choice while appearing on The Graham Norton Show alongside Margot Robbie

More than a pretty face: Twitter users lost their minds and condemned him for the 'creepy' comment and implying her number of accomplishments, including five BAFTA nominations, are solely based on her appearance

Twitter users lost their minds and condemned him for the 'creepy' comment and implying her number of accomplishments, including five BAFTA nominations, are based on her appearance.

While some found his humor offensive, others like Australian radio duo Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson believed outraged fans are 'overreacting' and lack a sense of humor.

'That's Jim Carrey being complimentary and joking, that's what he does. That's not insulting!' Kyle said on his KIIS FM breakfast show.

Not okay: Margot appeared to take the joke in good humor, but viewers were not as convinced as they branded the interaction 'awkward' and 'creepy'

Too harsh? Radio host Jackie read aloud some of the reactions, including: 'Poor Margot. She copped it on the chin. What a champion. I would have slapped him in the face'

Margot appeared to take the joke in good humor, but viewers were not as convinced as they branded the interaction 'awkward' and 'creepy.'

Radio host Jackie read aloud some of the reactions, including: 'Poor Margot. She copped it on the chin. What a champion. I would have slapped him in the face.'

However, she added her own two cents by saying: 'I feel like people are really overreacting to this.'
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Ghassan Salame, said on Tuesday that the 5+5 Joint Military Committee, which began its meetings on Monday in Geneva, will discuss on Wednesday mechanisms of conversion of the Libyan truce into a permanent ceasefire
Today we are going to look at Anglo American plc (LON:AAL) to see whether it might be an attractive investment prospect. Specifically, we'll consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), since that will give us an insight into how efficiently the business can generate profits from the capital it requires.

First of all, we'll work out how to calculate ROCE. Next, we'll compare it to others in its industry. Last but not least, we'll look at what impact its current liabilities have on its ROCE.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?

ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. In general, businesses with a higher ROCE are usually better quality. Overall, it is a valuable metric that has its flaws. Renowned investment researcher Michael Mauboussin has suggested that a high ROCE can indicate that 'one dollar invested in the company generates value of more than one dollar'.

So, How Do We Calculate ROCE?

Analysts use this formula to calculate return on capital employed:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)  (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

Or for Anglo American:

0.13 = US$6.3b  (US$55b - US$6.4b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2019.)

So, Anglo American has an ROCE of 13%.

View our latest analysis for Anglo American

Is Anglo American's ROCE Good?

When making comparisons between similar businesses, investors may find ROCE useful. Using our data, Anglo American's ROCE appears to be around the 13% average of the Metals and Mining industry. Regardless of where Anglo American sits next to its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms appears satisfactory, and this company could be worth a closer look.

In our analysis, Anglo American's ROCE appears to be 13%, compared to 3 years ago, when its ROCE was 3.4%. This makes us think about whether the company has been reinvesting shrewdly. You can see in the image below how Anglo American's ROCE compares to its industry. Click to see more on past growth.

Story continues

LSE:AAL Past Revenue and Net Income, February 4th 2020

Remember that this metric is backwards looking - it shows what has happened in the past, and does not accurately predict the future. ROCE can be deceptive for cyclical businesses, as returns can look incredible in boom times, and terribly low in downturns. ROCE is, after all, simply a snap shot of a single year. We note Anglo American could be considered a cyclical business. Since the future is so important for investors, you should check out our free report on analyst forecasts for Anglo American.

Do Anglo American's Current Liabilities Skew Its ROCE?

Current liabilities are short term bills and invoices that need to be paid in 12 months or less. Due to the way the ROCE equation works, having large bills due in the near term can make it look as though a company has less capital employed, and thus a higher ROCE than usual. To counteract this, we check if a company has high current liabilities, relative to its total assets.

Anglo American has total assets of US$55b and current liabilities of US$6.4b. As a result, its current liabilities are equal to approximately 12% of its total assets. A fairly low level of current liabilities is not influencing the ROCE too much.

What We Can Learn From Anglo American's ROCE

This is good to see, and with a sound ROCE, Anglo American could be worth a closer look. Anglo American shapes up well under this analysis, but it is far from the only business delivering excellent numbers . You might also want to check this free collection of companies delivering excellent earnings growth.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
An Alabama man will be among President Trumps guests at tonights State of the Union address.

Entrepreneur Paul Morrow, a native of Plantersville, Alabama and an Army veteran, is founder and president of SDAC, a federal contractor with offices in Homestead, Florida and Selma. According to the White House, Morrow is currently building a new concrete plant in an Opportunity Zone in Montgomery. The new plant will help support several new F-35 jets stationed in the region.

In 2017, Morrow was named the Small Business Administration State of Florida Small Business Person of the Year. He was also a recipient of the Smithsonian Institutions Outstanding Contribution Award in 2017 for his role in supporting the grand opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Other White House guests for tonights address include:

Stephanie and Janiyah Davis from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Janiyah is a 4th grade student from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She will be joined by her mother, Stephanie.

Kelli and Gage Hake from Stillwater, Oklahoma: Family of Army Staff Sergeant Christopher Hake who was killed while serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.

Jody Jones from Farmersville, California: On December 17, 2018, Jones brother, Rocky Jones, was shot and killed by an undocumented immigrant.

Deputy Chief Raul Ortiz from Del Rio, Texas: A U.S. Army veteran and Deputy Chief of U.S. Border Patrol.

Tony Rankins from Cincinnati, Ohio: A U.S. Army veteran, Rankins dealt with PTSD and drug addiction and served time in prison before being helped through job training programs.

Robin and Ellie Schneider from Kansas City, Missouri: Ellie was born at just 21 weeks and six days and is one of the youngest babies to survive in the United States.

Ivan Simonovis from Caracas, Venezuela: Simonovis was the Chief of Police in Venezuelas capitol city. He was imprisoned in 2004 for protecting protesters and was held in captivity for nearly 15 years by the Chavez and Maduro regimes. He escaped from Venezuela in 2019 and came to Fort Lauderdale.

State of the Union 2020: Time, channel, how to watch President Trump address; livestream
Archaeologists claimed Tuesday that a Neolithic well found in the Czech Republic was the world's oldest uncovered wooden structure, citing extensive tests.

"We have carried out a dendrochronological analysis and confirmed it with radiocarbon dating," said Jaroslav Peska from the Archeological Centre in the eastern Czech city of Olomouc.

"The well dates back to 5,256-5,255 BC. There is currently no older man-made wooden structure dated by dendrochronology in the world, although this may change in the future," Peska told AFP.

Originally about four metres (yards) deep, the well was found in 2018 at the site of a future motorway about 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of the capital Prague.

"We dug up a lower wooden part of the well that is 1.4 metres high and which rose to the surface," said Peska.

The CTK news agency reported the well had wooden posts in corners with grooves for planks, a technology that scientists thought had been used much later.

The archaeologists removed the well together with soil which is also being tested to give scientists an idea of the environment of the Neolithic era, the last period of the Stone Age.

"The well is under conservation now, and when that's done, it will be taken to a museum in (the nearby city of) Pardubice in about two or three years," said Peska.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP over its nationalism plank, asking whether a person, who makes two patriots fight, be called a nationalist.

Addressing his first public rally for the Delhi assembly polls in the Jungpura area for party candidate Tarvinder Singh Marwah, Gandhi also said that the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) do no work but only engage in marketing.

"I asked Marwah ji to say something about himself, but he gave a call for slogans, instead," he said.

Speaking about Marwah, the Congress leader said: "These days, BJP people talk about nationalism and patriotism and they keep talking about Pakistan. But he (Marwah) is such a leader who went to Pakistan and raised slogans in support of India. He was also hailed there." "Show me a BJP leader who can go to Pakistan and raise slogans for India. Not like Modi, who shouts slogans amidst tight security," Rahul Gandhi said.

Attacking the BJP and Delhi's ruling AAP, Gandhi further said that both these parties "don't work but do only marketing".

Talking about the BJP's "nationalism" poll plank, Gandhi said: "Modi ji talked about giving employment to two crore youth every year, jobs which none of them got." "What has the AAP done in the last 5 years for unemployment? Unemployment has grown in Delhi," he said.

He said the BJP had brought in demonetisation and the "Gabbar Singh Tax, referring to the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Gandhi slammed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for avoiding the issue of employment in an interview.

"When asked, she (Sitharaman) said that if I speak, Rahul Gandhi will raise questions and say I am lying. This means that Finance Minister is saying that I am not ready to tell how many youth have got employment," he said.

Describing the Union Budget 2020-21 as a hollow budget, the Congress leader said that that it does not have anything for farmers nor for creating jobs.

"It was a hollow speech and waived off Rs 1.5 lakh crore of corporate tax and Rs 3.5 lakh crore debt of 15 industrialists," he said.

"Indian Oil, Air India, Hindustan Petroleum, Railways, energy are up for sale, and in the coming days even the Red Fort or Taj Mahal can be put for sale," he said He accused Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of not being interested in creating jobs.

"They are only bothered about how to make people fight among themselves. Entire world wants to invest in india. But now they see hatred, violence, rape, murder. In the last five years, wherever you see everyone talks with hatred. This is not our history, our country, the land of love and peace," he said "They talk about Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, but they have no knowledge of religion. No religion talks about suppressing people of other religions. Which brand of Hinduism is it..of Modi and RSS? Hinduism talks of connecting everyone and take everyone forward. Guru Nanak also taught of taking everyone along with love and humility.

"Can a man who makes two patriots fight be a patriot or nationalist?", he added.

He targeted the Prime Minister for raising the Pakistan and terrorism issues in his speeches.

"The Prime Minister says I only speak lies, that I only talk about Pakistan and terrorism, but will not talk about employment because I don't have the guts to give jobs to the youth," he said.

Reminding the gathering about the developmental work done by former Chief Minister late Sheila Dikshit in the capital like the Metro, infrastructure, roads and flyovers, Gandhi said the Congress manifesto proposal of spending 25 per cent of the budget will go for the works to curb air pollution and towards acquiring 15,000 electric buses.

Besides, the Nyay scheme would provide Rs 7,20,000 to 5 lakh BPL families, a pension of Rs 5,000 each to senior citizens and free education for girls, he said.

"The prevailing atmosphere of hatred, violence against women in the country is also not benefiting the country," he added.
Close to 200 Pakistani Hindus crossed over to India through the Attari-Wagah border on February 3, officials said amid indications that several travellers did not wish to go back.



The Pakistani Hindus came on a visitor's visa but some of them claimed that they felt unsafe in Pakistan and hoped to get India citizenship after the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Akali leader and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Manjinder Singh Sirsa was at the border to receive four families who he claimed had "fled" Pakistan due to religious persecution.



AFP

Borders official claim the number of Hindus travellers from Pakistani using this border crossing has increased significantly over the past month.



The Citizenship Amendment Act gives Indian nationality to members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 due to religious persecution there.

Most of the travellers crossing over to India on Monday belonged to Sindh and Karachi areas. Some of them carried luggage and said they will seek asylum in India.

One of the Pakistani Hindus on the condition of anonymity said after the enactment of the new citizenship law, Hindus and Sikhs living in Pakistan and Afghanistan were "optimistic" of getting Indian citizenship.

AFP

Most of them were travelling to Rajasthan to meet their relatives, the officials told news agency PTI.

"We are not feeling safe in Pakistan. Our girls feel insecure as they fear that they could be kidnapped any time by hardliners while police watch as mute spectators. Our girls cannot walk freely in the north-west area of Pakistan," said a woman.

Two more women, without disclosing their names, told the media that kidnapping of Hindu girls had become a routine affair in Pakistan and no family dared to lodge a complaint with police against fundamentalists.

AFP

Meanwhile, Akali leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said he was at the border crossing to receive four families who "fled" Pakistan.

Sirsa said he would meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and request him to grant them Indian citizenship.

"Four Hindu-Sikh families have fled Pakistan to save their life and religious faith. I recvd the family members today at border. We are meeting HM @AmitShah Ji tomo to request him to grant them citizenship at the earliest possible," Sirsa tweeted.
[February 04, 2020] Talkwalker launches Conversation Clusters, accelerates insight discovery with augmented analytics tool

SINGAPORE, Feb. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Talkwalker, the leading social listening and analytics company, today announced the launch of Conversation Clusters , a data visualization tool that enables marketers, PR professionals and consumer insight analysts to instantly uncover, understand and visualize the context around any topic at a glance. The launch marks a significant development in the social listening and analytics space, enabling users to take full advantage of assisted data exploration with the help of augmented analytics. For the first time, the latest advances in machine learning research can be utilized at speed and scale for use cases such as trend research, content creation and consumer insights. Achieving industry-leading time-to-insight, Talkwalker's data science team mastered high dimensional data reduction and streamlined processing power to display a map of complex connections within minutes. "Automated data segmentation holds massive revenue potential for enterprises. An analysis that would take weeks or months to build can now produce actionable results in minutes," said Todd Grossman, Talkwalker CEO Americas. Conversation Clusters is based on a powerful machine learning algorithm that groups results semantically. "Our algorithm first identifies relevant wor patterns and topic structures in the results taken from our annotated database of billions of articles, and then plots them so that results with many similarities are shown close to each other," said Dr Benedikt Wilbertz, Head of Data Science at Talkwalker. "Using a massively parallel infrastructure, we are able to analyze and represent tens of thousands of links and connections between data points in little more than one minute."



Talkwalker is one of very few companies that have the data science expertise and technical infrastructure to be able to run advanced computations for clients on this scale. Unlike many legacy solutions that rely on time consuming importing and exporting of data sets, Talkwalker provides access to a vast media, consumer and social database for analysis. Additionally, it has a user-friendly option to add and analyze custom data instantly, like call center, email, chat or survey data. "Businesses need data to be able to answer ever more detailed questions that are tailored to their unique situation, whether it be on consumers, campaigns or brands. A contextual AI solution like Conversation Clusters enables users to train custom AI models using business-specific datasets - fast and easy, without the need for costly user training," said Grossman. "We're really excited for users to experience this next stage of social listening. It's never been so easy to map hidden patterns within any topic to create trending content, find consumer insights or leverage the next big trends for content creation."

Conversation Clusters is available as an add-on for Talkwalker clients. For more information, visit our blog . About Talkwalker Talkwalker is a social listening and analytics company that empowers over 2,000 brands and agencies to optimize the impact of their communication efforts. We provide companies with an easy-to-use platform to protect, measure, and promote their brands worldwide, across all communication channels. Talkwalker's state-of-the-art social media analytics platform uses AI-powered technology to monitor and analyze online conversations in real-time across social networks, news websites, blogs and forums in 187 languages. Talkwalker has offices in New York, Luxembourg, San Francisco, Frankfurt, Paris and Singapore. It is also the home of Talkwalker Alerts , a free alerting service used by over 500,000 communications and marketing professionals worldwide. SOURCE Talkwalker

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"The honor of being named ACP Educator of the Year means that my efforts to contribute to the specialty of prosthodontics have 'made a difference,' and that I have contributed to the success of others by sharing my knowledge and experiences with the many outstanding students and faculty with whom I have been privileged to work," said Dr. Rogoff. "My mentor, Dr. Allen Brewer, always encouraged his students to embrace the philosophy of 'paying it forward.' Being recognized with this award is an inspiration to continue doing the same for my students."

Dr. Rogoff is Chief of the Division of Prosthodontics and Director of the Prosthodontic Residency Program at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York. His teaching career began with an appointment to the faculty of The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. His subsequent academic positions included appointments at Tufts Dental School, the Forsyth Institute, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and the Boston V.A. In 2007, he returned to New York City to join the Department of Dentistry at Montefiore.

About Prosthodontists

A prosthodontist is a dental specialist who focuses on the restoration and replacement of missing teeth and other oral or facial issues. Prosthodontists specialize in helping patients with implants, dentures and veneers, all the way to full mouth and jaw reconstructions.

About the ACP

The American College of Prosthodontists (ACP) is the only ADA recognized organization for the specialty of prosthodontics. Founded in 1970, the ACP is dedicated to advancing the art and science of prosthodontics and promoting the specialty to the public and dental professionals. For more information, consumers can visit GoToAPro.org and dental professionals can visit Prosthodontics.org.

Evan Summers

(312) 573-1260

[email protected]

SOURCE American College of Prosthodontists

Related Links

https://www.gotoapro.org


Huoshenshan Hospital, a SARS treatment-model makeshift hospital in Wuhan, started admitting patients on Tuesday morning.

The first batch of 50 patients from three hospitals, including Wuchang Hospital and Hankou Hospital, has been transferred to the newly built hospital and the patients are undergoing treatment.

The hospital, built in 10 days, was formally delivered to military medics on Sunday morning.

Covering an area of 34,000 square meters, the hospital provides 1,000 beds for coronavirus patients who are gradually transferred to the hospital.

Military medical staff test facilities and make the bed at Huoshenshan Hospital in their final preparations before admitting patients infected with the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, February, 3, 2020. /Xinhua Photo

Wuhan started building two makeshift hospitals, Leishenshan and Huoshenshan, for treating pneumonia patients infected with the novel coronavirus.

The construction of another makeshift hospital is underway. With a bedding capacity of 1,500, it is scheduled to be put into use on February 5 and take patients the next day.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Calling the BJP-led government's National Population Register (NPR) exercise the next step towards a National Register of Citizens (NRC), AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday accused it of creating an atmosphere in the country, similar to that created by Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy.

Participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Motion of Thanks on President Ram Nath Kovind's address to Parliament, the Hyderabad MP said: "It is a fight for our (Muslims) survival" as there is no difference between NPR and NRC and if "we lose this fight, we will finish".

Referring to the census conducted by Hitler in 1933 and by Mussolini in 1938, the AIMIM President said the country's current atmosphere is similar to that.

"Hitler threw the Jews in gas chamber after conducting a census in Germany. MussoliniA grabbed the property of Jews after the Census exercise. Now similar condition will be here in India with Muslims. The purpose of the government is the same," Owaisi alleged.

He also criticised the government over firing in Shaheen Bagh, an agitation site in Delhi where people are doing protests for over 55 days against Citizenship Amendment Act.

The MP also took on the government over Union Minister Anurag Thakur's recent "shoot the traitors" statement, saying "Shoot me, I am here. I am ready to die."

Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston
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Who won the Iowa Democratic caucus will not be known until later Tuesday as an embarrassing fiasco with a hi-tech app left officials counting voted by hand and admitting they have found 'inconsistencies.'

Voting officials admitted a string of failures in a panicked conference call at 1am Central time (2am Eastern), saying the catastrophe engulfing the first-in-the-nation contest saw their app collapse, the backup call center not working, and local officials fail to record results properly.

The Democrats refused to take questions but said they would have results 'later on Tuesday,' after enduring a stormy meeting with campaigns, one of whom - Pete Buttigieg's - declared victory while another - Joe Biden's - said the results could not be trusted at all.

Caucusing around the state started at 7pm Central Standard Time. Three hours later, not a single precinct's results were officially in - prompting an admission that there was a crisis.

'We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report,' Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Mandy McClure said in a statement. 'This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion.'

The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results,' McClure added. Earlier, other Iowa officials had pointed a finger at the app.

Des Moines County Chair Tom Courtney told the Associated Press that it was 'a mess' and organizers were having to call in the results to the party.

CNN reported that party officials are meeting with representatives from the campaigns.

This is the first year that three separate results will be released to the public. The number of caucus-goers who initially came to support candidates, then the second vote - how caucus-goers re-aligned if their candidates weren't viable. Finally, the number of delegates won by each candidate will be reported.

Each of the precincts is using 'presidential preference' cards for the first time, so there will be a paper trail of the vote.

At around 10:15pm Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who anecdotally had a good night, rushed to the mic - the first candidate to do, prompting Joe Biden then Elizabeth Warren then Bernie Sanders to do the same.

Following after the first four, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg made the boldest pronouncement.

'Iowa you have shocked the nation,' Buttigieg said. 'Because by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.'

Klobuchar merely told her crowd she had defied expectations.

'We know there are delays but we know one thing - we are punching above our weight. My heart is full. We feel good tonight,' Klobuchar said from the downtown Des Moines Marriott hotel.

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How the results will be done: The hand-filled ballots which are now going to be used by the Democrats to work out the results of the Iowa caucus

What is going on? Bernie Sanders supporter David Soll, who had traveled from Rockford, Illinois, to campaign for the socialist candidate, was among those caught up in the results fiasco

First to the microphone: Amy Klobuchar rushed in front of the cameras as the scale of the fiasco became clear and said that while she did not know the results, she was sure her campaign had 'punched above our weight'

Why are we waiting? Pete Buttigieg supporters at Drake University, Des Moines, are caught up in the delay

Wait it out: Joe Biden's supporters wait to find out what is happening as the Democratic results are plunged into chaos

Please someone tell me what is going on? A Joe Biden supporter tries to find out the cause of the unprecedented delay

The count is on: The crowd at Drake University, Des Moines, during the first round of 'alignment' - when caucus-goers choose their candidates. The candidates who did not get to 15% are dropped for the second round and their supporters get to choose among those who were

Sorted out: The crowd at Drake University back by candidate in the first round with a count then taking place

Second round under way: Joe Biden's supporters canvas for more among Pete Buttigieg supporters

Won't you be my caucus-goer? At Algona High School in Algona, Elizabeth Warren was not 'viable' meaning her supporters were free to back other candidates in the second round, with Amy Klobuchar supporter Keith Dwire trying to persuade Warren backer Jo Morgan

Down - but is he out? A left-over Joe Biden sign at the Drake University Olmsted Center in Des Moines

At a caucus site several miles away, in Norwalk, Iowa, Klobuchar defied expectations and came in second place, DailyMail.com observed. Overall, she got 34 votes to Sen. Bernie Sanders' 32. Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg won that site with 55 votes, while former Vice President Joe Biden only had 12 and wasn't viable to win delegates.

'I have a strong feeling that at some point the results will be announced,' Sanders told his crowd gathered at a Holiday Inn conference center near the Des Moines airport. 'And when those results are announced I have a feeling we are going to be very, very well here in Iowa,' he boasted.

There appeared to be strong - if not record-breaking - interest as the caucuses got under way.

Organizers of a precinct site in downtown Iowa City said the start of the caucus had to be delayed by more than an hour, as hundreds of people were still waiting to check in or register to vote. Inside the Englert Theatre near the University of Iowa, 500 first-floor seats were mostly full and organizers were opening an additional 200 seats in the balcony.

In Polk County, Iowa's largest county and home to the capital city, Des Moines, Democratic county party chairman Sean Bagniewski said the party had printed tens of thousands of extra voter registration forms but some precincts were running out.

'We're making copies and deliveries to get them covered, but this caucus is gonna be the big one,' Bagniewski tweeted.

About 170,000 turned out in 2016. The high-water mark for the contest was the 2008 Iowa Democratic caucuses, when nearly 240,000 participated and Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.

The caucuses come as Sanders' campaign seems to be gaining steam, while that of Vice President Joe Biden - long considered the party's frontrunner - sputters.

Late Monday night, Biden made no effort to declare victory.

'Were going to walk out of here with our share of delegates,' Biden said when he talked to supporters at Drake University in Des Moines. 'But we feel good about where we are.'

Biden's backers were bracing fo a tough result, eager to take the primary fight to South Carolina, which has a large share of black voters and where Biden has performed well in polls.

'The Iowa Democratic Party is working to get these results and get them straight,' the former vice president also told the crowd. 'And I want to make sure theyre very careful with their deliberations.' His campaign had also sent a letter to the state's Democratic Party.

President Trump's campaign reacted to the chaos with glee.

'Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history. It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?' said Brad Parscale, the president's 2020 campaign manager. 'Tonight President Trump posted a record performance in the well-run GOP Iowa caucuses with record turnout for an incumbent.'

Fired up: Elizabeth Warren uses a bullhorn at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines. She went in to the race behind Bernie Sanders in the polls

Please get behind me: Elizabeth Warren addresses her and Bernie Sanders' supporters at Roosevelt High School, Des Moines

Someone's with her: Elizabeth Warren greets a supporter at a caucus in Des Moines. In common with other candidates she toured multiple venues as people voted

Show of support: Joe Biden's supporters show who they back at Drake University in Des Moines

No enthusiasm gap: Bernie Sanders' supporters get ready for the caucus to become an exercise in persuasion

Ready to go: Caucus-goers in a fire station in Kellogg, wait to show their support for the candidates

Ready for the caucus: At Hoover High School, voters headed to the basketball court to show their support for their favored candidate

Support on show: An Elizabeth Warren supporter makes her position clear at a caucus at Roosevelt High School, Des Moines

Can I count on you? Elizabeth Warren speaks to voters - and one of their children - at a Des Moines caucus

Feeling the Bern: A Sanders volunteer is ready to persuade fellow Iowans at the Maple Grove Methodist Church in Des Moines

How it works: The Kellogg fire station is ready with locals asked to line up under their first preference. Anyone who backs a candidate under 15% is then asked to move to one of the candidates who scored over 15%.

Here to vote: Registration at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, just before the 7pm starting point for the caucus

Ready for Bernie: Volunteers prepare to try to persuade caucus-goers that they should back their candidate, who is ahead by a tiny margin in the polls

Sen. Bernie Sanders was back in Washington Monday as the caucuses in Iowa got underway. He was the first winner of delegates thanks to meat packing workers in Ottumwa who backed him 14-1 versus Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Read for Joe: Biden's campaign is concerned about the rise of Bernie Sanders, with one of his closest allies, former Secretary of State John Kerry, unleashing a foul-mouthed tirade against the socialist

Bernie Sanders won the support of 14 out of the 15 caucus-goers at the 'satellite' caucus in Ottumwa, Iowa Monday at noon. The group was largely Ethiopian immigrants who work at a nearby pork processing plan

There had always been the potential for confusion with the new system of reporting caucus results: the Iowa Democratic Party will release the breakdown of how many delegates candidates have obtained, and also the underlying raw data - which could allow multiple campaigns to claim 'victory.'

Sanders had already won the first delegates of the Iowa caucus, largely thanks to a group of Ethiopian-American immigrants who work at a pork processing plant.

The Intercept reported Monday that at a satellite caucus site in Ottumwa, Iowa - about an hour and a half southwest of Des Moines - 14 of 15 caucus-goers selected Sanders as their choice.

A lone participant backed Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who wasn't viable at this caucus location because she didn't amass 15 per cent of those gathered.

As caucus-goers arrived, the issue of defeating President Donald Trump in November's election was at the top of their minds according to preliminary findings by the National Election Pool (NEP).

The NEP, a consortium of news organizations including Reuters that runs election-day polling through Edison Research, found most caucus-goers were simply looking for a winner instead of someone who agrees with them on the issues.

Among the key findings were:

Six in 10 caucus-goers said they were looking for a Democratic nominee who they think can beat Trump. About four in 10 said they wanted a nominee who agrees with them on major issues.

Three in 10 said they were attending the Iowa caucuses for the first time, which appears to be below that of 2016. Four years ago, 44% of people attending the Iowa caucuses said they were doing so for the first time. In 2008, 57% said they were new to the Iowa caucuses.

Nearly a third of Democrats said before entering the caucuses that they picked their candidate in the last few days. That appears to be higher than the number of late deciders in 2016. Four years ago, 16% of caucus-goers said they had made their choice in the last month or earlier.

Healthcare was the issue that mattered most to Iowa caucus-goers. About four in 10 said that was the issue they cared most about when thinking about picking a nominee. Two in 10 said it was the climate, another two in 10 said it was income inequality and one in 10 said it was foreign policy.

The entrance poll also asked Democrats about which candidate they were supporting for the nomination. The selections are not predictive of the outcome, however, given that many Democrats will change their preferences if their chosen candidate does not win enough support in the caucuses.

At caucus sites across the state, volunteers were in place for hours before the start of voting. There were a few early caucuses outside the state, the furthest known one in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

Officially, it was also the first Iowa caucus and held in the capital Tbilisi, over traditional Iowan fare - pizza with ranch dressing, according to reporter Joshua Kucera, who was on-site.

Other caucus locations include Glasgow, Scotland, Brooklyn, New York, Washington, D.C. and several places in Florida and California, among others.

Monday's caucuses mark the first official votes of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary after more than a year in the making.

Sanders' late polling uptick has spooked the Democratic establishment.

The most dramatic example of party fears being expressed came from an overheard phone call from former Secretary of State John Kerry, in the Hawkeye State as a surrogate for Biden. Kerry was the Democrats' 2004 nominee and lost.

NBC News reported Sunday that Kerry was workshopping what he could do to get into the 2020 race because of 'the possibility of Bernie Sanders taking down the Democratic Party - down whole.'

'Maybe I'm f***ing deluding myself here,' Kerry said.

Once the story came out, Kerry denied that he was mulling a 2020 bid in an expletive-laden tweet, which he later deleted, posting a cleaner version.

Iowa polls have shown Sanders and Biden neck-and-neck, though have given the Vermont senator a slight edge.

The Real Clear Politics polling average on Monday showed Sanders with a 4 point lead over the former vice president.

How to understand the Iowa Caucuses (and why there may be more than one 'winner') The Iowa caucuses are essentially small local meetings where neighbors and strangers stand up to show their support for a particular candidate, and to persuade others to join them. Iowa's 41 national delegates are up for grabs, but the real stakes for the candidates are all about momentum. The caucuses are the first opportunity for Democrats to express their preferences in whats been a long and tumultuous primary. They set the tone for the monthlong sprint through the early primary states, after which the field of candidates is typically culled. The winner usually receives a boost in media attention and fundraising that can propel them through subsequent contests. An unexpectedly bad performance, meanwhile, can hobble a candidate. Attendees hold letters reading Caucus during a campaign event in Coralville, Iowa The caucuses dont always pick the eventual nominee, but for Democrats theyve been more predictive - every winner since 2000 has gone on to become the Democratic nominee. And historically, theyve been known to catapult underdog candidates campaigns to prominence - like they did with Barack Obama in 2008, or Jimmy Carter in 1976. WHERE AND WHEN DO THEY TAKE PLACE - AND WHO PARTICIPATES? The caucuses begin at 7 p.m. CST on Monday. Democrats gather in school gymnasiums, union halls and community centers - known in caucus parlance as precincts. There are 1,678 precincts in Iowa this year and an additional 99 satellite precincts, which are for caucuses held outside of the state or at different times of the day and in locations that may be more accessible to those with disabilities or those who have to work during the main event. Some precincts could have hundreds of Iowans show up, and some may have fewer than 10. The 2008 Democratic caucuses set a record when nearly 240,000 Iowans turned out; this year, party operatives are expecting turnout to be big, but likely not record-breaking. Any registered Democrat who will be 18 by election day can participate, which includes 17-year-olds with an upcoming birthday. And Iowans can newly register or switch their party registration at their caucus site the day of - so campaigns have been courting disaffected Republicans and new voters across Iowa. WHAT HAPPENS AT A CAUCUS? There are essentially two rounds of voting in the caucuses. When all the caucusgoers at a precinct have signed in, the attendees elect a caucus chair, who directs the proceedings. Representatives of the campaigns have an opportunity to stand up and give a last-minute pitch for their candidate, and then the caucuses begin, with a process known as the 'first alignment.' Thats where attendees gather in the designated area for their favored candidate. In most precincts, any candidate that receives the support of 15% of the people in the room is considered 'viable' and moves on to the next round of voting. Caucusgoers who chose a viable candidate on their first round are locked in and cant choose a new candidate on the second. Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg's shadow is cast on the Iowas state flag in Coralville, Iowa Supporters of candidates who didnt meet that threshold, however, have four options: They can support a viable candidate, or join with supporters of another non-viable candidate close to 15% support to get them to viability. Alternately, they can try to entice supporters of other non-viable candidates over to theirs to get them over the threshold. Or, they can go home. This part of the caucuses - known as realignment - is the most crucial, and typically the most chaotic, portion of the night. Well-organized campaigns have volunteers, staffers and surrogates working the room, trying to win over caucusgoers from opposing campaigns. Its part of the reason why having staff and surrogates who know their area and have built a community there is so important for the campaigns. At the end of realignment, the caucus chair takes a final count of the room, and transmits the numbers to the Iowa Democratic Party. Changes from 2016 will allow for additional reporting of caucus results HOW ARE THE RESULTS CALCULATED? The results in each precinct are used by the Iowa Democratic Party to calculate whats known as the 'state delegate equivalent,' or how many delegates each candidate gets at the Iowa Democratic Party convention. That number ultimately translates to how many of Iowas 41 national delegates each candidate gets at the national convention. HOW ARE THIS YEARS CAUCUSES DIFFERENT FROM YEARS PAST? For the first time, caucusgoers will record their choices on a slip of paper, which theyll sign to certify their support. The caucus leaders will collect those presidential preference cards and turn them into the Iowa Democratic Party, and theyll be used if any candidate requests a recount. This year, there are only two rounds of alignment, rather than the multiple rounds in years past, and supporters of a viable candidate after the first alignment are locked in to that candidate. In previous caucuses, every attendee could choose a new candidate on each realignment. The satellite caucuses are new, and the Iowa Democratic Party is allowing attendees to check in early rather than at their precinct site, a move aimed to cut down on the long lines and wait times in years past. But the biggest change is the change in how the Iowa Democratic Party will report its results. Previously, they only released the state delegate equivalent numbers; now, theyre releasing the raw totals from the first and second alignments, as well as the state delegate equivalents. The Associated Press will be deciding the winner based on state delegate equivalents - but with more data being released, the campaigns have signaled they plan to spin the numbers in their favor, whatever the eventual result. - Associated Press Advertisement

This is how they do it: Caucus goers fill in preference cards as a permanent record of votes

What counts: At the West Des Moines Christian Church, an election official counts up support

To young to back me: Elizabeth Warren greets a young supporter at Roosevelt High School, Des Moines

Rivals: A Joe Biden and a Pete Buttigieg precinct captain go head to head at Maple Grove Methodist Church in West Des Moines. The two moderates are both behind Bernie Sanders

Read for Buttigieg: The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor, has his supporters ready to push for support in Roosevelt High School

Something to show for it: One voter was knitting her way through the caucus at Maple Grove Methodist Church in West Des Moines

Sen. Amy Klobuchar seems to be benefiting from late-breaking Iowa voters. She's shot up in the polls in the past week and her events are attracting crowds numbered in the hundreds

For months, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has also had a strong showing in the Hawkeye State - meaning Monday night's caucuses could end up being a five-way split

WHAT THEY SAID ON THE WAY IN Preliminary results from AP VoteCast, a survey of 2,795 voters conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago. A STRONG OPPONENT TO TRUMP About 8 in 10 Iowa caucusgoers expressed anger toward the Trump administration. Beating Trump in November, along with providing strong leadership, outranked other qualities as most important in a nominee. More than 8 in 10 Democratic caucusgoers said it was very important the partys nominee can defeat Trump. Close to as many said they find it highly important to nominate someone who will be a strong leader. WHAT ELSE VOTERS WANT Three-quarters of likely caucusgoers said it's very important their choice for the Democratic nominee cares about people like them, while nearly two-thirds said it's very important the partys nominee have the best policy ideas. Six in 10 Democratic voters said it was very important the Democratic nominee will work across party lines. Fewer Democrats - about half - placed significant importance on a nominee who has the 'right experience.' THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE Roughly 4 in 10 likely caucusgoers identified health care as their top issue. Seven in 10 supported a proposed single-payer health care plan, which would change the health care system so that all Americans receive insurance from a government plan instead of private insurance plans. At the same time, nearly 9 in 10 favor the proposal for an optional government plan that any Americans could buy into if they wanted. A wide share - about 6 in 10 - expressed support for either plan, but roughly a quarter favored 'Medicare for All' and opposed 'Medicare for all who want it.' Only about 1 in 10 expressed the opposite opinions, in favor of a public option but opposed to a single-payer system. CLIMATE CHANGE Along with health care, climate change was identified as the top issue facing the country by 3 in 10 Iowa voters. Advertisement

Recent polls also show Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, gaining steam - as a number of late-breaking Iowa voters are flocking her way.

Additionally, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg have, for months, had strong interest from voters in the state - meaning it could be a five-way race.

On top of that, the way the Democrats caucus in Iowa is unique.

Once the Democrats are inside the caucus location they gather in groups with their candidate of choice. Candidate must have a threshold of 15 per cent to be viable, so a lot of politicking happens each caucus night - making the results incredibly difficult to predict.

This year, too, the number of initial supporters who came out for each candidate will be reported publicly.

Candidates like Andrew Yang, who has been polling under 15 per cent the whole time, could point to the original vote total to prove that the campaign has enough support to continue on.

In the past, Iowa has been where many a campaign died.

One example, was Biden's 2008 effort. While he came in fifth place in the caucuses, because of the 15 per cent rule his vote total only amounted to 1 per cent. He dropped out the day after.

Impeachment has also cast an odd spell over the run-up to the caucuses this year.

It kept three leading contenders - Sanders, Warren and Klobuchar - off the ground for days at a time.

The fourth U.S. senator running for president, Colorado's Michael Bennet, has bypassed Iowa and has been focusing on New Hampshire, which holds a primary next week.

Warren's campaign made-do by deploying her 20-month Golden Retriever Bailey, escorted by her husband Bruce Mann, to campaign stops last week.

Bailey even took over Warren's famous selfie lines once the Massachusetts senator was back in state, so she could cover more ground.

Sanders' campaign utilized his wife Jane and a number of buzzy surrogates including the three so-called 'Squad' members who've backed his campaign.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hosted campaign events one weekend Sanders was away, while Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar came to Iowa this past weekend.

The Democratic caucuses in Iowa are unique. Caucus-goers gather in groups to back their chosen candidates. If their group doesn't amount to 15 per cent of those at the caucus site, they can choose to be redistributed to a viable candidate.

The newly-divorced Omar even brought her boyfriend, who also recently split from his spouse.

Tlaib's decision to encourage a crowd of Sanders supporters in Clive, Iowa Friday night to boo the Democrats' 2016 nominee Clinton showed more splinters in the party.

By Saturday morning, Tlaib was walking back her actions.

Clinton has popped her head back into the fray to disparage Sanders, who was her primary rival last cycle.

In a documentary, she said of Sanders: 'Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician.'

'It's all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it,' the ex-Democratic nominee added.

She's said more recently that she still stands by those comments.

Overall, 11 Democrats are currently running for president.

Former Rep. John Delaney - who was the first Democrat to announce his bid - dropped out Friday and encouraged Iowa voters to back a moderate choice.

His campaign bus has been repurposed to promote D.C. statehood on the day of the caucuses.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is skipping the first caucus and primary states, focusing on races on March 3 - dubbed 'Super Tuesday' for how many states vote.

The other billionaire in the race, Tom Steyer, campaigned across Iowa, but is only averaging 3 per cent support in the polls.
Temperatures were likewise higher than normal in New South Wales in Australia, where massive bushfires devastated large areas of the state

Last month was the warmest January on record globally, while in Europe temperatures were a balmy three degrees Celsius above the average January from 1981 to 2010, the European Union's climate monitoring system reported Tuesday.

Across a band of countries stretching from Norway to Russia, temperatures were an unprecedented 6C above the same 30-year benchmark, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reported in a statement.

New temperature highsmonthly, yearly, decadalhave become commonplace due to the impact of climate change, caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuels, scientists say.

The five last years have been the hottest on record, as was the ten-year period 2010-2019.

2019the second warmest yearwas only 0.04C below 2016, when temperatures were boosted by a powerful El Nino, a periodic natural weather phenomenon over the Pacific Ocean.

The global record last month was 0.03C above the preceding warmest January, also in 2016.

For Europe, last month was "about 0.2C warmer than the previous warmest January in 2007, and 3.1C warmer than the average January in the period 1981-2010," C3S reported.

Records also tumbled in specific locations across the northern reaches of the continent.

The village of Sunndalsora in western Norway, for example, hit 19C (66 Fahrenheit) on January 2, more than 25C above the monthly average, while the Swedish town of Orebro saw its warmest January day on the 9th since records began in 1858.

Cross-country ski tracks were closed across large swathes of Norway and Sweden.

Exceptional above-average temperatures extended over nearly all of Russia as well, and they were higher than normal over much of the United States, eastern Canada, Japan and parts of eastern China.

Temperatures were likewise higher than normal in New South Wales in Australia, where massive bushfires devastated large areas of the state.

Atmospheric concentrations of CO2which causes global warmingare now at their highest level in at least 800,000 years.

The United Nations said last year that manmade greenhouse gas emissions needed to tumble 7.6 percent annually over the next decade to cap global warming at 1.5C above preindustrial levels, the aspirational goal set in the landmark Paris Agreement.

Current pledges to cut emissions put Earth on a path of several degrees warming by the end of the century.

Explore further 2019 second hottest year on record

 2020 AFP
The False Claims Act (FCA), otherwise known as the Lincoln Law, can cost companies that supply goods or services to the federal government millions of dollars if they fail to provide the digital security protections they promise, as two recent cases illustrate. In one of the cases, Cisco Systems was forced to pay millions of dollars to the federal and state governments.

First passed in 1863 during the Lincoln Administration, the FCA was aimed at fraudulent contractors who sold bad horses, provisions and munitions to the Union Army. One of the laws provisions allows for citizen relators or whistleblowers to be paid a percentage of what can be recovered from those who are proved to have made false claims to the federal government in the sale of goods or services.

Between the Civil War and the mid-1980s, the FCA was little used until it was given a shot in the arm by Congress in 1986 to deal with rampant problems involving defense contractors. The FCA was revised again by Congress in 2009 and 2010.

Two fundamental changes were made to the statute in 2009. The first is that the false claim must be material, however thats defined. The second change provided greater protection for the whistleblowers, extending safeguards beyond company employees, who have served as the traditional relators, to go further and encompass contractors and agents.

Today, an estimated 72% of all FCA cases are brought by the relator-whistleblowers, with the federal government recovering an estimated $62.1 billion under FCA action between 1987 and 2019, according to Justice Department statistics.

The process for filing false claim actions is detailed and rigorous, with all complaints required to be filed in federal court and under seal. The federal court has to keep the lawsuit secret for at least 60 days, but in practice, these cases are kept under wraps far longer, often for years. Its then up to the Justice Department to proceed with the action.

First security-related FCA cases came in 2019

Two recent cases brought under the False Claims Act highlight how cybersecurity compliance failures are now fertile territory under a law originally envisioned to punish purveyors of bad muskets. I think weve been expecting to see false claims act activity in this space for a while, and then in 2019, it started to happen, Michael Vernick partner at Hogan Lovells, a specialist on FCA cases, tells CSO.

One case, the United States v. Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., 381 F. Supp. 3d 1240 (E.D. Cal. 2019), should serve as a cautionary tale for contractors that 'self-certify' that their own IT systems provide adequate security for sensitive federal information they store, process, or transmit in performance of a federal contract, Vernick wrote in a recent alert issued by Hogan Lovells.

In the Aerojet case, a California District Court ruled that the company couldnt dismiss a complaint by its former senior director of cybersecurity, compliance and controls about the companys inability to safeguard unclassified controlled technical information from cybersecurity threats. The case hinged on whether Aerojet was making the grade under a Department of Defense rule requiring federal contractors to implement specific security controls.

The former employee claims that Aerojet fraudulently entered into contracts with the federal government despite knowing that they did not meet the minimum standards required to be awarded a government contract. He further claims he was fired from his job when he refused to certify that the company was compliant with the contracted cybersecurity requirements.

The Aerojet case, although still in its early days, is interesting because its a complaint that's filed for a contract that does not involve selling products or services to the government, Vernick said. Instead, it focuses on the contractor's own systems and their ability to safeguard controlled unclassified information (CUI). It's not the classic situation of we sell something to the government, and it doesn't meet the requirements.

The other recent case involving FCA claims and cybersecurity does involve the security of products directly sold to the federal government. In this case, the United States ex rel. Glenn v. Cisco Systems, Inc., No. 1:11-cv-00400- RJA (W.D.N.Y. July 31, 2019) became unsealed in 2019 and involved a relator or whistleblower James Glenn, a former employee of Ciscos Danish distributor NetDesign.

Glenn alleged that Ciscos Video Surveillance Manager (VSM) product did not comply with government cybersecurity requirements. Glenn claimed he identified security vulnerabilities in Ciscos VSM that could allow an attacker to exploit the system and even gain administrator rights, flaws he alleged could also potentially compromise the security of other systems connected to the VSM, placing the entire information management system at risk.

Glenn claimed he informed relevant management that the vulnerabilities violated a host of federal requirements, including the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) and procurement regulations related to Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). FIPS, in turn, incorporated several standards spelled out in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publications, particularly access control, authentication management, and transmission integrity specifications, among others, contained in NISTs widely used SP 800-53.

According to a press release, Cisco agreed to pay $8.6 million to resolve the allegations brought by Glenn, with $2.6 million paid to the federal government and $6 million to state government purchasers. This resolution highlights the real monetary risks to companies that dont materially meet implied or explicit promises of providing adequate security.

More security FCA cases likely

In False Claims Act cases, if the government wins, they get trebled damages plus penalties, which are a big deal, Vernick says. Vernick, like other lawyers who have examined these cases, believes that other big-ticket FCA cases involving cybersecurity failures are in the pipeline. If we were betting, there are probably other cases that are in progress, but a lot of them are probably still under seal because these cases can remain under seal for years while theyre being investigated.

Moving forward, companies can take steps to avoid FCA lawsuits. First, I think that the best thing for companies to do is to recognize what they're agreeing to in a contract, Vernick says. It's not uncommon for companies, particularly companies that are new to the government market, to not realize what they're agreeing to.

Step two is for companies to make sure they comply with all the relevant federal requirements and to monitor their systems for that compliance continually. Companies should also call in outside expertise to the extent they believe its necessary, Vernick says. Finally, companies should pay attention to concerns raised by employees or any other party about the weaknesses in their security protocols.

Whether it's in the cyberspace or any other space, I think it's important to make sure that someone who raises a concern is heard, Vernick says. If their concerns are something that needs to be addressed, you should address them, he advises. What's important is to allow people to bring forward concerns that they have and take them seriously and respond to them appropriately.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- String Real Estate Information Services ("String"), the leading provider of title search, production and curative solutions, announced today that the firm has hired Joe Salmons as Vice President of Sales, and Rob Dace as Senior Account Executive. Mr. Salmons will be responsible for managing and growing String's relationship with key clients, and Mr. Dace will be responsible for bringing String's offering to new clients.

Mr. Salmons joins String from Visible Equity, where he served as the National Director of Business Development. Mr. Salmons brings to String 30 years of experience in the title industry, credit union, and banking sectors with experience selling a variety of offerings across title insurance, property valuations, and data analytics.

Mr. Dace joins String from Michigan United Mortgage, where he served as Mortgage Loan Originator. Mr. Dace brings over 25 years' experience in the mortgage industry to String, having previously held numerous sales and sales management positions held at CitiMortgage, Credit Suisse and New York Community Bank.

"Joe and Rob bring a wealth of experience in the title and mortgage industries and we are excited to welcome them to the String family," said Prashant Kothari, Managing Director of String. "We continue to make investments in a number of strategic areas, including talent, to strengthen our client offering and to better position ourselves to continue to help our clients in the title industry achieve success."

Mr. Salmons, based in Denver, and Mr. Dace, based in the Detroit area, both assumed their roles on January 13th. They will both be reporting to Prashant Kothari.

About String Real Estate Information Services

String (www.stringinfo.com) is the leading solutions provider to the title industry with 16 years' of specialized experience. String's mission is to help title agents build better, more efficient and cost-effective businesses by helping them lower costs, increase margins and improve operational efficiencies. String offers title search, production and curative services for a variety of secondary market players. String has won several accolades including the Smart CEO Future 50 Award, the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in the US & the MAP Vital factors Solutions Award.

Contact

For more information, please visit www.StringInfo.com or contact Andy Garrett (Managing Director, Global Head of Marketing) at [email protected].

SOURCE String Real Estate

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"Homeland" star Claire Danes has opened up about the difficulty of shooting the show in North Carolina while her husband Hugh Dancy stayed back in New York for his acting career.

The actor is glad that she was able to work with Dancy, 44, when he landed a role in the final season of the Showtime drama. "Homeland" airs in India on Star World.

"That was tough.That distance is corrosive, and I'm just bad at it. And I don't particularly want to get good at it. We learned along the way how essential it is for us to be physically together as often as possible," Danes said in an interview with Net-A-Porter's digital title, Porter.

Danes, 40, plays the role of CIA operative Carrie Mathison on the drama, which will wrap up after its eighth season and start airing from February 9.

"That was such a nice way to end the show. I didn't have a single scene with him, but on my days off, I would go to his set. He's very good. I don't exactly forget that, but we don't talk about acting much, so it was a really nice reminder.Watching your partner do something they are really good at is so hot," she said.

The actors met in 2006 on the set of the film "Evening" and got married in 2009. They have two sons Cyrus Michael Christopher, 7, and Rowan, 17 months.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
House impeachment managers and President Donald Trumps defence team delivered their closing arguments Monday with an eye toward history, but with little hope of changing any senators mind

House impeachment managers and President Donald Trumps defence team delivered their closing arguments Monday with an eye toward history, but with little hope of changing any senators mind.

The arguments came on the same day that caucusgoers in Iowa gathered to narrow the Democratic field, and lawyers on both sides tried to appeal to 2020 voters in their arguments. The formal vote on whether to acquit Trump will take place on Wednesday. Here are the key takeaways from the closing arguments:

With a focus on history, House managers make their final arguments

Invoking former president Abraham Lincoln, and the founding fathers Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, House impeachment managers delivered closing arguments written for the history books, and in some cases attempted to shame senators for not removing Trump from office.

But all is not lost, even at this late hour. The Senate can still do the right thing, one of the House impeachment managers, Representative Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, said on Monday. America is watching. The world is watching. The eyes of history are watching. The Senate can still do the right thing.

Representative Adam B Schiff, D-California, the lead House impeachment manager, directly called out the partisan divide that has defined the impeachment trial.

I hope and pray that we never have a president like Trump in the Democratic Party, Schiff said. And I would hope to God that if we did, we would impeach him, and Democrats would lead the way.

He, like Jeffries, invoked the language of moral leadership and national values, asking senators to do the right thing.

It is said that a single man or woman of courage makes a majority, Schiff said. Is there one among you who will say enough?

America believes in a thing called truth. She does not believe we are entitled to our own alternate facts. She recoils at those who spread pernicious falsehoods. To her, truth matters. There is nothing more corrosive to a democracy than the idea that there is no truth, Schiff said. America also believes there is a difference between right and wrong. And right matters here.

The defence closes its case, insisting there was no quid pro quo

Trumps lawyers returned on Monday to Trumps original defence of his 25 July phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine, ignoring disclosures since the start of the trial about the presidents motivations for freezing nearly $400 million in military aid for the country.

Michael Purpura, a deputy White House counsel, said, First, the president did not condition security assistance or a meeting on anything in the 25 July call.

And, Purpura added, none of the House witnesses ever testified that there was any linkage between security assistance and investigations.

Both statements are strictly true and echo Trumps own words last year when questions mounted about Trumps call with Zelenskiy. But the arguments do not take into account the larger context of the call or some witnesses testimony that they had concluded there was a link between security aid and investigations, even though they had no direct knowledge of one.

And the arguments do not address new details from Trumps former national security advisor, John R Bolton, revealed recently in an unpublished manuscript. In the manuscript, Bolton said the president told him that he intended to withhold the military aid until Ukraine agreed to the investigations. After days of arguments, the Senate voted against calling witnesses, such as Bolton, to testify.

Voters were on the minds of House managers and the defence during closing arguments

With little hope of changing any of the senators minds on whether to acquit Trump on Wednesday, House managers and Trumps lawyers focussed instead on the upcoming election.

As we speak, the president continues his wrongdoing, unchecked and unashamed, Jeffries said. Trump remains a clear and present danger to our national security area and to our credibility around the world.

Jeffries also suggested that letting the voters decide is a flawed plan.

If we are to rely on the next election to judge the presidents efforts to cheat in that election, how can we know that the election will be free and fair? he asked.

Trumps defence team similarly framed closing arguments around a free and independent election.

At the end of the day, this is an effort to overturn the results of one election and to try to interfere in the coming election, one of Trumps lawyers, Pat Cipollone, said, referring to a widely debunked theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 elections to help Democrats, as opposed to Russia being behind the effort to help Trump.

The only appropriate result here is to acquit the president and to leave it to the voters to choose their president, Cipollone said.

The presidents defence says his actions were appropriate even as some Republican senators speak out

Some Republican senators have begun defending their upcoming vote to acquit Trump with the argument that while what the president did may have been inappropriate, it is not an impeachable offence.

Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, who is retiring, offered this defence last week, when he announced his vote against hearing new witness testimony in the trial. The measure to block witnesses was long seen as a decision to acquit the president, and Democrats had hoped Alexander would vote with them.

After Alexanders response, several Republicans followed suit.

Long story short, @SenatorAlexander most likely expressed the sentiments of the country as a whole as well as any single Senator possibly could, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, one of Trumps most frequent defenders in the Senate, wrote on Twitter. Those who hate Trump and wish to take the voters choice away in an unfounded manner, Senator Alexander rightly rejected their arguments.

As the trial comes to a close, a final vote is still to come

The senators began delivering their own versions of closing arguments in the lead-up to a final vote at 4 pm Eastern Time on Wednesday (2.30 am IST on Thursday). Under the trial rules, the senators have been quiet while in the chamber, listening to arguments from the House managers and the presidents lawyers.

With the trial now in recess, senators have up to 10 minutes to speak during floor sessions to make their own statements about why they intend to vote for or against Trumps conviction. The sessions began on Monday afternoon, and will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday.

One highly watched moderate Republican used Monday evenings session to end the suspense over her decision: Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she would vote to acquit.

In the midst of this, Trump will deliver the State of the Union address on Tuesday night without having been formally acquitted.

Eileen Sullivan c.2020 The New York Times Company
Missoula County Commissioner Josh Slotnick hopes to see improvements to the Deep Creek area  but first, he hopes the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation cleans up some vandalism there.

Recently, spray-painted swastikas, obscenities and lewd imagery appeared on concrete Jersey barriers placed along a stretch of the Southside Road, which winds through a forested area south of the Clark Fork River accessible by Big Flat Road.

Slotnick hopes to hold discussions about improving the area's recreation infrastructure in the future, but for now he wants the spray paint cleaned up. County commissioners and DNRC staff talked about both matters at a meeting Monday.

We're interested in making these Jersey barriers, in the near term, not look like a billboard for hate, and in the long term getting them out of the way, Slotnick said.

The barriers were placed along the road by the Montana DNRC to prevent illegal off-roading. At the meeting, Bob Storer, trust land program manager for the departments Southwest Lands Office, told Slotnick they could clean the barriers but asked what would keep the vandalism from happening there again.

I think what we found in town  (is that) the quicker you can jump on it to obliterate the graffiti, the better chance you have of keeping it off, because once it happens and it's left there for a period of time, it just kind of compounds, said Commissioner Dave Strohmaier.

It's just a tough moral argument to say, Well we're not going to fix this because it might happen again, so we're just gonna live with this, and this is the kind of message I think we really want to tell the greater world we're not OK with, Slotnick said. Mike OHerron, area manager for the department, said they would look at cleaning the barriers.

The commissioners and DNRC staff discussed several other problems that had come up in the area over the years, including illegal garbage dumping, theft of wire barriers and even gunshots fired into nearby homes. It's an area that's needing some help, Slotnick said.

He hopes to host a Deep Creek Summit in the next few months that will enable stakeholders to discuss the areas problems  and its potential. Just projecting 20, 30 years into the future with all the mad growth we're seeing in our valley, it's imaginable to conceive of this place as a new version or the next version of what the Rattlesnake is, he said.

Imagine it not as the Deep Creek it is now but cleaned up with better roads and parking areas and trailheads and markers," Slotnick said. "It's access to really beautiful natural lands really close to a major population center, but we would have to tame it first."

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NAIROBI, Kenya - Daniel arap Moi, a former schoolteacher who became Kenyas longest-serving president and led the East African nation through years of repression and economic turmoil fueled by runaway corruption, died Tuesday at age 95.

Moi succeeded Kenyas founding president, Jomo Kenyatta, in 1978 and ruled for 24 years. His death was announced by Kenyattas son and current president, Uhuru Kenyatta, who called him a leader in the struggle for Kenyan independence and an ardent Pan-Africanist.

Moi died peacefully at a private hospital in Nairobi, said his son, Sen. Gideon Moi.

His critics called him a dictator for his authoritarian style, although Moi enjoyed strong support from many Kenyans and was seen as a unifying figure when he took over after the death of Jomo Kenyatta, who had led the country following its independence from Britain in 1963.

Some of Kenyattas allies had tried to change the constitution to prevent then Vice-President Moi from succeeding him. Moi was so wary of threats at the time that he fled his Rift Valley home when he learned of Kenyattas death, returning only after receiving assurances of his safety.

In 1982, Mois government pushed through parliament a constitutional amendment that made Kenya effectively a one-party state. Later that year, the army quelled a coup attempt by opposition members and some air force officers. At least 159 people were killed.

Although Kenya was known for its stability, Mois government became more repressive in dealing with dissent, according to a report by the governments Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission that assessed his rule. Political activists and others who dared oppose him were routinely detained, tortured and killed, the report said, including the death of a foreign affairs minister, Robert Ouko.

The judiciary became an accomplice in the perpetuation of violations, while parliament was transformed into a puppet controlled by the heavy hand of the executive, the report said.

Corruption, especially the illegal allocation of land, became institutionalized and economic power was centralized in the hands of a few, the report said.

In 1991, Moi yielded to public pressure at home and abroad for a multiparty state, including a demonstration where police killed more than 20 people.

Multiparty elections in 1992 and 1997 were marred by political and ethnic violence that critics blamed on the state.

By the time Moi left power in 2002, corruption had caused the contraction of Kenyas economy, the most developed in East Africa.

Moi often blamed the West for bad publicity and the economic hardships that many Kenyans endured during his rule.

As with President Jomo Kenyatta, many government projects, buildings were named after Moi, and his face adorned the countrys currency and coins. Kenyans voted for a new constitution that was implemented in 2010 and made provisions to bar personality cults.

Kenyans had a mixed reaction to Mois death.

Commentator Patrick Gathara tweeted that Tuesday was a day to remember Mois victims as well as the thousands who stood against his brutal and murderous kleptocracy. It is a day to remember that the current crop of politicians helped him escape justice for his crimes.

Salim Lone, a former U.N. spokesman who fled into exile because of harassment under Moi, said the former president began his tenure and that so many supported your promise of a free, more inclusive, corruption-free Kenya. He said Moi initially released political prisoners and famously said it was better to eat sukuma wiki (kale) and sleep in peace than seek riches.

How it went wrong is not for now, Lone added.

Kenyatta ordered national flags lowered to half-staff until after Moi was buried.
Mumbai, Feb 4 : Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has lent support to comedian Kunal Kamra by not flying in IndiGo Airlines. He chose Vistara instead.

"No @IndiGo6E.. on @airvistara .. in solidarity with @kunalkamra88," Kashyap tweeted on Monday.

Kashyap came out in support of Kamra after the latter was banned from four airlines including IndiGo, Air India, GoAir and SpiceJet. Kamra was banned after his in-flight encounter with news anchor Arnab Goswami during an IndiGo flight a few dats ago.

During the flight, Kamra had approached Goswami and unleashed a barrage of questions on him, over the latter's coverage of national affairs and the suicide of Rohith Vemula in particular, on his new channel. Vemula was a Dalit activist and scholar at the Hyderabad University.

After Kamra's diatribe against Arnab, IndiGo banned the comedian from flying for six months.

In an interview to The Telegraph, Kashyap, who was in Kolkata for an event on Monday, spoke about his decision to boycott IndiGo.

"I was booked on IndiGo by the organisers. After Kamra was banned, I told the organisers I will not fly IndiGo. I told them I will not fly this airline because I thought the ban was very unreasonable. My thing is: there is nothing I can do about it. It does not make much of a difference. But as I wanted to register my dissent, I thought that I would not fly IndiGo. I want to fly Vistara. The IndiGo flight was on Monday afternoon and the Vistara flight was in the morning. They (the organisers) informed (me) that to fly Vistara, you have to wake up at 4am. I said, 'I will wake up at 4am, but I will not fly IndiGo'," Kashyap explained.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
SALINA, N.Y. -- The driver of a tractor-trailer that hit and killed a man this weekend in Salina said he didnt know he struck a pedestrian, deputies said.

Richard Wydick, 30, of Liverpool, was walking east on Seventh North Street with the traffic around 6 p.m. Sunday near the Pilot truck stop when he walked into the intersection, said Sgt. Jon Seeber, Onondaga County Sheriffs Office spokesman. The light for Terminal Road East was just turning green, he said.

Wydick was wearing dark clothing, he said.

A tractor-trailer turned off of Terminal Road East onto Seventh North Street, Seeber said. The tractor-trailer hit Wydick and drove away, he said.

Wydick was pronounced dead at the scene.

Through evidence and surveillance cameras, detectives identified the truck involved in the deadly crash as an Active Canada Inc. truck, Seeber said.

Active Canada called the tractor-trailer driver, who immediately stopped at a duty-free shop in Champlain in Clinton County near the U.S.-Canadian border, he said.

Detectives met up with the driver, who is from Quebec, at the shop, Seeber said. The man was driving a 2021 Kenworth truck and was transporting two other Kenworth tractor-trailers from California to Quebec, he said.

The truck driver -- whose name was not immediately released -- told detectives he didnt know he had hit Wydick, Seeber said. The man is cooperating with investigators, he said.

The New York State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit and the state Department of Transportation inspected the tractor-trailers and found no safety violations, Seeber said.

The accident remains under investigation.

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If Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are considering a move to New York as part of their plan to split their time between the U.K. and North America, Madonna, of all people, has them covered.

In a video she shared on Instagram Tuesday with the caption "Do Meg[h]an and Prince Harry want to sublet my apartment on Central Park West?? ..................," the pop icon tried to dissuade them from moving to Canada, instead making a pitch for her own home.

"Hey, don't run off to Canada. It's so boring there!" she said. "I'll let them sublet my apartment in Central Park West. It's a two bed, it's got the best view in Manhattan. Incredible balcony, that's going to be a winner, a deal breaker."

After announcing they would be stepping back as senior members of the royal family, Meghan and Harry have been spotted spending time in Canada with Archie, lending weight to theories they may set up a base in the commonwealth country, though Los Angeles has also been floated as an option.

RELATED: Did Queen Elizabeth Show Some Subtle Support for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry?

New York seems pretty far off the radar, but should they decide to stop in the Big Apple, Madonna's place honestly doesn't sound like too bad a deal.
Follow along for live updates from Capitol Hill (all times Eastern):

4:52 p.m.

Senators are making statements about the impeachment trial regarding the charges against President Donald Trump.

Senators have two days to speak on the Senate floor to explain their votes.

A handful of senators in both parties have still not said whether they will vote to convict or acquit the president on the two articles of impeachment  abuse of power and obstruction of Congress  that the House passed in December.

Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., delivered his remarks, describing himself as a moderate centrist, said he believed a bipartisan majority would vote to censure Trump to formally denounce him. Senators in both parties on Monday dismissed censure as an alternative.

History will judge (this) Senate harshly for failing in its constitutional duty to try this case and do the impartial justice to defend the Constitution and to protect our democracy, he said.

Manchin said he supported Trumps calls for a fair trial, which the president suggested would include witnesses.

He said he remained undecided on how he will vote but said a two-thirds majority to remove Trump from office was unlikely.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, asked whether the offense raises to the unquestionable level of removing the president from office, which he said it didnt.

He also said House managers used the terms "bribery" and "extortion" on the Senate floor, even though neither terms were in the articles of impeachment.

Grassley also said House managers said more than 60 times the evidence was overwhelming. He said repeating that claim didnt make it accurate.

Its not the Senates job to read into House articles what the House failed or didnt see fit to incorporate itself, he said. Articles of impeachment shouldnt be moving targets, like moving a goal post.

Grassley said, currently, the president can request a foreign leader assist with anti-corruption efforts.

3 p.m.

The Senate has adjourned the trial for today.

2:52 p.m.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the Houses lead impeachment manager, said President Donald Trump used his own obstruction as a sword and shield.

Schiff also remarked on President Bill Clintons impeachment, saying lying about an affair is morally wrong and a crime under oath. But Schiff said Congress is now more accepting of serious misconduct if that person is in that persons party.

Schiff said he hoped and prayed there would never be a president in the Democratic party who would betray the national interests and security to help with his reelection. Schiff said if that happens, he hopes that person would be impeached, and Democrats would lead the way.

2:34 p.m.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said House managers proved their case with a mountain of evidence.

President Trump tried to cheat. He got caught. And then he worked hard to cover it up, he said.

2:27 p.m.

This is a defining moment in our history and a challenging time for our nation, Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., said.

Demings reflected on her fathers integrity, decency and honesty and remarked the defense team didnt speak about the presidents character during the trial.

She also expressed her concern over the Senates decision not to hear from witnesses. If this body fails to hold this president accountable, you have to ask yourselves, What kind of republic will we ultimately have with a president who thinks that he can really, truly do whatever he wants?

2:19 p.m.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, argued the Senates decision will affect the strength of democracies across the world.

She argued the presidents actions warrant removal from office and has implications for the U.S., too.

Garcia said the country cant hope the president does better. We have done that so many other times. We know he has not apologized. He has not offered to change. We all know he will do it again.

2:07 p.m.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a House impeachment manager, said defense attorneys are still disputing at the end of the trial what high crimes and misdemeanors means.

She reviewed why the countrys founders created the clause. Theyve been described during that time as offenses against king and government or misconduct, abuse or violation of some public trust, she said.

Its clear they knew what they wrote, she said. The presidents lawyers tried to create a muddle to confuse you. Dont let them.

2:05 p.m.

Among the reasons why the articles of impeachment should be rejected, attorney Pat Cipollone said they dont allege a violation of law.

I believe the American people are tired of the endless  and false investigations that have been coming out of the House, Cipollone said.

He said the impeachment has been a waste of American tax dollars, time and opportunities.

1:39 p.m.

Patrick Philbin, a White House attorney, said the House is not above the law.

He said the House of Representatives began an impeachment inquiry without a vote from its full body. That was unprecedented, he said.

Philbin also said there were unfair hearings, and proceedings began from an announcement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a news conference.

Responding to prosecutors arguments about witnesses who refused to testify during the impeachment inquiry, Philbin said presidents who assert immunity for staffs have a longstanding history.

This was a purely partisan political process, he said.

1:03 p.m.

Kenneth Starr, a lawyer for the defense team, asked if the rules were faithfully followed. He said if not, prosecutors should not be rewarded.

Starr said the House majority broke rules by not allowing minority members to ask questions.

He also said House managers didnt tell senators everything, and he asked if theres been full and fair disclosure.

They have the power, but that doesnt mean anything goes, Starr said.

Starr also contrasted the current judiciary committee with the one that moved forward during the Nixon era, arguing present day Democrats proceeded in a "fast-track" manner.

12:55 p.m.

Pat Cipollone, a White House lawyer, said senators need to acquit the president. He reviewed a major defense teams point, arguing the impeachment sought to reverse the results of the election.

12:52 p.m.

The Senate's impeachment trial has resumed.

12:02 p.m.

The Senate is taking 30-minute break for lunch.

12:01 p.m.



House manager Hakeem Jeffries warned senators that condoning "the president's obstruction would strike a death blow to the impeachment clause in the Constitution."

"A president who can obstruct and thwart the impeachment power becomes unaccountable," he said.

"He or she is effectively above the law. And such a president is more likely to engage in corruption with impunity. This will become the new normal. With this president, and for future generations."

The New York Democrat said President Trump "hasn't stopped trying to pressure Ukraine to smear his opponent, nor has he stopped obstructing Congress."

"President Trump remains a clear and present danger to our national security," he said.

Jeffries said that over the past few days, many senators have "publicly acknowledged" that the facts of the case "are not seriously in dispute."

"The question that remains is whether that conduct warrants conviction and removal from office," he added.

11:35 a.m.

House Democrats are focusing part of their closing arguments in the Senate trial on their belief that President Trump is continuing to act inappropriately and will commit more misconduct in the future.

Rep. Val Demings, one of the House impeachment managers, said in her remarks that "as President Trump has orchestrated this cover-up, and obstructed Congress' impeachment inquiry, he remains unapologetic, unrestrained, and intent on continuing his sham to defraud our elections."

11:19 a.m.

The House managers are delivering their closing arguments in President's Trump's impeachment trial.

Rep. Jason Crow, Democrat from Colorado, spoke first for the House managers.

"Today you have a duty to perform, with fidelity, not without a sense of surrounding dangers, but also not without hope," Crow said. "I submit to you on behalf of the House of Representatives that your duty demands you convict President Trump."

He called impeachment an "extraordinary remedy" and "a tool only to be used in rare instances of grave misconduct."

Original story below

President Donald Trump's impeachment trial heads toward a historic conclusion this week, with senators all but certain to acquit him on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after narrowly rejecting Democratic demands to summon witnesses.

Theres still plenty of drama to unfold before Wednesday's vote.

The vote is expected to cap a months-long investigation spurred by a whistleblower complaint that Trump improperly withheld U.S. military aid from Ukraine in a bid to pressure it to launch investigations into 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden.

In the Senate, Republicans hold a 53-47 advantage and theres nowhere near the two-thirds needed for conviction and removal. On Friday, Republicans blocked consideration of new witnesses and documents, setting up the speedy acquittal vote for the coming week.

It will be a frenetic next few days. Here's what you can expect:

Monday

House impeachment managers and Trumps defense team return to the Senate floor to make closing arguments in the trial.

The 2020 presidential election kicks off with the Iowa caucuses. It will be the first time this election season that voters will officially make their preferences known.

Tuesday

Trump will deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Wednesday

The Senate will hold its final vote in the impeachment trial. Senators are largely expected to acquit the president on a party-line vote.

Friday

The 2020 Democratic candidates will take the stage in another debate. Expect the candidates to talk about the impeachment trial, the Iowa caucuses, and the State of the Union among the other usual debate topics of healthcare, immigration, etc.

What to watch on Monday as the third impeachment trial in U.S. history heads to a close:

Closing Arguments

The trial resumes at 11 a.m. EST Monday for closing arguments by the two legal teams, with each side getting two hours.

After the arguments, the Senate goes back into normal session to allow lawmakers to give speeches about impeachment on the floor from late Monday into Wednesday, before they reconvene as the impeachment court at 4 p.m. Wednesday and vote.

CNN contributed to this report.
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The grandson of a Hamas founder who converted to Christianity and came out as gay has been accused of nose-job fraud.

Jnaid Salama, 30, also known as John D. Calvin, tried to pay for $10,995 surgery to change the shape and size of his nose at a clinic in Seattle, Washington, using a check, according to reports in Canada.

But after it was rejected, Mr Salama was arrested and held at Snohomish County Jail after reportedly being accused of forgery and first-degree theft.

He fled the Gaza strip, Palestine, for Canada, and said he would face 'certain death' if he returned to the region when authorities threatened to deport him in 2015.

Jnaid Salama, 30, also known as John D. Calvin, was arrested after a check for a $10,995 nose job at a clinic in Seattle, Washington, was rejected. He is pictured in 2015

He had demanded the surgery from the clinic 'as soon as possible' and was told he would have to pay upfront. Mr Salama is pictured above in 2015

Mr Salama handed the check into the clinic two days after he was told he would have to prepay for surgery, after he demanded it 'as soon as possible', court filings seen by the Herald said.

When the check was rejected, he claimed that there must be a problem with the clinic as there was none with his bank.

However, a fraud investigation revealed Mr Salama had not been authorized to issue a check by his bank, and that he had several other claims against him.

A check for $100,000 of jewels and accessories including four watches, two rings worth $10,000, a $15,000 diamond bracelet and a $40,000 diamond necklace from Bloomingdale's, Chicago, was rejected in April 2018.

Similarly, a check for $45,000 of jewels including a Rolex watch and diamond engagement ring from a store in Louisiana was bounced in August 2018.

He fled the Gaza strip, Palestine, for Canada and launched a public appeal for help after his asylum application in the country was rejected in 2015

Mr Salama was raised in Gaza, Palestine, where he alleges to have been 'indoctrinated to believe in violence, Antisemitism, and an extreme interpretation of Islam'.

He was also involved in activities with Hamas, a US-designated terrorist organisation, before being held by Israeli soldiers and finding, he claims, that they treated him with 'compassion' and 'tolerance'.

Running away to Canada at the age of 15, Mr Salama launched a petition and funding campaign to help him stay in the country after authorities threatened to deport him due to his links to the terrorist group.

He feared that if he was returned to the area ruled by Hamas, of which his grandfather was a co-founder, he would be killed, reports CNN money.

'What he did is offensive to honor and to religion,' his father told CNN at the time, appearing to confirm Mr Salama's claims, 'and the family has the right to retaliate against him'.

His mother also told him in 2015 that she no longer wants to have any contact with him, CNN reported.

His grandfather was a co-founder of Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist group by the US. Pictured: Palestinian protesters holding the Hamas green glad while demonstrating in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza

A masked member of Hamas pictured holding an axe to his chest during protests against President Trump's Middle East plan in Gaza last month

Mr Salama was allowed to stay in the US, instead of Canada, following a ruling in Massachusetts in May 2016.

However, in the effort he said he had incurred tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees that he would now have to find a way to pay.

MailOnline has contacted Mr Salama for comment.
Romania's objective of joining the Schengen Area was one of the topics of the discussion held by Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu and French Ambassador in Bucharest Michele Ramis, on Tuesday.

The two officials reviewed the very good stage of the bilateral relationship of strategic partnership, revealed during the Romania - France Season, informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) in a release sent to AGERPRES.The Romanian Foreign Affairs minister pointed out the interest in resuming the high-level dialogue in the 2+2 format (Foreign and Defence ministers), as agreed upon by Bogdan Aurescu during the recent meeting with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, in Brussels, on November 20 last year, as well as for the modernization of the Roadmap of the bilateral strategic partnership.Regarding the issues on the European agenda, the Romanian head of diplomacy highlighted the interest of our country to actively participate in the reflection process within the Conference on the future of Europe, to be launched this half-year.At the same time, according to the source, Bogdan Aurescu reiterated Romania's goal of joining the Schengen Area, pointing out that our country relies on France's support in this demarche.During the meeting, he addressed the topic of security cooperation, reiterating Romania's interests and positions of principle in relation to the regional security situation on the eastern flank of NATO and pleading for the increased French presence in the allied structures in Romania.The head of the Romanian diplomacy thanked the French authorities for the support granted for the repatriation in good conditions, on February 2, by a flight organized by France, of three Romanian citizens from the Wuhan region of China, affected by the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic.

AGERPRES
Radio NZ reports:

The mysterious foundation bankrolling the New Zealand First Party has been receiving donations from entities connected with some of the countrys wealthiest business people in amounts just under the threshold at which the donors names would normally be made public. Last year companies owned by New Zealands richest man donated nearly $30,000 to the Foundation in two amounts that each fell $5.01 short of the $15,000.01 level at which political donations are publicly disclosed. Church Bay Farm, which is 100 percent owned by Graeme Hart, donated $14,995 to the New Zealand First Foundation on 29 March, 2019, according to documents seen by RNZ. On the same day Walter & Wild, which owns the Hubbards, Hansells and Greggs food brands, also donated $14,995 to the Foundation. Walter and Wild is two-thirds owned by Graeme Hart with the remaining third owned by his son Harry Hart. Graeme Hart, a businessman and philanthropist, who recently funded a $10 million initiative to provide low cost dental care in South Auckland, has a wealth estimated at $10 billion by Forbes magazine.

The irony is that Winston used to pretend he was battling for the little guy against big business!

There is no real doubt electoral donation laws have been broken. Under both alternatives, the laws have been broken.

The Foundation is part of NZ First

If the Foundation is deemed to be part of NZ First (which would be the ethically correct thing to do  National treats its Foundation as part of the party and reports donations to it, as donations to the party) then the NZ First donation returns have not disclosed the 29 donations of between $5,000 and $15,000 made to the Foundation (s210(6A)(d)).

The Foundation is independent from NZ First

If the Foundation is independent of NZ First, then the Foundation itself should have been named as a donor in 2017 and other years. It has paid expenses on behalf of NZ First, which means that should be recorded as a donation in kind (s207(2)).

So either way the law has not been complied with.

The other legal issue is around splitting a donation between associated companies to stay under the $15,000 disclosure limit. S207LA states:

A person is guilty of a corrupt practice who directs or procures, or is actively involved in directing or procuring, 2 or more bodies corporate to split between the bodies corporate a party donation in order to conceal the total amount of the donation and avoid the donations inclusion by the party secretary in the return of party donations under section 210(1)(a).

This only applies if the donation is regarded as a party donation. But a number of donors have said their belief is they were donating to the party, so the interesting question would be who told them to split the donation up between associated companies? Was it their idea, or did someone from NZ First suggest it?

Frankly I cant see any way the Electoral Commission cant conclude there has been a breach of the donation laws. The only issue is which specific laws. Ill be amazed if there is no referral to the Police or SFO.

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Ireland votes in a general election on 8 February, just one week after neighboring Britains departure from the European Union. RFI looks at how Brexit affects the Irish political landscape and Irelands position within the EU 27.

The two parties that have dominated Irelands political landscape over the past decades, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, are being upset by the all-Ireland party Sinn Fein.

Opinion polls show Sinn Fein level at 24 percent with Fianna Fail after an 11-point surge, while current Prime Minister Leo Varadkars Fine Gael is trailing at 21 percent.

Sinn Feins sudden gains may be inspired by its strong campaign on housing and promises to improve the health care system.

But Brexit has played a part, says Harry Browne, senior lecturer in the School of Media at the Technological University of Dublin.

Eliminate the border

There is a sense that this may be a time for massive change in the UK: Scotland may be leaving, and Northern Ireland is potentially in an unusual position."

Sinn Fein, an all-Ireland party that has the position to eliminate the border as soon as possible, appears to be thriving in this election, he says.

They are the one party that consistently fought against the border over the years, first literally and then figuratively in the 25 years since the peace process.

Talk in the north of Ireland that Brexit may speed up Irish reunification makes the Irish establishment very nervous, that there is a new urgency around the idea of, for the first time a genuinely independent Ireland, he says.

Civil war parties

During the 1969-1998 civil war period in Northern Ireland, a period Irish euphemistically refer to as The Troubles, Sinn Fein was known as the political wing of the Irish Republican Army.

But after the Good Friday Agreements, the party turned into a voice for the working class in the Republic of Ireland, while in the north, it is the largest nationalist party across the board.

Todays Irish newspapers still refer to the other two parties, Fine Gail and Fianna Fail, as the civil war parties, emerging from the conflict of 1919-1921.

Story continues

Fine Gail was ready to make a treaty with England that allowed for the border and gave Ireland status of a dominion rather than a full republic, and Fianna Fail came out of the opposition to that.

Both developed into centrist parties and have ruled Ireland in different coalitions over the past 30 years, dividing the power between them, for now.

Important factor

Meanwhile, the Brexit situation gave Ireland the idea that its position within the EU was strengthened. But is this justified?

There is the sense that Ireland pushes above its weight, that Ireland is more powerful than you would expect from a country with four and a half million people, precisely because it finds itself at the front line of this conflict with the UK, making Ireland a microcosm for all of the EUs difficulties with London, Browne says.

The situation adds to the sense that the European question surrounding Brexit became really an Irish question. And it continues to be an Irish question this year, as discussions on the details of the UKs Withdrawal Agreement get underway.

But people worry that Europe will run out of patience with Ireland, that we wont have the same kind of influence in this upcoming year of negotiations towards new arrangements with the UK than weve had over the last two years, where it seemed that Europe was standing firm with Ireland, he says.
Five people have learned their fate after pleading guilty to drug-related charges in late 2019.

According to U.S. District Attorney Matthew Krueger, the pleas were entered between August 30, 2019 and October 18, 2019.

Court officials say the following people will serve prison time, as well as supervised release:

Tou Xiong, 45, formerly of Represa, CA - 20 years in prison, five years supervised release

Meng Xiong, 42, formerly of Merced, CA - 10 years in prison, five years of supervised release

Blia Lor, 38, formerly of Appleton - More than nine years in prison, five

years supervised release

Cher Yang, 31, formerly of Milwaukee - Five years in prison, 10 years of supervised release

Gwen Biersteker, 41, formerly of Seymour - Five years in prison, five years of supervised release

Tou Xiong, Blia Lor, Cher Yang and Gwen Biersteker all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Men Xiong pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine.

Court officials say during an investigation between October 2016 and November 2018, all five conspired and distributed a large amount of meth in the Fox Valley region.

Officials add they arranged for shipments of meth to arrive by car couriers, as well as postal shipments, from northern California to northeast Wisconsin.

Documents state Tou Xiong, who was an inmate in California, used contraband phones to orchestrate shipments from sources in California.

Lor and Biersteker then served as points of contact.

Yang then provided money for the trips, and would transport meth from Milwaukee to the Appleton area.

Xiong was caught by law enforcement with multiple pounds of meth and two handguns after traveling from California to take on local distribution networks.

Documents say the amount of meth attributed to the group was more than 100 pounds.
Beatrice police arrested a man accused of assaulting two people on Sunday.

At around 10:30 p.m. Beatrice police were dispatched to the 200 block of North 11th Street in response to an assault.

Victims told police that the assault occurred in the 900 block of West Mary Street, when Corey D. Jordan entered the residence unannounced and began punching and slapping a victim.

The victim said he sustained numerous strikes to the head before getting a handgun from a nearby dresser and ordering Jordan to leave.

Another person left the residence and got in her vehicle, when arrest documents state Jordan got into his vehicle and attempted to block her from leaving.

She was able to eventually drive away, but told police Jordan grabbed the collar of her shirt when she got out of her vehicle and was walking across the yard.

Police contacted Jordan in the 1000 block of Bismark Street, where he stated he had been all night. Arrest documents noted Jordan had dried blood on his arms and a fresh cut on a bicep.

Damage observed to his truck was consistent with damage to one of the victims vehicle, and Jordan was placed under arrest for third-degree domestic assault, third-degree assault, criminal mischief and leaving the scene of an accident.

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By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Head of Nagorno-Karabakhs Azerbaijani Community Tural Ganjaliyev has said that Armenia constantly creates obstacles to the peaceful resolution of the conflict using provocative statements during negotiations.

"Despite the fact that the concept of 'people of Karabakh', which has no foundation, and this has been repeatedly clarified, Armenia continues to raise this issue repeatedly, demonstrating its destructive position,'' Ganjaliyev said.

Ganjaliyev made the remarks on February 4, commenting on the recent statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan issued on Armenian Foreign Ministrys website on January 31.

He noted that Armenia ignores the opinion of the international community, thereby becoming the object of condemnation.

"Immediately after the negotiations held between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Geneva through the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group on January 28-30, Naghdalyan expressed a provocative opinion about bringing 'elected representatives of the Karabakh people' to the peace process, thus tried to cast a shadow over the negotiations," Ganjaliyev mentioned.

He further said that such statements will not succeed in preventing peaceful coexistence of the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan.

"We will return to our lands, restore our violated rights and destroyed heritage," he emphasized.

As Ganjaliyev noted, the Community was convinced of the firmness of the position that the population of Nagorno-Karabakh consists of Azerbaijani and Armenian communities, which is reflected in last year's statements by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and in a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his last visit to Baku.

"This issue is enshrined in the document of OSCE (previously CSCE) of 24 March 1992," he added.

He recalled that the most significant answer to the ruling circles of Armenia in this matter was given last year by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, who said that the 'concept of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh' does not exist, there's only population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Baku strengthens the role of Karabakhs Azerbaijani community and wants to ensure equal access to negotiations of the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in the region.

The Azerbaijani community, which as a result of ethnic cleansing was forced to leave their homes, has the legal right to participate in determining the future legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Without the recognition of this right, a comprehensive and fair settlement of the conflict cannot be achieved.

Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijans breakaway region which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. To this day, Armenia has not implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
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A child who was among the 195 Americans evacuated from Wuhan, the center of the coronavirus outbreak in China, and are now quarantined at March Air Reserve in Riverside, California has been hospitalized with a fever, local officials said Tuesday.

Another traveler who arrived at LAX is also now under federal quarantine.

Officials say the child and their parent were transported to Riverside University Health System-Medical Center out of 'an abundance of caution.'

The pediatric patient from the air base and their parent were under a 14-day federally mandated quarantine, the first ordered by US health officials in 50 years.





If the child is confirmed to have coronavirus, they would be the twelfth in the US and the seventh diagnosed in California, but the first case among the quarantined passengers.





Samples have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for testing and the results are expected later this week.





The passenger from LAX is among the first identified arrivals since the White House implemented travel restrictions requiring different levels of quarantines depending on travel history.





Riverside County health officials said that the LAX passenger had no symptoms of coronavirus but was being placed under federal quarantine and sent to the air base as a precautionary measure and 'because of their travel history,' but did not specify where in China the person had traveled.





However, the quarantine rules announced Friday indicated that passengers with a history of any travel in China in the last two weeks would be subject to self-imposed quarantine, while those who had been in Wuhan's province, Hubei, would be subject to 14 days of federal quarantine.





The LAX passenger will be held at March Air Reserve, but kept separate from the 193 Wuhan evacuees left there after the transfer of the child with fever and their parent.





Meanwhile, a California couple confirmed to have coronavirus both took a significant turn for the worse and were admitted to a hospital late Sunday night, San Benito Country officials said in a statement.





While the outbreak is ongoing, President Trump has also issued an order that will block all foreign nationals who have visited China in the prior two weeks - except for the immediate family citizens or permanent residents - from entering the US, which began at 5pm ET on Sunday.





On Wednesday, an evacuation flight with 195 Americans on board landed at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California (pictured). Those passengers are all now under federal quarantine. A child from the group has been hospitalized with a fever, officials said on Tuesday

At 11, the American case count remains low, but the virus has quickly spread in China and around the globe the Department of Health and Human Services and President Donald Trump are stepping up measures to contain the deadly new disease.

Citizens returning to the US who have visited Hubei province - where Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, is located - within two weeks of of coming back to the US will be under a mandatory 14 day quarantine.

Those who have traveled elsewhere in mainland China will be subject to a 14-day self-imposed quarantine.

To facilitate these measures, all flights returning to the US from anywhere in China will now be funneled through eleven airports. In total, screening measures are planned for implementation in some 20 airports nationwide.

US officials earlier Friday issued an 'unprecedented' federal quarantine for all 195 passengers evacuated from Wuhan, and said that their test for the new coronavirus may come back negative if someone hasn't developed symptoms - but they could later become ill.

During a Friday briefing, the White House's newly assembled task force for the ongoing coronavirus outbreak declared it a public health emergency in the US. HHS Secretary Alex Azar (center) announced that most foreign nationals will be barred from entry and citizens returning from China will face various grades of quarantines

Even as the US takes unusually drastic steps to more efficiently identify cases of coronavirus and prevent its spread, officials have continued to plead with Americans to remain calm.

HHS Secretary Azar reminded the American public that similar restrictions on entry to the US were placed on travelers coming from West Africa.

It came after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Thursday. The US also advised against all travel to China and a quarantine was ordered for the 195 passengers evacuated from Wuhan after one attempted to flee March Reserve air base in Riverside County.

It was the first time the CDC had mandated a quarantine in 50 years.

A recent New England Journal of Medicine study documented the first case of coronavirus transmission from a patient who did not have symptoms to another person.

This revelation is particularly concerning in light of Dr Messonnier's Friday disclosure that a person can still develop the illness later after testing negative for coronavirus while they were symptom-free.

The stepped-up measures underscore the seriousness of the outbreak, which has now spread between humans in the US, but officials also reminded press that the disease is not spreading actively in US communities and any given individual's risk of infection is actually quite low.

Officials in hazmat suits met passengers as they stepped off the plane and onto awaiting buses (left and right). All 195 passengers are now under a federally mandated 14-day quarantine

There are now a total of seven confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US, distributed across four states in addition to two cases in Canada. Cases are suspected in several additional US states

On Thursday, the World Health Organization announced in a press conference (pictured) that it was declaring the deadly coronavirus outbreak to be a global health emergency

'If we take strong measures now, we may be able to blunt the impact of the virus here in the US,' said Dr Messonnier.

There are still just six confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US, but with an additional nearly 7,000 cases reported in the last week alone there's ample reason to believe that many more could occur in the US if containment measures - like the federal quarantine - aren't swift, and thorough.

'We understand that this may seem drastic,' said Dr Messonnier.

'But we would rather be remembered for over-reacting than under-reacting.'

Additionally, Thursday was the first time officials confirmed case of person-to-person case transmission of coronavirus in the US after a man in Illinois was infected by his wife, who had previously traveled to China.

'The main reason for this declaration is not for what is happening in China but because of what is happening in other countries,' Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General, said at a press conference.

'Our greatest concern is for the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, which are ill prepared to deal with it.'

He added that the declaration didn't mean a 'vote of no confidence in China' and, in fact, congratulated the Chinese government for taking 'extraordinary measures' to contain the outbreak.

This marks the fifth time the WHO has made such a declaration since the rule to do was implemented in 2005: for the influenza pandemic of 2009, a resurgence of polio 2014, the Ebola crisis in 2014, the outbreak of Zika virus outbreak in 2016 and the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2019.

Such a declaration does not give the WHO more money, but officials can make recommendation on travel or trade was well as mobilize public and political action.

The warning, officially known as a 'public health emergency of international concern', is the highest warning the WHO can give

It's the first time an American has caught the case without having traveled to China. Pictured: Passengers arrive at O'Hare International Airport as they in Chicago, January 24

The wife, 60, had traveled to Wuhan - where the virus originated - in late December to take care of her elderly father. Pictured: Medical staff in protective suits treat a coronavirus patient at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan, January 28

She returned to Chicago on January 13, but did not show symptoms until several days later. Pictured: Medical staff in protective suits treat a coronavirus patient at Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhan, January 27

More than 11,000 cases have been confirmed in 22 countries and territories around the world

It comes on the heels of news of the sixth confirmed case in the US of a man whose wife had already been infected.

The man's wife, who is in her 60s, became the second American after she returned from a trip to Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

'Given what we've seen in China and other countries with the novel coronavirus, CDC experts have expected some person-to-person spread in the US,' Dr Robert Redfield, director of the CDC told reporters in a media call on Thursday.

'We understand that this may be concerning, but based on what we know now, we still believe the immediate risk to the American public is low.'

The couple, who have not been identified, are now both being isolated at St Alexius Hospital in Hoffman Estates, a suburb of Chicago.

According to officials from the Illinois Department of Health, the wife is 'doing well' and the husband is 'stable'.

The wife traveled to Wuhan - where the virus originated - in late December to take care of her elderly father.

The couple, who have not been identified, are now both being isolated at St Alexius Hospita (pictured) l in Hoffman Estates, a suburb of Chicago

Several countries have advised against non-essential travel to the China. Pictured: Funeral workers disinfect themselves after handling a coronavirus victim in Wuhan on Thursday

She arrived at O'Hare International Airport on January 13, but did not begin experiencing symptoms until several days later.

CDC officials say they do not believe she infected her husband until she was symptomatic.

The husband had some pre-existing medical conditions, similar to many infected patients, but health officials would not elaborate on what those conditions were.

Health officials say that the man was not attending mass gatherings and they are monitoring close contacts.

'This person-to-person spread was between two very close contacts, a wife and husband,' said Ngozi Ezike, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health in the media call on Thursday.

'It is not spreading in the wider community.'

More than 8,300 people worldwide have been infected and 210 people have died. Pictured: A doctor attends to a patient in an isolation ward at a hospital in Wuhan on Thursday

There have been cases of human-to-human transmission reported outside of China, including in Germany, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam. Pictured: A doctor puts on a protective suit and goggles at a hospital in Wuhan on Thursday

Medical workers in protective gear help a suspected coronavirus patient get out of an ambulance in Wuhan

Previously, all confirmed US cases had been in patients who travel to Wuhan, where an outbreak has been ongoing since December 2019.

However, there have been cases of human-to-human transmission reported outside of China, including in Germany, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The four other cases have been confirmed in Maricopa County, Arizona; Orange County and Los Angeles County California; and Snohomish County, Washington.

Currently, 168 cases are under investigation in at least 26 states - 21 of those alone in Illinois.

The CDC say it is likely that more cases of the virus, known as 2019-nCoV, will be reported in the next several days and weeks.

Signs and symptoms of the illness include fever, cough, and shortness of breath, with 20 percent of cases becoming severe.

Health officials say the best steps Americans can take to stay safe is to practice basic hygiene including washing hands with warm water and soap and coughing or sneezing into an elbow.

Meanwhile in China, the coronavirus death toll has risen to 170 as of Thursday afternoon and several countries - including the US and UK - have advised against non-essential travel to the nation.

More than 8,300 people have been sickened by the deadly strain in at least 22 countries and territories amid an international effort to stop the spread.

US EVACUATES 195 AMERICANS FROM WUHAN AND PLANS SECOND RESCUE FLIGHT

On Wednesday, an evacuation flight with 195 Americans onboard landed at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California.

They were greeted by in officials hazmat suits before being filed onto awaiting buses and taken to another building.

The plane, which also carried six members, departed Wuhan before dawn on Wedneday before stopping to refuel in Anchorage, Alaska.

Originally scheduled to fly to Ontario International Airport in Ontario, California, tje flight was diverted to the air base 25 miles away without explanation late on Tuesday night.

Currently, the passengers are under a voluntary 72-hour quarantine as officials check for signs and symptoms.

Prior to this, the passengers underwent four screenings: two before departure in Wuhan and another two during a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska.

There are more than 1,000 Americans still in Wuhan, bu the US State Department announced on Thursday it was planning a second evacuation flight.

WUHAN EVACUEE TRIES TO WALK OFF BASE AND IS PLACED UNDER MANDATORY QUARANTINE

One of the passengers on the US evacuation flight from Wuhan allegedly tried to walk off the March Air Reserve Base (MARB) less than halfway through the 72-hour quarantine.

The unidentified passenger was one of 195 who were asked and voluntarily agreed to remain on base for three days so they could be screened and monitored for any symptoms of coronavirus.

However, on Wednesday night, the traveler tried to leave the base, the details of which are unclear, forcing Dr Cameron Kaiser of the Riverside County Public Health Department to issue a quarantine order.

This means the passenger is required to stay on base for the entire 14-day incubation period or until authorities say he or she is free to leave.

'This action was taken as a result of the unknown risk to the public should someone leave MARB early without undergoing a full health evaluation,' Riverside County public health officials said in a written statement.
Mount Fuji, located on Honshu Island, is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776.24 m.Mount Fuji lies about 100 kilometres south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day.

Japans tourism industry is booming, but it faces a hotel room shortage, especially in Tokyo as the country prepares for the Summer Olympics. H2O (the name stands for Hospitality 2.0) addresses the market opportunity with a platform that helps vacation rental owners manage their properties. The startup announced today it has raised $7 million in Series B funding from Samsung Ventures, Stonebridge Ventures, IMM Investment and Shinhan Capital, bringing its total raised to $18 million.

H2O allows owners to manage operations, housekeeping and bookings from different online travel agencies on its platform, lowering the cost of doing business. The company also recently launched H2O, a vacation rental brand, to expand its real estate development business, including a new hotel near Universal Studio Japan.

The company began in 2015 with Wahome in South Korea, a home cleaning service, before launching H2O two years later after acquiring several hospitality management companies in Japan, including a housekeeping service for vacation rentals. There are currently about 5,000 managed rooms connected to the platform, which is used by about 25 online travel agencies. Since the third-quarter of 2018, revenue has doubled every quarter, says founder and CEO John Lee.

Lee, who studied hotel administration at Cornell University and previously worked in banking at Morgan Stanley, told TechCrunch in an email that there were three market trends that made launching a hospitality business in Japan compelling:

Strong domestic tourism. Increasing inbound tourism. A huge shortage in accommodations.

H20 first focused on allowing flexible housekeeping bookings for vacation rental properties. Then in 2018, H2O expanded to full hospitality management services, including property, yield, revenue and operations.

Lee said he believes the core value of the hospitality industry is how to increase the yield of the real estate. I always believed that managing one building with high fixed costs (front desk, housekeeping department, etc.) was very inefficient from building owners point of view.

Story continues

H2Os property management system works by syncing three calendars: guests, rooms and housekeeping. All are linked and automated to prevent double bookings and make sure housecleaning services are available. This allows H2Os software to manage revenue, inventory and yield on a per-droom basis and schedule guests and cleanings.

The platform also allows clients to manage multiple properties at once and offer smart locks, online check-ins and chat-based customer service.

In June 2019, Japan implemented the Housing and Accommodations Business Act (also called the minpaku law, after the Japanese term for private residences rented out as short-term accommodations, similar to properties on AirBnb), formally legalizing and regulating vacation rental management. Lee says the new regulation allowed more real estate investors, who already owned other types of hospitality properties, to enter the minpaku market. H2O manages properties under four licenses, including hotel, ryokan and kanishokuksho, but the majority of its properties are under the minpaku law, which allowed it to grow its B2B business.

The average daily rate for accommodations on H2O was around $160 in 2019, with an average occupancy rate of 87 percent. Of the property owners who use H2O, 70 percent are real estate property managers, 20 percent are local property owners and 10 percent are overseas real estate funds. About 60 percent of guests who use H2O to book accommodations are inbound travelers (of that number, 40 percent are from China, 40 percent are from Southeast Asia, 10 percent are from South Korea and 10 percent are from other countries), while the rest are domestic tourists.

In press statement, Eric Kim, senior investment manager at Samsung Ventures, said Were pleased to be part of the fastest-growing hospitality company in Japan. H2O has already proven product market fit within Japan, and we expect them to continue to thrive as they expand outside of major cities.
FLINT, MI -- The Genesee Intermediate School District said it has never used student grade point average as a factor in determining who gets a slot in its Genesee Career Institute trades program.

Questions about the application process arose after a Flint Community Schools administrator claimed some Flint students were denied slots in the trades program because their grade point average was below a 3.0.

GISD officials said not a single student was denied, however.

The career institute provides instruction to help prepare Genesee County students for immediate entry into the workforce, upon completion of high school and the program, according to the Genesee Career Institute website.

The admission and enrollment process is almost entirely a function of the local district, said Diana Allard, Director of Career and Technical Education for the GISD. The district has attempted to contact Flint schools to get further information on the situation, but has yet to hear a response, according to ISD officials.

Each year, districts are allocated slots for students, according to the GISD. Flint Southwestern Academy was allotted a total of 39 slots in the program, but filled six slots last year by five studentsone of whom was enrolled in two programs, according to the GISD. There were no Flint Southwestern Academy students wait-listed.

Flint Community Schools Assistant Superintendent Anita Stewart said during a December meeting that Flint students were originally denied slots in the career program based on grade point average. Multiple students applied to the program and all the rejected students had less than a 3.0 or they had an attendance issue, she said.

After bringing the issue to a representative with the Genesee Career Institute, Stewart said two or three students were ultimately allowed in -- but only one student decided to attend, she said.

When asked why she believed students were denied based on their GPAs, Stewart sent MLive -The Flint Journal two paper applications for the program -- one used last year and the other this year. Last years application included a GPA portion and this years did not.

The counselors at both schools stated (Flint schools) had 39 slots. However, prior to this month the GPA had to be listed on the application and they also had to provide the students transcript. This made it difficult to fill the 39 slots, Stewart said in an emailed statement.

However, though the print application did include a GPA portion last year, Allard said the GISD did not use it to determine acceptance to programs. It was also only on the print form and most districts opt to use an online application that did not include it, she added. The district also doesnt take student transcripts as part of the process, according to Allard.

Grade point averages have not been used and shouldnt be used as a factor, Allard reiterated.

The GPA is not an indicator of a students ability to complete a career and technical education program or a students ability to begin their career pathway, she said.

The application process begins in February, with the first round of student selections due buy mid-March, Allard said. Students can seek placement in GCI programs throughout the months leading up to the next academic year, however, by working with their local district counselors.

Further information on how to enroll can be found here.
Kuala Lumpur, Feb 4 : Visiting Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday met his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad and expressed his regret on being unable to attend the Kuala Lumpur Summit held last December.

Addressing a joint press conference following talks with Mahathir in Putrajaya, Khan said: "There was a misconception among some countries that the conference would divide the ummah. I want to say how sad I was that I couldn't attend the conference in Kuala Lumpur in the middle of December," The Express Tribune reported.

The premier also said Malaysia and Pakistan were working on a joint media project to broadcast a positive image of Islam, fight Islamophobia and develop content for young Muslims.

Speaking at the press conference, Mahathir said: "We agree on the need for regular discussions to strengthen trade relations by removing barriers in key areas.

"We had a discussion with PM Imran on international matters. We also agreed upon the promotion of matters of mutual interests at all levels." Delegation level talks between Pakistan and Malaysia were also held at Putrajaya, where the two sides discussed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and ways and means to further expand their relations in different fields including trade, economy and tourism.

Both sides were also expected to sign several important agreements and MOUs.

Khan will address a think-tank event organised by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies of Malaysia later in the day.

On his second visit to Malaysia since becoming the Prime Minister in August 2018, Khan is leading a high-level delegation, including Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Planning Minister Asad Umar, Adviser on Commerce Razzak Dawood, Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and others, reports The Express Tribune.

Khan was previously expected to visit Malaysia in December 2019 to participate in the Kuala Lumpur Summit.

However, he had cancelled the visit, which according to a diplomatic source, the reconsideration had been prompted by Saudi reservations over the summit which they had seen as an attempt to present an alternative to the Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The Poco F1 (aka Pocophone F1 outside India) announced back in August 2018 was an instant hit - thanks to the flagship-grade hardware offered at an aggressive price. Now a year and a half later, the company has announced its second smartphone, dubbed Poco X2.

The Poco X2 is not a direct successor to the Poco F1, but as expected, it is actually a re-branded Redmi K30 currently available in China. The smartphone is powered by the Snapdragon 730G SoC, runs MIUI 11 out of the box, and comes in three memory configurations - 6GB/64GB, 6GB/128GB, and 8GB/256GB.

The X2 is built around a 6.67" 20:9 RealityFlow display of FullHD+ resolution. It has a refresh rate of 120Hz, supports HDR 10, and has a pill-shaped hole in the top-right corner for the 20MP and 2MP selfie cameras.

Around the back, the Poco X2 has a quad camera setup, which is a combination of a 64MP Sony IMX686 main camera, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro and 2MP depth sensor units. The smartphone comes with RAW image support, can record 960FPS slow-motion videos, and has VLOG Mode in tow.

The Snapdragon 730G-powered X2 features a side-mounted fingerprint reader and packs a 4,500 mAh battery that draws power through a USB-C port at up to 27W. It comes with the 3.5mm headphone jack and features liquid cool technology, which Poco claims can dissipate heat 300% faster.

The rest of the features of the Poco X2 include an IR Blaster, P2i water-repellent coating, VoWiFi, and Hi-Res Sound.

The Poco X2 comes in three colors - Atlantis Blue, Matrix Purple, and Phoenix Red.

The base model with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage is priced at INR15,999 ($225/205) and for INR1,000 ($15/13) you can double the storage. And if you want to go for the premium model that comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, you'll have to shell out INR19,999 ($280/255).



Poco X2 comes in three colors

The Poco X2 will go on sale in India starting February 11 through Flipkart.com, and those who purchase it using the ICICI Bank credit/debit cards will get INR1,000 ($15/13) off.

If you want to find out more about the phone you are more than welcome to check out our video review of its K30 China-bound twin.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, G. Kishan Reddy informed Parliament on Tuesday that agri operations have been proceeding smoothly in the Kashmir Valley ever since the revocation of Article 370 and formation of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

In a written reply to a question regarding the economic impact of the abrogation, Kishan Reddy informed the Lok Sabha that 18.34 lakh MTs of apples were dispatched, up to January, in financial year 2019-20.

Citing information provided by the government of Jammu and Kashmir, Kishan Reddy also said "the sericulture sector recorded a production of 813 MTs of silk cocoon in the year 2019.

"During the 1st three quarters of FY 2019-20, handicrafts worth Rs 688.26 crore were exported. Various tourism promotional campaigns have also been launched." Members of the House were also informed that "Government of Jammu and Kashmir has informed that as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey, last conducted for FY 2017-18, by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation of Government of India, the worker-population ratio for persons in the age group of 15 years and above for Jammu and Kashmir is 51 per cent." Kishan Reddy said the full economic potential of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions could not be realized for the last 70 years as the people of Jammu and Kashmir have suffered from terrorist violence and separatism supported from across the border for the past many decades.
An exclusive underground dining society at Oxford University has been blacklisted from its founding college because of a student uproar over elitism.

The Pythic Club - or the P Club - was founded in 1845 at Christ Church college as an essay society of bright minds, but over the years morphed to become an invitation-only dining club.

The Oxford Student, the university's flagship student newspaper, lifted the lid on the society's secret events last year in an expose that revealed it was being led by a college professor, Brian Young.

After its secrecy was shattered, the P Club applied to be ratified as an official society, but had this attempt torpedoed by disgruntled fellow students.

In a committee meeting, they voted to condemn the club wholeheartedly and rejected its application.

The Pythic Club - or the P Club - was founded in 1845 at Christ Church college (pictured) as an essay society of bright minds, but over the years morphed to become an invitation-only dining club

The college's junior common room (JCR) committee slammed the P Club as an 'intrinsically elitst institution which undermines the college's access, inreach and equality objectives'.

One student told the Oxford Student: 'I am shocked and outraged by the College's involvement in these clubs.

'It's one thing for posh students to have their own little exclusive clubs  it's another thing altogether for Brian Young, the most senior tutor in our college, to be running P Club with his tutor friends.'

Another said she 'felt self-conscious and inferior' when she found herself in a two-to-one tutorial where both her classmate and professor were both members of the P Club.

Students also pointed to the club's 90-a-head fee for its dinners as further evidence of its exclusivity.

An open letter was also signed, which branded the society as 'directly undermines Christ Church's access efforts by sustaining discrimination on the basis of social class [and] neurotypicality'.

The college's junior common room (JCR) committee at Christ Church (pictured) slammed the P Club as an 'intrinsically elitst institution which undermines the college's access, inreach and equality objectives'

Three of the authors of this letter - all former or current JCR committee members - reacted to the ruling: 'We are absolutely delighted that the P Club has been banned from meeting on college premises, and that the ties between college and club have been decisively severed.

'If the club, in these circumstances, chooses to go underground and meet off-site, they would vindicate the student body's views about its fundamental objectives, nature and bad faith.'

Christ Church college said: 'Since 2017, Christ Church has required all clubs and societies using the College's name or facilities to be formally registered and approved by the Censors.

'Registration requires clubs and societies to abide by all College regulations and policies, including those related to equality and diversity.'
By Odimmegwa johnpeter/Abuja

Minister of Defence, retired Major General Bashir Salihi Magashi has commended the US government in her continued support to Nigeria in the areas of Health care and Military operations.

The Minister stated this when he received the USA delegation in his office in Abuja.

According to him, Nigeria has benefited from the US in providing equipment for the Nigerian Air Force, activation of the Charlie 130, supplying of air craft spare parts, training, educational and numerous health programmes.

He however, enjoined them to assist Nigeria in the speedy delivery of the acquired A-29 Super Tucanos aircraft for efficient Military operations in the country.

In her response, the USA Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Berth Leonard reiterated that Pentagon is always ready to collaborate with Nigeria in combating insecurity, conflict management and precision in addressing human concerns.

She Urged the Nigerian Military to maintain professionalism by protecting human rights in their operations.

On his part, the American Defence Attached Colonel Andrew Clark requested for a regular joint military strategic meeting between the US and the Nigerian Military which will help in effective coordination of Military activities in Nigeria.

PV: 0
BEIJING  Hong Kong hospitals cut services as thousands of medical workers went on strike for a second day Tuesday to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely. The new virus caused its first death in the semi-autonomous territory, adding to growing fears it is spreading locally.

All but two of Hong Kongs land and sea crossings with the mainland were closed at midnight after thousands of hospital workers went on strike Monday. Hong Kong health authorities reported two additional patients without any known travel to the virus epicenter, bringing the number of locally transmitted cases to four.

The growing caseload indicates significant risk of community transmission and could portend a large-scale outbreak, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch at the Center for Health Protection.

More than 7,000 health workers joined the strike Tuesday, according to the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, the strike organizer.

Hong Kong was hit hard by the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, a virus from the same family as the current outbreak. Trust in Chinese authorities has plummeted following months of anti-government protests in the Asian financial hub.

The territorys beleaguered leader, Carrie Lam, criticized the strike and said the government was doing all it could to limit the flow of people across the border.

Important services, critical operations have been affected, including cancer treatment and care for newborns, Lam told reporters. So Im appealing to those who are taking part in this action: Lets put the interests of the patients and the entire public health system above all other things.

China reported 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed cases, up sharply from the previous day. Outside mainland China, at least 180 cases have been confirmed, including two fatalities, the one in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.

The patient who died in Hong Kong was a 39-year-old man who had traveled to Wuhan, the mainland city where the outbreak started. The Hospital Authority said Tuesday he had pre-existing health conditions but gave no details.

Most deaths have been among the elderly and those with other health problems, authorities said. More than 80% were over 60 years old, and more than 75% had an underlying disease, Jiao Yahui, a National Health Commission official, told a news conference Tuesday.

Dr. David Heymann, who led the World Health Organizations response to the SARS outbreak, said its too early to tell when the new virus will peak, but that it appears to still be on the increase.

He said the spike in Chinas caseload in recent days is partly attributable to the fact that officials have expanded their search to include milder cases, not only people with pneumonia. He declined to predict whether the virus would ultimately cause a pandemic, or worldwide outbreak. WHO defines a pandemic as sustained transmission of a disease in at least two world regions.

Heymann said as the new virus starts to spread beyond China, scientists will gain a better understanding of it. What we will see is the clearer natural history of the disease, he said, as those exposed to the virus are being traced and watched very closely, he said.

Nevertheless, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to share more data on infections outside China, adding that detailed information has been provided in only 38% of cases.

In particular, he said, some high-income countries are well behind in sharing this vital data with WHO.  Without better data, its very hard for us to assess how the outbreak is evolving or what impact it could have and to ensure were providing the most appropriate recommendations.

In Wuhan, patients were being transferred to a new 1,000-bed hospital that was built in just 10 days, its prefabricated wards equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and ventilation systems. A 1,500-bed hospital also specially built is due to open soon.

Elsewhere in the city, authorities were converting a gymnasium, exhibition hall and cultural center into hospitals with a total of 3,400 beds to treat patients with mild symptoms. Television video showed beds placed in tight rows in cavernous rooms without any barriers between them.

Authorities hope that will help relieve what is being described as an overwhelmed public health system in Wuhan and surrounding areas.

One man, Fang Bin, said he saw wards so crowded during a visit to the citys No. 5 Hospital on Saturday that some patients were forced to sit on the ground.

There are too many patients, its overcrowded, Fang told The Associated Press. He said he was taken from his home and questioned by police after he posted a video of what he saw online.

Thailand confirmed six more cases Tuesday, raising its total to 25, the highest outside China. Two were motorcycle taxi drivers who had driven for Chinese tourists. Earlier a Thai taxi driver was also diagnosed with the virus. The cases are concerning because they suggest the virus can spread more easily between people.

WHO officials reported slower progress than expected in equipping laboratories across Africa to test for the new virus. No confirmed cases have been reported on the continent, but WHO health security adviser Dr. Ambrose Talisuna said the risk is very, very high.

China has struggled to maintain supplies of face masks, along with protective suits and other items, as it seeks to enforce temperature checks at homes, offices, shops and restaurants, require masks be worn in public and keep more than 50 million people from leaving home in Wuhan and neighboring cities.

The European Union office in Beijing said member states have shipped 12 tons of protective equipment to China, with more on the way.

Japanese health officials, meanwhile, were conducting medical checks on some 3,700 passengers and crew on board a cruise ship docked off the coast of Yokohama after a passenger tested positive after leaving the vessel while it was in Hong Kong. At least 133 people who have symptoms or had close contact with the infected man have been identified and any confirmed to have the virus will be sent to hospitals for isolation treatment, health ministry officials said

___

Associated Press writers Alice Fung in Hong Kong, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.
China develops new gyroplane for border plateau operations

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun Source:Globaltimes.cn Published: 2020/2/3 0:11:30

The latest gyroplane commissioned by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has increased plateau capabilities for a wider variety of missions and is expected to be deployed along China's southwestern border regions, experts said on Sunday.

Commonly known as the Falcon, the new Lieying gyroplane is equipped with three seats instead of two and has a more powerful engine with 135 horsepower. The gyroplane also has a longer rotor blade that stretches 8.8 meters and redesigned fuel tank, according to Ordnance Industry Science Technology, a Xi'an-based periodical focused on the national defense industry, on Thursday.

Compared with the two-seat model, the three-seat issue has broader military applications as it can carry more personnel and weapons, transport wounded personnel, and conduct missions like two-person parachuting, the report said.

Already proven in earlier tests, the latest model is also capable of operating in plateau areas with heavy loads.

The three-seater can transport up to 630 kilograms and take off, fly, and land at an elevation of 4,200 meters, the magazine reported.

With sledges as landing gears, the gyroplane can take off and land on ice and snow surfaces, the report said, noting that it can also land and take off on water when equipped with floatation gear.

The new Lieying edition is a practical choice for plateau operations in regions like Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, where the two-seat version might struggle, a military expert who asked not to be named told the Global Times on Sunday.

The Falcon is adept at infiltrating hostile areas during stealth reconnaissance missions due to its agility, small size, and low noise output, the expert said.

The Lieying, developed by Shaanxi Bao He Defense Technology, made its PLA debut at China's the National Day parade on October 1, 2019.

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Ramallah/Gaza, Feb 4 : Palestine slammed the meeting between Israeli prime minister and Sudanese leader in Uganda, an official of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said in a press statement.

"The meeting between Netanyahu and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan's sovereign council, in Uganda is a stab in the Palestinian people's back," said the Secretary General of PLO Saeb Erekat on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The meeting "is a clear violation of the Arab Peace Initiative, and the U.S. President Donald Trump and Netanyahu are trying to eliminate the Palestinian cause and annex Jerusalem," Erekat added.

Meanwhile, several Palestinian factions in Gaza also condemned the meeting.

Hazem Qassem, Islamic Hamas movement's spokesman said in a press statement that "the meeting is encouraging the (Israeli) occupation to carry on with its crimes and aggression against the Palestinian people." The Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian left-wing factions also condemned the meeting in two separate statements.

Besides, Erekat condemned Uganda's intentions to move its embassy to Jerusalem.

He called on the states of the African Union to respect the decisions of its summits regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of international resolutions.
Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a biocompatible, synthetic, hydrophilic polyether compound that has many applications, mostly in the medical industry, but also in the chemical and industrial sectors. The structure of the compound is known as H(OCH 2 CH 2 ) n OH.

Image Credit: StudioMolekuul/Shutterstock.com

The synthesis of PEG is done by polymerizing ethylene oxide, the main ingredient in antifreeze, using a ring-opening technique, which allows for PEGs of a range of molecular weights and molecular weight distributions to be constructed. This range in weights is what makes it suitable for several uses.

Characteristics of polyethylene glycol

While varying the molecular weight of PEG can have slight effects on its characteristics, mostly on its shape and physical appearance, many characteristics define PEG. It is non-toxic, colorless, inert, odorless, and non-volatile. Also, it is incredibly soluble in water, and organic solvents such as benzene, carbon tetrachloride, and chloroform.

Creating PEG substances of different molecular weights relies on constructing PEG with different length chains. Larger PEG molecules have a greater number of repetitions of their structure compared with smaller ones.

Below, we discuss how PEG is applied in the two main industries that it is active in.

Uses in the medical industry

PEG has a vast number of applications in the medical industry, and the list continues to grow. Due to its non-toxicity and high solubility, it lends itself to many pharmaceutical and biomedical applications.

To begin with, possibly the most common application of PEG in the medical industry is its use in laxatives. Because PEG can apply osmotic pressure, it can draw water into the waste matter, providing a laxative effect.

In a similar scenario, PEG is often utilized during whole bowel irrigations to prepare the gastrointestinal tract for investigation or surgery. PEG is also used in many pharmaceutical creams, ointments, and medical solvents.

Peptides, proteins, or oligonucleotides are used as drug targets for various illnesses. PEG can be used to bioconjugate itself to the target, by coupling itself with the target molecule to optimize the pharmacokinetic properties of drug treatment.

PEG can be used as an inactive substance that acts as the vehicle for a drug. The process of drug delivery relies heavily on PEG because the compound can link together antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). It can also be used to improve systematic drug delivery by adding it as a surface coating on nanoparticles. PEG can also be used to slow the clearance of coated proteins from the blood in biomedicines.

PEG hydrogels are also used in drug delivery, as well as in tissue engineering. PEG hydrogels are polymer networks that are created by crosslinking reactive PEG end groups, resulting in gels that are resistant to protein biodegradation and adhesion. These properties are beneficial to tissue engineering and drug delivery.

In vitro assays have also become dependent on PEG, using it to mimic crowded cellular conditions to allow researchers to research intracellular environments outside of the body.

Protein analysis is another biomedical area that utilizes PEG, which is used in several applications in this field. The compound is used as a precipitant for DNA isolation as well as for cell crystallization, helping to reveal the atomic structure of proteins.

Gene therapy uses PEG to coat vectors, for example, viruses, to protect them from being inactivated by the immune system, and to de-target them in the organs, preventing their potentially toxic effect.

PEG is also particularly essential in blood banks, where it is used to enhance the salience of antibodies and antigens.

The future is likely to see more medical applications of PEG develop. One current focus of research in this area is exploring how PEG can be used in the spinal cord and peripheral nerve injury, by employing it to fuse axons that have been compromised.

Uses in the chemical industry

PEG has many roles in the chemical industry, which also cross over into applications in other industries. Firstly, it is well known for its use as a binding and dispersing agent, as it can improve the separation of particles and prevent clumping.

Also, as PEG has hydrophilic properties, it has found a role in preventing the non-specific sticking of proteins in studies using single-molecule fluorescence.

Also, because the compound is non-toxic and recognized as safe by the FDA, it has been able to be used in numerous coatings that enable lubrication in various scenarios.

Applications in preservation have also found a use for PEG, which is now employed to prevent and slow the damage and shrinkage of wood that has been submerged. It was used to preserve the Vasa warship in Stockholm, replacing the water trapped within the wood to prevent warping and shrinking.

Another famous case that has appropriated PEG is the restoration and preservation of the Terracotta Warriors. A PEG preservative was specially developed to preserve the colors painted onto the Terracotta army, which date back to the Qin Shi Huang Di dynasty.

As in the medical industry, the chemical applications of PEG will likely continue to grow.
Bharti Airtel Limited's consolidated net loss for the December quarter stood at Rs 1,035 crore after exceptional items, which is in contrast with Rs 86 crore profit reported in December 2018. The Sunil Mittal-led telecom giant had reported highest-ever quarterly loss of Rs 23,045 crore during the previous quarter due to provisioning for AGR dues after Supreme Court's verdict.

Airtel's consolidated revenues grew 10.5 per cent YoY for Q3 at Rs 21,947 crore, while India revenues rose 9.7 per cent to Rs 15,797 crore. The consolidated mobile data traffic registered a 73 per cent YoY growth, the company said in a statement.

Airtel said its mobile revenues witnessed 9.6 per cent Y-o-Y growth led by a strong focus on quality customers, up-trading and in some part benefitted by the recent tariff actions, although the full impact of the tariff actions is yet to be seen. Also, Airtel's ARPU (average revenue per user) improved from Rs 128 to Rs 135 QoQ, the company added.

Airtel said during Q3, its mobile 4G data customers increased 60.6 per cent to 123.8 million from 77.1 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

"We added 21 million 4G customers to our mobile network and delivered superior value to our customers through the Airtel Thanks programme. Data traffic saw strong growth of 72 per cent Y-o-Y. We are on track to shut down our 3G networks across India and re-farm the 900 and 2100 band spectrum to further boost our 4G footprint to serve the surging demand for high-speed data," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Airtel India & South Asia, said.

He added that while tariff revision undertaken in December 2019 was a welcome step towards repairing the financial health of the industry, the company believed tariffs must go up further for enabling the industry to invest in emerging technologies.

Meanwhile, Airtel said in wake of the Supreme Court judgement on AGR on October 24, 2019 -- due to no relief from the government -- the company provisioned an amount of Rs 34,260 crore as on September 30, 2019, of which Rs 28,450 crore was recorded in the previous quarter as an exceptional item.

In its judgement, the SC had directed telecom companies, including Airtel, to pay past statutory dues worth Rs 1.47 lakh crore to the DoT in three months, a deadline that ended on January 23. "These judgements/orders have significant financial implications on the Group. A Review Petition filed by the Group and other telecom operators against the above Court Judgement was rejected in January 2020. Thereafter, the telecom operators have applied for modification of the Supplementary Order before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, which is pending disposal," the company said.

The AGR dispute dates back to 2003 when the association of telecom operators filed the first plea with the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) challenging the definition of AGR. As per standard accounting practice, companies have to make provisions for such claims. As per estimates, Airtel has to pay Rs 21,682 crore while Vodafone Idea's dues stand at Rs 28,308 crore.

Also read: AGR provisioning blows Rs 23,045 crore hole in Airtel balance sheet

Edited by Manoj Sharma
[February 04, 2020] MRI Systems Market 2019-2023 | Expanding Clinical Applications of MRI to Boost Growth | Technavio

Technavio has been monitoring the MRI systems market, and it is poised to grow by USD 1.58 bn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 5% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005629/en/ Technavio announced its latest market research report titled global MRI systems market 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire) Expanding clinical applications of MRI has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, challenges with the high cost of MRI might hamper the market growth. Request a free sample report MRI Systems Market 2019-2023: Segmentation MRI Systems Market is segmented as below: Product Closed MRI Systems

Open MRI Systems Geographic segmentation The Americas

APAC

EMEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30647



MRI Systems Market 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our MRI systems market report covers the following areas:

MRI Systems Market size

MRI Systems Market trends

MRI Systems Market industry analysis This study identifies software advances in MRI technology as one of the prime reasons driving the MRI systems market growth during the next few years. MRI Systems Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the MRI systems market, including some of the vendors such as Canon, Esaote, GE Healthcare, Hitachi, Koninklijke Philips, and Siemens (News - Alert) Healthineers. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the MRI systems market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform MRI Systems Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

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The growth of the MRI systems market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of MRI systems market vendors About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005629/en/

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Port Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - The Mauritian Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security and that of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping have imposed a temporary ban on the importation of live animals, live fish and products of animal origin from China following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, PANA reported from Port Louis
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo held private talks ahead of the Central Asia-U.S. (C5+1) ministerial meeting in Tashkent, Trend reports citing the US State Department.

"Our two countries have a wonderful, rapidly growing partnership, thanks in large part to the leadership of President Mirziyoyev," Pompeo told reporters during the press conference. "I know President Trump enjoyed hosting him at the White House back in 2018. That visit launched a new era of strategic partnership between the United States and Uzbekistan. "

"Based on my conversations with Foreign Minister Kamilov, I am confident that our ties will continue to grow," Pompeo said. "Foreign Minister Kamilov and I started off by talking about Uzbekistans reform agenda, which has already started to generate new foreign investments and jobs. We discussed ways, too, to further improve the business climate, strengthen the rule of law, and provide sustainable economic opportunities for all citizens all across Uzbekistan. We want private investment, American private investment sector, to flow between our two nations. Theres no better path to sustainable growth to foster investments than to create jobs and prosperity. "

Pompeo also mentioned the US support for developing capital markets of Uzbekistan.

"And I am pleased to announce today that we are committing, pending congressional approval, $1 million of technical assistance to help Uzbekistan develop its capital markets in addition to other efforts to promote financial reforms. We do all of this because America is a true partner with our friends here in Uzbekistan," Secretary Pompeo said.

"Uzbekistan also deserves praise for its progress on human rights issues. It is expanding space for civil society, addressing forced labor issues, and loosening restrictions on the media, just to name a few," Pompeo noted.

Also, Pompeo said that the US supports Uzbekistan's progress in religious freedom - including the state registration of several churches of religious minorities.
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Despite the arguments, the impeachment outcome seems preordained, with 67 votes needed for conviction, and no Republican calling for his ouster nine months ahead of the November presidential election.

But Trump's lawyers called for his exoneration when the Senate votes late Wednesday afternoon on whether to remove the country's 45th president from office. White House counsel Pat Cipollone told senators there was no evidence of Trump wrongdoing, and that rather than ousting Trump from office, the only solution was "to leave it to the voters" to decide his fate.

Schiff asked the majority bloc of 53 Republicans, "Is there one among you who will say, 'Enough?'" Schiff said Trump should be removed from office for his request last July to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation into one of Trump's chief 2020 Democratic rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden, while at the same time blocking release of $391 million in military aid Kyiv wanted to fight pro-Russian separatists.

Congressman Adam Schiff, the lead House manager prosecuting Trump on two articles of impeachment, passionately implored the 100 members of the Senate acting as jurors, "We have proven Donald Trump guilty. Now, do impartial justice and convict him."

U.S. House Democrats prosecuting the impeachment case against President Donald Trump and his defense team offered forceful closing arguments Monday at his Senate trial, even as his acquittal remains all but certain.

Congresswoman Val Demings, another of the House lawmakers prosecuting Trump, contended that Trump perpetrated "a grave abuse of power unparalleled in American history." She said that when Trump asked Zelensky for the investigation of Biden and his son Hunter's work for a Ukrainian natural gas company, "the president was not focused on corruption," but rather looking to help himself politically on the assumption that Biden would be his opponent in next November's national election.

Demings said that Trump then blocked key aides from cooperating with House impeachment investigators and refused to turn over White House documents about his Ukraine-related actions. "That's what guilty people do," Demings argued.

But Trump defense attorney Kenneth Starr called the House impeachment investigation of Trump "a rush to judgment," said it was unfairly conducted, and added that the Senate "shouldn't reward the prosecutors." He said that to convict Trump would be to tell Trump's 2016 voters, "Your vote in the last election is hereby null and void."

Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow added, "This entire campaign of impeachment... was a partisan effort" targeting Trump. He said House Democrats "have cheapened the power of impeachment and, unfortunately, the country is not better for that."

But another House impeachment manager, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, said that if Trump is not removed from office for his conduct, it would deal "a death blow" to the possibility of impeachment of U.S. presidents in the future as laid out in the U.S. Constitution. Jeffries said behavior such as Trump's "would become the new normal."

The Wednesday vote will be on two articles of impeachment against Trump -- that he abused the power of the presidency with the Ukraine request, and obstructed congressional review of his actions. With Trump's exoneration all but assured, the only question on the outcome appears to be whether any Democrats will vote to clear Trump, or possibly a Republican vote to convict him.

Trump's lawyers, and the president himself, argue he did nothing wrong, and that his actions did not rise to the level of an impeachable offense. Trump has long described his call to Zelensky as "perfect."

As the Democrats' arguments played out in the Senate, Trump resumed his broadsides on Twitter against his impeachment. "I hope Republicans & the American people realize that the totally partisan Impeachment Hoax is exactly that, a Hoax," he tweeted.

 Criticism from Republicans

But in recent days, a handful of Republicans have said they believe that Trump was wrong to ask Ukraine for the politically tinged investigations of the Bidens, although they said that the offense did not rise to impeachable misconduct severe enough to require his removal from office.

Both Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa said in interviews broadcast Sunday that Trump erred in asking Zelensky to "do us a favor" to launch the Biden investigations at the same time he was withholding the military aid Kyiv wanted to help fight the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Alexander, who provided a key vote late last week against the Democrats' effort to call Trump aides as witnesses in the impeachment trial, told NBC News' "Meet the Press" show that it was "crossing the line" for Trump to ask for the Biden investigations.

"I think he shouldn't have done it. I think it was wrong," Alexander said. "If the president was upset with what the Bidens were doing in Ukraine, he should've called the [U.S.] attorney general," Alexander said. Asked why Trump didn't then, Alexander said, "Maybe he didn't know to do it."

Alexander added, "I think what he did is a long way from treason, bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors," the U.S. Constitution threshold for an impeachable offense requiring removal from office. "I don't think it's the kind of inappropriate action that the framers would expect the Senate to substitute its judgment for the people in picking a president."

He said voters in next November's national election, when Trump is running for a second term in the White House, should decide his fate. "You know, it struck me, really for the first time early last week, that we're not just being asked to remove the president from office," Alexander said, "We're saying, 'Tell him he can't run in the 2020 election.'"

As the heart of the case against Trump ended Friday, another Republican, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska said, "Let me be clear, Lamar speaks for lots and lots of us."

Ernst told CNN that Trump's request to Ukraine was "not what I would have done. He maybe did it in the wrong manner. He knows now he needs to go through the proper channels," such as the U.S. Justice Department, if he sees the need for an overseas investigation. Nonetheless, she concluded, "Does it come to the point of removing a president? I don't think it does."

 Vote Against Calling Witnesses

The key 5149 vote against calling witnesses in the trial came Friday over Democratic objections. Democrats wanted to hear testimony from Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton, whom Trump ousted from his White House position last September. Bolton reportedly says in a forthcoming book that Trump told him directly last August that he wanted the Biden investigations before he would release the military aid, a direct contradiction of Trump's claim there was no reciprocal quid pro quo deal with Ukraine, the defense assistance in exchange for the Biden investigations. Trump denied Bolton's claim.

Trump released the aid in September after a 55-day delay without Zelensky opening the Biden investigations -- proof, Republicans say, he had no quid pro quo deal with Ukraine.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Tamilla Mammadova  Trend:

Georgian Ambassador to Turkey Giorgi Janjgava met with President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey M. Rifat Hisarckloglu, Trend reports citing Georgian media.

The parties discussed issues of bilateral economic cooperation and prospects for deepening ties between business circles of Georgia and Turkey.

Georgian Ambassador informed Hisarckloglu about the economic reforms being carried out in Georgia, the leading positions of Georgia in international ratings, as well as about investment opportunities and initiatives of the government of the country in this area.

In turn, Hisarckloglu expressed interest in developing close relations between the Union and Georgian partners and identifying specific areas for future cooperation.

The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey is the largest legal entity representing the private sector in Turkey. It includes 365 chambers of commerce and a stock exchange.

Turkey ranks first in Georgian commodity circulation.

In 2019, total imports to Georgia from Turkey amounted to $1.6 billion. In turn, Georgia exported goods worth $202.3 million to Turkey.

The foreign trade turnover of Georgia with Turkey in 2019 exceeded $1.8 billion, which is 14.1 percent of the total trade turnover of Georgia.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported bill  1017, which provides the reduction of parliaments constitutional composition from 450 to 300 MPs, as a basis. 236 MPs voted "for" this decision.

The draft amendments to the Constitution foresee the reduction of the number of MPs from 450 to 300. The document should enter into force after Verkhovna Radas new composition is formed. Thus, the elected parliament will be able to serve in the current composition, but the newly elected  will consist of 300 MPs.

In addition, it has been suggested that elections should be held under a proportional system.

As we reported earlier, on September 25, 2019, Law on the impeachment of president  39-IX came into force.

The regulatory rules on the impeachment proceedings were transferred to the impeachment law, references to the law on temporary investigators and special commissions of the Verkhovna Rada (declared unconstitutional due to procedural violations upon entry into force) were removed.

According to the law, a Special Provisional Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada is formed within 30 days from the date of initiation of impeachment. It must prepare the implications of the investigation into signs of state treason or other presidents violations within six months and submit them to parliament.
The Matthews China Fund (Trades, Portfolio) disclosed this week that its top five buys for fourth-quarter 2019 were China Merchants Bank Co. Ltd. (SHSE:600036), NAURA Technology Group Co. Ltd. (SZSE:002371), Meituan Dianping (HKSE:03690), Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co. Ltd. (HKSE:03606) and New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (NYSE:EDU).





Overseen by Andrew Mattock and Winnie Chwang, the fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through equity investments primarily in China and Hong Kong. Matthews China's fourth-quarter letter said that the fund returned 16.56% during the three months ending December 2019 and 34.56% for the year, compared with the MSCI China Index benchmark return of 14.72% for the quarter and 23.66% for the year.

The letter discussed that despite major themes impacting the Chinese equity market, including the U.S.-China trade tensions and the Hong Kong protests, Chinese equities "climbed a wall of worry" during the year and posted strong returns, especially in the domestic A-share market.

As of quarter-end, the fund's $894 million equity portfolio contains 44 stocks, of which 10 represent new holdings. The top three sectors in terms of weight are financial services, consumer cyclical and communication services, with weights of 27.80%, 26.16% and 13.71%.

China Merchants Bank

The fund purchased 7,404,026 shares of China Merchants Bank, giving the stake 4.48% weight in the equity portfolio. Shares averaged 36.65 yuan ($5.24) during the quarter.

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According to its website, the Shenzhen, Guangdong-based bank offers an all-in-one debit card, an online banking system and a wealth management product for high-end customers. GuruFocus data shows that the bank's equity-to-asset ratio of 0.08 underperforms approximately 70% of global competitors, suggesting high leverage. Despite this, China Merchants Bank's 16.17% return on equity outperforms approximately 88% of global banks.

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NAURA Technology

The fund purchased 1,100,433 shares of NAURA Technology, giving the holding 1.56% weight in the equity portfolio. Shares averaged 75.92 yuan during the quarter.

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The Beijing-based company manufactures integrated circuits and electronic components. GuruFocus ranks the company's profitability 8 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a three-star business predictability rank and a three-year revenue growth rate that outperforms 94.19% of global competitors.

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Despite high profitability, NAURA's valuation ranks 1 out of 10 on several signs of overvaluation, which include a share price and price-book ratio near a 10-year high and a price-earnings and price-sales ratio near a three-year high.

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Meituan Dianping

The fund purchased 1,000,700 shares of Meituan Dianping, giving the position 1.46% weight in the equity portfolio. Shares averaged 96.47 Hong Kong dollars ($12.42) during the quarter.

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Meituan Dianping provides food delivery services around China. According to the fund's letter, the company has gained market share as Chinese consumers "have embraced food-service delivery." The letter adds that China has a large network of local delivery people, keeping delivery costs "affordable for consumers."

GuruFocus data shows that Meituan Dianping's cash-to-debt ratio and debt-to-equity ratios are outperforming over 84% of global competitors, suggesting good financial strength.

Hong Kong-based Value Partners (Trades, Portfolio) also has a holding in Meituan Dianping.

Fuyao Glass

The fund purchased 2,910,800 shares of Fuyao Glass, giving the stake 1% weight in the equity portfolio. Shares averaged HK$23.05 during the quarter.

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The Fujian-based company manufactures and sells automobile glass products, industrial technology glass products and tinted float glass. GuruFocus ranks the company's profitability 9 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a three-star business predictability rank and profit margins that are outperforming over 93% of global competitors.

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The Matthews Pacific Tiger Fund (Trades, Portfolio) also has a holding in Fuyao Glass. During the quarter, the fund added 6,409,200 shares, increasing the stake 14.95%.

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New Oriental Education

The fund purchased 71,600 shares of New Oriental Education, giving the position 0.97% weight in the equity portfolio. Shares averaged $119.84 during the quarter.

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The Beijing-based company provides education programs, services and products for a wide range of languages. GuruFocus ranks the company's profitability 10 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a 4.5-star business predictability rank and a three-year revenue growth rate that outperforms 82.98% of global competitors.

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Other gurus riding New Oriental Education's profitability include Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio)' Davis Selected Advisors and Chase Coleman (Trades, Portfolio)'s Tiger Global Management.

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See also

The fund's other buys include Sinopharm Group Co. Ltd. (HKSE:01099) and Beijing Capital International Airport Co. Ltd. (HKSE:00694).

Disclosure: No positions.

Read more here:

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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.






Fireflies, of which there are more than 2,000 species strobing softly throughout dark corners of the world, are facing grave threats to their continued existence due to the impact of humans, a study suggests.

Habitat loss, pesticide use and artificial light are three of the most serious threats to fireflies, with certain species more at risk than others.

The widespread insects are soft-bodied beetles remarkable for their enchanting use of bioluminescence during twilight to attract mates or prey.

The health of firefly populations helps illustrate the impact humans have on sensitive ecosystems.

To better understand what threats are faced by fireflies, a team led by Professor Sara Lewis at Tufts University, Massachusetts, alongside the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, surveyed firefly experts around the world to assess the most prominent threats to survival for their local species.

Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Show all 20 1 /20 Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Long-billed Curlew Long-billed curlews are found around the UK coast in winter and will be protected by several conservation zones Getty Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Lobster Lobsters are found all around the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones Getty Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Seahorse Seahorses are found along the south coast of England and Wales and will be protected by several conservation zones PA Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Starfish Starfish are found all around the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones Herbythyme Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Cuttlefish Cuttlefish are found around all of the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones PA Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Cuckoo wrasse Cuckoo wrasse are found all around the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones Getty Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Lapwing Lapwings are found on the south west coast in winter and will be protected by several conservation zones Getty Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Catshark Catsharks (previously known as dogfish) are found all around the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones PA Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Hermit Crab Hermit crabs are found all around the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones S. Rae Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Common eider Berwick to St Mary's conservation zone off the Northumberland coast has been proposed to protect the common eider Getty Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Common mussel Common mussels are found around all of the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones Getty Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Sea urchin Sea urchins are found around most of the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones Getty Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Kittiwake Kittiwakes are found around most of the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones Getty Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Tombot Blenny Tompot blennys are found on the south coast and will be protected by several conservation zones PA Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Crabs A variety of crabs are found around all of the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones PA Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Black-headed gull Black-headed gulls are found around all of the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones Getty Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Spotted ray Spotted rays are commonly found on the west coast of the UK and are found around all of the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones Getty Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Rock goby fish Rock goby fish are found in rocky outcrops all around the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones Getty Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Fulmar Fulmars are found around all of the UK coast will be protected by several conservation zones Getty Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones Sea Bass Sea bass are commonly found around the south and west UK coast and will be protected by several conservation zones Getty

The research, published in the journal Bioscience, sounds a warning bell about the insects future, highlighting specific threats and the vulnerability of different species across geographical regions.

According to survey respondents, habitat loss is the most critical threat to firefly survival in the majority of geographic regions, followed by light pollution and pesticide use.

Lots of wildlife species are declining because their habitat is shrinking, said Professor Lewis.

So it wasnt a huge surprise that habitat loss was considered the biggest threat. Some fireflies get hit especially hard when their habitat disappears because they need special conditions to complete their life cycle. For instance, one Malaysian firefly (Pteroptyx tener), famous for its synchronised flash displays, is a mangrove specialist.

Drastic declines have recently been recorded in this species after the destruction of their mangrove habitat to make way for palm oil plantations and aquaculture farms.

Across the world, light pollution was regarded as the second most serious threat to fireflies.

Artificial light at night has grown exponentially during the last century.

In addition to disrupting natural biorhythms  including our own  light pollution really messes up firefly mating rituals, said Avalon Owens, a co-author of the research paper.

Many fireflies rely on bioluminescence to find and attract their mates, and previous work has shown too much artificial light can interfere with these courtship exchanges. Switching to energy efficient, overly bright LEDs is not helping.

Brighter isnt necessarily better, Ms Owens said.

The firefly experts also said the widespread use of pesticides in agriculture was another key threat to firefly survival.

Most insecticide exposure occurs during larval stages, because juvenile fireflies spend up to two years living below ground or under water.

Insecticides such as organophosphates and neonicotinoids are designed to kill pests, yet they also have off-target effects on beneficial insects. While more research is needed, the evidence suggests many commonly used insecticides are harmful to fireflies.

The paper acknowledges previous studies which have quantified firefly population declines, such as those seen in the tourist-attracting synchronous fireflies of Malaysia, and the glowworm Lampyris noctiluca in England.

Numerous anecdotal reports suggest that many other firefly species across a wide range of habitats have also suffered recent declines.

We really need better long-term data about firefly population trends. This is a place where citizen science efforts like Massachusetts Audubons Firefly Watch project can really help, said Professor Lewis.

The researchers also highlighted risk factors that allow them to predict which species will be most vulnerable when faced with threats like habitat loss or light pollution. For instance, females of the Appalachian blue ghost firefly (Phausis reticulata) are flightless.

So when their habitat disappears, they cant just pick up and move somewhere else, said co-author J Michael Reed, professor of biology at Tufts.

Despite the verdict the researchers remain optimistic about fireflies future.

Here in the US, were fortunate to have some robust species like the Big Dipper fireflies (Photinus pyralis), said Professor Lewis.

Those guys can survive pretty much anywhere, and theyre beautiful, too.

By illuminating these threats and evaluating the conservation status of firefly species around the world, researchers aim to preserve the magical lights of fireflies for future generations to enjoy.

Our goal is to make this knowledge available for land managers, policy makers, and firefly fans everywhere, said co-author Sonny Wong of the Malaysian Nature Society.

We want to keep fireflies lighting up our nights for a long, long time.
Sinn Fein has defended its Belfast City Council motion calling for the transformation of Belfast Zoo.

At Monday's council meeting, Castle Councillor Conor Maskey criticised "silly reactions" that came from other parties and the "media's approach" to the recent public debate.

The party's motion said some animals should be returned to their natural habitats in a "carefuly crafted phased approach" and the site should be transformed into a "world-class visitor attraction" by 2025.

A conservation programme for indigenous animals was to be maintained and the council commit to retaining staff.

Councillor Maskey referred to other parties portraying the motion as "about locking up the zoo and throwing away the key".

He said the approach was "far, far, far, from it".

He told the chamber: "This was never about closing the zoo, it was about properly investing in the site to ensure we are in keeping with a modern and ethical approach to the city and the animals, and doesn't burden the rate payer."

He added, however, in the light of the debate the party would be talking to the council about amending the motion before it is referred to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee later this month.

The original Sinn Fein motion suggested: "This council agrees to an ambitious plan to transform Belfast Zoo into a world-class visitor attraction by 2025. The display of caged animals in enclosures is wrong and unethical, it doesn't mirror in any way their natural habitat and has no place in modern society.

"The ratepayers of this city have to subsidise the zoo to the sum of 2.5 million per year. The savings from the zoo site could provide substantial funding for the much-needed regeneration of the city, create jobs, opportunities, and attract more visitors. The five-year transitional period will enable the council to safely return animals to their natural habitats in a carefully crafted phased approach.

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The council will commit to securing all jobs currently on the zoo site Councillor Maskey

"Furthermore the council will retain an on-site animal conservation programme for indigenous animals. The five years will also enable the council to consult with trade unions, staff and residents of the city through direct engagement and consultation.

"The council will commit to securing all jobs currently on the zoo site, with the options of retraining and redeployment. This will create an opportunity for the council to develop the site, create jobs, and promote the city ethically."

DUP Councillor George Dorrian, confirmed earlier his party's opposition to the motion after a meeting with trade union officials.

He said: "Belfast City Council has been considering over recent years the most appropriate way forward for Belfast Zoo, considering it in the context of the surrounding Belfast Hills and Cave Hill Country Park.

"The DUP group on council is concerned that the zoo is loss-making and we wish to bring about a more sustainable model. We believe that the zoo needs investment, should be recognised as a significant regional asset and should be enhanced by the creation of a wider outdoor activity leisure park.

It fails to recognise the important role of Belfast Zoo in education and in international breeding programmes Councillor Dorrian





"However, we cannot support this Sinn Fein proposal to, effectively, close the zoo. This statement by Sinn Fein is a gross misrepresentation, writing about 'caged animals' and lacks reality by proposing to 'return animals to their natural habitats'.

"It fails to recognise the important role of Belfast Zoo in education and in international breeding programmes for both indigenous and rare and endangered species."

He said trade union officials had made it clear that staff at the zoo "take great exception to the suggestion by Sinn Fein that animals are being treated cruelly at the zoo".

"Council staff at the zoo are highly trained and dedicated, creating animal enclosures designed to replicate natural environments," he added.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Ahead of the Assembly polls in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday listed the achievements and the work done by the central government in the national capital.

During a public meeting in Dwarka, he said that the central government is leaving no stone unturned to make Delhi more beautiful and ensure a safe and clean environment here. He also emphasised that the registration process has begun for 1700 unauthorised colonies in the national capital.

"Places such as India Gate, Red Fort, Parliament, North or South Block have been beautified. Kranti Mandir Museum dedicated to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose has been constructed at the Red Fort. A Bhavya Bharat festival is also celebrated at the Red Fort," Modi said.

He also talked about the construction of a river front at the Yamuna river.

"Besides projects for cleaning Yamuna, our government is also working on Yamuna River Front," the Prime Minister said.

"Work is underway for the Rapid Rail System. Steps have been taken to reduce travel time between Delhi and Meerut. A provision of about 2.5 thousand crore has been made in the budget for the system," he added.

"People of Delhi had been longing for the work at Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressway to be completed. After the formation of our government, the work was completed," he said.

Modi also informed about the projects for the development of Dwarka region.

"Two major projects are underway in Dwarka. Construction of Bharat Vandana Park has started. The tourists will be able to experience India's art, culture and food. A world class convention centre is being built in Dwarka," said Modi.
LONDON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wealth Dynamix, a global leader in Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) solutions, is delighted to announce it has been recognised as a Business Applications ISV Connect Partner with Microsoft, in a move to accelerate innovation and value for its global customers and go-to-market (GTM) success for the company.

Already a Microsoft Gold partner, Wealth Dynamix is now a leading Business Application ISV Connect Partner offering a purpose-built solution for the wealth management industry.

Becoming a Microsoft ISV Connect Partner unlocks exclusive technical, marketing and sales enablement resources for Wealth Dynamix globally, to enhance the development and promotion of cutting-edge Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) solutions built on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform and enhanced by other Microsoft technologies such as Teams, LinkedIn and Azure AI services including Azure Machine Learning.

"The wealth management industry is witnessing the biggest generational transfer of wealth in history and a new wave of tech-savvy investors who expect a superb user experience. This is putting increasing pressure on wealth managers to find new clients, managing existing ones and meet compliance requirements more effectively," said Wealth Dynamix CEO, Gary Linieres.

"Combine the power of Microsoft technology with the specific market expertise of Wealth Dynamix, and you have the perfect solution to address the regulatory and digital challenges of today's wealth management industry. With this latest step in our journey we will continue to leverage Microsoft's vast investment into areas like security, regulatory compliance, cloud and AI, which in turn, will cement our technical leadership and unlock a range of benefits to support GTM strategies in our target regions."

This extra ISV support will help Wealth Dynamix to redouble its global expansion efforts and deliver strategic digital transformation programs for even more of the world's top private banks, and wealth and asset management firms.

"Our new Business Applications ISV Connect Program brings together platform and program benefits created especially to support the success of these partners," said Patrice Amann, Financial Services Industry Lead, EMEA, Microsoft.

"The Wealth Dynamix solution enables wealth managers to better serve their clients by streamlining time-consuming administrative processes and driving advisor productivity, stronger compliance and business growth."

WDX1 is the flagship, multi-award winning, digital CLM solution from Wealth Dynamix, designed to support the complex requirements of client acquisition, client engagement, digital onboarding, regulatory compliance, relationship management, client servicing and business intelligence from a single, unified platform.
SYDNEY, Australia  Early on the morning of Dec. 27, Phoebe Meagher, a wildlife conservation officer at Taronga Zoo, set off on a rescue mission with colleagues from the zoo and academics from the University of New South Wales. Several platypuses were trapped in quickly shrinking bodies of water in Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve in the Australian Capital Territory, and wildfires were fast approaching. There was a window of a few days before the park would be entirely closed off to the public, and two weeks until the bodies of water would be completely dry.

A five-hour drive brought the team to what was once a lake. Now, it was mostly deep, sucking mud. The air was hot and smoky. Initially we thought we werent going to be trapping until the evening, Dr. Meagher said. Platypuses are nocturnal, usually waking up around sunset. But these platypuses were already active, which, while concerning, meant the team could see where they were.

There was hardly any water there, Dr. Meagher said. So they couldnt duck down and hide and be cryptic like they usually are.

Platypuses are difficult to catch; they are fast, slippery swimmers and desperately shy. The males also have a sharp, venomous spur behind one of their hind feet. The venom is not lethal to humans, but there is no antidote, and the pain can last months.
By Katya Golubkova, Tom Balmforth and Gleb Stolyarov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday it may deport foreigners who test positive for coronavirus as Russian military planes flew in to evacuate its citizens from the Chinese province at the epicentre of the outbreak which has killed 361 people.

Russia, which has a 4,300km (2,670-mile) land border with China, reported its first two cases of the virus last week in the Siberian regions of Tyumen and Zabaykalsk. Both involved Chinese nationals.

Russia halted passenger trains to China as of Sunday night and the last train from Beijing rolled into Russia empty after 136 passengers - all Chinese nationals - were taken off at the border, the RIA news agency reported.

Moscow has already restricted direct flights to China, its largest trade partner, and the remaining flights are being routed through a separate terminal at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport.

"We're not scared yet but if doctors diagnose (coronavirus) cases in Moscow then of course (we will be)," a security official wearing a mask at a check point at the terminal for China flights, told Reuters.

Starting from Tuesday, Sheremetyevo will be the only place where foreign citizens coming from China by air can enter Russia, and Moscow hopes to stop special chartered flights for Russian tourists returning from China by Feb. 14.

MASKS, PRECAUTIONS

Border guards and customs officials at Moscow airports are wearing gloves and medical masks. In the capital, people have been rushing to stock up on masks and some pharmacies have sold out, the Vedomosti newspaper reported.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told senior government officials that Moscow has formally labelled coronavirus a "very dangerous disease", granting authorities enhanced powers to combat it.

"This will allow us to deport foreign citizens if they are found to have such a disease, and to introduce special restrictive measures, including isolation or quarantine," he said.

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Mishushin also proposed postponing Russia's annual economic forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi which was initially set for Feb. 12-14.

Postponing the forum would free up the schedule of energy minister Alexander Novak who is facing calls from Russia's OPEC partners to take joint action to stabilise oil prices, as coronavirus spurred fears of weakening oil demand from China.

Military planes are due to fly back 130 Russian nationals from China's Hubei province on Monday, officials said. Separately, 58 other citizens had been repatriated via Russia's far eastern border as of Saturday, local authorities said.

The Far East Primorsk region has also opened special quarantine zones for Chinese people arriving in Russia and they will be held there for 14 days regardless of whether they have tested positive for the virus or not, officials said.

Russia's second-largest food retailer Magnit said on Monday it was suspending fruit and vegetable imports from China due to the spread of the coronavirus and logistical complications.

In the Far East, some vegetables doubled in price and even disappeared altogether when authorities restricted trucks passing into Russia from China, but that measure was lifted on Monday, local officials said.

Ukraine has not yet reported any coronavirus cases on its territory but plans to evacuate its citizens from hina by the end of the week, Interfax reported.

(Reporting by Katya Golubkova, Tom Balmforth and Gleb Stolyarov; additional reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Darya Korsunskaya in Moscow, Natalia Zinets in Kiev; Editing by Nick Macfie and Ed Osmond)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlines his government's negotiating stance with the European Union after Brexit, during a speech at the Old Naval College in Greenwich, in London, Britain February 3, 2020. Frank Augstein/Pool via REUTERS - RC20TE9C1DJU

Finally, after more than three years of domestic political wrangling, the United Kingdom (UK) officially left the European Union (EU) on 31 January. A landmark day in the history of both the worlds foremost supranational organisation and the UK. There is now a transition period till the end of 2020 during which the two sides will try to firm up their arrangements. It would seem that nothing much has changed, but, there has been change and its been radical. The EU and the UK will look remarkably different when the final arrangements come into effect.

While there were celebrations in many quarters across the UK, there were also pro-EU marches as well as anti-Brexit rallies. In Scotland, where the Scottish nationalists are calling for a new referendum on independence, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: Scotland will return to the heart of Europe as an independent country - #LeaveALightOnForScotland. Divisions over the EU in the UK are not going to disappear, and in fact, the struggle in the future might even be more intense.

The European leaders have expressed sadness at the UKs departure from the EU. French President Emmanuel Macron said that he was deeply sad, while the EU's Guy Verhofstadt underlined his desire to ensure the EU is a project you'll want to be a part of again. As the UK and the EU proceed for discussions on a free trade agreement, cooperation on security, and new arrangements for fishing among others, intense negotiations lie ahead and nothing is a given. Brexit has generated a sense of solidarity among the remaining EU member states to ensure no more exits happen and in the process a hardening of attitude towards Britain is natural.

The momentum will shift towards the trade deal which UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to have in place by the year end. As the UK and the EU get ready to outline their negotiating stance, Britain is suggesting that it wont be aligning with EU rules" in any post-Brexit trade deal even as the EU would want the UK to continue to follow the EU rules on standards. Johnson is keen to get a Canada-style free trade deal, but as the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar made it clear that Canada isn't the UK; you're geographically part of the European continent, we share seas and airspace and our economies are very integrated.

The UK is now keen to move ahead with finalising free trade agreements with countries such as the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Johnson has also talked of India as a key nation with which the UK would be keen to strike a trade deal post-Brexit. This will be happening even as the fundamental underpinnings of British foreign policy will need to be re-evaluated now that Britains traditional approach to its external relations has become redundant. How global post-Brexit Global Britain can remain will be the challenge for London as domestic turmoil of the last three years has meant Britain focusing more and more inwards.

The UK has entered uncharted waters and its global interlocutors would be hoping that it resolves its problems with the EU sooner rather than later. An internally pre-occupied UK will continue to be marginal in the world affairs despite the best intentions of its government.

India has a range of equities in a stable UK-India partnership and it too would be hoping for the emergence of a more globally-engaged Britain. An era has ended for the UK with its formal departure from the EU, but the UK is yet to articulate its new global role for the new era in which it is stepping. India, along with the rest of the world, is watching.
Sony has launched the official website for the PS5, potentially suggesting a launch is imminent.

Numerous rumours have suggested the console could be officially launched this month, and the launch of the website indicates that may be true.

The page includes little information about the console, which has been extensively trailed by Sony for months.

But it indicates that a major announcement could be about to come.

"We've begun to share some of the incredible features you can expect from PlayStation 5, but we're not quite ready to fully unveil the next generation of PlayStation," the message on the site reads.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

It encourages readers to sign up "to be among the first to receive updates as we announce them, including news on the PS5 release date, PS5 price and the upcoming roster of PS5 launch games".

The site also includes the recently announced PS5 logo, which many have noted is almost identical to that of the PS4. It also features a message saying that "PlayStation 5 is coming" and re-affirming the previously announced release date of "Holiday 2020".

Both UK and German versions of the website have been set live, as noted on Reddit, where the pages were first discovered. They are identical apart from the languages.

Notably, the page can still only be found by navigating directly to it. It does not appear on the homepage or the list of different PlayStation hardware on the website's menu.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 16:30:09|Editor: yhy

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RABAT, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Moroccan security services dismantled on Tuesday a terrorist cell linked to the Islamic State (IS) militant group and arrested six suspects.

The suspects, aged between 18 and 56, were very active in the cities of Casablanca, Mohamadia and Azilal, said a statement of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation, Morocco's intelligence bureau.

The members of the cell pledged allegiance to the IS and threatened to carry out terrorist operations in many areas in Morocco, it added.

Electronic devices, knives, uniforms and many material were seized, it said.

The six individuals will be brought to justice upon the completion of the investigation led under the supervision of the competent public prosecutor's office, the statement said.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday hit out at NDA government at the centre saying that Register of Citizens (NRC) and Population Register (NPR) are one and the same thing.

The AIMIM leader further stated that CAA "grants as well as snatches citizenship."

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, he said: "If there is NPR, there will be NRC. Prime Minister says Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is not to snatch citizenship, it is to give citizenship. CAA grants as well as snatches citizenship. In Assam, names of five lakh Muslims did not figure? But you want to give citizenship to Bengali Hindus. NRC and NPR are the same things."

Referring to the protest against CAA in the country, the AIMIM leader said: "The Prime Minister had said that he is the brother of Muslim women. Today when Muslim women are standing against him, why is the brother getting anguished? The current environment in the country is similar to Germany in 1933, 1938."

He also took a dig at the government over the current incidents of firing in the capital city and said, "What is happening in Delhi? Three bullets have been fired in the capital. Is this the law and order? These are cowards. They want to finish the constitution. They want to make India a country of Hitler and Mussolini. That is why we are opposing it."

Earlier in the day, the proceedings at Lok Sabha witnessed uproar by opposition MPs over the issue of CAA and NRC.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vietnam and the US are implementing activities to celebrate the 25th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations (1995-2020). At the launching ceremony recently held in Washington DC, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc stressed that, 25 years after the establishment of diplomatic ties and seven years after the establishment of their comprehensive partnership, Vietnam-US relations have seen robust development in many key areas of cooperation, ranging from politics-diplomacy, economy-trade-investment, science-technology, education-training, and settlement of post-war consequences to defence-security, locality-to-locality relations, and people-to-people exchanges.

Leaders of the two countries have regularly exchanged visits with commitments to respect each others independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political regimes. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was the first leader of an ASEAN country to visit the US after US President Donald Trump took office, while President Trump was the first US President to visit Vietnam twice during his tenure.

In addition, policy dialogue frameworks have been expanded, contributing to building mutual trust.

Recently, US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell emphasised that bilateral cooperation in economy, trade and investment has seen remarkable strides, holding a focal role and serving as an impetus for strengthening the countries comprehensive partnership.

The bilateral trade turnover, which stood at only US$450 million in 1995, has now surged to US$60 billion. For several consecutive years, the US has been Vietnams largest export market while Vietnam is the market in which the USs exports grew at the fastest pace.

People-to-people relationships have laid a solid foundation for bilateral cooperation. 25 years ago, Vietnam welcomed less than 60,000 Americans every year. Now, the figure has reached nearly 700,000. Meanwhile, about 30,000 young Vietnamese people are pursuing their studies in the US, making Vietnam the sixth largest source of international students in the country.

Positive results have also been seen in the bilateral defence-security partnership, particularly in cooperation to address post-war consequences. The two sides have effectively cooperated in important projects, such as those on dioxin clean-up at Bien Hoa Airport; supporting people with disabilities in regions prayed with dioxin during the war; and bomb and mine clearance. Meanwhile, Vietnam continues to coordinate with the US in searching for US soldiers missing in action (MIA) in the war in Vietnam.

Vietnam and the US have collaborated in UN peacekeeping operations and enhanced coordination in coping with regional and international security issues. The two countries share strategic benefits in maintaining peace, security, stability, cooperation and rules-based order in Asia-Pacific.

That Vietnam has assumed the role as ASEAN Chair and as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 term will open up more opportunities to promote the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership.

Both sides have agreed that significant strides in bilateral ties are a vivid illustration of the joint effort and determination of the leaders and peoples of the two countries over the last 25 years.

With shared trust and optimism, it is believed that Vietnam and the US will further develop their comprehensive partnership, lifting the bilateral ties to new heights.
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South Dakota's chief justice seeks $5 million for courthouse security

In Chief Justice Jensen's State of the Judiciary Address, he mentioned courthouse security, sexual harassment training and a lack of court reporters.
A new memo from Defense Secretary Mark Esper to the military secretaries and other top commanders lays out talking points as they testify on Capitol Hill regarding next year's budget priorities and needs.

Among them: activating the U.S. Space Force; advancing key technologies including hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence and directed energy; and developing the Pentagon's Joint Warfighting Concept "to align personnel, equipment, training, and doctrine to win on any battlefield."

Dated Jan. 27, the memo, obtained by Military.com, is addressed to the civilian secretaries of the military departments, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, the under secretaries of defense and the heads of the Defense Department's 11 unified combatant commands.

"The FY 2021 budget supports irreversible implementation of the National Defense Strategy, which remains our guidepost and drives our decision-making. Progress along all lines of effort is sustained by adequate and timely funding from our partners in Congress," Esper wrote, saying that message is the overall theme he wants them to communicate in statements to legislative oversight committees.

READ: Defense Secretary Mark Esper's Jan. 27 Memo

The White House is expected to submit its budget request for fiscal 2021 to Congress on Feb. 10. That request, in keeping with a two-year budget deal secured last year, will include a $740 billion topline for defense spending, a slim increase from $738 billion enacted in fiscal 2020.

Related: Congress Has Released Its $738 Billion Defense Budget. Here's What's Inside

Esper's priorities, laid out in the memo, are grouped into four categories: strengthening military readiness and modernizing for a more lethal force; strengthening alliances and attracting new partners; reforming the DoD "for greater performance and accountability;" and supporting troops and military family members.

Under the last category, Esper said the 2021 request "advocates for robust pay and benefits packages essential to attracting and retaining the best personnel and warfighters."

It will also, he said, continue military housing reforms and oversight efforts. That comes in the wake of an explosive 2018 investigation revealing dangerous mold, vermin and squalid conditions in privatized military housing. The 2020 NDAA included a tenant bill of rights for military families.

Other efforts promoted in the request, Esper wrote, include affordable child care for military families, more professional development and education opportunities for troops, and support for military spouse education and professional licensure.

The request will resource Defense Department efforts to build new partnerships, Esper wrote, with an emphasis on growing alliances in the Indo-Pacific region -- long described by military brass as a DoD priority -- and "forming an enduring Middle East coalition."

It will advance efforts, he added, to increase the sharing of cost burden across NATO and other allies, a continual point of emphasis for President Donald Trump. And, the memo said, it will promote "the enduring defeat of ISIS" and other extremist groups while positioning the Pentagon to prepare for great power competition from China and Russia, in accordance with the National Defense Strategy.

Esper again referred to his plan to divest legacy military systems in order to fund military innovation and new technology, a larger version of the Army "night court" effort he presided over while the service's secretary.

Recapitalization of nuclear deterrence assets will be a priority, he said. The request also emphasizes the development of the Joint Warfighting Concept. Joint All Domain Command and Control, or JADC2, is a Pentagon-wide effort to break down service communication and technology barriers, allowing more systems to work together on the battlefield. Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Air Force Gen. John Hyten recently called JADC2 one of his highest priorities, Breaking Defense reported, noting that the effort is a key element of the broader joint concept still being finalized.

Earlier this month, Esper said hypersonic weapons would figure prominently in the fiscal 2021 defense budget, at levels even more aggressive than the nearly $5 billion included in this year's budget.

In support of Pentagon accountability, he wrote that the budget request would use the results of completed audit and DoD-wide reviews to direct reform efforts "as we actively seek ways to free up time, money and manpower to reinvest into our top priorities."

It will also, Esper said, "empower" reforms to what the Pentagon calls the 4th Estate: a cluster of 27 agencies overseen by the DoD. A "new governance architecture," he said, will help limit the growth of these agencies and offices "and identify more savings to put back into lethality."

In an address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24, Esper acknowledged that the task he had set for the Defense Department, particularly regarding cutbacks and limiting growth, is a difficult one.

"I've been telling the Pentagon for two-and-a-half years now that our budgets are what they are," he said. "They're not going to get any better, and so we have to be much better stewards of the taxpayer's dollar."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.

Read more: Toxic 'Black Goo' Base Used by US Had Enriched Uranium. More Veterans Report Cancer
The death toll in China's coronavirus rose sharply to 425 with 64 deaths on Monday alone while 3,235 new confirmed cases were reported, taking the number of those infected with the deadly disease to 20,438, Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday.

The 64 people who died on Monday were all from the Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus, China's National Health Commission said.

Also, 3,235 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection were reported, a big increase in a day.

Another 5,072 new suspected cases were reported on Monday, said the commission, adding that 492 patients became seriously ill.

The commission said that 2,788 patients remained in severe condition and 23,214 people were suspected of being infected with the virus, a pointer that it is increasingly turning virulent.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 20,438 by the end of Monday, the commission said, noting that a total of 425 people had died of the disease.

A total of 632 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery, state-run Xinhua agency reported



As the virus spreads from human to human, 221,015 close contacts had been traced, with 171,329 others still under medical observation.

By the end of Monday, 15 confirmed cases had been reported in Hong Kong, eight in the Macao and 10 in Taiwan.

The Philippines reported the first overseas death from the virus on Sunday while 148 cases have been reported from abroad.

India has reported three cases of the coronavirus. All the three patients from Kerala recently returned from the affected Wuhan city.

Currently, 647 Indians and seven Maldivians who have been evacuated from Wuhan and Hubei are in 14-day quarantine at a medical camp in Manesar, near Delhi.

As the virus continued to spread at an alarming rate, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday warned officials of punishment if they shirked responsibility in tackling the virus outbreak.

On Monday, China has opened a 1,000-bed hospital built in record nine days in Wuhan city and started trials for new drug to contain the virus and is set to open another 1,300 bed hospital next to it on Wednesday.

The ruling Communist Party of China on Monday held its political bureau meeting presided by President Xi to review the steps being taken on various fronts to halt the spread of the deadly virus.

The outcome of the epidemic prevention and control directly affects people's lives and health, the overall economic and social stability and the country's opening-up, Xi said.

"Those who disobey the unified command or shirk off responsibilities will be punished," Xi was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua agency.

Xi said that the party and government leaders supervising them would also be held accountable in severe cases.

Chinese armament firms, including those building aircraft carrier and military aircraft, have postponed planned work in order to concentrate on controlling the risk of coronavirus, state-run Global Times reported.

Noted Chinese health expert Zhong Nanshan has said that based on the fresh evidence, the novel coronavirus, which is spreading rapidly in China and the world, may reach its peak in the next 10 to 14 days, contrary to earlier estimates of climaxing sooner.

This means that the cases would drastically increase in the next two weeks before slowing down.

Also, China has begun clinical trials to test a drug to treat the patients of the coronavirus which till now has no cure.

Currently, patients are being treated with a combination of antivirals and other measures, as scientists race to find a vaccine.

Some reports said drugs to treat HIV too was being tried to treat the patients.

The experimental antiviral drug, Remdesivir, to be tested in field trials is developed by US-based Gilead Sciences. It is aimed at treating infectious diseases such as Ebola and SARS, South China Morning Post reported.

It was given to the first US patient last week - a 35-year-old man whose condition appeared to improve within a day, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, two documentarians whose previous work has focused on sexual assault in the military (The Invisible War) and on college campuses (The Hunting Ground), tracked Ms. Dixons journey along with those of other women who accused Mr. Simmons of sexual misconduct, including Sil Lai Abrams, Sheri Hines, Jenny Lumet and Alexia Norton Jones. The film also addresses the various cultural forces that have prevented black women from reporting sex crimes. Mr. Simmons, who has not been charged with a crime, has maintained that he did not sexually assault anyone.

The fierce determination of Drew Dixon and all of the women who bravely chose to share their stories in On The Record moved us profoundly, Sarah Aubrey, the head of original content at HBO Max, said in a statement. Ive been impressed with Amy and Kirbys work over the years covering this complex subject matter, and look forward to this film finding the widest possible audience.

On the Record will receive at least a one-week theatrical release to qualify it for Oscar consideration, but the date of its opening in theaters or on HBO Max has not yet been determined.

Accepted into Sundance at the beginning of December, On the Record was one of the most anticipated documentaries at the festival. But its future became muddied when Winfrey announced her exit from the project at the beginning of the year, citing creative differences with the filmmakers. She later revealed, in an interview with The New York Times, that she had been pressured by Mr. Simmons to withdraw.

Ms. Winfrey said that Mr. Simmons had no role in her exit. I told him directly in a phone call that I will not be pressured either into, or out of, backing this film, she said. I am only going to do what I believe to be the right thing.
A teenager whose puppy was mauled to death in a horrific attack by two greyhounds urged for a change in the law to hold the killer dogs' owner accountable.

Emily Hempseed, 18, was heartbroken when her Maltese puppy, Rudi, who was just a year old, was torn apart while out for a walk in a park on Friday.

Her younger brother Harry, 14, had been walking the family's cherished pooch when the puppy was attacked by two greyhounds, which appeared to be muzzled and on leads.

Rudi (pictured) was so badly injured following the attack that his family was not able to see the body before it was cremated

Harry (pictured with his dog, Rudi) has been traumatised by the attack after two greyhounds went after him and tore the puppy apart

But they broke free from their handler and pounced on the helpless puppy in East Calder, Livingston, close to a play park.

The tiny white dog was so horrifically injured that the family were told they could not see him before he was cremated.

But their grief was compounded when they were told that no action could be taken against the owners of the greyhounds - as the victim was a dog, not a human.

Scottish law punishes owners should their dog attack a human or livestock when its owner has not taken the precaution of using a lead, but the acts do not cover pet dogs.

Emily is campaigning for the case to be reopened by the Procurator Fiscal - which makes a decision on whether to prosecute - and believes the greyhounds pose a risk to humans as well as other dogs.

She said Harry was traumatised by the horror attack and was having nightmares where he heard the puppy's 'final screams'.

The family are struggling to comprehend how the owners of the greyhounds can escape punishment and are disheartened by the police response.

Emily said: 'I think someone needs to be held accountable for the taking of my dog's life. I think there needs to be a change in the law. I don't want to blame the dogs' owner but there should be some accountability.

'Rudi was a loving dog and he never hurt anyone, he came from a loving home. If a dog has the power to do that unprovoked, it could turn on anyone. We shouldn't have to wait for those dogs to attack a human for justice to be served. We feel we have been treated as the offender, not the victim.'

Emily (Pictured with Rudi) is hoping to raise awareness about what she feels are the shortcomings of the law in Scotland

As the attack took place, Harry screamed for help, and a woman ran over to speak to him and got the family's address, and went round to speak to mother-of-two Wendy, 45.

Wendy called her husband, John, 49, and his parents also came round to support the family.

One police officer attended the gory scene as Rudi's remains were put into a plastic bag to be taken to the vets.

And another three police officers have since visited the family at home - but Emily claims the greyhound's owner asked cops for the Hempseeds not to find out what had happened to their dogs, and the family are still in the dark.

Emily, who works in an Adidas shop, added: 'We were told on Friday that the Procurator Fiscal said it would not be going forward as it was dog-on-dog. A lot of people in our community have dogs, they are scared.

'To think that my younger brother should be able to go out in the neighbourhood with our dog, and bring him home, but that he hasn't been able to do that - it could have been a toddler in a fluffy jumper. Next time it could be a child - they need to prevent it now.'

She is petitioning the Scottish Government to get 'justice' for Rudi. The family had owned him for nearly two years, and he was their first dog. Rudi will be cremated with his favourite towel and a toy.

Emily said: 'At the scene, Rudi was put in a plastic bag and taken to the vets. The next day the vets told us not to see him as it was not a nice scene. He was our first dog, he was our baby. Maltese dogs can live for 18 years, we thought we would have him all that time. But he went at one-year-old.'

Her mother, Wendy, added: 'Rudi was loved unconditionally. It's just not right what's happened. The police came round last night [Mon] and took statements. We declined for the owner to pay for Rudi's funeral.

'We just want justice, we don't want this to happen again. Something needs to change - Emily is pretty determined. It's like they've taken our baby away.'
The diversification of the automobile sector has increased the scope for growth of ATV engines. Reports that evaluate the automobile industry have been made available by Market Research Future which creates reports on several industry verticals that review the market growth and prospects. The market is set to attain a CAGR of 5.38% while earning income worth USD 1,755.6 Mn in the forecast period.

The rise in outdoor adventure activities is anticipated to motivate the all-terrain vehicle engines market share in the coming years. The growth of the tourism sector has significantly induced progress in the market for all-terrain vehicle engines. The advances in engineering have improved the efficiency of the high-performance engines, thus furthering the growth of all-terrain vehicle engines. Furthermore, the increasing popularity of ATV experience areas is expected to create favorable aspects for growth in the coming years.

Segmental Analysis

The analysis of the segments in the all-terrain vehicle (ATV) engines market is carried out on the basis of type, power, application, and region. Based on types, the all-terrain vehicle engines market has been segmented into 0-300cc, 800-1000cc, 500-800cc, 300-500cc, and 1000cc and above. Based on application, the all-terrain vehicle engines market has been segmented into aftermarket and OEM. The segmentation of the all-terrain vehicle engines on the basis of power comprises of Up to 80HP and Above 80HP. The geographical areas covered in the all-terrain vehicle engines market are South Korea, United States, China, Europe, Japan, India and Rest of the World.

Detailed Regional Analysis

The regional analysis of the all-terrain vehicle (ATV) engines market includes geographical areas such as South Korea, the United States, China, Europe, Japan, India and Rest of the World. The market for ATV engines in the US is encouraged by the incidence of key manufacturers in the region. An enormous surge in the sales of ATV engines due to their large-scale use in forestry, agricultural lands, and mountains has also been advantageous for the progress of the market. Amplified use of ATVs in adventure tourism and progressive engine design and transmission system are significant drivers supporting the growth of the market in the U.S. The European region is the subsequent major market for all-terrain vehicle engines market and is projected to develop at a CAGR of 5.20% throughout the forecast period. China is expected to appear as the rapidly growing market for all-terrain vehicle engines market at a CAGR of 5.50% due to factors such as favorable government policies, increasing per capita disposable income, and the prevalence of ATV engine manufacturers in the region.

Competitive Analysis

The market is projected to accomplish an absolute lead in the market place owing to improved strategies in specific areas. Additionally, the deals being coined in the market are likely to additionally inspire the development of the market in the impending years. The absorbed expenses in the market are readily dispensed with, opening more room for the development in the market. The companies functioning in the market are persistently taking on the hindrances to progress and are forming strategies that are projected to guide to a beneficial outcome on the market's advancement. The advancement of the market is upgraded chiefly due to the reduction in promotional and miscellaneous expenses. An intensified growth pace is observed due to the productive effect exerted by the market forces both externally and internally. The progress capability of the market is bolstered by the accretive nature of the assets available in the market.

The significant competitors functioning in the all-terrain vehicle (ATV) market globally are Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, Suzuki Motor Corporation, Textron Inc., Polaris Industries, Inc., Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., Massimo Motor Sports, LLC, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Taiwan Golden Bee Co. and CFMOTO.
A petition has reportedly been filed in Jammu and Kashmir High Court against Vidhu Vinod Chopra's upcoming film "Shikara: The Untold Story Of Kashmiri Pandits", demanding a stay on the film's release.

"Shikara" is set against the backdrop of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus from the Kashmir Valley in late 1989 and early 1990, in the wake of violent Islamist insurgency. The film is scheduled to release on February 7.

The petitioners are Iftikhar Misgar, Majid Hyderi and Irfan Hafiz Lone, who have alleged that the film portrays untrue facts about Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandits, reports newsnation.com.

Sharing a new teaser this morning, Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films' official page tweeted: "In 1990, more than 4,00,000 Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their home. 30 years later, their story will finally be told."

One of the screenplay writers of the film, Rahul Pandita, recently replied to a tweet and wrote: "I am a Kashmiri Pandit who lost everything in 1990, while you were doing God knows what in Bombay. I am the writer of #shikara and I would not let anyone compromise on the Pandit story. I will not betray the memory of those who fell to the bullets of radical Islamists."

In a separate tweet he shared: "This is what I said in my opening remarks on the day #shikara was screened in Delhi. Unlike makers of soft porn films, Kashmir and the story of what happened to the Pandits in 1990 is not a money-making venture for me. It is what I lived."

"Shikara: The Untold Story Of Kashmiri Pandits" marks Vidhu Vinod Chopra's comeback to Bollywood as a director for the first time since his 2007 release, "Eklavya", starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, Raima Sen, Jackie Shroff and Jimmy Sheirgill. Chopra introduces Aadil Khan and Sadia in the lead roles of "Shikara".
Police on the Greek island of Lesbos on Monday fired tear gas at hundreds of migrants protesting against tougher new asylum rules, officials said. Brandishing makeshift signs with the word "freedom", some 2,000 men and women walked out of the overpopulated camp of Moria to demonstrate. The protesters walked some seven kilometres (4.3 miles) towards the port capital of Mytilene, but were blocked by police outside the town. "A significant backlog of pending applications and serious delays in asylum procedures have been a major contributing factor to the dangerously overcrowded conditions we see on the islands," Boris Cheshirkov, Greece spokesperson for the UN refugee agency, said in a statement to AFP. "Long waiting times are also contributing to the mental toll that people are facing," he said. After years of procedural delays, Greece faces a backlog of almost 90,000 asylum applications, Cheshirkov said. In 2019, Greece became the first port of entry for migrants and refugees entering Europe. The government has struggled to manage the influx, keeping many in overcrowded camps on the Aegean Greek islands near the Turkish coast. More than 40,000 asylum-seekers are currently crammed into camps on five islands, where the official capacity is for 6,200 people and in conditions repeatedly condemned by aid agencies. The conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has toughened its approach to asylum-seekers and is trying to speed up the repatriation of people whose applications have been rejected. At Moria, where over 19,000 people live in and outside a camp built for fewer than 3,000, many are housed in tents and makeshift shelters without access to power, heating, or hot water, Cheshirkov said. "There aren't enough latrines and showers and access to health is severely limited," he said. There are also frequent outbreaks of violence. - 'Dissuasive message' - The new Greek minister for migration Notis Mitarachi, appointed just two weeks ago, has vowed to expel "on a weekly basis" migrants whose asylum applications are rejected. "Those not entitled to international protection will be rapidly returned to Turkey," Mitarachi told Kathimerini daily on Sunday. "We believe... this will send a loud and dissuasive message to human smugglers," he said. In another apparent attempt at deterrence, Greece's defence ministry last week put out a call for a floating barrier in the Aegean to stop migrant boats. The system -- criticised as unethical and impractical by opposition parties -- could involve either barriers or nets, 2.7 kilometres (1.7 miles) long, and would be used as an emergency measure by the Greek armed forces.
The executive chairman of one of Britains largest technology companies will step down on Valentines Day, as Micro Focus presented a tough set of results.

Operating profit fell more than 41% to 222 million dollars (170 million), the company said, while revenue dropped by nearly 30% to 3.3 billion dollars (2.6 billion).

Chairman Kevin Loosemore will want shareholders to remember him as he was, not as his time with the company ended. Since being brought onboard in 2005 to help the business through its public float, Mr Loosemore has helped Micro Focus grow revenues from 100 million dollars (77 million), delivering compound annual returns to shareholders of around 20%.

But his last time at the helm of the board was marred by poor performance and arguments over pay, forcing successor Greg Lock to recognise the present challenges in his first words since he was revealed as the new chairman.

This has been a challenging year for Micro FocusStephen Murdoch, chief executive

Despite the companys protestations that the fall in revenue was in line with guidance, when stripping out currency changes, investors sent the shares down by as much as 15%, or 148.5p, to 383p.

This has been a challenging year for Micro Focus and our overall financial performance fell short of expectations, said chief executive Stephen Murdoch.

He added: On behalf of the whole Micro Focus team, the board and personally, I would like to thank Kevin for his leadership and vision in building the Micro Focus business over 15 years.

Despite a strong record, Mr Loosemores time was not without controversy. In July last year he sparked a nearly 16% drop in the companys shares after selling off more than half his stake in the business, netting 11.6 million.

The chairman said that he was trying to diversify his investment portfolio, as all his assets were in Micro Focus shares.

As executive chairman, I remain committed to the business as we continue to execute our established business model, he said at the time.

Mr Loosemore also faced an investor revolt over the companys remuneration report, as shareholders voted down a 110 million bonus plan for executives.
A number of 21 citizens from Iraq, Egypt and Syria, who were trying to illegally leave the country, were found hidden in a truck that was carrying car spare parts, at the Nadlac II border checkpoint, on Monday night.

On Monday night, a 45 aged Turk citizen, who was driving a vehicle with a tractor head and a semi-trailer, registered in Turkey, arrived at the border for formalities to leave the country, according to a press release of the Timisoara Border Police Inspectorate.

After carrying out a specific risk analysis, the policemen from the Nadlac II - Csanadpalota checkpoint - in cooperation with the employees of the Timisoara Border Police Inspectorate, proceeded to a detailed verification of the vehicle, discovering thus 21 persons hidden in the front part of the truck's trailer, among the goods to be exported.

After the first checks, the border policemen established that the persons were citizens from Syria, Iraq and Egypt, a group made of 11 men, six women and four minors. The adults were found to be between 18 and 46 years old and the minors between 4 and 17 years old, and all of them had applied for asylum in Romania, while their intention was in fact to reach one of the countries in Western Europe.

The police is currently investigating the driver over migrant smuggling and the foreign citizens discovered hidden in the truck over an attempt to illegally cross the border, with the necessary legal measures to be then taken. AGERPRES
ALBANY  Mental health interests urged New York lawmakers to funnel more funding toward human service nonprofits on Monday, saying the organizations have faced lacking support from the state in the recent past.

Dozens of human service groups are pushing this session for an annual 3% funding increase over the next five years for nonprofits in the field. The coalition, representing thousands of providers, includes groups that address child welfare, mental health and developmental disabilities.

The Mental Health Association in New York State says many of their members are fiscally unstable and are in jeopardy of closing due to a lack of funding.

The mental health organization said services are declining and facilities are deteriorating at certain human service nonprofits, with some organizations forced to establish waiting lists.

Glenn Liebman, the association's CEO, described the situation as a "crisis" and said people and families are suffering.

"We're not here to blame or to point fingers. We're here for fixes and yes these fixes cost money," he told a panel of lawmakers Monday.

Wendy Burch, executive director at the National Alliance on Mental Illness New York State, said supporting people with mental illness can prevent incarceration, long-term hospitalization, homelessness and their risk of suicide. The seriousness of the issue, she said, is shown in how many human service providers are backing the campaign for more funds.

Cuomo's office says their budget proposal recommends an annual $170 million for pay increases to clinical and direct care staff.

Liebman said he's grateful for the proposed funding, but the money would be specified for wage increases and does not allow nonprofit service providers to spend the money elsewhere, like on adding new programs, fixing facilities or dealing with the rising cost of health care insurance.

A March report from the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School found there was a 26% drop in state funding in human service aid to local governments from fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2018. The report said the cuts have come even as the state's economy has grown since the Great Recession.

According to the report, suburban counties in downstate New York were hit hardest by the cuts to local aid, including Nassau County, which saw a 40% drop in state funding for local aid for human services from 2011 to 2017.

Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, who represents a swath of Sullivan County, indicated her support for additional funds and said most of those workers are women.

"It's just not a living wage," she said. "It's just not and (we've) lagged behind for years and years before. We're doing some catch up, but we really have to do more."

Ann Sullivan, commissioner of the Office of Mental Health, said she told lawmakers there are pay raises for direct care and clinical workers.

Cuomo is proposing to increase funding for the Office of Mental Health by 1.1% to $4.5 billion. State lawmakers spent Monday weighing in on other parts of the governor's budget, commenting on issues like suicide and school mental health.

Under Cuomo's budget proposal, $1 million in new money would be directed to suicide prevention efforts for veterans, law enforcement and corrections officers.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 19:44:32|Editor: yhy

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DES MOINES, United States, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Results of Democratic caucuses in Iowa on Monday night were delayed, causing confusion and discontent at the beginning of the 2020 U.S. presidential primary.

Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) Communications Director Mandy McClure said in a statement that "we have experienced a delay in the results due to quality checks," as the nation was anticipating a winner from the much-hyped nominating contest.

The delay could be partly caused by a new proceeding. The IDP, for the first time, is reporting out three data sets: first preferences, final preferences, and "State Delegate Equivalents (SDEs)," McClure said.

The SDEs will be used to determine how the state's national delegates are awarded to candidates.

McClure said they "found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results," while refuting claims that a mobile app that precinct chairs should use to send results went down.

"This is simply a reporting issue," McClure said. "The app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results."

Democratic presidential campaigns have been told not to expect any results from the Iowa caucuses until at some point on Tuesday, CNN quoted state party officials as saying.

Iowa, a state in the Midwestern United States, held Democratic and Republican caucuses Monday night, kicking off the presidential primary.

The caucuses brought tens of thousands of Iowa's registered voters to churches, public libraries, and school gyms for discussions of their presidential preferences.

Sitting President Donald Trump won the Republican caucuses, in which participants cast a vote to indicate their support, in a largely symbolic vote as he was facing no significant challenge.

"Big WIN for us in Iowa tonight. Thank you!" Trump tweeted.

The Republican Party is expected to nominate him for a second term during the Aug. 24-27 national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Democratic caucuses, however, require party members to show up to their precinct and physically move into designated parts of a room to express their preference for a certain candidate, a more complicated process would certainly cost more time.

Currently, there are 11 Democrats seeking the party's presidential nomination.

In Iowa, they were vying for the state's 41 pledged delegates to the party's national July 13-16 convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a gathering for the party's delegates to choose its presidential nominee.

Though the delegates Iowa have account for only 2 percent of the 1,991 national delegates a candidate needs winning to be the Democratic nominee, a strong finish could help him or her stand out.

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar, and Indiana's former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, addressed supporters late Monday night despite the delay of the caucus results.

Biden's campaign also raised concerns "regarding the considerable flaws" in the Iowa caucus reporting system.

"We believe that the campaigns deserve full explanation and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and opportunity to respond, before any official results are released," Biden's general counsel wrote in a letter to the IDP.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, tweeted that the "fiasco" has dramatically reduced the impact of the results of the Iowa caucuses, historically an important part of the presidential nominating process.

The Iowa caucuses will be followed by the New Hampshire presidential primary, slated for Feb. 11.

The 2020 U.S. presidential election will take place on Nov.3.
New Delhi : Activist Urvashi Chudawala and 50 others were on Monday booked for sedition by the Mumbai Police for allegedly raising "anti-national" slogans in support of Jawaharlal Nehru University student Sharjeel Imam at an LGBTQ event held at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai last week, an officer said.

"We have registered an FIR against Chudawala and 50 others. We will call them to (Azad Maidan) police station for further investigation," Pranay Ashok, Deputy Commissioner of Police said.

The case was registered by the Azad Maidan police after a video purportedly of Chudawala raising the slogans went viral after the LGBTQ event on February 1.

A police official said Chudawala was at the forefront in raising the slogan 'Sharjeel tere sapno ko hum manzil tak pahuchaege (Sharjeel, We will realise your dreams).

A complaint in this regard was lodged by former Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya on February 2, he said.

Tweeting the video of a woman raising the slogans at the event, Somaiya had warned of staging a protest if the police failed to register the case against Chudawala and others.

Imam was arrested from Bihar's Jehanabad on January 28 for allegedly making inflammatory speeches at the Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi and in Aligarh.

Imam, a PhD student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Historical Studies, was booked in sedition cases lodged across several states for alleged "inflammatory" speeches made during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Pakistan Prime Minister on Tuesday thanked Mahathir Mohamad for "speaking up" on the Kashmir issue and promised to do his best to buy more Malaysian palm oil to "compensate" it after India restricted the import of the commodity from the country amid a diplomatic row.

"You have spoken for the justice for Kashmiris, for which we are thankful," Khan said during a joint press conference with his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir.

"We noticed that India threatened Malaysia for supporting the Kashmir cause to cut their palm oil import, Pakistan will do its best to compensate for that," he was quoted as saying by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan.

Indonesia and Malaysia are the two countries which supply palm oil. Malaysia produces 19 million tonnes of palm oil in a year, while Indonesia produces 43 million tonnes, according to trade data.

India, the world's largest importer of vegetable oils, buys nearly 15 million tonnes annually. Pakistan bought 1.08 million tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia in 2019, while India bought 4.4 million tonnes, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council.

The Indian government has imposed restrictions on imports of refined palm oil, a move which could discourage the inbound shipment of the commodity from Malaysia.

The move came after the Malaysian prime minister repeatedly criticised India's policy on Kashmir and the new citizenship law. Mahathir had also raised the Kashmir issue in the UN General Assembly session in September.

However, the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi has said that the government's imposition of restrictions on imports of refined palm oil is product-specific and not country-specific.
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality spoke to young people throughout the US about their experience with war and its consequences.

Students and young people speak out against war
Iowa caucuses fail to declare Democratic winner after major snafu with reporting results originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

For more than a year, the Democratic presidential contenders have been camping out in Iowa, pitching their case to the first-in-the-nation caucus-goers for why they should be the partys nominee in July.

From campaign stops to house parties to rallies in every corner of the state and across Iowa's 99 counties, the candidates took to the stump to outline their vision for the country, rebuke President Trump, call for party unity, and make subtle contrasts with their rivals all in the hopes of persuading some of the most coveted primary voters to back their campaign.

The highly-competitive race now enters an even more critical phase amid the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of Mondays caucuses.

Here's how the night unfolded

9:17 a.m. Iowa Democratic Party: 'Our ultimate goal is to ensure that the integrity and accuracy of the process continues to be upheld'

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price released a new statement Tuesday morning, saying, "While our plan is to release results as soon as possible today, our ultimate goal is to ensure that the integrity and accuracy of the process continues to be upheld.

We have every indication that our systems were secure and there was not a cyber security intrusion," Price added. "In preparation for the caucuses, our systems were tested by independent cybersecurity consultants."

It became clear that there were "inconsistencies" as precinct caucus results began coming in and the Iowa Democratic Party ran them through an accuracy and quality check, according to Price, who noted that the "underlying cause of these inconsistencies was not immediately clear, and required investigation, which took time."

Price said the pre-planned backup measures of calling in results and entering the data manually "took longer than expected."

Story continues

As part of our investigation, we determined with certainty that the underlying data collected via the app was sound. While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data," he said. "We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed. The applications reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately. "

Because of the required paper documentation," he added, "we have been able to verify that the data recorded in the app and used to calculate State Delegate Equivalents is valid and accurate."

Precinct level results are still being reported to the Iowa Democratic Party, according to Price.

ABC News' Kendall Karson reported and Morgan Winsor contributed.

2:12 a.m. Iowa Democratic Party: Results expected 'later today'

In a brief statement read to reporters during a telephone call early Tuesday morning, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price said, "We expect to have numbers to report later today."

"The integrity of our process and the results have and always will be our top priority," Price continued. "At this point, the [Iowa Democratic Party] is manually verifying all precinct results."

"We want to emphasize that this is a reporting issue, not a hack or an intrusion," he added. "And that's exactly why we have a paper trail and systems in place to uphold the integrity of our process. They are validating every piece of data we have against our paper trail. That system is taking longer than expected, but it's in place to ensure we are eventually able to report results with full confidence. We have said all along we have these backups in place for exactly this reason."

Price, who took no questions from reporters, said the party is updating the campaigns and will continue to do so.

ABC News' Kendall Karson reported and Morgan Winsor contributed.

12:40 a.m. Many Iowans still struggling to report results

Several campaigns tell ABC News they have not been given a timeline for data release-- an additional delay that could prove disappointing for the "real winner" who spent tons of time and money and effort in Iowa hoping for a big moment on Monday.

Meanwhile, the chairwoman of the Allamakee County, Iowa Democratic Party is still on hold to try and verify that her results went through.

"The app worked. I just couldn't confirm the data got submitted," Lori Egan told ABC News' producer Jon Schlosberg.

By midnight EST the 25th precinct secretary sat in the empty venue, the basement of an armory in Cedar Rapids. She had been trying to get through to report by phone the results from the caucus that ended just after 9 p.m. At one point her phone timed out and she had to call back and once again be placed in the queue.

The hold music interrupted every 2 minutes with the message thank you for calling the Iowa Democratic partys caucus hotline. All of our representatives are currently busy. Your call will be answered in the order it was received. We look forward to talking to you soon.

Eventually, the custodian told her to leave. She left, still on hold. And is prepared to remain on hold as long as it takes.

Earlier, ABC News spoke with Linda Langston the 25th precinct chairwoman who said they learned days ago there could be a problem with the app to record results, so they were asked to call in the results. They were supposed to call in four reports during the caucus.

The first time they called they were told only to report at the end. When they did that they were put on hold.

She suspects a fair number of the 1,600 precincts are in the same boat.

I think the world is waiting, she said.

She said the state Democrats waited until the last minute to install the app, and there may not have been enough training.

She was clearly frustrated following a night that went otherwise smoothly.

Sean Bagniewski, the chairwoman of the Polk County Democrats, the largest county in the state, said that among their 177 precinct chairs, a few were having issues logging in and downloading the app starting last week. But they recommended, like past years, for their precinct captains to call in the results.

All the lines have been busy tonight - and they have "no clue" why the phones lines are not working. Bagniewski said he has not been given any information about when to expect results.

Judy Downes, the executive director of the Polk County Democrats, he said, told the captains to start taking photos of their results and text them to her. She drove to caucus headquarters, in Des Moines' Iowa Events Center, and she was turned away.

When asked if he has any concerns about the integrity of the caucus process or Iowa's status as first in the nation, he would only say, "It will make more sense when we know what's going on."

He also did note Polk County had a "good night" and only a few precincts were "contentious" and required coin flips, where more candidates become viable than there are delegates available (in super small precincts), in which a coin flip breaks the tie, leaving at least one of the candidates out of luck.

ABC News' Midwest Radio Correspondent Ryan Burrow and Kendall Karson reported

11:52 p.m. Biden general counsel asks for explanation before results released

Former Vice President Joe Biden's general counsel said the campaign wants a fuller explanation about "inconsistencies" in the caucuses results and a full accounting for the methods used to verify those results before they are released.

PHOTO: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden addresses supporters with his wife Dr. Jill Biden during his caucus night watch party on Feb. 03, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

I write on behalf of the Biden for President Campaign regarding the considerable flaws in tonights Iowa Caucus reporting system. The app that was intended to relay Caucus results to the Party failed; the Partys back-up telephonic reporting system likewise has failed. Now, we understand that Caucus Chairs are attempting to  and, in many cases, failing to  report results telephonically to the Party. These acute failures are occurring statewide," Dana Remus the campaign's general counsel wrote. "We appreciate that you plan to brief the campaigns momentarily on these issues, and we plan to participate. However, we believe that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are released. We look forward to hearing from you promptly.

11:27 p.m. Iowa Democratic Party: 'We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results.'

"We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report. This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results," Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Mandy McClure said in a statement.

11:25 p.m. Candidates speak to supporters as results delays stretch on

As the delays continued, candidates began coming out to speak with supporters who had expected at this point in the evening to celebrate.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar rallied her supporters and vowed that she would be getting on a plane to take her momentum on to New Hampshire.

We are feeling so good tonight and I cannot wait. Somehow, some way I'm going to get on a plane tonight to New Hampshire. And we are bringing this ticket to New Hampshire," she said. "So even in a crowded field of candidates, even during the well earned impeachment hearing of Donald J. Trump, which kept me bolted to my senate desk for the last two weeks, we kept fighting. And you kept fighting for me.

It was a sentiment that former Vice President Joe Biden shared when he took the stage minutes later declaring to his supporters "On to New Hampshire!"

11:06 p.m. Still no precincts reporting -- by this time last cycle, about 90% of vote was in

There are still 0% of precincts reporting.

For context: By this time last cycle, we had about 90% of the vote in.

The reporting app is new this year, and while the party touted it would help streamline results, they were prepared with a fail safe. The app was only one option of reporting, precinct captains also have an alternative to report the results: They can call in the results over the phone, which was historically the method for reporting, and they also introduced preference cards this year to be able to confirm any of the results with a paper trail.

The party declined to comment on who the cyber security vendor they were working with on the app and in mid-2019, the Iowa Democratic Party had to forgo their planned "virtual caucuses" due to security concerns over the integrity of the process.

PHOTO: People take part in a Caucus at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., Feb. 3, 2020. (Eric Thayer/Reuters)

ABC News' Quinn Scanlan contributed to this report.

10:50 p.m. Iowa Democratic Party: 'Delay in the results due to quality checks'

Amid ongoing criticism about continued delays in reporting the results in the much anticipated Iowa caucuses, the Iowa Democratic Party sought to offer a window into the issue.

"The integrity of the results is paramount. We have experienced a delay in the results due to quality checks and the fact that the IDP is reporting out three data sets for the first time. What we know right now is that around 25% of precincts have reported and early data indicates turnout is on pace for 2016," Iowa Democratic Party Director Mandy McClure said in a statement.

"As this night goes on, whoever the winner is gets a little bit less of a bump," @rickklein says. https://t.co/XrZrpIKzs3 https://t.co/x31nijQpWM  ABC News (@ABC) February 4, 2020

However, as the delays continued ABC News Political Director Rick Klein pointed out that ""As this night goes on, whoever the winner is gets a little bit less of a bump>"

10:39 p.m. More ABC News entrance poll reporting

Among those chiefly looking for the candidate who can defeat Donald Trump, 24 percent support former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg; 23 percent, former Vice President Joe Biden.

Further evidence of Buttigiegs remarkable cross-group appeal: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders wins more liberals than moderates by better than 2-1. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wins more liberals than moderates by 3-1. Biden wins more moderates than liberals by 2-1. Buttigieg wins almost equal numbers of liberals and moderates alike.

10:18 p.m. Result reporting is slow going as officials do "quality control"

Hours after the caucuses started, the process of full tallying results has been slow going as technical issues delay the Iowa caucus results

Iowa Democratic Party officials say "People are still caucusing and they are working hard on quality control, checks and security around the results they do have."

Here's part of why this year's process is a bit different than previous cycles.

Caucusgoers declare their support for a candidate by physically moving to a designated space in the room. The process, which traditionally takes hours but has been shortened this cycle, ultimately divides the entire room into groups based on the candidate theyre backing. The precinct captains tally the number of caucus-goers in each group - this is what is known as the first alignment.

At most precincts, a presidential contender needs support from at least 15% of the vote at that caucus site to be eligible to receive any delegates. But in precincts with less than four delegates, the threshold is slightly higher -- since the delegates cannot be split between multiple candidates.

Candidates who reach the 15% threshold are considered to be "viable," at which point their support is locked in and cannot go down. Caucusgoers that are part of viable groups can turn in their presidential preference cards, which marks their choice for president, sign them and go home. The cards are important for creating a paper trail, allowing for a recount if needed.

But for those caucusgoers in the room that are part of nonviable groups, meaning they backed a candidate who failed to cross the 15% threshold, they have a few options in the second round, which is called realignment: they can move to a group supporting a viable candidate; they can join another candidates nonviable group to help that candidate become viable or attempt to persuade other caucus-goers to join their group and earn enough support for their first choice to make that candidate viable; they can move to the uncommitted group; or they can go home.

After the realignment is over, caucusgoers fill out their presidential preference cards, sign it and turn it in. This is what is known as the final alignment.

This cycle, the Iowa Democratic Party streamlined the caucus process, giving caucusgoers only up to two opportunities to declare their pick for president.

9:34 p.m. Bloomberg counterprogramming and campaigning in California

As other 2020 presidential candidates fight for a win in Iowa on caucus day, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is campaigning in California. He launched a canvas kick-off event in Sacramento, his second stop on a four-city swing across the major Super Tuesday state.

The former New York City mayors visit comes right as early voting begins for the states primary election, which features 415 delegates compared to Iowas 41. All in all, California has more delegates than all first four early voting states combined.

PHOTO: Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, right, speaks at a campaign event at the Dollarhide Community Center in Compton, Calif., Feb. 3, 2020. (Scott Varley/The Orange County Register via AP)

It's all part of Bloomberg's overall campaign gambit: Bypass the four early states -- Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and New Hampshire -- and key in on the Super Tuesday spots with a high delegate yield. Moreover, hes specifically honing in on the swing states Trump picked up in 2016 that Democrats should have won, like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.

Last week, the Democratic National Committee eliminated the individual donor threshold to qualify for the primary debate being held in Las Vegas on Feb. 19, opening the door for Bloomberg to face off against his competitors for the first time in a national debate since he entered the race.

In a one-on-one with ABC News, Bloomberg said if any of his 2020 rivals have a problem with the DNC rule changes, they should take it up with the committee.

Several candidates, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, have criticized the DNCs decision to drop the donor requirements for the next Democratic debate, opening the door for the billionaire businessman to make the stage.

When asked if that decision was fair to candidates like California Sen. Kamala Harris, former Housing Secretary Julian Castro and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, all minority candidates who struggled with fundraising before suspending their respective campaigns, Bloomberg didnt answered directly but admitted the changes strengthen his chance to make his case to voters.

I didnt do it. Talk to the DNC. But what the DNC did do is they took money out of it, so -- because you dont have to raise a certain amount of money, All you have to do is show that the public wants to be able to consider you in the election, Bloomberg told ABC News adding that he is confident he will make the Nevada debate.

ABC News' Briana Stewart, Quinn Scanlan and Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.

9:12 p.m. Plenty of miles on those campaign buses

Democratic candidates crisscrossed Iowa leading up to the caucuses, making nearly 400 stops collectively, with more than 330 days spent in the Hawkeye State while holding more than 2,300 events.

Democratic candidates crisscrossed Iowa leading up to the caucuses, making nearly 400 stops collectively, with more than 330 days spent in the Hawkeye State while holding more than 2,300 events. https://t.co/XabfTCo6PJ pic.twitter.com/57nRqjbU1K  ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 4, 2020

9:06 p.m. Navigating the Iowa caucuses as a voter with disabilities can be tough

Unlike a primary where voters cast traditional ballots from home or in a booth, the Iowa caucuses require voters to show up in person, talk with their neighbors and wait to be counted. Everyone in favor of one candidate moves to one corner -- those who like someone else -- stand across the room.

There is debate and regrouping through multiple stages. It can take hours.

PHOTO: Numbers are tallied during for Democratic presidential candidates during the 2020 Iowa Caucuses at West Des Moines Christian Church in West Des Moines, Iowa, Feb. 3, 2020. (Jim Bourg/Reuters)

"When you have chronic pain and fatigue, that's not particularly fun. And I'm worried most about all the people who don't caucus because of barriers like that." Smith said that last year it took over an hour to get to the caucus site from work because of limited transportation --- a physically exhausting endeavor by the end of the night," Emmanuel Smith, a local advocate for Americans living with disabilities told ABC News.

Read more here.

8:57 p.m. Iowa caucuses considered a 'crucible' of 2020 primary: Here's how they work

Confused by the rushing to and fro and raised hand counting underway in the caucuses? Here is what you need to know about the 2020 Iowa caucuses.

In Ankeny youre asked to bring your chair with you. Before... pic.twitter.com/TmoTkjH6hO  Brad Mielke (@TheBradMielke) February 4, 2020

8:54 p.m. ABC News FiveThirtyEight weighs in on the Iowa counties to watch

FiveThirtyEight elections analyst Nathaniel Rakich speaks with Galen Druke about which counties are the ones to watch as Iowa caucus results come in.

8: 52.p.m. More preliminary results from the Iowa Democratic caucus entrance poll

Biden plummets in two particular groups: First, among younger voters  he has single-digit support among caucus-goers younger than 45. The second: Voters focused on a candidate whos closest to them on the issues. While this group represents a minority of participants, just 6 percent of them back Biden in their initial preference. Further, Biden does especially well among those focused on foreign policy  but its last on the issues list.

Buttigiegs cross-group appeal is evident in the issues list: His support levels are about the same among caucus-goers focused on health care, climate change and foreign policy alike, albeit dropping off among those most concerned with income inequality. Sanders also does well across three issues, in his case income inequality, climate change and health care, with a drop-off among foreign policy voters. Warren does her best among those focused on income inequality.

ABC News' pollster Gary Langer.

8:29 p.m. Amid concerns about lack of diversity in early contests, 91% in tonights caucuses are white

Another result marks the comparative lack of racial or ethnic diversity among Iowa caucus-goers, compared with Democrats elsewhere. Ninety-one percent in tonights caucuses are white.

While the top tier jockeys for the top spot in the Iowa caucuses, the state is contending with challenges of its own over its outsize influence on the primary race and its homogeneous population that doesn't reflect the diversity of the Democratic Party or much of the rest of the country.

In 1976, four years after the state claimed it's position at the front of the calendar, then-candidate Jimmy Carter, an underdog in the presidential contest, snagged a surprise victory in Iowa -- putting his upstart campaign on a track to the nomination and setting the state on a course to become a marquee primary contest. Carter's victory soon became a model for ensuing presidential hopefuls who could seek to capitalize on the first-in-the-nation caucuses and catapult their campaign to notoriety.

PHOTO:In this Jan. 26, 2020, file photo, people cheer as democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in Sioux City, Iowa. (John Locher/AP, FILE)

But throughout the 2020 contest, which encompassed the most diverse Democratic field at its peak of candidates, Iowa has often been the target of criticism -- even by some presidential contenders -- for its lack of representation and diversity. The state is 91% white, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

In Allamakee County, one of the whitest corners of one of the whitest states in the country, a community of immigrants from six continents is challenging popular assumptions about politics, economics and cultural assimilation.

Meanwhile, some Iowa Democrats continue to defend the state's premier status and argue that it is diverse enough.

"Listen, I can't change the demographics of the state of Iowa. But what I can say is that by the nature of this process and helps elevate voices in a way that you don't see in a primary," Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price told reporters Friday. "We do have diversity here in the state and because of the caucus process, it is able to lift those voices up."

8:23 p.m. ABC News projects that President Donald Trump will win the Iowa Republican Caucuses.

Based on an analysis of the vote in so far, ABC News projects that Donald Trump will win the Iowa Republican Caucuses.

8:03 p.m. Liberals appear to dominate so far, preliminary ABC News exit poll results find

Liberals dominate in tonights Iowa Democratic caucuses, preliminary ABC News entrance poll results find  but ideology only goes so far: Far more caucus-goers are focused on defeating Donald Trump than on the candidate closest to them on the issues.

Sixty-seven percent of caucus goers identify themselves as liberals, nearly matching the record high in the 2016 entrance poll. At the same time, caucus-goers by 62-36% also say theyd rather see the party nominate the candidate with the best chance of winning in November than the one who agrees with you on major issues.

On one hotly debated issue, 60% support a single, government-run health insurance plan  an approach backed by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren  vs. 36% opposed. Candidate support follows, with better results for Sanders and Warren along among single-payer supporters than opponents.

Whatever that policy preference, health care is by far the top issue out of four that were tested in the entrance poll. Forty-one percent of Democratic caucus participants call health care the most important issue in their choice; of the rest, 21% t pick climate change; 17%, income inequality; and 14%, foreign policy.

Political independents account for two in 10 caucus-goers, on target with past years. There are fewer first-time caucus attendees  35%, vs. 44% in 2016 and even more, a record 57%, in 2008.

Among other groups, both younger and older caucus-goers are of interest, given their stark divergence in 2016 and in polling this year as well, with far stronger support for Sanders among younger voters. In preliminary results tonight, 42% of caucus-goers are younger than 45, about half of them under 30  both similar to four years ago. Across the age spectrum, 30% are seniors in these preliminary results  again similar to 2016, and a strong group for Joe Biden.

Demonstrating the greater challenges marshaling support in a crowded race, Sanders support among participants younger than 30 is running at about 50% tonight, vs. 84%in 2016. Hes also fallen off sharply among 30- to 44-year-olds. That said, Hillary Clinton won 69% of seniors in 2016; Biden is winning half as many tonight.

The entrance poll asked whom tonights caucus-goers backed in 2016: Fifty-six percent say Clinton, 30 percent Sanders and 14% someone else. Clinton and Sanders virtually tied four years ago. In this more crowded race, Sanders retains support from more than half of his 2016 backers this year.

Indicating fluidity in the closing days of the campaign, a third of caucus participants say they finally picked their candidate today or in the last few days  about twice as many as said so in 2016, 16%.

While Sanders and Warren do well in initial preference among supporters of a single-payer health care system, opponents of the idea go in another direction, more for Biden and Pete Buttigieg. Sanders is especially popular among very liberal caucusgoers, trailed by Warren, while moderates go more for Biden and Buttigieg. Compared with other candidates, Buttigiegs support is distributed most evenly among groups.

The entrance poll measures preferences among caucus-goers as they enter the caucuses. The state party will report these results, as well as results after those backing low-performing candidates get a second pick, in addition to, ultimately, final results based on convention delegate allocations

ABC News' pollster Gary Langer.

8:03 p.m. Early entrance poll estimates suggest 4-way race

Based on early entrance poll estimates, it looks like a four-person race so far between Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Buttigieg, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in initial preferences.

What to know about tonight: Iowa caucuses kick off 2020 race to the White House

PHOTO: Signage for the Iowa Caucuses hang in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, Jan. 25, 2020. (AFP via Getty Images, FILE)

In the last few weeks, most of the Democratic field -- aside from the four senators stuck inside the U.S. Senate chamber for Trumps impeachment trial -- have hunkered down in Iowa, making their strongest and most forceful play for caucusgoers, even if it means sharpening their attacks on each other.

(MORE: Inside the tiny Iowa community with an immigration politics paradox)

The candidates closing arguments, which are often threaded into their stump speeches and echoed in TV and digital ads, all center on a refined answer to the question of electability and also show the nuanced differences between the presidential hopefuls, particularly the top tier.
Medical team members from Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital bid farewell to their colleagues before setting off for Wuhan in Hubei Province, in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Feb. 3, 2020. A medical team comprised of 212 members from Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital set off on Monday to aid the coronavirus control efforts in Wuhan. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)
What could be more exciting than the Super Bowl? How about the prospect President Donald Trump will discuss K-12 education in his State of the Union address Tuesday?

Reportedly, Trump is going to push specifically for the Education Freedom Scholarships proposal that his administration released nearly a year ago .

Im grateful to the President for his strong support of this proposal from day one and look forward to Congress acting quickly on this bipartisan issue and putting students and their needs above all else, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said in a statement.

In last years State of the Union Trump declared that it was time for Congress to pass school choice although he didnt elaborate on that. Just over three weeks after that speech, DeVos unveiled her Education Freedom Scolarships proposal . DeVos recently highlighted that the legislation for these tax-credit scholarships in Congress reached 100 cosponsors . But that proposal is still very far from reaching the presidents desk.

But how have presidents discussed education in their election-year SOTU speeches? We went back to the past five such speeches for answers.

Heres one trend that stands out to us: Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama took positions on things like charter schools and content standards that seem pretty out of step with todays Democratic Party and the 2020 presidential candidates. Trump, on the other hand, has taken a page out of President George W. Bushs 2008 address.

Here are some highlights, with passages from each speech in block quotes from the transcripts.

President Bill Clinton in 2000

Clinton focused on shutting down low-performing schools, early education, and hiring more teachers in his final State of the Union. He also called for dramatically increasing the number of charter schoolsthe next Democratic president likely wont do the same .

"[A]ll successful schools have followed the same proven formula: higher standards, more accountability, and extra help so children who need it can get it to reach those standards. I have sent Congress a reform plan based on that formula. It holds States and school districts accountable for progress and rewards them for results. Each year, our National Government invests more than $15 billion in our schools. It is time to support what works and stop supporting what doesnt. ...

Lets double our investment to help States and districts turn around their worst performing schools or shut them down. Lets double our investments in after-school and summer school programs, which boost achievement and keep people off the streets and out of trouble. If we do this, we can give every single child in every failing school in Americaeveryonethe chance to meet high standards. ...

We know charter schools provide real public school choice. When I became President, there was just one independent public charter school in all America. Today, thanks to you, there are 1,700. I ask you now to help us meet our goal of 3,000 charter schools by next year.

President George W. Bush in 2004

Bush focused on the successful passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, which he signed in 2002, and also advanced coursework and increased federal aid to schools.

All skills begin with the basics of reading and math, which are supposed to be learned in the early grades of our schools. Yet for too long, for too many children, those skills were never mastered.

By passing the No Child Left Behind Act, you have made the expectation of literacy the law of our country.

Were providing more funding for our schools -- a 36 percent increase since 2001. We are requiring higher standards. We are regularly testing every child on the fundamentals. We are reporting results to parents and making sure they have better options when schools are not performing. We are making progress toward excellence for every child in America. ...

[T]onight I propose a series of measures called Jobs for the 21st Century. This program will provide extra help to middle- and high-school students who fall behind in reading and math, expand Advanced Placement programs in low-income schools, invite math and science professionals from the private sector to teach part-time in our high schools.

I propose larger Pell Grants for students who prepare for college with demanding courses in high school.

President George W. Bush in 2008

Bush was heading into the final year of his presidency. He praised the D.C. voucher program and said that too many children were being denied access to successful private schools.

Six years ago, we came together to pass the No Child Left Behind Act, and today no one can deny its results. Last year, fourth and eighth graders achieved the highest math scores on record. Reading scores are on the rise. African American and Hispanic students posted all-time highs. Now we must work together to increase accountability, add flexibility for states and districts, reduce the number of high school dropouts, provide extra help for struggling schools.

Members of Congress: The No Child Left Behind Act is a bipartisan achievement. It is succeeding. And we owe it to Americas children, their parents, and their teachers to strengthen this good law. ...

I ask you to support a new $300 million program called Pell Grants for Kids. We have seen how Pell Grants help low-income college students realize their full potential. Together, weve expanded the size and reach of these grants. Now let us apply that same spirit to help liberate poor children trapped in failing public schools.

President Barack Obama in 2012

Obama , heading into his re-election bid, made an indirect reference to his support for the Common Core State Standards. He also invoked President Abraham Lincoln when talking about common ground he had with Republicans.

"[T]o prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, our commitment to skills and education has to start earlier.

For less than 1 percent of what our nation spends on education each year, weve convinced nearly every state in the country to raise their standards for teaching and learningthe first time thats happened in a generation.

Teachers matter. So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, lets offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. And in return, grant schools flexibility: to teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just arent helping kids learn. Thats a bargain worth making. ...

Im a Democrat. But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more. Thats why my education reform offers more competition, and more control for schools and states. Thats why were getting rid of regulations that dont work. Thats why our health care law relies on a reformed private market, not a government program.

President Barack Obama in 2016

Obama mentioned No Child Left Behind with approval in his final State of the Union address, but didnt spend a lot of time on education in his address.

We agree that real opportunity requires every American to get the education and training they need to land a good-paying job. The bipartisan reform of No Child Left Behind was an important start, and together, weve increased early childhood education, lifted high school graduation rates to new highs, boosted graduates in fields like engineering. In the coming years, we should build on that progress, by providing Pre-K for all and offering every student the hands-on computer science and math classes that make them job-ready on day one. We should recruit and support more great teachers for our kids.

Photo: President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Follow us on Twitter @PoliticsK12 . And follow the Politics K-12 reporters @EvieBlad @Daarel and @AndrewUjifusa .
GUANGZHOU, China  One person was turned away by hotel after hotel after he showed his ID card. Another was expelled by fearful local villagers. A third found his most sensitive personal information leaked online after registering with authorities.

These outcasts are from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, where a rapidly spreading viral outbreak has killed more than 420 people in China and sent fear rippling around the world. They are pariahs in China, among the millions unable to go home and feared as potential carriers of the mysterious coronavirus.

All across the country, despite Chinas vast surveillance network with its facial recognition systems and high-end cameras that is increasingly used to track its 1.4 billion people, the government has turned to familiar authoritarian techniques  like setting up dragnets and asking neighbors to inform on one another  as it tries to contain the outbreak.

It took authorities about five days to contact Harmo Tang, a college student studying in Wuhan, after he returned to his hometown, Linhai, in eastern Zhejiang province. Tang said he had already been under self-imposed isolation when local officials asked for his personal information, including name, address, phone number, identity card number and the date he returned from Wuhan. Within days, the information began to spread online, along with a list of others who returned to Linhai from Wuhan.

Local officials offered no explanation but returned a few days later to fasten police tape to his door and hang a sign that warned neighbors that a Wuhan returnee lived there. The sign included an informant hotline to call if anyone saw him or his family leave the apartment. Tang said he received about four calls a day from different local government departments.

In reality theres not much empathy, he said. Its not a caring tone theyre using. Its a warning tone. I dont feel very comfortable about it.

Of course, China has a major incentive to track down potential carriers of the disease. The coronavirus outbreak has put parts of the country under lockdown, brought the worlds second-largest economy to a virtual standstill and erected walls between China and the rest of the world.

Still, even some government officials called for understanding as concerns about prejudice spread. Experts warned such marginalization of an already vulnerable group could prove counterproductive, further damaging public trust and sending those who should be screened and monitored deeper underground.

We are paying attention to this issue, Ma Guoqiang, the Chinese Communist Party secretary of Wuhan, said at a news conference there last Tuesday.

I believe that some people may label Hubei people or report them, but I also think most people will treat Hubei people with a good heart.

While networks of volunteers and Christian groups have been vocal about offering help, many local leaders have focused efforts on finding and isolating people from Hubei. On big screens and billboards, propaganda videos and posters warn people to stay inside, wear masks and wash hands.

In the northern province of Hebei, one county offered bounties of 1,000 yuan, or about $140, for each Wuhan person reported by residents. Images online showed towns digging up roads or deputizing men to block outsiders. Some apartment-building residents barricaded the doors of their towers with Chinas ubiquitous ride-share bikes.

In the eastern province of Jiangsu, quarantine turned to imprisonment after authorities used metal poles to barricade shut the door of a family recently returned from Wuhan. To get food, the family relied on neighbors who lowered provisions with a rope down to their back balcony, according to a local news report.

Scared for the safety of his children as conditions at home worsened, Andy Li, a tech worker from Wuhan traveling with his family in Beijing, rented a car and began driving south to Guangdong, an effort to find refuge with relatives there. In Nanjing, he was turned away from one hotel before getting a room at a luxury hotel.

There he set up a self-imposed family quarantine for four days, until local authorities ordered all people from Wuhan to move to a hotel next to the citys central rail station. Li said the quarantine hotel did not seem to be doing a good job isolating people. Food delivery workers came and went, while gaps in the doors and walls allowed drafts in.

Theyre only working to separate Wuhan people from Nanjing people, Li said. They dont care at all if Wuhan people infect each other.

To help, he stuffed towels and tissues under the door to block the drafts.

Im not complaining about the government," Li said. There will always be loopholes in policy. But in a selfish way Im just really worried about my children.

Across the country, the response from local authorities often resembles the mass mobilizations of the Mao era rather than the technocratic, data-driven wizardry depicted in propaganda about Chinas emerging surveillance state. They have also turned to techniques Beijing used to fight the outbreak of SARS, another deadly disease, in 2002 and 2003, when China was much less technologically sophisticated.

Checkpoints to screen people for fevers have popped up at tollbooths, at the front gates of apartment complexes and in hotels, grocery stores and train stations. Often those wielding the thermometer guns dont hold them close enough to a persons forehead, generating unusually low temperature readings. Such checks were worthless, for instance, against one man in the western province of Qinghai, whom police are investigating on suspicion that he covered up his symptoms to travel.

Authorities have used computerized systems that track ID cards  which must be used to take most long-distance transport and stay in hotels  to round up people from Wuhan. Yet one article about the ID system in The Peoples Daily, the mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party, included a plea to all passengers on affected flights and trains to report themselves.

The campaigns have turned life upside down in unexpected ways. Jia Yuting, a 21-year-old student in Wuhan, had already been back in her hometown in central China for 18 days  longer than the 14-day quarantine period  when she got news her grandfather was sick in a nearby village. During a visit to see him, she followed local instructions broadcast on speakers in the village and registered her personal details with the local Communist Party Committee.

When a middle-school teacher randomly reached out to her on the messaging app WeChat to inquire about her health, she realized her data had been leaked online and was spreading on a list. Later, she received a threatening phone call from a man who lived in her home city.

Why did you come back Wuhan? You should have stayed there. You Wuhan dog! she recalled him saying.

Authorities offered her no explanation for how it happened, and insisted such leaks did not disrupt her regular life. Three days after her visit to the village, her grandfather died. Local officials there immediately told her family that she would not be allowed to return to the village to pay her final respects at a funeral that was taking place more than three weeks after she had returned from Wuhan.

I feel that the villagers are ignorant and the government isnt helping; instead its leaking the information everywhere without telling them that I dont have any symptoms, she said, adding that she felt guilty she could not be there to comfort her grandmother.

I was very close to my grandfather. I think its not humane  its cruel.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 18:07 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206288653 1 Business China,coronavirus,China-Indonesia,Wuhan-coronavirus,trade-minister,Trade,imports Free

Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xiao Qian has said that he is very concerned about Indonesias plan to possibly impose food import restrictions from China as fears grow that the coronavirus could spread into the country through imported goods.

I think if Indonesia implements the restriction, there will be a negative impact, he told the press in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He went on to say that there was currently no evidence that the 2019-nCoV virus could spread from imported items and that the trade restriction was against the World Health Organizations recommendation.

Indonesia is set to temporarily stop imports of live animals from China and is mulling a plan to ban imports of other products, including food and beverages.

Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto told reporters on Monday that the measure would be put in place as soon as Tuesday and would remain in place until the virus is contained.

Read also: Indonesia to decide whether to ban more Chinese imports over coronavirus concerns

The minister said that Indonesia will obviously stop live animal imports from China while also considering banning other products. He added that the government would only stop imports of products that could potentially spread the coronavirus.

Such a decision would be detrimental to our trade relations and can cause effects that we do not want to see, Xiao said, adding that China had been Indonesias largest trading partner for eight years with a positive trade trend.

Indonesia imported US$44.5 billion worth of non-oil and gas products from China throughout 2019, representing almost 30 percent of overall such imports into Indonesia. The country imports garlic and fruit, among other products, from China.

Indonesia also imposed a travel ban to and from China starting at 12 a.m. on Monday to prevent the spread of the deadly and highly contagious novel coronavirus. The travel ban, originally imposed on Jan. 23 for those traveling to and from Wuhan city only, was expanded to include the entire country.

[The ban] actually harms Indonesias tourism and economy, Xiao said, adding that the impact from the restrictive measures still needed to be assessed. (eyc)
California bill seeks takeover of nation's largest utility

California State Senator Scott Wiener has introduced legislation that would force taxpayers to buy PG&E and make it a public entity. Taxpayers would borrow money to purchase all shares of PG&E, and local governments would have a chance to buy pieces of the network to start their own municipal power districts. The proposal comes on the heels of PG&E filing for bankruptcy and threats from Governor Gavin Newsom to take over the utility if PG&E does not make acceptable changes.

California voters to eye expanded rent control in November

A new measure could expand renter protections across the state. A new measure headed to the ballot in November would allow cities and counties to implement and expand rent control policies that limit how much rents can increase each year. Back in 2018, voters rejected a similar initiative after a $100 million battle between advocates and the real estate industry.

District map controversy in Chico

An important vote is expected tonight as the Chico City Council will decide on the new map that could leave thousands without a council member representing them. Chico City Council passed the new district map a few weeks ago. People in District one, three, five and 7 will be voting for council this year. Those in two, four, and six must wait until 2022. District four includes neighborhoods shown in the green, near west Shasta Avenue and the Esplanade. To view those maps, CLICK HERE.

Oroville City Council set to focus on voting districts

Happening today, the Oroville City Council will hold a second public hearing focusing on voting districts. A consulting firm specializing in redistricting and elections will give a presentation, outlining various options. The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. at the city council chambers.

Redding faces possible water, sewer utility rate hike

Also this Tuesday, the Redding City Council is set to consider a water and sewer utility rate hike. The council will be holding a public hearing. If there is not a majority who oppose it, the council will adopt the resolution and the rates will be higher for the billing period that begins March 1st. That meeting is at 6 p.m. at the Redding City Council Chambers.

Major funds work into wildfire prevention projects

CAL FIRE can now make use of $67 million in grant money designed to help to maintain healthy forests and cutting wildfire risks. The money covers 130,000 acres worth of projects like thinning dense trees and brush, cutting back fuels and planning for drought, insects, and disease. Some of the cleared growth will be converted to bioenergy.

SCSO: Man stabs brother, leads to arrest

An argument between brothers leads to violence and one man behind bars. It happened in Burney. The Shasta County Sheriff's Office says the victim Ken Herrington, called to report the situation. He said he had been arguing with his brother, Alan who was drunk. He said this brother grabbed a knife from the kitchen and attacked Ken. Alan is now in the Shasta County Jail.

K-9 leads Redding Police to suspect after hit-and-run

Law enforcement In Shasta County working from both the ground and air managed to nab a man wanted for a hit and run accident. Redding police said Orlando Javier Ramos was involved in a crash at the intersection of Cedars Road and Westside but then took off on foot. With the help of a K-9 on the ground and CHP officers in a helicopter, officers found Ramos hiding under a bush at a nearby trailer park. He is now charged with leaving the scene of an accident and resisting arrest.
Justine de Jesus, a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, went to CAPS during her sophomore year when she became overwhelmed with school. Read more

When Justine de Jesus began her freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017, she often wished that she had someone to talk to about the unique challenges of being an international student: homesickness, cultural differences, and such remarks from other students as Where are you from?, Ive never heard of that place, Wow, your English is so good.

My friends at the time were also mainly international students, so we were just all echoing each other, said de Jesus, who is originally from the Philippines but grew up in Singapore. We were not really finding solutions.

On top of those challenges, mental health wasnt widely discussed in the Philippines or Singapore, de Jesus said. She said that when she chose to go to Penns Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) for the first time in her sophomore year because of stress from schoolwork, being able to admit that she needed help was a significant moment.

The hardest part was not necessarily that there was an extreme lack of resources, but the fear of talking about mental health, de Jesus said.

International students often struggle with adjustment on all levels, from language barriers to harder classes to homesickness. Tasks such as going to the bank or scheduling a doctors appointment can be extremely stressful, which can lead to self-doubt and lower self-esteem, making students more susceptible to anxiety and depression.

Global news events taking place in their home countries can add to their stress, such as the recent coronavirus outbreak in China. Racist reactions, as have been reported in the U.S., only pile on the pressure.

Seeking out help can be challenging  like other students, international students say they often wait too long for appointments. But they also struggle with opening up due to cultural stigma, and then face mental-health professionals who have too little understanding of their cultures to be truly helpful.

Demand is way beyond supply

In 2019, nearly 52,000 international students were enrolled at universities in Pennsylvania, giving the commonwealth the sixth-highest international student population in the country. More than 40% of students were from China, followed by India at 15.4%.

In fall 2018, Temple University had 3,171 international students, who made up 7.9% of the student body. The University of Pennsylvania had 5,333 international students enrolled in its 2019 undergraduate- and graduate-level programs, while international students made up 10.1% of Drexel Universitys most recent incoming class.

Theres a lot of variation among international students needs, said Suzanne Chong, a staff psychologist at Ursinus College in Collegeville and a therapist based in Center City who offers sessions in Cantonese, Malay, and Mandarin. Some colleges are more willing to acknowledge limits, which means hiring people who can work with them. Other colleges take on a lot of students, but then they get overwhelmed, and thats where you have issues.

A 2010 study published in the Journal of American College Health found that although international graduate students were as likely as domestic graduate students to report a mental-health issue that significantly affected their well-being or academic performance within the past year, they were less likely to be aware of available counseling services. The study found that only 33% of international students had considered using mental-health services, versus 56% of domestic students.

Chong, who is originally from Malaysia, said that Asian students can often feel too ashamed to ask for help.

When it comes to East Asian cultures, you only see a psychologist or psychiatrist when youre really, really struggling, Chong said. People think Asian Americans have better mental health because they present fewer symptoms. But when Asian Americans present with symptoms, theres more impairment, more dysfunction.

A recent study published in the Journal of International Students last year by University of Delaware researchers found that out of 490 international students, 45.3% met the clinically significant screening cut-off for depression, and 24.7% screened positive for moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. Undergraduate students tended to report higher rates for both.

Zheya Jenny Yu, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Penns Perelman School of Medicine, said that an international student who struggles with adjustment experiences a lot of anxiety and depression. She said that, when most international students arrive, they go through a honeymoon stage of culture shock, when things are exciting and emotions are pleasant. But then some people may start feeling frustrated from experiencing communication difficulties or cultural gaps.

A combination of those things can culminate in thoughts like, You dont belong here, or You dont want to be here, Yu said. Ive seen some teenagers who are studying here, who are not assimilating. Theyre not communicating with their peers here and often choose to communicate in Chinese on social media with kids back in China. Their worlds are not here, but their bodies are here.

Inclusivity is key

In February 2014, Jack Park, then a junior at Penn, wrote a Tumblr post about his failed suicide attempt during his freshman year. It got wide circulation because he wrote it for Active Minds, the universitys chapter of the nonprofit organization raising mental-health awareness among college students. At the bottom of the post, Park, who grew up in Seoul, South Korea, listed his email so students who were struggling after the 2014 suicides of Madison Holleran and Elvis Hatcher, who died just a few weeks apart, could reach out. He ended up speaking with more than 100 students, both offline and online.

Park, now 26, said it wasnt until after he arrived at Penn that he began to experience depressive episodes.

He scheduled an appointment with CAPS, but the staff there categorized him as a mild case at intake and made him wait weeks while more serious cases were handled. Park, who was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder, said his depression rapidly worsened and he became suicidal while waiting. Being away from home added to his feeling of isolation.

I had a great close-knit community of Korean students at Penn, Park said in an email. I just thought I had nobody, with my depression taking over my mind and fogging up my perceptions.

Park, who is now interning in a counseling center in South Korea after graduating with a masters of theology degree from Yonsei University, said that in a perfect world, college counseling centers should offer international specialists from many major cultural backgrounds. But he acknowledged their limited resources, and instead suggested the expansion of heritage centers where students can build informal, supportive relationships on campus.

Korean students, and many other students, dont share their hardships easily, he said. Getting to know the students personally can help heritage center faculty become a better support network with common immigrant backgrounds.

Hider Shaaban, a doctoral extern in psychology at Temples Tuttleman Counseling Services, said that most college counseling centers care about multicultural competence. Shaaban, who grew up in Iraq and came to the United States as a refugee with his family in 2009, said that hes been seeing more training and seminars about cultural sensitivity within therapy.

People from many other countries dont have access to this sort of health care, Shaaban said. Sometimes I have to start with very basic psychoeducation, like what thoughts and feelings are and what their functions are.

Focusing on resilience

Saad Haye, who co-owns Live Better Therapeutic Services in West Philadelphia and offers services in Urdu and Hindi, said that international students often internalize their mental-health struggles because those issues are seen as weaknesses.

All youre getting from people around you are examples of people who have made it, said Haye, who is from Pakistan. And first-generation parents are often in a mode where theyre trying to fix things. Parents will say, Its because youre not exercising, its not like this is an actual problem, so lets try to fix it. Its much harder for them to actually understand it.

Leilei Duan, a Mandarin-speaking therapist based in Center City, said that in her sessions with students, she focuses on their personal strengths to draw out the resilience that brought them here in the first place. She also said that she sets reasonable goals, such as making more of an effort to make friends after normalizing the anxieties that the students face.

We practice socializing with peers and professors, Duan said. And I encourage them to join some social groups. I make sure they know that its going to take some time to adjust and adapt to life here. But if you shut yourself off from the outside, then you have no opportunity to practice taking the steps that lead to that.

De Jesus, now a 20-year-old junior studying cognitive neuroscience and visual studies at Penn, eventually found her footing. She recently became the president of the Assembly of International Students, which helps organize international student orientation. The assembly is currently trying out a program to work with CAPS to train students on how to have conversations about mental health so that students can better reach their peers who are uncomfortable going directly to CAPS.

I see my friends who come from countries where theres such a huge stigma surrounding these kinds of topics mostly go to their friends, de Jesus said. Reaching out to people from home can be an added barrier. But CAPS does offer services in an incredible amount of languages, and if more students knew that, I think they would feel more comfortable approaching CAPS. So were making more of an active effort to demystify what goes on at CAPS.
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Boris Johnson faces a legal fight to keep terrorists locked up after Labour's Shami Chakrabarti and civil rights groups today hinted they could challenge an emergency law to stop terrorists being automatically released.

The Prime Minister wants to pass legislation over the next 10 days to stop terrorists being automatically freed half way through their sentence without going before a parole board, under rules introduced by the Labour government in 2003.

The government could also bypass European human rights laws to make the legislation law by 'derogating' - effectively suspending - the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in order to apply the strict new measures.

Although Britain left the EU on January 31, the ECHR is a separate treaty between 47 European countries, with the option to derogate 'in time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation'.

Human rights and civil liberties activists are already lining up to challenge Boris Johnson's emergency law, and could use the ECHR to ultimately contest it because it contains rulings on restrospective legislation.

If the suspension of the ECHR was successfully challenged, the government could leave the ECHR - something previous prime ministers including David Cameron and Theresa May both considered before the Brexit referendum.

Johnson could use his 80-strong majority to easily pass legislation withdrawing from the ECHR - but critics argue that the Convention is signed by Russia and Turkey and leaving would give those countries a moral boost.

In the meantime, Labour shadow attorney general Shami Chakrabarti today indicated she was against retrospectively changing terrorists' sentences and civil rights group Liberty called the plan 'dangerous'.

It comes after terrorist Sudesh Amman stabbed two people in London on Sunday before being shot dead by police. Amman had been automatically freed from prison half way through his sentence, despite boasting of his plans for a terror attack.

Scroll down for the 18 terrorists who are set to be freed automatically in months

Shami Chakrabarti (left) indicated she was not against automatic release being replaced for those terror offenders sentenced in the future but urged caution for those who had already been sentenced. Pictured on the right is Boris Johnson

Both automatically freed early: London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan, left, killed two in December after being automatically released from prison. Sudesh Amman, 20, was also released automatically before stabbing two people in Streatham on Sunday

Controversial rulings of the European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights based in Strasbourg, France, rules on alleged breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights. Many of its rulings have sparked controversy. Prisoners' vote: In 2005 the court ruled that banning prisoners from being able to cast a ballot at elections was unlawful and in breach of their human rights. The ruling sparked a political firestorm and was fiercely resisted by the UK. Religious discrimination: In 2013 the ECHR ruled that a British Airways employee had suffered discrimination at work over her religious beliefs after she was made to stop wearing a gold cross. Whole-life sentences: In July 2013 the court ruled that whole-life sentences breached a prisoner's human rights. Judges concluded that such sentences had to be reviewed at some point in order to offer the chance of parole. Advertisement

What is the European Convention on Human Rights and why is Britain still in it? Although Britain left the EU on January 31, the European Convention on Human Rights is a separate treaty that the country still has to abide by. The ECHR came into force in 1953 and involves 47 countries - known as the Council of Europe - agreeing to uphold a series of human rights and political freedoms. If a citizen of a member country believes their national government has broken the convention, they can pursue them to the European Court of Human Rights. The court has the power to issue judgments which member states must abide by. However, there is an option to derogate - or effectively suspend - the convention 'in time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation'. This is one possible path for Boris Johnson's government as they seek to amend automatic sentences, although any attempt to claim a 'public emergency' would result in a rash of legal challenges. Advertisement

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Ms Chakrabarti said 'I do not support changing people's sentences', before admitting there was a 'grey area' it certain cases.

Ms Chakrabarti told Today: 'For people who are going to be convicted and sentenced in the future, I think it would be hard in principle to object to automatic release being replaced with a discretionary release in the hands of an independent parole board.

'The trickier question is  about people who've already been sentenced and the suggestion is when they were sentenced the judge knew they would be subject to automatic release at a certain point and now that will no longer be automatic.

'It is obviously for the government to demonstrate that they're proposing to change the administration of the sentence, rather than the sentence itself and they're going to have to demonstrate that to the courts.'

Asked if she would support that move, she replied: 'I do not support changing people's sentences but there is a grey area about what is the fundamental part of the sentence and what is the administration of the sentence and it's really for the government to construct that to make it defensible in the court.'

At least 18 more terrorists are due to be freed from prison without a review within months under laws passed by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's governments in 2003 and 2008. No10 refused to be drawn today on whether they would be allowed out in the interim.

Intervening in the debate today, the human rights group Liberty said it would be 'dangerous' to increase people's sentences retrospectively.

Clare Collier, an advocacy director for the campaign group, said: 'From last month's knee-jerk lie detector proposal, to today's threat to break the law by changing people's sentences retrospectively, continuing to introduce measures without review or evidence is dangerous and will create more problems than it solves.

'It's clear the UK's counter-terror system is in chaos and desperately needs proper scrutiny and review.'

The Prime Minster's emergency legislation would stop automatic release when it comes into force - but legal experts say it will 'certainly' be challenged by human rights lawyers acting for the terrorists.

In a move set to cause further controversy, Michael Gove today said convicted terrorists should be imprisoned indefinitely 'if necessary'.

Mr Gove, a former justice secretary and now minister for the Cabinet Office, was asked on Sky News this morning if he believed terrorists should be detained indefinitely and he replied: 'If necessary, yes.'

'If you have people who are in the grip of an ideology, that ideology means they want to kill innocent people in order to advance a particular religious and political view, they are a danger to society,' he said.

His words may provoke human rights lawyers who are set to try and overturn the measures in court by arguing that it is unfair to change the terms of individuals' sentences retrospectively.

Home Secretary Priti Patel today defended the government's failure to close a loophole that sees terrorists automatically released from prison after serving half of their sentences.

'We've been working on this for 6 months, I've been Home Secretary for 6 months and it wasn't until the incident with Usman Khan, which was Fishmongers Hall, that is when we announced that we would bring in new legislation through a Counter Terrorism Bill,' she said.

Armed police shot dead terrorist Sudesh Amman, who was wearing a fake suicide vest, after he grabbed a knife from a shop and a female nursery teacher and another man

Michael Gove says convicted terrorists could be imprisoned INDEFINITELY Michael Gove today said convicted terrorists should be imprisoned indefinitely 'if necessary' as the government moved forward with proposals to toughen sentencing laws. Boris Johnson is facing the prospect of a bitter court battle over plans to keep unreformed offenders in jail by scrapping automatic early release. Mr Gove, a former justice secretary and now minister for the Cabinet Office, was asked on Sky News this morning if he believed terrorists should be detained indefinitely and he replied: 'If necessary, yes.' 'If you have people who are in the grip of an ideology, that ideology means they want to kill innocent people in order to advance a particular religious and political view, they are a danger to society,' he said. 'Until we know that they are comprehensively de-radicalised and that it is safe to have those people on our streets then public protection must come first.' Advertisement

She added on This Morning: 'Those two individuals [Khan and Sudesh] did not go up in front of anybody they did not go through a parole board process. They were not assessed, they were not checked over essentially. They were not assessed on their conduct in prison and if they were suitable to be released.

'My own view, and the Prime Minister agrees as well, we cannot keep having terrorist offenders we've got to stop that, we've got to stop them from having early release and this automatic release where they're not checked and they're not sitting in front of a parole board.'

The law was announced last night by Justice Secretary Robert Buckland in the wake of the latest atrocity on London's streets.

Sudesh Amman was shot dead by police around a minute after launching an attack on two bystanders in Streatham High Road, south London, on Sunday. A third person was injured by flying glass during the gunfire.

The 20-year-old, who was jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents in December 2018, was freed from prison under automatic early release provisions less than a fortnight ago.

Mr Buckland said yesterday that emergency legislation was needed to make sure terrorists are not released automatically from prison half way through their sentence.

Ministers 'were warned two years ago about wave of terrorists due for release' Ministers were accused of ignoring warnings from security officials who apparently said two years ago that they were worried about the number of terrorists eligible for automatic early release. Kevan Jones, a Labour MP, said concerns had been raised by the security services with Parliament's intelligence and security committee of which he was a member. Mr Jones told the Evening Standard the government had known 'for at least a year and a half' that individuals who 'posed a serious risk' were due to be released. He said ministers needed to now detail what they did at the time to respond to the concerns. Advertisement

A No 10 source said the law would be introduced this week ahead of a package of measures expected later this year that could include a beefed-up role for the Parole Board. The legislation should complete its passage through Parliament before the Commons rises for half-term on February 13.

Crucially ministers want plans for the law to apply to those already in prison for terror crimes, as well as those jailed in future.

But legal experts predicted a wave of court challenges to plans to apply the new rules to prisoners who have already been sentenced. Human rights lawyers are expected to argue that it is not fair to apply the changes retrospectively.

Former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Lord Carlile told BBC2's Newsnight: 'I think it may have gone too far.

'The decision to lengthen the sentences of people who have already been sentenced, and therefore expected to be serving half the sentence the judge imposed upon them, may be in breach of the law.

'It is certainly going to be challenged... there will certainly be court cases about that particular provision.'

Geoffrey Robertson QC, head of Doughty Street Chambers, told the Telegraph that a challenge to the new law would 'probably' be successful.

'This smacks of panic legislation that has not been properly thought through,' he said.

Home Secretary Priti Patel told viewers of This Morning: 'My own view, and the Prime Minister agrees as well, we cannot keep having terrorist offenders we've got to stop that, we've got to stop them from having early release'

Dominic Grieve QC, former attorney general and former chairman of the intelligence and security committee, said: 'I don't think that retrospectively you can change the law for prisoners already in jail. It is rather problematic.'

But former director of Public Prosecutions Lord Macdonald told Sky News said he believed the government will be able to fend off attempts to overturn the measures, arguing that it is only proposing to change the way sentences are implemented. 'I think it is allowed to do that,' he told Sky News.

Promising 'fundamental changes' earlier in the wake of the attack, Mr Johnson said:

'We are bringing forward legislation to stop the system of automatic early release. The difficulty is how to apply retrospectively to the cohort of people who currently qualify.

'It is time to take action to ensure, irrespective of the law we are bringing in, people in the current stream don't qualify automatically for early release.'

Mr Buckland told MPs offenders will not be considered for release until they have served two-thirds of their sentence, and that no terrorists will be released before the end of their full custodial term unless the Parole Board agrees.

The Parole Board would be 'strengthened' to deal more effectively with the risks that terrorists pose and steps would be taken to introduce the plans 'as soon as possible', he said.

The Government will also consider making new legislation to ensure that extremists are more closely monitored on release and will review whether the current maximum sentences for terrorist offences are sufficient.

Police said Amman began stabbing the victims about 60 seconds after entering a shop, where he stole a knife and removed the packaging as he ran from a staff member.

A former prisoner who spent time with Amman in Belmarsh high-security prison told The Times: 'The guy was definitely insane and he never hid his intentions, so it's crazy how he even got out of jail.'

The man reportedly said Amman wanted to copy the murder of MP Jo Cox and told him 'the only way to get these filthy kafirs (non-believers) out of Syria is to take out MPs like that white guy did with the lady in 2016'.

The former inmate told the newspaper that Amman 'wanted to do something real, something organised like the (IRA) used to do'.

IS supporter Amman, who at the time of his sentencing was 18 and living in Harrow, smirked as he was jailed for three years and four months at the Old Bailey in December 2018.

The Metropolitan Police said he was released from prison on January 23 2020.

Scotland Yard said armed officers were following Amman on foot as part of a 'proactive counter-terrorism surveillance operation' when the incident took place.

The PM's spokesman said: 'We are going to ensure that we will bring forward the necessary legislation to protect the public because that's the right thing to do.'

When asked if the Government remained committed to upholding the ECHR, the spokesman added: 'We are signatories to the ECHR.'

The wave of 18 terrorists counting down the days to their automatic early release as Boris Johnson races to pass law keeping them off YOUR streets

These are the faces of 18 extremists who are set to be back on Britain's streets within months under existing laws which allow them to be released midway through their prison sentences.

Yesterday, Boris Johnson vowed to overhaul this current system and stop 220 terrorists from being freed early.

Terrorists are currently freed after serving half or two-thirds of a sentence, depending on when they were jailed and the type of punishment imposed.

Some may have had to serve longer if their behaviour behind bars was disruptive.

The Prison Service refuses to discuss individuals, but the Daily Mail and MailOnline below names convicted terrorists thought to be due to be eligible for release this year - yet are among the extremists now in jail likely to be affected by the Prime Minister's plan.

Mohammed Ahmed and Yusuf Sarwar: 'Fundamentalist pair' who were 'intent on jihad' were jailed for 13 years after leaving Britain to join al-Qaida-linked terror group

Mohammed Ahmed (left) and Yusuf Sarwar (right) were jailed 15 years and three months in 2015 for preparation of terrorist acts. Their earliest release date is November

Yusuf Sarwar and Mohammed Nahin Ahmed were jailed in 2014 for going to Syria to join rebel fighters.

The pair, from Birmingham, were sentenced for engaging in conducts in preparation of terrorist acts.

At the time of sentencing, the judge imposed an extended licence period of five years. They could be back on the streets in November.

Judge Michael Topolski described the two men as 'deeply committed to violent extremism'.

He said they had 'willingly, enthusiastically and with a great deal of purpose, persistence and determination embarked on a course intended to commit acts of terrorism'.

West Midlands Police said they were first alerted to the case when Sarwar's parents reported him missing last year.

The two friends travelled to Syria in May 2013, where they are believed to have spent eight months with the al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group affiliated with al-Qaeda.

Moinuk Abedin: Britain's first al-Qaeda inspired terrorist was jailed for 20 years in February 2002

Moinul Abedin was jailed 20 years in 2002 for intent to cause an explosion. Earliest release date: November

Moinul Abedin was arrested in November 2000, after police discovered bomb-making material at a rented property in Birmingham. His earliest release date is November.

Abedin, 27 at the time of his trial, lived in a terraced house in Sparkbrook, Birmingham with his young family, but rented a house nearby.

Detectives found nearly 100kg of chemicals used to manufacture the explosive HMTD.

He claimed that he and a co-defendant, who was acquitted, were setting up a fireworks business.

At the time of his sentence, current terror laws did not exist and he was prosecuted under the 1883 Explosives Act.

The terms of the 1883 legislation meant the evidence which was heard in the trial concentrated on the explosives and not Abedin's connections or any potential plot.

It was not until 2007, five years after his conviction and nearly seven after his arrest, the security services acknowledged his significance.

Now Abedin's name appears on the MI5's list of terrorists convicted this century.

Aras Hamid was jailed eight years in 2016 for preparing acts of terrorism

Aras Hamid (right) was jailed for eight years in 2016 for preparing acts of terrorism. His earliest release is May

Aras Mohammed Hamid, then aged 27, was jailed for seven years for preparing acts of terrorism after he tried to join Islamic State fighters in Iraq.

He was jailed along with friend Shivan Hayder Azeez Zangana, 21, who was sentenced to three years in prison.

Azeez of Sheffield, was sent to the UK by his family to keep him safe after battling extremists with the Kurdish Peshmerga separatist group.

He was turned by fellow Kurd, asylum-seeker Hamid, and agreed to change sides and go with him to fight for so-called Islamic State.

The pair were discovered by police sleeping at a Birmingham mosque days after Azeez's relatives had called 999 with concerns.

He had fled his home and bought a plane ticket to Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq. Hamid was found two days later in a lorry on the A2 trying to flee the UK with a fake passport.

His earliest release date is May.

Muslim convert Patrick Kabele who tried to join ISIS was jailed for six years

Patrick Kabele (left) jailed six years for preparation of terrorist acts. Earliest release: February

Muslim convert Patrick Kabele, 32, who tried to join ISIS was jailed for six years after police discovered a diary in which he said he wanted to buy a nine-year-old slave girl,

The scaffolder from Willesden, North London, was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court and jailed for six years with an extended licence of four years in May 2017.

The jury was not aware that Kabele had expressed violent sentiments towards women, writing in one entry about 'seeding some women over here, UK white.'

In another entry, he wrote: 'My plan remains the same. It's only my [attitude] towards women and children, ie not giving a f***.

'I am talking seeding women. Chinese, Indian, whatever. In Uganda, multiple wives and s*** on the side.'

In the diary, which was found on his phone as he tried to leave the country, Kabele said he had a 'death wish' and wanted to die young.

Kabele was found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism by trying to get to Syria. He could be released this month.

Jamshed Javeed was jailed six years in 2015 for preparing acts of terrorism

Jamshed Javeed was jailed for six years in 2015 for preparing to fight with ISIS in Syria. His earliest release date is March

Radicalised chemistry teacher Jamshed Javeed was jailed for six years in 2015 for preparing to fight with ISIS in Syria.

Police said the 30-year-old was 'determined' to leave his job and 'fight jihadi' but his family, including his pregnant wife, grabbed his 'go bag' of money, supplies and his passport.

He had intended to travel with a man he had met only three months beforehand but could not travel without his documents.

When he applied for a new passport and received it last December anti-terror police swooped and arrested him.

Javeed taught 11 to 16-year-old pupils at Sharples High School in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

His brother Mohammad Azzam, 19, is missing and presumed dead in Syria after travelling there last September.

Javeed also admitted to transferring 1,400 into his brother's account to pay for his and a friend's flights to the warzone shortly before his own arrest.

The other man was Anil Khalil Raoufi, 20, from Didsbury, who died in the fighting in 2015.

His earliest release date is March.

Imam's son who claimed he travelled to Syrian border because he was 'stressed over his A-levels'

Zakariya Ashiq (left) was jailed for six years in 2015 for preparing for terrorism. His earliest release is November

Zakariya Ashiq was jailed for six years after dropping out of his A-level studies and travelling to Turkey with his imam father to join ISIS.

Ashiq made recordings on WhatsApp telling friends 'there is no life without Jihad' and 'the second I get a chance I am doing martydom'.

When he was caught, the 20-year-old told police he was 'studying A-levels exams and becoming stressed' and said he had planned to go to Egypt but his father had persuaded him to go to Turkey instead.

Ashiq described how his mother travelled out to Turkey and tricked him into meeting her before taking his passport and escorting him home.

On his return Ashiq began working in a tyre warehouse and engaged in conversations on the website known as ChatRoulette which pairs random people around the world for conversations over webcameras.

In the conversations Ashiq told one person he met, speaking in Arabic: 'Thanks Allah, the Islamic State is lived by Muslims. They kill the infidels and the apostates.'

He encouraged another person to join the Islamic State, telling them: 'It's easy to join dawla [the State]they will pay u good wagefind u a wiferespond to the calling brotherimmigrate to the State of Islam.'

On July 11, Ashiq made a second attempt to travel abroad, this time telling police who stopped him at Birmingham Airport that he was heading for Kavos in Corfu because he didn't want to take part in Ramadan and his parents were strict and he had begun to 'rebel against them.'

He was then charged with preparing acts of terrorism and jailed for six years in 2015. His earliest release date is November.

Fahim Adam jailed 30 months in February 2019 for having documents useful for terrorism. Earliest release: May

Terror magazine collector who was caught after police seized his phone while investigating a car crash

Fahim Adam first came to police attention after he was caught up in a car crash in November 2017, prompting officers to seize his phone.

After analysing the device, they found he had downloaded several extremists magazines which encouraged people to commit acts of terrorism and provided information about how attacks could be carried out.

They included two editions of the ISIS propaganda publication 'Rumiyah' which gave Jihadists tips on how to carry out random 'lone wolf' knife strikes.

The 30-year-old, from Blackburn, was charged with possessing information useful to terrorism and jailed for 30 months in February 2019.

He is due for release within months.

Teenager jailed for five years for sharing beheading videos on WhatsApp

Mohammed Khilji was jailed for five years in June 2018 for sharing graphic beheading videos on WhatsApp.

The 19-year-old first came to the attention of police after he posted a video on YouTube in which he had digitally altered footage of a wargame video to make it appear that the featured soldiers were Daesh fighters.

Khilji had superimposed black Daesh flags on the 'Battlefield' video and overlaid it with a terrorist battle song and a quote from a Daesh propaganda magazine.

Mohammed Khilji (left) jailed five years for encouraging terrorism. Earliest release: March

Detectives searched his home on 4 July, recovering his mobile phone and a computer.

Experts examined the devices and found he had been sharing graphic videos of Daesh beheading soldiers and videos, calling for violence against non-Muslims.

One of the videos included footage of the 2017 Westminster terror attack, and concluded by offering the viewer advice on preparing a vehicle-borne bomb.

Khilji was eventually found guilty of eight counts of encouraging terrorism.

His earliest release date will be March.

Extremist who threatened to kill police officers while he was on an official deradicalisation programme

Meanwhile Mohammed Ghani jailed 28 months in May 2019 for possessing documents containing terrorist information. Earliest release: March

Mohammed Hamza Ghani told officers he found terror magazines 'entertaining and informative' when they were found in his possession.

Officers search the 28-year-old's home in Barnet after he phoned 999 and the anti-terrorist hotline and claiming he was looking to kill 'people or police'.

Ghani was already known to officials because he was undergoing the Channel intervention programme after expressing extremist views.

When officers visited him at home, the terrorist confessed that electronic devices in his bedroom contained electronic copies of terrorist magazines, including Isis and al-Qaeda propaganda.

Commander Clarke Jarrett, head of the Metropolitan Police counterterror command, said: 'The officer seized his devices, including USB sticks and a laptop, and these were later analysed by digital forensic specialists. They did indeed contain terrorist publications, featuring horrendous articles about how to make different types of bombs, where to carry out terrorist attacks and how to assassinate people.'

When police asked him about the magazines, which included an issue commemorating the 11 September 2011 terror attacks, Ghani said he considered them 'entertaining and informative'.

Ghani was jailed for 28 months in May 2019. His earliest release date is March.

Fanatic who left terror propaganda inside the shoes of Muslim worshippers while they were praying

Omar Ashfaq left memory sticks containing terrorist propaganda inside shoes while Muslim worshippers were praying. His earliest release date is September

Omar Ashfaq left memory sticks containing terrorist propaganda inside shoes while Muslim worshippers were praying.

One was found by a nine-year-old boy who had gone to the mosque with his father and older brother.

During Ramadan in May and June 2018, the 24-year-old travelled to mosques in Luton, Derby, Loughborough, Coventry and Birmingham to leave extremist and violent material.

On Friday 1 June, three USB drives containing imagery and words promoting and encouraging terrorism, were found in the shoes of people attending a mosque in Leicestershire.

The following day the same thing happened at two mosques in Bedfordshire, in which four USB drives in total were found. Five drives were also discovered at a mosque in the West Midlands.

Two days later another three devices were found at a Derbyshire mosque. A further stick was discovered at another mosque in the West Midlands shortly after.

Worshippers who found the memory sticks informed mosque authorities who were able to identify Ashfaq from CCTV footage and notified the police.

The suspect, formerly from Derby, was arrested and a search of his home and a vehicle uncovered numerous bags of USB sticks as well as notes outlining his plans.

One document labelled 'Target: 1 week' was a map on which a route was drawn, taking in as far north as Leeds, east to Peterborough, south to London and west to Stoke-on-Trent.

He was jailed for four-and-a-half years in May last year. His earliest release date is September.

Shazib Khan - who tried to travel to Syria - is due to be released this year

Uncle jailed for trying to travel to Syria with his nephew

Shazib Khan was jailed for eight years in May 2016 for preparing to travel to Syria to join ISIS.

Mr Justice Edis, sentencing, said he had rejected English law in favour of Sharia, and had sought to fight with the terrorist group.

He was also handed an extended period of five years on licence.

Shazid Khan's nephew, delivery driver Junead Khan, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years for plotting to kill US personnel outside Lakenheath US air base.

A court heard Junead had used his job to scout for potential victims. He had also planned to travel to Syria with his uncle.

Shazib Khan is due to be released this year.

British ISIS fighter who called himself 'Supaman' but returned to UK because Syria was too cold is jailed for seven years

Mohammed Uddin who referred to himself as 'Supaman' - travelled to the war-torn region on November 4, 2015 intending to join ISIS

Mohammed Uddin travelled to Syria to join ISIS but returned home because he disliked the 'cold water', 'bland food' and 'doing absolutely jack'.

The security guard - who referred to himself as 'Supaman' - travelled to the war-torn region on November 4, 2015 intending to join ISIS.

On December 12, he crossed the border back into Turkey where he was held by the authorities because he did not have any travel documents.

He was stopped by counter terrorism officers at Gatwick Airport when he returned to Britain on December 22, who believed he was involved in terrorist-related activity and found extremist material in his possession.

Uddin, who had earlier boasted it was 'p*** easy' to cross the border from Turkey into Syria, quickly became disillusioned with life in the Middle East.

The 29-year-old was jailed to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of preparing acts of terrorism.

He could be released within months.

'I'll behead you', extremist told officer after his stash of 'grotesque' execution videos were uncovered

ISIS supporter Atiq Ahmed threatened to behead a police officer when his stash of 'grotesque' execution videos was uncovered.

The 32-year-old, from Oldham, pleaded guilty to two counts of dissemination of a terrorist publication by posting links to disturbing IS propaganda videos, one of which was viewed on YouTube more than 37,000 times.

Ahead of his sentencing, where he was jailed for two-and-a-half years, the Old Bailey heard how his family had raised concerns in March this year, fearing he was a danger to society, citing his violent behaviour, mental health problems and solvent abuse.

He could also be out next month.

Mohammed Zahir Khan (left) tweeted his support for ISIS. Atiq Ahmed was arrested at a primary school after telling a teacher they were an 'infidel' and would 'burn in hell'. They could both be released next month

Shopkeeper who tweeted his support for ISIS and called for Shia Muslims to be burned alive

Mohammed Zahir Khan, from Sunderland, was jailed for four-and-a-half years in 2018 for expressing his support for ISIS on social media.

He was found guilty after posts emerged of his called for 'death to Shias', while pro-ISIS videos were also discovered on his computer.

He could be released next month.

And others who are due for release soon...

Yahya Rashid: The already convicted terrorist was freed from prison on licence after attempting travelling to Syria to join ISIS but jailed for a year for hiding a phone from police.

The 23-year-old also kept an email address secret from officers but he was exposed when he made an application to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) with the undisclosed contact details.

He could be released in September.

Mina Dich: Mother who led the first all-female British ISIS cell and helped her daughter, Rizlaine Boular, plan a knife attack on the Palace of Westminster in May 2017.

She was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison and could be released in August.

Yahya Rashid (left) was freed from prison on licence after attempting travelling to Syria to join ISIS but jailed for a year for hiding a phone from police. Mina Dich led the first all-female British ISIS cell and helped her daughter, Rizlaine Boular, plan a knife attack on the Palace of Westminster in May 2017

Boy X: The child became Britain's youngest terrorist in 2015 when he was convicted for planning to attack an Anzac Day parade in Australia.

The 14-year-old had planned to behead his teachers before moving on a hit list of targets.

He was jailed for life but will be eligible for parole this year.

As the PM scrambled to appease a national outcry over early released terrorists:

Sources said Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman failed to attend deradicalisation courses in prison and was associating with extremists, telling them he approved of the London Bridge terror attack last year;

He was described by school friends as a dope-smoking weirdo who vowed: 'When I grow up I am going to be a terrorist';

His ex-girlfriend described their relationship as 'one of the worst experiences of my life';

One of the two people he stabbed was revealed to be a nursery teacher who had been out for coffee with her friends;

Police raided the home of Amman's associate, a drug dealer who is understood to have met the terrorist while playing video games online.

Some senior lawyers have poured cold water on Mr Johnson's overhaul of the system, and said it risks offenders walking free with no surveillance while simultaneously causing a huge backlog in the courts.

Law Society of England and Wales president Simon Davis said: 'Time on licence is intended as a transition from prison to full release.

'If the licence period is instead spent in custody, we risk releasing inmates without any supervision, without any transition and without any opportunity for the probation service to recall them to prison if there are concerns about their post-release behaviour.

'If the rules for some prisoners are now changed mid-sentence so that time on licence is actually spent in prison, there is greater chance those prisoners will want to appeal their sentences - further clogging up an already overloaded system.'

Amanda Pinto QC, chair of the Bar Council, said: 'In light of this announcement, we would urge the Government to take care in considering any sentencing changes that may apply retrospectively.

'Sentencing is a complex exercise, requiring consideration of a range of factors, including the need to express clearly and publicly the nature of the penalty which is being imposed, which we note was done in this case.

'It is important that any proposed reform which could retrospectively alter the punishment for an offence, should be the subject of careful consideration, to ensure that it complies with the rule of law.'

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: 'Given the recent events at London Bridge and Streatham, the Parole Board understands and welcomes the Government's plans to ensure that terrorist offenders are not released automatically, as occurred in these incidents but are instead considered by an independent panel of the Parole Board. Our over-riding priority is the protection of the public.'

Robert Buckland, the Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, says he wants all terrorist inmates to undergo a parole review rather than being entitled to automatic release part-way through their sentences.

This will apply to serving prisoners  thought to be around 220  as well as those jailed in the future, he said, because of the 'unprecedented situation of severe gravity' facing this country.

Terrorists will only be eligible for release at two-thirds of the way through their sentence and only when the Parole Board agrees, he said.

Government sources said a review will look at whether some terrorists 'should ever be released'.

They hinted at an entirely new sentencing structure which would hand offenders a set number of years in prison, but they would not be released at all if they continued to pose a threat.

In other words, ministers may re-introduce controversial 'indeterminate' sentences.

Separately, last month Home Secretary Priti Patel announced offences such as 'preparing acts of terrorism' would have sentences significantly boosted in a new Bill. The minimum term would increase from three years to 14.

There will be emergency legislation this week to introduce restrictions on automatic release. Other measures will require an Act of Parliament.

The Parole Board will be bolstered with a new independent body, possibly named the 'terrorist public protection panel'.

It will comprise judges and former judges familiar with terrorism cases to decide when extremists should be freed.

The Lord Chancellor will have been warned he risks breaching terrorists' human rights.

Retrospective legislation potentially presents problems. Under the European Convention on Human Rights  enshrined in UK law under Labour's Human Rights Act 1998  criminals are entitled to be dealt with by the law as it stands at the time.
Rajasthan revenue minister Harish Chaudhary has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking to declare the cases of locust attack as a calamity.

Farmers of Rajasthan have been suffering from the attack for long.

Speaking to ANI, Hukamram, a farmer said, "The locust attack has ruined our crops and no official has yet visited us. They have been destroying our crops for two months now."

"Crops such as Rabi, cumin, maze, mustard have been destroyed by the attack," he added.

Meanwhile, in Ganga Nagar district, the state government have adopted measures to control the attack of locust and have sprinkled pesticides over the crops and trees.

Surender Singh, a farmer said, "There have been attacks by locust in past 15 days. Government has controlled the situation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Scientists have discovered a new cannabis compound that could potentially be 30 times more powerful than THC, the most studied psychoactive compound in marijuana, according to CNN.

Tetrahydrocannabiphorol, or THCP, was identified by Italian scientists during a process used to find the basic chemicals of a sample or molecule. The scientists published their discovery in the journal Scientific Reports.

The compound works in the same way THC does when someone smokes marijuana. Like TCP, it latches on to cannabinoid receptors in the brain and interferes with their ability to communicate between neurons. However, THCP bounds 33 times stronger than THC does.

Its currently unclear if that means THCP will deliver 30 times the high of THC.

Scientists believe there could be a potential for health benefits with THCP. For now, CBD has primarily been the focus for studies on the health benefits on cannabis, but THCP has even stronger binding abilities and potency.

Historically, many of our medicines have been derived by or inspired by natural products," Dr. Jane Ishmael, associate professor in Oregon State Universitys College of Pharmacy, told CNN. "By having new compounds that bind with very high affinity, that will give scientists a new probe into biological sciences.

Scientists also discovered another previously unknown compound they named CBDP, which appears to be the cousin of CBD.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Ultrafine particles in the atmosphere are unregulated, according to the World Health Organization, but a team of international researchers that includes a Texas A&M University professor and two graduate students has found that auto emissions are a key factor in the creation of the particles, and pose a significant health problem in many urban areas.

Renyi Zhang, Texas A&M distinguished professor of atmospheric sciences and the Harold J. Haynes Chair in Geosciences, and colleagues from the University of Texas at Austin, the University of California-San Diego, the California Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University and several Chinese universities have published their work in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The team studied auto emissions relevant to urban areas, especially Beijing, which has some of the highest levels of auto exhaust pollution in the world.

It found that auto exhaust plays a part in the creation of large amounts of ultrafine particles. These tiny particles have been proven detrimental to air quality and human health, and have been linked to birth defects.

"This has been an emerging area for research," Zhang said. "Ultrafine particles can penetrate easily through human lungs and reach many vital organs. The impacts of ultrafine particles on human health can be far-reaching. Currently, ultrafine particles are unregulated. They can be present in high concentrations, but you still see blue sky."

The air quality standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) only limit the mass concentration of PM2.5referring to particles smaller than 2.5 micronsfor human health concerns. Ultrafine particles have negligibly small masses and are produced more efficiently when the atmospheric PM2.5 levels are low, according to the study.

"Our measurements are representative of typical urban environments worldwide, since the gasoline fleet of the commonly used vehicle models in China is equivalent to those in Europe and the United States," the researchers wrote in the paper.

"The problem of ultrafine particles is as important in China as in the U.S. Reduction in PM2.5 to improve air quality could exacerbate pollution of ultrafine particles," Zhang said.

The implementation of the Clean Air Act in 1990 has resulted in noticeable reduction in PM2.5 over the United States. "Protecting public health needs simultaneous reduction in both types of particles," Zhang said. "Sound science is essential to guide the regulatory policies."

While finding ways to reduce ultrafine particles will require much more research, Zhang says drivers using electric cars would almost certainly help. But that could be years in the future, since electric vehicles currently make up less than 1 percent of over 1 billion vehicles on roads worldwide.

Zhang said the study shows for the first time "that traffic emissions are a major source for ultrafine particles. Our studies show that aromatic organic compounds from auto exhaust form these ultrafine particles. They form in any cities from car exhaust, such as Houston, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Residents who live close to highways or congested roads are particularly vulnerable.

"This is a frontier area in air pollution. Producing close to 1 million nanoparticles per cc in air is a serious matter of concern," he said.

Explore further New exhaust gas measurement registers ultrafine pollutant particles for the first time

More information: Song Guo et al. Remarkable nucleation and growth of ultrafine particles from vehicular exhaust, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Song Guo et al. Remarkable nucleation and growth of ultrafine particles from vehicular exhaust,(2020). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1916366117
Their fate  how quickly they have been able to return home, how susceptible they have become to the virus and how their mental health has fared  has depended a great deal on their respective governments political relationships with China. With the outbreak sickening more than 20,000 people and killing more than 420, critics have accused China of playing politics with peoples lives and of using its economic sway to save face and bolster its standing.
Kosovo's prime minister, 44-year-old Albin Kurti, is a former student leader who made his name taking the political battle to those in power.

His rise marks a rare transition of power that could dramatically alter the path of Europe's newest -- and still not fully recognized -- democracy, whose government has been dominated by ex-guerrilla fighters since before independence was declared from Serbia in 2008.

But a four-month coalition stalemate that risked squandering some of Kurti's political momentum before this week's successful parliament vote highlighted the hard-driving politician's lack of fear at challenging potential allies, too.

Kurti's perceived intransigence brought pressure from the ex-guerrilla faction represented by President Hashim Thaci, who warned that the coalition impasse would spark a "constitutional crisis." Meanwhile, Kurti's Self-Determination (Vetevendosje, or VV) party's preferred coalition partner, the center-right Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), threatened repeatedly to walk away from talks on forming a government.

But in the end, Kurti's VV-LDK governing coalition was backed by a six-seat majority in Kosovo's 120-member parliament in a vote of confidence on February 3.

How he will govern, however, is still not entirely clear.

Dogged Idealist

There are clues in his past, say some of those who have known or covered Kurti since his early days of political organizing. "I knew that Albin's hour would come," says Patrick Moore, RFE/RL's chief Balkan analyst from 1977 to 2008. He met Kurti on numerous occasions in the 1990s and regards Kurti as an "old and honest friend."

"The established parties portrayed him as a hothead and gadfly, but his dedication to principle impressed many, as had been the case earlier with [Adem] Demaci," Moore says.

Demaci was a staunch, Pristina-born supporter of Albanian rights within the former Yugoslavia and Serbia who spent nearly 30 years in prison for his writings and political activism.

He also famously declined to demonize all Serbs, as many Kosovars and Albanian nationalists urged him to do, and insisted on a policy of nonviolent resistance that targeted the Serbian state even as many opponents of Belgrade's rule in Kosovo -- including his allies within the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) -- took up arms.

Kurti's dogged idealism fueled his student activism for ethnic Albanians' rights and Kosovar independence, landing him in Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's jail cells in the weeks after NATO began its bombing campaign against Serbian forces in 1999.

He served more than two years in prison before a deal secured his freedom and sent him in 2001 into a Kosovo that had been freed from Belgrade's control.

But that idealism also led Kurti to criticize the same international community that was behind the UN's interim administration (UNMIK) and EU mission (EULEX) in Kosovo as apologists for Belgrade and of making unwelcome intrusions on Kosovars' efforts at self-determination.

'Self-Determination!'

Two years after Kurti's release from prison, he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pristina.

By 2005, he had helped found Self-Determination to succeed the Kosova Action Network (KAN), a group that promoted civic activism and political participation and backed a referendum on union with neighboring Albania.

Its name -- "Vetevendosje!" or "Self-determination!" -- derived from the hopes for greater rights and independence for the Yugoslav autonomous province of Kosovo and its majority ethnic Albanians.

Kurti was voted into parliament along with his party of perceived young revolutionaries for the first time in 2010.

His profile suddenly rose in 2018, when a crisis within the party thrust him into Self-Determination's top spot.

Many of Kosovo's nearly 2 million people at the time were aching for a break with two decades of leadership by former guerrillas whom they blamed for runaway cronyism, economic stagnation, and corruption that had prompted tens of thousands of Kosovars to flee abroad.

Then-Thaci ally and Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj was forced yet again by war crimes investigators in The Hague to answer to questions over his wartime past, prompting his resignation in July 2019 and snap elections in October.

It was the latest blow to the ex-guerrillas who had long controlled the government, and came amid a break in internationally mediated talks to normalize relations with Kosovo's neighbors. It also coincided with a Kosovar public increasingly willing to stray from two decades of loyalty to the former fighters.

Can He Play By The Rules?

Some have since questioned whether a history of the kind of tactics once employed by a bushy-haired student protesting for ethnic Albanians' independence -- albeit with an early and loud rejection of violence -- could color Kurti's willingness to compromise now that he is in power.

There have been notable signs that Kurti has not given up completely on the tactics of disruption and stunt as political tools, including as recently as 2015, when he released tear gas during a debate in parliament. (The stunt has since been repeated several times.)

Agron Bajrami, editor in chief of the Koha Ditore daily, acknowledges that the Albanian nationalist-leftist has been "a leader of a very rebellious movement so far, and we'll probably see a lot of energy in his leadership."

But particularly in light of Kurti's coalition with the center-right Democratic League, he says, the new prime minister "is in a coalition with a party that is a different nature when it comes to ideological leanings, especially regarding the economy."

"I think that we've seen constant changes in [Kurti's] behavior and political attitudes in recent years, and I think this will continue," Bajrami says.

Conditions will "inevitably" test the ability of the former revolutionary to adapt to life in government and Kosovo's new political realities, he adds.

"This is what a lot of people are waiting to see: to what extent Mr. Kurti and his party are now capable of overcoming themselves in terms of being able to work through the institutions within the boundaries of the law."
A woman is taking legal action against Optical Express over lens replacement surgery that left her virtually blind in one eye.

She also alleges that the high street optician pressured her to pay for a second 3,300 operation on the other eye - even though there was nothing wrong with it.

Scientific research consultant Sam Begum, from Glasgow, has instructed lawyers to sue the firm, which performs thousands of eye surgeries every year.

She is one of a string of patients who are claiming compensation for what they believe are botched procedures.

Ms Begum said: 'You trust the experts to look after you. I was paying for treatment and believed I would have the best care.

Sam Begum, (pictured) from Glasgow, who had eye surgery at Optical Express' St Vincent Street clinic, revealed she's suing the sight specialists

'But it has been a disaster. After what I have been through, I wouldn't recommend my worst enemy to go to them.'

Around 250,000 eye surgery operations are now performed by private companies every year in the UK, with Optical Express the biggest provider.

Some surgery is performed to correct long or short-sightedness, so that a patient no longer needs glasses or contact lenses. Other operations can be done to correct other defects, such as cataracts.

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists claims that 95 per cent of people who have had such surgery are happy with the results - but campaign groups say that up to 40 per cent experience unexpected difficulties after surgery.

Ms Begum said her problems began 14 months ago, when she accompanied a relative to an appointment at a branch of Optical Express. Accepting the offer of a free consultation, she was told that she had cataracts in both eyes.

Experienced as a clouding of the vision, cataracts are the most common cause of sight loss among people over 40. After some loss of vision in her left eye, in January last year Optical Express told her the cataracts were responsible and advised lens replacement surgery in both eyes - at 3,300 per eye.

Weeks later, she arrived at the firm's clinic in St Vincent Street, Glasgow, undergoing lens replacement surgery in her left eye.

But within days it was clear something had gone badly wrong - her vision remained blurred.

Sam (pictured after retinal detachment surgery) almost lost her sight in her left eye after having 3,000 surgery to treat alleged cataract

Returning to Optical Express, she was stunned to be told her retina had in fact detached and she needed emergency surgery.

She said: 'I suffered the worst night of my life - I feared I was going blind.'

Optical Express paid for an emergency operation to her retina at the private Nuffield Hospital. Despite the devastating outcome of the first operation, Optical Express called her to ask when she would like to have the lens in her right eye replaced.

She said: 'It was unbelievable.'

Ms Begum sought expert advice from a different optician.

I suffered the worst night of my life

In December she was shocked to learn after a scan at Vision Express that her right eye was healthy and did not require any treatment.

Ms Begum's sight in her left eye is now severely limited and she states she suffers from tunnel vision as well as blurry, unstable and distorted sight, with glare, starbursts, halos and double vision. The lens in her right eye, which Optical Express wanted to replace, she describes as 'crystal clear'.

She has now instructed law firm Friends Legal to sue. It is handling dozens of similar cases, the majority against Optical Express. The law firm is tackling the elective refractive eye surgery industry as a whole, saying it requires stronger regulation. Its clients complain of problems including laser eye surgery failing, lens replacement operations not delivering the promised results and faulty lenses being implanted.

Ms Begum said: 'Some people are scared to go to court but I am angry. I have the proof I didn't need an operation on my right eye and I want them to have to explain why they told me I did.'

Tony O'Malley of Friends Legal said: 'The refractive eye surgery industry has been allowed to selfregulate and a number of our clients have been ill-advised to have operations with risks not fully explained and poor aftercare.'

In 2014, Stephanie Holloway, from Hampshire, was awarded more than 500,000 in damages after a judge ruled that Optical Express had failed to warn her about the risks of laser eye surgery.

She was said to have been left with hazy vision and light sensitivity and had to live by candlelight. Optical Express was contacted by phone and email last week and the week before but offered no comment, even after Ms Begum sent a signed mandate giving permission for her file to be discussed.

'I suffered the worst night of my life'
The first month of the year is never good for the Spanish job market. Even when the economy is growing robustly, Social Security affiliations drop and unemployment spikes.

It was no different in 2020, when the number of contributors to the Social Security system  a measure of job creation  fell by 244,044 people, the biggest drop for a month of January since 2013.

However, the overall number of contributors to Social Security remained above 19 million, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Social Security Ministry.

After Christmas, many seasonal hirings in retail and hospitality come to an end

Registered unemployment rose by 90,248 from December, making this the worst month of January since 2014. There are now 3.25 million people signed up as unemployed, according to the Labor Ministry.

A bad month

After Christmas, many seasonal hirings in retail and hospitality come to an end. So do many other contracts signed for one natural year. Together with the economic slowdown (motor vehicle registration, which is a good indicator, fell nearly 8% in January), these factors have made this the worst month of January in some time.

The figures are better compared with January 2019, since job creation grew by 1.83%, but even then, it is the first time since the summer of 2014 that job growth is under 2%.

The figures were released on the same day that the Spanish Cabinet held its weekly meeting. One of the issues on the agenda was approval of the minimum salary hike, which is being set at 950 a month after negotiating the terms with employers and unions. Ministers are also expected to greenlight a 2% hike to civil servant salaries and a 0.9% raise to pensions.

English version by Susana Urra.
A case of human trafficking has come to light in Hyderabad. On this matter, a woman says that her daughter has been sent to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for allegedly human trafficking and she has been trapped there for the last three years. She was only 16 years old when she was sent to Saudi. The woman has sought help from the government to bring her back.

According to media reports, the girl's name is Amreen Sultana and her mother's name is Syeda Sultana. The victim's mother told the Indian embassy and government in Riyadh, "In 2017, three years ago an agent named Chand contacted us and offered my daughter a job in Riyadh as a beautician."

Regarding this matter, she said, 'The agent said that my daughter will get 20 to 25 thousand rupees as salary. Since we were not financially strong and my husband is dead, my daughter accepted the offer and left Hyderabad. The agent sent him to Riyadh instead of sending him to Dammam. In Riyadh, he has kept her like a domestic servant. Sultana said, 'They beat him. They have not paid any salary to my daughter and she is stuck in Riyadh for the last three years.

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President Donald Trump will deliver his fourth state of the union address later Tuesday, which will be themed the Great American Comeback, under the shadow of the ongoing impeachment trial in the Senate that is expected to end Wednesday with his acquittal.

The optics of the president returning to the House of Representatives for the speech just weeks after it impeached him will be watched closely, specially his interaction with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He has called her nasty, vindictive and horrible and the speaker has called him a coward.

Trump will become only the second president to deliver the annual speech during a senate trial, after Bill Clinton in 1999. As then, Trump is expected to be acquitted, despite Democrats continued efforts to persuade Republicans to vote in favor of his conviction and removal from office.

Democratic House managers tried once again in their closing arguments in the trial Monday, urging Republican senators to stand for truth. He has betrayed our national security, and he will do so again, lead House manager Adam Schiff said about Trump. He has compromised our elections, and he will do so again. You will not change him. You cannot constrain him. He is who he is. Truth matters little to him. Whats right matters even less, and decency matters not at all.

The presidents lawyers closed their arguments as they had started. They had called the trial an attempt by Democrats to overturn the 2016 election and unseat Trump. We put our faith in the Senate. Because we know you will put your faith in the American people. You will leave this choice to them, where it belongs, said Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, referring to the November elections.

Trump will be acquitted in a vote expected Wednesday evening on the two article of impeachment transmitted to the Senate by the House, charging him with abusing the powers of his office and obstructing congresss investigation into it. Until then, senators from both parties will be debating his fore-ordained fate in speeches explaining their votes, and their reasons.

Republicans control the senate with a 53-47 majority, and will be able to deliver the acquittal easily even if one or two members defected; they need only 34 votes to prevent a conviction.

Faced with defeat, Democrats have floated a proposal to censure the president, but the move had found no traction with Republicans who hold all the cards at present.
Newark, NJ, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per the report published by Fior Markets, the global flat glass market is expected to grow from USD 98.23 Billion in 2017 to USD 169.58 Billion by 2025 at a CAGR of 7.06% during the forecast period 2018-2025. Growing emphasis on energy efficiency, rising demand from the construction industry and growth of the automotive industry are the factors that are driving the flat glass market.

When the molten glass is spread out in the form of sheets on a metal plane, it makes flat glass. Flat glass is mostly utilized in windows, doors, automotive glass, mirrors and solar panels. Flat glass can be bent after its made which is very beneficial for automotive and architectural applications. Growing emphasis on solar energy as a clean alternative fuel is expected to propel demand for flat glass over the forecast period.

Global emphasis on energy efficiency is driving the demand for flat glass for architectural, construction, automotive and solar energy purposes. On the other hand, energy-intensive manufacturing process and implementation of stringent emission norms are expected to pose a major challenge to the global flat glass industry.

DOWNLOAD FREE SAMPLE REPORT AT https://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/367088/request-sample

Key players operating in the global Flat Glass market include Asahi Glass, Saint-Gobain, Nippon Sheet Glass, Guardian Industries, Taiwan Glass, Xinyi Auto, CSG Architectural, Corning Inc., Central Glass, Schott AG, Sisecam, NSG Group, AJJ Ltd., Cardinal, Independent Co. Ltd., OldCastle among others. To serve to the insatiable demand of India and China most of these firms are ramping up their production facilities locally at a rapid pace.

To effectively compete in the market space, companies are launching newer, improved, innovative products and also focusing on increasing the production. For instance Saint Gobain Saint-Gobain is to invested around USD 150 million over the period of two years 2016-1017 to develop production capacity at its glass facility near Chennai, Indias largest such facility. A third flat glass production facility (the Groups fifth float in India) and a second coater for the construction market will be built on this site. The plant will produce premium high performance, energy efficient glass using leading-edge technologies which contribute to the environment protection.

In order to cope with strict environmental norms that are being imposed on the industry all the major players have undertaken the overhauling and modernization of their manufacturing plants. For instance In 2017 AGC carried out renovation work on the Cuneo plant in Italy using the most innovative design techniques. The upgraded float line significantly increased the plant capacity, reducing energy consumption by 25%, with a corresponding positive impact on its performance and product quality. Lower energy consumption also meant a remarkable reduction in atmospheric emissions, with 50% less CO (carbon monoxide), 14% less CO2 (carbon dioxide) and 30% less NOx (nitrogen oxides).

Float glass led the market with 62.16% of total volume in 2016

Technology segment is divided into float glass, rolled glass and sheet glass. Float glass segment held the largest share of 62.16% of total volume in 2017 on account of its extensive use for construction and architectural purposes.

Coated Glass segment to grow at 9.18% CAGR in 2018-2025

Product is categorized into basic float glass, toughened glass, coated glass, laminated glass, extra clear glass and others. Toughened glass held the largest market share by volume at 34. 41% in 2017 owing to its wide acceptance in building and construction industry. Coated glass segment is projected to witness highest growth rate of 9.18% due to rising worldwide demand for heat reflective and low E glass. Laminated glass is also to grow at moderate pace due to its shatterproof quality being of use in manufacturing of automobile windshields.

Construction segment accounted for USD 75.02 billion in 2017

Application segment is divided into construction, automotive, solar energy and others. Construction segment led the global market for flat glass due to their property for making buildings more energy efficient without compromising on construction strength. Construction segment accounted for USD 75.02 billion in total revenue during 2017. Solar Energy segment is forecasted to grow at highest CAGR of 9.87% on account of rising acceptance of solar energy as a clean alternative source in tropical regions of the world and foundation of International Solar Alliance leading to huge demand generation for low E coated solar flat glass.

Browse full report with TOC at https://www.fiormarkets.com/report/global-flat-glass-market-by-technology-float-rolled-367088.html

Regional Segment Analysis of the Flat Glass Market

North America (U.S. , Canada, Mexico)

Europe (Germany, France, U.K., Italy, Spain, Rest of the Europe)

Asia-Pacific (China, Japan India, Rest of APAC)

South America (Brazil and Rest of South America)

Middle East and Africa (UAE, South Africa, Rest of MEA)

The regions analyzed for the market include North America, Europe, South America, Asia Pacific, and Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific region led the demand for flat glass with 44.16% of total global revenue in 2017 followed by North America. Asia Pacific region dominated the global flat market due to huge ongoing housing and commercial construction activities and implementation of green building standards in construction processes. Region is also generating highest demand for automobiles which in turn in generated huge demand for flat glass. Emphasis on generation of green solar energy in China and India is driving the demand for low E coated flat glass market thus making Asia Pacific global demand hub for flat glass. North America and Europe on account of their stagnant economic conditions are expected to progress at sluggish pace. Middle East region projected to grow at robust pace on account of ongoing construction boom in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

About the report:

The global flat glass market is analysed on the basis of value (USD Billion), volume (Million Square Meters), consumption (Million Square Meters), imports (Million Square Meters) and exports (Million Square Meters). All the segments have been analyzed on global, regional and country basis. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each segment. The report offers in-depth analysis of driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges for gaining the key insight of the market. The study includes porters five forces model, attractiveness analysis, raw material analysis, supply, demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution and marketing channels analysis.

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Early on, Wolf Blitzer warned viewers that the Iowa Democratic caucus would be "unpredictable."

"A lot of uncertainty," the CNN anchor explained as caucus-goers began to gather at 8 p.m. Eastern time Monday. "You have to stress that right now. We don't know what's going to happen."

As it happened, Blitzer's prediction of unpredictability held up - but in ways far beyond what he probably imagined.

When the results failed to materialize on schedule - and then remained ever out of reach throughout the night, due to not-entirely-clear tabulating glitches - the normally unflappable Blitzer grew increasingly impatient, even slightly agitated, as if channeling the state of mind of a dozen campaign staffs and the millions watching at home.

Slowly but surely, as the veteran newsman threw from one correspondent in the field to the next with his signature cry of "Stand by!," the barest notes of irritation began to creep into his narration of the historic nonevent.

Wolf, irritated? It was a sign of how much the Iowa meltdown disrupted the normal rhythms of cable-news election night - Blitzer's domain since 2004, when he was tapped by CNN to restore order and faith after the cataclysmic election night of 2000, when the network was criticized for twice prematurely calling Florida and then withdrawing its projections.

By the end of caucus night, the extraordinary circumstances had forced him to resort to some highly non-Blitzerian language to describe what was, or actually wasn't, happening: "It's crazy," he said toward midnight. "I mean this is a serious problem. They've got to fix this very soon." He later called it, "A huge, huge embarrassment" for the Iowa Democratic Party.

Ultimately, his coverage climaxed with a compelling live demonstration of just how fouled up the process was.

At 9 p.m., Blitzer still sounded hopeful that the evening would unfold without complications. "More than 1,600 caucuses are underway in Iowa right now," he said. "We're expecting to get results very soon."

At 9:20, no results. He took a moment to reassure viewers: "We're awaiting the results, the first results from the Iowa caucuses, should be coming in very, very soon. Stand by for that."

Ten minutes later, Blitzer sensed something was amiss.

Standing with correspondent John King at CNN's election data display-screen - its "Magic Wall" - he noted, "It's been more than an hour and a half. We're getting snapshots from various caucuses out there, but still no official numbers coming in from - from the DNC, from the state."

King agreed. "Nothing in the Wall, an hour and a half in. ... That's unusual."

"Usually after a half an hour," Blitzer mused, "or 45 minutes, you start getting some significant results."

King wasn't ready to panic. He reasoned that it might have something to do with the unusually large field of candidates and the complications of double and triple-checking results from hundreds of precincts.

But by 9:40 p.m., Blitzer was having none of it. That's when he took the gloves off.

"All right," he said firmly. "It's getting close to 10 p.m. here on the East Coast.

"Almost two hours, these caucuses have been underway, and so far, no official results yet. This is pretty unusual."

By 10:20, Blitzer sounded like a man stuck in a line at the Department of Motor Vehicles. "Waiting," he said impatiently, "waiting and waiting."

In this desperate, news-less hour, Blitzer summoned his command of caucus-night history (or the command of some fast-Googling producer in his ear) to satisfy the audience's hunger for numbers. "Four years ago, I think about 70 percent of the official vote of the precincts, 70 percent of the precincts had already reported numbers - (but) now with zero percent of the precincts." It may not have been the numbers we were waiting for, but it was something.

At 10:30 p.m., Blitzer brought on CNN political analyst David Chalian to confirm the dark fears the anchor had been telegraphing for nearly an hour. A debacle was truly unfolding. Chalian said Iowa Democratic Party officials were attributing the delay to "quality control" issues caused by a new digital app used by precinct officials.

"This was not the plan," he told Blitzer. "Something is clearly off from the plan that the Iowa Democratic Party had at the start of the night."

A dramatic demonstration soon followed. In the most tense and thrilling live-reported moment of the evening, Blitzer opened a window, or perhaps a metaphor, into the bleak heart of the problem. It came when he interviewed Shawn Sebastian, a precinct secretary in Story County, via phone just after 11 p.m.

Sebastian revealed that, at that very moment, he was waiting by another open phone line. "I have been on hold for over an hour with the Iowa Democratic Party," he explained. "The app by all accounts just, like, doesn't work, so we've been recommended to call into the hotline, and the hotline has not been responsive."

Suddenly, viewers heard a third voice on the line - apparently, a party official had finally picked up Sebastian's call as he was speaking to CNN.

"This is a real coincidence, Wolf," Sebastian exclaimed. "I just got off hold, just now!"

"Can we listen in?" Blitzer asked.

Viewers then heard some muffled comments, followed by dead air from the party official's end of the call.

Then Sebastian came back on.

"They hung up on me," he groaned. "They hung up on me."

"Oh!" Blitzer commiserated. "So frustrating indeed."

A few minutes later, Blitzer looked on as CNN panelist Van Jones expressed what Blitzer had been signaling all night: "This is starting to feel like possibly a real debacle." He questioned whether the Iowa caucuses deserved their first-in-the-nation status. "You only have one job, Iowa," he scolded. Blitzer merely offered regrets.

The poignancy came with Blitzer's farewell when he signed off before midnight. Standing in CNN's studio in Washington, he turned again to John King. "You and I should be at the Magic Wall by now," he said wistfully.

By Tuesday morning, the results still hadn't come in.
Singapore Airshow 2020 to continue, leadership summit cancelled amid coronavirus fears

In view of the evolving 2019 novel coronavirus situation, Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit (SAALS) 2020  which was slated to be held on January 10  has been cancelled.

This will allow many of the aviation leaders who are involved in working out the responses to the outbreak to focus on exigencies related to the ongoing situation.

Photo courtesy: Singapore Airshow

Meanwhile, the biennial event Singapore Airshow 2020 will proceed as planned from February 11 to 16, organiser Experia Events said in a press statement.

Enhanced precautionary measures will be in place to safeguard the well-being and safety of all attendees at the airshow at the Changi Exhibition Centre (CEC).

Experia Events noted that current measures called out for at Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) yellow include enhanced cleaning and refuse management. There will also be hand sanitisers made available to attendees, as well as a team of doctors and medics to attend to visitors who are feeling unwell.

Participants enjoying the aerobatic flying display at Singapore Airshow 2020. Photo courtesy: Singapore Airshow 2020

In addition to these, Experia Events will implement additional temperature screening at access points at Singapore Expo and CEC.

The health and well-being of our attendees is of the utmost priority," said Leck Chet Lam, Managing Director of Experia Events. "Alongside these additional measures, we will also continue to take reference from guidelines provided by the authorities such as Singapores Ministry of Health (MOH).

Singapores recent travel restrictions and company policies on employee travel bans are expected to reduce the number of exhibitors and visitors. Ten exhibitors from China and another six exhibitors from four countries have confirmed non-participation in Singapore Airshow 2020.

South Korea's air force has confirmed that its Black Eagles aerobatic team will not be participating at the event.

Photo courtesy: Singapore Airshow 2020

"In the coming week, we are focused on delivering the show while ensuring the overall safety of our attendees. During this period, we will continue to work with the relevant authorities and do our utmost to offer support to our exhibitors, partners and visitors who require assistance. added Leck.
A manhunt is underway for thieves who stole a French Bulldog from an eight-year-old boy in southern Sydney.

The six-month-old puppy named Kamia disappeared from a house on Minerva Street in Kirrawee in January and hasn't been seen since.

'The puppy was last seen between the hours of 7.30pm Thursday 16 January 2020 and 7.00am Friday 17 January 2020,' a NSW Police media statement reads.

Police have appealed for any information on the whereabouts of a French Bulldog named Kamia (pictured) who police believe was stolen from a home in Kirrawee in southern Sydney

Kamia is a companion dog to the eight-year-old boy, who has a medical condition that requires supervision.

Police believe Kamia was stolen by heartless thieves.

NSW Police Force posted a picture of the puppy on their Facebook page, with many commentators shocked that someone would steal a puppy.

'What's wrong with people, honestly, I often cannot believe what I am reading sometimes,' one comment reads.

'How low do you have to be to steal a child's puppy?' another post reads. 'Some people are beneath contempt.'

Anyone with information on the missing dog has been urged to contact police.
The Greens' new leader thinks Scott Morrison is a 'threat to life', wants the coal industry to be shut down and insists Australia Day should be scrapped.

Adam Bandt was today elected unopposed to take over from Richard Di Natale who resigned to spend more time with his family.

The 47-year-old MP for inner-city Melbourne, who once called for the overthrow of capitalism, will use his new platform to advocate higher taxes, more welfare and the end of Australia's most lucrative industries.

The father of two used his victory speech on Tuesday morning to slam the government over the bushfire crisis, warning the country is facing a 'climate emergency' and that Aussies are 'no longer guaranteed a good life'.

He said: 'We are facing a jobs crisis, an inequality crisis, and the government's only response is to shrug and say, "well, get used to it, because this is the new normal".

'Well, I refuse to adapt to kids wearing gas masks [due to bushfire smoke]. I refuse to accept a society where people put off having children because they are feeling so insecure about their jobs and their life. And I refuse to accept people living in poverty in a country as wealthy as ours.

Adam Bandt, is pictured on Australia Day this year in an Instagram photo which he captioned: 'January 26 is not a day to celebrate. Stand with First Nations peoples at events around the country.'

Last month Mr Bandt promised to launch a 'full throated' approach to force the Coalition to take more action to stop climate change

New Greens leader Adam Bandt is pictured with his wife Claudia, a former Labor staffer, in a photo shared on social media

Greens Member for Melbourne Adam Bandt and wife Claudia Perkins arrive for the annual Mid Winter Ball at Parliament House in Canberra in September 2018

In a dig at the Prime Minister, he continued: 'I refuse to accept the dismal standard of this Government, led by Scotty from marketing, whose love of coal has contributed to these fires that we are seeing at the moment, and the climate emergency we are facing.

'And I refuse to accept the dismal standard of a Labor so-called Opposition who chooses the middle of bushfires to celebrate coal, and who votes with the Liberals to give tax cuts to millionaires.'

Adam Bandt's radical policies Make Australia 100 per cent reliant on renewable energy by 2030 Phase out thermal coal exports by 2030 and ban new coal and gas mines including Adani Re-introduce the carbon tax Set up a nationalised energy retailer called Power Australia Subsidise solar power panels being built on homes with a $1.2 billion Solar for All program Abolish fees and bring back universal free TAFE and undergraduate university Introduce a progressive business tax to make larger companies pay more Increase payments to and flexibility for single parents Lift youth allowance and Newstart by $75/week Reverse Coalition tax cuts Overhaul political donations rules and establish a Federal anti-corruption watchdog (ICAC) Advertisement

Mr Bandt, a former barrister with a PhD in law, has caused controversy since becoming an MP in 2010 but hit headlines recently during the bushfire crisis.

Last month he promised to launch a 'full throated' approach to force the Coalition to take more action to stop climate change.

He tweeted: 'Scott Morrison is a threat to life. We must rise up against this terrible gov't with a fury that matches the intensity of these terrible fires.

'No more talk of watering down 2030 goals or 'mistakes', just a full-throated push to make Morrison act or go.'

In November Mr Bandt backed 25-year-old Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John when he sparked outrage by calling the Coalition a 'bunch of arsonists' over climate policy.

Defending the vocal senator, Mr Bandt said: 'He's part of the generation that's terrified and aghast with what they're seeing with the climate crisis.

'Unless the Government gets the climate crisis under control and reins in its use of coal, then this generation is going to rise up with a fury that is matched only by the intensity of the fires.'

Mr Bandt, who has attended anti-Adani protests, has long called for the end of the coal industry, despite it providing 50,000 jobs and $5billion in royalties per year.

In February 2019, in an interview with Sky News, he likened coal to cancer-causing building material asbestos.

Asked what alternative employment there was for those workers if coal was shut down, Mr Bandt said the interests of the environment should be put first.

'If it's a toxic substance, you shouldn't be selling it,' Mr Bandt said.

'We don't say, "well there are jobs in the asbestos industry so therefore we should allow asbestos mining to continue".'

In March 2017, Bandt campaigned to stop a new coal-fired power station being built in north Queensland by telling then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull he would have the 'blood of future generations on his hands' if the plan went ahead.

New Greens Leader Adam Bandt speaks to media after his election on Tuesday

Adam Bandt with his wife Clauda in September 2018. He captioned it 'With hot wife at Bangarra opening night of 'Dark Emu'

Adam Bandt, Greens Federal Member for Melbourne along with his wife Claudia Bandt and daughter Wren Bandt pose for a photo before voting in the national election at a polling station in July 2016 in Melbourne

How Bandt called for the end of capitalism When he was a student at Murdoch University in WA in 1995, Adam Bandt denounced capitalism in an article for a Marxist student website. He described himself as working 'towards an anti-capitalist, anti-social democratic, internationalist movement'. Bandt said the Greens were a 'bourgeois' political party but said supporting them at an election might be the best way to achieve change. 'Communists can't fetishise alternative political parties, but should always make some kind of materially based assessment about the effectiveness of any given strategy come election time,' he wrote. Advertisement

He said: 'Building a new coal fired power station now is like knowing cigarettes cause cancer but starting your kids on a pack a day, or knowing asbestos kills but building your family home with it anyway.'

Mr Bandt also linked burning coal to Cyclone Debbie, which hit north Queensland the week before and caused mass flooding and $3.5billion worth of damage.

'The more coal we burn, the more intense extreme weather events like Cyclone Debbie will be. People will suffer,' he said.

Mr Bandt said the coal industry was 'dangerous' and 'threatening our way of life.'

As part of his staunch anti-coal stance, the new Greens leader has supported menacing protesters who have caused chaos around the country.

In October last year, Mr Bandt slammed the police for the way they dealt with protesters at the International Mining and Resources Conference in Melbourne.

The protesters tried stopped delegates from entering the conference building and some glued their hands to the road.

Police intervened and made 12 arrests for the offence of intentionally obstructing emergency services workers.

In a 3AW radio interview, Mr Bandt said the police were 'heavy handed' and said: 'No matter what the police do, you cannot arrest your way out of global warming.'

Adam Bandt (right) poses with supporters as part of the 'Stop Adani Convoy' event on April 18, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia

It's not only regarding environmental issues that Mr Bandt has caused controversy.

In February 2018, Mr Bandt suggested Liberal Senator Jim Molan, a former major-general, was a war criminal.

He told Sky News: 'If there was a proper inquiry, in an independent inquiry into the war in Iraq in Australia, like there has been in other countries, I think you would find Jim Molan would probably be up for prosecution rather than praise for his role in the atrocities in Fallujah.'

Mr Bandt made the comments after saying Senator Molan was a 'coward' for refusing to apologise for re-tweeting propaganda videos by white supremacist group Britain First.

Mr Molan threatened to sue before Mr Bandt made a grovelling apology and offered to donate to a veterans' charity.

He said: 'I sincerely apologise and express my regret to Senator Molan and to those who have served in Australia's operational theatres and to their families and friends who were offended by my comments.'

As part of his staunch anti-coal stance, the new Greens leader has supported menacing protesters who have caused chaos around the country. Pictured: Protesters attempt to stop conference members entering The International Mining and Resources conference in Melbourne in October

Mr Bandt also supports the Greens' radical social polices including legalising cannabis and euthanasia and introducing pill testing at festivals.

On Australia Day this year he wore a t-shirt bearing the words 'Invasion Day' and said: 'January 26 is not a day to celebrate.'

In a rallying cry celebrating his election on Tuesday, Mr Bandt urged more Australians to sign up to the Green movement.

'I call on everyone, but particularly young Australians, to join our movement for a Green New Deal so together we can fight to save the future,' he said.

Larissa Waters, Senator for Queensland has been elected Leader in the Senate and Nick McKim, Senator for Tasmania has been elected as Deputy Leader in the Senate.

The Greens hope to have 20 per cent of primary votes by 2025 - but only got 10.4 per cent in 2019.


By PTI

WASHINGTON: The Seattle City Council, one of the most powerful city councils in the US, on Monday unanimously passed a resolution condemning India's recently-enacted Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The new citizenship law passed by Parliament in December 2019 offers citizenship to non-Muslim persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Reaffirming Seattle as a welcoming city and expressing solidarity with the city's South Asian community regardless of religion and caste, the resolution "resolves that the Seattle City Council opposes the National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship Amendment Act in India, and finds these policies to be discriminatory to Muslims, oppressed castes, women, indigenous, and LGBT people".

The Indian government has maintained that the CAA, which was passed by the Indian Parliament last month, is an internal matter of the country and stressed that the goal is to protect the oppressed minorities of neighbouring countries.

The NRC exercise was conducted in Assam on the directions of the Supreme Court.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month said his government has never discussed the NRC since coming to power for the first time in 2014 and it was done only in Assam.

Introduced by Indian American City Council member Kshama Sawant, the resolution urges the Parliament of India to uphold the Indian Constitution by repealing the CAA, and to stop the National Register of Citizens, and take steps towards helping refugees by ratifying various UN treaties on refugees.

"Seattle City's decision to condemn CAA should be a message to all who wish to undermine pluralism and religious freedom. They cannot peddle in hate and bigotry, and expect to have international acceptability at the same time," said Ahsan Khan, president of Indian-American Muslim Council.

Thenmozhi Soundararajan of Equality Labs, which organized the community in support of resolution, welcomed its passage.

"We are proud of the Seattle City Council for standing on the right side of history today. Seattle is leading the moral consensus in the global outcry against the CAA," she said.

Soundararajan said that thousands of organizers across the country have called, e-mailed, and visited Seattle City Council members to amplify this resolution, and it sets an example to cities across the United States.

"At a time when members of the Indian ruling party sided Trump, the Muslim ban, and his war on immigrants as justification for targeting hundreds of millions of Indian minorities, Americans have a unique responsibility to stand up and speak about this human rights crisis. We are glad that Seattle is leading the way on this," she said.
Concern Worldwide Holywood charity shop volunteer Jim Henry with Maggie Mooney and one of the U2 framed album covers donated by her late mum Brigid.

A Northern Ireland charity store is selling off donated U2 memorabilia.

Maggie Mooney, from Mullingar in Co Westmeath, is giving her mothers collection of framed U2 CDs, album covers, concert programmes and tickets to Concern Worldwides second-hand charity shop in Holywood.

Her mother, Brigid, worked as a bookkeeper for the band for much of their early career and up until the late 1990s. She is listed among the credits for their bestselling albums The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby.

She was like a mother to them, said Maggie. And they were very good to her.



"They took her to concerts, and anytime they received a framed album and cover they would give her one as well.

One of Brigids last wishes before she died 12 years ago was to leave her U2 collection to charity.

Daughter Maggie said Brigid wouldn't throw any of it away.

The Mullingar woman decided to donate the memorabilia to the Holywood Concern branch because her close friend, Aileen McKee, works for the charity and is from the seaside town.

"I thought it would be the best way to help them and fulfill my mothers wishes, she said.

The Holywood shop volunteers are also particularly experienced in dealing with specialist items, such as rare books and antiquities.

Aileen, who is Concerns retail development manager in Northern Ireland, said it was a great honour" to receive such iconic items.

The close relationship between Brigid and the band makes the collection all the more special, as does Bonos long association with Concern dating back to 1985 when he visited Ethiopia to see our response to the famine, she said.

The charity now plans to sell the memorabilia in its bookshop in Holywood and online, the proceeds of which will go towards Concerns work with vulnerable communities in some of the worlds poorest places.

Brigid was a bookkeeper at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, where U2 recorded their early albums, before working exclusively for the band for more than a decade.



She retired from the role when she was 73 and attended the band's concerts up until then.



On one occasion, Maggie recalled, my aunt found my mother fast asleep on her feet at a riotously loud concert in New York.

Maggie herself has fond memories of the boys and also worked alongside U2 as a production assistant on their 1988 promo for Rattle and Hum  a framed CD of that album takes pride of place in her home.
Today we'll evaluate Mongolian Mining Corporation (HKG:975) to determine whether it could have potential as an investment idea. Specifically, we're going to calculate its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), in the hopes of getting some insight into the business.

First of all, we'll work out how to calculate ROCE. Second, we'll look at its ROCE compared to similar companies. Finally, we'll look at how its current liabilities affect its ROCE.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. In general, businesses with a higher ROCE are usually better quality. In brief, it is a useful tool, but it is not without drawbacks. Renowned investment researcher Michael Mauboussin has suggested that a high ROCE can indicate that 'one dollar invested in the company generates value of more than one dollar'.

So, How Do We Calculate ROCE?

Analysts use this formula to calculate return on capital employed:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)  (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

Or for Mongolian Mining:

0.11 = US$154m  (US$1.7b - US$235m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2019.)

Therefore, Mongolian Mining has an ROCE of 11%.

View our latest analysis for Mongolian Mining

Does Mongolian Mining Have A Good ROCE?

One way to assess ROCE is to compare similar companies. Mongolian Mining's ROCE appears to be substantially greater than the 7.8% average in the Metals and Mining industry. We would consider this a positive, as it suggests it is using capital more effectively than other similar companies. Regardless of where Mongolian Mining sits next to its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms appears satisfactory, and this company could be worth a closer look.

Mongolian Mining delivered an ROCE of 11%, which is better than 3 years ago, as was making losses back then. That suggests the business has returned to profitability. The image below shows how Mongolian Mining's ROCE compares to its industry, and you can click it to see more detail on its past growth.

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SEHK:975 Past Revenue and Net Income, February 4th 2020

Remember that this metric is backwards looking - it shows what has happened in the past, and does not accurately predict the future. ROCE can be misleading for companies in cyclical industries, with returns looking impressive during the boom times, but very weak during the busts. ROCE is only a point-in-time measure. Given the industry it operates in, Mongolian Mining could be considered cyclical. If Mongolian Mining is cyclical, it could make sense to check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Mongolian Mining's Current Liabilities Impact Its ROCE

Current liabilities include invoices, such as supplier payments, short-term debt, or a tax bill, that need to be paid within 12 months. The ROCE equation subtracts current liabilities from capital employed, so a company with a lot of current liabilities appears to have less capital employed, and a higher ROCE than otherwise. To counteract this, we check if a company has high current liabilities, relative to its total assets.

Mongolian Mining has total assets of US$1.7b and current liabilities of US$235m. Therefore its current liabilities are equivalent to approximately 14% of its total assets. Low current liabilities are not boosting the ROCE too much.

What We Can Learn From Mongolian Mining's ROCE

This is good to see, and with a sound ROCE, Mongolian Mining could be worth a closer look. There might be better investments than Mongolian Mining out there, but you will have to work hard to find them . These promising businesses with rapidly growing earnings might be right up your alley.

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) addresses supporters during his caucus night watch party on February 03, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa is the first contest in the 2020 presidential nominating process with the candidates then moving on to New Hampshire.

Even the possibility of Sen. Bernie Sanders winning the Democratic nomination for the 2020 elections is an important risk for markets this year, a chief investment officer told CNBC this week.

Sanders last year unveiled a plan to reverse President Donald Trump's tax cuts for businesses and increase the corporate tax rate to 35%, up from 21%.

"We think a Bernie Sanders presidency or even the prospect that he wins the nomination probably presents one of the key risks for markets as we move through 2020," said Norman Villamin, CIO of wealth management at Union Bancaire Privee.

"That's largely because what you're going to see is, the market will have to price the prospect of rising tax rates or a reversal of the tax cuts we saw in 2018," he told CNBC's "Capital Connection" on Tuesday.

"That will be a rather major hit to earnings if the market needs to anticipate that," he added.

Villamin's comments come amid delays in the release of the results from the Iowa caucuses. The vote is seen as significant because the candidate who wins Iowa, often proceeds as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.
Billy Smith II/Staff

A lack of investment in new projects that would produce new supplies of crude oil in the coming years is a challenge that plagues the industry, a CEO told a gathering of energy company executives Tuesday.

Investors are losing confidence in oil stocks, said John Hess, CEO of New York-based oil exploration and production company Hess Corp. Just five years ago shale producers were darlings on Wall Street, he said. Now investors have turned their backs on energy firms, Hess said at the Argus Americas Crude Summit in downtown Houston. As evidence, he said, the S&P 500 index of energy stocks increased by just 6 percent last year compared with 30 percent for the overall index.
The main cachet of the Iowa caucuses is to give its winner big mo  momentum, as 1980 GOP state winner George H.W. Bush called it  and provide the rest of America a first peek at what heartland voters want in their next president.

On Tuesday the only message coming from Iowa was chaos  the kind that will taint every Democrat in the field and reshuffle the race in a way that gives the March 3 California primary more clout.

Iowa Democratic Party officials finally released partial caucus results late Tuesday after technological breakdowns prevented them from doing so Monday night. With 62% of the vote counted, Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Ind., mayor, led with 26.9% of the delegates allotted, followed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with 25.1%, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 18.3% and former Vice President Joe Biden with 15.6%. In the raw vote total, Sanders had a lead of nearly 1,200 votes over Buttigieg.

However, that was after multiple campaigns signaled they had won and others, notably Bidens aides, said the eventual numbers werent to be trusted. The end result was that no one was likely to get a bounce  or a death notice  going forward.

This is completely unsettling for the Democratic Party, Amanda Renteria, a Menlo Park resident who was political director for Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign, said before the returns were released. And confusion is not good for party unity.

One result of the chaos is that New Hampshires primary next Tuesday is the starting point, and that elevates all the Super Tuesday states like California even more, said Michael Ceraso, who ran Sanders 2016 campaign in California and Buttigiegs New Hampshire operation last year. Thirteen other states also cast ballots March 3.

California could be more of a deciding factor, Ceraso said. Some candidates would have been DOAd after Iowa. Now they get to move on.

Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg reacted to the muddled result in Iowa  and Bidens mediocre showing  by promising to double both his advertising budget in the Super Tuesday states and his staff to 2,000 people. He also released the names of new California endorsers, including Democratic state Sens. Richard Pan of Sacramento and Robert Hertzberg of Van Nuys (Los Angeles County).

Bloomberg isnt competing in the early states, including Iowa, opting to focus on large states like California. He entered in November out of fear that a more liberal candidate like Sanders or Warren could win the nomination.

Its good for Bloomberg, said Terri Bimes, an expert on the presidency who teaches at UC Berkeley. The longer that theres not a clear front-runner is good for Bloomberg.

There were plenty of disturbing signs in Iowa for Democrats even apart from the vote-counting mess. Party officials predicted that Mondays turnout would be around the same as in 2016, when 171,000 Iowans participated. Some Democrats had said earlier that turnout could be close to 2008s record of 239,000.

That is challenging for the party, Ceraso said of the disappointing turnout. Every candidate says, I can bring in X type of voters. But if theyre not, thats not inspiring.

The absence of a tally until Tuesday emboldened candidates buried in the eventual returns, like former San Francisco hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, to spin the non-results into a positive that could help them live on until California.

Last night was a mess-up, Steyer told MSNBC. I would also say it means this race is wide open. He then said, before any official results had been released, that the one thing that I think everybody now knows is that Joe Biden had a really bad night last night.

But Biden was among those calling into question the caucus results credibility.

We have real concerns about the integrity of the process, the former vice presidents deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, told CNN. And I think there were some significant failures in the process last night that should give voters concern.

Biden may actually benefit from the chaos surrounding Iowas official results.

Biden might have avoided the biggest disaster, Ceraso said before the returns came out. Well already be focusing on other states.

No state will be more important than California. State party chair Rusty Hicks said he wasnt worried about turnout, Iowa debacle or no Iowa debacle.

California aint Iowa, Hicks said. California has been the very heart of the pushback on the White House.

Renteria, however, said Iowa could be a harbinger for the rest of the year in at least one sense.

Welcome to 2020, she said. There is going to be a lot of chaos of all kinds this year, not just in the primaries.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
Dhaka, Feb 4 : Myanmar is not cooperating with the International Criminal Court in its investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed against Rohingyas, an ICC official said on Tuesday.

"In an ideal situation, we should be able to go to Myanmar and collect the information. But unfortunately, we are not able to do so because Myanmar is not cooperating with us," Efe news quoted Phakiso Mochochoko, Director of the Jurisdiction, Complementary and Cooperation Division of the ICC office of the prosecutor, as saying to reporters in Dhaka.

"We all agree this is a challenge but it is not an insurmountable challenge (...) this in itself will not result in the office not being able to investigate and prosecute." Mochochoko said they had faced similar situations earlier when countries refused to cooperate and denied ICC prosecutors an entry into their territory but they were still able to complete investigations.

The noncooperation of Myanmar will only affect the timing but not the trial, he said, after leading a team of investigators in Rohingya camps in Bangladesh to collect the evidence during his ongoing visit.

"It is going to affect us into the issue of timing. That is going to take us a little bit longer than maybe we could have if we were able to go to Myanmar," he said.

"It is three years since the crimes were committed, but justice will still be done. It may take a year, it may take two years, it may take another three years, but ultimately justice will be done," Mochochoko said.

The ICC, based in The Hague, authorized on Nov.14 last year a petition from the prosecutor's office to investigate the alleged crimes committed against the Rohingyas by the Myanmar army.

The court concluded that "the chamber accepted that there exists a reasonable basis to believe widespread and/or systematic acts of violence may have been committed that could qualify as the crimes against humanity of deportation across the Myanmar-Bangladesh border and persecution on grounds of ethnicity and/or religion against the Rohingya population".

Myanmar is not a member of the Rome Statute, a treaty that established the ICC. So the court would not have jurisdiction in the Asian country.

However, judges authorized the investigation because it is alleged that at least part of the crimes was committed in Bangladesh, one of the 122 member countries of the Rome Statute and which recognizes the jurisdiction of the ICC created in 2002.

Earlier in January, the United Nations' International Court of Justice directed Myanmar to prevent the alleged genocide against the minority community.

The court granted a series of emergency steps requested by the mainly Muslim African state of The Gambia under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

The court said Myanmar must "take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts" described by the convention.

Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and de-facto leader of Myanmar defended her country in the ICJ, also based in The Hague.

Nearly 738,000 Rohingya refugees are living in camps in Bangladesh since Aug. 25, 2017, following a wave of persecution and violence in Myanmar that the UN has described as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing and possible genocide.

Myanmar does not use the Rohingya term and also doesn't recognize them as its citizens, arguing that they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Story Highlights Approval among Republicans hits 94%

Poll shows highest party polarization on record

Half of registered voters say Trump deserves to be re-elected

February 04, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Donald Trump's job approval rating has risen to 49%, his highest in Gallup polling since he took office in 2017.

The new poll finds 50% of Americans disapproving of Trump, leaving just 1% expressing no opinion. The average percentage not having an opinion on Trump has been 5% throughout his presidency.

Trump's approval rating has risen because of higher ratings among both Republicans and independents. His 94% approval rating among Republicans is up six percentage points from early January and is three points higher than his previous best among his fellow partisans. The 42% approval rating among independents is up five points, and ties three other polls as his best among that group. Democratic approval is 7%, down slightly from 10%.

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The 87-point gap between Republican and Democratic approval in the current poll is the largest Gallup has measured in any Gallup poll to date, surpassing the prior record, held by Trump and Barack Obama, by one point.

The Jan. 16-29 poll was conducted in the midst of the Senate impeachment trial that will likely result in the president's acquittal. The poll finds 52% of Americans in favor of acquitting Trump and 46% in favor of convicting and removing him from office.

In addition to possibly reflecting sentiment regarding his impeachment, Trump's increased approval rating may also result from other issues, including:

The recent military action in Iran. More Americans in the new poll approve (53%) than disapprove (45%) of the U.S. military action that resulted in the death of a leading Iranian military general. Iran retaliated but, despite fears of escalation, no further military action has been taken by either side.

More Americans in the new poll approve (53%) than disapprove (45%) of the U.S. military action that resulted in the death of a leading Iranian military general. Iran retaliated but, despite fears of escalation, no further military action has been taken by either side. Foreign trade. During the poll's field period, Trump also signed the United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.

During the poll's field period, Trump also signed the United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. The economy. Americans' confidence in the economy is higher than at any point in the past two decades. Similarly, national satisfaction is the highest in nearly 15 years.

Sixty-three percent of Americans now approve of the way Trump is handling the economy, up six points from the prior reading in November. It is the highest economic approval rating not only for Trump, but for any president since George W. Bush enjoyed stratospheric job approval ratings in the first few months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Trump's ratings for handling foreign affairs (47%) and foreign trade (50%) are also his best to date.

Republican Party Image Also Improving

As Trump's job approval rating has improved, so has the image of the Republican Party. Now, 51% of Americans view the Republican Party favorably, up from 43% in September. It is the first time GOP favorability has exceeded 50% since 2005.

Meanwhile, 45% of Americans have a positive opinion of the Democratic Party, a slight dip from 48% in September.

Additionally, the poll finds 48% of Americans identifying as Republicans or leaning toward that party, compared with 44% Democratic identification or leaning. Recent Gallup polls had shown a fairly even partisan distribution, after the Democratic Party held advantages for much of 2019.

Gallup observed similar public opinion shifts when Bill Clinton was impeached.

Clinton's approval rating spiked to a personal high of 73% after the House impeachment vote, and stayed above his pre-impeachment readings through his acquittal by the Senate in early 1999.

A seven-point average Democratic advantage in party identification and leaning in two early December 1998 polls (49% to 42%) swelled to an average 17 points (53% to 36%) in two late December polls after the Dec. 19, 1998, impeachment vote.

The latest impeachment saga has had a different effect on party favorable ratings, however. When Clinton was impeached, favorable ratings of the Democratic Party were unchanged (but high, at 57% and 58% in two December polls), while the GOP's ratings plummeted, falling from 43% pre-impeachment to an all-time low of 31% after the House vote to impeach.

Election Context

Impeachment and a strong state of the nation may have brightened Trump's election prospects, but U.S. registered voters are evenly divided at 50% as to whether he deserves re-election. When the question was last asked, just before the 2018 midterm elections, 41% of Americans thought Trump deserved a second term.

With the Democratic nomination campaign fully underway, 39% of registered voters say they will vote for Trump regardless of whom the Democratic Party nominates for president, while nearly the same percentage (36%) say they will vote against Trump regardless of whom the Democrats choose. Twenty-four percent of voters say they are waiting to see whom the Democrats nominate.

For their part, Democrats continue to prefer a nominee who can defeat Trump over a candidate closer to them on the issues. Fifty-six percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents want the party to nominate a candidate who has the best chance of beating Trump, even if the candidate does not agree with them on the issues they care most about, while 42% want a nominee who agrees with them on the issues but does not have the best chance of beating Trump. The current 14-point margin in favor of electability is smaller than the 24-point gap measured in November, suggesting Democrats may have a harder time settling for the eventual nominee if it's someone they don't agree with.

Democrats identify Joe Biden (44%) as the candidate they think has the best chance of beating Trump, followed by Bernie Sanders at 19% and Michael Bloomberg at 10%. Meanwhile, Democrats are most likely to name Sanders (28%) as the candidate who is closest to them on the issues, followed by Biden (20%) and Elizabeth Warren (16%).

Implications

Whether the rise in Trump's approval rating and the Republican Party's image is being driven by a backlash against impeachment, the strong economy or other factors may become clearer in the near future. If it is mostly impeachment-based, his approval rating may revert quickly back to pre-impeachment levels, as it did for Clinton. Within two months of his acquittal in February 1999, Clinton's approval rating returned to where it was before he was impeached, as did the Democratic Party's advantage in party identification and leaning.

If Trump's higher approval rating is being driven by Americans giving him credit for improvements in the economy, his support may increase over the course of the year, as it did for Ronald Reagan in 1984, Clinton in 1996 and Barack Obama in 2012. All of those recent presidents held office during periods of sustained economic improvement and were re-elected with job approval ratings of better than 50%.

View complete question responses and trends.

Explore President Trump's approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.

Learn more about public opinion metrics that matter for the 2020 presidential election at Gallup's 2020 Presidential Election Center.

This article was published by " Gallup " -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==
Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming speaks during a press conference at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap



New Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming called Tuesday for countries to make a "scientific" decision to fight a deadly new coronavirus in line with the U.N. health agency's recommendations against unnecessary travel restrictions.



Stressing Beijing's "capability and resolve" to combat the virus that emerged late last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei Province, Xing made the appeal on the day Seoul's travel ban on foreigners, who have travelled to the province in the past two weeks, took effect.



This week, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the body's executive board that there was no need for measures that "unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade" in containing the virus.



"WHO is the most scientific, authoritative organization (on health issues), and I believe that we can base our decisions on WHO recommendations," Xing told reporters in Korean at the Chinese Embassy in central Seoul.



The ambassador refused to comment on Seoul's travel restrictions this week, but called for public support and stressed that South Korea and China are closely linked nations.






Carldell never forgot the bench that had been his home and would often refer to it  about how far his life had come since those days. Memories of the bench would help keep him centered and forever humble. His hard work and focus led to a clean life for six years. He stayed the course until a few months ago, when his will and body weakened. Wed have honest conversations about where his head was, about his demons returning. He was slipping through our fingers. I think he just got tired, just like my other brother did.

Carldell was honest and authentic. He was always supportive of me sharing his story and, while addiction briefly returned in his final season of life, he would be encouraging me to be honest about his challenges in the end. So I am.

But heres how I will remember him. Ill remember his commitment and how he helped others in their recovery. Ill remember his beautiful smile and the sound of his belly laugh. His love for life and family, and his love of God. His ability to give whatever he had to whomever needed it. Even in the end, as an organ donor, giving life to two people.

Carldell was successful in loving others, lifting them up and bringing joy into so many lives. Thats what he did for me.

Becky Frank is partner, chair and CEO of Schnake Turnbo Frank.

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Kozhikode : , Feb 4 (IANS) Kerala, which has reported three positive cases of Coronavirus and has over 2,500 people under watch, faced a fresh problem as authorities on Tuesday discovered that two people, who came here from China and were placed under observation, have slipped out of the country and have gone to Saudi Arabia.

The state government on Monday declared a state calamity and health authorities are seeking to extend all help to the needy.

A meeting held at the Kozhikode Corporation also entrusted the respective ward councillors to keep a tab of all those who are under observation.

Meanwhile, a source in the know of things, revealed that the escape by the two has left many who are engaged in ensuring that proper health care facilities should be extended to all in the state red-faced and it remains to be seen if the two will be repatriated.

The health authorities also face another problem as many who are returning from abroad are not very keen at voluntary disclosure of their travel itinerary for fear of being asked to go into quarantine at their homes.

One reason why people feel jittery is the advisory from the health authorities that has said all those in observation have to remain indoors for 28 days and this gives them "a feel of being ostracised".

Meanwhile, the three people who have tested positive are recovering well and their condition remains stable, Health Minister K.K. Shailaja said, but added that with more results awaited, the possibility of more cases turning positive cannot be ruled out.

In a related development, with more people placed under observation in Kerala, Karnataka authorities have increased vigil in border areas, with everyone arriving in vehicles being checked for fever or flu.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
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YEREVAN, 4 FEBUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 4 February, USD exchange rate is down by 0.05 drams to 478.80 drams. EUR exchange rate is down by 0.92 drams to 529.31 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate is up by 0.08 drams to 7.57 drams. GBP exchange rate is down by 2.89 drams to 623.11 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price is down by 148.02 drams to 24241.35 drams. Silver price is down by 1.80 drams to 273.55 drams. Platinum price is up by 106.22 drams to 14870.39 drams.
BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - All registered voters in Butte County will receive their ballot by mail, from here on out.

Voters can also return their ballot at any of the secure Drop Boxes, Voter Assistance Centers, or by mail.

Once you receive your ballot, envelope, and voter guide in the mail, you can also put it in an Election Drop Box. Click the online Voter Guide for more help.

Secure Drop Boxes will be available 28 days prior to the election, starting Tuesday, Feb. 4.

RELATED: Butte Countys voter assistance centers set to open

For those who have moved away after fires, but are still voting in Butte County  Its important, if you have changed addresses but retained your primary address to call the Butte County Elections Office and make sure they have the correct address.

If you canceled your P.O. Box, you will not receive a booklet, ballot or envelope; so make sure to call 530-552-3400 Option 1, or 800-894-7761 within Butte County. You can also go into the office at 155 Nelson Avenue in Oroville, or any voter assistance centers.

The deadline to register with a political party is Feb. 18. However, if youre not registered by the deadline, did not receive a ballot, envelope, or booklet, you can still vote.

New California state law allows any eligible citizen to register and vote at any of the Voter Assistance Centers or in the Elections Office up to and including Election Day.

People can also register to vote online, CLICK HERE.

For more information, CLICK HERE.
The OPEC HQ building in Vienna, Austria. Photo: Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Representatives from top oil producing nations are set to meet in Vienna on Tuesday to discuss the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in China.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, will hold an emergency meeting of its technical committee on 4 and 5 February to discuss coronavirus and its impact on oil prices, according to multiple reports.

A secretary at OPECs headquarters in Vienna confirmed that a meeting was taking place on Tuesday but said they couldnt comment on what it was about.

Market watchers and analysts expect OPEC members, which include Saudi Arabia and Iran, to discuss potential production cuts to support oil prices in the face of lower demand from China.

Oil prices are now at levels where we would expect a supply response from both OPEC and shale producers, Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note to clients on Monday.

Much of China has been under lockdown for a week and a half in response to the coronavirus epidemic, which has limited oil production and consumption.

Chinese refineries are cutting throughput by 10% to 20%, with some located in central China cutting as much as 40%, said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at Nordic bank SEB.

BPs finance chief said on Tuesday that demand for oil in China has reduced by 1 million barrels per day since the outbreak began.

How large the run-cuts will be through February 2020 remains to be seen, but somewhere between 10% to 20% seems like a fair bet, Schieldrop said. That means 1.4m-2.8m barrels per day in lost crude oil processing and crude demand for February.

The price of crude has fallen by almost $15 (11.60) since the start of January and entered a bear market on Monday.

Saudi Arabia is likely to continue pushing for production cuts to prop up prices, Deutsche Bank strategists wrote in a note to clients on Monday.

CNBC reported that OPEC members were considering proposing production cuts of 500,000 barrels per day. Such a decision would require another extraordinary meeting of OPEC members and allies, including Russia, later this month.

Story continues

Goldman Sachs analysts said they saw a 50% chance of OPEC cutting production. Such a decision would extend a cut of 500,000 barrels per day agreed in December.

Expectations of a possible production cut pushed oil prices higher on Tuesday morning. Crude (CL=F) was up 1.8% to $51.04 per barrel and Brent (BZ=F) was up 1.1% to $55.05 per barrel.

OPEC may extend and deepen production cuts but the kind of demand destruction is worrisome, said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com. Fundamentals in the market remain bearish with global demand growth falling, rising output from the likes of the US, Norway and Brazil, leaving OPEC with no firepower to support prices longer term by cutting output.

Separately on Tuesday, BP (BP.L) reported a slump in annual profits due to lower oil prices. Underlying replacement cost profit, BPs most closely watched measurement, was $9.99bn (7.7bn), down from $12.72bn (9.8bn) a year before. Profit attributable to shareholders was $4bn (3.1bn), a 57% reduction on the year before.
When word first leaked that the Trump administration planned to make it harder for legal immigrants to earn permanent residency, fear and confusion swept through newcomer communities. Even though it hasnt taken effect yet, thanks to court challenges, the change nevertheless has alarmed both legal immigrants already here and aid groups working to help those seeking to come in the future.

The proposal will work against legal immigrants in two ways: It adds non-cash benefits, like healthcare, housing or food stamps, to the kinds of government help that can disqualify a legal resident from permanent status, and it will allow the government to deny new applicants for entrance into America based on an expectation  a kind of guess, really  that theyd likely use public benefits in the future.

It also would favor new immigrants who can show they have income or assets higher than 250 percent of the federal poverty threshold, or $64,375 for a family of four  twice the level currently required under a 1996 law for people sponsoring immigrants.

These changes would do more than add hoops for immigrants, especially poor ones, to find a lasting and legal footing in the U.S. They ignore the economic reality that legal immigrants  no matter how poor they begin their lives in America  strengthen the U.S. economy, often to extraordinary degrees. Proof of that abounds in the city of Houston. The new rules should be rescinded before going into effect as scheduled on Feb. 24.

Already, the mere prospect of the rule change appears to be affecting immigrants and their children. Patients at medical clinics worried that getting needed health care could negatively impact their legal status. At community meetings in Houston, advocates reported seeing parents too frightened to apply for food stamps for U.S. citizen children and pregnant women who skipped prenatal appointments. Even if the new rule does not apply to children who are citizens, it seems to be having a chilling effect on services they should not skip.

In the two years since Trump first proposed the changes, the number of Texas children enrolled in public health insurance programs has dropped by more than 230,000  a decrease advocates attribute to the anxiety gripping immigrant families.

The changes will likely be implemented soon. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to give the administration the green light to start enforcing the revised public charge rule.

The new policy creates an invisible wall, Melissa McChesney, a senior policy analyst with the Center for Public Policy Priorities told the Editorial Board. Its an unprecedented departure from how current immigration policies and practices work.

It also appears targeted  indirectly, at least  toward would-be immigrants with black or brown skin. It gives a preference to wealthy applicants and virtually shuts the door on low-income people from around the world including Mexico and Central America.

Not only is the revised policy morally suspect  its weighted against the very immigrants traditionally welcomed by our country, the tired, the poor, the newcomers yearning to breathe free  but it makes no economic sense. Far from being a burden on society, immigrants use public benefits at lower rates than native-born.

According to the Cato Institute, when low-income noncitizens receive public benefits, the average value of benefits per recipient is almost always lower than for those who are native-born.

Rather than draining public coffers, immigrants boost our economy and contribute more in tax revenue than they use in public benefits. Foreign-born adults participate in the workforce at a higher rate than the native born and make up more than a third of the workforce in some industries, including farming, fishing, maintenance workers and building and grounds cleaning. About 1 in 5 home health care industry workers, a workforce we will depend on even more in the coming years as the U.S. population ages, are also immigrants.

The public charge rule may yet be halted. The Supreme Court decision lifted preliminary injunctions blocking the policy from being enforced, but didnt rule on its merits. The administration has appealed rulings in three states blocking the changes. Decisions are expected this year.

We hope those challenges prevail. The Trump administration policy punishes immigrants who have lawfully sought a place in this country. It attempts an end run around Congress to enact a biased and harmful immigration policy.

It will turn away the people who have, for generations, enriched our economy and our nation  and that will hurt us all.
"Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases, affecting 50 million people worldwide. Pharmacological treatment is a widespread approach to fight the disease but for many patients medication is no help. Epilepsy drugs prove ineffective with 7% to 20% of children ailed by the condition. Drug resistance amongst adults ranges between 30% and 40%. Alternative experimental therapies also have serious drawbacks.

IN-FET project ("Ion Neuromodulation for Epilepsy Treatment") aims to develop new nanodevices that could be used as brain implants to modulate the electrical activity of the brain at the most fundamental level. This innovative approach could represent a revolutionary method to treat neurological diseases such as epilepsy and Parkinson's.

Launched in January 2020, the project focuses on ions such as magnesium, potassium and calcium, which are the messengers underlying the communication between nerve cells. These new molecular machines could measure and manipulate the activity of ions and, in particular, their concentration. This would make it possible to modulate and modify cell activity, activating or turning them off depending on the needs. As an example, in epilepsy, we see a hyper-excitability of brain cells, a phenomenon which depends precisely on the flow of ions. The activity of these cells could be modulated thanks to these nanosystems: the devices could work as an ion trap so that they can no longer excite the cells. In Parkinson's, it could be done in a similar manner, working on neurons which are responsible for the symptoms of the disease.

The project will take an interdisciplinary approach to bring together nanoengineering, information technology and neurobiology. The ambitious initiative is funded by the European programme "Future Emerging Technologies (FET) Open" intended to support cutting-edge research, but with a great impact on science and society. Coordinated by Professor Michele Giugliano, director of the Neuronal Dynamics Lab at SISSA (Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati), the initiative will involve IBM Research, Multi Channel Systems, the Universities of Geneva and Sheffield and the Italian Inter-University Consortium for Nanoelectronics with linked third parties University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and University of Udine.

The revolutionary approach of IN-FET

"Today's cutting-edge experimental therapies for restoring or repairing brain functions in neural disorders often involve modulating or silencing hyperactive brain circuits," explains Professor Giugliano. "This can be done by pharmacological or genetic manipulations, or by delivering electrical, magnetic or optical stimuli to the brain. All of them, however, come with serious drawbacks, due to the unnatural means to regulate the activity of nerve cells. Our idea is to use what the brain normally uses to function: ions".

The nerve cells operate and communicate by means of flows of ions through which the impulses are emitted and exchanged. Ions are the most elementary building blocks of brain electrical activity. Giugliano explains: "The IN-FET project makes this basic principle its own, to develop implantable devices able to alter the concentration of the most common ions on a microscopic scale, which is that of cells. These devices will be able to measure the electrical activity of neurons and actively work to correct it, if required".

This work has been made possible by the knowledge acquired and by recent progress in a very different sphere: new generation electronic batteries that use highly efficient "electro-activated polymers". In this case, these polymers would be used like "molecular machines" to trap or release specific ions into the areas surrounding neurons. "This way we could work on neurons activity by means of their own language, the one they normally use to communicate. With this method we could treat neurological diseases through a very natural mean, which could be much more effective" says professor Giugliano. "Compared to the approaches currently used to study and treat neurological diseases, it is a change of perspective. By testing the machines on nerve cells in vitro, IN-FET project will try to understand if this perspective is correct".

Different partners, different roles

IBM Research scientists and the University of Sheffield will be responsible for developing these molecular machines, Geneva and the Italian Inter-University Consortium for Nanoelectronics will create the theoretical models to support the research work, while Multi Channel Systems will take care of integration and electronic interfacing. SISSA will have the task of coordinating the entire project and carrying out the conclusive experiments, in which the method will be tested on nerve cells. Prof Giugliano affirms: "This is a three-and-a-half-year long route, on the strength of a very significant financial investment from the European Commission, extremely challenging and scientifically exciting and adventurous. We are trying to open a truly new road towards a world waiting to be discovered. We will work hard to achieve this, ready to be amazed."

###
Delhi Dialogue brought creativity, specificity and scale to AAPs promises through a participatory politics-policy campaign.

Editor's Note: This is a three-part series on Aam Aadmi Party's impact on the state of democracy, development and rule of law in Delhi that remains undocumented by the press. An insiders look at National Capital's transforming legislative, executive and judiciary through public participation, co-creation and citizen-centric decision-making. This is the third and last part of the series.

In 2014, I co-authored four documents with a bunch of experts to prepare the foundation of Delhi governments governance model through the Delhi Dialogue. The Delhi Dialogue team convened by Arvind Kejriwal comprised of Ashish Khetan, the late Meera Sanyal, Adarsh Shastri, Preeti Sharma Menon and myself. Writing, research and communication were supported by a brilliant team of on-ground, remote and NRI researchers and communication volunteers. The document served as the first governance blueprint for this young partys policy vision for the National Capital.

The policy problems and governance solutions were further spread through the partys political organisation of volunteers as well as conventional media and digital media reaching unprecedented scale, engaging over six million people online and eight million people offline for over three months. This shaped a manifesto that reflected the reality on the ground as much as possible.

The final two outputs were two documents: a political and punchy 12-page 70-point action plan and a 42-page J detailed policy manifesto. Its foundation was in three major sources i.e. the 2013 manifesto for Delhi elections, the Vision Swaraj inputs that formed the basis of the 2014 manifesto for Lok Sabha elections and Delhi Dialogue, a series of participatory governance dialogues with the citizens of Delhi.

Delhi Dialogue brought creativity, specificity and scale to AAPs promises through a participatory politics-policy campaign. It crowdsourced Delhis problems and solutions through scores of focus group discussions in 21 policy areas with domain experts, bureaucrats, businesses, journalists, non-profits, academics, activists and over 450+ public meetings augmented and sharpened through thousands of emails, tens of thousands of SMSs and Whatsapp messages and lakhs of people touched through public meetings.

The themes of dialogues addressed personally by Kejriwal were youth, women, health, education, water, electricity, village, unauthorized colonies, JJ (Jhuggi Jhopri) clusters, business and trade. These policy spheres mirror the focus areas and successes of the Delhi government till date.

The other two outputs were a personal and professional response to those who demanded concrete plans for AAPs promises on energy and environment, and more specifically, its water and electricity promise. Our approach was based on honest politics and evidence-based policy and our documents reflected our teams socio-political perspective and techno-managerial approach. From this, emerged campaign documents which were Bijli Swaraj (Energy self-governance) and Jal Swaraj (Water self-governance) white papers that laid out clear plans for these sectors and how theyd be improved in Delhi.

While whistleblowers from Delhi Jal Board and Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission were brought on board to identify the problems within the system, non-profits and for-profit companies from spheres like solar and renewable energy, electric vehicles as well as water, sewerage and river cleaning were consulted. There were engineers, economists, architects, planners, academics, bureaucrats, civil society activists, businesses, traders and common citizens, who all threw in their hat to frame problems and determine solutions.

We treated information from whistleblowers to be more useful for city planning than official planning and statistics documents. Ideas from technologists and innovators were considered as critical to solving public problems like any policymaker. The idea was not to pit business and activists against each other, instead at attempt was made to find a synthesis between their two perspectives. We treated fieldwork and ground meetings to be as valuable as policy insights aggregated at scale as much as any academic with a high h-index. The framing and communication was culturally and linguistically relevant and attempted to weave logos, pathos and ethos in an optimal measure on a monthly basis offline and weekly basis online.

The team travelled across the city be it to dingy backrooms hunting for data residing with termites and mice, traded anecdotes and information with Lutyens elite and some of its intelligentsia, met grassroots and paper tiger non-profits to learn from their experiences and operations. The group also conducted focus group discussions with professionals and academics, conversed with whistleblowers and BJP/Congress office-bearers for insider information, explored policy feasibility in committee meetings at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial with MLA candidates and party office bearers. The final political feasibility for announcements in manifesto committee meetings was aided and advised by friends, colleagues, professionals, well-wishers and do-gooders at every step along the way.

For people who did not come from political backgrounds, engaging with specialists to prepare an Indian political partys foundational literature widened the scope of the executive within the Indian political system. For far too long, state-led development has dominated the Indian context leaving public problems at the mercy of corrupt politicians and stakeholders aiming for private profit over public service. This changed with AAP in 2013, Delhi Dialogue in 2014 and the Delhi government in 2015.

Also Read

AAP reimagines role of legislative within Indian democracy by holding executive to greater public scrutiny, pushing for transparency

AAP govt paved road to justice by discarding politics of parole in favour of infrastructure and improved access to courts

When we became a government in 2015, all ministers and department heads in the city were called in and provided a copy of the manifesto as the basis of departmental priorities, ensuring that policies were therefore directly responding to the views and needs of society. Each department followed a process of inside-out transparency and outside-in engagement with non-government stakeholders in the formulation and implementation of policy and governance.

Youll probably read about the achievements in Delhi governance quantitatively and qualitatively in the week coming up. In the age of Whatsapp and Tiktok, youll probably also hear how and why we were a terrible government that did no work. The truth is somewhere in between and tilted towards the former! So, instead of telling you Whats, I thought Ill share four Whys and key Hows from five years of city governance across a host of different departments, functions and outcomes.

Decentralise funds and devolve powers

Decentralisation of funds to small-scale and local projects has meant rapid scale-up and delivery of these projects. Devolution of powers and influence to non-state experts and citizen groups has also supported the take-up and implementation of such projects by bringing ownership of these projects to communities. Examples include legislator-led work on infrastructure and roads, creation of small lakes and water bodies, installing rooftop solar, planning the metro system, cluster buses and a network of mobility as an ecosystem, implementing community engagement and oversight on waste burning, dengue and health care, schooling and hospital maintenance; all of which point back to the Gandhian principle of Swaraj or self-governance.

Key lesson learnt: For the development and implementation of plans and policies which truly reflect the needs of society, a participatory approach to identifying needs, designing policies and their thorough implementation is crucial. With engagement and support from the citizens that these activities affect throughout the process, implementation and positive results from such activities can be magnified.

Innovate as a stack: Solve for needs, then wants and then desires

We adopted the stack approach towards public problem solving to first addressing the needs, then the wants and subsequently addressing the desires of the community. This approach, therefore, incorporates global best practices and innovations but solves the communitys problems and issues first and foremost. This approach also allows for additional ideas to be added to solve further problems. For example, in the power sector, solving the fundamental issue of electricity access and tariff for the population was the first priority. Once reliable electricity was achieved through governance improvements, the subsidy was provided through prudent budgeting and planning, which when paired with the administrative crackdown on corruption and infrastructure investment, made it possible for the government to make energy plans for the longer term.

Clear commitments to solar energy targets were laid down; first being that any new Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) would be a solar PPA, second shutting down fossil fuel power plants and third enhancing solar projects for energy production on rooftops, farms and water bodies. When taking this stack approach, it was more likely that activities and plans be fully supported by stakeholders across the state, market and society. Over the five years of the Delhi Government, despite numerous conflicting and wild developments in the renewable sector, financial markets and oil and gas industry, Delhis electricity requirements have been fulfilled with clean, cheap and reliable energy, a unique success story across Indian cities.

Key lesson learnt: Identifying the issues that need to be addressed and addressing those issues as a priority is key both in terms of public perception and therefore buy-in to plans and policies. It takes care that the wants and desires can then also be considered. Delivering positive results in the short-term will also lead to increased buy-in and support for the implementation of further projects, plans and policies in the same area.

Transparent governance gathers strategic allies

Delhi government has taken a transparent approach to governance with clear accountability. For example, each of the 70 points in the manifesto from Delhi Dialogue had individual promises all of which can be mapped to work updates, budgetary allocations and governance outcomes and outputs.

To achieve this clear and accountable governance, a number of key steps were taken by the government:

Step 1: Increase the number of problem solvers through awareness, creating an inclusive and participatory process and prioritising sustainable development through strong political leadership and integrated governance arrangements.

Step 2: Set the agenda for long-term plans with clear key performance indicators (KPIs), Outcomes and Outputs that continuously evolve through citizen feedback and become departmental procedure in institutional memory instead of outlier exercises.

with clear key performance indicators (KPIs), Outcomes and Outputs that continuously evolve through citizen feedback and become departmental procedure in institutional memory instead of outlier exercises. Step 3: Partner with allies to evolve a long- term, multi-sectoral perspective that has funded mandates with a clear path of implementation.

to evolve a long- term, multi-sectoral perspective that has funded mandates with a clear path of implementation. Step 4: Monitor and evaluate progress through local monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems through academia and civil society to ensure that implementation remains on track, and support the development of local capacity for more responsive and accountable governance.

Key lesson learnt: A transparent governance approach can help with gaining support from other government departments, civil society, the private sector and other stakeholders. Such an approach enables the government to keep track of plans, policies, projects and promises that are going well, and those that might need to be altered to improve delivery results. An honest measurement and transparent approach also allow allies of principle to align themselves accurately through their currencies of exchange whether it is knowledge, prestige, status, media, manpower or capital. This can be bolstered by backing government commitments with a clear accountability system which enables the monitoring and tracking of progress and outcomes.

Partnerships are necessary for scale

When working with experts and co-creating solutions, internal discord often reduces, and it is possible to gain buy-in and support from a wider team. A host of non-profit organisations, researchers and technologists who supported in the development of the Delhi Dialogue manifesto have helped to implement this on the ground. This process of co-creation has therefore led to co-production and a higher success rate than would have been seen without partnership working. When non-state stakeholders lead, with government support, a far better outcome can be achieved.

Key lesson learnt: Working with a wide group of stakeholders to identify issues and come up with ways to solve those issues is often better and achieves superior results than if issues are focused on in silos. Involvement of multiple stakeholders from the beginning of the planning process through to delivery supports implementation and facilitates greater results.

From a tiring but fulfilling manifesto to nervous smiles at the start of Delhi governance to confident and high-pressure representation of Delhis plans at the C40 World Mayors Summit in 2019, this has been quite the journey. Ive learnt that being truthful does have an opportunity cost and being ethical does have some Olympic hurdles. However, Ive also found hope when there was none in stock, light when it was too dark, friends when it was too lonely and support from unknown quarters of this city, India and the world.

The Government of Delhi has a clear focus on public engagement in decision-making and outcomes in budgeting. Partnership arrangements have been established within government agencies and with non-government organisations to overcome traditional governance challenges. These enable the effective delivery of services to the citizens of Delhi.

Sustainability has been brought to the forefront through innovative governance arrangements, green budgeting processes and investment of political will. This has enabled transformational climate actions to be implemented in the sectors of water, energy, environment, public infrastructure and mobility. All of this change whilst the government has invested 40 percent of its budget and a large corpus of its political machinery and mass outreach around health and education. Public appraisal under heavy ecosystem challenges lies ahead in a week or so. I can only hope that Delhis citizens can see the city theyve begun co-creating with some common citizens.

The author has been a volunteer with Aam Aadmi Party and advisor in the Delhi Government since 2014. He holds two graduate degrees in public policy and engineering from Stanford University and was formerly an RA with MIT JPAL.
The government has announced plans to bring forward its ban on selling new petrol and diesel vehicles to 2035.

Its original plan was to do this by 2040, and continue to allow hybrid models to be sold. However, the new plan is much stricter, banning all but fully electric models from being sold on the new market.

What does that mean for the average motorist, though? Lets take a look

The governments combustion engine ban will see only electric vehicles like the Tesla Model 3 sold in the new market. (PA)

What is the government proposing?

Nothing is set in stone, but Boris Johnson plans to use the COP26 climate conference being held in the UK in November to encourage other countries to set ambitious emissions reduction targets.

As part of this drive, the government will consult on bringing forward the planned ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040 to 2035  and earlier if possible.

Will hybrid vehicles be banned as well?

Originally, it was expected that any model with an electrified element of its powertrain would still be allowed on sale.

However, under the new proposal, hybrid vehicles would be banned from sale in the new car market  only fully electric and hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles would be exempt.

Can I still buy a used petrol or diesel car when the ban comes into effect?

Once the ban comes into effect, the only petrol and diesel vehicles that will be on sale will be in the used market. This will include hybrid models.

Will electric cars be suitable for people who live outside cities?

Range anxiety is a legitimate concern for EV buyers. It occurs when the number of miles left in the battery gets low and the driver isnt sure if they can get to a charging port in time. For this reason, EVs tend to be marketed to city dwellers who have easy access to charging and travel fewer miles per journey.

However, a recent study by Honda found that EVs are also popular with those in rural areas. This is because these people are more likely to have a house with a driveway and can easily refill their battery.

Phil Webb, head of car for Honda UK, told the PA news agency that people are going down the electric route because their nearest petrol station is 15  20 miles away, but all they want to do is pop to the shops or take the kids to school Theyre in control of when they charge it  overnight for example  and no longer have that inconvenience of having to go out of their way to a petrol station.

Story continues

Will I have to get rid of my petrol or diesel car when the ban comes into force?

No. For now, there are no plans to force people out of their older petrol and diesel cars and into electric versions. However, given that bans on petrol and diesel vehicles in city centres are becoming more widespread, its likely that itll become harder to drive your traditionally powered car throughout the UK without issue. Weve got no indication as yet whether incentives for drivers to buy electric cars will be increased or decreased, either.

Industry experts have voiced concerns that the UKs charging infrastructure is woefully inadequate. (Nissan)

Why is the ban happening at all?

The ban on petrol and diesel vehicles in the UK is all about addressing climate change and driving down the countrys emissions. Not only that, but air quality targets will be more easily met if combustion-engined cars are taken off sale.

Are other countries following suit?

Its not just the UK that is planning to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. Norway is looking to achieve the goal by 2025, and India is planning to do the same by 2030  if its economical. Israel has pledged to ban the import of all petrol and diesel-powered cars by 2030, with only natural gas and electric cars permitted, and all new vehicles in the Netherlands will need to be emission-free by 2030, the same time scale France is aiming for, too. Germany hasnt set a timeline as yet, but itll most likely be in line with the UK and Frances plans.

What does the car industry have to say about this?

"If the UK is to lead the global zero emissions agenda, we need a competitive marketplace and a competitive business environment to encourage manufacturers to sell and build here. A date without a plan will merely destroy value today"@MikeHawesSMMT https://t.co/zmGBk5ZTDK pic.twitter.com/dq5zfGRyQc  SMMT (@SMMT) February 4, 2020

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, an industry body that represents car manufacturers, accused the government of moving the goalposts.

Chief executive Mike Hawes said: With current demand for this still expensive technology still just a fraction of sales, its clear that accelerating an already very challenging ambition will take more than industry investment.

Hawes also pointed to the fact theres still no clarity on the future of the plug-in car grant and the fact that the UKs charging network is woefully inadequate.
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump is set to be acquitted of two impeachment charges in final votes set for Wednesday at 4 p.m. Senators heard lawyers closing arguments Monday and now have two days for discussion on the chambers floor.

Here are the latest developments:

Trump Conduct Shameful, Murkowski Says (7:08 p.m.)

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said she will vote to acquit Trump even though his behavior was shameful and wrong.

The president has the responsibility to uphold the integrity and the honor of this office, Murkowski of Alaska said on the Senate floor. Degrading the office by actions or even name-calling weakens it for future presidents and it weakens our country.

Still, she said, I cannot vote to convict, in part because the House built its case on a rotted foundation.

The House rushed through what should have been one of the most serious consequential undertakings of the legislative branch simply to meet an artificial self-imposed deadline, she said. The House could have pursued censure and not jumped immediately to impeachment, Murkowski said.

Murkowski said she said enough when it became clear last week that a third GOP vote in favor of calling witnesses would simply be used to burn down the judiciary by creating a 50-50 tie and a live question of whether Chief Justice John Roberts would break the tie. Roberts later announced that he wouldnt have cast a tie-breaking vote.

She told reporters later that she was worried about Democrat Elizabeth Warrens question during the trial about whether the proceedings would reflect poorly on Roberts or the Supreme Court.

For gosh sakes, we want to make sure that theres at least one branch of government that hasnt been drug into the political mud, Murkowski said to reporters. And thats where we were going.

On the Senate floor, she said, The Constitution provides for impeachment, but does not demand it in all instances.

Removal from office is the political death penalty, Murkowski said. The voters will pronounce a verdict in nine months and we must trust their judgment.

Story continues

Manchin Undecided, Proposes Censure of Trump (4:47 p.m.)

Moderate Democrat Joe Manchin said hes undecided on how hell vote. But he also said that because he sees no path to a two-thirds Senate majority to convict Trump, hes proposing that both parties unite behind a censure of the president.

I am truly struggling with this decision and will come to a conclusion reluctantly, Manchin of West Virginia said on the Senate floor after closing arguments were completed.

Trumps July 25 call with Ukraines president was not a perfect call, Manchin said. It was simply wrong. He condemned the false argument that the president can do no wrong.

But he also said that removing Trump would further divide our deeply divided nation.

History will judge the Senate harshly for failing to hold a fair trial and refusing to call for witnesses and new documents, Manchin said.

He said a censure would allow the Senate to unite across party lines.

A censure of the president would be purely symbolic, but its highly unlikely because Democrats, as the minority party, cant force a vote.

Schiff Says the House Has Proven Our Case (3:07 p.m.)

Lead House manager Adam Schiff completed final arguments in the trial by calling Trump a man without character or ethical compass and calling on the Senate to remove him from office.

We have proven our case, Schiff said, adding that the Constitutions framers gave you a remedy and they meant for you to use it.

We have proven Donald Trump guilty, now do impartial justice and convict him, Schiff said.

The alternative is a runaway presidency and a nation whose elections are open to the highest bidder, the California Democrat said.

History will not be kind to Donald Trump, Schiff said. If you find that the House has proved its case and still vote to acquit, your name will be tied to him with a cord of steel and for all of history.

What has changed over the years is that members of Congress are no longer willing to take on a president of their own party, he said. The lawmaker appealed for at least one Republican to show courage to find Trump guilty.

He has not changed. He will not change, Schiff said. The plot goes on, the scheming persists, and the danger will never recede.

GOP Advises Trump to Avoid Trial in Speech (2:28 p.m.)

Trump is getting some advice from Republican senators ahead of his State of the Union address: dont mention impeachment.

If I was him, I would avoid that subject, said Senator Roy Blunt, a member of Senate GOP leadership and a close adviser to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. I think theres plenty to talk about, and its an opportunity to move on.

I just think theres no way you talk about that and that not be the takeaway, said Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican. He has a lot of positive things to talk about.

But Republican senators also acknowledged that its impossible to predict what the president will say and difficult to constrain his impulse to take on his opponents.

The other option is to address it head-on, and he often is a head-on kind of guy, Blunt said.

Hes going to do whatever he wants to do, said Senator Kevin Cramer, a freshman Republican from North Dakota. I wouldnt do it because Im more of a traditional political strategist and I couldnt deliver it. He, on the other hand, is very successful being himself.

Trump Team Urges Senate to Acquit President (1:03 p.m.)

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone began the Trump teams closing argument by urging senators to acquit the president and leave it to the voters to choose their president in Novembers election.

The only conclusion, based on the evidence and based on the articles of impeachment themselves and the Constitution, is that you must vote to acquit the president, Cipollone said.

The American people are tired of the endless investigations and false investigations that have been coming out of the House, Cipollone said. Trump has achieved success with the economy and wants to continue doing so, he said.

Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said, The answer is elections, not impeachment.

The first article, alleging Trump abused his power, is invalid because presidents cant be impeached over policy differences, Sekulow said. The second article, accusing the president of obstructing the House investigation, is also invalid, he said, adding, President Trump in no way obstructed Congress.

Deputy White House Counsel Michael Purpura said, The president did not condition security assistance or a meeting on anything during the July 25 call.

Schiff Says Trump a Danger to U.S. Democracy (12:15 p.m.)

Lead House manager Adam Schiff argued that a president free of accountability is a danger to the beating heart of our democracy.

Donald Trump has betrayed his oath to protect and defend the Constitution, but it is not too late for us to honor ours, to wield our power to defend our democracy, Schiff said.

Today we urge you, in the face of overwhelming evidence of the presidents guilt, and knowing that if left in office he will continue to seek foreign interference in the next election, to vote to convict on both articles of impeachment, and to remove from office, Donald J. Trump, the 45th president of the United States, Schiff said.

Impeachment manager Hakeem Jeffries asked senators to think about how U.S. allies in Europe and adversaries around the world would view the Senates decision to acquit Trump. He said one of the main actors in the impeachment allegations, Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, returned to the scene of the crime in Ukraine to continue digging up dirt about Joe Biden.

What message do we send when we say Americas national security is for sale? Jeffries said.

House Managers Urge Senate to Remove Trump (11:30 a.m.)

House managers argued that Trump sought to use his official power to cheat in the 2020 election, urging senators to remove him from office for withholding U.S. aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rival.

Your duty demands that you convict President Trump, Colorado Democrat Jason Crow told the Senate Monday.

While impeachment is intended only for rare instances of grave misconduct, if left unchecked, Trump threatens the fairness of the next election and risks putting foreign interference between Americans and their ballots, Crow said.

The president would have us believe that he did not withhold aid to force these sham investigations of Democrat Joe Biden, Crow said. How many falsehoods can we take? When will it be one too many?

Florida Democrat Val Demings said Trump was the central player in the corrupt scheme, assisted principally by his private attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

He remains unapologetic, unrestrained and intent on continuing his sham to defraud our elections, Demings said.

Both Sides to Present Closing Arguments (11:04 a.m.)

The impeachment trial convened to hear closing arguments, with the House managers and Trumps defense each getting two hours.

After that, the Senate floor will be open for members to explain which way they plan to vote. The final decision is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday, when the Senates Republican majority will have the votes to acquit Trump.

Senate to Hear Final Arguments on Charges (6 a.m.)

The Senate will hear four hours of closing arguments starting at 11 a.m. Monday on the charges against Trump.

Plans for the presidents final acquittal on Wednesday were sealed after Fridays 51-49 vote blocking the Senate from calling witnesses sought by Democrats, including former National Security Advisor John Bolton.

The House managers and Trumps defense team will each have two hours to make their arguments, and senators -- including the Democrats running in Monday nights Iowa caucuses -- are required to be in the chamber.

Afterward, members will have until the scheduled vote time at 4 p.m. Wednesday to explain their votes on the Senate floor, though the other senators wont have to be there to listen to them.

The timing means Trumps acquittal will come after his State of the Union address to a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday night. Hell be able to claim victory, but it wont have happened yet.

Catch Up on Impeachment Coverage

Key Documents

Here is the House Democrats web page containing documents related to the impeachment trial. House Democrats impeachment brief is here. Trumps initial reply is here, and his lawyers trial brief is here.The House impeachment resolution is H.Res. 755. The Intelligence Committee Democrats impeachment report is here.Gordon Sondlands transcript is here and here; Kurt Volkers transcript is here and here. Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitchs transcript is here and here; the transcript of Michael McKinley, former senior adviser to the secretary of State, is here. The transcript of David Holmes, a Foreign Service officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, is here.The transcript of William Taylor, the top U.S. envoy to Ukraine, is here and here. State Department official George Kents testimony is here and here. Testimony by Alexander Vindman can be found here, and the Fiona Hill transcript is here. Laura Coopers transcript is here; Christopher Andersons is here and Catherine Crofts is here. Jennifer Williams transcript is here and Timothy Morrisons is here. The Philip Reeker transcript is here. Mark Sandys is here.

--With assistance from Laura Litvan and Erik Wasson.

To contact the reporters on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net;Steven T. Dennis in Washington at sdennis17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asseo, Anna Edgerton

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
WASHINGTON  When President Trump delivered his State of the Union address in 2019, he pointed to El Paso as a sign of the success of his immigration policies, claiming it had been transformed from one of our nations most dangerous cities to one of the safest cities in our country by the construction of a border wall.

In the audience, Representative Veronica Escobar, the Democrat who represents the majority of the predominantly Hispanic city bordering Mexico, was visibly furious at the presidents reference to her community, crossing her arms from her seat on the House floor and mouthing oh my God, oh my God.

Hes lying about what happened before the wall, she said afterward. El Paso has been a safe community for decades. We were long before a wall was ever constructed.

A year later, Ms. Escobar will have the chance to respond directly to Mr. Trump, not just for her community but for the Democratic Party, when she delivers the Spanish-language rebuttal from El Paso to Mr. Trumps State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
Ben Brody enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2002, when he was 22, not because he supported the impending invasion of Iraqeven then, he says, he was skepticalbut because he wanted to photograph it. He spent 27 months in Iraq, during some of the most chaotic and violent periods of the war, balancing the roles of observer and soldier. He enjoyed unique access to the war, but the intimate, graphic, and bracing work this access allowed him to produce was consistently suppressed, notes The New Yorker. Now it can be seen in new book.
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Countries across the world are using the method of desalination to make sea water fit for drinking. India too is considering setting up desalination plants to leverage its vast coastline. The process uses reverse osmosis to remove salt from sea water to make it potable. The technique, simple it may be, is wreaking havoc on oceans. Scientists are calling it as one of the major environmental issues the world is facing today.

The reason is every litre of water that is purified using reverse osmosis (RO technology used by desalination plants) generates 1.5 litres of brine, concentrated salt water that is twice as salty as sea water (Brine has six percent salt). Desalination plants pump this salty brine back into the oceans, increasing their salinity which affects marine ecosystem and its species. According to International Water Association, at the end of 2015, there were 18,000 desalination plants world over with a total installed production capacity of 22,870 million gallons per day (MGD). And, all of these produce 1.5 times more brine than the desalinated water.

Process engineering company SSP Private that provides industrial evaporators and dryers to dairy, F&B and other industries has come with an innovative idea to solve this global problem. Their Managing Director Tapas Chatterjee, a scientist with love for building new machines, has created a system that purifies brine into potable water and table salt. Chatterjee got this idea to extract water from brine and save it from being released in oceans in September 2018, when he was working with a Kenya-based firm to help increase their salt production. They used solar drying in their processing plant to extract salt. In SSP's research and development facility in Faridabad, Chatterjee overturned the principles of salt production to develop a new procedure of salt production to process brine..

He says, "We have modified the existing technology to serve this purpose. We use falling film evaporator followed by forced circulation evaporator to get salt from rejected brine. The water then passes through the RO system to offer potable water." This way 99 per cent water can be recovered from desalination reject. This innovation produces water available for human consumption and also gives salt with 99.5 per cent purity (table salt is 98 per cent pure). Other salts such as Magnesium Chloride, Magnesium Sulphate, Potassium Chloride, Bromine, Potassium Sulphate (fertilizer) can also be segregated making this a zero liquid discharge system.

"This innovation helps save the environment by not letting concentrated brine to flow back into the sea which protects marine life and bio-diversity, avoiding global climate change due to increased sea salinity," he says. He adds that the technology is also cost effective as the cost of the raw material is negligible, since brine is an effluent. Moreover, since brine's salt concentration is higher, more salt can be generated using less water.

"The economic viability for this project will come from selling this high purity salts and potable water with less than 100 ppm Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)," he says.Companies can get the payback on their investment in 2.4 years for a salt production plant with the capacity of 240 tonnes per day requiring an initial capital investment of Rs 90 crore.This technology can be used by desalination plants and also salt processing industry. Chatterjee, who has filed 12 patents for his innovations, is now working on a technology to convert organic waste to bioplastics that can dissolve in 15 days. The writer met SSP Private at the FICCI Water Awards event in New Delhi where they were one of the winners.

Also read: From AI to 5G connectivity to big data; Can technology help tackle climate emergency?
By David Morgan and Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Donald Trump was on the brink of ending the darkest chapter of his tumultuous presidency on Monday as the U.S. Senate began the final phase of his impeachment trial that will almost certainly conclude on Wednesday with his acquittal.

The 100 senators will hear four hours of closing arguments split equally between Trump's legal team and prosecutors from the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, which charged him with abusing power by pressuring Ukraine to probe political rival Joe Biden, and then obstructing their inquiry.

The Republican-run Senate voted on Friday not to hear from witnesses including Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton, despite a strong push by Democrats and opinion polls showing most Americans wanted to hear from them.

When the arguments are complete, the senators will be able to make speeches until Wednesday when a final vote will be taken at 4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT) to determine whether Trump is guilty of the charges and should be removed from office.

The tenor of the speeches is expected to reflect the deepening polarization between Democrats and Republicans as senators seek to justify to the American public why they plan to vote yay or nay for ousting Trump.

The Senate is almost certain to acquit the president, as a two-thirds majority is required to remove Trump and none of its 53 Republicans have indicated they will vote to convict.

Several Republican senators have said that what Trump did was inappropriate but not impeachable. The president says he is the victim of an unlawful Democratic effort to derail his campaign for re-election.

BRUISING BATTLE

During the trial, Trump's lawyers offered an expansive view of presidential powers as they argued that their client had wide latitude to conduct U.S. foreign policy and that he could not be thrown out of office for abuse of power. They urged senators to let the people decide when they go to the polls in November.

Story continues

Trump is only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached and the first in an election year.

The vote on Wednesday is expected to be an anti-climactic end to a trial where the outcome was never seriously in doubt, despite testimony from former and current government officials that Trump, his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and others pressed Ukraine to announce investigations of opponents that would benefit him politically.

While all 100 senators took an oath to be impartial jurors, the top Republican in the chamber, Mitch McConnell, declared in December before the start of the trial, "We all know how it's going to end."

"There is no chance the president's going to be removed from office," McConnell said in an interview with Fox News.

While an acquittal will leave Trump still firmly entrenched in the Oval Office, the impeachment battle has renewed focus on the powers of the presidency and the power of Congress to hold a U.S. president accountable. Trump's White House refused to cooperate in the congressional inquiry, withholding documents and key witnesses in a bruising contest with lawmakers.

The confrontation has consumed Washington since last September, but has had far less impact on the campaign trail, where voters said they were more concerned with bread-and-butter issues. Democratic candidates for their party's presidential nomination have rarely spoken about impeachment, amid polls showing voters had already mostly made up their minds about Trump's innocence or guilt.

Trump will deliver his annual State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. Republicans had been pushing for a final vote on impeachment last weekend so that he could use the speech to reset his agenda. But late last Friday that timetable was upended for reasons that were not immediately clear, and the vote was pushed to Wednesday.

(Reporting by David Morgan and Susan Cornwell; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Ross Colvin and Daniel Wallis)
Bruno Brookes has been the CEO of Immedia Group Plc (LON:IME) since 1999. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.

See our latest analysis for Immedia Group

How Does Bruno Brookes's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Immedia Group Plc has a market capitalization of UK3.4m, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth UK168k over the year to December 2018. Notably, the salary of UK162k is the vast majority of the CEO compensation. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations under UK154m, and the median CEO total compensation was UK252k.

A first glance this seems like a real positive for shareholders, since Bruno Brookes is paid less than the average total compensation paid by similar sized companies. While this is a good thing, you'll need to understand the business better before you can form an opinion.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Immedia Group has changed over time.

AIM:IME CEO Compensation, February 4th 2020

Is Immedia Group Plc Growing?

Immedia Group Plc has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 11% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 19% over last year.

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. This sort of respectable year-on-year revenue growth is often seen at a healthy, growing business. Although we don't have analyst forecasts you could get a better understanding of its growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Has Immedia Group Plc Been A Good Investment?

Given the total loss of 28% over three years, many shareholders in Immedia Group Plc are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

Story continues

In Summary...

It appears that Immedia Group Plc remunerates its CEO below most similar sized companies.

Many would consider this to indicate that the pay is modest since the business is growing. Despite some positives, it is likely that shareholders wanted better returns, given the performance over the last three years. So while we don't think, Bruno Brookes is paid too much, shareholders may hope that business performance translates to investment returns before pay rises are given out. This sort of circumstance certainly justifies further research, because the investment returns might still come in the future. If you think CEO compensation levels are interesting you will probably really like this free visualization of insider trading at Immedia Group.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom, second from left, speaks at an expanded meeting to discuss measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Seoul, Tuesday. He discussed upcoming steps to minimize the economic impact of the virus, as concerns are rising that the virus could weaken consumer confidence here. Courtesy of Ministry of Economy and Finance
A high-profile senior bond trader has been suspended after investment bank Citigroup accused him of pilfering food from the office canteen.

Paras Shah, 31, allegedly stole food from the canteen of Citis London headquarters in Canary Wharf and left his post unexpectedly last month.

He was Citis head of high-yield bond trading for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East since 2017, a job that entailed matching buyers and sellers of debt from risky borrowers, known as junk bonds.

According to the Financial Times, Shah would have likely received a seven-figure pay package as senior staff and was suspended weeks before bonuses were due to be paid out.

One banking source told Press Association a similar position to Shah's in other banks could command a salary of over 1 million a year.

Deutsche Bank: Sacked staff clear out their belongings Show all 7 1 /7 Deutsche Bank: Sacked staff clear out their belongings Deutsche Bank: Sacked staff clear out their belongings A man leaves the Deutsche Bank offices in London with his belongings in a Sainsbury's bag Getty Deutsche Bank: Sacked staff clear out their belongings A man leaves the Deutsche Bank offices in London with his belongings in a cardboard box Reuters Deutsche Bank: Sacked staff clear out their belongings A woman leaves the US offices of Deutsche Bank Reuters Deutsche Bank: Sacked staff clear out their belongings Staff members receive multiple boxes of pizza at the London offices of Deutsche Bank PA Deutsche Bank: Sacked staff clear out their belongings Staff members receive multiple boxes of pizza at the London offices of Deutsche Bank PA Deutsche Bank: Sacked staff clear out their belongings Members of the press wait outside Deutsche bank as firings begin AP Deutsche Bank: Sacked staff clear out their belongings Staff members look down on members of the press as they swarm outside the offices of Deutsche Bank in London Getty

Financial institutions in the UK have been known to austerely discipline executives who have engaged in any personal misconduct.

In 2016, a London banker was fired from Japans Mizuho Bank after he was caught thieving a 5 part from his colleagues bike.

Two years before that, a former managing director at the worlds largest asset manager, BlackRock Asset Management, was banned from taking on senior roles in the UK financial sector after he was found to have repeatedly dodged train fares for several years during his commute to the City.

Jonathan Burrows was labelled the biggest fare dodger in history by the media, and settled the case with Southeastern Railways for 43,000.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2020) - David H. Brett, President & CEO, EnGold Mines Ltd., (TSXV: EGM) ("EnGold" or the "Company") reports that the Company has closed the a further tranche of the non-brokered private placement announced December 10th, 2019, and issued 833,333 Non-Flow-Through Units ("NFT Units") at a price of $0.06 per NFT Unit for gross proceeds of $50,000. The NFT Units consist of one common share and one warrant, and each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share at a price of $0.10 per share for a period of one year. The proceeds from the sale of the NFT Units will be used for general working capital.

No finder's fees were paid in connection with the issue of the NFT Units. All of the securities are subject to a hold period which will expire on June 4, 2020. The Company will continue with the offering of non-flow-through units as previously disclosed.

About EnGold

EnGold is a Vancouver-based copper, gold, silver, magnetite exploration company focused solely on its 100% owned Lac La Hache property in the Cariboo region of BC which hosts the Spout Copper Deposit, the Aurizon Gold Deposit and the G1 Copper Discovery and other targets within a large porphyry mineralizing system. With world class infrastructure at its doorstep, Lac La Hache is a great location to be exploring.

EnGold Mines Ltd.

David Brett

President & CEO

For further info contact David Brett, 604-682-2421 or david@engold.ca

This news release may contain "forward-looking statements". Readers are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual development or results may vary materially from those in these "forward looking statements." Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52114
BRUSSELS -- The European Commission has drafted a new methodology to handle the bloc's enlargement process that would give member states a stronger role in accession talks with EU hopefuls, according to a document seen by RFE/RL.

The proposed plan is to be made public on February 5, more than three months after the EU again halted the opening of membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania.

It comes as a direct response to France -- the main driving force behind the October decision that has sparked disappointment and concern among the six Western Balkan states aspiring to join the EU.

Paris has argued Skopje and Tirana had not made sufficient progress with reforms to cut corruption and strengthen the rule of law, and demanded changes to the EU enlargement process.

In the document, titled Enhancing The Accession Process -- A Credible EU Perspective For The Western Balkans, the European Commission proposes that EU member states "contribute more systematically to the accession process, including via monitoring on the ground through their experts, through direct contributions to the annual reports, and through sectoral expertise."

"Member states will also have the opportunity to review and monitor overall progress more regularly," the draft document says.

It calls for more incentives for well-performing aspirant states, including increased funding "through a performance-based and reform-oriented instrument for preaccession support and closer cooperation with international financial institutions to leverage support."

Backsliding or delays on required reforms could lead to sanctions, such as the suspension of funding or negotiations.

"Already closed chapters could be reopened or reset if issues need to be reassessed," according to the document.

"The scope and intensity of EU funding could be adjusted downward, with the exception of support to civil society," it says, while "benefits of closer integration, e.g. access to EU programs, unilateral concessions for market access could be paused or withdrawn."

Speaking to reporters on February 4, EU spokeswoman Ana Pisonero insisted that the proposals will attempt to make the accession process "more predictable" and "dynamic" without changing the conditions to join the EU.

The proposed plan is to be discussed by EU member states to have it ready for approval at a Brussels summit in March, ahead of the Zagreb summit with Western Balkan leaders in May.

If approved, the new methodology would apply to Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and North Macedonia -- but not to Serbia or Montenegro, which have already started accession talks with Brussels.

For these two countries, "the proposed changes could be accommodated within the existing frameworks with the agreement" of Belgrade and Podgorica, according to the draft document.

With reporting by AFP
BEAVERTON, Ore.  After his dog Bleu sustained a leg injury over the summer, Andres Figueroa brought the 7-month-old dachshund in for a checkup at a sleek suburban clinic outside of Portland, Oregon, that was decorated with cutouts of cheerful pets.

But in the exam room, the veterinarian said, Bleu tried to nip at him. He snatched the dog by the mouth and torso with such jarring force that Bleu defecated on the table, Figueroa said, and then lifted him into the air by the snout until he began to lose consciousness.

Distraught, Figueroa recovered his dog and left. Back in the car, Bleu curled on his lap in a daze, his breathing labored. By the next day, the dogs lungs were filled with fluid and he had to be put down.

I was in shock, Figueroa said. I knew I had to call the police.

After going to the authorities about the veterinarian, Dr. Daniel Koller, Figueroa discovered that the practitioner had decades of complaints filed against him in two states by regulators, customers and employees.

Across the country, there is less accountability for veterinarians than there is for practitioners who treat people. While courts award multimillion-dollar judgments for negligence in hospitals, states treat companion animals as a form of property, and owners have little opportunity to sue for damages beyond the cost of a replacement.

Unlike the extensive national records kept on doctors and nurses, there is no comparable data repository to track problematic veterinarians, and state review boards rarely put sanctioned practitioners out of business.

Practicing in both California and Oregon off and on for the past 30 years, Koller first faced a criminal charge of animal cruelty three years after he got his license in 1974; regulators in California said he was seen kicking and beating a German shepherd that employees later found dead. He had his license revoked for that and other abuse allegations in 1979, restored in 1984 and suspended again in 2001.

In the 1980s, he built a network of budget veterinary clinics in Oregon but also faced a new round of complaints. Oregon officials suspended his license in 2008 and revoked it in 2010, but he returned to practice five years later.

In interviews with The New York Times, eight customers detailed a series of concerning encounters at Kollers clinics in the four years since his license was most recently restored.

One said Koller snatched her whimpering dog by the scruff of the neck with such force that the dog wet the table. Another said the doctor choked her frightened puppy. Some had concerns after their pets that went in for surgery ended up dying.

Koller declined an interview request, telling a reporter: I dont talk to anyone. Goodbye.

In a 2015 memo to Oregon officials, he said he maintained high standards for care and cited support from numerous veterinarians, who said he was an excellent practitioner and a caring person who advocated for low-income people.

I am not a danger to my patients, Koller wrote.

Disciplinary Actions Are Rare

While there is no nationwide database for the public to track veterinary discipline, state records show the rarity of serious enforcement actions. In Oregon in recent years, about 6% of complaints handled by the veterinary board resulted in the finding of a violation.

In states that make enforcement reports readily available, including Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, records show cases in which veterinary personnel who had racked up five board actions or more were able to continue practicing.

Lori Makinen, the executive director of the Oregon Veterinary Medical Examining Board, said enforcement in human medicine and veterinary medicine cannot be compared because society does not place as much value on an animals life. Under the law, she said, animals are considered property.

But Linda Rosenthal, a member of the New York state Assembly who has worked on animal issues for years, said states should acknowledge the changing relationships that people have with their pets. Rosenthal said she had been exploring a plan to establish pets as a special category under tort law, somewhere between people and property, but expected strong resistance.

Dr. Jeff Young, a Colorado-based veterinarian who has a show on Animal Planet, helped develop a model law a few years ago that would expand potential veterinary damages to $10,000 for pets.

But industry advocates quickly moved to quash it, arguing that it would make the cost of veterinary care prohibitively expensive, Young said, in part because of insurance rates. Meanwhile, he noted, clinics were offering operations that cost thousands of dollars to keep pets alive.

It seemed like total hypocrisy to me, he said.

Beatings and Death

Much of the case against Koller prepared by California regulators in the 1970s concerned his treatment of the German shepherd at a pet hospital outside Monterey.

An administrative law judge wrote that a woman had brought in the stray animal for treatment of a leg injury. The judge found that on two occasions in July 1975, Koller hung the dog off the ground, beating it with his hand and foot until it lost consciousness. The dog lost three teeth.

Employees later found the dog in the freezer used to store dead animals, according to the veterinary board documents.

A jury convicted Koller of animal cruelty in that case, and he was sentenced to 100 days in jail.

The veterinary board in California was looking at a range of other concerns. In October 1974, regulators said, Koller pounded the head of a Lhasa apso dog named Tammy until both eyes were hemorrhaged, according to documents. In 1975, officials found evidence that he beat a dog named Coco for several minutes when the dog would not stop barking; bit and pounded a dog being prepared for surgery; used a slip lead to suspend a dachshund by the neck for at least 30 seconds; and violently slammed a cat on the sides and floor of its cage.

In 1979, the board revoked his license. Five years later, it reinstated it.

Koller expanded his work to Oregon in the 1980s and franchised a series of Companion Pet Clinics, offering lower-cost services than competitors.

Gretchen Kaehler, who briefly worked with him during that period, said the focus on a high-volume, low-cost model called for cost-saving measures like reusing needles  with sterilization  to the point that they would be difficult to insert into the animal.

Kaehler said she never saw Koller abuse animals, noting that he had a dog of his own, and that she recalled him being friendly and smart. But he was so focused on the business, Kaehler said, that he fired her for spending too much time comforting the animals.

He wasnt going to spend a lot of time petting them, Kaehler said. He didnt have that nurturing side. It was very much just business.

Im a Litigator

Koller, who had apparently been studying the law when he was barred from veterinary practice, began aggressively defending himself against critics in court.

After a customer complained in 1987 that Koller had hurt her cats leg by handling it roughly, Koller filed a defamation lawsuit against the customer and several others who had criticized him. Court records indicate that the case was settled.

Im a litigator, Koller once said, according to a 2004 article in The Oregonian. I like the courtroom battle.

By the early 2000s, Koller was facing another legal problem. In 2001, his daughter called 911 to their home in California, where paramedics found Kollers wife unconscious and him semiconscious with a fresh puncture wound in his arm, according to regulatory records. He later admitted to using Telazol, a veterinary anesthetic.

California officials suspended his license but later held off on full revocation by imposing a four-year probationary period in 2004.

In Oregon, regulators scrutinized Koller after he pleaded no contest in 2007 in a driving-under-the-influence case in which he tested positive for morphine. They also looked at reports that staff members had seen him practicing medicine while impaired  once reportedly falling asleep during surgery.

At the time, he was also battling one of his former employees, Maureena Schmaing. A receptionist at his clinic in the early 2000s, Schmaing said she watched Koller throw a cat onto the ground and step on its head to inject it with a sedative. In another case, she said, she saw him beat a husky.

Schmaing said that after witnessing such conduct one day, she was in tears and began compiling a dossier on her boss with the help of Tessa Sage, a former veterinary technician at another clinic who had talked with some of Kollers clients.

In 2004, the women filed a 79-page complaint to the Oregon veterinary board, detailing what they described as abusive treatment of animals, a lack of supervision of an intern and mistakes that led to pets dying.

I thought for sure it was going to have an impact, Schmaing said. All I wanted was for him to be stopped.

Koller disputed Schmaings complaint, citing contrary testimony offered by other employees and noting that Schmaing had repeatedly brought her own pet in for care. The board in the end said it was unable to substantiate the abuse allegations. Two years later, in 2008, it suspended Kollers license, in part citing his history of illegal drug use, and then revoked it in 2010.

Koller continued to manage veterinary facilities, though he did not act as a veterinarian, and in 2015, he was able to get his license reinstated.

I understand the gravity of what has transpired, he wrote to Oregon officials, and I believe that I have met the requirements to reinstate my license to responsibly practice the profession that I so love.

His problems continued. In 2018, the board fined him $1,500 for trying to spay a male cat. Customers continued to come forward with complaints about rough handling of their pets and unexpected deaths during surgery.

Figueroa said he was shocked at Kollers treatment of his dachshund during his visit in September.

I started yelling and saying something like, Why he did that? And he just told me to leave, Figueroa said.

Figueroa went outside and called his parents, who drove to the clinic to confront Koller.

Koller blamed Figueroa for not warning him that his dog bites, and then turned to Figueroas father, who was clearly angry. Do you want to go outside or do it here? Koller said before starting to walk around the counter. Others intervened to deescalate the situation.

Bleu was euthanized the next day on the advice of another veterinarian.

In November, the district attorney in Washington County filed criminal charges of animal abuse stemming from Figueroas case. Koller has pleaded not guilty and remains in good standing with the veterinary board.

Since the case was publicized, Figueroa and his family have become acquainted with other former clients of Koller. They often gather outside the clinic in Beaverton, Oregon, with protest signs; No Excuse for Animal Abuse, read one during a recent demonstration.

They urge people to think twice before taking their pet inside.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
The North West Hospice in collaboration with the HSE has this week submitted an application to Sligo County Council for planning permission to progress the development of the hospice facility on the existing site of the North West Hospice inpatient unit on the grounds of Sligo University Hospital. This will see the hospices inpatient unit increase from its current 8 bed inpatient capacity to a 12 bed single room inpatient capacity. The enhanced hospice facility will include accommodation for the Community Palliative Care Team, outpatient and consultation facilities, administration and management offices and will have meeting room facilities to support HSE, community and volunteer activities which support the delivery of specialist inpatient, community and acute palliative care services.

North West Hospice services are currently revenue co-funded from the HSE and voluntary contributions. HSE Estates are managing the capital project on behalf of the North West Hospice to ensure compliance with all relevant HSE protocols and statutory requirements. The total cost of the project which is included on the HSEs capital plan for funding is approximately 8 million with the North West Hospice having contributed approximately 300,000 to bring the project to design stage.

Once planning permission is received, subject to funding availability it is expected that building would commence in 2021 with completion of the build in 2023.

Pat Dolan , Chair of the North West Hospice stated that " On behalf of the Board and management at North West Hospice , we are delighted that the new design is now submitted for planning permission. North West Hospice as part of our strategic plan recognised the need for some time to upgrade our Hospice facilities to meet the growing needs of our community , Sligo, Leitrim, South Donegal and West Cavan. We look forward to collaboratively working with the HSE and our local community to bringing the project to completion. We would also like to thank all involved in bringing the project to this point."

John Hayes, Chief Officer, Community Healthcare Organisation Area 1, Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan and Sligo stated that "The HSE works closely with the North West Hospice in order to deliver, develop and improve palliative care services to the people of the hospice's catchment area of Sligo, Leitrim, South Donegal and West Cavan. The co-location of the existing North West Hospice building with Sligo University Hospital has a real benefit to the clinical management and care for patients who require acute hospital services and the location of the new development on the same site will ensure this is retained. The HSE looks forward to progressing further the capital development which will see an enhanced and more integrated palliative care service being delivered to the people living in the Sligo, Leitrim, South Donegal areas."
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A 19-year-old man attacked and tried to abduct two women in the same area in the Cleveland Metroparks Brookside Reservation, according to the U.S. Marshals.

Shane Barker of Cleveland is charged with one count of abduction, a third-degree felony, and one count of misdemeanor assault. U.S. Marshals arrested him Tuesday during a traffic stop on Hyde Avenue and West 93rd Street.

Court records to not say when he is expected to make his initial court appearance.

Barker is accused of trying to abduct two women Oct. 20 at the Cleveland Metroparks Meadow Ridge Picnic area in the Brookside Reservation that sits west of Fulton Road and south Interstate 71.

Barker attacked a 61-year-old woman in the area and tried to kidnap her. Three days later, he attacked a 41-year-old woman, U.S. Marshals said.

In both cases, Barker followed the women along on a hiking trail, attacked them and threw them to the ground, according to the U.S. Marshals. Both women managed to escape from Barker and call police.

To comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments page.

Read more from cleveland.com:

Convicted dogfighter charged after police find dead dog, 11 other dogs injured in backyard of Cleveland home

Ex-East Cleveland cop featured in Serial podcast found guilty of knocking wife unconscious

Home care worker accused of attacking developmentally disabled woman in Cleveland

Cleveland man shot in the pelvis as he and woman tried to rob another man, court records say
and the whole conspiracy with shadow, like goddamn

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I cannot believe I went to sleep expecting the results in the AM and everything is still a goddamn mess. Jfc.

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I still don't understand what's happening.



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What happened?

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Never again.



Oh no :(



https://www.buzzfeed.com/yakeet/when-will-be-the-next-time-you-poop-4zoag3f9ls



Edited at 2020-02-04 06:01 pm (UTC) Oh no :(

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also never again lol

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Tonight.



Clear your schedule, boys, this one's gonna be a big one.



I want to personally thank pescetarianism and vegetarianism for allowing me to have regular poops <3

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Maybe, like.... two hours?

I don't know. Keep me posted, dude.

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Tonight.



Clear your schedule, boys, this one's gonna be a big one

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Maybe, like.... two hours?

I don't know. Keep me posted, dude.





this sounds right

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Right now!



Hope you don't like the pants you're wearing.



haha

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Right now!

Hope you don't like the pants you're wearing.

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Fucking hell Iowa you had ONE JOB

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I know I asked this yesterday but caucuses, what is the deal? Flipping coins? Pulling a name out of a hat? Doing math where someone can be separated by nearly a full percentage of the vote and still get the exact same number of delegates? What was I watching last night?



Even if you take the app out of it, the whole thing seems crazy to me. Add in the app issues and I am baffled.

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Its tradition or so they say.

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Yea I'm confused how they're taken seriously.

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ugh. I asked on social media if any EU law people could look at my cv and assess it.......crickets

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Ask on reddit bb?

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Omg thats such a good jdea

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https://www-bloomberg-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-02-03/amazon-s-hq2-fiasco-was-driven-by-bezos-envy-of-elon-musk?amp_js_v=a2&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQCKAE%3D#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomberg.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2F2020-02-03%2Famazon-s-hq2-fiasco-was-driven-by-bezos-envy-of-elon-musk



This article on the Amazon HQ2 process is wild This article on the Amazon HQ2 process is wild

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Iowa, you have shocked the nation.



By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious. #IowaCaucuses  Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) February 4, 2020



Buttigieg's decision to lie and say he won Iowa before any votes were finalized shows how much he needs this win. He's poured all of his wine cave money into this one (very white) state and without a top two finish, he's no longer a top tier candidate.



No more donor cash   Emma Vigeland (@EmmaVigeland) February 4, 2020



I hate that rat fuck I hate that rat fuck

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"We won bc I say we won."

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Sounds familiar!

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he's such a weasel

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MayorCheat is my favourite trending topic right now. Also, so many rat emojis.

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This so backfired on Mayor Pete, first nail in the coffin?

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Idiot

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Working all day and then coming home realizing I have to unpack - ugh!

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me: eh, sounds cool.



This is what they want you to do. Mind you, this isn't even all of it:



[ Spoiler (click to open) ] Marshalls aircraft on the ramp including directing, assisting and parking all arriving, departing and towed aircrafts in accordance with safety policy and procedures.



 Performs wing walker duties to protect the aircraft wing from equipment in the path of pushback and maintains visual contact with the pushback driver to alert the driver of any danger.



 Lifts, loads/unloads, sorts and transfers passenger baggage, airmail, freight and company material in and out of aircraft bins, belt loader or baggage carts.



 Maintains safety and security of the ramp at all times and complies with safety procedures and station policies.



 Reads and verifies the city and flight number for every bag to ensure correct loading of customer bags.



 Communicates with Operations, Flight Crew personnel and other ground personnel concerning arrival/departure information in a professional manner.



 Drives/operates ramp equipment, including but not limited to bag tugs, belt loaders, aircraft tow tractors and water and lavatory servicing vehicles.



 Services aircraft as needed to include cleaning lavatories and cabin and restocking items.



Now, how much do you think they'd pay per hour to do all of that?



15$? 20$? 30$?



If you said $8.50 , unfortunately, you are correct.



Shame on them for offering that and shame on this country for putting people in a position where someone might have to take this and break their bodies and risk their lives for such a pitiful amount. So I get an email saying "I'm recruiting for this position - a part time airtport worker who waves the sticks around and loads up luggage."me: eh, sounds cool.This is what they want you to do. Mind you, this isn't even all of it:Now, how much do you think they'd pay per hour to do all of that?15$? 20$? 30$?If you said, unfortunately, you are correct.Shame on them for offering that and shame on this country for putting people in a position where someone might have to take this and break their bodies and risk their lives for such a pitiful amount.

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what in the actual fuck? $8.50? damn

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I even replied with "Is that seriously all the salary the employer has allocated for this role????" like people who are working their bodies constantly deserve far, FAR more than that.

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that's absurd. I made more than that working as a partime retail sales associate...granted it was because the city has a minimum wage.

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Whaaaaaat

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What in the FUCK

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Wowwwwww wtf

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That is absolutely insane. Regardless of the fact that $8,50 is way too little for any position, it's completely mad to be paying this for someone who's supposed to be able to do everything, know everything, someone who has all the responsibility and still has to scrub toilets. It literally reads like several job descriptions at the same time.

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My lyft driver was a white dude and the minute I heard speak I knew he was a Trumpite.



And I was right.



I wanted to throw myself out the car and do a barrel roll.



He's every Trumpite stereotype ever.



He was even saying that "the world loves Trump"





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I saw a dude wearing a MAGA hat on the day it was announced he was being impeached. I said "Merry Impeachmas!" to him and then he glared at me lmao.

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Lmao

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I'm normally alert as soon as I wake up, but I took some nighttime cold medicine at 3am and I've never felt so groggy in my life lol.

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This Iowa caucus thing is a fucking disaster jfc. Flop state.

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Soooo I think I met my future husband on Friday night? I've never felt this sure about something. He's super hot, smart, funny, and into me. The sex was great. I don't have my usual dating anxiety. So I'm just gunna ride this happy train while it lasts!

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Ride the train (and his dick), sis!

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Aww love this!

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Goddamn sis, congrats on the sex!

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Damn, get it!

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Good luck sis!

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i believe that sometimes you just KNOW! congrats!!



i cant wait to feel that feeling

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That's me in the front on the right of Buttigieg! I was asked 3x to move away from my friends in order to be placed in pictures #tokenism https://t.co/28R88Pw7u6  Essenam Lamewona (@eslamewona) February 4, 2020





(Also tbh the thought crossed my mind of "But why is she supporting him in the first place" and luckily



university research trip, don't harass her  Autumn  (@pickettsfence) February 4, 2020





and saw elsewhere that she was basically there as a reporter lol) (Also tbh the thought crossed my mind of "But why is she supporting him in the first place" and luckilyand saw elsewhere that she was basically there as a reporter lol)

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The tokenism is so blatant. He really thinks we're stupid.

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That is so fucked up. Pete is such a creep. Also the third girl is so pretty

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STICK TOGETHER: This mother-daughter dog duo figured out how together they could snag themselves a gigantic stick during their walk! https://t.co/qJNid81yKV pic.twitter.com/OiwvMiuuKU  ABC News (@ABC) February 3, 2020

. Bless.

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this is so cute

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inspirational queens!

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Omg dogs are so puuurreeee <3

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I need this happy content omg. 

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lol they are too precious!

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I hope after another horrible night in Iowa we can leave caucuses in the past.

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On the evening of Nov. 11, 1940, a small fleet of British warships detached from a much larger task force operating in the western Mediterranean and steamed north into the Ionian Sea toward Salento, the bootheel of Italy. The fleet comprised four cruisers, four destroyers and the newly commissioned aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. Its mission, code-named Operation Judgment, was a presumptuous one: to attack the main Italian fleet, the Regia Marina, in its storied home port of Taranto. At night.

In his memoir War in a Stringbag Royal Air Force Lt. Charles Lamb, who piloted a Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber during the strike, recalled the approach to the Italian port:

For the last 15 minutes of our passage across the Ionian Sea [we] had no navigational problems, for Taranto could be seen from a distance of 50 miles or more because of the welcome awaiting us. The sky over the harbor looked as it sometimes does over Mount Etna, in Sicily, when the great volcano erupts. The darkness was being torn apart by a firework display which spat flame into the night to a height of nearly 5,000 feet.

I think our hosts are expecting us, I said.

The matchup between British attackers and Italian defenders seemed almost laughably lopsided. This would not be a ship-to-ship slugfest a la Jutland; the Regia Marina was more than four times the size of the small British fleet. Instead, the attackers would strike by air, in 21 slow and manifestly obsolete carrier aircraft bearing torpedoes and bombs. The fleet in their sights comprised six battleships, nine cruisers, more than two dozen destroyers and numerous other vessels at anchor in one of the worlds best-protected harbors, with submerged breakwaters, submarine nets, barrage balloons dangling steel cables and hundreds of antiaircraft guns. The British might accurately have named its mission Operation David vs. Goliath.

As it turned out, the Italians might well have dubbed it Operation Sitting Duck.



Taranto was home port of the Regia Marinas main fleet, including battleships, cruisers and destroyers. (Ernesto Burzagli)

The British had learned much about naval aviation during the 1930s, and their latest carriers, the Illustrious class, were more than just credible. They were purpose-built, not converted cruisers or freighters with grafted-on flight decks. At 740 feet long, they offered ample space to both launch and recover combat aircraft. Their three steam turbines could propel the ships at speeds up to 30 knots. They boasted a range approaching 11,000 nautical miles. The carriers featured early-warning radar, multiple antiaircraft batteries and, most important, an armored flight deck. Each could carry 36 combat aircraft.

The Royal Navys carrier aircraft of choice in 1940 was the Swordfish, a single-engine torpedo/dive bomber. Introduced in 1936, it was an open-cockpit biplane with fixed landing gear. It looked like an antique and by the outbreak of World War II was already considered obsolete, especially when compared to most other Axis and Allied fighters, bombers and torpedo planes.

The Swordfishor Stringbag, as it was nicknamed (a reference to string shopping bags common at the time in Britain), for the variety of items it could carryhad a theoretical top speed north of 140 mph, though many of the Royal Navy aviators who flew it noted the plane rarely topped 100. It was fabric-skinned, thus the crewmens flight suits offered the only weather protection. The aircraft carried no navigational gear beyond a compass, an airspeed indicator, a simple radio and an observers wristwatch. Its fixed armament consisted of two World War Ivintage .303-caliber machine guns.

Obsolete, yes. But it was Britains best operational carrier plane, and it offered some important advantages. Each Swordfish could carry and launch a single Whitehead Mark XII, a proven torpedo weighing just over 1,600 pounds. With a range of 1,500 yards at a speed of 40 knots, the torpedo delivered a warhead packed with 388 pounds of TNTsufficient to blow a hole the size of a double-decker bus through the plating of a modern armored battleship. Alternatively, the aircraft could carry 1,500 pounds of bombs or a mix of bombs and flares.

The Swordfish had other pluses. It was easy to fly, forgiving (proving difficult to stall) and stout enough to withstand a 200 mph dive and remain controllable. It could also take a lot of punishmenteven to its 690 hp Bristol Pegasus nine-cylinder radial engineand remain airborne. Perhaps most important, the Swordfish could be launched and recovered after dark, while the Italians had no operational night fighters anywhere near Taranto.

Aside from cutting-edge carriers and capable strike aircraft, the British fleet claimed other key strategic and tactical advantages over its Italian adversaries.

On the defensive front was shipborne radar. By 1940 more than a dozen warships in the British Mediterranean Fleet, including Illustrious, were radar-equipped, providing early warning of approaching enemy aircraft. Boosting the fleets sense of security was the newly introduced Fairey Fulmar, the mainstay of Illustrious combat air patrols. A fast two-seat fighter and dive-bomber, it bore the same eight-gun firepower of a Hawker Hurricane and proved more than a match for any potential Regia Aeronautica attackers.

The British also had planning on their side. As early as 1935, when Italy invaded Ethiopia in a bid for control of the Mediterranean, Adm. Sir William Fisher, then commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, realized his service someday might have to attack the Regia Marinas home base and worked out the details of an aerial torpedo assault. Fishers successor, Adm. Sir Dudley Pound, made refinements and began training for that eventuality. The Royal Navy shelved the plan until 1938, when war clouds began gathering over Europe. At that point Pounds successor, Adm. Sir Andrew Cunningham, a resourceful and determined commander, reopened the plan and undertook extensive exercises, including practice night launches, attacks and recoveries. Among the beneficiaries of those exercises were the very flight crews that through the summer and fall of 1940 trained for the scheduled Taranto raid. By that November they were virtual veterans of the operation.

Finally, Britain approached the raid with excellent intelligence, including extended surveillance of the Taranto harbor. In the months preceding the raid, British reconnaissance aircraft, mostly ponderous four-engine Short Sunderland flying boats, undertook many risky overflights of Taranto to determine the types, numbers and locations of the Italian capital ships. That reconnaissance took a great leap forward with the arrival in Malta of three new American-built Martin Maryland Mk.Is, twin-engine light bombers with a cruising speed of 250 mph and a ceiling approaching 30,000 feet, rendering them impervious to Italian fighters. Their productive photo runs over Taranto continued up to the very afternoon of the November 11 attack, providing the detailed real-time disposition of the Italian fleet. The Swordfish pilots knew exactly where their target ships were anchored.

Shortly after 8 p.m. on November 11 Illustrious arrived at Point X in the Ionian Sea, some 40 nautical miles northwest of the Greek island of Cephalonia and 170 nautical miles southeast of Taranto. Accidents, battle damage to HMS Eagle and operational mishaps had reduced the strike force from two aircraft carriers to one (Illustrious) and 24 Swordfish to 21. Just before 8:30 p.m. on that cool moonlit evening Captain Denis Boyd turned his carrier into the wind as aircrews boarded the dozen Swordfish of the first wave.

Six of the aircraft carried torpedoes, four carried six 250-pound bombs, and two carried four bombs and 16 magnesium parachute flares. The flares were to be dropped from about 5,000 feet in line at intervals just inland from the harbor in order to silhouette the Italian ships for the attacking pilots.

At 8:30 p.m. the leader of the first wave, Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth Hooch Williamson, flew his torpedo plane from the deck of Illustrious. The other Swordfish followed at 10-second intervals, forming up on Williamsons aircraft for the two-hour, twenty-minute flight to Taranto. While the planes usually had a crew of threepilot, observer and rear gunneron this mission, the gunners were left behind to accommodate a long-range auxiliary fuel tank. Thus the observer, who doubled as the navigator, was to man the rear machine gun in a pinch. The crews would maintain radio silence during the operation, so he was at least spared that duty.

Flying in loose formation and eventually climbing above cloud cover at 7,500 feet, the thoroughly chilled pilots and observers had time to reflect on what may have seemed a suicide mission: They were approaching a stoutly defended port swept by searchlights and bristling with anti-aircraft guns. Their arrival would be no surprise to the Italian defenders, as ringing the harbor was a string of sound detectors that could pick up approaching aircraft as much as 25 miles nautical miles out. Forced by necessity, the Royal Navy pilots would make their final torpedo runs straight and level at wave-top height.

On the upside, the crews would have no problem spotting their targets. Alerted by the sound detectors a full 15 minutes before the first wave arrived around 11 p.m., the Italian gunners had filled the sky over Taranto with bright explosions and crisscrossing red, green and white tracer bullets. The two Swordfish carrying parachute flares soon dropped their beacons, further adding to the spectacle. It must have looked impossible to fly over the harbor without getting shot down. Indeed, the lead plane, piloted by Williamson, was promptly hit and downed. But not before Hooch had dropped to a height of just 30 feet and dropped his torpedo. The Italian battleship Conte di Cavour lay in plain view, thanks to the bright flares. The torpedo ran straight and true, striking the vessel on the port bow. Water rushed into the massive hole, forcing its helmsman to beach the ship.

As it turned from its attack run, Williamsons Swordfish was struck by machine-gun fire and dropped into the harbor. Both Williamson and his observer, Lt. Norman Scarlett, were unhurt. Eventually fished out of the water, they were accosted by angry dockworkers before being formally taken prisoner.

The Italians had considered their base untouchable by torpedo attacks, as both the inner and outer harbors were too shallow (at about 40 feet) for attacking submarines. Along that same line of thought, they believed all aerial-dropped torpedoes initially sank to some 90 feet before rising to strike level; were that true, the harbor would again prove too shallow. But the Royal Navy had modified its torpedoes to sink to a maximum of 35 feet before proceeding to the target. The weapons were also equipped with Duplex detonators, which would trigger the warheads either on contact or once within the ships magnetic field, whichever came first. The Italians had deployed extensive anti-torpedo netting, but not enough to intercept these torpedoes.

A second and third Swordfish also launched torpedoes at Conte di Cavour but missed. The next two Swordfish attacked the battleship Littorio in quick succession, each of their torpedoes finding its mark. The torpedo from the first plane struck Littorios starboard bow, opening a hole some 30 by 50 feet. Dropped from just 400 yards out, the torpedo from the second plane opened a smaller hole in the ships port quarter.

The last torpedo plane approached over land and made its final run at the battleship Vittorio Veneto. Its torpedo exploded in the water short of its target. The pilot maneuvered dramatically nearly at mast-height before disappearing into the dark skies of the Ionian.

Though they had spent only a few minutes on target, the six torpedo bombers had seriously damaged two Italian battleships at the cost of one downed aircraft. Slow as they were, the gray-green camouflage-painted Swordfish were difficult to spot outside the beams of the searchlights, and the Italian anti-aircraft gunners were unable to target aircraft flying so close to the water. As it was, many of their projectiles instead struck neighboring ships and shore installations.

The follow-on Swordfish carrying six bombs each were less successful than the torpedo planes. The first two descended below their attack altitude of 8,000 feet but still could not locate their designated targetsthe heavy cruisers anchored in the inner harbor. Most of their bombs went astray or failed to detonate, though one plane managed to hit a hangar at a seaplane base, setting it afire and destroying two aircraft. The third Stringbag made two runs but hit nothing. The crew of the fourth claimed to have hit an Italian destroyer with a bomb, but the warhead failed to explode. All four aircraft got away safely. The last two planes of the first wave over the target were the flare-carrying Swordfish, each of which dropped its four bombs on an oil storage depot a mile inland.

By then the second wave of Swordfish, led by Lt. Cmdr. John W. Ginger Hale, was about 20 minutes out from Taranto, albeit short two aircraft. The last two of its nine planes had collided while taxiing on Illustrious. The carriers flight deck crew got them untangled, but only one appeared airworthy and was able to take off. It had sustained damage, though, and was forced to turn back. Mechanics were able to repair the second plane, which launched late. Meanwhile, the seven other planesfive carrying torpedoes, two flares and bombsclimbed to 8,000 feet and arrived on target just before midnight. Again the sky lit up in a kaleidoscope of antiaircraft fire.

After further illuminating the inner and outer harbors, the two flare-bearing Swordfish dropped their payloads on the oil depot and turned back to sea. Piloting the lead torpedo plane, Hale flew in from the northwest, making an end run around a line of barrage balloons to launch his torpedo at Littorio. It failed to detonate. A second Swordfish flew around the barrage balloons to the south, but as it neared the rows of battleships and cruisers, close-range anti-aircraft fire shot it down, killing pilot Lt. Gerald Bayly and observer Lt. Henry Slaughter.

The next attacker fared better, lining up for a clear run at the battleship Caio Duilio. Its torpedo struck amidships on the starboard side and opened a fatally large hole. As the warship threatened to founder, Duilios helmsman turned the ship and beached it.

A fourth Swordfish maneuvered through the balloons and heavy anti-aircraft fire, approached Littorio at wave-top height and launched its torpedo from some 700 yards out. The weapon hit home on the starboard bow of the battleship, which began to list.

The final torpedo bomber, piloted by Lt. John Wellham, circled the inner harbor to approach the battleships from the southeast. Though his Swordfish caromed off a barrage balloon and was hit by anti-aircraft fire, Wellham managed to launch his torpedo at Vittorio Veneto. It missed the battleship but reportedly went on to strike and further damage Conte di Cavour. As Wellham made good his escape, his torpedo bomber sustained damage from flak, but the dauntless pilot kept it in the air.

Fifteen minutes later the straggler Swordfish damaged in the deck collision arrived alone over the harbor and released its payload of bombs on the heavy cruisers. One hit Trento but failed to explode. The time was 12:35 a.m. on November 12, and the attack on Taranto was over.

Once the last aircraft of the second wave had gotten away, Captain Boyd had turned Illustrious back toward Cephalonia and headed to a rendezvous point some 185 nautical miles from Taranto. There he had turned the carrier into the wind and prepared to recover the returning Swordfish. The first touched down at 1:40 a.m., the last at 2:50. Debriefing of the aircrews suggested the mission had inflicted serious damage on the Italian fleet, at a cost of two downed Swordfish, two men killed and two captured. A detailed assessment came later that morning after a reconnaissance flight by a Maryland out of Malta. It reported one battleship sunk (Conte di Cavour) and two beached (Caio Duilio and Littorio), plus damages to other ships as well as to the seaplane base and the oil depot. Forty Italian sailors had been killed.

The original operational plan called for a return attack that night, an idea reportedly met with a heartfelt and memorable protest from one of the pilots: They only asked the Light Brigade to do it once! In the end, given the approach of unfavorable weather, exhausted crews and the likelihood of more casualties, the powers that be cancelled the second strike.

The attack on Taranto was considered a decisive victory for Britain, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill touted it as such in a November 13 speech to the House of Commons. Indeed, the Regia Marina had lost half of its battleships. Though Caio Duilio and Littorio were refloated and repaired within six months, the severely damaged Conti di Cavour never returned to service. The Italians promptly moved their three operational battleships to berths in Naples, thus shifting the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean in favor of Britain.

Though Japanese naval observers were well aware of the success of the British attack on Taranto and gleaned what they could from its results, it was far from a blueprint for the far larger strike against Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. It was, however, a useful proof-of-concept for a carrier-based aerial raid on a stationary fleet of surface shipsa potential lesson tragically unheeded by the U.S. Navy.

New York-based writer Michael W. Robbins is a former editor of Military History and MHQ. For further reading he recommends Air Power, by Stephen Budiansky, Taranto 1940, by Angus Konstam, and War in a Stringbag, by Charles Lamb.
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Christian ministries in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador know they are in for a tough year. The US government has drastically cut aid to the three Central American countries in response to the large number of refugees who have fled north to seek asylum in America. Some of the more than $500 million of US taxpayer money was going to Christian nonprofits working on economic development, anti-corruption efforts, and helping children in poverty in the three countries. Those ministries will have to lay people off, reduce services, and scramble to find other funds.

The Trump administration shot itself in the foot with these cuts, said Chet Thomas, director of Proyecto Aldea Global in Honduras, which has been forced to stop a job training program that gave teenagers alternatives to working for criminal gangs. These projects are designed to  reduce the number of people migrating to the US.

US foreign aid flows through various channels. In many cases, it ends up funding nongovernmental organizations, including Christian relief organizations in the area of Central American known as the Northern Triangle. Many of these address the conditions that cause people to flee their homes and seek asylum, leading to a crisis at the US border. Some ministries work directly with host governments to train national staff and increase the effectiveness of state institutions. Others focus more on community development, often building connections with local churches that dont trust their government and dont have many of their own resources.

Justifying the cuts, the State Department appeared to downplay the role of nonprofit groups in addressing migration. We expect the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to keep their commitments to stem illegal immigration to the United States, it said in a statement.

Association for a More Just Society (AJS) lost $2 million in US aid for 2020, forcing it to lay off 42 of 130 people on staff in Honduras. The Christian organization reports it had made dramatic inroads in recent years working with the Honduran government reform its criminal justice system. AJS helped Honduras with an anticorruption sweep of the police force that replaced thousands of corrupt officers and set up several judicial accountability programs.

The groups focus is on shoring up the integrity in the institutions Hondurans needs to arrest and prosecute criminals, according to Jill Stoltzfus, executive director of AJS. Many Hondurans see no hope in opposing the gangs because they dont trust the justice system. When they come into conflict with a gang, they feel they have no choice but to flee the country.

That was starting to change as police and courts delivered justice, Stoltzfus said, but it requires consistency. Its a long process, getting people to trust their lives to systems that have failed them in the past. The presence of a third party has been critical in rebuilding trust.

So much of this work is trust related, she said. Trust is lost when people feel abandoned  which is why AJS isnt going anywhere.

According to Stoltzfus, the cuts were devastating, but the ministry has also seen God meet its needs. AJC received an additional $500,000 to $600,000 in giving at the end of last year, and some Honduran staff were also able to get jobs with the Honduran government. Still, Stoltzfus said the programs will still look different in 2020 as the organization moves forward with less money and fewer people.

International Justice Mission (IJM) is also dealing with cuts, which makes some recent victories feel bittersweet. In Guatemala, IJM had to layoff 40 percent of its staff, many of whom were Guatemalan. It also had to drastically scale back Project Sentinel, which was funded in part by $10 million over four years from the US government.

According to an independent analysis, IJMs work in Guatemala showed promising results in strengthening institutionsespecially the police, the ministry of education, and the Catholic church. The report found that mentors placed within the criminal justice system helped triple the number of convictions in child sexual assault cases. IJM helped the police adopt trauma-informed practices of procuring witness testimony. And more instances of child sexual assault were being reported as the community gained confidence in the justice system.

IJM had hoped to use the positive report to expand operations in the country. With less aid money, though, it will have to scale back instead.

The nonprofit will try to leave the program as untouched as possible, said Erin Payne, an IJM regional officer for Latin America. IJM is really committed to Guatemala and the Northern Triangle in general.

IJM has found, however, that the most effective parts of the program are sometimes also the most expensive. Mentorship programs for lawyers, police officers, and criminal investigators work really well, according to IJMs internal review. But theyre a costly way to deliver training.

There might be some ways to leverage the past success of the program to reduce some costs. Guatemalan churches have offered space for the police trainings, something that never would have happened when the work first began, Payne said.

World Vision was also seeing progress on its long-term work with children in Guatemala and El Salvador, said Nate Lance, a World Vision child protection expert. Staff were starting to hear testimonies of people who had considered fleeing to the US for asylum but opted to stay because of new education and educational development programs.

Aids cuts will likely mean that World Vision can only do about half of what it was doing, Lance said. Weve been forced to make some tough decisions, he explained.

The cuts will be counterproductive, according to Lance, in reducing the number of people who seek flee Central America. Cutting these programs, he explained, is creating an environment where people feel like they have to leave home and leave their loved ones to make a risky trip north.

The Mexico Protection Protocols currently have 55,000 asylum-seekers in limbo in Mexico while their cases are pending, a process that could take years. In border cities, these migrants are vulnerable to exploitation and face gang recruitment similar to what they fled in Central America. Thousands are now unaccounted for, according to data obtained by CNN.
Residents are being warned about an Amazon scam tricking people into handing over their personal details and cash for 'outstanding payments'.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has urged Queenslanders to be vigilant of the phishing scam being done over the phone.

'Reports to the ACMA of Amazon phone scams have surged. Callers claiming to be from Amazon are asking for payment, personal data or offering a refund,' an ACMA statement read.

Residents are being warned about another new scam tricking people into handing over their personal details and cash for 'outstanding payments' to people claiming to be from online retailer

'If you receive a suspicious phone call, do not share any personal information and hang up immediately.

'The scam call may be a recorded message or a person claiming to be from Amazon. This is a common phishing scam across the UK and US and is now targeting Australians.'

The elaborate scam will begin with a phone call on the false pretence of the need to make a payment before asking for personal details.

It's known as a phishing scam, where scammers try to trick a person into giving out personal information such as bank details and credit card numbers.

A scammer will contact a person claiming to be from an official organisation and often call to say they are 'verifying details' before asking identification questions.

ACMA Authority member Fiona Cameron said since 2019 saw a string of phone scams reported the organisation has launched a new anti-scam campaign.

The scammers are masquerading as employees from Amazon and target residents on the false pretence of refunds or an outstanding payment

'The top three on the (2019 scam) list are all impersonation scams that many people will be familiar with,' she said.

'The ACMA's new Combatting Scams Action Plan is designed to reduce the number of scam calls Australians receive.

'The project will put enforceable obligations on telco providers to share data and work together to identify and block scam calls like these ones.'

She said the organisation was confident in its approach to protect Australian residents.

'If you think a call is suspect, don't engage, instead hang up, block the number and report the call to Scamwatch.

'If you are unsure whether a call is a scam or not, hang up and contact the organisation the caller claims to be from to verify the details.'

ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said if you felt you were the victim of a scam or have been contacted by a scam to contact your bank.

PHISHING SCAM WARNING SIGNS You receive an email, text or phone call claiming to be from a bank, telecommunications provider or other business you regularly deal with, asking you to update or verify your details.

The email or text message does not address you by your proper name, and may contain typing errors and grammatical mistakes.

The website address does not look like the address you usually use and is requesting details the legitimate site does not normally ask for.

You notice new icons on your computer screen, or your computer is not as fast as it normally is. HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF: Do not click on any links or open attachments from emails claiming to be from your bank or another trusted organisation and asking you to update or verify your details  just press delete.

Do an internet search using the names or exact wording of the email or message to check for any references to a scam  many scams can be identified this way.

Look for the secure symbol. Secure websites can be identified by the use of 'https:' rather than 'http:' at the start of the internet address, or a closed padlock or unbroken key icon at the bottom right corner of your browser window. Legitimate websites that ask you to enter confidential information are generally encrypted to protect your details.

Never provide your personal, credit card or online account details if you receive a call claiming to be from your bank or any other organisation. Source: ACCC Advertisement

'If you think scammers might have gained access to your personal information, even in a scam completely unrelated to your finances, immediately contact your bank,' Mrs Rickard said.

'Timeliness in alerting your financial institution is absolutely crucial, and will give you the best possible chance at recovering your funds.'

For more about scams in Australia, or to report a scam to visit the Scamwatch website.

In December 2019 Scamwatch recorded 1,767 scam reports with a total of $57,890 in losses.

Males make up the majority of scam victims at a rate of 50.8 per cent while women constitute 45.6 percent and Gender X making up the remaining 3.6 per cent.

Meanwhile phishing scams via phone made up 22.5 per cent of all scams with email being the preferred method by scammers at 38.8 per cent.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Amazon for comment.
NEUROPA initiative receives 3.6 million to develop new theranostic for the brain

The NEUROPA initiative targets a transformative progress in photonics, neuroscience and medicine by developing a non-invasive means of modulating specific neural pathways in the brain

This research, led by Aston University, is a collaboration between University of Bayreuth. (DE), University of Oulu (Finland), University of Barcelona (Spain), Pharmacoidea (Hungary), Sorbonne University (France) and DLM Consultancy Services Ltd (UK). The project is funded by the European Commission through its Future and Emerging Technology (Open) programme

The NEUROPA project is headed by Professor Edik Railov, Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies

The NEUROPA consortium, led by Aston University, has received a prestigious award of 3.6 million in funding from the European Commission as part of its Future and Emerging Technology (FET) scheme. The project aims to develop a non-invasive means of alleviating long-term dysfunction in the brain addressing specific brain disorders such as Huntingdon's (HD) and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's (AD).

About the NEUROPA project

The NEUROPA project is pioneering a new field of phytoptogenetics by developing novel phytochromes that can be activated by new compact NIR lasers leading to long-term modulation of targeted neuronal network activity. A core underlying concept is that we will control networks involving sub-cortical structures by activating cortical projecting neurons which are accessible to 2P light control. Developments in viral engineering will enable the targeting of brain phytochrome expression via peripheral exposure rather than direct brain injection. In addition, ongoing development of brain-region and cell-specific gene delivery systems will enable expression in specific cell types i.e. excitatory neurons, inhibitory neurons and glial subtypes in targeted subpopulations within specific brain areas. Our development of diffusing wave spectroscopy-based blood flow detection will enable the monitoring of network activity and hence the interactive control of the photo-switchable phytochromes.

Edik Rafailov, Head of the NEUROPA project and Professor of Photonics, said: "Non-invasive control of dysfunctional neural pathways is a hugely attractive prize to be obtained for medical practice. Currently methods to address brain dysfunction can involve very invasive procedures and our aim to is establish a viable and flexible technology that achieve significant results by shining a laser beam instead. There is an enormous human toll of brain disorders in Europe, with an estimated 83 million people affected. Through NEUROPA we hope to bring a transformative approach to address this great societal and healthcare challenge".

The NEUROPA project launches in January 2020 and research and innovation activities will be conducted over three years.

About the NEUROPA consortium

Each of the consortium partners have been chosen for the highly specific skills & knowledge that they bring to this project. These include technologies and expertise in NIR lasers, AAV viral vectors, phytoptogenetics, diffusion wave spectroscopy and bio-assays.

Aston University (UK) Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies (School of Engineering and Applied Science) is one of the largest photonic groups in UK and an internationally recognised research centre in the fields of lasers, fibre-optics, high-speed optical communications and nonlinear photonic technologies.

Aston Neuroscience Institute (ANI) encompasses interdisciplinary research for the study of developing brains. Members conduct fundamental research that is applied to meaningful questions which impacts upon the wellbeing and success of young people and society.

The University of Bayreuth (Germany) is one of the youngest universities in the country but ranked #4 in Life Sciences. The group involved bring expertise in the expression, purification and handling of phytochrome photoreceptors and ample knowledge of photochemical characterization of sensory photoreceptors.

The Optoelectronics and Measurement Techniques research unit (OPEM) at the University of Oulu (Finland) specializes in medical measurements and development of biomedical instrumentation. Its activity is focused on development of unique and novel measurement methods to be utilised in various medical applications, based especially on optical imaging and monitoring.

The "Pathophysiology and Treatment of the Neurodegenerative Disorders" research group is located at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Institute of Neuroscience of the University of Barcelona . The group is an international reference for the study of Huntington's disease and other basal ganglia disorders with a broad expertise in molecular and cellular biology, neuronal networks and behavioural studies.

PHARMACOIDEA LTD. was founded in 2006 with the goal to develop special bio-assays and transgenic animal models to be used in "proof of principle" studies in search for the prevention and cure of diseases caused by pathological protein aggregation.

Sorbonne University (France) is the #1 ranked University in France and has a proven track record of designing and applying viral delivery systems, promoters and optogenetics for research investigations and therapy.

DLM Consultancy Services Limited (UK) helps to bridge the gap between the academic and business sectors in supporting collaboration, enterprise, and knowledge-based business development.

About the FET funding

Horizon 2020 aims to ensure Europe produces world-class science by removing barriers to innovation through funding programmes such as the FET. The FET (Open) funds forward-looking collaborations between advanced multidisciplinary science and cutting-edge engineering for radically new future technologies. It is hugely competitive and amongst the toughest in the H2020 suite of schemes.

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This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Clear skies. Low 7F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph, becoming E and decreasing to 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 7F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph, becoming E and decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
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In today's edition of Paris Live we cross to the USA where the 1st in the 2020 round of Presidential Primaries, the Iowa Caucus, has been a scene of chaos with no results released to date with technical problems and inconsistencies being cited as the cause.

We'll also go live to our correspondent in Beirut for more reaction to US President Donald Trump's Middle East Peace Plan that has been scorned by Palestinians as completely biased in favour of Israel.

To mark World Cancer Day we take a look at the shocking statistics that underline the gap between affluent and developing economies in treating the disease successfully.

We look back at the life and legacy of former president Daniel Arap Moi who ruled Kenya with an iron fist between 1978 and 2002, who has died at the age of 95.

Malawi's constitutional court upholds an opposition challenge against the result of recent elections ruling that declared incumbent President Peter Mutharika was "not duly elected."

We have a special report on how the people of Gaza are turning to solar power to avoid cuts in electricity that have plagued the enclave for the past 14 years.

And as always what's trending on RFI English.com.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP in the Lok Sabha, Locket Chatterjee on Tuesday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of doing " of appeasement."

"The situation in West Bengal is such that people are not allowed to celebrate Saraswati Puja. It is similar to Pakistan where Hindus are not allowed to conduct their pujas. Mamata Banerjee is doing of appeasement," she said.

The statement from Chatterjee came just a day after Trinamool Congress party leader Mahua Moitra accused the BJP led government of betraying the voters who had expressed their faith in it, saying, that nobody wants to be part of "us versus them" debate.

She accused the government of "betrayal of the body politic" and said that the people were on the streets against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Population Register (NPR) and the Register of Citizens (NRC).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the international community not to create panic over the coronavirus outbreak.

"We understand the reasonable and necessary screening measures taken by some countries, it opposes overreactions and moves that will create panic," the Chinese FM stressed in a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.



Wang Yi said that China has established a nationwide system to fight the epidemic with the strictest and most thorough measures.

He added that with China's unremitting efforts, the fatality rate of the novel coronavirus nationwide has been controlled under 2.1%, far lower than the rate of any other epidemic in China, and also lower than the 17.4% fatality rate of the H1N1 influenza in the U.S. in 2009.



"Starting from Feb. 1, the number of people discharged from hospital after recovery has started to significantly surpass the number of deaths, an important symbol showing the epidemic is controllable and curable. We have full confidence and ability to win the fight against the epidemic ," Xinhua cited him as saying.

Wang Yi assured that China will continue to share information with the world in an open and transparent manner, and strengthen cooperation with other countries, so as to jointly safeguard global and regional public health safety.

As of Tuesday, the number of novel coronavirus cases in China exceeded 20,400 people, at least 425 of them died.
[February 03, 2020] Microsoft For Startups Selects CourMed

DALLAS, Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CourMed, a crowdsourced delivery platform for healthcare items, was recently selected to receive technical, business and sales enablement support from Microsoft Corporation to help scale its concierge service for patients, employees and customers nationwide. Microsoft for Startups is a comprehensive global program designed to support startups as they build and scale their companies. Whether building new technology, landing the first customer or scaling larger, the program is there to support the ecosystems of budding startups. "Microsoft for Startups is invested in the success of CourMed and other startups like it. We provide access to technology, go-to-market and community benefits that will help them grow their customer and revenue base," said Dean Jones, US Premier Delivery Senior Service Manager for Microsoft North America. "We heard that Microsoft was committing $500 Million to offer joint sales engagements to qualified startups, and we are honored that our innovative platform caught their attention," said Derrick L. Miles, President and Chief Executive Officer of CourMed. CourMed officially launched in November of 2018 at Vizient headquarters in Irving, TX. In the first year of operations, the company's revenue has exceeded six figures and was the only delivery platform invited to McKesson's 2019 ideaShare Pharmacy Conference. Held in Orlando, FL, ad created to unite and empower independent pharmacies, the conference gave CourMed access to 5000 independent pharmacies.



"It was at the ideaShare Conference where we found the Blue Ocean for crowdsourced delivery of healthcare items. Six months following the conference CourMed's revenue and volumes increased by 100 percent," said Miles. What makes CourMed unique is its focus on unit economics and customer satisfaction prior to pursuing massive scale. In addition, the company delivers a multitude of healthcare items like prescription meds, vitamins, supplements, CBD Oil, home medical supplies, and more via a crowdsourced network of delivery drivers who are trained to offer the most encouraging, most unforgettable experience that a patient receives that day. At the beginning of 2020, CourMed entered the Florida market and launched two innovative revenue-generating delivery programs for its healthcare partners that separates its offerings from current and future competitors.

Miles added, "It's a blessing to have demand for our concierge services to scale nationwide, and it's a double blessing to have the additional technical, business and sales enablement support from a reputable, progressive company such as Microsoft." About Microsoft

Microsoft (@microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. About CourMed For more information, contact:

Derrick Miles, President/CEO

[email protected]

214-903-0004

https://CourMed.com Photos:

https://www.prlog.org/12808619 Press release distributed by PRLog View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/microsoft-for-startups-selects-courmed-300998112.html SOURCE CourMed

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ANN ARBOR, MI  Up to six Ann Arbor officials may visit Germany this spring to discuss climate-action initiatives with officials in Tubingen, Ann Arbors German sister city.

Mayor Christopher Taylor said he expects to go along with other City Council members and city staff.

But some are questioning the trip.

Council Member Ali Ramlawi, D-5th Ward, spoke out at the councils meeting Monday night, Feb. 3, reminding his colleagues they recently declared a climate emergency and set a 2030 carbon-neutral goal.

I would offer that, in 10 years from now, if we achieve our goals, we could take that flight, Ramlawi said.

But I really do think it sends the wrong message to our community  when we get on a plane and fly across the ocean using taxpayer dollars to talk about climate action.

Ramlawi suggested the city should politely reject Tubingens invitation for now, and any money that might be spent on the trip should be put toward measures that actually sequester carbon, rather than emit carbon.

Council Member Kathy Griswold, D-2nd Ward, also said she wont go on the trip because she thinks its important to set a good example when theres a climate emergency.

Taylor, who visited Japan to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ann Arbors sister-city relationship with Hikone last year, said he supports continuing the sister-cities program and seeing what Ann Arbor and Tubingen can learn from one another when it comes to sustainability issues.

The mayor of Tubingen, our sister city for over 50 years, was excited to learn of our commitment to carbon neutrality because it indicates a common commitment to these issues, Taylor said of Tubingens invitation to visit in May.

City policy is and will be, I believe, to effect carbon offsets for travel of this nature and I think thats perfectly appropriate, Taylor said in response to Ramlawis concerns.

Air travel is obviously something that you need to think through very carefully. However, if we are to renounce air travel, we will be renouncing all of our sister-city relationships.

Tubingen has pledged to fund expenses in Germany, including accommodations and meals, but its up to Ann Arbor officials to figure out how to pay for air travel.

As he did for his Japan trip, Taylor expects to personally pay for his own airfare to Germany, he said, though city funds could be used for other officials travel.

Council members each have a $500 allowance this year for expenses such as attending conferences and theres discussion of tapping into those funds.

City Administrator Howard Lazarus said he isnt going on the trip since its in the middle of budget season, but the city could pay for airfare for other city staff that go, along with the cost of purchasing carbon offsets.

He didnt have an estimate of what that might cost and said he couldnt confirm at this time who might go on the trip.

Missy Stults, the citys sustainability manager, said she couldnt confirm yet whether shes going, as it depends on councils policy direction.

Council Members Zachary Ackerman, Elizabeth Nelson and Chip Smith said theyre interested in going.

Climate change is a global issue that requires that we learn from our global neighbors, Ackerman, D-3rd Ward, said in an email, indicating he would pay for his own airfare without using any taxpayer dollars.

Tubingen delegates have visited Ann Arbor several times in my five-year tenure. Each time, I have been very impressed by the ways they solve complex problems similar to our own. I look forward to exchanging ideas and learning new approaches to the climate issues we all face.

When a Tubingen delegation visited Ann Arbor last year, we had some wonderful exchanges of ideas on working toward carbon neutrality and improving mobility, Smith, D-5th Ward, said in an email.

The opportunity to go and share what Ann Arbor is doing and continue learning how Tubingen is implementing carbon-neutrality measures and see their transit millage campaign in person would benefit Ann Arbor, he said.

Smith said hes not sure yet if he can afford the cost or the time off work, but if he does go, he would use his $500 council allowance to offset the cost.

Nelson, D-4th Ward, said she already made arrangements for a substitute at her teaching job to be able to go on the trip. She said she may or may not use her $500 council allowance.

I do appreciate that we have sister cities, I am particularly keen on cultural exchanges, she said in an email, adding she has fond memories of four years she lived in England and theres a lot to learn about how people in other countries live.

She expects the Germany trip will offer meaningful interactions with municipal leaders who can share valuable new ideas with us, she said.

In a December letter to the Ann Arbor mayors office, Boris Palmer, Tubingens lord mayor, said 2019 would go down in history as the year when the people started to finally realize that we have a climate crisis and we as politicians should start with big schemes to tackle this issue up-front.

Palmer said he followed Ann Arbors recent decision to go carbon neutral by 2030 with great interest.

We took this step as well in July this year and we are working hard on solutions to achieve this goal, he wrote. Already when I was elected in 2007, I started already a campaign to reduce carbon emission  and we are on a very successful path with a reduction of 32% until today.

But now the challenge is even bigger, Palmer said.

As liberal and green-minded mayors, Palmer invited Taylor and up to five other Ann Arbor officials to visit and strengthen our development in these important fields for the future.

He suggested visiting May 3-10, timing the trip around a Tubingen Night of Culture event May 9.

Since the Ann Arbor council meets May 4, the tentative plan is to fly out May 5, Taylor said.

Taylor said he hasnt purchased a ticket yet, so hes not sure which airline hell use.

JetBlue announced this month it plans to take a critical and measurable step toward reducing its contribution to global warming, committing to offset carbon emissions from jet fuel for all domestic JetBlue flights beginning in July 2020, making it the first major U.S. airline to do so.

Ramlawi said he planned to meet with a constituent Tuesday to discuss what actions are needed if the city is serious about meeting the 2030 carbon-neutral goal.

I was thinking the other day that, frankly, probably none of us will be up here in 2030, so we can make these promises  and commitments, but are we going to be up here in 10 years to be held accountable? he asked his colleagues Monday.

Now that the city has declared a climate emergency, every action is looked at through a new lens, Ramlawi said.

The citys staff is working on drafting a 2030 carbon-neutrality plan by the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in April.

MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS:

How a vegan diet could fit into Ann Arbors carbon-neutrality plan

Ann Arbor declares climate emergency, sets 2030 carbon-neutral goal

Ann Arbor takes next step on potentially $50M solar farm

Ann Arbor renames bridges after late Congressman John Dingell

Meet Hikonyan, the popular mascot from Ann Arbors Japanese sister city
Dariia Atamanchuk, left, with Doug Wallace in front of the SeaCycler. Credit: Danny Abriel

Much more oxygen than previously thought is transported deep into the ocean interior through a 'trap door" in the Labrador Sea that some researchers say could be closing as a result of climate change.

This was reported by scientists from Dalhousie University and Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego in a paper published today in the journal Nature Geosciences. They measured the transfer of gases, including oxygen and carbon dioxide, from the atmosphere to depths as great as two kilometres. The oxygen taken up by the ocean over a year in the Labrador Sea was 10 times larger than typically estimated. Large numbers of air bubbles, injected during violent, winter storms, were responsible for the difference.

The higher oxygen supply also implies higher-than-expected demand for oxygen by deep-sea ecosystems.

The Labrador Sea is one of only a handful of locations worldwide, where the atmosphere and deep ocean connect, directly. A 'trap door' to the deep ocean opens there for a few months each winter, when surface water becomes cold and dense enough to sink into and mix with deep, oxygen-deficient waters.

"While bubble-mediated gas transfer has been recognized for decades, our measurements show how critically important it is when the 'trap door' is open and a vast volume of oxygen-deficient deep ocean water is exposed to the atmosphere," says Dariia Atamanchuk, a research associate in Dalhousie's Department of Oceanography and lead author of the study.

Deep waters supply oxygen to global ocean

The deep ocean waters then flow out of the Labrador Sea, supplying life-supporting oxygen to a vast area of the ocean, worldwide.

"We refer to the Labrador Sea as one of the lungs of the deep ocean and the deep circulation as being like its blood stream," says Dr. Atamanchuk. "Oxygen taken up from the atmosphere in the Labrador Sea may ultimately support respiration of organisms living tens of thousands of kilometers away, including fish living in the deep Pacific or Indian oceans."

The researchers estimate that 10 times more oxygen is transferred to the deep sea each year than indicated by models that typically do not account explicitly for bubbles. This implies that oxygen in the deep ocean is more sensitive to climate change than previously thought.

Model-based projections have suggested that the Labrador Sea's 'trap door' might be closing, due to the delivery of increasing amounts of fresh water from melting ice on Greenland and the rapidly changing Arctic.

"More fresh water means lower density and shallower mixing, and that would cause the ocean's breathing to, literally, become shallower," says Doug Wallace, a professor of Oceanography at Dalhousie and initiator of the study.

Crew deploy the SeaCycler on May 22, 2016, in the Labrador Sea where it gathered measurements for a year. Credit: Kat Fupsova

"Trap door' may already have closed off Antarctica

Dr. Atamanchuk adds that the effect of a similar 'trap door' closure off Antarctica may already have been felt in the deep South Atlantic Ocean, which has recorded high and difficult-to-explain levels of deoxygenation over the past 50 years.

"While our measurements show very clearly the importance of bubbles for the oxygen supply, the mechanisms are complicated and are certainly not yet fully understood," says Dr. Wallace.

The authors say their findings are a call to action for more study and observation to check the representation of gas transfer in models and "reduce uncertainties and bias in our estimates of air-sea exchange of gases and heat," especially in regions with extreme conditions, like the Northwest Atlantic.

Collecting vital data in rough environment

The researchers gathered the information using SeaCycler, a unique, robotic profiling system that was anchored in the Labrador Sea for a year in 2016 and collected a wide range of chemical, physical and biological data.

"The SeaCycler was designed to collect sophisticated measurements and carry a very large payload under extreme, very difficult conditions. You really don't want to be out in the Labrador Sea on a ship, making measurements yourself in winter when these bubble processes are most important," says co-author Uwe Send (pictured with Jannes Koelling), a professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and an initiator of SeaCycler's development, working closely with engineers at Canada's Bedford Institute of Oceanography.

The scientists were working as part of a Canadian-led project called VITALS. Data interpretation was also supported by the Ocean Frontier Institute.

The group is now preparing for new observations in the Labrador Sea with an upgraded version of SeaCycler, starting later this year. The first tests of the improved setup, which includes several additional sensors, were completed last week in the Bedford Basin with the support and assistance of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Explore further Taking a deep breath? Scientists measure unusually high oxygen uptake in the Labrador Sea

More information: D. Atamanchuk et al. Rapid transfer of oxygen to the deep ocean mediated by bubbles, Nature Geoscience (2020). Journal information: Nature Geoscience D. Atamanchuk et al. Rapid transfer of oxygen to the deep ocean mediated by bubbles,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41561-020-0532-2
After remaining in confinement by the agitating students for 16 hours, Vice-chancellor of Presidency University Anuradha Lohia on Tuesday morning slipped through the side door of her chamber.

Lohia made her dramatic exit at 6 am walking through the side door of the chamber on the first floor, unnoticed by the students who continued with their demonstration in front of the main door, University officials said.

She than quitely came down through the stairs to leave the campus for her home, they added.

"She is okay but showing signs of stress due to prolonged confinement", the sources said.

The VC did not take the calls despite repeated attempts.

The agitating students had kept the VC hostage in her chamber since 2 pm on Monday in support of their campus related demands.

Earlier known as Hindu College and Presidency College, the institution is a public state university located in College Street, Kolkata.

It was elevated to university status in 2010 after functioning as a top constituent college of the University of Calcutta for about 193 years. The University had its bicentenary celebrations in 2017.

"We had demanded a categorical reply from the VC over our demands, a written note listing all the issues before allowing her to leave but she escaped through a side door even as we were sitting outside the main door.

"We will not allow her to get away like this when she visits the campus again," Subho Biswas, a protestor said.

Over 100 students continued with their sit-in before the VC's chamber shouting slogans such as 'Tai to Boli kaman dago,kaman dago/VC-r ghare kaman dago,' (Direct your volley of canon fires towards VC's room), 'Ei VC, Registrar aar nei darkar' (We don't need such a VC, a Registrar any more), 'Halla Bol' (Raise your voice) and 'Hum Chhinke Lenge Azadi' (We will snatch freedom).

Among others, the agitators were demanding that the repair works in three of the five wards of the 130-year-old Hindu Hostel be completed without any delay and eight sacked hostel employees be reinstated immediately.

The protesting students also demanded that the VC should express regret in writing over female students allegedly being prevented from taking part in a convention on the day of Saraswati Puja in the campus due to the hostel renovation issue.

Biswas alleged that despite repeated reminders, the authorities did not expedite the repair work in the Hindu Hostel and took "vindictive" action against those demanding quick completion of hostel repair.

The secretary of girls' common room Shruti Roy Muhuri alleged that university authorities were dilly-dallying over timely completion of work in wards 3, 4 and 5 of the Hindu Hostel since last year.

Over 30 students are made to put up within a very limited space of the two renovated wards, she claimed.

Dean of Students Arun Maity evaded giving a reaction on the issue, saying "I am in an urgent meeting, please call me later."



Two wards of the Hindu Hostel, under repair for three years, were opened for students in November 2018 after agitation by students.

The Hindu Hostel building, located adjacent to the university, was shut down for repairs since July, 2015 and the boarders had been shifted to a rented accommodation at New Town as a makeshift arrangement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A federal judge has refused to overturn the criminal convictions that could send the operators of defunct West Shore biofuels firm to prison for defrauding the IRS and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Prosecutors provided plenty of evidence that Keystone Biofuels and its founders Race Miner and Ben Wooten conspired to lie about the make-up of the biodiesel fuel they were producing so they could falsely secure tax credits, U.S. Middle District Judge John E. Jones III found.

Jones reached that conclusion in denying motions by Wooten, Miner and Keystone for a voiding of their convictions or a new trial.

A jury found the men and their firm guilty of nine criminal charges at the end of a three-week trial last April. The convictions mean Miner, who lives in Colorado, and Wooten, an Enola resident, could be sent to federal prison. Keystone could be hit with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

Prosecutors said Keystone officials submitted false documentation to the EPA to secure millions of dollars in tax credits for supposedly producing renewable eco-friendly biodiesel fuel. The amounts and sometimes the makeup of fuel the firm claimed to have produced didnt actually qualify for those credits, investigators said. They said Keystone also gave federal agencies documentation for fuel that wasnt actually produced.

In challenging their convictions, Miner, Wooten and Keystones lawyers argued that, although they were convicted of committing a single conspiracy to defraud the government, prosecutors actually presented supposed evidence of multiple, unconnected conspiracies during the trial. Those included alleged crimes that occurred outside the statute of limitations and so should not have been prosecuted, they insisted.

Jones, however, agreed with prosecutors that there was solid evidence of a continuous conspiracy to con the IRS and EPA that went on for years. He pointed to testimony from former Keystone employees that the con was committed deliberately and at the companys highest levels.

And despite his claims to the contrary, Miner remained part of that con even after he sold his equity interest in the firm and headed west, Jones found.

The judge cited testimony that Keystone only produced fuel that met federal guidelines for tax credits for certain near the start of its operation when high-quality soybean oil was used in the process. That oil wasnt used in later production.

Jones also highlighted the testimony of a witness who said the firm would recirculate fuel and claim tax credits for phantom fuel it never actually produced.

The evidence was sufficient for a reasonable jury to conclude that the various schemes hatched by the co-conspirators shared the common goal of defrauding the IRS, the judge wrote. Here, the government presented substantial evidencethat (Keystone) never produced compliant fuel.
Albany County Judge William Carter is under investigation by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct  courtesy of a complaint lodged by District Attorney David Soares office.

On April 16, state court officials removed Carter from handling any and all cases involving Soares office -- which comprise the vast majority of the cases before Carter -- in a move shrouded in secrecy.

Law Beat has learned that the reason for the change was that Soares office dropped a dime, so to speak, on Carter to the judicial commission, which investigates complaints against judges.

As readers of this space know, Soares and Carter have a long history of battles, including a three-year squabble over Soares decision not to prosecute Occupy Albany protesters, a dispute that reached the Court of Appeals.

That said, this appears to be the battle to end all battles between the two Democrats.

People familiar with the matter told Law Beat that Soares office complained to the judicial commission about a phone call that Carter made to the Albany County jail in connection with the case of Richard Quinn. The defendant, a career criminal, was convicted of the murder of 47-year-old Marc Douglas, a homeless man stabbed to death by Quinn on Grand Street on June 25, 2017.

Judges are not permitted to have ex parte communications, or conversations with one side of a case.

Carter presided over the Quinn case when it went to trial. Quinn, 66, now serving 25 years to life in state prison, was on the street because five weeks earlier, City Court Judge Gary Stiglmeier rejected the recommendations of Soares and probation officials and allowed the four-time felon and 19-time convict to be free.

Bail reform is now a controversy across the state in the wake of New York's justice reforms that went into effect Jan. 1, eliminating cash bail with the exception of most violent crimes and some misdemeanors. And in the first days of the new system this month, Carter was the judge closely associated with the release of defendants  at times over the objection of Soares prosecutors.

After the court system moved Carter on Jan. 16, the judicial commission declined to comment when contacted by Law Beat. Thats not a surprise given the general secrecy given to judicial investigations. Even when the cases go to a hearing, those sessions are closed to the public unless the judge waives that privilege.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Complaints against judges are not unique. They can vary from baseless claims that are quickly dismissed to accusations that get judges admonished, censured and, in some cases, removed from the bench. On Wednesday, for instance, Rochester-area state Supreme Court Justice Matthew Rosenbaum agreed to never seek or accept judicial office again following a probe and determination by the commission that he was abusive to his staff.

Other times, the commissions allegations against a judge convince the person to leave the bench. In 2016, former City Court Judge Thomas Keefe resigned after the commission found that he engaged in wide misconduct -- including ordering a woman jailed because she contacted her attorney.

When a private attorney lodges a complaint against a judge, the judge recuses himself or herself from presiding over that particular lawyers cases. But since in this case the complaint was lodged by Soares office, it means Carter cannot handle any case involving the district attorney.

Carter can still preside over cases in Albany County prosecuted by Attorney General Letitia James office or a special prosecutor or anyone not associated with Soares.

Neither Soares office nor Carter would comment.
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NAMPA  A man wanted on two child sex crimes in Idaho was picked up by U.S. Immigration officials on Jan. 31 when he attempted to illegally cross the Mexican border near Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

Ivan Rivera Ibarra, 38, had an active warrant from the Nampa Police Department when he was apprehended. He faced charges in Canyon County for sexual battery of child 16 or 17 years of age and sexual abuse of a child younger than age 16.

Ibarra is a Mexican national who had previously been removed for illegal entry into the United States.

According to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, authorities working near the Santa Teresa station discovered indications of a possible illegal entry. Agents on foot and on ATVs began to track the possible illegal entrants, and were able to catch up to the suspects, in spite of their attempts to conceal their efforts.

The suspects reportedly put sponges on their feet, in effort to hide their footprints. Authorities found eight suspects, including Ibarra.

Ibarra will eventually be extradited back to Canyon County, according to the news release.

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Malawian President Peter Mutharika plans to challenge a court decision overturning his 2019 poll victory, his spokesman said on Wednesday, in a move that could spark fresh opposition protests. After six months of hearings that gripped the southern African country, five top judges on Monday ruled that Mutharika was "not duly elected", citing massive and widespread irregularities including the use of correction fluid on results sheets. The judges ordered a fresh poll within 150 days. But Mutharika's spokesman, Mgeme Kalilani, described the ruling as "a serious miscarriage of justice and an attack on the foundations of the countrys democracy", telling AFP that Mutharika would appeal. He did not say when Mutharika would bring the challenge, but the 79-year-old president has up to six weeks to appeal. On Tuesday, Lazarus Chakwera, the leader of the main opposition Malawi Congress Party, who came a close second to Mutharika, hailed the landmark verdict as a victory for democracy and Africa. Addressing more than 10,000 jubilant opposition supporters who thronged his party's Lilongwe headquarters, Chakwera said "this is a great day". "It is democracy that has won. It is Malawi that has won. It is Africa that has won. And now justice has been served," he said. Mutharika was declared the winner of the May 21 election with 38.5 percent of the vote, Chakwera losing by just 159,000 votes. Chakwera went to court to challenge the result. - Results 'cannot be trusted' - In their unprecedented ruling, the constitutional court judges concurred that "the irregularities and anomalies have been so widespread, systematic and grave... that the integrity of the results has been seriously compromised". The court said only 23 percent of the result sheets had been able to be verified, and that the outcome announced by the electoral commission "cannot be trusted as a true reflection of the will of the voters". It is the first time a presidential election has been challenged on legal grounds in Malawi since independence from Britain in 1964, and only the second African vote result to be cancelled, after the 2017 Kenya presidential vote. Allegations of vote-rigging sparked protests across the normally peaceful country shortly after results were announced. Mutharika's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) urged citizens to "maintain peace and order". In Zomba, the former colonial capital and now fourth-largest city, opposition supporters sang and danced in the streets on Tuesday, calling on Mutharika to step down following the historic ruling. The Southern African Development Community commended the court for "upholding the Malawian constitution" and pledged to "support... the election process". Mutharika, 79, will remain president until the new election, the court ruled. "It is a good time to be alive in Malawi. We have demonstrated that democracy does and can work in Africa. And this victory is not for us, it is for generations to come," said Lameck Hango, who celebrated with his friends in Lilongwe. Another Lilongwe resident, Johnson Banda, said he was "very happy with this judgement". "It's a true indication that Malawi has true democracy." But Mutharika supporter Chimpele Tsamwa was less pleased. "The judgement is not what I expected nor wanted -- but then all in all we trust the courts and have to go with what they have said. That's the beauty with democracy," he said. The international community has urged calm. "We call upon all Malawians to respect the decision of the court and to adhere to the path outlined in Malawi's constitution and electoral laws, including on the right to appeal," said Tibor Nagy, the top US diplomat for Africa.
Private equity firm Black Dragon Capital has signed an agreement with Belden Inc to acquire Grass Valley, a broadcast media solutions company.

Black Dragon, which makes control investments in growth companies, will take full control of all Grass Valleys assets. Black Dragon CEO and founder, Louis Hernandez, Jr. will become Executive Chairman of Grass Valley and Tim Shoulders will remain as the companys president

Hernandez, Jr. commented, We see tremendous opportunity for transformation in the media technology market and believe that Grass Valley is in an ideal situation to lead the market through these changes. Under Beldens leadership, the Grass Valley solutions portfolio has expanded and the business has developed a discipline that puts them in the upper quartile of the market in profitability. Black Dragons experience leading companies through digital transitions will allow Grass Valley to accelerate the next step in its evolution, bringing more innovative products to market faster.

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Imagine calling into the kitchen of one farm family who have only voted one way their entire lives and not bothering to even ask for their vote?

That's right, the assumption by one rural candidate, who'll remain nameless, but who recently made this visit is an indictment of the apathy too many politicians have shown towards rural dwellers.

This political candidate proceeded to launch into a speech about themselves and how great and wonderful they are. No concern was even feigned for the present voters, who raised some issues they'd had with the future of Irish agriculture and some local services.

Surely the empathy and compassion, or at least a promise of 'I'll fix it' would shine at this point?

No. Just silence from the candidate. No notebook out to log the issues and assure the voters that their party had a plan or that improved facilities were on the way if they're re-elected. Instead, the voters were subjected to a lecture on how important it is for the candidate to increase their vote.

It's a sorry fact but too many political parties and candidates are more concerned with their own political future than the future of their rural constituents.

However, what has me more disappointed is political parties' giant manifestos which are packed high with soundbites but severely short on detail when it comes to farming in particular. There has been much criticism in the past of parish pump politics, but with national plans so lacking in vision and leadership what else are people left with?

Powerhouse

For the powerhouse that farming is considered by some in political circles, it's surprising and disappointing the lack detail in their policies in face of the obvious problems facing farmers and the lack of regard at ground level that some candidates and their parties have for the voters.

There's a feeling in rural Ireland that while they've been lauded as the backbone of the economy, when things get tough, there's no real love shown to those living and trying to work in rural Ireland.

No party has set out a strong vision for farming and rural Ireland that would inspire anyone and it's more than likely many will vote for the person rather than the party on Saturday.

Who'd blame them?
She was left fuming as she was booted off the South African villa by her former love interest, after revealing she doesn't have feelings for him.

And Leanne Amaning has admitted watching 'desperate' Mike Boateng pursue a relationship with her friend Jess Gale is 'awkward' as she appeared on Monday's Love Island Aftersun.

The customer advisor, 22, confessed that while she 'can't cope' with seeing the pair blossom, she believes their romance 'makes sense' as they both expressed an interest in each other during the early stages of the show.

'I can't cope!' Leanne Amaning admitted watching 'desperate' Mike Boateng pursue a relationship with Jess Gale is 'awkward' as she appeared on Monday's Love Island Aftersun

Leanne left the former police officer, 24, disappointed after dumping him following a two-week relationship.

Getting over his heartbreak very quickly, the hunk set his sights on Jess, 20, and Sophie Piper, 21, before teaming up with the latter in a friendship group, which caused Leanne her position on the ITV2 dating series.

Reflecting on her stint, the Waltham Forest native admitted she's not fussed about her former partner embarking on a relationship with her pals.

She told host Laura Whitmore: 'I think he's very desperate, but I wouldn't be mad if one of my friends got with him.

Awkward! The customer advisor, 22, was left fuming as she was booted off the villa by her former love interest, after revealing she doesn't have feelings for him (pictured with Jess)

She's honest: The stunning contestant confessed that while she 'can't cope' with seeing the pair blossom, she believes their romance 'makes sense'

End of the road: Leanne left the former police officer, 24, disappointed after dumping him following a two-week relationship

'[Watching Mike and Jess] is so awkward, I can't cope. We both agreed we'd move on.

'I wasn't surprised really, but I was only surprised by what he was saying to her as he was saying the same things. It made me question whether things were genuine. They had a connection so it made sense for them to pick up where they left off.'

On her initial attraction for the muscle-bound contestant, Leanne said: 'I feel like Mike was very open, kind, patient and understanding.'

The brunette faced backlash for fans for ending her relationship with Mike bluntly, but she insists she has no regrets from her time on the show.

'I'm not mad': Reflecting on her stint, the Waltham Forest native admitted she's not fussed about her former partner embarking on a relationship with her pals

He has a soft side: On her initial attraction for the muscle-bound contestant, Leanne said: 'I feel like Mike was very open, kind, patient and understanding'

She explained: 'It didn't look great but I don't think it was as bad as it looked. When I was talking about the ick, I was talking in general. It made it seem like I was so disgusted by him. I really did try and I did like him but I felt like it wasn't enough.'

On who she's rooting for, the TV star revealed: 'I'd like Paige [Turley] and Finley [Tapp] to win, I think they're really genuine. They better not mess it up!

While the girls have been treated to the arrival of six new boys as their partners tackle Casa Amor, Leanne revealed she's keen on getting to know someone from last year's edition.

She teased: 'Valentine's Day is coming up, so Ovie [Soko], if you're watching, slide into them DMs!'

Conflicted? 'I wasn't surprised really, but I was only surprised by what he was saying to her as he was saying the same things to me', she explained

'Valentine's Day is coming!' Leanne revealed she's keen on getting to know someone from last year's edition - fan favourite Ovie Soko (pictured in July 2019)

Late last month, host Laura discovered the viewership for spin-off show Aftersun had jumped by 1.4million on 2019 in its opening week.

On Instagram, a happy Laura uploaded a snap of a WhatsApp conversation which featured the figures from her debut on the spin-off panel show.

It read: 'Nearly 2m for Aftersun - grew from 600K. Mad numbers', alongside the caption: 'Thanks for tuning in. Gobsmacked!'

Legs for days: The British-Ghanaian beauty highlighted her petite figure in a black off-shoulder dress

Having fun: The new TV star partied with panellist Maya Jama (L), before reuniting with her gal pal Sophie Piper

What a vision: The brunette wore her tresses in a straight fashion while opting for a full face of dewy make-up

In good company: Maya accentuated her curvaceous physique in a busty LBD, while Love Island 2017 contestant Olivia Attwood (R) sported a satin bodysuit with velvet trousers

Patterns galore: Love Island's stand-in host Laura Whitmore put on a leggy display in a floral print mini-dress as she fronted the show

Despite the increase for Aftersun, the main show got off to a slow start, with 800,000 fewer viewers than the summer version's launch show.

Only 2.5 million viewers tuned in to watch the latest batch of singles entering the South African villa, compared to 3.3 million last June.

Of those who did watch the launch show, 1.2 million were aged between 16 and 34 years old - a whopping 43 per cent of viewers.
As of Monday, there were 11 confirmed cases in the U.S., including two in Illinois. The two Illinois cases are a woman who recently visited Wuhan, China  the center of the outbreak  and her husband. While it is expected there will be more cases in the U.S. in the weeks ahead, health officials say the immediate risk of the virus to Americans is believed to be low.
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Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020

A team from the Indonesian Military landed in Australia on Sunday to support the countrys bushfire response.

In a joint statement issued on Monday, the Australian government said it was deeply grateful to Indonesia for its commitment to send more than 30 military engineers to support the fight against the bush fires.

Due to the fires continuing impact across the country, the Australian Defense Force has deployed significant resources to help battle the fires and aid recovery efforts.

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Abhijit Mulye By

Express News Service

MUMBAI: Maharashtra governor BS Koshiyari, during his visit to Palghar district to assess the problems faced by the tribal community, when it came to implementation of the Forest Rights Act, asserted the rights granted to the tribals.

Several cases were filed against members of tribal community in Jawhar region of Palghar district over past few months when they tried to execute the forest rights they had received according to the 2006 legislation. Some of the tribals had written to the Governor against the harassment after which the latter had assured them that he would visit the area soon to assess the situation himself.

On Tuesday, Governor Koshyari visited Doyacha Pada village near Jawhar in Palghar district. A charter of demands was presented to the governor by the tribal community leaders. They include, withdrawal of cases registered against them for execution of forest rights, reconstruction of houses and huts of tribals demolished by the forest department, compensation at par with PMYA standards to such tribals whose houses were damaged, pending cases of forest rights be decided within 60 days, all hamlets, localities on forest land before December 13, 2005, be included under Gaothan development plan and implementation of the PESA rules at the locality and Gram Panchayat levels be monitored and accelerated.

The tribals also demanded that all the updated information on pending and settled forest rights claims be published online.

After receiving the charter of demands Governor Koshyari addressed the members of the tribal community.

Serving the food and not letting eat it can not be tolerated. The land belongs to the tribals and they should be allowed to execute their rights over the land, Governor Koshyari said.
Samsung kind of kickstarted the folding smartphone trend with the Galaxy Fold that it unveiled last year, but to everyones surprise, the phone disappointed many with the poor and a rather delicate build quality.

Reuters

There was one more new player in the market that launched their folding phone last year -- Escobar Inc -- led by Pablo Escobars brother Roberto De Jesus Escobar Gaviria who claimed to take down Apple with its innovative Escobar Fold 1.

Escobar Inc

And while the device looked a lot like a rebranded Royole Flexipi, priced at just around $300, this was by far the cheapest folding phone you could buy.



However, now, the same brand has decided to Kill Samsung, with their newest offering that theyve unveiled in 2020 -- The Escobar Fold 2.

When you look at the device, dont rub your eyes too much as what youre noticing is right -- the phone looks like a close rip-off of the Galaxy Fold. Its got the same clam-shell design with a narrow glass body and a slightly larger 6-inch display on the outside.

Flip the phone open and youll notice more similarities in the design of the device. For starters, it has a similar front camera module on the top right of the square 7.3-inches OLED display, sporting a resolution of 1536x2152 pixels and support of HDR10 content playback.

Escobar Inc

According to the official press release the device is designed in the US and being made in Shenzen China. Even the specs of the device under the hood arent very different with last years Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset paired with 8GB/12GB RAM and 128GB/512GB storage space. Powering the device is a 4380 mAh battery.

The device, however, is slightly different in the camera department with five cameras in total as opposed to 6 on the original Galaxy Fold. The device has a triple camera setup at a back with 12-megapixel standard, wide and ultrawide shooters. Flip open the device and you get a dual front-camera setup with 10-megapixel and 8-megapixel shooters.

AP/Getty Images

Escobars brother says in the official release, My goal is to become the overstock kingpin of electronical devices this year. All these factories simply have too much technology laying around, nobody is buying anything in China from secondary factories. We cut the prices and give clients direct discounts under the Escobar brand umbrella.



While the $400 (around Rs 28,000) price tag is surely tempting, I would definitely not buy this phone as we really dont know how safe your data truly will be in it, regardless of how tempting the specs look.

Would you buy one? Let us know in the comments below.
Brexit uncertainty was the main factor in the number of major schemes under construction or completed in Belfast dropping by 26% in 2019, it's been claimed.

The fourth annual Belfast Crane survey, produced by Deloitte Real Estate, found the number of major schemes dropped from 35 in 2018 to 26 last year. The number stood at 30 in 2017.

However, new projects started in the city in 2019 rose by 33% from the previous year, going from nine to 12.

Neil Logan, partner at Wilson Nesbitt, said that he expects the number of schemes to rise again in 2020.

"There wasn't one residential development started in Belfast city centre in 2019, and it's not surprising given the year we had," he said.

There were several factors but most prevalent last year was uncertainty over Brexit, however, the announcement of planning applications agreed for Tribeca and the George Best Hotel is a great start to 2020.

We act for a number of property developers who are actively looking to develop in Belfast city centre and further afield. Weve now got Stormont back and Brexit is done for all intents and purposes.

Its a positive start and from conversation with clients I know there is a strong will to press on with development in Belfast and NI.

The overall total includes nine office developments, four student accommodation projects, five residential developments, four educational facilities, three retail and leisure schemes and one hotel.

Simon Bedford, partner in the Deloitte Real Estate practice, said that despite 2019 being a quieter year for Belfast, the city continued to show resilience.

The combination of challenges has slowed Belfasts progress, but many of the pieces remain in place which, if allowed, are ready to accelerate regeneration and investment in the city, he added.

The city has made concerted efforts to consolidate the step change in development experienced over the past number of years. But there are infrastructure-related challenges which require urgent work and investment in major projects, including the citys drainage and wastewater system which is a priority.

Following the Bank Buildings fire, there was redevelopment of the former BHS premises on Castle Lane and Calvert House on Castle Place, while the 17m Odyssey Pavilion refurbishment also represents the first major investment in a landmark leisure space for several years, Deloitte said.
The primary duty of a United States senator is to represent the best interests of the people who sent him to Washington. In carrying out his duties a senator is expected to balance the interests of the citizens of his state with those of the country as a whole.

During the Constitutional Convention, James Madison described the Senate as a necessary fence that would protect the people against their rulers and from the transient impressions into which they themselves might be led.

On Jan. 31, the U.S. Senate voted 51-49 to not hear additional witnesses or review documents in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Only two Republican senators, Susan Collins (Maine) and Mitt Romney (Utah), voted with the Democrats to consider new evidence. The evidence presented already that the president has abused the power of his office is overwhelming. The Senates vote to not consider additional evidence is effectively an exoneration, an acceptance of the offenses charged in this trial, along with the numerous other documented violations of our laws that this president has committed.

Trumps lawyers are paid to defend him. Our senators are not. Keep this in mind when you vote in November.

Jane Kraemer

High Point
(Alliance News) - DCC PLC on Tuesday said its performance in the third quarter of its financial year was in line with expectations, despite a difficult economic environment in the UK.

Shares in the Irish support services firm were trading 1.6% higher at 6,318.00 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.

For its third quarter ending December 31, DCC said its liquefied petroleum gas business DCC LPG experienced profit growth aided by the contribution of US liquefied petroleum gas distribution business Pacific Coast Energy.

Performance in the DCC Retail & Oil division benefited from its retail activities, while DCC Healthcare delivered "good" like-for-like profit growth and it successfully completed the acquisition of Ion Laboratories Inc.

Ion Laboratories is a provider of contract manufacturing services, which is currently commissioning a new nutritional gummies manufacturing line. Nutritional gummies are chewable vitamins.

Performance in its technology business was hurt by weakness in the UK technology market. However, the rest of the technology division recorded good growth, the company said.

Looking ahead, DCC said it expects its results for its financial year ending March 31, to be in line with expectations as it anticipates growth in the group's operating profit.

For the year ended March 31, the company reported pretax profit of GBP327.4 million on revenue of GBP15.23 billion.

Results for its full year will be published on May 19.

By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
 Close UK-wide Coronavirus information campaign launches

All British nationals have been urged to leave China due to the coronavirus outbreak, as the epidemic claimed more than 420 lives and infected more than 20,000 people globally.

Meanwhile, British officials are continuing attempts to trace 239 people who flew to the UK from Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak, before travel restrictions came into force.

Some 94 UK nationals have been evacuated from the city to Britain and are now undergoing 14 days in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.

Follow the latest updates
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has appointed Denys Shmyhal as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine.

Some 278 Members of Parliament voted in favor of this decision, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.

"It is important that this ministry focus on the issue of decentralization. We have been closely cooperating with the heads of the regional state administrations during five months. There were a lot of tasks and during their implementation Denys Shmyhal proved to be the best. Here is this man. I am asking you to appoint him as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Development of Communities and Territories as he knows very well how a region works and he is an excellent manager," Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk said in the parliament before the voting.

From August 2019, Shmyhal headed Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration.
A Kiwi vet who flew to Australia to save animals caught up in bushfires has claimed she was stopped from entering a fire ground by authorities and told to turn back.

Dr Rebecca Penman was among a Wildlife Victoria rescue team who visited East Gippsland in the state's south-east last month after fires ripped through the region.

The group had wanted to get through to bushland around Buchan, where 24 homes were destroyed and one person killed in a blaze which struck on New Year's Eve.

Kiwi vet Rebecca Penman (right attending to a smoke-affected koala in East Gippsland last month) flew to Australia to save animals caught up in bushfires but claimed she was stopped from entering a fire ground by authorities

Dr Penman (pictured right treating an emaciated wombat in Waterholes, East Gippsland) claimed the Victorian department of environment stopped her from entering firegrounds at Buchan in the south-east of the state

But Dr Penman claimed the Victorian department of environment (DELWP) - which has their own teams on the ground - stopped them from entering the fire ground, saying the group weren't required.

'They're saying we don't need any volunteers, we dont need anyone helping,' the vet from Tauranga on New Zealand's north island told Yahoo News Australia.

'But theres plenty of wildlife out there, the government is just pushing back.'

Ian Slattery, who was also part of the rescue team, said the group had a permit to access the fire-stricken Buchan Road and got through a police road block.

But when they reached Buchan itself, he claimed someone acting under orders from the DELWP told them they had to go back.

'The reasons given were there are safety issues, there are other teams there - they basically hadn't planned for us to be around,' Mr Slattery said.

The vehicle Dr Penman used to travel through burnt-out East Gippsland is pictured in charred Clifton Creek north of Bairnsdale. She said the government pushed back her attempts to help wildlife affected by this season's bushfires

DELWP reportedly met with animal welfare groups last week, with frustration growing from carers the department has not told them when they can go into blocked off bushland.

A DELWP spokesperson said state forests and national parks remained closed during and after a fire for safety reasons.

'Roads and tracks into the area remain closed following a bushfire until they are re-assessed as being safe to re-open.' the spokesperson said.

'DELWP has trained wildlife assessment teams that can be deployed on the fire ground to lead accredited volunteers to help with the assessment of wildlife when it is deemed safe to do so.'

A wildlife rescuer is seen last month with a koala rescued from a burning forest on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Some carers in Victoria said in January they have had to resort to sneaking into fire grounds to rescue animals because they have not been called up

Last month, it emerged hundreds of fire-trained wildlife carers in the state who had been on standby since the fires began in November had not been called in.

Tehree Gordon OAM, Director of Jirrahlinga Koala and Wildlife Sanctuary in Barwon Heads, said some carers are so desperate to rescue the animals they are sneaking into fire grounds in the night.

A DELWP spokesperson said both wildlife triage units and wildlife assessment teams were in place in fire-impacted locations across the state.

The department added as a better understanding was made about the number of animals affected, more teams of carers would be deployed to where they were needed most.
In what can be seen as a sign of reconciliation between the state administration and the Raj Bhavan, the Mamata Banerjee government has decided to provide Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar with a helicopter for his travel to Santiniketan on Thursday.

The governor's secretariat had requested a chopper from the state government for Dhankhar's travel and, unlike previous occasions, it has been approved.

"We had sought a chopper for the governor to travel to Santiniketan to attend a programme. It was approved by the state government," a Raj Bhavan official said on Tuesday.

The development comes a day after Dhankhar held a meeting with state Finance Minister Amit Mitra and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee to discuss the state Budget session scheduled to start from February 7.

Chatterjee, also secretary general of the ruling Trinamool Congress, had a meeting with Governor for over an hour on Sunday too.

A senior TMC leader said the development is an indication of both the Raj Bhavan and the state government softening their stance.

On several occasions last year, the state government had rejected Dhankhar's request for a chopper to travel to Santiniketan, Domkal and Farakka, which was around 300 kilometres from Kolkata.

The governor has been at loggerheads with the TMC government over a number of issues ranging from Dhankhar's seating arrangement at the Durga Puja carnival to comments on his security since he rushed to Jadavpur University to "rescue" Union minister Babul Supriyo who was heckled there by a section of students.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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A respiratory virus that is so new it does not yet have a name has spread quickly from Wuhan, China, leaving many experts to fear what may become a pandemic of pneumonia-like illness.

So far, the virus  a coronavirus whose scientific designation is 2019-nCoV  has spread to at least 23 countries, infecting more than 17,000 people and killing at least 360. Most of the cases, so far, have been in China.

But the Wuhan coronavirus may be highly transmissible, as contagious as seasonal influenza, and the death rate is still unknown.

The World Health Organization has estimated that one in every 50 infected individuals will die, and medical reports suggest the new virus can be transmitted even before an infected individual displays symptoms  a combination of factors that, if accurate, will make it nearly impossible to contain.

Last week the WHO declared a global public health emergency, and made plans to dispatch experts to China to help with the investigation and containment.

The United States also declared a public health emergency and has offered assistance, and is barring entry by most foreign nationals who have visited China recently. American travellers returning from trips in the Wuhan/Hubei region will be quarantined for two weeks.

The outbreak appears to have begun at a seafood and meat market in Wuhan. Since then, it has spread to other parts of China, and turned up in other countries in Asia and in Australia, Europe and North America.

Chinese authorities cordoned off Wuhan days before the Lunar New Year holiday, suspending transportation in and out of the provincial seat of Hubei and other affected cities, closing in an estimated 50 million people.

Federal health officials are urging Americans to avoid all travel to China, and have quarantined 195 Americans evacuated from Wuhan for 14 days.

This is a very serious public health situation, and the CDC and federal government have and will continue to take aggressive action to protect the public, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. The quarantine of a planeload of American evacuees in Southern California was an unprecedented action, she added, provoked by an unprecedented threat.

As of Monday, 11 cases have been confirmed in the United States, most of them in patients who had travelled to China. One patient who had not travelled was apparently infected by his wife when she returned from China. More than 100 other patients in the United States are being tested.

Experts cannot yet say who is at greatest risk for developing severe or life-threatening disease, and what factors may be protective against the illness.

Heres what we have learned so far about the virus and the outbreak.

What is a Coronavirus?

Coronaviruses are named for the spikes that protrude from their membranes, which resemble a crown or the suns corona. They can infect both animals and people, and can cause illnesses of the respiratory tract. The infections can range from the common cold to dangerous conditions like severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which sickened thousands of people around the world  and killed nearly 800  during an outbreak in 2003. Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012, is also caused by a coronavirus.

How Dangerous Is It?

It is hard to accurately assess the lethality of a new virus, and some scientists said initially that the new virus appeared to be less severe than other coronaviruses, like SARS or MERS.

But recent news reports indicate the Chinese authorities muzzled doctors who were first to recognise the new infection, and they may not have been fully transparent about the number of infections and deaths even after the alarm was raised.

It is also not clear whether cases and deaths in China are being carefully tracked and reported. Diagnostic kits and other health resources have been in short supply in the affected regions.

Last week, the WHO said that while the majority of patients with the new coronavirus have mild disease, 20% develop severe illness, including pneumonia, respiratory failure and sometimes death.

The WHO estimated the death rate among those infected at 2%. Thats as high as the death rate of the pandemic Spanish flu in 1918.

Scientists dont know who is most susceptible to the new coronavirus. Does it pose a risk to young healthy people? Or, like seasonal flu, is it primarily a threat to the frail and elderly, and those with underlying health problems?

Whenever a new virus comes out, it takes a while to learn about it, said Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, chairwoman of the public health committee of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Right now, she said, The information about coronavirus is changing rapidly.

How Many People Have Been Infected, and How Many Have Died?

At least 17,000 people are known to have been infected, and at least 360 have died. Most of the infected lived in Wuhan or had recently travelled there.

Epidemics caused by other members of the coronavirus family, SARS and MERS, have had high death rates: 10% for SARS, and about 35% for MERS.

Influenza kills more people every year, but its mortality rate is only about 0.1%. The number of deaths is high because so many people become infected.

Widespread coronavirus epidemics have the potential to take a heavy toll, so the health authorities scramble to stamp them out.

A major concern is that with both SARS and MERS, a few patients inexplicably became super-spreaders who infected huge numbers of people.

Health care workers are particularly vulnerable. At a hospital in Seoul, South Korea, in 2015, one man with MERS transmitted it to 82 patients.

How is it Transmitted?

Most respiratory viruses are transmitted through coughing and sneezing, but troubling new evidence suggests people who are infected with the new virus may be spreading it before they even know that they have any symptoms.

Though Chinese authorities played down the likelihood of human-to-human transmission at first, it has now become clear there is significant and sustained transmission from person to person.

In Germany, a 35-year-old businessman was infected by a colleague visiting from Shanghai. She was healthy during her trip to Germany, and only fell ill during her flight home. Three other employees of the mans company were also infected; two of them had had no contact with the visitor.

Thats bad news, said Dr. William Schaffner, an expert in infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

When people dont know they are infected, theyre up and about, going to work or the gym or to religious services, and breathing on or near other people, Schaffner said.

Obviously sick people constrain themselves, and you have fewer opportunities for the virus to spread from one person to another.

Where Did the New Coronavirus Outbreak Start?

On January 8, The New York Times reported that Chinese researchers had identified a new coronavirus as the pathogen behind a mysterious illness that had sickened 59 people in Wuhan.

The cases were linked to a market that sold live fish, animals and birds. The market was later shut down and disinfected.

Past outbreaks of similar illnesses, including SARS, also are believed to have emerged from live animal markets. The coronavirus that causes MERS is transmitted to humans by camels.

The animal that was the source of the new coronavirus is still not known, and the destruction of the Wuhan meat market has made the question nearly impossible to investigate.

Bats are considered a possible source, because they have evolved to coexist with many viruses, including coronaviruses. But its very possible the virus was transmitted from bats to an intermediate animal, and then to humans.

What Symptoms Should I Look Out For?

Symptoms of this virus include fever, severe cough and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. The illness causes lung lesions and pneumonia. Milder cases may resemble the flu or a bad cold, making detection difficult.

Patients may exhibit other symptoms too, such as gastrointestinal problems or diarrhoea. The incubation period  the time from exposure to the onset of symptoms  is believed to be anywhere from a few days to two weeks.

If you have a fever or cough and recently visited China, or spent time with someone who did, see your health care provider. Call first, so they can prepare for your visit and take steps to protect other patients and staff from potential exposure.

Is There a Test for the Virus? What is the Treatment?

There is a diagnostic test that can tell if you are infected. It was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on genetic information about the virus provided by Chinese authorities.

Right now, tests are done by the CDC in Atlanta, but the agency plans to share the test with states and laboratories as soon as it is refined.

The main treatment for coronavirus is supportive care, including making sure the patient is getting enough oxygen, and using a ventilator to push air into the lungs if necessary, Vaishampayan said. Patients should rest and drink plenty of fluids while the immune system does its job and heals itself, she said.

No drugs have been approved for any coronavirus diseases, including the Wuhan coronavirus, though an antiviral medication called remdesivir appears to be effective in animals and was used to treat a patient in Washington state.

Chinese officials are also experimenting with at least one other HIV drug to treat the infection.

How Long Will it Take to Develop a Vaccine?

A coronavirus vaccine is still months away  and perhaps years. While new technology, advancements in genomics and improved global coordination have allowed researchers to move at unprecedented speed, vaccine development remains an expensive and risky process.

With each new outbreak, scientists typically have to start from scratch. After the SARS outbreak in 2003, it took researchers about 20 months to get a vaccine ready for human trials. (The vaccine was never needed, because the disease was eventually contained.)

By the time of the Zika outbreak in 2015, researchers had brought the vaccine development timeline down to six months.

Now, they hope that work from past outbreaks will help cut the timeline further. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health and several companies are working on vaccine candidates.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said a preliminary clinical trial may get off the ground in as little as three months. But researchers would still need to conduct extensive testing to prove a vaccine is safe and effective.

Even under the best circumstances, it could take at least a year  maybe longer  for a vaccine to be available.

Should I Wear a Surgical Mask to Protect Myself?

If you have a respiratory infection, wearing a mask helps protect the people around you from illness by reducing the risk that you will spread the infection. And wearing a surgical mask may somewhat protect you from infection in a crowd if there is an outbreak.

But, generally, surgical masks are not closefitting enough to filter all the air you are breathing in and N95 respirators are extremely uncomfortable.

Experts recommend washing your hands frequently throughout the day. Avoid touching your face, and maintain a distance from anyone who is coughing or sneezing.

At the moment, the risk of infection with the new coronavirus in the United States  where there are 11 confirmed cases so far  is way too low for the general public to start wearing a face mask, Rabinowitz said.

But, he added, if you have symptoms of a respiratory illness, wearing a mask reduces the risk of infecting others.

I Have a Trip Planned to China. Should I Go?

Not if you can avoid it. The State Department has warned Americans not to go to China unless it is absolutely essential. If travellers must go, the CDC urges enhanced precautions: avoiding contact with anyone who is sick, as well as with animals and the markets in which they are sold; and refraining from eating raw or undercooked meats.

Anyone who is older or has an underlying health condition, which increases susceptibility to infections, should consult with a health provider before making a trip. Access to medical care in China may be difficult, given the outbreak, and federal officials warned that new travel restrictions could be imposed on return, including quarantine.

What are Health Authorities Doing to Contain the Virus?

China has taken drastic actions to bar people from leaving affected areas, though 5 million people departed Wuhan alone before the restrictions went into effect.

Residents have been told to wear masks in public to prevent the spread of the disease. Two new hospitals for coronavirus patients are being erected; the first opened on Monday.

Governments around the world have been screening incoming passengers from China for signs of illness, and some have gone further, barring entry to people from China. Russia and Mongolia have closed most of their borders with China. Australia said it will evacuate citizens from Wuhan and quarantine them for 14 days on Christmas Island.

CDC teams are also providing assistance with state health investigations of infections, including contact-tracing, which means making sure anyone who may have been in contact with an infected individual is warned of the exposure and their health is monitored.

The work will enhance the understanding of the virus and how to prevent its spread. CDC teams have also offered to send public health experts to China to help with the investigation and containment efforts.

Roni Caryn Rabin c.2020 The New York Times Company
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will not ask her new chief of staff to hand back a termination payment of almost $300,000 he was given by the government in 2018.

Jim Murphy, Queensland's former under treasurer, started as Ms Palaszczuks new chief of staff on Monday.

Jim Murphy, pictured with Jackie Trad, served as under treasurer from 2015-2018. Credit:Dan Peled/AAP

He had received the $297,000 payout when he left the public in service in September 2018 to "take up new career opportunities" and be closer to family in NSW.

On Monday, the LNP used the first Question Time of the parliamentary sitting year to grill the government over Mr Murphy's appointment.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has accused the center-right government of endangering the survival of the country by failing to tackle endemic corruption amid a scandal over water shortages that cost Environment Minister Neno Dimov his job.

Radev said in a nationally televised address on February 4 he was "withdrawing my confidence" in the government of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, in a mainly symbolic act that carries no constitutional effect.

The president in Bulgaria has a largely ceremonial role with few actual powers, but he can use the office to attempt to sway public opinion.

"This government and administration are leading to the collapse of the state and depriving us of our future as a nation," said Radev, a former air-force commander who was backed by the Moscow-friendly opposition Socialists.

"Today, we are witnessing an acute crisis in governance at all levels, a lack of will to reform and fight corruption."

Borisov dismissed Radev's criticism as "direct interference into the independence of the authorities."

He told reporters that Radev, who has been a frequent critic of the prime minister, is "looking for confrontation with the government.... We haven't worked together on any topic, so I don't feel harmed from not having his support."

Borisov's center-right government on January 29 survived a tight no-confidence vote called by the opposition over the water crisis, the fourth such attempt to bring down the government in three years.

Borisov returned to power in 2017 for his third term since 2009, vowing to wipe out graft and bolster economic growth in the European Union's poorest member state.

The country has experienced steady economic growth under Borisov, but his government has also been criticized for slow progress in the fight against corruption and a perceived failure to hold corrupt officials and businessmen accountable.

The European Commission has slammed Bulgaria over its record in the areas of rule of law and white-collar crime.

Former President Rosen Plevneliev, a vocal Kremlin critic, suggested there was a connection between the pro-Russian president's accusation and "a war on the government to stop it from joining" the euro single-currency zone.

Political tensions in the country intensified when Environment Minister Dimov resigned from his post on January 10 after he was criminally charged with deliberate mismanagement of water supplies in a western region of the country.

Prosecutors accuse him of providing water supplies to industrial users even when he had been informed that the water in a dam -- the only source of drinking water for the town of Pernik and surrounding area -- had dramatically decreased. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Separately, the head of the Bulgaria's Gambling Commission resigned after being detained in connection with an investigation into gambling tycoon Vasil Bozhkov over allegations of serious financial violations in the industry.

With reporting by Reuters, Bloomberg, and dpa
RTHK: Democrats scramble to the finish line in Iowa

Democratic candidates darted across Iowa on Sunday delivering their closing arguments to any and all who would listen, a day before the state's nominating vote that officially starts the US presidential election season.

Iowa, a largely rural state of three million people, has traditionally served as a vital launching point  or burial ground  for presidential hopefuls.

"This is the most consequential election, certainly in the modern history of this country... and it all begins tomorrow night," Senator Bernie Sanders, the leading progressive in the race, told invigorated supporters at a meet-and-greet event in Iowa City.

Similar scenes played out across the snowy state this weekend as most of the 11 remaining candidates in the race made their final push to convince undecided voters.

But Monday's caucuses have created an air of suspense with no clear frontrunner. Several hopefuls look to strike gold and take their winning ways into the next contest, in New Hampshire on February 11.

Leftist Sanders holds only a narrow lead over moderate former vice president Joe Biden. Former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Elizabeth Warren are just a few points back.

Three of the leading candidates seized on a brief break from their duties as jurors in President Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial to barnstorm Iowa before Monday's caucuses.

The senators  self-styled democratic socialist Sanders, progressive Warren and pragmatist Amy Klobuchar  each hosted multiple events on Sunday.

Saturday had been equally hectic.

The impeachment trial  only the third in history of a US president  created an unprecedented situation by limiting the senators' ability to campaign in Iowa ahead of the vote.

Sanders, Warren and Klobuchar must return to Washington Monday, along with Senator Michael Bennet who trails badly in the polls, for the trial's resumption. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center showed that circulating tumor cells (CTCs), a form of liquid biopsy, was independently associated with melanoma relapse, suggesting CTC assessment may be useful in identifying patients at risk for relapse who could benefit from more aggressive therapy following primary treatment.

Results from the study were published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Although CTCs can be detected in melanoma patients, there is limited data regarding their significance in stage III (node-positive) disease. This prospective study was based on earlier research that found CTCs in a significant number of breast cancer patients, which was associated with relapse, independent of other existing methods for determining prognosis.

Our findings are significant, given that there is a need for blood-based biomarkers to guide clinical decision making for stage III melanoma patients. There currently are no blood tests available to help doctors accurately tell which patients are likely to relapse, and should be given therapy, and which are low risk, and could be observed." Anthony Lucci, M.D., professor of Breast Surgical Oncology and Surgical Oncology, and study lead

The researchers assessed CTCs during the patient's first clinic visit, and relapse-free survival was compared between patients with one or more CTCs, versus those with no CTCs. CTCs were observed in 90 out of 243 patients enrolled in the study.

"Our analysis demonstrated that CTC detection was significantly associated with a decrease in relapse-free survival at six months, and persisted at a 54-month longer-term follow-up," said Lucci. "The data from this study provides support for the future pursuit of liquid biopsy techniques to help identify patients most likely to benefit from adjuvant systemic therapy."

Lucci added that this is vital given that there currently is no clear consensus on when to recommend immunotherapy for node-positive melanoma patients. Despite the development of new targeted and immune therapies to treat melanoma, many patients either do not respond to these therapies or develop resistance to therapy within six to eight months. Because such therapies also can have side effects, avoiding treatment in patients at low risk for relapse may prevent overtreatment.
CANBERRA, Australia - Australias deputy prime minister on Tuesday withstood a challenge to his leadership mounted by the man he replaced two years ago.

The Nationals party has not revealed the size of the margin that returned Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack. The leadership was confirmed in a ballot of 21 Nationals lawmakers.

He had been challenged by Barnaby Joyce, who quit as Nationals leader in 2018 over a controversy surrounding a child he had with a former staffer and allegations that he had sexually harassed another woman.

Joyce had argued that McCormack had not advocated strongly enough for their rural constituents, many of whom are struggling against a protracted drought and devastating wildfires.

Its a great honour and a privilege to continue to serve as the leader of the National Party, McCormack told reporters, referring to the Nationals by the partys former name.

I look forward to ... continuing to work with Barnaby Joyce, he added.

The Nationals are the junior partner in Prime Minister Scott Morrisons conservative coalition government.

Morrison, who came to power when his own party ousted his predecessor in 2018, had said before the result was known that it would not undermine the governments stability.

That coalition has always provided very stable and very good government for this country, Morrison told reporters. That coalition is always strong.

T he Nationals meeting also elected government minister David Littleproud the new deputy leader of he party.

The former deputy leader Bridget McKenzie resigned from the Cabinet on Sunday for breaching ministerial rules by failing to declare she was a member of a gun club to which she gave a government grant of 36,000 Australian dollars ($24,100).

Both the partys leade r and deputy are entitled to Cabinet posts.

Resources Minister Matt Canavan resigned from the Cabinet on Monday to back Joyce in the leadership challenge.

McCormack suggested Canavan wont be brought back when Morrison announces a new ministerial lineup .

Matt Canavan has resigned as Resources Minister. I wish him the best, McCormack said.

While prime ministers are toppled frequently in Australia, challenges to the the Nationals leadership are rare. The Nationals have only ousted their leader once, in 1989.
SAN FRANCISCO and WYE, United Kingdom, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Logistics and Supply Chain industry veterans, Peter Nicholls, Ken Lyon and Linda Elliott Zider, announce the launch of Tucson Technology, a management solution for shippers, 3PLs and carriers worldwide.

Established in the UK with operations in Hyderabad India, San Francisco California and Singapore, the team has developed the first cloud-native global carrier management platform: T2 Cloud.

T2 Cloud is an enterprise-class platform supporting worldwide operations designed to ship from everywhere to anywhere. The T2 platform supports the most demanding and complex business logistics needs. "The elaborate choreography necessary to manage the variety of physical logistics services, related information flows and unexpected external factors such as weather and other unforeseen issues, is both complex and obscure. The team at T2 have decades of building solutions that do this," according to Ken Lyon, Board Chairman.

Tucson Technology's T2 Cloud "uses the latest technologies to ensure continuity and keep pace with the inevitable transformation of the digital supply chain," stated Peter Nicholls, Chief Architect. Peter was formerly President of Tandata (now ConnectShip, a UPS subsidiary) and was one of creators of the first patented client-server shipping system.

CEO Linda Elliott Zider has brought together a world-class team with a track record of delivering solutions in Asia, Europe and North America. Tucson Technology has received initial funding from investors in Europe and America.

About Tucson Technology:

Tucson has decades of experience in enterprise shipping combined with deep knowledge of the technologies required to deliver and deploy the world's first 21st century shipping solution.

For more information about Tucson Technology, please visit https://www.tucsontechnology.com/ or email [email protected]

Cloud-native carrier management to ship from Everywhere to Anywhere

SOURCE Tucson Technology

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Katy Perry has been named an ambassador for the British Asian Trust by Prince Charles.

The prince, a founder and patron of the charity, announced the appointment at the trusts annual royal dinner in London on Tuesday evening.

He attended the event alongside the Duchess of Cornwall.

Perry will be an ambassador for the trusts Childrens Protection Fund for India as part of a major drive against child trafficking. Charles also announced a multimillion-pound pledge by Indian philanthropist Natasha Poonawalla in support of the fund.

Natasha Poonawalla (left) and Katy Perry listen as the Prince of Wales gives a speech at the British Asian Trust reception in London on Tuesday night. (PA)

Left to right: Katy Perry, Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall and Natasha Poonawalla at the reception. (PA)

Perry said: My work as a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador has taken me to many parts of the world and opened my eyes to the many vulnerabilities of children.

India has long held a special place in my heart, and on my last visit, I was able to meet with the Prince of Wales and other leaders in Mumbai, and I was impressed by their strong plan  from on-ground initiatives to fundraising  that will aim to cut child trafficking in half.

That is why I am especially honoured to be named an ambassador for the British Asian Trusts Childrens Protection Fund, and to help shine my light on the work that the British Asian Trust will be doing in South Asia, and to be a part of finding solutions to child trafficking.

Children are vulnerable and innocent and have to be protected.

Katy Perry is already a Unicef ambassador. (Getty)

The British Asian Trust was founded in 2007 by Prince Charles and a group of British Asian business leaders.

The charity supports the 5.8 million children working in forced labour in India, where tens of thousands are thought to be working in hazardous workshops.

READ MORE FROM YAHOO NEWS UK:

It works with business, government and civil society to remove child labour from supply chains and bring child labour-free products to markets.

Story continues

Prince Charles first met Perry in Mumbai, India, in November 2019 at a meeting of British Asian Trust supporters and advisors.

Manoj Badale, chair of the British Asian Trust, said: Were delighted to announce Katy Perry as our newest ambassador and are looking forward to working with her on raising awareness of the work we carry out across South Asia.

Katy is a keen supporter of our work and her appointment marks another successful year for the British Asian Trust.
Justine de Jesus, a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, went to CAPS during her sophomore year when she became overwhelmed with school. Read more

Winter, where are you? Yesterdays high in Philly hit 60. Today, despite the rain, will be yet another warm-for-January day. Was Punxsutawney Phil right?

In other news, the Iowa caucuses have been thrown into chaos, the fear about the coronavirus may be more damaging than the virus itself, and Gritty is cleared after a police investigation.

 Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

In 2019, Pennsylvania had nearly 52,000 international students enrolled at universities across the commonwealth. Thats the sixth-highest international student population in the country. And for many of these students, adjustments on all levels can be a struggle, making students more susceptible to anxiety and depression.

My colleague spoke with students about the challenge to open up due to cultural stigma while working with mental health professionals who may have too little understanding of their cultures to be truly helpful.

The current panic over coronavirus reminds social scientists of the 2002 outbreak of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in China. Thats because both incidents fed anxieties regarding globalization, immigration, economic disruption, national security, bioterrorism, and more. But now, digital and social media are making it worse.

While unknowns can be unnerving, the fear of a pandemic can be more dangerous than the actual virus. For example, governments, companies, and airlines have restricted travel and trade with China, despite the World Health Organization saying its unnecessary. And that fear, my colleague reports, often comes with persecution and prejudice.

What you need to know today

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It looks like well be getting some showers this morning , but itll be rain, not snow. Sorry about that, @aimeebsiegel. Any other winter-lovers out there?

Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and well pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out!

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Opinions

The partys bylaws do not currently prevent a person convicted of a crime related to their elected duties from holding a ward leader position, so unless something changes, Bobby Henon and Kenyatta Johnson could hypothetically have a direct vote on their replacements depending on the nature of their sentences.  writes Jon Geeting, the director of engagement at the political organization Philadelphia 3.0, about why Democratic leaders should change the rules regarding their two indicted City Councilmembers.

Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen writes for The Inquirer that safe injection sites have nothing safe about them.

So many of Phillys Indego e-bikes that use electric motors to boost pedaling power have gone missing that the city has temporarily taken the fleet out of service. The Inquirer Editorial Board writes that the e-bikes are a welcome addition, but not until the city can properly protect the publics investment.

What were reading

The School District of Philadelphia is changing its lockdowns in order to make them less traumatic, Billy Penn reports.

Outside did a story on an Arctic explorer who was one tent pole away from dying.

Whatd you think about Sunday nights halftime show? Shakira and J-Lo crushed it, in my opinion. But I found myself also really enjoying the Ringers oral history of Princes Super Bowl halftime show in 2007.

Your Daily Dose of | A Heroic Pup

Billy is a Philly wonder dog. The 5-year-old bull terrier and his humans were walking earlier this month near their West Philadelphia home when two armed men confronted them. Sensing danger, Billy began to bark. The gunman opened fire, hitting Billy in the chest. Billy was then rushed to an animal hospital, where he had two surgeries and nearly three weeks of intensive care. "I belong to him, Felipe Sinisterra, one of Billys owners, said, chuckling. He rescued me.
Only Tomas Szabo was present at the court on the eighth trial day.

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The mental condition of Alena Zsuzsova, who is charged with having ordered the murder of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova, was not disclosed to the public.

The media were sent away when psychologists and psychiatrists testified about her health on the eighth day of the murder trial on February 4, 2020.

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Judge Ruzena Sabova, who chairs the senate dealing with the case, also forbid the media to shoot videos or take pictures during the breaks at the court. She said she considered the online reporting from the court illegal, but did not state whether she forbids the media to continue in online reporting.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Bhopal, Feb 4 : Conflicting reports and unchecked data have caused confusion about the incidence of coronavirus among persons from Madhya Pradesh studying or working in China. The health department has clarified that there have been no confirmed cases of viral infection so far.

Six persons from the state were among the 324 Indians airlifted from China on Sunday to Delhi. They include three from Khargone, one from Mandideep on the outskirts of Bhopal and one from Mandsaur. All of them have been quarantined in Delhi.

Health Minister Tulsi Silavat said 19 persons in the state including these six have been kept under watch for suspected infection. Some of them had travelled to China and some others came in contact with the travelling public. Apart from the six suspects kept in Delhi, samples of 10 others were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune for examination. Of these, eight have tested negative and cleared while reports of two suspects are awaited.

The Minister has cautioned the Health Department officials against any laxity about dealing with the suspected cases.

The minister announced formation of district-level task forces headed by the collector and civil surgeons to deal with the cases. A toll-free phone number - 104 has been issued for public to report matters concerning the virus.

Chief minister Kamal Nath has also tweeted that the persons from the state who have been brought to India have not been reported positive for viral cases.

He spoke to the Nursing Home Association and other organizations of doctors at Indore on Monday evening and asked them to offer suggestions to provide better services in dealing with any suspected case.

Special wards of 2 to 5 beds in every district hospitals and 10 beds in a medical college have been set apart for dealing with any emergency in Madhya Pradesh.

A patient from Chhatarpur who had visited the district hospital was discharged with a precautionary advice to maintain self-isolation for three days. Earlier, he was reported to have escaped from the hospital. The authorities scotched the rumours. No one has so far been reported positive after tests, said the health authorities.

Another student from Jabalpur was also discharged from the hospital last week when he reported for a check-up since he had been in China recently. The minister said there was no cause for worry as the patients have been thoroughly examined before being discharged. As a precaution they have been asked to stay in isolation for three days.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
CHILDCARE workers across Limerick are due to join a national protest in the battle for better pay and conditions for workers in the sector.

The National Early Years protest takes place on Wednesday, February, 5. The demonstration seeks to highlight a number of issues facing the sector, including rising insurance costs and pay for workers.

SIPTU members will be marching with the Association of Childhood Professionals, the Federation of Early Childhood Providers, the National Community Providers Forum, the National Childhood Network, Seas Suas and many others.

Northside Family Resource Centre CLG in Ballynanty will be one of a number of facilities across Limerick City and County to cease operations and join the protest.

As the largest family resource centre in the country, Northside FRC employs 74 staff directly, operating numerous services, including two childcare services, an afterschool service, youth work services, adult education, parenting support and advocacy service, child and adult therapy services, community groups and clubs, meals on wheels and many more.

We are challenging the Government, and its agents, to start listening to the actual issues facing children, parents, workers and providers operating across the country, and more specifically, those living and working in the most deprived areas in all of Ireland, said a spokesperson, we are providing a State function to the highest of standards for the best value for money. However, we are in crisis.

The chairperson of Northside Family Resource Centre, Gerard Bracken, said: It is difficult to cease operation, even for just one day, given the impact it will have on parents, children and older people especially.



We are concerned for our many service users but also the loss of income that will result for the centre. However, the Board has a duty of care to all stakeholders and we are therefore seeking long-term sustainable change in the sector, he added, the status quo is driving dedicated workers out of the sector making sustainability and quality assurance more and more difficult. The Board, therefore, will travel with staff to Dublin for the protest.

Northside Family Resource Centre are calling on parents, community members, and any other concerned persons, to join them in Dublin to say weve had enough.
The Indian government will have an opportunity to highlight its position on the countrys new citizenship law and discuss regional issues such as the situation in Afghanistan when external affairs minister S Jaishankar visits Germany and Belgium later this month.

Jaishankar is expected to attend the Munich Security Conference, which will bring together top leaders from around the world during February 14-16, and to travel to Brussels for meetings with leaders of European Union (EU) states, people familiar with the developments said.

The trip to Brussels will also help prepare the ground for the India-EU Summit that is expected to be held on March 13, the people cited above said.

The Munich Security Conference, which bills itself as the worlds leading forum for debating global security policy, will be attended this year by Irans foreign minister Javad Zarif, Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other leaders. There will also be informal meetings between leaders at the conference.

Jaishankar is expected to be in Munich on February 15 and then travel to Brussels on February 17, the people said. At both locations, there will be opportunities for the minister to engage with European and other leaders and to speak about various issues, including Indias position on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), said a person who declined to be named.

The Munich meet will also allow India to highlight its concerns related to terrorism emanating from Pakistan and the need for concerted international efforts to combat the menace. The situation in Afghanistan and tensions in the Persian Gulf are also expected to figure at the meeting.

Several European countries have been critical of the CAA and the governments handling of Kashmir, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying last year that the situation in the erstwhile state is not sustainable.

On January 29, the European Parliament debated a resolution critical of the CAA, which proposes to fast-track grant of citizenship to Hindu, Christian, Jain, Buddhist, Sikh and Parsi migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, but put off a vote till a session to be held in March. The move was apparently the outcome of hectic lobbying by Indian diplomats in Brussels and also aimed at ensuring the India-EU Summit goes ahead without any hitches. India is expected to be represented at the summit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While the government has insisted that the CAA is an internal matter, it has also offered to engage with the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who had sponsored and supported the resolution on the citizenship law so that they can get a full and accurate assessment of the facts.
KALAMAZOO, MI  Nonla Burger, a popular burger restaurant on South Burdick Street, is expanding.

Less than three years after opening the first location, the restaurants owners plan to open a second one soon. This time featuring a drive-through window, the new location is 1700 S. Drake Rd. in Oshtemo Township.

The new Nonla Burger, located in a shopping plaza near the intersection of South Drake Road and Stadium Drive, will have the same menu items and aesthetic as the Burdick Street location  from the burgers and fries to the color palette and artwork, co-owner Natashia Monk said.

We still want it to feel like a mom and pop restaurant and provide great food to the community and a fun space, Monk said.

The official opening date has yet to be determined, she said, pending completion of final electrical work.

The new Nonla location will seat around 45-50 people. There will be more space for parking since the plaza has parking lots in the front and back, and since Trader Joes, Costco and numerous other businesses are located nearby.

Nonla Burger first opened up about 2 1/2 years ago, in a small restaurant on 2103 S. Burdick St. in Kalamazoo. The Burdick Street restaurant seats just over 20 people. They quickly began bursting at the seams, Monk said.

We outgrew that space quickly, she said. We are so thankful for all the love the community has given us.

The Nonla Burger menu features hamburgers and cheeseburgers, a chicken sandwich, a vegetarian burger, french fries and a salad and shake of the day, along with other rotating specials.

Nonla Burger is co-owned by Natashia and Kyle Monk and Johnny and Kelly Nguyen.

The new space was already set up with a drive-through, which was the main draw for Nonlas owners to choose that location, Monk said. There will be an outdoor menu board for those using the drive-through, and there will also still be options for phone-ahead orders, take-out and dine-in.

Both of their families have children, and Monk said they are excited to offer a drive-through for other busy families.

Weve come to appreciate the value of a drive-through, Monk said. Its a convenience for families to get it on the go.

The new location is located within a plaza that is part of the Corner at Drake development from local developer AVB Inc. The developers wanted to add a local business to the plaza, and Monk said she is thankful they saw potential in Nonla Burger.

The Monks and the Nguyens also co-own Nonla Taqueria, a Mexican restaurant, which opened in November 2018 in Schoolcraft. The Nguyens own two other Nonla restaurants: Nonla Vietnamese Street Food in Mattawan and Nonla Bahn Mi Togo in downtown Kalamazoo.

Also on MLive:

Vietnamese banh mi sandwich restaurant opens in Kalamazoo

New restaurant Nonla Burger is trying to keep it simple

Schoolcraft restaurant offers Mexican cuisine in DIY atmosphere

22 restaurants, bars and more that opened or closed in the Kalamazoo area this year
ALBANY -- As yet another community in the Capital Region has discovered contaminants in its drinking water, advocates are urging the state Department of Health to abandon a plan to allow delays in reporting and tackling such problems.

Our town cannot wait for the state to revise its regulations and create a whole new deferral program, said Mary Finneran, a Cairo resident who is among those worried about revelations that the towns well water system has PFOS from fire suppressant foam that seeped in from a nearby firefighting training facility.

Initially, PFOS or perfluorooctanesulfonic acid was found at a level of 13.3 parts per trillion, she said although the most recent readings have come in at 8.5 parts per trillion.

The state Department of Health is proposing a Maximum Contaminant Level, or MCL, of 10 parts per trillion for PFOS and PFOA. Levels above that would require filtering or other remediation. The federal EPA calls for a 70 parts per trillion level.

But along with those levels DOH is proposing a deferral option that would let water systems delay violating the MCL for up to three years. They would also have to provide annual rather than quarterly reports and advocates say there is nothing in the proposed regulation calling for details on the potential contaminant.

Finneran and others gathered at the state Capitol Tuesday to urge the Health Department to scrap the deferral idea.

Four years after water crises in Hoosick Falls and Newburgh the Department of Health is weakening their own rules, said Maureen Cunningham, senior director for clean water at Environmental Advocates of NY.

Under the state proposal, water suppliers could have a grace period of up to three years before fully resolving a PFOS or PFAS problem.

After an initial public notification, water suppliers would only have to notify the public annually, rather than every three months, which is the standard for other similar chemicals.

Moreover, the proposed revision doesnt specify the content in public notifications, leaving open the possibility that specific testing results, like the contaminant level, could be withheld, say advocates.

It could also mean that residents in affected communities might have to buy their own bottled drinking water for extended periods. That happened for a time in Hoosick Falls after initial findings of PFOAs there, said village resident and activist Lorraine Hackett.

Hoosick Falls became Ground Zero for contamination problems more than five years ago after the discovery of PFOAs or perfluorooctanoic acids, that were linked to a rash of illnesses in the town.

Litigation from that is ongoing although, after years of delay, filters have been put in and the town is moving toward replacing its water source.

Health Department officials said their proposed regulations, which could take effect in the spring, are not designed to provide a pass for communities with contaminated water.

Water providers with levels above the MCLs would have just 90 days to request a deferral from the effective date of the regulation. And deferral requests would be considered on a case-by-case basis for providers already working toward fixing the problems.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

DOH is also looking at MCLs for 1,4 dioxane, a chemical found in detergents and shampoos which will be banned in New York after 2022. That contaminant has been a problem on Long Island.

PFOAs like those in Hoosick Falls have been used in making non-stick products like Teflon, while related PFOS have been added to firefighting foam but are being phased out.

These chemicals are associated with thyroid and other disorders and cause special concern because they dont break down and remain in a persons blood stream for a very long time.

There are at least 18 communities across the state with PFAS or PFOS in their groundwater or drinking water sources according to a lawsuit that Attorney General Letitia James has filed against makers of the chemicals.

In addition, to Cairo, there are sites in Stony Point, Hyde Park Niagara Falls, Poughkeepsie, Potsdam, Fishkill, Webster, Whitehall and Fulton to name a few.

rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU




SANTIAGO, Feb 4 (Reuters) - BHP's Escondida , the world's largest copper mine, said on Tuesday it had dropped plans to continue drawing water from the Atacama salt flat, relieving pressure on the parched desert basin, home to top lithium miners SQM and Albemarle . BHP has long pumped water from Atacama's aquifers to feed operations at its sprawling Escondida mine.

But shortly after applying to renew those permits in 2017, authorities warned the aquifer was overdrawn, stalling the process.

The global miner said in a statement Tuesday it would now substitute its pumping from Atacama with desalinated water from its coastal Chilean plants.

BHP's decision is a step toward reducing pumping pressure on the vast, lithium-rich salt flat. The basin sits amid the world's driest desert, where annual rainfall is often measured in millimeters. Soaring demand for ultralight battery metal lithium has raised questions about whether Atacama can support future levels of production along with the needs of nearby copper mines, a booming tourism industry and indigenous communities. "BHP's decision advances by 10 years its commitment to stop extracting high Andean water for Escondida," the miner said in the statement. It had previously said it would shut off the taps in 2030.

BHP said its decision had taken into account conversations with indigenous communities around the flat. Antofagasta's Zaldivar mine is also seeking to renew permits to draw water from the flat. Antofagasta, which co-owns Zaldivar with Barrick Gold Corp , did not immediately respond to requests for comments on BHP's decision.

(Reporting by Dave Sherwood and Fabian Cambero; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
A California elementary school has to pay for playing a Disney movie at a school fundraising event.

According to KPIX, The Dad's Club of the PTA played the most-recent version of "The Lion King" at the school's "Parent's Night Out" fundraiser in November.

I think one of the dads owned the movie. He had bought it at Walmart and we just basically threw it on while the kids were playing in the auditorium, PTA president David Rose told the news outlet.

Recently, the school received a letter from SWANK Movie Licensing USA.

The company enforces Disney's cinematic copyrights.

According to KPIX, it informed the school they could not play the movie without a license and demanded $250 for the mistake.

"The Federal Copyright Act specifies that copyrighted materials like movies can be used in your schools if properly licensed. Its important to know that neither the rental nor purchase of a movie carries the right to exhibit it outside of someones home. However, Movie Licensing USA can properly license movies for copyright compliant showings in your school," the company's website states.

Rose said the fundraiser made $800. It helps to pay teachers and support school services.

Here you have a company that makes so much money and we have schools that are struggling so much, Verkeley City Council member Lori Droste said. What I thought about was just the irony of having a multibillion dollar company essentially ask a school to pay up.

According to reports, it is unknown how the school was reported for the violation.

The PTA president said it will pay the fee, but hopes the money can be collected again through donations.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4)  President Rodrigo Duterte has approved allocating 2.25 billion to protect health workers who will care for patients infected with novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Tuesday.

During the Senate inquiry on the government's preparations in addressing the outbreak, he said the budget will be for the procurement of protective equipment for health workers. This will include a set of protective equipment: head gear, goggles, n95 masks, gloves, aprons, and gowns, which costs 1,500 per set. He said they will purchase this for 5,000 healthcare workers, adding there will be three shifts per day.

Duque said Duterte approved the funds "in principle" during their emergency meeting on Monday. He said the budget set is for the assumption that the threat of coronavirus spread will last for three months.

The Health Department is monitoring 80 patients under investigation. The Philippines has two confirmed cases  a couple who traveled to the Philippines from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus that has killed over 470 people and infected 20,000 globally.
The World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE), the international trade fair for the civil nuclear sector, once again will bring together professionals from all parts of the industry to do business from June 23 to 25 at the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre (Hall 7).

Organised by Reed Expositions France on behalf of GIFEN, the French Nuclear Industry Association, and now in its fourth edition, WNE has adopted a topical theme for 2020: The nuclear industry, a key partner for a low-carbon society.

Organised every two years in France, WNE has become the essential meeting place for professionals from around the world to do business and discuss major issues and challenges facing the industry.

At the heart of WNE is innovation and it offers exhibitors of all sizes (large groups, mid-caps, SMEs and startups) rich opportunities to cement strategic partnerhips and sign new contracts.

Projected figures for 2020 include 730 exhibitors and 23,000 attendees from 62 countries; 16 national pavilions; 4,500 business meetings; and1,500 senior international decision-makers and numerous official delegations.

The issue of energy transition is at the heart of political, economic and societal debate as the world moves toward carbon neutrality by 2050. Faced with the global climate emergency, many countries are seeking to establish the fundamentals of a new energy model, based on a reduction of fossil fuel use.

Nuclear is one of the keys to the transition to a sustainable future energy mix. World Nuclear Exhibition has chosen to address these major concerns with the theme of its 2020 edition: The nuclear industry, a key partner for a low-carbon society.

Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, new President of WNE, states: I am convinced that nuclear power has a crucial role to play in the energy transition if we are to reach our goal of a low-carbon economy.

New for 2020 are: One day (25 June) has been designated Small Modular Reactor (SMR) and Advanced Reactor Day and will focus on the various projects around the world dedicated to these small nuclear reactors (50-300 MW). Smaller than conventional nuclear power plants, they are viewed as a viable replacement for obsolete fossil fuel power plants that meet the need for low-carbon energy.

On SMR and Advanced Reactor Day, WNE will welcome many international official delegations, affording them a unique forum to address the challenges and opportunities associated with the use of SMR technologies and advanced reactors in the energy systems of the future.

WNE has introduced an honorary award, the WNE Fellow Award, to recognise an international expert in the nuclear sector for their contribution to the promotion of nuclear energy worldwide.

WNE will once again promote innovation with the WNE Awards. Eight prizes in four categories will be awarded at a ceremony on the first day of the show. The categories are: Products and Services Innovation; Nuclear Safety Innovation; Operation Excellence Innovation and Knowledge Management and Skills Innovation. As in 2018, each category will have two prizes, one for large groups and one for small and very small enterprises (SMEs/VSEs).

The 2020 exhibition will also provide an opportunity to discover the essential WNE, including the Startup Planet, guided tours, Investors Day, exhibitors workshops and panel discussions.

WNE has an established international dimension with the leaders and key players in the global market in attendance. International exhibitors will make up 40 per cent of the stands at the 2020 show, coming from 40 countries including Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Italy, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and United States. WNE will welcome the Czech Republic and Ukraine as newcomers at this edition of the show.

Some 16 national pavilions are expected, including Argentina, Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Japan, Poland, Romania, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, United States and Wales, as well as 1,500 senior international decision-makers representing governments, institutions, major buyers etc, plus many other official delegations.

WNE in 2020 will more than ever be a business accelerator for the industry, with 4,500 business meetings expected over the three days (compared with 4,000 in 2018). Aimed at exhibiting companies (SMEs, mid-caps and large groups), these meetings are a fantastic platform for discussions, sharing of experience, new partnerships and contracts between suppliers and major global contractors.

Building on its previous successes, WNE 2020 will once again bring together the entire global community of the civil nuclear industry: senior international decision-makers, official delegations, scientific experts, engineers, technicians, startups and the media. -- Tradearabia News Service
Joe Biden had to contend with angry protesters who yelled out accusations of groping during his first New Hampshire rally since the Iowa caucuses  prompting elderly voters who wanted to hear the former vice president to shout down the hecklers.

After enduring a botched Iowa caucus where the state Democratic Party failed to release results Monday night, Biden flew to New Hampshire to start a new phase of his campaign  only to have two men yell accusations of inappropriate touching during his campaign event.

The first protester accused Biden of being a 'predator' with children, said Rafaellina Mahogony, a retired insurance worker who was one of those who helped to shout the man down.

Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event in Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S., February 4, 2020

Biden has apologized for any inappropriate touching or actions that made people feel uncomfortable, after video surfaced in his campaing of him touching and kissing women on the shoulders and head at events. Some of them were sharing personal stories with the famously hands-on politician. Biden has not been accused of any sexual impropriety.

'I told him get the F out of here,' Mahogony told DailyMail.com after the event was over and after the man was escorted out of the event space.

'He was saying you can't touch little children,' said Marie Johnston, a New Hampshire realtor. A second man also disrupted the event by yelling, 'You can't touch them, though,' said Johnston, 77, a realtor. She said she was among the group who shouted them down. 'Of course. I was raised with seven brothers,' she told DailyMail.com.

Joe Biden apologized to a crowd after two protesters disrupted his first event since the Iowa caucuses

Audience members shouted down the hecklers

A heckler reacts after being told to leave a campaign event with Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden in Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S., February 4, 2020

Two hecklers referenced Biden's alleged inappropriate touching of women

The event was held at girls inc., which which helps girls resist peer pressure and take on challenges

Biden's campaign bashed Iowa party for its bungling of the caucus

Marie Johnston, l, and Rafaellina Mahogony, were among those who shouted down the hecklers

Dr. Jill Biden at his side, former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at Drake University. Democrat caucus voting, Iowa. Biden had to endure heckling at his first event in New Hampshire

During the angry confrontation, Biden supporters yelled out 'People want to listen!'

'Go away!' shouted another. 'Go home!' they scolded the disruptors. The protest was captured on video as a swarm of media descended on the Granite State to cover the primary.

One of the hecklers started yelling after Biden called out the Trump administration for putting 'kids in cages'  a reference to holding areas used for unaccompanied minors at the border.

Biden stood with his arms on a podium, as his speech, for which he had a teleprompter, was upended.

'Folks, I apologize,' Biden told his supporters.

'Everyone saw it!' yelled out the second heckler as he was being escorted out of the venue.

'This is the reason why Im running. We have to stop this,' Biden said, to applause.

Biden's event was hosted by Girls Inc. of New Hampshire, which encourages development girls to achieve goals and resist peer pressure

Biden was offering his second set of comments on the Iowa caucuses just after the state Democratic party announced results wouldn't come out until tonight.

'I know you think thats silly,' Biden told a few hundred supporters. 'We think were going to come out of there really doing well.'

He provided an up-beat assessment of the results, although the party says it won't release them until 5 pm today.

'I feel really good about getting more than our fair share,' said Biden. 'Now its time for New Hampshire to speak, and to speak loudly.

'We need a president who's ready on day one,' he said, blasting president Trump. He also went after Bernie Sanders' health plans as unaffordable.

Before the event, Biden advisor Symone Sanders blasted Iowa for blowing its handling of results.

'The app failed last night. The backup phone process failed last night. You couldn't drive your ballot to the Iowa Democratic Party last night,' she fumed. 'The process, there were grotesque, grotesque breakdowns in the process and the integrity in this election.

'We implore the Iowa Demoratic party to get it right,' she said. Asked about candidates declaring victory, Sanders said: 'It's just not accurate. There is no data. Victory is determined by state delegate equivalencies, ladies and gentlemen. We don't have any of those right now.'

'Iowa is the beginning and not the end,' she said. 'We have to wait for the data, frankly. The Iowa Democratic party is being implored to get it right.'
LONDON, Feb. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- INTOSOL Holdings Plc. ('INTOSOL' or the 'Company'), the award-winning international luxury travel Company, is pleased to announce the following:



The appointment of Terrance A. Larkan as Chairperson of the Audit Committee. Mr. Larkan was former head of Corporate Governance Barrick Gold (Forbes 2000 list) and brings a wealth of regulated public company expertise. Mr Larkan is a Director of CIC Capital Ltd whom is an advisor to the Company and as such Mr. Larkan is a related party and will abstain from any matters relating to CIC Capital Ltd.; The Company has implemented a detailed Corporate Governance Manual and will available on the Company's website; The appointment of Hans Bischoff as Independent Non-Executive Chairman. During his long career, Hans-Joachim Bischoff held various positions as a managing director and board member in companies with a national and international focus. With his profound knowledge in the areas of marketing, investor relations and public relations, he successfully supported several IPOs and M&A transactions of listed companies; The appointment of Mr. Rainer Spekowius as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director; The appointment of MSP Secretarial & Corporate Services to provide a wider range of services due to the increased business activity and growth of the Company; and The Company is progressing the final form of new Prospectus to allow issue of new common shares to enable: the appointment of market maker with subscription for common shares to increase share distribution;

the settlement of debt for shares;

new Subscriptions to raise capital to progress the acquisition of Oceans Property; and

new Subscriptions to raise capital to increase sales and revenue volume

The Company will in the near future appoint an Independent Non-Executive Director to increase the number of Independent directors to 4 with one non-independent (4:1).

For further information on INTOSOL visit the Company's website www.INTOSOLholdingsplc.com or contact:

Rainer Spekowius (CEO) INTOSOL Holdings Plc Tel: +49 (0) 171 911 31 05

INTOSOL Holdings Plc.

INTOSOL Holdings PLC is an international luxury travel company that combines highly personalised travel design with property ownership and management to provide high-end luxury global travel experiences.

The Private Travel Design division tailors bespoke and unique experiences to a high-end client base which currently stands at over 15,000. The division has a unique and growing network of over 3,500 hotel and agency partners worldwide.
TROY  The Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday will host the latest in its "Ask the Experts" series with a luncheon panel discussion focusing on the economic outlook for the coming year. The panel, at the newly opened Loft 433 on top of Hedley Park Place at 433 River St., will feature Steven B. Bouchey, Ryan S. Bouchey and Martin X. Shields, all of the Bouchey Financial Group.

Tickets, available at www.renscochamber.com, are $35 in advance. The event begins at 11:30 a.m.
[February 04, 2020] ING Research: Customers Willing to Drop Brands Based on Perceived Environmental Impact

A new global survey commissioned by ING shows consumer attitudes have reached a tipping point, leading them to avoid brands that don't prioritize sustainability and environmental issues. Despite demanding change, customers will still engage in the linear 'convenience economy' model of 'take, make and waste' unless companies offer a more seamless transition towards the 'circular economy'. Faced with potential damage to profitability, businesses must offer more convenient sustainable options to consumers in order to create meaningful engagement with the circular principles of 'reduce, reuse and recycle'.no its According to the new report, titled 'Learning from consumers: How shifting demands are shaping companies' circular economy transition', the majority of respondents believe their behavior and choices can have a positive impact on addressing global environmental challenges (83 percent). Furthermore, 61 percent say they would be less willing to buy a company's product if they discovered it was performing poorly on environmental practices. The findings, which provide a detailed analysis of consumer interactions with fashion, food and electronics brands, highlight where consumers are already engaging in circular activities and their appetite for new product and service models. The report notes the potentially vast gains for businesses that embrace the 'reduce, reuse, recycle' principles of the circular economy by aligning with consumers' changing demands. To better capture the opportunity of the circular economy and engage with these customers, companies must first understand the barriers to widespread consumer adoption. The barriers include: Awareness and education: In the electronics industry, only 21 percent think companies provide detailed information on the overall environmental impact of products; 41 percent don't know where to access repair services; 71 percent aren't aware of device-sharing platforms; and 39 percent can't distinguish between recyclable and non-recyclable plastics.

In the electronics industry, only 21 percent think companies provide detailed information on the overall environmental impact of products; 41 percent don't know where to access repair services; 71 percent aren't aware of device-sharing platforms; and 39 percent can't distinguish between recyclable and non-recyclable plastics. Empowerment and reassurance: The top reason for not repairing clothes is consumers' belief that, to do so, they need skills they don't have, with 48 percent having this sentiment. Meanwhile, concern about ata security (42 percent) is the second-most cited concern around leasing electronic devices.

The top reason for not repairing clothes is consumers' belief that, to do so, they need skills they don't have, with 48 percent having this sentiment. Meanwhile, concern about ata security (42 percent) is the second-most cited concern around leasing electronic devices. Circular infrastructure and convenience: Engagement with more novel circular practices is being held back by the perceived effort required: 41 percent think renting clothes would require a lot more effort, and 36 percent say time is a barrier to repairing devices.

Engagement with more novel circular practices is being held back by the perceived effort required: 41 percent think renting clothes would require a lot more effort, and 36 percent say time is a barrier to repairing devices. Cost: Price is still a decisive factor for many consumers when buying clothes, food or electronic devices. More than half (54 percent) of consumers still choose low-cost, fast-fashion items over more expensive, more durable ones.



In a related report issued last year, 'Opportunity and Disruption: How Circular Thinking Could Change U.S. Business Models', nearly four in five U.S. firms had a strategic intent to implement a circular economy framework (62 percent) or had already put one in place (16 percent). ING's two circular economy reports recognize businesses' and consumers' progress in transitioning and engaging with the circular economic model.

Methodology Longitude, a division of the Financial Times (News - Alert) Group, surveyed 15,001 consumers in 11 countries across Europe, APAC and North America during Q3 and Q4 of 2019.

A nationally representative sample based upon age, gender and income was targeted within each market.

Consumers were asked about their attitudes and current interactions with fashion, food and electronics brands, as well as their appetite for emerging product and service models. View the report here https://www.ingwb.com/themes/circular-economy-articles/are-we-shopping-sustainably ING profile ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank's more than 53,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 40 countries. ING Financial Services LLC is a US subsidiary of ING Bank. ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N). Sustainability forms an integral part of ING's strategy, evidenced by ING's ranking as Leader in the banks industry group by Sustainalytics and 'A' rating in MSCI's ratings universe. ING Group shares are included in major sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) index products of leading providers STOXX, Morningstar and FTSE Russell. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005420/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
The Delhi High Court Tuesday dismissed the plea of a BJP leader, who is contesting the Delhi Legislative Assembly election on February 8, to direct a daily and Internet giant Google to take down allegedly defamatory content relating to him.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Talwant Singh rejected the plea challenging an interim order passed by a single judge which had refused to pass an ex-parte order.

The bench made clear that certain observations in the single judge's January 31 order were only a prima facie view and will have no bearing on the final outcome of the suit.

The candidate has filed a suit before the single judge seeking to restrain the newspaper, Google and others from publishing or disseminating the alleged defamatory material against him. The main suit is pending and is listed for hearing on February 19.

He has filed a suit in the court seeking direction to the newspaper to take down the offending article, published in 2015, stating that he was accused of molesting and sexually assaulting a woman.

Before the single judge, his counsel had contended that a WhatsApp sender be restrained from circulating messages to the effect that the candidate was accused of the offence of rape, as he has been discharged of the charge by a court here.

The court had said though the candidate has been discharged of the offence of rape, he is still accused of the offences under Section 354 (molestation), 354A (sexual harassment), B (use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and D (stalking), 201 (destruction of evidence), 506 (criminal intimidation) IPC and Section 67 (punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act under which also the FIR has been registered.

"The court certainly cannot by its order, direct the allegedly defamatory material to be so dissected," it had said.

The plea said once he has been discharged of the charge of rape, the content on the website of the newspaper to the effect that he had been booked under Section 376 (rape) of the IPC, is ex-facie defamatory of him and affects his chances in the ensuing election.

The candidate's counsel had contended that since the content of the item also contained information which is not correct as of today, it is liable to be removed in entirety.

The single judge, however, had said, "I am unable to agree, it is up to the plaintiff to inform its electorate that he has been discharged of the offence under Section 376 IPC."



The court had said it cannot be lost sight of the fact that the offences of molestation, sexual harassment, use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe and stalking of which he is still accused, are allied to the offence of rape for which he has been discharged.

And the impact of other offences, of which he is still accused, on the public is likely to be the same as of offence of which he is discharged. Thus, no case is made out for grant of ex parte order, it had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Azernews





By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Head of Nagorno-Karabakhs Azerbaijani Community Tural Ganjaliyev has said that Armenia constantly creates obstacles to the peaceful resolution of the conflict using provocative statements during negotiations.

"Despite the fact that the concept of 'people of Karabakh', which has no foundation, and this has been repeatedly clarified, Armenia continues to raise this issue repeatedly, demonstrating its destructive position,'' Ganjaliyev said.

Ganjaliyev made the remarks on February 4, commenting on the recent statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan issued on Armenian Foreign Ministrys website on January 31.

He noted that Armenia ignores the opinion of the international community, thereby becoming the object of condemnation.

"Immediately after the negotiations held between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Geneva through the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group on January 28-30, Naghdalyan expressed a provocative opinion about bringing 'elected representatives of the Karabakh people' to the peace process, thus tried to cast a shadow over the negotiations," Ganjaliyev mentioned.

He further said that such statements will not succeed in preventing peaceful coexistence of the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan.

"We will return to our lands, restore our violated rights and destroyed heritage," he emphasized.

As Ganjaliyev noted, the Community was convinced of the firmness of the position that the population of Nagorno-Karabakh consists of Azerbaijani and Armenian communities, which is reflected in last year's statements by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and in a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his last visit to Baku.

"This issue is enshrined in the document of OSCE (previously CSCE) of 24 March 1992," he added.

He recalled that the most significant answer to the ruling circles of Armenia in this matter was given last year by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, who said that the 'concept of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh' does not exist, there's only population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Baku strengthens the role of Karabakhs Azerbaijani community and wants to ensure equal access to negotiations of the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in the region.

The Azerbaijani community, which as a result of ethnic cleansing was forced to leave their homes, has the legal right to participate in determining the future legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Without the recognition of this right, a comprehensive and fair settlement of the conflict cannot be achieved.

Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijans breakaway region which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. To this day, Armenia has not implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.
Till Sunday, a total of 6,432 people were screened at the Mumbai international airport after arrival from China.

The illustration image reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. The spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically.

Mumbai: Air passengers arriving in Mumbai from Singapore and Thailand are also being screened now, besides China, for the coronavirus infection, a Maharashtra government official said on Monday.

The state government has also decided to provide a team of 25 health officials to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to assist its personnel in screening passengers arriving at the Mumbai international airport from Monday.

Passengers arriving from China and Hong Kong are being screened since January 18. From Saturday, we have also added two more locations  Singapore and Thailand  to be watched out for the coronavirus infection, the official said.

So far, AAIs health officials have been carrying out screening of passengers at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport here for the coronavirus infection.

As more number of passengers arriving from various countries now need to be screened, more staff is required for the speedy scanning, the official said.

The AAI also requested the state government to provide more staff for screening passengers. The government has issued an order and health officials from neighbouring Thane district will be deployed at the Mumbai international airport for the screening purpose, starting today, she said.

Till Sunday, a total of 6,432 people were screened at the Mumbai international airport after arrival from China. So far, no confirmed case of coronavirus infection has been found in the state, an official earlier said.

The outbreak of the deadly novel coronavirus was first reported in Hubei province of China and has since spread to several countries, including two positive cases in India, both in the southern state of Kerala.

The central government on Sunday issued a new travel advisory asking people to refrain from travelling to China in view of coronavirus outbreak in its Hubei province, and said travellers on return from the neighbouring country could be quarantined.

In its advisory, the Health Ministry also said anyone with travel history of China since January 15 could be quarantined.

The decision of issuing a new travel advisory was taken at a high-level review meeting held by the Cabinet Secretary on the preparedness to deal with the novel coronavirus which has now spread to 25 countries. PTI
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan send a condolence letter to President of the Peoples Republic of China Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang on the occasion of the outbreak of coronavirus.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime MIniste rof Armenia, the letter addressed to the President of China reads as follows,

At this difficult moment for China, please, accept the sincere condolences and solidarity on behalf of the Armenian people and personally me addressed to you and the friendly people of China on the occasion of the outbreak of coronavirus, which has already claimed hundreds of lives.

During its centuries-old history China has withstood numerous challenges and always overcome them with honor. We are confident that this time again, under your prudent and provident leadership, Chine will be able to overcome the severe consequences of this disaster, restoring the peaceful and secure atmosphere of the country.

I wish you endless patience and resolve, and spiritual strength o the friendly Chinese people.

The letter addressed to the Chinese Prime Minister runs as follows,

On behalf of the Armenian people and personally me I offer deep condolences and solidarity with you and the friendly Chinese people on the occasion of the death of some hundreds of people as a result of the outbreak of coronavirus. I am confident that the measures taken by the Government of China under your leadership will lead to the victory over the severe consequences of this disaster, restoring the normal operation of the country.

I wish you strength and confidence, and patience and spiritual strength to the friendly Chinese people.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
Croatian Premium Wine and Komarna Association Create a JV Label for the USA

Croatian Premium Wine Imports, Inc. (CPWI), and the Komarna Seven (K7) Association, a winery association of the seven wineries in the Komarna Appellation in Dalmatia, Croatia, today announced availability of the Komarna Seven Plavac Mali label based on a joint venture between the importer in the US and the winery association. The Komarna Seven label, affectionately called K7, was created by involvement from all wineries in the Komarna Appellation. The first label produced K7 Plavac Mali, harvest of 2016.

"In partnership with the Komarna wineries, we wanted to create a label specific for the American palate and the American market," said Win Burke, CPWI's co-founder and CEO. "This effort resulted in a very drinkable Plavac Mali with silky tannins and a special aroma characteristic of the Komarna Appellation. I believe this is the first of its kind joint venture where the wineries and importer are creating the wines, and we look forward to the feedback from the American wine lovers who will be the only ones able to taste it."

K7 Plavac Mali 2016

Mihovil Stimac, the president of Komarna Seven Association commented "We always wanted to create a joint label, but we are a young appellation and association, so the opportunity didn't present itself until the Croatian Premium Wine team suggested we create a label for the US market, and we are thrilled we were able to get this done for the 2020 introduction."

The winemakers from all wineries met for a blind tasting of several versions of blends created by Josip Volarevic, owner and oenologist of the Volarevic Winery, who is also a scientist and an academic, and is currently working on PhD research about Plavac Mali. Josip created various blends and the group than agreed on the best "blind blend." Then Marko Suman, oenologist at the Terra Madre Winery, oversaw the whole production including blending of wines in tanks as well as the bottling, labeling etc. The Komarna Seven Association members and Croatian Premium Wine finalized the K7 logo and label and the wine was sent to the US at the end of 2019.

"I am proud of the tight collaboration of people from my hometown and delighted to bring to the US this remarkable bottle of Plavac Mali - which to me represents the aromas of Dalmatia," said Mirena Bagur, co-founder and VP of Brand Management at CPWI. "This is an elegant wine, drinkable at opening. Within a few minutes one can taste the typical jammy raisin flavor of Plavac Mali. We have shared samples with a few key wine bars, restaurants and stores, and the best feedback from them is that the wine is already on the shelves and on the menus."

K7 Notes

K7 Plavac Mali is an unusual collaboration of the seven wineries of the Komarna Appellation, and blends Plavac Mali in the same style by different wineries. This is the 2016 harvest, where the first sniff of the wine tells there is something interesting inside and gives aromas of blackberry, plum pepper, and dark chocolate. This is a dry red wine with 14.5% alcohol level. It is bottled in 0.75L bottles. Serving is suggested at the temperature of 64-68 F.

"With the first sips of K7, one can taste the tannins with a touch of a vanillas, so this wine is elegant with a complex body," said Vedrana Martinovic-Trutina, head of operations for the Terra Madre Winery, and a daughter of one of the three family owners. "The wine was in oak barrels for 24 months, in a combination of Croatian, American and French oak, so within about 10 minutes, one can notice a flavor of sweet tobacco with vanilla. With that, the wine pairs well with robust cheese, venison and steaks."

Ms. Vedrana Martinovic-Trutina arrived in the US to introduce the wine on behalf of Komarna 7 to the Boston sommelier and wine writers' community. For any media inquiries, please contact CPWI.

About Croatian Premium Wine Imports (CPWI)

Based in Boston, Mass., CPWI imports, distributes and promotes boutique Croatian wines in the US. Currently representing wineries from the Dubrovnik county in Dalmatia, including all seven wineries in the Komarna region, the K7 Association, we continue to expand our portfolio of boutique wines that provide the distinctive high-quality taste of Croatia, including Plavac Mali, Zinfandel and Posip. For more information, inquiries or to place an online order, visit www.croatianpremiumwine.com/shop-online, contact us at info@croatianpremiumwine.com and follow us at Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook.

About Komarna Seven Wine Association

The Komarna winegrowing area in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Dalmatia, Croatia was planted in 2008, while in April 2013 received its official name the Komarna Appellation. It consists of seven wineries which have created the Komarna Seven (K7) Association. The wineries have a rarely-seen collaborative approach to working together on all elements of wine production, including jointly installing a weather station, collaborating on irrigation, and other segments of the wine business, including now distribution to the US. All seven wineries have earned the coveted EU EKO certification for organic, sustainable farming.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005586/en/

Contacts:

English: Win Burke Win.Burke@croatianpremiumwine.com 617-901-5127

Hrvatski: Mirena Bagur Mirena.Bagur@croatianpremiumwine.com 617-835-5019
Last week, the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was held in Strasbourg - the first in the coming year. The Russian delegation that returned to the Parliamentary Assembly was unhappy with the European MPs' position on several issues. Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, head of Russias delegation to PACE Pyotr Tolstoy commented on these issues at the press conference.

Revision of World War II outcome



On the year that marks the 75th anniversary of victory in World War II, the Russian delegation initiated a declaration on the impermissibility of the revision of World War II results. The declaration was supported by the representatives of 17 countries. It was signed by about 80 MPs. "It is open for signing, and Im sure that by Victory Day, we will already have a large pool of European politicians who agree that any attempt to revise the Nuremberg Tribunal's decisions in Europe is nothing more than a crime against history and against future generations," Tolstoy said.

The events to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz were also held during the session. "In addition to the PACE chairman, no speaker said that Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army. That's how they presented the events of 75 years ago! Naturally, we will continue to resist such attempts to dilute history. They (many PACE participants - VK) dont want to acknowledge which country won World War II with a little help from the allies, which country freed Europe from fascism. It takes time for Europeans to understand it. We will work through this.

Russia's return to PACE



"The Russian delegation's work at the most extensive European parliamentary venue in early 2020 was quite productive and successful, since it was possible to confirm the credentials of the delegation. They were disputed by a number of demonizers of Russia. This formal regulatory process of the Parliamentary Assembly took a lot of time. In my face, Russia now has a representative at the PACE Bureau, where the agenda for future meetings is adopted. We are now fully integrated in the work of the Parliamentary Assembly. I wish it could be more, but for now this is the first and important step," Tolstoy said.

Kiev's confrontation



"It was seen in Ukraine as a terrible defeat for Kiev. I dont understand why it is the defeat. It seems to me that Ukraine only benefited from this. On our way to Strasbourg, we heard a lot of comments about the new Ukrainian delegation, which will organize its work in a completely different way, that these are [President of Ukraine Vladimir] Zelensky's people, from the grassroots, etc. Unfortunately, nothing of this happened, and the rudeness continues with regard to the Russian delegation. The style chosen by Ukrainians, Balts, Poles, British with respect to Russia in PACE, the style of extremely negative, hostile and biased accusations was continued at the Parliamentary Assembly this year," the head of the Russian delegation complained.

"Being actively engage in the work of all committees and commissions, our delegation offered a convincing rebuff to all attempts to blame us. But apparently, no change for the better or any other attitude to our country, apparently, should be expected. The same applies to the mood of MPs, which received distorted information about Russia for many years in the absence of the Russian delegation and were saturated with misinformation about what is really happening in southeast Ukraine, in Crimea and Russia as a whole. There are a lot of declarations in this regard. All of them are advisory in nature, but we will not tolerate this, we will continue to work to bring the truth to people," Tolstoy promised.

Domestic political processes in Russia



"We were asked a huge number of questions in connection with the political processes inside Russia. This is a message from the president, during which the head of states ideas on amendments to the Constitution were announced. The State Duma adopted the bill on amendments to Constitution in the first reading. Ill-wishers accused us of not complying with the decisions of international bodies in the future, of leaving the international legal system. That is not the case. The legal protection of Russian citizens will not be changed. 99% of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights will be implemented in Russia, as it is today ," the Vice-Speaker stressed.

He focused on those issues on which the Russian delegation would never agree with the Council of Europe: "This is the Crimea issue, which has been and will be a part of Russia, that's it, it is part of our Constitution. This is the topic of giving separate rights for people of a non-traditional orientation - everything LGBT-related. As well as a number of politicized decisions of the European Court of Human Rights taken at the time of Russia's prolonged absence in the Parliamentary Assembly, therefore the legitimacy of these decisions for us is also questionable."
The text of the Minsk Agreements contains clauses that deserve clarification, clarification and detail, especially with regard to the sequence of actions, French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Ponsen has said.

"At the same time, it is obvious that in the text of the Minsk Agreements there are paragraphs that are not certain, which deserve clarification, clarification and detail. This is especially true for the sequence of actions. It is necessary that the experts gather at the table and detail the points," the diplomat said in an interview published on the Kyiv-based Hromadske website on Tuesday.

At the same time, the ambassador emphasized that this does not mean that "Minsk" should be abandoned, since there is no other option than the Minsk agreements, because they were signed by Ukraine, and they are the basis.

"These agreements need to be taken as a basis. There may be interpretations," de Ponsen said.
The demise of award-winning Highlife act Kofi B has left an unreplaceable hole in the hearts of many Ghanaians.



Unfortunately, Kofi B's death occurred on his daughter's birthday.



Kofi B, born Kofi Boakye Yiadom died in the early hours of Sunday, February 2, 2020.



On Saturday, February 2, 2020, Kofi B was said to have traveled to Abaase Domenase in Central Region with Kofi Nti to perform at the birthday party of a chief.



The sad incident occurred after a performance on the following day.



But according to a source on social media, Kofi B was expected to have returned home on Sunday, February 3 in time for his daughter's birthday before meeting his untimely death.



The Facebook user who goes by the name 'Nene Kabutey Dosoo' wrote Kofi B died on his daughters birthday. How is this girl going to celebrate future birthdays.



It will be a sad memory for his daughter because she will remember her father's death each year on her birthday.









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The three siblings who were mowed down by an alleged drunk driver at Oatlands were dedicated volunteers at a homeless kitchen, it has been revealed.

Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and nine-year-old Sienna Abdallah were active members of the Team Jesus Foundation in Blacktown, in Sydney's western suburbs.

The two sisters and brother, who were tragically killed alongside their cousin on Saturday night, were known to spend their Friday evenings serving food to those in need.

The Christian charity, which hosts weekly homeless feeds in Blacktown, Parramatta and Woolloomooloo, has paid tribute to the 'little angels', remembering them as selfless volunteers who begged their parents to take them to the kitchen each week.

Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and nine-year-old Sienna Abdallah were active members of the Team Jesus Foundation in Blacktown, in Sydney's western suburbs, where they helped serve food to the needy

The Christian charity paid tribute to the 'little angels', remembering them as selfless volunteers who begged their parents to take them to the kitchen each week

Team Jesus praised parents Danny and Leila Abdallah (pictured) for being 'model parents' and raising 'saints'

'Anthony, Angelina and Sienna, and all Danny's [Abdallah] family joined us regularly and they put themselves in the service of those who are in most need of our help,' charity organisers David and Carolyn wrote.

'They stood in line with the adult team members to serve food and to give a smile to those who needed it most.

'In fact, these little angels used to encourage or rather insist on their parents to take them to Blacktown on Friday night so they could serve, not the other way round.

'By this, they set an example to all other children to do the same and they made a huge impression on everyone who met them at this community service.'

In a poignant Facebook post, the charity shared photos of the three siblings - who stood out as the youngest volunteers - serving hot meals to the needy.

Team Jesus praised parents Danny and Leila Abdallah for being 'model parents' and raising 'three little saints'.

'All credit goes to Danny & Leila for their parental guidance, their wisdom and their perseverance in getting their children educated in the way of charity, giving and loving without expecting anything in return.

'With sadness of heart, we farewell Anthony, Angelina & Sienna. We will miss you tremendously.'

Pictured: Antony Abdallah (far left) 13, killed in the horror crash as he and his siblings went to get ice cream on Saturday evening in Sydney's western suburbs. His younger sisters Angelina, 12, (centre) and Sienna (far right) eight, were also killed

A schoolgirl who was killed alongside her three cousins was identified as 11-year-old Veronique Sakr. Veronique's family said in the statement released on Sunday they were 'devastated' by the loss of 'our beautiful girl' in the horrific crash

The Abdallah family are believed to be members of the local Maronite Christian community where they are well known.

An emotional vigil led by a priest was held at the crash site on Monday, where hundreds of mourners gathered to recite the Lord's Prayer and Christian hymns.

Anthony, Angelina and Sienna and cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, were killed on Bettington Road on Saturday after a car jumped the kerb and smashed into a group of seven children.

Samuel William Davidson, 29, has been charged with manslaughter and high-range drink driving, among other offences, in connection to the crash.

He has not entered a plea and will remain behind bars until his next court appearance in April.

Heartbroken parents Danny and Leila Abdallah returned to the crash site on Tuesday were they knelt down and prayed

Mr Abdallah became emotional as she mourned the loss of his daughter Angelina

The grieving parents were seen embracing among a sea of bouquets, candles, and tributes

The children's mother Leila Abdallah issued a heartfelt statement on Monday publicly forgiving the man who allegedly struck them, saying she couldn't find it in her heart to hold on to anger.

Supported by friends, she returned to the scene of the horror incident, where she prayed a rosary before reading the condolence letters on hundreds of bouquets of flowers left at the scene.

'The guy (driver)... Right now I can't hate him. I don't want to see him, but I don't hate him,' she said.

'I think in my heart to forgive him, but I want the court to be fair... I'm not going to hate him, because that's not who we are.'

In the same spot where a day earlier her husband Danny told stories about his three children, who he said are now 'in a better place', Mrs Abdallah said she could feel them hugging her.

Samuel William Davidson (pictured) was allegedly three times over the legal blood alcohol limit when his Mistubishi Triton allegedly mounted the kerb and slammed into a group of seven children riding bikes on a footpath in Oatlands

Seven children were riding their bikes when they were allegedly hit by a blue 4WD driven by a drunk driver three times over the legal limit (pictured)

'Danny and myself were blessed to have six kids. We loved our kids so much I can feel them hugging me right now, ' she said.

'We tried to teach them to pray the rosary, to read their Bible, to believe their faith, to be good people in life and to show God's face through them.

'I asked God to bring us all together as a community to pray together, but I didn't ask him to take my kids.

'To be honest with you, I am sad, I am heartbroken, but I am at peace because I know my kids are in a better place. My kids are angels and I know right now they are with us.

'(But) I am still waiting for them to come home. My daughter was in surgery today and the first thing when I opened my eyes this morning I was waiting for Antony, Angelina and Sienna to run in and see her it feels very unreal.'

The mother's brave outing came as it was revealed the man accused of killing her children has been placed in isolation in jail so other prisoners cannot harm him.

Davidson is being kept in isolation in Silverwater Prison's processing facility in western Sydney. When he is moved to a long-term jail before his next court appearance on April 2, he will be placed in protective custody.
Pound to Euro exchange rates remained firm on Tuesday morning, leaving the pairing trading at around 1.1762.

Data released on Tuesday morning showed that output in UKs construction sector fell at the slowest pace since May 2019.

Added to this, business optimism rebounded in January, to the highest level since April 2018 which provided GBP with some support.

Construction PMI rose from 44.4 in December to 48.4 in January, and the data revealed after the general election clients willingness to spend picked up.

"With the strongest optimism since April 2018, construction firms were more upbeat in January as the downturn in business activity slowed, the trend improved for new work and job losses steadied to August 2019 levels, all signalling a moderation in the sectors contraction" said Duncan Brock, Group Director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply. "So, though this rebound is a welcome sign, as with all sudden improvements, the danger remains the sector could easily recoil and shrink again. The domestic political situation and the UKs attempt to find its place in the world remains littered with obstacles so businesses could find themselves on this see-saw of good and bad news for some time yet."

Meanwhile, at the start of the week, the Pound exchange rates tumbled lower after UK and European Union clashed over a post-Brexit trade deal.

Each side had very different visions of the future relationship, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson stating he was ready to accept a similar agreement to Canada, whose rules are not aligned with those in the EU.

Speaking on Monday, the UK Prime Minister said:

There is no need for a free trade agreement to involve accepting EU rules on competition policy, subsidies, social protection, the environment or anything similar, any more than the EU should be obliged to accept UK rules [...]The choice is emphatically not deal or no-deal. The question is whether we agree a trading relationship with the EU comparable to Canadas  or more like Australias.

This clashed with the European Commission, as Michel Barnier unveiled its mandate for talks, stating there should be a level playing field.

Barnier stated:

You cannot accuse us of a lack of ambition. First and foremost, we will defend the interests of the union, its citizens and its businesses [...] Well continue to prepare for a situation where no deal is being arrived at. We certainly dont want that to happen. Well work to avoid that, but if we cant manage a deal by the end of the year there will be a cliff-edge on many fronts. There will be some areas where therell be no other solutions. Im thinking about trade and fisheries here.

Johnsons tougher stance sparked fear the UK will not be able to secure a deal with the EU, dampening Sterling sentiment.

Pound Euro Outlook: Will Upbeat Service PMIs Leave the Pairing Flat?

Looking ahead to Wednesday, the Euro to Pound exchange rate could edge up slightly following the release of German services data.

If the German services PMI rises higher than expected, showing the sector is expanding more than forecast, EUR will rise.

Meanwhile, the UK services PMI could provide Sterling with a boost and leave the currency flat against the single currency.

If the British service sector expands at a faster rate than expected after stagnating at the end of 2019, the Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate will remain muted.
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An Indian-origin bonds trader working with Citigroup in London has reportedly been suspended from his high-flying job over allegations of stealing food from the staff canteen at the office.

Paras Shah is accused of taking food without paying at the company's European headquarters in Canary Wharf in London, according to a report in The Financial Times' newspaper.

The 31-year-old, who has not commented on the allegations, reportedly left his post as Citigroup's head of high-yield bond trading for Europe, the Middle East and Africa over the allegations last month.

Shah's online profile says he went to school in north London and went on to graduate with an honours degree in economics from the University of Bath in 2010. He joined HSBC's fixed-income trading division the same year before joining Citi in 2017, where is believed to be in a job that could pay up to 1 million pounds a year including bonuses.

High-yield bond traders buy and sell the debt of companies considered to be more risky, seen as a complex and lucrative post. Some of his colleagues told the newspaper that Shah was well-liked and successful at his job.

Financial institutions in the UK are known to take a tough stance over cases of personal misconduct.

New York headquartered Citigroup has declined to officially comment on the claims.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"Serving in the military changes you. The shades and degrees of change vary for everyone, but no one is ever the same as...
The BMC's total budget estimates for the next financial year are 8.95 percent more than the last fiscal when it had presented a budget of Rs 30,692 crore.

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is the richest civic body in the country, on Tuesday unveiled its Budget for 2020-21 with the total outlay of Rs 33,441 crore, proposing a 5 percent increase in fees for various licences without tweaking the existing tax structure.

The BMC's total budget estimates for the next financial year are 8.95 percent more than the last fiscal when it had presented a budget of Rs 30,692 crore, which was 12.5per cent higher than the 2018-19 estimates.

The budget was presented in the standing committee of the civic body by BMC Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi.

Though the tax structure was kept unchanged, an increase of 5 percent is proposed in the fees for various licences, birth certificates, market licences and others. The BMC is expecting the estimated revenue of Rs 28,448.30 crores from various revenue sources in the year 2020-21, which is 13.87 percent more as compared to Rs 24983.82 crore in FY 2019-20.

The BMC has also focused on various infrastructure projects, health services, education and other facilities, in the budget.

The budgetary allocation for the ambitious Coastal Road project, which is planned to be completed in four years, has been increased by 25 percent from Rs 1,600 crore to Rs 2,000 crore. The total project cost of the project stands at Rs 12,721 crore.

As per the Budget document, the BMC revenue from property tax has gone down by Rs 335 crore due to exemption of flats having carpet area up to 500 sq ft from the purview of the tax.

The BMC has allocated Rs 300 crore for the Goregaon-Mulund link road project that is expected to make people's journey between Eastern and Western suburbs seamless.
TEHRAN, Iran, Feb. 4

Trend:

The Ministry of Roads and Urban Development of Iran will take action to bring back other Iranian nationals in China at the request of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and approval of Ministry of Health, the Iran Minister of Road and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said, Trend reports via ILNA.

After a meeting between various agencies and ministries last Thursday, we decided to halt the Mahan Airlines flights to and from China, and we have suspended all flights, said Eslami.

Of course, these students are currently quarantined in Wuhan City, said the official.

He went on to announce that the Chinese government has allowed Iran to fly into Wuhan airport to bring back Iranian students.

The flight includes a medical team, and passengers must stay in quarantine in accordance with the Ministry of Health standards, he added.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December of 2019 and since then more than 400 people have died, while over 600 have managed to recover. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.

The symptoms include cough, headache, fatigue, fever, aching and difficulty breathing. It is primarily spread through airborne contact or contact with contaminated objects.

Chinese health authorities say that the majority of the people who have died were either elderly or had underlying health problems. The virus is spreading at a rapid pace, however the recovery rate for the infected has increased recently.

Aside from Mainland China, the cases of coronavirus spreading have also been confirmed in Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the US, France, Germany, South Korea, Canada, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nepal and Sri Lanka, the UAE, Canada, Italy, Russia, Nepal, Sweden, Finland.
Chinese travelers come out of a designated entry gate of Incheon International Airport, Tuesday, which was established for foreign passengers arriving from China in an effort to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. /Yonhap





By Bahk Eun-ji







Separate entrances for people arriving from Chia have been established at Incheon International Airport in an effort to strengthen quarantine inspections to combat the further spread of the coronavirus into the country, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said Tuesday.







The measure comes as part of the government's decision Sunday to implement an entry ban on all non-Koreans who have visited Hubei Province in China within the past two weeks. The entry ban went into effect Tuesday.







"The entry ban is the strongest measure ever taken by the government to combat an infectious disease. The government will decide on whether to expand the areas concerned beyond Hubei Province by monitoring the progress of the outbreak," Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said during a press briefing.






Several years ago, I gathered a small group of dear saints together to discuss a short sermon series I was preparing on Revelation 12 and 13. These chapters are not for the faint of heartthey recount the apostle Johns apocalyptic vision of the great dragon, Satan, seeking to devour the Messiah as a baby. I asked the group, In what ways are these chapters relevant to us?

One person looked me straight in the eye and said, None.

This persons candid comment summarizes the challenge pastors face when preaching the apocalyptic literature of the Bible. We believe these passages are inspired by the Spirit of God, but we struggle to demonstrate their significance to the people in our churches.

I expect to preach the apocalyptic parts of the Bible more often in the coming years. Biblical apocalyptic works were addressed to disenfranchised people, those who had lost confidence in any greater plan or story. Ezekiel and Daniel received visions for the benefit ...

You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe to Christianity Today magazine. Subscribers have full digital access to CT Pastors articles.

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Frozen River Film Festival ins Winona aims to spark in-depth conversation and entertain crowds during its 15th year.

The five-day festival, which opens Wednesday, includes mostly documentary films that cover a wide range of topics.

Theyre not the type of documentary films that most people think of. Its a lot like the kind of things you see on Netflix where theyre fun. Theyre really exciting, Sara Enzenauer, FRFF executive director, said.

She explained that the excitement can come from details such as unique story arcs or a big plot twist that the filmmaker was able to document.

After the films, visitors can explore their thoughts that resulted from the film and discuss these with other attendees.

Enzenauer said that documentaries are an easily accessible opportunity to spark a discussion. While opportunities such as book clubs, she said, often take more time out of a persons schedule, documentaries and the discussions after usually take a much shorter period of time.

Ive been really trying to look for (the films) that make me question how I feel about things and what my views are, because I think it's really important to see other points of view and other, different ways of life and things like that to kind of better understand the people around you, Enzenauer said.

So I think the documentary films are really good at posing those questions and helping you to see things from different points of view, which is super important when you're trying to build or help to create a tight-knit community that is really focused on trying to help one another and make our community a better place, she said.

Often, filmmakers  including many from Minnesota  attend the showings of their documentaries at the festival and become involved in the discussions afterward.

The directors are able to come and talk about the films and kind of help with those discussions, Enzenauer said. And so that's something we're really excited about, too, especially because a lot of the directors, they've been working on the film for years, so they're really kind of rooted into the story that's being told.

She said that these discussions are where her favorite memories develop from each year.

You can have a theater full of people, and you can talk to 12 of them as they come out and they all have something different that they've taken away from the film, she said. And so I think I really enjoy that to see how one film that a large audience can watch affects so many people in so many different ways. But yet we're all here for like this community experience to learn and grow together, but we're all doing it in our own ways as well.

Enzenauer and a screening committee choose which films to show during the festival. Scouting at other, larger film festivals contributes to finding films to show, along with submissions from filmmakers.

The films are shown at multiple different locations throughout Winona, including Winona Senior High School, Winona Public Library, Island City Brewing Co., Saint Marys University, Winona State University and Winona 7.

There will be over 80 films shown during the festival.

Three of the documentaries Enzenauer is most looking forward to are Gene McCarthy: Alone in the Land of the Aardvarks, Hillbilly and Human Nature.

She said that Gene McCarthy" is a work-in-progress viewing. It was created by Twin Cities filmmakers about the Minnesota senator, and a preview for this documentary was shown at the film festival a few years ago.

Enzenauers excited to see how the film has developed since the first short preview.

Gene McCarthy will be shown from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday at WSUs Stark Halls Miller Auditorium and from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday at WSUs Science Lab Center 120.

Enzenauer said Hillbilly focuses on a California resident visiting her family in the Appalachia. While there, the woman attempts to discover why the region strongly supports President Donald Trump.

Enzenauer said she enjoys this film because the woman is appreciating and learning about people who have different points of view.

That one I'm really excited about to see the discussion that goes on here, because I know there is kind of a two very different communities in town. So I'm hoping that we can all learn from that and how to better live together as a community, Enzenauer said.

Hillbilly will be shown at 6 p.m. Thursday at Winona Senior High School and at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at WSUs Science Lab Center 120. One of the directors will be present Thursday evening for a Q&A session.

Human Nature is about gene editing. The documentary reveals how the process works and the technology that is used to do it.

Enzenauer said that its interesting learning more in depth about the topic, because shes learned over time some details about it on the news.

Human Nature will be shown at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Winona 7 and at 10 a.m. Sunday at WSUs Stark Halls Miller Auditorium.

IF YOU GO Tickets, which range in price based on how many films attendees see, are available at the box office, 121 E. Third St., and www.frff.org. All K-12 students will have free admission to the festival. Students who attend Saint Mary's, Winona State or Minnesota State College Southeast also may attend for free with student ID. SMU students can pick up a free pass at the universitys library, while other students can visit the box office. Students who attend other colleges get half-price tickets. For more information, including a full schedule, go to www.frff.org.

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A priest found by the Catholic Diocese of Oakland to have engaged in inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature with female employees at St. Joseph Basilica in Alameda and moved to a Pleasant Hill parish, causing a torrent of complaints, was removed late Monday from living at that rectory, The Chronicle has learned.

Alameda police confirmed Monday the department has an active investigation into Rev. George Alengadan that started in July after a woman contacted the department. Lt. Hosh Durani said the allegations against Alengadan were sexual in nature with at least one adult alleged victim.

In an email to parishioners, Christ the King Catholic School canceled a scheduled meeting Monday night to discuss the controversial movement of Alengadan to the Pleasant Hill parish until Bishop Michael Barber returned from meetings in Rome to provide more direction.

Father Alengadan will not be living or ministering at Christ the King Parish until further notice, the email concluded.

Letters from the bishop and chancellor were attached to Mondays announcement detailing Father Alengadans saga since allegations were voiced against him in July, including some contradictions from what a diocese spokeswoman told The Chronicle on Friday.

On July 29, Bishop Barber wrote the St. Joseph community that three days earlier the diocese became aware of allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature by Father George Alengadan toward a female employee (not a minor).

He announced Alengadan would be placed on leave during an internal probe. Alengadan would leave his St. Joseph residence and reside elsewhere during the investigation, Barber said.

Durani said police were not notified of the allegations by the diocese or parish, contrary to what a diocese spokeswoman told The Chronicle on Friday. Spokeswoman Helen Osman said Monday she misspoke last week.

Durani said the criminal investigation still needed a couple more interviews.

In a letter to the Alameda and Pleasant Hill church communities Monday, diocese chancellor Stephen Wilcox stressed no children were involved in the allegations.

Alengadan was alleged to have engaged in inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature with current and former female employees, most of whom worked at the school and/or parish, Wilcox said. Alengadan denied the allegations, but an independent investigator conducted an internal probe over several months and substantiated the claims, he said.

Wilcox said the investigator made no determination whether the conduct constituted sexual harassment or a violation of any law. The diocese had said last week that Alengadan sexually harassed multiple women.

The allegations and investigation involved a serious and sensitive personnel matter, Wilcox said, so it was important to protect the privacy of all involved and he would not release the report.

The woman went to police shortly before reporting her allegations to the diocese, and the diocese did not contact the police to file a report, he said, adding that the diocese would cooperate with any law enforcement investigation.

Both Alengadan and the woman were notified of the results of the probe and in December the priest and Barber agreed he should resign from St. Joseph for the good of the parish and school communities, Wilcox said. By resigning, there would be no possibility of retaliation, he added.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Announcements of the resignation were read at the last Masses before Christmas, and to school and parish employees. At the bishops request, Alengadan has started supplemental training and counseling, Wilcox said.

Alengadan continues to serve as a Catholic priest, including celebrating Mass, contrary to what the diocese told The Chronicle on Friday. Several parishioners felt betrayed and angry at the secrecy behind the move and said Alengadan had performed reconciliation with grade school children offering him their first confessions. In the letter, Wilcox stressed that the priest, who has returned from traveling to his family in India, has not held any supervisory roles involving employees at Christ the King.

The Chronicle has been unable to reach Alengadan.

In a 2007 Catholic Voice feature on Alengadan, the diocese newspaper reported the Salesian father was born in Irinjalakuda, Kerala, India. He was ordained by Pope John Paul II in St. Peters Basilica in Rome on June 6, 1982.

He holds a doctorate in theology from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and taught there as an adjunct professor. He was a former pastor of St. Ambrose Parish in Berkeley.

Matthias Gafni is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mgafni
In 1963, Madalyn Murray OHair, a woman from Baltimore, sued her sons school district after learning that it required students to read the Bible. The case, Murray v. Curlett, soon joined with another, Abington School District v. Schempp, and was argued before the Supreme Court, which ruled that mandatory Bible reading in public schools was unconstitutional. OHair and her allies went on to form American Atheists, an organization dedicated to advancing the civil rights of atheists, promoting separation of religion from government, and providing information about atheism. To advance these goals, OHair circulated a newsletter, which by 1971 grew into a bimonthly publication, American Atheist magazine. Today it lives in print and online, covering the links between religion and public policy in opinion essays and reported features; it also maintains a library of atheist-related journals that number in the thousands. The magazine functions as a legislative watchdog, too: for a recent State of the Secular States report, American Atheist scrutinized state laws for religion-based exemptions that enable child marriage and conversion therapy that claims to turn gay people straight.

Speaking recently with CJR, Nick Fish, the president of American Atheists and an editor of its magazine, expressed frustration that journalists often give disproportionate attention to faith leaders at the expense of atheist perspectives. Some people appear in the media constantly for no other reason than they are nominally Christian, he said. Fish spoke about how his organizations magazine is produced and what the rest of the news media can do to better serve nonreligious people. The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

In local press, they will talk about a religious groups work with a soup kitchen, or their yard sale to donate money to a cause. If an atheist group does it, nobody cares.

What purpose does American Atheists news operation serve?

The magazine is a way for us to communicate to subscribers how some issues that they may have not considered before as explicitly atheist issues are linkedand why they should concern them as atheists. What we try to do is connect the dots for our community and say, This is how religion is being used in the real world right now to harm people, and this is why we as atheists need to be in the fight.

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For instance, we ran a cover story in 2019 about child marriage. People hear that phrase and they think this must happen in some far-flung country. But it happens in America because of religious exemptions. Because [child brides] are not yet eighteen, they cannot get a divorce, cannot access food stamps and womens shelters.

We are getting more online traffic and followers on social media, but there is a tension: the demographic of the nonreligious and atheists in America skews younger, while the demographic of members of atheist organizations tends to skew older. Our growth is primarily driven through young people, but they arent running out to subscribe to print magazines. It forces us to confront changes in the publishing model.

How is the magazine produced?

We do it all in-house. We have a few volunteer proofreaders and editors. The editor in chief is one of the members of our organization, and all members of the staff contribute columns. Theres not a segregated staff of people; there are ten people who have a direct hand in putting together the magazine, but its not their full-time job. Its something they do in addition to other work. We bring in contributors for some of the longer-perspective or opinion pieces. Sometimes its someone who has a book coming out, or someone who has a specific area of expertise, like faith-based exemptions to vaccines, or a philosopher who has a unique take on the difference between evangelical Christians and fundamentalists.

Do people refuse to speak to your magazine?

Yeah, sometimes. But a lot of that has fallen by the wayside now. Typically, the people we reach out to for interviews or personal stories are people we have an existing relationship with. Sometimes we dont get a message back when we reach out, and we dont know why.

But this happens a lot. Last week, a group in Texas reached out to a marketing firm to do some Web and publication design, and they had a couple of firms refuse to work with them. Its not even an atheist groupits a group for nonreligious people. But the marketing firm didnt want to venture down that path because they were scared of losing business.

Is what you do journalism? Activism?

I think American Atheists sees itself as a group of activists and educators. That sometimes takes on a different look, depending on what the need is. Sometimes, its more important that were out in front protesting, knocking on doors. Simply showing up and demonstrating that we have done our homework, that we know these issues cold. Sometimes, it means publishing stuff, making a video, doing a speech, talking to lawmakers in private, being vocal in public.

What do you make of news coverage of atheists?

I wish there was more of it. Its difficult. Atheists doing soup kitchens isnt really news for most journalists. It only becomes news when a group of our volunteers gets turned away from the soup kitchen, which has happened. In local press, they will talk about a religious groups work with a soup kitchen, or their yard sale to donate money to a cause. If an atheist group does it, nobody cares. Another problem is that the atheist group usually just does it and doesnt reach out to media to say, Hey, we did this thing. Actions that would change the narrative about atheists dont get covered.

A lot of journalists dont reach out to atheists for comment because they dont know where to turn. People have a finite amount of time; if they need faith leaders, they can reach out to local churches.

Lets say youre in Chicago. If you want an atheist perspective, do you turn to me? Well, Im in New Jersey and the New York metro area. Im not local. And thats a problem because youre not only missing out on our perspective, but also a perspective that represents a large population.

One of the things we encourage journalists to do is reach out to national atheist organizations. We may have someone in your area that can comment. But they dont, because it might take a little more time, and theyre used to calling the same people.

From your perspective, how does the media use religious figures?

People use religion as a shorthand for morality. They will frame someone like Jerry Falwell Jr. as a faith leader, and will go to him for analysis about the moral direction of America. Falwell Jr. is the president of a college and a former real estate developer. I dont know what makes him qualified to speak with any moral authority beyond any normal person, and yet the media comes to him all the time as some kind of arbiter of moral truth.

Do you think media outlets should be more considerate of the nonbelief community by interviewing more atheists?

Thats the problem with interviewing atheists and having us in the conversation. A lot of things are extremely nuanced. Its very difficult to say This is the cut-and-dried answer because thats usually not the case. We want people to understand thatbut that doesnt make for good sound bites, quotes, or neat stories. The media wants a quick answer, like, I believe in this because of my faith. But the media has an obligation to present all these complicated questions and acknowledge that it isnt black and white.

Its somewhat reassuring to say, Theres this book with all the answers. Well, we dont have that. We have what we view as the best data at the moment, though that can sometimes change. Sometimes were wrong, and I think admitting that, especially on cable news, doesnt make for a good debate.

When I make TV appearances, they want the fight. They want me to be angry with this other person, and they want that person to be angry with me. They want it to be a game. Ive had that experience: I appeared on Fox News on Sean Hannitys show, and I was on with Kirsten Powers [then a Fox News political analyst, now on CNN]. She is a Christian. She came on and agreed with me. We were having this discussion about religion in schools, and the guest host, Eric Bolling, told us we werent supposed to agree. But what American Atheists wants is common ground. Its not atheists versus Christians. It is Christian nationalism against everybody else.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Justin Ray is an audience editor at the Los Angeles Times. Follow him on Twitter @jray05.
The Prince of Wales will welcome to the UK a choir of young Iraqi women who have used music to help cope with the horrors in their homeland.

The group  some of whom were used as sex slaves by fighters from so-called Islamic State (IS)  will be greeted by Charles during a private reception in London on Wednesday as they make a whistle-stop tour of the UK.

Charles is patron of the Amar Foundation, which provides emergency aid, education and healthcare in the Middle East, and through its music programme has brought over the choir of Yazidi women.

Violinist Michael Bochmann, who has brought over a choir of Yazidi young women to the UK (Amar Foundation/PA)

Violinist Michael Bochmann is leading the charitys British Council-funded music project to record and preserve the religious music of the Yazidi people, a minority persecuted in Iraq, and has formed the choir as part of a parallel project to keep Yazidi folk music alive.

The musician and educator said many of the young women had been in a state of shock after being abused by the IS fighters: What weve done, weve specifically formed a group of girls and its transforming their lives, its making them feel much, much better.

Its allowing them to move on from this horrific bit of history theyve been through, to living normal lives and being part of their community again, and not being frightened to go out the front door.

Two young Yazidi musicians who are being taught about their musical heritage thanks to the Amar Foundation (Amar Foundation/PA)

Mr Bochmann, who is professor of violin and chamber music at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, said in 2014 IS fighters targeted Yazidi communities, killing men and taking women as sex slaves, with the majority of survivors now living in refugee camps afraid to return to their villages.

He said: The Yazidis are a minority of about half a million people in northern Iraq, they have their own religion, its not Muslim, its not Christian, it goes back thousands of years to the mists of time.

In the summer of 2019 Amar began recording Yazidi religious music for prosperity and the archive will be presented to Oxford Universitys Bodleian Library on Tuesday followed by a performance in the new wing of the library.

Story continues

The Amar Foundation is working to keep the musical culture of the Yazidi people alive (Amar Foundation/PA)

Speaking about the benefits of the music project for the young women, the violinist said: It puts them back in touch with their culture and its like music therapy, and also brings out a sort of club atmosphere.

When weve had the young people come to the classes they learn the music but they dont want to go away again, theres an incredible community feeling.

The choir have already taken part in a masterclass with Professor Bochmann at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire and on Thursday will attend an event at the Houses of Parliament.

Baroness Nicholson founded Amar in the early 1990s in response to Iraqi dictator Saddam Husseins systematic attacks against his people in the south of the country.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are North Carolina's top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Brooke Chow

Nominated by Enloe Magnet High School

Brooke, a senior at Enloe Magnet High School, co-founded a nonprofit organization that has raised more than $12,000 to buy classroom supplies for cash-strapped schools in North Carolina by holding bake sales. When she entered high school, Brooke immediately noticed the scarcity of many basic school supplies, and discovered that public school teachers often have to buy these items with their own money. "The strain on resources was an obstacle that made it just that much harder for teachers to focus on students," she said. Brooke started bringing tissue boxes and unused notebooks from home, but "I knew a longer term solution would be needed." So Brooke and a friend asked a bakery if they could resell its banana nut bread and other baked goods at an open-air market at the state fairgrounds.

Now known as the "Banana Nut Scholars," Brooke and her partner prepare for their bake sales by securing space, ordering and packaging bread, printing labels, making posters and fliers, and designing ads. They also ring doorbells and send emails to solicit donations. With the money raised, they make a wide range of classroom supplies available to any North Carolina teacher through their website, including pencils and pens, paper products, staplers, notebooks, batteries, rulers and hand sanitizers. So far, 55 volunteers have helped distribute supplies to nearly 600 teachers. In addition, Brooke's nonprofit has provided thousands of sanitary napkins, tampons and undergarments directly to students in need. Brooke also has contacted more than 300 national and state legislators to lobby for increased funding for public education.

Middle Level State Honoree: Za'nia Stinson

Nominated by Mountain Island Day Community Charter School

Za'nia, a seventh-grader at Mountain Island Day Community Charter School, has provided thousands of food and toiletry items to women and children staying at a local shelter and to people living on the streets. One day, Za'nia saw a woman and her two children begging for food in front of a supermarket. "I knew what it was like to be hungry, and it made me sad," said Za'nia, who at one time had lived in a shelter with her grandmother. She asked her foster mother for money to help the woman, who cried when she received it. "This brought tears to my eyes," said Za'nia.

Soon after, she applied for a service grant to launch her "Z Feeds Angel Food Project." With the grant money in hand, she began shopping for nonperishable food items. She also asked supermarkets for donations and solicited toiletries from local doctors' offices. Then, with the help of family members and other volunteers, Za'nia packed her collected items into gallon-size "Go-Go" bags, along with booklets of inspirational readings "to let the receivers know that life will get better," she said. When the packing is done, Za'nia and her helpers deliver the bags to a women and children's shelter. "I always carry extra bags with me and distribute them when I see people on the streets who are hungry and need food to eat," she said. So far, Za'nia has distributed more than 525 bags containing over 4,000 food items and more than 3,000 toiletries.

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized six other North Carolina students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are North Carolina's Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Connor Bartsch, 18, of Raleigh, North Carolina, a senior at Leesville Road High School, founded and runs "100 Teens Who Give A Hoot," a student club at his high school dedicated to giving back the community through service and donations; his club has donated more than $5,000 and countless hours to local organizations, including the CFF Challengers and the Red Balloon Project. Connor's efforts include recruiting club members, electing a board and collaborating with local charities.

Audrey Burri, 18, of Charlotte, North Carolina, a member of Girl Scouts Hornets' Nest and a senior at Providence Day School, founded and runs "Pair Necessities," through which she has collected more than 10,000 pairs of underwear and socks for numerous charities around the world. Audrey's efforts include recruiting volunteers, spreading awareness of her cause, running social media campaigns, organizing sock drives and identifying partner organizations.

Maia Campbell, 13, of Charlotte, North Carolina, an eighth-grader at Jay M. Robinson Middle School, co-founded "Kidz That Care" with her siblings, a group designed to help young people contribute to their community through service. Some of her group's projects include hosting a sandwich-making event to benefit people experiencing homelessness, making cards for hospital and nursing home patients, and collecting more than 600 books for the Habitat for Humanity bookstore.

Katherine Greene, 18, of Matthews, North Carolina, a senior at Covenant Day School, founded "Katie's Kidz," which has collected and donated more than 50,000 gifts for hospitalized children since 2007; her efforts include soliciting donations from businesses, running toy drives, designing mailing campaign letters and delivering gifts to 16 hospitals. This past year, Katherine recruited nearly 100 volunteers to participate in an annual packing day to sort, inventory and pack more than 7,000 toys.

Abigail Rose, 17, of Moyock, North Carolina, a senior at Currituck County High School, organized six "comfort closets" at local elementary schools, which offer free hygiene products to students; her efforts include meeting with school administrators, soliciting donations from local organizations, shopping for products and keeping each closet stocked. Abigail was motivated to start this program as a way to help students feel more confident at school.

Alyssa Thomas, 17, of Marshville, North Carolina, a senior at Piedmont High School, started and runs "G.R.A.C.E. (God Reaches All through Compassion and Encouragement)," through which she has collected and donated food, hygiene supplies and clothing for people in need, both locally and internationally; her efforts include running drives, hosting events and organizing emotional support groups in her community. Alyssa has also participated in mission trips to nine Caribbean countries.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com .

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

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It must be noted Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamans budget was comforting in that it did not try to do too many things. It offered a fairly accurate data set about the government, something that has been missing for quite some years. We were sort of flying blind. She raised fiscal deficit mostly to provide more money for capital investments and did not launch any major schemes to spend money that is best left in the pockets of the people from whom it is taxed. Her attempt to redraw the map of personal income tax is likely to be ignored by those who earn their income as salary. The Rs 40,000 crore drain she expects from her income tax purse will possibly be far less at the end of the year.

That is to say, essentially she left the Indian economy to find its growth drivers beyond the governments activities. A fiscal policy that harms, no one. Much of the trouble for the Indian economy happens when policymakers write too many laws which please only themselves.

It could be a good bargain, but  and this is significant  Ms Sitharaman may have done better to have looked at the world around her and struck out more boldly on reforms. It is a strikingly opportune moment that India could have used for profit. Quite the reverse of the world order of 1991, when India was forced to make large scale changes under duress.

China is battling its biggest crisis in Coronavirus. An S&P Global Platts report has said a recession in the world economy is a clear possibility in 2020 and forecasts at least a 0.2 per cent dip in Q1 for the world economy with Chinas growth rate expected to dip by almost a full percentage point. The US frankly does not care what happens to the rest of the world. It is trying to figure out whether impeachment or the Presidential elections will be more disruptive to its political structure. The EU is crazily divided on whether Brexit or Chinas overtures to some of its members pose a bigger risk to its coherence. In 2008, when the US economy pulled the world into a tailspin, the central governors directed their combined financial heft to offer a bailout. This arsenal has run dry and the G20 meeting later this year in Saudi Arabia will find more than a desert facing policymakers, judging by current trends.

It is in this milieu that the India government has tabled its Union Budget in Parliament. Did it reckon with any of these choices? To go by the commentary finance ministers usually pepper their speeches with in the first ten minutes, there was no reference to any of these global developments. The cheery tone of the paragraphs offer practically no insights from abroad for the fifth largest economy of the world. One could, of course, argue that budget speeches of most major economies do not dwell on the world economy. But, while this is true, 2020 is a year that does not happen regularly for the world economy either.

The government has of course shown alacrity to pull in foreign capital through some of the measures it has announced, in fact, more than it has done for Indian companies. But there is little sense of a policy direction for the Indian economy otherwise. The offer of a reined in fiscal deficit and an accurate set of budget numbers is a useful beginning. But from there, the finance minister could have built up a patina of policies which the government will use to steer the economy to make it a bright star in a globally broken world. Not all of those policies need to do with offering tax sops or with additional expenditures. She has wisely refrained from announcing those. Yet the reason, why most commentators are not willing to cut Ms Sitharaman slack is that this was an opportunity the Indian government will not find itself with, every year. It should have been used.

(The writer is a business journalist and can be reached at s.bhattacharjee@ris.org.in)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the authors own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH)
Lesbos, Greece  Greek police have fired tear gas at thousands of refugees and migrants trapped on the overcrowded island of Lesbos, from where they are not allowed to travel to the mainland under a 2016 EU-Turkey deal aimed at curbing migratory flows.

In tense scenes on Monday, children and babies were caught up in plumes of tear gas during protests by about 2,000 people.

The clashes broke out around Moria, a notoriously cramped camp which was never designed to hold more than 3,000. Currently, there are nearly 20,000 people in and around the camp.

Protesters rallied against the continued containment of people on Lesbos island and the unbearable living conditions inside the camp.

In footage seen by Al Jazeera, children can be seen recovering from being hit with tear gas fired by riot police. Some wore face masks to protect themselves from inhalation.

Riot police fired the tear gas to try and quell protesters and prevent them from marching on foot to Mytilene, Lesboss capital more than four miles away.

But many Moria residents did reach the port city and continued protesting there on Tuesday.

Demonstrators from Moria refugee camp run from riot police throwing tear gas [Paolo Amadei/Al Jazeera]

Abdul (not his real name), an Afghan refugee, told Al Jazeera: I participated because people are dying in Moria and nobody cares. We feel like we dont have a future here, if we wanted to die then we could have stayed in Afghanistan. We came here to look for a good future and to be safe, this is not a place for living.

At least two people have died in Moria so far this year in stabbing attacks, according to local media.

In previous years, refugees at the camp have died in fires, because of extreme weather and as some  including babies  lack access to proper medical facilities.

Tense mood

The mood in the centre of Mytilene on Tuesday was tense as nearly 200 people, mainly men and women from Afghanistan, congregated in the central square.

Freedom, Freedom, they chanted, as well as Lesbos people, we are sorry,  an apparent apology to Greek residents for the highly charged atmosphere.

Franziska Grillmeier, a German journalist, told Al Jazeera that she witnessed families being tear gassed on Monday.

Yesterday, as the people were trying to move the protest from Moria to Mytilene, the police tried to deter them by using roadblocks. Some families, however, broke through using the olive grove fields next to the camp and tried to find an alternative way to get to Mytilene. The police then started using heavy tear gas, throwing it into the fields by the olive grove, which also set some of the olive trees on fire.

There were men holding their kids up, kids who were foaming at the mouth, kids having panic attacks and babies unable to breathe and dehydrating through the gas.

She claimed the police reaction appeared to be excessive.

There werent really any threats to the police at that point, it was just really a tactic of the police to immediately throw tear gas at people who were peacefully trying to make their way to Mytilene.

Police reportedly detained dozens of protesters. Al Jazeera contacted the Ministry of Citizen Protection but had not received a response by the time of publication.

I saw serious attacks on people, beatings with sticks. I also saw people screaming, holding their kids in the air and saying: Look what youve done, Grillmeier said.

Paolo Amadei, a freelance photographer from Italy, said: There were police throwing gas, women and kids and infants got gassed and there were many kids crying.

They (refugees) came in peace, thats what I saw: they werent looking for a clash.

Boris Cheshirkov, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told Al Jazeera he was concerned by the escalation, which has been exacerbated by the dire conditions and long wait.

He said UNHCR has urged the Greek government to transfer people to the mainland and explained that European solidarity and responsibility-sharing was now crucial.
Now that more and more carriers to make the connections between China and the rest of the world, because of the corona virus suspension, there is no other way that tourism is suffering. That is likely to be costly, as the Chinese show when compared with visitors from other countries spend a lot of money.

According to the trend report on tourism, recreation, and leisure-time in 2019 at the latest by the Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS), and (NBTC) gave the tourists in the Netherlands to 2018, about 418 million euros.

"This way, they will be just outside the top ten," says the researcher, Maarten Bloem of the netherlands, while China, one of the top ten countries of origin of foreign tourists in the country.

That the Chinese are big spenders, they seem to be well out of the money spent, per person, per stay. That is, for the Chinese visitors to 1.256 euro, but the Germans, for example, "only" 442 euro (  ).

the Chinese people are giving every day to 328 euros, and the Russians, the 250-euro

the statistics put up by the NBTC also, the expenditure per person per day for foreign tourists in a row. This sort of Chinese, only Japanese, Canadians and Americans have of themselves. Before the Chinese arrived, the price on the 328 is the euro. By way of comparison, in the same less-efficient the Russians are going to be 255 euros.

if The NBTC does not know how many Chinese tourists last year, have been released. It is, however, the number of visitors is known. "In 2019, and brought 315.000 Chinese people as a visit to the Netherlands," said a spokesman.

as the SARS virus, it was a period of time, with shrinkage < / p> incoming tourism since the turn of the century, in almost all years. There were, according to the trend report, since then, only three periods of "significant shrinkage". One of them was in the year 2003, the year of the SARS epidemic.

Normally, processing Schiphol airport every week for more than one hundred passenger flights to and from China. "With the loss of KLM royal Dutch airlines flights, is about half of the flights in the way", says a spokesman from Schiphol airport, if requested, to know.

as Tentative to fly China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Xiamen Airlines and Cathay Pacific, yet it has to be between China and Amsterdam, the netherlands. "In the past year, traveled to 1.75 million passengers a year to and from China," according to amsterdam's Schiphol airport. "It was about a 55% transferpassagier, and 45 percent in the Netherlands as their final destination." It is not clear what the nationality of these passengers may have.

Updated Date: 03 February 2020, 17:00
Air India on Tuesday said it is suspending its Delhi-Hong Kong flight from February 8, hours after the authorities there confirmed the death of a patient with the new coronavirus.

"In view of the coronavirus issue Air India is suspending its flights to Hong Kong after flying AI314 on the 7th of February 2020," said Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani on Twitter.

The deadly virus, which originated in China's Wuhan city, is rapidly spreading to other countries.

Hong Kong on Tuesday reported the death of a patient being treated for the virus.

Earlier, IndiGo suspended all three flights between India and China.

Air India suspended its Delhi-Shanghai flight and curtailed the flight operations on the Delhi-Hong Kong route. From February 8, it will be suspending operations on Delhi-Hong Kong route too.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Tuesday accused the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of playing the appeasement politics, saying Kejriwal has enough money to spend on the Imams and not pujaris in temples.

Speaking to ANI, Singh claimed, "In 2015, Arvind Kejriwal used to shout 'Anna Anna' and 'Vikas Vikas'. Now he is saying 'Jinnah Jinnah'. It is because of this appeasement policy, the Imams of Delhi mosques are being given Rs 18,000, their workers are getting Rs16,000 and for the maintenance Rs. 9,000 are being given. However, Arvind Kejriwal is not concerned about the pujaris in temples as they are not the vote bank."

The Union Minister also challenged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to show him the data on employment during 2010-2014. He said, "Let Rahul bring the employment status during 2010-2014 or even during the tenure of his family. I will tell him the employment status during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

"I will also teach him the definition of employment. The word employment does not only mean jobs in government sectors," he added.

Giriraj Singh also said that the protesters in Shaheen Bagh are not against CAA but instead are doing Khilafat Andolan. He said, "From Shaheen Bagh, the slogans of cheers to Afzal Guru and Yakub Menon were heard. Even Sharjeel Imam had said that he will cut Assam and have an Islamic state in India."

"In the Parliament, the brother of Asaduddin Owaisi said that if for 15 minutes the police disappear then I will teach a lesson to the Hindus. This is Khilafat andolan and not protest against CAA," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Queensland politicians returning to Parliament on Tuesday were met with loudhailers and banners as a climate activist group vowed to make the first sitting day as "chaotic as possible".

A number of the protesters blocked entry to the building just after 9am, chaining or gluing themselves to gates and road access points, resulting in two arrests.

A group of about 150 climate activists gathered outside Queensland Parliament vowing to disrupt the first sitting day of 2020. Credit:Lydia Lynch

About 150 people gathered at Speakers Corner for the protest, led by Extinction Rebellion, in an effort to draw attention to financial links between fossil fuel interests and major political parties.

The group gathered about 8am before marching down George Street to 1 William about 30 minutes later to carry out "acts of civil disobedience" after a number of people spoke.
WASHINGTON - China on Monday accused the United States of contributing to public hysteria over the deadly novel coronavirus as the struggle to contain the illness adds further strain to diplomatic relations that have grown more distrustful under the Trump administration.

The rapid spread of the virus has put Beijing on the defensive for what critics have called a slow initial response to contain it and a lack of transparency over the scale of the outbreak. In a briefing for reporters, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman attempted to deflect blame by citing an "overreaction" from the U.S. government that has "spread fear" and set a "bad example" for other nations.

"The U.S. is turning from overconfidence to fear and overreaction," said Hua Chunying, citing the Trump administration's decision to evacuate some U.S. Embassy personnel and impose a ban on Chinese travelers.

She asserted that the administration has not offered "any substantial assistance" to combat the virus, which has infected more than 20,000 people in China and more than 150 in 23 other nations, including 11 in the United States.

The criticism highlighted a significant challenge for authorities on both sides as they scramble to identify, quarantine and treat victims in a bid to limit the fallout of a potential pandemic that could have economic ramifications. Though Beijing and Washington have deployed emergency resources to combat the public health threats, there remain significant gaps in communication, information sharing and trust between the two major powers at a time of increasing global competition on trade and security matters.

"If you look at the whole competition with China framework, pandemics would be an instance where you would hope we can cooperate. No one has an interest in the virus spreading," said Richard Fontaine, chief executive of the Center for a New American Security, who has advised Republican lawmakers on foreign policy.

Fontaine cited Hong Kong's decision to restrict some travel between the special administrative region, which has reported 15 cases of the infection, and the rest of China as evidence that the Trump administration's response has not been overheated.

"The fact that they are criticizing the U.S. for undertaking a policy that even Hong Kong has put in place suggests that the merits of the case are not at issue - but that the 'American boogeyman' is something they can use to deflect blame," he said.

The Trump administration offered a tempered response Monday. President Donald Trump made no public remarks; the State Department declined to comment. A senior administration official in a statement defended the government's actions as an aggressive effort to protect the American public.

This official pointed to Beijing's belated decision to reverse course and allow U.S. experts to join a World Health Organization mission to China to learn more about the virus as a sign that cooperation remains viable.

"The United States appreciates China's efforts and continued coordination with public health officials across the globe," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to address the sensitive geopolitical situation.

Though Beijing has moved to enact strict controls on travel in wide swaths of the country, the government has been faulted for reacting slowly and defensively over fear of the political fallout - an approach that allowed the illness to spread quickly before an emergency response was put in place.

Behind the scenes, Trump aides said, the president and his advisers have gotten regular updates and case data from Beijing and fear that such cooperation would slow if they are publicly critical of China's efforts.

Trump has sought to project a good working relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping since the two nations signed a "phase one" trade deal last month after an extended and acrimonious period of escalating tariffs.

Two weeks ago, the president thanked Xi in a tweet for China's efforts, though White House aides said Trump grew more alarmed Friday when he was briefed on how quickly the disease was spreading and the news that a Chicago woman, who contracted the illness in China, infected her spouse in the first instance of a person-to-person transmission in the United States.

Tom Bossert, a former homeland security adviser, said Trump had been "rightfully prudent" in enacting the more aggressive measures, including the travel restrictions, given China's history of not being transparent on viral pandemics, including the SARS outbreak nearly two decades ago.

"If he was looking to punish the Chinese economy further, he could have," Bossert said. "I understand why they're frustrated, but it looks to me he took a prudent step."

In the wake of the trade pact last month, Trump said he hoped to visit Xi in Beijing to start talks on the second phase of the deal. Aides said he still hopes to meet with the Chinese leader, though that appears unlikely anytime soon given Beijing's all-consuming emergency efforts to deal with the coronavirus.

In 2017, the Trump administration labeled China, along with Russia, as the United States' top strategic rivals in a new national security approach that aimed to reorient policy to be more confrontational and competitive.

Gordon Chang, a China analyst who appears frequently on Fox Business Network, cautioned that the international pressure on China could prompt Beijing to "lash out" after the illness is contained and said it was "important for us to maintain the deference right now and make it clear to China that such language is unacceptable and that the United States will defend its interests."

But Michael Pillsbury, a China expert at the conservative Hudson Institute who informally advises the White House on economic issues, said Trump had chosen not to "rise to the bait."

"The official messaging is that we're trying to help China, that Trump and Xi have spoken and it's about cooperation," Pillsbury said.

For Trump, the domestic political imperative of demonstrating a robust response to the virus has grown more pronounced amid the mounting cases outside China's borders, even though the number is relatively small.

In her briefing, Hua, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, noted that the coronavirus outbreak was far less deadly than influenza in the United States, quoting estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that 19 million people were infected and at least 10,000 died from the flu in the United States from the beginning of October to late January.

She complained that the United States was the first to evacuate diplomatic personnel from the city of Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus originated, and noted that the World Health Organization, a United Nations agency, "continues to have confidence in China's capacity to control the outbreak."

"There is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade," said Hua, who conducted the briefing via the WeChat messaging app rather than the usual in-person news conference to avoid potential transmission of the virus.

Hua reacted angrily last week when U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the coronavirus could help bring jobs to the United States as companies moved operations away from China.

"There's nothing we can do if they want to be irrational and tilt at windmills and imagine conspiracies to punish China when they're down," said Tim Morrison, who served on Trump's National Security Council before resigning in October.

Given the sensitivities, he added, the Trump administration appears to be taking steps to "make sure there is absolutely no politicization of this process" that could lend credence to Beijing's criticism.

- - -

Fifield reported from Beijing. The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey and Emily Rauhala in Washington contributed to this report.
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By Vladimir Soldatkin and Gleb Gorodyankin

MOSCOW/MINSK (Reuters) - The presidents of Russia and Belarus, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, will meet on Friday, the Kremlin said, as the oil row between the two rolls into a second month, forcing Minsk to look for crude from as far afield as the United States.

Belarus, an ex-Soviet state sandwiched between Russia and NATO states, is a major export route for Moscow's oil and gas to Europe. Putin wants to keep Minsk in his orbit, and Lukashenko was for years getting cheap resources and loans in exchange.

For Russia, supporting Minsk costs a couple of billion dollars per year, so it has started to gradually change the practice, in particular, the way it taxes its oil industry. The changes, in turn, are hurting the Belarus budget.

With Belarus presidential elections approaching this year, Lukashenko refused to sign a new oil deal with Russia. From Jan. 1, Moscow has almost completely halted oil supplies to Belarus. Oil exports to Europe have so far been stable.

Russia partially resumed its flows to Belarus on Jan. 4 thanks to supplies from Mikhail Gutseriyev's Safmar Group. There have been no requests from other Russian oil firms to supply oil to Belarus via pipelines this month.

Industry sources told Reuters that Russneft and Neftisa of the Safmar Group would be the sole Russian supplier of oil to the country this month.

The sources also said that around 400,000 tonnes of Russian Urals oil were shipped to Belarus via pipelines in January.

Safmar has quota for further pipeline supplies in the first quarter of 250,000 tonnes, which could be topped up by another 100,000 tonnes, traders said. Those volumes could be supplied this month, sources said.

Russneft and Neftisa were also supplying oil to Belarus by rail, sending 100,000 tonnes in January. The plan for February was the same, the sources said. Safmar declined to comment.

This is still not enough to feed two main Belarus refineries, which normally process a total of around 1.5 million tonnes of oil monthly. In 2019, Russia supplied 18 million tonnes of oil to Belarus.

Story continues

Amid the tensions between Moscow and Minsk, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Belarus last week, offering to "deliver 100% of the oil ... at competitive prices". Belarus is considering buying oil from some Gulf countries too.

Belarus is also seeking oil supplies from Kazakhstan and has arranged the import of 86,000 tonnes of crude from Norway's Johan Sverdrup field via Lithuania's Klaipeda.

Belarusian state oil firm Belneftekhim has been preparing to send a delegation to Kazakhstan for oil talks. However, Kazakhstan is tackling the spread of its contaminated oil by cutting exports to China and also limiting supplies to refineries at home.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Tom Balmforth, Gleb Gorodyankin in Moscow and Andrei Makhovsky in Minsk; editing by Jason Neely/Katya Golubkova; editing by David Evans)
Will always be with you to fight injustice: Rahul Gandhi to media

BJP, AAP spreading hatred in society: Rahul Gandhi

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Feb 04: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP and AAP on Tuesday of spreading hatred in the society and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were not interested in providing jobs to youngsters but were keen on making one Indian fight another for staying in power.

Addressing his first rally in the national capital in the run-up to the February 8 Delhi Assembly polls, he said the current environment in the country, the hatred, the violence and the attacks on women were harming India and people were not benefitting from it.

"Modi and the BJP may be benefitting from it, but Indians are not. If you want development and employment, you will have to erase hatred from the hearts of people," the former Congress president said.

He hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not addressing the economic slowdown and the issue of unemployment, but instead, encouraging violence.

"They (BJP) talk about the Hindu dharm, they talk about Islam, they talk of Sikhism. They have no knowledge of religions. In Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism-- where is it written that attack other people, suppress them?" he asked the crowd.

What kind of "Hindu dharm" is this of Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as Hinduism talked about taking everyone along, Gandhi said at the rally organised to garner support for the Congress candidate from Jangpura, Tarwinder Singh Marwah. The aim of the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was to spread hatred in the society, something the Congress could never do, Gandhi said.

"Do not harbour any illusion. Go to any person and you will find nationalism in his blood irrespective of his religion or whether he is poor or rich," he said.

Delhi polls 2020: Sonia, Rahul, Priyanka among star campaigners for Congress

"The person who makes 'deshbhakts' (patriots) fight among each other, can he be a deshbhakt?," Gandhi asked the crowd.

He also slammed PM Modi for not talking about the economy and unemployment in his poll speeches and said the prime minister did not have the guts to do it.

PM Modi talked about Pakistan but not about providing jobs and improving the economy, the Congress leader said. Jobs could be created by making India a manufacturing hub, but not in the manner the government was working, he said.

"Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal have nothing to do with this (creating jobs). They want to make one Indian fight another and stay in power," Gandhi added.

He hit out at Modi for promising two crore jobs annually, but not delivering on it and slammed the BJP-led government for demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"The finance minister is not ready to say how many youngsters got employment. She said I will not say it as Rahul Gandhi will ask me questions," the Congress MP said as he slammed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget speech in Parliament as "hollow".

He also targeted the Centre for slashing corporate tax and claimed that loans worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore were waived off 15 crony capitalists.

"In my next speech, I will take out a list of how many projects Adani has been given by Modi. Airports and ports have been handed over. You will see Adani's and Ambani's names everywhere. This is not Narendra Modi's government, but a government of Adani and Ambani. Only 15 people benefit from it," Gandhi said.

Referring to coronavirus, he said the countries manufacturing in China were looking at India for taking on the mantle of a leading manufacturer.

"The whole world except China wants to invest in India. But when they look at India now, they see hatred, violence, rapes, goondaism, killings. Wherever you see in the last five years, one Indian talks to another Indian with hatred. This is not our history. This is a country of love," Gandhi said.

He accused the government of selling state enterprises such as Indian Oil, Air India, Hindustan Petroleum and the railways as well as the Red Fort.

"He (Modi) may even sell the Taj Mahal," the former Congress chief said. Alleging that Modi and Kejriwal could only think about power, he said, "They can announce anything in two minutes to stay in power."

Referring to President Ram Nath Kovind's address to a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament, Gandhi said there was no mention of employment in it. He praised Marwah for always standing for people.

"Show one BJP leader who raised the 'Hindustan Zindabad' slogan in Pakistan. The Congress' Jangpura candidate did it and went to jail in Pakistan for it," Gandhi said.
ERIE, Pa., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Amanda Burgess has accepted the position of vice president, Continuous Improvement at Erie Insurance effective March 26. Burgess has been serving in this capacity under her previous title of Vice President, Workers' Compensation and Medical Management.

Burgess joined Erie Insurance in 2003 as a Nurse Case Coordinator. In 2010, Burgess held her first leadership role of Rehabilitation Specialist Supervisor. She was promoted to Workers' Compensation Claims Examiner and Managed Care Supervisor in 2013 where she had direct oversight of ERIE's Medical Bill Review Program and established and managed Erie's cost-containment programs for Workers' Compensation and Auto.

Burgess has a bachelor's degree in nursing from the Medical College of Ohio and holds several insurance designations. Burgess is also a Lean and Six Sigma Green Belt.

About Erie Insurance

According to A.M. Best Company, Erie Insurance Group, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, is the 9th largest homeowners insurer and 12th largest automobile insurer in the United States based on direct premiums written and the 16th largest property/casualty insurer in the United States based on total lines net premium written. The Group, rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company, has more than 5 million policies in force and operates in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Erie Insurance Group is a FORTUNE 500 company.

News releases and more information about Erie Insurance Group are available at www.erieinsurance.com.

SOURCE Erie Insurance Group


By Stephen Costello





North Korea leader Kim Jong-un has been acting as "the adult in the room" when it comes to practical suggestions for halting his country's nuclear weapons and long-range missile programs, walking them back, and steering the North toward a productive role in the region.



This observation may seem unfair to South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump, who have both spent considerable time and effort working to reach an initial deal that would allow them to reach their objectives.



But if leaders are held to the standard that they should understand the various kinds of power available to them and the practical application of it, and that they must defend "core" interests while seeking to achieve common goals with other key actors, then Kim is leading the way.



Kim has more at stake here than any other leader. He also has the most experienced advisers, and they are generally united on a course of action. All these things result in a leadership that increasingly speaks in direct and uncomplicated language about its goals and needs. Kim is leading, but mostly because Moon and Trump are squandering their assets.



Kim's core interest is probably maintaining power, so he would prioritize an asymmetric reliance on nuclear and missile responses to an attack. He would also protect North Korea's political and economic stability as much as possible. These core interests are consistent with his long speech to the plenary session of the Workers Party of Korea and several statements from high-level officials in the past weeks.



They are also consistent with Kim's intensive bromance with Xi Jinping since their first of five meetings in March 2018. China's role seems to be to guard as much as possible against North Korea's expansion of nuclear weapons and ICBMs, while providing enough dependable economic assistance to maintain stability. A destabilized or desperate Pyongyang is not in Beijing's interests.



Moon and Trump both presented Kim with double-edged opportunities. The economic and human intrusions from South Korea could be accepted if the economic and security gains were sufficient.



The capping and progressive degradation of its nuclear weapons and ICBM programs, including open-ended inspections, at the insistence of the U.S. could be justified if security from attack  backed by a peace treaty  could be dependably secured, along with real and dependable paths to large-scale economic growth and international legitimacy. With both Moon and Trump, Kim seemed willing to test the waters.



That was up until the Hanoi summit with Trump. In Hanoi, positions were finally exposed. From the moment of the disastrous and undiplomatic flight from talking by Trump and his delegation, the fundamental weakness and incapacity of the White House's position was clear.



The fact that top U.S. officials immediately and repeatedly lied about that position was more confirmation of its impracticality. The emptiness of the U.S. position had already been signaled by Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Beigun and former head of the CIA's Korea Mission Center Andy Kim in the previous two weeks.



On top of this, reports noted that Trump had been leaning toward crediting the "snap-back" mechanism to protect U.S. interests. As Trump was being hurried out of the room First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui checked and assured Trump that "all" of Yongbyon would be covered in the North's offer to dismantle the facilities. Again according to reports either Pompeo along with Bolton or just Pompeo convinced Trump he would look "weak" if he signed any deal with Kim, well before back-and-forth negotiations could be undertaken.



In light of the developments in Hanoi, it would make strategic sense for Kim to keep his personal relationship with Trump, since it seemed possible that he would be open to an initial deal if not for his advisers. But the conclusion that Pyongyang seemed to make, that beyond Trump there was no support for any deal acceptable to the North, also seems inescapable.



Trump had misunderstood that his highest interest was to stop, cap and begin to roll back the DPRK nuclear program, substituting instead a mythical and false need to show "strength." His greatest power to get what he wanted was to offer credible relief from major U.N. sanctions, but that was lost on him. And Trump was trapped in the transparently unserious position of maximum virtual economic war combined with diplomacy that has passed, more or less, for U.S. policy since the George W. Bush administration.



For President Moon the Hanoi debacle was also a wakeup call. Moon's deft management of his first summit with Kim, relaying Kim's invitation to Trump, and Trump's dramatic acceptance, could have created a false sense of movement.



The first inter-Korean agreements on conventional tension-reduction and related new ties were formidable. Trump's abandonment of his "fire and fury" and "bloody nose" threats was treated as real accomplishments. However, those empty threats were not succeeding, and he grabbed Kim's invitation like drowning man grabs a lifesaver.



It had been increasingly clear since his election that Trump and his team would not be able to produce any deal acceptable to Washington and Pyongyang. And yet, Seoul continued to rely on them. After Hanoi a reassessment was necessary in Seoul. Has such a reassessment happened?



There is certainly an ongoing debate within the government and among policy circles about how South Korea can pursue its core interests without unacceptable costs. But the realization that Moon must now act as a leader within the U.S.-ROK alliance, and as a key proponent of the interim deal left on the table in Hanoi, is nowhere to be seen.



As Trump was impeached and is undergoing a trial in the Senate, he and his staff and supporters have become more desperate. The impact of this on Korea policy cannot be accurately assessed, but it is unlikely to be good. It is probably not a coincidence that President Moon has been treated badly by the U.S., North Korea, China and Japan in the past year. His impact on South Korea's core interest  securing peace and economic development on the peninsula  has seemed to evaporate.



Ironically Moon is the most flexible of the actors in the North Korea drama. He has abundant sources of power to address his main interests and make progress on his main goals. The myth of U.S. abandonment seems to leave Seoul terrified. Repeated bullying by its U.S. ally seems to leave it cowering.



In this environment we should remember that Moon has democratic systemic legitimacy, moderation and administration expertise that far outstrip Trump. Next to Kim, he has more at stake than any other player, but none of Kim's poverty, isolation and weakness. There should be no question at all about who in Northeast Asia could and should be the adult in the room.





Stephen Costello (costs55@gwu.edu) is a visiting scholar at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He managed the Kim Dae Jung Peace Foundation Washington office in the 1990s. He directed the Korea program at the Atlantic Council there from 1999 to 2004. He now directs AsiaEast.Org, a policy initiative focused on security, development and politics in Northeast Asia. He writes from Washington and Seoul.


As Pakistan continues to launch its diplomatic offensive against India worldwide, a city council in the US has passed a resolution condemning the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which fast tracks Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities in three theocratic states in South Asia.

The Indian American Muslim Council in the US welcomed the Seattle City Council's unanimous resolution against CAA, which was recently enacted by the Modi government and Registry of Citizens (NRC) which the government aspires to set up.

Officials in New Delhi, however, maintained the government's stand on CAA, saying the legislation was passed by the Indian Parliament which represents the democratically elected legislature of the country, and therefore remains an internal matter of India. There is no official notification on NRC and as of now it does not exist, officials said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is on a two-day visit to Malaysia, lashed out against India on Tuesday over CAA and Kashmir. Khan has been travelling around the world campaigning against India ever since the Modi government reorganised Jammu & Kashmir in August 2019, nullifying Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which granted autonomy to the only Muslim majority state in India.

Under the pressure of Saudi Arabia, Khan had skipped an Islamic summit hosted by Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Kuala Lumpur in December last year.

Turkey, supported by Malaysia and Pakistan, has been attempting to compete with Saudi Arabia for leadership of the Islamic world. All three countries have been critical of India over Kashmir and CAA.

Saudi Arabia, which had not been invited to the Malaysian summit of Muslim nations, took offence to Imran Khan's participation. Since Pakistan is obliged to the Saudi kingdom for its massive financial aid, Khan at the last minute had decided to skip the summit.

In Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, Khan said that Pakistan will buy more palm oil from Malaysia since India, the top buyer, has put curbs on imports last month.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Congress star campaigner Nagma on Tuesday blamed Union Minister Anurag Thakur for the incidents of firing in the Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia Islamia area, as she accused the BJP of creating polarisation for the February 8 Assembly elections.

Addressing a public meeting in Dwarka for Congress' candidate Adarsh Shastris, the yesteryears actress said: "Thakur is responsible for the incidents of shootings in Jamia amd Shaheen Bagh areas." She said the BJP is playing with emotions of Delhi voters for polarisation ahead of the assembly elections.

Hitting out further at Thakur, who had raised slogans of "shoot the traitors" at a poll rally, Nagma further said that if the MoS had known the dignity of the chair then he would not have asked the people to raise such slogans.

The Election Commission had barred Thakur for campaigning in the assembly elections for 72 hours.

Polling for the 70-member Delhi assembly is scheduled on February 8 while the counting of votes will take place on February 11. The Congress, which ruled the city for 15 years from 1998 to 2013 is looking for a comeback in Delhi. However, it was reduced to zero seats in 2015 assembly polls while the AAP won 67 seats and the BJP managed to get three seats.
Srinagar, Feb 4 : Pakistan on Tuesday violated the LoC ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district and Indian troops were returning the fire, the Indian Army said.

According to an army statement, Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation, firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along LoC in Shahpur and Kirni sectors of Poonch.

"Indian Army is retaliating befittingly," the statement added.

A civilian was killed and four others injured in firing by Pakistan in the Tangdhar sector of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday night.

According to reports, Pakistan resorted to indiscriminate shelling and firing on Indian defence positions and villages close to the Line of Control. Some of the shells landed in the residential areas in which one civilian was killed and the others were injured. Some houses were also damaged in the shelling.

On February 2, there were multiple ceasefire violations by Pakistan in Tangdhar, Gurez, Balakot and Mendhar sectors in which one Indian soldier was injured.
By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan is getting ready for the fifth edition of Booktrailer Festival. Notably, Booktrailers are short videos that promote a book or an author, providing a good illustration of the book's content.

The festival aims at promoting books, supporting and developing creative forms of reading, searching talented young people in cinematography and promoting bookrailers as a part of art and business.

Since 2016, Booktrailer Festival has been successfully held in Azerbaijan. This remarkable event is timed to coincide with World Book and Copyright Day - April 23. Its no coincidence that over all these years, the festival, which starts on the Youth Day on February 2 and ends on April 23, has turned into a movement of creative youth, gathering around itself talented young participants.

The winners are selected annually by jury, which includes public and cultural figures.

The first place will get a cash prize in the amount of 1,000 manats ($ 589), while the winners of the second and third places 800 manats ($ 472 ) and 500 ($ 295) manats, respectively. The winner in "Best Mobile Book Trailer" will be handed a cash prize in the amount of 1,000 ($ 589) manats.

The festival is organized with the support of the Ministry of Culture. The main partner of the event is Azercell, a leader of the mobile communication sector in Azerbaijan.

For more information, please visit:

www.booktrailer.az

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/BooktrailerFest

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BooktrailerFest

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/BooktrailerFest

For all questions, please contact: [email protected]

Media partners of the event are Azernews.az, Trend.az, Day.az and Milli.az.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
A young make-up artist has shared the angry note left on her car by another driver who called her a moron, told her not to breed and accused her of parking badly.

Isabella Quinn was shocked when she returned to her car to find the letter, scrawled on a torn piece of paper, on her windscreen on Tuesday afternoon.

The Melbourne-based influencer took a photo and posted it to Instagram to share with her 41,200 followers.

'You park like a f**kwit. Don't breed. Read the sign next time you moron,' the note read

Isabella Quinn remained in good spirits and said the angry motorist 'needs a hug'

'You park like a f**kwit. Don't breed. Read the sign next time you moron,' the note read.

But Ms Quinn remained in good spirits and said the angry motorist 'needs a hug'.

'Omg hahahahaha,' she wrote on Instagram.

'Someone left on my car...wasn't even a bad park.

'Omg hahahahaha. Someone left on my car...wasn't even a bad park,' she wrote on Insatgram

'This person needs a hug they must be having a s**t day/year/life.'

Ms Quinn isn't the only person to find an aggressive messages on her car.

A woman returned to her car last year to find three notes glued to her windscreen in Sydney in November.

A young mother on her P-plates also shared the vicious note that was left on her car windscreen after parking in a 'parents with prams' spot earlier last year.
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, otherwise known as comedian Robert Smigel, took to Capitol Hill last week to cover the impeachment of President Trump for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Alongside actual reporters, Triumph repeatedly shouted questions at various players in the impeachment like Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas.

Triumph even found himself in a live background shot on Fox News, and trolled ardent Trump defender and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham live on CNN. While Graham was speaking about the impeachment trial, Triumph held up a sign behind Grahams head that read, WILL LIE FOR RUBLES. Rubles, of course, being Russian currency.

Triumph particularly enjoyed trolling Graham. While Graham was passing by, Triumph yelled after him, Sen. Graham, I saw the video of you wanting witnesses at Clintons impeachment in the 90s. Why would you change everything about yourself and keep that haircut? Another time, Triumph asked Graham, Why do you look like every guy that saw the movie Cats alone?

Triumph also went looking for Sens. Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell but they were nowhere to be found.

The Tonight Show With Stephen Colbert airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. on CBS.

Check out the Bachelor contestant whose Cosmo cover was pulled because she modeled for a White Lives Matter campaign:

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

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A man wearing a mask walks past the headquarters of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, in Beijing, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, February 3, 2020.

China's economy could grow by less than 2% year-over-year, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics Chief Asia Economist Freya Beamish.

China said at the end of Monday that cases of the new coronavirus on the mainland have now surpassed 20,400 with a total of 425 deaths.

The rapid spread of the virus has sparked concern over the potential fallout for the world's second-largest economy, with businesses beginning to feel the impact from falling demand and the shutdown of huge swathes of the country, many of which serve as economic engine rooms.

Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Tuesday, Beamish said that China could be facing a quarter-on-quarter contraction in GDP (gross domestic product) for the first quarter, once the repercussions of shutdowns and an already slowing economy are factored into projections.
Goa Deputy Chief Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar has claimed that Dr B R Ambedkar had thought of a 'Dalitstan' for Dalits, but people of India remained united.

Ajgaonkar was speaking in the Goa Assembly on Monday during the motion congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the passage of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Parliament.

"During partition, Muslims went to the other side, Pakistan became a Muslim nation. (But) Hindustan did not become a Hindu nation," Ajgaonkar said addressing the House.

"Some people speak about Hindu nation. Hindu comprises all communities, Catholics, Hindus, Muslims, Dalits. For Dalits, Babasaheb Ambedkar said there would be another Dalitstan. But still, we all are together," said the BJP MLA from Pernem constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.

"When the country became independent, Ambedkar gave us a Constitution for democracy which has Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Dalits," the deputy chief minister said.

If this country is great, it is because of everyone's contribution, he added.

The state Assembly on Monday passed a motion congratulating Modi and Shah over the passage of CAA in Parliament.

The new law, under which non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship, came into force from January 10. It was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019.
The Navy SEAL commander, who clashed with President Donald Trump over disciplining of retired naval officer Eddie Gallagher last year, will reportedly step down from his post later this year.

According to The Intercept, Rear Adm Collin Green, the commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command, will be resigning in September.

Green's resignation follows the controversial court-martial of Gallagher who was convicted of posing for a photo with the corpse of a dead ISIS fighter.

But a court martial cleared him of murder charges when a medic confessed to the Afghanistan war crime after military prosecutors granted him immunity. Gallagher's acquittals ended claims that he had fatally stabbed the ISIS militant in the photos, and that he had tried to murder civilians by shooting at them.

Attorneys representing Gallagher say the plan to make him an ex-SEAL was 'retaliation' for his continued criticism of the US Navy. The SEAL has maintained that he was the scapegoat for more junior SEALs who did not like his leadership style.

In November, Green made his intentions clear at a staff meeting that he wanted to remove Gallagher's Trident pin, which designates him as a SEAL.

But Trump restored Gallagher's rank to Chief Petty Officer after the Navy reduced it to Petty Officer First Class.

'The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallaghers Trident Pin,' Trump tweeted in November.

'This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business!'

Rear Adm Collin Green, the commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command, who clashed with Trump over disciplining retired SEAL Eddie Gallagher, will step down in September. In November, Green made it clear that he wanted to remove Gallagher's Trident pin

But Trump (left) restored Gallagher's (right) rank to Chief Petty Officer after the Navy reduced it to Petty Officer First Class

'The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallaghers Trident Pin,' Trump tweeted in November

Green had planned to notify Gallagher that he would have to undergo a peer-review process, known as a Trident Review Board, to assess whether his fellow SEALs believe he is still suitable to remain on the elite force.

The Trident pin identifies U.S Navy personnel as members of the SEALs, the service's elite 'Sea, Air, and Land' special forces

He also called for a peer-review of three SEAL officers who oversaw Gallagher during his deployment to Iraq in 2017: Lt Cmdr Robert Breisch, Lt Jacob Portier and Lt Thomas MacNeil.

Gallagher would have gone before a five-person review board that would have included one SEAL officer and four senior enlisted SEALs.

The review boards' recommendations would have been sent to Green, who would have then forwarded them to Navy Personnel Command along with a recommendation.

Removing a Trident pin means a naval officer is no longer a SEAL but doesn't change his eligibility to serve in uniform.

The Navy has revoked 154 Trident pins since 2011.

Just days after Trump reinstated Gallagher, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer announced his resignation.

Spencer wrote in his resignation letter that he 'cannot in good conscience' obey the order to stop Gallagher's case going before the review board, because he believes it 'violates the sacred oath' he took.

Just days after Trump reinstated Gallagher, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer (pictured) announced his resignation. Spencer wrote in his resignation letter that he 'cannot in good conscience' obey the order to stop Gallagher's case going before the review board

A court martial cleared Gallagher (center) of murder charges when a medic confessed to the Afghanistan war crime after military prosecutors granted him immunity. Gallagher's acquittals ended claims that he had fatally stabbed the ISIS militant in the photos

He added that he appears to disagree with Trump on the 'key principle of good order and discipline'.

Trump continued to defend his decision on Gallagher, stating: 'I think what I'm doing is sticking up for our armed forces. And there's never been a president that's going to stick up for them and has like I have'.

His actions on behalf of Gallagher dismayed some military officials, who fear the actions undermine the military justice system.

Some believe the president should not have used his authority as commander in chief to erase the sentence handed down by military jurors who convicted Gallagher of posing with a dead IS captive. Jurors recommended that he be demoted.

Other SEALs believe Trump, facing his own battle with impeachment, had no choice but to intervene because of the Navys botched handling of the case.

That included the prosecution tracking the emails of Gallaghers lawyers during the court martial, which the judge noted violated his due process rights.
The agreement with Chio Lecca Fashion School will give Seneca students hands on experience with modern and traditional fashion practices in the Latin American country

Toronto, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Seneca has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Chio Lecca Fashion School  Perus most prominent school of fashion with the aim to be a leading voice in Latin Americas growing fashion industry. The Chio Lecca Fashion School seeks to develop local creative industries and share the cultural wealth of Peru with the world.

This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for our students and faculty. The goal of this cross-cultural partnership is for students to implement their knowledge and tackle challenges in real world situations. Travelling to Peru to work with local, Indigenous artists will provide them with a once-in-a-lifetime educational experience, said Kurt Muller, Dean, Faculty of Communication, Art & Design.

Beginning in May 2020, the Chio Lecca Fashion School will host a group of students from Senecas School of Fashion to participate in a two-week faculty-led program to learn about Peruvian textiles and techniques of natural dyeing. Students will meet with and learn from local master artisans and gain firsthand experience with a sustainable industry. Students will also learn about the challenges Andean communities face in the marketing and selling of their products and work together to propose a research project that offers real solutions.

This is an exciting partnership that will allow two great fashion schools to collaborate and share localized techniques with one another. I look forward to following the evolution of this relationship, said Monica Kronfli, Director of International Academic Pathways & Mobility at Seneca.

Canada is becoming an education partner of choice in Peru, and this new partnership between Seneca and Chio Lecca comes as a great opportunity for fashion students in both countries to share their experiences and learn from each other, said Diego Urbina, Education Trade Commissioner at the Embassy of Canada in Lima, Peru.

Story continues

Senecas School of Fashion has been an important player in educating multiple generations of fashion industry professionals. Through innovative opportunities that allow for an exchange of experience, knowledge and skills, Seneca will continue to pave the way for the next generation of creators and trend-setters.

More information about the Seneca-Chio Lecca partnership can be found here.

Amar Shah

Seneca College

416-491-5050 ext. 77567

amar.shah@senecacollege.ca


KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.  A Klamath Falls woman accused of striking and killing a road construction flagger with her car last summer pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge on Friday, according to court documents. A judge sentenced her to 100 months in prison, more than eight years.

The crash occurred along Highway 140 east of Klamath Falls on June 18 of 2019. 38-year-old Zahra Gonzales had been driving westbound when she entered a construction zone near Pine Grove Road, hitting 45-year-old Daniel Wessel. Wessel died at the scene.

Losses like Daniel's are heartbreaking. They are also preventable. Driving is a serious task. It requires preparation, vigilance, focus and clear decision-making. We ask that when you travel our roadways, that you make safe choices - always. https://t.co/zft9y4s8e7  OregonDOT (@OregonDOT) June 19, 2019 RT end_dd: #WednesdayWisdom #WW - Traffic safety experts classify distractions into three main types: manual, visual and cognitive. Get the facts here: https://t.co/OCpbFLwJ4o #DistractedDriving pic.twitter.com/UMcsWtQ7qB  Safe Roads Alliance (@Safe_Roads) February 6, 2020

"This tragic crash was completely preventable," District Attorney Eve Costello said in a statement on Thursday. "Ms. Gonzales was westbound on Highway 140, East of Klamath Falls. She entered the construction zone at a speed in excess of construction zone speeds. She had driven through this construction project multiple times that week."

While authorities did not charge Gonzales immediately, she was booked into the Klamath County Jail on a probation violation several days later.

On July 25, the Klamath County District Attorney's Office announced charges against Gonzales for Wessel's death, claiming that an Oregon State Police investigation had concluded Gonzales was both speeding and using her cell phone as she came upon the construction area where she hit Wessel.

"Ms. Gonzales estimated that her speed was at least 61 mph. Evidence showed that she was traveling directly into the setting sun," Costello said. "Witnesses stated that the glare made it incredibly difficult to see and required operators to travel at slow speeds, even without the construction zone."

"Additional evidence shows that Ms. Gonzales was taking multiple selfies while driving, documenting the glare of the sun and her distraction from the road," the DA continued. "The final picture was taken a mere 44 seconds before the 911 call was received. Gonzales behavior showed reckless disregard to other people on the road."

On Friday, Gonzales pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the Second Degree and was sentenced to 100 months in prison. As part of a plea agreement, the other charges against her  including First Degree Manslaughter, Criminally Negligent Homicide, and Reckless Driving  were dropped.

Gonzales may receive credit for time served and good behavior for a maximum of her last 25 months, but cannot be considered for a reduced sentence, conditional release, or work release for the first 75. She will also have to spend 20 months under post-prison supervision and pay more than $67,000 in restitution.

Costello said that Gonzales' driver's license has been "revoked for life."

The DA cited Oregon Department of Transportation data that found deaths and serious injuries from car crashes are on the rise. The primary cause, she said, is distracted driving.

"Taking a selfie or texting, looking at the phone for directions or trying to pick up a phone call, watching shows or switching to a different podcast or radio program," Costello said. "Hands free devices should be installed. Phones should be turned off or responded to by safely pulling into an area where you do not impede traffic and answering the message or call."

In a separate case that ended in October, Gonzales was convicted on citations for Driving While Suspended or Revoked and Driving Uninsured  also stemming from the day of the crash. She owes the court almost $1,200 for fees from those convictions.

"Remember, you cannot bring back a life. Mr. Wessel left behind a family; Parents who should never have to bury a child, a wife and four beautiful children, who will not be able to fish, play baseball, or be walked down the aisle by their father, siblings who grieve daily for the brother with whom they laughed and joked, and countless friends and coworkers," Costello concluded. "A beautiful soul is gone. The tragedy lives on with all those who knew him. No text or phone call is worth someone elses life."

This story has been updated with additional statements from the Klamath County District Attorney's Office.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday evoked both 'Mahabharata' and history to hit out at archrival BJP and urged the people of the country to unite to save the country.

She called BJP a "party of Dussasanas", the brother of Kaurava prince Duryodhana in the epic 'Mahabharata' and "offsprings of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq", the Sultan of Delhi from 1325-1351 known in history for his eccentric ways.

Lambasting the saffron party for trying to forcibly implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register, the TMC supremo, who has been among the strident critics of the BJP, said she would stop it "anyhow".

"The NPR, NRC and CAA are like black magic", she said and urged the people of the country to unite to save the nation.

"We(TMC) are not a party of Dussasanas like the BJP. They are the offsprings of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq and people must unite to save the country from them," Banerjee said while speaking at a public rally at Ranaghat in Nadia district.

Continuing to voice her opposition to the proposed country-wide NRC, she wondered whether the BJP-led government at the Centre would throw her out of the country because she do not have her mother's birth certificate.

The chief minister said despite her assurances over 30 people have so far died in the state because of the panic over the proposed implementation of the citizens register.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Millions of dogs infected with rabies are being killed in horrific slaughterhouses in Cambodia where 'drowning pits' are used to kill the animals.

The cruel practice sees helpless dogs kept in a foul-smelling shed covered in cobwebs on the outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh.

Huge concrete tubs are reportedly being used to kill the dogs so their meat can be sold for food, a charity has found.

In one image a chained up monkey can be seen in the building watching over one of the 'drowning pits', according to the Mirror.

Some animals were pictured in cramped cages, which had been piled up and stacked in the back of vans.

Cambodian dog meat traders are known to drown, strangle and stab thousands of canines a day.

The shadowy but widespread business traumatises the workers and exposes them to deadly health risks like rabies, according to local media.

A chained up macaque monkey was seen in the Cambodian dog slaughter house that was described as 'a scene from hell'

Dog were kept in cramped cages in the slaughter houses on the outskirts of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh

The dog meat trade in Cambodia sees millions of rabies-infected animals slaughtered, posing huge public health risks

Researchers say the dog meat trade is a public health crisis because it carries potentially animals infected with rabies, which can be transmitted to humans, all over the country.

Four Paws International charity discovered the gruesome practice in Phnom Penh hidden away near one of the country's busiest tourist attractions.

An estimated two to three million dogs are slaughtered every year in Cambodia, according to the NGO, which identified more than 100 dog meats restaurants in the capital Phnom Penh and about 20 in the temple town of Siem Reap.

South east Asia consultant for the charity, Matt Backhouse, who is originally from Britain but now works in the region, said there are many locations around the country where dogs are slaughtered.

More than half a dozen dog meat restaurants in Siem Reap province are situated within three miles of Angkor Wat temple - Cambodia's most famous tourist attraction that is visited by thousands of people from all over the world every year.

The disturbing images in Phnom Penh were captured by British environmental photojournalist, Aaron Gekoski, who described the scene as being 'from hell'.

NGO Four Paws International, identified more than 100 dog meats restaurants in the Phnom Penh and about 20 in the temple town of Siem Reap

Dog meat slaughterhouses were found hidden away near one of the country's busiest tourist attractions - just three miles from Angkor Wat temple

He told the Mirror: 'This imagery has been haunting my dreams, I can't get the dogs' terror out of my mind.

'The slaughterhouse with the macaque was a scene from hell. The stench, the sounds the dogs were making, the implements used to kill them scattered everywhere.

'It was heartbreaking to see the dogs put through such ordeals. Some were shaking and trembling, others throwing up or defecating everywhere.

'Some were biting at the cages, causing their teeth to fall out.'

Cambodia has one of the highest rates of rabies in the world, with most cases stemming from dog bites.

Demand for dog meat has been growing despite calls to ban it along with other countries known to carry out the practice also moving away from it.

Seoul, the South Korean capital, declared itself free of dog slaughterhouses last November after the last three meat shops in the city agreed to stop killing canines for food.

Live dog specimens can fetch $2 to $3 per kilo, giving suppliers an incentive to collect as many animals as possible.

One trader estimated he killed tens of thousands of dogs over the last five years.

South east Asia consultant for the charity, Matt Backhouse, who is originally from Britain but now works in the region to tackle the trade in dog meat

Gekoski added: 'Some people say why's eating a dog different from eating a chicken or cow? First off, 50 per cent of these dogs may have rabies, which can be transmitted to humans.

'Also, the methods used to collect, store and kill them are incredibly cruel and inhumane.

'Dogs are loyal and intelligent. They supposed to be man's best friend, yet look at what we're doing to them.'

Another meat trader who sells to local restaurants, quit his job as a scrap metal dealer to make money in the meat trade.

Kut Lan also said he risked being outcast from his community because eating dog meat was not in his culture.

He told the Mirror: 'When we have a dog with rabies, we kill it first, so it doesn't infect the others. It can be very dangerous collecting dogs as they have many diseases.

'It isn't a part of Khmer culture to eat dog meat, and many are against the trade.

'However, it helps to support my family, and I can make a good living. There aren't many job opportunities here.'
Plenty of writers have responded to our current political moment with depictions of various dystopian near-futures, but Zapatas stroke of brilliance is to set his book in the dystopian near-past. By portraying such recent apocalypses as the Argentine financial crisis of 2001, for instance, Zapata offers the insight that the world is not merely going to end, but already has ended countless times and is perpetually ending all of the time, especially if youre not rich, not white, not powerful (but also even if you are). The past devours the future, as a newspaper editor in Argentina puts it. The concept of parallel Earths  multiverses with multifarious storylines  recurs throughout, and thats where the book derives its well-earned underlying sense of hope: the thought that no matter how remote and unlikely, there are always other possibilities and opportunities, choices that could be made that dont have to be bad.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Illinois' top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Carson Pazdan

Nominated by Barrington High School

Carson, a sophomore at Barrington High School, has raised more than $150,000 and collected thousands of pounds of food over the past nine years to feed the hungry by publishing a kids' cookbook, conducting other fundraising activities and running two large food drives each year. When he was 5 years old, Carson often helped his mother in the kitchen and would play around with his own recipes. One evening, they talked about hunger. "The concept that not everyone had food to eat was new to me at that young age," he said. "I remember feeling both sad for people facing hunger and a strong urge to help feed them."

Carson decided to create a cookbook by kids, for kids. With help from his mother, he compiled recipes from more than 800 other young people, printed 2,000 cookbooks and recruited "an army of kids" to sell them at schools, churches and community events. The venture raised $40,000 for the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Carson then began conducting food drives twice a year at a local elementary school. Every May, he and other members of his "Kids Feeding Kids Club" ask parents to participate in a "drive-thru" event by loading their cars with food donations and dropping them off at the curb in front of the school. In October, students are given bags to take home and fill with food from their families' pantries. All the donations are sent to the Cuba Township Food Pantry. Carson's club also has organized fundraisers including "A Magical Matinee" at a movie theater and "Stars & Cars" at a car dealership -- all designed "to help feed our hungry neighbors," he said.

Middle Level State Honoree: Kellon Oldenettel

Nominated by South Jacksonville Elementary School

Kellon, a fifth-grader at South Jacksonville Elementary School, has collected more than 10,000 pairs of new socks over the past six years and distributed them to people in need through shelters, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, community organizations and the Salvation Army. Many years ago, Kellon's mother told him "about all the struggles and hardships people have in the world, and that many don't have what I have," he said. He asked if that meant some people don't have socks. Kellon immediately wanted to go to the store and buy some, but quickly realized that the need was probably too great for that solution. He called a few family members to help and placed a posting on Facebook. Within a few weeks, he had more than 500 pairs of socks.

Now, "Kellon's Sock Drawer" is a project that runs all year long. Starting in the winter, Kellon asks a half-dozen local businesses for permission to place decorated collection boxes on their premises, and stops by each location weekly to pick up donated socks. He also speaks to young people, community organizations and other groups about his mission. After he sorts and counts all the socks he's received, with the assistance of sorority sisters at a local college, Kellon begins the distribution process. He has donated socks to families impacted by house fires, to mission groups heading overseas and to chemotherapy infusion labs at hospitals, as well as to elementary schools, nursing homes and charitable organizations. In addition, Kellon personally hands out socks at public housing events, mobile food pantries and a local shelter. "No one deserves to have cold feet," he said.

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized eight other Illinois students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Illinois' Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Kayla Austin, 16, of Bolingbrook, Illinois, a junior at Cranbrook Schools, has volunteered hundreds of hours of her time to fight gun violence and encourage teen activism; she raised money to host two screenings of the film "The Hate U Give," followed by panel discussions with 300 young people in Chicago and Detroit. Kayla also developed and facilitated four "How to be a Teen Advocate" workshops at teen leadership conferences across the country.

Alexandra Collins, 15, of Hinsdale, Illinois, a sophomore at Hinsdale Central High School, started an initiative called "Students Against Ethylene Oxide (SAEtO)" with her sister, helping to fight the emission of a dangerous gas in her community; she spread awareness, organized a letter-writing campaign and protests, attended hearings and lobbied government officials. Alexandra and her organization have expanded to support legislation to ban similar emissions across the country.

Lucy Kuelper, 12, of Rio, Illinois, a member of Knox County 4-H and a seventh-grader at ROWVA Junior/Senior High School, started the "Move Over Project" to spread awareness about laws that require drivers to change lanes when a vehicle is stopped on the side of the road; her efforts include speaking at events, managing a social media page and connecting with legislative representatives. Lucy, whose father is a state trooper, had her project presented on the U.S. Senate floor by Senator Dick Durbin.

Morgan Larson, 16, of Barrington, Illinois, a junior at Barrington High School, started and runs "60010 Feeds Kids," a project that has raised more than $20,000 and packaged more than 80,000 meals for children experiencing food insecurity; her efforts include recruiting volunteers, securing corporate sponsors, holding fundraisers and establishing partnerships with other organizations. The project has benefitted more than 2,600 children worldwide.

Phillip Mathew, 17, of Hinsdale, Illinois, a senior at Hinsdale Central High School, worked with his brother to develop "Got Food?," a mobile app that allows users to locate nearby food pantries and soup kitchens, and determine their eligibility for food and housing benefits. Phillip regularly updates information and features on his app, has helped establish partnerships with other organizations fighting hunger, and co-authored a position paper on a piece of congressional legislation.

Ava Ramsey, 17, of Peoria, Illinois, a senior at Peoria Christian School, has volunteered hundreds of hours of her time working with middle school students in her community's drama program; her efforts include creating and teaching choreography, teaching technique, making props, managing lighting and sound and recruiting other volunteers. Ava, who has participated in drama herself, was inspired to start this volunteer activity by her mother and grandmother, who share her passion for the arts.

Susan Tatelli, 17, of Highland Park, Illinois, a senior at Highland Park High School, developed educational videos and materials to teach people how to administer epinephrine auto-injectors when someone is having an allergic reaction; she also speaks at events about her experience with allergies and has presented her educational curriculum to more than 2,000 people. Susan has also started translating her materials to Spanish to increase their reach.

Vivian Zhao, 18, of Naperville, Illinois, a senior at Naperville Central High School, founded and runs "All Hearts Count," a nonprofit organization that has donated six WoManikin attachments for CPR "manikins" CPR training dummies traditionally shaped like male bodies  to help students learn how to administer CPR on women; she has also organized several fundraisers in addition to raising awareness of her cause. Vivian started this project after learning that, due to factors including sexual harassment concerns, women are 15 percent less likely to receive CPR than men in public.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com .

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.

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High-profile brain surgeon Dr Charlie Teo and his wife Genevieve have split after about three decades of marriage.

In an exclusive statement to Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday, Professor Teo said the couple 'separated over two years ago but remain great friends.'

'This is something that is entirely private and confidential to us and not a matter of public interest,' he said.

Dr Teo's statement follows a turbulent year for the renowned, but controversial neurosurgeon, famous for his reputation of taking on patients who other doctors have deemed inoperable.

Officially separated: Dr Charlie Teo and his wife Genevieve separated late last year and confirmed the development in a statement to Daily Mail Australia

Charlie and his angels: Dr and Mrs Teo with their four daughters Alex, Nicola, Katie and Sophie at a Charlie Teo Foundation gala

Dr Teo, 62, and Genevieve Agnew met when he was 25 while she was working at hospital as a nurse.

The neurosurgeon has discussed his relationship with his wife in several newspaper and TV profiles and public speeches, and his family regularly support him at black tie galas for his brain cancer research foundation.

The couple's quiet separation surprised several stories, but Dr Teo and Mrs Teo believe it is a private matter.

Mrs Teo has not featured in photographs on the Charlie Teo Foundation's social media pages since May 2018.

Dr Teo's statement comes as the couple's second oldest daughter's alleged text and drive case faces court later this week.

Nicola Annabel Teo allegedly ran over the former 'supreme commander' of the Comanchero bikie gang, Jock Ross, in a horror road accident last September. Police were investigating whether she was on the phone at the time.

She was charged with dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, negligent driving, not driving on the left hand side of the road and other offences, and is yet to enter a plea.

That same month, Dr Teo found himself amid a media storm, when The Sydney Morning Herald published a story where unnamed colleagues made allegations against him of inappropriate conduct. The allegations included claims Dr Teo had made inappropriate comments and gestures, at work and at home.

At the time, a furious Dr Teo described the article as disturbing and claimed it 'lacked legitimate research, (had) nameless sources and a staggering number of inaccuracies'. He blasted the reporting as 'inaccurate' and 'sensational and biased'.

Criticism was also heaped upon the surgeon over patients paying six figure sums to fund their surgeries, with many turning to crowdfunding platforms, such as GoFundMe.

'I think it's just another example of trying to vilify Charlie Teo,' the neurosurgeon told 2GB last year.

The high private fees were charged as patients went outside the public system, he has explained.

Dr Teo said he would receive about $8,000 to $15,000 himself from a $120,000 surgery, with the rest shared among the medical team and to pay for costs.

Dr Teo and Mrs Teo on the red carpet with Marcella Zemanak (centre), the widow of broadcaster Stan Zemanak. He died in 2007 following a brain cancer fight

Dr Teo and his wife, Genevieve: the neurosurgeon has a reputation for taking patients other doctors won't. The couple met while she was working as a nurse

Nicola Teo at court with her sister during a previous appearance

In a 2018 newspaper interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Dr Teo said 'it was love at first sight' when he met Genevieve Agnew.

'Initially it was her beauty, but she also makes me laugh,' he was quoted saying.

'Genevieve is incredibly loyal. When colleagues attack me, she's by my side.'

The couple lived in the United States for a decade, where the brain surgeon's career 'blossomed', before deciding to return to Australia to raise their four children.

In an Australia Day address in 2012, Dr Teo said: 'It went like this: Genevieve to Charlie...'I'm going back to Australia. Are you coming?''

'It was a done deal. We decided to return to Australia for lifestyle reasons and for our children's heritage.

'We both wished for our children to be Australian and to grow up in Australia. Our reasoning was as simple as that.'

Mrs Teo and their daughters have long supported his Foundation's efforts to fight brain cancer.
- The Majority Leader in Parliament has called on former president John Dramani Mahama to avail himself for investigation over the recent Airbus bribery scandal

- Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu believes that since the alleged case happened during the time he was vice president and president, he needs to present himself

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has called on former president John Dramani Mahama to avail himself for questioning over the recent Airbus bribery scandal that happened in 2009 and 2015.

He said although Mahamas name was not clearly stated in the legal documents that disclosed the alleged deal, it is prudent for him to present himself to be probed since he served as Vice President and President within the period.

Speaking to Citi News, Kyei Mensah-Bonsu reminisced how the then Minority in Parliament's bid to get details about the deal that was raised on the floor of the House did not yield any results.

READ ALSO: Nigeria Customs intercepts over GHC37.4 million at Lagos airport

The issue we raised then was about suspicion and we wrote to the [Airbus] centres, the one in Brazil, Spain and finally France but we hit a roadblock in all of them

I think if former president [John] Mahama is committed to transparency and accountability, he should open himself up for these institutions to probe into the matter, he said.

The majority leader believes John Mahama, who is seeking to return to power, must allow himself to be probed to bring clarity on the matter.

He indicated that his caucus at the time had strong suspicions that something was wrong about the deal but the challenges in Parliament made it difficult for the minority to push further to get full details on the matter.

READ ALSO: Airbus Scandal: Akufo-Addo orders Amidu to probe bribery of Ghanaian official

In other news, President Akufo-Addo has ordered the office of the Special Prosecutor spearheaded by Martin Amidu to collaborate with its UK counterpart, the Serious Fraud Office to conduct a prompt inquiry into a reported Airbus bribery case.

In a statement shared by the director of communications at the presidency, the probe is to determine whether any government official, either past or present is involved in the said scandal.

According to the statement, if the probe goes on to confirm the allegations leveled against the said official, necessary legal action would be taken against him or her.

READ ALSO: Man gets big fortune when his Rolex watch bought for N125,414 in 1970 is valued at N254m

How convenient is it to use the new GHC 200 note at the market? | #Yencomgh

Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
Sam Curry, Chief Security Officer, Cybereason Sam Curry is on the shortlist of the cybersecurity industrys icons and he is a true visionary and leader on a global scale. Were very lucky to have him at Cybereason as he is not only a mentor to our employees but a global cybersecurity ambassador, said Lior Div, CEO and Co-founder, Cybereason.

Cybereason, creators of the leading Cyber Defense Platform, today announced that Sam Curry, its Chief Security Officer, was recently named a Visiting Fellow by the National Security Institute at George Mason Universitys Antonin Scalia Law School. Visiting Fellows hold senior positions in the private sector and academia. Curry is a cybersecurity industry icon and for more than 25 years has distinguished himself by having deep technology experience. In 2019, Curry received SC Medias Visionary Award for his contributions in shaping the cybersecurity industry.

Sam Curry is on the short list of the cybersecurity industrys icons and he is a true visionary and leader on a global scale. Were very lucky to have him at Cybereason as he is not only a mentor to our employees, but a global cybersecurity ambassador. Congratulations on this very distinguished achievement in a career that has been full of impressive highlights and accomplishments. With Sam, there is so much more to come, said Lior Div, CEO and Co-founder, Cybereason.

It is very humbling to be named a Visiting Fellow because there are tens of thousands of distinguished individuals that make up the fabric of the security industry. Today, nearly 30 years into my career, this industry is as challenging and inspiring as ever. This vibrant ecosystem passionately motivates me to change the security game for the better of us all, said Curry.

Curry was previously CTO and CSO at Arbor Networks, SVP Engineering and CISO at Microstrategy, and he held a number of senior roles at RSA, the Security Division of EMC (GM, SVP Products and CTO). He has done work on national defense, public policy, and establishing standards and protocols in security. He has also held a number of senior leadership roles at McAfee and CA, in two successful startups, and is on three security organization boards. He is a frequent speaker with BBC, CNN, MSNBC and other media outlets, a published author, a highly patented inventor, and a widely quoted security expert. He contributes regularly as an industry expert and visionary to Forbes.com.

About the National Security Institute

The National Security Institute serves as a platform for research, teaching, scholarship, and policy development that incorporates a realistic assessment of the threats facing the United States and its allies, as well as an appreciation of the legal and practical challenges facing U.S. intelligence, defense, law enforcement, homeland security, and cybersecurity communities. NSI draws on the experience of its visiting fellows, as well as its highly distinguished advisory board and faculty, to produce timely research and policy materials that deliver insightful analysis and actionable recommendations to senior policymakers in the White House and key departments and agencies, as well as those on Capitol Hill.

About Cybereason

Cybereason, creators of the leading Cyber Defense Platform, gives the advantage back to the defender through a completely new approach to cybersecurity. Cybereason offers endpoint prevention, detection and response and active monitoring. The solution delivers multi-layered endpoint prevention by leveraging signature and signatureless techniques to prevent known and unknown threats in conjunction with behavioral and deception techniques to prevent ransomware and fileless attacks. Cybereason is privately held and is headquartered in Boston, with offices in London, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Asia-Pacific and continental Europe.

Learn more: https://www.cybereason.com/

Follow us: Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Media Contact:

Bill Keeler

Senior Director, Global Public Relations

Cybereason

bill.keeler@cybereason.com

(929) 259-3261
Passenger Train T8701/MR2 from China to Vietnam will be suspended as from 18:05 on February 4 amidst the spread of the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus (nCoV).

Earlier the same day, the Ministry of Transport sent an urgent notice to the Vietnam Railway Authority, the Vietnam Railways and the Transport Department of the northern border provinces of Lao Cai and Lang Son, on the implementation of measures against the epidemic.

Under the notice, Train MR1/T8702 from Vietnam to China will be halted as from 21:20 on February 5.

The rail services will be resumed after the ministry issues a new notice.

Meanwhile, international cargo trains through railway stations in Lang Son and Lao Cai will maintain their usual operation.

The ministry asked the Vietnam Railway Authority and the Vietnam Railways to take countermeasures while keeping a close watch on the development of the disease.

As of February 4 morning, Vietnam had recorded nine nCoV cases, with the latest patient being a 30-year-old man in the northern province of Vinh Phuc, who returned to Vietnam from Chinas Wuhan in January on a Southern China flight, the same flight with four other Vietnamese previously tested positive for the novel virus.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, the deadly virus has now spread to 27 countries and territories worldwide, with 19,843 confirmed cases as of 6:00 on February 4./.
NAIROBI, Kenya  Daniel arap Moi, a former schoolteacher who became Kenyas longest-serving president and led the East African nation through years of repression and economic turmoil fueled by runaway corruption, died Tuesday at age 95.

Moi succeeded Kenyas founding president, Jomo Kenyatta, in 1978 and ruled for 24 years. His death was announced by Kenyattas son and current president, Uhuru Kenyatta, who called him a leader in the struggle for Kenyan independence and an ardent Pan-Africanist.

Moi died peacefully at a private hospital in Nairobi, said his son, Sen. Gideon Moi.

His critics called him a dictator for his authoritarian style, although Moi enjoyed strong support from many Kenyans and was seen as a unifying figure when he took over after the death of Jomo Kenyatta, who had led the country following its independence from Britain in 1963.

Some of Kenyattas allies had tried to change the constitution to prevent then-Vice President Moi from succeeding him. Moi was so wary of threats at the time that he fled his Rift Valley home when he learned of Kenyattas death, returning only after receiving assurances of his safety.

In 1982, Mois government pushed through parliament a constitutional amendment that made Kenya effectively a one-party state. Later that year, the army quelled a coup attempt by opposition members and some air force officers. At least 159 people were killed.

Although Kenya was known for its stability, Mois government became more repressive in dealing with dissent, according to a report by the governments Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission that assessed his rule. Political activists and others who dared oppose him were routinely detained, tortured and killed, the report said, including the death of a foreign affairs minister, Robert Ouko.

The judiciary became an accomplice in the perpetuation of violations, while parliament was transformed into a puppet controlled by the heavy hand of the executive, the report said.

Corruption, especially the illegal allocation of land, became institutionalized and economic power was centralized in the hands of a few, the report said.

In 1991, Moi yielded to public pressure at home and abroad for a multiparty state, including a demonstration where police killed more than 20 people.

Multiparty elections in 1992 and 1997 were marred by political and ethnic violence that critics blamed on the state.

By the time Moi left power in 2002, corruption had caused the contraction of Kenyas economy, the most developed in East Africa.

Tom Odula is an Associated Press writer.
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa  Although President Trump faces no real rivals in the Iowa caucuses, his campaign brought more than 80 surrogates into the state on Monday evening, where a half-dozen leading Democratic candidates were fiercely competing for the right to face him. The show of force by the presidents team included high-ranking officials and members of the Trump family, who appeared at a press conference where a protester was evicted after shouting that Trumps rhetoric is killing Jews.

Trumps surrogate army spread out across the state as voters prepared to cast the first votes in the two parties presidential primaries. The group, which included the presidents two oldest sons, as well as White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, gathered at a suburban hotel for an event billed as the Keep Iowa Great press conference.

It was the Trump campaigns second major event in Iowa ahead of the caucuses, following a rally in Des Moines on Jan. 31 where Trump himself spoke. It represented an unusual level of investment in a primary where the president faces no major opposition, and in a state where the president won comfortably in 2016. The Trump campaign explained its substantial presence in Iowa as an effort to flex its organizational muscle, not as a bid to compete for attention with the hotly contested Democratic primary.

Brad Parscale, the presidents campaign manager, addressed this as he kicked off the press conference. A lot of people ask why were here today, he said. The truth is, this is our first test of a grassroots army weve built. This is going to be the largest grassroots army the Republican Partys ever seen  or hopefully,  this countrys ever seen.

Parscale then introduced the other press conference speakers; the presidents oldest sons, Don Jr. (accompanied by his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle) and Eric, as well as Erics wife, Lara Trump. Trumps family mocked the presidents rivals and promised that he would bring in an epic victory.

Story continues

Lara Trump, a senior adviser on her father-in-laws campaign, boasted of the reelection efforts growing groups around specific coalitions, including veterans, women and African-Americans.

It is our job at the campaign to get these coalitions to go out there in their own communities, to teach them about how to talk to your friends and neighbors about Donald Trump, she said. Remind your friends and neighbors, if things are working for them right now, its thanks to Donald Trump, very simply.

Donald Trump Jr., at the podium, with his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle (right), appears with his brother Eric (second left) and Eric's wife, Lara, at a "Keep Iowa Great" press conference in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Eric Trump, an executive at his fathers real estate company, offered a bold prediction for the presidents chances in the general election.

Guys, we are going to beat them again, he said of the Democrats. We are going to beat them so much bigger this time.

He went on to dismiss criticism of his father and to praise the presidents record.

The American people look through whats happening. They see it as the nonsense that it is, Eric said, adding, They see the results. They see the economy. They see the unemployment. They see the rebuilding of our military. They see a guy whos actually willing to stick up for this country again. They see the protection of civil liberties and religious freedom. . Were saying Merry Christmas again. We werent saying that.

His brother, also a Trump Organization executive, joked about remarks his father made in a Fox News interview on Feb. 3 about former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Democratic presidential candidate.

Trump had tweeted that Bloomberg, who is 5-foot-8, had requested a box to stand on behind the lectern at the Democratic debate in Las Vegas on Feb. 19.

Whoa! On this stage, I feel like Mini Mike, Don said, standing alongside his brother and Parscale, who are both well over 6 feet tall.

Were from New York, the presidents oldest son continued. This was no secret. This is something [Bloomberg] is seriously insecure about, and hes spent years combatting.

As Trump mocked Bloomberg, a man named Elon Glickman walked up to the stage and began to shout at him.

Donald Trump Jr.! Im an American Jew, and ever since your father was elected president, more and more Jews are being gunned down every year, Glickman said.

Elon Glickman is dragged from a press conference in Des Moines, Iowa, as Donald Trump Jr. speaks with his brother Eric at a "Keep Iowa Great" on Feb. 3. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

In the last two years, there have been deadly shootings at two American synagogues by suspected white supremacists. Many progressives believe that Trump has not done enough to condemn white supremacy and neo-Confederate movements. As Glickman was hauled away by security, Don Trump Jr. countered by alluding to his fathers support for the Israeli government.

Well, I dont think anyones done more for Israel and for American Jews than Donald Trump, so you can keep going, he said.

You are killing Jews! All of you! All of you in here are killing Jews! Glickman shouted, as he was escorted out of the door.

Before the incident, Glickman said he was at the press conference representing the Jewish newspaper the Forward. Although he wrote one article for the paper in 2018, the newspapers editor in chief, Jodi Rudoren, said that he was not in fact covering the press conference for the publication. In a message to Yahoo News after the event, Glickman said he was affiliated with a group called Jews against white nationalists. According to his Twitter page, Glickman belongs to the organization IfNotNow, which opposes the right-wing government in power in Israel.

Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House last week, where he unveiled an outline for a Middle East peace treaty, which the Palestinian Authority rejected as unacceptably tilted toward Israel.

After Glickman was removed from the room, Don Jr. gave a plug for the book that he released last year, which mounts a critique of liberal activists.

This is why I wrote the book Triggered, folks.  Donald Trump, whos done more for the state of Israel, whos defended Jews  there are Democrats in Congress saying anti-Semitic things, he said.

After addressing the interruption, Don Jr. continued his jabs against Democrats. He framed them as lunatics on the left whove been taken over by the commie division of the party and denounced climate action as wasting trillions to prevent farting cows and air travel.

Don Jr. concluded with a vow  the Trump roadshow will roll on throughout the election.

I promise you one thing, he said. Over the next 10 months, Donald Trump will make this very, very entertaining for you all.

_____

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NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has softened his position on a national inquiry into the season's deadly bushfires after previously saying he did not know what a royal commission would achieve.

Speaking on the ABC's RN Breakfast on Wednesday morning, Mr Fitzsimmons said it was critical for the state and federal government to "take lessons" from this year's season, doubling down on his description of the fires as "unprecedented".

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said state and federal governments need to "take lessons" from this fire season. Credit:AAP

"I'm not sure what the parameters are of the inquiry; what you brand it, what you call it, I really couldn't care less about," Mr Fitzimmons said.

"At the end of the day, the critical thing is, and what the premier's done and what the Prime Minister's done is make sure we do take lessons. We cannot go through a season like we've just gone through and not seek to take stock of what's happened and learn from what's happened.
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Pregnant women can be hypochondriacs since they are literally carrying another life inside of them and they are constantly reminded to be careful. But it is difficult, especially when the news is flooded with reports about the coronavirus. The virus originated in Wuhan, China, but as of late January 2020, it has spread to 18 countries around the world and around 8,000 cases worldwide, including 170 deaths, have been recorded.

In America, there are six confirmed cases. On January 30, America reported its first case of human-to-human transmission, it happened when an infected patient was diagnosed with the virus from his wife who had recently returned from Wuhan.

What is coronavirus?

According to the CDC, or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are seven different types of coronavirus known to infect humans. A lot of them are mild and can cause minor illnesses such as colds, but some forms of the virus, specifically MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, can cause severe illness.

The form of coronavirus that is currently capturing headlines is 2019-nCoV and it is also referred to as novel coronavirus or the Wuhan coronavirus. On January 30, the World Health Organization declared the virus a global health emergency. Known as a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern", this term is used to describe an extraordinary event that puts the public health in multiple countries at risk, and it requires a coordinated international response.

The virus was only recently found to infect humans, according to Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., a senior scholar at the John Hopkins Center for Health Security and an infectious disease expert, There are a lot of scientists that are still trying to learn about it.

How does the virus spread?

The coronavirus spreads from an infected person to other people through respiratory drops that get into the air by sneezing or coughing, according to the CDC. Close contact with an infected person, like shaking hands or touching, or touching a surface that has been contaminated with the virus and then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth before you wipe or wash your hands can also spread the virus.

People who have had confirmed cases of novel coronavirus have experienced shortness of breath, coughing and high fever. The symptoms can appear anywhere from two to 14 days after a person has been exposed, and they have ranged from causing mild illness to severe cases.

What does it mean for pregnant women?

Scientists are still trying to learn more about the virus and how it can impact people. According to Rajeev Fernando, M.D., an infectious disease expert in Southampton, New York, says that pregnant women are immunocompromised and they are more susceptible to complications of respiratory infections like coronavirus. He recommends doing your best to follow precautions, like practicing good hand hygiene and avoiding crowded places and touching non-family members. If you happen to be in a crowded area, you need to wear a face mask for protection.

It is worth noting that scientists do not believe that coronavirus would impact your baby, even if you did happen to contract the virus. Dr. Fernando says that there are no respiratory viruses that are known to cross the fetus. Overall, experts stress that the risk to contract the virus is low, but you should still be aware of and educated about the coronavirus. Currently, the virus poses a low threat in America, but people, especially pregnant women, are asked to be cautious.

ALSO READ: Healthy Pregnancy: Why Expecting Moms Need Flu Shots
- A former Head of Department of Mathematics at the University of Ghana, Dr. Margaret McIntyre, has died at age 64

- Dr. Margaret McIntyre also worked as a Math lecturer and served as departmental examination officer before she retired in 2015 as head of the Math department

- Dr. Margaret McIntyre died on January 25, 2020

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

Dr. Margaret McIntyre, a former Head of Department of Mathematics at the University of Ghana has died at age 64.

Her demise has stirred up a series of consolatory tributes from friends and former students.

Northwestfunerals.com reports that Dr. Margaret McIntyre passed away peacefully at Midura Base Hospital, Australia, on January 25, 2020.

The former lecturer of Mathematics at the University of Ghana left behind two daughters, Jim (dec) and Joyce McIntyre.

Dr. McIntyre first arrived in Ghana in 1997 and began her career as a Math lecturer at the university upon the advice of her Ghanaian husband Professor Agbedazi.

The late doctor met her husband while they were pursuing their Ph.D programmes in Australia.

READ ALSO: Ibrahim Mahama pays surgery bills for 6-year-old boy to save him from total blindness

Until she retired in 2015, Dr. McIntyre served as a departmental examination officer and in August 2009, she was appointed as the Head of Department at the University of Ghana.

Although she resigned, she continued to teach and finally brought her over two decades of dedicated and selfless service to Ghana to an end in 2016/2017.

Reports confirm that after over 20 years as a lecturer of Mathematics at the university, Dr Margaret McIntyre bowed out and left Ghana in 2017.

Not much was heard of renowned Dr. McIntyre until it was announced that she died on January 25, 2020, at the age of 64.

The late Dr Margaret Lesley McIntyre was laid to rest following a graveside funeral service at Murray Pines Lawn Cemetery on Monday February 3, 2020.

Dr. McIntyres demise has already stirred emotional tributes from some of her former students on social media.

''My heart broke when I heard my mathematical mother is dead. In my life up till now, I have learnt mathematics from 3 people and she was the first. Two people have taught me an attitude in mathematics and she was the first,'' El Mono, a Ph.D student of Mathematics at Queen's University wrote on Facebook.

He continued: ''Such a smart but humble woman. I remember in my first year of undergrad she mentioned my full name when she hadn't taught me yet and told me to stay in math. During my upper levels, she will drop whatever she is doing to listen to my damp questions and make sure I understand. Last two years during my visit in Ghana she called me to her house and talked (advised) to me. What she said to me was priceless. You will always remain in my heart.''

''Our former head of department. My her humble soul find rest,'' Dadieso Napuss wrote in response to El Mono's post.

Piesie Nana Kwasi Asiedu-Sakyi said: ''Rest well ma'am!!''

In other stories, YEN.com.gh reported that the Director of the University of Londons School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS, Baroness Valerie Amos, has been appointed the new Master of University College at Oxford University.

With her appointment taking effect from August 1, 2020, Baroness Amos becomes the first-ever Black College Head to occupy that position since the university was established.

READ ALSO: The Bible is powerless - Osofo Kyiri Abosom 'trashes' the Holy Book

READ ALSO: ADISCO's Elvis Tefe takes over ITMOC school tour with skillful dance moves

Enjoyed reading our story? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news!

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, has co-sponsored a bill to protect voter registration systems against foreign hacking.

The Protect American Voters Act would direct the Election Assistance Commission to issue guidelines regarding the security of non-voting election equipment including electronic pollbooks, election night reporting systems, online voter registration systems and other equipment, according to a news release.

In addition, the bill would establish the Election Cyber Assistance Unit to connect local and state election officials with leading election administration and cybersecurity experts from across the country.

Securing our elections includes prioritizing the protection of voters personal information, which has been at risk to foreign hacking for too long, Stefanik said in a news release. I am proud to co-sponsor this bill to ensure election equipment is utilized in a way that protects voter information, and that states are provided with resources and guidance to secure their individual election systems. I am a staunch advocate for measures to protect American elections from any foreign interference, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance this effort.

Improving credit history

Stefanik voted against legislation that would make it easier for borrowers to improve their credit if they fall behind on a private student loan.

The Student Borrower Credit Improvement would provide flexibility for borrowers who are falling behind on their payments because of some significant financial distress, are deployed by the military or live in an area impacted by a natural disaster and are unable to work, according to remarks made by its sponsor, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Presley, a Democrat from Massachusetts.

Borrowers who have made nine out of 10 consecutive payments on their payments would have any derogatory remarks removed from their credit profile.

The bill passed by a party-line vote of 221-186.

Stefanik spokeswoman Maddie Anderson did not immediately respond to an inquiry seeking an explanation of why the congresswoman voted no.

Paid family leave backed

Stefanik testified last week in support of legislation that would help working families cover the cost of parental leave, infant care or expenses associated with giving birth or adopting a child.

The Advancing Support for Working Families Act would allow people to advance up to $5,000 of their child tax credit, so they can get upfront financial assistance.

Developing solutions to help new parents and working families thrive in this modern workforce is necessary for the continued economic success of our nation and the well-being of the next generation of Americans, she said in a news release.

Agricultural disaster declaration

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued a Primary Agricultural Disaster designation for all 12 counties in the NY-21 Congressional District.

This designation came after excessive rain and weather events led to massive crop losses last year, and it makes farmers eligible for certain assistance.

Farmers have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for emergency loans.

State of the Union guest

Stefanik is bringing New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher as her guest to Tuesdays State of the Union.

Fishers family has been operating Mapleview Dairy for four generations in Madrid, in St. Lawrence County.

The State of the Union is set to begin at 9 p.m.

Restoring casino money

Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, and state Sen. Daphne Jordan, are lobbying Gov. Andrew Cuomo to restore aid that he has cut from his executive budget that comes from slot machines.

Cuomo is seeking to cut video lottery terminal aid for municipalities outside of Yonkers. This would cost the city of Saratoga Springs $2.3 million and Saratoga County $775,000, according to a news release.

The lawmakers pointed out that the Saratoga Casino Hotel has contributed more than $1 billion to the state in education aid since January 2004. Saratoga Springs draws tens of thousands of visitors annually and the city relies on this VLT aid to offset some of the costs associated with these guests.

State budget spokesman Freeman Klopott defended Cuomos proposal in a statement.

Local governments across the state benefit from hosting video lottery terminal facilities in the form of increased sales taxes associated with the facility and from those who visit it and spend in their communities, far outweighing any possible costs associated with hosting one, Klopott said.

Endorsements roundup

Candidates picked up the following endorsements last week:

The Washington County Democratic Committee has endorsed Tedra Cobb in the 21st Congressional District; Kimberly Davis for the 45th Senate District; Claudia Braymer for the 114th Assembly District and Carrie Woerner for re-election in the 114th Assembly District.

Braymer has picked up the endorsement of the Saratoga County Democratic Committee.

Greg Canale has been endorsed by the Warren County Conservative Committee for the position of Warren County Court judge. Canale is running against Glens Falls City Court Judge Nikki Moreschi for the Democratic nomination. Rob Smith, principal court attorney for Warren County Court Judge John Hall, has the Republican endorsement.

Reach Michael Goot at 518-742-3320 or mgoot@poststar.com and follow his blog poststar.com/blogs/michael_goot/.

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By IANS

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to be "very upset" with party Karnataka MP Ananthkumar Hegde's comments on Mahatma Gandhi, say sources. So much so that not only a showcause notice is being served to him but he may face temporary suspension from attending BJP's Parliamentary party meetings.

The notice that is being served to Hegde seeks to know why action should not be taken against the lawmaker. The BJP is also mulling him to block from attending the Parliamentary party meeting for the rest of the Budget session.

ALSO READ: Anant Kumar Hegde unfit to continue as MP - Congress

This strong action against Hegde is being thought about, after the PM expressed his deep displeasure to the BJP top brass on Monday. The BJP too thinks it to be counterproductive, given the BJP-led Centre celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi amid much fanfare.

The former Union Minister had attacked Mahatma Gandhi while addressing an event in Bengaluru, and termed the freedom movement as drama, questioning how such people could be called Mahatma.

ALSO READ: Condemning Hegde's remark on Gandhi, top BJP leadership asks him to take 'remedial measures'

The MP from Uttara Kannada has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Hegde alleged that "the freedom movement was staged with consent and support of the British".

"It was not a genuine fight but was an adjustment freedom struggle," he had said.
Christian Pulisic has targeted Chelseas Premier League clash with Manchester United for his return to action.

The 58million signing from Borussia Dortmund has been missed since picking up a thigh injury at the start of January which has kept him on the sidelines for five weeks.

The 21-year old was in the stands for Saturdays 2-2 draw with Leicester City but returned to training at the end of last week and believes he will be fit for selection when Chelsea face United after the winter break on Monday, February 17.

Christian Pulisic has been out of action for Chelsea since the start of January

Manager Frank Lampard also hopes the break will give valuable rest to Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and NGolo Kante.

Lampard said after Saturdays 2-2 draw at Leicester: The break might have come at a good time because it buys us a couple of weeks.

'I won't have an answer [on when Pulisic can return] until we're back training.

'He's a quality player and was having a really good patch pre-Christmas. Others have to stand up too but of course we'll be happy to have him back.
Cancun taxi passenger killed in two-car collision

Cancun, Q.R.  The passenger of a taxi involved in an accident in Cancun has died after being hit by another car.

The accident happened on Av. Nichupte around 4:00 a.m. when emergency personnel received the call of a two-car collision. Elements of the Quintana Roo Police along with Transit Police and an ambulance arrived at the site of the accident. Paramedics confirmed that one person had died.

The crash left one passenger dead and two others, both drivers, in serious condition. The injured, the 34-year-old taxi driver from Veracruz and 17-year-old male from Cancun, were rushed to hospital where they are listed in serious condition.

The identity of the deceased taxi passenger has not been released. Other details regarding the accident have also not been released.
ELKO  Sheriff Aitor Narvaiza is asking opponents of Nevadas new red flag gun law to attend this weeks county commission meeting, where he will be asking the county to join a lawsuit against it.

I feel these Red Flag laws are unconstitutional and they affect every law-abiding person In Elko County and state of Nevada, Narvaiza said on his offices Facebook site. The red flag laws deal with the confiscation of our rights. We will be the only county to my knowledge that will lead the way for other counties to join and support us.

A citizens organization called NevadaCAN filed a lawsuit in December to prevent AB291 from becoming law on Jan. 1.

The Elko County Commissions Feb. 5 agenda calls for commissioner to discuss and consider authorizing the county to intervene, file an amicus brief or take other action in  NevadaCAN vs. Steve Sisolak, Governor.

The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of AB 291, and specifically alleges that the law violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Section 11 of the Nevada Constitution.

In general, a red flag law is a gun control law that permits law enforcement or family members to petition a court to order the temporary removal of firearms from a person who may present a danger to others or themselves. A judge makes the determination to issue the order, the county explains on its agenda.

Commissioners meet at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Nannini Administration Building, Suite 102, 540 Court St.

Lets take these politicians on and show that we will not back down without a fight, Narvaiza said. So please show up at the commissioners meeting. Write letters and call them with support 

After the sheriff posted his announcement on Thursday, The Ely Times reported Saturday that White Pine County Commissioners unanimously approved a similar resolution at the request of their sheriff, Scott Henriod.

It shouldnt just be a hearsay thats brought before a judge and then an order signed and then expecting law enforcement to enforce that, Henriod told commissioners. Every person should have a right to go in and defend themselves and face their accusers, and that is in our constitution of the United States.

Eureka County Sheriff Jesse Watts has also vowed to fight the governor on the new law until there is no fight left in me, The Nevada Independent reported in January.

NevadaCAN has started a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for the lawsuit, which has yet to be heard in Carson City District Court.

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URBANA, Ill. - Alexander County sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, at the southernmost tip of Illinois. The sparsely populated jurisdiction is perhaps best known for devastating floods resulting from repeated failures of the Len Small levee in 1993, 2011, and 2016. Homes and businesses have been severely damaged, residents stranded, and rich agricultural land irreversibly degraded by sand deposition and erosion.

Despite the severity of past flooding, the levee has been left unrepaired since 2016, leaving the area to flood every year since. Residents, land owners, county officials, and area lawmakers are clamoring for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair the breached levee. However, a new study led by a University of Illinois soil scientist predicts the levee will continue to fail even if repaired, and more extensive intervention is needed to prevent future flooding.

"Because the levee is built on unconsolidated ancient Ohio River valley alluvial sediments, which are easily eroded by the Mississippi River, any patch or repair will only be a short-term solution. The levee is very likely to fail again during a future major flooding event," says Kenneth Olson, professor emeritus in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at U of I.

In the study, Olson and co-author David Speidel, retired resource conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, recount the re-alignment of the ancient and modern Mississippi River during the last 15,000 years.

Prior to the 1880s, the Mississippi River had multiple "relief valves" in the region. That is, when the river reached flood stage, excess water would naturally overtop river banks and flow into lowland areas like the Big Swamp, southwest of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Olson and Speidel say shifting land use priorities, such as creating agricultural land by draining wetlands, spurred construction projects that dramatically changed the behavior of the river.

"Between 1880 and 1943, a diversion channel, embankment, and four levees were built in the area. They were designed to capture upland runoff, protect agricultural lands, and channel the river," Olson says. "But the levees cut off water storage areas that acted as relief valves at flood stage and significantly narrowed the river south of the Thebes Gap, increasing the volume, velocity, and water depth in the Mississippi River's main channel."

Compounding the problem, precipitation has increased 37% in the upper Midwest in the past 50 years. Olson says the convergence of fast-melting winter snowpack and high-precipitation events in the upper reaches of the river have increased runoff, exceeding the river channel's capacity.

As the Mississippi River snakes around Dogtooth Bend at the southern tip of Illinois, certain curved segments of the riverbank take the brunt of the river's erosive power. One of those spots, a section of the Len Small levee near Miller City, first failed in 1993. The breach was repaired that year, but the levee breached again in 2011 and 2016. In 2011, farmers patched it themselves, but the 2016 breach was too extensive for a do-it-yourself repair. The cost to fix it was an estimated $16 million, including a required $3-million local match. Without funds to make the necessary repairs, floodwaters now cross the Dogtooth Bend peninsula between river mile markers 33 and 15 every year.

Speidel says, "In the event a solution is not found and acted on to correct the 2016 levee breach, the agricultural land and roads on Dogtooth Bend peninsula will continue to degrade and the channel will continue to extend across the peninsula with each subsequent flooding event."

Navigation in the region has been impacted, as well. When floodwaters crossed the peninsula in 2019, six barges and multiple shipping lane markers got caught in the bypass flow. Eventually, the barges crossed the Miller City road, took out power lines, and finally came to rest on a farmer's irrigation system. Only four of the six barges could be removed before the floodwaters receded.

According to Olson, Dogtooth Bend farmers have been unable to produce crops during the last four growing seasons, and some have already sold their farm equipment. He says, "It is impossible for farmers to pay their farmland assessment tax bill without producing any crops. This degraded land needs an updated soil survey to assess the extent of soil damages, and degraded agricultural lands should now be taxed at a lower rate as either 'other land' or as 'conservation land.'

"As the frequency of intense precipitation events increase, the Illinois and Missouri levee systems are likely to fail repeatedly if maintained at their previous or current height, location, and strength. The current Army Corps solution - temporarily blocking the erosion with large rocks to prevent the navigation channel from moving - is not working in the Dogtooth Bend area," he adds. In fact, flooding has already started in 2020.

Olson and Speidel outline an alternate plan that acknowledges the current realities of the river, which seems determined to cut across the Dogtooth Bend peninsula. "Combinations of land use changes, a floodway bypass, expanded floodwater storage in the confluence area, and river training structures such as weirs, wing dikes, and step dikes are needed to address the flooding and maintain the existing Mississippi River shipping channel," Olson says.

More specifically, the plan calls for a wholesale shift in land use in the Dogtooth Bend peninsula area, from agriculture to wetlands, forest, wildlife habitat, and floodwater storage. "The current land owners will need to be compensated for any land use change," Olson asserts.

In addition, Olson and Speidel propose a new combined levee and causeway to keep the Miller City-to-Olive Branch road passable during flooding. They suggest the project could be funded from local and state highway funds in partnership with the Mississippi River Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The elevated causeway would further protect farmsteads and farmland that have not yet been degraded by past flooding events. Conservation easements are also being proposed for the degraded lands already affected by past flooding events.

###

The article, "Why does the repaired Len Small levee, Alexander County, Illinois, U.S. continue to breach during major flooding events?" is published in the Open Journal of Soil Science [DOI: 10.4236/ojss.2020.101002]. The research was supported by USDA, NIFA, Water Division, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at Illinois.
The lethal coronavirus outbreak has halted visa processing, closed the U.S. border to foreign nationals who were recently in China, and limited flights  hitting Bay Area companies and their employees with work visas hard.

Its a nightmare for Silicon Valley employers, said attorney Philip Levin, managing partner at Philip Levin & Associates headquartered in San Francisco.

Tech companies are major employers of foreign nationals on work visas, although most remained tight-lipped when asked about the impact of the new travel restrictions on their employees or recruitment.

On Sunday, the White House implemented travel restrictions that bar foreign nationals who have been in China for the past two weeks from entering the country. Permanent residents and close family members are exempt, but those holding work permits like the H-1B visa granting temporary residence are not. Local immigration lawyers said the restrictions affect Chinese nationals waiting for U.S. visas, Bay Area residents and visitors whose visas will soon expire, and business travelers in China unable to come back to the U.S.

San Francisco attorney Suhi Koizumi said she has clients stuck on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. One man traveled to Beijing with his wife to renew his work visa, only to be trapped when the travel ban hit, leaving behind their elementary school-age son in San Francisco with his grandparents visiting from China.

Now theyre stuck, Koizumi said. There are no flights. If you were planning to apply for a visa, all visa appointments are canceled with no promises or expectation on when theyll start taking appointments again.

On Jan.23, the U.S. government evacuated noncritical consulate staff from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the virus. A week later, the government broadened evacuations to consulates in other major cities. The State Department canceled visa appointments this week, with a limited number of emergency appointments available, and has not announced when theyll resume again.

Chinese nationals seeking to visit the U.S. received more than 1 million business visas in the federal fiscal year that ended in June 2018, more than for any other country, according to federal immigration data. They also received more than 100,000 student visas and more than 33,000 work visas that same year. Chinese nationals also received the second highest number of H-1B visas in the country in fiscal 2018  12% of the total (India had far more).

One of Levins clients who lives in San Mateo County and owns a business in the Central Valley is unable to leave Shanghai while he waits to get a visa. When the coronavirus outbreak started to raise global alarm, the consulate denied his visa, but Levin said he hasnt received any written reason why.

A process that should have taken a couple of days to get his passport back has turned into more than 10 days in limbo  and his lawyer said the client still doesnt have his travel document in hand, leaving him stranded as the coronavirus death toll rises.

Correction An earlier version of the story incorrectly stated where a Chinese resident of San Mateo County has a business. It is in the Central Valley. See More Collapse

Even before travel was restricted, it was growing difficult to get out of the country. Commercial airlines began dropping flights from the U.S. to China. Major carriers like American, Delta and United announced they would stop service this week through the end of March. After the White House announced travel restrictions Friday to start Sunday, flight prices skyrocketed as Chinese immigrants scrambled to get back to the U.S.

Lynden Melmed at Berry Appleman & Leiden, a San Francisco corporate immigration law firm, said he and his colleagues are representing a large number of individuals who either were imminently coming to the U.S. to work or had left the country for business or personal travel on work visas and are now stuck outside.

We have been working through the weekend on contingency plans to get them back into the country, either to extricate them from China or make alternative plans, Melmed said. Only a small number of individuals could reschedule flights before the restrictions went into effect. Now, the firm is looking at contingencies depending on the persons nationality  not all are from China  to get them out of the country.

But mainland Chinas neighbors like Hong Kong, which recorded its first coronavirus death Tuesday, have implemented similar travel restrictions to the U.S., leaving few options for foreign nationals in China.

They cant get out of China, Levin said. There is this sense that theyre quarantined until they lift these restrictions for people.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Koizumi is encouraging clients to leave China as soon as possible and wait out the two-week ban in Mexico or Canada before returning to the U.S. For those in the U.S. whose visas will expire soon, shes telling them to apply for extensions so they dont have to go back to China.

San Francisco lawyer Lisa Spiegel is representing a Chinese client in Silicon Valley whose work visa will expire soon. Its the State Departments policy that applicants return to their home country to get a visa stamp for renewal  but this applicant is trying to see if he can go to Mexico to get it instead.

If youre only going because youre scared to go back to China because of the virus, we dont know if theyll consider that, Spiegel said. Its unprecedented, its never happened before.

Theyre all petrified, she said of her clients from China, who work in industries ranging from tech to advertising.

As companies wait for workers to come back, theyre forced to look at staffing and plan for uncertainty, Melmed said. And once restrictions are lifted, visa processing in China will be backlogged, he added.

Google, Oracle and Facebook did not respond to requests for comment on how many employees or applicants were affected and how they are dealing with the travel restrictions.

The health and safety of our employees is our top priority, a Twitter representative said in an email. Weve advised employees to follow public health officials recommendations regarding travel within the region, including instructions to defer all nonessential travel to mainland China.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench
The Reserve Bank of Australia kept interest rates unchanged at 0.75 per cent at its first meeting of the year, although it is prepared to reduce interest rates further should the economy require it.

With interest rates having already been reduced to a very low level and recognising the long and variable lags in the transmission of monetary policy, the Board decided to hold the cash rate steady at this meeting, RBA governor Philip Lowe said.

The Board will continue to monitor developments carefully, including in the labour market. It remains prepared to ease monetary policy further if needed to support sustainable growth in the economy, full employment and the achievement of the inflation target over time.

Ahead of the release of its latest forecasts in Fridays Statement on Monetary Policy (SoMP), the RBA flagged a return of underlying inflation to the bottom of its 2-3 per cent target band for the first time since late 2015.

In underlying terms, inflation is expected to increase gradually to 2 per cent over the next couple of years, Dr Lowe said.

That view was underpinned by an expectation that sluggish economic growth wont last, even with the near-term threat posed by bushfire activity and Chinas coronavirus outbreak.

The central scenario is for the Australian economy to grow by around 2.75 per cent this year and 3 per cent next year, which would be a step up from the growth rates over the past two years, Dr Lowe said.

The expected acceleration in growth is tipped to be driven by the household sector.

Consumption growth is expected to pick up gradually, Dr Lowe said. The overall outlook is also being supported by the low level of interest rates, recent tax refunds, ongoing spending on infrastructure, a brighter outlook for the resources sector and, later this year, an expected recovery in residential construction.

The latter was an addition to the February statement, adding an additional tailwind for the economy thanks to a sharp rebound in home prices in Sydney and Melbourne, a recovery in home loan lending and signs of a bottoming in the housing construction cycle.

There are continuing signs of a pick-up in established housing markets. This is especially so in Sydney and Melbourne, but prices in some other markets have also increased, Dr Lowe said.

With economic growth tipped to improve, the RBA anticipates unemployment will gradually fall as spare capacity in the labour market diminishes.

It is expected to remain around this level for some time, before gradually declining to a little below 5 per cent in 2021, Dr Lowe said.

However, those looking for a hefty pay rise look set to remain disappointed.

Wages growth is subdued and is expected to remain at around its current rate for some time yet, he said.

Internationally, Dr Lowe also offered a glass-half-full assessment on the outlook for the global economy.

There have been signs that the slowdown in global growth that started in 2018 is coming to an end. Global growth is expected to be a little stronger this year and next than it was last year and inflation remains low almost everywhere, he said.

Despite the optimist view, Dr Lowe acknowledged the ongoing risk posed by the US-China trade conflict, along with the coronavirus outbreak in China.

Another source of uncertainty is the coronavirus, which is having a significant effect on the Chinese economy at present. It is too early to determine how long-lasting the impact will be, he said.

With the RBA flagging additional tailwinds for the economy from both domestic and international factors, at odds with the view of financial markets who continue to expect one, if not two, rate cuts this year, the Australian dollar has spiked following the announcement, jumping as much as 0.5 per cent to 67.24 US cents.

Both short and longer-term bond yields have rallied around 5 basis points while the odds of a 25 basis point rate cut in March have tumbled to 33 per cent, down from 66 per cent earlier in the session.
(Reuters) - Airlines are suspending flights to China in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak.

Here is the latest on their plans (in alphabetical order):

AIR CANADA (AC.TO)

Air Canada said on Jan. 28 it was cancelling select flights to China.

AIR FRANCE (AIRF.PA)

Air France said on Jan. 30 it had suspended all scheduled flights to and from mainland China until Feb. 9.

AIR INDIA

Air India said it was cancelling its Mumbai-Delhi-Shanghai flight from Jan. 31 to Feb. 14.

AIR NEW ZEALAND (AIR.NZ)

Air New Zealand said on Feb. 1 it would suspend its Auckland-Shanghai service from Feb. 9 to March 29 due to travel restrictions affecting crew and a decline in forward bookings.

AIR SEOUL

South Korean budget carrier Air Seoul said on Jan. 28 it had suspended all flights to China.

AIR TANZANIA

Tanzanias state-owned carrier said it would postpone its maiden flights to China. It had planned to begin charter flights to China in February.

AMERICAN AIRLINES (AAL.O)

American Airlines said it would cancel flights to Beijing and Shanghai starting Jan. 31, and run through March 27, though it would continue to fly to Hong Kong.

AUSTRIAN

Austrian Airlines said it was suspending flights to China until the end of February.

BRITISH AIRWAYS (ICAG.L)

BA said on Jan. 30 it had canceled all flights to mainland China for a month.

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS (0293.HK)

Hong Kongs Cathay Pacific said it would progressively reduce capacity to and from mainland China by 50% or more from Jan. 30 to the end of March.

DELTA AIR LINES (DAL.N)

Delta Air Lines accelerated earlier announced suspensions: the last China-bound flights were due to leave on Feb. 1, and the last returning flights from China were due to leave China on Feb. 2.

EGYPTAIR

Egypts flag carrier said on Jan. 30 it would suspend all flights to and from China starting Feb. 1.

EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES (ELAL.TA)

El Al Israel Airlines said on Jan. 30 it was suspending flights to Beijing until March 25. Israels Health Ministry said it would not allow flights from China to land at its airports.

EMIRATES/ETIHAD

The United Arab Emirates, a major international transit hub, on Monday suspended flights to and from China, except for Beijing. The UAE suspension, which state media said was until further notice, effects Dubais Emirates, one of the worlds biggest long-haul airlines, and Abu Dhabis Etihad Airways.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES

The African carrier on Jan. 30 denied reports it had suspended all flights to China. The airlines statement contradicted its passenger call center, which told Reuters earlier in the day that flights to China had been suspended.

FINNAIR (FIA1S.HE)

Finlands Finnair said on Jan. 31 it was cancelling all flights to mainland China between Feb. 6 and Feb. 29 and to Guangzhou between Feb. 5 and March 29.

HAINAN AIRLINES

Chinas Hainan Airlines has suspended its flights between Budapest, Hungary, and Chongqing from Feb. 7 until March 27, Budapest Airport said on its Facebook page.

IBERIA AIRLINES (ICAG.L)

Spanish airline Iberia said on Jan.29 that it was temporarily suspending all flights to Shanghai, its only mainland Chinese destination.

KENYA AIRWAYS (KQNA.NR)

Kenya Airways said on Jan. 31 it had suspended all flights to China until further notice.

LION AIR

Indonesias Lion Air Group said on Jan. 29 it would suspend all flights to China from February.

LOT POLISH AIRLINES

Polish carrier LOT said it had decided to temporarily suspend its flights to Beijing until Feb. 9.

LUFTHANSA (LHAG.DE)

Germanys Lufthansa on Feb. 3 extended until Feb. 29 its suspension of flights to Beijing and Shanghai by Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines, and said it did not expect to resume flights to other Chinese cities before March 28. The airlines in the group continue to fly to Hong Kong.

OMAN AIR

National Carrier Oman Air suspended flights to China on Feb. 2.

PAKISTAN

Pakistan said on Feb. 3 it was resuming flights to and from China, three days after it suspended them.

PHILIPPINES AIRLINES

Philippine Airlines [PHL.UL] said it would cut the number of flights between Manila and China by more than 50%. It said it would continue to serve Filipinos and Chinese nationals returning from the Lunar New Year holidays.

QANTAS AIRWAYS (QAN.AX)

Australias Qantas said on Feb. 1 it was suspending direct flights to mainland China. The Australian national carriers direct flights from Sydney to Beijing and Sydney to Shanghai will be halted from Feb. 9 until March 29.

QATAR AIRWAYS

Qatar Airways said on Feb. 1 it would suspend flights to mainland China from Feb. 3 until further notice.

ROYAL AIR MAROC

Moroccan airline Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has temporarily suspended its direct flights to China, the company said on Jan. 30. RAM had on Jan. 16 launched a direct air route with three flights weekly between its Casablanca hub and Beijing.

RUSSIA

All Russian airlines, with the exception of national airline Aeroflot (AFLT.MM), will stop flying to China, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Jan. 31.

Moscow Sheremetyevo airport later said small Russian airline Ikar would also continue its flights between Moscow and China. Four Chinese airlines - China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Air China, China Eastern  will keep flying to Moscow. All planes arriving from China will be sent to a separate terminal in the Sheremetyevo airport, it said.

RWANDAIR

Rwandan carrier RwandAir has halted flights to and from China until further notice, the airline said on Jan. 31. The decision will be reviewed later in February, it said.

SAS (SAS.ST)

Nordic airline SAS said on Jan. 30 it had decided to suspend all flights to and from Shanghai and Beijing from Jan. 31 until Feb. 9. It subsequently extended the suspension to Feb. 29. SAS offers 12 regular weekly connections from and to Shanghai and Beijing.

SAUDIA

The state airline of Saudi Arabia suspended flights to China on Feb. 2.

SCOOT

Singapore airline Scoot said it was suspending all flights between Singapore and China from Feb. 8, media reported.

SHANGHAI AIRLINES

Shanghai Airlines said on Jan. 31 it would suspend its Chengdu-Budapest flight between Feb. 4 and March 28 and its Xian-Budapest flight between Feb. 6 and March 26 according to a statement on the website of the Budapest Airport operator.

The airlines Shanghai-Budapest flight is unaffected.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES (SIAL.SI)

Singapore Airlines Ltd said on Jan. 31 it would reduce capacity on some of its routes to mainland China in February.

The cuts include flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xiamen and Chongqing, some of which are flown by regional arm SilkAir. Its budget carrier Scoot is also cutting back on flights to China.

TURKISH AIRLINES (THYAO.IS)

Turkeys flag carrier Turkish Airlines suspended all flights to China on Jan. 31.

Turkeys Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said all flights from China would be suspended from Wednesday until the end of the month and that passengers on flights from Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia would be screened with thermal cameras.

TURKMENISTAN AIRLINES

Turkmenistan Airlines, the Central Asian nations state carrier, said on Feb. 1 it had suspended flights to and from Beijing.

UNITED AIRLINES (UAL.O)

Chicago-based United announced cancellations, saying its last flights out of mainland China would be Feb. 5, running through March 28.

United had previously suspended 24 U.S. flights to Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai between Feb. 1 and Feb. 8 because of a significant drop in demand.

UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC (UPS.N)

UPS has canceled 22 China flights, as a result of the Wuhan quarantines and normal manufacturing closures due to the Lunar New Year holiday, UPS Chief Executive David Abney said on Jan. 30. He did not specify how many flights cancellations were due to the virus.

VIETJET VJC.HM

Vietnams Vietjet will suspend all flights to and from China from Feb. 1, the company said on Jan. 31.

VIETNAM AIRLINES

Vietnam Airlines HVN.HM will suspend its flights to destinations in China next week over coronavirus concerns, the company said Jan 31.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC

Virgin Atlantic said on Jan. 30 it would suspend its daily operations to Shanghai for two weeks from Feb. 2. It cited declining demand for flights and the safety of its customers and staff.
Several other rules were adopted by the board Tuesday, as proposed by the task force, including adding a buffer of trees to projects.

"We are creating a sustainable economic environment and the safest food in the world while also trying to protect our environment, Tim Kalkowski, a task force member and ag lender with First State Bank Nebraska, said of the regulations. "It's a balancing act, and I think there's a place for both issues."

The new rules wouldn't apply to the Costco chicken barn projects already reviewed by the board.

Only one of them was approved by the county, but both have spawned legal battles.

The farms each planned to raise broiler chickens that would be processed for sale as rotisserie chickens at the Lincoln Premium Poultry plant in Fremont.

The new regulations would limit any future expansion of the Bevans Barns poultry farm near Waverly, which has about 82,000 chickens, because it would need to comply with the new rules if it wanted to build out.

Environmental protection advocates largely praised the new rules as a laudable first step.
Princeton University has ordered 20 students who recently travelled to China to quarantine themselves following the growing threat of coronavirus, as the flu-like illness has infected more than 20,000 people worldwide and killed more than 400 people.

Students from the Ivy League university who recently visited mainland China, where the outbreak was first reported, were ordered to "self-isolate" for two weeks. Students were told to remain indoors and not attend classes or enter other buildings on campus.

More than 100 students and staff were initially under the quarantine order, but a new guidance issued by the New Jersey Department of Health limited the scope to roughly 20 students.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported only 11 people in the US with coronavirus.

In a letter to students and staff, the university also ordered that "until further notice, no students, faculty, or staff will be approved to travel to mainland China on University business or as part of a university-sponsored program".

Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Show all 154 1 /154 Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Paramedics wearing personal protective equipment carry patient on a stretcher on to an ambulance in North Point district in Hong Kong, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker wearing protective gear takes a rest as he waits for ambulances carrying patients infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at an entrance of a hospital in Daegu, South Korea YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker sprays disinfectant on an ambulance after carrying a patient infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Daegu YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective face masks shop at a supermarket in Casalpusterlengo, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown due to the new coronavirus outbreak EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A trolley bus is disinfected amid fears over the spread of the novel coronavirus in Pyongyang, North Korea REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as a precaution against the COVID-19 coronavirus in a local market in Daegu, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective facemask walks outside a nearly empty shopping mall at lunch time in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing protective facemask and gloves puts a drawing made by a girl living in the area asking residents to wear protective gear, next to a quarantine notice for people who have travelled and a notice asking people to register outside a residential compound in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman is taken into an ambulance amid a coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulances and health workers are seen outside the Padua's hospital, northern Italy EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers in coaches leave MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire after being repatriated to the UK from a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus in Yokohama, Japan and head to Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People rest in a temporary hospital situated in the Tazihu Gymnasium in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buddhist monks wearing protective face masks pray during a blessing ceremony for the people affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient infecting with a new coronavirus to a hospital in Chuncheon, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Soldiers in hazmat suits sanitize cargo from a China Airlines plane at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan City, Taiwan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Barricades are seen to block the entrance a the gate of a local mall in a nearly empty area in Beijing, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor wearing a protective facemask waits for customers at a shop in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The body temperature of an Iraqi child returning from Iran is measured upon her arrival at the Najaf International Airport AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers hand out free facemasks at a shopping district in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient suspected of contracting the new coronavirus toward an ambulance at Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker disinfects a shop at a market in Shanghai AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A restaurant worker wearing protective clothing as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus passing a bag of food to a customer on the street outside their restaurant in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A recovered patient is discharged from Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built makeshift hospital for novel coronavirus patients, in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a factory with sanitising equipment in Huzhou, China China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A drone operated by the Suwon municipal government flies around Changyong Middle School spraying disinfectant, in Suwon, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers transfer medical waste at Leishenshan Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective mask rides a bicycle with his children in Guangzhou, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China cnsphoto via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman repatriated from Wuhan carries a child as she walks upon her arrival at the Van Don airport in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly 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flu-like virus A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves, carries a bucket as he works inside of The County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, southern England, after it closed for "urgent operational health and safety reasons", following reports a member of staff was infected with the strain of the novel coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers of the ecology and environment bureau collect samples from the sewage system of a hospital in Xinle, Hebei province China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man in protective clothing cleaning the County Oak Medical Centre GP practice The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat" and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. 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The global coronavirus death toll rose again with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 4 February EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff wait as coaches carrying Coronavirus evacuees arrive at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, in Milton Keynes, after being repatriated to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Doctors scan a patient's lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan Xinhua News Agency/AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam. People evacuated from the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members hugging each other in an isolation ward at a hospital in Zouping in China's easter Shandong province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A portrait of Dr Li Wenliang is left at Li's hospital in Wuhan. He is regarded a whistleblower on the outbreak and died of the coronavirus which triggered wide-spread mourning on Chinese media Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Firefighters and personnel from the health ministry participate in a drill to prepare for the potential arrival of passengers infected with the coronavirus at the Viru Viru International Airport, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Scientists are at work in the VirPath university laboratory as they try to find an effective treatment against the new Sars-like coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A girl wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man is transferred from the World Dream cruise ship to an ambulance at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong as health officials conduct inspections AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers from a disinfection service company enter Lotte Department Store in central Seoul, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man who arrived from Hubei province talks with police at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor holds a handheld digital thermometer near health officials preparing a health check for arriving passengers from China at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A resident walks across an empty track in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A scientific staff member works in a secure laboratory, researching the coronavirus, at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members preparing equipment to meet passengers of a military plane, which evacuated citizens of Russia and ex-Soviet countries from China's Wuhan province Vsluh.ru via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff wearing protective suits as they prepare to disinfect a Vietnam Airlines plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi Vietnam Airlines/AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A South Korean person, who was evacuated from Wuhan, arrives at the National Medical Center after showing suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus, in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear escort a person (under the blue sheet) who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and was tested positive for coronavirus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesian health officials conduct an exercise drill in transporting a patient requiring isolation at the Belawan port in Medan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, designated by the African Union as one of the two reference centres in Africa for the detection of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, is hosting experts from 15 countries on the continent this weekend to prepare them to deal with the disease AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A government worker disinfects a co-worker after visiting a quarantined woman's home in Qingdao EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An aerial view of the deserted roads and bridges in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person has their tempriture checked in Qingdao, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Malaysian nationals being directed from a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, after being evacuated from Wuhan Malaysia's Ministry of Health/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grow in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions from China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed hundreds and infected thousands more Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Residents wearing masks and raincoats volunteer to take temperature of passengers following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, a border town in Hong Kong Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Italian citizens repatriated from Wuhan going though a health control zone after landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome, prior to be placed in quarantine Italian Defence Ministry/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers arrange beds in a 2,000-bed mobile hospital, set up in an exhibition center, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor checks conditions of occupants in a hotel accommodating isolated people in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city of Wuhan, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. The Chinese army deployed medical specialists to the epicentre of the spiralling viral outbreak that has killed and spread around the world AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A baby wearing a protective face mask is pushed by a woman as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A young child wears a protective mask and is covered in plastic while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as it prepares for a return flight from Wuhan, China. Eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan are being flown back to the UK Tom Maddick / SWNS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman carries a baby wearing a protective mask as they exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Camp beds at a Medical Assessment Center set up at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on the eve of the arrival of German citizens evacuated from Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Funeral parlour staff members in protective suits help a colleague with disinfection after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Muslims wearing masks pray for the victims of coronavirus at a mosque in Ahmedabad, India Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical officials waiting for people who wants to check the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift homemade protection and protective masks while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A patient assisted by medical staff gets off an ambulance in Wuhan AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People line up to buy face masks from a medical supply company in Nanning, southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Countries began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by a new virus that has now infected more people in China than were sickened in the country by SARS Chinatopix via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine in Bangkok. Thailand has detected eight Coronavirus cases so far AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An Indonesian health officer points at the screen of a thermal scanner for passengers China confirmed that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus virus can be transmitted between humans AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Hospital workers wearing protective eyewear and masks examine an Indonesian student who returned from China in quarantine at a hospital in Banda Aceh AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance staff dispose of an outfit at the hospital in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person checks the temperature of a passenger to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as he arrives at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International airport in Palembang AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Nepali students, wearing face masks, attend a class at Matribhumi School in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Two Buddhist monks wear face masks while walking along a street in Yangon AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting a residential area in Ruichang, part of Jiujiang in China's central Jiangxi province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. - China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) HECTOR RETAMAL AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Vapor blurs the goggles of an ambulance driver while they work, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff getting on an ambulance in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor of traditional masks wears a facial mask at his shop in Thamel EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An ambulance driver talking with medical staff in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market The new coronavirus appears to have its origins in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a popular transport hub AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Nantong AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures after they landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Thai royal guard wears a mask while on duty at the Grand Palace in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a face mask rides a nearly empty subway train in Beijing AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A shopper wearing goggles with a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Italian Red Cross putting on protective gear, getting ready to give health checks to passengers that landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of the Hong Kong government's Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan STR/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Malaysia Health official checks passengers going through a thermal scanner upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting Yingtan North Railway Station, China China banned trains and planes from leaving the major city at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed lives and spread to other countries AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A passenger walks past a quarantine control station at Narita airport, Japan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at Incheon International Airport, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of staff checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau, after it reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jin Yintan hospital Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Three Gorges Medical Laboratory offering free masks to the public in Yichang, China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine officer at Incheon International Airport, South Korea, uses an electronic thermometer to check the temperature of passengers arriving by plane from Wuhan The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A screen shows cancelled flights at Tianhe airport in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A store owner argues with security guards as he attempts to enter the closed Huanan wholesale seafood market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Handan, China's northern Hebei province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff and security personnel stop patients' family members from being too close to the Jinyintan hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A rescue worker walks past a notice about new coronavirus that has broken out in China Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials wear face masks at an inspection site at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A staff member checks body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine station measures passenger body temperatures at Narita Airport JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a notice displayed near a quarantine control station at Narita airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a poster alerting on coronavirus screening ahead upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An employee sprays disinfectant on a train, as a precaution against coronavirus, at Suseo Station in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Kazakh sanitary-epidemiological service worker uses a thermal scanner to detect travellers from China who may have symptoms possibly connected with the previously unknown coronavirus, at Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen stands near a sign reading "face masks are sold out" at her pharmacy in Shanghai AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in a protective suit at the closed seafood market in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers wear protective face masks at the departure hall of a high speed train station in Hong Kong AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A notice for passengers from Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market Getty

University spokesman Michael Hotchkiss told NJ.com that "each student's needs are being evaluated on a case-by-case basis to ensure they receive appropriate assistance."

He said: "We recognise that self-isolation is a very challenging situation for our students, and we are working to fully support them while following guidance from government and health officials."

The university's response follows reports of a surge in cases as the World Health Organisation faces pressure to determine whether to declare the outbreak a pandemic.

Though only two deaths have been reported outside of mainland China, the death toll in the country has risen precipitously, with hundreds of deaths reported due to the virus or complications within the last week.

On Monday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy issued an executive order creating a coronavirus task force in the state to "coordinate all state efforts to appropriately prepare for and respond to the public health hazard" posed by the virus.

The state's Newark Liberty International Airport set up additional screenings for travellers entering the US from China, among several airports added to the CDC's initial list of international ports of entry with enhanced screening and quarantine efforts following the outbreak's spread.
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Tuesday posted a consolidated loss of Rs 1,035 crore for the three months ended December 31, 2019, as the AGR-hit telco provisioned for interest component of its statutory dues.

December Q3 scorecard marked the third straight quarter of losses for the company, which had logged a net profit of Rs 86 crore a year ago. The company also said the previously reported material uncertainty on the group's ability to continue as a going concern "no longer exists" after the recent Rs 21,502 crore fund raising by it.

"The net exceptional charge of Rs 10,500 million (Rs 1,050 crore) during the quarter ended December 31, 2019 comprises of a charge on account of interest on the provision of license fee and spectrum usage charges recorded in the quarter ended September 30, 2019 of Rs 10,481 million pending disposal of the modification application before the Supreme Court," Airtel said.

Other elements included accelerated depreciation on 3G network equipment/operating costs on network re-farming and up-gradation programme, it added.

The Supreme Court, in October last year, had upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-core businesses in calculating the annual AGR of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer.

Bharti Airtel's liabilities added up to nearly Rs 35,586 crore, including licence fee and spectrum usage charge dues.

It may be recalled that for September quarter, Airtel had posted a staggering Rs 23,045 crore net loss, after provisioning of Rs 28,450 crore on account of Supreme Court ruling on past dues.

For just ended December quarter, Airtel's consolidated revenues came in at Rs 21,947 crore, up 8.5 per cent over the same period previous year. The India revenues for Q3 FY20 stood at Rs 15,797 crore, 7 per cent higher over same period previous year, while Africa revenues were up 14.2 per cent.

Shares of Airtel closed 1.72 per cent higher on the BSE on Tuesday at Rs 519.10 apiece. The company announced results after the close of the market hours.

The company said that consolidated mobile data traffic on network grew 73 per cent year-on-year. The company logged the "highest ever" 4G subscriber additions during the quarter at about 21 million, and benefited from up to 50 per cent tariff hike - call and data charges - it had announced in early December.

Its average realisation from subscribers (Average Revenue Per User or ARPU) improved to Rs 135 in December from Rs 128 in the previous sequential quarter.

Bharti Airtel CEO - India and South Asia, Gopal Vittal said that while the tariff revision undertaken in December 2019 is a welcome step towards repairing the financial health of the industry, the company believes that tariffs must go up further for enabling the industry to invest in emerging technologies.

In a statement, Airtel said: "Mobile revenues have witnessed a year-on-year growth of 9.6 per cent led by a strong focus on quality customers, up-trading and in some part benefitted by the recent tariff actions, although the full impact of the tariff actions is yet to be seen".

Mobile 4G data customers increased by about 60.6 per cent to 123.8 million as compared to corresponding quarter last year.

The consolidated net loss before exceptional items for December quarter stood at Rs 1,080 crore, while the loss after exceptional items for the quarter was Rs 1,035 crore.

The company noted that in the previous quarter, the group had recorded as a liability/provision of Rs 34,260 crore as on September 30, 2019 on account of the Supreme Court verdict on Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues.

"These judgements/orders have significant financial implications on the Group," Airtel said, adding that the telecom operators have filed an application for modification petition in the apex court, which is pending for disposal.

Airtel said that it has recently raised Rs 21,502 crore through a combination of fresh equity issuance via qualified institutional placement and issue of convertible bonds and post the fund raising, "the management has concluded that the previously reported material uncertainty on the group's ability to continue as a going concern no longer exists".

As many as 15 entities owe the government Rs 1.47 lakh crore -- Rs 92,642 crore in unpaid licence fee and another Rs 55,054 crore in outstanding spectrum usage charges.

Vodafone Idea -- which is staring at unpaid statutory dues of Rs 53,038 crore, including Rs 24,729 crore of spectrum dues and Rs 28,309 crore in licence fee -- has already warned of shutdown if no relief is given.

Most of the remaining liability is with state-owned BSNL/MTNL and some of the shut/bankrupt telecom companies.

Reliance Jio, last month, has reported 62.5 per cent jump in its net profit for the December quarter at Rs 1,350 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LOS ANGELES  Disney reported mixed quarterly results on Tuesday, with per-share profit declining by 17 percent and revenue climbing by 36 percent. Costs associated with building its Disney Plus streaming service occupied much of the gap.

But investors and Disneys Hollywood competitors were interested in only one number: Disney Plus subscribers. There were 28.6 million as of Monday, the company said, an astounding number for a service that is less than three months old. Robert A. Iger, Disneys chief executive, told analysts on a conference call that the response to Disney Plus had exceeded even our greatest expectations.

Disney unveiled its flagship streaming platform on Nov. 12 amid a thundering marketing campaign and found immediate success with The Mandalorian, a live-action Star Wars series that introduced a blockbuster character known as Baby Yoda. Within a day of its introduction, Disney Plus had 10 million subscribers, including an unspecified number of accounts for customers who signed up free under a promotion with Verizon, blowing past analysts estimates. Disney Plus costs $7 a month for those paying the sticker price.

Average monthly revenue per paid subscriber in the quarter was $5.56. Mr. Iger said popular offerings included the 2016 musical Moana and old episodes of Hannah Montana and The Simpsons. And, of course, The Mandalorian, which Mr. Iger said would return for a second season in October.
More than three quarters of Canadians feel their country should not foot the security bill for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, a new survey suggests.

A total of 77% of respondents said taxpayers should not have to pay the cost of protecting the Sussexes as they are not in Canada representing the Queen, according to the survey of 1,003 Canadians conducted for television network CTV.

The strongest no votes were recorded in the east of the country, in Quebec, Ontario and along the Atlantic coast, CTV reported.

Nineteen percent of respondents said they would approve of Canada paying the costs as the couple split their time between Canada and the UK, while 4% said they were unsure.

More than three quarters of Canadians feel their country should not foot the security bill for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, a new survey suggests

It remains unclear what level of security Harry and Meghan will receive in Canada, and who will pay for it

It remains unclear what level of security Harry and Meghan will receive in Canada, and who will pay for it.

Meanwhile, 40% of respondents unreservedly supported Canada maintaining its ties with the royal family under Canada's status as a constitutional monarchy.

Another 28% 'somewhat' supported that situation, while 20% were opposed.

More than two-thirds of respondents felt Canadians would respect the Sussexes' privacy more than Britons would, 23% said there would be no difference between the two nations, while 4% said Canadians would be less respectful.

Similarly, 31% said the couple would face substantially less media scrutiny in Canada, with 40% expecting 'somewhat less' attention from the press.

This result may clash somewhat with reality, with lawyers for Harry and Meghan having already issued warnings to the paparazzi about respecting Harry and Meghan's privacy.
Agra, Feb 4 : The Uttar Pradesh Police has busted a big sex racket and arrested five persons, including three women from Uzbekistan and two from Delhi from a hotel in the Taj Ganj area here.

The arrests were made on Monday evening. However, during the action one male and three female members of the gang managed to escape, while the manager of the hotel was arrested.

Superintendent of Police (SP) city Rohan Botre Pramod said that some hotels in the area were under police radar and suspicious characters believed to be part of rackets operating here were being tracked, after a female student last week was gang raped in one of the hotels in the area.

According to the police, some 37 hotels have been identified as being part of the sex racket.

In January, police arrested Bheema, one of the major sex racket operators, specialising in foreign clientele and said to be a supplier of the Russian girls to Delhi and Agra hotels.

During interrogation, he revealed important information.

Being a global tourist destination, with high end hotel and travel facilities, Agra is emerging as a major flesh trade place, and operators find it easy to run retail counters through social media.
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Doctors are working to repurpose Ebola or Aids drugs to treat the coronavirus outbreak.

There are no drugs approved for fighting the virus so doctors are trialling drugs for several different diseases in an effort to contain the outbreak.

In Washington State a team of doctors successfully treated a patient with a broad spectrum antiviral used for Ebola. Dr Timothy Sheahan, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, said the patient responded to the drug within 24 hours but sounded a note of caution.

"Without a randomised controlled trial it's hard to say if the patient would have improved if they didn't get the drug. But we know that, in the lab at least, the drug is a potent antiviral," he said.

The drug is being developed by Gilead, the pharmaceutical giant, which has said it is working with Chinese authorities to fast-track a study.

In Thailand, authorities announced that, 48 hours after taking a cocktail of flu and HIV antiviral drugs, a patient tested negative for coronavirus. Doctors in China have also been using HIV drugs.

The World Health Organisation says it cannot recommend any treatment for the coronavirus and that unlicensed treatments should only be given in the context of clinical trials or under an emergency use framework.

Meanwhile, Taiwan has introduced smartphones to monitor anyone under quarantine. The island has 10 confirmed cases.

Taiwanese officials said direct contacts of the infected, who remain quarantined in their homes, had been issued with smartphones to allow medics to remotely check on their conditions and to ensure they did not breach strict curbs to protect public health. ( Daily Telegraph, London)
Michael Gove has sparked anger after claiming the UK doesnt need a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, insisting it is better to stand up for Britain.

The cabinet office minister put a no-deal crash-out  at the end of 2020  back centre-stage, despite Boris Johnson insisting the risk was absolutely zero during the general election campaign.

Mr Gove also claimed the current level of trade with the US proved a formal agreement was not necessary, despite a deal with Washington being a supposed prize for leaving the EU.

Asked about prospects for a deal, a day after the UK clashed with Brussels over its red lines, he said: When we talk about needing, everything is a matter of preference.

Its better to have a good trading relationship with the United States, better to have the best possible trading relationship with the EU.

But, most of all, it is right to stand up for Britain and not to accept terms from other countries if those terms are not right for us.

Those terms were allowing European courts, European judges, European politicians dictating what happens here, Mr Gove told Sky News.

The comments come after Mr Johnson sought to rebrand an effective no-deal Brexit in December as an agreement like Australias  even though Canberra has no trade agreement.

The claim, in his first big post-election speech, was widely seen as softening up the public for trading on vastly-inferior World Trade Organisation terms, with tariffs and other barriers.

Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Show all 66 1 /66 Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A message projected onto the White Cliffs of Dover Sky News/AFP via Getty Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Getty Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Big Ben, shows the hands at eleven o'clock at night AFP via Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Nigel Farage speaks to pro-Brexit supporters PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro-Brexit demonstrators celebrate on Parliament Square REUTERS Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU The Union flag is taken down outside the European Parliament in Brussels PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro-EU campaigners outside the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A pro-Brexit supporter jumps on an EU flag in Parliament Square PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU EU Council staff removed the Union Jack-British flag from the European Council in Brussels, Belgium EPA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A pro-Brexit supporter pours beer onto an EU flag PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pedestrians pass in front of the Ministry of Defence Building on Whitehall, illuminated by red, white and blue lights in central London AFP via Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A Brexit supporter shouts during a rally in London AP Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro-EU campaigners outside the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro-EU campaigners take part in a 'Missing EU Already' rally outside the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A large pro-EU banner is projected onto Ramsgate cliff in Kent PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro-EU supporters light candles in Smith Square in Westminster PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A man waves Union flags from a small car as he drives past Brexit supporters gathering in Parliament Square AFP via Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU The five-year old Elisa Saemann, left, and her seven-year old sister Katie hold a placard during a rally by anti-Brexit protesters outside the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh AP Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro Europe supporters gather on Brexit day near the British embassy in Berlin, Germany EPA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Anti-Brexit protester hugs a man while holding a placard REUTERS Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A decorated, old fashioned fire pump in Parliament Square PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro Brexit Elvis impersonator performs at Parliament Square Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU An anti-Brexiteers stands with his dog in Parliament Square AFP via Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Paddy from Bournemouth wears Union colours as he sits next to an EU flag decorated bag in Parliament Square AFP via Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A pro-EU activist plays a guitar decorated with the EU flag during a protest organised by civil rights group New Europeans outside Europe House, central London AFP via Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU People celebrate Britain leaving the EU REUTERS Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A Pro Brexit supporter has a Union Jack painted onto his face at Parliament Square Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Men hold placards celebrating Britain leaving the EU REUTERS Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro Brexit supporters dance in the street draped with Union Jack flags at Parliament Square Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU An anti-Brexit demonstrator spreads his wings during a gathering near Downing Street AP Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro EU supporters display a banner ' Here to Stay, Here to Fight, Migrants In, Tories Out' from Westminster bridge EPA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro-Brexit supporters burn European Union flags at Parliament Square Getty Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A man poses for a picture on Parliament Square in a 'Brexit Day' t-shirt Reuters Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU People celebrate Britain leaving the EU Reuters Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU AFP via Getty Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A man wears a pro-Brexit t-shirt Reuters Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Anti-Brexit demonstrators visit Europe House to give flowers to the staff on Brexit day Reuters Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro Brexit supporter wears a novelty Union Jack top hat outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Customers Scott Jones and Laura Jones at the Sawmill Bar in South Elmsall, Yorkshire, where a Brexit party is being held throughout the day PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU AP Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Getty Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro-EU activists protest Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A pro-Brexit demonstrator burns a European Union flag AP Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro Brexit supporters Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro Brexit supporters Getty Images Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A Brexit supports holds a sign in Parliament Square AP Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A man carries an EU themed wreath Reuters Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Ann Widdecombe reacts with other members of the Brexit party as they leave en masse from the European Parliament PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Anti-Brexit demonstrators in Parliament Square PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro EU supporters let off flares from Westminster Bridge Getty Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU British MEPs Jonathan Bullock, holding the Union Jack flag and Jake Pugh leave the European Parliament, in Brussels on the Brexit day AFP via Getty Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Newspapers and other souvenirs at a store, near Parliament Square Reuters Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Brexit supporters hold signs in Parliament Square AP Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro-EU protesters hold placards in Parliament Square AFP via Getty Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU French newspapers PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald with a Border Communities Against Brexit poster before its unveiling in Carrickcarnon on the Irish border PA Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU National growers organisation British Apples & Pears has renamed a British apple to EOS, the Greek goddess of dawn, to commemorate Brexit day AP Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Pro-EU protesters hold placards in Parliament Square AFP via Getty Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Britain's departure from the European Union was set in law on January 29, amid emotional scenes, as the bloc's parliament voted to ratify the divorce papers. After half a century of membership and three years of tense withdrawal talks, the UK will leave the EU at midnight Brussels time (23.00 GMT) on January 31 Reuters Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A man poses with paintings on Parliament Square Reuters Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU People sporting Union Flags gather in Parliament Square Getty Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A man walks with a St. George's flag at Westminster bridge on Brexit day Reuters Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU A British bulldog toy and other souvenirs at a souvenir store Reuters Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU British pro-brexit Members of the European Parliament leave the EU Parliament for the last time Reuters Brexit day: UK says goodbye to EU Jonathan Bullock waves the Union Jack as he leaves the European Parliament EPA

Paul Blomfield, Labours Brexit spokesman, told The Independent: The government has spent the last four years reassuring the country that, after Brexit, they would secure a best in class trade deal. Now weve left, theyre changing their tune.

This is either reckless disregard of the needs of UK business, or a calculated exercise in expectation management, preparing for a deal which falls well short of the countrys needs. Either way its taking enormous risks with peoples jobs and livelihoods.

Hilary Benn, the Brexit committee chairman, said: Lots of businesses which sell goods and services to the EU will be very surprised by this. It is clearly in the UKs interests to have a trade deal with the European Union.

And Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrats Brexit spokesperson, said: The failure to secure a trade deal with the EU risks both business and peoples livelihoods. It is tantamount to steering the country of a cliff.

A Treasury analysis, in the last parliament, warned that Brexit would slash almost 10 per cent from GDP by 2030  and the Office for Budget Responsibility predicted a possible recession.

In the interview, Mr Gove insisted he remained confident of striking a deal, saying: The closer the commercial relationship the better.

But he said: We voted to be independent, adding: We dont have a trade deal with America at the moment, but we do a lot of trade with them.
FENWICK ISLAND, Del., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Vantage Vacation Rentals is now the Face of Vacation Rentals and Property Management for the Delaware beaches. Vantage will claim its title in the upcoming Faces of Delaware 2020 edition of Delaware Today. This magazine, in combination with DelawareToday.com, reaches a monthly audience of over 172,000.

In May 2019, Vantage Vacation Rentals cut the ribbon on its first satellite office in the Delaware beaches, enhancing convenience for property owners and guests.

Meet Delaware's Faces of Vacation Rentals & Property Management - Vantage Vacation Rentals

"The popularity of Delaware vacation destinations including Rehoboth, Bethany and Dewey continues to grow, and as a result, so do the revenue opportunities for property owners," said Katie Brittingham, regional marketing manager at Vantage. "We're excited to be featured as the Faces of Delaware and to make ourselves available to owners, realtors and guests who can benefit from our expertise."

Founded in 2007, Vantage specializes in delivering exceptional vacation experiences for guests while simplifying every aspect of the rental process for over 550 property owners in Delaware, Maryland and South Carolina.

Vantage Vacation Rentals' Delaware office is located at 1209 Coastal Highway, Fenwick Island.

About Delaware Today

For more than 50 years, Delaware Today has been the lifestyle authority in the First State. The publication boasts various awards for thoughtful commentary and stunning full-color design. As the state's premier magazine, Delaware Today helps readers make informed decisions to enhance their lives. Delaware Today also publishes Weddings Today, formerly Delaware/Main Line Bride, twice annually, 302 Health twice annually, and The Ultimate Guide to Delaware.

Delaware Today, a division of Today Media, is an award-winning regional magazine whose mission is to help people get the most out of living by being the most valued community resource in print, online, and in person.

About Vantage

Founded in 2007, Vantage Vacation Rentals specializes in delivering exceptional experiences for both vacation property owners and their rental guests. Vantage covers popular Maryland destinations such as Ocean City, Annapolis and the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, as well as the Delaware beaches and North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Vantage serves owners with extensive property marketing and promotion as well as comprehensive property management services to help maximize rental income opportunities. With over 550 managed properties, Vantage makes it easy for vacationing guests to find and reserve the perfect optionthen enhances their stay with exclusive benefits and discounts. To learn more about Vantage Vacation Rentals, visit VantageOceanCity.com, VantageMyrtleBeach.com, VantageDelawareBeaches.com, VantageAnnapolis.com and EasternShoreVacations.com.

Media Contact:

Katie Brittingham

Regional Marketing Manager

Vantage Vacation Rentals

Phone: 302-541-2727

[email protected]

www.VantageVacationRentals.com

SOURCE Vantage Vacation Rentals
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Kennametal Inc. (KMT) announced an updated outlook for fiscal 2020, which includes: adjusted EPS of $1.20 to $1.50 on organic sales decline of 9 to 12 percent. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report profit per share of $1.77. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. The company said it has reduced its outlook due primarily to lower end-market demand experienced in the December quarter, as well as expectations of further weakness through the remainder of the fiscal year, which was previously forecasted to stabilize. Second-quarter adjusted EPS was $0.17, compared to $0.71, prior year. Sales were $505 million decreased 14 percent from $587 million, a year ago, reflecting 12 percent organic sales decline, 1 percent unfavorable currency exchange effect and 1 percent decline from divestiture. 'Our second quarter results reflect weakening end-market conditions, particularly from greater than expected deceleration in the U.S., Germany and India, combined with headwinds developing in the 737 MAX supply chain,' said Christopher Rossi, President and CEO. Shares of Kennametal Inc. were down nearly 8% after hours. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
American Airlines, the largest US carrier, said Tuesday it had suspended all its flights to and from Hong Kong, in the latest sign of the widening potential economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Hong Kong reported its first coronavirus death on Tuesday, the second outside mainland China. An American Airlines spokeswoman said the airline's suspension of its Hong Kong flights to and from Los Angeles and Dallas would continue through February 20.

U.S. government restrictions on flights and people who have visited mainland China that took effect Sunday have not yet impacted Hong Kong. All major U.S. airlines have already announced the suspension of flights to and from mainlaind China.

The viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 20,600 people globally and killed at least 427, with deaths now reported in the Philippines and Hong Kong in addition to mainland China.

American Airlines said that the man was removed from the plane and was rebooked on the next flight to Houston. The image above shows an American Airlines Boeing 737 passenger jet taxiing at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in September 2017

Hong Kong is the second place outside mainland China to report a coronavirus death

US government restrictions on flights and people who have visited mainland China that took effect Sunday have not impacted Hong Kong.

American Airlines's suspension is its own voluntary measure, which a spokesperson attributed to plummeting demand for the flights.

'We have suspended flying to Hong Kong from both Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles through February 20, due to demand,' wrote the spokesperson in an email to DailyMail.com.

'We will continue to monitor the situation closely and make any updates as needed.'

The outbreak's potential to negatively impact the world economy appears to be growing, although a stroke of timing has so far limited the impact on U.S. supply chains.

The outbreak hit just when Chinese factories and many businesses were closed anyway to let workers travel home for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday  but the respite won't last.

If much of industrial China remains on lockdown for the next few weeks, a very real possibility, Western retailers, auto companies and manufacturers that depend on Chinese imports will start to run out of the goods they depend on.

At the terminal that serves planes bound for China, people wear medical masks at John F. Kennedy Airport out of concern over the Coronavirus on January 31 in New York City

In order to meet deadlines for summer goods, retail experts say that Chinese factories would need to start ramping up production by March 15.

If Chinese factories were instead to remain idle through May 1, it would likely cripple retailers' crucial back-to-school and fall seasons.

'Theres complete uncertainty,' said Steve Pasierb, CEO of the Toy Industry Association. 'This could be huge if it goes on for months.'

Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak hit hardest, is a center of automotive production. Its been closed off, along with neighboring cities, isolating more than 50 million people and bringing factories to a standstill.

So far, U.S. automakers haven't had to curb production for want of Chinese parts. But David Closs, professor emeritus at Michigan State University's Department of Supply Chain Management, said the clock is ticking.

'I would say its weeks at the most,' Closs said. 'One to two to three weeks.'

The partial shutdown of Wuhan has already harmed the production of TV display panels and raised prices, according to a report by research group IHS Markit.

Store and factory closures in China Companies around the world have warned that a coronavirus outbreak in China could disrupt supply chains or hurt bottom lines as factories and shops shut and airlines suspend flights. Store and factory closures of international companies include: Companies including Apple, Alphabet's Google and Deere temporarily closed facilities in China. Fast Retailing closed about 280 of its 750 Uniqlo stores in China. IKEA said it closed all of its 30 stores and 3 shopping centres in mainland China. Burger King shut some restaurants. H&M said it had closed 257 of its 520 stores in China and suspended business trips to the country, adding that it would be able to source from elsewhere should it need to. Hyundai Motor said it will suspend production in South Korea due to the coronavirus outbreak disrupting parts supply, becoming the first major automaker to do so outside of China. Jaguar and Land Rover parent Tata Motors expects the outbreak to hamper production in China and hit profits. Levi Strauss shut about half its stores in China and said it will take a near-term hit. McDonald's, which closed several hundred of its roughly 3,300 outlets in China. Starbucks, which closed more than half its roughly 4,300 stores in China, delayed a planned update to its 2020 forecast and said it expects a material but temporary hit. Swatch closed five stores in Wuhan, Yum China closed some KFC and Pizza Hut stores in the city, Luckin Coffee closed its cafes and AB Inbev suspended production at its brewery. Toyota Motor shut factories in China through Feb. 9. Walt Disney shut its resorts and theme parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Advertisement

The city has five factories making liquid crystal displays, known as LCDs, and organic light-emitting diodes, known as OLEDs, both of which are used for television and laptop monitors. China accounts for more than half of the global production of these display panels.

David Hsieh, an analyst at IHS Markit, said in a report that 'these factories are facing shortages of both labor and key components as a result of mandates designed to limit the contagions spread,' leading suppliers to raise panel prices more aggressively.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts last week that the companys contractors in China had been forced to delay reopening factories that closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Cook said the company is seeking ways to minimize supply disruptions. Some of its suppliers are in Hubei, the Chinese province at the center of the outbreak. Most of Apple's iPhones and other devices are made in China.

Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China on Wednesday

In the meantime, economists are sharply downgrading the outlook for Chinas economy, the worlds second-biggest. Tommy Wu and Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics have slashed their forecast for Chinese economic growth this year from 6 percent to 5.4 percent. They expect most of the damage to be inflicted in the first three months of 2020.

'But a more serious and long-lasting impact cannot be ruled out, they wrote Monday.

The longer the crisis lasts, the more it will batter oil prices, which have already fallen sharply, dipping below $50 a barrel this week and wreaking havoc on the U.S. energy sector.

China, together with India, has accounted for more than 50 percent of global incremental oil consumption in recent years, so any slowdown would have a major impact on the global production-consumption balance.

Oil prices have already fallen sharply to force U.S. shale producers and the OPEC+ group of major oil exporters to implement corresponding reductions in production this year.

Forecasters are contending with unknowns. No one knows how long the outbreak will last, how much damage it will cause or how policymakers will respond to the threat.

'Were grasping for precedents,' said Phil Levy, chief economist at the freight company Flexport who was an economic adviser in the administration of President George W. Bush.

Some look back to the SARS outbreak, which paralyzed the Chinese economy for the first few months of 2003. But the damage from SARS faded quickly: China was booming again by years end. And the world economy emerged mostly unscathed.

But times have changed in ways that are not favorable to containing the economic damage. Back then, China was the worlds workshop for cheap goods - toys and sneakers, for instance. Now, China has moved up to sophisticated machine parts and electronics like LCDs. And it accounts for about 16 percent of global economic output, up significantly from just 4 percent in 2003.

Medical staff transfer patients to the newly completed Huoshenshan temporary field Hospital in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China 04 February 2020. The global coronavirus death toll had rose to 427 with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 04 February. EPA/STRINGER CHINA OUT

Workers set up beds at an exhibition centre that was converted into a hospital in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on Wednesday. The Wuhan government said it plans to convert three existing venues into hospitals to take in patients with mild symptoms of coronavirus

Levy said he was struck by how U.S. airlines reacted to the coronavirus: They suspended flights between the United States and mainland China for weeks - American airlines through March 27, United through March 28 and Delta until April 30.

The move doesn't just affect tourists, students and business travelers. Passenger planes also carry a lot of freight.

'When you see them loading those big 747s, thats not just your luggage, Levy said. 'That can be pallets full of electronics and other things.

Last week, a passenger wearing a gas mask who claimed he was using it to protect himself from coronavirus was removed from an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Houston.

It also follows a lawsuit filed by the Allied Pilots Association, a union which represents American's 15,000 pilots last week.

'Recent events relating to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China have created a threat to the safety of passengers and flight crew traveling to and from that country,' the lawsuit reads.

Passengers aboard an American Airlines flight waiting to take off from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on Thursday were alarmed when they saw a man board wearing a gas mask and a black beanie

Compared the to the 20,461 coronavirus cases and 427 deaths now in mainland China, the disease's toll on Hong Kong has been minimal, at just 17 cases confirmed.

But Tuesday the city also confirmed its first coronavirus fatality, the second death to occur outside mainland China (the first was in the Philippines).

On Sunday at 5pm the US's national travel restrictions went into effect, as announced by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Friday.

Foreign nationals who have been to China in the last two weeks are currently barred from entering the US, and citizens who have been to mainland China in the same time frame will be funneled through eleven US airports.

Those initially included: John F Kennedy International Airport in New York City; O'Hare International Airport in Chicago; Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco International Airport in California; Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington; Daniel K Inouye International Airport in Hawaii; and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta.

Four new airports were added to the list in a Monday Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announcement: Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC; Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey; Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Texas; and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Michigan.

Passengers who have been to Wuhan in the last 14 days will subject to mandatory quarantine, while those who have traveled elsewhere in China will be asked to self-quarantine.

Delta and United Airlines have also voluntarily suspended their flights to mainland China, but have not thus far expanded this to Hong Kong.
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) arrives at the Capitol at the beginning of the 10th day of the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 31, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

McConnell: House Impeachment Articles Constitutionally Incoherent

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has offered few comments during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, said the two articles against the president fail to meet the lofty standard laid out by the framers of the Constitution.

Impeachment cannot rest alone on the exercise of a constitutional power combined with concerns about whether the presidents motivations were public or personal and a disagreement over whether the exercise of the power was in the national interest, McConnell said on Feb. 4 on the Senate floor, after about two weeks of arguments from both Trumps legal team and the House impeachment managers.

The Senate will hold a final vote on impeachment on Feb. 5, and barring any unforeseen developments, Trump is likely to be acquitted for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, although Democrats will likely argue that the trial wasnt legitimate after the Senate voted down calling additional witnesses and subpoenaing documents.

The Senate requires a 67-vote supermajority to convict a president, which has never been done before in U.S. history, although former President Richard Nixon resigned before the House could hold a vote to impeach him in the early 1970s.

McConnell said the two articles were absurd, dangerous, and constitutionally incoherent. His comments were the first hes delivered on the Senate floor since the event began last month, although media reports and GOP senators have said that he worked behind-the-scenes to keep his caucus together and vote along party lines.

McConnell then urged senators to reject both articles of impeachment.

We must vote to reject the House abuse of power, vote to protect our institutions, vote to reject new precedents that would reduce the framers design to rubble, McConnell said. I urge every one of our colleagues to cast the vote  clearly required, vote to acquit the president of these charges.

House impeachment managers, during their inquiry, rushed the process to try to politically harm Trump before Christmas 2019, he said, noting that in prior impeachments, it took House investigators sometimes years to come up with a case against a president.

He said Democrats view Trump as a proverbial bull in the china shop  so [Democrats] are going to drive a bulldozer through the China shop to get rid of him.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), speaking after McConnell, accused the GOP leader of being afraid of calling in new witnesses and documents during the trial.

The idea that that means you shouldnt have witnesses and documents when were doing something as august, as important as an impeachment trial fails the laugh test, Schumer said on the floor. It makes people believe, correctly in my judgment, that the administration, its top people and Senate Republicans are all hiding the truth.

A day before that, House managers warned that Trump might abuse his power after being acquitted.

When the history books are written about this tumultuous era, I want them to know I stood up to tyranny, House manager Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on the floor. Its not too late for us to honor ours, to wield our power to defend our democracy.

Trump was slated to give his annual State of the Union address to Congress on Feb. 4, where he might make mention of the impeachment case against him. Hes repeatedly said that he did nothing wrong in his dealings with Ukraine, while Democrats have said he withheld military aid to Kyiv to secure investigations into a potential political rival.

During an interview with Fox News Sean Hannity on Feb. 2, the president said he will talk about the achievements that weve made, namely the burgeoning U.S. economy.

On Feb. 5, when the Senate votes on impeachment, it still isnt clear if there will be bipartisan consensus to acquit. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), whose state overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2016, told the Senate that he still isnt sure whether he will vote to convict the president, but suggested censuring Trump rather than impeaching him.
H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media

NEW FAIRFIELD  Charges have been brought against the driver involved in a Route 37 rollover crash three months ago.

A 44-year-old New Fairfield resident was charged with driving under the influence and failure to drive right Friday after turning herself in on a warrant stemming from Nov. 1 crash.
A Qatar Airways flight had to make an emergency landing at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) airport in Kolkata after a Thai woman delivered a boy mid-air on Tuesday.

The mother and the child were rushed to a private hospital in Kolkata. Hospital authorities said that both were doing fine.

We got a call around 2:30 am on Tuesday. The pilot informed the Air Traffic Control of NSCBI airport about a medical emergency on board. The flight landed at 3:10 am. When the medical staff of the airport boarded the plane, they found that the woman had already delivered a boy. She was offloaded and rushed to a hospital, said Kaushik Bhattacharya, the airport director.

The passenger was identified as Phromkasikorn Wassana. The flight QTR830 had taken off from Doha with 352 passengers and was heading towards Bangkok.

When the flight had just crossed Nagpur the pilot informed the Kolkata ATC about the medical emergency. The woman, however, delivered the child with the assistance of air hostesses in mid-air, said Bhattacharya.

She was shifted to the hospital around 4:25 am after immigration clearance. The flight departed from Kolkata around 5:50 am.

The woman with her newborn baby in Kolkata.

The news made its way onto Twitter and several people dropped replies on the post. While most congratulated the mother, some praised the cabin crew. A few also suggested names for the newborn.

Congratulations, wrote a Twitter user. Name her India, wrote another. Good job, wrote a third. Welcome to the world baby, commented a fourth.

Earlier in July, 2019, another story of a mother giving birth midair warmed up peoples hearts. A Lebanon-based flight from Doha to Beirut was diverted because a Filipino passenger onboard went into labour. The crew of the flight helped her with the delivery and she gave birth to a baby girl.

MIDDLETOWN  A city board charged with examining what Middletown looks like to people of color has been examining racial equality and equal opportunity, with the goal of developing solutions to help level the playing field for all people.

Over the last year, the National Conference for Community and Justice has partnered with Middletown on the comprehensive, wide-ranging anti-racism project.

Human Relations Commission members are looking at the pulse of Middletown in terms of inclusion, employment, equality and equity with a three-pronged approach: anti-racism training, focus groups and a series of community conversations.

Sometimes, prejudice is so embedded in peoples consciousness that many may not even be aware its taking place or being perpetuated, according to Faith Jackson, Middletowns director of Equal Opportunity & Diversity Management.

This is not easy work. Its ongoing work, and youre going to have someone to continuously drive this. People who have not experienced being excluded have no idea, Jackson said.

The roots are so deep in the soil. This is why its going to be a long time for change. Thats going to come from generations and generations of finally having more opportunity, equal access, more consideration. Youre trying to move that tree: Its going to take a long time, Jackson added.

The panel was formed in response to the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. that turned violent, killing one and injuring at least 26 when a car ran into a crowd of peaceful protesters.

Common Councilman Eugene Nocera, who sits on the Human Relations Commission, said change is going to take a tremendous amount of work.

Were all concerned about not just the political forces in our country, but society in general. The events seem to become more commonplace, he said.

In September 2017, the council established a committee to renew its commitment to justice, equality and anti-discrimination, Nocera said. It was the right time to take that stand in the face of some of the events occurring in our state and in our country.

People of color are not treated equally in the workplace, said Jackson, who said she has experienced just that in her role in City Hall. Its the systems that have been set up  whether intentional or by design, or by osmosis, not to be inclusive, she said.

She gives the example of an ant colony: Theyre very busy  and they get things done. But if youve never been able to work together as a group, but separate, how are you going to be included when the system is set up to exclude you?

When Jackson was first hired as a director, she felt she was given fewer resources than her white counterparts.

My introduction to City Hall was not appropriate for the city hiring a director, said Jackson, who came to her position after working for years at Travelers and the University of Connecticut. No matter what the color of your skin is, if youre a director, youre given the same tools and same setting as directors across the board,

Jackson was promised shed eventually get the technology she needed, but had no staff to assist. Who hires a director without a support person? It was a long time before she felt fully equipped to do her job.

The environment dictates how welcoming or not welcoming you are to anybody coming into a workplace. If youre working around diverse people, it would not be an issue, said Jackson, who believes naivety is part of the problem.

Justin Carbonella, youth services coordinator for Middletowns Youth Services Bureau, and chairman of the Human Resources Commission, is pleased city leadership confronted the issue head-on.

Thats one of the biggest steps a community can do: Dont pretend everything is OK. We take the time to be thoughtful and engage folks who have been marginalized, Carbonella said.

Its far from easy work  and involves a certain level of discomfort, he said.

There are people in this community who are living with that every day. We have to share that burden to understand that burden to alleviate that burden. Thats what makes us work hard, he said.

Recently, the city held two-day anti-racism training, mandatory for city employees. Representatives from Liberty Bank, the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce, Middlesex Health, the Russell Library and other organizations were invited to share their thoughts and experiences.

The idea was that education would create a ripple effect in the community, Jackson said.

It was quite an experience and eye-opening for a lot of the directors  how things really are when they dont think they are. Inequity happens every day in our jobs and we dont realize it, she added. Were on a journey to see how we can make these changes and be more inclusive, more aware, more conscious.

Carbonella is particularly focused on inviting youth as young as 12 to participate in discussions. These are issues we know young people in our community care about. They want to have these conversations. They want to be a generation working on this and working on this now.

Sometimes adults have a propensity to protect kids from bad things, and shield them from them. We dont think they understand or theyre too young to get it, or theyre too young to care, Carbonella said.

Precious Price, director of the Middletown Racial Justice Coalition, also sits on the commission and said she believes inequality exists throughout many sectors of society.

Folks in Middletown believe there arent a lot of opportunities as far as jobs here, and particularly within high leadership positions, which are typically white in Middletown, Price said.

She is also concerned at the lack of parity in punishments for youth of different races.

A lot of the data tells you black and brown kids are disciplined at much higher rates than our white students, Price said. She also believes the hiring of teachers is very much skewed to whites as far as who looks like who in the schools.

Were a community really committed to justice and equity. But you earn your wings every day. You can never stand on your past record, Nocera said. You have to keep proving to yourself the commitment is still there and continues to be important in all we do.
[February 04, 2020] A Camera That Can Shoot 360-Degree Spherical Images In A Single Shot RICOH THETA SC2 For Business

TOKYO, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- RICOH COMPANY, LTD. and RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. will release the RICOH THETA SC2 for Business. The SC2 for Business is the entry level model to the RICOH THETA 360 camera series designed for professional use -- Pre-order the SC2 for business via the THETA website. Since its release in 2013 as the world's first 360 camera, "RICOH THETA" has been used in a multitude of environments and offers unlimited potential for image expression. Due to the rapid growth of the VR (virtual reality) market, the increasing number of social media services that are compatible with 360 images, and the growing demand for 360 images in the business market, 360 photography has become increasingly relevant. The gray body color of the new RICOH THETA SC2 for Business is designed for this new business model. The SC2 for Business has a preset "Room" mode with HDR settings suitable for shooting indoors or inside a car, which is the default mode when turning on the camera. There is also a self-timer function which enables time-shift between shooting with the front and rear lens. These functions make this model fit for use in businesses such as real estate and automobile sales, where pictures are often taken indoors or inside cars. The RICOH THETA SC2 for Business snaps photos at approximately 14 megapixels with smooth, immersive 360spherical video at 30 fps (frames per second) in 4K (3840  1920 pixels). In addition, the OLED (Organic EL display) in the lower section of the body allows at-a-glance checking of a range of information such as setting modes and remaining battery power. It also features a new button that lets the users switch to self-timer mode, making the camera easier to operate in a standalone manner. Ricoh will continue to expand its business in order to extend the use of 360 images and videos from leisure to business use.







| About Ricoh | Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services enabling individuals to work smarter. For more than 80 years, Ricoh has been driving innovation and is a leading provider of document management solutions, IT services, commercial and industrial printing, digital cameras, and industrial systems. For further information, please visit www.ricoh.com.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/a-camera-that-can-shoot-360-degree-spherical-images-in-a-single-shot-ricoh-theta-sc2-for-business-300998454.html SOURCE RICOH Imaging Americas Corporation

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You see them everywhere: for Dutch entrepreneurs in foreign countries. Why are all they will ever just pack up and leave, and the grass really that much greener on the other side? This week: Wendy smith, who the children all over the world online, the Dutch are teaching.

Expatkinderen who have no idea who santa Claus is and not have to talk with them, and began Dutch for Children, the company of the Whole of the valley. She was living in Rijswijk, the netherlands, and there was a lot of demand for a good quality Dutch language, in which expatomgeving.

smith was living in Aruba, in Madrid, spain then in Holland, then to Curacao and is currently with her family in the Dominican Republic. Its Dutch for the Children traveling with you. The company has now a team of five teachers, all the lessons are given by teachers from all over the world.

the Whole of the valley will give children the Dutch language. (Photo: private collection).

" I wanted to have a switch,

, "When we were in Madrid and living at the time, I was looking for a place for my daughter's English was able to talk with other moms, I have a kind of peuterspeelzaaltje with children in the Netherlands. It was so much fun that I have, after four years in Madrid, spain, in the Netherlands, for the course for me to follow," says smith.

There has been struggling with the time difference, because all of our teachers are everywhere, from the Netherlands to Sydney, australia.

"I worked as a psychologist, but it was like a switch. I did frequently with the managers and they did not enjoy the work. In front of the class, but even so, that wouldn't be a very long time to be done. The classes have been getting busier and there were more and more zorgkinderen that I do not have the guidance it could give, and I wanted to contribute, and where they are needed. So, I started out with the Dutch for the Children."

the First time in the house, and then the question became, for the rest of the country, the beginning Of Fall classes are also available online."I wasn't sure if I could do it and started out with my cousin. She needed help with the English language, and I taught her a lesson. It went so well that I have confidence in them.

English talk

smith will learn expatkinderen of the English language and culture, but to go on the trip. Her husband to the island for work and Drop the kids to go with it. "I took over my company, and from then on it went on, the theory part of the future!"

The customer base will expand, she says, in the place of the foreign children to learn English, the focus will shift to Dutch children in the netherlands. "Almost all of the children that I teach, and have a Dutch over. They want to have their child, it's not lost it, and that they are at their grandma and grandpa be able to stop talking about it and if you don't want to go back to the Dutch school, as well as the family terugverhuist."

the Children are so smart, but in a language they may not be able to receive education at their own level.

the Children are slurping in a new language, if at all, to be wereldwijzer in the foreign country, but when the family returns to the Netherlands, their English is not at the same level as that of peers, " says smith. "People think it is often overlook and forget is that the English of a child who is in the foreign country grows up to be is not on the same level as that of an English child English learning. Sometimes that's more painful. The children may be very intelligent, but due to a language they may not be able to receive education at their own level. They need a group to start at a lower level. Even though that is a social, not a bad move, they feel, the parents are often to be rotten about it."

After a few years in Curacao, leaving his family to the United states of america. The southern vibe, like the family of smith, and Curacao, known as after three years or so. The Dutch, for Children, with a large customer base of teachers around the world are moving smoothly. "A lot of our customers are from Houston, texas. That is run through an online forum, and word-of-mouth advertising. Sometimes it is struggling with the time difference, because all of our teachers are everywhere, from the Netherlands to Sydney, australia.

Bored, and tired it behind the laptop and use

Or the child will be able to sit down to wait for the additional details through the internet. "In the six years that we're going to do this, I have only one child, that's a really, really, didn't like it. And, of course, children will sometimes become tired and bored, on the computer. It is also a lesson, in addition to school and other activities, and we have classes from early in the morning before school starts."

"and If a child really does not make sense, think of something else, and put the classes on the side. Last time he wanted a child to not be his language work, and then to our teacher, 'm so far that he has all his stuffed animals in his room, didn't they have letters in them. You need to always have something new to continue to come up, and with a sense of humour, you will reach a lot of. Usually, the classes are really good." An hour is a long time for a teacher is with his or her mind, just for you: what kind of child is it nice?"

Updated Date: 04 February 2020, 00:00
Phakiso Mochochoko, with the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), talks to reporters in Dhaka, Feb. 4, 2020.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is gathering evidence against people suspected of crimes against Rohingya in Myanmar, a senior prosecutor told reporters in Dhaka on Tuesday, after a sister court ruled last month in a genocide case brought against Naypyidaw.

The International Court of Justices provisional judgment, which ordered Myanmar to protect Rohingya from genocidal acts, will help the ICC identify and try individuals who made policies and committed alleged crimes against the mainly Muslim and stateless minority group, Phakiso Mochochoko said.

The Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC, which is based in The Hague, hopes to prosecute those who forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to cross into Bangladesh from Myanmars Rakhine state in 2016 and 2017, said Mochochoko, who directs the jurisdiction, complementary and cooperation division at the prosecutors office.

Yes, it is three years since the crimes were committed, but justice will be done. It may take a year, it may take two years, it may take three years, he told a news conference in Bangladeshs capital. The beauty of our international criminal court is it is a permanent international institution.

The ICC investigation and prosecution will continue even if Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are repatriated to their homes in Myanmar, whose government so far is not cooperating, Mochochoko said. An ICC team arrived in Bangladesh on Feb. 1.

We are going to work together with the ICJ. We are going to exchange documents, Mochochoko said, adding, We realize that we should not duplicate our efforts. We should try by all means to work together.

In its verdict on Jan. 23, the ICJ ordered Myanmar to protect Rohingya from genocidal acts and refrain from destroying evidence of alleged crimes, as the court ruled in a case brought by The Gambia, a predominantly Muslim nation in West Africa.

The judgment itself, in terms of findings, that Myanmar should take provisional measures to protect the Rohingya is already a step forward, Mochochoko said.

The question for us

The ICC prosecutes individuals suspected of committing crimes against humanity. The ICJ, on the other hand, settles disputes between nations.

The ICJ has already acknowledged that crimes have been committed against the Rohingya. The question for us is who can be held individually criminally responsible, he said.

The highly confidential investigation is taking place in Bangladesh because it is a party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC to try those who perpetrate crimes against humanity, while Myanmar is not, Mochochoko said. The ICC will not have jurisdiction in cases involving Rohingya who remained in Myanmar.

In November 2019, the ICC authorized the investigation into alleged crimes against humanity perpetrated against the Rohingya since late 2016.

[T]here exists a reasonable basis to believe widespread and/or systematic acts of violence may have been committed that could qualify as the crimes against humanity of deportation across the Myanmar-Bangladesh border and persecution on grounds of ethnicity and/or religion against the Rohingya population, the court said in a news release at the time.

Mochochoko said the investigation would cover the period dating to October 2016.

We cannot go back beyond that, he said.

That date fell before the mass exodus of about 740,000 Rohingya from Myanmars Rakhine state, beginning in August 2017. They were driven out of their homes after Myanmars military launched a brutal offensive, which followed deadly attacks by a Rohingya rebel group on government security posts that month.

The Rohingya who crossed the border into southeastern Bangladesh joined thousands of other Rohingya who had previously fled Myanmar, bringing the number of refugees in camps in and around Coxs Bazar district to more than 1 million.

The ICC investigation also will look into alleged acts of violence committed by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, the insurgent group blamed for the attack that provoked the military offensive, Mochochoko said.

He promised that the investigation, which has begun, would be an independent, impartial, objective and fair process.

It will entail  the investigators coming here to Bangladesh, in particular going to the camps, talking to the victims and establishing witnesses, getting their stories and finding out exactly what happened to them, he said.

Cooperation sought

He said he hoped to be able to work with Myanmar officials.

We are not receiving any cooperation from the government of Myanmar, unfortunately. We have been making efforts to talk to them, to reach out to them, but so far we have not been able to get any assistance or cooperation from them, he said.

He said investigators were trying to persuade officials to cooperate.

The fact of the matter, however, is that this investigation will proceed to the logical conclusion with or without the cooperation of the government of Myanmar, Mochochoko said.

In Coxs Bazar, a Rohingya leader and an official working with the minority group said they were pleased by Mochochokos comments.

The Myanmar military and the Moghs have committed the crimes. They must face trial, Rafiq Ullah, a Rohingya leader at Kutupalong camp, told BenarNews, referring to Buddhists in Rakhine state.

[T]he ICC and the ICJ are the forums that can solve our problem, he said.

Meanwhile, Touhid Hossain, the leader of the Bangladeshi delegation negotiating repatriation with Myanmar, said the ICC and ICJ moves could help the process.

Myanmar would not agree to take the Rohingya back unless there was huge pressure from the ICC and the ICJ. The ICC and the ICJ moves have opened an opportunity for Bangladesh to send the Rohingya back to their homeland, Hossain, a former Bangladesh foreign secretary, told BenarNews.

Bangladesh should cooperate with the ICC and ICJ and continue the bilateral mechanism for the repatriation of refugees, he said.
Health services in low- and middle-income countries are not equipped to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, WHO says.

Mohammed Sohail was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia, a type of cancer that starts in blood-forming cells of the bone marrow, in 2010.

He recalls the doctor at a private clinic in Afghanistans capital city Kabul telling him there was no treatment available for him in the country.

At 16, he said, he felt helpless but started looking for treatment options across the border, in Pakistan. After being treated in the Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar, for six months, the results turned out to be unfavourable.

I was told to go to India for the treatment of my type of cancer. It was a tough choice because at the time we had no money to fund the trip, so we had to sell our land, Sohail told Al Jazeera.

Sohails father used to take him to India every six months for at least 10 years, pushing the family of seven further into poverty in the war-ravaged country.

There are people suffering from cancer here, I could manage to go abroad for treatment, but there are many in this country who cannot travel, and they end up dying from the disease, Sohail said.

Cancer patients, particularly in poor countries, struggle to have access to affordable and quality health facilities.

Cancer cases may rise by 81 percent

In a report released on Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that cancer cases would rise by 81 percent in low- and middle-income countries by 2040 because of a lack of investment in prevention and care.

Marking the annual World Cancer Day, the Geneva-based organisation said these countries focus on their limited resources on combating infectious diseases and improving maternal and child health instead of fighting cancer.

191008083308403

This is a wake-up call to all of us to tackle the unacceptable inequalities between cancer services in rich and poor countries, Ren Minghui, a WHO assistant director general, said in the report.

If people have access to primary care and referral systems then cancer can be detected early, treated effectively and cured. Cancer should not be a death sentence for anyone, anywhere, he said.

More than 90 percent of high-income countries reported that treatment services for cancer were available in their public health system in 2019 compared with less than 15 percent of low-income countries, the report said.

At least seven million lives could be saved over the next decade by identifying the most appropriate science for each country situation, by basing strong cancer responses on universal health coverage, and by mobilising different stakeholders to work together, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, was quoted as saying.

Figures released last year by the Ministry of Public Health shows that 20,000 people are suffering from cancer diseases every year in Afghanistan. Of those cases, 15,000 have lost their lives, with breast cancer being the most common type of cancer among Afghans.

Radiation therapy centres

I had to get a bone marrow transplant done after I was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia [a condition that occurs when your body stops producing enough new blood cells] in 2001 in Pakistan, but it was very expensive and we had to take loans and sell our lands, Tariq Mujaddidi, 38, a sales officer in Kabul, told Al Jazeera.

Mujaddidi recalls how at blood banks in Kabul people used to cry and beg for blood transfusion.

It was terrible because it was like begging for treatment and most of the time there was no blood available for the transfusion, he said.

191122073627777

We need good doctors and highly skilled laboratory staff, high-end laboratories, cancer hospitals and awareness to find it out in early stages and can be cured.

Zabiullah Stanikzai, head of the detection of cancerous diseases department, Jamhuriat Hospital and Kabul Medical University, echoed his concerns saying there are not enough radiation therapy centres in Afghanistan.

Their situation is very bad. Most of them cant afford the treatment and just stop because of their poor finances, he said, adding that the most common types of cancer in the country is breast and cervical in women and stomach, throat, lungs and blood cancer overall.

I think chemo should be free for people here. We have a lot of cases where the patient stops his/her treatment because they cannot afford it.

The WHO report pointed out that one in five people worldwide would face a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime.

World Cancer Day is observed annually on February 4 to raise awareness of the disease and its prevention, detection and treatment.

Awareness about the disease is what we need in our country first and then option for its treatment, we need better hospitals and highly-skilled doctors to help those who need treatment in this country, Sohail said.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Infinite Lithium Corp. ("ILI" or the "Company") (ILI-TSX:V) is pleased to announce the significant expansion of its property holdings in the Red Lake Mining District. The Company has entered into option agreements to acquire an 80% interest in the Fredart ("Fredart") and Garnet Lake ("Garnet Lake") properties from Pistol Bay Mining Inc., and an option agreement to acquire 100% of the Northern Vision property from an arms-length vendor (collectively the "Properties"). Each of the Properties have been explored in the past with various methods including diamond drilling which resulted in a high-grade polymetallic NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate along with a historic mineral resource estimate.

"Together with today's announced acquisitions and the Dixie Ten-Mile, Dixie 3, Ben Lake, and Eastern Vision properties, the Company has rapidly secured the most strategic and advanced VMS targets in the Confederation Lake Belt", states Mike England, President and CEO of Infinite Lithium. "Our holdings include a NI 43-101 compliant resource at the Arrow Zone on the Garnet Lake property, and two historical resources on the Fredart and Dixie Ten-Mile properties. All properties have excellent potential for expansion along strike at depth, and targets have been defined by the application of state-of-the-art geophysical technologies, and geological modelling."

The Fredart and Garnet Lake properties are located 70 kilometres east of the mining town of Red Lake, Ontario, and approximately 40 and 50 kilometers respectively from the eastern boundary of the Dixie Property being aggressively explored by Great Bear Resources Ltd. The Northern Vision property is contiguous with and east of the Company's recently acquired Dixie Ten-Mile property. All Properties have excellent access and logistics, from Red Lake or Ear Falls, with main access and logging roads.

Highlights include:

The Garnet Lake property consists of claims comprising 2,733 hectares, and hosts the Arrow Zone, interpreted as a volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit, with 43-101 compliant inferred (polygonal method) mineral resources (Pistol Bay, September 5, 2017, SEDAR) of 2,100,000 million tonnes at 5.78% Zn, 0.72% Cu, 19.50 g/t Ag, and 0.60 g/t Au, (at a 3% Zn equivalent cut-off). The report concluded: " that the Arrow Zonehas good potential to discover new zones of VMS mineralization in the immediate area of the Arrow Zone, as well as the potential for additional deposits in the surrounding areas ".

". The Fredart Property comprises claims covering 2,620 hectares and hosts the Copperlode/Fredart zone, with a historical mineral resource of 386,200 tonnes grading 1.56% Cu and 33.6 g/t Ag. (completed by Phelps-Dodge Mining Co. in 1971 and included within a prospectus for Consolidated Copper Lode Developments Inc., January 7, 1977, submitted to the Ontario Securities Commission). Note, this historical resource estimate does not comply with the standards of National Instrument 43-101 and has not been reviewed by a qualified person, nor verified. Infinite Lithium is not treating the historical resource estimate as a current mineral resource or mineral reserve. The mineralized zone was drill tested to a depth of approximately 200 metres over a length of 350 metres and was reported as being open at depth.

Both the Garnet Lake and Fredart properties are covered by versatile time-domain electromagnetic (VTEM Plus) and flown by Geotech Ltd., in April 2017. Geotech's VTEM Plus system delivers more power into the ground and a better signal-to-noise ratio than previous VTEM systems, resulting in greater depth penetration and better conductor resolution, resulting in numerous high-priority conductive targets that warrant drilling. The September 5, 2017 43-101 reports indicates; " The Fredart "A" zone has the potential to develop a mineral resource with modern drilling and with modern EM surveying to guide the drilling ."

." The Northern Vision property, comprises 8 unpatented mining claims covering 2630 hectares and is contiguous to, and east of the Company's Ten-Mile property, and covers the interpreted stratigraphic eastern-extension of the Dixie 18 VMS target.

To earn a 80% interest in the Garnet Lake property from Pistol Bay Mining Inc., an arms-length party, Infinite will make cumulative payments of Cdn $300,000 cash, the issuance of 4,000,000 common shares of the Company and perform expenditures of $1,500,000 over a 3 year period. An underlying vendor retains a 2 % Net Smelter Royalty ("NSR").

To earn a 80% interest in the Fredart property from Pistol Bay Mining Inc., an arms-length party, Infinite will make cumulative payments of Cdn $150,000 cash, the issuance of 2,500,000 common shares of the Company over a two (2) year period and perform expenditures of $1,000,000 over a 3 year period. NSR's of 1-1.5% apply to claims within the Fredart property.

To earn a 100% interest in the Northern Vision property from an arm-length vendor, Infinite will make cumulative payments of Cdn $65,000 cash over a 3 year period, and issue 500,000 common shares of the Company over a one (1) year period.. The Company will grant a 1.5% NSR to the Vendor, half of which can be bought by the Company at any time for $500,000.

These transactions are subject to TSX Venture approval.

Mr. Kelly Malcolm, P.Geo (Ontario), is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has examined and described the geological information available from public and internal sources related to the property and is responsible for reviewing and approving the technical contents of this press release.

The Qualified Persons have not completed sufficient work to verify the historic information on the Property, particularly in regard to historical drill results and historical resources. However, the Qualified Persons believe that drilling and analytical results were completed to industry standard practices. The information provides an indication of the exploration potential of the Property but may not be representative of expected results.

About Infinite Lithium Corp.

Infinite Lithium is a junior mining exploration company focused on seeking and acquiring world-class mineral projects globally. Our current focus is on properties with the potential for VMS mineralization in the Confederation Mineral Belt near Red Lake, Ontario, and the Jackpot Lithium property located near Nipigon, Ontario. Infinite Lithium also continues to evaluate suitable prospects that fit the mandate of the company. Please visit our website located at www.infinitelithium.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Mike England"

Mike England, President and Director

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Telephone: 1-604-683-3995

Toll Free: 1-888-945-4770

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward -looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at WWW.SEDAR.COM).

SOURCE: Infinite Lithium Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575134/Infinite-Adds-High-Grade-VMS-Resources-in-The-Red-Lake-Mining-District-with-The-Acquisition-of-Fredart-Garnet-Lake-and-Northern-Vision-Properties
A Chinese student who snuck into Australia has bragged about how he flouted the coronavirus travel ban, putting thousands in danger of contracting the deadly disease.

He admitted to lying to immigration officials by claiming he arrived from Hong Kong, when he in fact flew to Sydney from mainland China.

The government brought in emergency measures over the weekend which bar any passenger who has left or passed through mainland China from entering Australia.

There are already 12 people in Australia with coronavirus, which has killed 362 worldwide and threatens to become a global pandemic.

Daily Mail Australia alerted the Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Border Force to the breach, but did they did not respond to requests for comment.

The student claimed he flew into Brisbane airport (pictured, other passengers arriving at the coastal airport before the ban)

The student, whose name was given as Xiao K, started his journey in China, changing planes in Hong Kong before arriving in Brisbane.

Revealing he lied on his yellow incoming passenger card, he bragged that he quickly crossed out 'China' as his place of departure and instead wrote 'Hong Kong'.

Worryingly, he boasted that customs officials didn't even check his luggage.

'Fortunately, they were focusing on people.

'In the end, they didn't even check my suitcase.'

The student admitted he had no idea about the China ban, but when he found out about it decided to flout the rules and enter Australia illegally (pictured, the first of series of texts)

In an incriminating message (pictured) the student says he changed his arrival card to say 'Hong Kong' instead of 'China' as his original place of departure

THE SIMPLE TRICK A CHINESE STUDENT USED TO FOOL IMMIGRATION Passengers arriving in Australia are required under Australian law to identify themselves and provide certain information. When you arrive in Australia from a foreign country, you are given a passenger card to fill in. One of the boxes asks for the name of the 'country in which you boarded the flight'. But this Chinese student wrote 'Hong Kong' in this section, despite starting his journey in China. With this, he claims authorities did not question him and simply waved him through. If he had written 'China' in the box, he would have been stopped and questioned. Advertisement

The student claimed he didn't know about the ban when he first boarded a plane in an unknown Chinese airport.

He claimed to have thought he would have to go into isolation for 14 days when on Australia soil, but was soon informed about the travel ban by a friend.

Before going through immigration in Australian, he then exploited an airport loophole to change his arrival card.

'When I was clearing immigration a customs officer checked my arrival card,' he explained in a series of damning texts seen by Daily Mail Australia.

'Because Id heard the news about the China entry after landing Id changed mine to say Hong Kong.

'They looked at me and told me to go through a different channel with my luggage.

'They just let me go through.'

He was then asked if he meant the immigration declaration card.

The student admitted he was waved through immigration in a series of shocking text messages, which have been translated by Daily Mail Australia

China has gone into lockdown after the virus claimed more than 400 lives (pictured, students in Beijing)

Australia is one of many countries organising evacuation flights home (pictured, Singaporeans boarding a charter flight)

The travel ban measures were announced on the same day Qantas (airline staff pictured on Friday) revealed plans to suspend its direct flights to mainland China

He replied: 'Yes. The yellow one. I crossed off "China" and changed it to "Hong Kong".'

Asked how he felt after flagrantly disregarding the rules, which are intended to keep Australians safe, he replied: 'Really lucky!'

The Department of Foreign Affairs has raised its travel advice for China to the highest level of 'do not travel'.

From February 1, foreign nationals who have left mainland China are not allowed entry into Australia.

Visitors flying in from mainland China are being denied entry to Australia. Pictured are passengers at Brisbane Airport on Friday, just hours before the ban came into place

Three more cases of coronavirus (pictured) confirmed on Saturday took Australia's tally to 12

The student claims he left China on February 1, just hours after the ban came into place, and arrived into Brisbane at 11.45pm.

People arriving from mainland China, not just the Hubei province, are required to self-isolate for 14 days after they leave the country.

But for this student, it was only a matter of hours - potentially leaving the public at serious risk of harm if he were to be infected.

Permanent residents and their immediate family are still able to enter Australia, as well as airline crews who have been using appropriate personal protective equipment.

The beefed up measures came on the same day three more coronavirus cases - one in Melbourne and two in South Australia - were confirmed, taking the national tally to 12.

Qantas also announced on Saturday that it was suspending its two direct services to mainland China from February 9 until March 28.

'Our first responsibility is to Australians,' Mr Morrison told reporters on Saturday afternoon.

'As of Saturday, all travellers arriving out of mainland China are being asked to self-isolate for a period of 14 days from the time they depart the country.

'In addition to that, there'll be advanced screening and reception arrangements put into place at the major airports to facilitate identifying and providing this information and ensuring the appropriate precautions are being put in place,' Mr Morrison said.

A man wearing a face mask cycles past the body of a man who collapsed and died on a pavement in Wuhan on January 30 (pictured), the city at the epicentre of the outbreak

'There's a half a million masks that will be provided to those airports to support those who are coming off these flights as well as those who are with those coming from those flights.

'There'll also be thermometers which are provided to those airports and we're working with those airport authorities now to ensure we can put those arrangements in place.'

The announcement came just hours after two more victims of the virus were identified in South Australia.

A Chinese couple in their 60s from the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, were visiting family in the state.

SA Health Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said: 'They have followed all of the procedures and information that they have been asked to through communicable disease control branch.

People wearing face masks queue for hours at a cosmetic store on Monday to buy sanitary masks in Hong Kong amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak (pictured)

'They developed symptoms and were tested at a public hospital before self-isolating at home.

'We do not think there have been any contacts with anybody else in the state and they have been in self-isolation for the required time.'

A fourth case in Victoria was also confirmed on Saturday.

The woman aged is in her 20s, lives in Melbourne and is at home recovering.

She returned from Wuhan on January 25 and fell ill two days later.

The first Australian citizens evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan have landed on Christmas Island (pictured arriving in WA before transferring to a charter flight for last leg)

Two Australians wore face masks as they spoke about their rescue flight out of Wuhan (pictured)

Health authorities insisted she was not infectious on the flight, and has remained in isolation since being tested.

The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed tests proved humans caught it the virus from animals at the Huanan Seafood Wholesales Market in Wuhan city.

The highly-contagious virus has infected more than 17,000 people worldwide.

It has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Footage emerged showing the Australian citizens aboard the Qantas rescue flight (pictured) which left Wuhan on Monday

Those aboard the rescue flight from Wuhan were met by army and medics and taken to buses ahead of a 14-day quarantine on Christmas Island (pictured)

Australia citizens trapped in Wuhan have now been evacuated and have landed on Christmas Island, where they will enter a quarantine for 14 days.

It is understood that 72 people were on board the first of four charter flights expected to take more than 240 evacuees to the Indian Ocean island.

The Airbus left Western Australia's RAAF Base Learmonth, near Exmouth, on Monday night, and touched down on Christmas Island about 9pm local time.

Those on board were among the 243 who had earlier been evacuated from Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus, on a Qantas flight.
Thats because in 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton edged out Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the state delegate count by a quarter of a percentage point, earning roughly 700 to Mr. Sanderss 697. That meant 23 national delegates for Mrs. Clinton and 21 for Mr. Sanders  an inconsequential difference between the two rivals.

Mr. Sanderss 2016 campaign fought for an audit in Iowa  comparing the reported results with the papers on which caucus leaders had recorded voters preferences  and accused the state Democratic Party of a lack of transparency.

Largely because of Mr. Sanderss objections, the party decided to release additional numbers in 2020 that it had always logged but never made public: the number of supporters each candidate had in the first round of voting and the number he or she had in the second round, after nonviable candidates were eliminated and caucusgoers realigned.

The idea was that all this data would provide a fuller picture of each candidates strength.

Under the old reporting system, for instance, a candidate who received 14 percent support  just below the threshold for earning delegates  would be indistinguishable from a candidate who received 1 percent support. But in the raw vote totals, they could get credit for the support they had in the first round  and in a state where perceptions of strength and political momentum matter much more than delegates, that sort of credit can be crucial.

So the caucuses go: They have always been more about creating momentum (or the perception of it) for candidates than about the number of delegates they award. Iowas contribution to a candidates total number of delegates is trivial. But the states contribution to popular conceptions of political viability is immense.
MOORE, Okla.  A second suburban Oklahoma City high school student has died after a group of cross-country runners was struck by a pickup truck that authorities say was driven by man whose son was killed in a traffic crash over the weekend, a school official said Tuesday.

Sophomore Yuridia Martinez, who had been hospitalized in critical condition since the Monday crash, has since died, Dustin Horstkoetter, director of safety and security at Moore Public Schools, said. Officials had previously said that senior Rachel Freeman was killed when the truck slammed into members of the schools cross-country team.

Moore police Sgt. Jeremy Lewis said authorities believe the students were running on the sidewalk when they were struck. Authorities had previously said they were running along a street outside Moore High School.

Three other students remained hospitalized with injuries. Student Kolby Crum was in critical condition at Oklahoma Childrens Hospital, according to spokeswoman April Sandefer, while students Joseph White and Shiloh Hutchinson were in fair condition. Student Ashton Baza was released Monday night.

The ages of the students have not been released.

School Superintendent Robert Romines praised the reaction of students at the scene of the crash.

Without hesitation or second thought, our students were there with their friends and began life-saving tactics including CPR, Romines said.

Freeman was set set to sign a track and field scholarship this week with Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, Horstkoetter said.

Max Leroy Townsend, 57, was being held in the Cleveland County jail on charges of first-degree manslaughter and six counts of failure to stop and render aid.

Police suspect alcohol was a factor, according to Lewis, who said results from toxicology tests were pending.

That wont be for quite a while, Lewis told The Associated Press. Thats a blood test that requires being sent to a lab.

Lewis said Townsends son, Cody Townsend, was killed Sunday in a multi-vehicle crash in Moore. But investigators have not yet determined why the pickup crashed into the students on Monday or whether that crash was intentional, Lewis said.

I know the big question a lot of people have is, Why? What happened? Why did this happen?' Lewis said.

I assure you we will find out why and know exactly what happened, and how it happened, and then deal with the individual that caused this after that investigation is complete, he added.

Max Townsend has a lengthy criminal history in Oklahoma that includes multiple convictions for driving under the influence, public intoxication, possession of drugs and stolen property, stalking and child abuse, court records show. He served time in prison on convictions for child abuse, receiving stolen property and possession of drugs, but was released in 2009, state prison records show.

Moore Police Chief Todd Strickland said different teams are investigating the crash that killed the students and the one that killed Townsends son.

Horstkoetter noted that it was not the first time the school system has been hit with tragedy, alluding to a tornado that destroyed an elementary school in 2013, killing seven students.

Romines said 30 mental health specialists were on hand Tuesday at the school for students and staff.

___

This story corrects the spelling of Shiloh Hutchinsons last name.

___

Associated Press writer Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
As pieces of the Glendon Hotel continue to fall onto busy Main Street, Northampton County is moving forward with a plan to get the dilapidated property cleared and developed.

As of Tuesday, falling bricks knocked down safety barriers that were around an older pile of fallen bricks and debris outside 124-126 Main St. Pieces of brick had fallen in the roadway and were crushed by passing cars.

Over the past seven years, borough officials have struggled to address the hotel as it has continued to rot in place.

Just demolishing the building would cost about $138,000, according to a site feasibility study the county commissioned last year. Borough officials previously decided against securing a grant to pursue demolition.

A message left for Mayor Mindy McAllister about the property was not immediately returned.

Earlier Tuesday, Northampton Countys General Purpose Authority members heard an update to the countys plan to have the site developed into housing.

The county will file a zoning application, which it expects to be denied, for a five-unit building, said Mark Hartney, deputy director of the department of community and economic development. The application will then have to go through the zoning hearing process.

Based on what were requesting, we need a variance, Hartney said.

Officials previously discussed steep slope requirements for the site, and discussed buying an adjacent parcel that was previously sold in March 2017.

The county could not get an agreement from the other property owner, Hartney said Tuesday.

Albert Rutherford bought the Glendon Hotel on April 1, 1987 for $110,000, and previously told lehighvalleylive.com that he had hoped to restore it.

In 2013, council ordered Rutherford to clean up the property. After a plan to convert the hotel to apartments never materialized, that same year the borough ordered Rutherford to tear it down.

The borough declared the property unsafe in 2015, and by 2016 there was a proposal for the borough to take over razing the structure. Officials ultimately decided against securing a grant to pursue demolition.

Since then, Rutherford has failed to pay taxes on the property.

He is still listed as the owner in Northampton County online property records, but the county tax office is listed as the contact address after the property failed to sell at county tax sale. It is the lone Glendon property on the countys repository list of unsold parcels.

The county controls taking the property out of the repository, but the taxing entities -- the borough, the county and the school district -- would have to agree to any development proposal.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Turkey's foreign minister said Tuesday that Ankara and Moscow were trying to keep peace efforts for Syria alive despite Syrian government advances and a deadly clash between Turkish and Syrian forces.

However, Mevlut Cavusoglu also renewed a call for Russia to "rein in" Syrian government forces and reiterated Turkey's determination to retaliate against any future Syrian attack on its troops.

Tass news agency reported on Tuesday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during his meeting with Rossiyskaya Gazeta editors that Ankara had failed to fulfill several key commitments within the framework of the agreement it reached with Moscow on the normalisation of the situation in Syrias Idlib province.



"Unfortunately, at this stage, the Turkish side failed to fulfill a couple of key commitments that were supposed to solve the Idlib problem altogether. First, they failed to separate the armed opposition, which collaborates with the Turks and is ready for dialogue with the government, from the terrorists for the Nusra Front which turned into Hayat Tahrir al-Sham."

"The second aspect connected with risks and threats originating from the Idlib de-escalation zone, involves moving hundreds of militants, including Nusra and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham members, to Libya, for taking part in escalation of fighting in that country," the minister disclosed.

"I would like to underscore again, considering all factors Ive mentioned, Russia cannot solve this problem alone, but it can fight for unconditional and meticulous fulfillment of agreements on Idlib. This is what were talking about with our Turkish partners," Lavrov added.

"We reminded our Turkish partners about that, too. We will keep fighting for fulfillment of all points of the decisions made by the presidents of Russia and Turkey," he said.

The exchange of fire in Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in Syria, increased tensions between the two neighboring countries and threatened to drive a wedge between Russia and Turkey, which have sought to coordinate their actions in Syria.

"The Astana and Sochi peace processes have not been completely destroyed but have lately started to suffer and to lose importance," Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara, referring to Russian-Turkish peace initiatives that have also involved Iran.

He added that Turkish officials were in constant contact with Russian counterparts in order "to keep the Astana and Sochi processes alive, to strengthen them, and to arrive at a political solution."

The assault on the Turkish troops came amid a Syrian government offensive that has been advancing since December into the country's last rebel stronghold, which spans Idlib province and parts of the nearby Aleppo region.

Turkish troops are deployed in some of those rebel-held areas to monitor an earlier cease-fire that has since collapsed.

Meanwhile, funerals are being held across Turkey for the Turkish servicemen that were killed.

The deaths were one of the highest single-day tolls for Turkish troops in Syria. Ankara has lost scores of military personnel in the Syrian war.

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Just in case you havent been glued to your phone the last few minutes, I want you to hear something from me, he said in Laconia, N.H. A little later than we anticipated, but better late than never, official verified caucus results are coming in from the state of Iowa; theyre not complete, but results are in from a majority of precincts and they show our campaign in first place.

The crowd erupted with cheers and chanted, President Pete, President Pete!

Tuesday began a new phase of the Democratic campaign even as the opening vote, the Iowa caucuses, remained unsettled. Candidates who descended on New Hampshire, fresh off overnight flights, aimed to both define their standing in Iowa and jolt their campaigns here before next weeks New Hampshire primary. Meanwhile, their senior aides were effectively backstabbing one another and leaders of the Iowa Democratic Party, signaling a moment of extraordinary tension within the party.

At his first event of the day, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. tried to put the Iowa contest behind him, while his aides questioned the integrity of the reporting process and swatted at rival campaigns that tried to declare victory before the official results.

Those initial results indicated a distant fourth-place finish for Mr. Biden with nearly three quarters of the vote in  pulling in 15.5 percent. Such a result would represent a major blow to a former vice president who had invested substantial time and resources in the state despite his teams efforts to play down expectations there.

Folks, God, its good to be in New Hampshire, Mr. Biden said, laughing. It really is. I really mean it. You have no idea how happy we were to be heading to New Hampshire, to Nashua.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP and AAP on Tuesday of spreading hatred in the society and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were not interested in providing jobs to youngsters, but were keen on making one Indian fight another for staying in power.

Addressing his first rally in the national capital in the run-up to the February 8 Delhi Assembly polls, he said the current environment in the country, the hatred, the violence and the attacks on women were harming India and people were not benefitting from it.

"Modi and the BJP may be benefitting from it, but Indians are not. If you want development and employment, you will have to erase hatred from the hearts of people," the former Congress president said.

He hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not addressing the economic slowdown and the issue of unemployment, but instead, encouraging violence.

"They (BJP) talk about the Hindu dharm, they talk about Islam, they talk of Sikhism. They have no knowledge of religions. In Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism-- where is it written that attack other people, suppress them?," he asked the crowd.

What kind of "Hindu dharm" is this of Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as Hinduism talked about taking everyone along, Gandhi said at the rally organised to garner support for the Congress candidate from Jangpura, Tarwinder Singh Marwah.

The aim of the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was to spread hatred in the society, something the Congress could never do, Gandhi said.

"Do not harbour any illusion. Go to any person and you will find nationalism in his blood irrespective of his religion or whether he is poor or rich," he said.

"The person who makes 'deshbhakts' (patriots) fight among each other, can he be a deshbhakt?," Gandhi asked the crowd.

He also slammed Modi for not talking about the economy and unemployment in his poll speeches and said the prime minister did not have the guts to do it.

Modi talked about Pakistan but not about providing jobs and improving the economy, the Congress leader said.

Jobs could be created by making India a manufacturing hub, but not in the manner the government was working, he said.

"Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal have nothing to do with this (creating jobs). They want to make one Indian fight another and stay in power," Gandhi added.

He hit out at Modi for promising two crore jobs annually, but not delivering on it and slammed the BJP-led government for demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"The finance minister is not ready to say how many youngsters got employment. She said I will not say it as Rahul Gandhi will ask me questions," the Congress MP said as he slammed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget speech in Parliament as "hollow".

He also targeted the Centre for slashing corporate tax and claimed that loans worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore were waived of 15 crony capitalists.

"In my next speech, I will take out a list of how many projects Adani has been given by Modi. Airports and ports have been handed over. You will see Adani's and Ambani's names everywhere. This is not Narendra Modi's government, but a government of Adani and Ambani. Only 15 people benefit from it," Gandhi said.

Referring to coronavirus, he said the countries manufacturing in China were looking at India for taking on the mantle of a leading manufacturer.

"The whole world except China wants to invest in India. But when they look at India now, they see hatred, violence, rapes, goondaism, killings. Wherever you see in the last five years, one Indian talks to another Indian with hatred. This is not our history. This is a country of love," Gandhi said.

He accused the government of selling state enterprises such as Indian Oil, Air India, Hindustan Petroleum and the railways as well as the Red Fort.

"He (Modi) may even sell the Taj Mahal," the former Congress chief said.

Alleging that Modi and Kejriwal could only think about power, he said, "They can announce anything in two minutes to stay in power."



Referring to President Ram Nath Kovind's adress to a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament, Gandhi said there was no mention of employment in it.

He praised Marwah for always standing for people.

"Show one BJP leader who raised the 'Hindustan Zindabad' slogan in Pakistan. The Congress's Jangpura candidate did it and went to jail in Pakistan for it," Gandhi said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin Madison Bogisch (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 12:34 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20626d4cb 1 Environment Odyssey-Institute,sukabumi,Mount-Gede-Pangrango,national-park,glamping,camping,teenagers Free

Today's teens are living in a more digitalized world and curiosity for the outdoors might have been replaced by a multitude of gadgets.

Aiming to offer a solution, Bali educational service provider Odyssey Institute will hold an Eco-Warrior week, a series of camps offering adolescents the chance to disconnect from technology and reconnect with nature.

Located on Mount Gede Pangrango National Park in Sukabumi, West Java, the five-day camp will encourage participants to explore the natural environment safely, something which is considered a rarity for children today, especially for those in urban areas.

Young people these days spend a lot of time plugged in to their devices. The quality of information they are receiving is very low and its not stimulating, said Ben Tamblyn, founder of Odyssey Institute, to The Jakarta Post.

A study published by the Public Library of Science (PLOS) in 2018 suggested children living in urban settings had shifted from outdoor, nature-based play to passive indoor activities.

Kids go to the mall on the weekend and they dont really have a lot of opportunities to connect with the natural environment, Ben said.

Read also: Five glamping havens near Jakarta

A 2016 report found teenagers felt greater connectedness to nature after participation in a wilderness expedition.

The only way teenagers of today will care about the environment is if they experience it for themselves. If we do not care about the natural environment, we will not protect it, Ben added.

Eco-Warrior Week will allow participants of 13-15 years of age to partake in experiential learning, featuring a range of intercultural and environmental activities. This years program will focus on global citizenship, motivating students to move out of their comfort zones and develop their leadership and intercultural skills.

A global citizen is somebody whos moved to a point where they can call the planet their home and humanity their family, Ben said.

Odyssey Institute has worked with schools in Southeast Asia for 10 years, providing practical learning field trips for classrooms. Unlike their classroom program, Odyssey Institutes Eco-Warrior Week is open to a broader range of children, whose families are able to make decisions without involvement from their schools. After noticing a gap in camp provision for the age group, Eco-Warrior week was established to allow young adolescents to have the same camp-based learning opportunities as their younger counterparts.

Odyssey Institutes Eco-Warrior week camps will be held throughout the March and April school holidays. More information is available on its website. (wng)

__________

Madison Bogisch traveled to Indonesia under a program with ACICIS Study Indonesia.
FORMER European Council President Donald Tusk has cancelled a visit to Dublin to campaign for Fine Gael at the last minute.

Mr Tusk was due in Dublin to campaign with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on Wednesday as the party bids to rescue its troubled general election campaign.

However the visit was cancelled on Tuesday evening because Mr Tusk is no longer available.

A spokesperson for the current European People's Party president would not confirm why the visit was off but said Mr Tusk remained supportive of Fine Gael and its bid to win re-election.

Fine Gael and EPP sources had earlier confirmed plans for Mr Tusk to jet in to Dublin on Wednesday.

Mr Tusk had been due to appear alongside Mr Varadkar and the partys Dublin Mid-West general election candidates Emer Higgins and Vicki Casserly at an event taking place in a school in Lucan on Wednesday morning.

Mr Tusk and Mr Varadkar were then expected to speak to the media and canvass for votes in the area.

Despite Fine Gaels Brexit message falling flat in this campaign and Tanaiste Simon Coveney admitting on Tuesday that voters are punch drunk on the issue, Mr Tusk had been expected to extol the credentials of Mr Varadkar, Mr Coveney and EU Affairs Minister Helen McEntee in their handling of matters in recent years.

Mr Tusk, who is a former Polish prime minister, became a familiar face during the long-running Brexit saga and repeatedly backed Irelands stance on the border during protracted and tense EU-UK talks.

He is the current president of the European Peoples Party, Fine Gaels political grouping in the European Parliament, after being elected to the role last November.

The Irish Independent reported three weeks ago that visits by Mr Tusk and former European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker were on the cards as part of Fine Gaels plans to capitalise on the success of the Brexit negotiations before Christmas.
Recent concerns about whether or not President Trump should be impeached has resulted in many references and referrals to the U.S. Constitution, and countless uses of the term constitutional. This has all been quite encouraging and uplifting. It reminds us that the basics of the government in this home of the brave and the free is our unique, carefully prepared logical, Godly, informative and inspirational Constitution, which affirms the God-given human rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is our foundation, guide and protection.

Also encouraging was the annual Washington March for Life, protesting abortion and proclaiming the sanctity of life. Hundreds of thousands of people of all ages, colors, religions and persuasions have marched proudly, all protesting the Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the U.S. for the last 40 years, resulting in the slaughter of hundreds of millions of fellow American human beings.

And most encouraging and uplifting of all was the appearance and participation of President Trump. He was the first U.S. President to ever attend the March for Life. His message was inspirational and motivating. It also reminds us that while the Supreme Court could make Abortion a legal right, it couldnt make it moral.

Just as the Dred-Scott decision of the U. S. Supreme Court legalized slavery and is now a disgraceful failure of the past, so too will Roe v. Wade prove to be unconstitutional. President Trump publicly opposing legalized abortion is a step in the right direction.

(Edwina Cosgriff is a Pleasant Plains resident.)
Education is too often undervalued but never by the organizations and people residing in the Thumb.

Fortunately for us, we live on a peninsula full of angels who see to it that our children are looked after and receive a valuable education. Sometimes overlooked, yet highly worthy of recognition, are our local teacher organizations. These amazing groups of parents show their love and devotion to all students, helping them succeed throughout school. Student success is also their success and a treasure to be shared by all. As parent leaders, great pride is taken in their many contributions to education.

I was recently taken back by the parent teacher organization at Bad Axe schools, while also acknowledging that they serve as just one of many examples of educational support groups in the county. President Melissa Checkley, Secretary Kelli Hass and Treasurer Tammy Lutz work hard to give their students a positive educational experience.

It is my belief that our teachers are helping us to raise these amazing kids and we need to help them in any way that we can, Checkley said.

Already this year, the group has provided its elementary school with mobile carts. Each grade is now able to keep playground equipment like balls, jump ropes and hula-hoops organized. They even hosted a painting with a parent fundraiser, where students and parents came together to paint. Currently, they are in the process of purchasing some new books for the library.

The organizations next planned event is dedicated to the reading month of March. They will host a completely free event for families to come in and do fun reading-themed activities. Space is the theme and they certainly have a lot of fun ideas for start-up. There will even be a Michigan author coming in to speak with the students.

Bad Axe Superintendent Greg Newland told me that a school functions as the hub of a community. Therefore, it is important to note that none of this could be done without the generosity of donations received. This particular organization has received a wealth of local support.

Unfortunately, this does not happen everywhere in the state. Working in social services, I can testify that not every child has balls, jump ropes and hula-hoops to play with at recess. I have seen schools without functional gym equipment, classrooms lacking materials and students left without enough books to study from. Most of the time, this is due to a lack of funding. Other times, people in the community simply do not possess the means to contribute. A depleted community soon begins to lose its sense of community, and eventually loses its kids.

Let us take the time to thank all actively involved area educators, businesses, community members and parent teacher organizations for their ongoing financial support and involvement. If you are not already involved but seek opportunities, do not hesitate to call your local school district. They would be more than happy to hear from you.
(Natural News) James OKeefe and his undercover media operation dont get nearly enough coverage in the so-called mainstream media because they continue to out-scoop one outlet after another with legitimate bombshells.

Then again, Project Veritas focuses almost exclusively on exposing Left-wing Democrats, the political and ideological soulmates of many in the mainstream media, so that explains why OKeefes exposes are generally only reported by the independent media.

That said, while PV recently released footage of an unhinged staffer for Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign, the organization on Monday published new footage of a staffer working for the campaign of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, another leading 2020 Democratic contender.

In particular, the staffer  a man identified as Iowa field organizer Angel Alicea  was angry about Warrens pandering to transgendered individuals as part of her focus, generally, on identity politics which he quite clearly thinks are political losers.

Its just identity politics, and again I get called on it for calling it that, but its like, Im a fing brown man, says Alicea in the video. I had to do diversity and inclusion training, and Im like, what are you going to tell me, you white liberals, that I dont already know?

The video is the fifth in the organizations #Expose2020 series, the first to feature footage gathered by an undercover PV journalist embedded in Warrens campaign.

Continuing, Alicea laments the direction of the Democratic Party in general.

At the end of the day, weve become a party that has prioritized [gender pronouns] rather than putting food on the table for working families, and its like, thats why we lose, he said.

I got called out for not having those (pronouns) in my Twitter bioso I threw them in there just to satisfy the folks, he said. Its identity politics, and again, I get called on it for calling it that.

He said another Warren campaign staffer he identified as Paige told him once he was the only straight person working in the group.

Ive been called out

Im like, who fing cares? Im not saying youre the only fing trans here or something, Alicea noted further.

This is what the fing Trump people use against us because you (Paige) say dumb st like that. Because I like women, youre going to ostracize me?

The Washington Times noted:

Previous videos have shown radical left-wing staff working for Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders campaign in Iowa and South Carolina. The Sanders camp has not commented on the sting, but did call police on Project Veritas team seeking comment outside the campaign office in North Charleston.

The paper added that Alicea is described by PV as a paid staffer.

In the video, he continued to complain about the focus on gender pronouns.

If were going to prioritize pronouns over making sure people have a decent standard of living, thats wrong, he said, adding, When you come from where I come from, no one gives a f about a g-d dn pronoun. We want to know how you get a job.

I feel like I shouldnt have to say he/him/his. Like, shouldnt it just be implied? he asked. Ive been called out for saying something like that, but this is why we lose elections, because were zeroing in on st like that.

At one point, Alicea warns the undercover journalist not to use the wrong pronoun with a transgender staff member because shell be very upset.

Were zeroing in on something. And Im not saying it doesnt matter. We should make people feel comfortable and accepted. But when you put that over making sure people have decent jobs and health care, like, its a fing no-brainer why were going to g-d dn lose an election, he said.

Read more news about Elizabeth Warren at LizWarren.news.

Sources include:

WashingtonTimes.com

ProjectVeritasAction.com

NaturalNews.com
Ikea has confirmed plans to shut its Coventry store, marking the first major UK site closure since the Swedish retailer arrived in the UK.

The company said it will close the doors of its 35 million Coventry branch, which opened at Christmas in 2007, with 352 workers expected to lose their jobs.

The furniture chain said the store being built over seven levels has had a 'significant impact on the operating costs' and that customers who prefer shopping in retail parks and online meant losses for the site.

Ikea, which came to Britain 33 years ago, is now consulting with employees affected by the closure to discuss the proposals and next steps.

The Coventry store being built over seven levels had a 'significant impact on the operating costs', Ikea said

The furniture chain said the store being built over seven levels has had a 'significant impact on the operating costs' and that customers who prefer shopping in retail parks and online meant losses for the site (pictured: The interior of the Coventry store)

The company claimed they are committed to exploring how best to meet its customers in a 'changing retail environment where shoppers demand faster services, higher quality products, lower prices, more convenience and greater accessibility' (pictured: Coventry store interior)

The retailer said they had tried moving business operations to the site, but this did not stem the 'fundamental challenges connected to the location and the format of the store'.

Ikea also looked at options for downsizing or reconfiguring the store, but the 'nature of the site means this is not a realistic option', they said.

IKEA: A HISTORY Ikea was founded by Ingvar Kamprad, who had a dream of selling well-designed furniture at an affordable price. At the age of five, Mr Kamprad started selling matches to nearby neighbours. Over time - and with the help of his bicycle - he began trading further afield, and sold products such as flower seeds and pencils. Beginning as a makeshift mail order service, the first Ikea store opened in 1958. The furniture chain arrived in Britain in 1987, having been founded with the idea of 'providing a better everyday life for the many' and bringing the benefits of 'good design' to all. Ikea opened the doors of its first store in Warrington, Cheshire, on October 1 of that year and beckoned in customers with a free pencil and a guide to a huge store with a most unusual layout. The Swedish retailer initially wanted to open near London, but chose the North West because it was invited by the Warrington and Runcorn Development Corporation to be part of its regeneration plans for the area. Advertisement

Peter Jelkeby, Country Retail Manager and Chief Sustainability Officer, Ikea UK and Ireland said: 'The proposed closure of the store has not been an easy decision, particularly given the impact it will have on our co-workers. I would like to thank our Coventry co-workers who have contributed enormously throughout this time.

'Although this isn't an easy decision, this is the right decision for the long-term success of Ikea in the UK.

'At Ikea, we are constantly challenging ourselves to find ways to meet the needs of our customers and we will continue to try and test, investing in stores, fulfilment centres, city centre formats and our digital capabilities to make IKEA even more affordable, convenient and sustainable.'

The company claimed they are committed to exploring how best to meet its customers in a 'changing retail environment where shoppers demand faster services, higher quality products, lower prices, more convenience and greater accessibility'.

The Coventry store will remain open during the consultation period, before the proposed store closure in the summer.

Marsha Smith, Area Manager IKEA UK and Ireland, told Coventry Live: 'As we go through this process, our priority is to support our co-workers in the Coventry store.

'Our ambition is to retain as many people as possible within IKEA, and where this isn't possible, support them to find new employment.

'We will work closely with our co-workers, impacted suppliers, unions and other trusted partners to ensure all our co-workers receive all the support they need.

Pictured above is construction of the Ikea store on Croft Road in Coventry, January 2007

The company said it will close the doors of its 35 million Coventry branch, which opened at Christmas in 2007, with 352 workers expected to lose their jobs (pictured: The interior of the Coventry store)

Ikea staff stand outside the huge logo on the side of the company's first UK store in Warrington as it opens in the 1980s

Ikea has managed to hold up well in the UK in recent years as the high street has suffered (pictured: The interior of the Coventry store)

'We feel privileged to have been part of the community for the last 12 years and I would like to thank our co-workers, customers and partners, who have contributed throughout this time.'

The retailer first entered the UK in 1987, opening a site in Warrington, Cheshire.

It now has 22 stores and is looking at rolling out more city centre locations - but far smaller than the Coventry site.

Dave Gill, national officer for the Usdaw union, said: 'This is devastating news for Ikea staff working at the Coventry store.

'We will now enter into meaningful consultation talks with the company to interrogate the business case for this proposed closure.

Dave Gill, national officer for the Usdaw union, said: 'This is devastating news for Ikea staff working at the Coventry store' - pictured under construction in 2007

Customers browse the first ever Ikea store in Britain which was opened in Warrington, Cheshire, on October 1, 1987

Retailers are calling on the Government to overhaul the business rates system, which many have blamed for job losses and store closures (pictured: The interior of the Coventry store)

'Our priorities are to seek redeployment opportunities, minimise compulsory redundancies and secure the best deal we can for our members.

'In the meantime, Usdaw is providing our members with the support, advice and representation they need art this difficult time.'

Ikea has managed to hold up well in the UK in recent years as the high street has suffered.

With the majority of its sites in retail parks, it has had smaller falls in shopper numbers compared with high streets and shopping centres.

Retailers are calling on the Government to overhaul the business rates system, which many have blamed for job losses and store closures.

Chancellor Sajid Javid has promised to hold a review, although, the details and scale have not been revealed.

Last month Ikea bought a London shopping centre where it will also launch its first UK small format store.

With the majority of its sites in retail parks, Ikea has had smaller falls in shopper numbers compared with high streets and shopping centres (pictured: Coventry store exterior)

An artist's impression of Ikea's new Hammersmith store, which is set to open in Spring 2021

The Swedish retail giant's property arm snapped up Kings Mall Shopping Centre in Hammersmith for 170 million as the company enacts a strategy to develop mixed-use sites around urban stores.

It said it will install a new style of smaller store in the West London shopping centre, which it plans to open in spring 2021.

The acquisition by Ikea's Ingka Centres property arm marks the 'next step' in its strategy to move further into city centres despite current pressures on the UK high street.

Peter Jelkeby, country retail manager and chief sustainability officer at Ikea UK & Ireland, had said: 'Our plan to open a new city centre store in Hammersmith is an exciting next step as we continue to respond to people's evolving shopping habits, making Ikea more convenient than ever before.

'People have been eager to see our affordable range and access our life-at-home expertise on the high street for some time, so we're excited to introduce a unique Ikea store to the vibrant local community in Hammersmith and London.'

The Ikea Store in Wembley. The acquisition by Ikea's Ingka Centres property arm marks the 'next step' in its strategy to move further into city centres despite current pressures on the UK high street

Marsha Smith, Area Manager Ikea UK and Ireland, said: 'Our ambition is to retain as many people as possible within Ikea'

The opening will take Ikea's London store portfolio to six sites, having launched its latest store in the city in Greenwich last year.

Ikea also launched two London planning studios last year under its plan to develop new formats for inner city locations.

The retailer said the new mall store will include more than 2,000 home furnishing accessories.

Ikea already has a handful of smaller inner city store elsewhere in Europe, including sites in Paris and Moscow, but Hammersmith will be its first smaller UK shop.

Gerard Groener, managing director at Ingka Centres, added: 'Our urban projects are all about getting closer to more people.

'More of our customers are living in cities than ever before, and a regenerated Kings Mall will be an ideal location for reaching millions of Londoners.'
The dramatic measures taken by China to rein in the deadly new coronavirus outbreak have prevented significant spread abroad, providing a "window of opportunity" to halt transmission, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. But the UN health agency's chief also called for greater solidarity, accusing some governments of wealthy countries of being "well behind" in sharing data on virus cases. "While 99 percent of cases are in China, in the rest of the world we only have 176 cases," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a technical briefing to the WHO's Executive Board in Geneva. "That doesn't mean that it won't get worse. But for sure we have a window of opportunity to act... Let's not miss this window of opportunity," he said. Tedros said the WHO had received complete case report forms for only 38 percent of the cases outside China. "Some high-income countries are well behind in sharing this vital data with WHO. I don't think it's because they lack capacity," he said. "Without better data, it's very hard for us to assess how the outbreak is evolving, or what impact it could have, and to ensure we are providing the most appropriate recommendations," he said. More than 20,400 cases of the virus have been confirmed in China since the virus was first detected on December 31. The death toll in mainland China has soared to 425 and more than 20 countries have now confirmed cases of the virus, which the WHO has declared a global health emergency. - 'Fear and stigma' - During Tuesday's meeting, WHO's head of emergency strategy, Scott Pendergast, stressed that preventing major international spread of the virus would require providing significant support to countries with weaker health systems. "What we are most concerned about is the lower end of the capacity scale, where you have a number of countries that are of high risk of imported cases but potentially we are not seeing those imported cases detected." The main focus, he said, should be on supporting those countries to "make sure they have got the capacity to detect, to diagnose and to quickly isolate cases." Tedros said the WHO was sending masks, gloves, respirators and 18,000 protective isolation gowns to 24 countries, as well as 250,000 test kits to speed up the process of diagnose carriers of the virus. A number of country representatives voiced concerns about the situation at home. Sudan's representative told the assembly his country was preparing on Wednesday to evacuate 225 students from Wuhan, and feared they could bring the virus to the country, which he said had four suspected cases. "We are extremely short of money? We are battling with six other epidemics, we definitely don't need more cases coming in," he said. He said that with WHO support, the country had created an isolation ward and received test kits, but said more support would be needed. Tedros meanwhile reiterated his call for countries not to impose travel and trade restrictions because of the virus. "Such restrictions can have the effect of increasing fear and stigma, with little public health benefit," he said, adding that 22 countries had so far informed WHO they were implementing such measures. "Where such measures have been implemented, we urge that they are short in duration, proportionate to the public health risks, and are reconsidered regularly as the situation evolves," he said. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world has a "window of opportunity" to halt the spread of the coronavirus
- The former head of state had been admitted at The Nairobi Hospital where he was under the care of his doctors

- He was first rushed to the facility on October 28, 2019, and admitted at the Intensive Care Unit

- The retired president ruled Kenya since 1978 before relinquishing power in 2002 to Mwai Kibaki

- He was the Minister of Education in the pre-independence government between 1960 and 1961

- Moi was appointed the country's second vice president in 1967

Retired president Daniel Toroitich arap Moi has passed on.

Mzee Moi was pronounced dead on the early morning of Tuesday, February 4, by medics at The Nairobi Hospital where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

READ ALSO: Members of inter-party resistance against new voters register holds third demo in Accra

Late retired president, Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, who was also commonly referred to simply as Mzee Moi, ruled Kenya from 1978 to 2002. Photo: Daily Nation

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Jeff Bezoz: Renovation of billionaires home leads to over GHC90,000 in parking tickets

He was first rushed to the hospital on October 29, 2019, after his health deteriorated and was admitted to the ICU.

Moi took the mantle of leadership from the country's first president, late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, in 1978 and reigned for 24 years before relinquishing power in 2002.

He remained in stable condition until July 30, 2006, when he was involved in a road accident in Limuru while travelling to Kabarak from Machakos where he had presided over a graduation ceremony at Scott Theological College.

The renown KANU leader developed the knee problem and has been in and out of the hospital since then.

The former head of state has been in and out of hospital on several occasions. Photo: Citizen TV

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Mark Zuckerberg reveals fatherhood has made him more religious

The late underwent minor knee surgery at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi on January 27, 2017.

On March 11, 2018, Moi was flown to Israel for a knee check-up before returning to the country several days later.

The retired head of state has also been receiving private medication at his Kabarak home with the family keeping the status of his health a top secret.

Moi has not been in active politics for a long time, but a number of top politicians have been visiting him to seek advice and political blessings thanks to his vast knowledge and experience in Kenyan politics.

Former president Daniel Moi during the Huduma Namba registration exercise. Photo: Daniel Kerich

Source: Original

READ ALSO: Baroness Amos: First-ever Black woman appointed as Master of University College at Oxford

He was born on September 2, 1924, in Kabarak village, Sacho division, Baringo County.

The ex-president attended Kapsabet High School and later joined Tambach Teachers Training College in the Keiyo District where he trained as a teacher and served in the profession from 1946 to 1955.

In 1955, he entered politics and was elected Member of the Legislative Council for Rift Valley. Moi was re-elected in the Legco in 1957.

Moi became the Minister of Education in the pre-independence government of 19601961.

He was among the senior politicians who formed Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) that challenged Jomo Kenyatta's Kenya African National Union (KANU).

READ ALSO: Baroness Amos: First-ever Black woman appointed as Master of University College at Oxford

He became a close ally of Kenyatta in 1964 and he accepted to dissolve KADU and joined the then ruling KANU outfit.

Moi was appointed the country's second vice president in 1967 after Kenyatta orchestrated the ouster of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.

He would later become the country's second president in I978 following Kenyatta's death.

Ghana News Today: First Female Police Officer Turns 90, Reminisces Her Days In Service | #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Taxi driver tells coughing passenger to "get out now" (video)

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A woman cut off a man's penis as he allegedly tried to rape her in Pakistan.

The woman told police she was alone in her house in the central province of Punjab when the alleged attacker entered.

The 25-year-old claims the man began attempting to rape her, prompting her to run to the kitchen and grab a knife in self-defense.

A woman cut off a man's penis as he allegedly tried to rape her in Pakistan (Stock image)

She then proceeded to cut off the alleged rapist's penis, police official Mohamed Ilyas told the DPA news agency.

The man, 28, was rushed to the Civil Hospital in the nearby city of Faisalabad where he received treatment for his injuries.

It is understood he has since been released.

According to Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Jaranwala Bilal Sulehri, the man and the woman knew each other and the man was due to be marrying someone else.

An investigation into the incident has been launched.

Hundreds of women are raped in Pakistan each year but the abuse often goes unpunished due to weak legislation and reluctance of victims to come forward.

In Pakistan, approximately 70-90% of women face some form of domestic abuse during their lifetime and marital rape is common.
THOMPSON, MAN.An agency that investigates police actions is reviewing the death of a 44-year-old woman after her arrest by RCMP in northern Manitoba.

The Independent Investigation Unit says Mounties in Thompson responded to a call about an intoxicated person on Saturday night and arrested a woman.

The unit says she was put in a cell after she was medically cleared.

It says the woman was conscious and breathing when she was checked at 10:49 p.m.

The agency says she was found unresponsive less than an hour later and pronounced dead by paramedics.

It says a request for a civilian monitor will be made to the Manitoba Police Commission since the case involves a fatality.

Witnesses or other individuals who have information or video footage that may help the investigation are asked to come forward.

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Liberty County Sheriff Bobby Rader called Deputy Richard Whitten on Monday to share the good news: Whitten had just been named officer of the year by the 100 Club of Houston.

The deputys phone went to voicemail. Rader never heard back.

Whitten, who was wounded in a 2019 shooting in Cleveland, was pronounced dead later in the day during a physical therapy session at the Texas Medical Center. He wont get a chance to accept his award from the 100 Club, but he died a true hero, Rader said during a press conference in Houston.

He gave his heart, and he gave his life, Rader said. He was an awesome deputy.

Whitten was among multiple people who were shot May 29, 2019, at a plumbing company in Cleveland. On the night of May 28, a gunman, identified as Pavol Vido, shot and killed a woman who worked as the companys secretary, according to earlier reports in the Houston Chronicle. Vido spent the night lying in wait until two other employees showed up for work.

He shot both employees and fled. Whitten, who was responding to the gunfire, pursued Vido until the man bailed out of the car and started shooting.

Whitten was shot in the neck area. Vido fatally shot himself as more law enforcement closed in, according to earlier reports in the Chronicle. One of the wounded employees later died. Additionally, the bullet that struck Whittens neck hit the deputys spine, Rader said.

Sheriffs Office Capt. Ken DeFoor said on Monday that Whitten appeared to suffer a heart attack during the physical therapy session at TIRR Memorial Hermann. Police escorted his body Monday night from the hospital to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.

Whitten had been with the sheriffs office for four years. He gravitated toward a law enforcement career late in life, after convincing his wife Kami to let him join the ranks, Rader said.

He said Whitten became an asset that everybody loved in the department. He was known to help people experiencing homelessness, Rader said. The deputy also kept food for stray cats and dogs in his car, he said.

He was an awesome person, Rader said. During the therapy here at TIRR, he was doing amazing things. He was making big improvements.

Humble Police Officer Richard Moore, who also spoke at the press conference, said he talked to Whitten nearly every day for 11 years. They were best friends, he said, and the loss will leave an irreplaceable void.

He was not only a great deputy, but a great man, Moore said. He loved his family, loved his country, and he sure did love his department.

A funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday at The Sanctuary of Cleveland, 100 E. Hanson St.

julian.gill@chron.com

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com
By Trend

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 21 times, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Feb. 4, Trend reports.

The Armenian armed forces were using large-caliber machine guns.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The weekend shooting of a 4-month-old boy in Indiana County appears to have been accidental, but an investigation is still underway to determine if any charges will be filed.

The boy was hit in the upper body after his father fired one round from a 9-mm handgun Saturday inside a White Township apartment, WTAE is reporting.

The baby is at the UPMC Childrens Hospital in Pittsburgh with serious but not life-threatening injuries, reports indicate.

The child is fortunate. The family is very fortunate that the child is still with us, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Cliff Greenfield told the station.

Authorities have no reason be believe the 21-year-old father shot his son on purpose, but an investigation is still underway, and when its complete, the state police will turn the case over to the Indiana County District Attorneys Office for a review and a decision on whether or not there will be charges, WJAC reports.

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An individual who contacted the authorities almost 8,000 times contributed to a tenfold increase in complaints about aircraft using Dublin Airport last year.

Figures published by Dublin Airport show a total 15,160 complaints about noise were filed last year  an average of 42 per day. It compared to just 1,453 in all of 2018.

However, they also reveal that two individuals accounted for almost three-quarters of all complaints logged by DAA, the operator of Dublin Airport, during 2019.

One person from Ongar made a total of 7,786 complaints  a daily average of 21  including 4,554 in July alone when he lodged an average of 147 complaints each day. Another individual filed 3,435 noise complaints.

DAA said the large increase in complaints last year was skewed by the multiple complaints made by a number of individuals. The airport spokesperson said DAA has engaged directly with the two individuals who had made numerous complaints: Aircraft noise is subjective and is personal to each individual."

He pointed out that the number of different individuals who made a complaint during 2019 declined by 3% to 284 from 293 the previous year.

The biggest number of complainants came from Swords (37) followed by Portmarnock (27), Hollystown (25), St Margarets (20) and Tyrrelstown (13).

The spokesman added: The level of aircraft noise is dependent on the type of aircraft and the number of flights. While the number of flight movements at Dublin has increased in recent years, the advent of newer, quieter aircraft has brought about substantial reductions in aircraft noise.

For example he pointed out that the new Airbus A320Neo aircraft introduced by Aer Lingus last year generate 50% less noise than the previous model of the same plane. According to DAA, more than 95% of aircraft using Dublin Airport since 2015 were the quietest type of aircraft compared to 83% in 2008.

The DAA spokesman said the reduction of aircraft noise on neighbouring communities is the joint responsibility of Dublin Airport, the Irish Aviation Authority and airlines: DAA works closely with all those stakeholders to minimise aircraft noise at the airport."

Figures show that 88% of complaints last year related to aircraft departures from the main runway taking off in a westerly direction. The spokesman said DAA is acutely aware of the concerns of local residents in relation to noise and engages with them on an ongoing basis. However, he added: A balance has to be achieved between those concerns and the needs of the Irish economy.

Official figures show that 99.2% of commercial aircraft using Dublin Airport last year kept to the correct flight path on approach and take-off. Under a noise management plan, most aircraft taking off from Dublin Airports main runway must maintain a straight course for five nautical miles before commencing a turn unless otherwise permitted by air traffic controllers.

DAA operates a 1m noise and flight track monitoring system to ensure minimum disruption to local communities which includes eight fixed noise monitoring terminals around north Dublin and one mobile monitor.

It said all aircraft operating at Dublin Airport conform to current standards regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation: As older aircraft are phased out in the short term, this situation will continue to improve."
At one point, he ruthlessly engineered the fall of a key supporter, former attorney general Charles Njonjo, a Kikuyu. He explained: You know, a balloon is a very small thing. But I can pump it up to such an extent that it will be big and look very important. All you need to make it small again is to prick it with a needle.
Kenya introduced a sweeping national biometric identity program last year, with the view to collecting personal and biometric data -- such as fingerprints and facial photographs -- from its 50 million-strong population. Now, however, the program has been temporarily suspended by the country's high court, which has cited concerns about the way the data may be used.

The program, called the National Integrated Management System, aimed to make biometric ID compulsory for all citizens and foreign residents accessing a wide range of services, including healthcare, housing, education and voting. But following criticism from a number of civil rights groups in the country, Kenya's high court has stalled the program until the government puts in place "an appropriate and comprehensive regulatory framework" that would protect the security of the data and safeguard minorities from discrimination.

The decision -- which is expected to see an official 500-page judgement released next week -- will come as something of a blow to the Kenyan government, which has already collected data from nearly 40 million residents. It will now have to pass new legislation under public scrutiny, which will prove challenging in the face of civil rights groups that have vociferously opposed the program. Speaking to the New York Times, Yussuf Bashir, a lawyer representing the Nubian Rights Forum, said, "We are hopeful that this judgment is a milestone in the quest for equality for all Kenyans."

Kenya's decision to implement this kind of wide-scale ID program follows similar moves from other countries -- many of which have proven problematic. India's Aadhaar database -- which holds the biometric data of more than 1.1 billion India citizens -- has been rife with security issues since its creation. In China, meanwhile, the government is using facial recognition to monitor ethnic minorities. While Kenya did pass a data protection law last November, it's not yet clear when it will be enacted, nor whether it will have any sway over the biometric ID program, if and when it is restored.
One of the allegedly corrupt councillors at the centre of the Casey land scandal will continue to be paid while he remains in Egypt and avoids interrogation by authorities in Victoria.

Casey council on Tuesday night granted a request by former mayor Sam Aziz for extended paid leave from council duties until April on medical grounds.

Former Casey mayor Sam Aziz has been granted paid leave for a heart condition. Credit:James Taylor

Mayor Susan Serey said at the meeting that the council was hamstrung by the Local Government Act, which said councillors should not be refused leave unreasonably.

Cr Serey said she understood the move to grant leave would be seen as unacceptable by ratepayers, but said the council would have been vulnerable to legal action by Cr Aziz if it refused his application, which was backed by medical evidence.
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United Nations of theatre: Timeless Tales 2020

60 cast members from 16 nationalities - the United Nations of theatre is all set to return to Singapore with the second edition of the Timeless Tales Family Theatre Festival.

During our first run last year, we received such raving reviews from both the audience and the media. Being called the United Nations of theatre was a huge pat on the back for us, shared Anindita Ghosh, founder and festival director of Timeless Tales.

The sunny island of Singapore will get to enjoy three days of family theatre magic from February 14-16, as the festival brings with it seven brand new plays this year. The most important thing that we are trying to achieve, is to bring families together and bond over a live theatre experience, said Shalima Motial, founder and festival director of Timeless Tales.

So what can you expect from the theatre extravaganza? Watch our interview with Ghosh, Motial and other members of the cast to find out.
OTTAWA A new analysis by Parliaments budget watchdog has found that most households in provinces where the federal carbon tax applies will receive more money back in rebates than they will pay through the scheme  just not as much as projected last year.

Under the federal governments current rebate structure, most households will still receive more than what they pay in fuel charges, parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux said Tuesday.

However, once the provincial and federal sales taxes on carbon pricing are accounted for, these amounts will be lower on a net basis when compared with the analysis in our previous report.

The finding, which comes nearly four months after the majority of Canadian voters cast their ballots for parties that favoured some form of carbon tax, appears to bolster the Liberal governments argument that Canadians will not be negatively affected by the tax.

Ottawa implemented a fuel surcharge last year of $20 per tonne of emissions on five provinces  Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick  that did not have carbon-pricing schemes of their own. New Brunswick has since implemented its own tax.

The federal government has written into law that 90 per cent of the revenues collected from the fuel charge will be returned to individual households in the provinces where the revenues were raised.

in a report last April, the PBO estimated the carbon-tax costs and rebates for households in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick, and found the majority would come out ahead. Alberta was excluded because the federal tax was imposed later on.

It latest report adopted the same approach, and while the findings were similar, Giroux said the net gain for most households was lower because of the impact of provincial and federal sales taxes.

Most households will receive higher transfers than amounts paid in fuel charges, according to Girouxs report.

However, by now accounting for the carbon cost embedded in the provincial and federal sales taxes, fewer households will be categorized as better off, on a net basis, in comparison with the analysis in the previous report.

While the federal government has said the carbon tax will be revenue neutral, the PBO found it will raise about $100 million this fiscal year in additional GST because of the added cost on products, a figure that will triple by 2022-23 as the price of carbon rises to $50 per tonne.

Large and higher-income households were also expected to actually pay a cost, as the rebate did not keep up with their consumption. Part of the reason is wealthier Canadians tend to own bigger homes, own bigger cars and drive more often. But the rebate also tails off as households have more children.

Read more about:
A mother who suffered 18 miscarriages because of her heart-shaped womb has finally had her dream fifth child.

Kate Ingram Woolf, 44, of Leominster, Herefordshire, gave birth to Edith last August after one decade of trying to complete her family.

She always wanted a huge brood but faced devastating losses over and over again, which even tore apart her first marriage in the late 90s.

After a 16th miscarriage, doctors found Mrs Ingram Woolf had a bicornuate uterus  which leaves a baby little room to grow.

She lost all hope of ever completing her family after suffering two more miscarriages in 2017 with her husband of three years, Steve, 52.

But after her six-month-old daughter Edith was born, Mrs Ingram Woolf can't quite believe she finally has the family she fantasised about as a teenager.

Kate Ingram Woolf, 44, from Herefordshire, has finally given birth to her fifth and final child, Edith (pictured), after two decades of trying - including four successful pregnancies and 18 miscarriages. She is pictured with her husband of three years, Steve, 52

Mrs Ingram Woolf, from Herefordshire, didn't want to get excited when she got pregnant because she feared losing her baby. She is pictured pregnant with Edith

Mrs Ingram Woolf has a bicornuate uterus, or 'heat-shaped womb', an abnormality believed to strike one in 1,000 women. The uterus has two cavities (left) instead of one large cavity (right)

Mrs Ingram Woolf, who is on maternity leave from her job as a care assistant, said: 'I had always wanted a big family and when I was going through the miscarriages, it just made me want children even more.

'I became obsessed with wanting a bigger family. After going through 18 miscarriages, I just wanted to keep on trying and hoped that one day I would have my perfect little family that I do now.

'I'm so lucky to have my perfect little family after all this time.

'The children were all so excited when they found out I was pregnant and even more so when I finally gave birth and she was healthy.

'They are all so happy to have a little sister and now that she is here, it finally feels real.'

Mrs Ingram Woolf began trying for a third child in 1997 after having two successful pregnancies with her first husband  who hasn't been named. Her first two children are called Jasmine, 25 and Kristopher, 23.

KATE INGRAM WOOLF'S TIMELINE OF MISCARRIAGES 1993: MARRIED FIRST HUSBAND 1994: GAVE BIRTH TO FIRST CHILD, JASMINE 1996: GAVE BIRTH TO SECOND CHILD, KRISTOPHER 1997-2004: 15 MISCARRIAGES AND DIVORCE FROM HUSBAND 2005: GAVE BIRTH TO THIRD CHILD, FREYA WITH SECOND PARTNER 2005-2008: ONE MISCARRIAGE 2009: GAVE BIRTH TO FOURTH CHILD, OLIVIA WITH THIRD PARTNER 2017: MARRIED CURRENT HUSBAND STEVE 2017-2018: TWO MORE MISCARRIAGES 2019: GAVE BIRTH TO EDITH Advertisement

Sadly between 1997 and 2005, Mrs Ingram Woolf suffered 15 miscarriages.

Around one in 200 women experience recurrent miscarriage, according to the UK's leading baby charity Tommy's. It's defined as the loss of three or more consecutive pregnancies.

After Mrs Ingram Woolf's first miscarriage, tests were done but they did not find her abnormal womb shape.

Blood tests are usually done in the initial stage, to find problems such as blood clotting disorders.

When a number of tests came back with the all-clear, Mrs Ingram Woolf was left to believe it was 'just one of those things'.

Mrs Ingram Woolf suffered a late miscarriage which led to the breakdown of her relationship.

She said: 'I found out I had lost the baby at 16 weeks and that was probably the hardest one for me.

'I had to go and sit in a hospital room surrounded by all of these women who were pregnant and be told that my baby was no longer alive.

Mrs Ingram Woolf is pictured with her third child Freya (right), fourth child Olivia (left), fifth child Edith (centre) and husband Steve Ingram Woolf

After divorcing her first partner, Mrs Ingram Woolf went on to have one child, Freya, 14 (left) with her next partner in 2005. In 2009, Mrs Ingram Woolf split from her partner and went on to have her fourth child Olivia, 10, with her next partner (left). Edith is Mr Ingram Woolf's child

Mrs Ingram Woolf then had her 16th miscarriage, which is when doctors ran more tests and found a bicornuate uterus. She is pictured holding a scan of Edith

WHAT IS A BICORNUATE UTERUS? Figures suggest three per cent of women are born with an irregular uterus, of which a heart-shaped womb is one of the most common defects. A bicornuate uterus - the medical name for a heart-shaped womb - is an abnormality believed to strike one in 1,000 women. Experts say having the unusual-shaped womb does not cause extra problems with conception but there is a slightly higher risk of miscarriage. Women with a bicornuate womb are often urged to have a C-section because it can affect the way their baby lies in pregnancy. A woman may never need treatment for a bicornuate uterus and have succesful pregnancies. But she may have surgery known as a Strassman metroplasty if she has repeated miscarriages and bicornuate uterus is thought to be the cause. This would be a difficult decision for doctors because they won't know for certain that the bicornuate uterus is the exact reason why the woman has miscarriages. Turkish doctors were astounded when they came across a woman with a bicornuate uterus who gave birth to twins in 2013. The team at Kutahya Dumlupinar University published the tale in the journal Case Reports in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Writing in the publication at the time, they said: 'To date, there are only 12 reported cases of twin pregnancy in bicornuate uterus.' Advertisement

'It was definitely part of the reason why my first marriage came to an end- I became obsessed with getting pregnant and it was all I wanted.

'After my miscarriages, I suffered from postnatal depression despite never giving birth because my hormones were all over the place.'

The couple divorced, and Mrs Ingram Woolf went on to have one child, Freya, 14 with her next partner in 2005.

Mrs Ingram Woolf said: 'I was terrified when I was pregnant because I never believed that it was real and I always thought I would lose it again.

'I wish I could have been excited but it was impossible given the circumstances.'

Mrs Ingram Woolf then had her 16th miscarriage, which is when doctors ran more tests and found a bicornuate uterus.

Mrs Ingram Woolf would have been born with a bicornuate uterus, an abnormality believed to strike one in 1,000 women.

The condition raises the odds of recurrent miscarriage and preterm birth for reasons that aren't clear. Some believe it is due to irregular contractions of the womb, or because of the reduced capacity in the womb.

The uterus has two cavities instead of one large cavity.

Mrs Ingram Woolf said: 'I had been blaming myself for so long, thinking that I had done something wrong, so to find out that this could be the reason behind it was both relieving but sad because there was nothing I could do about it now.'

In 2009, Mrs Ingram Woolf split from her partner and went on to have her fourth child Olivia, 10, with her next partner.

Mrs Ingram Woolf got married to Steve, a self-employed carpenter, in 2017 (pictured). The same year they began trying for a baby

Mrs Ingram Woolf said: 'We were told that Edith may have all of these problems with her bowels, kidneys and feet but she was perfectly healthy and she's just amazing'

Mrs Ingram Woolf got married to Steve, a self-employed carpenter, in 2017. The same year they began trying for a baby.

While Mrs Ingram Woolf already had four children from previous relationships, she wanted a baby with Mr Ingram Woolf to create her dream family.

Between 2017 and 2018, Mrs Ingram Woolf had two more miscarriages, leaving them close to giving up.

Mrs Ingram Woolf said: 'We were absolutely devastated but we decided we would try again.'

When she finally got pregnant, Mrs Ingram Woolf had to have scans every two weeks to help settle her mind and reassure her that everything was fine.

She said: 'I hated being pregnant because I was so scared of what might happen and I just wasn't convinced that it was real.

'My husband Steve, was excited but I didn't want to get too excited because I didn't believe it.'

After giving birth, Mrs Ingram Woolf told her husband that she would never put herself through pregnancy again.

She added: 'I can't believe Edith is here and healthy and I finally have my perfect family I had always dreamed of.

'We were told that Edith may have all of these problems with her bowels, kidneys and feet but she was perfectly healthy and she's just amazing.'

Babies born to mothers with a bicornuate uterus may have a greater chance of birth defects compared to those born to women without the condition.

Birth defects change the shape or function of one or more parts of the body, and it may be because the space for the baby to grow is not optimal.

One study in 1988, by Universidad Complutense, Madrid, suggests the risks are four times higher.
03.02.2020 LISTEN

A Kumasi-based Catholic Priest, Rev. Father Mary James Opoku Ware, has described the current educational system in Ghana as defective.

According to the renowned Radio preacher, the new curriculum introduced by the Ghana Education Service (GES) will gradually take away the mutual respect between a teacher and a student.

Rev. Father Mary James Opoku Ware, the host of Otec FMs religious programme, Awurade Nan Ase, literally meaning, At the Feet of the Lord, said this in his sermon on Monday, February 3, 2020.

He said the new teaching skills and techniques by the GES, which involves dancing, singing and joking in front of students, all in the name of grabbing the attention of the students is appalling and needs to be revised.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment ((NaCCA) in a bid to provide a firm foundation for future academic endeavour has produced a new curriculum for basic schools in the country.

The revised curriculum according to NaCCA seeks to build character and nurture children to become citizens the country can be proud teachers are mandated to practically demonstrate their works to students through singing, videos and other means applicable in classrooms.

Rev. Father Mary James Opoku Ware of St Agnes  Catherine Catholic Church at Oforikrom in the Oforikrom municipal of the Ashanti region, explained that the move will make teachers comedians, thereby reducing respect for teachers on the part of students.

He, therefore, called on all stakeholders to maintain the religious and cultural aspects in the educational system to instill discipline in the children.

Jacob Agyenim Boateng || OtecfmGhana.com
Sundays terror attack in Streatham, South London, has been seized upon by the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to press for sweeping attacks on democratic rights, beginning with indefinite detention of those charged with terrorist offences and prisoners suspected of radicalization.

Wearing a fake suicide vest, Sudesh Amman stole a large knife from a discount store on Streatham High Street and rushed into the busy highway on Sunday afternoon, stabbing passers-by.

One man who was hospitalised is no longer in a life-threatening condition. A woman with non-life-threatening injuries has been discharged from hospital and another suffered minor injuries following the discharge of a police firearm.

Amman had recently been released from prison after serving half of a three year and four month sentence for possession and distribution of terrorist material. He was under close active surveillance and was, according to sources, shot dead by armed police eight seconds after his first victim was stabbed.

A witness explained, I thought it must be gangs, but then I could see this guy running towards me and I could see two men wearing balaclavas chasing behind him. All of a sudden I could hear this guy screaming. I think it was the police officer. The guy they were chasing was saying something but it wasnt very audible. He was screaming and the police officers were screaming at the same time. Then I heard two shots very close together. Pop pop, just like that. The guy stopped and then he turned around and I noticed he had a massive silver knife in his hands. It was a very big blade. Easily 10 inches. Another shot was fired, and that is when he fell to the ground.

Prior to his imprisonment, Amman had shared an al-Qaeda magazine in a family WhatsApp group. He sent beheading videos to his girlfriend, advising her to kill her parents, told her he had made a pledge to the Islamic State and said he planned to carry out acid attacks. He wrote in a notebook that his goals in life included dying as a martyr and going to paradise. Amman was arrested when police were told he had posted a video of a frequent pro-gay rights speaker at Hyde Park corner alongside a photo showing an image of a knife with two firearms on a Shahada flag, captioned Armed and ready April 3.

Yesterday afternoon, the Guardian reported, Sudesh Amman was placed under full surveillance on the day of his release from jail and within days prompted such concern from counter-terrorism officials that those tailing him were ordered to be armed.

The attack in Streatham comes less than three months after a similar incident on London Bridge on November 29. Usman Khan, released from prison on license in 2018 after serving a terror sentence, stabbed Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones to death and seriously injuring two other women. Khan was also wearing a fake suicide vest and was shot dead by police.

Prime Minister Boris Johnsons new Conservative government has used the London Bridge attack as a pretext for its authoritarian agenda, announcing a raft of additional anti-terror legislation last month. Now, the events in Streatham are being used to justify a new round of draconian measures.

In a statement yesterday, Johnson said, Following the awful events at Fishmongers Hall [where Usman Khan began his attack], we have moved quickly to introduce a package of measures to strengthen every element of our response to terrorismincluding longer prison sentences and more money for the police.

Tomorrow, we will announce further plans for fundamental changes to the system for dealing with those convicted of terrorism offences. On government de-radicalization programmes, he said, the instances of success are really very few and we need to be frank about that.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has also promised fundamental changes to the procedure for releasing convicted terrorists.

Lord Carlile, a prominent defender of MI5 and supporter of the Snoopers Charter surveillance Act, has called for the reintroduction of control orders as we had pre-2011. Introduced under 2005 anti-terror legislation, these orders were scrapped following a campaign by civil liberties groups.

On Monday, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland announced emergency legislation to end the automatic release of terrorist offenders, to apply retrospectively to serving prisoners, saying given the exceptional nature of the terrorist cohort, exceptional approaches are needed.

Over the next few days, government ministers and their mouthpieces in the press will seek to generate as much hysteria as possible, exploiting legitimate revulsion at Ammans actions, to prevent any critical thought about Sundays events and what they represent. No one will seriously raise, let alone answer, the question of why a couple of hundred (to use the number of those currently imprisoned on terrorism charges) people, mainly young men, are eager to die in the course of a murderous rampage in the name of a medieval ideology.

Instead, Ammans sudden attack, carried out under close state surveillancemedia reports today have confirmed he was on the UKs terror watch listwill be used as an example to prove that there is no safe point at which those convicted of terrorism charges can be released. The Daily Telegraph is already referring to demands for all terrorists who have been released early to be recalled.

The logical endpoint of this right-wing law and order response is to lock all terrorist convicts in a deep hole and throw away the key. Nothing positive will come for the masses of the population from demanding strengthened security forces to combateither through heavier sentencing, state spying or censorshipa tiny, ideologically driven minority in society who increasingly act as lone wolves.

The working class must take its own, opposed stand. The democratic rights of all cannot survive the law-and-order response of the ruling class to symptoms of terrorist violence. Nor will future attacks be averted while its causes are left unaddressed and exacerbated by discriminatory legislation. The only outcome achieved by repressive measures is to divert attention from the real roots of terrorism in imperialist war and occupation, while preparing for the suppression of a mass struggle against capitalism and war.

For all the cries of shame! and apologist! in the corporate media whenever blowback from the actions of British militarism abroad is mentioned, the roots of terrorist groups and their connection to the predatory intrigues of the major powers, are widely known in the population.

Western imperialism obliterates whole societies in its pursuit of geostrategic domination in the Middle East and Africa. It works with factions of the local elites to savagely suppress any popular opposition and foments sectarian divisions. Its intelligence agencies and special forces fund and organise reactionary jihadist militias to carry out their dirty work, turning them into leading political players. ISIS, emerging from the swamp of US-led regime change operations in Iraq and Syria, like al-Qaeda in Afghanistan before it, is the Frankensteins monster of these interventions.

Its reactionary propaganda then finds fertile soil in the minds of disturbed individuals who feel their communities and their religion are targeted by discriminatory, anti-democratic counterterror schemes like Prevent and the Islamophobic rants of sections of the press and political establishment.

So long as this situation persists terror attacks will continue. While its architects are kept safe by state and private security teams, the working class is made to suffer the consequences in the form of both terrorist atrocities and repressive laws. The only way out is not through the lawmakers and enforcers of the ruling class, but through a struggle against British and world imperialism waged by the international working class.
1. Tesla:

Tesla China is notifying customers that, due to the coronavirus outbreak currently happening in that country, all Tesla vehicles will have free supercharging to facilitate travel until the outbreak is resolved.

https://electrek.co/2020/01/28/tesla-china-free-supercharging-during-coronavirus-outbreak/?

2. Microsoft

Microsoft will contribute $142,400 to support relief efforts in Wuhan and Hubei province, according to the Financial Times.

3. Cargill

Cargill a Minnesota-based agriculture company, will donate $284,800 to the Chinese Red Cross.

4. Dell

Dell will donate $284,800 to the Chinese Red Cross.

5. Boeing

Boeing will give 250,000 face masks to aid workers and medical personnel in Wuhan and Zhoushan.

2- 5 https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-billionaires-multinational-donations-80ecb324-c8c9-4476-819b-8b9a527d3896.html
The father of two women who allegedly went missing from the local ashram of absconding godman Nithyananda moved the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday, seeking CBI probe into their disappearance

Ahmedabad: The father of two women who allegedly went missing from the local ashram of absconding godman Nithyananda moved the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday, seeking CBI probe into their disappearance.

Janardhana Sharma, father of Lopamudra Sharma (21) and Nandhitha Sharma (18), said the police investigation was being influenced by "affluent people". Considering the "lacuna in the present investigations and limitation of the local police investigation agency," the case should be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the application said.

Sharma had filed habeas corpus petition in the high court in November 2019. A habeas corpus petition is filed for seeking a direction to the police or any authority to produce a person.

Sharma's latest plea said the police initially refused to register a First Information Report for abduction of his daughters and registered only a missing person complaint, that too after fifteen days. The police were protecting "many affluent people", it alleged, seeking a direction to the Gujarat government to transfer the case to the central investigation agency.

Acting on Sharma's complaint, the police in November registered a case of kidnapping and wrongful confinement against Nithyananda and arrested his two disciples who were in-charge of his ashram in Ahmedabad. The police also sent a request to the CBI, the nodal body for Interpol matters in India, seeking a Blue Corner Notice against Nithyananda who had by then fled the country.

Last month the police told a court in Ahmedabad that Interpol had issued a Blue Corner Notice, which is issued to locate or obtain information about a person in a criminal investigation.
Goa Deputy Chief Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar has claimed that Dr. B R Ambedkar had thought of a 'Dalitstan' for Dalits, but the people of India remained united. Ajgaonkar was speaking in the Goa Assembly on Monday during the motion congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Parliament.

"During partition, Muslims went to the other side, Pakistan became a Muslim nation. (But) Hindustan did not become a Hindu nation," Ajgaonkar said addressing the House. "Some people speak about Hindu nation. Hindu comprises all communities, Catholics, Hindus, Muslims, Dalits. For Dalits, Babasaheb Ambedkar said there would be another Dalitstan. But still, we all are together," said the BJP MLA from Pernem constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.

"When the country became independent, Ambedkar gave us a Constitution for democracy which has Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Dalits," the deputy chief minister said. If this country is great, it is because of everyone's contribution, he added. The state Assembly on Monday passed a motion congratulating Modi and Shah over the passage of CAA in Parliament.

The new law, under which non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship, came into force from January 10. It was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : In a major twist in the second firing incident in the Shaheen Bagh area, the accused Kapil Gurjar has been found to be a member of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), as per the Delhi Police. However, the AAP has termed the development as BJP's "dirty politics".

The photographs released by the police also showed him with some AAP leaders. According to senior Delhi Police officers related to the probe, Gurjar was found to be connected with AAP.

The revelation has been made by the Crime Branch which is interrogating Gujjar, a resident of Dallupura village in east Delhi, who fired shots at Shaheen Bagh on February 1.

The officer said, "During investigation, Kapil Gurjar's phone was recovered and his photos with AAP's Sanjay Singh and Atishi Marlena have emerged." Sanjay Singh is a Rajya Sabha member of the party while Atishi is contesting the Assembly elections in Delhi from Kalkaji. Atishi had also unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from east Delhi.

Speaking to IANS, Singh termed the latest development as BJP's "dirty politics". "With just days left before the elections, BJP will try all its dirty politics. Just wait and watch how many more such photos or videos will come out. This is just to divert people's attention," Singh said.

The officer said that Gurjar in his statement to the police said that he and his father joined AAP in early 2019. According to the police, Gurjar's father Gaje Singh contested the polls twice on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket (Jungpura in 2008 and Patparganj in 2012).

"They both joined AAP in early 2019. He had even deleted his photos from the phone but the same was recovered after technical help," the officer said.

He said that on the day of the incident, Gurjar came to Shaheen Bagh on a bike and with another person named Sarthak. "Sarthak has joined the investigation. Through technical surveillance and other evidences, including CCTV footages, it was found that he came through the DND flyover via Maharani Bagh to Holy Family hospital.

"At the parking lot of the hospital, Gurjar adjusted his pistol and then went to Shaheen Bagh," the officer said.

He further said that Gurjar sent back Sarthak by handing him his mobile phone.

"CCTV footage from the location has confirmed Sarthak's statement," the officer said.

Gurjar was arrested from Shaheen Bagh after he opended fire near the protest site. After his arrest, he said that "sirf Hinduo ki chalegi".

Gurjar fired three bullets in the air after warning protesters to vacate the spot. He also raised communal slogans. According to the police, the accused was annoyed over the protest at Shaheen Bagh and the ensuing road blockade for nearly 50 days now.

The firing incident came just two days after a youth from Uttar Pradesh's Jewar opened fire at anti-CAA protesters near Jamia Millia Islamia.

Interestingly, the two incidents happened after Union Minister Anurag Thakur raised 'shoot the traitor' slogans during a public rally in Delhi.
This has been an extraordinarily bizarre Iowa caucus process, the kind that I dont think anybody who has participated in presidential politics has ever seen before. Youve probably heard we dont know the results. Very, very frustrating. And when those results are announced  Get them straight. This state has just been frozen in uncertainty. Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg both seem to have had a pretty good night. And not so much for Joe Biden. Lets hear it for the Biden people. You guys look good. But there was nobody there sort of holding a trophy over their head in the way the candidates go in expecting to be able to do. Anybody with an S to Z last name? L to R. L to R. Anybody want a sign? [Whistle] So the winner of Iowa is supposed to be able to go out on the night of the caucuses and in national prime time give a soaring victory speech that introduces themselves to a larger swath of the country, and claim a burst of energy and momentum that carries them forward into the next round of primaries and caucuses. 55, 56, 57, 58  But the end result was so deeply unsatisfying to virtually everybody involved. There is no name on it. O.K., I need his name and his number. And then this is actually Bernie Sanders card. I dont know why the card ended up Biden. Some of the issues included technical problems with an app that was supposed to help caucus precinct leaders report the results, failure of a back-up system that was supposed to step in if the app failed, inconsistencies in the data that the app did produce, and sort of a technical understanding gap with some of the precinct leaders who tend to be on the older side. After a significant delay, we have some results in Iowa. Welcome, Mayor Pete. Pete Buttigieg staked essentially his entire campaign on Iowa. He poured resources and time into this state. And his polling numbers gradually rose here, even as they stayed pretty modest nationally. So he has needed a win here and a jolt of momentum early in the process. The biggest risk we could take is to try to recycle the same Washington playbook and mindset and fights that got us to this point, and expect a different result. Hes arguing that hes a unifier of both the progressive and moderate wings of the party. Lets not choose between boldness and unity. For Pete Buttigieg, Iowa means that hes going to be a real player in this race. And it means that hell stay in through to Super Tuesday, which had been a question in his campaign. Bernie doing well in Iowa means that he is in a really strong position going into New Hampshire. Today marks the beginning of the end for Donald Trump. Bernies had the same message for about 50 years. Rich are getting richer. The most unfair distribution of wealth  Two percent of the population that owns one-third of the entire wealth of America  The fact that Bernie has had the same positions and talked about them the same way is what appeals to a lot, a lot of people. And almost all new income and wealth goes to the top 1 percent. Bernie doing well in Iowa may also catapult him into the other early states. Im thinking Nevada and after that, California. Let us transform this country. Thank you all very much. [Cheering] Hello, Des Moines, Iowa. [Cheering] Hello, Warren Democrats. Elizabeth Warren has not been able to overcome the squeeze from the Bernie Sanders left and the Buttigieg moderate wing. Are we ready to do New Hampshire? Elizabeth Warren finished probably about where we thought she would. This is a candidate who over the summer and the fall looked like she could become the runaway favorite in Iowa. That did not happen. Yes! Elizabeth Warrens argument has been about corruption. End lobbying as we know it. And, of course, plans and policy. And I got a plan for that. Big structural change. Were hearing a lot about unity. We have one job. Right? Number one job, and that is beat Donald Trump. Are you in on that? When we go outside of Iowa, her numbers dont look as great. Shes not doing as great in South Carolina. Shes not doing as great as her rivals in Nevada. But maybe thats old-fashioned. Hi, how are you? So my grandmother has a huge crush on you. Joe Biden doing poorly in Iowa means renewed questions about whether the candidate who has spent so much time focused on this question of electability ... If I can unify the country  the character of the nation  ... is, in fact, able to win. We need a president who can bring the country together. Biden made the argument that before any kind of progressive change could be made, first Democrats have to beat Trump, and that he is the candidate who stands the best chance. Theyre trying to smear me to try to stop me, because they know if Im the nominee, I will beat Donald Trump. Iowa has presented a number of challenges for Joe Biden. This question of enthusiasm. That was the message from voters, that they like Joe Biden, they respected Joe Biden, but this was not a candidate who excited them. For Iowa Democrats, this has been nothing short of a humiliation. There is no question that Iowas status as the first-in-the-nation caucus state is in mortal jeopardy. If you talk to any senior Democrat in the country right now, they will tell you, never again. Never again certainly to a caucus in Iowa. And maybe never again to Iowa starting a presidential process, period. How do I feel? On to New Hampshire! [Laughter]
by Paul Wang

The man who died in Hong Kong had been in Wuhan on January 21st. He infected his mother, who lived with him. He already had some disease. Chief executive Carrie Lam closes almost all ports and routes of communication with China. In the country, the number of infected rises to 20,472; 23,214 cases not yet confirmed. Another 151 cases are registered in 23 countries worldwide. The Politburo admits "shortcomings and difficulties" in managing the epidemic. Macau closes casinos.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - Health authorities today announced the first death from coronaviruses in the area. The victim, a 39-year-old man, is the second person to die outside China after the death of a 44-year-old man in the Philippines two days ago.

The Hong Kong government specified that the man had been in Wuhan (Hubei), the epicenter of the epidemic, on January 21 last and returned to Hong Kong on January 23. At the end of last month, he developed a fever and was diagnosed as having coronavirus and isolated in the Princess Margaret Hospital. The man died of a heart attack, confirming the fact that coronavirus is fatal especially for patients who already have some other underlying pathology.

The first victim in Hong Kong lived with his mother in Hong Hum. She is also affected by the virus, given contacts with her son. So far, 15 cases of infection have been recognized in Hong Kong.

Most people are concerned that the epidemic may spread to the overpopulated territory which has an enormous volume of contacts with China. Many still have the nightmare of the Sars epidemic (2002-2003) which cost the lives of 300 people.

The government is under pressure because groups of doctors and nurses are demanding that all passages with China be closed to avoid a volume of contagion impossible to contain. The government of Carrie Lam first refused, then agreed to reduce the ports of entry and the ways of communication with the motherland.

In China, meanwhile, there is still an increase in deaths and infections. There were 426 deaths as of this morning at 10; 20,472 are infected; cases not yet confirmed 23,214. Another 151 cases are registered in 23 countries worldwide.

Yesterday, the foreign ministry in Beijing said that the country "urgently needs" sanitary material such as masks, protective glasses, insulating suits. In a rare example of self-criticism, the Politburo Standing Committee admitted that there were "shortcomings and difficulties" in managing the epidemic. But he has only proposed more verification of the sale of wild animals in the markets. It is a common opinion, in fact - confirmed also by some scientists - that the epidemic has developed from bats.

President Xi Jinping, who chaired the committee, said the Chinese people "launched a war to prevent the epidemic."

In Macau, chief executive Ho Iat-seng has asked that all casinos be closed until at least the middle of the month.
Well, yes.

Gaffney has a breathtaking and at times nearly otherworldly ability to read horses by closely studying their bodies, and then to capture what she sees with her prose. The slightest movement  a flick of an ear, a shortening of breath  is how a horse will try to communicate, she writes, describing what she calls subtle language. Perhaps even more remarkable is that she also can see the humans through the horses eyes: Fear and its family members  anger, frustration, pain  are all carried in the residents steps, in their shoulders and necks, the way their backs round forward, forcing them to look out through the tips of their eyes, hiding in the shadows just beneath their eyebrows. They are, she says, are unknowingly communicating their pain to the horses.

The vulnerability of the residents and their existence at the margins of society make for a conundrum in their portrayal. Gaffney says in an authors note that some characters are composites. In journalism, there is a bright line between making a character less identifiable for reasons of safety or privacy  using just a first name, not using a name at all, removing identifying details  and the creation of composite characters from elements of real people. Memoir is not journalism, but since the mode of this book is one of intimate observation, the use of composite characters feels a little dismaying; if you read that authors note and then follow along as Gaffney draws characters like Tony, Randy, Eliza and Joey with tremendous sensitivity and sympathy, it brings you up short to realize that in fact there may be no Joey, the defeated young man who forms a bond with the wounded horse, Luna, after she watches him rescue a litter of feral kittens. (We can assume  or can we?  that the horses, at least, are not composites.)

Gaffney surely feels an obligation to people who had no idea, when the horse trainer came to the ranch where they were serving a prison sentence, that their every angry outburst, every crying jag, every moment of breakthrough or failure might appear years later in a book. She may well have had to assure some people she would not write about them, or others that they would not be recognizable, in order to tell climactic stories  like when most of the livestock crew must leave the ranch, returning to prison or to a fugitive life on the street, after they violate the ranch rules prohibiting drugs and sex; or when the wounded Luna transforms into a deeply trusting creature.

Image Credit... /

A gift for documenting infinitesimal gradations of fear, anger or sheer sensory joy animates Gaffneys scenes of the interactions of the residents and the horses, as well as some of the episodes in her own life she relates, like the workshop she attended 15 years earlier, taught by a world-famous trainer, at which she was the only woman. Assigned to work with a young filly who wasnt yet ready for the saddle, Gaffney followed the famous trainers instructions, despite her own instincts, and both she and the horse ended up injured. I wish I had fought harder for what I knew, she writes. Ginger, I tell myself, next time you will.
Japan has quarantined a cruise ship carrying 3,711 people and was testing those onboard for the new coronavirus Tuesday after a former passenger was diagnosed with the illness in Hong Kong.

Eight people on the vessel, which arrived in Yokohama Bay on Monday, have symptoms such as fever, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said.

Television footage showed several quarantine officers boarding the Diamond Princess on Monday evening to check all 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew.

The move comes after an 80-year-old passenger who disembarked on January 25 in Hong Kong tested positive for the virus, which has killed 425 people in China.

The man "did not visit a medical centre inside the ship while he was sailing with us", cruise operator Carnival Japan said in a statement.

"According to the hospital where he is staying, his condition is stable and infection was not found among his family members who sailed with him," the statement said.

A woman in her twenties on the ship with her mother told private broadcaster TBS on Tuesday that all passengers had been asked to stay in their rooms and wait for tests. The vessel's departure from Yokohama would be delayed by at least 24 hours to Wednesday or later, Carnival Japan said.

The cruise ship had already been through a quarantine procedure on Saturday at a port in Naha in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, and quarantine officials had issued certificates allowing passengers and crew to land, Suga said.

A health ministry official said no-one aboard at that time showed any symptoms, and the case of the man who disembarked in Hong Kong was not known at that time. After his case emerged, a second quarantine was organised.

Quarantine officials are now checking the condition of everyone on board and testing those with symptoms of illness for the new coronavirus, as well as other infectious diseases, including malaria and Dengue fever, a second health ministry official told AFP.

Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told parliament that tests for the virus would be administered to three groups: those with symptoms, those who got off in Hong Kong, and those who had close contact with the infected passenger.

Until the results are in "everyone on board... will stay there". he said. The decision on whether to allow the vessel to dock at Yokohama port and let passengers land on Japanese soil "will be made at the quarantine station," taking into consideration the WHO's estimate of a 10-day incubation period, Suga said.

Since Saturday, Japan has been barring foreign nationals who have been to Hubei in recent weeks, as well as holders of passports issued in Hubei -- the Chinese province at the epicentre of the crisis.

Arrivals displaying symptoms of the new virus can also be denied entry. A total of 11 foreigners have been barred from entering so far, the immigration service agency said Tuesday.

The health ministry said as of Monday that 20 people in Japan have tested positive for the new virus, of whom four showed no symptoms. Japan has also flown more than 500 citizens out of Wuhan, where the coronavirus originated.

Local carriers have suspended flights to the centre of the outbreak, with All Nippon Airways saying Tuesday its suspension would now be extended through March 28. It also announced it would reduce the number of flights to Beijing from Tokyo's Haneda and Narita airports.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On Jan. 15, President Donald Trump and a senior Chinese government official signed a trade deal, bringing an uneasy truce in the festering trade war between the two countries.

Although the agreement is billed as phase one, Trump himself has said its not clear whether another, bigger deal  which would get to the heart of American concerns about Chinas industrial and trade policies  will be negotiated and signed before Novembers election.

As for the current deal, time will tell if it brings the results that are promised and hoped for.

A key part of phase one is Chinas commitment to increase purchases of U.S. industrial goods, agricultural products, energy and services to the tune of $200 billion over two years  over and above the purchases it made in 2017, which totaled $186 billion.

Fully 24 of 91 pages are devoted to listing, in excruciating detail, the sorts of products and services China can select from in fulfilling this commitment. Items range from the very large  nuclear reactors; aircraft; wheat, barley, oats and corn; motor cars; and financial services; to the very particular  glands and other organs for organotherapeutic uses, dried, whether or not powdered; uncalcinated petroleum coke; and essential oils, concentrates and absolutes.

The deal also calls for China to improve the protection and enforcement of intellectual property, i.e., trademarks, trade secrets, patents, and copyrights, an issue which has been a staple of American complaints about China for decades  and which a number of previous trade agreements with China have aimed at correcting, without complete success.

And the agreement aims to end Chinas too-frequent practice of forcing American companies to transfer technology and know-how to competitors in China as a condition of accessing Chinas large market  something China committed not to do when it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.

Like the recently negotiated U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement, the deal with China includes a commitment to avoid manipulating exchange rates to gain a competitive advantage over other countries. Perhaps in return for Chinas agreement to this language, the U.S. Treasury Department rescinded last summers designation of China as a currency manipulator just a few days before the agreements signing.

Because a deal was reached, the additional high tariffs Trump had threatened on even more Chinese exports werent imposed. That said, high tariffs on both sides will remain in place on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of trade.

In addition, China is ramping up efforts to reduce its reliance on U.S. electronics and other essential components of its own high tech products. For example, the Chinese government ordered its agencies to replace foreign computers and software with domestically produced versions. The government also is offering big incentives to attract foreign researchers and Chinese expatriates to conduct research and development activities in China. In the longer run, these moves are likely to reduce U.S. high tech firms competitive position in the global market.

As for agriculture, a big concern for Montana, its not clear that promised Chinese purchases will occur; or if they do, whether they will erase losses suffered by farmers and ranchers whose exports have fallen sharply during the trade war. For one thing, Chinese buyers have shifted purchases toward Brazil, Argentina, Russia and other producers; once lost, markets can be hard to regain.

Moreover, its highly unlikely China can even begin to meet the administrations target of $40 billion in additional agricultural imports in 2020, as compared to 2017. That number is more than four times higher than the value of all agricultural products America exported to China in 2019 and more than double the 2017 level.

The same doubts exist about Chinas ability to meet the deals target of $200 billion in additional imports across the board.

The bottom line? Its a modest agreement that makes progress in some areas but promises more than it probably can deliver, especially on increased U.S. exports to China. If its even partially successful, though, it will begin to undo some of the trade wars damage to American farmers, ranchers and manufacturers.

However, this phase one deal doesnt address the heart of U.S. complaints about Chinese subsidies, industrial policies and state-supported industries. Thats where the real challenge lies. And the failure to find ways to address these concerns guarantees that the U.S.-China battle for technological supremacy will live on, with more skirmishes yet to be fought.

Joanna Shelton was Deputy Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris; held senior positions in the executive branch and Congress in Washington, D.C.; and teaches occasionally at the University of Montana.

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Tuesday, February 4th, 2020 (12:01 am) - Score 2,388

RootMetrics has published their biannual H2 2019 study of mobile network (3G and 4G) performance across the United Kingdom, which once again named EE (BT) as the best overall operator and they also delivered the fastest aggregate median (average) mobile broadband download speed of 36.5Mbps.

As usual the organisation conducted their work by harnessing a batch of Samsung Galaxy S9 (4G) smartphones, which were purchased off the shelf from operator stores. The testing itself was conducted during both the day and night across 16 of the UKs biggest cities, while walking and driving. Overall a total of 593,343 tests were completed including 21,535 miles driven, 811 indoor locations and over 750 total places visited.

NOTE: RootMetrics will adopt 5G Smartphones for all future testing through 2020, while this report is largely still focused upon 4G performance.

The study then split the results into several categories (network reliability, speed, data, call and text quality) and each was assigned a score out of 100 (higher number = better). In terms of the UK-wide results, EE came top of every single category and for the most part their closest rival was Vodafone. Meanwhile O2 and Three UK were left to battle over the bottom two places, again.

Curiously though we noted that all of the operators have suffered a slight fall in their overall scores since H1 2019, although this was a bigger fall for Three UK and as a result O2 has finally moved up into 3rd place. Meanwhile Vodafone continues to threaten EE.

Overall Scores for H2 2019 (vs H1 2019 Result)

1. EE  95.6 (down from 96.1)

2. Vodafone  94.7 (down from 95.2)

3. O2  89.7 (down from 90.5)

4. Three UK  89.3 (down from 92.1)

The RootMetrics study also gave a result for each operators aggregate median mobile broadband download speed across each of the four UK nations, including England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. On this front we note that O2 does a lot better in Northern Ireland than elsewhere, although EE still remains dominant.
President Donald Trump will deliver his third State of the Union address on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020, at 9 p.m. Eastern time.

It will be only the second time in American history that a president will deliver the speech during his impeachment trial. The speech is scheduled a day before the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on whether to remove Trump from office.

WHAT: Presidents usually deliver State of the Union addresses toward the beginning of a new year, updating the American public on how the country is faring and outlining plans for the year ahead.

WHEN: Tuesday, 9 p.m. Eastern time.

WHERE: Trump will speak from the U.S. House of Representatives chambers at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

HOW TO WATCH: Most major networks will carry Trumps speech. So will cable news networks. Check TV Guide for listings.

The White House will also carry a livestream on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Networks and news sites will also carry the event on social media.

HOW WILL IMPEACHMENT FACTOR IN? Bill Clinton is the only other president to give a State of the Union speech under impeachment. He did so in 1999.

Trumps attorneys and House impeachment managers made their closing arguments in the impeachment trial Monday. And the Senate is expected to vote on the two articles of impeachment Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Trump  only the third U.S. president to be impeached  has railed against Democrats for weeks over the issue. But the Republican-controlled Senate is expected to acquit the Republican president.

Republican senators are also asking Trump to steer clear of discussing impeachment during his speech. Clinton didnt mention his trial in his 1999 address.

WHAT ABOUT 2020? The speech comes a day after the Iowa Caucuses, the official start to votes being cast in the 2020 presidential election. It didnt go well. Results have been delayed because of inconsistencies," according to the states Democratic Party.

Trump and his supporters gloated on social media, suggesting its another example of the president having an edge heading into Novembers general election.

The Democrat Party in Iowa really messed up, but the Republican Party did not. I had the largest re-election vote in the history of that great state, by far, beating President Obamas previous record by a lot. Also, 97% Plus of the vote! Thank you Iowa!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2020

Trump is seeking a second term in November. A number of Democrats are seeking the partys nomination to challenge him.

THE DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE: After Trumps speech, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is slated to give the Democratic response. Democratic U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar will also give a response in Spanish.

Networks usually carry the responses live.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

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HARTFORD  The recent Hearst Connecticut Media report on a secret of list of violent felons has prompted legislative review of what had been a small, overlooked piece of the states landmark response to the 2012 Newtown school massacre.

But whether anything will be done on revising the law during the short, 13-week budget adjustment session of the General Assembly that starts on Wednesday, remains to be seen.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and a leading gun-safety activist agree that the current list of 1,875 felons who are required to update their addresses and photographs during their first five years out of prison, is a complicated subject that requires scrutiny and a weighing of concerns over privacy and public disclosure.

Access to the registry is banned from the public, and is of only limited use for law enforcement.

This is an issue the legislature certainly needs to explore and evaluate further, and in particular we should consider if there is a need for the registry at all, said state Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the law-writing Judiciary Committee. We have begun gathering information and looking into the legislative history and rationale for the bill over the past few days.

Last year the committee succeeded in passing a law against untraceable, so-called ghost guns, as well as legislation requiring gun owners to lock even unloaded weapons, a requirement that was also supported overwhelmingly by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The states nearly seven-year-old Deadly Weapon Offender Registry was just a tiny piece of the April, 2013 response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. It primarily banned the sale of military-style rifles and large-capacity ammunition magazines and required even those buying bullets to have firearms permits.

Mandatory participation in the registry is usually included in plea bargaining and sentencing of offenders found guilty of 42 violent crimes with guns or knives, and is imposed by state judges in addition to the routine prohibitions against felons possessing firearms.

More Information Grim statistics about gun violence - The presence of a gun in a domestic-violence encounters makes it five times more likely that a woman will be killed. - Access to a gun triples the risk of a death by suicide. - Over 80% of youth gun suicides used firearms belonging to a family member. - Living in a home with a firearm significantly increases the risk of death by an unintentional gunshot injury. - Three quarters of the guns used in school shootings come from the shooter's home or that of a relative. Source: CT Against Gun Violence See More Collapse

Max Reiss, communications director for Gov. Ned Lamont, said Monday that the registry is a tool for law enforcement, but the governor wants to meet with James C. Rovella, commissioner of the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to have a dialogue and review of the policy.

The regulation was part of the reforms that passed in the aftermath of a tragedy, Reiss said.

State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, whose multi-town district includes Newtown, said he wants to research the relative value of the registry, and whether its worth either maintaining its exemption under the state Freedom of Information Act or releasing the registry to the public like the states transparent Sex Offender Registry.

I think just the opportunity to have this discussion is a step forward, said Hwang, ranking member of the Public Safety and Security Committee, in an interview last week. I think we have to go back and really understand why the registry was created in the first place and understand and hear from law enforcement. Then we can analyze the merits. If it comes to be that the registry is necessary, then we have to evaluate whether it needs to be kept private or open for transparency. I think it needs to be a two-step process.

Jeremy Stein, executive director of CT Against Gun Violence, said Monday that he has mixed feelings about both the deadly weapon and sex-offender registries. Youre more likely to be more molested by someone you know than someone on the (sex offender) list, Stein said.

The bigger problem is making sure, from my perspective, people who commit violent crimes are not permitted to obtain firearms by any means, Stein said. He would support legislation requiring gun sellers to report cases to police when they reject potential buyers because of tainted background checks.

He said that if the registry were made public it might help deter people from trying to obtain firearms illegally.

Everybody who has a gun is dangerous, Stein said. Its a lethal weapon. The gun makes you dangerous. People can be responsible gun owners, but the mere fact of having a gun makes you more dangerous.

Stafstrom said that while the legislative session is just a little more than three months long, the fact is that the committee process is only seven weeks.

At this point, Im not sure if we will have consensus for a committee bill for this short legislative session or not but the issue does need a full public hearing at some point, Stafstrom said. There are a number of important and thorny issues facing the Judiciary Committee this year.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
Rishi Kapoor's sudden health deteriorated, admitted to hospital in Delhi | Fillmibeat

Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor, who was shooting for his upcoming film, Sharmaji Namkeen, was hospitalized on Friday. When the Bobby actor gave Armaan Jain-Anissa Malhotra's wedding festivities a miss, various speculations started floating in media about his ill health.

Finally putting an end to media reports, Sr. Kapoor opened up about his health on social media. The actor took to his Twitter handle and wrote, "Dear family,friends,foes and followers. I have been overwhelmed by all your concern about my health.Thank you. I have been filming in Delhi past 18 days and because of the Pollution and my low count of neutrophils, I caught an infection whereby I had to be hospitalized."

Dear family,friends,foes and followers. I have been overwhelmed by all your concern about my health.Thank you. I have been filming in Delhi past 18 days and because of the Pollution and my low count of neutrophils, I caught an infection whereby I had to be hospitalized. (1).....  Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) February 4, 2020

Rishi further revealed that he has been discharged from the hospital and is now back in Mumbai. His next tweet read, "I was running a slight fever and on investigation,Dr.s found a patch which could have lead to pneumonia,was detected and is being cured. People seem to have assumed a lot different. I put to rest all those stories and look forward to entertain and love you. I am now in Mumbai."

I was running a slight fever and on investigation,Dr.s found a patch which could have lead to pneumonia,was detected and is being cured. People seem to have assumed a lot different. I put to rest all those stories and look forward to entertain and love you. I am now in Mumbai.  Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) February 4, 2020

Earlier, Rishi opened up about his health while speaking with PTI and was quoted as saying, "I have had an infection which am getting treated. Nothing dramatic. Pollution got me I guess."

Speaking about work, the veteran actor is all set to step into Robert De Niro's shoes for the Hindi remake of the Hollywood film, The Intern, which also stars Deepika Padukone.

Rishi Kapoor Reacts To Reports Of Hospitalisation: 'Nothing Dramatic; Pollution Caught Me'

IT'S OFFICIAL! Deepika Padukone And Rishi Kapoor To Star In Remake Of The Intern
A 68-year-old Florida woman repeatedly shocked her 73-year-old husband with a taser after he told her he wanted a divorce, according to police.

Pamela Carr was arrested by police Sunday and charged with aggravated domestic battery for using a taser on Thomas Burke.

The drama unfolded at around 11am, the arrest affidavit states, when Burke told his wife he wanted a separation after nine years of marriage.

Pamela Carr (pictured) was arrested by police Sunday and charged with aggravated domestic battery for using a taser on Thomas Burke

The couple got into a verbal argument at their home in the Serendipity mobile home community, Clearwater.

The accused then allegedly 'pulled out a taser and drive stunned him several times'.

Police records show that Carr admits using the taser on her husband but claims it was in self-defense.

The couple got into a verbal argument at their home in the Serendipity mobile home community, Clearwater, when Burke said he wanted a separation. The accused (right) then allegedly 'pulled out a taser (left) and drive stunned him several times'

It is not clear if Burke sustained any injuries in the alleged assault.

Carr was arrested and released later that day from county jail after posting $1,000 bond.

She has been ordered not to contact Burke but is allowed to pay a visit their home with a law enforcement officer present to pick up her belongings.

Carr has also been banned from possessing firearms.
Two men killed at a major intersection in Melbourne's north as they were trying to outrun police in an allegedly stolen car have been linked to earlier burglaries and an attempted carjacking.

The men were in a Toyota Kluger when it slammed into the side of a truck at the intersection of Bell and High streets in Preston about 10pm on Tuesday.

The truck's container fell onto its side and hit an Audi sedan which was stopped at the traffic lights.

The two men in the Kluger died at the scene.The extent of their injuries meant police were having difficulty identifying them on Wednesday.
Amritsar: Around 200 Hindus from Pakistan have come to India on a visitor visa on Monday. Officials said that many of them do not want to go back to Pakistan. They are telling themselves the danger of life in Pakistan. All people are expected to get citizenship of India after the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Akali leader on the Attari border and Majinder Singh Sirsa, the head of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, welcomed four families from Pakistan.

Border security officials have claimed that the number of Pakistani Hindu tourists coming to the country via Attari-Wagah CM has increased in January. Most of the tourists who reached India on Monday are from Sindh and Karachi in Pakistan. Many of them have come to India with bags and said that they will seek asylum in the country from the Government of India. Sirsa has tweeted that many Hindu families living in Pakistan have come to India after being stricken by the tight policies there.

A Pakistani Hindu has said on condition of anonymity that Hindus and Sikhs of Pakistan and Afghanistan are hopeful of getting citizenship of India after the Citizenship Act (CAA) is implemented. It was said that most of these people have come to visit their relatives in Rajasthan. After CAA, he is hopeful that he will be able to live here in peace with taking citizenship of India. Recently, many cases of harassment from Hindus and Sikhs have come to light in Pakistan.

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Nagaland will have one more Lok Sabha seat and the government will take effective steps for the rehabilitation of the members of the rebel groups.

The ongoing Naga peace talks between the Centre and National Socialist Council of Nagaland, Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) and the Naga National Political Groups (NNPG) has concluded negotiation on all the political issues, but signing of the peace accord was delayed due to few minor issues on which Naga rebel groups have to take a call. (Photo: Representational Image)

Guwahati: The ongoing Naga peace talks between the Centre and National Socialist Council of Nagaland, Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) and the Naga National Political Groups (NNPG) has concluded negotiation on all the political issues, but signing of the peace accord was delayed due to few minor issues on which Naga rebel groups have to take a call.

Asserting that the ball is now in the court of rebel groups, security sources in the ministry of home affairs told this newspaper that more than hundred armed cadres of NSCN(I-M) are still in Myanmar and they will have to be brought back to India before the signing of the peace accord so that they also surrender along with the other cadres.

Pointing out that some members, including senior cadres of the NSCN(I-M), are involved in unlawful activities like supply of illegal arms and ammunitions to criminal gangs in other parts of the country and some are running car lifting rackets, security sources said that ministry of home affairs has told the Naga leadership that it was not acceptable to the government. Security sources said that Government of India was insisting on categorical solution to these minor issues to end the presence of illegal weapons from the region.

Asserting that negotiation between the Naga rebel groups and the government was complete and only the peace accord is left to be signed, security sources said that the government has been talking with the NSCN(I-M) and NNPG separately so far but now they have to come together for the signing of the agreement as there will be only one agreement.

Security sources said that as part of the agreement reached between the government and the rebel groups, two auton-omous councils would be set up in the Naga inhabited areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Nagaland will have one more Lok Sabha seat and the government will take effective steps for the rehabilitation of the members of the rebel groups.

Clarifying that there have been a demand for cultural integration of the Naga inhabited areas, security sources said that a large section of people in Nagaland opposed it and issue of cultural integration of Naga inhabited area was rejected.
This decision provides measures aimed at currency liberalization in accordance with the law of Ukraine "On currency and currency transactions"

Ukraines Cabinet of Ministers abolished more than 27,000 sanctions that were applied against citizens, enterprises, and organizations engaged in foreign economic activity. The government adopted the relevant decree  1180 on December 4, but it began to operate on February 3, as the document shows.

"To abolish the effect of special sanctions applied to the subjects of foreign economic activity and foreign economic entities in accordance with Article 37 of the Law of Ukraine "On foreign economic activity" until February 7, 2019," stated in the decree.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade, and Agriculture, this decision provides measures aimed at currency liberalization in accordance with the law of Ukraine "On currency and currency transactions."

As we reported earlier, Ukraine expects to receive 500 million euros of macro-financial aid from the European Union in the first quarter of 2020 as Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk stated during the joint briefing with Valdis Dombrovskis, the Executive Vice President for an Economy that Works for People.

We expect that this tranche will be provided in the first quarter of this year, Honcharuk stated.

Besides, the PM added that today the Ukrainian delegation got the confirmation from the EU that Ukraine fulfilled all conditions for the provision of the tranche.
Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading, in Hong Kong, Feb. 4, 2020. Reuters



Hong Kong hospitals cut services Tuesday as medical workers were striking for a second day to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely to ward off a virus that caused its first death in the semi-autonomous territory.



All but two of Hong Kong's land and sea crossings with the mainland were closed at midnight after more than 2,000 hospital workers went on strike Monday. As many as 9,000 medical workers could join a bigger walkout Tuesday to demand closure of the border across which tens of thousands of people continue to travel daily.



Hong Kong's Hospital Authority said it was cutting back services because ''a large number of staff members are absent from duty'' and ''emergency services in public hospitals have been affected.''



Hong Kong was hit hard by SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in 2002-03, an illness from the same family of viruses as the current outbreak. Trust in Chinese authorities has plummeted following months of anti-government protests in the Asian financial hub.



The mainland's latest figures of 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed infections of the new coronavirus were up from 361 deaths and 17,205 cases the previous day. Outside mainland China, at least 180 cases have been confirmed, including two fatalities, in Hong Kong and the Philippines.



The patient who died in Hong Kong was a 39-year-old man who had traveled to Wuhan, the mainland city that has been the epicenter of the outbreak, before being hospitalized. The Hospital Authority said Tuesday he had existing health conditions but did not give details.



Most cases of the illness have been mild, but most who died have been older people with other ailments such as diabetes or heart disease.



China has struggled to maintain supplies of masks to filter out the virus, along with protective suits and other key articles, as it seeks to enforce temperature checks at homes, offices, shops and restaurants, require masks be worn in public and keep more than 50 million people from leaving home in Wuhan and neighboring cities.






Mr Dennis Amfo-Sefah, the Tema West Constituency Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has branded the upcoming Accra leg of the protest march by some opposition parties against the compilation of a new voters register as a good sweating exercise for the organisers.



Because ask yourself, when the Electoral Commission has already sought and received money to compile the new register, what will make anybody go on demonstration against the process which is so far advanced?



The EC has already rolled out a timetable and set dates for the exercise and they are clear that they are not going to change their mind. So to what purpose are you demonstrating, if not simply because you want to fight your own heavy weight?



Speaking exclusively to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Monday, Mr. Amfo-Seafah, who is popularly called Nana Boakye, said the walk was an opportunity that former President John Mahama and the NDC gave themselves to exercise so that they could trim down into better shape.



Nana Boakye described the impending demonstration as a Johnnie Walker business.



The coalition of opposition parties against the compilation of the new voters register has scheduled Tuesday as the day for holding the Accra leg of the demonstration against the new register after the first two legs in Tamale and Kumasi respectively.



The demonstration, was initially scheduled for last week ,but was cancelled due to the ECs dialogue with the Inter Party Advisory Committee on the matter, and was rescheduled for Tuesday after the dialogue with the EC ended inconclusively.



Since then, the EC made it clear that it was pressing on with the compilation, which it said would undertake by June 2020.



The Commission has since made presentations to the Council of State to back its position.



It is in spite of all of these processes that the Inter-Party Resistance Against the Compilation of the New Voters Register is going on with its Accra leg of the demonstrations on Tuesday.



Initially, I thought that the demonstrators were just worrying themselves, but now I have realised that they are actually getting exercise for themselves. This Johnnie-Walker march is a good idea, but good for them to trim down their bellies, Nana Boakye said.

Source: GNA









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Featured Video
By Sun Degang

Previous American presidents have wished to leave indelible footprints and political legacies in the Middle East peace process from the 1979 Camp David Accords to the 1993 Oslo Accords, from President Clinton to President Obama, with Trump being no exception.

However, the New Middle East Peace Plan that the Trump administration spent nearly three years drafting received little response except for Israel after its release. Palestine, as a stakeholder in the New Plan, strongly opposed it and cut off all its ties with the US and Israel; the League of Arab States held an emergency meeting and announced the rejection of the New Plan; Iran, Syria, Turkey and Jordan criticized the US for being partial to Israel; China, RussiaEU and the UN called for resolving the Palestine-Israel issue according to relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council; and even Saudi Arabia and UAE that were supposed to support the plan have been unclear.

First of all, in terms of security, the proposal of the New Plan is not to achieve peace between Palestine and Israel, but to remove all security threats faced by Israel once and for all.

According to the US, Palestines poor governance capability has made itself a hotbed for terrorism and a source of regional instability, rather than a trouble shooter. Therefore, the US needs to customize a security governance system for Palestine, and work with Israel to inflict a peaceful transformation on it.

The New Plan categorizes the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Islamic Jihad Movement (Jihad) as terrorist organizations on the grounds that advocate violent and extremist ideas and strategically help Iran build a ring against Israeli encirclement in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.

The New Plan makes a string of demands - Palestine should be demilitarized, Hamas and Jihad be disarmed, Palestine retain only limited security forces to perform police and anti-terrorism tasks with no ability to pose any threat to Israel, and the Israeli Defense Forces have the right to carry out security operations within Palestines territory.

Its clear that the New Plan is aimed to resolve the Palestine issue rather than the Palestine-Israel issue, and to clear the way for Israels development. It put the US and Israel in the position of the governor and Palestine the governed.

Second, on the political side, the New Plan demonstrates the typical unilateralism of the incumbent US government.

Palestinians watch as Israeli soldiers aim their weapons at a protest against the US President Donald Trump's Middle East plan, in Hebron, occupied West Bank on January 31, 2020[Reuters/Mussa Qawasma]

It is an international consensus that the Palestine-Israel issue should be resolved based on the Resolution No.242 of the UN Security Council and on the principles of two-state solution and land for peace. On the basis of their borders delimited in 1967, an independent state of Palestine with full sovereignty should be established with East Jerusalem as the capital, and it should be supported to join the UN and other international organizations.

Nevertheless, unlike its predecessor, the Trump administration has cast caution to the wind on this issue, not only relocating its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and shutting down Palestines representative office in the US, but also recognizing Israels sovereignty over the Golan Heights and supporting it to build Jewish settlements in Palestine. As Palestine is much weaker than Israel and suffering from an internal division at the same time, the US has completely ignored and denied its position on holding dialogues with Israel on an equal basis.

While drafting the New Plan, Washington condescendingly demanded the security obligations that Palestine shall assume unilaterally without ever communicating with it, but didnt impose reciprocal obligations on Israel. It not only deviated from the peaceful and just role it should play as a mediator, but also challenged the international consensus on the Palestine-Israel issue and changed the countrys consistent stance on it.

Third, regarding disputes, the US has shifted from Palestine-Israel balance to Preference for Israel.

As Washington reckons Israel as strong and democratic, but Palestine as ill-governed, it even threatened Palestine to take this last chance, because it is Israel which has the initiative.

The New Plan attempts to consolidate Israels vested interests and aggressive position, and further squeeze the space for Palestine, and tries to turn that into a fait accompli. For instance, it demands Palestine to acknowledge Israel as a Jewish state and Jerusalem as its inseparable capital, while Palestine itself can only build its capital in East Jerusalem, and isnt allowed to join any international organization without Israels approval. If it were implemented, Palestine would become an autonomous region within Israeli territory rather than an independent state.

At last, on the economic side, the US-proposed peace to prosperity is nothing but a Barmecide feast.

The New Plan pledges to invest USD50 billion in Palestines infrastructure in the next ten years, which is intended to force it to make political concessions and trade sovereignty for capital.

However, the 50-billion investment is just an idea at this stage without any details on who will pay it and how it will be allocated. Washington wants its Gulf allies such as Saudi Arabia and UAE to pay the better part of the bill, but only plans to bear a tiny part itself. Whats more, even if Palestine gives up its political demands, whether it will get any economic benefit is still uncertain, and it may well end up with nothing at all.

Perhaps the US and Israel know perfectly well that Palestine wont accept this New Plan, but then they can kick the ball to the other side and blame Palestine for refusing to talk.

All in all, the New Plan was put forth by the US when the Arab-Islam world is splitting and, Hamas and Palestine National Liberation Movement (Fateh) are in serious confrontation.

It has been snubbed mainly because of its unfair and unjust core contents. The Palestine-Israel issue has been marginalized in recent years due to the development of many other issues, such as Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iran nuclear issues. The release of the New Plan has drew the international communitys attention back to the fundamental position of this issue in the Middle East, and Palestine will hopefully win more attention and compassion in the world.

Americas partiality to Israel and their unilateral announcement of the New Plan by leveraging their dominant position will not fundamentally eliminate the root cause of Palestine-Israel conflicts. Quite on the contrary, what they did will add fuel to flame and arouse the Palestinians indignation, even cause local conflict.

Palestine and Israel are in a symbiotic relation both in terms of security and economy. If their disputes cannot be solved in a just manner, the interests of the US and Israel will be harmed too in the long term, leaving no one a winner.

(Sun Degang, a researcher at the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, Shanghai)
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. Another Armenian national is set to be evacuated from a quarantined zone in China, Foreign Ministry representative Mnatsakan Safaryan told RFE/RLs Armenian service. He said nearly 600 citizens of Armenia have called and registered with the embassy after being asked to do so.

Safaryan said there are 10 Armenian citizens currently in the quarantined area in China.

One of them has asked to be evacuated out of the country, and the citizen will be evacuated in a few days. The other 9 nationals who are in the lockdown have refused to be evacuated. Safaryan stressed that the evacuation is carried out on voluntary basis for the nationals who are in the locked-down parts of China. The other Armenian nationals are currently elsewhere in China.

According to the foreign ministry, nearly 200 Armenian citizens have repatriated from China in the last ten days.

Asked whether or not there are any Armenians among those infected with the novel coronavirus in China, Safaryan said the embassy hasnt received such information so far.

On February 2, an Armenian citizen was evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan which is currently under lockdown due to the deadly outbreak of a novel coronavirus. The national was taken aboard a Kazakh airplane transporting their citizens in an evacuation flight. The Armenian citizen is now quarantined for 14 days in Nur-Sultan.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
04.02.2020 LISTEN

Cape Town, 4th February 2020; Africas move towards solar energy is rapidly underway. Many African nations have employed solar energy as a solution to tackling climate change, keeping abreast of their development and ensuring food security. Extensive research from some of the worlds most renowned energy experts has elucidated that no other energy source, including hydro and wind, can provide power and have an impact as sustainable, reliable, and efficient as solar.

According to industry experts, the future scope of solar energy for Africa is extensive and has seen exponential growth in the past few years. The continent has experienced a growth of over 1.8 GW of new solar installations, with 1.4 GW related to photovoltaic (PV) installations, which is a considerable increase from the 786 MW that was connected in 2017. In 2016, South Africa had 1,329 MW of installed solar power capacity and this capacity is expected to reach 8,400 MW by 2030.

African nations and their respective municipalities lack the available grid infrastructure and required funding to upgrade the existing network or grid. Owing to the lack of infrastructure upgrades, along with the rising cost of fuel and electricity, an increasing number of companies are transitioning to solar. This is not only to yield the associated returns but to gain access to reliable power.

We envisage that going forward, most companies will move to solar and the majority of the industry will use only solar instead of grid power, explained Maurits Perold, Chief Executive Officer of Turnkey Solar Solutions. As the Levelized cost of solar has declined dramatically over the past years, solar remains a far more affordable and reliable source of energy in comparison to grid/fossil fuels.

However, successful implementation of solar is futile without regional cooperation to enable expediating the process of implementing solar under a single framework. As most municipalities operate completely independently from one another, this consequently implies that they are unable to foresee or understand the benefits or the process pertaining to such regional integration initiatives.

Addressing Africas large and persistent power deficit is key to achieving economic and social targets. There is significant potential for solar power, both at the utility and off-grid scale, to assist in reducing this shortfall. This is owing particularly to the given high solar irradiation in many countries, as well as the declining price of PV equipment in recent years. Governments increasingly see both forms of solar power as critical to their electrification objectives. In an endeavour to increase investment on the continents solar front, African ministers are encouraging international investors to participate in solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) processes and empowering them to own and operate solar farms in their own capacity.

This definitive global platform is focused on connecting solar project development and finance and investment in the four leading solar electrification segments (utility-scale, commercial & industrial, mini/microgrids and off-grid). The Africa Energy Indaba will assemble hundreds of representatives from development banks, investment funds, solar developers, IPPs, EPCs and other solar stakeholders to engage in comprehensive dialogues to solve Africas solar energy challenges in an endeavour to see projects realized. The conference is sure to enlighten attendees on what African leaders and businesses are doing to enable the supply of reliable and sustainable energy for the continent.

ABOUT AFRICA ENERGY INDABA

2020 Theme: African Energy  Catalysing Investment and Business Opportunities

The Africa Energy Indaba is the continents definitive energy event, providing an agenda that influences energy policy for Africa. Attended by Ministers and decision-makers, the prestigious event serves as the ideal platform for achieving Africa's energy vision for a sustainable energy future and keeping abreast of global energy competitors in this dynamic landscape.

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Two Florida men were charged with drug trafficking after authorities pulled them over for speeding and found meth and other narcotics concealed in pouches labeled 'Bag Full of Drugs' in their car.

Ian Simmons and Joshua Reinhardt, both 34, were pulled over in Florida's Santa Rosa County on Saturday after a trooper clocked them going 95 mph (153 kph) on Interstate 10 on the state's Panhandle, according to a Florida Highway Patrol arrest report.

The trooper determined that Reinhardt, of Windermere, Florida, was the subject of an active felony warrant for violation of probation in Orange County. The trooper then requested backup.

Florida authorities posted this picture of the contraband they claimed they found inside a car that had been pulled over for a traffic stop Saturday

The drugs were said to have been inside zippered pouches that read 'Bag full of drugs'

A Santa Rosa County Sheriff's deputy arrived to assist, and a K-9 alerted to the presence of contraband in the vehicle, the arrest report said.

Authorities said they found approximately 75 grams of methamphetamine, 1.36 kilograms of the date-rape drug GHB, 1 gram of cocaine, 3.6 grams of fentanyl, 15 MDMA tablets and drug paraphernalia.

Police said they found the drugs inside zippered, novelty canvas pouches bearing the words 'Bag Full of Drugs.'

The sheriff's office noted that carrying drugs inside pouches that say 'drugs' might not be a good idea in its Facebook post alongside the contraband image

Ian Simmons (left) and Joshua Reinhardt (right), both 34, now face drug trafficking charges

Both men were taken into custody and taken to jail.

They are charged with trafficking in methamphetamine and GHB, three counts of possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

'Note to self- do not traffic your illegal narcotics in bags labeled `Bag Full Of Drugs,' deputies wrote on Facebook. 'Our K-9s can read.'

Police said that Simmons, of Orlando, was driving the 2020 Kia and that Simmons was the passenger.

They are being held in lieu of a $117,000 bond, according to the Smoking Gun.

Jail records did not say whether the men had attorneys who could comment.
Michael Gove today said convicted terrorists should be imprisoned indefinitely 'if necessary' as the government moved forward with proposals to toughen sentencing laws.

Boris Johnson is facing the prospect of a bitter court battle over plans to keep unreformed offenders in jail by scrapping automatic early release.

Ministers are planning to crash through emergency legislation within the next 10 days which would require terrorists to be assessed by the Parole Board before they can be freed.

The government launched the proposed crackdown after terrorist Sudesh Amman stabbed two people in London on Sunday before being shot dead by police.

The Prime Minister's plans to keep the worst offenders in jail for longer and to apply the new criteria retrospectively have sparked a legal firestorm.

Mr Gove, a former justice secretary and now minister for the Cabinet Office, was asked on Sky News this morning if he believed terrorists should be detained indefinitely and he replied: 'If necessary, yes.'

His comments came as ministers were accused of ignoring warnings from security officials who apparently said two years ago that they were worried about the number of terrorists eligible for automatic early release.

Michael Gove, pictured in Downing Street on January 23, said today that terrorists should only be let out of prison once they are proven to no longer be a 'danger to the public'

Kevan Jones, a Labour MP, today claimed security officials had raised concerns about the automatic early release of terrorists two years ago

Kevan Jones, a Labour MP, said concerns had been raised by the security services with Parliament's intelligence and security committee of which he was a member.

Mr Jones told the Evening Standard the government had known 'for at least a year and a half' that individuals who 'posed a serious risk' were due to be released.

He said ministers needed to now detail what they did at the time to respond to the concerns.

Defending the government's plans, Mr Gove said it needed to be proven that 'people are no longer a danger to the public' before they are let out.

'If you have people who are in the grip of an ideology, that ideology means they want to kill innocent people in order to advance a particular religious and political view, they are a danger to society,' he said.

'Until we know that they are comprehensively de-radicalised and that it is safe to have those people on our streets then public protection must come first.'

The government acted to start the process for scrapping automatic early release for terrorists after Sunday's terror attack in Streatham, south London.

Amman had been automatically freed from prison, despite boasting of his plans for a terror attack and ambition to kill an MP, months after London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan killed two after also being released automatically.

At least 18 more terrorists are due to be freed from prison without a review within months under laws passed by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's governments in 2003 and 2008. No10 refused to be drawn today on whether they would be allowed out in the interim.

Scroll down for the 18 terrorists who are set to be freed automatically in months

Armed police shot dead terrorist Sudesh Amman, who was wearing a fake suicide vest, after he grabbed a knife from a shop and a female nursery teacher and another man

Both automatically freed early: London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan, left, killed two in December after being automatically released from prison. Sudesh Amman, 20, was also released automatically before stabbing two people in Streatham on Sunday

As well as introducing a new requirement for all offenders to be assessed by the Parole Board before they are released, ministers also want to delay the point at which people are eligible to be let out early from halfway through a sentence to two-thirds of the way through.

The government's proposals were criticised by the criminal lawyer who runs the popular Secret Barrister Twitter account.

He wrote: 'A mature and responsible government enacts emergency retroactive legislation as a last resort, after sober reflection and with a heavy heart.

'The gleeful relish of this announcement - LOOK HOW TOUGH WE ARE! - encapsulates the ghoulish populism of the Ministry of Justice.'

The Prime Minster's emergency legislation would stop automatic release when it comes into force - but legal experts say it will 'certainly' be challenged by human rights lawyers acting for the terrorists.

They are set to try and overturn the measures in court arguing that it is unfair to change the terms of individuals' sentences retrospectively.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said on ITV's This Morning programme: 'Those two individuals [Khan and Sudesh] did not go up in front of anybody they did not go through a parole board process. They were not assessed, they were not checked over essentially. They were not assessed on their conduct in prison and if they were suitable to be released.

'My own view, and the Prime Minister agrees as well, we cannot keep having terrorist offenders we've got to stop that, we've got to stop them from having early release and this automatic release where they're not checked and they're not sitting in front of a parole board.'

Ms Patel defended the government's failure to close a loophole that sees terrorists automatically released from prison after serving half of their sentences.

'We've been working on this for six months, I've been Home Secretary for six months and it wasn't until the incident with Usman Khan, which was Fishmongers Hall, that is when we announced that we would bring in new legislation through a Counter Terrorism Bill,' she said.

The new law was announced last night by Justice Secretary Robert Buckland in the wake of the latest atrocity on London's streets.

Amman was shot dead by police around a minute after launching an attack on two bystanders in Streatham High Road, south London, on Sunday. A third person was injured by flying glass during the gunfire.

The 20-year-old, who was jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents in December 2018, was freed from prison under automatic early release provisions less than a fortnight ago.

Mr Buckland said yesterday that emergency legislation was needed to make sure terrorists are not released automatically from prison half way through their sentence.

A No 10 source said the law would be brought forward this week ahead of a package of measures expected later this year that could include a beefed-up role for the Parole Board. The legislation should complete its passage through Parliament before the Commons rises for half-term on February 13.

Crucially ministers want the amended law to apply to those already in prison for terror crimes, as well as those jailed in future.

But legal experts have predicted a wave of court challenges over the plan to apply the new rules to prisoners who have already been sentenced. Human rights lawyers are expected to argue that it is not fair to apply the changes retrospectively.

Former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Lord Carlile told BBC2's Newsnight: 'I think it may have gone too far.

'The decision to lengthen the sentences of people who have already been sentenced, and therefore expected to be serving half the sentence the judge imposed upon them, may be in breach of the law.

'It is certainly going to be challenged... there will certainly be court cases about that particular provision.'

Geoffrey Robertson QC, head of Doughty Street Chambers, told the Telegraph that a challenge to the new law would 'probably' be successful.

'This smacks of panic legislation that has not been properly thought through,' he said.

Dominic Grieve QC, former attorney general and former chairman of the intelligence and security committee, said: 'I don't think that retrospectively you can change the law for prisoners already in jail. It is rather problematic.'

But former director of Public Prosecutions Lord Macdonald told Sky News said he believed the government will be able to fend off attempts to overturn the measures, arguing that it is only proposing to change the way sentences are implemented. 'I think it is allowed to do that,' he told Sky News.

Promising 'fundamental changes' earlier in the wake of the attack, Mr Johnson said: 'We are bringing forward legislation to stop the system of automatic early release. The difficulty is how to apply retrospectively to the cohort of people who currently qualify.

'It is time to take action to ensure, irrespective of the law we are bringing in, people in the current stream don't qualify automatically for early release.'

Mr Buckland told MPs offenders will not be considered for release until they have served two-thirds of their sentence, and that no terrorists will be released before the end of their full custodial term unless the Parole Board agrees.

The Parole Board would be 'strengthened' to deal more effectively with the risks that terrorists pose and steps would be taken to introduce the plans 'as soon as possible', he said.

The Government will also consider making new legislation to ensure that extremists are more closely monitored on release and will review whether the current maximum sentences for terrorist offences are sufficient.

Home Secretary Priti Patel told viewers of This Morning: 'My own view, and the Prime Minister agrees as well, we cannot keep having terrorist offenders we've got to stop that, we've got to stop them from having early release'

Home Secretary Priti Patel has been playing a key role in the response to the terror attack alongside PM Boris Johnson (right)

Police said Amman began stabbing the victims about 60 seconds after entering a shop, where he stole a knife and removed the packaging as he ran from a staff member.

A former prisoner who spent time with Amman in Belmarsh high-security prison told The Times: 'The guy was definitely insane and he never hid his intentions, so it's crazy how he even got out of jail.'

The man reportedly said Amman wanted to copy the murder of MP Jo Cox and told him 'the only way to get these filthy kafirs (non-believers) out of Syria is to take out MPs like that white guy did with the lady in 2016'.

The former inmate told the newspaper that Amman 'wanted to do something real, something organised like the (IRA) used to do'.

IS supporter Amman, who at the time of his sentencing was 18 and living in Harrow, smirked as he was jailed for three years and four months at the Old Bailey in December 2018.

The Metropolitan Police said he was released from prison on January 23 2020.

Scotland Yard said armed officers were following Amman on foot as part of a 'proactive counter-terrorism surveillance operation' when the incident took place.

The wave of 18 terrorists counting down the days to their automatic early release as Boris Johnson races to pass law keeping them off YOUR streets

These are the faces of 18 extremists who are set to be back on Britain's streets within months under existing laws which allow them to be released midway through their prison sentences.

Yesterday, Boris Johnson vowed to overhaul this current system and stop 220 terrorists from being freed early.

Terrorists are currently freed after serving half or two-thirds of a sentence, depending on when they were jailed and the type of punishment imposed.

Some may have had to serve longer if their behaviour behind bars was disruptive.

The Prison Service refuses to discuss individuals, but the Daily Mail and MailOnline below names convicted terrorists thought to be due to be eligible for release this year - yet are among the extremists now in jail likely to be affected by the Prime Minister's plan.

Mohammed Ahmed and Yusuf Sarwar: 'Fundamentalist pair' who were 'intent on jihad' were jailed for 13 years after leaving Britain to join al-Qaida-linked terror group

Mohammed Ahmed (left) and Yusuf Sarwar (right) were jailed 15 years and three months in 2015 for preparation of terrorist acts. Their earliest release date is November

Yusuf Sarwar and Mohammed Nahin Ahmed were jailed in 2014 for going to Syria to join rebel fighters.

The pair, from Birmingham, were sentenced for engaging in conducts in preparation of terrorist acts.

At the time of sentencing, the judge imposed an extended licence period of five years. They could be back on the streets in November.

Judge Michael Topolski described the two men as 'deeply committed to violent extremism'.

He said they had 'willingly, enthusiastically and with a great deal of purpose, persistence and determination embarked on a course intended to commit acts of terrorism'.

West Midlands Police said they were first alerted to the case when Sarwar's parents reported him missing last year.

The two friends travelled to Syria in May 2013, where they are believed to have spent eight months with the al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group affiliated with al-Qaeda.

Moinuk Abedin: Britain's first al-Qaeda inspired terrorist was jailed for 20 years in February 2002

Moinul Abedin was jailed 20 years in 2002 for intent to cause an explosion. Earliest release date: November

Moinul Abedin was arrested in November 2000, after police discovered bomb-making material at a rented property in Birmingham. His earliest release date is November.

Abedin, 27 at the time of his trial, lived in a terraced house in Sparkbrook, Birmingham with his young family, but rented a house nearby.

Detectives found nearly 100kg of chemicals used to manufacture the explosive HMTD.

He claimed that he and a co-defendant, who was acquitted, were setting up a fireworks business.

At the time of his sentence, current terror laws did not exist and he was prosecuted under the 1883 Explosives Act.

The terms of the 1883 legislation meant the evidence which was heard in the trial concentrated on the explosives and not Abedin's connections or any potential plot.

It was not until 2007, five years after his conviction and nearly seven after his arrest, the security services acknowledged his significance.

Now Abedin's name appears on the MI5's list of terrorists convicted this century.

Aras Hamid was jailed eight years in 2016 for preparing acts of terrorism

Aras Hamid (right) was jailed for eight years in 2016 for preparing acts of terrorism. His earliest release is May

Aras Mohammed Hamid, then aged 27, was jailed for seven years for preparing acts of terrorism after he tried to join Islamic State fighters in Iraq.

He was jailed along with friend Shivan Hayder Azeez Zangana, 21, who was sentenced to three years in prison.

Azeez of Sheffield, was sent to the UK by his family to keep him safe after battling extremists with the Kurdish Peshmerga separatist group.

He was turned by fellow Kurd, asylum-seeker Hamid, and agreed to change sides and go with him to fight for so-called Islamic State.

The pair were discovered by police sleeping at a Birmingham mosque days after Azeez's relatives had called 999 with concerns.

He had fled his home and bought a plane ticket to Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq. Hamid was found two days later in a lorry on the A2 trying to flee the UK with a fake passport.

His earliest release date is May.

Muslim convert Patrick Kabele who tried to join ISIS was jailed for six years

Patrick Kabele (left) jailed six years for preparation of terrorist acts. Earliest release: February

Muslim convert Patrick Kabele, 32, who tried to join ISIS was jailed for six years after police discovered a diary in which he said he wanted to buy a nine-year-old slave girl,

The scaffolder from Willesden, North London, was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court and jailed for six years with an extended licence of four years in May 2017.

The jury was not aware that Kabele had expressed violent sentiments towards women, writing in one entry about 'seeding some women over here, UK white.'

In another entry, he wrote: 'My plan remains the same. It's only my [attitude] towards women and children, ie not giving a f***.

'I am talking seeding women. Chinese, Indian, whatever. In Uganda, multiple wives and s*** on the side.'

In the diary, which was found on his phone as he tried to leave the country, Kabele said he had a 'death wish' and wanted to die young.

Kabele was found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism by trying to get to Syria. He could be released this month.

Jamshed Javeed was jailed six years in 2015 for preparing acts of terrorism

Jamshed Javeed was jailed for six years in 2015 for preparing to fight with ISIS in Syria. His earliest release date is March

Radicalised chemistry teacher Jamshed Javeed was jailed for six years in 2015 for preparing to fight with ISIS in Syria.

Police said the 30-year-old was 'determined' to leave his job and 'fight jihadi' but his family, including his pregnant wife, grabbed his 'go bag' of money, supplies and his passport.

He had intended to travel with a man he had met only three months beforehand but could not travel without his documents.

When he applied for a new passport and received it last December anti-terror police swooped and arrested him.

Javeed taught 11 to 16-year-old pupils at Sharples High School in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

His brother Mohammad Azzam, 19, is missing and presumed dead in Syria after travelling there last September.

Javeed also admitted to transferring 1,400 into his brother's account to pay for his and a friend's flights to the warzone shortly before his own arrest.

The other man was Anil Khalil Raoufi, 20, from Didsbury, who died in the fighting in 2015.

His earliest release date is March.

Imam's son who claimed he travelled to Syrian border because he was 'stressed over his A-levels'

Zakariya Ashiq (left) was jailed for six years in 2015 for preparing for terrorism. His earliest release is November

Zakariya Ashiq was jailed for six years after dropping out of his A-level studies and travelling to Turkey with his imam father to join ISIS.

Ashiq made recordings on WhatsApp telling friends 'there is no life without Jihad' and 'the second I get a chance I am doing martydom'.

When he was caught, the 20-year-old told police he was 'studying A-levels exams and becoming stressed' and said he had planned to go to Egypt but his father had persuaded him to go to Turkey instead.

Ashiq described how his mother travelled out to Turkey and tricked him into meeting her before taking his passport and escorting him home.

On his return Ashiq began working in a tyre warehouse and engaged in conversations on the website known as ChatRoulette which pairs random people around the world for conversations over webcameras.

In the conversations Ashiq told one person he met, speaking in Arabic: 'Thanks Allah, the Islamic State is lived by Muslims. They kill the infidels and the apostates.'

He encouraged another person to join the Islamic State, telling them: 'It's easy to join dawla [the State]they will pay u good wagefind u a wiferespond to the calling brotherimmigrate to the State of Islam.'

On July 11, Ashiq made a second attempt to travel abroad, this time telling police who stopped him at Birmingham Airport that he was heading for Kavos in Corfu because he didn't want to take part in Ramadan and his parents were strict and he had begun to 'rebel against them.'

He was then charged with preparing acts of terrorism and jailed for six years in 2015. His earliest release date is November.

Fahim Adam jailed 30 months in February 2019 for having documents useful for terrorism. Earliest release: May

Terror magazine collector who was caught after police seized his phone while investigating a car crash

Fahim Adam first came to police attention after he was caught up in a car crash in November 2017, prompting officers to seize his phone.

After analysing the device, they found he had downloaded several extremists magazines which encouraged people to commit acts of terrorism and provided information about how attacks could be carried out.

They included two editions of the ISIS propaganda publication 'Rumiyah' which gave Jihadists tips on how to carry out random 'lone wolf' knife strikes.

The 30-year-old, from Blackburn, was charged with possessing information useful to terrorism and jailed for 30 months in February 2019.

He is due for release within months.

Teenager jailed for five years for sharing beheading videos on WhatsApp

Mohammed Khilji was jailed for five years in June 2018 for sharing graphic beheading videos on WhatsApp.

The 19-year-old first came to the attention of police after he posted a video on YouTube in which he had digitally altered footage of a wargame video to make it appear that the featured soldiers were Daesh fighters.

Khilji had superimposed black Daesh flags on the 'Battlefield' video and overlaid it with a terrorist battle song and a quote from a Daesh propaganda magazine.

Mohammed Khilji (left) jailed five years for encouraging terrorism. Earliest release: March

Detectives searched his home on 4 July, recovering his mobile phone and a computer.

Experts examined the devices and found he had been sharing graphic videos of Daesh beheading soldiers and videos, calling for violence against non-Muslims.

One of the videos included footage of the 2017 Westminster terror attack, and concluded by offering the viewer advice on preparing a vehicle-borne bomb.

Khilji was eventually found guilty of eight counts of encouraging terrorism.

His earliest release date will be March.

Extremist who threatened to kill police officers while he was on an official deradicalisation programme

Meanwhile Mohammed Ghani jailed 28 months in May 2019 for possessing documents containing terrorist information. Earliest release: March

Mohammed Hamza Ghani told officers he found terror magazines 'entertaining and informative' when they were found in his possession.

Officers search the 28-year-old's home in Barnet after he phoned 999 and the anti-terrorist hotline and claiming he was looking to kill 'people or police'.

Ghani was already known to officials because he was undergoing the Channel intervention programme after expressing extremist views.

When officers visited him at home, the terrorist confessed that electronic devices in his bedroom contained electronic copies of terrorist magazines, including Isis and al-Qaeda propaganda.

Commander Clarke Jarrett, head of the Metropolitan Police counterterror command, said: 'The officer seized his devices, including USB sticks and a laptop, and these were later analysed by digital forensic specialists. They did indeed contain terrorist publications, featuring horrendous articles about how to make different types of bombs, where to carry out terrorist attacks and how to assassinate people.'

When police asked him about the magazines, which included an issue commemorating the 11 September 2011 terror attacks, Ghani said he considered them 'entertaining and informative'.

Ghani was jailed for 28 months in May 2019. His earliest release date is March.

Fanatic who left terror propaganda inside the shoes of Muslim worshippers while they were praying

Omar Ashfaq left memory sticks containing terrorist propaganda inside shoes while Muslim worshippers were praying. His earliest release date is September

Omar Ashfaq left memory sticks containing terrorist propaganda inside shoes while Muslim worshippers were praying.

One was found by a nine-year-old boy who had gone to the mosque with his father and older brother.

During Ramadan in May and June 2018, the 24-year-old travelled to mosques in Luton, Derby, Loughborough, Coventry and Birmingham to leave extremist and violent material.

On Friday 1 June, three USB drives containing imagery and words promoting and encouraging terrorism, were found in the shoes of people attending a mosque in Leicestershire.

The following day the same thing happened at two mosques in Bedfordshire, in which four USB drives in total were found. Five drives were also discovered at a mosque in the West Midlands.

Two days later another three devices were found at a Derbyshire mosque. A further stick was discovered at another mosque in the West Midlands shortly after.

Worshippers who found the memory sticks informed mosque authorities who were able to identify Ashfaq from CCTV footage and notified the police.

The suspect, formerly from Derby, was arrested and a search of his home and a vehicle uncovered numerous bags of USB sticks as well as notes outlining his plans.

One document labelled 'Target: 1 week' was a map on which a route was drawn, taking in as far north as Leeds, east to Peterborough, south to London and west to Stoke-on-Trent.

He was jailed for four-and-a-half years in May last year. His earliest release date is September.

Shazib Khan - who tried to travel to Syria - is due to be released this year

Uncle jailed for trying to travel to Syria with his nephew

Shazib Khan was jailed for eight years in May 2016 for preparing to travel to Syria to join ISIS.

Mr Justice Edis, sentencing, said he had rejected English law in favour of Sharia, and had sought to fight with the terrorist group.

He was also handed an extended period of five years on licence.

Shazid Khan's nephew, delivery driver Junead Khan, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years for plotting to kill US personnel outside Lakenheath US air base.

A court heard Junead had used his job to scout for potential victims. He had also planned to travel to Syria with his uncle.

Shazib Khan is due to be released this year.

British ISIS fighter who called himself 'Supaman' but returned to UK because Syria was too cold is jailed for seven years

Mohammed Uddin who referred to himself as 'Supaman' - travelled to the war-torn region on November 4, 2015 intending to join ISIS

Mohammed Uddin travelled to Syria to join ISIS but returned home because he disliked the 'cold water', 'bland food' and 'doing absolutely jack'.

The security guard - who referred to himself as 'Supaman' - travelled to the war-torn region on November 4, 2015 intending to join ISIS.

On December 12, he crossed the border back into Turkey where he was held by the authorities because he did not have any travel documents.

He was stopped by counter terrorism officers at Gatwick Airport when he returned to Britain on December 22, who believed he was involved in terrorist-related activity and found extremist material in his possession.

Uddin, who had earlier boasted it was 'p*** easy' to cross the border from Turkey into Syria, quickly became disillusioned with life in the Middle East.

The 29-year-old was jailed to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of preparing acts of terrorism.

He could be released within months.

'I'll behead you', extremist told officer after his stash of 'grotesque' execution videos were uncovered

ISIS supporter Atiq Ahmed threatened to behead a police officer when his stash of 'grotesque' execution videos was uncovered.

The 32-year-old, from Oldham, pleaded guilty to two counts of dissemination of a terrorist publication by posting links to disturbing IS propaganda videos, one of which was viewed on YouTube more than 37,000 times.

Ahead of his sentencing, where he was jailed for two-and-a-half years, the Old Bailey heard how his family had raised concerns in March this year, fearing he was a danger to society, citing his violent behaviour, mental health problems and solvent abuse.

He could also be out next month.

Mohammed Zahir Khan (left) tweeted his support for ISIS. Atiq Ahmed was arrested at a primary school after telling a teacher they were an 'infidel' and would 'burn in hell'. They could both be released next month

Shopkeeper who tweeted his support for ISIS and called for Shia Muslims to be burned alive

Mohammed Zahir Khan, from Sunderland, was jailed for four-and-a-half years in 2018 for expressing his support for ISIS on social media.

He was found guilty after posts emerged of his called for 'death to Shias', while pro-ISIS videos were also discovered on his computer.

He could be released next month.

And others who are due for release soon...

Yahya Rashid: The already convicted terrorist was freed from prison on licence after attempting travelling to Syria to join ISIS but jailed for a year for hiding a phone from police.

The 23-year-old also kept an email address secret from officers but he was exposed when he made an application to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) with the undisclosed contact details.

He could be released in September.

Mina Dich: Mother who led the first all-female British ISIS cell and helped her daughter, Rizlaine Boular, plan a knife attack on the Palace of Westminster in May 2017.

She was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison and could be released in August.

Yahya Rashid (left) was freed from prison on licence after attempting travelling to Syria to join ISIS but jailed for a year for hiding a phone from police. Mina Dich led the first all-female British ISIS cell and helped her daughter, Rizlaine Boular, plan a knife attack on the Palace of Westminster in May 2017

Boy X: The child became Britain's youngest terrorist in 2015 when he was convicted for planning to attack an Anzac Day parade in Australia.

The 14-year-old had planned to behead his teachers before moving on a hit list of targets.

He was jailed for life but will be eligible for parole this year.

As the PM scrambled to appease a national outcry over early released terrorists:

Sources said Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman failed to attend deradicalisation courses in prison and was associating with extremists, telling them he approved of the London Bridge terror attack last year;

He was described by school friends as a dope-smoking weirdo who vowed: 'When I grow up I am going to be a terrorist';

His ex-girlfriend described their relationship as 'one of the worst experiences of my life';

One of the two people he stabbed was revealed to be a nursery teacher who had been out for coffee with her friends;

Police raided the home of Amman's associate, a drug dealer who is understood to have met the terrorist while playing video games online.

Some senior lawyers have poured cold water on Mr Johnson's overhaul of the system, and said it risks offenders walking free with no surveillance while simultaneously causing a huge backlog in the courts.

Law Society of England and Wales president Simon Davis said: 'Time on licence is intended as a transition from prison to full release.

'If the licence period is instead spent in custody, we risk releasing inmates without any supervision, without any transition and without any opportunity for the probation service to recall them to prison if there are concerns about their post-release behaviour.

'If the rules for some prisoners are now changed mid-sentence so that time on licence is actually spent in prison, there is greater chance those prisoners will want to appeal their sentences - further clogging up an already overloaded system.'

Amanda Pinto QC, chair of the Bar Council, said: 'In light of this announcement, we would urge the Government to take care in considering any sentencing changes that may apply retrospectively.

'Sentencing is a complex exercise, requiring consideration of a range of factors, including the need to express clearly and publicly the nature of the penalty which is being imposed, which we note was done in this case.

'It is important that any proposed reform which could retrospectively alter the punishment for an offence, should be the subject of careful consideration, to ensure that it complies with the rule of law.'

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: 'Given the recent events at London Bridge and Streatham, the Parole Board understands and welcomes the Government's plans to ensure that terrorist offenders are not released automatically, as occurred in these incidents but are instead considered by an independent panel of the Parole Board. Our over-riding priority is the protection of the public.'

Robert Buckland, the Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, says he wants all terrorist inmates to undergo a parole review rather than being entitled to automatic release part-way through their sentences.

This will apply to serving prisoners  thought to be around 220  as well as those jailed in the future, he said, because of the 'unprecedented situation of severe gravity' facing this country.

Terrorists will only be eligible for release at two-thirds of the way through their sentence and only when the Parole Board agrees, he said.

Government sources said a review will look at whether some terrorists 'should ever be released'.

They hinted at an entirely new sentencing structure which would hand offenders a set number of years in prison, but they would not be released at all if they continued to pose a threat.

In other words, ministers may re-introduce controversial 'indeterminate' sentences.

Separately, last month Home Secretary Priti Patel announced offences such as 'preparing acts of terrorism' would have sentences significantly boosted in a new Bill. The minimum term would increase from three years to 14.

There will be emergency legislation this week to introduce restrictions on automatic release. Other measures will require an Act of Parliament.

The Parole Board will be bolstered with a new independent body, possibly named the 'terrorist public protection panel'.

It will comprise judges and former judges familiar with terrorism cases to decide when extremists should be freed.

The Lord Chancellor will have been warned he risks breaching terrorists' human rights.

Retrospective legislation potentially presents problems. Under the European Convention on Human Rights  enshrined in UK law under Labour's Human Rights Act 1998  criminals are entitled to be dealt with by the law as it stands at the time.
"The blessing of military weapons is not reflected in the tradition of the Orthodox Church and does not correspond to the content of the Rite," reads a new document on the website of the Moscow patriarchate of the the Russian Orthodox Church.

Russian priests should stop blessing nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction that can inflict indiscriminate loss of life, according to new guidelines being discussed.

It's an unusual display of independence by the church.

From Reuters:

During two decades in power, President Vladimir Putin has aligned himself with the Orthodox Church, which has also developed closer ties with the ministry of defense. Russian priests have long appeared in images sprinkling holy water on submarines, ballistic missiles, Soyuz space rockets and other pieces of hardware as part of rituals to bless them. But some of that is set to stop if the church approves a document drawn up by an Orthodox Church commission. "The blessing of military weapons is not reflected in the tradition of the Orthodox Church and does not correspond to the content of the Rite," the document, on the Moscow patriarchate's website, says. Blessing or sanctifying weapons that can kill an "indefinite number of people" must be excluded from pastoral practice, it says. The proposals will be discussed until June 1 and the public should also take part in the debate, the church's Moscow branch said.

Read more:

Russian priests should stop blessing nukes: church proposal

[Tom Balmforth, reuters.com/]

IMAGE: mospat.ru. "On 1st February 2020, the 11th anniversary of his enthronement, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia officiated at the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church was vested in his enthronement robes."
Editor's Note: Written with material from Queensland Government news release

(Kitco News) - Executives could face up to 20 years in jail if Queensland mine and quarry workers die because of their criminal negligence.

Mines Minister Anthony Lynham introduced legislation into Parliament today, creating the offense of industrial manslaughter, bringing resources workplaces in line with all other Queensland workplaces.

It is totally unacceptable that workers continue to die in our resources workplaces, Lynham said.

In November a worker died at Fitzroy Australia Resources' Carborough Downs underground mine. Last month a contract worker was killed at Coronado Global Resources's Curragh Mine located in Queensland Australia.

Lynham said the laws "...are part of the most comprehensive suite of mine health and safety reforms in two decades.

Under the proposed laws, senior officers of a mine or quarry company can be tried for industrial manslaughter if criminal negligence is proven for a worker's death.

Maximum penalties range up to $13 million and 20 years jail.

The reform legislation includes the following:

better detection and prevention of black lung, and an improved safety net for affected workers. increased maximum penalties for offenses to $4 million and powers for the regulator to issue fines without going to court. statewide safety reset sessions for mine and quarry workers to refocus on health and safety $35 million to deliver reforms to improve the safety and health of our mine workers a commitment to tighter controls on mine dust levels legislation to be debated today to establish an independent resources health and safety authority. extra mines inspectors.
Mumbai, Feb 4 : Producer Anand Pandit, who has been working with Abhishek Bachchan in the upcoming film "The Big Bull", is all praises for the actor.

According to Pandit, Abhishek is committed to everything he takes up.

"Abhishek believes in acing everything he does and he is very committed to his craft. Coming from a family that has been around for many years, he makes sure everyone on set is comfortable. He makes sure to read his script thoroughly and doesn't waste people's time. He has been an example to many people on set. As a producer, he is a dream to work with," he said.

"The Big Bull" is reportedly based on India''s biggest securities scams, which happened in 1992. The film is co-produced by actor Ajay Devgn.
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa  Although President Trump faces no real rivals in the Iowa caucuses, his campaign brought more than 80 surrogates into the state on Monday evening, where a half-dozen leading Democratic candidates were fiercely competing for the right to face him. The show of force by the presidents team included high-ranking officials and members of the Trump family, who appeared at a press conference where a protester was evicted after shouting that Trumps rhetoric is killing Jews.

Trumps surrogate army spread out across the state as voters prepared to cast the first votes in the two parties presidential primaries. The group, which included the presidents two oldest sons, as well as White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, gathered at a suburban hotel for an event billed as the Keep Iowa Great press conference.

It was the Trump campaigns second major event in Iowa ahead of the caucuses, following a rally in Des Moines on Jan. 31 where Trump himself spoke. It represented an unusual level of investment in a primary where the president faces no major opposition, and in a state where the president won comfortably in 2016. The Trump campaign explained its substantial presence in Iowa as an effort to flex its organizational muscle, not as a bid to compete for attention with the hotly contested Democratic primary.

Brad Parscale, the presidents campaign manager, addressed this as he kicked off the press conference. A lot of people ask why were here today, he said. The truth is, this is our first test of a grassroots army weve built. This is going to be the largest grassroots army the Republican Partys ever seen  or hopefully,  this countrys ever seen.

Parscale then introduced the other press conference speakers; the presidents oldest sons, Don Jr. (accompanied by his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle) and Eric, as well as Erics wife, Lara Trump. Trumps family mocked the presidents rivals and promised that he would bring in an epic victory.

Story continues

Lara Trump, a senior adviser on her father-in-laws campaign, boasted of the reelection efforts growing groups around specific coalitions, including veterans, women and African-Americans.

It is our job at the campaign to get these coalitions to go out there in their own communities, to teach them about how to talk to your friends and neighbors about Donald Trump, she said. Remind your friends and neighbors, if things are working for them right now, its thanks to Donald Trump, very simply.

Donald Trump Jr., at the podium, with his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle (right), appears with his brother Eric (second left) and Eric's wife, Lara, at a "Keep Iowa Great" press conference in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Eric Trump, an executive at his fathers real estate company, offered a bold prediction for the presidents chances in the general election.

Guys, we are going to beat them again, he said of the Democrats. We are going to beat them so much bigger this time.

He went on to dismiss criticism of his father and to praise the presidents record.

The American people look through whats happening. They see it as the nonsense that it is, Eric said, adding, They see the results. They see the economy. They see the unemployment. They see the rebuilding of our military. They see a guy whos actually willing to stick up for this country again. They see the protection of civil liberties and religious freedom. . Were saying Merry Christmas again. We werent saying that.

His brother, also a Trump Organization executive, joked about remarks his father made in a Fox News interview on Feb. 3 about former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Democratic presidential candidate.

Trump had tweeted that Bloomberg, who is 5-foot-8, had requested a box to stand on behind the lectern at the Democratic debate in Las Vegas on Feb. 19.

Whoa! On this stage, I feel like Mini Mike, Don said, standing alongside his brother and Parscale, who are both well over 6 feet tall.

Were from New York, the presidents oldest son continued. This was no secret. This is something [Bloomberg] is seriously insecure about, and hes spent years combatting.

As Trump mocked Bloomberg, a man named Elon Glickman walked up to the stage and began to shout at him.

Donald Trump Jr.! Im an American Jew, and ever since your father was elected president, more and more Jews are being gunned down every year, Glickman said.

Elon Glickman is dragged from a press conference in Des Moines, Iowa, as Donald Trump Jr. speaks with his brother Eric at a "Keep Iowa Great" on Feb. 3. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

In the last two years, there have been deadly shootings at two American synagogues by suspected white supremacists. Many progressives believe that Trump has not done enough to condemn white supremacy and neo-Confederate movements. As Glickman was hauled away by security, Don Trump Jr. countered by alluding to his fathers support for the Israeli government.

Well, I dont think anyones done more for Israel and for American Jews than Donald Trump, so you can keep going, he said.

You are killing Jews! All of you! All of you in here are killing Jews! Glickman shouted, as he was escorted out of the door.

Before the incident, Glickman said he was at the press conference representing the Jewish newspaper the Forward. Although he wrote one article for the paper in 2018, the newspapers editor in chief, Jodi Rudoren, said that he was not in fact covering the press conference for the publication. In a message to Yahoo News after the event, Glickman said he was affiliated with a group called Jews against white nationalists. According to his Twitter page, Glickman belongs to the organization IfNotNow, which opposes the right-wing government in power in Israel.

Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House last week, where he unveiled an outline for a Middle East peace treaty, which the Palestinian Authority rejected as unacceptably tilted toward Israel.

After Glickman was removed from the room, Don Jr. gave a plug for the book that he released last year, which mounts a critique of liberal activists.

This is why I wrote the book Triggered, folks.  Donald Trump, whos done more for the state of Israel, whos defended Jews  there are Democrats in Congress saying anti-Semitic things, he said.

After addressing the interruption, Don Jr. continued his jabs against Democrats. He framed them as lunatics on the left whove been taken over by the commie division of the party and denounced climate action as wasting trillions to prevent farting cows and air travel.

Don Jr. concluded with a vow  the Trump roadshow will roll on throughout the election.

I promise you one thing, he said. Over the next 10 months, Donald Trump will make this very, very entertaining for you all.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
Creative Group, a leading meeting, incentive and recognition company is awarded a SITE Crystal for Most Effective Incentive Marketing Campaign

TORONTO, Feb. 4, 2020 /CNW/ -- Creative Group, Inc., a full-service meeting, incentive and recognition company, was recognized by Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) with a Crystal Award for Most Effective Incentive Marketing Campaign at the Crystal Awards Recognition Ceremony held during SITE Global Conference 2020 in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Considered the highest honour in the Incentive Travel industry, SITE Crystal Awards recognize creative, practical, and truly memorable incentive programs that not only keep employees engaged, but also drive business results and improve a business' bottom line.

"Receiving this distinguished award recognizes the talent and creativity of those who produced this marketing campaign and the results it achieved for our client," note Janet Traphagen, President, Creative Group.

For this "2018 Living Legends Incentive Program" the goal was to continue to increase sales in the distribution channel of Alliance Laundry Systems, Huebsch Division. A Living Legends program website was created to house all information related to the incentive program to Machu Picchu. A 14-month communication campaign included a wide variety of messaging touch points from e-newsletters to monthly blogs to physical gift mailers to participants' homes.

Post program participant feedback was very positive. Their comments spoke of the goodwill that comes from strengthened relationships when a group experiences a legendary adventure together.

"I am truly honoured to congratulate the 2019 SITE Crystal Award winners for their stellar programs. Incentive travel drives business results and nowhere is it more apparent than these award winners, recognized for their creative and memorable incentive travel programs," said SITE President 2020 Jenn Glynn, CITP.

About Creative Group

Creative Group is a full-service meeting, incentive and recognition company that delivers business results by inspiring people to thrive. An industry leader, Creative Group has been honoured with Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) awards and the CMI 25 Award, which recognizes the top 25 most influential meeting and incentive management companies in the U.S.

Creative Group was founded in 1970, and has served clients in financial services, life sciences, insurance, manufacturing, retail, technology, automotive and hospitality. Employing over 260 people, the company is headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, and maintains offices in Detroit, Denver, San Francisco, Appleton, Wisconsin and Toronto, Canada. Creative Group was acquired by Direct Travel in 2015. For more information about Creative Group, visit www.creativegroupinc.com.

About the SITE Crystal Awards Recognition Program:

Since 1980, the annual SITE Crystal Awards Recognition Program has provided industry acclaim for world-class organizations that excel in the design of unique, memorable group travel experiences that deliver measurable benefits for their clients. Today, the awards serve as a benchmark for incentive travel programs and are regarded as the highest honour in the motivational events and incentive travel industry. Incentive programs held between May 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019 were eligible and an independent panel of judges evaluated entries.

The Crystal Awards Program is sponsored by IMEX Group, the worldwide exhibitions for incentive travel, meetings and events.

About Incentive Travel & SITE:

Incentive Travel, the "I" in MICE, is the fastest growing sector of the Business Events industry with the highest per capita spend and the widest supply chain. Accounting for about 7% of all Business Events activities, the Events Industry Council's Global Economic Impact study (2018) estimates the incentive travel industry to be worth around $75 billion globally. The Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) is the only Business Events association dedicated exclusively to the global incentive travel industry. Founded in 1973, we are a professional association of 2,500 members located in 90 countries, working in corporations, agencies, airlines, cruise companies and across the entire destination supply chain. We bring value to our members at both global and local chapter level by networking, on-line resources, education, certification and advocacy. SITE Foundation was established by SITE to support research, education and advocacy projects on behalf of the incentive travel industry. Monies raised by the SITE Foundation help us make the business case for incentive travel and highlight the transformational potential of travel experiences on individuals, enterprises and communities. The SITE Foundation is a registered charity holding a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization status. www.SITEglobal.com.

SOURCE Creative Group, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.creativegroupinc.com


UTICA, NY -- The Central New York brewery behind such products as Utica Club lager and Saranac craft beers is about to enter the surging market for hard seltzer.

But Saranac / F.X. Matt Brewing Co. is carving out its own niche: In addition to the standard inclusion of fruit flavors, each of the Saranac hard seltzers that will debut next month will be infused with green tea.

Saranac Green Tea Spiked Seltzers will be shipped starting in March in three flavors: Lemon, Peach Mango and Raspberry.

This whole category (hard seltzer) is driven by a consumer preference for products that are considered more wholesome, or better for you, Saranac president Fred Matt said. At the same time, we were looking for a way to play in this category with something different. Green tea has that Its good for you perception, so thats the direction we took. We took green tea and married it with seltzer."

Led by brands like White Claw and Truly, hard seltzer became the fastest growing segment of the alcohol industry in the last year. It grew more than 200 percent in 2019, with more than $500 million in sales, according to the market research company Nielsen.

Hard seltzer demand is driven, in large part, by its relatively low amount of calories and carbs (and lack of gluten). The Saranac seltzers will have 100 calories and 2 grams of carbs per 12-ounce serving, along with 4.5% alcohol. (Unlike beer, which is made with grains like malted barley, hard seltzers are fermented from cane sugar).

The Saranac Green Tea Spiked Seltzers will be available throughout the companys distribution network, which includes all of New York state. Its packaged in standard 12-ounce cans, not the slim or sleek cans favored by many other producers, and will be available in variety packs.

The flavors were chosen because they are bold and dominant, to match with the green tea, Matt said.

The hard seltzer category is seeing more products come out all the time.

Last month, brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev launched a new line called Bud Light Seltzer, made exclusively at the A-B brewery near Baldwinsville. The Mexican beer brand Corona, whose U.S. rights are owned by Rochester-based Constellation Brands, is adding its own line this spring.

Matt Brewing, founded in 1888, is the second-oldest family-owned brewing company in the U.S. (after Yuengling), and the second oldest brewery in New York (after Genesee). It is the third-largest brewery in the state, after the A-B plant in Baldwinsville and Genesee.

It already had some experience with hard seltzers, Fred Matt said. A few years ago, it began brewing the Spiked Seltzer brand under contract from its owner, Boathouse Beverage.

That brand was later briefly brewed at Genesee in Rochester before being sold to A-B InBev, which now brews it in Baldwinsville. It was renamed Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer last year, but has failed to make much of a dent in the market dominated by White Claw and Truly.

Saranac / Matt Brewing has been diversifying its beverage portfolio, including its purchase of a stake in McKenzies Hard Cider, made in western New York. It launched a line of hard sodas several years ago, and has found lasting success in that category with its Jeds Mule Kicker, a canned malt beverage take on the popular Moscow Mule cocktail.

The company is also exploring production of canned cocktails, another growing segment of the alcoholic beverage market, Matt said.

Its a changing marketplace out there, Matt said. Were always looking for ways to stay in play.

Related:

-- Bud Light Seltzer vs. White Claw: How do they compare?

-- Inside the CNY-based challenge to White Claw

-- Top drinks trends of the 2010s and how they played out in CNY

Don Cazentre writes about craft beer, wine, spirits and beverages for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, long considered a vital swing vote in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, said Monday a decision to remove him from office belongs in the hands of voters.

I cannot vote to convict. The Constitution provides for impeachment, but does not demand it in all instances, Murkowski said during a speech on the Senate floor adding, "The voters will pronounce a verdict in nine months, and we must trust their judgment."

The senators comments came the same day as closing arguments in President Trumps impeachment trial. Trump is facing two House-initiated articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The full Senate is set to vote Wednesday, where an acquittal is expected. The only mystery remaining is whether members of each party will break ranks during the vote.

During her 10-minute speech, Murkowski took Congress to task for their handling of the impeachment process.

The House rushed through what should have been one of the most serious, consequential undertakings of the legislative branch simply to meet an artificial, self-imposed deadline, she said while also describing the Senate debate as "wallowing in partisan mud."

The Senate should be ashamed by the rank partisanship that has been on display here," she said.

During the preceding closing arguments, the partisan divide that marked the impeachment from its early stages had not waned.

Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee Chairman who has led the prosecution of Trump, beseeched senators not to wait until the November election.

You cant trust this president to do the right thing, not for one minute, not for one election, not for the sake of our country," the California Democrat said. "You just can't. He will not change and you know it.

"What are the odds if left in office that he will continue trying to cheat? I will tell you: 100 percent. A man without character or ethical compass will never find his way."

Schiff also warned Republicans who vote to acquit that they were tying their own legacy to the president.

History will not be kind to Donald Trump, Schiff said. I think we all know that. And if you find that the House has proved its case and still vote to acquit, your name will be tied to his with a cord of steel for all of history.

But Jay Sekulow, who is part of Trumps defense team, countered that the House articles of impeachment were nothing but a partisan pursuit designed to reverse a 2016 election result they found revolting.

This is exactly and precisely what the founders feared, Sekulow said. This was the first totally partisan presidential impeachment in our nations history and it should be our last.

What the House Democrats have done to this nation, the Constitution, the office of the president, the president himself and to this body is outrageous. They have cheapened the awesome power of impeachment and unfortunately, of course, the country is not better for that.

Following the closing arguments, the 100 members of the Senate were each given 10 minutes to explain their votes, a process that is ongoing today.

During his time on the Senate floor, Joe Manchin, D-W.V., another potential swing vote, acknowledged he was uncertain how he would vote on the articles of impeachment and offered up a censure vote as a compromise that would allow the Senate to officially express their disapproval of Trumps actions without removing him from office.

I see no path to the 67 posts required to impeach President Trump and I haven't since this trial started, Manchin said. "However, I do believe a bipartisan majority of this body would vote to censure President Trump for his actions.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Alex Edelman/Stringer

Lori Arnold is a national award-winning journalist whose experience includes 16 years at a daily community newspaper in San Diego and 16 years as writer-editor for the Christian Examiner. She owns StoryLori Media and is a member of the Evangelical Press Association.
By Ben Mikek

mikekben@grinnell.edu

Grinnells combined Republican caucus site for Wards 1-4 and CGWS, which includes rural areas surrounding Grinnell, went decidedly for President Donald Trump on Monday night. The caucus, which took place in four rooms at Grinnells Fairview Elementary School, was an opportunity for area Republicans to vote in a presidential preference poll, elect members of the party leadership, and propose planks for the party platform.

Compared to turnout at the nearby Democratic caucus, which was attended by 830 people from only Ward 1, numbers were fairly low, with no more than 30 caucusgoers in each ward. Nevertheless, Chris Varney, chair of the County Central Committee, said he was very happy with the turnout. I think we had a good group for Grinnell, he said. I am really excited to see what this party can do together.

In wards 3 and CGWS, Trump carried 100 percent, with 11 and 28 in favor, respectively. In Ward 1, which includes most of Grinnell College, 10 people voted for Trump and 2 for former Mass. Governor Bill Weld. Finally, In Ward 4, 15 supported Trump, and there was one vote each for Weld and former Ill. Representative Joe Walsh.

In addition to the headline-grabbing presidential preference vote, the attendees also selected delegates for the county convention, which will be held on Mar. 14  Its pi day.  Well have pies, said Ward 1 chair, Rick Jacoby.

Finally, the party accepted proposals for platform planks; each of the suggestions was open for debate, and then voted on by voice. In the combined Wards 1 and 4, resolutions to end gun control, leave social security alone and protect the constitution and fight to protect life at conception were all approved unanimously. Slightly more debate occurred on two further proposals. First, after two people spoke in favor, a plank calling for an end to daylight savings time was roundly rejected. Second was a call to keep marijuana illegal. This plank received significant debate, with multiple speakers in favor and against. In the end, it was approved by a voice vote.

I dont want to see Iowa go the way of some of these other states, said Tim Sittig, a former Grinnell police officer. Marijuana has increased the cost of traffic accidents and rehab [in Colorado and other states where it has been legalized. Sittig, who is in his upper 50s, said that more research needs to be undertaken before even medical marijuana is approved. A study in the journal Addiction, a publication from The Society for the Study of Addiction, did find that traffic deaths increased slightly in several states during the first 12 months following the legalization of recreational marijuana use but returned to normal levels after about one year.

The main theme of the night, though, was support for President Trump. Tim Carnes, 50, who used to be a Democrat and voted for Barack Obama in 2008, said he was supporting Trump because of the issue of gun control. I think Obama did care about us. But I dont like them trying to take away all our constitutional rights, he said. They shouldnt do that. And even though he described guns as the most important issue, Carnes said, I dont know if I have a problem with anything [Trump] has ever done.

Annie Vander Weerdt, 29, and Tanner Vander Weerdt, 31, were both at the caucus to support Trump. Annie Vander Weerdt cited Trumps anti-abortion stance and the fact that he has helped decrease our debt as reasons for her support. According to Treasury Department data, though, the federal debt has increased by more than $3 trillion since Trump took office.

Tanner Vander Weerdt praised Trumps ability to follow through on promises. Love him or hate him, he does what he says, he said. On the U.S. military strike in Baghdad which killed Iranian General Qassim Suleimani on Jan. 3, though, Vander Weerdt was less certain. It was a little iffy, scary at times, he said. But if it was a bad guy, he got what he deserved.

Allen Simms, 69, and Don Ellis, 68, both support Trump for primarily economic reasons. Simms cited positive movement in unemployment, wages and his opposition to socialism as a reason for his support of the President. Bernie [Sanders] talks the talk, but he wants to turn us into Venezuela. We like our country great and powerful, he said.

I dont care for some of the tweets he puts out, but thats him, said Ellis, but I hope more companies will come back from overseas [if Trump wins a second turn].

In the end, though, caucusing is a very local act. This is the grassroots, what were going right here.  Whether [a platform plank] is passed or failed, you are part of the process, said Jacoby. Several other attendees also mentioned their concern about the changes they see in Grinnell.

Immigrants  shouldnt even be here, said Simms. If I did that in their country, Id be in prison.

People are trying to back us into a corner [on our political ideas], said Rachael Mahaffey, chair of Ward 2. The College brings a lot to this community, but they dont know anything about soybeans, she said. Grinnell students voting changed the flow of the county, she said.

And Jeff Burkett, 43, a veteran and former recruiter for the military in Grinnell, complained that students had spat on him. We already have free college and free health care, he said. All you have to do is sign on the dotted line and join the military.

The Poweshiek County Republican Party holds meetings every other Monday at Pagliais Pizza. The partys county convention will take place on March 14.
Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / Reuters



The US said Monday a ban on travelers from China meant to contain the deadly coronavirus outbreak was based on the best science, adding there would be more evacuations of Americans.



It came as the number of confirmed US cases rose to 11, including the second confirmed person-to-person transmission inside the country, this one involving a patient in California.



China has accused the US of spreading "panic" by banning the entry of foreign nationals who had traveled to the country over the past two weeks and announcing quarantine measures for American citizens.



Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), defended the "aggressive" measure.



"A couple of weeks ago there were 41 cases in China, this morning the numbers are 17,000  that is 17,000 cases with a novel coronavirus that the population does not have immunity to," she said, adding: "We have the opportunity to slow it down before it gets into the United States."



China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said during a briefing the US had failed to provide "any substantial assistance," a claim that Messonnier denied.






This year's recipientsfrom Pennsylvania, Missouri, Louisiana and Floridawere chosen from a pool of 170 applicants, and all offer leading visions for improved connectivity, mobility, health and social equity through trail development.

"The competitive Doppelt Fund grants bring regional trail projects to fruition that otherwise would never have been possible," said Ryan Chao, president of RTC. "There are no other grants offering resources to communities like the Doppelt Fund. These funding sources are critical because the projects tend to be overlooked in traditional funding streams but deliver tremendous impacts to a community and the nation."

The 2020 Doppelt Fund grant recipient list emphasizes investments in projects with the potential to strengthen or connect trails in six communities nationwide. The recipients include:

Missouri Rock Island Trail, Inc. (MoRIT) ( Missouri ), receiving $20,000 to rehabilitate two trestles as part of the 144-mile developing Rock Island Trail corridor, which could open 43 miles of trail to the public. This new portion will connect communities in Osage , Maries , Gasconade and Franklin counties to St. Louis and the eastern state border. The trail is expected to drive the local economy across four counties, similar to Katy Trail State Park, which the trail will connect with to form a 450-mile loop, and which has an annual impact surpassing $18 million per year.

( ), receiving to rehabilitate two trestles as part of the 144-mile developing Rock Island Trail corridor, which could open 43 miles of trail to the public. This new portion will connect communities in , , and counties to and the eastern state border. The trail is expected to drive the local economy across four counties, similar to Katy Trail State Park, which the trail will connect with to form a 450-mile loop, and which has an annual impact surpassing per year. Armstrong Trails (formerly Allegheny Valley Land Trust) ( Pennsylvania ) , receiving $35,000 to open the Brady Tunnel in Clarion County , enabling a link between communities at a disjointed 4.5-mile northern section of trail, and the southern 31-mile portion connecting East Brady and Ford City . Completing this project will also help support increased connectivity and regionwide outdoor tourism along the larger 270-mile Erie to Pittsburgh Trail.

( ) receiving to open the Brady Tunnel in , enabling a link between communities at a disjointed 4.5-mile northern section of trail, and the southern 31-mile portion connecting and . Completing this project will also help support increased connectivity and regionwide outdoor tourism along the larger 270-mile to Pittsburgh Trail. Groundwork Jacksonville , Inc. ( Florida ), receiving $30,000 for the construction of the first segment of the Emerald Trail, a planned 30-mile urban trail system in Jacksonville . This is a critical trail connectivity project in Duval County . Once complete, the Emerald Trail will connect the existing S-Line Trail and developing McCoys Creek Trail to the regional transit hub in the LaVilla neighborhood, a historically African American community in Jacksonville , while providing new opportunities for green infrastructure along the trail.

( ), receiving for the construction of the first segment of the Emerald Trail, a planned 30-mile urban trail system in . This is a critical trail connectivity project in . Once complete, the Emerald Trail will connect the existing S-Line Trail and developing McCoys Creek Trail to the regional transit hub in the LaVilla neighborhood, a historically African American community in , while providing new opportunities for green infrastructure along the trail. Bike Easy ( Louisiana ), receiving $5,000 to spearhead the formation of the Bootlace Trail Network Coalition to lead the build-out of the trail project across Orleans , St. Tammany , Jefferson , St. Bernard and St. John the Baptist parishes. Project developers are creating the network of trails to enable residents and visitors to easily navigate the entire region for a broader economic impact.

( ), receiving to spearhead the formation of the Bootlace Trail Network Coalition to lead the build-out of the trail project across , , , and St. John the Baptist parishes. Project developers are creating the network of trails to enable residents and visitors to easily navigate the entire region for a broader economic impact. Lafayette Consolidated Government ( Louisiana ), receiving $5,000 to propel the project forward to transform the abandoned railbed along North Saint Antoine Street into a trail, which is set to connect historically disadvantaged communities to parks, recreational opportunities and job centers on a piece of disused rail line running through a neighborhood with low personal car ownership and few sidewalks. The grant will support the development of design renderings and stakeholder outreach to acquire community input and support for the project.

( ), receiving to propel the project forward to transform the abandoned railbed along North Saint Antoine Street into a trail, which is set to connect historically disadvantaged communities to parks, recreational opportunities and job centers on a piece of disused rail line running through a neighborhood with low personal car ownership and few sidewalks. The grant will support the development of design renderings and stakeholder outreach to acquire community input and support for the project. Rail-Trail Council of Northeastern Pennsylvania ( Pennsylvania ), receiving a $5,000 state grant match to install a bridge that connects the D&H Rail-Trail to the small town of Lanesboro, Pennsylvania , and eliminate the need for an on-road detour that is dangerous to walkers and bicyclists.

Each project will help to transform their communities by supporting trail connectivity goals and enhancing the economic development of nearby towns.

"This year's projects will deliver a lasting return on investment for decades within their communities," said Jeff Doppelt, a philanthropist from Great Neck, New York. "The rails-to-trails movement is gaining momentum across the country, and these projects are leading the way as examples of regional trail projects that can spark community transformation."

The Doppelt Family Trail Development Fund was established in 2015 with funding from philanthropist Jeff Doppelt of Great Neck, New York, and an anonymous donor. The Doppelt Family Trail Development Fund has awarded well over a half-million dollars in vital grants to nonprofits and government agencies in 25 states to strengthen critical regional trail projects. A listing of all Doppelt Fund grant recipients can be found at railstotrails.org/grants.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is the nation's largest trails organizationwith a grassroots community more than 1 million strongdedicated to connecting people and communities by creating a nationwide network of public trails, many from former rail lines. Connect with RTC at railstotrails.org and @railstotrails on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Contact:

Patricia Brooks, [email protected], 202.351.1757

SOURCE Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Related Links

http://www.railstotrails.org


Louisianas ICE jails: In recent months, authorities throughout the state have inked deals to house ICE detainees, in jail bunks left empty by the states shrinking prison population, while their deportation or asylum cases move through immigration courts. Map shows locations and capacities.
The US government provides federal funds to states to help with disaster relief. This much hasn't changed under the Trump administration. In fact, in 2018, Ben Carson's Department of Housing and Urban Development launched a new program rewarding $28 billion dollars in financial support relating to natural disasters.

Curiously, that press release was taken down a few days after the New York Times reported on it  specifically, on its favoritism towards red states that still won't formally admit that climate change exists:

The money is distributed according to a formula benefiting states most affected by disasters in 2015, 2016 and 2017. That formula favors Republican-leaning states along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts, which were hit particularly hard during that period. Texas is in line for more than $4 billion, the most of any state. The next largest sums go to Louisiana ($1.2 billion), Florida ($633 million), North Carolina ($168 million) and South Carolina ($158 million), all of which voted Republican in the 2016 presidential election.

The other states getting funding are West Virginia, Missouri, Georgia and California, the only state getting money that voted Democratic in the presidential race of 2016.

Of course, these states have to submit proposals explaining why they need these funds. According to the Times, the proposal from Texas refers to things like "changing coastal conditions," while South Carolina says that three major storms in four years have caused "destabilizing effects and unpredictability." But none of them actually, explicitly mention climate change  except for Louisiana, in an appendix reference on the final page. Even the HUD avoided "climate change" and "global warming" when it announced the rules for the proposals, leaning more on "changing environmental conditions."

One HUD official that spoke with the Times explained this discrepancy as a deliberate choice of "picking your battles" in good faith. The argument here is essentially that there are some places in the country where citizens and government officials alike simply won't even talk to you if you acknowledge the existence of climate change. So in order to help those people  and to help them help themselves  you need to meet them where they are, and appease them in a way that will get through to them.

Still, this whole situation is undeniably frustrating, and serves as a perfect microcosm of our national disparities in federal funding, taxes, and local identity. Studies have shown that Blue States receive fewer benefits from their federal taxes than Red States  for every dollar that New Jersey spends in federal taxes, for example, it gets 61 cents in benefits, whereas Wyoming gets $1.11 back on every dollar. On average, red states are twice as dependent on the federal government than blue states, even though blue states pay more taxes, and even though red state ideology is famously opposed to taxation and federal consolidation.

This isn't to say that we shouldn't be helping the people in our country who are suffering from climate change. But there's clearly something wrong with letting their climate denying representatives lead on environmental policy and federal funding as they continue to reap the benefits that the rest of us have given them, without any compromise or consequence.

Conservative States Seek Billions to Brace for Disaster. (Just Don't Call It Climate Change.) [Christopher Flavelle / New York Times]

Image: Texas Military Department / Flickr (CC 2.0)
It is often said that government cannot solve a problem simply by throwing more money at it. While that may be true in some instances, in others it is a complete cop-out, a pathetic excuse to justify the decision by government to ignore a problem and deliberately starve it of the resources it requires. Problems like legal aid.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It is often said that government cannot solve a problem simply by throwing more money at it. While that may be true in some instances, in others it is a complete cop-out, a pathetic excuse to justify the decision by government to ignore a problem and deliberately starve it of the resources it requires. Problems like legal aid.

Private lawyers are again threatening to boycott legal aid cases if the provincial government does not increase the hourly rates at which they are compensated. The members of the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association of Manitoba called off a boycott of legal aid cases last month after being promised that government would discuss their concerns. Now, concerned that they are not being "taken seriously," the CDLAM is starting job action.

The first step in that job action is to refuse to take on new clients in bail court. This is a critical first stage in the administration of criminal justice, a safety valve that helps control the number of accused persons put into remand custody. Private lawyers perform the gross majority of all legal aid cases, including bail applications, and the withdrawal of their services would paralyze the court and correction systems.

There are a number of things the Progressive Conservative government can do to alleviate the concerns of private lawyers, but almost all of them involve spending more money. And that is something that neither the current or former provincial governments have been willing to do.

Decades ago, the provinces got 50 per cent funding for legal aid from the federal government. Over the ensuing years, Ottawa has essentially capped its support while costs have risen.

That having been said, the provinces have used the declining federal support as a crutch to essentially allow the legal aid system to fall into disrepair. And rather than just keeping support the same, the provinces have actually cut back on legal aid schemes.

Last year, Ontario announced a $133-million cut to legal aid that was intended to shift more cases from private lawyers to staff lawyers, including cuts to special rates paid to lawyers who represent clients with mental health issues, and Indigenous clients.

Inadequate legal representation is a problem that has created a system that puts expediency ahead of just and fair verdicts. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)

Similar stories are being written in almost every province. In British Columbia, cuts to overall legal aid funding paid to private lawyers have been accompanied by wage freezes to staff legal aid lawyers. In Alberta, budget cuts are threatening to push overworked staff lawyers to the breaking point.

In Manitoba, legal aid pays private lawyers $80 an hour, a rate that has not been increased since 2008. Total fees for any one case are subject to incredibly low caps that mean, when all the bills have been added up, private lawyers make considerably less than either auto mechanics or plumbers on an hourly basis.

Inadequate legal representation is a problem that has created a system that puts expediency ahead of just and fair verdicts.

It starts with the police, who routinely overcharge accused persons. Crown attorneys, looking to steer clear of a trial if at all possible, offer to drop most of the charges in exchange for a guilty plea on a core charge.

Legal aid staff lawyers, or private bar lawyers working on basic legal aid fees, often encourage their clients to take the plea bargain rather than having to endure the time and expense of fighting the charges at a trial.

If everyone agrees about the state of the justice system  and there is a nearconsensus about this problem from all sides  then why aren't we pursuing a solution?

This is a process completely geared to helping prosecutors and defence lawyers dispose of cases with the least amount of time and effort because there just aren't enough resources to properly consider, argue and deliberate on those cases that really deserve a full and fair hearing in court.

The byproducts of this approach to administering justice are both horrific and inhumane.

It disproportionately affects the poor, who really have no other choice but to rely on whatever public resources are available to fund their defence. It similarly stacks the deck against people with lower education, or those who suffer from mental health issues that make it difficult for them to fully understand what it is the criminal justice system is trying to do with them.

In short, lack of resources for legal representation has turned our courts into an assembly line, where the goal is to move as many people through the system as quickly as possible.

Dan Lett | Not for Attribution A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world that is sent every Tuesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

If everyone agrees about the state of the justice system -- and there is a near-consensus about this problem from all sides -- then why aren't we pursuing a solution? This is the challenge that has virtually no dedicated advocate. At least, not one that the public believes is acting altruistically.

Lack of resources for legal representation has turned our courts into an assembly line, where the goal is to move as many people through the system as quickly as possible. (John Woods / Canadian Press files)

Private lawyers are, along with insurance salespeople and journalists, almost universally distrusted. If an association representing private lawyers, many of whom charge paying customers hundreds of dollars per hour, suddenly cries poverty, there aren't many taxpayers who are going to feel sympathy for their situation.

And then there is the fate of the accused. The public still generally believes that anyone charged with a crime is unworthy of much sympathy let alone taxpayer support to be defended in court. Political leaders are patently aware that there is no traction for them on this issue; providing adequate funding to legal aid will likely be resented, rather than applauded, by taxpayers.

No, you can't necessarily solve a problem as complex as this by throwing money at it. But it would be a nice start.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
Attacking the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Delhi needs a government that will not resort to appeasement but supports the CAA, abolition of Article 370 and issues of national security.

Addressing an election rally in Dwarka three days before the February 8 assembly elections, the prime minister said the national capital also needs a government that will give direction and not resort to blame games.

The prime minister accused the AAP dispensation of not implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the national capital and asked if the AAP government's 'mohalla clinics' will work if Delhiites fall sick outside the city.

Modi, who addressed a rally in east Delhi's Karkardooma locality on Monday, said the people of Delhi have seen how the AAP government practises the of hate.

The people of Delhi say the country has changed, and now is the time for Delhi's transformation, the prime minister told the gathering.

"Delhi does not need a government which gives opportunity to enemies to attack us," he said.

The Centre, he added, opened more bank accounts for the poor than the population of US, and built more houses than the population of Sri Lanka.

Modi said opposition parties are spreading lies and rumours about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act but people of Delhi understand this.

Slamming the AAP and Congress, he said both parties cry for Batla House terrorists, put security forces in dock and instigate people but can't develop the national capital.

Appealing to people to vote for the BJP, he asked them to punish those who insult armed forces.

The national capital goes to the polls on February 8 and the results will be declared on February 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)




THE ruling by the Constitutional Court of Malawi, which ordered fresh Presidential polls in 150 days after establishing large-scale vote manipulation, cannot be likened to the Zimbabwean scenario as the local opposition failed to provide clear evidence of rigging, analysts have said.





The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the United Transformation Movement (UTM) had petitioned the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) for declaring the incumbent President Peter Arthur Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), as the winner with 38,57 percent of the vote.





MCP leader Mr Lazarus Chakwera garnered 35,41 percent while former Vice President Saulos Chilima of UTM got 20,24 percent of the votes.





Human rights lawyer Mr David Tinashe Hofisi said the Zimbabwe court case was not similar to the Malawian one, which is subject to appeal whereas the Harare case was final.





Further, the Malawi appeal was an eight months full trial whereas Zimbabwes process ran for 14 days.





Harare lawyer Mr Obert Gutu said the court verdict in Malawi proved that a well packaged and presented election petition has chances of success.





The law is precise and common sensical. The law doesnt operate on vapid and rabid politically-charged bold allegations of rigging and any other form of electoral malfeasances, he said.





Mr Gutu said in Malawi, the petitioners were able to demonstrate that figures had been altered using Tippex, among other irregularities.





On the other hand, the petitioner MDC-Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa in the Zimbabwe Presidential election petition of 2018, dismally and horribly failed to present any compelling evidence of vote manipulation. The petitioner even called a Press conference at a Harare hotel and boastfully showed what he claimed to be V11 forms that would prove that he had 2,6 million votes in his favour.





However, that turned out to be an insipid blue lie because the so-called V11 forms were actually not physically there to confirm, by way of a simple arithmetical process, that, indeed, he had 2,6 million votes in his favour, he said.





The MDC-A also failed to request a vote recount within the time frame allowed by the Electoral Act. Mr Gutu urged Malawians to remain calm ahead of the Presidential rerun.





Constitutional lawyer Professor Lovemore Madhuku also said the decision by the Constitutional Court of Malawi was not final and could be challenged because in Malawi, the High Court is the Constitutional Court while the highest court is the Supreme Court of Appeal.





Any of the parties aggrieved by the judgment may appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal. If that happens, we will have to wait for the final decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal. The judgment may become final if no appeal is lodged.





Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) lawyer Mr Tawanda Kanengoni, who put an impressive argument at the Constitutional Court against the allegations made by Mr Chamisa, said he was not following the events in Malawi closely and will comment on the judgment once he has familiarised with the case.





Prior to the handing down of the judgment, President Mnangagwa, who is Chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, urged all stakeholders in Malawi to respect the outcome of the ruling.





The Malawi concourt took about 10 hours to hand down the judgment.





The 500-page ruling cited the widespread use of unauthorised correctional fluid, Tippex, to alter figures; the use of duplicate result sheets and unsigned results forms, as cases that compromised the outcome of the elections.





Malawian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Annie Kumwenda said the outcome of the challenge was testimony to the independence of the judiciary in her country.





The outcome is a sign of a democratic growth and independence of our judiciary system. We are appealing to Malawians to embrace peace, unity and love during the campaigning period for the presidential election rerun.





We are calling for high level of discipline during the process. We may differ on our political allegiance, but we remain Malawians. We need to safeguard the interest of future generations to come. We need to campaign with freedom of association, said Ambassador Kumwenda.




Already a vocal critic of the Iowa caucus, former presidential contender Julian Castro unloaded on Monday night as that state struggled to tally votes.

This is a total mess, Castro said on social media. I respect the people of Iowa, theyve been great  but its become very clear that our democracy has been misserved by a broken system.

While still in the running last year, Castro took heat for openly criticizing Iowa for being the first state up given that it does not reflect demographically either the United States or, certainly not, the Democratic Party.

Presidential candidates, fearing reprisals from voters, usually steer clear of attacking Iowas spot atop the primary season voting order. But in November, as polls showed him struggling in Iowa, Castro lamented that neither Iowa nor New Hampshire reflects the nations racial diversity.

I dont believe that forever we should be married to Iowa and New Hampshire going first. And thats just the truth of the way I see it, he said.

Castro made those comments even though he was one of the most aggressive in trying to campaign in Iowa. Before he dropped out, Castro has visited the state more than most of the front runners, including Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. He was in Iowa on Monday night to help Warren campaign at the caucuses.

We do need to change the order of the states, because I dont believe that were the same country we were in 1972, he said while campaigning Iowa. Thats when Iowa first held its caucus. And by the time we have the next presidential election in 2024, it would have been more than 50 years since 1972. Our country has changed a lot in those 50 years. The Democratic Party has changed a lot.

Castro ended his campaign just after the start of the New Year.

On Monday night, the Iowa Democratic Party announced they would not be able to announce a winner in the election until well into Tuesday because of glitches in their caucus reporting system.
Syrian army liberates two more towns in southeastern Idlib

Iran Press TV

Monday, 03 February 2020 3:08 PM

The Syrian army has retaken control of two more towns in the northwestern Idlib province during the ongoing campaign against foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants in their last major stronghold.

Syria's official news agency SANA reported on Monday that army units had liberated the towns of Joubas and San as they continued their military operations against the foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists near the city of Saraqib in Idlib.

SANA also reported that the Syrian army units continued to advance in Idlib countryside, liberating Taranaba village west of Saraqib and cutting off terrorists' supply lines between Saraqib and Ariha.

The new achievements came a day after Syrian government forces liberated the villages of Inqrati, Kafr Battikh and Kafr Dadikh, inflicting heavy losses on Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, southwest of Saraqib.

The report added that four Turkish soldiers were killed and 9 others wounded during the operations targeting terrorists' positions in the southeastern countryside of Idlib.

SANA noted that Turkish military forces retaliated and targeted the Syrian army units, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.

On Sunday, Turkey reportedly brought in a new column of military forces and hardware to be deployed in Idlib.

The deployment came only two days after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey may launch a military operation there if the ongoing offensive by Syrian government forces against foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants continues.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based war monitor, citing sources requesting anonymity, reported that a Turkish military convoy had already been positioned in the entrance of Kafr Amim village, which lies in the Saraqib Nahiyah district of Idlib province.

Syrian government forces are advancing against foreign-backed Takfiri militants in Idlib, tightening the noose around the extremists in their last major stronghold.

Syria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates wrote to the United Nations on January 25, stressing that the operation in Idlib and Aleppo against Takfiri elements "will not stop until the elimination of those terrorists, who threaten safety and security of Syrian civilians."

Idlib and the area north of Aleppo province form part of the only large territory in the hands of terrorists after the Syrian military managed to vanquish the foreign-backed terrorists across the country and bring back almost all of the Syrian soil under government control.

The Syrian army declared the start of an offensive against foreign-sponsored militants in Idlib on August 5 last year.

It came after those positioned in the de-escalation zone failed to honor a ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey and continued to target civilian neighborhoods.

Under the Sochi agreement, all militants in the demilitarized zone that surrounds Idlib, and also parts of the provinces of Aleppo and west-central province of Hama, were supposed to pull out heavy arms by October 17 2018, with the Takfiri groups having to withdraw two days earlier.

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Nepal's Federal Socialist Party MP Pradeep Yadav on Tuesday hit out at the central government over its failure to finalise the location to set up quarantine facilities, and sarcastically proposed that those to be rescued from coronavirus-hit Wuhan city in China should be sheltered in the Parliament.

"The government has said that the aircraft to evacuate them (Nepali citizens) are kept ready. Then when will they fly-off for China? It's already been 5 days that the Nepal government has been searching on for a place to keep those to-be-evacuated from China. No location has been identified until now. Should we vacate the Parliament building?" Yadav said.

"Let's vacate it (the Parliament building) and keep those returning from China here. Let's move our parliamentary meeting out under the tarpaulins," he added.

Nepal is working to evacuate its citizens from China, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak that has reported 426 deaths. As many as 180 Nepalis, including three children have approached the country's embassy in Beijing, demanding their evacuation from the country, as per a list of names published by the embassy.

The country is yet to finalise on places where the evacuees would be kept for a quarantine period of at least two weeks.

Responding to Yadav in the Parliament, Bhanubhakta Dhakal, Minister of Health and Population said that the government has "surveyed many places" and "is inching closer to finalise the place where the students to be evacuated would be kept.

"Some of those locations are near residential areas and the government believes that places far from the urban settlement would be appropriate," Dhakal said.

Several countries, including India, have airlifted their citizens from China while more are planning the evacuation of their people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Speaking in Abu Dhabi on the anniversary of the Document on Human Fraternity, the Ecumenical Patriarch stressed that Religions cannot replace politics and do not aim to do so. However, they can inspire civic and political activities, and raise awareness to enhance social cohesion, the protection of creation, sustainable development and the establishment of a culture of fraternity.

Abu Dhabi (AsiaNews)  Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew spoke today at a meeting in Abu Dhabi marking the first anniversary of the Document on Human Fraternity.

In his address, he focused on the task that religions can and must have in today's world, as long as they seek dialogue and do not yield to fundamentalism.

In the current crisis caused by scientific and technological progress unable to provide answers to humanitys deepest existential problems, religions can play a positive role and be an ally of political institutions in the "sacred task of promoting freedom, equality and brotherhood.

Never before have we possessed so much scientific knowledge and acted so violently and destructively against nature and our fellow human beings, said Bartholomew.

The autonomy of science and technology from man's vital needs together with globalisation, along with scientism and a lack of respect for nature constitute a great danger not only for a society based on solidarity, but even more for the survival of the life on earth.

Religions cannot replace politics and do not aim to do so, he noted. However, they can inspire civic and political activities, and raise awareness to enhance social cohesion, the protection of creation, sustainable development and the establishment of a culture of fraternity. They can persistently propose solutions that reject war and violence, and fight instead for tolerance and solidarity.

Noting that "there is no peace in the world, without peace between religions, and no peace between religions, without interfaith dialogue, the Patriarch explained that in the Human Fraternity Document "we find the compass that guides the path towards universal peace and a culture of solidarity.

This includes reconciliation and fraternity between believers and non-believers, and among all people of good will; the rejection of violence and blind extremism; kinship and cooperation between East and West, between North and South; and faith in God that unites divided hearts and elevates the human soul.

Lastly, We have the destination; we know the way. What we need now is joint action and determination to move forward. For us believers, this effort means to be true witness to the essence of our faith in the merciful God.
Change is good - even when it comes to exercising. Did you know that altering the intensity of your workout or trying a new activity may benefit your cardiovascular and mental health? Mixing up your workout routine helps:

Increase your aerobic fitness

Keep your brain mentally sharp

Prevent depression

Add intensity

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has become popular over the last few years. You may have seen a class at the gym with stations and people working through vigorous repeated exercises, or a group of friends in the park switching off timed activities in short bursts of energy.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Cardiologist Jeremy Robbins, MD, explains the benefit of this kind of high-intensity cardiovascular and strength training workout.

HIIT has proven to be effective for reversing some of the impact on your heart that occurs from a sedentary lifestyle, improving body composition (i.e., distribution of muscle and fat), and perhaps most importantly, improving your body's ability to use oxygen  the best measure of your cardiorespiratory fitness."

The more oxygen you can efficiently consume and use, the easier exercise will feel at a given intensity level and the lower your risk for a variety of health problems, including cardiovascular disease. While many fitness instructors teach modifications for a range of abilities, these routines can be demanding and they are not for everyone.

Robbins adds:

It's a promising type of exercise, but we need to learn more about its specific health effects and how it compares to other exercise before we broadly recommend it. The best routine continues to be the one that you consistently participate in."

While HIIT is safe even among patients with cardiovascular disease, it can be especially taxing to the musculoskeletal system, and Dr. Robbins advises that you consult with your doctor before starting a program.

Add variety

Studies show that physical activity has benefits for the brain, too. Learning a new skill or Zumba step might help keep you mentally sharp and may help prevent depression, leading to a win-win situation. Depression itself can have a negative effect on heart health, particularly for patients with existing heart disease.

In terms of variety, "there is good data that many different types of exercise can be beneficial in preventing depression," explains John Torous, MD, Director of the Division of Digital Psychiatry at BIDMC, citing recent studies published in The Lancet Psychiatry and JAMA Psychiatry.

Torous shared how this work is helping patients in his practice. "In our digital psychiatry clinic at BIDMC, we utilize data from the fitness tracking features on peoples' smartphones and wearables to have data-informed discussions with patients about exercise during their visits. By tracking exercise and mental health symptoms like mood and anxiety via an app -we can partner with patients to understand how physical activity can help in their treatment."

Understand outcomes

While mixing up your workout routine can have many benefits, there is still a lot more to learn about how the body responds to exercise. Robbins is researching why different people respond to the same exercise program in sometimes vastly different ways by studying genes, proteins, and molecules. "We can now measure thousands of molecules that circulate in the blood before and after a person exercises," he explains. Through these analyses, Robbins and his research collaborators hope to identify specific chemicals or 'biomarkers' that help predict who benefits most from a given exercise program, and better understand how exercise mediates its exercise-induced health benefits. "The ultimate goal  and we are not there yet  is to use these technologies to help guide people to the right exercise program so that they can achieve their specific health goal or improve an individual health condition."
Radio presenter Monty Dimond has been forced to apologise to The Project's Lisa Wilkinson for asking whether she'd ever 'exposed' her nipples on television.

During Monday's The 3pm Pick Up, Monty got Lisa on the phone to apologise for making inappropriate comments while the pair were co-hosting The Project together.

Monty had accidentally made the eyebrow-raising comments after a segment on The Project about a Belgian cyclist, who made headlines for commenting on a female journalist's nipples that were visible through her shirt.

Whoops! On Tuesday, The 3pm Pick Up's Monty Dimond apologised to Lisa Wilkinson for asking whether she had ever 'exposed her nipples' while presenting the news on The Project last Friday

Monty admitted that she 'just went blank' after watching the news package play, before turning to Lisa and asking: 'Have you ever had exposed nipples on any of your news?'

Monty - realising how embarrassing her question was - broke into laughter.

Seemingly unable to stop putting her foot in her mouth, she followed up asking: 'Have you ever worn a singlet top with your nipples pointing out on any of your jobs?'

Letting it slip: Monty had accidentally made the eyebrow-raising comments after a segment on The Project about a Belgian cyclist, who made headlines for commenting on a female journalist's nipples that were visible through her shirt

Caught off guard: Monty said she 'just went blank' when she asked Lisa: 'Have you ever had exposed nipples on any of your news?'

Lisa, clearly surprised by the hilarious question, answered: 'As far as I know - no - although the internet could probably answer that question more quickly than I could.'

'Lisa Wilkinson, I am so sorry,' Monty offered the journalist, who was on the phone with her on Tuesday.

The former Today host told the red-faced radio presenter the funniest thing to come out of it was that her husband, Peter FitzSimons, said he searched for 'Lisa Wilkinson nipples' on the internet.

'He was make sure people were being respectful': The former Today host told the red-faced radio presenter the funniest thing to come out of it was that her husband, Peter FitzSimons (pictured), said he searched for 'Lisa Wilkinson nipples' on the internet

What a pro! Monty went on to praise Lisa saying: 'You were such a professional and you made me feel so welcome and just so comfortable, even though I threw you and your nipples under the bus'

She said he was checking to 'make sure people were being respectful' of her.

Monty went on to praise Lisa saying: 'You were such a professional and you made me feel so welcome and just so comfortable, even though I threw you and your nipples under the bus.'

'I was just intrigued, and I think the audience probably were, with where you were going to go next,' Lisa laughed.

Monty's co-host Bec Judd then suggested: 'It must have been a Freudian slip I think, but I don't know it's come from in that mind of yours.'
In the Parliament on Tuesday, the Centre on Tuesday in the Lok Sabha said that the government hasnt taken any decision on implementing a nationwide NRC.

Amid nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) project, the Centre on Tuesday in the Lok Sabha said that the government hasnt taken any decision on implementing the citizen's registry.

In a separate written reply in the Lok Sabha, the Centre also said that no document will be collected during the National Population Register (NPR) exercise, which critics say is the first rung of the NRC, and stated that providing the Aadhaar card during the NPR exercise is only voluntary.

Proceedings in the Lok Sabha were also disrupted on Tuesday morning following uproar by Opposition members over BJP leader Anant Hegde's controversial remarks on Mahatma Gandhi, with Congress members shouting slogans and walking out of the House after accusing the ruling party of doing "Godse politics". Immediately after the House convened at noon after the proceedings were adjourned following the uproar, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the BJP leader has "insulted" Mahatma Gandhi, who is respected by people across the globe.

In the Rajya Sabha too, proceedings began on a stormy note as Opposition members raised slogans and demanded a discussion on CAA, NPR and NRC. Soon after, members started chanting 'Goli chalana band karo (Stop firing bullets)' and descended into the Well.

Opposition MPs raise slogans against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Rajya Sabha. pic.twitter.com/LxBFd7QVMd  ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2020

The slogans were in an apparent reference to the firing incidents reported within a week's time at Shaheen Bagh and in Jamia Nagar and the violence witnessed during the protests against CAA, NRC and NPR.

Additionally, TMC MP Derek O'Brien raised his voice against the Chair for not taking up the suspension of business notice given by him under Rule 267 over the "prevailing situation in the country due to proposed NPR-NRC following the Citizenship Amendment Act".

No decision on nationwide NRC, says Centre

Regarding the NRC exercise, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, said, "Till now, the government has not taken any decision to prepare the National Register of Indian Citizens at the national level."

However, the clarification didnt stop Opposition MPs in both Houses  where the Motion of Thanks for President Ram Nath Kovinds joint address of Parliament was taken up for debate  from criticising the Centre for its mismatching statements on the issue.

On 22 December, Modi had said that his government had never discussed NRC since coming to power for the first time in 2014. He had added, It has been discussed neither in Parliament nor in the Cabinet. However, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has made statements on various platforms stating that a nationwide NRC will be implemented. Referring to the discrepancy between their remarks over NRC, TMC MP Sukhendu Ray sang a few verses of the popular yesteryear Bollywood songs, Jhoot bole kauva kaate, and Mile sur mera tumhara to illustrate the confusion caused by the differing statements.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also questioned the government over whether NRC and NPR were two sides of the same coin.

Owaisi also challenged Modi to clarify in the House that the NPR and the NRC are not linked and there will be no NRC in the country.

The Supreme Court-monitored exercise of updating the NRC was carried out only in Assam last year. The final NRC, a list of Assam's residents published on 31 August, 2019, excluded names of 19 lakh people, creating a huge controversy.

Kovind did not refer to NRC in his address at the beginning of the Budget Session on Friday. However, on 20 June, 2019, soon after the formation of the new Lok Sabha, Kovind had said the Modi government had decided to implement the process of NRC on "priority basis".

Kovind had said illegal infiltrators posed a major threat to India's internal security and this was leading to a social imbalance in many parts of the country as well as putting huge pressure on limited livelihood opportunities.

"My government has decided to implement the process of National Register of Citizens on priority basis in areas affected by infiltration. Security along the border will be further strengthened to prevent infiltration," he had said.

No documents to be provided during NPR, says Centre

On Tuesday, the government also addressed the issue of NPR in a reply during Question Hour and said that no documents will be asked during the exercise which is likely to happen along with the Census.

The government is in discussion with the states having concerns with regard to the preparation of the NPR, the reply said.

The demographic and other particulars of each family and individual are to be updated/collected during the exercise of the updation of NPR.

Rai also said an instruction manual for the updation of NPR 2020 for enumerators and supervisors has been prepared and the people will have to provide information for the NPR to the best of their knowledge and belief.

"No document is to be collected during the updation of NPR," he said replying to a written question.

The minister also made it clear that during the NPR updation exercise, no verification will be done to find individuals whose citizenship is doubtful.

The NPR exercise will be carried out across the country along with the house listing phase of the Census 2021 from 1 April to 30 September, 2020.

"The NPR updation will be undertaken through house to house enumeration for collection of specified particulars relating to each family and individual. The respondent has to provide the information true to the best of his knowledge and belief. Aadhar Number is collected voluntarily," he said.

Rai said the population register is a register containing details of persons usually residing in a village or rural area or town or ward or demarcated area within a ward in a town or urban area.

"The NPR was first prepared in 2010 and updated in 2015. In pursuance of Sub-rule (4) of Rule 3 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, framed under the Citizenship Act, 1955, central government decided to prepare and update the population register during April to September, 2020 throughout the country except Assam for collection of information relating to all persons usually residing in village or town," he said.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has appealed to her counterparts in the North East and non-BJP states to carefully study the NPR form, its questions and criteria before making a decision on updating it.

Dubbing the exercise as "a dangerous game", Banerjee said the form, which seeks birth details and residential proof of parents, was nothing but a precursor to the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The Kerala government has announced that it will implement the census exercise but will not cooperate with the NPR.

"As the NPR is a process that leads to the NRC, there is a sense of fear among the people. If the NPR and NRC are implemented in Kerala, it will lead to widespread anarchy. That is the experience of the state where the NRC was implemented,'' said a statement released by the Kerala Chief Minister's Office.

Centre introduces bill to amend Aircraft Act, proposes fine up to Rs 1 crore

The government on Tuesday introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the Aircraft Act wherein the fine amount for violations will be hiked from Rs 10 lakh to up to Rs 1 crore.

A few other provisions would also be made part of the law that will also help in complying with the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) requirements.

The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020 also provides for keeping "aircraft belonging to any armed forces of the Union, other than naval, military or air force outside the purview" of the Aircraft Act, 1934.

Once the amendments are passed, the government will have the power to issue directions to review, if necessary in public interest, any order passed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), as per the bill's Statement of Objects and Reasons.

A key proposal is to increase the fine amount from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore for violations.

Govt provides numbers on anti-CAA protests

A total of 51 people were injured when masked people, armed with rods and sticks, attacked students and teachers of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on 5 January, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

"Fifty-one people sustained injuries and all were medically examined. No one was killed in this incident. Some private cars and property were also damaged. Some of the rioters involved have been identified," the minister said.

Reddy added that 62 police personnel and 127 citizens had been injured during protests against the CAA at Jamia Millia Islamia, which has been one of the epicentres of the protests against the contentious law since it was passed by Parliament in December 2019.

Meanwhile, Rai said that incidents of violence, unlawful gathering, stone pelting, and damage to public and personal property were reported during the protests against the CAA in Delhi.

He also said that the Central Government has received anti-CAA resolutions adopted by the legislative Assemblies of certain states and that the Kerala government has also filed a suit in the Supreme Court under Article 131 of the Constitution.

He added that the Delhi Police has reported that so far, 66 anti-CAA protests have been held in the National Capital, 11 cases have been registered following the violence and 99 people have been arrested.

Opposition criticises President's joint address in Motion of Thanks

The Motion of Thanks segment in response to the President's address was the longest discussed on the agenda on Tuesday, in both the Houses. Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, Owaisi, Ray, Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav were among those who spoke.

Tharoor attacked the government in the Lok Sabha saying it has "partitioned India's soul" in 2020 while also saying that the government should name its schemes "sit-down" "shutdown" and "shut-up India". Alleging a fundamental assault on democratic and secular structure of the country, he claimed that the government was dividing the country into "Hindus vs Muslims", and "Us vs Them", Tharoor said.

Shashi Tharoor, Congress in Lok Sabha: Lip service was paid to Skill India, Digital India & Startup India but no mention of Standup India as you are so busy banning stand-up comedians. Government schemes should really be named as sit-down India, shutdown India & shut-up India. pic.twitter.com/wa21ZVAc0n  ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2020

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Azad, criticised the NDA government over the promises about employment and healthcare made by the BJP and said that on the counts of the economy, unemployment, education, the government has fallen short of the promises made.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress in Rajya Sabha: If you had brought constructive matters, we would have bowed before you, but you brought destruction. What is Shaheen Bagh? It is your creation. If you will do such work, then Shaheen Bagh will come up everywhere in India. pic.twitter.com/RGHAoU0isZ  ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2020

With inputs from agencies
FELTON, California, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The scope of the global Craft Beer Market was appreciated at US$ 85.02 billion in 2015. The range is projected to touch US$ 502.9 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 19.9% for the duration of the forecast.

This is attributed to increasing consumer base in the developing economies like India; thanks to high disposable income and high millennial population. It has been reported that millennials are all the more enthusiastic with regards to trying out novel flavors and variants as compared to the other section of population. Plus, millennials' spending power is on the higher note and likely to increase by leaps and bounds.

Get Sample PDF and read more details about the "Craft Beer Market" Report 2025.

Trends and Regional Insights:

The manufacturers are looking at the millennials to have a greater market share by launching novel products and coming up with marketing campaigns for attracting this segment. North America did account for the largest share as of 2017 and is expected to continue with the winning streak in the upcoming period as well. Europe comes in second; as cold weather calls for extra-consumption of beer (craft beer, in particular). Asia Pacific is expected to surpass Europe and North America due to the reasons stated above.

Market Segmentation:

The global craft beer market is segmented based on product and geography. By product, the segmentation states amber ale, pale ale, seasonal craft beer, IPA, and other craft beer. By geography, the same market says North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, LATAM, and MEA. The "Brewers Association", a U.S.-based trade group, does define craft breweries as "exclusive, small, and traditional". In the UK, the "Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA)" run the "Assured Independent British Craft Brewer" initiative to make sure that the beers carrying the "Independent Craft Brewer" logo turn out to be relatively independent, small, and brewing quality ones.

Players:

The players contributing to the craft beer market include Boston Beer, Duvel Moortgat, D.G. Yuengling & Son, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and New Belgium Brewing Company. They are looking toward inorganic growth to sustain themselves amidst competition.

Browse 100 page research report with TOC on "Global Craft Beer Market" at: https://www.millioninsights.com/industry-reports/craft-beer-market

Market Segment:

Craft Beer Distribution Outlook (Volume, Billion Liters; Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)

On-trade



Off-trade

Craft Beer Region Outlook (Volume, Billion Liters; Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)

North America



U.S.



Europe



Germany





UK



Asia Pacific



Australia





China





India





Japan





New Zealand



Central & South America



Brazil



Middle East & Africa

&

South Africa

Browse reports of similar category available with Million Insights:

Beer Market

Energy Drinks Market

Nonalcoholic Beverage Market

Carbonated Soft Drinks Market

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Million Insights, is a distributor of market research reports, published by premium publishers only. We have a comprehensive market place, that will enable you to compare data points, before you make a purchase. Enabling informed buying, is our motto and we strive hard to ensure that our clients get to browse through multiple samples, prior to an investment. Service flexibility & the fastest response time are two pillars, on which our business model is founded. Our market research report store, includes in-depth reports, from across various industry verticals, such as healthcare, technology, chemicals, food & beverages, consumer goods, material science & automotive.

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DES MOINES, Iowa  Joe Biden, the long-standing polling leader among Democrats nationally, had a bumpy ride as he made his final pitch to voters in the two weeks leading up to Mondays Iowa caucuses. Despite the absence in the state of most of his leading challengers  senators who were stuck in Washington for the impeachment trial  the former vice president found himself in a tight race in the state amid attacks from both Republicans and the progressive wing of his own party, and facing questions about a leading supporter who accidentally made headlines.

All of the drama swirling around Biden was on display as he held his final public event before the caucuses in a packed gymnasium on Sunday evening. In his closing speech, he described the coming presidential election as a final chance to save the soul of the nation from an unprecedented threat posed by President Trump.

Youve never had a greater responsibility than today, no matter how many caucuses youve attended. We can turn four years of Donald Trump into an aberration, a historical aberration, Biden told the audience, adding, We need you. We need you. We need you.

Bidens pitch leans heavily on the idea that Trump is a uniquely dangerous leader, along with his argument that he is uniquely positioned to bring together Democrats and the rest of the country to defeat the president.

Joe Biden campaigning in Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

We need a president who can ... unite our party when this nomination is all over, unite the country, Biden said at his rally.

But so far, while polls show Biden would perform better than his primary rivals in a general election matchup against Trump, he has struggled to add to his base of roughly a quarter of Democratic Party voters. In recent weeks, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist calling for universal health care and free public education, has surged ahead of Biden in Iowa. Biden and Sanders have taken shots at each other over their vision for Social Security spending. Many more centrist Democrats have expressed dismay at the prospect of a Sanders victory and suggested the progressive senator and his allies are fracturing the party with their attacks on Biden and other moderates. As Biden mingled with voters after his speech, Yahoo News asked him if he thought Sanders was hurting the Democratic Party.

Story continues

I think hes campaigning, Biden said.

The progressive dissatisfaction with Biden was on full display at his rally on Sunday. At one point a woman interrupted the speech to shout, Stop taking fossil fuel money! That critique has sparked prior protests against Biden, who has pledged not to take contributions of more than $200 from SEC-named executives of fossil fuel companies.

Dont worry about that, Biden told the protester. Were not going to take any money from fossil fuels.

You already have, she replied. At a climate change forum in September, Biden was asked about a fundraiser hosted by an investor in a company that builds terminals for export of liquefied natural gas. Its unclear whether that constituted a technical violation of his campaign pledge.

Joshua Lott/Getty Images

Bidens crowd hushed the woman and broke into chants of We love Joe! But it wouldnt be the last interruption of the evening. A few minutes later, someone shouted, Close down Guantanamo Bay! The audience urged Biden to ignore the outburst.

Joe, keep going! a woman shouted.

I will keep going," Biden said.

But Sanders and the more left-leaning Democrats arent the only opponents Biden has to worry about heading into the caucuses. On Monday morning, a final Iowa poll was released showing another moderate, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, in first place. Both Buttigieg and Sanders had gained points in the survey, which showed Biden in third place.

And with Trumps impeachment unfolding in Washington, Biden has also taken shots from Republicans. Trump is accused of pressuring the government of Ukraine to investigate Biden in connection with his son Hunters dealings in that country. Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst alluded to the questions surrounding Bidens son in an interview with Bloomberg News on Sunday where she suggested that if Biden wins in November he could face an impeachment of his own the day after he would be elected. Biden responded in an interview with the Des Moines Register where he described Ernsts comments as proof that Republicans very much dont want to face me obviously. Trumps push to have the Bidens investigated centers on a questionable theory that the vice president pushed for firing a Ukrainian prosecutor to protect Hunters business interests.

And with Biden taking heat from both sides of the aisle, one of his top endorsers inadvertently caused an embarrassing distraction over the weekend when NBC reported that former Secretary of State John Kerry, in Iowa campaigning with Biden, was overheard on the phone in a Des Moines hotel discussing his concerns about a potential Sanders victory and musing about whether he should enter the presidential race himself. Kerry subsequently tweeted that he is absolutely not running for President and has been proud to campaign with my good friend Joe Biden.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Kerry was at a middle school gym with Biden on Sunday, but he did not speak. Biden pointed out Kerry in the crowd and praised him as a guy whos been a friend of mine a long, long time. Afterward, as Biden mingled with the crowd, he ignored several questions about whether he was frustrated by the phone call or worried Kerry might run. A Biden staffer chastised a Yahoo News reporter who asked about the Kerry report.

Thats your question? the staffer asked in apparent frustration.

Biden ignored the question.

Despite the attacks on him and unexpected drama in his own camp, Biden is projecting confidence. As he took selfies and exchanged greetings with the excited crowd, Yahoo News asked him if he expected to win Iowa.

Thats up to the Iowans, Biden said. I feel good.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
The paramount chief of Kpembe, Kpembewura Babanye Haruna Bismark, has praised president Nana Akufo-Addo for bringing to an end the water crisis in the East Gonja district of the Savannah region.



 Through your efforts , the people of Salaga are seeing water and I want to use this opportunity to thank you President Akufo-Addo, he said.



According to him, the age old water crisis in salaga affected economic conditions of the people severely.



He indicated that the water expansion project is a sign of good things for the people of the East Gonja municipality.



The Kpembewura made this known when the president paid a courtesy call on him at the Kpembe palace on Monday, February 3, 2020.



President Akufo-Addo, addressing residents in Salaga in 2017 assured that the Salaga Water Plant will be incorporated into urban water supply system.



He gave the assurance that his government would address the numerous problems in Salaga to improve living standards in the area.



The Salaga Water Expansion project has a tank capacity of 85,000 gallons which will serve Salaga and its environs.



The GWCL is also constructing a booster station which will carry water from Kalande where two tanks have been placed to pump water to Kpembe where the new tank of 85,000 capacity has been constructed to serve the Salaga community.



The Ghana Water Company is putting up raw water pipeline (200m diameter HDPE) which covers 500meters stretch, replacing and upgrading the treated water pipelines which is 18km stretch.



The GWCL is also replacing the old pipelines with PVC (150mm diameter) which is 4km stretch with 668 pipes as distribution pipelines.



Residents of the East Gonja municipality who spoke to DGN Online, expressed their joy at the expansion of the salaga water project.



We are happy that finally our water crisis has come to an end and it will help us expand and enhance our businesses in the municipality,  a beneficiary said.

Source: Daily Guide









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
In the summer of 2016, Aymann Ismail, an Egyptian-American journalist, accompanied a team of reporters and editors from Slate to shoot videos and take photos at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. He was on line to get his press credentials when a man in a Thomas Jefferson costume approached him and asked, Are you Muslim? When Ismail replied in the affirmative, the man launched into a rant against Islam. He called the Prophet Muhammad a pedophile and Islam an evil religion, bent on teaching that women are unequal to men. It wasnt the first time Ismail had been confronted by an Islamophobe, so he decided to respond with humor. I did not want to be a victim of bigotry in front of all these people, he told me recently. Ismail poked fun at the mans Jefferson costume, and moved on.

One of Ismails colleagues filmed the exchange and sent it around the Slate office, where people praised Ismails handling of the confrontation. That was nice, but the incident still stung. As much as Id like to be the tough guy and be like, No! It doesnt matter, it is just wordsit hurts! Ismail, who is thirty, said. A politics editor suggested that, for the next few days at the convention, Ismail walk up to attendees and introduce himself as a Muslim, then record their reactions. Ismail wasnt thrilled by the idea of engaging with bigots; if a man is holding a sign that says Ban Muslims, one might not reasonably expect the guys mind to change. But Ismail saw potential for the exercise to help those watching the footage, by providing ammunition to deal with xenophobia. He left the convention with a piece that drew attention to Americas growing anti-Muslim sentiment. From that day on, Ismail was no longer just a journalist, but also the subject of his reporting.

The filmed encounters were the start of Who Is Afraid of Aymann Ismail?, an award-winning video series. I have come to believe that many who speak out against Muslims are motivated by fear, he wrote, introducing the project. So I am going to confront those fears, one by one. In the first episode, Ismail is seen interviewing a gay cousin of hissomeone who had to leave home because his mother, unwilling to accept her sons sexual orientation, threw gasoline on his face, intending to burn him. The idea was never to solve the problem about Muslims in America, Ismail said. It was all about trying to complicate the narrative.

In addition to homophobia, Ismail delved into hijabs, the #MeToo movement, blasphemy, extremism, and other contentious subjects in Muslim circles. He also routinely invited right-wing commentators who have stoked fear about Muslims. He hadnt planned on appearing on camera: I was really afraid of being dragged all over the internet and having my picture posted everywhere as some kind of terrorist suspect, he said. But after he began shooting, he became convinced that his presence was necessary for the project to work. It did, however, make him a target of right-wing vitriol. I showed up on a couple of sites with circles around my face, he told me. He has received death threats. Some people send me images of their guns and be like, I have got a bullet with your name on it. 

The video series was a hit, Ismail said, but it was expensive to produce. After two seasons, he wrapped it up. Last year he pivoted to podcasting, with a project focused on masculinity. Man Up made its debut in May 2019 with an episode discussing the urge to fightto be aggressive and dominantno matter the cost. In conversations about parenting and male contraceptives, Ismail has thoughtful, sometimes embarrassing, moments on the show. His own identityMuslim, American, male, straightremains at the center. In a recent episode, a man who has trouble making fashion decisions tells Ismail, I have a lot of male friends, but I dont have any male friends that Id be comfortable sending a picture of myself to and saying, Hey, how does this shirt look on me? Do you think I should get it? I wish men were more comfortable having those kinds of relationships.

The other day, at the Slate office in Downtown Brooklyn, Ismail, dressed in a caramel-colored hoodie stamped with the words newark is for hustlers, sat behind a desk in a recording studio, preparing to tape the weeks episode. The place seemed empty when hed showed up. I am not a morning person, he said. He went to brew some coffee. Then he waited patiently while a sound engineer tried to connect with guests via Skype. Throughout the process, which took nearly thirty minutes of troubleshooting, Ismail sat in a relaxed state, with a serene look on his face. It was the same gentle demeanor that he brings to his interviews, hoping to extract insight and vulnerability from his subjects. My favorite kind of journalism isnt the type of journalism where there is a person whos a scholar and they are going to list all of the things that they have learned, Ismail said. What Im really looking for when Im doing an interview is to have that aha moment where someone could say, Oh my God, I totally feel differently about this. 

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Finally, the interviewees were on the line, starting with Claire, a female officer in the Air Force who spoke about how to bond with men when you dont drink alcohol. I am really excited about this topic, mostly because I dont really drink, Ismail said. This is something that I have really struggled with. Islam prohibits drinking alcohol; he had skipped Slates recent holiday party to avoid feeling awkward. I wasnt excited about hanging around and cheersing people with my cup of water, he said.

Claire wasnt Muslim; shed decided to give up booze to be healthier. I was looking more forward to the alcohol at events and the drinkingand drinking with people specificallythan I was the event itself, she said. Its really hard to try to stand on your own two feet without that sort of excuse to lower your inhibitions.

Ismail replied that when hes at a bar, he almost always ends up ordering a mocktailand he still feels guilty. His aim, always, is to be fully present. Drinking almost feels like a cop-out, he told Claire. You can be silly, be goofy, be a different version of yourselfand allow yourself to be vulnerable around other people. In his view, real connectedness and empathy neednt involveand isnt the sole province ofalcohol. To Ismail, it belongs in the sacred domain of journalism.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Zainab Sultan is a former CJR Delacorte Fellow. Follow her on Twitter @ZainabSultan.
In the spirit of camaraderie shared between firefighters, the Red Knights Motorcycle Club Rosenberg chapter invites the community to enjoy barbecue pulled pork sandwiches while helping a retired firefighter in his time of need.

Luther Bierwirth retired from firefighting after 20 years with Montgomery Fire Department and nine years with Cy-Fair Fire Department.

FIVE MINUTES OF FAME: Former Cy-Fair firefighter appears on Animal Planets Lone Star Law

The RKMC, a motorcycle club comprised of firefighters and EMS professionals, is holding a benefit this Saturday for Bierwirth who had several strokes in 2019.

Bierwirth lost vision in his left eye as a result of the strokes rendering him unable to pass a Department of Transportation physical for his job as an owner-operator, according to the Facebook event page.

Jahbari Raggette, president of the RKMC Rosenberg chapter, said he wanted to use the motorcycle group to help Bierwirth and his family with medical bills after a long history together. Raggette said he is in constant contact with Bierwirth and even thinks of his wife, Melissa, like a mother.

Me being a young guy coming into the service, he was actually there for me and taught me a lot of different things, Raggette said. He was kind of like one of my mentors. Ive known him forever.

Shelby Chancey, treasurer for RKMC Rosenberg chapter, said the events main goal is to help Melissa Bierwirth with bills as Luther Bierwirth is unable to work. Chancey said Bierwirth is also a close friend of hers.

We want to help them with everyday bills, she said. Only one person in the house is working so its kind of hard to support a family on one income.

FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Spring Fire Department does calendar photoshoot to help overcrowded shelter

Raggette said he tried to keep the event a secret from Bierwirth, but was found out.

Hes wanting to help but were trying to keep him from helping us, he said. Hes one of those guys, hes too proud. He doesnt want to sit to the side and let everything go by, being a fireman. Hes like, Nah, let me help.

Mancuso Harley-Davidson Crossroads, located at 12710 Crossroads Park Drive, Houston, is a friend of the club, Raggette said, and wanted to help by hosting the event. Raggette said he purchased his motorcycle from this location.

TOP HITS: Get Houston Chronicle stories sent directly to your inbox

The benefit, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, will have a bake sale, a silent auction, a live auction, raffle prizes and barbecue plates. Raggette said the event still needs meat donated for cooking.

Donations of any kind for Bierwirth will be accepted the day of the event.

Raggette said he is happy to be able to do the event for a member of his family.

In the fire service we call each other brothers because were a family, he said. Weve always been close and been a family.

chevall.pryce@chron.com
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New Delhi, Feb 4 : Lawyers for Nirbhaya's parents on Tuesday made a urgent mentioning before Justice Suresh Kumar Kait of the Delhi High Court seeking early disposal of the Centre's plea for vacating the stay on the death warrants against the four convicts in the gang-rape and murder case.

"Justice Kait responded that he held a hearing on Saturday and Sunday which shows that the court understands the urgency of the matter and also assured that he will pass the order at the earliest," said Jitendra Jha, counsel for the parents.

The Delhi High Court had on Sunday reserved its order on a plea filed by the Central government challenging the trial court order, which had stayed for an indefinite period, the execution warrants issued against the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case - Akshay, Pawan, Mukesh and Vinay.

Additional Sessions Judge Darmendra Rana, in his order, had said: "Without commenting upon the dilatory tactics adopted by the convicts, suffice it would be state that seeking redressal of one's grievances through procedure established by law was the hallmark of any civilized society. The Courts of this country cannot afford to adversely discriminate any convict, including death row convicts in pursuit of xhis legal remedies, by turning a Nelson's eye towards him." A 23-year-old woman was gangraped and tortured on December 16, 2012, which led to her death. All the six accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused was a minor and appeared before a juvenile justice court, while another accused committed suicide in Tihar Jail.

Four of the convicts were sentenced to death by a trial court in September 2013, and the verdict confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014 and upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2017, which also dismissed their review petition in July 2018.
China has suspended the issuance of visa to Nigerians pending when the Coronavirus ravaging the country is contained. The Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian, said on Monday that the embassy had stopped the issuance of visas to Nigerians. He said the move is to protect other nationals visiting China .



He said:



Life comes first. The Chinese Government is committed to safeguarding the lives and health of the Chinese people. We will, in a responsible manner, safeguard the life of every foreign national in China and address their legitimate concerns in a timely manner.



We will continue to strengthen communication and coordination with the international community and work hand in hand for the epidemic prevention and control.



He added that a total of 60 Nigerians are living in Wuhan, where the virus started. He also said that no Nigerian in China had been infected.









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Traders plying the Kintampo-Kunsu road in the Kintampo North Municipality have complained about the increased rate of robbery attacks.

According to the traders, the poor nature of that stretch of the Ntankro-Kunsu road has created a safe haven for the highway robbers to prey on innocent traders.

They have, therefore, appealed to the Kintampo North Municipal Security Council to provide them with police escort, especially on market days (Wednesdays and Fridays) to avert the situation.

The newly elected assembly woman of Kunsu Electoral Area, Madam Rose Gyamera, who disclosed this to the Ghanaian Times in an interview yesterday said, the situation was affecting the local economy as buyers were reluctant to go to the area to buy farm produce from the farmers.

She said the 14-kilometre road was full of pot-holes adding, if upgraded would go a long way to facilitate the transportation of the farm produce to market centres across the Bono- East Region and beyond, as well as help improve the lives of the people.

Touching on other issues, the assembly woman said the activities of herdsmen who are mostly Fulani were affecting the farming, adding that the

herdsmen who are always heavily armed, often allowed their cattle to graze on their food crops.

The situation, she said, frequently degenerate into conflicts between the community members and the herdsmen with resultant clashes and fatalities.

The Ghanaian Times observed during the visit that the Kunsu township, with 13 communities, and was one of the transit points during the slave trade era, lacked basic social amenities, such as clean water, educational infrastructure, among others.

---Ghanaian Times
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The coronavirus outbreak has cast its shadow on India's flagship motor show Auto Expo that is beginning on Wednesday, with officials of participating Chinese firms staying away from their exhibit areas in both automobile and components showcase events.

Automobile industry body SIAM on Tuesday said all Chinese companies participating at the expo have confirmed that their exhibit area would be manned by their Indian employees.

Similarly, auto component makers body ACMA said Chinese participants at the components show of Auto Expo are unable to travel to attend due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the country, even as around 30 companies from there have confirmed that their stand would be managed by their Indian counterparts in their absence.

According to industry sources, around 200 Chinese firms have applied to take part in the components show but due to the coronavirus outbreak only 30 have confirmed their participation as on Tuesday.

The biennial automobile show kicks off on Wednesday with media presentations and will be officially inaugurated on Thursday. The expo will be open to public from February 7-12 at India Expo Mart in Greater Noida.

On the other hand, the Auto Expo 2020 - Components Show is being held at Pragati Maidan here in the Capital from February 6 to 9.

In a statement, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) President Rajan Wadhera said, "All Chinese companies participating at the Auto Expo the Motor Show 2020 have confirmed that their exhibit area would be manned by their Indian employees/representatives."



None of these stalls would be manned by anybody who has come to India recently from China, he added.

Wadhera further said, "As all arrivals from China have now been stopped, there will be no visitors/delegations from China at the Motor Show 2020."



Similarly, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) President Deepak Jain said in a statement all Chinese companies scheduled to participate have informed the organisers that travellers from China scheduled to attend the components show, are unable to travel to India due to the prevailing conditions in China.

"However, around 30 companies from the Chinese Group have confirmed that their stand at Auto Expo 2020 Components Show at Pragati Maidan, would be managed by their Indian Counterparts in their absence," he added.

Jain further said, "As travel of Chinese Nationals to India has now been stopped, we therefore do not expect visitors and delegates from China at the Auto Expo 2020 Components Show."



Chinese firms led by the likes of Great Wall Motor, First Automotive Works (FAW) and electric bus and battery maker BYD have booked around 20 per cent of the total space of around 40,000 square metres at automobile show of the Auto Expo at Greater Noida.

On the other hand, Chinese component makers had book for around 10 per cent of the 56,000 square metre space at the components show at Pragati Maidan.

The two industry bodies assured that despite no coronavirus threat directly at Auto Expo 2020, the organisers are taking adequate measures to make people aware of symptoms and take prevention and containment actions.

India on Sunday announced temporary suspension of e-visa facility for Chinese travellers and foreigners residing in the neighbouring country and issued a fresh advisory saying anyone with travel history to China since January 15 can be quarantined.

India reported a third novel coronavirus case on Monday with another Keralite student from Wuhan University in China testing positive for the infection. Kerala government has declared coronavirus outbreak as a 'state calamity'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Irans envoy to Iraq says Tehran welcomes efforts to resolve issues with regional rivals, Iraqi news agency reports.

A top Iranian diplomat has said his country is open to resolving differences with its Gulf rivals, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as quickly as possible.

Tehrans ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, said in remarks published on Tuesday that his government welcomes efforts to resolve issues either from inside Iraq or any other country in the region.

Masjedi said top Iranian commander, Qassem Soleimani, killed at Baghdad airport in a US air raid last month, was carrying a message setting out Irans position on possible rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, the Iraqi state news agency reported.

Tehran welcomes Iraqs role in trying to solve differences between Iran and Saudi, Masjedi was quoted as saying, referring to recent efforts by Iraq to mediate between the regional rivals.

He said Iran wished to resolve differences and challenges with its rivals as soon as possible. The official made his remarks during an interview with the agency, which published its excerpts in Arabic.

Shia Muslim Iran has long been at odds with Sunni Arab states in the Gulf, which are also allies of the United States.

Washington blamed a series of attacks against oil interests in the Gulf last year on Iran, and the killing of Soleimani brought the region to the brink of war.

Soleimanis message that he was meant to deliver when he arrived in Baghdad on January 3, the day he was killed, set out Tehrans position on fighting terrorism and achieving peace and security in the region, Masjedi said.

Last month, a senior Saudi official said he was not aware of any message carried by Soleimani for mediation efforts between Riyadh and Tehran.

Dismantle US bases

The killing of Soleimani struck a blow to Irans regional strategy. Soleimani was the mastermind behind Irans control, through proxy militia forces and political alliances, over a corridor of territory stretching from Tehran through Iraq to the Mediterranean via Syria and Lebanon.

Washington says it is determined to counter Irans influence in the region and has imposed economic sanctions on the Islamic republics oil sector and targeted its paramilitary forces.

After Soleimanis killing alongside top Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Iran launched at least 15 missiles at two bases hosting US forces in Iraq, causing traumatic brain injury to 50 US service members but no deaths.

Masjedi said the attack on the sprawling Ain al-Assad base was in response to Washington using bases in the region  and choosing Iraqi territory to kill Soleimani  a suggestion that the drone attack was launched from Ain al-Assad.

He said Iran would respond harshly to any future US attack.

If we wanted to put a limit on such events unfolding again, the US must stop intervening in the regions issues, and must dismantle its bases that are used to carry out such terrorist behaviours, Masjedi said.

Separately, he also welcomed the naming last week of Iraqs Prime Minister Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, who is accepted by Iran-backed Iraqi political groups, but rejected by protesters who have staged months of anti-establishment demonstrations.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Anytime Fitness, the world's fastest-growing fitness franchise, recently announced plans to introduce over 30 new gyms in targeted areas throughout Ohio. The community-focused brand will ramp up growth through strategic franchise partnerships and aims to open the new locations within the next two years.

Currently, there are nearly 80 thriving Anytime Fitness locations open throughout the state. Kickstarting this Ohio development push is a Wintersville, OH Anytime Fitness that opened in December 2019. With an open real estate market and multiple successful existing franchisees, Ohio is an obvious and attractive area for continued growth. Specifically, the world's leading fitness brand is looking for motivated franchise partners to develop new locations throughout Columbus and Akron  all through single or multi-unit agreements.

Finding success in Ohio are multi-unit operators Larry Appell and David Sabo who joined the franchise system in 2013 and now own 20 Anytime Fitness gyms across the state. "We believe in the customer-oriented approach to the fitness industry that Anytime Fitness believes in. Many other boutique facilities under-service their customers through limited engagement, limited services, etc. whereas we believe there is an obligation to our members to help guide them to achieve their health and wellness goals," said Sabo. "We're in the people business, building connections in the communities we operate, and we're seeing tremendous success with the support of the franchise team  the sky's the limit for further growth as we plan to open an additional eight locations throughout Pennsylvania."

The franchise development team at the corporate headquarters of Anytime Fitness (in Woodbury, MN) are looking for other qualified franchisees who share Sabo's desire to help others.

"With proof of concept in the region and a neighborhood-focused culture that resonates perfectly with the supportive atmosphere of our gyms, we're posed for explosive growth throughout the state," said Tom Gilles, Director of Sales and Real Estate for Self Esteem Brands, "Growing our presence in Ohio is an opportunity for us to strengthen our Midwest roots and welcome new franchisees looking to create a supportive gym community that helps members achieve their health and wellness goals."

When members join one Anytime Fitness gym, they gain access to all 4,800 Anytime Fitness gyms worldwide, at no extra cost. Gyms are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and are equipped with state-of-the-art strength training and cardio equipment, personal training sessions, and small group programs. Through support and guidance from trainers and staff, and encouragement from a community of members, Anytime Fitness aims to motivate individuals, no matter where they live or their physical fitness level.

"We're not looking to simply grow a franchise brand  we're looking to grow and help individuals reach their specific goals and achieve a healthy, happy lifestyle," said Chuck Runyon, co-founder and CEO Anytime Fitness. "We're searching for local entrepreneurs who share our passion for building relationships and helping others so that we can achieve that vision in communities across the state."

For more information on the Anytime Fitness franchise opportunity, visit www.anytimefitness.com/franchise or call (800) 704-5004.

Interested franchisees who purchase Ohio territories prior to the end of the year will receive a 25 percent discount on the franchise fee, a $10,000 savings on a single territory purchase.

About Anytime Fitness

For 12 consecutive years, Anytime Fitness has been the fastest-growing gym franchise in the world, averaging 300 new gyms per year while serving 4,000,000 members at 4,800 gyms on all seven continents. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Anytime Fitness prides itself on providing its members with convenient fitness options and friendly, personal service in well-maintained facilities which feature top-quality exercise equipment. Anytime Fitness gyms are now open in nearly 40 countries. All franchised gyms are individually owned and operated. Join one gym and use them all. For more information about Anytime Fitness and its franchise opportunities, please visit www.anytimefitness.com.

SOURCE Anytime Fitness

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Couldnt get a ticket to see Hamilton in person? You havent missed your shot.

The Pulitizer Prize-winning musical is coming to theaters on Oct. 15, 2021, according to show creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. A film version of the show, which follows founding father Alexander Hamilton in the days leading up to, during and after the Revolutionary War, will be brought to movie theaters across the nation by Disney. Itll feature the original Broadway cast too.

That means well all be able to see Pennsylvanians Leslie Odom Jr. and Jonathan Groff perform their roles as Aaron Burr and King George III respectively. Odom won a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Hamiltons rival, while Groff was nominated for a Tony for his part as the British monarch.

While Odom was born in New York, he spent much of his childhood and teen years in Philadelphia where he attended the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. He later graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Groff grew up in Ronks in Lancaster County.

Fans of the show can expect the film version to be properly theatrical, with it being filmed onstage at the Richard Rogers Theatre, which has been the musicals home since July 13, 2015.

Still really want to see Hamilton live? The musical is set to return to Pittsburgh during the Pittsburgh Cultural Trusts 2020-2021 season. Dates and ticket information have yet to be released for the performances, but you can learn more and stay in the loop by visiting trustarts.org.

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday, saying they were not interested in jobs for youngsters, but were keen on making one Indian fight another for staying in power.

Training his guns at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), he said both had an aim to spread hatred in the society, something the Congress could never do.

Addressing his first rally in the run-up to the February 8 Delhi Assembly polls, the former Congress chief hit out at the BJP for not addressing the economic slowdown and the issue of unemployment, but instead, encouraging violence.

"They (BJP) talk about the Hindu dharm, they talk about Islam, they talk of Sikhism. They have no knowledge of religions. In Hiduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism-- where is it written that attack other people, suppress them?," he asked the crowd.

What kind of "Hindu dharm" is this of Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as Hinduism talked about taking everyone along, Gandhi said at the rally organised in favour of the Congress candidate from Jangpura, Tarwinder Singh Marwah.

"Show one BJP leader who raised the 'Hindustan Zindabad' slogan in Pakistan. Congress's Jangpura candidate did that and went to jail in Pakistan for it," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Her pal Jameela Jamil recently slammed her own behaviour during her T4 presenting days from 2009 until 2012.

But Alexa Chung says she has 'no regrets' about their days presenting teen TV, revealing all about her telly experiences in a candid new Grazia interview with her Next in Fashion co-host Tan France.

Promoting her and Tan's new Netflix show, Alexa looks back on her first foray into presenting, insisting her infamous noughties Popworld interviews still hold up as 'funny' today.

Back on screens: Alexa Chung says she has 'no regrets' about her T4 days, revealing all about her telly experiences in a new Grazia interview with her Next in Fashion co-host Tan France

Alexa presented Popworld from 2006, and landed a gig as a T4 host in 2008 before leaving Channel 4 in 2009 to pursue a career in the US.

Jameela, who took over from Alexa on Channel 4's teen show from 2009 until 2012, has different views of her time on T4, recently claiming that she acted like a 'smug, snide, privileged hipster w***er' when she responded to a fan who declared she 'wasn't the nicest' during her time on the show.

Alexa is firm though, insisting: 'I don't regret it! Jameela lives in America now, so it's different and she's obviously found her voice  I mean, she's amazing.'

'I haven't actually watched it lately, so it's hard to know how it would sound now, but any of the ones I have watched from Popworld, where we're ribbing American pop artists, I have no regrets about.

Back in the day: Promoting her and Tan's new Netflix show, Alexa looks back on her first foray into presenting, insisting her infamous noughties Popworld interviews still hold up as 'funny' today (pictured on Pop World with co-host Alex Zane)

Slammed: Jameela Jamil has slammed her own behaviour during her days of presenting Channel 4 youth show T4. Pictured with co-stars (L-R) Nick Grimshaw and Rick Edwards in 2011

Tough words: The presenter-turned-actress said that she acted like a 'smug, snide, privileged hipster w***er' on T4, when she responded to a fan in December

The British model's comments were in response to The Good Place star Jameela's recent Twitter revelation about her own behaviour as a youth TV presenter.

Taking to Twitter late last year, Jameela wrote: 'I was a little d**k when I was on T4. That was our thing smug, snide, privileged hipster w***ers.'

Alexa said though of her experience: 'Those are really funny interviews. Interviewing Paul McCartney, asking if the smell of wee was emanating from the concert hall, is a funny question. I can't speak for her experience.'

Grazia interviewed TV's hottest new power couple Alexa and Tan about their buzzed about reality show Next in Fashion, where designers compete for prominence.

Alexa, 36, and Tan, 36, met by chance at a party where Alexa squealed in excitement at meeting the Queer Eye presenter before hiding her blushes behind a nearby DJ stand.

Duo: Grazia interviewed TV's hottest new power couple Alexa and Tan about their buzzed about reality show Next in Fashion, where designers compete for prominence

The model said: 'I screamed! I hid behind the DJ booth and went, 'Oh my god, how embarrassing  I just screamed at Tan France.'

Little did Alexa know that British designer Tan had been harbouring a secret crush on her for over a decade and knew she would be at the London bash.

'I had called my husband saying, 'I really want to meet this girl Alexa Chung.' He'd been a fan since back in her Popworld days. 'I was obsessed! I had the biggest crush on this idiot.'

Tan, who is married to illustrator Rob France has lived in the US for the last 14 years and said he would not return to his native UK due to overwhelming racism.

Huge fan: Alexa, 36, and Tan, 36, met by chance at a party where Alexa squealed in excitement at meeting the Queer Eye presenter

Read the full interview in Grazia - out now

Now its a solid no. I suffered so much racism here and its just not something I want to put myself through.'

Tan continued: 'I love this country, I love what it potentially represents, but I just think that until they solve this problem or move forward with it, where you just are not attacked every day, Im not willing to be here.

The Dressing Funny presenter, who is also the only openly gay Muslim man on western television told Grazia that he has found the US less prejudiced.

Ive never been called anything racist in the US. Its not once happened.

TV's newest power couple show off great chemistry while presenting the hit Netflix series and explain that the show is curated with a cast of immensely talented designers hoping to make it big.

The competitors are partnered with the likes of Stella McCartney, Louis Vuitton and Alexander Wang and tested with industry challenges and tasks, with a $250,000 prize at stake.

'And then Tan and I kind of d**k around in the background.' Alexa laughed.

Next In Fashion is available on Netflix now.
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One of former National Security Adviser John Bolton's ex-aides is accusing him of caring more about book sales than his country.

Mark Groombridge worked for Bolton during his tenure as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under former President George W. Bush. On Monday, Groombridge tweeted that he has been deeply disappointed in Bolton's actions throughout President Trump's impeachment, writing, "You've let down your country. I worked loyally for you for 15 years. Yes, the Senate was never going to convict, but you had the opportunity to provide them with the info so they could make a fully informed decision. Guess it was about book sales after all."

The New York Times reported last month that in his forthcoming book, Bolton contradicts Trump's claims that there was no quid pro quo with Ukraine. Bolton did not testify during the House impeachment inquiry, following White House instructions not to cooperate with investigators. Democrats wanted Bolton to testify during Trump's Senate impeachment trial, but Republicans had enough votes to block their efforts. Of course, they would not have been able to stop Bolton from telling his full story to the press.

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Its RRSP season, and Canadians are figuring out how to invest their savings by the March 2 deadline.

For most, the default setting is to walk into their bank, buy mutual funds, and walk out as quickly as possible. The problem is that people rarely have any idea how much theyre paying in fees and they have no clue what companies are inside those funds.

Thats why the new trend is to purchase exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that have much lower fees and are much more transparent than mutual funds, making it easier for Canadians to invest with their values.

ETFs have surged in popularity over the last decade. What started as a niche offering for do-it-yourself investors has now become the most popular investment vehicle in Canada. ETFs represent about 11 per cent of the almost $2 trillion that Canadians have invested, but Canadian ETFs attracted a record $30 billion in 2019, outpacing the sale of mutual funds, according to the Canadian ETF Association.

While there were only a few sustainable ETFs a decade ago, the industry is evolving, and more sustainable ETFs are coming out every year.

Following RBCs launch of six sustainability-themed iShares ETFs in 2019, BMO joined in this January, by releasing a new lineup of eight sustainable ETFs called ESG ETFs into the Canadian marketplace.

The two most popular strategies for responsible investors are sector exclusion (often called divestment) and the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) data.

Historically, responsible investing was heavily influenced by the Mennonite community in Canada, which meant that the most typical ethical fund exclusions were sin sectors like tobacco, alcohol, gambling and weapons.

In recent years, environmentalists started calling for investors to divest from fossil fuels; there is lots of momentum behind this movement. ESG integration is a little more nuanced, with companies being graded on their promises, policies and performance regarding ESG issues.

One critique of ESG integration is that it doesnt consider the product or service the company is selling, which is why it should really be used alongside sector exclusion.

Nonetheless, BMOs new ESG ETFs are impressive. The funds exclude tobacco, alcohol, gambling, conventional weapons and civilian firearms, any controversial weapons, as well as companies involved in severe controversies.

Additionally, by following the MSCI ESG Leaders Index methodology, they are employing one of the strongest ESG integration definitions Ive seen among Canadian ETFs. Companies are ranked by ESG rating and the funds include roughly the top half of companies within each sector.

This methodology means that sector breakdowns will be the same as traditional ETFs but with only about half of the number of companies  those with the highest ESG scores.

Investors who want to divest from fossil fuels will be disappointed in the Canadian equity offering since oil, gas and pipelines are still included. For example, Suncor and Enbridge make up a combined 15 per cent of the BMO MSCI Canada ESG Leaders Index ETF (ESGA). Suncor and Enbridge both have decent ESG ratings, which is why they are still included in the fund.

Otherwise, their all-in-one ETFs make life easier for sustainable investors. For example, the BMO MSCI Global ESG Leaders Index ETF (ESG) is a combination of their Canadian, U.S. and Europe/Australia/Japan funds, while the BMO Balanced ESG ETF (ZESG) takes this global diversification and adds in Canadian bonds to create a balanced portfolio. This all-in-one approach is popular among traditional investors, so Im thrilled to have it as an option for sustainable investors.

On the fee front, Canadians pay some of the highest investment fees in the world. The average mutual fund Management Expense Ratio (MER) is about 2.25 per cent. ETFs, by comparison, have an average MER of about 0.3 per cent and the BMO ESG ETFs have MERs that even lower, at 0.170.22 per cent, continuing the downward trend of management fees.

All in all, BMOs new lineup of ESG ETFs are a welcome addition to the market. They push the Canadian ESG ETF industry in the right direction by offering more stringent ESG integration, ease of use with all-in-one ETFs, and low MERs.

BMO has certainly made a splash in the industry with these first offerings, and Im hopeful that they will keep releasing products to capitalize on the growing demand for sustainable investments.
In 1998, the United States government led the creation of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a nonprofit that oversees domain names. ICANN describes itself as a global bottom-up community that does not regulate prices or police online content.

A relatively small number of well-known domain names, including .com and .org, go back to the 1980s. When ICANN was created, it began overseeing these legacy names and country and territory domains like .ca for Canada, .de for Germany and, of course, .ai for Anguilla.

As the internet grew, ICANN created more digital real estate, broadening the domain-name market. Roughly 1,200 new top-level domain names  the letters that appear to the right of the dot  approved by ICANN have begun operating in recent years.

There is no way to track precisely how domain names are used, but experts estimate that as few as half are the addresses for websites or email. Big companies buy up thousands of addresses to cover variations of their corporate or brand names, to prevent illicit operators from using them. And speculators own the rights to many millions of other names, hoping to resell them for big payouts.

The resale prices range from a few dollars to millions. Last year, voice.com sold for $30 million to Block.one, a start-up building a social media network called Voice.

Serkan Piantino, a former director of A.I. research at Facebook, considered buying a .com address when he founded his start-up, Spell, in 2017. But he opted for spell.run instead.

Spells software tools help developers create products with machine learning technology. And spell run is the command users type to move their code into Spells cloud software.
Ukrainian Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Dmytro Dubilet has said electronic elections in Ukraine can become a reality when some major international company presents an industrial solution.

"To be honest, I'm not leading this direction, but I will give a subjective opinion. It seems to me that this thing can become a reality when some large well-known company, like Microsoft, presents an industrial solution. When the company says, 'Look, here our solution is for governments around the world, and I guarantee that this system cannot be hacked.' Then society will have enough confidence to decide to implement such systems," Dubilet said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

Dubilet said any decision that the government wants to create domestically can fuel negativity and distrust on the part of society.

In addition, the minister noted that the launch of electronic elections does not imply a denial of the opportunity to vote in a traditional way.

"In general, this is a very important thing. There is a well-known problem all over the world that a younger society is less active in elections, despite the fact that elections are what most affect young people. Therefore, electronic elections are a way to get young people back to the polls," he said.
At the start of our family summer holiday last year, my sister Louise passed me the phone to speak to my dad. Unable to hear anything, I handed it back, presuming he had rung off.

'Kate, he's still on the phone,' Louise said, pulling a quizzical face while handing the phone back to me.

'I can't hear anything,' I wailed.

That was the moment I realised I couldn't hear in my right ear.

There had been no warning this was coming. When I woke up that morning, I felt a bit dizzy and noticed a ringing in my right ear, but I put it down to the end of a summer cold, or the earplugs I wear at night, ironically to block noise, that sometimes get pushed in too tightly.

Kate Mulvey had sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL), which is when there is a rapid hearing loss - often, as in her case, overnight - usually in one ear

I asked my sister to ring my own mobile and, sure enough, with my bad ear I couldn't hear a thing, I changed ears and I heard perfectly.

My initial reaction was blind panic and I scrabbled to find the address of a doctor near where we were staying in Spain.

That panic eased when, during my appointment the following day, the doctor diagnosed a middle-ear infection and prescribed a two-week course of antibiotic ear drops.

Now I know that the clock was ticking, and the precious window in which my hearing could be saved was closing.

I didn't have an infection at all. I had sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL), which is when there is a rapid hearing loss  often, as in my case, overnight  usually in one ear.

Typically, there is no warning: only in some cases will the hearing loss be preceded by tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and dizziness.

Typically, there is no warning: only in some cases will the hearing loss be preceded by tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and dizziness. Kate Mulvey is pictured

SSHL affects tens of thousands of people every year, and is, in fact, a medical emergency that needs treatment within days if not hours, yet experts still don't really know what causes it.

Theories about its cause range from a viral infection  such as labyrinthitis  of the inner ear, to diseases such as measles, meningitis or 'even the immune system randomly attacking the membranes of the ear,' says John Phillips, a consultant nose and throat (ENT) specialist at Norwich University Hospitals NHS Trust.

'What we do know is that, if it is caught early enough, it can be treated with steroids, either orally or injected into the ear.'

He adds: 'Steroids work by reducing inflammation and calming the immune system. Working backwards, the fact that they seem to work suggests that the cause of this type of hearing loss is in some part inflammatory.'

Yet, for the steroids to reverse the hearing loss, they need to be given within 72 hours, ideally.

'We don't know why that is,' says Mr Phillips. 'But it would seem that, the longer the wait, the less likely the hearing can be saved.

Theories about its cause range from a viral infection  such as labyrinthitis  of the inner ear, to diseases such as measles, meningitis or 'even the immune system randomly attacking the membranes of the ear,' says John Phillips, a consultant nose and throat (ENT) specialist at Norwich University Hospitals NHS Trust

'The trouble is, there are no outward signs, such as inflammation, so misdiagnosis is common, and the patient can end up losing their hearing permanently.

'That's why, if anyone finds themselves suddenly deaf in one ear, and especially if there is dizziness as well, you need to go immediately to A&E.'

On my holiday in Spain, I was unaware of all this.

For two weeks after my visit to the doctor I would lie on one side, squeezing drops into my bad ear, waiting for the 'infection' to clear.

My hearing loss turned into something of a joke  my two teenage nephews would see how loud they needed to shout to get me to turn round.

I joked along, presuming this would soon be over, but I found it difficult to join in group conversations. If someone spoke to me and I wasn't facing them, often I couldn't hear them. And I had a constant ringing in my bad ear.

For steroids to reverse the hearing loss, they need to be given within 72 hours, ideally (file image)

Back home in London, as my hearing hadn't returned after a couple of weeks, and my tinnitus had become increasingly worse, I went to see my GP.

He looked in both ears and said there was no sign of infection, and made an emergency appointment for me to see a specialist at Charing Cross Hospital.

By the time I walked into their ENT department, I had been deaf in one ear for over a month.

All I could hear to the right side of me was the constant screech and hum of tinnitus. Now I know that this occurs as the brain has to create sounds to fill in the vacant space that has been left by the hearing loss.

First, I had a hearing test: pressing a buzzer each time I heard any noise. The object was to see which frequency I was unable to hear to ascertain the level of hearing loss. I thought I had done quite well, but back in the consultant's room, she had a different view.

'The test shows you have severe hearing loss in the right ear,' she said, and proceeded to book me in for an emergency MRI.

'Do I have cancer?' I asked, terrified. 'We just need to rule out anything sinister as the underlying cause,' she replied, tapping away on the computer.

Back at home, my mind went into overdrive. I desperately typed my symptoms into Google, and found that sudden hearing loss in one ear can be the sign of ear cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer, which is so rare, it almost disqualifies itself.

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More likely was an acoustic neuroma  a benign brain tumour that affects the hearing nerve. While it is not malignant, it can affect balance and hearing, and will need surgery if it grows too large.

I would wake bolt upright in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, imagining all sorts of horrors. So when the results of the MRI came back clear three weeks later, it was a relief of sorts.

But I had been so preoccupied with my thoughts of cancer, the reality of my condition hadn't sunk in. The doctors didn't know what had caused the deafness, but what they did know was that my hearing loss was permanent.

In 65 per cent of cases, SSHL resolves itself without any treatment, but that almost always happens within the first two weeks. I was not going to be one of those lucky ones.

There was nothing that could be done  and, as trying steroids at that stage would have been completely pointless, the ENT specialist discharged me back to my doctor.

I walked out of the hospital and burst into floods of tears.

To learn you are partially deaf for the rest of your life is devastating, and accepting my new silent reality has not been easy.

Without two sides of sounds I struggle to identify where any noise is coming from. Simply walking down the road makes me nervous and confused, as the tangled rumble of traffic and every- day noises seems to come at me from all directions.

My social life has suffered, too. A one-to-one conversation, where there is no background noise, is OK, as long I'm sitting looking at the person and concentrate hard.

The trouble is, when I go out with a group of people, I can only pick up snippets of the conversation, and I can't identify where the sound is coming from. I spin round in all directions trying to keep up with what is being said, but I can't make it out.

I have to ask people to repeat themselves, and I can already detect the irritation in their voices. It is exhausting, so mostly I just pretend I have heard and smile.

'Hearing loss affects the clarity of conversation, which means that people sound mumbled when they are talking, and they also lack definition,' says Melanie Gregory, an audiologist at The Hearing Care Partnership chain of clinics.

'Even though it is our ears that pick up sound, it is our brains that make sense of it,' she adds. 'If you develop hearing loss, it makes it a lot more difficult to follow conversations, because your brain has to 'fill in the gaps' in the arbitrary bits of speech, before making sense of what has been said.'

Busy bars and restaurants are even worse. I feel assaulted on all sides by a loud, screechy din that makes my tinnitus louder, and I feel disorientated and unwell.

Sometimes, I feel it is easier to avoid social gatherings and just stay at home.

Yet, seven months on, and I am slowly coming to terms with my loss. Now, when I'm watching a film, I put the subtitles on, so I can follow and understand what is being said.

And I am looking forward to having a hearing aid fitted. My initial appointment to have a mould made of my ear at the hearing clinic was two weeks ago, and I will have to wait until late spring for it to be fitted.

Of course, there is still the worry that my other ear will go, too, although I have been assured it is extremely rare for this to happen.

Finally, there is a chink of light and noise at the end of the tunnel. The thing I regret the most is missing that opportunity to at least try to save my hearing before it was lost for good.
Birmingham, AL -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/04/2020 -- Live Student is a UK based music company and it has proudly announced that it is launching an upcoming event for the Hip Hop fans all over the United Kingdom and especially the people of Birmingham. At this live event, renowned Hip Hop music artist BlueFace will be performing live for the fans of music and the event will take place at the 02 Academy in May 2020. In order to launch this event, Live Student has recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to raise funds for this project, and the company is welcoming generous support and backing.



"We are a company that has a mission to improve the hip-hop and youth community in Birmingham by giving them unforgettable live performances." Said the spokesperson of Live Student, while introducing this project to the Kickstarter community. Moreover, the goal of this Kickstarter campaign is to raise a sum of GBP 78,900 and the music company is offering tickets, fast tracks and unlimited drinks as a reward for the backers of this campaign.



The Kickstarter Campaign is located on the web at:



www.kickstarter.com/projects/livestudent/live-performance-from-blueface and all funds raised through this Kickstarter campaign will play a major role in organizing this live performance event. Furthermore, the project will also play a major role in uniting the hip hop fans in Birmingham. The project is creating a major buzz in the fans of music and more details are available on the Kickstarter campaign page of the project.



About This Project

Live Student is a UK based music company, which is bringing a renowned hip hop music artist, BlueFace to Birmingham for a live performance this May. The company is currently raising funds and support for this upcoming event via Kickstarter, and it is welcoming music fans worldwide for backing.



Contact:

Contact Person: Brandon Chabuda

Company: Live Student

City: Birmingham

Country: England

Email: livestudent.biz@gmail.com

Website: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/livestudent/live-performance-from-blueface
In a first, the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) will start a course in the basic Urdu language, "which is a very important part of the Indian culture", its vice chancellor Dr Nitin Karmalkar said on Tuesday.

According to SPPU officials, this is for the first time that the varsity is introducing the Urdu foundation course, which will commence from the next academic year.

A diploma course in basic Urdu language has been introduced at Hindi department.

"Urdu is a cultured and rich language which is a very important part of the Indian culture," Karmalkar said while explaining the objective behind starting the course in the Urdu language.

Head of Department, Hindi, Dr Sadanand Bhosale said it was a long pending demand to start a basic foundation course in Urdu at the varsity.

"Several people, including social activist Salim Shaikh, were following up with the university for the inclusion of the Urdu language course to which the VC has now responded positively," he said.

The diploma course will offer skills such as reading, writing, listening and speaking. The in-take capacity will be 30 students, Bhosale said, adding that anyone interested in learning the language can take admission.

"Depending upon the response, the varsity has plans to courses in translation and Masters," Bhosale added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Five terrorists who, according to the Henry Jackson Society, are set to be freed from prison this year on early release

At least nine terrorists are currently set for automatic early release from prison this year, according to data from the Henry Jackson Society.

The think-tank released its analysis in the wake of Sundays terror attack in Streatham, south London, in which convicted terrorist Sudesh Amman knifed a man and a woman less than two weeks after his automatic release from jail. The victims injuries are not life-threatening.

The government is now scrambling to introduce emergency legislation  announced on Monday  which would prevent terrorists being freed halfway through the sentences without check or review.

Downing Street has acknowledged there is currently nothing to prevent convicted terrorists being automatically released until the new emergency law is passed.

Here is a list of the terrorists who, according to the Henry Jackson Society, currently qualify for automatic early release in 2020.

Mohammed Ghani (estimated release in March)

A man from London who possessed electronic copies of terrorist magazines. He was sentenced to two years and four months in May last year after admitting eight counts of possessing documents containing terrorist information.

Jamshed Javeed (estimated release in March)

Jamshed Javeed (Greater Manchester Police)

A Manchester biology teacher who was set to travel to Syria to fight with Islamic State (IS). He was sentenced to six years in March 2015 after admitting two counts of engaging in preparation of terror acts.

Mohammed Zahir Khan (estimated release in March)

Mohammed Zahir Khan (Counter Terrorism Policing North East)

A Sunderland shopkeeper who tweeted support for IS. He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in May 2018 after admitting encouraging terrorism, dissemination of a terror publication and stirring up religious hatred.

Mohammed Khilji (estimated release in March)

Mohammed Khilji (Counter Terrorism Policing)

He shared graphic terrorist videos on WhatsApp in which soldiers were beheaded. Khilji, from London, was sentenced to five years in June 2018 after being convicted of eight counts of encouraging terrorism.

Fahim Adam (estimated release in May)

Story continues

Fahim Adam (Greater Manchester Police)

A man from Blackburn who collected extremist magazines and was sentenced to two years and six months in February 2019.

Aras Hamid (estimated release in May)

He tried to join IS in Iraq, and was sentenced to seven years in January 2017 after being convicted of preparing acts of terrorism and assisting another in the commission of terrorist acts.

Patrick Kabele (estimated release in August)

Patrick Kabele (Met Police)

A man from London who tried to join IS in Syria. He was sentenced to six years in May 2017 after being convicted of preparation of terrorist acts.

Moinul Abedin (estimated release in November)

Moinul Abedin (PA)

Described as Britains first al-Qaeda inspired terrorist, he was sentenced to 20 years in 2002 after police discovered bomb-making material at his home in Birmingham. He was convicted of committing an act with intent to cause an explosion.

Zakariya Ashiq (estimated release in November)

Zakariya Ashiq (PA)

Another who tried to join IS in Syria. Ashiq, from Coventry, was sentenced to six years in May 2015 after being convicted of two counts of preparing acts of terrorism.

Streatham terror attack: What we know so far
[February 04, 2020] IPC's Global Financial Community and Connexus Cloud Ecosystem Expands Into Energy Markets

LONDON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IPC , a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the global financial markets community, announces today its expansion into the European Energy Exchange (EEX), Europe's leading energy exchange. The world's top financial institutions rely on IPC's Connexus Cloud platform for trade execution, order routing, market data delivery, and accessing influential marketplaces like EEX. Meanwhile, EEX provides access to the biggest power market worldwide, but it is far more than simply a power-trading platform, as continuous diversification has led to EEX Group becoming a global commodity exchange. "There might not be a more complex market than energy," said Jeffrey Britell, Senior Vice President, Global Network Services, IPC. "From the global breadth of power creation and trading, to the amazing advances we've seen in recent years regarding 'smart' energy, such as solar and wind, providing our customers access to the dominant energy marketplaces is a must. And the European Energy Exchange is without question one of the most important energy marketplaces worldwide." Headquartered in Leipzig, Germany, EEX Group reconfirmed in 2019 its position as the top exchange group in power trading worldwide for the third year running, with growth of 30% from the previous year. Globally, energy consumption market overall is projected to continue to rise to 650 million terajoules by 2035*. IPC's Connexus Cloud is an unparalleled private, secure cloud solution for the global financial markets. By providing and integrating private and hybrid clouds, and enabling secure access to over 550 public clouds, Connexus Cloud empowers the use of cloud for secure, high-performance data and voice communications. This includes enhanced deliveries for blockchain, market data and transactions. The Connexus Cloud multi-cloud platform links together the global capital markets with sell-side and buy-side firms, inter-dealer brokers, liquidity venues, energy firms, trade lifecycle providers, and market-data vendors as well as clearing and settlement firms. They are interconnected in an ecosystem of more than 6,600 capital market participants across 750 cities in over 60 countries across the globe. About IPC

IPC is a technology and service leader powering the global financial markets. We help clients anticipate change and solve problems, through industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology. With a customer-first mentality, IPC brings together one of the largest and most diverse global financial ecosystems spanning a breadth of asset classes and market participants. As the enabler of this ecosystem, IPC empowers the community to interact, transact and react to market changes and challenges, and we collaborate with our customers to help make them secure, productive, compliant and connected. Visit ipc.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter (@IPC_Systems_Inc). * McKinsey report: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Industries/Oil%20and%20Gas/Our%20Insights/Global%20Energy%20Perspective%202019/McKinsey-Energy-Insights-Global-Energy-Perspective-2019_Reference-Case-Summary.ashx Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projection and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.







Media Contacts:





Patrick Chambeau Drew Pierson IPC Systems, Inc. Finn Partners for IPC +33 1 55 82 91 50 +1 212 529 4810 [email protected] [email protected]



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Investigators are seen outside a Greyhound bus after a passenger was killed on board in Lebec, California (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/AP)

A man has killed one person and wounded five others after he allegedly opened fire aboard a packed Greyhound bus in California.

The man was cursing and muttering incoherently in a seemingly random attack before passengers disarmed him, authorities and a witness said.

The driver of the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco bus pulled off onto the hard shoulder, where some of those aboard led the alleged killer off the vehicle, and he was quickly taken into custody, California Highway Patrol officer Sgt Brian Pennings said.

The driver continued on to the next exit as passengers performed first aid on the wounded, he said.

I thought I was shot because I felt a rush of heat on the back of my head as I went downMark Grabban

Anthony Devonte Williams, 33, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, authorities said.

The motive for the shooting was not immediately known, and there was no indication the alleged gunman knew any of the victims, Mr Pennings said.

He said several ammunition magazines were discovered along with the gun.

The bus was travelling on Interstate 5 near the small mountain community of Lebec, about 70 miles north-west of Los Angeles, when the passenger allegedly started shooting with a semi-automatic handgun shortly before 1.30am local time (9.30am UK time).

Forty-three people were aboard, including 6- and 8-year-old children, who were not hurt.

The dead passenger was identified as a 51-year-old woman from Colombia.

California Highway Patrol officer Sgt Brian Pennings talks to media at the scene after a gunman opened fire aboard a packed Greyhound bus (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/AP)

A 45-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were hospitalised in critical condition, a 39-year-old woman had major injuries, a 49-year-old man had moderate injuries and a 50-year-old woman had minor injuries, Mr Pennings said.

The remaining passengers were later driven to San Francisco on another bus.

Passenger Mark Grabban, 29, told the Associated Press that the alleged gunman had been sitting with his leg sticking out into the aisle, muttering to himself incoherently.

He was just saying weird stuff like you dont know me like that, wait til we get to the station, get away from the dude in the striped shirt, Mr Grabban said in a series of Instagram messages.

Suddenly, the man allegedly started cursing and shooting, he said.

Mr Grabban hid beneath the seat in front of him. He said the alleged gunman seemed to fire eight or nine shots that seemed to go on forever.

(The driver's actions) were very appropriate and one could say heroic

He added: I was waiting for one to hit me.

I thought I was shot because I felt a rush of heat on the back of my head as I went down, he said. But I guess I just smashed my head on the seat as I went down to the floor.

Then, silence fell. The injured passengers began moaning, and others started panicking.

It was dark outside and they could not see what the alleged gunman was doing after he got off the bus.

Mr Grabban said the driver asked over the loudspeaker if anyone had been hurt and did not immediately pull away.

Everyone was screaming at him to drive off, Mr Grabban said.

I looked to the woman on the left, and she wasnt responding, wasnt moving or anything

Mr Pennings said the drivers actions were very appropriate and one could say heroic.

He also said the passengers who disarmed the man were heroic but gave no immediate details.

Passengers told Mr Grabban someone wrestled the gun away from the alleged shooter, but he did not witness it, he said.

Mr Grabban, who was sitting near the back of the bus with his girlfriend, picked up the guns empty magazine clip and handed it to the driver.

A casing ended up on Mr Grabbans lap, and he noticed a bullet hole in the floor next to him.

I saw the blood on the floor of the aisle, he told NBC News. I looked to the woman on the left, and she wasnt responding, wasnt moving or anything. She was lifeless.

Authorities were looking into whether a video camera in the vehicle captured the attack, which happened when the bus was at the top of Tejon Pass.

Greyhound prohibits passengers from bringing guns, explosives or dangerous chemicals on board its buses or in their luggage, according to its website.

The company declined to answer additional questions about security on its buses.
Central energy enterprise guarantees power support for epidemic prevention and control

People's Daily Online

By Du Yu, Gou Yawen (People's Daily Online) 09:10, February 03, 2020

To fight the pneumonia epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, a Chinese central enterprise has responded to the call of SASAC by making every effort to guarantee power support to aid the prevention and control of the epidemic.

As of January 29, the State Power Investment Corporation Limited (SPIC) has started four power units during the Spring Festival, generating a total of 9.8 TWh of energy.

Moreover, more than 20 large coal-fired power generating units are operating on the grid, generating wind power, PV power, hydroelectricity, thermal power, gas and biomass power. The stable operation of the 356,000 KW new energy PV project, and the commissioning of SPIC Jingmen natural gas project have further supported the prevention and control of the epidemic.

At 9:47 a.m. on January 26, unit 2, a project of China Power Dabie Mountain Power Generation Co., Ltd, which was launched by SPIC overnight was connected to the grid smoothly, providing power guarantee during the efforts to control the province's epidemic. It has also become the first thermal power enterprise with double engines fully operational in Hubei during the Spring Festival.

SPIC China Power Dabie Mountain Power Generation Co., Ltd. is located in the outskirts of Macheng, Huanggang, Hubei Province. Before the outbreak, the Company had shifted to the Spring Festival Holiday production schedule with only one power unit in operation, and some of its employees had returned to their hometowns for the festival. After the outbreak, the Company has been working even harder than before to ensure power supply as part of its efforts to prevent and control epidemic. The Company have established itself as one of the backbone power generation enterprises during this time.

During critical moments, party members and cadres have played a pioneering and exemplary role in fighting against the virus. The Company's key personnel have stayed on the frontline and established an epidemic prevention and control organization. Cadres and staff in non-epidemic areas have given up their holidays and returned to work ahead of schedule. The personnel preparing for the expansion project have also taken the initiative to maintain the power units in operation.

With the guarantee of power supply, SPIC China Power has also made a thorough investigation on the health status of the staff on duty by collecting data and information from returning staff. Timely efforts have been put into coordinating the various roles and responsibilities of the staff, and knowledge in regards to epidemic prevention and control have been passed on to the team.

So far, SPIC China Power has published the contact information of the main personnel in charge while ensuring that their mobile phones are turned on around the clock, so that they can attend to the personal and professional needs of the staff involved. Furthermore, SPIC has ensured that all the units are ready to provide power supply as part of their efforts to "fight the epidemic".

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According to the 71st NSSO Survey on Education 2014, just 6 percent of the rural households own a computer. This means 94 percent of the 16.85 Crore rural households or more than 15 Crore rural households do not have a computer. Only 978 million Indians held a bank account in 2015, according to RBIs statement, implying a challenge to connect all to banking facility. Demonetization, bore one of its many fruits and 2 Crore accounts were opened since November 8th, 2016.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), in the first fiscal quarter reported a steady rise for transactions across its domestic RuPay, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and AEPS networks. As per NPCI, the assumed target is of achieving 25 billion digital payment transactions in FY 2018. Last year (2016) the number of nationwide digital transactions was 9.2 billion and NPCI contributed 3.5 billion in it. The target for the current year has been set at 11 billion digital transactions through NPCI.

After demonetization, digital transaction user stats rose to their peak. It was expected that the people will eventually get used to using lesser cash. The trend for using cards for digital transactions seems to have slowed down inversely, the number of transactions done through UPI and AEPS are on a rise. This is indicative of those particular mediums of digital transaction being successfully adapted to, especially in the rural areas which is the principal target market for it.

An AEPS transaction requires the consumers Aadhaar number, name of the bank where they have an Aadhaar linked account and the users fingerprints. This technology is an ideal solution for the average rural consumer who is not presumably digitally literate. The users in rural areas may not be aware of the sensitivity, sophistication and need for security features for digital payments including passwords & OTPs. In this direction the government has asked the banks in rural areas to enrol 30  40 local merchants per branch for Aadhaar Pay enabling them to take cashless payments from the rural consumer. As per NPCI records the banks have so far deployed a total of 1.3 lakh micro ATMs including more than 1 lakh interoperable ones.

While the number of AEPS transactions was a little less than a million, it grew to be around 6 million in April 2017. These numbers stood at 2 million in December 2016 and reached 6 million in April due to the timely and diverse deployment of micro ATMs by the banks and authorized private parties largely in the rural areas. The interoperable ATMs make it possible for anyone to use any bank account to make the intended payment, a lot like the ATM debit cards that may be used in any ATM.

The cost to serve through micro ATMs is much lower than establishing a fully functional traditional bank branch. This might have actually been responsible in encouraging more and more banks or other financial institutions to help deploy and support the successful proliferation of AEPS as a transaction method. The Banking infrastructure in India is limited. For 110 crore Bank account holders, there are only a lakh of Bank branches and around 2.2 lakh ATMs. Further, ATM infrastructure is not only limited but is also skewed as more than half of the ATM are available Metro and Tier 1/11 cities.

As part of the endeavour towards augmenting the Banking infrastructure and moving towards digital economy, NPCI in collaboration with UIDAI, RBI and other banks has introduced several initiatives to provide easy and efficient payment solutions to reach the masses. Micro ATMs are particularly helpful in addressing the problems that people are facing in rural and semi-urban areas, where the ATM network is not as strong currently. A common backend provider was formulated with intent to ease the last mile access to bank accounts and cash in rural areas. The trend of AEPS based digital transactions has been quite encouraging in this regard, as the total number of AEPS transaction was 50 million in April, 60 million in May, and 70 million in June for the year 2017.

The success and smooth functioning of AEPS is largely dependent on the ability and efficiency of the banks, especially the regional rural banks or the RRBs in deploying suitable solutions to the consumers. 40 national banks (including HDFC, ICICI, Axis and State Bank of India) are currently offering AEPS services in addition to 53 RRBs (including Baroda Gujarat Gramin Bank, Bihar GB, Himachal Pradesh GB, and Maharashtra Gramin Bank), 11 Co-operatives (The Saraswat Co-operative Bank Limited, Janata Sahakari Bank Ltd, Citizen Credit Co-op Bank), 21 non-banking Institutes (including Janlaxmi Financial Services, Mahindra & Mahindra, Spice Digital, LIC, Itz Cash) and 3 Payment & Small Finance Banks (ESAF Small Finance Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank, and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank).

At the time of demonetization, it was believed that the rural economy would be hard hit and probably have a tough time recovering and getting used to the digital economy that was going to replace the traditional cash-rich economy that existed. However, in AEPS the rural sector has found its saviour and the fact that the targeted consumer for the technology is adopting it well is proved by the numbers. The number of transactions using AEPS went six times in a mere five months since the currency change (between October 2016 & April 2017). Aadhaar Enabled Payment Systems (AEPS) has proven to be one of the most effective and far-reaching tools that support a smoother proliferation of e-Governance in India.
NEWS PROVIDED BY

Catholic League

Feb. 3, 2020



NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on another article alleging the Catholic Church is not being transparent about abuse cases:

Last month, the Associated Press (AP) quoted a professor from Case Western University, Brian Clites, who made spurious comments about the Catholic Church. He was referred to as a "leading scholar on clergy sexual abuse," a statement that was patently untrue. As I pointed out, the man has never written a book on anything, much less on this subject. How he became elevated to being a "leading" scholar only AP knows.

Now this genius is back. Clites posted a piece on "Catholic Investigations Are Still Shrouded in Secrecy" for the online publication, "The Conversation." It was picked up by Yahoo for distribution.

Clites notes that Buffalo Bishop Richard Malone recently resigned after being criticized for some decisions he made handling clergy sexual abuse. That much is true. He then cites the case of Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City as an example of a Vatican investigation that did not go public with its findings.

Clites fails to mention that when Finn learned of some disturbing photos on the laptop of a priest in his diocese, he contacted a police officer and an attorney. They concluded that the pictures of fully clothed girls, which were admittedly suspect (crotch shots), did not constitute child porn. It is important to note that there was no complainanthad Finn said nothing, no one would have known about this incident.

After the priest was evaluated by a psychiatrist, restrictions were placed on him. When he violated the agreement, Finn contacted the authorities. It is important to note again that he had no legal mandate to do sono law had been broken. When it was then learned that hundreds of offensive pictures were found on the priest's computer, the police were summoned. A week later the priest was arrested.

So why didn't Clites mention any of this? Because it would get in the way of his narrative about the shameful Catholic Church. He did not stop there.

Clites is critical of Pope Benedict XVI's decision to sanction an Australian priest in 2007. He should not be. The pope was confronted with a priest who rejected various Church teachings. Would not the editorial board of any newspaper fire a member of the board who decided to go rogue and promote a point of view that is contrary to the established policy? Should the Catholic Church be held to a different standard?

Similarly, Clites questions the "highly secretive" investigations of some nuns by the Vatican. Perhaps he never read about all the faithful nuns who had long been demanding such a probe: in some cases, they are surrounded by dissident sisters who have gone off the reservation.

Clites gives away his cards altogether when he writes of the "authoritarian and top-secret nature" of Church investigations. He must be thinking of the media and Hollywood: they still invoke confidentiality agreements governing sexual misconduct. Too bad they don't follow the lead of the Catholic Churchthese gag orders were banned almost two decades ago.

Contact: brian.clites@case.edu
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Another perhaps less obvious legacy of the Yalta Conference is Britains often-fractious relationship with France, and by extension the European Union. Gen. Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French forces, had insisted on an invitation to the conference, but Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin decided against it. So great was the haughty de Gaulles resentment that during the conference he broadcast to the French people that he would not be bound by the conferences decisions, but would pursue an independent line.

De Gaulles exclusion from Yalta fed his growing distrust of what he saw as an emerging postwar Anglo-American hegemony. In 1963, and again in 1967, he vetoed Britains entry into the European Community; in 1966 he withdrew France from NATOs active command structure. Britain eventually joined the European Union in 1973; had it done so earlier, it might have integrated better into the bloc. While its impossible to know for sure, 43 years later the Brexit referendum might never have been called.

Many regard Yalta as a byword for compromise, even betrayal. In 2005 George W. Bush likened the outcomes to the 1938 Munich Agreement  a sellout to dictatorship. Yalta undoubtedly left the peoples of Eastern Europe in thrall to the Soviet Union for nearly half a century. But Western leaders had little leverage over Stalin, especially as the Soviet Union had a strong moral claim to its postwar bounty, having suffered by far the most during the war.

Elsewhere, though, the Western allies met many of their objectives. Roosevelt secured agreement to his long-cherished dream of a United Nations. Though the veto arrangements agreed to at Yalta often cripple the Security Council in addressing disputes among the great powers (any of the five permanent members of the Security Council can veto an action), the organization has become an effective global peacekeeping force, and many of its agencies, like the World Health Organization and the High Commissioner for Refugees, do valuable work.

Churchill attained his goal  albeit Pyrrhic, short-term and, to modern thinking, immoral  to maintain the British Empire. In one instance, retaining control over Hong Kong, he preserved a Western outpost on the coast of China for many troubled years, the consequences of which are now playing out.

Transcripts of the Yalta Conference reveal as much about the personalities as the politics of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. Cracks in the once close relationship between the cool, detached American president and the often emotional British prime minister are obvious. For Roosevelt, it was his last turn on the world stage; already in visible physical decline, he died two months later. Churchill made it to the next Allied conference, at Potsdam, Germany, but was replaced a few days into the meeting by the new prime minister, Clement Attlee.

Only Stalin remained. Geopolitical negotiations always revolve around the personalities and strategies of the people involved; those with the most uncompromising objectives and the vision and determination to achieve them have an edge. At Yalta he showed a tight grasp of detail, rigid determination and ability to spot and exploit others weaknesses. A senior British official thought him much the most impressive of the three men and very quiet and restrained. Three quarters of a century later, Stalins quiet strength is still shaping global affairs.

Diana Preston is the author of Eight Days at Yalta: How Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin Shaped the Post-War World.

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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spent lots of time talking about roads, jobs and healthcare during her State of the State speech. But there are a number of other issues that are likely to dominate headlines throughout 2020.

As part of the weekly series MichMash, Cheyna Roth and Jake Neher talk about education, criminal justice and environmental issues that you should be following this year.

Click on the audio player above to hear Neher and Roth discuss the topics theyre following most closely in 2020.

Contaminated environmental sites just the tip of the iceberg

Whether its green ooze or PFAS contamination, there is so much going on with the state of Michigans environment right now.

There's at least one thing we can be sure of when it comes to these contaminants: what we know about now is just the tip of the iceberg.

Were likely to see concerns, not only with the things that weve seen in the past -- contaminated drinking water, concerns about toxic chemicals from old industrial sites and military bases -- but the problem is likely to evolve over the next year.

Changes to states criminal justice system gains momentum

This has been a big issue in Michigan and elsewhere for years. But right now, theres some real momentum on getting something done on this issue.

A task force co-chaired by Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormick just made recommendations that would overhaul the entire front end of the criminal justice system.

Criminal justice is a $2 billion-plus yearly line item here in Michigan for prisons alone.

McCormack said in an interview with Detroit Today on WDET-FM (101.9) dealing with jails and the pre-trial portion of this would be pretty huge.

This is a pretty important part of it, because its the front end of the criminal justice system, she told Stephen Henderson. And to the extent that we can be more careful about who we funnel into that system, were going to be a huge step ahead of probably every other state in the country. Michigan can really be a national leader if it acts on these recommendations.

Opponents say third grade reading law puts schools in tough position, especially in low-income communities of color

Michigans third grade reading law would require that many students who fail the third grade reading test would have to repeat third grade. It will take full effect this year.

Many people, especially critics of the law, say it will disproportionately affect communities of color and low income schools.

Gov. Whitmer has said that she is actually looking at ways to undercut the law and make sure that the impact isnt so huge on those communities.

Supporters of the law say the state should no longer simply advance students to the next grade because they get a year older. They say third grade is a critical year for student literacy, and they need to be proficient readers to do well during the rest of their educational career.

Opponents say holding kids back can have devastating emotional and social effects, and that the answer is more early intervention and support for literacy programs.

Read More from MLive:

Michigan marijuana sales, prices spike as recreational market takes hold

As Michigan real estate values rebound, property tax revenues continue to lag

Homeland Security orders enhanced coronavirus screening at Detroit Metro Airport
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Donald Trump will deliver his third State of the Union address on Tuesday, a day before the U.S. Senate is expected to vote against removing Trump from office after he was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Cabinet secretaries, Supreme Court justices and members of Congress are expected to be there. And so will guests from Ohio who were invited by Trump and the states congressional delegation.

Although the specter of impeachment will hang over the speech delivered in the chamber where the House of Representatives voted to oust Trump for asking Ukraines president to investigate a political rival, a senior White House official told reporters the address wont dwell on impeachment.

It will have an optimistic, great American comeback theme, where Trump will encourage Congress to work with him to continue to building an inclusive economy where the least well-off are making some of the fastest gains and where people of every background are finding new opportunities, the official said.

It will also discuss how the strong economy has created a blue-collar jobs boom, Trumps efforts to help working families and lower the cost of prescription drugs and health care, as well as his efforts to protect national security and promote safe and legal immigration, the White House official said.

Hell talk about the manufacturing jobs, I expect, that have been created, the official said. Hell talk about how the tax cuts have helped small businesses. Hell talk about how the energy revolution has really lifted everybody up in terms of, you know, lower gasoline prices, lower energy prices, the official said.

Trumps guests will include Ohioan Tony Rankins, whom the White House said suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, became addicted to drugs, went to prison, lost his job and ended up living out of his car. After a company called R Investments" gave him construction training, he got a job in a Cincinnati Opportunity Zone, overcame his addiction and reunited with his family, the White House said.

Ohio members of Congress at the speech will bring their own guests, some of which are intended to make political points.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown will bring Dave Green, who headed the United Auto Workers union local at the Lordstown, Ohio plant that General Motors shuttered, laying off roughly 4,500 workers. Browns office said Green relocated to Indiana to accept another job "at an immense cost to his family and livelihood. Brown said his story shows how Trump has betrayed workers at every turn.

The workers at Lordstown helped create GMs financial success and, instead of fighting to save these jobs, the President sided with corporations and gave companies like GM massive tax breaks to shut down American factories and ship jobs overseas, said a statement from Brown. We need to do better to honor the dignity of work in this country  and we can start by putting workers like Dave at the center of our tax and trade policies.

The Ohios other U.S. Senator, Republican Rob Portman, said his guest will be Dr. Patrice Palmer, founder of the non-profit Chosen4Change and head of Franklin Countys Pathways Achieving Recovery by Choice program.

Portmans office said Pathways is a voluntary recovery program for incarcerated women with a substance use disorder and often a co-occurring mental illness. The program is funded in part by $881,070 in federal grants Franklin County received through Portmans bipartisan Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act (CARA).

A statement from Portman said Palmer has played a leading role in helping some of the most vulnerable women in the Columbus area turn their lives around and break the cycle of incarceration.

Rocky River Republican Rep. Anthony Gonzalez will bring Gary Wilson, an Olmsted Township police officer whose son, firefighter Brett Wilson, was electrocuted in October as he aided victims of a crash in which a car struck a utility pole.

A speech that Gonzalez delivered on the House of Representatives floor said the community was heartbroken by the loss of Wilson, an Olmsted Falls resident and Columbia Township firefighter, and described him as a true hero and public safety servant.

Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur said shell bring Susan Fuehrer, the first president of MetroHealths Institute for H.O.P.E. (Health, Opportunity, Partnership and Empowerment), to this years State of the Union. Before heading MetroHealths effort to address the social factors that impact the health of individuals, patients, and entire communities, Fuehrer was CEO of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system in Northeast Ohio.

Susan has led a remarkable career as a public servant improving VAs delivery of high-quality care to our veterans in Northern Ohio as CEO," said a statement from Kaptur. "Today, she is using her lifetime of experience to reduce healthcare disparities in communities across our region and improve Ohioans access to high-quality, affordable healthcare.

Holmes County GOP Rep. Bob Gibbs will bring De Ann Williams, of Stark Countys veterans services commission, who regularly helps Gibbs office make sure local veterans get the benefits they need, and assists in navigating the Veterans Administration bureaucracy, said Gibbs spokesman Dallas Gerber.

Shes been a great person to work with, said Gerber.

Niles-area Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who brought the UAWs Dave Green last year, is bringing Lordstown Motors CEO Steve Burns this year. The company plans to manufacture electric-powered pickup trucks in the former Lordstown plant and intends to hire as many as 400 workers by the end of the year.

Our community in Northeast Ohio has a long auto-manufacturing history, and Im pleased that Lordstown Motors understands our communitys expertise and skills in this field and plans to put us back to work doing what we do the best  building award-winning vehicles, said a statement Ryan released last week after a meeting with Burns.

Read more coverage:

Rep. Jim Jordan is raising big campaign bucks, Rep. Tim Ryan isnt: See what Northeast Ohio Congress members collected

Sen. Rob Portman announces hell vote against calling impeachment witnesses

Ohio Democrats decry Trump administration Medicaid change

Senate should designate PFAS water contaminants hazardous substances, says Sen. Sherrod Brown

Sherrod Brown calls its brazen for Trump attorneys to chide Hunter Biden for using his famous dad to make money

Bankrupt Murray Energy coal company still banks on Trump, FEC records show

Democrats including Rep. Marcia Fudge back lawsuit to fight food stamp cuts

Retired carpenter challenges Rep. Dave Joyce in GOP primary

New Trump administration water plan draws strong reaction from both sides of the issue

Rep. Tim Ryan is hitting the presidential campaign trail for Joe Biden

Trump public charge immigration rule would codify discrimination, says Rep. Marcia Fudge

Sen. Sherrod Brown accuses Mitch McConnell of a cover-up as impeachment trial begins

Gun activists seek 'Second Amendment sanctuary designations in Ohio

The Equal Rights Amendment - its history in Ohio and what comes next: Q & A
Sen. Bernie Sanders looks poised to win his next-door-neighbor state of New Hampshire again, as three new polls have the Vermont senator topping his 2020 Democratic rivals.

A poll from WCVB and UMass Amherst that dropped in the early hours of Tuesday had Sanders leading with 25 per cent support, followed by 20 per cent for former Vice President Joe Biden. Sen. Elizabeth Warren garnered 17 per cent and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg was at 12 per cent.

Sanders also led in the 7 News/ Emerson College tracking poll, which kicked off on February 1. Sanders held a sizable lead in that survey - 32 per cent, with Warren and Biden both at 13 per cent and Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar at 12 per cent.

Additionally, Sanders had the advantage in the Boston Globe/Suffolk survey released Monday. He's at 24 per cent, with Biden at 18 per cent, Warren at 13 per cent and Buttigieg at 11 per cent.

Sanders beat frontrunner Hillary Clinton in the Granite State in 2016 - his first victory in that year's primary - 60 per cent to 38 per cent.

At the same time, President Trump just received his highest Gallup approval rating since taking office. He's now at 49 per cent.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, talking to reporters before flying to New Hampshire Tuesday, has the lead in three fresh Granite State polls

Sen. Bernie Sanders was expecting to have a good night in Iowa Monday, but then an app crashed and Democratic hopefuls are still waiting to hear results

Meanwhile, President Trump hit his highest approval ever - 49 per cent - in the Gallup poll. He and his campaign team have had a good laugh over the Democrats' mess in Iowa

Establishment members of the Democratic Party are fearful that Sanders - a self-proclaimed democratic socialist - would lose to Trump for being too far to the left, should he go on and win the nomination.

Monday night's Iowa caucuses had the makings of a big night for Sanders.

He was leading former Vice President Joe Biden, long considered the party frontrunner, in Hawkeye State polls.

But then the Iowa Democratic Party's caucus reporting app crashed, leading to disarray, and no official caucus tallies nearly 24 hours after they kicked off.

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg seized the moment and declared himself the victor.

Sanders' campaign responded by putting out numbers - what they said they had gathered from 40 per cent of caucus sites - that showed the Vermont senator ahead, with Buttigieg coming in second.

The senator's campaign put out more numbers Tuesday, this time with data from 60 per cent of precincts, according to adviser Jeff Weaver.

It showed Sanders leading Buttigieg in both the original count and after re-alignment at caucus sites.

The Vermont senator said the release of the numbers was in no way intended as a proclamation that he had won in Iowa.

'I don't know how anybody could claim this as a victory,' he said, adding, 'We are not declaring victory.'

Trump and his 2020 campaign were gleeful over the Democrats' drama.

'Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history. It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?' the president's 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement around midnight. 'Tonight President Trump posted a record performance in the well-run GOP Iowa caucuses with record turnout for an incumbent.'

The president continued to chime in on Twitter Tuesday morning.

'The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country,' Trump wrote. 'Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that.'

'The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is "Trump,"' he added.

The Democratic Party of Iowa was expected to drop at least half the caucus results around 5pm EST Tuesday, 22 hours after the meetings were initially held.
WASHINGTON  After living in California for years, Kathy Hannun chose the Capital Region as her first market when she launched her geothermal energy company Dandelion Energy in 2017.

U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, helped Hannun cut the ribbon on her expanded operations center in Latham in November 2019. Now, Tonko has tapped Hannun, Dandelion's president and co-founder, to attend President Donald Trump's State of the Union address.

"What I will always be looking for are any updates or his thoughts on domestic energy policy and climate policy," said Hannun, 33, noting she is "thrilled" to attend.

On Tuesday night, Hannun will be one of many guests attending the State of the Union with the Capital Region's congressional delegation.

Trumps highly-anticipated address will come in the midst of his impeachment trial, one day before the Senate is expected to acquit him. The theme of the address is The Great American Comeback," a senior administration official said.

Members of Congress are permitted to bring one guest every year to listen to the address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives. Trump will also have several invitees in the audience. Often, lawmakers select a guest whose work or personal story represents an issue that the politician would like to highlight.

Heres who else the delegation is bringing:

Rep. Antonio Delgado

Chatham Police Chief Peter Volkmann will attend with Delgado, D-Rhinebeck. Volkmann developed an initiative, "Chatham Cares 4 U," to connect opioid users to recovery resources instead of incarcerating them. He is also a police commissioner in the city of Hudson.

The opioid epidemic is hurting our upstate communities, and we need coordinated action at a local and national level," Volkmann said. "Im grateful for the work that Rep. Delgado has done already to support our community and I look forward to working closely with him as we continue our efforts.

In 2018, Volkmann was invited to and attended a White House opioid crisis forum called Best Practices to the Opioid Crisis.

Volkmann is a faculty member for the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation in Ellicott City, Maryland, from which he received a 2017 lifetime achievement award. He has acted as as a crisis interventionist and trainer for rescue departments, government municipalities, schools, and corporate organizations around the United States that have experienced traumatic events. He also was a first responder at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Rep. Elise Stefanik

Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, invited David Fisher, a dairy farmer from Madrid in St. Lawrence County. Fisher is serving his second term as president of the New York Farm Bureau.

David has been an outspoken advocate for farmers in the North Country," Stefanik said. "He is well-versed on agriculture issues and always makes sure that Upstate New York agriculture has a seat at the table, particularly on results like the USMCA [U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement]."

The Fisher family has run Mapleview Dairy for four generations. Fisher has also served on the Madrid Town Board.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer

The guest of Schumer, D-N.Y., will be Jonathan Asaph Fisher, a six-year-old from the Bronx who was born with congenital heart defects and other health conditions. Jonathan uses a wheelchair to get around and requires the assistance of a personal nurse at home and school. He loves the music of Prince and his favorite book is the Hungry Caterpillar, read by his mother Leslie Guilford.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Guilford said her family could not afford her son's medical care without the Affordable Care Act or Medicaid. Without the ACA, Jonathan would be "uninsurable," she said.

"For us, it means a reduction of red tape, and continuous comprehensive care that prioritizes all of my child's healthcare needs such as doctors visits, prescriptions, surgeries, but also home care services, adaptive equipment and assistive technology," Guilford said.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Gillibrand, D-N.Y., will bring labor activist Hacheler Cyrille, a worker at John F. Kennedy Airport who filed a pregnancy discrimination complaint against her employer in 2019.

Cyrille and her union, part of SEIU, filed a complaint with the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration alleging that Eulen America, a contractor used by American Airlines, failed to move Cyrille to a less strenuous job during her pregnancy, causing her injury, according to several media reports. Then the company fired her, she alleged. Cyrille also filed a complaint with New York City Commission on Human Rights.

President Donald Trump

Trump will have several guests in the audience Tuesday night. He invited Tony Rankins of Cincinnati, Ohio, a veteran who struggled with post-traumatic stress order and drug use before finding work in the construction trades. He also invited Raul Ortiz, a deputy chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol in Texas.

Trump also will bring Jody Jones of Farmersville, California, whose brother was killed by an undocumented immigrant, the White House said Tuesday. Other Trump guests include Robin Schneider of Kansas City, Missouri and her daughter Ellie, who was born at 21 weeks and six days old; Stephanie Davis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and her daughter Janiyah, a fourth grader whom the White House says attends a low performing school; and Paul Morrow of Montgomery, Alabama, a veteran who is building a concrete plant in an Opportunity Zone.

Kelli Hake of Stillwater, Oklahoma will attend with her son Gage, after her husband was killed while serving in the U.S. military in Iraq. Also in the audience will be Trump guest Ivan Simonovis of Caracas, Venezuela, a police officer who was imprisoned in that country for protecting protestors and received refuge in the U.S.

This story was updated to reflect guests invited to the State of the Union by President Donald Trump that were announced by the White House Tuesday afternoon.
T he ring of steel thrown around Donald Trump and other world leaders for the Nato summit in London cost the Metropolitan Police 5.3 million, the force said today.

Twenty-five police forces worked on Operation Isobar led by Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy DOrsi and Commander Elaine Van-Orden.

About 3,400 officers were on duty when Mr Trump and First Lady Melania Trump travelled in a motorcade of armoured vehicles to a Buckingham Palace reception to mark the 70th anniversary of Nato on December 3 last year.

More than 1,500 extra police protected Mr Trump, Boris Johnson and fellow leaders for talks at the Grove Hotel in Chandlers Cross near Watford the following day. Roads had to be closed to stop demonstrators getting close.

Police officers patrol around the Grove hotel, venue of the NATO leaders summit / REUTERS

Of the 5.3 million, the majority was spent on police salaries, infrastructure, transport and catering, with 872,000 on overtime and 292,000 on hotels, subsistence and other expenses.

Mutual aid to other forces including Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, West Midlands and Greater Manchester cost the Met 1.3 millon in officers, hotels, catering, fleet and allowances.

There were five arrests, with one person charged with causing actual bodily harm and another receiving a fixed penalty for being drunk and disorderly.
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Linkedin Deng Xijun (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 10:26 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206264f04 3 Opinion Wuhan-coronavirus,coronavirus,China,ASEAN,Southeast-Asia,epidemics,health Free

The pneumonia outbreak caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has posed a serious threat to the lives and health of the Chinese people and become a common concern of the global community. President Xi Jinping always puts peoples lives and health first and has made a series of important instructions on the comprehensive, nation-wide response to the epidemic.

The Chinese government has adopted a whole-of-government approach, coupled with whole-of-society mobilization, in its fight against the 2019-nCoV epidemic.

Decisive and strict measures have been taken to curb spread of the virus, most notably the lockdown in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province and epicenter of the outbreak. Strong control and preventive measures have also been taken in such metropolitan areas like Beijing and Shanghai as well as in other population centers in China.

As World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described, the unprecedented outbreak of the coronavirus in China has been met with an unprecedented response.

We have every reason to remain confident of winning the battle against the epidemic, though the situation remains challenging. The measures taken by China are working, and the positive effects are appearing.

Since the epidemic broke out, the number of confirmed cases in areas outside Hubei province has grown at a much lower pace, and Wuhan remains the only city with concentrated infections.

Moreover, medical teams from other provinces have arrived in Hubei one after another, comprising a total of over 8,500 medical staff. Medical supplies are being delivered. Two exclusive hospitals are being built, and one has been put into use now. With the joint efforts of the government and the public, we firmly believe that the epidemic is preventable, controllable and curable.

In the meantime, China has been conducting international cooperation in an open, transparent and responsible manner. We have been sharing information, including the genetic sequences of the virus, with relevant international and regional organizations including the WHO, ASEAN and relevant countries to facilitate a timely and effective

response.

With great importance attached to the safety of foreign nationals in China, we keep the embassies and consulates in China well-informed through multiple channels and work hard to address their difficulties.

Regarding the WHOs declaration of the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, I would like to recall the statement by director general Tedros that the declaration is not a vote of no confidence in China and that the WHO continues to have confidence in Chinas capacity to control the outbreak. There is no reason to limit trade and travel to China. The WHO does not recommend limiting trade and movement.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, ASEAN countries and peoples have rendered their understanding and support to China in its fight against the epidemic. This demonstrates once again our tradition of mutual support and help when disasters and difficulties strike.

At this critical moment, we sincerely hope that all of us remain calm and work shoulder to shoulder to fight the epidemic. The only way we will defeat this outbreak is if all countries work together in the spirit of solidarity and cooperation.

Finally let me quote the WHO director generals message to the world in his statement on the IHR Emergency Committee on Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) on Jan. 30:

This is the time for facts, not fear.

This is the time for science, not rumors.

This is the time for solidarity, not stigma.

***

Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to ASEAN

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Casey Batchelor enjoyed a day out with her newborn daughter on Monday afternoon, shortly after sharing snaps of the tot on social media.

The former reality star cradled the child, whose name is yet to be announced, while taking a stroll through a north London park.

Casey, 35, looked relaxed in a blue winter coat and black leggings as she enjoyed some fresh air with her daughter, who she carried in a papoose.

Quality time: Casey Batchelor enjoyed a day out with her newborn daughter on Monday afternoon, shortly after sharing snaps of the tot on social media

The brunette added to her casual look with a pair of Wellington boots, while light touches of make-up drew further attention to her features.

On another chilly day in London, her daughter looked snug in a padded pink romper suit as Casey showered her with attention.

Taking to Instagram on Thursday, she shared an adorable snap of herself kissing her one-week old daughter on the head during a visit to a local restaurant.

Doting mother: The former reality star cradled the child, whose name is yet to be announced, while taking a stroll through a north London park

I've got you: Casey, 35, looked relaxed in a blue winter coat and black leggings as she enjoyed some fresh air with her daughter, who she carried in a papoose

Casey looked sensational in a grey sweater with her raven locks held back from her face with a black hairband as she cradled her adorable daughter.

Dressed in a little pink bunny outfit the newborn babe slept soundly in her mum's arms on the day out with dad, Casey's fiance Dane Goodson and sister Florence, 18 months.

She captioned the snap: 'First outing for my little one. First outing as a family of 4.'

Little Bunny: Taking to Instagram on Thursday, she shared an adorable snap of herself kissing her one-week old daughter on the head during a visit to a local restaurant.

When 3 become 4: Casey announced she has given birth to her second child with fiance Dane Goodson on Instagram on Sunday

Over the moon: The former CBB star said she and Dane welcomed their little girl on Wednesday and are enjoying the 'baby bubble' (pictured earlier this month)

Casey announced the happy news that she had given birth to her second child with fiance Dane on January 26 - sharing a sweet post holding her newborn daughter's hands to Instagram.

She captioned the post: 'So Ive been a bit busy.... On 22/01/2020, we became a family of 4. 1- Daddy + Princess 1. 2- Mummy + Princess 2.

'I wont be very active on here for a little while as Im enjoying my baby bubble and recovering.' The former CBB star captioned the Polaroid photos: 'When 3 become 4'.

Expecting: Casey announced she was pregnant with her second child in July- 14 months after welcoming first daughter Florence, 19 months, into the world

She originally announced she was pregnant with her second child in July, 14 months after welcoming first daughter Florence, 19 months, into the world.

The yoga instructor said although she and salesman fiance Dane wanted to expand their family, they weren't prepared for how quickly it would happen.

'I'm going to have two babies 20 months apart I can't quite believe it!' Casey told Closer magazine.

'It'll be tough, but I'm going to ride the storm  we're just so thrilled we're having another baby!'

'Dane and I wanted more children  we're both turning 35 and we got engaged in January, so we didnt want to wait much longer, as time is ticking on.

'We decided to start trying, and I got pregnant straight away. I do feel very lucky.'

But Casey and Dane won't be stopping there when they welcome their baby girl in 2020, and plan to carry on trying until they have a son.

More to come: Casey said although she and salesman fiance Dane wanted to expand their family, they weren't prepared for how quickly it would happen (pictured November 2018)

Doting mummy: Announcing her news to Closer magazine, she said: 'I'm going to have two babies 20 months apart I can't quite believe it!

The couple have been together for almost three years and announced their engagement in February.

Casey told The Sun: 'I'm having another girl which is so lovely because I never had a sister, I had two older brothers and they always had each other.

'So it will be nice for Florence to have a little sister. I was adamant I was having a boy, everyone convinced me. [They said] "You're carrying differently, and you're all at the front, with a girl it's at the back".

'Dane's so happy that he's having a little girl, but he would like a little boy obviously.

'If we had a boy this time, we would have the choice if we wanted to go again, but because we're having a girl well definitely try again.'

In the run-up to the birth, the reality star kept her fans updated with her pregnancy journey, showcasing her growing bump in a number of Instagram snaps.

Actors Zoe Ventoura have Sarah Roberts have reached out to fans on social media following reports Home & Away cut a same-sex kiss for Australian viewers.

https://twitter.com/zoe_ventoura/status/1223926817792221184

To the #willex fans; Please know that every scene was written, performed and shot with the utmost love and respect for the characters, the relationship, and the community. We see you, and we are grateful for your support. Much love x pic.twitter.com/65pU13yCka  Sarah Roberts (@SarRoberts) February 2, 2020

The tweets do not comment on the editing or broadcast aspect of the kiss cut between their characters, Alex and Willow.

Daniel MacPherson, husband of Ventoura, also took to social media last week following the reports.

Obviously for many reasons Im closer to this than most so Im just gonna say this : Thoughts tonight with fans of this show left feeling that the demonstration of their love or affection isnt worthy of broadcast. Well done ZV & SR on your beautiful work. #Willex https://t.co/zgmoLsQx41  Daniel MacPherson (@DanMacPherson) January 31, 2020

ABC reports pictures taken by photography agency Matrix Media Group appear to show another scene where a kiss was filmed but has been edited out.

One photo from the photography agency shows a scene where Alex and Willow kiss in a park, as another character watches on.

A scene with all three characters in the same costumes and at the same location went to air last week in Australia, but Alex and Willow did not kiss.

The same episode is yet to be shown in New Zealand.

Seven was again contacted for comment and specifically asked if a kiss was cut from that scene.

The network said it had no further update.

Share Market Update: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty gained strongly on Tuesday, backed by gains in index-heavyweights and closed 2.3% higher by the closing session. BSE 30-share S&P Sensex closed 917 points higher at 40,789 and NSE 50-share index Nifty50 climbed 271 points higher at 11,979. In terms of sector, all the indices closed in the green today. A positive opening of other Asian stocks led by gains in China too buoyed domestic benchmarks, traders said. Companies set to announce their earnings on Tuesday are Adani Ports, Adani Green, Tata Global Beverages, Bharti Airtel, TVS Motors.

Here's a look at the live updates of the stock market action on February 5:

Closing session

3: 45 PM

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty gained strongly on Tuesday, backed by gains in index-heavyweights and closed 2.3% higher by the closing session. BSE 30-share S&P Sensex closed 917 points higher at 40,789 and NSE 50-share index Nifty50 climbed 271 points higher at 11,979. In terms of sector, all the indices closed in the green today.

Expert opinion on market rally

3: 30 PM

Commenting on today's rally, Umesh Mehta, Head of Research, Samco Securities said, "Indian bourses tanked on Saturday after the Budget disappointed the Street's expectations. However, as the Budget failed to provide any short-term relief, the market experienced massive carnage. This was a knee jerk reaction but as investors realized that the budget will aid in the long-term growth of the economy, the market picked up. With the Budget overhang gone, investors are breathing a sigh of relief and are back to make fresh calls. Additionally, January auto sales numbers were comparatively decent and with no other negative news, the Indian bourses saw a sudden rally today."

Market Update

3: 05 PM

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty gained over 2.3% each on Tuesday, backed by gains in index-heavyweights, amid a China-led recovery in broader Asian markets. BSE 30-share S&P Sensex rose 914 points higher at 40,786 and NSE 50-share index Nifty50 climbed 285 points higher at 11,977.

Titan Q3 reports 15% rise in profit to Rs 474 crore

2: 50 PM

Titan has reported 15% rise (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 474 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019 as against Rs 411 crore, recorded in a year-ago period.

Total income rose 10.37% (YoY) to Rs 6,550 crore in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 5,934 crore in the same period last financial year.

Where company's jewellery business recorded a growth of 12% in Q3 from Rs 5,605 crores this year as compared to Rs 4,997 crores last year. Its eyewear business grew by 3% in Q3, to Rs 133 crores.

The income from 'watches' segment registering a marginal decline of 2.18% to Rs 627 crores in Q3, on account of poor December month for sales, the company said. Other businesses of the company registered a growth of 33% in Q3, at Rs 174 crores.

YES Bank declines 4%

2: 15 PM

Yes Bank shares fell over 4.1% on Tuesday to Rs 34.50 after a report from IDBI Capital Markets & Securities said that the stock of the private lender is likely to be a candidate for exclusion from Nifty50.

Yes Bank shares have fallen 16% in one week and currently trades lower than 5, 20, 50, 100 and 200-day moving averages.

Banking shares rise in trade

1: 55 PM

Banking stocks were trading higher on Tuesday, primarily led by gains in ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI. On Tuesday, S&P BSE Bankex gained 751 points or 2.19% intraday to 35,201, the second trading day after the presentation of the union budget.

Bajaj Auto declines 3%

1: 20 PM

Shares of Bajaj Auto fell on Tuesday after the leading automobile manufacturer reported 3.1% decline in total sales at 3,94,473 units in January 2020. The company had recorded sales of 4,07,150 units in January 2019.

RIL gains 3%

12: 45 PM

Shares of Reliance Industries gained in early trade on Tuesday after the oil conglomerate announced new production from KG D6 project will start by mid-2020. The first-gas from these fields is expected in mid-2020, while the peak production is expected to reach 1 BCFe per day, which is about 15 per cent of then envisaged India's demand, said the company.

Following the update, RIL shares touched an intraday high of Rs 1,423.5 on BSE, rising 3.16% as against the previous close of Rs 1,385.85.

Rupee Today

11: 45 AM

The rupee appreciated 17 paise to 71.20 against the US dollar in morning session.

Bharti Airtel to post Q3 result today

11: 10 AM

Bharti Airtel Q3 FY20 net loss seen at Rs 615 crore. Company's revenues is expected to grow 9% YoY at Rs 2,2115 crore. EBITDA is expected to see 44% YoY rise to Rs 8,920 crore. Net loss for the quarter may come in at Rs 615 crore as compared to Rs 1,041 crore a year ago.

Titan Company Q3 to be out today;here's what to expect

11: 05 AM

Revenue of the watch maker is expected to grow 8% YoY to Rs 6,351 crore. EBITDA for the quarter under revies is likely to register 17% growth YoY to Rs 690 crore. Company Ptofit after tax (PAT) for the October-December quarter may increase 13% YoY to Rs 461 crore.

Bajaj Auto gains 3%

10: 55 AM

Shares of motorcycle maker Bajaj Auto were trading as the top losers on Tuesday, falling about 1%, after its January sales fell 3%.

RBI MPC meet begins today

10: 40 AM

Central bank's six member monetary policy committee (MPC) will kick off its three-day meet on Tuesday. Investors will also keep an eye on the Reserve Bank of India's decision on whether the panel cuts rates again after keeping status quo in the previous policy.

Q3 Earnings Today

10: 25 AM

Adani Green, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Piramal Enterprises, Apollo Pipes, Avanti Feeds, Bajaj Electricals, Balmer Lawrie & Co, Bharti Airtel, CSB Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Exide Industries, Future Market Networks, Firstsource Solutions, Punjab National Bank, Jindal Saw, JSW Energy, Liberty Shoes, Mahindra Logistics, Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers, TVS Motor Company, Triveni Engineering & Industries, Titan Company, Thermax, Tata Global Beverages, Shipping Corporation of India, Sayaji Industries are the companies that will release their December quarter results today.

Market Update

10: 20 AM

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty gained further momentum after Monday's rally and climbed over 1.4% each by the first hour of session of Tuesday, tracking a China-led recovery in broader Asian markets

Gainers and Losers

10: 15 AM

HDFC, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement, Hero MotoCorp, ITC, IndusInd Bank and HDFC Bank were among the top gainers of today. On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, HUL, Nestle India and Asian Paints were trading in the red.

Market Update

10:00 AM

Market benchmark Sensex surged over 400 points in morning session on Tuesday led by gains in index-heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC twins and ITC amid firm global cues.

Market Update

9: 50 AM

According to analysts, equity market is finding some ground in Monday's after a disappointing Union Budget. Further, positive opening of other Asian stocks too buoyed domestic benchmarks, traders said.

FII/ DII action on Monday

9: 40 AM

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 1,200.27 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 1,286.63 crore on Monday, data available with stock exchanges showed.

Opening Bell

9: 20 AM

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty gained further momentum after Monday's rally and climbed over 1% each by th efirst hour of session. BSE 30-share S&P Sensex rose 500 points higher at 40,353 and NSE 50-share index Nifty50 clmbed 150 points higher at 11,848. In terms of sector, all the indices traded in green, except realty that traded flat.

Global Market Update

9:00 AM

A positive opening of stocks in China too buoyed other benchmarks, traders said. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1% led by gains in South Korea and Australia. Japan's Nikkei inched up 0.1%. Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong were also trading with gains.

Stocks to watch today on February 4

8: 50 AM

Adani Ports, Adani Green, Tata Global Beverages, Bharti Airtel, TVS Motor, PNB among others are the top stocks to watch out for in Tuesday's trading session.

Previous session

8: 45 PM

After a major selloff on Saturday, equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty traded positive on back of profit booking on Monday and closed strongly bullish, amid high buying by investors in media, auto, realty and metal scrips. Ending a volatile trading session, BSE 30-share S&P Sensex closed 136 points higher at 39,872 and NSE 50-share index Nifty50 closed 65 points higher at 11,724. In terms of sector, except IT, pharma and PSU banking stocks, all the other indices closed in green.
Mariella Frostrup tells Richard Purden about her book on female travellers, her days in the music business and childhood memories of her time in Ireland

Mariella Frostrup is enjoying a glass of Pinot Grigio in Edinburghs plush Bonham Hotel. I loved the loquaciousness of Irish culture and the fact that everyone has a story to tell and they know how to tell it, she says. I think of Ireland as home.

Shes discussing her latest anthology Wild Women, featuring 50 first-hand accounts of intrepid female travellers and their global adventures.

The Norwegian born, Irish raised traveller admits hazardous journeys are not on her agenda.

Shes traded Londons metropolitan elite for a quieter country life in Somerset. As a mother of two, married to human rights lawyer Jamie McCue she has preferred to sojourn these last five years to a much cherished setting.

Ive just come back from Dinish, a tiny island connected to Lettermullan on the coast of Connemara.

Not long after moving from Oslo aged six, she adds that her Scottish mother and Norwegian father bought this ruined cottage in the middle of the island and some land. We spent about four summers there and those were the only summer holidays I ever went on.

That place was a magical wonderland to me with white sandy beaches and huge flat rocks where you would stand and look over the Atlantic towards America. We were the kings and queens of all we surveyed. Its now more than fifty years since the broadcaster and journalist moved to Ireland with her Scottish mother (an artist) and Norwegian father.

My parents met in Edinburgh, got married and went to live in Norway, then my father got a job as foreign editor for The Irish Times and we moved to Dublin.

The family then flitted to Kilmacnougue, Co Wicklow with Frostrup later attending the Loreto School in Bray.

I loved the loquaciousness of Irish culture and the fact that everyone has a story to tell and they know how to tell it. I also loved the joy of the Gaelic culture and traditional music, I loved everything there.

Punk provided a pull towards London after the death of her father from alcoholism in 1977. Frostrup would eventually secure a job in press relations working for Phonogram Records. There was a natural Celtic connection with Scottish pioneers such as Simple Minds and Skids, two influential bands currently enjoying something of a rebirth and wider critical recognition.

She married the latter bands front-man Richard Jobson in 1979, despite the marriage only lasting five years, they have remained close friends since.

I love Richard. I met him at Rockfield Studios in Wales when I was working with Simple Minds.

"We were ambitious and intelligent but badly educated. His family were in Scotland and my father had died, I was sort of looking for a male figure, there was definitely a vacancy and we just fell together. For a couple of years it was great, we met when I was 16 and I dont regret a moment of the time we spent together.

He was someone who refused to respect the boundaries that people put upon him and in that way we were very similar.

During the 90s Frostrup established herself on late-night television slots such as Video View bringing a conversational tone and canny style.

The likes of Parkinson and Gay Byrne were part of a small number of people who had the opportunity to stamp their personality (on television) and we were the second wave of that. I loved that programme (Video View) and I still think my absolute place of comfort is late-night television.

"To my eternal frustration I got offered a chat-show job in America eighteen years agobut I got the fear, the idea of signing a seven-year contract was anathema to me.

The 57-year-old, who has since presented art shows such as BBC Radio 4s Open Book adds:

I dont want to be up there saying look at me in a broadcast way but I do still love interviewing people, its like unlocking a box of treasure, you dont know whats in there, it could just be a lot of tat but there could also be some really fascinating stuff.

"You have to have the right key because people are a mystery.

Now something of a veteran, Frostrup admits the rules of celebrity culture have changed beyond recognition, telling one story of a date with Iggy Pop who took her to the movies. It turned out to be a pornographic film, unperturbed from naming names she also refers to an interview with Ridley Scott while promoting his film The Counsellor as an example of the shift.

It was a weird movie that sank and was very bleak, his brother had committed suicide during the making of it and I asked Do you think that impacted the film?, he went berserk. I was really shocked because it was the sort of question you could ask an intellectual artist about.

"Im a huge fan of Ridley Scott, he has made some of the most epic and classic films of our time, hes a genius.

"Previously I was doing interviews with the likes of Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Clooney and Pitt and there was never that sense that the PR machine and market dominated the artistry.

As a popular reviewer of films and books and as someone who worked at the coalface of the music industry for a decade she suggests there is less of a cross-pollination of ideas today.

I look back on the noughties and wonder wholl be the great names of that time; we really have gone though a mediocre stage.

An almost Zelig-like figure at the centre of pop culture, the writer and broadcaster counts Sir Mick Jagger among her close friends and first met an unknown Bono when she was 14.

He (Bono) says I had an Irish accent back then but I dont know where or when it went.

She adds that the punk and post-punk energy of her teens benefited from a cerebral and aesthetic connection to cinema, literature and travel suggesting there was an overspill from one artistic genre to another with bands like Simple Minds. They were obsessed with Berlin and proud to be interested in film and art.

So what has changed?

I think it has something to do with commercialisation of music, the priority has become success and not the exploration of an idea or an artistic movement.

It used to be cool to know things and I dont know that it is cool anymore. Its also true of actors and writers as well which is surprising if your business is wordswhere are the angry writers like Martin Amis? With Bowie, Iggy and Patti Smith there was an air of sophistication but also danger.

"I think you find that anger with rap with artists such as Dave, there is nothing worse than anodyne pop. I love to see a challenge to the status quo. I believe we are at a revolutionary moment and things will explode, out of such blood-letting great art always comes.

- Wild Women And Their Amazing Adventures Over Land, Sea & Air edited by Mariella Frostrup is published on paperback by Anima on Febraury 6
It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, but Married At First Sight bride Amanda Micallef was left distraught on her wedding day.

Just moments before walking down the aisle on Tuesday's episode, the 34-year-old strength trainer was told that her 'traditional' father had refused to attend her same-sex wedding.

'I didn't think I'd get this emotional, because I'm an understanding person, but... all you want to do is just make your parents proud,' she said tearfully.

Upsetting: It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, but Married At First Sight bride Amanda Micallef (pictured) was left distraught on her wedding day

Amanda is from a 'traditional European family', with a Maltese, Italian, Greek and Egyptian background.

'I've had to work so damn hard for who I am,' she said, adding that her parents have not been entirely supportive of her sexuality.

Amanda was 21 when she came out to her parents, and confessed that sharing the news had made her feel like 'a bit of a disappointment'.

Gutted: Just moments before walking down the aisle, the 34-year-old strength trainer was told that her 'traditional' father had refused to attend her same-sex wedding

'As a child, but more so as a gay person, there's always that sense that you've got to work a little bit harder to feel like you find your place in society,' she explained.

'And so, having your mother or father's confirmation, I really do crave it.

'And I think, as much as I want to prove to my family that I'm this strong woman, I think I'm still waiting to know if I'm enough.'

Emotional: Amanda was 21 when she came out to her parents, and confessed that sharing the news had made her feel like 'a bit of a disappointment'

Amanda, who acknowledges that her relationship with her parents is strained, was shown explaining the MAFS experiment to her mother.

'Having your approval means the world to me. I'd be shattered if you weren't [at the wedding],' she said.

While her mother promised to support her on the day, she admitted she wasn't sure how Amanda's father would react.

Breaking the news: Amanda, who acknowledges that her relationship with her parents is strained, was shown explaining the MAFS experiment to her mother

'Having your approval means the world': While her mother promised to support her on the day, she admitted she wasn't sure how Amanda's father would react

'It's always a bit of a mystery with my family. I just never know where I stand. I just crave their support,' she later said while preparing for her wedding day.

'I would absolutely love both my parents to be at the wedding. My dad, he sort of already alluded to the fact that he may not come.

'Deep down, I'd be quite hurt if he doesn't come.'

Unfortunately, Amanda's worst fears were realised when her mother confirmed that Amanda's father had decided not to attend.

No-show: Unfortunately, Amanda's worst fears were realised when her mother confirmed that Amanda's father had decided not to attend

Amanda quietly shed tears as she confessed to producers that she was devastated.

'It would have been nice to have him,' she said. 'You want your parents there on your wedding day.'

Amanda is paired with Tash Herz, 31, in the controversial social experiment.

Married At First Sight continues Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine
People die from opioid poisoning. In fact, over 130 people die from it in this country every day. The sad reality is that overdose is now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50 and it has surpassed peak numbers of car crash, HIV and gun deaths per year. However, these are just numbers and statistics until it hits home, until it affects someone we know, until we have to bury someone we love.

The good news amid this tragedy is that addiction is treatable; people can recover from opioid use disorder. But we have to realize that just like with any other chronic disease, it is a long-term illness with no definite cure that requires ongoing medical care. There are no quick fixes, no shortcuts. But if we treat opioid use disorder the way we treat other diseases  with compassion and continuous care  we might just turn the tide. Let me tell you about a new countywide initiative, the HEALing Communities Study, that is looking to destigmatize and help people who suffer from opioid use disorder.

What is the HEALing Communities Study? HEAL stands for Helping to End Addiction Long-term. It is a multi-year, multi-state research study funded by the National Institute of Health through the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

What is the goal? The primary goal is to reduce opioid overdose deaths by 40%.

What is the study approach? A community-driven approach to address the opioid epidemic by implementing evidence-based intervention practices will be applied and studied with the goal to develop a sustainable model that can be replicated in other communities.

What are evidence-based practices? Intervention practices that have been proven successful, such as education and stigma reduction, naloxone training and distribution, medication for addiction treatment and safer prescribing practices.

Who was invited to participate in this study? Communities with a higher than average opioid overdose death rate. Sixteen communities participate in New York state, part of a total of 67 communities in four states: New York, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Ohio. Communities in New York state will be working with Columbia University as their research partner.

Who is working on it locally? A growing steering committee of community stakeholders who are a point of contact for people with opioid use disorder  health, prevention, treatment, recovery service providers, peer advocates, law enforcement and others. The goal is to have as many stakeholders involved as possible from different areas of the county and with varying expertise and experiences. The steering committee will make decisions on the implementation of evidence-based practices in our community and will be supported by local staff.

How will progress be communicated? This is the first of a series of monthly columns that will keep the community informed about the work of the steering committee and partners involved. As we move into the implementation phase, many different outreach activities are planned through various channels. If you would like to receive periodic emails about the study and related topics, please send me an email and I'll add you to the email distribution list. In the near future, information will be posted on the Cayuga County website and you will be able to sign up for notifications there as well.

This was a quick introduction to a new approach with the goal to better integrate existing services and implement proven practices to reduce opioid deaths and ensure a continuum of care. Stay tuned for more news in the coming months and feel free to reach out with any feedback.

Monika Salvage works for the Cayuga County Mental Health Department as the project manager for the HEALing Communities Study. If you are interested in learning more or getting involved, call (315) 253-1522 or email msalvage@cayugacounty.us.

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SOLVAY, N.Y. -- Three days after the Solvay mayor berated a village attorney in front of a roomful of people, the villages law firm quit.

Costello, Cooney & Fearon has been Solvays legal counsel for 23 years. Friday, the firm sent Solvay a letter saying they were ending the relationship.
A meeting was held last week at Moore Abbey in Monasterevin with parents of adults of intellectual disabilities  some of whom are 70 and over and are still the primary carer of their adult children  to launch a campaign about lack of funding.

The ambitious campaign was launched by parents who are afraid to die and leave their adult children, alongside staff of the Muiriosa Foundation, to secure 211m per year over the life of the next government. They want so people with intellectual disabilities to have access to basic support.

The Muiriosa Foundation provides support services to over 1,200 people with an intellectual disability and their families in South Kildare and the midlands. Chairman Sean Abbott explained: Across age groups there are people with intellectual disabilities who are not currently able to access basic supports.

Adults who have an intellectual disability and need to move out of the family home have no system to access residential supports  with only a small number of emergencies being funded this year.

In figures gathered this week, the National Federation of Voluntary Service Providers and its members have identified that across 38 of its services alone, the lack of a system to access residential support means that at least 1,250 parents aged 70-and-over continue to be primary carer for their adult son or daughter living at home, close to 400 of whom are over 80 years old, with no visibility of a residential support for their loved one in sight.

Some of these parents who are primary care givers stated at the meeting that they are afraid to die and leave their adult children without access to proper long term care.

Meanwhile, disability services were informed earlier this month of an additional 20 million cut to their already underfunded budgets

At the most basic level, Mr Abbott argued, this cut must be reversed.

A meeting was also held with a number of general election candidates last Tuesday in the Keadeen Hotel, Newbridge.
For a 10th year, the nations premier dental lifestyle magazine, published by Benco Dental, will recognize top practitioners. February 10, 2020 is the last day to nominate in two categories: Dental Specialists and General Dentists.

PITTSTON, PA, Feb. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brilliant. Exceptional. Dazzling. Apt descriptions for Americas finest young practitioners, the smiles they create, and their commitment to oral health care. Annually, Incisal Edge, the premier lifestyle magazine for dentists nationwide, applauds this excellence with its signature award  the 40 Under 40 honor.



For the 10th consecutive year, the magazinepublished by Benco Dental since 1997will celebrate the 40 Under 40 in its fall editorial coverage, including a series of informative profiles. Nominations will be accepted in two categories, General Dentists and Dental Specialists, through February 10, 2020 at: IncisalEdgeMagazine.com



Incisal Edges top 40 Under 40 recognizes innovative and passionate young professionals in dentistry across the U.S. Whether renowned for their medical innovations, volunteer work and philanthropy, or simply a commitment to outstanding patient care, these honoreesnominated by industry experts from around the country and vetted by an independent panelrepresent the best of dentistry today, and the promise of even better dentistry tomorrow. Visit IncisalEdgeMagazine.com, where previous years winners are spotlighted.



"Recognizing the achievements of America's brightest rising stars is at the heart of advancing the art and science of dental medicine," said Chuck Cohen, co-founder of Incisal Edge. "At Benco Dental, we're proud to provide technology and solutions that help doctors drive dentistry forward, so it's especially gratifying to watch as the best of the best are first nominated by their peers, and then selected by our panel of judges for displaying the highest levels of excellence among young practitioners."



To nominate a dentist, visit: https://www.judgify.me/40Under40-2020. Submissions must be completed on or before 11:59 p.m. EST on February 10, 2020. Dentists are welcome to self-nominate and to nominate a colleague or peer.



About Incisal Edge



Knowledge. Success. Life. Those three words, printed on the cover of every issue, guide editorial content for the nationals premier dental lifestyle magazine -- Incisal Edge. Published by Benco Dental since 1997, Incisal Edge celebrates dentists achievements both inside the operatory and during their hard-earned downtime. Known for its 40 Under 40  Americas Best Young Dentists, which highlights the countrys brightest rising stars, the magazines content ranges from The 32 Most Influential People in Dentistry and news about the latest techniques, tools, and dental practice designs, to the best in travel, automobiles, and timepieces. Incisal Edge magazines print edition reaches 130,000 readers quarterly via a direct mail distribution package with Dentaltown magazine. Digitally, incisaledgemagazine.com, leads with dynamic visuals and follows with exclusive web content, an improved mobile experience, and a centralized nomination hub for the magazines signature awards: the aforementioned 40 Under 40, the Lucy Hobbs Project Awards for Exemplary Women in Dentistry and the Incisal Edge Design Competition for interior design, architecture and space planning within the dental profession.



About Benco Dental



We Drive Dentistry Forward through innovative solutions and our caring family culture. Our firsts include CenterPoint design/equipment superstores, OneVisit open architecture CAD/CAM, Painless electronic ordering and automated supply management. Independent since founded by Ben Cohen in 1930, we've grown to become the country's largest family-owned dental distributor. Over 1,400 dedicated associates serve customers at locations coast-to-coast including 400+ sales representatives and 300+ factory-trained service technicians. We're one of Fortune's Best Workplaces in Health Care and Biopharma for three consecutive years, a NAFE Top Company for Executive Women for two consecutive years, and among Pennsylvania Best Places to Work for 12 of 14 prior years. ###

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Attachments

KRISTIE CERUTI

BENCO DENTAL

570.602.7047

kceruti@benco.com


The Polytechnics Mauritius (PML) open day will give you a taste of what it would be like to be a student at Polytechnics Mauritius and how the courses will shape his/her learning into promising careers. You can explore our campus, speak to current students and find out about our courses.

Parents

You will come to know from the existing students how the learning methodology, facilities and courses along with the internship in industries are developing their knowledge, skills and competence to confidently embark on an enriching career. You will as well know the academic partners (Mauritius and international) and the industry partners who enable our students to prepare their career and the opportunities for further studies in the international institutions with whom Polytechnics Mauritius collaborates.

Get to know the Polytechnics Mauritius

Get a feel of what its like to study at Polytechnics Mauritius.

Tour our campus and experience our canteen and other facilities; meet our staff and students; ask anything and everything you want to know.

Our Programme Leaders/ Programme Coordinators and Lecturers will elaborate on the courses that are available and the level of education required to enroll on the courses. They will answer your questions about the clusters, programmes, facilities, internship that forms part of the entire programme, awarding bodies and costs to enroll to the different courses.

All Courses at PML February 2020 (1,9 MiB, 372 hits)

Talk with students and staff

Throughout the day, youll have many opportunities to meet current students. Theyre the best people to give you an idea of what studying and living here is really like.

You can also meet academic, student affairs and support staff during the open day. Theyll be happy to answer any questions you have about our courses and the support we offer. Youll also find information on:

 careers

 fees

 placements

 skills

 sport

 Students Union sports, societies and support

 studying abroad

Travelling to an Open Day

Polytechnics Mauritius is providing free shuttle from Quartier Militaire to the campus.

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CONCORD, N.H. - Ann Kuster, the daughter of two New Hampshire politicians, has been involved in the state's presidential campaigns since 1972 and has played key roles in the campaigns of John Kerry and Barack Obama.

But the four-term U.S. representative marvels at what she called the historic number of undecided voters with just a week before the nation's first primary is held here Feb. 11.

"I have never in my lifetime seen such a high number of undecided voters here," said Kuster, 63, a Democrat.

As the Democratic candidates leave Iowa after Monday's caucuses and descend on this small state, a recent survey by the University of New Hampshire found that nearly half of the electorate is undecided, with 31% firmly committed and 20% open to switching.

This indecision has heightened the potential impact of the Iowa vote, which historically influences the race in New Hampshire, depending on who finishes in the top tier. A Friday debate in New Hampshire could prove decisive.

Even the best-run campaign organization in New Hampshire will find it difficult to overcome a poor Iowa finish, according to Dante Scala, a professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire.

"You can build the boat," Scala said, referring to a campaign organization. "But you win with the wind in its sails. If you are not the story out of Iowa, your sails can go limp anyway, and it doesn't matter how well the boat is built."

Don Brueggemann, manager of the Works Bakery Cafe on Concord's Main Street, said Monday that many Democratic voters are "struggling" to make a decision and could be affected by the Iowa results. After meeting a number of candidates who have eaten meals at his shop, including former vice president Joe Biden, he decided only in the last few days to support Pete Buttigieg after talking with fellow voters at a house party.

"I'm pretty mainstream for the most part," the 60-year-old said. "It's really just trying to think of who is going to match up well against Mr. Trump. Initially, I was like, I don't want to vote for anybody over 70 or anybody under 40." Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is 78, and Biden is 77. While he said "nothing Bernie says is untrue," and "Biden has done some great things," he decided to support the 38-year-old Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, in hopes that he can unite Democrats.

Still, he said, he could change his mind if Buttigieg finished poorly in Iowa.

"If he didn't rate in the top four, that would give me pause," he said.

There have been questions for months about how important the New Hampshire primary will be because two of the leading candidates, Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are from neighboring states, perhaps hurting the ability of other candidates to compete for a top finish.

But New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner, the longtime guardian of the first-primary status, insisted the state will be as important as ever. In the past 17 New Hampshire primaries, fourteen winners went on to be elected president and the other three who occupied the White House finished in second place here.

"No one has come in less than second in a New Hampshire presidential primary and gone on to be president," Gardner said.

Yet by some measures, New Hampshire's role has diminished. For example, there has been a historic lack of advertising by some of the leading candidates, many of whom have invested heavily in Iowa and other states.

Biden, for example, had spent $5,429 on television and radio advertising here as of mid-January, according to Advertising Analytics, which tracks such political spending. During the same period, Biden had spent $5 million in Iowa. (Advertising Analytics said Biden's spending had increased here to $215,000 as of Monday.)

The airwaves have been dominated by Tom Steyer, the former hedge fund manager. The billionaire has spent $16 million on television and radio ads in New Hampshire as of Jan. 13, far more than any other candidate, according to Advertising Analytics. Steyer's spending has not paid off; he has been in the low single digits in the polls.

The second-highest spender was Sanders, at $3.6 million.

Some of the top candidates are spending the least, in part because they have poured so many resources into Iowa. Warren spent $128,000 on television and radio advertising as of Jan. 13, according to Advertising Analytics.

Biden's campaign has long sought to play down expectations here, given that Sanders and Warren are from neighboring states. But Biden himself recently delivered a conflicting message. While he stressed that he doesn't need a victory here, he said on Jan. 26 on a local television station, WMUR, that "I think I will win New Hampshire."

Ian Moskowitz, the director of Biden's New Hampshire campaign, confirmed that Biden had spent $5,429 as of Jan. 13. Asked what that said about his competitiveness here, Moskowitz responded that "the person-to-person conversations are what matter here." New Hampshire has a population of 1.36 million, making it one of the 10 smallest states.

While it is a New Hampshire political mantra that campaigning is personal, the number of Democratic primary voters is expected to exceed 250,000, according to Gardner. Of those, nearly 40% of the electorate are expected to be independents, and they may hold the key to victory. Independents are not allowed to vote in Iowa's caucuses, so their presence here is perhaps the most significant political difference between the states.

The strength of independents was particularly evident here in 2016, when Sanders beat Hillary Clinton by a 52-48 margin among Democrats, but swamped her by 73-25 among independents, according to exit polls. Sanders won overall with 60% of the vote.

Kuster, who supports Buttigieg, noted that Sanders's support is much lower than four years ago. Recent polls of this year's much larger field show Sanders leading with support in the 20s. Kuster said that shows that many people who supported Sanders are open to other candidates.

Biden, meanwhile, faces challenges here that may be even greater than those he dealt with in Iowa. The relative lack of minorities, whose support is crucial to his bid, is once again a factor here. Whites make up 91% of Iowa and 93% in New Hampshire, according to Census Bureau figures.

A key difference between New Hampshire and Iowa is this state's wealth. (The unemployment rates are nearly identically strong - 2.6% in New Hampshire and 2.7% in Iowa). Unlike Iowa's farm-based economy, subject to the swings of trade wars and soybean prices, New Hampshire has thrived as a high-tech hub and attracts many wealthier residents seeking its low tax rates.

The median value of a home here is $253,000, compared with $142,000 in Iowa, and the percentage of people older than 25 with a college degree is 37%, compared with 28% in Iowa, according to Census figures.

Yet for all its economic might, New Hampshire's working class is lagging, which helps explain the appeal of the message from a democratic socialist such as Sanders. Nearly 7% of people under 65 years old here do not have health insurance, compared with 5.6% in Iowa.

Another perceived Biden strength, his appeal to blue-collar voters, is being tested here by the emergence of several moderate candidates such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Buttigieg. Both candidates have invested heavily in their organizations here to be prepared for the potential of capturing momentum from their hoped-for strong Iowa finish.

"We are well-positioned to use our organization here in New Hampshire to persuade undecideds and independents," said Scott Merrick, Klobuchar's state director.
The CPM on Tuesday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'silence' on hate speeches by his party members

New Delhi: The CPM on Tuesday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on hate speeches by his party members and slammed his government over the sedition case slapped against a parent and a teacher in Karnataka for allegedly staging a play on the new citizenship law.

Nazbunnisa, 26, the mother of the girl who participated in the play, and Fareeda Begum, 52, the headteacher of Shaheen School, who staged it, were arrested by Bidar New Town Police Station officers.

The two were booked under Sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes), 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting, attempting to promote disharmony) and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code.

"A 9-year old child's lines in a school play have sent a mother and teacher to jail for sedition' while the prime minister is completely maun' over his ministers urging people to shoot down people & calling elected CMs terrorists. This is the BJP's worldview and they will be made accountable," tweeted CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

A 9-year old childs lines in a school play have sent a mother and teacher to jail for sedition while PM is completely maun over his ministers urging people to shoot down people & calling elected CMs terrorists. This is the BJPs worldview and they will be made accountable. pic.twitter.com/CMbMi7p7Vz  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) February 4, 2020

In another tweet, he said communal polarisation has been BJP's "only achievement" in power.

Communal polarisation, fear mongering, hatred and violence... That is all BJP is left in its arsenal with. These are their only achievements over the last six years. These are the Achhe Din Modi promised in 2014? pic.twitter.com/OOCPcpmcJC  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) February 4, 2020

"Communal polarisation, fear-mongering, hatred and violence... That is all BJP is left in its arsenal with. These are their only achievements over the last six years. These are the Achhe Din' Modi promised in 2014?" he said.
The price of pork has increased significantly in recent months and, according to the supermarket chains speaking to Magyar Nemzet, the effect of the increase in prices is already visible on demand.

Attila Fodor, CBAs director of communications, said suppliers had raised pork meat prices by an average of 25-30 % over the past year.



Although shoppers typically experience a slightly more modest price increase in the stores meat counters, demand has fallen. He added that in many places, the chains stores are selling 20% less pork.



Mark Maczelka, communications manager for Spar Hungary, reported similar trends. Aldis press department also reported rising prices, but the discount chain saw no year-on-year decline in sales.



According to Abigel Adorjan, communications manager for Auchan Hungary, the demand for pork is determined by several components. Year by year, there is less cooking at home, so the proportion of home-cooked meat is also decreasing.



The rise in pork prices was not a domestic phenomenon, and that the outbreaks of African Swine Fever had caused prices to skyrocket throughout the European Union.



This is mainly due to the fact that hundreds of millions of pigs have been slaughtered in China due to the disease. Demand for Hungarian pork, and thus prices, is further boosted by the devastating disease in neighboring Romania; that country is forced to import more due to forced slaughter, Magyar Nemzet added.
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Recently, Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple reported on a shake-up at The Atlantic, which had featured Emanuel as a contributing editor. Black writers and staff members objected to Emanuels role based on his handling of the Laquan McDonald matter. What is plainly true is that Mr. Emanuel used the conditions of a financial settlement with a grieving family to cover up the details of the murder of a black teenager by a white police officer. Mr. Emanuels conduct defiles both principles beyond recognition and is the kind of behavior that news organizations of any ideological stripe expose rather than reward, they wrote to their editors, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Wemple.
As the amiably vulgar crowds of Brexiteers sang in loud celebration under Nigel Farages beaming approval in Parliament Square (to the puritan disapproval of the Independents Tom Peck: a knuckle-dragging carnival of the irredeemably stupid, retweeted by historian Simon Schama as brilliant), I was at a small private celebration in a Budapest restaurant with my American wife, Irish writer cousin, and a Swiss friend raising glasses of delicious Hungarian fizz to the recovery of Britains democratic sovereignty.

Other Eurosceptics have testified to feeling a slight sense of anticlimax as the moment came. It was indeed a little like New Years Eve  we had known this night was coming for a long time, we wanted it to happen, but the next morning we would be starting on a different and perhaps tougher work schedule rather than a vacation. That said, we would be independent contractors rather than salaried employees.

My own feeling, however, was not so much that I was embarking on a new task as that I was laying down an old one. I first became a Brexiteer (or, as we were then confusingly known, an anti-Marketeer, because the European Union, then the European Economic Community, or EEC, was known colloquially as the Common Market) in the late 1960s. The Tories were then the pro-Europe party in substance even though all parties were formally undecided. In the course of attending discussions of the Tory leadership on the EEC (as a junior aide, I hasten to add), I reached the heretical conclusion that the economic case for joining Europe was weak and the case against surrendering our sovereignty to do so was therefore strong. In the 1970 election, in which I stood as a Tory candidate for Gateshead West, I stressed the conditional nature of our manifesto pledge on Europe: Our commitment is to negotiate, no more, no less. My Euroscepticism was firming up.

Not that anyone gives a damn about what a first-time Tory candidate in a safe Labour seat thinks about anything. As the party professionals say in their wisdom, a parliamentary candidate is just a bloody legal necessity. Thus Britain joined the EEC in 1973, despite my opposition, and was then faced with a referendum in 1975 on whether to confirm or reject the (now defeated) Tory governments handiwork. By then I had risen to a far more influential position in the Tory world: I was an editorial and parliamentary correspondent in the Daily Telegraph, an independent paper known colloquially as the Torygraph since the Tory faithful bought it and the Tory leadership had to take its editorial advice into account.

Story continues

Also, I was among the relatively few active Tories who had bucked the official party line and campaigned for a No vote in the hapless anti-Market effort. I had spoken to the voters and I knew we were doomed.

On June 4, 1975, therefore, I sat down at my clattering typewriter in the Telegraph offices and embarked on a melancholy task. As one of the minority of editorial writers opposed to EEC membership, I had been asked by editor Bill Deedes to write a light account of the referendum campaign that would appear on the morning of the vote. Bill said he wanted my squib to offset the solemnity of the editorial, but my suspicion was that he was a secret No voter who wanted it to offset the Telegraphs stern admonition to vote Yes. And he may have been right. In its small way that squib was the modest beginning of the Telegraphs Euroscepticism, which has since played a big part in achieving Brexit  the full story of which is told in the Telegraph itself.

In principle Bill could have ordered a No editorial, but pressure from the establishment for an endorsement of Britains EU membership was so overwhelming in 1975 that it would have seemed eccentric, unpatriotic, even treasonable. So I read through the files of the previous months campaigning and started bashing out the piece:

From the Establishment and the respectable anti-Establishment, from the Economist and the New Statesman, from Lord Feather [of the Trades Union Congress] and Mr. Campbell Adamson [of the Confederation of British Industry], from Prime Ministers Wilson (Labour) and Heath (Tory), from the Royal Commission Volunteers to Actors and Actresses for Europe, from the farthest reaches of the civilized West End, the same advice, the same dire predictions of life outside the Market (God, it was hell out there in 1972), the same comforting assurances of a bright future inside, less ecstatic admittedly than similar forecasts before we had entered (Come in, come in, the waters lukewarm was their newer message) have been proclaimed with an almost religious fervor.

Religion itself had been conscripted for the European cause. The bishop of London, preaching in St Pauls, had said that those concerned about sovereignty were guilty of the heresy My country, right or wrong, which was essentially selfish and inward-looking. Big Business spoke with one voice: The CBIs Ralph Bateman declared that it would be madness to leave the EEC, and Mr. Barrie Heath told the workers at the engineering company, Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds, that membership in the EEC was not a political issue at all. It was a simple matter of economic and industrial efficiency.

Is he Sir Barrie? asked Enoch Powell, the leading Tory campaigner for a No vote. No? Well, he soon will be. He was, too  given a knighthood three years later for services to exporting.

If the Yes campaigners looked like a group of suits who had just emerged from too good a lunch at the Savoy, the Noes seemed to be an odd blend of left and right eccentrics in denims and hunting pink, respectively. But the Left  above all, its favorite, Tony Benn  predominated. After he left frontline politics, Benn morphed into a lovable British eccentric, with his mug of tea and his nostalgic lectures on workers control, but at the time he was seen by Middle England as its main enemy on the left. Dominic Sandbrook recently cited my old joke in his social history of Britain in the 1970s: Mr. Benn often complains that the press and television are biased against the anti-Marketeers. And he is absolutely right. They keep on reporting him.

As a result of this unbalanced campaign, the British people were being pushed to stay in this modernizing New Europe in the resigned spirit of If you know of a better airport lounge, go to it. My article, however, ended with a warning: In supporting Europe, the entire British establishment has put all its money on one horse  admittedly the favorite. But what if, like most of the establishments fancied runners in the last twenty years, it comes in fourth?

Not that I would ever dream of saying I told you so, but that is exactly what happened. Leaders in all the main political and cultural institutions had told themselves a number of defeatist stories to justify breaking their previous loyalties and surrendering an ever-growing share of their own freedom of action: Suez had demonstrated the shrinkage of Britains independent role as a world power; the Commonwealth was no help in arresting our own decline; we needed the cold bath of economic competition to wake ourselves up  and that would be provided by unimpeded access to the European market that had enabled EEC members to grow more rapidly than Britain in the previous two decades. Underlying these soliloquies was a feeling that Britain could only overcome this declinism by merging itself into a larger world power. As a critic of that attitude, Enoch Powell, said in the late sixties when Britain was still hesitating: Their message is: We were big once. We want to be big again.

Yet, even at the time, none of these arguments really withstood skeptical examination even at the time. Consider each one:

If the country needed a cold bath of competition, it could have obtained that more thoroughly by adopting free trade with the world rather than by joining a Europe cosseted by a common external tariff.

No country, even the United States, had untrammeled power, as the Vietnam War had just established. But the British had defeated the Malayan Communists ten years earlier and were about to see off the Indonesians in the largely unreported Borneo war. They had no real reason to reproach themselves for lacking power and influence internationally.

Furthermore, the real source of British decline lay in the inefficiency of British industry and the excessive power of the trade unions. Membership in the European Economic Community would do nothing about that. Indeed, for both Labour and pre-Thatcher Tories, Europe was a way of evading that truth rather than tackling it. Europe would do what we feared to do ourselves, they argued, but no one could ever explain how.

The British Commonwealth had its limitations, but Britain was Australias largest single trading and investment partner in the early 1960s until EEC membership explicitly set out to reduce that trade through quotas.

Above all, though full access to a larger European market would indeed be a benefit to Britain, this was overstated as a factor in Europes post-war growth. At least as important was the move from low-productivity jobs in agriculture to high-productivity jobs in industry on the continent after 1945. But the British economy had made that transition between 1870 and 1945. We couldnt get the same benefit twice.

All these factors soon became academic, however. No sooner had Britain confirmed its EEC membership in the 1975 referendum than Europe stopped growing. The benefits of an expanded market that were supposed to follow British entry failed to arrive on schedule or at all. Europe itself went into a long sleep of stagflation. And the Brits fell deeper into the Slough of Despond, until four years later they reached its lowest point in the Winter of Discontent, when strikes spread over Britain like the coronavirus. It took the arrival of Margaret Thatcher to restore strength and prosperity to Britain by the only method that works  creating the framework of financial and economic stability that enables people and industries to save themselves by their own efforts.

For most of the next decade, therefore, the EEC as a political issue faded into the background as Thatchers fight to revive Britain through her own efforts (her referring here to both Britain and Thatcher) dominated life and politics. Britains relationship with the EEC was structured mainly around the attempts of the new prime minister to get a large British budgetary rebate from Brussels to compensate for the fact that the EEC budget was structurally biased against the Brits,m who paid in a lot but got little back because 40 percent of EEC spending was on agriculture. Europe came back into the headlines after 1986, however, as a result of three developments: Thatcherite Britain recovered economically to become the worlds fourth-largest economy; the EEC adopted a single market, in which regulatory harmonization in Brussels replaced the principle that all EEC members would mutually recognize one anothers standards; and the Left in Brussels and Britain saw that this harmonization, enforced on the principle of a level playing field, would give Brussels the power to control everything that moved across the continent. And Brussels was not a Tory city.

Jacques Delors, newly chosen as the EU Commission president, told the British labor unions this good news in a famous 1988 speech. Within ten years, he said, 80 percent of economic and social legislation would be determined by Europe. And within a very short time the Labour Party and the unions had switched sides to become strongly Europhile. Most Tories took longer to realize that the balance of political advantage of the European issue had changed, but it was always likely that a Tory government presiding over a booming deregulated economy would resist a Brussels takeover run by a socialist. Thatcher responded to Delors only two months later, in what became known as the Bruges speech (drafted by her close adviser and personal friend Charles Powell, who was a moderate Euroskeptic.) Here is its most famous passage:

We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level with a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels.

Not all Tories, nor all cabinet ministers, were happy with this open and robust resistance, however, and for the next two years a quiet civil war spread across the party, fought over Europe and issues related to it. They wanted quiet diplomacy and compromise with Berlin, Paris, and Brussels. Having served in Downing Street for two years as a special adviser to the prime minister, I had moved to the U.S. in 1988 to edit National Review. From there I returned to London, to write speeches for her, most of which had Bruges-type passages, from time to time. I had a ringside seat, therefore, from which to observe the growing divide between Thatcher, supported by the party faithful, and the majority of hercCabinet, supported by what has to be called elite opinion over European policy. That reached a climax when she rejected moves at the EU summit in Rome to move toward far greater Euro-integration, political and economic, and returned to London to face a crisis. Foreign secretary Geoffrey Howe resigned; former defense secretary (and fierce Europhiliac) Michael Heseltine stood against her in a leadership election; she failed to get the necessary super-majority . . . and returned from the Paris conference in celebration of the end of the Cold War to face the second round of the leadership election.

In New York, I had written some passages for the prime minister to deliver the next day in a speech responding to a Labour motion of no confidence and boarded a plane for London. In London, one minister after another was undermining her will to fight on by telling her she was already as good as defeated. When I got off the plane, she had already announced her intention to resign, delivered a humdinger of a speech in Parliament, and sent me an invitation to Downing Street for a drink the day after. That party of old friends and advisers from the early Thatcher years onward was one of those odd occasions in which feelings of tragedy and sadness are dissipated in a catharsis of wit and hilarity. I dont know when Ive felt sadder or laughed more.

But I went on from there to address a meeting of the Bruges Group, formed to advance the Tory Eurosceptic cause, that had been arranged months before. To my surprise I found that although they were saddened by the prime ministers departure, they didnt think it would significantly change the drift of government policy toward a looser relationship with Europe. I tried to make their flesh creep by pointing out that she had been ousted because of  in large measure  her militant Euroscepticism and that two of her three potential successors were strong Europhiles. As it turned out, the third was John Major, who turned out to be as Europhiliac as Heseltine. Of the five prime ministers since Thatcher, four have been almost equally so (though sometimes in light disguise). By means of occasional anti-Brussels rhetoric without consequence, successive Tory leaders were able to keep the restive Brexiteer majority of their grassroots supporters under control until Nigel Farage invented two Leave parties in succession in order to give right-wing voters a genuinely Eurosceptic party to vote for.

That was vital. But would it have been enough if the intellectual case had not been made in the years since Thatchers defenestration? Former chancellor Norman Lamont has said recently that he thought that in 1993 he might have been the first frontline politician to suggest that Britain might actually leave the EU rather than try, always ineffectually, to reform-cum-liberalize it. I think hes right and that his isolation in challenging such an intellectually challengeable institution as the EU is a marker of the astounding groupthink that has gripped cultural, media, and political elites in the West right up to the recent Tory election victory. And though Lamont was the first serving major politician to challenge that groupthink, he was building on the interventions in the European debate that Thatcher continued to make in the two decades after she left office.

Along with Robin Harris, another Thatcher aide and later the author of a biography of the lady that took no equivocating prisoners, I was fortunate enough to work with the former prime minister both when she was writing her memoirs and when she wanted to make speeches on especially important topics. Ever the scholarship girl, she used those occasions to develop a soundly based analysis of subjects as important and as different as the euro and the relationship between Russia and the West. All her speeches are available at margaretthatcher.org, but to see her views on the European issue in the round, look at both the Bruges speech she gave in government and her speech at The Hague not long after she left it. But the speech that probably best represents her growing influence on the issue is her 1992 speech to the World Economic Development Conference in the U.S. I recall that speech well. She had invited Robin and me to help with its writing in the British embassy in Washington. As so often with a Thatcher speech, the writing continued well into the small hours. She retired about 3:30 a.m. We did some editorial cleaning up on the computer. And at about 5:00 a.m. we let ourselves out of the embassy onto Massachusetts Avenue. No taxis were to be had. We schlepped our cases about a mile down to the hotel on Dupont Circle to catch a few hours sleep.

But we were reenergized by the speechs reception the next day. It was delivered just after Britain had been forced out of the European Exchange Realignment Mechanism, which she had never liked, had been forced by political weakness to join shortly before losing office, and had criticized as trapping the pound at too high a rate and inflicting a recession on the economy. Crashing out of the ERM confirmed these fears, and her speech was interpreted by the media as an elegant I told you so.

As others have pointed out, however, notably Tom McTague at The Atlantic, that speech looked forward to future European controversies as well as back to the ERM. In particular, Thatcher warned of the consequences if a single European currency were to be introduced, as it was eight years later: Huge sums would have to be transferred from richer to poorer countries and regions to allow them to take the strain. Even then, unemployment and mass migration across now-open frontiers would follow. And a full-fledged single currency would allow no escape hatch. She then laid out the political consequences, too:

the growth of extremist parties, battening on fears about mass immigration and unemployment, offering a real  if thoroughly unwelcome  alternative to the Euro-centrist political establishment. If, in addition, you were to create a supranational European federation, and the people could no longer hold their national parliaments to account, extremism could only grow further.

McTague remarks that this was a remarkably prescient speech. It was more than prescient, moreover, because these arguments not only kept alive the Eurosceptic case in the 1990s, they later injected it with performance-enhancing drugs when the euro crisis, the Greek crisis, the migration crisis, the rise of populism, and the collapse of center-left and center-right parties altered the political landscape in the twenty-teens. We read the runes of those crises more intelligently because Thatcher had explained them in advance. In her accurate prediction of how the country would respond to escaping from the ERM, did she perhaps also predict the likely response of Britain to Brexit?

The histrionics of this time will soon be forgotten. The benefits will be increasingly appreciated. Dire warnings of what will happen when the economic straitjacket is removed will quickly prove false. The patient may perhaps wave his arms around a bit at first. He may even make a noise. But his odd behavior reflects the torture of the straitjacket, not an inherent disordered condition. And the long-concealed truth quickly dawns that this patient was perfectly sane all the time.

I think so; well know in time. For the moment, however, I am inclined to think of Brexit as Mrs. Thatchers last victory and the fulfillment of Thatcherism. In the final stage of her career she reached Eurosceptic conclusions on the euro and more broadly, in her retirement, on Britains European commitment. She took time to do so. As a practical politician, she was always a work in progress, feeling her way in new policy areas, but as she grew more confident on an issue, making judgments that were generally consistent with all her other political instincts. The more she encountered the European Union, the more suspicious of it she became. It seemed to her to concentrate the centralizing and leveling passions in one vast bureaucratic machine insensitive to the sovereignty of nations and to the aspirations of citizens. Above all, she believed it simply did not suit the British who had grown up under different institutions and with a different social outlook.

Some years ago I was asked by an Italian political conference to assess how history would judge Margaret Thatcher on Europe. I replied that she would prove to be either ahead of her party or behind history. If Brexit occurred successfully, then Thatcherism would be seen as the start of a new phase of British history, leading either to an adventurous independent English nationalism in the style of (though in very different circumstances from) Elizabethan England or perhaps to a renewed closeness to the countries of the Anglosphere straddling the world. If Britain voted to remain in Europe, Thatcher would seem to have been behind history, and Thatcherism would look like a glorious last stand by Old England, the England that more or less invented classical liberalism in 1689, before it was subsumed into a collective European nonidentity. In either event, she deserved well of the people she governed for eleven years. Without her they would have been given no choice in the matter.

As Brexit turned out, she proved to be ahead both of her party and of history, and can truly now rest in peace.

As for myself, I feel a sense of relief as well as of satisfaction. In much of my writing life, both as a ghost and as a commentator in my own voice, I have been been devoted to arguing for a self-governing democratic Britain, first as a member of a loose and lightly regulated Europe and, when that possibility was ruled out by a persistent Brussels majority, as an ex-member of the European Union. That second possibility has now been achieved, and I think securely so. There will still be alarms and excursions about our future trading relationship with the EU, and the government can be confidently expected to make other blunders along the way. But I really dont see the country being persuaded to rejoin the EU under any dispensation. But reporting and analyzing those controversies I can leave with perfect confidence to my colleagues such as Madeleine Kearns and Michael Brendan Dougherty, who have done such a tremendous job of covering the final days of European Britain. That burden has now been lifted from my shoulders. I must turn, quite happily, to other concerns.

But to what exactly?

Well, they tell me that some interesting things have been happening in the United States. It seems unlikely, but Ill give it a shot.

More from National Review
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2020) - MAX RESOURCE CORP. ("Max" or the "Company") (TSXV: MXR) (OTC PINK: MXROF) (FSE: M1D2) is pleased to report 4.3% copper and 26 g/t silver over a 3m by 3m panel from Outcrop-1, located approximately 2 km south from the AM Horizon Discovery (refer to January 21, 2020 news release), within the Company's 100% owned Cesar copper-silver project, located 420 km north of Bogota, Colombia (refer to figure below).

Highlight rock chip and panel values from Outcrop-1:

4.3% copper and 26 g/t silver over 3m by 3m panel;

2.1% copper and 9 g/t silver over 6m;

1.8% copper and 12 g/t silver over 3m by 3m panel; and

1.5% copper and 9 g/t silver over 3m by 3m panel.

The Company considers rock chip panel sampling to be representative across their reported widths. Additionally, assay results are pending for Outcrops-2 through to 12. Further exploration is required to see whether there is a link between the 12 outcrops and the newly-discovered AM Horizon (1.4 km long open at both ends). The Phase II program is underway with the goal of significantly expanding the exploration drilling targets (refer to figure below).

"Wide spread copper-silver mineralization discovered by Max in our Phase I exploration program indicates the regional nature of this type of mineralization that occurs in the Rancheria Basin. The visible structure and assays from Outcrop-1 reinforce our model and the regional similarities to the mineralization of Poland's vast Kupferschiefer, one of the world's largest copper and silver districts," Max CEO, Brett Matich, stated. Max cautions investors that mineralization at Kupferscheifer is not necessarily indicative of similar mineralization at Cesar.

"The Max field team is currently rock chip panel sampling across a newly discovered mineralized horizon located on trend 40 km north of the AM Horizon, which could be very significant from a regional prospective," he continued.





To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3834/52088_1e9fa347147d59ab_001full.jpg

Copper Grade Silver Grade Width Number 4.3 % 26 g/t 3m by 3m panel OC-1A 2.1 % 9 g/t 6m OC-1-B 1.8 % 12 g/t 3m by 3m panel OC-1-C 1.5 % 9 g/t 3m by 3m panel OC-1D 1.2 % 8 g/t 0.5m OC-1E 1.0 % 8 g/t 1.0 OC-1F

Table 1. Outcrop-1 rock chip assays from the Phase I exploration program.

Cesar Copper-Silver Project

The 100% owned CESAR Project is located in north east Colombia within Jurassic sediments and volcaniclastics that run through the length of northern South America which hosts significant stratabound copper-silver mineralization in Ecuador and Peru. The petrographic analyses of rock samples collected from the CESAR project indicate that stratabound mineralization is the hosted in siltstone and sandstone associated with the reduced facies of the Rancheria Basin.

The first field investigation identified 18 outcrops over an area of 9 sq. km with reported grab sample assays ranging from 0.3% to 4.2% copper and silver values ranged from 1 to 116g/t (refer November 6, 2019 news release). The Company cautions investors that grab samples are selected samples and are not necessarily representative of mineralization hosted on the property.

Max reported an entirely new discovery, called the AM Horizon, a NE-SW stratabound copper-silver horizon in excess of 1.4 km dipping 40 degrees NW, which appears to continue under cover in both directions. Highlight rock chip results include:

2.7% copper and 18 g/t silver over 0.5m;

2.1% copper and 9 g/t silver over a 3m by 3m panel; and

1.6% copper and 8 g/t silver over a 3m by 3m panel.

The Phase II exploration program is now well underway.

North Choco Gold-Copper Project

North Choco consists of wholly owned mineral applications (150 sq. km), located approximately 80 km SW of Medellin, Colombia. The NW Gold-Copper Discovery (refer to 29 October 2019 news release) outcrop reported 1 meter of 49.8 g/t gold and 4.3% copper, which continues under cover in both directions. Future work would focus on mapping and sampling along strike to extend the zone and on locating additional parallel zones.

Choco Gold Project

Choco Gold project consists of wholly owned mineral applications (200 sq. km), located approximately 120 km SW of Medellin Colombia and cover or are adjacent to historic production of 605,110 ounces of gold by Choco Pacific Mining (1906 to 1990). Source; R.J. Fletcher and Associates (2011) Review of Gold and Platinum Exploration and Production in Choco Province Colombia Part 3. Private Report for Condoto. The Company has commenced discussions with a potential partner with the prerequisite expertise to assist with the gold bearing conglomerates.

Quality Assurance

The rock chip samples from Outcrop-1 were shipped to ALS Lab's sample preparation facility in Medellin, Columbia. Sample pulps are sent to Lima, Peru for analysis. All samples were analyzed using ALS procedure ME-MS41, a four-acid digestion with ICP finished. Over limit copper and silver were determined by ALS procedure OG-62, a four-acid digestion with an AAS finish. ALS Labs is independent from Max.

Max is not aware of any other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein.

About Max Resource Corp.

Max is a mineral exploration company with an experienced and successful management team focused on advancing the development of its copper and precious metals landholdings in the rich mineral belts of Colombia, with significant potential for the discovery of important-scale mineral deposits that can attract major partners.

Tim Henneberry, P Geo (British Columbia), a member of the Max Resource Advisory Board, is the Qualified Person who has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release on behalf of the Company.

For more information visit: https://www.maxresource.com/

For additional information contact:

Max Resource Corp.

Tim McNulty

E: info@maxresource.com

T: (604) 290-8100

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release

Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the TSXV. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the commercialization plans for Max Resources Corp. described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52088
The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) on Tuesday served show-cause notice to party MLA Pradip Yadav for meeting top Congress leaders in Delhi last month, and other anti-party activities.

The JVM-P also took umbrage at Yadav's alleged remarks against party president Babulal Marandi.

"On January 23, you met Congress' (interim) president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, where AICC in-charge RPN Singh was present, and all the main newspapers had published it," the notice served to the party MLA said.

It also sought to know about his statements in the media in the last few days that were "against the party's discipline, and even against the JVM-P president".

"On January 20, you took part in a meeting over the Citizenship Amendment Act organised by the Congress in Godda without the party's directive, and you addressed that meeting.

"On January 30, you convened a press conference in Godda and hinted at joining the Congress. All these reflect anti-party activities," the notice said.

The JVM-P had on January 21 expelled its MLA Bandhu Tirkey for going against the party line during the Jharkhand assembly elections, after giving him 48 hours to explain his stand.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA astronaut Christina Koch is set to return to Earth on Thursday, Feb. 6, after 328 days living and working aboard the International Space Station. Her mission is the longest single spaceflight by any woman, which is helping scientists gather data for future missions to the Moon and Mars.

Koch will return to Earth alongside ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov. She has been a crew member for three expeditions  59, 60 and 61  during her first spaceflight. She now holds the record for the second-longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut, which places her seventh on the list of U.S. space travelers for overall time in space. Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly holds the longest single spaceflight for U.S. astronauts at 340 days, set during his one-year mission in 2015-16.

Koch's work during her record-setting mission included participation in more than 210 investigations, helping advance NASA's goals to return humans to the Moon under the Artemis program and prepare for human exploration of Mars. Koch participated in a number of studies to support those future exploration missions, including research into how the human body adjusts to weightlessness, isolation, radiation and the stress of long-duration spaceflight.

One particular research project Koch participated in is the Vertebral Strength investigation, which better defines the extent of spaceflight-induced bone and muscle degradation of the spine, and the associated risk for broken vertebrae. This timely endeavor is expected to provide insight into the development of future countermeasures, such as preventative medicine or exercise. These results also could provide recommendations for limiting the amount of force astronauts are subjected to during launch.

Koch's most memorable experiments during her time on the station space included work on the Microgravity Crystals investigation, which crystallizes a membrane protein that is integral to tumor growth and cancer survival. Although crystallization of this protein has yielded unsatisfactory results on Earth, this investigation leverages extensive protein crystallization work on the space station, significantly increasing the likelihood of successful crystal growth. Results may support the development of cancer treatments that target the protein more effectively and with fewer side effects.

NASA has gathered vast amounts of data about astronaut health and performance during the past 60 years and has focused recently on extended durations up to one year with the dedicated mission of Scott Kelly, Peggy Whitson's three long-duration space missions that together lasted 665 days, and now the extended-duration missions of both Koch and NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan, who is in the midst of a 10-month mission. These opportunities also have demonstrated there is a significant degree of variability in human response to spaceflight, as well as the importance of determining the acceptable degree of change for both men and women.

NASA has a rigorous training process to prepare astronauts for their missions, a thoroughly planned lifestyle and work regimen while in space, and an excellent rehabilitation and reconditioning program for them after they return to Earth. Thanks to these measures, the human body remains robust and resilient even after spending nearly a year in space. Research from these studies will guide NASA's research for years to come, as NASA continues to prioritize the health and safety of astronauts on spaceflight missions, particularly long-duration missions aboard the International Space Station, as well as missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

A comprehensive package about Koch, her mission and details on the scientific investigations in which she was involved includes:

During her spaceflight, Koch completed 5,248 orbits of Earth and a journey of 139 million miles, roughly the equivalent of 291 trips to the Moon and back. She also supported the arrivals and/or departures of more than a dozen Soyuz and cargo resupply spacecraft from the U.S., Japan, and Russia. Koch ventured outside the confines of the space station for six spacewalks during her mission, spending 42 hours and 15 minutes outside the station. Among those was the first all-woman spacewalk, which she conducted alongside NASA astronaut Jessica Meir.

Koch has been sharing images and moments from her mission on social media; connect with Christina Koch's Facebook, Astro_Christina on Instagram and @Astro_Christina on Twitter.

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


Amid the ongoing protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and proposed National Population Register (NPR), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday (February 4) said in Lok Sabha that no verification will be carried out for Indian citizens under NPR. The MHA asserted that under NPR no verification will be done to find individuals whose citizenship is doubtful.

The Centre also clarified that no document will be collected during the NPR updation and it will not be mandatory to provide Aadhaar number during the exercise. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai informed the Lok Sabha that the Centre is holding talks with the states having concerns with regard to the preparation of the NPR. he added that NPR exercise will be used to update and collect the demographic and other particulars of each family and individual.

Rai said that the Centre has already prepared an instruction manual for updation of NPR 2020 for enumerators and supervisors and people will be asked to provide information for the NPR to the best of their knowledge and belief. "No document is to be collected during the updation of NPR," he said replying a written question.

Notably, the pan-India NPR exercise will be done along with the house listing phase of the Census 2021 from April 1 to September 30, 2020. "The NPR updation will be undertaken through house to house enumeration for collection of specified particulars relating to each family and individual. The respondent has to provide the information true to the best of his knowledge and belief. Aadhar Number is collected voluntarily," Rai noted.

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According to Rai, NPR will contain details of persons usually residing in a village or rural area or town or ward or demarcated area within a ward in a town or urban area. "The NPR was first prepared in 2010 and updated in 2015. In pursuance of Sub-rule (4) of Rule 3 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, framed under the Citizenship Act,1955, central government decided to prepare and update the population register during April to September, 2020 throughout the country except Assam for collection of information relating to all persons usually residing in village or town," he said.

It is to be noted that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had called NPR a 'dangerous game' and had urged her counterparts in the northeast and non-BJP states to carefully study the NPR form before taking a final call on allowing its implementation in their respective states.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 12:47 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20626ddc7 1 National corruption,Corruption-Eradication-Comission,law,supervision,KPK,revision,antigraft-body,House,Jokowi Free

The Constitutional Court is questioning why the House of Representatives gave the bill to reform the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which was widely opposed by the public, a reading-speed record in September.

The court, which is hearing a petition from seven different groups to revoke the law, asked the House on Monday to provide the recording of the Houses deliberations, the full transcripts and the attendance list of House members.

The new law came into effect in October, rendering the commission ineffective without independence and without the tools it once had in fighting graft. The new law created a new layer above the commission, called the supervisory council, with the power to veto.

It took the House, notorious for its poor legislative productivity, just 13 working-days from the time the bill was submitted to the time it was endorsed. The move provoked massive demonstrations in Jakarta, tinged with violence, as protesters said the House was conspiring with the government to kill the KPK.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo met with a group of activists that month, saying he would not sign the bill into law and that when the bill would automatically become law without his signature after one month, he would consider issuing an executive order to annul it.

He never did.

Six groups have sent different petitions to the court demanding the law be annulled. They represent former commissioners of the antigraft agency, activists, university lecturers and students. They took different angles, some claiming the legislative process was flawed, others raised problems with the substance of the new law.

The court, the last hope to save the old KPK, decided to hear all seven petitions at once, looking at the procedure and the substance of the legislation.

On Monday, judge Wahiduddin Adams, a member of the six-judge panel, expressed skepticism about how the House could have completed the bill in 13 days.

If lawmakers had worked day and night, it is fine, he told the hearing attended by representatives of the petitioners and lawyers of the government and the House.

The court would also look into how much public consultation the House engaged in while deliberating over the bill, including whether it consulted the commissioners of the antigraft agency.

Wahiduddin questioned why President Jokowi did not sign the bill into law, which he saw as an anomaly. The President had promised to review the bill. What happened? The government should explain it to the public, he said.

He noted that the last time this happened was in 2003 when then president Megawati Soekarnoputri refused to sign a bill on advocacy. In 2002, Megawati also refused to sign a broadcasting bill.

On the substance of the new law, the panel of judges questioned the role of the new supervisory council that it said overlaps with the work of the police and the Attorney Generals Office, which also investigate corruption cases.

Agus Hariadi, the lawyer representing the government, said the new law complied with the United Nations Convention against Corruption treaty.

Representing the House, Arteria Dahlan denied the petitioners claim of a lack of public consultation in deliberating over the bill, pointing out that the discussions went as far back as 2008.

Arteria questioned the legal standing of all seven groups of plaintiffs in filing the petitions with the court since their work had no direct relation to the new law.

While we respect every citizens right, we should respect the sanctity of the court. Only petitioners who have legal standing and qualified material should be allowed, he said.

A lawyer for one of the petitioners, Saor Siagiana, however, said any citizen had the legal right to oppose the new law because corruption affects us all. (mfp)
Today's naval minesweeping processes involve wooden boats, divers and large amounts of patience. All that is about to change, though, as minesweeping takes a big leap into the future.

Naval mines are in widespread use because they're incredibly effective. Mines endangered the Union Fleet at Mobile Bay in Alabama, crippled German shipping during World War I and Japanese shipping during WWII, and were able to hold the entire U.S. Navy at bay for a week during the Korean War.

Defense contractor Raytheon estimates there are currently 250,000 mines around the world, just waiting to be laid in the oceans. Many of those are held by Iran, which regularly threatens to close the Strait of Hormuz with them.

Modern mines aren't necessarily the big round contraptions with spikes just waiting for a ship to float into them that some imagine. Mine technology has evolved to use different trigger mechanisms, including seismic, acoustic, pressure and magnetic.

But the U.S. Navy's means of detecting and defusing them hasn't changed much.

"All of the current methods we have are very slow; very, very dangerous; cumbersome; and quite expensive," Wade Knudson, a former naval aviator and now senior director of Undersea Warfare Systems at Raytheon, told Military.com. "Areas that state actors might choose to mine are vitally important and considerable in size. Somebody can easily disrupt commerce and the world's economy could suffer from that, depending on where that were to occur."

The Navy has 11 minesweepers, many still clearing mines the old-fashioned way. They hunt for mines using sonar; dispatch divers to disable them; and then tow the mines away.

To clear the entire Persian Gulf of mines would require many of the Navy's minesweeping ships out in the water for a "sustained period of time," according to one officer quoted in a ProPublica report about the service's aging mine-clearing ships, many of which are past retirement age.

That report complained of ancient sonar systems, run on Windows 2000, finding not only mines, but also dishwashers and car parts.

But the Navy is out to make a change. Raytheon and the service have developed a "single sortie detect to engage" system that clears mines 10 times faster than current methods and includes the new AQS-20 sonar system.

If "Single Sortie Detect-to-Engage" sounds like a suicide mission, that's not far off. But there will be no more human divers engaging with mines. This system eliminates that risk.

The unmanned technology's sonar improvements can spot mines from any direction, relay that information in high-definition and then neutralize the explosive using another drone called a "barracuda."

This process is also known as In-Stride Mine Clearance.

The AQS-20C Sonar being deployed from the back of an unmanned surface vehicle during an exercise. (Raytheon)

Clearing underwater mines can now be a faster, less dangerous process with this technology. An unmanned surface vehicle is deployed into a minefield, be it in an ocean, sea lane or harbor -- anywhere mines can be deployed.

Then the AQS-20 sonar is dropped into the water and towed by the drone ship, searching as it moves. When a mine is detected, the barracuda neutralizer drone is deployed.

Once released, the neutralizer navigates to the mine, identifies it and transmits an HD image of the mine to its human handlers. When it gets confirmation that its target is in fact a mine, the barracuda detonates the explosive, clearing the mine.

A WWII-Era Torpedo as seen on the Navy's new AQS-20 Sonar (Raytheon)

The system can repeat the process for nearly any kind of mine, whether on the seabed, the surface or even tethered. Once the mines are cleared, the USV returns to its handlers.

All of this will be just one more mission package available to the Navy's 35 advanced Littoral Combat Ships. The new tech was developed for just $83 million.

"It's the latest technology," Knudson said. "That's why it gives such a good view of those mines. But most importantly, the barracuda is doing the dangerous work to keep sailors as safe as possible during these missions."

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com.

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Peter Nero (left) and Donald R. Caldwell. Caldwell is the chairman of InsPro Technologies and founder of CrossAtlantic Capital Partners, Read more

Majesco, a publicly traded life insurance software maker based in Morristown, N.J., has agreed to acquire money-losing rival InsPro Technologies Corp. of Eddystone for $12 million.

With other investors, Independence Blue Cross of Philadelphia and Radnor-based Cross Atlantic Capital Partners pumped more than $14 million into InsPro in the late 2000s, in hopes it would grow into a dominant policy administration company linking insurers, agents, and customers smoothly, but it has had a tough time in recent years in a competitive industry.

InsPro shares, traded over the counter, peaked at around 16 cents a share in 2016, but have traded below 1 cent a share over the last year. Cross Atlantic founder Donald Caldwell served as InsPros chairman.

Life insurance automation has been a lucrative business  for some. Exton-based iPipeline, which makes software for life insurance agencies, sold for $1.625 billion last year to Florida-based Roper Technologies Inc. That price was four times what owner Thoma Bravo paid Radnor-based NewSpring Capital and other investors for iPipeline in 2015.

InsPro had been looking long and hard for a buyer, InsPro executive John Heidelberger said in a statement. We are delighted to join the Majesco family, he added. Nomura International Securities and the Philadelphia law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius aided InsPro in its search.

Sellers include Independence, Cross Atlantic Capital Partners Co-Investment Fund, and Trustmark, one of InsPros major customers. Others include health insurance giants Aetna and Cigna.

Heidelberger said InsPros business policy processing experience coupled with Majescos significant investments in digital solutions will boost sales, creating new jobs. He referred questions about whether Majesco would keep the Eddystone offices in the long term to Majesco officials, who did not immediately return calls.

InsPros predecessor, Systems Consulting Associates Inc., was founded in 1986 by Robert J. Oakes. He landed a contract with Philadelphia-based Provident Mutual Insurance Co. to build and run a direct-marketing and policy administration system, which was updated in the early 2000s into the InsPro Enterprise platform.

InsPro competed with products made by Accenture, Fiserv, Majesco, and other national providers.

Revenues fell and the company became unprofitable after founder Oakes retirement from day-to-day operations in 2017. In 2018, the company noted a large write-off after it ceased operations in Florida. InsPro financed its licenses of Microsoft software through PNC Equipment Finance LLC and its IBM licenses with IBM Credit LLC through arrangements scheduled to expire over the next two years.

Separately, Anpac Bio-Medical Science Co. Ltd., a China-based company that is developing early cancer screening and detection tests at its labs at the Spring House Innovation Park in Montgomery County and others in Lishui, China, and San Jose, Calif., has raised $16 million in its initial public stock offering (IPO), with help from Chinese-American broker Univest Securities LLC, which is not affiliated with Montgomery Countys Univest Bank.

Last fall, Anpac announced plans to move its U.S. headquarters to Spring House from California.

Anpac says it will use about 30% of the proceeds for research studies in the U.S. and China; another 30% for the expansion of our marketing and sales channels in China, and our clinical laboratory expansion in the U.S., and the rest for general corporate purposes.

Founders are Chris Chang Yu, who in 1990 earned a physics doctorate at Penn State and has been an engineer at Motorola, Micron Technology, and Semiconductor Manufacturing International, among other U.S. and Chinese companies; and He Yu, program director of cancer epidemiology at the Universityof Hawaii Cancer Center, who teaches a course at Yale School of Public Health. Each holds over 100 patents.

In other deals, Comoto Holdings, the private-equity-backed parent company of Philadelphia-based online motorcycle gear dealer RevZilla and the Cycle Gear stores in the western U.S., says it has acquired J&P Cycles, which sells gear for American V-Twin motorcycles, according to a statement by chief executive Ken Murphy. The price was not disclosed.
The Huoshenshan temporary field hospital under construction is seen as it nears completion in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020. The Philippines on Sunday reported the first death from a new virus outside of China, where authorities delayed the opening of schools in the worst-hit province and tightened quarantine measures in a city that allow only one family member to venture out to buy supplies. (Chinatopix via AP)
Kabul: Last year, in the blacklist of the Islamic State (IS), which was surrendered by the Afghan authorities to the blacklist of more than 1400 boys, it is also possible to have some Indians who were involved in this terrorist group and this thing It has been told in a United Nations report. Because in its report released in January, the number of terrorists from India or other countries has not been given.

Woman suffering from corona virus gives birth to healthy baby

According to this report released by the United Nations in January 2020, the men of ISIL-K (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant-Khorasan) who surrendered to the Afghan authorities included the maximum number of male Afghans. But the terrorist group also had some foreign nationals. These include Azerbaijan, Canada, France, Maldives, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan along with India were involved in a terrorist group.

Trump's peace plan petition rejected, OIC did not support

According to this UN report, ISIL-K is a branch of the dreaded IS terrorist organization, which has been reported to be active in Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan, and this has caused concern in all countries to see the situation. The terrorist groups that are coming in every day are completely cannibalizing the peace of the country and this kingpin has made the whole world worry about how long it is Ta will. There is also a possibility of these people in this organization in this news, in which big names like Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Islam.

Chinese woman detained for hiding Coronavirus
By The Associated Press Feb. 03, 2020 | 05:12 PM | LOS ANGELES





Addressing listeners on his program Monday, Limbaugh said he will take some days off for further medical tests and to determine treatment.







I have to tell you something today that I wish I didnt have to tell you," announced Limbaugh, 69. The cancer diagnosis was confirmed by two medical institutions in late January after he experienced his only symptom so far, shortness of breath, on his Jan. 12 birthday weekend, he said.







He was reluctant to discuss personal matters and distract from his work, he said, and wasn't seeking to cover up his illness. He realized it was better to be honest and avoid the speculation that would follow when he has to miss being on air for treatment or as the result of treatment, Limbaugh added.







But it is what it is. And you know me, Im the mayor of Realville, he said. My intention is to come here every day I can. And to do this program as normally and competently as usual.







He said he considers his listeners to be to be part of a family type relationship with him, adding that his job has given him the greatest satisfaction and happiness hes experienced.







Limbaughs announcement comes at a tumultuous political time, as the conclusion of President Donald Trumps impeachment trial nears.







Its shocking to the industry, and it should be shocking to the political establishment, Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, the trade industry publication for talk radio, said of Limbaugh's disclosure.







He started his first national radio show in 1988 from New York, later relocating to Palm Beach, Florida.







The hyper-partisan broadcaster has dominated talk radio with a raucous, liberal-bashing style that made him one of the most influential voices of American right-wing politics and inspired other conservative broadcasters including Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly.







Rush you are in our prayers, Beck tweeted. "We live in a time of modern miracles. Millions are praying you find one.







Limbaugh said he intends to work as much as possible. He also said he had focused more intensely in the past two weeks on what he called his deeply personal relationship" with God.







The media figure's endorsement and friendship is a conservative political treasure. His idol, Ronald Reagan, wrote a letter that Limbaugh read on the air in December 1992 and which sealed his reputation among conservatives: Youve become the number one voice for conservatism in our country, Reagan wrote.







Two years later, Limbaugh would be so widely credited as key to Republicans takeover of Congress for the first time in 40 years, he was deemed an honorary member of the new class.







Limbaugh has frequently been accused of hate-filled speech, including bigotry and blatant racism through his comments and sketches such as "Barack the Magic Negro," a song featured on his show that said Obama "makes guilty whites feel good" and that the politician is black, but not authentically.







His popularity has survived brickbats and thrived despite personal woes.







In 2003, Limbaugh admitted an addiction to painkillers and entered rehabilitation. Authorities opened an investigation into alleged "doctor shopping," saying he received up to 2,000 pills from four doctors over a period of six months, but he ultimately reached a deal with prosecutors that dismissed the single charge.



Conservative radio host and Republican kingmaker Rush Limbaugh said hes been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.
The federal government's building industry watchdog is taking the national construction union to court for the third time in a year over allegations it tried to coerce crane companies into signing its wage agreements.

The Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) said on Tuesday it is taking legal action in the Federal Court against the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) and three of its officials for allegedly targeting Newcastle company Wheeler Cranes because it did not have an enterprise agreement with the union.

It is alleged union officials demanded the removal of cranes. Credit:Joe Armao

It is the third case the ABCC has taken the union to court in 12 months involving allegations the union has tried to coerce crane companies into signing CFMMEU agreements.

The union's Brisbane branch was penalised $58,500 in April last year for unlawful conduct including the attempt to coerce Universal Cranes into signing an enterprise agreement. The ABCC also took legal action against CFMMEU officials in Sydney in May for allegedly trying to coerce Botany Cranes to sign an agreement in January last year.
One month is in the books for 2020. And what a busy month it was in Midland.

We came into 2020 believing we would put one election behind us, and that was the case. All ballots in the Midland ISD bond election were counted, the bond failed, legal requirements were taken care of, and the community put an election saga behind us.

And just when some of us started thinking about the March 3 primary elections, the Midland County Hospital District voted last week to have its own tax election. That election is scheduled for May 2.

In between, there was more election news. John Norman won the special election for Midland City Council District 2. Norman will be sworn in on Feb. 24.

It was a month when gifts to government were made that we believe will make Midland a better place.

Midland County made a $1 million donation to help the city of Midland construct its new animal shelter. The county made a second donation to the city with $900,000 for fire department vehicles. It was nice to see that type of intergovernmental cooperation.

The Permian Strategic Partnership then followed with a $5.9 million contribution to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center to expand health care resources to area communities. In December, the MDC had given $5 million of its money to TTUHSC for the expansion of the schools PA program facilities located at Midland College.

On the city front, the community said hello to three new council members  Mayor Patrick Payton, District 3s Jack Ladd Jr. and District 4s Lori Blong. The three were sworn in and immediately thrown into the deep end on the issue of affordable housing. During their first meeting, the three were part of a unanimous vote approving re-zoning that will allow Midland Community Development Corp. to build a 200-unit apartment complex that is expected to provide affordable housing for Midland ISD and hospital district employees and city of Midland first responders.

Sadly, not all news was good. Five people died last month in wrecks inside Midland County, according to Reporter-Telegram records. That was four more than January 2019. The five fatalities were more than any January going back to 2015. In 2017, six died during the first month of the year.
COSTA MESA, Calif., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- President and CEO Shabi Asghar is proud to announce the formation and launch of N2 Funding. Operating nationwide, N2 Funding offers a full menu of Fannie, Freddie, and Ginnie products complemented by Non-QM, first-time homebuyer, and down payment assistance programs. Shabi has joined forces with Chief Operating Officer, Pam Scheidt in corralling the most exceptional talent in the industry.

N2's management team combined has over 100 years' worth of experience in the industry. It has a pedigree of successfully navigating some of the most dynamic and fastest-growing companies in the history of the industry. "During my career, I've been blessed to work with many of the best people in the industry. N2 Funding is the most talented team I've ever been with." Shabi continued to say, "I 100% believe that our employees care more for each other and our customers than any other organization in the industry."

N2 Funding has established world-class customer service, competitive products, price, and performance. They aim to set a new standard for wholesale lending by focusing on an underserved market. By assembling the best talent in the industry, N2 Funding's ambition is to grow to become one of the leading wholesale lenders in the U.S.

The mission of N2 Funding is "to equip great people with competitive products, price, and performance." The vision of N2 is to "Inspire our employees to move mountains for our brokers."

If you are interested in joining the team or want to learn more, contact Shabi directly at [email protected] or 949-482-6305. Visit us at N2funding.com.

SOURCE N2 Funding

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The World Bank called on Monday for countries to step up programs to fight the new coronavirus outbreak, and said it was considering mobilizing its own resources against the disease.

"We are calling on all countries to strengthen their health surveillance and response systems, which is essential to contain the spread of this and any future outbreaks," the institution said in a statement.

"The World Bank Group is reviewing financial and technical resources that can be mobilized quickly to support affected countries," and also "closely coordinating with international partners to accelerate the international response."



Since breaking out in China, the virus has killed 425 people in the country, exceeding the 349 dead in the Chinese mainland from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002-03, which eventually killed nearly 800 globally.

The new virus has infected 17,200 people and spread to more than 20 countries amid fears it could paralyze China and harm the global economy.

The World Bank said it was "monitoring the wider economic and social impacts of this crisis," and would support "China's efforts to respond, including its efforts to maintain resilience in its economy."



If the epidemic reaches the same severity as the Spanish flu in 1918, which killed 30 million people, it could cost the global economy between one percent and ten percent of growth, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said at the end of January.

International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said last week that negative impacts on the economy in the first half of 2020 were likely but "it would be irresponsible to offer any speculations around what may happen.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Parents will be able to see who their child is chatting with on Facebook's Messenger app as part of new changes introduced today.

The social network has announced several tools for its Messenger Kids platform, which first launched in 2017.

The Parent Dashboard feature on Messenger Kids will now allow guardians to see who their child is chatting with, and whether they are video chatting or sending messages.

The feature will show how frequently these conversations happened over the past 30 days.

Parents will also be able to see photos and videos both sent and received by the minor's account, with the ability to remove and report them.

The change is among a slew of improved controls designed to better protect young people online.

Messenger Kids was designed as a more child-friendly way to communicate on Facebook aimed at under-13s, controlled from a parent's main Facebook account.

New Parent Dashboard features include the ability for parents to see who their child is chatting with, whether they are video chatting or sending messages, and see the most recent photos and videos their child has sent and received in their inbox

The enhancements come after concerns were raised about the app last year, when a flaw on Messenger Kids meant children could have come into contact with people not approved by their parents.

'These updates are part of our ongoing efforts to provide more transparency and help people better understand how our services work,' said Messenger product manager Morgan Brown.

'Parents will have 90 days to review and accept the new privacy policy and we strongly encourage them to review the updates with their kids.'

Facebook has also added the ability for parents to access a list of the actions their child has taken to report and block people in the app.

Parents will see a list of contacts that have been blocked and unblocked as well as messages that the child has reported.

Meanwhile, another new feature lets parents see all devices that their child has used to log in to Messenger Kids.

If they don't like the look of one of the devices they can log their child out via the Parent Dashboard.

Facebook has added new tools for parents to control their childrens usage of Messenger Kids, including being able to download and view their child's account information

Parents can also request a copy of their child's information from Messenger Kids, similar to how adult users can download their own information in the Facebook app.

The download will include a list of the childs contacts, messages, images and videos that they have sent and received.

The child will be notified through the Messenger Kids app when guardians request this information.

Parents can access all the the new features in the Messenger Kids Parent Dashboard in the Facebook iOS and Android apps.

In a bid to better educate under-13s, Facebook said it will also start using 'kid-appropriate language' to explain how their information is used and shared.

The social network reiterated that its existing protections, such as not using children's data from the app for advertising purposes, will remain unchanged.

'Facebook has done a good job of balancing features that both deliver the right information to keep parents in the loop about their childs use of Messenger Kids, while also allowing children to have fun and learn digital literacy skills,' said Larry Magid, member of Facebook's Safety Advisory board.

'Its important to give parents the power to manage their childs experience, like seeing what images and videos their children are sending and receiving.'
LAKE DELTON - Diane DeGrush, age 79 of Lake Delton, Wis. passed away peacefully Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, at the Pine Villa Memory Care in Prairie du Sac, Wis.

A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at 2 p.m. at the Picha Funeral Home in Lake Delton, Wis. with Reverend Craig Wolfgram officiating. Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Sunday from 11 a.m. until the time of service at 2 p.m.

Diane was born March 29, 1940, in Kohler, Wis., the daughter of Francis and Geraldine (Markusch) Fischer. Diane married the love of her life, Jim DeGrush on July 25, 1962, and raised their family in Lake Delton where Diane worked for her family restaurant until it closed. Diane and Jim with their daughter, Cheryl ran the Dam Bar and Grill from May of 2006 until 2008. She enjoyed sewing and gardening and of course, being the best dressed girl in town.

Diane is survived by a daughter, Cheryl (Brian) Manion; sons, Chadd (Elizabeth) DeGrush and Mark DeGrush; grandsons, Anthony Johnson and Jameson DeGrush; and a sister-in-law, DeeDee Fischer. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Jim; brother, Evan Fischer; and longtime friends and partners in crime, Rich and Paula Herken.
Any whispers yet about Mayo Clinics plan for the Onalaska, Wis., site next to Menards? Thanks, S cott of Onalaska

Thanks for the opportunity to focus my knowing gaze to the east ... and possibly pick up some cheese curds and a six-pack of Spotted Cow.

So the site you are referring to is 187.4 acres of land that Mayo Clinic owns in the Sand Lake Road area in Onalaska . Mayo Clinic filed plans in 2015 for a new campus. It purchased the land for $8.32 million in 2014.

While the early Mayo Clinic documents detailed general plans about building a facility that would employ 3,800 people, not much has happened in the past five years.

In response, Mayo Clinic's Rick Thiesse sent my staff this statement attributed to Mike Morrey, regional chairman of administration of the southwest Wisconsin region:

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"Mayo Clinic Health System is currently engaged in a thoughtful master planning process for the Southwest Wisconsin region. Various scenarios of future development have undergone internal study. However, no decisions have been made at this time.

"Mayo Clinic Health System purchased the Sand Lake Road property in Onalaska knowing that the availability of large tracts of land is increasingly rare in the greater La Crosse area. We will share more details when we have substantive information."

While the Land of Bucky the Badger and Mayo Clinic is under the Answer Man microscope, I decided to also check in on Mother Mayo's moves in Hudson to give my loyal readers a Tuesday two-for-one deal.

In 2018, the news broke that Mayo Clinic was working on plans to build an approximately 100,000-square-foot medical facility in the small town of Hudson, Wis., which is essentially a Twin Cities suburb. Mayo Clinic agreed to buy 10 acres of land at Stageline Road.

Since that first agreement, Mayo seems to have followed the same thoughtful (and action-free) path in Hudson as in Onalaska. Mayo's Thiesse sent this response that he attributed to Jason Craig, Mayo Clinic's regional chairman of administration in northwest Wisconsin:

"We have not yet determined specifics for the land purchased in Hudson in 2018. We will continue to work with community leaders as well as internal stakeholders to determine how Mayo Clinic Health System can best serve the growing health care needs of this area."
People visit the Huawei stand during PT Expo China (PTEXPO) at China National Convention Center on November 2, 2019 in Beijing, China. PT Expo China 2019 will be held from October 31 to November 3 in Beijing.

In November, China turned on its 5G networks ahead of schedule . 5G is a national priority for China as it looks to boost its credentials in core technology from software to semiconductors .

5G refers to next generation mobile networks offering super-fast data speeds with the promise of being able to underpin other technologies like driverless cars. It is seen as a critical part of infrastructure in countries and could support further economic development.

The coronavirus outbreak could slow down China's deployment of 5G networks, analysts warned, potentially denting the progress of one of President Xi Jinping's national priorities.

But with the outbreak of the new coronavirus, which originated in China and has claimed the lives of over 400 people, the deployment could be delayed, according to analysts at China Renaissance.

"The 5G base station installations in multiple cities in China may be impacted by the virus, in our view, which could be a drag on China's 5G deployment," the financial services firm said in a note published Monday.

"We expect the extended Chinese New Year holiday and a series of quarantine measures to cause delays to the 5G base station installations on towers."

China extended the Lunar New Year holiday with many companies telling employees to stay home.

Vinod Nair, a senior partner at Delta Partners, an advisory and investment firm specialized in the telecoms, media and tech sectors, said that production of equipment is less likely to be an issue. Instead, having employees remain at home could reduce the amount of people physically able to put up infrastructure in China.

"Coronoavirus impacts the supply chain and it specifically impacts labor intensive services like network deployment," Nair told CNBC.

5G has become a highly politicized issued between the U.S. and China. Washington has sought to get China's Huawei, the world's largest telecoms equipment maker, banned from as many markets as possible around the world. The U.S. maintains that Huawei represents a national security risk because its gear could be used by Beijing to spy on Americans. Huawei has repeatedly denied this allegation.

Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that the "race to 5G is on and America must win."

U.S. mobile carriers such as Verizon and AT&T have already begun rolling out their 5G networks across the country.
A woman is set to be reunited with her lost dog after spotting the pups photo on a beer can.

In January, Motorworks Brewing, in Bradenton, Florida, began putting photos of adoptable shelter dogs from Manatee County Animal Services on its cans in the hopes of increasing adoption and raising money for the shelter.

But, for a dog named Hazel, the campaign means being returned to her owner Monica Mathis.

Hazel, a terrier mix, went missing three years ago, according to Mathis, who told KSTP TV that she was on a leash outside and I went to get her and she was gone from our yard.

Despite having a microchip, out-of-date contact information meant shelter employees were unable to contact Mathis when Hazel first showed up.

Mathis will be reunited with Hazel after three years (Fox13)

After months of searching for Hazel, Mathis eventually moved from Iowa to Minnesota. Last week, she came across a photo of her missing pet on Facebook - which showed her face emblazoned on a can of beer.

I was scrolling pretty much on Facebook and I saw, Mathis recalled to Fox13 of the moment she recognised Hazel. I was like: Oh my gosh! Thats my dog!

Hilarious photos show dogs flying through the air Show all 8 1 /8 Hilarious photos show dogs flying through the air Hilarious photos show dogs flying through the air Ziggy the border collie A pet photographer captured a series of hilarious photos showing dogs on glass plates. Colin Crowdey, 53, who has been dubbed the 'Gloucester Dog Photographer' is known for his quirky and funny pet photos. One of his most popular methods is taking photos from underneath a glass plate which captures shots of dogs looking down at the camera from above. Colin Crowdey / SWNS Hilarious photos show dogs flying through the air Buddy the Cockerpoo Colin Crowdey / SWNS Hilarious photos show dogs flying through the air Dora the English springer spaniel Colin Crowdey / SWNS Hilarious photos show dogs flying through the air Lola the dalmatian dog Colin Crowdey / SWNS Hilarious photos show dogs flying through the air Rumour a miniature american shepherd Colin Crowdey / SWNS Hilarious photos show dogs flying through the air Toni the Italian greyhound Colin Crowdey / SWNS Hilarious photos show dogs flying through the air Zeph the border collie Colin Crowdey / SWNS Hilarious photos show dogs flying through the air Rumour a miniature american shepherd Colin Crowdey / SWNS

According to Mathis, she was pretty sure the dog pictured on the can was hers, but she had her doubts - as she wasnt sure how the pup had ended up in Florida.

I really thought she was gone, I never thought Id see her again, Mathis said. I had a doubt, I was like: Oh my gosh, it looks like her, but is it really her?

Beer campaign featured cans with photos of adoptable dogs (Fox13)

After calling Manatee County Animal Services and providing relevant information, Mathis was able to confirm the dog in question was Hazel.

We saw photos and vet records, shelter spokesperson Hans Wohlgefahrt said. This dog was such an important part of her family that she had everything to prove she was her owner.

There was really no way we could trace her back to that particular owner. Its a great reminder to people when they do these things to go into their profile and make sure all their contact information is up to date.

Hazel is set to be shipped to Mathis home in Minnesota for free, thanks to help from the nonprofit Friends of Manatee County Animal Services. It is expected the pair will reunite in time to celebrate Hazel's seventh birthday.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-02-04 11:03:03

Full range of dictation and transcription software meets changing needs of small and large businesses alike through new subscription model

Philips Introduces Subscription-based Speech-to-Text Software Portfolio

Lea Pachta

Senior Marketing Manager

lea.pachta@speech.com

Tel: +43 1605 291 744

Speech Processing Solutions, the market leader in professional dictation, has announced that its portfolio of speech-to-text software is now available on a subscription basis. Flexible low monthly subscription costs make it easier for organizations to take advantage of the full range of available speech-to-text services.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005

Philips SpeechLive (Graphic: Business Wire)

Philips dictation and transcription software streamlines the document creation process and facilitates communication between authors and transcriptionists. It enables everything from automated file routing to an on-demand pay as you go transcription service or automatic speech recognition to help business of all sizes fulfill their unique needs.

Philips speech-to-text software helps businesses reach their goals by helping them become even more efficient, profitable and successful, whether this means scoring new top clients or simply having more time for their current customers, explains Dr. Thomas Brauner, CEO of Speech Processing Solutions.

High-tech innovation to boost voice-based productivity

Philips software is designed around the customers needs and has been developed in close collaboration with end-users. Philips understands that different businesses have personalized needs and preferences. Regardless of whether they are small, mid-sized or large, prefer an on-premise or cloud solution, or run an environment with a few laptops or a complex multi-branch setup across several countries, various voice-to-text options are available to help organizations address every business requirement.

The subscription-based speech-to-text portfolio includes Philips SpeechExec Pro, Philips SpeechExec Enterprise and SpeechLive. The new Philips SpeechExec Pro version 11.5 features a refreshed, more user-friendly interface and supports the latest operating systems available in the market. SpeechLive, Philipss web dictation and transcription solution, now boasts a brand-new speech-to-text service that offers users speech recognition in real-time. This not only saves users time while working on documents, but also money and hassle as no additional speech recognition software needs to be purchased and installed. SpeechLive offers constant file access to increase mobility, helping professionals to work from anywhere and at any time. Now available as a one- or two-year subscription package, Philips SpeechExec Enterprise, which is ideal for large, multi-branch businesses, supports workflow processes that require central administration and virtual environments.

Quick and effective communication is key in todays complex business world. Working in a fast-paced environment requires effortless collaboration and efficient processes no matter what the size of your organization. Our Philips workflow software solutions allow you to do just that, while new subscription models enable businesses to be more agile and cost-efficient than ever before, explains Dr. Brauner.

All Philips software is optimized to support the industry-leading range of Philips dictation devices including the SpeechMike series, the hands-free dictation headset SpeechOne and the Android-based SpeechAir.

For a free trial of Philips workflow solutions, go to: www.philips.com/speech

About Speech Processing Solutions

Speech Processing Solutions (SPS) is an international technology company and a global leader in dictation solutions. More than four million users worldwide work with speech-to-text solutions developed by SPS and sold under the Philips brand. These solutions include web-based and desktop workflow software as well as dictation devices. These smart solutions save users time and allow them to focus on their core tasks, making their business more efficient, customer-centric and profitable.

Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, SPS has regional offices in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium and Austria, as well as a network of more than 1000 distribution and implementation partners worldwide.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005
His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, today officially inaugurated the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain in Rome, Italy.

HRH the Crown Prince noted that the inauguration of Bahrains Embassy marks a new milestone in bilateral relations, which have continually deepened over the past 50 years.

HRH the Crown Prince identified Bahrains Embassy in Rome as a new platform for collaboration, noting that the mission would promote a stronger trading partnership between the two countries.

His Royal Highness went on to highlight the concerted efforts of Bahrain's diplomatic engagements and Bahraini diplomats, which expand the Kingdom's international network, strengthen cooperation with friendly nations and drive national development.

HRH the Crown Prince concluded by underlining the Kingdoms determination to work closely with its Italian partners to broaden collaboration at all levels.

Later, HRH the Crown Prince unveiled a commemorative plaque, marking the official opening of the Embassy.

HRH the Crown Princes official delegation, HE Ambassador Elisabetta Belloni, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Italian Republic, and a number of Italian officials, also attended the inauguration ceremony.
Stop, I can't climb any higher,' I explained. 'But I can't leave you here on your own,' our guide replied, 'there are bears and wolves in this area.'

He assured me the view would be worthwhile, so I clambered up the last steps to Rocca Calascio, the highest fortress in Italy. And boy, was he right: from the top of its battlements, 1,500m above sea level, we could admire the peaks and valleys of the Gran Sasso National Park below us. The Name Of The Rose, a medieval mystery starring Sean Connery, was filmed within this castle.

I was in Abruzzo, one of Italy's last unspoiled regions. Halfway down the Italian peninsula, it is sandwiched between the Apennine mountains and the Adriatic Sea. Most Britons I asked before my trip didn't know where it was.

Sunset at the ruins of Rocca Calascio, which are 1,500m above sea level in the Apennine mountains

Throughout the centuries, Abruzzo has suffered several earthquakes. No wonder it has lost out to Tuscany and Umbria in the popularity stakes. Mass tourism seems to have passed it by.

For those who love to hike, cycle and ski, it's a marvel, with three national parks and 38 nature reserves.

Those bears and wolves have to live somewhere. They are joined by chamois, golden eagles and lynx, while in the hills you will spot rare orchids and edelweiss.

Next we headed to the beautiful Santo Stefano di Sessanio, a medieval town once ruled by the Medicis, and undiscovered by tourists. I counted more Abruzzese sheepdogs and sleepy cats than visitors. We stayed at the albergo diffuso Sextantio - a hotel with rooms scattered all over town.

The medieval town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, which was once ruled by the Medicis

Marsican brown bears are native to the region and can be spotted in the Majella National Park

It was all the more alluring to discover that George Clooney had stayed there while filming The American. The locals told me that increasing numbers of international film crews are drawn to the area's remoteness and raw beauty.

The fresh air had made us ravenous. Abruzzo is known for mountain lamb, and a speciality is arrosticini - mutton kebabs.

Another is pizze fritte: shallowfried pizza dough. Who cares about carbloading after hiking? The local pasta is maccheroni alla chitarra, where the dough is rolled over a pasta guitar (chitarra) that slices it into squared strips.

Gran Sasso is the highest mountain in the Apennines and the highest in Italy outside the Alps

And what else could we drink with it but the finest Montepulciano d'Abruzzo red wine? The next day we went in search of truffles, and Il Tubero d'Oro restaurant in Campli delivered.

My fried egg and prosciutto with shaved truffles was delicious. And, for visitors used to eating in Venice and Rome, the bill will be a nice surprise - a hearty main of prime beef with truffles costs 15.

It's time to discover this overlooked part of Italy. Hollywood has. You may even spot Mr Clooney.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low 9F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph, becoming E and decreasing to less than 5 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low 9F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph, becoming E and decreasing to less than 5 mph.
Canada-China Relations: Halt Trade Until Beijing Follows International Norms, Says Liberal MP

Canada should halt all trade with China until Beijing abides by international norms and the rule of law, says Liberal MP John McKay, the chair of the House of Commons public safety and national security committee.

The Toronto-area MPs comments come after the recent establishment of a special all-party committee to re-evaluate all aspects of Canada-China relations.

The committee was formed on Dec. 10, 2019, exactly one year after China detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in apparent retaliation for Canadas arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in early December 2018 at the behest of the United States.

When your starting point is kidnapping of Canadian citizens for absolutely no reason at all, you have to realize that theres no basis for any arrangements: trade deals, contractual arrangements, diplomatic arrangements, McKay said in an interview.

Understandings are only going to last for as long as the Chinese government decides it lasts, and thats the end of it.

Doing business with the Chinese regime exposes Canada to vulnerabilities, as Beijing could cut off trade at any time and without warning, McKay says. He cites Canadas canola farmers who were hit by a sudden Chinese embargo on imports in March 2019 to the tune of $2 billion.

Trade should be paused until China is prepared to adhere to international norms of the rule of law and respect for human rights and citizens rights, he says.

As for trade agreements with China, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping recently signed a bilateral trade deal in which China will, over the next two years, purchase at least US$200 billion of American products and services more than it did in 2017. The agreement also includes a dispute resolution mechanism to ensure full enforceability.

McKay says such a scenario isnt likely to occur between Canada and China, however.

We are a middle power at best, and our leverage is not the same as the U.S. leverage, he says. Trump could have a deal one day, and he slaps sanctions or trade tariffs on the next, and he can do it because they are the United States and the biggest consumer in the world. And the Chinese need to have access to the American market, so they need to come to the table.

As for Canada, McKay says that they dont need us, to be realistic about it.  Our leverage is quite modest, and so I dont know that we should be pursuing any deal with China with any enthusiasm.

China experts have termed Beijings aggressive foreign policy measures as asymmetrical warfare. McKay describes the regimes use of this tactic as unique.

Its all things at all times in all places, he says, citing two examples: a Canadian government scientist and her research team from China who were escorted from a lab in Winnipeg by RCMP in July 2019 and are under investigation; and the possibility of Chinese telecom giant Huaweis participation in Canadas 5G network.

Im sure [Huawei has] got very fine technology, he adds, but if in fact their ultimate masters are in Beijing, and if Beijing wants to know something about somebody or something, Huawei will be obliged to provide it.
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
A Toronto man who needs dialysis three times a week has been given a last-minute reprieve from being deported to China, which is battling a deadly coronavirus outbreak.

Ming Guo, 52, was slated to be deported early next week but the Canada Border Services Agency informed his lawyer on Tuesday that the removal has been deferred and that his application for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds would be reassessed.

Mr. Guo is to continue to abide by any terms and conditions imposed and attend any scheduled interviews with CBSA as required, the agency said in a letter to the mans lawyer.

Guo, who fled to Canada after the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing in 1989, said he was relieved by the agencys decision, which means he can continue caring for his ailing parents, both 85, in Canada.

I want to thank the Toronto Star for writing about my case, Guo said. Also, I want to thank the legal clinic for helping me fight this case. They gave me the chance to continue to stay here to look after my parents.

Last Friday, Canada Border Services Agency announced it was temporarily deferring removals to Hubei province, where the majority of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus were identified. However, deportees who are deemed inadmissible to Canada for criminality, human rights violations and national security reasons continue to be subject to removal to Hubei.

On Tuesday, China reported 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus. Outside mainland China, at least 180 cases have been confirmed.

Guo, who is from Liaoning province and suffers kidney failure, got his permanent resident status in 1993 under a special government program for Chinese dissidents. In 2011, he was arrested after trying to make a purchase with a credit card he found in a mall. As a result of the criminal conviction, he was ordered deported.

An appeal tribunal temporarily stayed his removal with strict terms and conditions, including that he regularly report to the border agency. He said he was not informed that he needed to attend a final tribunal hearing to complete the restoration of his permanent residence. The border agency tracked him down in December and issued a date for his deportation.

I am happy for Mr. Guo but I hope the border agency will consider deferring all removals to China until the coronavirus outbreak is completely under control, said Avvy Go of the Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, which represented Guo.

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Rose Valley group chairman Gautam Kundu - arrested in 2015 for allegedly defrauding investors - moved a bail plea on Tuesday in the Calcutta High Court.

Kundu's lawyers reasoned that charges against him, if proved, would attract a maximum punishment of seven years, and that the Rose Valley group head should be granted bail, as he had already spent five years in custody.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will place its arguments before the court next Monday, when the matter will be taken up for hearing again.

The Rose Valley group allegedly mobilised more than Rs 12,000 crore from public through various dubious schemes. The ED had in March 2015 arrested Kundu and attached his assets worth Rs 2,300 crore, including hotels and resorts.

The group had reportedly floated 27 companies to run its chit fund operations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
State officials for the first time voted to consider revoking a public charter schools right to operate in Alabama, which could bring an end to a controversial school in south Alabama before it ever opens.

Today's vote by the Alabama Public Charter School Commission denied a request by Woodland Prep officials to extend the deadline to obtain a certificate of occupancy for the school. That denial opened the door for the Commission to begin revocation procedures.

Woodland Prep, located in Washington County near Mobile, has been the subject of public opposition since the state approved the charter in May 2018. The charters opening would cause existing neighborhood schools to close, opponents argued, and there was no need for a charter school because local schools continue to improve.

Local residents, including charter school board members, said theyve been harassed for supporting the opening of the school. Recruiting students to attend the school, which planned to focus on science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, has been difficult, supporters argued, because of the intense opposition by the community.

Builders have encountered multiple delays during construction of the school. In addition to rainy weather, attorney Chuck Dauphin said, social unrest, including threats to construction workers, has caused the delays. Dauphin said the local sheriff was called to the work site earlier today after a resident threatened workers.

Washington County Sheriff Richard Stringer told AL.com the contractor called the sheriff around 2:00 a.m. to report a resident making threats to the workers who were on site pouring either concrete or asphalt. Officers talked with the man making the threats, and no arrests were made.

Dauphin told commissioners shots have been fired over the school site as well. AL.com was unable to confirm details of those allegations.

Meanwhile, charter school officials claim 131 students have submitted forms and planned to enroll at the school.

Related: Alabama charter school commission remade, heres their track record so far

Dr. Soner Tarim, whose company, Unity School Services, has contracted with Woodland Prep to serve the functions traditionally provided by a districts central office, oversees the operation of charter schools in several states, including one in Montgomery.

In a statement to AL.com, Tarim said, I have never heard that a charter would be revoked before it has a chance to open its doors.

This decision will destroy the dreams and hopes of so many families in the county who were looking for an option, he added.

Construction delays forced charter officials to ask for the extension, they said. In early December, the charter school board asked the Commission to extend the deadline to obtain the certificate of occupancy for the school building from Jan. 10 to May, Woodland Prep attorney Nash Campbell said. Today was the first time the Commission met since the extension request was sent.

The Commissions attorney, Lane Knight, today said because the certificate wasnt obtained by the deadline required in the contract, the Commission could now consider revoking the charters contract.

The Commission will now notify Woodland Prep in writing, attorney Knight said. They will be given at least 30 days to respond, followed by a hearing in front of the Commission. Within 60 days of the hearing, the Commission will then render a final decision.

The Alabama Education Association, along with local school officials, sued the charter school board and Tarim, alleging fraud in obtaining the charter contract with the Commission. A hearing on several legal motions was held in Circuit Judge Gaines McCorquodales courtroom on Jan. 21.

AEA President Sherry Tucker said today in a statement that theyre not against all charters, only bad ones. Woodland Prep was going to a be a bad charter school. Our local leaders saw it, local elected officials saw it, and the national experts who evaluated their application saw it.

Tarims company, Unity School Services, is under contract to provide management services to Montgomerys first charter school, LEAD Academy, which opened at the start of this school year. But according to LEAD Academy founder Rep. Charlotte Meadows, R-Montgomery, Tarim is no longer working at the charter school.

Prior to the Commissions vote on Woodland Prep, Meadows asked the Commission to allow LEAD Academy to continue to operate without Unity School Services. However, Meadows withdrew that request for later consideration by the Commission.

Washington County teacher Summer Beech was one of 40 charter school opponents, including Superintendent John Dickey, who chartered a bus to attend Mondays meeting in Montgomery. For Beech and others who have been fighting against the school since 2018, todays Commission vote was welcome news.

I was very pleased with how everything turned out, Beech said, adding there is no need for a charter school to open in their rural county. What they were asking for was what I knew we were already doing.

Related: Birmingham board denies states first LGBTQ charter school application
As prepared for delivery

Mr. President,

Members of the Executive Board,

Colleagues and friends,

I welcome you to this first regular session of the UNDP Executive Board in 2020.

Allow me to begin by congratulating His Excellency Mr. Walton Webson, the Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda, on his election as the President of the Board.

At the same time, I would like to express my gratitude to the outgoing President, His Excellency Mr. Cho Tae-yul, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea, for his dedicated leadership of the Board in 2019.

I also thank all outgoing Bureau members for all their invaluable support, and warmly welcome our new Bureau members for 2020.

Is chocolate the way to a fair and just world?

Many of you may be wondering why you have a chocolate bar in front of you today. This is called The Other Bar. Produced in Ecuador and powered by UNDPs Country Investment Facility and the FairChain Foundation, The Other Bar is designed to help consumers take a bite out of poverty through the simple act of buying chocolate and using blockchain technology.

This bar ensures farmers are paid prices that meet real income needs. And on the wrapper of each bar you will find a block-chain token. If you scan four of these tokens, you will help a farmer to buy a cocoa tree.

One tree can produce cocoa worth $19 to the farmer, so they can grow more, earn more and feed their family. That same tree will absorb and store carbon dioxide and help to tackle climate change. To me, this bar is a good example of integrated, sustainable development  and a model that we are working to apply to many other products and services.

The challenges between here and the SDG deadline are great, as set out by the Secretary-General in his address to the General Assembly earlier this month. As we commence a Decade of Action for the SDGs, our job is to look to the multitude of examples of what success looks like  such as The Other Bar  and move at speed and at scale to build the future of development together.

Against that context, in my statement today, I will:

 Look back at UNDPs development performance in 2019.

 Share with you how we are changing as an institution by improving current capabilities and investing in new ones.

 Update you on what is ahead in 2020, as the Decade of Action for the SDGs gets underway.

1) Looking back at 2019  closing out a tumultuous decade

2019, just like the decade it ended, was a year of turbulence and unrest. From Algeria to Argentina, Chile to Colombia, Iraq to Iran, waves of movements, led primarily by young people, lifted the lid on disillusionment, indignity and frustration; on unmet needs and unheeded rights.

These events took place against a complex development context  characterized by some great advances, but also some significant fallbacks.

For example, after 15 years of growth in the region of Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, the middle class shrank, as more people dropped out of the middle class than joined it; in the Arab States, the number of people exposed to forced displacement more than doubled; and in Latin America and the Caribbean income inequality decreased across the region, though data on citizens perceptions of fairness and inequality suggest the opposite.

It is in this complex, diverse context that UNDP works to implement its Strategic Plan and six signature solutions. Im pleased to convey that our development performance against the Strategic Plan is on track  delivering strong development results in 2019 against the three development outcomes of the Plan

As we move through its implementation, we are working with our partners to tackle some of the most complex, multi-dimensional, and deep-rooted development challenges of the decade, including inequality, climate change, and the root causes of migration and forced displacement.

Inequality

On inequality, with the launch in Colombia with President Ivan Duque of UNDPs Human Development Report last December, UNDP offered a new lens to understand why people are coming out on the streets and what -- by looking beyond income, beyond averages and beyond today  can be done about it.

I am grateful to all those partners with whom we collaborated on this excellent piece of research, which garnered extensive media coverage with a potential reach of 750 million people.

At the same time, in 2019, UNDP took an integrated approach to tackling inequality, exclusion and the multiple dimensions of poverty, including by supporting one in three parliaments of the world to promote inclusion, supporting the effective engagement of civil society in achieving the SDGs, and strengthening systems for human rights protection and promotion.

Some examples of our work are as follows:

 In the Dominican Republic, UNDP and the Government partnered to develop an index measuring probable vulnerability to climate shocks;

 In Senegal, through our Country Investment Facility, together with UNCDF, we supported investment clubs to help middle class Senegalese citizens and the Senegalese diaspora to invest in local economic development initiatives; and,

 We supported Bangladesh and Cape Verde to make development and public finance data more accessible through online aps.

In 2019, UNDP also supported 89 countries to reform discriminatory laws and policies on HIV, TB and broader health issues that perpetuate exclusion and marginalization, while 6.8 million people received HIV testing and counselling with our support.

Meanwhile, we continued to promote a more integrated approach to gender equality across the SDGs. At the Nairobi Summit last year, marking the 25th Anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development, I stressed the critical importance of providing universal access to sexual and reproductive health, reducing maternal deaths, and ending violence against women and girls  the central focus of the Spotlight Initiative of the UN and the European Union (EU).

As the Human Development Reports 2019 Gender Inequality Index reiterated, progress on gender equality is actually slowing, and based on current trends, it will take 202 years to close the gender gap in economic opportunity alone.

We have demonstrated that UNDP is committed to play its part. We are rated as one of the best performing agencies within the UN system on the UN-SWAP 2.0, meeting or exceeding requirements for 88 per cent of performance indicators in 2018, while 73 Country Offices will be certified with UNDPs Gender Seal once the 2018-2019 programme is completed.

Climate change

On climate change, we demonstrated that we can lift our game beyond the sum of our projects, launching the Climate Promise last September, focused on Ambition, Acceleration and Mobilization.

Through the Promise, UNDP will help 100 countries to enhance their NDCs with a demonstrated increase in ambition of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2020, in time to submit before COP26 in Glasgow.

Making $25m available for this support it is one of UNDPs direct contributions to the NDCs Partnership. We are working closely with key partners such as Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain, the EU, the Green Climate Fund (GCF), IRENA, UNEP, FAO, UN-Habitat and others.

We are discussing enhancement with more than 120 countries, and support is already underway in in 88 countries, including 38 Least Developed Countries, 38 SIDS and 12 high-emitters.

A new phase of the Climate Promise will be launched this month: Mission 1.5 is a new mobile game to engage people on climate solutions and help them to choose actions for their countrys NDC. We will make the results available to governments starting this summer to directly inform the NDC enhancement process.

UNDPs climate action support also extended beyond NDCs in 2019, working in and across our signature solutions. For example,

 on resilience, UNDP helped 2.5 million people to access early warning systems and climate or disaster information, 54 countries to mainstream climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction in their national plans;

 on gender, we worked with 97 countries to strengthen womens leadership and decision making in environmental management and with 74 countries to integrate gender into environment and climate policies, plans and frameworks; and,

 On governance, with an integrated SDG team, UNDP worked hand-in-hand with the Uzbek government to address a number of SDG challenges in the shrinking Aral Sea region of Uzbekistan, building on local-government-led efforts to promote ecological and technological innovations in the basin.

We take such an integrated approach because, as we will discuss this afternoon in the context of the Super Year of climate and nature action in 2020, we can no longer afford a false calculus of environment versus economy.

UNDP is working hard to provide that support. For example, with financing from the environment and climate vertical funds approved in 2019, 37.5 million people are expected to benefit from UNDP engagement in 44 countries.

These integrated projects will help countries to avoid 275 million tons of CO2 emissions. Thats the equivalent of taking 59 million cars off the road for a year.

Migration and Forced Displacement

On migration and forced displacement in 2019, UNDP continued to address the root causes behind why people move, holding as we do that migration should be a choice and forced displacement should end.

With the Scaling Fences report launched last October, UNDP gave voice to irregular migrants from Africa who were willing to overcome any barriers to make a perilous journey to Europe for better prospects.

In 2019, UNV also launched the Refugee UN Volunteer modality, both to bring talent into the UN workforce and to help empower refugees, while UNDP and UNHCRs global Rule of Law and Local Governance partnership continued to expand.

At the first ever Global Refugee Forum in December, UNDP set out three new targets to support the Global Compact on Refugees in 40 countries to: strengthen refugee solutions including strengthening local governance, rule of law, and human rights systems; promote decent work for all those on the move, including as part of our digital transformation; and, invest in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and development to address the root causes of forced displacement. This work is already underway, including in Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Turkey.

But the challenges are immense, with over 70.8 million people forcibly displaced today and conflict being one of the main drivers. And just as it drives people from their homes, it drives human development in reverse.

New data shows that Syria has lost 15% of its value on the Human Development Index since 2010, for example, while Libya shed 10% in the same period. And, a UNDP-commissioned study sets out that the ongoing conflict in Yemen has already reversed human development by 21 years.

It is possible for conflicts to come to an end. A fragile cease-fire is holding in Hodeidah, Yemen. A peace agreement is being implemented in Central African Republic. These are signs of hope.

But we must redouble our efforts, and invest in prevention as a path to long-term, sustainable development. This requires significant political and financial resources.

And yet, donors invest ten times less in conflict prevention than humanitarian assistance, according to the OECD, even though we know that prevention is cost-effective and works. Meanwhile, as the UN and World Bank Pathways for Peace report sets out, every dollar invested in peacebuilding generates 16 dollars in savings.

This year, therefore, UNDP will set out a renewed offer on prevention, building on our already extensive work to strengthen national capacities to prevent conflict, deepen social cohesion and build peace with over 50 countries, in close collaboration with our humanitarian, development and peacebuilding partners.

For example, in 2019, income generating activities of the UNDP-World Bank Yemen Emergency Crisis Response Project benefited over 522,000 people, creating 1.5 million days of emergency work across the country, and expanding access to social services to over 1.3 million people.

UNDP is also working with partners to scaling up sub-regional and multi-country initiatives. In the Sahel, for example, the United Nations Integrated Strategy is helping to accelerate development and foster regional stability; and our approach with partners in the Lake Chad Basin is now being replicated in the Liptako Gourma region.

In 2020, UNDP is establishing an Africa Borderlands Programme to better guide and scale such efforts, supported by UNDPs Accelerator Lab in Nairobi.

I saw the importance of our work in this area during my trip to Sudan last week, and the difficult steps it takes to build a new social contract: from supporting women and youths participation, to creating the conditions for jobs and for hope, to putting in place the systems people need to enjoy their human rights, including justice and rule of law systems.

This a critical window, and a fragile one. UNDP is committed to supporting Sudan in building that new social contract, as we are committed to supporting each of the 170 countries and territories we serve in making progress towards the SDGs. To do so, UNDP must be at its best.

That takes me to my second point: bringing UNDP to its fullest potential.

2) Bringing UNDP to its fullest potential

To achieve the ambitions of our Strategic Plan, we have taken systematic steps to ensure that our business model effectively and efficiently supports the delivery of our work. And we have much to report on.

We continue to improve current capabilities  to strengthen our performance  with UNDP entering 2020 on a strong footing, be it in terms of solid finances, enhanced accountability, more efficient operations and investing in people.

We are also focused on building new capacities  through innovation  be it through our Accelerator Labs, our new Finance Hub, or our digital strategy.

Allow me to elaborate  first, on the performance side:

Solid finances

In 2019, we continued to ensure that the organization works within its budget and we are on track to balance the budget for the third year in a row, solidifying UNDPs financial stability and sustainability.

Though 2019 was a difficult transition year for UNDP, in which many leadership positions at the country office-level were vacant for a portion of the year, programme delivery improved as proportion of our overall budget, shifting from 88 per cent in 2018 to 93 per cent in 2019.

All Bureaus are delivering close to the internal targets they set at the beginning of last year. I want to make a special mention of the Regional Bureau for Africa which has exceeded its internal target, reaching over 1.1 billion in delivery in 2019.

These numbers indicate just how focused we are on responsible financial management, and how hard UNDP teams across the world worked in 2019 to manage a challenging transition year.

UNDP continued to strengthen our partnerships with governments and is deeply appreciative of the continued engagement and support of all our partners and contributors.

2019 marked the second year of increasing core contributions, estimated at $629 million with receivables, a $5m increase from 2018. We are grateful to our 52 Member States that contributed to core in 2019 (same number as in 2018). Multi-year commitments to core increased by 16 per cent, from $271 to $363 million.

UNDP also received $290 million in 2019 from development banks including the World Bank, the German national development bank, KfW, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration and, for the first time, the Council of Europe Development Bank and the China Development Bank.

Meanwhile, there has also been a significant increase to UNDP from UN pooled funds, up by 22% from 2018 to 2019  a clear sign of how UNDP is working more jointly with others at the country level.

Unfortunately, despite these increases our total contributions in 2019 were lower compared to 2018  decreasing from $5.2bn to $4.7bn-. We look to your continued support to increase the level of core and non-core contributions.

Enhanced accountability

UNDP remains firmly committed to demonstrate the highest level of accountability for the resources entrusted to us.

To this end, we have reinvigorated our risk management body, chaired by the Associate Administrator, and strengthened our engagement on audit and evaluation.

As you know, UNDP received its 14th consecutive clean audit opinion from the United Nations Board of Auditors (UNBOA) for 2018, underlining UNDPs commitment to continuous improvement in financial management, transparency, and accountability.

UNCDF has also received unqualified (clean) audit opinion from the UNBOA on its financial statements for the year ending 2018, marking seven consecutive years of unqualified audit opinions.

I would like to thank UNBOA, the Independent Audit and Evaluation Advisory Committee, and the Executive Board for their constructive engagement on these issues, and UNDP personnel around the world who have worked tirelessly to maintain high standards on audit and related fiduciary management matters.

More efficient operations

We are significantly improving the quality and efficiency of our operations through business service clustering, with 57 processes currently performed by country offices soon being performed in global shared service centres. Once complete, business service clustering will reduce our audit recommendations at the country office level by approximately 65 per cent.

And to give you a sense of scale of this effort, we will, for example, be administering benefits and entitlements for 27,500 personnel and processing an estimated 600,000 vouchers for payments per year.

We also completed the roll out of our new Travel and Expense module that gives us a 44% efficiency gain compared to old manual system. A core part of our travel process that used to take 134 minutes now takes 59. We had 85,337 travel and expense transactions recorded last year in the new module, meaning that the overall time savings last year was 107,000 hours across the organization.

UNDP is also committed to supporting improvements in operations for UN Country Teams.

We have used our digital innovation capacity to rapidly develop a new platform for DCO that will accelerate the achievement of one of the Secretary- Generals reform goals  namely that all UNCTs to comply with an improved Business Operations Strategies (BOS) by 2021.

The platform and the revised guidance reduce the time to prepare a BOS from months to weeks and greatly improves quality. DCO aims to have 76 out of 131 UNCTs transitioned on the platform at the end of the year, with the remaining scheduled for next year. All of this powered by UNDP.

We have also launched a new Mobile Atlas App, which allows staff to review and approve transactions through their phones. Already more than 8,200 transactions were approved through mobile phones in 176 countries and locations since September 2019.

We will continue to use digital tools to empower our staff and make their work simpler and more efficient.

Investing in people

Crucially in 2019, UNDPs invested in its most valuable asset: its staff, through our new People for 2030 Strategy.

This included building a cadre of new leadership, with a full cohort of ASGs now in place, deploying 118 Resident Representatives (RRs) and 123 Deputy Resident Representatives (DRRs), selecting a further pool of 28 candidates for the RR pools and 42 for the DRR pool, and  critically  achieving gender parity at senior leadership levels.

We have now achieved full gender parity among staff and UN Volunteers (UNV). A challenge ahead is to reach gender parity across all levels, particularly staff at more senior professional levels  P4 and above -- where we are, on average, five per cent below parity.

And we are working to create a more inclusive, safer workplace.

Through the UNDP-UNV Talent Programme, for example, from Armenia to Zimbabwe, 13 Young Professionals with Disabilities were deployed in 2019, fostering inclusion in their capacity as role models in the countries where they serve.

In 2019, work on the prevention of all forms of sexual misconduct continued apace with a new strategy and action plan. This includes additional investigators, an expanded external helpline, new SEA focal points in 25 high risk countries and a new pilot programme of respectful workplace facilitators in 24 countries to help create more inclusive work environments in our offices.

Walking the talk through greening

We also continue to green UNDPs business model, walking the talk on climate change.

Our ambitious Greening Moonshot aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent by 2025 and 50 per cent by 2030.

As part of this effort, UNDP is working to build smart, green facilities, encouraging greening choices around electric vehicles, solar panels, sensors and artificial intelligence, and strengthening the capacity of our local operations partners to do the same. 14 green projects are already operational, bringing savings of approximately $300,000 annually (or ~700,000 kgCO 2 e/year).

This brings me to the Innovation side of our effort to strengthen our business model:

Injecting new capacity to connect and learn

After a mammoth effort last year, UNDPs Accelerator Lab Network is now up and running - a key part of #NextGenUNDPs improved business model.

Development solutions are being interrogated by embedded teams of entrepreneurs, engineers, data scientists, and grassroots innovators across 78 countries and territories.

We received 8,500 job applications for the Labs  8.5 times the number for traditional UNDP jobs. This is both indication of the excitement people feel about this new way of working, and the urgency of tackling complex development problems in a different way  from air pollution in India, to out-migration in Serbia, to making electric vehicles more accessible in Namibia.

UNDPs Accelerator Labs Network is already garnering attention. Last week, it won the Apolitical 2019 Global Public Service Teams of the Year award for evidence-based policy, for example.

The Labs are part of UNDPs new Global Policy Network (GPN), which was rolled out in 2019. The GPNs communities of practice now connect over 8,800 UNDP colleagues, while the GPNs experts roster brings together 5,000 vetted, high-quality development professionals across 110 areas of expertise, who can be mobilized quickly to support UNDPs work at country-level.

Digital transformation

The connectivity and responsiveness of the GPN will be enabled by UNDPs Digital Strategy, which is beginning to transform many parts of the organization.

Over 1,600 people in UNDP have completed a Digital Transformation Learning Programme, covering topics such as Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), big data, blockchain and innovation, and another 500 have completed a Masterclasses in digital topics conducted in partnership with Unilever and INSEAD.

We have identified a new cohort of corporate digital initiatives, ranging from a blockchain-based platform to improve supply-chain transparency from small producers to consumers, to advanced visualization of the developmental impact of climate change. UNDPs new Information Technology (IT) strategy will also be rolled-out in 2020, focused on new ways of doing business.

UNV and UNDP are also working together to create a new digital platform with supervised AI to streamline volunteer recruitment and management services to UN partners.

And as you know from the informal meetings, beginning in 2020, we are now using A.I. - particularly through supervised Machine Learning -- to help interrogate UNDPs 2018 and 2019 results, to generate better insights, identify trends, share insight, and improve strategic planning and results at all levels in UNDP. This capacity will help us to better understand not only where we are doing well, but where we are not, and, even more importantly, why.

I know your teams had a preview of this new corporate tool at the informal meeting on the Mid-Term Review of UNDPs Strategic Plan last week.

Let me take this opportunity to stress the importance UNDP attaches to this MTR, which will help to ensure that UNDPs license to operate is fully effective and future focused. Further sessions with the Board on the MTR are planned later in February to consider the emerging data and help to prepare the combined 2018-2019 results that will be delivered to the June Board. The continued support and engagement of the Executive Board will be critical.

Driving financial innovation

Another critical component of our new capabilities is UNDPs new Finance Sector Hub.

Launched in 2019, it is designed to help both UNDP and our partners to better finance the change needed to achieve the SDGs. It draws together our work across initiatives such as Tax Inspectors Without Borders, the Insurance Development Forum, our work to support countries in developing Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs) in partnership with the EU and other UN agencies, and the flagship UNDP initiative SDG Impact.

2019 was also an important year for the UNs engagement in digital finance. I co-chaired the Secretary-Generals Taskforce on Digital Financing for the SDGs alongside Maria Ramos, ex-CEO of the Absa Group. This Taskforce is an excellent example of a public-private forum bringing together the UN, the World Bank, Central Banks and private sector CEOs. We look forward to sharing our recommendations with the Secretary-General by June 2020.

Taken together these new business model initiatives  from Global Policy Network and Accelerator Labs, to the Finance Hub and SDG Impact, to the role UNDP plays in advancing digital finance -- will help to propel the speed and scale of effective development change that the SDGs demand of us all.

And these initiatives have been made possible thanks to the intensive lift by colleagues across UNDP, UN Volunteers, UNCDF, the UN Office of South-South Cooperation, and the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund.

Continued commitment to UNDS reform



All these efforts are taking place against the overall context of UN Development System reform  something which UNDP remains firmly committed to.

In 2019, we actively participated in the key reform streams, such as the development of the new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework Guidance, in the elaboration of the Management & Accountability Framework, co-chairing  with UNEP  the inter-agency work on the Multi Country Office Review and on the regional review.

It also involved our role as a principal service provider to the Resident Coordinator System, helping ensure RCs and their offices can seamlessly carry out their critical coordination functions. An amended Memorandum of Understanding between UN Secretariat and UNDP envisages a continuation of service provision in 2020.

We are already seeing some preliminary results, cultural and behavioural changes as a result of reforms  including through renewed strategic partnerships with sister UN agencies and entities, such as UNICEF, UNEP, UN Habitat, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), for example.

We will continue to do so while exploring ways to advance the Common Chapter of our Strategic Plans with UNICEF, UNFPA, and UN Women, and continuing our everyday collaboration with our UN partners.

As we move ahead, we expect the benefits and gains of reform only to intensify, further strengthening the results we can achieve. We are working closely with DCO and other agencies to capture these early results and how we are working better together for greater impact.

Country programme documents

Tabled for your consideration during this Board are six Country Programme Documents (CPDs), for Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Kuwait, Mali and Paraguay.

Though some UN Cooperation Frameworks (CF) may still be under finalization, the outcomes in these CPDs are derived from the respective Frameworks. UNDP, UNFPA, and UNICEF are all taking the same approach in this transition year.

As per practice, the CPDs have undergone a thorough quality assurance process to ensure that they are relevant to national priorities; that they are in line with the Strategic Plan; and that they emphasize effectiveness and efficiency, synergies with partners, and credibility of monitoring and evaluation arrangements.

3. Looking ahead: 2020 and a Decade of Action for the SDGs

The challenge to UNDP as we start 2020 is to be relevant to a new generation of partners, of activists, of protestors demanding a life that is fair and just. To do so, we are fully committed to a Decade of Action that ends with the achievement of the SDGs.

That means that as UNDP, we will continue to lean into complexity to implement the Strategic Plan, including by tackling such integrated challenges as inequality, climate change and the root causes migration and forced displacement.

On inequality, for example, that will include starting in 2020 as we mean to continue with a focus on gender equality and empowerment, marking the 25th anniversary of the Beijing programme of action.

In addition, we will further explore and address the next generation of inequalities that are opening up, particularly around technology and climate change -- two seismic shifts that, unchecked, could open up new divides in society akin to what happened during the Industrial revolution, as our 2019 HDR sets out. These next generation inequalities will be the focus of our 2020 Istanbul Innovation Days in April.

On climate change, it also means that as we together enter a super year for nature, we will focus on the integrated relationship between climate, nature, and development to catalyse and accelerate change, which we will explore together in more detail this afternoon.

And on forced displacement and migration, it means we will strengthen our focus on root causes, including by reinvigorating our support to preventing conflict and crisis.

Our progress in 2019 gives me confidence that #NextGenUNDP is now ready for this challenge to deliver at the scale and speed the SDGs require, hand-in-hand with our partners.

Indeed, in 2020, UNDP will focus on bringing more partners to the table to accelerate SDG engagement and progress, including through enhanced outreach, advocacy and communications. The partnership we forged with Samsung, which resulted in the installation of a Samsung SDG mobile ap on approximately 4.5 million devices, with over one million active users to date, is such an example.

Our enhanced approach to working with our partners in SIDS, is being rolled out in 2020, responding to their most pressing needs as well as their greatest opportunities for accelerating transformative sustainable development.

UNDPs Goodwill Ambassadors continue to shine a spotlight on the SDGs, translating the work we do for a wider global audience, while through such initiatives as The Lions Share, luminaries like the British broadcaster and natural historian David Attenborough are joining their voice with UNDP in calling for a new way forward for people and the planet.

Conclusion

We know the scale of the challenge we face to reach the SDGs.

The key now is to harness that passion and purpose, to surface and scale the multiple, potential solutions that will take us to the future of development.

And if we need inspiration to do so, the 75th birthday of the United Nations this year should provide it.

At UNDP, we look forward to writing the next chapter of development on how to achieve the SDGs - with you all.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, February 4, 2020

The start-up Clearview AI, which reportedly sells faceprint databases to police departments, is now facing a second potential class-action lawsuit.

In a complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Fairfax County resident Shelby Zelonis Roberson alleges that Clearview violates a state law that gives people the right to control the commercial use of their names and images.

Roberson also claims that the tech company violated a state anti-hacking law by scraping photos from social media services.

Clearview scraped billions of photos from Twitter, Facebook and other companies, used technology to create a faceprint database, then sold that database to police departments across the country, according to an explosive report two weeks ago in The New York Times.

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It's not clear whether scraping data that is publicly available violates anti-hacking laws like the one in Virginia, which broadly prohibits people from accessing computer servers without authorization.

Last year, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that LinkedIn couldn't rely on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act -- a federal anti-hacking law similar to the measure in Virginia -- to prevent its service from being scraped by analytics company hiQ. The appellate court said in its ruling that the federal anti-hacking law doesn't appear to outlaw scraping from sites that are not password-protected.

LinkedIn has said it plans to ask the Supreme Court to review the ruling.

In addition, Roberson's complaint doesn't spell out what actions Clearview allegedly took in Virginia, according to Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman.

There are critical missing facts -- like exactly what was scraped, from whom, when, and under what circumstances, Goldman says. We don't know if any scraping actually took place in Virginia.

He adds that it's not clear that consumers -- as opposed to the companies whose servers were accessed --- can can sue over scraping.

Goldman also says Roberson will likely have an uphill battle with the claim that Clearview violated a state prohibition on using people's photos for commercial purposes without permission. That law applies when companies use people's photos in ads, but not when photos are used for editorial purposes.

Databases with names or pictures are typically considered editorial products, even if whoever compiles the databases sells them.

News about Clearview's technology sparked concern by privacy advocates and some lawmakers and other tech companies. New Jersey's Attorney General told state prosecutors to stop using the technology company's program, while Twitter reportedly told Clearview to stop scraping the site for photos.

Last week, an Illinois resident alleged in a the first federal class-action complaint against the company that it was violating the state's biometric privacy law, which prohibits companies from collecting or storing scans of facial geometry without people's consent.
In May 2003, Mr Blooms was involved in preparing two of Ciara's fingernails for DNA examination - these were her right little fingernail and right ring fingernail swab (AJM49 and AJM50).

He said the exhibits were taken out of secured storage, and likely a swab would have been taken, cut and placed into a tube to be sent to the DNA lab.

Of AJM49, he couldn't confirm from his notes if the actual nail, or a swab of the nail was sent off for testing.

Defence lawyer Paul Yovich has begun his cross-examination and is asking Mr Blooms when he recalls evidence tape being used to seal exhibit bags.

He said his recollection was it was normal practice for bags to be sealed the entire time he worked at the Pathwest lab, between 1994 and 2012.

This contradicts evidence from a previous witness.

Mr Yovich is now asking him about whether DNA technology was in its infancy between 1994 and 1997, which Mr Blooms has agreed.

He has asked if the increased sensitivity of DNA testing increased the risk of contamination.

Mr Blooms: I think that's a fair comment. As professional scientists ... I was always acutely aware of the necessity of cleanliness in the lab, it's just one of the underpinning features of that type of laboratory ... The other thing is a good scientist would know the more you find out about a subject, the more there is to find out ... so we were always very aware for the potential for contamination, we were always very aware for the technology we were using to be improved upon.

Mr Yovich: The precautions you took to guard against contamination were in part driven by what you could afford to do and what was practical to do?

Mr Blooms: With the technology available, I would defend any assertion that we shortcut cleaning procedures, for examples, we used the cleaning procedures that were the standard at the time.

Mr Yovich: Did the use of alcohol and chlorine bleach carry some health risks to staff?

Mr Blooms: I don't believe so in the way it was used because part of our education is to be able to use the items safely.

Mr Yovich is now asking Mr Blooms about the protective clothing worn at the time, which was usually a lab coat and gloves.

Mr Blooms has also commented it would have been frowned upon for someone to use the same pair of gloves to handle multiple items between 1995 and 1997.

Mr Yovich: So even when you didn't know that DNA could transfer that way [secondary transfer through a glove] you guarded against it, that's your evidence?

Mr Blooms: Yes.
YEREVAN.  Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: As early as last month, alarming news came from Kazakhstan for individuals and organizations [in Armenia] engaged in car importing whose [Kazakhstans] citizens were the major buyers of cars imported from the US to Armenia in 2019.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, about 95,000 cars were imported into the country only last year, most of them from Armenia, and now the country claims that thousands of transactions made and to be made are expected to be carried out under other conditions, which, in short, means the Kazakhs will no longer buy the huge number of cars accumulated in Armenia, and it is also possible to return the ones already purchased to Armenia.

One of our interlocutors engaged in car imports mentioned that some have started to bring their cars back to Armenia and are trying to demand money from the RA citizens who sold them, and the auto market is in a shameful situation now; once it's time to pay the property tax, people have to sell brought cars for very cheap price to pay off loans and debts.

Our sources claim that RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has his share of the blame for all this, who, in short, is not perceived by the EEU leaders as a credible (...) person.

The problem, of course, is profound, and (...) real politics also requires closed, often not-so-"proud" conversations with other leaders, which Pashinyan can't do, and [therefore] thousands of Armenians are actually suffering because of his behavior.
By Trend





Interview with Cahid Ismayiloglu, head of IT and technical supply sector of Department of Propaganda, Information and Analytics of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

We are about to finish the works on the idea State Committee on Work with Diaspora with one touch.

The infographic diaspora map was launched by the State Committee on Work with Diaspora in 2018. What was the main purpose in launching this map? Could the Committee achieve the purpose within the past period?

One of the main targets of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora is to establish multidirectional, close relations with the Azerbaijanis living abroad, as well as with the diaspora organizations established by them. As we know, millions of Azerbaijanis are living abroad nowadays.

A new approach to the establishment of diaspora made necessary massive apply of the opportunities of the information and communication technologies to this process.

It is already two years that the State Committee is looking for the ways of applying new innovations, high technologies to the process of establishment of diaspora. The Committee took serious steps in the direction of the formation of the information space, turning it to the shared information environment, and creating national information sources.

We have started from nothing. Thats why, realization of the ideas and presenting concrete product is the very important. Diasporamap.com  Diaspora map may be a good example. This interactive map covering diaspora organizations was not regarded as a reliable source when it was newly launched.

But now, the data it contains is reliable enough. This platform did not improve gradually, but within a short period of time, and became very reliable source. Of course, technical, innovative, and interactive opportunities of the platform speeded up the process. We could achieve the purposes in this direction.

Please, give us information about the coverage area of the Diaspora map. Generally speaking, what can you say about the statistical indicators for the beginning of 2020?

Diaspora map platform gave a ground for the coordination of the diaspora organizations established by the Azerbaijanis on a virtual world. regardless of country of residence, every user may enter the website, get concrete information about the diaspora organizations in that territory, get in touch with them.

Besides, existing organizations may handle information about themselves to the platform admin, and help to update the platform.

The information of this platform is updated every day. Thats why the number of the existing diaspora organizations and countries varies. For example, last year the platform covered 48 countries, but one more country was added to this list this month. Be more exact, an information about the diaspora organization in Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was added to the map and automatically the number of the countries reached 49.

Besides the organization of the effective work of the Diasporas, the State Committee also made several innovative novelties to overcome lack of information in this sphere. Infographic diaspora map is one of these novelties. How this map will give impetus to the activity of the Committee?

Collecting, handling, saving, processing of the information, delivering it to the user, and use of IT in this direction covers main part of our work. We overcome the lack of information gradually. The Committee gets information from all corners of the world. This process takes seconds and the result is seen immediately.

We are about to finish the works on the idea State Committee on Work with Diaspora with one touch. One can get an access to virtual information space both on the web and mobile app. It will be possible to see the whole activity of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora, and the existing diaspora organizations.

Can infographic diaspora map solve coordination problems among the diaspora organizations functioning in various countries?

The main target of the Diaspora Map platform is to give a ground for the coordination of the diaspora organizations on a virtual world.

There was a lack of information among the diaspora organization but we overcame it owing to this platform. The Committee is engaged in enriching opportunities of the platform and speeding up information update and works in this direction.








MANILA, Philippines  Bureau of Customs (BOC) operatives at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) arrested a Thai national for allegedly attempting to smuggle into the country P28 million worth of shabu (crystal meth).

The BOC said the passenger, identified as Pakjira Janwong, was arrested around 3 a.m. Monday upon arrival at the NAIA Terminal 3 from Bangkok, Thailand.

An X-ray screening of the passengers luggage revealed the presence of the illegal drugs weighing 4.125 kilograms.

When subjected to physical examination, Customs personnel found white crystalline substances concealed under a false bottom lining which later tested positive for methamphetamine hydrochloride through a field test.

The suspect and the seized drugs were turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for further investigation.

The bureau said Janwong will face charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, and the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

The post BOC seizes P28-M worth of shabu from Thai passenger at NAIA appeared first on UNTV News.
by Mathias Hariyadi

Fighters and their families are trapped in Kurdish-controlled northern Syria. A de-radicalisation programme awaits them at home. For Religious Affairs minister, the decision is based on humanitarian grounds. For one expert, not all of them are fundamentalists.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  Indonesias Minister for Religious Affairs Fachrul Razi announced that the Indonesian government is vetting a plan to repatriate about 600 Indonesian nationals who joined the Islamic State (IS) group to fight in Syria.

The government has not yet decided the repatriation plan, said Razi, a retired army general. The issue, he noted, is still being reviewed thoroughly by a variety of institutions under the coordination of Coordinating Ministry for Politics, Legal, and Security Affairs. At the same time, there are many things to consider, both positive and negative impacts.

Todays ministerial press release was also meant to clarify some earlier statements. On Saturday, Razi had announced that Indonesias National Counter Terrorism Agency (BNPT)[*] planned to repatriate some 600 jihadis on humanitarian grounds, who have been trapped in Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria along with their families.

It is unclear how many of them actually hold Indonesian citizenship. The London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR) reported in July 2018 that some 700 to 800 Indonesian were part of the Islamic State, including 113 women and about a hundred children. Of these, 183-300 had already returned.

As soon as they got to Syria, the Indonesians burnt their passports, Minister Razi explained. For this reason, they are now stranded in a foreign country. For humanitys sake, we are willing to facilitate their return home.

Razi noted however that it will take time to "neutralise" their radicalism. To this end, moderate Islamic organisations will be called upon to provide full assistance to the Ministrys de-radicalisation programme. He did not provide any details.

The authorities have certainly looked closely at such a plan, which has sparked strong resistance in the public, said Prof Adrianus Meliala, an expert criminologist and member of Indonesias Ombudsman Office, speaking to AsiaNews.

It seems to me that the administration is convinced that it is appropriate on the basis of the following considerations:

Not all Indonesian detainees in Syria are truly fundamentalists. Some were carried away by the [Islamist] 'current'. Compared to those who had 'converted' to Islamist ideology, they show remorse. And this could be sincere.

"As far as radicalised individuals are concerned, our government will most likely use them to track down their underground organisations and open a 'Pandora's box'.

De-radicalisation comes with many more benefits, at lower costs, than tolerating underground movements.

[*] Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Terorisme.
The CBI has booked senior Karnataka-cadre IPS officers Hemant Nimbalkar and Ajay Hilori, along with eight others, in connection with the Rs 4,000-crore I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) scam, in which gullible investors were allegedly cheated in the name of Islamic banking, officials said on Tuesday.

The move came after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) received an approval from the Karnataka government to proceed with its investigation into the alleged role of 1998-batch IPS officer Nimbalkar, then posted as the Inspector General (CID-EOW), and 2008-batch IPS officer Hilori, then posted as the DCP, Bengaluru East, they said.

Along with the two officers, the agency has named Inpsector M Ramesh and Sub-Inspector Gowri Shankar, both then posted at the Commercial Street police station in Bengaluru, DySP (CID-EOW) EB Sridhara, besides the company, IMA, its founder Mansoor Khan and three of its other directors in a fresh case.

The agency had approached the state government, seeking permission to proceed against the two officers, who were in senior positions in the Karnataka police, and had allegedly helped Khan, the officials said.

In an order issued on January 7, the Karnataka government accorded the sanction under section 17(A)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 to the CBI to "conduct any inquiry or investigation into the allegations" against the two officers, they added.

The amendment in the Prevention of Corruption Act has made it mandatory to get a sanction from the government concerned before initiating a probe against a government servant.

The CBI has alleged that since 2016, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) repeatedly raised red flags on the activities of the IMA group, which was allegedly raising illegal deposits from investors promising lucrative returns in the name of Islamic banking practices.

Ramesh had also received a reference in this regard through the DCP, Bengaluru East, but did not conduct a proper enquiry and closed the case on August 29, 2016, the agency has alleged in its FIR.

In his comments on closing the reference, Ramesh had mentioned that the company was operating within the rules and there were no deviations. He had also said that he could not take any action against the company under the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishment (KPID) Act, 2004 in the absence of a complaint from any depositor, the FIR says.

The report was rejected by the RBI and the DCP was asked to re-look into the matter, but he closed the reference just before his transfer, saying it was dealt with by the CID-EOW, the CBI has alleged.

In between, complaints were made against the company and the Karnataka Principal Secretary (Revenue) had also asked the police to probe the case, but Inpsector Ramesh, Sub-Inspector Gowri Shankar and Hilori did not take any action, the agency has said.

The three officers allegedly conspired among themselves to favour IMA group entities and its MD and CEO Khan, abused their official positions by not taking appropriate action against the group entities and in a quid pro quo arrangement, received illegal gratification, the FIR says.

On July 4, 2018, the Karnataka Director General of Police (DGP) directed the IGP, CID-EOW for investigating the IMA under the KPID Act, for which E B Sridhara, DySP (CID-EOW), was appointed as an inquiry officer, who gave a clean chit to the company on January 1, 2019.

Nimbalkar, the then IG (CID-EOW), forwarded the report to the DGP, asserting that the inquiry did not find any wrongdoing on the part of the company.

The activities of the IMA group continued unhindered, which facilitated the collection of hundreds of crores of rupees from lakhs of innocent people, the agency has alleged.

It has found in its probe so far that more than Rs 4,000 crore of deposits were illegally raised from thousands of innocent investors by IMA group entities, but the Karnataka CID gave a clean chit to the company and its promoter-director, Khan.

As on date, over Rs 3,000 crore are outstanding in the form of principal amount and interest in respect of 76,000 investors, the CBI has alleged.

It has already filed two chargesheets against 22 accused, including the company, its sister concerns, directors, chartered accountants and middlemen.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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"I believe that China can overcome this disaster"-Georgian citizen after returning from China - GeorgianJournal
GOIL Company Limited has held its third and final ultimate reward of its 'Efie ne Fie' promotion at Cape Coast, with 780 more customers receiving free fuel ranging from GH300 to GH1,000.

At the third and final reward ceremony, 90 drivers received GH1,000 worth of fuel, 250 customers got GH500 fuel while 440 customers were rewarded with GH300 worth of fuel. The top five customers who accrued the highest points during the three months of promotion were also given 33inches brand new flat screen television sets each.

In all, 2,500 customers across the country benefitted from the ultimate reward scheme during the period of the promotion. This is in addition to the 773,642 customers who received instant rewards such as airtime, tissue boxes, face-towels, t-shirts, key rings and gift vouchers after buying fuel from any of the over 400 fuel stations in the country.

The Managing Director and Group CEO, Kwame Osei Prempeh, congratulated the drivers for keeping faith with the company, adding that GOIL will always strive to give the best of quality service. He mentioned that GOIL and the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) have jointly constructed model premix stations in the Central and Western regions to serve the people.

The Board Chairman, Kwamena Bartels, thanked the numerous customers of GOIL who turned up in their numbers to patronize GOIL products during the promotion, urging them to continue to stay with the company and help keep money back in the economy. He noted that the diverse backgrounds of recipients of the reward scheme were an example that GOIL belonged to all Ghanaians.

The recipients were made up of private saloon cars, taxis, trotros, trucks, mini-buses, private SUVs and motor as well as tri-cycles.

Mr. Kwamena Duncan the Central Regional Minister commended GOIL for contributing to stabilizing fuel prices in the country, adding that the company will remain a prized national asset, urging the management and board to continue efforts at expanding the company to create more jobs for the youth.

The Omanhene of the Ogua Traditional Area, Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, who chaired the occasion, commended GOIL for the strides it had made and appealed to Ghanaians to patronize made in Ghana products, as a way of strengthening Ghana's economy.

The occasion coincided with the official reopening of the modernized Cape Coast by-pass service station which had enhanced services such as a well-stocked and expanded GO CAFE, a GO lube centre and an auto service centre.
The Iowa caucus debacle represents one of the most stunning failures of information security ever. This failure was delivered by the same Iowa Democratic Party officials who have said for the last four years they were "ramping up" their technology capabilities, convening seemingly endless security task forces to ensure foreign powers did not disenfranchise voters, and collaborating with federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security to make sure everyone was in the loop on voting security. Voters will be paying close attention to how party leaders ensure that votes going forward have clear contingency plans in place, not just to protect against hackers, but from all types of technology failures, including applications that might not work.

What happened?

Iowa officials counting the results coming in Monday from the caucusing app reported irregularities that required them to switch from the app to counting votes manually. Party officials said the "underlying data" put into the app was fine, but it is unclear as of yet how they know this or even what they consider "underlying data."

"Last night, more than 1,600 precinct caucuses gathered across the state of Iowa and at satellite caucuses around the world," the Iowa Democratic Party said in a statement Tuesday. "As precinct caucus results started coming in, the IDP ran them through an accuracy and quality check. It became clear that there were inconsistencies with the reports. The underlying cause of these inconsistencies was not immediately clear, and required investigation, which took time." Read more: Nevada Democrats say they won't use the app involved in Iowa caucus The Iowa Democrats were using an application made by a partisan progressive start-up named Shadow Inc., managed by a nonprofit investment company called Acronym. In a statement, Acronym distanced itself from Shadow. "We are reading confirmed reports of Shadow's work with the Iowa Democratic Party on Twitter and we, like everyone else, are eagerly awaiting more information ... with respect to what happened," Acronym said in a statement. Iowa Democrats explained that backup measures for the Shadow app took "longer than expected." "We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed. The application's reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately," the Iowa Democratic Party statement said. Voters will surely be asking the Iowa Democrats to prove how they know the information is accurate with so many reported irregularities. Shadow apologized on Twitter Tuesday afternoon. "We sincerely regret the delay in the reporting of the results of last night's Iowa caucuses and the uncertainty it has caused to the candidates, their campaigns, and Democratic caucus-goers." tweet

Why did it happen?

The Iowa Democrats and Democratic National Committee will have to answer several puzzling questions about why they chose to use the application in the first place. First, in 2016, the Iowa caucuses used an application made by Microsoft, which worked. It's unclear why they didn't keep the same application, created by an established company instead of one from an untested start-up. Microsoft is making sure people know it didn't make this year's app. "We had a great partnership with the Iowa political parties in 2016, but we are not part of the caucuses this year and have not been involved in building or supporting their app," a company spokesperson tweeted. Tweet Second, in August, the Democratic National Committee recommended Iowa stop using an app altogether. The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee voted to follow those recommendations. It said a security review had determined the virtual caucus did not meet standards for cybersecurity and reliability. "We are  over the last week and continuing today and in the days ahead  continuing to look at what options might be available to us given the time frame that's left," Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price said in September, according to NPR. "We know there's not a lot of time left. There's 4.5 months between now and when Iowans head to the caucus sites." DHS acting Secretary Chad Wolf told Fox News on Tuesday that the app "was not vetted for cybersecurity." Now, Iowa is scrambling for answers.

Cybersec vs. Infosec: Why it matters here
A New York City police officer and his fiancee, who were accused of letting his 8-year-old son with autism freeze to death, were allegedly caught on their home security cameras taunting the boy for being cold before he died.

On Jan. 17, Michael Valva called Suffolk County police to report that his son Thomas had fallen in the driveway of his Long Island home while waiting for the school bus.

However, investigators found inconsistencies with Valvas story and believe Thomas had allegedly been forced to sleep in the familys garage overnight in sub-freezing temperatures, allegedly killing him, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said at a press conference on Jan. 24.

Now, Valva and his fiancee Angela Pollina are charged with second-degree murder. They have pleaded not guilty.

On Friday, during the couples arraignment, prosecutors revealed that home security cameras used by the pair to monitor their children also recorded the final days of Thomass life, according to the New York Times, PIX11 and WNBC.

RELATED: NYPD Officer, Fiancee Allegedly Murdered Son With Autism by Leaving Him Overnight in Frigid Garage

The camera found in the garage was labeled kids room and two nights before Thomass death, recorded him and his older brother, Anthony, 10, shivering as they slept on the floor of the freezing garage, Assistant District Attorney Laura Newcombe said.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLEs free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

They are on cold concrete. There are no pillows, no blankets, no mattress, Newcombe claimed during the hearing.

On the day of his death, Thomas was allegedly falling over and face-planting on the garages concrete floor, Newcomeb said.

In an audio recording from that morning, his brother can be heard asking why Thomas was having troubling walking.

Story continues

When youre washed with cold water and its freezing, you get hypothermia, Michael Valva responds, Newcombe said, citing the recording.

Later, when asked why Thomas was falling, Michael Valva allegedly says, Because hes cold. Boo fking hoo.

Pollina then asks Michael Valva, What are you doing? to which he can allegedly be heard replying, Suffocating him, thats what Im doing, Newcombe said.

Take your hands off his mouth, Pollina tells him, Newcombe said, citing the recording. There are people everywhere.

Since losing custody of her sons two years ago, Thomas mother, Justyna Zubko-Valva, has fought to prove they were the victims of abuse, the Times reports. She chronicled her fears for her sons on her Twitter page StandUpAgainstChildAbuse.

Valva and Pollina have pleaded not guilty. The couples attorneys could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to http://www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
Inspired by stories of actor Donnie Wahlberg leaving big tips for servers, a wealthy businessman in Massachusetts left a very generous tip on a recent restaurant tab.

Server Jennifer Navaria posted on Facebook that she received a $5,000 tip Saturday at the Seaglass Restaurant in Salisbury, Massachusetts, from car dealership owner Ernie Boch Jr.

She initially thought it was a $50 tip.

"I was, like, 'Oh, wait a minute,' so then I looked down again and I saw it was four digits, then a decimal point," Navaria said.

According to his spokesperson, Boch was dining with a friend and noticed the restaurant did not have many customers.

Navaria's photo of the credit card receipt shows that Boch's meal cost $157.56. It also shows that Boch wrote a message to Wahlberg at the top of the ticket.

"Donnie, your move," Boch wrote.

Wahlberg recently left a $2,020 tip for a server at an IHOP restaurant, a number referencing the new year.

"She was just so outstanding, I said, 'This is it! This is the 2020 Donnie challenge,'" Boch said. "Who's making the next move? Who's it going to be? Who's going to help us out? It's got to be more than me -- I was more than Donnie -- (so) it's got to be more than me. Let's keep it going!"

"Thank you Ernie Boch for your amazing generosity!" Navaria wrote. "You certainly made a job I really enjoy that much better."



Navaria asked her Facebook friends to help share the photo of the receipt with Wahlberg.

"I hear about this happening to other people and I knew about that challenge, but who would have ever thought it would happen to you?" Navaria said.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Children's Heart Foundation's Ohio Region will host Hops for Hearts this Friday, Feb. 7, from 6-10 p.m. at Wolf's Ridge Brewing in Columbus.

Hops for Hearts is an evening dedicated to raising money and awareness for The Children's Heart Foundation and its critical mission: to advance the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of congenital heart defects by funding the most promising research.

Congenital heart defects, or CHDs, are the nation's most common birth defect, impacting 40,000 babies each year. More than 25 percent of those newborns will need at least one invasive surgery in their lifetimes, and many require far more.

"Every 15 minutes a child is born with a congenital heart defect, so in the course of our four-hour Hops for Hearts event, that's another 16 babies who need our help," said Tamara Thomas, who serves on The Children's Heart Foundation board of directors. "My son Adam was one of these babies and because of research funded by The Children's Heart Foundation, he's now in his twenties and is thriving."

The Children's Heart Foundation funds research that improves and extends the lives of children born with CHDs. Since its beginning in 1996, this national not-for-profit has given more than $13 million to research that is making a world of difference in the battle against CHDs.

"Continued support will help The Children's Heart Foundation fund research that will save even more lives," said Thomas.

Hops for Hearts will raise money for additional CHD research. Tickets may be purchased online at https://event.gives/hopsforhearts or at the door. Tickets include food, a drink ticket, and music from Honey and Blue, as well as presentations from our scientific community about the impact of CHD research.

To learn more about The Children's Heart Foundation Ohio Region, visit www.childrensheartfoundation.org/Ohio.

SOURCE The Children's Heart Foundation

Related Links

http://www.childrensheartfoundation.org


Nicosia, Feb 4 : The everyday life of Cypriots living in the United Kingdom (UK) will not change after Brexit, British High Commissioner to Cyprus Stephen Lillie reassured Cyprus's President Nicos Anastasiades.

Lillie said after meeting Anastasiades on Monday that he confirmed the UK's continuing commitment "to a strong, wide-ranging, very deep relationship between the two countries".

"Our relationship ... is based on shared values, shared history, membership of the Commonwealth, our large communities of Cypriots in the UK and Britons in Cyprus," said the British diplomat, Xinhua news agency reported There are over 80,000 people of dual Cypriot-British or single British citizenship living in Cyprus, and also those who serve in Britain's two military bases on the eastern Mediterranean island, which the UK retained after it granted independence to its former colony.

Tens of thousands of Cypriots of up to third generation live in several cities in the UK, plus over 10,000 students study at British universities.

As European Union (EU) citizens, Cypriot students enjoyed low tuition fees and other student benefits.

Lillie said Cypriot students will continue to be treated like British students.

He also said that the UK will require neither a visa nor a passport from Cypriots to travel to Britain as they will be accepted by just showing their identity card.
Australia may arrange a second evacuation flight out of Chinas Wuhan city, the epicenter of the coronavirus, after a first plane load of its citizens arrived on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday.

Some 241 passengers on the initial flight will be quarantined for two weeks on the remote Australia-run island, about 1,400 km (870 miles) northwest of mainland Australia.

A Qantas Airways Ltd 747 carrying the evacuees and Department of Health officials landed at a military airbase north of Perth, where passengers were transferred to two smaller planes for the flight to Christmas Island. The first of the chartered flights landed on Christmas Island on Tuesday morning.

All Australians who were on our flight out of Wuhan have arrived safely, Morrison said in a series of posts on his verified Twitter account, calling the evacuation a complex and very challenging operation.

We are now working with the Chinese authorities on a possible second assisted departure flight for Australians seeking to leave Wuhan, Morrison added.

Australia has said it plans to keep evacuees on Christmas Island for two weeks, the maximum incubation period of the newly identified virus which has sparked a global health emergency and killed more than 400 people in China, mostly in Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province.

Morrison said Australia had also been working with New Zealand to share some seats on a plane organized by its trans-Tasman neighbor.

An evacuation flight chartered by Air New Zealand Ltd is scheduled to leave Wuhan late on Tuesday, Wuhan time, with 70 New Zealanders and an unspecified number of Australians on board and was expected to arrive in Auckland on Wednesday, the airline said.

Australian citizens on the flight would be transferred from Auckland to Christmas Island, the New Zealand government has said.

In addition to the 241 evacuees taken to Christmas Island, Morrison said two passengers on the Qantas flight, a pregnant woman and her partner, have been transferred to Perth and are in isolation there.

Wuhan in Hubei province has been in lockdown to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed 414 people in the province. The first death from the virus outside China was reported on Sunday in the Philippines.

There were 600 Australians registered in the Hubei region as of last week.

Australia on Saturday followed the United States in barring entry to all foreign nationals traveling from mainland China and raised its travel warning for China to the highest level, advising people against visiting the country at all.
UNITED NATIONS  U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Tuesday that a wind of madness is sweeping the globe, pointing to escalating conflicts from Libya and Yemen to Syria and beyond.

At a wide-ranging news conference, he said, All situations are different but there is a feeling of growing instability and hair-trigger tensions, which makes everything far more unpredictable and uncontrollable, with a heightened risk of miscalculation.

The U.N. chief also expressed great frustration that legally binding U.N. Security Council resolutions are being disrespected before the ink is even dry.

Guterres singled out Libya where he called the current offensives by the warring parties a scandal  coming soon after world powers and other key countries adopted a road map to peace in Berlin on Jan. 19 that called for respect for a U.N. arms embargo, an end to foreign interference in the fighting by rival governments and steps toward a cease-fire.

Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi who was later killed.

A weak U.N.-recognized administration that holds the capital Tripoli and parts of the countrys west is backed by Turkey and to a lesser degree Qatar and Italy. On the other side is Gen. Khalifa Hifter, whose forces launched a surprise offensive to capture the capital last April from their base in the countrys east and are backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt as well as France and Russia.

Guterres said the 55-point Berlin agreement has been repeatedly violated by fighting and continuing arms deliveries. We are seeing more and more civilians being targeted,  migrants in a desperate situation and all the commitments that were made apparently were made without a true intention of respecting them, he said.

The secretary-general also expressed enormous concern at the escalation of attacks in Idlib, Syrias last rebel-held province with a population of 3 million, and said the U.N. is particularly worried that the escalation now includes the Syrian and Tukish armies bombing each other. He again urged a cessation of hostilities before the escalation comes to a situation that then becomes totally out of control.

As for Yemen, Guterres said he was very encouraged recently to see Iranian-backed Houthi Shiite rebels stop attacking Saudi Arabia and the Saudis, who back the countrys internationally recognized government, limiting their military actions. But unfortunately, the last few days have seen a new escalation, he said, adding, We are doing everything we can for this escalation to be reversed, and everything we can to create the conditions for a true political dialogue to be re-established.

In Iraq, which has faced mass anti-government protests since Oct. 1 in which at least 500 demonstrators have been killed, the secretary-general called for the human rights of protesters to be protected. The protesters have decried rampant government corruption, poor services and lack of employment and are demanding the overthrow of the political establishment, electoral reforms and snap elections.

Guterres said militias have sometimes been the worst perpetrators of violations of human rights and attacks against protesters. Its critical for the government to ensure that the army and policy regain the monopoly on the use of force to ensure the normal functioning of the state, he said.

He also said Iraqs unity must be preserved and external interferences must be avoided because divisions are deep and the risks of the country imploding are high (which) would have devastating consequences for the region.

On the decades-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, the secretary-general said the U.S. peace plan unveiled last week doesnt comply with U.N. General Assembly and Security Council resolutions and international law. The resolutions support a two-state solution based on 1967 borders and call all Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal.

The secretary-general stressed that global problems feed on each other.

As economies falter, poverty remains entrenched. As future prospects look bleak, populist and ethnic nationalist narratives gain appeal, he said. As instability rises, investment dries up, and development cycles down. When armed conflicts persist, societies reach perilous tipping points. And as governance grows weak, terrorists get stronger, seizing on the vacuum.

Guterres said that this year  as the United Nations marks its 75th anniversary  he will press to break the vicious circles of suffering and conflict and push for a surge of diplomacy for peace.
Named for the year of San Antonios founding and featuring a one-of-a-kind view of the Alamo, the 1718 Steakhouse has been a beloved culinary staple of downtown San Antonio since its 2016 debut. Now, Stone Oak residents can look forward to the same fine dining experience and warm customer service: A brand-new second location has just opened up in the heart of Stone Oak! Quality and flavor are yours for the asking amid perfectly prepared steaks, and seafood options like lobster cargot and blackened salmon are available to suit every palate. Enjoy a variety of delightful wines and a contemporary full bar featuring tantalizing cocktails like the Chocolate Old-Fashioned and the Cucumber Collins. Call the new location at 210-377-1718 for more information, or stop on by for a savory steak at 20626 Stone Oak Parkway, Suite 103.

Editor's Note: This content is made possible by Sponsored content contributor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com
Arizona News

Phoenix, Arizona - Arizona is taking steps to ensure the next generation receives a high-quality civics education. In 2015, Arizona became the first state in the nation to pass the American Civics Act, requiring high school students to pass the citizenship test before graduation. Since then, 34 states have followed suit.

In his State of the State Address, Governor Ducey proposed building on this progress by allowing students to take the test before high school. Senator Sylvia Allen introduced S.B. 1356, allowing seventh and eighth-graders to take the test and increasing the passing score from 60 to 70 percent.

During his address, Governor Ducey also called for legislation creating Sandra Day O'Connor Civics Celebration Day  a day when classroom instruction can be devoted entirely to civics. Representative Shawnna Bolick introduced H.B. 2625, establishing September 25the day Justice OConnor was sworn in as the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Courtas Sandra Day OConnor Civics Celebration Day. The legislation recently passed the House Education Committee with unanimous support.

In 2016, Governor Ducey signed legislation protecting individuals rights to demonstrate on college campuses. The legislation, H.B. 2615, broadens campus free speech zones to the entire public college campus as opposed to designated areas.
Pre-Stabilisation notice

February 4, 2020

Not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or any jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful.

The German State of North Rhine-Westphalia

EUR senior, unsecured Tap due 2038

Increase of its 1.65 % February 2038 Landesschatzanweisung

Pre-Stabilisation Notice

Commerzbank AG (contact: Daniela Olt-Farrelly; telephone: -49 69 136 23492) hereby announces, as Stabilisation Coordinator, that the Stabilising Managers named below may stabilise the offer of the following securities in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU Regulation 596/2014).

The security to be stabilised: Issuer: German State of North Rhine-Westphalia Guarantor (if any): none Aggregate nominal amount: EUR tbc Description: Increase of its  1.35 billion LSA due 22 February 2038 Offer price: tbc after pricing Other offer terms: payment date 11 February 2020, denoms 1k/1k Stabilisation: Stabilisation Coordinator:

Stabilising Managers: Commerzbank AG

BNP Paribas

Citigroup

DekaBank

Norddeutsche Landesbank Stabilisation period expected to start on: 4th February 2020 Stabilisation period expected to end on: no later than 30 days after the proposed issue date of the securities Existence, maximum size and conditions of use of over-allotment facility. The Stabilising Managers may over-allot the securities to the extent permitted in accordance with applicable law. Stabilisation trading venue: Duesseldorf regulated market

In connection with the offer of the above securities, the Stabilising Manager(s) may over-allot the securities or effect transactions with a view to supporting the market price of the securities during the stabilisation period at a level higher than that which might otherwise prevail. However, stabilisation may not necessarily occur and and any stabilisation action, if begun, may cease at any time Any stabilisation action or over-allotment shall be conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and rules.

This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities of the Issuer in any jurisdiction.

This announcement is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or any other jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful.
Presidency University Vice- chancellor Anuradha Lohia returned to the campus on Tuesday, hours after making a dramatic exit through the side door of her chamber to escape the clutches of agitating students.

Lohia quietly slipped through the side door of her chamber on the first floor around 6 am, after remaining in confinement for nearly 16 hours, university officials said.

The vice-chancellor, however, made her way back to the campus at 3 pm, even as over 100 protesting students sat outside the main door and shouted slogans.

Yes, I am back in the university, she told PTI when contacted on Tuesday evening, without elaborating.

The agitating students said they will not prevent her from leaving, but continue with their sit-in outside Lohias office.

Among other demands, the protesters want immediate completion of the repair work in three of the five wards at the 130-year-old Hindu Hostel. They also want the eight sacked hostel employees be reinstated without delay.

The agitators had kept the VC hostage in her chamber since 2 pm on Monday to press for their demands.

We had demanded a categorical reply from the VC over our demands, a written note listing all the issues before allowing her to leave, but she escaped through a side door even as we were sitting outside the main door.

We will not allow her to get away like this when she visits the campus again, Subho Biswas, one of the protesting students had said earlier in the day.

The protesting students also demanded that the VC express regret in writing over the issue of female students allegedly been prevented from taking part in a convention on the day of Saraswati Puja in the campus, due to the hostel renovation.

Another student, Debnil Paul, on Tuesday evening said they do not want to disrupt academic or administrative work of the varsity.

We have met some of the faculty members this afternoon and told them we are not at war with our teachers, and are hopeful they will communicate our stand to the higher authorities and act as the bridge, he said.

Biswas alleged that despite repeated reminders, the authorities did not expedite the repair work of Hindu Hostel, and took vindictive action against those demanding its quick completion.

Secretary of girls common room, Shruti Roy Muhuri, said the university officials were dilly-dallying over timely completion of repair work in wards 3, 4 and 5 of the Hindu Hostel since last year.

Two wards of the hostel, under repair for three years, were opened in November 2018 after agitation by students.

The Hindu Hostel building, located adjacent to the university, was shut down for repairs in July 2015, and the boarders were shifted to a rented accommodation at New Town.

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The measure would require prosecutors to notify sexual assault victims of precharging developments such as plea bargains and other agreements, like the one that allowed Epstein to plead guilty in Florida to lesser state charges of soliciting prostitution and serve 13 months in a county lockup as part of a highly criticized deal in 2008. Epstein, who had been facing charges of sex trafficking, took his own life last summer in a New York jail.
Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi salutes the guard of honour at the Durban airport for the African Union conference in Durban, South Africa, on July 7, 2002. (Juda Ngwenya/File Photo/Reuters)

Daniel Arap Moi, Former Kenyan President, Dies at 95

NAIROBI, KenyaDaniel Arap Moi, whose rule as Kenyas longest-serving president was marred by corruption and torture of opponents, died Feb. 4, the office of the president said. He was 95.

While there was no immediate explanation for Mois death, he had been in and out of the hospital with breathing problems in recent months.

Plaudits poured in from Kenyan politicians, but some of his victims were less forgiving.

Our nation and our continent were immensely blessed by the dedication and service of the late  Moi, who spent almost his entire adult life serving Kenya and Africa, President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a statement.

Moi died at a hospital surrounded by his family, his son Gideon Moi, a senator, said.

He came to power in 1978, when he was serving as vice president and the nations first leader President Jomo Kenyatta died. Moi remained in power until the end of 2002, when his constitutional term expired.

Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi shares a joke with the clergy of the Holy Family Basilica where he attended a memorial service for Kenyas first president Jomo Kenyatta, on Aug. 22, 1997. (George Mulala/File Photo/Reuters)

Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Jomo Kenyatta, was Mois preferred successor but lost the election to the opposition. Uhuru Kenyatta became president in 2013.

Moi is credited for keeping Kenya relatively stable compared with its troubled neighbors, and he worked for peace in the region.

But he oversaw massive corruption scandals that are still costing Kenyan taxpayers. One scandal led to the loss of at least $1 billion in central bank money via compensation payments for bogus gold and diamond exports.

The economy stagnated under Moi, leaving millions mired in poverty.

Diplomats said an attempted coup in 1982 transformed Moi from a cautious, insecure leader into a tough autocrat.

Moi rewrote the constitution to legalize de facto one-party rule, which secured power for his Kenya African National Union (KANU) until 1991, when Moi caved to international pressure to reintroduce multi-party politics.

I Still Carry Scars

His government set up interrogation chambers in the basement of Nyayo House, a government building in central Nairobi that now houses the immigration department.

Thousands of activists, students, and academics were held without charge in the underground cells, some of them partly filled with water.

Prisoners say they were sometimes denied food and water and beaten to confess fictitious crimes or just for revenge.

There remains the legacy of disappearances and unexplained deaths, detention without trial, repression of freedom of expression and the media, said human rights lawyer Gitobu Imanyara, who was held in solitary confinement for two years.

I never knew if I was going to make it out aliveI still carry scars. Some people were not as lucky as I am. They died. These are the people we need to remember.

Moi barely survived demands for his resignation over the 1990 murder of Foreign Minister Robert Ouko, an important leader of the Luo ethnic group. In 2010, a government inquiry into the death, presented to parliament five years after it was written, said the murder was carried out in one of Mois official residences.

By George Obulutsa
Without the slightest sense of respect for her homeland and for the Brazilian people, Petra said in an unreasonable script that the Amazon will become a savanna soon and that President Bolsonaro orders the murdering of both African Americans and homosexuals, the office said in a statement. It is unbelievable that a filmmaker can create a narrative full of lies and absurd forecasts in order to denigrate a nation just because she does not accept the result of elections.
EDMONTONAlberta Premier Jason Kenney applauded a court decision Tuesday clearing another legal hurdle in the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project and offered some kind words for the prime minister.

Kenney acknowledged he has locked horns with Justin Trudeau on many energy issues, but said the prime minister had been as good as his word on the Trans Mountain project.

I have my disagreements with Prime Minister Trudeau on a number of issues ... but I think they did realize there has to be at least one project that gets Canadian energy to global markets so we can get a fair price, Kenney said in Montreal, where he has been pitching his province as a reliable energy provider.

I think this government understands there has to be a balance, and we agree  a balance between economic growth and environmental responsibility.

The Federal Court of Appeals three judges unanimously ruled to dismiss four challenges by First Nations in British Columbia that had been filed after Ottawa approved the pipeline expansion for a second time.

They had argued that the governments second set of consultations with Indigenous people had already predetermined the outcome.

I want to underscore that the decision today said 129 First Nations groups were consulted and at least 120 were in favour or not opposed. Thats the number we should keep our eye fixed on, said Kenney.

I know that most of the coverage is focused on two or three groups who remain opposed. We also need to listen to the 120 who are in favour or not opposed. Thats what the court did today.

The expansion project would triple the amount of bitumen shipped from northern Alberta to the west coast and from there to overseas markets.

The province has pushed for the project as an answer to higher unemployment rates and multibillion-dollar budget deficits due to depressed oil prices.

NDP Opposition Leader Rachel Notley, who was premier when the project was first approved, hailed the court decision as good for Canadians.

She suggested the project owes its survival in part to her governments working with the Liberals, which eventually led to the federal government buying the project to keep it going when operator Kinder Morgan Canada pulled the plug in 2018.

Notley said her government brought a majority of Canadians on side with the project as a fair balance between the economy and the environment.

She suggested Trans Mountain is alive not because of Kenney and his adversarial approach to Ottawa, but in spite of him.

This is something we can say that the current premier really has not had a lot to do with, Notley said in Edmonton.

And Im not entirely convinced that we would have gotten the federal government to do what they did (to keep the project alive) had we been in a different political situation 2 1/2 years ago.

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Further, Garcia made the outrageously false claim on Saturday that the U.S. Constitution mandates shooting "socialists."

Frankly, we aren't sure exactly who or what Garcia defines as "socialist." Many people lately have been using the word "socialist" as a bogeyman referring to anyone and everyone with whom they disagree on political philosophy or issues.

Garcia couldn't be more wrong about the U.S. Constitution; it was written by Americans who valued political freedom and individual rights above all else. Small wonder that Garcia couldn't say where in the Constitution he found the directive to shoot "socialists".

We commend the Montana Republican Party for swiftly condemning Garcia's hateful remarks. "Under no circumstance is violence against someone with opposing political views acceptable," a state GOP spokesman told The Gazette Saturday.

During the GOP gathering, Garcia's remarks were met with laughter, which some attendees described as nervous laughter. Rather than responding to Garcia's question about shooting "socialists," Zinke pivoted to a different subject and kept talking.
Macys is laying off 831 employees in San Francisco at its Macys.com division amid plans to shift tech operations to Atlanta and New York, amid a broader retrenchment that is seeing it close 125 stores nationwide.

In a letter filed with the state of California on Monday, the retailer said the layoffs would take place between April and August of this year and impact everyone from software engineers to technical leads. The division has its own office at 680 Folsom St. in San Francisco and includes Macys product and digital revenue and technology teams.

After careful consideration, Macys offices in San Francisco will close. We believe these changes will eliminate any duplication of efforts, bringing these teams closer to our business teams and strategy, Emily Workman, a Macys spokeswoman, said in an email.

Eligible Macys workers in San Francisco will be given severance, including outplacement resources, and some will have the opportunity to transfer, Workman said. She added that Macys employs more than 5,000 people at 20 Macys stores in the Bay Area.

I think its an unfortunate example of yet another major company leaving San Francisco, said Jay Cheng, public policy director at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. The business conditions in San Francisco have become untenable.

Its the citys biggest round of layoffs in three years, said Ted Egan, San Franciscos chief economist. Centerplate, the food caterer for the San Francisco Giants, laid off 1,330 employees in connection with its 2017 sale to French company Sodexo.

Although the local tech sector is booming, retailers have struggled as customers shift to online shopping. Mall anchors like Sears, JC Penney and Macys have shuttered stores amid bankruptcies and lower foot traffic.

It more likely says more about the state of retail than the state of tech, said Egan. Other non-tech companies such as McKesson and Bechtel have also left San Francisco as office rents and housing costs have soared to record highs, and Egan said Macys appeared to be making a similar cost-cutting decision.

Its a reminder that were a very expensive place to do business, he said.

Macys is also planning to close a fifth of its locations over the next three years, the company said Tuesday. Overall, its cutting 2,000 corporate jobs or 10% of its staff and will make New York its sole headquarters and close its second headquarters in Cincinnati, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Macys.com has been based in San Francisco since 1998, when the retailers parent company established it as an independent division, at a time when many established companies saw the potential to spin off their internet subsidiaries amid a mania for dot-com stocks. Its closure marks another blow to established retailers hopes of competing with Amazon.com and startups. Few other retailers retain distinct e-commerce arms, preferring to integrate their websites and stores, though Walmart.com, the Arkansas retailers e-commerce arm, remains a distinct operation headquartered in San Bruno.

Macys has steadily downsized its physical presence in Union Square as it scales back on flagship stores. Last January, it sold the historic I. Magnin Building for $250 million. The new owner is proposing upper-floor condos and office space. In 2016, it sold its mens store at 120 Stockton St. for $275 million to Morgan Stanley and Blatteis & Schnur, which are also adding office space to that building. It also closed a store in San Franciscos Stonestown mall in 2018.

Macys leases 243,000 square feet at 680 Folsom St., and its lease expires in 2028, according to real estate brokerage data. A spokesman for real estate brokerage JLL said it is marketing the space for sublease.

Macys on Wednesday is expected to unveil more details of a three-year strategy to adapt to the rise of e-commerce. The Cincinnati Business Courier reported that Macys is expected to unveil a new, smaller type of store called Market by Macys, with the first one opening in Southlake, Texas, Thursday.

Shwanika Narayan and Roland Li are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com, roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @shwanika, @rolandlisf
NEW DELHI: Zee News, the country's largest news network, which touches the lives of millions of viewers across the globe, will organise India Ka DNA Conclave in the national capital on Wednesday (February 5) and the conclave will focus on Delhi Assembly election, scheduled to take place on February 8.

The event, which is being promoted on social media platforms with hashtag #IndiaKaDNA, is scheduled to begin at 10 am and will conclude at 4 pm. The Zee News Conclave will see the participation of top political figures cutting across the party lines debating and expressing their views on the upcoming Delhi Assembly election.

Several top leaders from Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party will participate in the conclave as Speakers will express their views on the upcoming Delhi Assembly election and the vision of their party for the national capital.

The voting for 70-member Delhi Assembly will take place on February 8 and the counting of votes is scheduled to take place on February 11. In 2015 Assembly election, the AAP had performed superbly to win 67 seats, while the BJP had managed to win only three seats and the Congress had failed to even open its account. It is widely expected that the BJP would improve its tally in the upcoming poll and would give a tough competition to the AAP this time. The Congress, however, is looking in complete disarray and it is highly unlikely that the party would be able to spring any surprise in Delhi election.
EDWARDSVILLE  A Bethalto woman charged Jan. 30 with a Class X felony drug charge now faces an additional charge from another police agency.

April J. Mundy, 41, was charged Jan. 31 with unlawful delivery of methamphetamine, a Class 1 felony, in a case filed by the Alton Police Department.

On Jan. 30 she had been charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, a Class X felony; and unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, a Class 1 felony. Those charges stem from an incident in Bethalto.

According to court documents, the latest case stems from Mundys alleged delivery of between 5-15 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant on Aug. 29.

Bail was set at $85,000 in that case. On Jan. 30 she was charged after a Jan. 29 traffic stop by Bethalto Police.

Bethalto Police Chief Mike Dixon said a Bethalto officer stopped a vehicle driven by Derek E. Fogle, 28, also of Bethalto, and officers found five to 15 grams of methamphetamine. Police then obtained a search warrant for the home, where they located between 100 and 400 grams of methamphetamine. Also recovered were drug paraphernalia, currency and about 10 grams of cocaine.

Fogle was charged with unlawful possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, a Class 1 felony. His bail was set at $85,000; Mundys bail on the original charge was $150,000.

In other felony filings, three people were charged with drug-related felonies stemming from a June incident in East Alton.

Michael A. Pierce, 21, of East Alton; Colin R. Garrison, 20, of Godfrey; and Kristen M. Bridges, 20, of the Wood River, were each charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class 3 felony.

Bail was set at $15,000 each.

According to East Alton Police Maj. Christian Cranmer, on June 21, 2019, police were dispatched to an East Alton residence after an anonymous report of someone there with a sawed-off shotgun.

When officers arrived, they found the three in the basement. Both Pierce and Bridges had outstanding warrants, and police found what they believed was methamphetamine.

Lab results came back recently resulting in the filing of felony charges.

In an unrelated case, Steven M. Littler, 30, of St. Louis, was charged Jan. 30 with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class 3 felony. Court records show that Bethalto police found Littler to be in possession of less than five grams of methamphetamine.

Bail was set at $15,000.

Other recent felony filings by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include:

 Gray M. Magee III, 52, of Edwardsville, was charged Jan. 30 with theft over $10,000, a Class 2 felony. According to court documents on Nov. 25 Magee exerted unauthorized control over $15,000 in U.S. currency belonging to two minor children, ages 11 and 15. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Boyd W. Egan, 50, of Lombard, was charged Jan. 30 with identity theft, a Class 3 felony. According to court documents Edwardsville Police found Egan had obtained a drivers license and cell phone number from the victim to obtain less than $300 in property. It was also noted that the suspect has a 1995 conviction in DuPage County for burglary. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Angela M. Lewis, 34, of Edwardsville, was charged Jan. 31 with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony. According to court documents on July 23 Glen Carbon Police found her in possession of less than 15 grams of cocaine. Bail was set at $20,000.

 Maurice Cooley, 58, of Alton, was charged Jan. 31 with retail theft under $300 (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. According to court documents, on Jan. 29 Glen Carbon Police found him in possession of lock sets from Lowes. It was noted he had a previous conviction for retail theft in St. Louis County. Bail was set at $20,000.
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Climate change activists dressed as grim reapers have launched a protest against the government to 'tell the truth about the dirty money that runs parliament'.

International environmental group Extinction Rebellion staged the theatrical protest on Tuesday morning outside Queensland Parliament House in Brisbane.

Hundreds flocked to the demonstration causing heavy traffic delays, but protester Emily Jane, 23, told Daily Mail Australia the disruptions are a 'small price to pay compared to what's to come'.

The project manager claimed the world would descend into chaos if the Australian Government refused to listen to their message.

Extinction Rebellion protesters demonstrate outside the Queensland Parliament House in Brisbane on February 4

Health care workers wearing scrubs hold a sign in protest outside Queensland Parliament House on Tuesday morning

Extinction Rebellion staged the theatrical protest urging the government to 'tell the truth about the dirty money that runs Parliament'

'We are dressed as grim reapers because they signify the deaths to come as a result of climate change.

'We're in the middle of a climate emergency and the government need to be held accountable.'

Demonstrators attempted to hand 'bags of dirty coal money' to the politicians as they arrived.

The event was organised on Facebook.

Hundreds of protesters flocked to Brisbane CBD to protest. Many wore Extinction Rebellion shirts and waved flags

One protester said: 'We are dressed as grim reapers because they signify the deaths to come as a result of climate change'

The demonstration started early on Tuesday morning and is expected to run for most of the day. Many waved the Extinction Rebellion house glass symbol as they marched

'Politics is broken,' the event page read.

'Big fossil fuel companies have donated millions of dollars to the major parties, to buy the laws they need to destroy the earth. The system is rigged.

'We're here to demand climate justice. We've got a big crowd together. We're going to make the first sitting day as chaotic as possible. It's time to take direct action.'

An Extinction Rebellion protester is being arrested outside the Queensland Parliament House in Brisbane

One woman appears distressed as police lead her into a paddy wagon. One protester said four were arrested on Tuesday

Ms Jane admitted four people had been arrested.

One woman allegedly chained herself to the gates of Parliament with a bike lock.

A man was allegedly arrested after he glued himself to a driveway.

Last year saw an activist in Brisbane hang from Story Bridge and other demonstrators glue themselves to the ground.



An Extinction Rebellion protester is seen after she locked herself onto the gates of the Queensland Parliament House
The tenth confirmed novel coronavirus infection in Vietnam was announced by the countrys Ministry of Health on Tuesday afternoon.

The patient is a family member of Nguyen Thi D., a 23-year-old woman from the northern province of Vinh Phuc, who was the sixth confirmed case in Vietnam.

D. was among an eight-people group that recently returned to the Southeast Asian country after having attended a vocational training program in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the viral outbreak.

Five of the eight group members have been confirmed with the novel coronavirus infection.

D. showed the first symptoms of the viral infection on January 25, after she had interacted with many family members and relatives since her arrival in Vietnam on January 17.

As D. was quarantined and sampled by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, those who had been in close contact with her, including the tenth patient, were also monitored and sampled.

The health ministry announced that D.s test sample had returned positive for the novel coronavirus last Friday.

This tenth patient is only the second case of the viral transmission between family members recorded in Vietnam, after a Chinese visitor spread the disease to his son during their stay at a hotel in the south-central city of Nha Trang.

The novel coronavirus, which first surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has caused 427 deaths, including two outside of mainland China, and infected more than 20,600 people in 24 countries and territories as of 4:00 pm on Tuesday, according to South China Morning Post.

Vietnam has confirmed ten cases so far, including seven Vietnamese, one Vietnamese American, and two Chinese.

Among them, one Chinese and two Vietnamese have fully recovered and been discharged from hospital.

The World Health Organization has declared the new coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Edo State Government has ordered the arrest and prosecution of the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, for disobeying the orders of the state governor, Godwin Obaseki.

The Governor Obaseki-led government has submitted a petition to the Inspector-General of Police, and Department of State Service (DSS) requesting for the APC chairmans arrest and prosecution.

Oshiomhole is accused of constantly disobeying the State governments orders.

This was disclosed in Abuja on Monday by the Deputy Governor of the state, Phillip Shuaibu.

The Deputy Governor, however, stated that Oshiomhole is still his father, adding that their present differences did not change that fact.

This is coming after 14 Edo APC lawmakers had accused Governor Obaseki of allegedly hiring assassins to kill Adams Oshiomhole and other party leaders.

The Lawmakers said that should anything untoward happen to any party chieftain or faithful in the state, the people would never forgive their inaction.
Donald Trump was on the brink of ending the darkest chapter of his presidency yet as the Senate began the final phase of his impeachment trial that will almost certainly conclude with his acquittal tomorrow.

The 100 senators will hear four hours of closing arguments from Mr Trump's legal team and prosecutors from the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.

The House charged Mr Trump with abusing power by pressuring Ukraine to announce a probe into political rival Joe Biden, and then obstructing the House inquiry.

The Republican-held Senate voted not to hear from witnesses including former national security adviser John Bolton, despite a strong push by Democrats and opinion polls showing most Americans wanted to hear from them.

When the arguments are complete, senators will be able to make speeches until tomorrow, when a final vote will be taken at 4pm EST (2100 GMT) on whether Mr Trump is guilty of the charges and should be removed from office.

The tenor of the speeches is expected to reflect the deepening polarisation between Democrats and Republicans as senators seek to justify their votes for acquittal or conviction to the American public.

The Senate is almost certain to acquit the president, as a two-thirds majority is required to remove him and none of its 53 Republicans have indicated they will vote to convict.

Several Republican senators claim what Mr Trump did was inappropriate but not impeachable.

The president says he is the victim of an unlawful Democratic effort to derail his campaign for re-election.

While an acquittal will leave him entrenched in the Oval Office, the impeachment has renewed focus on the powers of the presidency and the power of Congress to hold a president accountable.

The White House refused to cooperate in the congressional inquiry, withholding documents and key witnesses in a bruising contest with lawmakers.

Mr Trump will deliver his annual State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress tonight, one day after Democrats in Iowa choose who they want to face him as the Democratic presidential nominee in November.

"We're really looking to giving a very, very positive message," Mr Trump said of his speech.

But he held out little hope for bipartisan cooperation this year in the wake of the bitterly divided impeachment fight .

"I'm not sure that they can do it, to be honest. I think they just want to win and it doesn't matter how they win."

The speech is attended by Democratic and Republican lawmakers from both the House and the Senate as well as VIP guests such as Cabinet secretaries and Supreme Court justices. The television audience for last year's speech was 47million people.

Given Mr Trump's ability to promote himself to that many people as he seeks re-election, some of his allies are concerned about his tendency to lash out at his critics. They feel he should not dwell on impeachment in the speech but instead try to move on.

"It's the one time when the president can tell his story, and a lot of people are listening," said Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump confidant.

"I think it'd be smart not to (talk about impeachment)," Mr Graham told reporters on Capitol Hill. "If most people are ready to move on from impeachment, I hope he is too ... I don't think there's a real reason to (talk about it)."

Mr Trump's message on the campaign trail has been that he is a victim of a Democratic coup attempt.

"They want to nullify your ballots and overthrow the entire system of government," he said at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday.

Aides say the theme of Mr Trump's speech is "The Great American Comeback", and that he will use it to emphasise the US economy, usually a dominant factor in whether a president wins re-election.

He will highlight trade agreements with China and with Mexico and Canada and say his policies are responsible for boosting the economy.

He is also expected to promote his efforts to limit migrants from crossing the southern US border, as well as national security moves such as his decision to kill Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani with a drone strike.

On Sunday, Super Bowl viewers got a preview of another theme - criminal justice reform - in a Trump campaign ad that featured a tearful woman thanking him for commuting her life sentence for a nonviolent drug offence.

"I promised to restore hope in America. That includes the least among us. Together, let's KEEP AMERICA GREAT!", Mr Trump said in a tweet.
A Jobcentre worker forced to take a second job stacking shelves to pay her bills has told of her empathy for people on benefits because she experiences the same struggles as them.

Karen, from London, is one of Peckham Jobcentre Plus's longest-serving employees.

But at the end of an eight-hour-shift, she heads to her second job at a local shop to ensure she has enough money to put food on the table.

She appeared on new BBC2 documentary, 'Universal Credit: Inside The Welfare State' in which she admitted that she is constantly going through the 'same' challenges as the people she helps to access state support.

The civil servant regularly has to deal with abuse from claimants, but realises anger is not aimed at her.

Elsewhere, Phil, 61, who spent 10 years claiming state support for a drug problem claims that it 'isn't right' that he was coerced into employment as a train cleaner, and admitted he only took the job because he risked his money being cut off.

Karen (pictured) , a civil servant from London told on new BBC2 documentary, 'Universal Credit: Inside The Welfare State' how she must work two jobs just to pay her bills. She is pictured at a Peckham Jobcentre, where she is one of the longest-serving staff members

Phil (pictured) , 61, also appeared on the documentary and got his first job as a train cleaner, through the job center after spending ten-years claiming benefits - however feels it's unfair he was md=ade to take the job, as he risked his money being cut off

At the end of her shift, Karen, who has worked at the JobCentre for 32 years, is seen leaving the office to immediately travel to a pound store, where she works an extra 16 hours every week.

You want to be able to succeed and do better in life, but year after year it just gets harder and harder,' she said.

'Im doing what society says you should do - get up every morning, go to work, be part of society, and I'm doing that and I'm still having financial issues.

'I pay my bills and that's it. I can't do anything else. Even things like food, it's so expensive. Come the end of the month, I'm eating things like beans on toast to get me through to the next payday.'

She said that while she can do her best to 'encourage and empathise' with her claimants, she feels that a lot of the time she's going through the same 'personal issues' as them.

Karen told how while she can do her best to 'encourage and empathize' with her claimants, she feels a lot of the time they're going through the same 'personal issues' as her

Despite Phil saying he felt 'physically better' because of his job, the train cleaner still doesn't feel that his employment is worth it, as he's only picking up an extra 30 a week

She even suggested that some Jobcentre Plus employees could be claiming benefits while working there.

'You have people working delivering Universal Credit, and claiming Universal Credit,' Karen said.

Some Universal Credit claimants are entitled to a work allowance, if they are responsible for a child, or have limited capacity for work due to illness or disability.

She continued: 'You can give words of encouragement and empathise with your claimants, but a lot of the time you're going through the same things.

'The same issues that they have, personal issues that they have you have. What we're all doing is living pay cheque to pay cheque.

Later on in the documentary, Karen is seen defusing a volatile situation when a man bursts into the Jobcentre demanding to be immediately attended to.

The documentary divided viewers on social media, with many saying their hearts went out to JobCentre staff like Karen forced to take on extra work

She said: 'The anger is sometimes hard to deal with. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it's not directed at me, it's directed at a system.

'Sometimes you can understand a customer's point of view and their community's - but I've come from those communities'.

The documentary divided viewers on social media, with many saying their hearts went out to JobCentre staff forced to take up extra work, while others were skeptical of those claimants who said they would be better off on benefits than having a job.

One viewer posted: 'Heartbreaking. And as for that final bit about the member of staff having to work 16 hrs elsewhere to make ends meet. On top of what must be a very stressful job.'

Another branded the episode 'tragic viewing' and asked 'How did we get here?'

Several were critical of Phil from the programme, with viewers saying he was 'turning his nose up' at his new job after 10 years of benefits.

One person posted: 'Right. So he hasn't worked for 10 years and is turning his nose up at minimum wage? Right. I see.'

Someone else wrote: 'I feel sorry for these people on benefits I do. But most of them are earning more than me a month and I work full time and still have to pay my bills.'

Another viewer said: 'So the bloke who got a job is now better off working than on Universal Credit so the system works? It is a safety net not a long-term lifestyle choice.'

Several were critical of Phil from the programme, with viewers saying he was 'turning his nose up' at his new job after 10 years of benefits

Elsewhere in the documentary, Phil, is seen starting his first job in ten years, after claiming Job Seekers Allowance because of his drug problem.

WHAT IS UNIVERSAL CREDIT? What is Universal Credit? A radical change to the benefits system which combines six payments  including tax credits, housing benefit and income support  into a single, means-tested payment. How does it work? A claimant's benefits should be adjusted automatically if their wages change. Benefits will gradually 'taper' off if a claimant finds work or earns more. What is the timetable? After teething troubles with the computer systems implementation has been hit by delays. There are currently around 610,000 on UC and this will go up by anther 12 million over the next five years. Why a five-week delay on payments? Controversially the benefit is paid five weeks in arrears - this is because it is based on your previous month's earnings. Critics say this delay pushed people into debt. Advertisement

It was only after his money was at risk of being stopped, due to a fourth sanction, that Phil decided he would go for an interview as a train cleaner - however prior to his meeting claimed that 'nobody in the centre' would do the job.

He said: 'It's cleaning trains, I think everybody in this centre just refuses to do that one, it's minimum wage.

'It's two weeks until it starts, then I have to work my first month without any real pay and then from then on it's like "Oh well done, you've got a job".

'Getting back into the swing of shift work and being punctual and polite to people. Being a normal human being I suppose, after ten years of being vilified as unemployed.'

Later, Phil was shown after five-weeks in employment, where he admitted he felt it was unfair that the Jobcentre had 'twisted his arm' and made him get a job.

He said: That's the thing about working out my economics, the basic alternative to this was to either come and work as a poor paid worker or take another sanction.

'Which could have gone on another six months. Is it right to twist people's arm in such a fashion?'

When asked if it was right to claim benefits for ten years, Phil replied: Of course, if you needed it.

'I needed it, I wasn't getting anywhere, I had a drug problem. My history is one of drugs, I cleaned up but it took a long time, and you're never that well.

'It doesn't feel like progress, it feels like a temporary thing. I don't I think I really want to stay doing this kind of work. I feel like I've had to do this. '

Despite Phil saying he felt 'physically better' because of his job, the train cleaner still doesn't feel that his employment is worth it, because he's only picking up an extra 30 a week.

He said: 'What I was getting on JSL [Job Seekers Allowance] was a 72 a week payslip.

'Now after I've paid expenses, housing benefit is no longer there, council tax electricity. I'm looking at 30 a week more, on top of the 72 - and it's for a 37 and a half hour shift.

Meanwhile others praised Phil's worth ethic, saying he had 'got on and did it' despite his issues

'It's not a big difference, it's not changed my life a lot has it? Is this the only escape, picking up rubbish to be a member of the working poor?

'I'm feeling better because I'm working. I mean, yes, it's good to be working physically. You have to get into a discipline.'

Meanwhile others praised Phil's worth ethic, saying he had 'got on and did it' despite his issues.

One viewer said: 'I don't think Phil will be picking rubbish for long. He looks capable of moving into another role at TFL or another organization especially once he's got six months work history on his cv

Another viewer wrote: '#UniversalCredit #InsideTheWelfareState Fair play to Phil, he got on and did it.'

Universal Credit: Inside The Welfare State aired on BBC2 at 9pm on Tuesday
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / PowerBand Solutions Inc. (TSXV:PBX) (OTCQB:PWWBF) (Frankfurt:1ZVA) ("PowerBand", "PBX" or the "Company") has reached an agreement with RouteOne LLC ("RouteOne") in which thousands of automotive dealerships in the United States and Canada will have access to PowerBand's cloud-based sales and leasing platform, allowing consumers and dealers to easily approve the trading and leasing of vehicles.

PowerBand is pleased to announce its agreement with RouteOne, formed by way of a joint venture between Ally Financial, Ford Motor Credit Company, TD Auto Finance, and Toyota Financial Services. RouteOne maintains a footprint of over 18,000 automotive dealers and 1,500 finance sources. RouteOne provides a comprehensive suite of finance and insurance tools, ranging from credit applications and eContracting to digital retail and compliance.

The agreement means thousands of dealers will have access to PowerBand and MUSA through RouteOne's platform, creating efficiency for PowerBand and RouteOne's mutual dealer customers.

PowerBand acquired a majority share of MUSA Auto Finance, LLC ("MUSA") in July 2019. Founded in 2016, MUSA's innovative transaction platform is modernizing the new and pre-owned vehicle leasing experience, providing dealers and consumers with the most advanced leasing options in the industry. MUSA's technology takes a credit application, calculates a lease, auto-decisions the application, provides an approval back to dealer partners, and prefills a lease contract accurately. Approvals can occur in less than eight seconds. As a result of its proprietary technology, MUSA was awarded a contract by Tesla Motors to become a national leasing partner in 2018.

"Powerband is now well positioned to be a leader in the vehicle-leasing market in the U.S. and Canada," said Kelly Jennings, President and CEO of PowerBand. "This is a major milestone in our goal to revolutionize how the world buys, sells, leases, and auctions cars, to make acquiring a vehicle as easy as buying a product on Amazon, in effect uberizing the process."

"We are very pleased to have MUSA and PowerBand integrate to RouteOne to create value for our shared dealer customers," said Jeff Belanger, Senior Vice President, Business Development, RouteOne.

PowerBand anticipates the agreement with RouteOne will help PowerBand facilitate thousands of financing transactions on its leasing platform, and subsequently thousands of auction transactions, as a result of trade-ins, on PowerBand's Canadian online remarketing platform, and on the D2D Automotive Auctions ("D2D") online auction platform in the United States. D2D is a joint venture partnership owned equally by PowerBand and Bryan Hunt, director of the Fortune 500 company JB Hunt Transport.

Added Jennings: "Our agreement with RouteOne means many thousands of dealers and car consumers across the U.S. and Canada will have PowerBand at their fingertips - revolutionizing how we buy, sell, and trade vehicles by removing unnecessary middlemen and delays. Not only will PowerBand generate revenue from new and used vehicle leases, there will also be revenue generated through PowerBand's online auction platforms as a result of consumers trading in their vehicles for new leased vehicles."

About RouteOne

RouteOne was formed in 2002 by Ally Financial, Ford Motor Credit Company, TD Auto Finance, and Toyota Financial Services to improve the F&I process for automobile dealers and their customers. Connecting thousands of dealers and finance sources in North America for vehicle financing, RouteOne's platform delivers a comprehensive suite of F&I solutions across multiple channels: in-store, online, mobile, and via third-party solutions. Its product line-up includes digital retail, credit application, eContracting, menu, and compliance solutions. In addition, RouteOne enables dealer choice across a wide variety of best-in-class providers through open integrations with over 200 DSPs. More information is available at www.routeone.com.

About PowerBand Solutions Inc.

PowerBand Solutions Inc. is a technology provider listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's cloud-based platform is revolutionizing how we buy, sell, lease, and auction vehicles. With the recent receipt of its exporter license and its acquisition of MUSA Auto Finance, the Company is now well positioned to become a leader in the USD$10 billion cross-border used vehicle export market, the USD$100 billion used vehicle auction market, and the USD$120 billion vehicle leasing market in the U.S. and Canada.

For further information, please contact:

Richard Goldman, VP Corporate Development

P: 1-866-768-7653

rgoldman@powerbandsolutions.com

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.

Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by Canadian securities law.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, unless an exemption from such registration is available.

SOURCE: PowerBand Solutions Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575139/RouteOne-Makes-PowerBands-Cloud-Based-Leasing-Platform-Available-To-18000-Automotive-Dealerships-Across-The-United-States-and-Canada
A 67-year-old kayaker who was lost in the Florida Everglades since 29 January has been rescued after his phone washed up on shore, leading rescuers to his last location.

Mark Miele of Williamsburg, Virginia, set out on a solo kayaking trip on 22 January and was due back a week later.

Four days after he was due back, a bag containing Mr Mieles phone and wallet washed up on the bank of the Lopez River, according to the Naples Daily News. National Park rangers found the bag. The rangers worked with the Collier County Sheriffs Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to locate Mr Miele.

The law enforcement officials used data found on Mr Mieles phone to determine his most recent coordinates. The sheriffs office used the data to focus its search area.

A helicopter crew from the sheriffs office found Mr Miele a few miles from where his phone and wallet had been found and guided rescuers to his location.

Corporal Ed Henderson told local news station WINK-TV said upon first seeing Mr Miele, there was some concern that he had died.

First concern when we found him it didnt look like he was moving and we didnt know if it was going to be a recovery or a rescue, Mr Henderson said.

Mr Miele was transported to a Naples hospital where he was treated for hypothermia and dehydration. It is believed Mr Miele was in the water for two days before he was found.

Turns out when I talk to a guy after the fact that was on scene, he goes, no, he was convulsing. Hed been in the water for two solid days and its been really cold, Mr Henderson said. Coming back and watching the video and seeing the expression on his face and holding the rescuers hand, that was justyeah.

The circumstances leading to Mr Miele losing his kayak are still unknown.
They have been dating since October 2019, with their romance heavily documented on social media.

And Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz looked casually cool as they headed for breakfast in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Actress Nicola, 25, wrapped up in a black padded jacket which she paired with grey flared jeans for her day date with Brooklyn, 20.

Stroll: Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz looked casually cool as they headed for breakfast in Los Angeles on Tuesday

The Back Roads star added height to her look with black platform boots and accessorised with a pair of edgy shades.

Her caramel locks were styled sleek and straight while the star made the most of her radiant complexion by going make-up free.

Brooklyn donned a dove grey sweater, black jeans and box fresh trainers, teamed with a scarlet backwards cap.

Casual: Actress Nicola, 25, wrapped up in a black padded jacket which she paired with grey flared jeans for her day date with Brooklyn, 20

Earlier this month Nicola declared that she and boyfriend Brooklyn will be together 'forever' as she stressed the strength of their relationship alongside a steamy photograph shared to Instagram.

On Monday, the eldest son of Victoria and David Beckham posted a black and white snap of himself and his new actress girlfriend cosied up together, which he captioned: Me and u xx,' with Nicola adding: 'Forever,' in a comment beneath.

Things appear to be getting serious between the two who recently made their relationship Instagram official after posting pictures of one another on their accounts.

Dapper: Brooklyn donned a dove grey sweater, black jeans and box fresh trainers, teamed with a scarlet backwards cap

The new couple have barely touched the ground for weeks as they jetted between their families' homes and holidays for the festive period.

Brooklyn had been linked to a string of women over the past few months, before meeting Nicola, following his split from model Hana Cross, including Canadian actress Natalie Ganzhorn, 21, and brunette actress Phoebe Torrance, 25.

Most recently it was claimed he and Lottie Moss had a 'secret fling' before he started dating his now ex-girlfriend Hana.
We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:ATI).

What Is Insider Buying?

It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.

Check out our latest analysis for Allegheny Technologies

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Allegheny Technologies

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by President Robert Wetherbee for US$92k worth of shares, at about US$18.36 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of US$17.09. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

In the last twelve months Allegheny Technologies insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

NYSE:ATI Recent Insider Trading, February 4th 2020

Allegheny Technologies is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Story continues

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Allegheny Technologies insiders own about US$24m worth of shares. That equates to 1.1% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Allegheny Technologies Insiders?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Allegheny Technologies insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
In about two months, paperwork for the 2020 census will begin to arrive across the country. For many within certain communities, the envelope not only carries a government form but also a sense of fear.

The fear with engaging with the government was huge, Director of Worcester Interfaith Isabel Gonzalez said. Even after the citizen question went away, the sharing of information with the government was still real and its still real to this day

Fear rose from a question that required respondents to answer a citizenship question on the 2020 census. The Supreme Court blocked it last June, yet concerns of misinformation still linger.

I worry about that very much because you have a president who, I can say accurately, is a bigot, who wakes up every day and tries to figure out how he can demonize immigrants, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern said. So you scare the hell out of a whole bunch of people. We need every person to be counted here. That includes people who may not be documented. We need every college student to be documented. We need every new immigrant here to be counted.

The reason leaders from McGovern in Congress and Gonzalez in Worcester place such an importance on accuracy and high participation in the census goes beyond reporting a citys population.

The census leads directly to funding for roads, education, health care and more.

We as a city stand to gain federal funding based on the number of people that we demonstrate to have, said Edgar Luna of the Worcester Executive Office of Economic Development. At stake is $675 billion, which is allocated annually to cities and towns across the country.

Individually, every person that is not counted in the census could cost a city anywhere from $1,400 to $2,900 annually, according to government officials across the country. Since the census is only taken once every 10 years, that figure grows to $14,000 to $29,000 per uncounted person.

In Worcester during the 2000 and 2010 censuses, only about 70 percent of the city households participated, according to the city. That rate of participation left about 60,000 people that werent counted.

Historically, Luna said, the populations that dont respond to the census are new immigrants, children and minorities. Some believe the idea of a citizenship question on the census, even if untrue, increased the potential of those populations avoiding the census.

However, Worcester implemented a strategy that began taking shape about a year and a half ago. Its goal was to increase participation to at least 90 percent.

It involves connecting with community organizers who already have trust within the community to highlight the importance of the census.

"If Im talking to the Southeast Asian community, if they dont know me from a hole in the wall, thats not the best strategy, Gonzalez said. Now if Im training staff at the Southeast Asian Coalition [relaying the message] that to their messengers, then they trust the message.

Worcesters census campaign includes a Complete Count Committee (CCC), which includes key members of the community as well as elected and non-elected city officials.

They meet monthly along with community organizers to develop a strategy to connect with specific neighborhoods. Relationships are developed through festivals, churches and community programs.

Luna attended the St. Patricks Day Parade last year and will again this year. Hes going to connect with mosques in the city. Having the ability to speak Spanish, Luna also attempts to reach residents through their native language.

Were a diverse community as you can see. We have different immigrant populations coming in every day, different minority groups in the city, assistant city clerk Niko Vangeli said. We just want to showcase the best we can in terms of those numbers. We dont want people to be fearful to write down their ethnicity.

Vangeli began crafting a list of every household in the city in 2018. Like in years past, that list is provided to the U.S. Census Bureau.

After a household participates, its logged. After a month, the census will then employees to the houses that didnt participate. Using that data, the city hopes to better work with the community in those remaining homes to explain the importance of participating and ease any fears.

I did it in 2010 and we did the best that we could, but now the technology has changed, Luna said. Niko is working with us. So this has been an extremely, extremely wonderful experience.

In discussing initiatives with others from different cities, Gonzalez is confident in the methods implemented so far by officials in Worcester.

I think its been an asset to develop this model, Gonzalez said. That I dont think a lot of cities have.
In the spirit of camaraderie shared between firefighters, the Red Knights Motorcycle Club Rosenberg chapter invites the community to enjoy barbecue pulled pork sandwiches while helping a retired firefighter in his time of need.

Luther Bierwirth retired from firefighting after 20 years with Montgomery Fire Department and nine years with Cy-Fair Fire Department.

FIVE MINUTES OF FAME: Former Cy-Fair firefighter appears on Animal Planets Lone Star Law

The RKMC, a motorcycle club comprised of firefighters and EMS professionals, is holding a benefit this Saturday for Bierwirth who had several strokes in 2019.

Bierwirth lost vision in his left eye as a result of the strokes rendering him unable to pass a Department of Transportation physical for his job as an owner-operator, according to the Facebook event page.

Jahbari Raggette, president of the RKMC Rosenberg chapter, said he wanted to use the motorcycle group to help Bierwirth and his family with medical bills after a long history together. Raggette said he is in constant contact with Bierwirth and even thinks of his wife, Melissa, like a mother.

Me being a young guy coming into the service, he was actually there for me and taught me a lot of different things, Raggette said. He was kind of like one of my mentors. Ive known him forever.

Shelby Chancey, treasurer for RKMC Rosenberg chapter, said the events main goal is to help Melissa Bierwirth with bills as Luther Bierwirth is unable to work. Chancey said Bierwirth is also a close friend of hers.

We want to help them with everyday bills, she said. Only one person in the house is working so its kind of hard to support a family on one income.

FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Spring Fire Department does calendar photoshoot to help overcrowded shelter

Raggette said he tried to keep the event a secret from Bierwirth, but was found out.

Hes wanting to help but were trying to keep him from helping us, he said. Hes one of those guys, hes too proud. He doesnt want to sit to the side and let everything go by, being a fireman. Hes like, Nah, let me help.

Mancuso Harley-Davidson Crossroads, located at 12710 Crossroads Park Drive, Houston, is a friend of the club, Raggette said, and wanted to help by hosting the event. Raggette said he purchased his motorcycle from this location.

TOP HITS: Get Houston Chronicle stories sent directly to your inbox

The benefit, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, will have a bake sale, a silent auction, a live auction, raffle prizes and barbecue plates. Raggette said the event still needs meat donated for cooking.

Donations of any kind for Bierwirth will be accepted the day of the event.

Raggette said he is happy to be able to do the event for a member of his family.

In the fire service we call each other brothers because were a family, he said. Weve always been close and been a family.

chevall.pryce@chron.com
(Photo : Hannibal Hanschke of Reuters) Tech Giants Huawei and ZTE Beg US Government Not to Tag Them as Security Threat

Chinese tech giant Huawei is not yet finished on standing against the United States government.

After being initially tagged as a 'national security threat' by the country's Federal Communications Commission or FCC, the smartphone provider is now properly asking the FCC to stop tagging them as a threat as they called it 'unlawful.'

Is Huawei 'stigmatized'?

Based on Huawei's submitted nearly 200-page request document to FCC, the company is now urging the Unites States government to change their first verdict regarding the company.

According to Al Jazeera, another China-based tech company ZTE is also part of the red-tagging of the U.S. government.

Due to this, Huawei explained on their request that the government was being 'unlawful and misguided.' Even adding that FCC's action was "designed to implement a campaign by certain government officials, including members of Congress, to single out Huawei for burdensome and stigmatizing restrictions, put it out of business in the U.S., and impugn its reputation here and around the world."

On the other hand, ZTE recently explained on FCC that their company is willing to follow the security protocols needed by the U.S. government just for them to operate again on the country legally.

ZTE said that they beg the U.S. government to "take additional time to assess ZTE's enhancements in the area of U.S. export control and economic sanctions compliance and security controls in ZTE products."

ZTE added it has "spent hundreds of millions of dollars to implement a compliance program relating to U.S. export control compliance regulations."

Huawei and ZTE vs. U.S. government

In Nov. 2019, the FCC initially voted against the said Chinese companies. This is after U.S. President Donald Trump called out all their products in the market-- meaning that China could potentially use the equipment sold by them on spying confidential information from the U.S. government.

The department initially voted 5-0 on designating the Chinese companies as 'national security threat.' This means that once it was finalized, Huawei, ZTE, and other Chinese tech companies will be barred from entering the U.S. market until the mentioned date.

The FCC was also reportedly talked to other countries that have ties with the U.S. to also red tag Huawei as it poses a threat to security.

United kingdom gives a chance to Huawei

Interestingly, the United Kingdom, one of the leading countries that have huge tech market sales, recently announced they will still be open to Huawei for the telecom market in their country.

As of now, the FCC announced that the final decision will still come from the agency's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and that they will finalize the investigations.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Dowling recovering at home after long hospital stay

State Rep. Matthew Dowling has returned home after suffering a one-vehicle crash in October. Dowling represents parts of Somerset County.
N ine people have been killed and two injured after four gunmen opened fire at a video game arcade in Mexico.

The attackers appeared to be searching for specific targets but then shot indiscriminately at customers, prosecutors in the state of Michoacan said.

The attack happened on Monday in the western city of Uruapan, where violence is said to have reached shocking levels.

Over the weekend, investigators also found the decomposed bodies of 11 people in clandestine graves in the region.

Uruapan is where many believe Mexicos drug wars began / AFP via Getty Images

Prosecutors said they were investigating a missing person case when they received a tip about the burial pits.

And on Friday in Uruapan, gunmen attacked a municipal police patrol, killing one officer and wounding two others.

That attack may have been retaliation for the Friday arrest of a Viagras gang leader who has been implicated in 19 murders.

Turf wars between the Jalisco and Viagras drug cartels, as well as predecessors, have bloodied the city for several years.

In August, Jalisco cartel gunmen left nine bodies hanging from an overpass, with seven more corpses hacked up and dumped by the road nearby. An additional three more bodies were found further away.

They hung a banner from the overpass threatening the Viagras.
The Chairman of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye has bemoaned the level of corruption in the country.

He said Ghana is highly perceived as a religious nationwide with churches dotted everywhere yet corruption has eaten deep into the moral fabric of society.

Our dear nation is full of many churches, yet, corruption has filled the land. This means the Church in this generation is not salty enough to cure the corruption of the land. The church was established to bring a solution to the corruption and not to partake of it, he said.

Apostle Nyamekye, therefore, advised Christians to uphold righteousness, honesty, hard work and faithfulness in their various workplaces and homes so that the fortunes of the nations would be transformed for the better.

Speaking at the Bantama Central Assembly church auditorium during a fundraising event towards the construction of a National Cathedral in Accra, Apostle Nyamekye said the National Cathedral would only meet its intended purpose as a symbol of the Church of God if Christians model righteousness in every sphere of society.

Speaking on the topic: The Church and the National Cathedral, with Ephesians 3:10 as his main scripture reference, Apostle Nyamekye stressed that the church is the most powerful institution in the world established for the transformation of society.

He said that Gods intent for establishing the church is that, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God would be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.

According to the Chairman, these rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms are the forces that govern nations, adding that, political figures are in no capacity to confront such powers; instead, the Church is the only institution equipped to deal with them.

This is why some people come into power with good intentions; however, when they assume office, they fail to live up to expectations. This is because there are forces that govern nations and the ordinary politician has no authority to confront them, he explained.

Among other reasons, Apostle Nyamekye said that the Church is powerful because it possesses the truth, who is Jesus Christ. He said the Church was established by the blood of Jesus Christ and has Jesus Christ as its foundation. Jesus Christ is the Truth that brings liberation, and this Truth can only be found in the Church, he pointed out.

He added that the church is the foundation and pillar of truth; therefore, if the church is immoral, it weakens the truth. The church must, therefore, be the light the shines on darkness.

Touching on the essence of the National Cathedral, Apostle Eric Nyamekye said that the presence of a National Cathedral in the city tells us that God is in the midst of the people. It indicates the true character of the people and reminds the Christian believer who he or she has become in the Lord  a temple. It also challenges Christians to live for the truth, and serves as a constant reminder to us that Christ will one day reign in the midst of His people.

President Akufo-Addo has revealed that construction of the national cathedral would officially commence on 5 March this year.

---classfmonline
Home Run Pizza. | Photo: John M./Yelp

A lot goes into choosing a pizza, even beyond the question of toppings. But, whether you go for takeout or sit-down, thick crust or thin, sauced or bare, you want something delicious  particularly on National Pizza Day, Feb. 9.

Fortunately, Dallas boasts a number of quality pizza shops to satisfy your craving for a slice or a pie.

Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top pizza outlets, using both Yelp data and our own blend of spices to produce a ranked list of the best places to venture  or to call  on National Pizza Day.

1. Bona Pizza

Photo: Brandon J./Yelp

Topping the list is Bona Pizza. Located at 4218 W. Lovers Lane, Suite A, in Bluffview, the pizzeria is the highest rated source for pizza in Dallas, boasting 4.5 stars out of 211 reviews on Yelp.

2. Grimaldi's Pizzeria

Next up is Uptown's Grimaldi's Pizzeria, situated at 3636 McKinney Ave. With four stars out of 606 reviews on Yelp, the joint to score pizza has proven to be a local favorite.

3. Lover's Pizza and Pasta

Photo: K C./Yelp

Northeast Dallas' Lover's Pizza and Pasta, located at 6434 E. Mockingbird Lane, Suite 113, is another primo choice, with Yelpers giving the pizza establishment four stars out of 121 reviews.

4. Blackjack Pizza

Photo: Sarah R./Yelp

Blackjack Pizza, a pizzeria in South Dallas, is another much-loved go-to, with 4.5 stars out of 27 Yelp reviews. Head over to 2536 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. to give it a try for yourself.

5. Home Run Pizza

Photo: John M./Yelp

Last but not least, check out Home Run Pizza over in Oak Cliff, which has earned four stars out of 23 reviews on Yelp. You can find the restaurant that serves pizza and more settled at 718 W. Jefferson Blvd.

This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - Benin records more than 8,000 cases of cancer every year, Health Minister Professor Benjamin Hounkpatin said here Tuesday to commemorate international cancer day
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

Armenia flag to be permanently raised on buildings of some more institutions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit trial judge to not self-recuse

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit court case resumes

298 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Artsakh emergency service: Remains of another participant in hostilities are found

816,660 tourists visit Armenia during 11 months of 2021

US proposes to UN Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea

World oil prices dropping

Newspaper: Amnesty process suspended in Armenia indefinitely

Newspaper: Those in Karabakh are resisting Armenia authorities arbitrariness

FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

Slovak government approves defense treaty with US

US imposes sanctions on 6 North Koreans

US senators unveil bill to impose sanctions against Russia

EU wants to help Lebanon avoid economic collapse

CSTO to approve Kazakhstan peacekeepers withdrawal order

German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

Boris Johnson apologizes for attending party during lockdown

Global COVID-19 cases rise by 55% percent, deaths stable

Thailand introduces $9 tourist fee

Erdogan vows to tame Turkish inflation as scepticism grows

Turkey's Turkic world ambitions face reality check in Kazakhstan

Teacher in Baku beats student

NEWS.am daily digest: 12.01.22

Turkish FM expresses concerns to Chinese counterpart

OSCE Chairman-in-Office speaks on situation along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021

China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded

Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation

Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods

Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day

3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings

Copper rises in price

One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning

About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions

Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night

French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly

289 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Gold slightly rises in price

North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile

OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

Oil is trading without a single dynamic

US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee

MOD: Armenia soldiers dead body found at midnight after Azerbaijan provocation

Newspaper: Casualties of Armenia PM Pashinyan's 'era of peace'

US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen

German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan

WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State

India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death

Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded

NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22

Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States

Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia

Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death

Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded
ERIE, Pa., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Erie Insurance has appointed David Russo to senior vice president of Customer Service, effective March 26. Russo currently serves as senior vice president of Services Operations & Support. In a strategic realignment, the new role will oversee service functions including ERIE's Center of Excellence and Claims Quality teams, Customer Care Operations, First Notice of Loss, Zone Operations, Policy Processing and Mail & Document Services.

Russo joined the company in 1988 while attending Penn State Behrend. In 1990, he was promoted to commercial underwriter and then moved to the Office of the President where he honed his leadership, customer service and operations skills. In 2001, Russo returned to underwriting in ERIE's former Reinsurance Division. He was promoted to assistant vice president in 2003 and led the company's Commercial Processing Operations. In 2010, ERIE consolidated processing operations under Russo's leadership in the Customer Service division.

A native of Erie, Russo is a graduate of Penn State Behrend and earned his MBA from Gannon University. He holds a number of professional certifications including Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter and Certified Insurance Counselor and has been an active educator in the field of Insurance and Risk Management throughout his career. Russo currently serves as vice-chair and board member of the Sarah Reed Children's Center in Erie, Pennsylvania.

About Erie Insurance

According to A.M. Best Company, Erie Insurance Group, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, is the 9th largest homeowners insurer and 12th largest automobile insurer in the United States based on direct premiums written and the 16th largest property/casualty insurer in the United States based on total lines net premium written. The Group, rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company, has more than 5 million policies in force and operates in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Erie Insurance Group is a FORTUNE 500 company.

News releases and more information about Erie Insurance Group are available at www.erieinsurance.com .

SOURCE Erie Insurance Group

Related Links

http://www.erieinsurance.com


Another guided users on what to do If the app stalls/freezes/locks up.

Close out of the app and log back in with your PIN, the email read. The app should save where you were. If it does not, please call in your results.

Sarah Banks, a 39-year-old career adviser at Grinnell College, served as a caucus secretary, deputized by her precinct leader to record and submit results. She said she logged in to test the state partys app Monday afternoon with no problem. But when it came time to report the actual tallies on Monday night, her app failed.

She spent the next four hours trying to phone in results.

We had three of us call and we were all on hold, Ms. Banks said. When I was on hold for an hour, the phone disconnected.

Shortly before 1 a.m., Ms. Banks said she was finally able to log in and plug in her precincts totals.

Mr. Grennan, the Poweshiek County chairman, said state party officials hadnt introduced the app to his volunteers until days before Mondays caucus. Some precinct leaders in his county were unable to properly enter a security code to download and access the app, let alone submit results.

A lot of people were like, Im getting a virus on my phone and just quit it, he said.

Ms. Truitt said the process was confusing for those who tried. It involved inputting a series of forms and links and security codes. Only one person at a precinct could be authorized to submit results through the app.
David J. Meberg, 71, Hebron, passed away on Jan. 30, 2020. A memorial service celebrating DJ's life will be held 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, at St. John's Church, Hebron.

Internment of ashes will be held 3 p.m. Friday at the ND Veterans Cemetery, Mandan.

David John (DJ) Meberg was born Dec. 18, 1948, in Park River, the first of Gail and David Urby Meberg's four sons. He was confirmed at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, attended Dundee #34, a one-room schoolhouse, and graduated as an Aggie from WCAS, Walsh County Agricultural School, in 1966.

He attended ND School of Forestry for two years, and then got his first taste of adventure while serving in the Air Force for four years, which included two years in Guam and stops at airports all over the world as a crew chief on a C-130.

After being honorably discharged in 1973, he returned to Park River to help his dad farm, and his mom set him up on a blind date with Claudia Mische. Soon after, she moved to San Francisco, and DJ decided to attend Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa; his route to Tulsa just happened to go through San Francisco. After monthly phone bills that were more than their rent, they got engaged, and married on June 29, 1974, in Hebron. After receiving his A&P (Aeronautics & Powerplant) certificate in 1975, they moved to Anchorage, Ala. and he worked as an aircraft mechanic and AI on a variety of planes, from Super Cubs to Learjets, Metroliners and Skyvans.

While in Alaska, he became a father to Elizabeth, David, and twins Aaron and Ruth. After his own father died in 1984, the family decided to return to North Dakota, engaging in farming and still doing small airplane maintenance and inspection. He loved teaching Hunter Safety Education and organized an air-rifle shooting team at Hebron High School. He was an active American Legion member. He started working full time for the ND Army National Guard as an observation helicopter repairer and tech inspector in 1994, and he also worked in drug enforcement reconnaissance. DJ and Claudia moved to Bismarck in 1998 and were members of Lord of Life Lutheran Church. In 2004 he was transferred to Fargo where they enjoyed being grandparents. DJ especially enjoyed napping while holding babies.

The lure of rural life drew him again after retiring from the Guard in 2008, and in 2011 DJ and Claudia moved back to the Hebron area and DJ worked at Western Edge Aviation in Dickinson.

In 2016 he officially retired again, and in August of that year, his son Aaron gave him the priceless gift of life, as a living donor of a liver transplant. We are so grateful for the extra years the transplant gave him! The last years of his life, DJ dealt with a cancer diagnosis the same way he did everything else - head on, with confidence in his doctors, and visiting with the many people who made his medical visits more enjoyable. He died peacefully in his sleep at home, which was his Plan A. We would like to thank oncology and palliative care at MidDakota Clinic, the Interventional Radiology team at St. Alexius and the Bismarck Cancer Center for the kind care they provided.

DJ loved his wife, his children (including those by marriage) and grandkids. He loved airplanes, riding his motorcycle, and road trips with Claudia or his brother and best friend Dean. He could fix just about anything that needed fixing, if Claudia just waited long enough. He enjoyed visiting with people and reading. He loved to watch and read Westerns. He demonstrated hard work, honesty and dedication in every aspect of his life, and gave generous and frequent hugs. He was a devoted son, brother, cousin, father, uncle, grandfather, friend and husband. We will miss him so much.

Preceding him in death were his father, mother, and brothers Arne and Dean.

Missing him here are his wife, Claudia; children, Liz (Aaron) Jost, David (Jessica), Aaron (Kate), and Ruth Meberg; grandchildren, Leah, Ben and Adam Jost, David, Henry and Edith Meberg, Archie and Ruthie Meberg, and James and Naomi Stine; and his brother, Lynn (Yolanda); as well as numerous cousins, brothers and sisters-in-law, and nieces and nephews.

If you would like to honor DJ, in lieu of flowers, please donate to the Gift of Life Transplant House at Mayo Clinic.

To share memories of DJ and to sign the online guestbook, go to www.eastgatefuneral.com.
Most of you reading this will be aware that Zerohedges prolific and highly popular twitter account with over 670,000 followers was on the receiving end of a lifetime ban by the Twitter politburo. This post wont focus on the details of this specific ban, but if you want to read more about it, see the following: Zerohedge Suspended On Twitter.

Its imperative not to overly focus on the individual victims of tech giant bans, and instead zero in on the bigger picture. Rather than debating whether or not you like Zerohedge, or whether you think it crossed a line, I want to highlight the dangerous implications of dominant social media companies wielding permanent bans as a weapon against freedom of speech in practice.

This post will cover three main issues.

First, the fact that Twitter and other social media companies have essentially created a caste system when it comes to engagement on their platforms. Second, the question of whether or not a lifetime ban from social media platforms is an ethical concept. Third, the dangers of Twitter essentially throwing the entire timeline of a banished account into the memory hole.

For all intents and purposes, @Twitter has created a caste system on its platform. This goes against the entire spirit of why almost all of us joined social media. Its a massive, dangerous problem and it must be addressed.



Ill be touching on this and much more in a post later.  Michael Krieger (@LibertyBlitz) February 3, 2020

As the internet and social media started gaining traction, the idea of the citizen journalist grew increasingly popular and the public discovered how all sorts of previously unknown people can bring a great deal of hidden information and interesting perspectives to the table. This led to competing narratives on all sorts of topics, and we all basically agreed its best to treat people like adults and let them sort things out for themselves. That is, until Hillary Clinton lost an election.

At that point, a certain segment of the population went completely mental and started demanding social media companies fight and censor fake news. This anti-liberal perspective, largely promoted by self-proclaimed liberals, deeply affected how social media executives think about and treat platform content in the subsequent years. The result has been that Twitter and other tech giants have effectively created a caste system on their platforms. Though they wont explicitly admit it, the executives at these companies now seem to believe certain people and organizations should be given priority to shape the national narrative, while others should be diminished. While they tolerate the latter group until they become too influential and disruptive, the former class exists at a level entirely above Twitters terms of service. Certain people and organizations are permitted to do whatever they like on the platform, while others are subject to increasingly arbitrary and subjective bans. Its rapidly becoming an intentionally rigged system designed to reallocate narrative control in a certain direction.

Ask yourself, do you think theres anything CNN could do to get banned from Twitter for life? I dont. I genuinely think the news organization CNN can do absolutely anything it wants on or off Twitter and never be considered for a lifetime ban. Why? Its a protected organization. CNN is above the Twitter law, and as such exists at the very top of the social media caste system. Its not just CNN of course, there are many individuals and organizations simply not subject to Twitters terms of service in the way you or I are. A politician calling for mass government violence abroad (war) is another example. This sort of thing happens regularly without any consequences. Why? Twitter has determined advocating for preemptive government violence is considered reasonable. Theyve determined advocating for one form of violence (war) is fine, but advocating for other kinds of violence is not. Nobody asked for any of this, but here we are.

The next thing I want to discuss is the entire concept of a lifetime ban from a dominant social media company like Twitter. The more I think about it, the more ethically indefensible this practice appears to be. Just as we shouldnt jail a person for life except under the most extreme circumstances, we shouldnt be comfortable flippantly banning people forever on large social media platforms. Such action assumes people cant and dont change, but Twitter doesnt seem to be looking at the enforcement of its terms of service from a fundamentally fair or ethical point of view. Executives are increasingly utilizing this most extreme form of punishment, the lifetime ban, at the drop of a hat for minor or misunderstood violations. There are many other ways Twitter could deal with what it deems to be serious violations. You can have three month, six month or even year long bans, but a lifetime banishment is an extreme and indefensible position in almost all cases Ive observed in recent months.

As such, its become clear to me Twitter isnt using this tool in order to enforce its terms of service, but rather its terms of service exist to provide an excuse to eliminate anyone or any account executives or professional bloggers in Brooklyn deem unpalatable.

I wonder if theres a direct line from Buzzfeed blue checks to @jack to report thought crime.



1-800 protect me from opinions that conflict with yuppie Brooklyn  Michael Krieger (@LibertyBlitz) February 2, 2020

I know, I know muh private company, but lets discuss reality. If I were to be personally banned from Twitter, my voice in the public sphere would be materially diminished.

This is when youre supposed to instruct me to start my own Twitter or join an alternative, but the truth is Twitter dominates the very socially and politically important micro-blogging space in the U.S. Its the preferred communications platform of President Trump for crying out loud. You end my existence there and you extinguish my voice in a very material way for the foreseeable future, yet Twitter can do this at any moment for whatever reason. If a social media company decides they want you gone, they can always come up with an excuse eventually. Is this a major problem? I think so.

If I were Trump Id make social media bans central to my entire 2020 run.



But he isnt doing that because hes too focused on pumping the stock market and not finding Ghislaine Maxwell.  Michael Krieger (@LibertyBlitz) February 3, 2020

Finally, I want to end with another disturbing aspect of the lifetime Twitter ban. Even if you accept it as a justifiable concept, and I generally speaking do not, the way they handle it is particularly problematic. When an account like Zerohegde is banned, you lose the ability to easily search historical tweets, which is in this case means hundreds of thousands of comments made over a decade. If you go to the defunct @zerohedge handle this is what youll see:

This page is completely dead. You cant go back and look at old tweets, 99% of which didnt violate any terms of service and collectively make up an important part of post-financial crisis history. It becomes far more challenging for any of us, or future historians who want to research this period, to write about Zerohedge and the role it played over the past decade with this information now much harder to find. This is fundamentally unethical and feels like the modern equivalent of burning books. If the companys going to ban accounts for life, it should at the very least leave the historical record up and easily searchable.

But Twitter doesnt care. It doesnt care because the lifetime ban functions as an intentionally arbitrary, cruel and vindictive tool of coercion. Its intended to scare people and ultimately create a rigged playing field where different individuals and organizations play by distinct rules on the platform. That way the overall public narrative can be manipulated in a certain direction that tends to overlap with the dominant consensus opinions of San Francisco, New York and Washington D.C.

The beatings will continue until thought crimes are extinguished.

* * *

Liberty Blitzkrieg is an ad-free website. If you enjoyed this post and my work in general, visit the Support Page where you can donate and contribute to my efforts.

Related Articles:

Saturday, March 23, 2019 - Twitter Bans User For Laughing At Rachel Maddow's Tears Of Despair Over Mueller Report

As left-wing news outlets were forced to cover the completion of the Mueller report sans high-level indictments (Trump Jr., for example), Rachel Maddow had a grand-mal meltdown after having been forced by MSNBC to cancel a fishing trip and drive in to work on a Friday night.

In response to the New York Times' decision to stand by their most recent hire - open bigot Sarah Jeong, who really hates white people, men (especially white men), and cops - black conservative Candace Owens carried out a thought experiment we mentioned last week in which we replaced the word "white" with "black" to illustrate Jeong's animus.

Monday, May 9, 2016 - Twitter bans US intelligence access to Dataminr analytics - report

Twitter has banned the US intelligence agencies from using a service called Dataminr, which searches through real-time tweets to detect newsworthy events, including terror attacks and protests. Dataminr reportedly said that Twitter doesnt want the intelligence agencies to continue using the service for the fear of theoptics, since it could be perceived as being too close to the intelligence arm of the government, according to a source cited by the The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The company told RT it had no comment on the WSJ report.

Monday, September 29, 2014 - The year of digital blockades continues with Chinas Instagram ban

Friday, March 21, 2014 - How Do You Make Twitter More Popular? Try to Ban It

China is attempting to prevent images of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong from reaching citizens in the mainland by blocking access to Instagram, according to reports from Reuters and the BBC. (People in Hong Kong can still access the site without any problems.)A Turkish court has ruled against Prime Minister Erdogan's unilateral decision to ban Twitter from the nation after the threatened leak of corruption allegations. As The FT reports, the Ankara district court imposed a stay on the measure after hearing arguments from the Turkish Bar Association that the ban was disproportionate and illegal.From last night, Twitter users in Turkey found themselves unable to access the social media site following a block instigated by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It was a not-unexpected culmination of Erdogans increasingly tight internet restrictions and well-publicised dislike of Twitter and other social media sites, especially when theyre used to spread allegations of corruption in his government.
(Natural News) An archaeological site in Ethiopia has discovered some of the earliest evidence of stone tools known to the world. Previously, the oldest unearthed evidence was dated at between 2.58 and 2.55 million years ago. In the dig site known as Bokol Dora 1 (BD1) in the Afar region of northeastern Ethiopia, researchers have found evidence of stone tools dated to be older than 2.58 million years. Their research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, wherein they described the substantial amount of stone tools they found in BD1.

Christopher Campisano, a co-author of the study and professor from Arizona State University, stated that he and the team saw sharp-edged stone tools sticking out of sediments on a steep, eroded slope. When he peered over the edge of a small cliff, he saw rocks sticking out. He then found two stone tools by scaling up from the bottom of the said cliff and using his rock hammer. (Related: Human evolution may have to be rewritten after scientists discover monkeys can create stone tools like humans.)

Luckily for Campisano and his team, the stone tools were discarded near a water source and were subsequently buried. Vera Aldeias, an archaeologist and researcher from the University of Algarve in Portugal, said that when they looked at the sediments at the dig site under a microscope, they could tell that the site was exposed only for a short period of time. This means that when the stone tools were effectively preserved when they got buried.

Campisano, Aldeias and the other researchers took years of slow, meticulous excavation before they could fully unearth the stone tools. In the process of digging these out, the researchers also came across a layer of bones and hundreds of other stone tool fragments, indicating that there was human activity in the area and that these humans were chipping away at stones in order to make knives.

Human development can be seen in stone tools

Early human relatives were using tools long before modern humans even began working with stone. The difference lies in how the BD1 tools were made and used. Stone tools dating back 3.3 million years in Kenya were described as percussive stone tools, meaning that they were used for hammering and breaking food. These are known as Lomekwian stone tools. The tools discovered in the BD1 dig site are known as Oldowan tools, with the main difference being that these tools were chipped to create sharper, more precise edges.

We expected to see some indication of an evolution from the Lomekwian to these earliest Oldowan tools, said researcher Will Archer. Yet, when we looked closely at the patterns, there was very little connection to what is known from older archaeological sites or to the tools modern primates are making.

This suggests that the development of stone tools and tool production went through different stages of progress over the years. David Braun, the lead author of the study, believes that many human ancestors developed their use of stone tools independently of each other in order to extract resources specific to their environment.

If our hypothesis is correct, Braun said, we would expect to find some type of continuity in artifact form after 2.6 million years ago, but not prior to this time period.

He then stated the need to find more dig sites and to do more research. At the very least, their study provides a link between the evolution of human ancestors and the development from Lomekwian to Oldowan tools.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

PNAS.org

Earth.com
Former Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi, who ruled for more than 20 years, has died, the office of the president said on Tuesday.

Our nation and our continent were immensely blessed by the dedication and service of the Late Mzee Moi; who spent almost his entire adult life serving Kenya and Africa, President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a statement.

Moi, an autocratic leader, came to power in 1978, upon the death of President Jomo Kenyatta, under whom he was serving as vice-president.

Former President Moi won peoples support because of his genuine concern, selflessness, loyalty and sincerity, Kenyas Deputy President William Ruto said in a televised address.

Kenyas former Prime Minister Raila Odinga also paid tribute to the late President.

Mr Odinga said that the late President Moi inherited a polarised country in 1978 but made incremental reforms

To his credit, President Moi gave in to the clamor for change and allowed the country to return to multi-party politics. He was constantly able to ease pressure in the country through incremental reforms, Mr Odinga wrote.

Kenyans on Twitter have been sharing their memories about Mois presidency, one topic that many are talking about is the free school milk program.

The ministry of education used to distribute free packets of milk to all primary schools, targeting children under the age of 13. The program, which ran between the 1980s to the 1990s, was aimed at improving the health of school children.

His passing away marks the end of an era for one of the most influential independence leaders. Most of the top political leaders including President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto are Mois proteges.

Moi leaves behind a dynamic country which has changed a lot since he left office in 2002 but one that will continue to be shaped by his influence for a long time.
Editor's note: This article is part of Inc.'s 2020 Best Industries report.

When Jon Bostock and Alex Reed left their executive roles at Big Ass Fans, they had one criterion for their next venture: The industry had to be boring. Having worked in the ceiling fan business, boring was familiar--and they knew it also offered an opportunity to inject some excitement into said industry.

"We said, if we're going to go do something, let's take a leap," Bostock says. "Let's go solve some pretty significant issues."

Today, the entrepreneurs are co-founders of Truman's, an e-commerce startup they launched in 2018 that's focused on reducing the amount of plastic in household cleaning products. The Louisville, Kentucky-based company sells nontoxic cleaner concentrates that can be mixed with tap water in reusable spray bottles.

Truman's is one of many companies trying to break our addiction to single-use plastics. As people become more aware of their consumption habits--and their impact on climate change--startups have been quick to capitalize. There's everything from reusable tote bag makers like Lotus Trolley Bags to green companies like TerraCycle, which is partnering with retailers through its Loop program to provide reusable containers for a variety of consumer packaged goods. Blueland, which makes a concentrate product similar to Truman's but in tablet form, launched last April.

The U.S. sustainable packaging industry grew to $52.9 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $77.6 billion in 2027, according to Research and Markets. Fueling this trend are new regulations: Single-use plastic bags have been banned in California and New York, while Maine, Maryland, and a handful of large cities have banned styrofoam containers.

"We think more innovation in this space is ultimately a good thing," Reed says. "If we can collectively move the market in a more sustainable direction, we're achieving our goal."

Reinventing the spray bottle

Reed and Bostock's search for an industry to disrupt began in grocery store aisles in 2018. The co-founders noticed that their local store had more than 50 different cleaning products, most of which came in single-use containers. Sensing an opportunity for disruption, they started brainstorming potential solutions. Their research led them to look at sustainability-focused food corporations like Starbucks and Chipotle, where employees would mix jugs of concentrated cleaning solutions with an appropriate amount of water. "It would make no sense for them to ship a product that consists of 98 percent water and uses a lot of plastic," Bostock says. "It's a huge drain on the supply chain."

He and Reed knew making consumers buy jugs of concentrate wasn't realistic, and they didn't want to create potential friction points by making customers do any measuring or mixing. So they partnered with a cleaning company that makes concentrates for commercial spaces to create four formulations: kitchen, bathroom, glass, and floors. Then they designed reusable spray bottles and small concentrate-filled cartridges to fit into them--and only in a certain way, to reduce the chance of customer mistakes. Each cartridge is nontoxic and biodegradable, further reducing the impact on the environment.

Today, a Truman's starter kit, which comes with all four products and their respective spray bottles, costs $22 on the startup's website. Customers have the option to sign up for a subscription service at a discounted rate.

To coincide with its product launch, the startup posted short videos on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn showing how the products work. All got considerable traction, and the company's website received hits from more than 120 countries in the days following. While the company won't disclose revenue or sales numbers, it says it has tens of thousands of subscribers and one-time customers. In September, it closed a $5 million funding round led by Henkel, maker of cleaning brands Dial and Purex.

Not the traditional way

Bostock says that Truman's plans on rolling out new products in the next three to six months. It's also considering paths to brick-and-mortar retail, but only if the company can do it in an environmentally conscious? way. "We don't want to have a product with a long supply chain where it sits in distribution centers and then sits on the retail shelf and there's no education for the customer in-store," Bostock says. "We're discussing options with retailers, but if it happens, it won't be the traditional way."

Rethinking entire supply chains is an approach environmentalists applaud when it comes to making consumer products more sustainable. "What may be more effective and meaningful to help fight ocean plastic pollution and our waste crisis is to not focus on merely swapping one material for another, but taking a deeper look at how and why we consume products," says Kelly Cramer, director of program management at GreenBlue, a nonprofit dedicated to helping organizations use materials more sustainably. "We hope more and more companies look to concentrates."?

Meanwhile, the Truman's co-founders are riding the wave of environmental consciousness, while not positioning themselves specifically as a green company.
Notice is hereby given that on the initiative and by the resolution of the Board of AB Klaipedos Nafta, legal entity code 110648893, with the registered office at Buriu str. 19, Klaipeda (hereinafter - the Company), Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company will be held on 26 February 2020 at 1:00 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Company's office at Buriu str. 19, Klaipeda, in the administrative office of the Company (in the hall of the meeting on the 2nd floor).

Agenda of the meeting:

Regarding the approval of the decision of the Board of AB Klaipedos nafta to pledge current and future amounts receivable (the LNG terminal security component) by a subsequent pledge to the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania for the state guarantee issued by the Republic of Lithuania; Regarding the approval of the decision of the Board of AB Klaipedos nafta to mortgage the Subacius oil terminal by a subsequent mortgage for obligations of AB Klaipedos nafta according to the state guarantee granted by the Republic of Lithuania; Regarding the approval of the decision of the Board of AB Klaipedos nafta to mortgage the floating liquefied natural gas storage unit by a senior conditional mortgage for obligations of AB Klaipedos nafta according to the state guarantee granted by the Republic of Lithuania; Regarding the approval of the decision of the Board of AB Klaipedos nafta to make an agreement for granting of a loan with the Nordic Investment Bank (hereinafter - NIB), borrowing from the NIB up to EUR 160 mln. (one hundred and sixty million euros) for a period of up to 25 (twenty-five) years.

The shareholders will be registered from 12:00 a.m. to 12:55 p.m. The persons intending to participate in the meeting shall have a personal ID document (an authorized representative shall have an authorization approved under the established procedure. The natural person's authorization shall be notarized. An authorization issued in a foreign state shall be translated into the Lithuanian language and legalized under the procedure prescribed by the laws).

A shareholder or his proxy shall have the right to vote in writing in advance by filling in a general ballot paper. At the request of the shareholder, the Company shall send a general ballot paper to the shareholder by registered mail free of charge at least 10 days before the meeting. The filled-in general ballot paper and the document attesting the voting right shall be submitted to the Company no later than until the meeting, sending by registered mail or providing them at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice.

The shareholders who hold shares carrying at least 1/20 of all the votes may propose additions to the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders by submitting with every proposed additional item of the agenda a draft resolution of the general meeting of shareholders or, when no resolution is required, an explanation. Proposals on addition to the agenda shall be submitted in writing or sent by e-mail. Written proposals shall be submitted to the Company on business days or sent by registered mail at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice. Proposals submitted by e-mail shall be sent to the following e-mails: info@kn.lt and i.berzauskas@kn.lt . The agenda shall be supplemented if the proposal is received no later than 14 days before the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders. If the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders is supplemented, the Company shall notify on the additions no later than 10 days before the meeting in the same ways as in the case of convocation of the meeting.

The shareholders, who hold shares carrying at least 1/20 of all the votes, at any time before the general meeting of shareholders or during the meeting, may propose new draft resolutions on items which are or will be included in the agenda of the meeting. The proposals may be submitted in writing or sent by e-mail. Written proposals shall be submitted to the Company on business days or sent by registered mail at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice. Proposals submitted by e-mail shall be sent to the following e-mails: info@kn.lt and i.berzauskas@kn.lt .

The shareholders shall have the right to submit to the Company in advance questions relating to the items on the agenda of the meeting. The shareholders may submit their written questions to the Company on business days or send by registered mail at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice no later than 3 business days before the meeting. The Company will reply to the questions by e-mail or in writing before the meeting, except the questions which are related to the Company's commercial (industrial) secret, confidential information or which have been submitted later than 3 business days before the meeting.

The Company does not provide the possibility of participating and voting at the meeting by means of electronic communications.

The shareholder shall have the right to authorize through electronic communications means another personand i.berzauskas@kn.lt no later than until the last business day before the meeting at 1:00 p.m. The proxy and the notice must be issued in writing. The proxy and the notice to the Company shall be signed with the electronic signature but not the letter sent by e-mail. By submitting the notice to the Company, the shareholder shall include the internet address from which it would be possible to download software free of charge to verify the shareholder's electronic signature.

The record date of the meeting shall be 19 February 2020 (only those persons who will be shareholders of the Company at the close of the record date of the general meeting of shareholders or their authorized persons, or persons with whom an agreement on assignment of the voting right has been executed, may participate and vote at the general meeting of shareholders).

The shareholders of the Company may familiarise with the draft resolution of the meeting and the form of the general ballot paper under the procedure prescribed by the laws in the registered office of the Company at Buriu str. 19, Klaipeda. The following information and documents shall be provided on the abovementioned internet website of the Company:

- The notification on convocation of the meeting;

- Total number of the Company's shares and the number of shares with voting rights on the convening day of the meeting.

Enclosed:

Draft decisions; Ballot paper.

Jonas Lenksas, Chief Financial Officer, +370 694 80594.

Attachments
P olice are investigating after a man was shot at while walking down a north London street.

Officers were called to Culpepper Close, Edmonton, at 9.17pm on Monday following reports of a shot fired earlier that evening.

Police are investigating reports that a car had pulled up, before someone inside fired a gunshot at the pedestrian.

The man was not injured.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Feb. 4

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmenistans Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov participated in the meeting in C5+1 format attended by foreign ministries of Central Asia in Tashkent, Trend reports referring to Turkmenistans Foreign Ministry.

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo also participated in the meeting.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the delegation of Turkmenistan met with the US State Secretary, the ministry said. The parties discussed pressing issues of bilateral cooperation, as well as regional topics of mutual interest.

The sides also exchanged views on issues of cooperation in the field of border management, trade, energy and transport.

Special attention was given to the issues related to Afghanistan. In this context, the Turkmen delegation told about the progress in the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline, the power transmission line and fiber-optic links on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) natural gas pipeline, and the railways from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan.

Following the negotiations, the participants adopted a joint statement of the ministerial meeting in C5+1 format.
Washington, Feb 4 : US House impeachment managers and President Donald Trump's defence team wrapped up their closing arguments on Monday afternoon in the Senate impeachment trial.

Senators, who act as the jury for the trial and aren't allowed to speak during the proceeding, will reconvene later in a legislative session, in which they are expected to speak on the impeachment case, Xinhua news agency reported.

They will vote on articles of impeachment against Trump on Wednesday afternoon, according to a resolution adopted last week.

In his closing remarks, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, one of the seven House managers, said that they have proven their case against Trump with "a mountain of evidence." White House counsel Pat Cipollone, for his part, urged senators to reject the articles of impeachment.

Monday's session came days after the Senate, where Republicans have a narrow majority over Democrats, voted to reject the effort in seeking witnesses and documents for the proceeding, paving the way for a quick end.

The House, controlled by Democrats, impeached Trump in December last year for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, charges that the White House has refuted.

A whistleblower raised concern in an anonymous complaint last summer about the White House's interactions with Ukraine, triggering a Democrat-led impeachment inquiry against Trump.

The US president was alleged to have pressed his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, into launching investigations that could politically benefit him. Furthermore, the White House allegedly tried to cover it up.

In a tweet on Monday, Trump called the impeachment a partisan "hoax," while lashing out at Democrats.

"Nothing will ever satisfy the Do Nothing, Radical Left Dems!" Trump wrote.

According to the US Constitution, the House shall have the "sole Power of Impeachment," while the Senate shall have the "sole Power to try all Impeachments." Conviction, which will lead to removal of a president, can only happen in the Senate and requires at least two-thirds of its members, or 67 senators, to vote in favor of at least one article of impeachment after a trial. Currently, the Senate has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and two independents who caucus with Democrats.

No sitting US president has ever been removed from office by Congress through impeachment.
While prison reform advocates alleged inmates faced attacks at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker says he has faith in the Department of Corrections to properly investigate the allegations and culture of the facility.

The bottom line is everything gets investigated, and the primary goal and objective of folks in the department of corrections is to keep inmates and to keep inmates and to keep correctional officers safe, the Republican governor told reporters Monday.

Hours earlier, Sen. Jamie Eldridge and attorneys representing inmates at the Shirley prison said that it needs a major culture change. Eldridge, who made a surprise visit to the prison on Sunday with other lawmakers, said the group interviewed 15 inmates one-on-one who detailed disturbing stories" that range from being denied access to their attorneys to being punched, choked and tased by correction officers.

Im calling on Governor Baker, Im calling on the Department of Correction to change their approach towards interacting and dealing with prisoners at Souza-Baranowski and really all prisoners, said Eldridge, an Acton Democrat. If were not going to see more programming, if were not going to see better interaction, if were not going to be bringing in more mental health counselors, more social workers in the prisons, and just have a punishment approach, I dont see how thats going to reduce the tension in this prison, or any other prison.

Tensions have run high at Souza-Baranowski since a Jan. 10 attack on a correction officer, which sources say involved members of the Latin Kings. The prison went on lockdown.

Baker said his understanding of what happened next is that correction officials reviewed how it classified its inmates to make sure inmates and officers would be safe after the lockdown ended.

But attorneys representing the inmates, who have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Corrections, say prisoners who were not involved in the Jan. 10 incident have suffered physical attacks from correction officers as part of a retaliation campaign.

Victoria Kelleher, one of two attorneys who is suing the state on behalf of Souza-Baranowski prison inmates, discussed the alleged violations at the facility.

Baker declined to comment on the specifics citing the pending litigation.

Theres a process in place for pursuing the investigation, he said. The departments going to collaborate and cooperate with whatever people want to pursue on that, but we have a lot of faith in the department and in the actions its taken to ensure inmates and correctional officers at Souza are safe.

Faith in the department is hard to come by for advocates who have spoken with inmates at the prison. Elizabeth Matos, executive director of Prisoners Legal Services, said agencies tend to turn to independent investigations in cases with multiple reports of mistreatment.

With so many allegations of assault and mistreatment and deep concerns being expressed to the public from families, loved ones, and attorneys who represent prisoners at SBCC, our fear is that the results of any internal investigation will not be fully trusted and will fail to alleviate speculation of wrongdoing, Matos said in a statement.

Three weeks after the attack, criminal justice advocates, lawmakers and loved ones say inmates who had nothing to do with the incident have been beaten, bitten by dogs and denied calls with their attorneys.

Theyre attacking people. Theyre hurting people, and it scares me, said Sindey Hayes, whose brother is an inmate in the facility.

Hayes brother, Tony Gaskins, was convicted of murder in 1992. He has filed appeals to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to get a new case, as well as a habeas corpus petition alleging ineffective counsel to no avail.

In the years since, Gaskins has helped prisoners with litigation at MCI-Norfolk and at Souza-Baranowski, where he was recently transferred.

He is in danger, said Hayes, who has appealed to state officials for help on the mistreatment allegations.

A spokesman for the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union deferred to the DOC for comments specifically about Souza-Baranowski, but said the union is confident that its officers follow state laws and Department of Corrections policies.

Our officers conduct themselves in a professional manner day in and day out in some of the most dangerous environments imaginable, the MCOFU said in a statement.

The DOC said in a statement that it will defend all actions and decisions deemed necessary to keep inmates, staff and visitors safe.

While some privileges have been restricted and some inmates were moved as staff searched the maximum security facility for weapons and other contraband, this process was necessary to prevent further violence," the department said in a statement. Every effort was made to provide attorneys with reasonable access to their clients as soon as safety and security were restored.

Related Content:
The annual celebration of Mardi Gras is a party unlike any other, with parades, costumes, music and some of the best food in America. Visiting New Orleans during Mardi Gras may be a travel trend that never goes out of style, but what is Fat Tuesday, exactly?

The Most-Visited Tourist Attraction in Every State

Mardi Gras actually translates from French to Fat Tuesday," therefore both names are used interchangeably. Fat Tuesday traditionally falls the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. For those who observe Lent, its a time of reflection and fasting, so Fat Tuesday is a time to let loose, indulge in some fatty foods, drink beer and enjoy the beloved regional dessert that is king cake.

Mardi Gras can trace its roots to medieval Europe, and French explorers brought the tradition over to the country's American colonies. In fact, New Orleans was established as a city in 1718 by Bienville, and by the 1730s Mardi Gras had already become an annual tradition among the city's high society. During New Orleans French colonial days, wealthy members of Creole society began throwing extravagant Mardi Gras balls from the Feast of Epiphany on January 6 to the day before Fat Tuesday. This tradition  now known as Carnival  continues to this day, with parades and festivities held in the weekends leading up to Fat Tuesday.

Not only is Louisiana home to some of the best Cajun, Creole, soul food and seafood restaurants, its also the only state in America that recognizes Mardi Gras as a legal holiday, so workers can expect a day off to join in the celebration. In New Orleans, krewes, which are essentially party clubs, start celebrating up to two weeks before Fat Tuesday, parading floats through jam-packed streets and tossing beads to fellow revelers.

While New Orleans may be the city most closely associated with Mardi Gras, other Louisiana cities, like Lafayette and Lake Charles, go all-out in celebrating the holiday. Revelers can also experience the spirit of Fat Tuesday outside of Louisiana; Mobile, Alabama, has been celebrating Mardi Gras since 1703, even longer than New Orleans, and its also a big event in Galveston, Texas, Pensacola, Florida, and St. Louis. And if you live on the West Coast, no problem  San Diego also throws a great Mardi Gras party.

Fat Tuesday or not, New Orleans is a fun-filled destination any time of year. Its one of the countrys best cities for food lovers and is home to some of the best restaurants in America.
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Illinois state troopers were called about 6 a.m. to milepost 4.5 on Veterans Memorial Tollway near the Homer and Will county line, according to a news release. The driver of the ambulance, which did not contain any patients at the time, likely caused the crash when the ambulance crossed over onto the right shoulder, striking a stopped black Volkswagen Passat.
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European and American nationalists attending a conference Tuesday in Rome cheered Brexit, warned of left-wing "totalitarianism" and waxed nostalgic about St. John Paul II's papacy and the glorious revolution that brought down communism.

The second annual National Conservatism Conference had God, Honor, Country as its theme.

Rising right-wing stars from Italy and France were keynote speakers, and conservative Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban closed out the meeting.

Organiser Christopher DeMuth drew applause when he blasted the World Economic Forum, the annual gathering of political and business elites in Davos, Switzerland.

The threat of authoritarianism doesn't come from the right, DeMuth said, but the globalist media, political and university establishment of the left.

We are called primitives, xenophobes, paranoids, racists. We are even called populists, he said to laughter. He said today's conservative nationalists are the direct descendants and rightful heirs of the glorious revolution of the 1980s that brought down the Iron Curtain.

Italian conservative Roberto de Mattei, a leading critic of Pope Francis and champion of John Paul, cited the condolences Francis offered after Cuba's Fidel Castro died and a 2018 Vatican accord with China over Catholic bishop nominations as evidence that the Holy See supports communism under the Argentine pope.

We must not be afraid to say that communism is still alive, de Mattei said. Because although the Soviet Union fell apart, the communist utopia continues to infect like a virus - a communist virus - western culture, media, politics and also the Catholic Church.

Sitting in the audience was Alexander Tschugguel, an Austrian far-right activist who is known in conservative Catholic circles for an episode that dominated Francis' meeting of Amazon-region bishops last year.

Tschugguel stole three statues of pregnant women from a Vatican-area church and threw them in the Tiber River, saying the statues were pagan" idols that had been featured at Francis' Vatican.

The stunt encapsulated the conservative and traditionalist opposition to Francis and the threat Francis' critics believe he poses to the church.

Rod Dreher, author of The Benedict Option, recalled that as a young man in Poland, Karol Wojtyla - the future Pope John Paul II - staged historical plays with theater friends as a way to resist attempts by German Nazis and then communist authorities to erase Polish culture, history and religion.

"We have to do the same in our time," Dreher said.

"People who lived through communist totalitarianism are trying to sound the alarm. They are trying to wake the rest of us up before it's too late."



The conference was organised by the Edmund Burke Foundation based in the United States and other conservative intellectual and political groups.

It took place on the eve of a Vatican conference on boosting forms of economic solidarity with the poor that features many of the globalist" leaders denounced by conservatives.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Estonian English

In Q4 2019, AS LHV Group earned a consolidated net profit of EUR 6.4 million: the bank earned a net profit of EUR 5.7 million and AS LHV Varahaldus earned a net profit of EUR 0.9 million. The pre-tax rate of return on equity capital owned by the shareholders of LHV Group was 12.8% in Q4.

The consolidated net profit of LHV Group in Q4 2019 was EUR 1.6 million lower compared to Q3 and EUR 0.3 million lower compared to the same period a year earlier. Loan discounts were made in the amount of EUR 1.5 million in Q4.

The volume of LHV Groups assets exceeded the EUR 3 billion threshold for the first time. In Q4, the Groups consolidated loan portfolio increased by EUR 465 million (+37%; +EUR 104 million in Q3), to EUR 1,687 million. A total of EUR 393 million of that growth was due to the take-over of Danske Bankss Estonian private client loan portfolio. In Q4, the Groups consolidated deposits increased by EUR 166 million (+7%; +EUR 451 million in Q3), to EUR 2,701 million. At the same time, deposits by regular clients increased by EUR 218 million, while deposits associated with payment intermediaries decreased by EUR 43 million. The volume of funds managed by LHV increased by EUR 46 million during the quarter (+3%; +34 million in Q3), to EUR 1,374 billion.

The consolidated net profit of AS LHV Group in 2019 was EUR 27.1 million, i.e. EUR 0.1 million less than in 2018 (-0%). LHV Pank earned a profit of EUR 22.1 million, and AS LHV Varahaldus earned a profit of EUR 6.1 million. The comparison with the previous year was affected by the one-off revenue from the sale of the Lithuanian business unit in 2018, as well as the costs associated with the Danske transaction in 2019 and the decline in the management fee for pension funds. In 2019 the pre-tax return on the equity owned by LHV Group shareholders was 16.2%, while the return on equity based on net profit was 14.0%. We exceeded the financial plan from July by EUR 1.5 million.

The volume of LHV Groups assets grew by EUR 1.35 billion (+81%). The consolidated loan portfolio of LHV Group increased by EUR 768 million year on year (+84%) and deposits increased by EUR 1,279 million (+90%). The volume of the funds managed by LHV grew by EUR 160 million (+13%) year on year.

Comment by Madis Toomsalu, CEO of LHV Group, on the results:

"We ended 2019 with a strong quarter and our business is growing. During Q4, the number of the banks clients increased by nearly 13,100, to 202,000 clients. In addition to the strong growth of business volumes, activity indicators for several areas reached record levels, including salary receipts, the number of customers with assets and payments, the use of cards, the acceptance of card payments and the number of new investment contracts.

LHV earned a profit of EUR 6.4 million in Q4. Profit for the quarter was negatively impacted by the discounts that accompanied the acquisition of Danskes private loan portfolio and one-time transaction costs in the form of state and notary fees. Interest income associated with Danskes portfolio was added from the last week of November. Profits for the quarter were positively influenced by income from institutional banking.

In summarising the successful year, we can say that LHVs business volumes nearly doubled in 2019. The volume of the Groups assets grew to EUR 3 billion and our bank's market share increased by one-tenth, making us the third largest bank in Estonia in daily banking. More than 41,000 new bank clients, recognition of the best service and the selection of LHV as Estonias best bank by several prestigious financial magazines, prove that our efforts have been noticed.

The most important event of the past year was the purchasing of Danskes private client portfolio in Q4. There were other important activities affecting customers, from the expansion of the ATM network to significant developments in LHV's mobile app. In addition to becoming a client, you can also invest in securities, apply for a loan, sign loan agreements and order bank cards via the mobile app.

In the United Kingdom we technically joined the pound payment system in the middle of last year, but we were able to open real-time payments to clients in the beginning of this year. Along with the previously implemented real-time euro payments, this makes LHV Connect one of the most attractive application programming interfaces for financial technology companies. By the end of the year, we were providing banking infrastructure and services to more than 100 clients who are payment intermediaries. Including, among others, TransferWise, Coinbase, Paysafe, and Trustly.

The volume of LHV's pension funds grew to almost EUR 1.4 billion by the end of the year. The year for pension funds was characterised by changes to regulations. In September, lower fixed management fees entered into force, although in the case of a strong return, it is possible to earn a success fee. Although we failed to do so in 2019, our expectation regarding the rate of return for investments has grown and we believe that we will earn the success fee over the long term. In light of the pension reform approved by the Riigikogu at the end of January, market participants are changing their investment strategies and reducing the amount of illiquid investments in Estonia. At LHV, we are trying to find the middle ground, to continue making Estonian investments with higher expected returns while ensuring the necessary liquidity.

We financed the growth of business volumes last year by raising capital. In total, we raised EUR 65 million in capital through three different instruments over the course of the year. Investor confidence is marked by the successful performance and oversubscription of all issues. These transactions certainly contributed to the increase in the number of LHV investors as well, with approximately 7,000 shareholders and 3,000 bond investors having invested in LHV as at the end of the year.

We outperformed our July financial plan by EUR 1.5 million, mainly due to lower-than-planned discounts, lower costs for the Danske transaction, and higher revenues associated with organising the issuing of clients securities.





Income statement, EUR thousand Q4-2019 Q3-2019 12 months 2019 12 months 2018 Net interest income 13 270 11 546 47 388 38 151 Net fee and commission income 6 427 6 412 25 677 25 045 Net gains from financial assets 170 119 670 443 Other income 58 33 84 862 Total revenue 19 925 18 111 73 818 64 501 Staff costs -5 236 -4 593 -19 266 -15 756 Office rent and expenses -277 -229 -959 -1 830 IT expenses -861 -641 -2 771 -2 322 Marketing expenses -443 -471 -2 089 -2 023 Other operating expenses -4 543 -3 465 -14 182 -10 212 Total operating expenses -11 361 -9 399 -39 266 -32 143 EBIT 8 564 8 711 34 552 32 358 Earnings before impairment losses 8 564 8 711 34 552 32 358 Impairment losses on loans and advances -1 546 -15 -3 209 -4 879 Income tax -586 -701 -4 250 -3 614 Net profit for the reporting period from continued operations 6 432 7 995 27 092 23 865 Profit/-loss from discontinued operations 0 0 0 3 324 Net profit 6 432 7 995 27 092 27 189 Profit attributable to non-controlling interest 713 706 2 296 1 953 Profit attributable to share holders of the parent 5 719 7 289 24 797 25 236



Balance sheet, EUR thousand Dec 2019 Sept 2019 Dec 2018 Cash and cash equivalents 1 271 153 1 468 510 682 658 Financial assets 40 962 124 035 47 153 Loans granted 1 693 138 1 233 626 929 037 Loan impairments -6 104 -11 561 -10 276 Receivables from customers 3 551 33 491 3 721 Other assets 29 212 28 700 24 807 Total assets 3 031 912 2 876 800 1 677 100 Demand deposits 2 189 478 2 005 227 1 304 265 Term deposits 511 437 529 442 117 933 Loans received 25 647 28 640 21 584 Loans received and deposits from customers 2 726 562 2 563 309 1 443 782 Other liabilities 24 321 39 524 24 655 Subordinated loans 75 000 75 000 50 900 Total liabilities 2 825 883 2 677 833 1 519 337 Equity 206 028 198 967 157 763 Minority interest 5 218 4 505 4 123 Total liabilities and equity 3 031 912 2 876 800 1 677 100





AS LHV Group reports are available at https://investor.lhv.ee/en/reports/.

LHV is organising an investor meeting, to introduce the financial results, on 4 February, at 18.00 in LHVs Tallinn Office (Tartu mnt 2, Ground Floor). The meeting will be carried out in Estonian. To participate, please register at the addresshttps://fp.lhv.ee/academy/598. A real-time video broadcast of the investor meeting will take place on LHVs Facebook page www.facebook.com/LHVPank.

LHV Group is the largest domestic financial group and capital provider in Estonia. LHV Group's key subsidiaries are LHV Pank and LHV Varahaldus. LHV employs over 430 people. LHVs banking services are used by 202,000 clients, and pension funds managed by LHV have 177,000 active clients.





Priit Rum

Communication Manager

Phone: +372 502 0786

Email: priit.rum@lhv.ee

Attachments
A new study examining the use of legal analytics reveals an increase in adoption among law firms and individuals, and a deeper understanding of the value it can deliver to their practice and clients.

Results from the third annual survey, Bringing Legal Analytics Into Focus, indicate 70% of large law firms use legal analytics tools, with 75% of respondents citing an increase in usage at their firm over the last year. Individually, 73% of respondents at firms with access to the tools report using legal analytics either direct or indirectly. Among users, 90% say the technology makes them better lawyers, and 92% plan to increase use over the next year.

As the leader in legal analytics, we couldnt be happier to see more law firms, attorneys and other legal professionals adopting these tools and finding new ways for the technology to add value to their business and profession, said Sean Fitzpatrick, Lexis Nexis CEO, North American Research Solutions. The legal industrys most groundbreaking, innovative and impactful analytics solutions reside on our flagship Lexis Advance platform, enabling attorneys to do their work more efficiently, provide better client counsel and make more informed business decisions in todays hypercompetitive environment.

The survey reveals a broad range of use cases has taken hold among users, with a focus on strategic case analysis and preparation, as well as business development. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of analytics users say gaining competitive insights is very important or somewhat important, followed by pricing projects or legal matters (68%) and competitive intelligence for pursuing new business (67%).

Interestingly, respondents whose firms do not provide access to analytics tools voiced an even stronger sentiment with 74% saying they believe legal analytics would be valuable for gaining competitive insights, pricing projects or legal matters (71%) and competitive intelligence for pursuing new business (70%)--indicating a belief they are missing out on its potential value.

Among users, an overwhelming majority (98%) believe legal analytics has improved their law firms performance. Specifically, users see the technology as instrumental in increasing their organizations knowledge (75%), competitiveness (56%) and efficiency (52%).

The results from this years study clearly show weve reached a tipping point in the legal analytics adoption curve driven by competitive pressures, the expectations of corporate clients and the need to control costs, said Karl Harris, CEO of Lex Machina, a LexisNexis company. Since law firms began using legal analytics 10 years ago, weve seen tremendous growth and adoption, with an increasing number of Am Law 200 firms relying on legal analytics to win in the business and practice of law.

Other findings from the third annual Legal Analytics Survey include:



81% of users say legal analytics use is encouraged or looked upon favorably by clients

57% of all respondents believe its important for their firm to provide access to legal analytics

79% of users say legal analytics will foster new skillsets and create new roles for legal professionals

74% of users feel legal analytics should be taught in law school

Among firms that do not utilize legal analytics, respondents cite a lack of training/understanding of how the technologies work (58%), economic pressures (47%) and a lack of leadership sponsorship (36%) as some of the top challenges for adoption

LexisNexis will be showcasing products and speaking on a variety of topics throughout Legalweek (Booth #2100). For more information about 2020 ALM-LexisNexis Legal Analytics Study, or to access full survey results, please visit https://www.lexisnexis.com/2020-Legal-Analytics-Study.

Survey Methodology

To better understand how law firms use legal analytics in the business and practice of law, LexisNexis engaged ALM Intelligence to field a survey on the matter. The survey was conducted by ALM Intelligence, 2020 ALM Media Properties, in December 2019 and captured opinions from 163 law firm legal professionals. All metrics cited were based on this survey, all rights reserved.

About LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LexisNexis Legal & Professional is a leading global provider of legal, regulatory and business information and analytics that help customers increase productivity, improve decision making and outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis and Nexis services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 130 countries with 10,000 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.

About ALM Intelligence

ALM Intelligence, a division of ALM Media LLC, supports legal, consulting, and benefits decision-makers seeking guidance on critical business challenges. Our proprietary market reports and analysis, rating guides, prospecting tools, surveys, and rankings, inform and empower business leaders to meet business challenges with confidence. Please visit http://www.alm.com/intelligence for more information.
Boris Johnson is facing mounting evidence that Brexit is fuelling Scottish separatism today - as a poll showed 52 per cent north of the border back independence.

Research by Panelbase suggests that a narrow majority would vote to break up the UK if Nicola Sturgeon gets her way over holding a fresh referendum.

It is the latest survey to show the future of the union on a knife edge. A Survation poll conducted between January 20 and 22 found Scots were split 50-50, and YouGov research carried out last week put the margin at 51-49 in favour of independence.

The Panelbase survey took place between January 28 and 31, on behalf of the pro-independence Scot Goes Pop blog. The headline figures discount undecideds.

Polling guru Sir John Curtice, politics professor at Strathclyde University, warned that people who had wanted to stay in the EU appeared to be 'switching sides' to support independence.

'On average three polls taken undertaken in the last fortnight put Yes ahead by 51 per cent to 49 per cent,' he told the National.

'Polls undertaken last year consistently suggested that support for independence had increased from 45 per cent to 48-49 per cent, with all of the increase coming from those who voted Remain.

'Now that Brexit has happened it looks as though a few more Remain voters have switched sides - adding to the evidence that the pursuit of Brexit is serving to undermine the foundations of support for union.

'At present, at least, unionists are clearly on the back foot in the constitutional debate north of the border.'

Research by Panelbase suggests that a narrow majority would vote to break up the UK if Nicola Sturgeon gets her way over holding a fresh referendum

Ms Sturgeon has been demanding a new independence ballot immediately saying circumstances have been changed by Brexit.

But the PM has flatly dismissed the idea, insisting the 2014 referendum - which the separatists lost convincingly by 55 per cent to 45 per cent - was a once-in-a-generation decision.

Last August a poll by Lord Ashcroft found Scots backed independence by 52 per cent to 48 per cent, again excluding those who did not voice a preference.

Last week MSPs passed a motion by 64 votes to 54, calling on the UK Government to 'reach an agreement with the Scottish Government on such a referendum taking place on a date and in a manner determined by the Scottish Parliament'.

Ms Sturgeon has been demanding a referendum in the second half of this year.

A Survation poll published yesterday but conducted in January, showed the result of an independence referendum would be too close to call. The figures discount undecideds
Prosecutors on Tuesday announced they will not again try Tony Cercy, a prominent Casper businessman, on an allegation of sexual assault.

The announcement  made in documents that became public Tuesday morning  marks the conclusion to a case that has spanned more than 2 1/2 years. In its filing, the Natrona County District Attorneys Office states that a Wyoming Supreme Court opinion that jurors could not again convict Cercy on the basis of an oral sexual assault means that a retrial would not result in a conviction and will most likely result in a hung jury.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Blonigen, who signed the filing, takes issue in the document with the appellate courts decision, stating that the definition of cunnilingus used by the court is broad and not drawn from statute. Blonigen wrote that jurors found the woman credible and he renewed the allegation of sexual assault by cunnilingus brought in her testimony.

In a filing later the same day, defense lawyers responded, asking Judge Daniel Forgey to dismiss the case. In the filing, Cercys lawyers state also that jurors found Cercy not guilty of sexual assault by cunnilingus in the first trial he faced. Denver lawyers Jeff Pagliuca and Pamela Mackey, along with local lawyer Ian Sandefer, also disputed the prosecutors characterization of the appellate courts decision and called his descriptions of jurors comments improper.

A review of the proceedings in this matter reflects that Mr. Cercy and his lawyers have disagreed with the prosecution with regard to virtually every fact and legal issue in this case  the facts alleged in the Notice and Motion to Dismiss are no different, wrote the defense team. Mr. Cercy agrees with the prosecution on one important fact: justice in this case is a dismissal of the action, with prejudice.

The case against Cercy, 57, dates to July 2017, when a teenage woman told sheriffs investigators that Cercy had assaulted her while she was unconscious on a couch at his Alcova lake house. Prosecutors soon charged Cercy, who oversaw an oilfield service company and invested heavily in downtown Casper, with three counts of sexual assault. He pleaded not guilty.

When Cercy first went to trial, in February 2018, a jury found him not guilty of two charges. On the final charge, third-degree sexual assault, jurors deadlocked and Forgey declared a mistrial on that count.

Blonigen, who then served as district attorney, again charged Cercy with the remaining felony. A Hot Springs County jury in November of the same year convicted Cercy of the sole remaining count against him. Forgey immediately ordered Cercy into the sheriffs custody and in early 2019 ordered Cercy to serve six to eight years in prison.

That conviction, and with it the prison time, was reversed on an appeal late last year. In its written decision, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that jurors at the second trial were not properly instructed on law governing the crime.

The reversal did not mean Cercy walked free right away. He remained held in prison while the state Supreme Court delivered its decision to Natrona County District Court, where Cercy was tried. Then, a judge had to set a bond requirement, which Cercy posted on New Years Eve, after about 13 months of imprisonment.

Blonigen, who after Cercys conviction retired as district attorney before returning to the office as an assistant district attorney, told Forgey last month that prosecutors would announce their decision by Monday.

Although the states filing is dated as received by the clerks office on Friday, deputy clerks told the Star-Tribune shortly before 5 p.m. Friday and twice on Tuesday morning that the decision had not yet been filed. Clerk of District Court Anne Volin said by phone Tuesday that her staff provided incorrect information because not all staffers knew the document existed.

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The Fianna Fail leader became a TD in 1989 and has had four ministries, but the role he covets might elude him unless he can convince he is for change, writes Gary Murphy.

Change has been the dominant motif of the election campaign, but Fianna Fail leader, Micheal Martin, has struggled to portray himself as the agent of that change.

The confidence-and-supply agreement with Fine Gael over the last four years has made him Schrodingers politician: both in and out of government.

At the calling of the election, the battle lines between Fine Gaels economic competency and Fianna Fails social solidarity seemed set to be the dominant narrative.

The electorate, however, has decided it wants change. Its not quite sure what type of change.

Doubts remain as to whether the Sinn Fein surge will manifest itself at the ballot box.

Fine Gael is unable to break out of its core vote of just over 20% and has lost all the voters who had been giving them the benefit of the doubt.

The expected Green advance has not materialised.

As the campaign enters its frantic final days, the challenge for Martin is to persuade enough of the undecideds to give their vote to Fianna Fail and put him in a position to form a government with, as he describes it, like-minded parties of the centre left.

Martins difficulties were summed up in his setpiece sit-down interview with RTEs Bryan Dobson last Friday night.

His message was that people want a change of government and that Fianna Fail is the only party which could lead that alternative.

The problem was he then spent considerable time apologising for his partys role in the economic crash of 2008.

It is difficult to pull off the trick of being awash with new ideas when continuously being pressed about the past.

Martin then struggled to explain the partys position on the amount of houses it would build if returned to office.

The nadir was when he blamed people in head office for signing him up to a National Womens Council of Ireland pledge to implement an emergency rent freeze that he now says is unconstitutional. (This is based on that perennial block to doing anything: legal advice.)

Martins attempt to be seen as the agent of change also ran aground when he uttered the line, I know about these things, because Ive been a minister in relation to his work on the Lisbon treaty and devolution in Northern Ireland, having been in government when the Good Friday Agreement was negotiated, in 1998.

His record on the latter is admirable. On the former, its far more questionable, as he was the minister for foreign affairs in 2008, when the Lisbon treaty referendum was lost, amidst accusations of government complacency.

So just what is the record of the man who would be Taoiseach?

A TD since 1989, Martin was a member of Bertie Aherns three governments, elected in 1997, 2002, and 2007.

When Brian Cowen succeeded Ahern, Martin became one of his senior lieutenants, before their relationship soured after the troikas arrival to Irelands shores in late 2010.

To his critics, Martin is indecisive and unsure; a minister beloved of commissioning reports.

While he has dismissed this as a political jibe, it came back to haunt him when he told Dobson that his solution to the pension age (which has been a surprising issue on the campaign trail) was to establish a pensions commission.

His supporters point, instead, to a politician of consummate courage and they reference the smoking ban of 2004, brought in despite the implacable hostility of the vintners, a group long-associated with Fianna Fail,and despite many sceptics within the party itself.

This was a genuine feat of political leadership and for which he deserves much credit.

Martins first ministerial appointment came in education, in 1997, where he was helped by a buoyant economy.

It was long seen as a department for teachers, and Martin invested significantly in early childhood education and disadvantage.

At third-level, he introduced a programme for research that transformed the sector.

Things were far more difficult for him in health.

Appointed to the department in January 2000, he oversaw the first overhaul of the health system in a generation, by abolishing the health boards and creating the Health Service Executive.

He has rejected criticisms of the structure of the HSE by saying that the current bureaucratic behemoth is not the one he created in 2004.

Caught up by the excitement of the 2002 general election and Fianna Fails efforts at securing an overall majority, he ludicrously promised to abolish hospital waiting lists within two years.

He was also at the helm during the 150m fiasco of the botched PPARS computerised staff management system.

One of the main criticisms of the Comptroller and Auditor Generals report was the reliance on consultants in the development of the system.

Those consultants were paid 57m, while the State was left with a system that did not work.

Martin rather serenely waltzed through the departments of enterprise, trade and employment, and foreign affairs, but it was in the latter that he made the crucial decision to challenge Brian Cowen for the leadership of Fianna Fail in January 2011.

This has shaped the last decade of his political life.

It was a courageous move, done in the sure knowledge that Fianna Fail was in for the mother and father of all hidings from the public in the looming election and when many of the men of destiny with whom Martin had soldiered over the previous 13 years couldnt wait to get off the electoral pitch.

Although he initially defended the troika bailout deal, Martin eventually decried the coming of the IMF to Ireland.

That political courage was also on show in Martins reaction to the Mahon Tribunals findings against Bertie Ahern in March 2012.

He proposed to expel the former taoiseach from the party for conduct unbecoming a member of Fianna Fail, in the light of the tribunals rejection of Aherns evidence.

This decision was taken when Martin led just 20 TDs in the Dail and presided over a party that had received only 17% of the vote in the general election a year earlier.

Neither of these two decisions, which shaped Martins early leadership of Fianna Fail, was made for political expediency.

Both were made for the good of the party and both took on Fianna Fail royalty. Most importantly of all, both were made on the weight of evidence.

Martin had come to the conclusion that if Cowen stayed on, the very future of Fianna Fail was at stake.

On Ahern, the evidence clearly showed that Fianna Fail had to cut all its ties with its former leader, if it was to present itself to the electorate as a party with a future.

As leader, Martin also showed courage with his unexpected declaration, two years ago, that not only would he vote to repeal the eighth amendment, but he would also support the proposal to legalise abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Martin is rightly proud of Fianna Fails history and roots. His political heroes are Sean Lemass and Donagh OMalley.

Free secondary education is the Fianna Fail policy he is most proud of.

It accords with his view that it is the role of the State to give every child the opportunity to realise their potential.

He has bemoaned the peril of ideological inflexibility, and has stated that remaining committed to the same programme, as realities change, is not to be admired.

He views this as Fianna Fails greatest strength.

It is what spurred his own abandonment of the Eighth Amendment. (He was influenced by the deliberations of both the Citizens Assembly and the committee on the Eighth Amendment.)

While Fianna Fails critics have long accused them of being opportunistic political hucksters, willing to abandon any principle for political expediency, this core idea of being responsive to the public was the very reason why the party was founded.

It is these circumstances that have led Martin to support confidence-and-supply and the Governments position on Brexit, notwithstanding his view, on the campaign trail, that Fine Gael is playing politics with this existentialist threat to the prosperity of the State.

Martin knows that he has done the State some significant service over the last four years, though he has got little political credit for it from the ideological purists.

Micheal Martin fought the 2011 election in the direst of circumstances.

Leader only a few weeks, he saved Fianna Fail in that campaign and brought it from the edge of extinction to the brink of power in 2016.

He now stands on the cusp of the office he has desperately craved since he first entered public life.

While he may not fully convince as the agent of change the voters are demanding, his integrity could well persuade enough of them to make him Taoiseach.

Gary Murphy is professor of politics at Dublin City University
The Massachusetts House appears poised Wednesday to take up legislation giving state cannabis regulators the authority to review and regulate the agreements marijuana businesses are legally required to enter into with their host municipalities.

Marijuana advocates and regulators have been wrestling with the issue of host community agreements (HCAs) for more than a year as entrepreneurs, lawyers and lobbyists have shared stories about cities or towns demanding more from businesses than the state's marijuana laws allow. Activists and business owners have pointed to the required agreements as one reason for the slower-than-anticipated rollout of the retail marijuana market and as a barrier that's keeping small businesses from establishing themselves in the new industry.

Second Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Paul Donato said after Monday's session that the host community agreement bill is on the House's agenda for the formal session it has planned for Wednesday.

Legislative clarity on HCAs and enforcement of those agreements could help clear up one of the thorniest issues that has faced regulators as the legal marijuana industry establishes itself in Massachusetts.

Late last month, lawmakers on the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy advanced a redrafted bill (H 4327/S 2479) that would give the Cannabis Control Commission express authority to review and regulate the mandatory agreements and payments.

It was not immediately clear whether that redrafted bill, which the House sent to the Committee on Health Care Financing and which the Senate sent to its Ways and Means Committee, is the one the House intends to discuss Wednesday. House Speaker Robert DeLeo's office confirmed Monday that the topic of HCAs will be on Wednesday's agenda, but did not specify a bill number and said the House was waiting for something from its own Ways and Means Committee.

The Committee on Health Care Financing, which has been without a House chairperson since Jennifer Benson resigned her seat in the Legislature last month, was not immediately available to field questions about that committee's plan for the bill. Bill sponsors Rep. David Rogers of Cambridge was not available for comment.

State law requires applicants for marijuana business licenses to enter into a host community agreement before the CCC will consider an application. The law stipulates that those agreements cannot run for more than five years and that the community impact fee paid to the municipality by the licensee cannot exceed 3 percent of the establishment's gross sales.

In addition to having the CCC regulate HCAs, the Cannabis Policy Committee said its bill would allow a municipality to waive the requirement to have an HCA, make clear that an HCA may not require any financial obligations beyond the maximum 3 percent of gross sales fee and clarify that the five-year term of an HCA begins on the day the business opens to customers.

On Monday, an advocacy group that was behind the 2016 ballot initiative that legalized marijuana in Massachusetts sent an organizing email to ask its supporters to call legislative leaders to urge that the HCA bill get votes in both the House and Senate.

"Unfortunately, the rollout of the [legal marijuana] program has been frustrating for many Bay Staters, especially those who are trying to get businesses up and running," Marijuana Policy Project New England Political Director Matt Simon wrote in the email. "In particular, the requirement that applicants sign host community agreements (HCAs) with municipalities has created significant problems, especially for smaller businesses. HCAs detail benefits cannabis businesses must provide to a locality, such as fees and 'voluntary' donations."

In January 2019, the CCC voted to formally request that the Legislature grant it statutory authority to review and regulate HCAs. The commission had previously voted down a proposal to include a review of HCAs as part of its licensing process, with Chairman Steven Hoffman declaring at the time that the CCC lacks the legal authority to intervene or reject an application based on the HCA.
HADDAM  Higganum resident Richard Zanelli was named the 2019 Firefighter of the Year during Haddam Volunteer Fire Co.s Firefighters Appreciation Banquet Feb. 1.

Capt. Zanelli also was named the 2019 Top Responder, according to fire officials.

The annual banquet, held at the Riverhouse at Goodspeed Station, brought together members, town officials, firefighters from neighboring towns, and guests for an evening of camaraderie, dinner, awards, and raffle prizes, many of which were donated by local businesses, according to post on the stations Facebook page.

Chief Sam Baber credited members for responding to 555 calls for emergency services in 2019. Haddams total response time totaled 2,700 man hours. Members also spent 3,070 man hours training, according to officials.

Know that each and every one of you in this room plays an integral role in providing support to the Haddam community, Baber said in a prepared statement. Whether youre a top responding firefighter, EMT, or even our company treasurer, you are crucial to this organization.

Baber awarded the top five responders with a framed certificate, including Zanelli, with 268; Deputy Chief Peter Brown, 188; firefighter Ronald Annino, 155; firefighter Charlie Rourke, 150; and EMT Chuck Kowal, 147.

He also honored firefighters Mike Miller and Bob Kadrle with Special Recognition Awards for their efforts completing the Haddam Fire Training Facility, which is now fully operational, and Firefighter and Radio Engineer Scott Larson for his efforts updating the companys radio system.

Baber recognized individuals who received Years of Service pins in 2019. They include: firefighter Chet Crocco, five years; EMT Rose Eberl, 10 years; Lt. Scott Kuchyt, 40 years; and firefighter Bob Kadrle, 50 years.

Zanelli received his honor for making almost 50 percent of all calls. He volunteered 168 hours on these calls, the release said. He serves on the Forestry, Crisis, and Training Facility Committee, and stepped up to be a captain, filling in a much-needed void. Hes also the oldest interior firefighter in the membership.

Prior to a blessing by HVFC chaplain Seth Nuzum, Baber offered appreciation to the members families.

Between meetings, training, drills, committees and calls, we realize the fire company is a huge commitment and that it can have an impact on personal and family time, he said.

So thank you to the spouses and significant others for being so understanding. Without your support, we couldnt do our job as well as we do, Baber said.
During last nights three-hour episode of The Bachelor, contestant Sydney Hightower went on the first international one-on-one with Peter Weber.

The two jetted off in a helicopter to take in the views of Costa Rica. When they landed, there was a picnic waiting for them in a lush field. Later, the two met for dinner next to a romantic watering hole. Throughout the course of their date, Sydney began to open up to Weber about why she might come off as mysterious.

Sydney of The Bachelor | Eric McCandless via Getty Images

She told him about the struggles of growing up with a white mother and father whos African American and Dominican. She also told him shes only seen her father five times in her life total. Growing up in Alabama, she said her peers would bombard her with racist comments about her and her family.

They would call me Oreo girl, and my mom names I dont want to repeat, said Sydney, adding that people would vandalize their home and that she ate lunch in the bathroom stall throughout the course of her senior year. She also didnt go to prom or homecoming.

That angers me so much that that kind of stuff still goes on and that you were made to feel that way, said Weber. Im so amazed by your strength.

The bachelor told the camera that Sydney possesses the qualities hes looking for in a wife: someone with a huge heart who has so much love to give. It also doesnt hurt that Weber says shes the best kisser of the bunch.

Why some Bachelor fans think Sydneys sob story is fake

When the episode was airing, a few fans called Sydney out for exaggerating her struggles.

LMAOOOOO i knew Sydneys lame a** sob story wasnt true, tweeted one person with a photo of Sydney in high school winning Upperclassmen Top Beauty in what looks to be a pageant.

However, several fans pointed out that just because she won a beauty pageant doesnt mean she wasnt a victim of racism.

Sydneys response

Sydney noticed the fan tweets about her beauty pageant win and addressed them on her Twitter.

Feels ridiculous I even have to address this.But correct I did win a beauty pageant my senior year of highschool.That was voted for by 5 judges.Not by my peers.Winning a pageant based off of outer beauty does not take away the racial bullying,and isolation Ive been through, she wrote.

I was also on the cheer team in middle school and in many clubs in highschool. Youll do anything you can to fit in, and I tried. I won pageants because of my looks and I was in clubs because I wanted a scholarship to get into college . Not because I was accepted by my peers, she wrote in another tweet.

Any one from my highschool want to pull out the videos of girls stuffing my locker with Oreo cookies , vandalizing my home, shoving me in the hall ways? Teachers literally referring to me as a halfbreed? Calling my mother the worst names Ive ever heard in my life? I doubt that, she wrote in another tweet.

Read more: The Bachelor: Who Do Fans Even Like at This Point?
- Georgina Rodriguez revealed she fell in love with Ronaldo at first sight

- The couple met at a Gucci store in Real Madrid where she was a sale assistant

- Both have now moved their romance to a more platonic level, supporting each other's dreams

Georgina Rodriguez has opened up on how Cristiano Ronaldo won her heart, and interestingly the revelations are coming amid rumours that the two lovebirds might have secretly married.

While playing for Real Madrid, Ronaldo met the 26-year-old model who was working as a sale assistant in a popular Gucci store in Spain.

READ ALSO: Guardiola says Arteta is doing great job at Arsenal despite having one win in seven games

READ ALSO: Kenyan midfielder Henry Ochieng makes Cork City debut

The couple has been dating for close to four years now and are blessed with one daughter Alana Martina, but the beauty queen also finds time to raise Ronaldo's other three children.

Speaking with Italian magazine Grazia, Georgina, who once admitted she struggled to cope with Ronaldo's fame, said she was lost in love at first sight.

What grabbed my attention was his height, his body and his beauty,'' the 26-year-old mother of one said.

READ ALSO: Odion Ighalo's humble rise from slums of Lagos to top of the world at Man United

I was shaking in front of him but a spark had gone off. I am very shy and maybe that upset me, even more so in front of a person that with a single look, deeply touched me.

Later, the way Cristiano treats me, takes care of me and loves me covered the rest," she continued.

On his part, Ronaldo has always expressed how fortunate he is to have a supportive mother and a partner in Georgina.

Recently, the Portuguese proved that behind every successful man is a strong woman through his astonishing show of love and admiration for his partner on her birthday.

Speaking about how lucky she has been, Georgina praised her man, saying no player excites her like the Portuguese star does on the pitch.

He is the only person that can excite me during a match. I am lucky to be the partner of the best footballer of all time. When he is on the pitch I go through an infinite number of emotions. He has no rival,' she added.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Pilot of helicopter that crashed heralded for 'miracle' landing

The crew of a Hagerstown-based helicopter and the juvenile patient they picked up in Chambersburg, Pa., are OK after a crash near Philadelphia.
Capitalism giveth, a vast and beautiful bounty. But it sure destroyeth a lot of stuff along the way. Rarely does a sober, even-keeled reckoning come along to illuminate the human suffering of creative destruction while gently acknowledging that this is the way it has to be.

Such a portrayal is American Factory, a heartbreaking Netflix documentary about the gritty truths of capitalism. You may have heard the film, which has been nominated for an Oscar, described as Obamas movie. It isnt. Its directed by veteran documentarians Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert. Barack and Michelles company, Higher Ground Productions, put their imprimatur on the film after the fact, when it was sold to the Obamas partners at Netflix. Nevertheless, you can see the affinity, as Ill explain.

In Moraine, outside Dayton, Ohio, a unionized GM assembly plant shut down in 2008 as demand for the SUVs it produced waned with high fuel prices. The huge property sat there, empty and forlorn, until a Chinese behemoth that makes windows for automobiles, Fuyao Glass, decided to take a chance on it and reopen the facility. Workers who had once gotten $29 an hour and generous union benefits were offered less than half of that. Another way of looking at it: Laid-off workers who were getting $0 an hour were given a chance to come back to work for $13 an hour. Not the least of the films ironies is that after an all-American union (the IUE-CWA ran the shop) helped destroy jobs, an American state dangled $10 million in tax credits to lure China in to reopen the place, with non-union jobs.

Yet as soon as the plant gets up and running, what happens? Yep, union organizers start sniffing around. At a ribbon-cutting speech, the fatuous Senator Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) goes off-piste and starts calling for unionization, after which an (American) factory executive is seen cordially wondering whether the scissors used to cut the ribbon could also be used to separate Browns head from his shoulders.

Story continues

Many similarly amazing scenes of candor turn up in the film, in which everybody seems oblivious of the cameras recording their words. The rigid Chinese execs  seriously, the boss is named Chairman Cao  are equally baffled both by American customs and by American law. When the union movement starts to build, leading up to suspenseful scenes about a vote on whether to join the UAW even as the plant was losing $40 million a year, the Chinese openly discuss firing union activists, and do indeed fire some of them. Workers say the Chinese managers also dont seem to grasp that you cant flush toxic chemicals into the sewers or make the workers do dangerous tasks. One employee, desperate to please, allows that he spends 10 minutes or so an hour in a glass-baking room. Its 200 degrees in there.

A visit to the Chinese parent company plumbs the cultural chasm. On the shop floor, uniformed workers form ranks and chant in unison, like Marines. Large posters of Chinas present and past leaders remind the workers that management is backed by the full force of the state, and that several executives are Communist Party officials. At a New Years feast, girls in song-and-dance numbers warble such lyrics as, Employee relations system is amazing! The culture pushes every employee toward abject sycophancy in an atmosphere of unchecked propaganda.

So its perfectly clear why the Chinese managers back in Ohio grumble about American culture. Everyone who grows up in the U.S. is overconfident, an executive says at a how-to-handle-these-people meeting. Americans love being flattered to death. The flip side of that is an American woman at the Ohio factory who marvels, They refer to us as foreigners. The workers complain that they never get a pat on the back, and that when a manager tells them to do something, they are not told why. Alarming workplace injuries accumulate, too, making the viewer wonder where the regulators are.

Though the documentary doesnt include this information, OSHA has fined the company more than $900,000 since 2016 for exposing employees to multiple safety and health hazards, according to the most recent citation. Fuyao was also fined $120,000 by the NLRB for firing union supporters, and settled for $1.3 million a class-action suit filed by 600 employees who charged the company with paycheck abuses. Still, a job is a job. Toward the end, Chinese managers are shown blandly walking the floor and pointing out which employees will soon be made redundant by automation.

Today the plant employs some 2,300 people and in 2018 it made a net profit of $24.5 million. The adjective neoliberal, frequently attached to Obama by his detractors on the left, kept popping up in my mind while watching American Factory. Neoliberal means grudging capitalist, and thats an accurate description of both Obama and this film. Its disquieting that the economy is always in turmoil, with jobs constantly being destroyed or replaced by lower-paying ones. But there is no reverting to a time when the U.S. had few global competitors; hence, no better system is available. As one forlorn former union worker says at the end, We will never, ever, make that type of money again. Those days are over. Documentaries are supposed to capture reality. That is reality.

More from National Review
People wear surgical masks in Flushing in the New York City borough of Queens on Feb. 3, 2020. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

US Confirms Second Case of Human-to-Human Coronavirus Transmission

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Feb. 3 confirmed a second case of human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus within the United States.

CDC officials warned of further cases of human transmission after it was announced that a central California couple, both 57 years old, had been sickened by the virus after the husband traveled to the city of Wuhanthe epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China. The wife didnt travel to China, confirming she caught the virus from her husband at their home in San Benito County, officials said in a release (pdf).

We expect to see more cases of person-to-person spread, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDCs National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a conference call.

Neither had left home since the husband returned from China, local authorities said.

The diagnosis brings the number of U.S. cases to 11, including six in California.

San Benito County Public Health Services have provided guidance for home isolation and are closely monitoring their medical condition, according to the release.

We continue to monitor the situation closely to protect the health of San Benito County residents and limit the spread of this virus, said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, a San Benito County health officer (pdf).

We are working closely with Bay Area health officials, local health care providers, and community partners.

Fenstersheib added that the risk to the general public in California and in San Benito County remains low at this time.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is making available nearly $250 million in emergency funds to cover the cost of the response, an agency spokesman said on Feb. 3.

Some of that may be used to support screening and monitoring of people entering the United States from ChinaU.S. citizens, as well as family members of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, who are exempt from the presidential proclamation issued on Jan. 31 suspending entry of foreign nationals who had visited China within the past 14 days.

The CDC outlined enhanced screening plans for individuals returning from China, who may face a 14-day quarantine if theyve been in Wuhan or Hubei Province, the epicenter of the epidemic.

Passengers arriving in the United States on commercial airlines will be directed to one of 11 U.S. airports for additional health assessments. If they show virus symptoms such as fever, theyll be transferred for medical evaluation.

Messonnier said the CDC is working with the states to determine where travelers will be quarantined.

Flights with U.S. government employees being evacuated by the State Department will go to military bases. Theyll be under federal quarantine for 14 days from when they left Wuhan.

People who dont have symptoms will be allowed to continue to their final destination, and will be asked to stay at home as much as possible and monitor their health for 14 days.

The first U.S. case of person-to-person spread of the virus was announced last week in Illinois. The CDC said Feb. 3 its currently monitoring 82 people for potential infection.

Second Coronavirus Death Outside of China

Hong Kong on Feb. 4 became the second locale to record a death outside of mainland China, after the Philippines reported Feb. 2 that a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan had died from the virus.

In Hong Kong, the Princess Margaret Hospital confirmed that a 39-year-old resident died from the virus, local media reported.

The man had traveled from Hong Kong to Wuhan on a high-speed train on Jan. 21 and returned two days later after boarding another train at Changsha South Railway Station in Chinas Hunan Province.

On Jan. 29, he began having muscle pain and then developed a fever. He was immediately isolated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he was receiving treatment.

He tested positive for the virus on Jan. 31the 13th confirmed case in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has another 14 known cases of the virusamong them the mans 72-year-old mother.

The novel coronavirus has spread to more than 20 countries and territories in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Oceania; experts have said that the Chinese regime is likely underreporting the true scale of the virus.

Frank Fang and Reuters contributed to this report.
The bill presented by deputy of the My Step Alliance Vahagn Hovakimyan is an illegitimate and unconstitutional document, not a legislative initiative, and I wouldnt even refer to it as a bill or document. This is what deputy of the Prosperous Armenia faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Naira Zohrabyan told reporters today.

The aim of the bill is to leave the Constitutional Court out of all processes, and if it is passed in parliament on February 6, it will truly lead to serious consequences, Zohrabyan emphasized.

In response to the statement that head of the My Step faction Lilit Makunts made yesterday when she said all citizens of Armenia have authorized the My Step faction to solve the issue related to the Constitutional Court, Zohrabyan emphasized that no political party has the right to speak on behalf of the whole people.

Im also a citizen of Armenia, but I havent given anyone the mandate to solve the issue related to the Constitutional Court. Moreover, I believe there are more important issues in our country, Zohrabyan stated.
In a stunning incident, a 20-year-old man entered the parking bay of Bhopal airport and pelted stones on a helicopter, national media reported. The man after damaging choppers nose then sat down in front of a SpiceJet plane that was ready to take off before getting detained by the police.

The flight was delayed by an hour

The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday, February 2, at around 5:45 am. CISF revealed that the man was in his early 20s and appeared to be mentally stable. Airport officials suspect that the man entered the runway through the hanger area.

Meanwhile, the flight which was bound for Udaipur was delayed by an hour because of the incident, CISF deputy commander Virendra Singh told a news agency. All the passengers who were onboard were deboarded and the were allowed to board the plane only after the second round of security checks.

Read: Plane En Route To Evacuate NZealanders From Wuhan

Read: Plane With Wuhan Evacuees Lands In Malaysia

According to media reports, the private helicopter parked at Bhopal's Raja Bhoj Airport is owned by Radha Soami Satsang Beas. The man was initially detained by CISF who then handed him to the police for further questioning.

Singh also told that the intruder was identified as Yogesh Tripathi who was a resident of Bhopal, national media reported. He also said that the intruder was overpowered by CISF personnel within seconds after he ran towards the airport's apron before he could enter the runway.

Read: California Teenager Steals Plane From Airport Only To Crash It Minutes Later

Read: Iran Knew It Downed Ukraine Plane Killing 176 Passengers, Leaked Recordings Reveal

In a similar incident, a 17-year-old girl was arrested for trying to steal a plane at Fresno Yosemite International Airport in California and later crashing it into a chain-link fence in an attempt to fly it. The incident took place at the General Aviation section of the airport near Shields Avenue and Winery. According to local media reports, the girl climbed over the airports perimeter into the general aviation area near East Shields and North Winery avenues and made her way to the pilots seat of a two-seat King Air 200 plane and managed to turn the engine on. The airport security video revealed that the plane made a number of hits before dashing into a nearby building, then a fence, before finally taking off.
Joy Ranch reopens under new ownership

Joy Ranch near Watertown has reopened under new ownership.
WINNIPEG - The former scientific director of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory who had experimental brain surgery to battle alcoholism has died.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (705 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dr. Frank Plummer, scientific director of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory, is photographed in the foyer of the lab in Winnipeg, Friday, October 12, 2012. The former scientific director of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory has died. The University of Manitoba confirmed the death of Dr. Francis Plummer, 67, a renowned microbiologist and infectious-disease expert.THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG - The former scientific director of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory who had experimental brain surgery to battle alcoholism has died.

Dr. Francis (Frank) Plummer, a world-renowned microbiologist and infectious-disease expert, was 67.

"He was a scientific maverick," Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, tweeted on Tuesday.

Plummer was a mentor, she said, who helped set up and make the national laboratory in Winnipeg a world-class institution.

Plummer was at the helm of the lab during the SARS, influenza and H1N1 epidemics, as well as during the development of an Ebola vaccine.

Prior to his time at the lab, Plummer's research shaped public health policy around the world. He built a world-class research operation in Kenya, where he observed a particular group of women who had a natural immunity to HIV-1. That discovery provided important information for HIV vaccine and drug development.

"He was admired and regarded highly by academics and researchers around the world, and his legacy of seeking to develop an HIV vaccine remains one of the landmarks of infectious disease prevention," University of Manitoba president David Barnard said in a statement.

"His contributions have had a cumulative global impact on saving the lives of tens of thousands of people for decades and also improving the lives of HIV positive people around the world," added Digvir Jayas, the university's vice-president of research.

Plummer was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2006 and a member of the Order of Manitoba three years later. He received numerous prestigious awards throughout his career, including the Flavelle Medal from the Royal Society of Canada in 2018 for his contributions to biological science.

Plummer had recently shared his own battle with alcoholism. In an article he wrote for Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Plummer explained how he began to drink scotch to "to celebrate, relax and deal with stress, anxiety, disappointment and grief."

After decades of drinking, attempts at quitting and a liver transplant, Plummer decided to get experimental treatment using deep brain stimulation in 2018.

"Having committed my career to medical science and human health I saw this study as one more way to make a contribution  this time, literally using my brain!" Plummer wrote.

Keith Fowke, head of medical microbiology and infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba, was a grad student under Plummer's tutelage when they made the major discovery in Kenya. They later became close friends and colleagues.

Fowke said as a scientist or a research participant, Plummer always wanted to help people.

"He was always focused on truth and knowledge and making the world a better place," Fowke said.

Fowke described his friend as warm and kind. He called Plummer a loving father and husband who enjoyed having his friends over for dinner.

"He wanted everyone to know he was a proud Winnipegger and a proud Canadian, and that all of us can make important globally significant contributions."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2020
SnackNation now features new products, coffee, fresh fruit, and real-time insights via The SnackNation App Whether you run a startup in Boise, a small business in Buffalo, or a booming business in Boston, our expanded offering gives every organization the ability to provide an elevated workplace experience that will nourish and inspire your team to do the best work of their lives.

SnackNation, the countrys leading workplace experience services company, today announced an expanded offering that will help companies everywhere design the workplaces they need to attract and retain the top-talent in any industry. In addition to providing members with the most innovative emerging better-for-you snack brands, beginning today SnackNation now offers third wave coffee and tea service, fresh fruit, bulk snacks, and classic snacks from some of the worlds most iconic brands. The new offering gives SnackNation Members the flexibility and insights to create exceptional workplace experiences, regardless of size, location, or budget.

The company also announced the beta-launch of the SnackNation App, a new digital experience that enables SnackNation members to optimize their office curations by seamlessly collecting real-time feedback from their employees. Both moves are part of the companys larger effort to empower organizations to create world-class workplace experiences. The app will be available for all Members nationwide beginning February 28.

Additionally, the company announced SnackNation+, a white-glove service that includes on-premise delivery by a dedicated SnackNation concierge, stocking and merchandising services, ready-to-drink beverages, equipment rental and maintenance, and more. This premium tier is currently only available in the greater Los Angeles area, with plans to launch in additional markets later in the year.

Todays employees expect the same experiences and enjoyment inside the office as they get elsewhere, said SnackNation CEO and co-founder Sean Kelly. Whether you run a startup in Boise, a small business in Buffalo, or a booming business in Boston, our expanded offering gives every organization the ability to provide an elevated workplace experience that will nourish and inspire your team to do the best work of their lives.

SnackNations new expanded offering now includes:



Coffee & Tea. From mainstream crowd favorites to the finest fair-trade and sustainable third wave roasters, we give your team an exciting coffee shop experience every time they step in your breakroom.

Fruit. A rotating box of hand-picked fruit delivered straight from the orchard. A perfect mix of traditional options and unique seasonal varieties.

Better-for-you, classics, and bulk snacks. SnackNation members can strike the perfect mix between exciting variety that changes every month to the crowd favorite snacks that are always there, month after month. Our curation experts rotate a certain percentage of your products automatically to maintain a fresh and fun product mix.

Real-Time Insights via the SnackNation App. We collect real-time feedback and insights from your team, so you can maximize budget and delight everyone in the office. The SnackNation App and online dashboard make it easy to discover which products your employees are loving, intuitive recommendations based on evolving tastes, plus deeper insights about employee morale, engagement, and more.

White-Glove Delivery, Stocking, and Merchandising via SnackNation+ (Los Angeles-area only). Our award-winning Breakroom Concierge service is dedicated to making your day brighter and easier  adjusting your snack mix, monitoring inventory, and ensuring your breakroom is replenished conveniently on your schedule. Enjoy ready-to-drink beverages, plus equipment rental and maintenance. SnackNation+ is currently only available to Los Angeles-based Members, with plans to launch in additional markets later in 2020.

For more information on SnackNations expanded offering, visit http://www.snacknation.com.

About SnackNation

SnackNation is the countrys leading workplace experience services company, fueling breakrooms in thousands of workplaces across America. Founded in 2014, SnackNation curates and delivers great tasting better-for-you snacks, fresh fruit, coffee, tea, and ready to drink beverages to more than half a million people in thousands of member offices in all 50 states. The company also uses machine learning to optimize curations and provides emerging brands the insights they need to scale faster. SnackNation is committed to helping fight hunger outside the office too, donating more than six million meals to families in need via their partnership with Feeding America. SnackNation was twice named to the Inc. 500, their annual list of the fastest growing private companies in America. The company has offices in Los Angeles and Chicago. To learn more, visit SnackNation.com.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Delhi needs a government that will not resort to appeasement but supports the CAA, abolition of Article 370 and issues related to national security.

Addressing an election rally ahead of the February 8 assembly elections, the prime minister touched on various issues, including the 2008 Batla House encounter, surgical strikes and his government's flagship Ayushman Bharat scheme, during a speech that lasted a little over an hour.

In his second rally in the city in two days, Modi also referred to the armed forces while training his guns at the AAP government and the Congress and exhorting voters to back the BJP.

"You must punish those who insult the armed forces. You should vent your anger through your vote. Delhi does not need a government which gives an opportunity to enemies to attack us," he said at the rally in Dwarka.

At the rally which was also attended by JJP ally Dushyant Chautala, Modi said the national capital also needs a government that will give direction and not resort to blame games.

The anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in Shaheen Bagh and other places in the city did not find any mention in his speech, unlike his address in Karkardooma on Monday when he said they were not a coincidence but a political conspiracy to destroy the country's harmony.

"Delhi needs a government that will not resort to appeasement but support the CAA, abolition of (special provisions of) Article 370 and issues of national security. Delhi does not want complicated but sorted politics," he said in Dwarka, taking up the theme of the earlier day.

He also accused the opposition of spreading lies and rumours about the CAA, a legislation which seeks to give citizenship to the persecuted minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Muslims have been excluded from it.

Modi attacked those who questioned the surgical strike and air strike on terror camps across the Line of Control (LoC) but did not take any names.

The surgical strike was launched on terror launch pads by the Indian Army in September 2016 after the Uri attack. The Balakot air strikes were launched by the Air Force in 2019, post the Pulwama terror attack.

Slamming the AAP and the Congress, he said both parties cry for Batla House terrorists, put security forces in dock and instigate people but cannot develop the national capital.

Two Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists were killed and two arrested in the encounter at Batla House in Jamia Nagar area on September 19, 2008. A Delhi Police inspector, who was injured in the encounter, also died.

The prime minister accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP dispensation of not implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme, the flagship initiative of the Centre, in the national capital and asked if the AAP government's 'mohalla clinics' will work if Delhiites fall sick outside the city.

The people of Delhi have seen how the AAP government practises the of hate, he said.

"People of Delhi have seen how the (AAP) government practises of hate. Delhi needs a government that will give direction and not resort to blame game," he said.

Many central government schemes in the last five years were opposed by the Delhi government even before their implementation, he alleged.

The people of the national capital say the country has changed, and now is the time for Delhi's transformation, the prime minister told the gathering.

Modi enumerated steps taken by his government for Delhi, including the eastern and western peripheral expressways and extending the Metro network.

His government, Modi added, opened more bank accounts for the poor than the population of the US and built more houses than the population of Sri Lanka.

"The number of people who have got loans under the Mudra scheme is more than the population of Brazil. The number of toilets constructed under the Swachh Bharat scheme is more than the population of Egypt. The number of people who have got gas connections under the Ujjwala scheme is more than population of Germany," he said.

Votes for the Delhi elections will be counted on February 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Illinois levies no inheritance tax but has its own estate tax. In this article, we break down Illinois inheritance laws, including what happens if you die without a valid will and where you may stand if youre not part of the decedents immediate family. Estate planning is a complicated topic, though, and its a good idea to work with a financial professional to guide you through the process. If you dont already work with one, consider finding a financial advisor in your area.

Does Illinois Have an Inheritance Tax or Estate Tax?

Some individuals only take the federal estate tax into account while doing estate planning. The vast majorities of families arent affected by the federal estate tax, because the federal government now levies an incredibly high $11.18 million estate exemption. But Illinois residents and those who own property in the state but live elsewhere need to be mindful of the Illinois estate tax. There are no inheritance taxes, though.

Inheritors wont have to file a state estate tax return if the value of the estate is worth less than $4 million, because the estate tax threshold for Illinois is $4 million. That means if you die and your total estate is worth less than $4 million, Illinois wont collect any tax.

However, if the estate is worth more than $4 million, there is a progressive estate tax rate that goes up to 16% for everything after the first $4 million. That tax has to be paid before money can be dispersed to your heirs. The exemption is not portable between spouses, so when both individuals in a married couple die the exemption is still $4 million.

Other Necessary Tax Filings

After you pass away, there are many federal and estate tax situations that will become relevant for those who survive you. Besides the state estate and inheritance taxes, you need to look out for the following:

Final individual federal and state income tax returns Federal tax returns are due by Tax Day of the year following the individuals death. State tax returns and payment are due nine months after the death of the estate owner. You can request an extension of time to file the Illinois estate tax return and related forms and to pay any tax due, but you will end up accruing interest on the amount of tax you owe during the extension period. Even if the estate doesnt owe a federal estate tax, Illinois requires you to file a federal estate tax return along with the state estate tax return, including all schedules, appraisals, and attachments that would go with the federal return. However, you dont have to actually file the federal return with the IRS.

Federal estate/trust income tax return  Due by April 15 of the year following the individuals death

Federal estate tax return  Due nine months after the individuals death, though an automatic six-month extension is available if asked for prior to the conclusion of the nine-month period This is required only of individual estates that exceed a gross asset and prior taxable gift value of $11.4 million



Story continues

The Internal Revenue Service requires each estate to have its own employer identification number (EIN) to represent itself in any tax-related matters. To apply for an EIN, visit the IRS website or apply by fax or mail.

Dying With a Will in Illinois

For a will to be valid in Illinois, the person making the will, or the testator, must be at least 18 years old. The testator must also be of sound mind, and have the mental capacity to understand the consequences of their actions. That generally means the testator has not been determined incompetent in a prior legal proceeding. The testator must sign their will in front of two witnesses and the two witnesses must sign the will in front of you, at the same time. If the testator is not able to sign their own will, the law allows them to name a different person to sign the will on his or her behalf.

Once the will is determined to be valid, the next step is the probate process. Generally, probate proceedings are only necessary if the deceased person owned any assets in their name only. Other assets, also known as non-probate property, can usually be transferred to the other owner without probate.

Smaller estates in Illinois can avoid formal probate court proceedings. The total value of the deceased persons estate must be less than $100,000 and cannot contain any real estate in order to avoid a formal probate court proceedings. In those cases, the people who inherit can use an affidavit along with a copy of the death certificate to claim their inheritance. The affidavit must state whether there is a will. If there is a will, the inheritor must present a copy of it with the affidavit. Affidavits are signed under penalty of perjury, which means that if someone lies on it, they can be prosecuted for the crime of perjury, or lying under oath.

Dying Without a Will in Illinois

If you die without a will in Illinois, your estate is labelled intestate, which means there is no will, or no valid will. It is not ideal to die without a will if you care about estate planning or deciding where your assets will end up after your death. The court then has to follow intestate succession laws to determine who inherits your assets, and what share they get.

If there isnt a will, and the probate process begins, someone must ask the probate court to be appointed as administrator of the estate in question. An administrator effectively does the same job as an executor. Executors take care of the estate of the decedent. Executors and administrators are sometimes also referred to as personal representatives.

Although there are often extenuating factors when someone dies intestate, if you can help it its best to not put your loved ones through that kind of stress. If youre not sure what the best estate plan is for you, you can get professional help from a financial advisor specializing in legacy planning.

Spouses in Illinois Inheritance Law

If you die intestate in Illinois, the amount your spouse inherits depends on whether or not you have living descendants, including children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. If you have no living descendants, your spouse gets all of the intestate property.

If you have living descendants, your spouse will get half of the inheritance, and your descendants will get the other half of the inheritance. However, grandchildren will only receive a share if their parents are not alive to receive their share.

Children in Illinois Inheritance Law

If you die without a will, each of your children inherits an intestate share of your property. The amount each childs share is worth depends on your marital status and how many children you have. The table below explains the details.

Intestate Succession: Spouses and Children Inheritance Situation Who Inherits Your Property Children but no spouse  Children inherit everything Spouse but no descendants  Spouse inherits everything If spouse and descendants  Spouse inherits half

 Descendants inherit half

Your children must legally be your children in order for them to inherit under the laws of intestacy. Legally adopted children have just as much right to their intestate share as biological children do, as do children born outside of marriage. If you were not married to the mother of your children when she had them, they will still receive an intestate share if you acknowledged your paternity or if a court established your paternity before or after your death. Foster children and stepchildren will not receive a share unless they have been legally adopted.

If you placed your biological children for adoption and they were legally adopted by another family, they will not receive an intestate share unless the decree of adoption specifically gives them continuation of inheritance rights. However, if your biological children were adopted by your spouse, that wont affect their right to inherit.

Children you conceived that were born after your death are also entitled to an intestate share. That includes children born through artificial insemination after your death, as long as you consented to it in writing, and the child is born within 36 months of your death.

Unmarried Individuals Without Children in Illinois Inheritance Law

If you die without a will, spouses, or descendants in Illinois, your inheritance then goes to the closest living relatives, as explained by the chart below.

Intestate Succession: Extended Family Inheritance Situation Who Inherits Your Property Parents but no siblings  Parents inherit everything Siblings but no parents  Siblings inherit everything Siblings and parents  Siblings and parents inherit in equal shares

 If only one parent is alive, that parent gets a double share

The intestate process is designed to protect your property and make sure it stays in the hands of your family. However, it is generally best to write your own will to ensure that all of your property ends up in the hands you want it in.

Non-Probate Illinois Inheritances

You may be wondering how to avoid the probate process in Illinois, since it can be difficult and expensive. Some of the assets that do not have to go through probate and instead go directly to the beneficiaries are listed below. They are also not affected by intestate succession laws.

Other Situations in Illinois Inheritance Law

Illinois has a survivorship period, which means that in order for someone to inherit under Illinois intestate succession law, the heir in question must survive the decedent by at least 120 hours.

Immigration status wont affect your inheritance under Illinois intestate law. If a relative of yours is supposed to get a share of your assets after your death, they can inherit no matter what their citizenship status is. In addition, half-relatives are also entitled to their inheritance as much as whole relatives. For example, half-siblings get the same share of property as whole siblings. Posthumous relatives are also entitled to their inheritance. Posthumous relatives are those conceived before, but born after, your death.

There are some protections provided in Illinois inheritance law as well. If you give an heir property during your lifetime, the value of that gift can be subtracted from your relatives share, but only if it is in writing at the time the gift was made, or if the heir admits it in writing.

If an heir intentionally and unjustifiably kills you, they will not be able to inherit. And if you are elderly or disabled, someone who exploits, abuses, or neglects you will also not be permitted to receive their share of your property after your death.

Tips for Estate Planning

Consider talking to a financial advisor about estate planning. Finding the right financial advisor who fits your needs doesnt have to be hard. SmartAssets free tool matches you with financial advisors in your area in five minutes. If youre ready to be matched with local advisors who will help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

If youd like an overview of the various tools at your disposal as you do estate planning, youll find a clear explanation of five must-have tools for you to use. Also, heres a guide to creating a living trust in Illinois.

Photo credit: iStock.com/JaySi, iStock.com/PeopleImages, iStock.com/Imgorthand, iStock.com/ghornephoto

The post Illinois Inheritance Laws: What You Should Know appeared first on SmartAsset Blog.
T he ex-girlfriend of the Streatham terrorist has said she has been left "haunted" by 20-year-old's stabbing spree.

Sudesh Amman was shot dead by armed police after he stabbed two people on Sunday just days after being released from prison.

On Monday, his ex-girlfriend told ITV News that she felt trapped during her one-year relationship with Amman, who was jailed in December 2018 for terror offences.

While together, the Islamic State supporter urged her to kill her disbeliever parents and told her that any Muslim not supporting IS were apostates.

Now his ex-girlfriend has told Sky News anonymously that the attack has left her "haunted".

She said: "I'm shattered by the situation.

"I've erased most of it from my mind. It happened many years ago now. I am trying to recover from it.

"It is haunting me and it is something I don't want to talk about every single day."

She added: "My heart goes out to all the people affected by the attack. It is so tragic."

Forensic officers at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road / PA

In an earlier interview with ITV, she said the relationship started well but it quickly became clear that "something was not quite right".

She said: "He never hurt me physically, but emotionally and psychologically he did. I felt trapped. I tried to deal with it by myself, but it affected me tremendously.

'"Even though it was a long time ago I still feel like I'm having to look over my shoulder.

"I just live in fear  it shouldn't' be like this. But it's given me some closure that I don't feel trapped in a situation anymore."

Streatham terror attack - In pictures 1 /28 Streatham terror attack - In pictures Police are dealing with an incident in Streatham Andy Bullemor Police officers conduct a search of a bail hostel in south London AFP via Getty Images A woman reacts near to the scene where a man was shot and killed by armed police Getty Images Forensic officers at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road PA Police cordon off a property in Streatham PA Forensic officers outside a property on Leigham Court Road, Streatham PA Police activity at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road PA Police officers look under a bus as they work at the scene of Sunday's terror stabbing attack in the Streatham area of south London AP Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Police officers at the scene after a man was shot by armed police Getty Images Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Armed police officer on Streatham High Road PA Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Police officers guard a cordon on Streatham High Road, at the junction of Prentis Road AFP via Getty Images Forensics investigate the scene Nigel Howard Police officers at the scene after a man was shot by armed police Getty Images Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Items left on the pavement at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Police secure the area in Streatham AP Forensics investigate the scene Nigel Howard

She added: "It's really opened my eyes  you think you know a person, but you don't. People should be careful. I feel hugely betrayed  this was someone I trusted, and now I've got to live with this the rest of my life.

"I haven't heard from him for a long time, I don't know what happened to him in prison.

"I didn't believe in his ideology, I didn't condone it, I didn't agree with it and I never will, but I couldn't stop it."

Amman was wearing a hoax explosive vest when he was shot in Streatham High Road by police, who were tracking him as part of a surveillance operation.

Three people were injured during the rampage, including a man in his forties, who was in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

Another woman, in her 20s, suffered minor injuries from glass after police discharged a firearm.

The third victim was identified as nursery school teacher Monika Luftner , 51, was knifed in the back as she cycled home.

Monika Luftner, 51, was the first victim knifed by Sudesh Amman

The mother-of-one is "extremely lucky" to be alive after she was attacked shortly after drinking coffee with her family and friends at a cafe.

Seconds later Amman was shot dead by undercover police.

Witnesses said the popular teacher, who had earlier dropped her 12-year-old daughter off with friends, screamed he stabbed me.

She was released from hospital five hours after the attack and is now recovering at her home near Streatham.

Police at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road / PA

Her husband said today: I can confirm that my wife is the woman who was stabbed.

Ms Luftner works at St Bedes Catholic Nursery and Primary School in Clapham Park.

A school spokesman said: We can confirm a member of staff was injured in Sundays terror-related incident in Streatham. She is now making a good recovery after experiencing a shocking attack.
Georgia gets another crack at 'Bama for college football title
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, February 3, 2020

Google parent company Alphabet reported its fourth-quarter 2019 earnings on Monday. The big news is some long hoped-for financial results based on its search, video business, and cloud business.

Alphabet reported that YouTube brought in more than $15.1 billion in ad revenue last year -- up 35.8% from 2018. Google Cloud posted $8.9 billion in sales, up 53% from the prior year. Google's search business rose 15% -- reaching $98.1 billion in revenue in 2019.

The report not only marks the first earnings update since Alphabet named Sundar Pichai to the position of CEO, but the first time the company reported its YouTube and Cloud businesses and combined revenue from search advertising.

Our investments in deep computer science, including artificial intelligence, ambient computing and cloud computing, provide a strong base for continued growth and new opportunities across Alphabet, stated Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google.

Overall, Alphabet reported fourth-quarter 2019 revenue of $46.07 billion, and for the year the company revenue hit $162 billion -- up 18% year-over-year.

Google Properties generated $31.9 billion for the quarter, Google Network Members' Properties generated $6.03 billion, Google Other brought in $5.3 billion, and Other Bets generated about $172 million.

Analysts seemed pleased that the company is now disclosing specific segments such as YouTube and cloud services. At first glance, no change to our positive long-term thesis, although we expect shares to trade modestly lower with revenues and EPS (ex-one time benefits) falling short of consensus, wrote Colin Sebastian, analyst at Baird Equity Research, in a note published Monday.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has massively outspent his opponents in the 2020 Democratic presidential race on advertising.

The 77-year-old Massachusetts native spent over $300 million on advertising, according to Jan. 31 figures from Advertising Analytics.

Bloomberg announced his candidacy in the already crowded Democratic presidential field in November, largely funding his campaign from his estimated $54 billion net worth.

Fellow billionaire Tom Steyer came in second, spending $145 million on ads through the end of January.

Both Bloomberg and Steyer dramatically outspent other Democratic candidates.

Heres what the other candidates spent so far on advertising: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders spent $31 million; South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg spent $28 million; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren spent $21 million and former Vice President Joe Biden spent $17 million.
State Assemblyman David Chiu dreams of a Bay Area transportation system that would rival London or Tokyo, where trains and buses are faster and more convenient than driving.

Getting there wont be easy. The region has 27 transit agencies that dont play well together. Each is a distinct fiefdom with its own map, its own fare structure, and its own interpretation of a youth, a senior or a low-income rider. Schedules rarely sync up. A few outliers  the ACE and Capitol Corridor trains  dont accept Clipper cards.

As a result, only 3% of all trips in the Bay Area are made on transit, Chiu said. People may complain about freeway traffic jams and pollution from automobiles, but they still choose to drive. Ridership across all transit systems in the nine counties fell by 5.2% between 2016 and 2018.

At the same time that all these jurisdictions are making investment in transit, people are taking transit less, Chiu said. Theyre getting into their cars. Theyre driving by themselves. Theyre increasing congestion.

His solution: Start with the basics. The San Francisco Democrats new bill, The Bay Area Seamless Transit Act, or AB2057, will require cities and counties to charge the same bus fare, to apply the same discounts for people transferring from one bus line to another, and to define each population, such as youths and seniors, in the same terms.

The legislation would also require agencies to use the same regional transit map, smartphone apps and Clipper card payment technology, to make it easier for people to navigate from one system to another.

People shun transit in part because its complex and intimidating, Chiu said.

Imagine if you were in your car and you had to switch phone apps every time you traveled from one freeway to another, he added.

Chiu also wants to start the harder, more complicated work of linking schedules among transit agencies and automatically applying a discount when riders jump from one to another.

Additionally, he wants agencies to work together on capital projects, to avert such outcomes as the new Larkspur SMART terminal, which requires about a 10-minute walk from the Larkspur ferry, across a street and through a shopping mall. His bill would set up a task force to begin that larger institutional change.

That notion appealed to Terry Taplin, who does not own a car and relies on a combination of BART and buses to get from his home in Berkeley to see his spouse in Richmond. The couple live separately because of housing costs and family obligations, Taplin said.

The big anxiety is missing a transfer by three minutes, which could make me 45 minutes late, he added.

Two other people who would benefit from a more seamless transit system are Chiu and his wife, who both drive to work each day to avoid long, rambling bus-and-train commutes.

They live in the Candlestick Point neighborhood of Bayview, and Chiu would have to take Muni, BART and Amtrak before walking a mile to get to the Capitol building in Sacramento. His wife works at a nonprofit in San Jose  a long journey on Caltrain with a 2-mile gap at the end.

Its far quicker for me to drive an hour and 45 minutes on the freeway, Chiu said. Multiply that by any number of people trying to get from Point A to Point B.

Yet transportation officials were less certain. While several praised Chius vision, they also wondered whether cash-strapped transit agencies would have to fund the changes.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The devils in the details, said Elsa Ortiz, vice president of AC Transits board of directors.

Randy Rentschler, legislative director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, noted that the Bay Areas disparate schedules, maps and fares have frustrated commuters for decades. Clipper has 18,000 fare combinations for people moving between systems, because thats what the transit agencies have determined, he said.

Yet he also wondered whether a more top-down order would be palatable to goverment agencies that have enjoyed autonomy since the 1970s.

Local control seems to be a religion in the Bay Area, Rentschler said.

Supporters welcome state intervention.

This is really critical, said Ian Griffiths, policy director of the nonprofit Seamless Bay Area, a sponsor of the legislation. He pointed out that many state legislators want to boost transit ridership as a policy goal.

Theres been a reluctance to acknowledge that having such a fragmented decision-making transit network doesnt set us up for successs, Griffiths said.

Chius bill does not include a financing mechanism, but it coincides with the Faster Bay Area campaign for a sales tax to raise $100 billion for transportation funding over 40 years.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell to the lowest in more than a year on Monday, dragged down by concern over demand in China after the coronavirus outbreak, though the possibility of deeper crude output cuts by OPEC and its allies offered some price support. 'The coronavirus is the number one issue in the global market right now,' said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. 'We have not seen a demand destruction event of this scale that moves this quickly.' Brent crude was down $1.82 at $54.80 a barrel by 11:33 a.m

By Jessica Resnick-Ault

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell to the lowest in more than a year on Monday, dragged down by concern over demand in China after the coronavirus outbreak, though the possibility of deeper crude output cuts by OPEC and its allies offered some price support.

"The coronavirus is the number one issue in the global market right now," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "We have not seen a demand destruction event of this scale that moves this quickly."

Brent crude was down $1.82 at $54.80 a barrel by 11:33 a.m. EST (1633 GMT), its lowest since January last year. The first-month Brent contract traded at 10 cents less than the second-month contract, a reversal from the front-month premiums seen as recently as last week. The discount was the largest since July.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.16 to $50.40, also the lowest since January 2019.

As the coronavirus outbreak hits fuel demand in China, the world's biggest crude oil importer, refiner Sinopec Corp told its facilities to cut throughput this month by about 600,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 12%, the steepest cut in more than a decade.

Independent refineries in Shandong province, which collectively import about a fifth of China's crude, cut output by 30-50% in a little more than a week, executives and analysts said.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, are considering a further 500,000 bpd cut to their oil output, three OPEC sources and an industry source told Reuters.

The Wall Street Journal reported that another option being considered would involve a temporary cut of 1 million bpd by Saudi Arabia to jolt oil markets.

"The market needs assurances that the supply/demand equation remains in balance for prices to hit a floor. This suggests a commitment from OPEC not just to extend oil supply cuts, but even implement deeper ones beyond March," said FXTM analyst Hussein Sayed.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said the oil market is under pressure with prices dropping below $60 a barrel, and "efforts must be made to balance it."

Ratings agency Fitch on Monday said the coronavirus outbreak could push the global oil market into surplus and that OPEC+ may need to cut production further if the outbreak lasts for several months.

On the first day of trade in China since the Lunar New Year holiday, investors erased $393 billion from the nation's benchmark equities index, sold the yuan currency and dumped commodities as coronavirus fears dominated markets.

(Additional reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London, Additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by David Goodman and Chris Reese)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Atishi election result 2020 live news and latest updates online - Read about Atishi AAP candidate who is fighting Delhi assembly (Vidhan Sabha) election from Kalkaji seat and many more at Firstpost.com.

Atishi will be making her Assembly poll debut from Kalkaji in South Delhi. The educationist had previously lost the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the East Delhi to BJPs Gautam Gambhir by a margin of over 4.7 lakh votes.

Born to Delhi University professors Vijay Kumar Singh and Tripta Wahi, Atishi, whose last name is Marlena - a portmanteau of the names Karl Marx and Vladmir Lenin - studied history at St. Stephens College and went on to Oxford University to pursue her Masters on a Chevening scholarship. She also did a second master's degree from Oxford in Educational Research.

Atishi spent some time teaching at Rishi Valley School in Andhra Pradesh before moving to a small village near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, where she was involved with organic farming and progressive education systems.

A member of the political affairs committee of the Aam Aadmi Party, she has been with the party ever since it was founded in November 2012. Starting out as a media panelist for the young party, Atishi later played a pivotal role in drafting the 2013 Assembly manifesto.

After the 2015 Assembly elections, Atishi was appointed as a special advisor on education to education minister Manish Sisodia. Between 2015 and 2018, Atishi is credited for having helped reform Delhis education system, while drawing a salary of Rs 1 per month.

In fact, the revival of the School Management Committees in Delhi, which are parent bodies meant to monitor and supervise the functioning of government schools, is often credited to Atishi. She also launched initiatives called "Chunauti" and Mission Buniyad to tailor classroom teaching practices according to learning levels of children.

However, her political career has also been marred by some controversy. In 2018, she was sacked from her advisory role by the Centre, which alleged that her appointment was illegal. However, her party had termed it political vendetta. In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, she dropped her last name Marlena. But the issue came under intense scrutiny as many reports suggested that it was done because the surname sounded Christian.
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, made it clear that he will vote to convict President Donald Trump on two impeachment charges.

In a statement released Tuesday morning, Peters said Trump violated his oath of office and betrayed the public trust by pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rival Joe Biden. Peters will vote to remove Trump from office based on two articles of impeachment -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Peters, who is one of only two senators running for re-election in a state Trump won in 2016, announced his intentions one day before the Republican-majority U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on the impeachment articles. He said Trumps lawyers did not refute compelling evidence that the president put his own personal and political interests before the people of Michigan and the United States.

The facts clearly showed the president abused the power of his office by illegally holding up critical military aid to extort Ukraine, a vulnerable ally at war with Russia, Peters said in the statement. The president leveraged the goodwill of the American people and conditioned release of the aid on Ukraine announcing an investigation that would falsely discredit his political rival.

Trumps historic trial in the Senate is expected to end Wednesday after nearly two weeks of proceedings. The Senate is expected to acquit Trump on along party lines, with Democrats falling far short of converting enough GOP senators to gather the two-thirds vote needed to remove Trump from office.

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, hasnt indicated how she will vote on Wednesday.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the impeachment effort the most rushed, least fair and least thorough" in history Tuesday.

Peters had previously said a fair trial would have included testimony from witnesses like former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. The Senate voted against calling for the subpoena of witnesses and documents, though two Republican senators joined Democrats.

On the Senate floor Tuesday, Peters said the rejection of additional information made it clear in his mind that Trumps allies could not speak to his innocence.

If someone is accused of a crime and they have witnesses that could clear them of any wrongdoing, they would want those witnesses to testify, Peters said. The fact that the president refuses to have his closest advisers testify tells me that he is afraid of what they will say.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the decision to block witnesses and testimony is a grand tragedy, adding Trumps acquittal will have no value because the trial was a sham.

The Michigan Republican Party slammed Peters for his decisions to call witnesses and remove the president. MIGOP Chairman Laura Cox said Peters voted to needlessly extend the impeachment trial and waste taxpayer dollars.

Cox highlighted a statement Peters made in 1999 about the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Peters, then a state senator, was quoted in Detroit Free Press report saying the trial dragged on and he was pleased it would end without Clintons removal.

Clinton, the second president to be impeached, faced charges of lying under oath and obstruction of justice. He was not removed from office.

Hypocrisy runs deep in the Democrat party, and Gary Peters has proven it with his willingness to nullify the votes of millions of Michiganders, Cox said in a statement. Instead of siding with the people of Michigan, the Senator claims to represent, he is choosing to put his party before country in carrying this impeachment torch for the caucus."

Peters said Trump embarked on an unbridled effort to benefit his own re-election campaign by using taxpayer money for a corrupt purpose," then tried to cover up his activities by stonewalling and obstructing congressional oversight, blocking relevant key witnesses and withholding documents necessary for full transparency.

The framers of the Constitution rightly feared that unchecked power by a President, along with corrupt foreign influences, would pose a grave threat to our republic," Peters said. If we do not stand up and defend our democracy during this fragile period  then the Senate is allowing this President and future presidents to have unchecked power without accountability.

A Republican National Committee spokesperson said Peters decision will cause him to lose his re-election bid. Peters will likely face Republican businessman John James, who has the Trump administrations support but never publicly commented on whether Trump did anything wrong.

Trump will deliver a State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 4 in the same room he was impeached last December. Trump read the results of the vote on stage during a campaign rally in Battle Creek.

The deadly coronavirus has spread to more than 25 countries, including India, where three cases of the infection have been reported

Beijing: As the coronavirus death toll mounted to 425, India on Tuesday further tightened visa rules by cancelling the existing visas for Chinese and foreigners who had visited the country in the last two weeks.

On 2 February, India temporarily suspended e-visa facility for Chinese travellers and foreigners residing in China in view of the coronavirus outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

The death toll in China's coronavirus rose sharply to 425 with 64 deaths on Monday and the number of those infected with the deadly disease rose to 20,438, Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday.

All those who are already in India (with regular or e-visa) and had travelled from China after 15 January are requested to contact the hotline number of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Government of India (+91-11-23978046 and email: ncov2019@gmail.com, the announcement by the Indian Embassy said.

About the validity of the visas, it said the Embassy of India and our Consulates have been receiving several queries from Chinese citizens as well as other foreign nationals, who are based out of China or visited China in the last 2 weeks, as to whether they can use their valid single/multiple entry visas to travel to India. It is clarified that existing visas are no longer valid. Intending visitors to India should contact the Indian Embassy in Beijing (visa.beijing@mea.gov.in) or the Consulates in Shanghai (Ccons.shanghai@mea.gov.in) and Guangzhou (Visa.guangzhou@mea.gov.in) to apply afresh for an Indian visa. Indian Visa Application Centres (www.blsindia-china.com) in these cities may also be contacted in this regard, it said.

The visa section of the Embassy/Consulates of India in China can be contacted to ascertain the validity of visa before undertaking any visit to India, it said.

The deadly virus has spread to more than 25 countries, including India. India has reported three cases of the coronavirus. All the three patients from Kerala recently returned from the affected Wuhan city.

Currently, 647 Indians and seven Maldivians who have been evacuated from Wuhan and Hubei province are in 14-day quarantine at a medical camp in Manesar, near Delhi.
Cambodias assigned hotline for queries relating to the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak has seen a ten-fold increase in calls following the confirmation of a pneumonia case in the coastal town of Sihanoukville.

Health officials, who are assigned to answer the national disease hotline, 115 Hotline, said on Monday that before the government announced the first case of coronavirus in Cambodia they received around 10 calls per day.

But, since January 27, when the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the coastal town of Sihanoukville was announced, the number of calls have increased to more than 100 a day, according to hotline operators.

VOA Khmer reporters called the 115 Hotline on Monday to get a sense of instructions and guidelines being conveyed by staffers answering health-related queries.

Hotline operators said they were primarily trying to calm down callers who were panicking about the pneumonia epidemic, but at the same time were trying to identify potential cases and provide up-to-date information about the viral outbreak.

One of the ten people tasked with answering the hotline calls said they have been missing calls because of the increase in call volumes, which had gotten a little better after the Ministry of Health increased the number of staff, around ten people.

The calls follow a standardized structure of the caller explaining their symptoms, at which point the hotline operator assess if they match with the symptoms of the coronavirus pneumonia.

If it doesnt match the symptoms of the viral outbreak then the operators ask them to visit a doctor if they want, but that they did not seem to show symptoms of the coronavirus. The Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital and Provincial Referral Hospitals are recommended first stops for these callers.

Additional, information about the pneumonia and preventive measures are then conveyed to the caller. However, if the callers symptoms matched that of the coronavirus pneumonia, then the caller is asked to stay at home, not meet anyone and wait for doctors to collect a sample, which will then be tested at the Pasteur Institute. This part of the process is then handled by the Health Ministry.

Operators said a suspected case will then be kept isolated at a local hospital for a few days because Cambodia had only one laboratory to test for the virus, taking at least 24 to 48 hours to get a result.

The Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital has already seen a few cases being referred to it, with hospital director, Dr. Ngy Meng, saying that they had tested seven people so far.

Ngy Meng refused to give additional information because the Ministry of Health had prevented doctors from speaking on the subject publicly, only to add that all seven cases were negative for coronavirus.

Its all negative he said. There are Khmer, Chinese, and other nationalities. Ask the ministry if you want clear information.

On Monday, Health Ministry spokesperson Or Vandine only said that Cambodia was equipped to handle the viral outbreak.

Cambodia's health system is strong, she said, responding to questions about domestic containment plans. We have enough experience.

Chinese health officials confirmed Tuesday that the country had confirmed more than 20,000 cases of the virus and around 400 deaths.

As the province of Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak, remains in lockdown, Prime Minister Hun Sen has maintained that he will not evacuate Cambodians stranded in Wuhan, Hubei, even offering to enter the quarantined city to show support to the Chinese.
NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

The analyst published its recent report on the global power transformer market, which comprises of the global industry analysis for 2014-2018 & opportunity assessment for 2019-2029. It includes a comprehensive assessment of relevant and related market dynamics. After conducting a complete analysis on the historical as well as current growth prospective of the power transformer market, the growth predictions for the market are obtained with maximum accuracy.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05843794/?utm_source=PRN

Chapter 01  Executive Summary

The report begins with the executive summary of the power transformer market, which includes a summary of the key findings and statistics. It also includes the market value (~US$ million) estimates of prime segments of the power transformer market.



Chapter 02  Market Overview

Readers can find detailed taxonomy and definitions for the power transformer market in this chapter, which will help them understand basic information about the power transformer market. This section also highlights the inclusions and exclusions, which help readers understand the scope of the power transformer market.



Chapter 03  Key Market Trends

The report provides key market trends that are expected to impact the market growth significantly during the forecast period. Detailed industry trends are provided in this section, along with key market developments and product innovations.



Chapter 04  Key Success Factors

This section includes key inclusions of the report. It includes the product adoption & usage analysis, opportunity analysis, and manufacturer strategies for market expansion.



Chapter 05  Global Power Transformer Market: Demand (Volume in Units) Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029

This section explains the global market volume analysis and forecast for the power transformer market.



Chapter 06  Global Power Transformer Market: Pricing Analysis

This section highlights the average prices of power transformers. The pricing benchmark for manufacturer-level pricing and region-level pricing is analyzed in this section.



Chapter 07  Global Power Transformer Market: Demand (Value or Size in US$ Mn) Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029

This section explains the global market value analysis and forecast for the power transformer market during 2014-2029. This chapter includes detailed analysis of the historical power transformer market, along with an opportunity analysis for the future. Readers can also find absolute $ opportunity for the current year (2019-2020) and incremental $ opportunity for the forecast period (2019-2029).



Chapter 08 - Market Background

This chapter explains the key macroeconomic factors that are expected to influence the growth of the power transformer market over the forecast period. This section highlights the opportunity analysis and key market dynamics of the power transformer market such as drivers, restraints, trends, and opportunities.



Chapter 9  Global Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029, by Type

Based on type, the power transformer market is segmented into core and shell. In this chapter, readers can find information about the key trends and developments in the power transformer market and market attractiveness analysis based on type.



Chapter 10  Global Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029, by Insulation

This chapter provides details about the power transformer market on the basis of insulation  dry and wet. In this chapter, readers can also understand the market attractiveness analysis for these divisions.



Chapter 11  Global Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029, by Voltage

Based on voltage, the power transformer market is segmented into 100-200kV, 200-400 kV, and above 400 kV power transformers. In this chapter, readers can find information about the key trends and developments in the power transformer market and market attractiveness analysis based on voltage rating.



Chapter 12  Global Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029, by Phase

This chapter provides details about the power transformer market on the basis of phase  single phase and three phase. In this chapter, readers can also understand the market attractiveness analysis for these divisions.



Chapter 13  Global Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029, by End Use

This chapter provides details about the power transformer market on the basis of end use residential & commercial, utilities, and industrial. In this chapter, readers can understand the market attractiveness analysis based on end use.



Chapter 14  Global Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029, by Application

This chapter provides details about the power transformer market on the basis of application  generation step-up and transmission. In this chapter, readers can also understand the market attractiveness analysis for these divisions.



Chapter 15  Global Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029, by Region

This chapter explains how the power transformer market will grow across several geographic regions such as North America, Latin America, Europe, South Asia, East Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East & Africa (MEA).



Chapter 16  North America Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029

This chapter includes detailed analysis of the growth of the power transformer market in North America, along with a country-wise assessment that includes the U.S. and Canada. Readers can also find regional trends, regulations, and market growth based on end uses and countries in North America.



Chapter 17  Latin America Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029

This chapter provides the growth scenario of the power transformer market in Latin American countries such as Mexico, Brazil, and the Rest of Latin America. Along with this, an assessment of the market across target segments has been provided.



Chapter 18  Europe Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029

This chapter provides the growth scenario of the power transformer market in the Europe region with detailed country level analysis of Germany, the U.K., Spain, France, Italy, BENELUX, Russia, and the Rest of Europe.



Chapter 19  South Asia Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029

This chapter provides the growth scenario of the power transformer market in South Asian countries such as India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Rest of South Asia. Along with this, an assessment of the market across target segments has been provided.



Chapter 20  East Asia Excluding Oceania Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029

This chapter provides the growth scenario of the power transformer market in East Asian countries such as Japan, China, and South Korea. Along with this, an assessment of the market across target segments has been provided.



Chapter 21  Oceania Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029

This chapter provides the growth scenario of the power transformer market in countries in Oceania such as Australia and New Zealand. Along with this, an assessment of the market across target segments has been provided.



Chapter 22  MEA Power Transformer Market Analysis 2014-2018 & Forecast 2019-2029

This chapter provides the growth scenario of the power transformer market in countries in Middle East & Africa such as GCC countries, Turkey, Northern Africa, South Africa and the Rest of MEA. Along with this, an assessment of the market across target segments has been provided.



Chapter 23  Market Structure Analysis

In this chapter, readers can find detailed information about the tier analysis and market concentration of key players in the power transformer market, along with their market presence analysis by region and product portfolio.



Chapter 24  Competition Analysis

This chapter includes company overview, revenue shares, strategic overview, and recent company developments. Some of the key market players featured in the report are ABB, General Electric, Schneider Electric, Siemens AG, Toshiba Corporation, Eaton, and Kirloskar Electric, among others.



Chapter 25 Assumptions and Acronyms

This chapter includes a list of acronyms and assumptions that provide a base to the information and statistics included in the power transformer market report.



Chapter 26  Research Methodology

This chapter helps readers understand the research methodology followed to obtain several conclusions as well as important qualitative and quantitative information about the power transformer market.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05843794/?utm_source=PRN



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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Bengaluru, Feb 4 : The BJP high command warned its disgruntled Karnataka legislators of disciplinary action for dissent over the second cabinet expansion on Thursday, a party official said on Tuesday.

"BJP national General Secretary B.L. Santosh has warned dissident legislators of disciplinary action if they precipitated crisis over their exclusion in the cabinet, as all MLAs cannot be made ministers," party's state unit spokesman G. Madhusudhana told IANS here.

With the BJP deciding to induct 10 of the 11 newly-elected lawmakers into the 34-member ministry as a reward for felicitating its return to power again in July 2019, the party is able to give cabinet posts to only three of its 100-odd lawmakers.

"The high command's diktat to the dissidents is not to hold separate meetings or air their disgruntlement for not making them ministers. The deserving among them may be considered for posts of chairmen of boards or corporations, which are equivalent to cabinet rank," said the spokesman, citing Santosh's advice to them.

Hectic lobbying for the three ministerial posts intensified ahead of the cabinet expansion with a dozen hopefuls meeting Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa at his residence through the day.

"As the BJP is committed to compensate the former Congress and JD-S rebels whose resignations from their assembly segments in July last led to the fall of their 14-month-old coalition government and the return of the BJP to power 6 months ago, the prospects of taking more party MLAs into the ministry are bleak," Madhusudhna said.

Meanwhile, a group of legislators from the state's northern and coastal districts met here to seek more representation in the 34-member ministry for regional balance as many of them were left out in the first cabinet expansion held on August 21.

Though the party won majority seats in the May 2018 Assembly from the coastal, Malnad and the Hyderabad-Karnataka regions, only a couple of MLAs from them were made ministers, with lawmakers from Bengaluru and Belagavi districts in the northwest region cornering many of the 17 posts in the first cabinet expansion.

Aurad legislator Prabhu Chauhan from Bidar district is the lone minister from the northern region in the Yediyurappa cabinet.

"We have sought an appointment with the Chief Minister on Wednesday for pressing our claim to have more representation from the regions that were ignored in the first cabinet expansion," party's Shorapur MLA Rajugouda from the region told reporters here.
First the good news; as yet, the United States has only a few isolated cases of the coronavirus, code-named COVID-19.

Now the bad news; a lack of resources is leaving health officials in the dark about whether the virus is actually spreading. Emergency room (ER) doctors say they currently lack the resources to deal with a major outbreak.

Test kits used to determine whether someone has COVID-19 or simply a cold are in short supply. California Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters at a news conference Thursday that the state only has 200 test kits on hand, a situation he called simply inadequate.

Everybody in this country is rightfully anxious about this moment, the governor said. I think they should know we are meeting this moment with the kind of urgency that is necessary and I dont want to overextend the anxiety.

Consumers in California may be on edge because one resident of the state is the first patient in the country to have contracted COVID-19 from unknown origin, meaning the patient had not traveled to China or had known contact with anyone who had been diagnosed.

Taking issue with CDC policy

Other health experts point to policy directives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for what they say is a lack of timely testing. Dr. Michael Mina of the Harvard School of Public Health says the CDC has mandated all testing be conducted centrally.

The frustrating thing, I think, for people who are trying to perform tests for their patients is we just dont have the capacity in the United States and the local laboratories that would normally be testing have been banned from being able to do that because of the declaration of a public health emergency by the CDC, he told CNBC.

Meanwhile, a professional group representing hospital ER doctors is asking Congress to approve emergency supplemental appropriations to ensure the system has the resources necessary to address an outbreak.

"More can and should be done to minimize the risk of coronavirus in the United States," said Dr. William Jaquis, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). "It is critical that we empower our nation's emergency care teams and public health experts to protect millions of people and respond quickly and effectively to this virus."

Request for additional funding

ACEP and the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) have sent a request to the House Appropriations Committee asking for an increase in funding for health emergency preparedness, noting that COVID-19 patients will likely enter the healthcare system through an ER.

"As the safety net for our communities, emergency departments across the country are filled with patients who have nowhere else to go for their health care needs, Jaquis said.

He added that ERs around the country are already dealing with what he called a challenging flu season.
The leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has queried the federal governments deployment of soldiers to his home town instead of combatting the insecurity in the country.

The reported stationing of army is coming few days ahead of the burial of parents of the IPOB leader: HRH Eze Israel Okwu Kanu and Ugoeze Sally Kanu, scheduled to hold on February 14 in Isiama Afaraukwu community,Abia State.

Also Read: Nnamdi Kanu Berates Ohanaeze For Supporting Amotekun

According to reports, soldiers have blocked all roads leading to the Palace.

Reacting to the development via his Twitter page, Kanu pointed out that the soldiers ought to be fighting the Boko Haram terrorists rather than coming to his state.

See his tweet below:
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has written to all the states asking for feedback on a royal commission into the bushfires, and revealed the man he wants to lead it.

The states and territories have been asked for their ideas on the draft terms of reference for the royal commission, which Mr Morrison is hoping will be led by former Chief of the Defence, Air Chief Marshall Mark Binskin.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has asked the states and territories for their feedback on a bushfire royal commission. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The Prime Minister flagged his push for a royal commission weeks ago, as the nation grapples with an unprecedented bushfire crisis.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has been lukewarm on the need for a royal commission, as his state already has laws requiring a review after every fire season.
HuffPost UK ran yet another hit piece smearing academic critics of the dirty war on Syria as Russian stooges. The outlets executive editor, Jess Brammar, assists a British government program that censors journalism that may compromise UK military and intelligence operations.

By Ben Norton

The Huffington Post has relied on Western government officials and organizations funded by Western governments to viciously smear anti-war academics as useful idiots of Russia, claiming they are being used by the Kremlin.

Ironically, HuffPost UK has done this while its own executive editor actively collaborates with the British Ministry of Defense in a program that censors journalism on behalf of UK military and intelligence operations, in order to protect national security interests.

HuffPost UK published a hit piece by Chris York on January 29 that hearkens back to the era of McCarthyite witch hunts. Titled The Useful Idiots: How These British Academics Helped Russia Deny War Crimes At The UN, Yorks hatchet job is dedicated to destroying the reputations of several anti-war scholars who have done extensive research exposing the lies and regime-change propaganda spread by Western governments in their hybrid war on Syria.

It was Yorks twelfth piece attacking this small group of academics. From the perspective of the British public, a group of semi-obscure professors is an unusual source of interest. However, it is clear that the UK military-intelligence apparatus that dumped untold millions of pounds into promoting regime change in Syria has a clear agenda here.

Yorks article relies almost entirely on the unsubstantiated opinions of European government officials and groups that are bankrolled by the United States and European governments. It also features some glaring omissions, leaving out key details and misleading readers.

HuffPost UK executive editor Jess Brammar took to Twitter to promote the hit piece, claiming it shows how a group of British academics have been used by Russia to help them deny war crimes by the Assad regime at the UN.

Its quite a tale  please give it a read, Brammar added. It is indeed a tale  and a tall one at that, given the article dabbles in fiction with unsubstantiated hyperbolic claims based on Cold War-era propaganda tropes.

Brammar shared a quote from the piece that is attributed to an anonymous European diplomat, who claimed anti-war British scholars are unwittingly and naively acting as agents of propaganda for the Russians, or actively support[ing] Russian disinformation.

A European diplomat told us these lecturers from UK universities were either unwittingly and naively acting as agents of propaganda for the Russians, or actively support[ing] Russian disinformation.  Jess Brammar (@jessbrammar) January 29, 2020

While the HuffPost UKs executive editor smears dissenting academics as agents of propaganda for the Russians, she herself actively collaborates with a British government censorship program  as writer Caitlin Johnstone first pointed out.

Jess Brammar is a member of the Defence and Security Media Advisory (DSMA) Committee, a government initiative overseen by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) that, according to its official website, exists to prevent inadvertent public disclosure of information that would compromise UK military and intelligence operations and methods or potentially challenge national security interests.

In other words, the DSMA Committee is a group of media elites who voluntarily agree to collaborate with the British government to censor stories and information the UK military and spy operations deem inconvenient or too dangerous for the public to see.

The DSMA Committee is chaired by the director of general security policy for the UK Ministry of Defense. It includes four more government officials: the directors of national security at the MOD, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Home Office, and the Cabinet Office. They are joined by three military officials in secretarial positions, along with a government assistant.

Rounding out the committee are 17 media elites, representing major publishers such as the Huffington Post, the Times, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, Sky News, ITV, the BBC, the Press Association, Harper Colins UK, and more.

Brammar was one of the only two members of the committee to be nominated directly by the chair and vice-chairs. In other words, the director of general security policy for the UK Ministry of Defense personally chose her to be on the DSMA Committee  a clear stamp of approval for her editorial judgment from the British military establishment.

In a report entitled, How the UK Security Services neutralised the countrys leading liberal newspaper, journalists Matt Kennard and Mark Curtis demonstrated how the military-intelligence apparatus cultivated The Guardian as its tool. The process began in earnest after the Guardian embarrassed Western governments by publishing secret documents leaked by National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden.

The DSMA Committee was previously called the Defence Advisory Notice (DA-Notice) and Defence Notice (D-Notice) Committee, and purports to be voluntary. Kennard dug through officials minutes of meetings held by the committee and found that the secretary implied otherwise, insisting, The Guardian was obliged to seek  advice under the terms of the DA notice code, and This failure to seek advice was a key source of concern and considerable efforts had been made to address it.

Periodically, the MOD-led committee sends out a private message to British media outlets called a D-Notice, which warns the ostensibly independent press against publishing information that would jeopardise both national security and possibly UK personnel.

Kennard outlined how these D-Notices have been used to muffle journalists, and prevent the publication of stories that threatened to embarrass the British government.

HuffPost UK editor Jess Brammar is at the heart of this government effort to silence critical media.

Every time @ChrisDYork reports on this group of individuals he is subject to abuse online, including being called complicit in war crimes, something I am also accused of by their supporters. We wont stop reporting on stories like this when they need to be told.  Jess Brammar (@jessbrammar) January 29, 2020

War stenography for Western governments

But it is not just Brammars ongoing, willing participation in a British military-led censorship program that makes her attempts to portray Huffington Post and her reporter Chris York as noble truth-tellers fending off attacks by a baying mob of Kremlin-sponsored abusers so hypocritical.

HuffPost UK smearing independent thinkers and critical-minded academics as Russian puppets while actively peddling propaganda on behalf of Western governments is astoundingly ironic.

In his wildly misleading article, York describes the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media (WGSPM), a collective of dissident British scholars, as agents of propaganda for the Russians.

The thrust of this smear piece is the unsubstantiated opinion of an unnamed European diplomat, who is quoted in five paragraphs viciously maligning the scholars, and whose personal partisan views are presented as absolute fact.

The HuffPost UK hatchet job provides no actual evidence that these scholars have been working with or for the Russian government. The only links to the Kremlin that York could find are hilariously thin: one Russian official praised the group, and another tweeted a link to their work.

Moreover, some of the so-called experts cited by York happen to work for pro-war organizations funded directly by Western governments.

York relies on pundit Shadi Hamid to depict WGSPM as crazy loons. Hamid works at the hawkish think tank the Brookings Institution, which is funded by the Qatari monarchy and US governments.

Hamid is also a vocal advocate for Western military intervention who has gone to absurd lengths to defend NATOs regime-change war on Libya, which destroyed the most prosperous country in Africa and left behind a failed state that turned into a massive ISIS base and a hub for trafficking and enslavement of African refugees.

Another purported expert cited by York is the open source reporter Eliot Higgins, who smears the WGSPM as useful idiots.

Higgins is the founder of the pro-NATO blog Bellingcat, which is funded directly by the US governments regime-change arm the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a notorious CIA cutout. Bellingcat is also part of a UK government-financed program backed by the British Foreign Office. And Higgins former employer is the Atlantic Council, NATOs unofficial think tank, also bankrolled by Western governments as well as Gulf monarchies and the arms industry.

Further confirmation UK gov's 'Open Information Partnership' is the 'Expose Network' from the latest #IntegrityInitiative file dump  so @EliotHiggins was indeed lying when he said @bellingcat hadn't received "funding or information" from the FCO. pic.twitter.com/xP8507nwAE  Kit Klarenberg (@KitKlarenberg) April 16, 2019

While HuffPost UKs in-house regime-change cheerleader Chris York treats the Bellingcat founder as an expert, even the New York Times acknowledged in a puff piece that Higgins has no real expertise. Higgins attributed his skill not to any special knowledge of international conflicts or digital data, the paper noted, but to the hours he had spent playing video games, which, he said, gave him the idea that any mystery can be cracked.

Misleading reporting that leaves out crucial information

In recent months, the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media published leaks from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) revealing that at least two whistleblowers complained that the UN-created organization had become politicized, accusing the management of suppressing and even reversing scientific findings under US government pressure.

The apparent OPCW suppression concerns the allegations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in the city of Douma in April 2018, in an area occupied by Salafi-jihadist insurgents.

The US, British, and French governments claimed without evidence that Damascus had launched a gas attack in this Islamist extremist-occupied area. In response, Washington and its allies launched missile strikes against the Syrian government in violation of international law.

Numerous leaks from the OPCW have cast doubt on the unsubstantiated allegations of Western governments. Along with the WGSPM, WikiLeaks has published several batches of leaks from the OPCW, including internal emails that show signs of high-level suppression of inconvenient scientific findings about the incident in Douma.

HuffPost UKs Chris York did not even mention WikiLeaks in his wildly misleading article. Instead, York falsely asserts that there is no reliable evidence to support the theory that the alleged Douma gas attack was staged by the Salafi-jihadist insurgents on the ground.

Conspicuously absent from Yorks article was the smoking gun that arrived in the form of testimony at the United Nations Security Council by former OPCW inspection team leader and engineering expert Ian Henderson.

In January, Henderson told the UN via video that OPCW management had suppressed the fact-finding mission (FFM) teams findings on the ground in Douma. (Henderson had wanted to testify in person at the UN, but the US government did not give him a visa.)

We had serious misgivings that a chemical attack had occurred, Henderson explained. The former OPCW expert added that his months of research provided further support for the view that there had not been a chemical attack.

A former OPCW inspection team leader and engineering expert told the UN Security Council that their investigation in Douma, Syria suggested no chemical attack took place. But their findings were suppressed and reversed Read more here: https://t.co/HI028MZl0k via @BenjaminNorton pic.twitter.com/rmaSzWzs5Z  The Grayzone (@TheGrayzoneNews) January 22, 2020

In his article, York completely avoided mention of Henderson and UN testimony, in a very egregious and misleading oversight. And this striking omission appears to be intentional, because on Twitter, York later condemned Henderson, along with the other OPCW whistleblower who goes by Alex, claiming they are wrong.

The fact that York would conveniently leave out Hendersons UN testimony  the most important, and scandalous piece of evidence yet of OPCW chicanery  while publicly smearing him on Twitter shows that the methodology of the reporting itself is clearly biased, sloppy, and unprofessional.

Yorks attack piece is also self-referential. In one especially dubious sentence, he claims the WGSPM has previously been accused of whitewashing war crimes.' To support this grave accusation, York links to an article by himself from 2018, which is essentially a mimeograph of his latest attack.

This 2018 smear piece accusing the WGSPM academics of whitewashing war crimes attributes the outrageous accusation not to a legal expert on war crimes but rather to Leila al-Shami, who has spent years lobbying for foreign intervention to violently overthrow the Syrian government.

Al-Shami is, in fact, the pen name for a mysterious British activist whose credentials are impossible to validate. According to Robin Yassin-Kassab, the co-author of her book, Burning Syria, Leila al-Shami is the pseudonym of another British Syrian who worked in Syria in the human rights field before the revolution.

For years, al-Shami has refused to show her face on camera. During a 2016 event at NYUs Kevorkian Center, for example, attendees were forbidden from filming al-Shamis talk for security reasons. In a June 2017 interview with Spains El Nacional (in which she and Yassin-Kassab wrongly forecasted a partition of Syria), al-Shami was photographed turning away to hide her face. She claimed that she could not be seen publicly for security reasons.

However, during an April 2016 event at New York Citys New School, al-Shami was photographed and filmed while on stage. The image was published by Flatiron Hot News, a local culture publication.

Al-Shami is best known for marketing the cause of regime change in Syria to the Western left, painting it as a glorious grassroots struggle for participatory democracy, while branding its leftist opponents as crypto-fascists and idiots.

Her book, Burning Country, contained no on-the-ground reporting, relying instead on reports by and about opposition activists largely funded by the US government and Gulf states such as the White Helmets and Raed Fares.

While al-Shami claims to have been involved in human rights and social justice struggles in Syria, the human rights group she supposedly co-founded, Tahrir-ICN, appears to be an empty shell that consists of a few barely active social media pages and a dormant blog.

Yorks reliance on a shady figure like this further highlights his deceptive tactics. By citing regime change activists as credible experts while heaping scorn on his subjects with passive-voice phrases like have been accused of, he disguises his own opinions as objective reporting.

Under the leadership of executive editor and British security state collaborator Jess Brammar, Yorks brand of propaganda is not only tolerated at HuffPost UK; it is encouraged.

Yorks hit piece on the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media was, in fact, his 12th attack on the small band of dissident academics. Desperate to suppress inconvenient facts about the dirty war on Syria, some powerful forces have found reliable propagandists at the HuffPost UK.
Watch the final episode of Techland exclusive online show today, and see all you need to know before the release of Dying Light 2 Stay Human!
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 17:22:13|Editor: Yurou

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WINDHOEK, Feb. 4 (Xinhua)-- Namibia will intensify fight against poverty and specifically corruption and gender based violence, President Hage Geingob said Tuesday.

He was speaking at the country's cabinet opening for 2020 marking the beginning of work for the executive branch of government.

"Corruption shall never be tolerated by this administration. The due process of the law will take its course on any wrong-doing," Geingob said.

Geingob underscored the importance of transparency which he said would help restore the country's image.

"We are dealing with corruption, and we will make sure we curb all social evils that are affecting our people," he said.

As a show of transparency, Geingob reiterated that he would declare his assets while encouraging his ministers to also do the same.
Former manager has misgivings about using the historic site for commercial filming, says Noel Baker.

The site manager at Skellig Michael who worked on the island for more than 40 years has said filming scenes for two Star Wars movies there was inappropriate and claimed many visitors to the world heritage site were now more interested in its Hollywood depiction rather than its ancient history.

Skellig Michael was used for filming scenes for both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.

Documents released by the OPW under freedom of information back in 2014 showed some senior staff in the Office of Public Works had serious misgivings about the Unesco World Heritage Site being used to film scenes for the latest Star Wars movie, with one island guide querying whether there was a legal avenue to block the production.

Grellan Rourke retired from his position last summer after 41 years, although he is still working with the Office of Public Works on its archive.

He worked as site manager and team leader, and has now been succeeded by Fergus McCormack.

He recently gave a lecture at University College Dublin on the challenges of the Skellig site, including ensuring visitor safety and maintaining structures and afterwards told the Irish Examiner that visitors to the site these days are as likely to ask about Star Wars as they are to ask about the ancient monastery and the monks who constructed it.

During the Star Wars shoot, Mr Rourke was on-site to monitor the second stint and he said: The whole thing was very professional but in a way, I think it is inappropriate to use a site like that for commercial filming.

He said the use of technology can digitally recreate scenery and that this may have been a better option, adding: You are not putting anything in jeopardy.

He said the ancient structures on Skellig were just one aspect of the island, and that the nesting birds added a layer of complexity, particularly as access to Skellig is limited to between May and September and this overlaps with the nesting season.

We do have a policy in the OPW in relation to education and knowledge and there is a protocol for people making or shooting a video or film and we would encourage that [using those protocols].

When we were looking at the whole thing our concern at the time was more to make sure there was no damage.

In hindsight, what was equally important was the impact of the film  that has been an issue in that Star Wars fans are much more organised than archaeologists and historians and they are booking well in advance.

The majority going out there are more interested in the Star Wars aspect of it.

When guides are giving the talks, a lot of questions relate to Star Wars and not the site itself.

We still have the same limits on numbers [visiting] but because there is such demand, visitor numbers have risen.

Mr Rourke said that while the daily limit is still 180 visitors a day, due to increased demand all boats making the trip are now at full capacity, meaning they carry 12 passengers per trip, rather than being less full as would have been the case in the years prior to Star Wars being shot there.

They are now working the system to capacity, he said, adding that last years numbers will probably be the highest ever, possibly.

Daisy Ridley as Rey and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in a scene from Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Picture: Lucasfilm Ltd

We are working with the boatmen to bring them [visitors] out on a more phased basis.

The aftermath of the filming has caused these sorts of issues. It will go on for a few years but hopefully it will settle down.

Mr Rourke said Unesco did not express any dissatisfaction over its use in Star Wars.

However, he said the use of the island in the films may have resulted in a change in peoples perceptions regarding a world heritage site.

Its sad in one way, the real history of the place, over 1,400 years, that the real history is set to one side and the more recent make-believe is to the fore.

He recalled a year in the mid-80s when the island was closed completely to visitors as necessary excavations and structural works were carried out.

He said in more recent years repair work has been continuing on the islands lighthouse road.

Mr Rourke said another two seasons may complete work on the upper lighthouse, which is effectively unchanged since its construction in the 1820s and is already under OPW ownership.

He said this will add a whole new visitor attraction to Skellig Michael, and that discussions are continuing between the OPW and the Commissioner for Irish Lights over the possible transfer of the lower and newer lighthouse on the island to the OPW, so that it could be used by researchers and those working on the island, instead of timber huts currently in use and which could be removed.

JJ Abrams, director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on location on Skellig Michael

The idea would be the OPW would take it over, he said.

When we finish the upper lighthouse road and lighthouse it will add another dimension to Skellig Michael.

There is agreement in principle the OPW will take it over, but the nitty-gritty of negotiations will need to be done, he said.

However, he said this would mean visitors more likely having to choose between either the ancient structures or the lighthouse, as doing both in one day would prove difficult.

Mr Rourke also said climate change was having something of an impact on Skellig, in that it has seen two rockfalls in recent years, having had just one in recent memory prior to that.

There are probably going to be more of these because of rainfall, he said. We have to be very vigilant.

He said intensive safety checks are conducted to make it as safe as possible for visitors  so far, so good, but you cant be 100% sure of everything.

While storm surges may present a difficulty, he said Skelligs elevated and rocky aspect meant it was likely to withstand anything else the weather could throw at it.

Our view is that this site will be open in 100 years time for people to visit it.
TEMPE, Ariz., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- State Farm and Arizona State University today announced the introduction of a new education and career development program called Pathways for the Future. The program will provide a personalized approach to higher education with a focus on innovative & technological skills, fueled by a $30 million contribution from State Farm.

As emerging technologies rapidly transform the workplace, experts predict significant displacement and demand for new skills to fill future jobs. The ability to adapt, learn, and transition to new and emerging employment opportunities will be essential for workers worldwide. Pathways for the Future is designed to address these changes, focused specifically on high school students, community college and university students, and career professionals who wish to compete for new and evolving jobs in the changing marketplace.

"Technological change holds enormous promise and the potential for job creation. It also challenges employees, employers and students and presents a change we all must adapt to," said State Farm Chairman and CEO Michael Tipsord. "Today represents a new milestone in our relationship with ASU and builds on our corporate commitment to prepare not only for what's coming, but for what is already happening. We look forward to growing this commitment with ASU and working together to build the workforce of the future through universal learning."

With the online nature of the program, State Farm's gift will enable ASU to assist many more learners regardless of their location and will provide students access to the transfer and transition tools which support curriculum pathway mapping and sequencing. This component will also help people discover career interests and provides a way for ASU to share pertinent information with mid-career adults and to students navigating higher education options.

There are four targeted groups for the Pathway Program, including:

High School Students

Maricopa County Community College Students

Arizona State University Students

Students Employees, already in the workforce, wanting to learn new skills, including State Farm employees

"State Farm has been a good neighbor to ASU for the past several years  our aligned values and our mutual commitment and investment of human and financial capital makes for an ideal partnership in Pathways for the Future," said ASU President Michael M. Crow. "We believe strongly in the evolving model of universal learning, making higher education available to those from all socioeconomic backgrounds at any point in their lives. This is what the workforce of the future needs and what we hope to accomplish with State Farm. Together, our goal is to help people work through what will be a significant transformation in the economy."

The program has three specific Academic Tracks, including STEM/Engineering, Business/Leadership and Humanities/Social Sciences. For more information on the tracks and complete program details, please visit: https://pff.asu.edu/. The Pathways for the Future portal can be accessed here.

About State Farm:

The mission of State Farm is to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto and home insurance in the United States. Its nearly 19,000 agents and approximately 58,000 employees serve approximately 83 million policies and accounts  approximately 81 million auto, fire, life, health and commercial policies and approximately 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 36 on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com.

About ASU

Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American Research University, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it.

State Farm:

Brodie Hurtado, 480-293-6092

[email protected]

Arizona State University:

Jay Thorne, 602-677-7518

[email protected]

Zeno Group for State Farm:

Bridgit Fletcher, 847-337-5965

[email protected]

SOURCE State Farm

Related Links

https://www.statefarm.com/


04.02.2020 LISTEN

I have been following the debate on the nomenclature of the Anesthetists in Ghana. I wish to add my voice to the debate.

Anaesthesia in Ghana is practiced by Trained Doctors and Trained Nurses. This means that After training as a medical doctor, the doctor decides to specialize in Anaesthesia. Equally, after training as a nurse, the nurse decides to specialize in Anaesthesia. One studied Anaesthesia with a background in Medicine and the other with a background in Nursing. Both in this field, are not practicing Physicians or practicing Nurses but Anaesthetists.

I will deal with this topic under the following outline?

1. Who are Anaesthetists?

2. What is the curriculum for training Anaesthetists?

3. Are there any difference in their training?

4. Is there anything like a doctor or Nurse anaesthetist in practice

5. Why do Anaesthetist with medicine background want to supervise Anaesthetists with Nursing background?

6. Comparisons with Ghana, UK and USA

7. Why are Ghanaian doctor Anaesthetists apprehensive of the name CRA?

8. Conclusion

Who are Anaesthetists or anaesthesiologists?

Anesthesia or anaesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical purposes. It may include analgesia, paralysis, amnesia, or unconsciousness. A patient under the effects of anesthetic drugs is referred to as being anesthetized.

Anesthesiology is the practice of medicine dedicated to the relief of pain and periprocedural care of patients before, during and after invasive procedures.

Anesthesiologists help ensure the safety of patients undergoing surgery. The anesthesiologist provides care for the patient to prevent the pain and distress they would otherwise experience. This may involve general anesthesia (putting the patient to sleep), sedation (intravenous medications to make the patient calm and/or unaware) or regional anesthesia (injections of local anesthetic near nerves to numb up the part of the body being operated on (i.e. nerve blocks or spinal/epidural injections.

These procedures are carried out by both Doctors and Nurses who have been trained for three or more years in a college of Anaesthesia.

In Ghana the Nurses who specialized in Anaesthesia were regulated under the Nurses and Midwifery Council. It was difficult for the Council to regulate and supervise them because Anaesthesia was a medical and not a Nursing practice. It was therefore considered reasonable for the medical and dental council of Ghana to take charge and regulate and supervise the Anaesthetists with Nursing background.

The council decided to change the name from Nurse Anaesthetists to Physician Assistant - Anaesthetists to differentiate them from the Physician Anesthetists.

This is the crux of the present standoff between the CRA Practioners and the MDC. The Practioners want to be referred to as Certified Registered Anesthetists because they have been certified and registered to practice anesthesia. The same Anaesthesia that is practiced by the Physician Anesthetists.

CURRICULUM FOR ANAESTHESIA PRACTICE

a) Physician Anesthetists

Membership.

The candidate will spend a period of 3 years (36 months) in basic and applied sciences,

clinical anaesthesia including pain management and critical care. After completion of 12

months training, the candidate will sit for the Part I membership examination in Basic and

Applied Sciences.

A further 24 months training qualifies the candidate to sit for the Part II

examination provided he or she has passed or being exempted from the Part I examination.

The candidate must complete the 36 months membership as detailed below:

A Log book to cover 600 cases over 3 years

General Surgery(80cases) 3 months

Orthopaedics and Trauma(50cases) 2 months

Urology(50cases) 3 months

ENT Ophthalmology(50cases) 3 months

Plastic and Dental(50 cases) 2 months

Paediatric,Daycare + Psychiatry(60cases) 3months

Obstetrics and neonatal care(60 cases) 4 months

Medicine (70cases) 3 months

ICU/HDU(30cases) 2 months

Gynaecology(50 cases) 2 months

Neuroanaesthesia(20cases) 1 month

Cardiothoracic anaesthesia(20Cases) 1 month.

DETAILED CURRICULUM CONTENTS

Definition and Guidelines of the Clinical Rotations:

Basic (Core) Anaesthesia Training.

During this rotation the resident will be assigned to theatre lists in the fields of

General Surgery

Urology

Orthopaedics and Trauma

Obstetrics and Gynaecology

ENT

Paediatrics

Day care Anaesthesia and Resuscitation

The level of involvement will be at all phases i.e. pre, intra and postoperative care,

resuscitation and acute/chronic pain management wherever it may be required.

The first 12 months for any trainee will be in basic anaesthesia and resuscitation.

OBSTETRIC ANAESTHESIA

This rotation is specially designed to cover management of labour pain, operative obstetric

cases and resuscitation of the critically ill obstetric patient and neonate. Experience with

regional analgesia and anaesthesia is to be obtained during this rotation.

PAEDIATRIC ANAESTHESIA

Paediatric anaesthesia begins during the first year and continues in the subsequent 2 years

to cover congenital anomalies and major procedures in the neonatal and other paediatric

age groups.

An introduction to the following subspecialties will be done during the 3 year rotation:

CARDIOTHORACIC ANAESTHESIA

NEUROSURGICAL ANAESTHESIA

INTENSIVE CARE

PAIN MANAGEMENT

SKILLS AND PROCEDURES:

During residency training all trainees are expected to become proficient in the following

skills and procedures:

 Administration of general and local anaesthesia

o Administration of inhalational anaesthesia

o Administration of intravenous anaesthesia including total intravenous

anaesthesia(TIVA)

o Simple infiltration and nerve blocks

 Airway management

o Oropharygeal and naso-pharyngeal airways

o Laryngeal mask airways

o Endotracheal intubation

o Fibre optic intubation

 Ventilation modes and techniques

 Vascular Access

o Peripheral intravenous cannulation

o Central venous cannulation

o Arterial cannulation

o Insertion of pulmonary arterial floatation catheter (Swan-Ganz)

 Measurement of cardiac output

 Insertion of chest drains

 Regional Anaesthesia and analgesia

o Subarachnoid anaesthesia

o Epidural analgesia and anaesthesia and analgesia

o Intravenous regional anaesthesia (Biers block)

o Brachial Plexus Block

o Stellate ganglion block

o Major nerve blocks and field blocks

 Monitoring

o Basic e.g. clinical evaluation

o Standard e.g. NIBP, ECG, Pulse oximetry,PNS, Temperature, ETCO2

o Advanced e.g. ICP, SSEP, BIS

 CPR including cardio-version

 Interpretation of arterial blood gas analysis.

 Reading 12 lead ECG for arrhythmias and ischaemia

 Reading and interpreting Chest-X-ray, and other imaging techniques.

 Reading and interpreting basic laboratory data on FBC, electrolytes, renal and liver

functions.

 Management of acute pain, PCA, PECA, NCA, and chronic pain e.g. cancer pain.

BASIC AND APPLIED ANATOMY

 Upper airway- nose, pharynx, larynx, trachea

 Lower airway- bronchus, alveoli, diaphragm

 Cardiovascular system

 CNS and vertebral column and canal

 Autonomic nervous system

 Foetal circulation

 Major nerves of the upper and lower extremities

 Major nerve plexuses (brachial, lumber, and sacral)

 Surface anatomy for the major nerves, veins, arteries (upper and lower limbs)

PHYSICS AND CLINICAL MEASUREMENT

 S.I. units

 Work and Energy

 Electricity

 Ultrasonic waves(Electromagnetic spectrum)

 Gas laws

 Fluid and gas dynamics

 Vaporization and vapour pressure

 Medical gases production, storage and delivery

 Recording of biological potentials

 Pressure

 Temperature

 PH

 Measurements from the catheter to display

 Gas analysis

 Monitoring of neuromuscular function

 Cardiac output

 Respiratory function tests

 Humidity, Nebulizers and humidifiers

 The anaesthetic machine and its safety features

 Anaesthetic circuits

 Mechanical ventilators

 The basic anaesthetic equipment: Laryngoscopes, Masks, laryngeal mask

airway, spinal and epidural needles

 Medical gases and gas cylinders

BASIC APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY

 Physiology of nerve and muscle

 Respiratory system and blood gases, oxygen transport and delivery

 Cardiovascular system (heart as a pump)

 Cardiac conduction (rhythm generation and conduction)

 CNS and Autonomic nervous system

 Renal system

 Acid base system

 Electrolyte and body fluids and homeostasis.

 Hepatic function

 Haematology, basic haematology functions

 Physiological changes during pregnancy

 Nutrition including TPN

 Immunology introduction

 GIT

 Fat, Protein and Carbohydrate metabolism

 Temperature

 Endocrinology

BASIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOLOGY

 Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics

 Inhalation anaesthesia, mechanisms and agents

 Local anaesthetics, mechanism and agents

 Intravenous anaesthesia drugs

 Analgesics, narcotics and their antagonists

 Muscle relaxants

 Anticholinergic and anticholinesterases

 Antiemetic and antihistamines

 Inotropic and pressor drugs

 Antihypertensive drugs

 Antiarrhrrythmics

 Antimicrobials and cytotoxics

 Bronchodilators

 Clinical trials

 Pharmacogenetics

 CNS drugs

 Renal drugs

STATISTICS AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 Basic statistics

 How to read medical journals

 How to critique medical journals

 How to write articles

 Library studies

MEDICAL CONDITIONS INCLUDING PATHOLOGY

 Pain pathways, acute, chronic and cancer pain

 Head injury and conditions with increased intracranial pressure

 Ischaemic heart disease

 Valvular heart disease

 Hypertension, essential and other causes

 Cardiac arrhythmias

 Malignant hyperpyrexia

 Hypothermia

 Anaemia, sickle cell and other haemoglobinopathies

 Diabetes mellitus

 Acute and chronic renal failure

 Patients with liver disease

 Endocrine diseases and morbid obesity syndromes

 The patient with respiratory disease (obstructive and restrictive)

 Congenital diseases in neonatal and paediatric patients

 Arthritis and other orthopaedic problems

 Shock syndromes (hypovolemic, cardiogenic, septic, and anaphylactic)

 The psychiatric and mentally challenged

 Genetic and congenital diseases relevant to anaesthesia.

 Pregnancy related diseases

 Infections and infestations

 Connective tissue and degenerative diseases

 Neuromuscular diseases

Resuscitation and critical care management of all the above cases and their

perioperative management.

CLINICAL ANAESTHESIA

 Preoperative assessment, patient preparation for surgery

 Principles of obstetric anaesthesia

 Principles of paediatric anaesthesia

 Principles of geriatric anaesthesia

 Principles of neuro-anaesthesia

 Principles of cardiac anaesthesia

 Principles of thoracic anaesthesia

 Dental and day care anaesthesia

 Principles of mechanical ventilation (IPPV)

 The use of blood components and massive blood transfusion

 Anaesthesia for bronchoscopy and airway laser surgery

 General anaesthesia techniques and principles

 Regional anaesthesia techniques and principles

 Airway management (the normal and the difficult airway)

 Post-operative care (Recovery Room) including to control

 Anaesthetic complications and mishaps and their prevention.

CRAs undergo the same programs full time for 3 to 4yrs. Presently the BSc program is 4 yrs full-time.

3. Are there any difference in their training?

In Ghana the Physician Anesthetists are mostly trained in Korle-bu, Komfo Anokye, 37 Military hospital, and Tamale Teaching Hospital.

CRAs are Trained in Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Ridge Hospital, 37 Military Hospital, Tamale Teaching hospital and Cape Coast hospital

Korle-bu Teaching hospital has refused training CRAs even though they employ and use them for administration of Anaesthesia.

Training of Anesthetists is intensive both theoretically and practically. CRAs dominate the administration of Anaesthesia in Ghana. Presently there are about 800 CRAs in Ghana Manning all the hospitals in Ghana. Physician Anaesthetists are about 50-60 in Ghana based in Korle-bu, Komfo Anokye, Ridge and Tamale and Cape Coast hospitals.

Teaching.

The Anaesthesia schools are controlled by Physician Anesthetists mostly diploma holders. Before 2013 CRAs were Certificate or diploma holders. BSc Anaesthesia was introduced with reluctance because the Physicians felt it will downgrade them.

They have refused to allow CRAs to officially teach even though CRAs teach the medical and CRA students theory and practice in the theatres.

The MDC controlled by Doctors have refused to introduce a Master's program because of fear that CRAs will take over the running of the schools. How can a country develop like this. We shall continue to be a developing country if leaders continue like this.

Practically CRAs are far better than Physician Anaesthetists, a fact that cannot be contested because CRAs practice more than them.

4. Is there anything like a doctor or Nurse anaesthetist in practice

It is only a nomenclature. We don't have Anaesthesia that is reserved for Doctors and Anaesthesia reserved for CRAs. Doctors have tried to carve a niche for themselves but have failed. The only difference is that one is paid as a doctor and the other as a CRA due to the Nursing background.

All Anaesthetists can specialize in any field so long as the opportunity exist.

5. Why do Anaesthetist with medicine background want to supervise Anaesthetists with Nursing background?

It is a paradox. When it comes to Anaesthesia, both have studied the same books and uses the same equipment, drugs and techniques.

Besides the knowledge that CRAs possess in Medicine, Surgery, Paediatrics, Pharmacology, Psychiatric, pathology among others, they are also professional Nurses. Combining these knowledge, it will be hard to underrate an Anaesthetists with these rich background. Any patient will feel more comfortable with the CRA than the Physician Anaesthetists.

6. Comparisons with Ghana, UK and USA

In the USA the number of physicians

Anesthesiologists are 50,121

As of 2018, CRNAs represent 50% of the anesthesia workforce in the United States, with 52,000 providers, according to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, and administer approximately 40 million anesthetics each year in a population of about 300 million,

The United kingdom has a physician Anaesthetists population of about 10000 and about 5000 Nurse Anaesthetists in a population of 65 million.

With this ratio of almost 1:1 in USA and 2:1 in UK they can afford to say that CRAs should be supervised by Physician Anaesthetists. Considering the fact that CRNAs perform about 40million Anaesthesia a year in the USA, they are certainly not under any supervision.

Physician Anaesthetists in Ghana are about 50. CRAs are about 800. Out of the 50 physician Anaesthetists, 20 are based in Korle-bu whilst about 30 are distributed still in Accra, Cape Coast and Tamale and a few other areas. Ghana has more than a thousand health facilities that perform surgical operations daily.

Greater Accra by 2015 had about 90 hospitals, Ashanti Region 60 hospitals, Brong Ahafo 30, C/R 30 etc.

How can doctor Anaesthetists based in Korle-bu, Ridge, police hospital and 37 Military hospital supervise CRAs in almost all these hospitals? Impossible. Most of these CRAs are more experienced than the doctor Anaesthetists.

Majority of CRAs trained and practiced Anaesthesia before most of the Anaesthesia consultants in Korle-bu. How are these consultants going to supervise people who are more experienced than them?

7. Why are Ghanaian doctor Anaesthetists apprehensive of the name CRA?

Certified Registered Anesthetists have been in practice in Ghana for decades. Before a Ghanaian doctor administered Anaesthesia in Ghana probably in 1963, CRAs were already giving Anaesthesia.

Agogo Presbyterian hospital is the olders GHAG hospital in Ghana established around 1932. CRAs have administered Anaesthesia till date. No Physician Anaesthetists has ever practiced in that hospital. They perform about 5000 surgeries a year ranging from general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, and ophthalmic surgeries. They have never been in need of a physician Anaesthetists because he/she brings nothing in addition.

The over 100 Chag hospitals in Ghana are manned by CRAs. More than 90% of Anaesthesia is administered by CRAs in Ghana. Thousands of our mothers and sisters would die every year without CRAs. Physician Anaesthetists are only found in comfort areas in the regional capitals where they work with CRAs. They are scared to work alone because of lack of experience. They hide behind the CRAs to project their images. Majority of CRAs work in singles in hospitals dotted around Ghana. How many physician Anaesthetists work alone in Korle-bu, Ridge, Cape Coast, 37 or Tamale? None. They are all scared

9. Conclusion

To conclude, Anaesthesia is Anaesthesia. There is nothing like Physician or Nurse Anaesthesia. There are no special books or equipment of Anaesthesia that belong to only Doctors or nurses. There are no special drugs in Anaesthesia that only doctor Anaesthetists can administer. The Anaesthesia curriculum is the same everywhere in the world. There is no particular kind of surgery that is reserved for only doctor Anaesthetists to administer Anaesthesia.

The only difference is that a doctor Anaesthetists earn a doctor's salary and allowances whilst the CRA earns a Nurse's allowances and salaries. They both have the same work description or prescription.

It is my hope that the authorities in Ghana will not yield to the selfish and parochial desires of about 50 physician Anaesthetists to jeopardize Anaesthesia practice in Ghana.

The title Certified Registered Anesthetists does not affect any doctor. CRA is not equivalent to Physician Anaesthetist.

They want to be referred to as Doctor/Physician Anaesthetists or Anaesthesiologists. It is not contested by anybody.

We also want to be called Certified Registered Anesthetists. Why are they having problem with this?

Doctors want to control everything in the hospitals. They want to control Radiology, Pharmacology, and Laboratory departments. If care is not taking, they will one day want to control Nursing in the hospitals.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's (MNS) posters stating 'Bangladeshis leave the country, otherwise you will be driven out in MNS style' were seen in Panvel in Raigad district on Monday. (Photo: ANI)

Raigad: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's (MNS) posters stating 'Bangladeshis leave the country, otherwise you will be driven out in MNS style' were seen in Panvel in Raigad district on Monday.

The posters also feature MNS chief Raj Thackeray and his son Amit Thackeray, who was recently inducted into the party.

Thackeray had earlier said that the party will take out a huge rally on February 9 in Mumbai to drive "illegal infiltrators" from Pakistan and Bangladesh, out of India.

"We will take out a huge rally on February 9 to drive illegal infiltrators from Pakistan and Bangladesh, out of India. There can be a debate on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) but why should we shelter someone who has come from outside illegally?" he had said.
(Natural News) Novel coronavirus is spreading to the four corners of the globe, creating fear and panic about a potential out-of-control global pandemic. But another major threat is the economic impact of this disease, which is already disrupting Chinas global supply chains and threatening to trigger a collapse.

Reports indicate that people are increasingly deciding not to travel to China for business, as one example, while cruise lines, airlines, and other components of business and tourism are modifying or canceling their Chinese travel routes.

The China Law Blog, which is geared towards high-profile attorneys who engage in cross-border business, is now warning its readers that traveling to and from China is not only a substantial risk, its also increasingly difficult, if not impossible.

[T]he coronavirus is impacting pretty much everyone in China, writes China Law Blog editor Dan Harris, whose Harris Bricken law firm runs the blog.

Besides the fact that entire cities in China are now quarantined and off-limits to visitors, travel in and out of many of Chinas international airports is also coming to a grinding halt. Its taking longer and longer for Chinese people to obtain visas to travel to other countries, and both Chinese nationals and expatriates alike are increasingly fearful of even trying to leave China because they may be denied entry into the country of destination and may not be able to return to their place of residence, warns The Epoch Times.

Foreign embassies and consulates in China are scaling down and planning evacuation flights  will the global economy collapse from all this mayhem?

The first group of American ambassadors and officials living in China was recently brought back to America via special charter flight, and are now being held at March Air Reserve Base near Corona, California, under a mandatory two-week quarantine.

But there are still many more to go, as other foreign embassies and consulates in China scale down their personnel and formulate plans to eventually evacuate them as well. In other words, Chinas entire economy is rapidly dwindling down as coronavirus continues to wreak havoc there and abroad.

The implications of all this for the global economy cant be ignored, either, seeing as how China manufactures much of the worlds goods. How long will it be before the shelves at Walmart and Target are bare because cheap Chinese garbage is no longer making it to American ports?

Couple this with the fact that the official number of coronavirus victims is being kept artificially low to save face, and the writing on the wall becomes clearer than ever.

 virtually nobody trusts the veracity of the Chinese government, contends Harris, further warning that hospitals in China are running out of coronavirus testing kits, as well as classifying new cases of coronavirus as pneumonia or other sicknesses.

An epidemiological study conducted by researchers at Yale University predicts that by February 4, there will be 190,000 coronavirus infections in Wuhan alone  and theres no telling what the global number will be.

Meanwhile, major corporations like Foxconn, which makes computer chips for Apple, as well as Johnson & Johnson and Samsung Electronics, are all temporarily shutting down production in China. But rather than call it a shutdown, these multinational corporations claim theyre simply prolonging the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday break for their employees.

Gee, let me cry a big crocodile tear over the greedy companies using slave labor and Christian and Muslim prisoners to make cheap products and receive the benefit of no pollution law enforcement, wrote one commenter at The Epoch Times about the almost divine retributive nature of this coronavirus judgment on big industry for even doing business in communist China in the first place.

For more breaking news about coronavirus, be sure to check out Pandemic.news and Outbreak.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

SBSun.com

NaturalNews.com
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The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) held an innovation lab titled Health Future Vision 2071 on Tuesday to envision the future of health in Dubai for in the next 50 years.



Health Future Vision 2071, aims to incubate ideas by inspiring attendees to imagine a future where we already overcame medical challenges that are yet to be solved through technologies and procedures that dont yet exist.



The innovation lab focused on seven key themes identified by the DHA based on futuristic studies by local and international organizations.



The seven themes included: future health experience, wholesome lifestyle, young forever, pain-free life, space medicine, future health economics and human 2.0. Each of the divided teams tackled one of the themes to come up with innovative ideas that can be transformed into services to be developed by the DHA to enhance the quality of life and support integrated healthcare systems.



The authority held Health Future Vision 2071 in line with the year of preparations for the next 50 years announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.



Saeed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dewa, commissioner general of the health and knowledge sector, Humaid Al Qutami, director general of the DHA and Khalifa Hassan Al Darrai, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services in addition to a number of officials attended the event.



Al Qutami said that the DHA brought entities from the public and private sector under one roof to work together towards one goal, which is building the future of health, in order to ensure that generations to come have access to quality advanced healthcare services.



He stressed the importance of todays innovation lab, which focuses on envisioning the future of how health will look like in 2071 and incubating ideas based on that, adding that miraculous accomplishments like landing on the moon and flying planes began with a thought and a dream.



He concluded by saying that Dubai has all the required tools to be the best in everything it seeks to accomplish, these success factors have enabled Dubai to fulfil all these achievements in the past and hopefully in the future.



Fatima Abbas, CEO of Strategy and Corporate Development at the DHA stressed that the authority ensured that the seven themes are aligned with the goals of UAEs Centennial Vision to make the UAE the world's leading nation by 2071, the Fifty-year charter and the strategic goals of the UAE. She added that the themes were also based on international studies and findings and on studies by the Dubai Future Foundation.  TradeArabia News Service
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Berlin, February 4, 2020  North Macedonia authorities should conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the threats made against journalists Meri Jordanovska and Iskra Korovesovska and ensure their safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On January 10, Emil Jakimovski, then the assistant head of department at North Macedonias Central Registry, sent chat messages to Jordanovska, a reporter and deputy editor of the news website A1on, which included sexual comments and a threat that he would be creating a funeral for you, according to Jordanovska, who spoke to CPJ via email and posted screenshots of the messages on her Facebook page.

Korovesovska, editor-in-chief of local broadcaster Alfa TV, told CPJ via email that Jakimovski sent her similar messages in November and December 2019, including sexual comments, saying that he knew where she lived, and saying that she should run away if she saw him on the street.

Both Jordanovska and Korovesovska told CPJ that Jakimovski disparaged their news outlets and their reporting in the messages, and accused them of spreading propaganda and being in the service of billionaire philanthropist George Soros. The journalists told CPJ that they had not recently covered Jakimovski, but said their outlets had covered claims in 2019 that some news websites Jakimovski allegedly owned had published false reports.

Both Jordanovska and Korovesovska filed complaints with the police about the threats, they told CPJ.

Jakimovski was terminated from his job at the Central Registry, a government office that registers companies, real estate, and other entities, on January 13 after authorities opened an investigation into those messages and threats Jakimovski allegedly made against employees of the registry, according to a report by A1on. On January 17, police arrested him in connection with the threatening messages and in response to a domestic violence complaint, A1on reported.

We applaud authorities steps to investigate the threats against journalists Meri Jordanovska and Iskra Korovesovska, and urge them to see the legal process to its completion, said Gulnoza Said, CPJs Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. Threatening journalists is unacceptable, and those who do so must be held to account.

On January 24, police told both journalists that Jakimovskis detention would be extended for an additional 30 days, they told CPJ.

Korovesovska told CPJ that a representative from the North Macedonia Prosecutors Office said that she should pursue her case against Jakimovski in civil court, and that authorities are still investigating the threats against Jordanovska.

CPJ emailed Jakimovski and the Prosecutors Office for comment, but did not receive any replies. CPJ emailed Jakimovskis lawyer, Ivanka Jakimovska, who shares the same surname but is not related to him, for comment but did not receive any response.
On December 17 2019, Taiwan's Legislative Yuan (equivalent to a parliament in other democracies) passed a draft bill on creating an IP and Commerce Court (IPC Court) which will consolidate the IP Court which was established in 2008. The new court, estimated to come into existence in 2021, will be made up of two independent special tribunals, the IP Tribunal and the Commercial Tribunal, governed by respective adjudication rules.

The IP Court will morph into the IP Tribunal without much change other than organisational adjustments. The IP Tribunal will have the same scope of jurisdiction and instance levels as the IP Court does, and will follow the IP Case Adjudication Act which has governed IP litigation in Taiwan since 2008.

As such, theoretically speaking, just with a slight modification (as shown in the figures below), an IP lawyer's knowledge about IP litigation in Taiwan will readily fit within the blueprint for the IPC Court. Civil IP disputes will still be heard by one judge in the first instance and by a three-judge panel in the second instance, and lawyers will still find Technical Examination Officers (TEOs) assisting judges with tech issues either in the courtroom or, for example, on a defendant's premises when an evidence preservation order is executed. If litigation filings remain at the current volume, then it is very likely that the same team of IP Court judges and TEOs will just move into the new court without new members being recruited.

Fig. 1: Taiwan's current court system for IP dispute resolution

Fig.2: The IP Court will become the IP Tribunal under IPC Court

Fig. 3: Taiwan's court system for IP disputes after the IPC Court is established

The Commercial Tribunal, on the other hand, will be established from scratch and will be governed by the newly enacted Commercial Case Adjudication Act. The Commercial Tribunal will have exclusive jurisdiction over a civil commercial dispute in which "either the amount or value of the disputed claim(s) exceeds a minimum of NT$100 million, or the dispute involves a publicly traded company and affects the market order and investors' interests massively." Unlike the IP Tribunal, it does not have criminal or administrative jurisdiction, and its civil case decisions will be appealed directly to the Supreme Court. To further enhance the mutually independent nature of the two tribunals, judges at each tribunal will not hear cases falling within the jurisdiction of the other tribunal.

Despite the division, the IP community generally believes that mutual influence will occur. Some of the main features of the Commercial Case Adjudication Act are quite familiar to IP lawyers. The provision allowing the Commercial Tribunal to perform trials via a video conference (Art. 18) is obviously modelled on the counterpart in the IP Case Adjudication Act, as are the provisions regarding the issuance of confidentiality preservation orders and preliminary injunctions (Arts. 55 & 64). Very likely the IP Court's practices (as well as IP lawyers' practices) in these aspects will be adopted by the Commercial Tribunal, or at least be considered as good starting points to address these matters.

We can also assume that some of the rules in the Commercial Case Adjudication Act will be likewise applied by the IP Tribunal at least in an analogous manner. For example, expert witnesses, which some IP Court judges have wanted to admit into Taiwan's legal system, now appear in the text of the Commercial Case Adjudication Act, becoming the first exception to the long-held dichotomy of witness and court-appointed expert. A party in a commercial dispute will be allowed to call its expert witness to testify on a factual issue based on professional knowledge and experience and, more importantly, the expert witness will be cross-examined by the other party's counsel. However, whether a likewise scenario will happen in the IP Court/Tribunal is still doubtful given the strong presence of TEOs, commonly called "court experts."

Another interesting issue is that there surely will be cases over which either tribunal may exercise jurisdiction. For example, consider this scenario: if a CTO intentionally divulges his company's valuable trade secrets to a competitor, the company has both a trade secret case and a corporate law case (based on a breach of fiduciary duty claim, for instance). Under the newly amended legal framework, an infringement of trade secret claim will be tried at the IP Court/Tribunal, whilst a breach of fiduciary duty claim will be tried by the Commercial Tribunal if the claimed damages are NT$100 million or more. So which tribunal should have the priority in this case? If the tribunal where the case is first filed has the priority, then in which tribunal should the plaintiff choose to file the suit?

These questions have been pending since the IPC court was first proposed. They remain unanswered. The good news is that the IP community will have roughly two years to address such issues before the IPC Court starts to operate, possibly in 2021.

Tony Tung-Yang Chang

Saint Island International Patent & Law Offices

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Tel: +886 2 2775 1823

Fax: +886 2 2731 6377

The material on this site is for law firms, companies and other IP specialists. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws.  2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs.

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Jamie Morris, 23, from New Tredegar, south Wales, with his girlfriend Camilla (Jamie Morris/PA)

A British man is trapped alone in locked-down Wuhan, the epicentre of coronavirus, and worried UK authorities have left him behind.

Jamie Morris, 23, a teacher who has lived in the city for a year, had recently given his passport to the Chinese government to lengthen his residency permit so has not been able to get on a flight back to the UK.

The news of a British evacuation came very quickly, leaving many people who lived a fair distance from the airport unable to make the flight, Mr Morris, originally from New Tredegar, south Wales, said.

Britons were on Tuesday urged by foreign secretary Dominic Raab to leave mainland China to if they are able to.

Mr Morris, however, said he has been told to be patient by the Foreign Office and that they will be in touch if anything changes.

UK citizens arrive back in the UK after being evacuated from Wuhan (SWNS)

I am currently on my own in my apartment, isolated from the outside world, as you would say.

At this point, I am willing to go to any other country, but its all down to the UK embassy.

Mr Morris added that his girlfriend Camilla had left on Tuesday on a flight to New Zealand as she was a Samoan national, which means he is alone in the city.

It was the hardest decision weve made but she was given the opportunity to leave so I encouraged her with everything I had to take it and make sure she was safe.

Being stuck in a quarantine in New Zealand is a lot better than being stuck in Wuhan.

Im so envious that she got out, but I would choose her getting out over me any day of the week. I love her and as long as she is safe, thats all that matters.

He is worried the military will soon take control of the city.

Before my partner left today, she accompanied me to the local supermarket to stock up on as much as possible, he said.

Dominic Raab has urged Britons to leave mainland China (PA)

Theres no fresh vegetables or fruits left in my local area, but we managed to collect plenty of instant noodles and frozen meats/meals which will last me for at least two weeks.

After that, if I am still here and the military do actually take over food supplies, then it is anyones guess.

Story continues

He told the PA Media that he believed he could have contracted coronavirus.

They diagnosed me as having potential pneumonia but couldnt confirm it, he said.

I had all the symptoms, literally everything that has been said by the government, however it was before the virus was made public knowledge.

Jamie Morris teaching pupils in Wuhan (Jamie Morris/PA)

There is a high possibility of it being so, but thanks to my high immune system, I managed to beat it back.

Mr Morris said he had returned to work while ill  potentially with the virus  because he worried about losing his job.

He said the illness lasted for three weeks but his employment agency can terminate his contract after seven days of absence.

So I managed to take a few days off but spent the rest of the time with a mask covering my face while I taught, he said, adding that no students or coworkers had been diagnosed with coronavirus, to his knowledge.
Tessa Majors, 18, was stabbed to death on December 11

An NYPD cop testified on Tuesday that he identified the sole suspect to be charged in Tessa Majors' murder because the 13-year-old boy was wearing the same sneakers as a teen filmed leaving the park afterwards.

Majors was attacked as she walked through Morningside Park on the Upper West Side at December 11.

Days later, the NYPD arrested the 13-year-old boy - who DailyMail.com is choosing not to name because he is a minor - on trespassing charges.

Detectives say that once in custody, he confessed to being part of the group that killed her, but said he stood and watched as two older boys stabbed her.

The two 'other boys' he referred to have both been questioned and released. A grand jury is now weighing charges against them.

At a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday where Tessa's father was present, police officer Randys Ramos Luna testified how he tracked the boy down.

He had watched a grainy surveillance video of three young teens leaving the park shortly after the murder took place and, according to The New York Post, thought they must be students at a nearby middle school in Harlem.

He went to a residential area near the school and found the 13-year-old.

Luna said that he played the boy the video and the boy, without being prompted, lifted up his pant leg to show him the sneakers he was wearing that were the same as the sneakers one of the boys was wearing in the video.

He was booked on trespassing, Luna said, then charged later when he 'confessed' to it.

Tessa was stabbed at these stairs in Morningside Park, on the Upper West Side, in December last year

The boy's attorneys have already poured scorn on the alleged 'confession'. They say it was made when none of them were present.

The two other boys were questioned and released without charge, despite the NYPD plastering one of their faces around the national media claiming he was 'on the run' somewhere 'in the South'.

Tuesday's hearing was the beginning of the process of determining what kind of evidence will be allowed at the 13-year-old boy's trial.

Majors was attacked as she walked through the park in the late afternoon.

She was a freshman at Barnard College and the murder sent shockwaves through the city.

Many said it was reminiscent of 1970s and 1980s crime in New York.

Police union chiefs blamed Bill de Blasio for it, saying he is making it difficult for regular cops to crack down on street crime.

Majors' family have not issued a condemnation against anyone. They say they just want to know what happened to her.
A Delhi court on Tuesday reserved its order on quantum of sentence for the 19 convicts in connection with the sexual assault of over 40 girls at a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district.

Additional Session Judge Saurabh Kulshrestha reserved the order after hearing arguments from both the sides and will pronounce his order at 2:30 pm on February 11.

Public prosecutor Amit Jindal, appearing on behalf of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), sought life imprisonment for convict Brajesh Thakur, who is a former MLA and owner of the NGO called Sewa Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti, which managed the place where the incident took place.

On the other hand, counsel for the convicts has sought minimum punishment for the convicts by citing the financial condition of the remaining convicts.

The court had, on January 20, convicted Brajesh Thakur along with 18 others in the matter.

The Supreme Court had transferred the case from Bihar to a Delhi court and ordered the judge to complete it within six months, following which the trial court framed charges against 20 accused in the case.

The incident had come to light in the year 2018 after the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) filed an affidavit detailing horrifying sexual abuse cases at the shelter homes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
COMMERCE, Texas - A man has been arrested in the fatal shooting at a university dormitory in Texas of a woman believed to be his ex-girlfriend and her sister and the wounding of a 2-year-old boy, school officials said Tuesday.

Texas A&M University-Commerce said Jacques Dshawn Smith, 21, was arrested on a charge of capital murder in the shooting deaths Monday of Deja Matts, 19, and Abbaney Matts, 20, at Pride Rock residence hall on the campus in Commerce, about 65 miles (105 kilometres) northeast of Dallas.

Officials said Deja Matts, of the Dallas suburb of Garland, was a freshman at the university pursuing a bachelors degree in public health.

Officials said Smith is believed to be the ex-boyfriend of Abbaney Matts. Neither Abbaney Matts nor Smith were students at the school.

The wounded 2-year-old was Abbaney Matts son. The child has been released from the hospital and is being cared for by family, officials said.

Prior to announcing the arrest of Smith Tuesday afternoon, police had not identified a shooter or said they were seeking a suspect in the shooting. Police had said it appeared to have been a targeted, isolated event.

Police said an arrest warrant for Smith was obtained through the use of surveillance and witness tips. It was unclear where Smith was being held or if he had an attorney.

The university has cancelled classes until Thursday and said counsellors are available for students.

On Tuesday, police released audio of the 911 call they received Monday morning from a student who said shed returned to her dorm room after class and found a hole in her wall with a nick in her calendar directly across from it.

So it looks like something was shot through the wall and hit my calendar. And the wall is like all broken apart, she said.

She said she tried to look for an object that would have fallen once it hit but she couldnt find anything.

In October, two people were killed and a dozen others injured in an off-campus shooting at a homecoming and Halloween party involving Texas A&M-Commerce students.
DALLAS - Two people were fatally shot and another was wounded at a Texas A&M University-Commerce residence hall.

University officials told students and faculty and staff members to remain sheltered in place Monday while the university investigates the shootings at the Pride Rock residence hall. The shelter-in-place request was posted on Twitter at 11:53 a.m. and was lifted shortly before 1:30 p.m.

The university confirmed the two deaths and said a third victim was being treated at a hospital. Details about the condition of the wounded person were not released.

Classes were canceled for the remainder of the day, the university said on Twitter and on its website.

The investigation is taking place at Pride Rock, a three-story residence hall for freshmen.

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Larry Cooper III, a freshman at the university, lives in Pride Rock. He said he left his room, which is on the second floor, just before the shelter-in-place was announced.

"I actually left earlier than I usually leave," he said. "If I hadn't left my room a few minutes earlier I would be stuck in my room right now. Anyone still on the second floor can't leave their room."

He said he's waiting in a friend's room on the first floor of the residence hall during the shelter-in-place with a few other students.

"There's police blocking the doorways, but other than that we're all just kind of sitting in and waiting on the news to happen," Cooper said.

Although the campuswide shelter-in-place request was lifted, the Pride Rock residence hall and surrounding areas were still blocked Monday afternoon. University police had stationed officers throughout campus, including all key gathering points.

The university said the Rayburn Student Center was available for displaced students and counselors were available there for anyone who needed assistance.

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Disney's licensing agent has hit a California elementary school PTA group with a $250 bill for showing The Lion King during a school fundraiser.

Emerson Elementary in Berkeley, California, was asked to pay $250 on January 30, after failing to obtain a screening license prior to a screening of the 2019 remake of The Lion King last November.

An email was sent by an employee at Disney's licensing agent, Movie Licensing USA, a division of SWANK Motion Pictures Inc., which enforces copyrights for Disney and other movie studios.

California's Emerson Elementary was hit with a $250 bill after its PTA group showed 2019's The Lion King (pictured) during a fundraising event in November 2019

One parent irate parent tweeted about the bill, claiming it was outrageous for Disney to go after the PTA group for what would turn out to be a third of what the group raised that night

'Anytime movies are shown without the proper license, copyright law is violated and the entity showing the movie can be fined by the studios,' noted the email, a portion of which was tweeted out by irate school parent and Berkeley City Councilmember, Lori Droste on Friday.

According to copyright law, a licensing fee must be paid any time there's a public performance - meaning outside a home - of a movie, regardless if admission was charged. Punishment for violating this copyright can include fines of up to $250,000 or as many as five years in jail.

The $250 bill that was sent to Emerson Elementary was meant to cover the one-time showing fee that the Emerson Dad's Group - which threw the November event - was supposed to have obtained in order to legally show the movie at the fundraiser.

PTA president David Rose told KPIX that one of the dads in the group had bought the movie at Walmart and 'we just basically threw it on while the kids were playing in the auditorium.'

The Emerson Elementary PTA group said that it did not realize it needed to purchase a license

A portion of the email that the school was sent, notifying them about the $250 amount owed

The parents' night out fundraiser had a $15 per child admission fee - although no child would be turned away if parents couldn't pay that amount.

The money would benefit the PTA's programs. In exchange, children were looked after for two hours and given pizza and healthy snacks.

Rose said that 'The event made $800, so if we have to fork over a third of it to Disney, so be it. You know, lesson learned.'

Droste took to Twitter the day after the letter was sent to vent her anger over the situation.

'Who wants to hear an unbelievable story about how Disney is essentially fining Berkeleys Emerson Elementary School PTA $250 while reaping millions of dollars through a corporate loophole that has decimated public schools across California?' she tweeted.

'As I was dropping the kids off at the school this morning the PTA was freaking out over a letter they received from Disneys licensing demanding money. Mind you, they wanted pretty much what they had raised that evening,' she added.

Droste went on to write: 'Now I can imagine some of you may say there are legitimate concerns with copyright and PTA made a mistake. Sure, I get that but coming after an elementary school? Really?? Disney wants $250 when we are struggling to pay our teachers and spending per pupil is laughable?'

Social media responses seemed to side with Disney, stating that the school should have known about a license fee and that it should pay up

Droste told KPIX that the the fundraiser was meant to help pay for teachers and vital services at the school.

'Here you have a company that makes so much money and we have schools that are struggling so much,' she said. 'What I thought about was just the irony of paying a multi-billion dollar company essentially ask a school to pay up.'

It's unclear how Movie Licensing USA discovered that the PTA group had shown The Lion King at the event, although the fundraiser was publicly listed on an event booking website.

The licensing group told Berkeleyside that single-use permits cost $250, while schools can pay $536 for annual licenses.

Rose told the news station that the PTA group will pay the $250 licensing fee and aim to recoup that amount through future donations.

Reaction on social media was mixed, with a number of parents and artists pointing out that the school should have known about the licensing fee and is responsible for paying for it.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Disney for comment.
William Wilson faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday to apply for bail - for a second time - after being charged with dangerous driving causing the death of Helena Broadbent (pictured) on September 28, 2019

A man accused of driving so dangerously his pregnant partner was flung from a moving ute, killing her in suburban Melbourne, is making a bid for freedom.

William Wilson faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday to apply for bail - for a second time - after being charged with dangerous driving causing the death of Helena Broadbent on September 28, 2019.

Ms Broadbent, 32, suffered a brain injury when she fell out of the Mitsubishi Triton in Keilor Downs and died in hospital after delivering a girl by emergency caesarean.

Police opposed bail on Tuesday alleging Wilson travelled at speed into the intersection, failing to stop and help his 26-week pregnant partner and say marijuana was found in the ute.

She had two other children with the accused.

'This is a matter where bail has been previously refused,' prosecutor Andrew McKenry said.

The defence said Wilson's cousin had a stable place for him to live with her and her two adult children, if released on bail, despite not seeing each other for five years, with the home 900m from a police station and close to public transport.

'This plan has not been produced on the fly. It has been something thought through,' his lawyer Alex McLure said.

The court was told Ms Broadbent and Wilson had an argument at their home on the day of the incident and he left in the ute.

When he returned later, Ms Broadbent called triple zero claiming Wilson had a hammer and was threatening to kill her, the court was told.

Wilson took some items from the home and left again, believing police were on the way.

Ms Broadbent followed him to remove two child seats from the vehicle but Wilson drove off.

Ms Broadbent, 32, suffered a brain injury when she fell out of the Mitsubishi Triton in Keilor Downs (pictured) and died in hospital after delivering a girl by emergency caesarean

Wilson claims she had been running alongside the ute but stopped when he turned right.

Security footage shows the ute approach a corner, the rear passenger door open, and a person fall out, the court was told.

'He has shown disregard for not only the victim, but also for his children,' Mr McKenry said.

'He did not stop following her scream, in fact he drove away.'

Mr McKenry said Wilson had a history of marijuana and ice use and prior drug-driving charges.

'He has failed when given opportunities in the past to address drug issues.'

Magistrate Greg McNamara is due to decide on his bail bid later in the day.
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Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced on Monday that she will not put her country first in the looming Senate vote on whether to convict Donald Trump for impeachable conduct related to his Ukraine extortion scheme.

In a speech delivered from the Senate floor, the Alaska senator said, I cannot vote to convict. The Constitution provides for impeachment but does not demand it in all instances.

The presidents behavior was shameful and wrong, she added. His personal interests do not take precedence over those of this great nation.

Still, Murkowski said she will not vote to convict Trump, comparing removal from the White House to the death penalty and adding, The voters will produce a verdict in nine months, and we must trust their judgement.

Of course, Murkowskis suggestion that voters  not Senators  produce a verdict in impeachment trials is ludicrous. Its essentially a way for Republican lawmakers like her to avoid having to take a consequential vote.

The Alaska lawmakers announcement comes after she admitted that she agreed with Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexanders assessment that Trumps behavior with respect to Ukraine was inappropriate.

Despite that conclusion, Murkowski has decided to join other Trump defenders in the Senate by voting to acquit, even though she and others are essentially admitting that House impeachment managers have proven their case.

The Republican Party is dead

In the Trump era of American politics, the list of Republican lawmakers with any shred of dignity left has always been short, but Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has often tried to be on it.

With her vote to acquit Donald Trump  even though she is basically admitting he is guilty  she is no longer on that list.

The Republican Party has been on life support for years. Lisa Murkowskis decision to join the Lindsey Grahams of the Senate and let Donald Trump skate shows that the GOP is officially dead, and its not coming back anytime soon.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter
This photo taken on Feb. 3, 2020 shows a medical staff member (C) spraying disinfectant on a patient after returning from a hospital and re-entering a quarantine zone in Wuhan, the epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak, in China's central Hubei province. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinese Regime Muzzles Media Coverage Amid Rampant Coronavirus Outbreak

The Chinese regime is tightening its grip on information about the coronavirus outbreak, as it seeks to control the narrative on the worsening epidemic that has seen daily surges in infection and death numbers.

Various courts across the country have issued regulations or guidelines clamping down on spreading rumors about the illness. Meanwhile, the government has issued censorship orders on local media that are reporting about the crisis, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Feb. 3.

The measures come amid escalating criticism at home and abroad of the communist regimes mishandling of the outbreak, with ordinary citizens, experts, and commentators accusing the regime of masking the true scale of the crisis to maintain control over the social order.

A recent high court notice in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang warned that anyone who spreads rumors about the outbreak to incite separatism, harm national unity, or to subvert state power may face a maximum of 15 years in jail.

The court also stated that anyone who intentionally spreads the disease could face the death penalty, although it didnt elaborate.

The municipal high court in Beijing said it would support a crackdown on spreading rumors, as part of efforts to safeguard social stability.

Recently, local police action against a group of rumormongers in the viruss epicenter of Wuhan drew public backlash and rare criticism from the countrys highest-ranking court.

On Jan. 1, officials in Wuhan said in a statement posted on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, that they had taken legal measures against eight people who had spread rumors about the pneumonia-like disease, which caused adverse impacts on society.

The internet is not a land beyond the law  Any unlawful acts of fabricating, spreading rumors and disturbing the social order will be punished by police according to the law, with zero tolerance, Wuhan police said.

According to local media, the rumor was a message posted on Chinese messaging app WeChat, by a local doctor on a chat group for alumni of his medical school. Li Wenliang told the group on Dec. 30, 2019, that seven patients from a local seafood market had been diagnosed with a SARS-like illness and were quarantined at the hospital where he worked.

His message came one day before Chinese authorities announced the detection of the new coronavirus.

SARS

The polices targeting of Li and other rumormongers sparked a public outcry, culminating in a rebuke by the highest court on Jan. 28.

A Beijing-based judge at the Supreme Peoples Court, in an article posted on the courts social media account, said local police shouldnt have punished the eight people.

It might have been a fortunate thing for containing the new coronavirus, if the public had listened to this rumor at the time, and adopted measures such as wearing masks, strict disinfection, and avoiding going to the wildlife market, the commentary said.

Yielding to public pressure, Wuhan police issued a statement the next day, saying the eight people had committed particularly minor offenses for spreading unverified information. It added that they werent detained or fined, but had only been summoned to be interviewed.

Li has since confirmed that he contracted the virus while treating infected patients.

Censoring Local Media

Amid growing reports of authorities botched response to the outbreak, the Chinese regime has stepped up censorship measures against news outlets in Wuhan.

RFA, citing unidentified reporters in Wuhan, reported that Chinas central propaganda department over the weekend notified several media outlets, including state-run media and Chinese business magazines Caixin and Caijing, that their previous reports on the outbreak will be subject to inspection and censorship. In addition, from Feb. 3, all of those media outlets coverage of the Wuhan outbreak will undergo strict inspection.

Chinese media outlets, such as Caixin, have provided on-the-ground coverage of the deteriorating situation in the virus-stricken city, including authorities underreporting the severity of the outbreak and hospitals being overwhelmed by patients and short on supplies.

A local reporter told RFA that many articles about the underreporting of fatalities have already been deleted, while other outlets have stopped issuing sensitive reports altogether.
'Queen' actor Kangana Ranaut who is currently shooting for the biographical drama on the life of 'Thalaivi' J. Jayalalithaa stole moments of solace from shooting and enjoyed by the beach.

Ranaut's team shared pictures from the moments on Instagram where she is seen enjoying the waves wearing a green floral suit.

"Life is all about little moments... Kangana Ranaut, who is currently shooting for her upcoming film, #Thalaivi, in Chennai was captured enjoying the waves, on her way to Pondicherry," read the picture caption.

Earlier on Sunday, the actor was seen acing a Bharatnatyam dance step.

Kangana who will be seen essaying the role of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the film was seen donning a traditional avatar, complete with a gajra and a gold headgear.

'Thalaivi' is being helmed by AL Vijay and has been written by 'Baahubali' and 'Manikarnika' writer KV Vijayendra Prasad and 'The Dirty Picture' and 'Once Upon a Time in Mumbai' writer Rajat Arora. The movie is set to hit theatres on June 26, 2020.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: Pakistan on Tuesday violated the LoC ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district and Indian troops were returning the fire, the Indian Army said.

According to an army statement, Pakistan initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation, firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along LoC in Shahpur and Kirni sectors of Poonch.

"Indian Army is retaliating befittingly," the statement added.

A civilian was killed and four others injured in firing by Pakistan in the Tangdhar sector of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday night.

According to reports, Pakistan resorted to indiscriminate shelling and firing on Indian defence positions and villages close to the Line of Control. Some of the shells landed in the residential areas in which one civilian was killed and the others were injured. Some houses were also damaged in the shelling.

On February 2, there were multiple ceasefire violations by Pakistan in Tangdhar, Gurez, Balakot and Mendhar sectors in which one Indian soldier was injured.
Mohammad Rashid is now in the custody of the security agencies, every moment passing through an agonizingly painful process of investigation. The Indian security agencies say that he is an ISI agent





by Ali Sukhanver





Whether love is a sin or a crime, most of the times the world around treats a lover like an unpardonable sinner and unforgivable criminal. Same was the fate of Mohammad Rashid, a resident of Banaras, India. It was somewhere in 2017 that he went to Karachi (Pakistan) to attend a family marriage function. There he fell in deep love with one of his cousins and decided to make her his life-partner but this decision was too early. His relatives in Pakistan advised him not to be so emotional and think a little more before taking any final step. Moreover his visa was also about to expire and he was supposed to report back to India within the permitted time limit. So he had to say good-bye to his beloved with a promise to come back soon. In 2018 he once again succeeded in coming to Pakistan. This was the point where his bad-luck started changing the whole scenario of his life.













Mohammad Rashid is now in the custody of the security agencies, every moment passing through an agonizingly painful process of investigation. The Indian security agencies say that he is an ISI agent, sending sensitive information to the ISI about movement and deployment of the military troops. Moreover on the instructions of his alleged handlers, he is involved in instigating the general public to add violence in protest against the CAA and NRC. Astonishingly his life style, his social and educational status and his mental level do not match with the blame levied upon him.





Mohammad Rashid is a 23 years old young man with school education only up to class 8. His parents got divorced and remarried in his very early childhood. In the beginning Rashid started working at a local tailoring shop and then at a medical store as a helper. The time when he went to Karachi, he was working as a panaflex and sign-boards fixer in Varanasi. Details released to the Indian media by the Indian intelligence agencies say that when he went to Karachi for the second time, one of his cousins there arranged his meeting with two ISI agents who convinced him to work for the ISI and pass on sensitive information regarding the movements of military troops and the future plans of the Indian army. He was allegedly promised that he would be paid for all his services and the way to his marriage with her beloved would also be paved. In short, the Indian intelligence agencies started keeping an eye on Mohammad Rashid when he came back to India and after a long and tedious surveillance he was arrested.





How stupid is the narrative of the Indian Intelligence Agencies that a young man with education just up to class 8, working as a helper at a tailoring shop and a medical store and then working as a panaflex fixer was assigned to gather information about military movement and future planning. If a young man with such an ordinary social, educational and financial status could have approach to such sensitive information and so secret matters, then the Indian Military hi-ups must review the security and secrecy standards of their set-up.





Dragging Pakistan into internal matters of India and blaming ISI for all that goes wrong there is not a new practice; it is a decades old story, repeated time and again. In the world of defence related affairs such activity is commonly known as False Flag Operations. From Mumbai Blasts to the Pathankot Incident and to Pulwama Attacks, such False Flag Operations have ever been a routine matter. The intensity of such activities increases whenever Pakistan is in some FATF like turmoil. The Indian conspirators simply start concocting new stories of Pakistans alleged support to terrorists activities particularly in the Indian Occupied Kashmir. But most of the times these stories are illogical and irrational same as the story of Mohammad Rashid. In their hostility against Pakistan, the Indian intelligence agencies even dont spare their own people and sacrifice them ruthlessly at the altar of their foolish desire of defaming Pakistan.





Recent arrest of DSP Davinder Singh of J&K police is also one of such callous and brainless activities. Throughout his career as a police officer, DSP Davinder Singh has earned a reputation of a very honest and devoted officer. According to a report published in the India Today on 13th January 2020, the intelligence agencies have blamed that the DSP has very close links with the terrorists working for the liberation of the Indian Occupied Kashmir and he has been co-operating with them for a long time. It is astonishing fact that a few months back, the same DSP was awarded the National Police Medal for his gallantry by the Occupied State of J&K and was promised an out-of-turn promotion to the rank of SP as reward. Now the same national-hero is behind the bars and facing investigations like a criminal.





In other words, Mohammad Rashid, a Muslim and DSP Davinder Singh, a Sikh; both are pushed to the same fate. Rashids linkage with the ISI has been established, now it is the time to prove that a National Police Medal holding officer of the Indian Police Department was also an agent of the ISI. This situation is horrible as well as ridiculous; it is expected that in near future, when Mr. Modi wont be the Prime Minister, some day, someone from the Indian Intelligence Agencies would reveal that Mr. Modi had also been working for the ISI when he was the Prime Minister.




Four passengers in a commercial tricycle and the operator died in a fatal accident on Tombia-Amassoma road in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The accident victims were crushed by a tipper driver along the Tombia-Amassoma Road in Yenagoa, the state capital.

Ikechukwu Igwe, Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Bayelsa, who confirmed the incident to NAN Correspondent on Tuesday, said the incident occurred on Monday night.

He said the prompt intervention of the police led to the recovery of the remains of the victims and clearance of the mangled tricycle and lorry.

The incident occurred late on Monday night and we deployed our operational team to the incident site.

By the time they got there, the police had responded and cleared the road and we are closely working with them on the accident.

That is the beauty of the inter-service cooperation amongst security agencies in Bayelsa at work, Mr Igwe said.

A sand dealer in the area, Tobis Diseye, said the tipper driver was trying to evade a heap of chippings on his lane when he ran over the tricycle operator and his passengers on the opposite lane.

In reaction, tricycle operators under the aegis of Tombia Along Keke Unit (TAKU) on Tuesday, protested the killing of their members by the tipper driver.

They blocked a section of the Tombia-Amassoma Road and stopped other operators from plying the road during the protest.

A former chairman of TAKU, Henry Mbu, said in an interview with journalists that they were saddened by the incident.

Mr Mbu, who stated that his successor died two weeks ago, said: We are not happy. We are not happy. After the days work, yesterday, in the evening, we saw one of our drivers and four passengers dead.

Their bodies were scattered. If you saw the dead bodies, you would pity them. It was a tipper driver that caused the accident yesterday.

We are doing this protest to tell the whole world that we are not happy about the killing of our member and his passengers by the tipper driver, he said.

(NAN)
P olice locked down several roads in central London on Tuesday after another part of an unexploded Second World War bomb was discovered in Soho.

Officers evacuated Dean Street, Bateman Street, Richmond Mews, Meard Street and St Annes Court right in the heart of the popular district, saying the closures will "likely be in place until the end of this incident."

It was the second time in less than 24 hours police cordoned off parts of Dean Street near the Soho Hotel and a bomb disposal unit was scrambled to the scene to handle the explosive.

Soho Police announced at about 5pm that all road closures had been removed and evacuees could return.

Soho lockdown after discovery of unexploded WWII bomb 1 /32 Soho lockdown after discovery of unexploded WWII bomb Sophie Chuter Sophie Chuter Sophie Chuter Sophie Chuter AFP via Getty Images Getty Images AP AP AFP via Getty Images Members of the fire brigade work near a police cordon in the Soho area AFP via Getty Images PA AP AP AP AP PA PA PA Anton Thompson-McCormick Anton Thompson-McCormick Simon Jones James Lewis James Lewis Anton Thompson-McCormick

The force listed the affected roads as Dean Street at the junctions with Old Compton Street, Carlisle Place and Bateman Street.

Also within the current police cordon are Bateman Street at the junction with Frith Street, Meard Street at the junction of Wardour Street and St Annes Court at the junction with Wardour Street.

Police cordons are up for the second time in 24 hours / Charlie M

MPS Soho then detailed the necessary evacuations, apologising "for the inconvenience" but not giving any indication when the measures would be lifted.

Local business owners and bystanders have shared footage of today's incident on social media, with the Soho Society tweeting: "Another day, another WW2 bomb. Dean Street closed again."

Among those evacuated from a building on Dean Street on Tuesday was Steffan Honour.

Charlie M

The 27-year-old told BBC News: "Everyone was really calm.

"From looking at the other people being evacuated, it seemed there was almost a sense of annoyance and frustration - this being the second day of disruption, rather than mass panic.

"I think police were trying to instill urgency, but people were just wandering along, oblivious to the danger."

Advertising company Little Black Book tweeted: "Yep, we've been evacuated again. So please be patient if you've submitted news or are trying to get hold of us. Apparently another part of the WW2 bomb has been discovered. Team LBB all fine."

Meanwhile, BBC journalist Simon Jones filmed the Palace Theatre  where top West End musical Harry Potter and the Cursed is staged  surrounded by police tape.

He captioned the clip: "Today's cordon in Soho due to UXB part two"  with UXB meaning "unexploded bomb".

Another Twitter user added: "More WW2 bombs discovered under Soho Hotel/Dean St. First time Ive been chucked out the Groucho with @MarkBorkowski."

Her friend Mark Borkowski responded: "Thrown out of the Groucho again."

On Monday, the private members was evacuated along with the Soho Hotel and the Soho Theatre when the bomb was discovered.

Several police officers had blocked off the street as crowds gathered near the police tape.

Soho Put On Lockdown 'After Discovery Of Unexploded WWII Bomb'

Scotland Yard confirmed shortly after 8.30pm that the half-tonne bomb had been removed and that cordons in Oxford Street, Charing Cross Road, Shaftesbury Avenue, Lexington Street and Poland Street had been lifted.

Following the incident a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: An Army explosive ordnance disposal team has been called out to Soho to support the Metropolitan Police after discovery of a 500kg Second World War device.

The Army EOD team have confirmed the bomb was safe to remove overnight to a location where it will be detonated.
On Sunday, Feb.2, French Defense Minister Florence Parly has confirmed what Gen. Francois Lecointre, Chief of General Staff (CEMA), had already announced on Jan.22: on top of the 220 troops already sent recently, France will deploy 600 more soldiers in the fight against Islamists militants in Africas Sahel, south of the Sahara.



Equipped with an HK 416 rifle, F3 combat gear and SMB/E ballistic modular structure, the army's "Combatant 2020" is now a player in the Sahel-Saharan theatre. The vest was used during the Barkhane force operation in Liptako (Picture source: French MoD)

In addition to the dispatch announced by President Emmanuel Macron at the beginning of January of 220 soldiers who were on a short-term mission in Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), France is planning "the commitment of additional resources, the profile and composition of which I will present to the President of the Republic" General Lecointre said. These new reinforcements will be accompanied by additional logistical and intelligence resources. We are going to step up our efforts in the Liptako-Gourma area, in the area of the three borders [between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger], by concentrating additional resources there," Francois Lecointre added. "Today, in this extremely vast area, the resources made available to Operation Barkhane are not sufficient to have soldiers deployed 24/, H24.

Before the announcement of the first reinforcements by the French Head of State at the Pau summit at the beginning of January, the Barkhane force numbered some 4,500 soldiers in the Sahel. "But 4,500 men in the Sahel, that's ridiculous!" said General Lecointre last November at a hearing at the National Assembly, the report of which was published only this week. "Once the elements of logistics and support, the capacity of protection of our land (...) are subtracted, I find myself with a maximum of 2,000 men," he stressed.

The joint force of the G5 Sahel (Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Chad) will also focus its efforts on this area of the three borders, sanctuary of the Islamic State Group in the Great Sahara (EIGS) where the deadly attacks of jihadists in recent months have been concentrated, the French chief of staff recalled Wednesday.

Finally, "we wish to engage the Europeans" via a special forces group called Takuba, intended to accompany local forces in combat. This force, which will be deployed this summer, will be "fully operational from the autumn", he said. On a tactical level, this is what gives us hope that we will be able to achieve a switchover", he stressed, while referring to "a long commitment in any case". I don't think, despite this shift, that we will be able to claim victory at the end of the year. We hope that this tactical effort will be put to good use by the political authorities of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso," he reiterated. "An important part of the solution is in their hands.

General Lecointre also deplored the inertia of the European Mission for the Training of the Malian Army (EUTM Mali), launched in February 2013, which brings together 620 soldiers from 28 European countries: "I find Europe a little slow to get going. It is now seven months since I wrote to the European Union asking for EUTM (...) to deploy more and to do a more comprehensive job of accompanying the reconstruction of these armies and not just training," he said. All this is a long process. We should act very quickly".



Operation Barkhane, conducted by the French armed forces in partnership with the G5 Sahel countries, was launched on 1 August 2014. It is based on a strategic approach based on a logic of partnership with the main countries of the Sahel-Saharan strip (BSS): Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina-Faso. It brings together some 4,500 military personnel whose mission is to combat armed terrorist groups and support the armed forces of partner countries so that they can take this threat into account (Map source: Twitter)
DENVER, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- iN2L (It's Never 2 Late), the leading provider of person-centered digital engagement to the senior living market, and Christian Living Communities (CLC), a Denver-based not-for-profit specializing in senior care and services, announce they have entered into a strategic partnership to improve the social determinants of health in older adults.

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are social, economic and environmental conditions that can affect the overall health and quality of life of older adults. With an estimated 70% of the variance in healthcare outcomes attributable to social determinants1, a solution aimed at positively impacting these factors could not only keep older adults healthier, but also reduce costs. By specifically focusing on improving social connection, the two organizations aim to prevent the negative health outcomes that can arise when seniors don't have adequate social support.

Serving more than 3,000 older adults daily through 24 senior living communities and a home care service, CLC and its management division Cappella Living Solutions, is in an ideal position to improve health outcomes by impacting social determinants. The organization plans to launch its own Institutional Special Needs Plan (I-SNP) in early 2021. "CLC is committed to continually improving upon and evolving the care model for older adults served by our communities," said Terry Rogers, CLC Chief Executive Officer. "We are excited about the opportunity this presents to direct additional focus on providing the highest level of person-centered care for older adults with the goal of ensuring they stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible."

iN2L enables providers like CLC to enrich the lives of residents and clients through meaningful connection. iN2L's solution focuses on connecting older adults with their passions and interests as well as with each other, their caregivers and family members by sharing conversations, memories, experiences, learning and fun through interactive content that can easily be accessed through familiar touch screen technology formats.

"We know that by engaging elders meaningfully and connecting them to others around them, we create higher levels of camaraderie and engagement as well as a greater sense of purpose, all elements that are critical to overall health and quality of life," said Lisa Taylor, iN2L CEO. "Our solution is strategically designed as a tool to impact social support and healthy behaviors, and, in turn, improve health outcomes. We are honored to collaborate with CLC on improving this impact even more."

"We have been an advocate for iN2L's approach in supporting person-centered care with non-clinical interventions since the first iteration of their solution," added Camille Burke, Chief Operating Officer. "We are proud to co-develop a new solution aimed at social connection with a company whose passion for fostering fullness of life for older adults matches our own."

About iN2L

As the market leader in content-driven engagement for seniors, iN2L has been creating possibilities, enjoyment, and connection for older adults since 1999. iN2L's expansive content library promotes wellness, empowerment and engagement among older adults and is the foundation for activities that facilitate social interaction, cognitive and physical exercise and therapy, education, reminiscing, areas of interest and memory support engagement. iN2L is a critical part of the resident experience in more than 3,000 nursing homes, assisted and independent living communities, memory care settings and adult day programs across the U.S and Canada. For more information, visit www.in2l.com.

About Christian Living Communities and Cappella Living Solutions

Since 1972, Christian Living Communities (CLC), a Denver-based not-for-profit has been providing quality senior care and services throughout Colorado. Cappella Living Solutions is the management and consulting division of CLC. Together, CLC/Cappella touches the lives of more than 3,000 seniors daily through 24 communities across seven states by providing independent/assisted living, dementia care and skilled nursing. Its signature services include Rhythms Dementia Services, Home Care and Life Enrichment. For more information on CLC or Cappella, visit ChristianLivingCommunities.org or cappellaliving.com.

1 Lagasse, Jeff. (2019, September 19). Majority of hospitals, physician practices, screen patients for at least one SDOH, Dartmouth study finds.

Media Contact

Vanessa Ulrich

(410) 534.1161

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Macau on Tuesday said it will temporarily close down all casinos as the gambling hub battles the deadly coronavirus, cutting off the lifeblood of the city's economy.

The move came as the former Portuguese colony confirmed its tenth confirmed case of the virus, which has killed more than 400 people in China, infected tens of thousands and spread to more than 20 countries.

Chief Executive Ho Iat-seng, a pro-Beijing appointee who took office in December, said the gambling industry would initially shutter for two weeks but he warned the closures could be extended if the virus continued to spread.

"This is a difficult decision but we have to do it, for the health of our Macau residents," he told reporters.

Ho said he would meet gaming industry representatives on Tuesday afternoon and announce precise timings soon after.

The only other time Macau has closed its casinos was in 2018, when the city was hit directly by a typhoon.

On Tuesday, health authorities announced two fresh infections, one a woman who worked in the gaming industry.

As the only place in China where gambling is allowed, Macau's casinos account for about 80 per cent of government revenue.

Some 35 million people visited the densely crowded city of just 631,000 people last year, the vast majority mainland Chinese heading to the casinos, which rake in each week what Las Vegas takes in a month.

But the virus outbreak has hammered the industry over what would usually be one of its busiest periods -- the Lunar New Year holidays.

The number of visitors has plunged 80 percent in the past week.

Ho had previously said he was willing to close the gambling industry because of the virus outbreak and casinos have been monitoring the temperatures of punters walking through their doors in recent days.

Ho, who wore a face mask for his conference, added he had no plans yet to close the border with mainland China but would consider shutting certain checkpoints, a step neighbouring Hong Kong has taken.

He also called on residents to reduce trips outdoors.

"Don't go on the streets if not necessary. I hope everyone will wear a mask no matter where you go, supermarkets or wet markets. Don't be careless. Don't take it lightly," Ho said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dave King, a native of Killeen, Riverstown on the Offaly-Tipperary border, was recently honoured by the Order of Malta Ambulance Corps for his 50 years of service.

At the same event in the Hibernian Inn & Restaurant in Nenagh, Michael Moloney, who was involved in the Order of Malta's Unit in Birr in past years, was also honoured for 60 years of service.

Dave, who holds the rank of Lieutenant in the Ambulance Corps, was an active member of the Birr Unit until 1973, when he transferred to Nenagh. He worked in Nenagh Creamery until 1992 when he began to do temporary work with the National Ambulance Service. He became permanent with the Service as a paramedic three years later and only retired recently.

At the presentation of awards in the Hibernian on January 24 last, colleagues paid tribute to both Dave and Michael's service with Regional Director, Asst. Cmdr Tony O Mara, Assistant Regional Director Capt Carmel Peacock and current Officer-in-Charge of the Nenagh Unit, Lt Nora O`Loughlin also in attendance.

Also a former Officer-in-Charge of the Unit in Nenagh, Dave is very much involved in the Unit today, passing on the benefit of his years of experience to younger members and applying that experience in rendering medical aid whenever necessary at numerous community events across the region.
By George Obulutsa

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's longest-serving president Daniel Arap Moi, whose rule was marred by corruption and torture of opponents, died on Tuesday, the office of the president said.

He was 95.

There was no immediate explanation for Moi's death, but he had been in and out of hospital with breathing problems in recent months.

Plaudits poured in from Kenyan politicians, but some of his victims were less forgiving.

"Our nation and our continent were immensely blessed by the dedication and service of the late ... Moi, who spent almost his entire adult life serving Kenya and Africa," President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a statement.

Moi died peacefully in hospital at 5.20 a.m. (0220 GMT), surrounded by his family, said his son Gideon Moi, a senator.

Moi came to power in 1978, when he was serving as vice-president and the nation's first leader President Jomo Kenyatta died. He remained in power until the end of 2002 when his constitutional term ran out.

Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Jomo Kenyatta, was Moi's preferred successor but lost the election to the opposition. Uhuru Kenyatta became president in 2013.

Moi is credited for keeping Kenya relatively stable compared with its troubled neighbors, and he worked for peace in the region.

But he oversaw massive corruption scandals that are still costing Kenyan taxpayers. One scandal, Goldenberg, led to the loss of at least $1 billion in central bank money via compensation payments for bogus gold and diamond exports.

The economy stagnated under Moi, leaving millions mired in poverty.

Diplomats said an attempted coup in 1982 transformed Moi from a cautious, insecure leader into a tough autocrat.

Moi rewrote the constitution to legalize de facto one-party rule, which secured power for his Kenya African National Union (KANU) until 1991, when Moi caved in to international pressure to reintroduce multi-party politics.

"I STILL CARRY SCARS"

His government set up interrogation chambers in the basement of Nyayo House, a government building in central Nairobi that now houses the immigration department.

Story continues

Thousands of activists, students and academics were held without charge in the underground cells, some of them partly filled with water.

Prisoners say they were sometimes denied food and water and beaten to confess fictitious crimes or just for revenge.

"There remains the legacy of disappearances and unexplained deaths, detention without trial, repression of freedom of expression and the media," said human rights lawyer Gitobu Imanyara, who was held in solitary confinement for two years.

"I never knew if I was going to make it out alive - I still carry scars. Some people were not as lucky as I am. They died. These are the people we need to remember."

Moi barely survived demands for his resignation over the 1990 murder of Foreign Minister Robert Ouko, an important Luo leader. In 2010, a government inquiry into the death, presented to parliament five years after it was written, said the murder was carried out in one of Moi's official residences.

(Additional reporting by Giulia Paravicini in Addis Ababa and Katharine Houreld in Nairobi; Editing by)
Congress and some other Opposition parties protested in the Lok Sabha on Monday over the controversial remarks of BJP lawmaker Anantkumar Hegde relating to Mahatma Gandhi as Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said BJP members were his real followers and accused Congress of being followers of "fake Gandhi" - Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

The verbal clash took place during Zero Hour with the Opposition raising slogans and staging a walkout. Apart from Congress, members of NCP, DMK and Trinamool Congress also staged a walkout.

Raising the issue, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that protests were being held all over the country against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Register of Citizens (NRC) in a peaceful manner following the path of non-violence shown by Mahatma Gandhi.

He said "abuse" was being hurled at Mahatma Gandhi, who is respected all over the world.

"They are criticising the worshipper of Lord Ram. He is like a father to the whole world," Chowdhury said, referring to the treasury benches.

As Speaker Om Birla called other members to raise their issues, Congress and other Opposition members started raising slogans against the government.

Joshi said the BJP leaders had taken out foot marches to coincide with the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

"They are unnecessarily making an issue," he said.

The minister said the concerned member had conveyed that he had said "nothing like that" and had been told to express regret.

"BJP people - we are the real followers of Mahatma Gandhi. These people are followers of fake Gandhi - Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi," he said.

Chowdhury said they had not expected such remarks from Joshi about party leaders.

Joshi, however, retorted and said both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were on bail. "What are you talking?" he asked.

Chowdhury said they were walking out as the government was "defending" the remarks of Hegde.

Hegde, who is Lok Sabha MP from Uttara Kannada, had said the entire freedom movement was "staged with the consent and support of the British".

He made the remarks while addressing a public event in Bengaluru on Saturday.

"None of these so-called leaders were beaten up by the cops even once. Their independence movement was one big drama. It was staged by these leaders with the approval of the British. It was not a genuine fight. It was an adjustment freedom struggle," he had said.

The BJP leader also termed Mahatma Gandhi's hunger strikes and satyagraha a "drama".

"People supporting Congress keep saying that India got independence because of the fast unto death and satyagraha. This is not true. The British did not leave the country because of satyagraha," he had said.

"Britishers gave independence out of frustration. My blood boils when I read history. Such people become Mahatma in our country," Hegde had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 Flash

U.S. House impeachment managers and President Donald Trump's defense team clashed Monday in their closing arguments of the Senate impeachment trial.

In a four-hour session equally divided for both sides, House manager Adam Schiff said "history will not be kind to Donald Trump," accusing him of betraying "the national interest and security to help with his reelection."

Hakeem Jeffries, another House manager, said in his remarks that they have proven their case against Trump with "a mountain of evidence."

White House counsel Pat Cipollone, for his part, defended the president's acts by alleging Democrats were aimed at overturning the results of the 2016 presidential election and interfering in the ongoing presidential race.

Cipollone, in addition, urged senators to reject the articles of impeachment against Trump.

The Senate adjourned after they wrapped up the closing arguments.

The chamber, where Republicans have a narrow majority over Democrats, will proceed to votes on the articles of impeachment Wednesday afternoon amid wide expectations that Trump will be acquitted.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, speaking from the Senate floor in a legislative session on Monday, called on the Senate to censure Trump.

"Censure would allow this body to unite across party lines and as an equal branch of government to formally denounce the president's actions and hold him accountable," Manchin said.

However, Manchin and his Democratic colleagues Doug Jones of Alabama and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have left open the possibility that they might vote to acquit Trump.

Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe tweeted on Monday that he believes "Manchin's censure move could serve only to give him and Jones cover to acquit, yielding a 55-45 acquittal margin and no majority to censure."

Monday's session came days after Senate voted mostly along party lines to reject the effort in seeking witnesses and documents for the proceeding, paving the way for a quick end.

The House, controlled by Democrats, impeached Trump in December last year for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, charges that the White House has refuted.

A whistleblower raised concern in an anonymous complaint last summer about the White House's interactions with Ukraine, triggering a Democrat-led impeachment inquiry against Trump.

The U.S. president was alleged to have pressed his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, into launching investigations that could politically benefit him. Furthermore, the White House allegedly tried to cover it up.

In tweets on Monday, Trump called the impeachment a partisan "hoax," while lashing out at the whistleblower and Democrats.

"Where's the Whistleblower? Where's the second Whistleblower? Where's the Informer? Why did Corrupt politician Schiff MAKE UP my conversation with the Ukrainian President???" Trump wrote. "Why didn't the House do its job?"

According to the U.S. Constitution, the House shall have the "sole Power of Impeachment," while the Senate shall have the "sole Power to try all Impeachments."

Conviction can only happen in the Senate and requires at least two-thirds of its members, or 67 senators, to vote in favor of at least one article of impeachment after a trial. Currently, the Senate has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and two independents who caucus with Democrats.

No sitting U.S. president has ever been removed from office by Congress through impeachment.
Duane Dog the Bounty Hunter Chapmans daughter Lyssa Rae Chapman has been charged following her arrest.

According to the criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE, Lyssa, 32, has been charged with two counts of harassment by the deputy prosecuting attorney of the city and county of Honolulu, Hawaii, after she allegedly struck and shoved a man and a woman.

RELATED: Dog the Bounty Hunters Daughter Lyssa Rae Chapman Arrested on Harassment Charge

TMZ reports that the woman is Lyssas girlfriend.

Lyssa was arrested late Thursday night on charges of harassment and resisting arrest, a media spokesperson for the Honolulu Police Department confirmed to PEOPLE. She was released on $500 bail for the harassment offense and $100 for the resisting arrest offense.

Duane Chapman, Beth Chapman and Lyssa Rae Chapman

RELATED: Dog the Bounty Hunter Is Not Engaged to Moon Angell, Calls Her My Dearest Friend

According to TMZ, Lyssa was not charged with resisting arrest.

Lyssa seemed to allude to her troubles on Twitter, sharing a meme that read, I TRIED TO FOLLOW MY DREAMS BUT NOW I HAVE MULTIPLE RESTRAINING ORDERS.

Duane did not return PEOPLEs request for comment when first contacted after Lyssas arrest.
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Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2020) - Explorex Resources Inc. (CSE: EX) (FSE: 1XE) (OTC: EXPXF) (the "Company" or "Explorex") is pleased to announce that, further to its news release dated December 23, 2019, it has entered into an arrangement agreement dated January 28, 2020 (the "Arrangement Agreement") with its wholly-owned subsidiary, Origen Resources Inc. ("Spinco").

The Arrangement Agreement, a copy of which will be available under Explorex's profile on SEDAR, sets out the terms on which Explorex will complete a plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) with Spinco whereby Explorex's current mineral exploration assets and $500,000 will be spun out to Spinco. The Arrangement, if completed, will result in, among other things, the shareholders of Explorex being entitled to receive one common share of Spinco in exchange for each two common shares of Explorex held on the effective date of the Arrangement. Spinco intends to seek a listing of its common shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") following the completion of the Arrangement.

Explorex will be seeking shareholder approval of the Arrangement at the upcoming special meeting of shareholders scheduled to be held on or about March 9, 2020, in accordance with the terms of the Agreement and the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). The Arrangement will also be subject to, among other things, approval of the CSE and the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

The Arrangement is one element in a series of transactions which are intended to result in a "fundamental change" for Explorex under CSE Policy 8 and the continuation of Explorex's corporate jurisdiction from British Columbia to the Cayman Islands. As previously disclosed in Explorex's news release dated December 23, 2019, Explorex has entered into a share exchange agreement with Raffles Financial Private Ltd. ("Raffles"). Raffles is a diversified financial services company incorporated under the laws of Singapore and operating in Singapore, with regional branch offices in Sydney, Australia, Beijing and Hong Kong. Upon completion of the share exchange transaction (the "Transaction"), it is expected that the business of Explorex will be the same business of Raffles.

Full details of the proposed Arrangement and the other transactions described above will be contained in a notice of meeting and information circular, which will be mailed to shareholders and filed on SEDAR in due course.

Private Placement

Explorex is also pleased to announce that it has approved a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") for total gross proceeds of up to $500,000. The Private Placement will consist of up to 2,272,727 common shares at a price of $0.22 per common share. Explorex intends to use the gross proceeds from the Private Placement for working capital purposes and to provide a portion of the cash to Spinco under the Arrangement. Explorex may pay finder's fees in connection with the Private Placement.

On behalf of the Board,

Gary Schellenberg, CEO

For further information, please contact Gary Schellenberg, CEO or Mike Sieb, President at 604-681-0221

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This press release should not be considered a comprehensive summary of the Arrangement or Transaction. Additional information required by applicable securities laws and the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") will be disseminated at a future date following a satisfactory review by the CSE. Completion of the Arrangement and Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, CSE acceptance and Explorex shareholder approval. The Arrangement and Transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Arrangement and Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Management Information Circular to be prepared in connection with the Transaction, Arrangement and continuation, any information released or received with respect to the Arrangement and Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Explorex should be considered highly speculative. Trading of the common shares of Explorex will remain halted pending receipt and review by the CSE of acceptable documentation regarding the Arrangement and Transaction. The proposed Arrangement and Transaction have not been approved by the CSE and remains subject to CSE approval.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially and there are no assurances that the transaction described in this news release will close on the terms described or at all. Except as required pursuant to applicable securities laws, the Company will not update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. More detailed information about potential factors that could affect financial results is included in the documents filed from time to time with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities by the Company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements.

NEWS RELEASE - NOT FOR US DISTRIBUTION

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52068
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We listen to local police and fire departments scanner traffic, but sometimes miss crimes, wrecks, fires or other incidents, especially if they happen overnight. If you know of something were not covering yet, please let Managing Editor Jeff Pownall know by emailing him at jpownall@lufkindailynews.com, or submit a news tip online by visiting lufkindailynews.com/tips.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 22:42:56|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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GENEVA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A senior UN official said here on Tuesday that the warring parties in Libya now are willing to turn the truce into a permanent ceasefire.

Ghassan Salame, special representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya, told reporters that the parties have expressed their agreement on the necessity to transform the truce into a "lasting ceasefire."

"Now the question is, what are the conditions of this agreement, that is what we will discuss today and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow," he noted.

"Both sides have come to Geneva, and we started yesterday to discuss with them a long list of points on our agenda, starting an attempt to transform the truce into a more solid one, less often violated by either side, but also to transform that truce into a real agreement on a lasting ceasefire," he added.

According to the UN official, the current meeting in Geneva is the first time since a very long time that high-ranking officers of the two sides meet.

The 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission started their meeting under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva on Monday. Five senior officers from the Government of National Accord (GNA) and their counterparts from the Libyan National Army (LNA) are participating in the talks.
Justice Minister Denys Malyuska stated the intention of the ministry to prepare a few lawsuits against Russia as Glavkom reported.

We have five lawsuits against the Russian Federation and all of them are at the stage of the identification of accessory  whether the court may consider them. In other words, if the court recognizes that it is competent to consider them, then it will pass to the review on the merits. We are speaking of hours in the Anti-raiding commissions, while the national courts  of months. The International courts are years. It is impossible to accelerate this process. That is why it will last for years. But we do not step back. Now, we think about the feasibility and possibility of provision of one-two lawsuits soon, the Justice Minister said.

Malyuska did not want to comment on the spheres of new lawsuits of Ukraine against Russia, noting that it is the issue of the initiative. According to the minister, his department is at the stage of the gathering of evidence and substantiation, with attempts to get the legal support from abroad.

Let it be a surprise, Maluska added.

According to RBK-Ukraine, in January 2020, it became known that Naftogaz-Ukraine files renewed lawsuits against Russia to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. The company intends to oblige Russia to pay over $7 billion of compensation for the seizure of assets in annexed Crimea.

In December 2019, Naftogaz and Gazprom signed an agreement to withdraw all current claims and complaints from both sides. Such a decision was made due to responsibility regarding the citizens of Ukraine, the interests of the national company.
SPRINGFIELD  Former state Sen. Martin Sandoval and SafeSpeed LLC, the red light camera company at the center of federal corruption charges against him, are now the targets of a racketeering lawsuit that seeks to void tens of thousands of traffic citations issued through the companys devices.

Lawrence Gress, a Downers Grove resident and lead plaintiff in the case, filed the suit Monday under the federal Racketeering, Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), a law most often used to prosecute organized crime syndicates. But RICO also allows for private civil suits for actions that are part of a criminal enterprise.

The lawsuit alleges SafeSpeed, its officers and employees, paid bribes to Sandoval and several other local government officials to gain approval for placing its red light cameras at various intersections in Chicago-area suburbs.

Sandoval and the other government officials, the lawsuit alleges, were paid as undisclosed sales agents or consultants based on a percentage of the revenue generated by the cameras.

Sandoval served in the state Senate from 2003 until Jan. 1, when he resigned amid the corruption scandal. Starting in January 2009, he was chairman of the powerful Senate Transportation Committee and was instrumental in securing passage of last years $45 billion capital improvements program known as Rebuild Illinois.

He was removed from his chairmanship in October, just weeks after federal agents executed a search warrant on his Statehouse office in Springfield where they seized a number of computers, cellphones and boxes of documents.

On Tuesday, Jan. 28, Sandoval pleaded guilty to one count each of federal bribery and tax fraud charges as part of a deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to cooperate with their ongoing investigations.

The RICO lawsuit, however, is separate from the criminal case, but it is based largely on the same set of facts to which Sandoval has already pleaded guilty.

It alleges that beginning sometime in 2016 and continuing through October 2019, SafeSpeed operated a corrupt enterprise, known as an association-in-fact, by conspiring with the other defendants to pay bribes or kickbacks to public officials who would steer contracts toward the company for operating red light cameras.

Sandoval is accused of using his position in the Senate to serve as the companys protector by ensuring legislation unfavorable to the company, including bills to ban the use of red light cameras, would never pass and to help override objections from the Illinois Department of Transportation about the placement of certain cameras.

In exchange, the lawsuit alleges, SafeSpeed and its employees arranged to pay $20,000 a year in donations to Sandovals campaigns.

The lawsuit was filed as a proposed class action on behalf of an estimated 100,000 or more individuals who were fined between $100 and $200 for each ticket issued by a red light camera that was corruptly and improperly installed, over repeated objections from IDOT, as a direct and proximate result of bribes paid.

While the claim of each individual member of the class is relatively small, the lawsuit argues, combined they add up to millions of dollars.

Other defendants named in the suit are SafeSpeed co-founders and employees Nikki Zollar, Chris Lai, Khalid Cliff Maani and his son Omar Maani; Oakbrook Terrace Mayor Tony Ragucci; the city of Oakbrook Terrace; Cook County Commissioner and McCook Village President Jeff Tobolski; Tobolskis chief of staff, Patrick Doherty; former Chicago Deputy Aviation Commissioner Bill Helm; former Village of Justice Police Chief Robert Gedville; Worth Township Supervisor and Democratic committeeman John OSullivan; Summit Mayor Sergio Rodriguez; Alsip Mayor John Ryan; former state Rep. Michael Carberry, of Oak Lawn; Summit Police Chief John Kosmowski; and Summit Public Works Chief Bill Mundy.

It is the second RICO case that Gress, the lead plaintiff, has filed that involves Sandoval. Another pending case was originally filed in 2017 after Gress was passed over for a job as community relations representative for the Pace Suburban Bus Company in favor of Sandovals son, Martin Sandoval II.

That suit refers to Sandoval as the kingpin at the center of the wide-ranging and longstanding conspiracy alleged in the case.

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The Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to Nigeria, Mr Zhou Pingjian, on Monday, said the embassy had stopped issuance of visas for now.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that he also advised Nigerians planning to travel to China to suspend their plans pending when the spread of the virus would be contained.

He also reiterated Chinas commitment to safeguarding the lives of Nigerians and other nationals living in that country.

The ambassador stated this while briefing newsmen on the coronavirus outbreak in his country and the measures put in place to contain the scourge.



He said China had taken the most comprehensive, rigorous containment, and mitigation measures beyond the requirements of international health regulations.

He said by such measures China was not only protecting the health of its people but also that of the people around the world.

According to Zhou, checking the spread of the coronavirus is a common concern of the international community.

Life comes first. The Chinese government is committed to safeguarding the lives and health of the Chinese people.

We will, in a responsible manner, safeguard the life of every foreign national in China and address their legitimate concerns in a timely manner.

We will continue to strengthen communication and coordination with the international community and work hand in hand for the epidemic prevention and control, he said.

He also advised other countries to adopt a responsible attitude, work together to combat the virus, and avoid overreaction that might result in more negative spillover effects.

He added that a total of 60 Nigerians were living in Wuhan city where the virus broke out from, adding that no Nigerian in China had been infected.

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The UK and European Union are on collision course for a Brexit trade battle as Boris Johnson and Michel Barnier set out competing visions of the future relationship.

Major stumbling blocks are already obvious, just days after the UK left the European Union, with battles over fishing and the application of a "level playing field" on issues including state subsidies, environmental standards and workers' rights.

The Prime Minister insisted there was "no need" to abide by EU rules and said that British fishing grounds are "first and foremost" for UK boats. But the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said that allowing European trawlers into British waters was "inextricably linked" to securing a trade deal.

And he pointed to the joint Political Declaration, agreed with Mr Johnson, which committed the UK to "robust commitments to ensure a level playing field".

The Prime Minister used a speech in Greenwich, London, to stress his commitment to free trade - and signal his determination to secure an arrangement with Brussels along the lines of that agreed between the EU and Canada.

"There is no need for a free trade agreement to involve accepting EU rules on competition policies, subsidies, social protection, the environment or anything similar, any more than the EU should be obliged to accept UK rules," he said.

"The UK will maintain the highest standards in these areas, better in many respects than those of the EU, without the compulsion of a treaty."

Downing Street said the UK will agree to some regulatory alignment with the EU, as Canada has done, but would not accept alleged breaches being ruled on by the European Court of Justice.

"The issues of citizens' rights, of the Northern Irish border, they are now settled - over and done with," the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.
Sears at South Park Mall is nearly empty after more than 60 years of being part of San Antonio's South Side shopping experience.

Photos shared by New Republic of San Antonio show the once-bustling department store decimated to only a handful of products and racks Monday night. The South Park Mall store was the only one in Texas affected by the decision to close 96 Sears and Kmart locations. Transformco, the parent company of the two brands, announced the "difficult" decision in November 2019, citing a desire to "streamline" efforts in the face of "a difficult retail environment and other challenges."
The taxpayers' charter announced in the Budget will have a statutory status and it will "empower" citizens by ensuring time-bound services by the Income-Tax department, the CBDT chief has said.

IMAGE: Sand artist Sudarshan Pattanaik's work of art in Puri, Odisha, seems to say it all. Photograph: PTI Photo.

CBDT chairman Pramod Chandra Mody said the charter will be notified very soon and once operationalised, India will be only the "third or fourth" country to have such a tax administration.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes frames policy for the I-T department.

"The underlining theme with which we have been working till now is that we trust the taxpayers and from purely an enforcement agency, we are shifting our focus to being a service-oriented department," Mody said in an interview to the Press Trust of India.

"We are trying to promote voluntary compliance and in the process we are also trying to put some discipline on us that we are willing to provide you these services within a given time-frame and with certain benchmarks and it would be the taxpayers right to expect those services," he said.

Earlier, Mody said, these services were part of an administrative mechanism by way of an existing citizens charter. "Now we are giving it a statutory recognition, once it is in the statute (in the law), it is enforceable."

"Earlier it was expected to be enforced but now it is binding. And to that extent it is the empowerment of the taxpayer," he said.

Mody explained that the duties of a taxpayer are "already provided" in the Income-Tax Act regarding payment of tax, advance tax, and doing tax deducted at source (TDS).

"It (taxpayer charter) will be a great empowerment and great service to the taxpayer and incidentally this is not there in many tax jurisdictions."

"We would be the third or fourth country to have it in statute. I think the US, Canada and Australia have it. So it is a big, big responsibility we are taking," he said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed the charter in her Budget speech on Saturday and said the government would like to re-assure taxpayers that it remains committed to taking measures so that they are free from harassment of any kind. Tax harassment cannot be tolerated, she said.

The minister said any tax system requires trust between taxpayers and the administration, which will be possible only when the latter's rights are clearly enumerated.

Talking about the 'Vivad Se Vishwas scheme, Mody said the aim of the latest measure is to reduce litigation and see finalisation of 4.83 lakh stuck cases in appellate forums under the direct taxes category.

Asked how much revenue is locked in these cases, the CBDT chairman said it's a "few lakh crores."

"These cases are at different appellate levels like commissioner of income tax (appeals), income tax appellate tribunal, high courts and the Supreme Court. These cases stuck cover a multitude of assessees like individuals, partnership firms, cooperative societies, small and big corporates and all sorts of people," he said.

"The basic idea is that we want to reduce litigation and help getting the assessee a clarity in his case in quick time," he said.

Under the scheme, a taxpayer would be required to pay only the amount of the disputed tax and will get complete waiver of interest and penalty provided they pay by March 31, 2020.

"Those who avail this scheme after March 31, 2020, will have to pay some additional amount. The scheme will remain open till June 30, 2020," Sitharaman said in her Budget Speech.

A similar scheme, 'Sabka Vishwas', for cases stuck in litigation under the indirect taxes category, was brought in by the government in the last Budget.

Buoyed by the success of the faceless e-assessment scheme of income tax cases, the finance minister proposed in the Budget bringing in a new faceless appeal scheme.

The CBDT chief said as part of the e-assessment scheme, launched on October 8 last year, the I-T department has completed assessment in 100 cases and notices have been issued in 48,000 cases out of the total 58,000 picked as part of the ambitious scheme.

"All the physical infrastructure is already in place in terms of hardware. The success of the e-assessment scheme has given us the confidence that it (faceless appeals) can be handled," he said.

Mody said there are no glitches in terms of infrastructure, manpower and communication between the taxpayer and the department.

"Based on that convenience, we took it to the next level. It (e-appeals) would be randomised and team-based and with the basic idea to increase transparency in trying to get some sort of uniformity and consistency or to say it would not lead to difference in approach on a particular issue."

"This scheme too shall be notified very soon," he said.
Dowling recovering at home after long hospital stay

State Rep. Matthew Dowling has returned home after suffering a one-vehicle crash in October. Dowling represents parts of Somerset County.
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, otherwise known as comedian Robert Smigel, took to Capitol Hill last week to cover the impeachment of President Trump for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Alongside actual reporters, Triumph repeatedly shouted questions at various players in the impeachment like Utah Senator Mitt Romney and indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas.
In an unusual incident, a Thai woman gave birth on board a flight during her travel from Doha (Qatar) to Bangkok (Thailand) on Tuesday. The incident took place in a Qatar Airways flight following which the flight made an emergency landing at Kolkata Airport around 3.15 am.

The unnamed woman passenger went into labour and delivered the baby with the help of a cabin crew of the Qatar Airways. The 23-year-old Thailand national and her baby were then shifted to a private hospital in Kolkata and they are both in good health.

Live TV

"An unscheduled flight from Doha to Bangkok QR-830 landed around 03:09 am at Kolkata airport in medical priority landing. The pilot of Qatar flight had asked SOS to ATC for medical priority landing. The flight landed safely, the airport team with the doctor was attending the concerned." Kolkata Airport official said while speaking to ANI.
Plumbing and building supplies merchant Ferguson was one of the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 today after it confirmed it was considering moving its stock market listing to the US and revealed plans for a share buy-back.

Ferguson, which is about to spin off its UK Wolseley business following pressure from American activist investor Nelson Peltz, said the US was its 'natural' home for a listing.

The company is consulting with shareholders over two possible options: having a dual listing in London and the US, or switching its primary listing to a US stock exchange, which would mean losing its place in the FTSE 100 index.

'Complex issue': Chairman Geoff Drabble said Ferguson's natural listing location is the USA

The latter option would be a blow to London and could anger UK shareholders. In both cases, the company needs the approval of 75 per cent of shareholders.

'The Board believes that Ferguson's natural long-term listing location is the USA but it is mindful that this is a complex issue for many of our existing shareholders,' chairman Geoff Drabble said.

Meanwhile, Ferguson also announced a $500million (386million) share buyback to allow it to meet its long-term growth prospects.

The company's shares closed almost 7 per cent higher at 73.78 on Tuesday, making it one of the top gainers on the Footsie.

The announcement comes as in September last year, Ferguson announced plans to split off its UK operations following a lengthy strategic review of the group.

The UK division has been suffering sliding sales amid challenging trading conditions.

It also came under scrutiny from US hedge fund and activist investor Trian Partners, run by billionaire entrepreneur Nelson Peltz, which bought a 6 per cent stake last June.

The group has recently seen a changeover at the top, with chief executive John Martin - at the helm since 2016 - stepping down in November and replaced by its US boss, Kevin Murphy.
First Congregational Church of Greenwich / Contributed photo

First Congregational Church of Greenwich will host a discussion and screening of a documentary that delves into the science of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the birth of a new movement to treat and prevent toxic stress.

Dr. Alice Forrester, Executive Director at Clifford Beers Clinic in New Haven, will be on hand for the open-to-the-public screening/discussion on Monday, March 9.
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- East Ventures, the pioneer of Indonesia's early-stage venture capital scene, released East Ventures - Digital Competitiveness Index (EV-DCI) 2020, a comprehensive report of digital economy development in 34 provinces and 24 big cities across Indonesia.

The report outlined a picture of a digital divide in Indonesia, one of the fastest-growing digital economies in the world. The disparities between the rapidly developed digital ecosystem in Indonesia's urban area and the regions beyond it shows that Indonesia's digital journey has just begun.

East Ventures Digital Competitiveness Index (EV-DCI), a measurement that factors in 9 aspects relating to digital development, shows that the majority of Indonesian is ready to adopt digital services due to high smartphone ownership and internet access. Yet, EV-DCI's score for human resources and entrepreneurship is still low. Meaning, only a small number of Indonesians are utilizing technology to open businesses or improve productivity.

The digital divide also shows that the fast-growing internet-based companies that operate in the Indonesian market (six of those are unicorns), serves only a fraction of Indonesia's economy. By scaling up and extending their services across the archipelago, those companies have an immense opportunity to grow their business exponentially.

Some key highlights of the report:

Centralizes on Java

The provinces on the island of Java records the highest EV-DCI score in comparison to all other provinces. This evidently shows the gap between Java and other Indonesian regions. Furthermore, the EV-DCI score for cities highlights a developmental inequality seen by the huge gap between the city that ranked first, Jakarta, and the city that ranked second, Bandung.

Financial Disruption

The financial industry is one of the most affected by digitalization in Indonesia. In areas with a high EV-DCI score, banks close their branch offices at a faster rate. EV-DCI score is also correlated with a high disbursement of credit by fintech lenders and the number of branchless banking financial agents.

Talent Pool Shortage

The growth of the digital economy creates a more competitive talent market which produces a pool of skilled workforce. Though areas with high digital competitiveness tend to absorb more of these professionals and skilled workers.

Several jobs such as administrative work, machine operators, and laborers are expected to be impacted the most by digitalization. Evidently, the number of these workers in the ICT, finance, and transportation industries has been facing the sharpest decline.

New Bali

Digital competitiveness in areas prepared to be the 'New Bali' such as Labuan Bajo, Lake Toba, Raja Ampat, Borobudur Temple, Mount Bromo, and Morotai must be improved in providing access to information, comfort, and attractiveness for foreign tourists.

Willson Cuaca, Co-founder and Managing Partner of East Ventures explained, "The digital economy promises inclusivity and equal economic opportunities for all Indonesians. However, Indonesia is often times only assessed from the development of certain big cities like Jakarta, while there are still many cities untouched by the promise of the digital economy. By allowing everyone to participate in the digital economy, Indonesia could convert demographic bonuses into demographic dividends; turning potential into reality."

The full report can be downloaded at east.vc/DCI

About East Ventures

East Ventures is the first early-stage investor in Indonesia and stands amongst the most consistently top-performing venture capitals globally with a constantly high IRR. Established since 2009, the firm has supported more than 170 digitally-enabled companies in Southeast Asia, with 130 companies founded in and operating in Indonesia.

East Ventures has worked alongside entrepreneurs to build Indonesia's digital ecosystem from the ground up since day 1. Spotting opportunities early, the firm is the first venture capital to support Indonesia's two homegrown unicorns: Tokopedia and Traveloka. The firm has since then invested in other industry themes, including supporting infrastructure to e-commerce such as Waresix (logistics), Xendit (payment), Kudo (offline to online), Shopback (e-commerce enabler), vertical commerce such as Sociolla (new retail beauty), media such as IDN Media (millennial and gen-z audience), Tech in Asia(tech audience), and Katadata (business and economy audience), SME support such as Mekari (accounting, tax, payroll), Moka (POS), CoHive (coworking), new retail such as Warung Pintar (FMCG) and Fore Coffee (on-demand coffee chains), and digital transformation such as Advotics (supply chain analytics) and Nodeflux (computer vision and AI).

Over the past decade, the firm has grown its Southeast Asian assets reaching US$1.2 bnunder management for both the early-stage and growth funds. The firm has delivered more than 20 exits, including Kudo's acquisition by Grab, Loket's acquisition by Gojek, Bridestory's acquisition by Tokopedia, and multiple exits to both local and regional business groups. It has also attracted a total of US$4 bnin follow-on funding that fostered the growth of Indonesia's digital economy today.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1085966/EV_DCI_01__1.jpg
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kokrajhar on February 7 to participate in the celebrations of the signing of the Bodo agreement.

The visit comes days after the government signed a tripartite agreement with representatives of all factions of the banned Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in New Delhi.

It will be the first visit of Prime Minister Modi since the state witnessed anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests.

Over four lakh people from the Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) districts and all over Assam are expected to attend the programme, a government release said.

The Bodo groups have been demanding a separate state of Bodoland for the last 50 years. The movement has resulted in extensive violence and loss of hundreds of lives over the years.

The Assam government will organise a cultural programme of ethnic groups of the state to showcase the diversity of the region.

The Prime Minister will also address the gathering to hail the historic Bodo Agreement signed in January this year, by including the leading stakeholders under one framework.

He had said that the agreement is inspired by the mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas' and the spirit of 'Ek Bharat, Shresth Bharat'.

"Over 1615 cadres of different factions of the NDFB have surrendered their arms and joined the mainstream within two days of the signing of the agreement," read the release.

A special package of Rs 1,500 Crore is earmarked for the development of the region.

"The recent signing of the Bru-Reang Agreement signed by the Government of India and Governments of Mizoram, Tripura, to provide relief and succour to over 35,000 Bru-Reang Refugees and the surrendering of over 85 Cadres of the NLFT in Tripura stand testimony to the continued commitment and vision of the Prime Minister for the overall development and peace of the North-East", the statement said.

In "Mann Ki Baat" programme on the Republic Day, the Prime Minister gave a clarion call to all those on the path of violence to return to the mainstream and lay down arms.

"On the solemn occasion of Republic Day, I would appeal to anyone in any part of the country, who's still seeking solutions to problems through violence and weapons, to return to the mainstream. They should have faith in their own capabilities and the capabilities of this country to resolve issues peacefully", he had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
S Lalitha By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: To ensure that the value of a precious resource like Cauvery water is well understood, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has embarked on a plan to instill awareness among youngsters by giving them a water tour.

Students from high school to degree level will be invited for weekend field trips to Thorekadanahalli (TK Halli) reservoir to understand the Herculean process involved in pumping water from a distance of nearly 100km to the city.

The BWSSB pumps nearly 1450 million litres of water per day (MLD) to the city. Cauvery water from the source, Shiva Anaicut, flows to Netkal Balancing Reservoir from where it travels 9.3km by natural flow of gravity to TK Halli reservoir. From here, water is pumped via gigantic pumps to Harohalli, Tataguni and then to ground level reservoirs spread across Bengaluru city.

BWSSB chairman Tushar Girinath told TNIE, It is a fascinating journey the Cauvery undertakes before it reaches the doorstep of Bengalureans. If one understands the painstaking efforts involved in the process, anyone would preserve every drop of water.

Girinath said the proposal regarding field trips for students has already been sent to the deputy director of public instruction (North and East) and the PU Board. We will be announcing it on our website on Tuesday, and making the information public, he said.

A maximum of 200 students in four buses, accompanied by teachers, can be taken around the sprawling TK Halli, and will be free of cost. BWSSB officials will serve as guides in educating students about the process. The Water Board is ready to begin the tour this Saturday (Feb 8) if any school wants to, the official added.

The Water Board has also decided to recruit volunteer Jala Senanis or water warriors who are ready to go on a door-to-door campaign to spread awareness on rainwater harvesting, sewage treatment plants and also listen to problems faced by the public relating to water. Those in government or semi-government organisations above the age of 50 years will be permitted to join as Jala Senanis, the chairman said. We hope to rope in at least 2,000 volunteers. They must be willing to spare four days a month to educate the public on aspects related to water. They can help us with public feedback too, he added.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union rejected parts of U.S. President Donald Trumps peace plan for the Middle East on Tuesday, prompting an angry response from Israel which has strongly backed the U.S. proposal.

The plan, announced by Trump last week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side, was rejected outright by the Palestinians. It would give Israel most of what it has sought during decades of conflict, including nearly all Palestinian land on which it has built settlements.

The EU, which often takes time to respond to international developments because of a need for unanimity among its 27 members, had said last week that it needed to study the Trump plan before it would give its verdict.

It made its conclusions public on Tuesday in a statement from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who said Trumps plan departs from internationally agreed parameters.

To build a just and lasting peace, the unresolved final status issues must be decided through direct negotiations between both parties, Borrell said, noting the issues of the borders of a Palestinian state and the final status of Jerusalem were among those still in dispute.

Steps by Israel to annex Palestinian territory, if implemented, could not pass unchallenged, Borrell said.

Israel responded sharply to the remarks by Borrell, a Spaniard in office since the start of December.

The fact that the High Rep of the EU, Josep Borrell, chose to use threatening language towards Israel, so shortly after he assumed office & only hours after his meetings in Iran, is regrettable &, to say the least, odd, tweeted Israeli Foreign ministry Spokesman Lior Haiat.

Pursuing such policies & conduct is the best way to ensure that the EUs role in any process will be minimized.

EU policy in the Middle East tends to be cautious, as the bloc includes members with varying degrees of sympathy towards the Palestinians and Israel. Some EU members have already recognized a Palestinian state, although the bloc as a whole says this is a matter to be resolved in peace talks.

The EU condemned Trumps decision in 2017 to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, saying Washington had compromised its position as a mediator for peace.
Last week Microsoft released KB 4532695, a dual-purpose Win10 version 1903 and 1909 optional, non-security, C/D Week patch. Most of us expected a fix for the File Explorer Search bar bugs that have been described and dissected (but not officially acknowledged) for more than two months.

I, personally, also held out hope that Microsoft would fix yet another bug in the Internet Explorer JScript engine that warranted a Security Advisory in January. Yes, I know that the optional, non-security patches arent supposed to fix security holes, but  hope springs eternal.

On the File Explorer Search bugs: Windows guru Rafael Rivera tweeted shortly after the patch hit:

Unfortunately, it's still a crummy experience. For example, it takes two clicks at times to reset the caret position, stopping you dead in your tracks. Search box continues to be a facade that can't be right-clicked until it's activated (e.g. via left-click). Advanced Query Syntax keywords, operators, and filters are no longer highlighted in blue, either. And deleting items didn't make it in. I doubt we'll see that get serviced; we'll likely have to wait for 20H1 release [Win10 version 2004] to get that [feature].

Mayank Parmar, on Windows Latest, says:

Microsoft has yet to acknowledge the new problems with Explorer and there dont appear to be any workarounds. If you have installed Windows 10 November 2019 Update [version 1909], you have to accept the possibility of experiencing issues with File Explorer and Control Panel.

As best I can tell, Microsoft has never acknowledged the bugs, in spite of fixing them in a series of updates for the still-in-beta Win10 version 2004. They arent mentioned on the Release Information Status page.

On the JScript fix, I initially said that KB 4532695 changes the jscript.dll file thats at the center of the numerous security holes, and hoped that it fixed this latest JScript bug. My hopes were dashed when Mitja Kolsek, of 0patch fame, tweeted:

We tested it and KB4532695 does NOT modify jscript.dll. It does modify mshtml.dll (which we micropatched) but not in a way that would prevent jscript.dll from getting loaded. So it's really unlikely that this KB does anything for CVE-2020-0674.

Zero for two.

KB 4532695 has drawn lots (and lots!) of fire in the press for putting Millions of Win10 users at risk for blue screens. From what Ive seen, its not considerably worse than most optional, non-security Win10 patches  but its undeniably having lots and lots of installation problems.

Fortunately, youll only get the patch if you download and install it manually, or if you get suckered into clicking Download and install now on an Optional updates available notification.

Were watching you, KB 4532695, on AskWoody.com.
Daniel Gonzalez (pictured), a documented gang member, is accused of killing a 24-year-old man on Sunday

A California man was shot dead by a gang member during an argument at a Super Bowl party after the suspect mistook a San Francisco 49ers flag for a rival gang's colors.

The Fresno County Sheriff's Office say 24-year-old Frank Rojas was killed on Sunday outside a home in Fresno. The incident took place on the corner of Tuolumne Street and B Street.

'There was a disturbance in the front yard of that house, at the corner house, regarding the Super Bowl,' Fresno Poice Lt. Charlie Chamalbide, ABC 30 reports.

Authorities say Rojas was visiting friends and family for a Super Bowl LIV barbecue when 34-year-old Daniel Gonzalez, a documented member of the Playboy Sureno gang, approached the group.

The situation turned violent when Gonzalez believed Rojas and his friends were associated with an opposing gang because of a San Francisco 49ers flag hanging from the house.

Neither Rojas nor anyone at the party are believed to be gang affiliated.

Rojas then pulled out a weapon from his backpack and fired at Rojas.



Chamalbide says the weapon in question was not a traditional gun and authorities are working to identify it.

Frank Rojas, 24, was fatally shot by Gonzalez at a house on the corner of Tuolumne Street and B Street in Fresno, California

Lt. Charlie Chamalbide (pictured) says Gonzalez did not use a gun, but 'it was like a makeshift gun' during the altercation

'It wasn't a gun, but it was like a makeshift gun, so we are trying to determine what exactly it was,' he said.

Gonzalez quickly left the scene on foot and tossed the weapon nearby.

Meanwhile, Rojas was rushed to Community Regional Medical Center where he underwent emergency surgery before being pronounced dead a short while later.

Gonzalez was later arrested just a few blocks away from the scene and has been booked into the Fresno County jail on murder charges.

Authorities say Gonzalez was on probation at the time and as been staying at a nearby homeless encampment.
By Express News Service

After MadhuraRaja, director Vysakh is teaming up with Mammootty again for a project titled New York. The news was shared by Vysakh on his social media handles. Backed by UGM Productions, the same company behind Amar Akbar Antony and Kattappanayile Ritwik Roshan, the film will be shot completely in the United States.

Touted as a family action thriller, New York will have a script by Naveen John, who wrote the Unni Mukundan film, Ira. Sharing the news, Vysakh wrote, I am so happy to announce that I am once again joining with my dearest Mammookka. This time the whole movie is going to be shot in the USA. Titled as New York, the movie will be bankrolled by UGM Productions, one of the leading production companies in Malayalam, and scripted by Ira fame Naveen John. I expect all your prayers and blessings that would support this family action thriller movie.

Vysakh is known for delivering Malayalams first 100-crore film, Pulimurugan. He has worked with Mammootty twicein Pokkiri Raja and its sequel, MadhuraRaja.In New York, Mammootty is expected to be joined by some established names from Hollywood as well as Malayalam cinema. The team has apparently roped in a Hollywood stunt director for the big-budget film.

Meanwhile, Mammootty is currently shooting for The Priest, his first project with Manju Warrier. The latter has joined the sets of the film, a thriller helmed by debutant Jofin T Chacko. He is looking forward to the release of One, a political thriller which is expected to hit theatres by the end of February or early March.
[February 04, 2020] Igneous and Wasabi Partner for Enterprise NAS Backup and Archive

SEATTLE, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Igneous, the SaaS data management company for file intensive environments, today announced its partnership with Wasabi, the hot cloud storage company, as a simple, affordable, fast and secure cloud storage provider. Igneous now supports using Wasabi as a target for NAS backup and archive. As enterprises increasingly turn to cloud storage for data protection capacity, many of them are encountering new challenges when predicting their cloud SLAs and operating costs.

For enterprises looking to simplify their cloud strategy, the pairing of Igneous and Wasabi enables the movement of unstructured data from any primary NAS system to Wasabi storage at a predictable and cost-effective price point. Wasabi provides an affordable cloud storage pricing model with no egress fees or API requests, unlike other cloud storage providers. Offering a highly parallelized system architecture, Wasabi is a high-performance, one-size-fits-all object storage service that eliminates the need for hierarchical cloud storage tiers and policies. Igneous enables enterprise companies with petabytes of file data or billions of files to store through Wasabi as a target for backup and archive operations. Igneous provides a multi-threaded scan engine, AdaptiveSCAN, that can discover and index billions of files per day. In addition, the Igneous data-movement engine, IntelliMOVE, organizes data into dozens of parallel streams that can leverage available network bandwidth between NAS systems and Wasabi to meet the most demaning SLAs.



We are excited to partner with Wasabi as a common concern with enterprises shifting from secondary data centers to cloud is the transaction costs associated with moving and accessing data. Wasabi provides predictable pricing, fast access and security at lower operational costs, said Christian Smith, VP of Product at Igneous. Igneous Unstructured Data Management as-a-Service combined with Wasabi hot cloud storage provides the highest performing and most cost effective solution for replacing on-premise NAS backup and archive with the cloud, said Jim Donovan, SVP, Product at Wasabi. Igneous delivers intelligent analysis of NAS environments with rapid file migration and Wasabi delivers hot cloud storage at $5.99/TB/mo without the highly annoying charges for API access and data egress.

About Igneous:

Igneous is the SaaS data management solution for file intensive environments. Data-centric enterprises trust Igneous to provide visibility, protection, and movement at scale. Igneous API-enabled, cloud-native solution combines all data management functions so that organizations can fully tap the value of their unstructured data, while reducing risk and optimizing IT resource utilization. Igneous: Petabytes today, exabytes tomorrow.

Find out more at igneous.io/ About Wasabi:

Wasabi is the hot cloud storage company delivering disruptive storage technology that is 1/5th the price of Amazon S3, faster than the competition with no fees for egress or API requests. Unlike first generation cloud vendors, Wasabi is solely focused on providing the worlds best cloud object storage service. Created by co-founders and cloud storage pioneers David Friend and Jeff Flowers, Wasabi is on a mission to commoditize the cloud storage industry. Wasabi is a privately held company based in Boston, MA. Follow and connect with Wasabi on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram and our blog. Igneous PR Contact:

Mike Bradshaw

Connect Marketing

[email protected]

801-373-7888 Wasabi PR Contact:

Lindsay Levitts

Kel & Partners

[email protected]

617-519-6551

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Hong Kong on Tuesday become the second place outside of the Chinese mainland to report the death of a patient being treated for a new coronavirus that has so far claimed more than 400 lives.

Medical authorities confirmed a 39-year-old man who was being treated for the virus died on Tuesday morning.

The man was a resident of Hong Kong who had travelled last month to Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak, returning home on January 23 via a high speed rail link.

Since emerging from Wuhan late last year, the coronavirus has infected 20,000 people across China and spread to more than 20 countries.

But so far only the Philippines and Hong Kong have reported a fatality outside of the Chinese mainland.

Most of the deaths in China have been in Wuhan and the rest of surrounding Hubei province, much of which has been under lockdown for almost two weeks.

Hong Kong's Hospital Authority said further details about the death would be released later on Tuesday.

Multiple local media outlets, citing medical sources, said the man had underlying health issues that had complicated his treatment.

His death came a day after Hong Kong's leader announced the closure of all but two land border crossings to the Chinese mainland in a bid to halt the spread of the virus.

Currently 15 people have tested positive for the virus in Hong Kong, many of them people who arrived in the semi-autonomous city from the mainland.

There has been growing public anger over the Hong Kong government's response to the outbreak, with calls to seal the border entirely. There is also an acute shortage of masks and a strike by some medical workers that entered its second day on Tuesday.

While Hong Kong maintains close economic and cultural links to the Chinese mainland, a seething distrust of the authorities in Beijing permeates the city.

The 2003 outbreak of the SARS virus, which Beijing initially covered up, killed almost 300 people in Hong Kong and left lasting psychological scars on the densely populated city.

Distrust -- and at times open hostility -- towards mainlanders has been worsened by years of political unrest as Hong Kongers chafe under Beijing's rule, and protest for greater democratic freedoms.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Prime Minister,

I was surprised and dismayed to be phoned by Dominic Cummings last Friday to be told I was no longer required to act as your COP (Conference of the UN Parties) President.

I was given three separate explanations for the decision, none of which could be clearly articulated or supported with evidence, apart from needing someone more senior. You did, of course, know my seniority and experience when you offered me the job and my track record of delivery from persuading the Cabinet to host COP26, winning the COP bid in partnership with Italy, publishing the Clean Growth Strategy, introducing our historic Net Zero legislation, launching the global Powering Past Coal Alliance and negotiating the Offshore Wind Sector Deal that has made our vast offshore renewable energy source cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives.

It was very disheartening in this context to learn that No. 10 is rumoured to be behind the media briefings put out to support your decision, which variously contained awful, false and distorted defamatory allegations. To take two examples: 'bullying allegations' were referred to, when you are aware that there was a single historical complaint, which was fully investigated by the Cabinet office and found to be entirely without merit. Equally, reports of 'problems on international engagements' stemmed from a single blog post which I believe

can be completely rebutted by the emails, reports and public statements from our ambassadors and international stakeholders. Just for good measure, almost every negative media story (and none of the good stuff) over the last eleven years was included in the briefings just to spice them up and to detract from the real failings and real concerns about the COP26 process and progress. Given my track record and our long and honest working relationship that is quite disgraceful.

But let's leave my disappointment with the firing process and No. 10's apparent dark ops to one side, and focus on the real issue.

We are almost out of time to win the battle against climate change and start the process of climate recovery.

C02 levels are over 415 ppm and climbing. The last time we saw numbers like this was three million years ago when sea levels were 20 metres higher than now and beech trees grew in Antarctica. The world's attempts to get to grips with this epic Tragedy of the Commons are

failing. Almost 50 per cent of our collective emissions have been pumped out since the first meeting of global leaders on climate at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and emissions are 4 per cent higher than in 2015 when the Paris agreement was signed at COP21. Global scientists

are clear that unless we break this trend now and start sustained reduction in global emissions with a clear net zero landing zone by 2050 or shortly afterwards, we will be dealing with unprecedented climate conditions and vast economic and human consequences within

decades, not centuries.

It became clear to me as the UK Climate and Energy Minister that the current format of the global COP talks needed to be re-energized and focused if we are to reach any form of meaningful global action plan for climate recovery. This is also the view of previous COP

presidents and negotiators, UN climate experts, climate activists and commentators whom we consulted. The annual UN talks are dogged by endless rows over agendas, ongoing unresolved splits over who should pay and insufficient attention and funding for adaptation

and resilience. We can't agree how to make the necessary transitions in a just and fair way, and the COP offers no permanent place to celebrate and recognise the action and optimism of the cities, states and businesses who have committed themselves to the huge growth

opportunity arising from the shift to a low carbon economy and the enormous co-benefits in terms of health, air quality and welfare that this can bring.

It was particularly awful at the last COP in Madrid, despite the best efforts of the wonderful Chilean President and Spanish hosts. While half a million climate action protestors gathered in the streets, I sat in plenary sessions where global negotiators debated whether our meeting should be classified as 'Informal' or 'Informal-Informal'; others argued over the structure of tabs, tables and colours in reports (rather than the commitments countries would make) and some of the world's wealthiest oil-rich countries made their annual demand for global funding to offset the damage all this low carbon planning would do to their economy. Some teams did rise above the negativity and made amazing progress in delivering things like the Gender Action Plan but there is a yawning gap between what the world expects from us and where we are. You can't fault the negotiators for doing their jobs sometimes under awful circumstances- it's a systemic failure of global vision and leadership.

That is why I asked you to support the UK and Italy COP bid as a leadership candidate and then promised you the most ambitious COP ever when you appointed me President. Together with our Advisors and the COP team I produced a Action Plan for the next decade

built on seven aims:

1. Using the UK's incredible global diplomatic resources to ensure every Paris signatory is supported to bring forward an updated Nationally Determined Contribution this year, as they are required to do under the terms of the Paris Agreement.

2. Setting Net Zero as the clear science-based target for all climate ambition from countries, businesses, states and cities and make this the Net Zero COP.

3. Introducing a properly-funded global package for adaptation and resilience building.

4. Placing nature-based solutions at the heart of the climate recovery agenda, with more funding, a new global transparent Nature Exchange for all carbon credits, a new global goal for tree protection and planting and an international rollout of plans for more sustainable supply chains.

5. Embedding in COP26 and future events a strong Clean Growth agenda, including: a financial and strategic package to accelerate coal phase-out; a single global measure of the emissions reduction plans of companies, cities and states; new Net Zero sector deals from some of the hardest to decarbonise sectors and a repurposed Mission Innovation focused on outcomes like scaled up green hydrogen production.

6. Aligning global financial flows with emissions reductions and pricing of physical climate risk, working with private finance, development banks, central banks and regulators.

7. Aiming to close the Paris Rulebook on time this year, while recognising that implementation can begin immediately among countries who have 'opted-in' to the rules already agreed and opening the negotiations and COP processes to public scrutiny so the citizens of the world can be our audience.

We planned something else too - a celebration of the UK's action in cutting its emissions more than any other developed country, a Four Nations COP with every part of the UK involved and a year of Climate Action for the whole of society to create a coming together after the Brexit battles with one common goal of climate recovery.

A great agenda. But we are miles off track. When you asked me to be your COP President (and to combine it with remaining in your Cabinet as a Minister, an offer I declined) you promised to 'lead from the front' and asked me what was needed 'money, people, just tell us!' Sadly, these promises and offers are not close to being met.

- The Cabinet sub-committee on climate that you promised to chair, and which I was to attend, has not met once.

- In the absence of your promised leadership and Cabinet agreement, and despite the best efforts of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, departments have fought internal Whitehall battles over who is responsible and accountable for COP actions and made the work of the COP unit to drive forward plans and preparation so much harder. At this stage, we should have clear actions to communicate to the diplomatic network, an agreed plan of Ministerial international engagements led by you from now until November and a roadmap for the Year of Action. As of last Friday, we did not.

- I am told by COP unit sources that budgets (which I do not see) are ballooning, the team and the Scottish government are in an extraordinary state of stand-off and that you are considering re-locating the event to an English location. I had asked if you would consider resetting your relationship with the First Minister - putting aside the devolution battle for the sake of this vastly more important agenda. I understand you declined in salty terms.

- The COP Delivery unit, led by and staffed by some of the best and brightest people Whitehall has had to offer and supported by an all-star Advisory Group of global climate leaders has had to battle for every resource, jump through every possible internal process hoop and been prohibited from hiring in outside talent with appropriate experience such as Olympics delivery experts. Not surprisingly this has been extremely stressful for them and they are stretched to the limit.

As you will know from my contract, I do not have responsibility for any of these items and the COP team do not report to me. You will also know from years of working with me that I could not stand by and see this extraordinary opportunity fail for lack of any leadership and so have tried to intervene in some of the worst of the process and ambition blocks and maintain momentum but my intercessions have regretfully been perceived as undermining rather than supportive as is so often the case when 'politicians' meddle with the workings of Whitehall. And it is also fair to say that some officials have found the need for action and real change to be threatening to the COP status quo - for some it is hard to give up on incrementalism even when it is demonstrably failing.

In my judgement this isn't a pretty place to be and we owe the world a lot better. We must move on from Whitehall knot-tying, infighting and obfuscation, petty political squabbles and black ops briefings to real sustained engagement, maximum global ambition, open-hearted international cooperation, joined-up action and alliance building. To do that will require a whole of government reset and for your team to move the vast and immediate challenge of climate recovery to the top of the Premier League of their priorities from where it is now - stuck currently somewhere around the middle of League One.

I hope you will use my sacking as a moment to reset the dial and make these changes happen and I wish my successor every possible success. I will continue to do whatever I can to support the best possible outcomes for this COP that has been in gestation for so long that it feels like my fourth child. But I will do so joyfully free from political patronage and pretence, cheering on progress and calling out greenwash, empty promises, dither, and delay.

I know you like quotes. So, let me end this long letter with one from Proverbs:

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

You had a vision for Brexit and you got Brexit done. As I write, we have less than 7,000 hours before the start of COP26 where we have a chance to set a new global vision for climate recovery and build a new consensus for global climate action.

Please get this done too.

Yours ever

Clare O'Neill
The usually still waters along the Clear Creek channel will decked out Feb. 15 for the 21st annual Yachty Gras Boat Parade.

Like Mardi Gras on the water, the parade is a splashy opportunity for boat owners to set sail with their rigs and stand out as they travel from Seabrook Marina down the Clear Creek channel, through Clear Lake Shores and down the Kemah Boardwalk, then to return to Galveston Bay with crews tossing beads along the way to spectators.

The event, which begins at 7 p.m., is expected to showcase between 40 and 60 decorated boats gliding.

This years theme is Valentine of the Sea, and Yachty Gras executive director expects the creativity quotient to be as high as ever.

The way these boats are decorated is just unbelievable, and its fascinating to see the different ideas, Maureen Howard said.

Largest event of its kind in U.S.

The event, which officially started with a kick-off party in January, is billed as the largest Mardi Gras boat parade in the nation and sees approximately 20,000 visitors annually.

More Information The 2020 Yachty Gras Parade will be held Feb. 15 and participants must attend a mandatory meeting with event organizers at 10 a.m. at Kemah Elks Lodge #2322 for parade registration and logistical information. All vessels are required to provide boat insurance documentation and vessels must have with an adequately silenced exhaust system. The Grand Night Boat Parade will begin at 7 p.m. in the Clear Lake Channel.The 2020 Yachty Gras Parade will be held Feb. 15 and participants must attend a mandatory meeting with event organizers at 10 a.m. at Kemah Elks Lodge #2322 for parade registration and logistical information. All vessels are required to provide boat insurance documentation and vessels must have with an adequately silenced exhaust system. The Grand Night Boat Parade will begin at 7 p.m. in the Clear Lake Channel. See More Collapse

Its a lot like the Christmas Boat Parade, except that its more interactive with the people that come to watch, Howard said. Its not just sitting there watching boats go by. Krewes (are) throwing beads, stuffed animals and candy along the way.

Boats in the event range from 100-foot schooners to small powercraft and one-person sailboats. Participants must register, which costs $95, and have proper insurance, and all boats must have a silenced exhaust system. Participating boat skippers are required to attend a meeting at 10 a.m. the morning of the event.

Some of the more unforgettable entries to the parade have included a a Las Vegas-themed boat, a sailboat with a giant mermaid figure as its mast, a space-themed yacht manned by a crew of NASA employees.

Parade judges pick favorites based on a variety of merits  the lavishness of the costumes and decorations, creativity and krewe enthusiasm  and awards are handed out during a ceremony at 10 a.m. Feb. 16 at the Aquarium Restaurant in Kemah.

While the parade puts the focus on fun, Yachty Gras is a nonprofit that works to draw outside guests to the Bay Area region including the waterside communities of Seabrook and Kemah as well as the greater Clear Lake area, with proceeds going to selected nonprofits chosen each year by a Yachty Gras committee.

Our first emphasis is to bring in tourism to the area, and any money left over after advertising and other expenses is donated back to other nonprofits, Howard said.

This years Yachty Gras recipients include Bay Area Pet Adoption and Sea Scouts, a group that provides aquatic education and training to youths.

The event, said Howard, has been downscaled because of the impact of past storms  in 2008, Ike took out hundreds of boats and in 2017, Harvey claimed many more.

Before Ike, Yachty Gras could count on at least 100 vessels to take part in the parade, but its slowly building itself back up. The enthusiasm, said Howard, has never waned.

Boat people, she said, are passionate about their vessels, and the event sees many repeat participants as well as new enthusiasts.

Howard, who has a home in Kemah and has spent most of her life on the water, said the event is similar in spirit to the annual Keels and Wheels in Seabrook, where automobile collectors convene to share a common passion.

When you have something like a boat or classic car, they can be expensive to maintain and you want to enjoy it for all its worth, said Howard, who previously owned a 1966 Plymouth Barracuda automobile. You really want to show it off  theyre like your kid.

yorozco@hcnonline.com
She takes to the airwaves with confidence and asks searching questions when guests come on. But, incredibly, this talented DJ is just six years old.

Teyla Hopkins, a Year 1 pupil at primary school, is believed to be the youngest person to have hosted a radio programme in Britain.

She does, however, have her dad Gary by her side as they present Sunday Funday, a weekly show on community radio.

Teyla Hopkins, a Year 1 pupil at primary school, is believed to be the youngest person to have hosted a radio programme in Britain. She takes to the airwaves with confidence and asks searching questions when guests come on

Teyla said: I like being a radio presenter because it gives me a chance to spend time with my dad, play and listen to some really good music that I can choose and meet different people.

Her father added: I like to think being on the show has helped with her confidence. Shes quite happy talking to guests and shell ask them questions that only a child would ask so you hear things from a six-year-olds perspective.

Sometimes guests are surprised to have a six-year-old asking them questions but theyll say how sweet she is.

Its all pretty relaxed on the show they began hosting on WaveWSM in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, last August.

Mr Hopkins, a presenter for nine years, said: We bounce off each other well. Sometimes well just sit and talk about things. She doesnt take it too seriously. Shes just there to have a bit of fun.

He hopes Teyla, who has three sisters, will stay on the airwaves. The previous youngest DJ was Daisy Watkiss, nine, who hosted a radio show in Yorkshire in 2010.
The parliament has a 12-month immunity.

Speaker of Ukraine's parliament Dmytro Razumkov currently does not see any grounds for disbanding the Verkhovna Rada.

"I personally do not see any grounds for disbanding the parliament ... I understand that there can be different debates, but the parliament has immunity for a year. If we are talking about a list of issues allowing the dissolution of the parliament, prerequisites, then it seems to me that's not the case," he said on Channel 112 Ukraine, answering a question about the possibility of holding early parliamentary elections this autumn.

Read alsoRada paves path toward cutting number of parliament seats

The parliament has been working, and it has a "monocoalition" that passes bills, he said.

"As a speaker or a citizen, I don't see any prerequisites from the legal point of view or the effectiveness of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada for disbanding the Rada of the 9th convocation," the speaker said.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos accused his girlfriend's brother of seeking to extort him by suing for defamation, according to a court filing.

Responding to a defamation complaint by Michael Sanchez, lawyers for Bezos and his security chief Gavin de Becker filed a motion to strike the suit Friday in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County. In the lawsuit, Sanchez accused Bezos and de Becker of spreading inaccurate rumors to journalists that he had leaked nude photos of the CEO to the National Enquirer.

Last February, Bezos alleged in a Medium post that National Enquirer publisher American Media (AMI) blackmailed him by threatening to publish intimate photos of him and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, a former TV anchor. Bezos claimed they threatened to publish photos, including a "below the belt selfie," if he refused to say the outlet's coverage of him was not politically motivated. De Becker said his investigation found Michael Sanchez to be the paid source for the Enquirer. An AMI spokesperson previously told CNBC that Michael Sanchez was the single source for the story.

In their court filing, Bezos and de Becker's lawyers say neither has ever accused Sanchez of leaking nude photos in particular. The filing says Sanchez's claims do not meet the standards for defamation since the statements were "substantially true" and that Sanchez should be considered a public figure in the context of this situation, according to the defendants.

"Mr. Sanchez's defamation claim fails the most basic of requirements: it fails to identify any instance in which Defendants, or even any news report, published or made any of the alleged statements about him," the filing claims.

The defendants accuse Sanchez of being driven by money and a desire for more publicity.

"Extortion rears its head again in this lawsuit, this time not only aimed at Defendants but also directly threatening speech protected under the First Amendment," the filing claims. "By filing this lawsuit, Mr. Sanchez hopes to put himself back on the front pages and extract money from Defendants by leveraging the current media environment to harass them. But no matter what Michael Sanchez says or how many times he repeats himself, at the heart of his Complaint lies the same public controversy he helped generate and has tried to exploitand from which he surreptitiously earned $200,000."

Michael Sanchez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 CNBC's Annie Palmer contributed to this report.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

WATCH: Jeff Bezos is so much bigger than Amazon  a look at his extraordinary empire
Violence against Jews in New Jersey and shootings at houses of worship across the country has spurred state lawmakers from both political parties to support a measure to allow armed guards in places of worship.

Its not a partisan issue, said state Assemblyman Gary Schaer, a prime sponsor of the bill.

The legislation is the result of an unfortunate conclusion that what were doing is not enough, Schaer, D-Passaic, added. Its depressing.

The bill (A1255) would permit one person in a house of worship to be armed. The person would be required to take firearms training courses.

The bills other prime sponsor is Assemblyman Ronald Dancer, R-Monmouth.

Schaer cited the November 2017 mass shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, where 26 people were killed and the October 2018 shooting at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which claimed 11 lives.

Closer to home, two shooters killed four people in December in a Jewish neighborhood in Jersey City that was ruled a hate crime.

But whether Gov. Phil Murphy would support the measure is an open question.

The Democratic governor has been a proponent of gun control measures and said he wants to make New Jersey a national leader in common-sense gun safety.

Murphy did, however, direct the State Police to heighten security measures at houses of worship after a man stabbed multiple people who gathered for a Hanukkah celebration at a home in Monsey, New York. The town, which has a large population of Orthodox Jews, is located in Rockland County, which borders Bergen County.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

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Visitors wearing masks walk past Shanghai Disney Resort, that will be closed following the outbreak of a new coronavirus, in China.

Disney said it is expecting to take a $175 million hit from the recent coronavirus outbreak if its Hong Kong and Shanghai Disney parks remain closed for two months.

"The current closure is taking place during the quarter in which we typically see strong attendance and occupancy levels due to the timing of the Chinese New Year holiday," Christine McCarthy, chief financial officer at Disney, said during an earnings call Tuesday. "The precise magnitude of the financial impact is highly dependent on the duration of the closures and how quickly we can resume normal operations."

McCarthy said the company expects an impact of $135 million on second-quarter operating income from the Shanghai park and about $40 million from the closure of the Hong Kong park.

The company had already disclosed that its Hong Kong park had been underperforming due to protests in the region. Between coronavirus and the unrest in Hong Kong, operating income at the park is expected to decline by $145 million in the second quarter.

Last quarter, operating income in the Hong Kong park declined by $55 million.

Domestically, the company doesn't expect traffic at its U.S.-based parks to be impacted by lower visitation of guests from Asia.

McCarthy said that the Asian market is not as prevalent in terms of visitation to the domestic parks compared to countries like Canada, Mexico, Austrailia and the United Kingdom.

Lower results at its international parks and resorts hurt its fiscal first quarter performance, but was offset by strong growth at its domestic business. In the U.S., the opening of new parks and attractions, including the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge lands and the Rise of the Resistance ride, provided a boost.

Revenue at Disney's Parks, Experience and Products segment rose 8% from the prior year to $7.4 billion, while operating income increased 9% to $2.3 billion.

Iger said on the call that Rise of the Resistance has "done extremely well" in terms of attendance and higher guest spending.

CNBC's Annie Palmer contributed to this report.
Photo:

At this point Rebecca Zabinski is used to being asked Why Schumann?

Robert Schumann was not an especially popular composer neither during his lifetime nor, with a few notable exceptions (specifically his piano music), today. But Zabinski and her Houston Symphony colleagues find him fascinating, so much so that the orchestra will devote the next two weekends to its first-ever Schumann Festival.

Besides all four of Schumanns symphonies, the symphony will feature soloists Benjamin Grosvenor and Alicia Weilerstein in performances of his Piano Concerto and Cello Concerto, respectively. Among a smattering of recitals and an evening of choral music, a chamber-music program Valentines Day at the Hobby Center will focus on the intense relationship between Schumann and his wife Clara; actors from the Alley Theatre will read from letters the Schumanns wrote to one another.

I think whats interesting about Schumann is that his story is so devastatingly human, and so current, says Zabisnki, the orchestras director of artistic planning.

[He] had all of these troubles, she continues. He was in love with someone that he shouldnt have been in love with, and he had to work to win the girl and be able to have a happy life. He was struggling with all of these private struggles with mental illness and self-doubt and all of these things that everybody still struggles with today, and it really informed his music.

Born in 1810 in Zwickau, a town near the present-day border of Germany and the Czech Republic, Schumann was a key figure in the new Romanticism of his age, writes British author British author Judith Cherniak in her 2018 biography, Schumann. He was a true Romantic in his embrace of poetry and feeling, his intermingling of life and art.

Schumann came of age in the generation or two of composers tasked with filling the enormous void created by Beethovens death, a fellowship that includes Liszt, Chopin, Mendelssohn (a close friend), Brahms, Berlioz, Wagner, and many others. Although he found some success in adjacent fields  pianist, music critic  his own music was slow to find favor in his lifetime, which ended at just age 46.

Although he had struggled with depression and other mental-health red flags from at least 1833, Schumanns last years were truly horrible. Then living in Dusseldorf, he attempted suicide in early 1854 by jumping into the Rhine. Diagnosed with psychotic melancholia, he died at an asylum near Bonn two years later.

Scholars speculate he starved himself to death.

Unusual orchestrations

Today Schumann is generally acknowledged as one of the preeminent composers of the Romantic era, but only a fraction of his works is performed with any frequency. Whatever the case, Zabinski believes he deserves more attention from contemporary audiences.

I think most people who are classical-music fans know some kind of Schumann, she allows, but I think that many people dont know just how incredibly much there is.

Andres Orozco-Estrada has a more down-to-earth reason for programming the Schumann Festival: to satisfy his own personal curiosity.

Honestly, just I wanted to perform all the symphonies, says the symphonys music director since 2014.

Orchestras devoting blocs of time to one composer is more common in Vienna, where he lives, than in the States, notes Orozco-Estrada. Besides never having conducted the second or fourth symphonies himself, he wanted to find out for himself why Schumanns piano music and lieder (German for songs) are held in much higher regard among classical cognoscenti than his orchestral music.

Therefore, Orozco-Estrada felt like he needed to discover for myself if its true or not that the [orchestral] music is not well done, he reports. And now that Im in the middle of the preparation I dont think thats the case, but still its a challenge. The music is great, the orchestration is very good; its just a very unique way to orchestrate.

Schumann had the misfortune to come along just after Beethoven perfected the symphonic form in many peoples eyes, Orozco-Estrada explains, leading him to make adventurous choices that both audiences and many of Schumanns peers found erratic and disappointing. Past interpretations of his symphonies didnt necessarily do the composer many favors either, he adds, when eminent conductors like Leonard Bernstein and Herbert Von Karajan tended to use extra-large orchestras to prove Schumanns Romantic bona fides.

Therefore, if you play everything very loud in the brass and the winds you dont hear all the details, Orozco-Estrada says.

With that in mind, his goal during the Schumann Festival is to make the music very transparent in a way that you can really understand all the layers, he says.

We will see, adds Orozco-Estrada. Its always a big challenge for a conductor, or a musician, to find your own way to say things without changing the material or destroying the material  just finding something unique is always a big challenge.

Beyond the novelty of the Schumann festival, its biggest draw from a general-audience perspective is probably his relationship with Clara. A renowned concert pianist and gifted composer in her own right, Clara was several years Schumanns junior; in fact, Schumann took her father, who had been his piano instructor, to court so that they could marry. Clara encouraged Schumann to develop his symphonic talents and became his biggest advocate after he died, outliving him by nearly 40 years.

Were trying to focus on Robert just because theres so much to tell, says Zabinski, but I dont think that you can have a Schumann festival or talk about Robert Schumann without talking about Clara a little bit.

Music, Mood Swings & Madness

That said, perhaps the most interesting element of the festival is Music, Mood Swings & Madness, a lecture by Dr. Richard Kogan before this Saturdays performance. (Its free, but tickets are required; see the symphonys website.) Also a Juilliard-trained pianist, Dr. Kogan has given several talks for Houston Methodist hospitals Center for Performing Arts Medicine, in which he explores the connection between creativity and mental illness as filtered through the music of Tchaikovsky, for example, or George Gershwin.

Schumann is probably the best example, I think, of the blurred boundary between genius and insanity, he says.

According to Dr. Kogan, Schumanns behavior aligns neatly with symptoms of what modern psychiatrists call bipolar disorder  periods of intense productivity characterized by increased energy, heightened imagination, and reduced need for sleep alternating with feelings of extreme, even suicidal, despair. Schumanns music  the way he made imaginative leaps that were too innovative for his contemporaries to appreciate  shows many of these tell-tale signs, Dr. Kogan explains.

Other composers were concentrating on writing music with proper sonata form, but Schumann was writing pieces with titles like Rapture or Feverish Dreams or First Sorrows,' he says. Schumann was wonderful at expressing feeling states, I think one of the best composers in history at capturing the different types of moods that all humans can have. I locate many emotions through Schumanns music.

By tying all these different Schumann-related threads together, Zabinski says the festival creates an immersive environment for the orchestra somewhat like what might happen on an extended tour like their European dates in March of 2018.

In other words, it helps them play better.

It just feels a little bit different and a little bit deeper than the daily grind, I think, she says.

Furthermore, I think its also important to program things that are ambitious or unusual because thats our job as a cultural institution, adds Zabinski. Its to shine a light on different voices and to bring art to the city that is exciting and might be new to some people, maybe not to others.

To keep that kind of curiosity going is one of the most important parts of our jobs.

Chris Gray is a Houston-based writer.
A man has been sentenced to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment by a special POCSO court for raping a 12-year-old girl in Odisha's Balasore district around three years ago.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ) Girija Mohapatra, while pronouncing the jail term for Radhamohan Singh (20) on Monday, also slapped a fine of Rs 28,000 on him for the April 2017 incident at Balidhar village here.

The ADJ, who is also the judge of the special POCSO court, ruled that the convict would have to undergo one-year additional imprisonment if he fails to pay the fine.

According to the girl's lawyer, Singh had taken her to an isolated place on National Highway 60 in Balasore Sadar police station area and raped her.

Her family lodged a complaint with the police, following which Singh was held, the lawyer said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Valeura Energy Inc. (TSX:VLE)(LSE:VLU) ("Valeura" or the "Company"), the upstream natural gas producer focused on the Thrace Basin of Turkey, provides an update on partner participation in its deep gas appraisal programme.

The Company has received notification from its joint venture partner Equinor indicating that it intends to discontinue participation in the deep gas appraisal programme. Valeura and Equinor have begun discussions on the commercial mechanism by which Equinor will exit the play and the Company will provide more detail in due course.

Valeura is in robust financial shape and has both a producing shallow gas business which generates cash flow, and a strong working capital position of approximately US$37 million at December 31, 2019. The Company intends to deploy capital in a judicious manner in 2020, and expects to continue its deep gas appraisal programme aimed at demonstrating the potential for commercial development, and to enhance its shallow gas play through ongoing investment into existing fields. Valeura will communicate its 2020 work programme in more detail later in Q1.

Sean Guest, President and CEO commented:

"We are sorry to see Equinor discontinue their participation in the deep play, but we are pleased with how efficient the joint investment has been for Valeura up to this point. Through our partnership, we have gathered a significant volume of new data and key learnings about the attributes of the large gas resource base in the Thrace Basin, with much of the investment funded by Equinor's carry under its agreements with Valeura. We will leverage these data in the next phase of appraisal and we remain encouraged about the long-term potential for the play."

For further information please contact:

Valeura Energy Inc. (General and Investor Enquiries) +1 403 237 7102

Sean Guest, President and CEO

Heather Campbell, CFO

Robin Martin, Investor Relations Manager

Contact@valeuraenergy.com, IR@valeuraenergy.com

Canaccord Genuity Limited (Corporate Broker) +44 (0) 20 7523 8000

Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor, James Asensio

CAMARCO (Public Relations, Media Adviser) +44 (0) 20 3757 4980

Owen Roberts, Monique Perks, Billy Clegg

Valeura@camarco.co.uk

Oil and Gas Advisories

Forward-Looking Statements and Cautionary Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and information (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking information") including, but not limited to: the Company's intent to provide more detail on future commercial arrangements with Equinor; the Company's timing to communicate its 2020 work programme and capital expenditure outlook for 2020, including the expected scope of the deep appraisal programme; and the manner in which the Company intends to deploy capital for its deep gas appraisal programme and enhancing its shallow gas play.

Forward-looking information typically contains statements with words such as "anticipate", estimate", "expect", "target", "potential", "could", "should", "would" or similar words suggesting future outcomes. The Company cautions readers and prospective investors in the Company's securities to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information, as by its nature, it is based on current expectations regarding future events that involve a number of assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company.

Forward-looking information is based on management's current expectations and assumptions regarding, among other things: continued political stability of the areas in which the Company is operating; continued safety of operations and ability to proceed in a timely manner; continued operations of and approvals forthcoming from the Turkish government and regulators in a manner consistent with past conduct; future seismic and drilling activity on the expected timelines; the continued favourable pricing and operating netbacks in Turkey; future production rates and associated operating netbacks and cash flow; decline rates; future sources of funding; future economic conditions; future currency exchange rates; the ability to meet drilling deadlines and other requirements under licenses and leases; and the Company's continued ability to obtain and retain qualified staff and equipment in a timely and cost efficient manner. In addition, the Company's work programmes, including the future work programmes and budgets are in part based upon expected agreement among joint venture partners and support of associated exploration, development and marketing plans, and anticipated costs and sales prices, which are subject to change based on, among other things, the actual results of drilling and related activity, availability of drilling, reservoir stimulation and other specialised oilfield equipment and service providers, changes in partners' plans and unexpected delays and changes in market conditions. Although the Company believes the expectations and assumptions reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect.

Forward-looking information involves significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Exploration, appraisal, and development of oil and natural gas reserves are speculative activities and involve a degree of risk. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company including, but not limited to: uncertainty regarding ultimate joint partner decisions regarding the future work programmes; the risks of currency fluctuations; changes in gas prices and netbacks in Turkey; uncertainty regarding the contemplated timelines and costs for the deep evaluation; the risks of disruption to operations and access to worksites, threats to security and safety of personnel and potential property damage related to political issues or civil unrest in Turkey; potential changes in laws and regulations, the uncertainty regarding government and other approvals; counterparty risk; risks associated with weather delays and natural disasters; and the risk associated with international activity. The forward-looking information included in this news release is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking information included herein is made as of the date hereof and Valeura assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law. See the AIF for a detailed discussion of the risk factors.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction, including where such offer would be unlawful. This announcement is not for distribution or release, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Ireland, the Republic of South Africa or Japan or any other jurisdiction in which its publication or distribution would be unlawful.

Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.



This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

SOURCE: Valeura Energy Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575122/Valeura-Energy-Inc-Announces-Deep-Gas-Play-Participation-Update

Dowling recovering at home after long hospital stay

State Rep. Matthew Dowling has returned home after suffering a one-vehicle crash in October. Dowling represents parts of Somerset County.
Photo: Jack London Square Farmers Market/Yelp

In this edition: a popular Berkeley kava bar expands to Grand Lake, Downtown gets a new cafe serving Ritual Coffee and Jack London Square's farmers market is in potential peril, with its operator pulling out.

Here's what you need to know about Oakland's food scene this week.

Openings

Grand Lake

MeloMelo Kava Bar (3264 Grand Ave.)

Photo: Ms. Fizz/Hoodline Tipline

Hoodline tipster Ms. Fizz alerted us that Berkeley's popular MeloMelo Kava Bar has opened its Oakland spinoff, as confirmed by a post on the bar's Facebook page. We first announced the addition to the neighborhood last June, when a "coming soon" sign went up on the building.

Instead of alcohol or coffee, MeloMelo (which also has an outpost in Santa Cruz) exclusively serves kava, a beverage made from the roots of a plant native to the South Pacific. Prized for its anti-anxiety properties, kava is also believed to alleviate insomnia.

Powdered kava has a somewhat chalky flavor, so MeloMelo mellows it by mixing it with organic coconut water, ginger juice or pineapple juice, among other options. Kava-free hot chocolate, tea and kombucha are also on offer, and there's a stereo and projection system for events like dance parties.

Downtown

The Broadway (1212 Broadway)

Photo: Albertino M./Hoodline Tipline

Hoodline's veteran tipster Al M. alerted us to a new cafe at 12th and Broadway, near the entrance to the 12th Street-Oakland BART station. Appropriately named The Broadway, it's housed on the ground floor of the historic Oakland Bank of Savings building.

The Broadway is a petite spot specializing in classic coffee and espresso drinks made with Ritual Coffee beans, alongside a few specialty beverages like a Dandelion Chocolate mocha and an Oreo espresso. To snack on, there are pastries and avocado, jam or almond butter toasts.

Changes

Jack London Square

Jack London Square Farmers Market (Webster St. & Embarcadero West)

Photo: Jack London Square Farmers Market/Yelp

After three decades of Sunday produce sales, the weekly Jack London Square Farmers Market is in limbo as it seeks a new operator.

Story continues

The market is currently run by the Center for Urban Education About Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA), which is also behind the tri-weekly Ferry Building Farmers Market in San Francisco. But this week, CUESA announced that it will be pulling out of the market on Sunday, March 29.

It appears high costs are to blame. Asked why CUESA is leaving, communications director Brie Mazurek gave this statement to Berkeleyside: "As a mission-driven nonprofit, CUESAs approach to operating [a] farmers market is through education, which can be staff and labor intensive.

Jack London Square officials are seeking a new organizer for the market, and CUESA has promised to support the transition. Some market vendors may also find homes at other Jack London Square events, such as "The Buck," its bimonthly local arts and crafts market.

Thanks to our tipsters Ms. Fizz and Al M.! Have you noticed a new addition to (or subtraction from) Oakland's food landscape? Text a tip and a horizontal photo to (415) 200-3233, and we'll look into it.
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David Lee Roth surprised School of Rock students -- and their equally starstruck parents -- Monday when he showed up to the Allentown school.

The Van Halen frontman stopped at the school while his touring band was rehearsing for Tuesday nights performance, opening for Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Kiss, at the PPL Center.

Ray Thierrin, School of Rock co-owner and general manager, said Tuesday he received a voicemail over the weekend from Roths production manager inquiring about a rehearsal space. After exchanging messages and settling on a time, the band showed up around 2:30 p.m. Monday to start playing through songs.

A few hours later, Thierrin said the production team asked if there was room outside for a tour bus so Roth could stop by. Around 5 p.m., Diamond Dave appeared.

He came in and the guys really larger than life, Thierrin said. He stopped in the parking lot to greet one of our young keyboard students and their dad, which was really cool.

Roth signed autographs, posed for pictures, and chatted with students and parents during his brief visit. Roth also held the door open for a student carrying in his Eddie Van Halen-model guitar -- causing a reaction Thierrin said was priceless.You should have seen the look on the kids face, Thierrin said, chuckling.

Thierrin said Roth's team, and bandmates, appreciated the staff for not making a fuss about their visit.

"We had a couple of parents who saw the tour bus in the parking lot and asked what it was about and I said we have a rock star in the building," Thierrin said. "Nobody was really pushy, which was pretty cool. It worked out great for them."

Known for his high kicks, colorful clothing and energetic stage presence, Roth fronted Hall of Famers Van Halen 1974 from until 1985. His voice can be heard on such iconic classic rock songs as Jump, Panama, Runnin with the Devil, Hot for Teacher, Jamies Cryin, and Aint Talkin Bout Love.

Roth released six solo albums between 1986 and 2003 -- including his 1986 debut, Eat Em and Smile. Roth rejoined guitarist Eddie Van Halen, drummer Alex Van Halen, and bassist Wolfgang Van Halen for a reunion tour in 2006. The quartet recorded and released the album A Different Kind of Truth in 2012.

School of Rock Allentown shares building space with The Shanty on 19th restaurant. (The restaurant was closed during Roth and the bands stay.). The school has an Easton location on North Fourth Street.
Major online homewares and furniture retailer Temple and Webster has beaten the retail blues to report a strong result for the first half of the financial year, with potential green shoots emerging in Australia's struggling retail landscape.

The ASX-listed $320 million retailer said its revenue for the half was $74.1 million, an increase of 50 per cent on the prior corresponding half and well ahead of consensus estimates of $68.5 million.

Temple and Webster chief executive Mark Coulter says the company is remaining "watchful" of weak macro-economic conditions. Credit:Eamon Gallagher

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation also beat analyst expectations, coming in at $2.3 million, a 130 per cent increase from the $1 million in EBITDA reported for the first half of 2019.

The results were powered by the company's biggest-ever increase in active customers, which were up 45 per cent to 335,000. Shares rocketed over Tuesday's session, up as much as 24 per cent to an all-time high of $3.53 before closing at $3.49 as investors welcomed the better-than-expected result.
Dublin, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Thin Layer Deposition Equipment - Market Analysis, Trends, and Forecasts" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Thin Layer Deposition Equipment market worldwide is projected to grow by US$50.2 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 13.4%.



Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) Equipment, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 14.5%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$41.5 Billion by the year 2025, Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) Equipment will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth.



Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 11.9% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$2 Billion to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$1.6 Billion worth of projected demand in the region will come from the rest of the European markets.



In Japan, Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) Equipment will reach a market size of US$2.1 Billion by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 17.3% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$12.3 Billion in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders.



Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.



All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies.



Competitors identified in this market include:

Aixtron SE

AJA International Inc.

Angstrom Engineering Inc.

Blue Wave Semiconductors Inc.

Canon ANELVA Corporation

CVD Equipment Corporation

IHI Hauzer Techno Coating B.V.

Intevac Inc.

Jusung Engineering Co. Ltd.

KDF Electronic & Vacuum Services Inc.

Kenosistec S.r.l.

Lam Research Corporation

Plasma-Therm LLC

Plassys Bestek

PVD Products Inc.

Samco Inc.

SEMES Co. Ltd.

Singulus Technologies AG

SP3 Diamond Technologies Inc.

Tokyo Electron Limited

Ulvac Technologies Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/xm9hvs

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov has said that his country has begun the production of famed S-400 air defence systems for India.

"The Almaz-Antey concern has begun manufacturing the S-400 systems for India, and Russia will deliver the S-400s to India within the timeframe stipulated by the contract. In general, all commitments undertaken by the parties, including the payment, are being fulfilled in full," Manturov was quoted as saying by Sputnik.

India signed a USD 5.43-billion deal with Russia for the purchase of five S-400 systems during the 19th India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit in New Delhi on October 5, 2018, for long-term security needs.

Manturov added that a training centre for S-400 operators is being set up in India.

This comes after Moscow diplomat Roman Babushkin said last month that Russia will deliver five S-400 air defence systems to India by 2025.

"We will give five S-400 missiles defense system (to India) by 2025. Russia is possessing one of the world's best defense system and it would serve well for Indian security," he had said.

Former Indian Air Force Chief BS Dhanoa had termed the S-400 air defence system as a "game-changer".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 15:28:00|Editor: yhy

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CANBERRA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- After being elected unopposed to lead the Australian Greens on Tuesday, Adam Bandt called for the government to make a "Green New Deal".

Bandt, the member of Parliament (MP) for Melbourne, was endorsed by the party to lead in Canberra on Tuesday morning following the resignation of Richard Di Natale.

He becomes the first member of the lower house of Australia's Parliament, the House of Representatives, to lead the Greens, a political party in Australia, while all of his predecessors having been members of the Senate.

Addressing the media after his election, Bandt made his intentions clear, promising to focus on a "Green New Deal" for Australia.

"We are in the middle of a climate emergency and long running jobs and inequality crises. People are angry and anxious because the government has no plan for the big problems facing the country," he said.

"That is why Australia needs a Green New Deal... A Green New Deal means government leading the country in transforming our economy, creating new jobs and industries powered by clean energy and delivering universal services like dental into Medicare and genuinely free education. This is what I will be fighting for."

Larissa Waters and Nick McKim, Senators from Queensland and Tasmania respectively, were elected to serve as Bandt's deputies.

Bandt, 47, has served as the MP for Melbourne since 2010 after previously worked as an industrial relations and public interest lawyer.

The Greens hold nine seats in the Senate, making them the third biggest party in the house.
Mumbai, Feb 4 : Sharpening his revised pro-Hindutva stance, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray will take to the streets on Sunday, leading a procession to throw out illegal Pakistani-Bangladeshi migrants.

The party has launched teasers for the campaign and Raj Thackeray will be joined by his son Amit Thackeray, who was formally launched as a 'leader' at the MNS mega-convention last week.

However, the party has made it clear that the procession is not in support of CAA-NRC-NPR, but specifically against the Pakistani-Bangladeshi infiltrators living illegally in the country.

"India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters. But Pakistani and Bangladeshi infiltrators are not my brothers and sisters. They are not Indians," read one of the several promos in the build-up for the February 9 march.

The procession will be taken out from Girgaum Chowpatty to Azad Maidan demanding that the illegal citizens from the neighbouring countries must be identified and driven out of India.

Earlier, the Mumbai Police had declined permission to MNS to take out the procession through the Mohammed Ali Road in Muslim-dominated south-central Mumbai.

This is MNS' first major public outreach after it metamorphosed with a new flag, symbol, ideology and agenda at its mega-convention on January 23, the 94th birth anniversary of Shiv Sena founder the late Balasaheb Thackeray.
JOHANNESBURG  A judge in South Africa issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday for Jacob Zuma, the former president, for failing to appear in court on a corruption case that he has sought to avoid for months, most recently by asserting that he is ill.

The warrant, requested by the National Prosecuting Authority, does not come into effect until the case resumes on May 6, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Mr. Zuma is said to be in Cuba seeking medical treatment, according to the state broadcaster, but the prosecutor requested his health records be shown as evidence of his claim that he is sick.

One of the prosecutors, Billy Downer, told the Pietermaritzburg High Court that Mr. Zumas legal team had said that the former president would be out of the country for treatment until mid-March, local news media reported. According to Mr. Zumas team, he had two operations in early January before going abroad. But the judge questioned a letter from a military hospital in the administrative capital, Pretoria, explaining Mr. Zumas absence, noting that it had no date.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski says she will vote to acquit President Donald Trump in the impeachment ordeal despite slamming his behavior as 'shameful and wrong'.

Murkowski, who is an unpredictable moderate in a polarized Washington D.C., on Monday declared she would not vote to convict Trump.

In a speech to a near-empty Senate chamber, Murkowski went on to also level an attack against Trump and fellow lawmakers of both parties.

'The president's behavior was shameful and wrong. His personal interests do not take precedent over those of this great nation,' Murkowski said.

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski says she will vote to acquit President Donald Trump in the impeachment ordeal despite slamming his behavior as 'shameful and wrong'

The Senate is scheduled to wrap up its two-week impeachment trial and vote to either acquit or convict Trump on charges he abused his powers and obstructed Congress' investigation of his dealings with Ukraine.

It was no surprise that Murkowski attacked House Democrats during her speech.

She accused them of a slapdash investigation of Trump's actions toward Ukraine and his alleged withholding of U.S. aid in order to pressure Kiev to investigate one of his political rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden, a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination.

But Murkowski, with her fellow senator from Alaska presiding over the chamber after other senators had left for the night, also lashed out at Trump, fellow Republicans, Senate Democrats and the media.

Alluding to a 'demon' burning its way through Washington during the impeachment process that began late last September, Murkowski blamed 'a careless media' that she said 'cheerfully tried to put out the fires with gasoline'.

In a speech to a near-empty Senate chamber, Murkowski the went on to also level an attack against Trump, slamming his behavior as 'shameful and wrong'

She went on to say 'I cannot vote to convict' Trump and indicated a preference for a much softer penalty than the removal from office that Democrats have been clamoring for.

She went on to list transgressions on both sides of the political divide that she saw unfolding during this impeachment process, only the third in U.S. history:

She cited Trump supporters' eagerness to 'have just dismissed the case as soon as it reached' the Senate and Trump's detractors' acting as if 'the only way the trial could have been considered fair was if it resulted in the president's removal from office.'

With a broad-brush criticism of both political parties, Murkowski spoke of their 'apparent willingness...to destroy not just each other, but all of the institutions of our government. And for what? Because it may help win an election?'

Having castigated the House, the Senate, Trump and the media, Murkowski wrapped up her approximately 11-minute diatribe on a note of faint optimism: 'It's my hope that we finally found bottom here.'

Long one of the few moderate voices in the Senate, Murkowski shocked the political establishment in 2010 when she became the first senator in more than 50 years to win re-election with a write-in campaign after the Republican Party tried to dump her in favor of a more conservative challenger.

In the summer of 2017, Murkowski again was in the spotlight when she and two other moderate Republican senators - Susan Collins and the late John McCain - ruined Trump's push for a partial repeal of the 'Obamacare' healthcare law.
As a shortage of face masks continues in Japan amid the spread of the new coronavirus originating in China, their prices are shooting up on online flea markets.

Some people are apparently cornering masks at drugstores and other shops and selling them at excessively high prices via online markets that have no regulations regarding resales.

As the coronavirus outbreak drags on, Amazon.com has run out its inventory of regularly priced masks.

In the meantime, large volumes of masks are on sale elsewhere at inflated prices. For example, a pack of seven masks that normally sells for around A400 is priced at about A4,000 on one such website.

Visiting a drugstore in the city of Osaka, a female corporate worker in her 20s said, aIam now visiting a fifth store for a pack containing a large number of individually wrapped masks, but I canat find them anywhere.a
A $15 million lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died at the Oregon State Penitentiary accuses prison staff of failing to treat the 54-year-old inmate for flu and then covering up his flu-related death.

The Statesman Journal reported that Michael Barton, of Medford, Oregon, was already experiencing mental illness and dementia when he came down with the flu in January 2018.

According to the lawsuit, he did not receive a flu vaccine at the prison in 2018 or in 2017.

Within a month of becoming sick, Barton was dead.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed on behalf of Bartons brother Stephen Brown, accuses the Oregon Department of Corrections medical staff and officials of negligence, civil rights violations, disability discrimination and ruining or destroying evidence surrounding Bartons death.

Prison officials declined to comment on the allegations made in the lawsuit or the Disability Rights Oregon review, citing the pending litigation.

The prisons chief medical officer concluded that Barton died from Influenza B, which led to MRSA empyema, which led to sepsis, which led to severe septic shock, which led to cardiopulmonary arrests, multisystem organ failure and severe anoxic brain injury.

Barton entered state custody in 2017 after being convicted of robbing a Medford bank.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Oregon
Trump Administration, GOP-Led States Urge Supreme Court to Delay Review of Obamacare Ruling

The Trump administration and a coalition of states led by Republicans are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to wait on reviewing a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.

The U.S. House of Representatives and state officials from a coalition of blue states asked the high court in a pair of appeals in January to take up the case and review a lower courts decision in the courts current term. They said the courts expeditious consideration is necessary because of the uncertainty the lower courts decision has on health insurance and the health care marketplace, as well as for millions of Americans who have purchased coverage under Obamacare (pdf).

At the end of January, the top court rejected their request to fast-track the appeals, but didnt rule out a full review of the cases.

In filings on Feb. 3, the federal government and state officials from a group of conservative states said the House and Democratic-led states offered no compelling reason for the Supreme Court to grant a review of a case that was still being decided by a lower court. They urged the court to defer the review of the decision until after the case has completed its proceedings in the lower courts.

In December 2019, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2 to 1 that a key tenet of Obamacare was unconstitutional. The judges in the majority said a provision in the law, referred to as the individual mandate, which required people to obtain health insurance or pay a tax penalty, was invalid after Congress removed the tax penalty in 2017, rendering the law unenforceable.

Following the congressional action, a group of red states and two private individuals filed a lawsuit claiming that the provision was no longer constitutional and that the entire ACA needed to be invalidated because the provision was inseverable from the rest of the law.

A district court judge in Texas found in favor of the plaintiffs, prompting an appeal to the appeals court. The appeals court upheld the plaintiffs constitutional claims and sent the case back to the district court for a more detailed review of the question of severability.

The court of appeals decision declining to resolve the severability question does not warrant this Courts review at this juncture. As the case comes to this Court, no operative lower-court ruling exists on severability, Solicitor General Noel Francisco wrote in the filing (pdf) for the Trump administration.

Deferring review until the litigation in the lower courts is complete thus may help to streamline this Courts eventual consideration if and when it considers the severability issue and to avoid a partially advisory opinion in the meantime, he added.

He argued that there was no need to rush the case to the Supreme Court at this time as the individual mandate no longer subjects any individual to any concrete consequence.

Although the court of appeals and petitioners draw different legal conclusions from the elimination of the monetary penalty, it is common ground that noncompliance with the individual mandate no longer carries any significant real-world consequence, he wrote. On either view of the meritsi.e., whether the elimination of the shared-responsibility payment renders the individual mandate now invalid, or valid but merely precatorythe question of the mandates validity is not itself a matter of any practical urgency.

The attorneys for the coalition of red states made similar arguments (pdf) urging the Supreme Court to deny the request for the appeals, saying that the top court should not allow petitioners to leapfrog lower-court consideration based on their own asserted need for certainty.'

The court filings were made in response to the House and Democrat-led states request for review. The Trump administration and state officials made similar arguments when they tried to urge the court to deny the request to expedite the review of the ruling.
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Beirut, February 3, 2020  Israeli authorities should reveal the reason for journalist Mohammad Malhems arrest or release him immediately, and should investigate the injuries sustained by journalist Abdul Mohsen Shalaldeh and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Yesterday, Israeli security forces arrested Malhem, a Palestinian reporter for the Hebron-based radio broadcaster Marah FM, while he was covering protests in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, according to news reports and a statement by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, a local press union, which was shared with CPJ.

Marah FM posted photos on Facebook of Malhems arrest, in which the journalist can be seen in the back of an Israeli military vehicle.

CPJ could not determine the reason for his arrest or where Malhem is being held.

Also in Hebron yesterday, Shalaldeh, a freelance Palestinian journalist working on assignment for Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera Mubasher, suffered a skull fracture after being hit by a rubber bullet fired by Israeli security forces, according to news reports and the journalists brother, Loay Shaladeh, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

Both journalists were covering protests against the proposed peace plan for the region recently announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, according to those news reports.

The arrest of Mohammad Malhem and the injuries suffered by Abdul Mohsen Shalaldeh are part of a pattern of Israeli security forces showing little regard for the safety of Palestinian journalists, said CPJs Middle East and North Africa Representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado. Israeli authorities should investigate the injuries sustained by Shalaldeh, and should either file charges against Malhem or release him immediately.

The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately reply to CPJs emailed requests for comment on either case.

In a video shared widely on social media, Shalaldeh is seen immediately after being shot and is wearing a clearly marked press vest.

A female soldier shot him directly in the head with a rubber bullet and, even though he was wearing his helmet, he suffered a skull fracture, Loay Shalaldeh told CPJ, relaying what his brother had told him. He was transferred to Al-Ahly Hospital, where he stayed for 24 hours and was discharged earlier today.

The journalists brother said that doctors requested Shalaldeh return for check-ups over the next three days.

CPJ has documented multiple instances of Israeli security forces arresting and injuring journalists with live and rubber bullets in recent months.
Belgium's public health agency said on February 4 that one person out of nine evacuated from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan has been confirmed positive. All Belgium nationals who were fled from China were subjected to a series of tests at Neder-Over-Heembeek military hospital in Brussels and eight of them were tested negative.

However, no further details have been revealed about the person tested positive but reportedly the agency also said that the people repatriated were in good health and are not showing symptoms of the deadly virus.

Read - Punjab: Police Steps In To Get Man Suspected Of Having Coronavirus Admitted To Hospital

This comes as the coronavirus claims at least 425 lives with 20,438 confirmed cases in China. Hong Kong has also reported its first death outside China after the Philippines. The growing number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus outbreak which has been declared as a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation has sparked fears globally. One person from Demark was also evacuated but was unable to return to his home on February 2 has also been tested negative by the authorities in Belgium.

Read - South Korean Woman Tests Positive For Coronavirus After Thailand Visit

Coronavirus takes a toll on the economy

Amid the unprecedented outbreak, World Bank has also called for all countries to step up programs to fight the novel virus as fear of economic instability spikes. The official statement also said that the World Bank was considering to mobilize its own resources against the novel virus.

The World Bank also said that it is trying to assist and support the affected countries with the coronavirus and called it 'life-saving work' to stop the further spread and mitigate its impact. The World Bank has also declared that it will monitor the economic and social impacts of the deadly virus outbreak.

According to the official website, World Bank said, We are calling on all countries to strengthen their health surveillance and response systems, which is essential to contain the spread of this and any future outbreaks. We are closely coordinating with international partners to accelerate the international response to support countries to manage the global health emergency.

Read - Taiwan Blames 'vile' China For Blocking Coronavirus Information

Read - Hong Kong Confirms First Coronavirus Death; China Admits 'shortcomings & Difficulties'

(With Agency inputs)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-05 04:29:32|Editor: huaxia

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BEIRUT, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's state security arrested on Tuesday four Syrian nationals for joining the Islamic State (IS) militant group, the National News Agency reported.

The Syrians admitted to participating in the 2014 IS attack on military centers in Arsal, about 124 km northeast of the capital Beirut, and to seizing weapons of the Lebanese army and selling them.

The arrested suspects were referred to judicial bodies for further investigations and legal procedures.

Lebanon has, in the past few months, arrested a number of terrorist suspects behind attacks in the country.

The latest terrorist attack in Lebanon was carried out by Abdel Rahman Mabsout, an IS member who blew himself up in the northern city of Tripoli in June 2019, killing four members of the Lebanese army and internal security forces. Enditem
The employees' union of (LIC) will stage an hour-long walk-out strike on Tuesday to protest against the government's move to sell its stake in the state-run insurer through an initial public offering.

The walk-out will take place at all offices of the insurance behemoth across the country.

In the Union Budget announced on Saturday, Finance Minister announced that the government, which holds 100 per cent stake in LIC, will sell a part of its holding through an initial public offering (IPO).

"As an immediate reaction to the proposal to list LIC, All India Employees Federation will hold one-hour walk-out strike on February 4," the union said in a statement.

Listing of is against national interest as over the years it has been playing a pivotal role in nation building activities, it said.

On a capital base of Rs 5 crore, the union said LIC's valuation surplus wasRs 53,211.91 crore, life fund stood at Rs28.28 lakh crore and asset under management over Rs 31.11 lakh crore at the end of FY19.

Being one of the biggest financial institutions of the country, any move to privatise will shake the confidence of the common man and will be an affront to our financial sovereignty. The very purpose of LIC to provide insurance coverage to socially and economically backward class at a reasonable cost will be defeated and motto will change from service to profit, the statement said.

Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said the listing of LIC will help bring in greater transparency, public participation and also deepen the equity market.

Government came out with the idea (LIC listing). The details will follow and it will be in the interest of LIC and its policyholders. Interest of LIC and policyholders will be safeguarded, Thakur recently told PTI.

Finance secretary Rajiv Kumar on Sunday said the listing may be done in the second half of the next financial year.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When President Donald Trump delivers the 2020 State of the Union address on Tuesday, he will be speaking to a country that is deeply divided. The speech comes on the eve of a vote in the U.S. Senate impeachment trial, during which Trump is expected to be acquitted. The process has revealed a stark partisan split, with Republicans generally supporting Trump, and Democrats largely calling for his impeachment.

The question of whether Trump will address that turmoil as he addresses a joint session of Congress is being hotly debated. Well have to wait and see whether Trump will emphasize what his administration has done, or if his remarks are more focused on politics.

(How to watch the State of the Union 2020 address online: Several streaming services will be carrying Trumps speech, including Hulu + Live TV, fuboTV, and Sling TV.)

In addition to streaming options, if you have a TV, most major channels will be airing live coverage of the State of the Union address. Heres an overview:

What: State of the Union 2020 address, followed by the Democratic response from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Following Whitmers remarks, Texas Congresswoman Veronica Escobar will give a Democratic rebuttal, in Spanish.

When: 6 p.m. PT, Tuesday, Feb. 4

Channels: ABC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox, Fox News Channel, Fox Business, MSNBC, PBS, Telemundo, and more.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
EVMs used in Nandigram, where Mamata Banerjee lost, should be preserved: Calcutta High Court

Calcutta HC stays Zilla Parishad's meeting for no-confidence vote against BJP members

India

oi-PTI

Kolkata, Feb 04: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday imposed an interim stay on a special meeting of Dakshin Dinajpur Zilla Parishad (ZP) for voting on a no- confidence motion brought against three 'karmadhyakshas' (members-in-charge) of the body.

The meeting was scheduled to be held on Wednesday, for which a notice was given by the divisional commissioner on January 22.

Fourteen members of the zilla parishad had brought the no-confidence motion against 'karmadhyakshas' Shankar Sarkar, Chintamani Biha and Mofizuddin Mia.

Left-wing students protest outside Victoria Memorial as BJP MP addresses at Kolkata Literary meet

While the three members are from the BJP, the 14 others who brought the motion are from the ruling Trinamool Congress, which runs the zilla parishad.

The three members against whom the motion was brought had moved the high court challenging it on procedural grounds.

Since the three 'karmadhyakshas' are members of two permanent committees each, six no-confidence motions were brought against them separately.

Passing the interim stay order, Justice Arindam Sinha observed that there was no requirement for bringing separate motions for the six posts and that it could be done by bringing only one motion. The matter will be taken up for hearing again on February 13.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, February 4, 2020, 17:04 [IST]
Feb 4 (Reuters) - Britain's Foreign Office will charter

another civilian aircraft to help British nationals and their

dependents leave China's Wuhan for the UK on Sunday amidst the

spread of the coronavirus outbreak, Sky News reported late on

Tuesday.

(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru;

Editing by Sandra Maler)
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In an effort to reach all possible voters before Monday nights Iowa caucuses, Pete Buttigieg brought his campaign message to Fox News, sitting down with anchor Ed Henry, who asked the candidate how he could still believe President Donald Trump is racist after the Super Bowl ad he ran on Sunday.

While Buttigieg has said that he can bring people together and get Republicans on his side, Henry accused the candidate of doubling down on his claim that Trump supporters are at best looking the other way on racism.

Speaking to CNNs Jake Tapper on Sunday, Buttigieg said he had no regrets about his previous comments. Im very concerned about the racial division that this president has fostered, he said, and Im meeting a lot of voters who are no longer willing to look the other way on that, looking for a new political home.

Fox & Friends Worries Pete Buttigieg Might Be the Next Obama

This brought Henry to Trumps Super Bowl ad, in which Alice Marie Johnson can be seen thanking the president for commuting her life sentence on drug charges.

How can you attack not just the president, but 63 million people in America who voted for him, when you have African-American women like Alice Johnson saying, This is a president who gave me a second chance? Henry asked, turning one African-American woman into plural with his question.

You know, I think that President Trump's decision to sign the First Step Act when it came to his desk is one of the handful of things I could actually agree with him on, Buttigieg answered. It doesn't change the incredibly cruel and divisive racial rhetoric that comes out of this White House, that is one of the many reasons that I'm meeting not only Democrats, but Republicans, who tell me that they struggle to look their children in the eye and explain to them how this is the president of the United States.

After Henry seemed to equate Buttigiegs record on race as mayor of South Bend, Indiana with Trumps history of open racism both as president and throughout his career, the candidate said he has every right to call out the president because the president is wrong.

Story continues

He is wrong to attack women of color, he is wrong to compare people to animals, he is wrong to assault entire cities in his tweets, Buttigieg said, referring to Trumps record. And you dont have to be a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat to know thats wrong, just as a lot of Republicans in Congress and the Senate, even if theyre providing cover for the president, cant actually bring themselves to say that hes a good leader. And its revealing.

Henry had no choice but to move on after that.

Fox News Host Defends Trump as Honest and Transparent After Trump Called Him Fake News

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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US State Department lawyers refuse to meet with the parents of Harry Dunn to discuss their fight to extradite a diplomat's wife over her alleged involvement in their son's fatal road crash.

The 19-year-old's mother Charlotte Charles and father Tim Dunn had hoped to discuss their son's case with the State Department after advice from the British embassy in Washington DC.

But counsel for the department said a 'decision on this case has already been made.'

Mr Dunn's family have claimed that US secretary of state Mike Pompeo 'made a political decision' to reject an extradition request for 42-year-old Anne Sacoolas.

The 19-year-old's mother Charlotte Charles and father Tim Dunn (pictured outside the Foreign Office last month) had hoped to discuss their son's case with the State Department after advice from the British embassy in Washington DC

Anne Sacoolas, 42, (right) is the wife of diplomat Jonathan Sacoolas. She allegedly struck and killed 19-year-old Harry Dunn (left) as she drove out of an RAF base in England, and then fled to the United States, claiming diplomatic immunity

Mr Dunn's parents have said Mr Pompeo made the decision prior to 'the legal process outlined in the extradition treaty being completed'.

It is understood that the State Department's response to a request for meeting was that 'the Office of the Legal Adviser is not in a position to meet to discuss it in further detail'.

Mr Dunn was killed when his motorbike collided with a car outside a US military base in Northamptonshire on August 27 last year.

Mrs Sacoolas, the wife of a US intelligence official based at RAF Croughton, claimed diplomatic immunity after the crash and was able to return to her home country, sparking an international controversy.

Addressing the request for a meeting with the State Department, a spokesman for Mr Dunn's family, Radd Seiger said: 'The parents have now discovered that the US government could not even bring itself to follow the legal and judicial process that should have been followed prior to the rejection having been made.

Raab shakes hands with Pompeo at the Foreign Secretary's Residence last week

The Prime Minister with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 10 Downing Street ahead of a meeting last week

'Secretary Pompeo interfered by making his political decision first without regard to the rule of law or due process.

'Harry's parents accordingly sought a meeting with the lawyers in the State Department so that the situation could be explained to them.

'Not denying that that the process had not been followed, the lawyers have simply stated that the decision has been made and they are not in a position to discuss it any further.

'We are now in a shocking position of having to come to terms with the fact that the world's leading nation is not only abusing the conventions governing diplomatic immunity but now also cannot even be bothered to follow the process agreed in the treaty between the US and UK.

'It is the worst case of arrogance and unilateralism that I can remember. Harry's parents and supporters will not accept anything less than Anne Sacoolas returning to the UK and I will be meeting with officials in the British embassy in Washington DC tomorrow morning to discuss next steps.'
UCLA bioengineers and colleagues at UNC School of Medicine and MIT have further developed a smart insulin-delivery patch that could one day monitor and manage glucose levels in people with diabetes and deliver the necessary insulin dosage. The adhesive patch, about the size of a quarter, is simple to manufacture and intended for once-a-day use.

The study, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, describes research conducted on mice and pigs. The research team, led by Zhen Gu, PhD, professor of bioengineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, is applying for FDA approval of clinical trials in humans. Gu and colleagues conducted the initial successful tests of the smart insulin patch in mice in 2015 in North Carolina.

"Our main goal is to enhance health and improve the quality of life for people who have diabetes," said Gu, a former professor in the UNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. "This smart patch takes away the need to constantly check one's blood sugar and then inject insulin if and when it's needed. It mimics the regulatory function of the pancreas but in a way that's easy to use."

The adhesive patch monitors blood sugar, or glucose. It has doses of insulin pre-loaded in very tiny microneedles, less than one-millimeter in length that deliver medicine quickly when the blood sugar levels reach a certain threshold. When blood sugar returns to normal, the patch's insulin delivery also slows down. The researchers said the advantage is that it can help prevent overdosing of insulin, which can lead to hypoglycemia, seizures, coma or even death.

"It has always been a dream to achieve insulin-delivery in a smart and convenient manner," said study co-author John Buse, MD, PhD, director of the UNC Diabetes Center and the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS) Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. "This smart insulin patch, if proven safe and effective in human trials, would revolutionize the patient experience of diabetes care."

Insulin is a hormone naturally produced in the pancreas helps the body regulate glucose, which comes from food-consumption and provides the body with energy. Insulin is the molecular key that helps move glucose from the bloodstream to the cells for energy and storage. Type 1 diabetes occurs when a person's body does not naturally produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body does not efficiently use the insulin that is produced. In either case, a regular dosage of insulin is prescribed to manage the disease, which affects more than 400 million people worldwide.

The treatment for the disease hasn't changed much in decades in most of the world. Patients with diabetes draw their blood using a device that measures glucose levels. They then self-administer a necessary dose of insulin. The insulin can be injected with a needle and syringe, a pen-like device, or delivered by an insulin pump, which is a portable cellphone-sized instrument attached to the body through a tube with a needle on the end. A smart insulin patch would sense the need for insulin and deliver it.

The microneedles used in the patch are made with a glucose-sensing polymer that's encapsulated with insulin. Once applied on the skin, the microneedles penetrate under the skin and can sense blood sugar levels. If glucose levels go up, the polymer is triggered to release the insulin. Each microneedle is smaller than a regular needle used to draw blood and do not reach as deeply, so the patch is less painful than a pin prick. Each microneedle penetrates about a half millimeter below the skin, which is sufficient to deliver insulin into the body.

In the experiments, one quarter-sized patch successfully controlled glucose levels in pigs with type I diabetes for about 20 hours. The pigs weighed about 55 pounds on average.

"I am glad the team could bring this smart insulin patch one more step close to reality, and we look forward to hopefully seeing it move forward to someday help people with diabetes," said Robert Langer, ScD, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT and one of the paper's co-authors.

The technology has been accepted into the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Emerging Technology Program, which provides assistance to companies during the regulatory process. The researchers are applying for FDA approval for human clinical trials, which they anticipate could start within a few years. The team envisioned that the smart microneedle patch could be adapted with different drugs to manage other medical conditions as well.
NEW YORK, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BICSI Winter Conference 2020 booth #123 - The Association for Passive Optical LAN (APOLAN), the non-profit organization advocating for the education and global adoption of passive optical LAN (POL), will showcase POLs growth and opportunities at the BICSI 2020 Winter Conference & Exhibition taking place at the Tampa Bay Convention Center on February 9-13.



APOLANs member companies will be at the BICSI event to showcase their dedication to providing best-in-class infrastructure, electronics, integration, distribution, and consulting services to drive the adoption of POL, said Matt Miller, AECOM Technology Solutions Networks Leader and APOLAN Chairman. This group of innovators and solution providers are enabling organizations to deploy this impressive technology so that they can take advantages of the long-term savings and reap the numerous benefits of a converged, future-proof and high-performance network infrastructure.

APOLAN members will be available at the BICSI Winter Conference booth #123 to meet with show attendees and offer expertise on POL technologies and trends. In addition, APOLANs line up of BICSI Winter events will include:

Fundamentals of Passive Optical LAN Training Seminar:

APOLAN and member companies AECOM and ITConnect Inc. will, once again, present the Fundamentals of Passive Optical LAN, a two-day Passive Optical LAN training taking place Feb. 9 - 10 from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. This two-day seminar will provide an overview of the value, architecture, design and powering considerations for a Passive Optical LAN technology. Specific focus will be given to system components, benefits, design methodologies, power survivability using AC and DC methods, planning and commissioning of electronics, infrastructure testing and closeout package deliverables. Attendees that complete the two-day seminar will receive 12 Continuing Education Credits (CECs). For more information about the seminar and to register as an attendee visit the BICSI Winter 2020 website.

Annual Members Meeting and APOLAN Awards Ceremony:



APOLAN will hold its annual member meeting in conjunction with the BICSI Winter Conference. The event, open to all member companies, will take place at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, February 11, in the Gandy II Meeting Room located at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Downtown Convention Center. As part of the member meeting, The Association will announce the 2019 APOLAN Award winners at a ceremony, honoring member companies that have embraced the Associations mission to educate and advocate the global adoption of passive optical LANs. For a list of past winners, visit https://apolanglobal.org/apolan-member-awards-2019/member-awards-history/ .



For more information on APOLAN, or to apply for membership, please visit http://www.apolanglobal.org .

About The Association for Passive Optical LAN (APOLAN)

The Association for Passive Optical LAN is a non-profit organization that is driving adoption and educating the market about the technical and economic advantages of passive optical LAN technology. Through its membership, which is comprised of manufacturers, distributors, integrators and consulting companies actively involved in the marketplace, the Association hopes to help designers, engineers, architects, building owners, CIOs and IT departments implement and successfully use passive optical LAN. For more information, visit http://www.apolanglobal.org/ .
Everything is not what it seems. Often, despite best of intentions, one commits grave mistakes due to a prejudiced world view. This is what veteran actor Amol Palekars play Kusur (The mistake) is all about.

Organised by North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), Patiala, in collaboration with Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi, the play was staged at Tagore Theatre on Tuesday.

An adaptation of Danish film, Den Skyldige, and directed by septuagenarian Palekar and his wife Sandhya Gokhale, Kusur is a social thriller that keeps the audience on the edge throughout.

The veteran actor, who is returning to the stage after 25 years, endears the audience to the character of a retired senior cop, Dandavate, just like the characters he played in films did.

Volunteering at a police control room on a rainy night in Mumbai, Dandavates dedication to his jobattending to distress calls and ensuring help reaches the peopleis evident right from the beginning.

As the night progresses, he has received several such calls, when comes a frantic call from a woman, who seems too scared to talk over the phone. She pretends to be talking to her son and gives answers in yes or no.

Dandavate gauges she has been abducted and is being taken in a car. He makes all attempts to engage with the woman, telling her not to hang up and finds out the cars colour, its location and other details to trace her.

While Dandavate tries his best to ensure help arrives at the soonest, his colleagues on the ground take it as just another day at work.

When he is finally able to ensure help has reached the woman, is when the audience is hit with a twist in the tale.

Palekar, as Dandavate, while providing an insight into the daily lives of backroom warriors, leaves with a parting message that good intentions alone dont absolve you of sins.

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New Delhi:

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Board of Studies of each school of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to place their recommendations before the Academic Council on how the remaining classes of the monsoon semester and the exams can be conducted. The directive came after some teachers and students challenged the varsitys decision to conduct online exams.

Justice Rajiv Sakhdher granted time to the University to file their report in the court and posted the matter for February 10. In their plea filed through advocates Samiksha Godiyal and Abhik Chimni, the petitioners have contended that the VC of JNU does not have the power to allow such form of examinations when the entire curriculum had not been covered in the various schools and special centres under the university.

On the JNU students unions (JNUSU) call , students had boycotted their classes for around two months and the end-semester examination over the increase in hostel fee hike.

The administration conducted the examination using alternative methods such as email and WhatsApp, inviting ire of the student and teaching community. While classes for the previous semester have started on campus, teachers had moved the court challenging the decision to conduct the online examination.

On Tuesday, appearing for JNU, advocate Monica Arora told the court that the reports are ready but could not be filed because the minutes of meeting of the Board of Studies came Tuesday morning. Following this, the court asked the varsity to place the report before the Academic Council and also file it in court. The matter would be now heard on February 10.

On the last day of hearing, the court had asked the Board of Studies and the special centres to convene within two days a meeting and recommend how the remaining classes can be held and how the exams can be conducted. It sought to know the purpose for holding the online exams when classes had not been held.
G ale force winds are set to hit swathes of the country this weekend, with the Met Office issuing severe weather warnings for the whole of the UK.

Gusts of up to 80mph will batter coastal communities in the west and north west, with speeds of 50 to 60mph likely across the rest of Britain, forecasters predict.

The yellow Met Office warning extends from 6pm on Saturday until midnight on Sunday, with travel disruption likely along with a chance of power cuts and building damage.

The warning states: "Very strong winds may bring disruption to parts of the UK later this weekend. Some delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport expected."

It continues: "Coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities affected by spray and/or large waves.

"There is a small chance that some roads and bridges could close. There is a slight chance that power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage

There is a slight chance of some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs.

UK weather - In pictures 1 /9 UK weather - In pictures Ice covers a pond on a green in Kew, west London, after overnight temperatures in the capital dipped below freezing PA A person looks out as waves crash against rocks at Portland Bill in Dorset PA People look out to sea as waves crash against Chesil beach in Dorset PA Waves crash against Chesil beach in Dorset PA Flooding between Carlisle and Lockerbie from water running off a field onto the rail tracks PA/Network Rail Scotland Waves crash against rocks at Portland Bill in Dorset PA Tourists battle against wind and rain at Pier Head in Liverpoo PA

The strong gusts will accompany heavy rain bringing storms and strong waves to northern coasts along with frost and snow in Scottish highlands on Saturday and Sunday.

However, temperatures will be milder further south, reaching 12 to 13C in south east England.

Met Office meteorologist Nicola Maxey told the Standard that air pushing across from the Atlantic would bring warmer wetter conditions.
Two former Nigerian leaders, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, have met in Seoul, South Korea.

The two leaders met at the sidelines of World Summit 2020 holding in the South Korean capital.

Mr Obasanjo, who ruled the country as military head of state between 1976 and 1979 before returning as civilian leader between 1999 and 2007, has been active in the political space.

Mr Jonathan, who was first brought in by Mr Obasanjo as vice president in 2007, led Nigeria from 2010 to 2015.

Mr Obasanjo initially supported the presidential bid of Mr Jonathan in 2011, but later parted way with his protege.

During the 2015 presidential elections, Mr Obasanjo openly campaigned against Mr Jonathan after tearing off his membership card of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

I was delighted to meet His Excellency Chief Olusegun Baba Obasanjo at the ongoing World Summit 2020 in Seoul, South Korea, Mr Jonathan wrote while sharing a picture of him and Mr Obasanjo on his verified Facebook page.

With the two men in the picture is Mr Jonathans wife, Patience.

Mr Jonathan said he and Mr Obasanjo joined leaders from across the world to make a case for lasting peace, interdependence and shared values among the worlds peoples and nations at the summit.

President Muhammadu Buhari is not attending the summit and it is unclear if the Nigerian government is represented.

After moderating a session of the International Summit Council for Peace (ISCP), where many serving and former Heads of Government made intense and exciting contributions on how to heal our troubled world, I got my faith renewed in the belief that more commitment is required from all stakeholders in the pursuit of global peace, Mr Jonathan said.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan speaking at the World Summit 2020 in Seoul, South Korea,

Mr Jonathan first shared pictures of his participation at the summit on Monday.

At the World Summit 2020 in Seoul, South Korea, organised by the Universal Peace Federation, it was an honour to have joined other world leaders at the opening plenary to deliberate on the imperatives of peace, security and human development, he wrote in the Monday post.
After three persons from Kerala tested positive for the fatal coronavirus, the state government on February 3 declared the epidemic a state calamity.

The southern state that boasts of advanced healthcare mechanisms is struggling to contain the outbreak of the virus that has killed 425 people in China. Meanwhile, stepping up efforts to bring the situation under control, the state government is planning to punish all China returnees who skip health scans.

According to a Hindustan Times report, Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja has claimed that the epidemic was declared a state calamity to raise awareness about the novel pathogen and not to trigger panic. She informed that more than two thousand persons had already been quarantined while another 84 had been admitted to different hospitals.

Elaborating the states preparedness to deal with the further spread of the deadly disease, she said enough isolation wards had been kept ready. However, according to the health minister, China returnees who are dodging health officials are proving to be a major impediment in their efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus.

She said: Despite our vigilance, some returnees are unfortunately dodging health officials, which can prove really dangerous. If they continue to do this, we will have to treat it as a crime. We need cooperation of all to tide over the crisis. We should be more alert to check secondary infection.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

KK Shailaja also claimed that there were chances of more quarantined patients testing positive for coronavirus, given that a total of 2,000 students from the state had returned from China. However, a medical protocol to tackle the same was reportedly formulated right after the first positive case was reported on January 30.

Apart from awareness programmes, the state government has also opened control rooms in all district headquarters, aside from forming rapid response teams. At present, they are trying to start a testing laboratory in Alappuzha itself so that less time is wasted on testing and confirming a case of Coronavirus infection.
A former prisoner says he saw Muslim inmates who had 'never drunk in their lives' joining Alcoholics Anonymous so they could escape the poor conditions of their cells.

The automatic release of Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman halfway through his sentence just days before he stabbed two people has sparked fierce debate over how the British justice system should deal with convicted terrorists.

Chris Atkins, who was sentenced to five years in jail for tax fraud and served half, appeared on Good Morning Britain today where he said that the system would 'brutalise' inmates, making them more susceptible to radicalisation.

Mr Atkins said HMP Wandsworth was 'probably one of the most dysfunctional places in the UK' - where 90 per cent of inmates are simply locked in their cells all day.

He said: 'Quite often people aren't getting out for showers or getting our for phone calls we've run out of running water we've run out of loo roll, and in that kind of environment it's going to make radicalisation ten times easier.

Chris Atkins, who was sentenced to five years in jail for tax fraud and served half, appeared on Good Morning Britain today

Mr Atkins added: 'I saw people with severe mental health difficulties, with learning difficulties, who felt that they were being completely abused by the system who would go off to Friday prayers and when they came back they had some pretty poisonous ideas going on.

'And you could see that - I'm not excusing it - you could see that the system brutalising people in this way was part of it.

'There was a group of Muslims on my wing and they all joined Alcoholics Anonymous - they're strictly teetotal, never drunk in their lives, but they joined the AA so that they could get out for like an extra hour in the day to see their mates and stuff - and be with each other.'

Mr Atkins is author of A Bit Of A Stretch - a diary of his time spent in prison - which has been serialised in the Mail on Sunday.

He today said that people from ethnic minorities have a 'much, much tougher time' in prison, and it 'makes radicalisation much easier', adding that the prison system was 'on its knees', and longer sentences for terrorists, as the government is implementing, only means 'kicking the can down the road'.

'You're going to keep them in prison for longer where radicalisation can take hold for greater - because they're not being rehabilitated in prison, I'm sorry but they're just not - nor are they for any other crimes,' Mr Atkins said.

He added that once they are released the prisoners will be more likely to reoffend.

Sudesh Amman, 20, from Harrow, fantasised about carrying out a terror attack with a blade or with acid while riding a moped and had been jailed in 2018 - before being released a few days ago

Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan wondered how many more terrorists were out on the UK's streets hoping to 'die a martyr, killing people with knives'

GMB host Piers Morgan interjects saying that he wouldn't let them out.

Mr Atkins says that for 'possessing a pamphlet' lifetime detention might not be feasible.

He appeared on the programme along with senior researcher in Islamic Studies at the Quilliam Foundation Dr Usama Hasan, who said that some of the deracalisation work in prisons has to be 'toughened up'. He also spoke of 'the system's naivity' over Amman's release.

Streatham terrorist Amman, who was shot dead on Sunday after stabbing two people, had been jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents in December 2018.

The Islamic State fanatic kept a notebook in which he wrote that his 'goals in life' were: 'Die as a shuhada', which means martyr, and 'go to jannah', which translates as paradise.

Mr Atkins described the Wandsworth prison as 'probably one of the most dysfunctional places in the UK' where 90 per cent of inmates are simply locked in their cells all day

He also sent Isis recruitment material and shared an Al Qaeda magazine to a family WhatsApp group that included his three younger brothers aged between 11 and 15, telling one of them he wanted to 'blow myself up'.

Piers Morgan yesterday called for answers over why Amman was released from jail - and said that if he had not been shot dead he would have been set free to attack again.

Amman, 20, was freed in January having been released automatically after serving half his three years and four months sentence.

He had admitted possessing and distributing terrorist documents, including bomb making manuals, and knife fighting guides.

'The jihadi last night, had he survived this attack, you can absolutely bet your life he'd have been let out at some stage again, it is utterly ridiculous,' Mr Morgan had said.

He added: 'He wanted to die a martyr killing people with knives - guess how he died, everybody, he died a martyr, trying to kill people with knives.'
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4)  In the middle of the Senate discussion on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) on Tuesday, Senate President Vicente Sotto III played a video that pointed at the virus as a US-led bioweapon against China.

Sotto said he received the speculative video on Monday, calling it "interesting, if not revealing." The video surmised that the US government may be "directly involved in the development of the deadly coronavirus strain" in order to quell China's growing power. However, it did not cite official sources to explain the theory.

"Everything apparently points to biowarfare being waged against China," text in the video read.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddyboy" Locsin Jr. was unconvinced. He called the video, which was from Youtube channel The Atlantis Report, "an example of one of the craziest videos I have ever seen."

"There is no doubt that there are people abroad in the West who are perhaps happy that this is happening to China...unfortunately for them, if that is true, this disease is only proving the resilience and strength of China," argued Locsin who was also at the Senate hearing.

He also debunked the notion that China was supposedly hiding information from the public. Locsin said China was already warning its nearby consulates about the virus before they were sure about it.

Sotto said he shared the video to gain another perspective on the issue.

"It is best that we are aware of what other people are saying on this coronavirus," Sotto defended.

Later on, he told CNN Philippines an acquaintance overseas shared the video to him but he has yet to know who was the news outlet behind it.

When asked if he had searched other reports quoting experts that debunked the conspiracy claims, the Senate President replied "[I] will check it out."

During an ambush interview, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go called for the public to prevent the spread of fake news surrounding 2019-nCoV.

"'Wag na po tayo magpanic. 'Wag tayo magkalat ng mga fake news. Tulungan po natin ang ating mga kababayan, 'yung mga totoong balita po," he told reporters after the hearing.

[Translation: Let us not panic. Let us not spread fake news. Let us help our fellowmen, (spread) confirmed news only]

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra also instructed the National Bureau of Investigation to probe "alleged deliberate spread of misinformation and news" about 2019-nCoV.

The Health Department said there are have been people under observation for 2019-nCoV. The country already recorded two confirmed cases including its first death  a 44-year-old Chinese man.

Multi-platform Writer Xave Gregorio contributed to this report.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : BJP has lapped up the revelation that one of the Shaheen Bagh shooters -- Kapil Gurja -- is said to be an Aam Aadmi Party member and has gone to town with it, just ahead of the February 8 Delhi Assembly polls.

Delhi BJP released a photo of Gurjar along with AAP leadership, saying, "Kejriwal Ka hath, Goli chalane walon ke sath".

The Delhi unit of the BJP tweeted: "Shaheen Bagh is not a coincidence, but an experiment. Kapil who fired shots in Shaheen Bagh turns out to be an AAP worker." Little after 9 p.m., Union minister Prakash Javadekar called an emergency press conference where he alleged, "Today, the police have exposed the conspiracy of the Aam Aadmi Party. This kind of violence and this politics of going to any extent is typical of the Aam Aadmi Party. They want to incite riots." He threw a volley of accusations against Kejriwal with Vijay Goel and Shyam Jaju by his side.

BJP President J.P. Nadda posted a series of tweets where he connected the latest revealation with 'national security'. He alleged, "People of the country and of Delhi today saw the dirty face of 'Aam Aadmi Party'. For political longings, Kejriwal and his people have even sold the security of this country. Earlier, Kejriwal used to insult the army and advocate for terrorists. But today, his relations with those who carry out terrorist acts have came to light." Earlier, Prakash Javadekar had called Kejriwal a 'terrorist'. Nadda also linked AAP with the PFI, a radical Islamic organisation whose name has come up many times in connection with the anti-CAA protests.

After the AAP hurriedly called a press meet to distance itself, Javadekar countered, "Sanjay Singh says that pictures of the Shaheen Bagh shooter with AAP leaders don't mean much but the pictures were taken during his induction in AAP. Further, these pictures were erased from his phone. In view of these glaring facts, AAP cannot skip responsibility." Meanwhile 'AAP burns Delhi' started to trend on Twitter and the BJP along with many of its leaders started to use the hashtag.

Ironically, Kejriwal had earlier claimed that AAP hands over books while the BJP hands over guns. With the table turning over, the ruling party of Delhi finds itself on a sticky wicket.
Tomorrow, the Senate will acquit President Trump. Theres a good chance that more Democrats will vote to acquit than Republicans will vote to convict. In fact, theres a good chance that no Republican Senator will vote to convict.

These outcomes would be a defeat for the Democrats. However, the impeachment will still be worth it for the Dems if it helps them in November  e.g., by enabling them to pick off a few of the GOP Senators who vote to acquit.

The reason for the likely unanimity among Republican Senators is this: many have concluded that, although Trump was wrong to have used aid to Ukraine as a means of inducing that country to investigate the Bidens (or announce an investigation), the wrongdoing doesnt rise to the level of an impeachable offense.

Lamar Alexander called Trumps conduct inappropriate. Ben Sasse told reporters that Lamar speaks for lots and lots of us. Charles Grassley, Richard Burr, Susan Collins, Joni Ernst, Rob Portman, Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, and Pat Toomey have publicly made comments similar to Alexanders.

Lisa Murkowski has gone further. She called Trumps behavior shameful and wrong. However, she will vote to acquit.

Murkowski may be overstating things by saying shameful. However, I agree with the basic line these Senators are taking.

Trumps attorneys have argued that Trump didnt do anything wrong by linking U.S. aid to Ukraine (for a time) with an investigation of the Bidens. They say that the Bidens acted corruptly, and that their corruption needed to be investigated. In this view of things, Trump was promoting the national interest in fighting corruption, rather than trying to promote his own political fortunes.

I find this argument unpersuasive for two related reasons. First, to say that the Bidens needed to be investigated is not to say that Ukraine needed to investigate them. If Joe Biden committed an offense by using the threat of an aid cutoff to advance his familys economic interests, thats a matter for the U.S. to investigate  just as the allegation that Trump used the same threat to advance his political interests was a matter for the U.S. to investigate (though not via impeachment).

The Bidens did not violate Ukrainian law. Its not illegal for a Ukrainian company to place an unqualified person on its board in the hope of gaining influence with his father. Its not against Ukrainian law for a U.S. official to withhold foreign aid for any reason, good or bad.

Ukraine ought not investigate Trump for withholding military aid for political reasons and it ought not investigate Biden for doing the same thing for economic reasons. Ukraine shouldnt be pressured to investigate any American official who hasnt violated Ukrainian law, and such pressure certainly shouldnt take the form of withholding aid used to combat Russian aggression.

If anyone should be investigating alleged corruption by the Bidens, its the U.S. President Trump had Rudy Giuliani look into the matter, but hasnt launched an official investigation. He told Ukraines president that Attorney General Barr would be investigating, but Barr says Trump has never given him such an assignment.

Trumps unwillingness to launch an investigation undercuts the argument that such an investigation is needed to serve the U.S. national interest and that our Ukraine policy should hinge on that countrys willingness to investigate the Bidens.

Second, it appears from the evidence (specifically, Gordon Sondlands unrebutted testimony) that, as crunch time approached, Trumps demand was that Ukraine announce an investigation, rather than actually investigate.

From the perspective of Trumps political interests  but not from the perspective of uncovering corruption  this lesser demand made sense. Trump could use Ukraines announcement against Joe Biden. He could claim that Biden was under investigation by another country for corruption.

Indeed, an announcement might be preferable to a real investigation. An investigation, unless Trump used threats to dictate its outcome, would likely have cleared the Bidens of any violation of Ukrainian law. A pending investigation would leave the Bidens under a cloud.

In any case, the fact that Trump was demanding only an announcement further undercuts the claim that Trump actually wanted to get to the bottom of possible corruption by the Bidens. If thats what he wanted, he would have (1) had the U.S. investigate or, at a minimum, (2) insisted on a Ukrainian investigation, as opposed to just a general announcement.

Therefore, I think Senators like Grassley, Rubio, Portman, Ernst, and Sasse are correct in rejecting the argument that Trump did nothing wrong here. They are also correct in concluding that the wrongdoing does not give rise to an impeachable offense. I dont think it comes close to doing so.
The U.S. Navy just demonstrated that two EA-18G Growlers can be autonomously controlled by a manned fighter in a first-of-its-kind test for the specialized electronic warfare aircraft.

Boeing Co., the jet's manufacturer, announced Tuesday that the service recently flew two Growlers as drones while a third, piloted EA-18G aircraft acted as mission controller for the experiment.

The flights, conducted during the Navy Warfare Development Command's annual fleet experiment, or FLEX, took place at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Boeing said in a release.

There were safety pilots within the aircraft who performed the take-off and landing, although the aircraft operated as unmanned systems in flight, said Boeing spokesman Justin Gibson.

The event included four flights to evaluate 21 different test points, officials said.

"This demonstration allows Boeing and the Navy the opportunity to analyze the data collected and decide where to make investments in future technologies," said Tom Brandt, Boeing's Manned-Unmanned Teaming demonstration lead, in the release. "It could provide synergy with other U.S. Navy unmanned systems in development across the spectrum and in other services."

Related: Navy Faces Lawsuits over Expanded Growler Jet Training in Pacific

The experiment proves the EA-18G could be used as a "force multiplier" for real-world operations, increasing situational awareness for pilots in the cockpit "without greatly increasing workload," he explained.

"This technology allows the Navy to extend the reach of sensors while keeping manned aircraft out of harm's way," Brandt added.

The test is part of a Pentagon effort to advance its legacy aircraft with new technologies to keep them relevant in the future battlespace. That includes manned-unmanned teaming.

Officials in recent months have been working on a relatively simple premise: connect multi-platform weapons to build a large comprehensive network based on shared data.

A recent Air Force test included a highly publicized F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter data transfer test, conducted in December off the coast of Florida. That experiment tested whether the two aircraft could communicate securely -- something that is currently unworkable because of their incompatible datalink systems -- by using a new radio and antenna system known as "GatewayONE." As part of a larger event to test the service's Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), the experiment involved Air Force fifth-generation fighters and Navy F-35Bs, as well as a Navy destroyer.

In November, Dynetics and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency successfully flew an unmanned X-61A Gremlins Air Vehicle off of a C-130 Hercules aircraft, the applied science and information technology company said.

The Pentagon hopes to use the cargo plane-deployed drones to swarm enemy defenses, going ahead of fighters, ships or ground vehicles to scope out and defend against an incoming attack.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Read more: Toxic 'Black Goo' Base Used by US Had Enriched Uranium. More Veterans Report Cancer
She's one of Australia's most sought-after models.

But Elyse Knowles did quite the unusual beauty move on Tuesday, as she washed her luscious blonde locks in river water to promote natural shampoo brand, Aveda.

The 27-year-old sported a pink bikini for the advert, placing her svelte frame on a wooden board while dipping her hair into the muddy river water underneath.

Stunning! Elyse Knowles did quite the unusual beauty move on Tuesday, as she washed her luscious blonde locks in river water to promote natural shampoo brand, Aveda

'When you feel 100% comfortable washing your hair in the river because the shampoo and conditioner you use has NO NASTIES,' she captioned the snap.

In a separate photo, she was seen beaming as she posed for the camera - before dramatically flailing her body like a salmon as she dove into the water.

Fans didn't question Elyse's decision for a riverside wash, instead praising the stunner for looking 'gorgeous' and 'incredible' while basking up the summer sun.

Bikini babe! The jaw-dropping model sported a slinky baby pink two piece for the occasion, placing her svelte frame on a wooden board

It's no surprise that Elyse is doing everything she can to promote environmentally friendly products.

Last year, she and her boyfriend Josh Barker settled in Byron Bay, New South Wales, in search of a more environmentally conscious lifestyle.

The Block winners are renting a $1.5million bohemian-style home featuring rustic furnishings and high ceilings.

The sustainable property has three double bedrooms, wide verandas and a self-contained studio apartment attached.

Picture perfect: She was then seen diving into the water, showing off her incredible physique in the process

New home: Elyse told Daily Mail Australia several months after moving to Byron Bay that she experienced quite a culture shock at first, after previously living in Melbourne

Elyse told Daily Mail Australia several months after moving to Byron Bay that she experienced quite a culture shock at first.

'It's very different [from Melbourne]. Everyone always smiles and always says hello. That was one of the first things I noticed,' she said.

'The community is more environmentally conscious. [You see it in the] conversations that people have every single day... talking about the ocean and the marine life.'
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Ramakrishna Badseshi By

Express News Service

BIDAR: The CEO of the Shahin Institution has said the police is continuing to harass students over the anti-CAA play performed at a primary school run by it here.

Speaking to Express on Tuesday, the CEO Tousif Madakeri said that as an FIR has been filed against the management, all the members of the institution including its president Abdul Khadar have applied for anticipatory bail and the court would take up the hearing of the application on Wednesday.

Tousif said the police arrested the headmistress of the Shahin Primary Urdu Medium School and the mother of an 11-year-old boy on false charges on January 30 though their names did not figure in the FIR.

Even after the arrest of the headmistress and one of the parents, the police have continued to visit the school, he said. Three or four police personnel come to the school at 11.00 AM and the investigating officer Basaveshwar Hira (Bidar Dy SP) comes at 1.00 PM and question the students for hours together.

On Monday, the police questioned the students for four hours. They were questioning all the 80 students, he said. The presence of the police almost every day in the school has created a fear psychosis among the students as well as the parents, Tousif said.

To a question, he said that on the first day the police came in uniform and later they were coming in civil dress. But they were insisting that students answer the questions on who has written the script for the drama Awareness on NPR, NRC and CAA in which seven students acted.

Tousif, as well as some of the students, said an actor in the drama said as part of his dialogue that he would beat with chappals anyone who asks for documents for the NPR and NRC. Such dialogues are common in any drama, he said.

The actor had not shown any chappals but police have insisted that the boy who played the role show the chappals from the drama, said Tousif. They also seized the chappals which the boy had worn, he added. Teachers also echoed the same complaint but refused to be named in the report.

Meanwhile, the Child Welfare Committee chairperson of Bidar Kavita Husheri has told Express that the CWC has written a letter to the Bidar police seeking details about the incident, how many students they have questioned, how many times the police questioned them and whether they followed the rules under the Juvenile Justice Act.

The CWC would hold a meeting on Tuesday and discuss the incident and the follow-up, Kavita said.

Dy SP Basaveshwara Hira told Express that as the investigation is ongoing, they had to ask for the details from those involved.

Bidar SP Nagesh said the police have not violated the Juvenile Justice Act which was strictly being followed during the investigation.
Hundreds of schools nationwide are to remain shut today as almost 20,000 educators strike over what they describe as an ongoing failure to eliminate pay discrimination within the teaching profession.

With Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) members on strike today, virtually all of the 248 Education and Training Board schools, along with almost 150 community, comprehensive, and voluntary schools are expected to remain closed.

Disruption is also expected at institutes of technology and colleges of further education, where the TUI has a significant number of members among lecturing staff.

TUI president Seamus Lahart said: 19,000 striking TUI members are sending out an unequivocal message today to all politicians who are members of parties that aspire to being a part of the next government.

Our campaign will continue until the discriminatory two-tier pay system, unilaterally imposed in 2011, is finally abolished.

It is worth highlighting that the majority of TUI members are not personally affected by pay discrimination  they are striking in solidarity with the ever-growing proportion of colleagues who are affected.

Teachers and lecturers who joined the sector since 2012 are paid at a lower rate for the same work as their colleagues, according to the TUI.

The union maintains that this has undermined the teaching profession and corroded staff morale which, in turn, has impaired services for students.

Last October, TUI members voted by an overwhelming majority, 92% to 8%, to engage in a campaign of industrial action, up to and including strike action.

Ahead of its upcoming ballot on industrial action over unequal pay, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) instructed members not to carry out duties normally undertaken by TUI colleagues involved in dispute action.

Teachers employed after January 2012 earn more than 50,000 less during the first 10 years of their careers, compared to colleagues hired prior to that, according to Mike Lyons, TUI representative for Cork.

This equals 110,000 over the course of their career, he added.

This pay disparity is leading to major issues when it comes to recruitment and retention, and it is giving graduates the impression that teaching is an unattractive career option, said Mr Lyons.

Secondary schools are currently struggling to recruit and retain teachers, with four out of five schools not receiving any applications for advertised jobs, a recent TUI survey suggests.

Two tropes regularly appear during discussions about pay discrimination, Mr Lyons added.

The first is that teachers receive a starting salary of 37,000, he said. That figure does not take into account the fact that teachers begin their careers on a part-time basis and it can take up to 10 years before they have a whole-time post.

The second misleading but often-aired trope is that pay cuts were originally initiated by longer-serving teachers.

They did not negotiate a lesser pay scale for their colleagues, he said, adding that such cuts were imposed by the Government.
A petition to save Belfast Zoo has gathered almost 2,000 signatures since it was started five days ago.

The petition directed at Belfast City Council comes after a Sinn Fein motion called for the transformation of the facility into a "world class" visitor attraction by 2025.

The number of people signing the petition has been growing steadily since the petition was started, with many sharing their reasons as to why the facility should remain.

Meanwhile, an opposing petition calling for the zoo to be closed has gathered 579 signatures on an animal rights protection platform.

Organisers said their fundamental belief is that there is no need for any animal to remain in captivity and that they belong in the wild.

Those supporting the petition to keep the Cave Hill site open called for investment while others advocated for the zoo's conservation efforts, saying it "does a lot to save endangered species".

Sinn Fein's motion put forward last week said some animals should be returned to their natural habitats in a "carefuly crafted phased approach".

This was rubbished by people who signed the petition, with one saying "to re-introduce these lovely animals to the wild is silly, they will not survive".

Another said: "The zoo is vital for conservation efforts across the globe, provides valuable work placements for students looking to go into the conservation field and provides excellent learning opportunities to communities and young people.

"Money needs to be put into the zoo by the council or sold onto someone who will put the money in to make it more accessible (personally think that a ski lift approach would be effective)," they wrote on the Change.org petition.

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"This would be a great opportunity to work with Queen's university academics and students to design stimulating enclosures both for the public and animals.

"Please don't turn Belfast zoo into a tacky tourist attraction," they pleaded.

At Monday's council meeting, Castle Councillor Conor Maskey hit out at what he described as "silly reactions" from other parties and the "media's approach" to the recent public debate.

As well as returning animals to their natural habitats and transforming the zoo into a visitor attraction, a conservation programme for indigenous animals and a commitment to retaining staff was also put forward in the motion.

Councillor Maskey referred to other parties portraying the motion as "about locking up the zoo and throwing away the key".

He said the approach was "far, far, far, from it".

He told the chamber: "This was never about closing the zoo, it was about properly investing in the site to ensure we are in keeping with a modern and ethical approach to the city and the animals, and doesn't burden the rate payer."

He added, however, in the light of the debate the party would be talking to the council about amending the motion before it is referred to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee later this month.

DUP Councillor George Dorrian confirmed his party's opposition to the motion after meeting with trade union officials.

He said the party wishes to bring about a more sustainable model but that they do not wish to close the zoo.

Belfast Zoo said it would not be making any comment.
A Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Bangkok made an emergency landing at Kolkata airport on Tuesday after a woman delivered a baby mid-air with the help of female flight attendants, officials at the airport said.

This happened around 3 am when the aircraft was flying over Kolkata, they said.

The captain of the flight QR 830 contacted officials of Air Traffic Control (ATC) at Kolkata airport, reported the matter and sought permission for an emergency landing.

The woman went into labour when the flight was crossing Nagpur. She then informed the crew who in turn brought the matter to the notice of the pilot, an official said.

The pilot then sent an SOS message to Kolkata ATC, informing them about the medical emergency on board and sought permission to land at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) airport.

The ATC officials gave clearance for the emergency landing, following which the aircraft, with 352 passengers and crew on board, landed safely at 3.15 am, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said.

The women flight attendants played good samaritan helping the woman in delivery of the baby mid-air.

The Thai national along with her newborn child was taken to a private hospital for medical assistance, the AAI official said, adding, she was admitted to the hospital around 4.25 am.

The Qatar Airways flight took off for Bangkok at 5.50 am.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A group of Lok Sabha members from Kerala raised the issue of cases of coronavirus in the southern state in the House on Tuesday and demanded a comprehensive statement from the government on the issue.

T N Prathapan of the Congress raised the issue during the Zero Hour, demanding financial support from the Centre for Kerala and immediate dispatch of a disaster management team to take stock of the situation.

N K Premachandran of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and K Suresh of the Congress supported Prathapan and demanded a statement from the Union health minister in the House.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said he would convey the feelings of the members to the minister.

He said the government had taken several steps to contain the situation.

With three students, all from the Wuhan University in China, testing positive for the novel coronavirus, the Kerala government declared the epidemic as a "state calamity" on Monday.

In Kozhikode, 306 people have been kept under observation at their homes and four in the isolation ward of a hospital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog hailed the imminent departure of the Department of Conservation's Chief Deputy Director, widely seen as an impediment to environmental reform, as a sign that Governor Newsom plans to overhaul the way oil and gas is regulated in the state.

"Jason Marshall oversaw DOC's oil and gas division, as well as other key divisions and programs, but not to the benefit of the environment," said consumer advocate Liza Tucker. "His departure is a Valentine to environmentalists and anyone else who cares about combating climate change and protecting communities poisoned by fossil fuel infrastructure."

Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance had asked Gov. Newsom to fire four top oil and gas regulators at the DOC and its then-Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources in a letter sent in July 2019 about oil regulators and financial conflicts of interest. See the letter here: https://consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/2019-07/DOGGRLettertoNewsomCWDandFracTracker.pdf

Newsom has now removed and replaced the Oil and Gas Supervisor, the head of the Department of Conservation, and has removed Marshall. The fourth, William Bartling, Chief Deputy at the newly renamed California Geologic Management Division, remains. He is a former longtime Chevron employee on whose watch the massive Chevron spill in Kern took place last year.

Consumer Watchdog called on Newsom to go further and ban wells within 2,500 of communities, fracking and other risky enhanced oil extraction techniques, and to ultimately stop issuing new oil and gas permits. Other oil-producing states including Texas and Colorado, have setbacks, though inadequate, but California has none.

Marshall's tenure marked lax permitting, the relaxation of regulations for dangerous high-pressure cyclic steaming, more exemptions for wastewater injection permits that contaminated federally-protected aquifers, and prevention of public web access to maps of oil spills. "For reform to really come, housecleaning must continue and the culture has to change," said Tucker.

Over the course of a 28-year-career, Marshall was tapped more than once to act as temporary head of the DOC and/or as temporary head of the newly renamed California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM). In 2011, he was tapped by Governor Jerry Brown to be acting oil and gas supervisor after Brown, at the behest of Occidental Petroleum, fired two top oil regulators fighting to ensure well safety during cyclic steaming.

Once in place, Marshall elevated oil-friendly regulators in the division who went back to rubberstamping permits for oil companies without rigorous environmental review. Marshall deep-sixed a map of surface expressions in the state that had been prepared internally for the division's public website and pressured regulators not to enforce strict environmental reviews for permits under the California Environmental Quality Act, according to sources close to the division.

He was one of the chief architects of SB 4, the state's fracking law implemented in 2014. That law exempted cyclic steaming from its weak requirements.

Last July, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance revealed that eight regulators held stock in oil companies they were responsible for regulating at the then Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources. The Fair Political Practices Commission then opened an investigation into two of them. The groups also revealed that oil and gas drilling permits and fracking had skyrocketed in the first five months of 2019 over the same period under Jerry Brown the year before.

After learning that fracking permits had jumped by 103% and oil and gas drilling permits had increased 35%, Newsom fired the then Oil and Gas Supervisor Ken Harris and replaced him with Marshall as a stopgap.

Between May and July last year, a massive Chevron spill began in Kern County. Although Marshall must have known of the spill, he did not issue a notice of violation and an order to Chevron to stop some oil extraction work in the area until after the firing of Harris.

In November, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance launched a website, newsomwellwatch.com, that maps and updates the pace of permitting. The map revealed that permits were on track to beat Governor Brown's total in 2018. Newsom then announced a moratorium on new fracking and high-pressure cyclic steam permits pending reviews by federal researchers.

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog

Related Links

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org


Six students were injured after a red pickup truck struck them at high speed near Moore high school in Oklahoma on Monday, Feb. 3, according to KOCO News 5 ABC. Authorities said that one of the students has died.

According to the news outlet, at around 3:30 p.m., the red pickup truck had hit the students near the Moore High Schools field house area, located in the 1000 block of East Main street. This area was right across from a duck pond, according to the news outlet.

As reported by the news outlet, Jeremy Lewis, the Moore police sergeant, said that one of the students hit died before the authorities arrived, and the rest of the injured students were transported to an area hospital. Lewis said that the other students were in critical condition.

Lewis described the suspect as an adult male, but no further details were given about the truck driver. Lewis said the kids were hit at a very high rate of speed according to heavy.com.

Witnesses called the police after the crash happened, and police were dispatched to the crime scene immediately. The news outlet reported that the police were able to get to the scene very quickly as the police station was nearby.

After hitting the students, the red pickup truck fled the scene, according to the news outlet. Lewis said he wasnt sure whether the driver was a former student of the school, but as far as he knows, the driver wasnt a current student.

I did ask if it was a student at Moore high school, and they said, no, it was not,' Lewis said, according to the news outlet.

As the investigation goes on, Main street from Eastern Avenue to the east and several streets that run south off Main street will be closed. Lewis said Moore police are investigating and that roads will be closed well into the evening, according to the news outlet.

While they conduct their investigation, authorities are assisted by the Moore High School administrators, who helped by identifying the students involved in the incident. The school administrators also helped by contacting the parents of the students involved, according to the news outlet.

Lewis said that a few parents also arrived at the scene to assist the police officers, allowing them to work the crime scene where the crash happened, according to the interview.

Lewis said the parents would be getting their information through the school, and school administrators were available at the school gym if any parents were concerned about their childrens involvement with the crash, according to the news outlet.

The identities of the students who were struck were not revealed, according to the news outlet. The investigation is ongoing.
Kapil Gujjar, the 23-year-old man who fired shots in the air near the Shaheen Bagh protest site last week is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi Police claimed on Tuesday. Rajesh Deo, a senior crime branch officer said investigators had recovered photographs from Kapil Gujjars phone after his arrest that placed him in the company of AAP leaders.

During his interrogation, Deo told reporters, Kapil Gujjar had disclosed that he and his father Choudhary Gaje Singh had joined Arvind Kejriwals party a year ago. Choudhary Gaje Singh, a former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader, had fought Delhi Assembly and municipal elections on the BSP ticket in 2008 and 2012.

When HT had spoken to Choudhary Gaje Singh on Sunday, he had spoken about the inconvenience that the Shaheen Bagh protest had led to, disapproved of his sons action and insisted that he had been out of politics for the last two years.

ALSO WATCH | Joined AAP a year ago: Delhi police on Shaheen Bagh shooting accused

Kapil Gujjar was caught on Saturday at Shaheen Bagh after he fired at least two shots 150 metres from the protest site. Just two days earlier, a minor had shot at protesters marching from Jamia to Rajghat protesting the new citizenship law.

As he was being taken away, Kapil Gujjar was seen on camera saying, No other community will have a say in this country. Only Hindus will.

Deos statement on Tuesday - that came minutes after photographs of Kapil Gujjar at an AAP event were leaked -- is expected to give the Bharatiya Janata Party ammunition to accuse AAP of orchestrating the firing incidents to target the BJP and its leaders.

AAP lawmaker Sanjay Singh, who is seen in one of the photographs where Kapil Gujjar is present, launched a counterattack at the BJP and the police, which reports to the home ministry via the Lt-Governor.

Amit Shah is the Home Minister of the country at this time Now just before elections, photos and conspiracies will be found... 3-4 days are left for the elections, BJP will do as much dirty politics as they can, Sanjay Singh said, according to news agency ANI.

Sanjay Singh also brushed aside the photographs, insisting that being in the same frame as someone else did not mean anything.

Singh said he quit politics two years ago and has not been associated with any political organisation since. Singh claimed that though he has not spoken to his son after he had been arrested by the police, his act was not intended to establish himself in politics.

My son did not show any interest in politics. After leaving politics, my two sons and I are into our dairy business. We own a gaushala in Ghazipur. My two sons assist me in supplying milk to parts of the city and manage the business, added Singh.

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Chinas Communist Party leadership called the month-old coronavirus epidemic a major test on Monday as other nations escalated efforts to isolate China, unnerving Chinas stock market, depressing global oil prices and raising new anxiety about the worlds most populous country.

The growing global move to effectively cut off Chinas 1.4 billion people came as government officials reported the new coronavirus strain had killed more in mainland China, 425 as of Tuesday morning, than the SARS outbreak in 2002 and 2003, confirming it as one of the deadliest epidemics in recent Chinese history.

Many leading infectious disease experts say the outbreak is likely to become a pandemic, defined as an ongoing epidemic on two or more continents, and that stringent anti-contagion restrictions may have come too late.

Theres no sign that its getting better, said Leo Poon, division head of the public health laboratory sciences department at the University of Hong Kong. We dont see a pattern of decline, and thats a problem.
Sudesh Amman was shot dead by armed police in Streatham after stabbing two people (PA)

The terrorist who stabbed two people in London told a fellow prison inmate he wanted to murder an MP, it has been reported.

Sudesh Amman was shot dead by police on Sunday about a minute after attacking two people in Streatham, south London.

The 20-year-old, who was jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents in December 2018, was freed from prison less than a fortnight ago and had been staying at a bail hostel in nearby.

He was released from prison after serving half of his sentence of three years and four months.

Police officers work at the scene of Sunday's terror stabbing attack in the Streatham area of south London. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

A former prisoner who spent time with Amman in Belmarsh high-security prison told The Times: "The guy was definitely insane and he never hid his intentions, so it's crazy how he even got out of jail."

The man said Amman wanted to copy the murder of MP Jo Cox and told him "the only way to get these filthy kafirs (non-believers) out of Syria is to take out MPs like that white guy did with the lady in 2016", The Times reported.

The Streatham attacker reportedly wanted to emulate the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox, who was killed in June 2016 (PA)

The former inmate told the newspaper that Amman "wanted to do something real, something organised like the (IRA) used to do".

Isis supporter Amman, who at the time of his sentencing was 18 and living in Harrow, smirked as he was jailed for three years and four months at the Old Bailey in December 2018.

A notebook found by police in Ammans home revealed he had the life goal of dying a martyr.

The Metropolitan Police said he was released from prison on 23 January 2020.

Research by foreign policy think tank the Henry Jackson Society suggests more than 10 terrorists are due to be released from prison this year.

Read more

Suicide by cop: How Isis-inspired terrorists emulate each other to generate maximum fear

Isis claims responsibility for Streatham terror attack

Streatham knife attacker shot dead by police was convicted terrorist with 'life goal' of 'dying a martyr'

On Monday, justice secretary Robert Buckland said emergency legislation is needed to make sure terrorists are not released automatically from prison half-way through their sentence.

Story continues

Mr Buckland said offenders will not be considered for release until they have served two-thirds of their sentence and that no terrorists will be released before the end of their full custodial term unless the parole board agrees.

A police officer at the scene of the terror attack in Streatham High Road, south London (Picture: Getty)

The parole board would be "strengthened" to deal more effectively with the risks that terrorists pose and steps would be taken to introduce the plans "as soon as possible", he said.

The government will also consider making new legislation to ensure that extremists are more closely monitored on release and will review whether the current maximum sentences for terrorist offences are sufficient.

Legal experts raised concerns about plans to apply the new rules to prisoners who have already been sentenced, with former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Lord Carlile telling BBC2's Newsnight: "I think it may have gone too far.

Police officers conduct a search on Streatham High Road in south London after the attack (AFP/Getty)

"The decision to lengthen the sentences of people who have already been sentenced, and therefore expected to be serving half the sentence the judge imposed upon them, may be in breach of the law.

"It is certainly going to be challenged."

On Tuesday, cabinet minister Michael Gove said terrorist offenders should be imprisoned indefinitely "if necessary".
Badarpur Delhi Assembly Constituency Election Results 2020 Live Updates - Read Badarpur constituency vidhan sabha chunav latest news, party, constituency, candidate name wise winner, loser, leading, trailing live updates online at Firstpost.com.

Badarpur Assembly Election 2020 | With a margin of over 3,000 votes, AAP's Ram Singh Netaji took the lead over BJP's Ramvir Singh Bidhuri. While Netaji got 30,228 and a 49.41 vote share, Bidhuri got 26,944 votes and a 44.04 percent vote share.

Among the few constituencies in Delhi where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chose to field a fresh face despite having won the seat in the 2015 election, the Badarpur Assembly constituency is likely to see a bipolar contest between the ruling AAP and challenger the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In an interesting development, the AAP has denied the ticket to incumbent ND Sharma and given it to local strongman and former Congress leader Ram Singh Netaji. On the other hand, the saffron party has nominated Ramveer Singh Bidhuri, a known rival of Netaji. Meanwhile, Sharma will contest on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket. The largely rural constituency of Badarpur goes to the polls on 8 February.

Here's a brief profile of the constituency:

Constituency Name: Badarpur

Constituency Number: 53

District Name: South Delhi

Total Electors: 2,60,887

Female Electors: 1,07,522

Male Electors: 1,53,329

Third Gender: 36

Reserved: No

Results in previous elections: Ramvir Singh Bidhuri of the BJP won the seat in the 2013 Assembly election defeating Congress Netaji by over 12,000 votes. However, he lost to Sharma of the AAP by a margin of over 46,000 votes in the 2015 Assembly election.

Demographics: Gujjars are a dominant vote bank in Badarpur constituency, which is a predominantly rural area. The Gujjar voters in the constituency also tend to vote along caste lines as per reports. However, with the BJP and AAP fielding Gujjar candidates, it would be interesting to see how much the Gujjar vote would split in the upcoming election. Moreover, the lack of basic amenities like potable water, sewer, open drains and roads are likely to take centre stage in the polls.
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Todd Rosetti has been named king of Krewe of Barry for the 2020 carnival season, while Dr. Michael Diaz will serve as the krewe captain.

The all-male, all-Ocean Springs krewe was founded in 2004 and over the years has become perhaps Ocean Springs most visible and notable Mardi Gras krewe. Its membership boasts of state and local leaders, successful businessmen and others and the krewe takes on community projects throughout the year.

The Krewe of Barry float has become a highlight of the annual Ocean Springs Elks Mardi Gras Parade, annually bringing up the rear of the parade.

Rosetti has been a member of KOB for eight years and works in the family business, Quality Poultry and Seafood.

Diaz is a board certified surgeon practicing both general and plastic surgery.

Other officers for 2020 are the krewes namesake, Henry Barry Zuber III as treasurer, and Josh Becker as secretary.

The Ocean Springs Elks Parade is set to roll this Saturday at 1 p.m. in downtown Ocean Springs.

Jackson County schools honored with PREPS awards

JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- The Jackson County School District received numerous honors as William Carey University announced the 2020 winners of the Value-Added Awards.

The Value-Added Awards, established in 1997 through the Program of Research and Evaluation for Public Schools (PREPS) at William Carey, serves as a means of providing reliable comparisons of the academic performance of Mississippi state test results while factoring in the socioeconomic status of a schools enrollment.

Schools deemed as adding value are those performing significantly better than other schools with comparable socioeconomic circumstances, according to PREPS.

All three Jackson County high schools -- St. Martin, Vancleave and East Central -- were honored with PREPS awards for each category -- ACT, Algebra I, Biology I, English II and U.S. History.

Among the lower schools, St. Martin East Elementary and St. Martin North Elementary also were honored.

City of Ocean Springs to give away 200 oak trees

OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Partnering with the Mississippi Forestry Commission, the City of Ocean Springs will give away more than 200 oak trees to Ocean Springs residents this month.

The trees will be available beginning Friday, Feb. 14 in front of the building department at Ocean Springs City Hall. Trees are available on a first come, first served basis, with a limit of two per family.

The City will continue to give away trees until all have been disbursed. There will be three types of oak trees available: Chestnut oak, Persimmon oak, Cherrybark oak, and Shumard oak.

For additional information, contact the mayors office at 228-875-6722.
A Las Vegas limb-lengthening clinic has been getting a lot of attention online this week for offering people the chance to add a few inches to their stature through minimally invasive surgery.

The LimbPlastX Institute charges up to $75,000 to add up to six inches to patients height, a hefty price that many are more than willing to pay to overcome their height complex. Dr Kevin Debiparshad, a consultant at the clinic, said that 30 men sign up for the life-changing procedure in 2019 alone, with even more procedures lined up for 2020, especially after the recent media exposure. The procedure surprisingly lasts only 1.5 hours and involves incisions into the leg bones and the insertion of a special stretching device. The full results are only visible after about a year.

Photo: LimbPlastX Institute

We cut the leg bones  either femur (upper leg bone) or tibia (lower leg bone)  and insert a device that slowly stretches them out which makes you taller permanently, Debiparshad said. As far as the procedure goes, its an x-ray based surgery where I make 4-6 tiny small incisions into the leg (either thigh bone or lower leg bone) creating a window, to gain access to the hollow part of the bone, where I insert a device that responds to an external remote control that the patient will control at home. Once the device is set, I place screws at the top and bottom of the device to lock into position. This is done on each leg.

Interestingly the lengthening of the limbs takes place post surgery, with an external remote control being used by the patients themselves to non-invasively increase their height by 1mm every day with the touch of a button. For optimal results, two to four weeks of post-surgery physical therapy are also required and included in the $75,000 price.

Tricking the body into thinking youre growing is basically what this is, Debiparshad adds. Patients can become up to five or six inches higher than their original stature, and after about a year the screws and nails are removed, and the bone and tissue remain permanently stretched from that point forward.

Photo: LimbPlastX Institute

Such limb-lengthening operations have apparently been performed for about a century, but the LimbPlastX Institute is the first to perform the procedure for cosmetic purposes. The technique was previously used on patients with combat leg wounds, car crashes, or other traumatic events, but Debiparshad and his mentor, a Dr. Dror Paley in West Palm Beach, Florida, were the first to perform it on patients who simply wanted to be taller.

Over 90 per cent of my patients, including those who have consulted with me, are male. Most on average are about 56 seeking a height increase of 3 inches, Dr. Kevin Debiparshad, who works at the clinic, Debiparshad said. The desire to appear taller, particularly for men, has always been a hot topic in modern day society and social norms.

The LimbPlastX Institute surgeon thinks that limb-lengthening surgery has the potential to become a mainstream cosmetic procedure, like nose jobs and breast augmentations.



As controversial as this procedure may seem, it does sound a lot less invasive than having your legs broken repeatedly to add a few extra inches to your height.
Democratic party officials in Iowa worked furiously Tuesday to deliver the delayed results of their first-in-the-nation caucus, as frustrated presidential candidates claimed momentum and plowed ahead in their quest for the White House.

Technology problems and reporting "inconsistencies" kept Iowa Democratic Party officials from releasing results from Monday's caucus, the much-hyped kickoff to the 2020 primary. It was an embarrassing twist after months of promoting the contest as a chance for Democrats to find some clarity in a jumbled field with no clear front-runner.

Instead, caucus day ended with no winner, no official results and many fresh questions about whether Iowa can retain its coveted "first" status.

State party officials said final results would be released later Tuesday and offered assurances that the problem was not a result of a "hack or an intrusion".

Officials were conducting quality checks and verifying results, prioritizing the integrity of the results, the party said in a statement.

The statement came after tens of thousands of voters spent hours Monday night sorting through a field of nearly a dozen candidates who had spent much of the previous year fighting to win the opening contest of the 2020 campaign and, ultimately, the opportunity to take on President Donald Trump this fall.

The candidates didn't wait for the party to resolve its issues before claiming, if not victory, progress and moving on to next-up New Hampshire.

"It looks like it's going to be a long night, but we're feeling good," former Vice President Joe Biden said, suggesting the final results would "be close".

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said he had "a good feeling we're going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa" once results were posted.

"Today marks the beginning of the end for Donald Trump," he predicted.

"Listen, it's too close to call," Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said. "The road won't be easy. But we are built for the long haul."



And Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was most certain.

"So we don't know all the results, but we know by the time it's all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation," he said. "By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious."



Democrats faced the possibility that whatever numbers they ultimately released would be questioned. And beyond 2020, critics began wondering aloud whether the Iowa caucuses, a complicated set of political meetings staged in a state that is whiter and older than the Democratic Party, are a tradition whose time had past.

The party has tried to accommodate critics, this year by promising to report three different data points about voters' preferences, presumably improving transparency. But the new system created new headaches.

State party spokeswoman Mandy McClure said it had "found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results", forcing officials to try to verify results with "underlying data" and the paper trail.

Some of the trouble stemmed from issues with a new mobile app developed to report results to the party. Caucus organizers reported problems downloading the app and other glitches.

Des Moines County Democratic Chair Tom Courtney said the new app created "a mess".

As a result, Courtney said precinct leaders were phoning in results to the state party headquarters, which was too busy to answer their calls in some cases.

Organisers were still looking for missing results several hours after voting concluded.

Shortly before 2 am, the state party was making plans to dispatch people to the homes of precinct captains who hadn't reported their numbers. That's according to a state party official in the room who was not authorized to share internal discussions publicly.

Earlier in the night, Iowa Democrats across the state cast their votes, balancing a strong preference for fundamental change with an overwhelming desire to defeat Trump. At least four high-profile candidates vied for the lead in a contest that offered the opening test of who and what the party stands for in the turbulent age of Trump.

It's just the first in a primary season that will span all 50 states and several US territories, ending at the party's national convention in mid-July.

For Democrats, the moment was thick with promise for a party that has seized major gains in states since Trump won the White House in 2016. But instead of clear optimism, a growing cloud of uncertainty and intra-party resentment hung over the election as the prospect of an unclear result raised fears of a long and divisive primary fight in the months ahead.

One unsurprising development: Trump won the Republican caucus, a largely symbolic victory given that he faced no significant opposition.

The president's campaign eagerly seized on the Democrats' problems.

"Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history," Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said. "It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?"



Pre-caucus polls suggested Sanders entered the night with a narrow lead, but any of the top four candidates Sanders, Biden, Warren and Buttigieg was positioned to score a victory.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, who represents neighbouring Minnesota, was also claiming momentum, while outsider candidates including entrepreneur Andrew Yang, billionaire activist Tom Steyer and Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard could be factors.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Revenue in M 2019 2018 Variation % CER* Q1 6.87 7.73 -0.86 -11.2% Q2 11.96 7.84 +4.12 +52.5% Q3 7.08 10.71 -3.62 -33.8% Q4 13.84 11.28 +2.56 +22.6% Total 39.75 37.56 +2.19 +5.8%

* Current exchange rate

Revenue in M 2019 2018 Variation % CER* Licenses 19.18 17.73 +1.45 +8.2% Maintenance 11.19 11.50 -0.31 -2.8% SaaS subscriptions 2.37 1.25 +1.12 +90.1% Services, etc. 7.01 7.08 -0.07 -0.9% Total 39.75 37.56 +2.19 +5.8%

* Current exchange rate

Paris, February 3, 2020

Although growth for the year did not reach the goals announced, 2019 was, in many respects, a good year. Revenue grew 5.8% at current exchange rates, resulting in annual revenue just under 40 million, with Q4 revenue up 22.6%. It should be noted that the last quarter's commercial activity (11.4M in signed agreements/transactions, up 41%) is not entirely included in the revenue. This is the case, in particular, of SaaS sales (2M) and maintenance in connection with licenses sold in Q4 (1M), the impact of which is negligible in 2019. CAST Highlight (SaaS) sales were up 179% for the quarter compared with Q4 2018, and up 65% for the year.

ARR can be estimated at approximately 15.9M based on the recurring SaaS revenue (annual value of subscriptions sold in 2019 for at least 12 months), recurring license revenue (annual value of the limited term software licenses sold in 2019 for one or more years), and the recurring maintenance revenue (revenue from software maintenance expected for 2020 excluding maintenance in connection with new 2020 transactions). The breakdown Perpetual license/Limited term license of software sales is around 50/50.

Sales generated by partners (internal use, co-sell, OEM), the main factor in future growth, are increasing significantly and represent over 40% of overall revenue. Finally, as at 31 December, available cash amounted to 2.2M, with over 23 million in receivables, 80% of which should be collected within the next three months.

Other KPIs are generally very positive:

Almost 100 new logos were acquired, well spread throughout Europe, the US, India and China;

40% growth in many projects with BCG, a very effective partner for market penetration;

Significant commercial success of CAST Imaging, a new product that makes it possible to accelerate (2x faster) the training and modernization phases of complex software systems, as well as their cloud migration;

Inclusion of CAST technology in IBM's Garage for Cloud;

Same for Bain & Company's Technology Transformation services;

Same for DXC Studio (DXC's migration/modernization offer);

Inclusion of CAST, since 17 January, in Microsoft's Solution Assessment Program, a global Microsoft Corp program targeting major companies to promote Microsoft Azure.

The 2020 budget prepared by management aims to be prudent with profitable growth of 20%, ARR as defined above of 18 million euros, and sales to and through its main partners, BCG, BAIN, EY, Deloitte, IBM, CGI, Cognizant, Wipro, Infosys, which are increasing.

As the efforts and investments necessary to successfully change the business model (sales through partners, rental vs. sale of licenses and SaaS) and launch the two new offers, CAST Highlight and CAST Imaging, were underestimated, management would like to thank the many shareholders for their trust and stress that the efforts are now bearing fruit.

In conclusion, we would like to note that the CAST website had close to 37,000 visitors per month at the end of 2019 compared with less than 10,000 three years ago, and that CAST has around 32,900 LinkedIn followers, which is well above average for a B2B company of CAST's size. All these signs reflect the progress of the concept of software intelligence, which is increasingly strategic in the today's digital world, becoming very software dependent. Of the 500+ billion spent every year on software of all kinds, only a tiny portion is currently being analyzed and assessed accurately. The potential is therefore very gigantic, now more than ever.

Upcoming: Publication of annual results on April 6, 2020, after market closes

CAST is a pioneer and market leader in Software Intelligence. Its software analysis, measurement and mapping technology - the result of an investment of over 120 million euros - allows all players on the digital market to make informed decisions, guide their teams, avert software hazards and deliver resilient, safe and secure applications. Hundreds of companies rely on CAST to improve end-user satisfaction and time-to-market, reduce cost and prevent business disruption. Founded in 1990, CAST is listed on Euronext and has offices in North America, Europe, India and China.

For more information, please visit: www.castsoftware.com.

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Foreign-owned enterprises (FOEs) and representative offices (ROs) are obligated to have their annual statements audited.

Investors should be aware that FOEs and ROs have a different audit and compliance requirements.

The government aims to replace the Vietnamese Accounting Standards and adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards by 2025.

The Accounting Law governs the principles for accounting, audits, and organizational structure, for businesses to stay compliant in Vietnam.

The tax year in Vietnam is determined according to the calendar year, and a Vietnamese-based auditing company must conduct the audit. The financial reports should then be submitted to the local tax authority, Ministry of Finance, and the statistics office 90 days before the end of the fiscal year.

Investors should be aware that the audit and compliance requirements are different for foreign-owned enterprise (FOE) and representative offices (RO).

Fiscal periods

Investors should also seek the advice of registered local advisors to ensure that all aspects of reporting are in compliance with prevailing laws and regulations.

FOEs can choose from four fiscal periods with the 12-month period beginning in the first day of each quarter:

January 1  December 31;

April 1  March 31;

July 1  June 30; or

October 1  September 30.

Accounting standards

In addition to the Accounting Law, local and international companies are obligated to adhere to the Vietnamese Accounting Standards (VAS), which has been developed by the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance, when documenting financial transactions. The VAS provides the guidelines for bookkeeping, financial reporting, and financial statement preparations.

There are industry-specific accounting guidelines for businesses engaging in insurance, securities, as well as funds management.

The government aims to replace VAS and adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by 2025. The IFRS is a set of global accounting standards that apply to all financial reporting, quality control, and auditing standards relating to all profit-oriented entities.

Annual compliance for foreign-owned companies

FOEs are obligated to provide an annual audit report and the finalization of corporate and personal income taxation.

The statutory audit requirements are as follows:

Statement of income;

Statement of financial position (profit and loss);

Statement of changes in equity, if any; and

Balance sheets.

Within 90 days after the end of the fiscal year, FOEs need to submit the audited reports to three government agencies:

Provincial Department of Planning and Investment (DPI) or the Provincial Level Export Processing and Industrial Zone Department in the case of FOEs based in investment zones (IZs) or export processing zones (EPZs);

Provincial level tax departments; and

Provincial level statistical offices.

Annual compliance for representative offices

Representative offices (ROs) are one of the simplest and fastest ways to establish a legal entity in Vietnam. Their reporting requirements are also more simplified compared to FOEs.

Annual reports

ROs are forbidden from directly conducting profit-generating activities and are limited to market research, developing trade contacts, and gather information on regulations and laws.

The annual reports of ROs must include:

Basic information  contact information such as office address, telephone numbers, primary bank contacts. Investors should note that the address should match to that written in the RO license;

Human resource report  ROs must document their policies with regards to salaries, bonuses, insurance, and other benefits. The personal information and position of every employee should also be included; and

Activities report  ROs must document their activities for the preceding year which includes information such as market research activities, advertising activities, participation in trade fairs, and the promotion of service agreements, among others.

Penalties for non-compliance

Under the governments New Penal Code, which was issued in 2018, businesses that fail to adhere to the compliance laws can now be held criminally responsible.

If the tax authorities find discrepancies in the financial reports, after an audit, a 20 percent tax will be imposed on the amount that is under-declared. There is also a 0.03 percent daily interest rate for the late payment of tax.
Three more Asian countries confirmed coronavirus infections on Tuesday among citizens who had not travelled to China, as Hong Kong reported its first death from the disease and millions more people in Chinese cities were ordered to stay indoors.

The toll in mainland China soared to 425 after 64 more people died, the biggest single day tally since the first fatalities emerged last month.

More than 20 countries have confirmed cases of the virus, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency, several governments to institute travel restrictions, and airlines to suspend flights to and from China.

But it has continued to spread with Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand on Tuesday reporting new infections that were not imported from China.

In a sign of growing concern about a spread to other densely-populated Chinese metropolitan areas, authorities in three cities in eastern Zhejiang province -- including one near Shanghai -- limited the number of people allowed to leave their homes.

Three districts in Hangzhou -- including the area where the main office of Chinese tech giant Alibaba is based -- now allow only one person per household to go outside every two days to buy necessities, affecting some three million people.

The city is only 175 kilometres (110 miles) southwest of the financial hub of Shanghai, which has reported more than 200 cases, including one death, so far.

Similar measures were imposed in Taizhou and three districts in Ningbo, covering a total population of nine million people. Days before, similar restrictions were placed on Wenzhou, home to another nine million.

Zhejiang province has confirmed 829 cases -- the highest number outside the central region of Hubei, whose capital, Wuhan, is the epicentre of the outbreak.

The disease is believed to have emerged in December in a Wuhan market that sold wild animals, and spread rapidly as people travelled for the Lunar New Year holiday in late January.

China has struggled to contain the virus despite enacting unprecedented measures, including virtually locking down more than 50 million people in Hubei.

On Sunday the Philippines reported the first death abroad: a Chinese man who had come from Wuhan.

The death of the 39-year-old man in Hong Kong came as the semi-autonomous city closed all but two land crossings with the Chinese mainland.

Hong Kong media said the man had underlying health issues that complicated his treatment. He had visited Wuhan last month and his 72-year-old mother was also infected.

Hong Kong has been particularly on edge over the virus as it has revived memories of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002-03, which killed nearly 300 people in the financial hub and 349 people in the mainland.

"We can't rule out the possibility that there will be massive transmission in the near future," said Chuang Shuk Kwan, an official from the city's Centre for Health Protection.

With more than 20,400 confirmed infections in China, health officials noted Tuesday that the mortality rate for the new coronavirus stood at 2.1 percent, with most victims either old or with underlying health problems. SARS killed nearly 10 percent of patients.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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THE REPRESENTATIVE body for Irish news publishers is urging candidates to support the role of public interest journalism in the upcoming general election.

NewsBrands Ireland, who represent Irish publishers both in print and online, is asking candidates to respect the role that these journalists play in the democratic election system, and to ensure citizens are safeguarded from fake news and the spread of misinformation.

In recent years there have been many examples of outstanding public interest journalism which have affected real change in society -from recent investigations that uncovered wrongdoing or illegal activity, to campaigning journalism which achieved tangible results, to the reporting of issues or stories which changed the public discourse.

NewsBrands Ireland CEO, Ann Marie Lenihan said that to ensure voters are fully informed upon voting on February 8, it is imperative that credible sources of news are supported.

"Now, more than ever, it is vital that quality journalism is protected because democracy is about voters making an informed choice at the ballot box and that can only happen if there are credible sources of news, where information is factual, trustworthy and accurate," she said.

"Without a vibrant local and national news publishing industry, who will report on the courts, the Oireachtas, the County Councils, local and national sporting events, raise awareness of important societal issues and campaign for change?

"As is evident in other countries, without credible sources of news, where information is factual, accurate and politically impartial, public trust and democracy itself are undermined."

The appeal comes after representatives and supporters of various political parties accused members of the media of favouring certain parties, or of ignoring others.

The reach of news publishers, as well as the economic and employment contribution of the news publishing industry was also highlighted to election candidates and includes 4,600 jobs - direct and indirect, 135m in exchequer revenues, 58m annual margin value to retailers from newspaper sales, and a 14 typical spend by a newspaper purchaser in their local shop, equal to an annual value of 1.9bn to the retail sector.

The representative body also outlined how 2.6 million people, or 69pc of the population, read a newspaper or news website at least once a week.

NewsBrands Ireland is seeking practical support from government to ensure that 'fake news' can be combated by the trusted journalism produced by news publishers.

They called for an extended brief for the incoming Minister for Communications to include all media, not just the broadcast sector, "ensuring the Minister has full oversight of our complex media landscape and public service journalism is supported across all media".

They also called for an immediate reduction of VAT to 5pc on newspapers and digital news products, with the ultimate goal of reduction to 0pc, as is the case in Britain and other EU countries.

Finally, they called the long-overdue Review of the Defamation Act to be completed and reform to Irelands draconian defamation laws.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan promised in November to begin reforming defamation laws by early this year, however because of the general election, these changes have not yet been set in motion.

Independent Newspapers group managing editor Ed McCann said at the time that the reality of juries in defamation cases affects everyday journalism and the resulting discrepancies in damages awarded makes our system "a laughing stock internationally".

"The impact on that every day for journalists is, we talk about a chill factor but there's actually a fear factor," he said.

"Just to very simply demonstrate the point, you have to look no further than the Kinsella case where someone was awarded by a jury 10m.

"It's ludicrous. Then, seven or eight years later, the Court of Appeal overturns it and reduces it to 250,000 but in the interim you have racked up hundreds of thousands in costs.

"It makes the system look like a laughing stock internationally. People in other jurisdictions can't believe it. It's embarrassing."
The White House has rescinded its invitation for CNN anchors to attend the traditional pre-State of the Union lunch on Tuesday.

The off-the-record lunch gives anchors access to the president just hours before he delivers his annual address, and CNN's Wolf Blitzer has attended the lunch for at least the last 20 years  last year he was joined by fellow CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.

Donald Trump has a tense relationship with the media and often wages attacks on certain outlets, insisting they are spreading 'fake news'  and CNN is one of his favorite outlets to call out.

After the anchors were told they would not be invited to the lunch, progressive Representative Ilhan Omar called for other outlets to boycott the lunch to stand in solidarity with CNN.

'These journalists boycotted the British government's briefing after their colleagues were banned,' she posted Tuesday. 'Solidarity needs to be modeled by news organizations here in the US for the sake of free press. '

The White House rescinded its invite to CNN for the traditional pre-State of the Union lunch held with TV news anchors every year. The lunch gives reporters a chance to get into the mind of the president hours before the annual address

CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer (left) has gone to the lunch the last 20 years, and fellow anchor Anderson Cooper (right) joined him last year

Progressive Representative Ilhan Omar (pictured) urged U.S. media outlets to stand in 'solidarity' with CNN and boycott the lunch

The Minnesota Democrat was referencing a instance Monday where Political journalists in the United Kingdom boycotted a Downing Street briefing after one of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's aides banned selected reporters from attending.

She was also responding to another journalist's assertion that 'every news organization' should decline to attend the lunch since CNN was left out.

'Every news organization should stand by its peer CNN, stand up against Trump and stand for a free press and the first amendment by boycotting the impeached president's lunch,' Steven Beschloss tweeted.

Omar is one of Trump's biggest critics, and is part of the so-called 'squad' who has publicly sparred in a war-of-words with the president. Other 'squad' members include progressive Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley.

Omar is also out campaigning for Democratic socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, who is one of the frontrunner presidential candidates in the primary race.

This isn't the first time that the Trump administration has singled-out CNN.

This isn't the first time the Trump administration has singled out CNN. In 2018, the White House briefly revoked CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's press pass

In late 2018, CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's White House press pass was revoked briefly, leading to a federal lawsuit and claims the president was trying to box out critical voices.

Trump's third State of the Union comes as the Senate impeachment trial continues, and will vote Wednesday on whether to acquit or convict the president on two impeachment articles  abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

He will also get a chance to address the nation a day after the Iowa caucuses, where an app malfunction led to a fiasco where the results were still not announced as Democratic candidates left the state for New Hampshire.

The Iowa Democratic Party said they would begin announcing the results Tuesday evening around 5:00 p.m.

Trump touted his win in Iowa with 97.1 per cent of the Republican caucus vote  despite facing nearly no competition.
As Gigi Mendoza, a spoiled hotelier's wife, on "The Grand Hotel" TV series, Sanchez wore Diamond-encrusted styles to play up the glam character's role, while sensible Gold hoops helped tell the story of driven chef Gabby Ferrar in the 2019 Hallmark movie "A Taste of Summer." On her new iHeartRadio program "He Said, She Said" with her husband of 14 years, actor Eric Winter, Sanchez's jewelry choices will be unseen but present. To the Puerto Rican-born former beauty queen, mother of two, and performer with a list of diverse credits as impressive as her devotion to aiding children's hospitals and dog shelters through her nonprofit RS Events for Life, jewelry is a constant connection to family.

Her earliest memory of jewels? Emerald earrings gifted to her mother by her dad on a family vacation to Costa Rica. "I still remember the moment he gave them to her," she recollects. "I was seven and they were Gold. And even though Emeralds aren't my favorite stone, they are dear to my heart because they are my mom's favorite gem."

On a vacation she took with her husband to Bora Bora, they went on a tour of a Tahitian pearl farm and were awed by gorgeous green Pearls. That day, Winter bought her a large Pearl necklace and bracelet. "It was a big deal to me because they were local, grown in Bora Bora," she says.

Travel for work has also paved the way for other jewelry acquisitions. On a trip to Colombia when her daughter Sebella was just six months old, she was gifted a pair of Emerald earrings. In Santorini, Greece, she purchased herself a Silver and Turquoise number with a decidedly Grecian look.

One of Sanchez's favorite jewels is definitely her engagement ring. "I was very specific about what I wanted," she says. "Designer Michael Barin made ita radiant-cut Diamond and I wear it with two separate bands."

More favorites include Gold hoop earringsone pair made by Barin, and a rich yellow Gold pair from her grandmother, who died during Sanchez's youth. "The earrings are at least 70 years gold, they're thick, and a little bigger than a quarter," she says.

A signature move for the "Devious Maids" and "Rush Hour" actress? Not mixing metals. Though her engagement ring and bands are Platinum, she has a yellow wedding ring that she'll swap in when she's wearing all Gold. "I don't like to mix colors!" she exclaims. "I keep looks uniform."

Meanwhile, on the red carpet, don't ever expect to see Sanchez without earrings. "My jewelry style has changed through the years, and I've used different stylists, but jewelry is super important to exuding a certain vibe, whether it's sophistication or sensuality," she notes. "I have never done the red carpet without earrings! You need something, even if it's just a little stud."

And while Diamonds have long been a beloved gem for Sanchez, the one-of-a-kind colored stones from the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) Spectrum & Cutting Edge Awards photo shoot presented a lot of competition. "Those pieces were stunning!" she says.

In one shot, veteran celebrity stylist Tod Halman dressed Sanchez in a black Brooks Brothers' suit with a white button-down shirt and dramatic Titanium, Gold, Indicolite Tourmaline, Tsavorite Garnet, and Diamond drop earrings from Adam Neeley Fine Art Jewelry. The stiletto styles took the Fashion Forward award. "The look just exuded power," Sanchez says. "I want to walk into my next meeting like that!"

Kami Swinney, operations manager for AGTA, was also on set during Sanchez's shoot and wasn't shy about declaring her affinity for those Neeley earrings and the way they looked on the actress. "She is one of the most elegant people I've ever metso graceful!" says Swinney. "Those earrings just popped on her. She had a long elegant neck that really let the workmanship shine."

Halman loves the shot just as much as Sanchez and Swinney. "She is just magical in front of the camera," he says, recalling a previous shoot he did with her for Latin "Esquire" eight years earlier, before she had kids. "It was stunning and powerful, and she had a ring on every finger," he adds.

And those rings? Myriad Platinum numbers, including a juicy hexagonal Emerald accented with kite-shaped Emeralds and Diamonds from Heena Shah of Valani that took the Best Use of Platinum Crown award, an unheated purple Sapphire with Diamonds and Sapphires by Lindsay Jane of Lindsay Jane Designs, and a custom-cut hexagonal blue Sapphire framed with Onyx and Diamonds by Caysie van Bebber of CvB Inspired Design, among others.

In another shot, Halman kept the fierce but feminine feeling going with a strapless black dress, the same Neeley earrings, and white shirt cuffs with oversize butterfly-motif cuff links in Gold with Sapphires, Tsavorite Garnets, and Diamonds from David White of Aucoin Hart Jewelers. "I knew I wanted her in something tailored and unexpected," continues Halman. "And she was willing to play!"

AGTA marketing coordinator Lauren Hewlett knows that point firsthand. "It didn't take her long to get into the movements," she says. "She offered input and was someone who liked jewelry. She was having fun."

To see all the jewelry Roselyn Sanchez was wearing along with the entire AGTA Spectrum Awards winning collection, visit the AGTA GemFair Tucson from February 4  9, 2020 at the Tucson Convention Center.

For further information regarding the AGTA Spectrum Awards, contact Lauren Hewlett at (800) 972-1162 or visit the AGTA website at www.agta.org.

The American Gem Trade Association is a not-for-profit Association serving the natural colored gemstone and cultured pearl industry since 1981. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, The AGTA serves the industry as "The Authority in Color."

SOURCE American Gem Trade Association

Related Links

http://www.agta.org


Chinese cities are largely deserted, with tourist attractions shut and Starbucks coffee shops requiring temperature checks and masks.A view of the Lujiazui financial district in Pudong, Shanghai, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus. (Image: Reuters)
DALLAS, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- It's 2020  the year of vision  yet many people don't make vision care a priority. Essilor Vision Foundation (EVF) is putting the focus on vision and encouraging everyone to get an eye exam this year.

Vote for Vision

Clear vision is important for everyone, but especially for kids. In the U.S., one in four schoolchildren has a vision impairment significant enough to impact their ability to learn. Since 80% of learning in a child's first 12 years is visual, it's easy to see how a child could fall behind in school if they are suffering from an undiagnosed vision problem.

EVF is committed to helping everyone see clearly. One way the foundation will achieve this in 2020 is through its Vote for Vision campaign which encourages people to prioritize their children's vision and to donate to the foundation so children in underserved communities can receive vision care.

This year, thanks to a generous matching grant, every donation made by an individual will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000. That means you can make twice the impact and help two children receive a vision exam and glasses for one donation of $50. Anyone who donates $25 or more will receive a Vote for Vision t-shirt.

EVF helps people in need get vision care in a number of other ways as well:

Together with Essilor of America, the foundation provides free eye exams and glasses to people in need.

EVF supports charitable eye doctors around the country with programs that make it easy for them to give back in their communities.

The Champions for Sight program has educational resources for schools, parents and students to ensure kids have the clear vision they need to succeed in school and life.

EVF partners with more than 250 nonprofits nationwide to expand the organization's reach in providing vision care.

"Vision impairment is one of the most prevalent disabling conditions among children in the U.S.," says Becky Palm, EVF President and Executive Director. "In 2020, we want every parent to be an advocate for their children's vision. Talk to your child's teachers, school nurse and eye doctor to make sure your student has clear vision, and donate to EVF to help kids in need."

Thanks to donors' support, no child or their family ever receives a bill for vision care from Essilor Vision Foundation. Learn more at www.evfusa.org.

About Essilor Vision Foundation

We strive to give children a brighter future by helping them see the world more clearly. Since 2007, Essilor Vision Foundation has provided more than one million pairs of eyeglasses to individuals in need. Essilor Vision Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public, non-profit organization committed to eliminating poor vision and its lifelong consequences. To learn more visit www.evfusa.org.

Related Images

essilor-vision-foundation-logo.jpg

Essilor Vision Foundation logo

essilor-vision-foundation-young-boy.jpg

Essilor Vision Foundation - young boy

Boy in blue t-shirt wearing glasses

essilor-vision-foundation-vote-for.png

Essilor Vision Foundation Vote for Vision

Girl with red glasses holding two signs

SOURCE Essilor Vision Foundation

Related Links

http://www.evfusa.org


Islamic State (ISIS) operative Mohammed Mosiuddin (alias Abu Musa) in fury, hurled his shoe at the Chief Judge, City Sessions Court in Kolkata. Following the incident, NIA has put in a petition seeking his trial through a video link. Abu Musa has been lodged in the Presidency jail under the NIA custody.

Amid the hearing, ISIS' lone member from West Bengal, Abu Musa, threw a shoe at Judge Prasenjit Biswas on Tuesday, however, it missed the target and instead hurt a lawyer present in the Court. Abu Musa holds a history of aggressive behavior and attacking people. In January 2020, he attacked the warden in the Presidency Jail. In December 2017, he had slashed the throat of a prison guard in Alipore jail with an iron nail and then raised Jihadi slogans.

"As per the regular morning practice, warden Gobinda Chandra Dey, 45, opened the lock of Musa's cell when the ISIS operative hit him on the head with a stone and as he fell down, the prisoner jumped on him and hit him with a fork before trying to slit his throat," the official said.

READ| Spy stole Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's underwear for DNA identification

Who is Abu Musa?

The terror suspect was arrested by CID in July 2016, in Burdan railway station. He was arrested for allegedly planning lone-wolf attacks for the Islamic States and was also accused of radicalising the youth and pursuing them to join the terror organisation. In 2014, Abu Musa took to social media platforms to connect with like-minded people. He reportedly came in contact with Shafi Armar, a former Mujahideen operative, who later was seen as the dominant recruiter for India. Abu Musa also met Abu Sulaiman, a former member of the Jamaat-Ul-Mujahideen.

In a recently released UN report, it was divulged that Indian nations were among the 1,400 plus Islamic State (IS) extremists who surrendered to Afghanistan authorities in 2019. "More than 1,400 people surrendered to the Afghan authorities, including dependants of ISIL-K fighters. Most males were Afghan nationals, but there were also foreign nationals from Azerbaijan, Canada, France, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan," the January 2020 report said, without giving a breakup of their numbers.

The leg of Islamic State in the region, known as, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant  Khorasan Province (ISIL-K) is largely functional in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant  Khorasan Province (ISIL - K) announced its formation on January 10, 2015, through an online video.

READ| Trump's narration of Baghdadi "whimpering & crying" finds no evidence

READ| With Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death, what's next for ISIS?
Police are this morning searching swampland in Perth's north in relation to the disappearance of a North Beach girl more than two decades ago.

Forensic officers are at Star Swamp in Watermans Bay looking for clues into the case of 14-year-old Radina Djukich, who went missing in May, 1992.

Police charged a man last year over the presumed death of 14-year-old Radina Djukich. Credit:Nine News Perth

Radina's body has never been found, but last year a man was charged with her manslaughter.

Ronald Joseph Buckland, 70, is due in the WA Supreme Court later this month.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will deliver the 2020 National Budget on 26 February, and both Absa and Efficient Group chief economist Dawie Roodt predict significant tax increases this year.

Speaking to ENCA, Roodt said the states debt has reached such high levels that it is now in deep financial trouble.

He said the rate at which the government is borrowing money is increasing much faster than the rate at which the economy is growing.

According to Roodt, South Africa has reached a point where it is extremely difficult to turn the situation around.

To improve the countrys financial situation, the government will either have to cut spending or increase taxes.

With the governments unwillingness to cut the public sector payroll or state spending, the only other option is to increase taxes.

Roodt said this means that tax hikes are not a possibility, but a certainty. The only question is which taxes will be increased.

Predicted tax increases

While Absa and Roodt agree that South Africans should brace themselves for tax increases this year, they differ on which taxes will be increased.

Roodt said he is sure things like the fuel levy and sin taxes  a tax on items such as alcohol and tobacco  will be increased, but this is a small part of total tax revenue.

He explained that there are only two main taxes which will make a real difference  personal income tax and value-added tax (VAT).

Roodt predicted that, in addition to various indirect taxes, there will be an increase in personal income tax rather than VAT.

Absa, in comparison, predicted that the government will increase the VAT rate by one percentage point to 16%.

The bank agreed with Roodt that the government is likely to lift indirect taxes in an effort to earn more revenue.

This years budget will be harsh  Mike Schussler

Economist Mike Schussler said the government is currently spending R25 billion more than its tax revenue every month.

The situation deteriorated rapidly over the past two years, declining from a R15-billion deficit to a R25-billion deficit, as shown in the graph below.

This years budget is going to be harsh, said Schussler. Other years were tough, but this year will be eina.
It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell Primary Health Properties Plc (LON:PHP), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock in the company. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.

Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.

View our latest analysis for Primary Health Properties

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Primary Health Properties

Independent Non-Executive Director Peter William Cole made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK59k worth of shares at a price of UK1.18 each. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of UK1.58. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

In the last twelve months Primary Health Properties insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

LSE:PHP Recent Insider Trading, February 4th 2020

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Story continues

Insider Ownership of Primary Health Properties

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Primary Health Properties insiders own 1.8% of the company, worth about UK35m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Primary Health Properties Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Primary Health Properties shares in the last quarter. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Insiders do have a stake in Primary Health Properties and their transactions don't cause us concern. Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Primary Health Properties.

Of course Primary Health Properties may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
South Dakota's chief justice seeks $5 million for courthouse security

In Chief Justice Jensen's State of the Judiciary Address, he mentioned courthouse security, sexual harassment training and a lack of court reporters.
The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is seeking submissions for the Pueblo Film Fest.

The sixth annual festival will be held on March 21-22. Deadline for submissions is Feb. 28.

Pueblo and other Native American filmmakers are encouraged to submit documentaries, short films, feature films, animations, music videos, and youth-led/created projects.

The annual festival includes film screenings, presentations, and discussions with renowned Pueblo filmmakers. The continuing objective of the Pueblo Film Festival is to shine a spotlight on an age-old cultures contemporary expression, encouraging Native filmmakers to continue their creative work for an ever-growing audience.

Since its founding, the Pueblo Film Fest has provided awareness of, and opportunities for, Pueblo and Native film talent by showcasing Native filmmakers, actors/actresses, producers, and directors, says Alicia Ortiz (Santa Ana), Cultural Programs manager.

Interested filmmakers can find more information and submit work online at indianpueblo.org/6th-annual-pueblo-film-fest-submissions.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Parliamentary party meeting is underway in the Parliament.

The meeting is being held in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president JP Nadda, and Union Ministers like Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Ramesh Pokhriya, and Nirmala Sitharaman among others.

BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur is also present in the meeting.

This is Nadda's first Parliamentary party meeting after taking charge as BJP president.

This meeting comes close on the heels of Anantkumar Hegde's controversial remark about Mahatma Gandhi after which many top BJP leaders expressed unhappiness over his remark, party sources said earlier today.

Hegde has been asked to issue an unconditional apology, according to BJP sources.

Hegde had attacked Mahatma Gandhi by calling the freedom struggle led by him a "drama" and also questioned as to how "such people" come to be called 'Mahatma' in India.

"None of these so-called leaders was beaten up by the cops even once. Their independence movement was a big drama. It was staged by these leaders with the approval of the British. It was not a genuine fight. It was an adjustment freedom struggle," he had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Home Ministry has said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that the government has not taken any decision on preparing a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC). In an answer to a question during the Question Hour in the Lok Sab Image Source: IANS News

The Home Ministry has said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that the government has not taken any decision on preparing a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC). In an answer to a question during the Question Hour in the Lok Sab Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Feb 4 : The Home Ministry has said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that the government has not taken any decision on preparing a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

In an answer to a question during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai replied that so far the government has not taken any decision on the NRC.

"Till now, there is no decision on the preparation of the NRC for Indian citizens at the national level," said the written reply.

The question was raised by MPs Chandan Singh and Nageshwar Rao.

They asked whether the government had any plans to bring the NRC in the country. And, in case the government is planning, then what are the cut off dates, whether the Centre had discussed this with the states, whether the government had received letters from the states on refusing the NRC and in case it did what were the statewise details.

The Centre, by coming out with this clarification at a time when there are countrywide protests against the CAA-NRC-NPR, hopes to calm the tempers.
The Justice Department official leading the investigation of big tech companies' market dominance is stepping aside from the departments Google probe because of his previous lobbying work for Google as a private attorney.

Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, the department's antitrust chief, is recusing himself from the investigation into Google, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday. The person wasn't authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Delrahim lobbied on Googles behalf in 2007 when the Mountain View, California-based internet company faced antitrust scrutiny over its acquisition of DoubleClick, a competitor in digital advertising.

The Justice Department's ethics office apparently found no potential conflict of interest when Delrahim initially sought guidance as the investigation of Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple began last spring.

Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, the department's antitrust chief, is recusing himself from the investigation into Google due to prior lobbying work for the company

As the competition probe progressed, Delrahim 'revisited' potential conflicts with the ethics staff, and he and the ethics office 'have decided that he should now recuse himself from a matter within the tech review in an abundance of caution,' said a department statement, which did not mention Google.

Associate Deputy Attorney General Ryan Shores will continue to oversee the tech review, the statement said.

Scrutiny of Big Tech has deepened and widened across the federal government, U.S. states and abroad.

The Federal Trade Commission also is conducting a competition investigation of the four tech giants, and state attorneys general from both major political parties have opened antitrust probes of Google and Facebook.

The House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust has been conducting a sweeping bipartisan investigation of the big tech companies and their impact on competition and consumers.

Delrahim has suggested in speeches that he's taking a broad view of how competition is harmed, when assessing whether big tech firms should be broken up.

He also has made clear that he is aware that just two companies dominate digital advertising, though he hasn't named the two, Google and Facebook.

Justice Department and FTC officials havent publicly named the companies under investigation or indicated whether they plan to move against any particular company.

The companies have said they'll fully cooperate with the investigations. But in congressional testimony, their executives have pushed back against accusations that they operate as monopolies, laying out ways in which they say they compete fairly yet vigorously against rivals in the marketplace.

Delrahim's recusal was first reported by The New York Times.
Alejandrina Giselle Guzman, the daughter of the notorious drug lord 'El Chapo', has tied the knot with her partner in a secret ceremony. That is, until a video of her wedding was posted on social media sites.

The stunning bride arrived in a white, bulletproof car at Culiacan Cathedral which was cordoned by yellow tape to make sure that the wedding was a bit more private.

She married the nephew of another Mexican drug lord in a sophisticated and lavish ceremony complete with armored luxury cars, fireworks, and yellow police tape.

Insider reports that Giselle Guzman married Edgar Cazaras in a private and closed-door ceremony in Culiacan Cathedral on Jan. 25 in Mexico.

Alejandrina Gisselle Guzman is one of the many daughters of the famous Mexican Kingpin and drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman who is currently serving life imprisonment in the American supermax prison, ADX Florence.

Meanwhile, the groom, Edgar Cazaras, is the nephew of Blanca Margarita Cazares, an alleged cartel money launderer who is popularly known in the Mexican underworld as "The Empress," according to local media in Mexico.

Moreover, The Empress of the Mexican cartel was sanctioned in 2007 by the U.S. treasury for "sophisticated money laundering apparatus" and her links to the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most powerful, influential, and notorious cartels in Mexico.

Pictures posted on social media show Alejandrina Guzman in the traditional white princess gown.

However, Mexican media reported that the ceremony was guarded by heavily armed men, and that the drug cartel provided security for the event.

The photos posted on social media also showed some private moments like the first dance of the bride and the groom, as well as the mother-daughter dance. The mother of Alejandrina is the first wife of El Chapo, Maria.

According to local reports, the wedding was presided by a priest who is close to the Guzman family and it ended with an expensive and grand display of fireworks. In attendance during the ceremony was Ovidio Guzman, the brother of the bride, who made headlines last year in October when he was caught by security forces.

However, he was quickly released when Mexican armed forces were astounded by a large number of cartel gunmen. Surprisingly, the wedding was held when the activities of Mexico's drug cartel is showing no signs of slowing down.

According to The Guardian, the country has witnessed more than 35,000 murders just in 2019 alone. That's an increase of 2.7 percent over the previous years. The marriage of Alejandrina and Cazares is only a sign that the drug cartels in the country still have influence even though the family is linked to some serious and heinous crimes, they continue to go about life as just normal people.

A wedding with heavily armed men who are members of the El Chapo drug cartel, luxurious bulletproof cars, and a yellow cordoned tape are enough to prove the influence and power of the cartel.
The latest version of a popular smartphone app which offers farmers guidance on crop health, pests and weed control is set to launch in March.

Skippy Scout, an autonomous app that flies drones to points plotted by the farmer using a mobile phone, will be available to buy from 1 March.

The crop scouting software package reduces the time it takes to monitor and evaluate crop problems.

Over 300 early users worldwide tested version one of the software in 2019, creating a waiting list for version two.

In just one year app developer Drone Ag expects to subscribe over 1,000 users in the UK alone.

Further launches in the US and Africa will commence in 2021 and 2022, with a projected 10,000 users worldwide by 2023.

Jack Wrangham, founder of Drone Ag said: Farmers do not need to have prior understanding of drones or the ability to fly a drone because the software will do it all for them.

Skippy users will use maps on their phone to simply touch the points in a field they want to see images of.

The drone flies to these points and sends the images to the phone.

Once delivered, the artificial intelligence in the app analyses the images and provides data on green area index (GAI), pests and weeds.

A single user software license is available for 30 per month, and there is also relatively little investment needed to buy a suitable drone.

Mr Wrangham explains: A Mavic Mini is a perfectly suitable drone for crop scouting and can be bought for just 450. This would make the annual use of Skippy 810.

A key benefit of the Mavic Mini is its weight. At just 249 grams it falls one gram below the threshold for registration.

Drones under 250 grams do not need to be registered with the Civil Aviation Authority which will save farmers time and hassle with paperwork.

All you need is your smartphone and a drone. When you register for Skippy you can be in the air monitoring your crops on the same day, he adds.

A partnership with drone specialists Heliguy means that Skippy Scout users will be offered replacement drones, and repairs to damaged drones.
Xtalks Life Science Webinars Listeners should leave the webinar with a solid understanding of the challenges that they would face if they were to adopt eSource for their next clinical trial and also an idea of how eSource will be used in the future.

More and more clinical trials are using eSource as a way to avoid data collection delays and monitoring costs. But for some sponsors, the step up from Electronic Data Capture (EDC) creates challenges for their existing processes and legacy technology platforms.

eSource is a solution that provides real-time data collection and access which can cut huge amounts of time and effort in the trial process, for example, by reducing site visits by Clinical Research Associates (CRAs) for source data verification. But there are challenges in the adoption of eSource such as the practical problems of scaling across many different sites and geographies, technology barriers and costs of change management.

Join an informative live webinar on Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 11am EST (4pm GMT/UK) to hear experts from Cmed Technology explain the pros and cons of eSource and EDC, and discuss if one is better than the other.

Hear from the following guest speakers from Cmed Technology:



Jon Carter, Product Manager

Catie Roland, Program Manager

Mark Tomlinson, Senior Director Technology Operations

This webinar will appeal to consultants and senior-level executives including directors, department heads and vice presidents involved in:

Clinical Research

Clinical Operations

Data Management

Listeners should leave the webinar with a solid understanding of the challenges that they would face if they were to adopt eSource for their next clinical trial and also an idea of how eSource will be used in the future.

For more information or to register for this event, visit EDC vs eSource: Is it Time to Move?

ABOUT CMED TECHNOLOGY:

Cmed Technology is the technology division of Cmed Group, with headquarters in Horsham, UK plus offices in Morrisville NC, Cambridge MA, San Bruno CA, Timisoara, Romania and Dublin, Ireland.

Cmed Technology is the developer of encapsia, an innovative, powerful, next-generation clinical data suite. Encapsia delivers a complete solution to gather and manage data in clinical trials with live insights and analytics on trial progress to inform and support management decisions. http://www.encapsia.com

Contact:

Dr Timothy Corbett-Clark, Chief Technology Officer

Cmed Group

Tel: +44 1403 755 050

Email: tcorbettclark@cmedtechnology.com

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com

For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/
CHEYENNE  Environmental groups have filed a new lawsuit against the feeding of elk on a Wyoming wildlife refuge, saying the U.S. government should act sooner to curtail the practice.

Workers at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole put out alfalfa pellets during most winters to supplement natural forage and help elk survive until spring. The timing of feeding each year depends on the weather; elk don't get fed during mild winters or might be fed through a prolonged period of heavy or icy snow covering the vegetation they naturally eat.

Hunters and guides support the feeding as a way to keep elk numbers up but others worry the practice encourages the spread of disease similar to mad cow disease in humans.

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan released Dec. 31 would delay feeding each winter so that elk could gradually become accustomed to surviving without human help.

The plan resulted from a lawsuit filed against the federal agency last March by the Sierra Club, National Wildlife Refuge Association and Defenders of Wildlife, which warned the feeding could encourage the spread of chronic wasting disease by artificially concentrating elk.

The plan falls short by not taking effect for at least two years, the same groups argue in a new lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

The bottom line is, we're not going to sit by and let chronic wasting disease become the new normal in Jackson Hole on the National Elk Refuge, said an attorney for the groups, Tim Preso with Earthjustice.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials didn't immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Chronic wasting disease causes deer, elk, moose and other cervids to become listless and emaciated. Caused by mis-folded proteins called prions, the neurological condition is similar to mad cow disease, which afflicts cattle and humans who eat infected beef, and scrapie in sheep.

Chronic wasting disease has spread to at least 24 states since its discovery at a research facility in Colorado in the late 1960s. The disease made its first appearance in Jackson Hole in 2018, when a mule deer killed on a road in Grand Teton National Park tested positive.

The detection raised concern chronic wasting disease could become established in Jackson Hole and the surrounding Yellowstone-area ecosystem.

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Steven Odzer announces the launch of the Stephen Odzer Scholarship Program to help students achieve their dream of going to college. As someone who started at the bottom, Steven Odzer knows the importance of having someone believe in you. Steven Odzer attended the Brooklyn College Scholars Program. He also started his first company out of his parents' basement when he was 18.

"Education is one of the most important aspects of growth, and I want to help ensure that students can achieve their academic goals and success by limiting the financial burden the system has placed on higher education," said Steven Odzer. The program plans to give away 20 scholarships valued at $1000 each. "The Stephen Odzer Scholarship Program is a way for me to give back to the community," he adds.

In order to apply for the scholarship, potential recipients must be enrolled in a college or a university. High school students are also eligible if they have a college acceptance letter. It's quite easy for students to apply for this scholarship. The Stephen Odzer Scholarship Program is now accepting applications for the fall of 2020.

Those who want to apply must send their application materials before January 31, 2020. They must submit proof of enrollment or acceptance, and they must write a 500-word essay answering the question, "What is the biggest issue facing our modern society." On February 5, 2020, they will select the winners, and the lucky students will be notified after that. Students interested in applying for the scholarship can learn more by visiting this site: https://www.stephenodzerscholarship.com/.

This is not the first time philanthropist, and businessman Steven Odzer launches a campaign to better his community. Steven Odzer advocates for Arab-Jewish business cooperation. Some of the non-Jewish causes he supports include the AHRC, a non-profit that benefits individuals and children suffering from intellectual disabilities. Steven Odzer is also a supporter of Bris Avrohom, a large non-profit that helps Jewish immigrants from Russia integrate into life in the U.S. and continue to foster their religious traditions. Steven says, "I am a large supporter of both Jewish and non-Jewish causes."

When he's not working on helping his community, Steven Odzer is busy growing his businesses. He is the CEO of the new YBT Industries of Henderson, NV, and has over 30 years of experience in the industry. Steven Odzer also enjoys spending time with his large family. He has seven children and nine grandchildren.

CONTACT:

Caroline Hunter

Web Presence, LLC

+1 7865519491

SOURCE: Web Presence, LLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575157/Steven-Odzer-Announces-the-Stephen-Odzer-Scholarship-Program
Several Hanoi universities have advised Chinese students not to return amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

Hanoi University has extended its Lunar New Year holidays until February 10, and until February 17 for Chinese students, and told them they should not return to Vietnam now.

There are 490 Chinese students studying at the school, of whom 22 had stayed back in Vietnam for the festival. They are being monitored, headmaster Nguyen Van Trao said.

The University of Languages and International Studies has extended the holidays until February 10, with Chinese students being advised to stay put in China until further notice. There are 40 Chinese students at the school, of whom one had stayed back.

The novel coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak, first detected in China last December, has since gone global and prompted Vietnamese authorities to close schools and colleges in around 50 cities and provinces, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This is the first time ever such a measure has been taken due to a disease outbreak.

The government declared the outbreak an epidemic on Saturday. The country had reported 304 suspected cases as of Monday with symptoms like high fever and coughing, including some people who had visited infected areas in China. Of them 214 have tested negative for the virus and 90 are in quarantine pending test results.

There are eight confirmed cases, including one who has recovered and was discharged from hospital on Monday.

The death toll from the epidemic has reached 426 in China and one in the Philippines. Over 20,600 people have been infected and more than 600 have recovered.
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

Armenia flag to be permanently raised on buildings of some more institutions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit trial judge to not self-recuse

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit court case resumes

298 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Artsakh emergency service: Remains of another participant in hostilities are found

816,660 tourists visit Armenia during 11 months of 2021

US proposes to UN Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea

World oil prices dropping

Newspaper: Amnesty process suspended in Armenia indefinitely

Newspaper: Those in Karabakh are resisting Armenia authorities arbitrariness

FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

Slovak government approves defense treaty with US

US imposes sanctions on 6 North Koreans

US senators unveil bill to impose sanctions against Russia

EU wants to help Lebanon avoid economic collapse

CSTO to approve Kazakhstan peacekeepers withdrawal order

German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

Boris Johnson apologizes for attending party during lockdown

Global COVID-19 cases rise by 55% percent, deaths stable

Thailand introduces $9 tourist fee

Erdogan vows to tame Turkish inflation as scepticism grows

Turkey's Turkic world ambitions face reality check in Kazakhstan

Teacher in Baku beats student

NEWS.am daily digest: 12.01.22

Turkish FM expresses concerns to Chinese counterpart

OSCE Chairman-in-Office speaks on situation along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021

China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded

Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation

Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods

Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day

3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings

Copper rises in price

One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning

About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions

Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night

French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly

289 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Gold slightly rises in price

North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile

OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

Oil is trading without a single dynamic

US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee

MOD: Armenia soldiers dead body found at midnight after Azerbaijan provocation

Newspaper: Casualties of Armenia PM Pashinyan's 'era of peace'

US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen

German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan

WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State

India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death

Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded

NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22

Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States

Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia

Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death

Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded
[February 04, 2020] Nuveen Closed-End Funds Declare Pre-Reorganization Distributions

Nuveen Quality Municipal Income Fund (NYSE: NAD) and Nuveen Texas Quality Municipal Income Fund (NYSE: NTX) announced pre-reorganization distributions. The specific distribution dates and amounts are detailed below. As previously announced, the shareholders of NTX approved the fund's reorganization into NAD. Following the transaction, the surviving fund, NAD, is expected to declare an additional post-closing distribution, with a record date of February 26, 2020, payable March 2, 2020. For each fund, the total per-common share dollar amount of the pre- and post-closing tax-exempt distributions received on March 2, 2020 will be equal to or greater than the per-common share dollar amount of the prior month's tax-exempt dividend. The following dates apply to today's pre-reorganization distribution declarations:







Record Date February 14, 2020 Ex-Dividend Date February 13, 2020 Payable Date March 2, 2020

Per Share Distribution Ticker Exchange Fund Name Tax-Exempt Income Ordinary

Income NAD NYSE Nuveen Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0308 - NTX NYSE Nuveen Texas Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0222 - For more information about UNII, each fund and the shareholder-approved reorganization, please visit www.nuveen.com/CEF. About Nuveen Nuveen, the investment manager of TIAA, offers a comprehensive range of outcome-focused investment solutions designed to secure the long-term financial goals of institutional and individual investors. Nuveen has $1.1 trillion in assets under management as of 31 December 2019 and operations in 24 countries. Its investment specialists offer deep expertise across a comprehensive range of traditional and alternative investments through a wide array of vehicles and customized strategies. For more information, please visit www.nuveen.com. Nuveen Securities, LLC, member FINRA and SIPC. The information contained on the Nuveen website is not a part of this press release. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain statements made in this release are forward-looking statements. Actual future results or occurrences may differ significantly from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. These include, but are not limited to:  market developments;  legal and regulatory developments; and  other additional risks and uncertainties. Nuveen and the closed-end funds managed by Nuveen and its affiliates undertake no responsibility to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statement. EPS-1080133PR-E0220 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204006013/en/

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Sudan's leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said Tuesday his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the previous day was driven by his responsibility to protect the country's national security. Burhan's first remarks about the meeting in Uganda, talks that surprised even Sudan's cabinet, came after he briefed the northeast African country's ruling sovereign council which he heads. "I took this step from the standpoint of my responsibility... to protect the national security of Sudan and achieve the supreme interests of the Sudanese people," Burhan said in a brief statement released after he met the council and top ministers. On Monday, Netanyahu's office said he had met Burhan in the Ugandan capital Entebbe, in a previously unannounced move. Israel remains technically at war with Sudan, which supported hardline Islamists including Al-Qaeda during the decades-long reign of autocrat Omar al-Bashir, ousted amid mass protests last year. The Palestinian leadership has denounced the meeting as "a stab in the back", just days after the Israeli leader and US President Donald Trump unveiled a controversial peace plan, widely seen as skewed towards Israel. "I stress that examining and developing relations between Sudan and Israel is the responsibility of the concerned institutions, as according to (Sudan's) consitutional declaration" signed following Bashir's ouster, Burhan said. "I also confirm that Sudan's principled stance on the Palestinian issue and the right of its people to an independent state is and will remain firm, in keeping with Arab consensus and Arab League resolutions." Netanyahu's office said Monday that he and the Sudanese general had "agreed to start cooperation leading to normalisation of the relationship between the two countries". It said Netanyahu believed post-Bashir Sudan is headed "in a new positive direction" and that he had also expressed this view to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. "Burhan is eager to help his country modernise by taking it out of isolation and putting it on the world's map," it said. The Uganda meeting came after Sudan said Pompeo had invited Burhan to Washington for an official visit, the first such invitation to a Sudan ruler in more than three decades. The United States still classifies Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism, a legacy from the rule of Bashir who in the 1990s hosted Osama bin Laden. - 'Stab in the back' - Late on Monday, Sudanese government spokesman Faisal Mohamed Salih said the cabinet had only learned of the meeting at Entebbe through media reports. "We, the members of the cabinet, were not notified or consulted about this meeting," Salih said in a statement. Sudan under Bashir was part of the decades-long Arab boycott of Israel over the Jewish state's treatment of the Palestinians and occupation of Arab lands. In the wake of the 1967 war in which Israel captured Palestinian lands, Arab leaders held a historic meeting in Khartoum to announce what became known as the 'three nos' -- no peace, recognition or negotiations with Israel. Since then, Egypt and Jordan have recognised Israel, and relations have been easing between Israel and Gulf Arab states in part due to shared concern over Iran's role in the region. The Palestinians have been seeking a united front since Trump last week unveiled his Middle East plan. The initiative gave the Jewish state the US green light to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank, as well as the Jordan Valley, a key territory Palestinians see as their future state. The Palestine Liberation Organization called Burhan and Netanyahu's meeting "a stab in the back of the Palestinian people". In a statement carried on official news agency WAFA, the organisation's chief Saeb Erekat accused Washington and Netanyahu of "trying to liquidate the Palestinian cause". The Sudanese Communist Party, which is part of the umbrella protest movement that led to the ouster of Bashir last April, echoed that condemnation. "What happened at the meeting between Burhan and Netanyahu is a stab in the back of Sudanese people's struggle against imperialists and also their continuous position in supporting the Palestinians," party spokesman Fathi Fadoul said in a video broadcast on the party's Facebook page. "We also condemn the statement from the cabinet. The cabinet has to say directly what its position is about the meeting rather than saying it was not notified about it."
WASHINGTON - Iowa Democrats are fiercely united by the goal of unseating President Donald Trump, but they were sharply divided Monday over which candidate was best equipped to do so, according to the AP VoteCast survey.

Iowa, which hosts the nations first presidential contest, has played a historic role in defining the field of Democratic frontrunners. But the results from AP VoteCast show how difficult it can be for any single contender to unite an increasingly diverse coalition of voters whose common cause rests mostly on their fury with the Republican president.

Fully 88% said electability was very important for the Democratic nominee, compared with the 66% who said having the best policy ideas is highly important. But not everyone at the start of the caucuses agreed on who was most electable. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was backed by voters under 30, while former Vice-President Joe Bidens base was largely older and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was drawing more support from women than men.

Hey, everybody, if you want to beat Trump, come over to Bidens camp, yelled Jeff Erickson, a retired postal worker, as voters filed into Hoover High School in Des Moines.

Yet many of the Democratic presidential candidates have possible weaknesses when challenging Trump. Just over 4 in 10 Iowa voters said it would be harder for a woman to unseat the president. Almost 6 in 10 said a gay candidate would have more difficulty defeating Trump, a potential risk for former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Roughly the same share said a nominee with strongly liberal views would also face a harder time, while close to half said a nominee older than 75  Biden and Sanders  would have a tougher time versus Trump.

AP VoteCast is a survey of more than 2,800 voters who said they planned to take part in Mondays Democratic caucuses in Iowa, conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.

As voters gathered, there was a tension between those seeking to transform the U.S. government and those who believe a less disruptive candidate would fare better against Trump.

Nearly two-thirds said it was more important for them to vote for a candidate who will fundamentally change how the political system works, compared with one who will restore Washington to the way it was before Trumps inauguration.

Biden has based much of his campaign on his decades-long service in the Senate and his partnership with Barack Obama in the White House, representing himself as a return to a more civil and bipartisan era. This contrasts sharply with Sanders and Warren, who are seeking to break with a past they see as perpetuating a lack of opportunity for many Americans.

When Obama won the Iowa caucuses on the way to securing the presidency in 2008, his campaign relied on turning out first-time voters. AP VoteCast shows nearly a quarter of the participants were making their first appearance at a Democratic caucus this year, and they were slightly more likely to support Sanders, Warren or Buttigieg.

Candidates have sought to distinguish themselves based on policies that could reshape the role of government in U.S. society. Sanders and Warren have embraced bolder changes such as universal health care through the government and a wealth tax. Biden, Buttigieg and Klobuchar have called for more incremental shifts in policy.

Bernie is the candidate who is focusing on the big changes that are going to impact the future, rather than the right now, said University of Iowa junior Allison Steger, as she waited to caucus for Sanders at the student union in Iowa City.

Democratic voters were also divided based on age, education and sex.

Close to half of voters under 30 supported Sanders as their top choice. Biden got the backing of 3 in 10 voters who were 65 and older.

Warrens support was somewhat stronger among women than men. She and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar saw slightly more support from college graduates, compared with those without a degree. Voters without a college degree were slightly more likely to support Biden and Sanders.

Iowa Democrats who identified themselves as very liberal were somewhat more likely be in Sanders camp, while the moderates clustered with Biden, Klobuchar and Buttigieg.

Voters were relatively uniform in terms of which policy issues they considered to be most important.

About 4 in 10 ranked health care as their biggest priority, while 3 in 10 identified climate change as the top. Democratic voters were largely supportive of government programs that would improve access to health insurance coverage as well as taxation of carbon emissions in order to limit climate change.

Iowa Democrats almost universally share an abiding distaste for Trump. An overwhelming majority of caucusgoers  about 8 in 10  were angry with the Trump administration. Another 14% said they were dissatisfied, but not angry.

Nearly 8 in 10 Democrats said they judged the impeachment process to be worth it, even though the Senate trial appears certain to close this week with an acquittal for Trump.

The solid economy, with unemployment at a half-century low, was an afterthought for Iowa Democrats, with just about 1 in 10 saying the economy was the top issue facing the nation. Trump has been rooting his reelection efforts around the economys growth, yet few Iowa Democrats seem willing to reward him for an expansion that began under his predecessor.

Democrats in Iowa do not feel theyre benefiting much from the growing economy. Roughly two-thirds of Iowa Democrats describe their own financial situations as holding steady. About as many said they are falling behind as said they are getting ahead.

Nearly 9 in 10 described the economy as very or somewhat unfair, a possible sign that many Democrats are nervous about the growing concentration of wealth and power with the top 1% of U.S. households.

Significant change could come from how Americans pay for health insurance. Seven in 10 backed a single-payer health care plan, which would shift all Americans to government-based insurance instead of private plans. Almost 9 in 10 support a proposal for people having a public option to receive health care through the government.

On climate change, close to 9 in 10 Iowa Democrats support taxing carbon-based fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. Nearly half were strongly in favour of the proposal.

_______

AP reporters Ryan J. Foley and Scott McFetridge contributed to this report from Iowa.

_______

AP VoteCast is a survey of the American electorate conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for The Associated Press and Fox News. The survey of 2,852 voters in Iowa was conducted for seven days, concluding as the caucuses began. Interviews were conducted in English or Spanish. The survey is based on interviews with a random sample of registered voters drawn from the state voter file. The margin of sampling error for voters is estimated to be plus or minus 3.0 percentage points.
Chinese authorities stress greater medical supplies support to key regions in epidemic battle

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:13, February 03, 2020

BEIJING, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities on Sunday stressed providing greater medical supplies support to central China's Hubei Province, particularly the key regions -- the city of Wuhan and its surrounding areas -- to help curb the epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus.

Authorities in some provinces were urged to flexibly arrange their work for the epidemic battle and step up efforts to prevent and control the novel coronavirus outbreak and ensure market supply, said an official statement issued after a Sunday meeting of the leading group of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and also head of the leading group of the CPC Central Committee on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak, presided over the meeting.

Noting that great manpower and material resources support from all aspects has been delivered to Hubei in China's response to the novel coronavirus outbreak, the statement said that "the shortage of medical resources is still a prominent issue in Hubei."

The meeting underscored efforts to speed up the construction of hospitals to provide more beds, step up medical personnel support and organize more quality medical personnel in respiratory, intensive care and nursing fields from other provinces to support Hubei.

Authorities stressed accelerating production resumption by manufacturers of medical supplies and protective items, with a priority to meeting the needs of Wuhan and other key areas in Hubei, and quickening efforts to make up for the shortage of key items such as medical face masks and protective clothing in Hubei, according to the statement.

The State Council has agreed that to help curb the outbreak in some provinces, while arrangements are made to ensure the timely return of workers to key posts, enterprises and projects that are of high importance to the virus battle, public services, national economy and people's wellbeing, flexible ways can be adopted to arrange people's work in other sectors, the statement said.

The measure will help reduce the risk of virus spread by avoiding large-scale population movement after the Spring Festival holiday ends, it added.

The meeting also stressed efforts from local authorities to ensure a stable supply of epidemic prevention and control materials and daily necessities.

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the leading group, attended the meeting.

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(Newser)  With angry candidates, a confused public, and a gloating Trump campaign, the Democratic Party's effort to recapture the White House is not off to the most promising start. Hours after the Iowa caucuses ended Monday night, with candidates and the public eager for news, party officials said results were delayed due to "inconsistencies" in the results from precincts. At around 1am, Troy Price, the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, said the results would not be available until later Tuesday, the New York Times reports. Some of the candidates had already made their speeches and departed for New Hampshire. More:



Campaigns left in the dark . Campaigns complained they had been told "literally nothing" by party officials about the reasons for the delay, the Hill reports. A lawyer for Joe Biden's campaign wrote to state party officials Monday night calling for the results to be withheld until they provide "explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control." Sources tell the Times that party officials hung up on campaign reps who wanted to know when the results would be available.

. Campaigns complained they had been told "literally nothing" by party officials about the reasons for the delay, the Hill reports. A lawyer for Joe Biden's campaign wrote to state party officials Monday night calling for the results to be withheld until they provide "explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control." Sources tell the Times that party officials hung up on campaign reps who wanted to know when the results would be available. An app to blame? The problem appears to have been a mobile app for reporting results from Iowa's 1,700 caucus meetings, the AP reports. Caucus organizers say there were multiple glitches with the appwhich was apparently largely untestedand when they tried to phone in the results to party headquarters, there was nobody answering. In some cases, reporting results took hours. The Biden campaign lawyer said both the app and the reporting hotline experienced "acute failures."

The problem appears to have been a mobile app for reporting results from Iowa's 1,700 caucus meetings, the AP reports. Caucus organizers say there were multiple glitches with the appwhich was apparently largely untestedand when they tried to phone in the results to party headquarters, there was nobody answering. In some cases, reporting results took hours. The Biden campaign lawyer said both the app and the reporting hotline experienced "acute failures." Big change, big problems. This was the firstand probably lasttime the party tried to report data from the first and second "alignments" of caucusgoers as well as delegate totals. Party rep Mandy McClure said officials had to verify data after they "found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results." "In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report," she said.

story continues below

Candidates release their own results . By 2am, some candidates decided to release their own results instead of waiting, the Washington Post reports. Pete Buttigieg's campaign claimed victory, with "viability" in 83% of precincts, while Bernie Sanders' campaign said he had performed best in the precincts they had data for. A spokesman for Elizabeth Warren's campaign said the race was "very close" between her, Sanders, and Buttigieg, with Biden a "distant fourth."

. By 2am, some candidates decided to release their own results instead of waiting, the Washington Post reports. Pete Buttigieg's campaign claimed victory, with "viability" in 83% of precincts, while Bernie Sanders' campaign said he had performed best in the precincts they had data for. A spokesman for Elizabeth Warren's campaign said the race was "very close" between her, Sanders, and Buttigieg, with Biden a "distant fourth." The last Iowa caucus? Some analysts are already writing obituaries for the Iowa caucuses, or at least their first-in-the-nation status. Tim Alberta at Politico says the failure to deliver caucus results is "inexcusable," especially since the party had four years to prepare. "Iowa Democrats didnt just fail in their responsibility. They failed spectacularly," he writes. "They failed in such complete and humiliating fashion that no one will remember who won the 2020 caucuses, only that Iowa lost."

Some analysts are already writing obituaries for the Iowa caucuses, or at least their first-in-the-nation status. Tim Alberta at Politico says the failure to deliver caucus results is "inexcusable," especially since the party had four years to prepare. "Iowa Democrats didnt just fail in their responsibility. They failed spectacularly," he writes. "They failed in such complete and humiliating fashion that no one will remember who won the 2020 caucuses, only that Iowa lost." "One of the worst robberies." If the late results show Buttigieg really did win, his failure to have a big moment and an "Iowa bounce" makes him the victim of "one of the worst robberies in modern political history," writes Stephen Collinson at CNN. The meltdown could also hurt Sanders, but Biden, "who appeared to be heading for a rough outing, may have caught the biggest break," he writes.

If the late results show Buttigieg really did win, his failure to have a big moment and an "Iowa bounce" makes him the victim of "one of the worst robberies in modern political history," writes Stephen Collinson at CNN. The meltdown could also hurt Sanders, but Biden, "who appeared to be heading for a rough outing, may have caught the biggest break," he writes. Trump campaign glee. Trump campaign officials did not disguise their glee at the PR disaster for Democrats. the Guardian reports. "Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history," said Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale. "It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?"

(Read more Iowa caucuses stories.)
- Former president Mahama has received backlash from the public for intimating that when he wins power in 2020 he will pay depositors who lost monies in the banking sector cleanup

- The NDC flagbearer says he will pay depositors their monies in the shortest possible time

- Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

Some Ghanaians have lashed out at National Democratic Congress (NDC) flag bearer, John Dramani Mahama for promising to pay the monies of depositors who suffered from the banking sector crisis.

The former president, during a Facebook Live session on his page on Thursday, January 30, 2020, said he will pay depositors whose investments have been locked up following the banking sector cleanup undertaken by the Akufo-Addo government.

The NDC leader opined that We believe that we do owe depositors.

READ ALSO: Airbus Scandal: Akufo-Addo orders Amidu to probe bribery of Ghanaian official

When I come into government, we will make sure we will pay depositors their monies within the shortest possible time, Mr Mahama noted.

Ghanas central bank, as part of efforts to restore confidence in the banking and specialized deposit-taking sectors, embarked on a clean-up exercise in August 2017 to resolve insolvent financial institutions whose continued existence posed risks to the interest of depositors.

The move saw about nine commercial banks, over 300 Microfinance companies, some 23 savings and loans institutions all go down from 2017 to 2019.

The Bank of Ghana, however, announced in August 2019 that it had completed its cleanup exercise of the banking and specialized deposit-taking (SDI), and non-banking financial institutions (NBFI) sectors.

ATTENTION: Read the best news on Ghana #1 news app. Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana

It was contained in a detailed statement issued by the central bank.

Below are some of the comments of Ghanaians on Facebook to John Mahama's promise of paying back locked up funds of depositors following the cleanup of the banking sector by the BoG.

Seth says he doubts if John Mahama will win 2020.

Edward intimated that the NDC flagbearer is saying so because he wants to win political power.

Emmanuel says Mahama should find a proper campaign message and stop the propaganda.

READ ALSO: Akufo-Addo allocates US$79m for one region, one industrial park initiative

Jojo described the former president as corrupt.

Akwasi is asking what Mahama did while in power when some microfinance companies collapsed.

Read more of the comments from below;

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that fuel prices are expected to go down marginally between 2 and 4%, sources at the National Petroleum Authority have revealed.

The new prices are to take effect from Saturday, February 1, 2020.

The development is a result of a significant reduction in the world price of Brent Crude.

How convenient is it to use the new GHC 200 note at the market? | #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: Airbus paid bribes to top Ghanaian officials between 2009 and 2015 - British court documents reveal

Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
UW Art Museum Spring Opening Reception to Feature Student Art Feb. 22

Josephine Cachemailles The Travellers is among works from the exhibition Material Slip on view at the UW Art Museum through June 12. (Image courtesy of the artist)

The University of Wyoming Art Museum will feature the 45th annual Juried UW Student Exhibition during a free reception to celebrate the exhibitions for the spring semester Saturday, Feb. 22.

Refreshments and music by Davis and Mavrick begin at 5 p.m., and the student awards ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m.

The 45th annual Juried UW Student Exhibition is open to any student enrolled at UW during the current academic year, regardless of area of study. This includes any in-state student enrolled through UW distance courses. The exhibition is on view through May 16.

The student exhibition is juried each year by an out-of-state juror. This years exhibition was selected by Mandy Vink, public art administrator for the city of Boulders Office of Arts and Culture in Boulder, Colo., who reviewed over 150 submissions by UW students. A number of purchase and scholarship awards will be announced at 6:30 p.m. during the Feb. 22 reception.

The annual student exhibition is a highlight of the UW Art Museums program, says Marianne Eileen Wardle, director of the UW Art Museum. The quality of the submissions is consistently high, and purchases of student artwork by university departments have enriched our campus. The show provides incredible insight into the critical questions and issues confronting young, emerging artists, and gives many students their first professional experience.

Other spring semester exhibitions are:

-- Material Slip features six contemporary artists who use fiber or textiles as sources to pose questions about accumulation, mass production and the role of materials and the handmade in the 21st century. Artists featured are Margery Amdur, Philadelphia, Pa.; Diana Baumbach, Laramie; Josephine Cachemaille, Auckland, New Zealand; Michelle Forsyth, Toronto, Canada; Wendy Kawabata, Honolulu, Hawaii; and Io Palmer, Pullman, Wash. The exhibition is on view through June 12.

-- The Pat Guthrie Teaching Gallery Exhibition is on view through May 16. The teaching gallery model integrates original art into UW coursework curriculum and presents exhibitions available to students and the public throughout the semester. Working closely with faculty, courses this semester are Art and Art History 4790: Environment and Sustainability Issues in Art; Classics 2020: Classical Greek Civilization; Ecology 5620: Creative Approaches to Writing About Science; and English 5061: Rhetoric, Theory and Criticism: Public Memory.

-- The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Wyoming features the UW Art Museums collection of works from the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel national gift program, Fifty Works for Fifty States. Works included are representations of the Vogels interest in minimalist, conceptualist and post-1960s art. This is the first time this collection has been shown in its entirety at the UW Art Museum; a selection was exhibited in 2011. The exhibition is on view through March 21.

-- Sharon Louden: Windows at the University of Wyoming Art Museum presents a suspended, temporary custom, site-specific sculpture using highly reflective, curved aluminum sheets in the UW Art Museums entrance hall.

The spring opening event also is the last chance to view the UW Visual Arts Department Faculty Exhibition, which includes paintings, sculptures, drawings, photography, graphic design, videos and mixed media. Participating faculty members are Baumbach, Ashley Hope Carlisle, Kathleen Frye, Brandon Gellis, Leah Hardy, Margaret Haydon, David Jones, Patrick Kikut, Ricki Klages, Mark Ritchie, Rani Robison, Bailey Russel, Doug Russell and Shelby Shadwell.

For more information about the UW Art Museum, call (307) 766-6622, visit the website at www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum, or follow the museum on Facebook and Instagram.

The UW Art Museum collects, exhibits and interprets art to inspire creativity and nurture lifelong learning for the people of Wyoming. Located in the Centennial Complex at 2111 E. Willett Drive in Laramie, the museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday hours are extended to 7 p.m. Admission is free.
The situation in China isn't getting any better, the country said it would welcome assistance from the United States to fight a coronavirus outbreak. Just a day earlier, it had accused Washington of scaremongering. On Tuesday, the death toll rose to more than 420.

The toll in China rose to 425 as of the end of Monday, up by a record 64 from the previous day, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday. All of the new deaths were in central Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus outbreak.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the flu-like virus a global emergency, although experts say much is still unknown about the pathogen including its lethality.

reuters

"We expect to see more cases of person-to-person spread," said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The total number of infections in China rose by 3,235 on Tuesday to 20,438, and there are at least 151 cases in 23 other countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Britain.

In India, three cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed in the southern state of Kerala.

The CDC confirmed a handful of new cases in the United States, bringing the U.S. total to 11, including a patient in California who was infected through close contact with someone in the same household who had been infected in China.

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It marked the second instance of person-to-person spread of the virus in the United States after such a case was announced last week in Illinois.

China accused the United States of whipping up panic over the coronavirus outbreak Chinese stock market plunged about 8% on Monday on the first day back from an extended Lunar New Year holiday.

Beijing made the accusation after the Trump administration on Friday said it was barring nearly all foreign visitors who have been to China within the past 14 days to address the threat of the virus.

reuters

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman on Tuesday said the United States "should adopt an objective, fair, calm and rational attitude" and "refrain from overreacting".

"China has noted that the United States has repeatedly expressed its willingness to provide assistance to China, and hopes that the relevant assistance will be provided soon," spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement on the ministry's website.

With Wuhan and some other cities in virtual lockdown, travel severely restricted and China facing increasing international isolation, fears of wider economic disruption are growing; sources at the OPEC oil cartel said producers were considering cutting output by almost a third to support prices.

reuters

Airlines around the world have stopped flights to parts of China. A suspension by the United Arab Emirates on Monday will affect the Gulf airlines Etihad and Emirates.

The outbreak is reminiscent of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a virus from the same family that emerged in China in 2002 and killed almost 800 people around the world out of the 8,000 or so who were infected.

Chinese data suggest that the new virus, while much more contagious than SARS, is significantly less lethal, although such numbers can evolve rapidly.

Some economists predict world economic output will be cut by 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points due to China's lockdown.

afp

Countries continued to fly evacuation flights for citizens out of Wuhan. A plane load of Australians left the city on Monday and arrived in the Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island, where they will be quarantined, media reported on Tuesday.

The United States, which flew people out last week, is planning "a handful more flights" while Russia was due to start evacuating its citizens from Wuhan on Monday.

The White House said China had accepted its offer to have US experts as part of a WHO mission to study and help combat the virus, which emerged from a market in Hubei's provincial capital of Wuhan late last year.
Senate Republican leadership responded to Governor Bill Lees second State of the State address where he outlined his proposed budget for Tennessee in the 2020/2021 fiscal year.

Statement from Lt. Governor Randy McNally:

In his second state of the state address, Governor Lee once again laid out a bold vision for our state. I am particularly impressed with his focus on education. Whether it is through teacher pay raises, vocational education or his commitment to choice and reform, the governor has made his focus the future. This budget maintains our fiscal responsibility by making strategic reductions, cutting taxes and saving for a rainy day. I am also grateful for the commitment to the health care safety net and to mental health. Governor Lee has made it his mission to have Tennessee lead the nation. We are well on our way.

Statement from Senate Republican Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin):

I am proud of Governor Lees audacious plan for the future of Tennessee. He set forth a roadmap to maintain our fiscally conservative principles while enhancing the lives of all Tennesseans through new initiatives focusing on mental health, education and rural development. His proposal invests in some of the most important people in our communities: teachers and giving them a well-deserved increase in their pay. I am ready to work alongside Governor Lees administration to tackle these issues facing Tennessee and pass a budget that works for all Tennesseans.

Statement from Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Ken Yager (R-Kingston):

Tonight, Governor Lee proposed a conservative budget that continues Tennessee's outstanding fiscal management. He is committed to investing in sustainable initiatives that will help our state meet the needs of Tennessee now and in the future. The Governor has set forth exciting new plans to make prospering our rural communities a top priority with a focus on development and job creation. His proposal also invests in some of the most important people in our communities: teachers and giving them a well-deserved increase in their pay. By creating a $250 million protected mental health trust fund, the governor shows that he takes tackling the mental health crisis as seriously as I do. I look forward to working with Governor Lee and his administration as the budget makes its way through the legislature. I will prioritize strong fiscal management and focus on initiatives that will meet the needs of our citizens and communities.
Hong Kong on Tuesday became the second place outside mainland China to report the death of a coronavirus patient as restrictions on movement were imposed on two more cities far from the epicentre, including the home of Alibaba.

The death of the 39-year-old man in Hong Kong came as the semi-autonomous city closed all but two land crossings with the Chinese mainland to slow the spread of the virus.

On Sunday the Philippines reported the death of a Chinese man who had come from Wuhan, the central city at the epicentre of Chinas health emergency.

The virus has so far spread to more than 20 countries, prompting the World health Organization to declare a global health emergency, several governments to institute travel restrictions and airlines to suspend flights to and from China.-

Hong Kong has been particularly on edge over the virus as it has revived memories of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002-03, which killed nearly 300 people in the financial hub and 349 people in the mainland.

China earlier Tuesday reported 64 more fatalities  a single-day high  from the new coronavirus, raising the toll to 425, with more than 20,000 infections across the country.

The disease is believed to have emerged in a market in Wuhan that sold wild animals, spreading rapidly as people travelled for the Lunar New Year holiday in late January.

With more than 20,400 confirmed infections, the mortality rate for the new coronavirus is much lower than the 9.6 percent rate for SARS.

Hong Kong media said the man who died had underlying health issues that complicated his treatment. He had visited Wuhan last month.

China has struggled to contain the virus despite enacting unprecedented measures, including locking down more than 50 million people in Hubei province where the outbreak emerged.

Restrictions have also been imposed far from the epicentre.

The city of Taizhou and three Hangzhou districts  including the area home to the main office of Chinese tech giant Alibaba  will allow only one person per household to go outside every two days to buy necessities, city officials said, measures that will affect nine million people.

Another city in Zhejiang province, nine-million-strong Wenzhou, enacted the same measure at the weekend.

 Shortcomings and difficulties 

Chinas Communist leadership made a rare admission of fallibility on Monday as it acknowledged shortcoming and difficulties exposed in the response to the epidemic.

The elite Politburo Standing Committee called for improvements to the national emergency management system at the meeting, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

It is necessary to strengthen market supervision, resolutely ban and severely crack down on illegal wildlife markets and trade, the Politburo said.

The government also said it urgently needed protective medical equipment such as surgical masks, protective suits, and safety goggles as it battles to control the outbreak.

Most of the deaths have been in Wuhan and the rest of surrounding Hubei province, which has largely been under lockdown for almost two weeks.

A 1,000-bed field hospital in Wuhan built from scratch within two weeks to relieve overburdened medical facilities started receiving patients on Tuesday.

A second makeshift hospital is due to open later this week.

 Economic woes 

Global fears about the virus have risen, with cruise lines worldwide expected to deny boarding to passengers and crew who have recently travelled to China.

Japan has quarantined a cruise ship carrying 3,711 people and was testing those on board for the new coronavirus Tuesday after a former passenger was diagnosed with the illness in Hong Kong.

The virus is also taking an increasing economic toll, shutting down businesses, curbing international travel and impacting production lines of major global brands.

The government extended the Lunar New Year holiday by three days in an effort to keep people indoors.

But many provinces and major cities  including Shanghai  have called on companies to remain closed for an extra week. Schools and universities have delayed the start of new terms.

The Shanghai stock market plunged almost eight percent on Monday on the first day of trading since the holiday, but shares were on the rise by midday on Tuesday.

In Macau, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said he had asked all casino operations in the worlds biggest gambling hub to halt operations for two weeks.

The former Portuguese colony reported 10 cases of the virus and restricted movement in and out of the territory. Residents were told to wear masks when traveling around the city and to stay at home as much as possible.

No immediate details were given about when the casino suspension would begin. Macaus casinos are usually packed with Chinese high-rollers and are the life-blood of the territorys economy.

SOURCE. AFP/ AGENCIES | PHOTO: AFP
Still waiting for results

After a night of problems with the vote-counting process, results from the Iowa Democratic caucuses still werent in as of the early-morning hours of Tuesday.

The first-in-the-nation caucus was supposed to provide clarity to a crowded primary race, but instead questions lingered long into the night with little explanation. The Iowa Democratic Party said inconsistencies in reporting along with a new process for reporting delegate totals led to the colossal setbacks.

It was essentially a worst-case scenario for Democrats, some of whom have been campaigning for more than a year. Confusion bred even more confusion and with almost no information flow from the state party, it left thousands of reporters, consultants, activists and politicos with only speculation to go on. (cleveland.com)

Featured stories

An epic breakdown in Iowa casts a spotlight on the caucus system (Washington Post)

App used to tabulate votes is said to have been inadequately tested (New York Times)

Trump impeachment trial: Closing arguments ahead of acquittal vote Wednesday (ABC News)

Aggressive action necessary to counter the unprecedented threat of coronavirus, CDC says (NBC News)

National news

Trump administration and GOP-led states ask Supreme Court to hold off on deciding Obamacares fate (CNN)

Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary James Byrne fired amid controversy over departments handling of sex assault allegation (CNBC)

Giuliani associates Parnas, Fruman face Oct. 5 trial, before U.S. election (Reuters)

1 killed, 5 wounded in shooting on Greyhound bus in California (CBS News)

2 women fatally shot, toddler wounded at Texas A&M University-Commerce residence hall (Dallas Morning News)

Searchers find 4 children who went missing on snowmachine outing in Western Alaska (Anchorage Daily News)

Strong Los Angeles winds lead to plane running into trash bin, blowing out two tires at LAX (USA Today)

Her hands were crushed by her car. So she called 911 with her toes (NBC News)

Fresno police and city to review case of 16-year-old handcuffed in medical episode (Fresno Bee)

Winter weather is back: Snowstorm wallops West, heads for central, eastern U.S. (USA Today)

World news

Coronavirus: first Hong Kong death reported as China cases pass 20,000 (The Guardian)

Japan quarantines cruise ship to screen some 3,700 after Hong Kong coronavirus case (Reuters)

Leaked audio suggests Iran knew immediately when missile hit plane (Associated Press)

Second monarch butterfly sanctuary worker found dead in Mexico (The Guardian)

Greta Thunberg nominated for Nobel Peace Prize (The Hill)

Turkey suffers first deaths in direct combat with Syria since start of war (CNN)

Boris Johnson boasts post-Brexit Britain will soar like Superman (Washington Post)

Kenyas former President Daniel arap Moi dies aged 95 (BBC)

Soho streets evacuated over WW2 bomb find (BBC)
Trade experts say only a basic UK-EU trade deal is possible by 2021, but some economists point to Brexits benefits.

Birmingham, United Kingdom  The UK has left the European Union, and as far as the government here is concerned, Brexit is over. But its not quite that simple, and the hard work and tough decisions are yet to come, according to a new report published on Tuesday by the research organisation The UK in a Changing Europe.

In Brexit: What Next?, the authors focus on the tight December 31, 2020 deadline for the end of the transition period, by when the UKs Prime Minister Boris Johnson is determined to have secured a deal with the EU covering trade, security and other issues.

Writing in the report, the think-tanks director, Anand Menon, said it was hard to see anything more than the barest of bones deal being agreed by the end of the year.

According to Johnson, however, that is not something to fear.

Speaking on Monday, Johnson said a trade deal similar to those that the EU holds with other countries was achievable, and he indicated that, either way, the UK would be fine with the Withdrawal Agreement that dictated the UKs departure from the EU last week.





We have made our choice  we want a free trade agreement, similar to Canadas, Johnson said in London. But in the very unlikely event that we do not succeed, then our trade will have to be based on our existing Withdrawal Agreement with the EU.

The prime minister added he was confident that Britain will prosper mightily.

However, the report from The UK in a Changing Europe  a think-tank based at Kings College London  says an extensive trade deal could take years to negotiate. Canada-EU trade deal negotiations began in 2009, and the deal has yet to be ratified by all EU states. In the meantime, UK businesses that rely on trade with Europe will struggle, say the reports authors.

UK-EU trade is also on a different scale than Canadas trade with the EU. The UKs volume of trade with the EU is also almost six times as high as that of Canada.

Around half of the UKs total international trade is with the EU. Its especially important to the services industry, and, in particular, to financial services. The report points out that if UK firms are no longer able to conduct their business in Europe from their UK bases, they will have to set up subsidiaries in the EU, losing the UK the 11.5 percent of its employment tax revenue that comes from financial services.

Boris Johnson on Monday said the Withdrawal Agreement, which set out the initial terms of the UKs divorce from the EU, would provide a suitable base on which to build future trade relations [Jason Alden/Pool/EPA-EFE]

The uncertainty over tariffs may also lead to companies holding off investments.

When businesses trading with the EU do not know if they will face tariffs, and what new regulatory barriers and checks will be in place, it is hard to see why they should make long-term investments that are dependent in whole or in part on frictionless trade, the report said.

200131180117889

Autonomy vs alignment

The UK government is insisting it will not agree to a deal under which it simply aligns itself with existing EU rules.

This will likely be the central battle between UK and EU negotiators.

It boils down to this: the UK wants zero tariffs in any deal. In return, the EU wants assurances that UK businesses will not be able to undercut EU businesses, which may happen if they no longer have to adhere to certain regulations, for example, concerning safety or workers rights. How will the UK be able to convince the EU of this, while keeping regulatory autonomy?

The UK in a Changing Europe report argues the more favourable approach for most UK businesses would be alignment, as more alignment with EU regulations and standards will facilitate more trade, because alignment itself can reduce the cost of trading internationally for UK and EU firms.

But John Ashmore, the editor of CapX, a news website set up by the Conservative-leaning Centre for Policy Studies think-tank, is more understanding of the UK governments position.

It makes little sense to leave the EU if we are going to continue to abide by its rules, particularly when we have no say in their formulation, Ashmore said. If you think about [the EUs] position, it does suggest that they fear the UK could become a more competitive economy if we do diverge from EU rules, which certainly some Brexiteers see as one of the big advantages of leaving.

Ashmore also pointed out that being free of EU regulations may be beneficial for some UK businesses.





[EU] member states have to follow EU regulations even on business conducted entirely on their own territory, and the vast majority of British firms dont export anything to the EU, Ashmore said. In that sense, there may be opportunities to cut burdensome, unnecessary red tape that business have found costly.

Despite many economists predictions of problems that may arise as a result of a bare-bones deal, others are more optimistic.

Now we have firmly established that we are leaving the customs union and single market, the difference between deal and no deal is not that great, said Victoria Hewson, a research associate at the Institute of Economic Affairs. Now that businesses have certainty that this is what they need to prepare for, the risks of a shock to the economy are much lower.

International businesses are considering just as much how they can preserve their position in the UK market, as they are concerned about the UKs access to the EU market.

Leaving the economic debates to one side, its also important to remember that, for Johnson at least, this is still an inherently political issue. Johnson is now keen even to avoid the word Brexit, and ensure that his base supporters know he is not going to back down on his promise not to extend the transition period.

From a purely political point of view, extending the transition period would be a bad idea for him [Johnson], as hes staked a lot on it, said Ashmore.

He also wants to get Brexit out of the way as quickly as possible, to focus on the many other priorities he has.
A Cleveland, Tn., detective who faced separate charges in East Ridge and in Catoosa County, Ga., had both cases dismissed, attorney McCracken Poston said.

Taylor F. Thompson was charged with a move over violation in East Ridge and a DUI in Catoosa County.

He was charged in East Ridge after an officer said he did not move over to the farthest lane while he was stopped with another vehicle on Ringgold Road. Attorney Poston said the officer's body camera showed that the Thompson vehicle was never in the lane closest to the officer.

The East Ridge officer followed the detective into Georgia, resulting in a DUI stop. Attorney Poston said that case was thrown out because the test kit administered to him was expired.

Attorney Poston, who handled both cases, said, "Cleveland, Tn. Detective Taylor F. Thompson is no longer facing charges in the City of East Ridge, Tennessee, for a violation of the state move-over statute, or in Catoosa County, Georgia for driving under the influence, due to a combination of factors in the East Ridge, Tennessee and Catoosa County, Georgia cases that led to his November 24, 2019 arrest.

"There were two main factors, either of which would have warranted a directed verdict of acquittal in both states. The first factor involved the first encounter that caused the East Ridge police officer to follow the detective into Georgia. East Ridge Officer D. Boyd is overheard on his own video telling all of the Tennessee and Georgia officers reporting to the stop on I-75 in Georgia that my client failed to move over into the farthest lane after Officer Boyd had stopped another vehicle on the shoulder on Ringgold Road in East Ridge.

"But the officer's own body camera which captured those comments also show my clients car as it approached the scene and indicate the exact opposite. This is the textbook case for body cams, as our memories are not as reliable as the videos recording in the same direction the wearer is facing, capturing the very same things the witness sees, but the witness can interpret so very differently. And the officer's video shows at NO time was Detective Thompson's vehicle in the lane adjacent to Officer Boyd's vehicle.

"Even if Officer Boyd's move-over violation charge had stood (it was dismissed in East Ridge City Court on January 28, 2020, based on the video), the charge of DUI made by Catoosa County after its officers arrived on the scene in Georgia had to be dismissed because the test kit administered to Detective Thompson was expired. 'These test kits for the collection of blood alcohol have a limited shelf life," Poston explained, "because at some point the stoppers will start to dry out, and this changes the chemistry of the sample and renders the test unreliable.'

"The blood test would have been challenged for the false predicate of probable cause by the clearly mistaken East Ridge officer, and the appellate courts would have likely suppressed the evidence, 'but this public servant, a detective, also needs to be publicly exonerated on the fact that no test of blood collected in that expired vial would have ever been viable in a court of law.'"
Iran wants to resolve differences with its Gulf foes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates "as quickly as possible", Tehran's ambassador to Iraq said in remarks published on Tuesday.

Ambassador Iraj Masjedi said top commander Qassem Soleimani, killed at Baghdad airport by a US drone strike last month, was carrying a message setting out Iran's position on possible rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, the Iraqi state news agency reported.

"Tehran welcomes Iraq's role in trying to solve differences between Iran and Saudi," Masjedi was quoted as saying, referring to recent Iraq efforts to mediate between the regional rivals, expressing Iran's "wish to resolve differences and challenges with Saudi and the UAE as quickly as possible."

Masjedi made his remarks in an interview with the agency, which published excerpts in Arabic.

Shia Muslim Iran has long been at odds with US Gulf Sunni Arab allies. Washington blamed a series of attacks against oil interests in the Gulf last year on Iran, and the killing of Soleimani brought the region to the brink of war.

Soleimani's message that he was meant to deliver when he arrived in Baghdad on Jan.3, the day he was killed, set out Tehran's position on "fighting terrorism and achieving peace and security in the region," Masjedi said.

A senior Saudi official said last month that he was not aware of any message carried by Soleimani for mediation efforts between Riyadh and Tehran.

The killing of Soleimani struck a blow to Iran's regional strategy. Soleimani was the mastermind behind Iran's control, through proxy militia forces and political alliances, over a corridor of territory stretching from Tehran through Iraq to the Mediterranean via Syria and Lebanon.

The United States says it is determined to counter Iran's influence in the region and has imposed economic sanctions on Iran's oil sector and allies abroad and targeted its paramilitary forces.

After Soleimani's killing alongside top Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Iran launched at least 15 missiles at two bases hosting US forces in Iraq, causing traumatic brain injury to 50 US service members but no deaths.

Masjedi said the attack on the sprawling Ain al-Asad base, where the injuries were caused, was a response to Washington using "bases in the region ... and choosing Iraqi territory" to kill Soleimani - a suggestion that the drone strike was launched from Ain al-Asad.

He said Iran would respond harshly to any future attacks by the United States.

Masjedi also welcomed the naming last week of Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, who is accepted by Iran-backed Iraqi political groups but rejected by protesters who have staged months of anti-establishment demonstrations.

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Companies and tourists out of pocket from the global disruption caused by the virus epidemic in China risk meeting a cold shoulder from insurers, industry experts warn. Basic travel insurance policies are unlikely to cover epidemics. Instead, individuals are being advised initially to consult their credit card or travel providers to get refunded for cancelled bookings, and for medical costs. For companies such as airlines that are now ripping up their China plans, there may be no recourse from their insurers, according to Clarissa Franks, risk management placement leader at insurance broker Marsh in London. "The devil really is in the details because business interruption policies, contingency policies, can cover communicable diseases. However, policy language will quite often exclude this type of disease," she told AFP. - Ripple effects - It is too early to determine overall costs to the insurance industry from the deadly coronavirus spreading out of China, whose death toll has now surpassed that of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002-03. The reinsurance market at Lloyd's of London has not seen any untoward activity from traditional insurers looking to hedge their exposure to risks arising from this outbreak, two sources in the underwriting trade said. But even if they are not covered for communicable diseases specifically, companies will be checking the fine print as ripple effects flow through their China operations and global supply chains, following Beijing's decision to quarantine entire cities. As with SARS and other pandemics of recent years such as swine flu, Zika and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the industry will be "paying very close attention to this", Association of British Insurers spokesman Malcolm Tarling said. He cautioned individuals and companies: "If someone travels (to China) against government advice, then most policies will be invalidated. If you believe your trip is essential, you need to talk to your insurer first." - Risk calculus - The closest analogy is SARS, which first broke out in China in 2002 and led to a slew of disputes between companies and their insurance providers. For the travel industry alone, the impact of SARS was estimated by the World Travel and Tourism Council at $30-50 billion. But China's economy accounted for five percent of global gross domestic product then, compared to nearly a fifth today, according to World Bank data. More Chinese now travel abroad than any other nationality, and they spend the most on average while away. The number of infections from the new virus stands at more than 17,200, and the World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency. But health experts stress its mortality rate among patients is lower than for SARS. In a blog, Risk Management Solutions noted that several sporting and cultural events have already been cancelled in China, "and all risk stakeholders will be anxious over the number of months before 2019-nCoV (the novel coronavirus) is contained". - Specialist coverage - Leading British insurer Aviva said customers need to have specific coverage for "travel disruption" as part of their policy to be sure of reimbursement for changes to their plans. "We're monitoring the situation closely, but so far the overwhelming majority of claims relate to customers who are travelling to and from China," an Aviva spokeswoman said. Allianz of Germany said the first port of call for individuals suffering disruption should be their airline or travel agency, rather than their insurer. The company said the outbreak was "clearly a very urgent alert" but at this stage, normal terms and conditions of insurance contracts applied. For airlines and other companies in the firing line, communicable diseases will typically only be covered if they have taken out specialist coverage. But that would come at a cost that probably outweighs the risk-benefit return. "Traditional insurance can't cover everything and non-traditional insurance will tend to carry a significant cost and require a thorough process to determine what an individual company needs," Franks at Marsh said. "It will be a very bespoke product."
[February 04, 2020] Namogoo Announces Integration With Salesforce Commerce Cloud to Prevent Customer Journey Hijacking

HERZLIYA, Israel, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Namogoo , a company pioneering Customer Hijacking Prevention and protecting user privacy for online enterprises, today announced its certified integration with Salesforce Commerce Cloud to protect online businesses from the widespread problem of client-side ad injections that cut into their bottom lines. The integration allows customers to easily implement Namogoo's solution to protect their businesses from Customer Journey Hijacking, a growing issue only discovered in recent years that disrupts consumer site visits and can cost brands hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. 15-25% of web visitors are disrupted by unauthorized ads injected into consumer browsers including banners, pop-ups, and in-text redirects that distract them from the intended online experience and divert them to other sites. 40-70% of these ads include offers and recommendations from direct competitors. Because these ads are caused by digital malware running on the customer's browser, device, or WiFi network, they effectively bypass server-side visibility and control. Namogoo monitors and analyzes web sessions from the server all the way to customer browsers, identifies invasive activity, and then prevents it from running. Online brands using Namogoo such as Asics, Samsonite, Lenovo, Argos, Dollar Shave Club, Office Depot, and more, have seen consistent increases in conversion rates immediately following their implementation of the solution. Customers will be able to utilize the Namogoo integration to improve the customer journey on their sites with a solution that: Can generate immediate digital revenue increase with conversion rate uplifts of 2-5% by preventing site visitors from being distracted and diverted by unauthorized injected ad.

Can increase Revenue Per Visitor (RPV) by 5-7% by keeping customers on the site all the way through checkout.

Decreases checkout abandonment rate by 5-9% by eliminating disruptions at the end of the sales funnel.

Increases retention rate and customer loyalty by 10-15%.

Ensures customers an enhanced customer experience.

Protects brand equity by reducing intrusive ads and unsavory content to preserve the customer journey.

Maintains a zero false-positive policy by leveraging multiple independent classification methods to prevent legitimate services from being blocked and reduces impact on the intended customer experience.

Ensures minimal code footprint by lightweight code developed to work optimally with the end user's environment with minimal impact on their online experience.

Does not collect Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and ensures compliance with user privacy and regulations. Additionally, Namogoo is certified as PCI Compliant by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).



Chemi Katz , CEO and co-founder of Namogoo. "Businesses are losing millions of dollars in potential revenue to a problem they are not even aware of, and we are looking forward to helping them protect their sites from the intrusive, unauthorized injected ads that are ruining their carefully designed customer experience." For more information you can access the Salesforce Namogoo page here .

About Namogoo Namogoo protects the customer journey and user privacy for online enterprises, powering superior digital experiences and business results. A company dedicated to and solving issues surrounding Customer Journey Hijacking, Namogoo's client-side platform prevents unauthorized ad injections from hijacking online customers to competitors and mitigates against privacy and compliance risks emanating from third and fourth party vendors. Analyzing over 500 million web sessions weekly, Namogoo's self-learning solutions empower enterprises with a new generation of visibility, efficiency, and governance of their website ecosystem. Leading online brands rely on Namogoo's solutions to gain control over their online customer experience and consistently improve business results. Namogoo has been recognized as a Gartner Cool Vendor for creating a new space in the digital ecosystem and was ranked by Dun & Bradstreet as the Best Israeli Startup to Work For in 2019. To learn more visit namogoo.com Media Contact Raanan Loew

[email protected]

+1-347-897-9276 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/namogoo-announces-integration-with-salesforce-commerce-cloud-to-prevent-customer-journey-hijacking-300998299.html SOURCE Namogoo

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Luxembourg's fire crews were bombarded with calls for help as several people required rescue from the floods.

The 112 call centre dealt with high numbers of calls on Monday evening due to heavy rain which caused widespread flooding across the country. The majority of interventions concerned flooded basements and roads, according to reports.

Firefighters had to rescue three people whose cars were stuck on flooded roads in Mertzig and Mertert.

The Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps said 50 fire and rescue centres were mobilised for 320 interventions, supported by the aquatic rescue team. The situation was normalised by 2am.

On Tuesday morning, the Water Management Authority indicated they were in "alert phase", and warned against a risk of major floods, causing overflows likely to have a significant impact on people and goods. The Alzette alert level has been breached in several stations, while the Sure river is in pre-alert and the Moselle is in vigilance phase.

Police have also warned that cars stationed in several car parks in Mersch and Ettelbruck ought to be moved as soon as possible, as the risk of damage and pollution will increase as flooding continues.
[February 04, 2020] GBT Receives Innovative Opinion From Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) For Its 3D Microchip Patent

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GBT Technologies Inc. (OTC PINK: GTCH ) ("GBT, or the Company), a company specializing in the development of Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled networking and tracking technologies, including its GopherInsight wireless mesh network technology platform and its Avant! AI for both mobile and fixed solutions, announced that it has received an innovative opinion for its 3D microchip patent. The patent authority, which manages the international research report, stated that the claims are novel and non-obvious.

A positive opinion is a professional examiners analysis of the patents claims. GBT's 3D microchip patent is protecting GBT's futuristic integrated circuit technology which introduces new systems and methods for IC manufacturing. The invention presents new die structure and orientation, especially designed for deep nanometer range. The technology enables the manufacturing of more devices on silicon in order to achieve more circuits/features on die, and enables new IC architecture for larger designs within smaller areas while lowering the overall IC's power consumption. GBT plans to use this 3D integrated circuit technology for advanced GPUs and CPUs, and particularly for AI/machine learning ICs, as they require vast amount of smart circuitry. The invention is also targeted to enable larger IoT/Mobile chips that include additional units on board like memory, analog and RF circuitry. The new method will specifically be an asset in the manufacture of GBT's planned future communication chips, offering more media and vast database handling capabilities. The positive opinion from USPTO states that the claims are novel and non-obvious in this domain. When the patent is granted, GBT plans to search for strategic partner to be the first to design and manufacture ICs using this technology. "This is exciting news regarding our 3D IC invention as we believe it could be used to create a new dimension for the integrated circuits arena" said Danny Rittman, GBT CTO. "The patent seeks to protect new architectural and silicon structural approach in order to implement more devices on silicon in order to achieve more on-board circuits with higher performance. The invention covers FinFet technology and conventional CMOS technologies. With this new structural method, we aim to create new capabilities for IC designers, enabling vast amount of circuits on one chip. This means more on-board features and smarter ICs especially when it comes to I and storage microchips like memory and SSD (Solid State Drive). The invention covers new wafer-fab manufacturing disciplines for ICs processes as they have currently reached their physical limitations, enabling smaller chips yet with larger device number. We expect the new concept to result in higher yield and performance while significantly lowering the circuit's power consumption. The patent covers multi-planetary structures, which we believe will create a new standard in this domain" he continued.



"The IC industry has reached its limit for physical device placements on chips and needs a quantum leap in order to maintain the constant demand for additional on-board features and capabilities. We believe this patent offers a breakthrough approach to enhance exponentially ICs physical limits with numerous capabilities for smart applications. " About GBT Technologies Inc.

GBT Technologies Inc. (OTC PINK: GTCH) (GBT) ( http://gopherprotocol.com/ ) is a development-stage company which considers itself a native IoT creator, developing Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled mobile technology platforms. GBT has a portfolio of Intellectual Property that, when commercialized, will include smart microchips, mobile and security applications and protocols, and supporting cloud software. GBTs system envisions the creation of a global mesh network. The core of the system will be its advanced microchip technology that can be installed in any mobile or fixed device worldwide. GBT envisions this system as a low-cost, secure, private mesh network between any enabled devices, providing shared processing, advanced mobile database management/sharing and enhanced mobile features as an alternative to traditional carrier services. https://www.avant-ai.net - Powered by : About GBT Technologies, S.A. GBT Technologies, S.A., a private Costa Rican corporation (GBT - http://gbttechnologies.com/) is a development-stage company in the business of the strategic management of BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) digital communications processing for enterprises and startups; distributed ledger technology development, AI development and fintech software development and applications. https://aggregatorv2.genesisexchange.io (New Beta Version) Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission located at their website ( http://www.sec.gov ). In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, governmental and public policy changes, the Companys ability to raise capital on acceptable terms, if at all, the Companys successful development of its products and the integration into its existing products and the commercial acceptance of the Companys products. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Contact:

Dr. Danny Rittman, CTO

GBT Technologies Inc.

Media: [email protected]

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Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Getty

For the first time in its four decades of existence, the Committee to Protect Journalistswhich usually focuses on the curtailment of press freedoms in authoritarian countrieshas just issued a safety kit outlining specific physical safeguards for American reporters covering the 2020 presidential election.

Especially reporters who attend campaign rallies staged by President Donald Trump.

We felt it was a good time to create something specific to the United States, CPJs Emergencies Director Maria Salazar-Ferro told The Daily Beast. Weve been speaking to journalists who have been to recent rallies, and the rhetoric is coming from people who are participating in the rallies, and there was a lot of aggression around fake news and the press is the enemy. And its reverberating beyond the actual political event as well as online.

Salazar-Ferro attributed the surge in U.S. journalists anxiety largely to Trump, who at campaign rallies regularly refers to the reporters who cover him as scum, the enemy of the people, stupid, very rude, liars, and the lowest form of human lifean insult which at least grants journalists their humanity.

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, which maintains a database of Trumps Twitter posts that mention the media, recently analyzed 18,000 of the presidents tweets and concluded that hes increasing the amount of his anti-press language on Twitter while reviving the targeted social media tactics he used as a candidate.

He also renewed his focus on individual journalists andafter a multi-year hiatusFox News, the Press Freedom Tracker report added. Trumps broad condemnations of the press on Twitter continued escalating; while the media was corrupt or dishonest in 2015 and 2016, now it is fake, treasonous and an enemy of the people. 

Salazar-Ferro said: So far the journalists we have spoken to have expressed the biggest concern around covering Trump rallies, and generally around online harassment. She noted that Trumps rhetoric is very charged, and so far the threats that journalists have told us about seem to be linked to that aggressive rhetoric. And the rhetoric that has been used in the United States has spread around the world, with leaders stoking aggression against journalistsand its a thing that really concerns us.

Story continues

The safety kitwhich was prepared by CPJs London-based security consultant, Colin Pereira of HP Risk Managementis crammed with the kind of advice that might also work for a person who has suddenly been dropped into a tigers cage.

It includes such tips as Look out for individuals in the crowd who may become aggressive or cause trouble, and try to avoid them as much as possible; Wear clothing without media company branding and remove media logos from equipment and vehicles if necessary; If the crowd or speakers are hostile to the media, mentally prepare for verbal abuse; and If a crowd becomes hostile to the media it may help to deliberately avoid eye contact and stop taking pictures.

The overall impression, Pereira told The Daily Beast, is that theres an uptick in incidents against journalists. The feeling is the climate has gotten much more hostile

I certainly think the rhetoric and the behavior of the administration condones a lot of this activity or creates a platform for it, Pereira added. But I dont think you can blame it purely on the administration. Theres a lot of deep-seated distrust and hatred of journalists among certain sectors of U.S. society, which maybe the administration is a symptom of, rather than being a causal effect of. Its hard to draw a line between the two, really.

Pereira, who also consults with media organizations in addition to CPJ, continued: We advise a number of clients in the U.S. Previously we never used to advise them about the U.S. We used to advise them about places like Iraq and Afghanistan. So yes, in the last three years, weve definitely started advising them about life in the U.S., dealing with the online threat in particular, harassment, doxing, swatting, and in some cases violent attack.

In a relatively recent case of swattingin which an attacker makes a prank call to the cops, alleging a crime in progress and dispatching a large number of armed police officers to a victims homePereira said he investigated an incident in the United States where the police dispatched snipers to someones house The journalists mother and daughter were in the house at the time, and it caused a great amount of anguish to the family, because the police barged in.

In this case, however, it was far-right-related, I wouldnt say it was Trump-related, Pereira said. If you go to a Trump rally or youre on the campaign trail, I think its unpleasant, and people are shocked at whats happening, but I dont think theyre in fear of their lives.

This past June, however, Orlando Sentinel reporter Michael Williams was physically attacked by a man in a MAGA hat, who smacked his cell phone to prevent him from recording a squabble with an apparent Trump detractor after the presidents reelection campaign launch rally.

What happened that day was definitely an anomaly from my experience, said Williams, who these days covers business for the Albany Times-Union. Everybody else I spoke with at the rally was pleasant and perfectly nice. I actually walked up to a woman wearing an Orlando Sentinel Equals Fake News T-shirt, and spoke with her, and she was fine.

The cops handcuffed Wiliams assailantan arrest Williams captured on videoand later the prosecutor got the reporters permission to drop the charges if the man underwent anger management training.

I didnt want to ruin his life, said Williams, who at this writers request reviewed the CPJ safety kit.

Everything on this list is good advice, Williams said. The only thing I would add is just how important it is for a newsroom to have their reporters back during incidents like this and how fortunate I was to work for a newsroom that did have my back at the Orlando Sentinel.

CPJs Salazar-Ferro, meanwhile, said reporters covering the Democratic primary race have reported no threats of violence.

Not yet, she said.

Trump Cuts Out Media That Doesnt Make Him Feel Beautiful

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Priti Patel has been roundly ridiculed after she repeatedly vowed to tackle 'counter-terrorism offenders' following the knife attack in Streatham.

Speaking yesterday, the Home Secretary bizarrely promised the Government would announce new initiatives aimed at cracking down on 'counter terrorism'.

The slip of the tongue, which Mrs Patel repeated at least four times, left viewers baffled and comparing her interview to hit satire show The Thick of It.

Mrs Patel was speaking in the aftermath of the terror attack in south London on Sunday, where Sudesh Amman stabbed two people before he was shot dead.

Armed police shot dead terrorist Sudesh Amman, who was wearing a fake suicide vest, after he grabbed a knife from a shop and a female nursery teacher and another man

She told Sky News: 'There is a police investigation taking place right now and this offender clearly had some history in relation to counter-terrorism offences. It's right that the police are investigating that.

'We've also been very clear that we will be bringing about a counter-terrorism bill in her first 100 days and we will absolutely do that.

'Tomorrow we will also be announcing some fundamental changes - in addition to what I've already said - to deal with counter terrorism and counter terrorism offenders.'

Social media users mocked the minister in charge of national security for not knowing the difference between terrorism and counter terrorism, launching the hashtag '#PritiVacant'.

Dr Suzanne Conboy-Hill wrote: Was Priti Patel just talking about people committing "anti-terrorism" offences? I know it's just words and its early but politics is words.'

Graham Lithgow added: 'If you are concerned about how well equipped this government is to deal with issues of national security, consider that Priti Patel doesn't even know what the term "counter-terrorism" even means.'

Social media users mocked the minister in charge of national security for not knowing the difference between terrorism and counter terrorism, launching the hashtag '#PritiVacant'

Amman (pictured left and right as a child), 20, was being monitored by the security services on Sunday when he stole a knife from a hardware store and went on the rampage in Streatham

David Oliver said: 'Priti Patel repeatedly mixing up "terrorism" with "counter terrorism" in interviews. Thank God she isn't Home Secretary or anything.'

It is understood Amman, who was jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents in December 2018, had been freed in the past six weeks.

Sam Armstrong, from the Henry Jackson Society - a foreign policy think tank - said Amman was thought to have been staying in a bail hostel in Tulse Hill.

He said the society had warned in December that Amman was due for release within the next two months and should not be let out of prison.

Amman, who at the time of his sentencing was 18 years old and had an address in Harrow, north-west London, had been jailed for three years and four months.

Speaking yesterday, the Home Secretary bizarrely promised the Government would announce new initiatives aimed at cracking down on 'counter terrorism'

Two people were stabbed in the attack in Streatham on Sunday afternoon which police believe to be 'Islamist-related'.

Scotland Yard said armed officers were following the suspect on foot as part of a 'proactive counter-terrorism surveillance operation' on Streatham High Road.

Three victims were taken by ambulance to south London hospitals.

One man, in his 40s, is no longer considered to be in a life-threatening condition following treatment, police said.

A woman, in her 50s, who had non-life threatening injuries has been discharged from hospital.

Police said a second woman in her 20s, who received minor injuries believed to have been caused by glass following the discharge of a police firearm, continues to receive treatment.
With the impact of casino gambling still a source of conjecture, the University of Massachusetts will continue its research into its impact in the state - and in upcoming months, in Springfield.

A three-year grant from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission will fund the study at about $1 million per year, with two annual options to renew. This will allow the study entitled Social and Economic Impacts of Massachusetts (SEIGMA) to complete a 12-year investigation called unprecedented by the university.

The UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences is conducting the study. In the upcoming months, its focus will be shifting to the impacts of MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor.

The UMass Amherst research team will release reports on the employment, operational and public health impacts of MGM Springfield this spring and summer. A full assessment of Encore Boston Harbor will follow in the fall.

This will continue to be the longest-lasting study of the impacts of the introduction of a new form of gambling in a jurisdiction, lead investigator Rachel Volberg said., Whats going to be most interesting going forward is being able to have a fine-grained understanding of the disparate impacts that introducing different kinds of casinos has on communities that are differentially at risk of experiencing gambling-related harms.

Volberg is a UMass research professor who has studied gambling and problem gambling across the world for more than 30 years. In 2013, the Gaming Commission chose the UMass consortium, which includes the UMass Donahue Institute, among institutions studying the impact of the Massachusetts 2011 Expanded Gaming Act.

That legislation ushered in a new era of casino gambling in this state. Other institutions studying gambling effects are the University of Chicagos National Opinion Research Center, the University of Nevada Reno and the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada.

The research began with community profiles and baseline population studies to gauge gambling behavior in Massachusetts before any of the casinos opened. Volberg said that provides a better idea of what current trends represent.

In a separate study funded by the Gaming Commission, the Massachusetts Gambling Impact Cohort (MAGIC), is charting how problem gambling develops over time. Identifying high-risk populations is expected help in developing prevention and treatment programs.

Volberg is also part of that study.

The early SEIGMA research period reported positive economic and employment benefits and only minor issues with problems such as problem gambling at the Plainridge Park Casino, a slot parlor that opened in 2015. More recent studies are reporting that fewer people are spending more money at the slots, which may be a red flag for problem gambling.

Volberg said the characteristics of Plainville differ greatly from from the resort-style casinos in Springfield and Everett, so new data will be examined closely.
Queensland mine bosses will face 20 years in prison and fines up to $13 million under a government proposal to expand industrial manslaughter laws to the resources sector.

The proposed changes, introduced to Parliament on Monday, follow the deaths of eight workers in Queensland's mines and quarries in the past 20 months.

Under the proposed laws, senior officers of a mine or quarry company could be prosecuted if criminal negligence is proven for a worker's death. Credit:Robert Rough

Mines Minister Anthony Lynham said it was totally unacceptable that workers continue to die in Queensland mines.

These laws will give our 50,000 mine and quarry workers the same protections as other Queensland workers," he said.
Hong Kong, China  Public health workers in Hong Kong have stepped up a strike to demand the total closure of the border with mainland China after the semi-autonomous Chinese territory reported the first death from the novel coronavirus.

The hospital workers union said more than 7,000 hospital employees had walked off the job as the week-long strike entered its second day on Tuesday.

With 17 confirmed cases in Hong Kong, the first death also makes for the highest fatality rate in China, where the overall death rate hovers at 2 percent. In Hubei Province, whose capital city Wuhan is the epicentre of the outbreak, there have been 414 deaths out of 13,522 cases.

The National Health Commission in Beijing so far has registered 427 fatalities in mainland China from more than 20,485 cases. The additional 64 new deaths announced late on Monday marked the biggest single-day increase since the virus was first detected in late December.

As both confirmed cases and death tolls climbed, China conceded to shortcomings and difficulties in its response to the outbreak of the flu-like infection.

In Hong Kong, the victim was a 39-year-old man who last visited Wuhan the day before it was ordered closed off from the rest of the country in an attempt to contain the outbreak. The man then took a high-speed direct train from Changsha, the largest city in the province to the south, back to Hong Kong.

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Health officials here said the condition of the man, who had diabetes, took a sudden turn for the worse overnight on Monday and ordered an autopsy to better understand the cause of death.

His death has rattled nerves in the middle-class community where he lived, one of the oldest and most tight-knit residential compounds in Kowloon. His extended family live just three floors below the victims home.

His 72-year-old mother is believed to have contracted the virus from her son and is in a stable condition in hospital. His other family members have remained in quarantine off-site.

Call for stricter screening

Meanwhile, at the nearby Hong Kong Polytechnic University, district councillor Owan Li challenged school officials plan to house returning mainland students under the same roof as locals. Although the campus will remain closed until late March, some students have already arrived after spending their Lunar New Year break north of the border.

We question if university halls are a suitable site for quarantine, Li told Al Jazeera. Were calling for stricter screening measures to identify potential infected.

While Hong Kong authorities worked late on Monday night to shut down all but three of its border crossing points with the mainland, public support for a full closure remained strong, giving a boost to the striking health workers leading the campaign.

Rolling poll results released by Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, which surveyed 20,000 respondents from last week until Tuesday, showed that 78 percent backed full border closure and 75 percent were dissatisfied with the governments handling of the outbreak.

Chief executive Carrie Lam hit back at a media conference on Tuesday.

I certainly would not agree with the allegation that we are not addressing this public health concern adequately, Lam told reporters. Certainly I do not agree with the allegation that we are putting politics above public health.

Meanwhile, 61 percent of respondents said they supported the strike as a means to pressure the government to change its policy.

At lunchtime, dozens of office workers who have taken part in the months long anti-government protest movement in Hong Kong, had a new rallying cry.

Close the border; say no to China, they shouted from the atrium of a glitzy mall in the heart of the business district.

By nightfall, a protest by residents hailing from the working class neighbourhood near to one of the crossings that remain open ended in clashes with riot police. A district councillor said on his Facebook page that he had been hit by a rubber bullet.

Of the 17 patients being treated for the coronavirus in Hong Kong, seven are residents of mainland China.

Health officials have said the next two weeks will be a critical window in terms of fighting the spread of the virus in local communities.

A major developer in Hong Kong has announced the suspension of all construction projects for two weeks. In neighbouring Macao, a regional gambling hub where there have been 10 confirmed cases, authorities have shut down the casinos for two weeks.

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Also on Tuesday officials announced the first two confirmed cases, on top of two suspected cases, of person-to-person transmission. Both patients had travelled outside the city two weeks before falling ill. Fourteen days is believed to be the maximum incubation period for the disease.

Nearly 600 people are subject to health monitoring. All told, the public health system has between 500 and 800 beds in isolation wards required to house patients confirmed to have the virus.

For many Hong Kong residents, the 2003 SARS epidemic still looms large. With a death toll of 299, the city had one of the highest fatality rates in the world at 17 percent, nearly three times that of mainland China, where the outbreak started.

The head of the Hospital Authority Dr Tony Ko sidestepped questions on whether striking workers would face punishment, although the citys constitution enshrines the right to participate in strike action.

Joined on the picket line by half of her colleagues from the ward where she works  30 in all  Cactus Chiu, a second-year nurse at neonatal ICU, said she was prepared to pay a personal price for the public good.

Were guided by nothing but our conscience and professional ethics, said Chiu. Were taking this step because we hope to save more lives.
A trophy hunting convention in the US is auctioning off a week-long dream hunt with the US presidents son Donald Trump Jr.

The four-day event described on its website as a hunters heaven that has "everything the mind can dream of" will culminate on Saturday with an auction for a week-long Sitka black-tailed deer hunt in Alaska with Trump Jr, his son and a guide with the bidding standing at $10,000 (9,062).

The annual convention organised by the hunting group Safari Club International is also auctioning off expeditions to shoot elephants, bears and giraffes with prizes including the chance to shoot an elephant on a 14-day trip in Namibia, an all-inclusive hunt package to Zimbabwe to kill buffalo, giraffe and wildebeest, and a 10-day crocodile hunting expedition in South Africa.

The Guardian reported that thousands of hunters from around the world are expected to attend the convention which begins on Wednesday.

It comes after ProPublica revealed in December last that Trump Jr killed a rare species of endangered sheep during a hunting trip to Mongolia last summer.

Anti-hunting campaigners Brian Wilson and Al Jardine last week backed a boycott of their former band the Beach Boys, who are booked to perform at the event.

Mr Wilson tweeted against the event that both he and Jardine are "emphatically opposed to".

This organization supports trophy hunting, which Both Al and I are emphatically opposed to. Theres nothing we can do personally to stop the show, so please join us in signing the petition at https://t.co/vOUtJDq6t2  Brian Wilson (@BrianWilsonLive) February 3, 2020

In a statement, Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, said: This annual event is the largest meeting in the world of people who celebrate the senseless killing, buying and selling of dead animals for bragging rights.

As our planet suffers an extinction crisis, it is business as usual for the trophy hunting industry and SCI, who continue to revel in spending millions of dollars every year to destroy imperiled wildlife.

SCI hit back at the comments calling its statement the "height of hypocrisy".

In response to the Humane Societys statement, SCI CEO W. Laird Hamberlin, said: "It is the height of hypocrisy to call hunting a colonial pastime while SCI actively convenes African nations, for example, for a regular and recurring summit on the best methods for wildlife management.

"The Humane Society continually chooses to scold democratically elected leaders from Africa like Botswanan President Masisi for reopening his country to foreign hunters, despite the clear evidence that during the five years when hunting was banned in Botswana, the country saw unprecedented rates of human-wildlife conflict and increased poaching.

"Across Botswana, numerous communities were facing new hardships stemming from a lack of resources that hunting once brought them."
Donald Trumps inner circle flocked to Iowa for a rally in support of the presidents re-election, just as Democratic voters were participating in a tense first-in-the-nation caucus on Monday night.

Donald Trump Jr, who was joined by his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, his younger brother Eric and Eric's wife Lara, warned the presidents supporters to reject the Democratic candidates vying for a shot at unseating his father in the Oval Office, as polls showed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders with a lead in the key early-voting state.

"When I see the ideals of socialism and communism actually being pushed  I know we say this as a joke and everyone's laughing, but it's not a joke," the 42-year-old, who has himself hinted at the possibility of running for office, said to the crowd.

While we've done a lot, there's still a lot left to be done, he added. Donald Trump's gonna do that.

The Keep Iowa Great conference also included a speech from the presidents campaign manager, Brad Parscale, who told supporters: We're here in force to show the American people that this is a real movement.

Republicans are also holding caucuses in Iowa but with no serious challengers to the President, the First Family used the visit as an opportunity to spread their message

All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Show all 6 1 /6 All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Alan Dershowitz Dershowitz is a controversial American lawyer best known for the high-profile clients he has successfully defended. Those clients have included OJ Simpson, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. One longtime Harvard Law associated told the New Yorker Dershowitz "revels in taking positions that ultimately are not just controversial but pretty close to indefensible." Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Ken Starr Starr became a household name in the 1990s as the independent counsel who led the investigation that led to Bill Clinton's impeachment. That investigation began as a look into a real estate scandal known as Whitewater, and eventually led to impeachment after Mr Clinton lied under oath about having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. AP All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Jay Sekulow Sekulow is the president's longtime personal attorney, and, now, personal lawyer in the White House. He has been accused by former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas of being "in the loop" during the Ukraine scandal. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pam Bondi Bondi is the former attorney general in Florida, and a longtime backer of the president's. She made a name for herself in Florida for taking hyper partisan stances on issues, and her penchant for publicity. She is likely to be a prominent public-facing figure during the trial. AFP/Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pat Cipollone Cipollone is the White House counsel, and leading the president's defence team. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Rudy Giuliani While not officially named as one of the president's impeachment lawyers, it is hard to ignore Giuliani's outsized role in this process. The former mayor of New York has been making headlines for months as he defends his client, and for his apparent role in the effort to compel Ukraine to launch the investigation into Joe Biden. We'll see how he figures in the actual trial, which he has said he would like to be a part of. Reuters

This president is serious about 2020." Parscale added.

Mr Trump has focused on Mr Sanders, seen as one of the most progressive candidates in the Democratic primaries, writing in a series of tweets over recent weeks that the process has been rigged against the 78-year-old candidate.

Recommended Video seems to show Trump fidgeting during Super Bowl National Anthem

Crazy Bernie takes the lead in the Democrat Primaries, but it is looking more and more like the Dems will never allow him to win! the president wrote in a tweet last month, adding: Will Sleepy Joe be able to stumble across the finish line?

The president has also claimed without evidence that Mike Bloomberg, a former mayor of New York City and fellow 2020 hopeful, has been working with the Democratic National Committee to rig the election against Mr Sanders.

Some analysts say these unfounded allegations support longstanding themes the president has employed in rhetoric surrounding the election process after losing the popular vote in 2016.

Eric Trump also spoke at the event on Sunday night, telling supporters: Were gonna beat them again.

The rally was also attended by White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, according to AFP.
Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, who has a plan for everything, just announced an alarming new plan to punish companies that knowingly disseminate disinformation online, writes David Harsanyi. Shes demanding Democrats combat false and inflammatory information on social media platforms. Disinformation erodes our democracy, she says, because its meant to divide Democrats, suppress Democratic votes, and erode the standing of the Democratic nominee. It could never occur to Warren that disinformation has ever been, or would ever be, deployed by Democrats to erode the standing of a Republican. False news on social media only threatens a 2020 Democrat victory, since, obviously, only a Democrat victory could be synonymous with democracy.

Warren is still doing CPR on the dead horse that Russian manipulation of social media influenced the 2016 elections outcome. She cites the Senate testimony of Philip N. Howard of Oxford University that tweets leading up to the election showed a 'one-to-one ratio of junk news to professional news. But the myth that Russians permeated Twitter with pro-Trump messages has been gutted more than once, and, as reported by Willis L. Krumholz at theFederalist, Facebooks chief security officer said the vast majority of 3,000 ads the Russians allegedly purchased [for $100,000] did not reference the election, voting, or a particular candidate, but focused on amplifying divisive social and political messages across the ideological spectrum.

Nor does Howard define what he means by professional news. Trump voters havent forgotten that the ratio of junk news from mainstream media outlets to reliable reporting was a whole lot higher than one-to-one in favor of junk. We have professional news to thank, in large part, for the Russia hoax, when [t]he media relentlessly peddled baseless propaganda to delegitimize and derail the Trump administration. The spread of professional news falsehoods only got worse after the election. When CNN reported that WikiLeaks offered Donald Trump the stolen DNC emails before making them available online, the story was almost instantly exposed as untrue. Still, as Glenn Greenwald explained, its hard to overstate how fast, far, and wide this false story traveled. Democratic Party pundits, operatives, and journalists with huge social media platforms predictably jumped on the story immediately, announcing that it proved collusion between Trump and Russia. Nor is it right that social media and Big Techs bias favors conservatives. RealClearPolitics Adriana Cohen describes Googleobviously manipulating search results to shape public opinion and damage the president, while social media networks are censoring conservatives with deceptive algorithms and other shadowy tactics to advance their own political agenda. When not banning conservatives outright.

But Warren achieves maximum chutzpah (or whatever the Cherokee word for it is) by demanding that all Dem nominees condemn the use of disinformation and pledge not to knowingly use it to benefit their own candidacy or damage others  immediately after her deliberate lie that Trump has welcomed foreign interference in our elections, inviting interference from a host of countries that have an interest in the outcome, including Iran and China.

Elsewhere were hearing from law professor Terry Smith that some peoples votes should be illegal. Smiths thesis, embraced by Noah Berlatsky at NBC, is that racist voting is not just immoral, but illegal, and [t]he government has the ability, and the responsibility, to address it. According to Smith, racist voters are violating the Constitution every time they pull the levers to harm black people. How do Smith and Berlatsky know which voters are casting their ballots with the intention of harming blacks? With simple, if circular, logic. Berlatsky explains that Trump is such a liar it was irrational to vote for him, so all those voters saying they voted for him in 2016 because they liked his policies better -- or dreaded a President Hillary  must be lying to hide their racist motives. Berlatsky assures his readers that hes got research that suggests that plenty of Trump voters were indeed strongly motivated by racist resentment and anti-immigrant animus.

Now that argument sounds airtight enough to invalidate 63 million votes!

My own research suggests that all progressive know-it-alls are categorically incapable of deciphering the motives of anyone who does not think exactly like they do. The evidence of this is their 100% failure rate at explaining our point of view.

Getting opposing points of view wrong is all in a days work for Michigans ideologue attorney general, Dana Nessel. Disagreement with her simply isnt a valid point of view: all it can be is hate. And expressing those views is hate speech, which she defines as offend[ing] people.

Last March Nessel and Agustin Arbulu, former head of the states Department of Civil Rights, teamed up to announce their policy to aggressively investigate hate crimes, to stem the scourge of hate and bias incidents in Michigan. Nessel launched her own hate-crimes unit, expressly relying on the Southern Poverty Law Centers libelous "hate-group" designations, as a starting point for likely suspects. Arbulu proudly announced plans for a Stasi-like database for documenting bias incidents.

As noted here last April, Nessel got swift pushback in the form of a lawsuit filed by Michigans American Freedom Law Center, which SPLC had maliciously designated a hate group. AFLC claimed various constitutional violations, like targeting AFLC for its political views under the color of state law and authority. In response, Nessel tried denying that tracking hate incidents was her actual policy: she only intended to go after actual hate crimes. This contradicts her original announcement that the HCUs purpose was to fight against hate crimes and the many hate groups which have been allowed to proliferate in our state.

The district court didnt buy it, handing down a stiff denial of her motion to dismiss AFLCs lawsuit. Judge Paul Maloney ruled that Nessels policy, [b]y implicitly endorsing SPLCs list of hate groups, which includes AFLC, harmed AFLC through lost donations, loss of reputation, and a chilling effect on AFLCs speech.

Nessels low view of the First Amendment is shocking in an attorney general. The amendment guarantees open and robust debate among competing points of view, which is vital to a functioning republic. But through Nessels lens of progressive intolerance, she can only see the First Amendment as a shield for horrible people who slink around thinking hateful thoughts, saying hateful words, or associating with hate filled people.

In her motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Nessel assured the court she would never target the AFLC just because of its conservative views. She even acknowledges AFLCs First Amendment protections:

[AFLC] is even free, if it chooses, to engage in hate speech, because the First Amendment includes the freedom to offend people. And to bond with other organizations and individuals even if that bond is based solely on hatred for those who might look or act differently than them -- because the First Amendment protects that, too.

But that description bears no more resemblance to the AFLC than Adam Schiff does to St. Thomas More.

Todays progressives are flatly unable to comprehend the thoughts or motives of those who dont think like they do. Last March Nessel all but plagiarized Hillary in a speech about a dark cloud of bigotry, hatred and intolerance, a cloud of xenophobia, racism, homophobia, and especially Islamophobia. (She was talking to a group of Dearborn Muslims, which may be why she forgot to mention sexism.)

People who believe this poorly of their fellow cannot possibly treat them with justice. Which is why they have no business governing us.

T.R. Clancy looks at the world from Dearborn, Michigan. You can email him at trclancy@yahoo.com.
The Ukrainian leader sees the diversification of energy supplies as a priority.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine is interested in the supplies of Caspian gas via Turkey.

"The issues of diversifying energy supplies are important to us," he said following a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Kyiv on Monday. "We've have discussed the possibility of transporting Caspian gas by the TANAP pipeline through the relevant connectors to Ukraine."

Read alsoZelensky wants trade with Turkey to skyrocket to US$10 bln

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine in 2019 increased gas imports by 34.4%, to 14 billion cubic meters (bcm). In particular, in the 12 months of 2019, Ukraine imported 9.15 bcm of gas through the Slovak gas transport corridor, as well as bought 1.4 bcm from Poland and 3.67 bcm from Hungary, respectively.
DUBLIN, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Recycled Ocean Plastics Market" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report includes an overview of the recycled ocean plastics market. It analyzes global market trends with data from 2018 to 2019, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2024.

It also provides insights into the top 20 countries ranked by mass of mismanaged plastic and input of plastic to the oceans from most polluting rivers across the world. Furthermore, it presents information on opportunities and challenges concerning using plastic waste as a resource with the help of recycled ocean plastics.

Plastic production has increased by about 200 times since 1950. Only 9% of the plastic ever made has been recycled. The remainder is burned or thrown away into nature or landfills. Since plastic is so rigid, it can last for centuries without breaking down. This means that plastics made and thrown away in the past are often found in the earth's oceans.



The plastic in oceans originates in both land-based and marine sources. It is estimated that nearly 80% of ocean plastics come from land-based sources and the remaining 20% comes from marine sources. Plastic marine waste refers to pollution from fishing fleets, which leave behind fishing nets, boats, ropes and sometimes abandoned vessels.

Of the 20% from maritime sources, approximately 10% is estimated to come from fishing fleets. This is backed by estimates from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) which shows that unused, missing or discarded fishing gear contributes about 10% of total ocean plastic.



Key Topics Covered



1. Introduction



Plastics in the World's Surface Ocean

2. Opportunities

Use Plastic Waste as a Resource

3. Market Forecast of Recycled Ocean Plastics by Resin Type

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)

High-Density Polyethylene

Low-Density Polyethylene

Polypropylene

Polyvinyl Chloride

Polystyrene

Polyurethane

Polycarbonate

Other Resins

4. The Market for Recycled Ocean Plastics by End-use

Consumer Products

Building Products

Automotive

Industrial and Commercial

5. The Market for Recycled Ocean Plastics by Region

Asia-Pacific Market for Recycled Ocean Plastics

European Market for Recycled Ocean Plastics

North American Market for Recycled Ocean Plastics

RoW Market for Recycled Ocean Plastics

List of Tables

Table 1: Global Market Volumes of Recycled Ocean Plastics, by Resin Type, Through 2024

Table 2: Global Market Volumes of Recycled Ocean Plastics, by End User, Through 2024

Table 3: Top 20 Countries Ranked by Mass of Mismanaged Plastic

Table 4: Global Market Volumes of Recycled Ocean Plastics, by Region, Through 2024

Table 5: Asia-Pacific Market Volumes of Recycled Ocean Plastics, by Country, Through 2024

Table 6: European Market Volumes of Recycled Ocean Plastics, by Country, Through 2024

Table 7: North American Market Volumes of Recycled Ocean Plastics, by Country, Through 2024

Table 8: RoW Market Volumes of Recycled Ocean Plastics, by Country/Region, Through 2024



List of Figures

Figure 1: Input of Plastic into Oceans from the Most Polluting Rivers Across the World, 2017

Figure 2: Plastics Throughout the World's Surface Oceans, 2017

Figure 3: Global Market Volumes of Recycled Ocean Plastics, by Resin Type, 2018-2024

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/weprbm

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.



Media Contact:

Research and Markets

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[email protected]



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Iranians burn U.S and Israeli flags as they gather to mourn General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, who was killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran Jan. 4, 2020. (Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

Iran to Execute Alleged CIA Spy

A man sentenced to death in Iran for spying for the CIA and attempting to pass on information about Tehrans nuclear program will be executed soon, authorities said on Feb. 4, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.

Amir Rahimpour who was a CIA spy and got big pay and tried to present part of Irans nuclear information to the American service had been tried and sentenced to death and recently the supreme court upheld his sentence and he will see the consequences of his action soon, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said.

In another case, two people working for a charity were sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying and 5 years in prison for acting against national security on similar charges.

Speaking at a press conference streamed live on the judiciarys website, Esmaili said the names of the individuals working for a charity wouldnt be released yet because the sentence hasnt been finalized.

Esmaili didnt provide any additional information about the nationality of the convicted charity workers. Iran doesnt recognize dual nationality, and the judiciary prosecutes dual nationals as Iranian citizens.

Iran claimed to have broken up a CIA spy ring in mid-2019 and sentenced some of the 17 people purportedly part of the spy ring to death. None of the scheduled executions have been confirmed.

The CIA didnt immediately comment on Esmailis remarks. President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter after the announcement last summer, The Report of Iran capturing CIA spies is totally false. Zero truth.

Iran has sentenced alleged American and Israeli spies to death before; the last purported spy to be executed was Shahram Amiri.

Amiri vanished during a pilgrimage to Mecca and appeared in the United States in 2010. Amiri claimed he was kidnapped by the United States and pressured to reveal information. American officials said Amiri defected by his own decision and provided useful information.

Amiri later returned to Iran and was initially welcomed before being sentenced to prison for treason. He was executed in 2016.

Through his connection with the United States, Amiri gave vital information about the country to the enemy, a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary said at the time.

The sentencing of Rahimpour came about a month after the United States killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. An airstrike took out Soleimani in Baghdad.

Soleimani was in charge of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, an elite unit thats been designated as a terrorist group by the United States. U.S. officials said Soleimani was responsible for killing or injuring thousands of Americans.

The killing was met with outrage by the Iranian government, and vows of revenge. Iran later fired missiles at two Iraqi bases hosting U.S. troops. American officials initially said no troops were injured by the missiles, but later said dozens suffered head injuries.

After the strikes, President Donald Trump announced that he was ordering fresh sanctions on Iran but wouldnt retaliate with further military action.

Trump warned Iran that the United States would respond swiftly if the Islamic regime took further action. Rockets struck the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in late January, but the United States hasnt yet responded militarily.

Reuters and Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.
NEW HAVEN  Firefighters extinguished a fire at a New Haven home on Monday night.

The fire began in the basement of a home at 15 Colby Court around 8 p.m. Monday night, according to the New Haven Fire Department.

Happening Now - CFPA President Glenn Duda (@allhandsworkin) is also on scene of the second alarm dwelling fire in New Haven, Connecticut. pic.twitter.com/vu2V7VlxRs  CT Fire Photo (@ctfirephoto) February 4, 2020

The fire spread from the basement to the first floor of the home, according to fire officials. At the scene, heavy smoke could be seen venting through a hole in the homes roof.

The extent of the damage caused by the blaze is unknown as of Tuesday morning.
[February 04, 2020] Saint Xavier University Selects IDERA's ER/Studio Data Architect for Master's Program Courses

IDERA (an Idera, Inc. company) today announced that Saint Xavier University, the world's first Mercy Institution of Higher Learning, in Chicago, Illinois, selected ER/Studio Data Architect as a key component of its course on Advanced Database Topics. The online, 14-week class is part of the Master of Applied Computer Science Degree program, offering tracks in data science, networking and cyber security, software engineering, web development, and other topics. Saint Xavier University offers undergraduate programs in more than 40 major fields and nearly 30 master's degree options, providing a mix of transformational educational experiences for those looking for a brighter future for themselves, their families, and their communities. Taught by lecturer Hector J. Hernandez, Ph.D., the Advanced Database Topics course covers core data modeling concepts and includes database and data warehouse design using advanced data modeling concepts and tools. "When I teach my courses, I want to use a feature-rich tool that enables my students to truly learn the concepts with hands-on lab exercises," said Hernandez. "It is very important for me to provide my students with the best tool, and I believe, from my research, that ER/Studio is the best in the market. It supports Saint Xavier's active and engaged learning approach, which prepares students to competitively enterthe workforce."



As a second course in database theory and design, the Advanced Database Topics course begins with a review of database fundamentals, including ER modeling techniques, normalization, SQL and implementation issues. Course topics include data storage techniques, indexing, query processing and optimization, transaction processing, concurrency control, administration, security, data mining, data warehousing, distributed databases, and internet databases. Upon successful completion of the Advanced Database Topics course, students will:

Know how relational databases are implemented and managed via basic and advanced SQL

Know how to design relational databases using advanced data modeling concepts and tools

Learn what data warehouses and NoSQL databases are

Understand transaction management, concurrency control, database performance tuning, query optimization, and distributed database management systems "When students use a feature-rich industry tool in the classroom, they gain valuable skills they can take with them into full-time employment after graduation," said Jamie Knowles, senior product manager at IDERA. "IDERA believes in equipping today's students with the tools they need to become tomorrow's experienced data professionals. We're proud to partner with Saint Xavier University, as the school values using ER/Studio Data Architect to provide relevant, hands-on experience to elevate the marketability of graduates." ER/Studio is an industry-leading data modeling and architecture solution that combines multi-platform data modeling, business glossary management, business process modeling, and enterprise metadata management for organizations of all sizes. To learn more about ER/Studio data modeling tools, visit: https://www.idera.com/er-studio-enterprise-architecture-solutions or contact sales at: https://www.idera.com/contactsales. About IDERA IDERA provides database tools that help IT professionals improve data quality, boost database performance, and ensure data integrity across complex environments. A community of more than 100,000 users in healthcare, financial services, retail, and technology relies on IDERA products to optimize business data and take advantage of new business opportunities. IDERA is a division of Idera, Inc. To learn more, visit https://www.idera.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005113/en/

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Signalling a shift from rule-based to role-minded bureaucracy, an online training module has been launched for capacity building of civil servants working at both Centre and state levels, according to a Personnel Ministry statement issued on Tuesday.

The latest module was unveiled by P K Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, at a conference organised here.

"It has been decided to widen the scope and coverage of the initiative of Integrated Government Online Training (iGOT) programme which was launched in December 2018 to augment the existing training mechanism with online module-based training coupled with certification with the objective of making training inputs available to government officers on-sight and on-flexi time basis," the statement said.

In order to familiarise the cadre controlling authorities and the central training institutes with the new capacity building framework (digital) being built to deliver online content and to explore the training requirements of government officials at various levels of hierarchy, a conference was organised by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) under the chairmanship of Mishra, it said.

The welcome address was delivered by C Chandramouli, Secretary, DoPT, explaining the theme of the conference.

Additional Secretary Srinivas Kathikitala discussed the details of the project and the strategy for its implementation.

Mishra delivered the key note speech on the occasion, elaborating that new digital capacity building framework iGOT 2.0 seeks to start with a learning transformation agenda as a means of capacity enhancement of India's all civil services.

On the occasion of the Conference a consultation paper on 'Approach to Strategy and Implementation of iGOT 2.0' was also released by Mishra.

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba also addressed the participants in the valedictory session.

In his address, he emphasised that the capacity building initiative (iGOT 2.0) envisages the very objective of reforming the ecosystem of bureaucracy and inculcating a culture of learning.

"The aim of capacity building is also (to) break silos, promote collaboration and deliver real time, curated content utilising digital technologies. Framework signals a shift away from rule-based bureaucracy to role-minded bureaucracy," the statement said.

Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, World Bank, and Sabyasachi Mitra, Deputy Country Director, Asian Development Bank, also addressed the conference and emphasised that the World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank support the vision of a unified and strengthened civil service for India, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Shiromani Akali Dal has decided to hold a series of protests in parts of Punjab to "force" the Congress-led state government fulfil its poll promise.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of party legislators, district presidents and senior functionaries on Tuesday.

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal told reporters that every section of society in the state was fed up with the state government to the lack of development and the hike in power rates.

"We will hold rallies against the present dispensation," said Badal, adding that the party would galvanise people into action and "force" the government to fulfil the promises it made to farmers, youth and weaker sections of society.

SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said the party will hold 15 district-level dharnas starting from February 13 in Amritsar and culminating on April 11 in Mohali.

Party president Sukhbir Singh Badal will take part in all protests.

Cheema further said it was decided in the meeting that party delegates would elect circle and district bodies within a month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NEW DELHI: This is the story of how the Delhi Police scuttled an agreed plan to peacefully dislodge the Shaheen Bagh protesters on the instructions of the Union Home Ministry so that it became an election mudda for the BJP.

The story begins several weeks before Union home minister Amit Shah, at an election rally in Delhi on January 27, goaded his audience to press the voting button so hard that the tremors are felt in Shaheen Bagh.

The next day, junior finance minister Anurag Thakur followed up Shahs instructions by inciting people to chant goli maro gaddaraon ko. This led 17-year-old Rambhakt Gopal to post Shaheen Bagh, khel khatam on his Facebook page before shooting at Jamia Millia Islamias anti-CAA protesters. Two more such shootings followed in the next few days.

Two people would have seen this chain of events coming: Sharjeel Imam and Aasif Mujtaba, the two IITians who led the protest at Shaheen Bagh. They would have been unnerved. They would have recalled the exit plan they had negotiated with the Delhi Police and were ready to implement after the New Year.

If they could, they would have discussed an ominous remark of the police officer on the freezing night of January 1.

Tum ko peacefully uthane se mana kar diya hai, the officer had said to them, disclosing the instructions received from the Union Home Ministry.

They would have liked to discuss it, except that Sharjeel was in police custody and Aasif remains besieged by the recurring shootings at Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia Islamia University.

Early portents

Even on December 15, when an anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh began to turn into a sit-in, Sharjeel and Aasif had got a glimpse of how quickly and easily things could go wrong.

At around 4 pm, when a crowd in Jamia Nagar lifted Sharjeel on their shoulders and asked, Hamein kya karna chahiye?, his two-word response, Chakka Jaam. Barely an hour later, by around 5 pm, both sides of Road No. 13A, which links Mathura Road and Kalindi Kunj to Noida, had been blocked with cement slabs, stones and police barricades.

Sharjeel and Aasif, encircled by about 300 men, took turns to explain why it was important to protest. All we can do is disrupt, said Sharjeel. That is the only way to be heard. Sitting at Jantar Mantar, even for years, will yield nothing.

In conversations with me that began on January 16, he recalled, We were talking of blocking both sides of the highway, of disrupting the water and milk supply to Delhi.

The local AAP MLA, Amanatullah Khan, had not been so keen. He said lets get up now and organise a peaceful march to Amit Shahs house next Friday.

I said, Hamein baithna hai, hum baithenge. Jisko jana hai woh jayein, Sharjeel recalled to me.

Women had come and gone. At around 8.30 pm, police came and asked us to vacate at least one side of the road. I agreed, though I was not very happy.

As soon as the barricades were removed from one side of the road, one protester, carrying the Tricolour, started throwing stones at passing vehicles.

It was like a scene from Mumbai locals. People rushed back to the street and many of them started pelting stones, Sharjeel recalled to me.

He had a mike in his hand and kept shouting, Stop the violence, dont vandalise property.

Aasif Mujtaba said, You cant win over a state by throwing stones,.

Police fired rubber bullets and Sharjeel left after 10 pm to go to Aasifs home in Shaheen Bagh. During that night, 10-15 young men blocked both sides of the road again. I returned, at around 7 am the next day, and a crowd was sitting. I spoke for an hour about why we must not pick up stones, Sharjeel told me.

The well-spring of anger

In Jamia Nagar and Shaheen Bagh, disquiet over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act passed by Parliament on December 11 turned into indignation when, two days later, police entered Jamia Millia Islamia University and beat up students.

Shaheen Baghs two lakh residents, living about a kilometre away from Jamia, are deeply connected with the university. Either they themselves, or someone in their family or a neighbour had studied or worked there.

A law student, Ehtmam, told me, The December 13 police attack on Jamia students upset them greatly, especially the women... The sense of safety they once felt when their sons and daughters were in college was now gone.

There was anger, and the December 15 protest gave it a conduit to well up.

By December 16, the day after the early protesters were hemmed in and stones were thrown, a mike had materialised and a makeshift stage was organised by some local Congress leaders on Road No. 13A.

People have vested interests, Sharjeel said during one of our conversations. There was a Congress lobby versus a BJP lobby and we didnt want to become players in it or its victims. So we formed a committee.

The 12-member Shaheen Bagh Coordination Committee was focused on creating a safe space for people to sit in peaceful protest and use the stage for students, scholars and experts to talk about CAA, NRC, citizens rights, the Constitution and the law.

Sharjeel and Aasif

Sharjeel Imam and Aasif Mujtaba had only met for the first time on December 14, during an anti-CAA protest at Jamia.

Sharjeel, a BTech and MTech in computer science from IIT Mumbai, is now a student of history pursuing his PhD in JNU. Aasif, a resident of Shaheen Bagh, who did his BTech and MTech in environmental engineering from IIT Delhi, is pursuing his PhD from IIT.

Sharjeel, more than Aasif, was mindful of the threat of violence and the possibility of the Shaheen Bagh protest becoming politicised and sabotaged.

There was talk of Delhi elections ke pehle saza de denge, vardaat ho jayegi, Sharjeel recalled.

So on the fifth day of the protest, eight CCTV cameras were installed in and around the tent. Footage was relayed to a backend office.

As days progressed and new challenges came up, several sub-committees were formed.

In between the sloganeering, singing and speeches, Sharjeel repeatedly spurned cash donations that people were offering.

We said no cash, give kambal, chai patti, cheeni, but no cash That could even lead to NSA (National Security Act) And then one day, a donation box appeared. I sat on the stage and said remove it, Sharjeel said.

Someone sent biryani, someone brought boiled eggs, and someone sent helmets for protection in case of a police attack.

At one point, Sharjeel recalled, there was a theological discussion over what Prophet Mohammed had said  that Kisi ka rasta band karna sunnat ke khilaf hai.

We said, hum kisi ka rasta nahin rok rahein, hum sadak band kar rahe hain. People can walk, Sharjeel said.

Sharjeel Imams politics is that of a strident scholar. He nitpicks and is critical of all.

I hardly spoke against the BJP at Shaheen Bagh, he said. But in a style that exudes a scholars intellectual confidence and an activists moral certitude, he routinely dismisses some well-regarded Muslim historians, takes a strong position against not just the Congress and the Left, but also his college mate Kanhaiya Kumar who, he says, is a pointless public attraction that gathers huge crowds but changes nothing.

If theyd listen, Sharjeels beliefs would warm the cockles of saffron hearts. The Congress has not been secular. Even our Constitution is not secular  only a Hindu can be a Dalit as per the 1950 presidential order, not a Muslim or a Christian, he says often in his speeches.

The point was to tell them that the Congress is not your sympathiser If the Congress was so concerned about the CAA and the NRC, they could have blocked Delhi on their own.

More than a dharna

Shaheen Bagh was becoming the powerful pivot of the anti-CAA movement. It was more than just a peaceful dharna  it was a moral force field whose ripples were being felt not just on Raisina Hill, but across the country.

Locally, however, the dharna was causing inconvenience to a lot of people. Though one side of the barricaded road was kept free for ambulances and school buses to pass, all other traffic between Kalindi Kunj and Noida was diverted, leading to long, harrowing jams.

Several showrooms on Road No. 13A remained shut. The shopkeepers were criticising us every day, saying 60-70 lakh ka stock credit pe liya hua hai, staff bhi garib hai. Your blockade has shut our businesses but we have to pay staff salaries, we have to pay rent, Aasif recalled.

The police were also saying, ab tum hato, khali karo, bahut ho gaya. Almost every day, till the 1st of January.

Sharjeel, Aasif and other members of the Shaheen Bagh committee had regular meetings with the police, often at night, near the police barricade, at a distance of about 100 metres from the protest tent. The plan was to keep the protest going for some days, then call off the blockade and carry forward the movement in some other form. Many were leaning towards Hong Kong-style flash mobs blocking roads, when they wanted, where they wanted.

An exit plan was worked out with at least three senior police officials, including one from the local thana. It was discussed over and over.

We had been negotiating with the police... We were very clear and had said New Year tak baithenge, New Year ke baad, agar uthana hai, toh kaise uthayenge Bring lots of women constables and remove the protesting women, open the blockade on both sides of Road No. 13A... The police agreed, Sharjeel said.

The Delhi Police forcibly entering a Muslim neighbourhood was not a scenario anyone wanted.

Since Jamia, the police were on the back-foot. And Shaheen Bagh mein ghusenge toh policewale bhi zaroor mare jayenge. So the best option was to dislodge the protesters nicely, peacefully promotion bhi mil jayega, Sharjeel said.

It is out of our hands

On the 31st and 1st night there was a huge crowd, recalled Aasif, suggesting that the sit-in protest had been successful in highlighting the communal, divisive nature of the CAA nationally and internationally and it was now time to move out of Shaheen Bagh.

But on the night of January 1, the cops changed their tune. They said they didnt have enough female constables, both Sharjeel and Aasif told me separately.

It is out of our hands, the cops said. The matter was now being handled by the Union Home Ministry and the instructions were not to intervene.

Is mein hamara kya fayeda hoga? Nahin uthana. Jo karna hai karne do, is what the cops said they had been told.

Tum ko peacefully uthane se mana kar diya hai court bhi intervene nahin karega, Sharjeel recalled a police officer telling him.

He understood. Aasif didnt.

Maine kaha, aap peacefully nahin uthayenge toh hum baithe rahenge. Phir directly mujhse hi bola, Main dobara bol raha hoon, ki hum peacefully nahin uthayenge, Aasif said.

Toh peacefully nahin uthane ka matlab hai ki they wanted isko violently uthayen. Aur violently uthane ke liye sabse achcha hai ki isko pura communal colour de dein  Shaheen Bagh ka jo face hai, peaceful protest ka, woh khatam ho jaye, Aasif said.

On January 2, I was walking and thinking, if we dont have an exit plan, hum akele pad jayenge. Elections were about to be announced and polarisation will help the BJP... Anyone can start a scuffle 10-20 men dressed as Muslims. Then the police will get a chance to enter the mohalla... Bachche uthaye jayenge. If violence happens, we will be held responsible, said Sharjeel, whose PhD is on Hindu-Muslim riots.

There was now marginal utility of the protest and the roadblock, and it was further reducing for us. But it was increasing for the BJP, Sharjeel said.

Sharjeel and Aasif asked the protesters to vacate the protest site. But people, especially women, were in no mood to leave.

Hum nahin hatenge

Humera, a resident of Shaheen Bagh and a student of zoology, had been managing the stage all these days. When I first texted her on January 14, she couldnt talk as she had lost her voice anchoring and giving speeches.

I met her a few days later. There was constant fear of violence  we were conscious of it 24x7. We tried to explain to people that we should move. But they were like ke, Nahin, hum nahin hatenge Weve been sitting here for 17-18 days but havent got the result we wanted, so why should we leave? We could not convince people, Humera said.

On January 2, Sharjeel put out a statement: We have taken back the chakka jaam of Shaheen Bagh Road to avoid violence and attempt by goons to politicise the movement. We are afraid that the BJP wants violence by not bringing in the police. He also wrote of money being used to taint the movement.

From that moment, Sharjeel, the Gandhi of Shaheen Bagh, became a traitor, gaddar, accused of having taken Rs1-2 crore from Amit Shah.

Women take over

As Sharjeel and Aasif stepped back and others took charge, the character of the Shaheen Bagh protest changed.

There was an unsaid rule now, about not revealing the organisers, and not putting a face or a name to the movement.

Though the message that Sharjeel, Aasif and others had drilled in  not to trust any political party  stayed, the sound and optics changed.

The Shaheen Bagh protest now sounded less scholarly, more participative. It also looked unapologetically Islamic, organic.

Shaheen Baghs moral force kept growing. The longer the women stayed, Shaheen Baghs attraction and popularity increased, as did the cooperation and sacrifice of those working behind the scenes, or just quietly supporting the protest.

As temperatures dipped and chai kept brewing night and day, the nearby Warda Hospital kept its bathrooms open for women protesters and visitors. Some homes remained open too, offering beds and washrooms.

The owners of the buildings on the main road, where shops and showrooms had been shut since December 15, decided that no rent will be charged for the duration of the protest.

A small 24x7 health camp with doctors came up. Volunteers set up a library for children whose mothers were sitting in protest.

Artists from across the country came to create pieces of protest art  A mock detention centre in which people stand behind bars and pose for pictures. An upright map of India next to a mini India Gate with the names of all those who died in anti-CAA protests.

A map of India in circulation on social media shows the sites of at least 40 Shaheen Bagh-like protests that have come up across the country.

Everyone I spoke with, to try and understand how and when had women become the main protesters, gave vague answers. Most put it down to women being more upset by the attack on Jamia students, especially girls. Some said that they were inspired by Ayesha Renna, Ladeeda Farzana and Shaheen Abdullah  the three hijab-clad girls who had shielded a male student from police beating.

But there were several practical reasons behind this brilliant idea.

Men and women sitting together day and night is not an acceptable scenario in any Indian residential colony. There was also concern that men could be removed forcibly and detained at any time, most likely in the dead of night.

Women, on the other hand, can only be arrested by women cops, and never after sunset or before sunrise.

Women leading the protest also posed a dilemma for the BJP government. It is difficult to target mothers, grandmothers and turn them into hate figures.

Attacking women, especially Muslim women, after the BJP had made triple talaq a poll plank in Delhi elections, was not going to fly.

Delhi polls announced

On January 6, the Election Commission announced that polling in Delhi will take place on February 8 and votes will be counted on February 11. A day later a survey predicted that the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was all set to sweep back to power in Delhi with 59 of the 70 seats. The BJP, a distant second, was tipped to get eight seats, an embarrassing increase of just five from its 2015 tally. The Congress was not really in play.

The AAPs best bet was to keep the election campaign, the narrative focussed on local issues  pani, bijli, sadak, health clinics, but the BJP needed a mudda, and for this it needed an enemy with a face.

The women of Shaheen Bagh would not do and that lament was clear in Yogi Adityanaths comment on January 22. While addressing a pro-citizenship law rally in Kanpur, he asked why the men of Shaheen Bagh were sleeping under the quilt while women have been pushed forward.

A man was needed  someone who would naturally fit the anti-national template created by the BJP. Someone who was easy to identify, by his clothes, speech, college.

Sharjeel Imam, from Delhi Public School, Vasant Vihar, who had not just studied but also taught at IIT Mumbai, would not make the cut. Like the Crocs he wore under his kurta-pyjama, the ensemble didnt gel.

But a JNU scholar with a bushy beard who spoke of cutting off Assam from the rest of the country did.

On January 25, a five-minute clip of Sharjeels speech went viral and Assam police filed a case against him. Several other states followed suit. Except Delhi, all were states with BJP governments.

He was accused of sedition, provocation with the intent to cause riots.

Since the first week of December, Sharjeel Imam and many other students of JNU, Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia had been actively engaged in educating people about CAA and NRC. They were distributing pamphlets and delivering speeches in which they asked people to organise themselves, to block roads.

Sharjeels hour-long speech, delivered on January 16 on the footpath outside AMU, was no different.

He spoke approvingly of constitutional spirit, but said the Constitution is not secular. He discussed the Poona Pact, called Mahatma Gandhi a fascist, criticised the Congress, talked of the history of violence of the Left and Right, and said Indian history had been written by pandits. We have to write our own history.

While speaking of peoples anger against CAA and NRC, he said students, scholars should take charge and channel it productively, for an outcome. After sensitisation, there must be a plan of action.

Delhi kyun band karna hai  Delhi band karna hai kyunki awam ko takleef ho, he says and adds that while protesting, people must guard against violence, sabotage and political takeover.

Its at about 30 minutes into the speech that we come to the five minutes where he talks of Assam: If 5 lakh people come together and sit in dharna, they can cut off Assam from the rest of India at least for a month or two. Only then will we, they be heard.

He mentions the Chickens Neck, the narrow strip of land that connects the Northeast with the rest of India, being Muslim dominated and says that if 5 lakh Muslims were to mobilise, they could hamper the Armys movement and supply.

He is talking of a dharna, a chakka jaam. Not an armed rebellion.

The five-minute clip played on a loop on certain TV channels with the hashtag #tukdetukdegang. The Shaheen Bagh protest had been forcibly given a face and attacking it now became easy.

On January 24, Union minister Prakash Javadekar, speaking at an election rally, asked Delhi voters to decide whether they wanted Jinnah wali azaadi or Jai Mata Di.

On January 28, Sharjeel was arrested, the same day when, in a video that went viral, Anurag Thakur, Union minister of state for finance, is seen prompting a crowd at an election rally. Desh ke gaddaron ko..., he says, to which the crowd responds ...goli maaro saalon ko.

On January 29, a news report said the BJPs fortunes in Delhi Assembly elections are on an upswing, and an internal poll was predicting at least 30-35 of the 70 seats in Delhi.

One of the main reasons for the change, according to two unnamed leaders, was the rising resentment against the sit-in protest at Shaheen Bagh.

A week after Yogi Adityanath called for all those chanting the azaadi slogan to be charged with sedition, Rambhakt Gopal aimed a gun at anti-CAA protesters in Jamia and said, Ye lo azaadi.

Tarannum baaji

Tarannum Begum from Batla House, Okhla, is a widow and mother of three and has been sitting in protest at Shaheen Bagh since December 15. She says she has gone home only eight times.

Na hamari Modiji se ladai hai, na Amit Shahji se. Hum Samvidhan ke liye, Hindustan ke liye, apne hak ke liye lad rahe hain.

Tarannum baaji, as she is called, talks of the difficulty many women are going to face when asked for proof of their residence and ancestors. Especially women who have been abandoned by their families, husbands, and widows. She worries similarly for orphans.

Unki nagrikta kaun dega? Unke maa-baap kahan se dhoond ke laye jayenge? Woh Dada-Dadi, Nana-Nani kahan se layenge?she says.

Tarannum baaji says she has no choice but to protest, to save herself and her children from discrimination, harassment and being sent to detention centres.

Maine socha tha ki hamare Wazir-e-Azam hain, awam ke badshah hain, Pradhan Mantri hain, woh hamari takleef samjhenge... Jaise ma-baap apne bachche ki sunte hain, vaise woh hamari sunenge. Woh aaj tak aa kar yeh pooch bhi na sake ki kya pareshani hai? she said.

Article 370 par, Kashmir par, Ayodhya judgment par, hum sab ne sarkar ki izzat rakhi Sarkar kehti hai ki triple talaq se woh Muslim women ko protect karna chahte hain, toh un auraton ko protect karna nahin chahti jo Shaheen Bagh mein baithi hain?

On February 1, another gun-wielding man was arrested after he fired in the air near the Shaheen Bagh protest site. And on February 2, a shot was fired at Jamias Gate No. 5.

Humera said that the women and other protesters are worried, but in no mood to move.

Keh rahe hai ki agar Modiji ne kaha hai ki woh ek inch nahin hatenge, toh hum ek millimetre bhi peeche nahin hatenge. Aao, kitna dum hai tumhari jailon mein, aao, bharo, she said.

Hum jeet gaye toh desh mubarak, hum mar gaye toh kafan mubarak, says Tarannum baaji.

Protest etiquette

It is late. Around 3.30 am. And I am sitting talking to Upasna from Bijnor in the enclosure around the Shaheen Bagh stage. Next to the stage, some elderly women are offering namaz.

Further away a group of school-going girls are sitting in a circle, white strips tied around their foreheads on which they have scribbled with pen, No CAA, No NRC.

In antakshari style, they are raising slogans and at one point they start chanting, BJP ho barbaad, ho barbaad, ho barbaad.

One of the older ladies comes and scolds the girls: Criticise NRC, CAA all you want. But dont be badtameez, dont be rude. Dont insult anyone.

This delicate etiquette is implemented and observed diligently by the women protesters of Shaheen Bagh. As is the allegiance to India, its tiranga, its Constitution.

On a good day, the 17 km-long drive from 7, Lok Kalyan Marg to Shaheen Bagh takes about 37 minutes.

In the Prime Ministers cavalcade, which moves at 120 km per hour, that distance would take a little over 10 minutes.

If Mr Modi were to come, he will see tirangas painted on faces, fluttering in small hands, on the barricades, on the stage, on every bamboo stick and pole in sight, and he will hear both  a wail and a warning.
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: The National Investigation Agency on Monday summoned IIT-Guwahati professor Arupjyoti Saikia for questioning for second time in three days.

He was grilled for four hours allegedly in connection with the protest against the CAA on Saturday. The NIA has not disclosed the reasons behind the grilling of the 52-year-old but sources said he was called as a witness in the matter.

Saikia is a professor of history in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences.

He has research interest in economic, environmental and political history of modern Assam and is the author of some books.

Meanwhile, in a statement, a group of 42 scholars, including Ramachandra Guha, urged the NIA to treat Saikia with the dignity and respect he deserves, and allow him to continue his professional work unimpeded.

ALSO READ | Sedition case against activist Urvashi Chudawala, 50 others for 'anti-national' slogans at Mumbai event

We, a group of Indian scholars and academics from across the country, write in distress and with concern with regard to the ongoing ordeal of Professor Arupjyoti Saikia. Professor Saikia is the countrys one of the most distinguished and respected historians.

The author most recently of a landmark history of the Brahmaputra River, he has also written significant works on forest and agrarian history.

For his contributions to scholarship, Professor Saikia is hugely admired, indeed venerated, in his native Assam.

He also has a very high reputation nationally and even internationally, with his scholarship recognised by a prestigious fellowship from Yale University, the statement reads.

It added, Professor Saikia is an adornment to the literary and intellectual world of Assam and of India. He is also an individual of high moral character; gentle, soft-spoken, and utterly non-violent. His devotion to his students at IIT Guwahati is exemplary.

The statement said it was deeply distressing that a scholar of such standing, a human being of such decency, was called for intensive grilling.

Treat with respect

Group of 42 scholars, including Ramachandra Guha, urged the NIA to treat Saikia with the dignity and respect he deserves
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[February 04, 2020] Orion Energy Partners Announces Promotions; Lauren Key to Senior Vice President and Josh Shishkoff and Sue Yang to Vice President

Orion Energy Partners, L.P. ("Orion Energy"), a private capital partner to lower/middle market energy infrastructure and related companies, is pleased to announce the promotions of Lauren Key to Senior Vice President and Josh Shishkoff and Sue Yang to Vice President. "We are proud to recognize Lauren, Josh and Sue's contributions to Orion Energy," said Nazar Massouh, CEO and Managing Partner. "Lauren has taken on increasing responsibility in Finance and Operations as our Firm, funds under management and investment portfolio have grown. She has consistently demonstrated her expertise and dedication to investor service as our business needs have expanded and become more complex." Ms. Key joined Orion Energy in New York in 2015 from Ernst & Young where she was a Manager in the private investment funds audit group. She moved to Orion Energy's Houston office in 2018 to help build out the Finance and Operations group. Ms. Key holds a Bachelor in Business Administration and a Master in Professional Accounting, both from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. "On the investment team, both Josh and Sue have worked hard and smart in sourcing, structuring and managing strong capital partnerships with companies including CarbonLITE, FuelCell Energy and MidCentral Energy. We look forward to ther continued contributions to the Firm as we build capital partnerships with leading middle market energy infrastructure companies."



Mr. Shishkoff joined Orion Energy in its Houston office in 2018 from The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. where he was a Strategist in the J. Aron Commodities Group in New York and Houston. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and served as Officer of the Deck and Division Officer on the USS Hawaii in the Pacific prior to Goldman Sachs. Ms. Yang joined Orion Energy in 2018 in New York from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets where she focused on executing and managing a range of energy infrastructure investments. Previously, she was with McKinsey & Company (News - Alert) where she focused largely on infrastructure and industrial projects. Ms. Yang holds a BA from Columbia University and a MBA from The Harvard Business School.

About Orion Energy Partners Orion Energy Partners is a private capital partner to lower/middle market energy infrastructure and related companies, primarily in North America, managing approximately $1.8 billion of investable capital. We provide non-control and non-dilutive capital in flexible, senior secured loan structures as an alternative to equity investment and traditional loans. Our target investment sectors include downstream, renewable and alternative energy, power generation, midstream, asset-heavy services and other industrial energy opportunities. Orion Energy manages long-term, committed capital across multiple investment funds, allowing us to forge transformational relationships across a diverse group of companies and to be patient and supportive as these organizations execute on their business plans. We aim to have more than 50% of our capital partnerships support a transition to sustainable, environmentally innovative energy businesses and practices. Please visit www.OrionEnergyPartners.com to learn more about our capital partnerships. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005607/en/

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Seemapuri Delhi Assembly Constituency Election Results 2020 Live Updates - Read Seemapuri constituency vidhan sabha chunav latest news, party, constituency, candidate name wise winner, loser, leading, trailing live updates online at Firstpost.com.

Delhi Assembly Election 2020, Seemapuri profile | Sitting AAP MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam is leading with a margin of over 21,000 votes. BJP ally LJP fielded Sant Lal in this constituency, who has received 17,463 votes so far, while Congress candidate Veer Singh Dhingan's vote share was reduced to a meagre 4.27 percent.

The Seemapuri Assembly constituency, nestled at the northeastern corner of Delhi, is considered among the neglected parts of NCR. It will go to poll on 8 February along with 69 other constituencies in the single-phase Delhi Assembly elections. Counting of votes will be conducted on 11 February. The area has been in the news over anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party is harping up the issue to nationalise the political discourse ahead of polls. However, the constituency is plagued with several local issues, and it is interesting to watch whether people vote on the basis of larger national issues, or stick with the candidate they think can solve local issues and improve infrastructure in the medium-to-low income group mixed use area. Seemapuri is a reserved seat for the Scheduled Caste community.

Results in the last three elections

AAPs Rajendra Pal Gautam emerged victorious in the 2015 Assembly polls, taking the baton from the partys Dharmender Singh, who won the polls in 2013. The AAP wrested the constituency from Congress' Veer Singh Dhingan who was the MLA of Seemapuri since 1998.

Gautam is again in the fray from the constituency this year on an AAP ticket, while the Congress too has fielded local heavyweight and its three-time MLA Dhingan. BJP has ceded the seat to its ally Lok Janshakti Party, who has fielded Sant Lal Chawariya in this reserved seat.

Demography

Seemapuri Assembly constituency is a part of North East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. A considerable part of the areas population comprises Muslims and Scheduled Castes.

It also has many slums and houses ragpickers, who segregate and recycle waste in the area. In these parts of Seemapuri, which is an unauthorised settlement, residents struggle for basic facilities like sanitation, water and power supply. In fact, a cholera outbreak was reported in Seemapuri in 2008.

A few years ago, a pattern of drug abuse among children in the Seemapuri slums was found when a study was ordered by the Juvenile Justice Board, after as many as six cases of crimes by children addicted to drugs were reported.

Seemapuri also saw violent clashes in December last year during the ongoing protests against the amended Citizenship Act. Later, sources in the police pointed towards the alleged involvement of illegal Bangladeshi migrants in the riots, in which rampant damage to public property was caused.

Following is a brief description of the Assembly constituency (as of 2015):

Constituency number: 63

Total electors: 1,72,790

Male: 1,01,705

Female: 92,327

Transgender: 18

Voter turnout in last Assembly Election: 73.29 percent

Polling stations: 147

Major parties in the fray: AAP. BJP, Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Shiromani Akali Dal

In 2015, the Assembly polls in Delhi were held on 7 February and the result was announced on 10 February. The Aam Aadmi Party secured an absolute majority in the assembly, winning 67 of the 70 seats, while the BJP secured a victory in just three constituencies. Parties like the Congress, which was in power in the capital between 1998 and 2013 for three terms, BSP, Shiromani Akali Dal and Indian National Lok Dal had secured no victories.

A total of 1.46 crore voters can exercise their franchise in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, according to the final electoral list for Delhi published on 5 January, on the day the election dates were announced. The number of service voters are 11,556. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Delhi Ranbir Singh said the final publication of voters list shows there are total 1,46,92,136 voters in Delhi, including 80.55 lakh males and 66.35 lakh females.

A new concept of absentee voters, enabling those voters to take part in polls who are not able to come to polling stations due to physical circumstances or unavoidable reasons, has been introduced. Disabled persons and senior citizens above 80 years can either vote in person or vote through postal ballot. About 90,000 officials will be deployed for the conduct of elections and the number of polling booths in 2019 were 13,750. Out of the 70 Assembly constituencies in the state, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and none are reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
Burma NLD Renegade Joins New Myanmar Political Party

Lawmaker U Kyaw Zay Ya receives documents at a party ceremony after being appointed as vice president 2 of the PPP.

YANGONAn outspoken lawmaker in the Yangon Regional Parliament, U Kyaw Zay Ya, has been appointed to the seat of second vice president for the Peoples Pioneer Party (PPP) after being dismissed by the National League for Democracy (NLD) for allegedly damaging the partys image.

U Kyaw Zay Ya told The Irrawaddy that he was appointed to the position on Saturday following a proposal by party chairwoman Daw Thet Thet Khaing after he applied for party membership on Jan. 22.

Union Parliament member Daw Thet Thet Khaing established the PPP after she resigned from the NLD in November 2019, saying she faced restrictions from the party that violated the standards of democracy and that the party tried to unjustly restrict her as an elected member of Parliament.

U Kyaw Zay Ya said that he chose the PPP because it was formed and is led by businessmen and economic experts who can boost Myanmars slowing economy.

Businessmen are grumbling about the declining economy, so I will try to revive it. I will share my experience in the Hluttaw [Parliament] with the new generation of the party, said U Kyaw Zay Ya.

U Kyaw Zay Ya, a former deputy colonel, also worked as the director of the military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holding Company for ten years before he joined the NLD in 2013.

In 2015, U Kyaw Zay Ya was elected to the Dagon Township seat in the Yangon Regional Parliament.

He is one of a few NLD lawmakers well-known to the public for their critical views of the Yangon governments controversial polices and performance.

The NLD dismissed U Kyaw Zay Ya on Jan. 21, reportedly without warning.

However, NLD spokesperson Dr. Myo Nyunt told local media that they dismissed him because he shared information that was only meant to be discussed within the party. The NLD didnt elaborate about the disclosure.

U Kyaw Zay Ya told The Irrawaddy last week that the NLDs move to revoke his party membership was likely connected to his recent comments in the Yangon parliament.

On Jan. 14, he raised questions in the parliament about the Yangon governments spending of a 64-billion-kyat budget (US$43.6 million) that was approved for housing, as the housing project has yet to be implemented and the Yangon government was found to have misused budgets for other projects.

He also said that he had to raise the questions officially in the parliament because the Yangon Regional Chief minister had refused to answer them in earlier meetings.

Prior to his dismissal, U Kyaw Zay Ya and Daw Thet Thet Khaing were both suspended by the NLD from serving party duties in August 2018 for allegedly violating party rules.

U Kyaw Zay Ya was also demoted from secretary to an ordinary member of the Finance, Planning and Economic Committee by the regional parliaments speaker on Jan. 30. The speaker did not give a reason for the demotion.

Before the demotion, U Kyaw Zay Ya also raised criticisms about the performance of the regional government and parliament, including its speaker, in exclusive interviews with local media.
In a primary race stacked with billionaires, the candidates raising the most money don't necessarily have all the same advantages.

Between the lines: Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer are easily able to outspend and outlast any other 2020 campaign. But while fundraising numbers show how powerful and long-lasting a campaign could be in a long election cycle, they are also a sign of support and excitement around a candidate  something money can't always buy.

By the numbers: In 2019, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mayor Pete Buttigieg raised the most money from individual donations, which doesn't include money from political committees or the candidates themselves, according to new FEC data filed Friday night.

Sanders raised $60.6 million from individuals who gave less than $200 each to the campaign  more than any other candidate. He's long championed this kind of grassroots, small-dollar fundraising. It gives a picture of his strong support among average American voters, as opposed to wealthy donors who can afford to give thousands of dollars to politics.

who gave less than $200 each to the campaign  more than any other candidate. He's long championed this kind of grassroots, small-dollar fundraising. It gives a picture of his strong support among average American voters, as opposed to wealthy donors who can afford to give thousands of dollars to politics. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang join Sanders as the three candidates who received more than half of their campaign money in 2019 from small-dollar (less than $200) donations.

join Sanders as the three candidates who received more than half of their campaign money in 2019 from small-dollar (less than $200) donations. In contrast, Buttigieg raised more money from large donations ($200+) than any other candidate. He's come under fire, particularly from Warren, for a lack of transparency around his large-dollar fundraising. He promised in December to start letting reporters attend fundraising events.

The other side: The billionaires are playing a whole different game. 99.9% of all the money brought into Bloomberg's campaign came from Bloomberg himself, with the remaining 0.1% coming from a category titled "Other Receipts (Dividends, Interest, etc)." In just over one month, he spent more than two times as much as Sanders in all of 2019. He also spent more than the Trump campaign did all last year..

Steyer, who jumped into the race before Bloomberg, gave $202.5 million to his own campaign in 2019, out of a total of $206.3 million brought in.

The other $4 million came after he decided to pursue enough donors to qualify for earlier debates.

Expand chart Data: 2019 FEC filings; Chart: Axios Visuals



What to watch: Biden has raised and spent less money than other frontrunners, and he is starting off 2020 with the least amount of money on hand out of the top 5 candidates. But he has remained the candidate to beat in national polls since even before he announced his candidacy.

While money can't buy you the White House, Bloomberg has surpassed Buttigieg in national polls just two months after officially announcing his presidential bid  squeaking into the top four, according to Real Clear Politics.

Bloomberg has surpassed Buttigieg in national polls just two months after officially announcing his presidential bid  squeaking into the top four, according to Real Clear Politics. Businessman Yang managed to out-raise and out-spend Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who snatched one of the New York Times' endorsements. But Yang's standing in the polls has changed little  he failed to qualify for the last Democratic debate and is starting the year off with less money than any other candidate Axios analyzed.

Go deeper: 2020 presidential election: Track the candidates
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A mom from Alabama was without her newborn baby for four days after it was snatched by state authorities after she tested positive for opiates in her system after eating a poppy seed bread one day earlier.

Rebecca Hernandez gave birth to a healthy baby boy last Tuesday at Crestwood Medical Center in Huntsville but just four hours after giving birth, the tiny baby was snatched away from her and the pair were not reunited until Saturday.

After her drugs test came out positive, medical staff were forced to call the Alabama Department of Human Resources, who came and took woman's baby away just as they were bonding with one another and the baby was being fed.

New mom, Rebecca Hernandez failed a drug test following her babys birth in Alabama

It's believed the drugs test was affected by the fact Hernandez had eaten a poppy seed bagel the day before

It was later revealed that the drugs test was a false-positive after the woman had eaten some poppy seed bread the day before.

Hernandez said the entire experience was a 'nightmare' for her family.

The newborn baby boy and her 13-month-old child were placed with her aunt and uncle under a temporary custody order until Saturday.

Their home was also inspected and both underwent drug screening before the infant was allowed to stay with them.

'A newborn baby has to be close to mom,' she said to WAFF. 'They have to be with the mom. That's the most important time in their life to be close to the mom when they're just born.'

Crestwood Medical Center has not explained why Hernandez was drug tested to begin with.

The hospital said that it is 'committed to following the law and regulatory requirements as well as ensuring the health and safety of our patient.'

Dr. Yashica Robinson said same-day drug screenings can sometimes be a problem and that further tests in the lab should be conducted before taking children away from their mothers

Rebecca Hernandez gave birth to a healthy baby boy last Tuesday at Crestwood Medical Center in Huntsville, Alabama, pictured

'Screening tests can have what we call false-positive results where other things can interfere,' Herandez doctor Yashica Robinson told WAFF. 'You can have a substance that a patient eats. Like in this case, poppy seeds can make them test positive for opioids.'

'I understand everything is a process. I understand you have to follow rules,' Hernandez said.

'They should've done some more research before they decided to call DHR,' Robinson argued.

Dr. Robinson said same-day drug screenings can sometimes be a problem and that further tests in the lab should be conducted before taking children away from their mothers.

Hernandez has since been reunited with her newborn, pictured, after subsequent tests showed her to be clean of any drugs

Hernandez has since been reunited with her newborn after subsequent tests showed her to be clean of any drugs.

Alabama is particularly tough when it comes to drugs and pregnancy with some hospitals testing mothers without their consent according to ProPublica.

'Tests are often done on a case-by-case basis that the investigation said uses 'criteria that virtually ensure greater scrutiny for poor women,' the investigative website wrote.
The Diamond Princess anchored in Yokohama Port (AP)

A Briton quarantined onboard a cruise ship in Japan amid coronavirus fears, said the ship resembles a ghost town.

David Abel, who is onboard the Diamond Princess with his wife Sally, is one of 3,000 passengers being screened at the port of Yokohama after a tourist from Hong Kong tested positive for coronavirus.

Mr Abel was due to fly home to the UK on Monday but had to cancel their flight after they were not allowed to leave.

The couple, from Woodford Halse in Oxfordshire, now have an open return, as they do not know when the quarantine will be lifted.

We didnt get much sleep last night, as we were waiting for that knock on the door to be checked, he said.

A team of quarantine officials and medical staff boarded the ship on Monday night and began medical checks of everyone on board (AP)

They had their temperatures taken, asked if they had a cough and if they were taking any medication to reduce their temperature.

The ship is like a ghost town, its really weird, he said.

I went for a walk around a part of the ship that is normally really busy  the musicians were still out playing, but where there normally would have been crowds of people, I saw maybe 20.

Even the shopping areas where it would be packed are empty.

The quarantine began after an 80-year-old man boarded the ship, run by Carnival Japan, in Japan and disembarked in Hong Kong on 25 January.

As part of the screening process passengers said masked health workers clad in blue plastic gowns have been walking down empty corridors as well as views of deserted lounges and a barren deck.

Guests awaiting screening were asked to stay in their rooms, where they answered a questionnaire and had their temperatures taken.

Medics in protective suits scouring the cruise ship (Reuters)

Onboard announcements later in the day said about 70% of the health checks had been completed and activities were operating normally except for the casino, shops and photo studio.

Family members of those onboard expressed concern for their relatives, with on tweeting: "Unaffected people can easily say 'keep them out' but my whole family wants my precious sister to come home safe."

The operator of the cruise ship confirmed authorities are currently reviewing the health of all 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew on board.

Story continues

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A spokesperson said the process had been delayed by around 24 but they were hopeful of letting passengers leave the ship soon.

About half of those on board were Japanese, a company spokeswoman said.

The Japanese government said that once everyone's health was checked, those with fevers or who felt unwell would be tested, after which authorities would decide whether to let people leave the ship.

Thousands of passengers have been assessed by medical staff. (Reuters)

A health ministry official said not everyone would be tested with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) kits because it was too time-consuming and deemed unnecessary.

Japan has 20 confirmed coronavirus cases, of these 17 people have been in Wuhan. And on Saturday, Japan began refusing entry to foreigners who have been in Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, in the past 14 days as well as people with passports issued in Hubei.

Suga said that as of Monday, eight foreigners had been barred from entering Japan.

Prime minister Shinzo Abe told a parliamentary panel the government would be flexible about expanding areas in China from which visitors would be banned, depending on trends in China.

Some countries including the US and Australia have denied entry to all foreign nationals travelling from China.
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COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa  Ten Democratic presidential candidates toured Fran Parrs acreage outside Pacific Junction, ravaged by Missouri River floodwaters, in the last year.

From that perspective, the native Pennsylvanian had a birds-eye view of those who hoped to be the 46th president of the United States. And, as she told more than 150 Democratic caucusgoers in her precinct at Abraham Lincoln High School, Amy Klobuchar stood out among them.

I wasnt sold on anyone in particular, Parr said. I was so impressed with all the people she surrounded herself with, coming on the heels of when there was lots of upheaval in the White House.

All in all, Parr was one of more than 400 Democrats who showed up at the school to caucus in what was a microcosm of what transpired across Iowa  and around the world  Monday night.

From the Missouri River to the Mississippi River, Iowans convened in schools, churches, community buildings, libraries, fire stations, wedding venues and bars  yes, there were several hosting caucuses  and even a bowling alley to have the first official say on candidates in the 2020 presidential campaign after more than two years of buildup.

In addition to the 1,678 traditional precincts across the state, the Iowa Democratic Party sponsored 87 satellite caucuses for the first time  including one as far afield as Tbilisi, Georgia, among a handful held overseas  to increase access. Historically, the in-person process has often precluded people on the basis of age, travel, work or college attendance.

Despite the logistics of the process, which can often take more than two hours, caucusgoers view participation in the first-in-the-nation event as a sacred duty.

Its an honor (to be first). Its exciting. Its an obligation, especially this time, said Barbara Murkins, who caucused for former Vice President Joe Biden. Weve done it before, but this time is very important.

That sense of pride was shared by seemingly every attendee in all three precincts that caucused at the high school.

The cafeteria was a veritable rainbow of campaign regalia. Seafoam-green balloons for Sen. Elizabeth Warren supporters, kelly-green Amy Klobuchar will beat Donald Trump shirts, blue-and-gold signs for Pete Buttigieg flanking a life-size cardboard cutout of the candidate.

Parrs 4-year-old son Michael later secured nearly every balloon in the cafeteria.

After getting his mothers blessing, Michael shouted to a mostly empty room: Balloons make me so happy!

His mother, meanwhile, was relieved that Klobuchar earned enough support in the precinct to reach the viability threshold of 15%  the minimum percentage needed to secure delegates for the county convention.

You just dont know, Parr said. I think everyone in every campaign didnt know. Im happy there was that quiet resolve and a critical mass of people.

Of the six candidates to receive support in Precinct 10A, only Yang failed to meet that mark.

The five people at the Yang table were swarmed by the other candidates, putting on the hard sell to get members of the Yang Gang to realign.

Jonathyn Stiverson, a 17-year-old Abraham Lincoln High School student caucusing for the first time because hes old enough to vote in November, was one of the five Yang backers who briefly became one of the most popular people in the room.

After the second delegate, that was really overwhelming being surrounded by 30 people around me, trying to switch my candidate, said Stiverson, a self-identified introvert who switched his support to Sanders on the second alignment.

Cheers of Pete! Pete! broke out when the first realigned to the Buttigieg camp. Applause soon followed from the Warren and Sanders preference groups when they pried away Yang supporters.

From the back, a Klobuchar supporter yelled, We still love you! as two men from Yangs preference group left the cafeteria as uncommitted caucusgoers.

With 44 of the 400 delegates to the Pottawattamie County Democratic Convention up for grabs, the high school was the epicenter for southwest Iowa. Among the three at the school, Precinct 10A was the largest prize.

All in all, Buttigieg, Sanders and Warren each landed 10 delegates. Biden was right behind with nine. Klobuchar earned four, and Yang secured one.

Buttigiegs big night was good news to Brian Rhoten, a former Republican caucusing for the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor in his first caucus as a Democrat.

Coming into it, I was thinking Bernie, Biden and Pete would do really well, he said. I was very happy with how things worked out, with Pete winning this caucus.

But one thing made him even happier  the fact Iowa could rest after being in the worlds spotlight.

Im glad its over, Rhoten said. So many emails, phone calls, texts  including from me to my neighbors.

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CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Environmental groups have filed a new lawsuit against the feeding of elk on a Wyoming wildlife refuge, saying the U.S. government should act sooner to curtail the practice.

Workers at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole put out alfalfa pellets during most winters to supplement natural forage and help elk survive until spring. The timing of feeding each year depends on the weather; elk dont get fed during mild winters or might be fed through a prolonged period of heavy or icy snow covering the vegetation they naturally eat.

Hunters and guides support the feeding as a way to keep elk numbers up but others worry the practice encourages the spread of disease similar to mad cow disease in humans.

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan released Dec. 31 would delay feeding each winter so that elk could gradually become accustomed to surviving without human help.

The plan resulted from a lawsuit filed against the federal agency last March by the Sierra Club, National Wildlife Refuge Association and Defenders of Wildlife, which warned the feeding could encourage the spread of chronic wasting disease by artificially concentrating elk.

The plan falls short by not taking effect for at least two years, the same groups argue in a new lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

The bottom line is, were not going to sit by and let chronic wasting disease become the new normal in Jackson Hole on the National Elk Refuge, said an attorney for the groups, Tim Preso with Earthjustice.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials didnt immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Chronic wasting disease causes deer, elk, moose and other cervids to become listless and emaciated. Caused by mis-folded proteins called prions, the neurological condition is similar to mad cow disease, which afflicts cattle and humans who eat infected beef, and scrapie in sheep.

Chronic wasting disease has spread to at least 24 states since its discovery at a research facility in Colorado in the late 1960s. The disease made its first appearance in Jackson Hole in 2018, when a mule deer killed on a road in Grand Teton National Park tested positive.

The detection raised concern chronic wasting disease could become established in Jackson Hole and the surrounding Yellowstone-area ecosystem.

___

Follow Mead Gruver at https://twitter.com/meadgruver
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he proposed amendments to Constitution not with the aim to prolong his powers.



"We would like to avoid getting bogged down in the amendments or anything else, thats for sure," TASS cited the president as saying.

According to him, the wider the discussion on the constitutional amendments is, the more national the Russian Constitution would become.

"But the fact that discussion is unfolding with such a wide front, this brings me joy, actually, because the more people get involved in this process, the more popular the Constitution and our amendments would become," Putin stressed.
SAGINAW, MI  Two people have been charged with life offenses in connection with the robbery of a Bridgeport Township credit union.

Antonio J. Buffone, 26, on Monday, Feb. 3, appeared in Saginaw County District Court for arraignment on single counts of bank robbery and conspiracy to commit that crime. Jaylin A. Orlik, 22, also appeared in court the same day for arraignment on one count of the conspiracy charge.

Both charges are punishable by up to life imprisonment. They stem from a holdup of United Financial Credit Union, 5658 Dixie Highway, about 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

Responding police learned a person had entered the building and passed a note to a teller demanding cash. The robber made no mention of having a weapon, police have said.

Surveillance camera image of a person police say robbed United Financial Credit Union in Bridgeport Township on Jan. 29, 2020.

On being given an undisclosed sum of cash, the robber walked outside and entered the passenger side of a silver, four-door Chevrolet Cavalier. The car, possibly a 1997 to 2002, then headed southbound on Dixie.

Witnesses described the robber who entered the building as a man wearing makeup and clothing typically associated with a womans appearance. Police circulated surveillance camera images of the suspect online and to media outlets.

Bridgeport Township Police Sgt. Erik Skabardis told MLive that those photos elicited tips, identifying Buffone as the person in them, wearing a disguise. Skabardis said police arrested Buffone and Orlik the night of Thursday, Jan. 30, at the Knights Inn at 6361 Dixie Highway. The pair had been living at the motel, located about 2.2 miles from the robbed credit union, Skabardis said.

Buffone is of Midland and Orlik is of Bay City, jail records indicate.

The arraigning judge set both Buffones and Orliks bonds at $80,000 cash-surety. The defendants are to appear for a preliminary examination at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 20.

Police search for robbers of Bridgeport Township credit union

Arrests made in Bridgeport Township credit union robbery
Videos of Asian people selling or eating bats have been circulating on social media since news broke of the coronavirus outbreak in China, with claims that bats are a possible origin of the new virus. The FRANCE 24 Observers team investigated six of the most-shared videos. Five were filmed outside China, in Palau and Indonesia. None of the videos had any documented link to the outbreak.



Some of the videos show people eating soup made from bat meat, while others claim to show the mammal for sale in the seafood market in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, which scientists have suggested as a possible source of the virus.





This tweet in French reads: "The Chinese in Hubei love to eat bats and other wild animals. They often share their dishes on social networks."



However, our team discovered that most of these videos were actually filmed either in the Pacific nation of Palau, or in Indonesia.





Video 1: A Chinese influencer enjoys a new dish on a Pacific island in 2016



@wuhan @coronavirus is spreads [sic] through familys chinese bat soup, reads the caption on this video posted on YouTube on January 23, which has since garnered more than 40,000 views. The video shows a young woman holding a cooked bat in her hands before ripping it apart and eating it with a friend.



The video was also circulated on other sites and garnered hundreds of thousands of views. Many of the posts were followed by a flurry of hateful comments. It makes sense that they have coronavirus, wrote one person on social media. They eat everything except stone and wood.









However, our team flagged a few details in the video that raised doubts on the claims that the video was filmed in Wuhan. For example, at the end of the video, there is a scene showing a group of women dancing next to a pillar with the name Lighthouse Palau written on it.



We searched for Lighthouse Palau in Google and quickly came across a hotel with the same name and a similar logo located in the island nation of Palau in the Pacific Ocean.





The young woman who features in this video is Weng Mengyun, a well-known Chinese influencer who often hosts travel shows. Weng took to the network Weibo on January 22 to respond to the wide circulation of the video. In her post, she apologised to anyone who was shocked by her video and said that she should have mentioned that there are health risks to eating bat meat. She said she had filmed the video in 2016 in Palau, and posted it online in 2016 or 2017. She said she was angry that the video had been associated with the coronavirus outbreak.





Story continues

"This video has been misconstrued by certain people online who are intent on stoking the flames and stirring up a toxic panic [] When the video was filmed, I had no idea that there was a virus (...). The bats that you see in the video were raised by local people; they werent wild. People eat bats in many different countries across the globe (...)", Weng Mengyun wrote on Weibo Jan. 22, 2020.



The manager of a restaurant in Palau said that he recognised the restaurant shown in this video and that it was called CC Taiyo.



Wengs post was widely cited by international media but there was quite a lot of confusion about it. Articles published by News Australia, Foreign Policy and the Sun shared excerpts from her post along with the wrong video [see below], which shows another Chinese woman eating a soup made out of bat meat.



Video 2: A student at the University of Wuhan eats a bat on China's TikTok

Another video, posted by the Hong Kong news site Apple Daily on January 23, shows a young woman tucking into bat meat soup in a restaurant. The news site hypothesized that bats might be the source of the virus. Eating bats is out of the ordinary in China but its nothing new for Wuhan residents, the post reads.



The video went viral on social media and was picked up by several media outlets known for sensationalist content including the Daily Mail and Russia Today. Both outlets published articles with headlines indicating that scientists had made a connection between the deadly coronavirus and bats. In truth, bats are considered to be a potential carrier of the virus, but nothing has been established yet.



Several reputed media outlets, like the French version of the Vice news website, also wrote about the video. The original title for the Vice article was Bat soup, responsible for coronavirus [Or, in French, la soupe de chauve-souris, responsable du coronavirus] although it was later modified.





People took to both Instagram and Facebook to express their disgust at the idea of eating bats. Some claimed that certain Chinese people eat raw bat meat.









If you look at the bottom right corner of the video, youll see the logo of the Douyin social media platform (the version of TikTok available inside China) and the handle 77maddie777.





We found the Douyin account of the person who posted this video (77). In her profile, she says she is a student at the University of Wuhan. When we checked her account on January 28, we saw that she had deleted all her posts. She had also added a phrase to her profile, reading Stop being idiots; these videos are from last summer; She posted the same message on Touitao, another social media network, along with a screengrab from the video in question.





At left, the Douyin profile of the young woman; at right, her profile on Touitao.



So, the video does show a young Chinese woman eating bat meat. However, the student didnt specify where the video was filmed. In the video, she is wearing casual clothes and her reference to the fact that the video was filmed last summer makes it likely that she made the video while on vacation, but it is not clear where.



However, the dish that she is eating does look like the bat meat soup traditionally served in Palau, where many Chinese tourists vacation. The bat is served whole in a broth. When youve finished the broth, you skin the animal yourself or get assistance from a waiter. The young woman likely filmed the video before digging out the bat meat.



Our team reached out to the young woman featured in the video to find out when and where the video was filmed but, for the time being, we havent received a response.



Video 3: A close-up of bat soup

Some video montages compiling different videos of people eating bats have also been circulating online.



This next video features in a lot of the same montages as the previous one. This one is a close-up of a bowl of broth with a bat in the middle. This video was shared widely-- it garnered more than four million views on Twitter and was picked up by several media outlets as well as Chinese lawyer Chen Qiushi, who is known for being fiercely critical of the government.









Because the dish in this video closely resembles the bat soup served in Palau, our team showed this video to the restaurant manager on the island.



He said that he recognised the table in the video and that he was sure that it was filmed at a restaurant called Seafood House in Palau. Our team searched the terms palau restaurant in the Chinese search engine Baidu and it pulled up about a dozen photos of various local dishes (including bats) being served on a similar table to the one in the close-up video (round, with a raised part in the middle and a white tablecloth with black edging).





Our team contacted the manager of Seafood House but he declined to say whether the video was filmed in his restaurant.





Video 4: A man tries bat soup in yet another restaurant in Palau

Video posted on Weibo, Jan. 26, 2020.



Another video was widely circulated on Chinese social media network Weibo along with the caption, In the seafood market in Huanan [Editors note: an area of Wuhan], there are lots of bats to eat that carry coronavirus. This post was viewed more than 80,000 times.



The video in question shows a man sitting in a restaurant. Nothing about it suggests it was filmed in a market. He cuts up the bat before eating, explaining the best procedure as he goes. He says that bat meat is similar to duck meat.





This video was also posted on Instagram by the user @coronavirusdaily along with the caption Bat restaurant, bat meat in #China. This post was viewed more than 7,000 times before being taken down.









The decoration in the restaurant in the video looks like that of a well-known restaurant in Palau. We ran a search with the keywords palau and bat and restaurant in Chinese on the Chinese search engine Baidu and pulled up several photos posted by Chinese bloggers who went to Palau.



When we looked at a few of these photos, we immediately saw that the table, plates, floor and murals on the wall were the same as those in the video.





The two screengrabs on left are taken from the video showing a man eating bat soup. The two images on the right are from Chinese blogs documenting trips to Palau.





Video 5: A Filipino couple on vacation in Wuhan? Nope, YouTubers in PalauAnother video that was widely circulated on social media shows a man and a woman eating a bat while speaking together in Tagalog, the language spoken in the Philippines. Filipinos eat bat soup in Wuhan and could be infected, reads the caption on one of the postings of this video.





Several different Filipino Facebook pages shared the video and got hundreds of thousands of views. Quite a few of these posts included racist comments about either Chinese people or Fillipinos.









We ran screengrabs of this video through a reverse image search (click here to find out how) and pulled up several postings of this video. The earliest post that we pulled up (Fruit bat soup. Traditional soup in Palau) was uploaded to YouTube in July 2019 by the Filipino couple who filmed it. They recently uploaded another video apologising for sharing a shocking video.



Video 6: The bat section in the Wuhan market? Nope, this video was filmed in Indonesia This final video shows a market where bat meat is seen being sold. The Instagram account @coronavirusdaily posted the video, claiming that it was filmed in a market in Wuhan. The video was subsequently taken down, but another version of the same video was posted on Twitter and garnered more than 10,000 views.











We took screengrabs of the video and ran them through a reverse image search on Yandex. We pulled up several similar videos that were all filmed in Indonesia. We then searched the key words Indonesia and bats in English on YouTube and found the original video, which was published by the well-known YouTube channel Travel Thirsty.





This video, posted online in November 2019, was filmed in a market in the Indonesian town of Manado.





Eating bat meat is culturally unacceptable in China



After seeing these videos, many social network users apparently believed that Chinese people have a culture of eating bats, which have a reputation for carrying illnesses and viruses. Some media outlets reported that bats were prized for their meat by some Chinese consumers.



However, our team reached out to several specialists in Chinese culinary traditions, who all said that people in China dont tend to eat bat meat.



Guansheng Ma is the director of Nutrition and Gastronomy at the University of Beijing.



According to our research, eating bat meat is more than rare in China. Its actually unacceptable in Chinese culture.



Our Observer Lu Haitao grew up in Wuhan but now lives in Beijing. He agreed.



I have never seen bat meat for sale in markets or restaurants in Wuhan or elsewhere in China. Ive also never heard anyone talk about eating it. For me, eating bat meat is both inconceivable and disgusting.







William Chan Tat Chuen, an expert in Chinese cuisine, is the author of a book about exchanges between French and Chinese culinary traditions. He agreed with our other Observers, though he did say that bat excremement is occasionally used in Chinese medicine:



Chinese medicine uses bat excrement to improve patients vision and to treat dysentery, hemorrhages and diarrhea. It is often mixed into rice porridge or made into a kind of tea. However, I dont know anyone who has actually used this treatment. Similarly, none of my Chinese friends or family eat bat meat. Chinese medicine doesnt say anything about eating it.



That said, people in China have a different vision of bats than people in Europe. In China, bats represent happiness and people arent disgusted by them.



A traditional dish in the Pacific, a vacation destination for many Chinese tourists



Quite a few Chinese tourists were filmed sampling bat meat in Palau in Micronesia. However, according to the manager of a local restaurant, most Chinese tourists are disturbed when, after ordering, they see what the dish actually looks like:



We have Chinese visitors but most of them want to sample seafood. When they see the bat soup, most of them are actually horrified and very few can eat it calmly.



The restaurant manager says that he doesnt believe eating the soup is dangerous because it has been consumed in Palau for hundreds of years without anything like coronavirus emerging.



Article written by Liselotte Mas
The investigation into the incident of violence at Jamia Millia Islamia during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest was at a crucial stage, the Centre told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday.

New Delhi: The investigation into the incident of violence at Jamia Millia Islamia during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest was at a crucial stage, the Centre told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday.

The submission before a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar was made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta while seeking more time to file a report regarding the probe. Taking note of the submission, the bench granted the Centre time till 29 April to file a reply.

During the hearing, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for some students of Jamia, said 93 students and teachers filed complaints about alleged attacks on them by police but no FIR has been filed against the agency till date.

The other lawyers for the petitioners alleged that the government has not complied with the court order to file a response within four weeks of the last date of hearing on December 19.

The bench, however, declined to pass any interim order and granted time till 29 April to the government to file a reply.

The high court had on 19 December asked the Centre, the AAP government and the police to respond to several PILs seeking setting up of a judicial commission to look into the violence at Jamia University protests against the CAA.

The court was hearing six petitions, moved by lawyers, students of JMI, residents of Okhla, where the university is located, and the Imam of Jama Masjid mosque opposite Parliament House. They also sought medical treatment and compensation for the students.

Besides, they sought action, including registration of FIRs, against the erring police officers.

In the petition filed by advocate Rizwan, it has been contended that according to medical reports of the injured students treated at AIIMS, one of them almost lost his life and another has lost his vision.

The petition had alleged that treatment provided to the injured students was "inadequate", FIRs have been lodged against them and they were being hounded like criminals.

The petitions had said the force used by the police was "disproportionate", even if it was required, and "brutal" and expressed concern over the "unregulated and unwarranted arrest and detention of students".
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C ommuters at Charing Cross were hit by fresh disruption on Tuesday evening as around half of all Southeastern trains in and out of London were cancelled.

It follows rush hour chaos this morning after a fault was found on a line in New Cross, south east London, and needed urgent repairs.

Trains into Charing Cross, which has been particularly badly affected, and Waterloo East were suspended so emergency works could be carried out and the disruption had a knock-on effect to services throughout the day.

In the evening, a number of people took to social media with pictures of huge crowds waiting to get the train home.

Engineers repaired the track at around 8.15am but there are now speed restrictions in place which means 50 per cent of the services are unable to run.

Services have resumed but because of temporary speed restrictions in place, only half of the usual trains will run per hour.

People were crammed onto trains this morning / PA

It means only 50 per cent of scheduled trains will run from Charing Cross.

Some services, including ones to Dover and Ramsgate, will run to and from London Victoria or London Cannon Street.

The crack was described as "not an easy fix". / PA

There are fewer trains to Tunbridge Wells.

Southeastern Trains said: "Disruption is expected until the end of the day."

The repair needed was described by the rail provider as "not an easy fix..." however, many passengers remained furious with the company as they battled to get to work amidst overcrowded carriages and platforms.

Passenger Nick Cook tweeted and described the morning's events as a "national disgrace".
CAIRO  In the Cairo International Book Fair, the oldest and largest annual literary gathering in the Middle East, there is one conspicuous absence this year. ALEF, one of the regulars with a huge stand in the past, is no longer there to offer books from small publishers and budding writers. The bookstore chain closed the last of its 37 branches on Dec. 28 after allegations that it was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

For Cairos bibliophiles, ALEF was a book lovers paradise: a good and varied selection of books, good prices and good salespeople with a knack for finding requested books and suggesting new ones to suit customers taste.

I was no great reader until I stepped into ALEF and met a salesperson who, after a few minutes of chatting, handed me a book on metaphysics, my great interest, one reader, a college graduate, told Al-Monitor. She did not want to give her full name like others interviewed, worried about speaking positively on a bookstore linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. After this initiation, I just kept going back for more.

She said she believed that people would read more with the help of salespeople and teachers, who can direct them toward what they like to read. In that sense, ALEF was unique because they chose their team among the young people who love reading and are very cultured, she commented. The employees of ALEF are good at what they do, directing me to alternatives if I didn't find the book or novel that I was looking for.

The 10-year-old bookstore chain established its first store in Heliopolis, one of the more affluent areas of Cairo, in July 2009. Since then, it quickly opened new branches and became the nation's second leading bookstore chain after Diwan that sold a wide selection of books from a variety of publishing houses. It also promoted itself on social media with seminars and events.

An accountant in an Egyptian bank told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that ALEF's advantage lay in its diversity. They had books in a variety of fields such as business administration, marketing and electronic marketing and books in languages other than Arabic and English. There were French or Italian books or local books from small publishing houses, he said.

The fall of ALEF came in August 2017, when a state-run committee tasked with seizing the funds and assets of Muslim Brotherhood affiliates took control of the chain's assets along with 16 other organizations accused of belonging to Brotherhood members. Under Egyptian law, when a business is put under state custody, its owners aren't allowed to access its revenues and must manage it under the financial supervision of the committee.

Things took a turn for the worse in June 2019 when Omar El-Sheneti, ALEFs co-founder, majority shareholder and managing director, was arrested. He was accused of membership in the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt calls a terrorist group.

The arrest was surprising for many. Nothing from the past of El-Sheneti, an economist, indicated that he had been involved in a political fraction. His political activities consisted of attending public seminars and writing articles that criticized the state's economic policies.

But the seizure and arrest led to the decline of the chain, whose branches closed one after another and team of 250 let go. When the last branch was closed on Dec. 28, Egyptian writer Ayman Howera wrote on Facebook: "10 years of success, including 8 years of brilliance  37 branches and more than 250 employees and an inspiring success story for its team has come to an end.

A former ALEF upper management source who asked for anonymity told Al-Monitor that the chain stocked many books that opposed the Brotherhood, including those written by Tharwat Al-Kharbawi, the dissident leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Why would a bookstore carry anti-Muslim Brotherhood literature if its owner were a member of the Brotherhood? he asked.

Omar El-Sheneti, who has a wide business network, might unintentionally have had business dealings with some circles or people who belong to the Muslim Brotherhood secretly, he said, adding that if so, such contacts should be swiftly investigated.

Some customers and small publishers called on social media for the case of El-Sheneti and ALEF to be reexamined. Al-Monitor's ALEF source said that he hoped that solidarity campaigns by readers, activists and publishers will persuade Cairo to reconsider the case and allow ALEF to return to operation.

Some small publishers and authors fear that the closure may hurt the distribution of literature from small publishers and cause those companies to increase their prices.

Publishers say that their costs are getting higher with rising costs of paper and ink, which are imported in foreign currency. They have become more costly since the decision to liberate the exchange rate in November 2016, which led to an increase in the value of foreign currency against the Egyptian pound.

Mohamed Bakry, who works in distribution for Hipatia Press, told Al-Monitor that the end of ALEF adds a major obstacle to small publishers, as they do not have their own outlets across the country like bigger houses do, such as Dar Al-Shorouk and Al-Ahram, who hold the copyrights of iconic writers such as Mohamed Hassanin Heikal and Naguib Mahfouz.

"Bookstore such as Diwan and ALEF are important for the distribution of our books, often written by budding writers. It is through their branches that these authors reach readers throughout the country, he said.

Teacher Ihab Mosaad told Al-Monitor that the ALEF and Diwan stores, "since they were huge, got good prices from publishers, allowing them to make attractive offers to customers. He warned that the closure of the ALEF bookstores will drive readers to secondhand stores, such as Al-Azbakeya market, or simply buy cheaper pirated books.
Former aspiring actress and hairdresser Jessica Mann acknowledged that her relationship with Harvey Weinstein was complicated and difficult, but told jurors on Tuesday that her prolonged communication with the Hollywood mogul didnt negate her accusation that he raped her several times.

Entering the second day of cross-examination, Weinstein attorney Donna Rotunno exhaustively questioned Mann, email by email, on why she would continue to reach out to Weinstein and meet up with him even after, by her account, he raped her. I do know the emails. Im not ashamed of them  thats why Im still here, Mann said. I know its complicated and difficult, but it doesnt change the fact that he raped me.

Rotunno responded, You are again making excuses for your behavior.

Mann, who first testified on Friday and said that Weinstein violently raped her in hotels in New York and Los Angeles around 2013, replied, Its not about making an excuse. This is something I want to explain thats important for people to understand. I dont need an excuse. I own my behavior.

Also Read: Harvey Weinstein Trial: Court Dismissed Early After Accuser Says She's Having 'Panic Attack'

Emanuela Postacchini

Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

Earlier, the jury heard from another prosecution witness out of order: actress Emanuela Postacchini, whom Mann said on Friday had been present when Weinstein asked for a threesome in a hotel room.

I was uncomfortable. My understanding of her was that she was uncomfortable, Mann said last Friday. She didnt speak very good English, and she appeared nervous. Mann said that Weinstein instructed them to undress and for Mann to orally pleasure Postacchini, but Mann soon broke down and ran to the bathroom, crying.

I was completely overwhelmed, Mann testified. And then (Postacchini) came to the bathroom, asked if I was okay, and Harvey seemed kind of upset.

But during Postacchinis testimony on Tuesday, the Italian actress said she did not remember doing anything sexual with Mann or Weinstein. She did, however, say she was surprised to see Mann in the hotel room and remembered that Mann got upset and ran into the bathroom. She was crying in a fetal position on the ground, Postacchini said.

Manns account makes up several of the five charges against Weinstein. If found guilty of the most serious charge, predatory sexual assault, he faces life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty and denied accusations of nonconsensual sex.

Read original story Harvey Weinstein Accuser Says Her Friendly Emails Doesnt Change the Fact That He Raped Me At TheWrap
Authorities have released the name of a woman killed last week in a fire at her southwest Birmingham.

The Jefferson County Coroners Office identified the victim as Annie White Crear. She was 73.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service on Thursday were called to the 800 block of Hampton Road on a call of a possible structure fire, according to BFRS Battalion Chief and spokesman Sebastian Carrillo.

Crews found heavy fire coming out of the structure, Carrillo said. One person was found on the outside of the home, treated for smoke inhalation and released.

The crews received a report of a person trapped inside the home before they arrived on scene. Crear was pronounced dead on the scene.

A cause of the blaze has not yet been released. He said he did not immediately know if there were working smoke detectors in the home. Please ... take a few seconds now and check your smoke detectors, Carrillo said. Do not rest until you have at least tested those smoke detectors and make sure you have working smoke detectors.

Birmingham residents without smoke detectors can call BFRS at 785-1332, and crews will come out and install them for free.
Arizona News

Phoenix, Arizona - One year ago, Governor Doug Ducey signed legislation ratifying the Arizona Drought Contingency Plan (DCP). The historic plan is one of the most significant pieces of water legislation enacted in Arizona since the Groundwater Management Act of 1980. That same day, the Governor issued an Executive Order creating the Water Augmentation, Innovation, and Conservation Council to recommend opportunities for expanding and protecting Arizonas water supplies long-term.

Since then, the Council of water leaders, community members, legislators and more have met once every quarter. It has also created four committees to develop, evaluate and prioritize recommendations. The committees are:

Non-Active Management Area Groundwater Committee

Long-Term Water Augmentation Committee

Desalination Committee

Post-2025 Active Management Areas Committee

The Non-Active Management Area Groundwater Committee is working to achieve a better understanding of the groundwater challenges outside the regulated areas, to develop options to address those issues and to make recommendations to the Council. The Committee plans to focus on the availability of groundwater data statewide at its upcoming meeting.



The Long-Term Water Augmentation Committee released a report in August 2019, outlining potential water augmentation strategies for communities throughout Arizona. It includes options tailored to each planning area that local communities can use to address augmentation challenges and opportunities. The Committee plans to further research and discuss a number of augmentation options in upcoming meetings.

The Desalination Committee works to evaluate and overcome barriers to desalination projects and identify opportunities to assist in developing potential projects.

The Post-2025 Active Management Areas Committee works to identify challenges within the regulated areas and generate strategies and solutions beyond 2025. It is on track to present the Council with a consensus-based list of issues for consideration and discussion by the end of the year.

The Council provides a forum to discuss difficult issues among legislators and diverse stakeholders from across the state in an ongoing effort to ensure a sustainable water future for Arizona. The Governor included the Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, House Minority Leader and Senate Minority Leader when establishing the Council to help ensure the states water future remains a priority. The Council is chaired by the Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke. Ted Cooke, Central Arizona Project General Manager, also serves on the Council.

Director Buschatzke and Cooke will present a status report on the DCP in May. The Council will submit a full report of its activities and recommendations to the Governor by July 1, 2020.
Five people were arrested for allegedly robbing an employee of a construction company of Rs 50 lakh in northwest Delhi's Keshavpuram, police said on Tuesday.

The accused were identified as Zahid (36), Asif Ali (24), Chand Mohammad (26), Radha Ballabh Sharma (36) and Dilip (27), they said.

A 50-year-old man was robbed by five bike-borne men when he, along with his colleague, was going towards Prembari flyover on January 20. The accused fled with his bag containing Rs 50 lakh, police said.

After receiving a complaint, police conducted raids at specific locations in Delhi and arrested Dilip, a senior police official said.

He told police about the whereabouts of his associates and soon they were also nabbed, the official said, adding that cash worth Rs 28.74 lakh was recovered from their possession.

With their arrest, police claimed to have solved six cases of robberies and snatching.

During interrogation, the accused told police that they are part of a gang whose kingpin Asif is currently in judicial custody.

Three country-made pistols, along with three live cartridges, one motorcycle and two scooters used by accused in commission of crimes were seized, they added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
British energy giant BP on Tuesday said annual net profit slumped 57 percent to $4.0 billion last year, hit by weaker oil prices, as long-time chief executive Bob Dudley bowed out.

The figure, equivalent to 3.6 billion euros, compared with profit after tax of $9.38 billion in 2018, the company said in a statement marking the end of American Dudley's decade at the helm.

It was announced in October that Irish national Bernard Looney would replace Dudley, who steps down after a 40-year career at BP.

Looney joined BP in 1991 as a drilling engineer, rising to lead its upstream division that comprises exploration and production.

"After almost ten years, this is now my last quarter as CEO," Dudley said in Tuesday's statement.

"In that time, we have achieved a huge amount together and I am proud to be handing over a safer and stronger BP to Bernard and his team.

"I am confident that under their leadership, BP will continue to successfully navigate the rapidly-changing energy landscape," he added.

Despite the dive in annual net profit, BP's share price surged 4.0 percent in London morning deals.

"BP boosted its dividend... despite a substantial fall in profits because of weaker crude prices," noted Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com.

"The worry for the oil majors now is that we see ongoing demand destruction in Asia from the coronavirus outbreak that bleeds into Brent crude prices throughout the year."

BP noted that average Brent crude prices slid last year to below $65 per barrel from above $71 in 2018.

Benchmark Brent was trading at around $55 on Tuesday after massive falls over the past week linked to the impact of coronavirus on global energy demand should the economy tank.

Cleaner future

While traditional energy companies remain massively dependent on income from fossil fuels, in the latter years of Dudley's reign BP increasingly moved into cleaner energies, fuelled by changing public attitudes and government policies towards carbon emissions and climate change.

BP snapped up Britain's largest electric vehicle charging firm Chargemaster in 2018, as it bets on booming demand for electric cars in the coming decades.

The company predicts that renewable sources could account for 15 percent of global energy consumption by 2040.

Gulf of Mexico legacy

BP on Tuesday added that it took a further $2.4 billion-hit last year from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, while it expects a $1.0 billion bill this year.

That would take BP's total clean-up and compensation costs close to an eye-watering $75 billion.

Dudley was parachuted into BP in October 2010 after his predecessor Tony Hayward was forced out over his handling of the deadly disaster.

The BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana while drilling a well 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) below sea level on April 20, 2010.

Eleven rig workers were killed in the blast that caused 134 million gallons (507 million litres) of oil to spew into Gulf waters.

It took 87 days to cap the out of control well, and the oil slick stretched across an area the size of the state of Virgina, blackening beaches across five US states and hitting tourism and fishing.

The spill, one of the worst environmental disasters to strike the United States, prompted Dudley to improve its safety procedures and overhaul its structure.

Also under Dudley, BP in 2018 bought mining giant BHP Billiton's US shale oil and gas operations in a landmark $10.5-billion deal.

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LANSING, MI - State officials have released more details about an agreement that tentatively settles a lawsuit between Wolverine World Wide and state and local governments for contaminating residential drinking wells and the environment.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, Plainfield and Algoma townships filed a lawsuit in 2018 against the global footwear company. In December, it was announced Wolverine agreed to pay $69.5 million toward new municipal water mains and filtration in northern Kent County.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Monday, Feb. 3 that the proposed consent decree filed would not only require Wolverine to pay $69.5 million to extend the water mains to around 1,000 properties with toxic PFAS chemicals in their drinking water, but also compel the company take additional steps including:

Conduct groundwater investigations to monitor contamination in the area.

Investigate and address PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination entering surface waters.

Undertake response activities at the House Street dump and Wolverines Tannery to control these source areas. Excavations at Wolverines former tannery and sludge dump on House Street NE in Belmont began last year.

Continue to operate and maintain drinking water filters in the north Kent County study area where PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate) -- two PFAS compounds -- exceed 10 parts per trillion.

Continue residential drinking water well sampling.

The groundwater is contaminated by toxic fluorochemicals that were in the companys leather manufacturing waste.

Nessel says a community forum is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 10, so state officials can hear residents input on the proposal. The 90-minute forum will be at Rockford High School in the Creative Teaching and Learning Center, 4100 Kroes St. A summary of the settlement will be presented prior to comments being submitted.

The final binding agreement requires approval by U.S. District Judge Janet T. Neff.

Related: Details murky about major piece of $69.5M Wolverine water deal

It is time to bring relief to the residents of north Kent County whose lives were upended by Wolverines PFAS contamination, and this settlement will begin that process, Nessel said in a statement. PFAS contamination is a serious problem, and completing this work will be a lengthy process, but EGLE and my office will be there every step of the way to ensure it gets done.

"This settlement further expands on the details of the December announcement, but the process will not be complete without input from residents, which is why I fought for a public comment period prior to finalizing the settlement. We must hold Wolverine accountable, but we also must hear from the people hit hardest by PFAS contamination in the affected communities.

The upcoming state meeting comes on the heels of a public forum Tuesday, Feb. 4 in which Plainfield Township Attorney Doug Van Essen will lead a presentation on the specifics of the $69.5 million agreement. The forum is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. at Frontline Community Church, 4411 Plainfield Ave. NE.

Officials from the Attorney Generals Office and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy are hosting next weeks meeting. The proposed settlement and attachments are on the state website here. The state will accept comments via email on the proposed consent decree through Feb. 13.

Wolverine sent the following statement to MLive on the settlement proposal:

Wolverine Worldwide is pleased to have reached a Consent Decree with the state of Michigan, and Algoma and Plainfield Townships that formalizes the tentative agreement announced in December. Wolverine Worldwide has said from the beginning that we are committed to being part of comprehensive water quality solutions for our friends, families, and neighbors, and this Consent Decree provides the right framework for that to occur. Wolverine joined the other parties in proposing a period for the public to comment on the Consent Decree before it is submitted to U.S. District Judge Janet T. Neff for approval. The Consent Decree includes a remediation plan for our former tannery and House Street disposal site, as well as the extension of municipal water to more than 1,000 area properties.

Exposure to PFAS has been linked in human studies to some cancers, thyroid disorders, elevated cholesterol and other diseases. PFAS compounds are called "forever chemicals" because they accumulate in the body and do not breakdown in the environment.

The PFAS drinking water contamination in northern Kent County is traced to sludge waste from Wolverines old leather tannery in Rockford, which began using 3M Scotchgard in 1958.

Wolverine dumped its tannery waste in unlined pits around Belmont in northern Kent County in the late 50s and into the 70s. The chemicals seeped into the groundwater and eventually polluted nearby residential water wells.

Read more on MLive:

When the biggest company in town poisons the water

Relations sour between Wolverine, townships over new water lines

In West Michigan, sticker shock over toxic water costs
New Delhi/Thimpu, Feb 4 : Bhutan's lower house on Monday passed a legislation that makes it mandatory for visitors from India, Bangladesh and the Maldives to pay a fee of Rs 1200 per day for its "sustainable development" from July this year.

The Himalayan kingdom, which is concerned about its ecology and environment, decided to impose the fee following an increase in Indian tourists. There was a ten per cent hike in the number of tourists from the three countries who visited Bhutan in 2018.
DALLAS  Two women were fatally shot and a toddler was wounded Monday at a Texas A&M University-Commerce residence hall.

The child, who is about 2 years old, was hospitalized in stable condition, campus police Chief Bryan Vaughn confirmed at a news conference Monday afternoon.

Authorities declined to answer questions at the news conference, and they did not release the victims' names or say whether the women were students.

Police said they found the two women dead and the baby wounded after a student called them at 10:17 a.m.

In a Twitter post at 11:53 a.m., university officials told students, faculty and staff members to remain sheltered in place while the shootings at the Pride Rock residence hall were investigated.

Law enforcement officers gather outside of the Pride Rock residence hall following a shooting, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, at Texas A&M University-Commerce in Commerce, Texas. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via AP)AP

The shelter-in-place request was lifted shortly before 1:30 p.m., and at the news conference Monday afternoon the police chief said there wasn't a continuing threat on campus. University police had stationed officers throughout campus, including all key gathering points.

All classes, programs and events have been canceled through Wednesday, the university announced. But campus services for students will continue, and the faculty and staff are expected to report to work.

The university said counselors would be available at the Halladay Student Services building for anyone who needed assistance.

FROM PRESIDENT RUDIN

Our hearts and prayers go out to the family, friends and students impacted by todays tragic event. During this difficult time, we encourage our Lion family  students, faculty, staff and friends  to remain supportive of each other. https://t.co/Y3yX5Qrxl0  A&M-Commerce (@tamuc) February 4, 2020

Law enforcement officials had cordoned off the dorm with yellow police line, and the students left through a side door, saying they weren't allowed to use the main entrance.

The university allows handguns in campus dorms, and licensed individuals may carry concealed handguns on campus, with some exceptions including the campus counseling and health centers, certain science labs and sporting events. A student who wants to store a handgun in a dorm must provide a safe that only he or she has access to, according to the universitys policy.

The firearms policies are designed to comply with the state's Concealed Campus Carry law, which went into effect in 2016.

By Catherine Marfin, Dana Branham and Charles Scudder, The Dallas Morning News (TNS)
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British energy giant BP on Tuesday said annual net profit slid to USD 4.0 billion last year, hit by weaker oil prices, as long-time chief executive Bob Dudley bowed out.

The figure was down sharply compared with profit after tax of $9.38 billion in 2018, the company said in a statement marking the end of American Dudley's time at the helm.

It was announced in October that Bernard Looney, head of BP's upstream division, would replace Dudley.

"After almost ten years, this is now my last quarter as CEO," Dudley said in Tuesday's statement.

"In that time, we have achieved a huge amount together and I am proud to be handing over a safer and stronger BP to Bernard and his team.

"I am confident that under their leadership, BP will continue to successfully navigate the rapidly-changing energy landscape," he added.

In the latter years of Dudley's reign, BP increasingly moved into cleaner energies, mirroring the strategy of rivals like Royal Dutch Shell and Total, amid changing public attitudes and government policies towards carbon emissions and climate change.

BP snapped up Britain's largest electric vehicle charging firm Chargemaster in 2018, as it bets on booming demand for electric cars in the coming decades.

The company predicts that renewable sources could account for 15 per cent of global energy consumption by 2040.

Dudley spent a total of 40 years with BP, while Irish national Looney joined the group in 1991 as a drilling engineer, rising to lead its upstream division that comprises exploration and production.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hong Kong Closes Smaller Border Crossings As Calls Grow For Total Shutdown

2020-02-03 - Authorities in Hong Kong said they would shut down the majority of border crossings with mainland China at midnight on Monday amid the expanding coronavirus epidemic, as thousands of medical staff went on strike over the government's handling of the public health emergency.

Striking workers set up stalls on picket lines outside several government hospitals on Monday, allowing participating medical workers to register as being on strike.

One staff member in the physical therapy department at one hospital said half of the department's staff had taken part.

Yu said the next phase of the strike will potentially involve some 9,000 medical staff from Tuesday through Friday.

A healthcare worker surnamed Choi said this strike was very different from a run-of-the-mill action, however.

"Usually, strike action is taken to fight for the personal rights and interests of employees, but this time our demands are very clear," Choi said. "We want to see [the government] protect public health in Hong Kong."

A striking worker surnamed Loh said a total border shutdown was the only way to stop the influx of people from the worst-hit areas of the epidemic in mainland China.

A patient surnamed Lee at the Tuen Mun Hospital said he supported the strike, which he blamed on "poor decision-making" by the government.

A patient surnamed Woo said he had to wait longer than usual for treatment on Monday, but said he believes a total border shutdown is necessary to protect Hong Kong's seven million people from the coronavirus.

Flights still coming in

The government on Monday announced it would shut all land border crossings except for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge and the Shenzhen Bay crossing, but the airport will still receive incoming flights from mainland China, the government said.

Chief executive Carrie Lam said it was impossible for the city to completely shut down the border, because many people in Hong Kong have a "genuine and legtimate" need to travel back and forth across it.

All ferry services coming into Hong Kong have also been suspended, she told a news conference on Monday.

But Lam said the additional closures were unconnected to the strike by medical staff in government hospitals.

"The measures to further control the flow of people across our border are in the same vein as we have done before, but a bit stronger," Lam said.

"They have nothing to do with the five-day strike threat by some Hospital Authority staff," she said. "Anyone who thinks that they can use extreme tactics like this to intimidate the [Hong Kong] government or the Hospital Authority won't succeed."

But journalists asked if the "stronger" measures were in the interests of the people of Hong Kong, given that government figures showed that more than 60 percent of the 11,715 people who arrived in Hong Kong from mainland China on Sunday did so via the three border points that are to remain open.

Hong Kong had reported 15 confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus by Monday.

Partial victory claimed

Winnie Yu, who heads the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, claimed a partial victory for the strike action, however.

"As we have just seen, our action forced the government to take steps to close more border crossings," Yu said. "But they left three border crossings open, and nearly 60 percent of inbound people came across at these crossings."

"So there is still no sign that the government has any sincerity about implementing border controls," Yu said.

Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong said the government's moves are confusing, and called on Lam to respond to widespread public support for a total border shutdown.

Reported by Gao Feng and Lu Xi for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Lau Siu-fung and Tam Siu-yin for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Copyright  1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content February not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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We have intensified our investigations into assert recovery and we are making it sure that we channel requisite resources so that our officers will be able to carry out their mandate outside Zimbabwe. Some bought houses and we are working on partnership with our sister organizations outside Zimbabwe to ensure we have the relevant evidence, said Commissioner Makamure.
British holidaymakers booking trips to Disneyland Paris could save up to hundreds of pounds by using the resort's French, German and Italian websites.

But the money-saving hack all depends upon when you want to visit, which hotel you want to stay at and if you want meals to be included.

This is because each country's version of the site runs different promotions at different times of the year with some deals including free meal plans and discounted park tickets.

British holidaymakers booking trips to Disneyland Paris could save up to hundreds of pounds by using the resort's French, German and Italian websites

For example, the cost for a family of four for three nights at the Sequoia Lodge with park tickets for four days, between August 3 and August 6, is 1,679 on the UK site. This includes half-board, which the site says is worth 507, and a 100 euro (84) gift card.

However, the same break on the French version of the site is 1,067 (1,254 euros) - a saving of 612. And even though the French booking does not include meals, the saving is 105 more than the cost of half board.

There is a discount because the French site is currently running a promotion, until February 18, for up to 35 per cent off with under-12s going free.

Similarly, the German, Italian and Dutch versions of the Disneyland Paris site are also running a promotion at the moment for 'early bird discount' for trips between April and November 2020, which includes up to 25 per cent off and free half board.

The Sequoia Lodge hotel at Disneyland Paris. On the UK site, the price for a family of four to stay here between August 3 and 6 is 1,679. This includes park tickets for four days

The UK version of the Disneyland Paris website showing the price for a family of four at the Sequoia Lodge from August 3 to August 6. This price includes half board and a gift card

A booking for the same break at the Sequoia Lodge on the French version of the site is 1,067 (1,254 euros) - but this does not include any meals

A family of four could stay at Sequoia Lodge with park tickets for four days between August 3 and August 6, half board, for 1,619 (1,906 euros) by booking on the German site

Using those sites, a family of four could stay at Sequoia Lodge with park tickets for four days between August 3 and August 6, half board, for 1,619 (1,906 euros) - a slight saving on the UK price.

MailOnline Travel also found a three-night stay at the Santa Fe hotel, with park tickets included for four days and breakfast, for 1,505 between August 3 and August 6 on the UK site.

Booking on the French site at the same hotel on the same dates is 864 (1,015 euros), but this does not include breakfast.

A three-night stay at the Santa Fe hotel, with park tickets included for four days and breakfast, is 1,505 between August 3 and August 6 on the UK site

The same booking on the French site is 864 (1,015 euros), but this does not include breakfast

The Italian site shows that the price at the Santa Fe Hotel for a family of four on August 3 to August 6 is 1,354 (1,594 euros) - but this includes half board

On the German, Italian and Dutch sites, the price is around 1,354 (1,594 euros) - but this includes half board.

However, there are times when it pays for British holidaymakers to stay on the UK site.

At the moment there is an offer where if you book a trip that is taken before March 31, you receive up to 35 per cent off the price of the hotel and park tickets.

The Disneyland Hotel at Disneyland Paris, which is described as a luxury property with five stars

Three nights at the Disneyland Hotel from March 16 to March 19 with park tickets for four days for a family of four costs 1,512.23 - room only

The same break on the French version of the Disneyland Paris website is currently 1,848 (2,179.50 euros)

On the German site, three nights at the Disneyland Hotel with park tickets for a family of four in March is 1,566 (1,847 euros)

This means that three nights at the Disneyland Hotel from March 16 to March 19 with park tickets for four days for a family of four costs 1,512.23 - room only.

However, on the French site, the price is currently 1,848 (2,179.50 euros) and on the Italian and German sites, it's 1,566 (1,847 euros).

Disney confirms on its UK website that British customers can take advantage of offers on other countries' websites.

It states: 'Yes, you can benefit from offers adapted for other countries. Please visit our other country websites or call our advisers at 08448 008 898.'

MailOnline Travel has contacted Disney for comment.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 20:24:36|Editor: huaxia

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WUHAN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Qin, full-time deputy director of the Hubei branch of the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), has been removed from office for dereliction of duty in the fight against the novel coronavirus epidemic, the provincial supervisory commission said Tuesday.

Zhang was also dismissed from the leading Party members group of the RCSC Hubei branch committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and given a serious intra-Party warning as well as a serious administrative demerit, it said.

An investigation showed that relevant officials and cadres with the RCSC Hubei branch failed to take responsibility when receiving and distributing donated funds and relief goods in the effort to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus epidemic. They were also found to have violated relevant regulations and be responsible for information disclosure errors, the commission said in a notice.

Meanwhile, Chen Bo, a member of the leading Party members group of the RCSC Hubei branch committee of the CPC, was given a serious intra-Party warning and a serious administrative demerit. Gao Qin, chief of the RCSC Hubei branch committee of the CPC and also the executive vice director of RCSC Hubei branch, was given an intra-Party warning, according to the notice.

On the same day, three officials in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province also the center of the novel coronavirus outbreak, were punished for violating relevant regulations to distribute face masks, according to the city's supervisory commission Tuesday.

Xia Guohua, a member of the leading Party members group and deputy head of the Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Statistics, has been removed from office and was also given a serious intra-Party warning as well as a serious administrative demerit.

Meng Wukang, Party chief and director of the Wuhan Municipal Development and Reform Commission, and also the Party chief and head of Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Statistics, and Huang Zhitong, deputy director of Wuhan municipal government office, were admonished.

By the end of January, Tang Zhihong, director of the health commission of the city of Huanggang, Hubei Province, was removed from her post for she had unshirkable responsibility for problems including insufficient screening for suspected cases, slow progress of tests and lack of testing personnel. The issues were found by a central government inspection team designated to guide the epidemic control work in the city which has been hit hard by the novel coronavirus, according to local authorities.

Huanggang then sacked six officials over poor performance in an effort to prevent and control the epidemic. Three of them were county-level officials and the rest were village or township-level officials, said Qiu Lixin, mayor of Huanggang at the beginning of this month. Qiu also added that a total of 337 officials in the city had been penalized following inspections over Huanggang's anti-coronavirus work.
This is something that we should reject together and we should move forward in a bipartisan fashion, and in the way that this president has done successfully, Cipollone said. Hes achieved successful results in the economy and across so many other areas working with you on both sides of the aisle, and he wants to continue to do that.
In the last week of the election campaign, Thomas Walsh calls for Leitrim voter support.

In a statement released to the Leitrim Observer, Walsh noted that From the beginning of the election campaign my canvas team of over 250 enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers have canvassed the length and breadth of my party assigned constituency area in Sligo.

In special message for the voters of Leitrim he said for the last week of the campaign, I will expand my campaign effort and presence across the entire length and breadth of the constituency. I have not and I will not take any vote in any part of the constituency for granted. Every number one vote is important, every preference vote is important. With only a few days left in the campaign, if I cannot meet with you personally, pleased be assured of my commitment to fully representing the voters in every part of this constituency.

In assessing the canvas feedback, Walsh summarised his view of the campaign While my feedback from the canvas is personally positive and very supportive about my being a candidate, it is also very clear that there is a discontent and a wish for change among the electorate adding that in my view this discontent is founded in a loss of trust in politics.

Voters want their elected politicians to deliver solutions to the major problems confronting society. Voters want more by way of action and less by way of promises.

Walsh states As part of my contribution to re-building trust with voters I have adopted the position of not making pre-election commitments on specific issues. Trust in politics, political parties and in election candidates can be damaged by making political commitments and pledges that are later abandoned. Voters want their elected politicians to deliver solutions to the major problems confronting society. When trust is betrayed, damage follows. Trust is required to generate confidence about change in an anxious world. As a TD for this constituency, I will earn your trust by keeping the best interests of this constituency as my top priority.

As the election campaign heads into the final days of canvassing Walsh made a strong personal appeal to the electorate, saying What this constituency urgently needs is to turn over a new page and elect a new generation for a new decade he said, adding that Its clearer than ever to me that what this constituency requires most of all for the new decade is a new fresh face as TD; a person with a positive attitude to politics, a focus on the needs of the constituency and an optimistic forward looking outlook on life and most of all a person with the energy, enthusiasm and ideas to bring real economic and social progress to the North West.

The core campaign message from Walsh is his commitment to being part of the solutions team for the North West. The next five years will be most important years to the future development of North West Ireland. We have to play catch up with East Coast success. There is much work to be done to reinvigorate the economic and social development in this constituency. I have the energy, the initiative and the enthusiasm and commitment to get the results we deserve. I will be part of the solutions team he stated.

Walshs appealed to the voters to come out and vote next Saturday, saying Democracy depends on people coming out to vote. I hope voters will come out and vote one or highest preference for Walsh adding As your new TD, I will work enthusiastically on your behalf. My core messages to the voters of this constituency are;

Democracy depends on elected politicians earning the trust of voters and I will give my best to ensure that I will earn your trust.

There is much work to be done to reinvigorate the economic and social development in this constituency. Together we can ensure the North West region reaches its full economic and social potential.
Walgreens will pay $7.5 million to settle allegations that for more than a decade it let an unlicensed pharmacist handle hundreds of thousands of prescriptions, including some for highly addictive painkillers, the authorities in California said on Monday, another setback for a company already facing broader accusations that it helped feed the opioid epidemic.

The Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office, one of two San Francisco Bay Area agencies that sued Walgreens, said that the employee, Kim Thien Le, 44, handled more than 745,000 prescriptions, including thousands for drugs like oxycodone, fentanyl, morphine and codeine, from 2006 to 2017. She was never licensed by the state pharmacy board as required by law, the authorities said.

Consumers depend on pharmacies to make sure that the person behind the counter preparing and giving out medical prescription drugs is trained, competent and licensed to do so, Tiyen Lin, a deputy district attorney in the consumer protection unit at the Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office, said in a statement on Monday. Their lives may depend on it.

The authorities discovered that Ms. Le did not have a license during a state pharmacy board audit in 2017. Ms. Le falsely impersonated Walgreens pharmacists and used a license of someone who had the same first name, the authorities have said.
/ -- Sharik Currimbhoy led Goldstein, Roth & Co. (GSR) has made plans to deploy Rs. 10,000 crores ($1.4billion) into the distressed equity and debt markets in India. The company, earlier knows as Element Capital prior to the merger, advised in marquee transactions like Xander Inc's purchase of the PayPal and eBay campus from Appaswamy Real Estate- the largest pre-leased commercial transaction in India that year.

Goldstein, Roth & Co. has relationships with various international investors and is focused on bridge financing for promoters wanting to sell assets and needing the proceeds advanced to them; buying NPA loans from banks, funding one-time settlements with banks for promoters and refinancing loan against shares. The firm is sector agnostic but its current attention is on the infrastructure and real estate markets, because the loans to these sectors are comparatively larger in value than others.

Along with the above, the company also has a keen interest in the massive bad loan books of public sector undertaking banks, owing to potential opportunities in bridging the cultural gap between PSU banks and foreign investors, by facilitating quick transactions. Goldstein, Roth & Co. is also in the process of raising a domestic distressed asset co-investment fund of Rs. 720cr and is in talks with various private banks to tap their HNI networks for this initiative.

Commenting on the opportunities in the Indian distressed assets market, Sharik Currimbhoy, Managing Director of Goldstein, Roth and Co. said,"We are in a place in the credit cycle where the credit window has been closed for an extended period. This provides a unique opportunity to us as a liquidity provider, to access good projects with good governance and inappropriate capital structures to capitalize on. With banks wanting to rid themselves of bad loans and clean house, we have a window of opportunity to make the most of the haircuts that the banks take and bring projects that weren't previously feasible back to health. Being a quick and nimble liquidity provider in an illiquid environment puts us in an enviable position."



Mr. Currimbhoy is the grandson and scion of Shahnaz Husain who built one of India's most successful cosmetic brands. He also came into prominence after pledging $12.12m to his alma mater, Columbia University, at 12:12:12pm on December 12, 2012 and making a bid for the Phenoix Mill's owner Mumbai Shangri-La Hotel (Now the St. Regis) for $160m.

About Goldstein, Roth & Co.

Goldstein, Roth & Co. is an investment bank focused on deploying international capital in India. Through its acquisition of Element Capital India Pvt. Ltd, the company provides equity and debt funding from international sources of capital to Indian companies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bhopal, Feb 4 : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday questioned the BJPs sincerity about Mahatma Gandhi.

In a tweet he said BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde couldn't have dared to insult Mahatma Gandhi had the saffron party taken firm action against its Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur for glorifying Bapu's assassin Nathuram Godse.

"Had stern action instead of a cosmetic one been taken against the Bhopal MP for twice calling Godse a patriot, no one could have dared to make such a statement against Gandhiji," Nath tweeted.

"Time has come for the BJP to show whether it is with Gandhiji or Godse," he said.

"BJP MP's statement that Mahatma Gandhi's satyagraha during freedom struggle was a drama was objectionable and highly deplorable," Kamal Nath tweeted.

Freedom fighters who did not sacrifice anything made the country believe that it attained independence through 'Upavas Satyagrah', Gandhi's preferred mode of agitation, and became Mahapurush (great person), Hegde had said at an event in Bengaluru on Saturday.

In his address in Kannada, Hegde, a former Union minister known for making controversial remarks, had said: "There were two types of freedom fighters, one who believed in 'shastra' (arms) and another in 'shaastra' (intellectual motivators)." "There was also another category of freedom fighters which used to ask the British how to carry out the freedom struggle," Hegde had said at the event to remember Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

The father of the Streatham terrorist has claimed he told his son not to be naughty during a phone call on the day before the attack.

Faraz Khan said he was not aware that Sudesh Amman  who was shot dead by police after stabbing two people in south London on Sunday  had been radicalised.

He never talked to me about things like that, he told Sky News.

He said when his mother came to see him she brought him food  thats the kind of things he talked about, Mr Khan said.

I told him not to be naughty, be good, and he listened.

Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Show all 22 1 /22 Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Armed police officers on Streatham High Road. The Metropolitan Police warned people to stay away from the Streatham area boguta37/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings The man was shot dead by police after two stabbed in 'Islamist-related' terror attack in London boguta37/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Sudesh Amman, the attacker, has been named as a convicted terror offender who was released from prison days ago Metropolitan Police/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Items left on the pavement at the scene in Streatham High Road Isis supporter Amman was just 18 when he was jailed in December 2018 after police found a stash of bomb-making manuals and other propaganda. Now 20, he had declared his own wish to carry out a terror attack and stockpiled a combat knife, air gun and black flag at his family home in London PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings He was being monitored by undercover police and being followed as part of a proactive counterterrorism operation when he started the rampage in Streatham AP Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Amman was able to stab two people before being shot dead by armed officers outside a busy row of shops Gabriel Video/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A woman reacts as police officers interview people near to the scene Getty Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings An armed police officer on Streatham High Road Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy DOrsi said Amman was wearing a fake suicide ves Gully/PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police forensic officers work outside of a Boots store AFP via Getty Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police officers at the scene Getty Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A police forensic officer works at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Items left on the pavement at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A police officer on the scene Dave Chawner/SWNS Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police forensic officers are seen near the site Reuters Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police officers on the scene outside an Iceland supermarket Andy Bullemor/SWNS Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police are seen near a site where a man was shot Reuters Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A policeman secures the site of the incident EPA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A view of the scene Megan Tobeck Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A view of the scene Michael Owens Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings Police forensic officers at the scene PA Streatham attack: Man shot dead by police after stabbings A Police officer is seen near a site where a man was shot Reuters

Amman, a 20-year-old Isis supporter, had been released from prison days before he stabbed people in Streatham and was under police surveillance at the time of the attack.

He was jailed for possessing and sharing terrorist documents in December 2018.

He would never talk to me about naughty things, Mr Khan said. I heard they found a lot of things and I saw them on the news, but I never thought he would go this far.

His mother, Haleema Faraz Khan, also told Sky News that her son was a nice, polite boy and that she believed he had become more religious while serving time in prison.

Two people were stabbed during the weekend attack, while another person was injured by flying glass in the following gunfire.

It was the third terror attack the UK has seen since the national threat level was lowered in November, following an attack at Fishmongers Hall near London Bridge in November and another by prisoners in HMP Whitemoor in January.

Additional reporting by Press Association
TORONTO - The Ontario government's proposal to double logging volumes over the next decade goes too far in serving the forestry industry without doing enough to protect the province's wildlife, environmentalists said Tuesday as they called for a more balanced plan.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO - The Ontario government's proposal to double logging volumes over the next decade goes too far in serving the forestry industry without doing enough to protect the province's wildlife, environmentalists said Tuesday as they called for a more balanced plan.

Groups including the David Suzuki Foundation, Ontario Nature and the Wildlands League said they oppose the plan introduced in early December, pushing instead for an approach that would maintain conservation efforts and protect endangered species while still achieving the governments stated goal of bolstering the province's forestry sector.

The Progressive Conservatives have proposed increasing logging on Crown-owned lands from 15 million cubic metres to 30 million cubic metres by 2030 in a bid to create more jobs and revitalize the industry.

Public consultations on the proposal were to close Wednesday, and environmentalists voiced concerns about both the plan to increase volumes and regulatory changes they fear could exempt the forestry sector from some key environmental protection legislation.

"We're in a climate crisis and a biodiversity crisis it doesn't seem to me to be the most sustainable option to be removing these environmental safeguards," said Anna Baggio of the Wildlands League. "I'd like them to hit the pause button and really address the sustainability concerns."

A spokeswoman for Natural Resources Minister John Yakabuski said the province is currently only harvesting half the amount of wood it could be taking under its forest management plan, which has determined 30 million cubic metres is a sustainable target.

The Ontario Forest Industries Association lauded the plan when it was first announced last year, describing it as a way to unleash the "full potential" of the sector.

The changes will help create markets for wood and allow the sector to reach its potential while still managing forests sustainably, Justine Teplycky said in a statement.

"The target harvest level of about 30 million cubic metres is significantly less than annual forest growth," she said. "Ensuring the sustainability of our forests is a key principle of Ontario's forest management system."

Julee Boan, the boreal program manager of Ontario Nature, said the province has provided no evidence to prove that amount is sustainable.

"We have concerns about locking down 30 million cubic metres of forest for the industrial sector only," she said. "Especially at a time when we're looking for more conservation opportunities and we don't want those to be excluded."

Rachel Plotkin, boreal project manager at the David Suzuki Foundation, called the province's strategy "greatly disappointing" and said it will have a negative impact on a number of endangered species including boreal caribou.

She said the strategy runs contrary to a 2019 federal study of the caribou which directs provinces to protect 65 per cent of the animals' woodland habitat to increase calf survival rates.

Those researchers found that logging roads made the caribou more susceptible to predators like wolves.

"This is already a species that is on the path to extinction unless status quo operations change," she said. "The province is saying the status quo is fine and we're going to proceed with even more."

Green party Leader Mike Schreiner called on the government to reverse course before finalizing the strategy, saying it doesn't make sense in the face of the global climate crisis.

"It's a short-sighted decision by the government that undermines our climate obligations and our obligations to protect endangered species," he said.

Judith Monteith-Farrell, NDP forestry critic representing the northern Ontario riding of Thunder Bay-Atikokan, said the forestry industry has long asked for help to bring more product to market despite concerns that there may not be demand for extra product.

The government needs to release more details before moving forward, she said.

"I have some concerns about where the cutting is going to take place," she said. "There's no description of where the Crown land will open up."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2020.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version had an incorrect spelling for the surname of Ontario Nature's boreal program manager, Julee Boan.
Five nonprofit arts organizations recently were honored as 2020 Dominion Energy ArtStars for inspiring people of all ages in creative endeavors. The organizations represent five regions across Virginia with annual operating budgets under $1 million. Each received a $10,000 grant to support their winning arts or cultural education program.

"This year's winners prove everyday what a powerful impact art can have on a community's culture and history," said Hunter A. Applewhite, president of the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation. "Virginia is very fortunate to have these talented organizations committed to the vibrancy of local communities across our Commonwealth."

The ArtStars winners were honored Jan. 29 at the Virginia Commission for the Arts' "Art Works" conference:

Alexandria Symphony Orchestra ( Alexandria, Va. ) for their Sympatico program at Title I Public Schools. Sympatico increases music opportunity for underrepresented minorities and at-risk youth at no cost to the school or their families.



( ) for their Sympatico program at Title I Public Schools. Sympatico increases music opportunity for underrepresented minorities and at-risk youth at no cost to the school or their families. The Arts Depot ( Abingdon, Va. ) for their education programs that teach weaving, collage, innovative watercolor, acrylic, oil painting, quilting, carving and beading. The program also works directly with special-needs students in the community.



( ) for their education programs that teach weaving, collage, innovative watercolor, acrylic, oil painting, quilting, carving and beading. The program also works directly with special-needs students in the community. Lime Kiln Theater ( Lexington, Va. ) for their music programs. Lime Kiln Theater offers a summer concert series and children's play at their outdoor amphitheater. The "Music in the Schools" program educates children on Appalachian music and dance.



( ) for their music programs. Lime Kiln Theater offers a summer concert series and children's play at their outdoor amphitheater. The "Music in the Schools" program educates children on Appalachian music and dance. Sandler Center for the Performing Arts ( Virginia Beach, Va. ) for their educational matinee program highlighting Title I schools. More than 14,000 students will attend an educational matinee at the Sandler Center or at their school through a partnership with Richmond Ballet.



( ) for their educational matinee program highlighting Title I schools. More than 14,000 students will attend an educational matinee at the Sandler Center or at their school through a partnership with Richmond Ballet. Studio Two Three ( Richmond, Va. ) for their art education programs for youth and emerging artists of all ages. The program offers field trips for local schools, residency for low-wealth artists, and S23 To-Go - a mobile printmaking and photography studio on wheels.

Visit www.dominionenergy.com/artstars for more information.

About the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation

Nearly 7.5 million customers in 18 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D). Through its Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, as well as EnergyShare and other programs, Dominion Energy contributed $48 million in 2019 to community causes. The Foundation supports nonprofit causes that meet basic human needs, protect the environment, promote education, and encourage community vitality. Please visit www.DominionEnergy.com to learn more.

SOURCE
The Pune police, on Monday night, arrested three persons in a case involving the firing of a gun at a carwash centre in Vadgaon Budhurk on Monday afternoon.

The three accused have been identified as Arjun alias RJ Vitthal Kamble, 19, a resident of Tukainagar in Wadgaon; Raju alias Babya Deepak More, 19, a resident of Samarthnagar in Hingane; and Vishal alias Vishlya Anil Bhande, 19, a resident of Indiranagar area of Bibwewadi, according to the police.

A gun was fired at the a carwash centre named iCreate Car Hub at 2.20 pm.

The man who was the intended target of the firing has been identified as Pandurang More, owner of the carwash centre.

More, 42, a resident of Narhe lodged a complaint at Sinhgad police station on Monday night.

According to him, there were no casualties, however, the assailants damaged two cars that were parked inside the centre.

The police estimated the worth of the damage to be worth Rs 15,000.

One of the three accused alleged that More had tipped the police off regarding a marijuana business run by his mother, according to the complainant.

Kamble is accused of firing a round in Mores direction, while the other two charged towards him with sharp weapons, said police.

A case under Sections 307 (attempted murder), 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 143, 147, 148, 149 (rioting), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of Indian Penal Code along with Section 4(25) of Arms Act, Section 37(1) and Section 135 of Maharashtra Police Act and Section 7(1) of Criminal Law Amendment Act has been registered at Sinhgad road police station.

Assistant police inspector SV Umre of Sinhgad road police station is investigating the case.
A South Korean woman who recently visited Thailand was confirmed Tuesday as having the deadly new virus sweeping China, Seoul's health authorities said.

The virus first appeared in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, and has infected more than 20,000 people, killing 425 and spreading to more than two dozen countries. The latest confirmed case brought South Korea's total number of patients to 16.

She is a 42-year-old Korean woman who returned to the country from Thailand on January 19, according to Seoul's health authorities. She started showing symptoms six days later, and was diagnosed with the virus on Tuesday, they added.

But the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was too early to conclude whether the patient contracted the virus while in Thailand, where 19 cases have been confirmed so far. "We need detailed research through an epidemiological survey," Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of KCDC, told reporters.

South Korea has so far seen at least four cases of human-to-human transmission of the virus, while a hospitalised Chinese tour guide is believed to have caught the illness while working in Japan. A South Korean ban came into force Tuesday blocking entry to foreigners who have visited China's Hubei province in the previous 14 days.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Zamir Ahmed Awan

A friend indeed is a friend in need. Pakistan firmly stands with China at this critical moment of an epidemic outbreak.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said the Pakistani side highly appreciates and firmly supports China's efforts to combat the epidemic and expresses gratitude to China for providing help to Pakistani citizens in China. The Pakistani side strongly believes that China can give full play to its unique institutional advantages to overcome the epidemic, Khan said, adding that Pakistan is willing to mobilize all the country's medical supplies and reserves to assist China, and will firmly stand alongside the brotherly Chinese people.

Meanwhile, China is struggling to contain the viral outbreak centered in Wuhan where medical supplies are increasingly under stress, the Pakistani government has sent its first consignment of aid to China to facilitate the Chinese government's fight against the novel coronavirus.

The Pakistani government has allocated 300,000 medical masks, 800 hazmat suits and 6,800 pairs of gloves from the stocks of public hospitals around the nation and transported the aid to China. The medical supplies from Pakistan arrived in China this past Saturday. The Spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also made a comment about aid received from Pakistan. "To help China fight against #nCoV, Russia, Pakistan, ROK, Belarus, France, Germany, Malaysia and UNICEF, as well as many others are all providing assistance and support to China. Thanks to you all! A friend in need is a friend indeed, tweeted the spokesperson.

This move by Pakistan although not enough to solve all needs still demonstrates the Pakistani state's unswerving solidarity with their brethren in China. The people of Pakistan are also standing with the Chinese nation. For example, a 29 year old Pakistani teacher by the name of Muhammad Usman Janjua at Changsha Medical College is voluntarily on ground-zero in Wuhan, helping out with the medical emergency situation. Usman graduated from Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine with a bachelor's degree in 2012, and a master's degree in medicine at Central South University in Changsha. After graduation, he became a foreign teacher at Changsha Medical College. During the four years since his return to his hometown, he has always been unable to forget China and Changsha, he said that China has provided him with good opportunities for education and employment and helped him to realize his dreams.

Fortunately, the novel coronavirus is not as dangerous as its fatality rate is around 2% while SARS had a higher fatality rate of 10%. In time, measures made it possible for the city to isolate itself from other parts of the country and world. China has overcome SARS in the past and accumulated some relevant experiences. Based on its previous experience, China handled the situation appropriately and addressed the issue in time. China reacted maturely and with full responsibility and shared all information with the international community in a very transparent and timely manner.

It is time for the international community to extend a cooperative hand toward China in overcoming this epidemic. The most important aspect will be to develop a vaccine. The developed world having rich experience of developing vaccines may come forward voluntarily.

China is a major contributor to the global economy, the Chinese share in the global economy is almost one third. Any harm to the Chinese economy may result in direct harm to the global economy, especially the developing world may suffer more in case of any negative impact on the Chinese economy. Natural disasters are beyond human control and can happen to any country or any nation at any time. It can be in the form of Earthquakes, Floods, Volcanoes, Tsunamis, Fire, or epidemics. Such disasters may be addressed collectively and the whole world must join hands with China to overcome this disaster. Some individuals or nations may exploit this situation for political or economic purposes, which must be condemned and avoided.

Zamir Ahmed Awan is a senior fellow with the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) and a sinologist at the National University of Sciences and Technology in Pakistan. E-mail: awanzamir@yahoo.com
Trump Seals the Deal With Iowa Republicans

SIOUX CITY, IowaPresident Donald Trump cleaned up during the Iowa Republican Caucus on Feb. 3, receiving 97.1 percent of the vote with all but one of the 1,765 precincts reporting.

In a shrewd move, the Trump campaign scattered more than 80 surrogates around the Hawkeye State to speak on Trumps behalf at local caucuses.

Those surrogates included Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Ben Carson, Betsy DeVos, Rick Perry, and many other Republican heavyweights, either within Trumps administration, Congress, or Iowa politics.

That move no doubt helped bolster turnout in a noncompetitive Republican cycle. Trump had two opponents on the ballotBill Weld and Joe Walshbut neither mustered a legitimate challenge.

In fact, the Republican Party of Iowa announced that Trump has overwhelmingly won the Iowa Caucuses, smashing all incumbent turnout records.

Turnout for incumbent presidents has historically been extremely low. It wasnt the case on Feb. 3; every Republican official said turnout was unexpectedly high.

Republicans caucus in Sioux Center, Iowa on Feb. 3, 2020. More than 100 people showed up despite Party organizers expecting a much lower turnout. (Jacob Hall/The Epoch Times)

Trump has grown on Iowa. Take Sioux County, for example.

Located in Northwest Iowa, Sioux County is as red as it gets. The county is made up of some 34,860 people who are mostly Christian conservatives.

How conservative? In 2016, Trump received 82.1 percent of the vote against Hillary Clinton, who received 12.7 percent.

That deep shade of red is nothing new. In 2004, President George W. Bush beat John Kerry by 11,970 votes in Sioux County. Bush won Iowa by 10,059 votes. Sioux County provided Bush his winning margin.

However, those same Sioux County voters werent sold on Trump during the 2016 Iowa Caucus. Trump finished fourth in Sioux County, with just 10.9 percent of the vote.

It was Trumps worst performance in any of Iowas 99 counties.

If the 2016 general election wasnt proof enough that Trump had rallied support in Sioux County, the Feb. 3 caucus provided a pretty convincing closing argument. Trump won the county with more than 94 percent of the vote.

Tim Allen, the Sioux County Republican chairman, admits he wasnt supportive of Trump at the 2016 caucus because he wasnt sure what to think about Trump.

My big fear on Trump was itd be a bait-and-switch, Allen said. And I think a lot of people were worried about that. Hes got such a varied history.

Trumps history includes Republican activity and Democrat activity, donations to Republicans and donations to Democrats.

He was difficult to get a read on, Allen said. I kind of always figured that he wasnt serious about it, so I didnt take him seriously in 2016. And I think a lot of the candidates did the same thing. In their case, it was to their own peril. In my case, it was to learn a little humility and being willing to accept or appreciate somebody who I thought was not anywhere close to the candidate I wanted to see.

Brad Franken attended the caucus in Sioux Center on Feb. 3. Four years ago, he wasnt a Trump supporter at the caucus.

Just some of the things he was saying, Franken said, explaining the reservations he thinks many had. We really didnt know his track record.

However, some in Sioux County lined up behind Trump.

Jeff Taylor, professor of political science at Dordt University and candidate for Iowa Senate, said he had initial hesitations, but he noticed others around the nation galvanizing behind Trump.

Partly I was influenced by people I respect, he said. Phyllis Schlafly endorsed him. Eventually Sarah Palin. Pat Buchanan in his columns was very pro-Trump. I got to see, OK theyre seeing a thread of his message thats a certain kind of populism, anti-establishment, anti-Bush legacy. I was not a fan of President Bush, and Trump was willing to take that on in a very direct way. I respected him for that.

At the root of Trumps campaign was a simple message.

A certain kind of nationalismagainst globalism, against endless wars in other countries, Taylor said. We needed to focus on taking care of our own people and making American great again, not trying to control the world.

It hooked Taylor. I found myself watching his rallies, and not only did I agree with his general message, but the guy is inspiring, he said.

Franken has grown to appreciate the president, especially his efforts to remove government regulations.

He does what he says, Franken said. Hes done a lot for pro-life issues. Hes got the interest of the United States at heart, not his own personal agenda. Hes proven himself.

Taylor said folks in Sioux County have come around. Trumps efforts on life, his judicial appointments, and his willingness to fight have inspired others.

With all the stuff Democrats and the media have thrown at him, he doesnt just roll over, he doesnt apologize, he doesnt back down, Taylor said. He stands up for himself. And, by standing up for himself, hes standing up for us.

Allen acknowledges he was wrong in 2016.

Ive never been happier to be wrong, he said. Hes been fantastic in everything I really had hoped for in a president for my political life.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:

As many as 1.1 million tons of various products worth $1.6 billion were exported via border markets and customs of Irans West Azerbaijan province for ten months of this Iranian year (from March 21, 2019 through Jan. 20, 2020), said Gholamreza Babaei, chairman of the West Azerbaijan Province Industry, Mine and Trade Organization, Trend reports referring to the organizations website.

Babaei noted that the products were exported to neighboring countries in Asia and Europe, adding that 595,000 tons of products worth $888 million were exported via border markets, while 526,000 tons of products worth $712 million were exported via customs of the province.

The exported items were mainly oil products, agricultural products, household goods, propylene polymers, etc., except gasoline, the chairman said.

Babaei noted that the products were mainly exported to Germany, Serbia, Russia, Kuwait, Romania, Bulgaria, Arab and Central Asian countries.

During the reporting period, 504,000 tons of goods worth $1.4 billion were imported via the customs and border markets of the West Azerbaijan province, the chairman said.

Babaei added that 422,000 tons of products worth $569 million were imported via the customs of the province.

Irans West Azerbaijan province has six border markets and nine customs checkpoints. The province shares 967 kilometers of borderline with Iraq, Turkey and Azerbaijans Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Shmyhal assured he would continue the reforms initiated by his predecessor, Aliona Babak.

The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has appointed Denys Shmyhal, who is Chairman of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration, to the post of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Community Development.

The relevant decision was backed by 278 MPs, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

Presenting Shmyhal's candidacy, Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk said he had been chosen over the fact that he proved himself well against the background of other regional leaders, fulfilling certain orders of the Cabinet of Ministers.

"This person perfectly understands how the region works, he is an excellent manager. The focus of the ministry's work is now shifting to this year's priority, which is decentralization, namely, the creation of capable communities," the prime minister said.

Read alsoEx-Deputy Minister Hrymchak suspected of fraud released from custody

Speaking from the rostrum of the parliament, Shmyhal assured he would continue the reforms initiated by his predecessor, Aliona Babak.

"Of course, the reforms and the ongoing forward movement will continue. There is trust on the part of president, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the people of Ukraine, because the key areas, key priorities of the Ministry of Regional Development, as well as the Cabinet of Ministers, which were launched and are in active progress, like reform of the construction industry, reform of the housing and communal services sector, and reform of the administrative territorial structure will be continued," he said.

After the successful vote in the Rada on his appointment, Shmyhal took the oath of a member of government.

On February 4, the Verkhovna Rada dismissed Aliona Babak from the post of Minister of Community Development, approving following her filing a letter of resignation.
YEREVAN.  The incumbent authorities have a great "ability" to meaninglessly make a hero out of someone with low trust. Edmon Marukyan, head of the opposition Bright Armenia faction, said this at today's meeting with reporters in the National Assembly, referring to the current tension between the authorities and Constitutional Court President Hrayr Tovmasyan.

"The statements are directed to the authorities to bring their actions in line with the standards of the rule of law and democracy," he said. "Otherwise, these statements will become a report tomorrow in the hands of the co-rapporteurs."

Head of the Armenian delegation to PACE Ruben Rubinyan responded to this statement and noted that Marukyan was misrepresenting the situation.
As expected, the Palestinians rejected out of hand President Donald Trumps deal of the century and obtained the blessings of the Arab League in doing so. The chilly responses to the plan by Russia and the European Union were also foregone conclusions. Trump special adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner was quick to clarify that implementation of the plan would be suspended until after the March 2 elections in Israel, but would that really change anything?

The coalition government formed after the elections may not have a majority keen to implement the plan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus natural partners, namely, Naftali Bennett and his Yamina party, cant even hear the word Palestine. Meanwhile, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz announced his support for the plan as a basis for negotiations with the Palestinians, but how can one negotiate with a party that was never included in the deal in the first place? To conduct real negotiations to resolve the conflict, an honest broker must be engaged. Anyone who dares claim that Trump is an honest and impartial mediator in the Arab-Israeli conflict should prepare for a White House attack of venomous tweets and rightly so.

No other word better describes the US administrations pro-Israel bias more than terrorism. It appears no fewer than 63 times in the 181 pages of the American blueprint posted online, and without exception, each and every time refers to Palestinian terrorism. The need to protect Israels citizens from Palestinian terror is the root of the plan. It requires the demilitarization of any future Palestinian state and demands that Hamas and other Palestinian organizations be disarmed, stipulates closer intelligence sharing with neighboring Arab states and, of course, Israeli security control over the entire area from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean.

No Israeli politician or Palestinian pundit would bet money on the realization of the deal of the century. On the other hand, security officials on both sides believe the plans humiliation of the Palestinian leadership and its dominant component, the Fatah movement, will prompt a wave of terrorism in the West Bank and perhaps in Israeli cities as well. In parallel, experience has shown that Jewish terrorists seeking to force the Palestinians out of the God-given Land of Israel will not lay down their arms either.

This month marks the 26th anniversary of the massacre of 29 Palestinian worshipers by a Jewish terrorist at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Baruch Goldsteins spiritual heirs do not lack for weapons or motivation. They even enjoy legitimacy. Netanyahu himself gave the seal of approval to the radical right-wing politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who counts himself among Goldsteins admirers, and may even make him a member of the next Cabinet, if chosen to form it.

In August 2015, an arson attack in the West Bank village of Duma killed a Palestinian toddler, Ali Dawabshe, and his parents, and severely burned his brother Ahmed, who is still undergoing rehabilitation. Two years before that attack, in May 2013, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, with an eye toward right-wing extremists, had proposed to Netanyahu that people who commit hate crimes be declared members of a terrorist organization. Despite support by Shin Bet and the attorney general for the proposal, Netanyahu decided to make do with declaring them members of an illicit organization. What is the government of Israel doing to enforce the law against these so-called illicit organizations and to deter their non-terrorist members? Netanyahu has made due with the authorization he gave in 2012 for the establishment of a special unit within the Israeli police unit on the West Bank tasked with handling nationalist crimes.

The results of the unit's performance are presented in a December 2019 report by the human rights organization Yesh Din, according to which 248 of 273 (91%) investigations launched over the past five years ended without an indictment. Since Yesh Din's founding in 2005, the group has documented some 2,000 acts of violence, threats, property damage, arson, uprooting and other damaging acts to olive trees, vandalism against mosques, illegal takeovers of land and more. The web page In First Person provides an abundance of testimony by West Bank residents who witnessed or experienced acts of Jewish terror. The testimonies were compiled by local researchers and by Yesh Din volunteers who visited residents immediately after each event at the crime scene or at the victims homes.

The failure to locate the criminals or find sufficient evidence to prosecute them obviously does not reflect the true operational capacity of Israels law enforcement agencies  the army, police, Shin Bet and state prosecution  in the West Bank. The failure stems from the climate inspired by the commander in chief, for whom advancing the settlement enterprise takes precedence over the rule of law, especially as regards the Wild West laws governing Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories. Yesh Din argues that the policy of containing criminal settlers encourages continued violence and expropriation. It severely undermines the Palestinians human rights, chief among them the right to life and limb and to property and freedom.

Trumps peace plan would leave 15 settlement enclaves planted in the middle of scattered Palestinian enclaves. As such, the plan constitutes a surefire recipe for the continuation of terror and of theft aimed at the Palestinians, who constantly suffer the violence of settler thugs sanctioned by the Torah and the government. The blessing given by the worlds largest power to the policy of territorial annexation is nothing less than a reward for violence.

A significant part of the lands on which the settlers live was stolen from their helpless Palestinian neighbors, all, of course, with the permission of Israeli authorities, if not their outright encouragement. The map appended to the surrender document that the United States is dictating to the Palestinians perpetuates the points of friction between Palestinian farmers and sheepherders and their settler neighbors, who do not recognize the right of non-Jews to inhabit the same land. The plan completely ignores the existence of Jewish zealots, acolytes of the Jewish terrorist from Hebron and students of the author of the obscene manuscript entitled Torat Hamelech (The Law of the King), a controversial rabbinical treatise permitting the killing of non-Jews under certain circumstances.

Since the plan is nothing more than a transparent election campaign ploy to keep Netanyahu in office, there is no need to exercise ones imagination by describing the riot that would ensue if a young settler woman were to be arrested by the Palestinian police for possession of 9.5 grams of marijuana and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison (as was the case with Naama Issachar, who was freed last month from a Russian jail through Netanyahus intervention with President Vladimir Putin). What would Netanyahu give Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in return for the settlers release? There is no need for a well-developed imagination to describe the events that would ensue on the day after implementation of the US annexation plan authored by Trump and Netanyahu.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 20:35:38|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China has mobilized 20 mobile hospitals from across the country to Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, to treat patients with mild symptoms, an official said Tuesday.

Those modular hospitals will arrive in the city starting Tuesday, said Jiao Yahui, an official with the National Health Commission, at a press conference.

Authorities have also organized 1,400 nurses nationwide for tending infected patients in Wuhan, said Jiao.
A man who was shot and killed by a Brisbane resident is not believed to be a home invader as authorities originally believed, a police spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The unidentified man was found dead Monday inside the home in the 300 block of Alvarado Street. He had been shot multiple times, police spokeswoman Michelle Moneda said. The male resident was not injured.
HONG KONG  Its like closing the Las Vegas Strip, six times over.

Officials in the Chinese city of Macao on Tuesday asked its 41 casinos to close for half a month as they rush to stop the coronavirus outbreak afflicting China and the region. The move will shut down the worlds gambling capital, which could slam big American casino operators like Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands as well as the local companies that sustain the territorys economy.

Authorities said 10 people in Macao have been sickened by the pneumonia-like illness, among them a hotel employee at Galaxy Casino, one of the citys busiest gambling establishments.

Of course this was a difficult decision, but we must do it for the health of Macaos residents, said Ho Iat Seng, chief executive of the semiautonomous Chinese territory, in a televised news conference.

Wearing a blue face mask and a suit, Ho said the case of the hotel worker served as a warning that the virus was beginning to spread through the city. The worker had shared shuttle buses and the casino cafeteria with colleagues.

Gambling accounts for four-fifths of the Macao governments revenue. But Ho said, Macao can still bear these economic losses.

The coronavirus has shaken companies and investors around the world who have come to rely on China for its efficient factories, its increasingly affluent consumers and its years of hard-charging economic growth. General Motors, Ford, Nissan and other auto companies have temporarily closed factories. Apple and Starbucks have closed stores. On Tuesday, Cathay Pacific, Hong Kongs biggest local airline, announced steep cuts to China flights and plans to pare back across its network. American Airlines suspended all flights to Hong Kong from Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles through Feb. 20, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Most of China remains shut down by the coronavirus, which first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has sickened thousands of people in the country. The global economic outlook, the fortunes of major companies and the jobs of workers around the world could depend on how quickly they come back.

The former Portuguese colony, which was returned to Chinese control in 1999, is the only part of China that allows casino gambling.

Alexandra Stevenson is a New York Times writer.
Around 4.5 million Egyptian women have been screened under Egypt's "100 Million Health" initiative, Health Minister Hala Zayed announced on Tuesday.

Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said the initiative targeting women, which begun in July last year, aims to raise awareness of reproductive health issues, family planning, and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure and obesity. It also highlights breast self-examination.

The first phase of the initiative covered Alexandria, Port Said, Beheira, Qalioubiya, Damietta, Marsa Matrouh, South Sinai, Fayoum and Assiut.

The second phase, which began in November, covered the governorates of Cairo, North Sinai, Red Sea, Kafr El-Sheikh, Ismailia, Suez, Menoufiya, Beni Suef, Sohag, Aswan and Luxor, he said.

The president-backed initiative aims to screen 28 million women nationwide.

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Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
South Africa: Public service wage negotiations underway

Wage negotiations in the public service are underway, Cabinet said on Monday.

Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu briefed Cabinet on the wage negotiations with public service unions at a special Cabinet meeting held at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House on 31 January.

Cabinet was satisfied with the work that seeks to build a public service that responds to the economic challenges we face as a country. The Minister was mandated to continue with this work, said Cabinet.

Government has reiterated its commitment to working with the unions to build a capable, ethical and developmental State.

Meanwhile, a more extensive discussion on these negotiations will take place at the next sitting of Cabinet.

Appointments

Fridays meeting also saw the appointment of Advocate Solomzi Mbada as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Armaments Corporation of South Africa (ARMSCOR).

In January, it was reported that the defence technology and acquisition service providers CEO Kevin Wakeford had taken special leave.

Cabinet also approved the appointment of seven directors of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation for a period of three years.

The meeting took place alongside the three-day Cabinet Lekgotla held at the Presidential guesthouse in Tshwane from 29 - 31 January 2020. - SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : The government on Tuesday banned all India-bound airlines from boarding any passengers from China and cancelled all existing Indian visas, in view of the rapid spread of novel coronavirus outbreak which originated in Wuhan.

As of Tuesday, 425 people have died due to the outbreak and more than 20,000 people were tested positive for the virus in China.

Three people who returned to Kerala from China have been diagnosed with the coronavirus pneumonia.

In a letter issued by the Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, Kolkata, the government said: "All airlines are informed not to take on board any passenger from China, including Chinese or other foreign nationals who may be holding valid (electronic travel authority) ETA/e-visa to board their aircraft for any destination in India." The implementation of the order "starts with immediate effect and shall remain in force till further notice", the letter said.

The notice was signed by the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer, Kolkata.

The embassy also announced that "existing visas (both regular and e-visas) are no longer valid" and has asked applicants in China to apply afresh.

All those who are already in India with regular or e-visa and had travelled from China after January 15, have been asked to contact the hotline number of the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The decision came two days after around 650 Indians who had signed consent forms for evacuation by the government were brought back from China. All of them are undergoing a 14-day quarantine process in Delhi at the moment.

The Indian embassy in Beijing following the evacuation had suspended travel to India on e-visas from China and declared e-visas issued in China, "invalid".

However, the embassy has asked Indian citizens or travellers in China to contact them in Beijing or consulates and Indian visa application centres in Shanghai and Guangzhou in case there is a "compelling reason" to visit India.
Former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has described the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed as a totally and completely insane person.

The former minister made this statement while reacting to a recent from the Minister of information saying Nigeria is the safest country to live in the world.

Also Read: Shehu Sani, Fani-Kayode React As Adeboye Leads Protest Against Killings In Nigeria

This is coming few days after labelling Alhaji Lai Mohammed as the biggest liar in the history of Nigerias politics.

Fani-Kayode expressed that the minister for information is also a raving lunatic.

See his tweet below:
The issue here is that Sharjeel dared to question the Assam NRC, the detention camps and the general status quo that has emerged after the Assam Movement.

Sharjeel Imam was arrested recently on charges of sedition. His crime? Calling for a blockade against Assam in response to the possible disenfranchisement of 1.9 million people on the back of the Assam NRC. Many of the solidarity statements, while condemning the application of draconian anti-sedition laws and the UAPA [Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act], have simultaneously distanced themselves or outright condemned Sharjeels call for a blockade. At this juncture, we need to break down the implications of these half-hearted solidarity statements.

There can be two objections to this particular statement, one is that these groups oppose the manner of protest and the other relates to a condemnation of what has transpired in Assam until today. Sharjeels call for a blockade in the so-called chicken neck against Assam is being interpreted as a call for aggression against the people of the state and its people and the North East at large, hence the sedition charges lodged by the governments of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, apart from those in Assam, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. However, while one can understand that BJP ruled states (or in the case of Delhi, where the police fall under the control of the BJP-run Central government) would be trigger-happy with regards to sedition cases, this does not account for the objections of progressive activist circles in the so-called mainland.

It is important to note here that highway blockades are nothing new in the region. These have been employed multiple times, notably by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the United Naga Council. Neither of these has led to such condemnations from the same progressive activist groups. Objections about this mode of protest often are about concerns that this will lead to a shutdown of a state causing distress to its residents, but one can argue that this is certain for any such protest.

As a matter of fact, the anti-CAA protests in Assam also involved bandhs which by the same logic, would have caused the same kind of distress to its residents. A similar logic can be used to delegitimise everything from bandhs to transportation strikes, but one would never find progressive activist groups opposing any of this. This is nothing but hypocrisy and this isnt the actual issue for which such objections are being raised at this juncture.

On the contrary, the objection is concerning the second. The issue here is that Sharjeel dared to question the Assam NRC, the detention camps and the general status quo that has emerged after the Assam Movement. As a litmus test, those who have condemned Sharjeels statement, have they also condemned the Assam NRC in principle and not simply as a matter of implementation? For instance, the CPM while strongly opposing an All India NRC, has an unsavoury record of supporting the NRC in Assam, demanding a foreigner free Assam. There are a vast majority of such organisations and politicians who have condemned Sharjeel while opposing the sedition charges, in reality, have supported the Assam NRC.

The duplicity and hypocrisies of many of these groups, who while opposing an All-India NRC, support an NRC in Assam is attributable to the acceptance of the premise of the Assam Movement and the resultant Assam Accord i.e., the people of Assam can be cleanly divided into khilonjiya (the indigenous) and the outsiders (illegal Bangladeshi migrants). That Assam has been swamped by (mostly) Bengali immigrants, that they constitute an existential cultural threat to the khilonjiya and the first claim upon Assam lies with the former.

It is a matter of fact that colonial Assam saw the merger of three districts (Sylhet, Cachar and Goalpara) from Bengal to Assam. So is the migration of Bengalis from say, Mymensingh to Goalpara internal, or as many contend, external? If the precolonial status quo is the basis for making such judgements, then such migration would be internal migration. These mainly Muslim migrants from Mymensingh to the fertile chars of the Brahmaputra Valley as cultivators have faced unspeakable horrors resulting from structural xenophobia and Islamophobia from the 1930s, culminating in the infamous Nellie Massacre in 1983. The Muslims of the chars remain among the most marginalised people in Assam today.

There is an unstated assumption at work here that assumes that Assam has been unfairly burdened with Partition and post-Partition refugees from the fallout of the Bengal Partition by the Indian State. Except, this completely ignores the fact that Assam too saw its own Partition, where Sylhet saw a referendum, through which Sylhet minus Karimganj became a part of East Pakistan (although Karimganj voted for merger with Pakistan, whereas Moulvibazar voted to stay in Assam) -- a process which had the support of the Assamese Hindu elites.

Furthermore, after Partition, large numbers of Muslims were expelled from Assam on the back of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 and the NRC in 1951. The stories of the Sylhet Referendum and Partition of Assam are little recorded and spoken of either in popular discourse in the Brahmaputra Valley or the mainland and scholarship on the same, remains much poorer than that of the Partitions of Bengal and Punjab but this hardly means that these should remain unspoken of today.

Even if the claims of the Assamese nationalists were true and that Assam was indeed burdened by an influx of immigrants for which it had no responsibility historically, any process that leads to the mass disenfranchisement of 1.9 million people, the construction of concentration camps, the talk of stripping people who are not khilonjiya of property and political rights are horrific and condemnable.

The recent, but belated public interest in the NRC in Assam has thrown up shocking stories like that of Sandhya Chakraborty and Moimunnissa -- of the horrors of the detention camps, the Foreigners Tribunals and so on when these have been ignored and waved away by activist and political groups in the mainland. The list of over 30 suicides in response to the NRC may be termed as nothing but institutional murders in the face of a state that rejects the value of the life of anyone they deem as a migrant and an outsider.

This uncertainty that the people find themselves in did not escape the report of even the mainstream newspapers, so on what basis has Sharjeels concern towards these people earned the ire of narratives in Assam and caused discomfort among progressives in the mainland?

There are also differences in response to the solidarity offered to Sharjeel Imam and Akhil Gogoi. While the worst thing Sharjeel has probably said in his speech was expressing a nihilistic view of politics, where he cannot comprehend the possibility of solidarity towards Muslims from mainstream Hindu society or secular groups, except cynically, Gogoi had infamously stated in Bidexi Somsya Aru Jatiyo Andolonor Path that constituencies, where minorities are less than 50 percent, should be reserved for the khilonjiya, extending such a regime to local bodies and simultaneously restricting land rights as well.

Similar policies have been echoed by the ruling BJP government in Assam over the past couple of months with discussions of policies that will evict millions of outsiders in Lower Assam, restrict the sale of property by khilonjiya to other khilonjiya and restrict political rights for those who arent seen as the same in what used to be undivided Goalpara once. However, in spite of such proposals, Gogoi has been welcome in progressive activist circles in the mainland for years with no disclaimers being associated with solidarity statements for his condemnable arrest under the UAPA. On the other hand, statements of solidarity with Sharjeel are almost universally accompanied by a condemnation of his statements on Assam, even from people like Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM.

Until the recent interest in the NRC, voices of dissent against NRC in Assam, from Assam itself whether Bengali, Na Axomiya, khilonjiya or otherwise, have hardly found an audience in progressive circles. The gradual emergence of such voices in these circles has now caused indigestion to a lot of voices who have thus far claimed to be the authentic voices from the state.

Sharjeel is one of the very few to have openly spoken about the 19 lakh population who are excluded from the NRC list and incarcerated or would be. The ones who have raised their strong disagreement with Sharjeels comment, have never been found to be sensitive towards the victims of NRC and detention centre, rather many of them are even tacitly complicit in their explicit support for NRC.
Donald Trump would not accept a censure resolution against him in exchange for impeachment, the White House said on Tuesday.

'The answer to that is no because the president did nothing wrong,' deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley told reporters at the White House.

Censure would allow the Senate to say Trump's actions in regard to the Ukraine were wrong but not remove him from office and it would give political cover to moderates in both parties, including some Republicans in tough re-election contests.

Donald Trump would not accept a censure resolution against him in exchange for impeachment

Republican senators like Lamar Alexander and Lisa Murkowski have chastised the president's actions while saying they don't warrant impeachment.

Deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley said the president wouldn't accept a censure deal because he did nothing wrong

The White House also brushed aside comments from Republican senators like Lamar Alexander and Lisa Murkowski, who have chastised the president's actions while saying they don't warrant impeachment.

'That's their opinion and they obviously have constituencies they have to answer to and for their states, and that's their right to do it,' Gidley said of the GOP criticism. 'The fact is the president did nothing wrong. The evidence proves this.'

Murkowski criticized the president on the Senate floor Monday night but said she would vote for his acquittal when the chamber votes on a verdict in his trial.

'The president's behavior was shameful and wrong. His personal interests do not take precedent over those of this great nation,' she said.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin on Monday proposed to censure the president, arguing it was a way for members of both parties to hold him 'accountable.'

'I see no path to the 67 votes required to impeach President Trump and haven't since this trial started. However, I do believe a bipartisan majority of this body would vote to censure President Trump for his actions in this manner. Censure would allow this body to unite across party lines and as an equal branch of government to formally denounce the president's actions and hold him accountable. His behavior cannot go unchecked by the Senate and censure would allow a bipartisan statement condemning his unacceptable behavior in the strongest terms,' Manchin said in a speech on the Senate floor.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin proposed to censure Donald Trump

Such a move would allow lawmakers to punish President Trump but not remove him from office

CENSURE: COULD TRUMP MAKE MORE HISTORY? No president has been censured for all time by the Senate and just one president has been formally and clearly censured: Andrew Jackson, whom Trump has cited as a role model. He was censured in 1834 for withholding documents about defunding the Bank of the United States by the Whig-controlled Senate - but just before the end of his term, his Democratic party gained the upper hand and expunged the censure. Inspiration: Donald Trump has acknowledged Andrew Jackson as a role model. In 1834 he was formally and clearly censured by the Senate, the only president in history to be the subject of such a vote Two lesser censures have been administered, with the motion starting as a censure naming the president at the time, but being diluted before it was passed. That applied to Abraham Lincoln in 1864 over letting two senators remain as generals in the Union Army, and William Howard Taft in 1912, allegedly for interfering in a disputed Senate election. A string of other presidents have been the subject of draft censure motions which did not reach a vote. All of the last three presidents - Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama - have had censure motions tabled against them but none reached a vote. Advertisement

His proposal came after the Democratic impeachment managers and Trump's legal team wrapped up their closing arguments in the president's trial. The vote on Trump's fate will come Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Manchin, who was elected from a state Trump won in 2016 and is popular there, has not said how he will vote on the two articles of impeachment - abuse of power and obstruction of justice - facing the president.

'I am truly struggling with this decision and will come to the conclusion reluctantly is voting whether or not to remove a sitting president is the most consequential decision that I or any U.S. Senator will ever face,' he said in his remarks Monday.

Several senators have said they don't approve of Trump's actions but don't find them to rise to the level of an impeachable offense.

Trump, in a July 25 phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, asked him to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden. The president said this was out of concern for corruption in that country - Hunter Biden at the time sat on the board of a powerful Ukrainian gas company. Democrats claim he was trying to get a foreign government to help him win re-election.

'I think he shouldn't have done it. I think it was wrong. Inappropriate was the way I'd say  improper, crossing the line,' Republican Senator Lamar Alexander said on NBC's 'Meet the Press' Sunday. 'I think what he did is a long way from treason, bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors.'

And, in a statement last week on the impeachment trial, Alexander noted: 'It was inappropriate for the president to ask a foreign leader to investigate his political opponent and to withhold United States aid to encourage that investigation. When elected officials inappropriately interfere with such investigations, it undermines the principle of equal justice under the law. But the Constitution does not give the Senate the power to remove the president from office and ban him from this year's ballot simply for actions that are inappropriate.'

Several Republican Senators have said they agree with their GOP colleague Lamar Alexander, who said the president was wrong to ask Ukraine for help but shouldn't be impeached for it

After his statement was released several Republicans on Capitol Hill said both privately and publicly they agreed with him.

Manchin on Monday argued that 'no one, not even the president is above the law' but said he 'must be realistic' about the likely outcome for Trump.

The president is expected to be acquitted in the Republican-controlled chamber where it would take a two-thirds vote to convict him.

In 1999, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein proposed a resolution that would have censured Bill Clinton after the impeachment vote against him failed. But her legislation died in a procedural vote.

The final vote on Trump's fate Wednesday will conclude the Democrats' three-month investigation into allegations the president with held nearly $400 million in military aid to the Ukraine in exchange for that country to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden, his political rivals.

Trump denies the charges but House Democrats voted in December to charge him.

Three Democratic senators - Doug Jones of Alabama, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona - all represent states the president carried in the 2016 election and have stayed quiet about how they intend to vote on impeachment

A NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found the majority of voters believe that Trump abused his power and obstructed Congress, but they are split on whether he should be removed from office.

In the poll, released on Sunday, 46 per cent said the president should be removed from office while 49 per cent said he should remain.

Republicans have a 53-47 advantage in the Senate, meaning there's nowhere near the two-thirds votes needed for Trump's conviction and removal from office.

The focus of Wednesday's vote, however, will be if the president gets a bipartisan all-clear.

Three Democratic senators - Manchin, Doug Jones of Alabama, and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona - all represent states the president carried in the 2016 election and have stayed quiet about how they intend to vote.

Just one Democratic voting in his favor would give the president something to crow about.

The president often boasts about the two House Democrats who crossed party lines to vote against the articles of impeachment.

Manchin has been a special target for Trump. The president has tried to get the senator from West Virginia to switch parties and join the Republicans.

He's voted for and against the president's goals. Manchin was the only Democrat to cross party lines and vote for Trump's controversial Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. But he also voted with Democrats to keep the Affordable Care Act.

During the impeachment trial, the West Virginia senator said while he was in favor of hearing from additional witnesses that should include Hunter Biden, a statement that irked Democrats.

But the most pressure is on Doug Jones, who sits in the most precarious political position

Jones is the only Democratic senator from the Deep South. Jones' victory in 2018 came after his Republican competition, Roy Moore, was accused of having inappropriate relationships with teenager girls.

Republicans are working to ensure a stronger nominee against him this time around. And Trump has kept an eye who's running in the crowded primary field. One of the contenders is his former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who Trump has railed against for recusing himself from the Robert Mueller investigation.

Should Jones vote to convict the president, Republicans will eviscerate him. And Democratic voters may not forgive him if he votes for acquittal.

Jones said last week he could go either way.

'I'm open to acquit. I'm open to convict. I want to hear all the evidence. I want to hear witnesses,' he told reporters on Capitol Hill.

Sinema, meanwhile, has been silent on the impeachment issue, refusing to answer reporters' questions on the matter and giving no indication of how she will go.

Manchin's censure proposal could give them political cover. It could also help out moderate Republican Senators like Cory Gardner, Susan Collins, Rob Portman, and Lisa Murkowski.

Censure - unlike impeachment - does not involve removing an official from office. It's merely a formal statement of disapproval.

But that statement could make a difference for many senators facing tough re-election contests in November.

That lists includes Jones, Gardner, and Collins.

Manchin made his proposal after Adam Schiff made a passionate plea for the Senate to remove President Trump for office, arguing to senators it was the only way to stop his abuse of power, while defense attorney Ken Starr accused the Democrats of wanting to declare the 2016 election 'null and void.

The dueling arguments played out on the Senate floor Monday afternoon ahead of Wednesday's vote on whether to convict or acquit President Trump of the two articles of impeachment against him.

Schiff, the lead impeachment manager who the president has dubbed 'Shifty Schiff,' made the final case for his side as the odds were against them.

'You can't trust this president to do the right thing, not for one minute,' Adam Schiff told senators

Both sides made their closing arguments in Donald Trump's impeachment trial on Monday

Schiff, in his 26-minute speech, warned senators the president can't be trusted.

'You can't trust this president to do the right thing, not for one minute, not for one election, not for the sake of our country. You just can't. He will not change. And you know it,' he said.

He warned acquittal could bring about absolute power for Trump.

'Trump could offer Alaska to the Russians in exchange for support in the next election,' he said.

And he warned senators they could be the president's next victim.

'They'll hack your opponents' emails, mount a social media campaign to support you, announce investigations of your opponent to help you, and all for the asking. Leave Donald Trump in office after you have found him guilty and this is the future that you will invite,' he said.

'History will not be kind to Donald Trump. I think we all know that. Not because it will be written by Never-Trumpers but because whenever we have departed from the values of our nation we have come to regret it, and that regret is written all over the pages of our history,' he said in a passionate final plea to the 100 senators who decide the president's fate.

'Every single vote, even a single vote by a single member can change the course of history. It is said that a single man or woman of courage makes a majority. Is there one among you who will say enough?,' he added.

'Truth matters little to him. What's right matters even less. And decency matters not at all. I do not ask you to convict him truth or right or decency matter matters nothing to him but because we have proven our case and it matters to you. Truth matters to you. Right matters to you. You are decent. He is not who you are,' he told the senators.

The president's defense team focused on the politics with deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin calling impeachment a 'partisan political process.'

And White House Counsel Pat Cipollone asked the Senate to 'end the era of impeachment once and for all.'

Rep. Val Demings made the Democrats case that President Trump committed the two articles of impeachment - abuse of power and obstruction of justice

President Trump has denied all charges

'This was the first totally partisan presidential impeachment in our nation's history,' Trump's personal attorney Jay Sekulow charged. 'And it should be our last. What the House Democrats have done to this nation, to the constitution, to the office of the president, to the president himself and to this body is outrageous. They have cheapened the awesome power of impeachment.'

He played a video - complete with pulsing beat of ominous music - of an array of Democratic figures calling for the president's impeachment back in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Sekulow went on to add: 'The bottom line is that the president's opponents don't like the president and they really don't like his policies.'

Starr echoed an argument the president and his allies have long made: Democrats were trying to overturn the last presidential election.

He said a vote for impeachment would give the message that 'your vote in the last election is hereby declared null and void. And by the way, we are not going to allow you - the American people - to sit in judgment on this president and his record.'

Cipollone made the same point and said the only conclusion the senators could come to was to impeach the president.

'At the end of the day, the key conclusion, we believe the only conclusion based on the evidence and based on the articles of impeachment themselves and the Constitution, is that you must vote to acquit the president,' Cipollone said. 'At the end of the day, this is an effort to overturn the results of one election and to try to interfere in the coming election that begins today in Iowa.'

'Leave the choice of the president to the American people,' he said, referring to the upcoming November election.

And deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin warned that a vote for impeachment could upset the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches.

He argued that anything a president does that Congress doesn't like 'and a time they don't like can be treated as an impeachable offense. That's an incredibly dangerous assertion. Because if it were accepted, it would fundamentally alter the balance between the different branches of our government,' he said.

'This was a purely partisan political process,' Philbin said. 'It was imposed by partisans in the House. It was done not to persuade anyone, to get to the truth or go by past presidents. It was done to get done by Christmas on a political timetable. And it's not something this chamber should condone. That in itself provides a sufficient and substantial reason for rejecting the articles of impeachment.'

President Trump's attorneys - Ken Starr, Pat Cipollone, Jay Sekulow and Patrick Philbin - argued Democrats were acting in a partisan way to try and overturn the 2016 election

Democratic Rep. Val Demings of Florida outlined the role Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani played in the allegations against the president.

'Donald Trump was the central player in the corrupt scheme assisted principally by his private attorney Rudy Giuliani,' she said.

And she said he was still doing it.

'As I stand here today, delivering the House's closing argument, President Trump's constitutional crimes, his crimes against the American people and the nation remain in progress,' Demings said.

In her 20 minute argument, Demings made the most detailed case for Democrats.

She charged the president with trying to 'cheat in the next election' and alleged that he 'weaponized our government.' She told senators that Trump 'violated his oath of office' and committed a 'grave abuse of power.'

Rep. Demings didn't hold back when she talked about Rudy Giuliani's actions in the Ukraine

Demings led the Democrats' main argument that Trump committed the two articles of impeachment - abuse of power and obstruction of Congress - and it warranted his conviction and removal from office.

'The House has presented to you overwhelming and unconverted evidence that President Trump has committed grave abuses of power that harmed our national security and were intended to defraud our elections,' she said.
The four men arrested following the country's largest ever cocaine haul in 2017 have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 to 27 years.

The men, a Serbian, a Croat and two Australians, were sentenced at the High Court in Rotorua on Tuesday for the plot that involved submersible scooters, gym bags stuffed with cash and the use of container ships as unwitting drug mules.

Croatian Mario Habulin was sentenced to 27 years and six months, Serbian Deni Cavallo was sentenced to 23 years and Australians Matthew John Scott and Benjamin Northway received sentences of 24 years and eight months and 14 years and nine months respectively.

Police and Customs acknowledge the sentences imposed today on four men in relation to a significant attempt to smuggle cocaine in 2017.

The four men were arrested on November 1, 2017, following the seizure of about 46kg of cocaine from an address in Tauranga.

Police Assistant Commissioner: Investigations, Richard Chambers, says the sentences imposed in reflect the magnitude of the offending.

We know that the cocaine seized - which had a street value of around $20 million at the time - was destined for New Zealand users and would have caused significant harm in communities across the country.

The arrests of these four men dismantled a trans-national crime syndicate that was seeking to profit from that harm.

The charges laid against the four men were the result of a five-month operation, launched by Customs after an investigation identified persons of interest believed to be involved in smuggling and distributing Class A drugs, and money laundering.

The ship the drugs were seized from in New Zealand's largest cocaine bust . Photo: Andrew Campbell.

As Customs and Police worked together to build intelligence and carry out investigative work, they uncovered evidence of plans to offload a shipment of cocaine from a commercial ship near Tauranga.

The arrests were made after the ship arrived from Chile on October 31, 2017, and the syndicate approached the vessel under cover of darkness, retrieving the cocaine from a hidden compartment on the exterior of the hull.

Customs Investigations Manager Bruce Berry says this operation shows the level of sophistication used by some international syndicates, and the joint capabilities of law enforcement agencies to combat them.

Theres no doubt that New Zealand is increasingly being targeted by international crime syndicates as a market for cocaine.

"This case highlights the enormous value of intelligence-sharing and working in partnership to target and stop them.

What started off as simple lead, was pieced together by making the most of Customs and Police combined areas of expertise.

"While the method of concealment is a known international trend, this seizure was the first of its kind for New Zealand.

Its important to recognise that this result is thanks to the perseverance, efforts, and expertise of staff across a wide range of teams from both agencies."

Assistant Commissioner Chambers says as well as the cocaine seized at the Tauranga address, a further five kilograms of cocaine was located at an Onehunga address, along with a large amount of cash.

Our inquiries linked this to an alleged previous importation by this crime syndicate, which included a further 30kg of cocaine.

"Some of the charges laid against three of the men sentenced today relate to this offending.

The sentences imposed on these four men today should send a clear message to anyone seeking to prey on New Zealand communities by importing and distributing illicit drugs.

These drugs have no place in our communities and we will continue doing everything in our power to disrupt and dismantle the groups seeking to profit from the harm they cause.

-Additional reporting by Stuff.co.nz
The IKEA store in Coventry. Photo: Google Street View

IKEA has announced plans to close its Coventry store in the summer, with 352 jobs at risk.

The closest store for the majority of Herald readers and one of 22 IKEA stores in the UK, it was built in 2007 in the city centre and was one of the first to move away from its traditional format and typical location.

The store was built over seven levels and in a statement released today, the company said this resulted in a significant impact on the operating costs of the store and the shopping experience for customers.

In addition, it said the changing behaviour of customers in the area who prefer to shop in retail parks and online has resulted in visitor numbers being substantially lower than expected and continuing to decrease over time  these factors have led to the store making consistent losses.

It says it has tried a number of initiatives over the years to drive sales growth and make the store more cost efficient, such as moving various business operations to the site but these have not resolved, 'the fundamental challenges connected to the location and the format of the store'.

It has also looked at options for downsizing or reconfiguring the store, but the nature of the site means this is not a realistic option.

It will now enter a period of consultation with the 352 staff affected by the closure to discuss the proposals and next steps.

Marsha Smith, Area Manager IKEA UK and Ireland, said: "



During the consultation period, the Coventry store will remain open, before the proposed store closure in summer. Upon the proposed closure of the Coventry store, the Birmingham store at Wednesbury will then be the closest option for most Herald readers.

More information on the proposed store closure and introduction of collection points will be announced in due course.
Sophie paced around the room, unnerved. She had never had this kind of treatment before and didnt know what to do with herself. I was under the covers, face down on the massage table. But her nervousness made it hard for me to relax, which in turn made her more anxious. To calm her down, I invited her onto the table with me. She curled up and settled as I stroked her ears. Good dog, good dog, I whispered.

Yes, Sophie is my dog, and yes, we got a couples massage. Ive had Sophie since 2013, and for a while it was just me and her. But in 2018, I rescued a six-month-old pup. Since Sophie hadnt quite volunteered to share the attention I had lavished on her before with an interloper, I decided to take a trip for just the two of us. So as 2019 came to a close, we set off for Paws Up, a high-end dude ranch about two hours from where we live in Montana.

The idea was to lounge around the fireplace, spoil ourselves with steaks, and play fetch as often as the schedule allowed, but upon arrival I discovered that their spa offered something special: couples massages with your dog. My mom and I used to go for massages together on our special occasions, so I jumped at the chance to continue that tradition with my own dog-child. I called my mom to share my discovery, and in between bouts of laughter, she agreed I had to try it. We both pictured Sophie and me getting tandem rubdowns; however, the therapist explained she would work on us one at a time (with a special dog-friendly massage oil for Sophie).

It turns out Sophie and I arent the lone human-dog duo learning about the benefits of getting joint massages. People started asking to bring their dogs in, says Wisconsin-based bodyworker Tami Goldstein, who has been practicing for 15 years. During her career shes worked with clients alongside their dogs, horses, goats, and even a 30-pound cat named Zeus. About 65% of Goldsteins clients live on the autism spectrum disorder or have other neuro-developmental conditions and processing disorders; having an animal present can enhance the therapeutic experience. Sometimes I cant get to the kid right away, but if I start with their animal, we create this beautiful, melded circle of the owner, the pet, and myself working together, she says.

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Science backs up the health benefits of dog ownership in generaleven the CDC thinks you should have a petso its not surprising that sharing a massage with your dog can be a rewarding experience. Theres a substantial body of research that demonstrates the positive physical and mental impact that dog ownership has on people, says Rebecca Greenstein, D.V.M., the veterinary medical advisor for rover.com. She specifies that physical contact with pets in particular makes our lives better, adding, In the right context, shared massage therapy would certainly enhance the human-animal bond and be a win for everybody involved!

At our own treatment, I felt that. At one point during the session, the masseuse who was working on me started to knead my tense shoulders, and while normally Id be focused on the pain that comes with relieving troublesome knots, this time I was rubbing Sophies ears, passing that healing energy on.

Were electromagnetic beings: everything we do involves energy, bodyworker Goldstein explains. Anyone with a dog knows how easily a pet can pick up on the way we feel, sometimes before were even aware that were feeling anything specific at all. This canine intuition is one of the major pluses of dog companionship: Its proof of the infinite depths of love of which only dogs seem capable.

Bringing that relationship into a therapeutic session designed to heal can be highly effective. The one thing that loves you unconditionally is on the table with you, Goldstein says, explaining how this eases the client into a deeper state of relaxation. That parasympathetic responsethats when the body heals. So if youre coming in for pain or trauma, now youre in a state where youre more ready for that healing.

Perhaps that explains the uptick in wellness services designed to include dogs, from L.A.s YogaForce, which offers doga, to the Hotel DeLuxe in Portland, Oregon, which has created a proper English afternoon tea just for guests and their dogs. And while treatments like the one I did at Paws Upwhich has been doing this for more than 13 yearsare still niche, the trend appears to be gaining traction. Last year Ubika Spa in Sydney, Australia, ran a successful one-day event with human-dog couples massages, while Hand2Paws, a house-call service in Californias Orange County, has a Canine & Companion Massage package on its menu of predominantly dog-focused massage services.

Dog massageas in, just the dog receiving a treatmenthas risen in popularity over the past few years, according to Greenstein. Veterinary researchers are focusing more attention on its potential benefits: altering levels of key neurotransmitters (like dopamine and serotonin), improving blood flow to tissues, reducing muscle spasms, and increasing flexibility, as just a few examples. She says performing a massage on your own dog can help your human-pet bond, with the physical contact increasing trust, and decreasing anxiety and fearfulness.

Had I known this before my couples massage with Sophie, maybe I would have been less surprised to see her instantly relax under the hands of our masseuse. My dog is very sweet and loving but is deeply loyal to me, and she typically takes a long time to move beyond ambivalence about other people, let alone seek their affection. But Goldstein wasnt surprised to hear about Sophies shift in behavior. If the client has a nervous or anxious demeanor, the bodywork I facilitate can have a huge impact on the client, and you can see the pet settle down right along with their owner. So if the owner is calm and happy, that pet is calm and happy.

And it was true: Sophie and I departed our massage session relaxed. Her initial angst from being locked in a hot, strange room abated as soon as I settled in for my massage, allowing her to reap the full benefits of the experience when her turn came up. That night she seemed more relaxed than she had in months. Is her relationship with her little brother perfect? Not quite. But as time goes on, I can feel the tension start to melt.

Ali Wunderman is a freelance writer, wildlife photographer, and unabashed lover of all things canine. Originally from San Francisco, she has since traded in skyscrapers for the big skies of Montana, alongside her husband, Michael, and their two very cute dogs, Sophie and Vinny.

Valentines Day gets a bad rap. Its become a punchline, a cliche, a cash cow for 1-800-Flowers.com and Godiva. But in these troubled times, shouldnt we embrace the one occasion our culture has that is devoted to pure love and affection? This week were reclaiming it with unconventional takes, off-label objects of affection, and an ode toTwitter? This is My Kind of Valentine.

Originally Appeared on Glamour
DES MOINES  For a third consecutive cycle, Iowas first-in-the-nation presidential precinct caucuses featured an error or delay in reporting results.

Official results from Mondays Democratic Iowa caucuses, the kickoff of the process that ultimately selects the nations next president, were delayed as the state party dealt with inconsistencies in the reporting.

As of midnight, the Iowa Democratic Party had released no official results even though most precinct caucuses were finished.

Black Hawk County Democrats were voicing frustration Monday as precinct chairs attempting to call in caucus results to Des Moines were put on hold for 30 minutes or more.

Precinct workers were returning stands and caucus cards to the downtown Waterloo party headquarters and had been instructed to try emailing the results to the state party.

No full Black Hawk County results were available as of 10 p.m. on caucus night.

Precinct leaders across the state said they had issues using the app that was designed to report results to the state party, and also had issues reaching the state party in order to use backup systems.

Elesha Gayman, chairwoman of the Scott County Democrats, said late Monday she was at a local union hall in Davenport collecting the vote tallies from precincts around the county. She was aware of only one precinct chair who had been able to successfully use the app to report results.

At about 10:15 p.m., Gayman said she had collected the results from 17 precincts and was waiting to report them. She said shed been on hold for about 30 minutes.

Its definitely put a strain on the system, she said.

The delay in reporting official results came on a night when the state party planned to alter the way it reported caucus results.

For the first time, the party planned to release not only the final number of state delegate equivalents earned by each candidate, but the number of participants who lined up for each candidate in the first and final rounds of caucusing.

We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results, the state party said in a statement. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report. This is simply a reporting issue; the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.

It is the third consecutive cycle the state parties have had an issue reporting caucus results.

In 2012, Iowa Republicans reported late on caucus night that Mitt Romney won a close race over Rick Santorum. After a recount, it was discovered Santorum had actually beaten Romney.

In 2016, Iowa Democrats did not report the results of a historically close race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders until the early morning hours the next day.

While Republican President Donald Trump mocked Iowa Democrats in a late-night statement, Republican Party of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann implored Americans to be patient while Iowa Democrats sort out the caucus results.

Accuracy is so much more important (than timely reporting, Kaufmann said during an interview on WHO-TV in Des Moines. This is transparent. The entire world is going to be able to check these numbers and audit these results.  Accuracy should take precedence here.

The kerfuffle in reporting Mondays results could all but eliminate the impact of the results, as Iowa Democrats gathered to choose a nominee to face Trump.

Early reporting from precincts across the state suggested encouraging results for Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, and a difficult night for Joe Biden.

Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar also appeared in the run for top-4 finishes.

But without official results as of late Monday evening, the candidates gave generic speeches and pledged to move on to New Hampshire, whose first-in-the-nation primary election is next Tuesday, February 11.

We dont know all the results, but we know by the time its all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation. Because by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious, Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, told his supporters late Monday evening.

Sanders also expressed an optimistic view of the Iowa results  whenever they arrive.

When those results are announced, I have a feeling were going to be doing very good here in Iowa, Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont, told his supporters. The message that Iowa has sent to the nation, the message shared by the American people, is that we want a government that represents all of us, not just wealthy campaign contributors and the 1%.

Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, said her campaign is one step closer to winning, and Klobuchar, a U.S. senator from Minnesota, proclaimed her campaign has beat the odds every step of the way.

Biden, the former vice president, promised his supporters, Were going to get this done. 

On to New Hampshire.

Courier Staff Writer Tim Jamison contributed to this article.

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SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 4 February 2020 - Since January 2016, all Singaporeans aged 25 years and above can use their government-funded $500 SkillsFuture Credit to enrol in courses and enrich their future. Individuals can select from a wide array of SkillsFuture Credit-eligible courses to help develop and sharpen their skills.





To keep up with today's digital marketing landscape, marketers need to stay relevant and upgrade their skillset. For those looking to enhance their digital proficiency, Impossible Marketing, a leading Digital Marketing Agency in Singapore, offers 6 digital marketing courses which are 100% payable using SkillsFuture Credit.





Apart from the credits, individuals can also benefit from UTAP (Union Training Assistance Programme) funding support. Exclusive to NTUC members, UTAP provides individual skills upgrading accounts to help defray the cost of training and encourage continual skills development -- capped at $250 per calendar year. As the courses at Impossible Marketing are also NTUC-UTAP approved, NTUC members can enrol in and receive 50% unfunded course fee support.





Impossible Marketing's courses cover popular topics such as SEO Marketing, Google Ads, Google Analytics, Facebook Marketing, E-commerce and Wordpress Web Design.





Participants can look forward to learn through practical examples and case studies from real life practitioners who have managed digital marketing campaigns for some of the biggest brands in Singapore. One of the most popular courses is SEO marketing where Impossible Marketing walks the talk by ranking their own website (www.impossible.sg) to the 1st page of Google search for competitive keywords like "SEO Singapore", "SEO Services Singapore" and "Digital Marketing Singapore".





Meanwhile, its Google Ads course covers actionable strategies including keyword research, content creation, biddings tools and competitor analysis to optimize the campaign. Participants will get to view an actual Google ads account optimization strategy and will be given a demo account to try on their own. Till date, Impossible Marketing has managed more than SGD $3.5 million Google ad spend.

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For more information, please visit: https://www.impossible.sg/our-courses/




"Our incredible franchisees are the reason our brand continues to outperform other MSPs in the marketplace, said Dan Shapero, president of TeamLogic, Inc.

TeamLogic IT, a franchise network of managed IT services providers, reported the following outstanding results achieved in 2019:



The franchise network opened its 200th location and now has offices in 35 states plus Canada and Puerto Rico.

Comparable office sales were up 26%.

Network-wide sales were up 29%.

In addition, further validating TeamLogic ITs reputation as a leading technology company are the following notable recognitions:

Franchise Times magazine recognized the company in their Fast & Serious 2020

Entrepreneur magazine recognized the company as a Fastest Growing Franchise

Kaseya honored the company as the fastest growing MSP in the industry

Forbes Magazine ranked the company as the 4th best franchise to buy in the low investment category in its 2019 list of Best Franchises to Buy, compiled in collaboration with FRANdata

Channel Futures ranked the company as one of the leading MSPs in the world in its MSP501 listing. TeamLogic IT has ranked in this prestigious list for six consecutive years.

It is such a pleasure to lead an organization of franchisees who excel at operating and growing their businesses every day. Their hard work and commitment to their business, their employees and their clients is the reason our brand continues to outperform other MSPs in the marketplace, said Dan Shapero, president of TeamLogic, Inc.

TeamLogic IT serves the technology needs of companies of all sizes, and is uniquely focused on proactive, preventative and responsive IT delivered with the highest commitment to quality customer service. We focus on business first, then technology, so that our end-to-end solution fits the needs of your organization.

About TeamLogic IT

TeamLogic IT is a national provider of technology solutions that businesses rely on for best-in-class managed IT services. Local offices provide companies of all sizes with the IT support they need to minimize downtime and improve productivity. Services include proactive cybersecurity protection, cloud computing, backup and disaster recovery and business continuity. With 200 independently owned and operated locations across North America, TeamLogic IT fills the void in the marketplace for a trusted technology advisor.

The TeamLogic IT franchise opportunity appeals to entrepreneurial executives with experience in technology, business and sales management. Interested parties are encouraged to visit http://www.teamlogicfranchising.com.

Contact: Denise Denton, Vice President, Marketing (ddenton@teamlogicit.com) at 949-582-6300, or Dan Shapero, President (dshapero@teamlogicit.com) or visit http://www.TeamLogicIT.com, or http://www.teamlogicfranchising.com.
One of the victims of last weekends shooting at a downtown Airbnb was a Toronto rap artist who had appeared in music videos with another local rapper who was shot to death in B.C. in December.

Tyronne Noseworthy, 19, who goes by the name fourty4double0 and is one-half of the rap duo Tallup Twinz, was among three men who were killed Friday at a condo being rented on Airbnb at Queens Wharf Road and Fort York Boulevard. Two other men were injured in the shooting, which happened in a unit and spilled into the hallway.

Just over a month ago, rapper Keeshawn Brown, 18, better known as Why-S, was shot dead inside a house in Surrey, B.C., on Dec. 23.

Both Noseworthy and Browns music videos, including collaborations between the artists, were posted under the banner of UpTop Movement Inc., a rap collective in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood.

Photos of the rappers standing together can be also found posted to Noseworthys Instagram and UpTops social media page.

UpTop did not return an email request for comment.

Toronto police have confirmed Noseworthy was among the three men killed in last weekends shooting. Police said the shooters are among the dead, but only two of the deaths are considered homicides, the citys seventh and eighth so far this year.

Const. Alex Li says the third death remains under investigation. Police have said they found two guns at the scene of the shooting.

Jalen Colley, 21, and Joshua Gibson-Skeir, 20, both of Brampton, Ont., were identified as the two others who died.

In a news release issued Monday evening, police said Colley died from a gunshot wound to his throat and Gibson-Skeir died from a gunshot wound to his abdomen. Noseworthy died from a gunshot wound to his head, police said.

A fourth person suffered serious injuries after being shot while a fifth person suffered minor injuries.

Toronto police spokesperson Allison Sparkes said it will take time for police to release more details due to the complexity of the case.

This is an active and ongoing investigation and due to its complexity, the investigation will include extensive ballistics and forensic testing, video review and witness accounts. We expect to be able to provide an update on the matter in the coming weeks, Sparkes said.

In Browns case, RCMP have said investigators are trying to determine how long Brown had been in B.C. when the shooting occurred and are trying to stitch together a timeline of his activities leading up to his death.

Frank Jang, spokesperson for Surrey RCMPs homicide unit, said, We cant comment on suspects in this case as its an active investigation. I can tell you we are pursuing a number of leads and are making progress. If theres anyone with information still out there, we urge them to contact us.

Another Toronto rap artist, 24-year-old Jahquar Stewart, known as Bvlly, was shot and killed in Oshawa on Dec. 24. He appeared on a 2019 mixtape of new tracks featuring up-and-coming Toronto rappers that also featured a song by Tallup Twinz and Why-S.

The UpTop Movement Inc. YouTube page also hosts videos by Liban Randall, widely known by his stage name Robin Banks, who was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition after being shot outside the Cameo Lounge on Steeles Avenue West, near Weston Road, in the early hours of April 4, 2017. Banks survived and continued shooting music videos, including a June 28, 2017 release dubbed One of Mines featuring Tallup Twinz.

The UpTop page indicates the music videos, many of which have surpassed one million views, released by the aforementioned artists are licensed to YouTube by TuneCore (on behalf of Uptop Movement Inc.), Create Music Publishing, and 2 Music Rights Societies.

with files from Wendy Gillis, Alex McKeen and The Canadian Press

Jason Miller is a breaking news reporter based in Toronto. Reach him on email: jasonmiller@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @millermotionpic

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London terrorist Sudesh Amman was freed from jail despite telling inmates he wanted to kill an MP.

A prisoner claimed Amman told him he wanted to copy the murder of Jo Cox, saying: 'The only way to get these filthy non-believers out of Syria is to take out MPs like that white guy did with the lady in 2016.'

Official sources said the fanatic associated with extremists behind bars and praised the London Bridge terror attack in November.

Ten days after his release Amman was shot dead in the midst of a knife rampage in Streatham on Sunday.

He was being trailed by a team of between 20 and 25 officers because Scotland Yard and MI5 were convinced he would carry out a murderous attack after his release.

Sudesh Amman reportedly told another prison inmate that he wanted to kill an MP while at Belmarsh prison

A prisoner claimed that terrorist Amman told him he wanted to copy the murder of Jo Cox

Official sources said the fanatic associated with extremists behind bars at Belmarsh (pictured) and praised the London Bridge terror attack in November

Police confirmed last night that Amman (pictured as a teen) was shot dead just 60 seconds after he launched his assault

It is thought that around five surveillance officers would have been directly trailing Amman (pictured as a child) at any one time

The 20-year-old was one of only ten convicted terrorists thought to pose enough threat to be kept under 24-hour surveillance by the Met's elite SO15 unit. They trailed him on foot, with unmarked cars and motorcycles in close support.

Police confirmed last night that Amman was shot dead just 60 seconds after he launched his assault. Officers had been on his tail since he left an address near the attack in south London.

A security source said: 'We had serious concerns about his mindset before he went in and his time in prison didn't alleviate those concerns, it was a consistently concerning picture. The fact that there were armed people involved in that operation, that is not routine.

'By no stretch are all surveillance teams armed. It is resource intensive and only afforded where there is significant need.'

The Times reported that the fellow inmate at Belmarsh in south-east London said Amman was a volatile and outspoken extremist who 'wanted to do something real, something organised like the [IRA] used to'.

The Muslim convert convicted for drugs offences and violence said Amman was 'strange' and prone to mood swings and jihadist outbursts. He added: 'I've served time with a lot of convicted terrorists, but this guy was definitely the scariest  his eyes had no life in them.'

It is thought that around five surveillance officers would have been directly trailing Amman at any one time. They would have been in close touch with command and backup units. In other developments:

Britain was facing an 'unprecedented situation of severe gravity' as ministers vowed to bring in emergency laws to end the automatic release of up to 220 terrorists;

Sources said Amman failed to attend de-radicalisation courses in prison.

He was described by school friends as a dope-smoking weirdo who vowed: 'When I grow up I am going to be a terrorist';

His ex-girlfriend described their relationship as 'one of the worst experiences of my life';

One of the two people he stabbed was revealed to be a nursery teacher who had been out for coffee with her friends;

Police raided the home of Amman's associate, a drug dealer who is understood to have met the terrorist while playing video games online.

A short time after leaving prison Amman had scouted the Streatham High Road hardware store where he stole the knife and launched his attack.

He returned there on Sunday afternoon and dived inside, possibly realising he was being followed and hoping he could catch officers off guard and carry out his deadly plans. However armed police were just 50 yards away.

They sprang into action and stopped his stabbing spree. Amman, who was wearing a fake suicide vest, was shot dead on the pavement outside a Boots chemist. Sources revealed that Amman's initial visit to the shop was a key factor in the decision to ramp up surveillance to an armed, 24-hour operation. The shop sells products including knifes and electrical items.

Armed police shot dead extremist Amman after he grabbed a knife from a shop and stabbed a man and a woman in a brutal high-street rampage in Streatham, South London, yesterday

Amman lays dead on the pavement on Streatham High Road after being shot dead by undercover police officers

Police had been on high alert since January 23, when the Islamic extremist walked out of Belmarsh after serving half of a 40-month sentence for possessing and distributing terrorist documents.

Amman had been staying at a bail hostel off the High Road. Richard Walton, former head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, said the covert operation was a 'major and complex undertaking' with a large number of officers.

Police and MI5 are able to monitor a maximum of only ten individuals because of the extraordinary cost, which is put at more than 2million a year.

Weekly meetings are held to determine which suspects should receive the most intense and costly surveillance. Firearms officers are called in only if a deadly attack is considered imminent. On Amman's release, 25 licence conditions were drawn up to control almost every aspect of his life. These are thought to have included a curfew and prohibitions on him contacting other extremists.

Police officers inspect the Sudesh Amman, 19, lying face down on Streatham High Road at around 2pm on Sunday (left) and officers suddenly backing off (right)

Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman is pictured as a young boy while holding a vacuum cleaner in his living room

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'Revealing details of this surveillance operation could undermine police tactics used to investigate terrorists and other criminals across the UK.

'Detectives from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command continue to carry out fast-time enquiries into the circumstances of the attack.

'We have identified around 50 witnesses from whom we are gathering statements, and we have recovered and are trawling hours of CCTV footage.'

Amman could have been forced to stay in prison had he been jailed just four months later. Rules around his offence of possessing terrorist material were changed in April 2019 to require a parole board interview before release.

He was sentenced the previous December.
Baltimore-area voters go to the polls Tuesday to pick Democratic and Republican nominees to serve out the remaining term of Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, whose death left a vacancy in one of the bluest parts of the state.

There are 24 Democrats and eight Republicans vying for their party's nominations after a brief campaign that centered on how to help Baltimore and, for Democrats, who would best continue Cummings' work as a civil rights leader and a watchdog over President Donald Trump.

Top contenders among the Democrats are expected to be Kweisi Mfume, who held the House seat before Cummings; Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, former head of the state Democratic Party and the late congressman's widow; and state Sen. Jill Carter, a former public defender with a strong profile in the State House and the support of the party's most liberal flank.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Maryland's 7th District, which includes parts of Baltimore City and Baltimore and Howard counties. The nominees will compete in a special general election on April 28, the day of the 2020 Maryland primary. In a district with about four Democrats for every Republican, the Democratic nominee will be heavily favored.

The major candidates have each offered plans for how to curb violence in Baltimore and reduce the record murder rate, including prevention and intervention programs, more money for law enforcement, job creation, and keeping mentally ill people out of prisons.

The two most well-known candidates in the race come with national reputations as liberal advocates and civil rights leaders - but also some baggage.

Rockeymoore Cummings has tried to overcome a reputation as an outsider in a city that was deeply and closely identified with her late husband, who died Oct. 17 at 68. She has faced questions about Democratic Party spending while she was in charge, and about sloppy accounting and questionable tax filings by her policy consulting firm and a related nonprofit organization she also heads.

Mfume's departure from the NAACP, where he was president from 1996 to 2004, has also come under scrutiny, with the Baltimore Sun reporting last month that the organization's executive committee was dissatisfied with key aspects of his performance.

While at the organization, Mfume also faced allegations of workplace discrimination, with an outside attorney hired by the NAACP finding that the employee who made the claim could have a credible case.

The Maryland State and District of Columbia AFL-CIO is supporting Mfume in a sign of his popularity with the traditional Democratic establishment. EMILY's List, which endorses Democratic women who favor abortion rights, backed Rockeymoore Cummings, noting there are currently no women representing Maryland in Congress.

Carter, a liberal who supports Medicare-for-all, has the support of Ben Jealous, the 2018 Democratic nominee for governor, and Our Revolution, a nonprofit political organization founded by presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. She was endorsed by The Baltimore Sun last weekend.

Mfume raised the most money of all the candidates as of mid-January, with $266,098, followed by community activist Saafir Rabb with $217,273, and Rockeymoore Cummings with $208,008. Michael Higginbotham, a longtime professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, raised $109,677 and loaned his campaign about $500,000.

Carter raised $54,219, the filings state. Democratic State Dels. Talmadge Branch and Terri Hill, proven vote-getters who also are running, raised $57,515 and $49,193, respectively.

Some notable donors to Mfume include NAACP board member Hazel Dukes of New York, Baltimore attorney Billy Murphy and David Wilson, president of Morgan State University, where Mfume is chairman of the Board of Regents.

Rockeymoore Cummings collected donations from Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, longtime activist and former state party chair Terry Lierman, actor Rosie O'Donnell, and April McClain-Delaney, the wife of former Maryland congressman John Delaney.

The candidates in the special election are also registered to run in the April 28 primary contest, the winners of which will compete in November for a full two-year congressional term. But the General Assembly passed a bill, which Gov. Larry Hogan, R, signed on Monday, that allows candidates to withdraw from the April 28 primary by Thursday.

_ _ _

The Washington Post's Erin Cox contributed to this report.
Those vicious winds that tore through western Montana most of Saturday seemed to have a benevolent side to them.

For all the thousands of businesses and homes that lost power from Lincoln County to the top of the Bitterroot Valley, no lives were lost, no structures burned down and most of the damage was limited to broken fences, some crunched cars and housetops, and dozens of downed or broken power poles and lines.

When you think about the odds with that many trees snapping off or being completely uprooted and not really hitting anything significant, I think we can thank our lucky stars, Chief Chris Newman of Missoula Rural Fire said.

The high winds moved in on a day when temperatures set records around the region, reaching 60 in some areas, including Missoula. It was the earliest date in a calendar year to hit 60 since records were kept at the airport starting in 1948.

The most spectacular impact was the toppling of a southbound semi-truck hauling a pallet of produce just north of Stevensville at about 10:20 a.m. It blocked all four lanes of traffic before it was finally removed at about 2 p.m. The driver, a 52-year-old woman from Missoula, was transported to the hospital with unspecified injuries.

A downed power line north of the crash delayed response time by emergency crews. The Montana Highway Department issued an advisory for emergency travel only on Highway 93 in the Bitterroot.

The storm front hit the northwestern corner of the state early Saturday morning, with Flathead Electric Co-op reporting it dispatched its first crew in the Libby area at 3:30 a.m. The winds worked their way south to Flathead, Sanders and Lake counties. Newman said Missoula Electrics busiest stretch started at 10:20 a.m. Saturday and continued until 5:23 p.m.

Point 6 above Montana Snowbowl at 7,900 feet absorbed a 99 mph blast. A weather station on Mormon Peak set up after the Lolo Peak fire in 2017 recorded an 81 mph gust.

Down in the valleys gusts reached 63 mph in Hot Springs, and topped 50 mph at Thompson Falls, Plains, Finley Point, Bonner and Garrison.

It was pretty crazy, Joe Smith, chief operating officer for Missoula Electric Co-op, said Monday afternoon. If you were to drive down Carlton Creek East (near Florence) youd see trees on houses and lots and lots of trees down.

A tree hit a transformer in Stevensville about 8:30 a.m. and reports of trees in lines and outages continued throughout the next 24 hours, Jo Dee Black of NorthWestern Energy said.

Crews from Hamilton, Missoula and Helena worked through the night Saturday and through Sunday to restore service. Even though NorthWestern increased staffing at its customer service center, call waits were abnormally long and the companys outage map was taken down at the peak of the emergency.

Black said Missoula area crews typically work 16 to 24 hours in a weekend. Saturday and Sunday they worked 480 hours. The 47 power outages on those two days around Missoula compared to just 20 in January, Black said.

During a 12-hour period, NorthWestern Energy received 400 outage reports in its Montana service area.

Sunday morning Mass at St. Ann Catholic Church in Bonner was held in the dark, with the congregation holding candles. Power wasnt restored at the church and rectory until noon on Monday.

Missoula Electric Co-op said some 1,631 members were affected by power outages at the peak of the winds at 3 p.m., mostly in the Lolo-Florence area. The Co-op also reported outages in Alberton, Bonner/Potomac and the Seeley Lake/Cooper's Lake areas.

"We had four broken poles and numerous downed power lines," Co-op spokesperson Kelsey Lodge said. "One MEC member had a tree fall on his home up Highway 200, which took down one of our lines in the process."

All power was restored by late Sunday afternoon.

MEC used an all-hands-on-deck approach, as we do in any widespread outage situation, Lodge said.

Smith said MECs Florence substation, which serves about 1,000 people, was out for a good part of the day.

We had some services out close to 36 hours, he said. I had guys who came in Saturday at 8 a.m. and literally worked straight through until 5 (p.m.) on Sunday. It got rainy and cold and snowy, but we had every single person who was available out here. We had engineers in the office to keep track of stuff. I was jumping around going from crew to crew. Even Mark Hayden, our general manager, was in the office on Saturday.

An outage south of Lolo left more than 1,300 people without power for several hours, according to Ravalli Electric Co-op.

Black said NorthWestern Energys service area in Great Falls and Lewistown experienced extreme winds Saturday as well.

But that was a different weather system than the one that hit the west side of the mountains, meteorologist Ryan Leach of the National Weather Service said Monday.

This was associated with a strong cold front that was moving in from the north, Leach said.

The unparalleled warm temperature contributed to the high winds, he said, helping the atmosphere mix up so stronger winds aloft came down to the surface.

After the front hit, snow fell overnight into Sunday in most areas. Sunday's high temperatures dropped into the 30s and readings were in the low teens by Monday morning.

Leach said no more wind storms are on the horizon.

"We're looking at snow coming in next. Right now we have a potential of the biggest snowstorm since November, which isn't saying much," he said.

A 24-hour snow storm is brewing starting in the wee hours Wednesday. Missoula can expect more than 3 inches in the valley, Leach said.

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The man who forced a Jamaica-bound flight to turn back in a stunt about the Coronavirus is an aspiring Toronto rapper who said he pulled the prank in an effort to get famous.

Going viral goes bad, James Potok posted on his Facebook page Tuesday, attaching a story about the Monday incident that caused a delay for two WestJet flights.

Potok, 28, has been charged with one count of mischief and breach of recognizance, according to a media release from Peel Regional Police.

Potok, who lives in Vaughan, was one of 243 passengers who were headed to Montego Bay from Toronto when he stood up and made the unfounded claim about having been to China recently and contracting the Coronavirus, police said. The flight crew decided to return to Pearson Airport.

Upon landing, Potok was medically examined and was deemed to be symptom free, according to police.

WestJet had scheduled two additional flights for Tuesday to make up for the previously cancelled flights as a result of the incident.

Potok, whose artist name is Potok Philippe, has some of his music listed on Spotify and Apple Music with hundreds of followers. His YouTube channel has just under 1,000 subscribers.

I was going to post it to Instagram, send it to 6ixbuzz so it goes viral, Potok said in an interview with 680news on Tuesday, referring to a popular Instagram account.

He added he was very, very sorry for his ignorance, that he simply wanted to get attention and didnt think his actions were illegal since its something he has done in the past.

Many comments on his social media accounts called him out for causing an unnecessary delay in search of attention.

Potoks mother, Eve, told the Star in an email that she hasnt been able to speak with her son since the incident, and added that the family was against his behaviour on the airplane.

We do not condone James behavior (sic) and we do not encourage these kinds of posts to engage in social media. Now that it is over James will have to answer to his behavior, she wrote.

Potok is scheduled to appear in a Brampton court next Monday.

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Tuesday, Feb. 4

VALENTINES PARTY

The Families Leading Our Community and Zero to Five BSB will host a Valentine's Day party for children and meeting for adults at 6:30 p.m. at the Butte 4-Cs, 101 N. Main St. This is a free event, including dinner and childcare. Adults will talk about Urban Thinkscapes, a community project that will help create spaces for children and families around Butte. Transportation is available; make arrangements ahead by calling 406-723-4019.

STORY HOUR

Story time subject is gingerbread at 6 p.m. at the Butte Public Library, 226 W. Broadway St., in the childrens room. Youngsters will listen to books, sing songs, and do an activity. All ages are welcome. Details: Cathy at 406-723-3361.

BEGINNING JAPANESE

The Butte Public Library, 226 W. Broadway St., will offer a beginning Japanese class at 6 p.m. in the Carle Gallery. All ages and abilities are welcome. Details: 406-723-3361 or visit www.buttepubliclibrary.info.

CLUBS AND MEETINGS

BUTTE

An Al-Anon business meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Comfort Inn.

Mining City Squares is hosting Square Dance Lessons from 7 to 8:30 p.m at Aldersgate Methodist Church, 1621 Thornton Ave Butte. Details: 208-553-2727 or 208-503-0551.

Silver Bow Kiwanis Club meets at noon at Perkins for discussion of club projects and events, lunch, and a speaker.

Butte Exchange Club meets at noon at 16 E. Granite St. (second floor). Details: Steve 782-4253.

Butte School District #1 will have a policy meeting at 9 a.m. at the Administration Building, 111 N. Montana St.

Loosely Knit Club meets from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Butte Public Library to knit, crochet, or craft together in a welcoming and supportive environment. The group welcomes new members and drop-ins.

Retired teacher will have a noon luncheon at the Butte Country Club, 3400 Elizabeth Warren Ave. For more details, contant Louis Salle, 406-490-3122, or loisjsalle@gmail.com.

Open AA meetings start at 7:30 p.m. at the United Congregational Church, 2945 Bayard St. Details: 406-560-7330.

The Fine Line Dancers are restarting class for beginners and beginners-plus starting at 6 p.m. at the K. C. Hall, 224 W. Park St. The cost is $4 per class. Details: 406-560-1934.

Lego Build is from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Butte Public Library's Teen Zone.

ANACONDA

Emotions Anonymous, a 12-step group, meets at 7 p.m. in the library of the Hearthstone Apartments, 400 Oak St. Details: 406-563-5402 or emotionsanonymous.org.

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Comparison of dingoes from different regions of Australia. From left to right, Desert, Fraser, and Alpine-type dingoes. Credit: Ali Bama, Kongsak Sumano and Heather Ruth Rose/shutterstock.

A new University of Sydney study has revealed differences in skull shapes among dingoes from different Australian regions, lending support for the idea of two dingo subgroups, rather than three.

Department of Archaeology Ph.D. candidate Loukas Koungoulos found that dingoes from northwestern Australia, defined as encompassing mostly Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory and inland Queensland, all have very similarly shaped skullslong, thin, and relatively flat.

This contrasts with dingoes from the southeastern regiondefined as southern coastal Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoriawhich tend to have broader skulls with more prominent faces. Compared to their relatives from northwestern parts of Australia, their skulls are more similar to those of domestic dogs and wild New Guinea singing dogs.

Mr Koungoulos said these differences could be adaptive, due to crossbreeding with domestic dogs, or could indicate different ancestry.

"An older theory suggests three dingo variantstropical, desert and alpine.

"My research, however, which shows little difference between tropical and desert dingoes, but great difference between them and those from alpine upland areas, supports recent genetic work that suggests there are just two dingo subgroups."

How to map a dingo skull

Using 3-D geometric morphometricsthe analysis of form using coordinates rather than straight linesMr Koungoulos mapped adult dingo skulls that he obtained from museum collections across Australia, including at the University of Sydney.

"This method can detect and describe aspects of shape that traditional measurements often cannot," he explained.

Most of his samples were from animals collected from 1940 to 1999 in pest control and scientific research contexts, and only those with known locations302 in totalwere used.

Where to next?

Published in journal Zoomorphology, the research forms a starting point from which Mr Koungoulos plans to analyse whether the skull differences are indeed caused by ancestral divergence, not crossbreeding with domesticated dogs. This will involve studying collections of genetically verified pure dingo skulls to eliminate the possible influence of dogs.

Explore further Dingoes should remain a distinct species in Australia

More information: Koungoulos, L. Old dogs, new tricks: 3-D geometric analysis of cranial morphology supports ancient population substructure in the Australian dingo. Zoomorphology (2020). Koungoulos, L. Old dogs, new tricks: 3-D geometric analysis of cranial morphology supports ancient population substructure in the Australian dingo.(2020). doi.org/10.1007/s00435-019-00475-z Kylie M. Cairns et al. New insights on the history of canids in Oceania based on mitochondrial and nuclear data, Genetica (2016). DOI: 10.1007/s10709-016-9924-z
Though the UK's Crown Court's judgement did not explicitly name former President John Dramani Mahama as the Government Official 1 in the infamous Airbus bribery scandal, his Special Aide, Lawyer Edudzi Tamakloe has already jumped to his defense.



The Crown Court at Southwark in the United Kingdom passed judgment on 31st January 2020, between the Director of the Serious Fraud Office and Airbus SE, in which the European multinational aerospace corporation was fined $3.9 billion for the payment of bribes to secure deals in five countries, including Ghana.



The London High Court found Airbus guilty and imposed a fine of three billion pounds (3bn) as penalties.



Airbus was charged with five counts of failing to prevent bribery, having used a network of secret agents to pay large-scale backhanders to officials in foreign countries to land high-value contracts.



With regards to Ghana, the report further stated that the planemaker, according to Section 7 of UKs Bribery Act 2010, "between 2009 and 2015 engaged intermediary 5, a close relative of a high-ranking elected Ghanaian government official (Government Official 1), as its BP in respect of the proposed sale of three aircraft to the government of Ghana. A number of Airbus employees knew that intermediary 5 was a close relative of Government Official 1, a key decision-maker in respect of the sales.



"A number of Airbus employees made or promised success-based commission payments of approximately 5 million to the intermediary. False documentation was created by or with the agreement of Airbus employees in order to support and disguise these payments. The payments were intended to induce or reward improper favor by the Government Official 1 towards Airbus.



Following news of the ruling, Office of the President charged the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, to with immediate effect delve into the bottom of the Airbus bribery scandal and investigate the complicity of any public official, "past or present" who may have been involved in the saga.



A statement signed by Communications Director at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, stated that these investigations are expected to be conducted in collaboration with the United Kingdom authorities.



Commenting on the Airbus scandal on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Edudzi Tamakloe was insistent that; "neither John Dramani Mahama nor any of his officials has taken even 1 pound from an intermediary involved in this transaction. The agreed report we are all basing our argument on has not stated anywhere that this intermediary on a particular day gave 1 pound to John Mahama or 1 pound to the Defence Minister or any official from the Ministry . . . nothing of that sort happened, but we welcome the investigation of the President.



He further argued the ruling emphasized in Article 3 based on the European Union Convention on Human Rights that it is not proper to reveal the identity of the persons involved in a criminal matter until their responses are heard; stressing that the Airbus scandal is not over as investigations are ongoing.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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The Uganda meeting was kept secret but grabbed headlines late Monday when the Israeli leader announced the two had began talks on normalizing relations between their countries

A surprise meeting between Sudan's leader and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stirred controversy in Sudan on Tuesday, with the government saying it wasn't notified ahead of time and critics lambasting the talks on social media.

Others said the meeting would improve Sudan's standing with the United States and help Khartoum shed its pariah image. For Israel, it was a major diplomatic breakthrough with an Arab African state, two days after the Arab League rejected President Donald Trump's Mideast plan.

The Uganda meeting between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of Sudan's transitional government, and Netanyahu was kept secret but grabbed headlines late Monday when the Israeli leader announced the two had began talks on normalizing relations between their countries.

Sudan is desperate to lift sanctions linked to its listing by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terror _ a key step toward ending its isolation and rebuilding the economy after the popular uprising last year that toppled the country's autocrat Omar al-Bashir and installed the joint civilian-military sovereign council, headed by Burhan.

But Khartoum is also a longtime member of the Arab League and joined other members in rejecting Trump's plan at a meeting in Cairo on Saturday. The U.S. plan, heavily in favor of Israel, would grant the Palestinians limited self-rule in parts of the occupied West Bank, while allowing Israel to annex all its settlements there and keep nearly all of east Jerusalem.

From Uganda, Netanyahu tweeted: ``History!'' while his office said the meeting with Burhan came at the invitation of Uganda. The statement said Netanyahu ``believes that Sudan is moving in a new and positive direction`` _ an apparent reference to a possible removal from the terror list.

``We agreed to begin cooperation that will lead to normalization of relations between the two countries,'' Netanyahu said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the Burhan-Netanyahu talks in Uganda, and ``thanked the Sudanese leader for his leadership in normalizing ties with Israel,'' according to a statement from State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus.

In a phone call a day earlier, Pompeo had invited Burhan to visit the U.S. Ortagus said Burhan's visit to Washington would take place later in the year, without providing details.

The State Department said Pompeo and Burhan ``underscored their shared desire to improve Sudan's active participation in the region and international communities and their commitment to work towards a stronger, healthier U.S.-Sudan bilateral relationship.''

On social media, critics in Sudan denounced the meeting, accusing Burhan of trying to get on the Trump administration's good side through Israel. Others applauded the meeting, arguing it was good for Sudan's future.

``Our interest is above everything and Sudan first,`` tweeted Mubarak Ardol, former spokesman of a rebel faction of Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North that was part of the pro-democracy movement that led to al-Bashir's ouster.

Prominent activist Amjed Farid said Burhan had no mandate from the people of Sudan to offer Netanyahu a ``promise of that`` which is not his to give.

Information Minister Faisal Mohamed Saleh, who also serves as the government spokesman, said the Cabinet learned of the meeting through the media and was not consulted beforehand. ``We will wait for clarifications after`` Burhan returns home from Uganda, Saleh said.

A senior Sudanese military official said the meeting was orchestrated by the United Arab Emirates and aimed at helping remove Sudan's terror listing, which dates back to the 1990s, when Sudan briefly hosted Osama bin Laden and other wanted militants.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said Burhan agreed to meet Netanyahu because officials thought it would help ``accelerate'' the process of being removed from the terror list. He said only a ``small circle'' of top officials in Sudan, as well as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, knew about the meeting.

Sudan hosted the Arab League summit after the 1967 war that became famous for establishing the ``three no's``: No to peace with Israel, no to recognition of Israel and no to negotiations with Israel.

That consensus broke down when Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, and has further eroded in recent years as Israel has improved ties with Gulf Arab nations that share its concerns about Iran. Only two Arab states, Egypt and Jordan, have made peace with Israel.

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DES MOINES  With all eyes on Iowa, Minnesota's U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is hoping to leverage her Midwestern appeal and moderate politics to land a major win in the nation's first votes for 2020's Democratic presidential nominee.

The senator announced her presidential candidacy nearly a year ago to the date, touting her political resume, rural America know-how and history of bipartisanship to prove herself as the Democratic nominee that can bring America together in a time of divisive politics. In that year, she's garnered the support of political allies like Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, as well as a New York Times editorial board endorsement.

A year into her campaign, and high stakes to prove in Monday, Feb. 3's caucuses, Klobuchar still trailed her opponents in fifth place in CBS News/YouGov's Sunday poll of Iowans, just one day before caucus goers would make their final decisions. That day, Flanagan took the stage in Mason City, Iowa, to tell voters one last time why she believed "our Amy" was the best candidate.

"At this time when we find ourselves in a country divided, politics feels broken," Flanagan said. "I think that Sen. Klobuchar is one of the people who can help heal that divide, bring people together across lines of difference and help us move forward, help us to heal and help us to ensure that people feel safe and welcome, included and valued and that you feel hopeful once again."

With an American flag behind her and star-shaped balloons scattered throughout the banquet hall, Klobuchar then took to the stage to make her final speech before the caucuses, having to return to Washington, D.C., that night to sit in on the final hours of the U.S. Senate's impeachment trial Monday.

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Where an observer of a President Donald Trump or U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders rally would likely see crowded stadiums, chants and sign waving, Klobuchar's final speech was starkly different: For 40 minutes, she plead her case to a moderate crowd in a banquet hall, speaking instead of shouting, moving onlookers to quiet tears rather than loud cheers.

Comparing her humble Minnesota roots to Trump's Manhattan childhood, she said "the contrast between me and him couldnt be greater."

"I stand before you as the granddaughter of an iron ore miner, daughter of a teacher and newspaperman, the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Minnesota and as a candidate for president," she said. Where Trump's father loaned him millions, Klobuchar said her grandfather saved his money in a coffee can.

Also making an appearance on Sunday was Walz, who, as a former U.S. Representative, worked alongside Klobuchar in Washington before running for governor. He said that when tragedy struck Minnesota in December, when three National Guardsmen died in a helicopter accident, Klobuchar showed her true character.

At a Sunday memorial in rural Minnesota, Walz said Klobuchar  "one of the busiest people in America"  made an appearance to console the family, "then quietly leaves and goes back to work."

"The press was not invited. No one said anything (to the public)," Walz said. "But everyone in that room knew what dignity, what leadership, what compassion and what the next president needs to look like and it looks like Amy Klobuchar."

Ann Kuhlman, 76, of Mason City, attended Sundays event but said she knew Klobuchar had her vote long before. She said he finds her sincere and sensible, not just because of her Midwestern values, but because of the "life that she lived. Good times and tough times."
Burma Young Mother Killed, Three Wounded in Artillery Strike in Myanmar's Rakhine

Kyauktaw Township. / The Irrawaddy

SITTWE, Rakhine State  A 24-year-old mother was killed and three men were injured when artillery shells fell on urban areas of Kyauktaw Township in Rakhine State on Monday.

Ma Aye Aye Khaing, a mother of two children, was killed at her home in Peik The Ward.

The artillery shell hit a tree near her house and she was hit by shrapnel, Daw Ma Hla Kyi, the mother of the victim, told The Irrawaddy. The victim was survived by a 3-year-old son and a 2-month-old daughter.

Her relatives said the shell came from the direction of Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) troops stationed at Kan Gyi Shin Pagoda in the town, which often suffers civilian casualties amid fighting between the Arakan Army and Tatmadaw.

In another case, two men aged 62 and 47 were injured in their house in Pyi Taw Thar Ward. A municipal garbage truck driver, 17, was also wounded while driving his truck, according to residents.

The 47-year-old victim was seriously injured and taken to Sittwe Hospital and the two others received treatment at Kyauktaws hospital.

Peik The Ward is east of Kan Kyi Shin Pagoda near the towns entrance. Residents reported hearing gunshots on Monday morning.

The victims family members said the shots came from the direction of Kan Gyi Shin Pagoda. We dont know exactly what happened. We just heard the sound of gunshots, U Maung Hla Kyaw, a state lawmaker from Kyauktaw Township, told The Irrawaddy.

The central market closed following the incident and residents stayed at home. Four civilians were injured when Myanmars army and the Arakan Army clashed near the entrance of Kyauktaw on Dec. 28.

On Dec. 6, a fourth-grade student was killed and a woman injured in Kyauktaw.

At a press conference in Naypyitaw on Monday, Myanmar military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun confirmed the death and injuries, but said the Tatmadaw was not responsible. They were killed and injured in an exchange of fire when around 60 AA troops attacked government forces at Kan Gyi Shin Pagoda from three directions, the spokesman claimed.

He said the AA troops were wearing civilian clothing. The blame could not be put on a particular side, he said.

AA information officer Khaing Thukha said there was no fighting near Kan Gyi Shin Pagoda on Monday morning.

Myanmars military, giving the excuse for the security of the town, has deployed troops in pagodas and stupas in the town. They fire heavy and small arms whenever they want. Civilians are killed or injured. We urge international organizations [to demand Myanmars military] withdraws its weapons from towns and villages, said Khaing Thukha.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko

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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Singapore  Tue, February 4, 2020 18:35 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2062895ec 2 SE Asia Wuhan-coronavirus,Indonesian-maid,Singapore Free

Singapore on Tuesday announced the first local transmissions of the deadly coronavirus from China as a major aviation conference was scrapped due to the escalating health scare.

The Ministry of Health said it had found six additional cases, four of them involving human-to-human transmission in Singapore, bringing the total infections to 24 in the city-state.

"Though four of these cases constitute a local transmission cluster, there is as yet no evidence of widespread sustained community transmission in Singapore, the ministry said in a statement.

Two of the local transmission cases involved women working at a health products shop primarily serving Chinese tourists.

A third was one of the womens Indonesian maid.

According to The Straits Times, the maid is a 44-year-old Indonesian woman who also had no recent travel history to China. She is the domestic helper of a confirmed case, and stayed with her employer in her home in Jl. Bukit Merah. She reported symptoms on Sunday and had not left her home since then.

She was admitted to SGH on Monday.

Another was a female tour guide who had brought groups to the health shop.

In addition to the local transmissions, two cases were among the Singapore residents evacuated from Wuhan on January 30.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said that if the local transmissions escalate in the community the government is prepared to consider "measures to reduce human-to-human interaction".

The Indonesian Embassy in Singapore said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that it had received a verbal notice from Singapore's Ministry of Health about the Indonesian citizen. The statement said the embassy could not reveal her identity because of the Personal Data Protection Act.

"The Indonesian Embassy in Singapore will continue to communicate with [local] authorities about the handling [of the Indonesian patient]," it said.

Aviation convention scrapped

A major international aviation conference scheduled for the eve of next week's Singapore Airshow has been cancelled, organisers said Tuesday.

Organizers, however, said the main event, Asia's biggest airshow, will proceed as scheduled from February 11 to 16 despite the pullout of several exhibitors, many of them from China.

The aviation industry is one of the most affected by the virus outbreak after governments worldwide imposed restrictions on travel, including bans on arrivals from China.

The death toll in China stood at 425 Tuesday, exceeding the number of fatalities in the country from the outbreak in 2002-03 of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.

The World Health Organization has declared the crisis a global health emergency.
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
The 15th edition of the biennial India Auto Expo kicks off this Friday with covers going off on most concept models and vehicles on Wednesday. It is happening at a time when the domestic automobile industry is in the middle of a prolonged and intense demand slump. Sale of automobiles declined almost 15 per cent in 2019, the worst in over a decade. The impact of the downturn is being felt on the exhibition as well with a host of regular participants like Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, BMW & Mini and almost all of the two wheeler industry giving it a miss this time. Yet, there are many new entrants as well from across the border in China. It is being hoped, the lure of the new models will create excitement that will help revive consumer sentiment.

A lowdown on what to expect from this year's six-day extravaganza.

It's all electric

We are at the beginning of the age of electric vehicles and they will be the dominating theme this time round. A number of concept EV models will be on display starting with market leader Maruti Suzuki's e-Futuro concept, a coupe styled electric SUV that will form the basis of the company's EV portfolio in the future. French carmaker Renault, which is one half of the global alliance that has the largest EV fleet in the world, will showcase Kwid electric that is already on sale in China and the Zoe electric vehicle. In a production ready version, Kwid electric may soon make its debut in India as well. The smallest electric car will be the puny E200 at MG Motor.

Mahindra and Mahindra, one of the early EV adopters in India, will showcase at least two EV models-the eKUV that is targeted at the fleet segment and will debut this year itself, and the eXUV3OO, a bonafide challenger to the Tata e-Nexon that was launched last month. This car will hit the roads next year. In the middle of it, Kia will display the Soul EV from Korea while Mercedes, the sole luxury car participant this time will have the EQC electric car that will debut in India later this year. The overwhelming presence of world's largest electric vehicle market China, will also see a smattering of small and big electric cars including the cute looking Great Wall Ora R1 that has a range of 300 kilometer on a single charge. The lack of two wheeler companies at the show will be partly compensated by a number of electric two wheeler firms like Olectra, Evolet (Rissala), Omjay EV, Bired Electric, Okinawa and EVerve. There is simply no dearth of options for electric-heads.

South Korean sibling rivalry

The downturn notwithstanding, the super success of Kia Motor's first offering-Seltos SUV-has given us a nice subtext of the growing sibling rivalry with big brother Hyundai. More than anybody else, Seltos ended up eating into the share of Hyundai Creta's market and the latter will hope to counter with the next generation Creta that will be showcased at the expo. This car that is based on the ix25 already on sale in China, is entirely different from the outgoing version and will offer all the bells and whistles and some more that come with the Seltos of today. The rivalry does not end with Creta and Seltos alone.

While Kia will launch the Innova rival Carnival at the expo, the more promising showcase will be the compact SUV concept QYI that will go head to head with another Hyundai-the Venue. These two are just getting started.

Mahindra, Tata flexing muscles

Apart from electric vehicles, the surge of SUVs is another enduring trend among consumers around the world and India is no different. Mahindra and Tata Motors, the two oldest utility vehicle makers of India will lead the charge on this one with big burly offering. Tata will showcase the Gravitas, the 7 seater version of its Harrier SUV, and in line with most of its new launches, this one is another looker. Also on offer will be an automatic version of the Harrier and a small H2X concept, which essentially is a raised small car on the lines of the Renault Kwid. Not to be outgunned, Mahindra will bring in the next generation avatar of its blockbuster XUV5OO while updated versions of the Thar and Scorpio will also be on display.

VW and Skoda: European comeback

It has been a quiet last few years for European twins Volkswagen and Skoda, but following a restructure of their operations in India and a fresh round of capital investment, Volkswagen group, the world's largest automaker is back in the ring in India. Leading the charge this time under the Skoda leadership, there will be a number of SUVs on offer between both brands beginning with the Taigun from VW and the Vision IN concept that will lead to a similar sized SUV for Skoda.

Both are well-proportioned and good looking vehicles, they share the same underpinnings but are also quite different from the cross badged products we have seen from the group in the past-Rapid and Vento. There would be more vehicles in the offing with a clear distinction that Volkswagen will largely focus on a premium positioning and a SUV heavy line up while Skoda tidies up the mass end of the market with a mix of body styles. The Taigun and Vision IN at this Auto Expo are a precursor of what will follow and while their past record does not inspire confidence, they do make some great cars.

Charge of the Chinese

It was in the offing for quite some time and now it is happening. The Chinese are here and the success of SAIC backed MG Motors has only emboldened others to follow suit. A little over 20 per cent of the space at the 400,000 square metre area this time is booked for the Chinese and the biggest of the lot includes MG Motor and debutants Great Wall Motors and FAW Haima Automobile. It will again be a SUV heavy portfolio from the Chinese including a full range from Great Wall with the H4 (Creta rival), H6 (Hector rival), H9 (Fortuner rival) and a large SUV concept Haval H. MG will bring in a six seater version of the Hector and present a Fortuner competitor with the Gloster SUV while FAW Haima's likely debut vehicle in India, 8S also an SUV will be the showstopper at their end.

Other notables:

Suzuki Jimny. The replacement to the good old Gypsy, it has been long awaited. While it has been showcased at the expo before, Suzuki is likely to give a timeline to its launch at this edition.

Next gen Brezza: Another Suzuki offering, the bestselling compact SUV sees a makeover with a petrol engine taking over from the 1.3 litre diesel powertrain that rides into the sunset.

Hyundai Verna facelift and i10 Nios turbo: Hyundai gives a scalpel and two at the Verna that gamely battles on in a crowded SUV age. The introduction of the 1 litre turbo petrol engine in the Nios also deserves a mention. That would be one hot small car for the nutcases.

Also Read: Auto expo 2020 date: Time, Venue, Bookings, Tickets, When is Auto Expo

Also Read: Audi to launch fourth-generation A8L in India on Feb 3; here's what to expect

Also Read: TVS iQube Electric Scooter; here's all you need to know
A woman who collapsed and died from a heart condition accidentally killed her baby after she fell on him and suffocated him.

Police found Laranique Meadows, 38, and her four-month-old son, Danari, lying dead in a home near McClintock Drive and Baseline Road in Tempe, Arizona, on Saturday afternoon.

Fox 32 reported that Ms Meadows had been searching 'chest pains' on her phone in the moments before she collapsed.

Laranique Meadows, 38, and her four-month-old son, Danari, were found dead at their home in Tempe, Arizona on Saturday. Credit: Fox32 Chicago

The boy's devastated father, who works a night shift, dialled 911 when he awoke at 5.30pm to discover the two dead bodies.

Authorities believe that Danari died from suffocation after his mother fell on top of him.

'It is a very, very tragic incident.' said Det. Greg Bacon, a Tempe Police Department spokesman.

Pictured: Flowers at the scene of Saturday's tragic accident in Tempe, Arizona. Credit: Fox32 Chicago

According to neighbors, who said they didn't know the family, there was very little out of the ordinary on Saturday.

'It's always very quiet here. Always quiet. That's why it was very shocking,' said one resident.

Police said there was no evidence of foul play.
South Korea's largest automaker Hyundai Motor halted operations at one of its assembly lines on Tuesday because of a lack of parts due to the coronavirus outbreak in China and is reviewing a wider suspension, a company spokeswoman said.

The global car industry operates on tight supply lines and was thrown into turmoil when Japan's Fukushima earthquake and tsunami in 2011 knocked out a Renesas Electronics factory producing a vital and widely used computer chip.

The virus outbreak in China had disrupted wiring component procurement, a Hyundai spokeswoman said.

"For now, the production line for the Genesis sedans at the Number 5 plant in Ulsan has been temporarily suspended," she said.

She could not estimate when production might resume and added the company was discussing possible suspensions of operations at more plants with its labour union.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

"The situation doesn't look good," she said.

The deadly virus that first appeared in the central Chinese city of Wuhan -- a centre for the auto industry in the world's second-largest economy -- has resulted in 425 deaths and spread to more than 20 other countries.

It has prompted widespread business shutdowns in China and airlines around the world have cancelled flights, raising concerns about the hit to China's economy and beyond.

Hyundai has seven domestic plants and several overseas, including some in China.

Tuesday's move comes after the carmaker cancelled overtime factory hours at the weekend to produce its flagship Palisade sport utility vehicle, although production of those resumed on Monday.

Markets have struggled in recent days as the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency over the virus, with analysts concerned about its impact on world economic growth.
A popular and controversial Iranian rapper wanted by Iranian authorities who was arrested in Turkey on January 28 was freed by Turkish authorities on February 4.

Videos posted on the Instagram page of Amir-Hossein Maghsouldloo, who is better known by his stage name Amir Tataloo, show him walking out of a Turkish prison gate and reuniting with friends.

In Instagram posts immediately after his detention Tataloo had said he was arrested in Turkey because the Iranian government wanted him. Following the tattoo-covered underground rapper's arrest Iranian authorities claimed there was an Interpol "Red Alert" on the rapper and insisted that he would be extradited to Iran.

Turkish police detained the 32-year-old rapper on January 28 while he was preparing to leave Istanbul for concerts in London. Turkish police said they had detained him for a visa violation and had no plans to deport him to Iran.

After his release Tataloo posted messages thanking the Turkish authorities, his supporters, the media, the exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi who in a message had called for his freedom. He also sarcastically thanked the Islamic Republic and Khamenei "for doing what spurred so much solidarity and love" in his favor.

In his Instagram posts before his arrest in Turkey on January 28 Tataloo had implied that he was going to speak out about being "tortured" and "solitary confinement" and being used by the Iranian intelligence when he lived as an underground rapper in Iran.

Tataloo had been briefly jailed in 2013 for distribution of his banned music to foreign-based satellite channels and for two months in 2016 for insulting a judge during a court hearing.

In July 2015 while nuclear talks were underway between Iran and the world powers Tataloo, until then an underground rapper who could never perform in public, released a controversial song in support of Iran's nuclear program.

The music video was made on the deck of Damavand, an Iranian Army destroyer, in the Persian Gulf and was interpreted as the Army's support for the nuclear deal.

In a message on his Telegram channel in May 2017 Tataloo disclosed that his political posts originated from someone with the Iranian intelligence. Tataloo said he has no knowledge of politics and "a friend who works for the Revolutionary Guard Intelligence Organization" forwards him political texts which he then shares on his channel.
A POCSO court here has sentenced a man to 20 years imprisonment and three minors to two and a half years in jail for raping their junior student at a boarding school in 2018.

Special POCSO judge Rama Pandey sentenced a total of eight people in the sensational case on Monday. The school principal Jitendra Kumar Sharma was sentenced to three years in prison, director Lata Gupta and administrative officer Deepak Malhotra and his wife Tannu to nine years in prison each.

They were found guilty of covering up the matter to save the reputation of the boarding school.

The school management was slapped with a fine of Rs 10 lakh.

The main culprit, Sarabjeet, was put behind bars for 20 years.

The POCSO judge ordered the three minors to surrender before the juvenile court.

Sarabjeet and the three others had taken the minor student, who stayed in the school hostel, to the bushes and gangraped her in August 2018.

Sarabjeet has been found guilty under section 6 of POCSO Act, prosecution lawyer GD Raturi said.

The case had come to light after the girl became pregnant.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)




Haiti - FLASH : Heavily armed individuals attack the town hall of Croix-des-Bouquets





Late Monday morning, several heavily armed individuals from the Adler Corrielus Gang, aka "Bob Anel" threw stones at the town hall, smashed windows, fired bursts of automatic weapons causing panic in the area, stripping of their property from passers-by before entering the premises of the town hall.



Breaking office equipment, shooting, the bandits forced the terrorized employees to give them everything they had on them (phone, money, watch and other valuables) before leaving without being worried.



During the entire attack, the police remained invisible and no intervention was made to protect municipal employees, nor any arrests...



The town hall has not yet officially reacted to this attack or published a report.



TB/ HaitiLibre


















Cabinet submits to Rada list of SOEs not subject to sale

15:00, 04.02.20 9356

On January 15, 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers approved an updated list of enterprises that are not subject to sale.
Asian stocks bounced back on Tuesday, with Chinese markets reversing some of their previous plunge amid official efforts to calm virus fears, although investor sentiment remained fragile with oil near its 13-month lows. MSCIs broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.5 per cent, led by gains in South Korea and Australia. Japans Nikkei edged 0.6 per cent higher. Chinese indices steadied in choppy trade, after anxiety over the spreading coronavirus erased some $400 billion in market value from Shanghai's benchmark index on Monday once markets ...
EDWARDSVILLE  To eliminate conflicts of interest for current state lawmakers, state Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, recently introduced legislation that would require General Assembly members to wait at least two years before accepting employment or compensation as a lobbyist in the state of Illinois.

Every time I knock on doors or talk with residents at events, people tell me how disenchanted they are with the corruption that has plagued our state in the past, said Stuart. This legislation is one step we can take toward restoring trust in members of the General Assembly and ensuring they are focused on their job as a legislator rather than their next job.
A $100 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for allegedly shooting a dog with an arrow in Cleveland.

The 3-year-old female dog rescuers named "Arrow" evaded officials for weeks before she was finally caught by officers with the San Jacinto County Precinct 3 Constable's Office. San Jacinto County Precinct 3 Constable Sam Houston said before he was able to rescue the dog, she was walking around with the arrow still lodged inside her for days on end. The arrow "barely" missed her vital organs, Houston SPCA officials said.
STAMFORD  After a yearlong search, police have extradited a Bronx man for allegedly depositing $29,600 in fraudulent checks into his New Jersey girlfriends bank account and withdrawing the money.

The checkswere drawn from a Stamford womans account, police said.

Kamarv Whetstone, 33, of Bryant Avenue, Bronx, N.Y., was charged with second-degree larceny, second-degree forgery, identification theft, conspiracy to commit second-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit forgery. He was released after posting a $100,000 bond.

A Stamford woman called police in September 2018 to complain that someone without her knowledge transferred $17,000 out of her Bank of America bank account, according to Whetstones six-page arrest warrant affidavit. A few days later, someone transferred another $15,589 from the account, police said.

The checks went into an account controlled by Christina Delacruz, 24, who was extradited from Patterson, N.J., and arrested by Stamford police for the thefts a year ago. Delacruz is participating in a court diversionary program for the offense and may have her criminal charges of larceny, forgery and identification theft expunged from her record upon completion of the program.

Lead investigator Sean Coughlin said the scam is called card cracking, according to the arrest affidavit. Someone with access to a bank account allows a second person access to their accounts debit card and personal identification number. The second person then deposits fraudulent checks into the account and then quickly withdraws the money before the check can clear, police said.

Then usually after a some kind of a payoff, the account holder reports his or her debit card lost or stolen and claims any deposits or withdrawals made were completed without their knowledge or approval, Coughlin said.

Delacruz at first denied helping anyone get into her account. But she called Coughlin back after the two spoke in November 2018 and said she was in a dating relationship with a guy named Tony and that he convinced her to let him have access to her checking account to transfer funds, the affidavit said.

Police were able to get a picture of the man who deposited the checks at New York City ATMs. From there, they turned the picture over to New York City police, who put it into their facial recognition system. A few days later, police turned up a match that turned out to be Whetstone, they said.

Coughlin said he has been looking for Whetstone for a little over a year. No plea has been made in the case and he is expected in court for his court arraignment Feb. 13.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong at the multi-ministry taskforce briefing in Singapore on 4 February 2020. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman/Yahoo News Singapore)

SINGAPORE  A man from Wuhan has become the first patient with the Wuhan novel coronavirus in Singapore to have fully recovered from the virus.

The 35-year-old Wuhan resident was discharged from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on Tuesday (4 February). He had tested negative for the virus for three consecutive days before being released, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) at a media briefing chaired by a multi-ministry taskforce on Tuesday.

The man had arrived in Singapore on 23 January and developed symptoms a day after. He went to Raffles Hospital and was transferred to the NCID.

The man, who had stayed at Marina Bay Sands before being admitted into the NCID, tested positive for the coronavirus on 27 January at 11pm. He was previously confirmed as the seventh patient to be down with the virus.

Apart from the man, another patient could also be discharged in the next few days. Among the other confirmed cases, three are showing no symptoms, while five are on oxygen support as they are suffering from pneumonia. None of the patients are critically ill, according to the MOH.

Six new cases of the Wuhan coronavirus were confirmed by MOH on Tuesday, four of whom are Singapores first batch of confirmed cases of local transmission.

Two of the four cases in the locally transmitted cluster are workers at Yong Thai Heng, a health products shop at Cavan Road. One of the cases is an Indonesian maid working for one of the workers. The fourth is a tour guide who brought Chinese tourist groups to the shop.

The other two new cases were from a group of 92 Singaporeans who were evacuated from Wuhan, where the virus originated, last Thursday. The ministry maintained that there was no evidence of widespread sustained community transmission in Singapore.

With the latest announcement, Singapore has 24 confirmed cases, the territory with the second highest number outside mainland China after Thailand.

The coronavirus has spread to 26 territories beyond mainland China, sickening close over 20,000 people worldwide and causing 425 deaths.

Story continues

(INFOGRAPHIC: Yahoo News Singapore)

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 10:43 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2062677d6 4 National marijuana,marijuana-trees,Papua,drug-abuse Free

Keerom Police discovered on Saturday a 1-hectare marijuana field in Waris district, Keerom regency, Papua, which shares a border with Papua New Guinea.

"The field has been cleared of plants and we have arrested the owner," Papua Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ahmad Mustofa Kamal said in a statement on Sunday as quoted by kompas.com.

He added that the field owner had been identified as 48-year-old Laurens Swo, a farmer who lives near the marijuana field.

Read also: Conservative Aceh proposes cannabis legalization

Police personnel found 56 cannabis trees measuring 1.5 to 3 meters high. They also seized one machete, one air rifle, a bow and five arrows during Saturday's operation.

"Our personnel have uprooted the marijuana plants. We also questioned the suspect at Keerom Police headquarters, Kamal said. Police charged Laurens under Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics, which carries a maximum punishment of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of Rp 8 billion (US$582,000). (eyc)
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Soon after joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here on Tuesday, Samir Dwivedi, the son of senior Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi, lost no time in bashing the Shaheen Bagh blockade.

Leaving the veteran Congress leader surprised, Samir Dwivedi said that he was inspired by Prime Minister Narednra Modi to join the saffron outfit.

Soon after getting the primary membership of the BJP, Dwivedi junior urged "good and educated people" to join politics.

"Those who are fuelling the protest at Shaheen Bagh are the same lot who were praising China in 1962. If we do not come forward to support Prime Minister Modi now, we will not be able to control the raging fire," he said.

Sharpening his attack on his very first day in the party, Samir Dwivedi said, "I just want to ask the women protesting at Shaheen Bagh -- who took the historic decision to revoke Triple Talaq? If PM Modi took that decision, how can you believe that he will take away your citizenship?" Samir Dwidevi, who has been in the Indian Army before, serves the purpose of BJP which puts 'national security' on top of its electoral agenda.

Reacting to his son's decision to join the BJP, Janardan Dwivedi said, "I have no information about this. If he is joining the BJP, it is his independent decision."
KAMPALA  Parliament approved a request by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calling on the Ministry of Finance to avail Shs5b within the budget to establish a consulate in Seoul-South Korea.

The decision by Parliament followed a recommendation made by the Budget Committee that highlighted that South Korea is funding quite a number of projects in the Country and was one of the first countries to establish an embassy in Uganda but the relations havent been reciprocated by Uganda.

The Committee recommends that the government seeks the support of the Committee to securing Shs5b to be able to establish an Embassy in South Korea, read in part the report.

Parliament in its report on the 2020/2021 national budget framework paper also called on the Finance Ministry to avail Shs8b to the Foreign Affairs Ministry for the construction of Uganda House Case in Nairobi that had stalled the project but was recently concluded with a consent Judgment.

The Budget Committee also observed that over time Ugandas foreign policy is changing towards the promotion of economic and commercial diplomacy.

However, this activity has remained unfunded, with the committee recommending to have additional funds of Shs8Bn given to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to roll out commercial and economic diplomacy to an additional four key strategic missions should be provided for this activity. These include Turkey Shs2b, Abu Dhabi Shs.2b, Malaysia Shs2b and Canada Shs2b.

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YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. Toshiyuki Zamma, Executive Advisor to Government Chief Information Officer of Japan, former head of the International Council of the Digital Government, sees good prospects for the cooperation with Armenia.

Recently Mr. Zamma visited Armenia to share his experience in the field of digital society, creation of smart city and IT.

The purpose of my visit is to share my experience and get acquainted with the experience of your country. I am working in the Japanese government as an adviser to the government CIO, I am also the past chairman of the International Council of Digital Government. I have been in many countries and I am very happy to share my experience, Toshiyuki Zamma told ARMENPRESS, assuring that the activity of a digital diplomat has no commercial, political purpose, its just an expert to-expert help to create a better society with a digital power.

During his visit in Armenia Mr. Zamma delivered a lecture at the American University of Armenia (AUA), got many questions and gave comments. He said Armenia and Japan have the same problems and can solve them jointly. For example, Japan shows too much respect to paper. Some companies created an automatic stamp robot. We are still in a paper business, in a paper era. Armenia is very similar to us, he said, adding that the two countries have the same problems and can solve them.

Toshiyuki Zamma also met with the representatives of the Armenian government to talk not only about the digital economy, but also the digital society. You need to use the digital power to make better rights for the citizens. Companies have to compete with the companies of other countries. The government has to create a better environment for the businesses, he said.

According to him, the government should not be a service bender. Zamma recommends the government to be a platform especially in the digital sector. If the government wants to create an application for instance for smartphones, that would not be useful. They should think about the regulations and rules. But the private company wants to be used more by clients. They continuously improve their services. There is quite difference between the private sector and the government, he said, adding that the government should focus on creating a platform for the private sector, and the private sector should put the services on that.

Toshiyuki Zamma sees potential for IT development in Armenia. Your people are very smart, are very good, have the manner. You have a huge potential to work with other countries internationally. I mean the human resource in Armenia has huge potential. Armenians speak English quite well, are strong in mathematics. Sometimes we can see the problem of the cultural background, the traditional way of the business and thinking, this is the barrier to move to the future. I heard that your government has changed, became very young, so you are lucky, he said.

Toshiyuki Zamma says if one goes on without any preparations for the risks, it means failure. But other countries also make the similar mistakes, have the same problems, he said, adding that he can share this information.

You should focus on the youth to make more familiar with the digitalization. The next step is to invite some international companies to collaborate with them and catch the good customer. If you make some product without customer, nothing good will happen. So you should find the good customer. This is the way to progress. 10 years ago Estonia had nothing, but now it has the top digital government because they focused on the human resources and the collaboration with the private sector, Toshiyuki Zamma said.

As for the Armenia-Japan cooperation, Toshiyuki Zamma said they have many ideas, but the regulations are different. Because of the regulations some ideas are difficult to do in Japan, however, if there is no problem to do this in Armenia, we can collaborate and test it here in Armenia, and the result will be good for the Armenian people. I think we should buy that solution from Armenia. Business cooperation will be, of course, possible, he said.

Mr. Zamma also introduced their successful experience in the creation of a smart city. He said the real smart city is the use of technologies for improving the peoples life quality. In this context we should find what is the biggest problem in your city in order to solve that. Next time we should solve the second problem by using the digital technologies. Sometimes there is a mistake according to which the smart city is when just good network, good applications are provided, he said.

There are many applications now in Japan about the disaster, about the earthquake for example. Another application is a map of crimes, and information about it is provided by the Police, he said.

As for the regulation of the public transportation issue Mr. Zamma said Japan uses sensors on the buses and the trains. So the people can understand where is their bus, when it will arrive and how long they have to wait for the next. Sometimes buses are coming at the same times, so we can choose which one is better, he said, adding that now bicycles are also quite widespread in Japan.

Toshiyuki Zamma said he is ready to again give lectures in Armenia in case of a next opportunity and share his experience. He says he is focused on educating the people, organizing trainings.

Interview by Anna Grigoryan

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
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Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano and Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 20:38 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20628df6d 1 National coronavirus,Indonesia,China,travel-ban,Transportation-Minister-Budi-Karya-Sumadi,outbreak Free

Indonesia has insisted on imposing a travel ban to and from China as an effort to prevent a deadly coronavirus from spreading into the country, even after a Chinese envoy expressed his disagreement over the plan.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi confirmed that Indonesia would stick to the travel ban, which will take effect at 12 a.m. on Wednesday.

Yes, it will start at [midnight], Budi told reporters on Tuesday. Were doing what other countries have already done. We have been very careful about this.

Budi said meetings with the management of domestic airlines would take place on Wednesday to discuss related matters, including the calculation of potential losses they may suffer as a result of the policy.

He added that the government was finalizing a policy regarding cargo planes if goods were still being flown to Indonesia. It includes a requirement that the flight crew must undergo a medical inspection upon arrival and cannot get off the plane.

Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xiao Qian previously asked Indonesia to follow the advice of the World Health Organization (WHO), which has not recommended that countries restrict travel to and from China despite having declared a global emergency over the new coronavirus.

In this situation, we need to be calm. Dont overreact and do something that would have a negative impact on investments and the [Indonesian] economy, Xiao told reporters in Jakarta during a press briefing on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi told a televised news conference on Sunday that Indonesia would immediately bar visitors who had been in China for 14 days.

Earlier on Sunday, the government flew 243 Indonesians from China and placed them under quarantine at a military base on the sparsely populated Natuna Regency in Riau Islands.

Budi said the government was also discussing efforts to handle around 3,000 Indonesian citizens who were still in China at the moment.

Transiting in a country that has not imposed a travel ban on China was one solution, he said.

Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama Kusubandio said the travel ban would be a big challenge for the countrys tourism as the number of Chinese tourists was quite large, about 2 million in a year.

Once again, our main priority is protecting the health of the Indonesian people. That is the main thing to consider at the moment, he said.

He said the ministry would instead boost domestic tourism and encourage local tourists to travel within Indonesia, also for the sake of reducing the risk of contracting the coronavirus abroad.

Together with the Transportation Ministry, we will set a meeting with about 30 airlines to see the possibility of switching their international routes to domestic ones, he said, adding that regions most affected by the travel ban would be Bali, North Sulawesi and Bintan Island in Riau.
The Supreme Court has asked Rampur district judge to evaluate the property of the last Nawab of Rampur, Raza Ali Khan and prepare the scheme of distribution among the kin of the Nawab.

"As per the court's order, we are assessing the movable and immovable assets of the Nawab. There are around five properties - Kothi Shahbad, Nawa Station, Benazir Bagh, Khasbagh Palace, and Kunda...The district court has appointed commissioners for the evaluation of the properties. We will prepare the scheme of distribution after evaluation," said Arun Kumar Saxena, advocate.

Ruled by the Nawabs, the Rampur estate came into existence in 1774. It was one of the first princely Estate to accede to India in 1949 after Independence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As soon as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the first known U.S. case of the Wuhan coronavirus on Jan. 21, the panic began. Within an hour of the announcement, I saw a Facebook comment from a friend who expressed worry that someone in her family had come down sick after going to a conference where there had been many Chinese people. By the end of the week, I saw a spate of articles suggesting that the virus originated in markets selling the unusual foods Chinese people eata claim scientists are now questioningand a friend told me an older woman on her flight threw a fit because there was an Asian woman wearing a face mask. Casual acts of racism against Asians were spreading more quickly than the virus itself.

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As of Tuesday afternoon, only 11 people in the U.S. have been confirmed to have the virus, but Asian Americans across the country are reporting racist jokes (They say we eat dogs, one Boston student told the Boston Globe) and being shunned (Asian Arizona State University students say white classmates have avoided them). Asians in the U.K. and Australia have described similar treatment, despite only a handful of cases in each country, and in Canada, where there have been four confirmed cases of the virus, Toronto Mayor John Tory went as far as to formally discourage racism against Chinese Canadians. And the profiling isnt limited to countries in which Asians are minorities: In Seoul, stores are posting No Chinese allowed signs; airlines are canceling flights to mainland China. This level of panic befits a global pandemic, but so far the Wuhan coronavirus has yet to reach that point. Outside of China, there have been fewer than 170 reported cases of the virus, and many of those infected have shown mild symptoms similar to the average flu and have recovered at home.

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Perhaps the most telling incident occurred last week at the University of CaliforniaBerkeley. Its student health center posted a list to Instagram of normal reactions to the coronavirus including anxiety, hypervigilance, and xenophobia, which it defined as fears about interacting with those who might be from Asia and guilt about those feelings. After alumni complained that the post normalized racism, the university deleted the post and tweeted an apology. Nonetheless, the post makes explicit what has largely remained implicit: that because the Asians you encounter in your day to day are somehow more likely to be carrying the disease, its reasonable to avoid them.

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Its easy to read these incidents as the product of knee-jerk fear and ignorance. But that fear isnt merely instinctiveits acculturated. Theres a long history of thinking of Asians as disease carriers thats at least 200 years old, says Jason Oliver Chang, an associate professor of history and Asian American studies at the University of Connecticut. People dont have to know that theyve learned this racial story; its already a part of how you react, and it shows how pervasive it is in our popular culture.

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That belief started in the 1800s, as colonial powers conscripted Chinese laborers into the coolie trade. These laborers were typically living in cramped, unsanitary conditions without access to medical care, an environment ripe for disease. When outbreaks inevitably struck in coolie camps or on boats carrying laborers, local communities grew paranoid and associated the Chinese workers with disease. Its always been a part of the racial fiction, the racial story that people tell about Asians in the 19th century: that theyre the bad apples, the diseases are the result of bad food, bad culturethat its an outcome of being racially inferior, says Chang. That stereotype can still be found in the current discourse around the Wuhan coronavirus: that the Chinese brought the disease upon themselves by eating the weird animals where the virus originated.

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It wasnt long after the arrival of Chinese workers that the narrative of Chinese as disease carriers began to be deployed as a political device to justify Asian exclusion. Being clear about who was out also served to define who was in. Marginalized communities like Irish Americans used anti-Chinese sentiment to align themselves with white communities in power. During the 1900s San Francisco outbreak of bubonic plague and the more recent 2003 Toronto SARS outbreak, people shunned city Chinatowns, leaving local businesses in dire straits. Chang, who has studied anti-Chinese racism in Mexico, says that some Mexican states chose to pass laws against Chinese immigration in the early 1900s, even though there were few Chinese residents at the time. That shows its not actually about [Chinese people] or the presence of them, but what the politics affords, he says. Anti-Chinese politics is flexible.

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A similar game is playing out now. While the World Health Organization has explicitly advised against travel restrictions based on currently available information about the virus, the U.S. has banned all non-U.S. citizens from entering the country if theyve recently traveled to China. Singapore, the Philippines, and Australia have also banned Chinese travelers, and businesses like Google and Facebook are not allowing employees to travel to China. These border closings are purportedly about preventing the spread of disease, but they also make a political statement, says Chang. The question isnt so much infection, but global standing, he says. By proposing travel bans, Asian countries signal savvy and alignment with other international powers. Its directed at the international audience, neighbors: Were more advanced, and were ready to close off now. 

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If panic was commensurate with the viruss prevalence or symptoms, one might expect to see more paranoia around the flu than the coronavirus. But this viruss connection to mysterious China has driven some fantastical thinking that implicates Chinese people. Narratives around Asian paranoia have shifted to further justify profiling: Theres a conspiracy theory that Asian people in general are somehow genetically more susceptible to the virus, which is currently making the rounds on Twitter and Facebook as well as through Russian propaganda site Russia Insider. Another theory suggests that the Wuhan coronavirus was created in a lab by Chinese scientists as a bioweapon. This led to a Chinese scientists doxing.

For many Asians, the profiling and harassment are a reminder that many people see them in only one dimension: race. People of Chinese descent live all over the world, and many have never even been to China, yet theyre more likely to be singled out as potential virus carriers. It says more about latent fears than realistic ones. Social media campaigns have sprung up to combat these stereotypesFrench Chinese are using the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus (Im not a virus). Other people have taken to TikTok, using humor to decry racist treatment. Chang and his colleagues have created an open document called Treating Yellow Peril: Resources to Address Coronavirus Racism that includes papers on the history of anti-Chinese sentiments, news on travel bans, and links to official government and CDC announcements.

In the meantime, the CDC advises people concerned about the coronavirus to take the same precautions one would take against known viruses: wash your hands, and dont put your dirty hands in your mouth, eyes, or nose. The agency has no recommendations about specific people or places to avoid. After all, when it comes to highly contagious viral diseases like the measles, the greatest threat originates right here at home.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 23:32:05|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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JAKARTA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia and Singapore have inked memorandums of understanding in an effort to beef up security in the international shipping lane along the borders of the nations, avoid double taxation and extend repurchase agreement between the central banks.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday welcomed his Singaporean counterpart Halimah Yacob at the presidential palace on the outskirts of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, according to a statement from the Cabinet Secretariat.

Widodo said the Indonesian taxation office and the Singaporean police guard have completed negotiations and signed an MoU of law enforcement on customs.

Under the agreement reached a day earlier, both nations will step up supervision in the international shipping lane in a bid to prevent international crimes, smuggling and illegal trade, according to the Indonesian taxation office.

Another agreement on prevention of double taxation was signed on Tuesday, said Widodo.

"I am very satisfied with the progress of our cooperation, including that on the completion of negotiations on prevention of double taxation," he said at the palace.
Greece is not trying to create an anti-Turkish front, minister says

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said that Ankara and Athens can resolve their differences to the benefit of both.

Ahead of trips to Rome on Tuesday and Malta on Wednesday, Nikos Dendias claimed that in working against Turkeys energy exploration in the Mediterranean, Greece is not trying to create an anti-Turkish front, but one that supports logic.

"IMPLEMENTING RULES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW HELPS ALL SOCIETIES"

"The Mediterranean could be a sea of cooperation, Dendias said. "We want the countries that have a say and concern themselves with the issues of the region to be fully informed concerning Greece's positions and to understand that we represent the side of logic. If Turkey wishes to join these countries, nobody would be happier than us."

"Implementing the rules of international law in the region helps all societies. Turkey does not always understand this, he claimed, adding that Ankara seeing things Athens way is in the interests of Turkish society."





On the Turkish ship Oruc Reis exploring for energy near what Greece sees as its waters, Dendias said this chapter should close.

But he said the situation has gotten too much of attention from the Greek public, adding that it is best not to give to the other side the impression that it can raise our temperature at will.

Turkey has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administrations unilateral drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) also has rights to the resources in the area.

Turkey has also disputed Greece claiming expansive territorial waters.
FARMINGTON  A West Hartford real estate managing broker has now become the focal point of legal wrangling between attorneys for Fotis Dulos and his mother-in-law in a battle over his unresolved financial affairs.

Attorneys for Fotis Dulos are seeking the removal of the Rob Giuffria as the court-appointed caretaker of his Jefferson Crossing home after the West Hartford real estate broker released photos of the garage where their clients apparent suicide occurred on Jan. 28, court documents said.

Fotis Dulos, charged in the death and disappearance of his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos, died from an apparent suicide last week as he faced the possibility of his $6 million bond being revoked and being sent back to jail.

Since his death Thursday in a New York hospital, attorneys have been sparring over his estate and financial affairs. His contentious two-year divorce also came to an end on Tuesday after more than 300 court filings made in the case since Jennifer Dulos sought to end the marriage in June 2017.

Fotis and Jennifer Dulos lived in the Jefferson Crossing home that his company, Fore Group, built and is now at the center of a legal dispute.

READ MORE: Attorney tells Realtor to stop leaking photos of Fotis Dulos garage

Giuffria was appointed Friday by Hartford Superior Judge Cesar Noble to maintain the Farmington property against the wishes of attorneys Norm Pattis and Michael Habib who represent Dulos.

An attorney for Jennifer Dulos mother, Gloria Farber, contends that Pattis and Habib have no standing in protecting the home since their client is dead.

Two days after Fotis Dulos was declared dead from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning, Giuffria, of Tea Leaf Realty, went to his Farmington home with police and photographed key aspects of the apparent suicide, according to Habib in court papers filed Tuesday.

Farber filed to foreclose on the home last year as police continued their investigation into her daughters missing persons case.

Her attorney, Richard Weinstein, contends in court documents filed Tuesday that Giuffria was trying to defend his reputation after attorneys for Fotis Dulos claimed he owed their client when he distributed the photos and gave interviews on Monday.

They specifically asked about the accusation by the Dulos estate, Giuffria said in an email to Weinstein Tuesday morning. I, in no way, owe Mr. Dulos money.

Giuffria also said he was in full agreement that he should not speak to the media.

Hearst Connecticut Media called Giuffria to request the photos around 1:30 p.m. Monday. Giuffria said he would only supply the photos, which show graphic images of the garage where the apparent suicide occurred, if he was also interviewed. There was no discussion about owing Dulos money and the interview was set for 4 p.m.

Giuffria declined to be interviewed about three hours later after Weinstein told him to stop handing out the photos and giving interviews.

I believe in our legal process and I certainly understand that the Farber-Dulos case has become a national, and international case, Weinstein told Hearst Connecticut Media on Monday. But there is a sense of decency and a sense of propriety. He has no right to give out interviews or photos and I have directed him not to provide any access to the house.

Weinstein asked the court on Jan. 29 to appoint Giuffria, who was previously the listing agent for the home, as a temporary receiver of the property to maintain the residence and make sure utility bills are paid.

Habib contends in his motion to have Giuffria removed as the caretaker of the property that the real estate broker snapped photos of the vehicle Dulos rigged for the apparent suicide and then offered the images to Fox 61 on Monday, just minutes after attorneys on both sides participated in a teleconference to discuss the resolution of the Farmington mans affairs.

The real estate brokers actions in releasing the photos and providing an interview, serve absolutely no purpose in furtherance of this honorable courts order appointing Mr. Giuffria as temporary receiver, Habib said.

Habib went on to say that it was blatantly apparent that Giuffria was using his status as the caretaker of the home for his own personal gain, to self-promote himself and his realty business and to gain personal and professional notoriety in the press, in furtherance of his own self-interests.

Habib had argued last week against the appointment of Giuffria as the caretaker, saying that the real estate broker owed Fotis Dulos money and would not serve the best interest of his estate.

Dulos died Thursday at a New York hospital after suffering from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning. A representative from the New York medical examiners office said Monday the cause and manner of death have not yet been determined.

In a note found in his car, Dulos said: I refuse to spend even an hour more in jail.

Dulos was slated to appear in court last Tuesday for an emergency hearing, where a judge could have revoked his $6 million bond and sent him back to jail.

Fotis Dulos had been on house arrest in the Farmington home after being charged Jan. 7 with felony murder, murder and first-degree kidnapping in the death and disappearance of his estranged wife.
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Alarmed by the growing risks of a new coronavirus, Brazil has decided to repatriate Brazilians from Wuhan, China, and will declare a national health emergency, Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said on Monday.

A chartered plane would be sent to pick up 40 of the 55 Brazilians in Wuhan who have asked to be evacuated from the city at the center of a coronavirus outbreak, Mandetta said. They would be quarantined for 18 days at a military base, he said.

President Jair Bolsonaro said last week that repatriating Brazilians from Wuhan would not be "opportune" as it could put the population back home at risk. But he changed his mind over the weekend when Brazilians in Wuhan posted a video appealing to Bolsonaro to get them out.

In their six-minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEQeOGhZDaU&feature=youtu.be posted on Youtube, the Brazilians noted that other nations where preparing to evacuate their citizens with the help of Chinese authorities, and they pleaded with Bolsonaro and Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo to rescue them.

On Sunday, Bolsonaro said his government will evacuate every Brazilian from Wuhan who wants to return home. He is expected to issue a decree by Tuesday to authorize the quarantine steps and speed up the repatriation of Brazilians.

A ministry spokesman said Brazil is in talks with the Chinese government to obtain authorization for a plane to land in Wuhan, which has been under lockdown since Jan. 23. Airlines around the world have stopped flights to parts of China.

The death toll in China from the newly identified virus, which emerged in Wuhan, rose to 361 as of Sunday, up by 57 from a day earlier, the National Health Commission said.

Mandetta said Brazilians would be tested before embarking and no one with symptoms would be allowed on the plane.

Brazil has had no confirmed cases of coronavirus. Health authorities are checking 14 suspected cases in the states of Sao Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Rio de Janeiro, after dismissing 13 other cases, the health minister said.

A ministry spokesman said talks are underway with the Chinese government to obtain authorization for a chartered plane to land in Wuhan and pick up the Brazilians who want to leave.

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito and Anthony Boadle; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Grant McCool)
But many of the people who cause problems are likely the ones who could benefit from a long-term city partnership with a mental health service provider.
On Dec. 1, 1955, when Rosa Parks boarded the Montgomery City bus in Alabama she was tired.

The 43-year-old seamstress just wanted to go home.

As per a city ordinance, she was supposed to sit in the back of the bus because she was black. The rear of the bus was full. She sat down beside a black man in the third seat from the front. Two other black men sat across the aisle.

Two stops later, white passengers had filled up the front seats and were having to stand up. The driver told Mrs. Parks and the three men they would have to leave their seats.

All three men obeyed. Mrs. Parks, in what she insists was a spontaneous impulse, refused to move. The driver called police and she stayed in jail briefly until the $100 bond was posted, wrote Ray Jenkins in The Patriot on March 5, 1956.

I had given up my seat before, but this day, I was especially tired. Tired from my work as a seamstress, and tired from the ache in my heart, Parks said.

Rosa Parks Day is celebrated either on her birthday, Feb. 4, or Dec. 1, the day she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger.

Parks actions on that day lead to a citywide boycott of the buses that resulted in the end of segregation on public buses.

Parks was found guilty and fined $10 plus court costs.

A few days after the incident, the black community created the Montgomery Improvement Association. The association elected a president  the Baptist preacher, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Black people stopped using the busses. Churches organized carpools. According to newspaper reports at the time, the boycott cost the bus line $3,200 a day. The boycott went on for more than a year, ending on Dec. 20, 1956, when the busses were desegregated.

Rosa Parks, whose refusal to move to the back of a bus, touched off the Montgomery bus boycott and the beginning of the civil rights movement, is fingerprinted by police Lt. D.H. Lackey in Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 22, 1956. She was among some 100 people charged with violating segregation laws. (AP Photo/Gene Herrick)AP

It got worse long before it ever got better.

Rosa and her husband both lost their jobs right after the bus boycott started, according to biography.com.

Two years later, in 1957, Parks and her family moved to Detroit where her family lived but they couldnt find work there either. Rosa took a job in Virginia but her employer, who had offered her accommodations for her mother and husband, did not follow through so she returned to Detroit.

Her husband, Raymond, who was a barber, had to receive more training in order to get a job. Rosa still couldnt find full-time work then had to have surgery for an ulcer and again for a tumor in her throat.

By July 1960 the family was drowning in debt and had no income. In 1961 Raymond found work as a barber and she found work at a sewing company.

Parks continued to be involved in the civil rights movement. She volunteered in 1964 for the congressional campaign of John Conyers. After he won, she worked in his office from 1965 until 1988 when she retired.

She died Oct. 24, 2005, in Detroit, Mich., at the age of 92.

The front seats of buses in Montgomery and Detroit were draped in black ribbons in honor of her until her funeral. After death she flown to Montgomery where she lay in repose before a memorial service. She then was transported to Washington, D.C., to lie in honor in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.

After her body was returned to Detroit, she lay in repose in the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Her funeral on Nov. 2, 2005, was seven hours long.

Rosa Parks said, You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.

Mary Marow of Detroit, Mich., holds a photo of civil rights activist Rosa Parks outside the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, Michigan, Nov. 1, 2005. Parks was arrested 50 years ago in Alabama for not moving to the rear of the bus, and starting the modern civil rights movement in the United States. (Jeff Haynes/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's senior adviser, Jared Kushner, will brief U.N. Security Council ambassadors on Thursday about the Middle East peace plan that Trump unveiled last week, a U.S. official said on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's senior adviser, Jared Kushner, will brief U.N. Security Council ambassadors on Thursday about the Middle East peace plan that Trump unveiled last week, a U.S. official said on Monday.

The plan has had a mixed reception, with Palestinians rejecting it but Israel welcoming the president's decision to recognise Israeli annexation of West Bank settlements.

The plan would set forth a four-year timeline for Palestinians to develop governing institutions and rein in the Hamas militant group in order to gain statehood with a capital based in a village east of Jerusalem.

"Jared will travel to New York on Thursday to brief UNSC ambassadors on our Vision for Peace," the U.S. official said.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Leslie Adler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Sudhir Srinivasan By

Express News Service

Vir Das is never out of work. The actor has started 2020 with another Netflix stand-up comedy special, Vir Das: For India. Later this year, he will begin shooting for the much-awaited zombie apocalypse action comedy sequel, Go Goa Gone 2, while he awaits the launch of the comedy thriller series Hasmukh, penned by him, and in which he also stars. Excerpts:

You are joining an elite group of standup comics to have done three specials for Netflix. What do you make of this?

Im a fan of everybody else in that group. My first standup was Abroad Understanding, and the show was cut from performances in two cities, New York and New Delhi.

My next show, Losing It, was a proper American special that was shot in San Francisco. When I was approached for a third and given the freedom to come up with something, it seemed like a good time to do an Indian special. I wanted all three to be different.

This is the first time you are directing as well.

Well, one cant just go story, story, story. Some have to touch you, some have to make you silent, some have to allow you to breathe In this special called For India, the country is the star, not me. Its a humble take. Visually, you may have noticed that theres no fancy set. Im sitting, and theres just a blue door behind me. Netflix wasnt sure what I was going for when I told them about the blue door idea. They trusted me though. With this show, I knew that it wouldnt work if I went really big or small. I had to start from something like Chyawanprash and gradually scale up.

Given your stature as an Indian standup comedian, and the possibility that audiences from across the globe could take away information about the country through your show, would you agree to have responsibility over portrayal of the country?

I dont think I am bound by such responsibility. In this show, I set the format right at the beginning when I tell the audience about the three for you, one for me idea.

I cover different aspects of India, of course, and Im also constantly explaining some of them to foreigners, who are a part of the audience. Its quite hard to write this three-to-one format, and I cant suddenly change it for just one portion. I cant, for instance, remove the Taj or the Buland Darwaza portions. I acknowledge that my shows have a bit of messaging, but thats not the primary intention. I talk about aspects like the Jungle Book in this show, and if the material somehow organically lends itself to, say, jokes about Modi, then I do that too.

I couldnt help but notice that your material about India is centred in urban Hindi-speaking centres like Mumbai and Delhi.

Im an Indian who grew up in Nigeria. Im thought to be too Western for Indian audiences and too Indian for Western audiences. Im too Indie for Bollywood, too Bollywood for Indie cinema. At some point, it became clear that it would be futile to try and cater to everyone. Its all right that my India is different from yours. Thats the beauty of this country.
(Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC)World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit in 2020

The (Lutheran) Church of Norway has appointed World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit as its new presiding bishop.

The Church Council made the announcement on Jan. 30 and Tveit's inauguration will take place during the church synod in Trondheim on April 26 in the Cathedral of Nidaros.

Tveit will step down from his post as the WCC general secretary at the end of March 2020 after serving two terms in office.

Among the 12 Norwegian bishops, the presiding bishop is "a first among equals" (primus inter pares), the WCC said on its website.

He or she is a tenant of the Bishops' Conference. The presiding bishop has the responsibility for the Cathedral of Nidaros (the medieval name for Trondheim) together with the Bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros.

Tveit said he is looking forward to reconnecting with Trndelag, where he spent a meaningful part of his childhood.

'BISHOPS SHOULD LISTEN'

"A bishop should listen to others while unifying and uniting the diversity of our church under our common faith," said Tveit.

"As presiding bishop, a particular responsibility rests on you to be a representative for the entire church while also being a public figure.

"This means that disseminating your message in a favourable manner is sometimes more important than dominating the debate and getting the last word in," said the newly appointed bishop who has vast experience in ecumenical and inter-faith work.

In his home country, Norway, Tveit, has served as a member of the board of directors and executive committee of the Christian Council of Norway, moderator of the Church of Norway - Islamic Council of Norway contact group and the same for the Jewish Congregation contact group.

He also was a member of the Inter-Faith Council of Norway and a member of the board of trustees of Norwegian Church Aid.

Previous assignments include the position of secretary for the Church of Norway Doctrinal Commission, 1999-2000, and Church-State Relations, 2001-02.

Tveit is an ordained pastor in the Church of Norway and has served as a parish priest.

Before taking up the post of general secretary, Tveit served the WCC as a member of the Faith and Order Plenary Commission and as a co-chair of the Palestine Israel Economic Forum core group.

In his home country, Norway, he served as a member of the board of directors and executive committee of the Christian Council of Norway, moderator of the Church of Norway - Islamic Council of Norway contact group and the same for the Jewish Congregation contact group.

He also was a member of the Inter-Faith Council of Norway and a member of the board of trustees of Norwegian Church Aid.

As WCC general secretary, Tveit has led the fellowship of churches through such gatherings as the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (Kingston, Jamaica, 2011) and the 10th Assembly of the WCC (Busan, Republic of Korea, 2013).

He has also been instrumental in leadership of international consultations on such topics as climate change, peacemaking and refugee resettlement.
President Akufo-Addo on his tour of the Savannah Region, on Monday, 3rd February commended the Ghana Water Company Ltd (GWCL) for completing the rehabilitation of the Salaga water system project.

It will be recalled that in 2017, during a tour of Salaga, which was then part of the Northern Region, President Akufo-Addo announced, at a durbar of Chiefs, that Salaga had outgrown the community management of their water supply system, as, as such, directed that the Salaga water supply system be placed under the urban water supply category.

To this end, the Ghana Water Company Ltd quickly took over the operations of the Salaga water system and injected more than GH10 million into the project.

Thus far, 21 standpipes, comprising 15 in Salaga township, five in Kpembe and one in Masaka. Additionally, work has seen to the replacement and upgrading of 0.5km of weak raw water pipeline, 18km of treated water pipeline, and 4km distribution pipeline.

The Managing Director of the GWCL, Dr. Clifford Braimah, who accompanied the President of the visit, revealed that two staff bungalows, together with the treatment and pump house have been renovated.

He told the President that two old elevated stainless steel tanks, with a capacity to contain 20,000 gallons of water have been rehabilitated, in addition to the construction of a new glass-reinforced high-level tank, with a capacity to contain 85,000 gallons of water in Kpembe to serve Kpembe, Salaga Senior High School and the Midwifery and Nursing training college.

Construction of a booster station for a new 57,000-gallon concrete underground tank is completed, and the procurement of two pumps to pump water to the Kpembe tank has commenced. Two new pumps will be procured to replace the current lower capacity ones being used. The old and weak pipeline from Salaga to Masaka will be replaced and the SSNIT flats area will be served through the pipeline, Dr. Braimah told President Akufo-Addo.

---citinewsroom
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 09:50:00|Editor: mingmei

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (3rd L) and foreign ministers of five Central Asian countries pose for a group photo in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Feb. 3, 2020. Foreign ministers of five Central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan -- and United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a dialogue here on Monday aimed at strengthening the region's ties with the U.S. The high-level talks within the framework of C5+1, comprised of five Central Asian countries plus the United States, have become a regular affair covering economics, energy, transport, the environment and security, the Uzbek foreign ministry said in a statement. Neighboring Afghanistan was another topic of discussion, the statement added. (Photo by Zafar Khalilov/Xinhua)
NORWALK  The students, staff and families of Side by Side and Columbus Magnet School were familiar with the smiling face of Cesar Ramirez.

Ramirez, a 32-year veteran of the Norwalk Police Department, was known for getting out of his patrol car and walking the streets of South Norwalk to familiarize himself with the people on his beat. He was such a force in the community that he was recognized during National Community Policing Week in 2016 for his work organizing an Interfaith Prayer Vigil for more than 200 people and 20 Norwalk faith-based institutes following officer-involved shootings in Louisiana, Minnesota and Dallas.

Ramirez died on Jan. 21 after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. Now, about one week after his funeral, the city he served is planning a tribute for him in the neighborhood he once protected.

The Common Council Public Works Committee is expected to set a public hearing about naming a portion of Chestnut Street after Ramirez. The proposal from the mayors office and chief of police calls for the portion of Chestnut Street between Monroe Street and Merritt Place to be honorarily renamed Officer Cesar Ramirez Drive.

Whatever they want to name after that man, I will support, District D council member Tom Keegan said.

Mayor Harry Rilling said the city chose this particular part of the city because of the relationship Ramirez developed with the school communities around there.

Cesar was always walking on patrol on Chestnut Street to safeguard the Side by Side School and the Columbus Magnet School, Rilling said. The children always felt comfortable knowing Cesar was out there, and the parents always felt comfortable knowing Cesar was out there on duty to prevent any harm from coming to them or the school. He also developed wonderful relationships with staff of both schools, with the children of the schools and with the parents. They always looked for him to be there. They always felt very comfortable knowing he was there. We felt it was only fitting and proper that that area be named in his honor.

The naming would be honorary, meaning a sign with Ramirezs name would be posted at the corners and intersections in addition to the street signs already there. The public hearing is tentatively scheduled for March 3 at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

Everyone has known Officer Ramirez a long time, not just from being an officer, but from all the stuff hes done outside work, said District D Common Council member and Public Works Committee Chair George Tsiranides. He was very much loved by people in the city. Im all for it...he wasnt just eyes and ears on the ground. He was an all-around good citizen.

erin.kayata@hearstmediact.com
Pilot of helicopter that crashed heralded for 'miracle' landing

The crew of a Hagerstown-based helicopter and the juvenile patient they picked up in Chambersburg, Pa., are OK after a crash near Philadelphia.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader of Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, has disclosed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government was indecently hasty in procuring aircraft from airbus.



According to him, when the issue first came up for discussion in the House, during his time as Minority Leader, he asked the then NDC Majority to err on the side of caution and not rush in purchasing the planes; but his admonishment was ignored.



In 2011, the NPP, then in opposition, vehemently challenged the cost of two Airbus C-295 aircrafts for the Ghana Army, which the ruling NDC government was spearheading.



That procurement has now been cited in a major bribery scandal involving the manufacturer, Airbus and some top Ghanaian officials.



Parliamentary Flashback



On 20th July, 2011, then Chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament, James Klutse Avedzi, submitted the committee's report on the motion to secure a loan from the Deutshe Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola (Spain) for the acquisition of the two military aircraft.



In the course of the debate, the MP for Suame expressed shock that whiles on the website of Airbus the price of the C-295 is quoted as US$22m, documents tabled before Parliament pegged the price of the aircraft at 24 million per piece.



".....Mr Speaker, the cost price of the C-295, the Shell is US$22m from the manufacturers - their own website. Here, we are saying tha it is 24 million. Again, you wonder where these figures are being conjured from," he said.



To him, this was "unacceptable".



Aba! What Is This!?



Hin Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu also expressed surprise that within just a day, the document had been sent to the Attorney-General's office for advice, forwarded to the Minister for Finance and sent to the Office of the President for Executive approval.



"Mr Speaker, the A-G and Minister for Justice proffered his opinion on it on 21st June, 2011. The same day, it went to the Hon Minister for Finance and Economic Planning and on the same day, he also okayed it and sent it to the pResidency - the Office of the President - on the same day, 21st June, 2011, we had Executive approval. Ahba! Ahba! What is this!?" he quizzed.



Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he explained that "as minority then, we did not oppose the purchase of the Airbus because it is something that we had started during former president kuffour's tenure as president and we were doing it with caution to ensure value for money for the people of Ghana.



"As parliament, we welcome the decision to have Martin Amidu the Special Prosecutor investigate the matter....



"However, I employ EOCO and Serious Fraud Office to take the matter up and cause investigations into the bribery scandal which involves some former government officials," he added.



The Crown Court at Southwark in the United Kingdom passed judgment on 31st January 2020, between the Director of the Serious Fraud Office and Airbus SE, in which the European multinational aerospace corporation was fined $3.9 billion for the payment of bribes to secure deals in five countries, including Ghana.



The London High Court found Airbus guilty and imposed a fine of three billion pounds (3bn) as penalties.



Airbus was charged with five counts of failing to prevent bribery, having used a network of secret agents to pay large-scale backhanders to officials in foreign countries to land high-value contracts.



The Office of the President, in this respect, charged the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, to with immediate effect delve into the bottom of the Airbus bribery scandal and investigate the complicity of any public official, "past or present" who may have been involved in the saga.



A statement signed by Communications Director at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin stated that these investigations are expected to be conducted in collaboration with the United Kingdom authorities.





Watch Video Below





Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader of Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, has disclosed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government was indecently hasty in procuring aircraft from airbus.



According to him, when the issue first came up for discussion in the House, during his time as Minority Leader, he asked the then NDC Majority to err on the side of caution and not rush in purchasing the planes; but his admonishment was ignored.



In 2011, the NPP, then in opposition, vehemently challenged the cost of two Airbus C-295 aircrafts for the Ghana Army, which the ruling NDC government was spearheading.



That procurement has now been cited in a major bribery scandal involving the manufacturer, Airbus and some top Ghanaian officials.



Parliamentary Flashback



On 20th July, 2011, then Chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament, James Klutse Avedzi, submitted the committee's report on the motion to secure a loan from the Deutshe Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola (Spain) for the acquisition of the two military aircraft.



In the course of the debate, the MP for Suame expressed shock that whiles on the website of Airbus the price of the C-295 is quoted as US$22m, documents tabled before Parliament pegged the price of the aircraft at 24 million per piece.



".....Mr Speaker, the cost price of the C-295, the Shell is US$22m from the manufacturers - their own website. Here, we are saying tha it is 24 million. Again, you wonder where these figures are being conjured from," he said.



To him, this was "unacceptable".



Aba! What Is This!?



Hin Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu also expressed surprise that within just a day, the document had been sent to the Attorney-General's office for advice, forwarded to the Minister for Finance and sent to the Office of the President for Executive approval.



"Mr Speaker, the A-G and Minister for Justice proffered his opinion on it on 21st June, 2011. The same day, it went to the Hon Minister for Finance and Economic Planning and on the same day, he also okayed it and sent it to the pResidency - the Office of the President - on the same day, 21st June, 2011, we had Executive approval. Ahba! Ahba! What is this!?" he quizzed.



Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he explained that "as minority then, we did not oppose the purchase of the Airbus because it is something that we had started during former president kuffour's tenure as president and we were doing it with caution to ensure value for money for the people of Ghana.



"As parliament, we welcome the decision to have Martin Amidu the Special Prosecutor investigate the matter....



"However, I employ EOCO and Serious Fraud Office to take the matter up and cause investigations into the bribery scandal which involves some former government officials," he added.



The Crown Court at Southwark in the United Kingdom passed judgment on 31st January 2020, between the Director of the Serious Fraud Office and Airbus SE, in which the European multinational aerospace corporation was fined $3.9 billion for the payment of bribes to secure deals in five countries, including Ghana.



The London High Court found Airbus guilty and imposed a fine of three billion pounds (3bn) as penalties.



Airbus was charged with five counts of failing to prevent bribery, having used a network of secret agents to pay large-scale backhanders to officials in foreign countries to land high-value contracts.



The Office of the President, in this respect, charged the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, to with immediate effect delve into the bottom of the Airbus bribery scandal and investigate the complicity of any public official, "past or present" who may have been involved in the saga.



A statement signed by Communications Director at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin stated that these investigations are expected to be conducted in collaboration with the United Kingdom authorities.





Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Pakistan pledges to buy more Malaysian palm oil to compensate for India's withdrawal Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks during a joint news conference with Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (not pictured) in Putrajaya

By Krishna N. Das and Joseph Sipalan

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Pakistan will buy more palm oil from Malaysia, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday, aiming to help offset lost sales after top buyer India put curbs on Malaysian imports last month amid a diplomatic row.

India imposed restrictions on refined palm oil imports and informally asked traders to stop buying from Malaysia, the world's biggest producer of the edible oil. Sources said the move was in retaliation for Malaysia's criticism of India's new religion-based citizenship law and its policy on Kashmir.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday that he discussed palm oil with Khan who was on a visit to Malaysia and that Pakistan had indicated it would import more from Malaysia.

"That's right, especially since we noticed India threatened Malaysia for supporting the Kashmir cause, threatened to cut palm oil imports," Khan told a joint news conference, referring to India's Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.

"Pakistan will do its best to compensate for that."

India is a Hindu-majority country while Malaysia and Pakistan are mainly Muslim. India and Pakistan have been mostly hostile to each other since the partition of British India in 1947, and have fought two of their three wars over competing territorial claims in Kashmir.

Pakistan may have bought around 135,000 tonnes of Malaysian palm oil last month, a record high, India-based dealers who track such shipments told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The figure is close to estimates of 141,500 tonnes from Refinitiv, which show sales to India in January may have plunged 80% from a year earlier to 40,400 tonnes.

Malaysia will release official export data on Monday.

Pakistan bought 1.1 million tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia last year, while India bought 4.4 million tonnes, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council.

Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Tuesday after Khan's comments and on expectations of a steep drop in production in January.

Story continues

STRONG TIES

India has repeatedly objected to Mahathir speaking out against its move last year to strip Kashmir's autonomy and make it easier for non-Muslims from neighbouring Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to gain citizenship.

At the news conference, Mahathir did not refer to Kashmir but Khan did.

"The way you, PM, have stood with us and spoken about this injustice going on, on behalf of Pakistan I really want to thank you," Khan said.

He also said he was sad he had been unable to attend a summit of Muslim leaders in Malaysia in December. Saudi Arabia did not attend the summit, saying it was the wrong forum to discuss matters affecting the world's Muslims and Khan belatedly pulled out.

Some Pakistani officials, unnamed because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said at the time that Khan pulled out under pressure from Saudi Arabia, a close ally, although local media reported his officials denied that was the reason for his absence.

"Unfortunately our friends, who are very close to Pakistan as well, felt that somehow the conference was going to divide the ummah," Khan said, using the Arabic word for the Muslim community but not mentioning Saudi Arabia by name.

"It is clearly a misconception, as that was not the purpose of the conference."

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das and Joseph Sipapalan; additional reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai and Gibran Peshimam in Islamabad; editing by Tom Hogue and Susan Fenton)
CHEYENNE  Imagine youre a cattle rancher in rural Niobrara County, where only 4.3 percent of the population has access to broadband internet speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) or faster.

You want to trade your cattle online, but you have to go to the public library in Lusk to access internet fast enough, leaving your ranch office to make the long drive into town just for a Wi-Fi connection.

Imagine now that youre a business on Hamilton Street in Douglas who  because of a bid from the state of Wyoming to a local company for fiber internet to the schools of Converse County School District 1  now has access to speeds up to 250 Mbps because of infrastructure improvements in your area.

Neither of these scenarios are hypothetical. Both are happening in Wyoming.

Access to broadband offers greater opportunities for rural Americans to participate in our nations economic growth, said Brian Woody, chief customer relations officer for Union Wireless.

Small businesses gain better access to national and global markets. Rural-based companies can compete with what have historically been urban businesses in the creative industries, such as graphic design, Woody said. Broadband also offers better access to education, and faster, more convenient access to health-care services that otherwise require rural residents to travel long distances to receive.

The Broadband Advisory Council, created by a legislative mandate in 2018 to advise the Wyoming Business Council, hopes to ensure access to high-quality business and residential broadband across the state. The advisory council has oversight of a $10 million grant fund available to communities interested in expanded broadband capability. The Federal Communications Commission has established that advanced telecommunications capability requires access to download speeds of at least 25 Mbps and upload speeds of at least 3 Mbps.

While 79.9 percent of Wyomingites have access to wired broadband 25 Mbps or faster, Wyoming ranks as the 44th most connected state, according to broadbandnow.com. Wyomings average download speed is just 17 Mbps. Niobrara County is the most underserved county in Wyoming, followed by Crook and Sublette counties.

How can communities be open for business for broadband to come to their area? said Stacie McDonald, director of public relations at Visionary Broadband in Gillette. It really is a partnership and a collaboration, and it isnt just that people want internet so a company goes in and provides it.

There is a lot of discussion and things that go into it. There is figuring out cost, and even getting help from the Broadband Councils funding, and those are ways to help us get into these underserved areas, she said.

In late 2019, Brian Worthen, CEO of Visionary, was appointed to serve on the Broadband Advisory Council, which he said has taken up the mantle of serving all Wyoming residents with FCC-level service.

Wyoming has established that $10 million fund to hand out to a provider where there is a city, a county or a joint powers board to deliver that level of broadband to underserved areas, Worthen said. There are two applications in for that fund right now.

There are a number of people on the advisory council who bring different strengths and abilities to that council, Worthen said. What Im bringing is an understanding of broadband, so I can help analyze these applications, and I can help determine if this will be the best way to serve an underserved community.

Wyoming is famously a bootstrap community. Where theres work to be done, theres typically someone to do it. Worthen said the culture is no different within the broadband internet community.

Wyoming is a roll-up-your-sleeves type of environment, and we deserve this kind of stuff, Worthen said. We see the change that (broadband access) can generate in a small community, or even what is simply a census-designated place. We are making an impact in those areas.

The first grant application under review by the advisory council is one from Albany County and Vistabeam to extend a fixed wireless network into the Centennial area, and to the area around Rob Roy Reservoir in Albany County. The grant request is for $196,895, with an equal match, for a project total of $393,750. The project would pass 15 businesses and 423 homes, providing broadband access or upgrades to 95 percent of households in the area.

The second is from Northern Arapaho Tribal Industries, doing business as Wind River Internet, and the Northern Arapaho Tribe to implement broadband infrastructure through a fiber to the premise internet protocol based system, to 849 premises passed, including government, education, businesses and residents within the boundaries of the Wind River Indian Reservation. The proposed system would meet or exceed the FCCs benchmark standard of 25 Mbps/3 Mbps. The grant request is for $3.7 million, with a $4.4 million match, for a project total of $8.1 million. The project would pass 45 businesses and 849 homes, providing broadband access or upgrades to 100 percent of households in the area.

The two applications received are the first requests from the $10 million set aside in 2018, and there is no firm date for when the Business Council will vote on either, according to Noelle Reed, community development manager with the Business Council. The Broadband Advisory Council has not made a recommendation to the WBC, but staff has reviewed the applications and conducted site visits to the communities. Further clarity is needed on the application process before the Broadband Advisory Council and Business Council board vote on any awards, Reed said.

The Business Council is not alone on the learning curve  when it comes to internet access, the general public often has many questions, as well. People confuse fiber access and wireless internet. A rancher, for example, would likely have wireless service, and a school or downtown business would be much more likely to tap into the fiber infrastructure.

There is a learning curve to getting people to understand what it will take to get broadband to a community that isnt as accessible as some of our bigger places, McDonald said.

The issues also extend outside Wyoming, Worthen said. Hes part of a group called INCOMPAS, or the Internet and Competitive Networks Association, a national trade group that advocates for competition policy across all networks. INCOMPAS represents internet, streaming, communications and technology companies both large and small, advocating for laws and policies that promote competition, innovation and economic development.

Its important to retain as many tools in our belt as possible to serve rural America, Worthen said. Federal money that goes to larger companies will not benefit rural America, because we all know that these larger companies dont spend time in Douglas or Cody or Rawlins.  They dont even spend time in Casper or Cheyenne.

As far as the U.S. government and FCC are concerned, if a company says it offers broadband to a part of Cheyenne, all it must do is serve one customer in a census block to be considered as serving that entire census block.

I can build service to one person north of Cheyenne, and because there are 35 other houses in that block, but I serve one, I technically serve that area, Worthen said. A lot of our broadband mapping is wrong, and so INCOMPAS has been spending time lobbying for better mapping.

McDonald said the issues extend beyond simply being rural, or having slow internet.

Its also about being more secure, being more stable and being faster, she said.

Worthen said he sees it as his role to help educate people about the industry as a part of the advisory council.

It is really crazy how the business world is changing, and in order to keep pace, you have to have broadband, no matter what size business you are, Worthen said.

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Meanwhile, any public debate should address whether the CAA is against one religious group or favouring others.

All government functionaries  whether they are ministers or officials  are paid by the taxpayers to serve the nation. Consequently, each of their actions, individual and collective, is liable to be questioned. Dissent being central to any form of democratic governance, such questioning is not only legitimate but most often desirable. Most government actions are but a continuation of earlier decisions and discourses, and are the outcome of deliberations between selected officials and elected public representatives. All major decisions at the Centre are taken by the council of ministers headed by the Prime Minister, and generally reflect the collective wisdom of the government  not that of the PM alone. Such executive actions are normally questioned in the legislature and frequently challenged in the courts of law. Thus, under normal circumstances, the system itself has built-in checks and balances. Unfortunately, a trust deficit has resulted in some leaders in power and those in the Opposition being on a conflicting course, with one side demonising the other as pushing a divisive agenda. This is causing a fear psychosis, which can very often be extremely counterproductive.

The recent spate of protests across the country over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), as well as the proposed National Population Register (NPR) or the National Register of Citizens (NRC), establishes one thing for sure, that Indias democracy continues to be vibrant. It can be argued that the current discontent is the cumulative effect of mainly economic and certain social factors, aggravated by incidents of lynching and intemperate utterings by certain political leaders, but the fact remains that the core citizenship issues are not being discussed adequately on facts or merits, and that the agitations are accompanied with emotive considerations and often guided by political hues. Since the citizenship concerns are very complex and deeply grained in history, any discourse has to be grounded in reality  requiring a dispassionate analysis of the facts and the legal position, not merely on abstraction of moral or civilisational ideals. Since State actions comprise enacting of laws and framing of rules thereunder, budgeting of financial resources, deployment of manpower, timeline and such other concrete measures, a framework of informed debate with both sides willing to concede some ground, should perhaps include the following.

First, the CAA has been termed by critics as discriminatory and against secularism, not universal in outreach, unconstitutional and against Indias civilisational ethos. It would be prudent to wait for the Supreme Court to give its final verdict on these issues. Meanwhile, any public debate should address whether the CAA is against one religious group or favouring others. Is it in the spirit of affirmative action or not? Should the Government of India, dealing with citizenship, exercise reasonable restrictions to define certain religious groups, if there has been a historical case of persecution against them? While universalism in approach may be an ideal scenario, can the government be blamed for not following that ideal? What has been the international experience in this regard? How would the maintenance of status quo help resolve this contentious issue?

This brings us to the second issue, relating to the administrative capacity of the State. What is the approximate number of illegal migrants and how many of them are sought to be covered under the ambit of the CAA for the faster grant of citizenship? Has there been any official estimate? If so, can that be published for the people to understand the magnitude of the exercise? In the absence of any data, and of the basis of arriving at such data, how would the cost, complexities and implications of the nationwide undertaking be assessed?

The third issue is about the process involved and the documentation needed. What has been the experience of conducting the NRC in Assam? What are the lessons learnt? Should the CAA be further amended and how are the rules to be framed thereunder? What modifications of rules and processes are needed to make the exercise meaningful, compassionate and non-threatening? Instead of making blanket demands for the abolition of everything, can there be constructive suggestions about the amendments that may be needed, on the basis of evidence-based reasoning? Between the rigid stances of the pro-changers and the no-changers, is there any space for a more nuanced middle path?

The fourth issue relates to the timing and phasing of this exercise. Is it the right time? Is the current disruption going to affect the nations growth prospects  and if so, how much? While the CAA makes clear the intentions of the government, should it be in a hurry to steamroll the process, having known well that administration or politics is the art of the possible? Those opposing the moves should also spell out a tangible course of action to tackle the problem. Do they want the process of accelerated citizenship to be abandoned permanently or extended universally? Under the circumstances, shouldnt the government pause a little, take a deep breath, learn from past experience, involve all the stakeholders involved and then proceed?

Finally, certain state governments have planned to not cooperate in any way with the implementation of the CAA as also the NPR/NRC. Making a political noise is understandable in a charged atmosphere, but states seeking to defy a Central law, if validated by the Supreme Court, can set a dangerous trend. This is also against the spirit of cooperative federalism. Let each political party go straight to the people and explain the features of the CAA, word by word, and of the process thereafter, enabling each individual to take a considered view on the matter.

Knowing that hatred diminishes the persons who hate, demonising any political formation or even a class of people  and dividing and classifying them either as bhakts or anti-nationals  can only vitiate the atmosphere further. Worse, the entities so despised may even start behaving like them. Only informed and dispassionate debates, in an atmosphere free from violence and fear, can lead to a resolution.
This is much worse than The Republican abdication [editorial, Feb. 1]. By refusing to hear witnesses or consider more documents, the Senate, led by the Republicans, has rejected the Constitution and embraced the presidents ongoing corrupt and dictatorial behavior. Moreover, this is a shameful follow-on to congressional disregard of the Mueller investigations well-documented findings: The president encouraged Russian election interference and held justice in contempt  which is really more of the same thing as the impeachment charges.
Ancient skulls tell new story about our first settlers

COLUMBUS, Ohio - An analysis of four ancient skulls found in Mexico suggests that the first humans to settle in North America were more biologically diverse than scientists had previously believed.

The skulls were from individuals who lived 9,000 to 13,000 years ago, in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene eras.

These findings complicate the story accepted until now, based on ancient skeletons analyzed from South America, which suggested the first settlers in the Americas were very similar, said Mark Hubbe, co-lead author of the study and professor of anthropology at The Ohio State University.

"The first Americans were much more complex, much more diverse than we thought," Hubbe said.

"We have always talked about the settlement of the Americas as if North America and South America were the same. But they are different continents with different stories of how they were settled."

Hubbe led the work with Alejandro Terrazas Mata of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico. Their work was published today (Jan. 29, 2020) in PLOS ONE.

Archaeologists discovered the four skulls between 2008 and 2015 in submerged caves in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. At the time the four people were living, the caves were above sea level.

The skulls were analyzed with a CT scan, which combines data from several X-rays to build a 3D image of each skull.

The researchers analyzed the scans for specific landmarks on each skull and measured their positions on a 3D grid. They then compared the position of the coordinates with skulls from reference populations from all over the world to determine which populations the skulls most resembled.

The oldest skull showed strong similarities to North American arctic populations, while the second-oldest skull was consistent with modern European populations. The third skull showed affinities with Asian and Native American groups and the fourth had affinities with arctic populations in addition to having some modern South American features.

These skulls are important because compared to South America, relatively few ancient skeletons have been found in North America, Hubbe said. Between 300 and 400 skeletons that are more than 8,000 years old have been found in South America, compared to fewer than 20 in North America.

"Not all the skulls we analyzed looked like the ones from South America. They are fairly distinct as far as the morphology," he said.

The results suggest that the initial populations that ventured from Asia into North America had a high level of biological diversity, Hubbe said. For whatever reason, that diversity was reduced as humans dispersed into South America.

"We always assumed that what was happening in South America was true in North America. Now we need to revise that.

"We need to stop talking about the settlement of the Americas. We should talk about the settlement of North America and the settlement of South America as very different."

Hubbe said the results also caution against trying to create overly simple narratives about human migration, especially in the Americas.

"Whatever we thought about the settlement of the Americas is probably not the whole story. We still have a lot to learn."

###

Other co-authors of the study were Brianne Herrera, Martha E. Benavente Sanvicente, Arturo Gonzalez Gonzalez, Carmen Rojas Sandoval, Jeronimo Aviles Olguin, Eugenio Acevez Nunez and Noreen Von Cramon-Taubadel.

Contact: Mark Hubbe, Hubbe.1@osu.edu

Written by Jeff Grabmeier, 614-292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
PLYMOUTH  Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station  which stopped generating power in May 2019 after more than 46 years  plans to lay off 60 to 70 employees in April as decommissioning continues.

The power plant filed notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act last week with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. The states WARN notice website says the layoffs will be effective April 3 and impact 57 people.

Patrick OBrien, a spokesman for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, provided the estimate of 60 to 70 layoffs Monday. He said the plant had 580 employees when it stopped generating power. That number fell to 260 by June 2019 and will be at about 180 after these layoffs.

OBrein said people are being let go as work at the plant is completed. That includes work removing fuel from the reactors, placing it in stainless steel casks and storing it at a facility on station property. Workers are also dismantling radioactive equipment and components. Contaminated components are dismantled, securely packaged and transported to a licensed off-site facility.

Last year, Pilgrim's owners told the public that decommissioning could be would be accomplished in eight years or less.

The plant is now owned by a company called Comprehensive Decommissioning International, a partnership between Holtec Decommissioning and SNC-Lavalin.

Workers at the plant now include security, public affairs and government relations, engineering, and maintenance personnel.

Holtec estimates total costs for decommissioning Pilgrim at $1.13 billion. The balance in Pilgrims Decommissioning Trust Fund built up by its previous owners was $1.05 billion as as of Oct. 31, 2018. Holtec assumes that the fund balance will continue to grow due to capital market performance over time and pay for the work.

Nuclear plants around the county, including Pilgrim and Vermont Yankee in Vernon, Vermont, on the Connecticut River 47 miles north of Springfield, have shut down in the last decade because cheap natural gas has made them unprofitable. Vermont Yankee closed in 2014.
Xi Jinping meets with visiting World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

2020/02/04

BEIJING, Jan. 29 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China has full confidence and capability to win the battle against the outbreak of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

Xi made the remarks when meeting with visiting World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The Chinese people are now fighting a very serious battle against the epidemic, said Xi, adding that the people's safety and health always come first, and thus the prevention and control of the outbreak is the country's most important work for now.

Xi said he chaired a special meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on the outbreak on Saturday, the first day of this lunar new year.

He said the comprehensive deployment has been made for the containment and mitigation of the epidemic, and a central leading group on battling the virus was established.

"The epidemic is a devil. We will not let it hide," said Xi.

Chinese government has released information about the epidemic in a timely, open, transparent and responsible manner, responded to concerns of all sides actively, and enhanced cooperation with the international community, Xi said.

Hailing the WHO's important role in coordinating global public health affairs, Xi said China attaches great importance to the cooperation with the WHO.

The WHO is welcome to participate in the epidemic containment, Xi said, adding that WHO experts have visited Wuhan in central China where the virus first broke out.

China is ready to work with the WHO as well as the international community to safeguard regional and global public health security, Xi said.

Xi said he believes that the WHO and the international community will assess the epidemic situation in an objective, just, calm and reasonable way.

China has the full confidence and capability to win the battle against the virus with concerted efforts, scientific containment and targeted policies under the strong leadership of the CPC, said Xi.

Tedros said it is admirable that the Chinese government has shown its solid political resolve and taken timely and effective measures in dealing with the epidemic.

President Xi's personal guidance and deployment show his great leadership capability, Tedros said.

He said that China has released information in an open and transparent manner, identified the pathogen in a record-short time and shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus in a timely manner with the WHO and other countries.

China's measures are not only protecting its people, but also protecting the people in the whole world, he said.

Hailing the high speed and massive scale of China's moves are rarely seen in the world, Tedros said it showed China's efficiency and the advantages of China's system.

The experience of China is worth learning for other countries, he said, adding that he believes the measures China has taken will effectively control and finally prevail over the epidemic.

The WHO firmly supports China's measures against the epidemic and stands ready to enhance cooperation with China and provide all necessary assistance, Tedros said.

He said the WHO will make assessment based on science and facts, and opposes overreaction and groundless accusations.

The WHO speaks highly of China's major role in and great contribution to the cause of global public health, and is ready to further conduct strategic cooperation with China, said Tedros.
An 84-year-old woman is recovering in the hospital after she and her small dog were rescued from a house fire Wednesday morning in Magnolia, narrowly escaping death, according to officials.

The woman was passed out in the hallway after apparently collapsing from smoke inhalation after her son called about the fire at their mobile home on the 37200 block of Thistledown Lane, according to Magnolia Fire Department Chief Gary Vincent. The womans son, the Montgomery County Fire Marshals Office stated, had just woken up and was unable to reach her because of the intensity of the fires heat and smoke.

I dont think she could have survived another 60 seconds, Vincent said. The conditions were extremely bad inside there.

Firefighters took about two minutes to work through the blaze to locate the woman, the Fire Marshals Office stated. Paramedics with the Montgomery County Hospital District began treatment on the woman who was transferred to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.

As of Monday, she remains sedated and on a ventilator to help her with breathing, Vincent said. He added that hospital personnel plan to begin weaning her off the ventilator in the next few days.

EMS applied oxygen to the womans dog, who firefighters speculate is a Chihuahua and terrier mix. The dog is currently under the care of a neighbor, firefighters said.

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Montgomery County Fire Marshal Jim Williams said an investigation into the cause of the fire remains ongoing. Williams said the kitchen has been identified as the fires origin point, with a couple of refrigerators narrowed down in the investigation.

Magnolia Fire Assistant Chief Rusty Griffith said there were 20 to 25 firefighters at the fire, with four engine trucks and three tank trucks since the area where the home is lacks fire hydrants. There were at least four paramedics from MCHD present, he said. Montgomery County Sheriffs deputies were also on the scene, according to the Fire Marshals Office.

Vincent said the first station to arrive was the recently added Station No. 187, doing so in five minutes and 28 seconds.

There was a tremendous effort by everyone involved, including the dispatch center, the fire crews, the Hospital Districts crews and the Fire Marshals Office, Vincent said. This is a very successful rescue at this point.

The utilities of the home, part of a connection of multiple mobile homes, have been shut off and the home was left unlivable, with part of the structures roof having collapsed, Vincent said. The home did not have smoke alarms, according to the Fire Marshals Office.

Vincent said this fire underscores the value of installing smoke alarms in every bedroom, asserting regularly testing them can half ones chances of dying in a home fire.

This fire is the latest in a busy month for firefighters in Montgomery County. Firefighters in the county responded to 50 structure fires in January, 12 residential fires in the last week of the month alone, according to the Fire Marshals Office. There regularly are more home fires across the country between December and January than any other time of the year, the Fire Marshals Office stated.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com

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Karen Cakebread, founder of Ziata wines, is throwing an April 30 dance party to benefit the UpValley Family Centers. Guess what? Youre invited.

The dance party is one of 70 lots that make up the fifth annual VIVA, an online auction that benefits the UpValley Family Centers, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The online auction is available at upvalleyfamilycenters.org/viva, and opens at 8 a.m., Friday, Feb. 21 and closes at 8 p.m., Monday, Feb. 24.

The lots include large-format wines, private dinners at wineries  Cakebread is doing a dinner in the backyard of her house  and other special events. Were trying to create lots that everybody could support, she said.

If you just want to make a donation, without going to an event or picking up wine, for example, you may do so in one of several fund the future lots.

The goal of the auction, both this year and last year, was and is $100,000, although VIVA raised $150,000 in 2019. The funds are used where the UpValley Family Centers have the most need.

For the dance party, called Dance Like No One is Watching, Cakebread partnered with John Truchard, who has donated the JAM ballroom at the Blue Note in Napa and helping to cover other costs. Shes calling the event, Notorious Night in Napa, because it features a San Francisco dance band, Notorious. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the band begins at 8 p.m.

Cakebread tells the story of the genesis of the dance party: I was at the Grapegrowers Stomp harvest party, which is their fundraiser, she said last week. They always have a fabulous dance band after dinner and someone had the great idea of auctioning the band off during the dance party. So I was having a lot of fun and I started bidding on it and I won.

Now, what was she going to do with Notorious, a multi-person band that is not suited to playing in a backyard? She decided to throw a community event to help the UpValley Family Centers.

It will be Thursday night after dinner and I want to encourage people to go to Napa, have dinner and then come to the JAM ballroom and kick off the weekend, she said. The JAM ballroom has a capacity of 550 people and Cakebread said she wants to pack the house, because a dance party needs a lot of people. She said shes encouraging companies to buy blocks of tickets for their employees. Regular tickets are $49, VIP tickets are $99.

Tickets for the dance party were available at upvalleyfamilycenters.org/danceparty starting Monday and will be available until April 30.

The UpValley Family Centers has offices and offers services in both Calistoga and St. Helena.

Editor's Note: A quote was removed from this story after the speaker realized it sounded like an unintended insult to an unrelated event.

You may reach David Stoneberg at 967-6800 or editor@sthelenastar.com

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A supply teacher was able to abuse six young pupils after a headteacher wasn't told he had previously been investigated for child sex offences at a previous school.

Jonathan Clayton, 27, of Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees, had been arrested at his former school in 2017 over claims he put his hand up the skirt of an eight-year-old girl.

The case was later dropped against him, but when he started at another school the headteacher was not informed of the investigation.

He later went on to abuse six young girls, aged between six and 11, at the new school, including touching them while helping them dress after PE.

The head of his new school was 'shocked and horrified' when she was told of the previous allegations against Clayton at an emergency safeguarding meeting called after disclosures against him by six girls at her school.

Yesterday at Teesside Crown Court Clayton was found guilty on all 13 charges of sexually assaulting the six girls during a six week period in April and May, 2019 after a jury deliberated for 10 hours.

Supply Teacher Jonathan Clayton was yesterday found guilty on all 13 charges of sexually assaulting six girls aged between seven and 11 during a six week period in April and May last year (he is pictured at an earlier hearing)

Clayton leant on the dock with is head bowed as the verdicts were announced.

As a supply teacher, checks on Clayton were the responsibility of Visions for Education, the agency who put him forward for the post.

Police were told that at his first school in 2017 Clayton 'fixated' on certain girls, engineering excuses to touch and cuddle them and bouncing them on his knee like toddlers.

One eight-year-old disclosed how he put his hand up her skirt whilst sitting at his desk - but her evidence was not deemed strong enough to pursue a prosecution when the case came to crown court.

The Crown Prosecution Service dropped the first case, ordering he be found not guilty at Durham Crown Court. The decision followed a statement from the girl's mother saying she sometimes made up stories for attention.

In police interview Clayton described his young accuser as 'scheming' and dismissed her claims as 'absolute bulls***.'

Prosecutor Richard Bennett told the court: 'The prosecution say he knew precisely what he had done and what he had got away with.

'Now, if you were a normal man you would have been utterly horrified and mortified to be put in that position.

'A normal man without an interest in young girls would have chided himself for being so stupid and naive that he had placed himself in a situation where he could ever have been accused of it.

'But this defendant isn't a normal man. he is a man who is sexually attracted to little girls aged between seven and 11. He can't resist them.'

Clayton leant on the dock with is head bowed as the verdicts were announced (he is pictured left and right arriving at an earlier court hearing). He will be sentenced later this month and has been remanded in custody until then

Mr Bennett added: 'At some stage after he left the employment of the first school in 2017 and before he arrived at the second in 2019 there appears to have been a failure in safeguarding.

'The fact he had been investigated for child sex offences was not communicated. He didn't tell anyone, he didn't tell his agency, they didn't tell the school.

'It is not clear where that failure was, but it was nothing to do with his new school.

'As a consequence of that failure, the unsuspecting staff had no idea that this new, engaging enthusiastic, charismatic male teacher had, but a year before he arrived, been facing very serious sex offence

'The only check the school was able to do was to check an ID cards against children.'

Clayton had denied 13 charges of sexually assaulting six girls aged between seven and 11 during a six week period in April and May last year. He claims he was a victim of 'Chinese whispers' among pupils and staff.

A teaching assistant at his first school gave evidence to say she informed her safeguarding lead and made a statement to police because she was so concerned by Clayton's behaviour.

She told the court: 'He would stroke his hand down a child's back like you would with a partner. One girl had long hair and he stroked her from the top of her head all the way down her back. It made me really uncomfortable.

'It was always the girls. There were a few girls he fixated, if that is the right word, more on.'

Although the police had a complete record and the school was fully aware of all the allegations none of this information reached his new school, leaving him free to continue abusing children.

The court heard that Clayton was considered 'charismatic' by his new colleagues and at first was popular with his young pupils until one after the other they began making alarming disclosures about him.

The girls said he would touch them whilst helping them dress after PE, even though they had not asked for or needed help.

He touched girls as they stood at his desk, leaving one alleged victim 'feeling disgusting.'

Jurors at Teesside Crown Court (pictured) were told that the worrying details leading to his arrest two years earlier were not received by the second school when he landed the supply job

The head of the second school was asked by prosecutor Richard Bennett: 'When you have an agency employing teachers what do you know about that teacher?'

She replied: 'Very little. The agency do lots of checks and references beforehand. We are told what they are able to teach, what their expertise is and whether they're best suited to early years or perhaps years 5 and 6. The vetting is the responsibility of the supply agency.'

In May last year girls began telling parents and teaching assistants what Clayton was doing.

The head said: 'I was called to a meeting at County Hall on May 16. I was present together with representatives of the police, the council and a child safety team manager to discuss the allegations made in school.'

It was there that she learned of the past accusations against him. Mr Bennett asked how she felt on being told and she answered: 'I was horrified .... I was shocked.'

The head told of the effect Clayton's alleged offending had on staff at her school.

She said one teaching assistant had been haunted by nightmares about Clayton, telling the court: 'She told me she'd had a really vivid dream that she came downstairs and Mr Clayton was sitting in her living room.

'I told her, this is not your fault, he has form. I did not go into any details.'

The supply agency said information was withheld from them.

A spokesperson for Vision for Education said: 'We take our safeguarding responsibilities very seriously, ensuring that all statutory safeguarding checks are carried out for every candidate and references are obtained from previous schools where candidates have worked.

'In this instance, all of the statutory checks relating to the candidate were clear but information relating to the previous allegations was withheld from us and, instead, the school where the first allegations were made expressly confirmed that the candidate was suitable to work with children and that they would recommend the candidate for employment.

'The candidate was immediately removed from our supply register once we were made aware of the current allegations and we worked closely with the police and local authority throughout their investigation. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, who have shown immense bravery throughout this investigation and trial.'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-03 19:53:08|Editor: xuxin

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ULAN BATOR, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The number of Mongolian Saiga antelope, a critically endangered species, rose to more than 5,000 in Mongolia in January, up from 3,800 in 2018, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Mongolia said on Monday.

"Less than 3,800 Mongolian Saiga antelopes existed in Mongolia at the end of 2018 due to such reasons as drought-related food shortage, infectious diseases and harsh weather conditions," the WWF-Mongolia said in a statement.

"According to a census conducted in January, the number reached 5,074," the statement added.

The increase is partially due to the fact that the habitats of the Saiga antelopes had a great summer in 2019, said WWF-Mongolia experts.
As the number of tourists visiting Morocco reached 13 million in 2019, scoring a growth rate of 5.2% between 2018 and 2019, the National Confederation of Tourism (CNT) presented over the weekend, in Marrakech, the 2020 roadmap, which aims to make Morocco an authentic destination offering a diversity of experiences to share.

This tool, developed by the private sector, aims to promote the inclusive development of the tourism industry and the improvement of its competitiveness.

The vice-president general of the CNT, Fouzi Zemrani, was quoted by lEconomiste daily as saying that various actions were already launched while others are planned this year.

The main actions revolve mainly around the Public / Private Partnership, the creation of a Tourism Academy to support training in the tourist sector, digital transformation of the sector, human capital development, strengthening the competitiveness of tourism stakeholders, regulation of the sector, promotion of internal tourism and the reorganization of the Tourism Observatory.

Regarding the Public / Private Partnership in particular, the projects already launched relate to the promotion of the Agadir-Taghazout destination, the development of human capital and the regulation of the sector, said Zemrani, quoted by the daily.

The roadmap also provides for supporting SMEs, going digital, reorganizing the Tourism Observatory and improving the observation and analysis system.

Besides the Tourism Academy, the Confederation also intends to focus on the implementation of the Webinar, ie an online class in which connected people can participate without geographic constraints, as well as a Master Class led by an expert on a particular topic.

President of the National Tourism Confederation Abdellatif Kabbaj on his part said at a news conference in Marrakech that French tourists remain the largest group of visitors to Morocco, with around 1.99 million French nationals visiting the country in 2019.

The number of nights spent in Moroccos tourist accommodation has also increased by 5% between 2018 and 2019, with hotels making MAD 78.5 billion (around 7.35 billion) in revenue, he noted.

The year of 2019 is a record year for national tourism. However, we must not delude ourselves with the figures, as tourism performance can further improve, underlined the Moroccan businessman.

Strengthening air transport and investing in infrastructure are the key to promote Morocco as a tourist destination, said Kabbaj.

Morocco has more than 2,000 hotels, with a total capacity of 400,000 beds, including 15,000 beds in Marrakech, Moroccos most visited city.

However, the occupancy rate of around 45% is still insufficient to make [hotels] profitable, deplored Kabbaj.

We need to work to achieve an occupancy rate above 70%, through strengthening the air and investing more in promotion, he argued.

The tourism sector in Morocco employs more than 750,000 people and represents 7% of Moroccos Gross Domestic Product (GDP), amounting to about MAD 80 billion (around 7.5 billion).

The sector also represents 29% of Moroccos service exports, revealed Kabbaj, highlighting the role of tourism in the reduction of unemployment in Morocco.

While the 13 million number sets a new record for Moroccan tourism, there is still room for improvement to further boost Moroccos position as a top tourist destination, Kabbaj said.

The tourism confederation, created in 1995, aims to bring together all the professionals in the sector, including hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, and tourist transport.
A nurse who was arrested on suspicion of poisoning newborn babies with morphine-laced breast milk in Germany has been released without charge after police admitted botching their drugs test.

Five young babies aged between one day and one month suffered serious breathing problems at University Hospital of Ulm on December 20. The hospital then found traces of morphine in their urine, sparking a police enquiry.

The nurse was arrested after police tests showed a syringe holding breast milk found in her locker contained the powerful painkiller.

The young woman was arrested on Wednesday after investigators discovered a syringe containing breast milk and traces of morphine in her locker at Ulm university hospital (pictured) in southern Germany

However, the tests had to be repeated after it emerged the police may have botched them by mixing the milk with a solvent.

A new sample of breast milk from the mother and the solvent were tested by authorities in neighbouring Bavaria, which showed the breast milk did not contain morphine but that the solvent did.

Prosecutor Christof Lehr said Tuesday that regional authorities in the neighbouring state of Bavaria had been asked to carry out the second test.

The nurse was released from custody Sunday evening, after four days in custody, when a test on the bottle also showed no trace of her DNA.

Mr Lehr expressed his 'regret' at the nurse's time spent in custody. She had faced five counts of attempted manslaughter.

Christof Lehr, senior public prosecutor of the city of Ulm, and Bernhard Weber, police president of the city of Ulm, speak at a news conference

A police car is parked in front of Ulm University Clinic in Ulm, Germany, on Thursday

The children affected by the morphine are not expected to suffer any permanent damage, the hospital said.

Hospital staff initially suspected the infants had caught an infection, 'but this could be ruled out after urine tests', police chief Weber said.

The tests did however show traces of morphine - although two of the babies had not been prescribed the heavy painkiller as part of their care.
Painful hypodermic needles may not be needed in the future to give shots, inject drugs and get blood samples.

With 4D printing, Rutgers engineers have created tiny needles that mimic parasites that attach to tissues and could replace hypodermic needles, according to a study in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

While 3D printing builds objects layer by layer, 4D goes further with smart materials that are programmed to change shape after printing. Time is the fourth dimension that allows materials to morph into new shapes.

"We think our 4D-printed microneedle array will allow for more robust and sustained use of minimally invasive, pain-free and easy-to-use microneedles for delivering drugs, healing wounds, biosensing and other soft tissue applications," said senior author Howon Lee, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the School of Engineering at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

This YouTube video by Riddish Morde shows microneedles applied to chicken muscle tissue.

YouTube video by Daehoon Han on 4D printing of a bio-inspired microneedle with backward-facing barbs for enhanced tissue adhesion.

Hypodermic needles are widely used in hospitals and labs to extract blood and inject drugs, causing pain, scarring skin and posing an infection risk. People with diabetes often take blood samples multiple times a day with needles to monitor blood sugar levels.

Microneedles (miniaturized needles) are gaining attention because they are short, thin and minimally invasive, reduce pain and the risk of infection and are easy-to-use. But their weak adhesion to tissues is a major challenge for controlled drug delivery over the long run or for biosensing, which involves using a device to detect DNA, enzymes, antibodies and other health indicators.

In nature, some insects and other organisms have developed microscopic features that adhere to tissue, such as the microhooks of parasites, barbed stingers of honeybees and scaled quills of porcupines. Inspired by these examples, Rutgers engineers developed a microneedle that interlocks with tissue when inserted, enhancing adhesion. They combined a micro 3D-printing technique and a 4D-printing approach to create backward-facing barbs on a microneedle.

Using chicken muscle tissue as a model, the researchers showed that tissue adhesion with their microneedle is 18 times stronger than with a barbless microneedle. Their creation outperforms previously reported examples, resulting in more stable and robust drug delivery, collection of bio-fluids and biosensing, the study says.

###

The study's three co-lead authors include Daehoon Han, a former Rutgers doctoral student who is now a postdoc at the University of Minnesota, Riddish S. Morde, a former Rutgers master's student, and a researcher at the University of Pisa in Italy. Rutgers doctoral student Chen Yang and researchers at the University of Pisa contributed to the study, which was funded by the New Jersey Health Foundation and Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research.
The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man nicknamed the 'Scream Bandit' who is suspected in a string of armed robberies in central Virginia.

Authorities say the man is a suspect in a year's worth of robberies that took place at five gas stations in Richmond, North Chesterfield and Henrico County.

During each robbery the robber has worn a mask resembling the villain from the 'Scream' slasher movies.

He has also carried a semi-automatic handgun and demanded money from the clerks.

The FBI is offering a $10K reward for information leading to the arrest of a man nicknamed the 'Scream Bandit' who is suspected in a string of armed robberies in central Virginia. The man committed the first robbery on January 19, 2019 (left) and another on January 5, 2020 (right)

In addition to the mask, the suspect wears only a black sweatshirt, dark pants and blue latex-style gloves.

According to the FBI, the thief has been wanted since January 2019.

On January 19, 2019, the suspect entered the BP Gas Station located in the 600 block of East Laburnum Avenue in Henrico County, Virginia.

Authorities said he approached the clerks, handed them a bag and demanded money. Once the clerks complied, the man left the gas station.

Just days later, investigators believe the same suspect robbed the Raceway Gas Station located in the 6300 block of Midlothian Turnpike in Richmond, Virginia, on January 24, 2019.

Then on February 12, 2019, investigators believe the thief entered the Speedway Gas Station located in the 6800 block of Hull Street Road in North Chesterfield, Virginia, and robbed the establishment in the same manner as the previous two incidents.

However in the North Chesterfield attempt, the robber was unsuccessful and fled the business.

Police said the clerk followed the armed suspect into the parking lot. Authorities said the man then fired a shot at the clerk, but the clerk was not injured.

No other robberies occurred for the rest of the year that involved the 'Scream Bandit'.

It wasn't until January 5, 2020, that he resurfaced during a robbery at the Raceway Gas Station located in the 5600 block of Jefferson Davis Highway in Richmond.

About 25 minutes later on January 5, 2020, investigators believe the suspect (pictured) went to a BP Gas Station located in the 600 block of E. Laburnum Avenue in Henrico County. He was successful in robbing that gas station

The most recent robbery occurred on January 26, 2020, (pictured) at the Goldys Gas Station located in the 3300 block of North Arthur Ashe Boulevard in the City of Richmond. In this particular incident, the suspect pushed one of the clerks before moving behind the counter

In addition to the mask, worn by the villain in the Scream movies (file image), the suspect wears only a black sweatshirt, dark pants and blue latex-style gloves

'Prior to entering the station the subject, armed with a semi-automatic handgun, tripped giving the victim clerk inside time to secure themselves in a locked room,' the FBI said.

Once the suspect entered the store, he didn't encounter any of the clerks and fled.

About 25 minutes later, investigators believe the same subject went to a BP Gas Station located in the 600 block of E. Laburnum Avenue in Henrico County.

He was successful in robbing that gas station.

The most recent robbery occurred on January 26, 2020, at the Goldys Gas Station located in the 3300 block of North Arthur Ashe Boulevard in the City of Richmond.

In this particular incident, the suspect pushed one of the clerks before moving behind the counter.

'As the clerks complied with the demands, the subject flipped the register over and grabbed additional money underneath,' the FBI said.

During all of the robberies, the suspect fled on foot.

Authorities are seeking additional information that could lead to an arrest. The FBI said the man should be considered 'armed and dangerous'.

The suspect has been described as a black male who is believed to be between 20 to 30 years old. He is also between 160-180 pounds and between 5'7 and 5'10.
(Late Monday, Acronym put out a statement, saying that it did not provide technology to the Iowa Democratic Party and that it was merely an investor in Shadow.)

But Democrats should also blame their partys leadership for entrusting such an important process to new technology in the first place  not just in Iowa but in places like Nevada, where Democrats reportedly planned to use a similar mobile app to tally votes in that states caucuses this month before changing their minds on Tuesday.

Its enough to make you wonder: Have these party officials ever been to a polling site or a caucus venue? They are not pristine WeWorks with blazing fast internet connections and an army of Geek Squad workers on call. They are mostly high school gyms, nursing homes and church basements with cinder-block walls and horrible cellphone service. The people who work at them are volunteers, and many are  how can I put this delicately?  members of the generation that still refers to the TV remote as the clicker.

Using a proprietary app to report vote totals is the kind of thing that sounds simple on a start-ups whiteboard but utterly falls apart in a chaotic real-world environment, where connections drop, phones malfunction and poorly tested apps strain under a surge of traffic. Add an army of frenzied poll workers, impatient voters and twitchy news media, and you might as well have asked the caucus workers to whip up their own JavaScript.

Im not opposed to technology in political campaigning. Want to use Facebook ads to drum up donors? Go for it. Want to put your voter database on the blockchain? Be my guest.

But when it comes to the actual business of registering and counting peoples votes, many of the smartest tech experts I know fiercely oppose high-tech solutions, like paperless digital voting machines and mobile voting apps. After all, every piece of technology involved in the voting process is a possible point of failure. And the larger and more interconnected the technical system, the more vulnerable it is to an attack.

Many of the leading opponents of paperless voting machines were, and still are, computer scientists, because we understand the vulnerability of voting equipment in a way most election officials dont, said Barbara Simons, a computer scientist and board chair of Verified Voting, an election security nonprofit, in an interview with The Atlantic in 2017.
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- An odyssey of pain, struggle, heartache and determination has become one of hope and healing for 15-year-old Anna, from Juba, South Sudan.

Anna was 12 years old and alone in a shack of a refugee camp in Juba when her life changed. She was cooking food when she suffered an epileptic seizure and fell face first into a blazing fire that consumed the left side of her face, eye, nose, ear and mouth. She received treatment at Juba Hospital and the wounds closed - leaving the upper and lower eyelids constricted, so that she could not open or close her eye. Part of her mouth was permanently open with her teeth exposed. She started covering her face to keep the flies and dust away.

Before the injury, Anna was a playful 12-year-old girl, who went to school and helped with chores. After the accident, her injuries made it difficult to eat and help at home. Her eye and mouth were permanently open, and she lost sight in one eye. She dropped out of school and became a beggar.

Six months later, the nonprofit Confident Children out of Conflict (CCC) discovered Anna at a refugee Camp in Juba and stepped in to help her. "There was a terrible on-going conflict in Juba and no social services," said Cathy Groenendijk, Executive Director of CCC. "Anna was in a poor physical and mental health state. Her case could not be taken care of in Africa."

Anna was initially accepted at a children's hospital in the United States but was subsequently denied care. Her hope plunged into anger and depression. She lost trust and confidence and tried to take her life, which reduced her to a masked beggar around camp.

In February 2018, Bill Cook, founder of The Bill Cook Foundation, and Groenendijk helped Anna travel to Uganda for palliative surgery in CORSU hospital. Wanda Sweazy, a missionary friend of Cook and Groenendijk in Kampala, offered to take care of Anna, attending to Anna's temper tantrums and aggressiveness with grace. Anna slowly began to recover. In November 2018, doctors said there was nothing more to do.

In January 2019, Bill Cook contacted Papa Doug Manchester, with the Manchester Charitable Foundation, which led to a meeting with Harry Leibowitz, Co-Founder of World of Children. The three men met and discussed helping children worldwide. Harry mentioned COANIQUEM, a World of Children Honoree and recipient of the World of Children Health Award in 2006 and 2017 located in Santiago, Chile and Bill immediately thought of Anna. Bill shared Anna's story and Harry contacted Dr. Jorge Rojas-Zegers, founder of COANIQUEM, and world-renowned plastic surgeon and specialist in treating children with severe burns, who agreed to help Anna right away.

"The Manchester Charitable Foundation and World of Children share the joint belief that no child is disposable," said Leibowitz. "By working together as a team, we were able to provide medical treatment for a child in need and change her life for the better."

After three and a half years of struggle for survival, coordination with six organizations, four countries, three languages, and an arduous process of obtaining visas with the support of Patrick Brady, USAID Representative to the African Union, Anna was admitted into COANIQUEM on September 9, 2019 to begin treatment.

"COANIQUEM is a holistic mission with a heart of Christ," said Groenendijk. "It has a unique combination of good things; beauty, creativity, professionalism, effectiveness, love, compassion and child friendliness. One of its kind in the world! Yes, indeed COANIQUEM is a healing cloud!"

COANIQUEM provided Anna with doctors, therapists and specialists in all disciplines. They designed masks for Anna to control the growth of keloids on her scars, provided music to help with inner healing, assisted with emotional stability, and school when Anna was not in treatment.

"The Bill Cook Foundation is proud of its role of bringing people together and providing funds when necessary. I just visited Anna two weeks ago and have seen the emerging miracle of Anna. She is joyful and giggly and even a bit silly like she should be. We will continue to support Anna with her needs. I also give thanks to Cathy  she is my hero in all of this. She is fierce and compassionate, a rare combination," said Bill Cook.

Manchester added, "We are grateful for The Bill Cook Foundation, World of Children, Confident Children out of Conflict and COANIQUEM for working together to help a child in need. We give thanks for the gift of Anna's life and know that she will continue to heal and grow. Anna's story of hope, compassion and persistence has inspired us all. We are proud to have made a significant impact and difference in this child's life and will continue to support children in need," stated Papa Doug Manchester, founder of the Manchester Charitable Foundation.

ABOUT MANCHESTER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

The Manchester Charitable Foundation was established in 1990 with a mission of supporting causes that advance youth, education, health and human services. The Manchester organizations have donated more than $70 million worldwide. The foundation encourages other businesses, philanthropists, civic and social leaders to join in giving grants and contributions to those in need. For more information visit: https://www.manchestercharitablefoundation.org/.

ABOUT WORLD OF CHILDREN

Since 1998, World of Children has dedicated more than $14 million to help fund high-impact programs founded by social entrepreneurs who have created sustainable platforms for commitment, action and dedication to serve the needs of the world's most vulnerable children. The organization has recognized nearly 130 Honorees working in the United States and 70 other countries, each of them focused on addressing the world's most pressing issues affecting children such as poverty, hunger, health, human rights, safety and education. For more information, visit worldofchildren.org , or join the community on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .

ABOUT CONFIDENT CHILDREN OUT OF CONFLICT

Confident Children out of Conflict (CCC) in Uganda supports vulnerable South Sudanese Children to realize their potential in an enabling environment in Uganda through education, in a safe home during holidays, get psychosocial and spiritual support, train in vocational- and professional- skills so that in future they are able to work, sustain their lives, and transform their communities by example. www.confidentchildren.org, Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ConfidentChildren/ email: [email protected]

ABOUT THE BILL COOK FOUNDATION

The Bill Cook Foundation seeks to help some of the world's poorest children to get the best education possible. Thus, the Foundation supports education from basic literacy and vocational schooling through university education. The Foundation works in some of the world's poorest countries and with the most disadvantaged children including orphans, refugees, and victims of discrimination. It supports projects where relatively small amounts of money can do great good. For more information, visit https://www.billcookfoundation.org/ .

MEDIA CONTACT

For additional information, please contact Stephanie Brown at 619.823.9794 or [email protected].

Click HERE for Photos

SOURCE Manchester Financial Group

Related Links

http://www.manchesterfinancialgroup.com


Farmers of Amaravati region on Tuesday met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy at his residence and appealed to him to abolish the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) and take measures to develop the road in their villages.

Interacting with the Chief Minister farmers said that their lands and villages would be developed if the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) is abolished.

According to the farmers, the value of the land had dropped after the capital city proposal was dropped. Not even a single road was developed in the past five years, farmers said and requested the chief minister to first remove CRDA and then extend the existing Karakatta road and develop the inner roads.

They also said that the previous TDP government had blocked the development of their villages for not giving lands. 'No officials had come to our villages. There was no change in our lives even after the announcement of the capital city during TDP rule,' the farmers said requesting the Chief Minister to develop their villages.

Speaking to farmers, Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy said, "We are not doing any injustice to anyone. Our intention is to develop all districts and Amaravati will be continued as Legislative Capital."

"In the last five years, Chandrababu Naidu has spent only Rs 5,674 crore in which Rs 2,297 crore are yet to be repaid as loans. This is just a drop in a mighty ocean. Incase if we invest at least 10 per cent of this expenditure on Visakhapatnam, the city will yield a lot of opportunities for future generations, who needn't go to other states in search of jobs." said the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister further assured the farmers that Tadepalli and Mangalagiri will be made as Model Municipalities with Rs 1,100 crores. "No farmer will face any injustice from the government. We are going to consider the requests you put in in front of us. After establishing roads, the area will be automatically developed and the farmers themselves can sell their lands for good prices. In the next two to three months development works in the Amaravati region will also take place and before that the farmers can come up with their issues and requirements in their villages. The government will certainly consider them."

Later, MLA Ramakrishna Reddy informed that the Chief Minister responded positively to the appeal of the farmers, and ordered the officials to withdraw the land acquisition orders within 10 days.

The farmers said that Chief Minister assured that he will resolve all their problems.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Geneva, Switzerland  The United Nations envoy to Libya has said representatives of the countrys rival factions attending talks in Geneva agree in principle to turning a fragile truce into a lasting ceasefire, as he decried ongoing violations of an arms embargo by both sides and their backers.

Addressing reporters in the Swiss city, Ghassan Salame said on Tuesday his office had collected evidence of the continuing violations and referred the issue to the UN Security Council.

Salame said the meetings of the so-called 5+5 military commission, which started on Monday, were crucial in ending the military escalation.

Known as the Libya Joint Military Commission, the 10-member body is comprised of five delegates from the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), which is based in Tripoli and led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, and five appointed by eastern-based renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar.

In April last year, Haftars forces launched an offensive to seize the capital from the GNA. Clashes have continued, despite a shaky truce brokered by Turkey and Russia on January 12 and an international gathering in Germany a week later that concluded with world powers signing a 55-point declaration to end foreign interference and work towards a permanent ceasefire.

Both sides have come to Geneva and we have started talks in an attempt to turn the truce into a more solid one, less often violated by either side, Salame said.

There is an agreement to convert the truce into a lasting ceasefire, so the principle has been adopted by both sides, he said.

There is a clear willingness and genuine will to sit together and start negotiating, Salame said, adding that meetings were, for the time being, held in separate rooms.

The envoy said discussions would focus on which conditions would be necessary on the ground to implement the ceasefire and which role the UN or any other international organisation would play in this regard.

It is, after all, a decision that needs to be taken by the Libyans themselves: what kind of monitors they want for the ceasefire, Salame said.

Embargo violations, oil blockade

The joint military commission is the result of the high-level meeting held in Berlin that was attended by Libyas warring sides and international powers, including some that back the rival factions.

The GNA is supported by Turkey, while Haftar has the backing of Egypt as well as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), among others.

Despite the commitments made in Berlin, Salame was critical of the ongoing breach of the embargo by both sides. he said the arms embargo imposed in 2011 has been violated incessantly since then.

The Berlin conference called for a better respect of this resolution. What I told the Security Council is that this respect is not there, that we have evidence of new equipment but also new fighters, non-Libyan fighters joining the two camps.

He said both sides were violating the arms embargo.

Mercenaries and weapons continue to enter Libya. I have asked the Security Council the swift adoption of a resolution that would endorse the decisions taken in Berlin and, in particular, to implement the sanctions against violations of the arms embargo.

Salame said his office has evidence of new non-Libyan fighters joining the two camps.

There are more than 20 million pieces of weapons in Libya and the country doesnt need more, he said.

Asked whether the meetings in Geneva would also address a blockade imposed by Haftars forces on Libyas main oil terminals, Salame said the issue would be most likely discussed at a separate meeting in Cairo.

The blockade has severely disrupted oil production, with Libyas output plummeting from 1.3 million barrels per day to as little as 72,000 barrels per day  eroding in the process the oil-rich countrys cash reserves.

We have taken as the United Nations a very strong position for the non-involvement of oil issues in political disputes.

But the issue may take active international support to be solved, added the envoy, hinting at the major foreign players backing Haftars manoeuvres.

Arturo Varvelli, a Libya expert and head of the Rome office of the European Council for Foreign Relations said he remained sceptical that the military council would achieve any concrete results.

The problem lies with the pressures and interference of foreign powers on the players, regardless of the Libyans willingness to come to an agreement, Varvelli told Aljazeera.
AUBURN  The Cornell Cooperative Extension has worked directly with 45 to 50 dairy farms in Cayuga County, Associate Director Daniel Welch estimated. Many of them are multi-generational farms.

"Theyre very interested in stewardship of that land and making sure that land is going to be productive for farming for the next generation," Welch said. The extension has held workshops on soil health, agricultural pests and the trial results of using corn silage  a type of cow feed.

But Welch knows dairy farms face some issues too significant to tackle in a workshop. "Theres some structural changes that have been going on in the milk marketing, milk processing side of things that have been fairly acute here in the Northeast," he said.

Welch said global trade disputes have played into the more localized problem of milk surpluses and decreased milk prices. With a surplus of milk in the Northeast, Cayuga County Farm Bureau Director Ray Lockwood said there's uncertainty over where farmers will find a marketplace for their dairy products.

"The price of milk has been very depressed for the last five years," he said. "It's break even or less, you've used up so much of your equity to survive."

Kelly O'Hara, owner of Oakwood Dairy in Auburn, described dairy farmers as "price takers"  because they need to take whatever price milk is going for in the market. But member-managed Cayuga Marketing has helped some dairy farms in Central New York lower the costs of their marketing and production.

O'Hara's father was a founder of Cayuga Marketing, which 29 dairy farms across six counties use to sell their milk. The group was founded in 1986 by a number of farms "looking to collaborate, looking to build economies of scale, looking to build their quantity of milk that they were selling," OHara said.

Over the years, that collaboration has secured price incentives and premiums for dairy farms that pool their milk for sale through Cayuga Marketing. Oakwood is currently producing liquid milk with approximately nine other member farms for Fage yogurt, a deal that requires a level of production no one farm could meet on its own.

Dan McGarr, of McGarr Farms in King Ferry, said Cayuga Marketing does a "really good job" negotiating milk contracts. He described the marketing cooperative as a small group of mostly larger dairy farms. "It's proven to be a good source of supply for people, so we've been able to get a little bit extra in our checks, as opposed to being a member of one of the larger cooperatives," he said.

Cayuga Marketing originally sold its members milk to the Syracuse-based Dairylea Cooperative until the agency formed the local processing plant Cayuga Milk Ingredients. When Cayuga Milk opened in 2014, its location at 15 Eagle Drive in Aurelius decreased the fuel and labor costs associated with hauling milk to be processed  expenses that are always increasing, OHara said.

A $89 million effort to expand the plants customer base, which currently includes Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, was backed in 2019 by the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council. Cayuga Marketing has hired consultants to provide training to member farms on animal nutrition, farm safety and protocols, as well as animal welfare. O'Hara said Cayuga Marketing staff also administer regulations that certify their dairy products as Non GMO.

The Cornell Cooperative Extension has also administered the state's Dairy Advancement Program, which provides business and agricultural planning assistance to small and mid-sized dairy farms. Welch said the program could, for example, share the cost of a consultant if a dairy farmer wanted to come up with a business or nutrient management plan.

He said the extension also plans to reach out and gauge the needs of farmers "across products" for future programs. "There's still a lot of opportunities for dairy farms to be successful in the county," Welch said.

Staff writer Mary Catalfamo can be reached at (315) 282-2244 or mary.catalfamo@lee.net. Find her on Twitter @mrycatalfamo.

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Jazeera Airways has signed a long-term rate per flight hours (RPFH) agreement with CFM International to support the LEAP-1A engines that power the airlines fleet of Airbus A320neo aircraft.



The agreement, which is valued at $1.3 billion, covers a minimum of 20 aircraft and five spare engines, with the option of including additional aircraft as Jazeera Airways continues to expand its fleet.



RPFH agreements are part of CFMs portfolio of flexible aftermarket support packages. Under the terms of the agreement, CFM Services guarantees maintenance costs for Jazeeras LEAP-1A engines on a dollar per engine-flight-hour basis.



Jazeera Airways became the first LEAP-1A-powered A320neo operator in the Middle East in May 2018 and the fleet has since logged more than 6,000 flight hours. The airline also operates nine CFM56-5B-powered A320ceo aircraft



The LEAP engine is a real asset to our daily operations in harsh environments and we look forward to introducing more of these engines in the coming months, said Rohit Ramachandran, CEO of Jazeera Airways. We have been really happy with the reliability and the best-in-class support provided by CFM over the years, so we are delighted to expand our relationship through this new agreement.



"We are very proud of the trust Jazeera has placed in CFM products," said Gael Meheust, president and CEO of CFM International. And we welcome the responsibility that comes with that trust to support Jazeeras operations and to ensure a smooth introduction of the new LEAP-1A engines into its fleet.



CFM Internationals advanced LEAP-1A engine continues to set a new industry standard for fuel efficiency and asset utilisation as the fleet continues the most rapid buildup in commercial aviation history, logging more than five million engine flight hours through December. - TradeArabia News Service
The Iowa caucuses have more than one loser, and maybe the biggest one is the Democratic Party. The high-trending Twitter tag right now is #TomPerezResign.

According to Newsweek:

As the Iowa caucuses descended into chaos on Monday due to inconsistencies in reporting results, Perez faced scrutiny over the DNC's announcement that it would no longer require 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to meet any donor requirements in order to participate in debates.

Here's how the delay in the caucus tally count, now being blamed on a supposedly incompetently coded reporting app, is going down, and this is just a tiny sample (LANGUAGE WARNING):

You absolute monster. Stealing the hours and hours of work from young volunteers from all over the country, canvassing, making calls, volunteering their precious hours and you have zero respect for any of us.



Fuck you, Tom.#TomPerezResign  beth, purity test enthusiast (@bourgeoisalien) February 4, 2020

If Tom Perez gets to wake up today with his job, it's a travesty.



This is one of the worst disasters in recent political memory. Absolute clown show, and he has to go.#TomPerezResign  Ignatius J. Reilly (@LevyPants07) February 4, 2020

#TomPerezResign OR THERE WILL BE A MASSIVE DEM EXIT! @TomPerez @HillaryClinton QUIT INTERFERING IN OUR ELECTIONS! Be quiet! Get a hobby! Quit trashing our candidates! Your opinion doesnt matter! @DNC Were tired of the establishment corruption!  GlitzySky (@GlitzySky) February 4, 2020

#TomPerezResign that's it!

This is literally the greatest fuck-fest in the history of #IowaCaucuses

The DNC under your leadership has become an impotent garbage organisation!

Progressives and moderates never wanted this!  Li'l (@Li_lSebastian) February 4, 2020

This is disgusting & disgraceful Tom. You are literally and single handedly handing the presidency to Trump AGAIN. It is so obvious you & @TheDemocrats are rigging rules at every turn to accommodate your picks. #TomPerezResign now. From: We The People  Tiffany OnSocial  (@Tiffany4Yang) February 1, 2020

What a joke. I just think about all the people who busted their ass, traveled and used their free time to pour their hearts and money into the most important election in any of our lifetimes just to be handed this ridiculous sh!t show from the Iowa Dem Party & DNC #TomPerezResign https://t.co/zd0ewyuFrf  The Real Merkins (@therealmerkins) February 4, 2020

You need to resign, TONIGHT. First the late night rule change to allow Bloomberg to debate, and now the Iowa app fiasco. #TomPerezResign  Vandana Whitney (@VandanaWhitney) February 4, 2020

That's a primal scream, and from a critical part of the Democratic Party base, its young people, based on surveying Twitter handles. Some are tweeting about "Dexit" or going third party.

The Democratic establishment's bid to blame the whole problem on an incompetent app is hard to believe, given the presence of competent coders on the left. How'd they get a bad one, given how many there are on the left side who do that well?

The blame is all over the place  on Hillary Clinton's operatives (among them, the notoriously unethical Robbie Mook) who created the app; on Pete Buttigieg, who supposedly helped finance the app, and by coincidence did well based on first tallies; and on Michael Bloomberg, who Democrats say has bought his way into the shambling party. But most of the rage seems concentrated on Tom Perez, who, at a minimum, didn't exert much oversight on the Iowa operation.

The raging tweets just keep coming and coming. It's like a fire hose out there.

What this shows is a Democratic Party in meltdown. The Sanders-loving base is absolutely livid. Sanders-supporters comprise a populist movement (of a leftist, Hugo Chavez stripe), so they fully expect much more than they've gotten in the past, their expectations are high, and they're the one part of the Democratic Party base that is truly energized. They are doubly so because they know they were cheated by the Democrats in the last election and are hypersensitive to the matter happening again  and sure enough, it has.

How are they going to win those people back, especially with the giant Trump juggernaut looming on the horizon? This is just their first primary race, and already they've blown it and created a crisis of confidence for themselves.

This tweet, from someone who doesn't seem to be a Bernie-ite, certainly speaks to the broader picture of their incompetence:
Eight Dissidents In Iran Sentenced To Prison For Demanding Khamenei's Resignation

02/04/20

Source: Radio Farda

A court in Iran's second-largest city, Mashhad, has sentenced eight dissident political and civil rights activists to a total of 72 years in jail for calling for the resignation of the country's Supreme Leader. The eight individuals, along with six others, wrote an open letter in 2019, calling on the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down.

Prominent lawyer and the attorney of the eight, Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, has listed the sentences in a tweet on February 2.



However, Aghasi says that the court has not officially notified him of the ruling, and he has to go to Mashhad, northeast Iran, to obtain a copy the verdict in person.



In an open letter on June 10, 2019, fourteen civil rights activists had called for Khamenei's resignation and a fundamental change in the Islamic Republic's Constitution.



The former chancellor of Tehran University, Mohammad Maleki, documentary film director, Mohammad Nourizad, Ms. Gohar Eshqi (Eshghi), whose young son was killed under torture behind bars, and Hashem Khastar, an outspoken defender of teachers' rights, were among the signatories to the letter.



In a statement addressed to the "thoughtful, intellectual, and considerate people in Iran," the signatories had urged their compatriots to leave any "tendency toward discreetness" aside, audaciously step in, and call for Khamenei's resignation and fundamentally amending the country's constitution.



"Herald a new national movement," the activists encouraged the Iranian people in their letter, "by demanding Khamenei's resignation" since they said he is increasing his "unfair" power and authority daily.



"Based on recent amendments to the constitution, there is no room for doubt that the president and members of the parliament are merely butlers of the supreme leader. People, deprived of the right to elect figures who have brought glory to their country, may only vote in individuals who play right into the hands" of the Supreme Leader, the letter said.



In the current situation in Iran, and amid the absence of republicanism as well as freedom, the statement had argued, none of Iran's problems will be solved without Khamenei resigning.



Demands for Khamenei to step down are not unprecedented in Iran. In an essay published on the dissident website Kalameh in November 2018, former regime supporter, Abolfazl Qadyani (Ghadiani), described lifetime appointments as the "mother of all corruption."



The signatories of the letter to Khamenei were immediately accused of advocating "regime change" and preparing for a "sedition."



According to Aghasi, Abdol-Rasoul Mortazavi received 26 years, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri 6; Hashem Khastar 16 and banished to the city of Nikshahr for three years and banned from leaving Iran for three years; Mohammad Nourizad fifteen, banished to the town of Izeh, banned to travel abroad for three years. Others received lighter prison terms.



Almost all the signatories to the letter were arrested in August by Intelligence Ministry agents in a rally in Mashhad in northeast Iran in support of Kamal Jafari-Yazdi, also a signatory of the letter, who was sentenced to thirteen years in prison for "insulting the leader."



Most of the signatories are still behind bars.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - London and Brussels are already sparring over the terms of their future relationship, just days after Britain's historic departure from the European Union.

TIME

Britain will continue to obey the EU's laws during a transition period until the end of December.

Given taking back control was a key part of the pro-Brexit campaign, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ruled out any extension of that period, but the EU says that leaves too little time to seal more than a "bare bones" trade deal.

Negotiations will not start until March and they will need to reach an agreement by mid-October to leave time needed to translate it from English into the EU's other 22 official languages and secure parliamentary approval.

Otherwise, a "cliff edge" scenario would leave trade between Britain and the EU based from 2021 on World Trade Organization (WTO) terms that would lead to import duties and controls.

ZERO DUMPING

Both sides want a "zero tariffs, zero quotas" deal, but the EU says it requires a guarantee of "zero dumping".

Brussels says Britain would have to align with the EU on state aid, environment, tax, labour and social policies to protect EU consumers and shield EU businesses from unfair competition.

Britain insists it will diverge but its standards will not necessarily be weaker: for example, it says it has resorted to state aid far less than some EU states.

Britain has said it would be open to a trade deal similar to the agreement the EU has with Canada. The EU-Canada deal will remove 99% of tariffs and limited quotas, but Ottawa has not had to align its rules with the EU.

Brussels counters that Britain's geographical proximity and UK-EU economic interdependence make alignment necessary to protect EU consumers and businesses.

Johnson has suggested an alternative Australia-style arrangement. But most EU-Australia trade runs along basic WTO rules, so this would effectively be a no deal. Australia itself also wants a trade deal with the EU.

Story continues

FISH & FINANCE

One of the biggest challenges will be fishing rights.

Regaining control of Britain's rich fishing waters was a totemic issue for many Brexit campaigners.

The EU has some leverage.

Many British fishing communities rely heavily on selling to EU markets, particularly for shellfish.

The EU also insists a fish deal must be an integral part of an EU-UK trade deal. This is an extension of its overall stance that the negotiations cannot be broken into smaller parts on which it might be easier for Britain to win concessions.

Accordingly, Brussels has linked - though not explicitly - the fish spat to access to EU markets for Britain's giant financial sector.

THE EU COURT OF JUSTICE

The EU wants a partnership with arrangements for dispute settlement, including a role for the Court of Justice of the European Union to make binding rulings.

The British government has rejected this because, it says, the EU court would not be a neutral arbiter.

IRISH BORDER

Under the withdrawal agreement reached in October, Northern Ireland will leave the EU's customs union but remain aligned with single market rules for trade in animals, animal products, food and manufactured goods.

This arrangement maintains the frictionless border between EU member state Ireland and the UK province of Northern Ireland that was a key part of the 1998 agreement to end 30 years of violence.

However, it will require customs and regulatory checks at ports to ensure that goods coming from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland conform to EU standards.

Johnson has said there would only be such checks if Britain fails to secure a zero tariff-zero quota deal with the EU, which officials in Brussels say is untrue.

GIBRALTAR

Johnson said on Monday that London will be negotiating on behalf of the UK family, which includes Gibraltar, a rocky British enclave on Spain's southern tip.

However, the EU's position is that it will not be included in the negotiations, and any separate agreements on Gibraltar - over which Spain has territorial claims - would require approval from Madrid.

(Reporting by John Chalmers; Editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Giles Elgood)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 21:41:47|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Tuesday slammed Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority for banking on foreign forces to build itself up.

Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks when responding to a question about Lai Ching-te's visit to the United States.

The one-China principle is the fundamental precondition and political foundation for China to develop relations with all other countries, including the United States, Ma said.

"We firmly oppose any form of official visits between Taiwan and countries that have diplomatic relations with us," Ma said, urging the United States to adhere to the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques.

"We once again warn the DPP authority that 'Taiwan independence' is a counter-current and a dead end," Ma said. "Anyone or any force that attempts to bank on foreign forces to build itself up will become the victim of its own evil deeds.
6 new novel coronavirus cases in Singapore, including first human-to-human transmissions in the country

Photo courtesy: NCID

The Ministry of Health in Singapore has confirmed 6 new cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus in the island nation as of 2.00 pm on February 4, bringing the total number of infected in the country to 24.

Four out of these six new cases involve human-to-human transmission - a first for Singapore.

Though four of these cases constitute a local transmission cluster, there is as yet no evidence of widespread sustained community transmission in Singapore, said the MOH press release.

The 2019 novel coronavirus, originating in Wuhan, China has killed over 400 people - most in mainland China, with one death each in the Philippines and Hong Kong. There are over 20,000 people infected with the disease globally with the infection having spread to more than 25 countries outside of mainland China.

In some positive news, one of Singapore's earlier confirmed cases, Case 7, a 35 year old male Wuhan resident, has been discharged from NCID today. He has recovered, and has comprehensively tested negative for the virus.

6 new Singapore cases

Case 19: A 28 year-old female Singapore resident with no recent travel history to China. She works at Yong Thai Hang at 24 Cavan Road, a complementary health products shop that primarily serves Chinese tourists.

She reported developing sore throat and fever on January 29, and sought treatment at a general practitioner clinic on the same day. On January 30, she went to Tan Tock Seng Hospitals emergency department, and was discharged when her chest x-ray came back negative for pneumonia. She said that she had not left her home at Jalan Bukit Merah from January 31 to February 2.

On February 3, she went to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) where she was classified as suspect case as she was diagnosed with pneumonia. She was immediately isolated and subsequently diagnosed with the 2019-nCoV infection.

She is currently warded in an isolation room at Singapore General Hospital (SGH).

Case 20: A 48 year-old female Singapore resident with no recent travel history to China. She is a colleague of Case 19 and stays at Hougang Street 61. She reported onset of symptoms on January 25.

On February 3, she went to NCID. As she is a colleague of Case 19, she was classified as a suspect case and immediately isolated with subsequent test results confirming 2019-nCoV infection.

She is currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

Case 21: A 44 year-old female Indonesian national with no recent travel history to China. She is Case 19s foreign domestic worker, and resides at Jalan Bukit Merah.

She reported onset of symptoms on February 2. As a close contact of Case 19, she was admitted to SGH emergency department on February 3 with subsequent test results confirming 2019-nCoV infection. She reported that she had not left her place of residence since onset of symptoms.

She is currently warded in an isolation room at SGH.

Cases 22 & 23: Singapore residents evacuated from Wuhan on January 30. They were asymptomatic when they boarded the flight, and were put under quarantine upon landing in Singapore.

As an added precaution, all Singaporeans evacuated from Wuhan were tested for 2019-nCoV with these two cases testing positive on February 3 despite continuing to show no symptoms.

They are now warded in isolation rooms at NCID.

Case 24: A 32 year-old female Singapore resident with no recent travel history to China. She is a tourist guide who had brought tour groups to Yong Thai Hang at 24 Cavan Road, the shop of which cases 19 and 20 are employees.

She was asymptomatic when she went to NCID on February 3, where she was immediately isolated with subsequent test results confirming 2019-nCoV infection.

She is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

Additional case

Aside from the above cases, the MOH has also said that Malaysia has today announced a case involving a 42 year-old male Malaysian national who was in Singapore from January 16 to 23 for a business meeting at Grand Hyatt Hotel, which involved Chinese nationals.

The man had an onset of symptoms after his return to Malaysia, and subsequently tested positive for 2019-nCoV on February 3.

The MOH has said that they have initiated epidemiological investigations and contact tracing to identify individuals who had close contact with the cases.


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By Jeff Murphy, February 3, 2020





WARRENSBURG, MO  As a professor of theatre, scholar, and artist, Julie Rae Mollenkamps commitment to excellence at the University of Central Missouri is well known by her students, colleagues and patrons of the arts at UCM. What she does for the theatre profession at home and on a broader scale was recently recognized as the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) honored her with its most prestigious award.



Mollenkamp was recognized through the presentation of the Kennedy Center Gold Medal at the KCACTF Region 5 Festival 52, Jan. 19-25 in Sioux Falls, S.D. The event was hosted by South Dakota State University and The University of South Dakota. Nominations from faculty and students contributed to the award selection, which was made within each of eight KCACTF regions.



In addition to recognizing extraordinary work in educational theatre teaching and production, the KCACTF Gold Medal honors an individual who has dedicated their time, artistry and enthusiasm to the development of KCACTF, and has made a strong commitment to the organizations goals and values. Mollenkamp vast experiences and contributions to her craft that have advanced the theatre education profession contributed to her selection.



The longtime professor said she was thankful to KCACFT for this humbling recognition. She added, I am a better wife, mother, teacher, artist and human being because of the opportunity to serve in this organization for the last 25 years - it has been the greatest gift of my career. I am truly grateful for the honor of helping our students grow into their best selves.



According to the KCACTF, Mollenkamps extensive career includes work in directing and acting in more than 90 different projects. She is actively involved in the Speech and Theatre Association of Missouri, and is a past member of its Board of Governors. Her service with KCACTF and past productions have led to 56 Meritorious Achievement Awards, two invitations to the Region V Festival and eight National Accommodations, including the Citizen Artist Award. She also has been involved with the National Communication Association (NCA) Theatre Division, serving as chair from 1999-2001, and the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, where she served from 2006-2008 as vice president for membership and marketing.



Mollenkamp has served as National Playwriting Program Chair for KCACTF Region 5, and currently serves on the National Kennedy Center American College Theatre Committee as Region 5 member-at-large and as Representation, Equity, and Diversity Coordinator. She also is a member of the Dramatist Guild, the Society for Stage Directors and Choreographers and Statera Arts, an organization committed to bringing women into full and equal participation in the arts.



Throughout her distinguished professional career, Mollenkamp has received many accolades as a teacher, director, playwright and scholar. This includes recognition by UCMs College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences as a 2005 recipient of the Faculty Achievement Award, followed in 2006 by the CAHSS Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2013 she received the Speech and Theatre Association of Missouri Wayne Brown Award for Outstanding Teacher, and during the same year, she was appointed as the Meridith Harmon Sauer Distinguished Professor of Theatre at UCM. This is the most prestigious honor given to a UCM Theatre and Dance faculty member. Her many accolades also include the NCA Division of Theatres Excellence in Teaching and Service Award and Lifetime Achievement Award, and the KCACTF Road Warrior Award.



Among Mollenkamps vast projects, she premiered her one-woman performance of In Conclusive Woman at the Ryan Repertory Theatre in New York in 2009, a work that was published in Best American Short Plays, 2006-2007. It also was included in the Rutgers 30 year Feminist Artists Archives, and selected for publication in Applause Books Best American Monologues. Her performance work, Another Womans Baby, premiered at the University of Missouri and was performed at Ryan Repertory Theatre in July 2019. She has acted in and directed numerous plays that have been shared with a UCM audience in the James L. Highlander Theatre, among the achievements was her leading role performance as Violet Weston in the Pulitizer Prize-winning play, August: Osage County.



The parents of two sons, Mollenkamp and her husband, Daniel, are the owners of Smashing Frame Productions, a film and theatre production company.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will hold talks on February 7.



"Most likely we will meet with president Putin on February 7," Lukashenko told reporters.

"A certain moment of truth has come. We were the initiators of these relations, should we break them," BelTA cited the Belarusian head of state.
A video of an Iowa caucus voter asking to change her vote after finding out Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg has surfaced following the confusing and frustrating Monday night electoral event.

Tuesday afternoon, Laura Hubka, the Howard County Democratic Party Chairwoman, shared the video on Twitter, calling the caucus captain Nikki Heever who responds to the woman a wonderful example of Cresco [Iowa].

In the video, the voter shows shock when she learns that Mr Buttigieg is a gay man with a husband and then asks if she can take her vote back.

President Trump delivers State of the Union address Show all 22 1 /22 President Trump delivers State of the Union address President Trump delivers State of the Union address Nancy Pelosis sarcastic clapping stole Trumps thunder For many the president's speech was overshadowed by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's applause after his call for political unity, which many interpreted as "sarcastic" AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Trump issues ominous threat over investigations as he rails against immigration and abortion In a State of the Union speech calling on Washington to cast aside revenge, resistance and retribution, Donald Trump was accused of issuing a veiled threat over the investigations dogging his administration. An economic miracle is taking place in the United States  and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics or ridiculous partisan investigations, Mr Trump said AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Congresswomen, dressed in white in tribute to the women's suffrage movement, pose for a photo as they arrive AFP/Getty Images President Trump delivers State of the Union address The 72-year-old harkened back to American achievements, celebrating the moon landing as astronaut Buzz Aldrin looked on from the audience and heralding the liberation of Europe from the Nazis AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address He also led the House chamber in singing happy birthday to a Holocaust survivor sitting with first lady Melania Trump. "Together, we represent the most extraordinary nation in all of history. What will we do with this moment? How will we be remembered?" Mr Trump said Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  dressed in white in an act of solidarity with other women  declined to join a standing ovation for Donald Trump despite his purported call for unity Reuters President Trump delivers State of the Union address The president ticked through a litany of issues with crossover appeal, including boosting infrastructure, lowering prescription drug costs and combating childhood cancer Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Republican Veronica Escobar reacts as President Trump claims that El Paso, Texas, has become safer due to a wall along the border with Mexico Reuters President Trump delivers State of the Union address Despite no one working in the White House Office of National Aids Policy, and having sacking his HIV advisory council last year, Mr Trump pledged to inject funds to stop the spread of the disease in America by 2030 Getty Images President Trump delivers State of the Union address "Scientific breakthroughs have brought a once-distant dream within reach," the president said. Together, we will defeat Aids in America and beyond." he said Reuters President Trump delivers State of the Union address Trump led the House chamber in singing happy birthday to a Holocaust survivor sitting with first lady Melania Reuters President Trump delivers State of the Union address He also appealed to his political base, both with his harsh rhetoric on immigration and a call for Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the "late-term abortion of children EPA President Trump delivers State of the Union address Women from both political parties wore white outfits tonight at the behest of the Democratic Womens Working Group to honor the legacy of women's suffrage in the United States AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address He devoted much of his speech to foreign policy, another area where Republicans have increasingly distanced themselves from the White House EPA President Trump delivers State of the Union address Trump greets Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, alongside Vice President Mike Pence AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address US First lady Melania Trump (left) with Grace Eline and Joshua Trump, special guests of President Donald Trump AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Trump announced details of a second meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, outlining a summit in Vietnam starting on 27 February AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address "If I had not been elected president of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea," he said AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Supreme Court Justices John Roberts, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch laugh AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address President Trump greets lawmakers after delivering his second State of the Union address EPA President Trump delivers State of the Union address Independent Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders holds his notes EPA

Are you kidding? Then I dont want anybody like that in the White House. So can I have my card back? the woman asked.

Ms Heever doesnt immediately refund the womans vote and instead attempts to convince her that Mr Buttigiegs sexual orientation shouldnt invalidate his viability as a candidate.

The whole point of it though, hes a human being, right, just like you and me. It shouldnt really matter, Ms Heever replied.

Well he better read the Bible, the voter said.

Ms Heever goes on to explain that Mr Buttigieg is also a Christian and continued to try to convince the voter that she should support him.

I would like you to just dig deep inside and think, should it matter if its a woman or if its a man or if theyre heterosexual or homosexual, if you believe in what they say? Thats my question to you.

The voter wasnt moved.

It all just went right down the toilet, is where it went, she said.

As the exchange continues, Ms Heever says that shell get clarification on the rules for rescinding a vote, but tries one last argument, appealing to her own Christian faith to try to convince the voter.

Unfortunately for Ms Heever, the woman shrugs the argument off, instead suggesting that Ms Heevers acceptance of Mr Buttigieg means she must not believe in what the Bible says. The voter asks why Mr Buttigiegs sexual orientation wasnt more widely known, which Ms Heever correctly points out is common knowledge.

The events leading up to the confrontation and the events immediately after  including whether or not the womans vote was refunded  are still unclear.

Recommended Nevada ditches plans to use app blamed for Iowa caucus chaos

The video is holding Democrats over as they wait for the results of Monday nights caucus. Issues with a third-party voting app were cited by state party officials as the primary factor holding up the official results.

Mr Buttigieg came under some fire Tuesday after choosing to give a speech that seemed to declare his victory in Iowa despite there being no announcement by the state party of a winner. #MayorCheat and #PetetheCheat were trending on Twitter, along with rat emojis.

In an interview with MSNBC today, Mr Buttigieg walked back the soaring language from his speech on Tuesday, instead referring to the caucus as a clear victory for this campaign rather than an overall victory.

The Iowa Democratic Party said it should have the results available by late Tuesday afternoon.
Tampa, FL, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vector Solutions, a leader in eLearning and SaaS performance support solutions for the worlds most critical industries, including the fire service, announced today its donation of $5,000 to the American Cancer Society as part of the companys recent firefighter cancer awareness and prevention campaign.

The donation was raised through complimentary access to the online NFPA 1851  Cancer-Related Risks of Firefighting training course, which raises awareness about firefighter cancer risks and provides prevention best practices. Vector Solutions launched the campaign to donate $1 for every course completion in September of 2019.

The American Cancer Society is very grateful for this generous donation by Vector Solutions and the outstanding campaign they held offering free online education to help firefighters protect themselves from the higher risk of cancer from exposure to potential cancer-causing elements while firefighting, said Tswana Sewell, executive director of the American Cancer Society. The American Cancer Society is dedicated to fighting cancer from every angle and is very thankful that our firefighters, who risk their lives for the safety of their communities, are empowered with this information.

Providing firefighter cancer training is a critical part of Vector Solutions mission to serve heroes through state-of-the-art learning and performance solutions as firefighters face higher cancer diagnoses and cancer-related deaths compared to the general United States population. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), firefighters are 9 percent more likely to be diagnosed and 14 percent more likely to die from cancer.

The comprehensive firefighter cancer awareness course was written to the NFPA standard on selection, care, and maintenance of protective ensembles for structural firefighting and proximity firefighting. This course incorporates video-based lessons and real-life case studies to highlight eight of the most common carcinogens firefighters face and offers best practices for the decontamination, isolation and reporting of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Firefighters put their lives at risk every day by simply coming to work and doing their job, said Alex Berry, Executive Vice President of Vector Solutions and member of the American Cancer Societys Greater DC/Baltimore Area Advisory Board. Were honored to work with the American Cancer Society on this special program. Vector Solutions feels a responsibility to not only give back through our donation but also to help educate the fire service about the risks and how they can be mitigated.

Vector Solutions team members also raised funds for the American Cancer Society and exceeded its $5,000 donation internally.

The funds raised by Vector Solutions for the Society will help support cutting-edge cancer research to help find more cures, free services such as lodging and transportation to treatment for cancer patients and the Societys free 24/7 national cancer information hotline at 1-800-227-2345, Sewell said.

About Vector Solutions

Vector Solutions, a leader in eLearning and performance support, provides award-winning SaaS solutions for the architecture, engineering, construction (AEC), industrial, facilities management, public safety, IT, and education industries. Its brands, including RedVector, Convergence Training, TargetSolutions, and SafeSchools, deliver continuing education (CE), training, technology, and performance management solutions using the latest innovations in learning and technology to create safer, more capable, more compliant organizations. Its extensive online and mobile learning library offers over 9,000 courses written by over 280 subject matter experts and reaches more than 10 million professionals worldwide. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. For more information, visit www.vectorsolutions.com. Follow us on Twitter @VectorPeform and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/VectorPerformance.

About the American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society is a global grassroots force of nearly 1.5 million volunteers dedicated to saving lives, celebrating lives, and leading the fight for a world without cancer. From breakthrough research, to free lodging near treatment, a 24/7/365 live helpline, free rides to treatment, and convening powerful activists to create awareness and impact, the Society is the only organization attacking cancer from every angle. For more information go to http://www.cancer.org.

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The first of a fleet of submarine-hunting planes touched down in Scotland today after being flown from the US, escorted by two RAF Eurofighter Typhoons.

The Poseidon MRA Maritime Patrol Aircraft landed at Kinloss Barracks in Moray - part of a fleet of nine aircraft being brought in through a 3billion Ministry of Defence nuclear deterrent investment.

The aircraft was flown to Scotland from Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida and will be based at Kinloss Barracks before moving ten miles along the coast to RAF Lossiemouth when facilities there are ready.

The state-of-the art planes are intended to enhance the UK's ability to track hostile maritime targets, protect the country's continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent and play a central role in Nato missions across the North Atlantic.

The UK's first submarine-hunting Poseidon MRA Maritime Patrol Aircraft arrives at Kinloss Barracks in Moray today, escorted by two RAF Eurofighter Typhoons after crossing the Atlantic from Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida

Crew members, local dignitaries, a piper and senior officers stand for a photograph after the aircraft arrives at Kinloss today

The Poseidon, pictured arriving at Kinloss Barracks in Moray after crossing the Atlantic from NAS Jacksonville today, is part of a fleet of nine aircraft being brought in through a 3billion Ministry of Defence nuclear deterrent investment

Squadron Leader Mark Faulds (second right) laughs with a piper after the Poseidon aircraft arrives at Kinloss Barracks today

Escorted by Eurofighter Typhoon, the UK's first submarine-hunting Poseidon MRA plane arrives at Kinloss Barracks today

Squadron Leader Stuart 'Roxy' Roxburgh (left), who flew the RAF's last-ever Nimrod plane from the base, takes a selfie with Squadron Leader Mark Faulds who flew in the UK's first submarine-hunting Poseidon MRA to Kinloss Barracks today

The UK's first submarine-hunting P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft arrives at Kinloss Barracks in Moray today

The new Poseidon aircraft for the RAF features two 27,000lb st (120kN) CFM International CFM56-7 turbofan engines

Poseidon is designed to carry out extended surveillance missions at varying altitudes, and is equipped with cutting-edge sensors which uses high-resolution area mapping to find both surface and sub-surface threats.

Described as a 'game-changing' submarine-hunting jet, it will also be armed with Harpoon anti-surface ship missiles and Mk 54 torpedoes capable of attacking both surface and sub-surface targets.

Last October, the first in the fleet was flown to Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida where RAF personnel are being trained to operate the aircraft, following an unveiling ceremony in Seattle.

The first of the planes, which could be used to keep Britain safe from Russian President Vladmir Putin's ballistic missile-armed undersea fleet, has now arrived in the UK, and the remainder will be delivered by November 2021.

The plane is thought to have been built from the fuselage of Boeing's 737-800 and the wings of its 737-900.

Watched by Squadron Leader Mark Higgins from 120 Squadron, Squadron Leader Mark Faulds from 54 Squadron reaches out to touch the plane's name at Kinloss Barracks after they flew in the UK's first submarine-hunting Poseidon MRA today

Escorted by two RAF Eurofighter Typhoons, the UK's first submarine-hunting Poseidon MRA arrives at Kinloss Barracks today

A member of the ground crew holds a set of chocks for the UK's first submarine-hunting Poseidon MRA plane today

Crew members disembark at Kinloss Barracks in Morayafter arriving in the UK's first submarine-hunting Poseidon MRA today

A member of the ground crew directs the UK's first submarine-hunting Poseidon MRA plane at Kinloss Barracks today

Spectators wait for the arrival of the UK's first submarine-hunting Poseidon MRA plane at Kinloss Barracks in Moray today

Baroness Goldie, Minister of State for Defence, watches as the UK's first submarine-hunting Poseidon PRA arrives today

A crew members looks from a window of the Poseidon MRA as it taxis at Kinloss Barracks after crossing the Atlantic today

Squadron Leader Mark Faulds (second left) poses for a photograph at Kinloss Barracks in Moray after the arrival today

Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston, chief of the air staff, said: 'Poseidon is a game-changing maritime patrol aircraft, able to detect, track and if necessary destroy the most advanced submarines in the world today.

The 129ft Boeing P-8A Poseidon by numbers Powerplant: two 27,000lb st (120kN) CFM International CFM56-7 turbofan engines Length: 129ft 6in (39.47m) Height: 42ft 1in (12.83m) Wingspan: 123ft 7in (37.64m) Maximum take-off weight: 189,200lb (85,820kg) Maximum speed: 490kt (907km/h) Ferry range: 4,500 miles (7,242km) Service ceiling: 41,000ft Advertisement

'With Poseidon MRA1, I am delighted and very proud that the RAF will once again have a maritime patrol force working alongside the Royal Navy, securing our seas to protect our nation.'

The aircraft will initially be flown by 120 Squadron, while 201 Squadron will join the programme in due course.

The 120 Squadron was originally stood up on January 1, 1918 and was the leading anti-submarine warfare squadron in the Second World War.

First Sea Lord, Admiral Tony Radakin, said: 'Poseidon marks a superb upgrade in the UK's ability to conduct anti-submarine operations.

'This will give the UK the ability to conduct long-range patrols and integrate seamlessly with our Nato allies to provide a world-leading capability.

'This will maintain operational freedom for our own submarines, and apply pressure to those of our potential foes. I look forward to working with the RAF and our international partners on this superb capability.'
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ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Feb. 4

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

A meeting of experts from the Caspian littoral countries to discuss the draft protocol on cooperation in the fight against illegal extraction of biological resources (poaching) in the Caspian Sea is being held in Ashgabat on February 3-5, Trend reports referring to Turkmenistans Foreign Ministry.

The event is attended by representatives from relevant ministries and ministries of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. The parties noted that this protocol is being developed in accordance with the agreement on cooperation in the field of security of the Caspian Sea.

According to the ministry, the meeting agenda includes issues on the draft protocol and the definition of the competent bodies that are responsible for the implementation of this document as well as on the mechanism and forms of cooperation in this area.

The Caspian Sea is the largest inland water body in the world, which is not connected to the world ocean and has climate-forming significance. It is also unique in that it has preserved a diverse relic flora and fauna, including the world's largest herd of sturgeon fish.
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Two swine flu cases have been detected out of six samples sent for testing for novel coronavirus, a senior Manipur health official said on Tuesday.

Six samples of people entering the state were sent to the National Institute of Biology in Pune to test for coronavirus, Director of Manipur Health Services, K Rajo told reporters.

"We have received three reports so far. Though none of them tested positive for coronavirus, swine flu virus has been detected in two of them," the official said.

Of the two affected persons, one had recently visited China while the other came in contact with that person, Rajo said.

Rajo said being a "mild case" of swine flu, the affected persons will be monitored through "home isolation" and their family members will be provided medicines.

The official said that five centres have been opened in the different border towns of the state and at the Imphal International Airport to screen people for coronavirus.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Mizoram has begun screening people entering the state through the India-Myanmar border, officials said.

A screening centre has been set up at Zokhawthar in the border district of Champhai, besides one at Lengpui Airport, they said.

The health department said that no coronavirus cases have been detected in the state so far and urged people not to believe in rumours making rounds on social media.

It said two medical students who had returned from China on January 15 have tested negative for coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Meet Frances Shiels - the woman who says she was trapped in a man's body for 60 years.

Frances' Story - 'It pains me that my decision to be me has had a fallout on those I love most in the world'

Growing up as John Francis, and known to everyone as Frank, the Londonderry native who was born in the Bogside said she always knew she wasn't really a man.

Nevertheless, 'Frank' did try to conform to social norms by getting married and having two children - but the strain of living a lie eventually took its terrible toll.

Now though, and despite a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria and subsequent transition, there is no happy-ever-after for Frances, who has found that following her heart has harsh consequences.

"People have been mean and abusive," she admitted.

"They consciously mis-gender me, and still call me 'sir' in a restaurant or coffee shop. It even happens on the phone when I answer it 'Frances Olive'.

"I also don't have any public social media presence because I've been forced off it by bullies."

For the 67-year-old former statistician, who has lived in south Belfast for two and a half years, it's also a lonely road.

"I'm the oldest of seven children and only two of my siblings are totally accepting and embracing of my identity," said Frances, who has had two surgeries under the NHS and has met the criteria for being legally female.

Wearing fashionable glasses with green rims and dressed in a baby pink leather jacket and a long multi-coloured pink and black dress for our interview, stylish Frances is far removed from her previous incarnation.

But she said she has always "known who I am from my absolute earliest memory", adding that "for a long time in my teens I thought I was schizophrenic - or mad, but I didn't tell anyone".

I remember going through puberty and not being physically attracted to boys or girls

Indeed, as a young boy, Frances even considered becoming a priest.

"I remember going through puberty and not being physically attracted to boys or girls so I thought I'd been given a gift from God," she said.

"So I considered the priesthood and I spent time going to two different seminaries in Co Cavan and Co Dublin for quite a while from when I was aged 13 to 18. I thought God wanted me for the priesthood and was making it easy for me to cope with a life of celibacy."

But after "praying for a sign" around the age of 17 he didn't get one and went home from a seminary "confused" and "uninterested in relationships with girls other than as friends".

Frank was 22 when he got married to a girl he went to primary school with and had known all his life. She was also his best friend for decades.

The couple, now divorced, had two children - son Tim, the 44-year-old pastor of Omagh Community Church who continues to stand by the person he still calls 'daddy'; and a daughter with whom she has no current contact. Although they are now estranged, Frances, who's now a policy advisor for FOCUS: The Identity Trust, said his ex was the first person who knew of his personal struggles.

"My ex-wife knew for a long number of years but I don't think she recognised the full import of it," Frances said. "She misinterpreted the cross-dressing. Suffice to say we both recognised that it was an issue. We did attempt to live with it for approximately 20 years before I couldn't survive any longer.

"When my ex-wife discovered my identity we tried to continue on as things were before with the elephant in the room.

"I embraced it all and tried to be the best possible father, husband, brother and manager. I did the absolute best I could."

In 2012 Frances and his ex-wife went together to get help from the NHS. That journey ended with an operation that marked the start of the transition. During years peppered with bouts of depression, anxiety, unemployment and social phobia, Frances revealed that she had also attempted suicide three times and had been considering it again before going to her GP in great distress "aiming to complete suicide" but "not wanting to put that burden on my family".

Frances was finally officially referred to the regional gender identity service by a consultant psychiatrist in 2000 but relations with his wife, whom he no longer sees, broke down in 2012 and they parted ways.

"My ex always made it very clear that it was totally unacceptable to her that I would cross-dress, that I would express my true identity in public and it was coming to an absolute crisis," she said. "The amount of pain that we were both undergoing ... it became impossible for me to bear it any longer and I was literally at the stage of choosing whether to be or not to be."

It pains me that my decision to be me has had a fallout on those who I love the most

Frances is extremely conscious of the hurt and turmoil she has caused to her nearest and dearest, who may never come to understand her motivations.

"It pains me that my decision to be me has had a fallout on those who I love the most in the world, those people I continue to love," she said. "The feeling of isolation is at times almost unbearable."

But that said, she's convinced it's better being Frances than denying her true self.

"I am immeasurably more comfortable as me," she said. "This whole journey has been about resolving my inner conflict and I have done that. I'm totally comfortable in my own identity and I don't have to fight that any more."

Yet there remains the guilt of bringing the challenge of her identity to her son and family.

"A lot of things happen to transgender individuals like me and they're largely down to societal attitudes but they affect the people around me," she admitted. "There is transphobia all around me.

"My ex-wife and my family would have experienced that sort of societal transphobia and I feel guilty because if I wasn't transgender none of this would be happening. Timothy has been able to transcend all that because he knows the true me."

For Frances, though, this rocky road leads to her future path of choice. "I always thought I had some sort of a calling," she said.

"Now I'm convinced my vocation is to shed some light for society for those transgender people yet to be born.

"I'm still here and the purpose of my being is to help change society's attitude to people like me and to make people realise we're not mad and we don't have two heads.

"God created us the same way He created everyone else."

Expand Close Tim and Frances Shiels together Kevin Scott / Facebook

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Tim's Story: 'I accept it as Frances's reality but I don't approve of it... we've agreed to disagree'

Pastor Tim Shiels thought he'd already dealt with everything this world could throw at him.

The 44-year-old had been a homeless drug addict, spent five stints in rehab and tried to take his own life before eventually getting clean and turning his life around.

But the Omagh man, who is no stranger to battling for survival, was destined to face yet another bump in the long and tortuous road after his father told him he'd always felt like a woman trapped in a man's body.

"I honestly thought I had seen it all," he said. "It was around the beginning of 2012. The exact date is a mystery to all of us at this stage - we've all been through so much already.

"But what do you do when your daddy sits down at your kitchen table and essentially tells you that he wants to become your mammy?"

He added: "My understanding or ignorance of gender dysphoria was limited to what I'd seen on Coronation Street [with Hayley Cropper, a male-to-female transgender character]."

Sitting in the lobby of a hotel, with his divorced dad who now identifies as a female, Frances, the father-of-four and pastor of Omagh Community Church speaks candidly about the shocking revelation from almost eight years ago.

I accept it as Frances's reality but I don't approve of it, nor do I agree with it. Ultimately, we've agreed to disagree

But Tim, who still calls his father 'daddy', also confided that while he "accepts" that Frances believes he was always a woman, he refuses to accept his father's assessment that it's a medical, rather than psychological, condition.

"That's where the tension exists between him and me," he said. "I accept it as Frances's reality but I don't approve of it, nor do I agree with it. Ultimately, we've agreed to disagree."

Describing his conflicted feelings following the admission made by his father - who used to be called John Francis, better known as 'Frank' - Tim said he was angry and "wanted to poke his eyes out".

"It was a wave of emotion, going from shock into a processing of 'What do you mean? That's nuts. Daddy are you okay?'," he recalled.

"As Frances was sharing this story I remember pausing and asking myself, 'What do I do? I'm a pastor, I love God'. So I asked Jesus, 'What would you do?'

"That was the default setting for everything else that would follow, and I just felt my spirit telling me 'You've just got to hold his hand' even though I wanted to run."

Tim cannot, however, remember if he did physically take his father's hand.

"Neither one of us can remember the exact moment," he said. "I'd like to think I held his hand, but I knew the message was that I had to maintain the relationship and journey with this. It would, however, have been easier to run."

That made Jennie very angry. She was counting the cost and the impact of this on the kids

After sharing the news with wife Jennie (43), a midwife, she requested a "lead-in time" where their children - Sian and Oisin (then aged 12), Aoife (8) and Cadhla (1) - could continue to see "Grandad Frank".

"Frances wasn't up for that - as far as she was concerned the decision had been made and we had to get up to speed with it," Tim said.

"That made Jennie very angry. She was counting the cost and the impact of this on the kids.

"We felt we were being told that this is the beat of the drum, and you're either in or out.

"I felt that I'd already made the decision (that I was in), but everybody else then had to make their own."

Tim said that when they told the children they were "met with blank faces". He then told them he wasn't going to "force them to be in any relationship they didn't want to be in".

Although Jennie has yet to meet Frances due to "all the complexities of the situation", Tim told how the older three children initially "decided that they wanted to hang out".

"We went to a cafe and it was very difficult," he recalled.

"Frances was described as a man and being greeted as 'Sir'... and in their heads everybody was looking at them.

"So you've got an eight-year-old and two 12 year olds looking at someone who's supposed to be their granddad but presenting themselves as a female.

In the end they all felt it was easier to not engage with the emotion and the abnormality, so now there's no contact

"The reality is their granddad was there, looking like a woman. It didn't make sense to them, they felt so uncomfortable with and decided it was too much for them.

"In the end they all felt it was easier to not engage with the emotion and the abnormality, so now there's no contact."

Explaining gender dysphoria to them wasn't enough to make them understand their granddad's new persona, as Tim added: "I'm 44 and I still can't make sense of it."

He added: "Our youngest journeyed the longest but the turning point for Cadhla was two summers ago when we were walking up the quay on the River Foyle and she found it incredibly difficult and very uncomfortable to have everyone looking at us."

Recalling the words the consultant used to describe how his father had been feeling pre-transition - "it's like a cooker standing in the mirror and seeing a fridge" - Tim said he accepts the analogy and hopes it will "help people understand the complexity of this issue".

"We've got to accept there are people in our community who are suffering like that on a daily basis," he added.

In his role as a Church leader, Tim said none of his congregation have rebuked him for his dad's decision. On the contrary his "incredible Church family" have been very supportive.

"As Frances and I have journeyed together, I'm in a more authoritative position to speak into this and I've become more public and I'm travelling across the UK and Ireland to speak to churches," he said.

"More often than not the reality of the Church is that we look at people as problems to be fixed but regardless of how Frances is today, my daddy is not a problem to be fixed. He's a person to be loved."
Bahrain Medical Association will organise the Fifth Middle East Conference on Wound Care and Diabetic Foot from March 6 to 8. This was announced during a meeting by a delegation of doctors association with the Minister of Health, Faeqa Al Saleh.

The conference will be held in association with government and private hospitals in Bahrain, the Bahrain Diabetes Society, in addition to the University of Toledo American and Innovation Organisation events. Association head Dr Ghada Qassim explained that this conference aims to enhance the level of the necessary awareness of how to diagnose and treat diabetes and provide better opportunities to improve life for patients, as well as give stakeholders and specialists in Bahrain opportunities to exchange experiences and learn about the latest developments related to the field of their work.

Dr Qassim added that the conference comes within the framework comes under the series of conferences and major events in order to enhance Bahrains status and visibility Ms Al Saleh with BMA delegation. at the global level.
New Yorks upcoming plastic bag ban could cause a shortage of paper bags that might last up to five years, according to the New York Post.

"It's a major issue," said Phil Rozenski, a spokesman for Novolex, a major bag manufacturer in North America, according to the Post. "It's so large that there are outages in the Midwest in trying to get supply to retailers."

Once the ban takes effect next month, any entity required to collect state sales taxes won't be allowed to give out single-use plastic bags at checkout. Although many retailers have been encouraging customers to switch to reusable bags and the ban does include a number of exemptions, some industry experts say there are simply not enough paper bags to go around, according to the Post.

Novolex estimates New York will require about 4 billion bags once the plastic ban begins. That's 52 percent of all current production capacity in North America, the Post said.

The company says the state could have a shortfall of about 3 billion bags lasting up to five years, until new factories are built, according to the Post. Paper bags are currently produced at 16 sites in Canada and North America.

"The New York law needs four or five factories that don't exist today," Rozenski said, according to the Post.

Environmental advocates had been pushing for a mandatory statewide fee on paper bags as part of the plastic ban, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle said. The idea was to push as many consumers as possible toward reusable bags.

The ban includes an option allowing cities and counties to charge a mandatory 5-cent fee for paper bags, but only Tompkins, Albany, Suffolk and Ulster counties, plus New York City, have moved to do so, according to the D&C. Some stores, such as Wegmans, Tops and Price Chopper, have said theyll charge a 5-cent fee for paper regardless.

Without a mandatory paper fee, activists are concerned the litter problems caused by plastic will simply be replaced by paper. Experts have also noted that plastic bags actually result in fewer greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetime than paper bags, which makes them the better option as far as climate change is concerned, according to the D&C.

Paper bags are also more expensive. They cost stores about seven times more than plastic, said Jim Calvin, president of the state Association of Convenience Stores, according to the D&C.

Calvin and his group opposed the bag ban last year and pushed instead for a charge on both paper and plastic bags, the D&C said.

"We think that would have sharply reduced plastic bag consumption without eliminating the convenience of a plastic bag for those who need one," he said, according to the paper.

The plastic bag ban goes into effect statewide on March 1.

More on New Yorks plastic bag ban

Dog poop, tiny trash cans, more: Questions answered on NYs plastic bag ban

Youll soon pay for paper bags at Tops, Wegmans, more as NY plastic bag ban nears

New York plastic bag ban start date, whos affected, bags you can still get

NY plastic bag ban nears: How to clean your reusable bags so they dont get gross

NY says Wegmans, others must allow old plastic bags in stores for reuse

Advocates worry regulations could let single-use plastic bags survive NY ban

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598

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Jazz saxophonist and flutist Greg Abate, a veteran of the Ray Charles band, will appear in Charleston at Forte Jazz Lounge, 477 King St., Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7 and 8.

Abate will perform at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. each evening. Tickets are $30-$40. Call 843-637-4931 or go to www.fortejazzlounge.com.

Abate, 72, played alto sax in Charles' band in 1973 and '74. He joined the Artie Shaw Band in 1983. A native of Rhode Island, he has taught jazz at Rhode Island College.

His latest album, "Greg Abate and the Tim Ray Trio: Gratitude," recorded live with no rehearsal at a club in 2019, was a critical success. it features mostly original tunes, plus Roland Kirk, Fats Waller and Joe Henderson covers.

Abate's appearance at Forte Jazz Lounge marks the first time the new music venue is hosting musicians not based in the Charleston area.

Adam Parker
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has declared the Coronavirus as a state disaster. Health Minister KK Shailaja on Monday had said, "Kerala today declared the n-coronavirus as a state disaster. We want to strengthen our surveillance system and precautionary measures."

"When we came to know that n-coronavirus is rampant in China, we put in place our own system to contain the virus. There are many students from Kerala in China. We expect that they will come back and the coronavirus may affect the state. We have three positive cases of coronavirus so far. The samples had been sent to the National Institute of Virology for testing. We are calling back the health officers from leave and putting in place all measures to contain the effect of this virus," Shailaja had said.

Live TV

The announcement followed after a third case of coronavirus was tested positive in Kasargod, Kerala. "Today one more case has tested positive for coronavirus from Kasaragod. The patient is under treatment at Kanjangad District Hospital in Kasaragod. The patient`s condition is stable. The student had returned from Wuhan," Shailaja had said.

India`s first confirmed case of coronavirus had been reported from Kerala a few days ago. The virus originated in Wuhan in Hubei province of China in December and since then has spread to various parts around the world. China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate.

The death toll in China has increased to 425, with the total number of cases now standing at 20,438. The new figures come after the country opened a new hospital built in 10 days, infused cash into tumbling financial markets and further restricted people's movement in hopes of containing the rapidly spreading virus and its escalating impact.
The Minister of Information and Communications wants those working underneath him to be more proactive to rid the internet of fake news about coronavirus.

A man from Dak Nong Provinces Gia Nghia City with police. He has been fined VND10 milion (US$432) for posting false information about coronavirus on his Facebook page.  VNA/VNS Photo

Nguyen Manh Hung has requested units under his leadership to be work with foreign social media platforms like Facebook and Google to remove clips and false information about novel coronavirus (nCoV).

In recently-issued directive on the implementation of nCoV prevention, Hung asked press agencies and broadcasters to collaborate with the Ministry of Health in directing the content of information on the disease.

They were also required to carry out special programmes including online discussions to update the latest news on the disease to local residents.

Dissemination on prevention and control of the epidemic was identified as an important task, contributing to protect peoples health and lives and minimise the damage caused, he said.

The minister said false information should be prevented and violators should be strictly dealt with so that people will not create anxiety for the public.

The connection between hospitals, health facilities relating to the quarantine and treatment of the infection cases should be facilitated.

The minister also directed telecom businesses to waive fees for all calls to the hotline 19009095 to answer questions about acute respiratory infections caused by coronavirus until April 30 this year.

Postal businesses were asked to suspend the delivery of such medical equipment overseas like face masks and antiseptic solution and medical gloves as Vietnam is already facing a shortage.

The minister called on the Vietnamese technology community to exercise their responsibility to solve social problems, especially in disease prevention.

Combating fake news

Several Facebook users across Vietnam have been penalised for spreading fake news about coronavirus.

Police in Dak Nong Province on Monday said they have fined two individuals VND10 milion (US$432) for posting false information on nCoV. They are both living in Gia Nghia City.

One posted Gia Nghia City reports a case of suspected coronavirus infection which is now being quarantined on January 31.

Another posted on her Facebook page that a case of coronavirus infection being quarantined at Dak Nong Hospital.

After being summoned by the police, they admitted that the news posted by them was false.

On Sunday, Bac Ninh Province Police fined Nguyen Cong Hoang and Vu Quynh Mai, two local residents, for falsely announcing an infection case at Bac Ninh General Hospital on their Facebook page and sharing the post on community groups. The post had been shared more than 600 times before it was removed.

Earlier on Saturday, an owner of Facebook account Tran Thi Thu Thuy was given a VND12.5 million fine for posting fabricated news about a person dying of coronavirus in Lang Son Provinces Cao Loc District on January 29.

Hundreds of netizens had shared her post, raising fear among local residents.

Police in Hanos Thach That District on Sunday said they have summoned Nguyen Quy Trong, 30, who lives in Quoc Oai Town for spreading fake news on his Facebook page.  VNS

Coronavirus: A visual guide to the outbreak Six maps and graphics explaining how the respiratory virus has spread and how it is being dealt with.

Vietnam steps up coronavirus prevention Vietnam is stepping measures to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has killed more than 130 people since it was first detected in Chinas Wuhan Province.
Representative image

The Maharashtra government is mulling to set up a coronavirus testing facility at Kasturba Hospital here to reduce the burden on Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) which is currently handling such samples from across the country, an official said on Tuesday.

An additional testing facility at the civic-run hospital here will help in getting faster results, the senior state health official said.

"The plan is being discussed to share some load of NIV. The institute is getting swab samples from across the country for testing of novel coronavirus infection. If a similar testing facility is set up in Mumbai, it will minimise the waiting period," she said.

More and more samples are being received for testing at NIV, hence it is better to set up an additional examination facility in Mumbai at the earliest, the official said.

"Health officials have communicated their views to higher authorities about setting up a coronavirus testing facility in Mumbai. We will come to know about it in the coming days," she added.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

As of now, six patients have been kept in observation wards at various hospitals in the state. Of these, four are in Pune, and one each in Mumbai and Sangli district, another official said on Monday.

Since January 18, state health officials have screened 8,878 passengers at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for the coronavirus infection, he said.

No confirmed case of the deadly virus, which has killed 425 people in China till now, has been detected yet in Maharashtra.

The coronavirus is a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has killed people in China is a novel strain and not seen before.

Common symptoms of the novel coronavirus strain include respiratory problems like cough, shortness of breath and fever, according to the World Health Organisation.

The WHO has declared the coronavirus epidemic as a global health emergency.

The virus - which first emerged in Wuhan city in China's central Hubei province - has spread to 25 countries, including India (three confirmed cases have been reported from Kerala), the US and the UK.
Cllr Ger Carthy says the announcement of a new ferry service at Rosslare Europort is imminent

A brand new ferry operator is set to be announced for Rosslare Europort in the coming weeks, offering an alternative route to France for both hauliers and tourists alike.

Cathaoirleach of the Rosslare Municipal District and general election candidate Cllr Ger Carthy made the announcement this week that, following a series of meetings with the management team at the Europort led by Glen Carr, a major announcement is 'imminent'.

Cllr Carthy said he wasn't at liberty to announce the identity of the ferry operator at this stage, as the final details were currently being negotiated, but he expected a formal announcement to be made shortly.

'A joint statement from Iarnrod Eireann with the full details is imminent, but until then I can reveal that there will be additional capacity and frequency out of Rosslare Europort which will improve productivity and profitability in Rosslare Europort, the surrounding areas of Rosslare Harbour, Kilrane and throughout County Wexford,' Cllr Carthy said.

'This operator, although new to Rosslare Europort, is well established and reputable and will provide excellent alternative routes to the near continent for hauliers and tourists.'

Cllr Carthy added that talks are also ongoing with 'another additional operator' about moving into Rosslare, as well as 'funding approval for another 40 million for upgrade of the port and berthing facilities'.

He says that current and previous TDs should 'hang their heads in shame' at the neglect of Rosslare Europort and leaving it to languish at Tier 2 status, thereby starving it of 'millions of euro in funding'.
The prudential regulator has backed calls for an independent review of the private health insurance sector, warning the federal government the affordability crisis is "unsustainable" and only three insurers would be viable by 2022 if current trends continue.

"A new approach is urgently needed, and it must be a whole-of-industry response," Australian Prudential Regulation Authority executive board member Geoff Summerhayes said.

Only three private health insurers will have a viable business model by 2022 if current trends continue, APRA warns. Credit:Michel O'Sullivan

"The industry's current trajectory is unsustainable ... while private health insurers may

be the ultimate victims of the so-called death spiral, policyholders will be the first casualties

through higher premiums and reduced benefits."

Federal Labor had pledged a review of private health insurance if it won the 2019 election.
They live in a shadow world where their jargon often understates the life-or-death 'game' they play to keep the rest of us safe.

A would-be mass-casualty attacker is referred to by these watchers as an SOI  or 'subject of interest'. Last Sunday on Streatham High Road the SOI was Sudesh Amman.

Having stabbed two people and no doubt intending to murder many more, the Islamist fanatic was on the receiving end of what is known in anti-terror surveillance circles as 'executive action'.

That similarly innocuous term describes what happens  from a sudden arrest to a fatal shot  when the watchers step out of the shadows. To them, the most important question is: 'How long do we let this (operation) run?'

Camera-phone photographs and video footage captured some of the officers involved in the incident. Pictured: another officer arrives at the scene on a blue motorbike

On Sunday they had no choice. But while a political storm rages over how a dangerous, unrepentant terrorist like Amman was allowed out of jail last month, there is quiet satisfaction at Scotland Yard and MI5 headquarters at the speed  60 seconds  with which their operatives neutralised his threat.

At the same time, there was disquiet at the camera-phone photographs and video footage that captured some of those officers involved in the incident, subsequently posted on social media.

The undercover men and women of SO15  Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command  and the domestic security service MI5 rely on the shadows for their safety and future successes.

On at least one occasion in the past an armed jihadi has gone looking for a policeman to kill, not knowing that he was in fact the hunted. A specialist team of undercover officers was trailing him only a few dozen yards behind and about to pounce.

The aftermath of Sunday's executive action saw these shadowers briefly emerge into plain sight. There were of course the firearms officers who brought Amman down. But they had back-up from one plain-clothes colleague mounted on a powerful motorcycle and others in unmarked cars and a van.

Armed police shot dead extremist Amman after he grabbed a knife from a shop and stabbed a man and a woman in a brutal high-street rampage in Streatham, South London

There also appeared to be at least one plain-clothes officer on foot who was not armed.

It is understood that a team of up to 25 SO15 officers had been watching the terrorist, albeit in shifts around the clock.

A similarly intense surveillance operation of the infamous hate preacher and jihadi recruiter Anjem Choudary was estimated to have cost the taxpayer some 2million in just one year.

MI5 sources have denied that any of its own officers were at the scene, though this has been questioned, given the agency's known role in the case.

In the fight against domestic terrorism, SO15 and MI5 enjoy a symbiotic relationship.

Unlike the police, MI5 officers are not allowed to carry firearms or make arrests. 'MI5 does the intelligence collection, the identification and investigation of suspects, the planting of listening devices, secret cameras, mobile observation posts, the recruitment of agents or sources, and so on,' says one security source. 'The police carry out the executive action.

'They do the raids, the arrests, the forensics, the gathering of evidence. But their roles do overlap sometimes because the two services have their own sources. The police end up doing intelligence collection as well.'

When Amman stepped out of Belmarsh jail on January 23 he was immediately picked up by an MI5 surveillance operation.

Tom Marcus is a former MI5 surveillance operative who last year published a memoir of his career trailing people like Amman. It is not a glamorous task and involves irregular hours often far from home. It is demanding on relationships. And dangerous.

When Amman (pictured) stepped out of Belmarsh jail on January 23 he was immediately picked up by an MI5 surveillance operation

'As the team waited for our target to emerge, we maintained our cover within the local area,' he recalled.

'Passers-by would never have known we were MI5: variously, we looked like painters, builders, local chavs, business types, pregnant women, old age pensioners  we matched the whole landscape of the community.

The job is never about jumping over bonnets wearing aviator sunglasses. It's always about getting the maximum amount of intelligence without being seen in order to keep people alive.' Within 48 hours of MI5 picking up Amman came the 'trigger' incident which changed the face and pace of the operation.

On January 25, Amman, who was living in a nearby bail hostel, was seen to enter the same hardware store on Streatham High Road from which he would, a week later, steal a kitchen knife and emerge to begin his bloody rampage. Why was Amman interested in such a shop, which sold knives, hammers and other potentially deadly weapons?

It is likely that MI5 immediately convened an 'executive liaison committee'. This is the body that brings together the spooks and SO15 to discuss a surveillance operation's 'end game'  the possibility of executive action.

Police officers inspect the Sudesh Amman, 19, lying face down on Streatham High Road at around 2pm on Sunday (left) and officers suddenly backing off (right)

It was decided that Amman was probably planning a terror attack and the surveillance teams should be supplemented, if not replaced, by armed undercover police officers. The call was correct. Executive action moved a step closer.

'This week's police operation was planned,' said a source.

'It was under control. They had armed surveillance on hand and it was all over in a minute. That is a success in the circumstances.

'You have to appreciate that terror tactics have changed. We used to talk about the 'distance to the bang', which meant the time from the beginning of preparation to the attack itself. That could mean a few months. Now we are faced primarily with what are called 'low-tech' attacks.

'You can hijack a vehicle and drive it into a crowd or take a knife from your kitchen drawer. These days, the distance to the bang can be a matter of days if not hours. It is more difficult to pre-empt.'

Amman's actions forced the hand of his watchers. But previous operations have shown how vital it is to make the right call at the right time.

If a target is to be taken off the streets to protect the public for an appreciable period  rather than a year or 18 months for possessing terrorist literature  then they have to be caught committing or about to commit a serious offence.

The law dictates  for our own protection  that you cannot be jailed simply because you are believed to be dangerous. There has to be hard evidence. And that is where judgment and nerve come in to play in surveillance operations.

A controversial case in point is that of known former Taliban bomb-maker and would-be mass casualty terrorist Khalid Ali, who had planned a knife rampage at the gates of Downing Street.

In 2016, Ali (Saudi born but a UK citizen) had been out of Britain for five years, spending much of the time in Afghanistan fighting coalition forces. Fingerprints taken at Heathrow on his return were subsequently matched to those found by American security forces on bomb parts in Afghanistan.

Despite the 'wealth of evidence' it was decided not to arrest him.

Instead, MI5 began a surveillance operation and he was filmed by covert officers carrying out hostile reconnaissance on Downing Street, the Houses of Parliament, Scotland Yard and the MI6 building.

Ali purchased three knives from a store in west London, and so armed was allowed to board a busy Tube train to Victoria, where he walked to Whitehall, monitored all the way by the watchers.

It was only when he emerged from the Underground that MI5 scrambled armed police to intercept him.

CCTV was used to zoom in on Ali as he made his way from Victoria Embankment and helped guide armed officers towards him. During his journey, undetected by the cameras, Ali was able to move the knives from his rucksack into his jacket and trousers in preparedness for a deadly assault.

Amman lays dead on the pavement on Streatham High Road after being shot dead by undercover police officers

Footage from a body-worn camera carried by one of the armed officers showed police driving along Whitehall, shouting in alarm: 'Is that him?'

When Ali was forced to the ground, he was asked: 'Do you have anything on you that may hurt anyone?'

Grinning, Ali told him: 'You'll find out.'

This was brinkmanship in the extreme. Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon said police had to follow 'due legal process' and had to defend the decision to allow the knifeman to get within yards of Downing Street amid concern that the public were put at risk.

He said police knew he was 'likely' to have armed himself that day, but he refused to say whether any officers were deployed to follow him on his journey into London to prevent him launching an attack.

'Managing that risk was a challenge, but the arrest was at the most appropriate time.'

The watchers don't always get it right.

Many of the fanatics who successfully commit terror attacks have been known to MI5 or police at some stage.

In a number of cases, surveillance has been downgraded, suspended or called off altogether with disastrous consequences.

Last November, the coroner in the inquests for the 2017 London Bridge attack suggested MI5 could be letting terrorists slip through the net because of a flawed assessment process that rated the capability of the ringleader as being too 'weak' for him to launch an attack.

Khuram Butt had been an MI5 subject of interest since 2015, but nothing was done to prevent him leading a knife-wielding gang on a murderous rampage, killing eight people and injuring 48 more before he was shot dead by police on June 3, 2017.

Officials suspended monitoring of Butt from February to April 2016 because of resourcing constraints.

When Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick is questioned by the London Assembly's police committee today, she is likely be asked if she needs more undercover officers and equipment to meet the challenges.

Sunday demonstrated the limitations of the watchers.

For all their skills and courage there was only one way in which the events in Streatham could have been prevented: Amman remaining in custody.
SAO PAULO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's government will send a bill to Congress to change the ICMS state tax on gasoline and diesel, President Jair Bolsonaro said, saying recent price cuts at oil refineries by Petrobras had not been reflected at the pumps.

ICMS is a tax on sales and services and applies to the movement of goods, transportation, communication services and other supplies.

"We have lowered gasoline and diesel prices at refineries 3 times now, but prices have not come down at the gas stations. Why? Because (state) governors charge, on average, 30% ICMS on the average price at the pump and adjust that only every 15 days, harming the consumer," Bolsonaro tweeted.

"So what can the President do to lower diesel/gasoline prices for consumers? Change legislation via a complementary bill so that the ICMS is a fixed amount per liter, and not set according to the gas station average. The President will submit the proposal to the Legislature and fight for its approval," he said on Twitter late on Sunday.

Bolsonaro did not give further details. The price of diesel is a sensitive issue for truck drivers, whose national strike in 2018 had a huge impact on the economy. Bolsonaro had the support of truck drivers' leaders in the 2018 presidential election. (Reporting by Eduardo Simoes Writing by Jamie McGeever)
Mrs Amerley Ollennu Awua-Asamoah, Ghanas Ambassador to Denmark has led a seven-member delegation from the Global Medical Aid, Denmark to Ghana.



The delegation is in the country on the invitation of Ambassador Mrs Awua-Asamoah to explore opportunities and ascertain first-hand information on Ghana's health sector and to see the kind of support to offer.



The delegation had engagements with the Minister of Health, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, the First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo- Addo and Management of the Korlebu- Bu Teaching Hospital.



They also visited and had meetings with the management of the Ghana Baptist Convention and its two beneficiary hospitals, the Wenchi Hospital and the Tetteh Quarshie Hospital in Mampong.



The visits to the hospitals were to assess the impact of the drugs shipped to the various hospitals and to see how best they could increase and maintain the drug supply to the hospitals.



The Global Medical Aid last year, though the facilitation of the Ambassador shipped more than 10 40-footer containers in excess of $6 million full of drugs, medical and surgical equipment and other medical consumables.



The Rebecca Akufo-Addo Foundation, the Wenchi District Hospital and some surrounding hospitals and the Baptist Medical Centres at Nalerigu and Nzema were the beneficiaries of the drugs and equipment.



Ambassador Mrs Awua-Asamoah said the Government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had prioritised health and that it was important for his appointees to promote his agenda.



She noted that the drugs, medical and surgical equipment facilitated from the Global Medical Aid had supported and helped the various beneficiary hospitals.



Ambassador Mrs Awua-Asamoah said:" I am doing everything possible to promote the governments agenda by pursuing the development aspirations of President Akufo- Addo led government."



Mr Hans Frederik Dydensborg, President, Global Medical Aid said, the value of the medicines and equipment, which the Ambassador procured for Ghana was not theissue, but "the value for the sick and poor people is enormous and cannot be measured economically."



Mr Dydensborg who is also an Advocate of the Supreme Court, Denmark said, Ambassador Mrs Awua-Asamoah was the first and only one from Ghana, who did it and expressed his admiration for the Ambassadors energy to make things happen for the country not by sweet words, but hard work that encouraged his outfit to help Ghana.



Since 2018, the Global Medical aid has donated hospital equipment and consumables in excess of $6 million.



They will be donating medical equipment and consumables to some hospitals to support their operations, and other CHPS compounds and health centres in the Akuapem North municipality.





Source: GNA









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Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, February 5 2020

Call of duty: Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Kristiarto Legowo welcomes a team of Indonesian Military engineers to the Royal Australian Air Force Base Richmond in New South Wales on Sunday. The 38 personnel will support Australian forces in the country's bushfire response. (Courtesy of Indonesian Embassy in Canberra)

A team from the Indonesian Military landed in Australia on Sunday to support the countrys bushfire response.

In a joint statement issued on Monday, the Australian government said it was deeply grateful to Indonesia for its commitment to send more than 30 military engineers to support the fight against the bushfires.

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DALLAS, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE: J) today announced its financial results for the fiscal first quarter ended December 27, 2019.

Q1 2020 Highlights:

Gross revenue of $3.4 billion 1 grew 9.0% year-over-year; net revenue grew 5% pro forma 1

grew 9.0% year-over-year; net revenue grew 5% pro forma EPS from continuing operations of $1.33 , results include benefit from mark to market impact of Worley stock

, results include benefit from mark to market impact of Worley stock Adjusted EPS from continuing operations of $1.20 , including $0.06 in discrete tax expenses

, including in discrete tax expenses Backlog increased $2.3 billion to $22.7 billion , up 11% year-over-year and up 6% on a pro forma basis 1

to , up 11% year-over-year and up 6% on a pro forma basis Maintaining fiscal 2020 adjusted EBITDA outlook of $1.050 billion to $1.150 billion 2

to Maintaining fiscal 2020 adjusted pro forma EPS outlook of $5.30 - $5.80 2

- Increased share repurchase authorization by $1 billion ; total authorization now $1.4 billion

Jacobs' Chair and CEO Steve Demetriou commented, "Our transformed company continues to deliver consistent performance as we benefit from multiple secular growth trends; such as smart water solutions, environmental resiliency, urbanization, national security and the build out of 5G telecom infrastructure. We are excited about our new brand, which focuses employees to redefine what is possible by challenging traditional thinking and reimagining the future for our clients. The combination of our scale, expertise and innovation bolsters our sales pipeline, further supporting our multi-year financial targets of double-digit adjusted EBITDA growth across both lines of business."

Jacobs will be ringing the Opening Bell at the NYSE later today to celebrate its 30th year listing on the NYSE, proudly exemplifying its new brand and transformation to a global technology-forward solutions company.

Jacobs' President and CFO Kevin Berryman added, "Our strong first quarter profit performance was driven by the successful execution of our strategy to focus on higher growth, higher margin opportunities where our expertise and scale provide a competitive advantage. We are in the final stages of successful M&A restructuring and separation initiatives, which positions us to deliver improved free cash flow generation over the balance of fiscal 2020 and beyond. We are reaffirming our fiscal 2020 adjusted EBITDA outlook of $1.050 billion to $1.150 billion2. Given our solid financial flexibility, we have increased our remaining share repurchase authorization to $1.4 billion."

1Reflects continuing operations as reported in accordance with GAAP. 2Reconciliation of the adjusted pro forma EPS outlook and adjusted EBITDA outlook for the full fiscal year to the most directly comparable GAAP measure is not available without unreasonable efforts because the Company cannot predict with sufficient certainty all the components required to provide such reconciliation, including with respect to the costs and charges relating to transaction expenses, restructuring and integration to be incurred in fiscal 2020.

First Quarter Review



Fiscal Q1 2020 Fiscal Q1 2019 Change Revenue $3.4 billion $3.1 billion $0.3 billion Net Revenue $2.7 billion $2.4 billion $0.3 billion GAAP Net Earnings from Continuing Operations $179 million $65 million $114 million GAAP Earnings Per Diluted Share (EPS) from Continuing Operations $1.33 $0.45 $0.88 Adjusted Net Earnings from Continuing Operations $162 million $144 million $18 million Adjusted EPS from Continuing Operations $1.20 $1.00 $0.20

The company's adjusted net earnings from continuing operations and adjusted EPS from continuing operations for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2019 exclude the adjustments set forth in the table below. For additional information regarding these adjustments and a reconciliation of adjusted net earnings and adjusted EPS to net earnings and EPS, respectively, as well as a reconciliation of net revenue to revenue, refer to the section entitled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" at the end of this release.



Fiscal Q1 2020 Fiscal Q1 2019 After-tax restructuring and other charges ($52.0 million and $45.1 million for the fiscal 2020 and 2019 periods, respectively before income taxes) $39 million ($0.29 per share) $35 million ($0.25 per share) After-tax transaction costs ($1.6 million and $0.5 million for the fiscal 2020 and 2019 periods, respectively before income taxes), $1.2 million ($0.01 per share) $0.4 million ($ per share) Other adjustments include: (a) addback of amortization of intangible assets of $21.8 million and $18.7 million in the 2020 and 2019 periods, respectively, (b) the allocation to discontinued operations of estimated stranded corporate costs of $6.4 million in the 2019 period that will be reimbursed or otherwise eliminated in connection with the sale of the ECR business, (c) the reclassification of revenues under the Company's Transition Services Agreement (TSA) with Worley of $12.0 million, included in other income for U.S. GAAP reporting purposes to SG&A and the exclusion of $0.7 million in remaining unreimbursed costs associated with the TSA during the fiscal 2020 period, (d) the removal of $(99.1) million in fair value adjustments related to our investment in Worley stock and certain foreign currency revaluations relating to the ECR sale in the 2020 period, (e) the allocation to discontinued operations of estimated interest expense amounts in 2019 related to long-term debt that was paid down in connection with the closing of the sale of the ECR business of $18.1 million, (f) the add-back of charges resulting from the revaluation of certain deferred tax assets/liabilities in connection with U.S. tax reform of $11.0 million in the 2019 period, (g) the add-back of depreciation and amortization relating to the ECR business that was ceased as a result of the application of held for sale accounting in the 2019 period of $5.2 million and (h) associated income tax expense adjustments for the above pre-tax adjustment items. $(58) million ($(0.43) per share) $43 million ($0.30 per share) Adjusted EPS from Continuing Operations $162 million ($1.20 per share) $144 million ($1.00 per share)



(note: earnings per share amounts may not add due to rounding)

Fiscal first quarter 2020 adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations reflect an adjusted effective tax rate of 24.0%, excluding discrete tax expense items of $7.8 million, or $0.06 per share. Fiscal first quarter 2019 included $0.07 in a discrete tax benefit.

Jacobs is hosting a conference call at 11:00 A.M. ET on Tuesday February 4, 2020, which it is webcasting live at www.jacobs.com .

John Wood Group's Nuclear Business Acquisition

On August 20, 2019, Jacobs announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire John Wood Group's Nuclear business for an enterprise value of 250 million (approximately $300 million) on a debt-free, cash-free basis. The transaction is expected to close in the fiscal 2020 second quarter.

About Jacobs

At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good. With $13 billion in annual revenue and a talent force of approximately 52,000, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of professional services including consulting, technical, scientific and project delivery for the government and private sectors. Visit jacobs.com and connect with Jacobs on LinkedIn , Twitter , Facebook and Instagram .

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements as such term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provided by the same. Statements made in this press release that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. Although such statements are based on management's current estimates and expectations, and currently available competitive, financial, and economic data, forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and you should not place undue reliance on such statements as actual results may differ materially. We caution the reader that there are a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is contained, projected or implied by our forward-looking statements. For a description of some additional factors that may occur that could cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 27, 2019, and in particular the discussions contained under Item 1 - Business; Item 1A - Risk Factors; Item 3 - Legal Proceedings; and Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 27, 2019, and in particular the discussions contained under Part I, Item 2 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations; Part II, Item 1 - Legal Proceedings; and Part II, Item 1A - Risk Factors, as well as the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is not under any duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform to actual results, except as required by applicable law.

Financial Highlights:

Results of Operations (in thousands, except per-share data):



For the Three Months Ended Unaudited December 27,

2019

December 28,

2018 Revenues $ 3,360,049



$ 3,083,788

Direct cost of contracts (2,715,478)



(2,515,268)

Gross profit 644,571



568,520

Selling, general and administrative expenses (493,226)



(455,390)

Operating Profit 151,345



113,130

Other Income (Expense):





Interest income 946



2,104

Interest expense (14,817)



(25,325)

Miscellaneous income (expense), net 116,695



2,282

Total other income (expense), net 102,824



(20,939)

Earnings from Continuing Operations Before Taxes 254,169



92,191

Income Tax Expense for Continuing Operations (68,489)



(22,758)

Net Earnings of the Group from Continuing Operations 185,680



69,433

Net Earnings of the Group from Discontinued Operations 77,587



60,158

Net Earnings of the Group 263,267



129,591

Net Earnings Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests from Continuing Operations (6,257)



(4,539)

Net Earnings Attributable to Jacobs from Continuing Operations 179,423



64,894

Net (Earnings) Losses Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests from Discontinued Operations 



(756)

Net Earnings Attributable to Jacobs from Discontinued Operations 77,587



59,402

Net Earnings Attributable to Jacobs $ 257,010



$ 124,296

Net Earnings Per Share:





Basic Net Earnings from Continuing Operations Per Share $ 1.35



$ 0.45

Basic Net Earnings from Discontinued Operations Per Share $ 0.58



$ 0.42

Basic Earnings Per Share $ 1.93



$ 0.87









Diluted Net Earnings from Continuing Operations Per Share $ 1.33



$ 0.45

Diluted Net Earnings from Discontinued Operations Per Share $ 0.58



$ 0.41

Diluted Earnings Per Share $ 1.91



$ 0.86











Segment Information (in thousands):



For the Three Months Ended Unaudited December 27,

2019

December 28,

2018 Revenues from External Customers:





Critical Mission Solutions $ 1,182,457



$ 1,035,028

People & Places Solutions $ 2,177,592



$ 2,048,760

Pass Through Revenue (701,754)



(674,278)

People & Places Solutions Net Revenue $ 1,475,838



$ 1,374,482

Total Revenue $ 3,360,049



$ 3,083,788

Net Revenue $ 2,658,295



$ 2,409,510







For the Three Months Ended

December 27,

2019

December 28,

2018 Segment Operating Profit:





Critical Mission Solutions $ 90,422



$ 72,152

People & Places Solutions 178,328



159,459

Total Segment Operating Profit 268,750



231,611

Other Corporate Expenses (1) (66,719)



(71,247)

Restructuring and Other Charges (49,663)



(47,234)

Transaction Costs (1,023)





Total U.S. GAAP Operating Profit 151,345



113,130

Total Other (Expense) Income, net (2) 102,824



(20,939)

Earnings from Continuing Operations Before Taxes $ 254,169



$ 92,191







(1) Other corporate expenses include costs that were previously allocated to the ECR segment prior to discontinued operations presentation in connection with the ECR sale in the approximate amount of $6.4 million for the three-month period ended December 28, 2018. Other corporate expenses also include intangibles amortization of $21.8 million and $18.7 million for the three-month periods ended December 27, 2019 and December 28, 2018, respectively.



(2) Includes revenues under the Company's TSA with Worley of $12.0 million, $99.1 million of fair value adjustments (unrealized gains) related to our investment in Worley stock and certain foreign currency revaluations relating to the ECR sale and the amortization of deferred financing fees related to the CH2M acquisition of $0.6 million for the three months ended December 27, 2019. For the three months ended December 28, 2018, primarily includes interest expense of $25.3 million and the amortization of deferred financing fees related to the CH2M acquisition of $0.5 million. Also, includes items related to restructuring and other charges for the three months ended December 27, 2019 and December 28, 2018, which are the loss on settlement of the CH2M portion of the U.S. pension plan of $2.4 million and the gain on the settlement of the CH2M retiree medical plans of $2.2 million, respectively.

Other Operational Information (in thousands):

Unaudited For the Three Months Ended Continuing Operations December 27, 2019

December 28, 2018 Depreciation (pre-tax) $ 22,152



$ 18,211

Amortization of Intangibles (pre-tax) $ 21,845



$ 18,671

Capital Expenditures $ 22,260



$ 19,467



Balance Sheet (in thousands):

Unaudited December 27, 2019

September 27, 2019 ASSETS





Current Assets:





Cash and cash equivalents $ 619,212



$ 631,068

Receivables and contract assets 3,056,115



2,840,209

Prepaid expenses and other 699,237



639,539

Current assets held for sale 4,022



952

Total current assets 4,378,586



4,111,768

Property, Equipment and Improvements, net 308,672



308,143

Other Noncurrent Assets:





Goodwill 5,437,422



5,432,544

Intangibles, net 645,468



665,076

Miscellaneous 1,403,881



918,202

Noncurrent assets held for sale 26,530



26,978

Total other noncurrent assets 7,513,301



7,042,800



$ 12,200,559



$ 11,462,711

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY





Current Liabilities:





Short-term debt $ 199,936



$ 199,901

Accounts payable 1,032,820



1,072,645

Accrued liabilities 1,162,872



1,384,379

Contract liabilities 435,211



414,208

Current liabilities held for sale 797



2,573

Total current liabilities 2,831,636



3,073,706

Long-term Debt 1,414,903



1,201,245

Other Deferred Liabilities 1,891,797



1,419,005

Noncurrent Liabilities Held for Sale 52



97

Commitments and Contingencies





Stockholders' Equity:





Capital stock:





Preferred stock, $1 par value, authorized - 1,000,000 shares; issued and outstanding - none 





Common stock, $1 par value, authorized - 240,000,000 shares; issued and outstanding - 133,001,493 shares and 132,879,395 shares as of December 27, 2019 and September 27, 2019, respectively 133,001



132,879

Additional paid-in capital 2,605,765



2,559,450

Retained earnings 4,145,825



3,939,174

Accumulated other comprehensive loss (880,166)



(916,812)

Total Jacobs stockholders' equity 6,004,425



5,714,691

Noncontrolling interests 57,746



53,967

Total Group stockholders' equity 6,062,171



5,768,658



$ 12,200,559



$ 11,462,711



Statement of Cash Flow (in thousands):



For the Three Months Ended Unaudited December 27, 2019

December 28, 2018 Cash Flows from Operating Activities:





Net earnings attributable to the Group $ 263,267



$ 129,591

Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash flows (used for) provided by operations:





Depreciation and amortization:





Property, equipment and improvements 22,152



20,321

Intangible assets 21,845



19,285

Gain on sale of ECR business (61,943)





(Gain) Loss on investment in equity securities (105,319)





Stock based compensation 14,279



15,594

Equity in earnings of operating ventures, net (715)



(3,141)

(Gain) Loss on disposals of assets, net 36



511

Loss (Gain) on pension and retiree medical plan changes 2,651



(2,172)

Deferred income taxes 102,487



(26,080)

Changes in assets and liabilities, excluding the effects of businesses acquired:





Receivables and contract assets (121,532)



(299,061)

Prepaid expenses and other current assets (4,152)



39,198

Accounts payable (35,380)



18,891

Accrued liabilities (236,090)



(169,948)

Contract liabilities 25,457



119,641

Other deferred liabilities (60,562)



(80,439)

Other, net 36,333



(6,892)

Net cash (used for) provided by operating activities (137,186)



(224,701)

Cash Flows from Investing Activities:





Additions to property and equipment (22,260)



(20,721)

Disposals of property and equipment and other assets 



205

Distributions of capital from (contributions to) equity investees (12,000)



(966)

Purchases of noncontrolling interests 



(1,113)

Net cash provided by (used for) investing activities (34,260)



(22,595)

Cash Flows from Financing Activities:





Net (payments) proceeds from borrowings 210,616



527,057

Proceeds from issuances of common stock 6,201



7,582

Common stock repurchases 



(141,799)

Taxes paid on vested restricted stock (24,334)



(18,512)

Cash dividends, including to noncontrolling interests (25,618)



(28,603)

Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities 166,865



345,725

Effect of Exchange Rate Changes (7,275)



22,115

Net Increase (decrease) in Cash and Cash Equivalents (11,856)



120,544

Cash and Cash Equivalents at the Beginning of the Period 631,068



793,358

Cash and Cash Equivalents at the End of the Period 619,212



913,902

Less Cash and Cash Equivalents included in Assets held for Sale 



(27,195)

Cash and Cash Equivalents of Continuing Operations at the End of the Period $ 619,212



$ 886,707



Backlog (in millions):



December 27, 2019

December 28, 2018 Critical Mission Solutions $ 8,473



$ 7,158

People & Places Solutions 14,197



13,177

Total $ 22,670



$ 20,335



Non-GAAP Financial Measures:

In this press release, the Company has included certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined in Regulation G promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The non-GAAP financial measures included in this press release are net revenue, adjusted net earnings from continuing operations, adjusted EPS from continuing operations, adjusted operating profit and adjusted EBITDA.

Net revenue is calculated excluding pass-through revenue of the Company's People & Places Solutions segment from the Company's revenue from continuing operations. Adjusted net earnings from continuing operations, adjusted EPS from continuing operations and adjusted operating profit are non-GAAP financial measures that are calculated by (i) excluding the costs related to the 2015 restructuring activities, which included involuntary terminations, the abandonment of certain leased offices, combining operational organizations and the co-location of employees into other existing offices; and charges associated with our Europe, U.K. and Middle East region, which included write-offs on contract accounts receivable and charges for statutory redundancy and severance costs (collectively, the "2015 Restructuring and other items"); (ii) excluding costs and other charges associated with restructuring activities implemented in connection with the KeyW and CH2M acquisitions, the sale of the ECR business and other related cost reduction initiatives, which included involuntary terminations, costs associated with co-locating Jacobs, KeyW and CH2M offices, separating physical locations of ECR and continuing operations, costs and expenses of the Integration Management Office and Separation Management Office, including professional services and personnel costs, costs and charges associated with the divestiture of joint venture interests to resolve potential conflicts arising from the CH2M acquisition, expenses relating to certain commitments and contingencies relating to discontinued operations of the CH2M business, charges associated with certain operations in India, which included write-offs on contract accounts receivable and other accruals, and similar costs and expenses (collectively referred to as the "Restructuring and other charges"); (iii) excluding transaction costs and other charges incurred in connection with closing of the KeyW and CH2M acquisitions, the pending acquisition of Wood Group's nuclear business, and sale of the ECR business (to the extent incurred prior to the closing), including advisor fees, change in control payments, costs and expenses relating to the registration and listing of Jacobs stock issued in connection with the CH2M acquisition, and similar transaction costs and expenses (collectively referred to as "transaction costs"); (iv) adding back amortization of intangible assets; (v) allocating to discontinued operations estimated stranded corporate costs that will be reimbursed or otherwise eliminated in connection with the sale of the ECR business; (vi) the reclassification of revenue under the Company's transition services agreement (TSA) included in other income for U.S. GAAP reporting purposes to SG&A and the exclusion of remaining unreimbursed costs associated with the TSA; (vii) allocating to discontinued operations estimated interest expense relating to long-term debt that was paid down with the proceeds of the ECR sale; (viii) the removal of fair value adjustments and dividend income related to the Company's investment in Worley stock and certain foreign currency revaluations relating to ECR sale proceeds; (ix) the exclusion of a one-time favorable adjustment in the fiscal 2019 period associated with a reduction of deferred income taxes for permanently reinvested earnings from non-U.S. subsidiaries in connection with the sale of the ECR business; (x) excluding charges resulting from the revaluation of certain deferred tax assets/liabilities in connection with U.S. tax reform; (xi) adding back depreciation and amortization relating to the ECR business of the Company that was ceased as a result of the application of held-for-sale accounting; and (xii) other income tax adjustments. Adjustments to derive adjusted net earnings from continuing operations, adjusted EPS from continuing operations and adjusted operating profit are calculated on an after-tax basis. We believe that net revenue, adjusted net earnings from continuing operations, adjusted EPS from continuing operations, adjusted operating profit and adjusted EBITDA are useful to management, investors and other users of our financial information in evaluating the Company's operating results and understanding the Company's operating trends by excluding or adding back the effects of the items described above, the inclusion or exclusion of which can obscure underlying trends. Additionally, management uses such measures in its own evaluation of the Company's performance, particularly when comparing performance to past periods, and believes these measures are useful for investors because they facilitate a comparison of our financial results from period to period.

Adjusted EBITDA for prior periods is calculated by adding depreciation expense to adjusted operating profit from continuing operations. For fiscal 2020 outlook, the Company calculated adjusted EBITDA by adding income tax expense, depreciation expense and interest expense, and deducting interest income from adjusted net earnings from continuing operations.

The Company provides non-GAAP measures to supplement U.S. GAAP measures, as they provide additional insight into the Company's financial results. However, non-GAAP measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation and are not in accordance with, or a substitute for, U.S. GAAP measures. In addition, other companies may define non-GAAP measures differently, which limits the ability of investors to compare non-GAAP measures of the Company to those used by our peer companies.

The following tables reconcile the components and values of U.S. GAAP revenue, net earnings from continuing operations, EPS from continuing operations, operating profit and revenue to the corresponding "adjusted" amounts. For the comparable periods presented below, such adjustments consist of amounts incurred in connection with the items described above. Amounts are shown in thousands, except for per-share data (note: earnings per share amounts may not add across due to rounding). Reconciliation of the adjusted EPS and adjusted EBITDA outlook for the full fiscal year to the most directly comparable GAAP measure is not available without unreasonable efforts because the Company cannot predict with sufficient certainty all the components required to provide such reconciliation (note: earnings per share amounts may not add across due to rounding).

U.S. GAAP Reconciliation for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 and 2019



Three Months Ended

December 27, 2019 Unaudited U.S. GAAP

Effects of

Restructuring

and Other

Charges

Effects of

Transaction

Costs (1)

Other

Adjustments

(2)

Adjusted Revenues $ 3,360,049



$ 



$ 



$ 



$ 3,360,049

Pass through revenue 











(701,754)



(701,754)

Net revenue 3,360,049











(701,754)



2,658,295

Direct cost of contracts (2,715,478)











701,754



(2,013,724)

Gross profit 644,571















644,571

Selling, general and administrative expenses (493,226)



49,663



1,023



34,520



(408,020)

Operating Profit 151,345



49,663



1,023



34,520



236,551

Total other income (expense), net 102,824



2,378



620



(111,107)



(5,285)

Earnings from Continuing Operations Before Taxes 254,169



52,041



1,643



(76,587)



231,266

Income Tax Expense for Continuing Operations (68,489)



(13,032)



(400)



18,640



(63,281)

Net Earnings of the Group from Continuing Operations 185,680



39,009



1,243



(57,947)



167,985

Net Earnings Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests from Continuing Operations (6,257)















(6,257)

Net Earnings from Continuing Operations attributable to Jacobs 179,423



39,009



1,243



(57,947)



161,728

Net Earnings Attributable to Discontinued Operations 77,587















77,587

Net earnings attributable to Jacobs $ 257,010



$ 39,009



$ 1,243



$ (57,947)



$ 239,315

Diluted Net Earnings from Continuing Operations Per Share $ 1.33



$ 0.29



$ 0.01



$ (0.43)



$ 1.20

Diluted Net Earnings from Discontinued Operations Per Share $ 0.58



$ 



$ 



$ 



$ 0.58

Diluted Earnings Per Share $ 1.91



$ 0.29



$ 0.01



$ (0.43)



$ 1.78

Operating profit margin 4.5 %













8.9 %



(1) Includes after-tax transaction costs associated mainly with the acquisition of John Wood Group's Nuclear Business.

(2) Includes (a) the removal of pass through revenues and costs for the People & Places Solutions line of business for the calculation of operating profit margin as a percentage of net revenue of $701.8 million, (b) the removal of amortization of intangible assets of $21.8 million, (c) the reclassification of revenues under the Company's TSA of $12.0 million included in other income for U.S. GAAP reporting purposes to SG&A and the exclusion of $0.7 million in remaining unreimbursed costs associated with this agreement, (d) the removal of $99.1 million in fair value adjustments related to our investment in Worley stock and certain foreign currency revaluations relating to the ECR sale and (e) associated income tax expense adjustments for the above pre-tax adjustment items.



Three Months Ended

December 28, 2018 Unaudited U.S. GAAP

Effects of

Restructuring

and Other

Charges

Effects of

Transaction

Costs (1)

Other

Adjustments

(2)

Adjusted Revenues $ 3,083,788



$ 



$ 



$ 



$ 3,083,788

Pass through revenue 











(674,278)



(674,278)

Net revenue 3,083,788











(674,278)



2,409,510

Direct cost of contracts (2,515,268)



2,870







674,278



(1,838,120)

Gross profit 568,520



2,870











571,390

Selling, general and administrative expenses (455,390)



44,364







25,071



(385,955)

Operating Profit 113,130



47,234







25,071



185,435

Total other income (expense), net (20,939)





(2,175)



515



18,067



(4,532)

Earnings from Continuing Operations Before Taxes 92,191



45,059



515



43,138



180,903

Income Tax Expense for Continuing Operations (22,758)



(9,695)



(125)



138



(32,440)

Net Earnings of the Group from Continuing Operations 69,433



35,364



390



43,276



148,463

Net Earnings Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests from Continuing Operations (4,539)















(4,539)

Net Earnings from Continuing Operations attributable to Jacobs 64,894



35,364



390



43,276



143,924

Net Earnings Attributable to Discontinued Operations 59,402



(4,723)



4,795



(23,310)



36,164

Net earnings attributable to Jacobs $ 124,296



$ 30,641



$ 5,185



$ 19,966



$ 180,088

Diluted Net Earnings from Continuing Operations Per Share $ 0.45



$ 0.25



$ 



$ 0.30



$ 1.00

Diluted Net Earnings from Discontinued Operations Per Share $ 0.41



$ (0.03)



$ 0.03



$ (0.16)



$ 0.25

Diluted Earnings Per Share $ 0.86



$ 0.22



$ 0.03



$ 0.14



$ 1.25

Operating profit margin 3.7 %













7.7 %



(1) Includes after-tax transaction costs associated mainly with the sale of our former ECR business.

(2) Includes (a) the removal of pass through revenues and costs for the People & Places Solutions line of business for the calculation of operating profit margin as a percentage of net revenue of $674.3 million, (b) the removal of amortization of intangible assets of $18.7 million, (c) the allocation to discontinued operations of estimated stranded corporate costs of $6.4 million that would have been reimbursed under the ECR transition services agreement (TSA) with Worley Parsons or otherwise eliminated from the ongoing operations in connection with the sale of the ECR business, (d) the allocation to discontinued operations of estimated interest expense for the full period related to long-term debt that was paid down as a result of the closing of the sale of the ECR business of $18.1 million, (e) the add-back of depreciation and amortization relating to the ECR business that was ceased as a result of application of held for sale accounting of $5.2 million, (f) the add-back of charges resulting from the revaluation of certain deferred tax assets/liabilities in connection with U.S. tax reform of $11.0 million and (g) associated income tax expense adjustments for all the above pre-tax adjustment items.

Earnings Per Share:



Three Months Ended Unaudited December 27, 2019

December 28, 2018 Numerator for Basic and Diluted EPS:





Net earnings (loss) attributable to Jacobs from continuing operations $ 179,423



$ 64,894

Net earnings (loss) from continuing operations allocated to participating securities (92)



(135)

Net earnings (loss) from continuing operations allocated to common stock for EPS calculation $ 179,331



$ 64,759









Net earnings (loss) attributable to Jacobs from discontinued operations $ 77,587



$ 59,402

Net earnings (loss) from discontinued operations allocated to participating securities (40)



(124)

Net earnings (loss) from discontinued operations allocated to common stock for EPS calculation $ 77,547



$ 59,278









Net earnings allocated to common stock for EPS calculation $ 256,878



$ 124,037









Denominator for Basic and Diluted EPS:





Weighted average basic shares 133,202



142,451

Shares allocated to participating securities (68)



(297)

Shares used for calculating basic EPS attributable to common stock 133,134



142,154









Effect of dilutive securities:





Stock compensation plans 1,484



1,424

Shares used for calculating diluted EPS attributable to common stock 134,618



143,578









Net Earnings Per Share:





Basic Net Earnings from Continuing Operations Per Share $ 1.35



$ 0.45

Basic Net Earnings from Discontinued Operations Per Share $ 0.58



$ 0.42

Basic EPS $ 1.93



$ 0.87

Diluted Net Earnings from Continuing Operations Per Share $ 1.33



$ 0.45

Diluted Net Earnings from Discontinued Operations Per Share $ 0.58



$ 0.41

Diluted EPS $ 1.91



$ 0.86



For additional information contact:

Investors:

Jonathan Doros, 214-583-8596

[email protected]

Media:

Marietta Hannigan, 214-920-8035

[email protected]

SOURCE Jacobs

Related Links

http://www.jacobs.com


New Delhi: Days after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray announced its support to the Narendra Modi-led government in the Centre over the eviction of illegal Bangladeshi and Pakistani infiltrators, several MNS posters, asking the 'Bangladeshi intruders' to leave India, surfaced in Mumbai Panvel area on Tuesday (February 4). The posters come ahead of MNS' proposed massive rally against illegal intruders on February 9.

Reading, "Bangladeshis leave the country lest you will be driven out in MNS style", the posters carry pictures of MNS chief Raj Thackeray and his son Amit Thackeray, who was recently inducted into the party.

Maharashtra: Posters of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) stating 'Bangladeshis leaves the country,otherwise you'll be driven out in MNS style' seen in Panvel of Raigad dist. Posters also shows the pictures of MNS Chief Raj Thackeray&his son & party leader Amit Thackeray. (03.02) pic.twitter.com/0mnNk5b0YR  ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2020

Earlier on January 24, Raj Thackeray has said that the party will take out a huge rally on February 9 in Mumbai to drive 'illegal infiltrators' from Pakistan and Bangladesh, out of India. Thackeray addressed a public meeting during 'Maha Adhiveshan' in Mumbai where he said, "We will take out a huge rally on February 9 to drive illegal infiltrators from Pakistan and Bangladesh, out of India. There can be a debate on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) but why should we shelter someone who has come from outside illegally?"

In December last year, Raj Thackeray had said that the illegal immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh should be thrown out of the country irrespective of their religion. He had said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act is uncalled for as it will increase the burden on India which is allegedly not able to cater to the needs of its own people.

"India is not Dharamshala. People coming from Bangladesh and Pakistan should be thrown out. India had not taken the contract of humanity," Raj Thackeray had said while addressing a press conference in Pune.

Live TV

Raj Thackeray-led MNS recently launched its new saffron-coloured party flag, that also features Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's Raj Mudra (royal seal).

As per the reports, there has been speculation that the BJP will support Raj Thackeray in rebranding his party after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena joined hands with the Congress and NCP to form a government in Maharashtra.
A Sydney dermatologist and skin surgeon charged with raping a Victorian doctor, when he allegedly took his condom off without permission, has been awarded a prestigious Order of Australia medal in the latest controversy to plague the countrys top accolade.

The Age and Sydney Morning Herald can reveal high-profile NSW dermatologist, Liang Joo Leow, was one of 1099 people awarded an Australia Day honour for his service to "medicine and to the community".

Dermatologist Liang Joo Leow.

While Dr Leow is entitled to a presumption of innocence, it has raised further questions about the selection and screening processes of Australia Day honours recipients.

The revelation follows heated calls for men's rights activist Bettina Arndt to be stripped of her Order of Australia.
(Newser)  President Trump just got something to crow about from Gallup: The polling agency puts his approval rating at 49%, the highest since he took office. The key seems to be rising support among Republicans and independents. Trump has a 94% approval rating among Republicans, up 6 points from last month, and a 42% approval rating from independents, up 5 points from last month. For the record, 7% of Democrats approve of Trump, down from 10%. The approval gap of 87 points between Republicans and Democrats is the highest Gallup has ever recorded for any president.

story continues below

The results come the day before a vote in the Senate expected to acquit the president of impeachment charges and hours before he delivers his State of the Union address. The Hill notes that Trump's ratings rose when tensions with Iran de-escalated following the American killing of a top Iranian general. Trump also signed trade deals with Canada and Mexico and with China over the last month. The poll of 1,033 people was conducted Jan. 16-29 and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points. It found that 50% of Americans disapprove of Trump, with the remaining 1% undecided. Trump himself boasted Tuesday of his approval rating, though he had the figure at 53%, and it was unclear which poll he meant. He added it might be 20 points higher if not for "phony Witch Hunts and Hoaxes." (Read more President Trump stories.)
CORNING, N.Y., Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) announced on Tuesday it will showcase a wide range of Advanced Optics products Feb. 4 through 6 at Photonics West 2020, one of the industrys largest tradeshows dedicated to photonic technologies, which is held at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

In Cornings Booth No. 2027, the company will feature demonstrations and new products that are enabling major emerging trends, such as augmented reality, 5G, and next-generation semiconductor manufacturing including:

Tropel FlatMaster MSP-300. This full metrology system will run live demos to show precise surface form measurements on 300mm wafers.

WaveOptics Augmented Reality Headset. This wearable waveguide device features Cornings high-index glass and enables a 40-degree field of view.

Corning RCBI Optical Fiber. This newly launched optical fiber is the first reduced-clad fiber compatible for G.657 and G.652. In addition to this new fiber, Corning will showcase a new Fiber Array Unit (FAU) with improved density and footprint capabilities enabled by the RCBI fiber.

Corning will also emphasize its full range of capabilities and solutions for semiconductor manufacturing applications and how they are enabling the next generation of consumer electronics through high-quality materials, full optical systems, and world-class manufacturing platforms.

Corning will showcase products, listed below, from its broader portfolio:

Optical materials: High Purity Fused Silica (HPFS) and Ultra-Low Expansion Glass (ULE)

Laser optics and fluoride crystals for lithography applications

Precision optics for demanding inspection and lithography applications

Metrology instruments for highly accurate surface measurements

Wafer-level optic solutions for precise 3D sensing

High-index wafers for AR/MR applications

Laser technologies for laser processing of micro materials

MACOR Machinable Glass Ceramics for a variety of cutting-edge applications

Specialty fiber, glass polarizers, and fiber array solutions for next-generation telecommunications

Hyperspectral imaging for small, lightweight imaging sensors



We look forward to showing a variety of Cornings capabilities at Photonics West this year, said Angela Julien, business director, Corning Advanced Optics. From high-quality, optical materials to precision and inspection equipment, our diverse range of products and design expertise meets our customers needs at all steps of the semiconductor manufacturing process. We are proud of our well-established proficiency in this area and look forward to connecting with our industry colleagues at the show.

Corning Advanced Optics leverages Cornings experience in glass science and optical physics to solve its customers optical challenges through customized design and cutting-edge optical materials and full-systems. Those capabilities include high-quality materials such as Corning ULE and HPFS as well as metrology capabilities, automated laser glass-cutting, and optical design expertise.

To learn more about Cornings capabilities, visit us at Photonics West 2020 at Booth #2027 in the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco or visit Cornings website at www.corning.com/advanced-optics .

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995), which are based on current expectations and assumptions about Cornings financial results and business operations, that involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include: the effects of acquisitions, dispositions and other similar transactions by the Company, the effect of global business, financial, economic and political conditions; tariffs and import duties; currency fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and other currencies, primarily the Japanese yen, New Taiwan dollar, euro, Chinese yuan, and South Korean won; product demand and industry capacity; competitive products and pricing; availability and costs of critical components and materials; new product development and commercialization; order activity and demand from major customers; the amount and timing of our cash flows and earnings and other conditions, which may affect our ability to pay our quarterly dividend at the planned level or to repurchase shares at planned levels; possible disruption in commercial activities due to terrorist activity, cyber-attack, armed conflict, political or financial instability, natural disasters, or major health concerns; unanticipated disruption to equipment, facilities, IT systems or operations; effect of regulatory and legal developments; ability to pace capital spending to anticipated levels of customer demand; rate of technology change; ability to enforce patents and protect intellectual property and trade secrets; adverse litigation; product and components performance issues; retention of key personnel; customer ability, most notably in the Display Technologies segment, to maintain profitable operations and obtain financing to fund their ongoing operations and manufacturing expansions and pay their receivables when due; loss of significant customers; changes in tax laws and regulations including the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017; and the potential impact of legislation, government regulations, and other government action and investigations.

For a complete listing of risks and other factors, please reference the risk factors and forward-looking statements described in our annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the day that they are made, and Corning undertakes no obligation to update them in light of new information or future events.

Web Disclosure

In accordance with guidance provided by the SEC regarding the use of company websites and social media channels to disclose material information, Corning Incorporated (Corning) wishes to notify investors, media, and other interested parties that it uses its website ( http://www.corning.com/worldwide/en/about-us/news-events.html ) to publish important information about the company, including information that may be deemed material to investors, or supplemental to information contained in this or other press releases. The list of websites and social media channels that the company uses may be updated on Cornings media and website from time to time. Corning encourages investors, media, and other interested parties to review the information Corning may publish through its website and social media channels as described above, in addition to the companys SEC filings, press releases, conference calls, and webcasts.

About Corning Incorporated

Corning ( www.corning.com ) is one of the world's leading innovators in materials science, with a more than 165-year track record of life-changing inventions. Corning applies its unparalleled expertise in glass science, ceramic science, and optical physics along with its deep manufacturing and engineering capabilities to develop category-defining products that transform industries and enhance people's lives. Corning succeeds through sustained investment in RD&E, a unique combination of material and process innovation, and deep, trust-based relationships with customers who are global leaders in their industries.

Corning's capabilities are versatile and synergistic, which allows the company to evolve to meet changing market needs, while also helping our customers capture new opportunities in dynamic industries. Today, Corning's markets include optical communications, mobile consumer electronics, display technology, automotive, and life sciences vessels. Corning's industry-leading products include damage-resistant cover glass for mobile devices; precision glass for advanced displays; optical fiber, wireless technologies, and connectivity solutions for state-of-the-art communications networks; trusted products to accelerate drug discovery and delivery; and clean-air technologies for cars and trucks.

Media Relations Contact:

MK Cornfield

(607) 974-6935

cornfielmj@corning.com



Investor Relations Contact:

Ann H.S. Nicholson

(607) 974-6716

nicholsoas@corning.com
A festival showcasing young orchestral musicians in Ireland was one of the first items on the agenda of the newly formed Irish Association of Youth Orchestras (IAYO) in 1994.

The first festival took place in the National Concert Hall in 1996. Every year since, hundreds of young musicians in youth orchestra and ensembles from across Ireland have converged on Earlsfort Terrace for a day long extravaganza of performances. To date over 8,000 musicians have taken part.

For some, it is valuable experience of Irelands premier concert venue en route to professional careers and for others a gala occasion yielding memories to treasure. The IAYO will celebrate its 25th Festival on 8 February 2020 at the National Concert Hall, Dublin.

To mark the milestone, Allin Gray, IAYO director called for proposals from conductors with a vision for something great to be performed by a festival orchestra with players drawn from member orchestras to open the evening concert.

Cork native Tom Crowley is tasked with choosing the programme as well as assembling and conducting a Special Festival Orchestra that will open the evening concert. I spoke to Crowley a day after the players met for the first rehearsal and his mood was buoyant.

Tom Crowley

While the festival is celebrating young players, I thought it would be a good opportunity to celebrate composers who dedicate their time and creative energies to writing music specifically for youth orchestras. It is a special skill.

Crowley has selected three living composers from three different generations. Opening the programme is a piece by Declan Townsend who is familiar to readers of this paper as a music reviewer.

Declan Townsend is a cornerstone of music in Cork for decades. Much of his music was written for students he taught at the Cork School of Music.

Aisling was commissioned by the Cork Youth Orchestra to celebrate their 40th anniversary in 1998.

Sam Perkin is the youngest of the three. His piece Dreaming in Sign Language was commissioned by the festival for the 20th anniversary. A bizarre and amazing piece, its very powerful if it is performed with conviction.

"There is a part for solo violin, harp and percussion. The others dont play instruments but form three groups who perform choreographed body rhythm with shouting, humming and whistling.

"When I described it to the players as a bit like doing the haka, there were some raised eyebrows. We have a choreographer coming in to work with the orchestra next weekend to make it really tight.

The third composer, German native Katherina Baker directs a music school in Gort, Co Galway.

Katherina writes so cleverly for young players. I use a lot of her material in my own teaching. The kids get a real kick out of playing it.

Eight orchestras will perform in the Main Auditorium including the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland who celebrate 50 years and the Symphonic Waves Youth Orchestra, an orchestra formed in anticipation of Galways year as European Capital of Culture.

Crowley who combines a career as violinist and conductor will direct a project later this month aimed at younger listeners. In the tradition of Prokofievs Peter and the Wolf an 11-piece ensemble will illustrate the characters and action in a setting of work by Roald Dahls at the Everyman Theatre.

I first came across Paul Pattersons settings of Dahls Revolting Rhymes in 2013 when I was invited to conduct a tour of Little Red Riding Hood as part of a cross border initiative. We did 3 Little Pigs the following year and finished the tour in Cork at the Half Moon Theatre. Paul flew in for the performance unannounced and loved it.

But first, there is a project to execute with the Special Festival Orchestra. Crowley has chosen to close the programme for the IAYO Festival with Galop Infernal from Orpheus in the Underworld (The Can-Can)

The Offenbach is in there because its nice to finish with a bang!

- The IAYO Festival of Youth Orchestras is at the National Concert Hall, Saturday; Revolting Rhymes is at the Everyman, Cork, February 27-29
Travellers from across the globe representing all generations now have a common interest in activities and experiences that are now influencing, indeed in many cases driving their travel decisions, according to new research from Expedia Group Media Solutions.



The research underscores the notion that cultural and once-in-a-lifetime experiences, exploring new destinations and interactive activities, are ranked by all generations significantly higher than value or a discounted price.



Arabian Travel Market 2020, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 19-22, will bring together travel and tourism experts from across the globe to discuss the burgeoning global tours and activities market, which according to New York-based Skift Research, is estimated to be worth $183 billion this year, a 35 per cent increase since 2016.



Although all generations are now looking for activities and experiences, above all else, what makes this market more complex, is the individual preferences and demands of each generation and of course ultimately, the challenge facing marketers trying to engage with them, said Danielle Curtis, exhibition director ME, Arabian Travel Market 2020.



ATM is holding a series of seminars on its Global Stage identifying the latest in hospitality concepts as well as the most recent trends in cultural tourism to future developments in the wellness economy and responsible tourism. And addressing these issues, ATM has recruited industry experts from Kerten Hospitality, Accor, as well as representatives from Abu Dhabi and Ajman tourism boards.



Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964 are the least concerned about budget and are especially interested in sightseeing and in the case of American tourists, 40 per cent will plan their holiday around food and drink. They want safety, security and service and the so-called Platinum Pensioners are a much sought-after demographic  they want to relax and generally avoid long haul trips.



Gen X travelers who are now typically aged between 40 and 56 years, travel least out of the generations, due to corporate careers, 50 per cent of all leadership roles worldwide are occupied by Gen Xers. As such they value work-life balance and prefer relaxing holidays to de-stress. Interestingly, 25 per cent of Gen X will accept word of mouth during their decision-making process and are especially drawn towards cultural experiences Expedia research found that 70 per cent enjoy museums, historical sites and art galleries.



Generation Y or Millennials, who are today aged between 25 and 39, are the most talked about generation and are the undisputed champions of the frequent traveller title, technically adept and the great disrupters. More than anything, millennials crave adventure and experiential variety and although they are careful with their budget, in gross terms it is the largest submarket by revenue, generated through sheer volume.



Ipsos research in September 2018, concluded that 25 per cent of the Mena regions population is made up of millennials; 97 per cent are online; 94 per cent are present on at least one social platform; 78 per cent share content weekly; 74 per cent have interacted online with a brand and 64 per cent are always looking for best offers and deals available. This may have something to do with the fact that 41 per cent of Mena's millennials feel overwhelmed by financial burden, and only 70 per cent of those of working age, are actually employed.



One emerging trend travel and tourism experts will be watching is Generation Alpha - the children of the millennials. According to Skift, these kids, born after 2010, will start making their own travel arrangements well before the end of this decade and there is a belief that they are expected to be even more disruptive than their parents, added Curtis.



Finally, Generation Z, those born between 1996 and 2010, aged between 10 and 24 years, spend 11 per cent of their travel budget on activities and tours, the highest of any generation according to Expedia research. What sets this open-minded, interactive generation apart from the others, is that 90 per cent are inspired by peers on social networks and 70 per cent are open to creative ideas. As true digital natives, they are comfortable researching, planning and booking their travel from their mobile phone and yearn for new, unique and authentic experiences.



So, in response, apart from the challenges of marketing to these disjointed generations, the ATM seminars will also be examining how hotels, destinations, attractions, tours and other activities are created, packaged and priced, to meet demand. We will also be launching the Middle Easts first ever edition of Arival Dubai @ ATM showcasing the next generation of in-destination trends and innovation, as well as exploring the various opportunities that sector presents, said Curtis.



ATM, considered by industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, welcomed almost 40,000 people to its 2019 event with representation from 150 countries. With over 100 exhibitors making their debut, ATM 2019 showcased the largest ever exhibition from Asia. - TradeArabia News Service
First Lady Melania Trump (L) and President Donald Trump wave prior to the College Football Playoff National Championship game between the Clemson Tigers and the LSU Tigers at Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La., on Jan. 13, 2020. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

White House Announces Trumps 11 Guests for State of the Union

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump announced the presidents guests for the 2020 State of the Union address on Tuesday night, which includes military veterans, a Border Patrol agent, and a former Venezuelan police chief who was held in detention.

Eleven guests will attend the speech, according to a statement from the White House on Tuesday, and each individuals story will be highlighted by Trump during his address.

They include Oklahoma mother Kelli Hake and her son Gage. Hakes husband was killed while serving his second tour of duty in Iraq after a roadside bomb went off. The White House said that the bomb was supplied by forces loyal to Iranian leader Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S.-authorized drone strike last month.

The president will also invite Stephanie and Janiyah Davis from Philadelphia. Janiyahs mother, Stephanie, is a hardworking single mother who tried to apply for a tax credit scholarship. But due to Pennsylvanias governor recently vetoing school choice legislation, Janiyah remained among the estimated 50,000 students on a waitlist, according to the statement.

Jody Jones from Farmersville, California, was also invited by the Trump administration after his brother, Rocky, was killed in 2018 by an illegal immigrant, who carried out a brutal murder after having been arrested and deported, the statement said.

Paul Morrow of Alabama, a U.S. Army veteran, started building a concrete plant in Montgomery, which will help support stationed F-35 fighter planes. He will also be in attendance.

Border Patrol Deputy Chief Raul Ortiz of Texas was invited because, according to the White House, he has helped protect Americas homeland for nearly three decades.

A former U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, Tony Rankins of Cincinnati, will be touted by Trump as a success story after he became addicted to drugs and served several prison sentences before getting back on his feet. Today, he works in an Opportunity Zone in Cincinnati, Ohio, and his new job has helped him overcome drug addiction and reunite with his family, said the statement.

A Kansas City toddler, Ellie Schneider, and her mother, Robin, are slated to attend after she beat the odds and survived despite being born at just 21 weeks, said the White House.

The former chief of police of Caracas, Venezuela, was invited by the White House. Ivan Simonovis was jailed in 2004 for protecting protesters and was held in prison by Venezuelas socialist Chavez and Maduro governments for 15 years. He escaped in 2019 and made it to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and was welcomed by immigration agents.

As the impeachment trial of Trump has essentially wrapped up with a final vote set for Wednesday, Trump is widely expected to tout the burgeoning U.S. economy, the killings of Soleimani and former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the recently passed U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and a variety of other reforms.

A spokesman for the White House, Hogan Gidley, told Fox News that the word impeachment is not in Trumps pending speech. Although, its not exactly clear if Trump will make a reference to the inquiry and trial that started late last year. On Twitter and elsewhere, Trump has often referred to the congressional proceedings as a hoax, sham, and witch hunt without mentioning impeachment.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 seems to be in development, according to a new report. Galaxy Club revealed that a new codename surfaced recently, the Winner2.

If that sounds familiar, theres a good reason for it. The original Galaxy Fold was codenamed Winner, so its quite obvious what device is this codename reserved for.

The Galaxy Fold 2 is in development, and may launch in Q2 2020

That is pretty much all the information that surfaced regarding the Galaxy Fold 2, unfortunately. A recent report did suggest that the phone will arrive in the second quarter of the year, though.

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That information arrived from Max Weinbach, a well-known tipster. He said that the company plans to unveil the device in Q2 this year, which means it will launch in April, May, or June.

The Galaxy Z Flip is coming in a week. That will become the companys second foldable smartphone, and it will launch alongside the Galaxy S20 series. The company will announce those devices in San Francisco.

The Galaxy Z Flip will become the companys first clamshell foldable handset. It will unfold vertically, not horizontally like the Galaxy Fold. The Galaxy Fold 2 is expected to unfold horizontally, like a book.

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In any case, the Galaxy Fold 2 seems to be in development, and chances are it will include a similar design to the Galaxy Fold, but improved. We havent really seen a leak of the device yet, but you can expect it to be made out of metal and glass.

The second-gen Fold handset probably wont include a display notch

The phone will probably not include such a large notch, like the original, were expecting it to omit the notch altogether. The device may include a display camera hole, similar to the yet-unannounced Galaxy Z Flip.

The Galaxy Fold 2 will almost certainly be fueled by the Snapdragon 865. That processor will fuel the Galaxy S20 series, and is the best Qualcomm has to offer at the moment.

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If everything goes according to plan, the Galaxy Fold 2 will become the companys third foldable smartphone. Foldable phones are still in their infancy, but were expecting to see major improvements with each new generation.

The device will ship with Android 10, and on top of it, youll be able to find Samsungs UI. Fast wired charging will be supported, and the same goes for fast wireless charging.

Only time will tell if Mr. Weinbachs info is accurate, but hes usually right when it comes to such info. The Galaxy Fold 2 is expected to be more expensive than the Galaxy Z Flip, by the way. That means it will probably cost over $1,500.
Three more Asian countries confirmed coronavirus infections on Tuesday among citizens who had not travelled to China, as Hong Kong reported its first death from the disease and millions more people in Chinese cities were ordered to stay indoors.

The toll in mainland China soared to 425 after 64 more people died, the biggest single day tally since the first fatalities emerged last month. More than 20 countries have confirmed cases of the virus, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency, several governments to institute travel restrictions, and airlines to suspend flights to and from China.

But it has continued to spread with Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand on Tuesday reporting new infections that were not imported from China. In a sign of growing concern about a spread to other densely-populated Chinese metropolitan areas, authorities in three cities in eastern Zhejiang province including one near Shanghai -- limited the number of people allowed to leave their homes.

Three districts in Hangzhou including the area where the main office of Chinese tech giant Alibaba is based now allow only one person per household to go outside every two days to buy necessities, affecting some three million people. The city is only 175 kilometres (110 miles) southwest of the financial hub of Shanghai, which has reported more than 200 cases, including one death, so far.

READ: Elderly Chinese Couple With Coronavirus Say Their Final Goodbyes; Leave Netizens Emotional

Similar measures were imposed in Taizhou and three districts in Ningbo, covering a total population of nine million people. Days before, similar restrictions were placed on Wenzhou, home to another nine million. Zhejiang province has confirmed 829 cases the highest number outside the central region of Hubei, whose capital, Wuhan, is the epicentre of the outbreak.

The disease is believed to have emerged in December in a Wuhan market that sold wild animals, and spread rapidly as people travelled for the Lunar New Year holiday in late January. China has struggled to contain the virus despite enacting unprecedented measures, including virtually locking down more than 50 million people in Hubei. On Sunday the Philippines reported the first death abroad: a Chinese man who had come from Wuhan. The death of the 39-year-old man in Hong Kong came as the semi-autonomous city closed all but two land crossings with the Chinese mainland.

Hong Kong media said the man had underlying health issues that complicated his treatment. He had visited Wuhan last month and his 72-year-old mother was also infected. Hong Kong has been particularly on edge over the virus as it has revived memories of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002-03, which killed nearly 300 people in the financial hub and 349 people in the mainland.

"We can't rule out the possibility that there will be massive transmission in the near future," said Chuang Shuk Kwan, an official from the city's Centre for Health Protection. With more than 20,400 confirmed infections in China, health officials noted Tuesday that the mortality rate for the new coronavirus stood at 2.1 percent, with most victims either old or with underlying health problems. SARS killed nearly 10 percent of patients.
Job Title: Refugee

Office Program Assistant

Organisation: United

States US Embassy, US Mission in Uganda

Duty Station: Kampala,

Uganda

Salary: UGX

59,647,314 /=

Open to: All

Agencies and/or U.S. Citizen Eligible Family Members (USEFMs); Eligible Family

Members (EFMs); or Declared Members of Household (MOHs)  All Agencies

Position Number: Kampala-2020-006-RA3

About US Embassy:

The United States

Embassy in Kampala, Uganda has enjoyed diplomatic relations with Uganda for

over 30 years. Ambassador Deborah R. Malac currently heads the U.S

Mission to Uganda. The Mission is composed of several offices and

organizations all working under the auspices of the Embassy and at the

direction of the Ambassador.

Among the offices

operating under the U.S Mission to Uganda are:



Development (USAID) United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID)

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

Peace Corps

Job Summary: The Regional Refugee Coordinator Assistant

provides program and administrative support to the Great Lakes Regional Refugee

Coordinators office based in Kampala. The incumbents primary duties include:

Monitoring and evaluation of United States (U.S.) government-funded

humanitarian assistance programs, reporting on ongoing refugee issues,

maintaining contacts with government of Uganda officials, international

organizations and Non Government Organizations (NGOs) in all countries covered

by the office including three francophone countries and providing

administrative support. The employee often works independently and has the

authority to carry out many of the assigned duties without the direct

involvement of the supervisor. The jobholder reports directly to the Regional

Refugee Coordinator and does not exercise any supervisory responsibilities.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

NOTE: All applicants must address each selection criterion detailed

below with specific and comprehensive information supporting each item.



The

applicants for the United States US Embassy USEFM Refugee Office Program

Assistant job opportunity should hold a University degree in any of the

following courses; Public Administration, Business Administration, Development

Studies, Human Rights, Peace & Humanitarian Interventions, Social Work or

Social Administration



At least

two years of prior work experience involving humanitarian assistance and

experience working with international organizations is required.



The

position requires prior experience working in an office setting, and conducting

field research.



The position

requires a solid knowledge of the geography, history and politics of the Great

Lakes region, and a thorough knowledge of refugees, migration, and humanitarian

assistance. Furthermore, the employee must have a well-developed knowledge of

the U.S. government and the U.S. Department of State  including a thorough

understanding of the function and operations of U.S. diplomatic missions

abroad.



Possess

strong oral and written communication skills, and must be competent in basic

computer skills.



Furthermore,

the employee must be able to work with minimal supervision, and be capable of

traveling to remote sites under difficult conditions.



Basic

typing skill is required.



Basic

numerical skill is required



Language:

Level III (Good working

knowledge) writing/speaking/reading English is required. This may be tested.

How to Apply:

All those interested

in working with the US mission in Kampala should send their applications online

at the link below.

Click

Here

Deadline: 7th February 2020

For more of the

latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or

find us on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline






Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
- The United States of America (USA) recently placed bans on Nigeria, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar

- It also placed restrictions on Tanzania and Sudan with respect to the popular visa lottery scheme.

- The Nigerian government has meanwhile set up a committee to work towards reversing the ban imposed by the USA

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

President Donald Trump of the United States of America (USA) recently placed a ban on a number of countries.

The affected countries are Nigeria, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar, with Tanzania and Sudan facing restrictions with regard to the popular visa lottery scheme.

The ban implies that the USA would no longer issue immigrant visas to Nigerian applicants.

Source: qz.com

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Google announces 4th quarter revenue; details show increase in revenue

Per a report by qz.com, it explained that the penalty is in recognition of Nigerias unsatisfactory and information sharing standards.

Seni Sulyman, vice president of global operations at Andela, argued that more than anything else, its the kind of thing that sends the wrong signal to people that are interested in Nigeria. Visa restrictions and the negative connotations they often imply creates extra skepticism among people that might be interested but are not already involved.

Andela is an outsourcing firm which has raised around $180 million in funding mostly from US investors.

The ban comes at a time when Nigerias ecosystem has developed to become the dominant force in the technology workspace.

The Nigerian government has meanwhile set up a committee to work towards the lifting of the restrictions.

The committee is expected to ensure that security and information sharing standards as set by the USA are met.

READ ALSO: WhatsApp to no longer work on selected Android and iOS devices; details drop

In other news, renovation of billionaire Jeff Bezozs home in Washington DC, has resulted in parking tickets to the tune of $16,840 over the last three years.

YEN.com.gh understands that over 560 citations were issued in total for violations such as ignoring "no parking" signs or blocking pedestrian pathways.

Per a report by Business Insider, most of the citations were issued mostly for blocking of crosswalks and obstruction of pedestrian pathways.

The billionaire purchased the home, paying $23 million in cash and the property has been renovated a number of times since then.

The property is situated on 27,000 square feet and is the site of a former textile museum.

It now consists of 25 bathrooms, 11 bedrooms, two workout rooms, a ballroom, and a whiskey cellar.

Other high-profile residents in the area include the Obamas and Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.

Information available shows that neither the Department of Public Works in Washington nor Amazon has provided answers to the calls for comments.

READ ALSO: South Africans in Wutan province in China call for evacuation

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Trump Administration Launches Presidential Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives

Washington, DC - The Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Health and Human Services today held the first meeting of a White House task force to address the incidence of missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives. The task force, co-chaired by Attorney General Barr and Secretary of the Interior Bernhardt, is composed of federal officials charged with enhancing the criminal justice response, consulting with tribal governments on potential solutions, and empowering native communities with information.

The disappearance and death of American Indian and Alaska Native people, particularly women and girls, is an especially tragic chapter in a long story of marginalization and trauma suffered by native people, said Attorney General William P. Barr. We are committed to addressing this challenge, to reducing the violence and protecting the vulnerable from exploitation and abuse. The task force is eager to get to work to address the issues that underlie this terrible problem, and work with our tribal partners to find solutions, raise awareness, and bring answers and justice to the grieving.

President Trump is committed to addressing systemic challenges in Indian Country, and this task force will develop and implement an aggressive, government-wide strategy to combat the crisis of missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives, said Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. By working together and listening to impacted citizens and tribal communities, we intend to tackle these complex issues.

I am grateful that President Trump has made it a priority to tackle the tragic issue of missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives, said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Native Americans deserve safety and security in their communities, and HHS has a vital role in helping by providing culturally appropriate prevention and trauma informed services to victims and their families. I am committed to working in partnership with President Trump, Attorney General Barr, Secretary Bernhardt, and tribal leaders and members to make a positive impact on this important challenge.

American Indians and Alaska Natives experience disproportionately high rates of violence. President Trump has called the crisis of missing and murdered Native Americans sobering and heartbreaking. The task force, designated Operation Lady Justice, has been empowered to review Indian Country cold cases, to strengthen law enforcement protocols, and work with tribes to improve investigations, information sharing and a more seamless response to missing persons investigations. Specifically, it will:

Consult with tribal governments on the scope and nature of the problem; the task force will hold regional consultations and listening sessions at several locations around the country the task force will also host a listening session at the National Congress of American Indians Executive Council Winter Session in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 12.

Develop model protocols and procedures for addressing both new and unsolved cases of missing and murdered persons in tribal communities;

Establish a multi-disciplinary, multi-jurisdictional team, which will include tribal law enforcement, to review cold cases;

Address issues related to roles, authorities and jurisdiction among tribal, local, state and federal agencies; and

Develop and execute a public awareness, education and outreach campaign for affected communities.

The members of the task force are:
[February 04, 2020] Nectar Expands its Diagnostic Capabilities across the Contact Center Network

Nectar Services Corp., the leader in the development and deployment of proactive unified communications and contact center monitoring and performance management software for the voice, video and collaboration market, today announced a powerful integration between its Customer Experience (CX) Assurance and Nectar Diagnostics offerings. By coupling the two solutions, contact center operation teams can now benefit from a cohesive solution for automated testing and troubleshooting, significantly reducing discovery and resolution time from hours-or in some cases days-down to just minutes. p> Traditional contact center environments have forced DevOps teams to use siloed complex and expensive platforms to test network capacity and performance for potential customer experience issues. Nectar's (News - Alert) CX Assurance offering automates this process with a complete suite of contact center testing capabilities, including auto-discovery, voice recognition and simulation, dynamic call automation and load testing. This enables DevOps teams to launch new platforms and configuration changes more quickly, with less risk and with more confidence.



The direct integration of Nectar Diagnostics drives more capabilities into the CX Assurance platform, enabling contact center voice and operations teams to both analyze the quality of the test calls based on network performance, as well as investigate carrier or voice platform signaling issues. Additional features include real-time media monitoring, signaling analysis, network path and event correlation. "The contact center is high-value to the enterprise, as the customer experience drives the customer behavior, loyalty and revenue. We've built a powerful integration between CX Assurance and Nectar Diagnostics to allow contact center operations teams to quickly deep-dive into reports directly from recent test campaigns. This saves hours of work and complicated coordination between contact center, network and operations teams," said Joe Fuccillo, Chief Technology Officer at Nectar. "The combined solutions provide and support a more scalable testing environment as contact centers add feature-rich applications and programs to their customer service centers, driving value throughout the entire business."

Nectar will be showcasing this new functionality of Nectar CX Assurance working along with UC Network Diagnostics and Monitoring at AVAYA Engage this week at the Nectar Booth #337, February 3-5, 2020, in Phoenix. About Nectar Services Corp. Nectar, a global market leader in providing the most comprehensive monitoring, diagnostics and testing software solution for Enterprise Unified Communication and Contact services, enables IT and operation organizations to proactively ensure the end-user experience. Nectar improves visibility and service delivery across integrated voice, video and data application solutions by providing unique and critical performance information. Nectar provides monitoring and diagnostics for millions of enterprise endpoints to over 2,100 enterprises in over 86 countries-including some of the largest global banking, search engine, service provider, healthcare and manufacturing organizations in the world. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005077/en/

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London stabbing attacker identified as terrorist on early prison release

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The man who was shot dead by police in south Londons Streatham area after he injured three people with a knife Sunday has been identified as 20-year-old Sudesh Amman, who had earlier been sentenced for terror offenses.

Amman, who carried out an Islamist-related terrorist incident wearing a fake bomb vest on a busy street, was under police surveillance since he was released a week earlier having served half of a sentence for terror offenses, BBC reported.

He had been sentenced in December 2018 to three years and four months in jail for sharing his extremist views with others, including encouraging his girlfriend to kill her unbelieving parents by sending her beheading videos, according to Sky News.

He expressed support for the Islamic State terror group, according to The Guardian. He wrote, If you cant make a bomb because family, friends or spies are watching or suspecting you, take a knife, molotov, sound bombs or a car at night and attack.

Amman, who is from Harrow in northwest London, had a fascination with dying in the name of terrorism, according to a notepad police recovered from his home, acting Commander Alexis Boon, head of the Metropolitan police counter-terrorism command, said at the time of his conviction. Amman had scrawled his life goals in the notepad and top of the list, above family activities, was dying a martyr and going to Jannah, the afterlife.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a statement after Sunday afternoons attack, saying, I want to pay tribute to the speed and bravery of the police who responded and confronted the attacker  preventing further injuries and violence  and all of the emergency services who came to the aid of others. He said an investigation was underway, and the government will provide all necessary support to the police and security services.

We are confident that this is an isolated incident, Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy DOrsi was quoted as saying. All the stabbing victims were said to be out of danger, police said.

Terrorists seek to divide us and destroy our way of life. Here in London we will never let them succeed, said London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

In November, police shot a terrorist on parole after he stabbed two people to death in central London.

Also in November, British security services lowered their assessment of the risk of a major terrorist attack to substantial, which indicated that a terror attack was likely, according to The Wall Street Journal. The government had thought at the time that British jihadis were less likely to return from Syria after the defeat of the Islamic State terror group.

Prime Minister Johnson said the country would review rules that allow people convicted of terror offenses to get early release from prison.

Last year, around 74 convicted terrorists had been granted an early release from prison.
BRIDGEPORT  A 25-year-old city man has been charged with sending naked photographs of himself to a 14-year-old Monroe girl on Facebook.

Jonathan Pagan, 25, of Worth Street, was charged Monday with enticing a minor and risk of injury to a child.

Police said they received a complaint from a Monroe resident that her teenage daughter had been receiving inappropriate Facebook messages from a man.

The girls older sister had been looking at her siblings Facebook account when she saw naked photographs of Pagan along with a conversation thread between her sister and Pagan that were of a sexual nature, police said.

Police said the 14-year-old girl told them that some time ago she had posted a photograph of herself on Facebook wearing a party dress. Police said the girl subsequently received a message on Facebook from Pagan telling the girl she looked beautiful and telling her he wanted to have sex with her.

Police said Pagan sent the girl numerous messages urging her to send him naked photos of herself.

At first I would say no and he would get a little mad, the girl told police. I didnt want to be the reason anyone would get upset so I took a picture.

Pagan was held in lieu of $250,000 bond.
PLAINVIEW  Plainview Mayor Roger Ziebell has a message for the residents of his city and the police department that protects them.

"The police department is here, and theyre going to stay," Ziebell said, addressing a crowd of about 40 attendees during a special city council meeting held Monday. "They do a fine job."

Ziebell said a big reason he asked for Monday's meeting was to quash some of the rumors going around town about the police department. Those rumors  which have included talk of disbanding the department and contracting with Wabasha County for law enforcement coverage or simply allowing the county sheriff to be the city's chief law enforcement officer  have no merit, he said.

"That's out of the question," Ziebell said. "It's done and over with."

A big part of that reason, he explained to the meeting attendees, is the city can't just turn over the department to the county or ask for county coverage without the approval of the Wabasha County Board of Commissioners. Cities that contract with their counties for law enforcement must provide insurance for deputies, contract the number of hours of coverage in the town, negotiate the price of that coverage, and make special deals to get something like a school resource officer.

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Ziebell said his town of 3,200 people spoke up during recent meetings designed to review the need of the police department, and the response was solidly behind keeping the police department.

During the meeting, the council approved Plainview Police Investigator Ken Douglas to fill the police chief position on an interim basis while also conducting his investigative duties until a police chief is hired.

The city's previous police chief, Tim Schneider, was suspended in September. On Dec. 12, Schneider resigned. Douglas was initially named interim police chief but gave way to Mike Lavigne. Then Lavigne stepped aside last month, making way for Monday's vote to name Douglas the interim chief again.

Ziebell said the next goal for the police department is to hire a full-time, permanent police chief. That person will also look at everything from the department's budget to officer duties to make sure the police department is serving the city as efficiently as possible.

"The Plainview Police Department is going to stay in tact and going to stay here," the mayor said.

Ziebell also asked the city council to approve his reaching out to several potential interim city administrators who might fill in while the city searches for a permanent replacement for Clarissa Hadler, who resigned last week. Ziebell said the League of Minnesota Cities keeps a list of former city or county administrators, many of whom are retired, who can fill in on an interim basis.

Finally, the city will reduce the number of polling places in town from the usual two  the community center and city hall  down to one. City Council Member Roger Rettmann said the city simply does not have enough volunteers to operate two polling stations. Anyone wanting to volunteer for future elections should contact city hall.

City Hall will be the one polling place for the upcoming presidential primary race on March 3.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has rejected US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan.

The 57-member body held a meeting on Monday on the request by the Palestinian leadership to discuss the recently unveiled plan.

The meeting comes days after the Arab League rejected Trump's "deal of the century", saying, "It does not meet the minimum rights and aspirations of Palestinian people."

The Middle East plan, which was three years in making, establishes Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided" capital and offers a path towards a two-state solution to one of the longest conflicts in history.

The OIC said in a statement on Twitter on Sunday that its "open-ended executive committee meeting" at the level of foreign ministers would "discuss the organisation's position after the US administration announced its peace plan".

Iran was barred from attending the meeting by denying visas to the Iranian delegation led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Jaberi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
KYODO NEWS - Feb 4, 2020 - 21:10 | World, All

India was absent from two days of talks on a sprawling Asia-Pacific free trade agreement in Indonesia that ended Tuesday, fueling speculation that it may withdraw from the negotiations, an Indonesian senior official said.

India's senior official who normally would have participated in the meeting on Bali Island "didn't get any mandate from his minister (to attend) because his minister didn't get any mandate from (Indian) Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi," Indonesia's chief negotiator Donna Gultom, director of ASEAN Negotiations at the Trade Ministry, told Kyodo News.

She did not elaborate.

The 16 countries involved in talks for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, covering a third of the global economy, began negotiations in 2013 with the initial goal of wrapping them up in 2015, but they have continued to miss deadlines with varying degrees of ambition among the members.

Besides the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, RCEP includes Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

If the free trade area accounting for half of the world's population is put into practice, trade and investment activities among RCEP countries would intensify on the back of measures such as the elimination and reduction of tariffs.

But talks during a summit in Bangkok in November broke down after India, which is concerned that opening up its market would see its trade deficit with China grow, said it no longer wants to participate.

The remaining 15 countries pledged to sign a deal in 2020, but Japan wants India to stay in the negotiations, partly because of its concern that China's influence in the region would be even greater.

Japan has offered to help India resolve the "outstanding issues."

An official of the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry told Kyodo News that India received an invitation to join the Bali meeting, "but India didn't participate," without giving any reason.

The Bali talks focused on "strategic and outstanding issues," such as seeking solutions on the "India issue" and "market access in good and service trade and investment," according to Iman Pambagyo, director general of international trade negotiations at Indonesia's Trade Ministry.

Iman said the negotiations have been completed substantially, and "therefore the willingness of every country to fully complete the negotiations is needed so a deal can be signed by the end of this year."

He added that the results of the Bali meeting will be reported to an intersessional ministerial meeting of RCEP economic ministers in Danang, Vietnam, on March 10 and 11.

An official of Japan's Ministry of Economic, Trade and Industry shared a similar view saying, "there is no change in Japan's policy to sign RCEP in 2020."

Related coverage:

ASEAN ministers vow to cooperate on Rohingya, South China Sea issues

China, Japan, South Korea trade ministers vow to accelerate free trade

Japan, India to conduct fighter jet drill for deeper security ties
The heartbreaking stories of children going to school without the basics prompted Wembley mother Anita Bell to establish Give Write, a non-profit organisation partnering with schools and teachers to provide underprivileged children with school supplies.

About 45 per cent of teachers spend $500 a year and 25 per cent pay about $1000, according to the State of our Schools survey.

Australian children's charity The Smith Family estimates it costs parents about $1500 to send a child to a public school, and a 2018 Australian Education Union study revealed almost all teachers  more than 90 per cent  spend their own money on supplies for students whose families can't afford them.

With students across the state heading back to class this week, teachers are spending thousands of dollars of their own money on basic school supplies as some Western Australian parents struggle to afford education essentials.

Ms Bell said she often heard stories from teachers around the start of school about WA families doing it so tough they had to choose between paying rent and sending their children to school with a complete booklist, with the burden often falling back on teachers.

The idea is simple, we ask for donations of left over or unused school supplies that would otherwise end up in landfill, we collect it, clean it and test everything and then create a none gender or age specific Give Write pack with a pencil case and all the essentials, Ms Bell said.

Teachers can fill in a form and request a number of packs, we put them together and they pick them up. We also have a free teachers' shop with hundreds of scrapbooks and exercise books, whiteboards, reading books, backpacks, you name it and whatever doesnt work or cant be used gets recycled via TerraCycle.

More than 820 Give Write packs have been sent to 43 schools across the state from Albany to Derby and Kununurra, as well as within the Perth metropolitan area. Ms Bell estimated about 1300 kilograms of items were saved from landfill in the process.

"I recently met a teacher who came in to our Subiaco office who said realistically she spent a thousand dollars each year on her students," she said.
Ashley Graham and Justin Ervin just introduced their newborn son to the world and, wow, his name is layered in meaning.

The 32-year-old model and her 31-year-old cinematographer husband announced their babys name on Grahams Pretty Big Deal podcast today and opened up about their experience welcoming him into the world via a home water birth. So, what name did they choose? Itsdrumroll, pleaseIsaac Menelik Giovanni Ervin!

Justin, who stepped in as Grahams special guest for the episode, revealed that he actually came up with their sons first name when he was just a kid himself.

My sister Kia and I would have discussions about, Oh, one day, when we have kids, he said. I brainstormed my own name for my future son, and I knew it was gonna be Isaac.

The couple landed on Isaacs first middle name, Menelik, during their trip to Ethiopia last holiday season. It means son of the wise and is also the name of the countrys first emperor.

Little Isaacs second middle name, Giovanni (which translates roughly to John in English) is actually an homage to his great-grandfathers, both named John, as well as the founder of Justins childhood church.

Essentially, Justin explained, Everything in his name is pointing to legacy.

Graham and Justin also discussed their experience welcoming Isaac at home with no medication.

I have to say, now that I gave birth and I did it naturally and I felt everything, I feel like theres nothing I cant do, she said. Theres nothing that could come my way where I say, Oh, thats too hard, I cant handle that. I went through laboring for six hours naturally.

Ultimately, Graham opted for to deliver Isaac at home in a birthing pool because she knew her anxiety wouldve been through the roof at a hospital.

Story continues

To go straight from the pool to the bed with our son and just hold him, what a bond, Justin added.

All we can say is welcome to the world, Isaac Menelik Giovanni Ervin!

RELATED: Ashley Grahams Baby Bump Is on Full Display for New Vogue Cover
In her Social and Cultural Neuroscience Lab at the University of Miami, assistant professor of Psychology Elizabeth Losin investigates the mechanisms underlying racial and ethnic disparities related to pain and pain treatment. She looks at the role the brain plays using functional MRI (fMRI) and the impact of social and cultural factors, including the doctor-patient relationship and stressful life experiences such as discrimination.

In the study "Neural and sociocultural mediators of ethnic differences in pain," published today in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, Losin; Tor Wager, Diana L. Taylor Distinguished Professor in Neuroscience at Dartmouth College; and colleagues identify possible brain and social factors underlying racial and ethnic disparities in pain. The researchers found that African American participants reported greater pain in response to a controlled pain stimulation than Hispanic or non-Hispanic white participants did. African Americans also exhibited differences in their brain responses to pain, which correlated with their personal histories of experiencing discrimination.

There's evidence that both the general public and clinicians believe that African Americans are less sensitive to pain than non-Hispanic whites; yet research, including our own, shows exactly the opposite. Minorities, particularly African Americans, actually report more pain." Elizabeth Losin, assistant professor of Psychology, University of Miami

These inaccurate racial and ethnic biases about pain could have medical consequences.

"If medical professionals, whether consciously or unconsciously, believe that African Americans feel less pain than others, clinicians may be less inclined to alleviate the pain of their African American patients," explained Losin. Understanding why these pain biases exist, therefore, is a key step toward closing the pain gap - in other words, eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in pain and its treatment.

In the study, Losin and her team measured brain responses using an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine while simultaneously inducing pain in participants via a laboratory heating apparatus on the arm. Outside the MRI scanner, they asked participants questions about different aspects of their lives, including stressful life experiences and previous experiences with pain. The subject group consisted of 88 participants (28 African Americans, 30 Hispanic Americans, and 30 non-Hispanic white Americans) from the Denver metro area, who were recruited and tested by Losin in Wager's Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder.

All of the study participants were administered the same controlled pain stimulation. African Americans, however, reported greater pain than Hispanic or non-Hispanic white participants, which is consistent with previous studies. During this study, the researchers also looked for differences in brain responses to pain. Using the MRI scanner, the researchers identified two specific areas of the brain, the ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which responded to pain more strongly in African American participants than the other two groups. Prior research has found that these two brain regions also respond more strongly to pain in chronic pain patients.

The researchers think that the similarity between the increased pain sensitivity observed in African Americans in their study and that which is typically seen in chronic pain patients may be due to stress.

"We know that stressful experiences early in life predispose people to developing chronic pain," said Losin. The results of this study suggest that a history of other kinds of stressful experiences, including discrimination or having a mistrust of doctors, may change the brain in ways that may cause people to respond more strongly to physical pain.

"These findings exemplify how neuroimaging is teaching us that there are multiple contributions to pain," noted Wager, "and that we need to consider the broader psychological and cultural setting when we think about what is underlying pain and how to address it." This study suggests that racial and ethnic disparities in pain may be a symptom of a much broader problem, underscoring the impacts of racial and social discrimination in society.

The findings point to a promising avenue for reducing pain-related health disparities in the near term, however: building greater trust between African American patients and their doctors. Ongoing experiments in Losin's laboratory are aimed at understanding the relationship between patients' trust in their doctors and their experience of pain.

Despite the differences observed, Losin pointed out that the groups in this study were more alike than different. "An important part of studying group differences is also to look for similarities," Losin explained. "In our study, brain systems related to the sensory aspects of physical pain were responding very similarly across all ethnic groups."

"It's a common misconception that any difference you see between groups of people must be an intrinsic difference, rooted in our biology. But the differences we found in this study were related to people's life experiences."

This, according to Losin, is good news: "It reaffirms our similarities and provides hope that racial and ethnic disparities in pain can be reduced."
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota utility regulators on Monday approved a court-ordered revised environmental review for Enbridge Energy's plan to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across the state.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opponents of Enbridge Energy's proposal to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota demonstrate on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, before a hearing on the project before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in the state Capitol complex in St. Paul, Minn. The opponents say the project would aggravate climate change. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota utility regulators on Monday approved a court-ordered revised environmental review for Enbridge Energy's plan to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across the state.

The state Public Utilities Commission voted 3-1 to approve the environmental impact statement for the $2.6 billion project, saying the new review adequately addressed the impacts of a potential spill in the Lake Superior watershed.

Commissioner Matt Schuerger disagreed with the majority, saying the updated review doesn't adequately represent the consequences of a spill," the Star Tribune reported.

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But commissioner Valerie Means, who was not on the board in 2018 when the commission originally approved an environmental impact statement for the project, said she believes there has been a sufficient evaluation.

Means, Chairwoman Katie Sieben and commissioner John Tuma all voted to approve the revised environmental impact statement. They also agreed, on the same 3-1 vote, to reissue a certificate of need that the disputed project needs to proceed.

Supporters of Enbridge Energy's proposal to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota parked a truck near the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, carrying pipeline segments signed by people who back the project. They contend that replacing the aging pipeline with new pipe will provide the safest way to carry Line 3's oil from Alberta to Enbridge's terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)

The new pipeline would replace Enbridge's Line 3, which was built in the 1960s. Enbridge, based in Calgary, Alberta, says the old line needs to be replaced because it is increasingly prone to corrosion and cracking and can run at only about half its original capacity. Environmental and tribal activists have urged regulators to kill the project.

The commission approved an environmental review in March 2018. But the Minnesota Court of Appeals sent the previous final version of the project's environmental review back to the commission after finding that the massive document failed to adequately deal with the potential risks of an oil spill in the Lake Superior watershed. The state Department of Commerce then conducted additional modeling and concluded in the update that there was little chance of a spill reaching the lake.

During a public hearing Friday, environmental and tribal activists argued against the project, saying climate change has reached a crisis stage. But the project's supporters, including union construction workers, testified it's time to let project move forward.

Line 3 starts in Alberta and clips a corner of North Dakota before crossing northern Minnesota en route to Enbridge's terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. Enbridge said in a filing ahead of Friday's hearing that the record continues to show the project is needed.
China has recently confirmed that 20,438 people have been infected by the coronavirus which is higher compared to the 5327 cases recorded during the SARS outbreak according to the World Health Organization. The increase in number and the heartbreaking plight of Wuhan, China sparks end of the world theories anew.

On December 31, 2019, China announced that a mysterious pneumonia broke out in the City of Wuhan, 12 days after which the whole province of Hubei was placed under lockdown by authorities with the millions of people inside the Province unable to leave. The death toll of the Novel Corona Virus in China with 425 deaths surpassed the death toll of the Sever Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002 and 2003 with 349 deaths.

According to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nCoV outbreak is likely to become a pandemic which means it may become an ongoing epidemic in at least two more continents. Some saying it may become the next plague, looking at it as a similar occurence to the black plague.

And while the same virus may cause the pandemic, the effect would be different in some countries comapared to others. Wealthier countries may be able to better control the disease and study treatment and detection, while poor countries which usually have fragile health care systems may be in a tougher situation.

Scientists said that there is no solid evidence yet proving how lethal the new strain of coronavirus is but consensus is that it is highly transmissible. They also found out that nCoV is spreading faster compared to SARS and MERSCoV.

Amidst the rising death toll of the Novel Corona Virus in it's not yet the end of the world as hope sprouts in the country as the number of recoveries rise. Despite the high number of deaths, coronavirus still has a lower fatality rate which explains the increase in number of recoveries yet.

Last Tuesday, China's Health Commision revealed that 632 people have recovered from the dreaded virus that haunted Wuhan. This steady rise in the number of recoveries has health workers encourage as evidence that treatments have been effective and proving that the virus is not as deadly as SARS.

Whilst having a fewer deaths than nCoV, SARS has a relatively higher mortality rate which reached 9.6% as compared to the 2% mortality rate f nCoV.

In Hubei, the outbreak's ground zero, the number of recoveries have gone higher than the number of deaths with 80 patients recovered and 56 deaths, Sunday. Last Saturday, 49 patients were reported to have left hospitals and 45 died.

However, despite the rising recoveries, the number of new infections continue to climb, thus authorities suggest that the outbreak would still take sometime before being completely eradicated.

According to Zhexuan Huang, a student from Pennsylvania who is currently stranded in his home in Wuhan City, the outbreak seems like a zombie apocalypse with people not leaving the comfort of their homes to protect themselves from contacting the virus.

Even with some speculations that nCoV may be a sign of the end of the world, there is still hope since people are starting to recover and the number of recoveries are rising higher than deaths.

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Lucknow, Feb 4 : Hotel tariffs in Lucknow have skyrocketed with hotels having almost run out of rooms due to the Defence Expo which begins on Wednesday.

The biggest sufferers are those who have scheduled their weddings in this season, mainly before February 15.

According to a travel portal, the rate for a single room in a five star hotel in the state capital has crossed Rs one lakh per day.

Four-star hotels are charging anything between Rs 50,000 to 70,000 and the charges are likely to be higher if the room is not booked through the portal.

The Defence Expo has led to an influx of tourists and visitors from across the world leading to an acute shortage of hotel rooms. A senior official said that over 50,000 guests were expected during the Defence Expo.

The hotels are expectedly cashing in on the situation by increasing their rates to an exorbitant level.

Families that have weddings in this period are obviously at their wit's end.

"There is no room available in any decent hotel. Even the upmarket guest houses have been booked. I have had to take six houses on rent and get them furnished almost overnight to accommodate the 'baraat' for the wedding. We never expected this situation in Lucknow," said Ravindra Kumar Misra whose daughter's wedding is scheduled to be held on February 8.

An elderly couple P.N. Singh and his wife Mohini have postponed their golden wedding anniversary celebration because of the prevailing situation.

"Our golden wedding anniversary is on February 7, but we have postponed the celebrations by a month. We cannot afford to host our guests in good hotels at the present prices," said Singh.

Those residing in areas around the venues of the Defence Expo are worried about the 'baraat' being allowed on the route.

Charanjeet Arora, who lives in Ashiana locality, said that he had made innumerable trips to the district magistrate's office to seek permission, if needed.

"Every time I went, I was told that the district magistrate is either on 'inspection' or in a meeting. His office has not told me anything in clear terms and the local police station is equally ignorant. I do not know how I will take my son's 'baraat' on February 6," he said.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-02-04 18:55:26

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SEOUL, KOREA / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Korea Blockchain Week, South Korea's flagship blockchain event, has appointed the world's leading blockchain marketing agency, MarketAcross. The partnership will see MarketAcross support marketing and PR efforts in the build-up to the June 15-21 event hosted by FactBlock.Scheduled to take place at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul, Korea Blockchain Week (#KBW2020) will bring together leading speakers, influencers, thought leaders, developers and industry figureheads from across the globe. MarketAcross will support pre- and post-event promotion and media coverage, while helping to raise the profile of the prestigious event outside of South Korea.Announcing the partnership Elad Mor, CEO of MarketAcross said: "We're delighted to be appointed as an official marketing partner for Korea Blockchain Week. It promises to be one of the most highly anticipated events of its kind in Asia, and we look forward to sharing the many highlights across crypto media in the run-up to June 15. With FactBook pulling the strings and MarketAcross supporting, I'm confident that Korea Blockchain Week 2020 will be the biggest and best event yet." KBW 2019 saw more than 4,000 attendees gather to hear over 50 speakers including Vitalik Buterin, Adam Back, and Nick Szabo discuss key technical and ideological issues affecting the cryptosphere. At the 2020 event, other industry names will join South Korean blockchain evangelists and business leaders to discuss emerging trends and defining narratives for 2020. The week-long event will feature a series of conferences, seminars, workshops, hackathons, and networking events that will provide an opportunity for delegates to gain an insight into the future of blockchain and to meet industry experts.South Korea is known as a hotbed of crypto adoption and innovation, with its tech-savvy government and business sector embracing blockchain to solve an array of real-world problems across multiple industries and verticals. Korea Blockchain Week 2020 is an eagerly anticipated event that will dictate the trends that shape 2020 through Asia and beyond.About MarketAcrossMarketAcross is the blockchain industry's preeminent marketing firm, specializing in PR, SEO, content marketing, brand reputation and social promotions. Based in Tel Aviv, MarketAcross serves many of the industry's largest exchanges and blockchain projects, including Binance, Huobi, TRON and many others.About FactBlockFactBlock, a subsidiary of media conglomerate Financial News with over 20 years of experience in Korea, is a blockchain consulting firm focused on connecting global companies to the Korean markets, conglomerates & governments. It has been hosting events in Korea for the past 20 years such as Korea Blockchain Week, Waves Summit, ICT conference and FactBlock VIP Nights as well as global networking events and roadshows.CONTACTpr@ marketacross.com Elad Mor, CEO+972-545-464-238SOURCE: MarketAcross
Investors meet, Sambandh, concluded on Saturday at the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Linkages at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) wherein at least 100 startups and aspirants attended the programme. Fourteen investors addressed the gathering from Pune, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad on the expectations of investors from startup companies.

Twelve startups made a pitch presentation to the jury in areas of agriculture, electric mobility, automobile, information technology and e-commerce.

The results of the i-2-e competition, conducted across 113 colleges, was also announced and the top two winners were felicitated by SPPU vice-chancellor Nitin Karmalkar, who presided over the two-day programme, which started on January 31.

The university has identified key focus areas for research and incubation namely IOT, electric mobility, agriculture, water and environment. Systematic work is being carried out in this area and we are promoting startups that have the potential to scale up. We shall provide all support to the startups, said Karmalkar.

Rohit Goyal, a Pune-based venture fund director from Windrose spoke on how his fund is scouting for ideas. Speakers were of the opinion that funds are chasing startups with good ideas while capital infusion at an early stage in startups to grow fast, is the need of hour. Speed is one factor that is very significant in the success and creation of Unicorns, they said.

Rahul Narvekars rags to riches story inspired the audience and his scale venture funds underlined the mandate to work with startups that have strong determination and risk taking capability.

Other speakers of the session, included Deaken Daney, vice-president, RBL Bank; Anil Kumar Mishra, Healthtech investor and Vishal Vijaywargiya, investor. The investor committee led by Vivek Sadhale, director, Legal Logic; Vineet Patni, director, Posiview and others, supported the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Linkages for organising the programme. Apoorva Palkar, director, Innovation, Incubation and Linkages at the university conducted and moderated the programme.

The meet has given a platform to startups and innovators to get a better understanding of the investors mind that will support their decision to take a leap forward. Point of views of successful startups and angels, family offices, venture capitalists helped startups be prepared for future endeavours, said Palkar.
OTTAWA  Child-welfare experts from across Canada are disputing the Pallister government's claim it wont need to put up more cash to phase out birth alerts in Manitoba.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  Child-welfare experts from across Canada are disputing the Pallister government's claim it wont need to put up more cash to phase out birth alerts in Manitoba.

"Absolutely in child welfare, the devil is in the details," said Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, a former Saskatchewan judge who specializes in child welfare.

Birth alerts will end through directive: province A Manitoba spokeswoman said that instead of passing a law or issuing regulations, the province will work with the provinces four CFS authorities to finalize changes to child welfare standards that are needed to eliminate birth alerts. The province claimed that currently, children are only taken into care by an agency as a last resort when serious safety concerns exist and cannot be adequately addressed in the home in partnership with the parents or guardians, however, numerous Indigenous leaders have disputed this claim. A year ago, a family live-streamed the apprehension of their newborn in a Winnipeg hospital on Facebook Live, attracting national outcry. click to read more A Manitoba spokeswoman said that instead of passing a law or issuing regulations, the province will work with the provinces four CFS authorities to finalize changes to child welfare standards that are needed to eliminate birth alerts. The province claimed that currently, children are only taken into care by an agency as a last resort when serious safety concerns exist and cannot be adequately addressed in the home in partnership with the parents or guardians, however, numerous Indigenous leaders have disputed this claim. A year ago, a family live-streamed the apprehension of their newborn in a Winnipeg hospital on Facebook Live, attracting national outcry. The mother in that case, who cannot be identified by law, has claimed she had a birthing plan to have her great-aunt take the child, who was apprehended anyway and later placed with that relative. The province said it always tries to find a family match when a parent cant take their child home, and that sometimes another option has to do in the meanwhile. Ideally, this planning is done as early as possible to ensure that extended family members can be part of the process to ensure a safety plan is in place for the child, the province wrote. The spokeswoman, who would not be named, stressed that birth alerts will be phased out, and not just eliminated in name only. Dylan Robertson Close

"I can't see the issue being resolved without new resources."

Manitoba made national news last Thursday when Families Minister Heather Stefanson announced the province would stop Child and Family Services (CFS) agents from issuing birth alerts as of April 1.

Currently, the families department asks hospitals to notify agencies when a mother they deem to be high risk is having a child, in case they need to apprehend the baby immediately.

Manitoba has Canadas highest per capita rate of children in CFS care, 89 per cent of whom are Indigenous. About 500 birth alerts have been issued in most recent years, though the number has slowly declined.

Last week, Stefanson suggested the province would not need to fund programming to end the practice.

"Those organizations are already out there; they're already doing this, so they're already funded in various ways," she told reporters.

Stefanson would not give an interview Monday, but her spokesman reiterated that "ending birth alerts does not require additional funding," because resources already exist.

Manitoba made national news last Thursday when Families Minister Heather Stefanson announced the province would stop CFS from issuing birth alerts as of April 1. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)

However, British Columbia boosted pre- and post-birth programming last September when it announced its own end to birth alerts in that province.

Turpel-Lafond, who is now a prominent law professor at the University of B.C., said that included substance-abuse programming that allows mothers to attend with their children. B.C. also promoted breastfeeding, and training for parents whose own families had been traumatized by domestic abuse, residential schools and the Sixties Scoop.

"You have to fund pre-natal and post-natal care," she said.

Cheryl Casimer, political head of the First Nations Summit, said B.C. is still working out programming, but recognized that families needed training and support if apprehensions were actually going to decrease.

"If you dont put the proper roots in place to help moms and families, it wont be a birth alert but it will be another situation right down the road where youre dealing with an apprehension," she said.

"If you dont put the proper roots in place to help moms and families, it wont be a birth alert but it will be another situation right down the road where youre dealing with an apprehension."  Cheryl Casimer, political head of the First Nations Summit

Casimer said B.C. made the change in lockstep with Indigenous communities, sharing with them the directives it was issuing to agencies.

"We had a really rocky start and I think its the same in most provinces," she said.

Manitobas First Nations and Metis leaders have expressed support for ending birth alerts, but have also asked for details from the Pallister government.

As of January, all provinces have had to ensure that CFS agencies comply with federal legislation that took affect on Jan. 1. Known as Bill C-92, the law enforces a national standard on child welfare.

That includes removing a child from its family as a last resort, and if so, demonstrably attempting to place the child in a home that that keeps up its Indigenous culture.

Turpel-Lafond added a court would likely have found Manitobas birth alerts illegal under Bill C-92 if it hadnt scrapped the practice voluntarily.

She said Saskatchewan officials are closely watching how Manitobas proceeding. "It is a step in the right direction; it's not the complete journey yet," she said

A provincial spokeswoman said Manitoba "will work with public health and expectant parents to create better connections to help the expectant mom access preventive and supportive programs, so we can work together to keep families together."

Jane Philpott, the former Indigenous-services minister who helped craft Bill C-92, said she was alarmed when she first learned how pervasive birth alerts were in Manitoba.

"In circumstances where there might have been a birth alert in the past, what is being done to support parents and children to be successful as a family?" she pondered on Monday.

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""It goes before the time of birth, ideally."

Philpott gave the example of the Early Years project run by Maskwacis Four Nations in Alberta, which trains local people in both first aid and mental health as well as culture and language. The staff do home visits to pregnant moms and new mothers followed by pre-school programming for the kids.

Philpott said she was glad to see Manitoba end the practice, and was unsurprised a provincial review found there was no evidence the practice didnt actually make kids safer.

"It's hugely upsetting because it makes you realize this practice has been going on for years now; it was never evidence-based and a lot of harm has come to families because they were separated inappropriately."

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
I think I support Bernie mainly because I feel like hes one of the only candidates who wants to create change in our system," Barton said. "Even though I do support a lot of other candidates policies, I dont necessarily think that they are change-makers. I feel like they could very easily just become part of the system. And I dont see Bernie doing that. I see him fighting for the working class and minorities and people that I can relate to.
FLSmidth will supply a new gold processing plant to JSC Pavlik in the Magadan region in the east of Russia. The order, valued at around DKK 290 million, has become effective and will be booked in Q1 of 2020. The planned seven million tonnes per annum plant will operate alongside the highly successful processing plant supplied by FLSmidth in 2013-14.

FLSmidth will supply equipment across the complete flowsheet, including materials handling, flotation, gravity concentrators, screens, gold leaching, dewatering, pumps, cyclones, valves, instruments and reagent systems. The order also includes a complete plant electrical and automation package.

The contract follows the successful partnership with JSC Pavlik for Line 1, for which FLSmidth designed and supplied all the main process equipment. This single-source approach for the original plant proved very successful for the customer and the new order reflects their satisfaction with FLSmidth and the results to date.

We are delighted to receive this order from JSC Pavlik and the Arlan Group, comments Manfred Schaffer, Mining President, FLSmidth. Receiving a repeat order with a prominent miner reflects the importance that FLSmidth puts on the development of state-of-the-art mining equipment and into maintaining a close partnership with our customers throughout the full lifecycle of a mine. The order is a clear indication of the customers satisfaction with FLSmidth as the single-source supplier of the original gold processing plant and our dedication to delivering productivity to the market.

Artyom Bolshakov, Vice President of JSC Pavlik, adds: "We want to thank FLSmidths team for the hard, detailed work that was completed throughout the timeline of the order. We are familiar with FLSmidth's equipment since the start of Pavlik and we trust their quality and transparency.

FLSmidth was awarded the engineering contract in 2019 and, following this new contract, the equipment supply will begin in Q4 2020. The plant is expected to commence operation in late 2021 or early 2022.

Contacts

Media Relations

Rasmus Windfeld, +45 40 44 60 60, rwin@flsmidth.com

Investor Relations

Nicolai Mauritzen, +45 30 93 18 51, nicm@flsmidth.com

FLSmidth delivers sustainable productivity to the global mining and cement industries. We deliver market-leading engineering, equipment and service solutions to our customers enabling them to improve performance, drive down costs and reduce environmental impact. Our operations span the globe and our 11,400 employees are present in more than 60 countries. In 2018, FLSmidth generated revenue of DKK 18.8 billion. www.flsmidth.com

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Jeff Bezos has accused his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez's brother of extortion in an escalating legal battle over the nude photographs of him that were leaked to The National Enquirer last year.

Bezos was sued last week by his girlfriend's brother, Michael Sanchez, who alleged he defamed him by suggesting that it was him who shared some of the private details of his romance with Lauren to the Enquirer.

Sanchez had spoken with the magazine but he insists he did not give them the lewd photographs of Bezos which appeared in the explosive expose.

His sister is siding with her new billionaire boyfriend and has accused Michael of an 'unspeakable betrayal'.

Now, after a fast-moving few weeks of developments including suspicions that it may have been Saudi Arabia who hacked Bezos' phone, he is hitting back at Michael in a response to the defamation lawsuit.

Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos in New York City on January 27. They have accused her brother of n 'unforgivable betrayal'

Michael Sanchez insists he is not the source of the nude photos of Bezos that were leaked

In a filing in court on Monday, Bezos' attorney argued that Michael is merely trying to 'extort' him with the defamation lawsuit.

'Extortion rears its head again in this lawsuit, this time not only aimed at Defendants but also directly threatening speech protected under the First Amendment.

'By filing this lawsuit, Mr. Sanchez hopes to put himself back on the front pages and extract money from Defendants by leveraging the current media environment to harass them,' his attorney, William Isaacson, said.

The saga of the Enquirer's expose into Bezos and Lauren's romance started in late 2018.

The January 2019 National Enquirer expose which Bezos' team have suggested was an orchestrated take down by AMI and the Saudi Arabian government

The pair had been seeing each other in secret for months and the Enquirer followed them, taking photographs at some of their meet-ups.

When the expose ran in January 2019, it contained personal texts the pair had exchanged.

Bezos - who announced his divorce from his wife of 23 years, MacKenzie, around the same time it the Enquirer hit shelves - accused AMI of a shake-down and of threatening him in emails.

Michael was fingered as the source of the information by unnamed sources at the Enquirer and AMI who spoke to The Daily Beast.

The organization has never confirmed on the record who the source of the information was.

Michael insists he was merely trying to protect his sister's budding romance from the beginning.

She said in a statement this week: 'Michael is my older brother. He secretly provided my most personal information to the National Enquirer - a deep and unforgivable betrayal.'

The lawsuit he filed in California last week seeks unspecified damages from Bezos and Gavin de Becker, Bezos' private investigator who was tasked with rooting out the source of the Enquirer story after it broke last year.
A man was arrested and two of his juvenile accomplices were apprehended for allegedly stabbing another man to death after robbing his mobile phone in south Delhi's Malviya Nagar last week, police said on Tuesday.

The accused was identified as Rohit Kumar, a resident of Delhi's Madanpur Khadar. He works as a daily wage labourer and has a criminal record, they said.

A case was registered on January 31 based on the statement of one Amardeep Kumar. He alleged that three persons robbed him at knifepoint. When he resisted, the assailants stabbed him in the thigh and snatched his mobile phone, the police said.

Amardeep was seriously injured in the incident and died on the same day, they said.

A raid was conducted at a slum near Hanuman Mandir in Delhi's Madanpur Khadar area and Rohit and his associates were apprehended, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Bhisham Singh said.

During interrogation, the accused confessed to the crime. The victim's mobile phone has also been recovered, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander, and First Deputy Prime Minister, yesterday met the Vaticans Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. During the meeting, HRH the Crown Prince stressed the importance of further strengthening relations with the Vatican City State, noting the Kingdoms commitment to inter-faith understanding and cultural diversity. HRH the Crown Prince highlighted that the Kingdoms diverse society has embraced all religions and faiths, and is a reflection of HM the Kings far-reaching vision of peace and harmony.
President Donald Trump at a press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Sept. 20, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Trump Wins Iowa Republican Caucuses

President Donald Trump won the Iowa Republican caucuses with nearly all of the votes on Feb. 3.

Results showed Trump winning about 97 percent of the vote, or 31,398 votes, and all 38 delegates. Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh each earned about 1 percent of the vote.

About 150 votes went to other people.

The Iowa Republican Party said the caucus turnout record set in 2012 was broken on Monday night.

Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chairwoman, congratulated Trump in a statement and said the president would carry the state in the general election in November.

Iowa went for Democrats in 2000, 2008, and 2012 and Republicans in 2004 and 2016. Trump won the state by nearly 10 points in the last election.

Trump lost the Iowa caucuses in 2016 to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) but rebounded with wins in other early voting states. He carried all of the Midwest, including a shock win in Wisconsin, in the general election, except for Minnesota, which he narrowly lost, and Illinois.

Trumps supporters, including his sons and a host of Congress members, traveled to the state Monday to speak to voters ahead of the caucuses.

Even though Im from the state of New York, we have more in common with Iowa in upstate New York than New York City, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) told voters in Rockwell City. Lets give a huge round of applause for the energy going into 2020.

Trump issued a short statement after the win, writing on Twitter: Big WIN for us in Iowa tonight. Thank you!

People enter a caucus in Dubuque, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 2020. (Nicki Kohl/Telegraph Herald via AP)

On Tuesday morning, Trump addressed criticism of the Iowa caucuses, particularly the Democratic caucuses, which still hadnt released results due to technological errors and inconsistent reporting.

It is not the fault of Iowa, it is the Do Nothing Democrats fault. As long as I am President, Iowa will stay where it is. Important tradition! Trump wrote, referring to Iowas status as the first caucus or primary in the nation.

The next Republican election is the primary in New Hampshire on Feb. 11. No other state will vote for the Republican nominee until March 3, also known as Super Tuesday, when voters in 13 states will head to the polls.

Those states are Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Vermont.

A number of state Republican parties have canceled primaries, declaring support for the president and saying funds should be used for his reelection effort, not for a primary.

Trump has strong support inside the Republican party. Polls regularly show him with 90 percent or more support among party voters.

The president was impeached on Dec. 18, 2019, but the Senate trial is slated to wrap up on Wednesday. Trump is widely expected to be acquitted. A conviction would require a supermajority vote among senators; the Senate is held by Republicans with a 53-47 majority. An acquittal requires a simple majority.

Trump is scheduled to give his State of the Union speech on Tuesday in Washington.
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The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are North Dakota's top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Micah Schlittenhardt

Nominated by Legacy High School

Micah, a junior at Legacy High School, spent more than 150 hours raising awareness across North Dakota about the benefits of dance for people with Parkinson's disease, while also raising funds for dance lessons, support groups and research. When Micah was 12, her best friend's father had to quit his job when his Parkinson's symptoms progressed. "The impact this disease had on her family left an impression on me that I will never forget," said Micah. Coincidentally, she had been involved in fundraising to enable her ballet studio to offer free dance classes for people with Parkinson's. The two experiences made it clear what her volunteer mission should be.

In addition to her own observations, Micah found studies that showed how dancing improves the cognition, motor skills, mood and confidence of people with Parkinson's. But many health care professionals are unaware of the therapy, patients themselves don't understand the benefits, and dance instructors lack funding to become certified in the techniques. So Micah began spreading the word, arranging demonstrations for people with the disease, speaking to Parkinson's support groups and at state conferences, developing informational fliers for health care professionals and writing a magazine article on the subject, which led to several radio and television interviews. In addition, Micah teamed up with a bakery to create a special donut resembling the Parkinson's logo; $3,000 of the sales have been donated to train North Dakota's first American Dance Therapy Association Certified Dance-for-Parkinson's instructor, to help fund Parkinson's support groups, and to advance research into the disease.

Middle Level State Honoree: Alexis Thompson

Nominated by Horizon Middle School

Alexis, a sixth-grader at Horizon Middle School, started an annual toy drive that has provided gifts for more than 400 adolescent hospital patients, launched a campaign to increase scoliosis awareness and screening, and organized a support group for girls with curvature of the spine. A couple of years ago, Alexis was having a dress altered when her seamstress mentioned that her shoulders looked uneven. When she was evaluated at Shriners Healthcare of Minnesota, doctors found three curves in her spine. After all her tests, she was allowed to pick out a toy from a collection intended to distract patients from uncomfortable or scary procedures. But most of the toys, Alexis noticed, were for younger kids. So she decided to organize a drive to provide toys for kids her age.

She sent out donation request letters to businesses and individuals and posted information on social media. After two drives, Alexis has collected toys and more than $1,500 in cash from donors across North Dakota and even in other states; she delivers toys to the hospital every two months. Realizing that many schools in her state no longer routinely screen children for scoliosis, she contacted media outlets and gave interviews explaining the importance of early detection, and then partnered with a local chiropractor to provide free screenings and information about scoliosis. Alexis also started North Dakota's first chapter of "Curvy Girls," an international support group for girls with scoliosis. "Many girls don't talk about their condition because it causes anxiety or has hurt their confidence," Alexis explained. "I want girls to know they are not alone and they will get through this."

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized two other North Dakota students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are North Dakota's Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Teagen Nicholes, 13, of Minot, North Dakota, an eighth-grader at Erik Ramstad Middle School, established a food pantry at his middle school; along with contacting local businesses for financial support, he spread awareness about food insecurity and organized several school-wide activities to raise funds and donations. Teagen also helped stock the pantry shelves and recorded an automated phone message that was delivered to families to let them know how to access the food pantry.

Amorelle Upton, 18, of Fargo, North Dakota, a senior at Davies High School, has raised more than $1,200 to benefit the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center; over the course of a year, she secured donations from local businesses, hosted several fundraising events and sent more than 300 letters soliciting support from her local community. Amorelle also started a mental health club in her high school, and shares her personal experience with dating abuse to spread awareness of the impact of toxic relationships.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com .

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.

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A government shut down of pubs, clubs, and restaurants in many Chinese cities to try and contain the virus will hit beer consumption. Photo: Getty

Danish brewer Carlsberg (CARL-B.CO) said on Tuesday that it is expecting the coronavirus outbreak to cause a dip in beer sales in its Asia markets.

Its a very sad situation for China and its people, and the virus will affect our business negatively, Carlsberg CEO Cees t Hart told reporters on a call.

The government has shut down pubs, clubs, and restaurants in many Chinese cities to try and contain the virus, which means a drop in beer consumption in the short term, he said. Hart noted that the company does not expect any long-term issues.

Carlsberg, the worlds third-biggest brewer, will also be extending the shutdown of some of its breweries in China.

Budweiser-owner Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR), the worlds largest brewer, has also closed its Wuhan brewery.

READ MORE: Stocks rout stemmed as China injects $71bn into banks

Carlsbergs Asian sales make up around one-quarter of its overall global sales. The company said today that it expects mid-single-digit operating profit growth in 2020. In 2019, its full-year sales grew by 3.2% to 65.9 billion Danish krone ($9.76 bn), in line with analyst expectations.

Carlsberg shares are up 30% over the past year, and rose by up to 1.7% in Copenhagen early on Tuesday.

Multi-national companies are starting to warn that quarterly sales in their vitally important Chinese market may be negatively affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Companies including Starbucks (SBUX), McDonalds (MCD), H&M (HM-B.ST), and Ikea have now closed many of their stores in China.

British Airways (IAG.L), Lion Air, American Air (AAL), and Lufthansa (LHA.DE) have all suspended flights to mainland China. Lufthansa announced this week that it was extending its flight suspension to Beijing and Shanghai to 28 February  including Lufthansa-owned Austrian and Swiss Airlines flights too.

More than 20,000 cases of infection have been confirmed, mostly in China. The death toll from the virus hit 425 as of Tuesday morning.

READ MORE: Alcohol-free beer and veg sales soar in 'month of moderation'
While Richard was mastering her music on the cello, fellow Lincoln-Way student Joseph Kotze was preparing for his role in the ensemble. He had to learn several new dance routines and songs in a production he characterized as fast paced. Kotze, a sophomore, said the experience was absolutely remarkable even given the hard work and effort that went into it.
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Linkedin Asip Hasani and Aman Rochman (The Jakarta Post) Jombang, East Java  Tue, February 4, 2020 07:49 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20625c522 1 National Gus-Sholah,Funeral Free

Thousands of Pesantren Tebuireng santri (Islamic boarding school students) and national figures have bid farewell to prominent cleric Salahuddin "Gus Sholah" Wahid, the younger brother of former President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, in a funeral within the school compound in Jombang, East Java.

Gus Sholah was a renowned Muslim figure and luminary of the country's largest Islamic group, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). He passed away on Sunday evening at 77 years old.

He was the director of the pesantren (Islamic boarding school) until his death.

The cleric's remains were brought from Jakarta to the school at 12:25 p.m. on Monday.

People pay last respect to prominent Muslim cleric Salahuddin (JP/Asip Hasani)

A large number of mourners took part in a prayer for the late cleric in a mosque within the compound prior to the funeral ceremony, which was held at 2:30 p.m. under cloudy weather.

Gus Dur's daughters Alissa and Inayah Wahid were among the attendees, along with NU-related figures such as Muhaimin Iskandar, chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB)  regarded as the unofficial political wing of the NU  as well as the Islamic group's leading cleric, Mustofa "Gus Mus" Bisri.

National figures among the funeral attendees included Defense Minister Mahfud MD, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa, East Java Deputy Governor Emil E. Dardak, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, former religious affairs minister Luqman Saifuddin and former education and culture minister M. Nuh.

Khofifah said she personally had received a request from the late cleric to maintain building up the inclusiveness of Indonesian santri.

"According to the late [Gus Sholah], the clerics are the guardians of the NU," she said.

Meanwhile, minister Mahmud said, Indonesia has lost one of its best figures in keeping the country [peaceful].

Islamic group Muhammadiyah chairman Haedar Nashir viewed Gus Sholah as a role model.

He was among the key figures in developing moderate Islam in Indonesia. He took the role of a friend, brother and father figure. I feel a big loss, because he was so humble and calm, and could nurture us, the young clerics, he said.
NEW DELHI  In India, when driving, you basically need a ring of eyeballs around your head to see whats coming.

Three-wheeled rickshaws whirl out of the roundabouts straight at you, packs of stray dogs dash into the road, huge buses lurch up from behind. And on every side is a thickening stew of bicycle rickshaws, little taxis, fat Mercedes, Uber drivers riveted to their screens, drivers drifting in and out of lanes, and Mario Andretti types hurtling down the main drag six inches from each other.

In this world, the car horn is a survival tool, and a weapon. People use them constantly  to berate, to warn, and especially to get sluggish drivers to move.
The central team which visited a Kota hospital, where more than 100 children died in December last year, found many of the equipment at the health facility non-functional and the number of beds inadequate, the Health Ministry informed Parliament on Tuesday.

Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, MoS for Health Ashwini Choubey said the central team in its report on the J.K. Lone Hospital and Medical College in Rajasthan found that out of 100 deaths reported in the hospital, 70 were in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and 30 in Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

"Majority of neonates who died were low birth weight and 63% died in less than 24 hours of admission. Majority of the death cases were referred cases from district hospital Bundi and district hospital Baran. The bed occupancy rate of NICU was 125 % and PICU was 186 % resulting in sharing of beds.

"Bed-nurse ratio for NICU and PICU was 10:1 and 6:1 respectively against the norm of 2:1. Many of the equipment in the hospital were non-functional and there was no equipment maintenance policy," the report said.

Choubey said the team recommended strengthening of infrastructure, adequate manpower and use of standard clinical protocol besides strengthening primary and secondary healthcare services at sub district level.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China blasts US for no help in virus fight

Global Times

By Wang Qi and Deng Xiaoci Source:Global Times Published: 2020/2/3 17:53:40

Chinese government officials and observers on Monday blasted the US for not offering any concrete help to China to fight the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak, but instead overreacted to the epidemic and created chaos by being the first country to withdraw its consular staff from Wuhan, a move which analysts called immoral but not surprising.

The US government hasn't provided any substantive assistance to China, but it was the first to evacuate personnel from its consulate in Wuhan, the first to suggest partial withdrawal of its embassy staff, and the first to impose a travel ban on Chinese travelers. What it has done could only create and spread fear, which is a very bad example, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks at the ministry's routine press conference which was conducted online amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Even US media and experts doubted the US government's decision, saying that the US government's restrictions on China are precisely what the WHO rejects, that the US is turning from overconfidence to fear and overreaction, and that banning the entry of visitors who traveled to China in the past 14 days is suspected to violate civil rights instead of reducing risks of virus spreading, Hua said.

Chinese analysts labeled the US government's move as"immoral" and US politicians failed to honor their promises to assist the control of the coronavirus epidemic, a global concern, as of now.

China has been taking the most comprehensive and strict measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Many of the measures follow even higher standards than those stated in the International Health Regulations (IHR), which has won acclaim and support from the overwhelming majority of countries around the world, she remarked.

Hua said that China understands and respects the measures taken by other countries recently to strengthen epidemic prevention and inspection upon Chinese citizens' arrival.

China hopes relevant countries will consider the epidemic situation and China's efforts to curb the spread of disease in an objective and rational manner, and take proper measures in line with the IHR and professional recommendations made by the WHO, to avoid creating unnecessary disruptions to international travels, Hua said.

Responding to the delay of a second US' flight to Wuhan to evacuate US nationals, Hua said that the US government should arrange flights per the slot availability at the Wuhan airport that is busy accepting supplies for the city's battle against the novel coronavirus.

Ni Feng, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday that these moves from the US authorities are not surprising, as the US government sees China as its most formidable opponent, and views the coronavirus epidemic as an opportunity to gain leverage in containing China's development.

According to Ni, the US government is acting maliciously under the veil of humanitarianism as its government not only imposed several restrictions on China but also supported the island of Taiwan joining the WHO, a UN organization that only allows the participation from sovereign states.

Ni said future confrontations between the two countries will continue, and there should be no illusions about Washington's intentions.

According to the spokesperson, as of Sunday noon, donation of epidemic prevention and control materials from 11 countries including South Korea, Japan and the UK as well as those from The United Nations Children's Fund have arrived in China. Meanwhile, friendly individuals also extended support to China via different means.

What we need the most at present is medical materials for epidemic prevention, such as medical masks, protective suits and goggles, she said.

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A Phoenix couple accused of abusing three adopted children hid the dead body of an 11-year-old in the attic for two years, according to police.

Rafael Loera, 56, and Maribel Loera, 50, face charges of child abuse, abandonment or concealment of a dead body and arson of an occupied structure, following the gruesome discovery of human remains inside their burned west Phoenix house on January 28.

Phoenix police confirmed that the remains belong to a young foster girl who was in their care whose body had been concealed in the attic for more than two years.

In court documents, Rafael, who worked as a teacher's aide at Sierra Linda High School, has identified the girl as Ana Loera, also known as Charisma Marquez, who has not been seen or heard from since July 2017, when she was 11 years old.

Rafael Loera, 56, (left) and Maribel Loera, 50, (right) face charges of child abuse, abandonment or concealment of a dead body and arson of an occupied structure, following the gruesome discovery of human remains inside their burned west Phoenix house on January 28

One of the other children living in the property told police her parents said the girl had been adopted and moved away.

The 11-year-old girl, who first raised the alarm about child abuse in the home, told detectives Maribel has said her 'older sister was adopted and sent to Colombia' while Rafael said she had been 'sent to Mexico'.

The medical examiner will confirm her identity and cause of death.

Rafael claims that Ana 'became ill' in July 2017 during the summer break but they waited several days before seeking medical help, the documents show.

Police examine evidence at the west Phoenix home on Wednesday where the couple are accused of hiding the dead body of an 11-year-old foster girl in the attic for two years

The medical examiner will confirm the identity of the girl and cause of death. Court documents reveal that Rafael identified the girl as Ana Loera, also known as Charisma Marquez, who has not been seen or heard from since July 2017, when she was 11 years old. He claims he was on the way to Phoenix Children's Hospital with the sick child when she died

He told police that 'the child had been throwing up in the days leading up to her death and had what he described as convulsions before passing away.'

He claims he was on the way to Phoenix Children's Hospital with the sick child when she died.

The police report states that the couple chose not to contact authorities to inform them of her death for fear of the abuse coming to light and the other children being taken away from them.

Instead, Rafael told authorities they had wrapped the girl's body in a sheet and placed her in the attic until January 28 when he moved the body to the backyard, siphoned gasoline from his van and deliberately set the house on fire because he was feeling hopeless and suicidal.

Rafael also alleges Maribel had been abusing the girl leading up to her death and so a forensic autopsy of the bones would 'probably' show injures, the records show.

Despite the young girl's disappearance, the couple were granted adoption of another girl just months later.

Child welfare authorities first began investigating the pair on January 20 when their 11-year-old daughter called police to report that she was left home alone for two days hungry and scared.

Officers found the inside of the home filthy with what appeared to be human feces around the property, AZfamily.com reports.

Child welfare authorities first began investigating on January 20 when an 11-year-old girl called police to report that she was home alone and scared. The girl was removed from the home and two other children were removed the following week

Just after the children were taken away, authorities were called to reports of smoke coming from the house. Firefighters then found the skeletal remains in the home

The girl was removed from the home, but no other children were there at the time, police spokeswoman Sgt Maggie Cox said.

Investigators from the Arizona Department of Child Safety returned to the house on January 28 to remove two other children, a 9-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl, over child abuse allegations.

The case worker reported that Maribel refused to come out of the house to speak to her and that she was handed the two children in the front yard by Rafael.

One hour later, firefighters were called to reports of smoke coming from the house and discovered the human bones inside.

Rafael and Maribel were booked into the Maricopa County 4th Avenue Jail.

In court documents released Monday, county prosecutors said Rafael first lied to authorities that the girl had moved to Mexico before admitting that she was dead.

Rafael has blamed Maribel for the physical abuse of the girl and their other children.

He says she would hit them with a broom handle and electrical cord but that he didn't report her because he was afraid of her.

Rafael worked as a teacher's aide at Sierra Linda High School (above)

Questions are now being asked of child services (above) as to why the disappearance of Ana had gone unnoticed for two years and why the couple were granted adoption of another girl just months later

The 11-year-old girl also told police Maribel 'had a bad temper and would strike her with miscellaneous objects while physically slamming her head into walls', records show.

The girl has injuries consistent with the allegations including 'numerous abrasions, scars, healed burn scars, injuries to her back, buttocks, abdomen and chin', police confirmed.

The 9-year-old boy had injuries covering his whole body, cuts and abrasions on his face, and 'loop marks on his legs, injuries too numerous to count,' they said.

Questions are now being asked over why the disappearance of Ana had gone unnoticed by child services for two years.

DCS told AZfamily.com: 'The department was not visiting this family as there were no foster children living in the home at the time of the incident, nor were there any open investigations prior to January 20, 2020.'

Rafael and Maribel appeared in court on Wednesday and were held on cash-only bonds of $100,000 and $350,000 respectively.

Prosecutors warned that the couple could be a flight risk, after police found their passports and a wad of cash in the home.

If released, they must have electronic tags and can have no contact with each other or any children.

Electronic monitoring was ordered if they were released.

The house was cordoned off as police investigated the property. In court documents released Monday, county prosecutors said Rafael first lied to authorities that the girl had moved to Mexico before admitting that she was dead

Rafael has blamed Maribel for the physical abuse of the girl and their other children. He says she would hit them with a broom handle and electrical cord but that he didn't report her because he was afraid of her
(Natural News) They may have died out 66 million years ago, but thanks to a photographers new series, dinosaurs such as the fearsome predator Tyrannosaurus rex and the imposing behemoth Triceratops are coming back to life.

I sought to really bring these animals to life, Christian Voigt said about his project, which he has dubbed Evolution.

According to Voigt, the project all started with wanting to bring the prehistoric animals out of their glass boxes.

Known for his hyper-realistic landscape photography and architectural work, Voigt, in an interview with the Daily Mail, said that through this project, he wants to remind people that dinosaurs arent Hollywood images, or Game of Thrones props, but rather real animals that lived millions of years ago. (Related: Scientist fired from university after discovering shocking dinosaur bones believed to be only 4,000 years old.)

One problem Voigt faced while capturing the fossils portraits was finding new angles and capturing images no one has ever seen, a situation that he said is akin to shooting Frances famed Eiffel Tower.

If you shoot the Eiffel Tower, for instance, probably 50,000 tourists have taken the same shot that day, he said.

According to Voigt, he managed to solve this dilemma by isolating his subjects.

In a museum, when you look at certain collections of animals and skeletons, theyre always very packed together, he said, adding that museums often pack up to 20 specimens in a single room.

To bring out their individuality and beauty, I needed to make them stand alone, to take them out of the crowd, Voigt, who visited five museums throughout Europe to shoot the project, said.

Its not just famous dinosaurs that Evolution has put on the spotlight: Voigt also photographed lesser-known ones such as the Elaphrosaurus, extinct reptiles such as pterosaurs and mammals such as the American mastodon, saber-toothed cat and even the weird-looking Gomphotherium for the project.

Despite opting to shoot even the most unknown of prehistoric creatures, Voigt has one rule: He only photographs original fossils. Replicas or reconstructions that use plastic or plaster to fill in gaps arent welcome.

I can see the difference, and I wont use those skeletons, Voigt said in an interview with Business Insider.

Shooting Evolution, according to Voigt, was done by mixing traditional, analog photography with digital compositing techniques: he would rig a black cloth around the skeletons as a backdrop, using only ambient, natural light to illuminate his prehistoric subjects. After that, Voigt would shoot the specimens with a medium-format ALPA camera, before digitally removing the rest of the background in post-production.

Its a deceptively simple process, but Voigt said it can get tiring  he would sometimes spend hours trying to perfect just one shot.

I cant touch them, or ask them to move a little to the left, so I have to look for the best angle, Voigt said.

Still, this process allowed him to create extraordinarily life-like images  images hes now selling as limited-edition prints, with each copy selling for up to $56,000.

Despite having shot in some of Europes most prestigious museums, however, Voigt said hes still waiting for the chance to shoot dinosaurs in his dream locations: the Chicago Field Museum and the American Museum of Natural History.

Those places have animals that are in perfect condition, and thats what Im hunting for, Voigt told Business Insider in an interview.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

BusinessInsider.com

Metro.news

Edition.CNN.com
DES MOINES  The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship will present the Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award to Joe and Randy Takes, cattle farmers from Buchanan County.

The award will be given at the Monti Community Center at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Joe and Randy Takes have a cattle farm and row crop operation near Coggon. Their livestock and land practices go hand-in-hand.

Manure from the cattle is used to fertilize their crops and they are continuously researching the best ways to apply fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides to meet the needs of their crops while being good stewards of the environment.

The brothers are also involved in their church, caring for the buildings at St. Patricks Catholic Church and Randy is often a lector during mass. They are known for being good neighbors, always willing to help those in need.

The Takes were nominated for the Wergin Good Farm Neighbor award by their neighbor and friend, Scott White.

The Wergin Good Farm Neighbor award is made possible thanks to financial support of the Coalition to Support Iowas Farmers. This award recognizes Iowa livestock farmers who take pride in caring for the environment, their livestock and being good neighbors. It is named in memory of Gary Wergin, a long-time WHO Radio farm broadcaster who helped create the award.

Photos: Caucus night

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The latest figures from The Share Centre's Profit Watch UK report have revealed UK-listed company profits fell by 10.4 per cent between October and December 2019 - the second three-month period of whole market declines in a row.

This was also the third quarter in a row in which more than half of companies reported lower profits - heightening fears of an 'earnings recession'. UK profits have only grown by 5.8 per cent since 2007.

Meanwhile, the proportion of companies growing their bottom line has fallen from a peak of 70 per cent in 2017 to 49 per cent - its lowest level since since the last economic recession a decade ago.

The proportion of companies growing their profits has fallen from 70% in 2017 to 49% today

For companies outside the top 40 'superleague' - that is, the largest 40 companies in the UK - this was the seventh consecutive quarter of lower profits, the worst run since 2009.

Over the long term, these companies have contributed just a quarter of total profit created by UK-listed companies.

The report said poor performance has been largely attributed to uncertainty caused by the UK's 'protracted internal wrangling over Brexit'.

Revenues also drop

Collective revenues were also hit in the final quarter of 2019, falling for the first time in more than three years, though by only 0.6 per cent year-on-year.

This came despite a tailwind from the weaker pound due to low oil prices hitting the energy sector and UK companies more generally losing growth momentum over recent years.

Shell and BP were the biggest culprits, dragging down sector revenues (9.2 per cent lower in sterling terms), so much so that if oil majors were excluded, UK company revenues overall would have risen 3.7 per cent year-on-year, only a little behind the long-run average.

Property companies also suffered, as difficulties among the UK's retail industry continue, with British Land and Land Securities most severely impacted.

It was better news for other sectors including healthcare, which was among the best performing, driven by GlaxoSmithKline which is benefitting from successful new product sales. Airlines and the leisure industry also performed well.

Altogether, UK companies reported total sales of 2.04trillion over 12 months, pushing the index of revenues down to 164.5 from the record 164.7 at the end of September.

Sales are up by almost two thirds since 2007, which in value terms means UK companies have grown sales by 802billion in 12 years.

The Share Centre's Richard Stone believes UK shares look cheap compared to global peers

2020 outlook too optimistic

Meanwhile, the market consensus for median profit growth expectations for 2020 has fallen from 8.6 per cent just three months ago to 7.5 per cent.

However, Richard Stone, chief executive of The Share Centre believes this is still too optimistic considering the latest batch of results.

He said: 'Market expectations for earnings this year are likely still too high. We are more optimistic now on the global economy, given the easing of trade tensions, but the latest news on the UK economy is rather poor.

'A decisive election result is certainly a major positive as it breaks the confidence-sapping political deadlock, but the Brexit cliff-edge has merely been postponed, and as such will continue to weigh on sentiment in the months ahead.

'Despite our concern about expectations for earnings, we have been contending for some time that UK shares look cheap, especially in comparison to global peers. The market has enjoyed a strong run since our last report, but it remains good value.'
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Image credit : UNI

Nairobi/UNI: Former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi, the country's longest-serving leader, passed away on Tuesday. Moi was 95. President Uhuru Kenyatta in a statement said Moi died at the Nairobi Hospital in the presence of his family.

"It is with profound sadness and sorrow that I announce the passing of a great African statesman, H.E. Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, the second president of the Republic of Kenya," Kenyatta said.

Kenyatta said the former president, who governed Kenya for 24 years until 2002 when he retired from politics, leaving a rich legacy behind him, served Kenya as an educator, a teacher, a legislator, a parliament member, a cabinet minister, the vice-president and finally as the president.

Moi stepped into apex leadership in 1978 after the death of Kenya's founding father Jomo Kenyatta and immediately brought calm and confidence to a nation reeling in shock, following the unexpected death of the head of state.

"His legacy endures in Kenya even to this day, encapsulated in the Nyayo philosophy of 'peace, love and unity' that was his mantra throughout his tenure as our head of state and government," said Kenyatta.

Moi became Kenya's second president after independence and went on to rule from 1978 to 2002. His wily grasp of power earned him the nickname "Professor of Politics" amongst Kenyans.

As a statesman, Moi had widespread influence in cementing East African countries like Uganda and Tanzania into a trading block, East African Community.

He also supported the cause of anti-apartheid in southern Africa, sending Kenyan soldiers into pre-independence Zimbabwe as peacekeepers during the ceasefire there in 1979.

Image credit : UNI




Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Zimbabwe's legal think tank, Veritas says wetlands are increasingly coming under threat from rapid urbanisation that could destroy the whole ecosystem
The impeachment trial has ended for Tuesday. The Senate will resume the trial Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. EST with more speeches from senators. The final vote on impeachment is scheduled for 4 p.m. EST on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON  Sen Susan Collins, one of only two Republicans to join Democrats in seeking testimony in the Senate trial of President Donald Trump, said Tuesday she would vote to acquit the president in a final vote on Wednesday.

Collins said key facts in the case were undisputed, including the July 25, 2019, call when Trump urged Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, which she considered improper and in very poor judgment.

It was wrong for him to ask a foreign government to investigate a political rival, Collins said. I do not believe that the House has met its burden of showing that the presidents conduct, however flawed, warrants the extreme step of immediate removal from office.

Collins had been considered a possible swing vote on the verdict. But no House Republicans voted to impeach Trump on Dec. 18. and no Senate Republicans have yet said they would vote to convict him.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, center, departs as Republican senators leave a closed-door strategy session at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.

A two-thirds majority of the Senate is necessary to convict and remove Trump from office, which is unlikely Wednesday because the chamber has 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats.

The Senate voted 51 to 49 to reject any witnesses in the trial. Collins of Maine and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, joined 47 Democrats in voting to subpoena former national security adviser John Bolton.

Collins noted that there was only one impeachment trial during the countrys first 200 years. But she was concerned about two trials in the last 21 years, for Trump and former President Bill Clinton.

This trend reflects the increasingly acrimonious partisanship facing our nation, said Collins, who served in the Senate during both trials. She voted to acquit Clinton.

Collins noted that the House had withdrawn a subpoena for a former national-security aide, Charles Kupperman, and didnt issue one for Bolton because of concerns about lengthy court battles. But Collins said the House should have pursued those witnesses in court rather than rush to the Senate for trial.

Story continues

At a minimum, the House should have pursued the full extent of its own remedies before bringing impeachment charges, including by seeking the assistance of a neutral third party, the judicial branch, Collins said. In making these choices, the House substituted its own political preference for speed over finality.

- Bart Jansen

Rand Paul asks question Roberts refused to read

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., used his 10 minutes of speaking time to ask the same question Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts refused to read earlier in the impeachment trial.

Standing on the Senate floor along with a floor chart displaying the question, Paul mentioned the name of an official some Republicans have speculated is the whistleblower.

Im not for retributions on the whistleblower. I dont want him to go to jail, I dont want him to lose his job, Paul said.

I think the question is an important one, and I think we should still get to the bottom of it, he continued.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., takes an escalator in the U.S. Capitol on Friday.

During the question-and-answer part of the trial on Thursday, Roberts refused to read aloud the question Paul submitted. He told the chamber, the presiding officer declines to read the question as submitted, and did not offer further explanation.

Without providing evidence for the claim, the question revived allegations from some Trump allies that the whistleblower conspired with a House committee staff member to reveal information that would lead to the presidents impeachment.

- Nicholas Wu

Senators make final cases on impeachment

Senators from both parties continued making their final cases on impeachment during Senate floor speeches on Tuesday, mostly splitting along party lines over whether to convict President Donald Trump and remove him from office, or acquit him.

Here's what some of them said:

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

Kaine said the Senate process cannot be called a trial, because of the shocking refusal to allow key witnesses and documents.

Unchallenged evil spreads like a virus, Kaine said in an impassioned floor speech. We have allowed a toxic president to infect the Senate and warp its behavior.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.

Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the evidence presented by House managers represented a corrupt scheme to solicit foreign interference in support of this president's reelection.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

Feinstein, who had been a senator during former President Bill Clintons impeachment, said the Senate should not take the removal of a president lightly, but said it was clear the House Managers have proved their case.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas

Cruz said he hoped the Senate would vote in a bipartisan way to reject these articles of impeachment, to acquit the president, and to find President Trump not guilty of the articles the House has sent over.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.

Rounds said the history of impeachment, based on what the nations founders intended, did not include maladministration as an impeachable offense, which is what he said the House managers had alleged against Trump.

The framers actually discussed abuse of power and rejected it, he said.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.

Kennedy quipped that Democrats obstruction of Congress charge, which alleged that the Trump administration stonewalled the Houses impeachment inquiry, was not serious.

Anyone who knows a law book from a J. Crew catalog does not take this charge seriously, he said. Executive privilege and testimonial immunity are well established, constitutionally based presidential and executive branch privileges that every president at one time or another has asserted.

- Nicholas Wu

Alabama Democrat Doug Jones to announce vote Wednesday

Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., a red-state Democratic senator, said an announcement on his final vote on impeachment would come Wednesday morning, hours before the final vote takes place at 4 p.m. EST.

I'm working on something and will make an announcement in the morning before I go to the floor, he told reporters.

Jones said his mind had been made up and he was working on writing remarks.

- Nicholas Wu

Manchin says he's still undecided on final vote

Sen. Joe Manchin said he was still undecided on impeachment on Tuesday, telling reporters, Its a tough situation. Its a tough vote."

On Monday, in a speech on the Senate floor, Manchin called for censuring Trump, saying he did not see a path for impeachment to succeed. Censuring is a formal statement of disapproval from the Senate.

Republicans have poured cold water on the idea of censuring Trump.

Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, represents a state Trump won in 2016.

- Nicholas Wu

Schumer: GOP refusing witnesses fails 'laugh test'

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Senate Republicans' refusal to call witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump fails the laugh test.

Schumer said the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress against Trump were extremely serious.

To interfere in an election  to blackmail a foreign country to interfere in our elections  gets at the very core of what our democracy is about, Schumer said. If Americans believe that they dont determine who is president, who is governor, who is senator, but that some foreign potentate out of reach can join us in our elections, thats the beginning of the end of democracy.

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters near the Senate subway in the U.S. Capitol on Monday.

The Senate voted Friday to reject witnesses at the trial, clearing the way for a final vote Wednesday.

I thought they made a compelling case. But even if you didnt, the idea that that means that you shouldnt have witnesses and documents when were doing something as august, as important as an impeachment trial fails the laugh test, Schumer said. The Republicans refused to get the evidence because they were afraid of what it would show and thats all that needs to be said.

- Bart Jansen

Sen. Van Hollen: not convicting Trump sends 'terrible signal'

Democrats speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday said the impeachment case against President Donald Trump meant that senators have to vote to convict and remove him from office on Wednesday.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked his Senate colleagues to vote to convict Trump.

As we make this momentous decision, I implore each of my colleagues to think about the gravity of what we will do if we fail to convict this president - the message that we send to countries struggling to overcome corruption, Blumenthal said.

Failure to convict will send a terrible signal  that this president and any future president can commit crimes against the Constitution and the American people and get away with it, argued Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., whose state Trump won narrowly in 2016, said the White House engaged in a systematic and unprecedented effort to cover up the scheme in Ukraine.

"A vote against the articles of impeachment will set a dangerous precedent, and will be used by future presidents to act with impunity, he argued.

- Nicholas Wu

GOP senators slam impeachment during speeches

The first Republican senators to give speeches on the Senate floor Tuesday offered few surprises as they slammed the partisan impeachment and argued Democrats had not proven their case against President Donald Trump.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said the House managers prosecuting Trump failed to prove a case matching the high bar set by the nations founders to remove a president from office.

Removing the president from office  and from the ballots for the upcoming election  would almost certainly plunge the country into even greater political turmoil, he said.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was a prophet for predicting during President Bill Clintons impeachment that the bar for impeachment had been lowered so much that, we have broken the seal on this extreme penalty.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, slammed the impeachment process as fraught from the beginning with political aims and partisan innuendos.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said the managers did not prove the allegations contained in the articles of impeachment, and the articles did not allege conduct that may be used for grounds of removal.

Senators are given up to 10minutes to talk on the Senate floor about impeachment, and while most senators have publicly discussed their final impeachment vote, a handful of senators have not, including Democrats Joe Manchin, Doug Jones, and Kyrsten Sinema, and Republicans Susan Collins and Mitt Romney.

- Nicholas Wu

McConnell tells senators: 'Vote to acquit'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell attacked the House impeachment of President Donald Trump as a grave injustice and an example of factional fever on Tuesday.

The Kentucky Republican urged senators to acquit the president Wednesday, when the Senate impeachment trial comes to an end with a vote on whether acquit Trump or convict and remove him from office..

We must vote to reject the House abuse of power, McConnell said. Vote to protect our institutions. Vote to reject new precedents that would reduce the framers design to rubble. Vote to keep factional fever from boiling over and scorching our republic. Vote to acquit the president of these charges.

McConnell recited a history of Democratic antagonism to Trump that began with his election in 2016 and continued through the investigation of former special counsel Robert Mueller and the impeachment inquiry over Ukraine.

Rep. Jason Crow: Democrat reads from his children's Constitutions during the Trump impeachment trial

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks from the Senate Floor in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday.

It insults the intelligence of the American people that this is a solemn process reluctantly begun because of withheld foreign aid, McConnell said. Their position was obvious when they openly rooted for the Mueller investigation to tear our country apart.

McConnell, who occasionally smiled and chuckled during the speech, said the article accusing Trump of obstruction of Congress was absurd because the president was simply protecting presidential powers such as executive privilege when defying subpoenas during the inquiry.

Impeachment is not some magical constitutional trump card that melts away the separations between the branches of government, McConnell said.

McConnell also blasted the accusation that Trump abused the power of his office, blaming the dispute on a policy disagreement over Ukraine.

- Bart Jansen

Final vote awaits senators as they state their positions

Senators are set to explain their positions on impeachment ahead of a final vote Wednesday on whether acquit President Donald Trump or remove him from office.

After House impeachment managers and Trump's defense team finished their closing arguments Monday, senators were given time to speak on the trial. Those speeches are expected to continue Tuesday. The trial resumed about 9:30 a.m. EST.

Only a handful of senators remain publicly uncommitted on their final impeachment votes, and some might use the speeches as an opportunity to explain their position to their constituents.

The speeches also come the same day Trump will give his State of the Union address. Here's what will happen:

What happens Tuesday

Starting at 9:30 a.m. ET, senators are given ten minutes of speaking time to talk on the Senate floor.

A handful of senators remain publicly undecided on the final impeachment vote, including Democratic Sens. Doug Jones of Alabama, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

What happened Monday: GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she 'cannot vote to convict' Trump

Two Republican lawmakers, Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine, have also been tight-lipped about their final decision.

In a floor speech yesterday, Manchin said he was "undecided" on how he would vote but called for censuring Trump instead of impeaching him.

A motion to censure Trump would formally express the Senates disapproval of his actions but would not remove him from office.

The draft censure resolution, which Manchin's office provided to USA TODAY, would "condemn" Trump's conduct "in the strongest terms." But it could not be introduced until after the end of the impeachment vote on Wednesday.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who had been tight-lipped about her final decision, announced she could not vote to convict Trump in a floor speech Monday.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Murkowski called Trumps behavior in Ukraine "shameful and wrong" but argued she "cannot vote to convict" him.

Rep. Jason Crow: Democrat reads children's Constitutions during impeachment trial

What has happened

Both sides gave their closing arguments on Monday, when Democrats urged senators to remove Trump and Republicans pushed for acquittal.

Democratic impeachment managers told senators Trump had to be removed before further misconduct was committed.

You cant trust this president to do the right thing, not for one minute, not for one election, not for the sake of our country," said Impeachment Manager Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., during his closing remarks.

Republicans denounced the partisanship of the impeachment and called for senators to acquit Trump and let voters decide who their next president will be in November.

This is exactly and precisely what the founders feared, Trump's attorney Jay Sekulow said. This was the first totally partisan presidential impeachment in our nations history and it should be our last.

How impeachment works: Pathway of the impeachment process: How it works, where we are

Contributing: Bart Jansen

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump impeachment trial: Senators make cases before final vote
Australia's climate-change credentials could be further tarnished if the Berejikilian government pushes ahead with changes to planning laws for coal mines amid the bushfire crisis.

A new discussion paper from the progressive think-tank The Australia Institute says abolishing a legal requirement to consider so-called scope 3 emissions from coal exports "beggars belief".

The Independent Planning Commission rejected a plan to develop a coal mine in the Bylong Valley. Credit:Brendan Esposito

A parliamentary inquiry will look at the bill on Thursday, which stops planning authorities from approving new mining projects with a condition related to emissions of exported Australian coal.

Greenhouse gas emissions will still be considered when determining and assessing the project.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Democratic party officials in Iowa worked furiously Tuesday to deliver the delayed results of their first-in-the-nation caucus, as frustrated presidential candidates claimed momentum and plowed ahead in their quest for the White House.

Technology problems and reporting inconsistencies kept Iowa Democratic Party officials from releasing results from Monday's caucus, the much-hyped kickoff to the 2020 primary. It was an embarrassing twist after months of promoting the contest as a chance for Democrats to find some clarity in a jumbled field with no clear front-runner.

Instead, caucus day ended with no winner, no official results and many fresh questions about whether Iowa can retain its coveted first status.

State party officials said final results would be released later Tuesday and offered assurances that the problem was not a result of a hack or an intrusion." Officials were conducting quality checks and verifying results, prioritizing the integrity of the results, the party said in a statement.

The statement came after tens of thousands of voters spent hours Monday night sorting through a field of nearly a dozen candidates who had spent much of the previous year fighting to win the opening contest of the 2020 campaign and, ultimately, the opportunity to take on President Donald Trump this fall.

The candidates didn't wait for the party to resolve its issues before claiming, if not victory, progress and moving on to next-up New Hampshire.

It looks like its going to be a long night, but were feeling good," former Vice President Joe Biden said, suggesting the final results would be close.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said he had a good feeling we're going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa once results were posted. Today marks the beginning of the end for Donald Trump," he predicted.

"Listen, its too close to call," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said. "The road wont be easy. But we are built for the long haul."

And Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was most certain.

So we dont know all the results, but we know by the time its all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation, he said. "By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.

Democrats faced the possibility that whatever numbers they ultimately released would be questioned. And beyond 2020, critics began wondering aloud whether the Iowa caucuses, a complicated set of political meetings staged in a state that is whiter and older than the Democratic Party, are a tradition whose time had past.

The party has tried to accommodate critics, this year by promising to report three different data points about voters' preferences, presumably improving transparency. But the new system created new headaches.

State party spokeswoman Mandy McClure said it had found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results," forcing officials to try to verify results with underlying data and the paper trail.

Some of the trouble stemmed from issues with a new mobile app developed to report results to the party. Caucus organizers reported problems downloading the app and other glitches.

Des Moines County Democratic Chair Tom Courtney said the new app created a mess. As a result, Courtney said precinct leaders were phoning in results to the state party headquarters, which was too busy to answer their calls in some cases.

Organizers were still looking for missing results several hours after voting concluded.

Shortly before 2 a.m., the state party was making plans to dispatch people to the homes of precinct captains who hadn't reported their numbers. That's according to a state party official in the room who was not authorized to share internal discussions publicly.

Earlier in the night, Iowa Democrats across the state cast their votes, balancing a strong preference for fundamental change with an overwhelming desire to defeat Trump. At least four high-profile candidates vied for the lead in a contest that offered the opening test of who and what the party stands for in the turbulent age of Trump.

It's just the first in a primary season that will span all 50 states and several U.S. territories, ending at the partys national convention in mid-July.

For Democrats, the moment was thick with promise for a party that has seized major gains in states since Trump won the White House in 2016. But instead of clear optimism, a growing cloud of uncertainty and intraparty resentment hung over the election as the prospect of an unclear result raised fears of a long and divisive primary fight in the months ahead.

One unsurprising development: Trump won the Republican caucus, a largely symbolic victory given that he faced no significant opposition.

The president's campaign eagerly seized on the Democrats' problems.

Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history," Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said. It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?

Pre-caucus polls suggested Sanders entered the night with a narrow lead, but any of the top four candidates  Sanders, Biden, Warren and Buttigieg  was positioned to score a victory. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who represents neighboring Minnesota, was also claiming momentum, while outsider candidates including entrepreneur Andrew Yang, billionaire activist Tom Steyer and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard could be factors.

"We know one thing: We are punching above our weight, Klobuchar said late Monday, promising to keep fighting in New Hampshire.

New voters played a significant role in shaping Iowa's election.

About one-quarter of all voters reported that they were caucusing for the first time, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of voters who said they planned to take part in Mondays Democratic caucuses. The first-timers were slightly more likely to support Sanders, Warren or Buttigieg, compared with other candidates.

At the same time, VoteCast found that roughly two-thirds of caucusgoers said supporting a candidate who would fundamentally change how the system in Washington works was important to their vote. That compared to about a third of caucusgoers who said it was more important to support a candidate who would restore the political system to how it was before Trumps election in 2016.

Not surprisingly, nearly every Iowa Democrat said the ability to beat Trump was an important quality for a presidential nominee. VoteCast found that measure outranked others as the most important quality for a nominee.

The 2020 fight has already played out over myriad distractions, particularly congressional Democrats' push to impeach Trump, which has often overshadowed the primary and effectively pinned several leading candidates to Washington at the pinnacle of the early campaign season.

Meanwhile, ultrabillionaire Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, is running a parallel campaign that ignored Iowa as he prepares to pounce on any perceived weaknesses in the field come March.

The amalgam of oddities was building toward what could be a murky Iowa finale before the race pivoted quickly to New Hampshire, which votes Feb. 11.

For the first time, the Iowa Democratic Party planned to report three sets of results: a tally of caucusgoers initial candidate preference; vote totals from the final alignment after supporters of lower-ranking candidates were able to make a second choice; and the total number of State Delegate Equivalents each candidate receives.

There is no guarantee that all three will show the same winner when they're ultimately released.

The Associated Press will declare a winner based on the number of state delegates each candidate wins, which has been the traditional standard.
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who was among a clutch of eminent personalities to voice support to the recent anti-CAA protests, feels that an artiste should have "guts" to talk about rights.

A creative person should be socially conscious, the acclaimed director said here, after inaugurating the 5th Dumdum International Film Festival.

"An artiste should have the guts and courage to talk about his rights. He is the mirror of society, the conscience of society," Kashyap said on Monday evening.

The 'Gangs of Wasseypur' maker has time and again made statements on social media against the central government, including on the issue of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Last month, Kashyap was present at a protest rally in Mumbai against the violence on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus.

Kashyap had also backed actor Deepika Padukone when she was heavily trolled for visiting the JNU campus in January to show solidarity with the students.

"An artiste should speak the truth instead of making politically correct statements," the director, who has often faced flak for his remarks, said.

Kashyap said the works of Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak, among other auteurs, inspired him to become a filmmaker.

"Had I not attended a (particular) film festival and got bowled over by certain movies, I would have become something else, perhaps a scientist," he said.

"Bengal has made great contribution to cinema - from Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt to doyens such as Ray and Ghatak," the 'Black Friday' director said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Doctors should be in hospitals not streets: Kejriwal writes to PM Modi on NEET counselling

Punjab elections: You will never have to stage another dharna says Kejriwal

Covid-19 cases are rising in Delhi, but no need to panic as hospitalisation low, says Kejriwal

No lockdown in Delhi for now but some curbs, says Arvind Kejriwal amid Covid surge

Delhi Polls: Kejriwal sets deadline for BJP to declare CM candidate

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Feb 04: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has challenged the BJP to announce its chief ministerial candidate by 1 pm on Wednesday and said he is ready for a public debate with that candidate.

Kejriwal said if the BJP doesn't do so by then, he will meet the press to announce his next course of action.

"Delhiites want the BJP to declare its chief ministerial candidate and I am ready for a debate with him," he told reporters.

Delhi polls: AAP releases manifesto with focus on health, education and electricity

"Amit Shah says that he would name the chief minister candidate once he gets Delhi's mandate. But the people of Delhi want to know now who would be their Chief Minister if they vote for the BJP. What if Amit Shah names someone uneducated and incompetent? That would be a betrayal of the people of Delhi," he added.

In most elections, however, the BJP has sought votes in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,

The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday released its manifesto for the February 8 polls, focussing on quality education, health, clean water and 24-hour electricity in the national capital.

Released by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia as "28-point guarantee card", the manifesto promises doorstep delivery of ration, free pilgrimage to 10 lakh senior citizens and Rs 1 crore compensation to kin of a safai karamchari if he dies on duty.

Battle for Delhi: How AAP has shown that BJP has neither issues nor a face to fight polls

The party said its vision is to make every family prosperous and it will continue to work for full statehood to Delhi. The manifesto also included a plan to allow markets for 24 hours under a pilot project.
JERUSALEM - Supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have grown increasingly frustrated at White House pushback over plans to immediately annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank as envisioned in the Trump peace plan, with their ire focused in particular on presidential adviser Jared Kushner.

Israeli media has extensively reported grumblings among key Netanyahu backers, with David Elhayani, the chairman of the powerful Yesha Council, which oversees more than 150 settlements, singling out Kushner for betraying Netanyahu and not being honest with him.

"Kushner took a knife and put it in Netanyahu's back," he told The Washington Post. "Kushner misled the prime minister, he misled everybody. He knew for a long time that Netanyahu wanted to declare sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea - he said it many times over the last year - gentlemen just don't act this way."

Elhayani, who traveled to Washington last week for the plan's White House unveiling, said that by putting the breaks on annexing the settlements, Kushner could cost Netanyahu the March 2 elections.

Israel is about to engage in an unprecedented third election in less than a year, with Netanyahu fighting bitterly for his political future, even as he faces three criminal indictments and possibly a very public trial.

Hours after standing shoulder-to-shoulder with President Donald Trump at the White House last Tuesday as the plan was formally released, Netanyahu told reporters that he planned to bring a vote on annexation before his cabinet within days. At the same time, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman told reporters that the day and the timing was up to Israel.

"If Israelis apply Israeli law to the settlements and territory allocated to Israel under the plan . . . then we will recognize Israeli sovereignty," he said.

Elhayani said that when he met with Netanyahu in Washington, the prime minister was very excited, "he said it was a historical time."

Elhayani and other settler leaders also met with a senior U.S. official in Washington who told them that if the Palestinians did not accept the plan within 48 hours then Israel would be allowed to declare sovereignty on 30 percent of the West Bank.

"But something happened after that changed they their minds," said Elhayani.

Kushner, in interviews and reportedly in conversations with Israeli officials, put the brakes on, saying that the move should wait on a new government to be formed after next month's vote.

For his part, the ambassador a day laterwalked back his earlier comments, saying the measure would require coordination with a joint American-Israeli committee. Analysts blamed Netanyahu for jumping the gun in response to pressure from settlement groups, and his own defense minister, to enact the annexation measure immediately.

A senior Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the matter in more depth, said that Netanyahu had briefed reporters in Washington that he would raise the annexation matter at the next Israeli Cabinet meeting, but that so far no cabinet meeting has been held since his return on Friday.

The official said there have been discussions with the U.S. administration since 2017 on the issue of annexation and the prime minister wanted to move forward with the administration's support.

Contacted for a response, a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem said, "we don't comment on internal discussions."

The Palestinian leadership has rejected the plan out-of-hand as fatally biased in Israel's favor. And signs that some of Israel's Arab neighbors would support, or at least remain neutral, were weakened when foreign ministers within the Arab League voted unanimously Saturday to reject it.

Now, with the schedule for Israel's annexation plans growing more unclear, the future of the long-awaited peace plan, which was painted as a moment of triumph and a political boost for Netanyahu, appears in doubt.

Right-wing leaders, who head a key block of the support for the prime minister, have demanded that Netanyahu act now on their long-standing goal of annexing all the settlements dotted across a third of the West Bank and other parts of the territory as defined by the plan.

Elhayani said it was important to move forward with this part of the plan before the election because otherwise the process will be slowed down by an already dysfunctional political system, or worse.

If the results are not in Netanyahu's favor after next month's vote, then the process would be managed by Netanyahu's political rival Benny Gantz, head of the centrist Blue and White party.

Gantz, who also traveled to Washington to be briefed by the president on the peace plan, said last week that he planned to bring the entire proposal to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, for approval.

If that happens, said Elhayani, the plan would most likely be nixed by lawmakers, because while it greenlights annexation, it also allows for the potential of a Palestinian state on 70 percent of the territory.
Makan Delrahim, U.S. assistant attorney general for the antitrust division, listens during a Bloomberg Television interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., on Tuesday, April 30, 2019. The conference brings together leaders in business, government, technology, philanthropy, academia, and the media to discuss actionable and collaborative solutions to some of the most important questions of our time. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Makan Delrahim, the top antitrust official at the Department of Justice, is recusing himself from the agency's investigation of potentially anticompetitive behavior at Google due to potential conflicts of interest in his past.

Delrahim was previously hired as a lobbyist who helped shepherd Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick in 2007. DoubleClick has become a key part of Google's advertising business, which has raised antitrust concerns.

"As the technology review progressed, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim revisited potential conflicts with previous work with the Department of Justice's ethics office," a spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC after The New York Times first reported the recusal. "He and the ethics office have decided that he should now recuse himself from a matter within the tech review in an abundance of caution. Associate Deputy Attorney General Ryan Shores will continue to oversee the tech review. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Alex Okuliar, who joined the Antitrust Division last week, will also assist with the tech review."

Shores previously worked as in the litigation and antitrust department at law firm Shearman & Sterling. He was hired in October by Deputy Attorney General, Jeffrey Rosen, to work in his office, which oversees all of the Justice department divisions, rather than Delrahim's antitrust division. The Justice Department said at the time he would work closely with its antitrust review, so he has been overseeing the investigation since then.

The change of leadership overseeing the Google review may further the investigation's ties to Deputy Attorney General, Jeffrey Rosen's boss, Attorney General William Barr, industry sources noted. Barr has appeared to cooperate in working with states that are leading their own antitrust investigation into Google, a person familiar with the investigation said, requesting anonymity because the investigations are confidential.

The timing of the decision, months after the DOJ announced it was an investigation, took some industry insiders by surprise. It could suggest that the DOJ is zeroing in on Google's acquisition of DoubleClick as part of its review, industry sources noted. DoubleClick helps strengthen Google's advertising technology business, which has been a major focus for a separate antitrust investigation attorneys general are leading.

The DOJ and the states have been in touch about their respective investigations, people familiar with the situation said.

Critics including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have called for Delrahim's recusal in light of the potential conflict. Warren also said in a June letter to Delrahim that he should recuse himself from any probes of Apple since he had previously been hired to lobby federal officials on its behalf on patent reform.

"As the head of the antitrust division at the DOJ, you should not be supervising investigations into former clients who paid you tens of thousands of dollars to lobby the federal government," Warren wrote at the time. "American consumers and markets deserve the confidence that the DOJ will conduct any antitrust investigation into Google or Apple with integrity, impartiality, and with the best interest of competitive markets and consumers in mind."

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WATCH: How US antitrust law works, and what it means for Big Tech
The Supervisory Board of AB Klaipedos nafta (hereinafter - the Company) approved the transaction between the Company and the related party KN Acu Servicos de Terminal de GNL Ltda. (hereinafter - the SPV Brazil) for liquefied natural gas terminal (hereinafter - the LNG terminal) management and consultation services in Brazil (hereinafter - the Agreement of Services), as well as the transaction between Company's subsidiary UAB SGD logistika and SPV Brazil for borrowing working capital which is necessary to provide services of an operator (hereinafter - the Agreement of Credit).

On the basis of Article 37 (2) Paragraph 9 on Law on Companies of the Republic of Lithuania, we hereby inform about planned transactions with the related party:

How the Company is related to the counterparty The Company is the sole shareholder of UAB SGD logistika, which owns 100 percent of all its shares.

UAB SGD logistika is the sole shareholder of UAB SGD SPB, which owns 100 percent of all its shares.

UAB SGD logistika and UAB SGD SPB have established the SPV Brazil - KN Acu Servicos de Terminal de GNL Ltda.

90 percent of SPV Brazil shares owns UAB SGD logistika and 10 percent - UAB SGD SPB. Related party information (legal entity name, legal form, code, registered office, register in which the data on this person are accumulated and stored; natural person's name, surname, address for correspondence) UAB SGD logistika is a private limited liability company legally registered and operating under the legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania, legal entity code 304139242, VAT payer code LT100012007117, registered office Buriu str. 19, LT-92278 Klaipeda, Lithuania, on which data are accumulated and stored in Register of Legal Entities of the Republic of Lithuania.

KN Acu Servicos de Terminal de GNL Ltda. Under the legal acts of Federal Republic of Brazil established and operating company, CNPJ/ME code 35.785.170/0001-03, NIRE code 33.210.894.765, registered office at Fazenda Saco Dantas, s/n, Distrito Industrial, Zone 1 and Zone 2, Sao Joao da Barra, Rio de Janeiro state, CEP 28.200-000, Federal Republic of Brazil, data about the company is accumulated and stored in Register of Legal Entities of the Federal Republic of Brazil. Date and value of the transaction The transactions are planned to be concluded on 4 February 2020.

Planned value of the Agreement of Services - up to 1,5 mln. EUR.

Planned value of the Agreement of Credit - up to 3,4 mln. EUR (i. e. SPV Brazil will be entitled to borrow from UAB SGD logistika up to 3,4 mln. EUR). Other information assessing whether the transaction is fair and reasonable in respect of the stock company and its shareholders who are not counterparties of the transaction On 3 February 2020 the Audit Committee of the Company submitted the opinion regarding the conclusion of planned transactions. The Supervisory Board of the Company, after analyzing the opinion of the Audit Committee of the Company, by which there are no facts or assumptions showing that the conclusion of planned transactions is unfair or unreasonable in respect of the Company and shareholders of the Company who are not the counterparties of the transactions to be concluded, has decided to approve the conclusion of transactions indicated above.

Jonas Lenksas, Chief Financial Officer, +370 694 80594
The Senate on Tuesday approved N238.1 billion (N238,149,325,832.70) for the Nigeria Customs Service for 2020.

The approval followed the presentation of the report of the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs which considered the proposed budget for the Service.

Chairman of the committee, Francis Alimekhena (Edo North), who presented the report, said the budget is based on the federal governments Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

Breakdown of the budget:

i. Personnel Cost N98.61 Billion representing 41.41 per cent Annex I

ii. Overhead Cost N15.95 Billion representing 6.70 per cent Annex 11

iii. Capital Cost N123.59 Billion representing 51.89 per cent Annex III

Mr Alimekhena said the budget seeks to establish E-Customs Project through massive deployment of information communication technology to eliminate personal interface in customs operations.

This, he said, will enable the agency efficiently interconnect with all relevant trade ecosystem partners and all-round automation of all manual payments in every custom formation.

Some highlights of the bill include; implementation of the Nigeria Customs Service Salary Structure for 15,892 officers and men of the Service; recruitment of 3,200 officers and their training and provision for payment of annual premium on both Group Life/Personal Accident Insurance as provided in the new pension scheme as well as to settle part of outstanding claims of deceased officers.

He added that provision is also made for the construction of new Zonal offices, Multipurpose Theatres, Warehouses, Barracks and Housing accommodation across the headquarters, Zones and Area Commands. Provision is also made for purchase of Surveillance equipment for the border posts, given the security challenges, operational boats for anti-smuggling activities and purchase of power generators.

He thereafter, urged his colleagues to approve the amount, as the task for the Nigeria Customs Service are enormous at this period of international security threat and dwindling economies.

READ MORE:

Given the importance of the agency in terms of economic stimulation, trade facilitation, revenue collection and security at the borders and ports, the Committee hereby urges the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to give the budget a speedy passage, he said.

Other concerns

Prior to the approval, some lawmakers complained that the report presented was incomplete. They also argued that the Customs Service still collect money from the federation despite the seven per cent shares it gets from collection.

Part 5(1)(a) and (e) of the Customs and Excise Management Act as amended provides that the Customs Service shall keep and maintain bank accounts as may be approved by appropriate authority of the Federal Government into which shall be paid 2.5 per cent of the free-on-board value of Imports, Exports and Excise payable by Importers, Exporters and Excise Traders respectively.

And e. seven per cent Port Development Levy.

Adeola Olamilekan, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, wondered why the budget had more than six line items of revenue which include two per cent VAT share of the Nigerian Customs Service, 60 per cent share of the CISS, share of target surplus for 2019, intervention fund for 2018 and received in 2019, outstanding fund for the on-going project of about 49.4 billion, among others.

The outstanding funds for ongoing projects for the Nigerian customsWhat we understand is that the seven per cent cost of collection accrued to the Nigerian Custom and their two per cent VAT share of the Nigerian Customs Servicethat is where they get their expenditure from including capital expenditure and the current.

Here, it shows that side the seven per cent cost of collection, a the twp per cent VAT shares, Nigerian Customs is still collecting money from the federation account.

In his defence, Adamu Aliero, a member of the committee on Customs, explained that the cost of collection is actually coming from the federation account.

He said the shares collected by the Customs Service is an entitlement which is already contained in the Act.

If you look at it, seven per cent of that amount is equivalent to N424.1 billion. Equally, the Custom is entitled to two per cent of the VAT collected and that will amount to 7.5 trillion.

This is backed by an Act of the National Assembly. The House conceded this and we did so too. If we have any issue, we should go and revisit the Act we passed and amend it.

The Custom is also expecting special interventions from the Presidency and this special intervention has to come from the President. And the Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) which 60 per cent share, customs is entitled to that. This has been the practice since the commencement of CISS which started in 1978, he said.

While noting that the report is proper and urged his colleagues to approve it, the lawmaker commended the current Comptroller General of customs, Hammed Ali, for improving the welfare of the service.

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Now a graduate is taking home close to about 300,000,000 every month. It has never happened before. We will hold customs responsible for whatever losses we experience because we have given them all they want.

On his part, Albert Bassey said the committee should be mandated to ensure that the report as submitted in line with the budget items are strictly adhered to and the expenditure effectively monitored.

Based on the confidence we have in our committee, the Senate should be at liberty to pass this report, he said.

Matthew Urhoghide, however, complained about the failure of Ministries, Departments and Agencies to audit their accounts.

Mr Urhoghide, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, said such issues have drawn criticisms to the national assembly.

The lawmaker had in November 2019, given an ultimatum to 25 agencies, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Often times, what preceded the consideration of budget is the performance from the previous year. The Customs Establishment Act says their own account must be audit six months into a new financial year. Its only in this country, when we are considering budgets like this, nobody talks about the audited account of the agency.

Every time you see all these agenciestheir budgets are in deficits. Our committees must begin to ask the question. If this amount is budgeted and in that same year, you are in deficit of your own financial audit and you have not submitted your report to the auditor general, this budget should not be considered.

These are big spenders. The fact that seven per cent as operational cost does not mean that the account should not be audited. Of 450 agencies we have looked into almost all of them are in deficit. For us to keep considering these things, it aches my heart and we keep coming in here year in year out to give them more money. I think we need to change our position, he said.

Lawan talk tough

In his remark, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, warned agencies who fail to audit their accounts that there will be drastic measures.

This is even as he said audited accounts must be presented by December.

We expect MDAs to present their audited accounts before the end of the year especially towards the end of December or at least the first quarter of next year, that is if we include all the calendar months.

If any agency refuses or fails without any cogent reason, we have reason to take a drastic action when it comes to appropriation because not to account for what you have been given in the previous year, that is to say you are not prepared to take a new budget.

So Im advising the MDAs, especially those that are not up to date with their audited accounts to do so. We could decide as a national assembly to take measures against agencies of government that are not up to date with their audited accounts.
With the number of passengers travelling to China from the city dwindling following the outbreak of coronavirus in that country and the WHO guideline to contain the spread of the deadly disease, a low cost carrier is all set to suspend its flights between Kolkata and Guangzhou, officials said on Tuesday.

Another airline based in China which operates flights between Kolkata and Kunming has adopted a wait and watch policy.

Union health ministry advisories have asked people to refrain from travelling to China and said that travellers who return from that country could be quarantined.

According to officials at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport here low cost carrier IndiGo has decided to suspend its daily Kolkata-Guangzhou flight from February 6.

"In line with the WHO guideline to contain the spread of coronavirus, IndiGo will be suspending its Kolkata-Guangzhou service from February 6, 2020 to February 25, 2020 and Guangzhou-Kolkata from February 7 till February 26," the airline said in a statement.

"These are purely temporary and precautionary measures. We understand that these measures will cause inconvenience to our customers and we will be refunding the full amount to the impacted passengers," the IndiGo statement said.

China Eastern Airlines has adopted a wait and watch policy, sources at the Kolkata airport said.

The airlines has not made any announcement regarding suspension of its flights between Kolkata and Kunming in China and is operating them whenever there is requirement, the sources said.

The airlines is cancelling its flights when there are no passengers, an Airports Authority of India (AAI) official at the airport said.

The two airlines offer about 340 seats daily between Kolkata and the two Chinese cities.

Meanwhile, passengers arriving from Guangzhou and Kunming in China and other destinations such as Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong are being screened at the NSCBI airport.

The airport is on health alert and doctors at the airport are carrying out thermal screening of passengers, NSCBI airport director Kaushik Bhattacharjee told PTI.

The passengers are being screened before they are proceeding towards the immigration counters, he said.

"We have screened more than 10,000 passengers (arrival) since January 17 and so far no passenger has tested positive," Bhattacharjee said.

The the Eastern India Chairman of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), Anil Punjabi, said the airlines are either cancelling or suspending their flights to and fro China since passengers who are booked on various flights are not turning up.

Travel agents are assisting all passengers in cancelling tickets to China, he said adding most Indians in that country have returned to their homes after the evcuation by Air India's evacuation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)




A suspect

Police officers in Oyo State Police have arrested one person identified as Dotun Somefun, in connection with the killing of a stalwart of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

It was gathered that the arrest is as a result of the crisis rocking local government administration in the state over who are the authentic occupants of local government Secretariats in the state.

However things took another dimension when one person identified as Abdulasisi Isa was shot dead during a clash in Surulere Local Government Area of the state on Monday.

The deceased was killed when supporters of All Progressives Congress (APC) and those of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), clashed over who is the authentic Chairman of the Local Government Area.

According to a report by DailyPost, there has been pockets of violence between supporters of Chairmen who were sacked by Governor Seyi Makinde and the recently appointed Caretaker Chairmen in the state since last week Monday.

The sacked Chairmen are members of APC while those who were recently appointed are members of PDP.

The sacked Chairmen were elected in May 2018 during the administration of the immediate past Governor of the state, Mr. Abiola Ajimobi.

They were, however, sacked by Governor Seyi Makinde in May 2019.

Makinde later appointed caretaker committees in replacement of the sacked chairmen.

Both the sacked Chairmen and the Caretaker committees members have been at loggerheads since Monday when the sacked Chairmen made an attempt to resume their various offices.

The imbroglio rocking the local government administration however took another dimension when Mr. Isa was killed in Surulere local government area on Monday.

But, the Police in the state said it has arrested Somefun, who is currently helping the command in its investigation.

Public Relations Officer of the state Police Command, Mr. Olugbega Fadeyi who confirmed the killing, added that Isa sustained bullet injury and was confirmed dead at the Bowen University Teaching Hospital in Ogbomoso on Monday.

Fadeyi in a statement made available to DAILY POST Wednesday night said that the DC CID is investigating the matter.

He said, Today, at about 1230 hours, two vehicles, one black Acura legend and black Volkswagen Golf vehicles were coming from Iwofin towards Ogbomoso and around Surulere Local Government, Iresadu, there was an attack and the occupants of the vehicles fired and one Isah Azeez m about 50 years sustained bullet injury and was rushed to Bowen Teaching Hospital for treatment where he was later confirmed dead.

The crowd outside also fired at the vehicles where one Dotun Somefun m an occupant of the Acura was also injured, treated in an hospital in Ogbomoso by his group.

He is currently in Police custody and assisting the police in their investigation, while DC CID is investigating the matter.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2020) - The aerospace parts industry has long looked to take advantage of new technologies to become more efficient. A burgeoning focus is with 3D printed parts on demand to provide rapid replacement options while reducing expensive physical parts inventories. This solution can make a part available in hours versus days or weeks, helping carriers improve their up-time while reducing part costs. Markets are now forming around digital assets for printed parts so that buyers have a wide library of parts in one location. Blockchain technology, a key component of a trusted solution, is ready for physical parts provenance and digital twinning throughout the supply chain. Yet, a trusted B2B digital logistics platform for supply chains doesn't exist today.VeriTX is positioned to become the trusted marketplace for digital assets, utilizing a platform-based business model, enabling the regulated digital supply chains of Industry 4.0.

As per the 2020 Global Aerospace 3D Printing Market report, the global Aerospace 3D Printing market is valued at 1.85 billion US$ this year and is expected to reach 16.76 billion US$ by the end of 2026 - a growth rate at a CAGR of 36.6%. 3D printing has taken hold as a high-availability option for critical parts development and replacement. The technology, also referred to as additive manufacturing, uses precision hardware (and computer-aided-design software) to build a complete 3D object layer by layer. Proof of this has become easy to find. Last year, Lockheed Martin created a 3D-printed titanium dome for its high-pressure satellite fuel tanks, cutting production time for that project from two years to three months.

The VeriTX leadership team has deep domain expertise and a long record of successful execution on large programs. While working with a large aerospace company, VeriTX co-founder James Allen Regenor Col USAF(ret) executed seven proofs of concept to prove the technology, and understands the value creation models. "When we look at the future of digital supply chains in aerospace, the Air Force is taking huge strides to push out to the point of use. VeriTX trusted digital marketplace allows customers to democratizes trust and manufacture on the edge," said Regenor. More recently, Mr. Regenor was awarded a United States Air Force contract to investigate how to transform maintenance operations in the military and civilian aviation operations.

To create trust amongst participants within the VeriTX ecosystem, transactions must be done peer-to-peer, without an intermediary accessing selling and purchasing information. Large parts manufacturers can't open up their information to the platform. To enable peer-to-peer transactions in a transparent environment, decentralizing certain features using a blockchain is key. Along with a blockchain-backbone, strong governance frameworks to manage the network are important to the VeriTX vision. To execute this, VeriTX selected a technology partner that understands where blockchain should and shouldn't be used. Northern Block comes in as a partner who has a track record of aiding enterprises that need industrial grade systems to market with products that leverage blockchain to gain competitive advantages.

"Northern Block was the obvious choice to partner with to accelerate the product development to get VeriTX to revenue. Their thought leadership in distributed computing and flexibility to build products in highly regulated industries is an asset for us. They are also pioneers in building self-sovereign identity networks with strong governance frameworks for trust-creation, something that is very important to VeriTX," added Mr. Regenor.

The VeriTX model works across multiple verticals from aerospace to medical to industrial. The United States Air Force has one of the largest aircraft fleets in the world so there is no better place to start transforming supply chains. Just last week, the Air Force Accelerator, based in Boston, MA, announced that VeriTX was part of its 2020 cohort.

About Companies

About VeriTX - VeriTX is a trusted digital commerce marketplace for buying and selling digital and physical assets, and maintaining trusted maintenance and lease records. To learn more, visit www.veritx.co.

About Northern Block, Inc. - Northern Block is a blockchain consulting and venture creation firm. We fuel the creation of disruptive business models and user-centric applications that achieve trust through open, transparent and fair systems. To learn more, visit www.northernblock.ca.

Key Contacts

James Allen Regenor Col USAF(ret)

Founder and President

VeriTX

jim@veritx.co

Mathieu Glaude

Northern Block Inc.

Founder and CEO

mathieu@northernblock.ca

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52031
The police in Osun State on Tuesday paraded two suspected ritualists, Adesina Adeniyi 42, and Oluwole Olapade, 58, who were caught with two human skulls.

The Commissioner of Police, Johnson Kokumo while parading the suspect said Adeniyi, a patent medicine shop owner, was arrested in Iwo while travelling in a commercial bus to Ibadan, Oyo State.

Adeniyi was said to have been caught with two human skulls and a liver after a thorough search by men of 39 Police Mobile Force attached to Iwo Area Command.

The suspect who resides at Kajola area in Iwo during interrogation revealed to police that the skull and the liver were recovered from a Muslim cemetery and a mortuary in the town, where he was an attendant.

The commissioner said after diligent investigation, the suspects accomplice, Oluwole Olapade, a resident of Yemetu in Ibadan was trailed and arrested.

Olapade, who is a native doctor, uses human skull for charm and had promised Adeniyi N20,000 per skull.

Read Also: Pastor Jailed For Stealing Goat, Turkeys In Osun

The police commissioner said Adeniyi had gotten the native doctor a skull before but he claimed it did not produce money, so he decided another skull should be procured for use.

Adeniyi, while been paraded told journalists that they source for the skulls in a cemetery in the town.

He said, I sourced for the skull in an open cemetery in the town and I have gotten one for him before and was supposed to deliver another one to him before I was caught.

For now I operate a patent medicine store and yet to be married.

The native doctor claimed to have known Adeniyi for long because his father was his acquittance before his demise.
Two drug dealers screamed out and pleaded for their lives from inside a toolbox as it was pushed into a creek before they died, a court has been told.

Cory Breton and Iuliana Triscaru's decomposing bodies were found inside the large metal box after police pulled it from a creek south of Brisbane.

The pair had been lured to a unit in Kingston 18 days earlier, assaulted and tied up before being forced into the box, the Brisbane Supreme Court heard on Tuesday.

Cory Breton (right) and Iuliana Triscaru's (left) decomposing bodies were found inside the large metal box after police pulled it from a creek south of Brisbane

Tuhirangi-Thomas Tahiata, 28, is accused of two counts of murder for allegedly driving the box with Mr Breton and Ms Triscaru inside to Scrubby Creek in Kingston on January 24, 2016.

He denies the charges but prosecutor David Meredith says Tahiata used his Toyota Hilux ute to transport the pair to the lagoon beside the Logan Motorway with another man about 9pm.

'He then got out of the car and helped drag it off,' he said.

'He could hear both people yelling ... 'get me out of here ... get me out of here'.'

The other man then allegedly pushed the box into the water but it failed to sink.

'At this time the screaming from inside the box became louder,' Mr Meredith said.

'He heard (the other man) say 'time to die'.'

Tuhirangi-Thomas Tahiata is accused of killing the pair in 2016. Pictured: Court sketch during his trial at the Supreme Court in Brisbane

Tahiata then allegedly fired off a round from a shotgun to quieten the pair down but 'the screams got louder'.

He then handed the other man a claw hammer so he could punch holes in the box to help it sink, Mr Meredith said.

'He then watched (the other man) jump on the toolbox ... who then hammered into the side,' he said.

Mr Meredith said Tahiata's actions were a 'breathtakingly evil act' that encouraged the other man to cause the death of Mr Breton and Ms Triscaru.

The motive for killing the pair was clearly held by others and not Tahiata, he said.

'Tahiata barely knows Iuliana Triscaru ... and he doesn't know Cory Breton. He does it because he's asked to, not because he has a motive himself,' he said

The metal box retrieved from a river in Kingston, south of Brisbane, in 2016

Earlier, the court heard Mr Breton and Ms Triscaru were called to the unit about midday after Mr Breton was discovered with a photo of an alleged drug dealer on his mobile phone.

Mr Meredith said Tahiata and the other man initially drove the pair inside the box to a nearby quarry but the gates were locked.

It was then that Tahiata's co-accused suggested they take them to the creek.

He said Tahiata denied he was involved in the killings to detectives but on February 10 confessed and took officers to the site.

The following day, police used a mobile crane to pull the box from the water.

The court heard Mr Breton and Ms Triscaru either drowned or suffocated.

Mr Meredith said the toolbox had been weighed down with rocks and pieces of concrete after it was spotted floating from the motorway.

'But this didn't happen in the night but rather in early February,' he said.

The trial continues on Wednesday.
Fires in Trenton late Sunday and early Monday destroyed four homes and critically injured a woman in the South Ward, city and fire officials said.

At 11:20 p.m. Sunday, firefighters were dispatched to the 400 block of Brunswick Avenue for a reported fire and found four homes aflame. The fire went to three alarms in nine minutes, bringing more firefighters to the scene, and eventually took an hour a 40 minutes to bring under control.

At times, heavy flames shot from the homes, all which were vacant.

No injuries were reported, but a firefighter sustained a minor injury, and one family was displaced, Mayor Reed Gusciora said in a statement.

The cause of the fire is believed to have been started by squatters, people illegally living in the homes. "Illegal tenancy has undoubtedly become invasive in Trenton. We have many unoccupied homes and are actively working with the County and State to get things back to where they need to be, Gusciora said.

Two of the homes are owned by the city, while two are privately held, the fire department said.

Shortly before 2:40 a.m. Monday, the department was dispatched to a home on Morris Avenue and found a smoky fire, and a woman badly burned, the department said. Trenton EMS took the woman - an adult - to St. Francis Medical Center for initial treatment, and she was later flown to Temple Universitys burn center in Philadelphia.

The cause of that fire remained under investigation Monday afternoon, the department said. The womans condition was not immediately known.

On Brunswick Avenue, what remains of the four homes will be demolished, the department said.

Trenton firefighters at the scene of a 3-alarm fire on Brunswick Avenue on Sunday Feb. 2, 2020. (Photo courtesy of Peterson's Breaking News)

India Duke can be reached at iduke@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Inja_NJ.

- Reporter Kevin Shea contributed to this report.

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Houston oil major ConocoPhillips is preparing for a major round of drilling in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas.

The companys shale arm, Burlington Resources, is seeking permission from the Texas Railroad Commission to drill 17 horizontals wells.

ConocoPhillips plans to drill 15 of the wells in Karnes County, southeast of San Antonio, and two in neighboring Live Oak County.

In the Eagle Ford, 11 wells will target the Eagleville field and four will drill the Sugarkane field. Two will target the Sugarkane field of the Austin Chalk.

Ranked by Drilling Down as the 10th most-active driller in Texas, ConocoPhillips filed for 215 drilling permits in 2019.

Drilling Down: Birch Resources emerges as Permian Basin leader

Permian Basin

Denver oil company QEP Resources is planning to drill 15 new horizontal wells on state-owned land in Andrews County. The oil wells target the Spraberry field to depths ranging from 8,990 to 9,950 feet.

Eagle Ford Shale

More Information Top 10 Drillers in Texas (Jan. 22 through Jan. 28) ConocoPhillips 19 Occidental Petroleum 19 QEP Resources 15 Parsley Energy 12 EOG Resources 12 BP 11 Murphy Oil 11 Double Eagle Energy 10 Concho Resources 7 Carrizo Oil & Gas 6 Source: Railroad Commission of Texas See More Collapse

Japanese oil company Inpex is gearing up for its latest round of drilling in South Texas. The company plans to drill four horizontal wells split between its Nance West Unit and Ivey Unit leases in Karnes County. The four oil wells target the Eagleville field of the Eagle Ford at total depths ranging from 8,800 to 8,900 feet.

Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox

Haynesville Shale

Houston exploration and production company Sabine Oil & Gas plans to drill three horizontal natural gas wells in East Texas. Two target the Carthage field of the Haynesville Shale down to a total depth of 12,100 feet. The other targets the Henderson East field of the Cotton Valley geological layer down to a total depth of 12,250 feet.

Barnett Shale

There were no drilling permits filed for horizontal wells in the Barnett Shale over the past week, but Jack County is emerging as a hot spot for conventional vertical wells. Tarpon Oil & Gas, Oakridge Oil & Gas and Bowles Energy filed a combined five drilling permits in Jack County. Four of the wells target the Jack County Regular field while the other targets the Marble Falls formation.

More: Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com

Conventionals

Refugio-based T-C Oil Co. plans to drill a pair of vertical wells in Refugio County, 10 miles west of Tivoli. The oil and natural-gas wells target the McFaddin field to a vertical depth of 6,500 feet.
Prison authorities informed the Delhi High Court Tuesday that mobile signals, especially of Jio 4G, could not be blocked inside Tihar Jail with the technology they have and state-run C-DOT has been asked to develop a prototype jammer to prevent illegal communications by prisoners.

The high court was hearing a PIL initiated by it after receiving a letter from a life convict alleging that jail authorities were involved in various illegal activities such as extortion of money, supply of drugs, mobile phones and other prohibited items.

It further alleged that prisoners were being "tortured like animals" by the jail authorities.

After receiving the letter in 2018 the court had asked a jail visiting judge to investigate the allegations and file a report.

The judge, in his report in April 2019, informed the court that the allegation of prohibited items being found inside the prison, and of jail authorities extorting money from prisoners for providing basic right of one hour release per day, was established based on statements of various inmates.

The case was being heard on Tuesday by a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar.

During the hearing Delhi government standing counsel Rahul Mehra told the bench that the officials who were involved in the extortion racket, according to the report, have been suspended and departmental inquiry has been initiated against them.

Besides, he also told the bench that over 5,000 CCTV cameras were being installed inside the prison and 50 body cameras have been purchased for the searching teams and two full body scanners were going to be procured to scan for items swallowed by inmates during a search or while entering the prison.

Regarding installation of the CCTV cameras, the bench said such systems should all be put up inside the offices of the jail officials and ought not to be confined only to monitor the inmates.

Mehra agreed with the court's suggestion, saying "we can do that and we should".

He further told the court that to combat the menace of illegal usage of mobile phones inside the jail, the prison authorities said they are exploring effective means or technology, like jammers.

Mehra said that during testing of jammers, provided by Electronics Corporation of India Limited, it was found that mobile signals, especially of Jio 4G, were not effectively blocked inside the prison.

Subsequently, "it was decided that Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) may take up as a pilot project for identifying viable jamming solutions to prevent unauthorised communications from jail premises and develop a prototype jammer for this purpose", Mehra told the court which listed the matter for further hearing on April 28.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 15:17:59|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government is fully capable of combating the epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus, Sudanese Foreign Minister Asma Mohamed Abdullah said Monday.

In a phone conversation with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the Sudanese foreign minister expressed sincere sympathy and solicitude, on behalf of its government and people, to the Chinese government and people on the outbreak of pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus, voicing belief that China will overcome the crisis as soon as possible.

Sudan and China enjoy special friendly relations, she noted, adding that Sudan is willing to carry out more pragmatic cooperation with China so as to lift bilateral ties to a higher level.

For his part, Wang said that when the Ebola epidemic broke out in Africa, China was the first to send charter flights to deliver emergency relief supplies and the first to dispatch medical teams to help fight the epidemic, which marked an important chapter in friendly relations between China and Africa.

Wang expressed belief that people of all African countries will stand firmly with the Chinese people in the fight against this epidemic.

China cherishes its traditional friendship with Sudan, said Wang, urging both sides to make full use of the two important platforms of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative to explore new areas and tap the potential for cooperation.

Wang stressed that China has the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the great ability to mobilize, and rich experience in handling public health emergencies.

China is mobilizing the whole country to effectively adance the prevention and control of the epidemic and has achieved remarkable results, he said.

Since Feb. 1, recovered cases has begun to outnumber dead cases, a sign that the epidemic is manageable and treatable, Wang said.

China is fully confident of winning the battle against the epidemic at an early date, Wang said, adding that China is not only responsible for the health of its people, but also contributing to the cause of safeguarding international public health.

China always attaches great importance to the health and life-safety of foreign nationals in China, including Sudanese expatriates, and is ready to continue to take effective protective measures, and address their legitimate and reasonable concerns in a timely manner, he said.
Opinion Article

4 February 2020

This article is an update of one published in honor of the Twenty-fifth anniversary of the Las Vegas International Tourism Security and Safety Conference.

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The 27th conference will be "reborn" on April 26-30, 2020 and it is hoped that the "mother conference" will spawn new interest in the importance of tourism security and safety around the world. If your community is interested in hosting a tourism safety and security conference, please contact Dr. Peter Tarlow or Jordan Clark. The Conference will take place against a background of both political and health crises that could impact the world's entire tourism industry

Some basic Tourism Security Conference history: In May of 1992 Lt. Curtis Williams, a visionary Las Vegas police officer had an idea that tourism to be successful needed to have not only protection but also regular meetings where ideas might be exchanged and new concepts would be developed. Lt. Williams and Dr. Peter Tarlow were able to obtain a small room at the Las Vegas Tourism Convention center and ran the first tourism security workshop.

Since then, the idea of tourism security has become an important part of tourism. The then workshop, and soon to be full conference, proved to be logistically too hard for Williams and Tarlow to do everything on their own, and in its second year, Don Ahl, of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and the Las Vegas Chief's Association agreed to become co-sponsors. Upon Don Ahl's retirement, he passed his baton to Ray Suppe of the LVCVA. Ray Suppe and Peter Tarlow than transformed the conference into an international conference with speakers coming from around the world. In 2019 Suppe passed the baton to Mr. Jordan Clark and Clark and Tarlow have now reframed the conference so that it will become a major international tourism security conference.

From 1992 onward Las Vegas has held a tourism security conference for every year (except one) for the last twenty-six years. This month's Tourism Tidbits focuses on some of the major principles of tourism security. It is dedicated to tourism security personnel throughout the world, be they members of law enforcement, government agencies, or be they part of private security teams. We also dedicate it to all tourism professionals. Without tourism security tourism will cease to exist. Were it not for the dedicated and hard working men and women who seek to protect the traveling public, in today's violent world there would not be (or a greatly reduced) a tourism industry, and the world would be a much darker and poorer place.

As a thank you to all who work to make the world safe and secure for the millions of people who travel daily, Tourism Tidbits provides its readers with some of the basic principals of tourism security.

Tourism Safety and Security are essential parts of any tourism marketing efforts. Once upon a time tourism professionals did not see the relationship between tourism security and marketing efforts. This lack of vision is no longer the case. Today we know that the public seeks out locations that provide good service, high-quality products and are "packaged" in a safe and secure environment.

No one needs to come to your locale. This principle was as true twenty-seven years ago with regards to the leisure side of the market as it is today. Today, with multiple internet systems, meetings can easily be held online. The key is that if your community is not safe, then the loss of business will be a lot greater than the cost of security. It is essential to remember that the lower the perceived safety the lower the relaxation and willingness to spend. Good tourism security means that visitors are more likely to return to a destination and during their stay they are more willing to spend more money.

Tourism Security is much more than simply guarding a property. Today we live in a world filled with multiple threats, from the potential of a bio-chemical attack to cyber-attacks, from crowd control to the potential of a dirty bomb, from classical crimes such as pick-pocketing to room invasions, and from food safety to disease control. Modern security analysis need to be aware of ever changing threats, how threats intertwine with one and other, to whom to turn, and what are the proper questions to ask.

Tourist geography matters. Through careful study tourism security specialists have learned that as tourism entities cluster, there is a higher probability of increased revenues but also a higher probability of crime and terrorism. Thus, tourism centers that desire to be successful (and clustering such as in the world of casinos tends to increase profitability) must invest in all aspects of security if they are to protect these vital assets.

The traveling public has a long memory. Tragically the further one is from an "event" the worse it seems and the longer it lasts in people's memories. Locals, including tourism professionals tend to forget past crisis, but these crises not only live on in the internet but also have long after-lives that impact a location's or business' bottom line.

Always ask yourself: what is the cost of a negative headline (s) to Tourism security is not merely about dealing with an incident after it happens. Good tourism security is all about prevention and proactive behavior. A good rule of thumb is: the best crisis management is often good risk management. It is a lot less expensive to prevent a crisis than it is to recover from a crisis.

Tourism security is more than dealing with crime; it deals with the total well-being of the visitor. This principle means that good tourism security also requires good communication and foreign language skills, an understanding of cultural awareness, interpersonal psychology, and being able to differentiate local perceptions from visitors' needs.

Tourism security means understanding environmental needs and working toward local beautification. Although we should not judge a book by its cover, visitors judge a local by the way it looks. Good tourism security requires clean air and water, and streets that are free of garbage and graffiti. Beautification not only helps to bring down crime rates, but also increases a visitor's proclivity to spend money. Locations that lack beautification end up with numerous other problems that range from potential diseases to the potential for gang violence.

Tourism TOPPs police units not only add to the bottom line but adds to a community's overall well-being. There was a time when the tourism industry shied away from special tourism police units. The fear was that tourists and visitors would see police officers, become scared and leave. The opposite has proven to be true. Visitors report that when they see well-trained tourism police units, they have a higher tendency to feel safer, to spend more money and to enjoy themselves

This year's Las Vegas Conference marks twenty-seven years of tourism security. These have been years filled with learning, training, and most of all, caring for the tourism industry. Let's hope that future years are even more productive.
Post from MilitaryByOwner

If youve recently received military orders to move overseas, congratulations!

While you may possess some mad PCS skills when it comes to preparation and organizing for a move, an OCONUS (Outside the Continental U.S.) move is an entirely different animal, excitingyes, bringing with it new concerns and challenges.

Once the excitement of the news wears off a bit, there are a few things to pay attention to, especially if this is your first time living outside the U.S.

Each OCONUS location has its own quirks, but the preparation for each also has many similarities. Our family has been lucky enough to experience four overseas tours in the Pacific and Europe, and here are a few things I think you should know before you go.

1) As with anything military related, its all about the paperwork.

Double check to make sure that every family member is listed on official orders, and that names are spelled correctly. Youll need that information in order to apply for the no-fee government passports required for PCS travel and all other paperwork. Check with the specific location to see if youll also need a visa.

Schedule your overseas medical clearance ASAP, which youll need before travel can be arranged. The paperwork and appointments can be a headache, but the military has to ensure the overseas location is equipped to handle your familys medical needs.

2) Make sure your U.S. drivers license is up to date or not nearing expiration.

Youll probably need to test for a drivers license overseas (for instance, the USAREUR license in Europe), but your stateside license must be valid in order to do so. Also note that youll need to carry both licenses when you drive overseas.

You can get a licensing test guide ahead of time to study before you arrive. Remember to contact your insurance company to update your insurance policy and transfer your coverage overseas. On that note, you may wish to purchase additional roadside assistance once in country for a small fee, such as ADAC in Germany.

3) Get the real scoop on the area from your overseas sponsor.

Your overseas sponsor assigned by the military will know all the insider tips and tricks for your move and arrival. Think about potential questions youll want answered, such as information about housing, schools, and kids activities.

4) Begin downsizing now.

OCONUS housing is typically much smaller than what youre used to, so begin downsizing and purging your belongings, and perhaps make plans to take advantage of the storage the military provides and stow larger items or things you can live without for the next few years.

For instance, you may need to do without your oversized sectional sofa, large beds, or the table with two leaves and 12 chairs. Plus, youll want to leave room for finds from your future overseas shopping excursions!

5) The packing crates.

One unique aspect of an overseas move is that all of your boxes will be crated and sealed shut and require the sponsors signature. On the receiving end, its important to visually inspect each crate and seal before signing off and make note of any broken or cut tape for potential claims.

6) Prepare your pets.

Just like your family, your pets will need medical clearance before being approved for travel. Contact your veterinarian ASAP on receiving overseas orders. Youll be required to ensure that all vaccinations are up to date and get your pet a health certificate for overseas moves within 10 days of leaving the country, so book this appointment early.

Using a military vet for required paperwork is ideal, as they are well versed in whats required. Youll also need to check in with the Veterinary Treatment Facility at your new base on arrival. Some countries require dogs and cats to be quarantined for a certain amount of timeresearch this information ahead of time to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

7) Adjust expectations if traveling with kids.

Overseas flights are long, and your young ones may have never traveled by air for that length of time or even at all. Emotions from goodbyes may also be running high, so a little preparation will be key.

Check out MilitaryByOwners post, Air Travel with Kids, for some practical tips for traveling by plane with your kiddos.

8) Say bye-bye to your belongings.

You may not see your household goods for some timeeven months, depending on your housing situation. Pack with an eye to the upcoming season or ship a box of the next seasons clothes to your forwarding address so youre not forced to spend money for items you already own. You may want to rent Insurance to cover your belongings if they are damaged or stolen while you are away

9) Learn a few key phrases in the local language.

Start off on the right foot with your new neighbors by learning ahead of time some simple greetings or commonplace phrases like ordering food. Download English to German, Spanish, Italian, or other language apps or carry a phrasebook with you.

Attempting to communicate will go a long way and even if you're stumbling, locals will usually be pleased that you tried. Often, they will be able to speak some English and will try to help you out.

10) Connect! Make time to attend newcomers and in processing briefings.

I know; youre jetlagged, tired, and overwhelmed. However, the information will be invaluable and you can connect with real people in the know: school liaison officers, family and installation support services, and others like you whove also recently moved overseas. This will be a great way to connect and not feel so isolatedvery important when you first arrive in a new country.

Your installations Facebook group or website will also provide vital information and may help you make connections even before arrival.

11) Soak it up!

In the busyness of an OCONUS PCS move, it can be easy to forget what an incredible opportunity this experience is. Once the logistics of moving are behind you, its good to remember that, from the moment your feet touch the ground, youre living a dream. Celebrate differences, try new foods, travel, be adventurous!

Maybe youll be inspired to start your own travel blog or photo journal of all your new experiences. Whatever you do, I hope this will be your best move yet!

For more information about overseas PCS, including budgeting for your move, what you're allowed to ship, military spouse employment overseas, moving with pets, and much more, download MilitaryByOwners ebook, Overseas PCS Survival Guide.

Be Sure You're Ready for Your Next PCS

Whether you buy, lease, or rent your home, make sure your home and property are protected against damage and theft with insurance. You can compare insurance rates and coverage with our insurance quote comparison tool.
The condition of the woman college teacher from Wardha district of Maharashtra who was set on fire by a stalker was stable but critical, a doctor said on late Tuesday evening.

The state government on Tuesday flew Sunil Keswani, director of the Navi Mumbai-based National Burns Centre, to Nagpur where the woman is undergoing treatment.

Victim Ankita Pisudde (25), resident of Hinganghat in Wardha district, is undergoing treatment at Orange City Hospital in Nagpur.

Vikesh Nagrale (27), an acquaintance who was harassing her for quite some time, allegedly set Pisudde ablaze at Hinganghat on Monday morning while she was on her way to college. She suffered 40 per cent burns.

State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who visited the hospital on Tuesday evening, announced that the trial of the accused would be fast-tracked, and well-known lawyer Ujjwal Nikam would be appointed as special prosecutor as per the request of the woman's relatives.

"Similarly, we will also study the Andhra Pradesh law to deal with such cases wherein judgment is delivered in 21 days," the home minister added.

Keswani told reporters in Nagpur that the woman's condition was "stable but critical". He ruled out shifting her elsewhre.

"She is fully conscious and responding, but she is not in a position to talk now. The condition of her lungs will be known afterthree or four days....All efforts are being made to save her," he said.

Residents of Hinganghat and Samudrapur areas in Wardha took out a protest march, demanding death penalty for Nagrale.

Around 7,000 people, including members of political parties, women and college students, marched from Nanduri Chowk to Ambedkar Square in Wardha town, demanding a fast- tracked trial and death penalty for the accused.

A few demonstrators also demanded that the accused be "handed over to the public for ten minutes", an official said.

Residents of Hinganghat town and neighbouring areas also called for a shut-down.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asked the police to ensure that the accused was convicted.

Thackeray took a serious note of the incident, a statement from his office said, adding that expenses of the woman's treatment would be borne from the Chief Minister's Medical Assistance Fund.

The Maharashtra State Commission for Women on Monday directed the Wardha Superintendent of Police to submit a report on the incident.

According to the police, Nagrale, who was arrested soon after the incident, and the woman were friends till two years ago when she severed ties with him due to his "irrational behaviour".

"Nagrale is a married man and has a seven-month-old son. He works in a firm in Balharshah. He used to stalk the woman. He had even tried to commit suicide last year," a police official said.

The victim's cousin Shubham Pisudde told PTI that Nagrale had been harassing her for the last many years despite repeated warnings. "Her marriage (engagement) was broken last year due to Nagrale," she said.

Meanwhile, a lawyers' association in Hinganghat said it had decided that no local lawyer will represent the accused.

A local court has remanded Nagrale in police custody till February 8.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lucknow, Feb 4 : Former Uttar Pradesh governor Aziz Qureshi, along with seven others, have been booked for carrying out a candle march to express solidarity with anti-CAA protesters in Gomti Nagar on Monday.

They were booked for the violation of Section 144 of the CrPc.

Apart from Aziz Qureshi, those who have been booked include Mahfooz, Salmaan Mansuri, Mohammed Wali, Rehnuma Khan, Priyanka Mishra and Sunil Lodhi.

Assistant commissioner of police, Gomti Nagar, Santosh Singh said that around 30-40 persons were taking out a candle march holding placards against CAA from Digdiga crossing to Fun Mall.

"They failed to show permission for the protest when asked by the cops," said the officer.

They were charged under unlawful assembly and disobedience to order promulgated by a public servant.
THE documentary film Masterpiece by Januar Yap and Alex Badayos won multiple awards during the Sinulog Film Festival 2020.

The documentary film is about the Dibuho Kisame of Saints Peter and Paul Church project in Bantayan, Cebu. The film gave a glimpse of the ceilings mural and how it affected two of its artists spiritual life.

It started when Fr. Joselito Joy Danao, who was then parish priest in Bantayan, Cebu, decided to seek the help of a group of visual artists to paint the ceiling of the Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Bantayan town.

Danao was thinking of visual catechism, where Gods word may be made easier to understand by the faithful, if they have some sort of visual aid. Parallel to the task of painting, the ceiling was the spiritual transformation of the two artists.

The film was produced by Januar Yap, a professor at the University of the Philippines Cebu College of Arts and Design and Opinion editor of SunStar Cebu, with Alex Badayos, chief photographer of SunStar Cebu.

Yap said the documentary film was inspired by a feature story written by Michelle So, SunStar director for network newsrooms and Superbalita Cebu editor-in-chief.

We wanted to give the story another platform, Yap said.

Their team had been joining the Sinulog Film Festival since 2014 as a way of panaad (devotion) to the Senor Sto. Nino.

Just like any other artist, Yap and his team always had the passion for filmmaking and, this time, their hard work paid off.

The passion was always there as far as I can remember, only that the means were too expensive when we were younger. But now that the technology is readily available, it sort of rekindled the passion for it, Yap said.

The documentary film won the Best Story, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Poster Design and Best Documentary awards, while Yap was named as Best Director.

Yap said he was elated to know that their documentary film won multiple awards and is hopeful that these awards will give the story its due attention, knowing how powerful the story of the film is.

Yap also advised aspiring filmmakers to study the medium. Theres a multitude of excellent precursors out there to inspire you. History is fertile ground for your experiments, Yap added.

Awarding ceremonies were held last Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020. (RSR)
Joining word to action, King Mohammed VI supervised Tuesday the launch of an urban development program, meant to transform Agadir into an attractive and competitive economic hub.

The Monarch, who was accompanied by Crown Prince Moulay el Hassan, also presided over the signing of the framework-agreement on the urban development program of the city of Agadir (2020-2024).

The urban development program, Worth 6 billion dirhams, aims at consolidating Agadirs positioning and strengthening its attractiveness as a national and international tourist destination, improving human development indexes, promoting the living conditions of the population, particularly the inhabitants of under-equipped neighborhoods, strengthening basic infrastructure, and consolidating the citys road network for a better mobility.

At the beginning of the launch ceremony, Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, presented the general framework of this program developed in accordance with the royal orientations, expressed by the Monarch last November in a speech marking the 44th anniversary of the Green March.

The King had then called for upgrading the basic infrastructure of the Souss-Massa region and its road network, the establishment of a Marrakech-Agadir rail link and the consolidation of the strategic position of the region.

I invite the authorities concerned to give serious thought to the development of a rail link between Marrakech and Agadir, as a first step before extending it to the rest of the southern regions, the King had said in his speech, adding that the Souss-Massa region must become an economic hub linking Moroccos north to its south  from Tangier, in the north, to Oujda, in the east, to our southern provinces, in the south.

In his presentation, Laftit highlighted the regions abundant economic assets, noting that this enormous potential predisposes it to become a real, attractive and competitive economic hub, capable of meeting the challenge of advanced regionalization and consolidating its influence at the national and regional levels.

The minister of the Interior also noted that several structuring projects are being implemented in the region of Souss-Massa, under the regional program for the reduction of territorial and social disparities, the Industrial Acceleration Plan, as well as in the sectors of agriculture, tourism and social and solidarity economy.

The urban development program of the city of Agadir (2020-2024) will be carried out in accordance with the mechanisms of good governance, in order to ensure rigorous and transparent monitoring of the planned projects, by respecting the deadlines and objectives set, Laftit said.

A draft regional development program contract between the State and the Souss-Massa region is being drawn up according to a participatory approach, he said, noting that priority is given to regional development projects that promote sustainable development and diversification, boost economy, and improve the attractiveness of territorial areas.

To ensure the full success of this program and its timely implementation, two local development companies Agadir Souss Massa Amenagement and Grand Agadir de transport et de mobilite urbaine will oversee the achievement of the various projects planned under the new program.
Look, I'm not one for unsolicited advice, but celebs? At the 92nd annual Academy Awards on February 9th, you  need  to  step  it  up. Let's leave the Etro at home, and elevate.

We're now 80% through awards season. We could devote a whole column to whatever it was that went down on the red carpet at Sunday night's BAFTAs, but let's save ourselves the despair. I do think it's worth pointing out that despite the BAFTAs reportedly asking guests to "rewear old clothes," we got more custom looks than any other carpet this season (ScarJo, Renee, Charlize, Saoirse, Zoe Kravitz, Jodie Turner-Smith, Daisy Ridley, Naomie Harris, just to name a eight).

Related | The Hypocrisy of Red Carpets Under Climate Change

Below is a recap of what our fave red carpet stars and Scarlett Johansson have worn so far this awards season, and some ideas for what they could wear to the Oscars. Not a mandate, of course, just the gentlest of suggestions from a concerned citizen.

Renee Zellweger Past precedent: Ice blue off-the-shoulder Armani for Globes; strapless black Dior Haute Couture for Critic's Choice; midnight blue satin Maison Margiela Haute Couture for SAGs; baby pink custom Prada for the BAFTAs.

Her M.O.: Renee loves a bare shoulder moment. She likes feminine, old Hollywood silhouettes that accentuate her mannequin-like figure. Volume? Not her bag. Sleek. Precise. Unmemorable. But classy AF.

What we want: Renee is a shoe-in for Best Actress, having picked up the Golden Globe, Critic's Choice, SAG, and BAFTA for her role in Judy. Being that she's going to have to make the ascent from chair to stage, we need something that she can move easily in, and something that looks good doing so. Why not Schiaparelli?

Cynthia Erivo Past precedent: Off-the-shoulder custom tuxedo-inspired Thom Browne for Golden Globes; marble mosaic-print Fendi for Critic's Choice; colorblocked custom Schiaparelli Haute Couture for SAGs.

Her M.O.: Cynthia is by far the biggest fashion risk-taker among the nominees. Look to the Marc Jacobs hand embroidered, multi-color organza dahlia dress from MJ's Spring 2020 collection that she wore to the Harriet premiere as distinct proof of this. Cynthia loves color, print, volume, structure, shine, you name it. "Thank God for Miss Cynthia," Tom & Lorenzo aptly wrote .

What we want: She's already given us so much. I'm craving a ruffled moment from the woman who gave my goosebumps goosebumps during her performance of "I'm Here," so I'm going with this stunner from the visionary Clare Waight Keller and her latest collection for Givenchy.

Charlize Theron Past precedent: Green and black one-shouldered Dior Haute Couture for Golden Globes; plunging silver (with a blazer) Celine courtesy of Hedi Slimane for Critic's Choice; a two-piece silver and black Givenchy Haute Couture for SAGs; pleated purple custom Dior for the BAFTAs.

Her M.O.: She doesn't really have one. She's been a Christian Dior girl since she began fronting J'adore campaigns in 2004, but as she's proven this cycle, she's willing to go off script. She's a bit daring, isn't she? But never to the point where that's the most interesting thing about her.

What we want: I'm craving a print on Ms. Theron, and a bold one  so naturally I'm looking to Iris van Harpen. Her otherworldly, ethereal work seems just the right amount of unexpected on Charlize, who's tended toward demure this season, and therefore definitely a risk worth taking.

Scarlett Johansson Past precedent: Crimson silk strapless Vera Wang for Golden Globes; teal floor-length Armani Prive for SAGs; custom pink Atelier Versace for the BAFTAs.

Her M.O.: ScarJo loves a plunging neckline. She's not afraid to go sexy (think: her body-hugging custom chainmail Atelier Versace dress from the Avengers: Endgame premiere). She likes to have fun with fashion, but it tends toward supervised fun. If we were doing superlatives she'd be voted least exciting of the consistently Best Dressed.

What we want: Her BAFTAs dress (which I'd say was top three of the night with Jodie Turner-Smith and Renee ), gave me an aperitif of the ScarJo I want on the carpet: unattainable glamour. This Georges Hobeika gown is exactly that, serving up a truly wow moment for this double nominee.

Saoirse Ronan Past precedent: floor-length metallic Celine for Golden Globes; ruffled Erdem for Critic's Choice; midnight black custom Gucci for BAFTAs.

Her M.O: Thanks to stylist Elizabeth Saltzman, Ronan really doesn't have a look that can be pegged. She loves the heavy-hitters: Calvin Klein, Prada, Galvan, Gucci, Versace. But that doesn't mean she isn't willing to take a risk (see her 2019 Met Gala Gucci look for proof.) Ronan remains one to watch.

What we want: To quote Mother Kris, "You're doing amazing, sweetie." To re-up on the momentum she lost from her " painstakingly simple " BAFTAs dress, I'd love to see Saoirse in my fave dress from Maria Grazia Chiuri's latest collection.

Florence Pugh Past precedent: shimmering custom Prada for Critic's Choice; a fuchsia taffeta Dries Van Noten coat for BAFTAs.

Her M.O: Florence appears to be beginning a fashion journey. Newer to the red carpet circuit, Pugh has teamed up with stylist Rebecca Corbin-Murray, who has put her in looks from Ulyana Sergeenko, Monse, Galvan and Reformation in the past few months.

What we want: Pugh could use a rebound after the chunky Jimmy Choos pulled focus from her Dries on the BAFTA carpet. I'm craving something big and bright and ultra-feminine like this Alexandre Vaulthier gown.

Margot Robbie Past precedent: embroidered Chanel for Golden Globes; strapless Chanel for Critic's Choice; multi-tiered blue plaid Chanel for SAGs; black peplum Chanel for BAFTAs.

Her M.O.: Sensing a theme? As a Chanel ambassador, Robbie is a sure-bet to keep her Chanel streak going strong which is... a choice.

What we want: Anything but Chanel. This Valentino would be the wow moment she so deeply needs/deserves.

Laura Dern Past precedent: embroidered Saint Laurent for Golden Globes; bright orange Emilia Wickstead for Critic's Choice; a dark green Stella McCartney column gown for SAGs; fuchsia Maison Valentino for the BAFTAs.

Her M.O.: Working with one of my favorite celebrity stylists, Cristina Ehrlich, has proven the winning pairing for Dern, who's been lighting up the red carpets of late. Like fellow Ehrlich client Natasha Lyonne, Dern's reverence for fashion  and ability to wield its power  makes her among the red carpet's most consistent-yet-daring.

What we want: Besides as season three of Enlightened and a Renata Klein Big Little Lies spin-off? So long as Dern shows up, I'm confident she'll be showing out. I'd love to see her in this flowing Ralph & Russo, though!

Timothee Chalamet Past precedent: Though he hasn't been on the awards circuit (overlooked for a Best Supporting Actor nom for Little Women), he's a confirmed host and therefore we're gonna talk about him. A self-styled king, Timmy's got range, favoring Haider Ackermann, Dries Van Noten, Louis Vuitton, Stella McCartney, Prada, and Alexander McQueen.

His M.O.: Head-turner.

What we want: To be turned the fuck out.

Related | Cardi B and Billy Porter Dominated 2019 Red Carpet Searches

Brad Pitt Past precedent: Brioni for Golden Globes; Brioni for SAGs.

His M.O.: As the star of Brioni's latest campaign , Brad will be in Brioni.

What we want: That Brioni suit... but on the floor.

The best thing about the Oscars red carpet? It can't not deliver. There's enough A-list stars and high-power stylists to ensure we'll get our fair share of moments. But if we see any D*lce & G*bbana, you can be sure my knives will be out. Until next week!

Welcome to "Wear Me Out," a column by pop culture fiend Evan Ross Katz that takes a look at the week in celebrity dressing. From award shows and movie premieres to grocery store runs, he'll keep you up to date on what your favorite celebs have recently worn to the biggest and most inconsequential events.
Kerala on Monday declared novel coronavirus epidemic as a state calamity after three people tested positive in the southern state.

But the state, which boasts of a robust healthcare system, is fighting back to contain the virus that left at least 425 people and more than 20,000 infected in neighbouring China.

The states health minister KK Shailaja, who is leading the battle, spoke with Ramesh Babu.

Here are the excerpts:

Q: With three coronavirus cases detected in the state, what is the ground situation?

A. We have declared a state calamity. It is not to trigger panic but to create more awareness and care. Two thousand two hundred and thirty-nine persons are under observation and 84 are admitted to various hospitals. Enough isolation wards are ready.

Despite our vigilance, it is sad some returnees dodge health officials. It is really dangerous. If they continue to do this we will treat it as a crime. We need co-operation of all to tide over the crisis. We should be more alert to check the secondary infection. Calamity is declared to create enough awareness and take more proactive steps to contain the virus.

Also Watch | Coronavirus: 3rd case confirmed in Kerala, minister says more possible

Q: In the assembly, you did not rule out the chances of more samples testing positive?

A. True, chances are there. According to our rough estimate, more than 3000 students from the state are studying in China. At least 2000 have returned including those in Delhi. We fought the nipah virus, that was more dangerous effectively, and will overcome this also. We have formulated a medical protocol when initial cases were reported in China.

Q: What are the precautions that the state has taken so far? How prepared is it?

A. We are ready to face any emergency. Our workers have fanned out to every nook and cranny with awareness programmes. We started it even before the first positive case was reported on January 30. We have prepared enough isolation wards and trained our workers.

Even in schools, we are showing a video about the virus. We need the help of all. All three positive [cases] are stable and responding to treatment well. We have opened a control room in all district headquarters. A rapid response team is also there in all the 14 districts. It is a war on the virus.

Q: The Centre has constituted a high-level ministry team? Are you in touch with the Union health ministry regularly?

A. Yes, we are in touch with them. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan has promised all help. We are in constant touch with the Union health secretary also. With the opening of a testing lab in Alappuzha, we can expedite the testing procedures which were otherwise time-consuming.

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About 290 students of the Buipe Senior High School in the Central Gonja District of the Savannah Region have been asked to go home after a fire outbreak on Monday morning destroyed portions of the schools girls' dormitories.

The incident started around 7 am when the students were in classrooms.

The affected students who have been sent home are to return back to school after a week.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown.

The Northern Regional Public Relations Officer for the Ghana Education Service, Kanzoni Awaala Jonas, speaking to Citi News said the Fire Service have begun investigations to ascertain the cause of the fire.

The fire started when the students were in class learning so no student was affected but their properties; their books and clothes have all been burnt down. They were able to control it such that the entire block was not burnt. Five rooms were burnt and 290 students are affected. As at the time regional directors visited the scene, the fire service was there and they are doing their investigations. It is after their report that we can talk about the fire. Currently, the cause of the fire is not known, he narrated.

What is actually happening is that some of the rooms were not burnt so such students are advised to stay back but those who have been affected are traumatized and have nothing left on them except the clothes they were wearing as at when the fire burnt the dorms. So they have been asked to go home and prepare and come in a week's time, he noted.

Fire in Senior High Schools

Cases of fire gutting halls and dormitories in Senior High Schools have been rampant for some time now, with the cause left unknown in most of the cases.

One of the most recent cases involves the boys' dormitory of the Oppong Memorial Senior High School in the Ashanti Region which has left more than 300 students stranded.

Reports say the incident also started in the morning while the students were in class.

The cause of the fire was also not known.

Also in Accra, dormitories have been burnt down on two different occasions in the Bubiashie-based boys' school,

Accra Academy

---citinewsroom
MANTORVILLE  A well-known area restaurateur is getting a nod for his work in the Minnesota Senate.

Rochester Sen. David Senjemannounced Monday that he is making a resolution to commemorate Don Pappas, who runs the historic Hubbell Housein Mantorville.

"I have an official Minnesota Senate resolution honoring Mr. Don Pappas for his work at The Hubbell House  a gem of southeastern Minnesota and a true Minnesota treasure," stated Senjem in the announcement. "For decades, Don Pappas and his family have made The Hubbell House a stalwart establishment in Mantorville and the surrounding communities.

The Hubbell House, built in 1854, has been owned by the Pappas family since 1946. It has received many awards through the years, including being named the Restaurant of the Year by the Minnesota Restaurant Association in 2012.

Don Pappas, who was born in 1957, returned to Mantorville in 1986 to oversee The Hubbell House, which was managed by his father, Paul Pappas.

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"The Hubbell House has a storied past. Thanks to Don Pappas and his family, that past will be treasured forever. Frankly, the legacy of Don Pappas and The Hubbell House is something for which we all strive. Its my privilege to recognize that legacy," stated Senjem.

He will present the resolution to Pappas on Tuesday at the Mantorville restaurant.

The Pappas family is a name well-known in the southeastern Minnesota hospitality industry. The family also owned the legendary Michaelsrestaurant in Rochester as well as the popular Pappy's Place.
Press Release

February 4, 2020 Villanueva: Telecommuting helps protect workers vs pandemics like nCoV Not only does a telecommuting work arrangement save workers the need to leave their houses to do their jobs, it likewise minimizes the risk of getting infected with illnesses such as the 2019 novel Coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019 nCoV-ARD), Senator Joel Villanueva said. Villanueva urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to encourage the private sector to consider implementing telecommuting work arrangements for their employees as global health authorities grapple with containing the outbreak. "We also expect our friends from the labor department to urge the private sector to adopt 'telecommuting' for workers whose tasks can be done remotely to minimize possible spread of the disease. Ito po ay ilan lang sa mga batas na pwede nating magamit para makatulong sa DOH na mapigilan ang pagkalat ng nCoV," Villanueva said in his opening remarks at the hearing of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography on Tuesday morning. In a statement, Villanueva explained that telecommuting work arrangements maintain the productivity of workers while reducing their need to commute to get to their offices or workplaces, thereby lowering the risk of getting infected by the nCoV. "Working at home will help disperse crowds, decrease the number of people on the streets, on the trains and other in public mass transport vehicles, which will ultimately help mitigate the spread of the infection," said the senator, who chairs the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development. He reiterated the obligations of employers to adhere to prevailing Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) law, urging the Department of Labor and Employment to continue reminding their stakeholders that noncompliance to the law is punishable. "Let me reiterate that non-compliance with occupational safety and health standards is a crime. Buhay at kalusugan po ng ating mga manggagawa ang nakataya sa pagpapabaya," he said. "I'm glad that the DOLE family is here because we want to know from them the extent to which our employers provide information about nCoV, monitor the health of their workers, and provide personal protective equipment or PPE most especially to health care workers." Villanueva also sought assurances from the Department of Health that it has enough facilities and personnel to help contain the spread of the virus. "Ano po ang capacity ng DOH-supported hospitals, which are already, according to news, crowded even prior to the 2019 coronavirus outbreak? Our point is: we have limited resources, kung marami ng patients under investigation (PUIs) sa San Lazaro, for example, hindi na po ba magagamit ang ospital para sa ibang sakit ng mga Pilipino at 'yun nga po, magkukulang talaga ang mga personnel, resources at facilities natin," he said. "We need to discuss these issues so we'll be certain that we are going to do something about these," he added.
PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- February 4, 2020, marks the 20th annual World Cancer Day. On this day, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)a nonprofit alliance of leading cancer centersis commemorating its 25th anniversary year by looking back at the tremendous progress made against cancer over the past quarter-century and looking forward to further define and advance high-quality, high-value, patient-centered cancer care globally. Earlier this year, the American Cancer Society (ACS) announced that the cancer death rate has dropped 29% in the United States since 1991. However, cancer is still the second-leading cause of death worldwide, according to the Union of International Cancer Control (UICC), whose newly-released report from the International Public Opinion Survey on Cancer 2020: What people feel, think, and believe about cancer today indicates a clear divide between higher and lower socioeconomic groups when it comes to awareness of cancer risks and how to mitigate them.

The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) are free resources that help raise standards for cancer care worldwide. The evidence-based, consensus-driven recommendations are intended to ensure that all patients receive the preventive, diagnostic, treatment, and supportive services that are most likely to lead to optimal outcomes. They were downloaded more than 11 million times across the globe in 2019; an increase of more than a million over the previous year. NCCN Guidelines are the most thorough and frequently-updated medical guidelines available, and have expanded to now cover 76 different topics, including cancer types that account for over 97% all cancer cases, plus supportive care such as distress, pain, smoking cessation, immunotherapy-related toxicity, and many others.

"Remarkable progress has been made in the fight against cancer," said Robert W. Carlson, MD, NCCN's Chief Executive Officer (who appears in the World Cancer Day "20 Leaders 1 Question" video series). "In the past year, NCCN launched two new pediatric cancer guidelines in response to the nearly 90% survival rates for childhood leukemias and lymphomas that seemed untreatable just a few decades ago. We also see progress reflected in the growing need for improving the survivorship experience, and in ongoing efforts to tailor cancer treatments to each specific patient. Unfortunately, there are still too many places where optimal treatment recommendations aren't being followed or can't be followed due to a lack of resources. Our goal, today and every day, is to make high-quality cancer care accessible to everybody."

One way NCCN is addressing disparities is through the publication of NCCN Guidelines for Patients, patient-friendly versions of the clinical guidelines which empower people with cancer and their caregivers with free, unbiased guidance from the world's leading cancer experts. They are supported by the NCCN Foundation. In honor of World Cancer Day, NCCN is working to publish a new book for people with cervical cancer. Cervical cancer has the 4th highest cancer incidence in women worldwide, with the highest incidence and mortality in predominantly resource-constrained regions of the world, including Sub-Saharan Africa (where NCCN recently helped launch Allied Against Cancer, with the African Cancer Coalition, ACS, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and IBM. Ongoing work includes the creation and publication of a library of NCCN Harmonized Guidelines). Visit NCCN.org/wcd to learn more about, and share in, the ongoing efforts.

NCCN is also addressing the treatment and prevention of HPV-related cancers (including cervical cancer) during the NCCN 2020 Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida on March 20-22. Julie Torode, PhD, Director of Special Projects for UICC will participate in a keynote session titled "Strategies for Prevention and Control of HPV-Associated Cancers." The panel will discuss the benefits of vaccination, and explain how to incorporate appropriate screening and treatment strategies for HPV-associated cancers. Visit NCCN.org/conference for the full conference agenda, which also includes sessions on guidelines updates, biomarkers, biosimilars, hereditary cancer risks, smoking cessation, and a roundtable discussion on cancer care during an election year.

"To tackle the global cancer burden now and for the future, governments and decision makers across the international cancer community must come together to ensure that everyone is afforded every opportunity to take control over their cancer riskno matter their education or income level," said UICC President HRH Princess Dina Mired of Jordan, in a statement for World Cancer Day.

Learn more about NCCN resources and participate in World Cancer Day at NCCN.org/wcd. Take part in the online conversation with the hashtags #NCCNGlobal, #IAmAndIWill, and #WorldCancerDay.

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is a not-for-profit alliance of 28 leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education. NCCN is dedicated to improving and facilitating quality, effective, efficient, and accessible cancer care so patients can live better lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. By defining and advancing high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers around the world.

Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit NCCN.org/patients. Media, visit NCCN.org/news. Follow NCCN on Twitter @NCCN, Facebook @NCCNorg, and Instagram @NCCNorg.

About the NCCN Foundation

The NCCN Foundation was founded by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) to empower people with cancer and advance oncology innovation. The NCCN Foundation empowers people with cancer and their caregivers by delivering unbiased expert guidance from the world's leading cancer experts through the library of NCCN Guidelines for Patients and other patient education resources. The NCCN Foundation is also committed to advancing cancer treatment by funding the nation's promising young investigators at the forefront of cancer research. For more information about the NCCN Foundation, visit NCCN.org/patients.

About World Cancer Day 2020

World Cancer Day takes place every year on 4 February and is the uniting global initiative under which the world comes together to raise the profile of cancer in a positive and inspiring way. Spearheaded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), the day aims to save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and improving education about the disease while calling for action from governments and individuals across the world.

World Cancer Day 2020 will be led by the theme 'I Am and I Will', an empowering call for personal commitment and represents the power of our actions taken now to reduce the growing impact of cancer.

This year follows on from the success of last year's campaign, which saw nearly 1,000 activities taking place in 127 countries, over 700,000 social media posts, and 62 governments participating in 2019.

For more information, please visit: www.worldcancerday.org

Media Contact:

Rachel Darwin

267-622-6624

[email protected]

SOURCE National Comprehensive Cancer Network

Related Links

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By Trend





Delegation of the Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry (Belneftekhim Concern) is expected to visit Nur-Sultan this week to hold talks with Kazakhstans oil companies, Kazakhstans Minister of Energy Nurlan Nogayev said, Trend reports with reference to Kazakh media.

According to Nogayev, the meetings are organized by Kazakhstans Ministry of Energy.

As expected, within the visit, an agreement on cooperation in oil and oil products export will be concluded, said the minister.

"Following the agreement signing, Belarus will be able to import Kazakh oil. Our ministry is working on organization of the meetings with the companies, Nogayev said.

He also noted that the export route will be chosen based on the best commercial proposal.

As noted by the press office of the government of Belarus, the delegation of Belneftekhim Concern is to visit Kazakhstan this week (Feb. 3 to Feb 9) to hold negotiations on import of Kazakh oil to Belarus.

Earlier this month, by a decree ? 27, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko authorized the countrys government to carry out negotiations with Kazakhstan on the topic of trade and economic cooperation in area of oil and petroleum goods' import to Belarus, as well as on the agreement draft and its signing when it is approved.

According to Kazakhstans then Minister of Energy Kanat Bozumbayev, during Lukashenkos visit to Kazakhstan in April 2019, parties signed a preliminary agreement on export of Kazakhstans oil and petroleum products to Belarus and on overall cooperation in the area.

As noted earlier by Asset Magauov, Kazakhstans Vice Minister of Energy, Kazakhstan is counting on signing the agreement on oil export to Belarus in the beginning of 2020.

Kazakhstan is planning to export from 1 to 3.5 million tons of oil and petroleum products a year to Belarus.
File image

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is seeking re-election from the New Delhi Assembly constituency in the Delhi election.

Kejriwal, who is also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convener, is contesting from the same constituency for the third consecutive time. He had won the seat for the first time in 2013, defeating then Congress chief minister Sheila Dikshit. Dikshit, who held Delhis top executive job for three straight terms, had herself successfully contested from this constituency thrice.

While Dikshit faced a tough contest back then, there is a different scenario playing out this time. Kejriwal seems to be the only heavyweight contesting from the constituency.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress, which are seeking to upstage the ruling AAP in the February 8 polls, have fielded first-timer candidates against Kejriwal.

Both opposition parties made hectic, yet unsuccessful efforts to come up with formidable challengers against Kejriwal.

Sunil Yadav (BJP)

BJP has fielded its Yuva Morchas Delhi unit president Sunil Yadav. The 44-year-old is a lawyer by profession.

Although Yadav, a resident of Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh, may be a lesser known face in the political arena, he has asserted that he will give a "good fight" to the chief minister.

"I live in New Delhi, Kejriwal does not live here. He is an outsider and is hardly available to the people of the constituency. I am here to defeat him with the love and support of the people," Yadav has said.

BJP Delhi unit president Manoj Tiwari has argued that Yadav is not a lightweight candidate and that his party had good chances of winning from the constituency dominated by government employees.

"He is not a lightweight candidate. New Delhi suits the BJP as voters in the constituency are strong supporters of the BJP," Tiwari said.

Romesh Sabharwal (Congress)

The Congress has fielded Romesh Sabharwal, a party man having been associated with the National Students Union of India (NSUI).

The 56-year-old is an old party worker who belongs to a family of government employees. Sabharwals mother was a teacher and his father a clerk.

Associated with the Congress since late 1980s, Sabharwal has also served as the chairman of the Delhi Tourism department.

He has held different posts in NSUI and the Indian Youth Congress in the past. In 1998, he was expected to be the Congress candidate from then Gole Market (now New Delhi) constituency, but was replaced by Dikshit.

Both, Yadav and Sabharwal, are raring to give a tough fight to Kejriwal.

Besides the two, 25 other candidates are in fray from the constituency.

Walkover for Kejriwal?

On the face of it, political observers suggest that the incumbent chief minister could have a cakewalk.

This is similar to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, where the opposition parties failed to field a heavyweight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was seeking re-election from Uttar Pradeshs Varanasi parliamentary constituency.

Delhi will head for polling in a single-phase on February 8. Counting of votes will happen on February 11.
A 19-member delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday appraised President Ram Nath Kovind of the barbaric incident in which two sisters in north Bengal were allegedly tied up, dragged down the road and beaten up by a Trinamool Congress (TMC) panchayat leader and his aides.

We have apprised the President in writing how a teacher was tortured, tied up and dragged down the road. We have given him proof. Everyday such incidents are happening. Women are being raped and murdered. There is a total breakdown of law and order in West Bengal, said Dilip Ghosh, BJPs Bengal unit president, while speaking to media persons in New Delhi on Tuesday after the meeting.

The delegation led by the partys national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya comprised Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members from West Bengal.

We have also apprised the President how schools in Bengal were not allowed to perform Sawarswati Puja this time. People are being murdered in the name of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the BJP is being held responsible, said Ghosh.

Hindustan Times had reported on Monday that two sisters, who protested against building a village road on a private land, were allegedly tied up, dragged and beaten up by a Trinamool Congress-led panchayat leader and his aides at Dakshin Dinajpur district in north Bengal. BJO had claimed that the two women are supporters of the saffron party.

The TMC retorted asking the BJP to introspect about the status of women in states ruled by it.

Please see how safe women are in BJP-ruled states. They dont have any task in hand. They have won by a fluke, said Partha Chatterjee, education minister of West Bengal.

On Monday, the a division bench of the Calcutta high court comprising Chief Justice Thottathil B Nair Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee had sought a report about the incident from state legal aid services, immediately.

While two persons could be arrested till Monday night in this connection, the TMC has already suspended the panchayat leader Amal Sarkar, the prime accused in the case.
A suspected case is isolated for monitoring (Photo: VNA)



The male patient, 30, a worker in the northern province of Vinh Phuc, was one of 8 people returning from Chinas Wuhan in the same flight. Four of them have tested positive for nCoV.



He is now being treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases and is in stable health situation.

The nCoV infected cases detected in Vietnam so far include 2 Chinese citizens (one cured), 4 Vietnamese citizens returning from Wuhan, China (1 cured and discharged from hospital), 1 Vietnamese citizen who is a receptionist and had close contact with the 2 above mentioned Chinese cases, 1 American citizen coming to Vietnam after transiting through Wuhan, and the 1 newly-discovered Vietnamese citizen.

According to the Vietnam disease inspection system, the number of deaths globally due to the disease reached 426 and cases of infection reached 20,622, mainly in China./.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

Another meeting of Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov and NATOs Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe Tod Wolters in Baku must not be considered as a chance meeting, Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Azerbaijani Center for the International Relations Analysis Javid Valiyev told Trend.

Azerbaijan has gained confidence as a country having excellent relations with both sides and it is worth noting that these relations are built in accordance with national interests, the head of the department said.

"Azerbaijan cooperates with NATO within the Partnership for Peace program and has participated in NATO operations in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, Valiyev said. Today, Azerbaijan is the most important transit country for NATO within the operation in Afghanistan. On the other hand, Azerbaijan is closely cooperating with Russia in economic, political, defense and industrial spheres. In this regard, Azerbaijan has built relations with both sides on the principles of mutual trust. Good relations with both sides also testify to Azerbaijans multi-vector policy."

Valiyev added that holding a NATO-Russia meeting in Baku proves that Azerbaijan is perceived in Eurasia as an island of stability.

This approach gains particular significance when strong circles are guided by the principle of either with me or against me. If this were the first meeting in Baku, it would have been possible to call it a coincidence," the department head noted. However, the repeated holding of such meetings in Azerbaijans capital shows that the country is perceived by international power centers as a safe platform.

One of the interesting aspects of the issue is that Azerbaijan has a strategic geographical location, where world power centers dont confront, but cooperate, Valiyev added. Azerbaijan has never been a threat to its neighbors. I believe that the regular holding of such international meetings in Baku further strengthens Azerbaijans position in the world as a platform for cooperation.
According to officially reported numbers, cases of the coronavirus have now surpassed the number of SARS cases from the 2003 outbreak.

The U.S. State Department evacuated more Americans from Wuhan on Monday.

The World Health Organization Declared a Global Health Emergency

The U.S. State Department posted a Level 4 warning on its websiteDo not travel to China.

A new paper, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, found evidence of human-to-human transmission of coronavirus occurring since the middle of December 2019.

Chinese authorities did not confirm human-to-human transmission until weeks later.

Cases of the coronavirus have overtaken Sars, thats going by the officially reported figures.

Experts say the official numbers reported by China are lower than the actual number infected.

President Trump appointed a task force to coordinate the U.S. response and effort to contain the virus.

He said they will ensure that the American people would have the most accurate and up-to-date health and travel information.
Its important to realize that the zombification of the G.O.P. isnt a recent phenomenon, something that happened only with Trumps election. On the contrary, zombies have been eating Republican brains for decades. Voodoo economics had completely taken over the party by the early 2000s, when then-House majority leader Tom DeLay declared, Nothing is more important in the face of war than cutting taxes. Climate deniers have ruled since at least 2009, when only eight House Republicans supported a bill to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

What recent events make clear, however, is that zombie ideas havent eaten just Republicans brains. They have also eaten the partys soul.

Think about what is now required for a Republican politician to be considered a party member in good standing. He or she must pledge allegiance to policy doctrines that are demonstrably false; he or she must, in effect, reject the very idea of paying attention to evidence.

It takes a certain kind of person to play that kind of game  namely, a cynical careerist. There used to be Republican politicians who were more than that, but they were mainly holdovers from an earlier era, and at this point have all left the scene, one way or another. John McCain may well have been the last of his kind.

Whats left now is a party that, as far as I can tell, contains no politicians of principle; anyone who does have principles has been driven out.

Now, the news media, with its constant urge to seem balanced, has a hard time coping with this reality; its always looking for ways to portray at least some Republicans as admirable figures. This has made it easy prey for charlatans like Paul Ryan, who pretended to be serious about his fiscal principles. But he was always an obvious flimflam man.

Anyway, a result of decades of zombification is a Republican caucus that consists entirely of soulless opportunists (and no, the fact that some of them like to quote Scripture doesnt change that fact).

I guess you might have hoped that there would be some limits to what these apparatchiks would accept, that even they would draw the line at gross abuses of power and collusion with foreign autocrats. What weve learned, however  and perhaps more important, what Trump has learned  is that there is no line. If Trump wants to dismantle democracy and rule of law (which he does), his party will stand with him all the way.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
The treason trial of Confederate President Jefferson Davis was supposed to be the "Greatest Trial of the Age" in 1868. But that title was claimed instead by the Senate impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson.

The two trials became so intertwined that Davis's prosecution was delayed for months. While "the man they denounce as a traitor goes free," the Louisville Courier noted, Johnson "is upon his trial for high crimes and misdemeanors." Moreover, Johnson's fate could have determined whether Davis would be hanged.

The Confederate leader's prospects were grim in April 1865 after the South surrendered and President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The new president, Johnson, ordered a $100,000 reward - equal to about $1.8 million now - for the capture of Davis, who was fleeing into the South.

In May, Union troops spotted the former Confederate chief in Georgia. According to the official Army report, Davis "hastily put on one of his wife's dresses and started straight for the woods," followed by soldiers "who at first thought him a woman." As it turned out, Davis had thrown on his wife's raincoat and shawl, but Northern cartoonists had a field day portraying him in skirts.

Davis was captured and taken to Fort Monroe near Norfolk, Virginia, where he was put in shackles in a small guarded room. In June, a federal court in Washington accused Davis of treason, charging him with "being moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil" and "wickedly devising" actions "to stir, move and excite rebellion, insurrection and war" against the United States.

Johnson demanded swift revenge.

"Treason must be made odious," he said. Yet the law should be followed. Davis was "the head devil among the traitors, and he ought to be hung," the president said. "But he ought to have a fair trial, and not be brutally treated."

It was decided that the 57-year-old Davis should be tried in Richmond, the Confederate capital. For months, officials debated how to proceed. Some feared that convicting Davis would reopen Civil War wounds. Worse, if Davis were acquitted, it would seem to legitimize the rebellion. Bail was set at a staggering $100,000. Davis sat in prison for two years as his health worsened.

Even some prominent Northerners complained that Davis was being denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial. In 1867, 20 well-to-do men pitched in $5,000 each (equal to more than $90,000 apiece now) to raise the bail.

They were led by Horace Greeley, editor of the Republican-leaning New York Tribune.

"I had never seen Jefferson Davis so as to know him. There are probably few men more antipathetic in all their views, opinions, convictions, purposes than he and I," Greeley said later. But "I thought he had a right, if not tried, to be bailed."

On May 1, 1867, Davis was brought to the federal court in Richmond for the bail hearing in a courtroom in the same building that previously housed the Confederate Treasury Department. Judge John Underwood noted that a bail request for the rebel leader was "a little remarkable" and issued his decision: "The marshal will release the prisoner."

Davis took his family first to Canada, then to New Orleans and Cuba as he awaited trial, which was set for the next March.

Meanwhile, Johnson had moved from a policy of revenge to seeking unity by bringing Southern white supremacists back into the government while resisting new rights for black citizens. After Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, the House impeached Johnson, and his trial in the Senate was scheduled for March 1868 - the same month as Davis's trial.

Under the Constitution, Chief Justice Salmon Chase, who was scheduled to preside over the Davis trial, was required to oversee the Johnson trial. The main government prosecutor against Davis also was called back to Washington to help defend Johnson. As a result, the Davis trial was delayed until May.

The Boston Transcript noted: Had Johnson truly made "treason odious" by hanging Davis, "Jeff Davis's trial could not have been postponed on account of his own." One observer even put the situation to poetry:

To Jefferson Davis said President Johnson

You'd better look, for your trial will be soon

Said Jefferson Davis, I'm not in a stew

And perhaps 'twould be better to say, apres vous!

Johnson himself noted the irony in an interview with the New York World newspaper: "Jefferson Davis, the head and front of the rebellion, is not brought to trial, yet Congress proposes to try the President at once - for what kind of offense as compared with that of Mr. Davis, this country and Senate may perhaps justly decide."

The impeachment trial had ominous implications for Davis. If Johnson were removed from office, there was no vice president to succeed him. The speaker of the House was not made second in the line of succession until 1947, so the next in line for the presidency was the Senate president pro tempore, Sen. Benjamin Wade of Ohio, a leader of the Radical Republicans.

"Davis has been a sort of a white elephant to Johnson and the Chief Justice Chase. They have no desire to keep him, they have been puzzled how and where to try him, and they have been afraid to let him go," said the Springfield Register, a Massachusetts newspaper. "But President Wade will not stand upon technicalities or trifles. His first great card, in order to strike terror among the unreconstructed rebels in the South . . . will be the hanging of Jeff Davis."

Johnson escaped conviction by one vote. Because the impeachment trial dragged on into May, the Davis trial had to be delayed again. In early May, the court in Richmond approved a new $100,000 bail, with publisher Greeley and industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt each ponying up $25,000 of the total. The trial was put off until after the November presidential election, which Gen. Ulysses S. Grant won. The proceeding had been postponed so often that The Baltimore Sun said, "It is becoming by this time somewhat monotonous, and the public begins to look upon it as a bore."

The Davis lawyers then moved to quash his indictment, citing the recently passed 14th Amendment, which included a provision barring participants in the rebellion from holding public office. Thus, they argued, Davis had already been punished. In December, Chase voted to quash the indictment, but Underwood disagreed. So the case was sent to the full U.S. Supreme Court.

On Christmas 1868, lame-duck President Johnson made the case moot by issuing a general pardon for all participants in the rebellion, including Davis.

Northern newspapers expressed outrage. Davis "should have been hung three years ago," the Chicago Tribune wrote. "But the time of hanging has passed; and the trial of Jeff Davis, the Head Centre of the rebellion, has degenerated into a farce" because of "the perfidy of Andrew Johnson, who . . . has determined that not a hair of Jeff's head should ever be disturbed."

Davis, who was traveling in Europe, returned to the U.S. in 1869 and was named president of the Carolina Life Insurance Co. in Memphis, Tennessee. He died in 1889 at age 81, unrepentant.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter went one up on Johnson, signing a bill restoring Davis's full U.S. citizenship rights to bring a close to "the long process of reconciliation" after the Civil War.
PM Orban announces ordinance on early polls: We need to adjust legislation to include concrete provisions on early polls

Bucharest, Feb 4 /Agerpres/ - Prime Minister Ludovic Orban announces the Government is set to approve on Tuesday an emergency ordinance to include clearer provisions regarding early polls.

"Yes, there is such draft, for we discussed this matter with the Permanent Electoral Authority and we concluded that we need to regulate things in case we are going to have early parliamentary polls. Right now, the Romanian legislation does not include such clear regulation on snap poll.; What we know for sure is that there are such constitutional provisions that establish the maximum deadline for the organisation of early polls in the event of Parliament's dissolution, which deadline is of 90 days. Therefore, we need to adjust the legislation to include more concrete provisions on early polls," said PM Orban, when asked if the supplementary items on the Government Tuesday meeting's agenda include one referring to an emergency ordinance draft regarding such organisational matters related to early polls. AGERPRES
As I was about to begin writing about the sun shining on President Trump's re-election efforts, a dark cloud passed over my Twitter feed announcing that Rush Limbaugh has advanced lung cancer and will be taking time off for medical treatment.

What terrible news for the 30 millionplus weekly "Ditto-heads," faithful listeners to his daily three-hour commentary on news, politics, sports, and popular culture. Rush "made the complex understandable," as he liked to say, using irreverent humor to make his points. It was effortless for Rush, doing all of this with "half his brain tied behind his back."

Screenshot RushLimbaugh.com (cropped)

As a physician, hearing the words "advanced lung cancer" is frightening. There are different types of lung cancer, ranging from bad to worse to horrific, none of them a walk in the park. Advanced cancer often means that it is not removable surgically or else has spread to other parts of the body.

The details are important to Rush, his family, and his physicians, but they are not important for us. For his listeners, who know Rush as a familiar voice on midday radio, all we know is that Rush has been abruptly removed from our lives, either temporarily or permanently, leaving an early afternoon void in our daily dose of the "Limbaugh Doctrine."

I was introduced to Rush in the early 1990s through my staunchly conservative parents, long departed. They never experienced the lows of the Obama administration or the highs of the Trump presidency, but they faithfully listened to Rush every day, enjoying parodies of Ted Kennedy, "The Philanderer," and of Rush with his uncanny impression of Slick Willy, AKA Bill Clinton.

I enjoyed watching his early-morning television show back in the '90s and purchased several of his trademark neckties. I read both of his books, The Way Things Ought to Be and See I Told You So. Both bestsellers were a conservative manifesto, explaining clearly and concisely the issues of the day.

He laid out the goals of the radical environmental movement (Environmental Whackos) and the militant feminist movement (Feminazis) and, in his irreverent way, made fun of it all by saying he loves the women's movement, especially when walking behind it.

Rush was a counterweight to the near monopoly of the left in mainstream media, from network and cable news networks to the once-upon-a-time prominent newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post, all accurately described by Rush as the "Drive-By Media."

One could listen for three hours a day, or less if you used his mobile app to download his shows, as I did, getting caught up on all the relevant news of the day. Rush's ideas stewed in my brain and provided ideas for many American Thinker articles over the past six years I have been writing.

After listening to Rush for almost 30 years, I was able to hijack a piece of his brain that he tied behind his back, inserting it into my thick skull, assisting me when formulating ideas and putting them into type. For Rush's unknowing assistance, I will be forever grateful.

Rush was more than just a voice on the radio. He also shared his love of America with children through his "Rush Revere" children's book series. He stood up proudly for the military and law enforcement, his "Stand Up for Betsy Ross Campaign" raising over $5 million for the Tunnels to Towers Foundation.

What now? Cancer therapy is long and arduous. Rush will undoubtedly find the best doctors in the country and fight as he has never fought before. He has experience with past medical conditions, from his painkiller addiction to his hearing loss requiring cochlear implants. During both of those treatments, his Ditto-heads were left wondering if and when Rush would return to his "golden EIB microphone," broadcasting from his "Attila the Hun chair" at the "EIB Southern Command."

His guest hosts are superb, many launching successful talk radio careers after guest-hosting for Rush, including Sean Hannity and Mark Levin. My favorite of the current crop of guest hosts is Mark Steyn, both incisive and funny. We will likely be hearing from Mark, Todd Herman, Mark Belling, Ken Matthews, and perhaps some new voices as Rush undergoes treatment.

We all knew that Rush would retire someday, but not in this manner. How long will he be away? When will he be back? Will he be back? Who is his heir apparent? Is there anyone who can fill his shoes?

We wonder the same about President Trump. Unlike Rush on the radio, Trump has a time limit in the White House. While he will be around hopefully and likely for another five years, nothing is guaranteed. Trump too is subject to medical maladies flying out of left field.

What is the Trump succession plan? Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, Ted Cruz, or one of the House firebrands fiercely defending the president and fighting tooth and nail against the Democrat efforts to overturn the last election? Or could it be someone not on the radar screen today?

Like Rush, Trump has accomplished so much in advancing the causes of liberty and freedom. Both are striving to Make America Great Again, each in his own way. They are unique and impossible to replicate. The left has tried to create a left-wing isomer of Rush, but the best it could come up with is lightweights like Chuck Todd and Brian Stelter. The Democrats too have tried to recreate a populist icon as their party's nominee for November but instead are stuck with a socialist, a fake Indian, a brain-addled groper, and a pint-sized mega-billionaire.

Just as Trump created an army of MAGA patriots, Rush has his own battalion of Ditto-heads, from "Rush babies" to "seasoned citizens," as he likes to say. That's who must carry the conservative mantle for "El Rushbo" while he fights for his life.

So, let's keep up the fight against "Chuck You Schumer," "Debbie Blabbermouth Schultz," "F Chuck Todd," and "Struck Stroke Smirk," as Rush affectionately calls them. Does anyone else use nicknames so effectively? Ask "Nervous Nancy," "Pocahontas," or "Mini Mike." Trump and Rush  twin sons of different mothers.

Hopefully, "Maha Rushi," the "Mayor of Realville" and "Doctor of Democracy," will soon return to his spot, "on the cutting edge of societal evolution," showcasing his "talent on loan from God."

Best wishes to Rush Limbaugh and his family, and Godspeed in his biggest challenge.

Brian C Joondeph, M.D. is a Denver-based physician and freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in American Thinker, Daily Caller, and other publications. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and QuodVerum.

Image: Dan Tweedy via YouTube.
[February 04, 2020] Former SoulCycle CEO Melanie Whelan Joins Summit Partners as Executive-in-Residence

Global growth equity investor Summit Partners today announced the addition of Melanie Whelan, former CEO of SoulCycle, to the firm's Executive-in-Residence ("EIR") program. In this role, Ms. Whelan will work closely with the Summit team to identify new investment opportunities in high-growth consumer and specialty retail brands, and to serve as an advisor to Summit. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005634/en/ (Photo: Business Wire) "Melanie is a builder and leader of companies that thrive on unique consumer experiences and shared community," said Greg Goldfarb, a Managing Director with Summit Partners. "She understands how modern consumer businesses build and leverage passionate online and offline communities, and she is deeply invested in developing exceptional leadership teams. We are thrilled to bring her perspective and experience to Summit as an EIR." Ms. Whelan joined SoulCycle in 2012 as COO and spent three years building and leading the operation before her promotion to CEO in 2015. Under her direction, SoulCycle grew from eight NYC-based studios to nearly 100 studios in 18 markets across three countries. Over the last two years, she led the company's diversification efforts, which included expanding the retail business through launch of a vertically-integrated, direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform and building a media division to drive audience and revenue growth strategies, includinga 24/7 SiriusXM channel.



Prior to joining SoulCycle, Melanie led Business Development for Equinox where she was part of a team that executed a multi-brand strategy with the U.S. launch of Pure Yoga, the creation of Blink Fitness and the acquisition of SoulCycle. Earlier in her career, she was a member of the founding team of Richard Branson's U.S. air carrier Virgin America and worked in corporate development at Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Today, Melanie serves on the Board of Directors of Chegg, the publicly traded education learning company, and the GO Project, a non-profit focused on education inequity in New York. "Summit has a strong history of partnering with innovative, high-growth consumer businesses that are leveraging technology and the power of community to expand their reach," said Ms. Whelan. "I've long admired Summit for their focus on brands and management teams and the firm's long-term approach to partnership. I'm excited to work alongside the Summit team to identify the next great entrepreneurial opportunities and to serve as an advisor to the firm."

Summit has been active in the consumer sector for more than three decades, with a focus on specialty retail and high-growth consumer brands. Summit has partnered with more than two dozen companies across the e-commerce and consumer landscape, including Club Champion, Morphe, Philz Coffee, Quay Eyewear, Reverb.com, Sezane, onXmaps, TinyPrints and Physicians Formula. Summit's EIR program is an established element of the firm's growth-oriented investing strategy. Since its inception, the program has facilitated collaboration between seasoned industry executives and Summit's investment teams, working to identify sector-specific opportunities in which EIRs may support companies in an ongoing capacity through board or leadership roles. About Summit Partners

Founded in 1984, Summit Partners is a global alternative investment firm that is currently managing more than $19 billion in capital dedicated to growth equity, fixed income and public equity opportunities. Summit invests across growth sectors of the economy and has invested in more than 500 companies in technology, healthcare, consumer, financial and business services, and other growth industries. Summit maintains offices in North America and Europe, and invests in companies around the world. For more Summit stories and to learn more about #TheSummitPartnersNetwork, visit www.summitpartners.com or follow on LinkedIn. In the United States of America, Summit Partners operates as an SEC (News - Alert)-registered investment advisor. In the United Kingdom, this document is issued by Summit Partners LLP, a firm authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Summit Partners LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC388179 and its registered office is at 11-12 Hanover Square, London, W1S 1JJ, UK. This document is intended solely to provide information regarding Summit Partners' potential financing capabilities for prospective portfolio companies. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005634/en/

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GUANGZHOU, China  One person was turned away by hotel after hotel after he showed his ID card. Another was expelled by fearful local villagers. A third found his most sensitive personal information leaked online after registering with the authorities.

These outcasts are from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, which is at the center of a rapidly spreading viral outbreak that has killed more than 420 people in China and sent fear rippling around the world. They are pariahs in China, among the millions unable to go home and feared as potential carriers of the mysterious coronavirus.

All across the country, despite Chinas vast surveillance network with its facial recognition systems and high-end cameras that is increasingly used to track its 1.4 billion people, the government has turned to familiar authoritarian techniques  like setting up dragnets and asking neighbors to inform on one another  as it tries to contain the outbreak.

It took the authorities about five days to contact Harmo Tang, a college student studying in Wuhan, after he returned to his hometown, Linhai, in eastern Zhejiang Province. Mr. Tang said he had already been under self-imposed isolation when local officials asked for his personal information, including name, address, phone number, identity card number and the date he returned from Wuhan. Within days, the information began to spread online, along with a list of others who returned to Linhai from Wuhan.
The prudential regulator has backed calls for an independent review of the private health insurance sector, warning the federal government the affordability crisis is "unsustainable" and only three insurers would be viable by 2022 if current trends continue.

"A new approach is urgently needed, and it must be a whole-of-industry response," Australian Prudential Regulation Authority executive board member Geoff Summerhayes said.

Only three private health insurers will have a viable business model by 2022 if current trends continue, APRA warns. Credit:Michel O'Sullivan

"The industry's current trajectory is unsustainable ... while private health insurers may

be the ultimate victims of the so-called death spiral, policyholders will be the first casualties

through higher premiums and reduced benefits."

Federal Labor had pledged a review of private health insurance if it won the 2019 election.
It is not always the man from your village that is your brother. Sometimes, somebody can come from a village, a long way away, and can be a better brother for you. So, to the people of North East Gonja, I am saying to you that your brother from Kyebi will be a better brother for you than your brother from Bole Bamboi.

The above is the unedited extract out of what I read from President Nana Akuffo-Addos speech delivered at Kpalbe in my own homeland-Gonjaland. Well, I have decided to write this not in the same bigotry but ethnocentric tone of the President, but to attempt to make a better son out of President Mahama for the people of Akyem-Abuakwa and the entire people of the Eastern Region if we were to make better sons using the standards set by the President.

Before I even attempt this narrative, let me set this scenario, perhaps that will set the path. President Rawlings had 19 years to rule Ghana...11 out of this was under a military regime. When he was given an award, he wholeheartedly used the money to construct the University for Development Studies with campuses in Wa, Navrongo and Nyankpala. At this time, the Volta Region didnt have a public University. It took Mills and the Mahama regimes to construct the University of Health and Allied Sciences for the people of Volta. President Kuffour had 8 years to rule this country, but it took President Mahama to build a modern market (Kejetia Market), first of its kind in West Africa, for the people of Kumasi. So Mr President, your narrative is never news because you swore an oath to share the cake equitably amongst all of us as Ghanaians irrespective of our geographical location, although you dont believe in this ratio since you tacitly endorsed Osafo Marfos bigotry when he said only regions with natural resources should have the right to rule over others that dont have. I tried to define natural resources but got stuck in the middle anyway.

Mr President, in your submission, you said President Mahama claimed he undertook massive infrastructure in this country but in your rounds you saw nothing but only reflects on the pictures in the Green Book. You went further to say that Chiefs across the country complained to you about the poor road networks in their respective jurisdictions. I want to ask...has the Okyehene also complained to you that the Kyebi township roads are bad? I know he hasnt and he wont because President Mahama started the construction of those roads and when you came to power you didnt only vary the contract to make it asphalt inclusive, but you double-up the contractor to finish the work on time. This was the same time you ordered for all contractors working on various roads in Ghana including those in Gonjaland (the 138km Tamale-Mankango road and the Busunu-Daboya-Mankarigu road). Your tribalistic tendencies manifested even in your own region when you ordered for roads such as Nkawkaw-Abirem road, Suhum-Asamankese among others to be suspended and audited while Kyebi township roads continued without suspension. It took the NDC to expose your government on these projects in your own region.

Mr President, if works on the Tamale-Mankango road had continued like how you continued the Kyebi township roads without any audit, it would have been completed and in use by now. In fact, finished surfacing was done on the parts of the Busunu-Daboya-Mankarigu road (from Busunu to Langantire), until you ordered for that works on the said project to be suspended and audited. So, if today, you come back after three years only to ask the contractors to continue work again, what is the news about? He who created the problem knows the solution. Was there any audit report after this long while?

If your coming to do this surface-dressing is what makes you a better son for the people of Gonja, then, President Mahama is qualified for a chieftaincy title in Akyem Abuakwa and/or the Eastern Region in general. For the records, President Mahama constructed the 5 small town water projects for the following towns in the Eastern Region: kyebi in the East Akyem Municipal, Akyem Asafo, Apedwa, Kwabeng, Anyinam in Atiwa District and Osenase. This project cost 7.9m. At the time of commissioning this project on the 26th of March, 2014, some of the towns in Gonjaland didnt have water. I just wish President Mahama could be as tribalistic and ethnocentric like you are today, so that what qualifies a President to be a better son is only when you give all to your people at the expense of the whole country even when you are on oath. President Mahama was bad for providing water for Kyebi but Nana Addo is good for attempting to provide water for Salaga. This is the paradox of contemporary politics in my part of the world.

Not only this, but the Kpong water supply expansion project which was constructed at a cost of $273m and commissioned by President Mahama in 2015 produces 40 million gallons of water per day for 700,000 inhabitants in North-Eastern part of Accra and parts of Eastern Region. In commissioning this project, President Mahama never said he was a better son to the people of Eastern than JB Danquah or Nana Addos father who was president of this country sometime ago.

If better sons were made out of the projects one undertakes as President, then the securing of 45m for the construction of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development in Somanya In the Eastern Region and the actual commencement of works by the Mahama administration should have earned John Mahama a permanent chieftaincy title in the Eastern Region. In fact, Nana Addo has decided to move the satellite campus from Donkorkrom to Bunso. This was originally planned to be situated in Donkorkrom as per the recommendations from the 12 member committee. Even in your own region, you are still playing the tribal card.

Mr President, before you came to office, Mahama had secured funds for the Buipe Hospital and Emergency Centre, but you decided to slow the work so to claim credit. Same thing was applied to the Sawla Hospital project and a host of rural electrification projects across Gonjaland under the SHEP 5 and Hunan projects. It has to take President Mahama to draw your attention to the fact that, the Community Day SHS in Central Gonja was not in use after its completion. This call pushed your Minister for Education to run riot with his usual gimmicks before considering putting the said school into use. If this isnt sheered wickedness, what else is it?

I can go on and on with dozens of projects Mahama undertook in the Eastern Region and specifically in the Akyem-Abuakwa state which would have made him a better son for your people if we were to go by your own standards.

If nepotism wasnt exaggerated by your administration Mr President, I dont think you would have the guts to make this statement. You see, your Chiefs once poured libation in 2016, called on their gods and their people to go all out and support your bid. While they did this, they didnt look at the water projects, road projects, rural electrification projects, the university and about 7 new SHS projects...they only cherished and adored the relationship and never ever wanted a disgrace for their kingdom. Maybe its about time we copied your good example just so we will protect our kingdom from shame as well. This wont be considered as tribalism or ethnocentrism but just a civic responsibility to ones own lineage.

How I wish I were a little fish in the Kingdom of Gonja.

By Issifu Seidu Kudus Gbeadese

(0244198031)
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(TNS)  It should be no surprise at this point: bad actors around the country and across the globe are working to create and spread misinformation online. One of the most pernicious and worrying weapons in this digital warfare is the emergence of deepfakes  which use artificial intelligence to create fake video or audio, or doctor real recordings, in order to make it look like someone said or did something they didnt actually do.The proliferation of this technique is rightly sounding alarms across levels of government. And it should continue to draw attention, particularly as we approach the November election.This summer, Clint Watts, a fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told Congress that Russia, China and other authoritarian adversaries will likely employ deepfake technology as part of misinformation campaigns aimed at subverting democracy and demoralizing the American constituency.These two countries, along with other authoritarian adversaries and their proxies, will likely use deepfakes as part of disinformation campaigns seeking to discredit domestic dissidents and foreign detractors; incite fear and promote conflict inside western-style democracies; and three, distort the reality of American audiences and the audiences of American allies, Watts testified in June.Last year, Sen. Angus King raised concerns about the federal government recognizing and informing the victims of deepfakes.I just want to be sure our policies keep pace with the magnitude and accelerated nature of the threat. King told FBI Director Christopher Wray last January.Several states, including California, have passed legislation targeting the use of deepfakes in elections. And now Sen. Rebecca Millett, a Democrat from Cape Elizabeth, has proposed similar legislation here in Maine.The use of artificial intelligence to alter an image or video to appear as though its real, commonly referred to as deepfake, is one of these advancements that could have disastrous effects for our democracy, Millett said in testimony in support of her bill, L.D. 1988. This technology has the capability to make it appear that elected officials, for example, said something that in reality, they did not.The bill, which closely resembles the new California law, would prohibit the publishing or distribution of materially deceptive audio or visual media of a candidate, within 60 days of an election, that intends to hurt the candidates reputation or deceive people into voting for or against them. It would provide certain exemptions, including for content that is disclosed as being manipulated, or content that is satire or parody.With how fast news travels the web, the danger of these doctored images or videos being shared millions of times and being taken as real makes deepfake even more dangerous, Millett added.Her concerns are well founded, and the more policymakers and the general public are aware of and discussing this issue, the better. But like several groups that have raised First Amendment and process concerns, we dont believe that this proposal is the right solution to a very real but very complicated problem.This well-intentioned legislation poses far more questions than it answers and will create many more problems than it will solve, Adam Crepeau, a policy analyst with the Maine Heritage Policy Center, said in testimony against the bill this week.Crepeau raised concerns about the legislation infringing on First Amendment rights, and potentially leading to a flurry of legal action in political campaigns. Those are concerns that the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, and this editorial board, share.This bill would give politicians a new right to file a lawsuit against virtually anyone who distributes a video or audio recording or image the politician believes is deceptive, unless the distributor states that the recording is inaccurate, Michael Kebede, policy counsel for the ACLU of Maine, testified in opposition to the bill.While we appreciate the important governmental interest in promoting truth in the electoral process, election integrity cannot be attained by attaching a warning that every image or recording may have been altered, Kebede added.In an interview with the, Millett made an important point  not only about the dangerous effect deepfakes and other techniques have in misinforming the public  but also in discouraging people to run for office, particularly at the local and state levels.Its hard enough to convince people to run for office now, she said.There can be little doubt that the prospect of combating fake videos and audio makes public service less appealing. That is yet another reason to keep beating the drum about the dangers of deepfakes and misinformation generally, but we remain unconvinced that L.D. 1988 is the way forward.The best way to combat misinformation, it seems to us, is with public awareness about these ongoing efforts to distort reality. We must all be cautious and skeptical about what we see online, and where that information is from.While we have reservations about Milletts proposal, we share her hope that it can lead to some really constructive conversations at the state level about a complex and concerning issue facing our democracy.
SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Deltapath, a Unified Communications company, specializing in revolutionizing the way organizations and people communicate, announced their Deltapath Noise Cancellation Gateway is set to release in the first quarter of 2020. The Noise Cancellation Gateway leverages Dolby's renowned audio expertise and technology. It filters nonhuman voices and focuses on improving two major areas garnering a lot of attention: voice calls and artificial intelligence.

Voice calls remain a popular mode of communication, but the new work-from-anywhere trend is increasing the number of voice calls initiated outdoors in noisy conditions. With the Deltapath Noise Cancellation Gateway, callers and call recipients experience crystal-clear audio, even in the noisiest situations encountered over the phone.

More companies are turning to artificial intelligence to help them improve customer experience or make digital assistants indispensable. The Deltapath Noise Cancellation Gateway can positively impact a company's AI engine's accuracy rate, whether your AI engine is analyzing voice input, interpreting voice commands, transcribing audio into meaningful text, or interpreting peoples' emotions through their tone of voice.

Deltapath's newest product is available to every UC platform and every industry. Consumers are not limited to using the Deltapath UC Platform to enjoy it.

David Liu, CEO and Founder of Deltapath stated, "Background noise is an age-old problem that has been polluting conversations and data for years. Deltapath decided to introduce a noise cancellation gateway because there is a huge need for technology to tackle background noise more than ever before. More and more employees are working and attending meetings outside the office. While we can all control background noise in our office, it is impossible to do so outdoors. Deltapath wants employees and customers to all have positive, fulfilling experiences whenever they are on a phone call no matter where they are. Equally important, more companies are using artificial intelligence to drive business outcomes. Companies such as those using speech recognition for their IVR systems and voice assistant devices can all get more from our gateway, which can filter the noise that regularly gets recorded with any voice input, making analysis and interpretation of the data extremely difficult."

"As the biggest contact center supplier and value-added reseller for Genesys in Great China, eSoon recognized the importance of the Deltapath Noise Cancellation Gateway for our customers who not only operate large scale contact centers but utilize some form of voice AI technology. The gateway will serve to enhance the accuracy of voice recognition for these companies. Most importantly, the Deltapath Noise Cancellation Gateway helps increase productivity and enhance the customer experience."

eSoon

Daniel Cheung  VP, Sales

"Conferencing is the core of collaboration and it allows distributed and virtual teams to feel connected over the phone, enabling everyone to participate and share their thoughts. When voice quality is poor, however, conferences become frustrating and nonproductive. With the Deltapath Noise Cancellation Gateway, background noise is eliminated, improving audio quality during conferences."

GuangZhou YunQu-info

Deng Congjian  Deputy GM

About Deltapath Inc.

Deltapath liberates organizations from the barriers that prevent effective communication and revolutionizes the way organizations communicate through innovative technologies that meet the needs and the wants of organizations.

We specialize in solutions that unite different communication platforms, audio and video equipment, telephones, desktops and mobile devices to make communication accessible and intuitive.

It is our belief that every solution should embody simplicity and offer users the right form of communication for the right occasion, right at their fingertips.

For more information about Deltapath and to learn how we can help you reach your goals, please visit www.Deltapath.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Contact Info:

Tribe Builder Media

Kristen Shea

[email protected]

929-367-8993

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Washington Township, Northampton County, Police Chief Scott Miller was cited Tuesday for failing to notify police of a crash he was involved in, court records say.

Court records say Miller was charged with two counts of failing to notify police of the crash on Jan. 6.

Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck sent out a news release Tuesday indicating he would discuss Miller at a press conference at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Houck said Jan. 21 hed take a closer look into the single-vehicle crash involving the chief in Washington Township, Northampton County. The crash was in front of 5715 Kesslersville Road in Plainfield Township, the home of Michael Drosnock.

Miller plowed into Drosnocks landscaping, stone walkway, an old iron water pump and the stovepipe leading to his pellet stove, according to Drosnock.

The stove pipe leading to the pellet stove inside Michael Drosnock's home was ripped out during the crash on Jan. 6, 2020. The old pipe is on the ground. The new one is in the wall.Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com

Drosnock said the damage warranted further investigation by Slate Belt Regional Police. He said Millers lucky he didnt set the house on fire after dislodging the stove pipe. Its unclear whether Miller was impaired when he crashed.

Officers responded and did not find cause to take any further action other than to investigate the accident, said former Slate Belt Regional Police Department Chief Scott Mettin after the crash.

Mettin has since retired. Slate Belt Regional Police denied a right-to-know request filed by lehighvalleylive.com asking for any documents related to the crash, including incident reports. The department also declined to turn over any body-camera video footage shot by officers who responded to the crash.

Houck said Jan. 21 he would look at differing stories about what happened that night and determine whether criminal charges are warranted against Miller.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

Trend:

Five people have been placed under quarantine in Clinical Medical Center in Baku, Azerbaijani Health Ministry and the State Agency for Compulsory Medical Insurance said in a joint statement, Trend reports.

According to the statement, the temperature of one of them, a citizen of Azerbaijan (b.1993), who is a student of at an educational institution in China, is normal and he will be under medical supervision during the quarantine.

Another Azerbaijani citizen (b.1992), studying in Beijing, came to Azerbaijan with his wife (b.1993). The couple also has no complaints, though both will be under medical supervision.

Another citizen of Azerbaijan (b.1998), studying in China, when crossing a border checkpoint, was found to have a temperature slightly above normal. Currently, he is being examined by doctors.

Another Azerbaijani citizen (b.1998), studying in China, has normal temperature and no complaints. He will be monitored by physicians until the quarantine ends.

A citizen of Azerbaijan (b.1997), a student at a Beijing university, also has a normal temperature and no complaints.

These Azerbaijani citizens arrived in Baku by transit flights via Istanbul and Moscow.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December of 2019 and since then more than 400 people have died, while over 600 have managed to recover. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.



The symptoms include cough, headache, fatigue, fever, aching and difficulty breathing. It is primarily spread through airborne contact or contact with contaminated objects.



Chinese health authorities say that the majority of the people who have died were either elderly or had underlying health problems. The virus is spreading at a rapid pace, however the recovery rate for the infected has increased recently.

Aside from Mainland China, the cases of coronavirus spreading have also been confirmed in Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the US, France, Germany, South Korea, Canada, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nepal and Sri Lanka, the UAE, Canada, Italy, Russia, Nepal, Sweden, Finland.
(Bloomberg) -- Nvidia Corp. powered on its GeForce NOW online computer gaming service, expanding the chipmakers connection to the growing video-gamer industry and putting it in competition with the some of the largest companies in technology.The Santa Clara, California-based company, the biggest maker of chips used in personal computer graphics cards, is banking on the appeal of its technology among players to help attract customers away from rival gaming services run by Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc.s Google, Sony Corp. and Apple Inc.

Subscribers, after a free promotional period, will initially pay $4.99 a month to stream games from Nvidia-owned data centers, the company announced Tuesday in a blog post on their website. That computing over the internet is powered by the chipmakers highest-end graphics cards, meaning that even those connecting from old laptops, TV set-top boxes, Chromebooks and mobile phones will have access to high-definition gaming, Nvidia said. Its service is open, meaning consumers wont have to buy multiple copies of games they already own. Titles theyve bought elsewhere will be made available to play on Nvidias service.Your old laptop never gamed like this before, said Phil Eisler who heads the companys GeForce NOW. That Mac, which for years has seen fewer games published for it or lost compatibility, can now play the latest games.While Android smartphones, PCs and Apple Inc.s Mac computers will be able to connect, there isnt a version of GeForce NOW for the iOS operating system that runs iPhones and iPads. Eisler declined to comment on why the service wont work on those devices and referred questions to Apple.For Nvidia, the new service is part of an effort to make sure its technology stays important amid industry shifts. While PC gaming is still a huge business -- $29.6 billion in 2019 -- mobile is now twice as large at $64 billion, according to market analysis by Nielsen. Nvidias bet is that giving consumers access to the most graphics-intensive gaming over the internet will keep them interested in titles where its technology excels. Its also aimed at proving the worth of Nvidias chips in data centers where its trying to build market share. That might be more valuable than the service as a business, at least initially.

Story continues

The chipmaker had 300,000 users in a capped beta test of its NOW service, with 1 million on the waiting list, Eisler said. Beta testers will continue to get access to a free tier. If the total wait list immediately turned into paying customers the service would provide Nvidia with about $60 million in annual sales. That compares with the companys total revenue of about $11 billion.Last September, Apple released its Arcade game service, which charges $4.99 for access to more than 100 exclusive games that subscribers can play on their Apple devices, including computers. Sonys PlayStation NOW costs more for games related to its console. Microsoft has Game Pass, which offers a wide range of titles and lets Xbox users games be played on other devices and Google launched the streaming service Stadia in November.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alistair Barr at abarr18@bloomberg.net, Andrew Pollack, Molly Schuetz

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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NORTH BILLERICA, Mass., Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Curriculum Associates has selected two Illinois teachers for the inaugural class of its Extraordinary Educators program, which establishes a tradition of celebrating and connecting exemplar teachers from schools nationwide. Cynthia Chapman of Elsie C. Johnson Elementary School in Community Consolidated School District 93 in Hanover Park, IL and Tina Skukan of St. Hilary School in the Archdiocese of Chicago in Chicago, IL are among the 31 selected teachers who exhibit best-in-class use of i-Ready and/or Ready in their classroom, illustrate growth and achievement via formal assessments, demonstrate classroom innovation and engagement practices for students, are evangelists for high standards and student achievement, and have been teaching for at least two years. Today, Curriculum Associates' programs are used by teachers in approximately 40 percent of Illinois districts.

"As a company founded by passionate educators, we have deep respect for the powerful ways in which talented teachers impact the lives of their students," said Rob Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates. "We are proud to recognize Cynthia and Tina as Extraordinary Educators. We look forward to sharing their innovative practices that drive student achievement and continuing our rich history of serving Illinois schools."

All Extraordinary Educators will have access to a network of peers from around the country to collaborate, connect, and learn from throughout the year, as well as receive unique professional development opportunities from Curriculum Associates. They will also be invited to attend and present at the two-day Extraordinary Educators Leadership Summit in July 2020, as well as other professional learning events throughout the year.

"I am so honored and excited to be named as one of Curriculum Associates' Extraordinary Educators," said Chapman. "And being part of this inaugural class is even more special! I always love watching my students succeed with their work with i-Ready, and they look forward to their work every day. Their individual goal setting as well as their differentiated lessons have helped my students make some nice gains! I am looking forward to learning more about how to help students and teachers over this next year with my fellow Extraordinary Educators and sharing this knowledge with others."

"I am excited to be named an Extraordinary Educator because it gives me joy knowing that what I am doing in the classroom is being recognized," said Skukan. "I love being a teacher and helping students reach their full potential and goals. Teaching is a passion of mine. I am most looking forward to collaborating with other teachers to help gain more insight in how I can improve my teaching. I am always looking to learn more strategies and techniques to help me grow as a teacher."

"With all the work we've done in Illinois recently to support our teachers, I understand how they're having to adapt to meet the challenges of today's classroom," said State Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates. "I am proud to see two Illinois teachers be recognized for all that they do to engage their students and prepare them for the future."

To learn more about the 2020 Extraordinary Educators, please visit CurriculumAssociates.com/ExtraordinaryEducators.

About Curriculum Associates

Founded in 1969, Curriculum Associates, LLC designs research-based print and online instructional materials, screens and assessments, and data management tools. The company's products and outstanding customer service provide teachers and administrators with the resources necessary for teaching diverse student populations and fostering learning for all students.

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The signing of Notes and related documents of Japans Grant Aid in 2018. Photo: gov.vu
The farmers in Mumbai under the banner of Prahar Janshakti party on Tuesday came out on roads to protest against an insurance company for not giving the farmers' their insurance money.

The spokesperson of the Prahar Janshakti party said, "Since 2018, the insurance company has not given the farmers their insurance money."

He threatened of having the next protest inside the company if the demands are not met.

The protesters also said that they may soon go for an indefinite strike.

On the future course of getting the insurance company meets their demand, the protesters said that they will soon meet the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray to talk about the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hong Kong reported its first coronavirus death as the Chinese territories battled to halt the spread of an epidemic that has claimed more than 420 lives in mainland China.

Hong Kong's first fatality from the newly identified virus was a 39-year-old man who suffered from an underlying illness and had visited China's Wuhan city - the epicentre of the outbreak - in January, hospital staff said.

It was the second coronavirus death outside mainland China after a 44-year-old Chinese man died in the Philippines, fueling calls for authorities in the Asian financial hub to seal off the border with the mainland.

Hundreds of medical workers went on strike for a second day calling on embattled leader Carrie Lam to reverse a decision to leave three checkpoints open and instead shut the border completely.

"As Carrie Lam refused to close the border, more (deaths) might come ... We are not threatening the government, we just want to prevent the outbreak," said Cheng, a 26-year-old nurse attending the strike.

Holding red and white placards reading "Save HK now", masked medical workers took to the streets in Kowloon and more were expected to join the strike later on Tuesday, organisers said.

The city's hospital authority said some emergency services had been "severely" affected by the strike. The strikes have added pressure on the city's beleagured public hospital network which was already struggling to cope with staff shortages.

The latest coronavirus epidemic has rekindled memories in Hong Kong of the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), another coronavirus that emerged from mainland China and killed nearly 300 people in the city.

The former British colony has had 15 confirmed cases of the newly discovered coronavirus, including one that was transmitted locally.

The Hong Kong resident who died on Tuesday had been kept in an isolation ward after the coronavirus was confirmed last week. His 72-year-old mother, who contracted the virus locally and had no travel history, was staying at home during the incubation period, authorities said.

The United States, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and Vietnam are among countries that have denied entry to foreign nationals who have recently been in China.

But Lam has rejected calls to seal the entire border, saying it would be inappropriate, impractical and discriminatory.

On Monday, authorities announced the closure of four more border crossings with mainland China, leaving open the international airport, a bridge connecting the city to Macau and the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai as well as Shenzhen Bay Port.

The World Health Organization has declared the latest coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency but says travel restrictions are unnecessary to contain the epidemic.

In Macau, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said he had asked all casino operations in the world's biggest gambling hub to halt operations for two weeks.

The former Portuguese colony reported 10 cases of the virus and restricted movement in and out of the territory. Residents were told to wear masks when travelling around the city and to stay at home as much as possible.

No immediate details were given about when the casino suspension would begin. Macau's casinos are usually packed with Chinese high-rollers and are the life-blood of the territory's economy.

The death toll in mainland China from the coronavirus outbreak has risen to 425, with the total number of cases now standing at 20,438, officials said on Tuesday.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses at the launch of the website 'www.welcomekejriwal.in' for 'one to one communication' with the voters ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, in New Delhi on Jan 27, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS

New Delhi, Feb 4 : Aam Aadmi Party's National Convener Arvind Kejriwal will release the manifesto of the party for the February 8 Assembly elections on Tuesday.

The manifesto is expected to have party's detailed plan for controlling the air and water pollution and women's safety among others.

According to a party leader, the manifesto will focus on the issues related to the common man.

The AAP had formed a three-member committee for drafting its manifesto with its Kalkaji candidate Atishi as the chairperson and party leaders Ajoy Kumar and Jasmine Shah as the members.

While Atishi is an Oxford-educated and had played an important role in the government's reforms in the education sector, Ajoy Kumar was a former Congress Lok Sabha MP and also a former IPS officer.

Jasmine Shah, an alumnus of the Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and also a Nehru Fulbright Scholar, had a decade of experience in working on the urban governance and policy issues.

Both Atishi and Shah have been advising the Delhi Government over various issues.

Among the top three contenders for the February 8 Assembly elections, the Congress and BJP have already released their manifesto, the AAP had so far only released its Guarantee Card -- a list of promises made by Kejriwal for what he will do in the coming five years, if re-elected.
Kenyas second president Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi has died.

Mzee Moi died early Tuesday morning at Nairobi hospital where he has been receiving treatment for several weeks. His son, Baringo senator Gideon Moi told Kenyans that Moi died peacefully at 5.20 am.

The retired president has been having age-related medical issues for many months now, and was in 2018 flown to Israel for specialized care. Last month, he was reportedly put on life support after his condition deteriorated.

Announcing his passing, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared Mzee Moi a Great African Statesman.

OUR NATION and our Continent were immensely blessed by the dedication and service of the Late Mzee Moi; who spent almost his entire adult life serving Kenya and Africa in a number of capacities. The Late Mzee Moi served us as an educator, a Teacher, a Legislator, Member of Parliament, a Cabinet Minister, the Vice-President and finally a s the President of the Republic of Kenya, he wrote.

The country will observe a period of national mourning from today until Mzee Moi is buried, with all flags flying half mast. Moi will be accorded a state funeral at a date to be announced later.
Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti state, has approved the appointment of Morenike Babafemi as the new head of service in the state. In a ...

Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti state, has approved the appointment of Morenike Babafemi as the new head of service in the state.In a statement on Monday, Yinka Oyebode, chief press secretary to the governor, said her appointment takes effect from February 10.Babafemi becomes the first female to head the civil service in the state.Before her appointment, she had a stint as acting head of service before proceeding on an overseas training programme in 2019.Babafemi was a visiting research fellow at the African Leadership Centre, School of Global Affairs, Kings College, London, United Kingdom.She is to take over from Mr Ayodeji Ajayi, who retires from the civil service on February 9, 2020, having attained the mandatory retirement age, Oyebode said.Meanwhile, Governor Fayemi has commended Mr. Ajayi for his diligence and professionalism which has helped in repositioning the state civil service for effective service delivery.She started her career as an Administrative Officer with the old Ondo State Civil Service on June 30, 1987.She rose through the ranks to become a Permanent Secretary in October 2009 and has served as Permanent Secretary in several ministries including Ministry of Women Affairs; Ministry of Local Government; and the Cabinet and Special Services Department.
This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here: chalkbeat.org/newsletter

The state is shutting down a troubled charter school with campuses in Newark and Jersey City, one of four schools that Newarks schools chief had urged the state to close.

M.E.T.S. Charter School must cease operations after this school year due to persistent concerns about low academic achievement, chaotic classrooms, and high staff turnover, the states education commissioner said in a letter Monday that was obtained by Chalkbeat. The move leaves roughly 700 students to find new placements for the fall.

M.E.T.S. was one of four charter schools up for renewal by the state that Newarks superintendent, Roger Leon, asked the commissioner to close. Instead, the state has decided to keep open the other three schools: Peoples Prep, Roseville Community, and University Heights, according to sources at the schools.

University Heights, which enrolls nearly 900 students, has been under close state monitoring due to poor performance. It will remain on probation, according to a letter the schools leader sent to families on Monday.

The state has now shuttered at least five Newark charter schools since 2017, including the high school run by M.E.T.S. that must close its doors after the school year ends in June.

The states decision to close M.E.T.S.s two campuses stemmed from their poor academic performance and insufficient improvement even after being put on probation last year, according to the letter from Commissioner Lamont Repollet to the chairman of the schools board of trustees. In addition, the school exhibits serious safety issues, a culture of low expectations, and financial challenges caused by shrinking enrollment, the letter said.

After a comprehensive review, I have determined that M.E.T.S. is not operating in compliance with its charter and has failed to provide strong educational programs, sustained organizational stability and financial strength, Repollet wrote.

A state spokesman could not confirm Repollets decision on Monday evening, and the lead administrator of M.E.T.S. did not immediately respond to an email.

This years renewal process touched off a heated debate in Newark after Leon called on the state to shutter the four charter schools. More than a third of public-school students in Newark attend charter schools, which are independently operated but publicly funded.

Mayor Ras Baraka and the Newark Teachers Union sided with Leon, arguing that charter schools drain funding from traditional schools and fail to serve a fair share of students with special needs. Charter school proponents fired back, calling Leons recommendation misguided and insisting that charter schools give families more high-quality options to choose from. Dozens of sign-carrying University Heights parents and staff members attended last weeks Newark Board of Education meeting in a show of support for the school.

The New Jersey Childrens Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes cooperation between Newarks traditional and charter schools, issued a statement Monday evening praising Repollets decision.

We applaud Commissioner Repollet for looking past the rhetoric and focusing on the individual merits of each of the four Newark charters up for renewal, said Kyle Rosenkrans, the groups executive director. We are still awaiting the details, but by renewing three and closing one, we think he made decisions that balanced the interests of Newark children and families against the urgent need for accountability for performance that all charters sign up for.

M.E.T.S. has faced serious challenges since opening its Newark high school in 2017.

That October, shortly after a student brought a loaded handgun to the campus, M.E.T.S. officials said they would shut down the newly launched school. Instead, state officials blocked that plan and put M.E.T.S. on probation.

The state sanctioned M.E.T.S. again last May, putting the school back on probation and ordering it to create an improvement plan. Yet the school continued to struggle. It was unable to get its new building in Newark ready by the start of the school year, forcing students to temporarily take classes off-site. And in a series of visits in late 2019 and early 2020, state officials observed low level teaching, disruptive student behavior, and a lack of mutual respect between staff and students, according to Repollets letter.

The discipline challenges came after M.E.T.S. issued nearly 360 suspensions last school year, mostly to its Newark students. There were also multiple reports of fighting and gang violence within the school, Repollet said.

Even though M.E.T.S. has put in place an improvement plan, the state is not confident that the changes are significant enough to ensure the security and safety of the students, staff and community, Repollet wrote.

After school Monday, several students at M.E.T.S.s Newark campus said that no one had told them the school was in danger of closing. One sophomore, who said the school was chaotic last year, recalled the school dismissing students early due to an out-of-control fight. But he said the school had become more calm and orderly this year, and he worried about what will happen if it closes.

Ill be so mad, he said. I have no school to go to.

University Heights, which opened in 2006 and has three campuses, has also grappled with low achievement. Its state test scores trail the Newark Public Schools average and it ranks among the lowest-performing schools in New Jersey.

Tamara Cooper, the schools executive director, called the states decision to keep the school open but on probation a great victory for our scholars, in a letter to the school community on Monday. She also announced her resignation, citing family issues, and promised to help find a new school leader.

A University Heights employee, who asked to remain anonymous, told Chalkbeat on Monday that serious problems persist at the school, including limited support for students with disabilities and an abundance of substitute teachers.

Many issues remain that impact the childrens ability to learn and teachers ability to teach, the employee said.
In the final week of January, the American Red Cross assisted families after house fires in Cordova, Wolfton, Denmark, Elloree and Bamberg. Thankfully there were no reports of injuries in those fires.

Colder temperatures bring with them an increased risk of house fires.

South Carolinians tend to turn on space heaters or enjoy the warmth from a fireplace. State Fire Marshal Jonathan Jones has urged citizens to be especially careful.

"The risk of fire always increases any time heaters are turned on and fireplaces are in use. As such, we need to remain vigilant about fire safety, especially since our statistics reveal more home fires occur during the winter months than during any other part of the year.

South Carolinians can reduce their risks of becoming a fire casualty by identifying potential hazards. Jones offers the following tips to keep homes and families safe this winter season:

 Only use kerosene heaters and space heaters according to the manufacturers instructions. Inspect the heater for cracked or broken plugs. If frayed, worn, or damaged, do not use the heater. Never leave heaters unattended. Always plug the space heater directly into the wall, not an extension cord or power strip; unplug when not in use.

 Heating pads and electric blankets also pose a fire risk  especially if more than 10 years old. Dont place anything on top of either one while in use  this includes other blankets or pets. Never fold electric blankets or use while sleeping.

 Portable generators, commonly used in the winter as a result of storm-induced power outages, produce odorless and deadly carbon monoxide. Follow manufacturers instructions to prevent death from carbon monoxide. Never use a generator indoors.

 Be careful when using candles and keep them out of reach of children and pets. Since it is an open flame, never use a candle if oxygen is used in the home. Use sturdy candle holders and extinguish upon leaving a room or going to sleep.

 Since they are much safer to use than candles, have flashlights ready to use in case of a power outage.

 Make sure the fireplace has a sturdy screen to stop sparks from flying into the room. Only burn seasoned and dried wood. During the upcoming holiday season, avoid hanging decorations around the fireplace area. Never burn wrapping paper in a fireplace; it burns too fast and hot to be controlled. Wait until ashes are cool before putting them in a metal container. Keep the container a safe distance away from your home. Never put ashes in a cardboard box or bag.

 Chimneys should be cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional. If not, they can become filled with highly flammable layers of creosote.

 Do not use the kitchen stove or oven to heat the home. Neither are designed to heat large areas, and the element may fail causing a fire. Never leave food cooking on the stove unattended.

Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of the home - inside and outside of sleeping areas. Also, sleep with the bedroom door closed. Closing the door can increase your chance for survival by slowing the spread of fire and smoke.

Every second counts when escaping a fire, Jones said. Take a few minutes to test and check your smoke alarms. If any of the alarms are more than 10 years old, they need to be replaced.

Lastly, if there is a fire emergency, call 911 as soon as possible and remain outdoors. Never return inside a burning building for any reason.

South Carolina ended 2019 with 70 fire deaths, down from 97 in 2018. That's good news, but 70 people killed are 70 too many. The hope is for a much better 2020. Being cautious with heating is a key step in making that a reality.

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OTTAWA, Feb. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After a 60-day lockout of refinery workers in Regina that has included picket lines and arrests, Canadas unions are calling for this lockout to end.



The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) reaffirmed their commitment and solidarity with Unifor Local 594 workers who are ready to bargain a fair deal.

The union has demonstrated a strong desire to bargain with their employer to get back to work, said CLC President Hassan Yussuff. Today, Im calling on CLCs affiliates to extend their support to these workers, and pressure the employer to bargain in good faith. Its time to end this lockout.

Executives at Federated Co-operatives Limited locked out Unifor Local 594 members on December 5, 2019. The dispute deepened through the use of replacement workers and picket lines.

Over the last 60 days, this protracted dispute has not only harmed refinery workers, but the broader Regina community and needs to end, added SFL President Lori Johb. Regina area families, farmers and Co-op members have suffered enough. The community is frustrated and wants this lockout over.

For more information and to set up an interview, please contact:
We're now four days away from an election that, while eagerly awaited, remains as clear as mud.

General elections are always a strange beast to predict - that's why so many pollsters routinely end up with egg on their faces. But in previous campaigns, a more definitive picture would have come to the fore.

This time? Well, this time the national mood seems to be one of more bafflement and irked indecision than anything else.

Plenty of voters know exactly who they don't want to see taking the reins of power. But it's difficult to make a positive decision when so many of the parties have so many black marks against them.

In Fianna Fail's case, there is the small matter of bankrupting the economy and driving the country to ruination. It can employ as much revisionism as it wants, but few people who watched in horror as the nation threatened to go completely down the tubes will be inclined to either forgive or forget.

It might yet prove the case that Fine Gael's greatest electoral weapon is the simple fact that it is not Fianna Fail, but that won't be enough to get it over the line on Saturday.

This Fine Gael administration often appears top-loaded with technocrats who don't 'do' empathy. That sense of dislocation from the general public has been echoed in its constant mantras about the economy and how it was the one who fixed a broken country. That's where its technocratic instincts really kick in.

After all, the famous political phrase 'It's the economy, stupid' worked so well for Bill Clinton in his 1992 campaign against George Bush precisely because most (but not all) elections are about the economy.

So rather than reading the mood, it hangs on to that shibboleth. We're constantly bombarded by Fine Gael's reminders that it reduced the national debt, slashed the unemployment figures and, for good measure, seems to have handled the Brexit fiasco just about as well as could have been expected of it.

But equally, as it has so spectacularly failed to learn over the last few months, there is more to an economy than spreadsheets.

If anything, constantly banging the recovery drum when we have 10,000 homeless people, children eating off the pavement and thousands of people languishing on hospital trolleys just seems more like a deeply unpleasant joke, and a most untimely reminder of the haves versus the have-nots, rather than a source of electoral gain.

The elephant in the room, of course, is the genuinely stunning recent recovery in the polls by a resurgent Sinn Fein. A party that remains utterly toxic to voters of a generation old enough to remember the activities of many of its members, it has managed to show its political smarts by targeting young people.

Sinn Fein doesn't care about those it knows will never cast a ballot in its direction. But it knows the art of politics is grabbing the undecideds, the people who are sick of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail and, particularly, young people, many of whom will be freshman voters this Saturday. Many of those first-time voters neither know nor really cares about the party's murky history.

Its surge in the polls, which sees it roughly neck and neck with Fianna Fail, is a political recovery which Lazarus would be proud to call his own.

After all, it doesn't seem all that long ago that it ran a truly disastrous presidential campaign and then fought an even more ruinous local election in 2018, which saw it lose more than 70 councillors.

But much more than the other parties, it has been able to tap into the burning public resentment out there. It should also be noted that the numerous attacks on it by politicians and the media, while undeniably justified, have also given the party the appearance of the plucky underdog - and the Irish do like an underdog.

But even those who remain indifferent to Sinn Fein's past should be wary of it for the future. All the parties have engaged in this campaign as if they were presenting the 'Late Late' and they have a goodie bag for everyone in the audience. But even within the free-spending context of the other leaders, you don't have to be an economist to see that Mary Lou McDonald's pledge to spend an extra 22bn over the course of the next five years - which would, rather bafflingly, also include 2.4bn in tax reductions while simultaneously raising other taxes by 3.8bn -seems back-of-a-fag-packet stuff.

And, as it happens, even those who are economists are not a little appalled by the proposals.

Stephen Kinsella has warned of "overheating the economy, running a deficit, adding to the national debt and running up against our own fiscal rules".

Colm McCarthy was even more forthright and dismissed them as: "Completely insane."

There isn't a person reading this newspaper who wouldn't like to have more money in their pocket. Similarly, we all grumble with good reason about the level of taxes we pay for no apparent return. But the reality of life is that nothing is free and somewhere down the line, someone always has to pay. As every worker saddled with 100,000 of national debt will know to their chagrin, that someone is always us.

That's why it has been so dispiriting to see the giant Labour-sized hole in this campaign so far. Brendan Howlin is obviously a decent man, doing his best to prevent his party sliding into utter oblivion.

But for those of us from a working-class background who grew up trusting Labour, it has been difficult to witness its campaign match its leader's demeanour -weary and resigned. This country needs a strong left - with a small 'l' - to try to keep the two big boys onside. Instead, its only success in the last decade was returning Michael D Higgins to the Phoenix Park. Even then, the President was largely pushing an open door.

In that time, however, Labour has had its lunch money stolen by the new, hard Left - with a large 'L' - which has no hope of ever getting into power in any meaningful way, but which can now claim to speak for those workers who used to be represented by Labour.

We all like free stuff. But if the politicians aren't smart enough to learn from the past, we owe it to ourselves and to each other to resist the lure of being bribed by the magic money tree.

Because we always pay the price...
The Supply Chain & Logistics Technology Program, College of Technology, University of Houston is pleased to announce that Marco Poisler, Chief Operating Officer for Global Energy & Capital Projects, Global Executive Management Team, and Board Member, UTC Overseas, Inc. will be an Adjunct Professor this spring for a special topics course on project logistics offered to both undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Technology.

UTC Overseas has 41 offices in 18 countries with construction logistics expertise in Global Energy, Capital Projects, Heavy Equipment, and Packaging. UTC has handled the transportation of the heaviest power generation units on a global scale - over the Andes in Northern Argentina and Bolivia, through the Amazon, and into the interior of Africa, China and in the Middle East. UTC also has a renowned Customs Clearance team specializing in import trade & compliance, bringing the expertise necessary in todays global import/export environment.

Poisler heads the energy project team of UTC Overseas, Inc., and is responsible for establishing strategic energy, oil and gas offices in Russia and CIS, Italy, and the Caspian Region and for the execution of numerous industrial projects in Asia, Africa, and South America. He is also in charge of all transport engineering teams in the Americas.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Poisler attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and completed a masters degree in transportation at the State University of New Yorks Maritime College. He studied law at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and is finishing his LLM with Lloyds Maritime Academy, London, U.K. In the last 20 years, he has worked with major international project forwarders, managing turnkey deliveries of heavy lift cargoes worldwide. Having lived in Brazil, he is fluent in Portuguese, as well as Spanish, and has a working knowledge of Ukrainian. Poisler is the past Chair of the US Exporters Competitive Maritime Council and is still actively involved with the group promoting the interests of U.S. exporters on a global platform. Also active with the U.S. Export-Import Bank, Poisler further championed the cause of U.S. exporters and was instrumental in the Banks historic seven year reauthorization, supporting EPC projects globally. Most recently, the Transportation Lawyers Association published an article entitled History of Trucking Regulation, analyzing the transition of transportation of goods from rail to trucking and resulting legislation and economic impact, authored by Poisler.

Margaret Kidd, Program Director for undergraduate and graduate students in the Supply Chain & Logistics Technology Program, said, Marco Poisler brings a high level understanding of global capital projects. As the Houston region is a recognized leader in the EPC world in general and capital project cargo in particular, our students have a unique opportunity to learn and enhance skillsets from senior industry executives, such as Mr. Poisler.

Marco Poisler said  UTC Overseas specializes in combining its extensive expertise and knowledge base with a strong understanding of clients cargoes, resulting in the successful management of construction logistics worldwide. UTC will be participating in the largest construction project on the globe with the build out of LNG facilities in northern Mozambique with an estimated value of USD 60 billion and a footprint of 24,000 workers. I am looking forward to aligning valued industry skill sets and competencies with the students in the College of Technology so that they are prepared to compete more effectively for high profile global opportunities, such as those occurring in Mozambique, the Middle East, and the US Gulf.
The Russian national says he doesn't recognize charges pressed against him.

Former "Defense Minister" of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR") and an allegedly-retired GRU officer Igor Girkin, nom de guerre Strelkov, has said he is not going to testify in the Dutch-led trial of the MH17 downing case.

"I don't recognize the charges pressed against me and I don't accept that these people are competent to charge me," Strelkov told the Russian Interfax news agency.

Answering a question about his readiness to testify in the case, Strelkov said: "Not ready, even if I had been taken there by force."

Read alsoDutch prosecution serves charges on four MH17 defendants  media

As UNIAN reported earlier, the prosecutor's office of the Netherlands brought in an indictment against four persons involved in the crash of the Malaysian Boeing MH17 flight over Donbas in 2014.

UNIAN memo. Malaysia Airlines' MH17 Boeing 777 heading from Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, over Russia-occupied territory in Donetsk region. All 298 people on board who were citizens of 10 countries were killed in the crash. The majority of the victims, 196, were citizens of the Netherlands.

The Dutch Safety Board October 13, 2015, issued a report on the causes of the accident. It was revealed that the plane had been shot down by a Buk anti-aircraft missile system. The Joint Investigation Team in its report published on September 28, 2016, confirmed that the plane had been downed by a Russian-made Buk brought to Ukraine from Russia. On June 19, 2019, JIT investigators accused four Russia-controlled military intelligence officers of involvement in a missile attack that shot down MH17.

The first four suspects in the MH17 case are Russian terrorist Igor Girkin (AKA "Strelkov"), who in the summer of 2014 was the so-called "Minister of Defense of the Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR"); Russian General Sergei Dubinsky (nom de guerre "Khmuryi"), who led the "DPR intelligence;" Oleg Pulatov (nom de guerre "Gyurza"), who in 2014 headed of "the 2nd division of the GRU of the DPR;" as well as Leonid Kharchenko (nom de guerre "Krot"), who was a leader of the "reconnaissance battalion" of Russia-led forces. The trial of those suspects in the crash of the Malaysian Boeing should begin on March 9, 2020.
The two competing MKR houses have clashed over accusations of 'strategic scoring' since the first instant restaurant by Jenni and Louise.

And on Tuesday, newcomer Lauren claimed the Challengers team scored the mummy bloggers' lacklustre menu higher than what was deserved.

'We set the bar wrong, and we do regret it,' she told the table to the shock of the mothers who thought the score for their cook was fair and accurate.

'We regret it': MKR star Lauren (right) admits Challenger team scored mummy bloggers' lacklustre menu too high amid 'strategic voting' scandal. Pictured with brother Mark

MKR: The Rivals sees five 'Champion' couples from past seasons going head-to-head with five new 'Challenger' teams, under the direction of chefs Colin Fassnidge and Manu Feildel as team captains.

The Challengers team scored Jenni and Louise's menu a seven, despite the judges scoring their main dishes as low as two and three.

Season four winners Dan and Steph, who scored a perfect 10 from judge Pete Evans during their instant restaurant, claimed the Challengers giving their overall menu an eight was strategic.

'We found it hard to fathom that you thought there was one-point difference in our meal compared to Jenni and Louise's... to me that was strategy,' Dan said.

Was that fair? The Challengers team scored Jenni (left) and Louise's (right) menu a seven, despite the judges scoring their main dishes as low as two and three

'We found it hard to fathom': Season four winners Dan and Steph (pictured) disputed the one-point difference in their near-perfect menu to Jenni and Louise's meals

'We didn't have anything to compare it to': Lauren insisted they were wrong to rate the mummy bloggers' menu so high

'Whether it's all of you, or whether it's one person, there is strategic scoring going on in you group,' MKR'S returning 'villain' Romel agreed.

It was then that newcomer Lauren shocked the cast, by admitting: 'The first instant restaurant is where we set the bar, and potentially we were wrong with it because we didn't have anything to compare it to, and now we do.'

'We set the bar wrong, and we do regret it,' Lauren added, as Jenni rolled her eyes and appeared offended by the comments.

'Are we going back on our word, going back on what we scored?' Jenni interrupted, as the rival team asked Lauren for what she would have honestly scored their menu.

'This is s**t - I don't want to be part of this!' Jenni exclaimed as the conversation only heated up.

'This is s**t - I don't want to be part of this!' Jenni rolled her eyes as she got angered at her own team going back on their original score

Leaderboard: Bartending buddies Ben and Vasil scored 53/80 for their Disco Mexico instant restaurant on Tuesday night's episode

Among the drama, bartending buddies Ben and Vasil scored 53/80 for their Disco Mexico instant restaurant.

The next to cook is season four sibling runner-ups Jake and Elle Harrison.

My Kitchen Rules: The Rivals continues Wednesday at 7:30pm on Seven
After Googles Loretta Super Bowl commercial aired last night, my friend grabbed his phone and started texting his parents, both of whom are in their late 70s. This is so perfect for them, he said excitedly, undoubtedly imagining a future in which his parents can ask Google about personal details theyve forgotten. Whats my sisters favorite food? his dad might ask while grocery shopping. Whens my youngest sons birthday? his mom might ask, without having to worry about anyones reaction to the fact that she forgot it.

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Losing the ability to remember memories and details about people you love is a special form of hell. Thats why its hard to oppose anything that genuinely brings comfort to people with dementia. As a society, we outsourced our memories and our knowledge to Google a long time ago. Why remember something when we can look it up online? But the commercial disturbed me because while weve already given Google access to our dearest memories, theres something scary and dehumanizing about letting Google dictate what happens with them. Its possible that Googles technology could help some people cope with memory loss and with the surrounding griefeveryones differentbut Sunday nights commercial proposes an intervention that goes beyond helping. If it came to fruition, tech companies may end up dictating how we manage difficult personal moments, raising the idea of a future in which disembodied voices and algorithms supply us with de-contextualized bits of information about who we were, who we love, and who we are.

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Its also unclear exactly how well this would even work. The idea that someone can provide a list of particular facts and memories for Google to remember seems useful. In the commercial, the man tells Google that Loretta liked scallops and that she had great handwriting. But does the software show photos or repeat memories without having specifically been asked? What if someone asks Google to remember a series of memories, but then never remembers to ask about them? Would Google prompt the recollections itself? Without a persons intent or agency, does the software curate a slideshow or information dump based on Googles secret proprietary algorithms? That seems meaningless at best and damaging at worst.

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Remember that Loretta liked scallops, that she had great handwriting. As nice as those facts might be, theyre extracted from the stories and contexts in which they matter. Instead of remembering that Loretta liked scallops, how about remembering and then hearing the story of how she once tried fishing for scallops or a romantic dinner at an Alaskan restaurant with the best scallops shed ever tasted? People arent comprised simply of what they like or what theyve done, and by extracting and presenting these pieces discretely, Google offers a fragmented facsimile of a memory.

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In Platos Phaedrus, Socrates explains his criticisms of writing. One of them is that writing is unfortunately like painting; for the creations of the painter have the attitude of life, and yet if you ask them a question they preserve a solemn silence. Photos, like paintings, are two-dimensional representations of real people and places. But putting a physical photo album into someones hands, as opposed to images on a screen, puts memories into visual and tactile context. One can see the other photos on the page and on the page after that. Maybe theres information written on the back of themone can pull them out and turn them over. One can see whether theyre Polaroids or have round corners, or whether theyre yellowing with age. Those sensory details offer more than an algorithm ever could.

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The inclusion of both context and sensory details is important for reminiscence therapy, a recommended treatment for people with dementia. Reminiscence therapy consists of patients talking to other people about their lives and experiences and supplementing those memories with tangible aids, such as photos, memorabilia, or songs. During either group or individual sessions, caregivers or family members prompt a chronological walk down memory lane. Reminiscence therapy has been shown to improve patients cognition, mood, and general functioning and to decrease stress on caregivers. This treatment leverages sensory details and contextualizes memories and experience with props and people who know the patients. Those are two advantages Google cant offer.

Its impossible to think about Google without worrying about privacy, especially with digital assistant devices. Considering that users share a lifetime of personal details and photos, one should wonder what happens to all of that information. Its hard to regard Googles supposed interest in helping older people as anything other than dubious, especially given that Google Assistants privacy violations were serious enough for the EU to force Google to stop transcribing voice recordings. The intended market for these amplifies privacy concerns, as older adults are particularly vulnerable to online fraud, scams, and data breaches.

As with robots that help the elderly stave off loneliness, technology is often better than nothing. But the problem with Googles Loretta commercial is that it suggests technology can replace a carefully assembled photo album or an afternoon reminiscing with family. People are not a series of facts or images. No matter how much big tech insists otherwise, our memories are not commodities. Neither are we.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Coronavirus: The outbreak of Coronavirus in China has started disrupting the component supply chain for the technology companies in India. Asus India has issued an open letter for all the fans waiting to buy the ROG II smartphone.

"Dear Fans, We know you've been excited to get your hands on the ROG Phone II. While we had steady availability for long, but due to the disruption in supply caused by the prevailing situation in Asia, ROG Phone II will face a temporary shortage. Rest assured we are working hard to ensure that your favourite gaming smartphone will be back in stock soon. We shall keep you updated. Thank you for your patience! Team Asus," said Asus in a press statement.

The Taiwanese technology company did not highlight the ongoing coronavirus as the reason behind disruption in the supply chain.

Also Read: Coronavirus case in Kerala: State health minister confirms third case

Over the last few years, the focus has been shifted to 'Make In India' initiative with all the top brands including Apple, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Vivo, Oppo and HMD Global etc manufacturing or assembling their smartphones in India.

Xiaomi has been locally assembling PCBA in India. In addition, even smartphone chargers, USB cables and batteries are nearly 100 per cent locally sourced. According to Xiaomi, nearly 65 per cent of the value of the smartphone is locally sourced. Yet, for many brands, most of the components continue to be imported from China. There have been reports suggesting Chinese vendors hiking component prices by two-three per cent due to supply shortage as the factories are being shut down in China.

"All said, the shadow of coronavirus looms large on the Indian smartphone industry. China accounts for almost 85 per cent of the mobile phone components imported into India. If the coronavirus-infected lockdown in China continues, it will spell serious trouble for smartphone brands in India in H1 2020, and potentially even beyond," cautioned Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR.

Also Read:First case of coronavirus confirmed in India; student tested positive in Kerala

Varun Mishra, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research pointed out that there have been growing tensions among several countries that have impacted the smartphone market; for example, the US pressure on Huawei, and tensions between Japan-Korea that led to uncertainties in the memory market. "Supply chains have been upset, causing various companies to rethink their strategies and reduce dependence on single markets. 2020 will likely see efforts to further diversify investments across geographies to mitigate risks. The current coronavirus outbreak in China is the latest issue to threaten supply chains," he said.

Not just smartphones but a good chunk of TV components are also imported from China. Even Apple and Google have closed their corporate offices until February 9 due to the outbreak.

According to WHO, coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. There have been 350 deaths in China, while an increasing number of countries have been reporting confirmed Coronavirus cases.

Also Read: Asus ROG Phone 2 launched in India: Price, features and specifications

Also Read: Coronavirus in India: Second case of deadly virus confirmed in Kerala

Also Read: Coronavirus update: India temporarily suspends e-visa facility for Chinese citizens, foreigners in china

Also Read: Coronavirus: Govt issues new advisory, urges people to refrain from travel to China

Also Read: Coronavirus outbreak: Second batch of 323 Indians evacuated from China's virus-hit Wuhan
It is still early to assess the short- and medium-term economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. But beyond the day-to-day monitoring of the victims of the epidemic, we can already question its causes and consequences for the global economy.

The global financial crisis of 2008 had sounded the death knell of the liberal globalisation model. The Chinese crisis of 2020 could be the death knell for its great competitor: The authoritarian developmental state model. Orphaned by the two great paradigms, the Washington consensus versus the Beijing consensus, the world is now condemned to find a ...
Hong Kong: Govt responds to call for strike

The Government today called on healthcare workers planning to go on strike to reconsider their decision and to continue safeguarding Hong Kong.

In a statement in response to media enquiries, it said various sectors in Hong Kong have been working hard to tackle the novel coronavirus infection in the past month.

The Government thanked and paid tribute to healthcare workers who have been dedicated and standing fast at their posts at the forefront.

The statement said that the Government understands healthcare workers have been facing extreme pressure recently and some of them are worried that cross-boundary transmission of the virus would overload the public healthcare system.

The Government agreed with the need to tighten the management of control points and reduce the flow of people across the boundary. It has spared no effort to implement measures to reduce the flow of people, resulting in a remarkable drop in the number of arrivals of Hong Kong residents, Mainland residents and foreign visitors at various control points.

It is examining the infection continuously and will explore further tightening the management of control points, the statement said.

Meanwhile, to ensure the needs of healthcare workers are addressed when the supply of equipment such as surgical masks is tight, the Government is taking the needs of healthcare workers as a prime consideration.

The Hospital Authority has also amended its fee-charging policy against ineligible people.

At this critical moment in disease prevention and control, the Government called on healthcare workers planning to go on strike to reconsider their decision, continue to safeguard Hong Kong with their professionalism and together, win the battle against the disease.

The Government noted that the management of the Hospital Authority will meet its staff members to listen to their concerns and discuss solutions.

The Chief Executive will also convene a meeting of the Steering Committee & Command Centre to study ways to prevent and control the disease, it added.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Karnataka: Union budget has something to cheer for Karnataka coast

February 04,2020 | Source: Daiji World

There are some positive points for coastal Karnataka in the union budget. One of the proposals is to have government medical college for every district having district government hospitals. If the above proposal comes through, the long-pending demand for a government medical college will be a reality in the city.



The demand, mainly from coastal Karnataka, made to provide mobile phones to Anganwadi workers by the government, has now been upheld. As per the budget, six lac Anganwadi workers will get smart phones. There is even the possibility of the public-private partnership Kissan Rail meant for transportation of agricultural produce passing through the coast. In the previous budget, separate ministry for fisheries had been mooted. This time, 'Sagar Mitra' scheme has been proposed. This scheme is expected to give a boost to fisheries, one of the main occupations in coastal Karnataka.



The budget has announced some financial support to certain schemes. There are no specific gifts to the coastal region here even in railway department. The government has announced about its ambitious plan of increasing fish catches to 200 lac metric tonnes by 2023 even though there is no clear indication how this will be achieved and what programmes the government will implement to achieve this. However, amid talk of fish famine, this aspect has kindled some hope in the fishermen. The budget speaks of completing Bengaluru-Chennai express corridor highway project within a year. As an extension of this project, economists say, Bengaluru-Manglauru express corridor project will also be implemented. There is possibility of Sagarmala and port connectivity plans being executed. This budget has proposal to establish connectivity between inland ports and the coast. The budget does not specify where it will run the passenger trains being started with private partnership. It need not come as a surprise if Shatabdi train is introduced between the city and Bengaluru.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The government has not included AGR dues payment in the Budget 2020-21, Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty said on Monday.

It is pertinent to mention here that 15 entities owe the government about Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues -- Rs 92,642 crore in unpaid licence fee and another Rs 55,054 crore in outstanding spectrum usage charges.

"AGR dues payment has not been taken into account in the Budget," Chakraborty said at a post Budget event in Ficci.

Sources, meanwhile, said that past AGR or statutory dues payments have not been included as the matter is in the court.

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Tata Teleservices have jointly filed a modification application in the Supreme Court seeking more time to pay their statutory dues.

They indicated that the spectrum auction component may have been included in the receipts although the same could not be confirmed.

The government on Saturday increased the revenue estimate from the debt-ridden telecom sector by over two-fold to Rs 1.33 lakh crore for 2020-21.

The government, in the receipt budget, has pegged a revenue collection of Rs 1,33,027.2 crore for the financial year 2020-21 under communications head.

It expects a revenue of Rs 58,686.64 crore under communications head in the current fiscal year against the budgeted amount of Rs 50,519.8 crore in 2019-20.

The Supreme Court, in October last year, had upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-core businesses in calculating the annual Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer.

In the case of Bharti Airtel, the liabilities add up to nearly Rs 35,586 crore, of which Rs 21,682 crore is licence fee and another Rs 13,904.01 crore is spectrum usage charge dues (not including the dues of Telenor and Tata Teleservices).

Airtel, which recently raised USD 3 billion through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) and convertible bonds route, is scheduled to announce its third quarter results on Tuesday.

Vodafone Idea, which is staring at unpaid statutory dues of Rs 53,038 crore, including Rs 24,729 crore of spectrum dues and Rs 28,309 crore in licence fee, has already warned of shutdown if no relief is given.

Most of the remaining liability is with state-owned BSNL/MTNL and some of the shut/bankrupt telecom companies.
[February 04, 2020] Cinnamon Market 2019-2023 | Rising Awareness About Health Benefits of Cinnamon to Boost Growth | Technavio

Technavio has been monitoring the cinnamon market, and it is poised to grow by USD 628.84 mn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 12% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005666/en/ Technavio announced its latest market research report titled global cinnamon market 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire) Rising awareness about health benefits of cinnamon has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, challenges with health risks associated with cassia cinnamon might hamper market growth. Request a free sample report Cinnamon Market 2019-2023: Segmentation Cinnamon Market is segmented as below: Product Cassia Cinnamon

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Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of cinnamon market vendors About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005666/en/

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B oris Johnson refused to answer why he sacked UN summit chief Claire O'Neill after he spoke at a COP26 event today.

The prime minister visited London's Science Museum, alongside nature broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, to discuss the COP26 climate change conference being held in November.

In a letter to Mr Johnson published by the Financial Times, she told him: "You promised to 'lead from the front' and asked me what was needed: 'Money, people, just tell us!' Sadly these promises are not close to being met."

After addressing crowds at the event today, the BBC asked Mr Johnson about her sacking.

He was asked: "Prime minister, why did you sack Claire O'Neill?"

The PM did not reply.

He was then asked: "When are you going to name her successor?"

Mr Johnson also declined to answer that query.

Claire O'Neill Talking On Radio 4 Today About Being Sacked From Government

Earlier this morning, Ms O'Neill also spoke out against the PM on BBC Radio 4 Today, hinting that she may sue the government for being fired.

She told the show: "My advice to anybody to whom Boris is making promises - whether its voters, world leaders, ministers, employees or indeed family members - is... 'Get it in writing, get a lawyer to look at it and make sure the money is in the bank'."

She also claimed that Mr Johnson told her he "doesn't really understand" climate change, adding: "He doesn't really get it, is what he said, but others around him do."

The prime minister said he was keen to address the climate crisis in a speech he gave today.

Mr Johnson said: "We must reverse the appalling loss of habitats and species, it's only by repairing the damage to the natural world and restoring the balance between humanity and nature, that is now so grotesquely out of kilter, we can address the problem of climate change.
By Syed Raza Hassan and Charlotte Greenfield

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Monday it was resuming flights to and from China, three days after it suspended them because of the coronavirus outbreak in China.

The decision runs counter to many other airlines and governments which have tightened travel restrictions and suspended more flights in response to the fast-spreading virus which is thought to have originated in China's Hubei province.

China and Pakistan are close allies, and mutual travel and investment has increased sharply in recent years.

"We are resuming flight operations with China," additional secretary of aviation Abdul Sattar Khokhar told Reuters by text message, adding that a China Southern Airlines flight carrying 145 passengers would arrive in Islamabad later on Monday.

Chinese and Pakistani authorities said they were screening passengers, and 12 Chinese citizens who had flown into Pakistan would be traced and registered by the Chinese embassy.

"They are carefully scrutinised and monitored here," China's ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing, told a news conference with Pakistan's health minister, Zafar Mirza.

Some Pakistani students are under lockdown in China's Hubei province and want to be evacuated. Mirza has ruled out evacuating the students immediately, citing the risk of the virus spreading.

"We are really unhappy and students are very disappointed," Muhammad Rauf, a Pakistani student in Wuhan told Reuters. "The situation is like a pressure cooker."

Students and their families were becoming more anxious, unable to sleep and most were shut in their dormitories most of the day, he said.

Mirza said there had been seven suspected cases of people with coronavirus in Pakistan, but all have so far proven negative. Neighbouring India confirmed its third case of the coronavirus on Monday.

China said on Saturday its foreign minister, Wang Yi, had raised travel restrictions in a telephone call with Pakistan's foreign minister.

The United States on Friday barred entry to the U.S. of foreign nationals who have recently visited China. Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam have also announced restrictions on travel from China, while numerous nations have been evacuating citizens.

(Reporting by Syed Raza Hassan and Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Kim Coghill and Timothy Heritage)
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma held a cabinet meeting at Jowai in West Jaintia Hills district on Tuesday and cleared the proposal to set up nine community colleges in the state.

This is for the second time that the state cabinet meeting was held outside the state capital. Last year a cabinet meeting was held on Tura.

The chief minister said holding cabinet meetings outside the state capital will allow government to focus on very specific issues that would further strengthen the process of delivery of government programmes and interventions.

Education Minister Lakmen Rymbui said the cabinet cleared proposal to set up nine community colleges across the state.

The chief minister announced a nine-day tourism event which will be held at the picturesque Thadlaskein Lake.

Sangma said the nine-day "Meghalayan Age Festival" will be held in the second week of March will promote high-end tourism.

"We are putting different activities, music and cultural events to make this event a memorable one," he said.

The cabinet ministers of the coalitions Peoples Democratic Front and those of the Hills State Peoples Democratic Party and the BJP were absent in the meeting.

The chief minister said some of the ministers were absent due to personal reasons.

After the cabinet meeting, the chief minister held separate meeting with members of Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) and the local MLA of the region, where decisions on key projects and initiatives for Jaintia Hills were discussed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 15:14:59|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

By Xinhua writers Zhong Qun and Luo Yu

GUIYANG, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Donning a white shirt, a hand-woven jacket and a red scarf, Jiang Wenwu sings an empowering anthem to the clapping sounds of vintage Chinese castanets and the tunes from the traditional musical instrument erhu.

"In the biting cold of winter, Wuhan is hit by a new strain of coronavirus," he sings in a local dialect. "The virus has an incubation period of 14 days, and it can spread via droplets."

The song is called "Win the Battle Against Pneumonia," written and performed by Jiang, 39, an artist and head of the Mabao Farmers' Art Troupe in Puding County, in southwest China's Guizhou Province.

The music style is called Huadengxi, a traditional opera widely performed in southern China. It is extremely popular with the older generation.

A video of Jiang singing the song has been widely broadcast on provincial, city- and county-level television stations, and the song is receiving massive radio plays, as officials try to promote knowledge of combating the novel strain of coronavirus among the local elderly population.

"The elderly quite like listening to Huadengxi, and they are usually the vulnerable group in the prevention and control of the epidemic," Jiang said. "So I thought it would be a good idea to spread the knowledge about combating the coronavirus through the art form."

China is feeling the pinch of the virus outbreak. Chinese health authorities Tuesday said they received reports of 3,235 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 64 deaths on Monday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Another 5,072 new suspected cases were reported on Monday.

In Guizhou, confirmed cases reached 56 by Monday, with 26 suspected infections.

Amid the outbreak, senior people are becoming a focus for authorities in Guizhou. By the end of 2018, the population aged 60 and above reached 5.79 million in Guizhou, or 16 percent of the province's total.

Many elderly people have difficulties accessing the latest information and prevention knowledge, and their weak immune system means they are more susceptible to possible infections.

"I saw all these medical staff battling the disease at the front lines, and as an artist, I also wanted to help," Jiang said. "I wanted to use my art to help disseminate information."

Jiang was born in Maguan Township of Puding County. The township has a population of about 46,000, including about 9,000 senior citizens. It is the birthplace of a branch of Huadengxi. For years, Jiang spared no efforts to promote the traditional opera in the locality.

Huadengxi originated during the late years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It usually features singing and dancing, and depicts people's daily lives. The lyrics are catchy and easy to understand, and the music is quite upbeat. During its evolution, Huadengxi was heavily influenced by a variety of dialects, folk songs and traditions. China listed the art as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.

After the coronavirus outbreak, Jiang spent a whole night crafting the song of more than 360 Chinese characters. In the song, Jiang introduces when the outbreak happened and how to control and prevent the virus. He also invited Zhang Meihua, a seasoned erhu player in the township, to join him in recording the video.

"I hope that the song can strengthen people's confidence and determination against the coronavirus, and teach people how to lower the risk of transmission," he said.

Jiang believes that through the performance, he will not only be able to help battle the epidemic, but also pass on the traditional opera.

"So far, the effect has proven to be quite good, and many people have been sharing the video on social media," he said.

This type of performance matches the taste of old people, said Wu Zhixi, a villager in the township.

"We can not only enjoy Huadengxi, but also learn about preventing and controlling the virus," said Wu, 58. "It's quite helpful."

"I have shared it on my WeChat account," said another villager He Hengquan, 65. "Many of my folks are sharing it on social media, because it is important to know about the epidemic."

Jiang said China will definitely win the battle against the virus with concerted efforts.

"United we stand," he said. "I hope that our country will step out of the shadow of the epidemic as soon as possible."
Chancellor Pam Fleenor, Chris Clem and Samantha Lunn are among 16 applicants for a vacancy on the state Court of Appeals.

The Governors Council for Judicial Appointments will consider the applicants when it meets to select nominees for the Court of Appeals opening in the Eastern Division created by the retirement of Judge Charles D. Susano, Jr., effective April 30.




Mumbai, Feb 4 : A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court against Vidhu Vinod Chopra's upcoming film "Shikara: The Untold Story Of Kashmiri Pandits", demanding a stay on its release and deleting some of the scenes.

"Shikara" is set against the backdrop of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus from the Kashmir Valley in late 1989 and early 1990, in the wake of violent Islamist insurgency. The film is scheduled to release on February 7.

The petitioners are Iftikhar Misgar, Majid Hyderi and Irfan Hafiz Lone, who have alleged that the film portrays untrue facts about Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandits.

Misgar told IANS: "We are asking for stalling the release and deleting a few scenes that portray the valley's Muslims in a bad light." "We have urged the high court to take the case up on a priority basis," he added.

A new video earlier in the day tweeted by Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films' official page said: "In 1990, more than 4,00,000 Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their home. 30 years later, their story will finally be told." It also showed that a select audience at the special pre-screening showered praises and gave a standing ovation.

One of the screenplay writers of the film, Rahul Pandita, recently replied to a tweet and wrote: "I am a Kashmiri Pandit who lost everything in 1990, while you were doing God knows what in Bombay. I am the writer of #shikara and I would not let anyone compromise on the Pandit story. I will not betray the memory of those who fell to the bullets of radical Islamists." In a separate tweet he shared: "This is what I said in my opening remarks on the day #shikara was screened in Delhi. Unlike makers of soft porn films, Kashmir and the story of what happened to the Pandits in 1990 is not a money-making venture for me. It is what I lived." "Shikara: The Untold Story Of Kashmiri Pandits" marks Vidhu Vinod Chopra's comeback to Bollywood as a director for the first time since his 2007 release, "Eklavya", starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, Raima Sen, Jackie Shroff and Jimmy Sheirgill. Chopra introduces Aadil Khan and Sadia in the lead roles of "Shikara".
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MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. (INSP) (Inspire), a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative and minimally invasive solutions for patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), announced today that three Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) have announced the effective release date of March 15, 2020, for their final Local Coverage Decision (LCD) policies covering Inspire therapy. In addition, the Wisconsin Physician Services (WPS) Government Health Administrators issued their draft LCD proposing coverage of Inspire therapy.



Following the standard public comment periods and formal review meetings, we are excited to announce that the first three LCD policies will be formally issued during the first quarter, said Tim Herbert, President and Chief Executive Officer of Inspire Medical Systems. Secondly, the draft LCD from WPS will provide coverage for the remaining six states, and once issued, will signify 100% Medicare coverage across the United States for Inspire therapy.

The effective release dates for First Coast Service Options, Inc. (First Coast), Noridian Healthcare Solutions, LLC (Noridian) and Novitas Solutions, Inc. (Novitas) were announced to be March 15, 2020. First Coast covers Medicare patients in Florida. Noridian covers Medicare patients in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Novitas covers Medicare patients in Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and the District of Columbia.

WPS covers Medicare patients in Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Nebraska, and their draft LCD proposing coverage of Inspire therapy was published on January 30, 2020. We expect the review process will require several months prior to formal release, as with the other six MACs.

Story continues

The three final LCDs, as well as the draft LCD from WPS, are consistent with the criteria for medical necessity. Specifically, the policies state that U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved hypoglossal nerve neurostimulation is considered medically reasonable and necessary for the treatment of moderate to severe OSA when the following criteria are met:

Beneficiary is 22 years of age or older;

Body mass index is less than 35 kg/m2;

A sleep study is performed within 24 months of first consultation for an Inspire implant;

Beneficiary has predominantly obstructive events (defined as central and mixed apneas less than 25% of the total Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI);

AHI is 15 to 65 events per hour;

Beneficiary has documentation that demonstrates CPAP failure or intolerance; and

Absence of complete concentric collapse at the soft palate level as seen on a drug-induced sleep endoscopy procedure.

The other three additional MACs, National Government Services, Inc., CGS Administrators, LLC and Palmetto GBA, LLC, which collectively represent 19 states, are completing their respective review processes and Inspire expects these formal release dates to be announced in the near future.

About Inspire Medical Systems

Inspire is a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative and minimally invasive solutions for patients with OSA. Inspires proprietary Inspire therapy is the first and only FDA-approved neurostimulation technology that provides a safe and effective treatment for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea.

For additional information about Inspire, please visit www.inspiresleep.com .

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future local coverage decisions and additional draft policies for Inspire therapy. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as may, will, should, expect, plan, anticipate, could, future, outlook, intend, target, project, contemplate, believe, estimate, predict, potential, continue, or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words.

These forward-looking statements are based on managements current expectations and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, estimates regarding the annual total addressable market for our Inspire therapy in the U.S. and our market opportunity outside the U.S.; future results of operations, financial position, research and development costs, capital requirements and our needs for additional financing; commercial success and market acceptance of our Inspire therapy; our ability to achieve and maintain adequate levels of coverage or reimbursement for our Inspire system or any future products we may seek to commercialize; competitive companies and technologies in our industry; our ability to enhance our Inspire system, expand our indications and develop and commercialize additional products; our business model and strategic plans for our products, technologies and business, including our implementation thereof; our ability to accurately forecast customer demand for our Inspire system and manage our inventory; our dependence on third-party suppliers, contract manufacturers and shipping carriers; consolidation in the healthcare industry; our ability to expand, manage and maintain our direct sales and marketing organization, and to market and sell our Inspire system in markets outside of the U.S.; risks associated with international operations; our ability to manage our growth; our ability to increase the number of active medical centers implanting Inspire therapy; our ability to hire and retain our senior management and other highly qualified personnel; risk of product liability claims; risks related to information technology and cybersecurity; risk of damage to or interruptions at our facilities; our ability to commercialize or obtain regulatory approvals for our Inspire therapy and system, or the effect of delays in commercializing or obtaining regulatory approvals; FDA or other U.S. or foreign regulatory actions affecting us or the healthcare industry generally, including healthcare reform measures in the U.S. and international markets; the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals; risks related to our debt and capital structure; our ability to establish and maintain intellectual property protection for our Inspire therapy and system or avoid claims of infringement; tax risks; risks that we may be deemed an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940; regulatory risks; the volatility of the trading price of our common stock; and our expectations about market trends. Other important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contemplated in this presentation can be found under the captions Risk Factors and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SECs website at www.sec.gov. These and other important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this presentation. Any such forward-looking statements represent managements estimates as of the date of this presentation. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, unless required by applicable law, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. Thus, one should not assume that our silence over time means that actual events are bearing out as expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Investor and Media Contact:

Bob Yedid

LifeSci Advisors

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YPSILANTI, MI - A silver sedan flipped upside down Monday morning near the Ypsilanti Water Tower, authorities said.

The sedan was southbound on Oakwood Street and collided with another vehicle traveling westbound on Washtenaw Avenue at 10:55 a.m., Feb. 3, said the Ypsilanti Police Department.

The sedan disregarded the traffic signal at the intersection and rolled over due to the collision, police said. After investigation, it is considered the at-fault vehicle, police said.

The incident occurred about a quarter mile from the citys iconic tower.

Paramedics received a call at 12:21 p.m. for a rollover crash, said Matt Rose of Huron Valley Ambulance. One patient was transported to the University of Michigan Hospital in stable condition, Rose said.

The Ypsilanti Fire Department assisted at the scene.

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Vice Chancellor Anuradha Lohia left the campus on Tuesday morning after being confined within her chamber for over 16 hours due to a demonstration by students.

Lohia left her office through a side exit door at 6 AM, though a section of students continued their sit-in before her office on the first floor, a university official said.

The VC did not take calls after leaving for home.

The official said, she was okay but showed signs of stress for prolonged confinement.

The students had launched their protest in front of the VC's office since 2 pm on Monday, demanding that the repair works in three of the five wards of 130-year-old Hindu Hostel be completed without delay and eight sacked hostel employees be reinstated immediately.

"We had demanded a categorical reply from the VC about our demands, a written note listing all the issues before allowing her to leave but she escaped through a side door even as we were sitting outside the main door.

"We will not allow her to get away like this when she visits the campus again," Subho Biswas, an IC member, and one of the agitators said.

The protesting students also demanded that the VC expresses regret in writing over female students allegedly being prevented from taking part in a convention on the day of Saraswati Puja on the campus due to the hostel renovation issue.

Biswas alleged that despite repeated reminders, the authorities did not expedite the repair work in the Hindu Hostel and took "vindictive" action against those demanding quick completion of hostel repair.

He alleged that female students, supporting the hostel renovation on an urgent basis, were viciously prevented to enter the campus on January 29 to attend the convention.

The secretary of girls' common room Shruti Roy Muhuri alleged university authorities were dilly-dallying over timely completion of work in wards 3, 4 and 5 of the Hindu Hostel since last year.

Over 30 students are made to put up within a very limited space of the two renovated wards, she claimed.

Dean of Students Arun Maity said, "I am in an urgent meeting, please call me later."



Two wards of the Hindu Hostel, under repair for three years, were opened for students in November 2018 after agitation by students.

The Hindu Hostel building, located adjacent to the university, was shut down for repairs since July, 2015 and the boarders had been shifted to a rented accommodation at New Town as a makeshift arrangement.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne during an update on the coronavirus situation on Feb. 3, 2020 in Ottawa. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Feds Say Canadians in Wuhan To Be Flown Out on Feb. 6

A chartered plane thats to airlift Canadians from the epicentre of a virus outbreak in China was on its way overseas on Feb. 4, while its prospective passengers were told to be ready to leave on Feb. 6.

In a tweet on Feb. 4, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister FrancoisPhilippe Champagne said the flight will wait in Vietnam for final permission from Chinese authorities to land in Wuhan, an area quarantined to contain an outbreak of a new coronavirus.

The Canadian Press obtained a copy of a letter sent by the government to Canadians and permanent residents of Canada currently in Wuhan. The letter said a flight is to depart from the citys international airport early on Feb. 4.

Due to demand and the restrictions associated with this flight, we cannot guarantee that everyone who is eligible for a seat will be able to board the plane, the letter says.

Passengers are being told to arrive at the airport on the evening of Feb. 5. The letter says they will be screened for any signs of the virus and those with symptoms will not be allowed to board the plane.

Chinese authorities will perform health screening and immigration controls before boarding the flight, the Canadian government says.

The letter says passengers must get to the airport themselves and warns of possible delays at checkpoints. It also says that people should expect delays as the checkin experience for the flight will be significantly different from what they are used to.

We recommend you bring some food and water for you and your family for the time you are at the airport waiting to depart, it says. You will not be able to take the food on the plane.

Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu has said 304 Canadians have asked for assistance to return home but only 280 have Canadian passports.

Ottawa has said that upon arrival in Canada, the evacuees will be quarantined at the Canadian Forces Base in Trenton for 14 days. The letter says visits from friends and family will not be permitted to prevent possible transmission of the virus.

Richard Fabic, whose 15monthold daughter, Chloe, is in Wuhan with her grandparents, said the plan by the government to keep families together is thoughtful.

Looks like they spent the extra time to get it right and very appreciative that Chloe has been included on that list to board that plane, Fabic said from his home in Mississauga, Ont.

He said he was emotional after seeing the letter.

Relief, happiness, exhaustion.

Fabic said he will talk to the government about dropping off diapers and a few toys for Chloe in Trenton, and hopes the place has WiFi so he can continue to see his daughter, who took her first steps while in China.

It took her so long to start walking but now she wants to run, he said. I cant wait to just bring her to a park and let her run around until shes exhausted.
Two longtime top allies of Gov. Phil Murphy have been sidelined from their new jobs overseeing the host committee for this summers Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee after allegations of a toxic work environment, according to a report published Monday night by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The newspaper obtained a letter the committees board of directors sent to its staff saying it retained an attorney to investigate concerns about the work environment."

Liz Gilbert, the committees president and former executive director of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, will not be in the office and will not have direct contact with staff, according to the report.

Adam Alonso, the committees chief of staff and a former deputy chief of staff to Murphys administration in New Jersey, will be placed on administrative leave, according to the report.

The news comes days after Julie Roginsky, another former Murphy aide, publicly said Murphys 2017 campaign for governor was marred by misogyny and a toxic work environment.

Both Gilbert and Alonso were top advisers to Murphys campaign.

Neither returned messages seeking comment from NJ Advance Media on Monday night.

In response to the report, the New Jersey Democratic State Committee announced late Monday that it cut ties with Alonso and his consulting firm.

The report comes just months before the national Democratic Party is scheduled to hold its convention in mid-July in Milwaukee  where the party will officially pick its nominee to challenge President Donald Trump in November.

The committee is in charge of raising millions to stage the event and recruit thousands of volunteers.

Joe Solmonese, chief executive of the Democratic National Convention Committee, told the Journal Sentinel that the Democratic Party is firm in our belief that every person deserves to feel safe and respected at their place of work, and we will always take seriously claims of bullying and workplace harassment."

Alonso told the newspaper he was proud of the team in Milwaukee and will cooperate with the investigation.

According to the report, two anonymous experienced political operatives told the Journal Sentinel the committee has had a toxic culture with power struggles and mismanagement.

They also accused Gilbert and Alonso of giving contracts to friends in New Jersey, according to the report.

Its one of the worst  if not the worst  I have worked on, one official told the newspaper about the committee.

Murphys office declined comment about the Journal Sentinel report Monday night.

In addition to his governorship, Murphy is chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, a high-profile position in the national party.

Gilbert worked as national finance director of Murphys 2017 campaign for governor. She later became executive director of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee but left that job in May 2019 to run the DNC host committee in Milwaukee.

Alonso left Murphys administration in May 2018 but has been a consultant to the New Jersey Democratic State Committee since then. He also joined the Milwaukee team in May of last year.

Mondays report said Alonso has continued to be paid by the New Jersey state party  at least $80,000 in all  since taking the post in Milwaukee.

But Tolulope Kevin Olasanoye, executive director of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, said in a statement Monday that the state party is no longer affiliated with Alonso or his consulting firm, the Cratos Group.

Olasanoye declined further comment.

Roginsky said she alerted Murphy about the alleged problems on the Democrats campaign during an email at the time.

Murphy said in a statement that Roginsky was involved in a dispute with senior staffers and that her comments did not reflect a larger workplace issue.

Adam Alonso is shown in a file photo.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

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On a night where the Democrat caucus in Iowa descended into chaos thanks to a new high-tech app - eyebrows were also being raised over low-tech traditions used to decide some results.

In at least five precincts, delegates had to be assigned via a coin toss - a method used to break various stalemates that can occur during the complex voting process.

At Clive-1, a precinct in Suburban Des Monies, a toss was used to decide the delegate split between Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg after they ended up tied on 32 votes each.

A coin toss is used to decide the final delegate count in one Iowa caucus, a process that has left observers baffled and threatened the vote with more controversy after an app crashed

In Des Moines Precinct 13, another tie between Buttigieg and Warren went the Indiana mayor's direction following a toss-up.

Tosses were also reported in Des Moines precinct 80 between Buttigieg and Sanders, in Plesantville between Sanders and Biden, while video showed a toss in a fourth, unnamed precinct.

The process caused controversy during the race between Clinton and Sanders in 2016, which Clinton claimed by an historically-close margin.

HOW DO CAUCUSES WORK? Caucuses are held in churches, school gyms and public libraries, which locals attend to cast their votes. The room is split into seating sections for each candidate and another for 'undecided'. Voting consists of three rounds. In the first, caucus-goers sit in the section of their preferred candidate to cast their vote. A math formula is then used to determine if a candidate meets the number of votes to be 'viable.' If they are viable, the caucus-goers voting for that candidate are locked in. If the candidate is not viable, their supporters are free to be wooed by the other campaigns during a second round of voting. After the second round of voting, another formula decides how to split the precinct's delegates, based on the proportion of votes each viable candidate got. In the case of a tie, or where rounding errors cause a district to assign either too many or too few delegates, a coin toss is used to decide the outcome. The second round decides the result, but a third round then takes place where party members are elected to the position of delegate. Advertisement

Democrats reported that at least seven delegates were decided by coin toss, while the Des Monies Register identified another seven in interviews.

But, because precincts are not required to report coin tosses - only final votes - it is impossible to tell how many results were decided in this way.

That led many Sanders supporters to feel the system had been rigged against them, while his campaign ordered a review citing the 'arcane' process. The result ultimately stood.

As coin toss videos began to circulate online, and with Democrat leaders forced to 'quality check' results after their app meltdown, some began to sense another conspiracy while others were simply bemused by the spectacle.

Anthony Zurcher, the BBC's senior North American correspondent, wrote: 'Heres your Iowa democracy in action - a coin toss to determine who gets the last delegate out of this precinct after Buttigieg and Klobuchar tied. Buttigieg won.'

'In all my years of teaching US Government,' quipped a sarcastic Carl Pierson, 'I have utterly failed to teach my students of the core constitutional principle of the "coin toss" and its place at the heart of our democracy.'

'I don't think I want a coin toss to determine how our country is run,' David added.

Coin tosses aside, Democrats suffered a much larger embarrassment in Iowa when an app that precincts were supposed to use to report their results melted down, meaning no data was available Tuesday morning.

Precinct officials were reduced to calling in results manually - a process that many said took hours to complete - or else photographing the results to send across to headquarters.

The Iowa Democrat Party had still not reported caucus results on Tuesday morning after a new app that was supposed to allow results from precincts to be reported quickly broke

A campaigner for Bernie Sanders speaks to caucus-goers as he tries to convince them to back the candidate during a vote in Iowa

The Iowa Democratic party said it would put out results 'as soon as possible' on Tuesday, without giving an exact time.

All candidates put a positive spin on the no-show result, though Pete Buttigieg went further than most by giving what sounded like a victory speech.

Even without the result, the hopefuls have moved on to New Hampshire where a less-complex primary election is due to be held in a week.

Real Clear Politics poll averages show Sanders - who carried the state in 2016 - with a large lead over Biden in second place, followed by Warren and Buttigieg running virtually neck and neck.
Cops claim they made this discovery by retrieving photos from the shooters WhatsApp account

In this undated photo provided by the Delhi Police Crime Branch, Shaheen Bagh shooter Kapil Baisala is seen with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders. Police say Baisala is a member of the AAP. (PTI Photo)

NEW DELHI: Hours after stating to court that Kapil Baisala, the man who opened fire at the Shaheen Bagh protest last week, had deleted his WhatsApp account, the Delhi Police came up with the revelation that the shooter was a member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Deputy commissioner of police (Crime Branch) Rajesh Deo claimed to have come to this discovery when photos were retrieved from Kapil Baisalas WhatsApp account. These photos, he claimed, showed the shooter and his father joining the AAP on his mobile phone in early 2019.

These photos were quickly released to the public.

The shooting at the Shaheen Bagh protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) last week triggered speculation that the shooter was a right-wing sympathizer.

The AAP has been overt in expressing its sympathies for the protesters.

BJP leaders quickly launched into ha, ha press conferences to put the squeeze on the AAP. The partys new president J P Nada let loose a series of tweets in which he said the Delhi Police revelation exposed the dirty face of the AAP and its boss Arvind Kejriwal.

"For political longing, Kejriwal and his people have sold the security of the country. Earlier, Kejriwal used to insult the Army and advocate terrorists, but today, relations with those who carry out terrorist activities has come to light," Nadda said.

Nadda went on to wax, This nation will not forgive those who play with its security. Kejriwal and his entire team have been exposed. The people of Delhi will give a befitting reply."

Delhi votes for its Assembly on February 8.

Kapil Baisala was presented in court earlier in the day for a hearing of a police plea seeking four days of custody. The court gave them two.

During the hearing, the Delhi Police, which reports to the central government, told the court there was a possibility that the Shaheen Bagh shooting was part of a larger conspiracy.

"The time and place of the incident clearly indicate that the incident of using firearms is a part of a larger conspiracy which is to be unearthed. He (Baisala) is associated with different groups on WhatsApp. He is to be interrogated regarding the other members of these groups keeping in view the possibility of a larger conspiracy," the investigating officer said.

He further said investigation had revealed that Baisalas WhatsApp account had been purposely deleted.

"The account has been retrieved and most of the data has been recovered. Due to shortage of time it could not be analysed. The data is bulky in nature and he needs to be confronted with it," the police said.

It added that Baisala also needs to be confronted with a friend who accompanied him to the Shaheen Bagh protest site where the shooting took place.

"His friend is being interrogated at length in order to ascertain his involvement. Data in his friend's phone is also being scrutinised. The investigation is at an initial stage. The case is very serious and sensitive in nature which requires in-depth interrogation of the accused, the police told the court.

"Also, the motive for firing needs to be ascertained. He is changing his version and not cooperating with the investigating agency. The identity of the supplier of the recovered firearm is yet to be ascertained. He is misguiding the agency by changing his versions regarding the supplier again and again," the probe agency said.

Baisalas advocate M S Sisodia and Akhil Rexwal opposed the remand plea, saying the probe agency has seized his mobile and all other relevant materials required for the investigation.

"The offences are bailable in nature. What will they do with my WhatsApp chats? What links do they want to establish? Where else do they need to take me," Sisodia asked.

On February 1, Baisala had fired two rounds in the air at Shaheen Bagh, where anti-CAA protests are being held for over a month now.

After being overpowered by police personnel, he had chanted "Jai Shri Ram" and said, "hamare desh me aur kisi ki nahi chalegi, sirf Hinduon ki chalegi (only Hindus shall have a say in our country, no one else)," as he was taken into custody by the Delhi Police.

This was the second such incident reported at Shaheen Bagh in a span of three days. Earlier on Thursday a man fired from a pistol at a group of anti-CAA protesters, injuring a student of the Jamia Millia Islamia University.
Asia Rohingya Robbery Suspect Killed in Gunfight After Refugee Camp Shooting

A Rohingya refugee injured during a shooting in Nayapara Refugee Camp is transported to a health facility in Coxs Bazar in February 2020. / Mohib Ullah Mohib

DHAKAA Rohingya refugee suspected of robbery was killed by Bangladeshi police in the early hours of Tuesday morning in the Teknaf Sub-District of Coxs Bazar in what police called a gunfight. The incident occurred only hours after a dozen other Rohingya refugees were shot and injured in another shooting incident inside the vulnerable Muchuni area of Nayapara Refugee Camp.

A police official with the specialized Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) unit said the latest gunfight ensued during a police sweep operation at about 1:00 a.m. when they exchanged fire with a group of six to seven robbers.

During the shooting, Mohammed Elias, age 40, of Block D in Camp 26, was injured. Five to six other civilians escaped the scene during the shooting, according to officials.

The RAB headquarters issued an acknowledgement of the incident. One of the members of notorious Rohingya robber group Zokir, robber Elias, was killed in a gunfight with RAB in Teknaf of Coxs Bazar. Arms and ammunition were recovered. The local police, however, said the deceased had not been named in any legal case.

The RAB officials said that after the shooting, Elias was taken to the nearby Teknaf government health complex, where he was declared dead. The RAB also said that three of its officers sustained injuries during the operation, though it did not specify what type of injuries they were.

The officials said they seized two locally made firearms and four bullets.

Earlier on Monday night, police in Teknaf said that a clash involving a group of Rohingya thieves broke out in the Muchuni area of Nayapara Camp at about 8:30 p.m. Ten Rohingya refugees were shot and injured.

The officer-in-charge at Teknaf Police Station, Pradip Kumar Das, said Monday night that the clash was between groups of Rohingya thieves.

However, a senior officer with the Bangladeshi security forces told The Irrawaddy that the Zokir group carried out an attack in a local market area because they were attempting to extort local Rohingya traders but the traders had rebuffed their efforts.

The official also said that though they had intelligence about the attack, the incident took place before they could reach the location.

Among the wounded were one woman and child who sustained critical injuries and were transferred to Coxs Bazar District Hospital for better treatment.

Local media reported that residents in the area heard nearly 50 shots on Monday evening in the Muchuni area.

The Muchuni area has been the site of shooting incidents for a long time but the situation deteriorated after armed assailants shot and killed a Rohingya paramedic and injured a computer technician in Muchuni in February 2019 for allegedly sharing information about Rohingya militant commander Nurul Alam, who was killed in a gunfight with Rapid Action Battalion forces.

Nurul Alam is said to have been involved in or organized a number of serious crimes committed in the area since 2016, including murders and lootings. He was also accused of helping steal arms from a Bangladesh Ansar paramilitary facility near the Nayapara Camp in May 2016. The commander of the Ansar battalion was killed during the incident.

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CHICAGO, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cara Chicago, a nonprofit leader in poverty alleviation, is privileged to recognize philanthropists and entrepreneurs Jim and Kay Mabie at the upcoming Cara Gala presented by Jim & Kay Mabie and The Kadens Family Foundation on Friday, April 17, 2020. The Mabies will receive the Trailblazer Award for their commitment to the vitality of the social fabric of Chicago and beyond.

Jim and Kay Mabie. (Courtesy of Cara Chicago/The Chicago High School for the Arts)

"Jim and Kay Mabie have spent decades selflessly giving themselves in the service of others. Much like our founder, Tom Owens, the Mabies are pillars of Chicago's civic community and their support the past 15 years has guaranteed that hundreds of people found their pathway out of poverty," says Maria Kim, President and CEO of Cara. "We cannot be more humbled to have them as a part of our community and proud to recognize this couple as this year's Trailblazer Award recipients."

Cara graduate Philile Mabuza will also be recognized with the Jesse Teverbaugh Distinguished Alumni Award. This award, given annually, celebrates a graduate who is a shining example of the outcome of Cara's training. Mabuza started her Cara journey in May 2016 when she came to the United States from Swaziland, where she was seeking asylum while fleeing domestic violence. A standout student, Mabuza was first placed in a job with Northwestern Memorial Foundation. Today, she has built stability for herself and her two children.

Amy and Pete Kadens will serve as hosts for the Cara Gala. The evening event will take place at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago located at 900 N. Michigan Ave. along Chicago's Magnificent Mile. With more than 550 expected attendees, the Cara Gala promises to be an unforgettable evening.

In addition to Presenting Sponsors Jim & Kay Mabie and The Kadens Family Foundation, lead sponsors for the fifth annual Cara Gala include The Beebe Family, Deloitte, MillerCoors, Northwestern Medicine, The Owens Foundation, Sidley, United Airlines, Advanced Group, ATG, CA Residential, the Conroy Family, Dan and Vicki Brennan, The Habitat Company, Janet Dell, JLL, and Twin Lake.

Sponsorships for the Cara Gala are available at CaraChicago.org, or by contacting Shikha Jain, Chief Philanthropy Officer, at [email protected] or 312-798-3307.

Media Contact:

Ryan Arnold

312-600-7380

[email protected]

SOURCE Cara Chicago
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday called BJP a "party of Dussasanas" while a saffron party MP dubbed the TMC govt as 'shikhandis', as they invoked the epic Mahabharata in the political fight over the amended citizenship law.

Alleging that the BJP was trying to forcibly implement the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA), the National Register of Citizens(NRC) and the National Population Register(NPR), Banerjee said these steps are like "black magic" and she would stop this "anyhow".

"The NPR, NRC and CAA are like black magic", she said, and urged the people of the country to unite to save the nation.

"We(TMC) are not a party of Dussasanas like the BJP. They are the offsprings of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq and people must unite to save the country from them," Banerjee said while speaking at a public rally at Ranaghat in Nadia district.

Dussasana is the the brother of Kaurava prince Duryodhana in the 'Mahabharata' while Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq" was the Sultan of Delhi from 1325-1351 and known for his eccentric decisions.

Banerjee also wondered whether the Modi government would throw her out of the country because she do not have her mother's birth certificate.

The chief minister said despite her assurances over 30 people have so far died in the state because of the panic over the proposed implementation of the citizens register.

In the Lok Sabha, BJP MP Dilip Ghosh used 'Shikhandi' barb against the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, as he alleged lack of action against violent anti-CAA protesters in the state.

West Bengal suffered the worst during the anti-CAA protests as trains were burnt and rail tracks uprooted by protesters, the West Bengal BJP president said.

"Unfortunately, these 'shikhandis' are in power there. The police did nothing. It did not use its baton nor did it file an FIR, let alone firing bullets. I opposed it. Now I am being defamed. I am a patriot," Ghosh said.

Shikhandi was a transgender warrior in Mahabharata epic. He was used as a human shield to kill Bhishma in the battle. A reference to his name is often made to take a swipe at others for showing cowardice.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is shown banners like "go back" when he visits the state, Rohingya Muslims from neighbouring countries are given "welcome" because they are seen as voters by the ruling party in West Bengal, he said.

Participating in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, Ghosh hit out at protests, including at Shaheen Bagh in the national capital, against the CAA.

He claimed that protesters there were enjoying themselves feeding on "foreign biryani bought from foreign money".

The BJP is opposed to this drama, Ghosh added.

Ghosh had recently courted controversy, saying anti-CAA protesters who indulged in violence were "shot like dogs"in BJP-ruled states.

In the Lok Sabha, he also accused the TMC government of working against the Constitution and democracy, saying the BJP was not allowed to undertake rallies, including in support of the CAA, in the state.

The decision to grant citizenship to minority refugees from neighbouring countries was a "historic" step, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have identified a new species of thalattosaur, a marine reptile that lived more than 200 million years ago.

The new species, Gunakadeit joseeae, is the most complete thalattosaur ever found in North America and has given paleontologists new insights about the thalattosaurs' family tree, according to a paper published today in the journal Scientific Reports. Scientists found the fossil in Southeast Alaska in 2011.

Thalattosaurs were marine reptiles that lived more than 200 million years ago, during the mid to late Triassic Period, when their distant relatives -- dinosaurs -- were first emerging. They grew to lengths of up to 3-4 meters and lived in equatorial oceans worldwide until they died out near the end of the Triassic.

"When you find a new species, one of the things you want to do is tell people where you think it fits in the family tree," said Patrick Druckenmiller, the paper's lead author and director and earth sciences curator at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. "We decided to start from scratch on the family tree."

Prior to the discovery of Gunakadeit joseeae, it had been two decades since scientists had thoroughly updated thalattosaur interrelationships, Druckenmiller said. The process of re-examining a prehistoric animal's family tree involves analyzing dozens and dozens of detailed anatomical features from fossil specimens worldwide, then using computers to analyze the information to see how the different species could be related.

Druckenmiller said he and collaborator Neil Kelley from Vanderbilt University were surprised when they identified where Gunakadeit joseeae landed.

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"It was so specialized and weird, we thought it might be out at the furthest branches of the tree," he said. Instead it's a relatively primitive type of thalattosaur that survived late into the existence of the group.

"Thalattosaurs were among the first groups of land-dwelling reptiles to readapt to life in the ocean," Kelley said. "They thrived for tens of millions of years, but their fossils are relatively rare so this new specimen helps fill an important gap in the story of their evolution and eventual extinction."

That the fossil was found at all is a remarkable. It was located in rocks in the intertidal zone. The site is normally underwater all but a few days a year. In Southeast Alaska, when extreme low tides hit, people head to the beaches to explore. That's exactly what Jim Baichtal, a geologist with the U.S. Forest Service's Tongass National Forest, was doing on May 18, 2011, when low tides of -3.7 feet were predicted.

He and a few colleagues, including Gene Primaky, the office's information technology professional, headed out to the Keku Islands near the village of Kake to look for fossils. Primaky saw something odd on a rocky outcrop and called over Baichtal, "Hey Jim! What is this?" Baichtal immediately recognized it as a fossilized intact skeleton. He snapped a photo with his phone and sent it to Druckenmiller.

A month later, the tides were forecasted to be almost that low, -3.1 feet, for two days. It was the last chance they would have to remove the fossil during daylight hours for nearly a year, so they had to move fast. The team had just four hours each day to work before the tide came in and submerged the fossil.

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"We rock-sawed like crazy and managed to pull it out, but just barely," Druckenmiller said. "The water was lapping at the edge of the site."

Once the sample was back at the UA Museum of the North, a fossil preparation specialist worked in two-week stints over the course of several years to get the fossil cleaned up and ready for study.

When they saw the fossil's skull, they could tell right away that it was something new because of its extremely pointed snout, which was likely an adaptation for the shallow marine environment where it lived.

"It was probably poking its pointy schnoz into cracks and crevices in coral reefs and feeding on soft-bodied critters," Druckenmiller said. Its specialization may have been what ultimately led to its extinction. "We think these animals were highly specialized to feed in the shallow water environments, but when the sea levels dropped and food sources changed, they had nowhere to go."

Once the fossil was identified as a new species, it needed a name. To honor the local culture and history, elders in Kake and representatives of Sealaska Corp. agreed the Tlingit name "Gunakadeit" would be appropriate. Gunakadeit is a sea monster of Tlingit legend that brings good fortune to those who see it. The second part of the new animal's name, joseeae, recognizes Primaky's mother, Josee Michelle DeWaelheyns.
Hong Kong: Academy fit for quarantine use

The Government today said that it considers the Jao Tsung-I Academy to be suitable for use as a quarantine centre.

It made the statement in response to media enquiries regarding the conversion of the academy into a quarantine facility.

The academy is located on a hill, relatively distanced from residential areas and its overall facilities meet relevant requirements.

The facility can be converted into a quarantine centre which can commence operation quickly, it said.

Currently, the MacLehose Holiday Village and the Lei Yue Mun Park & Holiday Village have been turned into quarantine centres.

The Po Leung Kuk Jockey Club Pak Tam Chung Holiday Camp will also be used as a quarantine centre soon.

There is an urgent need for the Government to provide more quarantine facilities.

When searching for potential sites, the Government thoroughly considers whether the facilities meet the requirements for a quarantine centre.

As suitable sites meeting the requirements are limited, it is difficult to identify facilities that can be converted into quarantine centres.

The Government hopes that members of the public could understand the reasons to use the academy as a quarantine centre and added that it will ensure that all centres will comply with stringent operational requirements.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
This article is for investors who would like to improve their understanding of price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). We'll look at China Coal Energy Company Limited's (HKG:1898) P/E ratio and reflect on what it tells us about the company's share price. What is China Coal Energy's P/E ratio? Well, based on the last twelve months it is 6.19. That means that at current prices, buyers pay HK$6.19 for every HK$1 in trailing yearly profits.

Check out our latest analysis for China Coal Energy

How Do You Calculate China Coal Energy's P/E Ratio?

The formula for price to earnings is:

Price to Earnings Ratio = Price per Share (in the reporting currency)  Earnings per Share (EPS)

Or for China Coal Energy:

P/E of 6.19 = CNY2.36 (Note: this is the share price in the reporting currency, namely, CNY )  CNY0.38 (Based on the year to September 2019.)

Is A High Price-to-Earnings Ratio Good?

The higher the P/E ratio, the higher the price tag of a business, relative to its trailing earnings. That is not a good or a bad thing per se, but a high P/E does imply buyers are optimistic about the future.

How Does China Coal Energy's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

One good way to get a quick read on what market participants expect of a company is to look at its P/E ratio. The image below shows that China Coal Energy has a P/E ratio that is roughly in line with the oil and gas industry average (6.1).

SEHK:1898 Price Estimation Relative to Market, February 3rd 2020

China Coal Energy's P/E tells us that market participants think its prospects are roughly in line with its industry. The company could surprise by performing better than average, in the future. Checking factors such as director buying and selling. could help you form your own view on if that will happen.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. When earnings grow, the 'E' increases, over time. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. A lower P/E should indicate the stock is cheap relative to others -- and that may attract buyers.

Story continues

China Coal Energy increased earnings per share by a whopping 27% last year. And earnings per share have improved by 37% annually, over the last five years. So we'd generally expect it to have a relatively high P/E ratio.

A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.

Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.

China Coal Energy's Balance Sheet

Net debt totals a substantial 129% of China Coal Energy's market cap. This is a relatively high level of debt, so the stock probably deserves a relatively low P/E ratio. Keep that in mind when comparing it to other companies.

The Verdict On China Coal Energy's P/E Ratio

China Coal Energy's P/E is 6.2 which is below average (9.8) in the HK market. While the EPS growth last year was strong, the significant debt levels reduce the number of options available to management. The low P/E ratio suggests current market expectations are muted, implying these levels of growth will not continue.

Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. So this free visual report on analyst forecasts could hold the key to an excellent investment decision.

You might be able to find a better buy than China Coal Energy. If you want a selection of possible winners, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20 (but have proven they can grow earnings).

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Further going back to the origins, the reason for the new organization in 1920 was not only to address the pressing humanitarian needs of students affected by the war in food, clothing, books, housing, health etc.









by Laksiri Fernando





World University Service (WUS) is celebrating its centennial in May 2020 in Vienna, organized by WUS Austria, WUS Germany, WUS Canada and WUS Alumni. The central theme of the conference is Human Right to Quality Education for All also reflecting on WUS history, and the experiences of Alumni among other related matters. The importance of the theme is not limited to WUS community or committees, but to people at large in all countries from school teachers to university academics, from all students to education administrators, and from educational planners to civil society activists.





Importance of the Conference





The theme of the conference also related to and based on the UN declared Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, and more particularly on SDG4 on the Right to Quality Education with the objective of achieving it by 2030. But even after five years, many of the interim targets are not achieved by countries or lagging behind. The concepts, the purposes and objectives are also not properly understood or explained, and most importantly the mechanisms and necessary resources are not identified or utilized. Only ten years are left for the final targeted year.













Thus is the importance of the conference to possibly accelerate the process by motivating the policy planners and policy makers both at the international and national levels, and educate the people and particularly the children and youth on their universal human right to quality education. The conference is also a determination on the part of WUS community, committees and Alumni to make their own contributions to enhance the human right to quality education through projects, scholarships, activities and advocacy. In this respect, WUS aspires and intends to work with other international and national civil society organizations and call for all countries, the UN and donor organizations to support these efforts in the coming future.





The World University Service has always been a voluntary organization of academics, students and university administrators with the commitment to serve the society and people, particularly the poor, the vulnerable and the discriminated, while defending academic freedom and autonomy of universities and other higher educational institutions. WUS has always appreciated the contributions and funding from members, committees and donor agencies to undertake projects, activities, scholarships and advocacy. WUS is open to other likeminded civil society activists, and has always been working in cooperation with organizations with the objectives of justice, peace, reconciliation, anti-discrimination, solidarity, cooperation and human rights.





Some Lessons from History





Initiated by a group of academics and social workers led by Ruth Rouse in 1920 affiliated with the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF), aftermath of the First World War, the initial organization was named as the European Student Relief (ESR). In 1925, it was renamed as the International Student Relief (ISR) to reflect the international scope of its activities, and it is the same organization which become reorganized as the World University Service in 1950. By this time, the organization wanted to highlight the role of the university and academic communities (teachers, students and administrators) in society and particularly progressive social change. Since then WUS has pursued a strong advocacy role, as it is doing today, in respect of human rights, academic freedom and quality education and many other relevant social issues.





Further going back to the origins, the reason for the new organization in 1920 was not only to address the pressing humanitarian needs of students affected by the war in food, clothing, books, housing, health etc. but also to address them and assist the students irrespective of their religion or non-religion (Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Atheist), ideological affiliations (communists, liberals, anti-communists), country of origin or ethnicity/race. However, there was a particular attention to disadvantaged or discriminated sections of the society like women and the poor. In this sense, ESR or WUS was the first human rights organization in the world in a practical sense.





Those students who were assisted by ESR, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, not neglecting Asia Minor, were virtually refugees. It is ironic that WUS celebrating its centennial today at a time where there is a similar or a larger refugee crisis in Europe and other parts of the world. Therefore more action is called for on those lines and other related matters such as conflict resolution, peace and international cooperation.





Resurrecting WUS International





This article is only an introduction to the Conference Platform published by the organizers, explaining the conference theme and its rationale, the draft agenda, and giving contact details and other information, which is copied at the end of this article. As any other organisation, WUS has been going through very many trials and tribulations, ups and downs and controversial periods. However it has always survived, fought back and became resurrected. Last two decades have not been quite promising particularly to WUS International while some national committees have survived and even thrived as can be seen from the organizing committees.





There was a time when there were over 50 active national committees throughout the world. However, some of them are now defunct, inactive or functioning with difficulties particularly in Asia, Africa and Latin America. There are however many thousands living today who have benefitted from WUS assistance directly or indirectly for their education, employment, traning, survival and migration to safe countries. There is a duty on their part as Alumni to comeforward and contact the organizers of the conference and keep in touch, if they are not in a position to participate at the event. Most importantly, their financial contributions are equally appreciated.





WUS has always been in touch with and acted in cooperation with student unions and academic associations in different countries. These unions and associations also can benefit through such links and cooperation. Here is an important story for that objective.





It is known history that the forerunner of WUS, the European Student Relief was formerly established on 7 August 1920 at St. Beatenberg, Siwtzerland. Thereafter, it continued to function from Geneva. However less formal beginning started in Vienna, Austria, initiated by student unions and student activists, drwing the attention of WSCF office in London on their plight as a result of the war and then famine. For example, in December 1919, Herbert Petrick, a student leader/activist wrote to Ruth Rouse urging her to visit Vienna and see the famine and kindly address the situation. Herbert was angry about some of the other WSCF leaders, placing the confidence in a woman leader, Ruth Rouse. This story is thanks to Benjamin Hartley at the Goerge Fox University, Oregan who has done new research on ESR.





The reason to relate this story is not only to highlight the importance of having the 100 year celebrations in Vienna, but also to empahsise that student leaders in needy countries could and should write to the orgnizers of the Vienna conference or/and WUS and seek affiliation and cooperation. Most important is to form their WUS committess and organizations in their own countries.





Conference Platform





World University Service

Global Conference on the Human Right to Quality Education





In honour of its centennial the World University Service (WUS) is hosting a global conference on the right to quality education in Vienna, Austria from May 14 - 16, 2020.





Within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 - the right to quality education  the conference focuses on global challenges learners, educators and educational institutions, but also countries, economies and governments are facing when it comes to shrinking civic spaces in education, access to education for refugees, migrants and girls as well as access to inclusive and quality education for sustainable development (ESD) and global citizenship. The conference will address key areas such as innovation and quality assurance to achieve excellence, human rights and learning impact in situations of forced migration or how to maintain civic space in education, because we believe that they are necessary in making educational services work for all. Particular emphasis is given to youth perspectives and connecting those with the experience of senior educators and experts.

To this end, the event brings together experts and participants from different sectors and groups: educators and education designers, policy makers, experts from international agencies and civil society activists, persons from businesses, students from different backgrounds, and many more. We listen to what motivates and what worries the various stakeholders, respecting the different perspectives, and bringing actors together in transforming education in order to better equip persons to use education for their personal development and for society in general.





With the Vienna Declaration we will outline a framework as well as quality standards and criteria in order to set an ambitious agenda that will help us to turn these commitments into action.





Conference: SDG4 and the Human Right to Quality Education for All: An Agenda for Action





WHAT:

WHO:

WHERE:

WHEN:

WHY:





A global conference on SDG 4 and the Right to Quality Education for All

Organised by World University Service (WUS), with 100 years of experience

University of Vienna, Austria





May 14  16 in 2020; in the evening of May 15 WUS 100 jubilee celebration





Discuss with experts on the issues of education for sustainable development, academic freedom and civic space & access to education for minorities and migrants, and take stock on our progress toward SDG 4. Be there to become a part of an ambitious agenda that will turn these commitments into action.





As we near the five-year mark of the SDGs, there is a need for the global community to take stock on our progress toward SDG 4, identify current gaps and opportunities, and discuss the roles and responsibilities that we all share in ensuring that all children and youth can enjoy their right to a quality education.





In this context, World University Service (WUS), together with the University of Vienna and the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research as well as the Central European University (CEU) in Vienna will host a global conference on SDG4 and the Right to Quality Education: An Agenda for Action in Vienna, Austria in May 2020, focusing on global challenges of quality education in the context of vulnerable groups like refugees, academic freedom and education for sustainable development.





We will explore the roles of public and private actors, and emerging technologies and educational methodolo-gies that together expand access and achieve better learning opportunities and outcomes for all - particularly for disadvantaged persons, displaced, poorly served and otherwise marginalised communities like girls education and refugee education, contributing also to the UNESCO World Conference on ESD in Berlin.





Conference timeline: May 14-16, 2020

Venue: University of Vienna, Austria

WUS Jubilee: Evening of May 15, 2020 at the Vienna City Hall





DAY 1: May 14, 2020

 Opening of conference: Presenting the aim of the conference, welcoming and introductory speeches

Keynote: Auma Obama, Chair Auma Obama Foundation (tbc)

 Evening programme with short inputs from civil society activists, WUS alumni, migrant communities, policy makers and education designers, business community, get-together and networking of participants





DAY 2: May 15, 2020

Key speeches by Nada Al-Nashif, Deputy UN High Commissioner on Human Rights; Volker Tuerk, Assistant-Secretary General for Strategic Coordination the Office of the UN Secretary-General (tbc), Gillian Triggs, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, UNHCR, Cecile Riallant, Head, Migration and Sustainable Development Unit of IOM, Fernand de Varennes, UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Ioannis Dimitrakopoulos, Fundamental Rights Agency (EU) and others





 Working groups on sub-topics of the planned Vienna Declaration, i.e. right to quality education, in particular for vulnerable groups like refugee education, academic freedom and autonomy and shrinking civic space in education and education for sustainable development and global citizenship.





Evening of May 15, 2020 - WUS Jubilee Event

Jubilee event with WUS representatives

Visual Walk through WUS History including moderated talks/interviews around personal stories from representatives of the WUS community (alumni, co-workers and friends of WUS)

Closing moments - United for Quality Education as a Human Right





DAY 3: May 16, 2020

 Panel: Results of Working Groups

 Discussion and adoption of the draft Vienna Declaration

 Panel and discussion on the Way Forward

 After-conference get-together  Vienna Heurigen





Who you will meet

Get together with representatives from international and national organisations as well as individuals working in the field of education from United Nations, Council of Europe, EU, governmental organisations, educational institutions, NGOs, and from the business sector. We want to especially provide opportunities for young people to come and join the conference!





INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY AND HOW TO GET INVOLVED  We are looking for smart thinkers and developers with creative ideas to shape the topics of the conference  be there and join the discussion!

 You can show your involvement in this important event by sponsoring a speaker or participants with limited financial resources!

 You can also contribute by helping us on the ground as volunteer during the days of the event!

 If you have a personal connection to WUS come and share your story!









Contact Details of the Organising Teams

WUS Austria | www.wus-austria.org

Wolfgang Benedek (wolfgang.benedek@uni-graz.at)

Maria Rottensteiner (maria.rottensteiner@wus-austria.at)

Veronika Nitsche (veronika.nitsche@wus-austria.org)

WUS Canada | www.wusc.ca

Stephanie Leclair (sleclair@wusc.ca)

WUS Germany | www.wusgermany.de

Dr. Kambiz Ghawami (ghawami@wusgermany.de)

Dr. Bettina Schmidt (dr.bettina.schmidt@t-online.de)

WUS Alumni

Cyril Ritchie (critchie485@gmail.com)

Roger Roy (roger_roy@shaw.ca)





Partners: University of Vienna, Central European University (CEU), Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research




WomenShelter of Long Beach will have new leader in new year
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Jeong Kyeong-doo, Minister of National Defense of South Korea on Tuesday took part in the ministerial-level defence dialogue between India and Republic of Korea.

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, Army Chief General MM Naravane and Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh also attended the meeting.

"Ministerial level Defence dialogue between the Republic of Korea and India is being held at South Block in New Delhi. RoK's Defence Minister Mr Jeong Kyeongdoo and Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh are attending the meeting," office of the Defence Minister said in a tweet.

Earlier, Jeong received a guard of honour at the South Block lawns.

Last year, Singh had visited South Korea. The two countries had signed two MoUs to further enhance their defence cooperation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
I think I support Bernie mainly because I feel like hes one of the only candidates who wants to create change in our system," Barton said. "Even though I do support a lot of other candidates policies, I dont necessarily think that they are change-makers. I feel like they could very easily just become part of the system. And I dont see Bernie doing that. I see him fighting for the working class and minorities and people that I can relate to.
Waitangi: It's an occasion in New Zealand's politics known more for a flying dildo, protest, mud and prime ministerial tears.

But this year, the government's welcome onto Waitangi's Treaty Grounds in the lead-up to the country's national day has shown New Zealand's capacity to evolve.

The Waitangi Day national holiday celebrates the signing of the treaty of Waitangi on February 6, 1840 by Maori chiefs and the British Crown, that granted the Maori people the rights of British Citizens and ownership of their lands and other properties.

On Tuesday morning, delegations from each of New Zealand's major political parties were welcomed onto the sacred grounds, where local Maori elders pushed their claims to their parliamentary audience.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Kiev on Monday accused Tehran of knowing from the start that an Iranian missile had downed a Ukrainian airliner last month, after leaked recordings emerged from Iranian air traffic control. The recordings, aired on Ukraine's 1+1 TV channel on Sunday, feature a conversation between an air traffic controller and the pilot of another plane at the time the Ukrainian airliner was hit on January 8, killing all 176 people on board. The pilot can be heard describing "the light of a missile" on its route and then an explosion. Iran initially denied Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Boeing 737 had been brought down by one of its missiles. It later admitted that two missiles were fired at the plane by air defences on high alert, hours after Iranian armed forces fired ballistic missiles at US troops stationed in Iraq. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the release of the recording that it "proves that the Iranian side knew from the start that our plane was hit by a missile. "Everything is audible there," Zelensky told 1+1. "Everything is recorded." - 'It's the light of a missile' - The audio clip features the pilot of an Aseman Airlines flight from Iran's southern city of Shiraz to Tehran communicating with air traffic control in the Iranian capital. "There is a series of lights on our route, like a missile. Is there something?" the pilot is heard asking. "What is the light like?" the controller asks. "It's the light of a missile," the pilot replies. The control tower then tries unsuccessfully to contact the Ukrainian airliner. After a few minutes the pilot says: "There was an explosion. We saw a very bright light here." It was unclear how the channel obtained the recording, but officials denied it had come from the Ukrainian authorities. "This is a journalistic investigation. You need to ask them where they got this recording," Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's Security and Defence Council, told AFP. UIA president Yevgeniy Dykhne said it was important "not to create another sensation" around the catastrophe, but to join efforts "to ensure thorough and complete investigation" of the crash. The downing of the airliner came in the days following the US assassination of a top Iranina commander, Qasem Soleimani, near Baghdad's airport. Iran responded with a barrage of missiles at two US bases in Iraq, in what was seen as an attempt to prevent a spiral of escalation. But hours later, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit mistakenly shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet, in what Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called a "human error".
'I'd like to see an India where people will not be afraid of the government.'

Post doctoral students at India's premier institute of science discuss their angst and their hopes with Rediff.com's Archana Masih.

IMAGE: The Class 12 student who opened fire on protesting students at Jamia Millia, January 30, 2020. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

"The most powerful people in a country which has the second largest military in the world, and is one of the 5 nations to have the nuclear bomb are afraid that its students will break up the country."

"I find it unbelievable that modern day political discourse is reduced to what kindergarten kids are taught not to do -- name calling."

"Calling students 'tukde-tukde gang' is carefully constructed name calling. It is small minded bullying. People should laugh at that absurdity rather than feel threatened by it."

Sitting in the canteen at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, the country's premier institute for science scholarship, the young physicist is deeply troubled with the assault on students and their right to peaceful protest.

"The Citizenship (Amendment) Act is a law intended to discriminate in the most obvious way," says the post doctoral fellow at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences in Bengaluru who returned to India after obtaining a doctorate in the United States.

He is uncomfortable about disclosing his name, but has taken out time to take part in protests in Bengaluru and on campus against the CAA.

"I spend three quarters of my waking hours doing science. I needed to be a part of this if I had to look myself in the mirror. It affected me deeply on the level of my soul," says the scientist.

The IISc saw a flash protest after the attack on Jamia Millia Islamia students by the Delhi police and sit-ins after masked mobs unleashed violence on JNU students.

IISc students have also organised talks on citizenship and nationalism and are planning more events after the firing incidents on Jamia students.

"The government's job is to enable people to live together, not tear them apart. It is supposed to create spaces to work, live and survive -- this country is struggling and this government is saying you have no right of being. It wants to declare human beings illegal. It is the most bizarre nonsense in the world," says another student who has just completed a PhD and does not wish to be named in this feature.

"The NRC is not going to hit Muslims alone, it is also going to hit the poor unimaginably. It is not only when you don't find your name on that register that your troubles begin, the process itself is going to take such a toll on people," she says.

"It is like the government going against the entire citizenry."

The young man and woman do not wish to take up positions abroad and are looking to begin their professional scientific careers in India. They have a stake in India and want their voices to be heard.

IMAGE: A protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at the Indian Institute of Science.

What prompted students at institutes like the IISc to participate in the protests, they say, was the spirit of solidarity -- student for student.

Neither of them has been to JNU or Jamia or Aligarh Muslim University, but identify with the issues raised by fellow students.

"It affects everyone in the country, including our campus, which has people from different places, cultures and religions. We are all migrants one way or the other," says the post-doctoral student, turning around and taking in the green expanse of the campus behind her.

As students cycle past the tree-lined avenues and people go in and out of the canteen, they animatedly discuss their angst. They are sometimes somber, at times they laugh, but remain hopeful that the protests will not go in vain.

"If we are able to confront the NRC, it is going to be through conversations. People are beginning to have conversations and these conversations are going to make it very difficult for the government," says the young woman who feels economic persecution which forces people to cross boundaries is also a real problem.

"This will lead to students becoming more politically conscious. They are the ones who will set the narrative in future and my hope is that it will be progressive," says the physicist.

"I am sure this age-old Hindu-Muslim binary that has existed for millennia, at some point, people will say we are going to get better than this," he adds.

"The government wants to make CAA protestors about one religion and one set of people so that others feel alienated. It is good that there no single leadership and women and students are in the forefront of the protest," the physicist points out.

"A leaderless organisation is not a bug, but a feature. It does not have to be chaotic, but can be institutionalised into an agreement where several people can get opportunities at leadership."

"Many realise that a spontaneous movement does not necessarily need traditional hierarchical structures like having Brahmin dudes as leaders," he says. "That model has failed and it is high time we experimented a new model of leadership whereby we can have a new way of viewing authority."

As the pushback against the CAA-NRC continues, the students say they believe Home Minister Amit Anilchandra Shah when he says he will not budge an inch on the CAA.

"History shows us that protests don't have immediate results. If the BJP government institutes the NRC, I don't think it will instill a sense of hopelessness, but will intensify the resolve to resist it further," says the physicist.

"If there is enough popular pressure, withdrawing the NRC will be a talking point for future elections."

It is the end of the day and the scholars are eager to get back to their life of academic excellence. As we wait to finish our filter coffees, the conversation drifts towards their hopes for India.

The physicist asks the post doctoral student to go first.

"I'd like to see an India where people will not be afraid of the government some day. Not be afraid of being booked for sedition. If we saw ourselves as a larger whole and were united, maybe this fear would not be there, but for now, this fear is real."

As she looks towards the physicist, he says, "Democracy is the ability to make our lives better by having a say in the policies that change our lives."

"Right now it is reduced to electing 543 people to whom we do this dangerous thing of surrendering all our powers."

"There is a lot of scope of improvement -- do better things for ourselves."
T he Government has apologised for failing to protect patients from the malpractice of rogue breast surgeon Ian Paterson over many years.

The rogue breast surgeon performed botched and unnecessary operations on hundreds of women in NHS and private hospitals, exaggerating or inventing cancer risks and claiming payments for more expensive procedures.

In 2017 he was jailed after being found guilty of 17 counts of wounding patients with intent, against 10 of his victims.

Following the publication of the independent inquiry chaired by the Rt Rev Graham James, Bishop of Norwich, Health Minister Nadine Dorries told MPs lessons will be learned / PA Wire/PA Images

The Paterson Inquiry, which was launched in May 2018, published 15 recommendations on Tuesday, after hearing 181 first-hand accounts from the surgeons former patients.

Ms Dorries acknowledged some of these "harrowing" and "appalling" testimonies in a statement to MPs on Wednesday.

She said: "As a result of these failures, patients suffered unnecessary harm. Their testimony in this report makes harrowing, appalling reading.

"As such, it is with deep regret that we acknowledge the failure of the entire healthcare system to protect patients from Ian Paterson's malpractice and to remedy the harms."

Conservative Nadine Dorries (file photo) / PA

Among the recommendations, the newly-published report urges both the NHS trust which employed Paterson and private health firm Spire Healthcare to check all Patersons patients had been recalled.

The Government should introduce reforms, including regulation of insurance protection for patients as a nationwide safety net, it said.

Ms Dorries said the Government acknowledged the report's recommendations will form a "route map for Government" to improve patient safety, and ministers will now study the report and provide a more detailed response to Parliament.

She added: "We must take full responsibility for what happened in the past if we are to provide reassurance to patients about their protection in the future.

Former breast surgeon Ian Paterson was convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding / PA

"I am therefore very grateful that the suite of recommendations based on the patient journey present a route map for Government.

"The recommendations are extremely sensible and we will study them in detail. I can promise the House a full response in a few months' time."

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth welcomed the apology as he described the issues raised in the report as "shocking, serious, harrowing".

He said: "When we hand ourselves over or hand a loved one over to the care of a medical professional, we are literally trusting them with our lives. For that trust to be callously betrayed for financial gain, I believe is unforgivable and indeed as it has been found, criminal."

Tracey Smith and Debbie Douglas, two former patients of Ian Paterson, wait at home for news of his increased jail sentence / PA Archive/PA Images

He added: "Lessons must be learnt and changes made so something so heinous doesn't happen again."

He went on: "Fundamentally it's time we addressed the question of safety in private healthcare providers and the way in which clinicians are able to operate in private providers with little oversight."

It comes as Paterson insisted his innocence against all charges again, responding to the report's publication through a statement from his lawyer.

A statement issued by lawyers on Tuesday said: "Ian Paterson maintains his innocence of all of the criminal charges of which he was convicted and is actively working on an appeal against those convictions."

Mr Paterson submitted a number of written representations to the Inquiry, headed by the Bishop of Norwich, and answered all questions put to him, as far as his current circumstances permitted him to do.

Submissions were sent to the Inquiry raising concerns about possible bias within the Inquiry team, a matter which was also brought to the attention of the Inquiry by at least one independent witness.
Nigerian actress, Tonto Dikeh has said her attention is expensive in 2020, minutes after getting a new name from her best friend, Bobrisky.

In January, the actress claimed she wasnt going to share any pictures of herself because she has grown fat.

Dikehs best friend, Bobrisky also threatened to release her photos while giving her an ultimatum.

Two weeks later, the actress finally shared pictures of herself at a press conference in Abuja.

Taking to her Instagram page once again, the mother of one posted an old throwback photo of herself with a caption that read that her attention is too valuable.

Read Also: Tonto Dikeh Gets New Name From Bobrisky (Photo)

See the post below:
The treasury secretary refused on the grounds that he lacked the constitutional power to do so. Jackson fired him and appointed a new treasury secretary more to his liking. The Senate then censured Jackson. The measure was so controversial that Jacksons allies worked for three years to have it expunged. Congress did so in 1837 after a new election had changed the balance of power in Congress.
Five individuals out of 252 students who arrived from Chinas Wuhan and are staying at coronavirus quarantine facility at Haryanas Manesar showed symptoms of cough and cold on Monday and they moved to Base Hospital in Delhi Cantonment of Indian Image Source: IANS News

Five individuals out of 252 students who arrived from Chinas Wuhan and are staying at coronavirus quarantine facility at Haryanas Manesar showed symptoms of cough and cold on Monday and they moved to Base Hospital in Delhi Cantonment of Indian Image Source: IANS News

Five individuals out of 252 students who arrived from Chinas Wuhan and are staying at coronavirus quarantine facility at Haryanas Manesar showed symptoms of cough and cold on Monday and they moved to Base Hospital in Delhi Cantonment of Indian Image Source: IANS News

Manesar : , Feb 4 (IANS) Five individuals, out of the 252 students who arrived from Chinas Wuhan city and are quarantined at the coronavirus facility at Haryanas Manesar have shown symptoms of cough and cold and have been moved to the Indian Army's Base Hospital in Delhi Cantonment for better observation and treatment, an army spokesperson said on Tuesday.

"Samples sent for tests to All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), of which the result of one individual is negative," a senior Indian Army officer said, adding that the results of balance four samples submitted earlier in the day are awaited.

All the five individuals have been shifted to the isolation ward at the Base Hospital.

India has set up coronavirus quarantine facility at Haryana's Manesar with the help of the army for around 300 students arriving from Wuhan. Many people from Wuhan, and a total 252 persons are being kept under observation at the centre.

"There is no case of coronavirus so far. All of them are under watch and those who showed symptoms of cough and cold have been shifted to the hospital," the spokesperson said.

Responding to the emergency requirement of creating and managing a quarantine facility for around 300 Indian students coming from Wuhan, the Indian Army has set up such a facility near Manesar last week.

The students are monitored at the quarantine for a duration of two weeks by a qualified team of doctors and staff members, to detect any signs of infection.

The facility consists of accommodation barracks for the students, administrative areas and a medical facility area.

To prevent a mass outbreak of the illness, the facility has been divided into sectors, each with a maximum capacity of 50 people.

Each barrack has been further subdivided into smaller barracks. The population of the various such sectors will not be allowed to intermingle with each other.

Daily medical examination of all students are done at the medical facility area and all the staff, health care workers and housekeeping staff must wear their personal protective equipment (PPE) at all times.

The personal protective equipment consists of mask, eye shield, shoe cover, gown and gloves.

The rest of the visitors and all the student inmates wear a three layered mask at all times.

"After 14 days, persons with no symptoms will be allowed to go home with their detailed documentation sent to the District/ State surveillance units for further surveillance," the officer explained.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Dramatic demonstrations of anxiety were common in young men born into wealthy families of the 18th and 19th centuries, according to a new study.

Historians say that younger sons of the gentry  the wealthy land-owning class  occupied an unstable position in society and used attention-seeking terms as a call for support.

British academics analysed 734 letters written by younger sons of the gentry between 1700 and 1900, during the Georgian and Victorian eras.

They revealed that feelings of anxiety surrounded the lives of younger sons, and were largely focused on their ability to establish successful careers and appear manly.

Letters were filled with direct emotional terms such as dismay, suffering, dejected, wretched and disgraced, and often compared the life of the writer to what he saw as the easier lot of an elder brother or peer.

Richard Lumsden as Robert Ferrars, the younger brother of Hugh Grant's Edward Ferrars in 1995's Sense and Sensibility. Younger brothers were prone to baring their soul in letters to family about the difficulties of making their own way in the world

'Younger sons during this period were open about their feelings in order to deal with these emotions and establish themselves as men in the world,' said Professor Henry French, from the University of Exeter, who led the study.

'They felt as if they didnt have emotional autonomy, and wanted to be more in control of their feelings.

'We found the flow of correspondence lessens as the men had to deal with their own concerns when they started their own families, which shows they did often achieve the very masculine accomplishments that had caused them such anxieties as young men.'

For many of the correspondents, the goals of manliness, independence and reputation were always slightly out-of-reach, and intensified the sense that their identities as men were constantly at risk or unstable.

However, it would be wrong to assume that letters reflect 'real' feelings, the researchers said, adding that they treat the anxieties they have identified in the letters with caution.

Writing in The Historical Journal, the authors of the study say: We should recognise that they were instruments for self-fashioning and attempts to fashion others.

They added that these insecure younger brothers bleated their insecurities while still enjoying the wealth of their families.

We might expect young men, released from the immediate supervision of their families, to claim virtue whilst enjoying the spendthrift ways of wayward sons, the academics write.

The anxieties of gentry younger sons illustrate not just the timeless quality of late adolescent angst, but a very apparent feat that failure to attain these attributes could lead to the dissolution of their social, gender and personal identities as a whole.

Heaven knows I'm miserable now: Victorian men (pictured) of the wealthy landowner classes documented their struggles to be masculine and contribute to the honour, survival, and flourishing of the family and their estates

The unknown regarding future status and the extent to which they could depend on their parents and guardians to help them achieve respectability was at the core of these anxieties.

Younger sons also used emotions as tools to better deal with their feelings, achieve their objectives and establish themselves as men in the world.

These 'emotives' were intended to cause emotional responses in their parents and relieve distress.

For their part, parents and guardians also used emotions within their letters back to the younger sons to help them control their feelings.

At times, parents and guardians also purposefully generated anxiety as a test of their masculinity and as a call to action.

Money was also a great source of anxiety for young men living in Britain 200 years ago.

In particular, the academics quote one young gentleman, the appropriately titled Edward Money-Kyrle, in correspondence with family about his cash troubles and difficulties in gaining a promotion.

He emphasised that his position prays upon my mind more than I can possibly tell you and signed off his letter Your Unhappy Son.

In 1876 a second-son called John Parker expressed similar anxieties about his financial circumstances in a letter to his mother from Sandhurst.

I lie awake at night thinking and scheming how to mend my affairs, but I see nothing before me but a hopeless blank,' he wrote.

The little ambition I once had has almost disappeared, and my life is all a dream from which I strive hard to awake but cannot.

The researchers, Henry French of the University of Exeter and Mark Rothery of the University of Northampton, write that we should consider the importance of continuity in the history of emotions more carefully.

We must recognise the constructed nature of emotions, subject to cultural variation and change over time,' the wrote.

They were navigating between the two high priority goals of establishing themselves as elite men and contributing to the honour, survival and flourishing of the family and their estates, all the while attempting to maintain values of personal masculinity such as honour and self control.

This involved emotional suffering.
H-E-B wants to put some cooler makers and sellers permanently on ice.

The San Antonio grocery chain alleges in a recent lawsuit that the companies  including Home Depot  are infringing on patents for its Kodi cooler.

H-E-B seeks court orders recalling the alleged infringing coolers and directing the destruction of the containers as well as the plates and molds used to make them and all related advertising materials.

If it prevails, the grocer also wants any financial damages it may receive tripled. It didnt specify how much its seeking.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio man sues H-E-B after cashier allegedly whacked him with cucumber

So what coolers have H-E-B losing its cool? nICE and Kuer coolers, as well as Home Depots Everbilt coolers.

At H-E-B, we invest heavily in innovation across our company to provide our customers the best quality products and customer experience available, spokeswoman Dya Campos said in an email Tuesday. As a result, we cannot be idle spectators while others use without permission the intellectual property H-E-B and its partners have worked so hard to develop.

While we would prefer to not go to court, H-E-B will vigorously fight to protect our investments and brand, she added.

H-E-B filed its lawsuit Friday in federal court in Waco, which increasingly is becoming a popular venue for patent-infringement lawsuits.

The defendants have not filed answers to the lawsuit yet. A Home Depot spokeswoman said it received the lawsuit Monday and was reviewing it, but had no comment on the claims. The other companies didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Besides Atlanta-based Home Depot, the other defendants include Georgias Southern Sales & Marketing Group Inc. and subsidiary nICE Coolers, and Chinas Ningbo Kuer Plastic Technology Co. Ltd. and two affiliated companies that are behind the Kuer coolers.

At the crux of H-E-Bs complaint is a patented pressure-release button on the exterior of its Kodi coolers. Depressing the button releases pressure inside the Kodi and makes its easier to open the lid.

Everbilt, nICE and Kuer coolers have utilized a pressure-release button, H-E-B says in its suit, adding they infringe on four patents it holds.

Texas Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox

The lawsuit says that Brett Ramsey, H-E-Bs senior buyer for grills and coolers, began exploring better cooler technology after a frustrating experience with his brother-in-laws cooler while on his boat.

That led H-E-B to two Kentucky inventors who had created improved cooler technology. Eric Wooldridge and Daniel Bailey had filed an application to patent the technology in 2012.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices website offers a description of the vacuum cooler the inventors devised.

This system includes a cooler housing, a reinforced lid, a radiation reflective material application, and a system to remove air from the containment area, thus creating a vacuum within the cooler itself and sealing the lid to the cooler housing, it states. Upon actuation of a vacuum release device, air is reintroduced into the containment area thus allowing the lid to be removed and the stored products be accessed.

In 2015, H-E-B acquired rights to the patent application for an undisclosed amount. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent to H-E-B the following year.

H-E-B subsequently received four more patents that claim various embodiments of a pressure release system for a vacuum cooler and improve the usability of the cooler, the lawsuit says.

H-E-B operates a 81,000-square-foot innovation laboratory in Austin where it develops next generation grocery technology, it says.

On ExpressNews.com: H-E-B wants court to toss lawsuit over 401(k) retirement plan

The grocer spends about $300,000 a year marketing the Kodi brand through various media, H-E-B says. It featured Ramsey in a commercial promoting the Kodi coolers.

While the Kodi coolers come in a number of body colors, the button is consistently presented in H-E-B red to reference the trademarked H-E-B logo, the complaint adds. The button is surrounded by a black rosette.

On the nICE cooler, the button is red and left of center on the front. H-E-B says that and other features make the nICE virtually indistinguishable from the Kodi.

H-E-B says it sent a letter to Southern Sales in 2018 demanding that it cease and desist selling the infringing niCE coolers, which are sold at Home Depot. Theyve continued with their infringing activities, H-E-B says.

H-E-B sent a similar letter to one of the Kuer companies. The Kuer company modified and then took down its website, H-E-B says. The suit adds that Kuer makes Home Depots Everbilt coolers.

Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD
The authorities in other states, besides Kerala, have registered cases against Popular Front of India (PFI) activists for engaging in alleged anti-national activities, according to state police officers who have submitted this information to the federal home ministry.

On December 4, 2019, the home ministry had sought information from all states about cases registered against PFI activists from November 2016 to November 2019 for anti-national activities. The ministry sought details of cases against PFI members registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and different sections of the Indian Penal Code, especially sections 153A and 153B, which deal with anti-national activities, according to the home ministrys letter.

The letter was written before the Uttar Pradesh and Assam governments had sought a ban on PFI in the last week of December, claiming that the group was behind violent protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. In Assam, five persons died and in Uttar Pradesh 21 persons died during protests against the CAA, which seeks to fast-track the grant of citizenship to Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The Uttar Pradesh police had arrested 108 activists of PFI across 13 districts of the state in the past four days, UPs additional chief secretary (home department), Awanish Awasthi, said on Monday. In December 2019, police arrested 25 PFI members, including state president, state treasurer, and division in-charge of Bahraich, Barabanki and Varanasi.

Awasthi said the organization was active in districts such as Meerut, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Gonda, Baraich and Azamgarh and had expanded in the past few years. He also said that PFI was getting funded from the Middle East and its parent body in Kerala.

The Assam Police had arrested two PFI leaders, Animul Haque, PFI state president, and the organisations Assam press secretary, Muzamil Haque, for their alleged involvement in the violent anti-CAA protests in the state. They were charged with unlawful assembly, rioting, disobedience, assault and criminal intimidation.

Home minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the PFI was active in 22 of the states 33 districts, with more than 20,000 members. He also alleged that the state had proof of PFI members trying to damage the Assam secretariat on December 12 when anti-CAA protests were at their peak. PFIs, Assam chapter has denied the government claims.

Replying to the home ministrys letter, the Rajasthan police said six cases had been registered against members of the organisation between November 2016 and November 2019.

Three cases against PFI members are registered in Subhash Nagar police station of Bhilwara, two in Bundi Kotwali and one in Bhawanimandi of Jhalawar, said a police officer, who didnt want to be named. In three cases in Bhilwara and one in Bundi, charge sheets have been filed and the cases are under trial.

The two cases under section 153B of IPC, lodged in Bundi Kotwali and Jhalawar are under investigation, said a senior Rajasthan police officer, who requested anonymity. Rajasthans director general of police, Bhupendra Singh, said the police keeps an eye on the activities of all organisations. This is part of policing, he said, refusing to talk specifically about the PFI.

The maximum number of cases registered against the PFI from November 2016 to November 2019 was in Kerala. According to the Kerala police, in these three years 104 cases, primarily for stoking communal tension, violent clashes, attempt to murder, provocative sloganeering, possession of arms, illegal assembly, sedition and murder were registered against the PFI.

According to the police, PFI workers were allegedly involved in at least five murder cases in Kerala in the last three years. In January 2018 Shyama Prasad, an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activist, was stabbed to death in Kommeri in Kannur and four PFI workers were arrested. In 2018 June, Abhimanyu, a Students Federation of India leader, was stabbed to death on the campus of Maharajas College in Ernakulam and all the suspects arrested in the case were PFI workers. In 2019 July, a Congress worker, P Noushad, was stabbed to death in Chavakkad near Thrissur and six PFI workers were arrested.

In neighbouring Tamil Nadu, PFI activists have been involved in some cases. In February 2019, they were accused of killing a resident of Thanjavur district for opposing their religious propaganda , the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in a charge-sheet filed in August 2019. The Tamil Nadu unit of PFI has denied its role in the killing and accused the NIA of targeting it on behalf of the Central government.

Police officials of some other states said that no cases had been registered against PFI activists for anti-national activities. These states were Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Bihar.

PFI had never been active in Bengal and there had been no cases between 2016 and 2019, said Surajit Kar Purakayastha, a security adviser to the government of West Bengal and former director general of police. The PFI sought permission from the Murshidabad district administration to hold its first anti-CAA rally on January 5 but was denied permission.

Additional director general of police (law and order) Telangana, Jitender (who uses only his first name), said, no major cases had been filed against PFI activists in the state till now. In fact, there is not much of activity by PFI in Telangana, except in some places like Jagitial and Nizamabad, where it is completely low key. There could be one or two sporadic cases, but not very serious in nature, he said.

PFI, a federation that was formed in 2006 as a successor to the National Democratic Front (NDF), has come under the scanner of the Union home ministry for allegedly instigating protests against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens in Uttar Pradesh.

The PFI denies allegations of its members being involved in anti-national activities. Now some TV channels and political parties are in a race to blame the PFI. They need a scapegoat and want to divert attention, state general secretary of the organisation, C P Muhammad Basheer, said on January 29.

(With inputs from state bureaus)
China resumes 60 percent of mask production: official

People's Daily Online

(People's Daily Online) 14:33, February 03, 2020

China has recovered 60 percent of its mask production capability, and is able to produce around 10 million pieces per day, said Huang Libin, spokesperson of the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) at a press conference on Feb. 2.

Cao Xuejun, a senior official with the MIIT, said at the press conference that the output of N95 masks, the kind which offer better protection against the spreading novel coronavirus stood at 600,000 pieces a day. China now has sufficient material for masks, Cao confirmed.

According to the press conference, the tension on coronavirus prevention supplies will be relieved.

By Feb. 1, the daily production of protective suits has reached 20,000 pieces, more than doubling what was possible a few days before on Jan. 28. Now, most of the suits are being sent to locations in Hubei, including Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, while the supply for other regions generally relies on their own inventories.

It was confirmed that the production capability of full-automatic infrared detectors bounced back to 1,500 detectors per day, while production of portable ones stand at 15,000 sets per day.

Besides, the production of disinfectants and medical alcohol is also gradually recovering. The country is now able to produce 1,579 tons of disinfectants, 140 tons of hand sanitizer and 407 tons of medical alcohol on a daily basis.

It is reported that by Feb. 1, Chinese producers of medical supplies had already sent 136,000 protective suits, 134,000 N95 masks and 188,000 pairs of goggles to Hubei.

In addition, some export-oriented manufacturers have allotted Euro-standard and Japan-standard protective suits to Hubei.

Statistics from China's General Administration of Customs indicated that the country imported a total of 56 million masks between Jan. 24 to 30, and furthermore over 20 million were imported on Jan. 30 alone.

In this way, tensions on coronavirus prevention supplies have been alleviated in the last few days, but there is still a gap between production and actual demand due to several reasons such as the labor shortage experienced during the Spring Festival holiday, said Huang.

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Hawkins House, the former HQ of the Department of Health

The Department of Health spent more than 285,000 guarding its empty former headquarters at Hawkins House after moving to new offices.

The security bill for the building complex continued to run up in the months following July 2018 when staff decamped to their new headquarters at Miesian Plaza on Baggot Street.

The department said that 24-hour security needed to be in place amid concerns the building would be taken over by homeless protesters.

They said there was some technical infrastructure in Hawkins House that had to be maintained until the building could be handed over to the Office of Public Works, who have now taken responsibility for it.

Occupation

The department's final bill for security at the empty Hawkins House came to 285,996 for an 11-month period.

A spokeswoman said: "In order to support the efficient move to Miesian Plaza, it was necessary to have a period of time when infrastructure and certain contracts were maintained through the transition."

She said the main move had taken place over two weekends in July 2018, but that some technical infrastructure was not "finally decommissioned" until June of the following year.

The spokeswoman added: "In addition, the department was informed by An Garda Siochana that they had intelligence regarding an imminent occupation in the building following a similar situation in Apollo House next door.

"This resulted in a decision to extend the security guard presence to the building to 24/7."

The department said all existing service and energy bills, pest control, cleaning of reception and car park areas had now transferred to the Office of Public Works.

The demolition of the Hawkins House building is due to take place next year.

The department also spent just over 20,000 on pest control services in Hawkins House in the year that they left.

However, the department said most of this had been incurred while staff were in situ, with only a 475 bill from the time the building was empty.

As part of the move, just over 555,000 was spent on laptops and a further 88,129 on phones, according to records.

Ongoing bills relating to their new headquarters have included between 26,834 and 35,857 a month in cleaning costs, and more than 20,000 a month for electricity.

The Comptroller and Auditor General also found that 14.1m in rent and service costs were run up between December 2016 and April 2018 while the building was unoccupied.
Virginia Democrats' Abortion Ambition

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Liberty Counsel

Feb. 3, 2020



RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 3, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Virginia Democratic-controlled Senate and House both voted last week to allow non-doctors to perform abortions in the first trimester of pregnancy, and to end the requirements for ultrasounds, counseling, and a 24-hour waiting period.

SB 733 removes Virginia's requirement that only doctors may perform first-trimester abortions in order to allow a "licensed health care provider" which includes physician assistants and nurse practitioners. The House bill would allow midwives, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.

The Senate bill not only lowers the medical standards for abortionists, but also removes a provision for facilities, stating facilities that "perform five or more first trimester abortions per month will not be classified as hospitals for the purpose of complying with regulations establishing minimum standards for hospitals."

A 2011 study by Quinnipiac University's Mark Gius concluded that ultrasound laws had a very significant effect on women choosing life for their babies. Gius quoted a director of an abortion center who noted that before ultrasounds were available about 40-50 percent of their clients decided to keep their babies. After the clinic started offering ultrasounds, this percentage increased to over 75 percent.







In January 2019, Governor Ralph Northam and Democratic Virginia Delegate Kathy Tran introduced HB2491, known as The Repeal Act, which would repeal restrictions on third trimester abortions all the way up to 40 weeks. This includes killing the child during or after delivery. The Repeal Act removes hospital requirements on clinics and providers, laws that mandate informed consent, a combination of mandatory ultrasounds, literature, the 24-hour waiting period for abortions in Virginia, and additional doctor requirements for late-term abortions.

Shortly after introducing HB 2491, Northam did a public radio interview and tried to defend infanticide stating, "If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and mother."

Public records show that Planned Parenthood was providing abortion and infanticide talking points to Northam, other government officials, and the media after that radio interview.

Liberty Counsel's Founder and Chairman Mat Staver, "Witnessing the Democrat-controlled legislature destroy human life in just a few weeks since taking office is shocking. I am at loss for words. How can anyone be so callus and so eager to kill innocent children? This is a dark day of Virginia's history."

Liberty Counsel is a nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics. Liberty Counsel provides broadcast quality TV interviews via Hi-Def Skype and LTN at no cost.



SOURCE Liberty Counsel



CONTACT: Mat Staver, 407-875-1776, Liberty@LC.org



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Every year, hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Tennessee Aquarium experience impactful moments with wildlife that plant the seeds for a lifelong connection with nature.

For those who undertake fellowships at the Aquarium, however, working alongside husbandry specialists, educators and scientists can be even more life-altering.

Were offering our fellows these opportunities, and then theyre going out and doing great things, says Mara-Lynne Payne, the Aquariums senior manager of Diversity and Inclusion. Our fellows get hands-on experience that they wouldnt receive other places. Those experiences can change the course of action for their entire lives.

Since opening its doors in May 1992, the Aquarium has always strived to ensure opportunities to connect with wildlife are available to as broad an audience as possible, both internally and externally.

In 2014, the Aquarium established its Diversity Fellowship Program to offer impactful work experiences to conservation-minded students, who are typically underrepresented at accredited zoos and aquariums. This year, the Aquarium is proud to announce that this fellowship is being renamed the Jim Hill Diversity Fellowship in honor of one of the Aquariums first presidents and CEOs.

Mr. Hills illustrious resume includes many gold-star bullet points.

His 20-year career in the Army included assignments as assistant professor of chemistry and assistant dean of academics at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. As a civilian, Mr. Hill was employed by the DuPont Corporation and served as plant manager in Chattanooga. During his years with DuPont, Mr. Hill served on the board of a number of many nonprofit organizations, including the Tennessee Arts Commission, the Urban League, Memorial Hospital, SunTrust Bank and United Way, among others.

Mr. Hill left his position with DuPont to serve as the president and CEO of the Tennessee Aquarium from 1993 to 1995. This role set an industry precedent, making Mr. Hill the first person of color in the nation to lead a zoo or aquarium. The fellowship serves as a tribute to Mr. Hills pioneering role while leading the Aquarium.

I am deeply honored with this award since, among other things, it will continue to keep me linked to the Aquariums commitment to diversity and inclusion, Mr. Hill says.

The Jim Hill Fellowship is offered to six minority college students pursuing a science or education major with a minimum grade point average of 2.5.

Fellows work an 11-week term alongside Aquarium staff members in the husbandry, education and conservation departments. Some of responsibilities they undertake include care of the Aquariums animal ambassadors or animals in reintroduction projects, conservation field work throughout the Southeast, summer camp education and assisting with daily animal programs.

During their fellowship, selected students will work a 40-hour week. They are paid an hourly wage and are provided with on-campus housing and parking at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

For more information or to apply for a Jim Hill Fellowship, visit: https://tnaqua.applicantpro.com/jobs/
ITHACA, N.Y. - One strategy for reducing food waste's environmental impact is as counterintuitive as it is straightforward: Open more grocery stores.

That's according to new research from Elena Belavina, associate professor at the School of Hotel Administration in the Cornell University SC Johnson College of Business.

The spoiled milk, moldy vegetables and expired meat we discard when cleaning out the fridge make a surprisingly large contribution to global warming. One-third of all food produced is wasted, a problem responsible for carbon emissions equivalent to all road transportation, said Belavina.

"The more stores you have, the lower food waste is going to be," said Belavina, an expert in operations management and supply chains. "Very small increases in store density can have a very high impact."

When consumers can purchase perishable goods nearby, Belavina said, they shop more often but buy less each time, ultimately wasting less.

"There's less food sitting at home," Belavina said. "As a result, there is a much lower likelihood that something will be spoiled, and we'll actually be able to eat all of the stuff that we've purchased before its expiration date."

For example, Belavina found that in Chicago, which she said is typical of many American cities, adding just three or four markets within a 10-square-kilometer area (about four square miles) would reduce food waste by 6% to 9%.

That would achieve an emissions reduction comparable to converting more than 20,000 cars from fossil fuels to electric power, Belavina reports in "Grocery Store Density and Food Waste," published in the journal Manufacturing and Service Operations Management.

Most big cities are well below the ideal density of grocery stores that would minimize food waste, the research determined. In Chicago, that would be about 200 markets within a 10-square-kilometer area - compared to 15 currently - but most of the benefit from reduced emissions would be achieved by about 50 stores. New York City, with its abundance of produce stands and neighborhood markets, comes closest to its ideal density.

Urban planners, city governments and activists should pursue policies encouraging an optimal density of grocery stores based on each city's population, she said. Retailers' sustainability plans should analyze how their store networks and supply chains contribute to food waste and emissions overall.

"We actually see some moves across the globe toward going a little bit back in time and reviving those small corner stores, mom and pop stores, smaller-format stores," she said.

###

Belavina's research was supported by funding from the Jane and Basil Vasiliou Faculty Research Fund and the Neubauer Faculty Fellows program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Cornell University has dedicated television and audio studios available for media interviews supporting full HD, ISDN and web-based platforms.
ANSAmed - Today's events in the Mediterranean

(ANSAmed) - ROME, FEBRUARY 4 - These are the main events scheduled in the Euro-Mediterranean for today: TUNIS- third international conference on financing investment and trade in Africa, FITA 2020 (also 5/2). ANKARA - Parliament discusses a motion by President Erdogan calling for a one-year extension of the armed forces mission in the Gulf of Aden.(ANSAmed).




The Communist Party of Vietnam marks its 90th founding anniversary on February 3rd. (Photo: VNA)



The Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP), the Communist Party of China (CPC), and the Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) have sent congratulatory messages to the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee on the occasion of the CPVs 90th founding anniversary.

First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba's Central Committee Raul Castro Ruz, and Chairman of the Workers Party of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong-un extended congratulations to Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong.

In its congratulatory message, the LPRP Central Committee described the birth of the CPV on February 3rd, 1930, as an important historical turning point in Vietnams revolution.

Over the past nine decades, the CPV has organised and led all victories of the Vietnamese revolution in the fight for national independence and freedom, the building of the first socialist country in Southeast Asia in 1945 and the complete liberation and reunification of country in 1975.

The CPV later initiated the Doi Moi (renewal) process and continued to make great and comprehensive accomplishments in national defence and development along the socialist orientation, according to the LPRP.

The LPRP and Lao people highly appreciate and congratulate the CPV and the Vietnamese people on these accomplishments.

We firmly believe that under the clear-sighted and sound leadership of the CPV headed by Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong, the heroic Vietnamese people will reap new achievements and implement successfully the Resolution adopted at the 12th National Congress of the CPV, for the target of wealthy people, strong country and a democratic, equal and civilized society, looking towards the 13th National Party Congress, the message read.

The LPRP said the Lao Party, State and people commit themselves to do their utmost to preserve and develop the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos for mutual benefits as well as for peace, friendship, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Meanwhile, the Chinese partys Central Committee said in its congratulatory message that over the past 90 years, the CPV has led the Vietnamese people to complete successfully the cause of national liberation and reunification, and promote the building of socialism with new achievements.

We believe that under the firm leadership of the CPV Central Committee headed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the Vietnamese Party and people will constantly strengthen the leadership of the Party and the socialist regime, promote comprehensively and synchronously the cause of renovation, and proceed to the organisation of the 13th Party National Congress with special achievements, said the message.

The Communist Party of China affirmed that it always attaches great importance to the development of friendly cooperative relations with the CPV and is willing to partner with the CPV to intensify strategic exchanges, boost political trust, and share theoretical and practical experiences in Party building and national governance, while learning from each other and providing mutual support in exploring each countrys unique path to socialism, as well as jointly developing the China-Vietnam relations in a healthy and stable manner.

In its congratulatory message, the CPP Central Committee praised the huge achievements that the Vietnamese Party, State and people have achieved during the national socio-economic development process, improving peoples living standards and enhancing the nations position and role in the international arena.

The CPP highly values the solidarity, traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States and peoples, the message said, reiterating the partys resolve to consolidate the Cambodia-Vietnam relations under the motto of good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, long-term sustainability.

The CPP believed that under the leadership of the CPV, Vietnam will gain greater achievements in realising the resolution adopted at the 12th National Congress of the CPV.

Meanwhile, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba's Central Committee Raul Castro Ruz, reiterated the commitment to the fraternal bond with the CPV and the socialist Vietnam in his message of congratulations to Party General Secretary and President Trong.

He said the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Vietnam-Cuba diplomatic relations in 2020 is an important event, which is a vivid illustration of the long-standing friendship and solidarity between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Workers Party of Korea (WPK) and the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong-un stressed that the CPVs establishment helped the Vietnamese people gain victory in the fight for national liberation and reunification and in the cause of socialism building.

We rejoice at the great accomplishments that the CPV have been attaining in building a prosperous and civilized socialist country in accordance with the wish of President Ho Chi Minh - the CPV founder, he wrote.

He expressed his belief that the traditional friendship and cooperation between the CPV and the WPK will be unceasingly consolidated in a joint struggle to protect and complete the socialism building./.
Sand dunes actually communicate with each other (Getty)

It sounds like a fable from the Arabian Nights, but sand dunes actually whisper to each other - and slow down to move together.

Using high-speed cameras, scientists tracked sand dunes, and found that they seem to communicate through turbulence patterns.

Identical dunes thus start out close together but get further and further apart over time.

The study revealed front dunes generate a turbulence pattern, like a wake behind a boat, that affects its neighbour.

READ MORE

The research is key for the study of long-term dune migration which threatens shipping channels, increases desertification and can bury roads.

Study author Karol Bacik, a Cambridge PhD candidate, said: "This interaction is controlled by turbulent swirls from the upstream dune, which push the downstream dune away."

Dune shapes are formed and start moving downstream when a pile of sand is exposed to wind or water flow.

Whether in deserts, on river bottoms or sea beds, sand dunes rarely occur in isolation and instead usually appear in large groups, forming striking patterns known as dune fields or corridors.

What has not been understood is if, and how, dunes interact with each other within a dune field.

Lead researcher Dr Nathalie Vriend said: "We've discovered physics that hasn't been part of the model before."

Dr Vriend and her lab team designed and constructed a unique experimental facility allowing them to observe the dunes' long-term behaviour.

Water-filled flumes are common tools for studying the shape-shifting sand dunes in a lab setting, but the dunes can only be observed until they reach the end of the tank.

Instead, the Cambridge researchers built a circular flume so that the dunes can be watched for hours as the flume rotates, while high-speed cameras allow them to track the flow of individual particles in the dunes.

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Initially, the front dune moved faster than the back dune, but as the experiment continued, the front dune began to slow down, until the two dunes were moving at almost the same speed.

Crucially, the pattern of flow across the two dunes was found to be different.

The flow is deflected by the front dune, generating swirls on the back dune and pushing it away.

Dr Vriend said: "The front dune generates the turbulence pattern which we see on the back dune.

"The flow structure behind the front dune is like a wake behind a boat, and affects the properties of the next dune."

As the experiment continued, the dunes got further and further apart, until they form an equilibrium on opposite sides of the circular flume, remaining 180 degrees apart.

The findings were published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
A drunk driver who drove into a pedestrian while trying to avoid a garda checkpoint has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Darren Kershaw (45), of Cherry Orchard Park, Ballyfermot, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing serious harm at Landen Road, Ballyfermot, on June 19, 2018.

Kershaw also pleaded guilty to failing to remain at the scene and driving over the legal alcohol limit, both on the same date.

Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Elma Sheahan said the court viewed Kershaw's culpability as being high. She noted that the majority of his 11 previous convictions were for minor road traffic offences.

Judge Sheahan said the mitigating factors were his plea of guilty, his full co-operation and genuine remorse, his substance addictions and his efforts to rehabilitate, including abstaining from alcohol since the offence and more recently abstaining from drugs.

She sentenced Kershaw to four-and-a-half years imprisonment, but suspended the final 12 months on strict conditions, including that he remain drug and alcohol free.

At an earlier sentencing hearing, Detective Sergeant Brian Hoey told Diarmuid Collins BL, prosecuting, that patrol cars began following the accused after he did a U-turn just before the Ballyfermot checkpoint.

Dt Sgt Hoey said that the car had mounted the pavement as it attempted to turn onto Landen Road, where it knocked down a set of traffic lights before striking Ranyfrancia DaSilva, a Brazilian national, who was walking home from a restaurant with her husband. The car did not stop but was unable to be driven much further because of the damage it suffered.

Panicked

After he was arrested, Kershaw claimed he'd had "a few cans of Heineken" as well as two pints in a pub and had panicked when he saw the checkpoint.

Ms DaSilva was knocked unconscious by the vehicle, suffering multiple skull fractures and injuries to her back.

The victim continues to suffer dizziness, headaches and disturbed sleep and has been unable to work since.

Det Sgt Hoey agreed with Padraig Dwyer SC, defending, that the defendant had consistently expressed his remorse and accepted responsibility for what happened to his victim.

Mr Dwyer said the defendant, a father-of-five who works as a stage construction worker, suffers from depression and cries when he thinks of how he had dramatically changed his victim's life.
Democratic party officials in Iowa worked furiously to deliver the delayed results of their first-in-the-nation caucus, as frustrated presidential candidates claimed momentum and ploughed ahead in their quest for the White House.

In a statement early on Tuesday, the Iowa Democratic Party blamed the delay on a coding issue in the reporting system that it said has since been fixed.

The problem kept party officials from releasing results from Mondays caucus, the much-hyped kickoff to the 2020 primary.

It was an embarrassing twist after months of promoting the contest as a chance for Democrats to find some clarity in a jumbled field with no clear front-runner.

Instead, caucus day ended with no winner, no official results and many fresh questions about whether Iowa can retain its coveted first status.

State party officials said final results would be released later Tuesday and offered assurances that the problem was not a result of a hack or an intrusion.

Officials were conducting quality checks and verifying results, prioritising the integrity of the results, the party said in a statement.

The statement came after tens of thousands of voters spent hours Monday night sorting through a field of nearly a dozen candidates who had spent much of the previous year fighting to win the opening contest of the 2020 campaign and, ultimately, the opportunity to take on President Donald Trump this autumn.

The candidates did not wait for the party to resolve its issues before claiming, if not victory, progress and moving on to next-up New Hampshire.

It looks like its going to be a long night, but were feeling good, former Vice President Joe Biden said, suggesting the final results would be close.

Senator Bernie Sanders said he had a good feeling were going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa once results were posted.

(PA Graphics)

Today marks the beginning of the end for Donald Trump, he predicted.

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Listen, its too close to call, Senator Elizabeth Warren said.

The road wont be easy. But we are built for the long haul.

And Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was most certain.

So we dont know all the results, but we know by the time its all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation, he said.

Big WIN for us in Iowa tonight. Thank you!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2020

By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.

Democrats faced the possibility that whatever numbers they ultimately released would be questioned.

And beyond 2020, critics began wondering aloud whether the Iowa caucuses, a complicated set of political meetings staged in a state that is whiter and older than the Democratic Party, are a tradition whose time had past.

The party has tried to accommodate critics, this year by promising to report three different data points about voters preferences, presumably improving transparency.

But the new system created new headaches.

State party spokeswoman Mandy McClure said it had found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results, forcing officials to try to verify results with underlying data and the paper trail.

Some of the trouble stemmed from issues with a new mobile app developed to report results to the party.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden (John Locher/AP)

Caucus organisers reported problems downloading the app and other glitches.

Des Moines County Democratic chair Tom Courtney said the new app created a mess.

As a result, Courtney said precinct leaders were phoning in results to the state party headquarters, which was too busy to answer their calls in some cases.

Organisers were still looking for missing results several hours after voting concluded.

Shortly before 2am, the state party was making plans to dispatch people to the homes of precinct captains who had not reported their numbers.

That was according to a state party official in the room who was not authorised to share internal discussions publicly.

Earlier in the night, Iowa Democrats across the state cast their votes, balancing a strong preference for fundamental change with an overwhelming desire to defeat Mr Trump.

The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is Trump.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2020

At least four high-profile candidates vied for the lead in a contest that offered the opening test of who and what the party stands for in the turbulent age of Mr Trump.

It is just the first in a primary season that will span all 50 states and several US territories, ending at the partys national convention in mid-July.

For Democrats, the moment was thick with promise for a party that has seized major gains in states since Mr Trump won the White House in 2016.

But instead of clear optimism, a growing cloud of uncertainty and intraparty resentment hung over the election as the prospect of an unclear result raised fears of a long and divisive primary fight in the months ahead.

One unsurprising development: Mr Trump won the Republican caucus, a largely symbolic victory given that he faced no significant opposition.

The president eagerly seized on the Democrats problems.

The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster, Mr Trump tweeted.

Nothing works, just like they ran the Country.

He added: The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is Trump.

Pre-caucus polls suggested Mr Sanders entered the night with a narrow lead, but any of the top four candidates  Mr Sanders, Mr Biden, Ms Warren and Mr Buttigieg  was positioned to score a victory.

America needs a candidate who can beat Donald Trump. In my last race, I flipped 42 counties blue that Trump won in 2016. I'm ready to take him on and unite our country. pic.twitter.com/zPAYBNSrI3  Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 3, 2020

Senator Amy Klobuchar, who represents neighbouring Minnesota, was also claiming momentum, while outsider candidates including entrepreneur Andrew Yang, billionaire activist Tom Steyer and Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard could be factors.

We know one thing: We are punching above our weight, Ms Klobuchar said late on Monday, promising to keep fighting in New Hampshire.

New voters played a significant role in shaping Iowas election.

Meanwhile, ultrabillionaire Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, is running a parallel campaign that ignored Iowa as he prepares to pounce on any perceived weaknesses in the field come March.
A mechanism would be put in place to ensure that no person carrying novel coronavirus infection enters Goa, state health minister Vishwajit Rane told the state Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

Responding to a calling attention motion about the virus threat, Rane also said that the state government will carry out a mass awareness campaign.

Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai and independent legislator Rohan Khaunte raised the issue, demanding "extra precaution" to ensure that the virus does not spread in Goa, a tourist haven.

On opposition MLAs' concern about people from Kerala -- where three cases of coronavirus infection have been found -- traveling to Goa by railway and buses, Rane said a mechanism would be worked out to ensure that "no person carrying the virus" enters the state.

"We will put in place appropriate mechanism about how to handle the people who come by bus or railway," he said.

He had visited Delhi to demand a thermal scanner for screening of passengers at the Goa airport, the minister said.

Khaunte said the virus outbreak was a serious issue.

"The health minister should have a free hand and ensure that every point of entry in Goa is checked," he said.

Sardesai said that tourists arriving from China -- where the virus has claimed over 400 lives so far -- should not be allowed to enter the state.

"There will be training and awareness campaign. We will take anganwadi (rural child care centre) workers and teachers in confidence so that we can go to the grassroots level and any (person showing) symptoms (of the virus infection) can be reported," Rane said further.

The guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO) -- which has declared the virus outbreak a global health emergency -- and Union Health Ministry are being followed in the state, he said.

A task force led by the state chief secretary has been constituted to oversee the situation, the minister added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There were two statements, including one by the co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for monitoring of Armenia and one by President of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio. This is what deputy of the Prosperous Armenia faction of the National Assembly of Armenia, member of the Armenian delegation to the PACE Naira Zohrabyan told reporters today.

According to her, the responses that followed these two statements in Armenia made her recall the past when the former authorities would try to present statements to their benefit. The authorities and the political opposition each say they destroyed one another, but this isnt about winning or losing. In both statements, there is a real concern about the situation regarding the Constitutional Court, she said.

She emphasized that it is necessary to understand that the statements of the two organizations arent made to punish or encourage anyone, but rather they are made for drawing conclusions.

When asked if Armenia is obliged to accept these statements, Zohrabyan said there is no obligation, but there is a general rule of the political game. If Armenia is a member of the Council of Europe and has assumed the commitment to consider the recommendations of the Venice Commission, it has to take them into consideration. Every government and opposition has to draw conclusions, she said.
No sooner were Democrats Trump-Russia collusion charges debunked than they began to claim that Trump will do again in 2020 what Robert Mueller found he did not do in 2016: rig the election.

After 22 months, nearly 500 subpoenas, and somewhere around $35 million in costs, special counsel Robert Muellers much praised progressive all-star team of lawyers and investigators found no evidence that Donald Trump had colluded with the Russians. Trump did not warp the 2016 election, and so he had not unfairly defeated the supposed sure-winner Hillary Clinton. But again those who have investigated and attacked Trump nonstop probably are seeking to do in 2020 what they falsely accused Trump of doing in 2016.

Muellers failure to find any collusion evidence was not for want of the dream teams bombshell and walls are closing in leaks to CNN and MSNBC talking heads, over the course of 88 weeks. Almost daily we heard ad nauseam that Trump was soon to be indicted, convicted, removed, or summarily dispatched.

If anyone should have found collusion, it was certainly the Mueller zealots, then de facto ramrodded by current MSNBC partisan legal analyst Andrew Weissmann. (How odd that John Brennan, James Clapper, Andrew McCabe, and Andrew Weissmann leak to MSNBC and CNN and then, in the out-phase of their perpetually revolving-door careers, end up rewarded by their receptacles as paid TV analysts).

In the end, the hunter-killer team imploded.

Its ranks, in mediis rebus, were depleted by the summary firings of unethical anti-Trump FBI officials such as Lisa Page, and Peter Strozk, who had ridiculed the target of their investigation in amorous textual exchanges. Also fired for bias was FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith (Viva le [sic] resistance), who had also illegally altered a document to befool a FISA judge. The entire charade finally ended with Muellers post facto enfeebled testimony before congressional committee, in which he mysteriously claimed little knowledge of Fusion GPS and its offspring the Steele dossier, the fonts and catalysts of his own investigation.

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Few, however, dared to say that the entire fraud will have played a role in the 2020 election, or at least was meant to play a part by embarrassing and defaming Trump  in the manner of the current impeachment hoax.

Inspector General Michael Horowitzs huge team at the Department of Justice used almost as many resources as Mueller and found that the FBI and DOJ had deluded a FISA court in order to spy on an American citizen, who just happened to be a low-level Trump aide. It incidentally also discovered that a foreign national Christopher Steele had peddled junk opposition research that was gobbled up by Obama-administration intelligence agencies in an effort to spy on Page and thus the Trump campaign. Through the two-hop rule, a warrant allows spying on an individual, and on anyone that individual has contacted, and additionally on anyone those secondary people have contacted. Further, the warrant allows investigators to look back in time, going back years. In short, in todays climate, one could argue that Team Obama functionaries, even in retirement, sought to influence the 2016 election by slandering Trump, and his holdover appointees have kept up their obsessions in order to affect the 2020 election.

Not one Democrat impeacher believes that Trump will be convicted and removed from office. All of them probably trust that impeaching him in the House will weaken his chances at reelection  and that they should, as impeachment is merely using government properly to influence an election.

Yet, under the current new standards, we might have easily impeached almost any prior first-term president on a variety of charges and certainly questioned the fairness of any incumbents election victory.

Take the divine Barack Obama. Obstruction of Congress?

Obama invoked executive privilege to obstruct congressional subpoenas in the Fast and Furious scandals. People died. And they died in Benghazi, a preventable debacle that was fraudulently blamed on an obscure video-maker. And some likely died as the result of the illegal TalibanBergdahl hostage swap.

Abuse of power? In the run-up to his 2012 reelection campaign, Obama weaponized the IRS to neuter Tea Party groups so theyd have no chance to repeat the stunning success they enjoyed in the 2010 midterm elections. And would monitoring the communications of Associated Press journalists now qualify as an abuse of power? Maybe stonewalling the Senate and passing the Iranian-deal treaty without a two-thirds ratification vote could qualify as well? Would sacrificing Eastern Europe missile defense for Putins temporary good behavior (prior to the 2012 election) qualify as a Trumpian impeachable quid pro quo? Not giving lethal aid to the Ukrainians in fear of Putins wrath?

On the further matter of warping an election, reconsider the successful reelection of Barack Obama in 2102. A number of scholars, including researchers from the Kennedy School of Government, Stockholm University, and the American Enterprise Institute, later suggested that had the Tea Party not been emasculated by systematic and politicized IRS harassment, it might have added more than 5 million voters to Republican ranks  more than the margin of Obamas victory  in the 2012 election.

Then there was Obamas election-year lapse when he got caught on a hot mic (on March 21, 2012), pledging to outgoing Putin surrogate Dmitri Medvedev that if Putin just gave Obama space before his reelection (i.e., not causing trouble in Eastern Europe and thus discrediting the entire sham of Russian reset), then a successfully reelected Obama in return would show flexibility on joint AmericanEastern European missile defense  meaning that Obama would cancel the long-planned missile-defense shield).

Remember the quid pro quo context: Romney was running neck and neck in the polls with Obama and was rebuking the president for his reset softness about Putins increasing hostility to the U.S. and its interests. If Putin were to hibernate during the American election cycle, it would be easier to diminish Romney as a Cold War dinosaur. Obama later argued exactly that in a presidential debate: When you were asked, What the biggest geopolitical threat facing America? you said Russia! . . . The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back, because the Cold Wars been over for 20 years. And so voters were reminded of the trademark Obama charisma that had achieved peace and mesmerized even thuggish enemies

Unlike Trumps pseudo-scandal that never resulted in a cutoff of aid to Ukraine (indeed, Trumps aid to Ukraine far superseded that of the timid Obama administration, which refused to sell Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine), Obamas tit-for-tat deal delivered the politically convenient results: Putin delayed his territorial expansion into Crimea and Eastern Ukraine until after Obamas reelection, and the U.S. did withdraw its sponsorship of Eastern Europe missile defense.

But there was more in pre-election 2012.

Do we remember former Fugees rapper Prakazrel Pras Michel and the strange, rich Malaysian wheeler-dealer Low Taek Jho  the pair who had planned to channel some $21 million in mostly foreign monies into pro-Obama outlets during the 2012 election? How strange that we did not discover fully their nefarious electioneering until seven years after the fact  given that collusion with foreign entities to rig U.S. elections are the chief concerns of watchdog Democrats. Had voters known of such past skullduggery at the time, would they have factored in that malfeasance on Election Day?

Then there was other mysterious news that broke just after Obama was reelected in 2012. Again, it was only in December 2012, after the president was reelected, that the Federal Election Commission clarified its earlier preliminary findings of illegal behavior by the 2008 Obama campaign. Only weeks after the presidents 2012 reelection, the Commission announced that it was leveling one of the largest fines ($375,000) in its history on Obamas earlier campaign for not disclosing the amounts or sources of sizable donations. How conveniently odd that after four years of investigatory work, the voters learned right after  rather than before  Election Day that the Obama team had a bad habit of breaking fundraising and campaigning rules.

There were even more mysterious 2012 post-election bombshells. A mere 24 hours after Obamas victory, the public was tersely told that the Iranians, five days earlier, well before Election Day, had fired on an American drone  a most unwelcome development in the then ongoing courting of Iran that would eventually lead to the infamous Iran deal.

Might voters have appreciated that knowledge as they assessed the degree of success or failure of the Obamas reset outreach to Iran?

Even stranger still was the abrupt resignation of CIA director David Petraeus scarcely more than two days after the election. Weeks earlier, Petraeus had given substantial closed-door testimony to congressional committees about the election-cycle Benghazi disaster, the role of the CIA in security lapses in Benghazi, and, most controversially, the nature of the attack: whether it was a preplanned terrorist hit or, as the administration claimed, an ad hoc mortar barrage incited by a supposedly Islamophobic, right-wing video made by a Lebanese Coptic Christian living in America.

Remember, we were repeatedly told by Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton that a nefarious, reactionary, immigrant Muslim-hater had quite unexpectedly egged on the Arab Street, which in turn led to a spontaneous rampage against Americans  a narrative that would hide the Obama administrations wages of appeasement, manifested in negligently lax security for our diplomatic and security personnel in the American-induced badlands of Libya.

What was not known at the time of Petraeuss testimony was that, four weeks earlier, Attorney General Eric Holder and the FBI had formally started investigating the CIA director for alleged security lapses concerning his contacts with his mistress.

Voters learned of all that only a few days after Election Day, with the CIA directors stunning resignation and apology, and subsequent plea bargaining to a lesser offense  all leading to the replacement appointment of John Brennan, known subsequently for lying under oath with impunity on two occasions to Congress.

Apparently, Obama and Eric Holder felt that, after weeks of investigation, it was critical only after Election Day to immediately announce the fate of Petraeus. This was at a time when some in Congress were complaining that CIA testimonies were less than candid and were unrealistically promoting the administrations narrative that the Benghazi debacle was the result of spontaneous rioting rather than the work of skilled terrorists who had planned the attacks. Some House members would soon complain that Petraeuss post-resignation testimony on the nature of the attackers (that they were likely Islamic extremists) differed from his pre-election comments that the video had enraged Libyans and provoked untrained mobs to attack the consul and annex.

Had Petraeus resigned before Election Day, would voters have become curious about the circumstances of his abrupt departure? Would they have asked questions about what exactly the U.S. was doing in Libya and under whose direction?

In other words, the Obama administration, perhaps more so than prior administrations, played politics with the news cycles, abused campaign-finance laws, leveraged its powers of incumbency for partisan advantage, put reelection aims on par with or above U.S. security concerns, left hanging key U.S. allies, and sought to use the administrative state to enhance its 2012 reelection chances and to diminish the oppositions party 2016 candidate. And all that likely helped reelect Barack Obama.

Until recently, I believed that none of this Obama skullduggery rose to the level of impeachable offenses that would have nullified the 2012 election and canceled out the votes of millions of Americans.

Now, under the new standards established by Adam Schiff, Gerald Nadler, and Nancy Pelosi, all that and more from the Obama administration were most eminently impeachable.

More from National Review
Rush Limbaugh relying on 'relationship with God' amid lung cancer diagnosis

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Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh shared how his deeply personal relationship with God has sustained him as he battles advanced lung cancer.

On Monday, Limbaugh, 69, told his 20 million listeners he has been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. The talk show host said he plans to take a brief sabbatical for further medical tests and to determine treatment, but hopes to return soon, Fox News reports.

"This day has been one of the most difficult days in recent memory, for me, because I've known this moment was coming," Limbaugh said. "I'm sure that you all know by now that I really don't like talking about myself and I don't like making things about me.  One thing that I know, that has happened over the 31-plus years of this program, is that there has been an incredible bond that has developed between all of you and me."

Limbaugh, who began his nationally syndicated radio show about 30 years ago, told his listeners that his job has provided him with the "greatest satisfaction and happiness" of his life.

"So I have to tell you something today that I wish I didn't have to tell you. It's a struggle for me because I had to inform my staff earlier today," he said. "I can't help but feel that I'm letting everybody down. The upshot is that I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer."

Limbaugh revealed he's been experiencing shortness of breath that he initially thought might be heart-related but turned out to be a pulmonary malignancy. He credited his faith for sustaining his health amid his cancer battle.

"I told the staff today that I have a deeply personal relationship with God that I do not proselytize about, but I do, and I have been working that relationship tremendously," Limbaugh said. "I am, at the moment, experiencing zero symptoms."

Limbaugh said he plans to undergo further testing and will "push ahead and keep everything as normal" as he can.

"I felt that I had to tell you because that's the kind of relationship that I feel like I have with those of you in this audience," he said. "Over the years, a lot of people have been very nice, telling me how much this program has meant to them, but whatever that is, it pales in comparison to what you all have meant to me."

"I hope I will be talking about this as little as necessary in the coming days, but we've got a great bunch of doctors, a great team assembled, we're at full speed ahead on this," Limbaugh said. "It's just now a matter of implementing what we are going to be told later this week."

His longtime producer, Bo Snerdley, also confirmed the news on Twitter.

Those of you who are listening to the Rush Limbaugh show now. Pray with us. Thank you. God Bless you Rush Limbaugh. Love you so much Rush, he wrote.

Those of you who are listening to the Rush Limbaugh show now. Pray with us. Thank you. God Bless you Rush Limbaugh. Love you so much Rush.  Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) February 3, 2020

On social media, Limbaugh's announcement, made just ahead of World Cancer Day, was met with prayers and well-wishes from a number of supporters.

Conservative author and Fox News opinion host Laura Ingraham tweeted, We are praying the rosary this week for Rush Limbaugh. May he find treatment that brings healing. Prayer warriors coast-to-coast are hard at work.

We are praying the rosary this week for Rush Limbaugh. May he find treatment that brings healing. Prayer warriors coast-to-coast are hard at work.  Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) February 4, 2020

Rudy Giuliani tweeted, Rush Limbaugh was the innovator who spoke for the Americans ignored and disrespected by the elites. Hes done it with powerful rational argument and a truly great sense of humor. Hes been a friend for almost 30 years and all of us are praying for him. America needs Rush.

Rush Limbaugh was the innovator who spoke for the Americans ignored and disrespected by the elites.

Hes done it with powerful rational argument and a truly great sense of humor.

Hes been a friend for almost 30 years and all of us are praying for him.

America needs Rush.  Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) February 4, 2020

Musician Charlie Daniels tweeted, God Speed Rush Limbaugh, my prayers and sincere wishes for a complete and speedy recovery. For thirty years you have stuck to your guns, youve set the bar high and brought us the other side of the story and may your voice grace the airwaves for many years to come.

God Speed Rush Limbaugh, my prayers and sincere wishes for a complete and speedy recovery.

For thirty years you have stuck to your guns, youve set the bar high and brought us the other side of the story and may your voice grace the airwaves for many years to come.  Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) February 4, 2020

Christian financial expert Dave Ramsey tweeted, Our prayers this morning for my friend Rush Limbaugh. The Elvis of Talk Radio, an iconic career. You got this sir. Beat Cancer.

Our prayers this morning for my friend Rush Limbaugh. The Elvis of Talk Radio, an iconic career. You got this sir. Beat Cancer.  Dave Ramsey (@DaveRamsey) February 4, 2020

Mitt Romney tweeted: Rush Limbaugh is a fighter. In this battle with lung cancer, he will face this fight with the same tenacity in which he has delivered his show for the past three decades. Keeping Rush and his family in my prayers.
Screening has begun in all airports and land ports in Afghanistan, especially for those arriving from China, said Afghan Health ministry officials.

Medical teams from the Afghan health ministry were checking passengers with thermometers at Kabul airport on Monday.

Dr. Allah Mohammad Noori from the Afghan health ministry on Monday said that "thankfully we haven't had any patient infected by this virus."

Around 300 passengers have arrived to Afghanistan from China in the past week, among them more than 250 Afghan citizens.

21-years-old Mohammad Arif Aslami was one of nine Afghan students who had travelled to Kabul from the Chinese city of Taiyuan.

He recounted how the students were kept indoors in previous days, not allowed to leave the premises of the hostel in an attempt to prevent infection.

The viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 20,600 people globally.

In China 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed cases have been recorded.

Outside mainland China, at least 180 cases have been confirmed, including two fatalities, in Hong Kong and the Philippines.
More than 4000 Chinese international students at the University of Sydney have signed a petition calling for a delayed start to their semester, claiming the current date will disadvantage those affected by travel restrictions in place between China and Australia in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

The petition calls for the university to delay the start date of the upcoming semester for two weeks, pushing it back from February 24 to March 9, student newspaper Honi Soit first reported.

A petition is calling for a delayed start to the semester at the University of Sydney. Credit:Louise Kennerley

It was organised on Chinese website WJX by Student Representative Council general secretary Abbey Shi, and quickly circulated through messaging service WeChat.

"I kept getting requests from students, asking me 'what are we going to do with our studies?' and I knew I had to start this petition," Ms Shi said.
Photo: iStock

Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Charlotte.

Woman dials 911 with toes after car slips off jack, crushes her hands

A woman had to use her toes to call for help after her car slipped off a jack and crushed her hands while she was changing a tire.

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Charlotte Sonic employee shot by unknown number of suspects

A Sonic employee is being treated for life-threatening injuries after being shot, according to CMPD.

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Man charged for bringing loaded gun to Charlotte Douglas International Aiport

Among airports across the country, TSA records show Charlotte Douglas had the 14th highest number of confiscated guns last year.

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Suspect exposes himself to teenage girls at Charlotte bus stops

An investigation is underway after two separate indecent exposure incidents involving the same victims and the same suspect, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

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City of Charlotte won't ban dog tethering, but could restrict circuses

City leaders decided not to ban dog tethering in the city limits after advocates pushed for a ban. There could be new regulations when the circus comes to town.

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The 1945 Charter of the United Nations mentions on its very first page that The Peoples of the United Nations are determinedto employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples. This, amongst others, for the ends of uniting our strength to maintain international peace and security and promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. No short order.

Even with its noble purpose and mission, the UN is often accused of being an inefficient bureaucracy. While there remains broad agreement on the broader purpose and what of the UN, the one that has increasingly come under scrutiny is the how, and especially the how well.

Promoting democratic institutions, giving a voice to minorities, preventing conflict and much more is hard to argue against, but is the UN effective in doing so, and if so, how do we know? These questions have increasingly come to the fore as new and competing development organisations, both public and private, give decision-makers more policy and partnerships options.

To answer the how well an industry of public sector performance assessments has blossomed in recent years to inform policymakers, legislators and citizens about performing and underperforming partnerships options. Among these, the Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN), an initiative of the OECD/DAC and its Member States, and the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) are the most prominent, complementing UNDPs own extensive Partnerships Survey (PDF).

Before UNDP begins a new round of all these assessments and rankings in 2020, for all of these, its worth reviewing how far UNDP has come and where it is today.



In greater effectiveness

Partners wish to invest in an organization that can deliver results and does so effectively. UNDP thus cooperates extensively with these external actors in the ratings business to demonstrate its commitment to operational excellence.

In 2018, AidData, an independent US research lab that benchmarks 35 donors on two indicators of performance; influence in shaping in-country policy priorities, and helpfulness in implementing policies, found that UNDP ranked as one of the top 10 development partners on both indicators.

Not only did decision-makers see UNDP as a trusted and reliable source of development information for policy making, but they also found it more efficient than any other entity in terms of value-for-money. The World Bank and the European Union were also consistently ranked along with UNDP as the top three sources that government leaders and decision makers go to for information about global development policy trends and ideas.

Source: AidData, March, 2018



Another assessment by the MOPAN in 2017 found that UNDP, rated along with 11 other international organizations, demonstrated strong corporate commitment to results-based management and a clear commitment towards the principles of results-based budgeting.

UNDPs own 2017 Partnerships Survey, an externally-led assessment based on the results of 3,787 respondents, asked programme governments, bilateral partners and UN agenices specific questions related to quality of results, engagement, management of resources, quality/timeliness of reporting, and visibility. These were mostly favorable at 74 percent with UNDP, buoyed by high ratings in transparency and the delivery of quality programmes.

The survey also revealed that you can never do enough on value for money and cost effectiveness in a competitive and demanding environment and that UNDP should continue to strive for excellence in these.



In greater transparency

Now, it can certainly be argued that one may be effective, but not transparent. UNDPs own 2017 survey revealed that 67 percent of respondents viewed UNDP as accountable and transparent, denoting some scope for improvement. But like value for money, can one in absolute terms ever have enough transparency? Perhaps such a pursuit should also be placed in a relative, not just absolute, context as the IATI does.



2018 IATI Transparency Index, Publish What You Fund



For three consecutive years, from 2015 to 2017, the IATI found UNDP to be the most transparent aid organization in a ranking of multilateral and bilateral development agencies. While UNDP was second in 2018 behind the Asian Development Bank, it remains the most transparent institution in the UN system, ahead of many of its actual funding partners, which provides a strong argument for multilateral funding.

Member States and partners welcome such rankings, in a spirit of friendly competition between development actors, but also to demonstrate to taxpayers that multilateral organisations have the will and wherewithal to be transparency leaders. This is a hard-fought ranking and UNDP will continue to strive for top billing.



In greater accountability

Having spoken of the what and how well, the who is of interest as regards accountability.

UNDP reports on its results to its Executive Board of 36 Member States and to governments across 140+ programme countries where 90 percent of UNDPs US$4.6bn expenditure in 2018 was spent on programmes and services to achieve development results.

An important aspect is the integrity in the connection between resources and results. After all, partners wish to invest scarce taxpayer development dollars in an organisation that can deliver results according to high expectations.

UNDPs programming was considered to have a strong results-based focus, which was rated as highly satisfactory in the 2016 MOPAN assessment, stating that UNDP demonstrates a strong corporate commitment to results-based management and its interventions are relevant to the needs and priorities of beneficiaries and aligned with national priorities.



In better machinery

Performance assessments and rankings such as the MOPAN and IATI are important aspects of instilling faith in this international machinery by establishing greater trust between citizens and the national and global institutions that serve their needs.

National and international organisations will continue to be under the spotlight in terms of effectiveness, transparency and accountability. And rightly so, for taxpayer funds should not be taken for granted even if for the noblest of objectives.

Of course, in a fast and changing world of needs, expectations and systems, there will always be scope for improvement. In 2020, UNDP will be cooperating with new performance initiatives and will again be assessed by the MOPAN, for which it has already committed to further improvements (PDF).

Finally, in 2020 UNDP will be undertaking another extensive Partnership Survey (PDF)which has already registered 11,000 entities from its world of partnerships and clients that will tell whether since 2017 they still consider UNDP to be a valued partner (89 percent), has a favorable image (87 percent) and whether UNDP needs to continue improving in its crisis response systems (48 percent).

After all, if you are in the business of advising governments on effective institutions, value for money and transparent elections, its always good to have your own house and machinery in order first.


NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Excitation Systems market worldwide is projected to grow by US$666.4 Million, driven by a compounded growth of 3.4%. Brushless, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 3.5%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$2.2 Billion by the year 2025, Brushless will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798544/?utm_source=PRN

- Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 2.6% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$24.8 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$19.7 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, Brushless will reach a market size of US$127.9 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 5.2% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$183.7 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies.



- Competitors identified in this market include, among others, ABB Ltd.; Altex Electric Company; Amtech Power Ltd.; ANDRITZ AG; Automation Electronics India; Basler Electric Company; Emersion Electric Co.; KONCAR - Electronics and Informatics Inc.; Rolls-Royce Corporation; Siemens AG; TENEL CR, s.r.o.; Veo Oy; Voith GmbH & Co. KGaA







Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798544/?utm_source=PRN



I. METHODOLOGY



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW

Global Competitor Market Shares

Excitation Systems Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide

(in %): 2019 & 2025

2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS

3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS

4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE

Table 1: Excitation Systems Global Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 2: Excitation Systems Global Retrospective Market

Scenario in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 3: Excitation Systems Market Share Shift across Key

Geographies Worldwide: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 4: Brushless (Type) World Market by Region/Country in US$

Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 5: Brushless (Type) Historic Market Analysis by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 6: Brushless (Type) Market Share Breakdown of Worldwide

Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 7: Static (Type) Potential Growth Markets Worldwide in

US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 8: Static (Type) Historic Market Perspective by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 9: Static (Type) Market Sales Breakdown by Region/Country

in Percentage: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 10: Digital (Controller Type) Geographic Market Spread

Worldwide in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 11: Digital (Controller Type) Region Wise Breakdown of

Global Historic Demand in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 12: Digital (Controller Type) Market Share Distribution

in Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 13: Analog (Controller Type) World Market Estimates and

Forecasts by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 14: Analog (Controller Type) Market Historic Review by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 15: Analog (Controller Type) Market Share Breakdown by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 16: Synchronous Generators (Application) Worldwide Latent

Demand Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 17: Synchronous Generators (Application) Global Historic

Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 18: Synchronous Generators (Application) Distribution of

Global Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 19: Synchronous Motors (Application) Sales Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country for the Years 2018

through 2025

Table 20: Synchronous Motors (Application) Analysis of Historic

Sales in US$ Million by Region/Country for the Years 2009 to

2017

Table 21: Synchronous Motors (Application) Global Market Share

Distribution by Region/Country for 2009, 2019, and 2025



III. MARKET ANALYSIS



GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS

UNITED STATES

Market Facts & Figures

US Excitation Systems Market Share (in %) by Company: 2019 & 2025

Table 22: United States Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 23: Excitation Systems Market in the United States by

Type: A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 24: United States Excitation Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 25: United States Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 26: Excitation Systems Market in the United States by

Controller Type: A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 27: United States Excitation Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 28: United States Excitation Systems Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 29: Excitation Systems Historic Demand Patterns in the

United States by Application in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 30: Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown in the

United States by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CANADA

Table 31: Canadian Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 32: Canadian Excitation Systems Historic Market Review by

Type in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 33: Excitation Systems Market in Canada: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 34: Canadian Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 35: Canadian Excitation Systems Historic Market Review by

Controller Type in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 36: Excitation Systems Market in Canada: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Controller Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 37: Canadian Excitation Systems Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 38: Excitation Systems Market in Canada: Summarization of

Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by Application for

2009-2017

Table 39: Canadian Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

JAPAN

Table 40: Japanese Market for Excitation Systems: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 41: Excitation Systems Market in Japan: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2009-2017

Table 42: Japanese Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 43: Japanese Market for Excitation Systems: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Controller Type for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 44: Excitation Systems Market in Japan: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Million by Controller Type for the Period

2009-2017

Table 45: Japanese Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis by

Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 46: Japanese Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Excitation Systems in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 47: Japanese Excitation Systems Market in US$ Million by

Application: 2009-2017

Table 48: Excitation Systems Market Share Shift in Japan by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CHINA

Table 49: Chinese Excitation Systems Market Growth Prospects in

US$ Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 50: Excitation Systems Historic Market Analysis in China

in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 51: Chinese Excitation Systems Market by Type: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 52: Chinese Excitation Systems Market Growth Prospects in

US$ Million by Controller Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 53: Excitation Systems Historic Market Analysis in China

in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2009-2017

Table 54: Chinese Excitation Systems Market by Controller Type:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 55: Chinese Demand for Excitation Systems in US$ Million

by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 56: Excitation Systems Market Review in China in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 57: Chinese Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

EUROPE

Market Facts & Figures

European Excitation Systems Market: Competitor Market Share

Scenario (in %) for 2019 & 2025

Table 58: European Excitation Systems Market Demand Scenario in

US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 59: Excitation Systems Market in Europe: A Historic

Market Perspective in US$ Million by Region/Country for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 60: European Excitation Systems Market Share Shift by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 61: European Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 62: Excitation Systems Market in Europe in US$ Million by

Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 63: European Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 64: European Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2018-2025

Table 65: Excitation Systems Market in Europe in US$ Million by

Controller Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 66: European Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown by

Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 67: European Excitation Systems Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 68: Excitation Systems Market in Europe: Summarization of

Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application for the Period

2009-2017

Table 69: European Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

FRANCE

Table 70: Excitation Systems Market in France by Type:

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for the Period

2018-2025

Table 71: French Excitation Systems Historic Market Scenario in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 72: French Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 73: Excitation Systems Market in France by Controller

Type: Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for the Period

2018-2025

Table 74: French Excitation Systems Historic Market Scenario in

US$ Million by Controller Type: 2009-2017

Table 75: French Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis by

Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 76: Excitation Systems Quantitative Demand Analysis in

France in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 77: French Excitation Systems Historic Market Review in

US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 78: French Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis: A

17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025

GERMANY

Table 79: Excitation Systems Market in Germany: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 80: German Excitation Systems Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 81: German Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 82: Excitation Systems Market in Germany: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Controller Type

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 83: German Excitation Systems Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Million by Controller Type: 2009-2017

Table 84: German Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown by

Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 85: Excitation Systems Market in Germany: Annual Sales

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Application for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 86: German Excitation Systems Market in Retrospect in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 87: Excitation Systems Market Share Distribution in

Germany by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ITALY

Table 88: Italian Excitation Systems Market Growth Prospects in

US$ Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 89: Excitation Systems Historic Market Analysis in Italy

in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 90: Italian Excitation Systems Market by Type: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 91: Italian Excitation Systems Market Growth Prospects in

US$ Million by Controller Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 92: Excitation Systems Historic Market Analysis in Italy

in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2009-2017

Table 93: Italian Excitation Systems Market by Controller Type:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 94: Italian Demand for Excitation Systems in US$ Million

by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 95: Excitation Systems Market Review in Italy in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 96: Italian Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED KINGDOM

Table 97: United Kingdom Market for Excitation Systems: Annual

Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 98: Excitation Systems Market in the United Kingdom:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2009-2017

Table 99: United Kingdom Excitation Systems Market Share

Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 100: United Kingdom Market for Excitation Systems: Annual

Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Controller

Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 101: Excitation Systems Market in the United Kingdom:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Controller Type for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 102: United Kingdom Excitation Systems Market Share

Analysis by Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 103: United Kingdom Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Excitation Systems in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 104: United Kingdom Excitation Systems Market in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 105: Excitation Systems Market Share Shift in the United

Kingdom by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SPAIN

Table 106: Spanish Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 107: Spanish Excitation Systems Historic Market Review by

Type in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 108: Excitation Systems Market in Spain: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 109: Spanish Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 110: Spanish Excitation Systems Historic Market Review by

Controller Type in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 111: Excitation Systems Market in Spain: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Controller Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 112: Spanish Excitation Systems Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 113: Excitation Systems Market in Spain: Summarization of

Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by Application for

2009-2017

Table 114: Spanish Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

RUSSIA

Table 115: Russian Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 116: Excitation Systems Market in Russia by Type: A

Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 117: Russian Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 118: Russian Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 119: Excitation Systems Market in Russia by Controller

Type: A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 120: Russian Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown by

Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 121: Russian Excitation Systems Latent Demand Forecasts

in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 122: Excitation Systems Historic Demand Patterns in

Russia by Application in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 123: Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown in Russia

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF EUROPE

Table 124: Rest of Europe Excitation Systems Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 125: Excitation Systems Market in Rest of Europe in US$

Million by Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 126: Rest of Europe Excitation Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 127: Rest of Europe Excitation Systems Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2018-2025

Table 128: Excitation Systems Market in Rest of Europe in US$

Million by Controller Type: A Historic Review for the Period

2009-2017

Table 129: Rest of Europe Excitation Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 130: Rest of Europe Excitation Systems Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 131: Excitation Systems Market in Rest of Europe:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application

for the Period 2009-2017

Table 132: Rest of Europe Excitation Systems Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 133: Asia-Pacific Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 134: Excitation Systems Market in Asia-Pacific: Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country for the Period

2009-2017

Table 135: Asia-Pacific Excitation Systems Market Share

Analysis by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 136: Excitation Systems Market in Asia-Pacific by Type:

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for the Period

2018-2025

Table 137: Asia-Pacific Excitation Systems Historic Market

Scenario in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 138: Asia-Pacific Excitation Systems Market Share

Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 139: Excitation Systems Market in Asia-Pacific by

Controller Type: Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 140: Asia-Pacific Excitation Systems Historic Market

Scenario in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2009-2017

Table 141: Asia-Pacific Excitation Systems Market Share

Analysis by Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 142: Excitation Systems Quantitative Demand Analysis in

Asia-Pacific in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 143: Asia-Pacific Excitation Systems Historic Market

Review in US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 144: Asia-Pacific Excitation Systems Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019,

and 2025

AUSTRALIA

Table 145: Excitation Systems Market in Australia: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 146: Australian Excitation Systems Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 147: Australian Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 148: Excitation Systems Market in Australia: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Controller Type

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 149: Australian Excitation Systems Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2009-2017

Table 150: Australian Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown

by Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 151: Excitation Systems Market in Australia: Annual Sales

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Application for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 152: Australian Excitation Systems Market in Retrospect

in US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 153: Excitation Systems Market Share Distribution in

Australia by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

INDIA

Table 154: Indian Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 155: Indian Excitation Systems Historic Market Review by

Type in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 156: Excitation Systems Market in India: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 157: Indian Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 158: Indian Excitation Systems Historic Market Review by

Controller Type in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 159: Excitation Systems Market in India: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Controller Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 160: Indian Excitation Systems Market Quantitative Demand

Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 161: Excitation Systems Market in India: Summarization of

Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by Application for

2009-2017

Table 162: Indian Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SOUTH KOREA

Table 163: Excitation Systems Market in South Korea: Recent

Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 164: South Korean Excitation Systems Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 165: Excitation Systems Market Share Distribution in

South Korea by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 166: Excitation Systems Market in South Korea: Recent

Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Controller

Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 167: South Korean Excitation Systems Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2009-2017

Table 168: Excitation Systems Market Share Distribution in

South Korea by Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 169: Excitation Systems Market in South Korea: Recent

Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Application

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 170: South Korean Excitation Systems Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 171: Excitation Systems Market Share Distribution in

South Korea by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 172: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Excitation Systems:

Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 173: Excitation Systems Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2009-2017

Table 174: Rest of Asia-Pacific Excitation Systems Market Share

Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 175: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Excitation Systems:

Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by

Controller Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 176: Excitation Systems Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Controller Type for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 177: Rest of Asia-Pacific Excitation Systems Market Share

Analysis by Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 178: Rest of Asia-Pacific Demand Estimates and Forecasts

for Excitation Systems in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to

2025

Table 179: Rest of Asia-Pacific Excitation Systems Market in

US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 180: Excitation Systems Market Share Shift in Rest of

Asia-Pacific by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

LATIN AMERICA

Table 181: Latin American Excitation Systems Market Trends by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2018-2025

Table 182: Excitation Systems Market in Latin America in US$

Million by Region/Country: A Historic Perspective for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 183: Latin American Excitation Systems Market Percentage

Breakdown of Sales by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 184: Latin American Excitation Systems Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 185: Excitation Systems Historic Market Analysis in Latin

America in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 186: Latin American Excitation Systems Market by Type:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 187: Latin American Excitation Systems Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Million by Controller Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 188: Excitation Systems Historic Market Analysis in Latin

America in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2009-2017

Table 189: Latin American Excitation Systems Market by

Controller Type: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 190: Latin American Demand for Excitation Systems in US$

Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 191: Excitation Systems Market Review in Latin America in

US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 192: Latin American Excitation Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ARGENTINA

Table 193: Argentinean Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 194: Excitation Systems Market in Argentina in US$

Million by Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 195: Argentinean Excitation Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 196: Argentinean Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2018-2025

Table 197: Excitation Systems Market in Argentina in US$

Million by Controller Type: A Historic Review for the Period

2009-2017

Table 198: Argentinean Excitation Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 199: Argentinean Excitation Systems Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 200: Excitation Systems Market in Argentina:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application

for the Period 2009-2017

Table 201: Argentinean Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

BRAZIL

Table 202: Excitation Systems Market in Brazil by Type:

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for the Period

2018-2025

Table 203: Brazilian Excitation Systems Historic Market

Scenario in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 204: Brazilian Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 205: Excitation Systems Market in Brazil by Controller

Type: Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for the Period

2018-2025

Table 206: Brazilian Excitation Systems Historic Market

Scenario in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2009-2017

Table 207: Brazilian Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis

by Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 208: Excitation Systems Quantitative Demand Analysis in

Brazil in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 209: Brazilian Excitation Systems Historic Market Review

in US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 210: Brazilian Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis:

A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025

MEXICO

Table 211: Excitation Systems Market in Mexico: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 212: Mexican Excitation Systems Historic Market Analysis

in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 213: Mexican Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 214: Excitation Systems Market in Mexico: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Controller Type

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 215: Mexican Excitation Systems Historic Market Analysis

in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2009-2017

Table 216: Mexican Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown by

Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 217: Excitation Systems Market in Mexico: Annual Sales

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Application for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 218: Mexican Excitation Systems Market in Retrospect in

US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 219: Excitation Systems Market Share Distribution in

Mexico by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF LATIN AMERICA

Table 220: Rest of Latin America Excitation Systems Market

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 221: Excitation Systems Market in Rest of Latin America

by Type: A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 222: Rest of Latin America Excitation Systems Market

Share Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 223: Rest of Latin America Excitation Systems Market

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Controller Type:

2018 to 2025

Table 224: Excitation Systems Market in Rest of Latin America

by Controller Type: A Historic Review in US$ Million for

2009-2017

Table 225: Rest of Latin America Excitation Systems Market

Share Breakdown by Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 226: Rest of Latin America Excitation Systems Latent

Demand Forecasts in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 227: Excitation Systems Historic Demand Patterns in Rest

of Latin America by Application in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 228: Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown in Rest of

Latin America by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

MIDDLE EAST

Table 229: The Middle East Excitation Systems Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 230: Excitation Systems Market in the Middle East by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 231: The Middle East Excitation Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 232: The Middle East Excitation Systems Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 233: The Middle East Excitation Systems Historic Market

by Type in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 234: Excitation Systems Market in the Middle East:

Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 235: The Middle East Excitation Systems Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 236: The Middle East Excitation Systems Historic Market

by Controller Type in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 237: Excitation Systems Market in the Middle East:

Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Controller Type for

2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 238: The Middle East Excitation Systems Market

Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Million by Application:

2018 to 2025

Table 239: Excitation Systems Market in the Middle East:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by

Application for 2009-2017

Table 240: The Middle East Excitation Systems Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

IRAN

Table 241: Iranian Market for Excitation Systems: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 242: Excitation Systems Market in Iran: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2009-2017

Table 243: Iranian Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 244: Iranian Market for Excitation Systems: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Controller Type for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 245: Excitation Systems Market in Iran: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Million by Controller Type for the Period

2009-2017

Table 246: Iranian Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis by

Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 247: Iranian Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Excitation Systems in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 248: Iranian Excitation Systems Market in US$ Million by

Application: 2009-2017

Table 249: Excitation Systems Market Share Shift in Iran by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ISRAEL

Table 250: Israeli Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 251: Excitation Systems Market in Israel in US$ Million

by Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 252: Israeli Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 253: Israeli Excitation Systems Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2018-2025

Table 254: Excitation Systems Market in Israel in US$ Million

by Controller Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 255: Israeli Excitation Systems Market Share Breakdown by

Controller Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 256: Israeli Excitation Systems Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 257: Excitation Systems Market in Israel: Summarization

of Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application for the Period

2009-2017

Table 258: Israeli Excitation Systems Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SAUDI ARABIA

Table 259: Saudi Arabian Excitation Systems Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 260: Excitation Systems Historic Market Analysis in Saudi

Arabia in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 261: Saudi Arabian Excitation Systems Market by Type:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 262: Saudi Arabian Excitation Systems Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Million by Controller Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 263: Excitation Systems Historic Market Analysis in Saudi

Arabia in US$ Million by Controller Type: 2009-2017

Table 264: Saudi Arabian Excitation Systems Market by

Controller Type: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 265: Saudi Arabian Demand for Excitation Systems in US$

Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 266: Excitation Systems Market Review in Saudi Arabia in

US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 267: Saudi Arabian Excitation Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Table 268: Excitation Systems Market in the United Arab

Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$

Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 269: United Arab Emirates Excitation Systems Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017



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The government has not taken any decision on preparing a nationwide NRC, it reiterated in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, amid protests against the citizens' register in the country.

"Till now, the government has not taken any decision to prepare the National Register of Indian Citizens at the national level," Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said replying a written question.

On December 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government has never discussed NRC since coming to power for the first time in 2014. It has been discussed neither in Parliament nor in the Cabinet, he added.

The Supreme Court-monitored exercise of updating the NRC was carried out only in Assam. The final NRC, a list of Assam's residents published on August 31, 2019, excluded names of 19 lakh people, creating a huge controversy.

President Ram Nath Kovind did not refer to NRC in his address to the joint sitting of Parliament at the beginning of the Budget Session on Friday.

On June 20, 2019, soon after the formation of the new Lok Sabha, Kovind had said the Modi government decided to implement the process of NRC on "priority basis".

Kovind had said illegal infiltrators posed a major threat to India's internal security and this was leading to social imbalance in many parts of the country as well as putting a huge pressure on limited livelihood opportunities.

"My government has decided to implement the process of National Register of Citizens on priority basis in areas affected by infiltration. Security along the border will be further strengthened to prevent infiltration," he had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Ministry of and Forests (MoEF) told the National Green Tribunal on Tuesday that a guideline has been prepared for recognition of environmental laboratories and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has been assigned the task of scrutinising the applications received from them.

The CPCB has been entrusted the task of scrutinising the applications received from laboratories to ascertain that they are meeting the pre-requisites and mandatory requirements in respect of infrastructure, human resources, adoption of sampling methods, laboratory practices, mandatory registration/ accreditation/ certification, quality control measures, etc. as prescribed in the guidelines.

"A guideline has been prepared for recognition of environmental laboratories under the (Protection) Act, 1986 and the same was published as CPCB Publication No. LATS/9/2008-2009 in June, 2008. Chapter 6 of this publication. The recognition of laboratories is done following these guidelines," the MoEF told a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel.

The ministry told the NGT that an expert committee, including an external expert, a CPCB expert, CPCB member convenor and an expert member from the ministry as permanent invitee, is constituted to appraise all proposals.

"The recommendation of the Expert Committee is considered by the competent authority in the CPCB/ MoEF and after due diligence and examination of requisite conditions and acceptance of terms & conditions by the laboratory and the proposed analysts, recognition is granted subject to appropriate terms and conditions. The recognised laboratories are notified through the Gazette of India and these notifications include the name and address of the laboratory, names of government analysts and the period of recognition," the ministry told the tribunal.

It further said that an addendum to the guidelines was issued by which it was made mandatory for laboratories to have either ISO 17025 National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation or International Organization for Standardization, ISO 9001 certification and Occupation Health and Safety Management System (OHSAS 18001) certification for consideration of recognition under the (Protection) Act, 1986.

"Laboratory accreditation under NABL recognises technical competence of the laboratory for specific tests/ measurements, based on third party assessment and in agreement with international/ national standard/ procedure. Accreditation and thereafter its renewal by NABL are carried out following defined accreditation procedures, regular surveillance and on-site reassessment, as applicable," the ministry said.

The MoEF told the NGT that a provision for joint inspection of the applicant laboratories by a team comprising officers from the MoEF, CPCB and the state pollution control board concerned was originally included in the guidelines of 2008.

"However, further to the addendum of 2011 in respect of mandatory accreditation/ certification and its implementation across all recognised laboratories, MoEF decided to discontinue the provision of joint inspection subject to the laboratory possessing the mandatory accreditation/ certification for all activities in totality prior to submission of application for recognition," it said.

The ministry also told the tribunal that periodic surveillance of the recognised private environmental laboratories is also undertaken by the MoEF to ascertain compliance with terms and conditions, including renewal of mandatory accreditation and certification.

"The major observation of a desktop surveillance exercise carried out during 2017-18 was that many of the laboratories were not timely reporting the discontinuation of the notified government analysts. Non-compliant laboratories, which were due for renewal, were issued show cause/ warning letters," the ministry said.

The report was filed in response to a plea by NGO Social Action for Forest and Environment that contended the environment data generated in the country lacks authenticity and are often fudged to suit requirements, making it ineffective in pollution mitigation.

The NGO had said one of the main reasons for generation of poor quality data and poor monitoring of the environment pollution is cost consideration.

Explaining the issue, it said the cost incurred on the two vital works by green laboratories has been much lower than the actual cost incurred in monitoring environment, sampling data and analysing the same.

Referring to an RTI reply, the NGO had said the task of monitoring quality of water from various sources like rivers, hand pumps and groundwater, besides the air quality and hazardous ingredients of environment, are given to recognised private laboratories.

The NGO had said there was a need to increase transparency and efficiency in the environment monitoring sector and this could be achieved by stringent monitoring and regulating the cost as per the CPCB schedule of rates.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TORONTO, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Austin Resources Ltd. (Austin or the Company) (TSX Venture Exchange  AUT) announces that it has entered into an agreement to transfer all of its interests in the mineral exploration properties in Chile held by Minera Azul Ventures Limitada (Minera Azul), the Companys wholly owned Chilean subsidiary. The properties, totaling 949 hectares, are located in the La Higuera district, 50km north of the town of La Serena in the Coquimbo province.



Under the terms of the agreement, Minera Azul will transfer all of its interest in all exploration properties held by Minera Azul, along with certain drill core, to Bluerock Resources SPA (Bluerock) in exchange for the Company being granted a one percent (1%) royalty over future cashflows from mineral production from the transferred properties (the Royalty). Bluerock, an arms length party to the Company, is a majority controlled subsidiary of Tribeca Resources Chile SPA (Tribeca Resources), a private Chilean exploration business with adjoining properties. Bluerock will have the right, but not the obligation, to purchase fifty percent (50%) of the Royalty by making a cash payment of USD$63,166 to the Company.

Assuming the completion of the agreement with Bluerock, Minera Azul will no longer have any assets and the Company intends to wind-up operations in Chile and dispose of its interest in Minera Azul.

The agreement, and the disposal of the Companys interest in Minera Azul, remains subject to the receipt of all regulatory approval including, without limitation, the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information contact:

Austin Resources Ltd.

Jing Peng

Chief Financial Officer

Telephone: 416-848-9888

Email: info@austinresources.ca

Website: www.austinresources.ca

About Tribeca Resources:

Tribeca Resources is a private Chilean exploration and development company. The team behind the company came out of Glencores copper business and established Tribeca Resources with the objective of building a portfolio of copper dominant properties in the Chilean Coastal IOCG Belt that can be advanced towards code compliant mineral resources. Via its 62.5% equity interest in Bluerock Resources, Tribeca Resources currently owns or has options to acquire 2,798 hectares of mineral properties in the La Higuera district (Figure 1). Its current property holdings host a best historical drill intersect of 285 metres at 0.4% copper, with significant gold, iron and cobalt by-product credits. Further information about Tribeca Resources can be found at www.tribecaresources.com.

Figure 1: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/545951d0-ea12-4d55-bf8b-6ebc6b2cddb4
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From Hyundai to Tata Motors, automakers are staring at a bleak future. With no succor provided in the Budget, the pain for companies is likely to continue for the next two quarters.

Automakers in the country started the first month of the year on a weak note amid poor demand and sluggish economic conditions.

Cumulative sales of Indias top six passenger vehicle makers fell 11.3 per cent over the year-ago period, according to the monthly sales volumes data released by the companies.

Passenger vehicle sales in India have been on a decline for a year and half. Last month's volumes, however, are not comparable to January 2019.

Many automakers have stopped production of BS-IV vehicles ahead of switchover to the new emission norms.

They are in the process of increasing production of BS-VI models gradually.

With no succor provided in the Budget, the pain for companies is likely to continue for the next two quarters.

The price increase, which comes ahead of the change in emission norms, is likely to dampen buyer sentiment further and impact sales adversely.

In a post-Budget research note, Dolat Capital said the increased allocation for agriculture and allied activities and rural development (with 25 per cent increase in agriculture credit to farmers and support to small and medium enterprises) augur well for two-wheeler and entry-level car demand.

Industry body, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), was expecting some measures such as an incentive to scrap old vehicles that could have boosted demand in the short term.

With the exception of Maruti Suzuki India, which reported a moderate increase in sales over the last year, dispatches at other automakers fell sharply year-on-year.

Auto companies in India count dispatches to dealers as sales.

The maker of Swift and Wagon R models sold 139,844 units during the month against 139,440 units a year ago.

Hyundai Motor India, the second largest in the pecking order, saw a drop of 8.3 per cent to 42,002 units.

K Ayukawa, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) at Maruti said the Budget provides a new direction and creates a stage for the private sector to invest and grow with ease and speed.

All these will help the auto industry. We also hope the GST Council will look at lower taxation of products like cars, which have a multiplier effect on jobs in the economy.

"The resultant economic growth will more than compensate for the lower tax rates, he said.

The drop in volumes was sharper for others.

While volumes at Mahindra skidded 17 per cent to 19,797 units, Tata Motors passenger vehicle sales contracted 22 per cent to 13,894 units during the month.

Dispatches at the local arm of Toyota and Honda fell 71 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively, as the companies stopped production of BS-IV models to make way for BS-VI.

The dispatches are likely to improve as they ramp up production of the models with new emission technology.
The police, however, has permitted the MNS to hold a rally from Marine Drive to Azad Maidan instead.

People carry a 350-foot-long Tricolour during a rally in support of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Sawantwadi in Sindhudurg district of the Konkan region on Monday. (Photo: PTI)

Mumbai: The Mumbai police has denied permission to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) to carry out a protest march from Byculla to Azad Maidan on February 9 in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) citing sensitivity, as the stretch is predominantly Muslim dominated.

The police, however, has permitted the MNS to hold a rally from Marine Drive to Azad Maidan instead.

The MNS is in support of identification and deportation of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Pakistan. Amidst these developments, the party has also put up posters in Navi Mumbai threatening MNS-style agitation, against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

The police denied permission on the grounds of possible law and order situation, which could emerge if the party marched through the Muslim-dominated localities.

Following due deliberations, the party has accepted the new route and the march will now be carried out from Marine Drive in south Mumbai.

Citing the current circumstances, the proposed route was not accepted for carrying out the protest march. There were questions on the security of the MNS functionaries so the route was tweaked, said a police officer.

The police will provide watertight security and take all steps to ensure no untoward incident takes place, the officer added.

The police has permitted a rally on this route since it is shorter compared to the earlier one and also avoids Muslim-dominated areas, said senior MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar.

The rally is against illegal migrants. It shouldnt be interpreted as being in favour of the CAA or NRC, Mr Nandgaonkar said.

The party has started awareness campaigns on the new route and has put up several posters and banners across the city.

The MNS chief had clarified last week that his statements against illegal migrants were misconstrued as being in favour of the CAA and NRC.
Yves here. One bit of good news with Uber and its allies launch of an empty charter to pretend to deal with the job conditions of gig workers is it appears to have gotten little notice in the US. Perhaps the fact that it was launched at Davos was more than a bit of a tell.

The pretense that Uber and its fellow service operators are somehow not in charge, along with a lack of enforcement mechanisms, were other tells of that this charter was an exercise in optics. Its still worth a look, if nothing else to see how the spin-meisters go about selling empty boxes as if they contained something of value.

However, the fact that these companies bothered to do even that much says they feel the need to address their critics, but they arent yet willing to do anything serious.

By Srujana Katta, Kelle Howson, Funda Ustek-Spilda, and Mark Graham. Originally published at openDemocracy

Every week seems to witness a new tragedy in the gig economy. Gig workers are injured and killed without the platforms that they work for acknowledging or shouldering any responsibility. Many workers take on these risks for below the minimum wage.

It is therefore noteworthy that the CEOs of Uber, Deliveroo and four other large platforms have come together to strengthen workers rights with a Charter of principles for good platform work that was published at the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos.

This kind of corporate strategy isnt new, and similar tactics have been deployed in many industries. In 2017, Sainsburys announced that its own-brand teas would no longer carry the Fairtrade label. Once positioning themselves as the worlds largest retailer of Fairtrade products, the supermarket giant said they would be certifying their tea supply chain under a cheaper in-house scheme, Fairly Traded, which mimicked some of Fairtrades key features, but was less accountable to farmers.Sainsburys was betting that consumers wouldnt have the time or inclination to scrutinise the difference.

Sainsburys strategy is part of a wider trend of corporate counter-mobilisation that researchers have observed in the world of ethical certification. Corporations are increasingly wise to the fact that, absent meaningful independent regulation, they can make their own rules: asserting ever-greater control over the less powerful actors in their supply chains.

Being familiar with these tactics in other sectors, we were not surprised by last weeks release of the Charter of Principles for Good Platform Work by a group of powerful digital labour platforms, or that the Charter bore the seal of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which has a long track record of diluting economic regulation in favour of elite interests.

On first glance, the Charter resembles the Fairwork Foundations principles that we have developed and refined over years of consultation with workers and labour researchers. At times, it even copies text directly from the Fairwork principles. At each step, however, the document is a watered-down and inadequate response to the challenges faced by platform workers. Indeed, the danger of such corporate masquerades of fairness is that they serve to muddy ethical standards, legitimise the status quo and stave off meaningful reform.

Progress in decent work standards in the gig economy is certainly to be recognised and celebrated. However, progress is not possible unless it includes workers voices. We cannot leave it to companies who profit from undermining conventional labour protections, to define decent work. That this Charter was released at all suggests that gig worker activism and resistance, as well as advocacy such as our own, is finding more purchase in public consciousness and that platforms are feeling the pressure to respond. However, the WEF principles fall woefully short of a meaningful agenda for good platform work in five core ways.

First, the companies should have brought workers, their representatives, and governments to the table and consulted with them in good faith to set benchmarks for good platform work. The Charter claims that All stakeholders, including platform operators, governments and workers themselves, have a role in ensuring the wellbeing of people engaged in platform work.

This unashamedly deflects responsibility from the actors  i.e. platform operators  who overwhelmingly control the conditions of platform work. Platforms set wages, and use algorithmic management, as well as incentives and penalties, to control workers. The interests of managers often do not align with the interests of workers. Moreover, the Charters tone of inclusiveness belies the fact that it has been written without any apparent input from the other stakeholders it identifies. If, in addition to platform operators, governments and workers too bear responsibility for workers wellbeing, they should also be involved in defining its parameters. To develop an effective, multi-stakeholder pathway to action, platform CEOs should  instead of issuing a unilateral agenda  commit to genuine, tripartite dialogue involving worker organisations and governments at an independent venue such as the International Labour Organizations International Labour Conference.

Second, platforms are unaccountable to the Charters commitments. What will be the penalties for non-compliance? Will they seek third party or independent verification that they are conforming to their principles? Both Uber and Postmates (another signatory) have fought tooth and nail to block and circumvent Californias AB5 legislation that would provide gig workers some of the protections they espouse in their Charter, including benefits and minimum wages. Deliveroo, another of the Charters signatories, recently failed to provide time off or injury cover for a driver who had suffered a horrific racially motivated attack at work, saying that he was free to take a few days off (without pay).

Only 72 hours before that, another Deliveroo and UberEats driver, Takieddine Boudhane, was stabbed to death while working in London. Deliveroos indifference to workers wellbeing casts their vague pledge to help protect workers from health and safety risks, and [] endeavour to protect and promote the physical and mental wellbeing of workers, in an even more superficial light. Safe in the knowledge that this Charter will not be officially policed, companies have signed on to pledges that they frequently flout.

Third, the Charters principles are startlingly permissive of practices we know to be harmful and unfair. One principle reads, Where minimum wage thresholds exist, workers classified as employees should earn at least the minimum wage of their jurisdiction, proportional to the time spent actively working and accounting for reasonable expenses for their mode of work. Across the world, the vast majority of platform workers are not classified as employees. So, with their provisos about who can be entitled to fair pay, platforms are attempting to legitimise their practice of paying workers wages that can fall dismally short of the legal minimums for employees. Moreover, the specification of time spent actively working means that much of the work day goes unpaid. A food delivery driver wearing the companys logos, sitting outside a restaurant waiting for an order is clearly adding value to the platform. But the time they spend doing so is entirely uncompensated.

In another instance, the Charter reads, Where non-payment for tasks by users/clients is permitted, it should be subject to clear rules. The problem here is that rules are normally already clear. They allow wage theft. Such rules allow workers to put time into a job and walk away uncompensated should the client deem something about the job unsatisfactory. Clarity alone will not solve this problem. What we instead need are rules that dont place all of the risk of any job onto the backs of workers.

Fourth, many of the principles are overly vague. For example, the Charter recommends that Contributions to public or private social protections and benefits could be made by stakeholders as appropriate, subject to employment status, jurisdictional context and local conditions. By passing the buck to unnamed stakeholders, and attaching various qualifiers to these protections, they leave ample space for creative interpretation of their self-imposed responsibilities. In the eyes of the CEOs who created this document, social protection is optional, discretionary and selective.

Finally there are fundamental tenets of fair work which the Charter has conspicuously left out. The International Labour Organizations Conventions 87 and 98, which enshrine workers freedom of association, and their right to organise and collectively bargain, are binding on all 182 member countries of the ILO, by virtue of their membership. While the CEOs who drafted the Charter of good work chose to copy text from some of our other principles, were not surprised that they didnt touch the Fairwork principle which states that all workers have the right to organise and collectively bargain. Platforms are notorious for their union-busting tactics. Our research in India, for instance, shows that Uber workers who participated in strikes faced ID blocks, incentives being rolled back, and a decrease in the number of rides they were allocated. It is only through collective representation that workers enjoy many of the protections we take for granted today, and which are being quickly eroded by gig work.

Until it provides space for workers interests to be meaningfully represented, and sets out an accountable pathway to action, this document is nothing more than fairwashing. This is not, as the WEF proclaims, a ground-breaking initiative. It is an attempt to undermine the forces of resistance that have begun to chip away at the power of platforms.

As ever more jobs become subsumed into the gig economy, we must ensure that the future of work we are hurtling towards is one of fair standards, safe conditions, and decent wages. In light of this Charters release, activists and advocates for workers interests need to redouble their efforts to expose unfair labour practices, hold platforms accountable, and ultimately shape a fairer future of work.

Letting CEOs unilaterally define good work, without any scrutiny into whether they even adhere to their own watered-down vision, undermines this mission.
New Delhi: To increase participation of non-resident Indians, some categories of government securities will be opened fully for non-resident investors, apart from being available to domestic investors as well.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the Union Budget on Saturday that NRIs will be allowed to invest in certain categories of GSecs.

One of the Budget proposals is that the limit for foreign portfolio investment (FPI) in corporate bonds, currently at 9% of outstanding stock, will be increased to 15% of the outstanding stock of corporate bonds. This will in turn open avenues for foreign investments in the debt market.

The Budget also contains a provision for improving investors' confidence and to expand the scope of credit default swaps, the government proposes to formulate a legislation, to be placed soon before the House, for laying down a mechanism for netting financial contracts.

The Finance Minister also announced that the debt-based Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) recently floated by the government was a big success. Government proposes to expand this by floating a new Debt-ETF consisting primarily of government securities.

This will give retail investors access to government securities as much as giving an attractive investment for pension funds and long-term investors.

In order to incentivise the investment by the Sovereign Wealth Fund of foreign governments in the priority sectors, The Finance Minister announced a grant of 100% tax exemption to their interest, dividend and capital gains income in respect of investment made in infrastructure and other notified sectors before March 31, 2024 and with a minimum lock-in period of 3 years.
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Air India on Tuesday announced the suspension of its Delhi to Hong Kong flight from February 8, this happened hours after the authorities confirmed the death of a patient who caught the virus from China.

#FlyAI : Air India is suspending its operations to HongKong in view of the #coronovirus situation after flying AI314 on 7th February, 2020 from Delhi to Hongkong and AI315 from Hongkong to Delhi on 8th February. Please contact customer care for further assistance in this regard.  Air India (@airindiain) February 4, 2020

#FlyAI : Air India is suspending its operations to HongKong in view of the #coronovirus situation after flying AI314 on 7th February, 2020 from Delhi to Hongkong and AI315 from Hongkong to Delhi on 8th February. Please contact customer care for further assistance in this regard.

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The novel Coronavirus, which originated in Chinas Wuhan city is spreading to other countries. Hong Kong on Tuesday 4th February reported the death of a patient being treated for the deadly virus.

#6ETravelAdvisory: For any assistance, please reach out to us on Twitter/Facebook or call us at 01246173838. pic.twitter.com/2jdfrP7s9I  IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) January 30, 2020

AFP

Earlier on January 30 Indigo Airlines released its travel advisory on twitter and later suspended all three flights between India and China.

Air India suspended its Delhi-Shanghai flight and transferred those on Delhi-Hong Kong route, from February 8, it will be suspending operations to Delhi-Hong Kong route too due to the outbreak of Coronavirus.
A classic Kiwi sound will fill Centrestage Theatre when music groups, the Harmonic Resonators and The Nukes, play on Saturday February 15.

The Harmonic Resonators are a five-piece band known for performing singalong folk tunes, in both English and Te Reo. The Nukes are a ukulele trio, who have been together for 10 years and have three albums behind them. The two bands have joined forces for a New Zealand-wide tour  the first time they have performed together.

Win tickets and CDs

Hibiscus Matters has a family pass for five people to the Orewa show of the Harmonic Resonators and The Nukes, as well as a signed CD from both bands the give away. To go into the draw, like the Hibiscus Matters Facebook page and private message us your name and phone number before Monday, February 10.

To hear their music, search The Nukes or The Harmonic Resonators on Facebook.
New Delhi: The government is taking adequate steps to stabilise prices of essential food items, including vegetables, Minister Of State For Ministry Of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Danve Raosaheb Dadarao informed Lok Sabha, on Tuesday.

Potato, onion and tomato together accounted for about 52% of total vegetable production in 2018-19, the minister added.

In a written reply to a question on the issue, the minister stated that the government utilises trade and policy instruments like import duty, Minimum Export Price, export restrictions, the imposition of stock limits and advising the states for effective action against hoarders & black marketers etc. to regulate domestic availability and moderate prices.

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He also said that the government is also implementing the Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) to help moderate the volatility in prices of agri-horticultural commodities like onion and potato.

"Government banned the export of onions and imposed stock limits on traders under Essential Commodities Act on 29.09.19. Government also imported onions for augmenting availability and moderating its prices." the minister said.
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- The Rib House, a popular American-style barbecue restaurant just outside MCAS Iwakuni's main gate, has been declared off-limits following the owner's arrest on drug charges.

Phillip Christopher Azevedo, 41, was taken into custody Dec. 21 on suspicion of marijuana possession, according to a Fukuoka Prefectural Police spokesman who spoke to Stars and Stripes on Jan. 14. Japanese government officials customarily speak to the media on condition of anonymity.

According to a post on MCAS Iwakuni's official Facebook page, the Rib House, at 7-23 Kurumamachi 2-Chome, was declared off-limits Jan. 13 for all base personnel, military and civilian "due to illegal drug activity and other related criminal activity."

Rib House is the only Iwakuni establishment that is off-limits to base personnel; however, the restaurant, which is usually open only on Fridays and Saturdays, appears to have been closed since Azevedo's arrest.

Japanese police declined to comment on Azevedo's case, including how much marijuana he was accused of having or how he allegedly acquired the drug. It's also unclear if the Marine Corps veteran is still in custody.

"Off-limits areas may be established by the MCAS Iwakuni Commanding Officer when there is substantive information that an establishment presents conditions that adversely affect the health, safety, welfare, morale, or morals of SOFA status personnel," said base spokesman Maj. Joshua Diddams in a recent email to Stars and Stripes.

Americans subject to the status of forces agreement governing the U.S. military and civilian Defense Department employees in Japan can face punitive action under the uniform code of military justice or applicable regulations for visiting off-limits businesses, according to the III Marine Expeditionary Force.
[February 04, 2020] The 2020 Narwhal List Shows Great Progress for Canada's Tech Industry

The 2020 edition of the Narwhal List was released today, revealing another remarkable year for Canadian technology companies that have deployed significant amounts of capital to fuel their growth. The list, which ranks Canada's leading tech companies by their financial velocity - the rate at which they raise and deploy investment dollars to fuel growth - shows there were nine financings of Narwhals that exceeded $100 million (all amounts in $US). The top 10 Narwhals are:







Rank Company Founded Total Funding ($US) Financial Velocity Sector City 1 Chinook Therapeutics 2019 65,000,000 65.0 Biotechnology Vancouver 2 Element AI 2016 257,483,994 64.4 Computer Software Montreal 3 Repare Therapeutics 2016 150,500,000 37.6 Biotechnology Saint Laurent 4 Enerkem 2000 616,487,747 30.8 Renewables and Environment Montreal 5 DalCor Pharmaceuticals 2015 150,000,000 30.0 Pharmaceuticals Montreal 6 Verafin 2003 453,988,665 26.7 Computer Software St. John's 7 Fusion Pharmaceuticals 2014 151,000,000 25.2 Biotechnology Hamilton 8 Stormfisher Biogas 2006 349,787,329 25.0 Renewables and Environment Toronto 9 Hootsuite 2008 299,693,624 25.0 Marketing and Advertising Vancouver 10 North 2012 199,632,519 25.0 Consumer Electronics Kitchener

The Narwhal List, which is created annually by the Narwhal Project (https://narwhalproject.org) shows that: The computer technology sector continues to expand with 29 companies on track to IPO (up from seven in 2016).

Six health technology companies raised an average of more than $70 million to fuel their growth

This year's list includes clean technology companies for the first time, with seven companies on a track that could lead to an IPO. "The 2020 Narwhal List shows that Canada is making tremendous progress at developing world-class companies," says Charles Plant, Founder of the Narwhal Project. "Every year, more capital is being made available to fuel the growth of firms such as Verafin, Clio and 1Password. Canada now has two unicorns [private companies valued at $1 billion or more] in Nuvei and Coveo (News - Alert), and Shopify now has a market cap of $55 billion." The Narwhal List was developed to focus attention on the Canadian technology companies best poised to become world-class firms. The list uses a metric that calculates the financial velocity of a firm, based on the rate at which they acquire and deploy growth capital. You can get a full copy of the Narwhal List and the report at: https://narwhalproject.org/narwhal-list/ About The Narwhal Project The Narwhal Project (htttps://narwhalproject.org) was established to conduct research into the underlying factors essential to creating world-class technology companies. Our objective is to understand how companies can accelerate their growth and how governments, companies, and academia can identify and adopt best practices in technology commercialization. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005839/en/

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A Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi has declared the federal government policy, plan or proclamation to establish RUGA Settlement and cattle colonies in Benue State as unwarranted, unlawful and unconstitutional.

The suit was filed by Benue Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Benue State, Barrister Michael Gusa against the Attorney General of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Minister of Agriculture.

Presiding Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon declared on Monday that any move by the federal government to compulsorily acquire land for RUGA Settlement or cattle colony in Benue State without the approval of the Benue State government is null and void.

Justice Olajuwon granted an order nullifying every action or decisions taken to establish RUGA Settlement or cattle colonies for herdsmen in Benue State.

He further issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Attorney General, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the Minister of Agriculture, their agents, privies, servants or whosoever from making any attempt to hold, administer, use or allocate land in Benue State for RUGA Settlement, cattle colonies or any other purpose contrary to the 1999 constitution, the Land Use Act and the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law 2017.

According to him, section 1 of the Land Use Act of 1978, ownership of land in any state of the federation is vested on the governor of the state and only the governor has the right to grant statutory right of occupancy to any person.

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Indian nations were among the 1,400 plus Islamic State (IS) extremists who surrendered to Afghanistan authorities in 2019, a UN report stated. While most of those who surrendered were from Afghanistan, but other foreign nationals included--Indians, Pakistanis, Canadians, French and so on. The leg of Islamic State in the region, known as, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant  Khorasan Province (ISIL-K) is largely functional in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"More than 1,400 people surrendered to the Afghan authorities, including dependants of ISIL-K fighters. Most males were Afghan nationals, but there were also foreign nationals from Azerbaijan, Canada, France, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan," the January 2020 report said, without giving a breakup of their numbers.

READ| With Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death, what's next for ISIS?

According to UN report, the Afghan security forces and the fighters of the foe armed group Taliban were able to inflict "severe damage" on Islamic State terrorists. The impact on ISIL-K numbers may be significant. The group is "now assessed to have approximately 2,500 fighters in Afghanistan, with about 2,100 of them concentrated in the Kunar province", it said.

The UN report further said ISIL-K has established informal contact with other terrorist groups, including Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-Islam. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant  Khorasan Province (ISIL - K) announced its formation on January 10, 2015, through an online video. It was formed by former Taliban faction commanders who swore allegiance to Abu Bakr Baghdadi, the former so-called caliph of the Islamic State.

Islamic State in India

The Islamic State's official mouthpiece Amaq News Agency had claimed a 'province' in India back in May 2019, called "Wilayah of Hind" following a skirmish with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. In the realm of narratives, the Islamic States' endevour to expand and establish its province in the region was seen as an attempt to fortify its positioning after taking heavy losses from its vast territories Iraq and Syria in April 2019. The number of Indians who managed to travel to either West Asia or Afghanistan to answer Islamic States' calls between 2014 and 2016 is around 10 to 15.

The director of a group that tracks the terror outfit, SITE Intel Group, Rita Katz had said, "The establishment of a province in a region where it has nothing resembling actual governance is absurd, but it should not be written off." Days after the killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in November last year had said that the Islamic State was shifting its base to Afghanistan, and thus was a threat to India as well.

(With PTI inputs)

READ| Spy stole Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's underwear for DNA identification

READ| Iran strikes US base in Iraq: World divided, oil prices surge; everything you need to know
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Uber has told the Colombian government it is considering taking its dispute with the Andean country to international arbitration, the company's general manager for Latin America told Reuters on Monday.

Citing violation of a trade deal with the United States for escalating the dispute, the ride-hailing firm said its initial calculations suggest damages from suspending its service in Colombia will exceed $250 million.

Uber departed Colombia on Friday after a court in December ruled the company had violated competition rules and ordered it to cease operating. Prior to its departure, Uber said it had 2.3 million active users in Latin America's fourth-largest economy, as well as 88,000 drivers.

"We are considering this option as well as other legal recourses (in Colombia)," Uber's George Gordon said in a telephone interview.

He said Uber wants to return to Colombia but added that it was up to the government to find an outcome.

"We want to come back but it is a question of when and how," he said. "When? As soon as possible. How? That is up to the government. They could resolve it today if they wanted."

At Davos, President Ivan Duque told Reuters technology companies were welcome in Colombia, but said they had to operate on a level playing field.

In a statement, the company said Colombia's decision constituted censorship that went against freedom of expression online and internet neutrality, saying it had been unfairly treated.

"In contrast to the measures taken against Uber, other companies from Colombia and elsewhere have not been subject to the same treatment and continue operating in the country," Uber said. "This will allow our competitors to grow their market share in Colombia at Uber's expense."

Uber said Colombia's actions had failed to provide it with the same favorable treatment it grants other companies and that it had breached its obligations to U.S investors under the trade accord.

While it proceeds with the options available to it, Uber said its clear preference is to find a quick and friendly solution to the dispute.

(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Additional reporting and writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Franklin Paul and Dan Grebler)
SYRACUSE, N.Y.  When Cor Development Co. was still one of New Yorks preferred developers, the state promised the company $2.5 million to help build a big apartment complex at the Syracuse Inner Harbor.

Iron Pier Apartments opened last year. But when Cor asked the state to pay up, in May 2019, the request was denied.
A West Amwell residents election to the Township Committee was invalidated by a State Superior Court judge on Thursday on the grounds that he had not lived in the township long enough to hold public office.

West Amwell Democratic Chairwoman Patricia Masterson filed a lawsuit on behalf of the West Amwell Democrats in October that challenged the validity of the campaign of Republican Lucas Lyons, who was elected to the West Amwell Township Committee in November and sworn into office last month.

On the grounds of New Jersey Statute 40A  9-1.13, the West Amwell Democratic Committee argued that Lyons did not meet the states election residency requirements, which requires those running for a municipal office to have resided in that community for a full year prior to election day.

William J. Courtney, attorney for the West Amwell Democrats, acknowledged that Lyons, 36, had grown up and lived in West Amwell for 25 years. He said, however, that Lyons had not received his temporary certificate of occupancy for his current residence in West Amwell Township until Dec. 28, 2018, or approximately 10 months prior to the Nov. 5 election.

All the evidence showed that he was residing in Stockton up until, at the earliest, late December of 2018. So he was almost two months outside of the statute, Courtney said.

While a formal decision has not yet been written and filed by State Superior Court Judge Yolanda Ciccone, she announced that Lyons election was invalid during Thursdays hearing at the Somerset County Courthouse, according to the local Democratic Committee.

The West Amwell Republicans declined to comment on the hearing, but said that they intend to release a statement once they have received Ciccones written decision.

Courtney said the "most likely outcome of her decision will be a special election to fill the seat.

Caroline Fassett can be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com.

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A leaked audio recording of an Iranian pilot talking to the control tower in Tehran shows that Iran knew immediately it had shot down a Ukrainian airliner last month, despite denying it for days, claims Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Kyiv: A leaked audio recording of an Iranian pilot talking to the control tower in Tehran shows that Iran knew immediately it had shot down a Ukrainian airliner last month, despite denying it for days, Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

On the recording, played on a Ukrainian television station late on Sunday, the pilot of another plane can be heard saying he saw the light of a missile in the sky before Ukrainian International Airways flight 752 crashed in an explosion.

Tehran blamed the Ukrainian authorities for leaking what it described as confidential evidence and said it would no longer share material with Ukraine from the investigation into the crash.

All 176 people aboard the flight were killed when the plane crashed shortly after takeoff en route from Tehran to Kyiv on 8 January.

The leaked audio proves that the Iranian side knew from the start that our plane had been hit by a missile, Zelenskiy said in a television interview.

He says that it seems to me that a missile is flying, he says it in both Persian and English, everything is fixed there, Zelenskiy said.

After denying blame for three days, Iran acknowledged shooting the plane down, saying it had done so by mistake while under high alert, hours after it had fired at US targets in retaliation for a US strike that killed an Iranian general.

Iran has said it worked as quickly as possible to determine what happened to the plane. The Iranian commander who first acknowledged the plane had been shot down said he informed the authorities on the day of the crash.

Iran has faced pressure from Ukraine and other countries whose citizens were on board the flight to send evidence abroad for international investigations.

The Iranian official in charge of accident investigations at Irans Civil Aviation Organization called it a strange move by Ukraine to release the confidential recording.

This action by the Ukrainians led to us not sharing any more evidence with them, the official, Hassan Rezaifar said, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

In the recording, a pilot for Aseman, an Iranian airline, can be heard radioing the control tower that he has seen what he believes is a missile.

Is this an active area? There are lights like a missile. Is there anything? the pilot says.

Nothing has been reported to us. Whats the light like? the controller replies. The pilot says: Its the light of a missile.

The control tower can be heard trying and failing to raise the Ukrainian airliner on the radio. The pilot of the Iranian plane then says he has seen an explosion. In a very big way, we saw it. I really dont know what it was.

Ukraine International Airways said in a statement the recording provided yet more proof that the UIA airoplane was shot down with a missile, and there were no restrictions or warnings from dispatchers of any risk to flights of civilian aircraft in the vicinity of the airport.

Rezaifar, the Iranian aviation official, said in the Mehr report that the Ukraine investigation team, as well as all other foreigners involved in the investigation, have left Iran.
[February 04, 2020] infiniDome Introduces GPS Cyber Protection Tailored For Commercial and Consumer Vehicles CAESAREA, Israel, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- infiniDome Ltd., the Wireless Security Company, announced today the launching of OtoSphere, the world's first GPS Cyber protection solution tailored for commercial and consumer vehicles. "Cash In Transit, High-end Cargo Transportation and Autonomous Vehicle Applications all depend on GPS for localization, timing and monitoring", said Omer Sharar, infiniDome CEO. "Without protection, all of these applications are completely disabled today by a $30 GPS jammer bought online." "OtoSphere mitigates a real threat of GPS attacks by cargo thieves against commercial vehicles," said Gai Mar-Chaim, Senior Partner at the management consulting firm POC. "According to DHL 2018 Annual Risk Report, Cargo Theft is considered the number 2 risk factor to cargo transportation causing billions of dollars of damages worldwide." "When protected with infiniDome's OtoSphere, vehicles are able to DETECT an attack, ALERT the system and SOC and PROTECT the system allowing it to continue normal operatios," said Moshe Kaplan, infiniDome CTO. "OtoSphere is built to be either added on to any GPS system as a retrofit module installed inline between the GPS receiver and two antennas or as an OEM, retrofitted inside of any telematics system". "infiniDome's OtoSphere comes with a proprietary GPS Cyber Protection Cloud," said Ben Sandford, infiniDome VP Sales. "It collects all attack data from the protected vehicles in the field and allows for real-time attack alerts including where the attack took place, its duration and allows this critical data to be integrated and aggregated into the fleet's Security Operation Center." "Our innovative technology is field-proven and shipped to numerous customers all over the world," said Ehud Sharar, infiniDome President. "Our commercially available products allow the vehicle industry to continue relying on the availability of GPS for navigation, tracking, sensor fusion and V2X which simply don't work without it." infiniDome Ltd. provides front-end cyber solutions protecting wireless communications from jamming and spoofing attacks. The company's products protect against attacks of GPS-based systems, which are critical for autonomous vehicles, drones and connected fleets. InfiniDome's products have been successfully proven in the field and sold to customers globally. For more information: www.infinidome.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infinidome-introduces-gps-cyber-protection-tailored-for-commercial-and-consumer-vehicles-300998524.html SOURCE InifiniDome Ltd.

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February 03, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - Donald J. Trump is the third president in American history to face an impeachment trial in the United States Senate. He stands accused by Democratic members in the House of Representatives of abusing power and obstructing Congress.

In reality, Trump is being impeached because he crossed an unspoken red line in American politics by deliberately sticking his thumb in the eye of the Washington establishment. He did so by winning an election he was not supposed to win defeating two political dynasties along the way, the Bushs and the Clintons. He threatened to drain the swamp and fight political corruption when he took up residence in the White House. He promised to end unnecessary and costly wars in the Middle East. Most egregiously, he pledged to seek peaceful relations with Russia once elected. Finally, he said some nasty things about Mexicans, Muslims, the media and the ruling class that exposed several fault lines in American society that those in power would prefer remain hidden from view. In short, Trump polarized the United States in ways that threaten the stability of the political order while simultaneously perpetuating the economic and social inequalities protected by the political establishment he attacked.

It is therefore necessary to examine the historical events that brought Trump to this ignominious moment in his presidency and to expose the real reasons for his impeachment. It is also wise to assess the part played by Trump, his accusers and defenders in perpetuating a pattern of lawless behavior that contributes to a ubiquitous chronicle of American state criminality.

The 2016 political season was to be a time of harvesting for Hillary Clinton, a dogged politician who labored as First Lady in the shadow of her husband Bill Clinton during his two terms as president and who subsequently launched an independent political career, first as a junior Senator from New York and second as Secretary of State, a position she dutifully accepted as a consolation prize after having been defeated in her first bid to become the Democratic party nominee for president in 2008 by the charismatic upstart from Illinois, Barak Obama. Secretary Clinton was widely favored to win the presidency in 2016 over the presumptive Republican party nominee, Jeb Bush.

Enter Donald Trump who, in the pursuit of ever growing fame and fortune, launched a presidential campaign designed primarily to advertise Brand Trump. To his own surprise and that of his advisors, Trump gained enormous traction at political rallies by exploiting peoples hatreds, fears and prejudices, a skill once practiced to great effect by one of his mentors, Roy Cohen, who served as chief counsel for the infamous Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy.

Trump realized very early on that significant sectors of the American population felt as though they were thrown overboard 35 years ago by the leaders of both political parties who continually promised to provide phantom jobs and trickle down prosperity. What actually trickled down during the neo-liberal economic era ushered in by Ronald Reagan in 1981 and continued to a greater or lesser degree by his successors was unemployment, poverty and despair.

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Large sectors of the working and middle classes watched helplessly as corporate America outsourced their jobs to China, Mexico, Indonesia and beyond, destroyed their unions and turned the American dream into an unending American nightmare, all the while proceeding to create social conditions south of the border that flooded the country with undocumented immigrants who were desperate to find jobs. For their part, the migrants were fleeing the consequences of globalized free trade agreements, drug wars, coups and insidious reincarnations of political repression that turned their countries into living hells. These foreign infernos were primarily ignited by the same American corporatocracy that was responsible for creating the economic and social devastation that ravaged the United States, all in the service of transnational capital accumulation.

Trump proceeded to manipulate the deep seated discontent of American workers by promising to Make America Great Again. He said he would return jobs to this country, rebuild its infrastructure and rid the homeland of illegal immigrants, gangs and drugs. Trumps right wing populist rhetoric was carefully scripted by the ultranationalist Steve Bannon. Bannons demagogy worked to perfection against the hapless Clinton who, mired in scandal, attached those same American workers as deplorables.

Being an accomplished huckster, Trump never intended to make good on all of his rhetorical promises, but in his zeal to win, he violated the unspoken rules of political etiquette by airing Americas dirty laundry. Psychologically, Trump functioned as the American id.

During a lengthy campaign and much to the horror of the political establishment, Trump had the temerity to tell Jeb Bush during a Republican presidential debate that his brother led the country into the Iraq war based upon lies. He told Hillary Clinton during a nationally televised debate that if he were president she would be in prison for destroying 33,000 emails under subpoena by Congress. He called the mainstream media an enemy of the people. He stated openly that NATO was obsolete and America should get along with Russia. And he told the American people that if elected, he would wrist their government back from the clutches a corrupt ruling class. Trump had the audacity to say these things because he is independently wealthy, could finance his own campaign for the Republican nomination, and being a bona fide member of the owning class, had apparently become discontented with the politicians that serve as the hired help of his class and had decided, being a supreme narcissist, that if elected, he could do a better job of running the country himself.

The results of the election shocked the political establishment. On November 8, 2016, Donald J. Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United States. Trump pulled off one of the most remarkable upsets in modern American political history because he tapped into an enormous sea of anger and hatred that exists within vast swaths of the American wasteland.

From the moment he became a serious candidate for president, a covert operation was set in motion by Clintonite loyalists within the national security autocracy, the democratic party and the corporate media to prevent him from winning the election. Once that project failed, a second phase of the operation was launched. Here, the operatives had two objectives. Firstly, to depict Trump as an illegitimate president thereby securing his removal as the chief executive of the ruling class. Secondly, to effectively block his peace initiative with Russia. The first phase of the covert operation produced FISA-gate and the second phase produced Russia-gate, Ukraine-gate and impeachment.

The covert operation was reportedly organized by John Brennan at the CIA, James Comey at the FBI, James Clapper at the NSA and Hillary Clinton and her cronies in the Democratic Party. Their fabrications were printed as truth by the New York Times and the Washington Post and broadcast uncritically by CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS. It is crucial to remember the CIAs Operation Mockingbird in this context. A special counsel, Robert Mueller, was appointed to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. When the investigation failed to prove collusion, a CIA whistleblower was produced to level additional accusations of official misconduct involving Ukraine. Chairmen Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took up their posts in Congress to investigate Trumps interaction with Ukrainian President Zelensky and quickly moved to orchestrate impeachment proceedings that have resulted in a Senate trial.

The litany of sensational revelations seemed unending. Leaked conversations of Trump bragging to Billy Bush about grabbing the private parts of women; salacious stories emanating from the infamous Steele dossier about Trump having sex with urinating prostitutes in a Moscow hotel; illegally obtained FISA warrants used by the FBI to surveil the Trump campaign; charges that Russia hacked computer servers in the DNC to obtain the Clinton emails, subsequently giving them to Wikileaks for publication; accusations that Trump collaborated with Julian Assange and Wikileaks in leaking the Clinton emails to discredit his opponent; the firing of FBI director Comey by Trump to obstruct justice; the withholding of foreign aid to pressure the president of Ukraine to investigate Joseph Biden, a political rival, thereby jeopardizing the integrity of American elections and national security.

The most serious allegations leveled against Trump are not supported by facts. No empirical evidence has ever been presented to prove any of the numerous allegations involving Russian state interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Julian Assange maintains that the Clintons emails were leaked by a non-state actor, not hacked. The emails revealed, among other things, that Clinton voiced a public policy for voters while advocating a private policy for Wall Street donors and that Clintons campaign staff frantically sought ways to discredit rival Bernie Sanders. Clinton subsequently colluded with the DNC to subvert the candidacy of Sanders during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. The emails also revealed that her campaign staff worked vigorously to respond to criticisms that while Secretary of State, Hillary participated with husband Bill in a pay for play influence peddling operation, more commonly known in legal circles as racketeering, that was set up through the Clinton Foundation.

Furthermore, the Steele dossier was exposed as a fraud and credible legal scholars have demonstrated that Trumps activities with Ukraine do not rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors as required for impeachment by the U.S. Constitution.

What the American people are witnessing is an ongoing attempt to reverse the outcome of the 2016 presidential election by removing Trump from office through impeachment. The probable results of this strategy do not bode well for the Democrats. In all certainty, Trump will be acquitted in the Senate trial, thereby strengthened, not weakened in his bid for re-election. The Democrats chose the path of impeachment because they have no genuine oppositional politics with which to defeat Trump.

Consequently, what is on display in Washington is the spectacle of one faction of the American political establishment using the constitution as a legal weapon against the other faction in a very public struggle for control of U.S. empire.

What remains largely unexamined during the impeachment saga are the real crimes, as opposed to the alleged crimes, that have been committed by Donald Trump in the service of that empire. A central part of this drama is the complicity of both his accusers and defenders in the commission of those crimes.

Firstly, Donald Trump would never have had the opportunity to seek a criminal investigation of his presidential rival if not for the fact that former Vice President Joseph Biden had been involved in corrupt activities while serving as Barack Obamas point man in Ukraine. Bidens activity entailed actually threatening Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko with cancellation of $1 billion in U. S. loan guarantees if Poroshenko did not fire Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin who was investigating corrupt practices of the natural gas firm Barisma Holdings, a company on whose board of directors sat Bidens son, Hunter, at a cost to the company of $166,000 a month.

Secondly, Joseph Biden would not have been involved in these activities had not the Obama administration engineered a coup detat in the Ukraine in 2014 to oust the pro-Russian government of Victor Yanukovych who had refused to come under the domination of the EU and IMF. U.S. involvement in the coup was revealed, in part, by leaked conversations of Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland who, along with U.S. Ambassador Jeoffrey Pyatt, helped legitimate the post-coup government by selecting its Prime Minister. Nulands guy was Arseniy Yatsenyuk who imposed IMF austerity on Ukraine once Yanukovych was removed. Nuland also revealed that the United States had invested $5 billion in anti-government activities in Ukraine.

Nulands husband is Robert Kagan, a prominent neoconservative who was instrumental in creating the Project for the New American Century, a think tank whose members advocated preemptive and unilateral war on terror as a pretext for global interventionism. Kagan, along with several other neoconservatives, is also the author of a policy document that directly challenges Trumps America First military strategy with one of aggressive interventionism. Kagans brother Fredrick, worked as a fellow in the American Enterprise Institute in 2007 where he wrote a policy paper that was instrumental bringing about a massive troop surge during the war in Iraq. The neocons are consistent advocates of military interventionism and they dominate thinking in the foreign policy establishment of the United States. It is in this context that the firing of National Security Advisor John Bolton can be understood. Bolton is a virulent neoconservative who consistently advocated war as the policy of first choice in Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela to annoyance of Trump who does not want to risk re-election by starting new wars of choice. Boltons testimony is now sought by Senate Democrats in the impeachment trial as they attempt to discredit Trump on Ukraine.

The coup in Ukraine touched off a civil war in that country that the United States converted into a proxy war with Russia. The Obama administration initially withheld lethal military aid to the Kiev government in 2014 but quickly reversed course in 2015 and signed off on a congressional aid package that approved $50 million in lethal military aid in 2015. Between 2016 and 2019 that aid increased to $850 million. To date, the United States has sent $1.5 billion to Ukraine in security assistance. The Obama administration also falsely accused Russia of invading Ukraine when the latter annexed the Crimea and began arming separatist forces in the Donbass region in response to U.S. actions. Therein lies the centrality of sending military aid to Ukraine for the U.S. foreign policy establishment. Trump stands accused by Congressional Democrats of endangering U.S. national security by temporarily withholding that aid. Trump eventually released $400 million of military aid to Ukraine yet the accusation underscores the need for impeachment in the eyes of Democrats.

Thirdly, Trump advocated detente with Russia. For the neoconservatives and liberal interventions in the American foreign policy establishment, strategy in the Ukraine is part of a larger project that has been undertaken to subjugate Russia. Part of the EU deal rejected by Yanukovych stipulated Ukrainian military coordination with NATO, a pact that would have further extended the military arm of the EU to the doorstep of the Russian Federation. Militarily confronting Russia began with the expansion of NATO eastward under Bill Clinton in 1999; the withdrawal from the ABM treaty by Bush Jr. in 2001; the placement of anti-ballistic missile defense systems in Romania in 2016 and Poland in 2018 by Obama; and the imposition of economic sanctions, expulsion of diplomats and seizure of Russian diplomatic properties in the United States by Obama in 2018. Collectively, these policies have contributed to a calculated new cold war. Hence, the targeting of Trump who wanted peaceful relations with Russia. Hence, Russia-gate and its spin off Ukraine-gate. Hence, impeachment.

U.S. foreign policy has been structured to prevent the emergence of a global rival from the Eurasian land mass after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The architect of that policy was Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carters National Security Advisor. Brzezinski was also the mastermind of the Russian bear trap that induced Soviet intervention into Afghanistan in 1980 by arming, training and deploying the Islamic Mujahideen, out of which sprang Al Qaeda. Trump will not be allowed to deviate from aggressive anti-Russian policy. This is particularly true in the Middle East.

In assessing policy in the Middle East, it is important to note that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is an offshoot of Al Qaeda that is presently being used as a justification for U.S. troop deployment in Iraq and Syria. Ostensibly the troops are deployed to fight ISIS, but in reality they are there to secure the regions oil resources and protect the apartheid state of Israel. As such, Trumps regional policy directly conflicts with that of the Russian, Iranian, Syrian and Iraqi governments that actually fight ISIS. Trumps order to assassinate Iranian General Suleimani, who coordinated the fight against ISIS puts a lie to U.S. claims that it is fighting a war on terror against the Islamic State.

Although Trump has indicated that he is against wars of regime change in this region, his policies are likely to provoke the very wars he claims to oppose, especially if he follows the advice of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, yet another neoconservative warmonger.

Trumps missile strikes in Syria and the illegal military occupation of Syrian oil fields; Trumps green light for the Turkish invasion of Syria; Trumps withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear agreement (JAPOC); Trumps imposition of economic sanctions on Iran; Trumps extrajudicial assassination of General Suleimani; Trumps massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia; Trumps decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and recognize Israels annexation of Syrias Golan Heights; Trumps support for the dictatorship in Egypt; and Trumps drone war in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia, constitute genuine war crimes and crimes against humanity for which he should be removed from office. But Trump is not being impeached for any of these crimes because they are crimes committed in furtherance of empire.

Furthermore, Trump has committed these crimes with the full support of Congress, the largely symbolic and non-binding War Powers Act Resolution of 2020 notwithstanding.

It was Congress, in a vote that included 188 Democrats, that approved Trumps $738 billion military budget in 2020.

It was the Senate that ratified Trumps $500 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia in 2017. The majority of those billions are used by the Saudis to buy weapons from Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics and Boeing so as to wage war in Yemen. It should be noted that members of the House and Senate own an estimated $5.3 million worth of stock in the defense industry raising a visible conflict of interest. Consequently, it is no surprise that the Senate confirmed former lobbyist for the defense contractor Raytheon, Mark Esper as Trumps Secretary of Defense in 2019 without a hitch.

Additionally, the den of Congressional thieves continues funding for the war in Afghanistan at a cost of $45 billion per year, approved a $38 billion military aid package over 10 years for Israel in 2018 and overwhelmingly extended key provisions of the Patriot Act in 2019, with significant support coming from the Democratic party of lesser evilists, thus illustrating their support for the rampant militarism underlying American state criminality.

Unrestrained militarism is a crime against peace. Aggressive preparation for war leads to actual war. Americas Imperial President and its venal Congress are guilty of waging war on humanity, a monstrous reality that is hidden behind the charade of impeachment.

The battle over Trumps impeachment is a power struggle that will decide who will lead the American empire. It is not a fight involving the abuse of power as much as it is a fight involving the exercise of power. The outcome of that fight will determine which faction of the American political establishment will employ Imperial state power to advance a vicious global empire that relentlessly elevates the rights of property over the rights of people to the detriment of all humanity.

Donald Monaco is a political analyst who lives in Brooklyn, New York. He received his Masters Degree in Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1979 and was radicalized by the Vietnam War. He writes from an anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist perspective. His recent book is titled, The Politics of Terrorism , and is available at amazon.com

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==
Nigerian Ruler, Muhammadu Buhari says 90 percent of Boko Haram victims are Muslims and that the insurgents are seeking to use religion to divide Nigerians.

He said there is no room for those who seek to divide Nigerians on the basis of religion.

The ruler said this in an article on Christianity Today on the death of Lawan Andimi, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Michika local government area of Adamawa state on Monday.

Andimi was abducted in Michika and killed by Boko Haram insurgents.

In the article, Buhari said the death of the religious leader by Boko Haram was aimed at pitting Christians against Muslims.

He said Nigeria is winning the fight against Boko Haram insurgents, and that the group has failed in its campaign, but now seeks to divide Nigerians using religion as a weapon.

Indeed, it is the reality that some 90 percent of all Boko Harams victims have been Muslims: they include a copycat abduction of over 100 Muslim schoolgirls, along with their single Christian classmate; shootings inside mosques; and the murder of two prominent imams, he wrote.

It is a simple fact that these now-failing terrorists have targeted the vulnerable, the religious, the non-religious, the young, and the old without discrimination. And at this point, when they are fractured, we cannot allow them to divide good Christians and good Muslims from those things that bind us all in the sight of God: faith, family, forgiveness, fidelity, and friendship to each other.

The terrorists today attempt to build invisible walls between us. They have failed in their territorial ambitions, so now instead they seek to divide our state of mind, by pulling us from one from anotherto set one religion seemingly implacably against the other.

Of course, there is much of Christianity and Islamboth in teaching and practicethat are not the same. Were that not so, there would be no need for the separateness of the two religions.

Buhari asked religious leaders to learn from the life of Andimi, who acted selflessly in so many regards, including giving alms and prayers to both Christians and Muslims who suffered at the hands of the terrorists.

I call on Nigerias faith leaders, and Nigerians everywhere, to take these words of concordand the many more that existto their hearts and their deeds. Just as my government, and our international partners, quicken our campaign to defeat Boko Haram within and without our borders, we must turn our minds to the future. There is no place in Nigeria for those who seek to divide us by religion, who compel others to change their faith forcibly, or try to convince others that by so doing, they are doing good, he wrote.

The ruler had vowed that the insurgents would pay a heavy price for killing the CAN chairman.

But in a swift reaction, a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode said via tweeter: This is a lie. The overwhelming majority of communities that BH targets are Christian. The same with the Fulani militias. The killing of Christians in Nigeria is a common blood sport which shall continue as long as Buhari is President.
China Clamps Down on Independent Reporting of Epidemic as Cases, Deaths Keep Rising

2020-02-03 - The ruling Chinese Communist Party is moving to curb media organizations and social media users in their reporting of the Wuhan coronavirus epidemic, RFA has learned, as the number of confirmed cases rose to more than 17,000 with a total of 362 deaths reported on Monday.

Journalists in Wuhan working for Caixin, Phoenix news, and other state-approved news organizations have been ordered by the party's powerful propaganda department to conduct a review of their coverage after their reports indicated that local officials had likely sought to cover up the extent of the outbreak in its early stages.

Journalists who had interviewed patients or their families, or reported on the large number of patients left to fend for themselves at home due to a lack of resources, and were therefore left out of official statistics, were also targeted for "review" by propaganda officials.

Many estimates have taken the number of undiagnosed, untreated, and uncounted coronavirus patients into account, with the majority of observers convinced that the number of cases likely exceeds 100,000, with deaths also going unreported.

One reporter who declined to be named said propaganda officials had ordered their publication to delete a reference to large numbers of uncounted cases.

"The more severe censorship was around the question of statistics," the journalist told RFA. "The central propaganda department directly ordered the deletion of that part."

"Other media have been prevented from publishing some stories; the copy just hasn't been published with no notice given, even by word of mouth," the journalist said.

Call for CT scans

Government censors have also deleted accounts belonging to medical imaging experts Zhang Bo and Zhang Xiaochun of Wuhan University's Zhongnan Hospital after they posted a request for diagnosis to be made through CT scans rather than genetic tests of the virus.

Zhang Xiaochun had also called on the government to search hotels and student dormitories for suspected patients to avoid clusters of infection from spreading in areas where people live together.

Zhang was also one source of the estimate that the true number of coronavirus cases is likely around 100,000.

Her posts came after relatives said via RFA and social media reports that they had been unable to get a diagnosis or treatment for their sick family members because of a lack of hospital beds or coronavirus test kits.

A professor surnamed Zhou at Central South University in neighboring Hunan province said Zhang's allegations ring completely true, and warned that sending patients back home will just mean that they infect all of their family and friends.

"What she's saying is totally true. This is indeed what is happening," Zhou said. "They won't just be infecting their families but other people in the same building."

"It's no good relying on [government] neighborhood committees to prevent infection."

Calls to Zhongnan Hospital rang unanswered on Monday.

A staff member who answered the phone at Wuhan University declined to comment, saying she didn't know about the situation regarding the two hospital staff members.

Citizen journalist held, released

The warnings to media professionals and social media users came as state security police released citizen journalist Fang Bin after detaining him in connection with a video he posted of dead and dying patients in Wuhan's No. 5 Hospital at the weekend.

The video went viral, and a group of people showed up at Fang's home, dressed as medical personnel.

They were actually police, and they confiscated Fang's computers and took him away for questioning, according to a video he posted about his ordeal.

"This is why I've been saying all along that my safety depends on all of you," he said, thanking social media users for their outcry following his detention.

"There's no point in being fearful or craven, right? The more fearful you are, the worse this sort of thing will get," he said. "Everyone has to work together. We have to save ourselves in a nationwide movement."

"You all saved me, and I am very grateful to you all."

A Hubei resident who asked to remain anonymous said he hopes Fang goes back to reporting from Wuhan regardless.

"I hope that other citizens in Hubei, as well as professional journalists, will be courageous enough to report on the actual situation from the front line," the resident said.

"I also hope that the authorities won't try to cover anything up. The more transparent they are about the facts, the less worried people will be."

Police under 'huge pressure'

In Beijing, veteran rights activist Hu Jia said he was also taken away for questioning by state security police.

"[The state security police] are under huge pressure over this epidemic," Hu said. "But people's sense of grievance is already at boiling point because of [the government's] irresponsibility in covering everything up."

"They have to stamp out any sign of criticism online," Hu said, adding that he was likely detained for speaking to RFA in an earlier interview.

"They reduce your words to trying to overthrow the system, accuse you of using the epidemic to incite subversion of state power, because they feel that this is even more of a threat to [party rule] than the Hong Kong protests last year," he said.

"At least they could keep what was going on in Hong Kong outside the Great Firewall and the Shenzhen river, but the epidemic concerns everyone," he said.

Reported by Wong Siu-san and Sing Man for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Gao Feng for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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Investors' wealth increased Rs 3.57 lakh crore in two days of market rally where the Sensex zoomed 917 points on Tuesday in a broad-based recovery after the Budget-day fall. The 30-share BSE Sensex settled 917.07 points, or 2.30 per cent, higher at 40,789.38 on Tuesday. It hit an intra-day high of 40,818.94.

On Monday, the index had gained 136.78 points.

Recovery in the market led to a rise in market capitalisation of the BSE-listed firms which climbed Rs 3,57,044.43 crore to Rs 1,56,61,769.40 crore since Saturday.

The 30-share BSE key index had ended 987.96 points, or 2.43 per cent, lower at 39,735.53 on the Budget day.

"Indian bourses tanked on Saturday after the Budget disappointed the Street's expectations. This was a knee-jerk reaction but as investors realised that the Budget will aid in the long-term growth of the economy, the market picked up. With the Budget overhang gone, investors are breathing a sigh of relief and are back to make fresh calls. Additionally," Umesh Mehta, Head of Research, Samco Securities said.

Mehta also said January auto sales numbers were comparatively decent and with no other negative news, the Indian bourses saw a sudden rally on Tuesday.

Religare Broking Vice-President (Research) Ajit Mishra said, "Indian markets witnessed a sharp surge in today's session led by positive global cues and declining oil prices."

From the 30-share BSE Sensex pack, 28 companies closed with gains led by Titan Company, ITC, HDFC and Bajaj Finance.

On the BSE, 1,618 scrips advanced, while 885 declined and 181 remained unchanged.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap Index gained 1.37 per cent and Smallcap rose 1.29 per cent.

Vikas Jain, senior research analyst, Reliance Securities, said: "Positive global market also led to the upward momentum."

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul settled with firm gains. Stock exchanges in Europe also opened on a positive note.
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Where to go and what to do in Doha

To watch a great city being built right before your eyes is a rare experience. The apartment complexes, malls and stadia being built at breakneck speed in Doha cant be dismissed as construction boom; theres a method to the madness. Sand dunes have made way for skyscrapers and art galleries promoting cutting edge work have mushroomed all over the city. Downtown Doha is home to some of the coolest restaurants and cafes and the postal code to aspire to.

The ever so sophisticated Mandarin Oriental has opened its doors in this neighbourhood just a few months ago and is already become a venue of choice not just for travellers such as myself but local Qataris too who host weddings and engagements here. The Mandarin stands just a few hundred meters away from Souk Waqif, the old standing market of Doha. Further down from the souk is Corniche, the seven km-long promenade where, on weekends, the entire city seems to descend. Weekends in Doha are Thursday and Friday, though select offices do follow the Saturday-Sunday weekend.

With Qatar Airways flying multiple times from various Indian cities to Doha, the Qatari capital makes for a convenient weekend getaway. Flights from Mumbai and New Delhi land at convenient timings at Dohas swanky Hamad International Airport giving you the entire day to explore the city.

What to see and do in Doha

Theres much to see and do in Doha but with just a weekend in hand, it helps to have a shortlist ready. Of course, you could throw out this list altogether and go shopping  Doha has a thriving luxury goods market  at any of Dohas exclusive shopping malls. Alternatively you could...

1. Shop at Souq Waqif

Souq Wqaif

Loosely translated as standing market, Souq Waqif gets its name from the fact that the waters of the sea would come all the way into this low-lying neighbourhood making it impossible for the traders to sit down and sell their wares. As a result all business was conducted while standing, giving Souq Waqif its name. The restored souq doesnt, of course, get flooded anymore and neither are the traders on their feet. Souq Waqif is a maze of a market that sells practically everything youd need  from everyday household goods to fabrics and spices to artefacts and fridge magnets. A part of the souq is dedicated to birds and animals, specifically falcons, with entire stores selling only falcon accessories and feed. Souq Waqif has a thriving dinner and shisha scene that will keep you occupied the entire weekend. Do note that alcohol isnt available nor permitted.

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2. Walk along Corniche

View from Corniche, Doha

The seven-km promenade is the equivalent of Chennais Marina Beach and Mumbais Marine Drive and offers unrestricted views of Dohas skyline. Since the street is one of the main thoroughfares in the city, expect traffic along Corniche during peak hours. Even so, walking along this promenade on a winter evening is easily one of the most relaxing things youd do on your trip. The seven-km stretch has interesting restaurants and open-air gymnasiums for public use. This is also the point from where you can rent a dhow (traditional Qatari boats) for a joyride into the bay.

3. Learn about Qatari history at the National Museum of Qatar

Qatar National Museum

The high-tech National Museum of Qatar can easily take anywhere between half a day and a full day to cover, depending on your interest in history and the countrys culture. Designed by the French architect, Jean Nouvel, the museum building is in the shape of a desert rose. Within it is narrated the story of the evolution of Qatar starting from (and this is true) pre-historic times. Section after section is immaculately curated and contains artworks, artefacts, murals, replicas as well as videos, pictures and photos as well as immersive experiences that reflect various aspects of Qatari history and culture. At its very heart is the restored palace of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani the son of the founder of modern Qatar. The building used to be the home of the ruling Al Thani family and also the seat of the government.

4. Visit the Museum of Islamic Art

Museum of Islamic Art

Designed by the legendary architect, the late IM Pei, the Museum of Islamic Art is built on a specially created island. It was Peis idea to have the museum on a standalone island so that no upcoming buildings would ever obstruct the view. So, as you look out from certain points of the Corniche, the Museum of Islamic Art seems almost as if floating on water. The museum itself boasts of an impressive collection of Islamic patterns, textiles, jewellery and calligraphy among other items collected across three continents with some artefacts going back to the seventh century. The Museum of Islamic Art also features rotating and pop-up exhibits all year round so do look up the website for the schedule.

5. Go dune bashing

Should you find yourself short on time, dump the rest of the things on this list and head out into the desert. The dunes are steep and high, making your ride a memorable one. There are several operators who organise dune-bashing expeditions and provide pick-up from and drop to your hotel. Most operators advertise it as a four-hour trip the duration is inclusive of the time taken from the hotel to the dunes and back. The actual desert safari doesnt last for more than an hour.

Where to eat in Doha

Ambar in Mandarin Oriental, Doha

Know that alcohol is banned in most restaurants in Doha so dont expect a nightlife like, say Dubai. Alcohol sale is restricted mostly to bars of large hotels, which makes drinking in Doha a very exclusive activity. Ambar in Mandarin Oriental is one such bar that offers a sophisticated ambience but also a progressive menu. Named after the glow of the setting sun Ambar is the kind of place youll see yourself winding down after a long days meetings, nursing your poison as you strike a conversation with your fellow drinker.

Also inside Mandarin Oriental is Izu, the Mediterranean restaurant that has been inspired the eponymous chefs travels around France, England, Spain, and the Middle East. Izu has three seating areas with the mezzanine level featuring an exclusive alcohol menu.

Parisa in Souq Waqif

Walk down to Souq Waqif for a plethora of dining options. Al Adhamiyah Iraqi Restaurant is a budget restaurant serving Iraqi breakfast and some mean kebabs. For an authentic fine dining experience, Parisa is Souq Waqifs most popular option. The brightly coloured, mirrored interiors of Parisa serve as a great setting for its Middle Eastern fare thats as grammable as the restaurant itself.

Farzi Cafe, Doha

The thriving expat community in Doha has contributed to the diversity in the citys culinary landscape. Al Mourjan at Corniche is a great place to not just try out Lebanese food but also enjoy views of the citys skyline that the restaurant offers thanks to its unique location. And if youre feeling homesick, head inland towards Al Makhriya Street where stands Delhi boy Zorawar Kalras Farzi Cafe.

Finally, there is Idam, the innovative restaurant located inside the Museum of Islamic Art. The French chef Alain Ducasse first Middle Eastern outing offers contemporary French Mediterranean cuisine designed with a distinct Arabic twist. Idams setting only rivals its food  the Philippe Starck-designed decor overlooks Dohas skyline offering spectacular sunset views.

Where to stay in Doha:

You could, of course, check into an Airbnb but youd be remiss to ignore the luxury hotels scene in one of the worlds richest cities. Conveniently, Mandarin Oriental is located in the heart of Msheireb Downtown Doha and within walking distance of some of the citys top attractions such as Souq Waqif, Museum of Islamic Art and the National Museum of Qatar. Also not very far is the sprawling promenade, Corniche.

The Mandarin Orientals architecture blends contemporary design with Qatari heritage. With 249 rooms, suites and serviced apartments, nine distinct culinary experiences and a beautifully appointed spa, Mandarin Oriental is where Middle Eastern charm meets Mandarin Orientals trademark hospitality.

Truth is theres more to Doha than tall buildings, supersized malls and posh hotels. I couldnt put my finger on it for the longest time till I casually asked a young Ugandan guest relations manager to guesstimate how many nationalities may have made Doha their home. At the airport alone there are people from more than 90 countries, she replied without having to squint her eyes or to look heavenwards to come up with the answer. I imagine its this motley crowd that arrived on Dohas shores for better prospects thats making the Qatari capital a thriving metropolis even in the face of the economic blockade that over a dozen countries have imposed upon Qatar. Almost all of us stayed back (through the crisis), an expat whos been in Doha for nearly 20 years told me on another occasion. At first we thought wed spend ten years or so here and then go back home. Now Doha is home. Were in this for good, blockade or not.

(Seen in the picture above is a portion of the College of Islamic Studies at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha. The two spires point to Mecca, the holiest of the pilgrimage sites for Muslims around the world.)
French President Emmanuel Macron met up with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in Warsaw this Monday, beginning a two-day official visit to the country in a bid to solidify ties with the right-leaning government, but also questioned recent changes to its judiciary.

I spoke with President Duda with the honesty we owe each other as European partners, about the concerns that the ongoing reforms of the judicial system have given rise to, said Macron, referring to changes that would bring the judiciary under political control.

The right-wing ruling Law and Justice party broke EU law, according to a ruling by the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice last November, when it changed the retirement age for judges from 67 to a lower age, depending on whether the judge was male or female.

Polish magistrates say this was a way to replace impartial judges with loyalists to the Law and Justice party.

I wish for the dialogue with the European Commission to intensify in coming weeks because I know that the values of freedom and justice are ingrained in Poland and throughout its history, added Macron.

According to RFI correspondent Gulliver Cragg in Warsaw, Macron has been very vocal on Poland's backsliding on the rule of law.

Since coming to power in 2015, the ruling Law and Justice party in Poland has pursued a series of reforms that the EU Commission and various legal experts see as giving the government full control over the courts, says Cragg.

This destroys the separation of political and judicial power, which underpins liberal democracy, he added.

Solidifying European solidarity

Although Macron has previously been critical of the Polish government, he made a point of saying he would like this visit to be a turning point in bilateral relations.

France has repeatedly called for talks with Russia on its seizure of the Crimean Peninsula, while Poland has pushed for sanctions against Russia.

France is pro-European, said Macron. It is not in our interest to have a situation where we don't face up to our relationship with Russia, letting unresolved conflicts pile up and misunderstandings persist, he added.

Given the hole in EU solidarity with the departure of Britain, Macron is looking towards reviviving a former tripartite alliance within the EU, composed of France, Germany and Poland.

On Tuesday, Macron will go to Krakow to visit Wawel Castle and give a speech at Jagielloian University on European values.
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North Koreas Pipa island, where Chinese residents in the Rason Special Economic Zone are reportedly in isolation.

Authorities in North Korea have moved about 70 Chinese-citizen residents of the Rason Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to an isolated island as a measure intended to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) in the northeast Asian country.

By relocating the Chinese nationals to Pipa island, which lies between the SEZs cities of Rajin and Sonbong, North Korean authorities are effectively preventing them from leaving the country and making it easier to closely monitor their health.

Rason lies in North Koreas northeast, where the borders of North Korea, China, and Russia converge. The SEZ was set up there in the early 1990s to test out market economics while attracting Chinese and Russian investment.

RFAs Korean Service Monday learned of the relocation of Chinese from Rason to Pipa island via No Chain, a Seoul-based association working on behalf of North Korean political prisoners and their families.

The number of people who are being kept in isolation appears to be around 70, and they are all Chinese, said Jeong Kwang-il, the head of No Chain.

[Pipa island] is a tourist destination with hotels built there, as far as I know, but they are all being held in isolation there, said Jeong.

According to Jeong, the Chinese traders have been in isolation on Pipa island since late last month. He said they are able to contact people outside the country by phone, but they are being forced to pay for their housing.

The North Korean authorities are demanding 1,000 yuan (U.S. $142) per day per person for food and a place to stay, said Jeong.

It remains unclear whether any of the isolated people are even showing symptoms of coronavirus infection, or when exactly they entered North Korea.

But Jeong clarified that the isolated people are not typical Chinese visitors.

They frequently travel between North Korea and China, he said, adding, But they reside in North Korea.

The Russian Embassy in North Korea may be aware of the isolation. They announced Jan. 28 through that all foreigners who enter North Korea via China will be quarantined at a special designated facility and subject to medical observation.

The embassy also announced Saturday that staff of diplomatic facilities, international organizations, and foreign travelers who entered North Korea after Jan. 13 must undergo North Korean authority-mandated inspections.

North Korea, meanwhile, notified all foreign diplomatic offices in the country that any foreign person entering the country from China should be kept in isolation for 15 days.

North Koreas Health Ministry says there are no confirmed cases in the country, but confirmed it is isolating and monitoring suspected cases.

Reported by Yong Jae Mok for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Advertisement

Pictures taken inside a cruise ship quarantined in Japan over coronavirus fears show deserted corridors and arcade rooms with passengers confined to their rooms.

Japan ordered the ship into quarantine after an 80-year-old passenger, who left the vessel in Hong Kong on January 25, tested positive for coronavirus.

The move leaves 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew members stuck on board the cruise liner.

Despite the large number of people on the ship, photos from inside show usually-bustling communal areas are all but deserted as those on board are confined to their cabin rooms to prevent any possible spread of the virus.

One image shows a deserted cinema room on the huge liner, called the Diamond Princess, with no one in sight

Medical personnel pictured on the eighth deck of the cruise ship as they carry out tests on the passengers on board, who have been instructed to remain in their rooms

Cruise ship Diamond Princess is seen anchored off the Yokohama Port on Tuesday, after a Hong Kong passenger who sailed on the vessel last month tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus

The only people in sight are personnel going from room-to-room to test the passengers for the virus, or to clean the ship's public areas.

One image shows a deserted cinema room on the huge liner, called the Diamond Princess, with no one in sight. Another shows the ship's huge casino standing empty.

Corridors and a huge atrium are left empty save for medical officials wandering around in protective masks.

The usually-lively reception area on board the Diamond Princess is now empty and unmanned.

An empty casino on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that has been quarantined in Japan

The once-lively reception area on board the Diamond Princess stands empty and unmanned

Medical personnel are pictured going room-by-room as they check up on the passengers. According to a statement from Japan's health ministry, the guests' temperatures and overall conditions are being monitored

Medical officials are pictured going to each cabin room as they check up on the passengers.

According to a statement from Japan's health ministry, the guests' temperatures and overall conditions are being monitored.

A Briton on board the cruise ship has today accused some of his shipmates of increasing the risk of infection with poor personal hygiene.

David Abel said passengers had 'no idea' when the quarantine would end as he and 3,710 others were left in limbo in Yokohama Bay today.

Despite the large number of people on the ship, photos from inside show usually-bustling communal areas are all but deserted as those on board are confined to their cabin rooms to prevent any possible spread of the virus

Images show corridors and a huge atrium left empty save for medical officials wandering around in protective masks

A man in protective clothing walks on the sixth deck of the Diamond Princess today where quarantine specialists are carrying out tests

Mr Abel said the crew of the Diamond Princess had imposed strict hygiene measures with tourists warned to avoid public toilets - but claimed that some of his fellow passengers 'don't give a damn about personal health'.

Japan ordered the ship into quarantine on Monday after an 80-year-old passenger who left the ship in Hong Kong on January 25 tested positive for coronavirus.

Medics in hazmat suits were today going deck-to-deck to test for the virus, which has killed more than 400 people in China.

The cruise ship Diamond Princess is anchored off Yokohama in Japan today after it was quarantined over coronavirus fears

The planned 14-day cruise has been abandoned but passengers do not yet know when they will be able to disembark - leaving them unable to book flights home.

'Nobody is able to book onward flights as we have no idea when the quarantine will clear,' said Mr Abel, who is travelling with his wife and described himself as a 'captive' on the ship.

'The whole ship is in quarantine, we are in the middle of the bay, anchored, so nobody can get on or off this ship.

'My guess is we are going to be here throughout the whole of the day and the night.'

Praising the crew, he said staff had imposed stringent hygiene measures under which passengers had to wash their hands in sight of a staff member before eating.

'Staff are constantly cleaning and sanitizing public areas such as handrails and door handles. Passengers are requested not to use public toilets unless in emergency,' he said.

However, Mr Abel also accused some of his fellow passengers of increasing the risk of infection with poor personal hygiene.

'Some of the passengers on board just don't give a damn about personal health,' he said.

In one case, an American tourist had blown his nose on a napkin and left it on a dinner table where waiters carrying food were likely to touch it, he said.

It is not yet known exactly how the virus spreads.

The Diamond Princess off Daikoku Pier in Yokohama last night where it is expected to remain for at least another 24 hours

Describing the medical tests, Mr Abel said: 'We've had the medical guys come into our stateroom and it's taken all night, from midnight to 10am, for them to do four of the decks and there are 14 in total.

'They came in, took our temperature, asked three questions - have we got a cough, have we got a fever, do we take medication to lower temperature.'

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the ship had already been quarantined on Saturday at the port of Naha, but the unnamed 80-year-old man's diagnosis has now forced further checks.

None of the passengers or 1,045 crew showed any symptoms during Saturday's tests, a health ministry official said.

However, officials now say that eight people on the vessel have symptoms such as fever.

Passengers with symptoms are being checked for coronavirus as well as other infectious diseases such as malaria, officials say.

In addition, any passengers who got off in Hong Kong or had close contact with the infected man will be subject to tests for coronavirus.

David Abel (pictured) said passengers had 'no idea' when the quarantine would end as he and 3,710 others were left in limbo in Yokohama Bay today

Medics today went deck-to-deck through the Diamond Princess to test for the virus

Until the results are in 'everyone on board... will stay there', Japan's health minister Katsunobu Kato said.

The 80-year-old patient 'did not visit a medical centre inside the ship while he was sailing with us', according to cruise operator Carnival Japan.

'According to the hospital where he is staying, his condition is stable and infection was not found among his family members who sailed with him,' they said.

One passenger told broadcaster TBS today that all the passengers had been asked to stay in their rooms and wait for tests.

The ship's planned 14-day cruise has been abandoned early.

A decision on whether to allow the vessel to dock at Yokohama port and let passengers land on Japanese soil 'will be made at the quarantine station', said Suga, the government spokesman.

Japan has already barred foreign nationals who have been to Hubei, the Chinese province at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak.

A TV crew films the cruise ship Diamond Princess off the port of Yokohama today as health officials carry out medical checks

People with passports issued in Hubei are also banned from Japan in a bid to contain the crisis.

Visitors who display symptoms of the new virus when they arrive in Japan can also be denied entry.

A total of 11 foreigners have been barred from entering so far, the immigration service agency said today.

The health ministry said that 20 people in Japan had tested positive for the new virus as of Monday, of whom four showed no symptoms.

Japan has also flown more than 500 citizens out of Wuhan, where the coronavirus originated.

The disease is believed to have emerged in a market in Wuhan that sold wild animals, spreading rapidly as people travelled for the Lunar New Year holiday in late January.

The virus has so far spread to more than 20 countries, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency.

In addition, Hong Kong today announced that a 39-year-old coronavirus patient had died in hospital - only the second fatality outside mainland China.
Dowling recovering at home after long hospital stay

State Rep. Matthew Dowling has returned home after suffering a one-vehicle crash in October. Dowling represents parts of Somerset County.
The Gujarat anti-terror squad (ATS) on Tuesday joined the Punjab Polices anti-drug special task force (STF) to probe the role of Simranjit Singh Sandhu in the racket allegedly involved in the smuggling of heroin to Punjab from Pakistan via sea route.

Currently in the custody of Interpol in Italy, Sandhu, an Amritsar resident, has emerged as the prime suspect in the case involving the recovery of 194-kg heroin and chemicals by STF from a house in the citys Sultanwind area on Friday last week. With the recovery, the STF claimed to have unearthed a heroin supply racket with overseas connections.

The ATS team on Tuesday questioned the six accused arrested in the case, it is learnt.

Sandhu was arrested recently in Italy on the basis of a red corner notice (RCN) issued by the Interpol on request of the Gujarat ATS. Sandhu was wanted in a drug-trafficking case in which 300-kg heroin was smuggled from Pakistan to Mandvi in Gujarat.

The Gujarat ATS has some documents which will help us further investigate the matter. We will also share with them evidence against Sandhu, said STF inspector general of police (IGP) Kaushtubh Sharma.

Officials claim that the 194kg contraband seized in Amritsar was part of a 300-kg consignment brought from Pakistan via Gujarat in 2018. The STF has said it was Sandhu who ordered the contraband from Gujarat. Once his name cropped up in the Gujarat case, Sandhu fled to Australia through Nepal and then flew to Italy where he was arrested by the Interpol, say officials.

After 5-kg heroin was recovered by the Gujarat ATS in Jam Salaya in August 2018, two men arrested in the caseRafiq Sumra and Abdul Aziz Bhagad told ATS that the seizure was part of the 300-kg consignment smuggled for Sandhu in Punjab and transported via Rajasthan in trucks carrying cumin, said an STF official.

One of the accused and Sandhus close aide Ankush Kapoor has told the ATS that he was running the racket on the instructions of the kingpin, said an official.

Sources say Sandhu was placing heroin orders from Pakistan-based smugglers through his links in Dubai. The proceeds of the smuggling were used for terror funding, said an official.

IGP Sharma said, The ATS has initiated the process of deporting Sandhu from Italy. Things will be cleared once he is brought to India. We will bring him here on production warrant once he is deported.

3.25-kg heroin, chemicals seized

After the interrogation of Ankush, a team of STF on Tuesday recovered over 3kg heroin from his house in Amritsar.

They also recovered some chemicals used for doubling or adulterating the heroin at Ankushs instance.

We also recovered 500 ml hydrochloric acid, 2.5 litre avarice acid (solution ammonia), 500 gm powder (activated charcoal) from his room, said STF assistant inspector general (AIG) Rashpal Singh.
Horrific incident happened at a school in the Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh

A young girl has been killed after falling into a curry pot at a school in India amid claims the cook was listening to music with headphones on at the time.

The three-year-old suffered severe burns and died after falling into a pot at a government school in the Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

A hot meal was freshly cooked and sitting in the pot when the young girl fell in.

A young girl was killed after falling into a curry pot at a school in India (Stock image)

The girl's father pictured talking to journalists. According to him, the cook did not immediately notice his daughter had fallen in the pot of hot food as he had headphones on

According to the girl's father, the cook did not immediately notice because she had headphones on.

The girl's brother witnessed the incident and screamed for help but, according to local media, the cook did not listen.

School teachers were alerted and rushed to help the girl, who sustained severe burn injuries. She was taken to hospital where she died.

Mirzapur District Magistrate Sushil Kumar Patel has ordered the suspension of the headmaster of the school, in the village of Rampur Atari, in the wake of the tragedy.

Officials have launched a probe into the incident.

'The matter has come to my knowledge. I will get this investigated after getting a report from the concerned Block Education Officer. Action will be taken. I am being told that the girl was not a student of the school,' the Mirzapur Basic Education Officer said.

A three-year-old boy died from burn injuries after falling into a scalding pot of sambar in the Ranga Reddy district of Telangana, India in November 2019 (file image)

It is not the first time a child has died at schools in India in cases of neglect. A three-year-old boy called Suresh died from burn injuries after falling into a scalding pot of curry in the Ranga Reddy district of Telangana in November last year.

It is thought that the boy had been playing near the cooking area when the incident happened.

Earlier in November, a six-year-old boy also fell into a boiling sambar vessel and was killed.

The child was attending a private school in Panyam town of Kurnool and was running as the lunch food was bought out to be served before falling into the pot.

A similar case occurred in 2013 when Anusha Ashwathappa, 6, rushed out of class for lunch when the bell sounded and was knocked into the hot pot.

Anusha suffered 70 per cent burns and was driven to hospital by her headteacher but died hours later.
Slovenia's president sat down with parliamentary parties on Tuesday to explore whether a new coalition government could be formed to avoid fresh elections following the resignation of the country's prime minister last week

Ljubljana, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Feb, 2020 ) :Slovenia's president sat down with parliamentary parties on Tuesday to explore whether a new coalition government could be formed to avoid fresh elections following the resignation of the country's prime minister last week.

Marjan Sarec, head of the centre-left LMS (Marjan Sarec List) party, stepped down as premier on January 27, calling for a snap election amid infighting within his minority five-party coalition government.

But President Borut Pahor is looking to see if there is a chance of forming a new government without having to call a new vote, given that the last snap elections were held only in 2018.

And on Monday, he had urged "all those responsible... to thoroughly consider the situation."
A Deptford police officer accused of intervening in a financial dispute between two others and trying to cover up his involvement has been indicted.

The seven-count indictment against Sgt. Rudy Ruiz includes six second-degree counts of official misconduct and a third-degree charge of witness tampering.

Ruiz visited a mans home in August 2014 and tried to coerce the resident into returning $200 to another person, even though the resident maintained the money was his, authorities said.

Ruiz was in uniform at the time and drove an unmarked Deptford police car.

The resident filed a complaint about the demeanor of the officer at the scene, Sgt. Ruiz, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Ruiz tried to cover his involvement by making it appear that another officer responded to the residents home, authorities. He asked county dispatch to add that officers name to the call and filed a police report on the case under the officers name, according to investigators. The patrolman never responded to the scene, authorities said.

When the police department reviewed the residents complaint in October 2014, Ruiz allegedly told the patrolman to lie to investigators, authorities said. Days later, Ruiz provided a false statement to officers with the departments professional standards unit, according to the indictment.

A Gloucester County grand jury indicted Ruiz last week. Hes due to return to court Feb. 10 for a post-indictment arraignment.

Ruiz rejected a plea offer in November under which he would have faced a three-year sentence in return for pleading guilty to a third-degree charge of official misconduct. He would have had to surrender his job and future public employment.

Ruiz is on administrative leave with pay from the police department, township officials previously confirmed.

He joined the department in 2007 and was promoted to sergeant in 2014. His current salary is $107,554 a year, according to state pension records.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Chinese Experts Suspect Coronavirus Originated in Bats

By VOA News February 03, 2020

The new coronavirus that has killed at least 425 people in China may have originated in bats, Chinese scientists say.

A new study published Monday in the journal Nature said experts from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which specializes in the study of viruses, say the new virus is 96% genetically identical to a virus found in bats in southern China's Yunnan province.

The study said the new coronavirus is 80% genetically similar to the SARS virus that killed more than 800 people in 2002 and 2003.

Chinese officials do not know exactly how the virus could have been transmitted from animals to people, but believe open-air markets in China, where wild and domesticated animals are sold, may be a contributor.

As of early Tuesday, the coronavirus death toll in China stood at 425 with the number of confirmed cases exceeding 20,000.

There are about 150 confirmed cases in 23 other countries. On Sunday, the Philippines reported the first coronavirus death outside of China.

However, early Tuesday, Hong Kong reported its first death from the virus, a man who had traveled from Wuhan. Hong Kong shut nearly off land and sea border crossings with the mainland at midnight.

Officials took the action after more than 2,000 medical workers in the semi-autonomous territory had gone on strike, demanding all border crossings be closed completely. The workers' union threatened a bigger walkout Tuesday. Hong Kong was hit hard by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002-03.

But China is upset that a number of countries are restricting travelers from China from crossing their borders.

Government spokeswoman Hua Chunying accused the United States of spreading fear and not offering any substantial assistance in response to the outbreak.

She said Washington has "unceasingly manufactured and spread panic," noting that the WHO has advised against travel restrictions.

President Donald Trump has offered to send experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to China, but Beijing has yet to accept the offer of help.

The United States began mandatory 14-day quarantines Sunday for U.S. citizens who had been in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital. But non-U.S. citizens who have been in China over the past two weeks are barred.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman said Monday the United States is already prepared to provide housing for up to 1,000 people who may need to be quarantined. He also said the United States is "always planning for eventualities and how we may be asked by civilian partners to assist."

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Transformational travel  or having experiences with lasting impact  seems like a reach for hotels to espouse. But the Potato Head Studios property, set to open in Seminyak, Bali, this month, aims to encourage creative renewal among both guests and locals through sustainability workshops, artistic programming and even its own architecture.

Designed by David Gianotten of OMA, the architectural firm founded by Rem Koolhaas, the resort organizes its 168 rooms in a raised structure, creating a ground-level pavilion for music and performance events and workshops on recycled design. This public aspect, Mr. Gianotten said, transforms a hotel that is typically for hotel guests exclusive enjoyment, into a place for cultural encounters open to everyone living in and exploring Bali.

The resort joins a growing list of hotels going beyond art on the walls and D.J.s in the lobbies to court the creative crowd. Both residents and travelers are being welcomed to tap their imagination through things like hands-on pottery classes, design workshops and art therapy.

In todays extensively digitized social network environment, actual interpersonal interaction is prized, Henry H. Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst and the president of Atmosphere Research Group, said. The classes can also help the hotel become a more active and respected part of its community.
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Republican party Sinn Fein have surged into first place with just days until Ireland goes to the polls in a general election, according to a new survey.

Sinn Fein were at 25 per cent, ahead of opposition party Fianna Fail on 23 per cent, the final Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll said on Monday night.

Fine Gael - the party of the incumbent government lead by prime minister Leo Varadkar - was trailing on 20 per cent in third. The general election takes place on Saturday.

The poll was conducted from January 30 to February 1 among 1,200 adults at 120 locations in every constituency. Its results suggest an historic shift in sentiment.

Sinn Feins flagship policy is uniting the republic with the British province of Northern Ireland and dissolving a border erected in the partition of 1921.

But that could be overshadowed as the more immediate issues of housing, healthcare and homelessness have come to dominate the campaign.

Sinn Fein have also historically under-performed at previous elections compared to opinion polling.

More particularly, the all-island party is fielding just 42 candidates in the election and will not be able to form a majority government even if all are elected.

But they could still play a key role in any coalition government.

Sinn Fein in leaders debate

The latest poll forced state broadcaster RTE to invite Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald to a leaders debate on Tuesday night, because of what it said was a notable change in the dynamic of the campaign on the ground.

It was originally planned as a face-off between Varadkar and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin.

McDonald said she was pleased to accept the invitation.

Irish governments have been dominated by the duopoly of the centre-right Fine Gael and Fianna Fail parties since its foundation.

Varadkar opened campaigning touting his success in Brexit negotiations for Britains departure from the European Union and appealing to the public that the process is ongoing.

Story continues

But polls suggest the issue does not rank as a concern for voters.

Fianna Fail has propped up Varadkars minority government in parliament through a confidence and supply agreement since the 2016 election.

This potentially links them to the perceived failings of the incumbent government.

Fianna Fail also still bears the blame of leading Ireland into a ruinous recession in 2008 following the boom period dubbed the Celtic Tiger.

(AFP)
Singapore has reported six more cases of a newly identified coronavirus, including four domestic transmissions, taking its tally of infections to 24, the health ministry of the Southeast Asian city-state said on Feb. 4.

The outbreak has killed more than 420 people, spread round the world and fueled fears for global economic growth, with rival financial center Hong Kong reporting its first coronavirus death on Tuesday, only the second outside mainland China.

Though four of these cases constitute a local transmission cluster, there is as yet no evidence of widespread sustained community transmission in Singapore, the health ministry said in a statement.

All four cases were linked to a health products shop that primarily serves Chinese tourists, the ministry added.

The other two infections were in Singapore residents evacuated on Thursday from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have surfaced late last year in a market selling illegal wildlife.

What we hope we will be able to do is contain the situation in Singapore, said Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, the ministrys chief health scientist.

We have a small cluster, we should ring fence it.

Earlier, Singapore had reported 18 cases of the virus, all with a history of recent travel to Wuhan.

One patient had been discharged and another could follow in the next few days, said ministry official Kenneth Mak.

Five patients have oxygen to support breathing but  none are critically ill, added Mak, the ministrys director of medical services.

The situation called for close monitoring, Tan said.

What will be really important is how the very extensive measures that have been taken in China to contain the infection  pan out over the next few weeks, he said.

But we need to monitor the situation very closely, its very dynamic.

The travel and tourism hub has banned entry to Chinese visitors and foreigners with a recent history of travel to China in some of the most far-reaching moves worldwide to deter the disease.

Chinese nationals make up the largest share of visitors to Singapore, which was among the countries outside China worst hit in the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that killed 800 people globally.

By John Geddie
When Peter Kim farewelled his daughter from Seoul in South Korea for a Sydney boarding school last month, he thought he was sending her to a "home away from home".

But one day after the year 10 student, an Australian citizen who did not wish to be named, arrived at Ravenswood on Sydney's north shore she was asked to leave her dormitory amid concern about the spread of coronavirus - even though she had not been to China since visiting Shanghai in October.

Ravenswood School for Girls on Sydney's upper north shore. Credit:Michele Mossop

The NSW government last week asked students who travelled to any part of China to quarantine themselves until they clear the 14-day incubation period for coronavirus.

The initial federal government advice said only those who had been to Wuhan or in contact with an infected person should be concerned. The government has since banned non-citizens who have been to mainland China from entering Australia.
The Canadian governments plan to expand a major oil pipeline cleared a key legal hurdle, providing optimism that the project may proceed and sending a lifeline to the countrys ailing energy industry.

The Federal Court of Appeals in Ottawa ruled Tuesday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government adequately consulted with Indigenous communities along the lines route and that the regulatory review of the project included all necessary elements.

The ruling signals that one of the final remaining major legal challenges to the project may be overcome, which would help keep construction from being interrupted and allow the expanded line to start shipping oil by its 2022 target.

However, the ruling is almost certain to be appealed to Canadas Supreme Court, said David Austin, an energy lawyer at Stirling LLP in Vancouver.

People should take a deep breath and wait for the outcome of an appeal, Austin said in an interview before the appeals courts ruling was released. The final judicial review rests at the Supreme Court of Canada level, and until its weighed in, the process is not over.

The Trans Mountain project has been highly anticipated by Canadas oil producers, which have suffered from a lack of pipeline capacity that has weighed on local crude prices and stymied plans to expand output. The project would boost daily shipping capacity by 590,000 barrels, to a total of 890,000 barrels.

Expanding the line, which runs from Edmonton to a shipping terminal near Vancouver, also would open the possibility of developing new markets for Canadian crude in Asia and reducing dependence on U.S. refiners.

The Trans Mountain expansion has had a long and troubled history. Amid mounting opposition, original owner Kinder Morgan Inc. threatened to walk away from the project, prompting Trudeaus government to agree to buy the existing line for about $4.5 billion in 2018 to salvage the project.

Before that deal had even closed, the appeals court nullified the Trans Mountain expansions approval in August 2018, ruling that the projects regulatory review was flawed because it didnt examine the effects of additional tanker traffic. The court also said Trudeaus government hadnt consulted enough with First Nations along the route.

The Trudeau government then conducted months of additional consultations, and the countrys top energy regulator in February 2019 recommended approving the project again after bulking up its review of the expansion.

The Federal Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that the governments additional consultation was a genuine effort in ascertaining and taking into account the key concerns of the applicants, considering them, engaging in two-way communication, and considering and sometimes agreeing to accommodations.

This was anything but a rubber-stamping exercise, the court said in the decision. The end result was not a ratification of the earlier approval, but an approval with amended conditions flowing directly from the renewed consultation.

The appeals courts decision may help future energy projects by clarifying how proponents need to engage with First Nations affected by their operations, said Vivek Warrier, the co-head of the energy industry team at Bennett Jones LLP in Calgary.

It will put down a marker, from a long-term perspective, as to what consultation needs to look like, Warrier said in an interview before the ruling was released.

From a legal perspective, wed love to have a bright line drawn by the Federal Court of Appeal saying what is required and if youve met that threshold, then youve undertaken adequate consultation.

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A paramedic in Illinois was arrested Monday after a woman reported that he forced her to perform oral sex while en route to the hospital back in July, police say.

On July 22, police in Urbana were called to a local hospital after a 48-year-old woman claimed Jeffrey Sanford Jr.  an EMT  pressured her into performing oral sex while the two were on their way to the hospital in an ambulance, the Champaign County Sheriffs Office said in a statement to McClatchy News.

Jeffrey Sanford Jr., 47, is charged with sexual assault after a woman reported that hed forced her to perform oral sex while they were en route to the hospital, Illinois police say.

During his initial interview, Sanford, 47, denied the claims, police say.

Officials collected DNA samples from Sanford and the womans sexual assault kit and sent them to the Illinois State Police Crime Lab for analysis.

Newly obtained results determined that Sanfords DNA matched what was found on the victim, police said in the statement.

Sanford was interviewed again on Monday while he was on duty at the Rantoul Police Department and was arrested, police say.

Hes charged with sexual assault and is being held in the Champaign County Correctional Center. His arraignment was scheduled for Tuesday, according to jail records.
The Azimo logo displayed on a smartphone. Azimo

Azimo, the U.K. money transfer start-up taking on the likes of Western Union and MoneyGram, has raised 20 million euros ($23 million) in debt financing from the European Union. The loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is the lending arm of the EU, will help the financial technology firm build out its payments platform and expand its presence in Poland. Azimo co-founder and Chairman Michael Kent told CNBC the company now primarily builds its technology out of the Polish city of Krakow, where it hires 130 of its 160 global staff. "We find we can get exceptional talent more usually there than anywhere else in Europe," he said in an interview. "Krakow has become a bit of a fintech hub." EU commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the bloc "will continue to support successful companies such as Azimo to boost the European fintech sector and improve the experience of millions of customers." The EIB has previously invested in Swedish payments firm iZettle, which was snapped up by PayPal in 2018, while more recently it injected 50 million euros into taxi app Bolt.

Brexit

The investment from Europe into a U.K. company arrives just days after the country officially withdrew from the bloc. The irony isn't lost on Kent, who says he anticipates talks on future relations between the two trading partners to be "messy." U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier appeared to butt heads on Monday, with Johnson rejecting Brussels' competition and environmental rules while Barnier insisted some guarantees were required to create a "level playing field." "We are stepping into the unknown," Kent said. "It's going to be messy. You can already hear from the rhetoric that it's not going to be a friendly visiting rights and equal division of the money divorce." The London-headquartered fintech firm secured a license in the Netherlands to continue passporting its service into EU member countries, regardless of how Brexit turns out. Nevertheless, Azimo's boss said it wouldn't be quitting the U.K. anytime soon as "it's still the best tech ecosystem arguably in the world."

Founded in 2012, Azimo lets people send money to more than 200 countries, with the option to transfer funds to a bank account, cash location or mobile wallet. The firm claims to offer foreign exchange rates and fees at a fraction of the cost provided by banks.

Crowded space
Iranian students in Wuhan to be repatriated on Tuesday

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Mon / 3 February 2020 / 16:00

Tehran (ISNA)  An especial flight will be dispatched to Wuhan in the early hours of Tuesday to repatriate 70 Iranian students, Iran's Health Minister said, adding that no case of Coronavirus has been reported in Iran yet.

Iran's Health Minister, Saeed Namaki said no case of novel Coronavirus has been reported in Iran.

Regarding the suspension of flights between Iran and China, Namaki said, "Chinese nationals in Iran and Iranian citizens in China will be able to go back to their countries, as we can't ban them from going back to their countries".

Pointing to the strategic relations between Iran and China, he said, "We hope the situation turns back to normal soon because Iran and China has strategic ties which we don't want to be hurt. But it doesn't mean we turn a blind eye on our people's health. It is out priority".

Namaki also said that an especial flight accompanied with a specialized five-man team will be dispatched to Wuhan in the early hours of Tuesday to repatriate 70 Iranian students from the city. The crew will also be protected from the virus and the students will spend two weeks in quarantine after arriving in Iran.

End Item

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Amazon.com Inc Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is urging a U.S. judge to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed against him by the brother of his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, Bloomberg reported business on Monday.

Michael Sanchez sued Bezos in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday, alleging Bezos falsely stated that Lauren Sanchez's brother was the source of his intimate photographs, according to a court filing.

In March last year, the publisher of the National Enquirer said its reports on Bezos' private life were based on information from a single source, the brother of Bezos' girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez.

Bezos filed a response to the suit on Monday calling Sanchez's claims baseless and said the suit amounted to an attempt to chill Bezos' ability to exercise his right of free speech, Bloomberg said.

Bezos also said that Sanchez had failed to point to a single example of him or his security chief Gavin de Becker making such an accusation, Bloomberg reported.

Amazon was not immediately available for a comment.
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A guide in Mexico's monarch butterfly preserve has been found dead days after a butterfly activist in the same region died in mysterious circumstances.

The Michoacan state prosecutors' office said the body of guide Raul Hernandez Romero was discovered on Saturday in the municipality of Ocampo. His body showed multiple bruises and a knife-type wound to the head.

Hernandez's family said he has last been seen on January 27 when he left his home in a neighboring municipality, Angangueo.

A guide in Mexico's monarch butterfly preserve, Raul Hernandez Romero, was discovered on Saturday. it comes just days after the suspected murder of activist Homero Gomez, who had fought for a decade to protect the monarch butterflies

A monarch butterfly takes off from a tree trunk in the winter nesting grounds of El Rosario Sanctuary, near Ocampo, Michoacan state, Mexico

It wasn't clear if the case might be related to the death of Homero Gomez Gonzalez, a prominent defender of the butterflies against illegal logging, whose body was found days earlier in a holding pond in the Ocampo area.

Autopsies show he drowned and had a head wound, but officials haven't determined the circumstances of the death.

The sudden disappearance of such a high-profile campaigner had sparked an outcry in Mexico, an increasingly violent country where activists are routinely threatened, harmed or even killed as a result of their work.

The butterflies' annual migration through Canada and the U.S. to Mexico, threatened by logging, avocado farming, pesticide use, and climate and environmental change, has been a source of income for people in the impoverished mountains of Michoacan state where the insects winter, clumped to oyamel pines.

Millions of the orange and black insects make a 2,000-mile journey each year from Canada to winter in central Mexico's warmer weather.

But Michoacan state is not only home to the country's largest monarch butterfly reserve, a World Heritage Site, but also rival drug gangs who battle to control smuggling routes through often-arid terrain to the Pacific and the interior of the country.

People carry the coffin with the remains of Mexican environmentalist Homero Gomez, during his funeral procession in El Rosario village, Ocampo, Michoacan State, Mexic

A photo of Homero Gomez Gonzalez rests atop his coffin during his wake in Ocampo, Michoacan state, Mexico. Relatives of the anti-logging activist who fought to protect the winter habitat of monarch butterflies don't know whether he was murdered or not

People carry the coffin with the remains of Mexican environmentalist Homero Gomez, during his funeral procession last Thursday

Homero Gomez Gonzalez was known as Mexico's most prominent butterfly activists

In Gomez's killing. relatives speculated his death wasn't accidental and said bad things were happening to human rights and environmental activists in Mexico, and people are afraid.

'Something strange is happening, because theyre finishing off all the activists, the people who are doing something for society,' the dead man's brother, Amado Gomez, said last Thursday at the funeral.

The body was discovered Wednesday in a holding pond near the mountain forest reserve that Gomez Gonzalez long protected. Michoacan state prosecutors had said a few hours later that an initial review indicated a drowning and found no signs of trauma, but their latest statement said more detailed autopsy results produced evidence of a head injury.

Authorities gave no other information on the injury and did not say how it might have been inflicted. They said an investigation continued, suggesting the case wasn't considered an accident.

Homero Gomez Gonzalez, pictured became one of the most vocal defenders of central Mexico's monarch butterfly population

Gomez, a strenuous defender of the monarch butterfly, was found dead in a well in the state of Michoacan local authorities said Wednesday

Remedios Argeta Gonzalez, 73, sheds a tear as she mourns her son, environmental activist Homero Gomez Gonzalez, in the family's shared kitchen in Ocampo, Michoacan state, Mexico

The threadbare clothes of the mourners and the few candles and simple floral arrangements at Gomez Gonzalezs funeral underlined the tough background of the struggle being played out in the butterflies winter nesting grounds, where the creatures shelter in the tall pine and fir forests.

Grinding poverty and gang violence fuel twin threats to the butterfly reserve - illegal logging and encroaching plantations of avocados. The latter is the only legal crop that provides a decent income in this region.

For the last decade, Gomez Gonzalez fought to keep loggers out of the reserve, leading marches, demonstrations and anti-logging patrols. He tried to persuade the government to increase the meager stipend that local farmers receive for preserving trees.

He also worked to convince about 260 fellow communal land owners that they should replant trees on land cleared for corn plots. By local accounts, he managed to reforest about 150 hectares (370 acres) of previously cleared land.

Mourners pray around the coffin of environmental activist Homero Gomez Gonzalez. The famil don't know whether he was murdered or died accidentally

Municipal police guard the funeral procession for community activist Homero Gomez Gonzalez in Ocampo

Mourners fill a church for a funeral Mass for the community activist. Hundreds of farmers and agricultural workers attended the funeral Friday

Like other places in the world, increasingly scarce water also plays a role in the conflict. Gomez Gonzalez and other communal land owners had asked the nearby town of Angangueo for payments in return for water they receive from clear mountain streams that survive only because the forests are protected.

His death has sparked fears among fellow conservationist who didn't have his education and public speaking skills.

'A lot of the communal land owners fear that with his death, the forests are finished,' said Amado Gomez.

'I would like to ask the authorities to do their job and do more to protect activists like my brother, because lately in Mexico a lot of activists have died,' he said. 'With his death, not only my family lost a loved one; but the whole world, and the monarch butterfly and the forests lost, too.'

International organizations have drawn attention to attacks on environmental activists and conservationists in Mexico in recent years.

Flower petals fall as family and friends grieve around Gonzalez's grave

A mourner wipes tears during a wake for environmental activist Homero Gomez Gonzalez

London-based Global Witness counted 15 killings of environmental activists in Mexico in 2017 and 14 in 2018. In an October 2019 report, Amnesty International said that 12 had been killed in the first nine months of that year.

On Thursday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador described Gomez Gonzalez's death as 'regrettable' and 'painful.'

'It's part of what leads us to apply ourselves more every day to guarantee peace and tranquility in the country,' Lopez Obrador said. There were 35,588 homicides in Mexico in 2019, a new record, but a total that rose at a lower annual rate than recent years.

The activist's relatives had reported him missing January 14, after not seeing him since the previous evening at a traditional celebration.

His body was found in a small agricultural reservoir in Ocampo, state prosecutor Adrian Lopez Solis said. The pond is approximately 32 feet square and 20 feet deep, but only about half full of water, and is on land adjoining property where Gomez Gonzalez attended the party.

Mourners pay their respects next to the coffin of environmental activist Homero Gomez Gonzalez at his wake

Prosecutors said Thursday night that robbery appeared not to be a potential motive, since almost $500 in cash was found on his body. Lopez Solis also said earlier that relatives had received a ransom call demanding money, but an investigation determined it was not credible and just an attempt to extort money.

While the circumstances of the death remained unclear, Greenpeace Mexico issued a statement calling it a 'murder.'

'We condemn the fact that defending the land, natural resources and biodiversity converts activists into targets for threats, persecution and the cowardly act of taking their lives,' the group said.

Activists in Mexico said the death could be related to disputes over illegal logging, water or income from visitors' fees to the El Rosario butterfly reserve. Gomez Gonzalez was the head of the reserve's management council.

Lopez Obrador raised criminality surrounding illegal logging. 'It's tied to criminal organizations and we're working on this,' he said.

Last month, during Gomez's disappearance, 53 local police officers were called in for questioning over the long-time promoter and protector of the wintering grounds of the monarch butterfly

Mexico has clamped down on illegal logging, which was once a major threat to the reserves but which has fallen to about one-third last year's level. But there have been reports of increased 'salvage' logging of supposedly sick trees.

Orley Taylor, an ecology professor at the University of Kansas and director of Monarch Watch, said it wasn't immediately clear what impact Gomez Gonzalez's death would have on conservation efforts in the reserve.

'There are increasing pressures on the forest from both the illegal loggers and the avocado growers and possibly the gangs that extort protection from various parties in the region,' Taylor said. 'This dynamic is widely known, but how to deal with these threats to the forests, residents and monarchs will be a challenge for the (Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve), its residents and local and regional authorities.
MIDLAND, Texas, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MDC Energy (the "Company") has reached an agreement with its creditors to resolve the creditors' motions in the Company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to appoint a trustee to manage the Company. Under the agreement, reached with Natixis, New York Branch, BMO Harris Bank N.A., Riverstone Credit Management, LLC, as the administrative agent for the MTE Holdings lenders, and the Ad Hoc Committee of Trade Creditors, the Company will form a Board of Managers, including its CEO, Mark Siffin, and two independent directors, Neal Goldman and Matthew Doheny. Mr. Siffin will remain CEO and continue to be fully engaged in the Company's operations, strategic options, and capital raising. The Company has also agreed to appoint Scott Pinsonnault of Ankura Consulting Group, LLC, as its Chief Restructuring Officer, who will report to the Board and assist Mr. Siffin and management navigate the Chapter 11 restructuring process.

The Company is pleased that it has reached a resolution and looks forward to moving ahead productively under the leadership of the newly constituted Board and its CEO, Mr. Siffin, to complete the Company's restructuring as quickly as possible and to position the Company to maximize value for all stakeholders.

About MDC Energy:

MDC Energy is a Midland, TX-based independent oil and gas exploration and production company with properties in the most attractive U.S. basins. It has established a notable track-record of success in drilling and production operations in the industry.

SOURCE MDC Energy
B Satyanarayana Reddy By

Express News Service

KHAMMAM: The dreaded whitefly has been spreading like the wrath of God, devouring the oil palm and coconut plantations in Dammapet, Aswaraopet and Sattupalli mandals of the erstwhile Khammam district.

Crops in thousands of acres have been affected. According to officials, oil palm in 30,000 acre and coconut plantations in 4,000 acre are under attack. The whitefly which played havoc with plantations in East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh, has crossed the borders and is now attacking crops in Telangana.

The whitefly impact has been very severe. Yield would go down considerably. The whitefly which entered Telangana in the later part of last year has begun attacking the crops since then, an official said.

The officials, however, cautioned the farmers against using chemicals. They should use only biological control methods. If chemicals are used, they would kill insects that benefit the crops which leads to further damage to the crops, they said.

This pest had entered India through Kerala and Tamil Nadu in 2016 from Brazil and Norway. Now it has entered Telangana from AP. Dammapet, Aswaraopet and Sattupalli mandals are in close proximity to East and West Godavari districts in AP which had made it easy for the whitefly to spread across Khammam district.

Farmers are worried about what lies in store for them as they had pinned hopes on the yield to see them through. According to Horticulture Officer Gudimalla Sandeep Kumar, the farmers should use neem oil and bio medicines to combat the whitefly. We are distributing bio-medicine and neem oil to farmers free of cost and they can collect them from the coconut seed centre in Aswaraopet.

Sandeep Kumar said whitefly should be tackled in a coordinated manner. Isolated efforts would not help much as whitefly can easily spread from one place to another, he said.
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. ? Publicly sharing a goal may help you persist after hitting a failure, but only if you care about what others think of you, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

However, public announcements, such as Facebook posts about New Year's resolutions or weight loss targets, may only be motivating when there is immediate feedback after a failure and if there is a high incentive in reaching a goal.

"Everyone sets goals, and some people choose to make those goals public instead of keeping them private. Everyone also fails to meet goals from time to time," says Jenny Jiao, an assistant professor of marketing at Binghamton University's School of Management. "We were interested in finding out what happens after a failure."

Working with Catherine Cole, a professor of marketing at the University of Iowa's Tippie College of Business, Jiao studied the effects of goal publicity, failure feedback and goal incentives on goal persistence across three different studies.

Each study consisted of subjects completing a task, learning they failed, and giving them another opportunity to complete the task, with variations to control for each of the effects they wanted to test.

"When you hit a failure, virtually all of the effort you've put into your goal is now a sunk cost. You can't go back and try to fix what you've already done. You now only have two options - give up or keep trying," says Jiao.

The effect of goal publicity

Researchers found that publicly announcing your goal only affects those who care about what others think about them.

"If your public reputation is something you hold in high regard, then failing publicly is probably going to push you to not want to fail publicly again. There is a greater chance you're going to try hitting that goal again." says Jiao.

However, Jiao says people who do not care too much about public perception aren't affected by the public or private nature of a goal after hitting failure.

"If you don't care as much about your reputation, then it's not going to matter if people know about your failure or not," she says. "If they think you are a failure, that is not going to bother you as much."

The effect of failure feedback

Researchers found that feedback plays an important role in goal persistence after a failure.

Jiao says those who receive feedback immediately after a failure are more likely to continue pursuing a goal than those who receive no feedback or delayed feedback.

"If someone gives you immediate feedback, you then start thinking about what you could've done better," says Jiao. "If that feedback is delayed, then you've probably found ways to justify your failure, and you're less likely to pick your goal back up."

The effect of incentives

Researchers found that incentives need to be perceived as high for someone to continue working towards a goal after hitting a failure.

"You may reassess a goal after failing and realize that it may not be worth the effort," says Jiao. "However, if there is a reward that you perceive as being very valuable, it's going to keep pushing you towards reaching that goal."

As a marketing researcher, Jiao's hopes the study will help marketers understand what drives consumers to keep working towards a goal after hitting a failure. She says the implications could help companies understand how to structure rewards programs or loyalty cards.

"Some companies spend millions on marketing campaigns that encourage consumers to post goals on social media. This research shows that it's only effective for certain kinds of consumers," says Jiao. "It also shows the importance of immediate feedback and incentives if you want consumers to continue working towards those goals."

###

Jiao's paper, "The Effects of Goal Publicity and Self?Monitoring on Escalation of Goal Commitment," has been published in the Journal of Consumer Behaviour.
The evacuation of New Zealanders from the virus-stricken Chinese city of Wuhan is a "complex process", New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said Tuesday. She was speaking after a government-chartered plane left New Zealand bound for Wuhan, where it was to pick up evacuees and fly them back home.

A total of 263 people have registered for the flight, which is due to return to Auckland on Wednesday afternoon. Ardern said passengers would be taken directly to a military facility where they will be quarantined for two weeks. She defended the decision to charge each passenger 500 New Zealand dollars (325 dollars) to offset some of the flight costs. There have been no confirmed cases of the virus in New Zealand.
NEW HAVEN  A Hartford man was sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison on gun and drug dealing charges, federal authorities said.

Luis Nieves-Feliciano, 41, of Hartford, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to a total of 46 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, federal authorities said in a release from the office of Connecticut U.S. Attorney John H. Durham.

The case began when state Department of Revenue Services officials went to Broad Street Liquors, at 1949 Broad St., Hartford, on a routine permit/cigarette inspection in May 2019 and Nieves-Feliciano, who worked there, immediately concealed items, struggled with DRS agents, and eventually fled the store, the release said, attributing the information to court documents and statements made in court.

The DRS agents contacted Hartford Police and a court-authorized search of the store revealed a loaded Kel-Tec, Model P11, 9mm semiautomatic pistol, approximately 45 grams of cocaine packaged for distribution and a quantity of marijuana packaged for distribution, all of which was located on or behind the stores counter, the release said. A second 9mm pistol, a box of ammunition, approximately 112 grams of cocaine, approximately $13,000 in cash, and personal items and documents belonging to Nieves-Felciano, were located in the basement of the store.

Further, a search of the store also revealed several cigarette packs that had fraudulent tax stamps, the release said.

According to federal officials, Nieves-Felcianos criminal history includes state felony convictions for narcotics, firearm, assault and robbery offenses and it is against federal law for any person previously convicted of a felony to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce, the release said.

Nieves-Feliciano has been detained since he was arrest on May 15, 2019, and on Oct. 21 he pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and one count of possession of firearms by a previously convicted felon, according to federal authorities.

The case, part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations Northern Connecticut Violent Crimes Gang Task Force, which includes members of the Hartford Police Department, East Hartford Police Department, Connecticut State Police and Connecticut Department of Correction. The Connecticut Department of Revenue Services provided valuable assistance to the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian P. Leaming.
Investors will gauge market sentiment with the upcoming sale of the site at 191 Thomas Street in Sydney's Haymarket, with price expectations of about $75 million.

In one of the first few sale offerings for the new year, agents are expecting interest amid low interest rates and the hunt for higher yielding bricks and mortar.

Property sales agents said the has been strong demand from both offshore and local capital for commercial assets in the southern CBD and it is anticipated that the precinct's record-low vacancy, coupled with the lack of speculative office supply under construction, will see the precinct continue to enjoy strong levels of rental growth.

191 Thomas Street, Haymarket, Sydney. Credit:Mark Merton Photography

The property at 191 Thomas Street, an eight-storey office building incorporating ground-floor retail and basement parking for 16 cars with a net lettable area (NLA) of 4797 square metres is set to hit the market later this month, exclusively for sale through Savills Australia and Colliers International.
[February 04, 2020] New East Daley Capital Report Reveals the Biggest Trends Impacting the Midstream Energy Sector in 2020

East Daley Capital Advisors, Inc., an energy data and insights provider, announced that it has released its fourth annual report on the midstream energy sector - 2020 Dirty Little Secrets - Molecules to Money: Asset-Level ROCE. This in-depth market report brings together commodity fundamentals with asset-level financial impact to identify midstream energy growth opportunities and risk. East Daley's independent market insights provide both data and answers about the NG, NGL and Crude supply/demand fundamentals that drive the asset-level cash flows of a company. The report features a new section on Midstream Corporate Strategy that includes data and analysis tailored to midstream corporate companies based on relevant topics faced by management teams within the sector. Midstream energy executives can leverage this actionable intelligence to better inform their investment decisions. Key findings include: The U.S. midstream infrastructure is at the crest of the largest buildout cycle in history, yet the market is underestimating the overall production growth.

Midstream companies providing G&P, NGL transportation, and fractionation in associated gas basins like the Permian and Bakken will enjoy EBITDA growth in 2020 that outpaces production growth and market expectations.

Investors are overestimating the near-term value of owning Permian long-haul pipelines given the impending overbuild of crude oil pipeline capacity out of the Permian and Cushing that will negatively impact market earnings.

Regulatory risks are on the rise for the oil and gas industry as local, state, and federal governments begin implementing policies to minimize adverse effects from drilling. Howver, this risk is overstated as most oil and gas activity takes place in counties that are favorable towards oil and gas development.

Vertical integration is an expensive proposition but is also a key to success. Vertically integrated companies tend to be valued at a higher EV/EBITDA rate making this a key differentiator.



East Daley cuts through the noise of market sentiment using fundamentals to find opportunity in a sector that has faced notable market headwinds despite continued growth in earnings. East Daley goes beyond simply delivering data, and instead takes a deeper look at the NG, NGL and Crude supply/demand fundamentals. This granular approach reveals the bigger picture implications of commodity price movements and delivers actionable intelligence.

To purchase a copy of 2020 Dirty Little Secrets - Molecules to Money: Asset-Level ROCE report, visit http://eastdaley.com/dirty-little-secrets/. About East Daley Capital Advisors, Inc. East Daley Capital is an energy data and insights provider that is redefining how markets view risk for midstream and exploration and production (E&P) companies. In addition to using top-level financial data to predict a company's performance, East Daley delivers asset and commodity analysis that provides comprehensive, fact-based intelligence. Supported by a team of unbiased, experienced financial and commodity analysts, East Daley provides its clients unparalleled insight into how midstream and E&P companies operate and generate cash flow, in addition to commodity forecasting. East Daley uses publicly available fundamental data and intersects that data with a company's reported financials to asset-level adjusted-EBITDA and distributable cash flow (DCF). The result allows for more informed investment decisions. Founded in 2014, the company is based in Centennial, Colorado. For more information visit http://www.eastdaley.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005263/en/

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Brokers Ireland has today called on consumers to be alert to the dangers of fraudsters masquerading as insurance brokers as reports emerge that gardai have found yet more fraudsters selling forged or invalid insurance to unsuspecting motorists.

Brokers Ireland, which represents 1,250 Brokers registered with and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, said it is great to see progress being made by gardai towards targeting and catching those who are carrying out this fraud and said the gardai must be given whatever resources they need to continue their efforts to protect vulnerable and unsuspecting people.

Cathie Shannon, Director of General Insurance at Brokers Ireland, said with not too much difficulty consumers should be able to establish the authenticity or otherwise of those presenting themselves as brokers.

If you buy insurance from a fraudster, you have not actually purchased a valid insurance policy and the consequences can be severe in the event of needing to make a claim.

If you purchase car insurance from a fraudster you will be driving without insurance, which is a criminal offence.

Fraudsters often target young or what might be considered more vulnerable consumers, often foreign nationals who are not clear on how the insurance market works in Ireland, she said.

Ms Shannon said one of the most obvious signals can be an insurance quote that seems too good to be true.

Invariably if it seems too good to be true it transpires that it actually is. This opens up the prospect of serious consequences when the unexpected or unwanted happens, she said.

She advised consumers to always check the authenticity of any person or company selling or administering insurance policies.

The easiest and cost-free first step would be to check the Brokers Ireland website: www.brokersireland.ie because all our insurance Brokers are listed there. Our website has a handy search facility, which will also enable a consumer to find an insurance Broker in their local area.

Second, consumers can also check with the Central Bank, the website of which provides a search facility to enable consumers check whether the person or company purporting to sell insurance or administer policies is a regulated entity.

She said while conducting business over the web is now the norm, the web is also an easy marketplace for fraudsters.

Consumers need to be alert at all times. Think twice before purchasing insurance from sources such as social media sites and carefully check any insurance documentation for accuracy, she said.

She said the term ghost broker is unfortunate. The more correct description would be fraudsters," she said.
Israel's Holocaust memorial centre has apologised over "errors" in films screened during a high-profile ceremony last month that distorted events related to the Soviet Union and Poland during World War II.

The Yad Vashem centre in Jerusalem said in a blog posted Monday that some of the material shown at the January 23 event, attended by more than 40 heads of state and government, included "inaccuracies that resulted in partial and unbalanced presentation of historical facts."



The ceremony marking 75 years since the Soviet Red Army liberated the Nazi death camp Auschwitz was co-organised by the World Holocaust Forum Foundation, led by Russian billionaire and Kremlin ally Moshe Kantor.

The films shown at the event were produced by Kantor's foundation "in cooperation" with Yad Vashem, a spokesman for the institution told AFP on Tuesday.

The films made no mention of "the division of Poland between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 or to the conquest of Western Europe in 1940," Yad Vashem head of research Dan Michman wrote.

"In addition, the maps show incorrect borders between Poland and its neighbours and erroneously identify concentration camps as exterminations camps.

"These short films were meant to serve as illustrations. However they do not reflect the complexity of the Holocaust and the war, to which Yad Vashem dedicates its ongoing research," he added.

"We apologise for the unfortunate errors." The ceremony was held amid a bitter dispute between Poland and Russia over WWII history.

In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin falsely claimed that Poland had colluded with Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler and contributed to the outbreak of World War II, sparking new tensions between Moscow and Warsaw.

Polish President Andrzej Duda then declined to attend the ceremony in Jerusalem after he was not given a speaking slot.

He argued that he would not have an opportunity to respond should Putin use the event to cast further accusations of anti-Semitism against Poland.

The Nazis built Auschwitz on Polish territory.

Soviet collaboration with the Nazis remains highly sensitive in the ex-Soviet bloc and frequently crops up in political rhetoric.

Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded and carved up Poland in September 1939 under a secret clause of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Nazi invasion prompted Britain and France to declare war on Germany.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The coverage on this live blog has ended  but for up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's Asia-Pacific team. Total cases: About 20,900 as of Tuesday morning.

Total deaths: At least 427 worldwide as of Tuesday morning.

6:41 pm: Princess Cruises confirms ten cases of coronavirus on Japan cruise

Princess Cruises said ten passengers aboard a cruise ship that was docked in Japan have tested positive for the virus, and it has placed all 3,700 passengers and crew under mandatory quarantine on the ship in Yokohama. "These 10 persons, who have been notified, will be taken ashore by Japanese Coast Guard watercraft and transported to local hospitals for care by shoreside Japanese medical professionals," the company said.

6:33 pm: United says it will suspend Hong Kong flights

United Airlines on Tuesday said it will suspend Hong Kong service, days after it cut its mainland China flights. The Chicago-based carrier said demand had dropped for the routes. The suspension begins Feb. 8 and will last until Feb. 20 but more changes are possible, the company said.

6:12 pm: China's Hubei province confirms additional 65 deaths and 3,156 new cases

The Hubei Provincial Health Committee confirmed 3,156 new cases and an additional 65 deaths in the province overnight. The committee said that brings the total confirmed cases in the province to 16,678 and the death toll to 479 in the province. Wuhan, China is the capital city of Hubei province and the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.

5:24 pm: Outbreak costing Disney theme parks $175 million

Disney said it is expecting to take a $175 million hit from the recent coronavirus outbreak if its Hong Kong and Shanghai Disney parks remain closed for two months. Christine McCarthy, chief financial officer at Disney, said the company expects an impact of $135 million on second-quarter operating income from the Shanghai park and about $40 million from the closure of the Hong Kong park.

4:48 pm: Nike expects "material impact" on operations in China

Nike has closed half of its stores in China, saying the outbreak will have a "material impact" on its operations there. "This situation was not contemplated at the time we provided Q3 guidance during our Q2 fiscal year 2020 earnings call," the company said in a statement. "Dynamics continue to evolve and accordingly we will provide an update on the operational and financial impacts on our Q3 earnings call."

3:38 pm: Clorox boosting bleach production

Clorox, which makes cleaning products for both home and hospital use, is making more of its bleach products in case there's more customer demand amid the outbreak, CFO Kevin Jacobsen told analysts. However, officials from the World Health Organization said on a call earlier Tuesday that there was currently no evidence that bleach worked to protect against the virus. Other companies have said they'll make more of their products that could be in demand during the outbreak, including 3M upping production of respiratory masks.

3:06 pm: Virus may be more contagious than current data shows

Infectious disease specialists and scientists say the new virus may be more contagious than current data shows. Emerging in Wuhan, China about a month ago, the virus has spread from about 300 people as of Jan. 21 to close to 21,000, killing more than 420. Data on the virus is changing by the day, and some infectious disease specialists say it will take weeks before they can see just how contagious it is. What they're seeing so far is concerning and leading U.S. and international scientists to believe the virus is more contagious than the current data shows, according to interviews with epidemiologists, scientists and infectious disease specialists.

2:49 pm: Ex-Fed chair Janet Yellen says virus poses 'risk' to global economy

Former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said the coronavirus poses a risk to the global economy. The coronavirus is definitely "a potential influence on the global economy," Yellen said, adding that it seems certain to have a significant effect at least a quarter or two on Chinese growth. And because China is such a significant player in the global economy, there's bound to be "spillovers." Yellen and David Malpass, president of the World Bank, were questioned on a panel by Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal in Washington, DC. Malpass also sees the epidemic as a disruption to the global supply chain, saying that airlines' decision to halt flights to China is not only stopping people from traveling, but also blocking goods from being transported on those same flights.

11:57 am: Trump's China tariffs will cushion a toy company from supply issues

Basic Fun CEO Jay Foreman, which makes K'nex and Lincoln Logs, said his company, as well as others in the toy industry, brought extra toys to the U.S. at the end of 2019 in order to get "under the wire" of future tariffs that were expected to be imposed by President Donald Trump. About 90% of Basic Fun's production is in China, where there the government has implemented travel restrictions and issued orders in some cities to keep businesses closed due to the outbreak. "If there's a delay of two, four, six weeks in getting the flow going again, we should be able to cover that," Foreman said. "The real challenge is if this starts to creep into April, May and June. Then it's going to to really be a disruption."

11:30 am: WHO briefs member countries on outbreak

The World Health Organization held a technical briefing at 11:30 a.m. ET to update member countries on the new coronavirus outbreak. The briefing is part of the WHO's executive board proceedings. The executive board is made up of 34 health experts, each designated by one member state elected by the World Health Assembly, according to the WHO. Watch the briefing here.

11:06 am: Coronavirus damages China's auto industry

The extended factory shutdown in China is costing automakers that have idled plants as the government grapples with a worsening virus outbreak that has already claimed more than 420 lives. Automotive research firm IHS Markit expects automakers to lose about 350,000 units of vehicle production in the first quarter as local Chinese governments keep plants closed to keep the new coronavirus from spreading. If the plants remain closed until mid-March, as some industry analysts have speculated, IHS forecasts lost production of more than 1.7 million units for the first quarter a roughly 32.3% decline from its initial expectations before the virus emerged.

10:47 am: New coronavirus will likely cause annual outbreaks

Johns Hopkins senior scholar Dr. Amesh Adalja said the new coronavirus will likely cause annual outbreaks, with most of the cases being mild. He expects the current outbreak to turn into a mild pandemic and spread further in the U.S. "It's going to become a part of our seasonal respiratory virus family that causes disease," Adalja said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

10:10 am: Royal Caribbean Cruises says it expects earnings hit

Royal Caribbean Cruises said it expects to take an earnings hit of 25 cents per share after canceling eight cruises out of China and changing other itineraries in the region because of the outbreak. The cruise line also implemented multiple measures to protect passengers against the illness. Boarding will be denied to anyone who has traveled through mainland China or Hong Kong in the past 15 days. Mandatory health screenings will also be performed on guests who have a China or Hong Kong passport.

9:14 am: Larry Kudlow says virus will delay export 'boom' from trade deal

Top White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said the coronavirus will delay an expected surge in exports from the first phase of the U.S.-China trade deal signed last month. Kudlow added that the Trump administration, which has imposed travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines, still expects "minimal impact" from the fast-spreading disease. "It is true the trade deal, the phase one trade deal, the export boom from that trade deal, will take longer because of the Chinese virus. That is true," Kudlow told Fox Business Network.

8:56 am: Analysts reduce first-quarter estimates for companies

8:49 am: American Airlines suspends some Hong Kong flights

American Airlines said it has suspended its Hong Kong service to and from Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles through Feb. 20 because of a drop in demand as the coronavirus spreads. The union that represents some 15,000 American Airlines pilots sued the carrier last week to end China flights, including service to Hong Kong. American last week suspended its mainland China flights through March 27 but intended to continue flying to Hong Kong. Delta and United took similar steps.

8:21 am: Expert recommends washing hands to help combat the coronavirus

The "most important" way to stop the spread of China's coronavirus is to wash your hands, according to the professor who headed the World Health Organization's global response to SARS. "One of the most important ways of stopping respiratory outbreaks such as this is washing hands," David Heymann, who led WHO's infectious disease unit at the time of the 2003 SARS epidemic, said at a Chatham House press briefing in London. That's because "if you touch a patient, if you shake hands, if you touch a door that has a droplet on it  which could theoretically happen  then you touch your face (or) your mouth and you become infected."

7:05 am: Chinese aviation officials urge airlines to continue flights to nonrestricted countries

The Civil Aviation Administration of China told domestic airlines that when they cancel a portion of flights due to falling market demand, they need to ensure they continue to operate to countries where flights are allowed, unless the country has placed restrictions. That's according to an online post from the administration's official news service midday Tuesday.

6:20 am: Fatality rate 'should gradually decline'

The fatality rate in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, "should gradually decline," Jiao Yahui, deputy director of the medical affairs and hospital administration of the National Health Commission, said Tuesday at a daily press conference in Mandarin, according to a CNBC translation. Jiao pointed out that 74% of coronavirus deaths, or 313, are in Wuhan, where there is a case-fatality rate of 4.9%. That's primarily due to lack of hospital beds in the early days of the virus' spread, she said. At that time, she said the city had only three designated hospitals with 110 beds for the critically ill.

5:40 am: Macao closes casinos for two weeks

Macao, the world's biggest gambling hub, has asked all casino operators to suspend operations for two weeks to help curb the spread of the virus. The announcement by Macao's chief executive Ho Iat Seng came as the former Portuguese colony reported at least 10 confirmed cases of the virus and tight restrictions on movements in and out of the Chinese territory. Residents have been instructed to wear masks when traveling around the city and been advised to stay home as much as possible.

4:34 am: WHO pushes back on rampant misinformation
Shoppers concerned about contracting the coronavirus are being asked to fork out hundreds of dollars for face masks as fears about contracting the virus continue to rise.

A chemist in Sydney's Top Ryde, which has a large Chinese and Asian population, is allegedly selling a box of 50 face masks this week to $400 a pack - more than four times the usual price.

They aren't the only ones cashing in on the outbreak as bystanders took a picture of a man selling individual face masks for $10, or 12 masks for $100.

The masks are sold at chemists for about $5 each or they can be bought in bulk online for about $110 for 50.

A chemist in Sydney's Top Ryde had jacked up the price of a box of 50 face masks this week to $400 a pack - more than four times the usual price

A man was photographed in Burwood selling individual face masks for $10, or 12 masks for $100, in a Sydney street

The high prices come as many chemists and pharmacies around the country have been left with bare shelves amid fears of contracting coronavirus.

Images from Chemist Warehouse's store in Chatswood, which also has a large Chinese population, have shown several rows of empty shelves in recent weeks.

A representative from Chemist Warehouse Chatswood told Daily Mail Australia they had no face masks and hand sanitiser in store on Thursday last week, and they didn't know when more stock would become available.

'Masks have been in really high demand,' the representative said.

'Since the beginning of January, the masks have been in short supply.'

Face mask sales initially increased amid poor air quality and during the smokey conditions through Australia's terrible bushfire season, causing wholesalers to run out of supplies.

Chatswood Chemist Warehouse received their last delivery of face masks in the beginning of January and have since run out, and have been trying to order more every day to keep up with customers demand.

A sign posted in a Chemist Warehouse store in Brisbane, where no face masks were available

Signs have been put up in chemists around the country including Chemist Warehouse in Chatswood to notify customers that there are no supplies of face masks and hand sanitisers

The representative said 'every five minutes' customers are asking when they will get more stock, and that their suppliers had began to run out of product.

Chemist Warehouse, in Chatswood, stock ten different brands of hand sanitiser, and all of them are vacant from their shelves.

Their last delivery of hand sanitisers lasted less than one day, with the entire shipment of stock being sold out in one morning.

In addition, Bunnings hardware stores were either sold out of P2 and N95 masks or quickly running out of stock.

A sign posted outside of Chemist Warehouse's store in Chatswood reading 'no masks available, out of stock'

There are already 13 people in Australia who have been diagnosed with coronavirus, which has killed 362 worldwide and threatens to become a global pandemic.

The highly-contagious virus has infected more than 17,000 people worldwide.

It has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Australia citizens trapped in Wuhan have now been evacuated and have landed on Christmas Island, where they will enter a quarantine for 14 days.

A man wearing a face mask cycles past the body of a man who collapsed and died on a pavement in Wuhan on January 30 (pictured), the city at the epicentre of the outbreak

There are already 13 people in Australia who have been diagnosed with coronavirus, including an eight-year-old boy (pictured: coronavirus)

It is understood that 72 people were on board the first of four charter flights expected to take more than 240 evacuees to the Indian Ocean island.

The Airbus left Western Australia's RAAF Base Learmonth, near Exmouth, on Monday night, and touched down on Christmas Island about 9pm local time.

Those on board were among the 243 who had earlier been evacuated from Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus, on a Qantas flight.

Daily Mail Australian has contacted Priceline and Chemist Warehouse for comment.
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If I had any problem with the book, it was logistical, related to certain plot points inserted seemingly for convenience, but without organic explanation, or even a simple acknowledgment from our narrator. This kind of quibble is both big and small. It bothers because it pushes the general suspension of disbelief too far, but thankfully the moment is brief. Despite this narrative not-so-sleight of hand, Bumps ending still manages to be unexpected and unromantic, while containing so much love and hope.

It would be a mistake to think of this book as a political one  one about the police, or gang violence, about being black in America. Such language is a legacy of the white male voice (his dominance ever diminishing, one hopes) who believes there is such a thing as an apolitical novel, a neutral position, in this country and climate. Above all this book is personal: Bumps meditation on belonging and not belonging, where or with whom, how love is a way home no matter where you are, is handled so beautifully that you dont know hes hypnotized you until hes done. Most funny things are funny because theyre real, this book included. I mean real, here, as something distinct from realism; his characters feel true to their environment in ways only an author who has known people like this, has lived a life at least adjacent to this one, could write. Amid ambient contemporary questions about cultural appropriation, I believe in the power of imagination, that you arent required to have lived everything you write about. That said, readers of color know a fake  on the page, in the language  when we see one. I dont know the life Gabriel Bump has lived, if it actually resembled Claudes. But the overwhelming impression of this novel  from the cheap weed smoked out of lunchroom apples to Claudes reluctant diversity assignment for his college paper, which ends up being all about death and fixing injustice  is that its genuine.

Theres something big (and yet stifled) happening in the publishing world now, a reckoning with who has the right to write what when it comes to fiction. My personal stance on writing fiction across racial divides is that you better have a pretty damn good reason to do it, and it better not sound even a little bit altruistic. I also believe we as readers have a responsibility to not only call out problematic examples, but also to honor those doing it right, those of any color who are writing about underrepresented or misrepresented communities, and doing the best of what fiction can do at the same time. Gabriel Bump is doing that, has done that. And thats enough culture for one day.
Security forces captured a suspected Abu Sayyaf militant in the central Philippines on Tuesday, more than two years after he allegedly aided in the September 2017 kidnapping of the son of a mayor in Zamboanga del Norte province, police officials said.

The suspect, identified as Jimmy Igpit Marababol, is believed to be an Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) member who was hiding out in the city of Cebu, said Brig. Gen. Edgar S. Monsalve, chief of the polices intelligence group.

He has been is hiding in Cebu for almost a year now. He is an ASG member who is also known for his affiliation with the radical Daulah Islamiyah terror group, Monsalve said.

Daulah Islamiyah is the local name for Islamic State (IS).

Monsalve said Marababol did not resist arrest when police raided his hideout in the village of Tinago before noon on Tuesday.

An arrest warrant had been issued by the Regional Trial Court in Zamboanga del Norte against Marababol, who had been in Cebu for more than a year and had been working as a rice trader, according to Brig. Gen. Valeriano de Leon, regional police chief. Marababol was among six suspects who allegedly abducted Jade Quimbo, son of Labason Mayor Eddie Quimbo, the state-run Philippine News Agency reported.

Founded to fight for an independent Muslim state in the southern third of this predominantly Catholic nation, ASG was led by Afghan-trained Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, who was killed in 1998.

Janjalani was replaced by a younger brother, who would mastermind cross-border kidnapping raids, including the abduction of 10 European and 11 Asian hostages from the Sipadan diving resort in Malaysia in 2001. All the hostages were later freed after reported ransom payments, but the kidnappings raised ASGs international profile.

The majority of ASGs key leaders have since been killed by the military.

One of them, Isnilon Hapilon, became the head of the IS group in the region and led militants in taking over the city of Marawi, the Philippines only Muslim city, in May 2017. He was killed five months later by the military near the end of a battle that claimed about 1,200 lives, a majority of them militants.

Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan took over as IS leader in the Philippines and led a January 2019 attack by Indonesian suicide bombers that killed 23 people at a Catholic Church in Jolo, Philippine officials said.
Dear Editor:

Many long-term tenants in a building on St. James Street in Kingston, myself included, are being forced out by huge rent hikes.

Most of us are lower-income people who have low-paying jobs (at or near minimum wage) and/or Social Security as income.

My new landlord, an investor who lives in New York City, has advised my next-door neighbor and me that out rents will be raised by 51 percent, effective May 1. We were only just notified by phone in mid-January.

The landlords justification is that the rents have to be raised to market levels. I understand the economics of it, but landlords should not be allowed to raise rents so suddenly and by such a ridiculous percentage, thereby forcing hard-working and fixed-income people out and into potential homelessness for the sake of an accelerated recoupment of their investment and turning a quick profit.

Perhaps Im old-fashioned, but I think both landlords and tenants should care about their community and treat one another with mutual respect and consideration. (My former landlord agrees with this; he is a senior resident of Kingston who believes we all have to live together, as he recently stated to me).

Obviously, the wealthy big-city investors dont care about us locals, just the money. Reasonable rent hike limits and tenant protections must become law as soon as possible.

James Campanella

Kingston, N.Y.
No CM, ministers from other states; AAP invites only Delhi residents for swearing-in ceremony

Kejriwal to take oath with 6 ministers: PM Modi invited for swearing-in-ceremony

AAPs foray into national politics will begin by going local

Days after taking oath as Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal all set to meet PM Modi today

Delhi: Average assets of re-contesting MLAs grew by Rs 92.12 lakh

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 04: The average assets of the 55 re-contesting MLAs fielded by various parties including independents in 2015 was Rs 7.25 Crores. The average asset of these 55 re-contesting MLAs in 2020 is Rs 8.17 Crores, says a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms.

The average asset growth for these 55 re-contesting MLAs, between the Delhi Assembly Elections of 2015 and 2020 is Rs 92.12 Lakhs. Average percentage growth in assets for these 55 re-contesting MLAs is 13 per cent.

Kailash Gahlot of AAP from Najafgarh constituency has declared a maximum increase in assets with an increase of Rs 8.62 Crores i.e from Rs 37.45 Crores in 2015 to Rs 46.07 Crores in 2020.

26! Aam Admi Party fields most candidates with criminal background for Delhi polls

Assets of Shiv Charan Goel of AAP from Moti Nagar constituency has increased by Rs 6.28 Crores, from Rs 18.14 Crores in 2015 to Rs 24.43 Crores in 2020.

Assets of Kartar Singh Tanwar of AAP from Chhatarpur constituency have risen by Rs 6.19 Crores, from Rs 17.65 Crores in 2015 to Rs 23.84 Crores in 2020.
The Chinese embassy says it was blindsided by the Morrison government's decision to close its borders and leave citizens in limbo, as it pushes Australia for compensation for travellers and students affected by the coronavirus lockdown.

The intervention comes as the first Australian evacuees reveal the quarantine conditions on Christmas Island and two more emergency flights prepare to take hundreds of Australian residents out of the middle of the coronavirus crisis.

The Australian government this week moved to immediately deny foreign travellers entry to Australia who have left or passed through mainland China in an effort to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has rattled markets and forced Hong Kong to close all but three borders with the mainland.

The death toll from the flu-like disease has risen to 426, while 646 patients have now recovered. As of Tuesday, there were are 20,588 confirmed cases world-wide, including 13 in Australia.
Thunder Bay, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2020) - ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN) ("ZEN" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the grand opening of its Guelph facility for small scale pilot plant production and Research and Development.

James Jordan will be leading the work at the facility and is promoted to the position of Chief Operating Officer. In other company human resource review, Colin van der Kuur is now our Head of Research while Monique Manaigre becomes our Senior Government Relations and Account Manager.

Shares for Debt Settlement

ZEN announces the issuance of shares in connection with its previously announced shares for debt agreement with Alphabet Creative. The Company issued 47,222 common shares at a deemed price of $0.36 per common share in settlement of a debt of $17,000 owed by the Company. The common shares issued in connection with the shares for debt agreement will be subject to a hold period until May 1, 2020 in accordance with applicable securities laws.

About ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd.

ZEN is an emerging graphene technology solutions company with a focus on the development of graphene-based nanomaterial products and applications. The unique Albany Graphite Project provides the company with a potential competitive advantage in the graphene market as independent labs in Japan, UK, Israel, USA and Canada have independently demonstrated that ZEN's Albany PureTM Graphite is an ideal precursor material which easily converts (exfoliates) to graphene, using a variety of mechanical, chemical and electrochemical methods.

For further information:

Dr. Francis Dube, Chief Executive Officer

Tel: +1 (289) 821-2820

Email: drfdube@zengraphene.com

To find out more on ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd., please visit our website at www.ZENGraphene.com. A copy of this news release and all material documents in respect of the Company may be obtained on ZEN's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.ca.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. More particularly, this news release contains statements concerning the acceptance of the engagement of Storyboard by the TSX Venture Exchange and the anticipated monthly fees payable to Storyboard. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although ZEN believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. ZEN disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52046
The rapid spread of the virus has put Beijing on the defensive for what critics have called a slow initial response to contain it and a lack of transparency over the scale of the outbreak. In a briefing for reporters, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman attempted to deflect blame by citing an overreaction from the U.S. government that has spread fear and set a bad example for other nations.
The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency. What does it mean for the global economy and the gold market?

Will Coronavirus Kill Us All?

So it looks like not the recently feared nuclear war with the North Korea or Iran, but the virus outbreak will destroy humanity. Let it be, I wont complain, I work from home, so Im less likely to become infected!

OK, but jokes aside. The current outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that was first reported from Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019, is a serious threat. Indeed, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency. It is only the sixth declaration of international public health emergency since 2009. The previous cases included: the swine flu pandemic in 2009, a polio outbreak in 2014, the West Africa Ebola outbreak in 2014, the Zika virus outbreak in 2015 and another Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2019.

As of February 2, there were around 14,560 confirmed cases of coronavirus in 24 countries, according to the WHO. You can see the global distribution of these cases in the map below. Virtually all cases (more than 99 percent) were reported in China. The WHO reports 305 deaths, of which only one is outside China (in the Philippines).

As the name suggests, the new virus is part of the coronavirus family, the source of two previous deadly epidemics: the SARS and the MERS. However, the mortality rate of the new virus is far lower than in previous outbreaks, as it stands at about 2 percent right now. Please compare it to the 2002/03 SARS outbreak (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) which killed 774 people out of a total 8,096 infected (9.5 percent mortality rate) or the 2012 MERS outbreak (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) which killed 858 people out of the 2,494 infected (34.5 percent). So, the coronavirus is less deadly than SARS or MERS, but it is more contagious.

Implications for Gold

What does the coronavirus outbreak mean for the gold market? Well, gold will not protect you against the infection. But the yellow metal can act as a safe-haven asset which protects against the stock market volatility.

Today, Chinese stock and commodity markets plunged in the first trading session after an extended Lunar New Year break. As investors feared the spread of the new coronavirus, they abandoned risky assets. The Shanghai Composite Index dove 8 percent, as the chart below shows. It has been its biggest daily fall in more than four years.

Chart 1: Shangai Composite Index over the last two weeks.

The situation must be serious as the Peoples Bank of China said it will inject 1.2 trillion yuan ($174 billion) worth of liquidity in a response to the stock market turmoil. Indeed, after SARS, China suffered several months of economic contraction. Now, with China playing a much more important role in the global economy, the economic impact of the new coronavirus might be greater (however, the country is also better prepared to fight the virus outbreak). The Chinas GDP is expected to slow down from 6.1 percent in 2019 to 5.6 percent in 2020 because of the virus.

So, the plunge in Chinese equities is a good news for the gold bulls, as the fall in the Shanghai Stock Exchange during summer 2015 and later in January 2016 set off a global rout, pushing up the price of gold. So, although the coronavirus is not likely to cause an economic recession, it can mark a turning point. The US yield curve has inverted again for the first time since October

However, investors should not buy gold counting on the pandemic. If you expect one, just get all the supplies such as food in, bar the door and dont leave the house. We might be optimists, but lets face the facts. Remember SARS? Remember Zika? Remember Ebola? People were terrified which each virus outbreak. But various public health actions have always stopped an outbreak, or it burned itself out. For example, SARS was basically gone by 2004. Of course, this time may be different, especially if the new coronavirus can be spread before symptoms manifest, but we believe that the risk so far still remains very low to the United States and other advanced economies.
London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has begun a "year of climate action", as the country said it plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035 - five years earlier than its previous target.

Britain will also hold a major climate summit in Glasgow at the end of the year and in a move aimed at strengthening its international claim to leadership in the area as it prepares for its place on the world stage post-Brexit.

At the Science Museum on Tuesday, Johnson officially started COP 26, as the climate talks are known, telling an audience that Britain, as the "first country to industrialise", has a "responsibility to lead the way."

In November, world leaders will meet in Glasgow for a climate summit that is widely considered the most significant since the one held in Paris in 2015. The last one was held in Madridin December, after being moved from Santiago, Chile, because of nationwide protests.
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Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar, Bali  Tue, February 4, 2020 13:47 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20627252c 1 National pig,pig-farms,denpasar,Medan,North-Sumatra,African-swine-fever-in-Indonesia Free

Nearly 1,000 pigs in Bali have died from an as-yet-unidentified disease, local authorities say.

Pig farmers are concerned that the disease is related to the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak that has resulted in the deaths of almost 50,000 pigs in North Sumatra over the past few months, but Balinese officials have yet to confirm the suspicions, saying they are awaiting the results of laboratory tests.

According to Balis agriculture and food security agency, at least 888 pigs have died from the disease within the last two months.

Instances of the disease have appeared in seven regencies: Badung, Tabanan, Denpasar, Gianyar, Denpasar, Karangasem and Bangli. Badung regency recorded the highest number of deaths with a total of 598 dead pigs, followed by Tabanan with 219, Denpasar with 45 pigs, Gianyar with 24, Bangli with one and Karangasem, also with one.

I Wayan Masa Tenaya, the head of Denpasars Veterinary Research Center, said that blood samples from the dead pigs had been sent to the Medan Veterinary Research Center in North Sumatra to get tested, after initial tests ruled out the three common diseases that usually afflicted pigs in Bali, namely septicemia epizootica, hog cholera and streptococcus suis.

Read also: Over 40,000 pigs killed as African swine fever outbreak in N. Sumatra worsens

The laboratory in Medan has more equipment and they have more experience identifying pig diseases, Masa Tenaya said.



He added that he had yet to receive the test results from Medan and thus could not yet confirm whether the pigs were afflicted by ASF.

Despite the lack of confirmation, Bali Pig Farmers Association (GUPBI) chairman Ketut Hari Suyasa said the association strongly suspected the new outbreak was indeed ASF.

All diseases that affect pigs share many similar symptoms, he said. However, in this case, we suspect that this is African swine fever because most pigs have been vaccinated for the other diseases.



He added that the association had already been working on preventing the spread of the disease.

We have warned all farmers to increase their biosecurity measures to prevent the disease from attacking the whole pig population on the island. If all pigs get infected by the disease, it will result in an bad economic hit for the farmers on the island, he said, adding that the GUPBI was focused on ensuring that the disease did not spread to the currently unaffected regencies in the province.

Read also: Swine fever may affect millions of people in Indonesia

Bali agriculture and food security agency senior official IKG Nata Kesuma told The Jakarta Post on Monday that the diseases mortality rate was relatively low compared to the total population of pigs across the island, which is about 800,000.

Following the outbreak, we have intensified our attempts to prevent it from contaminating other pigs. We are happy that there are have been no more reports of pig deaths within the last six days, Nata Kesuma said. We try to educate farmers to increase their awareness of the importance of biosecurity, keeping the pig cages clean and how to manage dead pigs to prevent other pigs from being contaminated.

Nata reiterated that there was no confirmation yet about what the disease was.

So far, we havent received the [laboratory] results. However, the most important thing is that we keep working to stop the spread of the disease, he said. (kmt)
Rohingya refugees wait in line to return to Myanmar's Rakhine state in an undated photo.

The more than 600 Rohingya refugees who have returned to Myanmar from Bangladesh of their own volition say they have not yet been able to go back to their original villages and are facing hardship in violence-ridden northern Rakhine state nearly three years after their expulsion by army troops.

Thousands of members of the Muslim minority group were killed during a brutal military-led crackdown on their communities in 2017, while more than 740,000 others escaped across the border, where they now live in sprawling displacement camps in southeastern Bangladesh.

Despite an agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingya refugees who receive approval to return, none of the displaced Rohingya has shown up at border crossings to go back to northern Rakhine state through the official program, citing fears of ongoing discriminatory policies and more violence.

A refugee named Chowbi told RFA's Myanmar Service that he returned to northern Rakhine on his own in September 2019 via the Taungbyo border crossing.

The 35-year-old fled Oodaung village during the August 2017 violence, which included indiscriminate killings, mass rapes, and community torchings, and lived for two and a half years in the Thankhali refugee camp in Bangladesh.

Upon his return to Oodaung, Chowbi found the village deserted.

Because he cannot afford to rent a home in town, he is now organizing other Rohingya villagers to resettle in their original community.

I really miss my former life whenever I visit Oodaung village, he told RFAs Myanmar Service. There is no home in the village now. I still want to return to the village.

If he can convince five to 10 households to return to the village, they all will resettle in Oodaung, he said

For now, we are renting a place, [and] the cost is high, so we are facing hardships since we came back here, Chowbi said.

More than 500,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh from Muslim-majority Maungdaw district, comprising Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships, to escape the crackdown. So far, 624 refugees have been accepted back, according to district administrative office.

Maungdaw district administrator Soe Aung said the refugees who have returned were not among those approved for repatriation under an agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh, but rather voluntary returnees who contacted the districts administrative office to arrange to come back on their own.

Nearly 250 Rohingya rescued by the Myanmar Navy while traveling by boat from Bangladesh to Malaysia are included in the list of more than 600 returnees.

The government said it has provided food and other assistance to the returnees, many of whom now live with their relatives while others rent homes in town because they dont believe it is safe enough yet to return to their villages of origin.

Mahmad Shawri, a Rohingya refugee who returned to Myanmar about a year ago, says he rents a house in Rakhine state's Maungdaw town, but struggles to pay the monthly rent, January 2020. Credit: RFA video screenshot Almost out of money

Mahmad Shawri, another returned Rohingya refugee, said he fled to Bangladesh during the campaign of violence and stayed in a camp for more than a year. He returned to Myanmar on his own a year ago after contacting Myanmar authorities.

He said he previously lived in Meetike village tract in Taungpyo township but now rents a house in Maungdaw town and struggles to afford the 100,000-kyat (U.S. $67) monthly rent.

I cannot afford it, he said. Ive been paying the rent by selling my wifes jewelry. Now we are almost out of money.

Because the Rohingya are considered illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, they face routine discrimination in Myanmar which limits their movements, denies them access to jobs, health care, and education, and forbids them from becoming citizens.

Mahmad Shawri said he wanted to return to his former village but that it is not safe for his family to live there as the only household in the deserted settlement.

Many Rohingya refugees who have returned from Bangladesh said there are many others like them who want to go back to northern Rakhine, but that they face obstacles such as unhelpful Bangladeshi authorities and continuing threats from armed groups like the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Muslim militant group whose deadly attacks on police outposts triggered the 2017 crackdown.

Nuru Mohamad, another Rohingya refugee, said he returned to Maungdaw district with his family, though his daughter and son-in-law remained behind in a Bangladesh displacement camp. Now they want to return to northern Rakhine as well.

My daughter is concerned about us a lot, he said. She is looking into all means to return to Myanmar and unite with her parents.

She said she might cross the border illegally to return to Myanmar, [but] I told them not to return illegally and instead to return through the official repatriation camps, he added.

Nuru Mohamad lived in Zinpaingnya village tract in northern Maungdaw district but now resides in Maungdaw town because his village remains deserted.

Mahmad Hasaung, the administrator of Padin village tract in southern Maungdaw, said he has requested that local officials build homes for seven families who have returned.

Weve got seven families who have returned from a repatriation camp, he said. We are not returning to our original village.

The government said that houses would be built for these families, he added. We have given them a list. Weve got the plan to build homes, but so far, none have been built.

Rakhine authorities have set up a reception center in Nga Khu Ya village and a transit camp in Hla Phoe Khaung village for Rohingya refugees who return from Bangladesh.

Maungdaw district administrator Soe Aung said authorities will let those who have come back continue to live in the transit camp if they have no other place to go.

We are honoring the wishes of the returnees, he told RFA. If they have no place to stay and cannot afford to pay rent, then we will settle them in Hla Phoe Khaung.

But they also dont want to stay in Hla Phoe Khaung, he added. They will be settled only after houses have been built for them.

They said they dont want to stay, so we resettled them as they wished, Soe Maung said.

Myanmar soldiers march in a formation during a parade marking the country's 74th Armed Forces Day in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw, March 27, 2019. Credit: AFP Attack in Rohingya village

The struggle to resettle returning Rohingya refugees in parts of northern Rakhine comes amid ongoing military violence in the state.

Myanmars armed forces on Monday accused the rebel Arakan Army (AA), which operates in the region, of trying to frame servicemen for an attack on Rohingya civilians as Myanmar faces genocide charges at the U.N.s top court for atrocities allegedly committed during the 2017 army-led crackdown.

Spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told a press conference in Naypyidaw that the AA is responsible for the deaths of two civilians in a village in Buthidaung township on Jan. 31 and that soldiers beat and raped Rohingya women  an accusation that the Arakan force rejected.

In Buthidaungs Kintaung village, two villagers were killed and seven were injured by the blasts of shelling by AA insurgents, he said. We are going to elaborate upon that incident with comprehensive evidence.

Four AA rebels who arrived in Theintan village on the evening of Jan. 31 beat, raped, and committed other sexual assaults on some Rohingya women in the village, he said.

Afterwards, the AA soldiers left the village, and a group of about 30 Arakan fighters returned later that evening.

They besieged the village, saying that they would burn the houses to the ground, Zaw Min Tun said in his account of the event, adding that the villagers sent a letter requesting help from the closest Myanmar military regiment.

AA spokesman Khine Thukha denied the accusation, calling it a lie.

The news that AA soldiers had raped Bengali women in Buthidaung township is a total fabrication, he told RFA, using a derogatory name for the Rohingya. There was no such case.

In his version of the event, a Rohingya motorbike driver transporting two young ethnic Rakhine men did not stop at their desired location, but instead took them to the village whose residents emerged from their homes and attacked them.

Only when a nearby Rakhine man shouted at them to stop did the villagers stop their assault and leave, Khine Thukha said.

We have learned that they fabricated it as a rape story to cover up their attack on the Rakhine men, he said.

We have noticed these days that the military is deploying many tactics to provoke racial tension between [ethnic] Rakhine people and Muslims, he added.

We found that the military is using Muslims to instigate riots, he said.

ICJ order

The village attack comes on the heels of a decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to impose provisional measures on Myanmar to ensure the safety of Rohingya still living inside the country and to preserve evidence of rights abuses during the 2017 crackdown that left several thousands dead and forced more than 740,000 other to flee to Bangladesh.

The court is handling a larger case against Myanmar filed by Gambia in November on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for violating the Genocide Convention during the alleged expulsion of Rohingya to Bangladesh amid the violence.

On the 23rd of January, the ICJs provisional measures order came out, Zaw Min Tun said. This incident happened two days later.

This was a planned attack to distort the reputation of the government, the military, and other security forces in the eyes of the international community and ICJ observers, he said.

Days before the ICJs order, a Myanmar-appointed Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE) that probed military operations during the crackdown said in its final report that war crimes and serious human rights violations had occurred in Rakhine but did not have genocidal intent.

The week that the ICJs order and the ICOEs report were issued saw a flare-up in armed conflict between Myanmar soldiers and the AA, which is fighting for greater autonomy in Rakhine state, in Rohingya-majority Maungdaw and Buthdaung townships.

When the ICOE issued a report last November, we made an announcement that we would pursue legal procedures in investigating and finding evidence, Zaw Min Tun said. We will stay put on that announcement.

In November, the ICOE sent a letter to military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, briefing him on relevant findings by the commission for further investigation through a court of inquiry or a court martial.

We regard to ICJ orders, we will act according to the existing laws, he added.

Reported by Min Thein Aung, Thiha Tun, and Thet Su Aung for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Afghanistans Taliban accused the United States of hampering peace process after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had claimed that the Taliban werent able to demonstrate either their will or their capacity to reduce violence in the region. Pompeo, during his visit to Uzbekistan, had demanded demonstrable evidence from the Taliban to show will and capacity to reduce violence.

In the end, all Afghans will have to resolve that they want peace and stability for their own country as well. Thats certainly the Taliban, but its others, too, said the US diplomat while speaking to the reporters.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that the issues were from American end and asked Pompeo to not shift the blame. He said that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), or the Taliban, has the intention and capacity for a resolution and added that the negotiation process was harmed by US President Donald Trumps tweet, his numerous demands and quarrel between US and Afghan officials.

Our stance in principled & concerted - unlike them, tweeted Zabihullah.

Read: US Demands More From Taliban On Ceasefire Before Deal

Jump in violent attacks

Despite continued efforts to arrive at a peace plan, violent attacks in Afghanistan jumped to record levels in the last quarter, a US watchdog had said in its report. In its quarterly report, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) told US Congress that enemy-initiated attacks rose to 8,204 attacks, up from 6,974 in the same period in 2018.

Read: US Steps Up Deadly Airstrikes, During Taliban Peace Talks

SIGAR Sopko said that it is not clear whether the US and its coalition partners have helped create an Afghan police force capable of post-peace policing or not. He opined that Afghan people and Afghanistans international partners would certainly welcome a peace agreement but such agreement could lead to challenges for the reconstruction efforts made over the past 18 years by the US, coalition partners and the Afghan government.

More than two million Afghans residing in Pakistan could return after a peace settlement, potentially because of political pressure from the Pakistani government, said SIGAR.

Read: Taliban Attack Kills 10 Police In Northern Afghanistan

Read: Taliban Claims American Plane 'crashed' In Eastern Afghanistan
A Las Vegas man who escaped in May 2017 from a federal halfway house in Oregon where he was being held on a bank robbery conviction committed 10 subsequent bank holdups and one attempted robbery in Oregon, Washington and Nevada, according to court records.

He also kidnapped a teller and carjacked a vehicle in Las Vegas, armed with a black pellet gun, according to prosecutors.

On Monday, William Cecil Etheridge, 57, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay $18,397.90 in restitution. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas.

Etheridge escaped from the Northwest Regional Re-entry Center in Portland on May 18, 2017, where he was being held on a 2012 federal bank robbery conviction. He had been sentenced to six years and four months for robbing a bank in Eugene in 2011.

Prosecutors say he didnt wait long to return to a life of crime, robbing nine banks in Oregon and Washington between June 2 and July 19, 2017, and a credit union in Nevada in late July 2017.

On July 25, 2017, Etheridge stole $18,120 from WestStar Credit Union in Las Vegas. He demanded that one of the tellers leave the credit union with him, then carjacked a Toyota sedan with two occupants, banging on the drivers side window with a black pellet gun, authorities said. He threatened to harm the kidnapped teller and cars occupants if they didnt acquiesce, according to prosecutors.

Etheridge demanded the driver take him to an auto dealership so he could buy a getaway car.

Instead, the carjacked victims took him to a Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership and convinced him that he could use a motorcycle to flee. Police arrested Etheridge a short time later at the dealership.

Dates and locations of banks hit after William C. Etheridge escaped in May 2017 from Oregon's Northwest Regional Re-entry Center, according to federal prosecutors.

While being held at the Southern Nevada Detention Center, Etheridge attempted to escape again, court records indicate.

"In short, despite the defendants age, his criminal behavior is escalating,'' Nevadas Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Dickinson wrote in a sentencing memo. "The defendant demonstrated that he had no respect for the laws that protect the interest of all members of society.''

The 2011 Eugene bank robbery occurred while Etheridge was on supervision for robbing an Oregon gas station. During his state prison term for the gas station holdup, he was involved in white supremacy gangs, Dickinson wrote in his memo.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Paul D. Riddle asked for a less severe sentence of 12 1/2 years in prison, arguing that a 15-year term would essentially be a life term for his client.

"Mr. Etheridge essentially raised himself from the age of 13 and as a result has struggled throughout his adult life with substance abuse issues and criminal behavior,'' Riddle wrote to the judge.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.

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This is the shocking moment an Instagram star is escorted off a plane in a mask and gloves for allegedly yelling he had coronavirus as part of a prank to go viral.

Potok Philippe, real name James Potok, was arrested and charged with mischief on Monday after crew on board the WestJet plane from Toronto to Jamaica were alerted to his actions and the jet was forced to turn back. A second flight was also cancelled as a result of the incident.

The 28-year-old, from Vaughan, told City News 'it was simply a joke' after he told the 243 passengers: 'Can I get everybodys attention please. I just came back from Hunan province, the capital of the coronavirus. Im not feeling too well. Thank you.'

Potok, an aspiring musician who boasts more than 30,000 followers on Instagram, defended his actions, saying: 'It would be something else if I said hey guys I have a bomb strapped to me, I have a weapon on me, people blew it out of proportion. To me it was simply a joke.

'About mid-way through the flight I stood up, pulled my video camera out  I was going to post it to Instagram, send it to 6ixbuzz so it goes viral.'

Within 15 minutes later airline staff asked him to put a mask and gloves on.

Scroll down for video

Potok Philippe, real name James Potok, was charged with mischief on Monday. Crew gave him a mask and gloves and told him to move to the back of the plane, pictured

The 28-year-old, from Vaughan, told City News 'it was simply a joke' after he told the 243 passengers: 'Can I get everybodys attention please. I just came back from Hunan province, the capital of the coronavirus. Im not feeling too well. Thank you'

Potok added: 'I'm very, very sorry for my ignorance and not understanding that its an epidemic, that people hear the word and its become synonymous with threats.

'I thought it would spark a reaction. I did not think what I was doing would be considered illegal [or] warrant that type of response. In retrospect it probably wasnt the best thing to do.'

Investigators from Peel Regional Police Airport Division Criminal Investigation Bureau confirmed Potok was assessed by medical staff upon arrival at Pearson Airport and deemed to be symptom free.

Potok will appear at the Ontario Court of Justice on Monday, March 9.

There are four confirmed cases of coronavirus in Canada. The death toll in mainland China from the virus has risen to 425, with the total number of cases now standing at 20,438, officials said Tuesday.

Flight tracker date shows the flight from Toronto to Jamaica was forced to turn back two hours into its journey on Monday after Potok allegedly shouted out that he had coronavirus

The 28-year-old 'unruly guest' was charged with mischief after crew on board the WestJet plane gave him a mask and gloves and told him to move to the back of the plant (stock image)

Const. Bancroft Wright told CBC: 'That announcement was shared by the flight crew to the captain and a decision was made for the plane to return back to Pearson [International Airport].'

In a statement a WestJet spokesman said: 'Out of an abundance of caution, our crew followed all protocols for infectious disease on board, including sequestering an individual who made an unfounded claim regarding coronavirus.

'Due to the involvement of law enforcement, as well as the privacy of our guests, we are not able to provide additional information about the incident at this time.'

Passenger Julie-Anne Broderick, pictured, said she saw Potok taking a picture and telling others he had coronavirus; she later posted about the incident on Facebook

Julie-Anne Broderick was on the flight which was forced to turn back to Canada on Monday

Passenger Julie-Anne Broderick said she saw a man taking a picture and telling others he had coronavirus.

She added: 'The flight attendants came, gave him a mask and gloves and just told him that he had to move to the back of the plane.

'We were just over Florida and all of a sudden we felt the plane do a pretty dramatic turn. We were flying in the opposite direction all of a sudden and it said our final destination was back in Toronto. So we were very confused and worried.

'I guess this guy thought it was a funny joke but it's just really weird. We were all very frustrated, to just displace 240 people, it's just so selfish. We've lost a day of our vacation.'

She had posted on Facebook that the man 'pretended he had the coronavirus as a hoax to post to YouTube', adding: 'Little did he know, Jamaica and the US wouldn't accept our flight so back to Canada we can where he was detained for a federal offence...'
A high-flying banker has been suspended after allegedly stealing sandwiches from the staff canteen.

Paras Shah, 31, who is likely to have been earning a seven-figure salary, was removed as Citigroups head of high-yield bond trading for Europe, the Middle East and Africa last month.

The bank suspended him following numerous allegations that he had been stealing food from its headquarters at Canary Wharf in east London, the Financial Times reported.

Paras Shah, 31, has visited Petra in Jordan and Machu Picchu in Peru, seen above

It is unclear how many sandwiches Mr Shah is alleged to have stolen, or over what period the alleged thefts took place.

The allegations come despite his role as one of Europes highest-profile credit traders.

The employee review website Glassdoor says the average salary for a credit trader is 183,740, but Mr Shah is likely to have earned far more than that given his senior role at Citi.

A banking source told the Press Association news agency that those in similar positions at other banks could earn more than 1million.

The allegations come despite his role as one of Europes highest-profile credit traders

It was Mr Shahs job to match buyers and sellers of risky company debt and according to his LinkedIn profile he is skilled in securities, trading and risk management.

It was Mr Shahs job to match buyers and sellers of risky company debt

His suspension came weeks before senior staff at Citi were due to be paid their annual bonuses.

Mr Shahs profile shows he graduated from the University of Bath in 2010 with a degree in economics after attending the Latymer grammar school in Edmonton, north London.

He joined HSBCs fixed-income trading division scheme that year and spent seven years with the bank before joining Citi in 2017.

Mr Shahs profile shows he was promoted to head of Europe, Middle East and Africa high-yield credit trading after only two months with Citi.

His Facebook page suggests he enjoys exotic holidays, and posts show he has visited Petra in Jordan and Machu Picchu in Peru.

He would not be the first banker to land himself in hot water over allegations of personal misconduct.

Pictured: A deli inside the Citigroup headquarters in Canary Wharf, London

The bank suspended him following numerous allegations that he had been stealing food from its headquarters at Canary Wharf in east London, the Financial Times reported. The firm's HQ is pictured above

Japans Mizuho Bank sacked a London banker in 2016 after he was caught stealing a part worth 5 from a colleagues bike.

And in 2014 Jonathan Burrows, a former BlackRock executive, was found to have repeatedly dodged paying train fares for his commute.

The Financial Conduct Authority banned the ex-fund manager from any future senior roles in the UK finance sector and Mr Burrows ended up paying 43,000 to Southeastern trains to settle the case.

Citigroup declined to comment to the Financial Times. Mr Shah was contacted for comment.
Like any other large city, Jerusalem has its share of daily problems and challenges. But unlike in other such metropolises, one part of the city has a huge leadership vacuum. The 350,000 Palestinians who make East Jerusalem their home are undergoing one problem after another without any process that could create a leadership to address their daily issues.

The week of Jan. 24 is a perfect example. During that week, tens of thousands of people were in the streets demonstrating, complaining and searching for answers about issues that reflect the absence of trust and confidence in Israel and the Israeli authorities.

The week began with a defiant act by people living the holy city in response to what they considered anti-Islamic provocations against Al-Aqsa Mosque. The local Islamic leadership called on worshipers to come out in large numbers for the Friday morning dawn prayers Jan. 24. Despite rain and inclement weather, a very large number of Palestinians showed up in the Old City, including 81-year-old Ekrima Sabri, the former grand mufti of Jerusalem. He is the head of the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem and has been giving Friday sermons at Al-Aqsa for decades.

A week earlier, Sabri had been called in by the Israeli police and verbally told not to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque; the police say Sabri incites violence in his sermons.

Sabri, since he was not given a written legal order, decided to join the worshippers at Islams third holiest site Jan. 24. After a discussion with the Israeli guards, who were unable to produce a legal document preventing his entry, he was carried by worshippers who insisted that their revered religious leader join them in prayer.

Before dawn the same day, Jewish extremists sneaked into a mosque on the southern outskirts of Jerusalem and set part of it on fire. The attackers left Hebrew language graffiti on the walls of the mosque in the Beit Safafa neighborhood calling for death to Arabs and death to Palestinians.

That night in the northern neighborhood of Beit Hanina, a tragedy was unfolding. An 8-year-old Palestinian child, Qais Abu Rmeleh, went missing. The people of Beit Hanina, many of whom had participated in the morning prayers in Al-Aqsa and had heard about the torching of the Beit Safafa mosque, immediately thought extremist Jews had kidnapped the boy. The fact that Beit Hanina is very close to Shuafat played into this fear since the case of the kidnapping and burning of a Palestinian teenager had occurred nearly six years earlier in that neighborhood; on July 2, 2014, Mohammad Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old, was kidnapped in Shuafat, taken to a secluded forest and burned to death by three Jewish extremists.

The convergence of the events of the day and the disappearance of the 8-year-old turned the normally peaceful neighborhood into a rage-filled mob. Thousands filled the streets as they searched for the missing child despite the inclement weather. At one point, the crowd wanted to enter the nearby Jewish settlement of Neve Yacoub, but Israeli police prevented that, bringing about more friction and clashes.

Fourteen hours later, the body of the missing child was discovered in a water-filled cistern left uncovered after Israeli construction workers had erected the security wall surrounding East Jerusalem. Israeli officials traded blame as the municipality of Jerusalem claimed that the location lies in an area that is considered outside the city limits and under the jurisdiction of the Israeli civil administration responsible for West Bank Area C.

At 2 a.m. Jan. 25, despite the ongoing events, Israeli police went to Sabri's house and handed him a court order banning him from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque for four months. Sabri told the Saudi daily Arab News that the order was issued in revenge because the photo of him being carried into the mosque the day before in defiance of Israeli verbal orders had angered the Israelis

The three incidents that took place over two days signal a clear problem. Israels efforts to deny Palestinians in Jerusalem their political rights to choose their local leaders has meant that people cling to their own religious leaders, while at the same time they dont accept or trust the Israeli occupiers who are forcing themselves on the large Palestinian population.

What makes this lack of trust even more worrisome is that Israel is not reining in Jewish extremists who torch mosques and are trying to take over Islams holy city. The mix of these elements produces a toxic atmosphere that turns a large city into a ticking bomb that could easily explode from a tiny spark. The leaderless 350,000 residents of East Jerusalem have become political orphans and they feel that they have to act alone to defend their existence and their rights in the city.
Mumbai, Feb 4 : Filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra has reacted to the news of a petition seeking a stay on the release of his upcoming film "Shikara: The Untold Story of Kashmiri Pandits", by stating that he will let his legal team handle the matter.

"We have just learnt from media sources that a petition has been filed by few people in J&K Court against the release of Shikara. We have no other information in this matter, our counsel Harish Salve will take appropriate steps as may be required," shared Chopra.

A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed earlier in the day on Tuesday in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court against Chopra's upcoming film demanding a stay on release and the deleting of certain scenes.

"Shikara" is set against the backdrop of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus from the Kashmir Valley in late 1989 and early 1990, in the wake of violent Islamist insurgency.

The petitioners Iftikhar Misgar, Majid Hyderi and Irfan Hafiz Lone have alleged that the film portrays untrue facts about Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandits.

Misgar told IANS: "We are asking for stalling the release and deleting a few scenes that portray the valley's Muslims in a bad light." "We have urged the high court to take the case up on a priority basis," he added.

"Shikara: The Untold Story Of Kashmiri Pandits" marks Vidhu Vinod Chopra's comeback to Bollywood as a director for the first time since his 2007 release, "Eklavya", starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, Raima Sen, Jackie Shroff and Jimmy Sheirgill.

Chopra introduces Aadil Khan and Sadia in the lead roles of "Shikara". The film is scheduled to release on February 7.
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A speciality in the Chinese city of Xi'an is hand-stretched noodles--whose structure inspired two University of Chicago scientists to create a better synthetic tissue. Credit: Shutterstock

While eating takeout one day, University of Chicago scientists Bozhi Tian and Yin Fang started thinking about the noodlesspecifically, their elasticity. A specialty of Xi'an, Tian's hometown in China, is wheat noodles stretched by hand until they become chewystrong and elastic. Why, the two materials scientists wondered, didn't they get thin and weak instead?

They started experimenting, ordering pounds and pounds of noodles from the restaurant. "They got very suspicious," Fang said. "I think they thought we wanted to steal their secrets to open a rival restaurant."

But what they were preparing was a recipe for synthetic tissuethat could much more closely mimic biological skin and tissue than existing technology.

"It turns out that granules of common starch can be the missing ingredient for a composite that mimics many of the properties of tissue," said Fang, a UChicago postdoctoral researcher and lead author of a new paper published Jan. 29 in the journal Matter. "We think this could fundamentally change the way we can make tissue-like materials."

The breakthrough allows the synthetic tissue to stretch in multiple directions but to heal and defend itself by reorganizing its internal structures which is how human skin protects itself. The discovery could one day lead to applications from soft robotics and medical implants to sustainable food packaging and biofiltration.

Like many of nature's inventions, skin and tissue are extraordinary feats of engineering that have been difficult for humans to mimic. Tian is a leading investigator in this area, confronting this problem by seeking to build interfaces between biological tissues and man-made systems.

Most current options for synthetic tissues can only manage one or two of biological tissue's characteristics: malleability but not strength, or strength but not self-healing.

Experimenting on the noodles, the scientists found that the internal structure consisted of a gluten network studded with granules of starch. "It actually looked a lot like biological tissue," Fang said, "because tissue consists of an extracellular matrix that supports individual cells."

Synthetic tissue is usually made of a gel mesh, which mimics the structure of the extracellular matrixbut doesn't contain an analogue for the cells. But the scientists wondered: What if the cells were an important component of the tissue mechanics?

An electron microscope image of the starch granules (green) embedded in the hydrogel matrix. Credit: Tian, Fang et al

Tian and Fang's idea, was to embed granules of starch into a gel matrix, thinking that this would change the way the material moved.

It did. The "tissue" was not only strong and flexible, but it changed after it had been stretchedmuch like what happens when you train your muscles. "This 'memory effect' in particular is extremely difficult to replicate synthetically," said Tian, who is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry.

The crucial difference is the presence of the starch granules. They can shift slightly in place when the material is strained, and their ability to move constantly modifies the internal structure allowing the "tissue" to deform when it might otherwise break.

Their hydrogen bonds, which can re-form after being broken, also allow the material to heal itself. "As long as they're still in physical contact, those bonds will eventually re-form," Yin said.

The concept offers possibilities for a number of applications. Fang in particular is interested in using the material for food packaging. Oranges or bananas have peels that are made up of a similar matrix that absorbs impact when they're bouncing around in a truck, but other foods don'tand the components are biodegradable.

Medical implants are another area. Most need hard components, such as joint replacements, but these tend to provoke inflammation in the human body. Tian explained that a major reason is that there's a mechanical mismatch between the hard titanium or steel and the soft tissues of the body; synthetic tissue could serve as an intermediary that eases the symptoms. "We also desperately need a synthetic organ that can filter selectively, like human kidneys do, and this may offer an avenue to that kind of biofiltration," Tian said.

Tian and Fang can also imagine the concept useful in soft robotics, an emerging field that allows robots to have abilities that hard materials don'tlike squeezing into small places or delicately grasping objects.

"There are so many possibilities," Fang said. "We're really looking forward to exploring in more detail."

"This is really a new angle on biomimetics," Tian said. "Usually in this field we are mimicking natural evolution. But you can also emulate human practices that evolvedin this case, over a thousand years of making noodles in China."

Explore further Tiny scales could serve as safe material in implants to reinforce bones and joints

More information: Yin Fang et al. Dynamic and Programmable Cellular-Scale Granules Enable Tissue-like Materials, Matter (2020). Journal information: Matter Yin Fang et al. Dynamic and Programmable Cellular-Scale Granules Enable Tissue-like Materials,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2020.01.008
Controversial Indigenous leader Geoff Clark, who is facing hundreds of fraud-related charges, allegedly claimed he "had to get money from elsewhere" because he was only earning $40,000.

Mr Clark, 67, the former head of the disbanded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, was once one of Australia's most senior Aboriginal leaders.

He and members of his immediate family are facing 1171 fraud-related charges following a major police investigation into more than $2.48 million in allegedly stolen funds meant for Aboriginal communities in Victorias south-west.

Michael Fitzgerald worked alongside Mr Clark as his right-hand man for at least eight years before he reported the alleged corruption to police.
Britain's prime minister Boris Johnson with Canada's Justin Trudeau at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, in August last year. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/Reuters

Boris Johnson on Monday declared Britain will seek a comprehensive free trade agreement similar to Canadas in post-Brexit trade negotiations with the EU.

The prime minister set out Britains trade priorities in a speech in London, saying the UK would be happy with an Australia-style deal if the EU would not agree to a Canada-inspired arrangement.

What exactly do Canada and Australia-style trade deals involve and how feasible are they?

A Canada-style deal: Zero tariffs, zero quotas but only on goods

Canada struck a trade deal with the EU, known as CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement), in 2017. The defining feature of the deal is it imposes no tariffs on most physical imports and sets no quotas, meaning there isnt an upper limit on the amount of product that can be imported or exported.

Britain is looking to the CETA deal for inspiration in part because of the time constraints on negotiations. Britain has just 11 months to strike a deal with the EU and so an off the shelf template could help speed negotiations.

Its probably the best I think that the UK could go for, Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank, told Yahoo Finance UK.

The big drawback of a CETA-style agreement is it only covers physical goods.

If it was applied to the UK, it wouldnt mean that we have financial services that was covered and thats a big deal for the UK, Dr George Buckley, chief European economist at Japanese bank Nomura, told Yahoo Finance UK.

From left, sitting: Former president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker looks on as Canada's prime minister Justin Trudeau and the then European Council president Donald Tusk signing the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), in Brussels, on 30 October, 2016. Photo: Thierry Monasse/AFP via Getty Images

Britain exported 117bn ($129bn, 99bn) of services to the EU in 2018, according to Nomura, equivalent to about 5.5% of GDP. Much of that comes from banking and other financial services sold from the City of London.

Johnson has signalled he wants CETA to be a starting point for negotiations, with ambitions to bolt on provisions for free trade of financial services. However, that could prove difficult.

Weve already heard from [Irish leader] Leo Varadkar on that issue. If you cant agree a deal on fishing then dont expect to get a deal on financial services is pretty much what he said, Buckley said.

Story continues

READ MORE: EU offers UK 'best in class' trade deal but wants fishing access

Even though a CETA-style deal is the best the UK could go for, it will ultimately be worse economically than full EU membership. CETA offers free trade but not frictionless trade.

They will require rules of origin checks, stuff like this, which of course is very onerous, Buckley said.

Deutsche Bank said in a note to clients that a zero tariffs, zero quotas trade deal would lead to a significant increase in costs for cross border trade. The bank cited increased border checks, the need to set up parallel work streams to meet EU standards, and the fact that financial services trade would likely be limited.

An Australia-style deal: Trading on WTO terms with tariffs

Johnson has said that if the EU wont play ball on a Canada-style deal hes happy to settle for an Australia-style deal with the bloc.

An Australia deal doesnt exist at the moment, Dixon said. The phrase appears to be a rhetorical device used by Johnson to avoid saying no deal.

Australia negotiated a partnership with the the EU in 2008, which streamlines systems to make trade smoother, but the two parties still trade under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

If the UK ended up with an Australia-style agreement it would involve adopting WTO trade terms. Tariffs would be applied to UK goods and services being exported to Europe, at an average rate of 5.1%.

READ MORE: Pound slides as Boris Johnson threatens hard Brexit

It doesnt sound like a huge number in the grand scheme of things, but when you consider the amount of cross border trade, that starts to add up, Dixon said.

The other problem, the bigger problem I suspect, is the controls and checks on flows of goods across borders will significantly slow down the process. Under WTO rules you have significant trade frictions with the EU that it doesnt currently have and that most businesses will be keen to avoid.

The cost of European goods  everything from car parts to fruit  would likely rise.

EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Photo: Francois Lenoir/Reuters

The UK could look to counter some of the negative economic effects by putting zero tariffs on EU imports. However, WTO rules require that all nations must have tariffs applied equally.

If you accept that there are going to be zero tariffs on European goods coming in, then youd have to have zero tariffs elsewhere, Buckley said.

An Australia-style deal is ultimately not really something that the UK would aspire to in trade with the EU, Dixon said

How feasible is the Canada option?

Both Johnson and EU negotiator Michel Barnier this week said they wanted an ambitious free trade deal with zero quotas and zero tariffs, suggesting a Canada-style deal could be possible.

But Johnson and Barnier hugely differed when it came to what such a deal would involve. The EU wants the UK to follow EU standards on everything from environmental protection and workers rights to tax and state aid rules.

READ MORE: Boris and Barnier spar in first Brexit trade skirmish

The UK wants to be free to diverge from the EU, accepting that exports would have to follow EU specifications but arguing products bound for elsewhere or the internal market shouldnt have to follow the same rules.

The problem with [a Canada-style deal] is that it will require a certain degree of regulatory harmonisation, Dixon said. And thats the sticking point. It requires and UK and the EU to be much closer together in terms of their negotiating stance than they currently are.

Boris Johnson outlines his government's negotiating stance with the European Union after Brexit, during a speech at the Old Naval College in Greenwich, in London on 3 February. Photo: Frank Augstein/Reuters

The gulf will likely narrow as negotiations progress.

The important thing is these are starting points, Buckley said. At some point youd expect the two of them to come together and find somewhere to agree.

Its always a case of trying to reach a middle ground and if you know youre going to reach a middle ground, and it needs to be in the middle, you might as well start out as wide apart as you possibly can. I think thats why these negotiating positions sound potentially a lot worse than they will end up being.

READ MORE: Britain has officially left the EU  here's what happens now

However, a key question is whether negotiations allow enough time for the UK and EU to converge. CETA took five years to negotiate, three years to approve and ran to more than 1,000 pages. Even if it acts as a starting point, significant changes will likely be needed.

I know theyre talking about this as an off the shelf deal, but nothings ever off the shelf, Buckley said. You cant simply pick up a trade agreement and take it over to somewhere else.

Deutsche Bank said in a recent note to clients that only a bare bones deal between the UK and EU is likely given the time constraints.

Should the UK government stick to its pledge about leaving the transition period by the end of 2020, it is unlikely an agreement of wide scope can be negotiated, analysts wrote.

READ MORE: Firms demand 'seat at the table' in post-Brexit trade deals
DERBY  A local man was arrested Monday in connection with a deadly August incident in which he allegedly struck and killed an 85-year-old pedestrian.

An arrest warrant was issued Monday charging 26-year-old Eric Miller, of Derby with negligent homicide with a motor vehicle and windshield obstructed view, according to Derby police.

The charges stemmed from an Aug. 12, 2019, motor vehicle accident in which Millers motor vehicle allegedly struck an 85-year-old female pedestrian on Ninth Street in Derby. It was just after 7 a.m.

An ambulance transported the woman to a hospital in Bridgeport, where she later died from her injuries.

The victim was Seymour Avenue resident Angelina Borrelli  a member of a prominent Valley family.

She was the mother of Jerry Borrelli, a member of the citys Board of Apportionment and Taxation; the mother of Peter Borrelli, who owns the Seccombes Monument Co. in Ansonia; and the mother-in-law of Debra Borrelli, a member of the citys Board of Education.

Miller stayed at the scene after the crash and authorities said at the time that he was cooperating with the investigation.

Police said an investigation determined that Millers front windshield was obscured from condensation coupled with heavy sun glare that prevented him from being able to see the roadway in front of him when he struck the pedestrian.

Miller turned himself in when advised of the warrant. He was released on a promise to appear in court on Feb. 13.
Young rich lister and tech founder Tim Fung has warned coronavirus is being used "as an opportunity to legitimise racism".

"As an Australian with Asian heritage, it makes me sad to see the lack of empathy for our fellow human beings in China and it makes me angry to see selective fact-sharing being used to create sensationalist news and propel an underlying racist narrative," Mr Fung wrote in a post on LinkedIn over the weekend.

Airtasker CEO Tim Fung said on LinkedIn he wished Australians "were better" than sensationalist coverage of issues like Coronavirus. Credit:Louise Kennerley

"I wish we were better than this."

Mr Fung is the chief executive and co-founder of gig economy marketplace Airtasker and in 2019 was listed on the Australian Financial Review Young Rich List with an estimated wealth of $28 million.
A woman was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly duping people of lakhs of rupees by promising them central government jobs while posing as a senior officer of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), police said.

Forty seven-year-old Ochira Yadav, a resident of Assam's Tinsukia district, was arrested by a team of Kolkata Police Detective Department and Purba Jadavpur police station from her house in Purbalok area in the city, a senior officer said.

Yadav was arrested after a Bansdroni-based youth lodged a complaint alleging he had paid Rs 5 lakh to her after being assured of a central government job, he said.

"The accused has been duping people for years. We are investigating how many more people she has cheated," the officer said.

She was infamous in her locality for being a hot- tempered senior police officer, he said.

"Yadav had illegally fixed a blue beacon, a national emblem and a sticker of IB. We have seized the vehicle and a fake identity card of the bureau," the officer said.

During an investigation, it was found that the woman is a widow of a senior central government official.

"It seems on account of being a senior official's wife, she knew other officers in various departments," he said.

Police is also verifying claims of the accused woman that she has a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

COTTAGE GROVE, Minn. -- A Cottage Grove police officer assigned to Park High School has been charged in Dakota County District Court with multiple counts of sexual misconduct involving seven female students.

School resource officer Adam Pelton, 40, of River Falls, Wis., faces three counts of second degree criminal sexual conduct and four counts of criminal sexual conduct, Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom announced Tuesday, Feb. 4.

The charges stem from an investigation that was launched in October after some Park students came forward.

The Apple Valley Police Department conducted the investigation after preliminary findings by the Cottage Grove Police Department. Such referrals are made to ensure a fully independent investigation.

At the time of the alleged offenses Sept 1, 2018, and October 4, 2019, three of the Park High School students were 13-15 and four were 16-17.

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According to the complaint:

One student said Pelton said he would date her if he were her age. The student said he also texted her repeatedly and tried to arrange a lunch date over summer break.

Another student stated that Pelton would put his hand on her buttocks "four to five days a week during school while receiving a hug. She also reported receiving three requests over Snapchat to send him nude photographs which the student never sent."

Most of the alleged offenses took place in Pelton's private office near the school lobby, the complaint said.. There was no video surveillance in the office but investigators found a video that showed Pelton initiating hugs with female students in the hallways.

Pelton denied touching students buttocks or requesting nude photos. Later he admitted "asking one student for such pictures after she graduated from high school 'as a joke.'"

The Cottage Grove city website listed Pelton as the Park High School's resource officer on Monday, but his name was replaced with a different officer's name on Tuesday.

City communications manager Scott Seroka issued a statement that said "As soon as allegations were made, Cottage Grove Police Department responded immediately with a preliminary investigation. Within 24 hours, the case was turned over to Apple Valley.

Pelton is on standard paid leave.

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Pelton's bail has been set at $150,000 without conditions or $ 50,000 with conditions. His next court appearance is March 2 in Stillwater.
The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna State, Rev. John Hayab has faulted claims by the Nigerian Police that the suicide bomber who was arrested on Sunday while trying to blow up a Living Faith Church in Kaduna State, was christened Nathaniel Samuel.

During an interview with PUNCH on Monday, Hayab said the suspect identified himself as Mohammed Sani when he was apprehended by the church.

But after the church handed him over to the police, the security force suddenly changed the suspects name to Nathaniel Samuel. Hayab said:

The church was in session when the young man came in, dropped his bag and exited as if he was going to the toilet, but didnt come back in time. Some church members became suspicious. The church had put security measures in place such that they monitor everything going on in the church and they even have CCTV cameras. They discovered that what was in the bag looked like explosives, so they called the police. Let me state clearly that it was not the police that arrested him. It was the church that arrested him and then handed him over to the police. The police came to pick him up at the church. At the time he was interrogated at the church, he told the church that his name was Mohammed Sani, but when he was handed over to the police, the police told everyone that his name was Samuel Nathaniel.

Hayab said the mix-up in the name of the suspect had further given credence to the claims by the United States that Nigeria remained a terrorist-prone country because of a lack of database.

He said the religion which the suspect practises should not be the focus of public discussions but the act of terrorism.

The cleric said the police had failed to effectively investigate and profile suspects, adding that a few weeks ago, the force also arrested a hoodlum and erroneously paraded him as a pastor. He said:

This incident justifies the US decision to place visa restrictions on Nigerians. The US Government told us that one of the reasons for the visa ban was that Nigeria do not do proper background checks on people. So, a criminal can go to one part of Kaduna and bear John, travel to another part of the state and bear Abdullahi or Oluwole or Emeka and nobody will know. So, let us stop focusing on his name but his crime. A criminal is a criminal. There are now two versions, one from the church and one from the police. I dont care what his name is. All I know is that a criminal wanted to blow up a church and kill people. The police should find out who his sponsors are and not play politics with names. Last week, a man was paraded by the police for faking his kidnap and identified as a pastor, only for us to find out he was never a pastor.

Hayab said there were Christians bearing Muslim names and vice versa.

I know Muslims that bear Paul, I know Christians that bear Mohammed. Our CAN chairman in Borno State is Mohammed Laga. I have a cousin that bears Mohammed Paul. So, let us not focus on the name but on the act of terrorism, he said.

Hayab said it was curious that the attempted bombing took place at the same time CANs rally against terrorism was taking place.

He said the church would not be intimidated by anyone.

Meanwhile, KanyiDaily had reported that an NYSC member, Abraham Amuta, who was abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in April 2019, has reportedly rejected an offer to be freed from the terrorists group.

Amuta, now an ex-corp member, told negotiators who went to the Sambisa Forest to secure his freedom to go back home, saying he had renounced his Christian faith and he is staying back with Boko Haram.
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The scholarships awarded will honor Derick and his family, while helping students reach their goals and go on to positively impact others, just as Derick inspired the community around him, Harry Langenberg, Managing Partner, Optima Tax Relief

Optima Tax Relief is proud to announce the expansion of its community-giving with the launch of the Derick Ordinario Scholarship Program. Named in honor of Mr. Ordinario, a beloved member of Optimas extended family, the scholarship will provide financial assistance to high school and college students.

Derick lived a life committed to providing love, support, and opportunities for others, said David King, CEO of Optima Tax Relief. In establishing this scholarship, we aim to help carry his positive impact forward.

Company employees can refer their family members, as well as people they know within the community at-large, to the program, with the initial round of scholarships being awarded this June. Interested students can submit their applications now through February 27th.

To be eligible, students need to be attending high school or college full time and have a GPA of 2.5 or higher. Additional information and application forms are available at optimataxrelief.com/about-us/scholarship.

We are very honored to be dedicating our scholarship program to Derick, said Harry Langenberg, Optimas Managing Partner. The scholarships awarded will honor Derick and his family, while helping students reach their goals and go on to positively impact others, just as Derick inspired the community around him.

About Optima Tax Relief

Optima Tax Relief is the nations leading tax resolution firm providing assistance to individuals and businesses struggling with unmanageable IRS and state tax debts. Optimas commitment to delivering unparalleled service and results has transformed the tax resolution industry and earned the company numerous honors, including the Torch Award for Ethics from the Better Business Bureau of San Diego, Orange and Imperial Counties, and OneOCs Civic 50. Offering full-service tax resolution and employing over 600 professionals, Optima has resolved over a billion dollars in tax debts for their clients, helping their clients achieve a better financial future by making their tax issues a thing of the past.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhakhar on Tuesday held a meeting with Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha at Raj Bhavan and deliberated on a range of issues, officials said.

The discussions during the 90-minute-long meeting ranged from Dhankhar's scheduled speech at the budget session of the state Assembly on February 7 to several administrative issues, a senior official told PTI.

State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee and Finance Minister Amit Mitra had met the governor at Raj Bhavan on Monday evening.

Chatterjee had met Dhankhar on Sunday evening as well.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
New Delhi: One civilian was killed and 4 others injured in firing by Pakistan in the Tangdhar sector of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday (February 3) night. According to reports, Pakistan resorted to indiscriminate shelling and firing on Indian defence positions and villages close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir.

Some of the shells landed in the residential areas in which one civilian was killed and 4 others were injured. Some houses were also damaged in the shelling from Pakistan. The Indian Army is giving a befitting reply to Pakistani aggression and is responding in equal measure.

On February 2, there were multiple ceasefire violations by Pakistan in Tangdhar, Gurez, Balakot and Mendhar sectors in which one soldier was injured.
TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Israeli startup Kardome announced today the completion of a seed round, led by Korean car giant Hyundai Motor Company. Kardome was founded in January 2019 by serial entrepreneurs Dani Cherkassky and Alon Slapak, with the goal of meeting the growing demand for reliable voice control technology from automakers and electronics manufacturers. Kardome's technology gives the machine better "ears" through algorithms that manage to isolate the user's voice, even in a noisy environment with multiple speakers and background noises that are active at the same time.

Kardome's technology combines dedicated software with the use of microphones that exist in various products. Kardome software enables the implementation of a new generation of voice user interface, operating reliably even in noisy and multi-speaker environments, such as vehicles, public buildings, restaurants and even at home.

According to Kardome's CEO, Dani Cherkassky: "Hyundai's investment, one of the world's leading automakers, directly in Kardome - made after a thorough comparative technical examination, expresses confidence in the technology we have developed and also indicates the need and yearning of all the world's leading technology makers for a zero touch interface that works reliably in a natural and noisy environment. The investment will help us increase the company's manpower and accelerate the development of the new generation of voice interfaces, as well as expand the company's global presence."

Hyundai's strategic investment was made as part of the company's first round of funding. Also participated the NextGear Ventures fund - specializing in investments in the smart transportation world; and the ATOORO Fund - specializing in a Deep-Technologies and Human-Computer Interaction, which is part of Jacob Engel Group. In addition, Kardome will take part in the commercialization program at the Drive TLV innovation center, which is controlled by the Meir Group. Kardome intends to use the investment funds to accelerate the development of an innovative system for spatial isolation of voices in challenging acoustic environments, which will, among other things, be used by Hyundai vehicles and robots worldwide.

Koby Simana, Investment Manager at Hyundai CRADLE TLV, that will also join to Kardome board of directors said: "Hyundai is happy to partner and support Kardome's journey. We plan to use Kardome's robust voice AI technology to boost customer's value and gain competitive advantage by enhancing user experience and safety features."

Dr. Tal Cohen, co-founder of the Drive TLV Innovation Center and the NextGear Investment Fund: "Joining Kardome in the DRIVE TLV commercialization program and in addition to joining NextGear's portfolio companies indicates our dual confidence in Kardome. Voice interface is becoming the dominant interaction vector between humans and machines. Kardom's top team and technology is positioned to move this interaction vector from the clean laboratory conditions to the real rugged noisy world. Imagine the potential - No matter the set up, the conversation, the background. 100% communication robustness."

Yonatan Brender, Managing Partner at ATOORO FUND, said: "We are proud to support Kardome, a winning combination of experienced entrepreneurial team, technological maturity and unprecedented market opportunity. As Israelis, we take pride in the fact that such a significant society was born here in Israel."

Contact:

Dani Cherkassky, CEO

Kardome Technology Ltd.

[email protected]

SOURCE Kardome
Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Tuesday (February 4) said in Lok Sabha that the Centre will not intervene in Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy's decision to have three capital cities for the state.

During Tuesdays Question Hour in the Lower House of Parliament, Rai said that it is the prerogative of state governments to take decisions on their capital cities and the Centre will not advise Andhra Pradesh government on this matter.

Rai made the statements while replying to a question raised by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Jayadev Galla. The TDP lawmaker also asked the minister if the BJP-led government at the Centre would advise CM Reddy to not resort to such decisions.

Recently, media reports have appeared indicating the state governments decision to create three capitals for Andhra Pradesh. It is for each state to decide on its capital within its territory," Rai said.

It may be recalled that protests have erupted in different parts of Andhra Pradesh after CM Reddy announced his governments decision to establish Vishakhapatnam, Kurnool and Amaravati as the executive, judicial and legislative capitals of Andhra Pradesh.

Live TV

Hundreds of farmers took to the streets together with TDP leaders to protest against the state government's decision. Notably, Naidu, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and some BJP leaders from Andhra Pradesh had earlier urged the Centre to stop Andhra Pradesh CM Reddy from moving ahead with his plan to have three capitals for the state.
Australians trapped in coronavirus-plagued Wuhan have filmed themselves rollerblading through the ghost town before being evacuated to Christmas Island.

Rob Kellett, a professional rollerblader from Brisbane, and his friend Josh Nielsen took to the streets of the epicentre of the deadly virus, a normally-bustling city of 11million people, on January 29.

'This city has been put in lock-down and we've just spent the last week trapped in our apartment,' Mr Kellett told the camera, in a video shared to his YouTube channel.

'But we figured now would be a good time to make a little vlog, give people a little insight into what life is like here at the moment.'

Rob Kellett, a professional rollerblader from Brisbane, and his friend Josh Nielsen took to the streets of Wuhan on January 29

The pair donned face masks as they stepped outside of their apartment and into 'the virus-filled air'.

Mr Kellett filmed decorations which lined the street for the Chinese New Year but said the people of Wuhan were unable to celebrate the occasion due to the outbreak of the virus.

The two friends were able to leisurely skate along busy highways throughout the city as cars were nowhere to be seen.

They ventured through empty open public spaces which would normally be filled to the brim with residents going about their day-to-day activities.

'It's not great [what's happening in Wuhan] but we're trying to make the best out of a bad situation,' Mr Kellett said.

'I know I'll probably get heaps of comments from people telling us that we're stupid but it's whatever. We're trying to have fun and we're just trying to pass the time.

Mr Kellett said the video was to give people an 'insight' into the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus

The two friends were able to leisurely skate along busy highways throughout the city as cars were nowhere to be seen

'There is literally no one around. So we've hardly been in contact with people all day, no real chance of catching anything.

'As you can see, not a soul in sight.'

Mr Kellett, who said it was 'pretty scary' to be stuck in Wuhan, moved into the city towards the end of 2019 to be closer to his girlfriend.

The pair are understood to be among the first Australian citizens evacuated from Wuhan to Christmas Island.

Mr Kellet, whose girlfriend remains in Wuhan, filmed himself on the plane saying: 'Who knows what the right choice was but it's the safer one.'

Mr Nielsen shared messages to his father on social media.

Pictured: The view from Mr Kellett's apartment showed bare roads

Mr Kellett, who said it was 'pretty scary' to be stuck in Wuhan, moved into the city towards the end of 2019 to be closer to his girlfriend

'Hey dad just thought I'd give you the latest update,' he said.

'There's a flight leaving here in five hours and I'm at the airport,' to which his father responded: 'Great news Josh.'

A team of specialist doctors and nurses are closely monitoring the 243 Australian evacuees, who were flown out of Wuhan in Hubei province on Monday.

They endured about 24 hours in transit, including a stop at Western Australia's RAAF Base Learmonth, near Exmouth, before being taken on smaller aircraft to the island.

The National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre is overseeing their care, and says medics on the island have reported all of the evacuees are well.

'They haven't shown signs of the virus, and all going well, God willing, they won't be showing signs of it and will in 14 days repatriate back home to their nation, Australia,' the centre's executive director Len Notaras told ABC radio on Tuesday.

The first Australian citizens evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan have landed on Christmas Island (pictured arriving in WA before transferring to a charter flight for last leg)

The pair are understood to be among the first Australian citizens evacuated from Wuhan to Christmas Island

Meanwhile, more than 100 other Australians are expected to join an Air New Zealand charter flight from Wuhan to Auckland.

New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade says the flight has departed and will stop in Hong Kong before continuing on to Wuhan.

It said Chinese authorities had cleared the flight to land late on Tuesday, Wuhan time, which is early morning in New Zealand.

The flight is expected to be back in Auckland late on Wednesday afternoon, New Zealand time.

The number and nationalities of passengers is yet to be confirmed, but they will include New Zealanders and possibly Pacific Islanders too.

There have been 12 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, and more than 17,000 cases and 360 deaths globally.

Foreign travellers who have left or passed through China will be denied entry to Australia to limit the spread of the virus.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Opposition Congress and civil society members slammed BJP MP Anant Kumar Hegde for his controversial remarks terming Mahatma Gandhis freedom struggle as a drama.



While the Congress demanded that the Lok Sabha Speaker declare him as unfit to continue as MP, the civil society members too have demanded action against him. Meanwhile, the BJP has disowned its MPs remarks.

In a letter to the LS Speaker, Congress leader and Supreme Court advocate Brijesh Kalappa stated that in the past Hegde had made several controversial remarks and he was not fit to continue as the MP.

A member of parliament who has taken oath of the Constitution of India cannot make such vituperative statements. It is not only an insult to the Constitution but also an insult to the Parliament of which he is a member. No right-thinking citizen with proper faculties can utter such statements which go against the foundation of India and its freedom struggle, which every Indian feels proud of, he stated. He urged the Speaker to declare Uttara Kannada seat vacant warranting election.

N Tippanna Gowda, vice president of Gandhi Bhavan, said it is very unfortunate that the BJP leader made such remarks about Mahatma Gandhi. He is not aware of our freedom struggle. How can he make such a statement about Gandhiji? It is not enough to remove him from the Lok Sabha membership, but action should also be taken against him for making such remarks, he said.

Such statements clearly show that the BJP leaders do not have respect for Mahatma Gandhi, said Abilash from the Gram Seva Sangh. On one hand they talk about respect for Gandhi and they also issue such statements. If they (senior leaders) are serious about it, let them take action against him (Hegde), he added.
REUTERS

NANJING, ChinaChinas rulers are now calling the coronavirus epidemic a major test of Chinas system and capacity for governance and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is warning against any lack of boldness fighting it. But infections are rampant, the death toll is still mounting, and the country is increasingly isolated by a world community afraid this could become a pandemic. With no vaccine, hospitals overcrowded, and a dearth of solid information about how to treat the flu-like disease, what are Chinas 1.4 billion people (or the rest of us) supposed to do?

QAnon-ers Magic Cure for Coronavirus: Just Drink Bleach!

The answers have come on the internet: stay away from your pet dog, gargle salt water, fumigate with vinegar, take a potion made from flowers, and smoke a lot.

Yes, fake news has gone viral in the fight against the virus, which youd expect. But the picture is complicated by the Chinese medias advocacy of traditional Chinese medicine, and some half-baked reporting that credits U.S. President Donald Trump with possession of a "super drug" hell be willing to share real soon.

Chinese citizens hungry for any kind of protection against the disease have been posting and re-posting dubious reports about miracle cures and alternative medicine on the main Chinese social networks: the microblog Weibo and the chat app Weixin.

In a country where many hundreds of millions of people are currently holed up inside, on break from work, and thirsty for any new information about the deadly virus, such bad reporting and fake news that goes viral can provoke some frenzied side effects.

After Peoples Daily published an article claiming that scientists researching the novel coronavirus found shuanghuanglian oil, a traditional Chinese medicine concocted from three flowers, was effective treating it, believers in the efficacy of traditional medicine, or TCM, flocked to drug stores and bought up all of it they could find.

Story continues

Sales and hype were such that the stock price of one producer, Fushen Pharmaceutical Co., soared by 120 percent on the Hong Kong stock exchanges as markets opened February 3. For a brief few minutes, founder and chairman and majority stakeholder Cao Changcheng was a billionaire, richer on paper than Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei, until the speculative rush died down and the price fell back to its opening level. Even so, at 8 Hong Kong dollars a share it's worth twice what it was two weeks ago.

And while shuanghuanglian, which includes Japanese honeysuckle, Chinese skullcap, and forsythia suspensa and comes in tablet form as well as oil, might not be as dangerous to its users as drinking bleach (a cure recommended by QAnon conspiracy theorists in the United States) or consuming the dung and urine of cows, recommended by a swami in India, the injectable form can cause anaphylactic shock if administered to pregnant women or young children.

Although many Chinese publications claim that shuanghuanglian has been shown to be effective against influenza, respiratory illnesses, and a variety of ailments, they did have to report that there is no evidence to suggest it does anything against coronavirus.

Young Chinese laugh at the drama over shuanghuanglian. The Chinese characters used look and sound similar to the characters for double egg yolk lotus seed paste moon cake (shuanghuang lianrong yuebing), prompting the joke that after shuanghuanglian is sold out, people should buy moon cake. Consumption of all manner of TCM products is largely concentrated among their elders. When it is used, it is mostly as a preventative measure in addition to, not instead of, modern medicine. But various herbal products are hardly the only less-than-scientific solutions being offered.

Many viral messages advise people to swish diluted salt water around in their mouth before and after leaving the house as a means to kill the virus. This advice sometimes is attributed falsely to Dr. Zhong Nanshan, who discovered SARS in 2003. While salt water mouthwashes are sometimes used as a home remedy for sore throats or colds, they would do nothing against coronavirus, as multiple Chinese websites have noted.

Other false rumors about the virus claim it is spread by dogs, or that hanging clothes outside can disinfect them.

Combining multiple bullshit ideas, one Chinese blogger wrote, Its a disease carried by canines and spread to nearby dogs, dog-to-dog, then dog-to-human. Dogs do not get sick, but humans get sick. After humans get sick, they spread it to dogs, and the cycle continues.  So, people must stay away from dogs. Families who raise dogs must keep their dogs inside the house, and you cannot play with your dog.  Before going out, spray alcohol on your head and clothes. When you return home, wipe your hands, cell phone, and belongings with alcohol. Hang your coat on the open-air balcony to air it out, and gargle diluted salt water.

Some of the methods of prevention have to be jokes. One post claimed that smoking prevents all varieties of coronavirus because the oil from smoke coats ones lungs at a nanometer level, preventing coronavirus from striking the lungs cells, almost like your lungs are wearing a nanometer mask at the cellular level.

One piece of outright fake news was debunked by official national-level tabloid Global Times Monday afternoon. The false news, shared by a large number of Weibo users on February 2, asserted that there was an American super drug that could cure diseases caused by coronavirus and that President Donald Trump was going to fast-track its proliferation to China.

But the story is a little more complicated than smoking and puppy hoaxes.

Real highly effective drug has come out. It has gone through Americas process for effective medicines. Trump called on Americas Centers for Disease Prevention and Control to publicly release the formulation. I hope our researchers dont continue to be obsessed with huoxiang zhengqi/hyssop oral oil for vital energy [another Chinese medicine] and shuanghuanglian, and instead quickly try this medicine, one variation said.

The storyline shares much in common with pro-Trump posts swimming around right-wing corners of the American blogosphere. Theres a simple answer being hidden from the public, and perhaps an exaggeration of some vacuous statement Trump uttered without thinking, about which conspiracy theorists will fill in the blanks.

What Trump did say in an interview with CNBC on January 22 was that, We have it totally under control. Its one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. Its going to be fine.  We do have a plan, and we think its going to be handled very well.

Trump never said anything about America having any kind of secret or fast-track drug. The drug in question, remdesivir, has not been proven effective yet. It was previously tested as a treatment for Ebola in the Congo and performed worse than competitors, but its manufacturers say it has been useful against SARS and MERS, which also are coronaviruses.

China Arrested Doctors Who Warned About Coronavirus Outbreak. Now Death Tolls Rising, Stocks Are Plunging.

The origin of the Chinese fake news apparently can be traced back to a post on January 29 by the Chinese website Science Net. That piece summarized Jon Cohens article in Science, published on January 27, about potential existing drug combinations that might work against coronavirus, before adding its own exaggerations and rhetorical flourishesthe super drug moniker.

In reality, Cohens article notes the apparent effectiveness of remdesivir in a study of mice, and cites a microbiologist agreeing that it is the most promising drug, while emphasizing that it is unproven and not available in China.

Gilead, the California-based maker of remdesivir, has issued a statement that the company is in active discussions with researchers and clinicians in the United States and China regarding the ongoing Wuhan coronavirus outbreak and the potential use of remdesivir as an investigational treatment. Whether or not remdesivir ultimately is made available, and whether it proves effective, does not hinge on Trump or the CDC, but on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, Gilead shares shot up 5 percent.

Cohen, who has three decades of experience as a writer for Science and whose writing on coronavirus has been increasingly cited on Weibo, said by email, I hear from people all over the world, every day, including people from China. Many have questions I cannot answer. Some are pushing their own theories. Some want me to play doctor and want medical advice, which I cannot give. Some are just worried and want accurate information.

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The Chief Executive Officer of ESERA, Vusumuzi Mkhumane, flanked by the General Manager Finance Sabelo Dube (L) and the Regulations Manager Simphiwe Khumalo.

MBABANE  As of April 1, 2020, consumers will pay six cents more for each electricity unit.



That is if the Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) implements the maximum percentage allowed by Eswatini Energy Regulatory Authority (ESERA).

This increment came after a breather of about a year for consumers as in 2018, Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, suspended tariff increments.



Yesterday afternoon, the Chief Executive Officer of ESERA, Vusumuzi Mkhumane, announced that his organisation had approved the request by EEC for tariff increment for the financial years of 2020/21 and 2021/22.



The average increments approved by the regulator (ESERA) were 1.03 per cent and 1.05 per cent, respectively. With this approval, Mkhumane said in an effort to balance the approved revenue requirement, EEC shall be allowed to adjust the tariffs within a range of 2.5 percentage points above and below average of the approved tariff increase for each year.



Requested



In essence, this means that from the 6.2 per cent tarrif hike EEC had requested for domestic users, it was allowed to increase the tariff by a minimum of 1.03 per cent.

If the utility is to implement the minimum permitted by ESERA, a domestic user shall pay E1.77 per unit. This is equivalent to a two cents increment. If EEC implements the minimum, the consumer shall get 56.6 units for E100. This is equivalent to losing half a unit as for the same amount, households currently get 57.2 units.



However, if EEC implements the maximum percentage in the upcoming financial year, which is 3.53 per cent, (1.03 per cent+2.5 per cent), each unit shall cost E1.81.

Using the tentative estimate of the maximum increment, the consumer will get 55.3 kilowatts per hour (kWh) for E100, which is a decline of 1.9 kWh.

EECs application sent to ESERA in November 1, 2019, was for an average tariff increase of 5.70 per cent for each of the next two financial years 2020/21 and 2021/22.



In the proposed increment that was sought by the utility, a 6.2 per cent increase was for domestic customers while 5 per cent and 5.5 per cent was for small commercial (non time of use) and time of use customers, respectively.



The electricity provider had based its request on a revenue requirement of E2.391 billion in 2020/21 and E2.793 billion in 2021/22.

Announcing the approval of the aforementioned tariff increment, Mkhumane said: In coming up with the decision on the current tariff levels, ESERA considered the need for the utility to implement projects geared towards local generation to reduce overreliance on imports and projects aimed at improving the efficiency and reliability of electricity services.



He said the regulator also considered the rate of return of 7.92 per cent for EEC to meet the cost of raising capital and the need for the utility to improve efficiency levels as well as implement cost-cutting measures while anticipating growth in customer numbers in the next two financial years.

In a quest to attain the public sentiments and also get their input during the review period, Mkhumane said the regulator engaged various stakeholders in all the regions of the country and put together their views and concerns.



Impact



He also said they considered the Eskom tariff escalation of 13.06 per cent and 10.16 per cent for both the years 2020/21 and 2021/22, respectively which had a significant impact on EEC cost of sales.

Eskom supplies EEC with about 80 per cent of its electricity import.



Mkhumane said: Based on the approved 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 reconciliation adjustments, EEC made an under-recovery of E107.34 million, over-recovery of E182.795 million, an over-recovery of E279.629 million, respectively in the allowed revenues. The total over- recovery amounts to E277.543 million for the three years.



The ESERA CEO said the over-recovery amount of E277.543 million from the last three financial years shall be ploughed back into the sector to benefit consumers over the next two financial years.



Given these facts, the CEO said: Having duly considered the tariff application, taking into consideration the written and oral submissions from various consumer groups and stakeholders, as well as facts and evidence provided by EEC, the ESERA Board met on January 24, 2020 and approved that EEC be allowed a revenue requirement of E2.296 billion for the financial year 2020/21 and E2.549 billion for the financial year 2021/22.



He said in an effort to balance the approved revenue requirement, EEC would be allowed to adjust the tariffs within a range of 2.5 percentage points above and below average of the approved tariff increase for each year.

Mkhumane informed journalists from the electronic and print media that each increase shall be implemented with effect from April 1, of each year.
A mother and her three children spent five weeks lost in the Amazon forest in Peru after she failed to find their way back to their home in southwest Colombia.

Maria Oliva Perez left her home in Puerto Leguizamo, Putumayo, on December 19 to accompany Yeraldin Parra, 10; Yan Carlos Parra, 12; and Maria Alexandra Parra, 14, on a 90-minute walk to their father's farm in Bellavista.

The 40-year-old mother and her children set out for their return trip home approximately at 5pm with the sun still out. However, at some point in their journey they went offtrack and got lost.

Hoping that they could find their way back home the next day, Oliva Perez decided it was best that they camp out under a tree as the rain fell.

Maria Oliva Perez and her three children, all Colombian nationals, spent 34 days lost in the Peruvian Amazon forest before they were rescued by a fisherman January 24

Pictured left to right: Yan Carlos Parra, Maria Alexandra Parra, Yeraldin Parra and Maria Oliva Perez

The missing Colombian family suffered a string of injuries during the five weeks they spent lost in the Amazon forest. Doctors diagnosed them with malnutrition, generalized muscle hypertrophy, dehydration, foot injuries and fungal infections

The four set back out on the trail but still could not get on the right path and went five days without eating, but drank water from some of the streams they came across. Their food options slightly improved when the mother allowed her children to eat raw fish they plucked out from one of the streams.

Images shared by the family with local Colombian news outlets showed proof of the amount of weight loss they suffered because their food options were limited.

They were careful in what they consumed, picking wild fruits and seeds along the way. But in the back of Oliva Perez's mind, she knew exactly how much of a risk they were taking.

'I didn't like the seeds, I thought they could be poisonous. If the children ate them and I didn't, I would stay alive and the children would be dead,' Oliva Perez told Colombian newspaper El Tiempo.

'That possibility was like dying being alive. That's why I also ate.'

Yeraldin Parra is one of the three children who was lost in the Amazon forest after their mother took them to visit their dad at a farm in the southwestern city of Bellavista

Maria Alexandra Parra and her two siblings are currently receiving medical treatment in the Colombian department of Narino

Maria Oliva Perez and her children lost track of their path, a 90-minute walk from her ex-husband's farm house in Bellavista to their residence in Puerto Leguizamo

The family yelled and screamed in hopes that someone would hear their cries for help. They continued their hopeless journey back home, walking along the Putumayo River and at one point mistakenly crossed into Peru.

'I told them to be calm, that my God was great, that God will take care of us,' Oliva Perez.

Her ex-husband, Andres Parra, filed a missing persons report with the local police station and abandoned his job to join their search.

Before the family knew, it spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day out in the wild, where they did their best to steer clear of the terrain inhabited by dangerous animals.

Days turned into weeks and soon enough Oliva Perez and her three kids were incommunicado for a month on the shores of the Putumayo River.

The Colombian military was deployed January 24 after news broke via Facebook and WhatsApp that the missing mother and three children has been rescued by a fisherman

Doctors treat Maria Alexandra Parra moments after the Colombian military traveled to Peru to pick her up along with her two siblings and mother

A doctor and soldier carry Yan Carlos Parra off a hovercraft on January 24, 34 days after he, his two sisters and mother went missing in the Amazon forest

Oliva Perez recalled that her children were determined to build a raft out of the palm tree leaves that they broken apart with their teeth which were used as covers to keep them warm at night while they slept. But their will was overridden by their lack of body strength.

'The critical moment was when the children were so thin,' Oliva Perez said. 'We practically thought we would die by the river.'

Their luck changed for the better the early morning of January 24 when they spotted a Peruvian fisherman traveling down the river on a canoe with his four children.

The man welcomed the lost family aboard for a four-hour trip to La Esperanza, am indigenous village in Peru.

A Peruvian fisherman used his canoe to transport the missing Colombian family to the indigenous village of La Esperanza

Colombian military agents carry Yeraldin Parra off a hovercraft before transporting her to a hospital

Yan Carlos Parra suffered various injuries to his legs

Within moments of reaching the town, the man sent out a WhatsApp message with several photos of Oliva Perez and her two daughters and son. The message spread quickly through Facebook users along the Putumayo River that serves as a border between Peru and Colombia.

On January 24, the Colombian military dispatched a hovercraft for a nine-hour trip to La Esperanza.

All four were then returned back to Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, and taken to Maria Angelines Hospital were doctors diagnosed them with malnutrition, generalized muscle hypertrophy, dehydration, foot injuries and fungal infections.

Doctors were forced to remove worms that were the size of a coin and lice from one of the children's head.

Oliva Perez remains hospitalized at Putumayo Clinic while her children were transferred to two medical facilities in Pasto, a municipality in the department of Narino.
In 2016, Donald Trump secured a whopping 62% of the Alabama vote during the presidential election.

In 2018, Kay Ivey won the Alabama gubernatorial race with 60% of the vote. The electorate sent a message that was loud and clear, she said.

But both outcomes pale in comparison to the public support Amtrak generally seems to generate in poll after poll on the Gulf Coast and beyond.

Could that polling become a factor when the Mobile City Council meets Tuesday to determine whether it wants to move forward on a resolution committing future resources for Amtraks return to the Port City? The council vote is expected to take place during its 10:30 a.m. meeting at Government Plaza.

This project, from everything weve seen, has tremendous momentum and public support, said Vince Creel, spokesman with the city of Biloxi, Miss., which is one of the trains stops along the Gulf Coast passenger rail route.

The reaction has been by and large, emphatically in support, said Mobile City Council President Levon Manzie.

Among the public polls and surveys:

- In September 2018, a poll conducted in Alabama by advocates for the return of Amtrak to the Gulf Coast showed that out of 640 respondents, 96% supported having daily train service between Mobile and New Orleans. Over 90% of the respondents provided ZIP codes within the Mobile area.

-Of the 142 people participating in a long-term transportation priorities survey by the Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization, 73% said they favored Amtrak coming back to Mobile.

-Of the 365 votes cast on an AL.com Twitter poll, 86% said Yes to the return of Amtrak along the Gulf Coast.

Polling for Amtrak service is also overwhelmingly strong in Louisiana, as well as in far-away states like Kentucky and Colorado. In Colorado, 61% of voters said they would support a sales tax increase to pay for the service.

Not all polling shows widespread Amtrak support. An unscientific AL.com poll of 1,513 respondents revealed that 48.8% were supportive of the passenger trains return to Mobile while 51.2% opposed.

I have not had anyone come up to me and say that this is a bad idea other than Councilman (Joel) Daves, said Wiley Blankenship, president & CEO with the Coastal Alabama Partnership and a representative on the 21-member Southern Rail Commission.

Indeed, Daves has long held a skeptical view about Amtraks return to the Gulf Coast and the amount of money he believes it will cost taxpayers.

Daves said he doesnt believe the pro-Amtrak polling is complete. He also said that people he personally polls have a more negative view, particularly when they learn the costs involved.

There is this emotional nostalgic wish to have passenger rail service back, which I understand, said Daves. But the people I spoke to and who have written to me and talked about it, when I give them the number by Amtraks own estimates they tell me its not a good deal.

Daves said his concern is based on Amtraks own ridership estimates, which the SRC has labeled as extremely conservative. Those include 35,000 riders annually spending $18.33 per round trip from Mobile to New Orleans. The route also includes four stops in coastal Mississippi: Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay St. Louis.

Under the extremely conservative estimate, according to Daves calculations, the riders will pay $1 for every $10 spent by taxpayers.

The only way to make this work is if you have this gigantic subsidy, said Daves. When I go through the numbers with people, they say its not a good idea. They say, Id like to see the train come back, but not at that price.

Blankenship said that Daves figures are unfair. He said that his estimates, based on the Amtrak figures, do not account for the ability to generate additional revenues that is included in this train, such as advertising and the economic benefits from increased tourism.

People are going to come to Mobile, said Blankenship. They are going to ride the train to Mobile. They are going to spend money here.

Blankenship and other project supporters point out that the state governments in Louisiana and Mississippi have dedicated funds for the project, something that hasnt happened in Alabama.

The mayors of Biloxi and New Orleans have also weighed in on the project, encouraging Mobile to jump aboard.

The good folks in the great states of Mississippi and Louisiana are coming to the reality that this is a good deal for them, said Blankenship. I know our citizens do. I hope we are able to have a good, positive result.

The vote Tuesday comes ahead of a crucial federal grant deadline on Wednesday for the operation of the Gulf Coast service for three years starting in 2023. Mobile, in essence, will not be obligated toward paying anything for the service for three years.

The resolution is also expected to include contingencies allowing for Mobile to opt-out if the costs to restart the service get too expensive, or if the twice daily trains cause economic damage to CSX-operated freight trains that run through the Port of Mobile. Much of those latter impacts will be determined through a six-month study between CSX and Amtrak.

Blankenship said the councils vote will send a message.

It sends a clear message that either were supportive of this  or if we kill this now, and we dont get a positive outcome and miss the deadline, it could potentially come back and haunt us, said Blankenship. Then we decide later that we shouldve done this and it becomes woulda, coulda, shoulda. To me, you live to fight another day.
For any journalist with an interest in America and its politics, there are few more more sublime pleasures than covering the Iowa caucuses.

At some point in the 1970s, Jimmy Carter decided this heartland state, with its peculiar, old-fashioned way of voting, would the first to hold its primary.

Since then, candidates and their campaigns have made a pilgrimage to this largely rural, overwhelmingly white part of the country each year to make their case to voters in whatever venues can be found  church halls, community centers, diners and even private homes.

And for journalists, what fun it is. You get to drive all over the place, throw your own questions at the candidates, and you often get a proper answer. You also get to speak to a lot of Iowans, who are incredibly friendly.

At the heart of it all is the set-piece caucus itself, a made-for-feature-writers spectacle of fun and and action in which people gather in school halls and vote with their bodies for a candidate. Theres lots of shouting and pulling, as supporters of one candidate try to convince people to ditch their person and join their group to make that candidate viable. The results are jotted down on a piece of paper.

The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Show all 25 1 /25 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Bernie Sanders The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Joe Biden The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling EPA The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial "stop and frisk" programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor Getty Images The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Pete Buttigieg The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Deval Patrick The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party's various voting blocs AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Steve Bullock The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated "We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people's voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone." He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor's seat in a red [Republican] state Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Andrew Yang The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tom Steyer Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor AFP/Getty

There was a time when that worked and made some sort of sense. Defenders of the process are correct in saying those who show up to listen to candidates take the process seriously and put them under valuable scrutiny.

But Iowas time has come and gone. What may have once been a workable but quirky marker in the political calendar has now turned into an overblown, bloated horror that plays a vastly over-inflated role on shaping the presidential campaigns.

And last night, we saw just how what happens when quirky turns to farce. In an attempt to introduce greater transparency into the counting of the votes, the authorities used an untested app that indicated discrepancies with the three sets of data being collated. The result: a delay in the release of results, candidates giving victory speeches and getting on their flights to New Hampshire, and a wave of conspiracy theories as to what went wrong.

Yet even before the debacle on Monday night, calls for Iowa to lose its first-in-the-nation status were growing louder. Because of the state's demographics, critics said, the caucuses favoured white candidates such as Pete Buttigieg, who went into Iowa as joint favorite and yet has much less support in the more diverse other early voting states of South Carolina and Nevada.

Candidates of color struggled to find traction, and the likes of Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Julian Castro all ended their campaigns many weeks before Iowa kicked off.

 US Election: What is the Iowa caucus?

What people are going to be looking for in a candidate in a largely white state is going to be different to a place like South Carolina or Nevada, Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, a group that works to promote the political power of women of color, told The Independent last year. Its a structural racism question, because Iowa has an outsized voice in trying to winnow the field.

At closer scrutiny, the caucus process is not as democratic as people might like. Because there is no private vote, people can feel pressured or bullied into supporting a candidate they did not plant to support. And because it requires people to show up in person for two hours in a winter night, it is impossible for those who are working, who are sick, who are disabled, or who otherwise cant get to the caucus center to cast their vote and have their voices heard. Last night, turnout was said to be around 15 per cent.

For Iowa, the caucus has been a huge money-spinner. It was reported that Democrats spent $800m in the state this cycle  money spent primarily on consultants, television advertizing, office space, hotel rooms and restaurants.

What was once an operation that lasted a few weeks or months has turned into multi-year, military-style campaigns. When Tom Perez secured the backing of the Iowa state delegation to become chair of the Democratic National Committee, he did so after vowing it would continue to be first to vote.

It has been a privilege and a pleasure for me to have reported on three Iowa caucuses  in 2004, 2016 and 2020. In recent days, driving more than 800 miles zipping from Minneapolis to Des Moines, to Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Waverly, and back to Des Moines, I wondered whether we might all be witnessing the last caucus as it currently operates.

Last night showed it is time for something new, something more reflective of Americas diversity, something that is actually democratic. Thanks for everything, Iowa, but your time is up.
Getty Images Bank



By Anna J. Park



Amid growing concerns of the worldwide spread of a coronavirus, the country's credit card companies are closely cooperating with the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (KCDC), to provide information that could help prevent its further transmission.



Detailed card payment information for those confirmed to have the coronavirus has become a valuable resources for the KCDC to track the travel patterns of confirmed patients.



"Since the MERS outbreak in 2015, this is the first time that the credit card association has helped the KCDC to prevent the spread of an epidemic by offering infected customers' card payment information," an official at the Credit Finance Association (CFA) told The Korea Times, Tuesday.









"Each card company in Korea is operating a 24-hour emergency hotline to the KCDC, while the association is also offering support to the KCDC until 9 p.m. on weekdays as well as through additional work shifts on weekends," he added.



Such corporation between card companies and the authorities was made possible thanks to a revision to the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act in January 2016 as a follow-up measure to the MERS outbreak in 2015.



The revision allows the KCDC to request "relevant information" on confirmed patients' travel patterns from related companies. A subordinate ordinance states that credit and debit card payment information is relevant information. As the payment information also includes transportation use, the KCDC can get a fuller grasp on confirmed patients' visits.



The CFA and the KCDC began cooperating Jan. 24 when the second coronavirus case was confirmed here. The first confirmed patient in Korea was screened and immediately quarantined upon entering Korea at the airport.



However, the second patient cleared immigration and customs upon entering, and it wasn't until a few days later that he was confirmed to have been infected with the virus, Jan. 24. The KCDC therefore needed to fully track his previous movements to prevent the further spread of the virus.



On Jan. 31, the two institutions established the hotlines for swifter information exchange.





A medical staff member talks to ambulance crews at the National Medical Center in central Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap
A child who travelled with two people confirmed to have coronavirus in Queensland has become the third person in the state diagnosed with the virus, and the first child in the country.

Queensland Health chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, on Tuesday night said the eight-year-old boy, who is a Chinese national from Wuhan, was confirmed as having coronavirus.

He was travelling with the 44-year-old man and 42-year-old woman, who were diagnosed with the virus in Queensland last week.

All three are from Hubei province, which is at the epicentre of the virus in China.

The child is in a stable condition in isolation at Gold Coast University Hospital with the man and woman.

The boy, 8, is in a secure section of the hospital on the Gold Coast. Source: Getty

Meanwhile, Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles is rushing new laws through parliament to extend his existing health emergency order from one week to three months.

The move will give health officers more time to require the quarantine or isolation of suspected coronavirus cases and force people to undergo medical checks and tests.

The bill was introduced into state parliament on Tuesday, the first sitting day of 2020.

Mr Miles wants it to pass the house by Thursday. It would remain in place for 12 months and apply solely to the novel coronavirus.

More than 400 people have been assessed for coronavirus since screening started at Brisbane International Airport on Sunday.

Thirteen cases have been confirmed across Australia so far.

Workers preparing the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Centre. The space has been converted into temporary hospitals with a total of 1,000 beds. Source: Getty

Virus kills second person outside China

Hong Kong has reported its first coronavirus death, the second outside mainland China from a fast-spreading outbreak that has now killed at least 427 people.

Hong Kong's first fatality was a 39-year-old man with an underlying illness who had visited China's Wuhan city.

China, meanwhile, reported a record daily jump in deaths of 64 to 425. The only other death outside mainland China was a man who died in the Philippines last week after visiting Wuhan.

Story continues

Total infections in mainland China rose to 20,438, and there have been nearly 200 cases elsewhere across 24 countries and China's special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

Thailand's tally of infections jumped to 25, the highest outside China, while Singapore's rose to 24, four of those from local contagion as opposed to visitors from China.

The World Health Organisation has declared the flu-like virus a global emergency and experts say much is still unknown, including its mortality rate and transmission routes.

Such uncertainties have spurred strong measures by some countries  offending Beijing's communist government which has called for calm, fact-based responses instead of scaremongering.

A masked medical staff holds a placard during the strike outside the Hospital Authority building in Hong Kong. Source: Getty

The deluge of misinformation on social media  from a recommendation to eat more onions to a warning of spread via a video game  has led Asian governments to hit back with 16 arrests, fines and fake news laws, alarming free speech advocates.

Thousands of medical workers in Hong Kong, which had seen months of anti-China political protests, held a second day of strikes to press for complete closure of borders with the mainland after three checkpoints were left open.

"We're not threatening the government, we just want to prevent the outbreak," said Cheng, 26, a nurse on strike.

The Asian financial centre has confirmed 17 cases.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
T wo people have been charged by detectives investigating a 50 million jewellery raid on heiress Tamara Ecclestone's west London home.

Tower Hamlets residents Maria Mester, 47, and 29-year-old Emil-Bogdan Savastru have both been charged with conspiracy to commit burglary.

They will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Police said a 21-year-old man arrested at Stansted Airport with Mester on Friday has been released under investigation, as has a 31-year-old man arrested in east London on Thursday.

Savastru was detained at Heathrow Airport on Thursday afternoon on suspicion of conspiracy to commit burglary and money laundering.

The Met has said the arrests were in relation to the burglary in Palace Green, Kensington, on December 13 in which all of Ms Ecclestone's jewellery was reportedly taken.

The haul included rings, earrings and an 80,000 Cartier bangle wedding gift.

In 2017, The New York Times reported on a meeting between Trump and several members of his cabinet in which he raged against foreign visitors to the United States. Citing a memo from Stephen Miller, the presidents chief immigration hard-liner, Trump complained about the pending arrival of thousands of people from Muslim and predominantly African nations. They all have AIDS, Trump reportedly said, about immigrants from Haiti. As for Nigerians? Once they saw America, they would never go back to their huts.

All of this was separate from the presidents remarks on what he famously called shithole countries  those came the next year, when he found a fresh way to articulate his racist vision of immigration policy, where white Europeans are welcome and nonwhites are not.

Which is to say that it does not matter that Nigeria isnt much of a national security threat or that Nigerians are among the most successful immigrants to the United States, surpassing native-born Americans in income and educational attainment. What matters is that theyre black and African and, for Trump, at the bottom of a racial hierarchy.

Ive written before about the 1924 Immigration Act, also known as the Johnson-Reed Act, which codified a decades worth of nativist hysteria into law. It followed the Immigration Act of 1917, which imposed literacy tests on new immigrations and barred immigration from the Asia-Pacific region, and the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, which established the first per-country percentage limits on the number of immigrants to the United States. The 1924 act was the harshest. It was also the most far-reaching. Meant to reduce immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe, it also defined the American nation in explicitly racial terms.

The quota system established by Johnson-Reed, the historian Mae Ngai writes, subtracted from the total United States population all blacks and mulattoes, eliding the difference between the descendants of slave immigrants and the descendants of free Negroes and voluntary immigrants from Africa. It also discounted all Chinese, Japanese and South Asians as persons ineligible to citizenship, including descendants of such people with American citizenship by native birth.
An Alabama mother is calling for institutional changes after she lost custody of her baby within hours of giving birth last week.

Citing a same-day drug screening, health officials said they had detected traces of opiates in her system. But she was clean.

Doctors suspect poppy seeds from bread were responsible for the positive drug test.

Rebecca Hernandez, who gave birth on January 28, was forced to spend three days apart from her newborn boy as she awaited a confirmatory test. By then, her doctor had already theorised a likely culprit behind the false-positive result: the poppy seed bread Hernandez ate on January 27.

"This is a nightmare for the whole family," Hernandez told WAFF through an interpreter. "A newborn baby has to be close to mum. They have to be with the mum. That's the most important time in their life to be close to the mum when they're just born."
The inter-agency commission coordinating the activities to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Armenia today held a regular session chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, as reported Avinyans Office.

Avinyan stated that the participants of the session will discuss the current coronavirus situation and the preventive actions that have already been taken, touch upon the issues that citizens of Armenia having expressed the desire to return from China face in Armenia and consider the need for future actions. Minister of Foreign Affairs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan presented the overall situation, the efforts being made with international partners and the activities that the Embassy of Armenia in China is carrying out to support citizens of Armenia round-the-clock.

Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan presented the preventive actions that are being taken and the steps that are being taken to raise public awareness. He also stated that Armenia expects to receive another 200 diagnostic tests from the World Health Organization. The Deputy Prime Minister assigned to explore the opportunity to provide support to the citizens of Armenia in China as soon as possible.
Two people were stabbed in Sundays attack in south London and a third was injured by flying glass; none of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening. The assailant, who was armed with a knife and wearing a fake explosive device, was shot and killed by police who had him under surveillance for suspected extremist activities. Two people were killed in the Nov. 29 London Bridge attack before the attacker, also armed with a knife and also wearing a fake suicide vest, was stopped by bystanders and eventually killed by police. A more deadly attack occurred in 2017 when a terrorist drove his car into a crowd outside the Palace of Westminster, injuring more than 50, four fatally, and then stabbing to death a police officer.
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Areas former superintendent, Bill Cox. NPS photo

January 31, 2020

Contact: Deborah Coble, 907-280-8739

After more than 40 years of devoted federal service, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Areas superintendent, Bill Cox, retired Jan. 3, 2020. Bills federal career is truly commendable. He began his career in 1997 working first as a Student Conservation Aid and then as a seasonal park ranger for the National Park Service at Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monuments in Flagstaff, Arizona. Bill worked for five seasons in Arizona and when he wasnt donning his uniform, he was furthering his education working on a Masters in geography with an emphasis in environmental and resource planning. Both his studies and work fit naturally together to create a symbiotic vocation.In the late 70s when Bill began his journey with the National Park Service he did a little bit of everything, We werent specialized back then. We all did the tasks that needed to be done no matter the job series. I thoroughly enjoyed getting out and marking monument boundaries. Aspects of physical geography I had studied in text books were coming alive, he said. He also really appreciated working with the Navajo staff and learning the anthropological characteristics of the area, It was really quite the experience for a kid from suburban Atlanta, he added.In 1981, Bill found his first permanent position with the Department of Defense as a cartographer. Soon after that he worked as a civilian in the Air Forces environmental program and during that 10-year period, Bill worked all over country and the world honing his skills in solving environmental and land planning issues.From the Air Force, Bill moved on to the Environmental Protection Agency as a supervisory environmental scientist and program manager. It was really my time working with the Air Force that spurred my interest in the EPA. I had the opportunity to apply many of the skills acquired in assessing environmental and land use issues solving specific problems many communities were facing. Bill spent the next 20 years, between Dallas, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia, with the EPA, much of which was devoted to water resources.In 2009, Bill participated in a career development assignment as the assistant superintendent for Zion National Park, his favorite park, until 2011. I was reminded of the love I had for the National Park Service, its mission and the folks within the agency. It drew me back in.Bill did two more years with the EPA, this time in Atlanta, managing the Wetlands Coastal and Ocean programs in the southeast, but was actively recruited by the National Park Service to serve as the superintendent for the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in 2013.Some of Bills greatest contributions to the NPS came while working for other agencies. In the 1980s, while working for the Air Force, I was able to help reduce the impacts of low level overflights at the Petrified Forest National Park. In the early 1990s, while at the EPA, I was able to work with others in getting the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw a pending oil and gas lease that would negatively affect Lechuguilla Cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park.As far as recent NPS contributions go, Bill set a strategic direction while at CHAT that resulted in partnership projects, which have the potential to enhance facilities throughout the park. He also helped further develop the Friends Group (the Chattahoochee Parks Conservancy) into one that is now providing important philanthropic support to the park. The significant increase in awareness for CHAT among local municipalities and organizations, and the importance of managing the watershed to protect the park and the economic benefits that result from it is also owed to Bill.Over a span of 40 years, Bill has offered a steady hand and calming influence that always focused on the mission. These 40 years went by really fast and it was a lot of fun. Id like to think I did my best to protect our outstanding resources and take care of the folks who worked for me.With a federal career and devotion as grand as Bills we cant just let him silently slip out without thanking him for his service and contributions. He has been a friend to all and we will miss him.
[February 04, 2020] Houston-based HX Venture Fund Adds Four Proven Venture Capital Funds to Its Roster

HX Venture Fund announced the closing of four new investments in its first fund: .406 Ventures, Next Coast Ventures, OpenView Venture Partners, and Updata Partners. These investments follow its initial investment in Austin-based LiveOak Venture Partners. HX Venture Fund is Houston's strategic venture capital fund-of-funds aiming to achieve an attractive return for investors by partnering with leading venture capital firms to offer their expertise and risk capital to the region. The Fund creates a pathway for innovation and information to flow among corporations, startups, and innovators. HX Venture Fund was launched in 2018 and serves to fuel the Houston innovation ecosystem by investing in world-class venture capital funds that are committed to bringing their knowledge and expertise to Houston entrepreneurs. These investments play a vital role in one of the core missions of HX Venture Fund - to empower local entrepreneurs by integrating the best venture capital funds into the Houston startup ecosystem through consistent engagement, mentorship, and support. "We are delighted to partner with these funds and their compelling teams," said Guillermo Borda, Managing Director of HX Venture Fund. "These high-performing venture firms see significant potential for investment in Houston. We are encouraged by the opportunities available to Houston entrepreneurs by having these firms as part of the startup community." HX Venture und will work alongside its portfolio to activate the Houston innovation ecosystem. Since inception, over 130 venture funds have expressed their excitement about a potential partnership with HX Venture Fund.



Sandy Guitar Wallis, Managing Director of HX Venture Fund, says, ".406 Ventures, Next Coast Ventures, OpenView Venture Partners, Updata Partners, and Live Oak Venture Partners are highly successful venture capitalists who bring a prepared mind to the Houston startup community. With their proven expertise and exceptional track records, we are excited to integrate them into Houston networks and not only give them access to the Fund's incredibly innovative corporate LPs, but also harness their knowledge to empower Houston entrepreneurs." Updata Partner, Carter Griffin, says, "Updata is excited to partner with HX Venture Fund and to actively participate in the Houston innovation community. We recognize the compelling opportunities Houston offers and we can't wait to get further plugged into its network of entrepreneurs and corporations." .406 Partner, Maria Cirino, also comments, "The model that HX Venture Fund has crafted is highly differentiated. To have them as part of our investor community allows us access to Houston's top entrepreneurs and key ecosystem players that we may not otherwise have."

In their first fund, HX Venture Fund will continue making investments in proven venture funds across the country eager to participate in Houston's startup community. To learn more, please visit www.hxventurefund.com. About HX Venture Fund HX Venture Fund invests as a limited partner in top-performing venture capital funds across industry sectors. We partner with talented and experienced venture capitalists who are interested in investing in Houston's startups and actively contributing to Houston's innovation success. By identifying venture capital funds with successful track records, collaborative investment teams, and compelling investment strategies, we aim to achieve attractive returns for our corporate partners while providing the Houston startup community with support from the best venture capital funds. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005798/en/

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Question: For two years I've been plagued by a very itchy, sensitive scalp  even using a hairdryer is too much to bear. I also get painful flare-ups, during which it feels like someone is pulling my hair. I'm worried it's a sign of a more serious problem.

Jennifer Davies, Crymych, Pembrokeshire.

Answer: It appears you have seborrhoeic dermatitis, a skin condition in which the scalp becomes red, itchy and flaky. Any areas of oily skin, such as the sides of the nose, eyebrows, ears, eyelids, and centre of the chest can also be affected.

The symptoms are thought to be caused by an overgrowth of Malassezia, a normally harmless fungi that lives on the skin, or by an over-reaction of the immune system to this fungi.

It's very common  occurring in around one in 25 people  and similar to dandruff (which is actually a mild form of seborrhoeic dermatitis that causes flaking itchy skin, but without the sensitivity you also experience).

Seborrhoeic dermatitis is a skin condition in which the scalp becomes red, itchy and flaky (file image)

Nizoral, a medicated shampoo containing the antifungal ketoconazole, is often prescribed (and is also available over the counter) to reduce the growth of the yeast. Nizoral is usually effective and should be used twice a week for two to four weeks.

In severe cases, corticosteroid lotions and ointments that are rubbed into the scalp can dampen down inflammation.

But be aware that topically-applied steroids can lead to thinning of the skin, increased body hair, weight gain, muscle weakness, and other potential damaging responses  so don't use them for more than a month.

You mention in your longer letter that you've tried Nizoral and topical steroids. So I wonder about your hair-washing regimen. You should wash your hair with something mild, such as baby shampoo, so as not to further irritate the scalp.

Or you could try Sachajuan shampoo, which contains the antifungals piroctone and climbazole, and salicylic acid. These eradicate the yeast and calm the inflammation and should be used once a day for a month and then once a week.

However maddening, be assured the itch is not a sign of anything serious.

You should wash your hair with something mild, such as baby shampoo, so as not to further irritate the scalp

IN MY VIEW ... We can't ignore the dangers of taking cannabis

Walk down a busy street or even stroll through a park and these days you stand a good chance of catching a waft of the sweet, tell-tale smell of cannabis.

While still illegal for recreational use, social tolerance for the drug seems to have grown, which gives me great concern. It's just over a year since the law changed in Britain to allow  with due precautions  medical cannabis to be prescribed by doctors.

Unsurprisingly, the increased awareness of some known medical benefits, such as easing the muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis, has been a trigger for more people to access cannabis illicitly.

Write to Dr Scurr To contact Dr Scurr with a health query, write to him at Good Health Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email drmartin@dailymail.co.uk  including contact details. Dr Scurr cannot enter into personal correspondence. Replies should be taken in a general context and always consult a GP with any health worries. Advertisement

A recent YouGov poll found more than a million people were using the drug, bought illegally, to treat an illness. But unlike with medical cannabis, which has been made to pharmaceutical standards, people do not know what they are buying.

The black- market cannabis user is at risk of consuming high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The best-known of the active chemicals in the cannabis plant, THC is a the most psychoactive, i.e. the one that makes you high and is linked to an increased risk of psychotic illnesses.

Consider, too, recent research from Boston University that revealed the risk of miscarriage is doubled when would-be fathers used cannabis at least once a week, compared to not using it at all.

Whether this is due to damage to sperm or passive cannabis smoking by the mother-to-be remains unclear. What is clear, is that illegal cannabis, whether used for recreational or medicinal purposes, is of unknown content, unknown quality and is inevitably unreliable and potentially dangerous.
The sufferings of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Banks customers are fresh in peoples memory. After the banks operations were suspended and deposit withdrawals restricted, the talk around increasing deposit insurance thresholds gained momentum.

Now, there is good news for bank depositors and savers. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her Budget speech last week that the government will increase the bank deposit insurance coverage to Rs 5 lakh per depositor, from Rs 1 lakh at present.

This increase would result in deposits (fixed deposits as well saving accounts) of up to Rs 5 lakh being covered by the deposit insurance scheme for banks. This cover is provided by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).

Would depositors benefit?

The DICGC is liable to pay every depositor, through the liquidator, when a bank fails. The key aspect to understand here is liquidation. As Joydeep Sen, Independent Financial Advisor of wiseinvestor.in points out, There have been no instances recently, wherein a bank has been liquidated and depositors have got the deposit amount from the DICGC. The directions have kept getting extended on every review date.

For instance, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued directions to the Kapol Co-operative Bank from the close of business on March 30, 2017 and has been directing the bank ever since to keep the operations suspended. On January 29, 2020, the RBI once more extended the directions to July 31, 2020 and this will be subject to review again.

There are other co-operative banks that have been under RBI directions for quite a few years and it keeps getting extended after review of their financials. These include the likes of CKP Co-operative Bank since May 2012. In fact, PMC bank also runs under RBIs directives to keep its operations suspended. At the moment, depositors can withdraw Rs 50,000 from their accounts and another Rs 50,000 in case of hardships such as medical treatment, marriage in the household and so on. Experts say that RBI typically does not prefer the course of a bank directly heading to liquidation, especially if it is a large commercial bank. The focus of the central bank is generally to revive the financials and operations and then send a bank into liquidation and pay depositors under DICGC. So far, the only pay-outs under this scheme have happened for the benefit co-operative banks customers. The pay-out from DICGC has never gone on to benefit any commercial banks customers, simply because no commercial bank in India has ever been liquidated. But, the cost of premium is borne by the entire financial sector because all banks, including commercial banks, have to pay the premium towards their individual DICGC cover. The onus of paying insurance premium is on the bank, says Sen.

Harsh Roongta, a Mumbai-based registered investment advisor says, The DICGC scheme is the most impractical scheme. What is the point of an insurance scheme wherein depositors have to wait for years after the event has happened for their own money?

Also, the insurance cover hike will apply to existing account holders as well and not just to newly-opened deposits.
(Newser)  One doctor's plight in China is drawing much attention amid the coronavirus scare. The reason? Li Wenliang issued a warning about the outbreak in its early stages on social media, then got silenced by police. Now he's suffering from the illness himself. Coverage:



The warning: Li is a 34-year ophthalmologist who works at a hospital in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. On Dec. 30, he sent a message on WeChat to fellow medical professionals warning them that patients with a SARS-like illness were quarantined in his facility's emergency department. Mindful of the deadly 2002-2003 SARS pandemic, he urged his colleagues to be aware and take precautions while treating their own patients, reports the BBC.

Li is a 34-year ophthalmologist who works at a hospital in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. On Dec. 30, he sent a message on WeChat to fellow medical professionals warning them that patients with a SARS-like illness were quarantined in his facility's emergency department. Mindful of the deadly 2002-2003 SARS pandemic, he urged his colleagues to be aware and take precautions while treating their own patients, reports the BBC. The consequences: "I only wanted to remind my university classmates to be careful," he tells CNN. After screenshots of his warning went viral, however, Li was summoned for questioning by hospital officials and, days later, by the police, who accused him of "spreading rumors online."

story continues below

A threat: Police made the doctor sign a written statement, which Li is now showing to media outlets. "We solemnly warn you: If you keep being stubborn, with such impertinence, and continue this illegal activity, you will be brought to justiceis that understood?" Beneath that, Li wrote, "Yes, I do."

Police made the doctor sign a written statement, which Li is now showing to media outlets. "We solemnly warn you: If you keep being stubborn, with such impertinence, and continue this illegal activity, you will be brought to justiceis that understood?" Beneath that, Li wrote, "Yes, I do." Mishandled: Li wasn't the only person so treated. Authorities in Wuhan silenced several doctors and others who spoke of the coronavirus when it first emerged, reports the New York Times. Instead of informing the public, they tried to keep the information under wraps and presented the facade that no public threat existed: "By not moving aggressively to warn the public and medical professionals, public health experts say, the Chinese government lost one of its best chances to keep the disease from becoming an epidemic."

Li wasn't the only person so treated. Authorities in Wuhan silenced several doctors and others who spoke of the coronavirus when it first emerged, reports the New York Times. Instead of informing the public, they tried to keep the information under wraps and presented the facade that no public threat existed: "By not moving aggressively to warn the public and medical professionals, public health experts say, the Chinese government lost one of its best chances to keep the disease from becoming an epidemic." Now a patient: Li was allowed to go back to work, and he subsequently contracted the coronavius himself from a woman he was treating for glaucoma. He's now hospitalized, and his story is becoming well-known around the country. "If the officials had disclosed information about the epidemic earlier, I think it would have been a lot better," he tells the Times. "There should be more openness and transparency."

Li was allowed to go back to work, and he subsequently contracted the coronavius himself from a woman he was treating for glaucoma. He's now hospitalized, and his story is becoming well-known around the country. "If the officials had disclosed information about the epidemic earlier, I think it would have been a lot better," he tells the Times. "There should be more openness and transparency." Court agrees: A commentary posted online by China's highest court criticized the early police action to stifle information. "It might have been a fortunate thing for containing the new coronavirus, if the public had listened to this 'rumor' at the time, and adopted measures such as wearing masks, strict disinfection, and avoiding going to the wildlife market," the commentary said.

A commentary posted online by China's highest court criticized the early police action to stifle information. "It might have been a fortunate thing for containing the new coronavirus, if the public had listened to this 'rumor' at the time, and adopted measures such as wearing masks, strict disinfection, and avoiding going to the wildlife market," the commentary said. One view: "Dr Li Wenliang is a hero," wrote one social media user in a post spotted by the BBC. But the user was still worried about the precedent. "In the future, doctors will be more afraid to issue early warnings when they find signs of infectious diseases."

(China now has more than 20,000 cases .)
TDT/Manama

rn

Noah Mikhail Andrade, a Grade X student of the New Millennium School, DPS Bahrain, made his alma mater proud by completing the level 2 and securing a position among the top 100 meritorious students, in the Aryabhata Ganit Challenge 2019.

rn

Noah secured rank in the National Level Ganit Challenge conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education for schools around the world.

rn

This computer-based contest aimed at promoting competencies among students through joyful assessment.

rn

It also helped students to identify, encourage and nurture the talent in Mathematics and apply the same to their daily life.

rn

The Chairman, Dr Ravi Pillai, Managing Director, Ms Geetha Pillai and Principal, Mr Arun Kuumar Sharma congratulated Noah, his teachers and parents for this commendable performance.
The Janata Dal United, a key ally of the ruling NDA, on Tuesday accused the opposition of spreading misinformation about the amended citizenship law to further their political interests.

Participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in Lok Sabha, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh of the JD (U) said parties opposed the Bill in Parliament but gave no reason for their stand.

"Efforts are being made to vitiate the atmosphere for political gains ...Yes, we have to contest polls, but not at the cost of playing with the unity of the country," he said.

When Sougata Roy of the Trinamool Congress tried to intervene, Singh said the bases of parties such as the TMC was "fast shrinking".

He also asked Roy to explain how a state government can refuse to implement a law passed by Parliament.

He also wondered how National Register of Citizens can be linked to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) when the NRC has not even taken shape.

Participating in the debate, Nama Nageswara Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) said his party's government in the state has taken measures to realise the dreams of Mahamta Gandhi by developing villages and providing cash incentives to farmers.

He also asked as to how the Union government plans to make India a USD 5-trillion economy in four years as it will require a nominal growth of 16 per cent per year.

Adequate fund assistance is also not being given to develop 112 aspirational districts, he claimed.

The terms of 15th Finance Commission, which will decide on the division of funds between the Centre and states, are also "unjust" to southern and eastern states, he said.

N K Premachandran (RSP) said he was "deeply disappointed" with the address of the President as there was no mention of the "prevailing social unrest" in his speech.

He further said the President's address made no mention of the current financial crisis and the economic slowdown.

"Secular democracy is under threat and people are fighting to protect the secular fabric of the country," he said, referring to the ongoing protests against the CAA.

DMK's D Ravikumar regretted that the President's address did not talk about the plight of SC/ST and Dalits.

Dilip Saikia of the BJP said the ntire Assam was supporting the CAA and added that the NRC will strengthen the country.

He blamed the Congress for not honouring the Assam accord and fulfilling the aspirations of the people of the north-eastern state.

BSP leader Danish Ali accused the BJP government of using Mahatma Gandhi's name to "mask their bad deeds" and added that the CAA was a "betrayal of the ideals of the Father of the Nation".

He regretted that the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, who as member of the Lok Sabha had sought protection from police, was today asking the force to 'take revenge'.

Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) member K Navaskani alleged that the CAA has destroyed the peace and harmony in the country and affected the image of the country abroad.

Rajdeep Roy (BJP) said Assam has accepted the CAA and peace is returning to the north-east because of the efforts of the Modi government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 4 : As promised by the Leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala to the parents of the two arrested Communist Party of India (Marxist) activists from Kozhikode in November last year, and the case now being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), on Tuesday raised the arrest to nail Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who again failed to explain the exact reason for the arrests.

The two students of law and journalism, Allen Shuaib and Thaha Fazil, both CPM workers, were arrested in November from their home town in Kozhikode, after the police recovered Maoist leaflets that condemned the government's action in Jammu & Kashmir.

Seeking leave for an adjournment motion in the floor of the Kerala Assembly, it was deputy leader of the opposition M.K.Muneer first hit hard on Vijayan and pointed out that since their arrest, you ( Vijayan) have failed to give the exact reason for their arrests and rules permit for the state government to get back the case by seeking the permission of the Centre.

"There has been lot of contradictions as Ayour party general secretary Sitaram Yechury said that they will seek all legal options to help them and then your Kozhikode district secretary P.Mohanan , first said they continue to be your party members, but then hastly changed his position after your top state leader M.V.Govindan said the youths are not CPI-M members. Please let us know what wrong have they done, mere possessing literature is not a crime. You come to my house, I have books on Communism and also on RSS, does it mean I am either a Communist or an RSS," asked Muneer.

Replying to it, Vijayan said the case was taken over by the NIA according to rules that was framed when P.Chidamabaram was the Home Minister and do you think I will catch the feet of Amit Shah.

"The police here registered charges under UAPA and the state government's role, should such charges continue, comes after a committee submits its report, but before that the NIA took over the case.All similar cases like MISA, POTA, UAPA were all framed by the Congress Aand it was done without analysing , if it will be misused. In Kerala itself a few of our leaders have been targeted using these laws. We all know that to oppose us, you support Maoists and what should happen is a wrong should be identified and corrected and it should not be supported," hit back Vijayan.

The came the turn of Chennithala who said that he along with Muneer had visited the homes of the two youths and all are baffled that they have no clue on what they did wrong.

"If you can catch the feet of Kerala Governor, then what prevents you doing the same of Shah. In fact you did that also, when you were in Delhi, the last time. In my tenure as Home Minister, we also registered case sunder UAPA, but everything was cleanly done, however in this case, so many months have passed and you still are not able to say what wrong they did and even your own ally- the CPI top leader Prakash Babu has compared you to the UP chief minister Yogi. All like to know what crime did these two youths do,a asked Chennithala.

Later Chennithala led the entire opposition out of the house to protest the denial of having a discussion on this topic.
Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

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Digital Editor
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Indiana's top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Emily Graves

Nominated by New Prairie High School

Emily, a senior at New Prairie High School, founded a nonprofit organization that has delivered more than 35,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to active and former military personnel at home and abroad over the past decade. When Emily was 6, her mother challenged her to think about how she could use the Girl Scout cookies she was selling to help others. Emily bought several boxes with her own money, solicited donations to buy 600 more, and contacted veterans' organizations to help her ship them to service members. "Active military members are separated from their homes and families," she explained. "I wanted to give them a piece of home, something comforting in the midst of uncertainty."

Now, every year during Girl Scout cookie season, Emily writes letters to companies and organizations to solicit donations, and contacts local Girl Scout troops to enlist their assistance. With help from more than 150 volunteers, Emily purchases over 5,000 boxes of cookies and packs them up at an annual packing event. She ships cookies both to active soldiers and to veterans, and personally hands them out at veterans hospitals, Honor Flights, and at other military and veterans events. In addition to making service members feel appreciated, Emily's "Cookies for Soldiers" organization is teaching younger students about the heroism and sacrifice of those who serve their country. "Military members and veterans who receive a box or shipment are told that there are people who care for them, see them and appreciate them," Emily said.

Middle Level State Honoree: Margaret Dimmett

Nominated by Zionsville Middle School

Margaret, an eighth-grader at Zionsville Middle School, established a charity with her sister that has raised more than $13,000 over the past three years to buy instruments, sheet music and other music equipment for schools and music programs across Indiana, and to promote the importance of music education. Meg and her sister, Kate, both began playing the violin at age 3, and since then music has played a big role in their lives. When their parents began shopping for a new violin for Kate, the girls realized how expensive instruments are, and how many young people would not be able to afford to play music. There are so many benefits to learning music at a young age, said Meg. "We wanted to provide as many students as possible with the chance to be exposed to music in their schools or through other programs."

Meg and her sister asked local businesses for support and for opportunities to perform for donations on their premises. The girls were soon playing at ice cream shops, furniture stores, farmers' markets and sporting events, often joined by classmates and community members. They also launched an annual fall letter writing campaign to attract contributions, and requested donations from family and friends in lieu of birthday gifts. Since 2017, more than 20 musicians and vocalists have performed at fundraising events for Meg's foundation, "Notable Measures." And in that time, the organization has made grants of $300 to $1,000 to eight schools and music/arts organizations across the state, and provided scholarships for three students to play in a youth orchestra.

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized six other Indiana students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Indiana's Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Adam Akan, 15, of Dyer, Indiana, a sophomore at Forest Ridge Academy, created and runs "Region Kids for Comfort," an organization designed to help young people get involved in their community through fundraising and volunteering; the group has donated to women's and men's shelters and an organization for children with special needs. Adam was inspired to start this organization by his church and by his brother, who has developmental disabilities.

Doonyah Alucozai, 17, of West Lafayette, Indiana, a senior at West Lafayette Junior/Senior High School, cofounded "CoderDojoAnvil," a nonprofit that offered free coding classes to more than 250 students from underserved communities; she recruited volunteers, secured space and corporate sponsors, organized community events and helped design the curriculum. Doonyah was inspired to start this project after being unable to find affordable STEM-related programs in her area.

Emma Dillon, 18, of Franklin, Indiana, a senior at Franklin Community High School, created and runs "Emma's Bows," through which she makes and sells hair bows and jewelry; over the past six years, she has donated more than $45,000 from her business to a variety of national and local organizations. Emma, who is deaf, was first inspired to start her service activity by her teacher for the deaf, who died from cancer in 2016.

Julia Hamblen, 18, of Shelbyville, Indiana, a member of Shelby County 4-H and a senior at Shelbyville Senior High School, recruited and led a group of peers who raised money for the Salvation Army by soliciting donations outside of local businesses. Julia, who played holiday music on her guitar as they volunteered, chose this project because her family received support from the Salvation Army when their home caught on fire in 2014.

Elayna Hasty, 18, of Angola, Indiana, a senior at Angola High School, created and runs "G.A.B. Girls (Girls Against Bullying Girls)," a nonprofit that helps combat childhood bullying through education and support; she has reached more than 1,700 students through 75 workshops and regularly answers emails and letters from program participants. Elayna was inspired to start her nonprofit to support other girls after she and a classmate experienced bullying.

Julia Keibler, 18, of Crandall, Indiana, a senior at Lanesville Junior-Senior High School, has volunteered hundreds of hours of her time at several summer camps over the past three years, partnering with campers with disabilities to help meet any needs they may have; she has also spread awareness of the camps and recruited friends to volunteer. Julia plans to continue to donate her time by serving as a volunteer at seven different camps in 2020.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com .

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.
The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday clarified the term 'love jihad' is not defined under the existing laws and no such case has been reported so far.

In a reply in Lok Sabha to Congress MP Behanan Benny's question as to if any central agency has reported any case of love jihad from Kerala in the past two years, the Home Ministry said: "The term 'love jihad' is not defined under the extant laws. No such case has been reported by any of the central agencies."

"However, two cases from Kerala involving inter-faith marriages have been investigated by the Investigation Agency (NIA)," it added.

The Syro-Malabar Church reacted to the Home Ministry reply and said: "The Public Affairs Commission of the Syro-Malabar Church has analyzed the written information provided by the Union Home Ministry in the Lok Sabha about the ill-advised inter-religious love affair known as 'love jihad'. The Home Ministry is of the view that Love Jihad has not been reported in Kerala and Love Jihad has no interpretation in the present law."

"As already stated, the Synod expressed concern about the inter-religious love affairs and related issues in the light of discussions received from various dioceses of the Syro-Malabar Church. The Synod has not evaluated these issues to the detriment of their friendship with Islam. The Synod demanded that the case be investigated as a matter of serious concern to society and the families. The situation in which the Synod made this demand still exists," it added.

It further said, "The Public Affairs Commission of the Syro-Malabar Church has assessed that there are moves at some level to misrepresent the need of the Church in this regard. The church strongly disagrees with such moves. Believers and the public need to be vigilant against any attempt to disrupt the religious fraternity that exists in Kerala by activating this issue in the channels and other news media. The Syro-Malabar Church wishes to ensure that the communal harmony and brotherhood prevailing in the society should not be impaired. The Commission reminded the believers to be vigilant in this regard.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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This story readily comes to mind. That of a fierce and fine Nigerian journalist, Dele Giwa, who faced several assaults from the Nigerian government for always speaking the truth to power, and was subsequently killed with a mail bomb on October 19, 1987. It is still fresh in our memories like the early morning dew.

We may never have forgotten such a tragic and momentous event  and in case you have, I hope I have refreshed your mind on it a bit This event, coupled with its seemingly conspired intrigues, de facto, points out to the long-standing state of the Press and the victimization of journalists in Nigeria.

Well, one may be tempted to safely conclude that the deplorable act happened largely because we were at that time under the military regime who wields power without leniency on its perceived dissident elements. But I disagree. One must also admit; it is, however, still the same narrative  even under democracy that we are now and that we claim to have enjoyed over the past 20 years. Sadly, more journalists continue to get victimized, arrested and jailed during the course of carrying out their duties. Indeed a rather disturbing narrative this has been for the Press!

Lets take a few instances. In 2017, over 22 attacks were recorded, Premium Times' head office in Abuja was raided. In fact, the Publisher of the media house, Dapo Olorunyomi with Evelyn Okakwu, the online paper's Judiciary correspondent were arrested on the 19th of January, 2017 over a story exposing the irregularities of the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai.

Worse still, there is also the case of one Samuel Ogundipe of the Premium Times who was unjustly detained by the DSS for failing to reveal the source of his news report. Even when one of the foremost investigative journalists in Nigeria did an undercover investigation to reveal the rots and corruption in our criminal justice system, there were allegedly plans to arrest him and charge him for espionage, thereby forcing him into exile.

And just more recently, two young Nigerian journalists, Olufemi Alfred and Gidado Yushau Shuaib were charged to court by the police over an investigative report exposing a Kwara agro factory where the smoking of Indian hemp is legalized. These events, inter alia, cannot but glaringly mirror the plight of the Nigerian journalist under the democratic state to a considerable extent.

And by implication, the ripple effect is already having its perspicuous toll on the starched fabric of our democracy, which is fast-becoming soiled and dampened not knowing what becomes its fate as laundry beckons. If this is not a democracy sitting comfortably on the keg of gunpowder, then I wonder what is?

As a matter of fact, the reason for the truculent victimization of journalists cannot be largely disconnected from the proclivity of those in the corridors of power whose goodwill is often affected by the stands and expose of the press against oppression and injustice in the society. This is within no province of doubt. Journalists are and will always be responsible to the masses  the ones they are committed to serving.

It is crystal clear that freedom of the press under democracy is nothing to write home about. Journalism is almost becoming an endangered profession. Its a whole kettle of fish. We are in a country where there is no system that prompts the accountability of governments.

Even though it is enshrined in the Section 22 of the sacrosanct constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigerian (1999 as amended) that the press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter, and always uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.

Moving on, to uplift the press under democracy, we need to have a safe environment for journalists to practice. There needs to be an independent commission to protect journalists who maintain the integrity of their work and also stand up for them during times of attacks and precarious situations. A good example is the Committee to Protects Journalists (CPJ) that is committed to promoting press freedom worldwide by defending the rights of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisals.

In addition, this organization also advocates the rights of journalists to access independent sources of information and protect them if need be. Im view of the foregoing, this will surely go a very long way in keeping in check the incessant assaults of those in the fourth estate of the realm, and mount pressure on the government to desist from such acts. If there is indeed no conducive environment for the effective practice of journalism, at least, there should be a body in place to guard their interests, as they continue to serve the interest of the people.

Furthermore, ipso facto, there is an exigent need for a press thats free from state control and fearlessness. A press that not only always serves as the watchdogs of authorities, but also as the conscience of the people and agents of societal and national change. A press that strengthens and sustains democracy. And most importantly, a press that is objective in keeping the public informed on critical issues and exposing the rot in our institutional systems through news reports and investigative stories  with sustainable impacts in the end view. I mean, in a nutshell, and the actual point of fact, a press that is not only truly free, but also indeed free from fake news, alternative facts and propaganda that are injurious to the society. I believe this is achievable under democracy, with little or even no modicum of doubt. And as such, it should no longer be a question of "if" but "when." Whether it would take long or not, the narratives have to really change!

In conclusion, indulge me to borrow a leaf of wisdom from the marbled words of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The freedom of conscience, of education, of speech, of assembly, are among the very fundamentals of democracy, and all of them would be nullified should freedom of the press ever be successfully challenged. Thus, it is high time  and of high paramountcy  we averted our consciousness to the fact that the press has a very critical role in democracy. And its freedom to play this role should not be limited in any way, I would daresay in solidarity. But in the bargain, if at all there is anything else to add as a tuppence, the press should always cinch to be judicious in exercising her mandate in defense of the truth, the people and the society.

P.S: This piece earned the writer, Agbaje Ayomide, the 1st place in the maiden edition of the International Campus Journalism Conference Essay Competition 2020 proudly supported by the Opera News Hub Nigeria.
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WASHINGTONDisney and its powerful trade association have fought to stop the laws spread abroad.

Marriott has asked Congress to amend the law.

IBM has a plan to slim it down.

An unusual constellation of powerful companies and industries are fighting to weaken Big Tech by limiting the reach of one of its most sacred laws. The law, known as Section 230, makes it nearly impossible to sue platforms like Facebook or Google for the words, images and videos posted by their users.

The companies motivations vary somewhat. Hollywood is concerned about copyright abuse, especially abroad, while Marriott would like to make it harder for Airbnb to fight local hotel laws. IBM wants consumer online services to be more responsible for the content on their sites.

But they all see an opening as Democrats and Republicans increasingly raise their own concerns about the power of the tech industry and the law. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 has helped Facebook, Google and YouTube grow into giants by holding only the people who post the billions of pieces of content on their services responsible for libel or other legal issues.

Former Vice President Joe Biden said in a recent interview that Section 230 should be immediately revoked. Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, are drafting bills that could increase the tech companies liability. The Justice Department is conducting a review of the law.

People are either mad at tech companies and, legitimately in some cases, want to constrain their power for a lot of reasons, said Daphne Keller, a professor at Stanford Law School who used to be a lawyer for Google. Or companies are competing with tech companies and want to constrain their power for competitive reasons.

And a lot of those reasons are really complicated, but the easiest lever to hurt tech companies that a lot of people see is 230.

So far, the companies critical of the law have had mixed success with their lobbying. In 2018, Congress gave victims and prosecutors more power to sue websites that knowingly aided sex trafficking. The law passed with support from companies like Disney, Oracle and IBM.

But the recent trade deal with Canada and Mexico contained Section 230-like protections, potentially locking in tech-friendly rules abroad.

Now critics of Section 230 are focused on pushing to keep similar language out of future trade pacts. A handout distributed by Disneys lobbyists last year warned Congress that trade deals with the provision would make it difficult for Congress to change the law in a way that improved the internet.

On an almost weekly basis, the handout said, additional concerns are being raised: illegal opioid sales, spread of terrorist propaganda, foreign government election meddling, spread of material and tools that help pedophiles connect.

Companies like Google and Facebook say that without Section 230 protections, building a business that gives individuals a platform for their content online would be impossible. They say it also shields online platforms from lawsuits when they police criminal or distasteful content.

Silicon Valley can employ significant resources to make its case. Google and Facebook spend millions a year on federal lobbying and are regular donors to outside policy groups. Their allies on Capitol Hill, like Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have defended the law.

Michael Beckerman, president of the internet Association, an industry group whose members include Google and Facebook, said Section 230 was foundational to almost everything people do online.

It enables products and services that consumers love and rely upon every day, Beckerman said in a statement.

While criticism of Section 230 had mounted for years, the coalition of corporate interests questioning the value of the protections took root in late 2017 when Disney and Twenty-First Century Fox backed the bill allowing lawsuits against web platforms for knowingly facilitating sex trafficking.

I had never seen them getting involved in any Section 230 issues before, said Jeff Kosseff, a lawyer who wrote a book about the law.

Now, hotel companies worry about Airbnbs use of Section 230 in lawsuits seeking to block local ordinances regulating home-sharing platforms. Judges have ruled against the company in many of those cases.

The Washington lobbying group that represents companies like Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt has backed a bill that would amend Section 230 so it did not apply to home-rental services in many cases.

Airbnb declined to comment.

IBM, which like other enterprise software providers is trying to distance itself from businesses like Facebook, has supported adjusting Section 230 so companies must take reasonable care to keep unlawful uses of their platforms in check. The proposal would apply to companies that not only hosted information but also made it available to the public. That means it would cover a consumer service like Instagram but not to a cloud computing provider like IBM.

The Motion Picture Association and the News Media Alliance, a group that lobbies for news organizations, have urged the Trump administration not to allow the protections in a future trade deal with Britain. The film groups concern is that it could make copyright enforcement more difficult. (The New York Times is a member of the News Media Alliance.)

Many of the consumer groups that have been critical of Section 230 do not share the companies motivations. But they welcome the help from the companies, which have vast lobbying networks and the ability to get a meeting with the right aide at the right time.

Gretchen Peters, who leads the Alliance to Counter Crime Online, a group critical of Section 230, said her small organization was spread thin. If somebody else, like the Disney folks or the hotel folks, set up a meeting, she said, Ill come along.

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Police said a second man was shot several times and taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. A third man was taken to a hospital by an acquaintance and is expected to survive, police said.
It would be the business of Trinity College, Sister Margaret told Time magazine in 1959, to prepare women for public intellectual leadership. Educated women must have definite views and standards, she said. A woman must not only know facts  she must have ideas about them. . . . The modern world needs more people  including girls  who think for themselves. . . . Were not in the business of training committee women or bridge players.
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After the year stocks just had, millions of Americans should be feeling the 'wealth effect.' But for thousands of European bankers who saw their bonuses cut by as much as 20% for 2019, these are the equivalent of hard times for the 1%.

As a result, at least one banker with a purported 'seven-figure pay packages' has resorted to stealing from the company canteen just to quiet his rumbling stomach (or possibly because they simply forgot to pay after being distracted by work, honestly neither would surprise us).

According to the FT, Citigroup has suspended one of its most senior bond traders in London after accusing him of stealing from the company canteen.

Citigroup has suspended one of its most senior bond traders in London after the US investment bank accused him of stealing food from the office canteen.

Paras Shah abruptly left his post last month as Citis head of high-yield bond trading for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The bank suspended Mr Shah after alleging he had stolen food from the canteen at its European headquarters in Canary Wharf, London, according to four people familiar with the matter. Citi declined to comment.

Mr Shah declined to comment over email, referring inquiries to Citi. Related: Copper Slides Under Coronavirus Concerns

Paras Shah has a reputation for being one of the most high-profile credit traders in Europe, stretching back to before he joined Citigroup back in 2017.

The 31-year-old was one of the highest-profile credit traders in Europe, having joined Citi in 2017 after about seven years at HSBC. His job entailed matching buyers and sellers of junk bonds - debt from companies judged to be riskier borrowers - with two former colleagues telling the Financial Times that he was a well-liked and successful trader.

Even more painful for Shah: He was suspended just weeks before bonuses were due, though it's unclear how this might impact whether he will receive the bonus or not. Revenue in Citi's FICC group soared during Q4, but the bank's European bankers still saw bonuses reduced alongside most of their counterparts at European banks.

This isn't the first time a big bank has punished a senior banker for petty theft. In 2016, Mizuho fired a London banker after he was caught stealing a small part from a colleague's bike (the part was worth just 5).

And in 2014, Britain's FCA banned a former BlackRock executive from working in senior roles after he was caught dodging the train fare for his daily commute (he ended up paying 43,000 for being one of the Tube's most egregious scofflaws).

By Zerohedge.com

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Ghana has been endowed with a number of Montessori schools located and spread all over the country. These schools focus on hands-on, collaborative and a child-centered learning as oppose to the traditional method of learning.

Kids learn through activities and are guided by quality and well train teachers.

They learn at their own pace and are not dictated to about what should or should not be done.

Below you will find a list of our top 12 Montessori schools you should know in Ghana.

Faith Montessori

Faith Montessori School was established by Mr. and Mrs. Oswald Amoo-Gottfried in April 1988.

The school first started off as a nursery at their Independence Avenue residence at Ridge, Accra.

Within just four years of its inception, the school proved to be so huge a success that it experienced massive growth in pupils intake, staff recruitment, and facility expansion.

In 1995, Faith Montessori School was thus forced to relocate to the heart of the city  Kanda where a Primary division was added.

In later years, the booming population of mainland Accra coupled with the soaring academic success of the school necessitated yet another movement; this time to the expansive and serene environment of Gbawe, which has served as its present home since January 1995.

Secondary programmes for the Junior High School (then Junior Secondary School) and International College (University of Cambridge I.G.C.S.E) commenced in September 1997 and in September 2002 the Cambridge A-Level Certificate programme was initiated.

With a controlled student population of 660 students, the school proudly ensures that every student who gets admitted into the FAITH Family considers himself/herself extremely fortunate. Our StudentTeacher ratio of 13:1 guarantees that students get the maximum attention and support needed at all times.

The rigorous and challenging FAITH curricula are especially tailored to embrace the diverse and multicultural backgrounds of our students.

The school pays particular attention to the special needs of students and provides the necessary support and incentives for academic success as well as personal development.

Indeed, students would find studying at Faith very stimulating, competitive and rewarding.

Check out their website here: https://faithms.edu.gh/

Hillview Montessori

Hillview Montessori is a unique, independent school founded by individuals with a vision of excellent supervisory Montessori education.

Established in 2004, the School aims to inculcate the rich ethos of life such as integrity, honesty, trust, tolerance and compassion, with an understanding of humanism.

The aims, philosophies and even the facilities reflect the heritage of the school and the vision of its founders.

Check them here: https://hillviewschools.com/

Startrite Montessori

Startrite Montessori School was conceived as a private teaching and learning facility by a couple (Prof. and Mrs Quartey) who recognized with passion, the stress of finding the right educational facility for children and also child care for professional parents returning to work.

The thought of leaving behind one's offspring with 'not-too-sure' child minders often saddens the heart of working parents.

Having lived and worked in Britain and also after considerable review of the child care system in Ghana, the directors recognized the urgent need to provide a not too large but quality child care facility for mothers returning to work and also for children born to professional parents.

It is against this background that Startritre was established. Situated at New Bortianor near Trouselina Roofing sheets on the Mallam-Kasoa Road, Startrite provides a serene environment for educating your child using the Montessori system.

It combines activities, video and computer games with classroom lessons to develop all the different parts of your child's brain which most traditional schools have woefully failed to do..

Check their website here: https://www.startrite.edu.gh/

Beautiful Beginning Montessori

Beautiful Beginning Montessori (BBM), a center for excellence is an independent, coeducational day school serving Ghanaian communities in the nationals capital, Accra.

Founded in September 2003, BBM aimed at employing integrated child total development concept through the introduction of a trans disciplinary programme of education designed for 2-17years old.

These programmes focus on the development of the whole child encompassing academic, social, emotional and cultural development.

The BBM educational approach reflects the increasingly globalized interconnected society in which we live, giving students a world prospective in mathematics, the sciences, ICT, languages (English, French, Ghanaian Language and Twi), literature and the arts.

Based on the firm belief that every child is an individual with the potential for excellence, we have instituted measures to guarantee the successful delivery of the educational programme:

Check out their website here: https://web.facebook.com/bbmbeautifulbeginning/

Westfield Montessori School

Established in the year 2002, Westfield School (formerly Tweenies Montessori School) aims at offering your child the highest quality of education.

Preschool uses the Maria Montessori Method of teaching whiles the Primary department uses the Ghana Education Service Curriculum together with the British Curriculum.

However, JHS department focuses only on the BECE examination.

The educational philosophy behind the Westfield School programme is based on the pillars of Responsibility, Discipline, Excellence, Morality, Leadership and Integrity all centered on a solid foundation of Christian values.

Through the schools unique course of study and extra-curricular programmes, your child will be exposed to a world-class learning environment, learn from a diverse group of children and teachers.

They graduate as a well-educated individual equipped with all the essential qualities and skills necessary to face the world.

Check their website here: http://www.wfieldschool.com/home/

Julce's Montessori School

The birth of Julce's Montessori School (JMS) was by Imelda Hamenoo.

The idea of establishing an authentic Montessori school in Ghana was first conceived upon entering a Montessori school in an affluent area of North London in the UK 20 years ago.

The Montessori method proved to be a more integral approach for educating our children in Ghana.

The Montessori education system for children under 6 years of age gives your child the best opportunity to develop their innate potential.

This was our first school in Accra and we will not stop until we make it available to more children in this beautiful and rapidly developing country.

Check their website here: http://www.julcesmontessori.org/

Dayspring Montessori International

Dayspring Montessori International School, which was started in the backyard of Mr. Daniel Ofori, one of the Directors of the school.

Thirteen pupils were enrolled in Nurseries one, two and three. The school was headed by Mrs. Constance Eli, wife of one of the Directors at the time. There were three teachers and two attendants.

The school grew fairly rapidly and in 1997, three classrooms were moved to a temporary classroom block in Mr. Kwame Agyapon-Ntras residence. September 1997 also marked the beginning of Kindergarten and five pupils were enrolled.

In September 1998, the school needed more space so a private house within the Dansoman community was bought and remodeled to accommodate the increasing population of pupils.

Check their website here: http://dayspringmontessorischool.com/

Gingerbread House

The Gingerbread House is Accra's premier Montessori Nursery School purpose- built and was accredited by The Montessori Centre International (MCI) in 2002.

There are two light and airy open-plan classrooms stocked with carefully prepared and positioned activities on shelves to encourage your child's curiosity and love for learning for the children.

Under the watchful eyes of highly trained and caring teachers and assistants, children explore and learn using audio, visual, and kinesthetic senses.

The Montessori Philosophy governs the teaching style and processes and they also incorporate some activities to deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).

The EYFS is a core UK Government document which sets statutory standards for the learning, development and care of young children. It supports a cohesive approach to early learning and care.

Ongoing assessments are at the heart of the practice.

Check their website here: https://gingerbread-montessori.com/

Little Explorers Montessori Plus

The Little Explorers opened its doors in 2007, when 2 passionate Montessorians, Karine McVeigh and Kamilla Kirpalani, dared to dream to create the 1st true accredited Montessori school in West-Africa.

What started in the back yard of a house, with only 12 students, soon grew to become one of the best early years schools in Ghana.

In 2009, Little Explorers gained its UK Accreditation from the Montessori Evaluation and Accreditation Board, for which it acquired a Grade 1.

In May 2017 it renewed its accreditation for the 3rd time.

Little Explorers is currently home to 195 pupils from 36 different countries, aging from 15 months to 6 years old!

Check their website here: https://littleexplorersmontessori.com/

Oasis Montessori Schools

Oasis is a well in the dessert. It has another meaning as a situation that is so different from its surrounding especially in a comforting way and that is what we stand for.

We are therefore poised to offer to the children, something unique yet in a comforting and loving way.

Locate us at 5th Avenue, GREDA Estates, Teshie - Nungua , Accra.

Check their website here: http://www.soronkosolutions.com/oasis/index.php?

God's Grace International Montessori School

From the moment you enter the gates at Gods Grace International, you will realise what an extraordinary school this is. One that succeeds academically.

At Gods Grace International School, Our mission is to work with parents and the community to promote the overall growth and development of each child; namely academically, physically, emotionally and spiritually so that he/she will become a productive, healthy, well-adjusted and well-behaved member of the society.

At Gods Grace International School, we recognize the imperative of imparting an educational experience that is world-class in every respect and which prepares children for global citizenship.

We are a school with an Indian mind, an Indian heart and an Indian soul; a school that celebrates the culture of excellence and is an embodiment of values.

We believe that a curriculum of excellence with a global dimension is central to the education of children to face the challenges of the 21st century with confidence and strength of character.

Check their website here: https://godsgraceschool.com/

Rainbow Montessori School

Rainbow Montessori International School (RMIS) is a private institution established under the Montessori philosophy for its early childhood and preschool education.

The philosophy of the school is based on supporting the complete development of the child as they progress from birth to adulthood. It takes the broad vision of education as an aid for life.

As a way of teaching, the school offers the view that knowledge is not passively gained by listening to words.

Rather, it is gained through experiences in the surrounding environment.

Therefore, the method of teaching at Rainbow centers on the approach of a prepared classroom to inspire children towards a life-long love of learning.

At RMIS, the prepared classroom covers well structured, ordered, freedom of movement and freedom of choice for each child or category of children between 1-6 years of age.

Within this structured space, children learn through hands-on experiences.

What are relevant at Rainbow are the beautifully made learning materials that children work with to make independent learning discoveries.

With Rainbow experience, the children are guided in their learning by the teachers, who act as the link between the children, and the prepared environment.

At RMIS, our teachers role is to prepare the classroom, and observe and guide their students in their learning.

As a result, children progress at their own pace, according to their own abilities.

The main philosophy of Rainbow Montessori International School therefore is to ensure that children learn to develop concentration, self-discipline, and a love of learning through a blend of an integrated Montessori environment for its Early Years Learning Program (EYLP) and Ghana Education Service structured system for its lower primary school education and beyond.

At RMIS, Early Years Learning Program applies the Montessori way of teaching to help children achieve their full potential.

We value each child as an individual, we empower our students to become confident, and motivate them to become independent learners!

This alludes to the realization of our motor Dream, Believe and Motivate to Success

Check their website here: https://www.rainbowmis.edu.gh/

Which other Montessori school do you know that is not mention in the list above?

Leave a comment below.

About The Author

Emmanuel Asiedu is a Content Writer and a Home Tuition Analyst at Excellent Home Classes.

He helps connect parents and students to expert tutors all over the country.
Shane Dunphys new audiobook revolves around a troubled teenager with mixed feelings about his involvement in a crime gang, writes Richard Fitzpatrick.

Audible is about to release the first of three audiobooks by Irish author Shane Dunphy set in the ganglands of Ireland.

The Wexford writer and social care worker says Stories from the Margins: Bleak Alley was inspired by characters he encountered during his time working in child protection, and contacts he made as a freelance journalist.

Narrated by Dunphy himself, the book revolves around Mikey Smith, a 16-year-old who joins a local gang to escape a troubled home life in an unspecified town.

Along the way, the author weaves in a history of Irish gangs, from the days of Cuchulainn to the Peaky Blinders, and Audible will be hoping its release capitalises on a surge in popularity of audiobooks, as well as the growth in the true crime genre.

We hear how Mikey (not the characters real name) wants to get out of the life of crime, but hes conflicted.

Although hes so stressed he suffers panic attacks, he feels beholden to the gang for giving him status, money and acting as a type of surrogate family.

Mikeys mother suffers from schizophrenia. His dad is an alcoholic who used him as a punchbag while drunk.

School acts as a respite until the bullying gets so bad he walks out the school gates at 13, never to return.

On his 14th birthday, stuck at home, hungry and watching a TV thats broken, Mikey has an epiphany.

There has to be more to life, he reckons, so he decides to sign up for one of two rival gangs.

His pact with the devil means working for gang leader Patrick Griffin, a dangerous, violent psychopath, in the words of a local detective inspector.

Hes even rumoured to have carried out a hit on his own gangster father, a career move to show the upper echelons what a crazy bastard he was.

KNIFE THREAT

Through the book, we hear how Dunphy gets lured into Mikeys world  and those of secondary characters like Jolene, whose drug-addicted son has run up a 3,000 debt  which quickly raises the hackles of Griffin, who in one scene in the audiobook threatens Dunphy with a knife.

So, given Ireland is such a small country, with characters easily recognised  even with fictional names  how much of the story is true?

Dunphy admits the tale isnt a documentary account.

As well as changing details to avoid incriminating Mikey and some of the other main characters in the book, the author says he also had to protect himself, both legally and from physical harm.

Names were changed, timelines altered, some situations embellished, etc.

Griffin is almost based completely on one particular individual, but I would have brought in some traits from these other gang leaders that I would have worked with in the past, says Dunphy.

One of the easiest ways to anonymise the situations in the book is to alter the timeline slightly.

"The situation for example with the young guy whos gay [a friend of Mikeys]  that would have been something that wouldnt necessarily have happened with the Mikey character.

"I would have brought these stories together because theyre illustrating themes that Im trying to explore.

The way you present evidence in a book like this is done very carefully so nobody is incriminated. The publishers do a legal read.

In the book, I dont report Mikey committing any crime. Mikey is telling me that hes being asked to do things but I dont in the book depict him doing anything.

CALCULATED RISK

Dunphy says the crime boss was aware of what he was doing.

Going in as a journalist after Veronica Guerin [reporter murdered in 1996], doing anything to me would have been more hassle than it was worth.

"He warned me off. I wasnt doing anything that was going to be a thorn in his side particularly.

He adds: Because you have to anonymise it the way you do, Ive heard people describe it as faction in that you have to fictionalise certain elements.

"I make absolutely no bones about that. Its something Ive done with all of the books Ive written because of the fact youre walking that line.

And while audiences have always had a voyeuristic attraction to such crime tales, Dunphy says his book does not glamorise that world.

I think that what I show is that it can be absolutely terrifying, says Dunphy.

Young people have said to me before that their actual life expectancy may well be shortened by the fact theyre in a gang, but because of the benefits theyll get from it while theyre alive theyre prepared to accept that gamble. Its a trade-off.

I dont believe that any of them that have said that to me truly believe it. Its bravado.

"I dont think Ive painted a picture thats desirable or that anybody will think, Yeah, thats the life I want.

"Almost everybody Im describing in the book who is living in their situation is unhappy.

Stories from the Margins: Bleak Alley is published by Audible on Thursday.
A clinical trial on a treatment for Hendra virus in humans has been a big success, with health authorities recommending it for general use among people who work with horses.

A Hendra vaccine for horses has already been developed and rolled out with great success, however there is no vaccine for humans against the disease.

Hendra virus, named after the Brisbane suburb where it was first detected in 1994, is spread by bats to horses, where it is devastating, with an 80 per cent mortality rate.

Professor Geoffrey Playford (right) with Dr Peter Reid (centre) and Professor Trent Munro (left) says the new human Hendra treatment has passed clinical trials with flying colours. Credit:Penny Holmes/ Metro South HHS

It can also be contracted by humans, with seven known cases since 1994, four of which proved to be fatal.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 21:40:47|Editor: huaxia

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In the unexpected battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, China is making all-out efforts to protect its own people, and meanwhile taking on its responsibility as a major country to contain the spread of the epidemic.

by Xinhua writer Guo Yage

BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Quarantining large cities, building a 1,000-bed hospital in just 10 days, sharing critical information with the world without delay, and boosting health cooperation with other countries in good faith ...

In the unexpected battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, China is making all-out efforts to protect its own people, and meanwhile taking on its responsibility as a major country to contain the spread of the epidemic.

"If it weren't for China's efforts, the number of cases outside China would have been very much higher," said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.

In the eyes of political leaders and health experts across the world, China's swift and decisive measures as well as its commitment to transparency and cooperation are not only consolidating global confidence in winning the fight, but also setting up a good example on tackling a major epidemic.

Workers make facial masks at the workshop of a company in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

SWIFT AND DECISIVE

In an unprecedented move, Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, was locked down to curb the spread of the virus. Thirty-one provincial-level regions activated top-level emergency responses. Long-distance bus services were halted in many provinces.

The Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital, a makeshift hospital with 1,000 beds dedicated to treating patients infected with the coronavirus, was completed in Wuhan in a record 10 days. A second one, with 1,600 beds, is to be completed on Wednesday.

Medical workers help the first batch of patients infected with the novel coronavirus move into their isolation wards at Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 4, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

China has been taking "serious measures at the epicenter, at the source," Tedros noted Monday at the 146th session of the WHO Executive Board meeting.

In the eyes of Peter Lomas, publisher and CEO of Fiji's leading English newspaper Fiji Sun, "the remarkable efforts are epitomized by the swift building of the temporary hospitals in Wuhan" at an awe-inspiring speed.

It is not only the speed of construction that has impressed the world. While declaring the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Jan. 30, the WHO chief stressed that "the speed with which China detected the outbreak, isolated the virus, sequenced the genome and shared it with WHO and the world are very impressive, and beyond words."

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks at a press conference after the WHO emergency committee's meeting on the novel coronavirus in China at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Qu)

Jose David Urbaez Brito, scientific director at the Federal District branch of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases, also noted that China has responded at an unprecedented speed.

"As a result of (China's) technological development, for example, the sequencing of the virus was carried out in the span of a week. That does not usually happen in these situations," said Urbaez.





BUY TIME FOR WORLD

By the end of Monday, 20,438 cases of novel coronavirus infection had been confirmed in China with 425 deaths, and 632 patients had been cured.

Meanwhile, Tedros said at the Monday meeting that 146 confirmed cases had been reported in 23 countries outside China. "It's actually small, and it's coming only slow," added the WHO chief.

"I will praise China again and again, because its actions actually helped in reducing the spread of the novel coronavirus to other countries," Tedros said at a press conference last week.

China's National Immigration Administration has advised Chinese citizens to postpone overseas travels, and also issued a prevention guideline in six languages to help foreigners in China strengthen personal protection during the epidemic.

China's rapid sharing of the genetic sequence of the virus is also really important, said Jonathan Gershoni, a virologist and immunologist at Israel's Tel Aviv University.

A researcher of Stermirna Therapeutics Co., Ltd. shows the experiment to develop an mRNA vaccine targeting the novel coronavirus in east China's Shanghai, Jan. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

Knowledge of the genetic composition, he added in an interview with Xinhua, allows for the development of more sophisticated, precise and sensitive diagnostic tools as well as therapeutics and hopefully vaccines.

China's actions are giving the rest of the world time to respond to a possible health emergency, said Ernesto Carrasco, president of the Ecuadorian Medical Federation.

The Chinese people "are protecting the world from an even faster spread through their willingness to make sacrifices and their commitment," said Michael Schumann, head of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade. "They deserve our respect and our active and energetic support."





NEW STANDARD FOR OUTBREAK RESPONSE

China's action and attitude, many observers have pointed out, have shown not only its high sense of responsibility for the lives and health of its own people, but also its strong support for global disease prevention and control.

People make protective suits at the workshop of a company in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Feb. 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan)

In an interview with EURACTIV's Network, a pan-European media organization, Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union, said that besides quarantine, the measures China has taken include disease tracing, massive medical support, nationwide emergency response, all-out treatment efforts, drug and vaccine development, as well as information sharing and cooperation with international agencies and foreign countries.

China's State Council also encourages the public to provide clues about underreporting of cases, he added. "Once underreporting is found, officials concerned will be held accountable."

Brazilian infectious disease expert Ana Ferreira said China's rapid response to the novel coronavirus outbreak will serve as a model for the future handling of virus outbreaks.

"The example to follow is (that) after identifying the epicenter of the virus (outbreak), the Chinese government succeeded in isolating millions of people to prevent new infections," Ferreira added.

Elio Di Rupo, former prime minister of Belgium and incumbent minister-president of the Walloon government, receives an interview with Xinhua in Asquillies, Belgium, Jan. 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

Elio Di Rupo, former prime minister of Belgium and current minister-president of the Walloon government, also stressed in an exclusive interview with Xinhua that "the key is to avoid spreading the virus."

"This is the reason why the Chinese authorities are forced to quarantine many millions of Chinese people, and I believe this is the only solution", he said.

Sherry Rehman, vice president of the Pakistan Peoples Party, said Pakistan is learning from China's experience in taking prompt actions, handling the situation properly and providing services in the face of such an emergency.

China's efforts to combat the disease deserve respect and appreciation, and are worth learning, said Tedros, noting that in fact, many of the prevention and containment measures the country has taken far exceed relevant requirements for dealing with emergencies.

"In many ways, China is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response," noted the WHO chief. Enditem

(Xinhua reporters Chen Junxia and Liu Qu in Geneva; Veren in Suva; Pau Ramirez in Rio de Janeiro; Yan Liang in Mexico City; Nick Kolyohin and Chen Wenxian in Jerusalem; Elena in Quito; Zhang Yuan in Berlin; Li Jizhi in Helsinki; and James Wright and Pan Geping in Brussels contributed to the story.)

(Video reporters: Du Yang, Liu Qu, Zhao Yuchao, Jiang Chao; Video editor: Zhao Xiaoqing)
A failed medical student who lied to his wife and family for seven years tried to stab them to death for fear his secret was about to be exposed.

Satya Thakor, 35, had started spinning the web of lies after failing his university exams, pretending to be a doctor when he was actually reading books in the library.

The pressure of keeping his fibs up was so great that, after promising his family a dream holiday to the USA, Thakor finally snapped last May, embarking upon a maddening stabbing rampage at his mother-in-law's home in Berkshire.

Satya Thakor (pictured) started lying after failing his university exams, pretending to be a doctor when he was actually reading books in the library

Attempting to smother and then stab Gita Laxman to death, in the days before he was supposed to take his family to LA, he was disturbed by his wife Nisha.

He then lashed out at her, stabbing her in the neck and leg, his brother-in-law Primal Laxman, and sister-in-law Rashika Laxman as she slept in her bed.

When police burst onto the carnal scene, Thakor had bizarrely started stabbing himself, and locked himself in a bathroom 'shouting about demons'.

The charlatan, at first sectioned under the Mental Health Act, was found to have lied about seeing hallucinations of demons on himself and his relatives.

Thakor, who had stabbed his family because he had not booked an upcoming family holiday in the USA, was jailed for 28 years and made subject to a restraining order against his family which would last indefinitely, Reading Crown Court heard.

Serial liar Thakor had first started fibbing after failing his university exams, leading to ever more elaborate lies, including staging a car accident on the day of his wedding so that he'd get out of paying for his honeymoon.

Sentenced to 28 years' jail-time at Reading Crown Court (pictured), the judge called Thakor's knife rampage in the days before his family's fake LA holiday 'madness' and an 'idiotic decision'

He had lied about his occupation for seven years, telling Nisha he was using his GP money to save up for a house when he'd actually sponged off of her income.

In a letter to Judge Paul Dugdale, he said that he felt such 'shame' at failing his university exams and feared admitting the setback to his family would 'cause my family and friends to abandon me and my upcoming wedding to be called off'.

After getting married, Thakor had carried on the doctor deception for seven years, leaving home each morning and arriving home at night, pretending he was going to work but actually going to the local library and reading medical textbooks.

To maintain his fraud, the prosecutor said, Thakor had pretended he had to work night shifts and left the house overnight.

When the family planned to take their young daughter on a dream holiday to LA, Thakor decided he needed to buy more time.

The pressure of keeping his lies up was so great that, after promising his family a dream holiday to LA, USA (pictured), Thakor reached breaking point last May, embarking upon a maddening stabbing rampage at his mother-in-law's home in Berkshire

Mr Roques went on: 'He was supposed to have booked not only the flights to go to the States, but also the tickets for the various shows.

'No such flights or tickets had been booked. He was shortly going to be found out or at least there had to be a reason not to get on to the flights.'

Thakor, formerly of North Evington, Leicester, first attacked Gita by trying to force tissue into her mouth and covering her face with a pillow.

Prosecutor Michael Roques said that after she started to struggle and scream, he stabbed her repeatedly and then stabbed his wife in the neck and leg.

Judge Dugdale said: 'He was buying some time. He was not intending to kill anyone else when he set out that evening, except his mother-in-law. I think it probably was a wholly illogical thought process but to him it seemed entirely reasonable.'

Thakor went on to stab his brother-in-law Primal, before going into a room where Rishika, his sister-in-law, was sleeping, stabbing her also.

Mr Roques said: 'Police were called and attended. It became apparent the defendant had closed himself into Gita's en-suite bathroom and when police officers entered wearing body worn cameras, those cameras recorded the defendant in the bath.

'Police officers quickly became aware he had stabbed himself a number of times. He was shouting about demons. It is right to say nobody had heard him shouting about demons until the police officers were present.'

Thakor had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and told medics he had been told to carry out the attacks by demons and that he saw demons crawling on himself and others, so he felt he needed to stab them to get rid of the demons.

Mr Roques added: 'He was asked by his psychiatrist to give some background. He maintained at that stage he was a practising doctor.

'It was only when he was asked where his team could be contacted to let them know where he was, that he admitted he was lying.'

The judge called Thakor's knife rampage in the days before his family's fake LA holiday 'madness' and an 'idiotic decision'.

Judge Dugdale said: 'You were at university in London when you met Nisha.

'You were studying biochemistry and she was studying law.

'The two of you met socially at a party.

'She felt that you were somebody special. She felt over the months that followed that you were someone she loved and she trusted.

'There is no doubt that at that stage and until she walked into her mother's bedroom to see what you were doing, she loved you absolutely.

'The two of you fell in love, you started a relationship, she passed her law exams, you did not get the mark you needed to pass your biochemistry to become a doctor.

'We all have failures in our lives in exams.

'Part of the essence of having a supportive family, which you do have Mr Thakor, is you can talk to them about it. It is no big deal.

'You decided that you simply could not face the truth that you were not going to become a doctor and you decided that the way you were going to get out of that was to tell everyone you were a qualified doctor who had started practice.

'You were prepared to go to what many people would think were quite extraordinary lengths to continue your deception.

'You had reached the very last weekend before your deceptions would come crashing down around you and you had reached a crucial moment.

'What were you going to do? You chose an extreme act of violence to get out of the difficulty that you were in. You could have stopped it as the madness that it was and as the idiotic decision that it was, but you chose not to.'


A transformative piece of technology is supposed to disrupt the unwieldy ways that came before it. On Monday evening, an app built to deliver quicker caucus results took the Silicon Valley term of art literally, contributing to massive delays in reporting the results in Iowa. Hours after the caucuses ended, the state Democratic Party, citing inconsistencies in the reporting data, still has not publicly reported any results. It stressed there was no hack or intrusion.

Over the past hours a disheartening game of electoral tech support, conducted by journalists across the internet, has unfolded. And in place of definitive results, an information war has broken out, unleashing reckless speculation, conspiracy theories and deep anxiety.

First came the reports  trickling in from caucus leaders, precinct captains and observers  that the app wasnt working properly. On Monday evening a precinct captain told me by text that their caucus manager was unable to get the app from the Democratic Party to work and had to do the math to figure out delegates long hand. FiveThirtyEights Amelia Thomson-Deveaux spoke to a frustrated caucus leader who suggested the app itself wouldnt download. We could not problem-solve getting the app onto one of our devices, he told her. NBC News reported some caucus leaders had missed the window to download the app altogether. The Biden campaign issued a letter to Iowa party leaders suggesting the app had failed.

Reckless speculation followed about possible security problems with the technology. Stories from late last month raising concerns about the caucus apps vulnerabilities recirculated on Twitter. Among the chief fears: The app was to be downloaded directly to the phones of caucus volunteers, making it difficult to ensure the safety of the devices.
The man police say was shot by a homeowner as he tried to break into a Southwest Albuquerque home last week is still in the hospital recovering from his injuries, according to a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department.

Gilbert Gallegos said 44-year-old Augustine Saenz was shot by Arnulfo Juarez-Zapien, 33, on Jan. 30 as he tried to break into Juarez-Zapiens home on the 1300 block of Sonya SW, near Sage and 98th.

Gallegos said Saenz will be booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center and charged with aggravated burglary, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of burglary tools when he is released from the hospital.

The case for the homeowner shooting the offender will be reviewed by the (District Attorneys) Office and they will decide if he will be charged for the shooting, Gallegos wrote in an email.

The Journal could not reach Juarez-Zapien for comment.

This is the second case of a homeowner shooting a suspected intruder this year. On Jan. 17 police say a homeowner shot and killed Felix Yazzie, 22, on the 9200 block of Black Farm NW, near Paseo del Norte and Coors. Police did not identify that homeowner.
A man wanted in connection with a 2016 home invasion that left a man dead and his son injured was arrested Thursday in Mexico.

Alejandro Almendarez-Hurtado, 22, was arrested by Mexican authorities in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, according to the FBI.

He was released to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at the international bridge in Eagle Pass. He is being detained by the Maverick County Sheriffs Office on a capital murder charge, awaiting transport to the Bexar County Jail, authorities said.

Almendarez-Hurtado is accused in the shooting death of Enrique Gutierrez Sr., 45, according to Bexar County court records.

Gutierrez was fatally shot during the incident at about 8 p.m. on Aug. 5, 2016, at a home in the 100 block of South San Eduardo.

According to court records, Almendarez-Hurtado, his brother Juan Almendarez, Isaac Rodriguez, and Frank Gamez were involved in a plot to rob Gutierrez and several relatives living at the home on the day they knew the family was being paid.

The four were wearing bandanas and armed with handguns when they forced their way in through the back of the home and confronted the residents.

Witnesses told police that Almendarez-Hurtado took $480 from at least one of the men. Almendarez then allegedly shot both Gutierrez and his son Enrique Gutierrez Jr. before the four suspects fled the home, according to an affidavit.

The Gutierrezes were transported to University Hospital, where the father died and the son was treated for his injuries, police said.

Police arrested Almendarez, Gamez, and Rodriguez that same month.

On April 8, 2019, Juan Almendarez, 27, was sentenced to life in prison for Gutierrezs death.

Frank Gamez, 33, and Isaac Rodriguez, 24, were convicted of aggravated robbery that same month. Gamez was given a 30 year prison sentence, and Rodriguez was sentenced to 40 years.

A capital murder charge against Joseph Lopez, who investigators said was a fifth suspect in the case and believed to be a lookout during the robbery, was dismissed for further investigation in May 2017.

Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA
Waffle Station, a food truck specializing in waffles, crepes and fried chicken near the University of Texas at San Antonio, will host a grand opening this Friday through Sunday with waffles and crepes for $5.

Waffle Stations menu ranges from sweet waffles and crepes with Nutella, fruit, smores and other toppings to savory waffles and waffle sandwiches with Nashville hot chicken, Buffalo chicken and waffle fries as well as crepes with turkey, chicken Alfredo, chicken pesto and more. Prices range from $6.49-$9.99.
US sea-level report cards: 2019 data adds to trend in acceleration

The annual update of their sea level "report cards" by researchers at William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science adds evidence of an accelerating rate of sea-level rise at nearly all tidal stations along the U.S. coastline. The latest report cards were published on January 30th.

The team's web-based report cards project sea level to the year 2050 based on an ongoing analysis of tide-gauge records for 32 localities along the U.S. coast from Maine to Alaska. The analysis now includes 51 years of water-level observations, from January 1969 through December 2019. The interactive charts are available online at http://www. vims. edu/ sealevelreportcards .

The project's founder, VIMS emeritus professor John Boon, says "the key message from the 2019 report cards is a clear trend toward acceleration in rates of sea-level rise at 25 of our 32 tide-gauge stations. Acceleration can be a game changer in terms of impacts and planning, so we really need to pay heed to these patterns."

VIMS marine scientist Molly Mitchell says "seeing acceleration at so many of our stations suggests that--when we look at the multiple sea-level scenarios that NOAA puts out based on global models--we may be moving towards the higher projections." Mitchell has partnered with Boon to generate the last two annual report cards.

"We have increasing evidence from the tide-gauge records that these higher sea-level curves need to be seriously considered in resilience-planning efforts," adds Mitchell.

Previous work by Boon, Mitchell, and VIMS colleague Derek Loftis suggests the current acceleration in rates of sea-level rise began around 2013 or 2014, likely associated with ocean dynamics and ice-sheet loss. In 2019, rates of sea-level rise accelerated at all 21 of the report-card stations along the U.S. East and Gulf coasts, and at 7 of the 8 monitored stations along the U.S. West Coast excluding Alaska. All four stations monitored in Alaska show relative sea level falling at increasingly rapid rates (due to coastal mountain-building).

"Although sea level has been rising very slowly along the West Coast," says Mitchell, "models have been predicting that it will start to rise faster. The report cards from the past three years support this idea." Scientists suggest that the speed-up is due to a shift in wind patterns associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, an El Nino-like pattern of climate variability.

Boon says the report cards add value by providing sea-level projections that are updated more frequently than those issued by NOAA or other agencies. Boon and colleagues also use a statistical approach that includes evidence for the recent acceleration in the rate of sea-level change at many U.S. tide-gauge stations, and stress their use of relative sea-level measurements--changes in water level relative to the land surface on which people live and work. The relative sea-level rise in Virginia and other East and Gulf coast areas is due to both rising water and sinking land.

Notable 2019 findings

VIMS' 2019 report cards show that sea level rose at 27 of the 32 monitored stations. Perhaps even more telling is that water levels at 25 of the 32 stations rose at a higher rate in 2019 than in 2018. The five stations where relative sea level fell were all on the U.S. West Coast, four of these in Alaska, where the continued rise of coastal mountains generates sharp decreases in sea level relative to land.

The three highest rates of sea-level rise in 2019 occurred along the Gulf Coast at Grand Isle, Louisiana (7.93 millimeters per year) and at Rockport (6.95 mm/yr) and Galveston (6.41 mm/yr) Texas. Rockport also topped all 32 stations in its rate of acceleration, at 0.26 mm per year per year. If this continues, sea level here will be 0.82 meters (2.69 feet) higher in 2050 compared to 1992. Grand Isle and Galveston showed significant but much more moderate acceleration rates in 2019, at 0.05 mm/yr2 and 0.09 mm/yr2, respectively. The 2050 projections for sea-level rise at these sites is thus appreciably lower: 0.54 m (1.77 ft) at Grand Isle and 0.51 m (1.67 ft) at Galveston.

Mitchell and Boon attribute the high rise rates and sharp contrast in acceleration among these Gulf Coast stations in part to their location within a sedimentary basin with a complex history of water and mineral extraction. Pumping of groundwater and oil can cause land subsidence, which contributes to relative sea-level rise.

The 2019 report cards show an accelerating rate of sea-level rise at 27 of the 32 monitored stations. After Rockport, the highest rates of acceleration in 2019 were observed at Pensacola, FL and Wilmington, NC (0.22 mm/yr2); Cedar Key, FL (0.21 mm/yr2); Eastport, ME (0.20 mm/yr2); Naples, FL (0.19 mm/yr2); Boston, MA (0.17 mm/yr2); Portland, ME (0.17 mm/yr2); Charleston, SC (0.16 mm/yr2); and Port Isabel, TX (0.14 mm/yr2). Significant acceleration in rates of sea-level rise at these widely distributed localities hints at global drivers, with climate change the obvious suspect. NOAA recently reported that 2019 was the second warmest year in recorded history.

Boon and Mitchell note that acceleration at these and other locations sharply increases their quadratic, "best-estimate" sea-level projections for 2050, despite in several cases a relatively low 2019 rise rate. For instance, Eastport, Maine had a rise rate of only 1.96 mm in 2019, but sea level there is projected to reach 0.52 m (1.71 feet) by 2050. That 2050 projection is higher than the 0.51-m projection for Norfolk, Virginia (1.67 ft), even though the latter's 2019 rise rate was 5.33 mm/yr, almost three times higher than in Eastport.

The VIMS team stresses that sea level will also experience short-term variations in the future just as it does today. Thus, coastal residents and planners in Virginia and other areas likely to experience significant sea-level increases by 2050 must also account for storm surges and other transient forces raising sea level even higher than the projected mean rise value. The 95% confidence bands placed about the projected quadratic curve in VIMS' sea-level report cards are a further reminder that average sea level in any given month can deviate from the projected annual mean by as much as 20 centimeters (8 inches).

The value of an annual, localized report card

Because long-term changes in sea level are typically on the order of a few millimeters per year, researchers have traditionally felt little need to issue frequent forecasts of sea-level changes. Moreover, many sea-level projections are global in scope, with a forecast horizon of 2100--far enough off to allow for readily discernible linear change. An example is the United Nation's oft-reported prediction of 65 centimeters (2.1 feet) of absolute sea-level rise by the end of this century.

The VIMS team has purposefully taken a more localized and timely approach, one designed to add maximum value for coastal residents, businesses, and governments.

Says Boon, "Our report cards show what sea level has been doing recently, what's happening now at your locality. Numerous studies show that local rates of sea-level rise and acceleration differ substantially from the global rates published by the IPCC and NOAA--a key result because local rates of relative sea-level rise give a direct indication of the extent to which homes, buildings, and roads are at risk of flooding."

The team's decision to use a subset of available tide-gauge data runs counter to the traditional approach taken by NOAA, the agency that operates the nation's official network of tidal stations. "NOAA should be commended for their care in ensuring the continuity, consistency, and availability of the nation's long-term tidal datasets," says Boon. "But at the same time, a longer record isn't always better, especially when there's evidence of recent non-linear changes in the rate of sea-level rise like we see along the U.S. East Coast."

An earlier analysis by Boon showed that this acceleration began in 1987, at the center of a 36-year sliding window beginning in 1969--thus setting the start date for the VIMS report cards. This is decades after many U.S. tide-gauge stations began operation but within a span where many more stations now have complete or nearly complete records. Given recent evidence of ongoing warming, it makes sense in a nation-wide, comparative study of sea-level change to analyze only those observations made over the same period of time.

Mitchell explains further, "If you cross a threshold in terms of something like sea-level rise, what came before--say a tide-gauge record that began in 1900--is biased in terms of seeing where you're going. We think ice sheets are melting faster today, and if that's true then the previous 90 years of data won't accurately predict the future."

The difference between the linear rates used in NOAA's sea-level forecasts and the non-linear, accelerating rates used in VIMS' report cards can lead to sharply different forecasts of our sea-level future. Extending NOAA's linear sea-level projections to mid-century for the tide gauge in Norfolk, Virginia indicates that sea level here will be 0.3 meters (11.42 inches) higher by 2050, while the VIMS forecast--using a non-linear, accelerating rate--is 0.51 meters, or 20.1 inches. That extra 21 centimeters (8.6") of sea-level rise would have major implications for the low-lying region.

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This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
[February 04, 2020] El Camino Health and Conversa Health Scale Partnership Improving Respiratory Care Coordination and Patient Experience

Following a successful pilot, El Camino Health's nationally renowned pulmonary health department is offering Conversa Health's personalized virtual health assistant technology to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) as 2 BREATHE Chat. 2 BREATHE enables patients with COPD, asthma and other respiratory illnesses to be monitored remotely by their care team. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005806/en/ 2 BREATHE App (Photo: Business Wire) "COPD and asthma alone affect more than 50 million Americans, and the mortality rate for COPD patients has risen in the last 35 years -- this is a key area that needs a new approach," said Murray Bronzinsky, President and Chief Strategy Officer of Conversa. "Conversa's personalized, automated conversation experiences are transforming the traditional approach for patient communication, population health management and care delivery. El Camino is forward thinking partner who has benefited from our solution, and we are excited to scale with them based on our shared success."



El Camino Health's care team saw immediate and significant improvement in patient outcomes during the pilot. COPD Assessment (CAT) scores trended down after the introduction of 2 BREATHE Chat, which regularly "checks in" with patients to collect meaningful health data in real-time. Additionally, the team reported a high rate of sustained patient engagement (85% regularly used Conversa's platform). Patients averaged 15 chats during a 90-day program (above average for episodic care engagement rates), with 94% of patients said they were satisfied with the virtual health experience. Patient readmission was significantly reduced and even then, readmissions involved catching issues much earlier than usual, therefore improving overall patient outcomes. "We looked to Conversa's high-touch care platform to help us reduce 30-day readmissions and shorten the length of hospital stays for patients suffering from COPD," said Cheryl Reinking, chief nursing officer of El Camino Health's hospitals. "The results were so impressive that we decided to move from pilot to a full rollout of offering 2 BREATHE Chat to inpatients and outpatients."

The Pulmonary Health Program at El Camino Health offers advanced diagnostic and therapeutic modalities, including airway recanalization, bronchoscopic lung volume reduction, clinical trials, confocal endomicroscopy, electromagnetic navigation guided (EMN) bronchoscopy, endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), transbronchial cryobiopsy, and robotic-assisted bronchoscopy. Focusing specifically on COPD, the organization recently launched a Chronic Respiratory Disease Program. This Medicare covered chronic care management service partners with patients to develop a personalized, comprehensive care plan to identify health concerns and goals, track medications, coordinate with healthcare providers and connection to support resources, and provide education and 24/7 access for urgent needs. About El Camino Health El Camino Health provides a personalized healthcare experience at two non-profit acute care hospitals in Los Gatos and Mountain View and at primary care, multi-specialty care, and urgent care locations across Santa Clara County. For nearly sixty years, the organization has grown to meet the needs of individuals and communities it serves. Bringing together the best in new technology and advanced medicine, the network of nationally recognized physicians and care teams deliver high-quality, compassionate care. Key medical specialties include heart and vascular, cancer and lifestyle medicine. The hospitals have earned numerous awards for clinical excellence, such as a 5-Star Overall Hospital Quality Rating from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and nursing care, including three consecutive American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet Recognitions for Nursing Care. Visit elcaminohealth.org to learn more. About Conversa As healthcare's conversation platform, Conversa delivers an easy and meaningful way for care teams and patients to communicate. With Conversa's purpose built solution, healthcare organizations virtually monitor, manage, and engage patient populations at scale more efficiently than they ever have before. Using Conversa's innovative and scalable technology, healthcare organizations, such as health systems, pharmaceutical companies, payers, and employers , are achieving more meaningful and efficient patient relationships, effective population management, enhanced patient experience, better clinical and financial outcomes. To learn more, visit conversahealth.com, follow @ConversaHealth or text HELLO to 77877. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005806/en/

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Foxconn could see a "big" production impact and shipments to customers including Apple face disruption if a Chinese factory halt due to the coronavirus outbreak extends into a second week, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Taiwan's Foxconn, which makes smartphones for Apple and other brands, has halted "almost all" of its production in China after companies were told to shut until at least February 10, the source said, adding that an extension of the stoppage could disrupt shipments to clients including Apple.

Taipei-based Foxconn, which is the world's largest contract electronics maker, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Apple declined to comment.

The source told Reuters on Monday that Foxconn has so far seen a "fairly small impact" from the outbreak as it was utilizing factories in countries including Vietnam, India and Mexico to fill the gap, adding that the company will be able to make up for the delay if factories work overtime after the ban.

In Eastern China's Suzhou, one of its largest manufacturing hubs, companies have been told to stay shut until at least Feb. 8 and in Shanghai until Feb. 9. Factories in the southern manufacturing hub of Dongguan in export-oriented Guangdong province have also been told not to open before Feb. 10.

The outbreak of coronavirus, which the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency, threatens to disrupt swathes of Chinese manufacturing.

The source said a halt beyond Feb. 10 could disrupt Foxconn's shipments, highlighting concerns about production hubs in the southern province of Guangdong and the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province where key iPhone plants are located.

"What we are worried about is delays for another week or even another month. The impact would be big," the source said. "It definitely will have an impact on the Apple production line."

"The tricky question is whether we will be able to resume production (on Feb. 10)...It's up to the instructions given by central and provincial governments."

The Guangdong Department of Labour and Social Security said in a response to a question from Reuters that no company including Foxconn can resume work before Feb. 9, with the exception of firms involved in making or providing medical supplies and other daily necessities.

HEALTH CONTROL

Foxconn has asked employees and clients in China's Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak, not to return to factories and told workers to report their health condition to managers on a daily basis, an internal memo reviewed by Reuters shows.

The company also said employees who follow the rules will be paid as usual and those we fail to do so will be "severely" punished, although it did not elaborate.

A hotline was set up to encourage employees to report those who had broken the rules, with a monetary award of 200 yuan ($29), the note dated Feb. 1 said.

Morningstar analyst Don Yew sees "limited" impact on Foxconn's supply chain, saying its four subsidiaries in Hubei only accounted for 1.8% of the firm's overall revenue in 2018 and vendors such as Apple maintain a diversified supply chain.

However, a spread of the coronavirus to major smartphone manufacturing hubs such as Guangdong may lead them to revise financial estimates for companies including Foxconn, Yew said.
Houston, Feb 4 : Two people were killed and another injured in a shooting at a university campus in northern Texas, police said.

According to the campus police at the Texas A&M University-Commerce, about 480 km north of state capital Houston, the shooting took place on Monday at a residence hall, reports Xinhua news agency.

The police said officers have been stationed throughout the campus, and the residence hall and its surrounding areas were still blocked off "due to the ongoing investigation".

Texas A&M University-Commerce is the third-largest institution in the Texas A&M University System, with an enrollment of over 12,000 students.

The police were yet to make any arrests.
More than 200 San Antonians, including City Council members, the mayor and business leaders, are in Washington, D.C., this week lobbying for federal funds to support projects in the military, education, community development, cybersecurity, tourism and transportation.

San Antonio sends a lot of money up there in the form of taxes and doesnt get it all back, said Councilman Manny Pelaez, who is on the trip. So, we go up there and we make sure to twist arms and share the San Antonio story.

Richard Perez, president and CEO of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the annual event, said this is the largest trip yet.

There will be 200-plus people from one community, in one room of the nations capital, Perez said. There is power in numbers. Our voices are going to resonate with people.

On ExpressNews.com: Largest-ever SA to DC delegation lobbies nations Capitol

Members of the delegation attend panels and presentations during the mornings, and in the afternoons they split into issue teams made up of local leaders and experts  who go speak with lawmakers and advocate for individual projects and topics.

Some of the projects on the lobby list are airport infrastructure, two F-16 squadrons relocated to JBSA-Lackland, prevention and treatment of substance use disorders, and increasing cybersecurity.

Councilman Clayton Perry said he wants to discuss an increase in military missions for San Antonio.

To talk about additional missions here in San Antonio and what else we can do to support our military, not only through the community but through our school systems, quality of life issues throughout San Antonio supporting our military, Perry said at a City Council meeting last week.

Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda agreed that the military is an important topic, since much of the citys economic development is dependent on military installations.

While military is something she plans on discussing at length, Havrda and Pelaez said they will focus somewhat on transportation, specifically traffic congestion abatement projects.

District 6 is the fastest-growing district in the city, Havrda said. We currently house multiple large employment centers that are moving new residents to the area every day. As you can imagine, this leads to more congestion on our roads.

Nine of the 10 City Council members are in Washington for the event. Councilman John Courage was unable to attend.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg said one topic he is tackling is infrastructure.

There is a need to insure that Congress passes a comprehensive infrastructure bill that takes into account the unique need for growing communities like ours.

Some of the lawmakers who delegates will be meeting with include Texas senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, Sen. Todd Young of Indiana and San Antonio representatives Joaquin Castro, Lloyd Doggett, Will Hurd and Chip Roy. They will also meet with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Last years efforts helped San Antonio obtain $3.25 million from the Urban Area Security Initiative to support cybersecurity efforts, and $4.45 million from the Army Corps of Engineers to reimburse the city for money spent to restore the San Antonio Rivers Mission Reach.

Perez said securing requested funds can take as little as a year or up to a decade.

But Perez said the important thing is that they keep going back year after to year  making their voices heard.

The wheels of the government sometimes move slow, Perez said. But, we never let up on the gas pedal.

Nirenberg, who attended meetings at the Pentagon last month with Perry, said these items they are lobbying for are an ongoing conversation throughout the year.

The is the 42nd SA to DC trip.

The trip, which is paid for by individuals, or in the case of city officials paid by the city, is from Monday through Thursday.

Perez: Whether members are there advocating for our military, education and workforce development, infrastructure, or policies that allow businesses to flourish, our collective voice will be loud and will be heard.
The Royal Canadian Mint Commemorates the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands on its Newest Second World War Battlefront Series Fine Silver Coin

OTTAWA, Feb. 4, 2020 /CNW/ - The Royal Canadian Mint's time-honoured practice of issuing coins recognizing the sacrifice of Canada's veterans endures on a new fine silver coin commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands, illustrated by artist Pandora Young. The scene appearing on the reverse of this coin illustrates the emotion of people rediscovering their long-lost freedom thanks to the service and sacrifice of the First Canadian Army, which led a nine-month campaign at tremendous personal cost. The scene focuses on a Canadian soldier surrounded by children as his tank parades down the street of a typical Dutch city centre. In a simple display of gratitude, one of the children is offering the soldier a tulip: a gesture annually repeated by the Kingdom of the Netherlands since the end of the Second World War. To this day, thousands of tulips bloom in Ottawa as a living symbol or the unbreakable friendship between Canada and the Netherlands. This inspiring collectible, along with many others, are available to the public as of today.

As a way of sparking interest in coin collecting, the Mint has released the 2020 5-Coin Numis-Tastic Set. This is an educational collection of 25-cent circulation coins featuring different finishes: Brilliant Uncirculated, Proof, Matte Proof, Reverse Proof, and Specimen. Each coin demonstrates the variety of finishes currently used by the Mint and the coin set's packaging contains detailed descriptions of each technique for the reading pleasure of experienced and budding collectors alike.

Other coins launching this month include:

The 2020 $50 Fine Silver Coin - Maple Leaves in Motion, designed by artist Joel Kimmel and featuring a new precision of gold and black rhodium plating over 99.99% pure silver;

Fine Silver Coin - in Motion, designed by artist and featuring a new precision of gold and black rhodium plating over 99.99% pure silver; Two new egg-shaped coins by Ukrainian-Canadian artists: Dave Melnychuk's coloured 2020 $20 Fine Silver Coin - Traditional Pysanka and Nathalie Kit's traditionally-engraved 2020 $250 Pure Gold Coin - Tree of Life Pysanka;

coloured 2020 Fine Silver Coin - Traditional Pysanka and Nathalie Kit's traditionally-engraved 2020 Pure Gold Coin - Tree of Life Pysanka; The 2020 1/10 th oz. Pure Gold Coin - Tribute to Alex Colville : 1967 Dollar , featuring Colville's iconic flying goose design created in honour of Canada's centennial;

oz. Pure Gold Coin - Tribute to : , featuring Colville's iconic flying goose design created in honour of centennial; The 2020 $10 Fine Silver Coin - O Canada! Polar Bears, designed by artist Claude Thivierge ;

Fine Silver Coin - O Canada! Polar Bears, designed by artist ; The 2020 $5 Fine Silver Coin - Moments to Hold: Celebrating 100 Years of the RCMP, revisiting a classic Ago Aarand design;

Fine Silver Coin - Moments to Hold: Celebrating 100 Years of the RCMP, revisiting a classic Ago Aarand design; The 2020 $25 Fine Silver Piedfort - Timeless Icons: Polar Bear, featuring the artwork of Pierre Leduc ; and,

Fine Silver Piedfort - Timeless Icons: Polar Bear, featuring the artwork of ; and, The crystal-enhanced 2020 $5 Fine Silver Coin - Birthstones: March, featuring the artwork of Pandora Young .

Mintages, pricing and full background information on each product can be found on the "Shop" tab of www.mint.ca. Coin images are available here.

All of these products can be ordered directly from the Mint at 1-800-267-1871 in Canada, 1-800-268-6468 in the US, or on the Mint's web site. The coins are also available at Royal Canadian Mint boutiques in Ottawa and Winnipeg, as well as through our global network of dealers and distributors, including participating Canada Post outlets.

About the Royal Canadian Mint

The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown corporation responsible for the minting and distribution of Canada's circulation coins. The Mint is recognized as one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an international scale. For more information on the Mint, its products and services, visit www.mint.ca. Follow the Mint on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

For more information, please contact:

Alex Reeves

Senior Manager, Public Affairs

Tel: (613) 884-6370

reeves@mint.ca
A Ludwig Cancer Research study has devised a new type of chimeric antigen-receptor (CAR) T cell-;a family of promising immunotherapies for cancer- that can be switched on and off on demand. The study, led by Melita Irving of the Lausanne Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, George Coukos, director of the Branch, and their colleague Bruno Correia of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), addresses a central conundrum of CAR-T therapies: their tendency to provoke potentially deadly runaway immune responses against healthy tissues in patients. Their report appears in the current issue of Nature Biotechnology.

"We wanted to develop a way to dampen CAR-T cell therapy as a safety mechanism in the event of an adverse reaction in a patient," says Coukos. "To do that we designed CAR-T cells that can be reversibly inactivated with small molecules that can be given systemically and act rapidly."

CAR-T cells are designed to detect specific molecular markers, or antigens, and destroy the cancer cells that bear them. To that end, researchers engineer a chimeric molecule, expressed on a T cell, that is stitched together from the functional units-;or "domains"-;of a few key proteins. The external part of the CAR protein does the antigen detecting. The inner part has two other key components. One is the signaling domain of a protein named CD3-zeta that is absolutely required to activate the T cell. The other is the signaling part of another protein, usually CD28, that supports the proliferation and survival of the activated T cell.

These cellular immunotherapies have been approved for the treatment of some blood cancers, and researchers are working on targeting them at solid tumors. But the treatment has significant risks. CAR-T cells can inadvertently elicit cascading, systemic immune reactions known as cytokine release syndrome, which can cause serious side effects.

Researchers have sought to blunt these risks by, for example, engineering CAR-T cells to commit suicide on demand or require a drug to become activated.

The former approach leads, however, to the waste of a very expensive immunotherapy, while the latter has been challenged by the short half-lives of the drugs. Our approach offers novel and unique solutions to this difficult molecular engineering problem." Melita Irving, Lausanne Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

To build their "STOP-CAR-T" system, the researchers stuck the CD3-zeta activation domain on one molecule and the antigen-detecting portion on the another. To link the two chains together, so that they'd function as a single unit, they added to each chain the interacting domains of two unrelated proteins that spontaneously pair up inside the cell. The researchers also ensured that the binding could be disrupted by existing small molecules administered systemically. Elegant computational modeling and protein engineering done in Correia's laboratory identified ideal molecular partners for these binding domains and ensured that these newly added binding domains would not interfere with the complex protein interactions within the cell required for the signaling that activates T cells.

The researchers first confirmed in cell cultures that this two-protein CAR-T system-;targeted to a prostate cancer antigen-;worked as well as a similarly targeted but traditionally designed CAR-T system and could be switched off by a drug-like molecule. They then grew tumors expressing that antigen in the flanks of mice and showed that while both types of CAR-T cells could slow tumor growth, only the STOP-CAR-T system's effects could be abrogated with the administration of the small molecule before or after the initiation of CAR-T therapy.

"This really shows that, in principle, we should be able to directly control the activity of the STOP-CAR T cells in patients," says Irving.

The researchers are now developing a STOP-CAR-T system that can be controlled by an approved drug and tweaking the system in various ways to see if they can lower the amount of drug required to control the cells.

"This work itself, and its potential, is really exciting," says Coukos, "but I think it is also illustrative of how well-orchestrated, multidisciplinary collaborations can yield significant scientific breakthroughs. Working with EPFL and our other partners in the region, we hope to bring STOP-CAR-T therapy as quickly as possible to cancer patients."

This study was supported by Ludwig Cancer Research, the Biltema and ISREC Foundations, the European Research Council, the National Center of Competence for Molecular Systems Engineering, The Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, Whitaker and the National Research Foundation of Korea.

In addition to his Ludwig post, George Coukos directs the Department of Oncology at the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV-UNIL), as well as co-directs the Swiss Cancer Center, Leman. Melita Irving is also a group leader within the department of oncology UNIL CHUV. Bruno Correia is an assistant professor in EPFL's Institute of Bioengineering.#
Germany and Austria are at odds over plans for a new tax on financial transactions, raising more questions about the chances of the levy becoming reality after years of talks.
04.02.2020 LISTEN

Being a Medical doctor is prestigious worldwide. Doctors are always ready anywhere to reveal their professional identity even if the forum they are present in does not require revealing their identity. One would have thought that that was enough to satisfy any medical doctor in Ghana. However, there are a group of medical doctors who are embittered and frustrated by the mere fact that the specialty they chose has Nurses who practice the same and often times more experienced than them. These group of medical doctors are the Physician Anaesthetists and Physician specialists.

WHY DO I SAY THEY ARE EMBITTERED?

In Ghana, there is a standoff between the Medical and Dental Council and Physician Assistance and Certified Registered Anesthetists. This standoff is about a nomenclature. The medical doctors do not want to hear a name in the medical field that is not subservient to them. Therefore they have devised names such Medical or Physician Assistants, Dental Assistants, Ophthalmic assistants etc.

What does assistant mean? According to the Cambridge English dictionary:

1.a person who helps someone else to do a job or who holds a less important position in an organization.

2.an employee who helps someone in a more senior position to do their job.

From the definition above A physician assistant is supposed to be someone helping a physician to do his job.

A Physician Assistant Anaesthetists is supposed to be assisting a physician Anaesthetist to do his job.

Physician assistants and CRAs are certificated professionals qualified with BSc degrees as any medical doctor. They have studied Nursing intensively for three years. The Nursing curriculum include: Anatomy and physiology, Pharmacology, Public health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Psychiatric, Paediatrics, Geriatrics, Oncology, pathology, Genetics, sociology, psychology, Medical Nursing, Surgical Nursing, ophthalmic Nursing, ENT Nursing, among many more.

For the sake of this write-up, I will limit myself to the Nurse Anaesthetist or Certified Registered Anesthetists(CRA).

In many countries anesthesia is administered primarily by nurses. Yet few, including many in nursing, are aware of the major contribution to health that nurses, functioning as anesthetists, make. Even some history books overlook nurses in anesthesia, and little has been written about the education, practice, and legal regulation of nurse anesthetists worldwide.

In 1978, the World Health Organization (WHO) proclaimed its goal of health for all by the year 2000, in which nurses were viewed as major contributors and anesthesia as an essential service.

Second, the idea for an international professional organization took root through which nurse anesthetists from all coun-tries could collaborate, culminating, in 1989, inthe formation of the International Federation of Nurse Anesthetists (IFNA).The IFNA was founded by nurse anesthetists from the 11 countries of Austria, Germany, Fin- land, France, Iceland, Norway, South Korea, Swe-den, Switzerland, United States, and the then Yu- goslavia. In 1993, IFNA reported that nurses may be practicing anesthesia in many other countries.

Before becoming CRA Nurses had to be in practice for a minimum of three years. They attended full-time residential Anaesthesia studies for 18 months to acquire a Diploma in Nurse. Anaesthesia.

The following curriculum for Anaesthetists worldwide was followed. Note that there is no special curriculum for physician Anaesthetists. All use the same because Anaesthesia is the same everywhere:

BASIC AND APPLIED ANATOMY

 Upper airway- nose, pharynx, larynx, trachea

 Lower airway- bronchus, alveoli, diaphragm

 Cardiovascular system

 CNS and vertebral column and canal

 Autonomic nervous system

 Foetal circulation

 Major nerves of the upper and lower extremities

 Major nerve plexuses (brachial, lumber, and sacral)

 Surface anatomy for the major nerves, veins, arteries (upper and lower limbs)

PHYSICS AND CLINICAL MEASUREMENT

 S.I. units

 Work and Energy

 Electricity

 Ultrasonic waves(Electromagnetic spectrum)

 Gas laws

 Fluid and gas dynamics

 Vaporization and vapour pressure

 Medical gases production, storage and delivery

 Recording of biological potentials

 Pressure

 Temperature

 PH

 Measurements from the catheter to display

 Gas analysis

 Monitoring of neuromuscular function

 Cardiac output

 Respiratory function tests

 Humidity, Nebulizers and humidifiers

 The anaesthetic machine and its safety features

 Anaesthetic circuits

 Mechanical ventilators

 The basic anaesthetic equipment: Laryngoscopes, Masks, laryngeal mask

airway, spinal and epidural needles

 Medical gases and gas cylinders

BASIC APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY

 Physiology of nerve and muscle

 Respiratory system and blood gases, oxygen transport and delivery

 Cardiovascular system (heart as a pump)

 Cardiac conduction (rhythm generation and conduction)

 CNS and Autonomic nervous system

 Renal system

 Acid base system

 Electrolyte and body fluids and homeostasis

 Hepatic function

 Haematology, basic haematology functions

 Physiological changes during pregnancy

 Nutrition including TPN

 Immunology introduction

 GIT

 Fat, Protein and Carbohydrate metabolism

 Temperature

 Endocrinology

BASICAND APPLIED PHARMACOLOGY

 Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics

 Inhalation anaesthesia, mechanisms and agents

 Local anaesthetics, mechanism and agents

 Intravenous anaesthesia drugs

 Analgesics, narcotics and their antagonists

 Muscle relaxants

 Anticholinergic and anticholinesterases

 Antiemetic and antihistamines

 Inotropic and pressor drugs

 Antihypertensive drugs

 Antiarrhrrythmics

 Antimicrobials and cytotoxics

 Bronchodilators

 Clinical trials

 Pharmacogenetics

 CNS drugs

 Renal drugs

STATISTICS AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 Basic statistics

 How to read medical journals

 How to critique medical journals

 How to write articles

 Library studies

MEDICAL CONDITIONS INCLUDING PATHOLOGY

 Pain pathways, acute, chronic and cancer pain

 Head injury and conditions with increased intracranial pressure

 Ischaemic heart disease

 Valvular heart disease

 Hypertension, essential and other causes

 Cardiac arrhythmias

 Malignant hyperpyrexia

 Hypothermia

 Anaemia, sickle cell and other haemoglobinopathies

 Diabetes mellitus

 Acute and chronic renal failure

 Patients with liver disease

 Endocrine diseases and morbid obesity syndromes

 The patient with respiratory disease (obstructive and restrictive)

 Congenital diseases in neonatal and paediatric patients

 Arthritis and other orthopaedic problems

 Shock syndromes (hypovolemic, cardiogenic, septic, and anaphylactic)

 The psychiatric and mentally challenged

 Genetic and congenital diseases relevant to anaesthesia.

 Pregnancy related diseases

 Infections and infestations

 Connective tissue and degenerative diseases

 Neuromuscular diseases

Resuscitation and critical care management of all the above cases and their

perioperative management.

CLINICAL ANAESTHESIA

 Preoperative assessment, patient preparation for surgery

 Principles of obstetric anaesthesia

 Principles of paediatric anaesthesia

 Principles of geriatric anaesthesia

 Principles of neuro-anaesthesia

 Principles of cardiac anaesthesia

 Principles of thoracic anaesthesia

 Dental and day care anaesthesia

 Principles of mechanical ventilation (IPPV)

 The use of blood components and massive blood transfusion

 Anaesthesia for bronchoscopy and airway laser surgery

 General anaesthesia techniques and principles

 Regional anaesthesia techniques and principles

 Airway management (the normal and the difficult airway)

 Post-operative care (Recovery Room) including pain control

 Anaesthetic complications and mishaps and their prevention.

Source: Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons.

In 2013 Ghana introduced the BSc Anaesthesia in Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. Anaesthetists with Diploma certificates were required to do 2 years top up for the degree. Straight Nurses do 4 years to acquire the BSc certificate in Anaesthesia following the same curriculum provided above.

After going through these courses and acquiring certificates, how do CRAs become assistants to Physicians? CRAs practice under the most difficult situations without facilities to help patients in our rural areas to survive and lead better lives. Can you imagine how our mothers, and sisters would have fared without CRAs in the district and rural health centres in complications during pregnancy.

Physician Anaesthetists are comfortable in the teaching hospitals with all the modern facilities and technology scared to venture even to a district hospital. CRAs work alone in most hospitals. Even in the Teaching hospitals where all the modern technologies for Anaesthesia exist, the physician Anaesthetists are scared to work alone in the absence of a CRA. The CRAs are well experienced practically whilst the Physicians move about claiming to be supervising. How do you supervise someone who is more experienced than you?

WHY IS KORLE-BU NOT TRAINING CRAs?

Korle-bu Teaching Hospital has been at the forefront in the dispute against CRAs.

History of Anaesthesia in Ghana is often erroneously accredited to Prof. Oduro who entered the field in 1963. At the time of his entry, about 12 Nurse Anaesthetists were already in practice. Anaesthesia in almost all hospitals in Ghana at that time were managed by expatriates with Nurses who were trained on the Job.

The first Ghanaian Physician Anaesthetist to arrive in the country was Dr Tagoe who also had a Diploma in Anaesthesia (DA). He later went to Sierra Leone. Anaesthesia was therefore largely given by nurse Anaesthetists in KBH and the rest of the country. Dr Kofi Amoah Oduro who later became a Professor, worked as a medical officer in KBH from September 1958 till August 1959. He went to Glasgow in October 1960 to specialise in anaesthesia. He obtained the Diploma in Anaesthesia (DA) in May 1961, the lrish Fellowship (FFARCSI) in May 1963 and the English Fellowship (FFARCS) in June 1963. He was appointed a Special Grade Medical Officer in Anaesthesia in KBH in August 1963. Dr Oduro became the first Ghanaian with a postgraduate Fellowship in anaesthesia. He joined the Medical School when the clinical specialties started in September/October 1966.

He was a Senior Lecturer from 1966 to 1972, Associate Professor from 1972 to 1976 and a Full Professor from 1976 to 1988 when he retired. Before 1970, nurse anaesthetists had only 3 months training, mainly on the job. From 1970 onwards, a 6-month training programme was based in KATH and Effia Nkwanta Hospital with Dr Sen Gupta and Dr Abdel Yakub being in charge of the programme. There were 8 students each at Effia Nkwanta and KATH. This was in 1974. The same trainers started a second batch in 1976. Drs Aboagye and Owusu Afram trained the 3rd batch after which the programme collapsed.

Nurse Anaesthetists have been the bedrock and backbone of Anaesthesia in Ghana till this day.

Prof. Oduro could not come to terms with the fact that despite his medical background and overseas courses, he still practiced the same profession with Nurses who probably might have taught him several techniques in Anaesthesia.

This also accounted for the refusal of doctors to specialize in Anaesthesia. To them, it was demeaning in comparison to their counterparts who specialized in Surgery, and have been able to prevent Physician Assistants from performing even minor surgeries.

Nursing is a noble profession. It is the backbone of all medical practice. It is the mother of even the Geneva conventions that regulate the conduct of war and armed conflicts in the world today courtesy Florence Nightingale.

CRAs are the saviors of Ghana's medical successes. Without CRAs pregnant women, women with ectopic pregnancies, and all emergency Surgical operations in the rural and districts in Ghana would be dead by now. Patients would have to be moved to the Teaching hospitals to line up for surgery. It would have been the richest who would survive.

The movement of CRAs from the Nurses and Midwifery Council was not because they were not proud to belong to the council. It was because Anaesthesia came under medicine and the conduct of CRAs needed to be regulated by an authority. The medical and dental council was not comfortable regulating Certified Registered Nurse Anaesthetists and therefore wanted a name change to exclude the word 'Nurse'.

They however went for a wrong title of Physician Assistants to show that CRAs are doing the job under Doctors who also practiced Anaesthesia.

Since CRAs work autonomously with full qualifications and without supervision from any Physician Anaesthetists, the title physician assistant is inappropriate. By law in Ghana today, we are CRAs and the law must be upheld.

The physician Anaesthetists can change profession and specialty if they feel belittled. They can become Surgeons or Gynaecologists which pays a lot in Ghana. CRAs cannot become Surgeons or Gynaecologists. CRAs have been the backbone of all successful surgeries in Ghana, and society must acknowledge and encourage them.

Sulleyman

CRA 1994
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GMV Syncromatics, the Los Angeles-based Intelligent Transportation Systems company, has announced the appointment of Rich "Arch" Archuleta as CEO. In his new position, effective January 13, 2020, Archuleta will be GMV Syncromatics' top executive. Archuleta is replacing Ian Sephton who, after seven years as CEO, will continue to serve on the Board of Directors of GMV Syncromatics.

Archuleta is a highly accomplished technology executive. His 26-year HP career began in semiconductor research, and he soon gained a reputation as a strategic business leader. He re-booted HP's struggling notebook PC business, was subsequently named Mobile Computing's "Person of the Year" and was launched into larger GM roles within HP. Archuleta's management roles at HP included product and operating responsibilities across multiple units of the $4 billion business.

In 2007 Archuleta was appointed CEO of Plastic Logic, a company he grew from 30 to 400 employees with a research office in Cambridge, a product development department in Silicon Valley, a display factory in Dresden, and operations near Moscow. Afterwards he worked as a consultant to diverse technological companies.

Archuleta boasts a strong grasp of technology solutions, an outstanding track record of strong customer relationships, and a sterling market reputation. He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and an Executive Development Program Diploma from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Archuleta has also written book chapters, technical articles, and patents. He has participated in numerous business and trade-press interviews (e.g. WSJ, NY Times, The Economist, Fortune, Forbes), on-camera television interviews (e.g. CNBC, Fox News), as well as panels at industry trade shows and conferences (including CES, Rutberg Wireless Influencers, and Churchill Club).

GMV Syncromatics, a company of the technology multinational GMV, currently provides its Intelligent Transportation System solutions to over 130 operators and public transit authorities in 25 different states across the United States. Its clients include the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro).

For Archuleta this new stage of his professional career represents an exciting opportunity to apply his experience and skills. "I am thrilled to join the GMV Syncromatics team at a time when the company is expanding across the country. As the company grows with new customers, products, and employees, I believe we are well-positioned to be the premier ITS provider in the United States."

SOURCE GMV SYNCROMATICS

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It is not always the man from your village is your brother. Sometimes, some body can come from a village a long way away, and can be a better brother for you. So, to the people of North East Gonja, I am saying to you that your brother from Kyebi will be a better brother for you than your brother from Bole Bamboi.



These were the words of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Monday, 3rd February, 2020, when he addressed a durbar of Chiefs and people at Kpalbe, in the Salaga North constituency, as part of his working visit to that region.



Recounting the events leading up to the December 2016 elections, President Akufo-Addo noted that then President Mahama had touted his achievements in the delivery of infrastructure as unprecedented.



When I said I had not seen this unprecedented infrastructural development, he (President Mahama) said it was because I was sleeping in my car, the reason why I was not seeing any of it, the President said.



He continued, When I became President, everywhere I went, the first thing that the chiefs will ask me is for the roads. So, it became obvious that we have not seen any unprecedented infrastructural development. It was not true, especially in his (Mahamas) own home region, because this is where some of the worst roads in Ghana are; in his own backyard in the Savannah Region.



With Government undertaking the construction of the 138 kilometre Tamale to Makango Road, and the construction of the 120 kilometre Binjai-Fufulso road, President Akufo-Addo stressed that the road network that is being worked on will come to pass. It will not be in the green book, or in the mouth of the President, but on the ground for all to see.



Touching on other flagship projects of his administration, the President expressed his delight that our policies such as Free SHS, Planting for Food and Jobs, 1-Village-1-Dam, Rearing for Food and Jobs are going down well with the people of the district. We will continue to do more.



He assured the Chiefs and people of North East Gonja district that their request for the construction of a district hospital and a senior high school will be addressed, adding that it is a high priority of this government that we put in place the infrastructure for the new regions.



On the provision of water, President Akufo-Addo assured that the Ministry for Special Development Initiatives programme of constructing small water systems in all parts of the country will be extended to the North East Gonja district as well.

Source: presidency.gov.gh









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Foreign Office has advised all British nationals to leave China due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has now killed 490 people and infected at least 24,000 others worldwide.

As officials attempted to trace 239 people who flew to the UK from Wuhan before travel restrictions were imposed, Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, said: The safety and security of British people will always be our top priority.

As such, we now advise British nationals in China to leave the country if they can, to minimise their risk of exposure to the virus.

Mr Raab added authorities were working around the clock to evacuate those still left in Hubei province, while Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said there were around 29,500 UK citizens residing in China.

The Foreign Office amended its travel advice after Mr Hancock said he expected more coronavirus cases in the UK and warned that we havent seen the peak of the coronavirus by a long stretch.

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(Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) HECTOR RETAMAL AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Vapor blurs the goggles of an ambulance driver while they work, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff getting on an ambulance in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor of traditional masks wears a facial mask at his shop in Thamel EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An ambulance driver talking with medical staff in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market The new coronavirus appears to have its origins in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a popular transport hub AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Nantong AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures after they landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Thai royal guard wears a mask while on duty at the Grand Palace in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a face mask rides a nearly empty subway train in Beijing AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A shopper wearing goggles with a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Italian Red Cross putting on protective gear, getting ready to give health checks to passengers that landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of the Hong Kong government's Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. 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quarantine control station at Narita airport, Japan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at Incheon International Airport, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of staff checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau, after it reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jin Yintan hospital Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Three Gorges Medical Laboratory offering free masks to the public in Yichang, China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine officer at Incheon International Airport, South Korea, uses an electronic thermometer to check the temperature of passengers arriving by plane from Wuhan The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A screen shows cancelled flights at Tianhe airport in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A store owner argues with security guards as he attempts to enter the closed Huanan wholesale seafood market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Handan, China's northern Hebei province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff and security personnel stop patients' family members from being too close to the Jinyintan hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A rescue worker walks past a notice about new coronavirus that has broken out in China Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials wear face masks at an inspection site at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A staff member checks body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine station measures passenger body temperatures at Narita Airport JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a notice displayed near a quarantine control station at Narita airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a poster alerting on coronavirus screening ahead upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An employee sprays disinfectant on a train, as a precaution against coronavirus, at Suseo Station in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Kazakh sanitary-epidemiological service worker uses a thermal scanner to detect travellers from China who may have symptoms possibly connected with the previously unknown coronavirus, at Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen stands near a sign reading "face masks are sold out" at her pharmacy in Shanghai AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in a protective suit at the closed seafood market in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers wear protective face masks at the departure hall of a high speed train station in Hong Kong AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A notice for passengers from Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market Getty

He added: We have a full plan in place to treat all those who have symptoms and test positively for coronavirus and we are working with international partners both to slow the spread and also to do the research that we need to do to find a vaccine.

The Foreign Office said commercial flights departing China were available throughout the country, except in Hubei, the epicentre of the virus.

The UK will charter a last chance rescue flight out of Wuhan for British citizens on Sunday, which will travel from Hubei province in central China to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

Some 94 UK nationals and their family members have already been evacuated from Wuhan to Britain on two flights which arrived on Friday and Sunday.

The evacuees are undergoing 14 days in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.

On Monday, the British embassy in Beijing announced that the last flights from China to the UK for British nationals were set to leave this week.

Concerns were raised on Tuesday, however, when a Belgian woman tested positive for the virus after reportedly travelling on the same evacuation flight as 11 UK citizens and their family members.

The flight carried passengers from 30 other countries. All those onboard who had continued to the UK are in supervised isolation and are being monitored for symptoms, a Public Health England official said.

The UK Department of Health also said it had conducted 414 tests for coronavirus, of which 412 were negative.

Two people, a student at the University of York and one of their relatives, are being treated for coronavirus in the specialist infectious diseases unit at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary.

The death toll from the virus in mainland China has risen to 425, with the total number of cases at 20,438, Chinese officials said on Tuesday.

 Timelapse video shows China's emergency coronavirus hospital built within 10 days

The second death from the virus outside of mainland China came as a 39-year-old man with an underlying illness, who had visited Wuhan, died in Hong Kong, where thousands of medical workers held a second day of strikes to press for complete closure of borders with the mainland.

Europe has 28 confirmed cases of the coronavirus  in the UK, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Russia, Italy, France and Germany, where there are 12 cases alone.

The European Unions medicines agency said on Tuesday it is taking action to accelerate the development and availability of medicines to treat and prevent the virus.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisations director general renewed his call for countries not to impose travel and trade restrictions, while urging all health ministers to improve their countries data sharing on the virus.

There is a window of opportunity because of the strong measures China is taking at the epicentre, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. So lets use this opportunity to prevent further spread and control it.

He urged travel bans to be short in duration, proportionate and regularly reviewed.

The UK is now one of several countries to warn citizens to leave China, alongside the US, Australia and Taiwan.

The US has raised its travel warning for China to the highest level, on par with North Korea, as Donald Trump declared the outbreak a public health emergency on Friday.

He signed an order banning foreign nationals who have been to China in the previous two weeks entry to the US and making quarantine mandatory for those who have visited Hubei in the same period.

On Saturday, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison followed suit, banning foreign travellers who have been in or passed through mainland China.

Additional reporting by agencies
The Democratic Party`s bid to choose a candidate to take on Donald Trump at the November 3 US presidential election was in disarray on Tuesday, after technical problems delayed vote counting in Iowa to the dismay of the party faithful and the delight of the Republican president.

There was still no winner on Tuesday morning from Monday`s Iowa caucuses voting, with officials blaming "inconsistencies" related to a new mobile app used for vote counting in the state that traditionally kicks off a US presidential election year.

It was a clumsy start to 2020 voting, after a bad-tempered presidential campaign four years ago that produced a surprise winner in Trump and led to a two-year federal investigation into election interference by Russia.

The head of Iowa`s Democratic Party promised to release results "as soon as possible" on Tuesday but said the top priority was ensuring the integrity of the process and accuracy of the results.

"Every second that passes undermines the process a little bit," said Roger Lau, campaign manager for U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. Trump mocked the Democrats, calling the caucus confusion an "unmitigated disaster" in a Twitter post on Tuesday.

Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, expressed frustration with the delayed results on Tuesday, after having said at a late-night rally he was going to the next early voting state of New Hampshire victorious. "I don`t think there`s a person in the country more impatient than I am" to get official results, he said on MSNBC.

Buttigieg and front-runner Bernie Sanders, a US senator, released their campaigns` own count of the Iowa vote which showed them having done well. Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price said the mobile app was recording data accurately but only partial data. The coding problem was fixed and state officials are verifying the data from the app with required paper documentation, he said.

Some local officials reported having trouble using the mobile app to report results from 1,600 schools, community centers and other locations. But when they turned to the traditional method - the telephone - they were put on hold and could not get through.

"We had people with their phones on speaker who were stuck on hold from 9 through at least 11," said Bret Nilles, the Democratic Party chairman in Linn County. He said he had no problems recording results through the app.

Democratic candidates left Iowa for New Hampshire, which hosts the next nominating contest on February 11, without knowing who leads the race to take on Trump. The chaos was likely to stoke criticism from some Democrats who have long complained the largely white farm state has an outsized role in determining the party`s presidential nominee.

TRUMP TAKES AIM

Trump took a swipe at the Democrats, 11 of whom are contenders in the state-by-state battle to face him in November. "Nothing works, just like they ran the Country." He also said the delay was not Iowa`s fault and pledged that Republicans would continue to uphold the tradition of early Iowa caucuses.

After more than a year of campaigning and more than $800 million in spending, the results in Iowa were expected to begin to provide answers for a party desperately trying to figure out how to beat the businessman-turned-president.

While Republicans were quick to pounce on the problems, their party has its own history of presidential election chaos in Iowa. On the night of the party`s 2012 caucuses, Mitt Romney was declared to have won by only eight votes. But two weeks later, the party declared that Rick Santorum had actually won by 34 votes. Romney went on to be the nominee.

There were no serious allegations of any foul play in Iowa on Monday. US intelligence agencies say Moscow meddled in the 2016 election with a campaign of email hacking and online propaganda aimed at sowing discord in the United States, hurting Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and helping Trump.

Dana Remus, general counsel for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, told state party officials in a letter there were widespread failures in the system of reporting results in Iowa.

Voters had to choose whether to back someone with appeal to independents and disaffected Republicans, like moderates Biden, Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar, or someone who energizes the party`s liberal base and brings out new voters, like progressives Sanders and Warren.

With no results to celebrate or mourn, the candidates spun their own upbeat view of the outcome. The Sanders campaign released what it said were its internal numbers collected at 40% of precincts, showing him in first, ahead of Buttigieg, Warren and Biden in fourth place.

"I have a strong feeling that at some point the results will be announced, and when those results are announced I have a good feeling were going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa," Sanders told cheering supporters.

Buttigieg told his supporters in Iowa that "we don`t know the results" but was looking ahead to the New Hampshire contest. "By all indications, we are going to New Hampshire victorious," he said.

Even without the technology problems, the distinct Iowa caucuses can be difficult to understand. At the caucus sites in Iowa, voters had gathered in groups by candidate preference in a public display of support. If a candidate did not attract 15% of voters, the total needed to be considered viable, that candidates` supporters were released to back another contender, leading to a further round of persuasion.

Even if one candidate eventually wins by a commanding margin in Iowa, Democrats may still lack clear answers as the race moves on to three other early voting states.
Speaking at recent farmers meetings organized by the Irish Natura Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) and the IFA, Blaithin Gallagher said: We in the Green Party believe in equality and fairness.

However, it is quite clear that the current system of area payments under Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is totally unfair. Whilst many farmers in the NW receive paltry sums, others receive cheques for hundreds of thousands. It seems that the system may have been manipulated at the establishment of the current CAP to allow some people make great amounts of money while others are struggling to survive.

Read Also: Sinn Fein general election candidate Martin Kenny raises issue of cuts to St Ciarans Day Service

I propose a flat rate per hectare for all farmers, front-loading the payments for the first 10 hectares at a higher rate, and then gradually reducing the rate per hectare. This would provide much improved support for the small family farm. She continued.

In this regard, the question has to be asked, why has the current government stopped the process of equalising payments, known as convergence? This means at least another two years that farmers in the NW will have to wait for fair play on area payments?

That said, we all know that we have only 10 years left to prevent a climate catastrophe, and a complete crash in biodiversity. That is just two electoral cycles! If we are foolish enough to allow these disasters to proceed, and the science is absolutely clear, then we wont be discussing who gets what payment.

Read Also: Video | Independent candidate Marian Harkin hits out at allegations of greed and attempts to "blacken" her name

"Instead we will be discussing, how will each and every one of us survive the consequences? Agriculture and the people of rural Ireland will be amongst those that will suffer severe consequences in the not too distant future. said Blaithin Gallagher.

The future of the family farm and the rural economy depends very much on the outcomes of the negotiations regarding the CAP. The CAP budget represents a very large part of EU expenditure. It is tax payers money, and as a consequence the public expect their money to be spent in a way that is good for everyone.

"Public money for public goods. Greening of the CAP will definitely be good for farmers in the North West, supporting them in doing the right thing for themselves, for biodiversity and for the climate.

"It is clear that farmers in the North West are really struggling, and have been for several years. The Green Party wants to work with these farmers to look at ways to provide new income sources. Diversifying, for example, into carbon sequestration, energy generation, agroforestry and hemp growing, to name but a few options.

Read Also: Online comments a pointer for Sligo-Leitrim candidates

"There is an estimated 14 billion tonnes of carbon in Irish soils. So paying farmers to protect carbon-rich soils would make sense for everyone. Bord na Mona is already being paid to do this. Farmers deserve to be rewarded too.

"Farmers should also be financially rewarded for protection and enhancement of our extensive and very important hedgerows, which not only act as very important wildlife sanctuaries and green corridors, but are also a significant carbon sink.

The Green Party sees itself as a friend to farmers and their families who are absolutely the guardians of the majority of our land. We want to work with farmers for the betterment of all our lives, and our climate and biodiversity, and to sustain the future for the family farm, Irish agriculture and the rural way of life, Blaithin Gallagher concluded.
Fianna Fail, the party leading polls ahead of Saturday's Irish election, would retain state-imposed curbs on bankers pay and bonuses if elected, the favourite to become Ireland's next finance minister told Reuters on Monday.

Ireland capped executive pay at 500,000 euros a year during the euro zone's costliest banking rescue a decade ago. It also banned all forms of variable pay and fringe benefits for even junior bank staff, restrictions lenders complain impedes them in attracting and retaining talent.

Fianna Fail finance spokesman Michael McGrath said banks had to fully deal with a years-long mortgage overcharging scandal and parliament introduce laws to make senior bankers accountable for such failings before he would consider the matter.

"It would be indefensible to lift caps and enable huge bonuses at a time when the banks are being investigated for misbehaviour," said the 43-year-old accountant, who is seeking re-election in the southern city of Cork.

"We have had a history in the Irish banking system whereby bonuses were paid on the back of lending volume -- much of it was inappropriate lending that never should have taken place. We have been badly burned and I think we have to tread very carefully."

McGrath said he would examine how Ireland's banks avail of corporation tax loss relief if he became finance minister but would not make any changes that would leave the state worse off by impacting the majority state-owned lenders' capital or value.

He said he would retain the 150 million euro annual levy paid by the banks at the current level.

McGrath, the main opposition finance spokesman in parliament since 2011, could be taking over the top job while new global rules are finalised into how multinational firms pay corporate tax -- a direct threat to Ireland's low 12.5% rate that has helped attract some of the world's biggest companies.

Like the current government, Fianna Fail would strongly oppose an EU-wide tax on big internet firms in favour of the global reforms being sought by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

"We believe that fair tax competition needs to be protected and that's our bottom line going into any discussions. There is a veto at EU level, we would uphold that and not allow Ireland's corporate tax rate or regime be decided at EU level," he said.

"I believe that retaining a corporate tax advantage is imperative for Ireland. It is not the only reason why we have close to a quarter of a million people directly employed by multinationals but tax has been central to our success and to say otherwise would be misleading."

McGrath's party, which shares similar policies on Brexit and the economy with the ruling Fine Gael, has led in every opinion poll this year. It hopes to form a coalition with smaller parties but not surging Irish nationalists Sinn Fein, whom it refuses to govern with.

Most analysts say another "confidence and supply" minority government deal with Fine Gael, this time with Fianna Fail leading, is the most likely outcome. McGrath fears such an arrangement would struggle "to stand the test of time."

"On the current poll figures (forming a government) would be a challenge, for everyone," he said. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
The information on the case is the evidence of the pretrial investigation

The details of the extradition from Bulgaria of Oleksiy Levin, the suspect in the organization of attack on Kherson activist Kateryna Handziuk, will be concealed, as Ukrainian News reported citing the Prosecutor Generals Office.

The department specified that the suspect was on the international wanted list. He was detained on January 24 in Bulgaria. Later, Burgas court arrested him for 40 days. Information, which concerns his extradition from Bulgaria to Ukraine, cannot be disclosed as it contains the evidence of the pretrial investigation.

Levin was detained in Europe in August 2019, questioned on the polygraph and released. The Security Service of Ukraine could file the request on his extradition but did not do it.

On November 4, 2018, it became known that Kateryna Handziuk died at the age of 34. She was doused with sulphuric acid in July this year. According to preliminary information, her death was caused by blood clot's detachment.

Besides, the doctors specified the cause of death; it was due to multiple organ failure and chemical burns.
Pilot of helicopter that crashed heralded for 'miracle' landing

The crew of a Hagerstown-based helicopter and the juvenile patient they picked up in Chambersburg, Pa., are OK after a crash near Philadelphia.
A large amount of undeclared gold was recovered and seized by customs department after officials intercepted two passengers at the Chennai airport on Monday.

The duo, both in their early twenties, were carrying 663g gold valued at Rs. 28 lakhs and had arrived in Chennai from Thiruvananthapuram.

According to Commissioner of Customs, Chennai International Airport- "On Monday Ahamed Saleeq (22) and Shreejith (23) from Kasargod arrived from Thiruvananthapuram by Air India flight. Both were intercepted at the exit. On personal search, two bundles of gold in paste form were recovered from the shoes of Ahamed Saleeq and three bundles from Shreejith."

The recovered gold was seised under Customs Act, 1962.

Later in the afternoon, one Malaysian lady Raja Saluja Nagarajan (37) arrived from Singapore by an Indigo airline flight and was intercepted.

On search 4 semi-finished crude gold chains totally weighing 396 gms and valued at Rs. 16.71 lakhs were recovered and seized under Customs Act, 1962.

Further investigation is under progress.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Though they are still combating a ton of rumors about their new lives, including alleged endorsement deals and reality shows, things are looking up for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Two days after returning to the U.K. following a lengthy hiatus over the holiday season in late 2019, the duo announced they would be stepping down as working members of the British royal family.

Though the Duke of Sussex has endured the press and the British public since the day he was born, the disdain for his mixed-race American wife, proved to be too much for their of them to handle.

The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly, Prince Harry revealed in a speech.It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I havent always got it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option.

Though the Sussexes are currently living in Canada, they are looking to move to Los Angeles in the summer. But, not everyone is advising them to make the move.

Meghan Markle is going back to her Hollywood roots

You shouldnt expect to see Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on any fictional dramas again, but she is dipping her toe back into Hollywood. In fact, shes already signed a voice-over deal with Disney  with her paycheck being donated to Elephants Without Borders.

Meghan is actively looking for representation. She has begun outreach, a source tells Us Weekly. It can be a manager or an agent, but shes reaching out to people to find someone to represent her for future professional projects.[Meghan] has no plans to do another show like Suits, but Harrys been encouraging her to do more voice-over work, writing, producing and directing in her free time.

The duchess is thrilled with the freedom of her new non-royal life. Meghan is so happy, an insider explained to US Weekly, She doesnt come from millions. Shes worked hard to get to where she is today. Meghan loves the idea of being the breadwinner. She has no plans to do another show like Suits, but Harrys been encouraging her to do more voice-over work, writing, producing and directing in her free time. As for Prince Harry, Hes really excited about the next chapter in their lives.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are looking for a home in Los Angeles

In order to dive into her passions and begin making some money, Markle is going to need to be in the center of it all  her hometown of Los Angeles. Though we dont think she and the prince want to live in L.A. full time, they are planning to hit up Hollywood this summer as they become financially independent.

They have started to look at homes online and are in the process of interviewing security teams, a source close to the Sussexes told E! News. They are getting their ducks in a row and seeing if its logistically possible. Theyve reached out to people in L.A. and would like to assemble a team of locals. Meghan would like to be able to do meetings at the house and also be able to host friends and entertain. Those are two things that are important to her.

This is why Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are being told not to move to Los Angeles

Though L.A. might seem like a good idea for the Sussexes in theory  the security issues and traffic would make it a nightmare for the entire city. Look, Im done beating around the bush about this, ok? royal commentator Justin Sylvester told Express. First of all, the traffic here is going to be a mess. Dont come here, we love you. We love an interracial couple here but please dont come here.

Sylvester also thinks the move to LA might be even more damaging to Markles image with the Brits. Meghan didnt want people to think that she was as crafty as saying, Im going to take this man from here and go straight to LA and try to run this business and get that money,' he said. I am all about her living her best life and doing her thing. I just cant handle the traffic right now.
The EU's agriculture policy is set for radical change under its new Green Deal.

The bloc's flagship project aims to make the continent carbon-neutral by 2050 and comes amid overwhelming support from Europeans who see irreversible climate change as the biggest challenge they are facing, more so than terrorism, poor healthcare or unemployment.

And new leaked proposals for the agriculture sector under the plan could see a radical reshaping of farming across Europe.

Among the proposals seen by the Farming Independent is a plan to reduce the use of fertilisers across the EU, if necessary by introducing new laws.

Tillage farmers will be concerned by a proposal to reduce dependency on pesticides and stimulate the take-up of low-risk pesticides and non-chemical alternatives.

Fears have been raised over the future of live exports under the Green Deal, with a new proposal to evaluate the existing animal welfare legislation and, in the meantime, boost enforcement of existing legislation.

The Green Deal is also set to have a major impact on the next CAP reform by ensuring that national strategic plans adhere to a concerted and ambitious approach to sustainability.

Concerns have also been raised over the proposals to set as a requirement origin labelling for milk and for milk and meat as an ingredient on food products which could impact negatively on exporting countries such as Ireland.

Conor Mulvihill of Dairy Industry Ireland warned that such a move could lead to huge issues post-Brexit, with complications regarding the origin of Irish dairy products with Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland milk. Almost a billion litres of Northern Irish milk is processed in the South annually.

"Often the motivation of these compulsory origin labels is food nationalism, and to exclude or devalue milk from exporters like Ireland. Remember Ireland exports over 90pc of dairy and meat production," Mulvihill said.

Commenting on the Draft Action Plan, ICMSA president Pat McCormack said that yet again the policy-makers have adopted a very narrow definition of sustainability and ignored the economic and social elements of that concept. "Even under the headings where you would expect to see something, such as 'Support primary producers in the transition', there's not a word about a sustainable price for the primary producer," he said. "It's obvious to anyone who looks closely at the way that our food production and supply systems interact with the new climate realities - the changes in food production compelled by climate change must mean the end of the era of cheap food, and it will mean wresting back control of the food-supply chain from corporate retailers.

"That's going to be the starting point for any meaningful reform of farming and food-supply and this 'Farm To Fork' Draft Action Plan is not just quiet but utterly silent on this fundamental."
Policequestioned some children and staff of a school here yet again onTuesday in connection with the sedition case registered against themanagement and staff following staging of a drama allegedly portraying Prime Minister Narendra Modi in poor light over the CAA and NRC.

"This was the fifth time police have come here. As usual theycame and questioned the children and staff," said a source atthe Shaheen School.

School Headmistress, Fareeda Begum and Nazbunnisa, the mother of a nine-year-old girl, who took part in the play, have already been arrested in connection with the case.

While both have been remanded to judicial custody, the child, according to sources, is traumatised.

"The landlord of the house where Nazbunnisa stayed as atenant is taking care of the child. She is traumatised," a school official said.

According to sources, the police came in for criticism from some quarters for questioning thechildren in uniform on January 28, two days after theyregistered a sedition case against the school and a person who had posted thevideo on his Facebook page.

A school official said "In the morning, three policepersonnel in plainclothes came with two members of the Karnataka State ChildRights Protection Commission. Later, the deputy superintendentof police H Basaveshwara joined them.

When contacted, Basaveshwara refused to comment, sayinghe was still investigating the case.

The police have been reportedly questioning the children and staffabout those who wrote the script and assigned to deliverspecific dialogues.

Meanwhile in Bengaluru, Congress MLA and former ministerU T Khader slammed the BJP government in the state as well asthe Centre for "filing sedition charges against people."



Addressing a press conference, he alleged that the Central and state governments were trying to suppress the voice of people in the country using law enforcement agencies.

Khader claimed that the two women who "depicted theproblems they were facing" in the drama were booked under thesedition law.

During investigation, the children were forced to sit atthe police station, he alleged.

The drama was staged by students of fourth, fifth and sixth standard on January 21.

The sedition case was booked based on a complaint from social worker Neelesh Rakshyal.

The complainant has alleged the school authorities 'used' the students to perform a drama where they "abused" Modi in the context of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.

The management tried to create 'fear' among the Muslims that they would have to leave the country if the CAA and NRC were implemented, Rakshyal had charged.

The play uploaded on social media had gone viral.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"Let me begin by stating that I imagine, have a strong feeling, that at some point the results will be announced," Sanders said to cheering supporters Monday night. "And when those results are announced I have a good feeling we're going to be doing very, very well in Iowa."

Data released late Monday by Sen. Bernie Sanders reflected 40% of precincts and appeared to show Buttigieg in second place, with about 26% share of state delegate equivalents, compared with about 29% for Sanders.

"So, we don't know all the results," Buttigieg told hundreds of supporters at a rally in Des Moines. "But, we know, by the time it is all said and done, Iowa you have shocked the nation. Because, by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious."

Democratic hopeful Pete Buttigieg declared victory in the Iowa caucuses early Tuesday, despite a botched election process that delayed the release of the state's results.

Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont and 2020 presidential candidate, arrives to speak with his wife Jane Sanders during a caucus night watch party in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020.

The confusion was caused by a lack of official results in Monday's caucuses, the nation's first contest in the 2020 presidential race. The Iowa Democratic Party said late Monday that officials had found "inconsistencies" in the voting data and attributed the problem to a "reporting issue." The party said it had the underlying data and "will simply take time to further report the results."

In a statement early Tuesday, party Chairman Troy Price said the results were being verified manually and will be released later in the day.

In addition to Buttigieg and Sanders, other candidates including Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota projected confidence in their election night speeches, though Buttigieg went the furthest in predicting his own success.

A Buttigieg campaign aide told CNBC that data provided by 77% of the campaign's precinct captains showed Buttigieg in the lead. The campaign aide said that internal projections prior to the caucus suggested that the race would be a tie, but that the internal numbers so far showed Buttigieg performing 8 percentage points better than expected, enough to win first place.

Buttigieg told MSNBC on Tuesday that while official results have not been released, his campaign felt license to call it. "Unlike a primary where there's a secret ballot, this is folks standing in a room for all to see with their neighbors right there, with the press right there and with our own observers right there so it makes it possible for us to get a very clear sense of just how extraordinary a night it is," he said.

Officials working for other campaigns said that the data suggested a tight race, in line with polling conducted ahead of the caucus.

A data set released by the Sanders campaign, based on the results from 40% of Iowa precincts, showed the Vermont senator in the lead, followed by Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former Vice President Joe Biden. It showed Warren receiving about 18% share of state delegate equivalents and Biden receiving about 15%.

Roger Lau, Warren's campaign manager, told reporters only that according to the campaign's internal data it was a tight race between Warren, Buttigieg and Sanders. Biden lagged in fourth place, Lau said.

Klobuchar's campain manager, Justin Buoen, wrote in a post on Twitter that, based on internal numbers and public data, Klobuchar was tied with or ahead of Biden.

Buoen tweet

According to the Sanders data, Klobuchar was in fifth place, with about 11% share of state delegate equivalents.

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Campaign manager Greg Schultz tweeted a statement that said the campaign's model showed that the former vice president "overperformed in key districts we needed to be competitive in."

TWEET

The campaign's general counsel, Dana Remus, issued a letter to Iowa Democratic Party officials on Monday calling for "full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are released."

A strong showing for any of the candidates in Iowa could provide a boost as they turn their attention to New Hampshire, which hosts its primary on Feb. 11.

A weak showing could be particularly damaging to Biden, who is seen as the race's front-runner and leads in national polls. Biden's edge over Sanders in national polling has declined in recent weeks.

CNBC's Yelena Dzhanova contributed to this report.
Buckling to popular and US pressure, the main Syrian Kurdish opposition umbrella group known as the Kurdish National Council (KNC) has agreed to reopen its offices in northeastern Syria. The move is intended to pave the way for Kurdish unity in future negotiations with the Syrian regime.

The group has historically been at odds with the left-leaning Democratic Union Party (PYD) that leads the US-protected autonomous administration in northeastern Syria. The KNC has long charged that it was barred from operating freely in the Kurdish-majority region with many of its officials either jailed or disappeared.

Mazlum Kobane, the top commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), hailed Sundays decision as an important confidence-building step. The charismatic commander has been at the forefront of the reconciliation drive. He told Al-Monitor recently that all the Syrian Kurdish parties need to be represented in talks with the regime.

Why it matters: A thaw is important for several reasons, among them blunting popular resentment over the Syria Kurdish parties continued squabbles at a time when the northeast has been attacked and invaded by Turkey.

Any expansion of the Syrian Kurdish opposition blending the KNC with the PYD would help the former shed its image of being a Turkish pawn. Similarly, it would help the PYD dilute its own image as the local franchise of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Ankara has used the PYDs links to the PKK to pressure foreign governments to shun political ties with it.

Syrian Kurdish unity potentially allows the United States to create an opening for the PYD in UN-facilitated constitutional committee talks in Geneva. KNC officials have attended the latter as part of the Turkish-backed Syrian opposition. The PYD has been left out so far because of Turkey.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) wing of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraqi Kurdistan played a key role in bringing the sides to the table. Additionally, Kobane sees detente with the KNC as a means of building friendship with the KDP, whose continued cooperation is critical to the landlocked autonomous administrations security and economic well-being.

Whats next: KNC officials say no date has been set as yet for reopening their offices.

Meanwhile, Turkeys divide-and-weaken strategy militates against reconciliation between the rival Syrian Kurdish groups. It remains unclear if and how Turkey will retaliate. For now, Ankara is too distracted by the unfolding tragedy in Idlib and its new military adventures in Libya. Both have strained its recently flourishing ties with Russia. Rising tensions between Ankara and Moscow may have lubricated Russias own efforts to court the Syrian Kurds and push for their unity.

Meanwhile, KNC sources caution that while they dont doubt Kobanes sincerity, the PYD's has yet to be tested.

Another potential pitfall is a difference in approach. The KNC advocates for ethnic rights for the Kurds in the Kurdish-dominated areas. The PYD is pushing radical communalism  with power notionally flowing from the bottom up  for all ethnic and religious groups living in the broader northeast, including Arab-majority parts currently under SDF control.

Know more: For more background on the dynamics of Syrian Kurdish unity talks, read Amberin Zamans analysis and her exclusive interview with Kobane.
Chinese men all wear protective masks as they play mahjong at a park in Beijing, China on Jan. 31, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Chinese Media Personality Explains Why Chinese Regimes Censorship Has Worsened Coronavirus Crisis

As the coronavirus outbreak reaches a crisis point, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has ramped up its monitoring and censorship of the internet to delete unsanctioned posts.

50 Days of the Wuhan Outbreak: Chinese People Are Suffering from the Death of Media was one such article shared on WeChat, Chinas most popular social media platform. It was soon deleted by CCP censors.

Chen Jibing, a renowned media professional and chief editor of the Shanghai Business Daily opinion section, authored the article.

Below are some excerpts from the article posted on Jan. 27:

Jan. 20, the Watershed Moment

Having worked with the press as a media person for nearly 30 years, I am concerned about the medias role in this outbreak that has suddenly swept China.

Throughout the news medias responses to the outbreak about the coronavirus, Jan. 20 was undoubtedly a distinct watershed moment.

Prior to Jan. 20, reports on the coronavirus mainly came from local official media in Wuhan [where the virus first broke out] and Hubei [Province, where Wuhan is the capital]. The key point of most reports could be summarized in one sentence: the virus was mildly dangerous and controllable. For instance, some experts asserted that this new virus could not be transmitted from person to person.

During that period, eight Wuhan citizens received warnings from the police for starting rumors [about the virus] on social media. Although the first patient appeared as early as on Dec. 8, 2019, apparently over the following 40 days, the news media did nothing more than to pacify their audience.

The atmosphere was peaceful even in Wuhan, let alone in other parts of China.

But after Jan. 20, the situation took a drastic turn.

In a span of 3 to 4 days, the situation escalated to large-scale infections. Wuhan announced a lockdown, sought assistance from many major provinces and cities across the country, and initiated a first-level response as a major public health emergency.

Since Jan. 20, the news medias engagement has entered what I call the second phase. The salient features of this stage, to use words commonly used by the government: the main battlefield of public opinion shifted beyond Wuhan and Hubei Province, and the voices of local official media were submerged by a series of stories from the more powerful national media outlets.

As I expected, however, the other key point of media reports at this stage was to show determination and eulogize good people and good deeds. In short, since Jan. 20, the main tone of Chinese media has changed from pacifying to encouraging and moving its audience.

The media responded differently before and after Jan. 20, but one thing remains in common: they basically did not do what qualified news media should have done.

Medical Staff Silenced and Journalists Arrested

The afternoon before Chinese New Years Eve (Jan. 24), Wang Heyan, a reporter for Caixin, a Chinese privately-owned media, stated in a post on Wechat that he and his colleagues managed to contact several doctors at a Wuhan hospital in order to verify infections among medical staff. However, they were informed that, by order of Chinas CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), medical personnel are not allowed to talk to media about the outbreaknot even with the reporters promise of anonymity.

That same afternoon, another reporter disclosed that he passed the Huanan Seafood Market, the supposed source of the virus, to take a picture. Four security guards immediately arrived and demanded that he delete the photos. Some even grabbed his phone and said, Yesterday a Japanese reporter came to take pictures but was arrested and sent to the police station.

On the same day, a senior journalist from a Hubei newspaper was also punished for disclosing information on WeChat.

The price of this kind of silencing policy was that more and more social conflicts would accumulate and finally break out in a major crisis such as this. More seriously, this policy not only failed to stabilize society but instead stoked more panic. When the truth was finally unveiled and everything broke out, irreversibly painful consequences have occurred.

The Death of Truthful News

Almost two years ago around this time of year, I published an article titled, The Real News Is Dying, But Whats More Frightening Is That Nobody Cares. I have lamented the extent to which todays news media has declined in their ability to report on important events of major public interest.

I wrote with strong anxiety at the time: With the kind of public sentiment today, if we really have to face something like SARS [outbreak in 2002 to 2003] again, the consequences would simply be too horrible to contemplate.

Unfortunately, it happened in less than two years.

My mentality is still the same as it was two years ago. I would not accuse anyone of dereliction of duty. I have no ambition or aspiration to provide a solution for the current situation. However, I believe that when we see danger, we should always point it out. Only when more people pay attention to it and participate in discussions about it, can there be a glimmer of hope.

That article had received more than 1 million views on WeChat, underscoring readers concerns about this ongoing issue. This is at least a comfort to me because it means there is still hope.
Beijing, February 2: China on Sunday banned funerals, burials and farewell ceremonies for the victims of the novel coronavirus in an effort to control the outbreak as the death toll rose to 304 in the country. The bodies should be cremated at designated funeral homes near their location, they cannot be transported between regions and cannot be preserved by burial or other means, said the trial guidelines issued by the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security.

Funeral traditions such as farewell ceremonies are prohibited and bodies must be disinfected and placed by medical workers into a sealed bag, which thereafter cannot be opened, reports Efe news. Suspected Case of Coronavirus From Ajmer Admitted in Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital.

Funeral homes must also send personnel and special vehicles to deliver the bodies according to the designated route, the guidelines said. Also on Sunday, the Philippines registered the first death outside of China - a 44-year-old Chinese man who had travelled from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Among the China cases confirmed, 444 people are in critical condition while 1,118 are in serious condition, but 85 people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the number of people who have recovered to 328. There remains a total of 19,544 suspected cases in the country.

Although more than 99 per cent of the cases are in China, the virus has spread to at least 23 countries and the World Health Organization has declared an international emergency in the face of the rapid spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, the Chinese government has also reported a significant outbreak of H5N1 bird flu on a farm in Hunan province, bordering Hubei.

In the outbreak on a farm in Shuangqing district of Shaoyang citye, 4,500 chickens have died out of 7,850, according to a statement released on Saturday night by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Local authorities have slaughtered 17,828 poultry after the outbreak, which at the moment has not infected people.

The H5N1 virus causes severe respiratory disease in birds and is contagious to humans, usually who have had prolonged contact with infected birds. According to the World Health Organization, it is possible, but difficult and unusual, to transmit from person to person. Bird flu has a high mortality rate of 60 per cent, compared to that of SARS (another coronavirus, with 10 per cent) or the new coronavirus (so far, about 2 per cent).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 02, 2020 03:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Burma Myanmars Arakan Liberation Party Seeks to Hold Rakhine National-Level Dialogue

Members of the Arakan Liberation Party and its armed wing, the Arakan Liberation Army, pose for a photo at an event in October 2016. / Arakan Liberation Party / Facebook

CHIANG MAI, ThailandThe Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), a Rakhine armed group, has asked the government to allow Rakhine people to hold a national-level political dialogue prior to the upcoming Union Peace Conference. If permitted, the public consultationsto be held in Rakhine and Yangonwould allow Rakhine people to contribute their views on what shape a future federal union should take, as Naypyitaw engages in political negotiations with the countrys ethnic armed organizations.

Active since 1967, the ALP is one of the ethnic armed groups claiming to fight for equality and freedom from oppression in Rakhine. It joined peace negotiations in 2012, signing a bilateral ceasefire in April that year. In October 2015 the ALP signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the government, and is now one of 10 ethnic armed groups to have done so. Only the NCA signatories are entitled to hold political dialogues.

All 10 of these EAOs have requested permission to hold political dialogues in their respective regions. So far the government has yet to officially reply, as the decision can only be made at meetings of the secretariat of the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC). The next is expected to happen later this month.

The ALP has been pushing unsuccessfully to convene a Rakhine national-level political dialogue since 2017. The government has rejected its requests, citing instability due to the communal conflicts in the region, according to Daw Saw Mra Yar Zar Lin, the deputy head of the ALPs peace negotiation team.

The ALP seeks to hold the dialogue in southern Rakhine States Thandwe and in Yangon. It made the proposal during a two-day meeting between the 10 ethnic armed groups negotiation team and government negotiators from the National Reconciliation and Peace Center in Yangon on Feb. 2-3.

We propose two locations for these dialogues, in Thandwe as well as in Yangon, because we have many ethnic Rakhine in Yangon too, she told The Irrawaddy on Monday, adding that it has proposed that the dialogue be held next month.

We believe that the national-level political dialogue will help to achieve national reconciliation, she said, adding that dialogue and related public consultations are integral to the peace process.

Neither the ALP nor the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), another NCA signatory, were able to hold ethnicity-based national-level political dialogues (NDs) in 2017 or 2018, while others, including the Karen National Union, were able to do so.

In 2019, Myanmars formal peace negotiations stalled. Formal talks recommenced only a month ago, with an agreement to resume the 21st-Century Panglong Union Peace Conference in April.

Sai Ngern, the head of the EAOs negotiation team on the political dialogue framework and a secretary of the RCSS, insisted last month that every NCA signatory is entitled to organize a national-level political dialogue before the peace summit.

The RCSS plans to convene its Shan national-level political dialogue in late March, having resolved a disagreement over the location.

Sai Ngern is currently leading the 10 EAOs negotiation team in discussions with the government on finding ways to move the peace process forward.

The Feb. 2-3 meeting between the representatives of the government led by Union Attorney-General U Tun Tun Oo, the vice chairman of the NRPC and the 10-EAO negotiation team at the Yangons NRPC office focused on preparations for formulating the implementation of eight points agreed at last months joint ceasefire implementation talks.

On Jan. 8 in Naypyitaw, the negotiators discussed how they would implement all of the Joint Implementation Coordination Meetings decisions, which cover eight points including the need for stronger ceasefires, convening the fourth session of the UPC, and continuing the peace process beyond the 2020 general elections, according to government spokesman U Zaw Htay.

He emphasized at a press briefing after Mondays meeting that the participants agreed during the two-day talks to hold further negotiations to establish a stronger ceasefire and implement interim arrangements as outlined in chapters 3, 4 and 6 of the NCA text; a framework on the NCAs implementation beyond 2020; and a common understanding of the NCAs terms and definitions.

Both sides agreed to meet again on Feb. 16.

The decision on whether the ALP will be allowed to hold a national-level political dialogue will have to wait until after the next round of talks between the EAOs and the governments negotiation teams on Feb. 16.

The ALPs inability to convene an ND has damaged Rakhine peoples confidence in partys political negotiation process; many believe this has been a push factor boosting support for the Arakan Army, which is currently engaged in active military conflict with Myanmars armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw.

Militarily strong, the AA has gained widespread support from the local community since it launched coordinated attacks against security outposts in January last year. It has continued to fight against the Tatmadaw in what it says is an effort to reclaim the sovereignty of ethnic Rakhine people.

Daw Saw Mra Yar Zar Lin added that the ALP hopes the government will change its thinking and allow the party to convene a dialogue this time.
The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India has been increasing on an annual basis and was at USD 34.90 billion till November of this fiscal, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

The FDI stood at USD 62 billion in the full 2018-19 fiscal, while at USD 60.90 billion in 2017-18 and USD 60.22 billion during 2016-17, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said while placing the data in Rajya Sabha.

Speaking during the Question Hour, he said in spite of a global contraction in FDI inflows, FDI into India have significantly improved over the past decade to USD 62 billion, which accounts for 2.37 per cent of GDP in 2018-19 fiscal.

The success of various initiatives is reflected in the increased inflow of FDI and increase in Gross Fixed Capital formation, he said, adding that several measures taken by the government will further boost FDI in all sectors.

The investors confidence has gone up after the government took measures to improve ease of doing business, comprehensive reforms in the FDI policy and introduction of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 among others, he said.

As per the World Investment Report (WIR), 2019, India rose from twenty fifth position in 2018 and featured at ninth place with FDI contribution of 3.23 per cent, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A ll the main candidates for mayor of London today promised to publish their tax returns after being challenged to be transparent by Sadiq Khan.

Labour mayor Mr Khan today published a breakdown of his income and tax contributions in the first three years since he took office.

This revealed he has paid more than 150,000 in income tax since becoming mayor in May 2016 and had no outside earnings in addition to his City Hall salary.

He promised to publish details of the current financial year at a later date.

This afternoon the independent candidate Rory Stewart responded by publishing his return for the 2018/19 tax year.

Sadiq Khan has published a breakdown of his income and tax contributions in the first three years since he took office / REUTERS

This showed an income of 113,493, made up of 85,329 in salary as an MP and Tory minister, 6,505 from writing and speaking and 21,659 in rental income. He paid a total of 36,430 in tax.

However the figures provided by Mr Stewart did not appear to add up. His breakdown said his total income tax due was 36,430  but only listed tax payments totalling 34,403  a gap of 2,027.

After the error was pointed out by the Evening Standard, Mr Stewart tweeted a new tax breakdown that increased the tax he paid on his political jobs by the missing 2,027 - to a total of 25,165.

According to Mr Khans tax returns, he earned 149,740 in 2018/19, on which he paid 52,996 income tax and 6,620 in National Insurance (NI).

In 2017/18, he earned 146,804 and paid 52,021 tax and 6,457 in NI.

In 2016/17, he earned 130,112 as Mayor - having been elected after the start of the financial year - and 7,464 as MP for Tooting. He paid 48,630 in tax and 6,126 in NI.

He stood down from Parliament on being elected mayor. The figures have been verified by Mr Khans accountant.

Lib-Dem candidate Siobhan Benita, who gave up her university administrators job to run for mayor, vowed to publish her tax details. She said she would use part of her salary to fund a Young Mayor of London if elected.

She said Mr Khans openness about his personal finances contrasted with an alleged lack of detail about some aspects of City Hall spending.

Londoners are still in the dark about his role in the millions of pounds being wasted every day by the delay to Crossrail, she claimed.

Tory candidate Shaun Bailey, a member of the London Assembly, said: I welcome the Mayors announcement and will be releasing my tax returns in due course.

Green candidate Sian Berry, also an assembly member and a councillor in Camden, tweeted: Happy to share my return but it just has my salaries and PAYE taxes on it, which are already publicly declared on my councillor and AM [Assembly member] webpages.

The run-up to the 2016 election included a row over personal finances. Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith, a former non-dom, revealed he had earned more than 10m in income and capital gains since becoming an MP in 2010 and had paid 4.5m in tax.

Earlier today Labour MP Karen Buck, chairwoman of Mr Khans re-election campaign, had called on other mayoral candidates to show they have nothing to hide.
Police have issued a warning after ecstasy and fentanyl resembling candy were discovered in a Tennessee street.



A Millersville resident came across the holiday season-themed Hershey's Kisses box that contained drugs shaped like Hello Kitty.

The City of Millersville Police Department has appealed for help from the public to locate Jesseka Sereniti Story, 22, who is wanted for questioning over the incident.

The fentanyl and ecstasy pills were shaped like Hello Kitty, a cartoon character popular with children

The drugs were found inside a Hershey's Kisses candy box

Officers revealed photos of the 'candies' in the shape of the cartoon character popular with children.

Police said the box was found in the middle of a road on Monday in a local neighborhood of the city, sparking fears it could have been picked up by a child if it had not been handed to officers.

Parents were told to warn their children of the dangers of taking items off the streets.

Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is a psychoactive schedule 1 drug that is chemically similar to stimulants and hallucinogens.

Jesseka Sereniti Story, 22, is wanted for questioning

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be up to 50 times stronger than heroine and 100 times stronger than morphine.

America's opioid addiction crisis has been fueled by deadly manufactured drugs like fentanyl.

Officers urged parents to be vigilant as they released a warning.

The police department said: 'Today a citizen discovered a candy box in the middle of the road in a local neighborhood off of Bethel Road.

'The candy box contained ecstasy and fentanyl that was shaped like Hello Kitty candies.

'Parents please remind your kids the dangers of picking stuff up off the streets.'

Assistant Chief Dustin Carr told News4 that the incident was the first case of its kind in Millersville.

'There's obviously kids in the area that could've found it and it could've been very bad,' Mr Carr said.

The drugs, which are believed to be worth around $400, are being tested at the TBI.

Millersville police have appealed for local residents to review any security cam for unusual activity.
Kolkata, Feb 4 : The students of Presidency University confined the Vice Chancellor and other officials to their rooms for over 28 hours in two stretches till Tuesday night, pressing for a host of demands including reopening of the entire Hindu Hostel and resignation of its superintendent.

The gherao or siege outside Vice Chancellor Anuradha Lohia's room started at around 1 p.m. on Monday with protesting students staging a sit-in opposing the sacking of some mess staff and seeking the formation of a hostel welfare committee and an increase in male staff at the hostel.

The Vice Chancellor and the other officials, however, left the campus through a different door at 5.45 a.m. on Tuesday, eluding the protesters.

But when Lohia came back to the university at around 3 p.m., the students resumed the sit-in.

Displaying posters and banners highlighting their demands, the students raised slogans of "Azadi" as Lohia, the registrar and a number of other professors and officials remained confined through the night.

One of the protesters alleged that some girl students were not allowed to enter the campus on the day of Saraswati Puja and sought an apology from the authorities.

The Hindu Hostel was shut down for repair work in July 2015, and around 150 boarders were shifted to a rented accommodation in New Town, which is quite far from the university. The administration failed in meeting several deadlines for completing the work.

Some of the floors were opened since 2018, but the students have been demanding three more wards should be opened for them.

Lohia did not make any comment, but state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee criticised the students for confining the Vice Chancellor and other officials.

"This politics of gherao or confining the officials to realise every demand is not proper. I would urge the students to reconsider their approach. These issues can be sorted out through dialogue," said Chatterjee.
BJP member Locket Chatterjee on Tuesday alleged in Lok Sabha that the West Bengal government is not allowing people to celebrate Saraswati Puja in the state.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, she accused chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of following the politics of appeasement.

She also ternmed the anti-CAA protest as politics of appeasement.

"There is such a situation in West Bengal that people are not being allowed to celebrate Saraswati Puja," she said while opposition members were protesting against the controversial remarks made by BJP MP Anant Kumar Hegde on Mahatma Gandhi.

Jayadev Galla (TDP) raised the issue of lathicharge on people protesting against the Jaganmohan Reddy government's move to pass the AP Decentralisation Bill to have 3 capital cities in Andhra Pradesh.

Two BJP members from Rajasthan raised the issue of locust attack in farm fields in the state.

Nihal Chand said 12 districts are heavily affected due to this attack.

Rahul Kaswan (BJP) said that the network of locust is increasing at a fast pace and the Centre should send a high- level team to take steps.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BIGG Digital Assets Inc. ("BIGG" or the "Company")(CSE: BIGG; OTCQB: BBKCF; WKN: A2PS9W), owner of Blockchain Intelligence Group (BIG), a leading developer of Blockchain technology search, risk-scoring and data analytics solutions, is pleased to announce that it now has the ability to track and monitor ERC-20 tokens within its compliance and investigative tools, QLUETM and BitRank.



Year over year the cryptocurrency market is generating a greater number of ERC-20 (Ethereum Request for Comment) tokens for specific uses based on the Ethereum contracting abilities. There are over two hundred and forty-one thousand (241,000) ERC-20 token contracts on the market today, according to etherscan.io, with a substantial portion of these ERC-20 token contracts in use.

In addition to the new ERC-20 functionality, BIGs Compliance Suite (QLUETM and BitRank) is now mobile-friendly, allowing enhanced ease of use by field investigators.

Correction to News Release

In the news release disseminated earlier today, February 4, 2020, titled BIGG Digital Assets Inc. subsidiary Blockchain Intelligence Group Signs CAD~$715,000 Contract with United States Federal Government Agency, the Company incorrectly stated that BIG will receive payment upfront for the full value of the contract, adding to our cash reserves. The payment terms should have read BIG will receive payment via 5 equal annual tranches, adding to our cash reserves.

On behalf of the Board,

Lance Morginn

President / Director

lance@blockchaingroup.io

T:+1.778.819.8702

About BIGG Digital Assets Inc.

BIGG Digital Assets Inc. (BIGG) believes the future of crypto is a safe, compliant, and regulated environment. BIGG invests in products and companies to support this vision. BIGG owns two operating companies: Blockchain Intelligence Group (blockchaingroup.io) and Netcoins (netcoins.ca).

Blockchain Intelligence Group (BIG) has developed a Blockchain-agnostic search and analytics engine, QLUETM, enabling Law Enforcement, RegTech, Regulators and Government Agencies to visually track, trace and monitor cryptocurrency transactions at a forensic level. Our commercial product, BitRank Verified, offers a risk score for cryptocurrencies, enabling RegTech, banks, ATMs, exchanges, and retailers to meet traditional regulatory/compliance requirements.

Netcoins develops brokerage and exchange software to make the purchase and sale of cryptocurrency easily accessible to the mass consumer and investor with a focus on compliance and safety. Netcoins utilizes BitRank Verified software at the heart of its platform and enables crypto transactions via retail locations globally, a self-serve crypto brokerage portal and an Over-The-Counter (OTC) trading desk.

BIGG Investor Relations

Renmark Financial Communications Inc.

Nathanael Niedermann: nniedermann@renmarkfinancial.com

Tel: (416) 644-2020 or (212) 812-7680

www.renmarkfinancial.com

For more information and to register to BIGGs mailing list, please visit our website at https://www.biggdigitalassets.com . Or visit SEDAR at www.sedar.com .

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which include completion of the search technology software and other matters. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as may, expect, estimate, anticipate, intend, believe and continue or the negative thereof or similar variations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of BIGG. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because BIGG can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from BIGGs expectations include, consumer sentiment towards BIGGs products and Blockchain technology generally, technology failures, competition, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, BIGG disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, BIGG undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this Press Release.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) named WNEP - Newswatch 16's Morning Meteorologist Joe Snedeker as the 2020 National Weatherperson of the Year. Joe is beloved by his viewers in northeastern Pennsylvania for his engaging delivery of accurate weather forecasts and for his philanthropy and commitment to his community.

FLASH originated the National Weatherperson of the Year award to coincide with the celebration of National Weatherperson's Day on February 5, the birthday of the pioneering weather observer John Jeffries. After a decade of research on the ground, Jeffries piloted a hot air balloon in 1774 to test weather conditions and advance the science of meteorology. His work paved the way for many aspects of meteorology today.

"The National Weatherperson of the Year award recognizes meteorologists and weatherpersons who are dedicated to preparing the public for ordinary and catastrophic weather," said Leslie Chapman-Henderson, FLASH President & CEO. "Joe's dedication to engaging and educating his viewers as well as his extraordinary contributions to his community make him the perfect 2020 National Weatherperson of the Year. It is with great honor that we celebrate Joe's career and the continued work of all of our finalists."

What the viewers are saying:

Joe delivers the most pertinent/accurate weather forecasts with a bit of humor. His accurate reporting of dangerous weather conditions has no doubt saved many lives. Watching him every day starts my morning off with a smile. He is a self-proclaimed weather geek that loves to share his knowledge with the rest of us. He also gives back to the community every year by doing a 500-mile bike ride to raise money for Saint Joseph's Center, a place that cares for people with severe mental and physical challenges. He is an inspiration!!!!

In the short 3 minutes he's on the air you are educated, entertained and know if you need an umbrella or a snow shovel.

Joe always is ahead of the storm, gives the most accurate forecasts and has a way with calming his viewers even in the wake of tornadoes, etc. Not only does he give us the weather, he does tons for our communities. He is an amazing person on and off the screen and truly deserving of this award!

Joe Snedeker makes weather fun and interesting and has a true love and passion for his work as a meteorologist. He also teaches so that he can share his knowledge, love and passion with others. When there is a true emergency, Joe completely explains the situation. In addition to his work as a meteorologist, for 22 years he has raised funds through a 5-day 100 mile/day bike ride to support St. Joseph's Center. Joe's passion for weather, calmness during crisis, sharing of knowledge, and support for the community make him the perfect candidate for weatherperson of the year!

Joe is always a welcomed guest in our home every morning. He makes the weather fun and educational. He always explains weather patterns, highs, lows, etc. in terms everyone can understand. He is truly an exceptional meteorologist and very deserving of this award!

Past National Weatherperson of the Year Award winners include:

2014  Jim Cantore, On-Camera Meteorologist and Co-Host, "AMHQ" - The Weather Channel

2015  Max Mayfield, former National Hurricane Center Director

2016  Alex Garcia, Chief Meteorologist - KABB-TV

2017  Dr. Richard Knabb, Hurricane Expert & Tropical Program Manager - The Weather Channel

2018  Ada Monzon, Chief Meteorologist, AMS Fellow - CBM-WIPR-TV Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico 2019  James Spann , Chief Meteorologist at ABC 33/40  Birmingham, AL.

The National Weatherperson of the Year finalists and winner are selected based on public polling as well as qualitative evaluation.

About FLASH

The nonprofit Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) is the country's leading consumer advocate for strengthening homes and safeguarding families from natural and manmade disasters. The FLASH partnership includes more than 100 innovative and diverse organizations that share a vision of making America a more disaster-resilient nation including: BASF Corporation, FEMA, Florida Division of Emergency Management, Huber Engineered Woods, International Code Council, ISO - Verisk Analytics, Lowe's, National Weather Service, Portland Cement Association, Simpson Strong-Tie, State Farm, and USAA. In 2008, FLASH, and Disney opened the interactive weather experience StormStruck: A Tale of Two Homes, in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Learn more about FLASH and access free consumer resources by visiting www.flash.org, calling toll-free (877) 221- SAFE (7233), following @federalalliance on Twitter, on Facebook.com/federalalliance, and the FLASH blog  Protect Your Home in a FLASH.

SOURCE Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)

Related Links

http://www.flash.org


Poor Anne Bronte has always been the third wheel in the famous trio of sister-writers. In the introduction to my edition of her novel Agnes Grey, Anita Desai says Anne is the youngest, the palest, the most elusive and the most easily overlooked.

I couldnt understand how that had happened when I read Agnes Grey. It shows us a governess hell that far outstrips the relatively mild experiences of Jane Eyre with Adele, her adorable but spoilt little charge.

Anne, Emily and Charlotte Bronte as painted by their brother, Branwell. Credit:

Agnes student, Tom, is a vile, cruel boy, clearly destined to grow up to be a sociopath, and to get away with it because hes a privileged and overindulged male. Violence begets violence: Agnes is forced to destroy a nest of young birds because she knows Tom will torture them if she doesnt kill them first. This is much stronger stuff than weve been led to expect in past impressions of a reticent, conventional writer.

Finally, Anne is having a moment that may release her from the shadow of Charlotte and Emily. For one thing, she has just had her 200th birthday, and the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire, has been leading the last of the five-year bicentenary celebrations for perhaps the most amazing family in literature.
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI  The former Nugent Sand mining area near Lake Michigan is being eyed by Muskegon County officials for a recreational development that could include trails, fishing and kayaking.

The county is in conversations with representatives of the century-old sand mining company about acquiring its former Norton Shores mine, a 377-acre parcel located at 2925 Lincoln St., in order to transform it into a public recreational area.

The property, including a large man-made lake, is visible from Sherman Boulevard near the city of Muskegons Kruse Park.

Shoreline Development Assistance, a group that facilitates development projects of critical dune and high-risk erosion areas, and the Land Conservancy of West Michigan are also engaged in property sale talks.

It will be a long and involved process, but its an amazing property and would be a real recreational benefit to Muskegon County residents and visitors, Bob Lukens, Muskegon Countys community development director, wrote in an email to MLive.

That process, which could last for two years, will launch with a public information session at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at the Norton Shores Library, 705 Seminole Road.

The property includes both land and water, including 1,917 feet of Lake Michigan frontage and two inland lakes. It has been for sale for the last two years.

Muskegon County Administrator Mark Eisenbarth said that, pending acquisition of the property, the county would develop a master plan for recreational development. This could include trail development, directional signage, parking areas and accessible restrooms, accessible scenic overlooks, accessible kayak launches, fishing areas, and Lake Michigan or inland lake beach access, according to a press release.

This project would be financed through grant and foundation funding, as well as private donations, according to the press release. Pending public approval through public meetings, the county will pursue a grant for property acquisition through the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, according to the press release.

County general fund dollars would not be used for the purchase.

The propertys potential for development made headlines for years before the company ceased mining there two years ago.

In 2013, Castle Dunes LLC filed plans to construct a $50 million gated residential community on 200 acres of the property. A lack of financing doomed that proposal.

Previously, other residential development had been considered, but scrapped amidst environmental concerns.

A portion sits on a critical dune, and the land serves as a stopover for migrating birds.

The Nugent Sand company mined Lake Michigan dune sand for over 100 years, beginning in 1912. The two inland lakes were created by the mining company through their hydraulic mining operations. Those would be maintained as quiet lakes, with no motorized boats allowed, as proposed in the press release.

The proposal will be further discussed at a county community development meeting at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 13, at the county courthouse, 990 Terrace Street.

A required public hearing will then take place on Tuesday, March 3, at 3:30 p.m. at the countys ways and means committee meeting at the same location.

Read more:

Nugent Sand South Lake: 100 years of sand mining to be replaced by ambitious development

Nugent Sand South Lake: New developer has resurrected residential plans for Norton Shores site

Muskegon native sets sights on sand mine for future properties
[February 04, 2020] BFS Capital CEO Mark Ruddock Joins Board of Canadian Lenders Association

The Canadian Lenders Association (CLA) today announced that BFS Capital CEO Mark Ruddock has joined its Board of Directors. The appointment comes as the CLA refreshes its commitment to be the national leader advocating for innovative, safe and ethical lending practices in Canada. Ruddock was recently named one of the 2019 Top 25 Leaders in Lending, an award given by the CLA. As part of his new role, he will work with the CLA's leadership team on initiatives that support the growth of companies in Canada's lending ecosystem and benefit consumers and small businesses, including open banking, risk-based pricing and responsible lending. "The fast-growth Canadian lending marketplace and the vibrancy of Toronto as a center for tech and AI talent makes it an exciting place from which to reimagine and build the future of small business financial services. I'm honored to join the board and help the CLA shape and advance innovation, inclusive lending and public policy among the industry and with our esteemed members," said Mark Ruddock, CEO, BFS Capital. BFS Capital began issuing small business loans in Canada in 2012 and has increased its market presence with the opening of a new data science and engineering hub. This center of excellence is focused on developing mobile-first digital financial products for small businesses across the globe and creating meaningfully improved experiences for customers and partners. The hub will ultimately employ up to 50 people across echnology, data science, customer operations and digital marketing, making use of Toronto's increasingly attractive market for technology talent.



The CLA represents Canada's innovative lending community. They work to facilitate the exchange of ideas and explore ways of improving the sector, educate the public at large about innovative funding for small business owners, encourage principled and professional practices among their members, and advocate on their member's behalf. "The CLA welcomes Mark as the newest member of our board. Mark's international financial services experience across both consumer and small business lending and his commitment to best-in-class practices will be an asset to the CLA as we work to transform our industry and create more opportunity and choice for borrowers," said Gary Schwartz, President of the CLA. "Our focus this year will be on open and accessible information, innovation, interoperability, diversity and representation, and the education and promotion of the financing industry in Canada, and we look forward to Mark's contributions towards these goals."

About BFS Capital BFS Capital champions the long-term growth and prosperity of small businesses by providing timely, flexible financing solutions. BFS Capital's leading small business financing platform leverages customized underwriting and proprietary algorithms to fund businesses in the United States, Canada, and through its United Kingdom subsidiary, Boost Capital. Since 2002, BFS Capital has provided over $2.3 billion in total financing to over 24,000 small businesses across more than 400 industries. Headquartered in South Florida with offices in New York, California, the United Kingdom and Canada, BFS Capital is an accredited BBB company with an A+ rating. About the Canadian Lenders Association The CLA supports the growth of companies that are in the business of lending, or providing other means of credit, to small business and individuals using innovative means to exchange ideas and explore ways of improving the sector; encourage principled and professional practices; educate the public at large about innovative lending; encourage individual potential borrowers to be informed about the appropriateness of innovative lending to the borrowers' circumstances; and to advocate on behalf of, and represent the interests of, innovative lenders. To learn more about the CLA, please visit its websites at: www.canadianlenders.org and at www.canadianlenderssummit.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005574/en/

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The father of the Streatham terror attacker today revealed he told his son 'not to be naughty' less than 24 hours before his rampage - as he insisted he had no idea 'he had been radicalised'.

Faraz Khan said Sudesh Amman was reciting the Koran when they last spoke, a day before the attack. He told Sky News today: 'I spoke to Sudesh one day before he passed away. I didn't know he had become radicalised.

'He was reciting the Koran to me and he was translating that to me. He's never spoken to me about these kind of things.

'He would never talk to me about naughty things. I heard they found a lot of things and I saw them on the news, but I never thought he would go this far.'

Amman, 20, was shot dead by police on Sunday after grabbing a knife from a shop and attacking two bystanders in Streatham High Road, south London. A third person was injured by flying glass during the gunfire.

He had been jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents in December 2018 but was freed automatically halfway through his sentence less than a fortnight ago.

Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman is pictured as a young boy while holding a vacuum cleaner in his living room. Speaking today, his father revealed he told him to 'be a good boy' before his attack

Amman is pictured as a boy, shirtless and pulling a face while playing on the pavement (left), and in a police mugshot (right)

Yesterday the terrorist's mother revealed he asked for his favourite mutton biryani meal just hours before he was shot dead by police.

Haleema Khan, 41, of Dunstable, Bedfordshire, learned about both yesterday's attack in Streatham and her son's death from TV news, having spoken to him on the phone earlier in the day when he asked for the meal.

She described her son as a 'lovely boy' as she fought back tears today while telling MailOnline how she felt he was radicalised at HMP Belmarsh in Thamesmead, South East London.

The top-security jail has been home to a number of high-profile extremist prisoners, including Lee Rigby killers Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale.

Mrs Khan also revealed three pictures of Amman as a boy - shirtless and pulling a face while playing on the pavement; posing with a neck chain while eating with a fork; and holding a vacuum cleaner.

Before the attack, Amman had been staying at a nearby bail hostel, while under 24-hour police surveillance. Security services regarded him as an 'extremely concerning individual', a source said.

It is thought that police monitoring intensified in the days before the attack as his behaviour grew ever more concerning.

While in Belmarsh high-security prison, Amman reportedly told a fellow inmate that he wanted to murder an MP and copy the killing of Jo Cox, according to the Times.

Amman is pictured as a young boy, posing with a neck chain while eating food with a fork

Amman lived with his mother Haleema Khan and his five younger brothers at a property (pictured today) in Harrow, North West London

Forensics on Streatham High Road, where terrorist Sudesh Amman stabbed shoppers on Sunday before being shot by police

His comments came as one of the victims was named in reports as teacher Monika Luftner.

In a statement, St Bede's Catholic Infant & Nursery School in Lambeth said a member of staff was making a 'good recovery after experiencing a shocking attack'.

Meanwhile. the Government is pressing ahead with plans for emergency laws to keep terrorists behind bars for longer by ending automatic release halfway through a sentence.

There are 224 terrorists in prison in Great Britain, with most thought to be holding Islamist-extremist views, according to the latest published figures to the end of September.

As many as 50 terrorists could be freed from jail this year, figures suggest.

Among those thought to be due for release this year is radicalised chemistry teacher Jamshed Javeed, according to think-tank the Henry Jackson Society (HJS).

He was jailed for six years in March 2015 for planning to travel from his Manchester home to Syria to join IS.

Monika Luftner, 51, was 'extremely lucky' to be alive after Sudesh Amman, 20, knifed her in the back, friends said

Yesterday, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said emergency legislation was needed to make sure offenders serve two-thirds of their sentence before they are considered eligible for release, at which point their case would be considered by a panel of specialist judges and psychiatrists at the Parole Board.

The new law is expected to be passed by the time Parliament goes into recess on February 13, despite warnings that this could prompt legal challenges from those already serving sentences set under previous rules.

Senior Cabinet minister and former justice secretary Michael Gove told Sky News that terrorists should be imprisoned indefinitely 'if necessary'.

However, Downing Street acknowledged that there was nothing to prevent prisoners being automatically released until the emergency law is passed.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's official spokesman would not say if any terrorists were due for release before the new law comes in.

The Government did not rule out derogating - effectively suspending - the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in order to apply the new measures.

The spokesman said: 'We are going to ensure that we will bring forward the necessary legislation to protect the public because that's the right thing to do.'

When asked if the Government remained committed to upholding the ECHR, the spokesman added: 'We are signatories to the ECHR.'

The popular primary school teacher riding her bike (left) which was pictured at the scene of the terror attack on Sunday evening

Around 50 terrorists are released from prison each year, according to officials, and the figure is expected to be similar in 2020 unless rules change.

Home Office data shows 41 convicted terrorists were released from jail in the year to June, as well as 12 suspects who had been held in custody but not sentenced.

Among those due for release, according to the HJS, is Mohammed Ghani, who was sentenced to two years and four months in May last year after threatening to kill police officers, and Britain's youngest terrorist, a boy known only as RXG, who plotted to murder police officers in Australia.

Also on the list are those who aspired to or travelled to Syria to support IS - like Patrick Kabele from north-west London, Shazib Khan from Luton, Zakariya Ashiq from Coventry, Mohammed Ahmed and Yusuf Sarwar, both from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, and Aras Hamid, of no fixed address.
Companies and tourists out of pocket from the global disruption caused by the virus epidemic in China risk meeting a cold shoulder from insurers, industry experts warn. Basic travel insurance policies are unlikely to cover epidemics. Instead, individuals are being advised initially to consult their credit card or travel providers to get refunded for cancelled bookings, and for medical costs. For companies such as airlines that are now ripping up their China plans, there may be no recourse from their insurers, according to Clarissa Franks, risk management placement leader at insurance broker Marsh in London. "The devil really is in the details because business interruption policies, contingency policies, can cover communicable diseases. However, policy language will quite often exclude this type of disease," she told AFP. - Ripple effects - It is too early to determine overall costs to the insurance industry from the deadly coronavirus spreading out of China, whose death toll has now surpassed that of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002-03. The reinsurance market at Lloyd's of London has not seen any untoward activity from traditional insurers looking to hedge their exposure to risks arising from this outbreak, two sources in the underwriting trade said. But even if they are not covered for communicable diseases specifically, companies will be checking the fine print as ripple effects flow through their China operations and global supply chains, following Beijing's decision to quarantine entire cities. As with SARS and other pandemics of recent years such as swine flu, Zika and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the industry will be "paying very close attention to this", Association of British Insurers spokesman Malcolm Tarling said. He cautioned individuals and companies: "If someone travels (to China) against government advice, then most policies will be invalidated. If you believe your trip is essential, you need to talk to your insurer first." - Risk calculus - The closest analogy is SARS, which first broke out in China in 2002 and led to a slew of disputes between companies and their insurance providers. For the travel industry alone, the impact of SARS was estimated by the World Travel and Tourism Council at $30-50 billion. But China's economy accounted for five percent of global gross domestic product then, compared to nearly a fifth today, according to World Bank data. More Chinese now travel abroad than any other nationality, and they spend the most on average while away. The number of infections from the new virus stands at more than 17,200, and the World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency. But health experts stress its mortality rate among patients is lower than for SARS. In a blog, Risk Management Solutions noted that several sporting and cultural events have already been cancelled in China, "and all risk stakeholders will be anxious over the number of months before 2019-nCoV (the novel coronavirus) is contained". - Specialist coverage - Leading British insurer Aviva said customers need to have specific coverage for "travel disruption" as part of their policy to be sure of reimbursement for changes to their plans. "We're monitoring the situation closely, but so far the overwhelming majority of claims relate to customers who are travelling to and from China," an Aviva spokeswoman said. Allianz of Germany said the first port of call for individuals suffering disruption should be their airline or travel agency, rather than their insurer. The company said the outbreak was "clearly a very urgent alert" but at this stage, normal terms and conditions of insurance contracts applied. For airlines and other companies in the firing line, communicable diseases will typically only be covered if they have taken out specialist coverage. But that would come at a cost that probably outweighs the risk-benefit return. "Traditional insurance can't cover everything and non-traditional insurance will tend to carry a significant cost and require a thorough process to determine what an individual company needs," Franks at Marsh said. "It will be a very bespoke product." While some Chinese were able to return home over the weekend, travel restrictions are tightening and many are seeking whether they can be reimbused for travel disruptions
A gunman opened fire aboard a packed Greyhound bus as it was traveling from Los Angeles to San Francisco early Monday, killing one passenger and wounding five others before the driver pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway and managed to force the killer off, authorities said.

The suspect was taken into custody without incident, and the motive was not immediately known, said California Highway Patrol Sgt. Brian Pennings.

The dead passenger was identified as a 51-year-old woman from Colombia.

Two victims were hospitalised with serious injuries, Pennings said.

The shooting took place shortly before 1:30 am in the small community of Lebec, about 70 miles (113 kilometres) northwest of Los Angeles, as the bus was traveling along a mountainous stretch of Interstate 5 with 43 people aboard, authorities said.

The driver of the bus immediately pulled to the right shoulder and somehow - we're still trying to figure out to how this happened - were able to coerce the suspect off of the bus," Pennings said.

After leaving the gunman behind, the driver continued on to the next exit and pulled into a gas station parking lot.

Highway patrol officers found the suspect a few minutes later.

A handgun believed to have been used in the shooting had been left on the bus, Pennings said.

The names of the suspect and the victims were not immediately released.

The shooting happened when the bus was at the top of Tejon Pass, which rises to an elevation of more than 4,100 feet (1,250 metres) in Lebec.
Ongoing efforts to address affordable housing take many forms.

"We dont have any defined common goals that weve set together," said Olmsted County Housing Director Dave Dunn.

He said hed like to see additional coordinated efforts to address ways to build new housing, as well as maintain existing housing.

Steve Borchardt, the Rochester Area Foundations housing coalition director, said the Coalition for Rochester Area Housing, which was created in late 2017, has helped generate some activity, but the partners  the foundation, City of Rochester, Olmsted County and Mayo Clinic  continue to have their own goals and discussions.

He said so far, the coalition has committed approximately $3 million of its $4.6 million to bolster affordable housing in the community.

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"It leverages local involvement," he said, adding that developers of affordable housing have been able to tap other support due to the local commitment.

The result, he said, is approximately $57.6 million spent in creating or maintaining affordable housing in the community.

"Thats a good return on dollars," he said.

At the same time, he said local entities have different goals regarding the overall housing issue.

Dunn said work to align the goals could be improved by adding a Rochester City Council member to the coalition board, noting that the citys only representative is Assistant City Administrator Terry Speath.

He said increased communication could help hammer out roles for the different entities as they continue to work outside the coalition.

Council Member Nick Campion said adding a council member to the coalition wouldnt necessarily define what is needed.

"Im just searching for whats the next step," he said, citing a need for improved data.

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Borchardt said the coalition is funding an update to the 2014 Maxfield study that identified specific needs for affordable housing.

While the community has seen nearly 6,000 new apartments built since the initial study was completed, he said less than 1,400 meet the needs of people earning 60% of the area median income or less, which is about half of what the Maxfield study suggested should have been built in recent years.

Borchardt said ongoing development is generating some movement in the housing market, opening older apartments with lower rents, but they can be hard to find and are frequently in buildings that were not tracked by the Maxfield study, which focused on complexes with eight or more apartment units.

He said the overall impact to the housing market is difficult to define.

"We cant quantify that at this time," he said, adding that the update, which is expected to kick off on Feb. 12, could help address the issue, with the hope of having an update by early June.

"That should put us in a better position to determine what the influx of 6,000 apartments has done to the market and what we can project going forward," he said.

Campion said the concern about the update is that it could be outdated by the time local elected officials receive it.

Borchardt, who is retiring on June 30, said additional local efforts are hoping to find ways to use city data to update housing information on an annual basis to identify shifting needs.

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Council member Michael Wojcik indicated the city could help by seeking more information.

"We have the ability to collect data with our permits," he said, noting that the city could start tracking rents by including them as part of the forms completed to obtain rental permits.

He said until improved data is generated, the council can only react to what its hearing in the community, which has led him to believe access to affordable housing hasnt improved in recent years.

Council President Randy Staver, however, said he believes progress has been made in recent years as a result of work done by the coalition and other community entities.

"I feel we are making progress based on the limited information weve seen," he said, acknowledging that more data could help define any progress.

Home prices are up as available houses remain low

County backs First Homes apartment plan
CANBERRA, Australia - Lawmakers commemorated wildfire victims and praised the heroism of firefighters when Australias Parliament sat on Tuesday as hundreds of protesters rallied outside demanding more policy action on climate change.

The usual business of Parliament was postponed on the first sitting day of the year with the focus instead on the wildfires that have killed at least 33 people and destroyed more than 3,000 homes since September.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison paid tribute to those who lost their lives, including three U.S. airmen who died when their Hercules C-130 tanker crashed while fighting a blaze in southern New South Wales state last month. Relatives of some of the nine firefighters who have died in this fire season were in a public gallery to hear lawmakers give their condolences. The U.S. ambassador represented the airmens families.

Morrison, close to tears, vowed that despite the scale of the disaster and tragedies, Australia is not and will never be overwhelmed.

As we face the challenges that remain active, as we confront and face the devastating drought compounded in so many places by these fires, as we confront and contain the challenge of the virus indeed that threatens the world, Australians will not be overwhelmed, Morrison told Parliament.

Outside Parliament House, Morrison was lampooned by protesters for his conservative governments policies on carbon emissions, efforts that have been widely criticised as inadequate.

Morrison was also attacked for secretly taking a family vacation to Hawaii in December at the height of the crisis while his hometown of Sydney was choking on wildfire smoke.

One environmental protester among the many gathered under a sky hazy with wildfire smoke wore a Morrison mask and carried a sign reading: My Bushfire Plan? Hawaii!

The demonstrators also condemned Australias heavy economic reliance on fossil fuels as the worlds largest exporter of coal and liquid natural gas.

Jane Baker, 65, and her friend Judith Thompson, 67, drove five hours from their hometown of Wangaratta in rural Victoria state to take part in the Canberra protest.

Were both frustrated at sitting on the couch and yelling at the politicians on the television, so weve come out to yell at them in person today  to have our voices heard, Baker said.
Phoebe Timmins is going head-to-head with Australian Survivor's best in the All Stars season.

But it seems her family are keeping her feet firmly on the ground after she revealed their savage comments in a WhatsApp group chat.

The Sydney-based criminal lawyer, 30, shared a screen shot of the family conversation on her Instagram Story and wrote 'gotta love brothers' across it.

'I kinda wanted to see you first to go!' Australian Survivor's Phoebe Timmins (pictured) revealed her family's savage WhatsApp group chat on her Instagram Story on Tuesday

As the show aired, one sibling named Lachlan, wrote: 'Tell me you don't go on another losing streak.' She replied back: 'you will see.'

Moments later her other brother Zane congratulated her on winning a challenge.

Lachlan wasn't as impressed and jokingly wrote: 'Didn't do much though' and 'carried'.

'Gotta love brothers!' The Sydney-based criminal lawyer, 30, shared a screen shot of her family conversation on her Instagram Story with her brothers Lachlan and Zane, as well as their father. She wrote 'gotta love brothers' across the image

Phoebe, who was seemingly happy her brother was giving her credit, wrote: 'finally,' before jokingly calling them 'd*****s'.

Lachlan quipped: 'Kinda wanted to see you first to go. Then we wouldn't have to hear about survivor every minute'.

Their father then chimed into the conversation, writing: 'Harsh Lach lol,' but Lachlan reassured everyone he was just kidding.

Winning moment: Moments later her other brother Zane congratulated her on winning a challenge. Lachlan wasn't as impressed and jokingly wrote: 'Didn't do much though'

Australian Survivor: All Stars' premiere episode on Monday was watched by 624,000 viewers.

The Channel 10 program came in second behind ratings winner MAFS, which garnered an audience of 1.154 million people.

My Kitchen Rules: The Rivals failed to impress with only 517,000 people watching the second episode, less than half of Married At First Sight's audience.

Australian Survivor: All Stars airs Tuesday at 7.30pm on Channel 10.
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Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, February 5 2020

Bossing about: President Joko Jokowi Widodo (left) and Singaporean President Halimah Yacob inspect the honor guard during the latters state visit at the Bogor Palace in West Java on Tuesday. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A.)

Jakarta and Singapore reaffirmed on Tuesday their commitment to strengthening cooperation in a wide array of issues, including economic and people-to-people ties, as Singaporean President Halimah Yacob embarked on her first official visit to Indonesia this week.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo welcomed Halimah at the Bogor Palace in West Java on Tuesday, during which the two engaged in a bilateral meeting to discuss issues surrounding cooperation between the two Southeast Asian nations.

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"Through the work of our talented employees and the dedication of the educators we serve, we empower students to take control of their learning. I share this honor with all of them.

Edgenuity, a leading provider of online curriculum and instructional services for the K-12 market, today announced that CEO Sari Factor has been named a Gold Winner in the Executive of the Year category by the 9th Annual Best in Biz Awards.

The Best in Biz Awards are the only independent business awards program judged each year by prominent editors and reporters from top-tier publications in North America. This year, the awards received more than 700 nominations from both public and private companies of all sizes, regions and industries in the U.S. and Canada.

I am honored to be named a winner in this years Executive of the Year category and highlighted among such an impressive, diverse group of leaders, said Factor. At Edgenuity, we help educators personalize the learning experience for their students. Through the work of our talented employees and the dedication of the educators we serve, we empower students to take control of their learning. I share this honor with all of them.

Since joining Edgenuity in 2011, Saris leadership has transformed Edgenuity into one of the preeminent online learning providers in the K-12 sector by helping schools address their most critical needs  improving graduation rates, filling hard-to-staff teaching roles and empowering teachers with digital curriculum to help improve student achievement.

Details about the Best in Biz Awards are available here.

###

About Edgenuity

Edgenuity is a leading provider of online curriculum and instructional services for the K-12 market. Nationwide, Edgenuity is in use by more than 20,000 schools, including 20 of the 25 largest school districts, to meet academic goals and improve student outcomes. We offer initial credit courses, honors and Advanced Placement courses, credit recovery, intervention and test readiness. These solutions, in addition to Edgenuitys instructional services and professional development offerings, help students, educators and districts achieve success in their online and blended learning programs. For more information, visit Edgenuity.com.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
On Wednesday, 5 February 2020, the NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Spain, Ms. Arancha Gonzalez Laya in Brussels.

There will be no media opportunity.

Still images of the meeting will be available after the event on the NATO website.

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg)
THE UK-headquartered Global Student Accommodation (GSA) has acquired five properties in Dublin from its joint venture partner Harrison Street in a deal worth 400m.

GSA provides student housing in eight countries around the world.

The properties are made up of 1,971 beds, primarily serving students at Trinity College, the Royal College of Surgeons, TU Dublin Grangegorman and UCD. They include Ardcairn House, Kavanagh Court, New Mill, The Tannery and Broadstone Hall.

Average rents range from 240 per week for a shared flat to 350 for a studio. The portfolio has an average occupancy rate of 97pc. The group said it would continue to partner with Chicago-headquartered Harrison Street across Ireland and other European markets, including engaging in a separate joint venture in Dublin and Cork consisting of around 1,300 beds.

Assistant professor Orla Hegarty, a housing expert from UCD's School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, said the yield for this type of specialist accommodation was particularly attractive as rents in Dublin were "very high".

She said: "Developers' gross income is up to 10,000 for nine months on the single- occupancy en-suite rooms from students, where the prices range 200 to 260 a week and students have to take the contract for 40 weeks.

"Then they have three months of tourists when they can earn up to double the rent from students."

This niche accommodation was a strategy from the Department of Education to try to increase available high-quality space for predominantly international students, she said.

"It has allowed the third-level colleges to grow their international intake, who pay higher fees, so it has been a strategy that has been successful for the education sector and it has brought income into it," Ms Hegarty added.

However, she warned it was done without consideration of how it would as to how it would impact upon the rest of the property and land market. "If you are looking more broadly at the housing crisis, it has diverted a lot of development investment and construction capacity to prioritise international students over people here in a housing crisis," she said.

The recent increase in high-end student accommodation, alongside the growth of the private rental sector and co-living, has 'exploded' land values: "Standard residential apartment building just isn't happening in Dublin; it's high-rent, build-to-rent, student accommodation, co-living and hotels."

Whether the market for expensive student accommodation continues to grow remains to be seen.

"Anecdotally, people are saying that the market for premium-rate student housing may now be saturated - that there is vacancy," the UCD housing expert said.
200 Pakistani Hindus cross over to India, many dont want to return

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 04: About 200 Pakistani Hindus crossed over to India through the Attari-Wagah border, officials said amid indications that several travellers did not wish to go back.

The Pakistani Hindus came on a visitor's visa but some of them claimed that they felt unsafe in Pakistan and hoped to get India citizenship after the enactment of the CAA.

Akali leader and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Manjinder Singh Sirsa was at the border to receive four families who he claimed had "fled" Pakistan due to religious persecution.

India summons Pakistani official over abduction of girls from minority hindu community in Sindh

Borders officials claim the number of Hindus travellers from Pakistani using this border crossing has increased significantly over the past month.

The Citizenship Amendment Act envisages giving Indian nationality to members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution there.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 4th, 2020

Most of the travellers crossing over to India on Monday belonged to Sindh and Karachi areas. Some of them carried luggage and said they will seek asylum in India.

One of the Pakistani Hindus on the condition of anonymity said after the enactment of the new citizenship law, Hindus and Sikhs living in Pakistan and Afghanistan were "optimistic" of getting Indian citizenship.

Most of them were travelling to Rajasthan to meet their relatives, they said.

"We are not feeling safe in Pakistan. Our girls feel insecure as they fear that they could be kidnapped any time by hardliners while police watch as mute spectators. Our girls cannot walk freely in the north-west area of Pakistan," said a woman.

Two more women, without disclosing their names, told the media that kidnapping of Hindu girls had become a routine affair in Pakistan and no family dared to lodge a complaint with police against fundamentalists.

150 countries for muslims, Hindus only have India: Vijay Rupani

Sirsa said he would meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday and requested him to grant them Indian citizenship.

"4 Hindu-Sikh families have fled Pakistan to save their life and religious faith. I recvd the family members today at border. We are meeting HM @AmitShah Ji tomo to request him to grant them citizenship at the earliest possible," Sirsa tweeted.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday discussed the International Court of Justice's order that Myanmar must do all it can to prevent genocide against the Rohingya Muslims, but failed to agree on a statement.

Myanmar's ally China as well as Vietnam, which is part of the regional Association of Southeast Nations along with Myanmar, objected, diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

Instead, the European Union members of the council urged Myanmar in a joint statement to reporters afterward to comply with the measures ordered by the U.N.'s top court, stressing that they are "compulsory under international law."



France, Germany, Belgium and Estonia along with former council member Poland also urged Myanmar "to take credible action to bring to justice those responsible for human rights violations."



"Myanmar must address the root causes of its conflicts, in Rakhine State, but also in Kachin and Shan States, the EU members said. "Accountability of perpetrators of human rights and humanitarian law violations is a necessary part of this process."More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh after Myanmar security forces launched a crackdown on the Muslim minority in August 2017 in response to an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. Bangladesh currently houses over 1 million Rohingya refugees.

Myanmar has long claimed the Rohingya are "Bengali" migrants from Bangladesh, even though their families have lived in the country for generations.

Nearly all Rohingya have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless, and they are denied freedom of movement and other basic rights.

The EU countries said "Myanmar must also create conditions for and facilitate a voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of the Rohingya to Myanmar. They also reiterated the Security Council's call for Myanmar to implement the recommendations of the Annan commission which before the August 2017 attacks called for Myanmar to grant citizenship and ensure other rights to the Rohingya. It also urged the government to promote investment and community-directed growth to alleviate poverty in Rakhine.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Anglican bishops son denied asylum, deported back to El Salvador

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The son of an Anglican bishop in El Salvador who fled his native country for the U.S. following death threats from a gang was recently deported, according to his father.

Josue Alvarado Guerra, the 34-year-old son of Bishop David Alvarado of the Diocese of El Salvador, was deported back home after being detained in Ohio by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last November. He had been in the U.S. since October 2016 and worked as an undocumented day laborer.

Bishop Alvarado sent a letter to Ohio Bishop Mark Hollingsworth Jr. confirming that his son was back home, according to Episcopal News Service.

We thank the God of life for allowing us to have Josue back in our house and share with him the difficult experiences he lived in detention, wrote Alvarado, according to ENS.

Josue definitely cant be safe anywhere in El Salvador, we fear for his life.  We want to continue with the plans to get him out of the country as soon as possible.

It is not clear whether Alvarado Guerra applied for asylum soon after he entered the U.S. or if he waited until after his arrest to plea for asylum.

The two ways a person can obtain asylum in the U.S., according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are known as the affirmative process and the defensive process.

For the affirmative process, one must be in the U.S. and must fill out the form for asylum regardless of immigration status, having, under most circumstances, one year from last entry to file it.

The defense process is used when a person faces deportation and comes either after the affirmative process form is rejected or the person is detained for lacking proper documents.

Alvarado also said that his family was working on getting asylum for Alvarado Guerra in Canada, with the bishop believing that sending him to another Central American country involves the same situation of insecurity.

We know that there is a large list of friends who gave spiritual and pastoral support to our son, he added. We are fully grateful for all they did and we beg you to continue supporting us to put [Josue] in a safe place.

Alvarado Guerra was threatened by a San Salvadorian gang for refusing to work with them and fled the country, eventually making his way to the U.S. where he illegally entered the country.

He worked as day laborer, according to ENS, until Nov. 27, 2019, when he was detained by ICE while in Ohio and had his request for asylum denied.

The Episcopal Church actively supported Alvarado Guerra while he was in custody, with bishops writing in support of the detainee. The Rev. Aaron Gerlach of Old Trinity Episcopal Church in Tiffin visited him and offered pastoral support.

My sense is hes been scared from day one about being deported back to El Salvador, said the Rev. Margaret DAnieri, the canon for mission for the Diocese of Ohio, in an interview with ENS last month.

The Trump administration has overseen an increased effort to deport people who have illegally entered the country and curb the rate of resettlement of refugees.

Last September, the administration released a fact sheet announcing their intention to lower the refugee resettlement cap to 18,000 for fiscal year 2020 (Oct. 1, 2019  Sept. 30, 2020), the lowest it has been since the program was created in 1980.

This proposed ceiling takes into account the ongoing security and humanitarian crisis on our border and the massive asylum backlog, which now includes nearly 1 million individuals, stated the fact sheet.

The overwhelming backlog is completely unsustainable and needs to be addressed before we accept large numbers of refugees.
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A report released in January found that a majority of millennials around the world fear it is more likely than not that a nuclear attack will happen sometime in the next decade.

The study was conducted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which surveyed 16,000 millennials (defined in this study as adults between the ages of 20 and 35) in 16 countries in 2019: Afghanistan, Colombia, France, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Palestine, Russia, South Africa, Syria, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ukraine and the United States.

Half of the countries in the study are currently experiencing military conflict.

ICRC Millennials on War study (Illustrations: Ipsos Interactive Services/Data Visualization Department and Francis Macard)

Millennials consider war and armed conflict to be among the top five most important issues affecting people around the world today. Notably, unemployment and poverty also ranked in the top five most important issues for millennials.

Despite the glorification of the military by the media and politicians, youth and workers across the world are overwhelmingly hostile to war and militarism in all forms.

The report reflects an understanding among youth that nuclear weapons pose an immediate threat to all of humanity. The study found that millennials overwhelmingly oppose the use of weapons of mass destruction, in any formnuclear, biological or chemicaland in all circumstances.

More than three in five millennials have the same opinion opposing anti-personnel landmines, at 63 percent, and cluster bombs, at 64 percent.

Unsurprisingly, after nine years of war stoked by American imperialism and its Islamist proxies, Syrian millennials showed the highest levels of disapproval for weapons of mass destruction, with 96 percent saying that it is never acceptable to use chemical or biological weapons, while 98 percent said it is never acceptable to use nuclear weapons. Over the last five years, the United States has carried out a direct bombardment of Syria under the guise of fighting ISIS, which has included leveling entire cities in the country.

Many youth throughout the world have drawn their conclusions about war and militarism from firsthand experience.

Across all 16 countries surveyed, one in four millennials, 27 percent, said they have had direct experience of war and armed conflict. For this study, direct experience includes participation in combat, being wounded, being forced to leave their home, losing contact with a close relative, or any other situation that could arise due to armed conflict.

This percentage rises to almost half if one considers those countries which are currently in the midst of a military conflict. Almost every Syrian millennial interviewed has experienced conflict, 96 percent, as have over half of millennials in Afghanistan.

The devastating and violent effects of war and militarism have been ingrained into the experience of an entire generation. Millions of workers and youth have been maimed, broken and scarred, with generations of families and friends affected by the trauma caused largely by US imperialism.

ICRC Millennials on War study (Illustrations: Ipsos Interactive Services/Data Visualization Department and Francis Macard)

Despite these horrific experiences there are many indications that youth throughout the world remain optimistic about the future. The ICRC report showed that a clear majority of millennials think that wars and armed conflict are avoidable.

The International Youth and Students for Social Equality, the youth and student movement of the Socialist Equality Party, spoke to young people across the US about many of the issues raised in the ICRC study including the impact of decades of unending war on their lives, their attitude towards a third world war, and, perhaps most importantly, what they saw as the way forward in the fight against war.

Sebastian, a 32-year-old student at the University of California, Berkeley, told the IYSSE he believes, a third world war would and could only mean the complete and swift destruction of humanity as we know it.

He went on to explain the wars which have been orchestrated by the US in his lifetime: The US has been at war either overtly or covertly my entire life. The wars span every administration and know no party lines. There was Reagans campaign of terror against Central America, George Bush Seniors invasion of Panama and the start of the Gulf War, Clintons invasion of Haiti, George W. Bushs campaign against terror which became the longest war we have ever been in. And then theres Obama who promised he was going to get us out of war but instead took us from two to seven wars.

Sebastian, expressing a sentiment widely felt by workers and youth around the world, explained why he is opposed to war, noting, Im against war because I feel war only serves those in power and sacrifices the poor in the name of empire.

I believe in solidarity with all people around the world, he added.

Karsten

Karsten, who is 20 and from New York, told the IYSSE that he believes, war is used to enlarge the personal fortunes of the ruling elite.

Relating the issue of the wars abroad with the domestic attack on workers at home, Karsten said that he thinks war serves a dual purpose for the ruling elite: I think they will turn towards war in order to quash the growing push for social change among workers and young people that we have seen emerging.

Karsten explained that he saw the Democratic Party as an obstacle for mobilizing the working class against war: I think that in order to oppose war the working class has to break from the Democratic Party and any of the so called progressive elements of the Democratic Party, such as the DSA or Sanders.

He went on, Sanders has proven to be a part of the Democratic Party establishment. I think if he was elected he would in fact support war. It has been shown that he supports American imperialism through his votes for funding the Iraq war and his vote for war with Afghanistan.

Noel, 19, from Chicago said that he thinks a third world war would be a global catastrophe on a scale never seen before and probably never seen again.

Speaking to the way forward in the fight against war, Noel said he agreed with the IYSSE: Only through a true united and mass working class movement can we avoid a third world war.

To see more interviews with youth and students in the US on fight against war watch our recently published video. The IYSSE encourages all youth and students who want to fight against war, militarism and dictatorship and for socialism, equality and peace to join the IYSSE today.
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A BUSINESSMAN who carried out a spate of armed robberies at service stations across Munster while experiencing a manic depressive episode has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

A jury at Limerick Circuit was told two consultant forensic psychiatrists were in agreement that the defendant knew his actions were legally wrong but that he was unable to refrain from them because he was suffering from a mental disorder.

John Carroll, 53, of Clonshire, Adare was before the court having been charged with 14 offences which occurred at locations in Limerick, Tipperary and Clare on dates between September 30, 2015 and October 12, 2015.

At the beginning of the three-day trial, the jury of seven women and five men was told Mr Carroll was not disputing that he committed the physical acts.

However, Lilly Buckley BL, instructed by state solicitor Edward OSullivan, said the defence case was that he was mentally unwell at the time and that they would be asked to consider a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Outlining the sequence of events, Detective Garda Jerry OSullivan said Mr Carroll broke into two houses in Adare before embarking on a spate of late-night robberies at service stations in Limerick, Clare, Tipperary and Cork.

The jury was shown a compilation of CCTV footage from 11 different service stations which were targeted. At each location, a male wearing dark clothing and a homemade-balaclava can be seen approaching workers and demanding money from the tills.

The defendant can be seen on the footage brandishing various implements and during interview following his arrest he told gardai he had used items such as a spud gun, a plastic toy gun, an Airsoft replica handgun and a rifle.

More than 3,400 in cash was taken  none of which was ever recovered.

In her charge to the jury, Judge Martina Baxter told the jurors if they were satisfied with the evidence of the two expert witnesses  Dr Paul OConnell and Dr Brenda White, they were entitled, in law, to return the special verdict of not guilty by reason by insanity.

Following just over 45 minutes of deliberations, the jury returned with a unanimous verdict in relation to each of the 14 counts.

Mr Carroll was remanded on continuing bail pending the completion of a psychiatric assessment.
PG&E Corp.s bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved a major settlement agreement between the company and creditors who had previously tried to take over the embattled energy business.

Despite forceful objections from a 2017 Santa Rosa wildfire survivor, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali ruled in favor of the deal between PG&E and a group of bondholders led by the hedge fund Elliott Management.

Under terms of the deal, the bondholders agreed to withdraw their competing bankruptcy exit plan, which would have given them a controlling stake in PG&E upon resolution of the case. The deals terms include giving the bondholders new debt that is cheaper for PG&E, among other provisions. PG&E has said the settlement will save its customers about $1 billion.

Montalis ruling is another courtroom victory for PG&E, which has been trying to retain control of how its year-old bankruptcy concludes. The company is trying to meet a state-imposed June 30 deadline to resolve the case and previously reached a total of $25.5 billion in settlements with insurance companies, local governments and attorneys for victims of fires caused by PG&E power lines.

Santa Rosa resident Will Abrams, who lost his home in the 2017 Tubbs Fire, urged Montali not to approve the bondholder deal. Abrams stands apart from numerous other fire victims because he has represented himself while pressing for changes in PG&Es legal and regulatory proceedings.

Montali spent much of the hearing listening to Abrams objections about the bondholder agreement, which Abrams said was focused too much on short-term payouts instead of the longer-term structural changes necessary to make PG&Es system safer.

Even though California investigators said PG&E did not cause the Tubbs Fire, the company has agreed to pay victims of that blaze after it emerges from bankruptcy. PG&Es role in the Tubbs Fire was supposed to be the focus of a trial in San Francisco Superior Court last month, but the proceedings did not happen because the company settled with fire victims attorneys.

At the hearing on Monday, Abrams said he supported the just and noble cause of getting PG&E closer to paying fire victims when its bankruptcy ends. But he warned that the agreement with bondholders is not the way to do it.

It points us in the wrong direction, Abrams said. He said he wanted PG&E to more closely tie its investment structure to the risks it faces.

But PG&E attorney Stephen Karotkin said Abrams central concerns would be better addressed later in the bankruptcy process or before the California Public Utilities Commission.

PG&E on Friday filed a document with the utilities commission outlining how it wants to reshape itself upon emergence from bankruptcy. Proposed business changes include breaking PG&Es operations into regional divisions, abiding by new safety standards and making executive compensation more closely related to safety, according to the company. The commission is also working to approve PG&Es path out of bankruptcy by June 30.

Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California

Karotkin told the judge that rejection of the bondholder deal would send the case back into a litigation morass. He said the settlement keeps the case on track to meet the June deadline  which is required for PG&E to access a new fund to help pay any future major fire costs  and everyone rowing together to achieve that.

Montali sided with PG&E. He said Abrams raised serious objections about longer-term issues.

(But) I simply dont believe that approving this is a step backwards, he said.

PG&E is also trying to win over Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has been critical of the companys efforts to resolve its bankruptcy on multiple occasions. He has repeatedly threatened a state government takeover of PG&E if the case does not turn around to his liking.

J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris
He also occasionally has given a platform to far-out conspiracy theorists such as Alex Jones and provocateurs such as Milo Yiannopoulos. Although, as my son  who stays in tune with the morning-zoo sectors of the internet better than I do  pointed out, Rogan did the world a favor. He was the interviewer who drew out the pedophile-tolerant quotes of former Breitbart editor Yiannopoulos that sunk his invitation to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, among other lucrative speaking gigs.
A replica of the nugget on display in the Dunolly Museum. Credit:Eddie Jim Deason arrived in Australia in 1854, and immediately went to the goldfields, hoping, in view, of the experience of many other lucky adventurers, to win a quick fortune. But all were not lucky. After eight years he found himself on the Bendigo field little better off than the day he landed in Australia. During that time the yield of gold had been prodigious, and many of his fellow diggers had become rich. Deason decided to try his luck elsewhere. Disheartened and disillusioned, he packed his tent, tools and belongings, and set off along the rough bush track that led west through Tarnagulla. Loading His caravan finally came to rest at Moliagul, in 1862, where he took up land. It must have been his lucky star although Deason's experiences up to that time gave him no reason to think he had one  which led him to that destination. At Moliagul he met Richard Oates, whom he had known in his boyhood, and whose gold-seeking adventures had been no more profitable than Deason's. The two men again became mates, and formed a partnership to work Deason's land and to continue prospecting in their spare time. Under this arrangement they worked on until 1869, but the results, on the whole, were mediocre. Owing to dry weather the water supply was low, and the men were unable to work their puddling machine to capacity. So, on the day of the sensational find, it was decided to treat only a few loads of wash; Deason to do the digging and Oates to attend to some work on their farm. Close to Surface

Each man went about his task. Deason had taken out a few loads of earth, and was stripping the surface for the last lot, when his pick struck something hard and bulky only a few inches below the surface. Getting his pick under what he thought to be a big rock, he levered it up, and as the object broke through the surface gravel he saw the glitter of gold. Bending down, he brushed away the earth from the "rock," and the sight staggered him. Deason who had long since given up hopes of finding any sizable nugget, now wondered if the hot sun had made him light-headed. But his doubts were soon resolved. He had followed the golden trail for 15 years, and this, at last, was his reward. First report of the find in The Age, February 11, 1869. Credit:The Age Archives In his indescribable joy Deason's first Impulse was to cry out to diggers on nearby claims, but he decided to be discreet. After covering the nugget with soil he hurried home with the sensational news to his wife, sent a message to Oates, and returned to his claim. Oates on arriving on the scene was equally amazed. The two men hovered around their claim for the rest of the day, waiting for night to come. After dark they carted the nugget to Deason's house, and hid it in a fireplace. It was thought wise to keep the find as secret as possible, so before the nugget was brought home even the young Deason children were taken to a neighbor's place, so that in their childish excitement they would not betray the discovery  all goldfield children from their earliest years know the meaning of the magic word "gold"  by a thoughtless remark to callers or passers-by. Then in the quietness of the night, Deason, his wife and Oates lit a fire over the nugget to burn off the debris and to remove the quartz. The three worked far into the night cleaning the find. A few nights later a number of close friends were invited to Deason's house for what they thought was a party. During the evening Deason said he had "picked up a nice, little speck" a few days previously, and invited them to have a look at it. Then, pulling from a table a cover which, it was thought, had been thrown over refreshments for the party, he revealed the great glittering mass.

Gold by Hundredweight A granite obelisk of marks the spot where the nugget was discovered. Credit:Meredith O'Shea Next day Deason and Oates, accompanied by a bodyguard of friends, took the nugget to Dunolly, and sold it at the London Chartered Bank. Deason first asked the bank manager what he was giving for gold by the hundredweight. The manager mentioned the price per oz., but Deason laughed, and said he was not interested in a price per oz., as he had hundredweights of gold. After further words, the bank manager, thinking from Deason's strange statement and elated spirits that he had been drinking, practically ordered him from the premises. Deason went outside, but returned a few minutes later with his friends carrying the box of gold, which they dumped on the floor. As there was no scales in the bank big enough to weigh the nugget, it was taken to a local blacksmith's shop to be reduced in size. News of the sensational find spread rapidly, and a big section of the motley crowd then, on the Dunolly goldfield quickly assembled, hoping to get a glimpse of the monster nugget. As Deason's dray moved along Dunolly's main street, Broadway, from the bank to the smith's forge, the crowd, including many pigtailed Chinese, followed, and in open-mouthed wonderment stood around as the blacksmith and his assistant, with sledge hammer and cold chisel, hacked the nugget to pieces. A document of some historic value, recently disclosed for the first time by the Deason family, now seems to clear up a doubt of 75 years, as to the total yield of gold from the Welcome Stranger, no two estimates of which, even by official historians and writers, are the same.
by Sara Guaglione , February 3, 2020

The Washington Postannounced new initiatives to enhance its political reporting and analysis, built by its engineering teams.

"Working closely with our colleagues on the politics team, we set out to use computational journalism techniques to help them tell the story of the 2020 election," stated Jeremy Bowers, a director of engineering for The Washington Post.

WaPo will roll out features to deliver faster results to readers on election nights, thanks to new resources available to its politics reporters.

Beginning with the Iowa caucuses, Feb. 3, WaPo will be one of the first non-broadcast outlets to subscribe to the National Election Pool (NEP) for live election results. It will combine data from the NEP with information from the Associated Press for down-ballot races, as well as new software for gathering precinct results directly from state boards of elections.

One of our driving values is ensuring readers have the information they want and can better help understand the countrys diverse and changing political landscape, stated Peter Wallsten, senior politics editor for WaPo.

The newspaper's reporters now have access to a proprietary tip sheet that highlights newsworthy changes and trends in the electorate for every state, according to a release.

Called The Lead Locator, the program is auto-generated and updated monthly.

It analyzes voter data across the country to pinpoint interesting or notable anomalies at the state and county level, giving reporters and editors a tool to use as they are planning their coverage during the campaign.

Predictive models developed by WaPos elections engineering team will give readers a real-time sense of how many votes each candidate has and also how many votes may remain for each candidate that have not yet been reported, starting with the New Hampshire primary.

The model uses a combination of historical election results, data on the electorate and live precinct results.
One of the largest economic revolutions of our time is unfolding around us. Technology, innovation and automation are redrawing the career paths of millions of people. Most headlines focus on the negative, i.e. machines taking our jobs. But in reality, these developments are opening up a world of opportunity for people who can make the move to a STEM career or upskill in their current job. Theres also another part to this story: How AI can help boost the economy by improving how we learn.

In 2018, 2.4 million STEM jobs in the U.S. went unfilled. Thats almost equal to the entire population of Los Angeles or Chicago. Its a gap causing problems for employers trying to recruit and retain workers, whether in startups, small businesses or major corporations. We just dont have enough workers.

The Unspoken Barrier

The barrier preventing new or existing employees from adding to their skill set and filling the unfulfilled jobs? Math. Calculus to be specific. It has become a frustrating impediment to many people seeking a STEM career. For college students, the material is so difficult that one-third of them in the U.S. fail the related course or drop it out of frustration. For adults, learning calculus is not always compulsory for the day to day of every STEM job, but learning its principles can help sharpen logic and reasoning. Plus, simply understanding how calculus relates to real-world scenarios is helpful in many STEM jobs. Unfortunately, for many people, the thought of tackling any level of math is enough to scare them away from a new opportunity. We need to stop looking at math as a way to filter people out of the STEM pipeline. We need to start looking at it as a way to help more people, including professionals looking to pivot careers.

Related: Want to Make Your Team Efficient? Try Upskilling

How AI Can Change How Employees Learn

How do we solve this hurdle and fill plug the pipeline? Artificial intelligence. We often discuss how AI can be used to help data efficiencies and process automation, but AI can also assist in personal tutoring to get people over the barriers of difficult math. The recently released Aida Calculus app uses AI to create a highly personalized learning experience and is the first of its kind to use a very complex combination of AI algorithms that provide step-by-step feedback on equations and then serve up custom content showing how calculus works in the real world.

While the product is important, the vision behind it is much bigger. This is a really impactful application of AI for good. It also shows that math skills can be developed in everyone and technology like AI can change the way people learn difficult subjects. The goal is to engage anyone, be it a student or working adult, who is curious about how to apply math in their daily lives. By making calculus relevant and relatable, we can begin to instill the confidence people need to take on STEM careers, even if those jobs dont directly use calculus.

Leveraging AI Through Human Development

When people boost their complex math skills or even their general understanding of basic math concepts, theres a world of opportunity waiting. STEM jobs outearn non-STEM jobs by up to 30 percent in some cases. A 2017 study commissioned by Qualcomm suggested that 5G will create 22 million jobs globally by 2035. The U.S. Labor Department says that IT fields will add half a million new jobs in the next eight years and that jobs in information security will grow by 30 percent. Job growth in STEM is outpacing overall U.S. job growth. At the same time, Pearsons own Global Learners Survey said that 61 percent of Americans are likely to change careers entirely. Its a good time for that 61 percent to consider STEM.

Related: These 3 Industries Now Depend on AI

To equip themselves for this new economy, people will have to learn how learn. Whether its math or any other subject, theyll likely need to study again, and that is hard. But we can use innovation and technology to make the tough subjects a little easier and make the whole learning experience more personalized, helping a whole generation of people take advantage of the opportunity to become the engineers, data analysts and scientists we need.

Related:

How to Leverage AI to Upskill Employees

Tesla Reveals the Production Version of Its Model Y

AI-Formulated Medicine to Be Tested on Humans for the First Time



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China's embassy in Uzbekistan accused US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of slander on Tuesday after he raised the plight of Muslims in the Xinjiang region during a visit to Central Asia. "No matter how many times it is repeated, a lie does not become the truth. Any attempt to slander China and sow discord in friendly relations between China and the states of Central Asia is doomed to defeat," the embassy said in a statement on its website said. Pompeo on Monday ended a week-long diplomatic tour with a visit to Uzbekistan, where he met with the ex-Soviet country's leadership and foreign ministers from the five ex-Soviet 'stans' of Central Asia. In both Uzbekistan and its oil-rich neighbour Kazakhstan the day before, Pompeo brought up what he called China's "repression" of Muslims in Xinjiang. In Kazakhstan he also met with citizens who said they have family members missing or incarcerated over the border in the region. Pompeo's counterpart in Uzbekistan, Abdulaziz Kamilov, told reporters Monday that his country wished to avoid "unfavourable political consequences" due to "competition in our region between large powers" when questioned by journalists on the potential negative effects of Chinese investment and influence. None of the five states -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- has publicly criticised China over Xinjiang. More than a million ethnic Uighurs, Kazakhs and other minorities are believed to have been incarcerated as part of an unprecedented security crackdown in the region of western China. Both Russia and China enjoy privileged interests in Central Asia, with Washington struggling to keep up in recent years. Pompeo visited two other former Soviet countries -- Belarus and Ukraine -- as part of a trip that began with a stop in Britain. On a trip to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brought up what he called China's 'repression' of Muslims in Xinjiang
A passenger displaying potential symptoms of coronavirus, who was escorted off a plane at Dublin Airport over the weekend, has been given the all-clear.

The Chinese man, who had originally travelled from China, was picked up by an ambulance on the runway after arriving on an Aeroflot flight from Moscow shortly after 9pm on Saturday.

He was placed in isolation at the Mater Hospital while a swab was taken and sent to the UCD Virus Reference Laboratory to discover whether he was carrying the infection.

It was found he was clear of the virus and he was taken out of isolation.

The spread of the grave global health emergency led Dublin Airport to activate protocols and staff in protective gear boarded the flight on arrival.

Negative

The UCD lab is now able to screen for the coronavirus and can provide a same-day result.

Other passengers have reportedly said their temperatures were checked before they were allowed to disembark, they had to fill out forms and were told they may be contacted in a few days.

The passengers were allowed off the plane at 11pm.

Fellow passengers, who were advised to remain as isolated as possible, were contacted yesterday and informed the man had proven to be negative.

Asked to comment, the Department of Health said that Ireland had advanced plans in place as part of its comprehensive preparedness to deal with public health emergencies such as novel coronavirus.

"These plans include standard protocols for the management of suspected cases of infectious disease on aircraft and for the follow-up contact tracing of other passengers where necessary.

"These protocols have been developed and are activated in accordance with guidance from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control," it said.

The passenger became the first person in the Republic to be tested for the virus since it began its global spread.

A number of patients have previously been suspected of having the virus but were cleared without going through a test.
Deputy Minister Truong Quoc Cuong visited a gauze mask manufacturer in Hanoi

According to Cuong, with the serious scale of the nCoV epidemic, local demand for preventive equipment has been skyrocketing. Thus, the working visit aims to strengthen the production of gauze masks, protective apparel, and medical devices.

A representative of Tanaphar JSC said the company has the production capacity of 70,000 gauze masks a day. Since January 30, 2020, its workers have been working day and night to meet the growing demand.

A representative of Dai Uy Pharmaceutical JSC said that it has about six quintals of filters for gauze mask production. If its factories run at the maximum capacity of three shifts a day, they can produce nearly 100,000 units a day. However, this means they will run out of filters within the next ten days.

The company is seeking input material sources in the south, but it is too early to say anything for certain. In fact, the lack of input materials is now a thorny issue for local manufacturers.

The Deputy Minister said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade is working to find sources of input materials in South Africa, Egypt, and India, among others, to ensure local production. While waiting for results, companies should be more active in searching for material sources.

At present, local production capacity of gauze masks is about three million units a day on average. This can cover local demand.

According to the latest update from the MoH, as of 1:30 pm February 3, the epidemic was detected in 27 countries with the total number of cases of infection reaching nearly 17,400, including over 17,200 in China.

The deadly virus killed 362 people, 361 of whom were in China. The other death was reported in the Philippines.

The coronavirus was detected in 185 patients outside of China. Vietnam confirmed the eighth novel coronavirus infection case.

Eighth coronavirus infection confirmed in Vietnam The Ministry of Health on February 3 confirmed the eighth novel coronavirus infection case in Vietnam.

Chinese firms in Hai Phong requested to actively fight nCoV The Peoples Committee of northern Hai Phong city on January 31 asked Chinese businesses using labourers from China to pay special attention to the fight ...
NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Douglas Elliman Real Estate, the largest brokerage in the New York Metropolitan area and the second largest independent residential real estate brokerage in the United States by sales volume, is pleased to announce that Steven Cohen and his team have joined the firm. In addition to Cohen, members of the nationally ranked team include Tim Malone, Sarah Silva, Taylor Grand Pre, and Serine Labidi. In 2019, Cohen represented $126 million in closed sales volume.

"Steven is a one of the leading agents working in our industry and we are thrilled to have someone of his stature joining Douglas Elliman," said Howard M. Lorber, Executive Chairman of Douglas Elliman Realty. "Steven's first-rate client relationships and business and marketing acumen will be a welcome addition to our firm. We look forward to his team's continued success utilizing our global marketing and sales platforms."

With 20 years of experience and over $1.5 billion in total sales under his belt, Cohen is consistently ranked by Real Trends as one of the top brokers in the United States. At his previous firm, he was a long time member of the Multi-Million Dollar Club and President's Council and the International Luxury Alliance. Cohen was honored as the East Side Salesperson of the year in 2016 and received the Deal of the Year Award in 2015. He's also a founding member of NYRAC.

"I'm thrilled to be joining Howard and Douglas Elliman with my team. I have long admired the organization, its culture, and expansive global reach, fostered through its alliance with Knight Frank. I am excited to embark on this new partnership as we continue to identify unique and truly value-added benefits for our clientele," said Cohen.

Cohen has a reputation of an accomplished and seasoned sales executive who enjoys a loyal clientele of repeat customers  domestically and internationally, a strong referral base, and valuable contacts throughout New York City. Some notable deals by Cohen include representing the purchase for The Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates, twice selling the townhouse at 49 East 68th Street in 2017 and again in 2019, and facilitating both sides of the deal in the collapse of a 9 unit co-op to be converted for private use. One of his current listings is a Ritz Carlton Private Residence  50 Central Park South, 27th Floor owned by philanthropist and movie producer, Sidney Kimmel- currently listed at $29.5 million. Cohen has consistently set sales records including highest price paid at 35 East 75th St., a co-op where he has sold numerous apartments and has also set the record for one of the highest prices paid for an Upper East Side townhouse.

In addition to his passion for real estate, Cohen is involved with several charities and sits on the board of directors of the Marlene Meyerson JCC in Manhattan and Penn State Hillel. Cohen attended Penn State University, where he was an active member of Beta Sigma Beta Fraternity. During the 90's, Cohen lived overseas in Israel, South Africa, and Australia  where he was involved in the development for an international non-profit and was a founding board member of South Africa's Tomorrow Trust. His deep involvement from his communities and travel have fostered long standing relationships throughout the world. He currently resides on the Upper West Side with his partner and daughters.

About Douglas Elliman Real Estate

Established in 1911, Douglas Elliman Real Estate is the largest brokerage in the New York Metropolitan area and the second largest independent residential real estate brokerage in the United States by sales volume. With more than 7,000 agents, the company operates approximately 120 offices in New York City, Long Island, The Hamptons, Westchester, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida, California, Colorado, Massachusetts and Texas. Moreover, Douglas Elliman has a strategic global alliance with London-based Knight Frank Residential for business in the worldwide luxury markets spanning 60 countries and six continents. The company also controls a portfolio of real estate services including Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, Douglas Elliman Property Management and Douglas Elliman Commercial. For more information on Douglas Elliman as well as expert commentary on emerging trends in the real estate industry, please visit elliman.com.

SOURCE Douglas Elliman Real Estate
Arpita Mukherjee

The Budget 2020-21 received mixed reactions. While some steps have been taken to restore business and consumer confidence, there are no big bang announcements. As a 1.37-billion-people economy, the budget fails to realise the power of consumers. If the consumer demand is low, as it is now, businesses will be reluctant to invest. While the budget offered some relief to personal income tax, the tax payers have to compare the reductions in the new tax slabs against the exemptions they are already receiving. Analysis of the returns filed by the tax payers will confirm which of these models they prefer to choose.

In India, consumer demand cannot be boosted by income tax relief alone as less than 10 percent of the working population pay income tax. This is extremely low compared to other developing countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines or South Africa, where the share of tax payers is around 58 percent, 26 percent and 23 percent respectively.

India has not been able to put in place a system of formalising sectors such as retail, which is leading to revenue losses. Around 46 percent of the workforce is in the agriculture sector and rural consumers play a key role in boosting demand. The rural sector also has huge income inequality. While rich farmers are not taxed, small and marginal farmers and landless workers are unable to spend due to lack of earnings.

The Budget speech referred to schemes that will encourage manufacturing of mobile phones, electronic equipment and semiconductor packaging and facilitate private sector investment in data centre parks. However, one has to carefully examine these schemes.

On October 31, India lost the case against the United States for giving a number of WTO prohibited subsidies and two key schemes that were challenged includes the Electronics Hardware Technology Parks (EHTP) scheme and the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) policy. Thus, in any case, India has to phase out the old schemes and bring out new schemes. To attract investment, India should have a clear and transparent WTO-compliant subsidy regime.

For small and medium enterprises, the simplified system of GST filing, if properly implemented, will be beneficial. While a number of MSMEs and start-ups have registered in government e-market platforms, a survey-based study conducted by the author found that public sector enterprises and government entities are sourcing from large companies. In many government contracts only global companies and the Big 4 are eligible.

There have been incidences where MSMEs and start-ups were part of a consortium, which won the bid for a project, but were soon dropped by the lead partner in discussion with the government agency even before the project started. It is, therefore, important to reserve a value of the government contracts for MSME/start-ups and have a robust project-monitoring and detailed tracking system for the MSME engagements. For start-ups, the budget offered early life funding including seed funds, but one has to see how many start-ups will actually get the benefits.

The budget increased the custom duties in certain products. The recent tendency to increase custom duties has been a key reason why India had to walk out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), after a decade of negotiations. Tariffs on goods for final consumption are weak instruments of import control, unless it is backed by a good quality control regime. Higher tariffs may shift purchases to lower quality imported products, but not necessarily reduce imports. In a globalised world, companies want to test market their products before investing and high tariffs act as a major deterrent to such investments.

In agriculture, the reduction in fertiliser subsidies and subsidising organic inputs is a good move. However, a survey of 500 farmers and organic companies by the author showed that they do not have access to quality organic inputs. Further, fertilisers banned in a number of countries are subsided and sold in India. There is a restriction on imports of key raw materials, seeds and ingredients. When a farmer converts her land to organic farming, in the first three years there is a reduction in yield. If the farmer goes through a third party certification process, which is expensive but is mandatory for exports, she does not receive any subsidy for the yield losses unlike farmers in countries such as the United Kingdom.

There is no financial incentive for an organic farmer to be a part of the global value chain, in spite of India having the largest number of organic producers. In India, only participatory guarantee system (PGS) is subsidised but the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the nodal export agency, does not allow the exports of the PGS produce. Thus, there are many roadblocks to doubling the income of farmers in a high price produce such as organic products, and these roadblocks have to be removed.

Overall, a budget alone cannot restore growth or consumer confidence. The gaps have to be identified, budget announcements have to be implemented and supported by right polices, funds, schemes and programmes. It is also important to study the impact, of decisions, for example, how income tax payers have reacted to the two options that have been offered.
Hashem Abedi, the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi, is on trial for mass murder. (Force for Deterrence in Libya via AP)

The brother of the Manchester bomber is just as responsible for the murder of the 22 people killed as was his sibling, a court has heard.

Hashem Abedi, 22, appeared in court on Tuesday charged with mass murder.

He is alleged to have been involved in planning the suicide attack at an Ariana Grande concert on May 2017, which killed 22 people and injured 260.

His brother Salman detonated a bomb as fans left the event at Manchester Arena.

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Hashem Abedi, younger brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, in the dock at the Old Bailey in London accused of mass murder (PA)

Police help concert goers close to the Manchester Arena after the terror attack at an Ariana Grande concert (PA)

Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC described how Salman Abedi detonated a large home-made improvised explosive device packed with shrapnel.

Mr Penny said that, by helping his brother, it was as if Hashem Abedi had detonated the bomb himself.

He said: He is equally guilty of the attempted murder of many others and in doing so he was guilty of agreeing with his brother to cause an explosion or explosions of a nature likely to endanger life.

Mr Penny said Abedi had assisted and encouraged his brother.

People look at flowers and tributes left in St Ann's Square in Manchester a week on from the attack at the Ariana Grande concert (PA via AP)

Abedi allegedly obtained chemicals for a home-made bomb; got metal containers to construct it; found an address in Manchester to manufacture the explosive and store it and bought screws and nails for shrapnel.

The bomb was made of chemicals which Mr Penny said are readily available to the public online.

The improvised device was packed with nuts, cross dowels and screws, he told the jury.

Salman Abedi detonated the bomb at 10.31PM in the foyer of the Manchester arena.

Such was the ferocity of the explosion that Salman Abedi was dismembered in the process, Mr Penny said.

The scene that met the survivors and those that attended thereafter, as youll understand, was one of destruction and chaos.

Investigators the began to take an interest in Hashem Abedis alleged involvement, he added.

In mid-April 2017, he also purchased a Nissan Micra to store bomb-making equipment, the court heard.

Mr Penny said the explosion was the result of months of planning, experimentation and preparation by the brothers.

He said: The bomb which was detonated was self-evidently designed to kill and maim as many people as possible.

Story continues

It was packed with lethal shrapnel and it was detonated in the middle of a crowd in a very public area  the intention being to kill and to inflict maximum damage.

The 22 victims of the terror attack during the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in May 2017. (top row left to right) Off-duty police officer Elaine McIver, 43, Saffie Roussos, 8, Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, Eilidh MacLeod, 14, (second row left to right) Nell Jones, 14, Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15, Megan Hurley, 15, Georgina Callander, 18, (third row left to right), Chloe Rutherford,17, Liam Curry, 19, Courtney Boyle, 19, and Philip Tron, 32, (fourth row left to right) John Atkinson, 26, Martyn Hett, 29, Kelly Brewster, 32, Angelika Klis, 39, (fifth row left to right) Marcin Klis, 42, Michelle Kiss, 45, Alison Howe, 45, and Lisa Lees, 43 (fifth row left to right) Wendy Fawell, 50 and Jane Tweddle, 51.

Abedi, who was raised in Manchester, travelled to Libya before the attack and was arrested in Tripoli before being extradited to the UK last year. He faced 22 counts of murder, one count for each death.

Abedi also faces one count of attempted murder for the other victims, and conspiring with his brother to cause explosions.

He has previously denied the charges. The case is due to last eight weeks.

Watch the latest Yahoo News videos from Yahoo UK
Transaction Network Services (TNS) has today announced that its industry-leading TNSXpress Managed Hosting solution is now live at the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing's (HKEX) hosting data center.

Traders wishing to gain speed and cost efficiencies can now colocate their trading infrastructure close to the HKEX matching engine, thanks to TNS' market leading technology.

"TNS is a welcome addition to our hosting services ecosystem," said Andy Lee, Head of Hosting Services at HKEX. "We look forward to working together to further develop the ecosystem connecting Hong Kong's iconic securities and derivatives markets."

The TNSXpress Managed Hosting solution utilizes TNS' ultra-low latency Layer 1 technology which offers trade executions 10 times faster than traditional layer 3 architectures. In addition to providing connectivity and hosting, TNS is also working closely with HKEX to become a provider for HKEX equities and derivatives market data.

"We are extremely excited about our expanding relationship with HKEX," said Jeff Mezger, Director for Product Management for TNS' Financial Services business. "Traders now have a wider choice of how to trade with HKEX and can use TNS for both local and international connectivity to the exchange and between trading partners.

TNSXpress allows customers to focus on their core objectives while leaving TNS to manage their trading infrastructure. TNS finds, coordinates and procures facilities and server hardware, as well as handles the project management, system installation, testing and commissioning.

"HKEX is a perfect example of how we are promoting global trade through our 3Cs vision of content, connectivity and colocation," added Mezger. "We blend extensive global connectivity with an Infrastructure as a Service platform and simplify trading operations through a single supplier relationship."

TNSXpress Layer 1 uses a simple, single-hop architecture to deliver connectivity in as little as 5 to 85 nanoseconds.

TNS offers a range of connectivity, hosting, cloud, hub, VPN and other solutions, specifically designed and engineered to address the needs of financial market participants worldwide. It currently connects more than 2,100 financial community endpoints globally. For more information about TNS visit www.tnsfinancial.com.

ENDS

About Transaction Network Services:

Transaction Network Services (TNS) is a leading global provider of data communications and interoperability solutions. TNS offers a broad range of networks and innovative value-added services which enable transactions and the exchange of information in diverse industries such as retail, banking, payment processing, telecommunications and the financial markets.

Founded in 1990 in the United States, TNS has grown steadily and now provides services in over 60 countries across the Americas, Europe and the Asia Pacific region, with our reach extending to many more. TNS has designed and implemented multiple data networks which support a variety of widely accepted communications protocols and are designed to be scalable and accessible by multiple methods.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005466/en/

Contacts:

Clare Cockroft

TNS

PR Director

T: +44 (0)114 292 0163

Rachel Watson

TNS

PR Manager

T: +1 703 814 8065

E: pr@tnsi.com
Kabul, Feb 4 : Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has opposed President Ashraf Ghani's "reforms" to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and urged to stop any type of "hurried" moves both in the country's diplomatic offices abroad as well as in Kabul.

Abdullah made the remarks in a decree on Sunday which was in response to the appointment of a new Acting Foreign Minister after the removal of Salahuddin Rabbani from the post, TOLO News said in a report on Monday.

The Chief Executive also opposed new appointments in Afghanistan's diplomatic offices abroad.

In the decree, Abdullah called the situation "sensitive", because the country was on the verge of the announcement of the results of the September 28, 2019 presidential election which have been delayed multiple times.

The National Unity Agreement that was brokered by former US Secretary of State John Kerry in 2014 between Ghani and Abdullah, granted the authority also to the latter to make appointments to the Foreign Ministry.

But Ghani has recently been making changes with the Ministry, claiming it his presidential right to make reforms, according to Abdullah's decree.

While addressing the Council of Ministers' meeting on Monday, Abdullah reiterated his previous comments and called such attempts of the Presidential Palace as "one-sided decisions", which, according to him, were not implementable unless the current National Unity Government's tenure had ended.

Abdullah's spokesman Mujib Rahman Rahimi said the rift between the Presidential Palace and the Chief Executive Sapidar Palace have increased, and that the situation was not acceptable, according to the TOLO News report.

"Unfortunately, the Chief Executive and his deputies have not been invited to recent cabinet meetings at the Presidential Palace and this is in contravention of the National Unity Government's agreement," Rahimi said.

But the Presidential Palace said that based on the law, reform in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was a must and that it was the President's authority.
DALLAS, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GHR RevCycle Workforce, formerly the HIM Division of HCTec, has been ranked as the top performing outsourced coding company for 2020 according to KLAS Research, a healthcare IT data and insights company providing the healthcare industry with accurate, honest, and impartial research on the software and services used by providers worldwide.

Consistently ranking among the leaders in the Outsourced Coding category by KLAS, this is the first time GHR RevCycle Workforce has won this prestigious honor.

KLAS Recognizes GHR RevCycle as Category Leader in Outsourced Coding

"Winning KLAS Category Leader in the Best in KLAS Report is more than just finishing first in a ranking." said Barry Matthews, GHR RevCycle Workforce Vice President. "It is recognition of the hard work and commitment by our team to provide accurate, timely coding services and superior customer service to our clients, and playing a key role in their revenue cycle success."

Announced earlier this week, Best in KLAS and Category Leader rankings celebrate vendors receiving the highest provider scores for software, professional services, and medical equipment designation for the healthcare industry. The Outsourced Coding segment is composed of those third party agencies who provide key medical coding services to healthcare facilities and systems, the foundation for an organization's revenue cycle process.

According to KLAS President Adam Gale, "Providers and payers demand better performance, usability, and interoperability from their vendor partners every year. Best in KLAS winners set the standard of excellence in their market segment. Earning a Best in KLAS or Category Leader award should both excite and humble the recipients. It serves as a signal to providers that they should expect only the best from the winning vendors."

Acquired by GHR Healthcare in 2019, GHR RevCycle Workforce is the newest member of the GHR Healthcare family of workforce solution brands.

"We're very proud of Barry and his team, and thrilled they are a part of our suite of workforce services we are able to offer our healthcare clients across the country," said Janet Elkin, President and CEO of GHR Healthcare. "Our mission as a company is to help our clients deliver superior patient care. Helping them address their revenue cycle challenges is another way of delivering on that promise."

The entire 2020 Best in KLAS report can be reviewed here: https://klasresearch.com/report/best-in-klas-2020/1629

About GHR RevCycle Workforce

Since 2012 GHR RevCycle Workforce has been providing healthcare facilities with the people, processes and program management to meet their revenue cycle challenges and address their workforce needs. They focus 100% on providing Revenue Cycle workforce solutions, registry support and audit services across Coding, Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI) and Case Management segments. Formerly the HCTec HIM Division, GHR RevCycle Workforce is now a member of the GHR Healthcare family of healthcare and community-service recruiting and staffing agencies.

For more information, visit www.GHRRevCycle.com

About GHR Healthcare

GHR Healthcare is the parent company to a family of operating brands focused on healthcare and community-based staffing: General Healthcare Resources, GHR Travel Nursing, GHR Education, GHR Human Services, GHR Technology and GHR Search. Through these brands they provide a variety of workforce strategies and solutions, including contingent, per diem, long-term contract, travel, MSP, RPO and direct hire services to clients nationwide.

For more information, visit www.GHRHealthcare.com

CONTACT:

Mike Dunagan, Chief Marketing Officer

404-834-8180

[email protected]

Website: www.GHRRevCycle.com

SOURCE GHR RevCycle Workforce

Related Links

http://www.GHRRevCycle.com


We are maintaining our BUY rating on Tesla Inc. (TSLA) and raising our target price to $808 from $556. Our positive view assumes continued revenue growth from the legacy Model S and Model X, as well as strong demand for the new Model 3, which accounted for more than 80% of 4Q19 production.

In 2020, Tesla expects more than 500,000 vehicle deliveries, driven primarily by the ramp-up of Model 3 production in Shanghai. The company also expects positive quarterly cash flow this year, which will help it to self-fund operations, and positive GAAP net income.

Despite past production delays, parts shortages, labor cost overruns, and other difficulties, we expect Tesla to benefit from its dominant position in the electric vehicle industry and to improve performance in 2020 and beyond.

The shares, up more than 60% so far in 2020, appear to be benefiting also from short covering (TSLA is one of the most shorted stocks) and the potential to be added to the S&P 500 index if profitability continues as projected.

This excerpt was brought to you by Argus Research through Yahoo Finance Premium. Click here to start your free trial* and step up your investing. Yahoo Finance Premium members can read more about our views on Tesla by going to Research Reports and filtering by ticker TSLA.
Supplies and doctors are flowing into the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak to help overwhelmed hospitals. WSJs Chao Deng spoke to people who were turned away from a hospital in the Chinese city because they don't display symptoms of the virus. Photo: Shutterstock
Kalgoorlie elders warn racial tensions are running high after the local mayor and Liberal MP told visitors from desert communities they weren't welcome in town, labelling their behaviour "frightening" and "anti-social".

In a joint statement released by Kalgoorlie MP Kyran O'Donnell and the mayor of the city, John Bowler, the pair took aim at an "influx of visitors" from remote Indigenous communities and referred to "drunken carrying-ons, swearing and yelling, [and] frightening and threatening behaviour".

Travellers from Tjutjuntara camp on the outskirts of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola

"Kalgoorlie-Boulder welcomes any person who wishes to visit our wonderful city, no matter who you are or where you are from," the pair's statement read.

"However these people show utter disrespect to our city, to our residents, our properties and they give their own people a bad reputation and total disregard for their own culture. We don't want anybody here with behaviours like that."
Tehran had reached an agreement with Damascus to build 30,000 houses in Syria and to establish Iranian-Syrian companies in the field of construction, transportation and infrastructure writes Asharq Al-Awsat.

Iranian Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mahmoud Mahmoudzadeh announced on Sunday that Tehran had reached an agreement with Damascus to build 30,000 houses in Syria.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Build and Property Show 2020 in Tehran, Mahmoudzadeh said he had signed with his Syrian counterpart in recent weeks an MoU to launch the construction, IRNA reported.

Under the deal, three state companies are due to enter Syria and make coordination for executive works for reconstruction of buildings, transportation, roads and other development projects.

However, Irans public sector will make no investments in the plan, Mahmoudzadeh stressed.

He did not mention the volume of expected resources for Iranian companies or their financing sources.

In December, Syrian Deputy Minister of Public Works and Housing Mazen al-Laham said that the visit of the Syrian ministerial delegation to Iran aimed to follow up on issues discussed in the 14th session of the High Syrian-Iranian Committee, as well as to sign an MoU to build housing units in Syria and to establish Iranian-Syrian companies in the field of construction, transportation and infrastructure, in addition to providing consultations and engineering services, under the regulations and laws of both countries.

The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Purdue University has been awarded a $5.9 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to develop the first quiet Mach 8 wind tunnel in the world, further solidifying the state of Indianas major role in one of the U.S. Department of Defenses top technological priorities  the development of hypersonics systems.

Under the Air Force Research Laboratory contract, awarded in June, Purdue will begin design studies of a Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel to support hypersonic research and development and conduct risk-reduction and initial construction efforts.

This award is one of a growing number of large-scale research programs enabled by Purdues ongoing commitment to national security research and the efforts of its Institute for Global Security and Defense Innovation, said Theresa Mayer, Purdues executive vice president for research and partnerships. Purdue has a long track record as a university leader in national defense and is establishing itself as a hub of hypersonic capabilities research.

The Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel will be the first facility of its kind capable of collecting data at speeds greater than Mach 6. Collecting data at higher Mach numbers is critical to extending the understanding of flow physics, especially heat transfer and flight control effectiveness, as Department of Defense programs continue working to fly faster and farther.

Quiet wind tunnels more closely simulate flight and provide more accurate data than conventional hypersonic wind tunnels. A better understanding of when and how airflow over a surface changes from smooth to turbulent is essential in the successful design of expendable and reusable hypersonic vehicles.

Purdue currently is home to one of only two working Mach 6 quiet tunnels in the country.

The new Mach 8 facility at Purdue is to be an experimental facility. It will be designed to function at multiple security levels in handling proprietary research collaborations with government and industry.

This project exemplifies the universitys leadership role in hypersonic capability research. I applaud Purdue and other institutions within the state for their continued contributions to this critical national security priority and our defense industrial base, said chairman Pete Visclosky of Indianas 1st District, U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

The university will conduct the necessary research and risk reduction to bring the tunnel to operational capability within the next five years, said Steven Schneider, co-lead investigator of the project with Purdue research scientist Brandon Chynoweth, who will be responsible for running and sustaining the Mach 8 wind tunnel.

Development of these facilities is a research problem in the control of laminar-turbulent transition, but success will enable reduced risk and increased performance in the development of multibillion-dollar missile programs that are increasingly critical for national defense, said Schneider, a professor in Purdues School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

The Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel likely will be built near Zucrow Laboratories in the Aerospace District, a university-affiliated aerospace business hub for companies to collaborate on research and commerce. Purdue has nearly 40 world-renowned researchers in hypersonics and among the most comprehensive hypersonics research capabilities in the country, including navigation, aerodynamics, aerothermal effects propulsion, autonomy, system engineering, high-temperature materials and manufacturing.

A consortium of military, government, congressional, industry and policy leaders met in late July at Purdue for the inaugural National Defense Industrial Association Hypersonics Capabilities Conference. Hypersonic defense abilities are considered game-changing technologies. With systems that can travel at speeds of Mach 5 or faster and are highly maneuverable, hypersonics are potentially very effective against heavily defended areas. Defense leaders report that U.S. hypersonic investment has grown dramatically.

Writer: Brian Huchel, 765-494-2084, bhuchel@purdue.edu

Sources: Steven Schneider, 765-494-3343, steves@purdue.edu
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4)  A doctor was abducted at his clinic by armed men at Jolo, Sulu on Tuesday.

The victim was identified as Daniel Moreno. He was abducted at 6:58 pm at Brg. Walled City in Jolo.

According to an information by the military, Moreno was abducted by unidentified armed men wearing police and military uniform at his clinic.

The victim and the suspects boarded in a red FX vehicle. Further, another source added that the vehicle was seen going outside Jolo.

CNN Philippines Vince Ferreras and David Santos contributed to this report
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says there is an ongoing effort to improve the security situation in the country including plans to recruit more troops and officers to beef up the personnel of security agencies.

Osinbajos spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said the vice president received at the Presidential Villa, clergymen from the Northern part of Nigeria under the aegis of the Arewa Pastors Forum for Peace.

The VP said the Federal Government was committed to containing the threats and security concerns in the country.



He assured the pastors that the Federal Government was doing everything that needed to be done.

We are handling security well, and as you know, including military deployment in diverse fields, like the Boko Haram in the North-East.

In fact, we have to now recruit more into the army, and much faster than we ever did because we need men on the ground; resources also  to buy more arms, to buy more platforms.

At the last meeting of the National Security Council that was held on Thursday, we had discussions on how to beef up the militarys platforms.

How do we beef up the numbers? How do we recruit more men and women into the army? How do we collaborate more with local vigilante, the Civilian Joint Task Force and all that.

So, there is a lot going on in terms of trying to beef up security; the security situation is one that is very challenging.

We are also looking at aspects of surveillance  how we can do more aerial surveillance using drones and electronic devices to improve surveillance, he said.

Osinbajo assured the clergymen that the Federal Government was also committed to finding lasting solutions to the perennial crisis in communities in the North and other parts of the country, including the ones bothering on religious prejudices.

He urged the group as Men of God, to also come up with ideas and their thoughts on how to find lasting peace.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
MS Santhanam By

In the 70 years since India became a Republic, both Houses of Parliament have drawn people from all walks of life. As the Independence movement was mostly led by lawyer-turned-politicians, including Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, it was not surprising that more than a third of the members in the first Lok Sabha were advocates. This dominance by legal professionals continued well until the 9th Lok Sabha constituted in 1989. As a scientist, I was curious about who among the science fraternity made it to Parliament in the last seven decades. Globally, scientists have had slim representation in Parliaments. In India, fewer than 10 scientists have entered the portals of Parliament, and most of them were nominated to Rajya Sabha.

In this backdrop, it is surprising that Meghnad Saha, one of the brilliant physicists of the 20th century, known for his theoretical work on stellar ionisation, entered the first Lok Sabha by winning from Calcutta North West as an independent candidate supported by Left parties. To this day, he is the only scientist to be directly elected by the people. Since the 1920s, Professor Saha earned his spurs working on frontline problems of astrophysics and teaching physics at Calcutta and Allahabad universities. For his work on ionisation processes in stars, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Even as an ivory tower scientist, his deep concern for society and national progress led him into public life. Ironically, he entered politics because of what he saw as the incompetence of ministers, who were like landsmen who have never seen large sheets of water and still asked to pilot ships in the ocean. His main contribution to nation building was in river-valley projects, championing research and in the idea of planning, which later took shape as the Planning Commission. In 2014, after the BJP came to power, the Planning Commission was disbanded and replaced by NITI Aayog.

It must be a rare coincidence that two eminent scientists were Members of Parliament at the same time. In 1952, Satyendra Nath Bose was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Reminiscent of the historic letter of mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan to G H Hardy at Cambridge, Bose wrote to Albert Einstein of his discovery. He discovered a new method to count quanta of light based on the idea that they are not distinguishable from one another.

Einstein liked Boses idea and translated it into German and had it published. This seminal work led to Boses name tagged to a class of particles called Bosons. This work laid the theoretical foundations for practical applications like lasers. In Parliament, Saha spoke on a variety of issues of national development, but Bose took part only in a few debates. He spoke at length on the Bill to create the University Grants Commission, pointing out that it must confine itself to setting standards and not dictate terms to the universities that have vast experience in dealing with students and education.

After Boses retirement from Rajya Sabha, over the next 60 years, about seven scientists were nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Quite unusually, M G K Menon took the electoral route. He was a cosmic ray physicist and went on to head many influential scientific institutions and science academies in India. He was elected to Rajya Sabha in 1990 from Rajasthan as a Janata Dal candidate. Menon also briefly served as the minister of state for science and technology.

Not just in India, scientists track record of entering Parliament is dismal across the world. Both in the US and the UK, few scientists with doctoral degrees and research credentials enter the top legislative bodies through direct election. Occasional exceptions exist because scientists have been nominated. In 2005, Professor Martin Rees, an astrophysicist who had made significant contributions to our understanding of microwave radiation that surrounds us from all directions, was nominated to the House of Lords in the UK.

It is a moot question if scientists need to enter Parliament at all to be of service to the nation. For a scientist accustomed to playing with ideas, the rough and tumble of electoral politics presents an insurmountable entry barrier. Increasingly, Parliament makes laws that have significant technical content such as the Personal Data Protection Bill (2019) pending before the Lok Sabha. These require specialised knowledge. Yet, in most cases, the laws governing society are not necessarily founded on rational or strict scientific criteria. In such cases, science is just one of the many inputs and is not even the clincher. Maybe as Winston Churchill quipped, scientists should be on tap (available to advise) but not on top.

It is not to argue that scientists must avoid parliaments. In an increasingly divisive political environment, scientists not affiliated to political parties can present unbiased opinions on technical and other matters. A worrying trend is that, as the idealism of the 1950s gave way to realpolitik of 1970s, many nominationed members of the Rajya Sabha are party functionaries and not, as envisaged in the Constitution, those who had made a mark in their fields. Seventy years after the adoption of our Constitution, this is one more reason to read it again and strictly abide by its spirit.
This World Cancer Day, Bengaluru witnessed a heart-warming moment where a thalassemia survivor met her lifesaver for the first time.

A techie from the city had donated his blood stem cells giving a second chance at life to the four-year-old Shia from West Bengal suffering from thalassemia.

The meeting was organised by the non-profit organisation DKMS BMST Foundation India, an international blood stem cell donor registry.

Shia flew for the first time and came here to meet her lifesaver Debojyoti, a 26-year-old techie, who donated his blood stem cells so that she could receive a second chance at life.

Expressing his emotions on World Cancer Day on Tuesday, Debojyoti told reporters he had registered himself as a potential stem cell donor in 2016 and after a year of registration he was found to be a match.

"I did not know the details of the patient to whom my blood stem cells will be given but now when I met her after all these years, I went numb. Being able to save a life is a feeling beyond words. It can only be experienced-cant be described," he said.

When this family residing in Kolkata found their daughter suffering from thalassemia, they researched about the treatments available.

Sharing their experience, Shias father Saifulla said due to lack of awareness about the blood stem cell transplant procedure they were turned down by the local doctors.

"We were told that our daughter will need blood transfusion throughout her life to survive, we were devastated but kept doing our research. We got a ray of hope after meeting Dr Revathi Raj based in Chennai and she assured us of treatment available in the form of a blood stem cell transplant, he said.

Thats when the journey to find an unrelated blood stem cell match began for the family.

With the help of doctors, they were lucky to find a match for their daughter within a year and she underwent a blood stem cell transplantation.

Director of DKMS-BMST Dr Latha Jagannathan said many patients suffering from blood cancer and other blood disorders need a blood stem cell transplant to survive.

"Unfortunately, majority of patients are unable to receive a transplant due to the unavailability of a matching blood stem cell donor", she said.

The registry DKMS-BMST at present has over 40,000 registered potential blood stem cell donors.

"We will work hard that this number will increase considerably over the coming years", she added.

Paediatric hematologist, oncologist and BMT specialist at Narayana Health City, Bengaluru, Dr Pooja Prakash Mallya said every five minutes someone in India is diagnosed with blood cancer and other blood disorders. And many are not able to find a match within their families and hence need an unrelated donor.

This gap can be bridged only when more and more people from different ethnicities in India are a part of the donor registry maintained by organisations such as DKMS-BMST, she said.

CEO of DKMS BMST Foundation India Patrick Paul said mostly, for blood cancer patients a blood stem cell transplant is key for survival.

"Each one of us should register as a potential stem cell donor and encourage our near and dear ones to register themselves too", he said.

As per protocols, the identity of both the donor and recipient are kept anonymous for a period of two years and thereafter upon interest they can be introduced to each other.

Ever since I donated my blood stem cells, I was looking forward to meeting the recipient. I only knew her age and today I am glad that I could see her and meet her family, Debojyoti said.

Today, Shia is leading a normal life and is a hale and hearty girl who likes to draw and colour and is probably not even completely aware of the condition she was in, a DKMS-BMST statement said.

All she knows is Debojyoti is a friend who gifted her something she would cherish forever.

DKMS-BMST is a joint venture of two non-profit organisations: BMST (Bangalore Medical Services Trust) and DKMS, one of the largest international blood stem cell donor registries in the world.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As the global toll of the 2019 novel coronavirus mounts, the travel industry is suffering as Canadians switch up their travel plans to avoid not just China, but the broader East Asian region.

At Toronto-based tour operator and travel agency Tour East, which specializes in travel to East Asia, the impact was felt the moment the new virus hit the headlines, said company spokesperson Marc Atchison.

Its been devastating. Its been worse than SARS, said Atchison, adding that concerned travel agents and passengers have been calling to rebook, delay or cancel their plans.

The last few weeks, weve been having people cancelling. Business is off 70 or 80 per cent, said Atchison.

In the last two decades, China has become a much bigger destination for tourists. In 2002, just before SARS struck, there were roughly 38 million international visits to China. In 2019, there were 142 million visits, according to the Chinese ministry of tourism and culture. In 2003, there were 118,596 Canadian visits to China over the course of the year, according to Statistics Canada. In the first quarter alone of 2019, there were 240,093.

Tour East has been offering refunds to clients who were planning to tour China, but also to people whose flights were scheduled to go through either Beijing or Shanghai en route to other countries.

Many people planning trips to Asia for vacation have decided to switch to another destination rather than cancel their holiday altogether , said Allison Wallace, spokesperson for Flight Centre travel agency.

Weve certainly had people that have had their trips change entirely, but thats not uncommon in situations like these where there is a travel warning or natural disaster, particularly if its for a holiday. People who want to travel, will look at alternatives as they still plan on travelling, said Wallace.

Still, added Wallace, some people simply had no option but to delay their trips, or cancel altogether.

The cancellations were seeing are more from people who were travelling for business or visiting family, who had specific reasons to go to China, Wallace said.

The impact is much broader now than it was during the SARS outbreak of 2003, because China  particularly Beijing and Shanghai  have become much more significant hubs for regional travel in East Asia, said University of Guelph tourism and hospitality professor Marion Joppe. While there are alternate routes to destinations like Thailand or Vietnam, there are limitations, Joppe said. None of them offer as many options as China.

Yes, you could get another flight to Thailand. You could go through Korea, or Japan. But the question is how much capacity will there be on those flights? And how much will they cost? Joppe said, adding that concerned travellers should be reading the fine print on any trip cancellation insurance theyve bought.

You really need to check your travel insurance to see whats covered. Most of the time, cancellations caused by an epidemic arent covered, Joppe warned.

Joppe predicted the impact on travel to China will last much longer than the threat from the virus itself, pointing to the slump in tourism to Canada after the SARS epidemic, as an example.

It stays in peoples minds. Canadian tourism didnt really recover from SARS until 2005 or 2006, said Joppe.

And, she added, the impact of fewer tourists will be felt well beyond China itself, because of basic ignorance and fear.

Our knowledge of geography is really poor. I dont just mean Canadians, I mean everybody. People might think oh, well, I might avoid those countries nearby. They think of Asia as one big thing, said Joppe.
After Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by missiles over Tehran, killing all on board, many wondered why Iran's airspace was even open. With the threat of U.S. strikes, and fevered talk of war, the country was on high alert. But when it comes to flying over conflict zones, it turns out everyone's in charge and no one's in charge.
The cousin of a 1m-a-year Citigroup banker suspended from his job says the high-flier's family is worried about him.

Paras Shah, 31, was removed as Citigroups head of high-yield bond trading for Europe, the Middle East and Africa following numerous allegations that he had been stealing food from its headquarters at Canary Wharf in east London.

Today Mr Shahs cousin Dinesh knocked at the bankers property in north London where he lives with his wife Aarti, a senior research scientist, and admitted he was worried about the trader.

Dinesh said: 'The family have been trying to contact Paras but he's not responding to our calls. We're worried about him, that's why I've come to his house.

Paras Shah, 31, pictured playfully smiling in a sombrero, has been suspended from his job with Citigroup over allegations that he took sandwiches from the staff canteen without paying

A cousin of the city worker visited the high-flier's home in north London today and told MailOnline that his family were worried about him after he was removed from the post

Mr Shah lives with his wife his wife Aarti (pictured), a senior research scientist, who is also listed as a director of a jewellery company

'He obviously doesn't want to speak to anybody about what's happened.

The blinds were drawn although neighbours had reported seeing Mr Shah earlier in the day.

'We are all very upset about this. Paras comes from a very good family and this is not the kind of behaviour we expect,' the cousin said.

Dinesh told MailOnline that the high-flying banker's favourite sandwich is cheese and pickle.

'That's what he enjoys the most - but he makes them at home,' he added.

It is unclear how many sandwiches Mr Shah is alleged to have stolen, or over what period the alleged thefts took place.

The bank suspended him following numerous allegations that he had been stealing food from its headquarters at Canary Wharf in east London, the Financial Times reported. The firm's HQ is pictured above

The allegations come despite his role as one of Europes highest-profile credit traders.

The employee review website Glassdoor says the average salary for a credit trader is 183,740, but Mr Shah is likely to have earned far more than that given his senior role at Citi.

A banking source told the Press Association news agency that those in similar positions at other banks could earn more than 1million.

It was Mr Shahs job to match buyers and sellers of risky company debt and according to his LinkedIn profile he is skilled in securities, trading and risk management.

His suspension came weeks before senior staff at Citi were due to be paid their annual bonuses.

Mr Shahs profile shows he graduated from the University of Bath in 2010 with a degree in economics after attending the Latymer grammar school in Edmonton, north London.

He joined HSBCs fixed-income trading division scheme that year and spent seven years with the bank before joining Citi in 2017.

Mr Shahs profile shows he was promoted to head of Europe, Middle East and Africa high-yield credit trading after only two months with Citi.

His Facebook page suggests he enjoys exotic holidays, and posts show he has visited Petra in Jordan and Machu Picchu in Peru.

He would not be the first banker to land himself in hot water over allegations of personal misconduct.

Pictured: A deli inside the Citigroup headquarters in Canary Wharf, London

Japans Mizuho Bank sacked a London banker in 2016 after he was caught stealing a part worth 5 from a colleagues bike.

And in 2014 Jonathan Burrows, a former BlackRock executive, was found to have repeatedly dodged paying train fares for his commute.

The Financial Conduct Authority banned the ex-fund manager from any future senior roles in the UK finance sector and Mr Burrows ended up paying 43,000 to Southeastern trains to settle the case.

Citigroup declined to comment to the Financial Times. Mr Shah was contacted for comment.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian received today newly appointed Ambassador of Iran to Armenia Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri on the occasion of presenting his credentials, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

The Armenian President congratulated the Ambassador on assuming office and expressed hope that he will bring his active contribution to further deepening and strengthening the historical, friendly relations between the two countries.

President Sarkissian said Armenia and Iran have always been good neighbors and supported each other at difficult times.

The Armenian President remembered his recent meeting with President of Iran Hassan Rouhani in Yerevan.

The President and the Ambassador exchanged views on the Armenian-Iranian agenda and the opportunities to expand the mutual cooperation in various fields.

The Iranian Ambassador said he will make all efforts to further develop and expand the partnership between the two friendly countries.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
The head of security of the horse racing regulatory body, the Turf Club, claims he was defamed in a letter about his role in an inspection of the yard of horse trainer Liz Doyle, a daughter of former FG MEP Avril Doyle, who was also present during the inspection.

Chris Gordon (aged 60) is suing the Irish Race Horse Trainers Association (IRTA) over a letter to a senior steward of the Turf Club in which he says it was falsely alleged he attempted to entrap Ms Doyle junior into an admission of wrongdoing.

The court heard the letter arose after Ms Doyle's yard at Kitestown House, Co Wexford, was inspected in March 2014 by Department of Agriculture and Turf Club officials as part of an investigation related to the use of performance enhancing drugs in racehorses.

In High Court proceedings before a judge and jury, Mr Gordon also claims he was further defamed when the IRTA chairman Noel Meade, in an interview with the Irish Field in August 2014, said members were angered by the conduct of some officials during inspections carried out at horse trainers' premises as part of this investigation.

Mr Meade claimed there was a "little Hitler syndrome" where trainers were treated almost as guilty from the start and that they didn't like being "treated like criminals".

Mr Gordon, a former garda superintendent who became the security head following early retirement from the force in 2010, claims he was further defamed when the IRTA published a petition to its members seeking to have him removed as security chief on grounds of misconduct.

It is further alleged IRTA committee member Michael Grassick made false claims about Mr Gordon's conduct during inspections of two other trainers' premises.

It is also claimed Mr Meade, Mr Grassick and another IRTA committee member, Michael Halford, met with representatives of the Turf Club and maliciously published statements seeking Mr Gordon's removal.

Mr Gordon says as a result the Turf Club, now known as the Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board, held an inquiry which concluded Mr Gordon had done nothing wrong.

He claims the allegations were made with malice and meant, among other things, he engaged in unprofessional behaviour, corrupt practices and abused his position.

The IRTA denies the claims. It also pleads qualified privilege which protects a statement published to someone with an interest in receiving such information as long as it is not motivated by malice.

Opening the case, Tom Hogan SC, instructed by Sean Costello Solicitors, said the inspection of Ms Doyle's yard was the first of a number after the Turf Club and Department of Agriculture decided to share intelligence to carry out investigations into the use of anabolic steroids in the industry.

It followed the conviction in 2013 of John Hughes, a retired Department vet for possession of 6kg of Nitrotain at his Carlow home.

Using the book of evidence in the case against Hughes, Turf Club and Department officials went over a number of documents provided by Hughes, counsel said.

Some of the information related to bank lodgement payment slips and beside those payments were the initials of people, he said.

During the meeting with the officials, Turf Club chief executive Denis Egan saw one payment of 200 beside an initial "LD". Mr Egan wrote in the margin of the book of evidence "Liz Doyle" with a question mark beside it after it was suggested it might be her, counsel said.

On March 26, 2014, an inspection took place of Ms Doyle's yard when she and her mother asked to see the bank lodgment slip.

Mr Gordon showed them the page in the book of evidence but he did not know at that time that Mr Egan had written in Liz Doyle in the margin. Ms Doyle denied the entry referred to her and this was accepted. The inspection ended otherwise uneventfully, counsel said.

Afterwards, Ms Doyle complained about what had happened to Mr Gordon. Her mother also contacted Mr Egan and she did not accept his explanation that he had handwritten the name in, counsel said.

Mr Egan later wrote saying Liz Doyle was in good standing with the Turf Club.

The case continues.
By Felix Tam and Twinnie Siu

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's leader announced the closure of four more border crossings with mainland China on Monday, leaving just three checkpoints open, but stopped short of demands for the entire border to be closed to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

Hong Kong has 15 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which emerged in central China in December and has killed more than 360 people there and sent jitters through global markets.

Carrie Lam, chief executive of Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, was speaking hours after more than 2,500 workers from the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance (HAEA) went on strike to call for the border to be shut and better protection for hospital staff, among other demands.

"We should be united if we have the same goal. At this critical moment, (some people are) taking extreme means and it is inevitable it will affect the rights of patients," Lam said.

"Those using extreme means to try to force the government's hand will not succeed."

The Hospital Authority said those using extreme means "to try to force the government and Hospital Authoritys hands will not succeed".

Striking workers at the Hospital Authority building booed as they watched Lam speak, calling her a liar and chanting: "Close all borders."

The medical workers, members of the newly formed union, held a press conference shortly after Lam spoke and said they planned to keep up their strike action.

HAEA chairwoman Winnie Yu said she expected around 9,000 of the alliance's roughly 18,000 members to strike on Tuesday.

Pro-democracy protesters have in recent months formed about 40 unions as a way to press their demands on the government and at least a dozen have come out in support of the HAEA's strike.

Reflecting concerns in the broader business community, three-quarters of American business leaders polled said they wanted Hong Kong to shut the border with the mainland, according to a survey of 156 executives by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

Story continues

Lam has rejected calls to shut the entire border, saying such a move would be "inappropriate and impractical" as well as "discriminatory".

By making it inconvenient for people to cross the border, Lam said she hoped it would help contain the spread of the virus although she does not "rule out future measures as the situation evolves".

The health scare comes after months of at times violent anti-government protests in Hong Kong triggered by fears the city's autonomy, guaranteed under a "one country, two systems" formula, is being eroded by Beijing.

China denies meddling and accuses foreign governments of fomenting the unrest.

The virus is expected to heap more pressure on the former British colony, which on Monday reported its economy contracted for the first time in a decade in 2019.

The HAEA's five demands are for the government to close the border, distribute masks to the public, ensure that front-line medical workers have adequate supplies and protection, provide enough isolation wards for patients and guarantee no reprisals for strikers.

Panic-stricken residents have emptied shelves in major supermarkets in Hong Kong, stockpiling meat, rice and cleaning products as fears escalate over the coronavirus.

About 90 percent of the city's food is imported, with the bulk coming from the mainland, according to official data.

Toy shop owner Lam Wa-yin, 45, said closing the border would intensify worries about supplies of staples.

"They've started rushing to buy supplies even before they fully close the borders," Lam said.

"It'll get worse if it is fully closed. Especially food. People have been rushing to buy oil, salt and rice, not to mention the face masks."

(Reporting By Felix Tam, Joseph Campbell, Twinnie Siu, Jessie Pang, Yoyo Chow; Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Filmmaker and public figure Arshak Zakaryan told on Facebook livestream about the scandal raised by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at his restaurant in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

According to Zakaryan, Pashinyan and his family had come to Artsakh this Sunday to meet with their son in the army and had a family dinner at his restaurant. At the end, Pashinyan demanded a cash register receipt, and but the staff noticed that the cash register printer was not working, and this was reported to the Armenian Prime Minister. Upon learning of this, Pashinyan made a scandal at the restaurant, accused the staff of "eating the soldier's bread, then telephoned the Artsakh State Minister and demanded to fine the owner of this restaurant, after which Artsakh tax officials came and fined the restaurant.

According to Zakaryan, his restaurant pays taxes with a fixed fee, and not providing a cash register receipt cannot be considered tax evasion. Zakaryan said he is ready to pay a much bigger fine, but he is offended by the prime minister's behavior and accusing them of "eating the soldier's bread."

"Making such an uproar and calling us eater of soldiers bread is just not befitting a senior official, is not befitting the Prime Minister and a men, in general," Arshak Zakaryan stressed, in particular.
In 2003, a Ministerial Resolution established February 8 as Pisco Sour Day in order to promote the consumption of the cocktail "purely Peruvian and internationally recognized."

The following year, it was decided that every first Saturday of February homage should be paid to the drink created in 1916 by U.S. bartender Victor Morris.

Japan

The Embassy of Peru in Japan summoned some 100 people who tasted the traditional cocktail whose main ingredient is Pisco : the ultimate distilled from fresh musts of freshly fermented Pisco grapes as well as various Peruvian dishes ( Ceviche , Causa Rellena, etc.)
Political Scientist, Prof. Ransford Gyampo has expressed concerns over what he refers to as hoarding of scandals to cause political unrest during election years.

Prof. Gyampo insisted that the trend must stop to pave way for a political atmosphere where electorates can vote based on everyday issues.

I think the practice of keeping scandals and hoarding criminal videos only to release in election year is not productive because once you do so, the other party also will say I will do same to equalize so at the end of the day if you do not take care, it is he who is able to produce more scandals that will be elected.

I am sure you have heard about Airbus scandal at the end of the day, we are embarking on the disingenuous practice of politics of equalization, he said.

His concerns come in the wake of the Airbus bribery scandal in which Ghana has been cited as one of the five countries Airbus agents allegedly bribed or promised payments to senior officials in exchange for business favours between 2009 and 2015.

In addition to Ghana, the company allegedly paid bribes to officials in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Taiwan within the same period.

The UK's Serious Fraud Office, however, in its statement of fact did not name the individual Ghanaian officials because investigations were still ongoing.

President Nana Akufo-Addo has since referred the Airbus bribery scandal to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for investigations.

These investigations are expected to be conducted in collaboration with the United Kingdom authorities, according to a statement from the presidency.

Response from NDC

The National Democratic Congress (NDC), which was in power during the period the bribes were allegedly paid, denied the suggestions of corruption amid speculation from the public.

The party in a statement signed by former Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, argued that media reports on the matter did not accurately capture the approved judgement of the case in the UK.

The reports alleging that Airbus SE paid bribes during the administration of President John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama are false, misleading and do not reflect the Approved Judgment. Indeed, the Approved Judgment of the Crown Court of Southwark approving the DPA between Airbus and the UK Serious Fraud Office does not allege that any payment was made by Airbus to any Ghanaian Government official, the statement said.

---citinewsroom
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The number of people worldwide infected with the novel coronavirus from China has now topped 20,000. while almost all the confirmed cases remain in China, some experts believe it is only a matter of time before the outbreak expands into a pandemic.

While the number of cases in the United States remains at 11, more are being tested and awaiting results.

Live coronavirus tracker

Coronavirus news in the United States

U.S. Officials Promise Aggressive Measures to Contain Coronavirus (New York Times)

Princeton students who visited China asked to self-quarantine amid coronavirus fears (New York Post)

Heres what U.S. schools are doing in response to the coronavirus (CNBC)

Washington State businesses braced for impact of the coronavirus (Seattle Times)

De Blasio to CDC: Give New York City the coronavirus test (Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

Boston has first confirmed cased of coronavirus (WBUR)

Coronavirus news around the globe

Cruise ship in Japan quarantined after passenger diagnosed with coronavirus (CNN)

Why the world cares more about the new coronavirus than the flu (NPR)

SARS and the new coronavirus target the same cellular lock to infect cells (Science News)

China wildlife ban should be permanent (BBC)

Macau closes all casinos (Quartz)

As Taiwan deals with 10 coronavirus cases, China unblocks communications channels (Fox News)

Local coronavirus news

Kent State issues China travel restrictions over coronavirus concerns (Fox 8)

Coronavirus: Whats fact and whats fiction? (cleveland.com)

Coronavirus cases have some Ohio businesses temporarily closing facilities abroad (cincinnati.com)

Two Ohio County residents being monitored for the Coronavirus in WV (WTOV)

Read complete prior coronavirus coverage on cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio  JobsOhio, the economic development arm of state government, has set aside $4 million this year to help Ohios airports attract new flights to unserved or underserved markets, including, potentially, highly sought transatlantic service.

Airport directors in Ohio have complained for years that theyre at a competitive disadvantage with airports in neighboring states, including Indiana and Pennsylvania, which have funds to lure coveted airline service.

In recent years, Pittsburgh International Airport offered $3 million to entice British Airways to start nonstop service to London, and Indiana agreed to pay up to $5.5 million to Delta Air Lines to start nonstop service from Indianapolis to Paris.

Officials at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport have said they believe the airport has lost out on air service additions because they couldnt pay airlines to come.

Attracting new air service is a highly competitive endeavor, especially among midsize airports like Cleveland, Columbus, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis. Airlines often want assurances  in the form of subsidies or revenue guarantees  that they wont lose money on new routes.

J.P. Nauseef, president and chief investment officer of JobsOhio, who spoke at the City Club of Cleveland on Tuesday, said its an economic development issue.

Business leaders throughout the state, he said, have told him: If we had better air service, we could attract more people. If we had better air service, we could bring another division of our business here. If we had more air service, Ohio would stay on the list competing with Texas or Florida for us to locate our business in Ohio."

Federal law prevents airports from offering direct incentives to airlines, although they can waive certain fees and provide marketing support.

Instead, the business community is sometimes tapped to support new routes. Most recently, in Cleveland, the Greater Cleveland Partnership offered some financial assistance to lure Wow Air to start flying between Cleveland Hopkins and Reykjavik, Iceland, starting in 2018. The amount was never disclosed, and the flights were canceled after six months; the carrier eventually went out of business.

Nauseef said JobsOhio was putting together rules for the fund, which should be complete in the coming months. There is likely to be some community buy-in required from the business community, although details have not been finalized.

Terry Slaybaugh, who started last year as a managing director at JobsOhio, is the former director of Dayton International Airport and has been traveling around Ohio in recent months, talking to the leaders of the states seven commercial airports to seek feedback on the plan.

The fund would certainly help the states larger airports  including Cleveland and Columbus, which are, according to some calculations, two of the largest markets in the United States without nonstop air service to Europe.

It would also help smaller airports, including Akron-Canton, Dayton and Youngstown, all of which have seen significant cuts in air service in recent years. Youngstown has been without commercial air service since early 2018, when its lone carrier, Allegiant, pulled out, after expanding in Cleveland.

In an interview last month, Hopkins airport Director Robert Kennedy said he was looking forward to reviewing the final details of JobsOhios plan.

Im very confident in what he [Slaybaugh] is driving toward, Kennedy said. It would be very good for the state of Ohio and the city of Cleveland. If it happens tomorrow, well use it as rapidly as we can. Right now, weve got nothing.

Last year, the Ohio Aviation Association, which represents the states airports, unsuccessfully lobbied the Ohio Legislature to create a $15 million fund to support new air service. Legislative approval isnt necessary for the JobsOhio program.

JobsOhio is the private, nonprofit economic development group that took over numerous functions from the Ohio Department of Development in 2011. It is funded primarily through revenue from liquor sales in the state.

Read more: Should Ohio pay to attract new international flights? Pittsburgh did

Ohio airports want $15 million in state budget to attract new flights

How Cleveland Hopkins International Airport scored two routes to Iceland in one week
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The Kozhikode Municipal Corporation council convened an urgent meeting to discuss the prevention of coronavirus in the city.

ayor Thottathil Raveendran chaired the meeting where Ashadevi, ADMO explained about health precautions to safeguard against the spread of virus.

The health department and civil authority have been on alert since the first case of novel coronavirus were confirmed in the state.

So far, 310 people are under observation, said District Medical Officer Dr V. Jayasree.

She also said that two persons under observation and exhibiting symptoms of the virus, had travelled to Saudi without the permission of health authority.

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja on Monday said the state government has declared coronavirus as a state disaster.

"Kerala today (Monday) declared the novel coronavirus as a state disaster. We want to strengthen our surveillance system and precautionary measures," Shailaja said.

The minister further said that the state had three positive cases of coronavirus so far.

"The samples had been sent to the Institute of Virology for testing. We are calling back the health officers from leave and putting in place all measures to contain the effect of this virus", she added.

Earlier, Shailaja had informed that the third case of coronavirus tested positive in Kasargod, Kerala.

The virus originated in Wuhan in December and has since then spread to various parts around the world.

China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
All my thanks to the staff of Kalispell Regional Medical Center!

To my nurses: Kristi, I think; sorry, I was a little groggy that first day. Then there was Kevin the first night. Jeff the first and second day, Sara the second night, Teresa the third night and Charlie on Friday.

I want to thank Dr. Federico. Imagine lung surgery Tuesday morning to driving myself home Friday, listening to recently released Jimi Hendrix live at Atlanta. Wow, modern medicine.

Thanks to nurse practitioner Joan, who pulled my chest tube. Didn't feel a thing except relief. She also got to tell me I had no cancer.

Thanks to Garth for taking me to my truck.

Thanks to the cafeteria and housekeeping staff for all of your compassion. One of my nurses, who is a Trump fan! Sorry my blood pressure was so high. You've been listed here, but it's no one else's business. You have your place in my heart.

Now I must apologize to the staff of St. Pats in Missoula. Your totally compassionate care for my autistic brother Robert. Your patience and kindness is truly inspirational.

To the staff at Community Medical Center and Advanced Imagery who I'm seeing way too much of: Thank you!

Finally, to my new hero and nurse practitioner Katy Meinbresse, who I would recommend to anyone, and her team member Cheyenne.

To Dr. Stern: Thanks, sure I'll see you soon.

If we could just get the "In gouge we trust" out of the corporate end of medicine.

To U.S. Sen. Steve Daines: Soon I'll have a very special letter for you too. I just have to reread Lord of The Flies first. I promise you it's on the way!

Rick Wheeler,

Missoula

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Democratic White House candidate Pete Buttigieg seized a shock lead in the chaotic Iowa caucuses, closely trailed by leftist senator Bernie Sanders, according to partial returns released on Tuesday after an embarrassing delay in reporting the results. Progressive standard-bearer Elizabeth Warren was in third place followed by Joe Biden, a disappointing showing for the former vice president who has claimed he is best positioned to defeat Donald Trump in November. Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who has been battling Biden for the moderate wing of the party, hailed what he called an "astonishing victory" in the midwestern farm state which kicks off the presidential nominating process. "I have never been more confident in our campaign, in our team, and in the vision that brought to us this point," Buttigieg told ecstatic supporters in New Hampshire, which holds the next nominating contest on February 11. With polls still mixed on whether Americans would be comfortable with an openly gay president, Buttigieg also made a rare, though implicit, reference to his sexuality -- and the added significance it gave the Iowa outcome. "It validates for a kid, somewhere in a community, wondering if he belongs, or she belongs, or they belong in their own family, that if you believe in yourself and your country there's a lot backing up that belief," he said with a catch in his voice. According to the partial results, Buttigieg, unknown nationally a year ago, leads with 26.8 percent followed by Sanders, the 78-year-old self-described democratic socialist, with 25.2 percent, followed by Senator Warren with 18.4 percent, and Biden with 15.4 percent. The centrist senator from Minnesota Amy Klobuchar was in fifth place on 12.6 percent, with 71 percent of the precincts reporting. The results were posted some 21 hours after Iowans gathered across the state to hold the first vote of the presidential nominating season. Troy Price, the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, apologized profusely for the delay and blamed it on a "coding error" with an app being used for the first time to report the returns from precincts across the farm state. Price pledged to provide the full results as soon as possible. "We have been working day and night to make sure that the results are accurate," he said. "And we also have a paper trail and documentation that we have been able to use to provide information to help verify the results." As Iowa struggled to publish the results and frustrated Democratic candidates fumed, Trump gleefully pounced on the hold-up, describing the Democrats' failure to deliver timely results as an "unmitigated disaster." "Nothing works, just like they ran the country," tweeted Trump -- hours before delivering his annual State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress under the cloud of impeachment. - 'Shocking incompetence' - The results are usually known within hours of the conclusion of the caucuses, which do not involve a traditional ballot but see voters attending public gatherings and voicing support for the candidate of their choice. Iowa kicks off the process of selecting presidential nominees every four years, but the fiasco surrounding the results is likely to increase calls for the state to lose the honor. "The top finishers, probably Sanders and Buttigieg, could have used their showings to launch into New Hampshire," the next contest, said Larry Sabato, a professor of politics at the University of Virginia. "Instead, the story is the shocking incompetence of the Iowa Democratic Party." He called for an end to the "strange system in a 91 percent white state" in favor of giving other states a chance to kick off the process. Virginia Senator Mark Warner expressed alarm over the Iowa debacle. "This chaos has created an environment where misinformation is now running rampant online, further undermining confidence in the democratic process," he said. With Iowa still mired in confusion, the Democratic candidates turned their sights on New Hampshire. According to a Boston Globe/WBZ-TV/Suffolk University poll released Monday, Sanders is leading in the Granite State with 24 percent, followed by Biden on 18 percent, Warren with 13 percent and Buttigieg with 11 percent. Alluding to his own victory in Republican caucuses in Iowa, Trump said that "the only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is 'Trump.'" "When will the Democrats start blaming RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, instead of their own incompetence for the voting disaster that just happened in the Great State of Iowa?" Trump tweeted.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has stopped administration of vaccinations in its HVTN 702 clinical trial of an investigational HIV vaccine. This action was taken because an independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) found during an interim review that the regimen did not prevent HIV. Importantly, the DSMB did not express any concern regarding participant safety.

The Phase 2b/3 study, named HVTN 702 or Uhambo, began in 2016 and is taking place in South Africa. It was testing an investigational prime-boost vaccine regimen based on the only vaccine regimen ever to show protection from HIV--the regimen tested in the RV144 clinical trial in Thailand led by the U.S. Military HIV Research Program and the Thai Ministry of Health. For HVTN 702, the vaccine regimen was adapted to the HIV subtype Clade C most common in southern Africa, where the pandemic is most pervasive.

An HIV vaccine is essential to end the global pandemic, and we hoped this vaccine candidate would work. Regrettably, it does not. Research continues on other approaches to a safe and effective HIV vaccine, which I still believe can be achieved." Anthony S. Fauci, M.D, NIAID Director

The HVTN 702 study enrolled 5,407 HIV-negative volunteers at 14 sites across South Africa. The study population consisted of sexually active men and women aged 18 to 35 years. The study volunteers were randomly assigned to receive either the investigational vaccine regimen or placebo injections. Study participants received six injections over 18 months. As with all NIAID-sponsored HIV prevention trials, the safety of HVTN 702 study participants was closely monitored throughout the trial, and participants were offered the local standard of care for preventing HIV, including access to oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

In the January 23, 2020 interim analysis, the DSMB examined data from 2,694 volunteers who received the investigational vaccine regimen and 2,689 volunteers who received the placebo injection. The analysis looked at how many participants were diagnosed with HIV after at least 60% of the participants had been in the study for more than 18 months--enough time for the vaccine regimen to stimulate an immune response. In this analysis, 129 HIV infections occurred among the vaccine recipients, and 123 HIV infections occurred among the placebo recipients.

Based on these findings, the DSMB concluded that the investigational vaccines had not shown any efficacy. The DSMB recommended that no further vaccinations be administered and that participants remain in the study for follow-up. The report noted there was no significant evidence of either decreased or increased infection rates with vaccination.

NIAID, the trial sponsor, concurred with the DSMB's recommendation, and stopped the vaccinations. Participants are being informed, and study investigators will continue following study participants over time.

"The people of South Africa have made history by answering this important scientific question. Sadly, we wish the answer was different," said HVTN 702 Protocol Chair Glenda Gray, M.B.B.C.H., F.C.Paed. (SA). "We will continue to explore promising avenues for preventing HIV with other vaccines and tools, both in South Africa and around the world." Dr. Gray is president and chief executive officer of the South African Medical Research Council; research professor of pediatrics at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; and a founding director of the Perinatal HIV Research Unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa.

NIH is investing in multiple approaches to prevent HIV with the goal of delivering new options that are safe, effective, desirable to diverse populations, and scalable worldwide to help end the global pandemic. These efforts include two other late-stage, multinational vaccine trials, Imbokodo and Mosaico, both testing a novel mosaic vaccine regimen and being sponsored by Janssen Vaccines & Prevention, B.V., part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. The vaccine concept being tested in these trials is different than the one under investigation in HVTN 702.

In addition, the proof-of-concept AMP trials are testing an intravenously delivered investigational antibody for preventing HIV. Other cutting-edge studies, including the AMP trials, are investigating if broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) can protect against HIV. Two other large-scale trials are testing an investigational long-acting injectable antiretroviral drug, cabotegravir, for HIV prevention. Additional novel, long-acting HIV prevention products are also under study, including implants, vaginal rings, combinations of bNAbs, and multi-purpose products that offer contraception along with HIV prevention.

The HVTN 702 vaccine regimen consisted of two experimental vaccines: a canarypox vector-based vaccine called ALVAC-HIV and a two-component gp120 protein subunit vaccine with an adjuvant to enhance the body's immune response to the vaccine. Both ALVAC-HIV (supplied by Sanofi Pasteur) and the protein vaccine (supplied by GSK) were modified from the versions used in RV144 to be specific to HIV subtype C. Additionally, the protein subunit vaccine in HVTN 702 was combined with MF59, a different adjuvant than the one used in RV144, in the hope of generating a more robust and durable immune response. Finally, the HVTN 702 vaccine regimen included booster shots at the one-year and 18-month timepoints in an effort to prolong the early protective effect observed in RV144. HVTN 100, a predecessor clinical trial using the HVTN 702 regimen, found that the new vaccine regimen was safe and induced high and boostable titers of antibodies to several HIV strains prevalent in southern Africa.

South Africa has one of the highest HIV rates in the world. According to UNAIDS, more than 20% of the adult population ages 15-49 in South Africa are living with HIV, and 240,000 people acquired HIV in 2018. Young people, like the volunteers who enrolled in the HVTN 702 study--and particularly young women--are at the highest risk for HIV.

HVTN 702 is part of a larger HIV vaccine research endeavor led by the Pox-Protein Public-Private Partnership, or P5--a diverse group of public and private organizations working to build on the RV144 trial. P5 members include NIAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the South African Medical Research Council, which funded HVTN 702; the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), headquartered at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, which conducted HVTN 702; Sanofi Pasteur and GSK, which provided study materials; and the U.S. Military HIV Research Program.

"We appreciate the trust and effort from our participants, and the tremendous effort expended by our staff at all of our South African sites," said Larry Corey, M.D., Principal Investigator of the HVTN.

"We commend all the sites, the South African communities and each participant for their tireless commitment to finding solutions to the HIV epidemic," added HVTN 702 Protocol Co-Chair Linda-Gail Bekker, M.D., Ph.D., deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Cape Town and chief operating officer of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa.

The DSMB commended the HVTN team on their effort in conducting the trial, and their high regard for the participants in the trial. The study team expresses its gratitude to the participants and partners whose leadership were integral to this study and the pursuit of an HIV vaccine.

NIAID and the HVTN 702 study team are working to thoroughly analyze the study data to guide future vaccine development efforts. Detailed scientific findings will be made public as soon as possible. For more information about the HVTN 702 study, please see the the updated Questions and Answers. Learn more about NIAID's HIV vaccine research.

NIAID conducts and supports research--at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide--to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID website.
Technavio has been monitoring the cinnamon market, and it is poised to grow by USD 628.84 mn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 12% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005666/en/

Technavio announced its latest market research report titled global cinnamon market 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Rising awareness about health benefits of cinnamon has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, challenges with health risks associated with cassia cinnamon might hamper market growth. Request a free sample report

Cinnamon Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

Cinnamon Market is segmented as below:

Product

Cassia Cinnamon

Ceylon Cinnamon

Distribution Channel

Hypermarkets

Supermarkets Convenience Stores

Online Retail

Geographic segmentation

The Americas

APAC

EMEA

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Cinnamon Market 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our cinnamon marketreport covers the following areas:

Cinnamon Market size

Cinnamon Market trends

Cinnamon Market industry analysis

This study identifies growing application of cinnamon in pharmaceuticals as one of the prime reasons driving the cinnamon market growth during the next few years.

Cinnamon Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the cinnamon market, including some of the vendors such as Biofoods, EOAS Organics, Goya Foods, McCormick Company, and Rathna Ceylon Cinnamon. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the cinnamon market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Cinnamon Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist cinnamon market growth during the next five years

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Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the cinnamon market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of cinnamon market vendors

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005666/en/

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Houston Methodist neurosurgeons and neuroscientists are looking at a new way to classify pituitary tumors that could lead to more precise and accurate diagnosing for patients in the future.

Found in up to 10% of the population, pituitary tumors, also called adenomas, are noncancerous growths on the pituitary gland and very common. Although these pituitary tumors are benign in nature, they pose a major health challenge in patients.

The new tests being investigated at Houston Methodist not only have the potential to lead to better diagnoses for patients with pituitary adenomas, but also for many other types of brain tumors in the future. The findings, which were published Jan. 28 in Scientific Reports, an online journal from Nature Publishing Group, describe a new way being looked at to study the blood of patients with pituitary tumors to determine exactly what tumor type they have and whether they might respond to medical treatment rather than surgery.

Often called the 'master gland,' the pituitary gland controls the entire endocrine system and regulates various body functions by secreting hormones into the bloodstream to control such things as metabolism, growth and development, reproduction and sleep. When pituitary adenomas occur, they may secrete too much of one or more hormones that could lead to a variety of issues, ranging from infertility and sexual dysfunction to vision problems and osteoporosis, among many other health problems." Kumar Pichumani, Ph.D., corresponding author, research physicist at the Houston Methodist Research Institute

Neurosurgeon David S. Baskin, M.D., director of the Kenneth R. Peak Center for Brain and Pituitary Tumor Treatment and Research in the Department of Neurosurgery at Houston Methodist Hospital, collaborated with Pichumani on this study. He said some pituitary tumors can be treated with medication rather than surgery, but a precise diagnosis of the type of tumor someone has and what hormone it's secreting is essential for proper treatment. This is sometimes very difficult to do based on standard endocrine hormone testing.

"To guide our decisions on diagnosis and treatment, we currently rely on a blood-based hormone panel test that measures the levels of hormones in the blood to determine which hormones are overproducing in the tumor," Baskin said. "However, some tumors secrete too much of more than one hormone, making this test ambiguous for diagnosis."

Led by Pichumani and Baskin, a team of researchers from the Peak Brain and Pituitary Tumor Treatment and Research Center and Houston Methodist Neurological Institute studied 47 pituitary adenoma patients of different subtypes by collecting blood during surgery to remove their tumors. They confirmed that elevated blood levels of a non-hormonal compound called betahydroxybutyrate, also known as BHB, was found only in patients with the prolactinoma subtype of noncancerous pituitary gland brain tumor that overproduces the hormone prolactin. This compound is known to supply energy to the brain during starvation, which led the researchers to speculate that BHB might be providing non-hormonal energy to these prolactinoma tumors causing them to grow and spread. The discovery could be further developed into a diagnostic lab test.

This study is part of a developing field called metabolomics in which researchers study small molecules in tumors to see what's unique about their metabolism and how they're used as nutrients to supply energy. This contributes to better diagnoses and discovering new ways to kill tumors by poisoning the specific energy they use without causing damage to normal cells.

The researchers are now enrolling more patients in a larger study currently underway to validate the results of their pilot study. If successful, they say BHB could be used as a non-hormonal metabolic biomarker for prolactinoma pituitary tumor diagnosis and prognosis to supplement the current hormone panel tests. They're also looking for biological reasons why only prolactin-secreting tumors have elevated BHB blood levels to inform therapeutic intervention.
Lucknow, Feb 4 : For the first time, Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) manufactured Dornier aircraft will be used to ferry passengers. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday that his government will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with HAL for two 19 seater Dornier aircraft for non-military purpose.

"The aircraft can be used to ferry passenger from one destination to another. We can run such services," Adityanath said.

While making an elaborate presentation about the Defence Expo 2020, the Chief Minister said that flight services could be started from Lucknow to Varanasi or Lucknow to Agra.

He also said that his government is making a military manufacturing policy so that Uttar Pradesh can become a hub of defence production.

The Chief Minister stressed that his government will ensure that the UP Defence Industrial Corridor, one of the two defence corridors in India spread across Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra and Aligarh, becomes a success story.

"We now have a land bank of 25,000 acres. We welcome defence industries to set up their units here," he said.

The Chief Minister also said that the corridor is being developed with an objective of promoting indigenisation and supporting the 'Make in India' initiative towards fulfilling equipment requirements worth over $250 billion by 2025.

To meet this target, the Chief Minister announced that his government has planned to develop the Ganga Expressway from Uttar Pradesh to Bihar.
An Outback Steakhouse restaurant in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province / Korea Times file





SkyLake Investment CEO Chin Dae-je
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

Trend:

State Committee on Work with Diaspora is getting ready for one of the large-scale projects -the next Summer Camp of Diaspora Youth.

The registration for the third Summer Camp of Diaspora Youth Volunteers -2020 has already started. The Summer Camp will take place in Gusar region between July 12 and July 19.

The Summer Camp is dedicated to 2020- Year of Volunteers which was declared by the proper decree of Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Two Summer Camps of Diaspora Youth have been successfully organized by the Committee. The Azerbaijanis from various countries of the world, as well as young members of the fraternal peoples were brought together, they got closely acquainted with Azerbaijan, and had a chance for networking.

Young people between the ages of 18 and 29, having ability to communicate in the Azerbaijani language can participate in the Camp. As ever, the participation in the third Summer Camp of Diaspora Youth is free. Those who want to participate in Volunteers 2020- third Summer Camp of Diaspora Youth can get acquainted with the application form and the terms of participation by clicking the link below.

diaspor.gov.az/qeydiyyat/
NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- J.F. Lehman & Company ("JFLCO"), a leading middle-market private equity firm focused exclusively on the aerospace, defense, maritime, government and environmental sectors, is pleased to announce that an investment affiliate has acquired Integrated Global Services, Inc. ("IGS" or the "Company"). The acquisition represents the first platform investment by JFLCO's latest fund, JFL Equity Investors V, L.P.

Headquartered in Richmond, VA, IGS is a leading provider of highly engineered, proprietary surface protection solutions and technologies to a diversified global customer base. The Company's technologies and services solve metal wastage and reliability problems in mission-critical equipment found across energy, power generation and other industrial end markets.

"We are excited to have IGS join our growing portfolio of companies in the environmental and technical services sector," said Alex Harman, a Partner with JFLCO. "The Company is an excellent fit with our investment strategy given its 30+ year history of innovation and growth, long-term partnerships with leading customers and talented global workforce. We are pleased to partner with the IGS management team and support IGS in its next phase of growth."

Rich Crawford, CEO of IGS commented, "We are excited to partner with J.F. Lehman & Company as we further expand our global customer reach and continue to help our customers solve their unique reliability, efficiency and durability requirements."

Debt financing for the transaction was provided by Benefit Street Partners.

Jones Day served as legal counsel for J.F. Lehman & Company. Harris Williams served as financial advisor to IGS and Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal counsel to the selling shareholders.

About J.F. Lehman & Company, Inc.

Founded in 1992, J.F. Lehman & Company is a leading middle-market private equity firm focused exclusively on the aerospace, defense, maritime, government and environmental sectors. The firm has offices in New York and Washington, D.C.

For more information about J.F. Lehman & Company, please visit www.jflpartners.com.

SOURCE J.F. Lehman & Company

Related Links

http://www.jflpartners.com


Police reports:

Punched a TV

Just before 3:30 a.m. Sunday, police received a call regarding a disturbance at a Butte residence. DeAngelo Tyrese Baca, 19, allegedly punched a big screen TV and left the home, drinking a bottle of vodka.

Officers picked him up as he was walking and took him to jail for criminal mischief.

Out of control

Residents in the 800 block of South Main Street called the detention center about a man wearing a black hoodie with a red bandana yelling obscenities in their neighborhood and exposing his privates.

Police found a man fitting that description. After talking with Kurt Thomas Parker, 42, who was still yelling obscenities, they handcuffed him and took him to jail.

Suspicious person

Officers responded to a call about a suspicious person at the Richest Hill Casino, 22 W. Galena St.

When police arrived, they questioned Donald Lary Ritchie, 31. He was jailed for criminal contempt, criminal possession of drug paraphernalia, and criminal possession of dangerous drugs.

DUI arrest

An off-duty officer was driving down Montana Street when he noticed a woman driving all over the road, nearly hitting other vehicles.

Nicole Lee Larue, 34, was stopped near Matts Drive-in. She was then booked at 10:15 p.m. Sunday for reckless driving and driving under the influence.

Window broken

Just before 10 p.m. Saturday, police responded to a call from The Depot, 818 S. Arizona St., about an unwanted person at their establishment.

Ian Paul Decker, 27, had already left the area, but not before allegedly throwing a beer bottle through a Depot window.

He was found shortly thereafter, walking down the street, where he was arrested for criminal mischief.

Car crash

Early Saturday morning, Dale Gene Haxby, 27, crashed his vehicle into a fence near Zip Beverage, 3941 Wynne Ave.

When police arrived, Haxby was asleep at the wheel. He was arrested for reckless driving and aggravated driving under the influence.

SUV stolen

Thieves entered the home of a woman who lives on Copper Street. Not only did they help themselves to the contents of her liquor cabinet, they also took her Toyota SUV.

A woman out walking contacted police when she saw the vehicle stuck in the ice behind Montana Tech.

Candy dispute

On Friday night, police arrested 37-year-old David Sandoval for assault.

According to the police report, Sandoval dragged a woman by her shirt because she opened a candy bar that was his.

Partner assault

A woman jumped from a moving vehicle on Continental Drive Sunday afternoon, because a male was hitting her and covering her mouth so she couldnt breathe.

She was able to flag down a car, and the person took her to St. James Healthcare.

A warrant for the males arrest has been issued.

Speeding, DUI

Close to 11 p.m. Thursday, an officer stopped Adam Jacob Reighard, 22, for driving over the speed limit on Montana Street.

Not only was Reighard jailed for speeding, he was also arrested for driving under the influence and failure to show proof of insurance.

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Analysts are concerned about the threat of regulation for YouTube, as Google broke out ad revenues for the video streaming site for the first time on Monday.

YouTube ads made $15.15 billion in revenue for Google, and parent company Alphabet, during the 2019 financial year, though the company did not disclose profit. Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat said the majority of YouTube's ad revenue goes to content creators.

But Cyrus Mewawalla, head of thematic research at GlobalData, raised the threat of regulation for the internet giant.

"YouTube's model is an ad-funded model, they're generating $15 billion from ads  that is a massive business and it's successful without having too many paying subscribers  (but) I worry about what regulators might do to that business," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Tuesday.

In September, YouTube was fined $170 million to settle claims it violated child privacy laws. Google tracks what people do online and makes money from serving targeted ads based on their activity and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) requires sites that children visit to disclose data practices and get parental consent for collecting information on children under 13.

Google's ad business is being investigated by 50 attorneys general over antitrust concerns, with lawmakers worried about the company's dominance in the advertising market and the use of consumer data.

Mewawalla said Google's core advertising business is "pretty strong" but added: "Everybody's asking the question what comes next: Are they going to be strong in hardware, in cloud, in internet TV via YouTube, is regulation going to knock them down?"

He also noted the rise of video streaming competitors. "I think the core business is not under immediate threat. I think what's under threat for investors, if you want to invest in this stock, is what comes next. How strong will YouTube be in a market where Netflix and Disney are at war and everybody's coming into this market?" he stated. YouTube now has 20 million Premium subscribers, compared to Netflix, which has 167 million.

A note from Pivotal senior research analyst Michael Levine also noted the risk of regulation in the wake of Alphabet's results. "Government regulation around data and privacy  required changes cause a much sharper than anticipated deceleration to ad growth," was listed as a risk, according to an email to CNBC on Tuesday. Another risk is the prospect that anti-trust regulations might require Alphabet to "change business practice."
Much like history, identity often contains several overlapping layers.



This intersectionality of identities  between ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender and class, to name a few  can make people and communities more vibrant, of course. But as attendees learned at the African Heritage Month kick-off event Monday afternoon (Feb. 3), it can also add another element of difficulty in day-to-day life for those already struggling with legacies of the past such as anti-Black racism.



Its important that we focus on communities that are marginal within our marginalization, said OmiSoore Dryden, Dals James R. Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies, in remarks at the event.



Dr. Dryden, whose own research focuses on the experiences of Black people of various backgrounds within the medical and health system, said we need to centre on all members of our family.



OmiSoore Dryden



It was a recurring theme at this years gathering in LeMarchant Place, which, as in recent years, also included the raising of the pan-African flag outside on campus at the corner of LeMarchant Street and University Avenue.



And this year, the Dal community was able to share this tradition and others  such as a community awards ceremony  with Deep Saini, the universitys new president.



"One of my top priorities is to get to know the communities whose heritage we are celebrating today and the contributions these communities have made to the richness of Dalhousie and Nova Scotia," said Dr. Saini, who began his term as president last month.

A call to action



Dr. Saini said hes been busy meeting with members of different groups across campus over the past few weeks, including the Black Faculty and Staff Caucus, and has already been meeting with Theresa Rajack-Talley  Dals vice-provost of equity and inclusion.





Deep Saini



He reaffirmed Dals commitment to supporting all people of African descent, noting the importance of existing initiatives such as the Transition-Year Program, the Black Student Advising Centre (BSAC), IB&M, PLANS and Imhoteps Legacy Academy, and pointing to upcoming priorities such as the hiring of a director of African Nova Scotian community engagement.



"I hope you will join me this month to learn, reflect and above all act," he said.



It was a call to action for the more than 100 people gathered to take in some of the many activities planned on and off campus this month as part of African Heritage Month.



Attendees at this years kick-off  organized by Dals Human Rights and Equity Services office and MCed by Monique Thomas, BSACs community outreach and transition to university coordinator  also heard from several students, including Aisha Abawajy, president of the Dalhousie Student Union, Master of Social Work student Bria Symonds, and law student Folami Jones, who engaged the crowd in a libation ceremony that involved the pouring of water for those weve forgotten.



Folami Jones



Charting a path forward





Abawajy, an applied computer science student who grew up in Halifax the daughter of immigrant parents, said it can be difficult to stay positive when there is still so much work that needs to be done to right historical wrongs. She said she does so by learning about history and about those who have fought and stayed resilient in the past.



"I implore all of you folks to really reflect on the place you hold in society, reflect on the privileges, reflect on the oppressions, and reflect on the power that you have been given and the positions of power that you may or may not hold, she said. And know that your voice speaks power and your voice holds so much.



Another student, Lyris Daye, who performed the role of Olivia in The Color Purple at Neptune Theatre last year, added her own voice to the event by singing a rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing  the Black national anthem.



Tracey Gibson, who grew up in the historic African Nova Scotian community of Gibson Woods in the Annapolis Valley, encapsulated the months theme of intersectionality by sharing her own lived experience growing up deaf and Black in rural Nova Scotia.



Its really hard to live a deaf life. I always feel ignored and I feel silenced, she said, using sign language to explain the lack of supports in her region for deaf people.

Tracey Gibson with her daughter



She enlisted the help of her daughter, Shirley (also a Dal student), to act as a translator.



We need a lot of help from the government as they never seem to be really helping, at least in the Annapolis Valley, she said. I really wish and want there to be huge change for the future deaf generation.

Learn more about African Heritage Month and Nova Scotia's role as a trailblazer in helping shape the annual celebration for all of Canada.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

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Buildings on the south side of Market Street's 2300 block, where a hotel is said to be in negotiations for a Philadelphia outpost. Read more

Investment group Lubert-Adler has acquired the three early-20th-century industrial loft buildings beside Aramark Corp.'s headquarters on west Market Street with plans to convert the properties into an upscale hotel.

The group is proposing a luxury hotel of as many as 180 guest rooms with dining space that it hopes will be filled by a yet-to-be-identified local restaurateur, according a person with knowledge of the plan but unauthorized to discuss it publicly.

The project is also to include 50,000 square feet of office space for lease, the person said.

Lubert-Adler principal Ira Lubert did not immediately respond to a message seeking details of the plan. Adriano Calvanese, a vice president with PMC Property Group, from which Lubert-Adler acquired the properties, also did not return a call.

The hotel building would be constructed as an overbuild atop the three, three- and four-story buildings on the southwest corner of the 2300 block of Market Street, including the former home of the Philadelphia Art Institutes culinary school.

The Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections issued zoning permits for a construction project that would reach 11 stories at its highest point to be used for visitor accommodations, offices, and dining.

The hotel would share the southern side of Market Streets 2300 block with Aramarks new headquarters building, which was also constructed using an aged industrial building as its base. That building is also home to Entercom Communications Corp. and the Fitler Club private membership club.

A new headquarters tower for law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, meanwhile, is under development across 23rd Street to the potential hotel sites immediate east.
Gary Finch, the New York Assemblys assistant minority leader, plans to retire at the end of the year after finishing his 10th term in office.

Finch, 75, of Springport in Cayuga County, is the fifth-ranking member of the Assemblys Republican leadership. He said in an interview Monday night that he decided its time to move on from his 20-year career as a state lawmaker.

I would love to continue on, but I just know its the right moment, Finch told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. I truly loved doing it.

Finch, the former owner and CEO of Brew-Finch Funeral Homes, sold off the business and stepped away from its day-to-day operations over the last few years. He said the business helped prepare him for a career as a state lawmaker, which began when he was elected in 1999.

Being a funeral director and being in the Assembly might not seem like a natural progression, but it truly was because youre serving people, he said. You met people at a difficult time and helped them at the worst moment of their lives when they lost a loved one. And government service was about helping people.

Finch advocated for environmental protection, farmers, education, and addiction treatment programs during his years in office representing what is now the 126th Assembly District. The mostly rural district covers parts of Onondaga, Cayuga, Cortland and Chenango counties.

As a member of the minority party throughout his career, he worked with Democrats to help pass his legislative priorities.

Finch said one of his proudest achievements was working with former Democratic Assemblyman Bill Magee on a bill to address thefts of anhydrous ammonia from Upstate New York farms. The volatile liquid fertilizer can be used to produce methamphetamine. Their bill made the theft of anhydrous ammonia a felony.

More recently, Finch was among the early supporters of Assemblyman Will Barclay, a fellow Central New Yorker, in his successful bid to be elected Assembly minority leader last month.

Finch said he has no immediate plans for retirement other than spending time with his family.

My wife Marcia has always been my best and most trusted adviser, he said, and without her partnership, none of this wouldve been possible.

Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751

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Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 11:06 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2062698c8 1 Business pertamina,oil-price,profit,2019,business,oil-and-gas,state-owned-enterprise,oil-and-gas-blocks Free

State-owned oil company Pertamina closed 2019 with a net profit of US$2.1 billion (Rp 28.8 trillion), down 16 percent from $2.5 billion the previous year on the back of weakening commodity prices.

Pertamina investment and risk management director Heru Setiawan attributed the lower profit margin to a 9.5 percent year-on-year (yoy) dip in revenue to $52.4 billion last year.

The drop in revenue corresponds with that of benchmark Indonesian Crude Prices, which fell 7.8 percent to $62.3 per barrel over the same period, hurting the profit margin even though fuel distributions were unchanged at 70 million kiloliters.

Right now, the largest contributor to Pertaminas revenue is the downstream business but to its profit margin is the upstream business, he said at a House of Representative hearing in Jakarta on Monday.

The companys downstream activity mainly consists of fuel retail and gas distribution, following its acquisition of state-owned gas distributor PGN. Its upstream activity includes oil and gas production and refining.

Pertamina's oil and gas production also slipped last year. The companys production rate was 906 million barrels of oil per day (mboepd) in 2019, down 1.63 percent yoy.

Pertamina upstream director Dharmawan Samsu told reporters that last years low production was caused by delayed work in the Nunukan Block in North Kalimantan, compressor facility issues in Algeria and generally underperforming oil and gas wells.

Those are the three main factors. Another 19 percent of the shortfall was due to unrealized absorption in South Sumatra and in Bontang, he said, referring to the Bontang liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in East Kalimantan.

However, the state-owned enterprises geothermal production  through subsidiary Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE)  increased 2.1 percent yoy to 4,271 Gigawatt hour (Gwh). PGE is Pertaminas spearhead toward diversifying into renewable energy power generation.

Pertamina aims to book $2.2 billion net profit this year, up almost 5 percent from last year, and to increase oil and gas production by nearly 2 percent to 923,000 bpd.

Pertamina will start operating one of Indonesias most productive oil blocks Rokan in Riau in 2021, taking over from the United States Chevron. In 2018, the company began operations in Indonesias giant oil and gas block Mahakam, taking over from French Total E&P and Japans Inpex.

With lessons learned from Mahakam we must make extra effort to enter the Rokan block early to avoid production decline during the transition period, Pertamina president director Nicke Widyawati told a House hearing with Commission VII, which oversees energy and mining in November.

During the transition period, Mahakams ready-to-sell production averaged 31,053 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 969 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas throughout January 2018. Thats below the original targets of 48,271 bopd and 1,110 mmscfd as stated in Pertaminas 2018 work program and budget.

In 2017, the Mahakam block produced 52,000 bopd of oil and 1,255 mmscfd of gas, respectively, accounting for 6 percent and 20 percent of Indonesias oil and gas lifting that year.

Normally, the preceding operator does not have any intention to invest early in the transition stage.

The Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Taskforce (SKKMigas) has estimated that while Rokan block is under transition, production will go down to a projected 161,000 bopd next year. Rokan block is the countrys second-most productive oil block, having produced around 190,000 bopd in 2019.

As for selling price, the government has projected that ICP will remain stagnant or lower this year at $58 to $63 per barrel. Targets for ready-to-sell production, or oil and gas lifting, has been maintained at 775,000 bopd and 6,670 mmscfd this year, compared with 775,000 bopd and 7,000 mmscfd last year, according to SKK Migas.
Dr. Keith Corl was working in a Las Vegas emergency room when a patient arrived with chest pain. The patient, wearing his street clothes, had a two-minute exam in the triage area with a doctor, who ordered an X-ray and several other tests. But later, in the treatment area, when Corl met the man and lifted his shirt, it was clear the patient had shingles. Corl didn't need any tests to diagnose the viral infection that causes a rash and searing pain.

All those tests? They turned out to be unnecessary and left the patient with over $1,000 in extra charges.

The excessive testing, Corl said, stemmed from a model of emergency care that forces doctors to practice fast and loose medicine. Patients get a battery of tests before a doctor even has time to hear their story or give them a proper exam.

Were just shotgunning, Corl said.

The shingles case is one of hundreds of examples that have led to his exasperation and burnout with emergency medicine. Whats driving the burnout, he argued, is something deeper  a sense of moral injury.

Corl, a 42-year-old assistant professor of medicine at Brown University, is among a growing number of physicians, nurses, social workers and other clinicians who are using the phrase moral injury to describe their inner struggles at work.

The term comes from war: It was first used to explain why military veterans were not responding to standard treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Moral injury, as defined by researchers from veterans hospitals, refers to the emotional, physical and spiritual harm people feel after perpetrating, failing to prevent, or bearing witness to acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.

Drs. Wendy Dean and Simon Talbot, a psychiatrist and a surgeon, were the first to apply the term to health care. Both wrestled with symptoms of burnout themselves. They concluded that moral injury better described the root cause of their anguish: They knew how best to care for their patients but were blocked from doing so by systemic barriers related to the business side of health care.

That idea resonates with clinicians across the country: Since they penned an op-ed in Stat in 2018, Dean and Talbot have been flooded with emails, comments, calls and invitations to speak on the topic.

Burnout has long been identified as a major problem facing medicine: 4 in 10 physicians report feelings of burnout, according to a 2019 Medscape report. And the physician suicide rate is more than double that of the general population.

Dean said she and Talbot have given two dozen talks on moral injury. The response from each place has been consistent and surprising: This is the language weve been looking for for the last 20 years.'

Dean said that response has come from clinicians across disciplines, who wrestle with what they consider barriers to quality care: insurance preauthorization, trouble making patient referrals, endless clicking on electronic health records.

Those barriers can be particularly intense in emergency medicine.

Corl said he has been especially frustrated by a model of emergency medicine called provider-in-triage. It aims to improve efficiency but, he said, prioritizes speed at the cost of quality care. In this system, a patient who shows up to an ER is seen by a doctor in a triage area for a rapid exam lasting less than two minutes. In theory, a doctor in triage can more quickly identify patients ailments and get a head start on solving them. The patient is usually wearing street clothes and sitting in a chair.

These brief encounters may be good for business: They reduce the door to doc time  how long it takes to see a doctor  that hospitals sometimes boast about on billboards and websites. They enable hospitals to charge a facility fee much earlier, the minute a patient sees a doctor. And they reduce the number of people who leave the ER without being seen, which is another quality measure.

But the real priority is speed and money and not our patients care, Corl said. That makes it tough for doctors who know they could be doing better for their patients.

Dean said people often frame burnout as a personal failing. Doctors get the message: If you did more yoga, if you ate more salmon salad, if you went for a longer run, it would help. But, she argued, burnout is a symptom of deeper systemic problems beyond clinicians control.

Emergency physician Dr. Angela Jarman sees similar challenges in California, including ER overcrowding and bureaucratic hurdles to discharging patients. As a result, she said, she must treat patients in the hallways, with noise, bright lights and a lack of privacy  a recipe for hospital-acquired delirium.

Hallway medicine is such a [big] part of emergency medicine these days, said Jarman, 35, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at UC-Davis. Patients are literally stuck in the hallway. Everyones walking by. I know it must be embarrassing and dehumanizing.

For example, when an older patient breaks an arm and cannot be released to their own care at home, they may stay in the ER for days as they await evaluation from a physical therapist and approval to transfer to rehab or a nursing home, she said. Meanwhile, the patient gets bumped into a bed in the hallway to make room for new patients who keep streaming in the door.

Being responsible for discharging patients who are stuck in the hallway is so frustrating, Jarman said. Thats not what Im good at. Thats not what Im trained to do.

Jarman said many emergency physicians she knows work part time to curtail burnout.

I love emergency medicine, but a lot of what we do these days is not emergency medicine, she said. I definitely dont think Ill make it 30 years.

Also at UC-Davis, Dr. Nick Sawyer, an assistant professor of emergency medicine, has been working with medical students to analyze systemic problems. Among those theyve identified: patients stuck in the ER for up to 1,000 hours while awaiting transfer to a psychiatric facility; patients who are not initially suicidal, but become suicidal while awaiting mental health care; patients who rely on the ER for primary care.

Sawyer, 38, said he has suffered moral injury from treating patients like this one: A Latina had a large kidney stone and a huge amount of pain but could not get surgery because the stone was not infected and therefore her case wasn't deemed an emergency by her insurance plan.

The health system is not set up to help patients. Its set up to make money, he said.

The best way to approach this problem, he said, is to help future generations of doctors understand how decisions made at the systems level impact how we care about patients  so they can stand up for whats right.

Whether these experiences amount to moral injury is open for discussion.

Cynda Rushton, a nurse and professor of clinical ethics at Johns Hopkins University, who has studied the related notion of moral distress for 25 years, said there isnt a base of research, as there is for moral distress, to measure moral injury among clinicians.

But what both of these terms signify, Rushton said, is a sense of suffering that clinicians are experiencing in their roles now, in ways that they havent in the past.

Dean grew interested in moral injury from personal experience: After a decade of treating patients as a psychiatrist, she stopped because of financial pressures. She said she wanted to treat her patients in longer visits, offering both psychotherapy and medication management, but that became more difficult. Insurers would rather pay her for only a 15-minute session to manage medications and let a lower-paid therapist handle the therapy.

Dean and Talbot created a nonprofit advocacy group called Moral Injury of Healthcare, which promotes public awareness and aims to bring clinicians together to discuss the topic.

Their work is attracting praise from a range of clinicians:

In Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Mary Franco, who is now 65, retired early from her job as a nurse practitioner after a large corporation bought out the private practice she worked in. She said she saw a dramatic shift in the culture there, where revenue became all-important. The company cut in half the time for each patients annual exam, she said, down to 20 minutes. She spent much of that time clicking through electronic health records, she said, instead of looking the patient in the face. I felt I short-shrifted them.

In southern Maine, social worker Jamie Leavitt said moral injury led her to take a mental health break from work last year. She said she loves social work, but I couldnt offer the care I wanted to because of time restrictions. One of her tasks was to connect patients with mental health services, but because of insurance restrictions and a lack of quality care providers, she said, often my job was impossible to do.

In Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Dr. Tate Kauffman left primary care for urgent care because he found himself spending half of each visit doing administrative tasks unrelated to a patients ailment  and spending nights and weekends slogging through paperwork required by insurers.

There was a grieving process, leaving primary care, he said. Its not that I dont like the job. I dont like what the job has become today.

Corl said he was so fed up with the provider-in-triage model of emergency medicine that he moved his ER clinical work to smaller, community hospitals that dont use that method.

He said many people frame burnout as a character weakness, sending doctors messages like, Gee, Keith, youve just got to try harder and soldier on. But Corl said the term moral injury correctly identifies that the problem lies with the system.

The system is flawed, he said. Its grinding us. Its grinding good docs and providers out of existence.
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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold an election rally in Dwarka area in the national capital on Tuesday (February 4) ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections.

Pradyumna Rajput is the BJP candidate from the Dwarka Assembly constituency.

On Monday, while addressing his first election rally for the Delhi Assembly polls at Karkardooma, Modi said that there was a 'political design" behind anti-CAA protests including in the city's Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar and urged the people to vote for the politics of development.

"Protests against the Citizenship Act are going on in Seelampur, Jamia and Shaheen Bagh for the past several days. These protests are no coincidences. These protests are a conspiracy to divide India. There is a design of politics behind it, which is going to ruin the harmony of the nation," he said while addressing an election rally in Karkardooma.

Live TV

Modi also accused Aam Aadmi Party and Congress for provoking people of Citizenship Amendment Act. "If people protesting at Shaheen Bagh and other parts of the country were against the CAA then they would have called off their agitation after repeated assurances from the ministers. But AAP and Congress are provoking people. Constitution and tricolour are being kept in front and attention is being diverted from the real conspiracy," the Prime Minister alleged at the rally on Monday.

On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal held a roadshow in Dwarka. Vinay Kumar Mishra is AAP party's candidate from the Dwarka Assembly constituency.

Election to the 70-member assembly in Delhi will be held on February 8, while the results will be declared on February 11.
Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming speaks during a press conference at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap



By Kang Seung-woo



The new Chinese ambassador to Korea said Tuesday Korea and China need to understand and help each other to tackle the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak.



However, he indirectly criticized the Korean government's decision to ban the entry of foreign nationals who have traveled to China's Hubei Province within the past 14 days, stressing that an entry ban should be based on scientific evidence.



Xing Haiming, who arrived in Korea last Thursday, held a press conference at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul  a rare move for a new envoy who has yet to present his credentials to President Moon Jae-in. Fluent in Korean due to his previous experience at Chinese embassies in both North and South Korea, Xing spoke almost entirely in Korean during the press conference.



"China and Korea have been friendly neighbors to each other amid growing human exchanges. I hope both countries will understand and support each other," Xing said.



"Korea has given a lot of support to China in its fight against the coronavirus and the Chinese government deeply appreciates it, while our people will never forget it."






Two of at least 10 Iranian college students who have been denied entry since August to study in the United States have filed civil rights complaints with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), saying they were wrongfully deported and mistreated by federal officials at Bostons Logan International Airport.



Separate complaints were filed with requests for the agency to investigate the conduct of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials who the two said illegally denied them entry into the country.



The plaintiffs are Shahab Dehghani, a student at Northeastern University, and Reihana Emami Arandi, who had been scheduled to start classes at Harvard University.



Arandi, 35, said in her complaint filed on January 30 that she was detained on September 18 and questioned for nearly eight hours about her life and viewpoints, including recent events in the Middle East.



Dehghanis lawyers said their client was admitted to the United States three times in recent years to study in Boston. He was denied entry and deported in January.



Both plaintiffs had valid U.S. visas upon their arrival and said they were thoroughly vetted by the State Department prior to receiving them.



Federal officials also allegedly ignored an emergency court order temporarily staying Dehghanis removal until the case could be heard in court.



CBP subsequently said it was not aware a court had temporarily blocked the students removal.



CBP was "unaware of the issuance of any court order barring the removal of the subject from the United States" when Dehghani boarded the deportation flight, the agency said in a statement.



Civil rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Muslim Justice League say Iranians have been deliberately subject to extra screenings and interrogations at airports ever since President Donald Trump issued a ban on travelers from several predominantly Muslim countries in 2017, including Iran.



In January, civil rights groups and public officials in the state of Washington made inquiries over reports that dozens of Iranians and Iranian-Americans were held up and questioned for hours as they returned to the United States from Canada after the winter holidays.



The Washington state branch of the nonprofit Council on American-Islamic Relations said more than 60 Iranians and Iranian-Americans of all ages were detained for up to 10 hours or more, questioned about their political views, and had their personal belongings confiscated like passports, car keys, and smartphones at Washington states border with Canada.

With reporting by CNN and AP
A High Court action over protests outside apartment accommodation for asylum seekers in Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, has been struck out.

Six people, including a local Fine Gael councillor, an auctioneer and a pharmacist, had been injuncted from interfering with work to finish the accommodation at the Rock Centre.

In November, Remcoll 2 Ltd, owners of the apartments at the Rock Centre, obtained an interim injunction preventing protesters from interfering with work to fit out and complete the apartments for 25 families seeking asylum.

The protests, which the court heard included a 24-hour picket and a seven foot fence being erected around the complex to prevent workers and security getting inside, ended shortly after the injunction was granted. The families afterwards moved in, the court heard.

The injunction applied to:Councillor Ita Reynolds, auctioneer Gordon Hughes, pharmacist Brian Cribbin, local businessman Adrian Smith and to Fred Walsh and Desmond Wisley and all others with knowledge of it.

The six strongly contested claims by the owners of the apartments that they acted unlawfully during the protests, the court heard.

Just before Christmas, Mr Justice Max Barrett rejected their application to vary the injunction in order, they claimed, that they could go about their normal business.

When the case returned today, the judge was told by Anthony Thuillier BL, for Remcoll 2, the defendants had undertaken not to interfere with his client or agents in the operation of its business at the Rock Centre.

In those circumstances, the judge struck out the action.
It's not just Palestine that's dissatisfied with the White House's Middle East peace plan unveiled last week. For wildly different reasons, some of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's supporters aren't happy with how things are shaping up, either, despite initially reacting positively to the proposal, The Washington Post reports.

White House adviser and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has received a lot of the blame, particularly when it comes to the delay in annexation of Jewish settlements. David Elhayani, the leader of the Yesha Council, which oversees more than 150 Israeli settlements, said Kushner "took a knife and put it in Netanyahu's back" when Washington didn't follow through on a reported promise to allow Israel to declare sovereignty over 30 percent in the West Bank if Palestine didn't accept the plan within 48 hours.

In the end, Palestine flat out rejected the plan, but the U.S. urged patience when it came to annexation, with Kushner suggesting Israel wait to consider the motion until a new government is formed after next month's elections. But Elhayani thinks the annexation pause could actually cost Netanyahu an electoral victory. In that scenario, he said, the annexation plan he hopes to see would likely flounder in Israel's future parliament. Read more at The Washington Post.

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(CNN)  Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno stirred controversy late last week, after claiming women only file harassment claims when "they come from an ugly person."

The quip was made during an investor's meeting in the city of Guayaquil on Jan. 31, where he said "men are constantly subject to the danger of being accused of harassment."

"I see women making harassment claims a lot of times, yes, it's good that they do that. But sometimes they only target those people who are ugly for harassment," Moreno said.

"If the person is attractive, based on the canons of society, [women] don't necessarily consider it harassment," the 66-year-old leader continued. He got a couple of chuckles and applause from what appeared to be a mostly male audience.

He walked back his comments in a tweet late Friday, where he apologized for how his comment was interpreted: "In my comment about harassment, I never meant to minimize such a serious issue like violence or abuses. I apologize if that is how it was interpreted. I reject violence against women in all its forms!"

But the comments had already gone viral, sparking outrage online.

On Monday, Quito's Council for the Protection of Rights, one of Ecuador's main human rights watchdogs, condemned Moreno's comments for "joking" about sexual harassment.

"A sort of 'joke' about sexual harassment, which came from the country's highest authority, exposes how terribly naturalized this sexist act - which affects nearly every woman in different places and of any age group -- is. Women are exposed to this type of violence regularly in educational centers, universities, workspaces, political organizations, public transportation, streets, plazas, etc. Maybe that's why it seems normal, tolerable and ridiculous," read the council's statement.

In a survey of more than 20,000 households last year, Ecuador's National Institute of Statistics and Census found that more than 32% of women said they had been victims of some form of sexual violence.

The incident comes just days after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) began hearings regarding a high-profile 2002 case that alleges the Ecuadorian government failed to investigate or hold responsible a 65-year-old school official accused of sexually abusing one of his teenage students, who later died by suicide.

The IACHR is expected to deliver its verdict on the case by the end of the year.
[February 04, 2020] First Responder Appoints Star Finance GmbH to Assist with European Market Development Efforts

(CSE:WPN) /Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or dissemination in the United States/ VANCOUVER, Feb. 4, 2020 /CNW/ - First Responder Technologies Inc. ("First Responder" or the "Company") (CSE: WPN | FWB: 3WK) a developer of WiFi-based technologies to detect and deter mass shooting and terror attacks involving concealed weapons, is pleased to announce it has entered into an Investor Relations Agreement (the "Agreement") with Star Finance GmbH ("Star Finance"), a Swiss-based company, for European corporate communication services. Star Finance has offices in Steinhausen, Switzerland, and Cologne, Germany. Star Finance is owned and operated by Michael Adams a communications professional with more than 15 years of experience assisting Canadian public companies with introductions to investors, primarily in Germany and German-speaking Europe. Among other services, Star Finance owns and operates two established investment-focused financial websites and provides information about investment opportunities to its audience through e-mail newsletters, websites and various social media channels in the form of written articles as well as video content. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, Star Finance will introduce the Company to Star Finance's network, audience and subscribers, distribute Company news releases through Star Finance's channels, and create investment related content on the Company's behalf. "This Agreement with Star Finance will assist the Company's efforts to reach investors in Europe, a key strategic market for the Company's products. Following the announcement of the addition of Ambassador (Ret.) Howard Gutman, a former United States Ambassador to Belgium, and Brigadier General (Ret.) John Jayet, a former commander of a French military intelligence regiment, to the Company's Advisory Council on January 20, 2020, and the listing of the Company's shares on the Frankfurt exchange on anuary 27, 2020 (FWB: 3WK), the Company is well positioned to continue the development of its business in Europe," said Robert Delamar, the Company's CEO.



Star Finance has advised the Company that it does not hold any direct or indirect interest in the Company or its securities, or any right to acquire any such interest, with the exception of certain discretionary stock options which the Company's board of directors may, at its sole discretion, grant to Star Finance at any time during the term of the Agreement. The Agreement has a six (6) month initial term, commencing on or about February 1, 2020, at a cost of 6,000 EUR per month, excluding possible prepayment discounts. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The securities of the Company have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any common shares in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, "Robert F. Delamar" Robert F. Delamar, CEO About First Responder Technologies Inc. First Responder Technologies Inc. (the "Company") is a technology development company that commercializes academic and internally developed intellectual property for use in the public safety market. The Company is developing a WiFi-based technology, based in part, on academic research licensed from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey ("Rutgers") that can be used to detect concealed weapons. The Company's threat detection technology line of business was created to capture a significant portion of the global weapons detection systems market, and in particular, the global perimeter security detection market. In the Company's view, WiFi-based threat detection technology may be utilized by a wide range of facilities, including schools, places of worship, shopping centres and theatres, to not only make their premises secure, but also reduce their cost of security, from the interior of a facility to the perimeter. For more information visit: www.firstrespondertech.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "should", and similar expressions. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the Company operates, prevailing economic conditions, changes to the Company's strategic growth plans, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the Company's expectations as of the date hereof, and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE First Responder Technologies Inc.

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The Green Party has hit out at climate change election promises from other parties, saying their competitors are totally "lacking in vision" and have not budgeted for significant measures.

But leader Eamon Ryan refused to say which party the Greens would ask voters to transfer to on polling day on Saturday and said he would work with all others for the benefit of the climate.
The fate of the Van Buren Bridge might not be a done deal.

The Corvallis City Council voted 5-2 last Oct. 21 not to take ownership of the 1913 bridge over the Willamette River amid concerns about the high cost of maintaining/retaining it. The vote made it likely that the historic structure would be demolished.

The Oregon Department of Transportation has $69 million in funds to design and build a replacement bridge, but the state wants no part of the current span.

Preservationists and individuals who think the public process surrounding Van Buren Bridge issues was rushed and flawed have persistently campaigned to re-open the matter.

Letters have been sent to the Oregon Transportation Commission, bridge backers staged their own informational meeting in the lobby of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library on Jan. 16, when ODOT staffers and consultants held an open house in the main meeting room.

And six members of the public testified during the community comments section of Mondays Corvallis City Council meeting. All urged preservation of the bridge and backed an effort by Ward 4 Councilor Barbara Bull to have city staff work with ODOT on the matter.

Key issues are whether there is flexibility in Coast Guard navigation rules that might require elevating the current bridge and whether the old span could be used as a detour bridge during construction of the new bridge and then used as a bike/pedestrian structure thereafter.

The council was considering four motions from Bull on the issue as presstime approached in the fifth hour of the meeting.

In other council highlights:

 Bicycle and pedestrian safety continued to be a strong public concern in the wake of the death of 11-year-old Rhiana Daniel after she was struck Jan. 8 in a pedestrian crosswalk on Third Street in South Corvallis.

Four people testified on the issue during community comments, with one resident, Bill Burton, calling for an investigation of why it took so long for the city to repair the damaged crosswalk in which Daniel was walking.

Daniels death was the third in the corridor in the past 18 months, and one of those testifying Monday, Jay Thatcher, continues to organize walk-in events in which folks use the crosswalks continually to increase awareness of the safety issue.

Thatcher and his group will be out at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, with the parking lots at Papas Pizza Parlor and Sharons Cafe the gathering spots.

Also, the citys Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board meets at 7 a.m. Friday at the Madison Avenue Meeting Room, 500 SW Madison Ave. It will be the boards first meeting since the Daniel incident.

On the agenda is a discussion of safety on Third Street, which also serves as state Highway 99W. On hand will be Savannah Crawford of ODOT, director Mary Steckel of Corvallis Public Works and Sgt. Jeff Marr of the Corvallis Police Department.

Also on the agenda is an update from City Engineer Greg Gescher on plans to repave Circle Boulevard this summer. Bike and pedestrian safety advocates want the city to do the work using new tools in the citys transportation system plan update, but the city has not yet made a decision on the issue.

 Councilors voted unanimously to use the name Corvallis Community Center for the remodeled facility on Northwest Tyler Avenue that previously was called the Chintimini Senior and Community Center.

The center and its adjacent park are being remodeled and expanded, and the city is pulling away from the Chintimini name out of respect for the language of the areas indigenous people. The $5 million project is being paid for by a state grant, systems development charges and a donation. No general fund money is being used.

Contact reporter James Day at jim.day@gazettetimes.com or 541-812-6116. Follow at Twitter.com/jameshday or gazettetimes.com/blogs/jim-day.

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Thousands of teachers and lecturers have vowed to ramp up their campaign of industrial action in a bid to end pay discrimination, warning there will be no honeymoon period for the next government.

As 19,000 members of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) take action today, the union says its campaign will continue until the two-tier pay system is eliminated.
LOreal India has announced the appointment of Pankaj Sharma as Director, Consumer Products Division which includes brands LOreal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York & NYX Professional Make Up. He replaces Aseem Kaushik who will now head the Professional Products Division for LOreal in the Asia Pacific region, based out of Hong Kong.

Pankaj Sharma, a 15-year veteran with LOreal India and previously head of the Garnier & Maybelline New York brands, has worked across sales and marketing functions. In his current role, he will focus on building brand salience and driving consumer engagement while expanding LOreals footprint in India through new growth drivers like e-commerce. Sharma has also had a stint in Singapore, where he was responsible for driving the growth story for Garnier in South Asia.

Speaking about the appointment, Amit Jain, Managing Director, LOreal India said, I am delighted to welcome Pankaj as Director, Consumer Products Division in India. Pankajs international experience combined with his commercial and marketing expertise will help accelerate LOreal Indias transformation into a BeautyTech company while reinforcing our positioning as Indias beauty advisor. The appointment of Aseem as the Head of our Professional Products Division across the Asia Pacific region is testimony to Indias unique position as a talent hub for LOreal globally. Aseem has made a stellar contribution to the growth of our business in India and we wish him great success in his new assignment.

Kaushik has been associated with the LOreal group for 25 years, where he spent 16 years in key roles in the Professional Products Division, eventually being appointed Director, Professional Products Division in 2011. He was a pioneer in defining and revolutionising the Professional business in India. In 2017, Kaushik took over the role of Director, Consumer Products Division and under his leadership, the division registered high double-digit growth. Kaushik also pivoted the high growth journey for the e-commerce channel for LOreal India.

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
Bolivia's interim President Jeanine Anez has asked all her ministers to resign a little more than three months before a general election. The news Sunday came just hours after communication minister Roxana Lizarraga resigned in protest at Anez's decision to stand as a presidential candidate in the May 3 election. Anez assumed the presidency on November 12, two days after Evo Morales resigned following three weeks of sometimes violent protests against his controversial re-election in a poll the Organization of American States said was rigged. Anez, a little-known senator at the time, had said she had no intention of standing for the full-time job. But that changed on Friday when she announced her candidacy. Anez "has decided to ask for the resignation of all ministers to approach this new stage in the management of the democratic transition," the presidency said in a statement. The statement added that it was "usual" in an electoral cycle to have "adjustments in the working team of the Executive." Anez said she would name a new cabinet of 20 ministers "as soon as possible." Hours earlier, Lizarraga, who was appointed by Anez on November 13, criticized the interim president for having "lost sight of her objectives." Lizarraga said Anez had "started to fall into the same evils" as the party of her predecessor Morales. "This is not the path the citizenry has signaled to us," said Lizarraga. - 'Making a big mistake' - Anez was criticized for going back on her initial commitment not to run for president. "I respect President Anez, but I think she's making a big mistake" because "she has not been appointed to propose herself as a candidate for the presidency," former president Carlos Mesa, 66, said. Former presidential candidate Samuel Doria Medina voiced his opposition and ex-president Morales, in exile in Argentina, reminded his successor that "she promised not to be a candidate," although he said "it is her right." There is also still doubt about the legality of Anez contesting the election. Lawmaker Luis Felipe Dorado said he would consult the Constitutional Court. Anez came only fourth on 12 percent in an opinion poll published on Sunday that was led by Morales's Movement for Socialism (MAS) candidate with 26 percent. MAS headed the survey by Mercados y Muestras and published in the Pagina Siete newspaper, which was conducted before the party had announced the name of its candidate, former economy minister Luis Arce. "In all the polls we are first," Morales tweeted in reaction, adding: "We are ready to beat the coup and regain the homeland." Parties have until February 3 to register their candidates.
Phone makers are waiting for government to clarify if there could be even a slim chance of coronavirus contamination through product shipments from China, industry body ICEA said on Tuesday.

It said that though there is no outright evidence of such transmission, an advisory will conclusively settle the matters for industry players.

Meanwhile, stocks of mobile components and parts accumulated ahead of Chinese New Year holidays have ensured that mobile phone production in India has continued with minimal impact so far despite the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus, but future supplies would depend on whether or not the shuttered factories in China reopen next week, ICEA said.

"We had written to government for a clarification on whether such contamination through shipments is even remotely possible. Prima facie, there seems to be no evidence of such a risk but government should issue an advisory conclusively on whether it is fully safe or not," India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said.

The deadly virus, which originated in China's Wuhan city, is spreading to other nations. The outbreak has claimed more than 420 lives so far in mainland China, and has compounded fears of an economic impact.

India on Monday reported third novel coronavirus case after another Keralite student from Wuhan university in China tested positive for the infection.

The Kerala government has declared the epidemic as a "state calamity".

Asserting that the there is no impact yet on mobile phone production, Mohindroo said ICEA is keeping a close watch on the situation and that much would depend on whether the factories which are closed in China, reopen next week.

"...there is a natural stocking up and preparation which the Indian industry and the global industry does ahead of the Chinese New year holidays. This will see us through till February 10-15. We will watch the situation daily. If the problem persists beyond February 10, then we will have a real problem at hand," he said.

ICEA, the apex association of mobile and electronics industry comprising of manufacturers, brand owners, technology providers, said it remains confident that strong remedial action been taken by Chinese Central government and provincial governments will contain the issue with the help of global health organisations.

Asked if India's production target for phones could be impacted this quarter for players that depend heavily on sub-assemblies and component imports from China, Mohindroo said, "I cannot comment on targets as it will entirely depend on how the situation unfolds."



By February 11-12, a clear situation will emerge, he said, adding that with exception to certain players who import components from Vietnam and Korea, most of the mobile players are dependent on Chinese imports.

"Overall, India imported Rs 95,000 crore worth of components this year," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
U.S. The Daily Beast

Fox News White House correspondent and perpetual nemesis of Jen Psaki thought he had Joe Bidens press secretary cornered on Monday when he asked her why the president is still referring to COVID-19 as a pandemic of the unvaccinated when so many people are getting breakthrough infections. He was wrong.I understand that the science says that vaccines prevent death, Doocy began, before undercutting that basic truth. But Im triple-vaxxed, still got COVID. Youre triple-vaxxed, still got COVI
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has sent telegrams of condolence to President of the Peoples Republic of China Xi Jinping and Premier of the Peoples Republic of China Li Keqiang on the occasion of the outbreak of the coronavirus, as reported the Office of the Prime Minister.

The telegram of condolence addressed to the President of the Peoples Republic of China reads as follows:

At this difficult moment for China, on behalf of the Armenian people and myself, allow me to express deep condolences to and solidarity with you and the friendly Chinese people on the occasion of the outbreak of the coronavirus which has already taken the lives of hundreds of people.

Throughout its history spanning centuries, China has resisted several challenges and trials and tribulations and has always overcome them with honor. We are certain that China will succeed in overcoming the grave consequences of this catastrophe and restore the atmosphere of peace and safety this time again under a wise and prudent leader like yourself.

I wish you steadfast patience and persistence and wish the friendly Chinese people courage.

The telegram of condolence addressed to the Premier of China states the following:

On behalf of the Armenian people and myself, I express deep condolences to and solidarity with you and the friendly Chinese people on the death of several hundreds of people caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus. I am certain that the actions that the Chinese government is taking under your leadership will allow China to overcome the grave consequences of this catastrophe and get things back on track.

I wish you strength and determination and wish the friendly Chinese people patience and endurance.
SEATTLE U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said the agency made enormous mistakes in protocol when its officers questioned Iranian-born people  some for as long as 12 hours  at the U.S.-Canada border last month, according to U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal.

On Monday, Jayapal met with Adele Fasano, the director of field operations for the Seattle Field Office of Customs and Border Protection, and Fasanos chief of staff, as well as U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene and representatives from the offices of U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier and Sen. Maria Cantwell.

In that meeting, Fasano said that the CBPs previous statements denying that there had been a directive to question and hold Iranian and other foreign-born people from the Middle East were not true, said Jayapal, D-Wash.

It was extremely gratifying to, for the first time, hear from CBP that, in fact, something very serious went wrong that weekend, Jayapal said. That there were enormous protocols and mistakes made, and that there was guidance given  whether you call it guidance or not  but certainly directives given that translated into the Blaine CBP holding people for literally being born in a particular country.

Not only is her office investigating what happened, Jayapal said, but at the same time, Fasano is calling for an investigation.

When asked for comment, CBP spokesman Jason A. Givens confirmed, the matter is under investigation. He then forwarded a statement attributable to a CBP official explaining the agencys protocols without directly referencing last months actions.

As part of a multi-layered approach to security, CBP officers may refer for additional screening individuals who present a known risk or individuals about whom we need more information to make a determination of risk, the statement said. These referrals are based on factors that could include the individuals activities, associations and travel patterns.

As a result, some travellers may experience increased wait times and subsequent interviews. CBP has established strict oversight policies and procedures to ensure traveller screening practices adhere to all constitutional and statutory requirements. CBP is committed to protecting the civil rights and civil liberties of every individual whom we encounter. Our officers are trained to enforce U.S. laws uniformly and fairly and they do not discriminate based on religion, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

The CBPs Seattle Field Office covers 67 border crossings from Washington to Minnesota.

On Jan. 30, Blaine immigration lawyer Len Saunders said he obtained a photocopied memo from the CBPs Seattle Field Office on a directive for prolonged stops and questioning of people based on their ethnic heritage who were crossing into the U.S. from Canada between Jan. 4 and 5. During that weekend, as many as 200 people were affected by the prolonged stops, which ended after immigrant advocates, the media and politicians called attention to what was happening.

The document, shared by Saunders with The Seattle Times and first reported by the Blaine newspaper The Northern Light, bears what looks like a Department of Homeland Security seal.

Jayapal said Monday the memo was verified by NBC News, and believes  based on the Monday meeting  that it is authentic.

Just weeks before, Saunders received an email from a CBP officer complaining about an operation to hold and question people of Iranian descent.

At the time, the CBP denied it was detaining those people as well as the existence of a directive.

Fasano only learned about the incidents through news reports, Jayapal said, and has deep concerns about what happened.

There are lots of issues with what was and wasnt reported, she said Monday. To me, if youre detaining U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents for significant amounts of time and there are significant people there, you should not be finding out about that, as the director, through news reports.

Jayapal was especially troubled by the lack of response from officials in Washington, D.C., to a letter she and DelBene sent last month to the chairs of the Judiciary Oversight and Homeland Security committees about the operation.

And there is still no official statement from the CBP admitting that this actually did happen, she said.

DelBene, D-Medina, agreed, saying in a statement: It is disappointing that CBP officials were not honest about the incidents in Blaine when we first reached out to them with questions.

In its statement, the CBP said the agency has understood Iran and its proxies to be a very capable adversary for some time. Consistent with our statutory authorities, CBP leverages all available tools and information to ensure that individuals who seek entry into the United States are appropriately screened.

The issue is personal for Jayapal, who was born in India and raised in Indonesia and Singapore, and is now vice chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, and co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

You would think we would have learned the lessons of the Japanese internment, she said. You would think we would have learned that submitting to a second loyalty test and profiling people  which is unconstitutional, by the way  is simply unacceptable.

As for whether those held might take legal action, Jayapal said: I would not be surprised and think that there probably should be, or would be, a lawsuit around it.
Passengers wear protective face masks as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station on Feb 3, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Anthony Wallace)

In its daily update, figures from the health commission in Hubei, which has been hit hardest by the virus, also showed a sharp increase in confirmed infections with 3,235 new cases.

That puts the national total at more than 20,400, based on numbers previously issued by the central government.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the flu-like virus a global emergency, although experts say much is still unknown about the pathogen including its lethality.

"We expect to see more cases of person-to-person spread," said Dr Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The epidemic is believed to have emerged in December from a market that sold wild game in the Hubei provincial capital Wuhan.

At least 151 cases have been reported in 23 other countries and regions, including Japan, Thailand, Singapore, the United States and Britain.

There has been one death outside China, in the Philippines.

With Wuhan and some other cities in virtual lockdown, travel severely restricted and China facing increasing international isolation, fears of wider economic disruption are growing; sources at the OPEC oil cartel said producers were considering cutting output by almost a third to support prices.

Airlines around the world have stopped flights to parts of China. A suspension by the United Arab Emirates on Monday will affect the Gulf airlines Etihad and Emirates.

The outbreak is reminiscent of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a virus from the same family that emerged in China in 2002 and killed almost 800 people around the world out of the 8,000 or so who were infected.

Chinese data suggest that the new virus, while much more contagious than SARS, is significantly less lethal, although such numbers can evolve rapidly.

Some economists predict world economic output will be cut by 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points due to China's lockdown.

Countries continued to fly evacuation flights for citizens out of Wuhan. A planeload of Australians left the city on Monday and arrived in the Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island, where they will be quarantined, media reported on Tuesday.

The United States, which flew people out last week, is planning "a handful more flights" while Russia was due to start evacuating its citizens from Wuhan on Monday.

The White House said China had accepted its offer to have US experts as part of a WHO mission to study and help combat the virus.
DES MOINES  President Donald Trumps reelection campaign was a key focus of 2020 caucuses being held statewide Monday night by Iowa Republicans.

Although the vast majority of attention on this years Iowa caucus campaigns was focused on Democratic candidates vying to oppose Trump, the Republican Party of Iowa still scheduled meetings for nearly 1,700 precincts so the party faithful could have their voices heard.

What those Iowa Republicans said Monday: They were overwhelmingly behind the President.

The Associated Press called the caucus victory in Trump's favor at 7:26 p.m.

Iowa GOP spokesman Aaron Britt said attendance Monday night was expected to be nowhere near the size of the large crowds that participated in the highly contested 2016 Iowa GOP caucuses, which were won by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with Trump coming in second. Thats because Trumps nomination this year has been more of a given, he said.

Trump was boosted in Iowa on Monday by a statewide blitz of 80 presidential campaign surrogates that included much of the presidents cabinet. At Northview Middle School in Ankeny, Lara Trump, who is a senior adviser to the presidents 2020 campaign, was a scheduled speaker. She is married to Eric Trump, one of Trumps sons.

President Donald Trump speaks to the crowd during a campaign rally on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020, at the Knapp Center in Des Moines.

Trump is being opposed nationally for the Republican presidential nomination by two veteran GOP politicians: former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh from Illinois, a conservative radio host. But neither Weld nor Walsh demonstrated much of an ability to generate enthusiasm among Iowa Republicans for their candidacy.

In addition, Trumps impeachment trial, which is expected to end this week with his acquittal by the U.S. Senate, appears to have done little or no damage to his reelection prospects among Republicans. A packed audience of more than 7,000 cheered Trump during a rally last week at Drake University in Des Moines, where he railed against the lunacy and the madness of the totally sick left.

Story continues

Surveys show Trump remains popular among conservatives. A November Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll found 76% of registered Republicans who didnt plan to attend the Democratic caucuses said they will definitely vote to reelect Trump.

Trump carried Iowa by more than 9 percentage points in the 2016 general election against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, although Democratic nominee Barack Obama carried Iowa in both 2008 and 2012 as he won two presidential terms.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa caucus: Donald Trump wins with overwhelming Republican support
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Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Armenia Sergey Kopirkin and the Russian embassys military and military-air attache, Colonel Andrey Grishchuk today visited the National Defense Research University of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia.

The guests were received by head of the University, Major General Genady Tavaratsyan. During his meeting with the Universitys professors and the students taking a training course entitled Military Security of a State, Ambassador Kopirkin delivered a speech devoted to Russias foreign policy and the Collective Security Treaty Organization and answered questions from the students.
A leaked internal memo showing details of amount payable to staff of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for domestic air travel has angered Nigerians.

The leaked memo, trending on social media, shows details of how the NPA management approved different sums for domestic air travels around the country.

The memo, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, contains amounts many social media users described as outrageous.

The memo dated January 4, 2020, titled Review of Airfare Rates (Local), was signed by the General Manager Corporate and Strategic Planning, A. A Jato.

The Division has observed the recent hike in the prices of local tickets across the country, the memo reads. In view of the above and in order to keep abreast with the reality of our times, it is hereby recommended that the rates for local flights be reviewed upwards accordingly as detailed below.

Details of the memo contained the revised airfare rates across various routes with prices for business and economy classes. The new rates approved showed the sum of N250,000 and N200,000 for Lagos to Abuja flight for business and economy classes, respectively. The same was the arrangement for Lagos to Calabar and Benin.

The sum of N300,000 was approved for business class on Lagos to Maiduguri and Lagos to Port Harcourt routes. Similarly, the sum of N320,000 was approved for a business class passenger return ticket from Lagos to Yola and N290,000 for economy class on the same route.

On the Lagos-Sokoto route, N260,000 was approved for business class ticket while economy ticket to cost the N240,000.

Business class fares for Owerri and Ilorin had sums of N200,000 and N180,000 respectively, the lowest according to the memo. The sums of N180,000 and N150,000 were approved for economy seats, respectively, on both routes.

Nigerians react

Meanwhile, the memo and its content have generated debates among Nigerians generally, and especially, on social media. Many users criticised the NPA management and the ruling All Progressives Congress for the decision.

Checks by PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday showed that the prices of one-way flight tickets for economy moved between N21,000 and N25,000 on many of the nations airlines. The amount for business class was quite higher, averaging N45,000 and N50,000 in some cases. When summed up, however, the rates for round-trips were quite lower, averaging N45,000 or less for one-way and N100,000 and above for business class.

A twitter user, @Uwakings, wrote: This memo is what staff of NPA get as reimbursement for flight tickets for local travel. This is a show of the depth of corruption is our system. People getting 300k for something that cost about 50 to 100k. When Pmb start fighting corruption we will know.

Another commentator, @ije12002, described the approval as ridiculous. The ridiculous amount for domestic flight tickets for staff of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). Did Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman approved (sic) this?, she wrote. The same thing @MBuhari and his @OfficialAPCNg members accused Diezani Alison-Madueke of.

NPA Speaks

PREMIUM TIMES efforts to reach the NPA Monday proved abortive as the telephone number of the spokesperson remained unreachable.

Calls and a text message to the managing director of the agency, Hadiza Usman, were not answered.

But Mr Jatto, General Manager Corporate and Strategic Communication, told The Nation newspaper that the issue is about staff matters, adding that people are only looking at the airfare approved on the surface.

He also attributed the hike to VAT increment and its attendant effect on the prices of major goods and services, adding that the new rate contains transportation to and from the airport as well as other expenses that may be incurred during air travel.

I cannot start including all these breakdowns into the memo to the MD, he was quoted as saying by The Nation. Besides, the airfare will be paid directly into the travellers account. For approval on airfare for travellers on business class, it is just for a few people like the MD, Board members and other very senior management staff of the NPA. This category of people are not frequent travellers. So, that is the truth about it.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Nargiz Ismayilova - Trend:

Samsung has remained the most used brand in Azerbaijan as far as smartphones and mobile phones are concerned, in January 2020, Trend reports referring to the StatCounters Global Stats report.

The specific share of Samsung mobile devices in the country amounted to 51.89 percent, a decrease of 2.12 percentage points compared to December 2019.

The mobile devices of Chinese Xiaomi company ranked 2-nd with market share of 21.19 percent, an increase of 3.61 percent compared to Dec. 2019.

The share of Apple, the third most popular smartphone brand in Azerbaijan, increased by 0.006 percentage points, amounting to 12.65 percent.

The remaining mobile devices are: Huawei - 4.43 percent, LG  1.24 percent, Nokia - 1.25, Lenovo  0.83 percent, HTC - 0.74 percent, Sony - 0.58 percent and others.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @IsmailovaNargis
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Earth Fare, the authentic specialty natural and organic grocery store and full-service supermarket, announced Monday that it will begin inventory liquidation sales at all of its stores.

The chain of health food items has two Chattanooga locations - 5414 Hixson Pike in Hixson and Gunbarrel Pointe in East Brainerd.

Officials said, "Pursuant to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), all employees have been notified of the impending closure of the company's stores and corporate office.

During this time, the company will continue to pursue a sale of assets, in whole or in parts.

"Earth Fare has been proud to serve the natural and organic grocery market, and the decision to begin the process of closing our stores was not entered into lightly. We'd like to thank our Team Members for their commitment and dedication to serving our customers, and our vendors and suppliers for their partnership.

"Over the course of the past few years, the company has implemented numerous strategic initiatives aimed at growth and expansion and enhancing the customer experience.

"While many of these initiatives improved the business, continued challenges in the retail industry impeded the company's progress as well as its ability to refinance its debt. As a result, Earth Fare is not in a financial position to continue to operate on a go-forward basis. As such, we have made the difficult, but necessary decision to commence inventory liquidation sales while we continue to engage in a process to find potential suitors for our stores.

"The inventory liquidation sales will feature a truly outstanding assortment of merchandise at very significant price reductions. We encourage shoppers to visit their nearby location now and take advantage of these savings before it's too late. Store fixtures are also available for sale as part of this process."

Based in Asheville, North Carolina, Earth Fare has long served the natural and organic grocery market. Their website says their "full-service philosophy incorporates the highest food Quality Standards in the industry with compelling value, friendly and knowledgeable service, and superior shopping experience. It's a philosophy that makes it easy to live a healthier lifestyle, every day."
CAIRO - Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen released dozens of Egyptian fishermen on Tuesday after detaining them for weeks on charges of trespassing into territorial waters.

The 32 fishermen were ferried on a chartered flight home to Cairo from Yemens rebel-held capital, according to the Houthi-run news agency.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi hailed their return on Twitter, saying that intensive efforts by the government saved (the fishermens) lives and yielded their safe transfer to Egyptian lands.

Government ministers waving Egyptian flags greeted the freed fishermen as they descended onto the tarmac.

Immigration Minister Nabila Makram told Egypts pro-government CBC Extra channel that the government had been trying to negotiate the release with Yemeni and Saudi authorities since mid-December.

The Houthi coast guard plucked the fishermen from the Red Sea, accusing them of violating the sea border off the southern coast.

Every year, the Houthis detain dozens of fishing boats and other vessels that pass through their waters. The rebels target oil tankers and military ships belonging to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners, which have been fighting in Yemens civil war since 2015.

As a regional foe of Iran, Egypt supports the Saudi-led coalitions efforts to oust the Houthis and restore the internationally-recognized government in Yemen. But Egypt limits its military involvement to maritime patrols and reconnaissance missions.

Yemen lies along the southern end of the Red Sea, one of the worlds most commercially critical waterways, congested with oil tankers crossing from the Middle East to Europe.

The waters have become increasingly perilous since 2014. Thats when Houthis seized the Yemeni capital and much of the countrys north, setting off a civil war that has become the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.
Safety prioritized for aircraft carrier, fighter jet developers amid virus outbreak

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun Source:Global Times Published: 2020/2/3 19:08:40

Chinese armaments companies have postponed planned work in order to concentrate on controlling the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), including those building the country's new aircraft carrier and fighter jets, as well as those in Wuhan, Hubei Province, the epicenter of the virus outbreak.

According to statements released by Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, which is reportedly building China's third aircraft carrier, and Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, maker of the J-15 carrier-based fighter jet in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, in the past few days, the companies are extending the Spring Festival holiday to Sunday.

They asked employees who traveled to other cities since the virus outbreak not to return to work until further notice, or quarantine themselves at home for 14 days, the reported latent period for the virus.

This will likely result in delays in the construction of the new aircraft carrier and the fighter jets it needs, observers said, noting that China is ushering in the building of a deep blue water navy, in which powerful aircraft carriers play a crucial role.

Observers fear that in Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated, the impact could be even heavier.

Wuhan is home to many Chinese weapons and equipment design and manufacturing institutes, like Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group Co Ltd, which builds submarines, and the Naval University of Engineering, which is developing advanced naval technologies like the electromagnetic catapult, railgun, full electric propulsion, and submarine-related technologies, according to media reports.

Xu Guangyu, a senior adviser to the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, told the Global Times Monday that while the virus will have an impact on China's weapons and equipment programs, it will be short-term, as the virus is expected to only last for a few months at worst.

Prioritizing the health and safety of people is absolutely the right course to avoid fatalities, as well as mitigate any long-term impact, Xu said.

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Nationals MPs have clashed with their Liberal colleagues over climate change policy and the need for a new coal-fired power station in another sign of the tension within the Morrison government over calls for action in the wake of the summer bushfires.

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce led calls to reject pressure for stronger action on climate change at a Coalition party room meeting soon after he lost a leadership spill against Nationals leader Michael McCormack.

Nationals MP George Christensen and former Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce both spoke up about the need to push back against stronger climate action. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Outspoken Queensland Nationals MP George Christensen provoked some of the Liberals at the meeting by dismissing the need for further action on climate change on the grounds the issue was only of interest to Greens voters in the inner suburbs of the major cities.

Mr Christensen reminded the meeting of government promises in the past to support a coal-fired power station in Queensland, signalling the frustration within the Nationals that the feasibility study into the project in Collinsville was not moving fast enough.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday hit out at the BJP-led government saying that Population Register (NPR) and Register of Citizens (NRC) were two sides of the same coin and the atmosphere in the country is such as it was in Germany in the thirties of previous century.

Making a multi-pronged attack on the government during his speech on the motion of thanks to the President's address, Owaisi said that the Narendra Modi government had taken foreign diplomats to Kashmir but political leaders of the country were not being allowed.

The AIMIM leader said he was challenging Prime Minister to state if NPR and NRC are not two sides of the same coin.

"If you bring NPR, there will be NRC," he said.

Owaisi said that CAA "grants as well as snatches citizenship".

"If there is NPR, there will be NRC. Prime Minister says the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is not to snatch citizenship, it is to give citizenship. CAA grants as well as snatches citizenship. In Assam, names of five lakh Muslims did not figure? But you want to give citizenship to Bengali Hindus. NRC and NPR are the same thing," he said.

Referring to the protests against CAA in the country, the AIMIM leader said, "The Prime Minister had said that he is the brother of Muslim women. Today, when Muslim women are standing against him, why is the brother getting anguished?

"It is a fight for our survival. If we fail, we will be finished. That is why we are categorically saying that stand with us," he added.

He claimed that the current environment in the country was "similar to Germany in 1933, 1938".

Owaisi said a census was done after which atrocities were committed against the Jews. "This is going to happen with Muslims. This is their aim," he added.

He also took a dig at Home Minister Amit Shah over the incidents of firing in the capital and said, "What is happening in Delhi? Three bullets have been fired in the capital. Is this your law and order?"

"Fire at traitors. Hit me. If you have courage, kill me. I am prepared to die. They do not have guts. They want to finish the Constitution," he said.

Owaisi also said that US Congress and senators had made remarks about some domestic laws of India despite Modi and US President Donald Trump having good relations and a draft resolution had been tabled in the European Parliament over the CAA.

"Is this your failure or not?" he asked.

The AIMIM leader said that Japan, which is a friend of India, had favoured Pakistan at the FATF meeting and Islamabad will be able to come out of the grey list with such support.

He said that Rs 700 crore had been saved by ending the Haj subsidy and asked how much money had been spent in opening schools for Muslim women.

Owaisi also said that there had been centralisation of power under the Modi government.

The AIMIM leader responded to interruptions during his speech and said he is speaking well as he ate "halwa and poha". At one point, he said that he was the biggest infiltrator.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
1.2 million USA grant to investigate psychosis in Alzheimers disease

Funding expected to total 1.2 million ($1,566,874) over four years from the USAs National Institutes of Health (NIH) will help Exeter academics advance understanding about the underlying biological mechanisms leading to some people with Alzheimers disease developing psychosis.

The grant is one of eight awarded by the NIHs National Institute on Aging (NIA) as part of its Molecular Mechanisms of the Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Alzheimers Disease program, and will fund research that aims to pave the way for new treatments, and better diagnosis and classification of psychosis in dementia. The project, led by Professor Katie Lunnon, is an international collaboration bringing together a cross-disciplinary team of researchers from the United Kingdom, as well as researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Scripps Research Institute in the United States, the University of Oslo and the Innlandet Hospital Trust, in Norway.

Up to half of people with Alzheimers disease experience some form of psychosis, which is linked to a more severe disease course. People who experience psychosis are more likely to be hospitalised, have a faster decline in brain function and everyday abilities, and to die sooner.

Antipsychotic medications that have been developed to treat these symptoms can cause considerable harm in some dementia patients, quadrupling the risk of stroke and death. As a result, doctors have now halved the amount of antipsychotics they are prescribing to people with dementia, yet no new treatments are currently available to reduce psychotic symptoms, which are highly distressing to individuals and carers. This new study at the University of Exeter aims to understand the biological mechanisms underlying psychosis in dementia, which could lead to new treatments.

Dr Byron Creese, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Exeter Medical School, said: Psychosis is very common in people with Alzheimers disease. Many carers and family members will be able to recall an incident of psychosis where, for example, their grandmother may have thought someone was trying to poison her food, or that someone was stealing her money. There is growing evidence that these episodes are linked to a more rapid course of dementia decline, yet there has been very little research on the biological mechanisms that are driving this

The research will analyse data from more than 500 people to look at how genes are regulated in the brains of people with psychosis in dementia. The study will also look at blood samples to investigate whether there is a biomarker for psychosis, which is a biological signature in the blood, which can help predict which individuals with Alzheimer's disease will have a more rapid decline. This could help with monitoring and treating these patients, as they are more likely to have a worse disease course.

Prof Katie Lunnon, Professor of Dementia Genomics at the University of Exeter Medical School, said: Were really excited that this research could help address an urgent international priority, to develop a better understanding of psychosis in dementia. The project will provide a major step forward in identifying new drug targets for psychosis in Alzheimers disease, how we can use existing medications to better treat psychosis in Alzheimers disease, and new biomarkers to predict which individuals with mild cognitive impairment will develop psychosis in Alzheimers disease and are thus more likely to decline quickly with the disease. This funding has come from the USA governments research arm, which signifies international recognition of our world-leading work in this area.

The NIA grant number is R01AG067015.
American Airlines on Tuesday suspended its Hong Kong service, halting flights to and from Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles through Feb. 20 citing a drop in demand as the coronavirus spreads.

The union that represents some 15,000 American Airlines pilots had sued the carrier last week to end China flights, including service to Hong Kong. American last week suspended its mainland China flights through March 27 but intended to continue flying to Hong Kong. Delta and United took similar steps.

The Allied Pilots Association had advised its members to refuse trips to Hong Kong due to concerns about coronavirus, a union spokesman said. The virus has sickened more than 20,000 people and killed more than 400 in China, according to local health officials. The World Health Organization said there's been more than 150 coronavirus cases in about two dozen countries outside of China. Last week, WHO declared the virus a global health emergency.
MEXICO CITY - A truck loaded with Central American migrants crashed in southern Mexico on Tuesday, killing one and injuring dozens more, authorities said.

Images posted online by Mexican media outlets showed the crumpled truck on the side of the road and health workers treating the injured at the scene. Some were bleeding from the head, and there was at least one child in the group.

The Civil Defence department in the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz gave the injury toll as 81.

Mexicos National Guard said the crash was reported at 8 a.m. and those on board were undocumented people mostly from Guatemala but also Honduras and El Salvador.

Those three countries make up the Northern Triangle region of Central America, a source of significant outward migration by people fleeing violence and poverty.

The Guard said that the driver of the vehicle had not been located.

Seventy-six people were taken to hospitals in the cities of San Andres Tuxtla and Santiago Tuxtla, both of which lie on the highway where the accident took place. A temporary shelter was set up in San Andres Tuxtla for those with minor injuries not requiring hospitalization.

Mexico has moved more aggressively to stem the irregular flow of migrants and asylum seekers through its territory bound for the United States, especially following the threat of U.S. trade sanctions last year.

It says its priority is combating people-smuggling operations, which often lead to people from Central America and elsewhere being crammed into overcrowded vehicles. Such conditions can be dangerous, as when migrants are locked in overheated tractor-trailers.

The government has also cracked down on the large caravans of migrants and asylum seekers travelling together by foot. On Jan. 23, some 800 people mostly from Honduras were forced onto buses in the southern state of Chiapas as authorities broke up what remained of the most recent caravan.
The NATO Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Mircea Geoana, will travel to Washington D.C. between Wednesday 5 February and Friday 7 February 2020.

During his visit, the Deputy Secretary General will have a number of bilateral meetings. He will also deliver remarks at the Hudson Institute, followed by a Q&A session.

Media Advisory

Friday, 7 February

12:15 (local time) Remarks by Deputy Secretary General at Hudson Institute

More details on the event can be found at https://www.hudson.org/events/1773-nato-and-the-new-decade-assessing-the-transatlantic-alliance22020.

Content will be made available on the NATO website after the event.

Follow the Deputy Secretary General on Twitter (@Mircea_Geoana). Also follow us at @NATOPress and @dylanpwhite.
Toronto, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Seneca has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Chio Lecca Fashion School  Perus most prominent school of fashion with the aim to be a leading voice in Latin Americas growing fashion industry. The Chio Lecca Fashion School seeks to develop local creative industries and share the cultural wealth of Peru with the world.

This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for our students and faculty. The goal of this cross-cultural partnership is for students to implement their knowledge and tackle challenges in real world situations. Travelling to Peru to work with local, Indigenous artists will provide them with a once-in-a-lifetime educational experience, said Kurt Muller, Dean, Faculty of Communication, Art & Design.

Beginning in May 2020, the Chio Lecca Fashion School will host a group of students from Senecas School of Fashion to participate in a two-week faculty-led program to learn about Peruvian textiles and techniques of natural dyeing. Students will meet with and learn from local master artisans and gain firsthand experience with a sustainable industry. Students will also learn about the challenges Andean communities face in the marketing and selling of their products and work together to propose a research project that offers real solutions.

This is an exciting partnership that will allow two great fashion schools to collaborate and share localized techniques with one another. I look forward to following the evolution of this relationship, said Monica Kronfli, Director of International Academic Pathways & Mobility at Seneca.

Canada is becoming an education partner of choice in Peru, and this new partnership between Seneca and Chio Lecca comes as a great opportunity for fashion students in both countries to share their experiences and learn from each other, said Diego Urbina, Education Trade Commissioner at the Embassy of Canada in Lima, Peru.

Senecas School of Fashion has been an important player in educating multiple generations of fashion industry professionals. Through innovative opportunities that allow for an exchange of experience, knowledge and skills, Seneca will continue to pave the way for the next generation of creators and trend-setters.

More information about the Seneca-Chio Lecca partnership can be found here.
A man, who returned from China, was admitted to the Karnataka Institute of Medical Science Hospital here on Monday after he complained of fever, cough, weakness and headache.

Sandip Kelsangad, 39, returned from China on January 18. District health officials have sent his blood sample to Pune and are waiting for the report.

"He is under observation and is stable. We sent his sample to Pune," said Ramlingappa Anteratani, Director, KIMS Hubli.

Earlier, the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services State Surveillance Unit stated that 51 travellers from coronavirus affected countries have been identified and 46 are under home isolation. Four passengers have left India and one is admitted to a selected isolation hospital.

The virus originated in Wuhan in December and has since then spread to various parts around the world. China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Last May, I stood at a press conference. Joined by lawmakers, activists, business owners and patients, we announced a plan that would make an affordable, high-quality health care option available to Connecticuts small businesses. It was an example of how determination and collaboration could bring about real change for hard-working people in our state. Six days later, the effort was dead.

Through his Capitol representative, the CEO of a Connecticut-based insurance company had made it known that any effort to improve health care access through state law would result in the company considering relocation of its Connecticut headquarters. It was a stark example of the imbalance of power in America today. One man in a corner office at a private corporation with an eight-figure compensation package had veto power over public policy impacting all other state residents. We need to dramatically reform the way government works  at all levels  and put power to where it belongs: in the hands of the people. That is why, today, I am endorsing Sen. Elizabeth Warren for president.

Sen. Warren understands that we have arrived at a crossroads in American history. Corruption is now baked into the legislative process in Washington. The wealthiest political donors, well-networked lobbyists and the largest corporations have an outsized impact on the role of government and its ability to improve the lives of working families. Sen. Warren also has a plan  dozens of plans, really  to change that.

Her ideas include boosting the middle class with universal child care, historic investments in public education and green manufacturing initiatives. She has proposed an expansion of Social Security and an increase in benefits for seniors. Her economic and trade policies will represent the best interests of American workers, American consumers and American national security.

She will implement a lifetime ban on members of Congress becoming lobbyists, wring big money out of politics with much-needed campaign finance reform, and attack Washington corruption with the most comprehensive set of reforms since Watergate.

All of these plans are the result of broad collaboration with experts, advocates and community leaders and are backed by reliable data proving their likelihood for success and our ability to pay for them by asking the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share.

We can only bring about real change in this country when there is a movement of people pushing politicians in the right direction and a leader on the inside who can pull the levers of government accordingly. Sen. Warren has shown a unique desire to wield the tools of the presidency through smart, consumer-focused regulation and the appointment of diverse experts, advocates and activists in policy and management throughout her administration. Enacting the Warren agenda would reinvent the federal government and make it more responsive, more representative and more just.

I believe this is the most important presidential election of my lifetime. Our vote in November 2020 will be a referendum on the kind of country we want to live in. Is the status quo of Washington politics good enough? Should our government only work for those with the means to buy access to politicians? Do we value inclusion and opportunity and community?

The Democratic Party is fortunate to have a field of talented, accomplished and honorable candidates in the 2020 election, any of whom would serve this country well. Above all, however, Elizabeth Warren shares our Connecticut values, that everyone deserves an equal opportunity to succeed and everyone deserves an equal voice in how their government works. She has the intelligence, the moral clarity and  to borrow a phrase from Sen. Mitch McConnell  the persistence to transform our country into one that truly lives up to its values.

Kevin Lembo is comptroller of the state of Connecticut.
BEIRUT - The gradual extinction of traditional media in Beirut continues on Tuesday as another Lebanese newspaper, The Daily Star, an English-language daily, closes its doors following the closure of one of the most popular private radio stations in the country, Radio One.



For about a century, Beirut had been considered the Arab capital with the most free and plural press of the entire Middle East.



The Daily Star, owned by the family of former prime minister Saad Hariri, announced that it was suspending publication of its paper version.



Other paper versions of Lebanese newspapers have also vanished from newsstands in the recent past, including As-Safir, a point of reference for decades for the Lebanese and Arab left; Al-Hayat, founded in Beirut and purchased in the 1990s by Saudi Prince Khaled ben Sultan; and Al-Mustaqbal, the newspaper of Hariri's eponymous political party.



The Hariri group also lost its television channel.



Other periodicals in Arabic and French have also closed their doors.



For the moment, the remaining newspapers include the daily Al-Akhbar, aligned with the pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah; the French-language L'Orient-Le Jour; and the historic An-Nahar.(ANSAmed).


A three-year-old boy who brought his 'daddy doll' to daycare was stunned when his father walked in after returning from a year-long deployment.

Little Tatum was invited to show his classmates in Lincoln, Nebraska, the doll of his dad Michael Broderick, 40, in military uniform.

After saying he would give his father a 'big squeeze' if he saw him, the serviceman made a surprise appearance - with Tatum running into his arms.

In video footage of the reunion Tatum is seen sitting with teacher Kayla Johnson and explaining the doll was supposed to be his dad.

His father Michael had been on a year-long deployment with the US Air Force at the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey from December 2018.

Tatum is then asked by Ms Johnson if he knows when his father is going to be home and if he misses him.

Although a little shy at first, Tatum confirms he would give his beloved dad a 'big squeeze' if he could see him.

As the little boy nods his head a fire exit door is flung open in the corner of the room and a delighted Michael walks into the Kids First Daycare Center.

A shocked Tatum immediately rises to his feet and runs over to his father to give him a big hug in the footage recorded on December 11.

Reunited: Three-year-old Tatum is surprised by his father Michael Broderick, 40, at daycare in Lincoln, Nebraska, after a year spent apart (they are pictured right with Gavin, seven)

Daddy! The youngster immediately runs towards his father when Michael walks into the room

Tatum's mother Brittany, 35, said the deployment had been tough on the three-year-old and he would often cry at night because he wanted his father.

The family bought the daddy doll to help Tatum cope with Michael's absence.

This year, the family are all relocating to a naval station in Sicily, Italy, bringing a sense of relief that they can all be together again as a family.

Brittany said: 'The past year being separated was the hardest on our whole family. Yes, my husband chose this career, but my sons didn't get a choice.

Adorable: Michael scoops Tatum up as his classmates and teacher Kayla Johnson watch

'It's a hard life at times with the goodbyes but in the end, we stand by my husband in his choice to fight for this country and we couldn't be prouder of him.

'Seeing the moment unfold my first thoughts were this was it, my son doesn't have to say goodbye to his Dada anymore - we would all be together again and start our new life in Italy.

'What I hope people see from the video is the reality of a military child's life. Tatum who is three years old has been away from his dad half of his life already.

'Lots of tears have been shed over that video, I know, the response has been great.'
A body found near the Deerfield Hills Community Center Jan. 11 was identified by the El Paso County Coroner's Office Tuesday as Senovio Medina of Colorado Springs.

A person found Medina, 19, in a field outside the center at 4290 Deerfield Hills Rd. about 9:30 a.m., Colorado Springs police said. Authorities are investigating the teen's death as suspicious until the Coroner's Office releases an official manner of death, police spokeswoman Natashia Kerr said.

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One of the five doctors who were on the Air India flights that evacuated 647 Indians from China on January 31 and February 1 has developed a cough, a key sign of infection from the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that three students in Kerala have been detected with.

The three people who tested positive for 2019-nCoV got infected in China and were not among the evacuees.

All the passengers and the 60-member evacuation team , which included 10 doctors from Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, on the Air India flight are being quarantined for at least 14 days as a precautionary and safety measure to check the spread of viral infection.The crew included 10 RML doctors, two paramedics, 40 cabin and cockpit crew, engineers and security personnel in two different planes that evacuated people from China.

Officials in the Union ministry of health said it was unlikely that the doctor had contracted infection.

The whole team involved in the process is under mandatory home quarantine for at least two weeks. The doctor in question was a little under the weather even before he went on the trip. The team had taken strict precautions during the trip so its unlikely that its a coronavirus infection but we are leaving nothing to chance, said a senior health ministry official, requesting anonymity.

The infection has killed 425 people, all in China, except one each in Philippines and Hong Kong, and at least 20,000 people have been infected in China alone.

On Tuesday, India established dedicated gates and separate aerobridges for passengers from high-risk locations such as China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore. Earmarked aerobridges will be used at seven international airports (Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Cochin, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai) at the dedicated gates to screen passengers from the affected countries so as to ensure effective prevention, said Preeti Sudan, secretary (health), in a statement.

Since January 17, 2020, 777 flights and 89,500 passengers have been screened for symptoms at airports, with screening also being done at seaports and busy international borders.

India has tested 454 samples, of which three have tested positive. An additional 3,935 asymptomatic passengers and their contacts in 29 states are under home isolation and being tracked to see if they develop symptoms. Of all the samples tested, 160 samples are from the evacuees who have been quarantined at two isolation facilities in Manesar and Chhawla, confirmed Indian Council of Medical Research.

Various precautionary measures are being taken in close coordination with the ministries concerned at the central level. The situation is being closely and regularly monitored by the PMO {Prime Ministers Office} , health minister, and Cabinet secretary on a daily basis regarding the updates, status of preparedness and action taken so far, said Sudan, chairing a review meeting on the coronavirus on Tuesday.

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Boris Johnsons push to diverge from key EU regulations in the Brexit trade talks is not as popular among the public as the government assumes, according to polling guru professor John Curtice.

His remarks come after the prime minister outlined his priorities for the imminent negotiations, suggesting on Monday there was no need for a free trade treaty to compel the UK to adhere to Brussels regulations.

Sir John also suggested Mr Johnsons decisive election victory did not represent a national endorsement of Brexit. Rather, it showed the Conservatives has successfully united Leave supporters while the Remain vote was fragmented.

Speaking on Tuesday, the academic presented polls showing the majority of the public support keeping key EU rules such as mobile roaming and flight compensation regulations post-Brexit.

The most recent poll  on maintaining EU mobile roaming charge rules  in September 2019 showed 72 per cent of all voters supported keeping the regulation, including 65 per cent of those who voted Leave.

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Certainly the idea that we are necessarily always looking to diverge, at least in area like this that has a direct impact on consumers, is perhaps an area where you might think the government would be wise to have a degree of pause of thought, he said.

For the most part, the issue of regulation is not necessarily one that particularly exercises Leave voters. They are not quite as keen on the idea that we should follow European Union regulations.

But even so, around two-thirds of them on mobile phone roaming and on flight compensation, say yes we should follow the European Union rules. The division here is not so stark. Ive got lots of other questions and similarly got the same thing.

On the de-regulation of food standards after Brexit, the polling expert also prevented evidence that both Leave and Remain voters did not want to allow chlorinated chicken and hormone treated beef into the UK market  something the US has floated.

We simply asked people should these be allowed to be sold in the UK after the Brexit and very few people said yes, Sir John added.

Again, Leave voters are not desperate to see de-regulation here either. Our perceptions as consumers, at least, is one where it is not as clear that the mood to diverge and certainly to de-regulate is perhaps as strong as the impression the government seem to be giving.

Sir John also said there was no guarantee that the collective outcome of the 2019 general election was evidence that a majority of the British public were in favour of pursuing Brexit.

He said: We know from opinion polls that 52 per cent are in favour of Remain  48 per cent are in favour of Leave. That is broadly reflected in the outcome of the election. Around 47 per cent of the vote went to parties in favour of Brexit, around 52 per cent went for parties that are in one way or another in favour of a second referendum.

The outcome is therefore not a function of any marked change in public attitudes. Its not a function of any clear evidence that this country had finalised the Brexit that it wanted. Its a function of the differential concentration of Leave support in the Conservative party as opposed to the fragmentation of the Remain vote.

We are still looking at a country that is divided very much down the middle on the issue of Brexit."
Toronto native Sandy Yong began investing part of her salary upon graduating from Ryerson Universitys Ted Rogers School of Management in 2009. After being advised by a large bank to put her money into oil and gas, she saw her investment take a big hit during a period of industry upheaval.

I lost thousands and decided it wasnt right, Yong said. I needed to empower myself on how to become a self-directed investor.

Yong, who works as a product manager for Bell Canada, has since become a self-taught, self-directed investor  she says she managed to build a six-figure portfolio by age 27. In the process, she has become passionate about financial literacy.

Despite her success with investing, Yong had no plans to turn her passion into print until her husband announced that writing a book was one of his New Years resolutions for 2018. Yong attended a weekend seminar about book publishing with him and was inspired to take up the challenge, too. The result is The Money Master: What They Dont Teach You About Wealth and Investing.

Recently, Yong shared some of her thoughts about money and investing with the Star.

You have created a six-figure portfolio in 10 years. What are some of your secrets to success?

First, you need to have the basics down, such as automating your savings. My paycheque goes to my savings account and a portion of that goes to my RRSP and TFSA. You need to make saving and investing easy to do by breaking it down into manageable chunks. Seeing your investments and savings grow is very motivating.

Second, you need to keep track of your spending. I have an Evernote app and I write down every expense. It has become habit; at the cashier, I record my purchases and I can see where my money goes. A lot of times, people dont know.

You also need to monitor your financial goals from time to time, since life gets in the way and unexpected expenses crop up. Review your finances on a monthly basis.

What is a Millionaire Mindset? Do I need one to become wealthier?

Having the right mindset is so critical to starting on the right path to set yourself up for financial success. Everyone has baggage or mental roadblocks that prevent them from bringing all of this wealth into their lives. Until you fix your mindset, until you believe in yourself and decide that you deserve to have abundance, its tough to be able to move on. This is foundational. You need to do some self-reflection and banish the money myths that are stopping you from achieving the financial goals you want to reach.

Why should I have multiple streams of income? It sounds like a lot of work.

In my book, I quote Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who said, If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done. No doubt, it will take hard work, but if you want millions of dollars, you have to work for it. You can simply rely on a full-time job, but there are so many different options for side-gigs and they are becoming more and more common these days. Full-time jobs today are also harder to come by, and they dont necessarily provide stability; layoffs happen. You need a Plan B or you put yourself in jeopardy.

This is all the more reason to stop watching Netflix and think about the skills you can put to use. Even a couple hundred dollars a month can make a difference, so why not use your own talents? If you want something enough, youll work to make it happen.

How can an accountability partner help me to meet my financial goals?

If you have an accountability partner, whether thats a spouse, a friend or a family member, it doesnt feel like such a lonely journey. Its like going to the gym with a buddy; you cant make excuses not to go, because youre making a commitment and you dont want to let the other person down.

You can start by both focusing on short-term goals, such as the amount of money you want to save this month. You should check in with each other  touch base weekly to celebrate your wins for the week and talk about your struggles. Its important to be open and honest with each other. No judgment is allowed.

An accountability partner gives you a support system and someone you can talk to. Choose someone you trust, since talking about money is taboo in our society. This is a perfect time to get started, because after the New Year, people are all setting resolutions.

Becoming a Money Master sounds like a solo effort. How can couple make it a joint effort?

First of all, its important to sit down and have an open, honest conversation with ground rules about judging each other. You want to create a safe place to talk about money. You also need to have a team mindset and set team financial goals. As a couple, you want to decide what you want to achieve with your finances in the short term, the mid term and the long term in terms of career, property, education, vacations and material things. You need to work on those goals as a couple.

My husband and I have a joint vision board that we created together with a big piece of poster board and pictures of what we want to achieve. Its a visual reminder of all the things we want to attract and achieve in our lives. Making it was super fun  like going back to elementary school. We have it near our dining table so each time we have a meal together, we can see our goals.

Yong will launch her book on Feb. 25. Visit www.sandyyong.com for more information.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

Delegation of the Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry (Belneftekhim Concern) is expected to visit Nur-Sultan this week to hold talks with Kazakhstans oil companies, Kazakhstans Minister of Energy Nurlan Nogayev said, Trend reports with reference to Kazakh media.

According to Nogayev, the meetings are organized by Kazakhstans Ministry of Energy.

As expected, within the visit, an agreement on cooperation in oil and oil products export will be concluded, said the minister.

"Following the agreement signing, Belarus will be able to import Kazakh oil. Our ministry is working on organization of the meetings with the companies, Nogayev said.

He also noted that the export route will be chosen based on the best commercial proposal.

As noted by the press office of the government of Belarus, the delegation of Belneftekhim Concern is to visit Kazakhstan this week (Feb. 3 to Feb 9) to hold negotiations on import of Kazakh oil to Belarus.

Earlier this month, by a decree  27, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko authorized the countrys government to carry out negotiations with Kazakhstan on the topic of trade and economic cooperation in area of oil and petroleum goods' import to Belarus, as well as on the agreement draft and its signing when it is approved.

According to Kazakhstans then Minister of Energy Kanat Bozumbayev, during Lukashenkos visit to Kazakhstan in April 2019, parties signed a preliminary agreement on export of Kazakhstans oil and petroleum products to Belarus and on overall cooperation in the area.

As noted earlier by Asset Magauov, Kazakhstans Vice Minister of Energy, Kazakhstan is counting on signing the agreement on oil export to Belarus in the beginning of 2020.

Kazakhstan is planning to export from 1 to 3.5 million tons of oil and petroleum products a year to Belarus.

---

Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
BEIJING  Hong Kong hospitals cut services as thousands of medical workers went on strike for a second day Tuesday to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely. The new virus caused its first death in the semiautonomous territory, adding to growing fears it is spreading locally.

All but two of Hong Kongs land and sea crossings with the mainland were closed at midnight after thousands of hospital workers went on strike Monday. Hong Kong health authorities reported two additional patients without any known travel to the virus epicenter, bringing the number of locally transmitted cases to four.

The growing caseload indicates significant risk of community transmission and could portend a large-scale outbreak, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch at the Center for Health Protection.

More than 7,000 health workers joined the strike Tuesday, according to the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, the strike organizer.

Hong Kong was hit hard by the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, a virus from the same family as the current outbreak. Trust in Chinese authorities has plummeted following months of anti-government protests in the Asian financial hub.

The territorys beleaguered leader, Carrie Lam, criticized the strike and said the government was doing all it could to limit the flow of people across the border.

Important services, critical operations have been affected, including cancer treatment and care for newborns, Lam told reporters. So Im appealing to those who are taking part in this action: Lets put the interests of the patients and the entire public health system above all other things.

China reported 490 deaths and 24,324 confirmed cases, up sharply from the previous day. Outside mainland China, at least 180 cases have been confirmed, including two fatalities, the one in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.

The patient who died in Hong Kong was a 39-year-old man who had traveled to Wuhan, the mainland city where the outbreak started. The Hospital Authority said Tuesday he had pre-existing health conditions but gave no details.

Most deaths have been among the elderly and those with other health problems, authorities said. More than 80% were over 60 years old, and more than 75% had an underlying disease, Jiao Yahui, a National Health Commission official, told a news conference Tuesday.

Dr. David Heymann, who led the World Health Organizations response to the SARS outbreak, said that its too early to tell when the new virus will peak, but that it appears to still be on the increase.

Ken Moritsugu is an Associated Press writer.
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Global Mobile Wallet Market by Type (Open, Semi-Closed, Closed)

PR-Inside.com: 2020-02-04 20:05:54

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Mobile Wallet is a digitized version of physical wallet, which operates on the application that needs to be installed or is an existing built-in feature of a smartphone. A mobile wallet stores the digital information about the credit and debit cards for making payments, store coupons or some specific information. It is a service through which the consumers can send and receive money through digital modes.Major factors that are driving the growth of global mobile wallet market are the increasing penetration of smartphone users and growing awareness regarding the use of mobile wallets. The global mobile wallet market is expected to grow at a considerable rate due to its quick accessibility to payment, improved cash flow and convenience for the population as earlier they need to carry liquid-currency but now everything is switched to mobile wallets. Due to announcement of demonetization in India the market saw an immediate surge due to the increase in the digital payments. High online transactions, and high internet penetrations acts as a fuel for driving the growth of global mobile wallet market. Besides that, the research & development activities (R&D) for development of technologically advanced products are further expected to play a crucial role in shaping the global mobile wallet market. The factors that hinders the growth of global mobile wallet market are the concern for the security, privacy and the transparency of charges. The issues with the compatibility as the applications does not support all OS, the competition from credit and debit cards and the introduction of UPI are some of the factors that hinders the growth of global mobile wallet market.For Additional Insights, Click to Access Complete Report - https://www.gmiresearch.com/report/global-mobile-wallet-market/ Various notable players in the global mobile wallet market include American Express, Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Visa Inc., One97 communications, MasterCard Incorporated, Sprint Corporation, First Data Corporation, Blackberry Ltd., AT&T Inc. among others.Request for Customization  https://www.gmiresearch.com/report/global-mobile-wallet-market/request-for-customization The Global Mobile Wallet market has been segmented on the basis of Type, Technology, Application and Geography. Based on type market is categorized into Open, Semi-Closed and Closed mobile wallets. On the basis of technology market is categorized into Near Field Communication, QR Code, WAP and Text Based. Based on Application market is categorized into Retail, E-Commerce, Transportation, Telecom, Banking and Others.Request for Sample Report  https://www.gmiresearch.com/report/global-mobile-wallet-market/sample-request Key questions answered in this research report:1- At what pace is global mobile wallet market growing? What will be the growth trend in the future?2- What are the key drivers and restraints in the current market? What will be the impact of drivers and restraints in the future?3- What are the regional revenue and forecast breakdowns? Which are the major regional revenue pockets for growth in the global mobile wallet market?4- What are the various application areas and how they are poised to grow?
[February 03, 2020] Swapnil Mishra joins Kristal.AI to combine two decades of experience with artificial intelligence technology as digital wealth management heats up

SINGAPORE, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Singapore-based digital wealth manager Kristal.AI has appointed Swapnil Mishra as Head of Private Wealth Management, effective 21st January, 2020. Swapnil brings with him two decades of wealth management experience, working across banks including Citibank, RBS Coutts Bank and Deutsche Bank. He has managed teams and successfully built business by acquiring clients in the APAC region. Swapnil believes that in the coming decade, transparency and technology will play a key role in building trust - attributes that are the foundation of Kristal.AI. He is passionate about engaging wealth owners with social impact and works with students at SMU on classroom projects with Singapore-based Social Service Agencies in an Adjunct capacity. At Kristal.AI, he will lead the Private Wealth offering and will oversee product development and client engagement acros all channels and geographies.



Asheesh Chanda, founder and CEO, said, "Private wealth management is perhaps the trickiest, and most trust- and instinct-led segment in all of finance. We are pleased to have Swapnil, with his years of experience curating and providing personalized advice to both retail and HNW clients, head this department. Not only does he come with significant industry experience, he also demonstrates multifaceted talents by virtue of having authored a book and playing bass guitar in a band." Swapnil's appointment comes on the heels of the company having secured its USD 6 million Series A funding recently from Chiratae Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures India) and other private family offices and VCs. Kristal.AI had recently revealed its plans for expansion in the APAC market; specifically in India, and increase its offerings for both private and retail clients.

Since officially launching in February 2016, Kristal.AI has experienced rapid growth and currently handles over USD 100 million in AUM, with 10,000 users on its platform. The company's custom-crafted strategies have provided consistent returns to investors even in volatile markets, with both its Leveraged Bond Kristal and Singapore REITs Kristal achieving around 14% returns historically. About Kristal.AI Founded in 2016 by Asheesh Chanda and Vineeth Narasimhan, Kristal.AI is a digital wealth platform offering holistic wealth management solutions to its clients. Kristal.AI uses a patented genetic algorithm, along with the financial acumen of its in-house panel of experts, to recommend and create personalized portfolios for every investor. The company is operational in Singapore with a CMS license issued by MAS, in Hong Kong under "Type 4" and "Type 9" licensing provided by SFC, and in India with a SEBI-approved license. Links

Website: https://kristal.ai/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kristal_ai

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristal.advisors/ Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200203/2709217-1 SOURCE Kristal.AI

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered a harsh rebuke to the Democratic Party on Tuesday after the Iowa caucus descended into chaos the previous night amid inconsistencies in reporting voting results.

The same Democrats who want to take over everyones healthcare and micromanage the entire economy couldnt even organize their own traditional Iowa caucuses? McConnell wrote in a tweet.

The Iowa Democratic Party failed for hours to report the final results of Monday nights caucus, sending the Democratic presidential primary into a limbo state as candidates await the final vote tally, expected Tuesday evening. State party officials blamed glitches in a new smartphone app being used to report results  a coding issue that resulted in precinct managers calling the state party hotline to report results, only to be put on hold for hours.

This is not a good night for democracy, said Senator Bernie Sanders, who led his rivals in initial caucus results. You know, if Im a first time voter when I came out and I voted, and the results are not coming in for 16 hours, you know, its a little bit disconcerting.

Most 2020 Democrats are running on a Medicare for All platform, although some, such as former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg, back expanding Medicare but not eliminating private health insurance.

McConnell has criticized Medicare for All as a socialist proposal and vowed it will not pass the Senate as long as he is majority leader.

You want to turn America into a socialist country this is the first step, the Kentucky Republican said last year. I think what were seeing here is full socialism on display in the Democratic primaries for president.

McConnell has said he instead supports niche fixes to try to improve the current system, such as lowering Obamacares expensive co-pays and deductibles and lowering the costs of prescription drugs.

More from National Review
At the current toll of 3,066 Trinidad and Tobago now has the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in the Caricom region, both numerically and number of deaths per million people.

This unenviable standing could quickly change, depending on when new variants take hold and the impact they have on any given country.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Bengaluru, Feb 5 : Four Karnataka districts bordering Kerala -- Kodagu, Mangluru, Chamarajanagar and Mysuru -- have been put on high alert in the wake of positive coronavirus cases in Kerala.

"Kodagu, Mangluru, Chamarajanagar and Mysuru districts have been put on high alert for coronavirus monitoring," Kodagu district health officer K. Mohan told IANS.

Acting on state government orders, Mohan said the district health department is undertaking information and education activities in the district about the virus.

"We are explaining how coronavirus spreads and how to take precautionary measures. We have established a six bedded room for coronavirus in the district hospital and two beds each at Virajpet and Somvarpet," said Mohan.

The Kodagu district authorities also displayed coronavirus awareness posters and messages at bus stops, government hospitals and offices, including the bustling Raja Street.

Kodagu is located 250 km southwest of Bengaluru.

Aiming at restricting the movement of people between Karnataka and Kerala, Mohan said the district health department has requested the planters' associations to not move manpower.

"We have requested our planters' associations not to move manpower from Karnataka to Kerala and Kerala to Karnataka till February 15," said Mohan.

Additionally, the district health department has also kept a rapid response team on standby.

Mohan said Kodagu did not receive any migrant from China or a person who stayed in China thus far.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka government has ordered that anybody arriving from the 23 coronavirus affected countries must stay in isolation at home for 28 days in a state surveillance bulletin of the Karnataka health and family welfare department on Monday.

The home isolation requirement is irrespective of the virus symptoms.

As many as 426 coronavirus deaths have been reported in China so far.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
ASKER, NORWAY (4 February 2020) - TGS will release its Q4 2019 results at approximately 07:00 CET on 12 February 2020. CEO Kristian Johansen and CFO Dean Zuzic will present the results at 09:00 CET at the Felix Conference Center, Aker Brygge, Oslo, Norway. The presentation is open to the public and can also be followed live on the internet using this webcast link .

The slides from the presentation will also be available in PDF format at both the TGS and Oslo Stock Exchange websites.

Company summary

TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company (TGS) provides multi-client geoscience data to oil and gas Exploration and Production companies worldwide. In addition to extensive global geophysical and geological data libraries that include multi- client seismic data, magnetic and gravity data, digital well logs, production data and directional surveys, TGS also offers advanced processing and imaging services, interpretation products, and data integration solutions. For more information visit TGS online at tgs.com

Forward-looking statements and contact information

All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict, and are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove accurate. These factors include TGS' reliance on a cyclical industry and principle customers, TGS' ability to continue to expand markets for licensing of data, and TGS' ability to acquire and process data products at costs commensurate with profitability. Actual results may differ materially from those expected or projected in the forward-looking statements. TGS undertakes no responsibility or obligation to update or alter forward-looking statements for any reason.

TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSLO: TGS). TGS-sponsored American Depositary Shares trade on the U.S. over-the-counter market under the symbol "TGSGY".

For additional information about this press release please contact: Dean Zuzic, CFO Email: Dean.Zuzic@tgs.com

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act
D onald Trump has branded the Democrats' efforts to pick a candidate to challenge him at the 2020 US Presidential election "an unmitigated disaster".

His comments come as caucuses in Iowa kick started the Democratic presidential nominating race on Monday night.

But, the voting was soon thrown into chaos as the results were delayed for hours while the states party carried out quality checks.

Mr Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday that he won a "big victory" in Iowa as he slammed the event.

He wrote: "The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that.

"The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is Trump."

Earlier he also wrote: "Big WIN for us in Iowa tonight. Thank you!"

While there are also Republican caucuses on Monday, with Joe Walsh and Bill Weld running against Mr Trump, the president's popularity within his own party is such that his nomination is all but a formality.

In Iowa, voters poured into more than 1,600 schools, community centres and other public locations in the first state to choose a November election challenger.

The Iowa state party said it was doing "quality checks" on the results and found "inconsistencies in the reporting" of the data from the caucus sites.

The Democratic candidates are still waiting for the results in Iowa / Reuters/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

Party officials voiced confidence in their ability to ensure accurate results, citing a paper trail to validate the votes.

"In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report," state party spokeswoman Mandy McClure said.

"This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion," she said, adding the underlying data and paper trail were sound.

Members of the media work during a primary debate in Iowa / AFP via Getty Images

Iowa voters were meeting to render judgment on a field of 11 Democratic contenders led by front-runners Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Vice President Joe Biden, who have battled for the top in recent Iowa opinion polls.

Long lines and heavy crowds were reported in some locations, but doors to the caucus sites closed and the process began at 7pm local time, 1am UK time on Tuesday.

Rural Iowa is the first test in the state-by-state battle to pick a Democratic nominee to face Mr Trump in the November 3 election.

Elizabeth Warren at a caucus night rally in Iowa / Getty Images

After more than a year of campaigning and more than $800 million in spending, the results in Iowa will begin to provide answers for a party desperately trying to figure out how to beat the businessman-turned-president.

With no results to celebrate or mourn, the candidates spun their own upbeat view of the outcome.

The Sanders campaign released what it said were its internal numbers collected at 40 per cent of precincts, showing him in first, ahead of Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren and a trailing Mr Biden in fourth place.

"I have a strong feeling that at some point the results will be announced, and when those results are announced I have a good feeling were going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa," Mr Sanders told cheering supporters.

Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters at a caucus night campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa / AP

Meanwhile Mr Buttigieg told his supporters in Iowa that "we don't know the results" but was looking ahead to the next contest on Feb. 11 in New Hampshire.

"By all indications, we are going to New Hampshire victorious," he said.

Republican Brad Parscale, Trump's campaign manager, called it a "Democratic Party meltdown," on Twitter. "

They can't even run the caucus and they want to run the government. No thank you."

But Republicans in Iowa have their own history of chaos. On the night of the party's 2012 caucuses, Mitt Romney was declared to have won by eight votes.
" " Shut down, Restart and Sleep are all options on Windows. Which one should you use? And when? HowStuffWorks

If, like most of us, you use a computer that runs Microsoft Windows, you probably already know that the Start menu gives you two ways to shut down your computer's operations. You can click Shut Down, which basically does what the name describes. There's also the option of Restart, which shuts down your computer for a moment, but then starts it up again.

But aside from the fact that the computer doesn't come back on again after you click Shut Down, in recent versions of the Windows operating system, there's actually another important difference between the two options, according to software experts. They don't shut down your computer in exactly the same way, and they should be used in different situations.

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What 'Shut Down' Does

In older versions of Windows, Restart and Shut Down did the same thing, closing down programs and powering off the machine. But in Windows 8 and 10, that changed because of a new feature called Fast Startup, which is designed to eliminate what used to be that irritatingly long process of getting your PC up and running.

"By default, Windows 10 enables the Fast Startup option when a user clicks Shut Down, " explains Rob Tidrow, the chief operations officer of Richmond Community Schools in Richmond, Indiana, and co-editor of the reference manual "Windows 10 Bible." (He's also written numerous other how-to books on software and technology.) "This option allows Windows 10 to start up faster the next time a user starts Windows. The downside to this option is that not all processes are disabled from the previous session.

With Shut Down, Windows 10 shuts down all programs and files you have open, but doesn't shut off the Windows kernel  that is, the core of the operating system, which enables the software and the hardware to work together, Tidrow says. "The Windows kernel is saved to disk, similar to when you put your computer to hibernation mode, so that the kernel is ready to boot up quickly the next time."

While Shut Down and Fast Startup might seem way more convenient, there's one catch. "If there is something fouled up with a hardware driver or similar, the Shut Down process does not clear that out," Tidrow says.

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What Restart Does

Restart, in contrast, actually does shut down all of the computer's processes, including the kernel, according to Tidrow. That means you get a totally clean start when the computer boots up again, though it takes longer to get everything running.

"Restart should be used when installing updates/software and to resolve any errors," Microsoft, the operating system's maker, explained in an email. Some software installations and updates actually require you to use Restart to finish the process. If your computer has frozen or is giving off some other error, you should use Restart rather than Shut Down, even though it may seem to you that Shut Down would be a more complete option.

There are several ways to trigger a restart, explains Derek Meister via email. He's an agent for Geek Squad, a tech support and repair service provided by retail consumer electronics and appliance chain Best Buy. Besides using the Start Menu, you can hold down the CTRL+ALT+DELETE keys, click one of the icons on the Lock Screen. And if you're nostalgic for the pre-Windows days, you can pull up the old-school Command Prompt and type shutdown/r.

He adds that it's also possible to disable Fast Startup in your computer's power settings, so that you when you shut down the computer, it will clear everything.

So, what about the term Reboot? "For most people, Reboot and Restart mean the same thing. The primary difference with most computers, and Windows 10 (and 8) is that a reboot typically involves the system being shut down to the point where the motherboard [the main printed circuit board which allows communication between electronic components] will have to run its initial boot loading process as if you've turned the computer on from being completely powered off," says Meister. "Restarting, however, involves the operating system shutting itself down to the point where Windows will reload, but typically does not go the extra step of having to go through the motherboard boot loading process."

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Using a Mac

If you use the Mac operating system instead of Windows, it has similar options. Use Restart if your computer starts acting strangely, for instance your pointer freezes on the screen or you've added new software. Use Shut Down when you're closing down your computer for a while.

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Using Sleep Mode

All this might lead to another question: Should you turn off your computer in the first place? After all, it's possible to put it in Sleep mode, so that all your software programs and files are ready for you to use immediately, whenever you awaken the computer.

One drawback of Sleep mode, though, is that the computer still uses at least some electricity. According to a 2016 report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, electronic devices that are inactive but still drawing power  for example, computers left in sleep mode  consume electricity equivalent to the output of 50 500-megawatt power plants, and add $165 a year to the typical household's electric bill.

Meister advises using Sleep mode in moderation. "It's OK to let your system go to sleep during a workday when you don't intend to be gone for long periods of time, like going to lunch, class or a meeting," he says. "If it's the end of the day, or you'll be commuting with your laptop, or will simply be away for a few hours, it's best to go ahead and use the Shut Down feature."

Now That's Interesting: According to Techwalla, a hacker can't awaken and attack your PC when you leave it in sleep mode, because in that state it doesn't have an active connection to your network and the internet.

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Originally Published: Feb 4, 2020
Uniphar, the owner of the Allcare and Life pharmacy chains, is eyeing acquisitions in France, Germany, and other parts of mainland Europe as it looks to further expand its presence across the continent.

The pharmacy and healthcare services group is actively looking to grow its key commercial and clinical division  which links pharmaceutical product manufacturers with their customers  internationally.
[February 04, 2020] 5G Global Trends and Leading Countries

Sydney, Feb. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BuddeComms Senior Analysts identified 13 countries it saw as demonstrating leading progress towards 5G development during 2019, with representation from Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. In the developing markets of Latin America, the South Pacific and Africa; there are also signs emerging of activity in the 5G area. Please read it here : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/BuddeComm-Intelligence-Report-5G-Global-Trends-and-Leading-Countries 2020 is an exciting year for 5G as the pace of development is speeding up. The standardisation process is well underway with further announcements from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) expected this year, which will in turn intensify the focus on spectrum requirements and usage. More commercial network launches are also expected around the world in 2020, mostly using New Radio (NR) Release 15 standards. 5G capable device developments will also escalate. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and 3G PPP are working together to develop the global 5G standards. In October 2019 the ITU convened the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) with the recommendations from the meeting to be released in February 2020. There has become an obvious race to market competition around the world with operators, manufacturers and governments all wanting to be the first to capture the opportunitis presented by the 5G evolution.



This report explores and analyses the current progress of the 5G evolution including timelines for standards development, spectrum candidates, key considerations for government and the potential uses and applications associated with 5G. In addition, the report provides initial industry forecasts for subscriptions, CAPEX and devices. Buddecomm analysts have identified the top 13 countries demonstrating progress towards 5G. Key developments:

5G is an evolutionary process and countries which are well placed for 5G progress also have well established 4G LTE networks, along with progressive government and operator support.

Many countries globally have conducted 5G spectrum auctions and allocations.

Hundreds of operators around the world are involved in developing 5G in 2020.

Interest in 5G devices is beginning to escalate as manufacturers jockey for position and there are numerous devices in development. Table of Contents 5G in the global context Fibre broadband will be needed for 5G 5G FWA The 5G vision

5G statistics and forecasts 5G NR deployments 5G subscriptions forecast 5G CAPEX spend 5G devices 5G spectrum developments Spectrum allocation around the world

Top countries leading 5G development

Key 5G considerations Key industry consortiums 3G PPP IMT 2020

Related reports

List of Tables Table 1  Number of operators and countries investing in 5G - 2019

Table 2  Global  market share of mobile technologies  2018

Table 3  Global  5G subscription forecast  2020  2022

Table 4  Potential frequency bands for 5G deployment List of Exhibits Exhibit 1  Key global developments towards 5G standardisation

Exhibit 2  Examples of 5G device manufacturers

Exhibit 3 - Key considerations for government and regulators in relation to 5G

Please read it here : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/BuddeComm-Intelligence-Report-5G-Global-Trends-and-Leading-Countries Nicolas Bombourg [email protected] Within Australia (02) 8076 7665 Outside Australia +44 207 097 1241

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Problems have arisen in the first days of the Year of the Rat: the sale of farm produce to China has declined because of the coronavirus.

Trying to rescue dragon fruit



Tien Giang and Long An provinces, the two biggest dragon fruit producers, held a meeting to discuss solutions to rescue dragon fruit on January 27, or the third day of the Lunar New Year.

The coronavirus outbreak has caused difficulties for export to China, which consumes 90 percent of Vietnams dragon fruit.



At the meeting, all the merchants in the two provinces decided that from January 27 to February 3, they will not collect dragon fruit from farmers as they planned before.



The merchants made the decision because they cannot export products these days. Chinese importers refuse to receive more products because of the new regulations on travel restriction and the closing of some border gates in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Chinese importers refuse to receive more products because of the new regulations on travel restriction and the closing of some border gates in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The merchants also decided to have VND5,000 for every kilogram of dragon fruit to the farmers with whom they signed contracts.



A merchant in Chau Thanh district in Long An province told the press that exporters have canceled contracts with merchants.



She went on to say that before Tet holiday, merchants signed contracts with farmers on collecting dragon fruit at the average price of VND32,000 per kilogram. Meanwhile, as products cannot be exported, the price has fallen to VND5,000.



Exporters



We have suffered heavily from coronavirus, said Nguyen Thi Hong Thu, director of Chanh Thu Fruit Import/Export.



All the plans have been canceled. Even the consignments of products on the way to China have also been stopped, she said.



Not only dragon fruit, but mango and even durian, which still has no license to enter the Chinese market, have also been affected.



All the doors are closed to Vietnamese farm produce, she said. The situation is worrying, because China is the key consumer of Vietnams farm produce."



A director of a fruit export company, who asked to be anonymous, admitted that his company haf incurred a loss of VND3 billion as two consignments of products have been refused.



He affirmed that other exporters have also suffered heavily and they have had to cancel all the contracts signed before with farmers.



Regarding the efforts to control coronavirus outbreak, the Pingxiang municipal authorities have closed ports and stoppef the goods customs clearance from January 31 to February 8.



Pingxiang is a Chinese province bordering Vietnams Lang Son Province.

Mai Lan

The US wants VN to cut tariff on farm produce Vietnam needs to learn from experiences from other regiolnal countries and take appropriate measures to protect domestic production, experts say.
Volkswagen (VW) group will look at launching electric vehicles in India to keep up with the perceived shift in clean mobility choices.

The group is developing a range of more than two dozen electric vehicles (EV) globally and it will look to bring some of them to India as well.

To begin with, VW will introduce a premium electric vehicle in the later part of the year. This will be through the fully imported route. Through this strategy, it will shift towards more affordably priced products in the coming period.

At present, only four manufacturers -- Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, MG Motor and Hyundai -- have launched EVs in India. The same players and several more including luxury car makers have lined up multiple EV launches in the coming years. At least half a dozen EVs will come to India this year.





Gurpratap Boparai, Managing Director, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, said, "For India, we are going for a top down approach. We would be introducing a premium EV later this year."



Car manufacturers globally have been shifting to EVs following intense criticism by environmental activists over accusations of high emission levels. This comes at a time when manufacturers are investing in higher emission standards such as Bharat Stage VI.



Though India does not have a formal EV adoption policy, the government has been vocal in support for EVs as a preferred choice of mobility. Several government offices have already shifted to electric cars for official purposes.



The demand for EVs have also gathered pace. MG Motor, the SAIC-owned company, clocked 2,800 bookings for the Rs 20 lakh ZS EV even before the vehicle was formally launched in India. The Hyundai Kona has also been used by government offices.



In the recent Union Budget , Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to raise customs duty on EVs assembled in India. This was done to boost local manufacturing of EVs and discourage the assembly route.



Jurgen Stackmann, member of the board of management, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, said, "There is a lot more to be done as far as infrastructure for EVs not just in India but in many countries goes. Volkswagen has several EVs, which were always planned this way. The immediate focus is to get the models that are in the pipeline in India onto the road. After two-to-three years, we can look at launching more affordable EVs in India."
Legally, the departure from the EU has happened. Initially, in a period of transition, revised operational decisions must be made. In the next year government and business managers will be busy adjusting to the new environment.

For Northern Ireland, during the transition period, the adjustment processes will be more intensive than has yet been appreciated.

The UK-EU Withdrawal Protocol will be critical for unique decisions affecting NI businesses.

The UK Government acknowledges that there is a large agenda of steps to anticipate the new policy freedoms.

There is a developing focus on policy towards trade deals with the EU, USA and other countries.

There is a range of questions related to international financial transactions.

Additionally there are decisions to be made on regulating the flow of people wishing to migrate to the UK.

As Northern Ireland prepares to adjust, to the best possible advantage, to the EU Withdrawal Agreement, the special provisions of the Protocol on Northern Ireland must be delivered alongside the range of actions determined by Westminster for GB.

The special trading concessions, whilst acknowledging the constitutional position of NI within the UK, allow for the avoidance of a customs border between NI and the Republic which, in turn, means that goods originating in NI can have continuing duty free trading access to the EU.

The concession agreed for NI must be delivered with the best advantage of the two differing trading situations: NI as part of the UK now trading as a separate country and NI remaining linked to the EU market through the deal avoiding an Irish border. Undoubtedly, the possible overlap between the differing jurisdictions will call for ingenuity but, pragmatically, it must be made to work.

There would be no trading problems if two features remained unchanged: the UK would agree an extensive free trade deal with the EU, and the UK and EU could agree that the inherited regulatory alignment for trade in goods should be maintained.

Unhappily for ease of administration, there is no promise that these two features will be maintained.

If there is no free trade deal between the UK and EU, then there may be customs duties, both ways, for businesses to pay.

Critically, if there are, however selectively, duties to be paid between UK and EU then trade from GB coming into Ireland via NI ports will need to be documented to assess liability to duty.

Similarly, goods from Ireland/EU passing through NI to reach GB will need to be documented.

Without an effective free trade treaty or when regulatory alignment between UK and EU diverges, the NI arrangement to document trade (and possibly impose duties) becomes a necessary supervisory process.

This may partially erode the advantage to NI of having the special protocol.

It may mean at least additional paper form filling costs.

Faced with the need to have documentary evidence of trade flows between GB, NI and RoI, the various customs authorities should now be devising a simplified paper trail to minimise any extra costs.

One option would be for the customs authorities, by agreement, to avoid unnecessary paperwork for businesses which register as an 'authorised economic operator' and which have permission to move goods, which would not attract duty, on an open basis - in other words, there would be an honest trader assumption, subject only to occasional unplanned inspections at the ports.

There is a concern that the maintenance of regulatory alignment between the UK and EU will be challenged because of emerging differences.

The EU may insist on strict technical alignment whilst the UK is expected to suggest that, with a degree of flexibility, any trade deal should rely on 'mutual recognition' clauses. During 2020, the differences in language usage are set to create a new dimension for the post-Brexit scene.

With goodwill, Northern Ireland should be able to argue for special arrangements giving the best of both worlds.

Company report: Andor Technology

Andor Technology, based in west Belfast, has been owned by parent company Oxford Instruments since 2014. It is a successful local company with expertise in the global markets for advanced scientific imaging and photographic equipment.

The latest trading results show a large increase in annual turnover, recovering from a reduction a year earlier, to reach over 75m. The turnover change is reflected in the operating profit which reached a new high of 11.6m.

Pre-tax profits have been supported each year by income from shares in subsidiaries owned by this company. This addition to profits has varied from year to year bringing an addition of 3.1m in the latest year, compared to 1.8m a year earlier.

The subsidiaries or branches based in Japan and America closed in March 2019 with the trade and assets transferred to newly created subsidiaries in exchange for the issue of shares in these businesses.

Operating profit together with the supplementary income from shares in subsidiaries has been at higher levels in recent years than was recorded prior to its purchase by Oxford Instruments.

Until the end of March 2018 the company has retained post-tax profits within the business. However, in the most recent year, a dividend of 24m was paid to the parent company shareholder. As a result, the balance sheet value of shareholders funds fell by 11m.

The principal activity of the company is in the development and manufacture of high performance scientific digital cameras, systems and software. The company reports that these cameras find applications in issues as diverse as the formation of distant stars and the development of anti-cancer therapies. Reflecting these priorities, the company spends substantially on R&D  5.1m in the year to March 2019 and 5.5m a year earlier.

A feature of the companys annual report is a detailed review of the risks and uncertainties facing the business. Andor has applied for Authorised Economic Operator status to facilitate movement of goods in the EU 27 after Brexit.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Sudan's leader Monday to discuss "normalisation" between the two states, his office said.

Netanyahu met Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chairman of Sudan's ruling sovereign council, in the Ugandan city of Entebbe, a statement from his office said.

The two "agreed to start cooperation leading to normalisation of the relationship between the two countries."

The countries are technically at war and Sudan could become only the third Arab state to recognise Israel.

There was no immediate confirmation from Khartoum.

"History," Netanyahu said in a tweet announcing the meeting.

Sudan's sovereign council is a transitional body of military officials and civilians that is currently headed by Burhan, an army general.

It was created as part of a power-sharing agreement between the military and civilians following the overthrow of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir last year.

The statement from Netanyahu's office said the prime minister believed "Sudan is headed in a new positive direction".

"Burhan is eager to help his country modernise by taking it out of isolation and putting it on the world's map," it added.

Sudan under Bashir was part of the decades-long Arab boycott of Israel over the Jewish state's treatment of the Palestinians.

In 1967 Arab leaders met in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to announce what was called the 'three noes' -- rejecting peace or negotiations with and recognition of Israel.

Since then both Egypt and Jordan have recognised the country, though other Arab and many Muslim countries still do not.

Israeli officials say relations with Arab states are improving over a shared concern with Iran's role in the region.

Netanyahu visited the Gulf Arab state Oman in 2018 and he frequently says the boycott of his country is ending, despite no peace deal with the Palestinians.

Jerusalem

Netanyahu also met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni Monday and called for the opening of missions in each others' countries, during a visit aimed at boosting ties.

"You open an embassy in Jerusalem, I'll open an embassy in Kampala," he added.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital while the Palestinians see the eastern part of the holy city as the capital of their future state.

Traditionally, most diplomatic missions in Israel have been in Tel Aviv as countries maintained a neutral stance over the status of Jerusalem.

But US President Donald Trump, a close ally of Netanyahu, moved his country's embassy to Jerusalem in May 2018.

He has since pressured other countries to follow suit and last week released a peace plan that gave Israel the green light to annex parts of the West Bank, the largest part of the occupied Palestinian territories.

Netanyahu last visited Uganda in July 2016 to mark the 40th anniversary of a hostage rescue at Entebbe airport, in which his brother Yonatan died.

In recent years, Israel has improved ties with African nations, following a difficult period when many post-independence African leaders sided with Israel's Arab rivals, and viewed with hostility Israel's support for apartheid South Africa.

Israel now has diplomatic relations with 39 of 47 sub-Saharan African states.
Prince Harry has been waging war against the press for years now. At first, he did battle by making cutting remarks about their tactics whenever he could. But after marrying Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Harry took his animosity to the next level.

The Duke of Sussex surprised everyone when he interrupted an overwhelmingly positive goodwill trip to Africa to announce that he was suing the popular British tabloid Mail on Sunday and their publisher Associated Newspapers for publishing a personal letter Meghan wrote to her father, Thomas Markle. This move was unprecedented in royal family history.

But even though Prince Harry started a war with his lawsuit, he just lost a major battle that could indicate how the other lawsuit is going to work out.

Prince Harry | Jeremy Selwyn  WPA Pool/Getty Images

Mail on Sunday accused Prince Harry of publishing misleading photos

The tables turned on Prince Harry when Mail on Sunday launched a few attacks of their own after the royal shared a few wildlife photos to Instagram in April 2019. The Duke of Sussex is well known for his conservation efforts and love for Africa. These photos were meant to highlight the causes that are closest to Harrys heart.

However, the staff at Mail on Sunday saw it differently. They published an article about the Instagram post stating that the stunning images only told part of the story. Drugged and tethered what Harry didnt tell you about those awe-inspiring wildlife photos, the headline read. The story was about how the rhino, lion, and elephant were presented in a misleading way since they were tranquilized and tethered but Harry never mentioned it.

The articles said Harry, notably avoided explaining the circumstances in which the images were taken.

Prince Harry filed a complaint against the publication for the article

As expected, the Duke of Sussex was furious over the article and filed a complaint with press regulator Ipso (independent press standards organisation), saying he didnt need to disclose that the animals in the photos were drugged and tethered because he had already mentioned they were being moved for conservation reasons. The other details were just incidental.

But unfortunately for Harry, Ipso didnt see it the same way. They claimed there was no breach of accuracy with the article because it was, in fact, factual what Mail on Sunday was saying. There was no misleading information in the story.

In these circumstances, the Committee did not consider that it was significantly misleading to report that the photographs posted on the complainants Instagram account did not quite tell the full story, they wrote in a statement.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

What does this mean for Prince Harrys other pending lawsuits?

This story is totally separate from the other pending lawsuits Prince Harry has against the tabloids. However, it does represent an undeniable victory for the media and proves that the dukes accusations might not be as black and white as they appear.

Prince Harry and Meghan insist theyve been constantly attacked ever since getting married, which eventually led to emotional turmoil and their stepping back as senior members of the royal family. But this latest setback could prove that even if Meghan and Harry believe theyve been targets, not everyone sees it that way.

Itll be interesting to see how the other lawsuits play out.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2020) - Antler Hill Mining Ltd (TSXV: AHM.H) (the "Corporation" or "Antler Hill") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement (the "Agreement") dated February 3, 2020 with Rockford Mining Ltd. ("Rockford") to complete a business combination which transaction (the "Proposed Transaction") is intended to constitute Antler Hill's "Qualifying Transaction" (within the meaning of Policy 2.4 - Capital Pool Companies ("Policy 2.4") of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV")).

It is anticipated the Proposed Transaction will proceed by way of a three-cornered amalgamation (the "Amalgamation") whereby a wholly owned subsidiary of Antler Hill incorporated under the federal laws of Canada will amalgamate with Rockford to form a corporation to continue under the name, Rockford Holdings Ltd. Immediately following completion of the Proposed Transaction, Rockford Holdings Ltd. will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Antler Hill and will hold all of Rockford's assets and conduct the business of Rockford, which is classified as being part of the mining sector.

Rockford Mining Ltd.

Rockford is a private company incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act on January 29, 2018 and has been engaged in the business of seeking and identifying copper, gold and lead-zinc properties in Brazil since incorporation.

SGM Mineracao Ltda. ("SGM"), a company incorporated in Brazil and a wholly owned subsidiary of Rockford, entered into a joint venture option agreement (the "JV Option Agreement") with GRB Grafite Do Brasil Mineracao Ltda. ("GRB") on September 19, 2018, to acquire an 80% interest in the mineral rights of a group of exploration licenses (the "Licenses") to explore an area approximately 13,644 hectares in size containing zinc and lead targets located in the Rio Grande do Sul State, approximately 290 km west-southwest of the state capital, Porto Alegre (the "Sao Gabriel Project" or the "Property").

On December 5, 2019, SGM and GRB amended the JV Option Agreement (the "Amended Option Agreement"). Under the terms of the Amended Option Agreement, SGM can acquire an 80% interest in the Property by:

completing a minimum 1000m drill program on the Property by April 30, 2020, with the scope, nature and extent of the drill program to be determined at the discretion of SGM; the payment to GRB of $US20,000 on the date of signing the Amended Option Agreement; and Rockford issuing a total of 28,000,000 common shares to GRB or its designee.

As at February 3, 2020, Rockford had 28,000,000 common shares issued and outstanding (the "Rockford Shares").

Ali Haji, residing in Toronto, Ontario is the sole director and officer of Rockford. Americas Investments & Participation Limited, a company incorporated in Brazil, has ownership of 28,000,000 Rockford Shares representing 100% of Rockford's issued and outstanding shares and is a control person of Rockford. Luis Azevedo, a director of SGM and a person resident in Brazil, is a director and control person of Americas Investments & Participation Limited.

The Sao Gabriel Project

Over the last 40 years, the Sao Gabriel region has been the object of several mineral research projects carried out by the Brazilian Geological Survey (CPRM) and mining companies. Currently, Nexa Resources is developing the Santa Maria Pb-Zn-Ag deposit in a region located east of the Sao Gabriel Project. In 2016, CPRM discovered the Lajeado Zn-Pb occurrence, as a result of a geological mapping program to investigate previously selected air-magnetic anomalies in the Sao Gabriel region. According to CPRM, the Lajeado Zn-Pb occurrence is also associated with anomalous values of Cd and Ag.

The Property is located in the southern portion of the Atlantic Shield, in a geological area called Mantiqueira Province, which is a large and complex structural province deformed by the Neoproterozoic/Early Paleozoic Brasiliano orogenic event. Metavocanosedimentary sequence, plutonic rocks and remnant fragments of ophiolites (oceanic crust) comprise the main rock units in the project area.

In 2016, GRB conducted a reconnaissance exploration program on the Sao Gabriel Project to evaluate the regional potential of the mineral properties. This program included rock channel, soil and stream sediment sampling. In addition, an airborne geophysics magnetic and radiometric survey was acquired from CPRM.

A geophysical interpretation made by GRB based in magnetic characteristics of the Lajeado Zn-Pb occurrence, have identified 13 new targets within the Property area, commonly aligned with regional NE-SW-trending and NW-SE-trending structures.

Rock channel sampling carried out along the Lajeado mineralized outcrop delineated an intersection of 14.30m at 0.65% Zn, including, 7m at 1.11% Zn, 3m at 1.89% Pb, 7m at 12ppm Ag, and 7m at 377ppm Cd. Chemical analyses were carried out by SGS Geosol laboratory, located in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. SGS Geosol is an ISO-accredited (ISO:17025:2005) commercial laboratory, completely independent of GRB. Rock samples were initially analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP OES) with aqua regia digestion. Where Zn and Pb results exceed the upper detection limit (10,000ppm), the referred samples were re-analyzed by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) with a multi-acid digestion. In addition, the rock samples were also analyzed for Au (ppb) by Fire Assay. Duplicate, standard and blank samples were inserted by SGS Geosol, assuming a nominal frequency of 1 per 20 samples and no significant discrepancies were found on these QA/QC samples.

In 2018, GRB conducted a second exploration program, which was focused on the Lajeado Zn-Pb occurrence and its possible extensions along the strike. An exploration grid was opened, followed by a detailed ground magnetic survey, soil sampling and a fixed-loop transient electromagnetic (FLTEM) survey.

Soil samples collected in 2018 were prepared and analyzed at GRB's field office by the company's exploration team, using handheld portable XRF equipment and no QA/QC samples have been included. Interesting Zn results (up to 5,721ppm) in soils have been obtained on Lajeado region, suggesting the extension of the Lajeado mineralization along the strike. In addition, there are Cu, Co and Ni in-soil anomalies that should also be submitted to a more detailed investigation.

Two significant magnetic anomalies have also been delineated on the Lajeado area. The geological potential of these features is currently not understood but it is possible one of anomalies (SG-01) could be related to the outcropping Zn-Pb mineralization. SG-01 magnetic anomaly lies about 250 metres north of the Lajeado Zn-PB occurrence. And covers an area of approximately 9.45 hectares.

A well-defined EM conductor was also identified close by the Lajeado Zn-Pb sulphide mineralization and this feature should be the first priority target, assuming the sulphide nature of the known mineralization. The EM conductor trends NE-SW, which is the same orientation of the Zn-Pb mineralization found at surface (Lajeado occurrence).

The Sao Gabriel Project is an early stage exploration project with potential to host an economic Zn-Pb sulphide mineralization. The geological endowment is fertile as attested by the presence of operating mines and other mineral deposits in the region. The author of the geological report prepared for GRB in accordance with disclosure standards of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), Paulo I. de Brito, BSc. Geology, recommends a work program of approximately C$450,000 for the 12 month period after completion of the Proposed Transaction.

The Proposed Transaction

The Proposed Transaction will result in the Corporation acquiring all of the issued and outstanding Rockford Shares in consideration for the issuance of common shares of the Resulting Issuer ("Resulting Issuer Shares") to holders of Rockford Shares on a one-to-one basis by way of the Amalgamation. The deemed issue price per Resulting Issuer Share to be issued to holders of Rockford Shares is $0.05 per Resulting Issuer Share.

Concurrent with the completion of the Proposed Transaction, Rockford intends to complete a non-brokered/brokered private placement financing on terms to be determined (the "Offering"). The net proceeds of the Offering to be completed by Rockford will be used for financing Rockford's obligations in connection with the completion of the Qualifying Transaction, a recommended work program on the Sao Gabriel Project and for general working capital requirements. Details of the terms and conditions of the Offering will be disclosed when they become available.

It is expected that following the completion of the Proposed Transaction, Antler Hill shareholders will hold 18,765,000 Resulting Issuer Shares, representing approximately 40.13% of the common shares of the Resulting Issuer, and shareholders of Rockford will hold approximately 28,000,000 Resulting Issuer Shares, representing approximately 59.87% of the common shares of the Resulting Issuer (immediately prior to giving effect to the Offering to be completed in connection with the Proposed Transaction).

The Proposed Transaction will result in the Corporation continuing Rockford's mining exploration business in Brazil and the listing for trading of the Resulting Issuer's common shares on the TSXV as a tier 2 mining issuer. Upon completion of the Proposed Transaction, Antler Hill will continue under its current management and does not expect to change its name or the TSXV trading symbol for its common shares.

The Qualifying Transaction does not constitute a Non-Arm's Length Qualifying Transaction under Policy 2.4 and is not a "related party transaction" as defined in Multilateral Instrument 61-101 and consequently the Corporation does not expect that it will be required to obtain any shareholder approvals. Ali Haji is the Chief Executive Officer and a director of Rockford as well as a director of the Corporation and is a "Non-Arm's Length Party to the CPC" (as defined under Policy 2.4) as well as an insider of Rockford. There are no finder's fees payable pursuant to the Proposed Transaction.

Conditions to the Proposed Transaction

Closing of the Proposed Transaction is subject to completion of the Offering and the parties obtaining all requisite corporate and regulatory approvals relating to the Proposed Transaction, including, without limitation, TSXV approval.

Selected Financial Statement Information

The following table presents selected financial statement information on the financial condition and results of operations for the Corporation. Such information is derived from the unaudited financial statements of the Corporation for the period ended September 30, 2019. The information provided herein should be read in conjunction the Corporation's audited financial statements. The Corporation's financial statements have previously been filed on SEDAR.

Description Antler Hill

September 30, 2019

(unaudited)

C$ Total Current Assets 220,495 Total Assets 220,651 Total Liabilities 7,131 Total Shareholder's Equity 213,250 Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity 220,651

Selected financial information on Rockford will be provided in subsequent news releases.

Insiders, Officers, and Board of Directors of the Resulting Issuer

To the knowledge of the directors and executive officers of the Corporation, the only person who will beneficially own, directly or indirectly, or exercise control or direction over more than 10% of the Resulting Issuer Shares is Americas Investments & Participation Limited.

Upon completion of the Proposed Transaction, it is anticipated that the board of directors of the Resulting Issuer will continue to be comprised of the current board of directors of Antler Hill. The following sets out the names and backgrounds of all persons who are currently officers and directors of Antler Hill and expected to be the officers and directors of the Resulting Issuer.

Peter Bures, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Mr. Bures spent the first few years of his career at Placer Dome mines in Timmins, Ontario followed by ten years on the sell side in equity research. Mr. Bures worked at Deutsche Bank, HSBC in New York and Toronto, and as Precious Metals & Mining Analyst/Strategist for Orion Securities (Toronto). In 2007 Mr. Bures transitioned to the buy side with Sentry Investments as an associate portfolio manager, specializing in metals and mining where he comanaged several top-ranked funds. Mr. Bures joined the BMO Capital Markets institutional sales desk in New York in 2011 as Director Global Mining Sales. Mr. Bures was most recently with Canaccord as VP analyst covering gold and silver producers and royalty companies. Mr. Bures holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (geological and mineral engineering) from the University of Toronto.

Jing Peng, CFO

Mr. Peng is a Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant. He has worked in public accounting for the past nine years providing financial services primarily to junior exploration companies. Mr. Peng has been the CFO of Austin Resources Ltd., a TSXV-listed company, since September 2015 and the CFO of NWT Uranium Corp., a TSXV-listed company, since March 2014. In addition, since December 2010, Mr. Peng has been the senior financial analyst at Marrelli Support Services, a well-respected supplier of accounting and reporting services. Prior thereto, Mr. Peng was a senior account at MSCM LLP from June 2009 - December 2010 and at KPMG LLP January 2007 - June 2009. Mr. Peng holds a Masters degree in Management and Professional Accounting from Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.

Matthew Wood, Chairman and Director

Mr. Wood is an outstanding mineral resource explorer and developer with over 25 years global industry experience in mining and commodities investment. He has managed successful deals in diamonds, coal, energy, ferrous metals, base and precious metals and other commodities. His unique skills in technical and economic evaluation of resource opportunities has been proven by an impressive record of nurturing resource deals from early stage, to market listings and successful exit strategies for his investors. Mr. Wood has an Honours Degree in Geology from the University of New South Wales and a Graduate Certificate in Mineral Economics from the Western Australian School of Mines.

Aneel Waraich, Director

Mr. Waraich is the co-founder and Executive Director of Steppe Gold Ltd., a near-term precious metals producer in Mongolia. Mr. Waraich is also founder and managing partner of ATMA Capital Markets and ATMACORP LTD. and is a financial services professional with progressive experience in both the asset management and corporate finance businesses. Mr. Waraich focuses primarily on advising public and private companies in the Natural Resources sector. In previous roles at Goodman and Company Investment Counsel and Dundee Capital Markets he worked as an analyst valuating private equity companies. Most recently Mr. Waraich worked as an investment banker focusing on deal origination, going-public transactions and financings for both public and private companies in the resource and technology sectors. Mr. Waraich completed his MBA from the Goodman Institute of Investment Management at the John Molson School of Business.

Ali Haji, Director

Mr. Haji has extensive knowledge of the financial services sector after having spent over 12 years in the Asset Management Industry performing strategic and process improvement roles. He started his career as a technology analyst at Invesco Ltd. in 2006 and advanced into various roles including Technology Risk, Controls, Program Management, and Process Improvement with international assignments involving mergers and acquisitions in Hong Kong, U.S.A and Australia. Most recently, he was also a principal contributor to the creation of a Center of Excellence in London, England for Invesco Ltd. Mr. Haji attended The University of Western Ontario and holds a BSc in Computer Science.

Sponsorship

Antler Hill is currently reviewing requirements for sponsorship and will provide further information when it becomes available.

Qualified Person

All technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Paulo Ilidio de Brito, BSc (Geology), an independent consultant to the Corporation and Rockford and a "Qualified Person" as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Brito is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (MAIG # 5173) and a member of AusIMM - The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (MAusIMM # 223453). Mr. Brito is a professional senior geologist with over 34 years of experience in the mining industry, which is relevant to the style of mineralization under consideration.

Mr. Brito has no economic, financial or pecuniary interest in the Corporation and neither on Rockford and he consents to the inclusion in this document of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Filing Statement

In connection with the Qualifying Transaction and pursuant to the requirements of the TSXV, the Corporation will file a filing statement or a management information circular on its issuer profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), which will contain details regarding the Business Combination, Amalgamation, Offering, Antler Hill, Rockford and the Resulting Issuer.

Trading in Antler Hill Common Shares

Trading in Antler Hill common shares has been halted in compliance with the policies of the TSXV and will remain halted pending the review of the Proposed Transaction by the TSXV and satisfaction of the conditions of the TSXV for resumption of trading. It is likely that trading in Antler Hill common shares will not resume prior to the closing of the Proposed Transaction. As of the date hereof, Antler Hill has 18,765,000 common shares issued and outstanding.

About Antler Hill Mining Ltd.

Antler Hill was incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) on September 11, 2009 under the name "PrimeWest Exploration Inc.". On March 4, 2013, Antler Hill amended its articles to change its name to "Antler Hill Oil & Gas Ltd." Antler Hill is a CPC as defined by TSXV Policy 2.4 - Capital Pool Companies. Antler Hill completed its Initial Public Offering on April 20, 2010 and its common shares became listed and posted for trading on the TSXV on April 20, 2010. On August 31, 2012, Antler Hill was transferred to the NEX board of the TSXV.

The principal business of Antler Hill is to identify and evaluate businesses and assets with a view to completing a Qualifying Transaction, and, once identified and evaluated, to negotiate an acquisition or participation in such assets or businesses. Until the completion of its Qualifying Transaction, Antler Hill will not carry on business other than the identification and evaluation of assets or businesses in connection with a potential Qualifying Transaction.

For further information, please contact:

ANTLER HILL MINING LTD.

Peter Bures, CEO and Director

Phone: 437-997-8088

E-Mail: peter@antlerhillmining.com

Web: www.antlerhillmining.com

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. Antler Hill cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Antler Hill's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Antler Hill's ability to complete the proposed Qualifying Transaction; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in Antler Hill's Prospectus dated April 5, 2010 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Antler Hill undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSXV acceptance and if applicable pursuant to TSXV requirements, majority of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the transaction, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative.

The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. A halt in trading shall remain in place until after the Qualifying Transaction is completed or such time that acceptable documentation is filed with the TSX Venture Exchange.

The information contained in this press release relating to Rockford and the projects has been furnished by Rockford. Although Antler Hill has no knowledge that would indicate that any statements contained herein concerning Rockford and the projects are untrue or incomplete, neither Antler Hill nor any of its directors or officers assumes any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such information or for any failure by Rockford to ensure disclosure of events or facts that may have occurred which may affect the significance or accuracy of any such information.

NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52109
: The Karnataka government on Tuesday decided to withdraw 51 cases registered in various police stations, including those pertaining to the farmers agitation over various irrigation and water dispute-related issues.

"We have decided to withdraw 51 cases registered in different police stations. A few of them relate to the agitation by farmers at different place," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy told reporters while briefing on the decision taken in the cabinet meeting.

The government decided to withdraw cases, which pertain to public interest, said Madhuswamy.

However, the government decided to continue the prosecution of people involved in the distribution of vulgar CD and wrote articles allegedly defaming Raghaveshwara Bharathi Swamiji of Ramachandrapura Math in Shivamogga in 2010, he said.

"...We have decided to continue with the prosecution," he added.

According to the cabinet note, The accused conspired against Sri Sri Raghaveshwara Bharati Swamiji by fabricating indecent photographs and CDs. This act of threatening and damaging the dignity of Swamiji provoked the emotions of his followers."



Four people were involved in the case, said an official.

Besides it, the cabinet approved the creation of a new university in Raichur. It would be named after the district.

Other decisions taken in the cabinet meeting were sanctioning Rs 13.5 crore for the construction of Election Commission annexure building next to the Khanija Bhavan and Rs 27 crore under Nali-Kali scheme for students from class one to class three for Kannada medium schools and from class one and two for Urdu medium schools.

The money is meant to purchase the learning material for the children.

To purchase 120 ambulances in various districts, Rs 32.04 crore would be released, said Madhuswamy.

The cabinet approved sanctioning Rs 263 crore for constructing a hospital building and womens hostel at Bowring Hospital and Lady Curzon Hospital in Bengaluru.

For the second phase of construction work at the Bengaluru Central Jail, Rs 10.56 crore would be released.

The Karnataka government has given approval to prepare a concept note at an estimated cost of Rs 220 crore, said Madhuswamy.

He added that Rs 89.10 crore was sanctioned for irrigation and improvement of groundwater table in a village in Koppal.

To purchase 3,404 laptops for the scheduled tribe students undergoing training at the aided and private industrial training institutes, Rs 7.30 crore was sanctioned, said Madhuswamy.

We have released Rs 99.95 crore for the construction of a special Central jail in Bidar. It will be the most secured jail that will cope up with the latest trends in crime," Madhuswamy added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Dig Deeply!

By Andrea Herzer

Then He said to them, Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. - Mark 4:24

Some of my best memories as a child in Miami, Florida, are of blue skies, salty breezes, and the sound of seagulls overhead. My children were brought up in Central Texas, so when visiting family in Florida, I could not wait to take them to the beach to build sandcastles. Having experienced the joys of our backyard sandbox, our young son immediately began to dig with the tiny shovel he was accustomed to using. A small item can only hold a small amount, so he became easily frustrated. The sandcastle he wanted to build was taking much time and effort with little progress.

Finally, a use for my vast sandcastle expertise! I excitedly taught my children how to use all of the tools we brought with us. They quickly learned how to plunge the large bucket into wet sand near the shoreline, fill it to capacity, and dump it on firmer sand to begin our sandcastle. Fill, haul, dump, and repeat. Exhausting work, but we were rewarded as we watched the sandcastle take shape. That is, until the tide grew higher and my son wanted to experience the other joy of building a sandcastle smashing it.

Our verse today reminds me of that memory for many reasons. In Mark 4:24, Jesus tells his disciples to carefully consider the measurement they use to dig for understanding into his teachings. Giving Jesus words scant attention is like digging with my sons tiny shovel; the impact is slight. What kind of measurement are you using to scoop up all God wants to teach you? Do you just read a verse now and then, only reading more when the impulse strikes you? Do you ignore His promptings, deciding that you will be spiritual another day? Or do you eagerly run to His Word ready to receive a bucketful, so that you can build something that lasts with it? Investing your full attention to comprehending Gods Word will reap dividends of understanding and wisdom that far outweighs your effort. There is no greater investment program than this. And there is no time like the present.

A sandcastle on the beach is fun, but it is fleeting. We must strive to build something that lasts. We do this when put the words we read in Scripture into practice by applying them to our lives. Jesus said, Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash (Matthew 7:24-27). Consider your foundation carefully, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11). Jesus is the only true foundation for life that lasts.





My children did not know how to use the sandcastle tools until they were taught; becoming a follower of Jesus Christ is just like that. We learn how to follow and obey Jesus as we are taught Biblical truth, or discipled, by Christ-followers who are mature in their faith. If you are new to Christianity, or want to grow in your spiritual walk, I encourage you to join a Bible-believing church and become active in a Bible study. Receive Gods Word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily so that you may discern truth. (Acts 17:11) May your daily practice of reading Gods Word and putting it into action yield a harvest of great blessing in your life and in the lives of those around you.

Andrea Herzer has spent the past two decades enduring life with multiple illnesses, including Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Andrea is intimately acquainted with the hardships that accompany debilitating health issues. She writes devotionals on her Facebook Group (Abundant Life for Abundant Illness) to help others find the pathway to living a life that overflows with the riches of Gods sustaining love even in the midst of pain and suffering. Andrea is currently completing her first devotional book, The Way Through Illness.

For More Great Resources for Women, Visit iBelieve's Faith Channel.





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Kolkata, Feb 4 : A 46-year-old woman was arrested here on Tuesday for cheating a person by impersonating an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer and illegally using the national emblem in front of her car, a senior police officer said.

A case was recorded against Achira Yadav, following a complaint lodged by one Satyabrata Basu Roy, city police joint commissioner (crime) Murlidhar Sharma said.

According to the complainant, Yadav cheated him by impersonating as a senior IB officer.

During investigation, police found that she was illegally using the national emblem at the front of her car under an IB sticker.

The vehicle bearing registration number WB06P3107 was seized along with a fake ID card of the IB, said Sharma.

Yadav, a resident of Purbalok in the East Jadavpur police station area, is being produced in a court.
SPRINGFIELD - A Ludlow couple has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after they admitted to taking part in a scheme to rig bids and skim reimbursements for federally funded repairs to dozens of foreclosed properties across Western Massachusetts.

Joanne Murray, 54, and James Murray, 53, were also ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Mark Mastroianni to serve three years probation following their release. The sentencing on Friday comes after the Murrays pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and tax evasion.

The couple a year ago admitted to a scheme to defraud money from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, also known as Freddy Mac, from 2010-2015.

Joanne Murray worked for a Springfield-based real estate brokerage that managed hundreds of foreclosed properties owned by Freddie Mac. Between 2010-15, she steered $1.3 million in repair and maintenance contracts to her husbands companies, Murray Home Improvement and Express Property Services and Home Improvement. She never disclosed the connection to her husband, and when questioned about it, denied any connection.

After Freddie Mac would award payment, the brokerage would pay James Murray 90 percent while keeping 10 percent.

As part of the scheme, Joanne Murray would ensure that her husband was awarded contracts by submitting falsified bids in the names of other contractors and even a family friend without his knowledge. She also steered home cleaning contracts worth approximately $68,960 to another business that employed a relative of James Murray, in exchange for herself and others receiving 10 percent.

In addition, Joanne and James Murray failed to disclose income from the scheme on their tax forms. In 2014, according to prosecutors, the Murrays underreported their income by approximately $151,178.
Fresh questions emerged Tuesday in the case of five babies who were drugged at a German hospital, after police said they made "a mistake" in arresting a nurse for attempted manslaughter. The five babies, aged between one day and five weeks at the time, all survived the attempt to drug them with morphine on December 20 and are not expected to suffer lasting harm. The nurse was detained Wednesday after investigators searching her locker at Ulm University Hospital discovered a feeding syringe containing breast milk and traces of what initial testing determined was morphine. But Ulm prosecutor Christof Lehr told reporters that the first test was now known to be wrong, after further analysis showed the syringe did not contain morphine after all. The nurse was released from custody on Sunday, with an apology from the prosecutor. She remains a suspect in the case, however, along with two doctors and three other nurses who were on duty the night of the incident. "There remains an initial suspicion against these six people because of their close proximity to the infants at the time of the act," Michael Bischofberger, a spokesman for the Ulm prosecutor's office, told AFP. The investigation is continuing "in all directions", he said, adding that more suspects could be involved. The six employees are currently barred from working at the hospital in southern Germany. - Lab contamination - The decision to arrest the nurse based on a preliminary test of the liquid in the syringe "was in hindsight a mistake", said Ralf Michelfelder, head of the state police of Baden-Wuerttemberg, at a press conference. The error became clear after the mother whose breast milk was in the syringe volunteered to give a control sample, which also inexplicably tested positive for the heavy painkiller. The lab in Baden-Wuerttemberg that carried out the analysis then discovered it was their own solvent used in the tests that had been contaminated with a tiny amount of morphine, for reasons that are still unclear. Follow-up tests by a lab in the neighbouring state of Bavaria confirmed that neither the syringe nor the new sample contained any morphine. "I'm very sorry for the woman in question," Lehr said. But given the urgent need to keep infants at the hospital safe, he said he had had to make a quick decision. It is common for premature and newborn babies who are too weak to drink from a bottle to be fed orally through a syringe. But the prosecutor's spokesman told AFP it was "unusual" for a syringe filled with breast milk to be stored in a locker. - 'Inconsistencies' - The December 20 incident saw all five babies, some of them born prematurely, develop breathing problems at roughly the same time in the same hospital room. It was only thanks to swift action taken by staff that their lives were saved, Ulm University Hospital said. The hospital initially suspected the infants had caught an infection, but that was ruled out by urine tests. The tests did however show traces of morphine -- although none of the infants were due to receive the drug at the time. The hospital notified the police the following day. Often administered to treat severe pain, morphine is also used to treat withdrawal symptoms in babies born to drug-addicted mothers. An overdose can lead to life-threatening respiratory failure. Use of morphine is strictly regulated in German hospitals and a log is kept of when it is administered and to which patients. The hospital in Ulm has admitted finding "some inconsistencies" in the logs. The five infants were being treated in the pediatrics wing of the Ulm university hospital in southern Germany
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When we founded Sendoso in 2016, the mission was very clear: create a sending platform to help businesses rise above digital noise and build meaningful connections, said Kris Rudeegraap, Co-Founder and CEO of Sendoso

Sendoso, the leading Sending Platform, today announced it has secured $40 million in Series B funding, led by Oak HC/FT, bringing the companys amount raised to $54.1 million. After achieving 330% revenue growth in 2019, Sendoso will use these funds for continued product innovation, market expansion, and team growth.

Companies today are faced with increasing challenges to connect with buyers through traditional channels. A recent report from Forrester noted that B2B marketing and sales emails have an average 2% click-through rate; additionally, a 2017 Forrester survey showed that 28% of sales reps reported that one of their biggest challenges is getting customers to answer the phone [1]. The race to capture buyer attention has propelled teams to look for innovative ways to approach traditional sales and marketing strategies with more direct and personalized outreach.

When we founded Sendoso in 2016, the mission was very clear: create a sending platform to help businesses rise above digital noise and build meaningful connections, said Kris Rudeegraap, Co-Founder and CEO of Sendoso. Many companies are still struggling to stay top-of-mind with buyers and build long-lasting relationships with their customers. The fact that our customers are seeing up to a 60% response rate and a 5x increase in close rate on opportunities using Sendoso validates the effectiveness of our platform.

Sendoso helps companies incorporate digital and physical sending strategies into their go-to-market programs. These additional touchpoints (both online and offline) help companies connect with customers in more meaningful ways throughout the buyers journey. By integrating with leading sales and marketing tools, like Salesforce, Marketo, Hubspot, Outreach and many others, Sendosos customers leverage their existing programs and get visibility into the effectiveness of their integrated campaigns that include sending strategies.

Oak HC/FT was joined in this round by returning investors Craft Ventures, Signia Venture Partners, Storm Ventures, Struck Capital, and Stage 2 Capital with new investors Felicis Ventures and Prologis. As part of the financing, Oak HC/FTs Allen Miller and Sendoso COO Michelle Palleschi will join Sendosos Board of Directors.

Direct mail and corporate gifts have long been effective ways for businesses to build meaningful relationships with buyers and customers, but the industry has largely existed in an offline and inefficient manner. Sendoso is the first to change that with its Sending Platform and has positioned itself as a category creator within account-based marketing and sales, said Allen Miller of Oak HC/FT. Were impressed by Sendosos tremendous growth and vision for the send category, and were excited to back Kris, Braydan and the entire Sendoso team as they continue to provide innovative solutions that help businesses grow.

In addition to record growth over the past year, Sendoso was named a Cool Technology Vendor by Gartner; earned leadership positions in the account-based execution, promotional product management, and direct mail automation categories on software review site G2; and received awards for Product of the Year and Best Cloud Computing software from Business Intelligence.

To learn more about Sendoso, visit sendoso.com.

Supporting Quotes



"Sendoso addresses the very real problem of the pendulum swinging too far in the direction of efficiency and speed, while thoughtfulness and consideration hover at an all-time low. Sendoso helps companies get back to that practice of thoughtful gifting without slowing down," said Brian Murray of Craft Ventures.

"Felicis Ventures is thrilled to partner with Sendoso in this next phase of growth. With Sendoso's sending platform, businesses are able to establish meaningful, personalized connections with customers and employees at scale, in ways not possible before. We have been impressed by Kris, Braydan, Michelle and the management teams ability to attract and recruit top talent, and are excited for Sendoso to continue expanding their customer set into new verticals and functional teams," said Grace Chou of Felicis Ventures, who will be joining as a board observer in this round.

"Kris and Braydan are forces of nature in driving sales teams to achieve their goals. Both of them have worked careers in sales and know the world their customers operate in very well. I can't wait to see where they take Sendoso next," said Sunny Dhillon of Signia Venture Partners.

It has been a privilege to watch Kris, Braydan, and Michelle grow Sendoso from zero to 100. Backing first-time entrepreneurs often comes with challenges and risks, but not when you get to work with a team of that caliber with deep empathy for the people they help. Looking forward to seeing the company leverage this new round to help more businesses close deals by spreading the joy of gifting," said Pascale Diaine of Storm Ventures.

Our business requires a sharp focus on engaging potential customers through unique strategies that break away from the status quo. Sendoso has helped our sales and marketing teams connect with our customers in personalized ways throughout the entire customer lifecycle, said Meagen Eisenberg, Chief Marketing Officer of TripActions, a leading business travel management platform.

In a world full of digital pollution, physical interactions are now prioritized. We backed Kris, Braydan, and Michelle early on because we saw Sendoso as a platform that facilitated physical engagement in the context of the enterprise. It has been a privilege to watch Sendosos explosive growth and we are excited to support the company as it enters the next phase of its lifecycle, said Adam B. Struck of Struck Capital.

About Sendoso

Sendoso, the leading Sending Platform, helps companies stand out by giving them new ways to engage with customers throughout the buyers journey. By integrating digital and physical sending strategies, companies can increase the effectiveness of their existing go-to-market programs and improve their relationships with customers. Trusted by over 500 companies, Sendoso is an essential part of successful demand generation, account-based, and customer experience programs. Founded in 2016, Sendoso is backed by $54M in venture funding and has a global footprint, with a presence in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Learn more at sendoso.com.

About Oak HC/FT

Founded in 2014, Oak HC/FT is the premier venture growth-equity fund investing in Healthcare Information & Services ("HC") and Financial Services Technology ("FT"). With $1.9 billion in assets under management, we are focused on driving transformation in these industries by providing entrepreneurs and companies with strategic counsel, board-level participation, business plan execution and access to our extensive network of industry leaders. Oak HC/FT is headquartered in Greenwich, CT, with offices in Boston and San Francisco. Follow Oak HC/FT on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Medium.

1. Direct Mail Captures The Attention Of Buyers Overwhelmed By Digital Tactics, Forrester Research, Inc. March 12, 2019
According to his fans, for some details, Lucerito Mizares May be Boyfriend. Now, it is necessary to find out What does Lucero think Y Manuel Mijaras Meaning and, if it is true. The young woman is only 16 years old
CARACAS, Venezuela - An international human rights commission criticized the government of President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday for blocking its members from boarding a plane for Venezuela, where they planned to investigate alleged abuses.

Paulo Abrao, executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, said the delegation will press ahead with its work, instead meeting victims and civil rights groups on the Colombian border with Venezuela.

This attitude demonstrates the governments fear of exposing itself to international scrutiny and an attempt to hide abuses, Abrao told The Associated Press by telephone from Panama City.

The rejection had been expected in large part because the commission had been invited by the countrys congress. The legislature and Maduro mutually consider one another illegitimate.

The three members of the group posted a picture on Twitter holding their boarding passes at the airport gate in Panama. They said Maduros government told the Panama-based Copa Airlines not to allow them on the flight to Caracas.

Venezuelas opposition-led National Assembly had invited the group, which is a branch of the Organization of American States, the Washington-based body representing more than 30 nations in the Western Hemisphere, whose leaders have been among the fiercest critics of Maduro.

Maduros Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza tweeted Friday that they would be blocked.

Venezuela has not invited or accepted a delegation visit from the IACHR, Arreaza said, adding that the visit is not authorized.

Maduros government in 2017 started a two-year process to leave the OAS, saying that it is a pawn of the United States, which is also a member.

The OAS itself has joined the U.S. and more than 50 other nations in withdrawing recognition of Maduro on grounds his reelection in 2018 was illegitimate. It recognized congressional leader Juan Guaido as acting president.

Maduro, however, controls all the mechanisms of government, including the military and courts, and he recognizes an alternative version of the National Assembly led by a minority of lawmakers allied with him.

The delegation had planned to make a five-day visit inside Venezuela. Abrao said that instead, the investigators will talk with anyone who wants to meet them in the Colombian border town of Cucuta.

They will also hold teleconference meeting so people elsewhere have access to them, Abrao said, adding that the findings will be part of a report on human rights in Venezuela published in March.

Maduros government did not immediately respond to Abraos comments.

Guaido has yet to return to Venezuela following an international tour rallying support to oust Venezuelas socialist government.

___

Castillo reported from Mexico City.
Pilot of helicopter that crashed heralded for 'miracle' landing

The crew of a Hagerstown-based helicopter and the juvenile patient they picked up in Chambersburg, Pa., are OK after a crash near Philadelphia.
Donald Trump Jr. has clapped back at a screaming heckler during an Iowa Caucus event in West Des Moines on Monday.

The President's son was delivering a speech at a 'Keep Iowa Great' press conference when he was interrupted by the heckler, who claimed the commander-in-chief was responsible for the rise in anti-Semitism in America.

'I'm an American Jew, and ever since your father was elected President more and more Jews are being gunned down,' the man yelled, as he made his way up to the podium.

Trump Jr. was standing on the stage with his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, who quickly placed a protective arm out over her beau for fear that the heckler might get physical.

However, the President's oldest son appeared not to be rattled by the man, responding: 'I don't think anyone's done more for Israel and American Jews than my father!'

Donald Trump Jr. has clapped back at a screaming heckler during an Iowa Caucus event in West Des Moines on Monday

The heckler claimed that the Commander-in-chief was responsible for the rise in anti-Semitism as he was escorted out of the premises

Trump Jr. then used the opportunity to plug his book, Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us.

'This is why I wrote the book Triggered, folks! Who here has read New York Times number one bestseller Triggered?' he quipped.

The heckler was forcibly removed from the premises, as the crowd started to chant 'USA! USA!'

The heckler - Elon Glickman - later took to Twitter via the @IfNotNow page to share his side of the story.

The President's oldest son appeared not the be rattled by the man, responding: 'I don't think anyone's done more for Israel and American Jews than my father!

The heckler was forcibly removed from the premises, as the crowd started to chant 'USA! USA!'

'They can drag me out but I'll never stop fighting for Jewish people. @donaltrumpjr spreads antisemitic conspiracy theories that are killing American Jews. He & GOP can't hide their antisemitism behind support for Israel. Jews are rising up to fight white nationalists',' he wrote.

The footage was also shared to Twitter by NBC News, who were on hand recording the event.

WATCH: Protester is forcibly removed from #IowaCaucuses event after interrupting and moving toward Donald Trump Jr. pic.twitter.com/u0pfgoUz0u  NBC News (@NBCNews) February 3, 2020

Several Twitter users responded by remarking on the small crowd size, while one took issue with Trump Jr. trying to promote his book.

However, another user praised Guilfoyle for showing off her quick reflexes, stepping in to protect her man.

'WOW Kimberly stepped towards was ready to physically protect Don Jr.! She's a keeper!' they enthused.
Whatever the claims by the Democratic pollsters on the ground, the party has all the work to do ahead of selecting a candidate to make a fist of it come November. Pity for them, then, that the opening in Iowa proved to be a spectacular shambles, notably for those obsessed with the live news cycle. The Iowa Democrats claimed that the delay in voting results across the 1765 precincts had arisen because of a reporting issue. At this writing, the results page is barren, characterised by the glorious absence of results. The pollsters, rather than the voters, have taken the high ground.

The Iowan branch was doing its best to trumpet the value of the event, claiming that President Donald Trump was terrified at the prospects of losing the Hawkeye State come the elections. (To keep an eye on things, he had sent near 100 of his buddies to campaign on his behalf in the state.) So exciting to see high turnout  Iowa Democrats are fired up! went one tweet. Another expressed pride that the caucus has been more accessible this year than ever before.

One of the Democratic contenders for the nomination, Senator Bernie Sanders, could not resist a touch of embellishment. The whole world is looking at Iowa today. They are looking to see whether the people of Iowa are prepared to stand up and fight for justice. Lets win this together. Rival contender Senator Elizabeth Warren, mindful of Trumps state of the union speech on Tuesday, was taking things beyond the man in her address: Our union is stronger than Donald Trump. And tonight, as a party, we are a step closer to defeating the most corrupt president in American history.

As things slowly panned out, Warren seemed mistaken. Iowa Democratic Party spokeswoman Mandy McClure seem to put a dampener on everything by revealing in a statement that inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results had been identified. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate the results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report. Mindful about the leap into conspiracy territory and accusations of foul play, she put it all down to a hiccup in reporting, rather than any malicious intrusion or hack. Suggestions that this had arisen because of a faulty app were dismissed, a view not shared by various county chairs.

Local party chairman Troy Price was hoping to give the whole show an air of fastidiousness; to be thorough was not to err. We are validating every piece of data we have against our paper trail. As he explained to reporters, At this point the [Iowa Democratic Party] is manually verifying all precinct results. We expect to have numbers to report later today. Former state party chair Gordon Fischer, sensing the storm of discredit enveloping the entire process, told CNNs Gloria Borger that a delay to make sure the results are accurate could hardly be a bad thing.

None of this thrilled the candidates, whose personnel were getting stroppy. Dana Remus, campaign general counsel for Joe Biden, demanded full explanations and relevant information in a letter sent to Price and IDP Executive Director Kevin Geiken. No level of fastidiousness could hide the fact that a meltdown had taken place. The app that was intended to relay Caucus results to the Party failed; the Partys back-up telephone reporting system likewise failed. Now, we understand that Caucus Chairs are attempting to  and in many cases, failing to  report results telephonically to the Party. These acute failures are occurring statewide.

The entire counting and reporting debacle invariably drew criticism about the very idea of having caucuses to begin with. President Barack Obamas chief election strategist David Axelrod questioned their viability. Jim Geraghty of The National Review deemed them a terrible way to pick a nominee. There is no secret ballot, so every nosy neighbour and busybody who prefers another candidate knows who youre supporting.

It was a day of non-concession speeches and not entirely convincing victory ones either. The Iowa caucus had not spoken with any clarity, but that did not prevent candidates from having a stab at the result. Senator Bernie Sanders suggested that he was ahead of former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, according to internal polling data, and doing very, very well. Buttigieg, in turn, spoke of marching victorious to New Hampshire, since all indications pointed in that direction. Tonight, Iowa chose a new path, he pronounced, though adding, for good measure, that it had shocked the nation.

This was all money for jam for the Republicans, who now have some material to work with. It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process, chortled Trump campaign manager and social media specialist Brad Parscale. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?

Everyone seemed to think they had won something, though Biden preferred to remain more cautious, hoping to discredit any result that will not favour his case. In truth, the eventual victor of Iowa will have little to go on by the time New Hampshire comes around. There will be no momentum to speak of, no electoral gush to push the victorious candidate on to the next round. But the one person counting himself lucky in this opening election shot will be the man giving the state of union address on Tuesday. Big WIN for us in Iowa tonight. Thank you!

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: [email protected]
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX:ERD; MSE:ERDN) ("Erdene" or the "Company") is pleased to report results from the Q4-2019 exploration program on its Altan Nar, Khundii and Ulaan licenses.



We are very encouraged by the results of the December 2019 drilling at Altan Nar which returned multiple shallow intersections in excess of 50 g/t gold, said Peter Akerley, Erdenes President and CEO. These results expand the high-grade core of the Discovery Zone deposit and open up new areas for future drilling that should positively impact Altan Nar resources.

These results, combined with the expansion of the new Khar Mori gold prospect area and the extension of gold mineralization south of Bayan Khundii in Q3-2019, continue to demonstrate the prospectivety of Erdenes Khundii Gold District, stated Mr. Akerley. We are maintaining a dual focus on advancing our high-grade, open-pit, 60,000 ounce per year Bayan Khundii Gold Project to production, while drilling targets on adjacent prospects to grow our resource base.



Highlights [see attached figures for reference]:

Altan Nar (Gold-Polymetallic Resource): Drilling expands high-grade core of the Discovery Zone: 45.7 g/t gold, 93.4 g/t silver, 1.54% lead and 3.40% zinc over 7 metres beginning at ~ 70 metres vertical depth, within 23 metres grading 17 g/t gold (TND-135) 12.2 g/t gold over 10 metres (TND-134) including 2 metres of 52.9 g/t gold confirming high- grade gold mineralization south of the Gap Zone 10 metres of 4.68g/t (TND-138) confirming high-grade gold mineralization north of the Gap Zone TND-136 confirms continuity of mineralization now open to the south

Khar Mori (Gold): Rock chip samples of 87.8 g/t gold, 18.2 g/t gold, 15.3 g/t gold and 12.1 g/t gold near the 32.9 g/t gold rock chip collected in early Q4-2019 Geochemical sampling and mapping expand prospect area to 1.5km X 2km

Ulaan (Copper-Gold): Gold bearing tourmaline breccia pipe intersected



Story continues

Q42019 Exploration Program Summary

As the Bayan Khundii gold deposit advances through studies and permitting, the exploration team shifted focus in late 2019 to expanding resources throughout the District with follow up work on three priority targets: Altan Nar (Golden Sun), Khar Mori (Dark Horse) and the area surrounding the Bayan Khundii (Rich Valley) Deposit.

Following a detailed review and modelling of the Discovery Zone deposit at Altan Nar, 16 km north of the Bayan Khundii gold development, the exploration team developed a plan to test a concept for a preferred gold mineralized horizon believed to represent an epithermal boiling zone that could host continuity of the very high grades intersected during the most recent drilling campaign in 2017. Additionally, the Khar Mori prospect identified earlier in Q4-2019 was expanded to a 1.5km X 2km zone with multiple high grade grab samples of up 89g/t gold, bordering the Altan Arrow prospect to the north where shallow drilling previously intersected up to 2 metres of 70 g/t gold.

The focus of the exploration team in 2020 will be on expanding resources within these three highest priority areas including incorporating todays results into a comprehensive review and interpretation program in advance of fieldwork in Q2-2020 and further drilling in mid-2020.

Altan Nar Deposit

In late Q4-2019, the company drilled five holes totaling 667 metres in the Discovery Zone (DZ), one of 18 high-priority targets along a 5.6 kilometre mineralized trend on its 100% owned Altan Nar project. The Q4-2019 program successfully tested a concept of a preferred high gold mineralized horizon believed to represent an epithermal boiling zone. Four holes tested the high-grade core area of the Discovery Zone, over a 130 metre strike length, 70 metres of which remains untested by drilling (Gap Zone). The fifth hole tested the southern extension of the deposit.

Table 1  Summary of Altan Nar Drilling Results

Hole ID From To *Measured Width (m) Au g/t Ag g/t Pb % Zn % TND-134 101.0 111.0 10.0 12.2 21.0 0.55 1.18 Incl 105.0 107.0 2.0 52.9 59.5 1.77 3.80 TND-135 97.0 120.0 23.0 17.0 44.7 0.75 1.47 Incl 105.0 112.0 7.0 45.7 93.4 1.54 3.40 incl 105.0 106.0 1.0 108.0 81.0 1.16 2.79 incl 106.0 107.0 1.0 52.9 135.0 3.80 6.22 incl 108.0 109.0 1.0 52.8 149.0 1.50 3.10 Incl 117.0 120.0 3.0 14.5 23.3 0.83 0.98 TND-136 84.0 86.0 2.0 0.99 0.0 0.14 0.24 and 110.0 126.0 16.0 0.37 0.9 0.11 0.24 TND-137 6.0 13.0 7.0 2.64 11.1 0.66 0.43 and 20.4 23.0 2.6 0.89 5.4 0.28 0.38 and 69.0 73.0 4.0 1.76 9.0 0.10 0.24 TND-138 20.0 28.0 8.0 1.72 1.8 0.03 0.09 and 40.0 44.0 4.0 1.54 4.3 0.17 0.17 and 56.0 66.0 10.0 4.68 50.8 0.31 0.73

*Projected true width for TND-134, TND-135 and TND-136 is ~72% of the measured width and for TND-137 and TND-138 is ~45% of the measured width.

Hole TND-134 targeted the northeast strike extension of the DZ core along a newly identified high-grade ore horizon. TND-134 intersected 10 metres grading 12.2 g/t gold, 21.0 g/t silver, 0.55% lead and 1.18% Zinc (see Table 1 for summary of results) hosted within a sulphide rich, chalcedonic quartz epithermal breccia.

TND-134 has provided a 20-metre extension along strike of the DZ high-grade core indicating consistency in high-grade mineralization within the identified ore horizon, expected to positively impact the resource at Altan Nar and opening the way for further expansion along strike to the north.

Hole TND-135 targeted a previously untested area of the DZ high-grade core. TND-135 intersected 23 metres of 17 g/t gold, 44.7 g/t silver, 0.75 % lead and 1.47 % zinc within a black, sulphide rich epithermal breccia. Drill results from TND-135 demonstrate continuity in size and grade within the high-grade DZ core, providing confidence in future expansion of the DZ high-grade core.

Hole TND-136 targeted the southwest strike extension to the DZ deposit. TND-136 intersected multiple anomalous intervals including 2 metres of 0.99 g/t gold and 16 m of 0.37 g/t gold. These intersections provide the strongest indications to date of the southwest extension of the Discovery Zone, establishing the potential to expand resources along the southwest structural trend.

Hole TND-137 was designed to test a projected zone of near surface, high-grade mineralization which would extend the DZ North mineralization along strike to the southwest. TND-137 intersected 7 metres of 2.64 g/t gold, 11.1 g/t silver, 0.66% lead and 0.43% zinc beginning 5 metres from surface. Strongly anomalous intersections up to 1.76 g/t gold over 4 metres located deeper in TND-137 once again confirmed the multiple zones of mineralized epithermal breccia hosted within the DZ deposit.

Hole TND-138 was designed to establish continuity of gold mineralization and grade within the northern portion of the DZ by drilling a previously untested portion of the zone. The drill hole intersected three separate intervals of gold mineralization highlighted by 10 metres grading 4.68 g/t gold, 50.8 g/t silver, 0.31% lead and 0.73% zinc hosted within a quartz vein stockwork and epithermal breccia. TND-138 has further established the continuity of high-grade mineralization within the northern portion of the DZ which should positively impact the Altan Nar resource. Furthermore, it confirms the continuity of high grades on the northern side of the Gap Zone, an untested area of central Discovery Zone open for 70 metres to the south where it meets TND-134 and TND-101.

Altan Nar Background

Altan Nar is located 16 kilometres north of the Erdenes Bayan Khundii gold development, currently progressing through a bankable feasibility study and permitting. Altan Nar is an intermediate sulphidation, carbonate-base metal gold (CBMG) deposit, that remains open at depth and along the known 5.6-kilometre trend of the system. This deposit type includes prolific gold deposits such as Barrick Golds Porgera mine (Papua New Guinea), Rio Tintos formerly producing Kelian mine (Indonesia), Lundins Fruta Del Norte deposit, and Continental Golds Buritica project (Colombia). CBMG deposits generally occur above porphyry intrusions in arc settings and may extend for more than 500 metres vertically.

Only a small portion of the Altan Nar licence has been drill tested and 90% of the NI 43-101 Mineral Resource prepared by RPM Global in 2018 is within 150 metres of surface and largely contained within 2 of the 18 targets with all zones open along strike and at depth.

The current resource* based on data collection up to May 7, 2018 includes:

Indicated Resource includes 317,700 oz gold (at 2.0 g/t gold), 31,600 tonnes (t) zinc, 29,000 t lead, and 2.35 million oz silver; and

Inferred Resource contains 185,700 oz gold (at 1.7 g/t gold), 23,700 t zinc, 22,300 t lead, and 865,800 oz silver.

*Altan Nar Gold Project Bayankhongor Aimag, Southwest Mongolia NI 43-101 Technical Report. June 21, 2018

Altan Nar has received limited exploration over the past two years as the Companys resources were focused on the Bayan Khundii discovery. The most recent program, conducted in late 2016 and early 2017, successfully tested a structural intersection which returned the highest grade intersection at Altan Nar  14 metres (measured width) of 55.6 g/t gold (TND-101). The structural intersections or zones of dilation provide the setting for the emplacement of broader zones of mineralization along the main NNE trending structural corridor. However recent interpretation shows that the highest grades were hosted in a preferred, near horizontal zone, now believed to represent an epithermal boiling event. It is this combination of factors that creates the optimum conditions for the deposition of these high grades as witnessed in the results of the late-2019 drilling and which will help guide future exploration in this deposit and throughout the 5.6 km trend.

Many of the Q4-2019 high-grade intersections are locally outside or in areas of previously low grade resource blocks and therefore expands the DZ high-grade core indicating consistency in high-grade mineralization within the identified ore horizon, and are expected to positively impact the resource at Altan Nar and opening the way for further expansion along strike and elsewhere in the district. The program also demonstrated continuity of anomalous gold and base metals along the structural corridor to the south of the DZ, which will be tested further in upcoming programs.

Khar Mori Gold Prospect

The Khar Mori prospect is located 4.5 kilometers northeast of the Bayan Khundii gold deposit and one kilometre southeast of the Altan Arrow prospect on Erdenes 100% owned Khundii Mining License. The Khar Mori gold prospect was discovered in early Q4-2019 with the collection of a 32.9 g/t gold rock chip sample hosted by massive tourmaline cut by quartz stockwork veins. Follow-up surface exploration in late Q4-2019, consisting of detailed geologic mapping and geochemical sampling (rock chip and soil) identified multiple samples grading greater than 5 g/t gold including an 87.8 g/t gold rock chip sample hosted within a comb quartz-adularia veins. The Q4-2019 program has expanded the Khar Mori prospect westward to an area approximately 1.5km by 2km area, connecting with the adjacent Altan Arrow gold prospect to the northwest.

Ulaan Copper-Gold Prospect

The 51% owned Ulaan exploration license is located immediately west of Erdenes Khundii mining license. Ulaan is a porphyry copper prospect primarily based on the broad (5km by 4km) zone of phyllic (quartz-sericite-pyrite) alteration at surface. A 702-metre, three hole, drilling program was completed in late Q4-2019, testing the alteration system at depth by extending the previous hole UDH-02 from 350 metres to a depth of 640 metres. Additionally, two scout holes were completed peripheral to the main phyllic alteration zone with targets that included a zone of clay alteration associated with a geophysical anomaly (UDH-04) and a sericite-quartz-tourmaline breccia body suggestive of an intrusion or porphyry related environment (UDH-05).

Results from the Q4 2019 extension of UDH-02 showed a continuity at depth of the phyllic style alteration with an abundance of anhydrite-quartz-magnetite veining within volcanic-subvolcanic lithologies. The drill hole ended within elevated copper values averaging 130 ppm over 22 metres within a syenite porphyry.

Hole UDH-04 was drilled to test a geophysical target which passed between two IP chargeability high signatures residing above a resistivity high signature. The entire hole exhibited sericite alteration and pyrite mineralization with localized zones of tourmaline alteration and quartz veining within an andesite host. No anomalous geochemistry was encountered.

Hole UDH-05 was drilled to test a tourmaline breccia, a new geological target within the Ulaan exploration license. A zone approximately 850 metres by 900 metres hosting multiple silicified and sericite altered quartz tourmaline breccia bodies was identified by spectral remote sensing and surface mapping. UDH-05 intersected a broad zone of intense tourmaline-silica-sericite alteration which hosts localized gold bearing quartz-tourmaline breccia and breccia veins from 140 to 202 metres (end of hole). Anomalous gold bearing intervals include: 2m of 1.3 g/t gold, 4m of 0.29 g/t gold, 2m of 0.5 g/t gold and 2m of 0.23 g/t gold or 40m of 0.15 g/t gold average grade. Anomalous copper, >400ppm, was also intersected within the anomalous zone. The Erdene technical team is reviewing these results along with associated geology, geochemistry and geophysics to establish the basis for future drill testing on the Ulaan license.

Khundii Gold District

Erdenes deposits are located in the Edren Terrane, within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, host to some of the worlds largest gold and copper-gold deposits. The Company has been the leader in exploration in southwest Mongolia over the past decade and is responsible for the discovery of the Khundii Gold District comprised of multiple high-grade gold and gold/base metal prospects, two of which are being considered for development: the 100%-owned Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar projects. Together, these deposits comprise the Khundii Gold Project.

In October of 2019, Erdene announced the results of an independent Technical Report for the Khundii Gold Project (press release here ), which included a Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) for the Bayan Khundii deposit and an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the Altan Nar deposit. The PFS and the updated PEA results include an after-tax Net Present Value at a 5% discount rate and a US$1,300/oz gold price of US$97 million and US$24 million, Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 42% and 90% for Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar deposits, respectively. The PFS envisions an open-pit mine at Bayan Khundii from Years 0-7, producing an average of 61,000 oz gold per year at a head grade of 3.73 g/t gold, and an open-pit operation at Altan Nar during Years 7-10, for an average annual production of 48,000 oz gold at an average head grade of 3.46 g/t gold, utilizing a conventional carbon in pulp processing plant at the Bayan Khundii mine. Erdene has secured a mining license for the Bayan Khundii deposit in August of 2019 and plans to start producing gold in late 2021. The Altan Nar PEA is by nature, a preliminary economic study, based in part on Inferred Resources. Inferred Resources are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves which is required for a prefeasibility or feasibility study. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized.

Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious and base metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. The Company has interests in four exploration licenses and two mining licenses in Southwest Mongolia, where exploration success has led to the discovery and definition of the Khundii Gold District. Erdene Resource Development Corp. is listed on the Toronto and Mongolian stock exchanges. Further information is available at www.erdene.com. Important information may be disseminated exclusively via the website; investors should consult the site to access this information.

Qualified Person and Sample Protocol

Peter Dalton, P.Geo. (Nova Scotia), Senior Geologist for Erdene, is the Qualified Person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. All samples have been assayed at SGS Laboratory in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In addition to internal checks by SGS Laboratory, the Company incorporates a QA/QC sample protocol utilizing prepared standards and blanks.

All samples undergo standard fire assay analysis for gold and ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy) analysis for 33 additional elements. For Bayan Khundii samples that initially return a grade greater than 5 g/t gold, additional screen-metallic gold analysis is carried out which provides a weighted average gold grade from fire assay analysis of the entire +75 micron fraction and three 30-gram samples of the -75 micron fraction from a 500 gram sample.

Erdenes drill core sampling protocol consisted of collection of samples over 1 or 2 m intervals (depending on the lithology and style of mineralization) over the entire length of the drill hole, excluding minor post-mineral lithologies and un-mineralized granitoids. Sample intervals were based on meterage, not geological controls or mineralization. All drill core was cut in half with a diamond saw, with half of the core placed in sample bags and the remaining half securely retained in core boxes at Erdenes Bayan Khundii exploration camp. All samples were organized into batches of 30 including a commercially prepared standard, blank and either a field duplicate, consisting of two quarter-core intervals, or a laboratory duplicate. Sample batches were periodically shipped directly to SGS in Ulaanbaatar via Erdenes logistical contractor, Monrud Co. Ltd.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information regarding Erdene contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Erdene believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Erdene cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, most of which are beyond its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Erdene currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the ability to obtain required third party approvals, market prices, exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and is subject to change after that date. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENTS OF THIS RELEASE

Erdene Contact Information

Peter C. Akerley, President and CEO, or

Robert Jenkins, CFO

Phone: (902) 423-6419

Email: info@erdene.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErdeneRes

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ErdeneResource

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/erdene-resource-development-corp-/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCILs5s9j3SLmya9vo2-KXoA

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2d8dd9e2-d646-4c9a-b666-129418dfc5c7

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/71ea6130-b397-43fd-9946-e8f55ef515cb

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/010b42af-eba9-4244-9847-8f98e2cefb8e
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-05 04:18:31|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TEHRAN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The visiting EU representative and Iranian senior officials have expressed their readiness to boost cooperation in the matters of the Iranian nuclear program, regional security and others.

Josep Borrell, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, announced that the European states will do their utmost to protect the Iranian 2015 landmark nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Press TV reported Tuesday.

The EU will extend indefinitely the time limit to resolve disputes in the Iranian nuclear accord, Borrell was quoted as saying.

"We are all in agreement not to go directly to a strict time limit which would oblige us to go to the United Nations Security Council," the EU envoy said.

"Our will is not to start a process that ends the JCPOA, but keeps it alive," he added.

On Jan. 14, Britain, France and Germany said they had taken a step to trigger dispute resolution mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran in response to Tehran's moves to back off its nuclear commitments over the past months.

Iran, however, said its withdrawal from practical commitments under the JCPOA is a reaction to the U.S. exit from the deal in May 2018 and the subsequent sanctions, as well as Europe's sluggishness in facilitating Iran's banking transactions and its oil exports.

Cutting obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal was also a "wake-up call" for the remaining parties of the deal to protect Iran's economic interests, it added.

In his meeting with Borrell, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the Islamic republic is ready for interaction and cooperation with Europe to settle the problems, official IRNA news agency reported.

Rouhani also criticized Europe for what he called its failure to implement their commitments within the framework of the JCPOA.

As the EU foreign policy chief, Borrell vowed to make his utmost efforts to develop strong interaction with Iran to preserve the JCPOA.

In a meeting in the capital Tehran on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Borrell discussed the latest developments surrounding the JCPOA as well as the ways to de-escalate tensions in the Gulf region.

They exchanged views about the implementation of the non-U.S. dollar direct payment channel called the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges, which was designed by the Europeans to facilitate their trade with Iran in the face of U.S. sanctions.

Zarif and Borrell also discussed the so-called U.S. peace proposal for the Middle East and its consequences for the region and the world.

Ahead of Borrell's arrival in Tehran, the office of the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said Borrell's mission is aimed "to de-escalate tensions and seek opportunities for political solutions to the current crisis."

The trip will allow Borrell "to convey the EU's strong commitment to preserve" the JCPOA and to discuss cooperation between the EU and Iran, it added.
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Every March since 1968, the city has dyed the downtown River Walk stretch of the San Antonio River green in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

This year, the San Antonio River Walk Association will use eco-friendly "emerald green" dye to change the color of the river during three days in March: Saturday, March 14; Sunday, March 15; and on St. Patrick's Day (Tuesday, March 17).
Arizona News

Phoenix, Arizona - Arizonas job growth ranked second in the nation last year, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Arizona added 84,400 jobs added between December 2018 and December 2019 for 2.8 percent job growth.

With more than 80,000 jobs added last year, Arizona has become a jobs magnet, and we have no intention of slowing down, said Governor Ducey. Our focus will continue to be on cutting red tape and eliminating unnecessary regulations, while empowering people to get to work. My thanks to all our partners in the Legislature who have helped make Arizona competitive for people and businesses, and all the entrepreneurs and employees around the state working hard to grow our economy.

Since 2015, Arizona has added more than 350,000 new private-sector jobs. From 2015 to 2018, Arizona also saw the fastest decrease in its poverty rate of any state in the U.S.  equal to approximately 175,000 Arizonans who have lifted themselves out of poverty.



Job growth in 2019 was driven largely by employment gains in sectors including trade, transportation, and utilities (17,700), education and health services (20,400), and professional and business services (6,600).

Background

Arizona ranked third in percentage population growth rate in 2019, according to estimates by U.S. Census Bureau. Arizona welcomed more than 120,000 residents from 2018 to 2019, a growth rate of nearly 1.7 percent, which bests states like Utah (1.662), Texas (1.283), Washington (1.210), Colorado (1.185), Oregon (0.857) and New Mexico (0.195).



State Policy Reports recently ranked Arizona fourth in economic momentum as well as in the top five for growth in personal income, employment and population increases. In addition, manufacturing job growth in Arizona is at a 30-year high.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A team of researchers in Canada have successfully trialled a new handheld 3-D skin printer, which treats severe burns by 'printing' new skins cells directly onto a wound.

Although the new system is in the early stages of development, it may eventually provide a way to treat patients whose burn injuries are too extensive to allow skin grafts. The results are reported today in the IOP Publishing journal Biofabrication.

Senior author Professor Axel Gunther, from the University of Toronto, said: "Skin grafts, where the damaged tissue is removed and replaced with skin taken from another area of the patient's body, are a standard treatment for serious burns.

"However, in cases where a patient has extensive full thickness burnswhich destroy both the upper and lower layers of the skinthere is not always sufficient healthy skin left to use.

"While there are alternativesincluding scaffolds using bovine collagen or engineered skin substitutes grown in vitronone are ideal. Collagen scaffolds rely on tissues and cells surrounding the wound to fully heal, while in vitro skin substitutes can take many weeks to prepare, and are difficult to apply successfully to a patient when the burn area is large."

To overcome these challenges, the research team designed a handheld device to deposit precursor sheets directly onto wounds of any size, shape or topography. It uses a bioink based on fibrina protein involved in the clotting of bloodinfused with mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), which support the growth of local cells and assist in the body's immune response. This is 'printed' directly onto the wound from the device's soft roller.

Co-author Dr. Marc Jeschke, medical director of the Ross Tilley Burn Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, said: "In general, the wound surfaces we designed this device for are not flat, nor are they oriented horizontally. One of the most important advantages of the device is that it should allow for the uniform deposition of a bioink layer onto inclined surfaces.

"In this study, we tested whether the device could do this effectively by using it to treat full-thickness burns in pigs. We found the device successfully deposited the 'skin sheets' onto the wounds uniformly, safely and reliably, and the sheets stayed in place with only very minimal movement.

"Most significantly, our results showed that the MSC-treated wounds healed extremely well, with a reduction in inflammation, scarring, and contraction compared with both the untreated wounds and those treated with a collagen scaffold."

Professor Gunther said: "We're extremely pleased by this successful test. As well as the excellent healing outcomes, we've shown that the device offers a user-friendly method for safe cell and biomaterial delivery. Further study is required, but the signs are promising and the potential clinical applications for the device extend well beyond full thickness burn injuries."

Explore further Researchers develop portable 3-D skin printer to repair deep wounds

More information: Handheld instrument for wound-conformal delivery of skin precursor sheets improves healing in full-thickness burns, Biofabrication, DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/ab6413 Journal information: Biofabrication Handheld instrument for wound-conformal delivery of skin precursor sheets improves healing in full-thickness burns,
Theyd seen the mugshots. But Kyle Yorlets family wasnt prepared for what theyd encounter inside a juvenile courtroom in Nashville the first time they came face-to-face with two of the five youngsters accused of killing him.

The imagination fills any vacuum. And the Yorlets had nearly a year to wonder about the five 12 to 16-year-old kids who confronted their 24-year-old aspiring-musician son in an alley outside his Nashville home one February afternoon last year.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue. The public Senate deliberations in President Donald Trumps impeachment trial reminded me of this famous maxim, coined in the 17th century by the French aristocrat and aphorist Francois de la Rochefoucauld.

From a constitutional standpoint, it would be better if Republican senators who plan to vote against removing Trump say they find the evidence unconvincing  even if they are being hypocritical  than for them to say that Trumps alleged conduct is fine.

Thats because the precedent set by Trumps trial depends heavily on the senators public explanations for their votes. If future observers see that the senators redefined impeachment so that it did not include the President abusing his power to cheat in an election and obstruct Congress, that will profoundly weaken the U.S. constitutional system. It will weaken the political virtue of the republic.

But by saying that they simply dont believe the charges, Republican senators who vote to acquit can pay some tribute to the Constitution and its protection of political virtue. Their explanations would recognize that abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are impeachable acts. This hypocrisy would leave the country better off than an honest statement by these senators that they just dont care what Trump did.

Its important to understand why the Republican senators explanations will matter so much to the long-term meaning of this whole impeachment undertaking.

The historical record will include four major components: the witnesses testimony before the House of Representatives; the articles of impeachment themselves, which reflect the beliefs of the Houses Democratic majority; the legal arguments made before the Senate, both by the House managers and by Trumps lawyers; and the explanations of the Senators who voted on the winning side.

The facts established by the testimony are convincing. My guess is that in the long term, no one will really doubt that Trump froze military aid to Ukraine as part of his plan to pressure the new Ukrainian president to announce investigations into Joe and Hunter Biden and into the Crowdstrike conspiracy theory.

Story continues

The Houses view of these events, as recorded in the articles of impeachment, only matters as a kind of indictment: Its the perspective taken by the prosecutor. Prosecutors views do not necessarily establish precedent. Ordinarily, precedent in a trial comes from the reasoning expressed in the outcome.

Arguments by the managers and Trumps lawyers will carry more weight in giving meaning to the eventual outcome of the trial. Thats to be expected, especially when the verdict is rendered by a jury that is not under an obligation to give a reasoned explanation for its decision. Yet future observers will understand that lawyers always make the strongest possible arguments for their clients; thus future observers will likely apply a discount factor to the legal arguments made on both sides.

That means that the most important component of future attempts to assign meaning to the outcome of the Trump trial will be the explanations the senators provide about their votes. In Bill Clintons impeachment trial, the Senate held its deliberations entirely in secret. That made it a lot harder to assign a concrete meaning to the Senates vote not to remove him from office. In contrast, the two days of public speeches by the senators this time around will create a permanent public record.

With Republicans determined to acquit the president despite the mountain of evidence that he abused the powers of his office and then obstructed Congress when they tried to investigate that abuse, the best outcome now is for Republican senators to say hypocritically that they dont believe the facts alleged in the impeachment. That would fly in the face of truth, to be sure. Yet it would have the effect of preserving the principle that the conduct Trump stands accused of deserves removal from office.

It would be worse for the Constitution were Republicans to say that they believe Trumps behavior was wrong, but that his conduct does not amount to impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors. This could create a constitutional precedent according to which presidents can take actions like Trumps without meriting impeachment.

The worst possible outcome is for senators to say theres nothing wrong with what Trump did, and that the public should just get over it. This is the kind of dangerous honesty that La Rochefoucaulds maxim points out: vices brazen ignoring of virtue. That tends to destroy virtue itself.

To contact the author of this story: Noah Feldman at nfeldman7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sarah Green Carmichael at sgreencarmic@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a professor of law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. His books include The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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NAPLES, Fla. - A Virginia man who went missing while kayaking in the Florida Everglades was found alive Monday, authorities said.

A helicopter crew spotted Mark Miele, 67, and led a marine unit to his location, the Collier County Sheriffs Office posted on Facebook. He was being treated Monday afternoon at a Naples hospital.

Miele embarked on a solo kayaking trip in Everglades National Park on Jan. 22 and was due back Jan. 29, officials said. He never returned, but a bag containing his wallet and phone washed up Sunday on the bank of the Lopez River. National Park Service rangers found the belongings and asked the sheriffs office to assist in a search.

Deputies downloaded data from Mieles phone Sunday night, officials said. His most recent location had been recorded Friday, giving the sheriffs aviation unit a place to target its search. A helicopter crew eventually spotted Miele floating in the water face-up and wearing a life jacket several miles from where his belongings were found. Boats soon reached the area and took Miele to safety.

Officials didnt immediately say how or when Miele lost his kayak.
Over 12,000 cases were transferred to the Foreigners Tribunals in Assam for determination of the status of suspected illegal immigrants, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said a total of 1,381 people were currently in detention centres, also called holding centres, in Assam.

As per the information furnished by the government of Assam, number of cases referred to the Foreigners Tribunals in Assam during last three years: in 2017 9,457 cases, in 2018 2,051 cases and in2019 (up to November) 599 cases, he said replying to a written question.

The minister said as per the information received from the government of Assam, the number of detenues kept in holding centre (erstwhile Detention Centre) in the last three years, after declaration as foreigners by the Foreigners Tribunal are: Goalpara 209 people; Kokrajhar 105; Silchar 79; Tezpur 661; Jorhat 286;Dibrugarh 41.

A total of761detenues were also released from the detention centres in last three years, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[February 04, 2020] Smart Decision Expands Leadership Role as Active Member of Top CBD and Hemp Industry Associations

BOCA RATON, FL, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE  Smart Decision, Inc. (OTCMKTS:SDEC) ("Smart Decision" or the "Company"), a next-generation consumer-based LED & CBD algorithm innovator, is excited to announce that the Company is leveraging membership in two key hemp industry associations, joining both the National Hemp Association and the Hemp Industries Association, in order to expand its position as a leader in the Hemp and CBD industry. Ultimately, this represents an outreach that will span thousands of industry professionals that we can tap to create even greater value for our current and prospective shareholders, remarked Adam Green, CEO of Smart Decision. Through these relationships, we can work to educate the public about the exceptional attributes of hemp products, facilitate the exchange of information and technology between hemp agriculturists, processors, manufacturers, distributors and retailers, and maintain and defend the integrity of hemp products. Both organizations work to advocate and support socially responsible and environmentally sound business practices in the hemp industry, helping to educate and inform the public about the health-related, environmental, and economic benefits of reviving an industry that has been prohibited for over seventy years. Green added, We are positioning ourselves as one of the leading customer-facing resources for the general public in what amounts to a revolutionary mainstreaming process to re-integrate hemp-related products into the daily lives of North Americans on a widespread basis. That process has started, and you cant put the genie back into the bottle at this point. This is happening. Hence, there is a premium on guiding the process. We plan to take a leadership role as that revolution unfolds. For our shareholders, our active articipation has implications on the macro level as well as the micro level, placing Smart Decision at the center of a vast network of value-add relationships with top industry participants. These relationships are essential in catalyzing our success for years to come in the rapidly growing industry.



The Smart Decision platform is a consumer resource designed in partnership with MIT-trained software engineers, leveraging computational data science, machine learning, and AI to connect CBD product suppliers with new-adopter customers in search of CBD-based product solutions, overcoming the overly complicated CBD product landscape to allow CBD shoppers to quickly find the right product to suit their needs. The platform is on-schedule in the development timeline and the Company plans to launch a beta version by the end of March. An advanced preview of the platform will be granted in person to attendees at the USA CBD Expo 2020 in Las Vegas, NV, which takes place from February 13-15.

Green concluded, We are ramping faster than our initial and updated assumptions as far as platform participation. But building deeper industry relationships and an active role from a macro level is also important. We plan to be a leading force in this vast community of individuals, businesses and organizations working together to facilitate the growth of the industry in close collaboration with industry, government officials, and the scientific community. About Smart Decision Inc. Smart Decision Inc. has researched and is developing algorithms for the consumer and business LED Lighting and CBD markets. With their patent-pending Smart Decision algorithms, the confusion of selecting the right product(s), whether for LED or CBD, will be significantly reduced. Ultimately, Smart Decision Inc. believes that selecting the right product the first time, dramatically cuts down on product returns and creates a positive purchasing experience for the consumer. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to access to capital, liquidity, increased visibility, our growth strategy and product development, updates on the CRADA, and any other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could negatively affect our business, operating results, financial condition and stock price. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated are: risks related to our growth strategy; risks relating to the results of research and development activities; our ability to obtain, perform under and maintain financing and strategic agreements and relationships; our dependence on third-party suppliers and partners; our ability to attract, integrate, and retain key personnel; the early stage of products under development; our need for substantial additional funds; government regulation; patent and intellectual property matters; competition; as well as other risks described in our SEC filings. Important factors that may cause the actual results to differ from those expressed within may include, but are not limited to: the success or failure of Smart Decisions efforts to successfully market its camera; systems, other products and services as scheduled; Smart Decisions ability to attract and retain quality employees; the effect of changing economic conditions; increased competition; the ability of Smart Decision to obtain adequate debt or equity financing. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law. For more information, please contact: Adam Green, CEO Number: +1-(877)-26-SMART Email: [email protected] Corporate Website: http://smartdecisioninc.com Consumer Website: https://cbdsmartdecision.com

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Neurological disorders may impact ones mental health, a new study says as researchers found that there is a higher rate of suicide among individuals living with neurological disorders.

A team of researchers in Denmark aims to examine whether people living with neurological disorders die by suicide more often than others. Neurological disorders have long been tied to suicide, but the risk is still unclear.

The study, published in JAMA, shows that people with neurological disorders have a 75 percent higher rate of suicide compared to their counterparts. For the general population, the suicide rate is 20 per 100,000 people, but for those with neurological disorders, the rate is about 40 per 100,000 person-years.

Based on the data spanning for 37 years in Denmark, the study shows the link between neurological disorders and suicide.

The disorders included in the study are stroke, head injury, polyneuropathy, epilepsy, Parkinsons disease, dementia, Alzheimers disease, and diseases of the myoneural junction. Other diseases include central nervous system infections, meningitis, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Huntington disease, intellectual disability, encephalitis, and central nervous system infections.

Image Credit: Kotcha K / Shutterstock

Higher suicide rates

Further findings showed that one out of 150 people diagnosed with any of these disabilities dies by suicide. For severe neurological disorders, such as Huntingtons disease, one out of 61 with the condition died by suicide.

People with ALS and Huntingtons disease, which are considered severe, had higher risks of dying by suicide, with rates 4 to 5 times higher than the general population.

For people with traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, or multiple sclerosis, had twice the suicide rate of those with no neurological disorders.

There may be several and co-existing explanations for the excess suicide rate. People may have difficulties understanding and coming to terms with the consequences of a newly diagnosed chronical disorder. In addition, mental disorders as well as social and relationship factors may play a role, Dr. Elsebeth Stenager, a professor in social psychiatry at the University of Southern Denmark, said.

The researchers also believe that undiagnosed neurological disorders may contribute to a higher risk of suicide. The increased risk may appear in various stages of disease development. For instance, those diagnosed with Alzheimers disease or dementia have 2 to 3 times higher suicide rates during the first three months after diagnosis. Those who were diagnosed with dementia a year ago had lower suicide rates.

In Denmark between 1980 and 2016, there was a significantly higher rate of suicide among those with a diagnosed neurological disorder than persons not diagnosed with a neurological disorder. However, the absolute risk difference was small, the researchers concluded in the study.

Study implications

With the new data, it has been shown that neurological disorders may increase the risk of suicide. Its important to impose preventive measures by helping the patients undergo therapy and counseling, especially discussing their experiences while having the disorder.

The study has many limitations, such as those individuals who were diagnosed before 1977 were not included in the study, primary care diagnoses were not included, and some suicide deaths that were under-recorded or not recorded at all.

The research team believes that the study will help build a basis for future studies to determine how these risk factors to be addressed. Its important to identify which disorders can be addressed with preventive measures.

Suicide is becoming a global problem, affecting people from all walks of life. Its important to determine the common causes and triggers of suicide to properly address them and prevent deaths.
Human bones encased in concrete have been found at a property once owned by a man who mysteriously vanished more than a decade ago.

The remains were found at a home on Marlborough St, Mt Eden in Auckland last week while contractors were working.

David Stanley Hart, who was in his 70s, had previously owned the house.

Neighbours said the man was a 'recluse' and they hadn't seen him in over ten years.

Human bones were found encased in concrete underneath a home in Marlborough St, Mt Eden in Auckland

The house on 3 Marlborough St was eventually sold in 2017.

Murray Goldings, 45, had lived on the street for all his life and said Mr Hart used his property as a boarding home for older people in the area.

'We kind of knew him. He was a bit of a recluse. Haven't seen him in a long time,' Mr Goldings told the New Zealand Herald.

'There were rumours he went to Australia and there was another rumour he had dementia and had gone to a home somewhere. I reckon it would be over 10 years ago.'

Other neighbours said they often saw the man was often working in his front yard.

Many were unable to recall the last time they had seen Mr Hart.

'He was here one minute and then you realise, 'Hang on, I haven't seen Dave for a while, he's gone',' one neighbour said.

Mr Goldings said that the belief was the bank had taken the house after they lost contact with him.

He said there were rumours surrounding his disappearance within the neighbourhood.

Neighbours say they hadn't seen the owner, David Stanley Hart, in more than a decade after the remains were found

Another resident said the council and the bank had gone to great lengths to try and contact Mr Hart, and had even hired a private investigator.

Police were called to the house on Friday afternoon after a contractor found the bones underneath the property.

'Police are taking great care in removing the remains and the immediate focus for Police is to identify the deceased,' Acting Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin, Auckland City CIB said in a statement.

'The nature of the scene and the fact the remains may have been in place for some years make this a challenging investigation.'

The death is considered as suspicious.

'We would like to hear from anyone who previously resided at 3 Marlborough Street, Mt Eden, or anyone who can help us get in touch with those people,' Inspector Baldwin said.

Police remain at the scene.
[February 04, 2020] New Study Reveals Rising Demands for Cross-Platform Video Solutions as Publishers' Needs Evolve

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premium digital advertising technology company, PubMatic , today released findings from a study commissioned with Forrester Consulting around global video ad monetization trends. In an effort to better understand how publishers' needs are evolving, the research provides insight into the most pressing changes and challenges in cross-platform video monetization today. With 64% of worldwide programmatic ad spend designated to video this year1, selecting a cross-platform partner can mean the difference between wasted and optimal value recognition from publishers prime inventory1. As global publishers embrace digital video as a premium advertising vehicle, theyve discovered that monetizing video inventory requires a new set of strategies and tactics from what theyve become accustomed to with traditional display. Those key findings from the study include: Publishers Embrace Programmatic Advertising And Header Bidding For Video Monetization. As video advertising opportunities arise, the study reveals that client-side header bidding is the number one integration strategy used for programmatic monetization of video inventory as publishers achieve maximized ad revenue and increased fill rates.

As video advertising opportunities arise, the study reveals that client-side header bidding is the number one integration strategy used for programmatic monetization of video inventory as publishers achieve maximized ad revenue and increased fill rates. In The Midst Of Tech Gaps, Cross-Platform Video Partners Can Lend Support . 64.2% of publishers find the lack of technolog available to be their biggest obstacle in managing video monetization. The solution to these challenges requires a strategy that leverages ad tech tools and partnerships to help.

. 64.2% of publishers find the lack of technolog available to be their biggest obstacle in managing video monetization. The solution to these challenges requires a strategy that leverages ad tech tools and partnerships to help. Publishers Look To Audience-Based Solutions To Capitalize On Future Of Video. Publishers need well-rounded partners to help optimize their inventory. 59% of publishers acknowledged that theyre looking for partners who can help monetize first- and second-party data, followed by 55% that seek partners who can provide identity solutions and capabilities.



The next year forecasts massive growth within mobile app and mobile web implementation despite the technical challenges app developers face within their video header bidding implementations. Over the next 12 months, mobile app is expected to outpace desktop due to planned implementation, as the survey revealed that 31.5% are expanding their usage and 23.2% are implementing for the first time.

This study has proven that the key to video monetization success is ensuring publishers partners are aligned with a companys roadmap, said Susan Wu, director of marketing research at PubMatic. Particularly as header bidding becomes a greater part of publishers programmatic video strategies, ad technology providers are in a unique position to deliver the right teams and tools to help publishers capture audiences and yield ad revenue benefits across all addressable digital video content, including desktop, mobile web, mobile app, OTT, and CTV. For more information on the commissioned study from PubMatic conducted by Forrester Consulting, Video Advertising Requires New Monetization Strategies, please see here . About PubMatic

The PubMatic platform empowers independent app developers and publishers to maximize their digital advertising monetization [RG1] while enabling advertisers to increase ROI by reaching and engaging their target audiences in brand-safe, premium environments across ad formats and devices. Since 2006, PubMatic has created an efficient, global infrastructure and remains at the forefront of programmatic innovation. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, PubMatic operates 14 offices and nine data centers worldwide. 1 Magna Global Programmatic Forecast, Fall 2019 Press Contact: North 6th Agency for PubMatic 212-334-9753 [email protected]

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As the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread, an Australian doctor has offered an updated insight into the deadly virus.

Dr Preeya Alexander, a general practitioner from Melbourne, claimed while the coronavirus does appear to spread more easily than severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), it's 'not as contagious as measles'.

'Measles are highly contagious,' Dr Alexander - who publishes medical insight on her Instagram page called The Wholesome Doctor - said.

'A single contagious person with measles can infect 12 to 18 unvaccinated individuals. With coronavirus, it appears one contagious person can infect one to three other people.'

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread from China, Australian doctor Preeya Alexander (pictured) has offered an updated insight into the deadly virus

The highly-contagious virus has infected more than 17,000 people worldwide - including 12 cases in Australia (picture of people lining up outside a store to buy sanitary masks in fear of coronavirus outbreak in Hong Kong on February 3)

Dr Preeya Alexander breaks down what you REALLY need to know about coronavirus Coronavirus is spread by respiratory droplets released from coughing or sneezing

However, experts have confirmed walking past an infected person on the street is actually low risk

A single contagious person with measles can infect 12 to 18 unvaccinated individuals. With coronavirus, it appears one contagious person can infect one to three other people

Garlic, mouth gargles and essential oil diffusers have no effect in preventing nor treating coronavirus

Avoid contact with unwell people and practice 'excellent' hand hygiene (washing hands thoroughly) particularly before eating or touching your face Advertisement

Coronavirus is spread by respiratory droplets released from coughing or sneezing.

Last month, Australia's deputy chief medical officer professor Paul Kelly said the virus is spread by close contact 'over a period of time' so it's 'virtually totally safe' to walk past an infected person on the street.

'Australia's deputy chief medical officer confirmed that coronavirus is spread by close contact with a contagious person over a period of time - "over time" is the key here,' Dr Alexander explained.

'Experts are saying that walking past an infected person on the street is actually low risk - it's likely not close enough to contract the illness if you're simply walking past.

'I thought this is something that all of you would like to know too - it's reassuring amidst what seems like a lot of hysteria and panic often around this virus; the more information we all have from reputable sources the better.'

The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed tests proved humans caught it from animals at the Huanan Seafood Wholesales Market in Wuhan city.

The highly-contagious virus has infected more than 17,000 people worldwide - including 12 cases in Australia - four in New South Wales, four in Victoria, two in South Australia, and two in Queensland, the Department of Health confirmed.

Dr Alexander said she wanted to bring some clarity to the hysteria surrounding the coronavirus epidemic

As the World Health Organisation (WHO) declares the coronavirus epidemic to be a global emergency, Dr Alexander said there are things you can do to take precautions.

'Key way to protect yourself - avoid contact with unwell people and practice excellent hand hygiene (washing hands thoroughly) particularly before eating or touching your face,' the GP said.

'If you are concerned or think you have had contact with an infected person and you're now unwell (cough, fever etc) ensure you let your GP or emergency department know ahead of time so they can quarantine you and protect others.

'As always sadly there is lots of misinformation on forums like this - garlic, mouth gargles, essential oil diffusers will have no effect in preventing nor treating coronavirus - there is not a drop of research to support these claims so be careful what you read.'

Dr Alexander said she wanted to bring some clarity to the hysteria surrounding the coronavirus epidemic.

'It's OK to feel nervous but please know as a medical community this is often how we feel in flu season - which occurs yearly,' she said.

'All the right people - researchers, WHO and governments are onto this. So don't panic, alert but not alarmed would be the way to go here.'
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[February 04, 2020] NEXTracker Releases NX Navigator Control System for Utility-Scale Solar Power Plants

FREMONT, Calif., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NEXTracker, a Flex company, has released NX Navigator, a next-generation software and smart control system that enables power plant operators to efficiently monitor and securely control their solar assets for increased production and reliable operation across a wide range of weather conditions. With an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI), NX Navigator builds on the company's proven TrueCapture system with new monitoring data, maintenance controls and instant risk avoidance tools. For monitoring, plant operators are provided timely information for key parameters at the site, subfield, and individual tracker levels, including precise array and angular values. For control, NX Navigator allows authorized PV plant operators to schedule maintenance operations such as cleaning and mowing, and instantly command the tracker for extreme weather events such as hail, hurricanes, and heavy snow. In the case of hail, a single operator command will rapidly put the entire solar power array to a safe 60 degree stow angle. This action will have the benefit of up to tripling the hail resistance module toughness and dramatically reducing damage potential. In the case of snow shed, an authorized operator can preschedule two snow shed operations in a single day, which increases production by reducing snow cover on solar panels. "NX Navigator is the latest innovation by NEXTracke that we have implemented as a way to add value to several of our solar power plants," said Chris Clevenger, COO of D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments. "Previously, we deployed NEXTracker's TrueCapture system on many of our projects; as with TrueCapture, we are pleased to be an early adopter of these NX Navigator features."



"We are committed to further driving PV plant performance for our customers," said Dan Shugar, CEO at NEXTracker. "NX Navigator provides additional intelligence and operator control that results in higher production yield, lower operations and maintenance costs, and enables solar panels to handle increasingly prevalent extreme weather. NX Navigator compliments our TrueCapture control system, featuring rapid response, individual tracker row architecture and high rotation speed trackers." "Using our calibrated hail cannon, RETC empirically validated that NX Navigator's hail stow feature tripled the mechanical impact durability of solar panels," said Cherif Kedir, President and CEO of RETC (Renewable Energy Test Center). "Smart advanced control systems such as those pioneered by NEXTracker will be increasingly important to mitigate the growing occurrence of extreme weather events."

About NEXTracker

NEXTracker, a Flex company, advances the power plant of the future with smart solar trackers, energy storage systems and TrueCapture advanced control software that yields additional energy, optimizes performance and reduces costs for project and plant owners. As the number-one tracker supplier worldwide with more than 30 GW delivered and under fulfillment, NEXTracker is globally recognized for delivering smart and connected energy systems for hundreds of projects across five continents. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, the company has offices in Europe, Australia, India, and Latin America. For more information, visit NEXTracker.com and follow the company on Twitter and LinkedIn. About RETC:

Renewable Energy Test Center (RETC) is one of the world's leading independent engineering and certification test laboratories for photovoltaic and renewable energy products. RETC is CBTL and ISO17025 accredited and provides unequaled engineering support for R&D, certification and field testing for fast-track product introduction and for bankability assessments. For more information visit: www.retc-ca.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nextracker-releases-nx-navigator-control-system-for-utility-scale-solar-power-plants-300998276.html SOURCE NEXTracker

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Deserted roads in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the epicentre of the outbreak

Dublin Airport was the scene of another coronavirus alert yesterday after a man on a flight from Dubai reported flu-like symptoms.

A spokesman for Emirates airlines confirmed a passenger on board flight EK161 which was due in Dublin around noon complained of flu-like symptoms.

As a precaution, the Health Service Executive (HSE) was alerted. After boarding the aircraft the HSE cleared the passenger and deemed the person was not at risk of the virus.

The spokeswoman said all passengers eventually disembarked the aircraft, but it is understood their departure was delayed.

Meanwhile, a man who was suspected of having the coronavirus after being rushed to hospital after flying to Dublin from Moscow has tested negative for the infection.

The man, who was placed in isolation after arriving in Dublin Airport on Saturday from Moscow, had a swab analysed at the National Virus Reference Laboratory in UCD. The test has now come back negative.

Elsewhere, one of the Britons who returned from coronavirus-hit China on Sunday has said he now feels "fine" after a cough and sore throat led to him being put in isolation. Anthony May-Smith is being cared for in Oxford after complaining of feeling unwell as he made his way back to England.

He travelled on the second evacuation flight carrying 11 British nationals from Wuhan to France, and then continued his journey to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

Mr May-Smith said he had had "a bit of a cough and a sore throat" in China and was put in a quarantine area with about 30 others on the initial flight from Wuhan to France.

He told Sky News: "We went through a load of checks at the airport in Wuhan, I had a bit of a cough and a sore throat there.

"Then there was 30 of us on that flight to France that were put in a quarantine section on the flight.

"When we boarded the plane in France to come to the UK, the nurse asked if any of us had had any sort of symptoms in China.

"I made myself known to her and she told me to sit away from anybody else on the flight.

"There were people with babies on the flight and I obviously just didn't want to be anywhere near them, just in case."

His test results are due today.

Last week ministers said passengers would be screened before boarding a flight to the UK and would not be allowed to get on if they showed signs of coronavirus. The other 10 British nationals continued their journey to join 83 other people in isolation at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral. All those who have returned from Hubei province in China are being quarantined in staff accommodation blocks on the site.
The impact on demand for base metals from China may put further pressure on realisations, impacting players such as Vedanta. The price of Brent crude oil, too, has corrected from about $70 a barrel to nearly $55 a barrel now. This, again, is not good news for the oil & gas segment of Vedanta, as it contributed slightly less than a fifth to the firms overall revenues ...

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New York, February 4, 2020--JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, today announced the winners of five prestigious research awards: the George Eisenbarth Award for T1D Prevention; the Gerold and Kayla Grodsky Basic Research Scientist Award; the Mary Tyler Moore and S. Robert Levine, M.D., Excellence in Clinical Research Award; the David Rumbough Award; and the Robert Goldstein Award.

"We are excited to recognize these amazing researchers whose work supports and furthers the JDRF mission," said JDRF Vice President of Research Sanjoy Dutta. "Because of their dedication and work, we have made great strides in the treatment and prevention of T1D, making critical progress toward cures for this disease."

Ake Lernmark, Ph.D., received the JDRF George Eisenbarth Award for T1D Prevention for his work in examining the role of HLA and non-HLA genes and autoimmunity in the risk for type 1 diabetes. Dr. Lernmark is developing tests for beta cell autoimmunity and carrying out clinical trials to prevent--and thereby cure--type 1 diabetes. His laboratory cloned GAD65, a beta cell protein that is target by autoantibodies which strongly increase the risk for type 1 diabetes and developed a novel assay now in worldwide use to detect these autoantibodies. The award was established in 2013 in memory of esteemed researcher, George S. Eisenbarth, M.D., Ph.D., who transformed the scientific community's understanding of T1D.

The Mary Tyler Moore and S. Robert Levine, M.D., Excellence in Clinical Research Award was awarded to Kevan Herold, M.D. of Yale University. Dr. Herold is widely recognized for his work on therapies for prevention and treatment of type 1 diabetes including teplizumab (also called PRV-301), an anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody that quiets the immune cells responsible for destroying insulin-producing beta cells. In partnership with TrialNet, he was the study chair for the first trial to show that immune therapy can delay the onset of type 1 diabetes for more than 2 years in individuals with a high risk of developing the disease. This award was established in honor of the late actress Mary Tyler Moore, who served as chairman of JDRF International from 1984 until her death in 2017, and her husband Dr. Levine, who remains committed to JDRF's mission.

Chantal Mathieu, M.D., Ph.D., received the David Rumbough Award for her research which spans areas from understanding the role of the beta cell in its own destruction, the effects of vitamin D on the immune system and diabetes and clinical interventions in people with type 1 diabetes or their family members. Dr. Mathieu is professor of medicine at the Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven, Belgium, and serves as the chair of endocrinology at the University Hospital Gasthuisberg Leuven. The award honors individuals whose outstanding achievements have significantly accelerated the JDRF mission.

The Gerold and Kayla Grodsky Basic Research Scientist Award was awarded to Michael A. Weiss, M.D., Ph.D. of Indiana University. Dr. Weiss is Chair of the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and member of the Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at the IU School of Medicine; he is also a member of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. Dr. Weiss is being honored for his work on insulin structure and signaling, with application to therapeutic analog design. His laboratory was the first to decode the structures of insulin, proinsulin and rapid-acting analogs and to evaluate the mechanisms of the hormone binding to the insulin receptor. In 2008 he founded Thermalin Diabetes, Inc., which sought to design novel ultra-stable pump-based insulin analogs, and currently serves as chief innovation officer of its successor entity, Thermalin, Inc. This award is named in honor of Dr. Gerold Grodsky, a specialist in the synthesis and secretion of insulin, and his late wife, Kayla.

Teresa Rodriguez-Calvo, D.V.M., Ph.D. was awarded the Dr. Robert Goldstein Award for her work in understanding the development of type 1 diabetes. Dr. Rodriguez-Calvo, who is a junior group leader at the Institute of Diabetes Research at the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, works in close collaboration with the JDRF-funded network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes (nPOD) to investigate if beta cells are dysfunctional before clinical onset. This award is named in honor of the late Dr. Robert Goldstein who played a pivotal role in developing JDRF's Research Department and who served as chief scientific officer for JDRF International and JDRF Canada for over two decades.

###

JDRF's longstanding commitment to accelerate research breakthroughs has directly funded more than $2.2 billion in scientific research while generating an additional $3 billion in private and government research investments. To learn more JDRF-funded research, visit http://www.jdrf.org/research.
InternetNZ has released the results of a survey of 1001 New Zealanders which it sayw shows insufficient action being taken to secure personal data online, despite 93 percent of respondents saying they were concerned about security.

Twenty five percent of respondents said they did not protect their devices with a password or PIN, only 35 percent used two-factor or multi-factor authentication, and just 35 percent backed up their content regularly.

The research, undertaken by Colmar Brunton, followed a similar project in late 2018. It found overall concerns about security had decreased significantly: Respondents were less concerned about the security of their personal data, identity theft and threats to privacy than those surveyed in 2018.

The results confirm a trend revealed in 2016 when another Colmar Brunton survey, undertaken for the Government, found 76 percent of New Zealanders were proactively taking steps to manage their cyber security, down from 84 percent in 2014.

InternetNZ said its aim with the 2019 survey had been to identify any significant changes from 2018, understand public perceptions of the Internet and perceptions of the market and maintain consistency with 2018 to ensure continuity of benchmarks and reporting.

Teleworking on the rise, slightly

When it announced the results of the 2018 survey InternetNZ said had revealed an opportunity to increase the level of working from home, relieving pressure on transport infrastructure.

The 2019 survey found some progress on this front. People who work from home are doing it significantly more frequently than in 2018  nearly one in five people do it all the time, compared to one in eight in 2018, it said.

However it found little increase in the number of people working from home. The percentage reporting having the opportunity to do so rose only four percent, to 54 percent.

The 2018 study covered business and consumer use and attitudes towards domain names, as well as public perceptions of the Internet in general, but the 2019 study focused only on consumer use of and perceptions of the Internet. InternetNZ said any comparisons with 2018 were only with consumer responses.

Social networks on the nose

The survey revealed considerable dissatisfaction with social networks: 71 percent of respondents said NZ should implement legal consequences for social media companies that exposed users to harm and only five percent thought social media companies were doing a good job of controlling extremist content.

Christchurch Call fell on deaf ears

The survey also showed only a fifth of respondents were aware of the Christchurch Call, a meeting co-hosted by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on 15 May 2019 that aimed to bring together countries and tech companies in an attempt to bring to an end the ability to use social media to organise and promote terrorism and violent extremism.
The choice this time was between Michael McCormack, a man Australians know so little that fewer than one in three can recognise him, according to a recent poll; and Barnaby Joyce, a man we know a little too well.

While the country has spent the summer in anguish, politicians responded with the behavioural tic for which they have become best known  a de-stabilising and unnecessary leadership spill. The fact that it was the Nationals who spilled this time barely matters  it seems our politicians pass the leadership problem around as easily as a plate of lamingtons, or a viral disease.

The gulf between these prayerful aspirations and the reality of what they end up doing to each other each year (not to mention their various offences against the Australian public) is often quite large. We are all sinners, etc etc, but this year the hypocrisy was even starker.

The first day of the parliamentary year always starts with an ecumenical service, at which the politicians show up to pray for all the nice things to which their higher selves aspire  peace, stability, brotherhood and a noble spirit of service.

Through his messy personal dealings, and the surfacing of allegations of sexual harassment against him, Joyce has forced the Australian public to consider his sex life more than we would like, which is to say: at all. All while foghorning his opinions on the reproductive choices of women as loudly as possible, during his bonkers intervention in the NSW abortion decriminalisation debate last year. Barnaby needs a podium, and the leadership of the Nats will do just as well as the wombs of the women of NSW.

Joyce has been nursing his ambition to return to the Nationals leadership ever since he lost it in 2018 following revelations he had been carrying on an extra-marital affair with a staffer and she was pregnant. Later he appeared to cast doubt on the baby's paternity, and then, after he lost his marriage and his ministerial position, complained about struggling to live on his $200,000 salary.

That Joyce's leadership opportunity came on a day when the usual business of Parliament was halted to mark condolences for the lives lost in the summer's bushfires, was inconsequential. Neither was it important that those fires still encircled Canberra as the Nationals party room convened at 9am on Tuesday. In a post-shame world, you do what you want because you can, and wait to see if anyone will stop you.

It was over before 10am, like a sort of throat-clearing exercise to dislodge some phlegm before commencing a speech. But it's not over. The Nationals party room ballots are secret, and the vote-count is not announced  part of the fiction that the Nationals "do things differently" because they supposedly have the gentler habits of country Australians. As such we don't know exactly how narrowly McCormack retained his leadership, but some reports had the vote very close.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-03 23:04:31|Editor: yhy

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Michel Barnier, EU chief Brexit negotiator, speaks during a press conference in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 3, 2020. The European Union (EU) will emphasize the concept of a "level playing field" during the upcoming negotiations with the United Kingdom (UK) over a future comprehensive partnership, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Monday. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

BRUSSELS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) will emphasize the concept of a "level playing field" during the upcoming negotiations with the United Kingdom (UK) over a future comprehensive partnership, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Monday.

"We will have two separate markets instead of one single market," Barnier told a press conference. He said that customs rules will apply between the two sides, and access to the new market could be subject to certification, market authorization and supervision.

"This means, for example, that UK financial services suppliers will no longer have the passporting rights," he elaborated.

"Passporting rights" refer to the rights that allow companies and financial services firms to operate in any EU or European Economic Area (EEA) country without being subject to further authorization from each country.

Trade in goods and services will be subject to regulatory checks as all imports of goods or services supplied in the EU will have to comply with the EU rules, he said.

As the UK chose to leave the EU on Jan. 31, 2020, the country has left the single market and the customs union as well.

The remaining 27 EU member states have agreed to negotiate a trade deal with the UK by the end of 2020. While European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said it was impossible to iron out all the details within that timeframe, UK law forbids the extension of the transition period.

On Monday, Barnier proposed comprehensive negotiating directives, covering areas such as trade, judicial cooperation, foreign policy, security and defense.

The directives are to be formally presented to the Council of the EU, which will authorize the European Commission to open negotiations.

"It's now time to get down to work. Time is short. We will negotiate in a fair and transparent manner, but we will defend EU interests, and the interests of our citizens, right until the end," von der Leyen said.
David Curry, the CEO of the U.S. Open Doors, recently wrote a column on why China's service monitoring system is a threat to Christians around the world.

When Curry visited China recently, he saw hundreds of cameras while taking a walk. He said he was not surprised to learn that China has about 415 million cameras. There is a possibility that 2 billion CCTVs will be installed on Chinese streets in the coming years.

Curry said, the Chinese government's pressure on the church community is now very evident. Even now pastors are being arrested and churches being closed. The cross on the steeples are also being removed.

Their first fear is that Christians pay more loyalty to Jesus than the Communists do. They want to extract this loyalty from the lives of Christians. There are many things that signal that such surveillance within the Chinese church is just beginning.

Furthermore, the Chinese government has developed an incredibly technologically advanced system to keep an eye on citizens who are considered a threat to the country. Face recognition software can pinpoint and distinguish individuals using CCTV.

Also, according to a recent report, China has asked all mobile phone operators to collect more files that have their faces scanned faces. Of course, the government will have easy access to it.

There is also a social credit system that was first introduced in 2014 and is expected to be fully integrated in the next few years. The credit system tracks individuals and assigns them ' scores ', which are based on the approval and trust of the government and other citizens. The score will determine whether or not the Chinese will travel or whether they will approve the loan.

"It doesn't take a big leap of imagination to see how this vast network of surveillance and control could be used against Christians. After all, Christians are followers of Jesus, and He doesn't fit nicely with a government that requires allegiance to a Communist state above everything" said Curry.

Curry continued to say "It's something that should guide our prayers as we think about God's people, living and worshiping in China. I hope you'll join me in praying for and supporting our sisters and brothers in China in 2020 and beyond.

According to the Open Doors China ranked 23rd on the 2020 World Watch List. China's list of persecution has been steadily rising and has jumped from 43rd to 23rd two years ago.
I had done some recording and narration for films and recorded commercials in the past and thought, I would love to do this. I also record audiobooks and have them available on Audible, so it allows me the opportunity to do something really positive while keeping my voice exercised, so it is a good thing, said Haines.

Haines, who used to work at a 55-and-older resort, also relishes the opportunity to help seniors and those who are visually impaired. She was also touched by a letter sent by a family that had recently returned a receiver to the studio.

Their mother had passed away and the card was full of gracious and heartfelt thanks to Sun Sounds for being there, Haines said. They had been unable to convince their mom to come live with them and Sun Sounds kept her company and made her laugh and kept her informed, so when they saw her she could hold conversations and know what was going on in the world.

She wasnt as lonely and that really struck me. Before I left, I knew I had to be part of it.

She has also made it her mission to help spread awareness about the nonprofit organization, which relies on grants, donations, fundraisers and program underwriting.
Syracuse, NY -- The son of Syracuses former police chief will head to state prison for the first time in April after pleading guilty to illegal gun possession last week, a prosecutor confirmed to Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

Frank Fowler Jr., 28, will spend the legal minimum of five years in prison after pleading guilty to criminal possession of a weapon. Because hes already a convicted felon, five years was the lowest sentence he could get.

Fowler Jr. was allowed to remain free on bail until sentencing in April. He has done nothing to give reason for his bail to be revoked -- appearing in court when required during the case.

But his plea itself came as somewhat of a surprise.

Frank Fowler Jr. leaves court on Jan. 3, 2020, after being arraigned on an illegal weapons charge.

County Court Judge Thomas J. Miller almost yanked the courts offer Jan. 27 after Fowler Jr. couldnt decide what to do after 45 minutes of thinking it over. The defendant tried calling his dad before returning to the courtroom without an answer.

But two days later, Fowler Jr. came back and pleaded guilty, according to court records. The five-year sentence was over the objection of prosecutor Michael Whalen, who was seeking a harsher sentence. (Fowler Jr. was able to cut prosecutors out of plea negotiations, getting his deal directly from the judge.)

Fowler Jr. had faced up to 15 years in prison, if convicted after trial.

Fowler Jr. was arrested, along with four others, in November during a traffic stop Court Street, at its intersection with New Court Avenue, in Salina. An illegal gun was found in the car.

Fowler Jr. took responsibility for the gun when speaking to troopers, state police said.

The 2014 Volkswagen Jetta that Fowler Jr. and the others were riding in was stopped at a green light around 1:47 a.m. Nov. 23. The vehicle flashed its high beams several times, troopers said.

As a trooper spoke to the driver, he smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle, according to police reports. At that point, the trooper ordered everyone out of the car.

When the trooper opened the right rear door, he saw a handgun at the passengers feet. It turned out to be loaded.

Fowler Jr. is barred from possessing a handgun because hes a convicted felon following a 2018 burglary conviction.

Fowler Jr. has spent time in jail on theft and drug charges, too. But the recent weapons conviction will be the first time hell go to state prison.

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Malaysian entrepreneur and AirAsia top executive Tony Fernandes denied any links between his now-defunct Formula 1 racing team and the Airbus bribery scandal. Authorities are investigating the allegations that Airbus SE paid $50 million of sponsorship money to the Caterham F1 team to get orders from AirAsia.

Tony Fernandes and executive chairman Kamarudin Meranun stepped aside for at least two months amid the allegations of involvement in the bribery scandal. "Caterham F1, the company alleged to have been sponsored improperly by Airbus, was at the relevant time a Formula 1 racing team that had gone round the globe promoting amongst others AirAsia, AirAsia X, GE and Airbus," Fernandes and Kamarudin said in the statement.

"Throughout the period we were shareholders in Caterham, the company made no profit and was eventually disposed of for 1 pound sterling in 2014. From start to finish, this was a branding exercise and not a venture to make profit," the statement read.

Read: Airbus Nears Settlements With US, UK, French Investigators

Agreed to pay $4 billion in fine

Airbus SE has agreed to pay a fine of $4 billion after reaching an agreement with prosecutors in Britain, France and the United States. UKs serious fraud office (SFO) announced the record-breaking Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with Airbus SE after it started the probe in August 2016.

The company was accused of using external consultants to bribe customers to buy its civilian and military aircraft and the indictment covered five counts of failure to prevent bribery. The bribery scandal involved Airbus Commercial and Defence & Space divisions in five jurisdictions, including Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia, from 2011 to 2015.

Read: Fraud At Airbus: European Courts Weigh $4 Billion Plea Deal

As part of the DPA, which will be in force until January 2023, the company has agreed to fully cooperate with the SFO in any future investigations and prosecutions. Dame Victoria Sharp, President of the Queens Bench Division (QBD), said in her judgement that the seriousness of the criminality in this case hardly needs to be spelt out.

The number of countries subject to intense criminal investigation by the various agencies, and the scale and scope of the wrongdoing disclosed in the Statement of Facts demonstrate that bribery was to the extent indicated, endemic in two core business areas within Airbus, she added.

Read: ED Summons AirAsia's Tony Fernandes & Top Mgmt In Connection With Money Laundering Case

Read: Airbus Bribery Case: Two AirAsia Chiefs Step Aside, Triggers New Probes Worldwide
Green, who is among about 70 female fire chiefs out of more than 29,000 around the country, previously served as a deputy to former chief Benjamin M. Barksdale, who retired last year. She joined the department in 1999.
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Malaysia sent an AirAsia plane to China's Wuhan on Monday to bring back 141 people and also deliver 500,000 pairs of gloves to the country hit by the coronavirus epidemic, the National Disaster Management Agency said.

All the passengers, including 12 crew and 14 Malaysian government officials, will undergo medical screening once they are back and those without symptoms will be sent to a monitoring centre for 14 days. People with symptoms will be hospitalised immediately.

The number of people infected in Malaysia remains at eight, all of them visiting Chinese nationals, the government said on Monday.

Malaysia is the world's biggest producer of gloves and its companies such as Top Glove Corp have ramped up production to meet rising demand from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The industry has also vowed to donate gloves to China. (Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; Editing by Alex Richardson)
Washington, Feb 4 : Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos who paid $23 million in an all-cash deal for the old Textile Museum in the upscale Kalorama neighbourhood in the US capital, also paid $16,840 as parking fines during the renovation from October 2016 till October 2019.

According to news organisation WUSA9, Amazon-employed contractors who converted the museum into a 34,000-square-foot palatial mansion with 11 bedrooms raked up $16,840 in parking tickets.

Bezos reportedly spent another $12 million to renovate his house in one of DC's quieter neighbourhoods. Beaux-Arts mansions in Kalorama are occupied by Obamas and Ivanka Trump, among others.

The WUSA9 news team obtained records from the DC Department of Public Works and found that the city handed out 564 citations in the 2200 and 2300 blocks of S Street, where Bezos' property is located.

Of the 564 citations written over three years, $5,600 worth of tickets were unpaid, some dating back years.

"It's the Amazon embassy. I think he's about to take on this whole section of the city," a neighbour was quoted as saying.

The mansion includes 11 bedrooms, a ballroom, wine cellar, whiskey tasting room, a movie theatre and more than 1,000 light fixtures.

According to reports, the world's richest man with $129 billion fortune has bought another mansion right across the street for $5 million.

Besides his two Washington DC mansions and his Beverly Hills compound, Bezos also has prime property in Seattle and Manhattan, where he recently shelled out $80 million on a Fifth Avenue property.

It is often reported that Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez are looking for new LA properties.
Mumbai, Feb 4 : The government has budgeted for a 36 per cent increase in dividends from state-owned companies, more than the tax savings of about 20 per cent from abolition of the dividend distribution tax, which is credit negative for them, Moody's said on Tuesday.

"This is credit negative for state oil and gas companies - Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Oil India Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited - which are among the largest dividend contributors to the government," the global rating said.

Abolition of the dividend distribution tax is likely to have no significant impact on the credit quality of other rated non-financial companies as Moody's expects most will increase dividend payments to offset the tax savings.

The government has also budgeted for higher disinvestment proceeds, which, the agency expects, may result in more share buybacks from state-owned oil and gas companies in fiscal 2020, following an increase in buybacks in fiscal 2018.

"Share buybacks will result in negative free cash flow and weaker credit metrics at these companies. The large divestment proceeds also imply that the government will continue to push for the sale of BPCL, the risk of which is incorporated in the company's credit profile," Moody's said.

However, the abolition of dividend distribution tax could be credit positive for holding companies such as HT Global IT Solutions Holdings Limited and Marble II Pte Ltd which rely on dividend distribution from their subsidiaries to service their debt because this will reduce the cash leakage in transfer of cash from subsidiaries to the holding companies.

However, as the dividends will be taxed, the extent of benefit will depend on the effective tax rates of the holding companies, which are incorporated offshore in different tax jurisdictions.

In the budget, the government also proposed to extend the 5 per cent concessional rate of withholding tax on foreign currency borrowings by three years to June 30, 2023. This is credit positive for most rated companies that borrow in foreign currency, Moody's said.
Daniel Kawczynski (Getty Images)

The Conservative Party has come under growing pressure to remove the whip from MP Daniel Kawczynski after he spoke at a conference alongside far-right European politicians.

The Jewish Labour Movement, Board of Deputies of British Jews and Muslim Council of Britain are among the groups who called for the party to take action against Mr Kawczynski.

The MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham spoke at the National Conservatism conference in Rome, which took place on Monday and Tuesday.

Among the speakers were Viktor Orban, Hungarys far-right prime minister who has been accused of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

Daniel Kawczynski in the Commons last week (Reuters)

Mr Kawczynski has defended his attendance, dismissing hysterical criticism. Yahoo News UK has approached the Conservative Party for comment.

The Jewish Labour Movement on Tuesday wrote to Mark Spencer, the Tory chief whip, urging him to remove the whip from Mr Kawczynski.

Signed by chair Mike Katz, as well as MPs Margaret Hodge and Alex Sobel, it read: He is sharing a platform with a number of far-right European politicians who have made deeply offensive and dangerous comments and engaged in a sort of politics that should have no place in a tolerant and democratic society.

It goes on: The Conservative Party now has a choice. It can demonstrate that there are lines that should not be crossed by Conservative MPs.

Today @mikekatz, @margarethodge and @alexsobel have written to @Mark_Spencer, the Conservative Chief Whip calling for the whip to be removed from Daniel Kawczynski.



The Conservative Party should not tolerate its representatives sharing platforms with these individuals  pic.twitter.com/EWlAbc2pmd  Jewish Labour Movement (@JewishLabour) February 4, 2020

This is an opportunity for the Conservative Party to follow through and demonstrate that it does not tolerate its elected representatives sharing platforms with figures who represent far-right parties and pose a threat to minority groups.

Story continues

The Board of Deputies of British Jews also called for action. President Marie van der Zyl said: We condemn the decision by Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski to speak at a conference alongside some of Europes most notorious far-right politicians.

Mr Kawczynskis defence, that it is only common sense to talk with parties and politicians that are either leading their respective countries, or will perhaps take power in the next few years, is a specious one, for the simple reason that the MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham is not any sort of government representative.

If the Conservative Party fails to discipline Mr Kawczynski, it runs the serious risk of the public assuming that they share his views on association with such people.

Muslim Council of Britain spokesperson Miqdaad Versi said: It is unacceptable that anyone holding the position of MP speaks at a nationalist conference alongside Islamophobes and anti-Semites.

It is even more disturbing that the Conservative chief whip appears to have known that Daniel Kawcyznski MP was going to speak at a nationalist conference alongside far-right, racist politicians, and yet chose to take no action.

"This demonstrates an active tolerance for those supporting the far-right in the party, and highlights how the 'zero tolerance' approach to racism can only be seen as electioneering."

Other speakers at the conference included Ryszard Legutko, the Polish Law and Justice MEP who described homophobia as fictitious, and Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party who has promoted anti-Semitic figures.

In an open letter published in his local paper, the Shropshire Star, Mr Kawczynski said: Add in the names of the political leaders due to attend the conference, such as Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban and former Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, and organs like The Guardian turn apoplectic.

Read more from Yahoo News UK

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Here are the key points of Number 10's emergency legislation to stop terrorists being automatically released

The 360: Why don't people trust the BBC as much any more?

Clearly, messrs Orban and Salvini are not to everyones tastes. But they represent serious ideas and concerns, some of which are shared by many citizens of the UK.

They have certainly proved electorally attractive in their own countries and have every right to speak at a conference on the subject national sovereignty, the very thing they have pledged to defend and which accounts for their popularity with voters.

If it were to take a more inquisitive approach rather than trolling it, even The Guardian might discover why the vast majority of Europeans feel stronger loyalties to their countries than the abstract idea of a federal European super-state.
A Colette by Colette Hayman store in Perth. (Source: Enex)

In another blow to Australias struggling retail industry, jewellery and accessories brand Colette by Colette Hayman has gone under.

Founded in 2010, CBCH Group  the parent company behind Colette by Colette Hayman  was placed under voluntary administration on 31 January this year, but was announced today.

According to a statement by Deloitte voluntary administrator Vaughan Strawbridge, the $140 million business had, like others, been unfortunately ... impacted by the current weak retail environment.

Our focus is on continuing to trade the business while we seek either a recapitalisation of the group or a sale of the business, Strawbridge said.

Given the strength of the brand we are confident we will be able to secure a future for the business and preserve the employment of as many people as possible.

The brand has 140 stores across Australia and New Zealand and hires more than 300 permanent and casual staff.

Workers will continue to be paid under the administrators, and it will be business as usual.

Colette by Colette Hayman has 37 stores in NSW, 33 in Victoria, 30 in Queensland and 15 in Western Australia.

South Australia is home to six Colette stores, while the ACT has three. Tasmania and the Northern Territories have one store each. There are fourteen stores operating in New Zealand.

The first meeting of creditors will be held on 12 February.

Retail apocalypse continues

The retail sector has claimed several brands in recent years.

Clothing retailer Jeanswest announced last month that it would close 37 stores and make 263 employees redundant as part of a restructure after being placed under voluntary administration.

A few days into the new year, Bardot, EB Games and long-time family business McWilliams Wine folded within days of one another.

Story continues

And in late December, Hariss Scarfe was placed into receivership, placing 1,800 jobs at risk.

The retail apocalypse has also claimed other companies such as Roger David, Gap, Topshop and Payless Australia last year, though some were rescued soon after going under, such as Oroton and Doughnut Time.

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FATHER and daughter Tom and Molly Martens have won a challenge against their convictions for the murder of Limerick businessman Jason Corbett.

The 39-year-old died in 2015, with the pair convicted almost three years ago of the second-degree murder of the Janesboro man at his home in North Carolina.

The Irish Independent reports that following this ruling, they are now likely to get a full retrial, a move which will cause shock and anger to Mr Corbetts family, which includes the chief executive of Tait House community enterprise centre Tracey Lynch, who is his sister.

Earlier this Tuesday, the North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld their challenge to the convictions.

The full judgement on the appeal will be posted by the US court later this Tuesday.

As the appeal was upheld by majority rather than unanimous verdict, it will go to the North Carolina Supreme Court for review. It will be a matter for the North Carolina Supreme Court to order a retrial.

However, it is a normal course for retrials to be ordered in those circumstances.

North Carolina prosecutors are now pressing for a Supreme Court review having opposed the appeal.

The convictions will now be set aside and it is expected that a new trial in Davidson County will be ordered.

Tom, 68 and Molly, 34 Martens beat the businessman and father of two to death as he lay asleep and helpless in bed.

Tom Martens, a retired FBI agent, claimed he acted in self-defence and alleged Mr Corbett had been attacking his second wife, Molly, who is Mr Martens daughter.

However, the Corbett family maintained that the Irish businessman was planning to bring his children back to his native Limerick amid increasing concerns over his wife's mental health problems.
AirAsia Group Bhd's Tony Fernandes on Tuesday denied a now-defunct Formula 1 racing team formerly co-owned by him had any links to a bribery scandal involving the Malaysian airline's only plane supplier, Airbus SE. Fernandes, one of the aviation industry's best-known faces, on Monday stepped aside as chief executive of Asia's biggest budget airline for at least two months, as authorities investigate allegations that Airbus paid a bribe of $50 million through sponsorship of the Caterham F1 team to win orders from AirAsia. AirAsia Chairman Kamarudin Meranun also ...
HELSINKI, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Caverion will implement electricity solutions in the second phase of the Kuopio University Hospital's New Heart 2025 project in Kuopio, Finland. The agreement on the new 10-storey building was signed with construction company Lapti. The electrification work that started in January will be completed in autumn 2022.

The customer of the alliance project is the North Savo Hospital District. Caverion also implemented electrification work in the recently completed first phase of the New Heart 2025 project.

"In the first phase of the project, the general contractor and Caverion had open cooperation and coordinating the works was seamless. Along the way, the cooperation in the alliance further deepened and tightened. We were on track with schedule, costs, and quality and we also won the Finnish 'best worksite' 2019 award," says Jussi Heikkila, Production Director at Lapti.

"The New Heart project has been carried out in good alliance spirit. From the customer perspective, we find it positive that we get cooperative professionals to implement the second phase, titled 1C2, of the project. In our previous cooperation with Caverion, the quality, schedule and costs turned out as agreed. Caverion has engaged great professionals in our project, which we consider important," says Reino Pyy, Developer at the North Savo Hospital District.

The second phase of the project will involve constructing a building of 28,700 m2 that will have inpatient wards, outpatient clinics and imaging facilities in two floors, as well as e.g. shelter, logistics and technical facilities. A solar power system that will partially cover the energy demand is being planned for the building. The site is located at the centre of a hospital currently in operation. The aim is to manage the construction work and the demanding logistics of the worksite in a way that will cause as little disturbance as possible to the hospital operations.

"We are happy that we can continue the good cooperation with the North Savo Hospital District in the New Heart project. We want to help ensure that the hospital is safe and user-friendly for patients and staff when completed. Caverion is currently involved in several hospital projects across the country," says Ville Tamminen, Executive Vice President, Caverion Finland.

For Caverion, Rakennusliike Lapti Oy belongs to General Contractors customer segment. Read more about our services to general contractors.

Illustration: Kuopio University Hospital New Heart 2025 Alliance

Contact:

Kirsi Hemmila

Communications Manager

Caverion Finland

tel. +358-50-390-0941

kirsi.hemmila@caverion.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

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The Jammu and Kashmir administration is making concerted efforts towards resolving grievances of people of the Union Territory in an expeditious manner, said Farooq Khan, advisor to the Lieutenant Governor GC Murmu, on Monday.

"Farooq Khan, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor reiterated that the present administration is making concerted efforts towards resolving grievances of people of Jammu and Kashmir in an expeditious manner," a tweet from the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) read.

Earlier, Khan released 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' theme-based diary of State Resource Centre for Women Development.

As per the DIPR, the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' theme-based diary is about celebrating women empowerment in its truest sense and giving women their rightful place in the society.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Activist Urvashi Chudawala who identifies as Kris was on Monday booked for sedition by the Mumbai Police for allegedly raising 'anti-national' slogans in support of JNU student Sharjeel Imam at an LGBTQ event, the Mumbai Pride, held at the Azad Maidan on 1 February, an officer said.

Activist Urvashi Chudawala who self-identifies as Kris was booked for sedition on Monday by the Mumbai Police for allegedly raising "anti-national" slogans in support of JNU student Sharjeel Imam at an LGBTQ event, the Mumbai Pride, held at the Azad Maidan on 1 February, an officer said.

Besides Kris, 50 others were also booked under sections 124 (A) (sedition), 153 (B) (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) and 34 (Common Intention) of the Indian penal code, said Pranay Ashok, Deputy Commissioner of Police.

"We have registered an FIR against Chudawala (Kris) and 50 others. We will call them to (Azad Maidan) police station for further investigation," he said.

The case was registered by the Azad Maidan police after a video purportedly of Kris raising the slogans went viral after an event on 1 February. A police official said Kris was at the forefront in raising the slogan "Sharjeel Tere Sapno ko Hum Manzil Tak Pahuchaege (Sharjeel, We will realise your dreams)".

A complaint in this regard was lodged by former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya on 2 February, he said.

Tweeting the video of the activist raising the slogans at the event, Somaiya had warned of staging a protest if the police failed to register the case against Kris and others.

Imam was arrested from Bihar's Jehanabad on January 28 for allegedly making inflammatory speeches at the Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi and in Aligarh. Imam, a PhD student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Historical Studies, was booked in sedition cases lodged across several states for alleged "inflammatory" speeches made during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

With inputs from PTI
Kapil Baisala who opened fired at the site last week is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, police said on Tuesday, prompting the BJP to accuse Chief Minister of "playing" with the security of the country.

Baisala and his father joined the AAP in early 2019, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Rajesh Deo said.

The officer said Baisala's mobile phone has been seized and police have retrieved WhatsApp data and photos of him and his father joining the Aam Aadmi Party.

The police also released photographs of Baisala along with AAP leaders and volunteers.

Hitting out at the AAP, BJP president J P Nadda accused Kejriwal of playing with the security of the country and said that people will give the AAP a befitting reply.

"I want to make clear to Kejriwal that this country is bigger than any election, any government, and the country will not forgive those who play with its security. The people of Delhi will give a befitting reply," Nadda tweeted.

Baisala's family, however, refuted the police's claim.

Kapil Baisala's uncle Fatesh Singh told PTI, "I have no idea where these photographs are circulating from. My nephew Kapil had no association with any political party nor does any other member from the family is. My brother Gaje Singh, (Kapil's father) fought assembly elections in 2008 for Bahujan Samaj Party and lost. After that no one from our family had any links with any political party".

Singh added that Kapil also doesn't have any friends associated with the AAP or any other political party.
One of the most anticipated museums in the world  at least according to Smithsonian Magazine  is moving closer to opening its doors this summer. And it's right here in New Jersey.

The Harriet Tubman Museum in Cape May will honor the abolitionist and Civil War heroine who spent a summer in Cape May in the early 1850s to raise funds for her efforts to transfer slaves from the South up north above the Mason-Dixon line.

Tubman spent her summers in Philadelphia and Cape May from 1850 to 1852 working as a cook and other jobs to raise money for herself and trips to help slaves escape.

Trustees of the Harriet Tubman Museum and Members of the Macedonia Baptist Church Committee pose for a picture in front of the museum, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

The museum will be at the site of the old Howell House, an older building on Lafayette Street that served as the parsonage for Macedonia Baptist Church.

For nearly 40 years, the building remained vacant and its condition deteriorated over time  so much so that Preservation New Jersey added the Howell House to the Ten most endangered historic properties list in 2012.

The founding trustees of the Harriet Tubman Museum signed a lease to rent the structure from the church, which is still active and owns the building.

Lynda Towns, a Trustee of the Harriet Tubman Museum and Macedonia Baptist Church liaison, told NJ Advance Media the museum would have a unique, small-town characteristic to it when it opens on June 19.

"It is very important for us to not only be able to have a museum, but have a place where others can come in and remember what the African American community in Cape May used to be and then also be able to learn about Harriet Tubman and Africa," Towns said. "It will ensure that our presence remains here and is memorialized. It is very important that it stays."

Returning the building back to a recognizable condition, including restoring the initial structure that dates to pre-1800 and building an addition for the museum, has required some help. The construction of the museum is being led by Zack Mullock, who serves as a museum trustee and its construction manager.

Volunteers, contractors and subcontractors have also been working at cost and offering their services for free.

Don't Edit

Lynda Towns, Trustee of the Harriet Tubman Museum & Macedonia Baptist Church Liaison talks about the museum while standing in the Grand Gallery, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Towns has seen the former Howell House in different variations. She used to visit the house when Rev. Robert Davis was presiding over the Macedonia Baptist. Davis married several couples inside the parlor of the room. In another room, which will house the exhibit about Africa, Towns remembers spending a lot of time while listening to the pastor.

"We were in and out of this house a lot, and I babysat here because he had two sons," Towns said. "The room that will be our African room is where he often taught African American history classes to the kids in the community. He would have his African figures and teach us about African American history. It was very meaningful."

Don't Edit

Construction inside of the Harriet Tubman Museum in Cape May, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The museum will house an early edition of a signed copy of abolitionist William Still's "The Underground Railroad." The book, first published in 1872, chronicles Cape May's efforts to help slaves escape to the north. Some of the other items to be that will be on display include artifacts from the slavery period, Davis's collection, newspapers, and abolitionist papers. The museum will also chronicle the role African-Americans played in the city in the 1920s through the present day.

While the museum has been getting financial assistance from the New Jersey Historical Commission, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and Cape May County, the surrounding community has helped bring the project to fruition.

Harriet Tubman Museum Executive Director Cynthia Mullock said volunteers have contributed to the museum, from Swains Hardware Inc., to Boy Scout Troop 73, who helped with the painting. Even a restaurateur from North Jersey wanted to assist with fundraising efforts.

Don't Edit

The efforts of the Harriet Tubman Museum team were recognized by Cape May County Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton, fifth from left, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

"Yanick Ranieri from Papillon 25, who loves Cape May, contacted us and said she wanted to do a fundraiser," Mullock said. "There will be a gala event, and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the project."

The museum is targeting to open on June 19, or Juneteenth, the day that Texas abolished slavery, making it the last state to do so. The anticipated opening has not gone unnoticed. Smithsonian Magazine recently named the museum as one of the ten most anticipated museums opening worldwide in 2020. There have also been many groups and organizations that have expressed interest in visiting the locale.

"We have had so much interest from teachers who would like to bus students to the museum," Mullock said. "We have a biking community that wrote to us checking if we would be opening June 19 because they want to organize a 200-mile bike ride to the museum on the weekend of the opening."

People who would like to make a donation to the museum can do so by visiting www.harriettubmanmuseum.org

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Construction continues on the Harriet Tubman Museum in Cape May, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Bob Mullock, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Harriet Tubman Museum, and Laurence Hogan, right, of the Macedonia Baptist Church, talk with Carolyn King Davis after meeting with Cape May County Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Construction continues on the Harriet Tubman Museum in Cape May, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Trustees of the Harriet Tubman Museum and Members of the Macedonia Baptist Church Committee Harriet Tubman Museum in Cape May, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Construction continues on the Harriet Tubman Museum in Cape May, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Construction continues on the Harriet Tubman Museum in Cape May, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020.

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Trustees of the Harriet Tubman Museum and Members of the Macedonia Baptist Church Committee are recognized by Cape May County Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton, fourth from right, for their efforts, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Construction continues on the Harriet Tubman Museum in Cape May, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Zack Mullock, construction manager, left, and Lynda Towns, Trustee of the Harriet Tubman Museum & Macedonia Baptist Church Liaison, talk about the construction of the museum, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. The Harriet Tubman Museum is located in Cape May. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 07:21 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20625afda 4 Science & Tech electric-taxi,drone,prototype,Yogyakarta,Central-Java Free

Venture capital firm UMG Idealab Indonesia recently unveiled to the public one of its cutting-edge technological investments, a working prototype of an airborne electric taxi called Frogs, designed by a startup firm based in Yogyakarta.

UMG Idealab venture and investment partner Jefry Pratama said the prototype, which was based on a quadcopter drone design, had been completed. The current version of the prototype already featured a fully functional passenger cabin, engine, rotors and a battery as its main power source, he said.

All thats left to do is probably a slight revision of the interior, including passenger seats, before the prototype can be showcased at the 2020 Hannover Messe technology exhibition from Apr. 20 to 24 in Germany, Jefry said last Thursday as quoted by tempo.co.

He went on to say that the overall structure of Frogs was built from a light, but with strong carbon fiber known for its high margin of safety. The prototype also boasted other safety features, such as a failsafe mechanism that allowed the motors within its engine to take over the other should one of them fail midair, he said.

Each and every component of the prototype had already been tested and had fulfilled safety requirements, he said, adding that multiple test flights of the aircraft had gone smoothly, showing that all systems were stable and well-synchronized.

Developed over the past two years, Frogs was designed as an alternative mode of transportation for remote areas throughout the country. The airborne taxi is meant to accommodate cargo and military equipment, as well as assist in emergency evacuations during disasters.

We hope to finally be able to make it available for commercial use soon. It all depends on the regulations. As far as we know, there has yet to be any policy that regulates airborne electric taxis in Indonesia, Jefry said. (rfa)
Stephanie Davis and her daughter Janiyah, who is in fourth grade, will be among president Trump's special guests at his State of the Union address this evening. Read more

A Philadelphia mother and her fourth-grade daughter made a special appearance Tuesday night as guests for President Donald Trumps State of the Union address.

Stephanie Davis and daughter Janiyah sat in the gallery as the president spoke. He talked directly to the girl while discussing his plans for school choice and federal tax credits.

Janiyah, I have some good news for you. 'Cause I am pleased to inform you that your long wait is over. I can proudly announce tonight that an opportunity scholarship has become available, is going to you, and you will soon be heading to the school of your choice, Trump said.

The scholarship is being provided to Janiyah directly from U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who in her personal capacity donates her salary every year to various organizations, according to a Department of Education spokesperson.

The president praised Davis for wanting to get her daughter into a better school. Janiyah had been on a waiting list for a school-choice scholarship.

While Davis, a single parent, would do anything to give her daughter a better future, Trump said, that future was put further out of reach when Pennsylvanias governor vetoed legislation to expand school choice.

Trump urged Congress to pass legislation to expand school-choice scholarships across the country.

Janiyah, who loves art and math, has been assigned to low-performing schools, according to a White House statement earlier in the day. The mother and daughter were not available for interviews and the White House did not name which school she attends.

 READ MORE: Trump uses State of the Union to campaign; Pelosi rips up speech

Pennsylvanias school-choice programs  which provide tax credits to businesses in exchange for donating to scholarships for students to attend private schools  have been an ongoing debate.

Last year, Republican House Speaker Mike Turzai tried to nearly double the program with a bill that would have grown it by $100 million, enabled it to increase automatically in the future, and upped income limits for participating families to $126,216 a year for a family of four.

But in June, Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, vetoed the legislation, saying it had diverged from the programs mission of lifting people out of poverty and didnt provide accountability for state tax dollars, at a time when many public schools are struggling with funding. He and lawmakers later agreed to a budget that increased the program by $25 million. (The governor defended his record at a Wednesday event, describing Trumps criticism as "some posturing going on there.)

Vice President Mike Pence will visit St. Francis de Sales School in West Philadelphia on Wednesday for an event marking School Choice Week.

Davis and her daughter were among a handful Philadelphians attending the address, including Sister Mary Scullion, Philadelphias nationally renowned expert on homelessness, who was to be a guest of the local congressional delegation.

Democratic Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon of Delaware County invited West Philadelphia native Kevin Harden, a gun violence survivor and lawyer. Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean of Montgomery County invited Patrick Flynn, who struggled with opioid addiction for 10 years and is now an activist. Democratic Rep. Andy Kim of Burlington County invited Melissa and Gianna DiMona of Medford Lakes, who lost two family members in separate military training accidents.
Chinas most festive holiday has got under way in the shadow of the outbreak of coronavirus, as the death toll surpassed 40.

An unprecedented national lockdown that has kept people from travelling was expanded to more than 50 million residents, and authorities cancelled a host of Lunar New Year events.

The National Health Commission reported a jump in the number of infected people to 1,287, with 41 deaths.

The latest tally comes from 29 provinces and cities across China and includes 237 patients in serious condition.

People wearing face masks walk under a canopy decorated for the Lunar New Year (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

All 41 deaths have been in China, including 39 in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, and one each in Hebei and Heilongjiang provinces.

Health authorities in the city of Hechi in Guangxi province said that a two-year-old girl from Wuhan had been diagnosed with the illness after arriving in the city.

Australia announced its first case on Saturday, a Chinese man in his fifties who last week returned from China.

Malaysia said three people tested positive on Friday, all relatives of a father and son from Wuhan who had been diagnosed with the virus earlier in neighbouring Singapore.

France said that three people had fallen ill with the virus  the diseases first appearance in Europe.

And the United States reported its second case, a Chicago woman in her 60s who was hospitalised in isolation after returning from China.

China added three cities to those cut off from transportation, bringing the total to 16 in Hubei province and covering a population greater than that of New York, London, Paris and Moscow combined.

Authorities are trying to limit further spread of the disease by preventing people from leaving Wuhan, the city of 11 million where the outbreak originated, and the surrounding area.

Story continues

The Chinese military dispatched 450 medical staff, some with experience in past outbreaks including Sars and Ebola, who arrived in Wuhan late on Friday night to help treat the many patients hospitalised with viral pneumonia, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The new virus comes from a large family of what are known as coronaviruses, some causing nothing worse than a cold.

Symptoms include cough and fever and in more severe cases shortness of breath and pneumonia, which can be fatal.

Sars, which started in China in late 2002 and killed more than 750 people, was a coronavirus.

It is not clear how lethal the new coronavirus is, or even whether it is as dangerous as the ordinary flu, which kills tens of thousands of people every year in the US alone.

A man pushes a child in a stroller wearing a face mask past decorations for a cancelled Lunar New Year temple fair (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

The rapid increase in reported deaths and illnesses does not necessarily mean the crisis is getting worse.

It could instead reflect better monitoring and reporting of the newly discovered virus, which can cause cold and flu-like symptoms, including cough, fever and shortness of breath, but can worsen to pneumonia.

The National Health Commission said Saturday that it is bringing in medical teams from outside Hubei to help handle the outbreak, a day after videos circulating online showed frantic people in masks lined up for examinations and complaints that family members had been turned away at hospitals that were at capacity.

The Ministry of Commerce is coordinating an effort to supply more than two million masks and other products from elsewhere in the country, Xinhua said.

Wuhan is building a 1,000-bed prefab hospital to deal with the crisis, to be completed February 3.

It will be modelled on a Sars hospital that was built in Beijing in just six days during the 2003 outbreak.

With Chinese authorities afraid that public gatherings will hasten the spread of the virus, the outbreak put a damper on Lunar New Year.

Temples locked their doors, Beijings Forbidden City, Shanghai Disneyland and other major tourist destinations closed, and people cancelled restaurant reservations ahead of the holiday, normally a time of family reunions, sightseeing trips, fireworks displays and other festivities in the country of 1.4 billion people.

The vast majority of cases have been in and around Wuhan or involved people who visited the city or had personal connections to those infected.

About two dozen cases in all have been confirmed outside mainland China, nearly all of them in Asia: Hong Kong, Macao, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Nepal, Australia and Malaysia.

While most of the deaths have been older patients, a 36-year-old man in Hubei died on Thursday.
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Another sneaker wave warning is in effect for the Oregon coast.

The National Weather Service issued a sneaker wave warning for the southern Oregon coast Monday, effective Tuesday morning through Tuesday evening.

The warning applies to Douglas, Coos and Curry counties  essentially, the Oregon coast south of Florence.

Sneaker waves are unexpected surges of water that often come during stormy conditions on the coast. Its easy for beachgoers to get caught up in the waves, which can drag people into the ocean or trap them under large logs and heavy pieces of driftwood.

READ MORE: 5 things you need to know to stay safe from sneaker waves

In January, two kids from Portland died after being swept into the ocean by what their family described as a sneaker wave. They were on an off-beach trail near Cape Falcon on the northern coast at the time the wave hit, which also injured their father.

The weather service said people should stay off beaches, jetties and rocks near the water while the warning is in effect.

--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB
Why Dutch fishermen want to continue working in British waters under any new Brexit trade agreement

February 04,2020 | Source: ITV

"We have fished there [UK waters] for the last 400 years and we want to continue doing so for the next 400 years.



"We dont want give up one kilo," says Diek Parlevliet, chairman of the Dutch Fish Marketing Board.



As the UK and the EU aim to settle a fisheries deal, its clear the Dutch are not in a charitable mood. At best they might maintain the status quo and continue fishing in UK waters - at worst they fear access will be denied or limited and they will lose out.



Visting the Dutch port of Den Helder its clear theyre nervous.



Guido Betsema has spent 35 years at sea. He fishes for sole and plaice, spending 80 per cent of his time in UK waters.



"Im afraid that the UK say: "Stop. No fishing in our waters.'"



Hed prefer nothing to change, arguing that everyone in both the UK and EU is earning a living at the moment and there is no need to rock the boat.



Fishing is a tiny industry that would barely dent UK finances if it ceased to exist - and fishermen in the UK are worried they will be traded away by the politicians for more valuable industries.



What they want is a fairer share of the fish and anything other than would be unacceptable to the British fleet.

 ITV plc 2020

Theme(s): Post Harvest Technology and Trade.
Some youth groups within the Ashanti Region have vowed to stop the mining of bauxite in the Nyinahin forest reserve over what they say is lack of transparency by the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) in its dealings with the host communities.

The groups have also called for the immediate dissolution of the GIADEC Board.

According to the group, the leadership of the host communities have no representation on the recently constituted board.

In January 2020, traditional authorities within the Tano-Offin Forest Reserve enclave in a statement accused the corporation of opaqueness as far as plans to mine bauxite in the area was concerned.

Speaking at a news conference in Kumasi, the spokesperson for a traditional youth group, the Asante Kotoko Society, Nana Oti Awere asked GIADEC to be open in its dealings with the people.

The GIADEC board is following old fashions and principles to come and destroy our area. We are not going to allow that. So we call on the government to ask GIADEC to withdraw the tender however far they've gone.

We also call on the government to dissolve the board of GIADEC because Asanteman has very little say on the board and we can't allow that to happen. If they dare ignore what we are saying now and try to come to Nyinahin to mine any bauxite, there will be fireworks. I assure you, he threatened.

NGOs refutes claims by GIADEC

The Coalition of NGOs Against mining Atewa (CONAMA) had earlier asked the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation to stop misinforming the Ghanaian Public on the bauxite development agenda.

This came after GIADEC said the environment and especially river bodies which take their source from the Atewa forest will not be affected in any way.

But a statement issued by CONAMA and signed by Daryl Bosu indicated that the figures given by GIADEC did not make clear the quantity of bauxite available for mining.

GIADEC advised by Asantehene

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II in July 2019 urged the board and the management of GIADEC to adopt best practices that will ensure responsible and sustainable mining.

This call was made when a delegation from GIADEC paid a courtesy call on him at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.

The Asantehene also urged the firm to ensure that they duly engage with communities that will be affected by their activities.

---citinewsroom
Hundreds of residents of a remote Indonesian island protested Monday at the government's decision to use it to quarantine evacuees from the Chinese city at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak. Indonesia has evacuated 237 citizens and one foreign national, married to an Indonesian, from Wuhan. The evacuees, mostly students, landed Sunday and will be quarantined for 14 days on Natuna island, which lies between Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia. "The government's decision to quarantine Indonesians who returned from China has made people feel uneasy, so we strongly reject it," Fadillah, one of the protesters who like many Indonesians goes with one name, told AFP. The protesters, wearing green surgical masks, demonstrated in front of the local parliament building, demanding the local authorities relocate the evacuation centre away from a residential area. "Whatever the reason and the explanation, we don't believe it. We believe this virus is very dangerous for people in Natuna," Fadillah said. In response to the growing protest on the island, President Joko Widodo said the returnees had to be quarantined to ensure they were in good health before they can return home. "Those people are healthy, however several stages are needed in health protocol before they can be returned to their family," Widodo said. Following the evacuees' arrival on Natuna, the local government has shut down schools for two weeks and urged students to limit outdoor activities. The coronavirus epidemic has infected more than 17,000 people across China and reached 24 nations, although Indonesia has not reported any confirmed cases so far.
The Airbus bribery scandal led to another fallout after two chiefs of budget carrier AirAsia stepped aside for at least two months amid investigations launched in several countries. AirAsia said that its chief executive officer (CEO) Tony Fernandes and executive chairman Kamarudin Meranun would step aside immediately.

The development came after Airbus SE agreed to pay a fine of $ 4 billion after reaching an agreement with prosecutors in Britain, France and the United States. UKs serious fraud office (SFO) announced the record-breaking Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with Airbus SE after it started the probe in August 2016.

The company was accused of using external consultants to bribe customers to buy its civilian and military aircraft and the indictment covered five counts of failure to prevent bribery. The bribery scandal involved Airbus Commercial and Defence & Space divisions in five jurisdictions, including Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia, from 2011 to 2015.

Read: Fraud At Airbus: European Courts Weigh $4 Billion Plea Deal

'Endemic in two core business areas'

As part of the DPA, which will be in force until January 2023, the has agreed to fully cooperate with the SFO in any future investigations and prosecutions. Dame Victoria Sharp, President of the Queens Bench Division (QBD), in her judgement, said that the seriousness of the criminality in this case hardly needs to be spelt out.

The conduct took place over many years. It is no exaggeration to describe the investigation it gave rise to as worldwide, extending into every continent in which Airbus operates, said Sharp.

The number of countries subject to intense criminal investigation by the various agencies, and the scale and scope of the wrongdoing disclosed in the Statement of Facts demonstrate that bribery was to the extent indicated, endemic in two core business areas within Airbus, she added.

Read: Airbus Nears Settlements With US, UK, French Investigators

SFO Director Lisa Osofsky said that Airbus paid bribes through agents around the world to stack the decks in its favour and win contracts around the globe. She added that the conduct of Airbus undermines free trade and fair development and credited the company for admitting its culpability.

Read: File Status Report On Money Laundering Probe Against AirAsia Officials, HC Tells ED

Read: ED Summons AirAsia's Tony Fernandes & Top Mgmt In Connection With Money Laundering Case
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) called on the Senate to vote to censure President Donald Trump for his effort to coerce Ukraine into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden since it will not vote to remove the president from office.

I must be realistic: I see no path to the 67 votes required to impeach President Trump and havent since this trial started, Manchin said Monday on the Senate floor. However, I do believe a bipartisan majority of this body would vote to censure President Trump for his actions.

His behavior cannot go unchecked by the Senate, and censure would allow a bipartisan statement condemning his unacceptable behavior in the strongest terms, Manchin added.

As the impeachment trial has wound to its close, a number of Republican senators have said they disapprove of the presidents conduct but will not vote to convict and remove him from office. Manchins push for a censure resolution would provide them with a way to register their disapproval without removing Trump from office.

Manchin followed his statement by introducing a resolution to condemn [Trumps] wrongful conduct in the strongest terms.

Unlike impeachment, censure is not mentioned in the Constitution as a remedy for a president caught abusing their power. Manchins suggestion would simply act as a nonbinding resolution stating that the Senate senses Trumps behavior was wrong.

In this image from video, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) speaks on the Senate floor Monday about the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump. (Senate Television via AP)

Only two presidents  Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan  have been named in censure resolutions adopted by either the House or the Senate. Numerous other censure resolutions targeting presidents have been introduced over the years, including for the last two presidents to face impeachment, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.

As of Monday afternoon, when Manchin made a speech on the Senate floor, he said he was undecided on conviction and truly struggling with this decision.

I know this was not a difficult decision for many of my friends and colleagues on...

Continue reading on HuffPost
3M has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury in connection to discharges from a chemical plant in northern Alabama that may not have complied with permit requirements.

Michael Roman, the Minnesota-based companys CEO, announced the subpoena during an investor conference call last week, WHNT-TV reported. The company faced lawsuits and public scrutiny last year after it was accused of releasing chemicals from its factory in Decatur into the Tennessee River without disclosing its actions.

As previously disclosed in 2019, 3M discovered and voluntarily informed the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and appropriate state authorities that discharges from our Decatur, Alabama, facility may not have complied with permit requirements, Roman said during Tuesdays call. We immediately idled the relevant processes and took steps to address these issues.

In September 2019, 3M halted some work related to fluoropolymer manufacturing at its Decatur plant to work with environmental regulators on compliance issues. Substances known as PFAS are used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease and water.

The subpoena was filed in late December by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Alabama, Roman said. U.S. Attorney Jay Town declined WHNT-TVs request for comment.

We are cooperating with this inquiry, Roman said.

Its unclear whether the grand jury has completed its work or whether the investigation is still ongoing.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Alabama Pollution Numbers Chemicals
But politicians associated with the ruling Justice and Development Party government also espoused regressive positions such as pushing a debate on whether adultery should be a criminal offense, describing abortion as tantamount to murder and describing women who prefer working outside the home to maternity as half persons. In November 2014, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that women are not equal to men because of biological differences, and he has, on several occasions, called on Turkish families to have at least three children.

After the national outrage following Ms. Ozdemirs murder, the Interior Ministry introduced a ruling requiring training security forces and the confiscation of licensed guns from men accused of domestic violence and from men against whom courts have issued restraining orders.

But the crisis cannot be tackled merely by enacting new legislation. Existing laws must be enforced, and the police need to respond efficiently and seriously to calls for help from women. In 2016, according to a report by a group of gender experts at the Council of Europe, 55,757 women applied for state protection after facing domestic violence, but only 9,429 of those women were provided shelter.

According to Turkish law, the applications of women seeking protection from violence are to be handled within 24 hours by the courts without requiring any evidence. The court may restrain a man accused of domestic violence from visiting the family house or the childrens school up to six months. It may restrict his communication with family members and confiscate his licensed gun. If he violates the order, he may be imprisoned.

A woman and her children may be settled in a shelter affiliated with the government, local administrations or a nongovernmental organization. Without protective measures, economic support and psychological support, restraining orders are mere pieces of paper, often found in the bags of women murdered in Turkey.

Sentences meted out to perpetrators of violence against women are often lenient, and judges regularly reduce their jail terms. Quite frequently, the sentences are reduced simply on the basis of an accused or convicted mans appearance. Men who wear neckties and suits during their court appearances get their sentences reduced so often that Turks have coined a phrase for the phenomenon: tie reduction.

Turkey also needs to confront and reform the practice of the conditional release of men accused of domestic violence. The authorities do not inform victims when they release men who were arrested or detained for domestic violence. Last month, a man who was on a short release from an open prison with permission from the authorities stabbed his wife 20 times and then surrendered to the police.
ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Oregon has lost 420,000 acres of forests, pastures, and other open spaces to urban sprawl since 1982 -- an area about two-thirds the size of Rhode Island. That's among the key findings of a new environmental study published today by NumbersUSA.

"Urban sprawl, which is chiefly caused by rapid population growth, has devastated Oregon's natural landscapes and ecosystems," said Leon Kolankiewicz, an environmental planner and co-author of the study. "If such growth continues in Oregon and across the country, it'll have catastrophic and irreversible impacts on the environment -- and on Americans' health and quality of life."

The meticulously researched 114-page study, titled "Population Growth & Sprawl in Oregon," examines how a 55 percent increase in Oregon's population -- from 2.66 million in 1982 to 4.14 million in 2017 -- has affected everything from biodiversity to traffic congestion.

"We can't preserve natural habitats and open spaces without stabilizing population growth," said Eric Ruark, director of research at NumbersUSA and co-author of the study. "That's true for Oregon in particular and the United States as a whole."

The study, which is the latest in a series of state-focused reports, finds that Oregon has suffered:

Significant loss of biodiversity, including the near-extinction of 16 species of mammals, 8 species of birds, 4 species of reptiles, and 25 species of fish.

Increases in traffic, pollution, and school crowding.

A 16 percent decrease in viable cropland and 13 percent decrease in pastureland between 1982 and 2015.

Nationwide, developers have erased 19 million acres of forestland, 11 million acres of cropland, and 13 million acres of pasture and rangeland since 1982 to accommodate America's growing cities and towns.

"This is not a sustainable path, and it's not one that fully-informed Oregonians -- or Americans -- would choose," said Kolankiewicz.

A link to the full report can be found here. Additional studies on sprawl can be found at NumbersUSA.org.

To request an interview with Leon Kolankiewicz or Eric Ruark, authors of "Population Growth & Sprawl in Oregon," please contact Emma Hecker at 202-471-4228 ext. 119 or [email protected].

About NumbersUSA

NumbersUSA Education & Research Foundation educates opinion leaders, policymakers and the public on immigration legislation, policies and their consequences. We favor reductions in immigration numbers toward traditional levels that would allow present and future generations of Americans to enjoy a stabilizing U.S. population and a high degree of individual liberty, mobility, environmental quality, worker fairness and fiscal responsibility.

SOURCE NumbersUSA

Related Links

http://www.NumbersUSA.org


To the Times:

The Republican senators are about to acquit President Trump of all the impeachment charges  not because he didnt commit them (the evidence is overwhelming) but because they dont rise to the level of impeachment.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., actually admitted this reasoning. Hes going to vote against further witnesses because the Democrats have proven their case, and he doesnt need additional proof. (Then he will vote to acquit.)

Lets examine this. Richard Nixon was facing impeachment, and eventually forced to resign, because although he said I am not a crook, his cronies burgled the Watergate Hotel. He was in on the planning, he arranged the funding, and he covered it up. He was a crook, too.

Now we have Donald Trump. Its true, he didnt burgle anybody. His actions were more in the line of a mob boss; he extorted election interference from the Ukraine. He did this by dangling a White House meeting with their president and by withholding millions of dollars of defense aid to this ally, who was literally fending off the Russian wolf at their very door. (Who would do that?) This offense is several magnitudes worse than the simple burgling of an apartment, yet the Republicans say that it doesnt rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors.

So whereas before we wouldnt tolerate a crook, now we will tolerate the mob boss, who likely employs dozens, if not hundreds, of crooks. Its indefensible. What is our country coming to?

David Williams, Media

Shady folks

To the Times:

To say that Donald Trump runs government like an organized crime boss would be an understatement. He is surrounded by shady operators. He uses Twitter to kneecap anyone who strays or as a threat to any one of his lieutenants in the Senate. If all else fails he has an army of radicals willing to do anything he asks and weve seen the dangers of that.

Its amazing how Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham and others in the Republican family-friendly Senate went from haughty never Trumpers to actual profiles in cowardice as they have abandoned all the good sense of the Constitution and will now allow this man to govern as he pleases.

Edmund Burke must have foreseen this when he said, The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Here we are, we citizens must decide between a raging, undisciplined executive or the Constitution in November. We must do the right thing or the founders idea of functional democracy is dead.

Roy Lehman, Woolwich Township, N.J.
USA: Brian C. Turner Named Assistant Director of the Operational Technology Division

Director Christopher Wray has named Brian C. Turner as the assistant director of the Operational Technology Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington. Mr. Turner most recently served as the special agent in charge of the New Haven Field Office in Connecticut.

The Operational Technology Division provides technology-based solutions to enable and enhance the FBIs intelligence, national security, and law enforcement operations.

Mr. Turner began his FBI career as a special agent in 2002. After graduating from the FBI Academy, he was assigned to the Philadelphia Field Office to investigate white-collar crimes and criminal enterprises and to support surveillance operations. In 2008, he deployed to Iraq to support FBI operational priorities in the region.

When Mr. Turner returned later in the year, he was assigned to the Fly Team of the Counterterrorism Division at Headquarters. He routinely deployed to Africa to support the divisions overseas mission to combat global terrorist threats.

In 2012, Mr. Turner was transferred to the Tucson Resident Agency of the Phoenix Field Office, where he supervised a criminal enterprise squad that targeted violent criminal activity of Mexican drug cartels along the U.S. border. He later supervised the Tucson Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Mr. Turner was promoted in January 2016 to assistant special agent in charge of criminal and administrative programs in the Minneapolis Field Office. In 2017, he was promoted to section chief in the International Operations Division at Headquarters, where he oversaw the FBIs legal attache operations in Europe, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia. Director Wray named him SAC of the New Haven Field Office in 2018.

Mr. Turner earned a bachelors degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served in the U.S. Army for about 10 years. He also taught at West Point before joining the FBI. Mr. Turner earned a masters degree from Long Island University.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
President Donald Trump, it seems, keeps finding more countries that just dont measure up.

On Friday, more or less from out of the blue -- which is how so much that comes out of this White House gets announced -- Trump expanded his travel ban by adding six more nations, most of them largely Muslim. The reason, ostensibly? Because those looking to come to the United States are not always properly screened.

And if you believe that, you likely bought the rationale for the initial travel ban that this administration instituted soon after assuming office. That ban, of course, barred travel from several mostly Muslim-majority nations. The bottom line, both back then and today, is that Trump got elected by appealing to the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim attitudes of some of those who feel left out, marginalized, forgotten. Not all of them, of course, are basing those beliefs on racial animus or religious bigotry. But a good number are.

By way of reminder, for those who don't exactly recall the initial travel ban and the nightmare it caused across the land and around the globe: In late January 2017, just days after Trump moved into the White House, he announced a ban on travel to the United States for those from seven majority-Muslim countries. The ban was revised, and revised again, after a host of court challenges. It now includes citizens from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea. The reasoning? Just trying to keep the citizens safe, don't you know.

The move -- ill-considered, poorly planned, seemingly xenophobic more than anything else -- set the tone for much of what was to come. Three years later, Trump has apparently learned exactly nothing from that misguided venture.

Because now comes a new ban that adds six more countries to the list: Nigeria, Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar. And the reasons given, not surprisingly, are just the same as before -- to keep our nation safe from terrorists. If that were really the reason, wouldnt Russia, home of not a few whod like to do us harm, be on the restricted list? Of course, but its not included because the safety of the citizenry is only a ploy.
Lucknow, Feb 4 : Even as anti-citizenship protests continue to rage across the country, the Lucknow University has queered the pitch by demanding citizenship proof from RTI applicants.

The Lucknow University (LU) refused to provide the information sought by the people who filed the Right to Information (RTI) unless they furnished the proof that they were Indian citizens.

Alok Chantia, one of the RTI applicants who was refused information by the varsity, said that he had lodged a complaint with the vice-chancellor of the varsity but even then he could not get the desired information.

"It is shocking how the university has twisted the RTI law as per its whims and fancy. It does not have any authority to do so," said the RTI applicant.

Chantia, also a faculty member at a degree college here, had sought details of appointment of teachers for self-financed courses and their pay scale.

"It is possible that some applicants who may not be familiar with the provisions of the RTI, may have furnished proof of their citizenship to the varsity to get the information but that cannot become a rule," he pointed out.

When contacted, university officials admitted that such a practice had been going on in the varsity for the past few years.

"This practice started during the tenure of the former vice-chancellor S.P. Singh and still continues," said a senior varsity official.

--IANS
The National Technical Coordinating Committee will today Monday meet to review arrangements to prevent the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.

The Committee of experts was constituted last week to plan for possible cases of the coronavirus in Ghana.

The Ministry of Health in a statement last week said the meeting will be to review the resilience of our current arrangements to prevent an outbreak of the virus.

The coronavirus has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO) after the outbreak was discovered and begun to spread outside China.

So far, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has designated the Ridge Hospital and the Tema General Hospital as initial case management centres.

Regional directors of health have also been instructed to designate treatment centres in their respective regions.

The Minister of Health and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration will on February 4, 2020, brief Parliament on the government's preparedness towards dealing with the coronavirus. Ghanaian students stranded

Meanwhile, the China chapter of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has called on the Government to evacuate all Ghanaian students in China within the next three days

The Union expressed fears over the wellbeing of Ghanaian students in the country.

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, reopening dates for most universities in China have been postponed indefinitely, leaving international students stranded.

Several countries including the United States of America and Australia have evacuated their citizens from China.

---citinewsroom
China's coronavirus outbreak showed no signs of abating as the death toll rose sharply to 426 with more than 20,000 confirmed cases, amid a shocking report of Chinese officials silencing a doctor in Wuhan who first reported the presence of the deadly virus in December last year.

China, which has intensified its efforts to contain the spread of the virus, on Monday opened a 1,000-bed makeshift hospital built in record nine days in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

Another 1,300 bed hospital is set to be ready on Wednesday. Both will be run by hundreds of military medical personnel.

Authorities in Wuhan on Tuesday said they would build eight more mobile cabin hospitals to treat the patients, China Daily reported.

The total number of cases soared to 20,522 raising concerns over its increasing virulence, China's National Health Commission reported on Tuesday.

Monday saw 64 deaths with 3,235 new confirmed cases mostly in Hubei province, from where India evacuated 647 of its citizens during the weekend.

The Commission said that the condition of 492 people remained serious while another 5,072 new suspected cases have been reported on Monday.

On Tuesday, Hong Kong, which has 15 confirmed cases, reported its first coronavirus death. Macao reported eight cases and Taiwan 10.

All the Chinese cities including Beijing have been reporting daily increase in the cases of the virus, which has no cure yet.

In the midst of growing concerns over the spread of the virus, a shocking story has emerged on how local Chinese officials suppressed and harassed a doctor in Wuhan who raised the alarm about the virus in December last year.

Li Wenliang dropped a bombshell on his medical school alumni group on the popular Chinese messaging app WeChat that seven patients from a local seafood market had been diagnosed with a SARS-like illness and quarantined in his hospital, CNN reported.

Li explained that, according to a test he had seen, the illness was a coronavirus -- a large family of viruses that includes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) which led to 800 death in China and the world in 2003.

The 34-year-old doctor working in Wuhan told his friends to warn their loved ones privately. But within hours screenshots of his messages had gone viral -- without his name being blurred.

He was one of several medics targeted by police for trying to blow the whistle on the deadly virus in the early weeks of the outbreak, the CNN report said.

The virus has now spread to over 20 countries.

The Philippines reported the first overseas death from the virus on Sunday while 159 cases have been reported from abroad so far, according to the Commission. India has reported three cases of the coronavirus. All the three patients from Kerala recently returned from the affected Wuhan city.

India on Tuesday further tightened visa rules by cancelling the existing visas for Chinese and foreigners who had visited the country in the last two weeks.

On February 2, India temporarily suspended e-visa facility for Chinese travellers and foreigners residing in China in view of the coronavirus outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Currently, 647 Indians and seven Maldivians, who have been evacuated from Wuhan and Hubei are in 14-day quarantine at a medical camp in Manesar, near Delhi.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told the media here that 16 foreigners have been infected with the virus in China.

She, however, declined to provide details of their nationalities in her Tuesday media briefing, citing privacy concerns.

According to reports, those infected included four Pakistanis and two Australians. Wuhan has thousands of foreigners as it is an education hub. Hundreds of Pakistani have been pleading with their government to evacuate them citing successful evacuation by the Indian government.

China has struggled to contain the virus despite implementing unprecedented measures, including virtually locking down more than 50 million people in Hubei.

While the virus cases increased by the hour, Chinese health officials attributed the spiralling rate of cases and the death toll to shortages of hospitals mainly Hubei and its provincial capital Wuhan.

Also Chinese officials have converted the national auditorium and gymnasium in Wuhan into a hospital to exclusively treat growing number of coronavirus cases.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday that the outbreak of the deadly virus does not yet constitute a "pandemic".

A Chinese health official argued on Tuesday that the current case fatality rate (CFR) of the novel coronavirus infection on the Chinese mainland has dropped to 2.1 per cent.

The CFR remained stable after an initial 2.3 per cent recorded at the beginning of the outbreak, Jiao Yahui from the National Health Commission told a media briefing here on epidemic.

The CFR is calculated by dividing the number of deaths by the number of individuals diagnosed with the disease.

"China is going all out to improve admission and survival rates and reduce infection and fatality rates," Jiao said.

"This fatality rate is pretty low in other regions in China. So we are very confident, and there is no need for panic," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
During the first day of an attempt to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy, upset residents wait in line to sign the official Recall Dunleavy petition at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks on Thursday. At least 200 people signed the petition in the first five minutes, according to organizers. Aug. 1, 2019. Robin Wood for the News-Miner
Another year, another awards season where both the BAFTAs and the Oscars are (rightly) harangued for snubbing female filmmakers and people of colour. So much so that a procession of winners at the former, including Joaquin Phoenix, called out blinkered voters in their acceptance speeches.

Conceived as an antidote to the patriarchal norm, the fourth annual Melbourne Women in Film Festival (MWFF) is expanding. Founded by artistic director and movie academic Sian Mitchell to platform Australian female filmmakers both emerging and established, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands are brought into the fold this year.

Scene from the film Births, Deaths and Marriages, Bea Joblin's debut indie from New Zealand.

There will be a rare retrospective of Jane Campions short films, and the festival opens with Vai, a portmanteau feature created by nine female directors across seven Pacific islands.

It can be quite daunting [for emerging female filmmakers] to hear all these statistics getting floated around and wonder, oh God, am I gonna be able to have a career? Mitchell says. Im hoping the festival is a way of saying, actually, yeah, you can.
"I get it, and if I was sitting in your shoes, I'd be just as concerned as you are. I absolutely would be concerned," Flores replied.

Flores' response, Ezell states in the report, "may have been subsequently interpreted by Mr. Spejewski in a manner that led to him believing Cmdr. Flores had made the statement, 'We're wasting too much time on a runaway.'"

"It is likely Mr. Spejewski was unable to take comfort in Flores's responses," the report adds.

Flores told The Times Monday he wants current officers to keep the family's concerns in mind, and all officers will be briefed on the case in March.

"It was completely tragic, and I can't express enough on how bad I feel for them and what they went through," Flores said. "I can't even imagine for a second going through what they went through."

Flores said the most important thing is making sure Lanham and Grill receive justice.

'Let down yet again'
Burma Myanmar Opium Cultivation in Decline: UN Report

A farmer harvests poppy in southern Shan State in December 2018. / Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint / The Irrawaddy

CHIANG MAI, ThailandOpium cultivation in Myanmar decreased last year, continuing the downward trend that started in 2014 due in part to the continuing shift in the regional drug market towards synthetic drugs, according to a new UN survey.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Myanmar Opium Survey 2019, released on Tuesday in Naypyitaw, the amount of land cultivated for opium dropped 11 percent in 2019 to 33,100 hectares (ha), continuing the downward trend from 57,600 ha in 2014.

Decreases were observed in Shan States northern, eastern and southern areas with drops of 7, 8 and 17 percent respectively, but cultivation increased slightly in Kachin State, up 15 percent from 2018.

Despite the declines, the UNODC said that the highest levels of cultivation continue to take place in unstable and conflict prone areas of Shan and Kachin.

It added that opium cultivation, heroin production and trafficking, and the evolving illicit drug economy, including heroin and synthetic drugs, are affecting peace and stability in the country and surrounding border areas.

Shan and Kachin states are Myanmars main opium producing areas and UNODC focused its 2019 survey on these states. In 2018, Chin and Kayah states were included in the survey. UNODC conducts the Myanmar Opium Survey jointly with the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) under Myanmars Ministry of Home Affairs.

Shan State now accounts for 85 percent of total cultivation in Myanmar but the area under cultivation dropped 14 percent to 28,000 ha in 2019, continuing a downward trend that started in 2015 when Shan had an estimated 50,300 ha of cultivation. Shan State had 36,100 ha in 2018 and 41,000 hectares in 2017.

Inshik Sim, Drug Program Analyst for the UNODC Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, told The Irrawaddy in an email that opium poppy cultivation in Kachin State is largely concentrated in the north-western zone of Tanai Township and the area east from Myitkyina city next to the international border with China, referring to an area controlled by the military-backed Kachin border guard force, the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K). NDA-K controls part of Sadung (Sadone), a sub-township in Waingmaw Township bordering China, and partly controls the Sadung-Kan Paik Ti (Kan Pike Tee) trade route.

UNODC faced criticism from the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in February last year over its 2018 report which said that the highest concentrations of opium cultivation in the country are in areas under the armed groups control.

The KIO then released its own survey in June 2019 of over 10,000 ha in Kachin and northern Shan State which compiled information collected between July 2018 and March 2019 and showed that opium production did not decline but has actually increased in the area.

According to the UNODC report, in 2019 poppies were grown in high concentrations in the eastern part of northern Shan, where multiple armed groupsethnic armed revolutionary groups and military-back militias and military troopsare based, but the majority of northern Shan region presents areas with medium cultivation levels.

The survey collected information from analyses of satellite imagery as well as field visits to opium poppy-growing villages to interview farmers and to measure yields of opium capsules.

As some areas, in particular Kachin and North Shan, are in conflicts, ensuring security of our staff was one of the major challenges. It needs close coordination with the government and analyses of the security situation, Sim added.

Jeremy Douglas, Regional Representative of the UNODC Regional Office, said that UNODC will continue to work with Myanmar and communities in Shan to assist the transition from opium to sustainable economic alternatives and also to discuss options to help Kachin, given the situation and needs there.

The Myanmar government also pledged further cooperation with the UN agency and said it would provide more support to opium producing areas.

We will also expand collaboration with Mekong MOU countries and UNODC to address organized crime and the production and cross-border trafficking of drugs and precursor chemicals, Minister of Home Affairs Lieutenant General Kyaw Swe said in the UNODC statement.

Major international organized crime groups are using conflict areas in the north to source heroin and produce and traffic synthetic drugs, said Douglas. They have the access to territory and relationships they need to do business.

The situation here is having a profound impact on the broader Asia Pacific regionit is in everyones interests to address the illicit drug economy in Myanmar and the Mekong, he added.

Later this month, UNODC will convene a meeting among senior law enforcement officials from Southeast Asia and other regionsEast Asia, South Asia and North America as well as Australiato exchange information and develop concrete action-oriented plans.

In addition to geographic information, the report also documented the average opium yield per hectare and data on opium prices and markets. The average yield in Myanmar was estimated at 15.4 kg per hectare for 2019, a 9 percent increase from 2018.

The price for fresh opium declined by more than 60 percent between 2015 and 2019. The report showed that the amount farmers themselves are paid for opium has continued to decrease, dropping 4-7 percent between 2018 and 2019, with the total decrease over the last four years totaling a staggering 51-63 percent.

Domestic heroin consumption and export also decreased in 2019. Myanmar consumed 6 tons of heroin in 2019, valued at US$152-290 million, down from 7.6 tons valued at $238- 401 million in 2018. Myanmar exported 23-52 tons of heroin in 2019, generating as much as a billion dollars domestically. In 2018, the country exported 20-45 tons of heroin, worth as much as $1.8 billion.

The report noted that these trends can be an indication of a decreased demand for opiates from Myanmar in the country and the region.

Sim added that opium poppy cultivation has decreased in part due to assistance for opium poppy farmers to switch to alternative sources of income.

However, it is also important to note that the drug markets in Myanmar and neighboring countries are rapidly changing, from opiates (heroin and opium) to synthetic drugs, in particular methamphetamine, said Sim. One of the major challenges in the region is trafficking of precursor chemicals (drug making chemicals) into drug manufacturing sites.

UNODC recently initiated a program to improve control of precursor chemicals in the region. The program has begun to shift the strategies of Southeast Asian countries from merely focusing on drug seizures to addressing flows of precursor chemicals.

Although demand for heroin continues to drop, organized crime groups still generate substantial revenues from the drug in Myanmar.

Opium cultivation and heroin production in Myanmar also continue to pose significant public health and security challenges for Southeast Asia and neighboring countries, including East Asia and Australia.

An estimated 3 million heroin users remain in the region, with the retail market generating approximately $10 billion annually.
SIOUX CITY -- The head of the Woodbury County Democratic Party said he encountered problems when he tested a new app to report presidential caucus night results to the state party. So, he advised all county precinct captains to be ready to call in results instead Monday night.

A similar wary feeling was held by the Plymouth County Democratic Party chairman, who also warned precinct officials to be on watch for tech problems in reporting results.

The blame game blew through Iowa on Tuesday, with people in the state and nation debating whether the lateness of Democratic Party presidential caucus results would end Iowa's first-in-the-nation status.

"People are upset and angry ... Nobody wanted it to happen," Woodbury County Democratic Party Chairman Jeremy Dumkrieger said just before noon Tuesday.

Democrats hoped Iowa's caucuses would provide some clarity for what has been a muddled nomination fight for the past year. But apparent technology issues delayed the results as the state party suggested turnout was on track to match 2016 numbers. Partial results were released late in the afternoon, from 62% of the state's precincts.

The state party, which is in charge of operating and reporting caucus results, created the new app to speed up the compilation of results. Dumkrieger said he's usually comfortable with new technologies, but he couldn't get the app to work. So, he told captains of the 43 county caucus sites to be ready to use the longstanding method of calling in results.

"There was an open line of (state) dialogue to fix my problem with the app. Eventually, a few of us on leadership found there was enough confusion about the app to encourage Woodbury County captains to call in their results. Most of those problems could have been user (problems)," Dumkrieger said.

Dumkrieger reported results from Precinct 14 in downtown Sioux City by calling, but he ended up being on hold for roughly 30 minutes. He wasn't certain how many other precinct captains experienced problems with the app and tried to call in tallies.

Jeremy Saint, the captain at Woodbury County Precinct 3 at West High School, said he had no problems using the app to readily share results within about one hour after the 7 p.m. caucus start.

"The app worked fine for me. We were able to get our results in very shortly after we finished up," said Saint, who is a Sioux City attorney and also serves as president of the Sioux City school board.

Plymouth County Democratic Party Chairman Mark Sturgeon said he'd tried the reporting app two weeks out from the caucuses, including up to Sunday one final time, and experienced substantial problems. Sturgeon said he had the "most tech-savvy" Plymouth County precinct captain try as well.

"If that guy couldn't get it to work, I had no chance," he said.

Therefore Sturgeon advised Plymouth County captains to be ready to phone in results. He added that two of 13 precincts were able to use the app with no problems on Monday night.

"They used it early (in the evening), which I think was a key part of it," Sturgeon said. For his part, Sturgeon called in results, and finally got through to a person at about 11:30 p.m., after two hours of waiting.

Dumkrieger said there are competing interests in getting final caucus results in a world connected by often instantaneous technology.

"Everybody wants to know who won instantly," Dumkrieger said, while adding his stance that "getting it right is better than getting it fast."

A Tuesday release from the Iowa Democratic Party said, "... underlying data collected via the app was sound. While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data. We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system."

The Journal reported from multiple county sites Monday night that observed Democratic precincts had smooth processes in determining presidential preferences by people. Now, the compiling and reporting of the caucus results has moved longtime political observers, including national Democratic strategist David Axelrod, to opine that the snafu imperils Iowa's place leading off the presidential selection system.

That sort of sentiment was also readily seen on social media posts by rank-and-file Americans. Axelrod tweeted, "However bad the handling the count has been, the Iowas Democratic Partys handling of the messaging around it has been an abject disaster. It should be taught in classrooms as an example of what not to do in a crisis."

Republicans in Iowa also held caucuses Monday, but they use a much simpler process, with a straw poll. A joint statement by key elected Republicans in Iowa -- U.S. Sens. Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst and Gov. Kim Reynolds -- said, "Iowas bipartisan first-in-the-nation status helped lead to the nomination of President Obama and has the full backing of President Trump. The process is not suffering because of a short delay in knowing the final results."

Sturgeon said he "takes offense" with the black eye the Iowa caucuses received. He said in Plymouth County no caucus participants ran into any problems with giving their preferences.

"The only problem is the reporting of it. It is whoever set up the junk app," Sturgeon said.

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The Fresno Bee has called for voters to replace Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) because he is more interested in defending Trump than representing his district.

The Fresno Bee Editorial Board wrote:



Two years ago, The Bee did not recommend Republican Devin Nunes for the 22nd District congressional seat. He had previously received the papers recommendation in every campaign since he was first elected in 2002.

What changed? Nunes himself. He became obsessed with defending President Donald Trump against the Mueller investigation, to the point of violating well-established protocol while running the powerful House Intelligence Committee.

Opinion

Sadly, Nunes has continued to fail his district and has peddled wild conspiracy theories about how Democrats are out to get the president. He does so despite the fact that Congress is an independent branch of government. And he has not seriously considered whether any of the points Democrats have made in the impeachment process might be legitimate; not even once has he opened his mind to the possibility that Trump used the office of the president to conduct foreign affairs for his own personal gain.

Nunes has raised $7.2 million for his reelection campaign by being a stooge for Donald Trump. Devin Nunes was implicated in the Ukraine plot as his chief of staff met with Lev Parnas and Nunes himself wanted to be involved but had to lay low due to the fact that he is under a House Ethics Committee investigation.

The hometown newspaper of Nunes is sounding the alarm. Nunes doesnt represent his district. He is obviously part of the Trump corruption cash in. Devin Nunes is more interested in representing Donald Trump than the 22nd District, which is why The Bee is recommending that he be replaced.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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LAS VEGAS, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AARP Nevada and the Las Vegas Review-Journal have partnered to educate voters about Nevada's "First in the West" Democratic caucus with a special event on Monday, February 10, 2020, from 8-10 AM.

Review-Journal Politics and Government Editor Steve Sebelius will host a one hour free event at the Suncoast Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The program will focus on what voters can expect when they arrive for the Nevada Caucus on February 22, and examines how the first-ever early voting process will work. Sebelius will be joined during the program by Nevada Democratic Caucus Director Shelby Wiltz, and AARP's Sr. Vice President of Campaigns John Hishta. Sebelius will also take questions from the audience during the event.

"We're incredibly excited to partner with the Review-Journal on this voter education series and partnership to better inform and prepare Nevadans for this election cycle," said Maria Moore, AARP Nevada's State Director. "As a non-partisan organization, our goal is to better inform all Nevadans about the caucus process and why our state plays such a big part in national politics in 2020."

Doors open at 8 AM with a breakfast buffet from 8 - 9 AM with the program running from 9 - 10 AM. This is a FREE ticketed event and space is limited.

The event is part of the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Election 2020 coverage and AARP Nevada's effort to educate Nevadans on the caucus process by highlighting Nevada's importance in this year's national election cycle.

"Very few states hold presidential caucuses, which are fundamentally different from primaries," Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook said. "This event will be structured to explain those differences, to answer Nevadans' questions about the caucus and to prepare them to participate."

The AARP Nevada/Review-Journal event will be live streamed to reviewjournal.com, as well as Review-Journal's Facebook and YouTube channel. The show will also be live streamed to the AARP website at www.aarp.org/nv. The program will also be posted on reviewjournal.com.

The AARP Nevada/Review-Journal partnership will also include a series of election-related polls in early February. The Nevada Poll  Sponsored by AARP Nevada will survey nonpartisan voters in the state on their Presidential voting preferences. This poll will be released February 9th.

The second poll will be exclusively made up of registered Democrats and gauge Nevadan's preferences after both the Iowa and New Hampshire votes, just ahead of the Silver State's caucus. Those results will be published before the Nevada caucus.

Media representatives are invited to cover the event and encouraged to call contacts to ensure availability and spokespersons.

Steve Sebelius Bio:

Steve Sebelius oversees the Review-Journal's Washington and Carson City bureaus, as well as the reporting team covering local governments in Clark County. He also writes a weekly politics column for the Sunday Viewpoints section. Sebelius previously worked for the RJ between 2000 and 2017. He returned to the RJ in March 2019. Sebelius has been the on-air political analyst for KLAS-TV Channel 8 for nearly 10 years. He also has co-hosted "PoliticsNow," Nevada's only political television program, on the channel since 2015.

Shelby Wiltz Bio:

Shelby Wiltz is the 2020 Caucus Director ahead of Nevada's "First in the Wes"t Presidential Caucus. This is the earliest the State Party has brought on a Caucus Director in an election cycle. Shelby has been working to elect Democrats since 2013 and has worked to organize volunteers, turn out voters and manage field programs on more than seven campaigns across the country. In 2018, Shelby moved to Nevada to become the Organizing Director for the State Party's Coordinated Campaign where she led the organizing effort that saw record turnout in a midterm year and elected a historic number of Democrats up and down the ticket.

John Hishta Bio:

John Hishta is a nationally recognized political consultant and strategist. He spent over thirty years advising Republican candidates, elected officials, national committees, business groups and advocacy organizations. John came to AARP in May 2011 as Senior Vice President for Campaigns, leading the department tasked with managing and executing successful issue campaigns at the state and national level on AARP's top priorities of health and financial security. Since joining AARP, John has led the association's winning efforts to stop Congress from making any harmful cuts to Medicare or Social Security, led the campaign to oppose efforts to repeal and replace the ACA, and developed and implemented award winning voter engagement efforts. He has also led efforts in multiple states to expand retirement security opportunities for workers and provide more resources for caregivers and their families.

About the Review-Journal

The Las Vegas Review-Journal has been Nevada's news leader since 1909. A state, regional and national award-winning multiplatform news organization, the Review-Journal operates reviewjournal.com, a network of niche publications and community newspapers, e-newsletters, custom printing, a video production studio and more to meet the specific needs of readers and advertisers alike.

About AARP

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with a membership of nearly 38 million, that helps people turn their goals and dreams into real possibilities, strengthens communities and fights for the issues that matter most to families such as healthcare, employment and income security, retirement planning, affordable utilities and protection from financial abuse. We advocate for individuals in the marketplace by selecting products and services of high quality and value to carry the AARP name as well as help our members obtain discounts on a wide range of products, travel, and services. A trusted source for lifestyle tips, news and educational information, AARP produces AARP The Magazine, the world's largest circulation magazine; AARP Bulletin; www.aarp.org; AARP TV & Radio; AARP Books; and AARP en Espanol, a Spanish-language website addressing the interests and needs of Hispanics. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to political campaigns or candidates. The AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. AARP has staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Learn more at www.aarp.org .

SOURCE AARP Nevada

Related Links

http://www.aarp.org/nv


With Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) grappling with the problem of delayed payments and slowdown in demand, the sector remains under major stress, even as the government has extended the restructuring deadline by a year. According to both, banks and MSMEs, repayments have been delayed by more than a month in a large number of cases.

Some firms have even delayed by up to 120 days. Banks are required to tag an account as a non-performing asset if the loan has not been serviced for more than 90 days. Delayed payment is a major concern in the MSME segment. Also, ...
The SDLPs Claire Hanna has recently canvassed for Fine Gael and Labour candidates (Liam McBurney/PA)

The SDLPs Claire Hanna has taken part in general election campaigning in the Republic for both Fine Gael and the Labour party.

Thats despite her party having an official partnership with their rival Fianna Fail.

The South Belfast MP joined Fine Gaels Neale Richmond and Emer Currie as well the Labour Senator Ged Nash.

Ms Hanna said she has supported friends from Labour, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

I am a social democrat in the Irish nationalist tradition and believe in political pluralism and relationships across the political spectrum, and in supporting people who will be good for their communities and for the country, she told the Belfast Telegraph.

My political values are about collaboration and co-operation wherever possible, she said.

The MP who ousted the DUPs Emma Little Pengelly in the December General Election said her campaign last month benefited from such collaboration when rivals stood aside to allow her a free run at the seat.

Im surrounded by friends during #ge2020 but the support of this particular friend means alot. Thanks @ClaireHanna SDLP new MP for South Belfast

In the last few days of the campaign Ill continue as I started- focused on meaningful change #Ge2020 (Video got trimmed!) pic.twitter.com/upLazmd0rA  Senator Emer Currie (@emer_currie1) February 3, 2020

Ms Currie is the daughter of Austin Currie, the former MP for East Tyrone between 1964 and 1972. She is running as a candidate in Dublin West while Mr Richmond is a Dublin Rathdown Dail candidate.

In a Twitter post, Ms Currie described Ms Hanna as a friend who was doing her best for the community, bringing people together, focusing on positive and meaningful change.

Mr Richmond introduced Ms Hanna to his two-year-old son Luke while out canvassing in Ballinteer, Co Dublin on February 2. The Fine Gael senator thanked her for her support describing her as one of our countrys finest representatives.

Just two weeks previously on January 23, Ms Hanna also canvassed in Drogheda with her husband, the Belfast Councillor Donal Lyons, for Ged Nash, a senator and a Labour general election candidate for Louth and East Meath.

Mr Nash tweeted: Working with progressives like Claire and Donal we can build a better, fairer Ireland, north & south.

The couple canvassed for Labour the day before the death of Seamus Mallon, who was a Freeman of Drogheda, on January 24.

I was privileged to call him a friend, Mr Nash said of Mr Mallon.

A man of peace, lifelong opponent of violence and a champion of equality, justice and reconciliation on our divided island. My sympathies to his family and the SDLP.

Thanks to the amazing @ClaireHanna for her support, a fellow passenger on the disastrous #Brexit train and one of our countrys finest public representatives. pic.twitter.com/LrfVyzUotP  Neale Richmond (@nealerichmond) February 3, 2020

Claire Hanna added: Whatever the configuration of the next government in Dublin, Northern Ireland will need TDs and Senators who understand the unique challenges we face and the dynamics within our society.

The latest opinion poll ahead of Saturdays election suggests Sinn Fein has overtaken both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. Support for Sinn Fein now stands at 25%, according to an Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll, while Fianna Fail is on 23%.

Fine Gael has dropped three points to 20% while Labour stands on 4%.

Delighted to welcome my old pals & comrades - newly elected South Belfast MP @ClaireHanna and Cllr. @DonalLyons - to Drogheda for our afternoon canvass.



Working with progressives like Claire and Donal we can build a better, fairer Ireland, north & south.  pic.twitter.com/2nVEo2Gs2J  Ged Nash TD (@geraldnash) January 23, 2020

In February last year, SDLP membership voted in favour of forming a partnership with Fianna Fail, passing a motion by 121 votes to 53 at a special party conference in Newry.

Fifty-three voted in favour of an alternative proposal to widen the arrangement to include Fine Gael and Labour.

Claire Hanna, at the time an MLA for South Belfast, opposed the partnership with Fianna Fail.

I came believing an exclusive arrangement was not a good idea, I have not changed my mind, she said after the vote.

The SDLP and Fianna Fail have been asked for a response.
WESTPORT  The towns grand list of taxable property showed an overall increase of 1.17%, or $133,442,936, from the 2018 net grand list, due to new construction and renovations.

The grand list  the net assessed value of all taxable property in Westport  rose from $11,311,830,644 in 2018 to $11,445,273,580 last year, and saw increases across all three assessment categories: Real estate, motor vehicles and personal property, according to a Tuesday news release.

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Real estate assessment totals, which represent 94.16% of the grand list, increased 1.11 percent as a result of continued residential and commercial new construction, as well as renovation activity within the last assessment year.

New apartment and retail developments at 793 Post Road E. and 501 Main St., alongside the new assisted living facility at 1141 Post Road E. and the new development at 500 Main St., contributed to the increase in the grand list.

While personal property increased 1.75%, motor vehicles had a 2.6% increase, accounting for $317,925,555 and $350,622,910 of the grand list, respectively.

Both of these increases indicate business investment and the ongoing purchasing of new vehicles. Overall, this years increase was higher than last year and indicated Westport remains a community of great interest to businesses and new residents, Town Assessor Paul Friia said.

While the 1.17% increase is higher than the 2018 grand lists 1.07% increase, it is still among the lower increases in the past four years. In 2017, the grand list saw a growth of 1.52% and in 2016 there was an increase of 1.36%.

The grand list will be used for the fiscal year 2020-21 town budget calculations. The figures are subject to change based on the outcome of the Board of Assessment Appeals hearings in March and further changes due to corrections or pending lawsuits.

dj.simmons@hearstmediact.com
CINCINNATI, Ohio  A man in search of his lost hooded sweat shirt called police 25 times Monday morning, hoping that officers would help him find it, according to reports.

That was a bit much for police, who ended up arresting Harves Gardner, 32, and charging him with disrupting public services, a felony, cincinnati.com reports. Gardner was requesting that police drive him around town so he could search for the lost hoodie, Fox 19 reports.

According to cincinnati.com, a police report shows officers responded to Gardners residence and found him highly intoxicated. He was told to go to bed, but he continued to call police, asking them to check different areas for his lost sweat shirt.

Gardner was jailed Monday and is scheduled to appear in court this morning, reports say.

To comment on this story, visit Mondays crime and courts comment section.

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The Decatur City Council tonight will discuss potential changes to its public comment policy. One council member has already come out against the new rules, and its expected that some people who speak frequently at council meetings will be there tonight to voice their feelings about the changes.

Heres a quick review of the issue:

What is allowed now?

Citizens can speak for three minutes each at the beginning of city council meetings for a full limit of 30 minutes. The rules do not allow the city council or city staff to respond to comments made during this time. For years, the council also has allowed comments during discussion of individual agenda items during the meetings. This is unique to Decaturs city council; while all governing bodies allow some form of public comment during their meetings, many do not also allow residents to comment when agenda items are being discussed.

Doing so allows the council to focus on residents remarks about an issue directly before voting on it. City staff and council also can and do respond to residents questions during this period.

What would change?

The most notable change being proposed is not allowing residents to address the council during discussion of agenda items. They could instead submit remarks in writing. If the council wants to invite a person to speak during the items discussion based on his or her written remarks, a majority of them must agree to do so.

Residents will still be allowed to speak during the 30-minute period at the beginning of meetings. The rules allow a majority of the council to grant a person more time, but only on rare occasions such as if there have been disruptions or technical problems. The rules say the public comments must pertain to city services and local public policy matters, and must be made with civility and decorum. The mayor can interrupt if they are not.

Also new: The city would add a time display counter, including green, yellow and red lights, to signal how much time speakers have left.

The new rules also allow the council and city staff to respond after the initial public comment period, and they will have the final word: Rebuttals by citizens arent allowed, and there would be no other public comment opportunity in the meeting unless it included a study session or other special circumstance.

One thing that wont change: The council will continue to allow public comment during study sessions, which are scheduled at the end of meetings to talk about issues that may be more substantive or controversial. There are no votes during study sessions.

Why are they doing this?

City Manager Scot Wrighton said the changes were designed to make meetings more efficient, encourage opinions from all sides, prevent audience members from intimidating others and discourage "a hostile or toxic environment" at meetings.

Changes were proposed months ago. Council members first talked about them on Sept. 23. "Every single one of us is always open to talking with the public and communicating with them," Councilwoman Lisa Gregory said at the time. "But there have been times where the public comment has nothing to do with the agenda we are considering and they have to do with elements that are completely out of our purview, and many times they become vindictive and hateful."

The amount and tone of public criticism grew more intense in the following months, ramping up after the council voted 6-1 on Sept. 30 not to allow marijuana dispensaries in Decatur after a lengthy public meeting during which a number of residents spoke in favor of cannabis sales. (Councilman David Horn was the lone yes vote.) Some critics subsequently alleged that the council was inappropriately influenced by former Macon County Sheriff Howard Buffett, who has donated tens of millions of dollars to area causes and built a $60 million drug treatment and social services campus in Decatur. Council members deny those claims and say that their opposition came instead from talking to law enforcement and medical professionals. Buffett's private foundation in December also donated funding for a police officer position devoted to catching people driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Some residents also expressed strong opposition to that move.

(The Herald & Review's parent company, Lee Enterprises, announced Wednesday that it would buy Berkshire Hathaway's news publications for $140 million. Howard Buffett's father, Warren Buffett, is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.)

What will happen tonight?

The new policies are on the councils agenda, meaning a majority of members will have to vote in favor of the changes for them to take effect. Horn has already said, in a letter to the Herald & Review and multiple Facebook posts, that he strongly opposes the changes. It remains to be seen how the rest of the council will feel. The Herald & Review will livestream the meeting on Facebook, so stay tuned.

Read the proposed policy for yourself here:

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He brought messages and updates from the district, state, and international levels of Lions International, Inc. Lion Gov. Myers spoke of how Lions quickly respond to disaster areas around the world as they are in more than 200 countries worldwide and always vigilant. Camp Dogwood on Lake Norman in Sherrills Ford was also a topic as they move to make the campus available to more groups to help keep up the camp and expand its services. Camp Dogwood has provided camp for the blind and vision impaired every summer for more than 50 years.
In May 2019, the US export ban against Huawei came into force, and the company's sales rose by 18 percent to 120 billion dollars in 2019.

According to GlobalData, Huawei was able to realign its supply chain to minimize the impact of the U.S. sanctions. In addition, Huawei still generates the majority of its sales in China itself; in 2018, the figure was 52 percent. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Huawei generated 29 percent of its sales, compared to only 1 percent in the US.

"Huawei sees Europe as a key market for the supply of G5 equipment. According to Catherine Chen, Huawei's senior vice president, Huawei has won 50 commercial 5G contracts worldwide to date, 28 of them with European network operators," said Kantipudi Pradeepthi, research analyst Telecoms Market Data & Intelligence for GlobalData.

The US government had put pressure on the EU to persuade member states not to consider Huawei for the construction of their 5G networks. But EU countries feared that the costs would then increase by 62 billion dollars because Huawei was offering cheaper services than competitors such as Ericsson and Nokia. They also feared that the introduction of 5G technology would be delayed by 18 months. Now the EU states only want to keep Huawei away from the core of the network infrastructure.

In Australia, Huawei is involved in the 4G network but not in the core infrastructure. Huawei's equipment will not be used by Vodafone Hutchison in Australia to build the 5G network and has switched to Nokia equipment.

India, the second largest telecom market in the world, recently allowed Huwaei access to 5G trial projects. "Huawei could therefore soon fully regain its position in the global telecom market," says Kantipudi Pradeepthi, summarizing the results of his analysis.

GlobalData predicts that the share of 5G subscribers in the Asia-Pacific region will rise to 21 percent by 2024. But even then 4G will still dominate.
Voters in the city of Friendswood will decide May 2 if they want to renew a -cent sales tax to continue funding street maintenance and repairs throughout the city.

City Council voted 6-0 on Feb. 3 to put the taxs reauthorization on the ballot. First passed in 2016, the tax must be reapproved every four years, according to state law.

Mayor Mike Foreman, who was absent for the Feb. 3 vote, recently called the money an important part of the citys budget.

Funds from the tax pay for work that either would not have been undertaken or the funding would have had to come from other sources, Foreman said. Having the street maintenance sales tax kept us from raising taxes or reducing city services; so hopefully people are even more in favor of it now.

Foreman devoted a recent video in his Mayor Mikes Minute series to cite some of the road work to be funded through the tax this year.

City Manager Morad Kabiri said that if the tax is reauthorized, he expects it to generate about $1.7 million to $1.8 million a year.

Revenue from the tax covered city work last year for maintenance and repairs on roadways including Briar Creek Drive, Viejo Drive, Winding Way Drive, Falling Leaf Drive, Cowards Creek Court, Greenbriar Drive, Moore Road, Briarmeadow Avenue, Pecan Drive, Wilderness Trail, Spreading Oaks Avenue, Rancho Circle, Baker Road and Linson Lane.

On the schedule this year are improvements to Merriewood Drive, Clear Creek Drive, Greenbriar Drive, John Avenue, Mandale Road, Falcon Ridge Boulevard, Tanglewood Drive, Meadow Lark Avenue, Winding Way, Castlewood Avenue, Wilderness Trail, Stanley Court, Clearview Avenue, Judy Avenue, Castle Harbor Drive, Crawford Drive, Laurel Drive, Oak Drive and Rustic Lane.

The city is not responsible for state roads such as FM 518, FM 2351, or FM 528. Their maintenance and repairs fall to the Texas Department of Transportation.

The election will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 2 at the Old Friendswood Junior High School building, 402 Laurel. Also on the ballot will be council positions 2 and 5, which are for three-year terms. Position 2 incumbent Sally Branson has filed for re-election. Candidate filing will end Feb. 14. A candidate packet is available at https://bit.ly/3b3BszQ.

Early voting will be at the Old Friendswood Junior High building at the following times and dates: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 20-24 and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 27-28.

For information about the 2020 election, call 281-996-3200.
The boss of Belfast International Airport has said he has made the case for removing air passenger duty (APD) during a visit by the Aviation Minister.

Paul Maynard MP visited the airport yesterday, where he met airport managing director Graham Keddie.

The cost of APD on the sustainability of flights out of NI was back in the headlines last month following the near-collapse of regional airline Flybe, which accounts for around 80% of flights out of Belfast City Airport.

APD of 13 each way is charged on Northern Ireland flights though it has been abolished in the Republic.

Mr Keddie said: "We again made the case for the removal of APD on short-haul routes, and we stressed the importance of direct, reliable, frequent services to the main Great Britain markets for the growth of our economy and the continued development of the local tourism sector.

"If the domestic share of APD was eliminated, it would give this airport, and the Northern Ireland region, the biggest economic boost."

According to Belfast International, Mr Maynard described the discussions as "a very informative session, underlining the importance of air connectivity to the future economic growth of Northern Ireland".
Jaipur, Feb 4 : Two rape cases of minors have been reported here in the state capital and Churu in the last 48 hours.

In the first case reported on Sunday night in Jaipur, a 10-year-old minor was raped by one of the contractors at a wedding venue when she went to attend a family function.

Police officials on Monday evening arrested the culprit and said that one Raju has been arrested for raping the minor who went to washroom. The accused saw her going inside the washroom alone. He chased her and raped her inside and left her inside the toilet bleeding.

Her parents and relatives started looking for her and were surprised to see her in serious condition inside the washroom. She was rushed to a private hospital nearby where doctors recommended her to be shifted to JK Lon.

Police interrogated all stall owners. Forensic team also reached the location and after collecting all vital proves, police zeroed in on Raju.

Officials confirmed that as DJ was installed near washroom so the girl's cries could not be heard.

The second rape case was reported in Churu's Sadulpur police station on Monday night where the accused raped a minor of nine year and tried to kill her by thrashing a stone on her head. He also buried her under bricks and stones considering her to be dead.

The girl, a class III student, on Monday night went to buy some chocolates from nearby store when she was picked up by the accused who took her to a remote area and raped her.

Her family members came out to search her around and heard her cries from a secluded place. She was taken out from under the debris and was rushed to hospital. Police were informed and a case was registered.

One Akram Kazi has been arrested by police on Tuesday and a case rape case has been registered under POCSO Act.

Churu SP Tejaswani Gautam directed for regular hearing in the matter.
Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, has invited a victim of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to attend Tuesday night's State of the Union address.

Courtney Wild, an advocate for victims' rights, will be in the gallery tonight as President Donald Trump delivers his annual speech. Wild, now in her 30s, was a homeless teen when she says she was hired to work at Epstein's Palm Beach mansion. She was told she would be giving him massages, a common pretext cited by other victims that Epstein would go on to molest.

In 2008, Wild was an unnamed victim in a lawsuit filed against the Department of Justice, which previously struck a secret non-prosecution agreement with Epstein. As part of the agreement, brokered in part by Trump impeachment defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Epstein's victims were not informed of the details of his plea deal. Wild and her lawyers argued this violated the Crime Victims' Rights Act.

In response, Speier was one of several representatives to put forward the Courtney Wild Crime Victims Rights Reform Act of 2019.

"By attending this years SOTU as my distinguished guest, Courtney is helping me send a clear message that women are done with being treated as second class citizens in our own country," Speier said in a statement. "We are standing up for what is right and to ensure that those who continue to subvert the rule of law and those who fail to hold perpetrators responsible for their malign deeds will not succeed. Together, we are taking a stand and fighting for the bipartisan Courtney Wild Crime Victims Rights Reform Act so that victims rights are more than just empty words."

The bill aims to increase victims' rights throughout and after court proceedings. One key clause gives victims the right to speak with federal prosecutors about developments in their case, such as non-prosecution agreements and plea bargains.

"The legislation, if passed, will strengthen the crime victims act by closing loopholes that federal prosecutors tried to exploit to justify giving Epstein one of the most lenient plea deals for a serial child sex offender in history," the Tampa Bay Times reported in October.

Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in New York City in Aug. 2019.

Katie Dowd is an SFGATE senior digital editor. Contact: katie.dowd@sfgate.com | Twitter: @katiedowd
Portillos, whose other Chicago locations are in River North and the South Loop, has been expanding rapidly since Berkshire Partners purchased it five years ago from founder Dick Portillo, who started the business selling hot dogs from a trailer in a parking lot in Villa Park in 1963. The chain now has more than 60 restaurants across the U.S.
Photo: Drew Coffman/Flickr

Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Tampa.

Super Bowl LV officially headed to Tampa

The next Super Bowl will be held at Raymond James Stadium.

Read the full story on WTSP.

Streetcar, charter bus collide

Police and Fire Rescue responded to the Monday morning crash, in which the streetcar had been pushed off its track. The driver was taken to an area hospital with minor injuries.

Read the full story on WTSP.

Tampa Bay clothing ministry helps outfit kids nationwide

Little Llamas Ministry has provided clothes to 380 babies in 41 states in just a few months.

Read the full story on WTSP.

First conference for women in the military is in Tampa this week

Women in the military are being celebrated in the Tampa Bay area.

Read the full story on WTSP.

St. Petes done it; could Tampa be next to ban some single-use plastics?

Tampa City Council members have requested a proposal be drafted to ban some types of plastic items in certain areas of the city.

Read the full story on WTSP.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
ROME, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- L'Immaginazione al Potere, a new exhibit at Rome's National Museum of 21st Century Art (MAXXI), explores the work of visionary architects and engineers from Italy and Lebanon.

Created by Konstantin Grcic, a well-known German designer, the exhibit relies on sustainable materials from Alcantara to explore an architectural vision of optimism and "a belief in post-war regeneration."

The third exhibition in the MAXXI's annual Studio Visit program, L'Immaginazione al Potere or The Power of Imagination examines the World War II era careers of Italian architects Giuseppe Perugini and Maurizio Sacripanti and the Italian engineer Sergio Musmeci in contrast with Bernard Khoury, a contemporary Lebanese architect.

Critics note that Grcic's exhibit flirts with the concept of utopia while exploring the relationships between architecture, technology, material and construction with faith in the potential for progress and change.

A multi-year Alcantara project with the MAXXI, the Studio Visit program each year challenges an internationally known designer to create an exhibit that reflects his or her personal interpretation of work from the museum's archives and permanent collections.

Alcantara, the Made-in-Italy lifestyle brand, was founded in 1972 with a positive vision for the future of its products.

Alcantara results from an effort to create new, sustainable material with unrivaled sensory, aesthetic and functional properties. Visitors to the MAXXI will see that Grcic has juxtaposed the work of leading architects with Alcantara to create an aesthetic on the boundary between reality and the surreal.

The Konstantin Grcic exhibition will be open free-of-charge to the public at the National Museum of 21st Century Art from February 7 through March 15.

Alcantara S.p.A.  www.alcantara.com

Founded in 1972, Alcantara is a prime example of Italian-produced quality. A registered trademark of Alcantara S.p.A. and the result of a unique and proprietary technology, Alcantara is a highly innovative material that offers an unrivalled combination of sensory, aesthetic and functional qualities. Thanks to its extraordinary versatility, Alcantara is the choice of leading brands in a number of fields, including fashion and accessories, automotive, interior design and home decor, and consumer electronics. These features, together with a serious, certified commitment in terms of sustainability, make Alcantara a true icon of contemporary lifestyle: the lifestyle of those who want to fully enjoy their everyday life, while respecting the environment.

Since 2009, Alcantara has been certified "Carbon Neutral", having defined, reduced and offset all the CO 2 emissions derived from its activity. In 2011, the reporting was extended to include the entire life cycle of the product, including the use and disposal phases ("from cradle to grave"). To document the company's involvement in this area, Alcantara annually draws up and publishes a Sustainability Report, certified by BDO and available through the company website. The headquarters of Alcantara are in Milan, while its production site and R&D department are located in Nera Montoro, in the heart of the Umbria region (Terni).

The MAXXI is the first national museum dedicated to contemporary creativity. Designed as a large campus for culture, MAXXI was designed by Zaha Hadid, winner of an international competition, and is a great architectural work of innovative and spectacular forms. It produces and hosts art, architecture, design and photography exhibitions, as well as fashion, cinema, music, theatre and dance performances, lectures and meetings with artists, architects and protagonists of our time. The MAXXI Collection is exhibited with free admission from Tuesday to Thursday with rotating works. The MAXXI is much more than a museum, however: it offers a platform open to all the languages of creativity and a place for meeting, exchange and collaboration, a space open to all, a laboratory of ideas and of the future.

Konstantin Grcic (*1965) was trained as a cabinet maker at The John Makepeace School for Craftsmen in Wood before studying Design at the Royal College of Art in London. He set up his own office in Munich in 1991. Today Konstantin Grcic Design is based in Berlin. The office is active in several fields ranging from industrial design projects, exhibition design and architectural collaborations. Amongst his renowned clients are Aeance, Authentics, Cassina, ClassiCon, Flototto, Flos, Galerie Kreo, Kettal, Laufen, Magis, Muji, Nespresso, Plank, Smart and Vitra. He is the recipient of numerous awards such as the Compasso d`Oro for his MAYDAY lamp (Flos, 2001), the MYTO chair (Plank, 2011) and the OK lamp (Flos 2016). Work by Konstantin Grcic forms part of the permanent collections of the worlds most important design museums (a.o. MoMA/New York, Centre Georges Pompidou/Paris). Grcic defines function in human terms, combining formal strictness with considerable mental acuity and humour. His work is characterised by a careful research into the history of art, design and architecture and his passion for technology and materials.

MAXXI - Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo

www.maxxi.art - info: 06.320.19.54; [email protected]

Opening times: 11 am  7 pm (Tues., Wed., Thurs, Fri, Sun.) | 11 am  10 pm (Sat.) | closed Mon.,

Free entry for art and architecture students from Tuesday to Friday

For further information:

www.alcantara.com

twitter.com/alcantaraspa

facebook.com/alcantara.company

youtube.com/alcantaracompany

instagram.com/alcantara_company/

Press kit: http://www.alcantara.com/it/press_area/index.do

User: press

Password: Alcantara

SOURCE Alcantara S.p.A.

Related Links

http://www.alcantara.com


PLA steps up to assist transport of essentials

PLA Daily

Source: China Daily

Editor: Dong Zhaohui

2020-02-03 18:11:53



The People's Liberation Army has begun to use transport units to help to distribute necessities to markets and shops in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province and epicenter of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

The PLA established a transport support team of 260 soliders and 130 trucks on Sunday, tasking it with assisting local logistic companies in Wuhan to transport daily necessities such as vegetables, according to a statement published by the military on Monday.

The team dispatched 50 trucks on Sunday to send more than 200 metric tons of materials to major supermarkets across the city, the statement read.

Due to the impact of the epidemic, there have been shortages in manpower and transport capacity in Wuhan's logistics businesses, forcing the city government to ask for help from the military.

After receiving orders from the Central Military Commission, the PLA Hubei Provincial Command cooperated with a number of military units stationed in Hubei such as the PLA Air Force's parachute and aviation units and the PLA Ground Force's training base, selecting troops and trucks from these units.

China Central Television on Monday quoted a duty manager in a Wuhan supermarket as saying the assistance from the military has mitigated the heavy burden on their transport capacity.

The manager, Xiong Zhuang, said he wished to thank soldiers for their help and that Wuhan people felt more assured as they saw troops coming there.

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European governments could consider a US-style ban on foreign visitors who have recently been to China, in a bid to impede the spread of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, the health ministers of France and Germany said Tuesday.

"Indeed, there is the question of possible travel restrictions or at least increased examination (of travellers) at the border," Germany's Jens Spahn said at a meeting in Paris with his French counterpart Agnes Buzyn.

He was responding to a question about whether Europe would consider a ban similar to that imposed by the United States, which China has accused of spreading "panic".

"It makes no sense that a single country takes measures," on a continent with border-free travel between most nations, said Spahn..

The new coronavirus has killed more than 400 people and infected a further 20,000 in China since emerging in December and has now spread to more than 20 other countries.

Buzyn agreed that travel restriction "is one of the questions for European ministers. We must have a coherent vision in the (passport-free) Schengen area."

"There is no sense in one country taking this type of decision while citizens move around freely."

Buzyn said they would ask the Croatian presidency of the EU Council to call a meeting of health ministers within days to discuss further measures needed in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

"We would like... closer cooperation so that we have exactly the same measures in all countries in order to be consistent in Europe since there is this free movement of people, and we wish to maintain this free movement."

Explore further Five people in France confirmed to have coronavirus

 2020 AFP
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Over 200 delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Juaben Constituency in the Ashanti Region on Tuesday besieged the partys office to resist attempts by the executives to allow the Member of Parliament for the area, Ama Pomah, run unopposed.

The aggrieved delegates have threatened to boycott the upcoming 2020 general elections if the MP is not allowed to be contested in the partys upcoming parliamentary primaries.

There are similar concerns in some constituencies in the Ashanti Region including the Suame Constituency where a prospective aspirant seeking to contest the Majority Leader has petitioned the partys national office following his inability to pick up nomination forms.

The angry NPP delegates in the Juaben Constituency want the contest to be opened up for every qualified party member to contest.

Speaking to Citi News, leader of the aggrieved delegates, Ransford Osei stated that they will not rest until the process is opened up for others to contest.

The party decision from the National Headquarters that they want all the women from the Ashanti Region to go unopposed is not good. If each and every constituency supports this idea, we, the New Juabeng Constituency youth are not in support of this decision. Each and everyone qualifies to pick a form and we want the party to make way for everyone to pick a form so that the qualified ones will be voted for. If that person is voted for, we are ready to support the person and help the party to win power come 2020. We are not bringing anyone to contest Ama Pomaa but we want the party to make way for everyone interested to pick up forms. They should give everyone the chance to pick the forms, he added.

Also, the delegates are opposing a directive by the partys National Executives to allow women who are sitting MPs to go uncontested in the primaries.

We the concerned youth in Juaben Constituency are not happy with the directive from the National Headquarters saying that all the women in the Ashanti Region should go unopposed. We are not in support of it because when the party was taking the decision, they didn't even consult we the polling station executives. They should have consulted those of us at the grassroot level, Mr. Osei further stated.

---citinewsroom
Four different Syrian oil and gas facilities were attacked overnight, causing fires and some damage, the state agency SANA reported Tuesday.

The agency said the fires had been contained and that teams were assessing the damage.

SANA quoted Oil Minister Ali Ghanem as saying "terrorists and their sponsors... again attacked the oil sector and its facilities on Tuesday dawn."



He said the targeted facilities were the Ebla and south central region gas plants, as well as the Al-Rayyan gas station and a refinery in the central province of Homs.

The attacks, for which there was no immediate claim of responsibility, came a week after frogmen targeted offshore pipelines.

The government had reported on January 27 that frogmen had planted explosives on underwater pipelines running to the Banias refinery, the second such attack in six months.

Syria's almost nine-year war has seen the Damascus government lose control of key oil fields, forcing it to resort to importing oil.

Western sanctions on Syrian shipments as well as punitive US measures against government ally Iran have complicated the search for suppliers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) must name its candidate for Delhis chief minister by Wednesday 1pm for a debate on the elections, said the city states leader Arvind Kejriwal as he released his Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) manifesto. "Delhiites want BJP to declare its CM candidateI am ready for a debate (with the candidate), said Chief Minister Kejriwal "AAP's vision is to enable every common man to live with dignity and prosperity," he said three days before Delhi holds elections.

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A new report published on February 3 revealed that wildlife in the United Kingdom is at risk due to big gaps in environmental protections following the country's European Union exit. The report that was commissioned by The Wildlife Trusts, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and WWF, states that a new system of regulation is needed to maintain and improve farming and environmental standards.

The worrying report

According to the report, hedgehogs, dragonflies, and bees are among wildlife at risk due to the regulatory gaps created by Brexit. The three wildlife charities are calling on the government to close the gaps in regulation and include a power in the Agriculture Bill to introduce and enforce a new regulatory framework for agriculture which addresses the gaps. The United Kingdom government introduced the new post-Brexit Agriculture Bill on January 16, which is aimed at moving subsidies away from the EU Common Agricultural Policy system to farmers and land managers in England.

According to the Agriculture Bill, farmers in the United Kingdom will receive 'public money for public goods' meaning they will be supported by the government to farm more innovatively and tackle the climate and nature crisis at the same time. However, many people are worried that the bill is silent on the rules and regulations for farming in the future.

Read: SC Allows Centre To Bring African Cheetah To Suitable Wildlife Habitat In India

Ellie Brodie, The Wildlife Trusts senior policy manager, said in the report that they are very worried about the Agriculture Bill as it does not contain regulations that are desperately needed to prevent the occurring harm to nature. Ellie and other environmentalists want the gap to be filled and the law must be strengthened to address the ongoing nature crisis and climate emergency.

Read: J&K: Wildlife Authorities Feed Hanguls In Dachigam

As per the report, "Hedgerows support up to 80% of woodland birds, 50% of our mammals and 30% of our butterflies. The ditches and banks that surround hedges double up as a home for frogs, toads, newts, and reptiles. They provide song posts, shelter and nesting sites for both woodland and farmland birds such as yellowhammers, turtle doves and linnets."

Read: Barsey Rhododendron Wildlife Sanctuary In Sikkim And Everything About It

The report further stated that the potential loss of regulations that prevent hedgerow cutting during bird breeding season could lead to nests being destroyed with disastrous results for some of the most threatened species in the United Kingdom. The list includes species such as the red-listed yellowhammer (declined by 55%1970-2013) and linnet which declined by 60% over the same period.

Read: Wildlife Park Owner From Louis Theroux Documentary Jailed For 22 Years

(with inputs from agencies)
Kerala-based startup Entri, an app which offers learning content for job seekers in local languages, is eyeing 5 million users in the next 12 months.

At least 1.6 million users have used Entri so far and the platform is now adding 6,000 aspirants every day, targetting 5 million users in the next 12 months and 10 million users in the next 18 months, Co Founder & CEO of of the Kochi-based Entri, Mohammed Hisamuddin said.

Entri recently raised a seed funding of 1.4 million USD led by Good Capital, an early-stage venture investment firm, with a number of other investments in companies facing Tier-2 India users, including Meesho and SimSim, it said in a press release.

The round also saw participation from investors in the US and China.

Working on the principle that leaning concepts are the most effective when done in the native languages, Entri decided to tap the huge gap.

At Entri, it was noticed that when quality content is provided to people in their mother tongue, they understand and grasp it far better than English, he said.

The platform has so far seen users consume more than 1 crore minutes of video lessons and 27 crore questions practised in local languages-- Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada and Hindi.

Founded by Mohammed Hisamuddin and Rahul Ramesh in 2017, Entri app provides different types of learning content -- mock/adaptive tests, flashcards and video lessons in local languages for job aspirants, which helps them prepare for a job either in government or private sector.

Entri, part of Boston-based EdTech accelerator LearnLaunch, started off by providing content in Malayalam, and recently launched study materials in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Hindi, Hisamuddin said.

It first started by providing a database of questions for government recruitment examinations in Malayalam.

Presently it provides over three lakh questions and over 1,000 videos in 5 different local languages, he noted.

Entri has also started providing course content for upskilling spoken English, MS Office, etc that can help users get private jobs.

"Only 5 per cent of all the people in the world have English as their first language.

But they have to depend on the english content on the internet to learn skills that matter to them", he added.

According to Arjun Malhotra, Partner at Good Capital,



"It's ridiculous that economic opportunities suffer a bottleneck in India because of the medium of learning.

Skills like Excel or project management shouldn't require people to be proficient in English".

Over 10,000 users have been able to secure a job using the Entri app, he claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indoor Gardening: How to Care for Your Houseplants Through the Winter

Just because theres snow covering your garden doesnt mean you have to forgo the quiet company of plants. Whether youve brought some potted plants in from the garden, or have a number of regular house plants, youll want to be sure to treat them right through the winter. Indoor gardening
Big Back Our Girls (BBOG) convener, Aisha Yesufu has described President Muhammadu Buhari as the number one person who gives hate speech in the country.

The human rights activist made this statement at an event on Tuesday which aired on African Independent Television (AIT).

Also Read: Aisha Buhari Attends 10th-Year Remembrance Of Maryam Babangida (Photo)

The staunch critic of the President pointed out that when the President gave hate speech when he described Nigerian youths as lazy.

The popular activist went to criticise the government on the security situation of the country as she further blasted the President.

See his tweet below:
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Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Governor Ned Lamont on Tuesday announced the appointment of four new members to the state Board of Education.

Appointed were Bonnie E. Burr of Brookfield, Karen DuBois-Walton of New Haven, Martha Paluch Prou of Bloomfield and Awilda Reasco of New Britain.

All will fill current vacancies on the 14-member panel and must be confirmed by the General Assembly. The panel, which includes 10 voting members, two ex-officio members and two public high school students, sets academic standards and policies for the states 149 local and 17 regional school districts and also oversees the states 17 regional technical high schools.

Each of these women will bring quality professional experience to their new roles as members of the State Board of Education, Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz said in a statement that accompanied the announcement.

Burr, from Brookfield, will fill the seat required to have agricultural experience, and Prou, of Bloomfield, will fill the seat required to have manufacturing experience.

Burr currently serves as assistant director and department head of the Cooperative Extension System at the University of Connecticut College of Agriculture where she has worked since 2009.

DuBois-Walton is the executive director of the Elm City Communities/Housing Authority for the City of New Haven.

Prou is director of administration and compliance with Phoenix Manufacturing Inc., a women-owned precision machined aerospace components manufacturer located in Enfield.

Reasco serves as director of pre-collegiate and access services at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain where she leads a program that provides opportunities for high school seniors who do not meet the universitys regular admission standards.
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has said the ambitious bullet train project between Mumbai and Gujarats Ahmedabad may be a dream project but there needs to be a discussion about its usefulness.

Uddhav Thackeray has already announced a review of the bullet train project in December.

The announcement had come in December a day after the Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government  forged by the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress more than a month after the election results were out won the trust vote in the state assembly.

The bullet train project, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modis pet project, has faced stiff opposition from farmers and tribals whose land is going to be acquired.

Thackeray s party Shiv Sena too has opposed the project on several occasions in the past stating that if the locals are against giving up their land, the project should be scrapped.

Speaking on various issues in the second part of the interview to the Shiv Senas mouthpiece Saamana, Thackeray commented loan waiver, affordable housing and the Centres delay in providing funds it owes the state government.

In the interview to Sena leader and Saamana editor Sanjay Raut, Uddhav Thackeray asked if the mega rail project would bring in businesses or give it boost.

Even if it (bullet train) is a dream project, but after one wakes up there is a reality in front and not a dream... I feel for the bullet train all stakeholders should discuss what would be the use and utility of it, the chief minister said.

We should be informed that how many businesses will get a boost because of it and if it is useful we will take it before the people. We will then see what has to be done, he said.

Thackeray also took on the Centre and said it was unclear in which direction the BJP-led government was heading.

It seems it is unclear to them as well. There is confusion going on, he said in the interview. He added that assistance that was expected from the Centre is not being provided.

The chief minister said that the loan waiver announced by the state government in December 2019 was a first aid given to farmers and not the solution. He added that he is still firm on his promise to clear the 7/12 extracts or land records of the farmers.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party had slammed Thackeray for talking about complete loan waiver earlier and not implementing it after taking over as the chief minister.

Thackeray added that the government is also working on extending loan waiver over Rs 2 lakh.

I have always said that karj mukti (freedom from loan) is a first aid which we have decided. Steps should be taken on how the farmers can support himself... The opposition is going to criticise whatever we do, he said.

We announced the waiver in the [legislative] session in December. I had sought two months to implement it. The word I gave that in March the waiver will be implemented. The loan up to Rs 2 lakh will be wiped off from the 7/12 extracts, he said.

The CM added loan waiver is indeed a courageous step considering the financial situation of the state government. He added, We will soon announce waiver for loans over Rs 2 lakh and predominantly for those who have regularly paid their dues.

On the Mumbai 24 nightlife plan, the chief minister said that the initiative is meant for Mumbaikars who come late from their work and want to spend time with their family. He reiterated that the plan does not include operating pubs and bars round the clock.

Nightlife plan is not pubs and bars. People come back home late from work, things they cannot do with their families during the day including going to a restaurant for a meal or any such thing is Mumbai 24x7, Thackeray said.

Our definition is simple; if trains and airlines operate around the clock why cant shops and restaurants be open at night for people to eat and purchase things, he said.

Thackeray took on the BJP leaders in Maharashtra and said that while they protested demanding complete clearing of the 7/12 extracts in Kolhapur, they should also protest against the central government for not providing financial aid to farmers who were affected due to unseasonal rainfall in September and October 2019.

The Sena chief added that the aide from Centre was delayed along with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund which is delaying the schemes that the state government intends to roll out.

I wrote a letter to finance ministry in December seeking GST refund of over Rs 15,000 crore. Out of which around Rs 4000 crore has been provided in January. It is true that the assistance that should come from the Centre has not been coming... I am not saying it is done purposely. But there is a delay which is causing a delay in rolling out our schemes and plans, he said.

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Donald Trump made his opening reelection pitch during last Sundays Super Bowl with two ads. One specifically cited his criminal-justice reform efforts. The other was more general. It created a story about the election and his three years as president. Americans wanted change. And what they got was a country that was stronger, safer, and more prosperous. The ad sold a series of stats that any incumbent would want to run on; namely, rising wages and unemployment at a 49-year low.

For what its worth, my theory is that Trumps reelection hinges on two groups of voters. First, there are the suburban voters who snapped back to the Democrats in the 2018 midterm congressional elections on bread and butter issues. Those voters are reassured by messages like Trumps more general Super Bowl ad. Its an ad that seems to say the economy is in good hands, ignore the noise.

But the second group that matters is the forgotten man voter. This is the stereotyped Trump voter who resonates particularly with Trumps paeans to American workers and to his culture-war issues on guns and immigration, but who is normally hostile to Republicans on economic issues.

If, as seems likely to me, Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders wins the Democratic presidential nomination, the fight for the presidency is going to focus on states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. So were going back to talking about the forgotten man and what motivated him to vote for Trump four years after he voted for Barack Obama.

Weve not been allowed to forget about the forgotten man since 2016. You may remember that he was the subject of immense controversy. The social-science probes were plunged in. Was he downwardly mobile, or just living near the downwardly mobile? Terms of art were thrown around. Was he racially resentful? Or, in fact, were those voters who expressed warmth toward their white racial in-group no more hostile to members of other races? Much of the commentary seemed to be motivated by two questions: Does the stereotypical Trump voter deserve sympathy or scorn? Does he have real economic problems, or imagined status ones? (Its actually pretty funny to think of journalists and academics pretending to believe social status and economic prospects arent deeply connected.)

Story continues

In any case, I think Trump, Joe Biden, and Bernie Sanders all have the potential to reach the forgotten man, and all of them have the potential to alienate him.

Trump can alienate these voters by stubbornly pretending that his presidency has us well on the way to curing the social crisis that produces forgotten men: chronic joblessness among a cohort of prime-age working men, opioid addictions, and brittle social institutions. He can pose as a man who has lost touch with these core supporters, and merely uses them. He would be extremely vulnerable to Joe Bidens or Bernie Sanderss pointing out that the signature economic accomplishment of the administration was a tax cut that heavily benefited corporations and high earners.

But Democrats are in trouble of alienating this same voter as well. Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are too polite and too politically savvy to attend a fundraiser and denounce these voters as bitter people who cling to guns or religion, or as deplorables.

But Biden can occasionally slip into acting like he is entitled to their support through some kind of tribal affiliation and assuming that being ethnically white and understanding suffering is enough. This would make him vulnerable to anything that impeaches his membership in the tribe. And Trump has already successfully made the potential nepotism and enrichment of Bidens children a matter of public controversy. The forgotten men worry about their sons, as Biden does. But they cant imagine their sons getting easy gigs on foreign corporate boards.

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders vision of democratic socialism is failing with forgotten men voters across Europe, and it could fail in America too. Why? Partly because it is joined to a culture war program that de-rationalizes the desires of forgotten men for a normal life. But also because it can tend to cast the forgotten men as a source of problems to be solved.

In other words, all three of these candidates can make the mistake of seeing the forgotten man vote only as a political resource to be mined: a base, a problem set to be agitated, or an obstacle to be overcome.

If the race comes down to these voters and these candidates, I would place all my money on the one who effectively communicates that the forgotten man isnt just a victim or a vector of social pathology. Hes a citizen  a brother, an uncle, a father  who is still capable of contributing to his family, his community, to some honest business or great enterprise, and to his country.

More from National Review
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. The ministry of emergency situations informs that on February 4, as of 08:00, some roads are closed and difficult to pass in Armenia.

The ministry told Armenpress that Vardenyats Pass is difficult to pass for all types of vehicles and is closed for trailer trucks. Sotk-Karvachar highway is difficult to pass for trailer trucks.

Snowfalls are reported in several provinces of Armenia.

The Georgian side informed that the Stepanstminda-Lars highway is closed for all types of vehicles.

Drivers are urged to use winter tires.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
My intention is to come here every day I can and to do this show as normally and as competently and as expertly as I do each and every day because that is the source of my greatest satisfaction professionally, Limbaugh said on the show. Ive had so much support from family and friends during this that its been tremendous. I told the staff today that I have a deeply personal relationship with God that I do not proselytize about. But I do and I have been working that relationship tremendously, which I do regularly anyway, but Ive been focused on it intensely for the past couple of weeks.
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Yemeni children in critical need of medical care were evacuated Monday from the rebel-held capital Sanaa, in what the United Nations hopes will be the first of many "mercy flights". Seven young patients and their relatives flew out of Sanaa airport, which a Saudi-led coalition supporting the embattled Yemeni government has kept closed to commercial flights since 2016. The UN-marked plane later landed in the Jordanian capital Amman, where passengers were placed in buses which immediately ferried them to hospitals, an AFP photographer said. "This is the first of what we hope will be a number of flights in the medical air bridge," UN Resident Coordinator for Yemen Lise Grande told AFP before the plane's departure. She said more patients and their families would travel to Jordan and Egypt in coming days, as part of an evacuation programme which took months to negotiate. "It's crucially important that this first flight has gone," Grande said. "All of us feel today that this is a major breakthrough and an indication of hope out of Yemen." Yemen's internationally-recognised government has been fighting Iran-backed Huthi rebels since they seized control of the capital in 2014. In November, the Saudi-led coalition -- which intervened on the government's side in 2015 and controls Yemen's airspace -- said patients needing medical care would be allowed to fly out of Sanaa. The move was a confidence-building measure aimed at ending the five-year war, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions in what the UN says is the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The lauch of the "air bridge" could be a step towards fully reopening Sanaa airport, a key demand of the Huthis and one issue being pursued in UN-led mediation. - 'We are overjoyed' - British charity Save the Children hailed the evacuation programme as a "vital lifeline" for thousands of children needing medical care. It also urged "all stakeholders to open Sanaa airport to commercial flights as well, so that medicines, medical equipment and other goods can come into the north of the country by air". Grande said the youngsters on the plane were suffering from serious conditions including cancer and kidney failure. "These are heartbreaking cases," she said. "It is clear there are literally thousands of patients who haven't received the treatment they need because of the blockade... With the first flight, we've opened that door." One of the children on Monday's evacuation flight, Abdullah Abed, is in urgent need of a kidney transplant, his father told AFP. "We are overjoyed," Abed Ali Murshid said. "Today is the start of the air bridge that we have been waiting for two years." He added many people in Yemen suffered from "severe diseases" and needed to travel. "The UN must operate the air bridge regularly, send abroad patients suffering from diseases, open Sanaa airport, and end the blockade of Yemen," he said. The Huthis on Sunday criticised the plan as inadequate, saying as many as 32,000 patients with serious conditions were waiting to sign up for medical evacuations. A World Health Organization (WHO) spokeswoman told AFP that three more flights have been scheduled for February 4, 5 and 7, bound for Amman and Cairo. For Ayman Abdullah, whose son suffers from a spinal injury, Monday's move was a "positive step and a good sign" for Yemen. Ali Salah, whose son has a severe shoulder injury, also welcomed the step before he boarded the flight to Amman. "We have been waiting for a year and six month to get my son the medical treatment he needs," he said. Patients awaiting evacuation include "women and children who suffer from conditions such as aggressive forms of cancer and brain tumours, or who need organ transplants and reconstructive surgeries," the WHO said in a tweet. The Norwegian Refugee Council said thousands of Yemenis had been handed a "death sentence" when the coalition closed Sanaa airport as part of an anti-Huthi blockade. "Today's move comes too late for thousands of Yemenis who died waiting to leave the country for urgent life-saving care," said Mohamed Abdi, the NRC's country director for Yemen. "We hope that these medical flights will save the lives of other Yemenis. Many more are still waiting to get the healthcare they need." The launch of the evacuations comes despite a deterioration in Yemen's conflict, with fierce renewed fighting around Sanaa despite a period of calm. str-dm-sls-kt/hkb/par
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How was it I was told by an Israeli the correct pronunciation for Isaiah is Ishaiah?

Note the Ish, which we pronounce as I.

I was on a plane flying to Melbourne with she who must be obeyed and sat next to a young Israeli backpacker and we yarned a bit.

It didnt take me long to ascertain she was an Israeli.

As it happened I had been reading a book about King Hezekiah, his relationship with the prophet Isaiah, his banning of idol worship, the renovation of the temple and scrutiny of the priests.

King Hezekiah

The son of Ahaz, perhaps one of the worst kings of Israel, Hezekiah became one of the good kings

No, he wasnt perfect, in fact he and Isaiah had words on more than one occasion but he came to believe in Yahweh when He set the sun back 10 degrees which led to massive changes within Judah.

The other kingdom of Israel had been conquered by Sargon's Assyrians and Hezekiah was determined the new king of the Assyrians, Sargons son Sennacherib, would not conquer Jerusalem.

In preparation for Sennacheribs arrival, Hezekiah had the broad wall built around the city, 8m high, 7m wide, parts of which still stand today.

He also had the Siloam tunnel built to bring water inside the city  it also still exists.

Isaiah

I remember being enthralled with the book about these two and how God extended Hezekiahs life by 15 years.

Isaiah proved to be a great counsellor for his king and although they didnt always agree, Hezekiah found what Isaiah prophesied soon came to be.

An Israeli backpacker

So, sitting next to an Israeli soon led me to talking about the book I was still reading.

I was immediately picked up on pronunciation but it became the catalyst for our conversation.

We talked about King Hezekiah  shed never heard of him  and Isaiah the prophet who she had heard of but knew very little about.

I told her the basics of the story from the book, how Hezekiah had grown up with a father who was into worship of the pagan idol, Moloch, and who threw live children into a fire pit as part of his worship and was an altogether living evil.

Hezekiah himself was selected to go into the fire pit but was saved when his mother, Abi, anointed him with the blood of a salamander.

Later, Hezekiah married a lass said to have been the daughter of Isaiah, who had been an idol worshipper but he had already banned all pagan idols and brought the people back to worshipping the Living God, Jehovah.

Some time later, Hezekiah was told by Isaiah he had an idol worshipper in his household and this was why God had deserted him in the short-term.

He found the idol in his wifes bedroom and was forced by his own law to have her thrown in prison.

Messianic?

I soon came to realise this lass knew little about the history of Israel and I picked up on Isaiahs prediction concerning the birth of Immanuel (God With Us) some 700 or so years before the birth of Jesus.

Yes, she knew about Jesus, she knew about the orthodox Jews who didnt recognise Him and had heard of the Messianic Jews (those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God).

Did she believe I asked?

Well, no, she had never been a religious person, life was for the living and she would worry about the afterlife when she was older.

A Dilemma

I knew God had placed us together on this 90-minute flight for a reason but how do I proceed?

I knew I had to say something.

One of my fortes is being able to speak in front of crowds or a congregation but to an individual, I wasnt so sure of myself.

The Word of God

Then, like a miracle, it flowed  not my words but His.

I started with Isaiahs prophetic words about the birth of the Living God, how it came about and what Jesus did while on this earth, why He came and what Hes doing in His followers lives now.

She listened and said nothing.

We landed shortly afterwards and were soon separated but before we were, she thanked me for the story Id told..

Did she believe?

Ill never know but what I do know is, this lass walked off the plane knowing the truth about Jesus and what hes done for us, each and every one of us.

Its not up to us to know how God works, we only need to speak into someones life and let Him carry on the work.
Atiqa Begum, 60, had never been to a protest. However, for the past two weeks, after finishing her household chores, she goes to a tent pitched about 500 metres from her house in Jafrabad where at least a hundred women have been staging a sit-in to protest the Citizenship Amendment Act. Its for my children and their children. Remaining silent is not an option anymore, said Begum, who has been living in east Delhis Jafrabad, part of Seelampur Assembly constituency, for over three decades.

In Khureji, part of the Krishna Nagar constituency, a narrow alley has been covered by tent and turned into a 24x7 protest venue. In the evening, one can spot hundreds, in groups of 10-15, holding candles, playing recordings of patriotic speeches and songs, Shadab Hussain, a resident of the area, said.

Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party has targeted anti-CAA (Citizenship (Amendment) Act) protests and protesters, including those at Shaheen Bagh, where a sit-in has been going on for 52 days, there has been political mobilisation among Muslims across the city, including in Jafrabad and Khureji.

The big question on everyones minds is: who will they vote for?

Traditionally, Muslims in Delhi have voted for the Congress. However, in 2013, a majority of them shifted loyalty to the Aam Aadmi Party. The transition was complete in 2015, when the Congress failed to win even a single seat.This time, will they vote for the Congress, which is raising the CAA issue, or continue to back AAP, which has steered clear of getting into a confrontation with the BJP on the topic?

In 2015, AAP, with a 54.34% vote share, won 67 seats in the 70-member Delhi assembly; the BJP may have won only three seats, but it ended up with a 32.19% vote share. And the Congress, with a 9.65% vote share, won no seat. The prevailing opinion is that if the Congress improves its performance, it will be at the cost of AAP.

There are at least five assembly constituencies where Muslims can sway the results: Matia Mahal, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Okhla and Seelampur. Besides, Muslims form a significant part of the population in Rithala, Shahdara, Seemapuri, Babarpur and Mustafabad constituencies.

The CAA fast-tracks citizenship for people belonging to non-Muslim minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014. The law has been challenged in the Supreme Court for being exclusionary and based on religion, and has resulted in widespread protests across India. In the north-eastern states, including Assam, there is fear that the law could legitimise outsiders and give them rights to scarce land and jobs. Many others, especially Muslims, are worried that the CAA will be implemented in tandem with the National Register of Citizens. One was implemented in Assam under the Supreme Courts supervision, and excluded 1.9 million of the states residents, both Muslims and Hindus. Several BJP leaders, including the home minister, have said CAA will be implemented in tandem with NRC to drive out outsiders, with the former, presumably providing a way out to non-Muslims from the three countries. The government has since clarified that there are no immediate plans to implement NRC.

Senior journalist Masoom Moradabadi, founding editor of Khabardar Jadeed, an Urdu daily, says the fact that the AAP is not focusing much on CAA shows the coming of age of the party. Yes, the AAP has not spoken much on CAA. But it shows a certain level of political maturity on their part. Despite being boxed into a corner by the BJP on the issue, the AAP has maintained a studied silence without openly opposing the ongoing anti-CAA protests. It is because they understand that during elections any stand can be interpreted in a different way by the opposition.

He does not think this will make a difference to the Muslim vote . As I see it, Muslims will back AAP again. You should understand that AAP appeals to the layman, the person whose religion is hunger. Such a person cannot be swayed by speeches loaded with communal slogans. What matters to such people is that they are getting free power and water, free health care, and good government schools in their vicinity, he said.

In Babarpur, a seat held by senior AAP leader Gopal Rai, a small group is holding a protest against CAA. Mohd Shahid, 40, an entrepreneur and a resident, said Muslims in the area will support Rai solely because of the work done by his party in the past five years. Although there are no big anti-CAA protests here like in other parts of the city, the communal narrative propagated by the BJP has led to some concerns among Muslims . There are civic problems but the conversations are still very much focused on zero power bills, he said.

In neighbouring Seelampur, the nature of contest is a bit different. The Congress has fielded its heavyweight Chaudhary Mateen from the seat. A five-time MLA from the constituency, Mateen has a huge following in the area. Many there say there is a groundswell of support for Mateen. Local residents also point to the fact that Haji Ishraque, the sitting AAP MLA who has been denied a ticket, has extended support to Mateen, possibly helping his cause. Supporters of Mateen are raising the CAA issue although there are significant civic challenges in the area.

Sanitation is pathetic in our area. Heaps of garbage are all around. Around the Seelampur main market, you can spot garbage in different corners, sometimes the water supply too is very bad. The AAP MLA didnt do much work and, maybe, that is why he was not given ticket this time, said Haji Akhlaque, a local resident.

In Khureji, several residents say objectionable speeches by some BJP leaders in recent days may help consolidate the Muslim vote. The AAP MLA, SK Bagga, has done work in our area and the Muslims are likely to back him again. Our constituency, Krishna Nagar, has a mixed population with people from different faiths and social strata. But if there is one thing that we all want, it is peace. No businessperson, no professional, no student nor homemaker can survive without peace, said Shadab Talat, 45, a local resident, who works with a private firm in Delhi.

Moradabadi doesnt think there has been any such consolidation; nor does he believe Muslims vote as a block. When it comes to elections, Muslims have traditionally voted for the candidate who talk about their welfare, safety and social harmony. But he does admit that the speeches by some BJP leaders have put off Muslims. The speeches by the BJP leaders belie their agenda of sabka sath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas (with everyone, for everyones progress, and with everyones trust). Such speeches are unprecedented in the history of Delhi elections.

Qasim Khan, a member of the minority wing of the AAP, said the party is focusing on the real issues. A resident of Vishwakarma Nagar, part of Shahdara assembly constituency, Khan said AAP leaders have time and again articulated their views on CAA and NRC. Our party spoke against the law in Parliament. So, why should somebody accuse us of being silent on the issue? Moreover, the AAP represents a new brand of politics, which talks about the issues of jobs, safety, amenities. The communal narrative only shows the frustration of the opposition. .

In old Delhi, which boasts one of the largest chunks of the citys Muslim population, street-corner conversations are dominated by the communal turn that the elections have taken.

Faisal Malik, a resident of Ballimaran, says its hard to predict whether this will consolidate the Muslim vote.

In 2015, Ballimaran, Matia Mahal and Chandni Chowk, all old Delhi constituencies, went to the AAP . The party has changed its candidates from Matia Mahal and Chandni Chowk. Shoaib Iqbal, a five-time MLA who recently joined the AAP, is contesting on the partys ticket from the first; and from Chandni Chowk, the AAP has fielded Parlad Singh Sawhney, a former MLA and Congress veteran. The sitting AAP MLA Alka Lamba has joined the Congress and is now contesting on its ticket.

This is where the Jan Sangh was founded. Eminent Muslim personalities such as Hakim Ajmal Khan presided over the reception committee of the Hindu Mahasabha. This is the real melting pot, the real Hindustan. We are Dilliwalas, it is not possible to divide us or scare us. We understand the motives behind the communal agenda of some parties. Yes, it is for votes but they wont get our vote, said Mohammad Maroof, 58, a resident of Fatehpuri.

In Jamia Nagar, Okhla, ground zero of anti-CAA protests, there is fear, determination and hope. Residents are angry over the recent shooting incidents, squarely blaming the police for giving what they claimed a free hand to anti-Muslim elements.

They are coming and shooting at us. Their leaders are spewing venom and they are targeting us. It is a scary situation. The entire government has turned against one protest by women and children, said Mohd Hasan, a resident of Jamia Nagar, who studies in Jamia Millia Islamia, referring to the Shaheen Bagh protests and recent instances where two men have been arrested for firing on protesters. One fired in the air while the other fired at a Jamia students protest march, injuring one .

Locals said they are determined to carry on with their protests and keep it peaceful despite grave provocations. The idea is to provoke us into making one mistake and then use it as an excuse to stifle the voice of dissent. But it is not going to happen, said Azhar Kafeel, 38, a resident of Okhla Vihar.

Ahmad Hasan, a resident of Batla House, echoed Jaleels statement. People have seen through the BJPs game. We are not going to be fooled by any propaganda. We will back the party which will treat us as citizens and provide us what citizens need. You dont need a government to talk about religion . You need it for governance, health care, education and safety, said Hasan, 42, who works with a firm in Noida.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's body language while out meeting crowds in South Wales today signalled a move towards more public displays of affection, a body language expert has revealed.

Prince William, 37, and Kate, 38, seemed to have relaxed their 'hands-off' policy in public, according to Judi James.

Speaking to FEMAIL, the British author suggested that the small arm and back touches shared between the couple during their visit to Mumbles today is to combat the loss of the 'hugely tactile' Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, since their move to Canada.

She added that the 'constant touch' could be keeping the communication alive non-verbally when the royal parents are out in public.

WILLIAM AND KATE ABANDON HANDS-OFF APPROACH

Good spirits! The Duchess of Cambridge placed an affectionate hand on her husband Prince William's shoulder as they arrived in South Wales, today

Prince William and Kate looked every inch the loved-up couple when in Wales today, sharing many gentle touches. The public displays of affection appeared as a contrast to what has in the past been seen as 'hands-off' approach adopted by the parents.

As Judi noted: 'These are very interesting mutual touch rituals from William and Kate, with a suggestion that they might have made a conscious decision to relax what has in the past looked like their 'hands off' policy in public.

'Although we have seen them being tentatively tactile before, these rituals hint that they might be happy to be seen as a little more demonstrative, now that the hugely tactile Harry and Meghan have left to live in Canada.'

'These latest rituals show the royal couple looking mutually supportive via small arm and back touches though, rather than flagging up their love via hand-holding and hugs.'

THE COUPLE'S GENTLE TOUCHES

Gentle manner: Prince William offers an affectionate hand on his wife's back as the couple talk to well-wishers

Constant touch: Prince William was never far away from his wife and was sure to offer a guiding hand to her back when speaking to crowds

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were captured sharing small arm and back touches when strolling along the South Wales neighbourhood.

Judi explained: 'In many ways these touches are 'empty embraces', meaning they are mimed hugs that suggest the real hugs are there off-stage.

'They're also used as tie-signs, that is keeping the communication alive between them non-verbally when they are out in public.'

SHARED SMILES

The look of love: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge share a smile as they walk along Mumbles Pier today

Judi also commented on the many smiles shared between the couple during their busy engagements today - claiming it was Kate's way of bringing William 'out of his shell', like his brother Harry used to do.

'This isn't just a loving gaze between Kate and William, it also shows her performing a wide, beaming, laughing smile as she exchanges eye contact,' the author said.

'This is often what's called a pinging smile, aimed at encouraging your partner (or small child when its a parent/child interaction) to grin back. With her determined-looking stride and sense of high energy, Kate does seem to be motivating William in terms of relaxing and enjoying the moment.

'His returned smile looks hugely affectionate and appreciative although the way he has one hand stuffed into his pocket hints he might have needed the prompt to come out of his shell a little.'

She added: 'It's also heartening to see Kate and William sharing a sense of fun and humour in public as this tended to be a role in William's life primarily filled by his 'fun' brother Harry.'

A CHANGE IN HEART

Helping hand: The Duke of Cambridge helped guide his wife as they boarded a lifeboat in Mumbles this afternoon

The expert suggested that the slight touches shared between the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today might show a change in heart from the 'rather traditional and cautious' Prince William.

'Constant touch might have been seen as 'non-royal' by the rather traditional and cautious William,' she said.

'It could also have been a symptom of his fear of reverting to the kind of soap opera body language displays we saw during his mother's marriage to Charles, when the press went into over-drive with every new emotional clue they provided.'

Warm welcome: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge waved at well-wishers as they arrived for their engagement today
Britain flexed its muscles for the first time as an independent nation at the World Trade Organisation today as it looked to redefine itself on the global stage after Brexit.

The UK has always been a member of the WTO in its own right but while it was a member of the European Union it was represented in talks by the European Commission.

Having left the bloc on Friday last week the UK can now speak for itself at the organisation which regulates world trade.

The UK's ambassador to the WTO, Julian Braithwaite, addressed the body this morning in a moment described as 'historic' by the International Trade Secretary Liz Truss.

Mr Braithwaite's address came at a crucial time for the UK as it adapts to its new position outside the EU and after Boris Johnson and Michel Barnier put Britain and the bloc on a collision course.

Mr Johnson set out his approach to future partnership negotiations with the EU in a big speech yesterday as he said there was 'no need' for the UK to abide by Brussels rules after its departure.

But the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier hit back as he suggested the UK government was acting in bad faith having previously agreed to ensuring there would remain a 'level playing field' on rules and regulations.

Julian Braithwaite, the UK's permanent representative to the World Trade Organisation, today addressed the organisation for the first time since Britain left the EU

Boris Johnson, pictured in Greenwich yesterday, said there was 'no need' for the UK to stick to EU rules after Brexit

But Mr Barnier suggested the UK was acting in bad faith because it has previously agreed to ensuring there is a 'level playing field' on rules and regulations after Brexit

Mr Braithwaite's statement to the WTO today represented a major moment for Brexiteers who have long called for the UK to take back control of the entirety of its trade policy.

He said: 'I am looking forward to representing the UK in the WTO and playing a full role in negotiations.

'The UK will work with partners to accelerate efforts to modernise the WTO, so that it meets the needs of business and trade in the 21st century.'

The UK will sit alongside the US at the WTO and Mr Braithwaite tweeted that he had been given a 'wonderful warm welcome' from his North American counterparts.

He said: 'The Americans are some of the toughest negotiators in the world. But the bonds run deep.'

Ms Truss said: 'This is an historic moment which will give us an independent voice at the WTO for the first time since its inception.

'We will be speaking up on issues that matter to people and businesses in Britain, including crucial UK industries like fisheries and digital trade, as well as championing free trade against the rising tide of protectionism.'

The UK government has said its main priority at the WTO will be to 'champion free, fair and rules-based trade globally'.

The UK and EU set out competing visions for their future relationship yesterday after the two sides entered into a standstill transition period following Britain's split from the bloc at 11pm on January 31.

The transition period, due to end in December this year, will be used to negotiate the terms of a trade deal.

But based on remarks made by Mr Johnson and Mr Barnier the next 11 months are likely to be fractious.

Major stumbling blocks are already obvious with early battles focusing on how far the UK will diverge from EU rules and to what extent EU fishing boats will be granted access to UK waters.

Mr Johnson used a speech in Greenwich, south-east London, to signal his determination to secure an arrangement with Brussels along the lines of that agreed between the EU and Canada.

'There is no need for a free trade agreement to involve accepting EU rules on competition policies, subsidies, social protection, the environment or anything similar, any more than the EU should be obliged to accept UK rules,' he said.

Mr Braithwaite sat next to the US delegation as Britain took up its independent WTO seat for the first time

Downing Street said the UK will agree to some regulatory alignment with the EU, as Canada has done, but would not accept alleged breaches being ruled on by the European Court of Justice.

Mr Johnson confirmed that if a Canada-style agreement was not possible, he would be prepared to walk away without a full trade deal.

The government also stressed that while it is ready to consider an agreement with Brussels on fisheries, 'it must reflect the fact that the UK will be an independent coastal state from the end of this year, controlling our own waters'.

Shortly before Mr Johnson spoke, the EU set out its draft negotiating mandate, calling for 'reciprocal access' for fishing vessels, and stating that a free trade area with no tariffs or quotas was contingent on a 'level playing field ... ensured through robust commitments'.

Mr Barnier told reporters in Brussels: 'It's clear that the agreement that we wish to have in the interests of UK fishermen and in the interests of European fishermen - I call that reciprocal access to our territorial waters and our markets - that agreement on fisheries will be inextricably linked to the trade agreement, as indeed will be... the agreement on the level playing field agreed with Boris Johnson.'
A court in Himachal Pradesh's Kallu district on Tuesday sent an Israeli national, who was arrested with charas, to three-day police custody.

Borov, 42, a resident of Jerusalem, was arrested after the Kullu police seized 2.5 kg of charas from his possession during checking at TCP Bajaura on Sunday night. He was travelling in a Delhi-bound private bus from Manali.

Borov was produced in the court on Tuesday, which remanded him to three-day police custody, Kullu Superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh said.

During investigation, the accused was taken to the room in the Vashith area which he had taken on rent and 1.5 kg more charas was seized from there, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Farmers in Northern Ireland have been reminded to remain cautious as the open period for spreading slurry commences.

The work of the Health Safety Executive Northern Ireland (HSENI) and Farm Safety Partnership has improved awareness of farm safety.

Slurry season does, however, remain an ongoing concern for every farming family in the region.

The Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) said farmers must 'stop and think' before they conduct slurry work on the farm and make their own safety a priority.

Deputy president Victor Chestnutt said: Working with slurry is one of the most dangerous jobs for a farmer as slurry gas contains poisonous hydrogen sulphide.

The gas releases very quickly and in large volumes as soon as mixing begins so it is vital that farmers take time to plan ahead, consider their surroundings and the weather before they begin any slurry work, putting their own safety first.

Too many farmers have experienced near misses and we are encouraging them to change the way they think about these close calls which are only a moment away from a fatal accident happening.

The Farm Safety Partnership has developed the 'Stop and Think Safe' campaign to tackle high levels of serious accidents and deaths on local farms.

We urge all farmers to make themselves aware of the slurry mixing code which stresses that the first thirty minutes are the most dangerous, said Mr Chestnutt.

When farmers start mixing slurry and every time they move the pump or change the direction of mixing, they should exit the shed and stay out for at least thirty minutes.

The shed should be completely vacant, and all livestock removed. Farmers should mix on a windy day if possible and we urge members to inform a family member when they are working with slurry and ensure help is close at hand if needed, he added.

The UFU is also reminding farmers that new slurry rules have been introduced for the month of February.

The latest regulations have increased the buffer zones and farmers must now be 15m away from waterways and 30m from lakes.

The amount of slurry that can be spread at any one time has also been reduced to 30m3/ha (2700 gallons/acre).

For more information about working safely with slurry or general farming health and safety issues contact the HSENI helpline on 0800 0320 121 or visit the HSENI website.
Gov. Tom Wolf speaks at a news conference in his Capitol offices as he unveils a $1.1 billion package intended to help eliminate lead and asbestos contamination in Pennsylvania's schools, homes, day care facilities and public water systems, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020 in Harrisburg, Pa. Looking on are Democratic state lawmakers and officials from teachers' unions. (AP Photo/Marc Levy) Read more

Gov. Tom Wolf is pushing significant changes to Pennsylvanias charter school law that his office says could save school districts statewide $280 million a year and would leave the existing charters with less funding.

The changes are outlined in a bill, sponsored by several Democratic House and Senate lawmakers and released Monday by the governors office, that would change the way district payments to charters are calculated. It follows Wolfs call last year to overhaul Pennsylvanias rules for charter school funding and accountability, as districts statewide have complained about how their budgets are affected by schools that they say they have insufficient ability to regulate.

Every student deserves a great education, whether in a traditional public school or a charter school, but the states flawed and outdated charter school law is failing children, parents, and taxpayers," Wolf said in a statement Monday. Pennsylvania has a history of school choice, which I support, but there is widespread agreement that we must change the law to prioritize quality and align funding to actual costs.

 READ MORE: Pa. superintendents join to demand charter school reform ahead of Wolfs budget proposal

Republicans who control the Legislature did not immediately comment on the bill, which had not yet been formally filed.

Ana Meyers, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools, called it a slash-and-burn proposal" that would mean punitive and discriminatory funding cuts for charter-school students.

Wolf is likely to address the issue Tuesday when he delivers his annual budget address to the legislature. Entering his sixth year in office, the Democratic governor is not expected to call for raising the income or sales taxes  proposals early in his first term that led to long impasses with the Legislature.

He is expected to advocate for increases in early education and special education funding, in addition to funding for K-12 instruction in schools. Wolf is also anticipated to advocate for a hike in the states minimum wage  which currently matches the federal minimum of $7.25  as well as push for an infrastructure improvement plan to be funded through a new tax on natural gas drilling. The latter pitch, announced by Wolf last year, gained no traction with the Legislature.

Mike Straub, a spokesperson for House Republicans, said it was too early to tell" how much support the charter law changes may have going forward because the sponsoring lawmakers  Sens. Lindsey Williams and James Brewster of Allegheny County, and Rep. Joe Ciresi of Montgomery County  were still collecting cosponsors.

Promoted by supporters as alternatives to failing public school systems, charter schools  which are independently run but funded by school districts  have attracted a growing number of students across Pennsylvania since their introduction in the late 1990s. They have an especially sizable presence in Philadelphia, where about 70,000, or one-third of public school students, are enrolled in charters. In total, charters enroll more than 143,000 Pennsylvania students.

But the school choice movement has been confronting increased controversy nationally and in Pennsylvania, where the budget challenges facing many school districts have worsened  in part because charter school costs have been rising.

 READ MORE: Gov. Wolf proposed more money for public schools, but districts say math just doesnt add up

More than 70% of school districts surveyed this year by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association identified charter school tuition as one of their biggest budget pressures, surpassing pension contributions as the most commonly identified factor.

Districts pay charter schools based on enrollment and what districts spend on their students  a rate that varies widely across the state. The legislation backed by Wolf would set a statewide rate for what school districts pay cyber charter schools, which are authorized by the state Education Department and enroll students from across Pennsylvania.

Cyber charter costs have been a growing concern for traditional public school advocates, as well as lawmakers  including some Republicans. The House Education Committee last month held a hearing on a bill sponsored by Rep. Curt Sonney (R., Erie), that would dissolve cyber charters but require that every school district offer three full-time cyber school options.

The bill backed by Wolf would prohibit enrollment increases at cyber charters with poor academic performance, an issue that has plagued the states cyber charter sector.

It would also change how districts fund charters for special education students, setting different rates based on the severity of the students needs.

Among other provisions, the legislation would create a standard statewide framework for new charter applications. Brick-and-mortar charter schools are evaluated and approved by individual school districts.

It would also tighten regulations for charter management companies, making the private companies that contract with charters subject to the state Right-to-Know law. It would bar charter schools from advertising themselves to parents as free, requiring they indicate costs are paid by taxpayers.

Angela Couloumbis of Spotlight PA contributed to this article.
In a move that already has the governors support, the Tennessee department of education is proposing major legislation that will require all current and new K-3 teachersand those who train themto know about evidence-based reading instruction.

The bill was filed just as Gov. Bill Lee was getting ready to deliver his State of the State address this evening. In the governors prepared remarks, he said he was setting aside about $70 million in his fiscal 2021 budget to support the suite of early literacy requirements.

More states are getting interested inand institutingrequirements that their teachers have mastered reading instruction thats solidly grounded in research. Among other things, decades of cognitive science research have shown that young students need explicit, systematic instruction in phonics to learn to decode words. And they need strong vocabulary and background knowledge to comprehend what they read. But even on a landscape of rising interest and action, the changes Tennessee is proposing are among the most comprehensive and far-reaching.

Word of these changes made its way onto social media, notably after a Jan. 21 meeting of the Tennessee Dyslexia Advisory Council, where Lisa Coons, the states chief of standards and materials for K-12, made a presentation. In a series of tweets, Anna Thorsen , a parent member of that council, reported that Coons said that the state will take steps to make sure that schools follow the science of reading, and that cueing"a common practice in which teachers encourage students to identify a word through context, picture, and other cueswill be absent from classrooms and teacher-prep programs.

Read Education Weeks special series on early reading instruction, Getting Reading Right.

Here are the highlights of the proposed legislation, as described by Coons and State Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn in an interview Monday. Schwinn said that with only one-third of the states 3rd graders reading on grade level, she considers strong reading instruction to be so important that this bill will be the only one the department proposes this year.

Instructional materials: literacy

Districts would have to use a state-approved, free, open-source foundational literacy curriculum aligned to the science of reading for K-2, or seek a waiver from that requirement if they can prove their own materials meet that standard. Coons noted that the state doesnt want to discourage its early adopters"districts that have chosen evidence-based materials, and provided all the right supports for teachers and principals to implement themfrom continuing their own successful approaches.

Instructional materials: content knowledge

Districts would be required to provide high-quality instructional materials aimed at building content knowledge. In the past, districts could adopt a curriculum without being required to actually use it. The proposed legislation would change that by requiring districts to use curricula from the states list of high-quality materials.

Shared diagnostic assessments

Districts would be required to administer the same, statewide reading diagnostic assessment in K-2. We dont want to wait until 3rd grade to know how our kiddos are doing, Schwinn said. The test would be provided free of charge to districts to benchmark their students reading skills.

Professional development

Every teacher who teaches literacy in K-3including special educators and some paraprofessionalswould be required to take two weeks of professional development on evidence-based reading instruction. One week would focus on the deep foundations of evidence-based literacy instruction, Schwinn said, and the other would cover its effective implementation in the classroom. Teachers who complete it successfully, based on the observation and judgment of their trainers, would get early literacy endorsements. Those who dont would be assigned mentors to support them over the following year, and might have to repeat the training, Schwinn said.

Educator- and leader-preparation programs

Programs that prepare teachers and principals would be required to teach evidence-based reading instruction exclusively, Schwinn said. She and her team have been working with Mike Krause, who heads the states Higher Education Commission, to unify the states vision on early reading instruction, she said. State grants would support higher education as it shifts instruction to support aspiring teachers and principals as they learn evidence-based reading instruction, and learn how to use the states approved materials for reading instruction and content knowledge.

Accountability

The state would be required to reevaluate its accountability model to see if it adequately supports achievement of the states K-3 reading goals. One area for consideration, Schwinn said, is whether the current growth model could work against districts with strong reading achievement in upper elementary, since high achievement makes it tougher to earn points based on academic growth.

Jared Myracle, the chief academic officer of the Jackson-Madison County schools, whos been working with a network of other district leaders in Tennessee to encourage the embrace of evidence-based reading instruction, said hes glad a statewide system is being considered in the new legislation. But everything, he said, will depend on how the new requirementsassuming they make it through the legislature and get the governors signatureare implemented.

If all the provisions in the bill are put into practice well, he said, its hard to imagine a scenario where that doesnt have a pretty dramatic impact on reading outcomes.

Hes already seeing progress in his district, which has been using the Core Knowledge curriculum in K-2 for foundational reading skills and knowledge-building, and Expeditionary Learning in grades 3-5, for two full years after a pilot year. In the last two years, he said, about half of his kindergarten students have scored above average in phonemic awareness on the districts diagnostic test in foundational reading skills. Before that, Myracle said, only about one-quarter did.

See also: We Have a National Reading Crisis, an essay by Myracle and two other district-level curriculum leaders.

Image via Getty
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison has described as unimpressive the slow rate at which the Receiver of the defunct financial institutions is recovering some targeted monies.

Dr. Addison noted that out of more than GHS16 billion spent on some banks to protect depositor's funds, only a little over eight percent has been recovered by the Receiver.

To recover the funds, the Receiver has commenced the auctioning of properties of the affected defunct banks to recoup money for depositors.

However, at a press conference to announce recent policy rate, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana said although the effort to retrieve depositors' funds is there, the progress in terms of the amount of money being recovered is slow.

The Receiver has been able to make some recoveries. They are not as impressive as we had expected. Last time I checked, about GHS1.4 billion has been recovered. Now we are looking at the loan portfolio of these banks that were resolved and it was over GHS16 billion. So if you've recovered just GHS1.4 billion out of the GHS16 billion, it tells you that there is a lot of work that has to be done. So yes the effort is there but progress in terms of the money that they are recovering is slow, he observed.

Background

The Bank of Ghana in May and August last year [2019] revoked the licenses of 347 microfinance and microcredit companies and 23 Savings and loans and finance houses for various regulatory infractions.

The Receiver for these collapsed financial institutions began the auction for vehicles and motorbikes of institutions today [Monday, February 3, 2020].

The exercise which is to take place for five days [Monday, 3 February 2020  Friday, 7 February 2020] forms part of measures to defray monies due the affected customers of the collapsed financial institutions.

Under the auspices of the Receiver, Eric Nana Nipah, the auction is being carried out by three firms; Wildos Mart, Yakarmata Mart and Broadway Mart.

---citinewsroom
An elderly woman with dementia is to be detained in hospital by High Court order due to fears for her safety and welfare if she returns home.

The HSE secured the orders from High Court president Mr Justice Peter Kelly today pending the outcome of its petition seeking to have the woman made a ward of court.

The judge was told the woman, aged in her eighties, is an inpatient at the hospital and had made frequent attempts in recent days to leave and return home.

She succeeded in leaving on one occasion but was returned to the hospital by gardai, counsel for the HSE said.

She was admitted to hospital on two previous occasions from last September after which, arising from her strong wish to go home, she was discharged there with supports.

Those were failed discharges and safeguarding concerns arose, the court was told.

The woman was readmitted to hospital after one discharge with a facial injury and she had also made allegations of physical and financial abuse against a son of hers.

Welfare workers who attended at her home found there was no food there or her medications. The woman was also experiencing hallucinations.

The woman was previously diagnosed with moderate cognitive impairment but a more recent formal capacity assessment had concluded she is of unsound mind and incapable of making relevant decisions concerning her person and finances.

A consultant geriatrician had said the situation is "urgent" because the woman is seeking daily to leave hospital.

It was considered her medical condition had deteriorated to such an extent that discharge was no longer safe due to the risk that presented and that led to this ex parte (one side only represented) application.

Other concerns included that the son suspected of physically and financially abusing her may seek to remove her from hospital.

Her adult children disagree about a proposed care plan with some supporting it and others opposing it, the judge was told. A patient advocate had also been appointed to represent her interests.

Mr Justice Kelly said he was satisfied to make the detention and treatment orders sought.

He directed that an independent medical doctor should visit the woman to carry out a capacity assessment and appointed the general solicitor of wards of court to represent her interests in the wardship proceedings.
T oday's Google Doodle is honouring the life and legacy of the late pioneering campaigner Nkosi Johnson.

Born on this day in 1989, Nkosi campaigned for the equal rights of children with AIDs before the disease took his life in 2001.

Today's Doodle honours his life and the legacy of a voice for change heard by millions around the world.

Here's all you need to know about Nkosi Johnson.

BBC

Who was Nkosi Johnson?

Nkosi was born Xolani Nkosi in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was HIV-positive from birth and never knew his father, and was adopted by public relaions officer Gail Johnson from an AIDS care centre when his mother became unable to care for him.

Nkosi first hit the headlines in 1997 when a nearby primary school refused to accept him as a pupil because of his infection, with the incident soon reaching the highest political level.

In response, his foster mother organized workshops to educate people about AIDs, and her efforts led Parliament to pass legislation that required schools to uphold anti-discrimination policies that protected children like Nkosi. The school later reversed its decision to accept the boy.

His own mother died the year he started school, and Nkosi's health begen to deteiorate - neverthless, he began to speak publicly about living as a child with AIDS, with millions around the world hearing this young child speak.

His efforts helped destigamtise the global perspective on people affected by the disease, and together with Gail, they established Nkosis Haven, an NGO still active today that provides a safe home and healthcare for families affected by AIDS.

As a campaigner for children with AIDs Nkosi spoke at a number of high-profile events, including being keynote speaker at the International AIDs Conference.

In his speech he said: "Care for us and accept us  we are all human beings. We are normal. We have hands. We have feet. We can walk, we can talk, we have needs just like everyone else  dont be afraid of us  we are all the same."

He sadly died in 2001, when he was just 12-years-old. In honour of his efforts to raise awareness of the disease, the International Childrens Peace Prize was created in 2005.

Each year the award, a Nkosi statuette, is given to a young winner celebrated for promoting childrens rights.
A leaked recording of an Iranian pilot shows Iran knew immediately it had shot down a Ukrainian airliner last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine says.

On the recording, the pilot of another plane can be heard telling a control tower he saw "the light of a missile" in the sky before Ukrainian International Airways flight 752 crashed in an explosion.

Tehran denied responsibility for three days after the attack, which happened in the wake of the US killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.

Yesterday, the Iranian regime attacked Ukraine for leaking what it described as confidential evidence, and said it would no longer share material with Ukraine from the investigation into the crash.

All 176 people on board were killed when the plane, bound for Kiev from Tehran, crashed after takeoff on January 8.

The leaked audio "proves that the Iranian side knew from the start that our plane had been hit by a missile," Mr Zelensky said in a television interview.

"He says that 'it seems to me that a missile is flying', he says it in both Persian and English, everything is fixed there," Mr Zelensky said.

Iran claims it shot the plane down by mistake while under high alert, hours after it had fired at US targets in retaliation for the Solemaini killing.

It has faced pressure from Ukraine and other countries whose citizens were on board to send evidence abroad for international investigations.

The Iranian official in charge of accident investigations at Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation called the release of the recording a "strange move" by Ukraine.

"This action by the Ukrainians led to us not sharing any more evidence with them," the official, Hassan Rezaifar said, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

In the recording, a pilot for Aseman, an Iranian airline, can be heard radioing the control tower that he has seen what he believes is a missile.

"Is this an active area? There's lights like a missile. Is there anything?" the pilot says.

"Nothing has been reported to us. What's the light like?" the controller replies. The pilot says: "It's the light of a missile."

The control tower can be heard trying and failing to raise the Ukrainian airliner.

The pilot of the Iranian plane then says he has seen "an explosion. In a very big way".

Ukraine International Airways said the recording provided "yet more proof that the UIA airplane was shot down with a missile, and there were no restrictions or warnings from dispatchers of any risk to flights of civilian aircraft in the vicinity of the airport".

Mr Rezaifar, the Iranian aviation official, said the Ukraine investigation team, as well as all the other foreigners involved in the investigation, have now left Iran.
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Mumbai, Feb 4 : Targetting Prime Minister Narendra Modi again, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thakeray on Tuesday called for a rethink on the upcoming Bullet Train project between Ahmedabad-Mumbai, terming it as a "white elephant".

The Rs 100,000-crore plus project is considered a dream project of Modi, which was put under a 'review' weeks after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government came to power on November 28, 2019, amid strong criticism from opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"We need to prioritise the developmental works needed in the state. We have to consider the financial implications before implementing such huge projects," Thackeray said.

His comments came in the second-part of his ongoing interview after taking over as CM, with the Shiv Sena-run newspapers, 'Saamana' and 'Dopahar Ka Saamana' Executive Editor and MP Sanjay Raut.

The National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd is executing the mega-project through a soft loan from Japan.

"Just because someone gives us an interest-free loan or with minimal interest, it does not mean that we just take it, snatch lands from our farmers for the project. After all this is like a white elephant which we don't need at all," Thackeray declared.

Calling for a rethink, the CM said the 508-km-long project must be discussed threadbare across the table before deciding to go ahead with it considering the financials involved.

"We need to find out who will really benefit from the Bullet Train project? How many businesses or industries really stand to gain from it. Please explain, then we will go before the public and then decide what needs to be done," Thackeray said.

On how it is said to be the PM's 'dream project', Thackeray said: "It may be a dream project, it is not our dream. But once you wake up, the reality is right before you. That reality is not the dream." The Bullet Train will have 13 stations en route including Bandra Kurla Complex, Thane, Virar, Boisar (in Maharashtra), Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati (in Gujarat).

It will run 350.53 km in Gujarat, 2 km in Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and the remaining 155.65 km in Maharashtra, passing through Palghar, Thane and Mumbai.
The Ondo State Government has named the Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH), Okitipupa, after a former governor of the state, Olusegun Agagu.

The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Sunday Ogunduyile, told journalists on Tuesday in Okitipupa that the institution would now be called Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OASUTECH).

Mr Agagu was governor of the state between May 2003 and February 2009, when a court voided his re-election as governor on account of electoral irregularities.

He was succeeded by Olusegun Mimiko.

Mr Ogunduyile said the renaming of the university, which had been gazetted, was to immortalise the former governor who, he said, had contributed immensely to the establishment of the institution.

He commended Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for acceding to the yearnings of Ikale indigenes in renaming the institution after their son.

I think it is a welcome idea, aimed at immortalizing the late Agagu for his immense contributions to the establishment of the institution. Renaming the institution will make it attain greater heights in all spheres.

I thank Gov. Akeredolu for acceding to the yearnings of Ikale indigenes to immortalise their illustrious son; this is well appreciated, Mr Ogunduyile said.

Meanwhile, Dipo Akomolafe, Chairman of the universitys chapter of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has said the country should jettison the renaming of institutions after individuals.

Mr Akomolafe said such practice will draw such an institution backward on its quality and brand.

It is a welcome development, as the government owns its institution.

It will only draw the institution back a bit from what it is known for in terms of height and brand. I only hope that the government will support the institution with funds to assist in its rebranding, he said.
In his great set of poems The Four Quartets, T S Eliot describes how we can have an experience but miss the meaning. This can be as true for Anglicans as anyone else  we can become so busy with services, meetings, upkeep of buildings, etc, that we lose touch with what it is all about it.

Spending time in study with others, reading, discussing and reflecting, and writing down what we think, can make all the difference. Here is an opportunity to find the meaning, the real meaning of our activities, with the help of scripture and appropriate teaching. More than that, as Eliot goes on to say, finding the meaning restores the experience in a different form.

This is the underlying aim of Theological Education in the Anglican Communion (TEAC), a project supported by St Augustines Foundation of Canterbury, to promote theological education for the whole people of God in the provinces and churches of our Communion.

It does this in three ways, beginning with building up the network of colleges, seminaries and courses across the world. Colleges are put in touch with each other, through regular bulletins and conferences, sharing resources across institutions, building connections with education for discipleship and developing companionship links.

Secondly, the project is developing study materials in under-resourced areas of the curriculum, such as the nature of Anglicanism and the Anglican Communion itself. A group is currently working on Anglican identity, gathering testimonies on video from different provinces to build up a rich and diverse picture from the grass roots level. Another group is working on Anglican ecumenical doctrine. These study materials will be uploaded onto the Anglican Communion website and be freely available for anyone who wants to incorporate them into local educational programmes.

Meanwhile other groups of scholars have produced books on the Archbishop of Canterburys priorities, beginning with reconciliation, then evangelism and finally the renewal of prayer and the religious life. They are being published by the publisher Forward Movement and the last of these will be published this April.

Thirdly, TEAC is an advocate for theological education across the Communion. At a time when colleges and seminaries are under pressure and sometimes disconnected from sponsoring dioceses, and when provinces and dioceses are increasingly calling for help with deepening the discipleship of their people, it is vital to bring together the two groups so that the institutions can hear what the dioceses need and re-configure their work to serve and support discipleship formation for clergy and laity. Theological education is vital  it provides those moments in the Christian life when the penny drops and the meaning of what we do and how we live becomes clear and energising.

The coming year will be an important one for TEAC. There will be gatherings of theological educators from across the world prior to the Lambeth Conference, to share and learn about different ways of doing training and education and to hear from bishops about what they need from the institutions. The new study materials on Anglican identity will be produced, with work on other materials on Anglican history and doctrine continuing. TEAC staff will travel to Latin America and South East Asia to meet with colleagues to widen and strengthen the TEAC network.

As the second-most senior person at the Department of Veterans Affairs, one of the governments largest and most historically troubled agencies, Mr. Byrne had broad authority over a number of sensitive issues and important initiatives as the department moves to direct thousands of veterans to health care providers outside the agencys legacy network.

The agencys $18 billion attempt to modernize its health care records has been troubled with its communications with the Defense Department system, and with maintaining enough staff for an ambitious debut deadline next month. As the agency moves to get more health care for veterans in their community under the new plan, it has struggled to increase its network of doctors to meet the popular demand.

An initial task force plan to combat veterans suicide  a key policy initiative  has not been met with satisfaction at the White House, three people familiar with the plan said, in part because it is viewed as focusing too narrowly on reducing firearms, which are a leading method of suicide. Mr. Byrne alluded to the emphasis on veterans suicide as a Trump administration priority at his confirmation hearings.

Last fall, a senior policy adviser on female veterans issues for the House said she was assaulted at the V.A. Medical Center in Washington, a complaint that was sent to the inspector general, in part at the behest of Representative Mark Takano, Democrat of California and chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee.

The inspector general later declined to bring any charges, in part because video cameras at the hospital did not capture the episode. In an unusual rebuke of a committee chairman, Mr. Wilkie wrote to Mr. Takano that the unsubstantiated claims raised by you and your staff could deter our veterans from seeking the care they need and deserve.
Daniel arap Moi, a former schoolteacher who became Kenya's longest-serving president and presided over years of repression and economic turmoil, has died aged 95.

Moi's death was announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta in a statement today.

Moi, who ruled Kenya for 24 years, had been in and out of hospital for months.

Kenyatta ordered national flags to fly half-staff from today until sunset of the day of the burial.

He said Moi, Kenya's second president, was a leader in the struggle for independence and an ardent Pan-Africanist.

Moi ruled Kenya with an iron grip for 24 years from 1978 when he first took power until 2002

His presidency began with great optimism and in 1980 he hosted former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali at the State House in the Kenyan capital Nairobi

He was given a guard of honour when he left power in 2002 (pictured) by which time the struggling Kenyan economy was rife with corruption.

Despite being called a dictator by critics, Moi enjoyed strong support from many Kenyans and was seen as a uniting figure when he took power after founding president Jomo Kenyatta died in office in 1978.

Some allies of the ailing Kenyatta, however, had tried to change the constitution to prevent Moi, then the vice president, from automatically taking power upon Kenyatta's death.

So wary was Moi of any threat during that uncertain period that he fled his Rift Valley home when he heard of Kenyatta's death, returning only after receiving assurances of his safety.

In 1982 Moi's government pushed through parliament a constitutional amendment that made Kenya effectively a one-party state.

Moi became vice president of Kenya in 1967, a position he held until taking power 11 years later. He is pictured here in 1968, walking along a row of traditional dancers who performed for him on a visit to Muranga, north of Nairobi

Moi resided over a corrupt economy and was brutally oppressive against his political opponents. He is pictured here in 1997 addressing a rally in Malindi, North of Mombasa

President Daniel arap Moi brandishes a stick as he addresses members of his Kenyan African National Union party in 1992. He took power in 1978 and ruled with an iron fist for 24 years

From school teacher to ruthless dictator: Key dates in the life of Daniel arap Moi 1924: He is born into a poor family from the Kalenjin people and grows up in the cattle-herding and farming county of Baringo in northwestern Kenya. 1955: After working as a teacher, he enters politics and serves in legislative councils under British colonial rule. 1967: Named vice president of Kenya. 1978: Moi becomes president after death of Jomo Kenyatta, father of Kenyan independence. 1982: He survives a botched coup, responding swiftly and harshly, with dozens arrested and fired. 1991: Under domestic and international pressure, Moi puts an end to one-party rule and allows a multi-party system. He is re-elected leader in 1992 and 1997 elections, both marred by political and ethnic violence. 1997: The World Bank and IMF withhold aid to Kenya, saying the government has not kept its pledge to fight corruption. 2002: The constitution blocks Moi from standing for re-election. He quits and peacefully hands over power to Mwai Kibaki. 2004: He launches a humanitarian foundation called Moi Africa Institute (MAI), focused on preventing conflicts on the continent. 2006: Moi asks for forgiveness for acts of misrule during his 24-year-regime. 2020: Moi dies aged 95. Advertisement

Later that year the army quelled a coup attempt plotted by opposition members and some air force officers. At least 159 people were killed.

Moi's government then became more repressive in dealing with dissent, according to a report by the government's Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission that assessed his rule.

Political activists and others who dared oppose Moi's rule were routinely detained and tortured, the report said, noting unlawful detentions and assassinations, including the killing of a foreign affairs minister, Robert Ouko.

'The judiciary became an accomplice in the perpetuation of violations, while parliament was transformed into a puppet controlled by the heavy hand of the executive,' the report said.

Corruption, especially the illegal allocation of land, became institutionalized, the report said, while economic power was centralized in the hands of a few.

In 1991, Moi yielded to demands for a multi-party state due to internal pressure, including a demonstration in 1991 during which police killed more than 20 people, and external pressure from the West.

Multi-party elections in 1992 and 1997 were marred by political and ethnic violence that critics asserted were caused by the state.

By the time Moi left power in 2002, corruption had left Kenya's economy, the most developed in East Africa, with negative growth.

Moi often blamed the West for bad publicity and the economic hardships many Kenyans had to endure during his rule.

As with his predecessor, Kenyatta, many government projects, buildings and currency notes and coins were named after Moi.

Fed up, Kenyans voted for a new constitution that was implemented in 2010 and made provisions to bar personality cults.

Mixed reaction greeted Moi's death.

Commentator Patrick Gathara said in a tweet that Tuesday was a day to remember Moi's victims 'as well as the thousands who stood against his brutal and murderous kleptocracy. It is a day to remember that the current crop of politicians helped him escape justice for his crimes.'

Salime Lone, a former U.N. spokesman who fled into exile because of harassment under Moi, said the former president began so well and 'so many supported your promise of a free more inclusive, corruption-free Kenya.'

He said that Moi at the beginning of his rule released political prisoners and famously said it was better to eat sukuma wiki (kale) and sleep in peace than seek riches.

'How it went wrong is not for now,' Lone said in a tweet.
After declaring himself victorious despite the lack of published vote counts and chaotic fallout following last night's Iowa caucus, Pete Buttigieg was met with an avalanche of "#MayorCheat" accusations on social media while the 2020 Democratic primary candidates untangle the results following a reporting app's disastrous reporting errors.

Mr Buttigieg held a rally late Monday, telling the crowd that "an improbable hope became an undeniable reality". He said: "So we don't know all the results, but we know by the time it's all said and done: Iowa, you have shocked the nation. Because by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious."

The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana also has been widely accused of using his campaign to halt the release of anticipated poll results traditionally released the day before the caucus.

Mr Buttigieg's campaign reportedly forced the cancellation of survey results from the Des Moines Register, along with an hour-long special on the poll on CNN, after one respondent reported that Mr Buttigieg was not read from a list of candidates.

His declaration of victory inspired a #MayorCheat hashtag, invoking his Mayor Pete nickname, surrounded by rat emoji.

Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Show all 7 1 /7 Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Pete Buttigieg and South Bend The population of South Bend is around 100,000 Andrew Buncombe Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Annetter Newbill is fighting for justice for her son, Eric Logan, who was shot and killed by a white police officer Andrew Buncombe Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Mr Logan was shot by police, who claim he was trying to break into cars with a knife - an accusation his family has denied Andrew Buncombe Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Henry Davis, a council member who failed in a 2015 to oust Buttigieg, said he would not endorse him as a presidential candidate Andrew Buncombe Pete Buttigieg and South Bend When Pete Buttigieg returned to South Bend after the shooting, he was confronted by protesters Getty Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Buttigieg has pitched himself as "Mayor Pete", and a man who can get things done Getty Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Logan's mother says Buttigieg is only interested in 'running for president' AP

Iowa voting precincts reported widespread technical issues and delays as precinct chairs attempted to report results using an app, which the Democratic National Committee commissioned to record precinct results and report them to the party.

The Iowa Democratic Party announced that the app was properly recording the results, but it was reporting only partial data. "We have determined this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system", the party said in a statement. "The application's reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately."

Mr Buttigieg told CBS This Morning from New Hampshire, where he's campaigning ahead of that state's primary vote on 11 February, that his own campaign's reporting of caucus results "in over 1,200 districts" shows that "it was a phenomenal night for us".

 Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders claim Iowa wins despite results delay

"Looking at what happened last night, looking at all of the data that we've got, it was an extraordinary night and we are absolutely victorious coming into New Hampshire," he said.

His campaign reported a 28 per cent state delegate equivalent, three points more than results gathered by Bernie Sanders' campaign, which showed the Vermont senator earning a 28.6 per cent state delegate equivalent.

The app, reportedly designed by Democratic tech firm Shadow, headed by a former Hillary Clinton campaign staffer, was enlisted by the DNC late last year. It also is scheduled to record and report results in Nevada's Democratic caucus on 22 February.
Shares of three PSU OMCs rose from 1.48% to 3.47% after international crude oil prices slumped amid weak Chinese demand.

PSU Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 2.95%), and Indian Oil Corporation (up 3.47%) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 1.48%) advanced.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2020 settlement was up 22 cents at $54.67 a barrel. The contract tumbled 3.83% to settle at $54.45 a barrel in the previous trading session. In last five trading session, brent crude has lost 9%.

Lower crude oil prices could reduce under-recoveries of PSU OMCs on domestic sale of LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. The government has already freed pricing of petrol and diesel.

Crude oil prices fell to its lowest level in more than a year on concerns of the Coronavirus outbreak and its potential impact on demand. China is world's largest crude importer.

Following the crash in oil prices, OPEC members are reportedly planning an emergency meeting for considering large production cut.

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Midland County Hospital District officials ran a bond campaign in 2009 with the slogan that asked the voter: How good of a facility do you want when you need health care?

The end result was the passage of the first $100 million bond in Midland, and the election wasnt close. Campaign officials earned a 28-plus-point victory in what might be considered the most technically superior campaign in the last two decades. Roz Grover put together a plan, satisfied potential doubters and the rest was electoral history.

Now, 11 years later, the hospital district has decided to come before Midland County voters again with hat in hand. MCHD officials likely are to frame the debate in a similar manner  when those doors of the much nicer Scharbauer Tower open, how good do you want the care to be?

Because no matter what you think of how Midland Memorial Hospital got into this financial situation, whether the extra quarter-cent in sales tax would be better used for another priority in the community or what you think of the health care offered at Midland Memorial, none of that matters. Trustees will frame this election not as a referendum about what MMH is, but what health care in this community could become. And that allows for two choices.

The first is that voters pass a quarter-cent increase in the sales tax in both the city and county. That money would help make up for expected losses in reduced federal funding over at least the next five years.

The second is that voters thumb their noses at a tax hike. The hospital board cant raise property taxes enough to make up the money needed for Community Healthcare Services, Texas Tech University Health Science Center, mental health entities and some funding for emergency room staffing. In fiscal year 2019, that number was $40.147 million. MCHD officials said a no vote means there would be a decline in health care providers and the quality and the number of doctors in a community that cant afford it.

Hospital officials make this claim of potential doctor shortages because compensation is paid to more than 200 physicians (75 percent of those on the active medical staff) through Community Healthcare Services using federal funds that are expected to decline by around 80 percent in the next four years. Hospital district officials said this will be the crux of their campaign.

Some version of say yes to better health care will be the mantra when campaigning takes place over the next few months. And while there are 78 days between now and the start of early voting, officials expect to reach the most people after March 3, the date of the primary elections in Texas. That will mean a 48-day sprint from the end of one election to the opening of another. That period includes spring break.

Hospital district officials told the Reporter-Telegram their polling shows there will be a significant climb ahead to earn that extra quarter-cent in sales tax. But these campaigns shouldnt be easy Midlanders need to be convinced when their tax dollars are on the line.

I dont think there are any similarities between this election and the recent school bond election. Midland ISD proposed raising property taxes; the hospital district seeks a sales tax increase. The school districts board was high-profile; even the most connected Midlander likely doesnt know his or her hospital board representative. The school board can be found at the top of a persons tax bill; the hospital boards is closer to the bottom and its rate is a fraction of MISDs. That are a lot of electoral advantages for Midland County Hospital District.

But its a tax, and even sales tax elections require the ability to convince a skeptical electorate. The clock is ticking for MCHD to make its case.
'Surprised by the absence of any sloganeering or even mild protest in an ambience so free and self-regulated, I asked a friend from Delhi whether he too, with sharp political antenna, was surprised at how smooth and easy going everything was,' notes Ambassador B S Prakash.

IMAGE: Magsaysay Award winner Raveesh Kumar, an oracle for our times, left, with author Nilanjana Roy at the Jaipur LitFest. Photograph: Kind courtesy JLF/Twitter

"If you are a woman -- a writer, an artist, a professional, and if you are ever in a situation worrying about whether you should hitch up with the handsome guy you have met, manage the work-life balance, or, a big OR, not do that -- shrug him off -- I have one word of advice," said the attractive middle-aged woman on the podium. "Do not!" she said with great emphasis.

There was a gasp, followed by cheering and applause. The festive, joyous and rebellious spirit around me went one notch further up.

"You nailed it, Elizabeth," said a serious professorial looking lady sitting beside me.

Have you guessed the venue? Yes, it was the first day of the JLF, an abbreviation that the Jaipur Literary Festival, now in its second decade has acquired. The speaker was the feisty Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat Pray Love fame (Julia Roberts played her in the movie), sparkling on stage with a joke or a wisecrack a minute, and at the same time, advocating a version of have-fun feminism.

Enlightened and at the same time entertained by Elizabeth, first thing in the first morning, I came out of the main tent. What a breathtaking spectacle.

The clean Jaipur air itself was like a tonic for me after polluted Delhi. The mild fog had lifted and the sun was peeping out.

The vibrant colours in the venue: The tents and the floral decorations, the buntings and the non-political banners, the rich array of multi-hued silk scarves and elaborate shawls -- all the colours of the rainbow were on display.

The sights were competing with the already floating aromas of aloo-tikkis and onion kachoris. Every sense in my being was quivering with delight and anticipation.

Am I becoming a poet too, I wondered with some alarm.

No, no, I am too old, too dry, and too much of a cynical retired bureaucrat to be swept off by such literary illusions -- or is it allusions, I told myself.

The onion kachori stand was overwhelming in its appeal. The snacks can wait, me and my friend decided. We must feed our mind and soul, whatever that means.

What next? We looked at the programme for the festival and were befuddled by the plethora of choices.

Here, under the tent called 'Durbar' was a session on post-modern novels, or was it post-structural?

On the opposite side at 'Samvad' was a panel on 'Indian identity -- singular, plural or universal' and already an anxious audience waited.

In a quiet area called 'Mughal', an exploration unfolded on Akbar and Dara, and on who would have been a better emperor, with no less than William Dalrymple holding forth with two teens, too young to be labelled as eminent historians!

The vast corpus of mythological, classical or plain historical texts was being dissected at a fourth venue. Shouldn't I educate myself about our ancient roots? But, wait a minute.

I saw the eternally sprightly Shobha De in her ever so stylish clothes getting ready to talk about the era of Rajesh Khanna and Dimple. Who can miss that?

All this is just what I remember from the first day. Four more days of such treats and a total of over two hundred sessions with writers from five continents and ideas to capture every spectrum. Not for nothing is the JLF billed as the world's largest literary festival.

In terms of footfall, authors, books launched, gol-guppas consumed; it is certainly the zaniest.

As we settled down after the celebrity sightings and some compulsive shopping, there were weightier issues to absorb, though who is to tell what is weightier for whom -- one of the lessons, I learnt.

The ubiquitous Abhijit Banerjee and his wife Esther Duflo, Nobel Prize winners, were the biggest names, but were being their modest selves.

Some whizkids held forth on new age technologies, the buzz words of artificial intelligence, big data, eugenics, genomes and what not.

If some looked at distant future, their counterparts looked at the remote past, the three eras in Istanbul for instance, from the Byzantine to the Ottoman.

It was humbling to realise how much is researched and written. It is painful to think of how little is read!

One of the phrases that I picked up while wandering through what seemed like a management talk (I did not linger too much) was 'take away'. That author seemed to be emphasising that at the end of every experience or encounter, you must identify for yourself what you have learnt or 'taken away'.

I am temperamentally not enthused by the sentiment. Nevertheless, what are my broad take aways from JLF?

IMAGE: Rana Ayyub, second from left, speaks at the debate 'Has social media divided society?' at the Jaipur LitFest. Photograph: Kind courtesy JLF/Twitter

To begin with, 'voices' or 'narratives', if you prefer, and a plurality of them are a source of joy and wonder.

The voices in Jaipur, some literary, some academic, some pedantic, others exuberant, transcending genders and the transgender, young and old, leftist and conservative -- whatever they mean, were at the root of making it a festival rather than a conference.

It was stimulating, to say the least. There were differing perspectives on everything, history, philosophy, economy, though not so much among the literary types who believed that each experience and opinion had its own legitimacy and should find expression.

It was refreshing for me, used to geo-strategic and geo-economic discussions to see the respect and affection given to 'minor or peripheral' issues and people. Young writers were excited and exciting. So were, others writing from their oppressed or disadvantaged positions.

Revisionist history was a rage. To be unconventional in dress, thought, and manners was conventional.

I am avoiding the temptation to draw larger political inferences. Surprised by the absence of any sloganeering or even mild protest in an ambience so free and self-regulated, I asked a friend from Delhi who I bumped into whether he too, with sharp political antenna, was surprised at how smooth and easy going everything was.

"You have to understand what is being said here before objecting to it," he commented, wisely.

B S Prakash is a former Ambassador and a long-standing Rediff columnist.

You can read Ambassador Prakash's earlier columns here.
The death of former Kenyan president, Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, in a private hospital in the capital, Nairobi, is bound to reopen old wounds in the countrys national psyche. Having presided over a brutal, 24-year kleptocracy that terrorised, murdered and tortured thousands and impoverished millions, history is unlikely to be kind to him.

His tenure is referred to by many Kenyans as the Nyayo Error, nyayo being Swahili for footsteps. Nyayo was his rallying call when he ascended to the presidency in 1978 following the death of his predecessor, Jomo Kenyatta, father of the current president, Uhuru Kenyatta. Moi vowed to follow in the elder Kenyattas ways and was true to his word  utilising the resources of the state to vastly enrich himself, his family and his cronies, while at the same time ruthlessly crushing any opposition.

His approach to government was encapsulated in a famous declaration he made in 1984: I call on all ministers, assistant ministers and every other person to sing like parrots. During the Mzee Kenyatta period, I persistently sang the Kenyatta tune  If I had sung another song, do you think Kenyatta would have left me alone? Therefore, you ought to sing the song I sing. If I put a full stop, you should put a full stop. This is how the country will move forward. The day you become a big person, you will have the liberty to sing your own song and everybody will sing it too.

Today, in death, the former dictator has not only escaped justice but has left behind a country that still sings his song. More than 17 years after he was forced from office, Kenya remains a country where power is primarily exercised for the benefit of those who wield it rather than for the sake of its citizens.

It is a nation of nearly 50 million disposable people where the richest one percent, the vast majority either politicians or closely linked to them, may control anywhere between half and two-thirds of the nations wealth. It is a country made in his image where a Kenyan official, who gets one of the highest salaries for a member of parliament in the world, can brazenly shoot a citizen in a nightclub.

Yet, despite the scores of public records documenting Mois tyranny, including the report of a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, there will be little in the way of official recognition of the Nyayo Error.

Already, the Kenyan media and government are hard at work attempting to sanitise his legacy. President Kenyatta has set the ball rolling, issuing a proclamation declaring a period of national mourning from today until the day of his funeral and stating that Kenyans and Africans were immensely blessed by the dedication and service of the Late Mzee Moi; who spent almost his entire adult life serving Kenya and Africa.

Kenyattas eulogising of the steady hand [that] guided Kenya through the restoration of multi-partyism conveniently does away with the fact that Moi jailed, tortured, exiled and killed those who demanded an end to his single-party dictatorship.

After he was forced by local and international pressure to allow opposition parties, he fomented violence under the guise of tribal clashes to ensure his re-election, killing hundreds and displacing hundreds of thousands.

Kenyan media is largely following Kenyattas lead in whitewashing this past. The Nation Media Group in a statement has declared that Mois defining legacy was the introduction of multi-party politics, rather than his opposition to it. Morning shows have lionised him as a great statesman and as one who made Kenya an island of peace in a sea of chaos, again conveniently ignoring the many massacres of civilians during his tenure in places like Wagalla and Garissa.

However, there is some resistance to this call to national amnesia. Many members of the famously vocal Kenyans on Twitter #KOT are refusing to dance to the official tune. There, some are choosing to remember the Nyayo Error as it actually was  a benighted period characterised by fear and pain and death.

They are choosing to remember that the current crop of politicians, including some who fought Moi  turned into his protectors once he was out of power. In 2006, for example, Kenyattas nemesis-turned-friend, Raila Odinga, publicly proclaimed that he had saved Moi when the Government wanted to take away his houses and sue him over Goldenberg during my days as the Minister for Roads, referring to one of the biggest corruption scandals of the Nyayo Error in which an estimated $1bn was paid out between 1991 and 1993 as compensation for fictitious gold and diamond exports.

This refusal by Kenyas ruling classes to allow for a national reckoning with the past is partly what lies at the root of the inability of the country to overcome the legacy of Moi. Instead, they are faithfully following in his footsteps and stepping into his shoes. Having stolen Kenyas future, they are now attempting to steal its past through the institution of an official history which, given their record, will be little more than a whitewashing of tyranny.

Coinciding as it does with the 135th anniversary of the Berlin Conference which fractured Africa into colonial fiefdoms, Mois passing should be a moment of deep reflection about the path the state has followed ever since. Yet that will not happen until Kenyans muster up the courage to be clear-eyed about the past. As noted analyst and researcher, Rashid Abdi tweeted, Resisting the sanitisation of dictatorship and the official #Moi hagiography spiel today is a revolutionary act.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

In May of 2019, President Trump held an Oval Office meeting in which he tried to enlist National Security Adviser John Bolton in his plot to enlist Ukraine to smear his domestic enemies. Trump told Bolton to call Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and instruct him to meet with Trumps lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, according to a manuscript of Boltons book obtained by the New York Times.

Giulianis role is the deepest, darkest cesspool in the Ukraine scandal.

Probably for that reason, Trump and his lawyers have consistently denied knowledge of Giulianis activities. Last November, in an interview with Bill OReilly, Trump repeatedly denied having directed Giulianis work in Ukraine:

Well, you have to ask that to Rudy, but Rudy, I dont, I dont even know, Trump replied. I know he was going to go to Ukraine, and I think he canceled a trip. But, you know, Rudy has other clients other than me. Im one person.

So, you didnt direct him to go there on your behalf? OReilly followed up. No, but you have to understand, Rudy is a great corruption fighter, Trump said  No, I didnt direct him, but he is a warrior, he is a warrior.

Earlier this month, Trump was asked about a signed letter by Giuliani to Zelensky, stating that he was representing Trump as a personal lawyer, with Trumps knowledge and permission. Trump again dissembled. I dont know anything about the letter, but certainly Rudy is one of the great crime fighters in the history of our country, he told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump claims that he doesn't know "anything about the letter" Rudy Giuliani wrote to Zelensky requesting a private meeting but adds that "if he wrote a letter, it wouldnt have been a big deal."



"It was very important to Rudy that I be a great president, and thats okay with me" pic.twitter.com/WWSV8dWrGb  Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) January 16, 2020

It seems odd that Giuliani would put such a statement in writing, identifying himself as Trumps representative working with his consent, if Trump did not in fact consent to the arrangement.

Trump of course denies Boltons account: I never instructed John Bolton to set up a meeting for Rudy Giuliani, one of the greatest corruption fighters in America and by far the greatest mayor in the history of N.Y.C., to meet with President Zelensky, he tells the Times. That meeting never happened.

Giulianis response is more, uh, layered. At first, he called the account of the meeting absolutely, categorically untrue. Asked again if Bolton  who is known for taking detailed, contemporaneous notes of his meetings  was simply making it up, Giuliani shifted to calling Bolton a rat:

I just asked RUDY if BOLTON made up the mtg:



I think hes making some of it up. Hes sure making up  I wouldnt call it making it up, but hes acting like a real scumbag by never telling me that he objected once, & then saying I was a time bomb, or a firecracker or something."  Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) January 31, 2020

Note that Giulianis idea of a real scumbag is not somebody who conceals an illegal scheme from authorities but someone who spills the beans.

Why are Republicans so desperate to hide all this from the public and the Senate before it renders a verdict? Bear in mind that the full details of Giulianis work have not yet been exposed. Two of his associates were arrested, and Giuliani is the subject of an investigation. Giuliani represented Trump for no pay, and was compensated by one of his partners, Lev Parnas, who was in turn paid by a Russian oligarch who works closely with Vladimir Putin. Giuliani and his partners were allegedly using their political influence to shake down Ukrainian authorities for energy contracts.

Today, the Washington Post has another scoop  Giuliani met with Ukrainian officials to lobby on behalf of his former client, a Kiev mayor who Zelensky was planning to sack. The Post does not establish whether Giuliani had any current financial interest in this, or was just helping out a past client for old times sake. In any case, he had clearly been authorized by Trump as a representative in Ukraine, and used that power not only for Trumps improper goals (smearing his enemies) but also his own. At yesterdays Senate impeachment trial, Trumps lawyers were asked who paid for Giulianis work, and refused to address the question at all.

Meanwhile, Trump and his legal team maintain that this whole agenda was being driven in service of Trumps alleged desire to clean up corruption in Ukraine. As pathetic as Trumps defense may be, no element is as incriminating on its face as Giulianis work. Even conceding it existed is to admit guilt. But Bolton apparently has the receipts.
Most political parties have signed up to a pledge to put in place a fully resourced Garda insurance fraud unit, except Fine Gael.

The Alliance for Insurance Reform says the Garda unit is needed to tackle the insurance crisis.

Large numbers of businesses have been forced to close due to the insurance crisis, with a prediction that 20,000 jobs could be lost this year due to the cover squeeze.

And motorists are under pressure also.

Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein, the Social Democrats and Aontu all support the setting up of a dedicated policing unit to go after insurance fraudsters.

However, Fine Gael would not explicitly endorse this plan.

It would only say reforms of the Garda would mean every division in the country will soon have expertise in insurance fraud.

A Fine Gael spokesperson said it was being guided by the Garda Commissioner who said tackling insurance fraud at divisional level is the best approach.

"Under a massive reform of Garda structures now taking place, each and every Garda division in the State will have expertise in a number of critical areas including economic crime," the party said.

All the political parties have been told by the Alliance for Insurance Reform to follow through on their manifesto promises on insurance reform. A review of the manifestos shows the focus on reform of the sector.
Australia has now barred entry to non-citizens or residents arriving from China in a bid to stop the Australia is one of the countries to bar entry to non-citizens or residents arriving from China in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus. (Photo: AFP/PETER PARKS)

In a speech to the World Health Organization's Executive Board, which opened a six-day session in Geneva, China's delegate said the international community needed to treat the new virus outbreak objectively, fairly, and not "deliberately create panic" among the general public.

The Chinese government will continue take a "responsible attitude" toward its people's health, rigorously implement control measures and work to halt further spread of virus, he said. It would continue to share information with the WHO, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan "as always", he added.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4)  A bill approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday wants kids to start early in values education.

With 225 votes, lawmakers on Tuesday approved House Bill 5829 which will require sessions on good manners and right conduct (GMRC) starting kindergarten until third grade.

The measure combines nine proposals pending before the chamber, which all seek to instill basic etiquette and manners among young learners. Through the bill, GMRC would be officially included in the K-to-12 basic education program, and will be taught as a separate subject.

"The GMRC shall inculcate among the students the concepts of human dignity, respect for oneself, and giving oneself to others in the spirit of community, for the effective and holistic development of the decision-making skills of the child," the consolidated bill read.

The proposal seeks to "improve the declining moral values of the young generation," with solons citing changes caused by "modernity."

READ: Social media use may harm teens' mental health by disrupting positive activities, study says

Covered by these lectures are discipline and order, according proper respect to people, sincerity, honesty, obedience, "and above all, love for country." The Department of Education has been assigned to provide training for school teachers who will give these lessons.

The bill must be approved by Senate before it can be referred to Malacanang for signing into law.
The highly divisive issue of abortion has been brought into the election debate in the midst of sniping between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail on social issues.

It comes as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar claimed there are "backwoodsmen" in the rival party's ranks who oppose progress on such matters.

Mr Varadkar focused in on the 21 Fianna Fail TDs who tried to block the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment in 2018.

However, in doing so he has brought a debate on the issue that divided Ireland for three decades - and has largely been settled - into the last frenzied days of campaigning. And in highlighting the record of some Fianna Fail TDs, he glosses over how many in his own party were deeply uncomfortable with liberalising the abortion laws.

Two Fine Gael TDs - Sean Barrett, who is retiring, and Peter Fitzpatrick, who quit the party over its stance on abortion, also voted against holding the referendum. And in total, around a third of Fine Gael TDs either opposed repeal or went to ground and didn't declare their position.

Mr Varadkar has a point when he criticises TDs that tried to outright block the referendum taking place - the people had a right to have their say - but is now the right time to be making it?

Abortion hasn't exactly been a key issue on the election trail. Mr Varadkar was canvassing in Tipperary yesterday, prior to the news that polling day there would be delayed.

Neither abortion nor Fianna Fail's position on social issues was mentioned once by locals in Nenagh. Instead Mr Varadkar was told of the importance of improving transport infrastructure for rural towns and cuts to services in the local hospital.

Kevin Liston (13) wanted more climate action, telling Mr Varadkar: "We don't want another extinction to happen in the world."

Mr Varadkar insisted the Government has "upped its game", saying he was glad the teenager raised the issue as "I was getting worried people had forgotten about it". But issues like climate action get lost in the war of words between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

Mr Varadkar's criticism has allowed Fianna Fail to remind the public its leader Micheal Martin declared in favour of repeal before the Taoiseach.

Mr Varadkar also risks alienating the one-third of voters who opposed repeal.

And it may not do Fianna Fail any harm for those voters to be reminded most of its TDs were against repeal even if Mr Martin was in favour.

It's a dangerous game for Mr Varadkar to be bringing abortion into election 2020 so late in the day.
A medical staff sprays disinfectant on a doorknob at Cho Ray Hospital in HCMC, which is treating two nCoV-infected patients, February 3, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

Vietnam on Monday quarantined 68 more people with symptoms like high fever and coughing, including some who had visited infected areas in China.

The total number of suspected cases increased to 304 as of Monday. Of these 214 have tested negative and 90 are in quarantine pending the test results.

Gia Lai in the Central Highlands, Hai Phong and Thai Binh in northern Vietnam, Quang Binh in central region and Bac Lieu in the Mekong Delta are localities that reported new suspected cases of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) infection on Monday.

The northern port city of Hai Phong has quarantined seven people who returned from China's epidemic-stricken areas or previously had contact with Chinese tourists.

The central province of Quang Binh has quarantined four people with symptoms of high fever, one a returnee from China, another who came from the U.S. after transiting in Hong Kong, and two others who'd come into contact with the two mentioned earlier.

Also Monday, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had said that both Vietnamese and foreigners entering Vietnam from China will be quarantined for 14 days. The order will apply to everyone who has passed by 31 direct jurisdictions in China that have reported the nCoV infection.

The Vietnamese government declared the nCoV an epidemic on Saturday.

The death toll from the epidemic has reached 426, with 425 dying in China and one in the Philippines.
By Claudia Cristoferi and Silvia Aloisi

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's fashion industry expects revenues to fall 1.8% in the first half of 2020 due as the coronavirus outbreak hits sales, an industry official said on Tuesday, as jewellery maker Pandora warned business in China had ground to a halt.

Several high-end brands also said they had shut down stores in China, the world's biggest luxury goods market, stoking concerns that the industry could face significant damage to sales if the virus is not contained quickly.

Carlo Capasa, head of Italy's national fashion chamber CNMI, said the coronavirus outbreak would cause turnover for the Italian industry to fall by 1.8% in the first six months of the year, mostly in the first quarter.

Home to the likes of Prada <1913.HK>, Armani and Moncler <MONC.MI>, Italy is second only to France among European countries for fashion and luxury goods sales. Total turnover for the sector was 90 billion euros last year, or about 5% of gross domestic product in the euro zone's third biggest economy, according to CNMI figures.

"In December the outlook for 2020 was a return to our historical annual growth rate of around 3%, but all that changed with the China virus spreading," Capasa said.

"The full economic impact can't be calculated yet, but we would be lucky if the sector grew 1% this year."

Chinese shoppers fuelled a decade of growth for the luxury goods industry and today account for 35% of the sector's global sales, estimated at 281 billion euros last year by consultancy Bain & Co.

But the coronavirus has seen parts of China put under quarantine, flights halted and many Chinese cancel trips abroad, including during the New Lunar Year holiday, a peak retail season in China and overseas.

Companies around the world have warned that the outbreak could disrupt supply chains or hurt bottom lines.

Ralph Lauren Corp <RL.N> said on Tuesday it has shut about half of its 110 stores in China due to the disease, which has so far killed over 420 people.

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Tiffany & Co, bought recently by LVMH <LVMH.PA>, said it had also temporarily closed several stores in affected areas.

"As I sit here and watch the Chinese business, it is in a standstill mode, I mean there's pennies being sold," Pandora's Chief Executive Alexander Lacik told Reuters on Tuesday, describing an "unprecedented" drop in business.

The Danish company, about 10% of whose annual sales are to Hong Kong, China and its tourists, has closed 70 of its 240 shops in China on government orders, customer traffic at other stores, mostly in shopping malls, is "next to none", Lacik said.

Capasa said three Chinese designers had been forced to cancel their shows at Milan's Women's Fashion Week on Feb. 18-24, and about 1,000 Chinese people who had been expected to attend would now likely not show up.

"The Chinese are big spenders, for us this is quite relevant," he said.

(Additional reporting by Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen, Uday Sampath Kumar in Bangalore; Editing by Catherine Evans)
New Jersey state lawmakers debated cops use of facial-recognition technology Monday, after the state attorney general ordered police to stop using one controversial company.

The bill (A1210) in front of the the state Assemblys Science, Innovation and Technology Committee would require towns to hold public hearings before officers use any version of the technology.

But many people who testified called for an outright ban.

The hearing partially revolved around one New York-based company called Clearview AI. On Jan. 24, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal told cops to stop using Clearview until officials better understood the companys tactics.

Clearview scraped more than three billion photos from social media, according to The New York Times, leading Twitter to send the group a cease-and-desist letter and Facebook and LinkedIn to investigate what had been taken, according to spokespeople.

While the size of Clearviews database is unique, other companies have written programs that can also search through mountains of photos to find your face.

Critics raised concerns Monday about whether near-instant identification could end privacy as we know it.

The combination of people dumping personal information online and a general lack of regulation threatens peoples ability to walk outside without being watched, said Helen Nissenbaum, an information sciences professor at Cornell Tech.

The use of facial recognition to identify people in public is not compatible with a free society, she said.

Others said losing that tool completely would hurt officers ability to quickly gather information about suspects.

Sex traffickers and terrorists had been identified using facial recognition, said Drake Jamali, who works for the Security Industry Association, a group that represents some facial-recognition companies. Jamali acknowledged that there were transparency issues, and he said that they were open to regulation.

Officials with the state attorney generals office said that they were developing rules that would say when police could use the technology. Assistant Attorney General Stephan Finkel said those guidelines would also address how officers should be trained and how the data should be stored.

Lawmakers did not publicly support a ban, but did appear concerned.

If Im a dictator, Id love to have access to this technology, Assemblyman Herb Conaway, D-Burlington, said during the hearing at the Statehouse in Trenton.

Conaway also flagged ways that bias can be written into these programs. Many minority groups, especially black women, were more likely to be falsely identified by current facial-recognition technology than whites, according to a recent federal study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

State Police and the Motor Vehicle Commission use facial recognition technology, while some large municipal police departments  Newark, Camden, Jersey City  do not, according to spokespeople.

Officials are still assembling a list of what departments used Clearview specifically.

The Bergen County Prosecutors office used the software during one investigation into potential child predators, although that operation relied primarily on undercover officers. Clifton police briefly used Clearviews free trial, according to a spokesman, but the department did not pay for a subscription.

Tor Ekeland, an attorney for Clearview AI, said in a statement that they are in contact with Grewals office and look forward to "working with them to answer any questions.

No vote was taken Monday on the public hearings bill.

A few states have regulated the software in general. Across the river, New York lawmakers are weighing several proposals, including one bill that would prohibit the technology from being linked to officer cameras.

New Jersey lawmakers also voiced concerns about a northjersey.com report that listed 30 towns where officers can gain access to doorbell-camera footage from the Amazon-owned Ring company.

Christine Hoffman, deputy director of the criminal justice division, said they would take a closer look at that.

Blake Nelson can be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN.

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One more person has tested positive for coronavirus in Vietnam's Vinh Phuc Province, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to ten, said the Ministry of Health this afternoon.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long at an urgen meeting this afternoon.

The female patient is 42 years old, from Son Loi Commune, Binh Xuyen District in the northern province of Vinh Phuc.

She has been isolated at the districts medical centre and is in a stable condition, according to local authorities.

She was among people who had close contact with the male patient who tested positive for the virus earlier in Vinh Phuc.

She said she visited the male patients house for the Lunar New Year holiday on January 22 and 28.

She got a slight fever on January 31 and came to the local clinic for a check-up. She was then sent to the districts medical centre for treatment and isolation while samples were sent to the National Institute of Hygiene Epidemiology for testing.

The male patient was among eight people who returned from Wuhan in China on the same flight. Four of them were infected with the virus.

Eight Vietnamese people were sent to Wuhan City for training by Nihon Plast Co Ltd of Japan and returned to Vietnam on China Southern Airlines fight CZ8315 on January 17.

One of the patients has now been released after doctors confirmed she was free of the virus.

Vietnam has so far reported 304 suspected cases of coronavirus, 214 have tested negative for the virus and 90 are in quarantine while samples undergo testing.

As of Monday night, 50 provinces and cities out of 63 in the country have announced days off for students, with 30 allowing up to one week off (February 2-9), at least for the time being.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been posting regular reminders to dispel misinformation about the novel coronavirus (nCoV) by calling out fake news and quack treatments for the illness that made the rounds on social media platforms.



#CoronavirusOutbreak

It is important to tackle misinformation as soon as possible. When there is an unknown, people try to fill in the void. Dr Sylvie Brians of @WHO briefs the media at @UNGeneva. pic.twitter.com/oY4KCyUati  UN Geneva (@UNGeneva) February 4, 2020

On February 4, the organisations Twitter account tweeted: It is important to tackle misinformation as soon as possible.

Fake social media alerts claiming to be advisories from the WHO or various health ministries that target scared individuals have been doing the rounds.

WHO's Twitter account now periodically puts myth-busting posts with the hashtag #KnowYourFacts, the latest of which addressed evidence that garlic has protected people from the nConV.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show



Q: Can eating garlic help prevent infection with #2019nCoV?

A: Garlic is a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties. However, there is no evidence from the current outbreak that eating garlic has protected people from 2019-nCoV#KnowTheFacts pic.twitter.com/n4y5xfgwYz  World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) February 2, 2020



These are not isolated incidents. A WhatsApp post that falsely claimed to be from the UAEs Ministry of Health said the virus would attack your throat within 10 minutes if you dont drink enough water, CNBC reported.

In Malaysia, a Facebook post showed a fake picture of the virus with the text as: "This is an image of one of many 'Allah's armies' sent to attack China in the form of coronavirus. This is the actual image of the virus as seen under a very powerful microscope."

The post, which is still on Facebook, was falsely claimed to be from a government department and was shared 700 times, the CNBC report said.



"In our era of fake news & misinformation, more than ever the needs a WHO that brings reliable science & evidence to bear on the decisions we make about health.

For each of the triple billion targets, we need to invest in WHOs core business, norms & standards"-@DrTedros pic.twitter.com/btafsvdUGl

 World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) February 3, 2020

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the WHO, also addressed the issue at the UN Geneva Council. The WHO tweeted him saying: In our era of fake news & misinformation, more than ever the world needs a WHO that brings reliable science & evidence to bear on the decisions we make about health.

Social media platforms, the unwitting channels for misinformation, have also begun to take action. Google has begun plugging in information from WHO in search terms related to the virus, while YouTube has stepped up promotions for credible source videos that provided information on the illness.

Facebook on its part has also pledged to "take down information" about China's fast-spreading coronavirus.

Ghebreyesus also acknowledged the efforts taken by these platforms to combat misinformation: It's time for facts, not fear. We appreciate Google, Facebook, TencentGlobal, TikTok and Twitter's efforts to combat misinformation and rumours on #2019nCoV & direct users to reliable sources."



It's time for facts, not fear.

We appreciate @Google, @Facebook, @TencentGlobal, @Tiktok and @Twitter's efforts to combat misinformation and rumors on #2019nCoV & direct users to reliable sources. We ask all digital companies to step up and help the world beat this outbreak.  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 31, 2020



The coronavirus outbreak has stoked a wave of anti-China sentiment around the globe. Hoaxes have spread widely online, promoted by conspiracy theorists and exacerbated by a dearth of information from the cordoned-off zone around China's central city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began.



WHO has been working to track and respond to myths and rumours around #2019nCoV.

WHO Situation Report 2 February 2020 https://t.co/Fhra7KIAKr On Twitter, follow the myth buster thread here #KnowTheFactshttps://t.co/r575dDcgHm  World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) February 2, 2020

For all the updates from WHO on #KnowYourFacts follow this thread:
Storms and up to 200 millimetres of rainfall have arrived above south-east Queensland and replaced the "uncomfortable heat" that made for sweaty sleeping on Monday.

Flash flooding and severe storms are on the cards for areas between the Gold and Sunshine coasts with the wet weather peak expected on Wednesday and Thursday, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

From mid-Wednesday to early Thursday, showers and storms are forecast in the south-east, including Brisbane. Credit:FILE IMAGE: Darren England - AAP

Meteorologist Harry Clark said it was set to be a "wet week" across much of southern Queensland with heavy falls possible in the south-east and southern interior.

"It looks like the Sunshine Coast is more likely to receive those falls than other areas, but given the uncertainty around this small-scale feature, we are saying that there could be heavy falls heading anywhere between the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast," he said.
As the regime advances in Idleb, Turkey has sent reinforcements to the city of Saraqib, on the intersection of the M4 and M5 international highways reports Enab Baladi.

North, west, east and south, the Turkish army has deployed in the city of Saraqib in the southern Idleb countryside, sending a message to its Russian partnerthe guarantor and major player in the Astana agreements overseeing the de-escalation zones which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan two days earlier describe as dead.

The city of Saraqib is distinguished by the intersection of the M4 and M5 international highways, as well as having had major protests against the Syrian regime, which gave it importance in the hearts and minds of regime opponents. Its removal from opposition control would constitute a new setback.

All of this has pushed the regime to place the city in its sights in recent years, and it is currently launching a massive military campaign against it, as it did with the two other cities of Khan Sheikhoun and Maarat al-Numan on the M5 highway.

This prompted the Turkish army to close all crossings with the regime and to surround the city of Saraqib on four sides.

The arrival of the regime there means a possible clash with the Turkish army, which sentunusuallycombat teams and dozens of armored vehicles, crowding the Idleb and Aleppo countrysides, according Enab Baladi, quoting eyewitnesses.

Diplomacy

No Russian-Turkish diplomatic moves have yet taken place to clarify what is happening on the ground. The course of events indicate that the two countries mobilizations in terms of Syria and Idleb were cut off since the last communication brining together the chiefs of staff of the two countriesthe Turkish, Yasar Guler, with his Russian counterpart, Valery Gerasimov, on Jan. 30, 2020, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency.

Nothing has resulted from their talks apart from diplomatic statements regarding keeping open communication channels regarding Idleb and the de-escalation agreement there, giving the impression that there was no glimmer of hope for the regime and Russia to cease military operations in the province, which has claimed the lives of dozens of civilians and displaced thousands of people, according to data from Civil Defense teams.

Today, the Turkish president demanded that Russia not put obstacles in the way of Turkish operations in Idleb, reinforcing the suspicions that there a real dispute exists between Russia and Turkey, who are partners in trying to reach a solution in Syria, according to statements of the leaders of the two countries.

The narrow scope of the oppositions control in Idleb and Aleppo has revealed the real solution both Ankara and Moscow are seekingthe latter has said more than once that the regime must regain every inch of Syrian territory for it to start the political solution.

Meanwhile, Ankara continues to insist that the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, has killed thousands and should not participate in the solution.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
The Lincoln Public Schools Board of Education has placed a $290 million bond issue on a special election ballot. The proposed bond issue will address several critical needs facing our school district caused by the steady growth of our vibrant city.

LPS enrollment has increased by more than 6,000 students since 2012, and while this is strong evidence that Lincoln continues to be a great place to live, it also means that many of our districts schools are currently at or above capacity. (Our high schools, for example, are operating at 115% of total capacity.)

Full coverage: Stories, letters and editorials on the LPS bond issue To help voters make a decision, read stories on the bond issue from Journal Star education reporter Margaret Reist, letters to the editor and 

If approved, the bond issue will provide new classroom space for high school, middle school and elementary students across the district. It will fund two new high schools, in the northwest and the southeast corners of the city. It will add more classrooms to Scott Middle School, the largest middle school in the district. It will build a new elementary school in northeast Lincoln and add classrooms to Wysong Elementary and Arnold Elementary Schools.

In addition to new classroom space on the edges of the city, the bond funds will also provide for updated and upgraded classrooms and buildings throughout the city.
Today we'll take a closer look at Commerzbank AG (ETR:CBK) from a dividend investor's perspective. Owning a strong business and reinvesting the dividends is widely seen as an attractive way of growing your wealth. If you are hoping to live on the income from dividends, it's important to be a lot more stringent with your investments than the average punter.

In this case, Commerzbank likely looks attractive to dividend investors, given its 3.8% dividend yield and four-year payment history. We'd agree the yield does look enticing. When buying stocks for their dividends, you should always run through the checks below, to see if the dividend looks sustainable.

Click the interactive chart for our full dividend analysis

XTRA:CBK Historical Dividend Yield, February 4th 2020

Payout ratios

Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. As a result, we should always investigate whether a company can afford its dividend, measured as a percentage of a company's net income after tax. Looking at the data, we can see that 31% of Commerzbank's profits were paid out as dividends in the last 12 months. A medium payout ratio strikes a good balance between paying dividends, and keeping enough back to invest in the business. Besides, if reinvestment opportunities dry up, the company has room to increase the dividend.

We update our data on Commerzbank every 24 hours, so you can always get our latest analysis of its financial health, here.

Dividend Volatility

From the perspective of an income investor who wants to earn dividends for many years, there is not much point buying a stock if its dividend is regularly cut or is not reliable. Looking at the data, we can see that Commerzbank has been paying a dividend for the past four years. It has only been paying dividends for a few short years, and the dividend has already been cut at least once. This is one income stream we're not ready to live on. Its most recent annual dividend was 0.20 per share, effectively flat on its first payment four years ago.

Story continues

It's good to see some dividend growth, but the dividend has been cut at least once, and the size of the cut would eliminate most of the growth, anyway. We're not that enthused by this.

Dividend Growth Potential

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share (EPS) are growing. Why take the risk of a dividend getting cut, unless there's a good chance of bigger dividends in future? Strong earnings per share (EPS) growth might encourage our interest in the company despite fluctuating dividends, which is why it's great to see Commerzbank has grown its earnings per share at 49% per annum over the past five years. With high earnings per share growth in recent times and a modest payout ratio, we think this is an attractive combination if earnings can be reinvested to generate further growth.

Conclusion

When we look at a dividend stock, we need to form a judgement on whether the dividend will grow, if the company is able to maintain it in a wide range of economic circumstances, and if the dividend payout is sustainable. We're glad to see Commerzbank has a low payout ratio, as this suggests earnings are being reinvested in the business. Next, earnings growth has been good, but unfortunately the dividend has been cut at least once in the past. Overall we think Commerzbank is an interesting dividend stock, although it could be better.

Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 17 analysts we track are forecasting for Commerzbank for free with public analyst estimates for the company.

Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our curated list of dividend stocks with a yield above 3%.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



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Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said that the incident at Shaheen School in Bidar where a play was staged by students against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Register of Citizens (NRC) is very serious and sensitive.

"Everything has been done as per law. The law is taking its own course. It is a very serious and sensitive case. I am gathering more details about the probe in the case," Bommai told ANI.

Moreover, CEO of Shaheen Education Institute, Bidar, Tauseef Madikeri said, "Police have invoked Sections 124A, 505 and 504 of the IPC against the institution, over a play staged against CAA and NRC. It is beyond anyone's imagination. Deputy SP visited the classroom and interrogated the students."

Meanwhile, a statement was issued by child rights groups, teachers and educationists condemning the police interrogation in the incident.

"In blatant violation of the Juvenile Justice Act (2015), the New Town station police have repeatedly interrogated the school children, some as young as nine, without allowing their parents to be present, for hours at a stretch," the statement said.

"The head-teacher of the primary section and the widowed mother of a child who took part in the play were arrested on January 30. With the judge in the District and Sessions court in Bidar on leave till February 4, there was no possibility to secure bail for the accused...This sequence of disturbing events including the interrogation of children for staging a play and the arrest of teachers and parents marks a new low in our democracy," it added.

The statement alleged that the action by Bidar police is "is clearly violative of several fundamental tenets of our democracy".

"The police interrogation of children is violative of the protections that children are* entitled to under the Juvenile Justice Act," it said.

The statement further read, "We condemn these actions of the Bidar police department in the strongest possible words. The police are clearly acting under the dictates of the state government trying to use the archaic sedition law to target individuals and institutions expressing their dissent against CAA, NPR and NRC."

"We demand the immediate withdrawal of all criminal cases against the accused, and the release of the arrested women," it stated.

Police had questioned students of Shaheen School after a play against the CAA and NRC was staged during the Republic Day celebrations.

Karnataka police had sealed the offices of the school after its students participated in the play.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) had protested alleging that the play was derogatory.

In the play, the participants were shown staging an anti-CAA sequence where there were dialogues encouraging non-cooperation with anyone asking for documents. A case was registered against the school management.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Spam-based snack shop will open Tuesday morning in San Jose near San Jose State University, city officials said Monday.

Hapa Musubi (pronounced moo-soo-bee) is holding its grand opening at 11 a.m. in Unit 50 of 200 S. First St. on Paseo de San Antonio.

Musubi is Hawaii's well-known Spam-based snack food and Hapa Musubi's owners Liz Ruiz and Nam Ngo fell in love with it when they first visited the Hawaiian Islands, according to city officials.

Ruiz and Ngo believe it to be a perfect food for busy students on a budget. Hapa means to be half-Hawaiian, according to Hapa Musubi's website at hapamusubi.com.

A Santa Clara County sheriff's deputy was shot and injured in an ambush on Friday night in unincorporated Morgan Hill, sheriff's officials said at a news conference Monday.

Deputy Sukhdeep Gill was patrolling Friday night in the sheriff's office's jurisdiction on Uvas Road when he was reportedly ambushed by someone in an approaching car at 10:32 p.m., according to the sheriff's office.

As the unidentified vehicle approached, its lights were switched off and one or more suspects fired at least four shots at Gill, who was outside his vehicle at the time.

The deputy was hit once when the bullet reportedly struck his body camera and body armor around the center of his body.

He suffered an injury that is not life-threatening and is recovering at home, according to the sheriff's office. The suspect or suspects fled and remain at large.

An 18-year-old student was charged with special circumstances murder on Monday for his role in the death of a man who tried to get back his laptop computer, which was stolen while he worked in a coffee shop in Oakland's Montclair district last month.

Kejuan Wiggins, who was arrested at his home on Vidal Drive in San Francisco, near San Francisco State University, at 3:30 p.m. last Thursday, is the third suspect to be charged in the death of 34-year-old Shuo Zeng in the 2000 block of Mountain Boulevard shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 31.

Previously, Byron OJ Reed Jr. 22, of San Francisco, was charged with murder and the special circumstance of committing a murder during a robbery and 21-year-old Javon Lee was charged with involuntary manslaughter and both men were charged with second-degree robbery.

Wiggins was charged with murder, the special circumstance of committing a murder during the course of a robbery, and second-degree robbery.

Oakland police initially said surveillance video showed two individuals snatching a laptop from Zeng and then fleeing into a waiting vehicle.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office Monday identified a man who died in their custody Saturday as Rickey Estrada, 42, of Santa Rosa.

Estrada had an argument with another person around 9:25 a.m. along Challenger Way near Capricorn Way, Santa Rosa police said.

When a separate person intervened, Estrada, who was homeless, turned his attention to him and stabbed him three times with a pointed instrument, according to police.

Estrada then allegedly barricaded himself in a trailer that was parked on Challenger Way and refused to leave. He finally was taken into custody after lengthy negotiations.

Sonoma County Sheriff's Sgt. Juan Valencia said Estrada was booked in the jail at 1:49 p.m. At 5:18 p.m., Estrada had a medical emergency in the booking area and jail personnel performed CPR, Valencia said. Estrada was later pronounced dead at a hospital, Valencia said.

A body was found Monday in the Guadalupe River in San Jose, police said.

Officers responded at 12:27 p.m. to the river near Gold and Moffat streets after someone reported seeing a person in the water who appeared to be dead.

Firefighters took the body from the river. Police said the Santa Clara County medical examiner's office will take over the investigation.

A person died after being shot Monday at a home in Brisbane, police said.

Officers responded at 4:19 p.m. to a report of a home invasion robbery in the 300 block of Alvarado Street near Brisbane Elementary School.

When they arrived they found a person dead from gunshot wounds. The resident of the home was found safe and is cooperating with an investigation.

Police said no threat to the public exists and more information will be released when it becomes available.

Rescue efforts continued Monday for a man from Amador County who didn't surface after falling Saturday from a boat in a slough in Solano County, sheriff's officials said Monday.

As of Monday night, 62-year-old Ione resident Randall Hacker was missing. His family has been notified, Solano County sheriff's spokesperson Deputy Daniel Pratt said.

Pratt said Hacker and a couple of friends were on a boat competing in a fishing derby when Hacker fell into Nurse Slough early Sunday morning. No foul play is suspected.

Pratt called it a "terrible accident."

Volunteers have been scouring the area and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services has been deployed along with Suisun City police, the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies to rescue Hacker.

A U.S. Highway 101 offramp in Santa Rosa has been closed following a fatal collision early Tuesday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Around 12:25 a.m., the CHP learned of a collision involving a vehicle that had become wedged underneath a big-rig truck on the highway's northbound lanes, at the Bicentennial Way offramp.

About an hour later, CHP officers issued a Sig-alert, closing the offramp.

Further information about the fatal collision was not immediately available.

Tuesday will be sunny with highs in the mid 50s. North winds will reach between 10 and 20 mph.

Tuesday night will be clear in the evening and then become partly cloudy. Lows will be the in 40s and north winds will reach between 5 and 10 mph, becoming east winds after midnight.

Wednesday will be sunny with highs in the upper 50s. Southeast winds will reach between 5 and 10 mph, becoming west winds in the afternoon.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi, who was admitted to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here on Sunday following stomach infection, is currently stable and showing signs of improvement, doctors saod on Tuesday.

In a health bulletin, Dr D.S Rana of the hospital said, "Sonia Gandhi, who was admitted to SGRH on February 2, 2020 was diagnosed to be suffering from stomach infection. There is an improvement in her Acondition and she is stable." Gandhi was admitted in the hospital on Sunday after she complained of "uneasiness". The Congress chief was supposed to address a public meeting in the election-bound Delhi's Shastri Nagar area on February 5, but following her illness, it seems unlikley. However, there is no official word.
Great minds may not think alike, but Jersey minds do, at least when it comes to President Trump.

After his rally last week in Wildwood, I wrote a column in which I said: Unlike prior Trump speeches in which he would go on stream-of-consciousness rants that were often hilarious, this time around he showed some message discipline.

Our former governor made the same point when he appeared as a panelist on ABC-TVs This Week with George Stephanopoulos Sunday morning.

I was at the rally that he had in New Jersey on Tuesday night and I'd never seen him stick so close to prompter in all the time I've known him, Chris Christie said.

Hes practical, practical, Christie argued. He wants to win.

Bob Auth agrees. Auth is a Republican assemblyman from Bergen County who declared his support for Trump early in the 2016 primaries, just after Christie dropped out. As a reward for his loyalty, Auth had a seat behind the dais for Trumps speech.

I was able to read the speech on the Teleprompter, he told me. He really stuck to his message. (Check this Politico article on the guy who works Trumps prompter.)

Auth is betting that message will resonate with Jersey voters this year. After Trumps speech, Auth declared his candidacy for the Congressional seat now held by Democrat Josh Gottheimer in the northernmost district in the state.

Auth said he expects the Democrats impeachment of Trump will work against them in Congressional races this year.

I think the way to win this is to remind the people in the Fifth District that the current member of the Congress voted to impeach the president, he said. Now we have to wonder if hes going to vote to impeach him again.

We do indeed. Some top Democrats are calling for The House to continue hearings into Trumps dealings with Ukraine even after the expected dismissal of the original impeachment charges.

Another early Trump supporter, state Sen. Joe Pennacchio of Morris County, said Trump has a big advantage in this cycle that he lacked in the last cycle: a united party behind him.

Last time. there were a lot of dropouts, Republicans who chose not to run, Pennacchio said. This time, Republican candidates have been gearing up. I cant overestimate the impact this impeachment has had on Republicans.

Pennacchio, who is co-chairing Trumps campaign in the state, met with Trump before the speech. He said he made a suggestion that Trump later employed.

I told him he could fill Giants stadium, he said. Actually, he could. He would give them the show of their lives.

I dont doubt that. Back in 2016, with virtually no organization, Trump could draw tens of thousands of people to a rally with just a tweet. Filling Metlife Stadium might take two or three tweets. But that would be the extent of the challenge.

Pennacchio compared Trumps rhetorical skills to those of Ronald Reagan  another Republican who was not beloved by the party leaders until he got elected president.

Like Ronald Reagan, he talks like us, he said. Hes mad at the same things were mad at and he wins.

Reagan of course went on to win 49 states in his 1984 re-election effort. Trumps not likely to do anything like that. But he should win the states he won last time, Pennacchio predicted. He offered a quiz:

What state that he won last time do you think hes going to lose this time? Name one.

Id say that depends on which Democrat runs against him. And that depends on how you define Democrat. There are a couple of leading contenders for the Democratic nomination who have some rather shaky party credentials.

Senator Bernie Sanders has run his races in Vermont as an independent. Meanwhile former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg first ran for that office in 2001 as a Republican and later became an independent.

As Christie put it on that talk show, He was Republican when it was convenient, and was cuddled up to Rudy Giuliani.

Bloomberg then became an independent and is now running as a Democrat. Christie opined that because of that party-switching, I don't think there's any chance, any chance that Mike Bloomberg is the Democratic nominee.

On this point, Christie and I part company. If Sanders continues his recent success in the polls, there will be a Stop Bernie movement in the Democratic Party just as there was a Stop Trump movement in the GOP last time around.

If Sanders comes into the first ballot with the most delegates  but not a majority  then on the second ballot the so-called super-delegates get to vote. Those delegates might conclude that the best way to beat a wealthy New Yorker is to nominate a New Yorker whos a whole lot wealthier.

As Christie noted, Trump is practical. Will his opponents be?

Stay tuned.
The employees' union of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) will stage an hour-long walk-out strike on Tuesday to protest against the government's move to sell its stake in the state-run insurer through an initial public offering

Mumbai: The employees' union of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) will stage an hour-long walk-out strike on Tuesday to protest against the government's move to sell its stake in the state-run insurer through an initial public offering.

The walk-out will take place at all offices of the insurance behemoth across the country.

In the Union Budget announced on Saturday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government, which holds 100 percent stake in LIC, will sell a part of its holding through an initial public offering (IPO).

"As an immediate reaction to the proposal to list LIC, All India LIC Employees Federation will hold one-hour walk-out strike on 4 February," the union said in a statement.

Listing of LIC is against national interest as over the years it has been playing a pivotal role in nation building activities, it said.

On a capital base of Rs 5 crore, the union said LIC's valuation surplus was Rs 53,211.91 crore, life fund stood at Rs 28.28 lakh crore and asset under management over Rs 31.11 lakh crore at the end of FY19.

Being one of the biggest financial institutions of the country, any move to privatise LIC will shake the confidence of the common man and will be an affront to our financial sovereignty. The very purpose of LIC to provide insurance coverage to socially and economically backward class at a reasonable cost will be defeated and motto will change from service to profit, the statement said.

Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said the listing of LIC will help bring in greater transparency, public participation and also deepen the equity market.

Government came out with the idea (LIC listing). The details will follow and it will be in the interest of LIC and its policyholders. Interest of LIC and policyholders will be safeguarded, Thakur recently told PTI.

Finance secretary Rajiv Kumar on Sunday said the listing may be done in the second half of the next financial year.
For the past 30 years, Mary Casady has chosen the Tucson sun over a chance to participate in the caucuses in her home state of Iowa.

This year, though, the caucuses came to her.

The snowbird from Keokuk was one of 72 Iowa voters who gathered at the Flowing Wells Library on Monday to take part in the first-ever satellite caucuses held outside the Hawkeye State.

It feels great. This is history-making, Casady said as she admired the enthusiastic crowd. Iowans will vote if you let them.

The library on West Wetmore Road was one of four remote sites in Arizona and one of nearly 90 set up by the Iowa Democratic Party across the country and around the world. Iowans were also slated to caucus Monday at a private home in Tucson, a clubhouse in Green Valley and a movie theater in the Phoenix suburb of Queen Creek.

The voting at the library took a little over an hour and played out like a friendly neighborhood meeting, complete with snacks. Participants stated their preference by clustering around the designated table of their chosen candidate. Then they tried to convince others to join them by waving signs and giving short endorsement speeches on behalf of their chosen candidate.
More Chinese cities, including one just 175 kilometres (110 miles) from Shanghai, were put under lockdown on Tuesday, as the impact of a deadly new virus spread further from its epicentre.

Around 12 million people are affected by the new restrictions, adding to the tens of millions of people already quarantined in and around Wuhan, ground zero for 2019-nCoV.

The city of Taizhou, parts of Hangzhou -- including the district that is home to the headquarters of Chinese tech giant Alibaba -- and some of Ningbo will only allow one person per household to go outside every two days to buy necessities, city officials said.

Taizhou -- 850 kilometres from the epicentre in Hubei province -- will also suspend 95 train services into the city from Tuesday.

In addition, residential communities will only be allowed to use one entrance and residents must present ID each time they come or go, Taizhou's government said on its official WeChat account.

Landlords were also forbidden from renting property to people from "severely affected areas such as Hubei" if they have travelled to their hometowns recently, it added.

In the Hangzhou districts, additional measures included mandatory mask wearing and compulsory ID and temperature checks.

The latest restrictions follow similar measures announced Sunday in Wenzhou, which has a population of nine million people.

The city has restricted the movement of residents, and closed roads.

Zhejiang -- the eastern province in which these cities sit -- has confirmed 829 cases, the highest number outside central Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak and where more than 50 million people are under lockdown.

Other provinces have restricted travel to try to stop the virus spreading, with several, including Guangdong and Sichuan, making it compulsory to wear masks in public.

Nationwide, more than 20,000 people have been infected by the new virus, with 425 now known to have died.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vietravel reported a VND14.1 billion ($606,000) loss in the last quarter of 2019 largely due to rising financial costs.

Its profit margin slipped in the final quarter, with sales rising by 9.13 percent to VND1.45 trillion ($62.33 million) but cost of goods sold increasing by 10.48 percent to VND1.35 trillion ($58.03 million), according to the companys latest consolidated financial statement.

Vietravels revenues mainly came from selling tours, goods and tickets on flights it chartered. Q4 financial expenses topped VND26.66 billion ($1.15 million) after ballooning seven-fold year-on-year as the company obtained over VND160 billion ($6.89 million) in short-term loans from various banks.

Vietravel merely said the loans were to supplement operating capital without elaborating.

The loss came after three profitable quarters, and in the same quarter of 2018 the company had made a post-tax profit of VND7.3 billion ($313,800).

Consolidated revenues for full-year 2019 came to VND7.26 trillion ($312 million), up 0.28 percent year-on-year, while post-tax profits fell 32 percent to VND39.93 billion ($1.72 million).

It applied for a license for setting up an airline last year, and said it plans to launch its first flight late this year using either the narrow-body Airbus A321neo or Boeing 737.

In the last two years it operated around 300 charter flights a year, both domestically and internationally.

If licensed, Vietravel Airlines will enter a fiercely competitive aviation market which already has six players: Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet, Jetstar Pacific, Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO), Bamboo Airways, and newly-licensed military-run carrier Vietstar Airlines, the last two making their debut last year.

Analysts have forecast 2020 to be a difficult year for tourism companies with the outbreak of the new deadly nCoV pneumonia virus, which has caused Vietnamese airlines to suspend most flights to China.

The arrival of Chinese tourists, who accounted for 32 percent of all visitors to Vietnam last year, is also expected to fall sharply.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay arrived in India on a three-day visit starting Tuesday, seeking to bolster "strategic partnership" with the country focusing on areas such as heritage, education and artificial intelligence, officials said.

This is her first official visit to India after she took charge as the DG of this world body, they said.

The DG who has arrived in Delhi will begin her trip with a visit to the Raj Ghat to pay her respects to Mahatma Gandhi who has had a profound influence on UNESCO, officials said.

She is expected to call on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, and also meet Union Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel during the visit, a UNESCO India official said.

"During her meetings, Azoulay will explore opportunities to develop UNESCO's strategic partnership with India with a particular focus on culture, education and artificial intelligence, for which Member States have asked UNESCO to develop a standard-setting instrument for the ethics in AI," the UNESCO India Office said.

In Delhi, the Director-General will visit World Heritage sites -- the Humayun's Tomb and the Red Fort, it said.

On Wednesday, Azoulay will travel to Pink City Jaipur, which last June became 38th World Heritage site in India.

She will attend a special ceremony honouring UNESCO, at the iconic Albert Hall, alongside Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, it said in a statement.

The UNESCO DG will also visit Amer Fort in Rajasthan.

While in Rajasthan, Azoulay will also visit the Girls Secondary School in Amer, reflecting UNESCO's commitment to girls' education as in the Director-General's words "Investing in a girl's education is one of the most effective ways to ensure a better life for her, and a better world for us all."



In Delhi, she will visit the National Museum to see the exhibition titled 'Indian Heritage in Digital Space' which showcases augmented reality displays of five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, officials said.

On the last day of her visit, she will address the opening session of a seminar on 'The Future of Education Artificial Intelligence for Social and Emotional Learning' in Delhi, organised by the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Sea-level report cards: 2019 data adds to trend in acceleration

2050 projection: A screenshot of the 2050 projection of sea level in Norfolk, Virginia. VIMS' Sea-Level Report Cards provide similar interactive projections for 32 U.S. coastal localities from Maine to Alaska. Photo - of - Hide Caption

Water levels at 25 of 32 stations rose at higher rate than in 2018

The annual update of their sea level report cards by researchers at William & Marys Virginia Institute of Marine Science adds evidence of an accelerating rate of sea-level rise at nearly all tidal stations along the U.S. coastline.

The teams web-based report cards project sea level to the year 2050 based on an ongoing analysis of tide-gauge records for 32 localities along the U.S. coast from Maine to Alaska. The analysis now includes 51 years of water-level observations, from January 1969 through December 2019. The interactive charts are available online at www.vims.edu/sealevelreportcards.

The projects founder, VIMS Emeritus Professor John Boon, says, The key message from the 2019 report cards is a clear trend toward acceleration in rates of sea-level rise at 25 of our 32 tide-gauge stations. Acceleration can be a game changer in terms of impacts and planning, so we really need to pay heed to these patterns.

VIMS marine scientist Molly Mitchell says, Seeing acceleration at so many of our stations suggests that  when we look at the multiple sea-level scenarios that NOAA puts out based on global models  we may be moving towards the higher projections. Mitchell has partnered with Boon to generate the last two annual report cards.

We have increasing evidence from the tide-gauge records that these higher sea-level curves need to be seriously considered in resilience-planning efforts, adds Mitchell.

In 2019, rates of sea-level rise accelerated at all 21 of the report-card stations along the U.S. East and Gulf coasts, and at seven of the eight monitored stations along the U.S. West Coast excluding Alaska. All four stations monitored in Alaska show relative sea level falling at increasingly rapid rates (due to coastal mountain-building). Previous work by Boon, Mitchell and VIMS colleague Derek Loftis suggests the current acceleration in rates of sea-level rise began around 2013 or 2014, likely associated with ocean dynamics and ice-sheet loss.

Although sea level has been rising very slowly along the West Coast, says Mitchell, models have been predicting that it will start to rise faster. The report cards from the past three years support this idea. Scientists suggest that the speed-up is due to a shift in wind patterns associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, an El Nino-like pattern of climate variability.

Boon says the report cards add value by providing sea-level projections that are updated more frequently than those issued by NOAA or other agencies. Boon and colleagues also use a statistical approach that includes evidence for the recent acceleration in the rate of sea-level change at many U.S. tide-gauge stations, and stress their use of relative sea-level measurements  changes in water level relative to the land surface on which people live and work. The relative sea-level rise in Virginia and other East and Gulf coast areas is due to both rising water and sinking land.

Notable 2019 findings

VIMS 2019 report cards show that sea level rose at 27 of the 32 monitored stations. Perhaps even more telling is that water levels at 25 of the 32 stations rose at a higher rate in 2019 than in 2018. The five stations where relative sea level fell were all on the U.S. West Coast, four of these in Alaska, where the continued rise of coastal mountains generates sharp decreases in sea level relative to land.

The three highest rates of sea-level rise in 2019 occurred along the Gulf Coast at Grand Isle, Louisiana (7.93 millimeters per year), and at Rockport (6.95 mm/yr) and Galveston (6.41 mm/yr), Texas. Rockport also topped all 32 stations in its rate of acceleration, at 0.26 mm per year per year. If this continues, sea level here will be 0.82 meters (2.69 feet) higher in 2050 compared to 1992. Grand Isle and Galveston showed significant but much more moderate acceleration rates in 2019, at 0.05 mm/yr2 and 0.09 mm/yr2, respectively. The 2050 projections for sea-level rise at these sites is thus appreciably lower: 0.54 m (1.77 ft) at Grand Isle and 0.51 m (1.67 ft) at Galveston.

Mitchell and Boon attribute the high rise rates and sharp contrast in acceleration among these Gulf Coast stations in part to their location within a sedimentary basin with a complex history of water and mineral extraction. Pumping of groundwater and oil can cause land subsidence, which contributes to relative sea-level rise.

The 2019 report cards show an accelerating rate of sea-level rise at 27 of the 32 monitored stations. After Rockport, the highest rates of acceleration in 2019 were observed at Pensacola, Florida, and Wilmington, North Carolina (0.22 mm/yr2); Cedar Key, Florida (0.21 mm/yr2); Eastport, Maine (0.20 mm/yr2); Naples, Florida (0.19 mm/yr2); Boston (0.17 mm/yr2); Portland, Maine (0.17 mm/yr2); Charleston, South Carolina (0.16 mm/yr2); and Port Isabel, Texas (0.14 mm/yr2). Significant acceleration in rates of sea-level rise at these widely distributed localities hints at global drivers, with climate change the obvious suspect. NOAA recently reported that 2019 was the second warmest year in recorded history.

Boon and Mitchell note that acceleration at these and other locations sharply increases their quadratic, best-estimate sea-level projections for 2050, despite in several cases a relatively low 2019 rise rate. For instance, Eastport, Maine, had a rise rate of only 1.96 mm in 2019, but sea level there is projected to reach 0.52 m (1.71 feet) by 2050. That 2050 projection is higher than the 0.51-m projection for Norfolk, Virginia (1.67 ft), even though the latters 2019 rise rate was 5.33 mm/yr, almost three times higher than in Eastport.

The VIMS team stresses that sea level will also experience short-term variations in the future just as it does today. Thus, coastal residents and planners in Virginia and other areas likely to experience significant sea-level increases by 2050 must also account for storm surges and other transient forces raising sea level even higher than the projected mean rise value. The 95% confidence bands placed about the projected quadratic curve in VIMS sea-level report cards are a further reminder that average sea level in any given month can deviate from the projected annual mean by as much as 20 centimeters (8 inches).

The value of an annual, localized report card

Because long-term changes in sea level are typically on the order of a few millimeters per year, researchers have traditionally felt little need to issue frequent forecasts of sea-level changes. Moreover, many sea-level projections are global in scope, with a forecast horizon of 2100  far enough off to allow for readily discernible linear change. An example is the United Nations oft-reported projection of 44 to 74 centimeters (1.4 to 2.4 feet) of absolute sea-level rise by the end of this century.

The VIMS team has purposefully taken a more localized and timely approach, one designed to add maximum value for coastal residents, businesses and governments.

Says Boon, Our report cards show what sea level has been doing recently, whats happening now at your locality. Numerous studies show that local rates of sea-level rise and acceleration differ substantially from the global rates published by the IPCC and NOAA  a key result because local rates of relative sea-level rise give a direct indication of the extent to which homes, buildings and roads are at risk of flooding.

The teams decision to use a subset of available tide-gauge data runs counter to the traditional approach taken by NOAA, the agency that operates the nations official network of tidal stations. NOAA should be commended for their care in ensuring the continuity, consistency, and availability of the nations long-term tidal datasets, says Boon. But at the same time, a longer record isnt always better, especially when theres evidence of recent non-linear changes in the rate of sea-level rise like we see along the U.S. East Coast.

An earlier analysis by Boon showed that this acceleration began in 1987, at the center of a 36-year sliding window beginning in 1969  thus setting the start date for the VIMS report cards. This is decades after many U.S. tide-gauge stations began operation but within a span where many more stations now have complete or nearly complete records. Given recent evidence of ongoing warming, it makes sense in a nation-wide, comparative study of sea-level change to analyze only those observations made over the same period of time.

Mitchell explains further, If you cross a threshold in terms of something like sea-level rise, what came before  say a tide-gauge record that began in 1900  is biased in terms of seeing where youre going. We think ice sheets are melting faster today, and if that's true then the previous 90 years of data wont accurately predict the future.

The difference between the linear rates used in NOAAs sea-level forecasts and the non-linear, accelerating rates used in VIMS report cards can lead to sharply different forecasts of our sea-level future. Extending NOAAs linear sea-level projections to mid-century for the tide gauge in Norfolk, Virginia, indicates that sea level here will be 0.3 meters (11.42 inches) higher by 2050, while the VIMS forecast  using a non-linear, accelerating rate  is 0.51 meters, or 20.1 inches. That extra 21 centimeters (8.6 inches) of sea-level rise would have major implications for the low-lying region.

Visit the report card webpage for full-size, interactive versions of all 32 report cards.
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No case of love jihad in Kerala: Centre tells Parliament

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Feb 04: There is no case of "love jihad" in Kerala, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that there are no such cases in the southern state.

"The term 'Love Jihad' is not defined under the extant laws. No such case of 'Love Jihad' has been reported by any of the central agencies," junior home minister G Kishan Reddy said in the reply.

"However, two cases from Kerala involving inter-faith marriages have been investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA)," Reddy said.

Love Jihad is real, Christian women being lured into trap says Kerala Church

"Article 25 of the Constitution provides for the freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion subject to public order, morality and health. Various courts have upheld this view including the Kerala High Court," he said.

Raising concern over, "Love Jihad" in Kerala, a senior priest of the Catholic Church said the incidents of young women from the southern state being used as"sex slaves" in war-torn nations are a reality and turning a blind eye to it "amounts to giving a silent sanction" to that.

Referring to the incidents of Christian women taken to Syria and Afghanistan after being allegedly trapped in "Love Jihad", he said some of them were traced even to jails of the conflict-hit nations.
One person was sentenced to death and two more people were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for spying for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, a spokesman for Iran's judiciary said on February 4.



Iran's Supreme Court has confirmed the death sentence for Amir Rahimpour for spying and attempting to pass information about Iran's nuclear program to the United States, Gholamhossein Esmaili said, adding that the sentence will be carried out soon.



While being in touch with the spy agency, he earned a lot of money as wages as he tried to deliver some information from Irans nuclear program to the American agency, state-run IRNA news agency quoted Esmaili as saying.



Rahimpour had been identified and prosecuted and sentenced to death and recently, the countrys National Supreme Court confirmed the sentence and, God willing, he will be punished soon.



Esmaili did not elaborate on what Rahimpour was accused of doing, and did not give his age or background.



The CIA did not immediately comment.



Two other people working for a charity have been sentenced to prison terms on charges of spying for the CIA and acting against Iran's national security, Esmaili said, adding that they each received 15-year prison sentences -- 10 years for spying and five years for acting against national security charges.



"Two...CIA spies who were working under the cover of an organization and charitable foundation have been identified, tried and sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying and five years in prison for acting against national security," he said.



The names of the individuals would not be released yet because the sentence has not been finalized, Esmaili said.



Iran has sentenced alleged U.S. and Israeli spies to death before.



The last purported spy executed was Shahram Amiri, who defected to the United States at the height of Western efforts to thwart Irans nuclear program but returned in 2010, being initially welcomed by the government.



However, he was hanged in August 2016, one year after Iran agreed to a landmark agreement with world powers to limit uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.



U.S. President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 agreement and the reintroduction of harsh economic sanctions have heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington.



A U.S. drone strike last month killed top military commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, prompting Tehran to launch a retaliatory ballistic missile strike on Iraqi bases housing American troops.

With reporting by Reuters and AP
New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday slammed his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, over his "tall claims" on providing affordable power to Delhiites, saying that the latter was a "shifty character" who had "mastered the art of deceit and lies to mislead the people".The Chief Minister also accused the BJP of converting the entire country into Shaheen Bagh and using it to polarise elections in Delhi and destroying India`s foundations.

Taking on Kejriwal, Captain Amarinder said that the AAP leader had done nothing exceptional by providing cheap power and setting up mohalla clinics, as all Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states were doing so."Some people will surely be happy with these freebies but what has he really done for the development and progress of Delhi? What has he done for creating jobs for your children," he said.

Captain Amarinder, who was addressing a public meeting in Hari Nagar in favor of Congress candidate Surinder Setia, said that there had been virtually no progress in Delhi in the last five years. "In Punjab, we have given jobs to 11 lakh youths," he said adding that what Delhi needed was economic and industrial development.

He, however, regretted that both AAP and the BJP had sacrificed the interests of Delhites in their turf war and the city, which saw lots of progress under the Congress regime, had been deprived of any development over the past 5 years. He also said only Congress could ensure Delhi`s development and work for strengthening and uniting India.

Castigating the BJP, the Chief Minister said, "They are attempting to polarise the elections here with Shaheen Bagh but they will not succeed, as people have seen through their game."There is unrest in universities. Students are on the streets across the country, and are being shot at," Captain Amarinder said, adding that this was not the India for which so many had sacrificed themselves."In contrast to the divisive politics of the BJP, which had weakened the nation, the Congress had always worked towards strengthening India," he stated.

Captain Amarinder said that the names of 19 lakh people had been included in the NRC in Assam. "Will they put them all in detention camps that they have built," he said, adding, "Where will all those people, who are being branded as non-citizens, go?"

In an informal chat with media persons later, the Chief Minister said, "Kejriwal is giving subsidy on power to only a section of residential consumers and spending Rs 1,600 to Rs 1,700 crores on it, while my government spends Rs 9,000 to Rs 10,000 crores on electricity subsidy to all sections of the society." He is subsidizing power only to a section of residential customers and making commercial and industrial consumers in Delhi pay through their nose by cross-subsidizing them," he added.

Captain Amarinder said that the Delhi government had been subsidizing residential consumers to the tune of Rs 1,700 crores and this amount had been raised to about Rs 2,600 crores only recently with an eye on the polls. He said even this amount was only one-fourth of the subsidy being given by his government.

"In Punjab, we subsidies power to 21 lakhs domestic consumers belonging to SC and BPL category, 14 lakh agriculture and 1.50 lakh Industrial consumers and spending Rs 9,000 to Rs 10,000 crores every year," he said adding that electricity rates of commercial and industrial consumers in Delhi are 1.5 times more than Punjab. The Chief Minister said that while commercial consumers in Delhi pay Rs 11 to Rs 12 per unit in Punjab, they are charged Rs 7-8 per unit only. Similarly, industrial consumers in Delhi were paying Rs 10-11 per unit, as compared to Rs 5-7 per unit in Punjab, he pointed out. While Captain Amarinder refused to predict how many seats Congress will win in Delhi, he said that the party was in a strong position.

He said the claims of an AAP wave in Delhi were a myth, as it was in Punjab in 2017, where they managed to win only 20 seats despite the hype. He expressed confidence that Setia would win from Hari Nagar. Captain Amarinder later held a roadshow in Kalkaji in favor of party candidate Shivani Chopra.
Ukraine has called for those responsible for the downing of the jet to be punished and for compensation to be paid. (AFP/Akbar TAVAKOLI)

The recordings, aired on Ukraine's 1+1 TV channel on Sunday, feature a conversation between an air traffic controller and the pilot of another plane at the time the Ukrainian airliner was hit on Jan 8, killing all 176 people on board.

The pilot can be heard describing "the light of a missile" on its route and then an explosion.

Iran initially denied Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Boeing 737 had been brought down by one of its missiles.

It later admitted that two missiles were fired at the plane by air defences on high alert, hours after Iranian armed forces fired ballistic missiles at US troops stationed in Iraq.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the release of the recording that it "proves that the Iranian side knew from the start that our plane was hit by a missile.

"Everything is audible there," Zelensky told 1+1. "Everything is recorded."

'IT'S THE LIGHT OF A MISSILE'

The audio clip features the pilot of an Aseman Airlines flight from Iran's southern city of Shiraz to Tehran communicating with air traffic control in the Iranian capital.

"There is a series of lights on our route, like a missile. Is there something?" the pilot is heard asking.

"What is the light like?" the controller asks.

"It's the light of a missile," the pilot replies.

The control tower then tries unsuccessfully to contact the Ukrainian airliner.

After a few minutes the pilot says: "There was an explosion. We saw a very bright light here."

It was unclear how the channel obtained the recording, but officials denied it had come from the Ukrainian authorities.

"This is a journalistic investigation. You need to ask them where they got this recording," Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's Security and Defence Council, told AFP.

UIA president Yevgeniy Dykhne said it was important "not to create another sensation" around the catastrophe, but to join efforts "to ensure thorough and complete investigation" of the crash.

The downing of the airliner came in the days following the US assassination of a top Iranina commander, Qasem Soleimani, near Baghdad's airport.

Iran responded with a barrage of missiles at two US bases in Iraq, in what was seen as an attempt to prevent a spiral of escalation.

But hours later, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit mistakenly shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet, in what Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called a "human error".
To Alex Timm, CEO of Root Insurance Company, the auto insurance carriers recent move into the renters insurance market seemed like a natural extension for its customer base given that 70 percent of its policyholders are renters.

We actually had a lot of people asking for it, he said.

In addition, the auto insurance company already had a key piece of data to price the business.

If you look at one of the leading variables in most of the competitor pricing plans, its actually the prior losses on your auto that theyre looking into to basically figure out how much they should charge you for renters insurance, Timm said, explaining how Root can offer renters insurance at such low ratesas low as $6 per month, according to Roots November announcement about the new offering. We know that the auto risk is very correlated with the renters risk, which allows us to then have a bit of a deeper understanding, Timm said.

The reverse may be true also, according to a paper published by researchers from the University of Warsaw (Kinga Kita-Wojciechowska and ukasz Kidzinski) in April 2019. The paper, Google Street View image of a house predicts car accident risk of its resident, (arxiv.org/abs/1904.05270), also the subject of an article in MIT Technology Review, found that features visible in a Google photo of a housetype (detached, terrace, etc.), age, condition, estimated wealth of its residents, density of surrounding buildingscan be predictive of car accident risk, independent from classically used variables such as age or ZIP code, and can also increase the predictive power of traditional auto insurer models.

For Root, there are considerations beyond the availability of rating variables as the carrier enters the market.

It is a low average premium product. So, really, the underwriting risk youre taking on renters is minimal compared to other products, said Timm. A more pressing question, then, was whether Root could acquire customers at a good customer acquisition cost. For us, because we already have these mobile customersthe auto insurance app is right on the mobile phone we can make it super simple for our consumer to purchase, he said.

Timm said Root also increases its retention in that book of business when it cross-sells. Renewal loss ratios are much, much better than its new business loss ratios and so it also boosts the overall profitability, he added.

In the auto insurance world, Roots mission centers on the concept of fair pricing using driving experience. By offering a mobile-based telematics product for good drivers, Root boasts the ability to slash some auto insurance bills in half.

Root may not stop at auto or renters. What about full homeowners or life insurance, which are now being vetted by established players like Progressive? Or commercial auto, a seemingly natural play for a telematics-based insurer?

We are always evaluating those opportunities. Right now, theres nothing near term that were planning in that regard. But we do believe that being a one-stop shop for consumers and always offering them the best product, whether thats our product or whether were brokering it for somebody else, we believe that thats really where the future is going to be, Timm responded.

Coming to a State Near You

Root renters is currently available to existing Root auto customers in Missouri, Ohio and Utah, and will be expanding to other states. Insurance will also be available to renters who are not Root auto customers in the coming months, the carrier said.

On the auto side, Root was in 29 states as of August 2019, with plans to be nationwide by 2020.

Nationwide? Arent there any states that are off limits because of congested conditions that impact driving behavior or other factors?

Weve really found, regardless of the area of the country, even if youre in New York City or Chicago, for instance, that theres still a large percentage of people who are driving better than average for that cohort, which means they deserve a discount, Timm said. That being said, there are still regulatory challenges throughout the states. Michigan, for instance, has a regulatory issue with the no-fault laws there. So, thats something were not prioritizing.

He said Root is now working with regulators in New York. We believe this is something that, in the state of New York, would be great for their consumers and theres a lot of different segments too to the New York market that we believe we offer a really unique solution for.

California, a state where Root insurance is already available, also poses some special problems.

We arent aggressively pushing the product or marketing [in California]. They dont allow telematics, which is very unfortunate because we believe this is something that obviously really helps consumers, particularly consumers in traditionally discriminated-against areas and classes. We believe this is something that absolutely is good for the consumer. We plan to work with California to make sure that the consumers can be a part of this because it is a very big benefit to the consumer. Its much fairer than what typically is used.

Its kind of a tragedy that its not allowed, said Timm, reminding Carrier Management of a younger version of another actuary, J. Robert Hunter, in his dedication to consumers.

Hunter recently wrote a letter to his colleagues in the Casualty Actuarial Society, criticizing their white paper, Insurance Rating Variables: What Are They and Why They Matter. Your paper says nothing about the plight of good driving, low- and moderate-income Americans being unable to afford state-required auto insurance due to the negative impact of socio-economic, non-driving-related rating factors on these people, Hunter wrote.

Likewise, Timm has said that existing pricing models for auto insurance, based on variables tied to economic status, essentially make the product a tax on the poor.

Do poor people use the Root app and qualify for Root insurance? Has Root solved the problem?

To a large extent, yes we haveThe beauty of telematics is that it allows every consumer, regardless of their credit score, their age, their gender, their marital status or ZIP code really, a chance to prove, Hey, Im a good driver. I deserve a better rate, even if my credit score isnt the best, or even if I live in a suboptimal area. And thats really what our pricing model does, he said.

What about fraud? Does anyone cheat on the driving test by asking better drivers to take it for them?

While there are ways to trick the system, Root has found that most people are very much married to their phone [and] wont give it away for a long period of time, Timm said, noting that Root is also able to flag unusual behavior. If you give it to somebody and they drive just for one drive, but every other day of the week the phones not going to that location, well thats odd. Or, if you give your phone to somebody and it looks like where theyre driving and keeping the phone isnt the same as your address, he cited as another example.

Its not going to be completely perfect, but what weve found is that really the proof is in the pudding, Timm said. In terms of predicting frequency of auto accidents, we are seeing that our internal telematics platform is hands-down the most predictive of any of the variables that we use right now.
Huawei said the US regulators action was unlawful, while ZTE said it has spent millions on a compliance programme.

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp have asked the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to finalise its designation of the China tech giants as risks to US national security.

In November, the FCC voted 5-0 to initially designate Huawei and ZTE as national security risks in a move that would bar their US rural carrier customers from tapping an $8.5bn government fund to buy equipment.

Huawei said in a nearly 200-page filing with the FCC the action was designed to implement a campaign by certain government officials, including members of Congress, to single out Huawei for burdensome and stigmatizing restrictions, put it out of business in the US, and impugn its reputation here and around the world. It called the effort unlawful and misguided.

ZTE asked the FCC on Monday in a filing to take additional time to assess ZTEs enhancements in the area of US export control and economic sanctions compliance and security controls in ZTE products.

ZTE added it has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to implement a compliance programme relating to US export control compliance regulations.

The commission left the final determination to the FCCs Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, which could determine not to finalise the risk designation.

Such a move would run counter to the stance of US President Donald Trumps administration to date, after its blacklisting of Huawei in May sharply restricted the export of US hi-tech components to the company.

The administration has also tried with limited success to persuade its allies to bar Huawei, saying its equipment could potentially be used by Beijing for spying.

Huawei has repeatedly denied those allegations and scored a big win last week when the United Kingdom announced it was giving Huawei a role in its new generation of telecoms infrastructure.

In its November vote, the FCC proposed requiring that US carriers remove and replace equipment from Huawei and ZTE, also China-based, from existing networks.

The companies ties to the Chinese government and military apparatus and laws requiring their assistance in intelligence activities are why they pose a security risk, the FCC said.
This is the moment an 18-year-old used books, paper and even a hairdryer to create a complicated trick shot that ran through his house.

Matt Stauffer built a course out of household items stretching from the ceiling to the floor and running down the stairs of his home in Twinsburg, Ohio.

The footage begins as Mr Stauffer releases a bouncy ball into a paper chute taped to the ceiling at the start of the course.

Matt Stauffer from Twinsburg, Ohio, built a course out of paper and other household items stretching from the ceiling to the floor. The footage begins as Mr Stauffer releases a bouncy ball at the start of the course

He excitedly commentates as the ball races along chutes above a bedroom door, before tumbling down a pipe and on to the floor

He excitedly commentates as the ball races along chutes above a bedroom door, before tumbling down another homemade tube and onto the floor.

A well-placed hairdryer blows the ball across the landing and through an alley of books and shoes.

A fan gives the ball an added boost, with Mr Stauffer saying: 'Keep it moving, baby, come on, keep it moving.'

The ball is propelled through an alley of books, shoeboxes and shoes towards the stairs

A fan gives the ball an added boost, with Mr Stauffer saying: 'Keep it moving, baby, come on, keep it moving'

It fires the projectile around a 'scary' bend which takes the ball to the top of a set of stairs.

Mr Stauffer becomes even more animated as it bounces down the steps and triggers a domino effect with wooden blocks.

Mr Stauffer becomes even more animated as it bounces down the stairs and triggers a domino effect with a line of wooden blocks

After racing down the stairs, the ball sets off a chain of dominoes that topple over across the floor

He races around after them in time to see the final one push over a pool cue, which putts a white ball into a corner pocket on the table.

And he sprints around to watch the last trick of the course, saying: 'Please God, please God.'

His prayers are answered as the ball knocks another one from the white ball storage spot into a red plastic cup on the floor.
Taking on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after Shaheen Bagh shooter Kapil Baisala was identified as an Aam Aadmi Party worker by police, Bharatiya Janata Party chief J P Nadda on Tuesday said it exposed the party and Kejriwal who were playing with the country's security.

IMAGE: Kapil Baisala being taken away by Delhi Police after he opened fire in Shaheen Bagh area of New Delhi on Saturday. Photograph: Arun Sharma/PTI Photo



The AAP hit back, questioning the police investigation.

In a series of tweets, Nadda said people of the country and Delhi today have seen the 'dirty face' of AAP.

'For political longing, Kejriwal and his people even sold the security of the country. Earlier, Kejriwal used to insult the Army and advocate terrorists, but today relations with those who carry out their terrorist activities came to light,' he said.

Nadda said he wanted to make it clear to Kejriwal that this country is bigger than any election, any government, and 'this nation will not forgive those who play with its security.

'Kejriwal and his entire team have been exposed. The people of Delhi will give a befitting reply'.

He claimed the entire country has seen 'photos of Imam Hussain, the MLA and former minister of the Delhi government, with a radical terrorist organisation, PFI (Popular Front of India)'.

Days before Delhi goes to polls, police claimed that Baisala is a member of the AAP. They said Baisala joined the party in early 2019 along with his father.

Police said it had photos of Baisala purportedly joining AAP along with his father Gaje Singh last year.

AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh alleged that photos which were part of investigation were leaked to the BJP.

He also said the party will approach the Election Commission to raise this issue, which has cropped up four days before the polling date.

"On whose instance, the police is giving statement? How did the photos which were part of the investigation reach the BJP? Before the news came out, Manoj Tiwari in the morning stated that the accused was from AAP. How did Manoj Tiwari get this news," Singh questioned in a press conference.

Union minister and BJP's in-charge for the Delhi polls, Prakash Javadekar, in a press conference alleged that 'their (AAP's) designs are very clear from the beginning and they are trying every trick'.

The whole conspiracy of AAP is to 'divide society, cause fear in a community and create a vote bank', he charged.

Javadekar also claimed that photos of Baisala were recovered by police from his mobile phone although they were erased.

He also claimed that Baisala and his father were welcomed by Sanjay Singh at their joining of AAP.

"This proves AAP misleads youth and pushes them on the wrong path. AAP's strategy is to divide two communities, they want to instigate riots in Delhi," Javadekar alleged.

He further alleged that AAP leader Sanjay Singh had said violence would take place in Delhi. Their 'conspiracy has been exposed by Delhi Police', he claimed.

"We condemn this politics of AAP," he said.

Javadekar also claimed this was 'not an isolated incident' as AAP member Amanatullah Khan made a 'very provocative speech' and the party supported Shaheen Bagh and did not give permission for the prosecution of members of the 'tukde-tukde gang'.

He hinted the BJP could approach the Election Commission against AAP over the issue.
New Greens leader Adam Bandt hopes he is the last person in his job elected just by the parliamentary party, backing calls for members to have a say in future leadership votes.

Mr Bandt, who was elected unopposed as Richard di Natale's replacement on Tuesday, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age his personal view was that "members should be able to have a vote for party leader, together with party MPs".

The Greens elected a new leadership team on Tuesday, including Nick McKim as co-deputy leader, Larissa Waters as co-deputy leader and Senate leader, Adam Bandt as leader and Rachel Siewert as party whip. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Some Greens members have been pushing for a say in the leadership for several years, with the party's national conference set to decide the issue by May. Mr Bandt, a former industrial relations lawyer, said: "I see no reason to think it won't be resolved by then."

During his first press conference as leader, Mr Bandt came out swinging against the Morrison government, saying he wanted to build pressure on the Coalition to "act on climate change or go". He declared his aim was for the Greens to secure the balance of power in both houses of Parliament at the next federal election.
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Senators are set Tuesday to give speeches revealing their positions in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, hours before he will deliver his State of the Union address to Congress.

House impeachment managers and Trump's defense team wrapped up closing arguments in his impeachment trial Monday.

After Tuesday's speeches in the Senate, senators are scheduled to vote Wednesday on the question of whether Trump should be removed from office.

The Republican-controlled Senate is not expected to oust Trump.

A razor-thin majority of Senate Republicans on Friday shut down a proposal to allow testimony by witnesses at the trial, and to allow the introduction of additional documents into evidence.

That vote, in which Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine joined Democrats in the losing effort to admit more evidence, pushed the trial into its final stages.

The House voted to impeach Trump on Dec. 18, alleging he abused the power of the presidency and obstructed Congress in connection with his withholding of nearly $400 million in congressionally appropriated military aid to Ukraine last summer.

Trump held back that aid while at the same time asking Ukraine's new president to announce investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, as well as into a debunked conspiracy theory about purported interference by Ukraine in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Trump's actions occurred last summer, after Biden became a front-runner for the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination.

The military aid was later released.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
Occidental Petroleum Corp. signed a long-term lease expansion for 91,986 square feet at Three Greenway Plaza, boosting its headquarters to more than 972,000 square feet.

Were thrilled to retain Oxy as a large, longtime tenant at Greenway Plaza," Eric Siegrist, managing director of leasing for landlord Parkway Property Investments said in an announcement.. "The 11-building campus is attractive to companies that value a collaborative and dynamic business community that evolves with their needs and enables companies to recruit and enhance employee satisfaction.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has stated that roads which are under construction by his government will not be roads constructed in a green book but rather visible for Ghanaians to see and feel.



According to the president , his predecessor, former president John Mahama attacked him when he said that he could not see the unprecedented roads the NDC administration mentioned in their green book in 2016.



 Your Son in 2016 said he is responsible for the unprecedented infrastructure and when I said I dont see the roads , he said I was asleep at the back of my car but now I know everybody in the country knows who was telling the truth, he told Kpembewura on February 3, 2020.



Addressing the gathering at the Kpembewuras palace when he paid a courtesy call on him , he assured the people of Salaga and the Savannah region that there will be massive infrastructural development in the region.



President Akufo-Addo assured the good people of Salaga that the Salaga-Makango road will be completed and will be visible for people to see.



The Roads Minister, Amoako Atta, addressing the people of Salaga at the Kpembewura palace indicated that government is working on 28 road projects in the Savannah region.



According to him, the 57km Tamale-Salaga road project handled by the E&P Limited owned by the brother of John Mahama which has been abandoned, has been a worrying issue for government and the people of Salaga.



He, however, assured that government will meet with management of E&P Limited to find a lasting solution to the problem regarding the abandoned road.



 The road is of an importance to government and I am arranging a meeting with the management of E&P to bring them back to work but if we are unable to reach an agreement we will terminate the contract and re-arward it.



The paramount chief Kpembe , Kpembewura Haruna Bismark, thanked the president for his pro poor policies which have affected his people positively.



 For your work done so far we have no doubt in your ability and determination to transform this country, he said.



He was grateful to the president for the Salaga Water Expansion Project .



The paramount chief of Kpembe, appealed to the president to ensure that the Tamale-Makango road is completed for easy movement of goods from the Savannah region to the south and vice versa.

Source: Daily Guide









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Senator Susan Collins (R., Maine) announced on Tuesday she would vote to acquit President Trump on both articles of impeachment.

Im voting to acquit, Collins told CBS. I do not believe that the behavior alleged reaches the high bar in the Constitution for overturning an election, and removing a duly elected president.

However, Collins criticized Trump for his efforts to have Ukraine investigate corruption allegations against Joe and Hunter Biden. The senator also rebuffed Trumps repeated assertion that his July 25 phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which Trump raised the Biden investigations, was a perfect call.

The presidents call was wrong. He should not have mentioned Joe Biden in it, despite his overall concern about corruption in Ukraine, the senator said. The President of the United States should not be asking a foreign country to investigate a political rival. That is just improper. It was far from a perfect call.

Collins on Friday voted in favor of a Senate resolution to call witnesses to testify at the impeachment trial, the only Republican to do so besides Mitt Romney of Utah. Like Romney, Collins is a moderate and was viewed as a possible Republican vote in favor of impeachment.

Collinss simultaneous criticism of Trump and pledge to acquit the president mirror fellow moderate Lisa Murkowskis (R., Alaska) argument in favor of acquittal. Murkowski rebuked Trump for his actions but also criticized Democratic and Republican lawmakers for what she viewed as their politicization of the impeachment process.

Democrats would have needed 20 Republican senators to defect and vote in favor of impeachment in order to remove President Trump from office. It is all but impossible for Democrats to win the impeachment vote at this point.

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / PowerBand Solutions Inc. (TSXV:PBX) (OTCQB:PWWBF) (Frankfurt:1ZVA) ("PowerBand", "PBX" or the "Company") has reached an agreement with RouteOne LLC ("RouteOne") in which thousands of automotive dealerships in the United States and Canada will have access to PowerBand's cloud-based sales and leasing platform, allowing consumers and dealers to easily approve the trading and leasing of vehicles.PowerBand is pleased to announce its agreement with RouteOne, formed by way of a joint venture between Ally Financial, Ford Motor Credit Company, TD Auto Finance, and Toyota Financial Services. RouteOne maintains a footprint of over 18,000 automotive dealers and 1,500 finance sources. RouteOne provides a comprehensive suite of finance and insurance tools, ranging from credit applications and eContracting to digital retail and compliance.The agreement means thousands of dealers will have access to PowerBand and MUSA through RouteOne's platform, creating efficiency for PowerBand and RouteOne's mutual dealer customers.PowerBand acquired a majority share of MUSA Auto Finance, LLC ("MUSA") in July 2019. Founded in 2016, MUSA's innovative transaction platform is modernizing the new and pre-owned vehicle leasing experience, providing dealers and consumers with the most advanced leasing options in the industry. MUSA's technology takes a credit application, calculates a lease, auto-decisions the application, provides an approval back to dealer partners, and prefills a lease contract accurately. Approvals can occur in less than eight seconds. As a result of its proprietary technology, MUSA was awarded a contract by Tesla Motors to become a national leasing partner in 2018."Powerband is now well positioned to be a leader in the vehicle-leasing market in the U.S. and Canada," said Kelly Jennings, President and CEO of PowerBand. "This is a major milestone in our goal to revolutionize how the world buys, sells, leases, and auctions cars, to make acquiring a vehicle as easy as buying a product on Amazon, in effect uberizing the process." "We are very pleased to have MUSA and PowerBand integrate to RouteOne to create value for our shared dealer customers," said Jeff Belanger, Senior Vice President, Business Development, RouteOne.PowerBand anticipates the agreement with RouteOne will help PowerBand facilitate thousands of financing transactions on its leasing platform, and subsequently thousands of auction transactions, as a result of trade-ins, on PowerBand's Canadian online remarketing platform, and on the D2D Automotive Auctions ("D2D") online auction platform in the United States. D2D is a joint venture partnership owned equally by PowerBand and Bryan Hunt, director of the Fortune 500 company JB Hunt Transport.Added Jennings: "Our agreement with RouteOne means many thousands of dealers and car consumers across the U.S. and Canada will have PowerBand at their fingertips - revolutionizing how we buy, sell, and trade vehicles by removing unnecessary middlemen and delays. Not only will PowerBand generate revenue from new and used vehicle leases, there will also be revenue generated through PowerBand's online auction platforms as a result of consumers trading in their vehicles for new leased vehicles." About RouteOneRouteOne was formed in 2002 by Ally Financial, Ford Motor Credit Company, TD Auto Finance, and Toyota Financial Services to improve the F&I process for automobile dealers and their customers. Connecting thousands of dealers and finance sources in North America for vehicle financing, RouteOne's platform delivers a comprehensive suite of F&I solutions across multiple channels: in-store, online, mobile, and via third-party solutions. Its product line-up includes digital retail, credit application, eContracting, menu, and compliance solutions. In addition, RouteOne enables dealer choice across a wide variety of best-in-class providers through open integrations with over 200 DSPs. More information is available at www.routeone.com About PowerBand Solutions Inc.PowerBand Solutions Inc. is a technology provider listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's cloud-based platform is revolutionizing how we buy, sell, lease, and auction vehicles. With the recent receipt of its exporter license and its acquisition of MUSA Auto Finance, the Company is now well positioned to become a leader in the USD$10 billion cross-border used vehicle export market, the USD$100 billion used vehicle auction market, and the USD$120 billion vehicle leasing market in the U.S. and Canada.For further information, please contact:Richard Goldman, VP Corporate DevelopmentP: 1-866-768-7653rgoldman@ powerbandsolutions.com FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly o
Denmark, Netherlands summon Saudi ambassadors over espionage activities

Iran Press TV

Tuesday, 04 February 2020 2:44 AM

The Danish and Dutch governments have summoned the Saudi ambassadors to Copenhagen and Stockholm, respectively, in order to express their official protest after arresting and charging four terrorists for spying on behalf of the kingdom in the two European states.

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service announced on Monday the arrest of three members of the Saudi-backed anti-Iran al-Ahvaziya terrorist group, and charged them with suspicion of spying for Saudi Arabia in Denmark. Another terrorist was also arrested in the Netherlands.

Speaking at a press conference in Copenhagen, Danish Security Service (PET) Director Finn Borch Andersen said the three members of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz are facing charges of involvement in intelligence activities for the Saudi intelligence service from 2012 to 2018.

The Danish Security Service stated that the three elements were collecting information about individuals in Denmark and abroad, and were sending it to a Saudi intelligence service.

The three, whose identities have not been revealed, live in Denmark and have been under surveillance for several months.

The Danish police has accused the three of supporting a terrorist attack in Iran in September 2018, which killed 25 people including a four-year-old child.

The Danish foreign minister, on his Twitter account, confirmed that the Saudi ambassador to Copenhagen had been summoned.

Jeppe Kofod called the case "deeply serious and completely unacceptable." Kofod said he had summoned the Saudi ambassador for talks earlier Monday, and instructed the Danish ambassador in Riyadh to deliver his objections to Saudi authorities.

Dutch Foreign Minister Steve Block also summoned the Saudi ambassador to his country on suspicion of an al-Ahvaziya terrorist element's link to Saudi Arabia.

That came after the Dutch authorities in the city of Delft arrested another al-Ahvaziya element accused of planning to launch an attack in Iran and of belonging to a terrorist organization.

Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the Foreign Minister wanted to inform the Saudi ambassador that such unwanted activities as those accused by the movement in Denmark were unacceptable.

Al-Ahvaziya group is comprised of communists, nationalists, socialists and Salafi members who, despite ideological and nominal differences, are united around one goal and one strategy, which is toppling the Iranian government and separating Khuzestan from the rest of Iran through armed conflict.

The group was born in 1980; soon after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. It was inspired by the ruling Ba'ath regime in neighboring Iraq at the time. It had already carried out a series of attacks in the southwestern province even before Saddam unleashed war against Iran.

The group has committed numerous crimes against Iranian targets over the past decades. Among them bomb attacks in public places, abductions, assassinations, kidnapping for ransom, shooting at tourists and blowing up oil pipelines.

Thousands of people have been killed or injured as a result of their actions. The group calls itself a movement but it lacks any popular backing inside Iran.

In September 2018, four members of the Saudi-backed terrorist group opened fire on soldiers and civilians during a military parade in Iran's southern city of Ahvaz, claiming the lives of 25 people, including a four-year-old child.

The attack in that year came after a US-backed campaign to stir up unrest in Iranian cities fell flat. The effort, known as the Hot Summer Project, sought to whip up public anger over water and electricity shortages in the face of a protracted drought.



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Moroccos ambassador to Azerbaijan Adil Embarch was granted the Azerbaijan Best Awards in the Ambassadors category for the period 2018-2019.

The prize-awarding ceremony took place recently in Baku in the presence of several figures from the political, economic, cultural and media spheres.

During the ceremony, the organizers paid tribute to the Moroccan diplomat for his commitment to the development of relations between Morocco and Azerbaijan.

Embarch who thanked the members of the jury for this honor, stressed that the award goes to all the staff of the Moroccan Embassy in Baku who work tirelessly to develop and diversify relations between the two brotherly peoples.

The Azerbaijan Best Awards are granted every two years in different categories such as education, medicine, business, culture, art, science, architecture, sport, fashion industry and media.
A German appeals court on Tuesday rejected a Jewish man's bid to force the removal of a 700-year-old anti-Semitic statue from a church where Martin Luther once preached.

The "Judensau," or "Jew pig," sculpture on the Town Church in Wittenberg is one of more than 20 such relics from the Middle Ages that still adorn churches across Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

Located about four meters (13 feet) above ground, it depicts people identifiable as Jews suckling on the teats of a sow, while a rabbi lifts the animal's tail.

In 1570, after the Protestant Reformation, an inscription referring to an anti-Jewish tract by Luther was added.

In 1988, a memorial was set into the ground underneath it, referring to the persecution of Jews and the killing of 6 million people in the Nazi Holocaust.

In addition, a sign gives information on the sculpture in German and English.

Plaintiff Michael Duellmann has argued that the sculpture is a defamation of and insult to the Jewish people and that it has a terrible effect up to this day.

A court in Dessau rejected his case in May. Duellmann took the case to a higher state court in Naumburg, which ruled Tuesday that he has no right to have the sculpture taken down because in its current context it is not of slanderous character and doesn't violate the plaintiff's rights.

It found that the statue is now part of an ensemble which speaks for another objective on the part of the parish, a reference to the memorial and the information sign.

Duellmann plans to take the case to Germany's Federal Court of Justice.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Charlie's Bakery, 1401 High St., opened Saturday in Bethlehem after months of renovation. Owner Charlie Dalrymple promises customers will find an assortment of fresh breads, baked goods and cakes sold in a homey corner neighborhood bakeshop. (Sara K. Satullo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

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Charlie Dalrymple started pondering his next chapter after he retired from nursing.

When his 90-year-old father suggested he open a bakery, Charlie Dalrymple didn't laugh and brush him off. He started hunting for the perfect spot.

On Saturday, Charlie's Bakery opened at the corner of Greenwich and High streets and Charlie Dalrymple's already received a warm welcome from his new neighbors.

The Phillipsburg native faced many hiccups as he converted the first-floor at 1401 High St. back into a commercial storefront -- he couldn't put in commercial baking ovens due to fire codes -- but he's thrilled to be bringing an old-fashioned bakery back to the Christmas City.

"It only took us nine months," the elder Charles Dalrymple quipped Monday.

Charlie Dalrymple knew he wanted to recreate the neighborhood bakeries of his youth, so he actually started his search driving around side streets until he stumbled on his current location.

He's no stranger to the Christmas City. Before becoming a wound care nurse in New Jersey, Charlie Dalrymple worked as a window designer for Orr's Department store.

"It is a shame because a lot of the corner, neighborhood stores have been converted," he said. "This one was residential."

Due to the code limitations, all of the baked goods are coming from outside vendors, primarily an Italian bakery in Brooklyn, N.Y., while the cheesecakes and cakes come from Amish bakers. Soon, they will be serving up coffee and tomato pies as well.

"The cheesecake is what people seem to be raving over," Charlie Dalrymple said. "Everything comes in fresh daily from Brooklyn, the bread, the donuts, the danish, the cinnamon rolls. Anything you want under the sun."

Charlie's Bakery will soon decorate cakes on-site and fill cannolis. Long term, Charlie Dalrymple hopes to buy the building and put on an addition with ovens, which will be more affordable than building interior firewalls, he said.

Locals may remember the shop last as Miller's, a place that served up sandwiches, essentials and penny candy, Charlie Dalrymple said.

Throughout February, Charlie's Bakery will be open seven days a week from 7 p.m. until 5 p.m. so they can gauge interest. (Although, the bakery will close early -- as it did over the weekend -- if it sells out.) The bakery will set its permanent hours in March.

Charlie Dalrymple hasn't placed any advertisements, but one post to his Facebook page and word is spreading.

"Yesterday, people were coming in and saying, 'Where is this cheesecake I hear people raving about on Facebook?'" he said. "It was just phenomenal."

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The owner's father worked for Ingersoll Rand and spent time in Thailand where he found three of these rocking horses for his three children. Two of the carved horses are on display in the bakery.

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The cheesecake was earning rave customer reviews on social media.

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2020) - Discovery Harbour Resources Corp. (TSXV: DHR) (the "Company" or "Discovery Harbour") is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement consisting of the issuance of up to 10,000,000 units (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.10 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to $1,000,000 (the "Offering"). Insiders, as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, may participate in the Offering.

Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company (each, a "Share") and one half common share purchase warrant, with each whole warrant (each, a "Warrant") entitling the holder to purchase one Share at a price of $0.15 per Share for a period of two years following the closing of the Offering (the "Closing"), subject to an acceleration provision of the Company whereby, if for any ten (10) consecutive trading days the closing price of the Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") exceeds $0.25 at any time commencing (4) months after the Closing and until their expiry date, then the remaining term of the Warrants will be reduced to thirty (30) days, commencing seven (7) days from the end of such ten (10) consecutive trading day period.

Finders' fees may be payable in connection with the Offering in accordance with the policies of the Exchange.

All securities issued in connection with the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day after closing of the Offering. Completion of the Offering is subject to the approval of the Exchange. Any participation by insiders in the Offering will constitute a related party transaction under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") but is expected to be exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101.

The aggregate gross proceeds from the sale of the Offering will be used to conduct further work, including a planned drill program on high priority targets, on the Company's Caldera epithermal gold project in southern Nevada (see news release dated January 9, 2020), to pay outstanding debt, and for general working capital.

None of the securities sold in connection with the Offering will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and no such securities may be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Discovery Harbour Resources Corp.

Discovery Harbour is a Canadian TSX Venture Exchange listed company (TSXV: DHR) focused on sourcing, exploring and developing mineral properties, with a strategic focus on gold projects, in order to enhance shareholder value. Its current focus is the Caldera low sulphidation epithermal gold project in southern Nevada.

For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.discoveryharbour.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DISCOVERY HARBOUR RESOURCES CORP.

"Mark Fields"

Mark Fields

President and Chief Executive Officer

Discovery Harbour Resources Corp.

Tel: (604) 681-3170

Fax: (604) 681-3552

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the expectations of management regarding the proposed Offering, the expectations of management regarding the use of proceeds of the Offering, closing conditions for the Offering, and Exchange approval of the proposed Offering. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements including that: the Company may not complete the Offering on terms favorable to the Company or at all; the Exchange may not approve the Offering; the proceeds of the Offering may not be used as stated in this news release; the Company may be unable to satisfy all of the conditions to the Closing; and those additional risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except where required by law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52064
The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) took effect on Jan. 1 and compliance departments across the United States now have some work to do. This is especially relevant for insurance companies that insure countless businesses for regulatory liability risks.

With CCPA, Californians are guaranteed the right to know what personal information is being collected from them, whether such information is sold or disclosed and to whom, the right to request deletion of their personal information, and the right to opt out. There is much talk about how insurers will comply with this law as businesses that collect personal information, but insurers may also be asking whether they can or should be insuring their clients against CCPA violations. Because it may be difficult for some companiesespecially large businesses that have numerous established data systemsto achieve CCPA compliance, this could translate into costly claims for insurers.

Enforcement of the CCPA will be done by the California attorney general, who may seek financial penalties and mandate a stop to any practice deemed to be in violation of the act. Perhaps the biggest unknown is whether carriers will be allowed to insure clients against the attorney generals enforcement efforts. This is worth some analysis and consideration, especially because, as a matter of public policy, the state of California already prohibits insuring actions brought by its attorney general to recover fines, penalties, or restitution from a policyholder for violations of the Unfair Competition Law (UC) or the False Advertising Law (FAL), both of which are consumer protection acts. This prohibition extends to the insurers right and duty to investigate, defend, settle, negotiate, or pay any aspect of such claims, as specified under California Insurance Code section 533.5(c). Currently this statute is limited only to precluding insurance for actions brought by state agencies under the UCL or FAL. But, as a consumer protection act, will the CCPA eventually be added to Section 533.5 or will the statute be construed so as to preclude insuring enforcement measures by the A.G.?

Section 533.5 was passed in an attempt to address problems the Attorney Generals Office encountered in attempting to enforce the UCL and the FAL. These problems could foreshadow similar concerns with the CCPA; specifically, according to the A.G.s report advocating for Section 533.5, in instances where the state agencies sought to enforce the UCL and FAL against non-compliant businesses, such businesses simply tendered the actions to their insurers. The public entity then found itself litigating with an insurance company, rather than the individual whose conduct violated provisions of the Business & Professions Code.' (Mt. Hawley Ins. Co. v. Lopez, 215 Cal.App.4th 1385, 1403 (2013), quoting Office of the Attorney General Statement on AB 3920 before the Assembly Committee on Finance and Insurance (1989-1990 Reg. Sess.) Apr. 19, 1988.)

Such cases, according to the Office, became impossible to settle because the defendants refuse[d] to make restitution of unlawfully obtained property or to pay any civil penalty out of their own funds, and law enforcement agencies would not accept any settlement paid by the insurer because such a settlement does not impose any penalty for unlawful conduct directly on the defendant' (Ibid) Section 533.5 was enacted to hold individuals personally accountable and to prevent the action from becoming a dispute between a public entity attempting to deter certain behavior, and the insurer of the non-compliant business, leaving such business as a negligible participant in the proceeding with little to no personal risk.

California courts recognize that where a statute or law is intended to serve a deterrent purpose, permitting insurance to pay sums intended to modify behavior undermines the legislatures goals. Moreover, where a penalty is imposed, such sum is not damages intended to compensate for loss incurred, but rather a sum imposed to curb behavior. Accordingly, if the attorney general can only seek penalties and injunctive relief against businesses that violate the CCPA, it is reasonably foreseeable that Section 533.5 could be amended or construed by a court to extend to such enforcement actions, thereby, prohibiting coverage for such risks.

The bottom line: While Section 533.5 does not presently preclude coverage for enforcement of the CCPA, that could change if the attorney general finds its efforts hampered or less effective because of insurance.

Although California often leads in these types of consumer protection laws, other states are beginning to follow suit, making compliance with such laws by companies conducting business on a national level much more challenging. Furthermore, the present version of CCPA may not be the last; there is a ballot initiative in California seeking to impose a far more arduous version of CCPA.

While California has long recognized the freedom of parties to contract as they see fit, it has also consistently prohibited parties from contracting around its own public policy objectives. The CCPA is untested and as businesses evolve to comply with its mandates, the insurance industry will similarly have to navigate through unknown territory. In choosing whether to insure such risks and deciding how to respond to actions under the CCPA against policyholders, insurers should bear in mind the tension in California law between an individuals freedom to contract and the Legislatures public policy objectives.
It was a bit surreal, watching one candidate after another get on to the stage.

Their supporters cheered. They waved their placards. And, one after one, the Democrats who are running for president, who have competed in Iowa for more than a year, all sounded like winners.

Except that nobody was  at least not at that point. But they werent losers, either. None of them.

In the vacuum created by the Iowa Democratic Party's delay in reporting the official results of the caucuses Monday night, the candidates were left with no choice but to write their own scripts.

They didn't have an ending. But they weren't going to get one  at least not on a time schedule that fit their needs.

So Amy Klobuchar, the first of the Democrats to seize the moment, proclaimed her campaign "here" and "strong"; that it had "beaten the odds every step of the way."

Joe Biden, to the cheers of his supporters, promised to "get this done"; to unite the country and defeat Donald Trump.

Elizabeth Warren said she was going to run a campaign "from ocean to ocean."
In an indication of a further breakdown of security in Deir ez-Zor, a former ISIS leader was killed by unknown assailants reports Deirezzor 24.

On Saturday, a former Islamic State (ISIS) leader was killed in the eastern Deir ez-Zor countryside by unknown assailants, local sources told Deir Ezzor 24 network.

According to the sources, the man who was killed, Mohammed al-Farhan, is also know as Qaswara al-Tayanah after the village of al-Tayanah in the eastern Deir ez-Zor countryside, to which he belongs. He was targeted by unknown gunmen in al-Shannan village between Diban town and al-Tayanah village in the eastern Deir ez-Zor countryside.

In a related context, two days ago, the people of Ash-Shahil town east of Deir ez-Zor found the body of an unidentified person dumped in a sewer, near the towns hospital, with marks indicating that he had been killed and thrown into the sewer.

It is noteworthy that assassinations have increased recently in the areas of Deir ez-Zor countryside that are under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces, after ISIS cells, the Assad regime and Iran increased their activities in the region, which pushed the International Coalition to take steps to control the security situation in the region.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
A Mandan man who is a registered sex offender was sentenced Tuesday to serve seven years in prison for giving alcohol to a teenage girl and having sex with her.

Cyrus Cuba, 30, who also has sex crime cases pending in two other counties, pleaded guilty in October to felony gross sexual imposition and a misdemeanor for providing alcohol to a minor. The charges stemmed from an alleged incident in February 2019 in which the girl spent the night at Cubas residence after he gave her and a friend a flavored alcoholic beverage, police said.

South Central District Judge Bruce Romanick accepted the sentencing recommendations of Assistant Morton County States Attorney Austin Gunderson for a 15-year sentence with eight years suspended. Gunderson said prison programs would provide the opportunity for evaluation and a structured environment, which might benefit Cuba.

Cuba may have suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child, defense attorney Michael Hoffman said, but the injury is not documented. He did not disagree with Gundersons recommendation and added that cognitive evaluation might tie in with the possible brain injury and with incidents of bullying from Cubas childhood.

We believe he could benefit from any program that will help him understand his issues and address them, Hoffman said.

Cuba in a prepared statement told Romanick that he took full responsibility for his actions and asked for forgiveness from the girl and her family.

I never meant for any of this to happen, he said.

Romanick told Cuba seven years is a long time to be in prison but its a much shorter sentence than hes handed down in similar cases. He called Cuba's action "not just inappropriate, it's criminal."

"That's what you've got to understand," the judge said.

He allowed Cuba credit for 227 days already served.

Cuba in 2014 pleaded guilty to gross sexual imposition in Mercer County. He was sentenced to five years in prison and given credit for 216 days served. That case was reopened in March.

He is scheduled for trial in Burleigh County on March 4 on a charge of gross sexual imposition. He will be sentenced on March 24 for failure to register as a sex offender in Burleigh County.

Reach Travis Svihovec at 701-250-8260 or Travis.Svihovec@bismarcktribune.com

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I attempted to emphasize a point and used an insensitive example that I realize could be hurtful to members of our community, LeBlanc said. The point I was making  that majority rule should never suppress the human rights of others  was obscured by the example I used. I regret my choice of words and any harm I unintentionally inflicted on a community I value greatly.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Pennsylvania's top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Brendan Hung

Nominated by Radnor High School

Brendan, a junior at Radnor High School, founded a nonprofit organization that has delivered more than 7,000 "support kits" to homeless youth shelters, and campaigned to raise international awareness of youth homelessness, through chapters in eight states, England and Australia. While researching a school project on homelessness in the fifth grade, Brendan visited a local shelter and met a boy his age named Isaiah, who said his favorite things were socks. "I soon decided I wanted to collect socks and other useful items for Isaiah and other homeless kids," said Brendan. He asked friends, classmates and neighbors for help, and after a few weeks delivered 20 "support kits" to Isaiah's shelter. The joy of that experience, he said, "immediately sparked a new desire to help as many homeless kids as I could."

Brendan began recruiting volunteers from his school district to help him conduct donation drives to create more support kits. Schools, churches and businesses soon joined the effort. Meanwhile, Brendan formed a "Homeless Youth Project (HYP)" club at his school, created a website, and started speaking to student and community groups about the crisis of youth homelessness. Eventually, he persuaded friends in other states and countries to launch their own HYP chapters. In six years, Brendan's organization has collected nearly 75,000 items to distribute in his support kits, including gloves, hats, hand warmers, toiletries, snacks and, of course, socks. The kits also contain information on where to get help, as well as a handwritten note telling recipients that they are not alone in their struggle.

Middle Level State Honoree: Savannah Zeaman

Nominated by Klinger Middle School

Savannah, an eighth-grader at Klinger Middle School, operates a lemonade stand every fall that has raised nearly $6,000 for cancer research over the past six years. Savannah launched her project to honor the memory of her kindergarten teacher, who died of cancer. "She was an amazing teacher," said Savannah. "One day she was there, and the next she wasn't. It was the first time anyone I was close to had passed away."

She made lemonade, cookies and little magnet flower crafts, set up a stand in front of her house, posted signs around her neighborhood and started selling. The money she earned the first two years went to the American Cancer Society. Then, after a family friend died from cancer, Savannah began donating her annual proceeds to cancer research efforts at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Last fall, she also conducted a clothing drive for families in need in conjunction with her lemonade stand to raise additional funds. Her goal every year is to raise more money than the last  a goal, she said, that requires a lot of promotion and effort. "I love the feeling of helping others," she said. "I have learned how many things I take for granted and how amazing it feels to share what I have with others."

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized eight other Pennsylvania students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Pennsylvania's Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Srikar Bhumireddy, 16, of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, a junior at Downingtown East High School, started "Computers For a Cause," a club at his high school that works with a nonprofit organization to provide computers to schools and families in need; along with soliciting donations from companies and individuals, he has helped refurbish and redistribute more than 250 computers. Srikar's project has benefited churches, community organizations, refugee groups and schools.

Georgia Brothers, 16, of Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania, a sophomore at Burrell High School, founded and runs "Change For Cancer," a nonprofit organization that benefits people with cancer; she has raised more than $90,000 for 40 families by organizing fundraisers, running social media campaigns and soliciting donations from local businesses. Georgia was inspired to start this project at age 7, when a friend was diagnosed with cancer.

Kathryn Hanshaw, 17, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a senior at Central Dauphin High School, participated in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's "Student of the Year" fundraising competition, through which she planned and hosted 30 fundraising events in her community in seven weeks, ultimately raising more than $65,000. Kathryn won the competition, and was able to set up a grant to benefit research into acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of cancer in children.

Madeline Hoffman, 16, of Fountainville, Pennsylvania, a junior at Pennridge High School, started and runs "Buddee Bags," an initiative through which she donates homemade crafts to people in need, including wheelchair and walker bags, pillowcases, comfort pillows, hospital bed bags and drawstring bags. Originally inspired by a friend of her grandmother's who needed a new bag to help her adjust to using a walker and wheelchair, Madeline has recruited members of a national sewing guild to contribute to her project.

Amy Liu, 16, of Warrington, Pennsylvania, a junior at Central Bucks High School South, founded and runs "Get In Touch!," a nonprofit organization that helps people with visual impairments achieve braille literacy; along with spreading awareness of braille illiteracy, she uses a braille typewriter to produce lessons and learning materials, and established a buddy program that connects people with and without visual impairments. Amy was inspired to start her project by a friend who lost her sight in a car accident.

Timothy Maron, 18, of Wapwallopen, Pennsylvania, a member of Luzerne County 4-H and a senior at Berwick Area High School, helped provide affordable housing to a local veteran dealing with housing insecurity; he built a subsidized house by recruiting volunteers and securing funding, land, materials and permits. Timothy, who completed this endeavor as his Eagle Scout service project, was inspired to focus on this cause by the veterans in his family.

Casey Schaeffer, 16, of Yardley, Pennsylvania, a sophomore at Pennsbury High School East, started and runs "Full Heart," which encourages young people to get involved in their community through service events and fundraising activities; through her organization, Casey has helped raise more than $20,000 to benefit a variety of causes. For her annual Full Heart kids carnival, Casey hosts spirit nights, helps secure sponsors and volunteers, handles logistics and spreads awareness of her cause.

Claire Shao, 16, of Wexford, Pennsylvania, a junior at North Allegheny Senior High School, co-founded "Steel City Codes," a nonprofit that offers free summer computer science camps to more than 450 students; she secured sponsorships and equipment, recruited 75 high school volunteers and organized lunches for participants. Claire and two friends were inspired to start this project for elementary and middle school students because their local school district doesn't offer computer science electives until high school.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com .

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.
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A British woman and an Australian man have been arrested after allegedly having s.e.x on a public beach in a Philippines.

Police claim they were seen by shocked locals on the popular Boracay Island in Aklan province.

Officers allegedly tried to stop the couple, but say they continued romping last Thursday evening at around 5.45pm  with many children and families on the beach.

Police Corporal Joel Banga-ora accused the pair of being so drunk that they tried to ignore police and continue having s.e.x.



He said they had to be handcuffed and dragged to the station but they were still all over each other in the back of the police truck.

They have both been charged and released on bail pending a court appearance in February.

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COMPTON, Calif.  Michael R. Bloombergs presidential campaign moved on Tuesday to exploit the chaotic outcome of the Iowa caucuses, escalating an already enormous campaign of television advertising and publicly making the case that a messy outcome in the early states opened the way for Mr. Bloomberg.

Mr. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor whose campaign is fueled by a multibillion-dollar personal fortune, conferred with advisers on Tuesday morning about the muddled results in Iowa. Encouraged by the murky outcome, Mr. Bloomberg authorized his campaign team to double his spending on television commercials in every market where he is currently advertising and expand his campaigns field staff to more than two thousand people, strategists involved in the conversations said.

The Bloomberg campaign has been trying to chart an unprecedented route to the Democratic nomination, skipping the first four contests in February but aggressively contesting the array of larger states that begin voting in March. From the outset, Mr. Bloombergs advisers believed the strategy would only have a chance of working if another moderate candidate  most likely former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.  failed to emerge from February with a decisive upper hand in the race.

In an interview on Monday in Compton, Calif., Mr. Bloomberg was unusually blunt about his campaign spending strategy and his intent to seek advantages while his rivals toiled in the four early states, which have relatively few delegates needed to win the nomination.
[February 04, 2020] Amentum Launches as Independent Professional and Technical Services Company Serving the U.S. Federal Government, Select Allied Governments, and Commercial Markets

Amentum, a leading contractor to the U.S. federal and allied governments, today announced that it has launched as an independent company, following successful completion of the sale of the AECOM Management Services business to affiliates of Lindsay Goldberg and American Securities LLC. Amentum provides its federal government customers with essential services in the areas of mission support and equipment sustainment, information technology, intelligence, nuclear and environmental remediation, threat mitigation, mission assurance, facility maintenance, and range services in the U.S. and abroad. "Amentum builds upon a 116-year heritage of safety, operational excellence and delivering on our promises and honoring our commitments," said John Vollmer, Chief Executive Officer. "We are excited to continue this legacy as an independent company and continue to deliver outstanding performance for our customers' critical missions." Amentum is a privately held company where American Securities and Lindsay Goldberg are equal partners focused on both organic growth and long-term expansion. "The launch of Amentum represents a significant milestone for the business, its customers and employees," said Russell Triedman, Partner at Lindsay Goldberg. "As a focused, stand-alone company, Amentum will be more agile and better positioned to deliver enhanced capabilities and innovation to help its blue-chip clientele achieve heir most important objectives. We look forward to working alongside John and our partners at American Securities to support Amentum's growth."



"Amentum is a unique company in the government services market due to its intense customer focus, wealth of experience, and sense of purpose," said Ben Dickson, a Managing Director of American Securities. "The company stands side-by-side with its customers, and we are excited to have this opportunity to work in partnership with Lindsay Goldberg to help grow Amentum's relationships with new and existing customers across all mission areas." About Amentum

Amentum is a premier global technical and engineering services partner supporting critical programs of national significance across defense, security, intelligence, energy, and environment. We draw from a century-old heritage of operational excellence, mission focus, and successful execution underpinned by a strong culture of safety and ethics. Headquartered in Germantown, Md., we employ more than 20,000 people in 48 states and 28 foreign countries and territories. Visit us at amentum.com to explore how we deliver excellence for our customers' most vital missions. About American Securities Based in New York with an office in Shanghai, American Securities is a leading U.S. private equity firm that invests in market-leading North American companies with annual revenues generally ranging from $200 million to $2 billion and/or $50 million to $250 million of EBITDA. American Securities and its affiliates have approximately $23 billion under management. For more information, visit www.american-securities.com. About Lindsay Goldberg Lindsay Goldberg is a private investment firm that focuses on partnering with families, founders and management teams seeking to actively build their businesses. Founded in 2001, Lindsay Goldberg's relationship-driven approach is centered upon a collaborative investment model and supported by its global network of affiliate partners. For more information about Lindsay Goldberg, please visit www.lindsaygoldbergllc.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005223/en/

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Editor's note: This article is part of Inc.'s 2020 Best Industries report.

In 2016, after President Obama declared a state of emergency in Flint, Michigan, because of its contaminated drinking water, ?Zionsville, Indiana, resident Megan Glover wondered if the tap water in her own home was safe. She asked her local water company how to test it and was referred to a lab that sold testing kits for $3,500.

"I love my family, but that's ridiculous," Glover says.?

That same year, Glover co-founded 120 Water Audit to develop more affordable consumer water testing kits. Now the company also tests and manages drinking water programs for government agencies, public water systems, schools, and other facilities. 120 Water Audit is a leader among a growing group of startups serving utility companies and government agencies that have been forced to update systems and respond to growing consumer concerns in the wake of crises like Flint.

Turning on the tap

Glover, a former marketing and business development executive, launched 120 Water Audit with co-founders Chris Baggott and Dave Kohl. (Baggott and Kohl were never operational with the company, but Baggott is on the board of directors.) They initially bootstrapped the business and worked out of Glover's parents' garage until the company won its first contracts with the city of Pittsburgh, the state of Indiana, and utilities in Loveland, Colorado, and Lewisville, Texas.

To collect samples, the startup sends water bottles that customers fill from the source they wish to test. Each bottle comes with a prepaid return envelope that goes to an EPA-certified lab for testing. Individual water tests range from $54 to $84, depending on the type of analysis. Meanwhile, the company's software helps clients aggregate data and automate tasks like sending recurring reports.

120 Water Audit's tests detect toxins like lead, copper, and arsenic, which at certain levels have been linked to learning problems among children, reproductive issues, and, in rare cases, death, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Some of these contaminants occur naturally, while others make their way into water supplies from manufacturing facilities or infrastructure failures such as old pipes. The Flint water crisis is one of the most recent instances of the latter: The city switched its water source in 2014; officials failed to treat the water and lead from older pipes seeped in. Some residents experienced lead poisoning, while low chlorine levels led to a deadly outbreak of Legionnaire's disease.

The Flint crisis raised consumer awareness of drinking water safety, and as a result, 120 Water Audit has seen a steady rise in sales since its launch. The company--named for the frequency it believes consumers should test their water, which is every 120 days--booked $3.3 million in revenue last year, up from about $2 million in 2018. Glover declined to share whether the company was profitable.

A flood of activity

Glover's startup isn't the only one to see an increase in activity: Last year, businesses working on clean water initiatives--which tackle a broad array of services, including producing drinkable water from new sources and real-time water monitoring--raised $50.7 million in venture capital funding, according to the data and research company PitchBook. That's a $10.9 million increase from 2014, but it's still a relatively low amount of VC funding for an entire industry.

120 Water Audit was one of the best-funded startups in the industry last year: It raised $7 million in venture capital, which makes up 13.8 percent of the industry's total venture capital dollars from last year, according to Pitchbook. In total, the company has raised $9.4 million, including a $100,000 first prize from former America Online CEO Steve Case's Rise of the Rest pitch competition. Glover credits a majority of 120 Water Audit's growth to newly implemented drinking water regulations and stricter water quality specifications in the wake of Flint.

"Consumers are getting a lot more vocal about the quality of their water," she says. "That's forcing [traditional water utility companies] to think differently about the programs they run and how they communicate with consumers."

Crises like Flint are leading consumers to take action by using these services or pushing government agencies for more testing, says Reese Tisdale, the president and CEO of Bluefield Research, an independent advisory firm that aims to help companies and organizations address regulatory and business trends in the water sector. "We expect to know what we're ingesting and understand what the impacts are on ourselves and the environment."

Today, 120 Water Audit works with clients in 14 states, including four statewide contracts, and its software has been implemented on more than 175,000 taps, Glover says. The majority of the business is built on partnerships with water systems, while about a fourth goes to state contracts, says Glover. However, she still receives a steady trickle of individual consumers seeking her water testing kits, but that makes up less than 1 percent of the company's revenue, Glover added. Prices vary depending on the customer's location and size of its water program, but the company's average contract value is just under $270,000 per year. Currently, Glover employs a team of 36 workers.

However, the startup still faces industry-specific challenges, like heavy regulation and a lack of funding from investors. "It's not a technology problem, it's that there aren't enough dollars to go around," Tisdale says. "There is no white knight out there with bags of money to save your municipal water supply."

What's more, startups in the clean water space will face stiff competition from larger companies that offer diversified services and have the financials to withstand market changes or slow adoption rates, Tisdale says. Prominent U.S.-based heavyweights include Xylem and Danaher, both of which are public companies that own multiple brands in the clean water space, he adds.

Glover is looking to expand 120 Water Audit's reach by launching a commercial application later this year. The program would give safe drinking water certifications to establishments like hotels and restaurants.
Queenslands Chief Health Officer has issued a warning to anyone at risk of carrying coronavirus to get tested immediately, as the government prepares to extend her emergency powers.

I would like every single person in Queensland whos been in mainland China in the last 14 days and is now sick, to immediately, now absolutely, go and see a doctor, Dr Jeannette Young said on Tuesday.

It is really, really important.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young is urging all potential coronavirus carriers to submit to medical testing immediately. Credit:AAP

The state government and health authorities have been working to get that message out to Chinese communities in Australia as well as to tourists who might not speak English.
Beijing: A disabled boy has died after being left to fend for himself when his father was quarantined over the deadly new coronavirus in China's Hubei province.

Yan Cheng, who was confined to a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy, was abandoned at home when his father was isolated because of a fever.

The 17-year-old, who could not speak, walk or eat by himself, and whose mother died several years earlier, had no one to feed him or help him with daily life.

His father, Yan Xiaowen, was taken into quarantine on January 22, and diagnosed with the potentially deadly virus five days later.

He posted a desperate plea for help on social media, calling for someone to go and look after his son.

But the post, entitled "An appeal for help from a father diagnosed with novel coronavirus", came too late.

The teenager died on January 29, according to a statement by the Hongan county government.

"Yan Xiaowen was unable to take care of Yan Cheng's daily life (because of being in isolation)... so he entrusted his relatives, village cadres and village doctors to take care of Yan Cheng," the county government said.

The boy's death has cost senior local figures their jobs.

The local Communist Party secretary and mayor were fired because they had "failed to fulfil their responsibilities", officials said.

The son's cause of death had yet to be confirmed, they said.

News of the tragedy sparked an outpouring of rage and grief on social media, where authorities in Hubei have already been criticised for withholding information about the infection.

On Weibo, the hashtag "The father of Hubei's cerebral palsy victim speaks out" had been read 270 million times by Tuesday morning.

A hashtag about the mayor being fired had been viewed 66 million times.

"I'm so angry and sad," wrote one user. "It's too disgusting."

More than 20,000 people in China have been infected by the coronavirus, with the death toll reaching 425.

The vast majority of infections and deaths have occurred in Hubei, where the virus is thought to have emerged late last year from a market selling wild animals and their meat.

More than two dozen countries have also reported infections, mostly people who had recently travelled to Hubei.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey's 2020 State of the State Address Governor Kay Ivey delivers her state of the state address at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery as the 2020 legislattive session opens. Posted by al.com on Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey will deliver her third state of the state address tonight to outline her priorities with todays opening of the 2020 legislative session.

Lawmakers convene in Montgomery at noon for what is normally a short first day. They will reconvene at the State Capitol for Iveys speech, which starts at 6:30 p.m.

A state prison crisis, a push to improve education, especially Alabamas low rankings in national reading and math scores, and a state lottery figure to be among the top issues for the session.

The legislative fiscal office and the state finance director will give presentations on the budget outlook this morning. They are expected to show strong growth in tax revenues for education, although the budget demands for prisons, Medicaid, mental health, and other programs are expected to exceed whats available in the General Fund. That will drive some of the discussion about a state lottery and gambling revenue.

Iveys guests for tonights speech at the State Capitol include Brandie McCain, a former state inmate who successfully completed an industry training program at Ingram State Technical College; John Carroll, a retired Army veteran who overcame a struggle to find employment with help from state agencies; Carl Flemons, a veterans representative at the Department of Labor who helped Carroll; and Joanne and Shanice Williams, wife and daughter of Lowndes County Sheriff Big John Williams, who was shot to death in Hayneville last year.

Ivey became governor in April 2017 when Gov. Robert Bentley resigned after a scandal, moving up from the lieutenant governors office. Ivey was elected to a four-year term in 2018.
NEW CASTLE, Del., Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- White Dog Labs announced today that the district court for Morrison county, MN, has approved its bid to acquire the Central Minnesota Renewables (CMR) plant in Little Falls, MN. The plant, originally a 20mgy ethanol plant, was upgraded in 2016 to produce butanol and has several of the unique production capabilities required to produce ProTyton.



"We are happy to announce this agreement and will work with local and state authorities to reopen the plant as quickly as possible, said WDL's CEO, Bryan Tracy.

Cargill and WDL have recently announced an off-take agreement for ProTyton, an alternative protein to fishmeal which is a critical feed ingredient in aquaculture. ProTyton, made up of 80% protein, is sustainable and scalable as it is made from corn, but is also affordable as it shares production costs with its co-product, MiruTyton. MiruTyton , a butyrate-rich fermentation-soluble, has been shown to substantially reduces prevalence of Salmonella and Campylobacter in challenged broilers, in addition to improving Feed Conversion Ratio and weight gain. WDL is currently negotiating a MiruTyton offtake with a major feed-additive company.

While WDL has developed and scaled up the anaerobic fermentation process for these products, its plant operation will be supported by the management of Midwest Renewable Energy (MRE).

We have been collaborating with WDL for the past two years and are excited to support the conversion and ramp-up of their first plant, said Jim Jandrain, MREs Chairman of the Board. We are impressed with the simple ProTyton process and are looking forward for MRE to become the second ProTyton plant.

The CMR plant has a CleanSugar production module made by FQPT. Membrane filtration will be provided by Graver Technologies, and the reengineering of the plant for ProTyton is being carried out by AdvanceBio.

"We are looking forward to working with our customers, partners and the authorities, to rehire most of the plant employees and start production, said Tracy. We hope to profitably do our part in sustainably enhancing and improving the worlds food supply.

About White Dog Labs

WDL is a biotech company focused on animal health and nutrition today  humans tomorrow. It was established in 2012 to address global challenges including food sustainability and climate change, and is funded by Musea Ventures, the investment arm of the Somekh family. The company has a unique, world class expertise in microbiome derived organisms which have promising implications for nutrition and health. The company has invented a proprietary process, ProtocolB, for the isolation, selection and cultivation of microbiome-derived organisms, and developed MixoFerm, a fermentation technology that consumes sugar and gases, thus increasing product yield in industrial fermentation. WDL is applying this expertise to develop and commercialize the "Tyton" platform of unique products.

ProTyton, MiruTyton, ProtocolB and MixoFerm are trademark of WDL.
Bono Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Kwame Baffoe fears the Airbus bribery scandal which involves Ghana can scare investors away from coming to do business in the country.



To him, investors upon hearing the news that Ghana's Government demanded money in the Airbus transaction in the Mills-Mahama administration will lose interest in coming to invest in the country as they are not in the position to pay a bribe of about $ 5 million dollars to government officials.



The Crown Court at Southwark in the United Kingdom passed judgment on 31st January 2020, between the Director of the Serious Fraud Office and Airbus SE, in which the European multinational aerospace corporation was fined $3.9 billion for the payment of bribes to secure deals in five countries, including Ghana.



In view of this report from the Crown Court in the United Kingdom, Abronye DC on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, sought to encourage all Ghanaian business people who have the intention to bring in investors to tell their business partners that the narrative is not the same under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.



I will encourage all Ghanaians listening to Okay FM that if you have an investor who is coming to create business for the Ghanaian youths to get employment, they should tell the investors that under Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration, we dont demand money before they can invest in the country. Tell them to come and work in the country, he urged.



According to him, the Airbus bribery scandal goes to prove the issue which was raised by Mr. Martin Amidu that the late former President Atta Mills set up a committee to investigate former President John Mahama over the sale of the Embraer 190 in November 2012.



He, however, added that it is no surprise that the NDC till today has not been able to challenge Martin Amidu on the issues he raised against former President John Dramani Mahama; reiterating that the Airbus bribery scandal is a dent on the image of the country.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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(Newser)  President Trump held a rally in Des Moines last week, though the outcome of Monday's Republican caucus in Iowa was never in doubt. In contrast to the Democratic caucus, where results were delayed by "inconsistencies," it took just seconds for Trump to become the projected winner, the Week reports. The president, who came in second to Ted Cruz in the state last time around, won handily with around 97% of the vote, Politico reports. Former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh, whose campaign manager complained that his supporters were being turned away from precincts, had 1.4%, and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld had 1.2%. "Big WIN for us in Iowa tonight. Thank you!" Trump tweeted. (Read more Iowa caucuses stories.)
BALI, Indonesia, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Scholars of Sustenance (SOS), a food rescue foundation, raised the bar of charity events in Bali with their "Cooking for a Cause" fundraiser at W Bali in partnership with Mozaic Group Bali. The free flow cocktail reception coupled with a mouthwatering four-course dinner was skillfully prepared by world famous Michelin-starred chefs, Jacques Pourcel, Alain Caron, Chris Salans, Jean-Baptiste Natali, and Beryl Adler. Jamilla Beresford of Amo Spa said, "This was an amazing event that I will never forget, I hope they do it again."

"I am proud to support this wonderful program  all about food, nutrition and the environment. As a chef I care about helping those in need, while I serve top culinary meals in my restaurants across Bali," said Chris Salans, Chef and owner of Mozaic and Spice restaurants. "I enjoyed cooking and entertaining with my fellow chefs from France and Netherlands for such a good cause."

SOS is already partnered with 60 Bali hotels, suppliers and other commercial outlets across the island rescuing edible surplus food otherwise destined for the landfill, redistributing it to those in need. This event aimed at SOS' "Ban Basics" program. SOS brings valuable nutrition boosts to those unable to obtain it for themselves in the Ban regency. In a series of villages in a rain shadow region, basic life necessities of food and water are difficult to obtain by the villagers. Due to challenging topography and scattered villages, SOS called on the Bali community in making this program become a reality.

"After years of making improvements for the Bali environment, avoiding tons of surplus food going to the landfill to emit toxic methane gasses, and people all over Bali enjoying a lift in nutrition, we are so proud of our food donors, hardworking staff and partners making it possible," said Bo H. Holmgreen, Founder & CEO of SOS International. "Chris was instrumental in making this happen and I am so happy we have support from such food visionaries. I just returned from Bangkok, where SOS Thailand did Food Rescue together with our partner Lightblue Consulting at the Michelin Revelation  all these Michelin chefs watch the unavoidable food losses creating quality meals, and appreciate SOS setting up logistics making it cheaper to serve the needy than putting it in the trash."

Links to additional information:

https://nowbali.co.id/event/cooking-for-a-cause/

https://thebeatbali.com/food/food-news/cooking-for-a-cause/

https://travelmaker.id/2019/12/19/cooking-for-a-cause-changing-the-contrast-of-food-availability-in-bali/

https://baligolive.com/articles/events/cooking-for-a-cause/

http://balidiscovery.com/news/waste-not-want-not-a-new-approach-to-cooking-and-eating

https://www.eglobaltravelmedia.com.au/cooking-for-a-cause-changing-the-contrast-of-food-availability-in-bali/

https://news.bali-villa-arrangements.com/events/cooking-for-as-cause-charity-dinner/

https://allevents.in/denpasar/cooking-for-a-cause/200018745855904

SOURCE Scholars of Sustenance

Related Links

https://www.scholarsofsustenance.org


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The family of the Indian student who was stabbed in Canada is raising funds to meet expenses for their trip to the North American country as they flew to Toronto on Tuesday.

"We are raising funds through crowdfunding to meet expenses. People can help us this way," Albert Rajkumar, father of the 24-year-old Angeline Rachel told ANI.

Rachel, a student at York University was stabbed on January 23 in Toronto.

Giving an update of her health status, the father said, "Doctors tell us about our daughter and they are surprised with her speedy recovery. Canadian Police are waiting for us. My elder daughter is taking care of Rachel at the hospital."

Albert also thanked both central and Tamil Nadu governments for helping the family get visas and tickets for a trip to Canada.

Earlier, the family had requested the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials to assist them with the issuance of a visa at the earliest so that they could meet their daughter who was in a critical condition in a hospital in Toronto after getting stabbed on January 23.

The incident was brought to light by a Twitter user, Ronald, who had reached out to the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to seek his help in the matter.

Soon after the plight of the family cropped up, Jaishankar directed his ministry officials to arrange a visa for the victim's family.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A "planned web outage" has turned into a prolonged shutdown for the Manitoba government's website.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A "planned web outage" has turned into a prolonged shutdown for the Manitoba government's website.

On Friday, the province posted a notice its website (www.gov.mb.ca) would be down for maintenance from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday.

Manitobans have had little online access to information about the government's programs and services ever since.

On Monday morning, attempts to access various departments were met with notices that the webpage wasnt available.

Later in the day, a message appeared, saying the government website was currently unavailable: "This site is offline for maintenance and will be available shortly."

By end of day, the government issued a statement saying it hoped to rectify the situation "as soon as possible."

Just before 9 p.m., the government informed the Free Press that its website was back online.

A provincial spokeswoman said the government  through a private contractor  was carrying out a scheduled software update over the weekend, and encountered a "technology issue."

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She said she was unsure if she could go into detail on the nature of the problem "for security reasons."

"The issue is related to a planned technology upgrade that was recommended by the contracted service provider that supports Manitobas web infrastructure. The contracted service provider is responsible for restoring service and associated costs," the spokeswoman said.

Following the software update, the website was up temporarily between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday. It's been down since then.

"The outage is only affecting government websites, and there is no impact to government email," the spokeswoman said.

The government couldn't immediately explain why the Education Department's website could be accessed Monday, but not those of other departments, such as Health, Justice, and Families.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
OMAHA, Neb., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Brain drain may be a concern for Nebraskans, but Populus Coworking has seen an influx of exciting companies from outside of the state.

Launched officially in August of 2019, Populus is a 9,500 SF shared office space at 26th and Farnam streets. The coworking space provides a home for small businesses, startups, and remote workers. It currently has about 70 members.

Populus members Needledrop, Freindly Design, and Craig Inzana Media Teams working at Populus Coworking

In February, VidaNyx moved its headquarters to Populus from Seattle. Invest Nebraska and NelNet Inc led a record series A of $5M to move operations to Omaha, NE, and bring on CEO Sara Boyd, previously CEO of the Omaha Community Foundation. VidaNyx is making several full time hires here in Omaha to fill out its local team.

Populus Coworking is also excited to welcome Techtonic out of Boulder, Colorado. The company recently opened an Omaha location after closing a $6 million Series B led by Camden Partners. "Techtonic is a transformative company addressing the overwhelming demand for tech developers," commented Jason Tagler, Partner at Camden Partners.

John Bunting co-founded a startup studio in Las Vegas but recently relocated to Omaha. He recognized a need for this model in the Midwest and launched Beeso Studio with an HQ at Populus Coworking. Beeso Studio partners with startups to ensure their long term success by providing low-cost services for software development, project management, marketing, business development, operations, and advisement.

Additionally, Populus has welcomed remote workers from exciting companies like Redhat, which was purchased last year by IBM for $33 billion. The public company Altaba (AABA), formerly part of Yahoo, has executives at the space. Companies from Iowa and South Dakota are currently negotiating opportunities to land at Populus.

Nearly twenty new full-time jobs have been created in Omaha by Populus Coworking members and over $16 million in venture capital attracted since opening in August of 2019

Incredible businesses are building in the Midwest. Populus Coworking creates spaces to attract and support these organizations in Omaha.

For more information about Populus Coworking, or for an opportunity to speak with its members, please contact Populus Founder Micah Yost at [email protected] or (402)625-7866.

SOURCE Populus Coworking
Haroon Yusuf election result 2020 live news and latest updates online - Read about Haroon Yusuf Congress candidate who is fighting Delhi assembly (Vidhan Sabha) election from Ballimaran seat and many more at Firstpost.com.

Ballimaran Assembly Election 2020 | Former Delhi minister and five-time MLA, veteran Congressman Haroon Yusuf will contest from his pocket borough of Ballimaran for the seventh consecutive time. He is set to take on incumbent MLA and minister Imran Hussain.

Yusuf holds a masters degree from Zakir Hussain College and began his career as an activist in the NSUI, the student wing of the Congress. He later moved on to the Youth Congress in the 1980s. He was a secretary in the Delhi unit of the Youth Congress before becoming a joint secretary in the All India Youth Congress.

He won his seat from Ballimaran, a Muslim dominated constituency, five times in a row between 1993 and 2013. The only time he tasted defeat was in the 2015 election when AAP leader Hussain defeated Yusuf by over 40,000 votes. In fact, Yusuf came a distant third in the 2015 polls.

Given his credentials as a local strongman, Yusuf was inducted into the Sheila Dikshit Cabinet in 2001. Between 2001 and 2013, he held multiple high-profile portfolios of development, revenue, irrigation, flood control, food and civil supplies, power and transport.

The menace of blueline buses peaked in Delhi when Yusuf was the transport minister. These buses, which developed the reputation of killing people, were later phased out. Moreover, he was also the head of the Delhi Waqf Board between 1999 and 2004.
Jeep India has revealed that their entire range of cars is now BS6 compliant. Jeep sells 3 cars in India  Compass, Wrangler and the Grand Cherokee.

After updating a few variants of the Compass over the last few months, Jeep India has now updated all variants of the Compass to BS6 standard. Local production is underway at the Ranjangaon manufacturing facility. The updated petrol and diesel BSVI range is SUV range is available to customers with immediate effect.

2020 Jeep Compass BSVI price increase ranges from Rs 25k to Rs 1,10,000 from base Sport variant to the Limited Plus top trim. Compass is available in 25 variants. The availability of petrol and diesel engine options paired with automatic and manual transmission ensures the range is wide enough to accommodate many a demand. The BSVI update meets emission compliance mandates without any change in performance. Engine specs and config remain untouched.

The BS6 2.0-litre Multijet II turbo diesel engine can run on BS4 diesel until BS6 is available as standard. Urea tech incorporated ensures peace of mind even when one isnt sure of the quality of fuel being used. Designed to cleanse on the go, the engine requires no external intervention owing to urea technology used. Urea, usable in diesel powertrains, can be refilled through a separate nozzle next to the diesel filler nozzle.

All Jeep Compass BSVI variants (petrol and diesel) feature Engine Stop/Start as standard. It is intelligently programmed to improve fuel saving in traffic. Cruise Control, the domain of only the Trailhawk variant is now a standard feature in petrol and diesel automatic variants. Standard safety features carried forward include such as Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Traction Control (TC) and Hill Start Assist (HSA), disc brakes on all four wheels, Electric Parking Brake (EPB) and Frequency Damped Suspension (FSD). SelecTerrain AWD system features 4 modes  Auto, Sand, Mud and Snow. The Limited Plus variant now features newly designed 18-inch alloy wheels. All other Jeep Compass variants continue to run on 17-inch alloys and all-season tyres.

Dr. Partha Datta  President and MD, FCA India reiterates that the manufacturer was the first to roll out a BSVI powertrain in the premium compact SUV category in June 2019. A few short months later, the complete Jeep Compass range has been updated as per BSVI compliancy. While there is a price revision, the OEM has introduced tech upgrades across models.

Earlier in January, two new Compass variants were launched. Jeep Compass 44 Longitude 9AT at a price of Rs 21.96 lakhs, and Limited Plus for INR 24.99 lakh (ex-sh, pan-India). Jeep Compass Diesel 44 variant is paired with 9-speed AT, and gets power from a BSVI compliant 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine that returns max power of 173 HP, 350 Nm of torque.
[February 04, 2020] SAP Extends Its Innovation Commitment for SAP S/4HANA, Provides Clarity and Choice on SAP Business Suite 7

WALLDORF, Germany, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced a maintenance commitment for SAP S/4HANA until the end of 2040. At the same time, SAP will provide mainstream maintenance for core applications of SAP Business Suite 7 software[*] until the end of 2027 followed by optional extended maintenance until the end of 2030. "Our customers show us that SAP S/4HANA is their future direction and that they expect a long-term commitment from SAP to this platform," said Christian Klein, Co-CEO and Member of the Executive Board, SAP. "We know that our customers have deep business transformations underway using the unique capabilities of the solution. Our user groups confirm this. A recent survey from the Americas' SAP Users' Group did not show a single customer not planning to migrate to SAP S/4HANA. In addition, the German-Speaking User Group indicates in their lately published survey that customer investments in SAP S/4HANA are increasing significantly. In response to this and to our customers' demand for choice, SAP will provide additional flexibility to fully embrace the groundbreaking opportunities of SAP S/4HANA that reflects the individual pace and complexity of our customers' projects." Thomas Saueressig, Member of the Executive Board, SAP Product Engineering, SAP, added: "SAP S/4HANA is the architecture and platform of the future for our customers. SAP is committed to our customers' success and choice. Offering these maintenance periods is further delivering on transparency and trust. The significant growth in 2019 confirms our SAP S/4HANA strategy and demand." Strong Momentum and Flexibility SAP S/4HANA is the next-generation intelligent suite, enabling the move to a digital intelligent enterprise based on next-generation best practices and artificial intelligenceenabled automation. At the same time, it is paving the way to the cloud and hybrid architectures, driving a substantial level of landscape simplification and TCO reduction. Over 13,800 customers have already chosen SAP S/4HANA, and thousands are actively deploying the solution to reshape their businesses and become intelligent enterprises. Recent surveys from both the Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG) and the German-Speaking User Group (DSAG) show a significant growth in investments from customers in SAP S/4HANA. DSAG reports that over 49 percent of customers plan to migrate to SAP S/4HANA within the next three years while the ASUG report shows that the number of customers who have no plans of moving to SAP S/4HANA has dropped to zero. SAP supports this move with a full program of offers, services and tools along with a vast ecosystem of IT service providers who represent over four decades of continuous success, innovation and growth in introducing SAP solutions. As a result of collaboration with customers, user groups and partners, as well as with other industry stakeholders, SAP offers a commitment to SAP S/4HANA until 2040 combined with longer support for SAP Business Suite 7. This will help customers unlock the potential for innovation so they can revolutionize business processes with optimal flexibility while protecting their existing investments. "Customers making the commitment to SAP S/4HANA for their digital transformations need a partner that is equally committed to supporting innovation across their businesses and processes. Providing maintenance for SAP S/4HANA until 2040 represents a commitment to SAP customers that should give them the confidence to plan for the future," said Joshua Greenbaum, principal, Enterprise Applications Consulting. "These customers also need the flexibility to plan their transformations carefully and with a minimum of disruption to their ongoing business processes. The additional maintenance timeframe for SAP Business Suite 7 is an important recognition from SAP that the pace of change will vary from customer to customer and that supporting existing SAP Business Suite software processes in sync with customers' business transformation is important for customer success."



Choice and Investment Protection SAP gives final clarity on maintenance for SAP Business Suite 7. It will provide two more years of mainstream maintenance for core applications of SAP Business Suite 7. During this offboarding phase, SAP will continue to deliver the strong mainstream maintenance features that customers need. There will be no contractual change nor will any additional fees apply. Following this phase, SAP will offer customers a choice of how they would like to continue with the maintenance for core applications of SAP Business Suite 7 from 2028 onwards:

Customers needing support for their applications in longer conversion phases to SAP S/4HANA can leverage the proven extended maintenance offering. This comes with a premium of two percentage points on the existing maintenance basis for core applications of SAP Business Suite 7 for all support offerings. It will be available for three additional years beginning at the start of 2028 and ending at the close of 2030.

Customers who do not decide for the extended maintenance level of support by the end of 2027 but choose to carry on with their SAP Business Suite 7 software systems will automatically be transferred to the customer-specific maintenance model. This includes problem solving for known issues at unchanged fees. "At ASUG, we have maintained all along that if you're an SAP customer who wants to grow and accelerate your business, remove inefficiencies, reduce technical debt and take advantage of the latest capabilities of SAP software, then you need to move to SAP S/4HANA. With today's news, we still believe SAP customers should move forward as far in advance of any deadline as possible," said Geoff Scott, CEO, Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG). "The decision about a company's 'ERP of the future' should not just center on a technical upgrade to SAP S/4HANA. It should be about how best to prepare a company's business for the future. This announcement is not a signal to slow down. This is now the time to commence plans and move forward so that SAP customers can harness business value from what is the most significant technology change in SAP's recent history." Michael Kleinemeier, Member of the Executive Board, SAP Digital Business Services, SAP, said: "We are determined to make our customers successful. The extended commitment to SAP Business Suite 7 and the long-lasting support for SAP S/4HANA is at the core of this, providing our customers choice and flexibility in planning for the right path to the future. We thank our customers and especially our user groups for the strong collaboration to make this happen." If you would like to learn more please visit SAP Support Portal Visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews. About SAP As the Experience Company powered by the Intelligent Enterprise, SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software, helping companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world's transaction revenue touches an SAP system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers' businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want  without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables more than 440,000 business and public customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people's lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com. Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.  2020 SAP SE. All rights reserved.

SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices. Note to editors: To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit www.sap.com/photos. On this platform, you can find high resolution material for your media channels. To view video stories on diverse topics, visit www.sap-tv.com. From this site, you can embed videos into your own Web pages, share video via email links, and subscribe to RSS feeds from SAP TV. For customers interested in learning more about SAP products:

Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24

United States only: +1 (800) 872-1SAP (+1-800-872-1727) Please consider our privacy policy. If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact [email protected] and write Unsubscribe in the subject line. [*] Core applications of SAP Business Suite 7 software include SAP ERP 6.0, SAP Customer Relationship Management 7.0, SAP Supply Chain Management 7.0, and SAP Supplier Relationship Management 7.0 applications and SAP Business Suite powered by SAP HANA. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sap-extends-its-innovation-commitment-for-sap-s4hana-provides-clarity-and-choice-on-sap-business-suite-7-300997516.html SOURCE SAP SE

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WARSAW, Poland, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Highlander Partners, L.P., a leading middle market private investment firm based in Dallas, Texas, with offices in Central Europe, announced the signing of a definitive agreement to sell Akomex Group, subject to approval from the Polish antimonopoly agency (UOKiK). Akomex is one of the leading manufacturers of packaging in Central Europe, specializing in high-quality solid cardboard, leaflets, labels, trays and laminated sheets for the pharmaceutical, food, electronics, technology, personal care and home appliance sectors. Akomex, headquartered in Poland and founded in 1993, maintains two manufacturing operations in Poland and one converting operation in Denmark, producing over 1.8 billion items per year.

The company is being acquired by Sebastian Sliwa, the co-founder of Akomex and a current minority shareholder, jointly with the management and support from AMC Capital IV S.c.Sp., a fund advised by Mezzanine Management.

Highlander acquired controlling interest in Akomex in 2010, undertaking a significant capacity expansion through new facilities and state-of-the-art production equipment in Starogard Gdanski, Poland. In 2014, Akomex acquired, Druk Pak in Aleksandrow Kujawski, Poland, to further diversify its offerings into pharmaceutical packaging. This acquisition was followed by the acquisition of Danish packaging producer, Planopack of Herning, Denmark, in 2018. The combination of these three companies created one of the largest packaging companies in Central Europe, serving many of the world's leading food and pharmaceutical producers.

"After more than nine years and two significant add-on acquisitions, including a take-private transaction, we are very pleased with the results and outcome of the Akomex Group. The management team has done an incredible job of integrating the businesses into a leading packaging concern, serving the biggest names in the food and pharmaceutical industries," stated Artur Dzagarow, Managing Partner of the Highlander Warsaw office.

"Akomex is a perfect example of the patient capital approach that Highlander undertakes. We have owned Akomex since 2010, and we have significantly expanded its facilities and capabilities through capital investment, invested in professional management and completed very significant and strategic acquisitions," added Jeff L. Hull, Highlander President and CEO. Hull continued, "We are very pleased with the job that Grzegorz ajca, President and CEO of Akomex Group, and his team have done in making Akomex a leader in Central Europe. We wish them and Sebastian the best in their future endeavors. We believe that Akomex is very well situated to succeed in the future."

Rothschild & Co (Rothschild & Co Polska - www.rothschildandco.com) acted as exclusive financial advisor to Highlander and GESSEL (www.gessel.pl) as Highlander's legal adviser.

CIC Corporate Finance (www.cic.pl) acted as a transaction adviser to Sebastian Sliwa and Mezzanine Management. Baker & McKenzie (www.bakermckenzie.com) and Norton Rose (www.nortonrosefulbright.com) acted as legal advisers. Additionally, EY performed due-diligence analysis.

About Highlander Partners

Highlander Partners, L.P. is a Dallas-based private investment firm with over $2 billion of assets under management. The firm focuses on making investments in businesses in targeted industries in which the principals of the firm have significant operating and investing experience, including basic manufacturing, food, chemicals, building materials, consumer products, and others. Highlander Partners uses a "buy and build" investment approach, creating value by helping companies grow organically and through acquisitions. For more information, visit www.highlander-partners.com.

About Mezzanine Management

Mezzanine Management is currently investing from Accession Mezzanine Capital IV, which closed on 264 million in 2018 and is the firm's largest vehicle to-date. The firm is adding a direct lending strategy to its regional private debt platform to address the growing yet underserved opportunity in its core market of Central Europe. Mezzanine Management is the exclusive advisor to the Accession Mezzanine Capital group of funds, whose total investments exceed 700m. Mezzanine Management has been operating in Central and Eastern Europe since 2000 through its offices in Vienna, Warsaw, Bucharest, Budapest and Prague. The funds' investment portfolio is diverse, with more than 50 transactions across 12 countries in CEE. The funds are backed by reputable institutional investors, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Fund and a number of banks, funds of funds, pension funds and insurance companies. For more information, visit www.mezzmanagement.com.

SOURCE Highlander Partners, L.P.

Related Links

http://www.highlander-partners.com


On 1 February, Kapil Baisala aka Kapil Gujjar had fired two rounds in the air at Shaheen Bagh, where anti-CAA protests are being held for over a month now.

The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police has said that Kapil Baisala aka Kapil Gujjar, the man who opened fire at the Shaheen Bagh protest site on Saturday, is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

DCP (Crime Branch) Rajesh Deo said his mobile phone has been seized and they have retrieved his WhatsApp data and photos of him and his father joining the party. The accused and his father joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in February 2019, he said.

Sources: Kapil can be seen joining the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a year ago in the pictures that have been recovered from his phone. Kapil had joined AAP along with his father and several others. https://t.co/8G84bkRyiJ pic.twitter.com/9QJLhulkT3  ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2020

In one of the photos released by the police, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and party leader Atishi were seen welcoming Kapil at a party event.

Sources: The Crime Branch has found certain pictures on the mobile phone of Kapil Gujjar, who opened fire in Shaheen Bagh area on February 1. In these pictures, Kapil can be seen with AAP leaders such as Atishi and Sanjay Singh. pic.twitter.com/BKXifhTE7K  ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2020

Kapil Baisala, whose name had been mentioned as Kapil Gujjar in earlier reports, has been sent to police custody for two days, ANI quoted him as saying.

#WATCH Rajesh Deo, DCP Crime Branch: In our initial investigation we found some photos from Kapil's phone that establish & he has already disclosed that he & his father joined AAP a year ago. We have taken his 2 days remand. pic.twitter.com/Z78sgdOGPn  ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2020

On 1 February, Kapil had fired two rounds in the air at Shaheen Bagh, where anti-CAA protests are being held for over a month now.

After being overpowered by police personnel, Kapil had chanted "Jai Shri Ram" and said, "hamare desh me aur kisi ki nahi chalegi, sirf Hinduon ki chalegi (only Hindus shall have a say in our country, no one else)," as he was taken into custody by the Delhi Police.

Reacting to the developments, AAP leader Sanjay Singh denied any connection with Kapil and accused the BJP of indulging in "dirty politics" in the run-up to the 8 February Delhi Assembly election.

"Amit Shah is the home minister of the country at this time. Just before elections, photos and conspiracies will be found. Three-four days are left for the elections, BJP will do as much dirty politics as they can. What does having a picture with someone mean?" ANI quoted him as saying.

Addressing a press conference, Singh accused the BJP and Amit Shah of hatching a conspiracy, especially at a time when the Model Code of Conduct is in force in the National Capital. He also lashed out at DCP Rajesh Deo, accusing him of releasing the photos before the investigation was completed at Amit Shah's behest."How did the pictures, which are still a part of the police investigation, reach the media and the BJP,?" he asked, adding that the AAP will approach the Election Commission to complain against the police officer.

Sanjay Singh, AAP: Investigation has not been completed, photos have not been investigated and a police officer is taking a party's name, at a time when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in place. Tomorrow we will complain to Election Commission (EC) against Rajesh Deo. https://t.co/gXYeA8HFZX  ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2020



Meanwhile, Baisala's family has also refuted the claims.

Kapil Baisala's uncle Fatesh Singh told PTI, "I have no idea where these photographs are circulating from. My nephew Kapil had no association with any political party nor does any other member from the family is. My brother Gaje Singh, (Kapil's father) fought Assembly elections in 2008 for Bahujan Samaj Party and lost. After that no one from our family had any links with any political party".Singh added that Kapil also doesn't have any friends associated with the AAP or any other political party.

The BJP has, however, alleged that AAP is attempting to implicate the saffron party. Sharing a video showing the shooter being taken away by the police, Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP's IT-Cell, tweeted:

AAP wants to burn down Delhi before poll. Getting Kapil, AAP worker, to fire in Shaheen Bagh, was an attempt to guilt the Hindus and somehow implicate the BJP for the act. Assailants first utterance after arrest was   , seemed on AAPs instruction. #AAPBurnsDelhi pic.twitter.com/FqltqsMwKb  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) February 4, 2020

The Delhi Assembly election will be held on 8 February and the results will be declared on 11 February.

With inputs from agencies
Nathaniel R. Jones, a former chief legal spokesman for the civil rights movement and later a federal appeals court judge who devoted his long career to eradicating the legacy of slavery endured by his own family, died on Jan. 26 at his home in Cincinnati. He was 93.

Stephanie Jones, his daughter, said the cause was congestive heart failure.

As the general counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in the 1970s, Mr. Jones revealed unwelcome truths by challenging school segregation in the North and racial bias in the military justice system, in which, among other things, black defendants had complained of being unable to trust white lawyers. He was also a strong defender of affirmative action programs and other measures to address historic discrimination.

In 1976, Mr. Jones helped persuade Alabama officials, including Gov. George C. Wallace, to pardon Clarence Norris, the last surviving member of the Scottsboro Boys, the nine black teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women aboard a train near Scottsboro, Ala., in 1931.

A decade later, Mr. Jones was arrested in South Africa for protesting the countrys apartheid policies. He later helped draft the Constitution that ended that countrys system of legal racial segregation and advised emerging African nations in designing judicial systems.
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Since 1912, KIND has been committed to fulfilling its mission of increasing the health and happiness of Colorado children in need. In the past year KIND has provided over $1.3 million in free or reduced-cost dental care and treated 9,776 Colorado children.

There is a great need for dental treatment across the country. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry reports that 51 million school hours are lost each year to dental related illness, making it the number one reason for missed school hours. According to the Colorado Children's Campaign, 7.8 million of those school hours lost can be attributed to pediatric dental illness in Colorado.

"At KIND, we believe that every child has the right to a healthy smile and body, and that these two things are integrally connected," said Ellie Burbee, Executive Director of KIND. "Give Kids a Smile Day is a special way KIND and ClearChoice partner to connect with families who would otherwise not have access to care, providing treatment and education that focus on embedding oral health and nutrition habits that can change the trajectory of a child's life."

ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers, a national network of dental implant providers dedicated to providing adult patients with a long-term solution to chronic dental issues, is proud to support this event. Founded in 2005 in Denver, ClearChoice is committed to restoring smiles and improving the nation's dental health. One way to accomplish that is to prevent chronic dental issues during childhood by ensuring access to proper dental care early in life.

"ClearChoice is proud to partner with KIND and sponsor this great event," added Kevin Mosher, CEO of ClearChoice. "Our employees are excited to volunteer on February 8th in support of KIND's tireless efforts to change the lives of Colorado children."

KIND requests that parents wishing to have their children treated at the Give Kids a Smile Day make an appointment in advance by calling 720-619-5333. The event will take place at the KIND Oral Health Center at 3401 Eudora St., Denver, CO 80207.

SOURCE ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers
In order to clear her name and prove she was not responsible for the crimes, the woman was told to purchase 11 $500 gift cards from Target and another four $500 gift cards from four different Best Buy stores, the woman told police. The caller reportedly stayed on the phone with the woman while she purchased the gift cards and she then provided the PIN numbers to him, police said.
A nurse from a hospital in southwest Chinas Yunnan province recently went viral for using comics to record the touching stories of her colleagues who went to assist Hubei province in the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The nurse, Chen Mingrui, from the Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University explained that 138 of her colleagues have been sent to Xianning, Hubei, to assist in the battle against the epidemic. Some of them postponed weddings, and some had their hair cut to lower the risk of infection. Some even ended up hurting their faces due to the long periods of time wearing protective suits.

In Chens comics, those who had their hair cut are awarded the best hairstyle prize, and the scars left on the faces of her colleagues become the most beautiful medals of honor.

Chen said that she had also applied to assist in Hubei but was not selected. However, sticking to her post at the hospital and relieving her colleagues burden on the front line is also a form of assistance, she noted.

Now, Chen draws one comic each day in her off time. I hope they will take care of themselves, and Im waiting for them to come home safe and sound, she said.

Seeing the comics, one of Chens colleagues, Fu Chaojiang, said they are not alone at the front line as they know there are people at home caring about and supporting them. (cartoons by Chen Mingrui)
First-ever experimental Sudan virus specific antibody treatment protects animals

Army scientists working with partners from industry and academia have developed an experimental treatment that protects animals from Sudan virus, which is closely related to Ebola. Their work is published online today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

There are six distinct species of ebolaviruses, which collectively pose a significant threat to the global community, particularly in areas of equatorial and West Africa. While Ebola virus was the causative agent of the 2013-2016 outbreak that developed into the largest epidemic in recorded history, Sudan virus also presents a significant health threat, according to the authors.

One promising approach to treating ebolavirus infection involves the development of immunotherapies--drugs that boost the body's own immune system to fight infection. Scientists can design proteins, called antibodies, and combine them into "cocktails" to treat a particular type of infectious disease. Until now, however, there has been no such cocktail specific for Sudan virus.

Led by John M. Dye, Ph.D. of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, the team produced a panel of monoclonal antibodies that are specifically designed to attach to the Sudan virus glycoprotein and block the virus from entering cells. They tested them in cell culture, and further evaluated the most promising candidates in a mouse model of Sudan virus infection.

Based on the results of the rodent testing, the team then selected a mixture of two Sudan-specific monoclonal antibodies for assessment in rhesus macaques. This mixture, called RIID F6-H2, provided protection from Sudan virus in rhesus macaques when administered on days 4 and 6 post-infection.

"We are excited to offer a potential treatment option against one of the most deadly human pathogens known," said Dye. "Being prepared by having countermeasures against emerging infectious diseases allows the global community to try to stay one step ahead, rather than play 'catch-up' against potential pandemic viruses."

According to COL E. Darrin Cox, commander of USAMRIID, the work highlights the impact of USAMRIID research on warfighter health and public health.

"In addition, the sheer number of collaborators is a testament to the importance of government, academic and commercial laboratories working together to advance medical countermeasure development," said Cox.

Co-investigators on the study included Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Mapp Biopharmaceutical, Inc., Fraunhofer, BioFactura, and The Geneva Foundation.

"Our team is extremely proud that this cocktail of antibodies is now being considered for advancement into phase 1 clinical studies," said Dr. Andrew Herbert of USAMRIID, the paper's first author. "We have the opportunity to make a real impact on global health."

###

About the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases:

For over 50 years, USAMRIID has provided leading edge medical capabilities to deter and defend against current and emerging biological threat agents. The Institute is the only laboratory in the Department of Defense equipped to safely study highly hazardous viruses requiring maximum containment at Biosafety Level 4. Research conducted at USAMRIID leads to medical solutions--vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and training programs--that benefit both military personnel and civilians. Established in 1969, the Institute plays a key role as the lead military medical research laboratory for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Joint Science and Technology Office for Chemical and Biological Defense. USAMRIID is a subordinate laboratory of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command. For more information, visit http://www. usamriid. army. mil .

Funding:

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Citation:

Development of an antibody cocktail for treatment of Sudan virus infection. https:/ / www. pnas. org/ cgi/ doi/ 10. 1073/ pnas. 1914985117

Authors:

Andrew S. Herbert, Jeffery W. Froude, Ramon A. Ortiz, Ana I. Kuehne, Danielle E. Dorosky, Russell R. Bakken, Samantha E. Zak, Nicole M. Josleyn, Konstantin Musiychuk, R. Mark Jones, Brian Green, Stephen J. Streatfield, Anna Z. Wec, Natasha Bohorova, Ognian Bohorov, Do H. Kim, Michael H. Pauly, Jesus Velasco, Kevin J. Whaley, Spencer W. Stonier, Zachary A. Bornholdt, Kartik Chandran, Larry Zeitlin, Darryl Sampey, Vidadi Yusibov, and John M. Dye.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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An oil well in the Permian Basin in Garden City, Tex., on Feb. 5, 2015. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Third Person Dies From Chesapeake Well Blast in Texas: Local Media

A third person has died following a blast this week at a Chesapeake Energy Corp well site in Burleson County, Texas, according to a local media report.

Brian Maldonado, 25, of San Diego, Texas, succumbed on Saturday morning to injuries he suffered during Wednesdays blast, the Alice Echo-News Journal reported, citing family and friends. Attempts by Reuters to reach Maldonados relatives were not immediately successful.

Oilfield service companies Eagle Pressure Control and a unit of Forbes Energy Services, along with Chesapeake, had workers on the scene when the blast occurred at the remote well site near Deanville, Texas, about 75 miles (121 km) east of Austin. An early inspection report said workers were upgrading the well when a surge of natural gas ignited.

It was not immediately clear for which company Maldonado worked. Forbes Energy Services said Friday one of their employees was among the victims. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

Two of the workers who diedone on the day of the blast, and the other on Thursdayworked for Eagle Pressure Control, according to a source familiar with the matter who declined on be named. Chesapeake, on Friday, said none of its employees were among the injured or deceased.

One other person was injured as a result of the blast, but no update has been provided on their condition.

Chesapeake and Eagle Pressure Control did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

The incident marks the deadliest oilfield accident since a January 2018 explosion at a Patterson-UTI Energy rig in Oklahoma killed five people.

By Liz Hampton
Air France-KLM Cargo, Delta Air Lines Cargo and Virgin Atlantic Cargo are promising cargo customers more connections, greater shipment routing flexibility, improved trucking options, aligned services and innovative digital solutions with the launch of their expanded trans-Atlantic Joint Venture.



The new partnership, which represents 23 per cent of total trans-Atlantic cargo capacity or more than 600,000 tonnes annually, will enable the airlines to offer the best-ever customer experience, and a combined network of up to 341 peak daily trans-Atlantic services  a choice of 110 nonstop routes with onward connections to 238 cities in North America, 98 in Continental Europe and 16 in the UK, said a statement.



Customers will be able to leverage an enhanced network built around the airlines hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York-JFK, Paris, Seattle and Salt Lake City. It creates convenient nonstop or one-stop connections to every corner of North America, Europe and the UK, giving customers the added confidence of delivery schedules being met by a wide choice of options.



The expanded JV enables greater co-operation between the airlines, focused on delivering world class customer service and reliability on both sides of the Atlantic achieved through co-located facilities, joint trucking options as well as seamless bookings and connected service recovery.



The airlines already co-locate at warehouses in key US, UK and European airports, and will review opportunities to co-locate further at more airports around the globe.



Adriaan den Heijer, executive vice president of Air France-KLM Cargo, said: We are very excited to welcome Virgin Atlantic Cargo to the successful trans-Atlantic Joint Venture between Air France-KLM Cargo and Delta Cargo.



The combined network means more choices and value for our customers as we align our services to enable seamless transfers and further streamlining of transport times. This enhanced joint venture offers the most and best trans-Atlantic options ever in the cargo industry, he added.



The four airlines will leverage their expertise in the transportation of specialised products, including end-to-end GDP and IATA CEIV quality compliance for pharmaceuticals, supported by dedicated teams and facilities across the globe. The JV will allow the airlines to provide customers with a diversified product range to best suit their individual requirements.



This announcement is just the first step in the journey, said Shawn Cole, vice president - Delta Cargo. Our customers can expect additional benefits as we evolve our partnership further to deliver best-in class customer experience and operational reliability, with differentiated products and services that are tailored and developed to make it easier to do business with the four airlines.



Customers will be able to book their shipments with knowledgeable local teams and by using new digital solutions designed to reduce duplication and drive efficiencies as a result of greater connectively between the airlines systems. Alongside the development of a growing choice of self-service technology options, customers will continue to enjoy the support of co-located customer service centres to enhance their cargo delivery experience.



Virgin Atlantic Cargos managing director Dominic Kennedy said: Our great partnership with Delta has already enriched the benefits we offer to our customers. With our expanded JV with Air France-KLM Cargo, we are even more excited about the benefits we will be bringing for our customers as we work with like-minded partners to deliver greater value across our outstanding trans-Atlantic network.  TradeArabia News Service

Turkey considering Ukraine as strategic partner, not competitor  Erdogan

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Ukraine is a strategic partner, and not a competitor, for his country.

"Turkey and Ukraine consider each other as partners, and not competitors," he said during the Ukrainian-Turkish Business Forum in Kyiv on February 3.

Erdogan stressed that Turkey and Ukraine are strategic partners.

He also said that the countries have set a goal to increase their goods turnover from $4 billion to $10 billion by 2023.

The total amount of Turkey's investments in Ukraine is estimated at $3 billion, Erdogan said.

He also said that the countries should switch to settlements in national currency in order to relieve businesses in both countries of the exchange rate burden.

The president of Turkey also said that the countries have potential for cooperation in the defense industry, technologies and telecommunications, automobile industry and metallurgy.

Erdogan also underlined that 1.55 million Ukrainian tourists visited Turkey in 2019, which is 12% more than in 2018, while 217,000 Turkish citizens visited Ukraine in 2019.
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Michael Johnson (Left) and Manuel Azuara (Right) "I look forward to working with Michael, Manuel and the entire Bridgepoint team to execute on this vision for further growth in 2020 and beyond."

Bridgepoint Consulting, an Addison Group company, today announced that Michael Johnson and Manuel Azuara have been promoted to Managing Principals to lead and drive Bridgepoints innovative offerings and strategic geographic expansion in delivering full-scale finance transformations for growing companies nationwide.

The increased use of technology and overlap with financial operations within organizations requires a deeper level of expertise to help CFOs modernize their business processes to remain competitive, said Johnson. The combined strength of our financial operations and technology expertise makes us uniquely positioned to provide leading-edge services that will help clients across the country create a modern finance organization that drives business value.

Im very excited about taking on this new firm leadership charge with Michael, said Azuara. Strategically aligned with the Addison Group, we are now well positioned to leverage our parent companys national footprint and client relationships to help accelerate Bridgepoint Consultings market coverage and business expansion.

A critical component of our continued growth strategy is the investment in and closer collaboration with our finance and IT consulting businesses, said Thomas Moran, Chief Executive Officer of Addison Group. I look forward to working with Michael, Manuel and the entire Bridgepoint team to execute on this vision for further growth in 2020 and beyond.

Enabling Client-focused Innovation

With its new leadership structure in place and plans for continued expansion into new markets in alignment with Addison and its partner brands, Bridgepoint Consulting is poised to provide transformative services to help CFOs and business leaders through their modernization journey.

The continued presence and strong leadership we have in our existing markets enable Michael and me to focus on our national growth strategy, Azuara added. Monica Gill and Vince Trevino will play an increased role in managing our ongoing growth and long-term client relationships in the Austin market; while Jeff Hiddemen will help to spearhead the expansion of our NetSuite service capabilities.

Founded in 1999, Bridgepoint has marked the last 20 years with acquisitions and growth that spans industry vertical service offerings and geographic expansion. Throughout that time, the firm has served more than 2,500 clients and built a strong culture that prioritizes the learning and development of its employees. The firm provides a broad array of services to a diverse portfolio of clients to help organizations innovate and transform their business, including post-acquisition integration, business process improvement, data analytics, technical accounting, systems implementation & integration (the firm specializes in NetSuite ERP) and revenue recognition.

Learn more about Bridgepoint Consultings full suite of services and solutions at https://bridgepointconsulting.com/services/

About Bridgepoint Consulting

Bridgepoint Consulting, an Addison Group company, is a leading management consulting firm that helps organizations throughout their business lifecycle. Offering a broad range of finance, technology and risk/compliance services, Bridgepoint supports clients from the startup phase all the way to IPO readiness and beyond. Since 1999, the firm has been helping executives and management teams reduce their business and operational risks, bridge resource gaps and improve overall performance. Whether an organization needs interim expertise to improve infrastructure and processes, or strategic management of a major transition or transaction, Bridgepoints team of over 170 industry leaders can provide the critical support needed to ensure success. The firm is headquartered in Austin, with offices in Dallas and Houston and the capability to deliver solutions across the US. To learn more about Bridgepoint Consulting and how it can help serve your organization, please visit https://bridgepointconsulting.com.

About Addison Group

Addison Group is a professional staffing and consulting firm offering industry-leading expertise with a national reach and a localized touch. Specializing in Information Technology, Finance & Accounting, Healthcare, Administration, Human Resources, and Engineering, Addison Group offers a full suite of professional services, including consulting, staffing and recruiting, and executive search through its network of companies and dozens of offices throughout the United States. Founded in 1999, Addison has been repeatedly recognized as one of the fastest growing private companies in the United States, as well as a top workplace and a Best of Staffing Company by Inavero. Learn more at AddisonGroup.com.
Google Assistant can do a great many things for you, and now you can add finding your keys using Tile to that list.

In an announcement today Google noted that Tile Bluetooth trackers can now integrate with Google Assistant. Simply ask Google to find your keys. Or your bag. Or anything else you may have stuck a Tile tracker to.

Its a simple new functionality of your Google Assistant. But one that is no doubt going to be very useful to many people. Because people lose stuff. All the time. And this is an easy way to find those things all without having to initiate the search physically with your phone.

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Google Assistant can ring Tile inside and outside of the home

To be more specific, Google Assistant can find the tracker and whatevers attached to it whether its inside the home or outside the home.

More often than not you might have just misplaced whatever youre looking for somewhere around the house. And if you ask Google to find it and the tracker is in the house, itll tell you its last-known location.

If the tracker is somewhere else, somewhere thats outside the home, then Google will tell you the address of where it was last spotted. Nifty, right? Right. Now you dont have to go digging for your car keys or wallet every time you cant remember where you put them down.

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Use it with the Assistant on your phone or a speaker

Naturally, this will work with Google Assistant from multiple devices. So you can ask Google from your phone to find your keys. Or you can ask Google from your Nest Hub Max.

Both will get the job done, hopefully, as long as your Tile tracker is still attached to whatever you lost.

There is a little bit of setup required though. You will need to go into the Google Home app and use Assistant to enable the Tile integration. From inside the app you need to tap the add button.

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Then tap to setup a new device. The Tile option will be listed under the Works With Google section. So find this menu and enter it, then scroll to find the Tile option. Tap Tile and youll be walked through a few steps and then you should be done.

Google Assistant can also ensure its ringing the correct tracker by using voice match to identify the user whos speaking. The feature should already be available in the Google Home app to setup.
Atlanta, GA, February 4, 2020  Breckenridge Insurance Services is pleased to announce the promotion of Emily Gosch to vice president, property and casualty broker from associate broker. Gosch has been with the company for more than ten years having started as a senior account executive with the team that merged with Breckenridge in 2015. Her prior experience included assistant underwriting and account specialist roles at Southern Cross Underwriters and St. Paul/Travelers respectively.

Emily has consistently demonstrated her commitment to serving the diverse needs of our retail insurance agents while simultaneously building quality relationships with our carrier partners stated Trevor Pierce, president of the Breckenridge brokerage and binding team. Her development as a broker and contract binding underwriter has been exemplary. Even more impressive is the leadership and mentoring she has provided to our talented support team in the Dallas office. I am proud to see her step into this new role, he added.

Im looking forward to continued relationship building and problem solving with my agents and carriers. Its a privilege to partner with our clients and be a resource for competitive property, casualty and excess solutions that help them succeed, Gosch commented.

Gosch is a licensed Property and Casualty agent in Texas as well as has her Surplus Lines and MGA licenses. She has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Minnesota State University, Mankato. She can be reached at egosch@breckis.com or 469-320-4035.

About Breckenridge Insurance Services:

BRECKENRIDGE INSURANCE SERVICES is a national wholesale insurance brokerage/MGA delivering top-rated, competitive commercial coverage solutions. With more than three decades of providing responsive counsel and risk management insights, Breckenridge has become a recognized leader and trusted partner to valued agents and coveted carrier partners internationally. With significant in-house contract binding authority and expert, award-winning brokers spanning nearly all property and casualty, workers compensation and professional liability risks, we offer collaborative, comprehensive solutions. As part of Breckenridge Insurance Group, the team has access to additional resources and expertise to help clients go further. For more information, please visit WWW.BRECKIS.COM

About Breckenridge Insurance Group:

BRECKENRIDGE INSURANCE GROUP, headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is an international specialty wholesale insurance broker, program manager, managing general agent (MGA) and insurance services provider. The company offers access to diverse range of commercial insurance and financial services products to businesses and professional services firms in a variety of industries. The company serves independent insurance agents, brokers, and financial institutions nationally by way of Blue River Underwriters, OSC, Breckenridge Insurance Services brokerage and contract binding group and Southeastern Underwriters, Inc. For more information, please visit WWW.BRECKGRP.COM or call 855.728.8822. CA Insurance License #0G13592

Media Contact:

Caren Henry

chenry@breckgrp.com

267.961.8252

Topics Agencies Property Casualty Insurance Wholesale
And, on Friday evening, the Senate voted 51 to 49 against a motion to hear new witnesses in the trial. The vote was mostly along party lines, with only two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah, opting for a fair trial alongside all 47 Democrats and independents.
The catastrophic outcome of the Iowa caucuses on Monday night and Tuesday morning came in Hemingway's words, 'gradually, then suddenly.'

The failure to produce any official results at all - leaving chaos over who won - was the result of a perfect storm of a confusing and homespun system for choosing candidates, combined with a bid to go hi-tech.

In the end, it was a 'coding error' in the phone app given to organizers to report results which was the final undoing of the caucus.

The app was bought in secret from a firm which was revealed on Monday night to be called Shadow, and be run by former Hillary Clinton campaign operatives.

But the seeds were sewn decades ago when the modern primary system was built after the 1968 Democratic National Convention was hit by protests and both parties built systems designed to spread elections out over months, to both minimize the chances of contested conventions, and extend the presidential election season to maximize attention on it.

THE VERY COMPLICATED IOWA DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS SYSTEM - IT'S NOT REALLY ELECTING A CANDIDATE

Despite being the first state in the nation to 'choose' a candidate, Iowans are doing nothing of the kind: when they caucus - a 'gathering of neighbors' - they are actually choosing 11,402 delegates who will represent them at a county-wide convention.

That county-wide convention will itself choose 2,107 delegates to district conventions, where most delegates to the Democratic National Convention will be chosen, with more being chosen at the state convention to bring the total to 41.

In Iowa delegates are 'bound,' or 'pledged,' that is compelled to support the will of the people who selected them.

That means the votes on caucus night can be used to calculate - usually precisely - what will happen at the state convention which chooses the final delegates for the national convention.

But there is another complication: how the votes actually happen.

Pete Buttigieg caucus supporters wait on results at a watch party for the candidate. They actually voted for delegates who select delegates who select delegates

TWO ROUNDS AND THE POTENTIAL FOR CHAOS AT EVERY TURN

The caucus is not like a primary, where voters cast a ballot in secret and have the results counted, with candidates ranked from top to bottom by percentage share.

Instead voting is done in the open, in two rounds.

In the first round, voters gather at a precinct under a sign for their favored candidate, a process known as the first alignment.

That creates a set of data called the raw vote count for the first alignment - the nearest thing these is to a simple primary ballot.

But those votes do not actually count for the result.

After the first alignment, every candidate who scores under 15% is eliminated and their supporters are asked to choose to join a candidate who scored more than 15% - or they can go and join another non-viable candidate to get that candidate over 15%, or try to persuade other losing candidates' supporters to join them.

Even the 15% rule varies from place to place - the smaller the place, the fewer the number of delegates it has to award, so the higher the bar for 'viability.'

If the precinct only sends one delegate, candidates have to get over 50% to be 'viable.'

They have 30 minutes to decide, openly, with their neighbors urging them to join them under the banner of more successful candidates.

At the end there will be a sorting with 'viable' candidates. That gives rise to the second alignment vote count - the total in each corner for the remaining candidates.

But then the second alignment is converted into 'state delegate equivalents,' through a mathematical formula, which in every other previous election has allowed the media to declare a winner simply by processing returns through the formula.

The caucus secretary fills in a worksheet as they go.

How it looks: An Iowa caucus delegate result sheet showing the complicated arithmetic formula used to get from a hand-count of votes to final results.

FIRST PROBLEM: HOW 2016 WAS A MESS AND THE REAL RESULT WAS NEVER KNOWN

The caucus system had been in place since 1972 with few changes, and had been broadly good at predicting the winner of the nomination - 55% of Iowa winners took the nomination.

But in 2016, the Democratic system came unglued.

There were three candidates: Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley.

On the night of the caucuses, the usually chaotic and good-natured process of standing in a corner went on as normal, and the results which came in declared Hillary Clinton the winner - and she went on to Iowa apparently favorite to win the nomination.

Contrasting fortunes: Hillary Clinton was declared winner in Iowa in 2016, and Bernie Sanders the loser but the result was the closest in history and his campaign said the true result could never be known in reality

The result was certainly close on the night, with Clinton getting 49.8% of state delegate and 49.6% going to Sanders - 700.47 to 696.92. The rounding system which then is used to refine that to national convention delegates means Hillary won by a much better margin - 23 to 21.

But in reality the results were being questioned. A string of discrepancies were reported, and in many cases the result turned out to have been decided by a coin toss - but the system for recording results did not declare that there had been a tie.

Clinton appeared to get the benefit of the doubt more than Sanders and there were reports of results which awarded her delegates which Sanders claimed too.

What nobody was able to find out was an official record of the actual votes: they were simply not recorded - so the data on which it rested was a number written down at the precinct of the total number of people backing each candidate.

There were no individual paper ballots and Bernie Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver said: 'We're not likely to ever know what the actual result was.'

TIME FOR REFORM - BUT IT'S DONE IN SECRET

Democrats were determined not to have a repeat of the 2016 scenario where the results would be questioned - so they decided that the key was a paper ballot to record individual voter's preference each time, and the recording of the three crucial pieces of data: first alignment, second alignment and state delegate equivalent count.

Data from the 1,600 precincts from across the state would be sent to the party headquarters to tabulate the final outcome.

Which ever candidate got the most delegates would be declared the 'winner.'

Any contests could be sorted by going to the paper total.

The key to making this work was an ambitious virtual system: all reporting of results would be on a smartphone app which each precinct secretary would use.

But surprisingly, there was little public announcement about the app before it came into existence.

Instead a company called Shadow was secretly contracted to come up with it.

The New York Times reported that it did so in the last two months, given $63,000 in two tranches for 'affordable and easy-to-use tools.'

The idea was that the app would have a back-up phone line for results to be called in, but that it would be a fall-back, with the vast bulk of results tallied electronically and rapidly.

WHAT WENT WRONG - AND IT WASN'T JUST ON THE NIGHT

The app in fact started going wrong in the last couple of weeks as it was rolled out.

With 1,678 precinct and 99 'satellite' caucus venues, there were 1,777 precinct secretaries who would all have to download and use the app before February 3.

But when they did, they encountered problems, complained that there was no training, and struggled to use it, two organizers told the Wall Street Journal.

Others said the app was designed to be so secure - to combat worries of hacking - it ended up locking out the precinct captains, who were supposed to log in with a pin number.

Patty Judge, a former Iowa lieutenant governor who ran a caucus in Monroe County, got stuck trying to log in to the app.

'I got stuck immediately,' Judge told Politico.

That means that even before the night started it, demand for the phone hotline would be higher than anticipated.

As the results started coming together, the app failed for so many precinct captains that they called in the results.

The phone system, however, wasn't set up to be the reporting hub. It became jammed with too many calls. Caucus workers said they were stuck on hold for over an hour in some instances.

Caucus goers check in at a caucus at Roosevelt Hight School in Des Moines

A caucus worker tabulates results

Meltdown: Officials at the Drake University caucus location try to report results - the start of a night when ended in chaos

Band with problems and poor cell service contributed to the mess.

The state party said a lot of the issues were reported from areas with poor cellphone service.

Iowa is a farm heavy state with a lot of back road through fields. And for 24 per cent of rural Americans, high speed internet is a major problem, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

Additionally, many of the volunteers who run the causes are retirees and older voters.

'Most of my precinct chairs were a little older,' Laura Hubka, the Democratic chairwoman in Howard County told The New York Times. 'They weren't comfortable with' using the app.

Polk County chairman Sean Bagniewski got so frustrated with the app he told his caucus workers to call in their results

So they too called in their results, adding to the jammed phone line.

In Polk County, the largest county and seat of the Des Moines capitol, county chairman Sean Bagniewski got so frustrated with trying to use the app he had his precinct captains phone in their results.

But he told Politico his people reported wait times of 90 minutes to two hours.

'Or some times,' he said of the phone system, 'it would hang up on them.'

Bagniewski also complained about the lack of training for his caucus volunteers.

'When you have an app that you're sending out to 1,700 people and many of them might be newer to apps and that kind of stuff, it might have been worth doing a couple months' worth of testing,' he said.

By 10pm - 11pm eastern - the system was completely jammed.

And then the worst case scenario got worse. Samples of the apparently successfully reported results showed 'inconsistencies.'

There was missing data - meaning that the results would have to fall back on paper ballots.

But that was opening a new problem: the ballots had to be obtained. In some places people went to knock doors after midnight to get the ballots from precincts whose organizers had gone home.

Underlying it all, the most unforgivable error there could be: the app had a 'coding error.'

WHO'S BEHIND SHADOW, THE COMPANY WHICH BOTCHED THE CAUCUS?

The app was built by a small Washington, D.C. firm called Shadow Inc.

It is a technology firm that was created in January last year after data and messaging service Groundbase was acquired by Democrat non-profit ACRONYM.

Shadow's CEO Gerard Niemira, product manager Ahna Rao and COO James Hickey all worked on the Hillary for America campaign.

Niemira's twitter profile ironically has a profile of a botched 'plan ahead' framed embroidery.

Other staff include alumni of Obama's presidential campaign, as well as Google, Apple and the DNC.

Most shockingly of all, Shadow was contracted in secret by the Iowa Democratic Party - the firm's identity was only worked out by going through expenditure records.

Shadow's ownership structure is itself opaque.

Originally, Niemara founded a company called GroundGame in 2017 with other Krista Davis, another former Clinton staffers, and they employed people who had built data tools for the campaign. Davis was a Google engineer.

Change of tune: ACRONYM went from claiming to have acquired Shadow to claiming just to be an investor as the app's failure became a catastrophe

Awkward questions: Tara McGowan is the founder of ACRONYM which first said it was the owner of Shadow then said it was an investor. David Plouffe ran Obama's 2008 cmapaign as manager and is on the board of ACRONYM but said he knew nothing about Shadow

The idea was that Democratic campaigns could use it as a one-stop shop for harvesting people's information and contacting them, which is the basis of modern campaigning.

Getting, retaining and using mobile numbers and email addresses fuels campaigns, and Niemart offered a 'peer-to-peer SMS and customer-relationship management tool.'

Art some point it was renamed Groundbase and then in January 2019 it was acquired for an undisclosed sum by ACRONYM, and was renamed Shadow - or at least, that was what ACRONYM said at the time.

ACRONYM described Niemart as the chief technology officer, and said: 'Imagine a system in which your data automatically syncs across every platform, technology and tool your campaign uses.'

What is now unclear is why they were selected to run data collection for the caucus - an entirely different operation.

ACRONYM, the New York Times reported, was set up on 2017 by Tara McGowan, a former journalist and Barack Obama campaign worker.

Its funding is entirely opaque but it has plans to spend $75 million on digital advertising to counter a push by the Trump campaign in battleground states.

Its board includes David Plouffe, who was 2008 Obama campaign manager and a 2012 campaign adviser.

In November, McGowan and Plouffe told the New York Times their focus was on advertising in Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, all key battlegrounds for Democrats.

But they did not mention Shadow and its work - or another aspect of it, its ownership of a project called Courier Newsroom.

It sets up 'hyperlocal' news sites with professional journalists and editors, but a progressive bias, and as well as funding their local news, pays to place it on Facebook and Twitter feeds of people in target areas.

And Plouffe was questioned on MSNBC Tuesday night about Shadow when the fiasco began to unfold and denied knowing anything about it - despite being on ACRONYM's board.

He also claimed that it had only invested in Shadow,. despite having announced that it had acquired it.

'I don't know about it. ACRONYM is a digital firm that works on digital advertising,' he said.

'ACRONYM is an investor in Shadow. I don't know anything about Shadow.'

McGowan doubled down on that, claiming that Shadow had other investors, and that ACRONYM did not own Shadow.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW

The Iowa Democratic Party said on Tuesday morning it plans to release the results 'as soon as possible today.'

It may be too late, however, for the caucuses to affect this year's Democratic presidential race.

Usually, a candidate or two drops out after a poor Iowa showing.

Observer David Soll of Rockford, Ill., talks to participants during the Democratic caucus in Dubuque

But the delay in results gave every contender a free pass to New Hampshire.

And that is where they are.

Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang all have landed in New Hampshire, which holds its primary next Tuesday.

There are 21 campaign events scheduled for the Democratic contenders - including Tulsi Gabbard and Deval Patrick - on Tuesday throughout the state, according to a New Hampshire candidate tracker.

And candidates are getting their own spin in on the caucuses, touting their internal numbers to show their viability out of Iowa.

THE DEATH OF THE CAUCUSES?

For the third consecutive presidential cycle, Iowa results have come into question.

In 2008, it was the Republicans. Mitt Romney was initially declared the winner before that was reversed and the victory given to Rick Santorum.

In 2016, Democrats had a virtual tie between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

She edged him out in the delegate count by a quarter of a percentage point: earning about 700 to Sanders' 697.

Sanders was outraged and requested an audit. He also questioned the transparency of the caucuses.

That incident ultimately led to Monday night's chaos. Due to creditability questions in the wake of the contentious 2016 primary, the Democratic Party in Iowa vowed greater transparency and, for the first time, said they would release the numbers from all three sets of caucus voting.

So they had an app developed.

People wait for results at a caucus night campaign rally for Joe Biden

But the greater affect from Monday night could be the death of the caucuses themselves.

Iowa signed its death, legendary Des Moines Register political reporter David Yepsen told Politico.

'This fiasco means the end of the caucuses as a significant American political event. The rest of the country was already losing patience with Iowa anyway and this cooks Iowa's goose. Frankly, it should,' Yepsen said. 'The real winner tonight was Donald Trump, who got to watch his opponents wallow in a mess. A lot of good Democratic candidates and people who fought their hearts out here for ... nothing.'

He predicted Iowa would switch from a caucus system to a primary system.

'I expect Iowans will move themselves to kill it off by holding a primary, and let the state move to someplace behind New Hampshire along with other states,' he said.

Last weekend, on Saturday, the state delivered another stunner.

For the first time in history, the Des Moines Register would not release its Iowa poll, long seen as the most reliable pre-caucus measure on the standing of the candidates.

It was pulled after technical difficulties called the reliability of the findings into doubt.

And, in the wake of Monday's caucus fiasco, there were grim jokes that the famously accurate poll turned out to be an all too accurate after all.
Each January, many Nebraskans travel more than 1,000 miles to proudly join the March for Life in Washington, D.C., and this year was no exception. These Nebraskans drew attention to the pro-life, pro-women values they hold dear. While being pro-life and pro-women of course involves protecting the unborn, it means extending care and compassion to expectant mothers as well.

As a mother myself, I know firsthand that pregnancy and the weeks following birth can be an exciting yet worrisome time as women seek to keep themselves and their babies as healthy as possible. Unfortunately, despite a mothers best efforts, there are still serious gaps in maternal health outcomes across our nation today.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most severe complications related to pregnancy, known as severe maternal morbidity, impact over 50,000 women in the U.S. every year. For pregnant women in rural areas, local resources supporting maternal health may be strained, and the nearest hospital is often far away, putting mothers and their babies at serious risk. Thats why I was proud to join my colleagues, Senators Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) to introduce the bipartisan Data Mapping to Save Moms Lives Act.

This legislation would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to use data mapping to identify areas in the U.S. that have both internet access gaps as well as high rates of poor maternal outcomes. The FCC has already mapped similar information related to internet service gaps and diabetes rates. This data would illustrate where access to telehealth services can be most effective. Maternal telehealth services involve using internet-connected technologiessuch as video consultations with specialists and devices that remotely monitor vital signsto provide long-distance health care.

I am a strong advocate of expanding telehealth services for Nebraskans. After I wrote a letter to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr in 2018 outlining the need for better broadband availability to support much-needed rural telehealth services, the FCC announced a new telehealth initiative called the Connected Care Pilot Program that could increase Nebraskans access to life-saving technology.

More broadly, I have long pushed for strategies to expand rural broadband connectivity. Most recently, in December, I joined my colleagues in writing a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai urging the agency to prioritize support for sustainable rural broadband networks. One way to achieve this is through improved broadband mapping, which is why I helped introduce legislation in 2017 and cosponsored the Broadband DATA Act last year to ensure the FCCs broadband coverage maps accurately reflect broadband deployment across America. It is importantespecially when it comes to something as critical as maternal health carethat all Nebraskans enjoy high-speed and reliable connectivity whether they live in a city or a rural community.

As I reflect on this years March for Life, I think of all the Nebraskans who proudly stood up for their pro-life, pro-women values. I believe that the Data Mapping to Save Moms Lives Act honors those values.

By mapping broadband network information alongside rates of maternal morbidity, this bill would leverage data to boost positive maternal health outcomes and save the lives of expectant mothers and their babiesparticularly in rural and underserved communities in the Heartland. As a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, I will continue to work to build support among my colleagues for this legislation.

Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.

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The challenge is to understand how and why the West elected to position al-Qaeda as the counterweight to the US.
The Minister for Justice now accepts a recommendation that the States longest-serving prisoner - deviant serial killer John Shaw - be granted two days of escorted temporary release per year, the Court of Appeal has been told.

The court also heard that Shaws lawyers needlessly spent half a day arguing that the Ministers initial refusal was unjust, as they never checked their emails to learn the decision had already been reversed.

English national Shaw (73) has been in custody in Ireland for almost 44 years when both he and another English man, Geoffrey Evans, were arrested for the abduction, rape, torture and murder of Elizabeth Plunkett (22) in Wicklow and Mary Duffy (24) in Mayo that year.

Shaw and Evans were both given life sentences at the Central Criminal Court on February 9, 1978.

Evans died in 2012 from an infection after spending more than three years in a vegetative state. He had been at the Mater Hospital, under round-the-clock guard by prison officers, at a significant cost to the State.

Over the years, Shaws case has been the subject of a number of reviews first by the Sentence Review Group and subsequently the Parole Board.

In April 2016, the Prison Review Committee noted Shaw was very frustrated that he has never got a day out of prison in his 38 years in custody He has no family in Ireland and has only received one family visit over the course of his sentence.

The Parole Board recommended Shaw be granted two days of escorted outings per year, but in a letter dated November 29, 2016, the Minister for Justice refused the recommendation, which was subsequently challenged by Shaws lawyers through the courts.

During a half-day hearing in January, Shaws senior counsel asked the Court of Appeal to quash the Ministers decision on grounds that no reasons were given for refusing him temporary release.

However, neither Shaws senior counsel nor junior counsel had read their emails that morning in which they would have learned that the Minister had already reversed the decision not to support the recommendation for temporary release.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said it was not satisfactory that the decision to accept the recommendation for temporary release, in a letter sent to Shaw on December 9 last, was not communicated to his lawyers until the morning of the hearing on January 14.

He said it was a serious thing that the case proceeded to full hearing in this court in circumstances where it was in fact moot.

Shaws senior counsel said his instructing solicitor had received a letter from Shaw, with the Ministers decision attached, on January 13. It was then emailed to junior and senior counsel on the day of the hearing on January 14 but neither barrister looked at their emails that morning, the court was told.

Shaw was not in court for the hearing but consultations between client and solicitor were described as regular.

Mr Justice McCarthy, who sat with Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, and Mr Justice Seamus Noonan, said the court was not in the business of pointing fingers at anybody.

He said the State, which was represented in proceedings, had a responsibility to bring the matter to the courts attention which was perhaps why there should not be a penalty for legal costs.

In June 2016, a dynamic risk assessment of Shaw found him to be at a high-level risk of re-offending. Areas of particular concern to the assessors were poor problem-solving skills; negative emotionality; deviant sexual preference; cooperation with supervision; significant social influences; hostility towards women; general social rejection; and lack of concern for others.

The same year, the Parole Board recommended Shaw remain in Arbour Hill prison to allow speedy access to medical treatment and that he be granted two days of escorted outings per year.
WATERLOO  Democrats in a traditionally Republican Waterloo voting precinct were heavily divided over the best candidate to win the White House.

There was no clear front-runner Monday among caucusgoers in the Lou Henry Hoover Elementary gymnasium.

Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden wound up in a virtual dead heat by the end of the night in Ward 1, Precinct 6, which includes the Audubon Park and Audubon Heights neighborhoods and is one of just four Waterloo precincts tilting to Trump in the 2016 general election.

Klobuchar supporters were the loudest in the room as their candidate, while not leading most Iowa polls, was the slight favorite among the precincts 158 attendees.

It makes me feel really good, said Susan Frevert, Klobuchars precinct captain. I think Amy is the only one who has a really good chance of beating Donald Trump because she will appeal to moderates as well as other Democrats.

I have actually voted for Amy Klobuchar several times because we moved here from Minnesota, she added. Our kids went to the same high school Amy Klobuchar graduated from.

Klobuchar picked up a few extra votes when Elizabeth Warren fell shy of reaching the 15% viability threshold.

Margaret Whiting, who was Warrens precinct captain, said the group initially tried to sway a handful of uncommitted caucusgoers to their side before things fell apart and Warren supporters left for other campaigns.

We were hoping Warren would be viable, and she was very close, said Whiting, who wound up in Klobuchars camp. Im a little disappointed, but I also like Amy Klobuchar too.

The final totals were so close all four of the viable candidates were initially awarded three delegates to the county convention. But the precinct only had 11 delegates available.

A coin toss was held to determine whether Buttigieg or Biden lost one of their delegates, and Biden came out on top.

Many of the remaining Democratic candidates failed to draw even a single supporter to the caucus site. Michael Bennett, Michael Bloomberg, Deval Patrick and Tom Steyer were blanked, while Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang had just three and two supporters respectively.

Sydney Weldon, who was holding a sign supporting Andrew Yang, saw the handwriting on the wall shortly before the first alignment began.

Unless we get a big old crowd in the next six minutes its just me and my mom, said Weldon, who was already being approached by representatives of other campaigns seeking her support.

I caucused for Bernie Sanders in 2016, Weldon said, noting the senator from Vermont was her second choice.

Jim Allison, one of the initial three Gabbard supporters, chose to remain uncommitted at the end of the night.

Im a former Republican. I caucused. I was a delegate at the state convention, Allison said. When I came over here I was hoping for something substantive.

Its about principle, about the Constitution, he added. If there is any one candidate thats going to bring this nation together it was going to be Tulsi.

Precinct captain Miriam Tyson struggled with an inadequate sound system during the evening, but there were no snafus reported throughout the process. The party made changes this year to reduce the number of realignments allowed when candidates were deemed to lack viability.

I think it went a little quicker this year without the multiple votes, Tyson said.

A second Democratic caucus was being held next door in the lunch room at Lou Henry Hoover Elementary, and the results from Ward 2, Precinct 6 were nearly the same.

Klobuchar also had the most supporters in that precinct, but Biden, Buttigieg, Sanders and Warren were all viable.

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YEREVAN.  Both the statement by the PACE co-rapporteurs and the statement by the president of the Venice Commission are addressed to the Armenian authorities, and both statements contain a certain call to the authorities in different terms. Edmon Marukyan, head of the opposition Bright Armenia faction, said this at today's meeting with reporters in the National Assembly.

"The first was aimed at preserving the recommendations on passing to the early retirement system [for the serving Constitutional Court judges], and the second was on the tension that exists today," Marukyan said. Both statements were misinterpreted by the authorities and were interpreted in their favor. That is, when the authorities say 'we welcome that statement,' they want to cover up that whole part of the concern. I shall call it trolling. The power trolls the PACE co-rapporteurs at a high level, and then the president of the Venice Commission. They make fun of these people. And why do they make fun? Because if you compare how statements of this kind have been perceived before, it will be clear, too, because power is a legitimate power and is not constrained in any way, it shows that I am a legitimate power and I dont care about your statements; that is how I perceive it.

He noted that the former Armenian authorities, for example, were afraid of such statements, they were trying to make some corrections, whereas these authorities are simply trolling and making fun of these people.

"But I must say that these people are also to blame, because if there is an opportunity in the statements to interpret them in different ways, then maybe our colleague is doing the right thing and making fun at a high level. (...). (...) they say to the authorities, 'the actions you take, and that is a bouquet of actions, it's an aura, a series of events and actions, that series,' they say, 'don't do it, you are creating tension with it between the two wings power and more, it contradicts our previously selected recommendations regarding passing to the voluntary early retirement system. But they interpreted the call as saying that the call is addressed to [Constitutional Court president] Hrayr [Tovmasyan], that they have called on Hrayr to behave, 'youre going too far, already, it seems you are meddling too much there.'"
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New York, February 4, 2020The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that several journalists were attacked, threatened, or had equipment taken while covering elections in Dhaka, Bangladeshs capital, on February 1.

At least 15 journalists were beaten, threatened, denied access to polling stations, or had equipment broken or taken while covering the mayoral and ward councilor vote, according to reports. Separately, over 30 complaints of election irregularities, including voters being denied entry to polling stations or people standing outside centers with firearms, were reported to the Election Commission on February 1, according to the Daily Star.

The Dhaka police did not immediately respond to CPJs email requesting comment on the attacks on the press.

Journalists provide an essential function in reporting on and documenting whether elections are free and fair, and they must be able to do their jobs safely, said Aliya Iftikhar, CPJs senior Asia researcher. Bangladeshi authorities must immediately investigate and bring to account all the perpetrators of violence against journalists who were covering the Dhaka elections.

On February 1, a group of people attacked Mostafizur Rahman Sumon, a crime reporter for the online news portal Agami, while he was photographing supporters of the governing Awami League in Dhakas Rayerbazar neighborhood, according to news reports. The attackers were armed with sharp weapons, according to the reports, which did not provide further detail. Sumon told the online news portal New Age that he believed the attackers were supporters of M.D. Hossain Khokon, a candidate for the Awami League. Sumon was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and received six stitches to his head, according to news reports.

Khokon denied that his supporters attacked the journalist, and suggested that other people wearing a badge that showed his election symbol carried out the attack, according to bdnews24.

The Awami League did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent via social media.

CPJ was unable to locate contact information for Khokon.

Also on February 1, Sheikh Hasan, chief photographer for the Bangla daily Kaler Kantha, was attacked and his memory card was taken, according to news reports that cited S.M. Azad, the papers chief crime reporter. Azad said that the attackers appeared to be supporters of the Awami League. The reports did not provide further details about the attack.

The same day, Zisad Ikbal, a correspondent of the Press Bangla Agency, was beaten while trying to report on the election, Ibrahim Sarker, a reporter for the agency, told New Age. Sarkar, who described the attackers as Awami League activists told New Age that the journalist was attacked as he entered a voting center. Daily Star reporter Foisal Ahmed told New Age that people, whom he described as Awami League supporters, took his phone while he was filming alleged election irregularities.

Mahabub Momtaji, a staff reporter at the Bangla newspaper Bangladesh Pratidin, and Nurul Amin, a reporter for the newspaper The Business Standard, had their phones taken and material deleted at a polling station by people whom the Daily Star described as supporters of Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student arm of the Awami League. The newspaper reported that Shahidul Islam Khan Riyad, vice president of the Dhaka South Chhatra League, held the journalists for over an hour and a half at the polling center on February 1. The journalists filed a report with the police and Riyad was suspended for breaching organizational discipline, according to news reports. The reports of the incident did not specify why the journalists were held.

The Bangladesh Chhatra League did not immediately respond to CPJs request for comment sent via email. CPJ was unable to locate contact information for Riyad.

Hasnayan Tanvir, a reporter for Maasranga Television, and Saiful Islam, a camera operator for Maasranga Television, said their vehicle and camera were vandalized and they were attacked on February 3 in Dhaka suburb Baddas Beraid area by people who identified themselves as supporters of councilor-elect Aiub Ansar Mintu, according to Dhaka Tribune. The journalists were harassed while reporting on vandalization after the election, the report said, without providing further details. Police are investigating, according to Dhaka Tribune.

Mintu told the Dhaka Tribune that neither he nor his supporters were involved in the incident and that the perpetrators used the name of the Awami League. CPJ was unable to locate contact information for Mintu.

The Daily Star reported that on the election day, presiding officers barred three of its reporters from entering polling stations in Uttar Badda and Mirpur; a person whom the paper described as an Awami League supporter threatened a Daily Star photographer, barred him from taking photos, and asked him to leave the Sir Salimullah Medical College polling center; and that a police inspector barred two reporters and a photographer from entering a polling center. CPJ could not independently verify these incidents.

CPJ previously documented how a journalist was arrested and several others were attacked and denied entry to polling centers during general elections in Bangladesh in December.
The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers has added Rob Bobyack to the firm as a partner at its Moody Insurance Group office.

Bobyack began his career in the insurance industry in 1997 as a workers compensation specialist and since then has built a brokerage business focused on the auto dealership space with clients in multiple states.

According to Jerry Pickett, CEO of The Liberty Company, Bobyack will join Tom Moody to grow Libertys presence in South Florida.

The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers provides entrepreneurial producers and agency owners a platform to create equity value in a growing organization. Liberty is an independently owned, full-service broker with offices throughout the country.

Topics Mergers Agencies Florida
The prolonged shortage of skilled workers is 'not sustainable,' according to a new report. Photo: Getty

UK employers are facing continued skills shortages among workers amid concerns that the UKs future immigration system could cause further problems in finding the right talent, a new report has found.

The UK workforce is suffering from a critical skills deficit, according to a survey of 6,200 business chiefs by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and jobs site Totaljobs.

Just over half (55%) of respondents said they were looking for new staff, but skills shortages made an impact as three out of four (72%) firms reported recruitment difficulties in hiring suitably qualified staff.

Concerns over the uncertainty of the UKs future immigration regime were highlighted as an issue facing recruiters.

As the UK forms new economic relationships with the EU and partners across the world, businesses also need clarity on who they can recruit. As things stand, businesses dont know who they can hire, and under what conditions, from New Years Day 2021. Thats unacceptable, said Adam Marshall, director general of the BCC.

The government needs to act swiftly to deliver a fast, flexible new immigration system that allows firms to access staff at all skill levels, and limits upfront fees, delays and costly red tape, he said.

READ MORE: Adopt business-friendly immigration post-Brexit, government told

The prolonged shortage of skilled workers faced by companies is not sustainable, according to the report, with skills shortage hitting the construction and hospitality sectors hardest, with 79% and 77% respectively struggling to recruit.

BCC and Totaljobs are calling on the government to address critical skills shortages in the Budget next month, including commitments to long-term funding for vocational education and for apprenticeships in small and medium-sized businesses.

They are also urging the government to review the Apprenticeship Levy, a tax which hits every business with a payroll of over 3m ($3.9m), to ensure firms can use the funds to train their employees.

Story continues

More flexibility for employers on how funds can be utilised towards vital non-apprenticeship or accredited training could help to make better use of the budget and upskill the UK workforce, the report suggested.

A quarter (26%) of UK firms say they plan to increase their workforce in the first quarter of 2020.

The construction industry reports the highest proportion of firms (34%) looking to recruit skilled workers.

READ MORE: UK firms fear staff shortages and red tape from Brexit migration plans

Although it is encouraging that businesses are looking to take on people, the prolonged skills shortages theyre facing are not sustainable as they try to shake off years of political uncertainty and pursue growth, Marshall said.

Training has got to be at the heart of the upcoming budget if the government wishes to demonstrate that it is serious about levelling up opportunity all across the UK.

Jon Wilson, general manager of Totaljobs, said: The market is very much active and hiring intentions remain strong, yet skills shortages continue to impact many UK businesses, as one factor contributing to the UKs low productivity rate.

READ MORE: Government tsar warns EU migration curbs 'could fuel people smuggling'

UK businesses need to ensure they have robust training opportunities to keep the people they need. Totaljobs research shows that two thirds of UK workers have left a job due to a lack of learning and development. Clearly, learning new skills is very much tied up in job satisfaction.
All you have to do is beat him.

Donald Trump is not a Caesar; he does not bestride our narrow world like a colossus, undefeatable save by desperate or underhanded means. He is an instinct-driven chancer who has exploited the decadence of his party and the larger system to grasp and hold a certain kind of power.

But he is also a reckless and distracted figure, a serial squanderer of opportunities, who barely won the presidency and whose coalition is united only in partisan solidarity and fear of liberalism. He may not be removable by the impeachment process, but is not a king; he is a widely hated, legislatively constrained president facing a difficult re-election.

All you have to do is beat him.

For a long time during Trumps ascent I wrote columns demanding that the leaders of the Republican Party do something to keep this obviously unfit, chaotic, cruel man from becoming their nominee for president. Those columns were morally correct but structurally naive, based on theories of party decision-making that no longer obtain in our era of institutional decay.

But Trump could have been stopped in the Republican primaries the old-fashioned way  by being beaten at the polls. His base was limited, his popularity fluctuated, and if his rivals had recognized the threat earlier, campaigned against him consistently, strategized with one another more effectively, and avoided their own meltdowns and missteps, there was no reason he could not have been defeated.

All you have to do is beat him.

After Trumps administration began and immediately descended into chaos, I had one last flare of institutionalism, one last moment of outrage and 25th Amendment fantasy. But since then I have left the outrage to my liberal friends, watching them put their hopes in Robert Muellers investigation, in law enforcement and intelligence agency leaks and whistleblowing, and finally  though with less real hope and more grim resignation  in the Houses articles of impeachment.

Now that last effort is ending, as everyone with eyes could see it would, with the Republicans who failed to beat Trump when it counted declining to turn on him now that partisan consolidation and improving national conditions have sealed their base to him. The mix of expedience and cravenness with which the institutional GOP approached impeachment is no different from the way the institutional GOP behaved during Trumps initial ascent, and it leaves Trumps opposition no worse off than before. A failed impeachment doesnt give him new powers or new popularity; it just shows that the normal way to be rid of an unpopular president is the way that Democrats must take.

All you have to do is beat him.

Of course, in trying to beat him they have to cope with the fact that he is chronically unscrupulous, as the Biden-Ukraine foray shows. And they have to overcome the advantage that his particular coalition enjoys in the Electoral College.

But in other ways the Democrats are lucky to have Trump to run against, as they were lucky in 2016. In a year when the fundamentals mildly favored Republicans, Hillary Clinton got to face off against the most-disliked GOP nominee of modern times.

All you have to do is beat him.

Liberal hand-wringing about structural disadvantages ignores the advantages that Trump keeps giving them  the fact that in the best economy in 20 years he cant stop making people hate him, cant stop missing opportunities to expand his base, cant stop forcing vulnerable Republicans to kiss his ring and thereby weaken their own prospects.

Impeachment has only extended this pattern, with Republicans voting to shorten the trial even when it makes them look like lackeys and too cowed in many cases to even take the acquit-but-still-condemn approach that Democrats took with Bill Clinton. So now most of the country thinks the president did something wrong, most of the country thinks Republicans are protecting him, and most of the country is open  entirely open  to voting Trump and the most vulnerable Republican senators out in nine short months.

All you have to do is beat him.

Its worth remembering, too, that liberalism is not just struggling in America, with our Electoral College and right-tilting Senate; it is struggling all around the world. Which, again, suggests that American liberals are fortunate to have Trump as their Great Foe. If he were merely as disciplined and competent as Boris Johnson or Viktor Orban, to choose leaders with whom he has a few things in common, he would be coasting to re-election.

Instead it is very likely that he will lose. But it was likely that he would lose in 2016 as well. One essential lesson of the Trump era is that likelihoods are not enough; if you want to end the Trump era, only one thing will suffice.

All you have to do is beat him.
A judge has declined to dismiss the murder charge against an Alabama woman who says she killed her rapist in self-defense.

That means Brittany Smith will face a trial  and up to life in prison if convicted  for the deadly shooting of Todd Smith (no relation) in the tiny northeast Alabama town of Stevenson.

In a 19-page order issued Monday afternoon, Jackson County Circuit Judge Jenifer Holt ruled that Brittany Smith and her attorneys hadnt proven that she should be granted immunity from prosecution under Alabamas Stand Your Ground self-defense law.

Upon consideration of all the evidence, the court finds that the defendant has given inconsistent accounts of the events surrounding Todds death, beginning with the 911 call  and has attempted to alter or destroy evidence, the judge wrote. The court further finds that the defendants testimony about material facts was significantly at odds with the physical evidence, exhibits and other witness testimony.

If the judge had ruled in Brittanys favor, the murder charge would have been dismissed.

In a phone interview with AL.com on Monday evening, shortly after the order was made public, Brittany cried. She said she was disappointed and that she doubts she can get a fair trial in Jackson County.

I wouldnt wish this on anyone, she said.

Ron Smith (no relation), one of Brittanys court-appointed attorneys, said they will appeal the ruling to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. In a court filing on Tuesday, the defense team asked Judge Holt to put the trial on hold pending the outcome of the appeal. The judge hasnt yet responded to the request.

Jackson County District Attorney Jason Pierce declined to comment.

The shooting

The deadly encounter happened in the kitchen of Brittanys home during the early morning hours of Jan. 16, 2018. During a recent court hearing, Brittany testified that she fatally shot Todd while he was holding her brother in a headlock and threatening to kill them all. Brittanys brother, Chris McCallie, was at the house to confront Todd, who was accused of raping, strangling and assaulting Brittany earlier in the night.

Brittanys lawyers argued that she should be granted Stand Your Ground immunity because she was reasonably in fear that Todd would kill her or her brother. The lawyers argued that Todd was committing a burglary because he didnt leave when Brittany and McCallie told him to. Alabamas Stand Your Ground law says a person can use deadly force against someone who is using or about to use deadly force while committing a burglary.

The Jackson County Courthouse in Scottsboro, Ala., where a judge recently heard two days of testimony in Brittany Smith's murder case.

However, the judge wrote that during the situation in the kitchen, Brittany was between Todd and the door, leaving him no way to exit the home.

In court earlier this month, Pierce, the prosecutor argued Brittany wasnt entitled to Stand Your Ground immunity because McCallie, not Todd, was the initial aggressor in the confrontation in the kitchen. And, Pierce argued, McCallie, not Todd brought the gun to the confrontation.

Brittany testified that Todd had already threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the rape.

A sexual assault nurse examiner documented more than 30 injuries  including bruises, bite marks and signs of strangulation  on Brittanys body during a rape kit examination hours after the deadly shooting. Brittany had been strangled, hit multiple times and held down, the nurse, Jeanine Suermann, concluded. Suermann couldnt determine with certainty whether Brittany had been raped. She testified that most sexual assault cases lack physical proof  like genital trauma or DNA evidence  of rape.

The judge ruled that while the evidence was consistent with a physical assault, the physical evidence is inconsistent with the defendants statements about a sexual assault.

The note

Brittany testified that after Todd had raped her that night, he wanted a cigarette. So to avoid any further danger, Brittany said, she asked her family for a ride to the nearby Mapco. Her brother came over and drove them to the store. Once inside the Mapco, Brittany wrote Todds name on a piece of paper and said that if she was found dead, he was the killer. A police officer was inside the store that night, but, Brittany testified, Todd had threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the rape. She testified that she was scared Todd would kill her brother in the car if he saw her talking to the police.

Paige Painter, the store clerk, testified recently about seeing Brittanys injuries that night. She testified that Brittany told her Todd had choked her twice to the point of unconsciousness and that she woke up in a pool of her own urine. Painter testified that she didnt alert the police, at Brittanys request.

The Mapco store in Stevenson, Ala., where Brittany Smith passed a note to the clerk on the night of the deadly shooting.

After buying cigarettes, Brittany returned to the car  with Todd sitting in the back seat  and her brother drove them back home.

Brittany testified that once back at her house, she told her brother to return to the Mapco to talk to Paige. The judge wrote in her order that once Todd was out of the car, Brittany could have left with her brother to get to safety.

Painter testified that when Chris returned to the Mapco store, she told him that Todd had apparently raped Brittany and was holding her hostage.

Legal arguments

Despite evidence that Brittany had been assaulted by Todd prior to the deadly shooting, the question of whether she was legally justified in killing him revolves around what was happening in the final moments of his life.

Brittany testified that when she pulled the trigger she was in fear for her life and her brothers life. She said under oath that her brother was turning blue and appeared to be struggling to breathe as Todd held him in a chokehold.

Plus, Brittany testified, Todd had already threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the rape. Brittany grabbed her brothers gun from the kitchen island and fired at Todd. With the first two shots, she testified, Todd kept choking her brother. When she fired the third shot, both men fell to the ground.

Pierce, the prosecutor, argued in court that Brittany lacked credibility. He pointed to inconsistencies between her testimony at the Stand Your Ground immunity hearing and statements given to the authorities shortly after the shooting. In her order, the judge agreed with the prosecutor.

In a statement to the sheriffs office investigator after the shooting, Brittany admitted to shooting Todd while he was on the ground, the judge wrote. And, Brittany told the investigator that she didnt know how her brother found out about the rape, according to the judges ruling.

And initially, Brittany and her brother, McCallie, told the authorities that he had been the one who shot and killed Todd. McCallie was jailed and charged with murder.

Brittany wasnt arrested and charged until the next day, when she confessed to being the shooter.

A Jackson County grand jury later indicted Brittany on a murder charge.

The grand jury declined to indict McCallie for murder but charged him with making a false report to law enforcement and tampering with evidence. Hes scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday. Court records say McCallie wiped down the gun. The judge wrote that in a statement to investigators, Brittany admitted she told her brother to wipe down the weapon.

In court, Pierce questioned why Brittany initially told a 911 dispatcher that she hadnt been raped. Brittany testified that, two years later, she didnt remember the details of the call. She also told the judge that she had been embarrassed and ashamed of the rape. The judge noted the inconsistent statements in her order

Suermann, the sexual assault nurse, testified that memory loss (and confusion) are common reactions to trauma. Brittany was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in the months after the shooting. She suffered a mental breakdown in jail and was sent to the Alabama Department of Mental Health to regain competency.

Whats next?

Brittanys attorneys will appeal to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. The appeal has to be filed within 42 days of the judges ruling. In the meantime, the lawyers have asked Judge Holt to put on hold Brittanys trial, which is currently scheduled for Feb. 10. Trial courts often put cases on hold pending appeal.

Brittanys lawyers will appeal in a process known as a petition for writ of mandamus, which on average takes three to six months.

But legal experts have said its unlikely the appellate court would reach a different conclusion than Judge Holt. To win an appeal, Brittanys lawyers would have to prove by clear and convincing evidence that Holt abused her discretion and ruled incorrectly.

If Brittanys case goes to trial, she can again argue that she acted in defense of herself and her brother. It would be up to a jury, rather than a judge, to decide.

In the meantime, Brittanys future is uncertain. If convicted, she could face up to life in prison. With the murder charge pending, Brittany said she cant custody of her four children, get a job, go back to college or buy her own home.

She said she agreed to let Todd stay at her home on the night of the assault and shooting because it was cold and snowing, and he said he was stranded.

Todd was staying the night with the defendant with her consent, the judge wrote in her order.

The defendant had many opportunities to seek protection from Todd if she was afraid he was going to kill or harm her. She could have alerted the deputy that was in MAPCO. She could have called the police. She could have called 911.

This story was updated on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020 to show Brittanys attorneys have filed a motion to put her trial on hold, pending an appeal.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GrubMarket today announced it has completed the acquisition of Organic Harvest Network, a leading and highly reputable provider of outstanding organic produce. Founded in 1988, Organic Harvest Network is responsible for the crop planning, sales, marketing, logistics, and accounting for the growers they represent, connecting retail and wholesale buyers and growers. A key feature of Organic Harvest Network is their proprietary internet software platform that is specifically designed to assist growers with crop planning, accounting, pricing, and supply chain. These types of sales planning and technological forecasting capabilities have made Organic Harvest Network an incredibly valuable partner for multiple California organic growers.

As a result of this acquisition, GrubMarket will provide Organic Harvest Network with additional technological expertise and a vast existing customer base across the West Coast. The headquarters for Organic Harvest Network will remain in Northern California, and the company will continue to be led by founder Giuseppe Salvato and business partner Peter Oszaczky.

According to Giuseppe: "GrubMarket recognizes the corporate values and history of Organic Harvest Network, and they respect our focus on maintaining the exceptional quality and integrity of all of the organic farms we work with, which are among the first organically certified farms dating back to the 1980's. We sincerely look forward to working with the GrubMarket Team to provide even more sales opportunities and technological capabilities for our farms."

Furthermore, GrubMarket will leverage Organic Harvest Network's portfolio of farm partners, to further bolster and grow its existing produce offerings. According to Mike Xu, CEO of GrubMarket: "Organic Harvest Network is a symbolic brand in the organic produce world. We have always been impressed with their deep connections to some of the finest organic farms in the country, along with their corporate integrity and sales transparency. They are an incredibly valued partner to farmers, and they sell some of the most exceptional, organic produce directly from farms to many of the largest national grocery chains. We love what they are doing, and we look forward to propelling their growth through additional farm partnerships and even more sales channels."

About GrubMarket

GrubMarket's mission is to make fresh and healthy food accessible to everyone. We are committed to providing individuals, retailers, and restaurants with the best online food e-commerce experience possible, by regularly offering a spectacular array of farm-fresh foods at prices that are up to 50% OFF what you'd typically find from regular grocers or wholesalers.

For Media Inquiries:

GrubMarket Social Media Team

[email protected]

(510) 556-4786

GrubMarket

1925 Jerrold Ave.

San Francisco, CA. 94124

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CHARLOTTE, NC / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / North Carolina Realtor Alexis Hughes finished 2019 with two prestigious awards; the 2019 EXP Humanitarian of the Year Award, and 2019 EXP Realty ICON award.

The EXP Realty Icon award 2019 is given to agents in the EXP brokerage who reach exceptional sales volume while also upholding the core values and culture of the EXP Realty brokerage. "It was a passion for helping others that made me choose a career in real estate," Alexis Hughes said. She was also thrilled to have expanded her knowledge last year to include Commercial Real Estate, Land Acquisition & Development, and Out of State Relocation. https://alexishughes.exprealty.com/

Alexis Hughes' 2019 EXP Humanitarian Award is well deserved, as she often volunteers in her spare time and is always looking for ways to help her community. She was a 911 dispatcher before her career in Real estate and her compassion and caring for the community has followed her into her real estate career.

Alexis Hughes involvement in her community is evident by her dedication to many local and real estate causes; including mentoring new real estate agents, hosting a hurricane relief party, and implementing the Public Safety Appreciation Package. The Public Safety Appreciation Package is a home buying initiative that combines both of Alexis Hughes' passions by helping law enforcement, firefighters, EMT's and telecommunicators make their home buying dreams come true. "I am also a passionate advocate for adoption, domestic violence awareness, and cancer in adolescents," noted Alexis.





About Alexis Hughes, Real Estate Agent

Alexis Hughes is a real estate agent in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is knowledgeable in First Time Home Buyers, Commercial Real Estate, Land Acquisition & Development, and Out of State Relocation.For more information or a consultation, call (704) 773-2117, or visit https://alexishughes.exprealty.com/.

For media inquiries, please call THE NALA at 805.650.6121, ext. 361.

SOURCE: Alexis Hughes, Real Estate Agent

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575009/Alexis-Hughes-North-Carolina-Realtor-Wins-Both-the-EXP-Humanitarian-of-the-Year-and-EXP-Realty-ICON-award-for-2019
A winter storm that moved in the region Monday has dumped several inches of snow in areas of the Pikes Peak region, and created slick roadways.

Many school districts canceled evening activities Monday, and have announced delayed starts on Tuesday. See the full list of closures, delays and cancellations here.

By about 6 p.m., an inch of snow accumulated at the Air Force Academy while 3 inches of snow in Cascade was reported to the weather service. The overnight low will drop to near -5 degrees and up to 5 inches of snow is likely to accumulate overnight in Colorado Springs. Tuesday morning is likely to see more snow and cold temperatures, creating dangerous travel conditions across the region.

Visit the Gazette's traffic map for updates on Colorado Springs-area road conditions.

About 500 flights Monday have been canceled at Denver International Airport in anticipation of the storm, including a few bound for Colorado Springs Airport.

Here are live updates on Monday's road and traffic conditions, snow totals and closures in the Pikes Peak region.

9:45 p.m.

Woodland Park Re-2 is closed Tuesday.

9:15 p.m.

Cheyenne Mountain Dist. 12, Fountain-Ft. Carson Dist. 8, and Harrison Dist. 2 are closed Tuesday.

9:00 p.m.

District 49 is closed Tuesday.

8:35 p.m.

A Commercial vehicle chain law is in effect on northbound Interstate 25 between exits 159 and 188 (Castle Pines), reports CDOT.

Chains or alternative traction devices are required for all commercial vehicles, including buses and vans of 16+ capacity, said CDOT in a tweet Monday night.

The National Weather Service in Pueblo is telling drivers to expect an icy morning commute on Tuesday.

8 PM Feb 3 Update: Radar & webcams across southern Colorado pretty much sums it up. Expect slick conditions through the AM commute! #cowx pic.twitter.com/OcOYj4747B  NWS Pueblo (@NWSPueblo) February 4, 2020

7:45 p.m.

Cripple Creek-Victor schools are closed Tuesday.

7:35 p.m.

Canon City RE-1 schools are closed Tuesday.

7:30 p.m.

The weather service reports snow-packed and icy conditions along the I-25 corridor from Walsenburg to Trinidad.

710 PM Update: Snow has spread into the southern I-25 corridor from Walsenburg to Trinidad. Take care if you must travel tonight. Consider postponing if you don't. For the latest road conditions visit https://t.co/QJCAoKzuin #cowx pic.twitter.com/9z0kO9HWjz  NWS Pueblo (@NWSPueblo) February 4, 2020

7:25 p.m.

The safety closure on Interstate 70 over Vail Pass has been lifted.

6:45 p.m.

Colorado Springs police are asking drivers to avoid West Fillmore Street between Centennial Boulevard and Chestnut Street due to icy and slick conditions.

@CSPDPIO Please avoid the Fillmore hill between Centennial and Chestnut due to icy and slick conditions.  CSPD Communications (@CSPDComCenter) February 4, 2020

6:19 p.m.

Interstate 70 is closed in both directions for safety reasons due to a major crash west of the Vail Pass summit. The closure is between mile marker 195 - Vail Pass - and 176 - Copper Mountain.

5:35 p.m.

Fountain Police Department officers are on accident alert status. Drivers involved in a minor crash that does not involve excessive speed, drug or alcohol use and no one is injured, exchange information and file the incident online at colorado.gov within 72 hours of the crash.

3:35 p.m.

The Colorado Springs Police Department is on accident alert status, meaning drivers involved in a minor crash that does not involve excessive speed, drug or alcohol use and no one is injured, exchange information and file the incident online at coloradosprings.gov/police-department within 72 hours of the crash.

3:25 p.m.

School District 49 schools will have a 2-hour delay Tuesday morning.

The rapid change in our weather is bringing freezing drizzle, along with plummeting temperatures to north and eastern El Paso County, creating hazardous driving conditions Monday afternoon, which will intensify Monday night. D49 will operate on a two-hour delay Tuesday, Feb. 4. pic.twitter.com/boeTewLuML  School District 49 (@District49) February 3, 2020

2:50 p.m.

Another crash on southbound Interstate 25 at North Academy Boulevard had the left and center lanes blocked. Both lanes reopened at 3:10 p.m.

1:45 p.m.

A crash has closed southbound Interstate 25 at mile marker 170, three miles north of the Greenland exit, to Exit 174 - Tomah Road, according to Colorado Department of Transportation.

Gazette reader Robert Corely, who is stuck in the traffic, said tow trucks removed one of the two semis from traffic at about 2:40 p.m.

1:30 p.m.

Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind, Manitou Springs District 14, Colorado Springs District 11 and Colorado Springs Charter academy have already canceled afternoon and evening activities.

The temperature measures 23 degrees at the airport, the city's official measuring site, at about 1:20 p.m., which creates a potential for icy roads by the time rush hour traffic starts.

Meteorologists issued a winter storm advisory for much of the state Monday night through Tuesday morning.

Freezing drizzle/light snow continues across El Paso, Pueblo, & Fremont Co., with slick roads being reported in the Springs to Monument areas, as well as around Canon City. Main roads have become slick this afternoon & will likely worsen. Please use caution this afternoon. #cowx pic.twitter.com/pSO8aMnopj  NWS Pueblo (@NWSPueblo) February 3, 2020

Snow is expected to start falling in higher elevated areas, including Teller County, about 2 p.m. Up to 6 inches of snow and wind gusts around 45 mph are expected Monday evening.

Up to 10 inches of snow is expected over the southern San Juan mountains and up to 8 inches of snow is expected over the western Mosquito and eastern La Garita mountains Monday evening. Wind chill values in these areas are expected to plummet to -25 degrees. Wolf Creek and Monarch mountain passes are likely to have snow-packed and icy roads through the night.
Sisters dead in 'targeted, isolated' shooting at Texas A&M-Commerce dorm originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Two women who died in a shooting at a Texas A&M University-Commerce dorm on Monday were sisters, authorities said.

School officials said Tuesday that the "shooting appears to be a targeted, isolated event," though the officials did not provide many details.

The suspect, identified Tuesday night as 21-year-old Jacques Dshawn Smith, has been arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with the shooting, according to university officials.

The shooting was reported at 10:17 a.m. local time at the Pride Rock residence hall, which houses freshmen, according to the school's website.

Texas A&M University-Commerce said Smith is believed to be an ex-boyfriend of one of the victims. An arrest warrant was issued for him "through the use of surveillance and witness tips," the university's police department said Tuesday.

PHOTO: First responders respond after reports of a shooting at a residence hall at Texas A&M University's campus in Commerce, Texas, on Feb. 3, 2020. (WFAA)

PHOTO: A police officer tapes off a crime scene after reports of a shooting at a residence hall at Texas A&M University's campus in Commerce, Texas, on Feb. 3, 2020. (WFAA)

One victim, 19-year-old Deja Matts, was an A&M-Commerce freshman from Garland, Texas, and was pursuing a degree in public health, officials with the university police department said Tuesday.

MORE: 2nd high schooler dies in 'unthinkable' hit-and-run, motive not known

The second victim was her sister, 20-year-old Abbaney Matts.

The elder Matts was not enrolled at A&M-Commerce, officials said.

Abbaney Matts' 2-year-old son was injured in the incident, university police officials said. He has since been treated and released to the care of family members, they said.

PHOTO: Police officers respond after reports of a shooting at a residence hall at Texas A&M University's campus in Commerce, Texas, on Feb. 3, 2020. (WFAA)

University officials said the investigation remains active.

MORE: 20 years after Columbine, what's changed -- and what hasn't -- for school shootings in America

"Our hearts go out to everyone in the community who has been impacted by this tragedy," Mark Rudin, president of Texas A&M University-Commerce, said Monday.

Texas A&M's campus in Commerce, Texas, is more than 200 miles north of Texas A&M's main campus in College Station.
With the announcement of the Trump administrations deal of the century on January 28, the Palestinian Authority (PA) sprung into action. Within hours of the White House ceremony, at which US President Donald Trump released the details of his plan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said a thousand nos to the deal of the century.

The PA then proceeded to issue a number of threats, including once again to sever ties with Israels security agencies, and a call for mass demonstrations against the proposed deal.

Despite its rhetorical huffs and puffs, however, the Palestinian leadership could not muster a powerful reaction to the outrageous infringement on Palestinian rights that Trumps proposal really is. It could not even mobilise its own people. Why?

Because for more than 20 years now the PA has actively participated in the repression of the Palestinian people, while maintaining a close relationship with Israeli security forces. Its attitude, rhetoric, and policies in the past and in the present have always been directed not at protecting the rights and wellbeing of the Palestinian people, but at maintaining power at any cost.

The deal of the century has unmasked the PAs duplicity and the toll it has taken on Palestinian mass mobilisation.

Repressing Palestinian dissent

Since its establishment in 1994 as a result of the disastrous Oslo accords, the PA has done little more than help Israel pacify the Palestinians while their land, property, and resources have been taken over by Jewish settlers. To secure its power, the Palestinian leadership has maintained close cooperation with Israel, torturing Palestinian dissidents and providing intelligence on Palestinian activists.

It has also violently quashed any public protest that threatened its grip on power or has been considered a threat by the Israelis. It has repeatedly deployed its national guard, riot police, and thugs loyal to Fatah, the party that dominates the PA, to suppress dissent.

My first experience of the PAs heavy hand was in 2011 during a demonstration in Ramallahs Manara Square in solidarity with revolutions in neighbouring Arab countries. Hundreds of young people gathered peacefully, chanting political slogans, calling for unity between Fatah and Hamas and against the Oslo order. Within hours we were attacked, harassed, and arrested.

In 2012, we went out on a protest against the planned visit to Ramallah of Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz, a man accused of committing countless crimes against the Palestinians, including the massacre in Jenin during the second Intifada and the assassination of various Palestinian leaders.

We saw his meeting with Abbas as yet another act of PA complicity with Israels settler-colonial project. We went out en masse to protest, but we were severely beaten by PA police. Later, the PA intelligence followed us, harassed us in the streets, called our families and threatened them. Worse still, we were slandered on social media platforms as traitors working for a foreign agenda by PA loyalists.

In 2018, we went out to demonstrate against the complicity of the PA in the Israeli blockade on Gaza, which by now has rendered the strip unliveable. The PA had cut off the salary of employees in Gaza and cancelled medical referrals and financial assistance to hundreds of families in need. Because of their narrow partisan interests, two million Palestinians were suffering in unbearable living conditions. Our protest was again attacked brutally, we were beaten, dragged across the streets of Ramallah and arrested as we sought treatment for our injuries in the hospital.

These are just a few examples of the PAs systematic campaign to silence and placate the Palestinians in order to provide Israel with a sense of security. And this is not to say that Hamas is an innocent actor; it too has committed its fair share of repression against the Palestinian population in Gaza and has tried to silence criticism.

Palestinian leadership no more

Apart from clamping down on Palestinian dissent, the Palestinian leadership, whether in the West Bank or Gaza, has also sought to instrumentalise mass mobilisation for its short-sighted political goals.

Every time there is a declaration by an international body which threatens the PAs position as a representative of the Palestinian people (albeit one they have not elected), we witness a series of speeches and statements by Palestinian officials calling for protests.

The PA and other Palestinian factions and political parties consider Palestinian protest to be a weapon they can use whenever they wish. They want mass mobilisation only when it suits them, not when it is in the best interest of the Palestinian people.

The problem is that this attitude, along with years of suppression of dissent and harassment of civil society has added another layer of repression  on top of the Israeli occupation  leaving Palestinians disenchanted and damaging their ability to effectively mobilise for their struggle.

Over the years, many stopped seeing a reason to take to the streets because their protest would either be brutally cracked down on or co-opted by political forces they see as illegitimate.

It is no wonder then that when the PA called for mass mobilisation in the streets against the deal of the century, few turned up. Today, the PA is only able to mobilise those loyal to its political structures and its partisan arm  Fatah. To get a crowd in Ramallah, it has to bus people in from outside the city.

By now, many Palestinians have lost trust in the Palestinian leadership. Many know that the PAs threats to cut ties with Israels intelligence agencies are empty ones. Last time it did that in 2017, it was found that 95 percent of security coordination with Israel was maintained.

But despite the political and moral bankruptcy of their leaders, Palestinians have not despaired. They continue their struggle for justice, rights, and the end of the Israeli occupation and apartheid. They continue to mobilise despite their leaders and their complicity with Israel.

The spirit of the Palestinian street is alive, but it can no longer be conjured by duplicitous political forces. It will only come out in defence of the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
After years of preparation designed to prevent the chaos and confusion that marred the caucuses in 2016, and after careful planning aimed at preventing the spread of conspiracy theories by hostile foreign actors, Democrats began their high-stakes nominating contest this week under a cloud of uncertainty and dysfunction. Hours after caucus-goers had returned home, the contest remained in a state of suspended confusion  with precincts unable to communicate results, state party officials huddling with aides to the top candidates and, above all, a blemish on the process held out by Iowa as a model of civic engagement.
Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion curated for you. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

Coronavirus kills 425 in China as country admits shortcomings in response

Chinas top leadership group headed by President Xi Jinping has admitted lapses and shortcomings in the Communist Party of China (CPC)-ruled countrys response to the raging Coronavirus outbreak. Read more

I am a devout Hindu and not what the BJP is portraying: Delhi CM Kejriwal

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday trained his guns on the BJP, saying that the partys entire campaign in Delhi revolves around the ongoing anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in the Shaheen Bagh neighbourhood and expressed dismay over the saffron partys attempts to portray him as anti-Hindu. Read more.

One month on, no arrests in JNU violence, probe panel yet to question victims

A month after an armed mob attacked students and teachers on JNU campus, HT has learnt that while police are yet to make any arrests, the JNU probe committee has not even approached the victims or eyewitnesses in the last four weeks. Read more.

25 children, 2 captors and an 11-hour hostage crisis in UPs Farrukhabad

When 37-year-old Subhash Batham walked out of jail early December after spending a month behind bars for an alleged jewellery theft, he had only one goal in mind: building a new house. Read more.

India vs New Zealand: India announce Test squad for New Zealand series, Prithvi Shaw returns, Shubman Gill included

BCCI has announced the Test squad for the New Zealand series. With the injury to Rohit Sharma, young Prithvi Shaw has been recalled while Shubman Gill too finds a spot in the squad. Ishant Sharma has been named in the squad although there is uncertainty over his fitness. Read more.

Aishwarya Rai-Aaradhya to Ananya Panday, pics of all A-lister guests at Kareena Kapoors cousin Armaan Jains wedding

Actor Armaan Jains wedding with Anissa Malhotra was a star-studded affair in Mumbai on Monday night. The Kapoor clan all came together with more Bollywood stars to celebrate with the new couple. Read more.
The Democrats' chaos in Iowa may be just a foretaste of what lies ahead when the party convenes its convention in Milwaukee July 13. Well before Sanders-supporters get a chance to make good on their threat that "Milwaukee will burn" if Bolshie Bernie doesn't garner the nomination, the host committee that raises money to hire security guards among many other expenses is mired in scandal and is unlikely to be trusted in anything it does from now on.

Milwaukee: Come for the brats and beer; stay for the riots and and firebombs



Photo credit: Harshil Shah.

Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports:

The two top officials overseeing Milwaukee's host committee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention were sidelined Monday amid allegations of a toxic work culture. In a letter to staff obtained by the Journal Sentinel, the board said it had retained an attorney to investigate "concerns about the work environment" for the Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee. During the investigation, Liz Gilbert, president of the host committee, will not be in the office and "will not have direct contact with staff," the letter says. Adam Alonso, the chief of staff for the group, has been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the probe. The two have previously come under criticism for continuing to do work for New Jersey Democrats while leading the Host Committee full time. The New Jersey Democratic Party dumped Alonso from his $15,000-per-month consulting gig late Monday.

Aside from the ordinary and routine (for Dems) corruption of holding down two "full time jobs" a thousand miles apart, the "work environment" apparently does not withstand scrutiny in this era of #MeToo and racial hypersensitivity:

In interviews with the Journal Sentinel over the weekend, two experienced political hands who have worked with the host committee described it as having a toxic culture rife with power struggles, backbiting and mismanagement. (snip) The second official said they would become sick to their stomach when working with the host committee, the first time they experienced a toxic work environment, despite working on numerous campaigns. "You know it when you see it, when you feel it," the second official said. Both added that they had high hopes for the host committee. But they said the culture at the committee reflects none of that enthusiasm.

I am so old that I vividly remember the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, less than a hundred miles away, when antiwar (and anti-establishment) radicals engaged in street warfare with the Chicago Police Department, thereby demonstrating to the nation the unfitness for power of the Democrats, and electing a man they loathed almost as much as they loathe Donald Trump: Richard Nixon.

The donkeys are quickly solidifying their brand as a group unqualified to run anything more complicated than a yard sale.
Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday said that the central government is "Godse's government", asserting that the government has abused Mahatma Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

Chowdhury's response came after he was asked to react on BJP MP Parvesh Verma's remark made in the Lok Sabha yesterday, where he had referred Rajiv Gandhi as "Rajiv Feroze Khan".

"The government abuses Mahatma Gandhi as well. This is Godse's government so what else can we expect from them? If Mahatma Gandhi wouldn't have been there, BJP would not be allowed to enter the Parliament," Chowdhury told ANI.

He continued, "This comment is coming from a person who has been punished by the Election Commission by banning him from campaigning. It's a saying in English--A man is known by the company he keeps. So this government is known by its company. The government is abusing Rajeev Gandhi who worked for this country."

The flak by opposition comes after Hegde, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Uttara Kannada constituency, had on Saturday said that the freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi was a "drama".

"None of these so-called leaders were beaten up by the cops even once. Their independence movement was one big drama. It was staged by these leaders with the approval of the British. It was not a genuine fight. It was an adjustment freedom struggle," Hegde had said while addressing a public event in Bengaluru.

Several Congress leaders, including Karti Chidambaram and BK Hariprasad, have condemned Hegde's remark, BJP leaders too have distanced themselves from the same.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Feb. 4

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

Turkmenistan is taking part in the implementation of a project by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to improve the legal environment for entrepreneurship in Central Asia, Trend reports referring to the Turkmen Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (UIET).

The regional project is being implemented with the financial support of the European Union. Within its framework, the governments of Turkmenistan and other Central Asian countries are provided with analytical support in order to identify priority areas of reforms designed to improve the legal environment of entrepreneurship, the report said.

A working meeting has been held recently in Ashgabat to discuss the results of the assessment conducted by OECD. The event was attended by representatives of Turkmen state and private structures.

Turkmen Minister of Finance and Economics Batyr Bazarov earlier held talks with the OECD leadership in Paris.

The sides discussed the prospects for cooperation in such areas as training, digital economy, stimulating the flow of investments and private entrepreneurship, promoting and stimulating exports, energy and the environment.

The OECD was formed in 1961 at the initiative of the US on the basis of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC)

This structure is an international economic organization of developed countries that recognize the principles of representative democracy and a free market economy.
Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) de facto president Tejaswi Yadav on Monday took a shot at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying if Bihar was better than Delhi as Kumar had been claiming during his campaign rallies in Delhi then he should explain why more and more people were leaving Bihar.

"Nitish Kumar, in his rally speeches in Delhi, is saying that Bihar is far better than Delhi. If that is the case then why do Biharis continue to migrate to Delhi or other cities? Also, if the Chief Minister thinks the infrastructure, education, and health care is better in Bihar than Delhi then this could be his biggest lie ever," Yadav, a former deputy of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, said.

Continuing to pile up on the Janata Dal-U leader who is camping in Delhi to stump for NDA candidates in Delhi, the RJD leader said that Kumar was deliberately trying to maintain silence over the death of nearly 500 children on account of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) that swept the state last summer.

Besides bringing back the specter of the deadly AES, Yadav also reminded Kumar of people dying in Bihar due to extreme heat and 'untold' deaths caused by flood in the state.

"Who can forget the epic flooding of Patna last year that brought the city to its knees. According to the Chief Minister, Bihar is better than Delhi despite the shameful rape of young girls in a Muzaffarpur shelter home that brought shame to the state," he said.

Yadav also slammed Kumar for siding with 'those who were dividing the nation by changing citizenship rules and by changing the constitution to suit their needs', instead of trying to fulfill his promise of getting special status for Bihar and special flood relief package for the victims of flood in the state.

Rajya Sabha proceedings were disrupted on Tuesday after uproar erupted during a debate on the amended citizenship law and the issue of the Register of Citizens (NRC).

Opposition MPs also created ruckus in the Upper House over the recent incidents of firing in the capital and were heard sloganeering 'Goli Chalana band Karo slogan' (Stop firing bullets).'

Yesterday, during the question and answer round, the parliamentarians were heard shouting on different issues. They also demanded explanations from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked for his presence in the House.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
[February 04, 2020] Harris Williams Advises Integrated Global Services, Inc. on its Sale to J.F. Lehman & Company

Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, announces that it advised Integrated Global Services, Inc. (IGS), a portfolio company of Industrial Growth Partners (IGP), on its sale to an investment affiliate of J.F. Lehman & Company (JFLCO). IGS is a leading provider of on-site high velocity thermal spray cladding, ceramic protection and other engineered products to solve metal wastage and reliability problems for some of the world's most valuable, mission-critical equipment. The company leverages proprietary technology and deep experience to prevent equipment failure, extend service life and minimize outage downtime across the energy, power generation and other industrial end markets. The transaction was led by Matt White, Drew Spitzer, Neha Shah and Thomas Saunders of the Harris Williams Energy, Power & Infrastructure (EPI) Group.



"The IGS team has developed a diversified suite of unique, proprietary solutions, which has established the company as a preferred provider for surface protection solutions across the globe," said Matt White, a managing director at Harris Williams. "The sale of IGS adds to our strong resume of advising market-leading providers of outsourced industrial and infrastructure services." "We are very excited and see a bright future for IGS as it carries momentum into its new partnership with JFLCO and continues to expand its customer reach and execute a number of key growth initiatives," said Drew Spitzer, a managing director at Harris Williams.

Based in Richmond, Virginia, IGS is a global company with over 30 years of experience in providing in-situ thermal spray, ceramic coatings and other custom-engineered surface protection solutions that focus primarily on metal wastage reduction, corrosion mitigation and emissions reduction. "We cannot be more pleased with our relationship with IGP and our new partnership with J.F. Lehman & Co. as we continue growing the most trusted provider of on-site surface solutions in the world," said Rich Crawford, president and CEO of IGS since 2009. "Over the next several years, we plan to continue our strategic global expansion; hiring, developing, and cultivating the very best people in the industry; and retaining our commitment to superior customer results." IGP, founded in 1997, is a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm with $2.2 billion of equity capital raised since inception. The firm invests exclusively in middle market companies in the industrial sector in partnership with management teams. Founded in 1992, J.F. Lehman & Company is a leading middle market private equity firm focused exclusively on the aerospace, defense, maritime, government and environmental sectors. The firm has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. The Harris Williams EPI Group has experience across a broad range of sectors, including industrial and infrastructure services; oil and gas equipment and services; utility services; testing, inspection and certification; energy efficiency and clean tech; power products and technology; engineering and construction; and environmental services. For more information on the firm's energy, power, and infrastructure experience, please visit the EPI Group's section of the Harris Williams website. Harris Williams, an investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, advocates for sellers and buyers of companies worldwide through critical milestones and provides thoughtful advice during the lives of their businesses. By collaborating as one firm across Industry Groups and geographies, the firm helps its clients achieve outcomes that support their objectives and strategically create value. Harris Williams is committed to execution excellence and to building enduring, valued relationships that are based on mutual trust. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC (News - Alert) Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). Harris Williams LLC is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is a private limited company incorporated under English law with its registered office at 5th Floor, 6 St. Andrew Street, London EC4A 3AE, UK, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales (registration number 07078852). Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH is registered in the commercial register of the local court of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under HRB 107540. The registered address is Bockenheimer Landstrasse 33-35, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (email address: [email protected]). Geschaftsfuhrer/Directors: Jeffery H. Perkins, Paul Poggi. (VAT No. DE321666994). Harris Williams is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC, Harris Williams & Co. Ltd and Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH conduct business. For media inquiries, please contact Katie Langemeier, associate brand manager, at +1 (804) 648-0072. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005908/en/

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Digital Editor
Iran said Tuesday that its top court confirmed a death sentence for an Iranian man convicted of spying for the CIA, with state media alleging that he had shared details of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program with the American spy agency.
(Newser)  The day after the funeral of a renowned monarch butterfly activist who was found dead in Mexico last week, the body of a second activist was found. Raul Hernandez Romero, who worked as a tour guide at a Michoacan butterfly sanctuary, left work as usual on Jan. 27 and disappeared. His battered body was found Saturday at the top of a hill in the sanctuary where he worked. In addition to bruises, he had a deep head wound; his cause of death is being determined, the BBC reports. Activists fear his death may be linked to that of Homero Gomez Gonzalez, the activist who went missing in the same area Jan. 13 and was found dead in a water tank Jan. 29. He was found to have been beaten and suffered a head injury before drowning.

story continues below

Gomez advocated against illegal logging, which is decimating the Mexican pine and fir forests to which monarchs migrate thousands of miles to hibernate each winter, and his family says he had received threats prior to his death warning him to put an end to the campaign. He managed a protected sanctuary for the butterflies that had just opened in November in an effort to thwart illegal logging, and the Hill reports Hernandez worked at the same sanctuary. Criminal gangs in Mexico are suspected of murdering victims who attempt to interfere with illegal activities such as logging. But officials have not yet officially linked the two deaths to each other or to illegal loggers. Amnesty International Mexico is calling for a full investigation, Common Dreams reports, and Remezcla reports Greenpeace is also demanding "justice and peace." (Read more monarch butterflies stories.)
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M University wont create filters on Facebook that target animal rights activists under a lawsuit settlement that ends another court case surrounding the First Amendment in the age of social media.

Texas A&M, one of the nations largest public universities with more than 65,000 students, was sued in 2018 by People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals over claims the school used filters on Facebook to hide comments containing words such as dog, abuse and testing. For years, PETA has protested medical research on dogs at Texas A&M.

The school admitted no wrongdoing under the settlement that PETA announced Monday, but agreed to pay $75,000 in attorneys fees and not to exercise in viewpoint discrimination. Texas A&M, however, still retains latitude to moderate Facebook comments for relevancy, meaning that PETA supporters could still find their posts removed if theyre deemed off topic.

We believe that we have found a way to move forward to end this litigation that demonstrates our universitys strong commitment to the First Amendment. We hope this can be of use to other universities dealing with complexities of the social media landscape, Texas A&M spokeswoman Amy Smith said in a statement.

Gabe Walters, a PETA attorney, said they will continue watching Texas A&M and that other public universities engaging users on social media should do so within the bounds of the Constitution.

Courts around the country have grappled with First Amendment freedoms on social media, none more high profile than President Donald Trump blocking his critics on Twitter. A court ruled last year that Trump violated the Constitution whenever he blocked a critic to silence a viewpoint. Trump has asked the court to reconsider.
News

Phoenix, Arizona - In January 2018, Governor Doug Ducey signed the Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act in response to the alarming increase in opioid use, overdoses and deaths nationwide and in Arizona. The legislation passed with unanimous support following a special session of the Arizona Legislature and took aggressive steps to prevent and address opioid use disorder, hold bad actors accountable, expand access to treatment, and provide life-saving resources to first responders, law enforcement and community partners.

Since then, Arizona has seen a 13 percent decrease in opioid prescriptions filled. Additionally, the number of opioid-naive patients receiving opioid prescriptions has dropped by 95 percent.

Strengthening Opioid Abuse Prevention Efforts

The Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act included a $10 million appropriation to improve access to treatment for uninsured or underinsured Arizonans. In two years, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment (AHCCCS) providers delivered roughly 43,000 opioid treatment services to 27,136 Arizonans as of November 2019. Governor Duceys Fiscal Year 2021 Executive Budget Proposal includes $6 million in ongoing resources to further these efforts and help more people struggling with addiction access treatment.

Strengthening Education

Also required under the law, health profession licensing boards now require at least three hours of opioid-related Continuing Medical Education for doctors who are licensed to prescribe opioids. Medical students are also required to take three hours of opioid-related courses to ensure they are equipped with up-to-date information.



Additionally, the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) developed and implemented the Pain and Addiction Curriculum. The curriculum prepares medical school students to:

Treat opioid use disorder with medication assisted therapy,

Manage patients with chronic pain,

Utilize appropriate prescribing practices,

And utilize an integrated approach.

To date, more than 70 percent of graduate and undergraduate medical programs in Arizona have adopted the curriculum.

Hotline For Clinicians

In March 2018, ADHS in partnership with Arizonas Poison and Drug Information Centers launched The Opioid Assistance and Referral (OAR) Line to ensure those handling opioids have the resources they need to assist patients impacted by opioid use disorder. The phone line is a free, 24/7 hotline for health care clinicians to call for clinical consultation on patients with complex pain or opioid use disorder. Those in need of services can reach the line at 1-888-688-4222.
Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Praveen Darekar, on Tuesday said the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is not against any community.

The BJP leader also said refugees migrated to India due to religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh will benefit from this act.

"This law is not going to take away anyone's citizenship for sure, but rather will grant citizenship," he said while addressing a rally organised by the BJP in Talasari area in Palghar district neighbouring Mumbai.

Darkar also said that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise has to be done every ten years as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court.

He said some "anti-national" people are trying to "sabotage" the NRC exercise through a "false propaganda".

Darekar also asked Muslims, who participated in the pro-CAA rally, to come forward and discuss their doubts with authorities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A consensus is forming that Labours policies at the election were popular  it is just that there were too many of them; or that the party couldnt be trusted to deliver them; or that Jeremy Corbyn was unpopular; or that Brexit was too much of a distraction. It is possible, though, that Labours radical economic programme wasnt actually popular when it came to the test. People say they want to nationalise the railways and abolish student fees, but when presented with these policies as a prospectus for an alternative government, they voted against it.

I wonder if this means something more fundamental is going on: that opposing capitalism is fashionable, but, when it came to it, Corbyns Labour had no idea whether to replace it, and if so with what, or to reform it, and if so in what way. It is possible that this election was a battle of ideas  a rare thing in pragmatic British politics  and that, despite Corbyns vainglorious claim to have won the arguments, it was a battle that Labour comprehensively lost.

People dont vote for big ideas, but sometimes they vote for leaders who believe in big ideas. Capitalism is a big idea, and Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party believe in it. But anti-capitalism isnt a big idea, unless the alternative is defined. Corbyn never got beyond protesting against the iniquities of the market, while John McDonnell, his shadow chancellor, who was often portrayed as a serious ideologue, never set out what Marxists would call an analysis of the economy, let alone an alternative to the status quo.

When pressed, McDonnell was practised at deflection. He would sometimes call himself a Marxist, knowing well that the term is now so broad that it includes Professor Norman Geras, who, before he died in 2013, was one of Corbyn and McDonnells most strenuous critics. At other times, McDonnell would play the game of claiming that Labours programme in 2017 and 2019 was mainstream and fiscally responsible. I dont think he went so far as to describe it as social democracy, but many Corbynite outriders did.

Or he would use humour. In Whos Who he lists fermenting the overthrow of capitalism as his hobby. Depending on who is asking, he dismisses this as a jokey reference to his love of homebrewing, or says defiantly, Yes, I want to move on from capitalism.

But what does moving on from capitalism mean? We were never told. The Labour manifestos under Corbyn and McDonnell promised to nationalise a lot of companies, but that would not be the end of capitalism. All the candidates for public ownership  rail, mail, energy and water  were in the public sector for the four decades after the war, and capitalism was not abolished in Britain then.

Hence McDonnells need to stress that, this time, nationalisation would be different. The old Morrisonian model of nationalisation centralised too much power in a few hands in Whitehall, he said. And yet he never explained how his model would be different, apart from vague words about workers control and democratisation of the entire economy.

When it came down to it, Labours radical economic programme for the election failed the popularity test (AFP/Getty) (AFP via Getty Images)

It was left to McDonnells ideological enemies, such as Daniel Finkelstein of The Times, to piece together the clues from the record. In one interview, for example, McDonnell said he had suggested that Tom Scholar, the top Treasury civil servant, should read Ralph Milibands Socialism for a Sceptical Age to prepare for the incoming Labour government.

This was a revealing choice. Miliband, who did not believe there was a parliamentary road to socialism, wrote: Socialism entails the coming into being of a socialised economy, in which at least the preponderant part of the means of economic activity, notably the commanding heights of the economy, would come under various forms of public or social ownership.

In Britain, it is time for the Labour Party to stop pretending it is going to end capitalism, and to start talking about how the failures of the market can be remedied

In the book, Miliband declares that social democracy is not an alternative to capitalism, but a certain kind of adaptation to it. I take socialism, without inverted commas, to mean on the contrary a fundamental recasting of the social order.

This was the vacuum at the centre of Corbyns Labour: that its rhetoric promised a fundamental recasting of the social order, while its manifesto offered little more than the reheated social democracy of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

What Corbyns anti-capitalist alternative lacked in specifics, it sought to make up for in scale. The sheer size of the nationalisation programme, and of the accompanying increase in public spending, seemed designed to persuade the voters of Labours radicalism by shocking them into admiration.

Some of the boldness was admirable, such as McDonnells claim (Corbyn didnt seem to understand it) that taking such vast companies into the public sector would cost the taxpayer nothing. Broadly, this is true, in that the government would borrow the money, paying zero real interest, and acquire an asset. The net effect on the public sector balance sheet would be neutral. There would be a cost to the public purse over time only if revenues fell or costs rose  both of which would be likely, but that is another argument.

Labours manifestos under Corbyn and McDonnell promised mass nationalisation. But that would not end capitalism (Getty) (Getty Images)

And some of the boldness made so little sense that it simply failed to compute. While McDonnell was happy to borrow for capital investment  as indeed, on a more normal scale, was Johnson  he insisted that increases in day-to-day spending had to be paid for by tax rises. The spending increases promised in 2017 were vast enough, but this time they were doubled to 83bn a year. These were to be paid for partly by higher income tax on the best-off 5 per cent of the population, but most of the money would be raised by taxing companies. This didnt attract much attention, possibly because the sums involved were so large, but it meant that, for every 7 currently raised in tax, Labour planned to raise another 1. Two thirds of this would come from companies, and ultimately that money would have to come from somewhere else: shareholders, employees and customers.

When McDonnell was asked about this in the election campaign he refused to accept that the cost would be passed on to employees and customers: Well make sure that actually the corporations themselves do not take that easy option of cutting wages or raising prices.

Thus he rather quickly found himself with state control as the only instrument at his disposal. Instead of an alternative to capitalism, he seemed to be proposing a capitalist economy struggling to operate under a burden of heavy taxes and government diktat.

Labour presented the option to nationalise railways and abolish student fees in their manifesto, but the public voted against it (Getty) (Getty Images)

Jeremy Corbyns Labour Party wanted to offer a world transformed, but it was not serious about it. Corbyn generally stayed at the level of generalities and platitude; and sometimes also retreated to humour, once telling photographers jostling for position: You see, under socialism you will all cooperate. For the outriders, anti-capitalism was a kitsch pose: Aaron Bastani with his Fully Automated Luxury Communism; Ash Sarkar with her Im literally a communist performance art.

The only one who was remotely serious was Owen Jones, who once wrote a good book, Chavs, about prejudice against working-class people. But he was hardly a theoretician of the socialist alternative. Paul Mason, the former Channel 4 economics editor, tried to be, with his 2015 book Postcapitalism, which had some interesting things to say about future economic trends, but dissolved into goo when it tried to describe how a non-capitalist society might work.

It is easy enough to see why capitalism is unpopular. The financial crisis and the stringency in the public finances that followed; the feeling that somebody must be to blame, and that they, the bankers and the rest of the 1 per cent, got away with it

Nor did the convoy of academic economists gathered by McDonnell produce any work of practical use to a putative anti-capitalist Labour government. All they managed was to underline the conventional view that there was nothing wrong with governments borrowing for investment at a time of low real interest rates. As this has now been taken up by Sajid Javid, its revolutionary shock value has been rather diminished.

It is easy enough to see why capitalism is unpopular. The financial crisis and the stringency in the public finances that followed; the feeling that somebody must be to blame, and that they, the bankers and the rest of the 1 per cent, got away with it. That means there is a market for fierce denunciations, and that people who talk about overthrowing the system or the establishment gain a hearing. They sound more energetic than the social democrats derided by Ralph Miliband; and in any case, had the social democrats not been in charge of the Labour government when the crash happened? (Yes, they had, and they did exactly the right things, nationalising the banks and saving capitalism from its excesses, but this is about who can sound angrier, not who is right.)

Yet do most people believe that capitalism is a single system, or a single ideology, that is imposed on them? I dont think so. And I doubt that they think it can or should be replaced by an alternative system involving the abolition of money and private property, and holding everything in common, which is what some forms of socialism imply.

Rainer Zitelmann, the German advocate of free-market economics, said in his book published last year, The Power of Capitalism: Capitalism has grown historically, in much the same way as languages have developed over time as the result of spontaneous and uncontrolled processes. He compares socialism to Esperanto, a planned language that failed to gain the global penetration its inventors were hoping for.

Zitelmann uses the word capitalism as propaganda and provocation, but he is right that it is a description of the chaotic way the world has become richer, healthier and more populous than ever, rather than a system built according to an ideology. Of course, it has cultures, values and ideologies within it, but these ideologies are competing tendencies seeking to adjust the world as it is, ranging from economic liberals to social democrats. When you look for an alternative to capitalism, there is no Esperanto of economics  and if there was, it wouldnt work. There is no there there.

When you look for an alternative to capitalism, there is no Esperanto of economics  and if there was, it wouldnt work. There is no there there

Thus the paradox of China, the most vibrant capitalist society on Earth, which still uses the language of communism at the highest level. Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, recently declared: Capitalism is inevitably dying and socialism is inevitably winning This is an irreversible general trend in the development of history.

That is the kind of thing you can say only in a country that is not a democracy. In Britain, it is time for the Labour Party to stop pretending it is going to end capitalism, and to start talking about how the failures of the market can be remedied. The party needs to put behind it the woolly thinking that has clouded its judgement since the financial crisis. In 2010-15, Ed Miliband made a lot of speeches about how bad capitalism was, dividing companies into predators and producers. These paved the way for the party to elect a leader who basically thinks all private sector companies are predators.

They are all still at it, but at least they are now moving back to the economy as it is, rather than offering some dream state over the horizon.

But what about Labours unexpected success in the 2017 election, depriving the Conservatives of their majority? Did that not suggest that the voters did after all believe that another future is possible, the Corbynite slogan adapted by Keir Starmer for his leadership campaign? I dont think so. The iron fact of the 2017 campaign was that no one thought Labour was going to win. A Labour vote, therefore, was a cost-free protest against a Conservative government whose leader had turned out to be such a disappointment that the mood of the electorate was to deny her the greater power she sought.

Ed Milibands speeches about how bad capitalism was paved the way for the party to later elect Corbyn (Getty) (Getty Images)

Of course, the 2019 election was about other things, above all Brexit, and the voters views of Corbyn had developed not necessarily to his advantage. But one important difference from 2017 was that the prospect of Corbyn as prime minister was taken seriously and so voters had to consider whether they really wanted his programme or not.

I am proud that on austerity, on corporate power, on inequality and on the climate emergency we have won the arguments and rewritten the terms of political debate, Corbyn wrote on the Saturday after the election. But on each point, the voters preferred the Conservatives amelioration to Labours radical but unconvincing change.

If there is an answer to the ills of capitalism, in my view, it is social democracy. These terms are imprecise, but Opinium asked an open question of the British public a year and a half ago: Do you have a positive or negative view of the following political ideologies or systems? Of the four choices, social democracy came top, with 46 per cent positive, 24 per cent negative (22 per cent net positive); liberal democracy came next, with 41 per cent positive, 30 per cent negative (11 per cent net positive).

Capitalism and socialism were both net negative, with socialism the least popular. Capitalism was 34 per cent positive, 41 per cent negative (7 per cent net negative); socialism 32 per cent positive, 43 per cent negative (11 per cent net negative).

It turned out that in the election, Boris Johnson offered something closer to social democracy than Corbyn did.

The British people sensed that Corbyn and McDonnell werent serious; that they didnt know what they were doing; and that they had no idea what they meant when they said  it was the title of the manifesto  its time for real change. Let us hope that the Labour Party comes to appreciate the value of trying to make capitalism fairer and greener instead of trying to replace it with something that doesnt exist.
Inside Hook

Apologies to everyone whose New Years resolution was to drink more water, because according to the internet, drinking water is out.

While for years water was hailed as the celebrity panacea for weight loss, glowing skin, eternal youth, etc., #NoWater has taken over  and its not just an intentionally dangerous Gen-Z trend like eating Tide Pods. Rather, as Vice UK reported, the advice to ditch water is coming from wellness influencers who actually recommend abstaining from the clear stuff in the name of health.
Almost nine years after the fact, the driver of the van that killed York Regional Police Const. Garrett Styles has finally admitted responsibility for pressing the gas and causing the ensuing fatal crash.

S.K., whose name is protected by a court order given he was 15 at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty to manslaughter Monday at Newmarket Courthouse, months after the court of appeal ordered a new trial in October 2019.

Justice Michelle Fuerst sentenced S.K. to two years probation and a two-year partial driving ban after both sides agreed on the punishment.

It comes after a protracted 2015 trial in which S.K. and his legal team repeatedly claimed he depressed the gas pedal by accident, intending to hit the brake.

Despite that testimony, S.K. was convicted of first-degree murder, but not given a custodial sentence after Justice Alex Sosna suggested he was already serving a life sentence, imprisoned in his wheelchair.

A new trial was ordered after it was found the jury was not warned to take into consideration S.K.s level of maturity at the time.

This hearings agreed statement of facts detail a teen first nabbed by police driving his parents car in January 2011 at age 14.

Although he initially lied to the officer in that incident, he eventually relented and was taken home to his parents and given a ticket for driving without a licence.

Although he stopped taking the vehicle for about six months, at age 15, he was at it again, texting his friend I can take out the van LOL.

In the hours leading up to the June 2011 crash, S.K. snuck out at 1 a.m. while his parents slept and hung out with friends at Upper Canada Mall parking lot, and then Tim Hortons.

At 4:30 a.m., he decided to depart so he could have the car back by 5 a.m.

On their way to drop off the groups lone girl, S.K.s vehicle was pulled over by Styles.

S.K. provided him with his cousins name and address.

Worried about his parents reaction, S.K. refused to comply with Styles directions to exit the vehicle.

Although Styles opened the door, his hand was blocked by S.K. when he went to reach for the keys.

When Styles undid S.K.s seatbelt, S.K. pressed the gas of the Dodge minivan, which was already in drive.

As they drove down the road with Styles body half inside the vehicle, half outside, he threatened to shoot S.K. if he didnt stop.

Despite protests from the other passengers, S.K. continued, eventually hitting a hill, going airborne, and rolling the van.

Styles was flung from the van and would eventually end up crushed by it.

His final words were caught on tape after calling for help on his police radio.

Ive got a van on my waist, he said. I dont know. It hurts, and, ah, I got these people inside the van. I dont know how theyre doing.

Although the other teenagers were not seriously hurt in the collision, S.K. was paralyzed and is in a wheelchair.

After five months in hospital, he remains partially paralyzed from the neck down and although he can move his hands, he cannot move his fingers.

Assistant Crown attorney Rob Scott said there were four reasons why they decided to accept the plea: 1. The court of appeal questioned whether a 15-year-old could have known his actions would have caused Styles eventual death; 2. the Styles family was intent on seeing the case completed; 3. S.K. finally admitted to intentionally driving away; and 4. S.K. had essentially served his initial sentence (a conditional supervision) prior to the plea being heard in court.

Alexandra Mamo, for the defence, said any suggestion that S.K. was not contrite is simply not true.

S.K. said two families have been destroyed by his actions and at one point spoke directly to Styles children, saying that what happened to their father was an accident.

My paralyzed body will act as a daily reminder, he said. I would trade my life for officer Styles life if it was an option. I am very sorry. I hope the end of this will shed a little light for all of you.

He recited the Mahatma Gandhi quote an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind and suggested hes better off trying to help society rather than being locked up.

I guess I could be in jail instead of doing good, but I would only be a burden to the system, he said.

S.K., who now has his drivers licence and currently attends university, will not be allowed to drive for anything other than medical appointments for the first year of his partial driving ban.

For the second year, he will not be able to drive anywhere other than medical appointments and university.
Team creates game-based virtual archaeology field school

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Before they can get started at their field site - a giant cave studded with stalactites, stalagmites and human artifacts - 15 undergraduate students must figure out how to use their virtual hands and tools. They also must learn to teleport. (VIDEO)

This is ANTH 399, a course designed to bring the archaeological field school experience to undergraduate students who never leave campus. Designed by University of Illinois professors and computer science graduate students, the course satisfies the field school requirement for those pursuing an archaeology degree at Illinois.

"Field school is a requirement of most archaeological programs across the country," said Illinois anthropology professor Laura Shackelford, who led development of the class with U. of I. education policy, organization and leadership professor Wenhao David Huang and computer science graduate student Cameron Merrill. "But traveling to a field school site can cost anywhere from $500 to $5,000."

This, and the fact that traditional field school expeditions are often scheduled during breaks, makes it difficult or impossible for many students to attend - cutting them off from the study of archaeology altogether.

"This class makes it possible for many more students to get an education or explore a career in archaeology," Shackelford said. The class is also accessible to students with physical limitations who are unable to travel to or navigate a field site.

The virtual cave is modeled in part on a real cave that was excavated in the 1930s. It contains both ancient and more recent human artifacts, all of which are accessible to students who dig in the right place.

The students learn the archaeological techniques required in any excavation. They set up a research grid on the cave floor and systematically locate and record any artifacts they find on the surface. They draw a map with all of the surface details and then decide where to excavate. They take photos of special features or finds. They dig. They collect artifacts. They conduct laboratory analyses. They keep track of their progress in a field notebook.

All of these tasks are accomplished in the virtual world.

Building this virtual archaeological experience is a computational and creative challenge, said computer science graduate student Merrill, the lead programmer on the project. This class is his doctoral thesis.

"You can't just import lectures into VR and expect to have good results," Merrill said. "We're not creating a 3D model viewer for looking at artifacts or to tour an existing site. We're trying to build an immersive educational experience."

Students need to feel they are actually engaged in excavating a cave, he said. It's also important for them to use realistic tools to accomplish the tasks at hand.

But designing virtual tools for an archaeological dig is tricky, Merrill said.

"A lot of the challenge has to do with the trade-off between making something as realistic as possible versus making something more accessible to people," he said. For example, the designers created a virtual tape measure that requires two hands to operate. But reading tiny measurements in the virtual world is problematic, so a pop-up screen shows the user the readout on the tape.

Virtual digging was another challenge.

"We needed to simulate dirt that the students can modify in real time," Merrill said. "But simulating something like soil is very computationally complex."

The team came up with a solution that allows students to extract the dirt in chunks that reflect the light in a realistic manner. The design also incorporates haptic feedback, so that students can "feel" the solidity and texture of the dirt when they make contact.

The team uses insights from game design to engage the students, Shackelford said.

"We're giving them less instruction and providing multiple scenarios," she said. "And so it's possible different teams of students will experience different things."

The students choose where to dig, which influences the information they gather - or miss, Shackelford said. And there are risks, too. Dig too far into a wall and it might collapse.

In the first iteration of the class held last year, students gave the designers immediate feedback about how the tools worked or didn't work, allowing Merrill and his colleagues to tweak them. He and his colleagues have created more than 110 artifacts, many of which are virtual versions of actual relics in the university's collections.

"When we want them to learn how to do some ceramic analysis and sorting, we'll bring the real things to class and they'll be going back and forth between the real and virtual worlds," Shackelford said.

The students work in pairs, taking turns in the virtual world while their partner guides them, following their progress on a computer monitor and stopping them from bumping into any real-world objects. The excavations lead to laboratory work, which also occurs in the virtual realm, Shackelford said.

"There's a lab on faunal analysis, there's a lab on pollen analysis," she said. "They're doing ceramic sorting and identification. They're doing seriation, which is putting things in the correct chronological order."

They also learn stratigraphy, the art of reading how layers of soil were deposited over time.

"The pattern and the timing of that deposition of soil tells us a lot about how a site was formed, Shackelford said.

The team is evaluating the efficacy of the program to determine if the skills the students learn are equivalent to those obtained in a real-world dig. In the earlier version of the class, professors took the students to a real-world "mock excavation" site near campus at the end of the semester. This site allowed the students to excavate in real dirt, testing their VR-acquired skills and understanding.

"We found that a lot of things that were frustrating for students in the virtual reality world were just as frustrating in the real world," Shackelford said. "And with a little practice and self-correction, they were able to do everything that we asked them to."

###

The researchers presented VRchaeology to an audience of anthropologists at the 2020 meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology in Boston. Shackelford also is a professor in the Carle Illinois College of Medicine.

The National Science Foundation supports this work.

Editor's notes:

To reach Laura Shackelford, call 217-265-6741; email llshacke@illinois.edu.

To reach David Huang, email edhuang@illinois.edu.

To reach Cameron Merrill, email cmm2@illinois.edu.

More information about VRchaeology is available online. [LINK: https:/ / www. vrchaeology. com/ ]

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Tracerplus PTS is able to provide our customers with end-to-end support while also providing an extremely powerful, flexible and elegant software tool that addresses key RFID applications.

Portable Technology Solutions, LLC (PTS), a provider of mobile data collection software and systems, has announced that it's TracerPlus mobile software now supports Alien Technologys ALR-H460 portable, rugged RFID reader.

TracerPlus is the leading software for mobile applications in our market, said Terry Pruett, Vice President of Marketing and Global Reader Products at Alien Technology. Its a very versatile package. PTS is able to provide our customers with end-to-end support while also providing an extremely powerful, flexible and elegant software tool that addresses key RFID applications. We value our relationship with PTS, and consider support for our products within TracerPlus to be a vital part of our success with this new reader.

TracerPlus is enterprise-class mobile and RFID software that is compatible with a broad range of consumer and professional hardware. TracerPlus can be configured to any users precise needs with absolutely no programming required.

The Alien ALR-H460 is an Android-based portable data collection device with an ergonomic design and an IP64 sealing for dust and water resistance. In addition to reading RFID tags, the device can also read most 1D and 2D barcodes.

The ALR-H460 is targeted at warehouse, logistics, and manufacturing applications in the retail industry. The portable reader is part of Alien Technologys complete range of passive, GS1-based RFID products, including both tags and readers.

PTS is very selective about the RFID hardware that we choose to support, said Brad Horn, CEO and co-founder of PTS. Our developer and reseller partners have been very impressed and excited about the new Alien ALR-H460 device. Coupling our software with this new portable RFID reader and Alien Technologys expertise in RFID chipsets and tags creates a very powerful solution for end-users.

Combining the TracerPlus software with the Alien Technology reader provides a simple, cost-effective way to migrate to an Android-based data collection and RFID environment for roughly the same level of investment as deploying new rugged barcode terminals. For companies that need to upgrade existing Windows-based data collection environments, this approach would not only reduce deployment costs but also enable new, RFID-based applications.

In terms of performance and price point, Alien Technology really hit it out of the park with this new device, Horn continued. With so many anticipating our partnership we expect a lot of demand and successful deployments with the ALR-H460 running TracerPlus applications.

PTS and Alien Technology have already tested the integrated solution with one customer. Support for the ALR-H460 in the current version of TracerPlus is now available upon request, and will be generally available beginning in Q1 2020.

TracerPlus 10.2 is available for free trial download at the TracerPlus website.

About PTS

Portable Technology Solutions, LLC (PTS) is a leading provider of user-configurable, data collection software and systems with over 8,000 active customers. As developers of TracerPlus mobility software and ClearStream fixed RFID software, PTS provides solutions for any kind of organization, any type of system and any budget. PTS solutions require no programming experience, enabling users of any ability to configure, deploy and use.

Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Calverton, NY, Portable Technology Solutions also maintains an active presence in Europe and partners with hardware manufacturers, worldwide distributors and OEM solution providers. For additional information visit  https://www.tracerplus.com and https://www.clearstreamrfid.com

About Alien Technology

Founded in 1994, Alien Technology, LLC is a passive RFID industry pioneer and leading provider of high-quality RFID innovations, technologies and products. Alien enables the Identification of Things (IoT) through the provision of UHF passive RFID transceiver chips, tags, inlays and labels, fixed & mobile readers and a full range of related professional services.

Alien Gen 2 products, along with software solutions from the industrys foremost partner network, help solve business problems for customers thus improving closed-loop and supply chain systems. These solutions are implemented in industries such as consumer packaged goods, retail apparel, manufacturing, transportation, airports and cargo logistics, government and defense and more. Aliens facilities include corporate headquarters in San Jose, CA; the Alien RFID Solutions Center in the Dayton, OH region; and sales offices in Brazil, China, Italy and Singapore. Alien is a member of EPCglobal, GS1 and RAIN. For additional information, visit https://www.alientechnology.com/
Rachel Williams, a small animal surgery resident, and Lillian Aronson, professor of surgery, greet Natalia Gomez, Felipe Sinisterra, and Billy, a bull terrier, for a follow-up appointment at Penn Vet in Philadelphia, Pa., on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020. Read more

The doctors and staff at the University of Pennsylvanias Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital are used to seeing and doing some amazing things.

But when one special patient came back for a check-up Monday after two surgeries and nearly three weeks in intensive care, a posse of veterinary staff, including two surgeons, packed an exam room to welcome their tail-wagging former patient and his very grateful owners.

Meet Billy, Philly wonder dog, gunshot survivor, and hero.

Hes really almost a miracle, said Rachel Williams, a veterinary surgical resident.

It took a dedicated veterinary trauma staff and an internet full of animal lovers to come through for this brave dog.

Shortly before 2 a.m. on Jan. 14, Felipe Sinisterra and his partner, Natalia Gomez, were walking Billy, their 5-year-old bull terrier, near their West Philadelphia home when they were confronted by two armed men.

Sinisterra, 25, fresh off a night shift at Royal Izakaya, a Queen Village sushi restaurant, handed over his cell phone. But Billy, a gift from Sinisterras grandmother for his 20th birthday, sensed that his people were in danger. He started barking.

He was trying to protect us, Sinisterra said.

The gunmen opened fire, hitting Billy in the chest. They fled the corner of 48th Street and Osage Avenue with an accomplice in a white Honda.

 READ MORE: Veterinarians are dying by suicide at high rates, beset by stress, death, and debt

Fortunately, a police officer was nearby. With a police escort to clear the way, Billy was rushed to Ryan Hospital, where emergency services staff moved quickly to resuscitate and stabilize the canine  he had lost about a third of his blood  while surgeons Williams and Lillian Aronson set out to save his life.

He really took a hard hit with that bullet, said Aronson, a professor of surgery with Penns vet school.

The bullet that hit Billy tore through his heart, left lung, diaphragm, liver, stomach, and spleen before ripping out through his left side. He had to lose portions of some those organs during surgery. But he survived that surgery and a second operation as well.

 READ MORE: Thanks to 3D-assisted surgery, this dog survived to comfort his grieving family

During Billys hospital stay, about 30 people helped care for him.

It wasnt one person who saved this dogs life, said Aronson. It really was a team.

Billys people were there much of the time, too, with toys, treats, and love.

There wasnt a day they werent at the hospital, Williams said.

But care for such massive injuries comes at a steep price. So Sinisterra started a GoFundMe account.

Billy is my name. Im a hero. I just need a chance, the page stated.

Dog lovers from as far away as California have stepped up, raising nearly $22,000. Sinisterra said Billys bill is now up to about $48,000. The GoFundMe page is still active, and Penn Vets emergency fund will also help.

Since Billy is a young dog, and his prognosis is good, our charitable care fund helps offset some of those costs, said Penn Vet spokesperson Martin Hackett. Billys GoFundMe page, our charitable care fund, and payments the family has made to date have significantly reduced Mr. Sinisterras out-of-pocket expenses.

To Sinisterra, whatever it costs to help Billy is worth it.

Its immeasurable  to have my best friend back, he said.

The men who shot Billy have not been caught. What Sinisterra focuses on are all the good people  the staff at Ryan, the many people who donated, and the still others who have offered their support.

A lot of people have helped Billy  a lot of help and a lot of energy for his recovery, Sinisterra said.

On Monday, Billy was pretty close to being his paw-shaking, tail-wagging, happy self, enjoying the love from the humans who saved him.

Hes still on antibiotics, but he barely flinched while getting over 100 staples taken out Monday. If anything, his owners have had to rein in his playfulness a bit. Hes enjoying his favorite home cooking again, not to mention his spot back in his owners bed.

And thats just fine by them.

I belong to him, Sinisterra said, chuckling. He rescued me.
Page Content





The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department from the Sint Maarten Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA), after receiving the maritime health declaration prior to the vessels arrival, consulted with departmental health officials and an epidemiologist regarding four documented and reported cases of persons being ill onboard the vessel with gastroenteritis and (presented with-) fever.





As part of CPSs increased surveillance activities (Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), health officials inquired about the travel history of those who are ill, on whether they had recently traveled or lived in China or had any close physical contact with a confirmed case of 2019-nCoV infection, and there was no evidence of the aforementioned. The decision taken to allow passengers and crew to disembark are based on facts and sound medical advice.





The public health of the people of Sint Maarten are a top priority of Ministry VSA, and the Government remains fully engaged on the issue of infection prevention and control of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus and will do all that is necessary to ensure the health and safety of Sint Maarteners.





Officials of the Ministry of Public Health have already held discussions with Port St. Maarten officials and representatives of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) regarding protocols that have been put in place for cruise ships such as pre-boarding measures and onboard protocols for handling infectious diseases that are also in alignment with the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC).





The disembarkation of cruise passengers from AIDA Perla on Tuesday are based on the following guidelines: all sick persons remain quarantined as internationally recommended according to IHR; provide hand sanitizers in strategic areas of the ship and at points of disembarkation and embarkation of passengers and crew; increase and maintain preventive and sanitation measures; and increase awareness amongst the cruise passengers and crew about proper and continuous hand washing/hygiene, cough and sneeze etiquette.





AIDA Perla is on a two-week Caribbean cruise after leaving La Romana, Dominican Republic on January 23. The vessel has already visited Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Guadeloupe. A number of ports did not allow the vessel to dock such as St. Lucia, Dominica and Antigua.





The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has stated that the Caribbean region has no confirmed cases or reports of the respiratory illness Coronavirus 2019-nCoV, and based on current information, the immediate health risk from this virus to the general public remains low.





AIDA Perla is scheduled to return to the Dominican Republic on February 6.





The cruise ship can carry 3400 passengers and 900 crew.





Ministry VSA continues to follow guidance from its regional and international partners concerning the Coronavirus 2019-nCoV as information becomes available from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). On an international level, the situation is constantly evolving.





For more information, you can call CPS 542-1322, 1122, 1222, 1570 or email surveillance@sintmaartengov.org





The cruise ship AIDA Perla was allowed to berth along the Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facilities on Tuesday morning after the vessels maritime health declaration submitted to the Ministry of Public Health was in line with International Health Regulations (IHR) and local health sector regulations (Public Health Ordinance of Sint Maarten) and protocols.
Harris County law enforcement officials on Tuesday will begin a cite and release program that treats some misdemeanor charges like court citations for speeding tickets, just days after the district attorneys office said it could not fully comply with the initiative.

The program, which applies to six charges handled in Harris Countys misdemeanor courts, comes amid countywide discussions about bail reform and over-incarceration, as well as District Attorney Kim Oggs repeated requests that Harris County Commissioners Court fund more prosecutors for her office.

The Harris County Sheriffs Office is the first policing agency in the area that is reported to be participating in the program approved by a working group that includes judges. After voicing concerns in a letter to the sheriff, Oggs office agreed to the new procedures.

Oggs office sent the Chronicle a copy of the letter but declined further comment.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez noted that Harris County is behind the curve on using cite and release, as other Texas counties began employing it after the state Legislature in 2007 authorized such programs. The hope is that fewer bookings will allow deputies to have more time to patrol neighborhoods, while people who are eligible can stay with their families and keep going to work, he said.

This administrative policy should help reduce our pre-trial county jail population and provide local costs savings to taxpayers, the sheriff said. Citations can divert lower risk individuals from detention, reserving limited space and resources for more dangerous individuals.

The class A and B misdemeanor charges that apply are criminal mischief, $100-$750; graffiti, $100-$2,500; theft, $100-$750; theft of service $100-$750; contraband in a correctional facility; and driving while license invalid.

If a resident is stopped on one of those offenses, the sheriffs office will run a check for active warrants and contact the district attorneys office to see if the person is eligible for cite and release, according to an internal memo about the procedures.

Once prosecutors accept the charges, the deputy completes the citation as long as its signed off by the defendant. The suspect is given a court date on the spot and then released.

Initial court hearings in cite and release cases will be on a docket in a newly formed court. Each will proceed in one of the 16 County Criminal Courts at Law. Only Harris County residents over the age of 17 are eligible, according to the sheriffs office memo.

The cite and release initiative is is being introduced in Harris County as officials seek to repair the misdemeanor bail system, which a federal judge ruled unconstitutional for keeping people in jail on low-level offenses because they couldnt afford to post bail.

Judge Darrell Jordan, who presides over the Criminal Courts at Law, said the new program stemmed from Harris Countys blue wave in 2018, which elected only Democratic judges to local benches.

Those judges, who initiated the cite and release work group, last week encountered some pushback.

Oggs first assistant district attorney, David Mitcham, wrote the sheriff on Jan. 30 that the office couldnt entirely follow the approved protocol.

Mitcham proposed some changes and sought to clarify in a Jan. 31 letter, stating that the DAs office didnt have the proper technology for cite and release and that the staff needed to process the charges, track the cases and appear in the new citation court dockets.

The district attorneys office changed course before the end of the day, according to a third letter that Mitcham wrote to Gonzalez. After hearing that the sheriff would still pursue the program as planned, he said, prosectors would fully participate under the procedures created by the working group.

But he said he hoped the sheriffs office would support them in an upcoming request for more attorneys.

We will be submitting a request to Commissioners Court next week for appropriate staffing and infrastructure resources to support the pilot cite and release project, Mitcham said in the third note. We anticipate and appreciate your support of our request.

Jordan said he felt more prosecutors didnt seem necessary for this initiative.

The only difference here is that instead of arresting people, theyre getting a citation, he said. Why would you say you need more prosecutors for that?

Ogg has tried  and failed  multiple times to secure funding for more prosecutors. In one instance, several criminal justice advocacy groups criticized her for apparently using misleading data to justify one request.

The district attorneys office already uses a diversion program for misdemeanor marijuana possession, which is similar to cite and release in that its meant to keep defendants out of jail. But cite and release charges still move through the courts, while marijuana diversion helps anyone caught with less than 4 ounces of marijuana to avoid an arrest, ticket or court appearances if they agree to take a four-hour drug education class.

samantha.ketterer@chron.com
Rosario Dawson has spoken candidly about sexual assault she endured while growing up, in a new interview with Women's Health.

The 40-year-old actress, who adopted daughter Isabella in 2014, said that sharing joint therapy sessions with the 17-year-old has helped her face her own past.

'Ive learned so much about trauma, and Ive started looking at my own,' said the Sin City star in the magazine's February issue.

Raw: Rosario Dawson has spoken candidly about sexual assault she endured while growing up, in a new interview with Women's Health

Continued the Death Proof actress: 'My go-to place was being angry. I want to stop that.'

Dawson revealed in 2018 that she was sexually abused as a child at the hands of a family member.

Speaking on the Morado Lens podcast, the Kids actress revealed how the horrifying experience shaped her view of the world and how she wasn't surprised to see similar abuse in Hollywood.

'I was raped and molested as a child, so for me, the world was like that since I was a child' the Luke Cage star told hosts Cindy Rodriguez and Nathalie Farfan.

'So when I saw it in the workplace, it wasnt foreign to me. It was like, well, that even happens within family. It happens with people that are supposed to take care of you when youre a child.'

Candid: The 40-year-old actress, who adopted Isabella in 2014, said that sharing joint therapy sessions with her 17-year-old daughter has helped her face her own past

Breaking it down: 'Ive learned so much about trauma, and Ive started looking at my own,' said the Sin City star in the magazine's February issue

Dawson said that the therapy sessions have helped to strengthen her bond with Isabella, whom she adopted when the girl was 11 years old.

'She was a very whole person [when I adopted her]. Were building up trust even still.'

Another way she's helped build their relationship is by waiting to get Isabella a cell phone and keeping her off social media.

'I think it would have been difficult to bond so late in her life, and in our lives together, if wed had technology between us,' said the native New Yorker.

'My daughter looks me in the eye, and we talk to each other. I think thats important.'

One eye on the future: Dawson is currently dating former Presidential candidate Cory Booker, and spoke about their hopes for a future together. Seen together in October 2019

Optimistic: 'We are excited about what we can create togetherI feel a lot of life ahead of us,' said the star of The 25th Hour

Dawson is currently dating former Presidential candidate Cory Booker, and spoke about their hopes for a future together.

'We are excited about what we can create togetherI feel a lot of life ahead of us,' said the star of The 25th Hour.

'Its been beautiful feeling nurtured and taken care of. Ive never been this close to someone. We make sure we connect.'

'Thats something Ive taken for granted in the past.'

Dawson has previously dated director Danny Boyle, and actors Joshua Jackson and Jason Lewis.

She was also rumored to have briefly dated Jay-Z back in 2000.

History: Dawson has previously dated director Danny Boyle, and actors Joshua Jackson and Jason Lewis
County leaders are concerned about roads getting built, keeping residents off meth and finding more ways to better fund public safety.

They expressed their views Monday afternoon with Rep. Greg Gianforte, who was in Billings to meet with Yellowstone County commissioners and local law enforcement leaders. Gianforte has the stated goal of visiting each of Montana's 56 counties once a year.

However, that won't be the case next year. Gianforte is not seeking another term in the U.S. House and is instead running for the Montana governorship, which is up this year.

His meeting with Yellowstone County officials on Monday was friendly and casual, with Gianforte asking the men at the table what their concerns were and what he could do in Washington, D.C., to help.

"I'm here to listen," he told them.
Companies Received Similar Clearances Under Antitrust Laws in Certain International Jurisdictions



Transaction on Track to Close in the Second Half of 2020

Special Meeting of Stockholders Scheduled for February 20, 2020

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KEMET Corporation (KEMET) (NYSE: KEM) today announced the expiration of the required waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the HSR Act) in connection with the previously announced acquisition of KEMET by Yageo Corporation (TAIEX: 2327) (Yageo). KEMET also announced the expiration of the review period under the Austrian Cartel Act and the approval of the transaction by the German Federal Cartel Office.

Under the terms of the merger agreement announced on November 11, 2019, Yageo will acquire all of the outstanding shares of KEMETs common stock for US $27.20 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately US $1.8 billion, including the assumption of net debt. Both KEMET and Yageo have proven track records of completing major cross-border acquisitions and believe this transaction will generate greater value for customers and stockholders of both companies. This combination will create an industry leader in the $28 to $32 billion passive components industry, with combined annual revenues of approximately US $3 billion.1

The expiration of the waiting period under the HSR Act, the expiration of the waiting period under the Austrian Cartel Act and the approval of the transaction by the German Federal Cartel Office satisfy certain closing conditions of the pending transaction. The transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of 2020, remains subject to additional customary closing conditions and the receipt of the remaining required regulatory approvals, including approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The parties filing with CFIUS was accepted on January 23, 2020, which began a 45-day review period scheduled to conclude on March 9, 2020, and which may be extended. Additionally, the companies are seeking approval under applicable antitrust laws in China, Mexico and Taiwan, as well as approval from the Investment Commission, Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan. Following the consummation of the transaction, KEMET will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Yageo and KEMETs common stock will no longer be listed on any public market.

KEMET has scheduled a special meeting of KEMETs stockholders to be held on Thursday, February 20, 2020, at KEMETs headquarters, located at KEMET Tower, One East Broward Boulevard, First Floor, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301, at 9:00 a.m., Eastern Time, to vote on the proposed transaction, among other proposals. The KEMET board of directors recommends that stockholders vote FOR the proposal to adopt the merger agreement.

In connection with these announcements, KEMET will be filing supplemental proxy materials, which, when filed, can be found at https://ir.kemet.com/.

Citi is serving as financial advisor to Yageo, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Tsar & Tsai Law Firm in Taiwan served as legal advisors. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as financial advisor to KEMET and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is serving as legal advisor.

About KEMET

KEMETs common stock is listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol KEM (NYSE: KEM). At the Investor Relations section of our web site at http://www.KEMET.com/IR, users may subscribe to KEMET news releases and find additional information about our Company. KEMET offers its customers the broadest selection of capacitor technologies in the industry, along with an expanding range of sensors, actuators and electromagnetic compatibility solutions. KEMET operates manufacturing facilities, sales and distribution centers around the world. Additional information about KEMET can be found at http://www.KEMET.com.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements herein contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws about KEMETs financial condition and results of operations that are based on managements current expectations, estimates and projections about the markets in which KEMET operates, as well as managements beliefs and assumptions. Words such as expects, anticipates, believes, estimates or other similar expressions and future or conditional verbs such as will, should, would and could are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in, or implied by, such forward-looking statements.

This communication includes forward-looking statements relating to the proposed merger between KEMET and Yageo, including financial estimates and statements as to the expected timing, completion and effects of the proposed Merger. These estimates and statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially. Such estimates and statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of the proposed merger, including future financial and operating results, the combined companys plans, expectations and intentions, and other statements that are not historical facts. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of KEMETs management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties outside of KEMETs control. Actual results could differ materially based on factors including, but not limited to: (i) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement; (ii) the risk that KEMET stockholders may not approve the proposed merger; (iii) the risk that Yageo stockholders may not approve the proposed merger (if approval by Yageos stockholders is required by applicable law); (iv) the risk that the necessary regulatory approvals may not be obtained or may be obtained subject to conditions that are not anticipated; (v) inability to complete the proposed merger because, among other reasons, conditions to the closing of the proposed merger may not be satisfied or waived; (vi) uncertainty as to the timing of completion of the proposed merger; (vii) potential adverse effects or changes to relationships with customers, employees, suppliers or other parties resulting from the announcement or completion of the proposed merger; (viii) the effects that the failure to complete the merger would have on KEMETs financial condition and results of operations; (ix) the effects that business uncertainties and contractual restrictions related to the pendency of the merger may have on KEMETs business; (x) the inability of KEMET to pursue alternatives to the merger; (xi) the effect of current lawsuits against KEMET and its directors relating to the proposed merger and potential lawsuits that could be instituted against KEMET or its directors and officers, including the effects of any outcomes related thereto; or (xii) possible disruptions from the proposed merger that could harm KEMETs business, including current plans and operations.

Discussions of additional risks and uncertainties are contained in KEMETs filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect KEMETs judgment only as of the date hereof. KEMET undertakes no obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.





1 Yageo: For the last 12 months as of September 2019, the month prior to the initial transaction announcement on November 11, 2019 - $1.56 billion

KEMET: For the last 12 months as of September 2019, the month prior to the initial transaction announcement on November 11, 2019 - $1.38 billion




The outbreak of coronavirus in China has brought cross-border food trade with Indonesia to a complete halt. This has resulted in the price of garlic in the city of Padang in West Sumatra Province to rise significantly, even reaching 100%. This comes after the uncertainty following the coronavirus. We will stop food supply imports for the moment from the country that is infected by the virus, said Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto on Monday (February 3). Previously selling at around 25,000 to 30,000 rupiah per kilogram, garlic is currently being sold at 35,000 to 50,000 rupiah per kilogram. According to local reports, the supplies of imported garlic in the Kramat Jati Central Market in Jakarta also experienced shortage. The footage was recorded on Tuesday (February 4).
A cashless economy may not be in Oregons future.

Lawmakers are weighing whether to require businesses to accept cash.

The proposal has attracted opposition from business lobbyists, who testified Monday that retailers have many legitimate reasons not to accept cash, including security and efficiency.

But policies and practices that appear legitimate at first glance can still be exclusionary, said one of the bills top sponsors, Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Clackamas.

What were trying to address is essentially what some people would call, back-door discrimination, Bynum told The Oregonian/OregonLive before the House Judiciary hearing on the bill.

House Bill 4107, backed by many Democrats and three Republicans, would also outlaw discrimination based on someones hair style or type. Both types of bans -- on certain hairstyles or using cash -- have outsize impacts on people of color, Bynum and others testified.

People of color are 5 times more likely than white people not to have access to banks, Bynum said. More than 16 percent of African American families and 14 percent of Latino families were unbanked compared to 3 percent of white families in 2017, Bynum said, citing an FDIC study.

Nkenge Harmon Johnson, chief executive of Urban League of Portland, told lawmakers that when she encounters businesses that dont accept cash, she asks why. The reply is often that its easier, she said.

Well then, the question is, Easier for whom? Harmon Johnson said.

Bynum said the bill was also driven by data-privacy concerns.

Its the ability for people to buy the things are just basic things -- food, a cup of coffee -- without having to enter into a third-party financial relationship, she said.

If it passes, the measure would take effect in July 2021. But industry groups raised concerns about how the bill could affect them.

Anthony Smith, the Oregon director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said his group opposed the bill. He said some business owners actually prefer customers pay with cash. But other operators rarely make cash sales.

Deciding what type of payments to accept is driven by concerns about efficiency, safety and security and customer experience, he said.

Those are all reasons why a business, for very legitimate reasons, might go cashless, Smith said.

He also questioned why lawmakers want to exempt most public bodies and government agencies from the requirement to accept cash.

The law would also exclude roadside stands, mobile food carts and some airport businesses past security. It would not apply to purchases of fuel, rental deposits or sales that happen over the internet or by phone.

It would allow other businesses to refuse coins to cover transactions of $100 or more, or not to accept $50 or $100 bills.

Two insurance industry lobbyists testified that by law, insurance agencies could not accept cash for certain transactions. They asked lawmakers to add exemptions covering their industry into the bill.

Democratic Rep. Akasha Lawrence Spence said many businesses in her district, which covers downtown Portland, have gone cashless to prevent theft. She asked if the bill could be amended to take such concerns into account.

Bynum said she was willing to work on the bill to making sure we get to a yes.

Bynum said she believes the measure levels the playing field for businesses and customers. As a business owner herself, she said she wants to make sure everyone who walks into her McDonalds restaurants can make a purchase using what they have in their pocket.

As technology evolves, I think we have to stick with our values, Bynum said.

-- Molly Young

myoung@oregonian.com

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak, which has now assumed serious proportions with three positive cases and a total of 2,239 people under observation, the state government on Monday declared it as a state calamity.

Declaring the same at a press meet here, Health Minister KK Shailaja said that the move would help the government take stringent measures for the containment of the outbreak. According to the minister, despite repeated requests, some who had a travel history of visiting nCoV-notified places are yet to alert the health department and such people will have to be dealt with strongly.

The government is expecting more positive cases. A robust mechanism is in place to identify those who had a travel history of visiting nCoV-affected countries and their close contacts. The declaration of state calamity is not for panicking, it is for sensitising people against the virus, the minister said.

The minister said that though the health department has focused its full attention on Thrissur, Alappuzha and Kasaragod districts, where the positive cases have been reported, considering the serious situation, the remaining districts have also been put on alert. The department has so far traced 82 people who were in close contact with people who have been tested positive. Of these 40 are from Thrissur, the minister said.

The government will request the Ministry of Civil Aviation to hand over the details of those who had visited nCoV-notified places, especially Wuhan in China. The government also directed those officers, in the health department and other line departments, who are on leave to rejoin duty immediately. It has also been decided not to sent the collectors of some districts for the mandatory mid-career training programme in Mussoorie.

It has also been decided to provide psycho-social support to those who are now under surveillance and hospital isolation. For the same 178 counsellors has also been appointed, said Shailaja.

3 admitted to Alappuzha MCH

Alappuzha: Three persons were admitted to the isolation ward of the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital (MCH) with the symptoms of novel coronavirus (nCoV) infection on Monday. A bulletin issued by the district medical office said as many as 12 persons are under observation at the MCH and around 138 persons are in house quarantine. The health condition of the student who was tested positive for nCoV on Sunday is getting better, the bulletin said. Around 150 persons are under observation in district. As many as 20 samples, including 10 taken on Monday, were sent for testing to National Institute of Virology, Allapuzha. A total of 60 isolation rooms were arranged in government hospitals and 24 in private hospitals to manage the crisis, the bulletin said. Six ambulances have been arranged and 16 drivers were given training to handle suspected cases. A round-the-clock control room has already been opened in view of the nCoV scare. People who have returned from China and other foreign countries and are experiencing fever, cough or respiratory illness should immediately contact the Direct Intervention System for Health Awareness (DISHA), officials said. Contact numbers: 0471-2552056 (DISHA) and 0477-2237612 (control room, Alappuzha).
A Swiss tourist holidaying in Bali has been left horrified after stumbling upon the body of a Kiwi man who drowned in his hotel pool.

Adam Bascombe, from Dunedin in New Zealand, was found dead inside the resort swimming pool on Wednesday January 29.

The tourist who found Mr Bascombe's body reported it to staff, who called in a medical examiner to examine him, local media reported.

Scroll down for video

Adam Bascombe (pictured), from Dunedin in New Zealand, was found already dead in the hotel pool on Wednesday January 29

Chris Francis, one of Mr Bascombe's best friends who lives in Bali, created a GiveALittle page to help with costs of repatriating his body.

'Adam was a man who loved life. He was always full of energy and put others before himself,' Mr Francis said.

He shared a video of Mr Bascombe goofing around in the tribute post.

'His infectious laugh and charisma always made those around him feel welcomed... He had an extraordinary ability to look at the positive in any situation.

Mr Bascombe's friends described him as 'a man who loved life. He was always full of energy and put others before himself'

'But now we have lost that light from a truly loved human.'

Mr Francis has set a goal of $12,500 to help with the costs and has so far raised $9,000 in just three days.

He pleaded with friends to dig deep for a man 'who asked for nothing in his life, but left us too early and too tragically.'

The family hope to bury Mr Bascombe in New Zealand.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Feb. 4

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Over $1.4 billion has been allocated for the construction of the new administrative center of the Ahal region of Turkmenistan, Trend reports referring to a published Turkmen presidential order.

The funds are intended for the payment of the cost of deliveries of equipment and materials for the construction of facilities, residential buildings, internal and external electricity, gas and communications supply systems.

The construction will be carried out in the Gokdepe district of the Ahal region in stages: the first stage is planned until 2021, the second - in 2020-2022.

As many as 76 objects, including 68 residential buildings and eight administrative buildings, will be built as part of the first stage of the project.

During the second stage, it is planned to build 192 objects, including 131 luxury residential buildings and 61 offices of institutions and enterprises. There are also plans to build a complex of cottages.

Particular importance will be given to the introduction of digital systems, high technologies, the Turkmen Altyn Asyr TV channel reported.

The new administrative center is designed for more than 70,000 inhabitants. At a later stage, it is also planned to build over 400 cottages and multi-storey buildings, 10 kindergartens and 19 secondary schools in the center. A network of medical facilities, a drama theater, a library, a circus, a museum, sports complexes and an international higher school of horse breeding will be created as well.

Ashgabat city was the original administrative center of this region. Ashgabat later became a separate administrative unit, while Annau city in Bugdayly district was considered the center of the region not long ago.

Ahal region is located near the Turkmen-Iranian border, in the foothills of the Kopetdag mountain range.
OTTAWA - The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion overcame another legal hurdle Tuesday when the Federal Court of Appeal struck down a challenge filed by several British Columbia First Nations.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Pipe for the Trans Mountain pipeline is unloaded in Edson, Alta. on Tuesday June 18, 2019. The Federal Court of Appeal is set to release its decision on the latest challenge of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

OTTAWA - The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion overcame another legal hurdle Tuesday when the Federal Court of Appeal struck down a challenge filed by several British Columbia First Nations.

The court decided in a 3-0 ruling that cabinet's decision last June to approve the project a second time was reasonable under the law.

"For the reasons that follow, we conclude that there is no basis for interfering with the (cabinet's) second authorization of the project," the 95-page decision said.

In deciding that, the judges dismissed the four challenges from First Nations in British Columbia, who argued the government had already made up its mind to approve the project again before undertaking another Indigenous consultation process in 2018 and 2019.

The judges said "this was anything but a rubber-stamping exercise."

The court found the government made a genuine effort, listened to and considered concerns raised by First Nations, and sometimes agreed to accommodate those concerns, "all very much consistent with the concepts of reconciliation and the honour of the Crown."

They also say while it is true not all the concerns raised were accommodated, "to insist on that happening is to impose a standard of perfection," that is not required by law.

This is the second victory for the pipeline and its proponents in the last month. In mid-January, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the B.C. government could not regulate what flows through the pipeline because those that cross provincial borders are wholly within federal jurisdiction.

Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan said the government welcomes the ruling and believes it proves that if consultations and reviews are done properly, major projects can be built in Canada.

"This has worked out well," he said.

Minister of Finance Bill Morneau looks on as Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan responds to a question from the media in Ottawa, Tuesday, February 4, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

"The courts have acknowledged that we listened and that we want to do things right."

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said the project has been through years of "the most detailed and rigorous" environmental reviews and Indigenous consultations and pointed out there are many First Nations who back the project.

"It's a great day for Canada because it demonstrates that the vast majority of Indigenous groups will not have their voices ignored," he said. "It demonstrates that we do have the rule of law, that decisions can be made, that big projects can be completed."

Kenney said "it's time to get this pipeline built." Construction began in earnest on the project last fall, with the first lengths of pipe laid in December.

Leaders of the First Nations which brought the challenge last summer expressed disappointment in the outcome.

"Reconciliation stopped today," said Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation.

"We're still trudging forward. We always said that we would do what it takes to make sure that we stop this pipeline. We have proven that it's not in the best interest of our nations that are standing here, for Vancouver, for British Columbia, for Canada," he said.

"This government is incapable of making sound decisions for our future generations. So we are and we will. Even for their children, we will take those steps, to make sure that Canada stays the way it is."

Chief Lee Spahan of the Coldwater Indian Band said the route through the First Nation's territories is still to be determined and Canada has an ongoing duty to consult with it on the route and protection of its water.

The First Nations leaders said they are still consulting with their lawyers and councils to decide whether to seek leave to appeal of the decision in the Supreme Court of Canada, which they have 60 days to do, but they will continue to pursue all available legal options to fight the project.

Khelsilem, an elected councillor with the Squamish Nation, said court is not the only option because the Squamish never surrendered their lands or their rights to their territory.

"B.C. has a long history of civil disobedience," said Khelsilem.

In November 2016, the Liberal cabinet issued its first approval for the expansion, which will twin the existing pipeline and triple its capacity. That approval was struck down in August 2018 by the Federal Court of Appeal, which said the government's Indigenous consultation was lacking in some areas and that it had failed to fully account for impacts on marine life off the B.C. coast.

Ottawa then launched another round of consultations with Indigenous communities and asked the National Energy Board to look at marine life.

In June 2019, cabinet issued its second approval for the project. Following that, the Coldwater Indian Band, Squamish Nation, Tsleil-Waututh and a group of small First Nations in the Fraser Valley asked the court to review the decision a second time. The court refused to hear a challenge from environment groups seeking a review of the decision on environmental grounds but agreed to go ahead with the First Nations case.

Environment groups are asking for leave to challenge that decision to the Supreme Court.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has always maintained Canada has to balance between getting resources to market and protecting the environment.

He has promised every cent the government makes off the pipeline will be invested in a transition to renewable energy and clean technology. His government stepped in to buy the existing pipeline when political opposition from the B.C. government compelled Kinder Morgan Canada to bail on the expansion.

The government intends to eventually sell it back to the private sector, or Indigenous communities that have formed partnerships, once the project is completed.

O'Regan acknowledged there is work yet to do with First Nations.

"I want to say clearly to those who are disappointed with today's court decision: we see you and we hear you," he said. "As construction continues to move forward we will take every step that we can to ensure that this project moves forward in the right way."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2020.

 With files from Christopher Reynolds in Montreal and Laura Kane in Vancouver.
The slum rehabilitation authority (SRA) on Tuesday informed the Bombay high court (HC) that it has issued show-cause notices to Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) for termination of contracts of 24 redevelopment projects in the city.

Advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, who represented SRA, informed the bench of justice SC Dharmadhikari and justice Riaz Chagla that the realty group, whose promoters are facing criminal charges in the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank fraud case, has not completed the project beyond 1 or 2%. He added that HDIL was not in a position to complete the slum rehabilitation projects and therefore SRA issued show-cause notices for contract termination. SRA will terminate the contracts awarded to HDIL, if the realty firm fails to justify the delay in the implementation of the slum redevelopment schemes.

He was responding to a petition filed by 32 residents of Bharat Nagar in Bandra (East), where a major slum rehabilitation project had been undertaken by HDIL. The petitioners said they were declared eligible for rehabilitation under the scheme and had vacated their respective structures between 2006 and 2008. Though initially HDIL would pay them the transit rent, the real estate firm later stopped paying the amount to the petitioners. The residents further contended that the SRA officials did not take any action HDIL despite repeated complaints, reminders and representations since April 2018.

The slum dwellers have primarily sought directions from the court for the expeditious completion of the project and allotment of permanent accommodation to them. As an interim measure, the petitioners have sought a direction to SRA to either provide the residents with alternative accommodation till the competition of the project or pay them the transit rent of 17,500 per month, with a 10 increase in the amount annually.

During the course of the hearing on the petition, the court was also informed that the proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code had been initiated against HDIL and an Insolvency Resolution Professional has been appointed by the National Company Law Tribunal.

The bench expressed doubts over the proceedings with regards to the slum rehabilitation projects, primarily in view of the fact that the land on which the projects are being implemented are public properties. The bench said the developer gets the right to exploit the property commercially only after completing the construction of rehabilitation tenements.

Kumbhakoni agreed with the observation, stating that for at least now, the property cannot be said to be an asset of the developer.

The court has now posted the petition for further hearing on February 11.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) today announced the three honorees who will receive the prestigious Helen Keller Achievement Awards at a special gala on March 25, 2020, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia.

The recipients are The American Printing House for the Blind, for its ongoing commitment to accessibility and a future that belongs to everyone; Dr. Chieko Asakawa, for her life's work in furthering accessibility research and development; and Procter & Gamble (P&G), for prioritizing inclusive design and an inclusive and diverse work environment.

"All of our honorees exemplify the spirit of Helen Keller in their efforts to create a more inclusive and rewarding quality of life for people who are blind or visually impaired," said AFB President and CEO Kirk Adams. "The examples set by our longtime friends and partners at the American Printing House for the Blind, Dr. Asakawa, and Procter & Gamble illustrate that the responsibility of building a future of no limits for people with disabilities is everyone's, and we are proud to recognize their outstanding work."

The American Printing House for the Blind has been a key steward of the history of blindness for more than 160 years, and recently became the new stewards of AFB's Helen Keller Archive. The organization has set the standard for how we adapt to and anticipate changes and innovate to meet new demands. This is especially evident in the organization's recent Code Jumper initiative, a joint venture with Microsoft, which teaches children who are blind the basics of coding in a way that is engaging, accessible, and fun.

Dr. Chieko Asakawa is being honored for her career-spanning work that has effected positive changes in the blindness community for over three decades, from developing digital braille work in the 1980s, to screenreading software via the IBM Home Page Reader in the 1990s, to more recent technologies that enable blind people to be independent in shopping malls, airports and other public spaces through the power of AI and robotics that make urban environment accessible.

Procter & Gamble is being recognized for setting a sterling example through its diversity and inclusion initiatives. P&G has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to disability inclusion and making the company, its brands and services more inclusive for people with disabilities. P&G has made it a priority to incorporate inclusive design and pioneering features into its products, such as tactile markings on shampoo and conditioner bottles. The company has also recently committed to ensuring its advertisements include audio description and started neuro-diversity hiring programs.

About the Helen Keller Achievement Awards

For more than 40 years, Helen Keller was AFB's leading ambassador, inspiring millions of people around the world. Since 1994, AFB has honored her legacy by recognizing exceptional individuals and organizations that expand possibilities for those who are blind or visually impaired. Artists and musicians, including Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, have been honored, as well as leading corporations such as Apple, Comcast, Google, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Marriott International, and Netflix. For more information, please visit www.afb.org/hkaa

About the 2020 Helen Keller Achievement Award Recipients

Since 1858, The American Printing House for the Blind has operated in Louisville, Kentucky, as the world's largest nonprofit organization creating accessible learning experiences through educational, workplace, and independent living products and services for people who are blind and visually impaired.

Dr. Chieko Asakawa is an IBM Fellow, on assignment with Carnegie Mellon University to learn how accessibility technologies play a key role in creating opportunities for people with disabilities, including and especially those with vision loss. In 2013, she received the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon from the government of Japan for her outstanding contributions to accessibility research. Dr. Asakawa holds a B.A. degree in English literature from Otemon Gakuin University, and a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Tokyo.

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Procter & Gamble is a multinational consumer goods corporation with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality leadership brands, including Always, Bounty, Gillette, Herbal Essences, Oral-B, Tide and Vicks, to name just a few. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries.

About the American Foundation for the Blind

Founded in 1921, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is a national nonprofit that creates a world of no limits for people who are blind or visually impaired. AFB mobilizes leaders, advances understanding, and champions impactful policies and practices using research and data. AFB is proud to steward the Helen Keller Archive, maintain and expand the digital collection, and honor the more than 40 years that Helen Keller worked tirelessly with AFB. Visit: www.afb.org

SOURCE American Foundation for the Blind

Related Links

http://www.afb.org


BERLIN (Reuters) - Swedish fashion giant H&M appointed company veteran Helena Helmersson as chief executive on Thursday, as it reported its first rise in annual profit since 2015 and pleased the market with strong fourth-quarter profit growth.

Here are some facts and figures about Helmersson, 46, H&M's first female boss, who replaces the founder's grandson Karl-Johan Persson as he moves to the chairman role:

- Helmersson graduated with a master's degree in international business administration from the Umea School of Business and Economics in 1997.

- She joined H&M straight after graduating as a business controller in the buying office, and later became a section manager working with assortment planning and purchasing.

- Helmersson moved to Bangladesh, H&M's most important sourcing country, in 2006 as the human resources manager at H&M's production office in Dhaka. She then worked in Hong Kong as the supply chain manager for lingerie.

- She moved back to Stockholm in 2010 and became head of sustainability, a role she was in at the time of the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh in 2013 that killed 1,135 garment workers. H&M subsequently played a leading role in industry initiatives to improve factory safety in Bangladesh and work towards fairer wages in other Asian supplier countries. "There is a misconception that lower prices in the stores mean bad working conditions or less pay," she told Reuters in 2014.

- That year she was named the most powerful business woman in Sweden by the Veckans Affaerer, the nation's leading business magazine. In 2015, she moved back to Hong Kong to take the position of head of the group's global sourcing and buying. She took over as chief operating officer in 2018.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson, Sonya Dowsett in Madrid and Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Beijing: Lauding iron ally Pakistans decision to not evacuate its nationals from the coronavirus-epicentre Hubei, China said it showed Islamabads confidence in Beijing to control the virus outbreak that has claimed 425 lives so far.

At least 64 deaths were reported on Monday alone while 3,235 new confirmed cases were confirmed, taking the number of those infected with the deadly disease to 20,438, Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday.

Earlier, Pakistani students were seen appealing for help and crying to be evacuated after its authorities refused to so.

The Pakistani governments stand not to evacuate its citizens from coronavirus hit Wuhan city is an act of solidarity with its ally China. However, it brewed resentment among those stuck there.

The 64 people who died on Monday were all from the Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus, China's National Health Commission said.

Also, 3,235 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection were reported, a big increase in a day.

Another 5,072 new suspected cases were reported on Monday, said the commission, adding that 492 patients became seriously ill.

The commission said that 2,788 patients remained in severe condition and 23,214 people were suspected of being infected with the virus, a pointer that it is increasingly turning virulent.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 20,438 by the end of Monday, the commission said, noting that a total of 425 people had died of the disease.

A total of 632 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery, state-run Xinhua news agency reported

As the virus spreads from human to human, 221,015 close contacts had been traced, with 171,329 others still under medical observation.

As the virus continued to spread at an alarming rate, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday warned officials of punishment if they shirked responsibility in tackling the virus outbreak.

On Monday, China has opened a 1,000-bed hospital built in record nine days in Wuhan city and started trials for new drug to contain the virus and is set to open another 1,300 bed hospital next to it on Wednesday.

The ruling Communist Party of China on Monday held its political bureau meeting presided by President Xi to review the steps being taken on various fronts to halt the spread of the deadly virus.

The outcome of the epidemic prevention and control directly affects people's lives and health, the overall economic and social stability and the country's opening-up, Xi said.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate will end months of drama over by voting to acquit President Donald Trump on impeachment charges that the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives approved before Christmas.

Ohios U.S. Senators will likely cancel each others votes, with Democrat Sherrod Brown supporting Trumps ejection and Republican Rob Portman voting against it. On Tuesday, they discussed the reasoning behind their votes, with Brown calling Trumps conduct worse than that of President Richard Nixon, who faced impeachment in the 1970s, and Portman saying Trumps conduct didnt rise to a level to warrant impeachment.

In a Senate floor speech and an interview with reporters, Portman said impeachment requires criminal conduct, and it wasnt criminal for Trump to withhold congressionally approved aid to Ukraine while asking its president to investigate the role of former Vice President Joe Bidens son in a Ukrainian gas company.

He said Trumps behavior was wrong and inappropriate and while he doesnt condone that behavior, he doesnt believe his actions were serious enough to warrant removing Trump from office and taking him off the ballot in a presidential election thats already underway.

Portman said he listened to more than 190 witness videos and listened to more than 65 hours of detailed presentations from both political parties, and the evidence presented didnt meet the high bar" required for impeachment. He said he did not believe Trump demanded a quid pro quo from Ukraine.

Portman said he read the New York Times summary of former National Security Adviser John Boltons book, and its contents didnt surprise him or make him believe the Senate should call Bolton as a witness.

Portman said that President Bill Clinton, whose impeachment he backed in 1998, committed two crimes, and in this case, no crime is alleged. He also noted that Trump delivered the military aid to Ukraine without the requested investigation occurring, and criticized the House impeachment procedure for being unfair to Trump and for failing to subpoena needed documents and witnesses because of a politically imposed deadline.

They didnt allow the president and his people to get basic due process, and his counsel did not have the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses, which I think is really unusual, Portman told reporters. He said Democrats should have gone to court to get material that Trump withheld on executive privilege grounds.

They didnt want to go through the process," Portman continued. "In the Nixon impeachment, at the end of the day, the court stepped up and said, no, you have to produce these particular documents.

Portman, however, voted against the House managers request to subpoena witnesses and documents for the Senate impeachment trial.

Portman said he hopes that Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi all learn lessons from this. He said criticisms of Trumps behavior have been presented to the American people. They will now have their opportunity to vote.

As I read my Constitution, the ultimate check and balance in our system is voters, and thats the whole idea of America, said Portman. Every four years the people got to decide. And boy, theres been a lot of information out there.

In a meeting with reporters on Tuesday, Brown decried Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for proclaiming Trumps innocence even before the trial, and said he doesnt understand how anybody could say there shouldnt be witnesses.

Its simply just not a real trial, said Brown. The publics not going to accept this verdict of not guilty, which everybody predicts.

Brown said Trump tried to bribe a foreign leader to get something for himself, which is something Richard Nixon never even did." He also expressed fear that Trumps behavior will get worse after the upcoming verdict.

Republicans still dont have the courage to stand up to the president and say Youre wrong, we think this is impeachable," Brown said.

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Sen. Rob Portman announces hell vote against calling impeachment witnesses

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Senate should designate PFAS water contaminants hazardous substances, says Sen. Sherrod Brown

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Bankrupt Murray Energy coal company still banks on Trump, FEC records show

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Sen. Sherrod Brown accuses Mitch McConnell of a cover-up as impeachment trial begins
Taranjit Singh Sandhu, a career foreign service official, arrived here Monday as India's ambassador-designate to the United States.

"Ambassador of India to the United States" Sandhu "arrived this morning and assumed charge," the Indian Embassy said in a tweet soon after his arrival.

He was given a warm welcome by the Deputy Ambassador, Amit Kumar, and other senior officials at the Indian Embassy here.

A 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service Official, Sandhu has had two successful stints at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC -- the last one being as Deputy Ambassador from July 2013 to January 2017.

He succeeds Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who has been promoted as the Foreign Secretary. Sandhu till last week was India's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.

Sandhu is soon expected to present his credentials to the US President Donald Trump at the White House.

One of the most experienced Indian diplomats on US affairs, Sandhu was Deputy Chief of Mission here from July 2013 to January 2017. Earlier, he was First Secretary (Political) at the Embassy of India, Washington, DC, responsible for liaison with the United States Congress from 1997 to 2000. He has also been at the Permanent Mission of India to United Nations, New York, from July 2005 to February 2009.

Born on 23 January 1963 in a family of educationists, Sandhu studied at The Lawrence School, Sanawar, and graduated with History Honours from St. Stephens' College, Delhi.

He pursued a Master's Degree in International Relations at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Sandhu is married to Reenat Sandhu, who is Ambassador of India to Italy.

In a distinguished career spanning over 30 years in the Indian Foreign Service since 1988, Sandhu started his diplomatic career from former Soviet Union (Russia) where he worked as Third Secretary (Political)/Second Secretary (Commercial) in the Indian Mission from 1990 to 1992.

Following the breakup of Soviet Union, he was sent to open a new Embassy in Ukraine. He served as Head of Political and Administration Wings in the Indian Embassy in Kiev from 1992 to 1994.

Sandhu was Consul General of India in Frankfurt from September 2011 to July 2013. He has worked in the Ministry of External Affairs in various capacities: as Joint Secretary (United Nations) from March 2009 to August 2011; and later as Joint Secretary (Administration) heading the Human Resource Division.

He was Officer on Special Duty (Press Relations), Ministry of External Affairs from December 1995 to March 1997, and was responsible for liaison with foreign media in India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Morocco has foiled 74,000 illegal migration attempts in 2019 resulting in a 60% drop in arrivals to Spain the same year, head of migration and border management at the Interior Ministry Khalid Zerouali said.

Morocco has taken special measures to stop the flow of illegal migrants to Spain since 2017, Zerouali told AFP.

He said Morocco continues to witness same levels of pressure recalling that in 2018 authorities have prevented 89,000 people from illegally crossing to Spain.

Morocco, which also assists victims of illegal migration, rescued at sea 19,554 illegal migrants in 2019.

The degradation of security conditions in Libya pushed many migrants to opt for Morocco as a transit point, he said, noting that Morocco busted 208 migrant trafficking networks in 2019, compared with 229 a year earlier.

Arrivals in Spain have been slashed by 90% between 2004 and 2016, he said.

When asked about cooperation with the EU, Zerouali said Morocco received 140 million euros including 70 million as a direct budgetary support and recently the North African country received 100 million euros but noted that this aid is not enough as Morocco spends much more in border control.
USA Gymnastics has filed a bankruptcy plan that includes an offer of $215 million for sexual abuse survivors to settle their claims against the embattled organization.

The $215 million total is the amount the insurance carriers for USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee are willing to provide in hopes of ending years of legal battles with athletes who were abused by former national team doctor Larry Nassar. Survivors have been in mediation with USA Gymnastics since the organization filed for bankruptcy in December 2018.

Nassar is serving decades in prison for sexual assault and possession of child pornography in Michigan. Hundreds of athletes have come forward over the last three years saying Nassar abused them under the guise of treatment, including reigning Olympic champion Simone Biles and six-time Olympic medalist Aly Raisman.

Bankruptcy law requires businesses to provide an exit plan within 18 months, and the exit plan is another step in a still lengthy process. USA Gymnastics President Li Li Leung told The Associated Press on Thursday that the organization wants to work toward a true consensual settlement with survivors.

Leung described the $215 million as the amount the insurance carriers have agreed to provide at this point.

Our hope is that discussions will continue and more money will be (available), said Leung, who took over in March 2019, several months after Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy protection. Its not capped at $215 (million).

There is a two-step voting process for claimants to determine whether to accept the offer. At least half the claimants who vote have to approve the agreement, and the majority needs to represent at least two-thirds of the monetary value of the settlement. The claimants could also vote down the measure and continue to pursue their lawsuits to collect any judgments from insurance policies available to USA Gymnastics or they could not vote on it at all and discuss how to go forward.

John Manly, an attorney representing 200 Nassar survivors, chastised both USA Gymnastics and the USOPC for blatant disregard of the victims.

This proposed plan does not include the critical structural changes necessary to ensure the safety of girls moving forward, nor does it appropriately address the myriad physical and emotional challenges the victims face as a result of these crimes, Manly said in a statement. Most disturbingly, this proposed plan attempts to absolve USOPC of any responsibility for these crimes which were committed under its watch. This plan from USAG is not just unworkable, it is unconscionable.

USOPC chief marketing and communications officer Luella Chavez DAngelo said the USOPC remains committed to continuing to work with the survivor community, their lawyers, USAG and responsible insurers to achieve justice for the survivors in an expedited manner.

Michigan State University, where Nassar worked for decades, agreed in May 2018 to pay $500 million to more than 300 women and girls who said they were assaulted by Nassar.

At the time it filed for bankruptcy, USA Gymnastics was facing 100 lawsuits representing more than 350 athletes in various courts across the country who blame the group for failing to supervise Nassar. The USOPC was named as a co-defendant in some of the lawsuits. If claimants agree to accept the offer, the $215 million will be placed into a trust, with the money then distributed by a trustee. A judge would decide how the $215 million is allocated.

The plan put forth by the organization also requires it to continue to strengthen its athlete safety policies. USA Gymnastics revamped its Safe Sport policy last summer and hired its first vice president of athlete health and wellness last December.

The organization hopes to have a bankruptcy exit plan of some kind approved ahead of the Toyko Olympics, which begin in July.

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NEWSALERT-PADAYATRA Karnataka Congress has decided to temporarily halt Mekedatu padayatra due to COVID concerns and in the interest of public health: Siddaramaiah.
Medical staff members wearing protective clothing arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China, on Jan. 25, 2020. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Funeral Home Worker in Wuhan: We Are Working 24/7 to Cremate Bodies

Workers at crematoriums in Wuhan City, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, say their workload has increased dramatically in recent days, as they constantly transfer the bodies of victims from hospitals and private homes.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, a worker described long working hours to cope with the sudden increase in bodies to be cremated.

Meanwhile, videos from workers dealing with the crisis have been circulating on social media, including one from a worker at a Wuhan funeral home who shared footage of more than 10 bodies lying on gurneys, lined up for cremation.

Some netizens also shared videos they shot within different hospitals in Wuhan, showing bodies waiting to be transferred from the hospitals to funeral homes.

Since funeral home workers dont know for sure whether the person died from the coronavirus, they wear protective suits and masks in order to defend themselves from potential infection.

Working 24/7

Wuhan has three main funeral homes in the downtown area, which are equipped with crematoriums. While cremation is a common burial practice in China, in a notice issued on Feb. 1, Chinas National Health Commission said that people who have died from the virus cant be buried and their bodies should be cremated immediately.

Because of the coronavirus outbreak, Wuhans Civil Affairs Bureau designated the Hankou Funeral Home to deal with the bodies of those who were diagnosed and died of the virus, according to state-run media. In addition, the Wuchang Funeral Home and Qingshan Funeral Home were designated to attend to those who died from severe pneumonia, or who were suspected coronavirus cases and died.

A worker at a Wuhan crematorium said in a Feb. 4 interview that he and his colleagues have worked 24 hours, seven days a week since Jan. 28. He said they are exhausted, and are working without proper equipment such as body bags, protective suits, and face masks.

Since Jan. 28, 90 percent of our employees are working 24/7  we couldnt go back home, a man identified as Mr. Yun told the Chinese-language Epoch Times in a phone call. He works at the Caidian Funeral Home, one of four facilities in a suburban area of Wuhan.

We really need more manpower, he said.

Meanwhile, more bodies continue to arrive every day.

We need to pick up bodies when they [hospitals, communities, or family members of the deceased] call us. Every day, we need at least 100 body bags, he said.

His workplace is required to pick up bodies from the Wuhan Tongji Hospital, Wuhan No. 13 Hospital, the newly built Huoshenshan Hospital, and other small hospitals, as well as any residences that request its services.

Yun says hes spoken with workers at other Wuhan funeral homes, who are also overwhelmed.

Almost all staff at each funeral home in Wuhan are fully equipped, and all Wuhan cremation chambers are working 24 hours, he said.

The worker said staff can only sit on their chairs and nap whenever they get a chance.

We cant stop because we cant leave the bodies outside for a long time, he said.

The staff members also lack protective gear.

For us who transfer the bodies, we dont eat or drink for a long time in order to preserve the protective suit, because we need to take off the protective suit whenever we eat, drink, or go to the bathroom. The protective suit cant be worn again after being used, he said.

Yun said other staff at the funeral home, such as the receptionists, dont get to use protective suits.

They wear raincoats to protect themselves, he said.

Families

Yun says hes heartbroken to see so many bodies and to know that many family members couldnt see their loved ones in their final moment.

We pick up bodies from peoples houses.  Family members cant see the body after we remove it, he said.

According to new government regulations, funeral home staff pick up the bodies, then cremate them without notifying family membersso that the family can avoid contact with the body and potentially becoming infected with the virus.

When family members come here, they can pay the cremation costs and then pick up the ashes, Yun said.

At hospitals, family members also are prohibited from seeing the bodies.

Some of the deceased had hospital records, but many do notbecause they could not receive prompt hospital treatment before their deaths or died waiting, he said.

Those are treated as unknown reason [for cause of death], Yun said.

Wuchang Funeral Home

Guyu Lab, an independent online news outlet, interviewed a worker at the Wuchang funeral home who was asked to pick up bodies from hospitals and residences, beginning Jan. 26.

All male staff at our funeral home are picking up and moving bodies now, and female staff are answering the phones, disinfecting the funeral home, and so on, Huang told the news outlet in a Feb. 3 report. We work 24 hours.  We are very tired.

Huang said his funeral home doesnt have the equipment to properly disinfect the facility. Workers have to reuse disposable protective suits, as there are no new ones. They wear swim goggles because they dont have protective goggles, and must wear two layers of disposable plastic gloves because they have no rubber gloves.

We are on the verge of collapsing. We really need help, Huang said.
At Prayer

Sometimes I am surprised at the way the Lord speaks to me. A few weeks ago, I attended a prayer meeting in a local church convened by a refugee group. Not only a group of Christians concerned for the plight of refugees in places like Nauru and Manus Island, but believers in living contact with refugees in Australia. The meeting included a bracket of Christ-centred songs, a host of Bible readings, and specific prayer requests with thanksgiving. The prayer requests included various details of petitions for personal visas, and for relatives to enter Australia from overseas. Some were petitions for final appeals against court declarations denying applications for Protection Visas. Astonishingly, in case after case, the applicant was a believer present and praying in our midst.

True Faith

Understandably, the Australian Government is suspicious of men who arrive from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and so on as Moslems, then claim protection as Christians some time later. Fair enough, but if, for example, you visit the different Persian Fellowships springing up amongst converts across the world, including in Australian cities, no one with the Spirit of God could possibly doubt the integrity of the testimony to Jesus of the worshippers. They are boldly proclaiming Christ and seeing miracle after miracle in their midst! By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God (First letter of John chapter 4 verse 2). Since these are true conversions, whats really going on behind the prevailing hard-hearted attitude to asylum seekers in Australia.

Fatherless

Matthew cites an Old testament text relating to the status of Jesus as a refugee-child in Egypt, Out of Egypt I called my son. (Matthew chapter 2 verse 15; Hosea chapter 11 verse 1). This emphasis teaches us that the key to understanding the condition of refugees, in a Christ-centred way, is the Fatherhood of God. Here is our foundational problem. As the late evangelist John Smith used to say, Australia is an analgesic society suffering from a condition of cosmic orphanhood. Psychologically and spiritually, we are largely a fatherless nation at every level. Without questioning Scott Morrisons Christian commitment, he heads up a government showing no empathy for the condition of refugee converts to Christianity. This is not being a true father in the nation. If forced to return to their countries of origin, or brothers will face persecution from a hostile Islam, and their households will remain fragile and impoverished. We need in leadership a man of God who sees in prayer what Paul saw, For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named (Ephesians chapter 3 verse 14-15). We need fathers/mothers in the Lord grasped by the fact that Jesus was the ultimate refugee, exiled from the presence of his Fathers heart on the cross, for us. My Godwhy have you forsaken me? (Mark chapter 15 verse 34).

True Refuge

The scriptures clearly testify that the Lord Jesus is our refuge God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46 verse 1). we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews chapter 6 verses 18-20). It is possible to spiritualise these texts, but the bald fact is that we have brothers in Christ who are in the direst need of our prayers, and practical support. Unless consistent action is taken across the churches to address this sore, we are surely in dire straits as a nation before God. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. (Matthew chapter 7 verse 2)

For as solid biblical-evangelical approach to these issues, and connections across Australia, contact John (jmbroadbent@optusnet.com.au).
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REGINASaskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has put together a committee of cabinet ministers to assess how the government could help get more pipelines built in the province.

Our government recognizes the necessity of further developing pipeline infrastructure to help our energy products reach key global markets, he said in a statement Tuesday.

Jeremy Harrison, minister of trade and export development, said because of the political risk around building pipelines  whether created through litigation or regulatory uncertainty  Saskatchewan will also consider buying in to projects.

Harrison, as well as the ministers of Environment, Energy and Resources, and Finance are in the group.

Its not ideal that you would have governments directly involved in this fashion in energy infrastructure projects, but the reality is that unless governments are involved in energy infrastructure projects, theyre not going to get built, he said.

We do have an economic and policy interest in having these pipelines constructed and that requires government to have a role beyond advocacy.

Harrison said the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is a good example of government equity at work. He welcomed a decision Tuesday from the Federal Court of Appeal dismissing challenges to the projects approval.

This project needs to go forward as quickly as it can possibly go forward, he said.

Moe said the idea for the committee came from communities, Indigenous leaders and businesses that want to expand pipeline access into the United States or create it through the Port of Churchill in northern Manitoba.

Harrison later said that the government was in favour of all the projects.

So whether thats to Churchill, whether thats to tidewater in the west, whether thats to tidewater in the east or whether thats to tidewater in the south, were prepared to work with proponents on all of those sort of projects, he said.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said First Nations need to be engaged in the initial discussions of any pipeline development to Churchill.

First Nations in Manitoba must be involved, consulted and engaged in the process in a manner that respects their rights and interests, Grand Chief Arlen Dumas said in a statement Tuesday.

This includes considerations of First Nations interests in other infrastructure including the railway, and, if developed, their involvement that leads to positive economic benefits and prosperity.
- Police arrest NPP Central Regional chairman for his involvment in missing galamsey

- He was arrested together with 5 others

- Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service says it has arrested six persons over the missing excavators and other equipment seized by the Operation Vanguard team.

One of the six arrested is the Central Regional Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Horace Ekow Ewusi.

He and his accomplices were arrested on Monday, February 3, 2020 at Abelemkpe in Accra.

READ ALSO: Abacha money: Nigeria to receive GHC 1.6 billion from US

Mr. Ekow Ewusi was arrested following a request by the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng.

The Environment minister in his letter to the police alleged that, Ekow Ewusi, who was contracted to cart the seized excavators to a designated area for safe keep, decided to direct some to an unauthorized location in Tema.

Professor Frimpong also alley that the NPP chairman has sold an unknown number of the pieces of equipment including excavators.

ATTENTION: Read the best news on Ghana #1 news app. Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana

The police in a statement issued on Tuesday, February 4 said the other five arrested are; Federick Ewusi, Joel Asamoah, Adnan Haruna, Frank Gyan and John Arhin.

READ ALSO: Ghanaians jab Mahama over banking sector cleanup promise

The police say Ekow Ewusi, Federick Ewusi and Joel Asamoah have been cautioned on the offense of stealing.

YEN.com.gh earlier reported the members of the opposition political parties resisting the Electoral Commissions decision to compile a new voters' register for the 2020 polls are currently holding a demonstration in Accra.

The demonstration is the third in a series of protests. The first and second demos came off in Tamale and Kumasi respectively.

This is what makes 4-year-old Nii Omanye aka Kwame Nkrumah the smartest child in Ghana| #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: Mills-Mahama never took bribe from Airbus - NDC

Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Atletico Madrid's injury crisis has deepened with Kieran Trippier set to miss up to a month after undergoing groin surgery on Tuesday.

The English defender had missed three league games with a groin strain, which did not heal while he was resting.

"Our right-back had been feeling pain and initially followed a conservative treatment," said Atletico in a statement.

"As the discomfort did not fully disappear, the club's medical services decided to perform surgery on the player."

Reports in Spain say the defender will be out for around a month, missing the Champions League last-16 first leg clash with Liverpool on Feb. 18 among other games.

Atletico are already without Alvaro Morata, Joao Felix, Diego Costa, Koke, Jose Gimenez and Santiago Arias, while Felipe is suspended for Saturday's clash with Granada.

(Reporting by Rik Sharma; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
I think the reason why John Denver was so successful is the accessibility of his music and the things that he talks about, he said. Not only is the music beautiful but youre going to have five actor-musicians and three very talented musicians behind us performing these songs live. So there is going to be a lot of energy. Its going to be entertaining and packed with some amazing songs.
Oil climbed to near $51 a barrel in New York as officials from OPEC+ gathered on Tuesday for an urgent meeting to assess the impact of the coronavirus on global demand, and how the group should respond.

Under increasing pressure after crude prices sunk below $50 a barrel for the first time in more than a year on Monday, technical experts from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will meet at the groups Vienna headquarters to evaluate the diseases impact, where they will also be joined by Chinas ambassador to the United Nations. The outcome of the discussions may determine whether the group convenes an emergency meeting to consider new output cuts later this month.

So far, the virus has upended trade flows and probably led to a 20% cut to Chinas oil demand -- the worlds biggest importer-- as cities are quarantined and factories are halted. Refineries are curbing operations and shutting plants, while the nations top processor is seeking to re-sell millions of barrels of West African crude it no longer needs because of the squeeze to consumption. The crisis could wipe out a third of the growth in global consumption this year, said BP Plc Chief Financial Officer Brian Gilvary.

PREVIOUSLY: Oil slide reaches $50 a barrel after virus curbs China demand

The problem for OPEC+ is that the size of the demand destruction in China is not known, said Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob. It is therefore difficult for market participants to be convinced that an additional cut of 1 million barrels a day will be enough. In the current environment, a cut of 0.5 million barrels a day is going to be quickly discounted.

West Texas Intermediate for March delivery added 70 cents to $50.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 11:39 a.m. in London. The contract slumped 2.8% on Monday to the lowest since January 2019. International benchmark Brent gained 0.7% on Tuesday, trading at $54.82 a barrel.

Though oils near-term contracts were recovering, there was no similar move in the oil markets structure. The nearest Brent spread was languishing in a bearish contango structure -- indicating oversupply -- trading about 6 cents weaker than Mondays close.

FUEL FIX: Get our energy news in your inbox each weekday

The prices of commodities from energy to metals have stabilized, while iron ore and crude in China recovered some ground. The tentative recovery came even as steel mills and processing plants remain shut throughout the country. Officials are reviewing whether to soften the economic growth target for 2020 and authorities in Beijing are hoping the U.S. will agree to some flexibility on pledges in their phase-one trade deal due to the virus outbreak.

An OPEC+ ministerial meeting is scheduled for March, but the group is considering whether to hold that gathering earlier to respond to the virus. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz discussed the market by phone on Monday and confirmed readiness to continue cooperation. Russia is ready to participate in any OPEC+ meeting that is called, a Kremlin spokesman said on Tuesday.

--With assistance from James Thornhill and Sharon Cho.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
It's called "Gray Death" heroin because of its resemblance to chunks of concrete. It can even kill with just a small amount. And it appears to be headed to Texas.

Recently the super drug made its presence known near Morgan City in south Louisiana, about 230 miles away from Houston.

MORE DEADLY DRUGS: Fort Bend County Narcotics Task Force seizes $100,000 in illegal fentanyl

"In our work to keep drugs off our streets in St. Mary Parish, we made a couple of arrests in the last few days with something we dont see very often around here," the St. Mary's Parish Sheriff's Office recently posted on its Facebook page. "Its a new type of heroin called 'gray death.'

According to SMPSO, "Gray Death" is a lethal combination of some of the most deadly opioids including heroin, fentanyl, and various fentanyl analogues.

It can be injected, ingested, or inhaled, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It has a potency of seven to eight times that of morphine. According to Drugs.com, "Gray Death" sometimes contains Carfentanil, an elephant tranquilizer. If carfentanil is mixed in the product, it can be 10,000 times more potent than morphine.

"The unidentified super drug began to surface in the south in Alabama and Georgia," added SMPSO. "A minuscule amount of this drug, which has the appearance of small chunks of concrete, can kill."

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Drug cartels muscle into Mexican town packed with Americans

Deputies reportedly recovered the super drug from suspects who were traveling across St. Mary Parish from the Lake Charles area.



"The public is advised to never pick up or touch this drug if you ever encounter it and to call and report it to law enforcement," cautioned the Sheriff's Office.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said it has seen "Gray Death" in Texas. In May 2019, there was a bust in the Houston area where 170 grams of the drug was confiscated. It sells on the street for about $20 a hit but is only sporadically available.

DEA spokesman Sammy Parks says the biggest threat is fentanyl, which is more widely available and much more lethal. It has a potency 50 times more powerful than morphine. And with much of the drugs being trafficked in by Mexican drug cartels, the quality varies widely.

"Taking these drugs is like playing Russian Roulette," said Parks. "Even the drug dealers don't know what are in them."

Danny Hermosillo is the Digital News Editor for Chron.com | Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @Dannyherm1| Email him at Danny.Hermosillo@chron.com
Maharashtra State Co-operative (MSC) Bank has written to Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking merger of branches of PMC Bank, in case of a takeover of the troubled lender, a top official said on Tuesday.

Any progress on such a scheme can only happen once the exact extent of the fraud and the liabilities arising are ascertained through a forensic audit, MSC Bank Chairman Vidyadhar Anaskar made it clear.

For the branch merger as opposed to bank merger idea, he explained that MSC Bank is an apex bank for cooperatives and Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank's multi-state presence makes it difficult to execute such a deal.

"We have written to the Minister, suggesting a branch merger and not a bank merger," Anaskar told reporters here.

He said under the proposed scheme, apex in Gujarat and other states where PMC has a presence will take over its branches to make it easier for the transaction to go through.

It can be noted that over Rs 11,000 crore in depositor money has been stuck after the RBI decided to put PMC Bank under instructions in September last year, and appointed an administrator on it after discovering mismanagement.

The bank has been found to have given over Rs 6,700 crore loans to a single company - realty player HDIL - through allegedly fraudulent means and also hid the stress from the Reserve Bank of India by creating to separate books of accounts. The police has pegged the extent of fraud at PMC Bank at RS 4,700 crore, while other agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, are also investigating the matter.

A few months ago, NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Jayant Patil had publicly suggested the idea of merging PMC Bank with MSC Bank.

Anaskar said before any progress on the matter, it is essential to ascertain the extent of the fraud at the lender which can only be done after the RBI's forensic audit in the matter. He, however, also said the RBI may not be averse to a branch merger that the bank is suggesting and such a transaction will not require any changes in laws.

In support of his argument, Anaskar reminisced over six years ago, there was a similar proposal for a branch merger of the troubled Rupee Cooperative bank and the RBI was amenable to the idea. Meanwhile, the MSC Bank also announced that it has sent two separate proposals to the RBI for merging Rupee and City Cooperative Bank with itself, which will require it to allocate over Rs 1,300 crore of capital.

Both the proposals have been presented jointly with the target and after ratification by the cooperatives department of Maharashtra government. It will have to allocate Rs 980 crore for the Rupee merger, while the City bank scheme will require it to allocate nearly Rs 300 crore.

The genesis of both the proposals is the bank's desire to de-risk beyond the sugar industry by serving the retail segment, Anaskar said, adding that merging the two urban cooperatives with itself will give it a retail heft both in distribution and assets.

The total assets of both the banks are Rs 1,400 crore, which will give MSC Bank a good foothold in the retail category, he said, adding that to start with the entire portfolio will be considered as a loss.

Both the proposals involve a support from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation, wherein the deposit holders in both the troubled banks will be paid upfront and the bank will subsequently pay-off the DICGC.

Over a third of the depositors' stuck money is released upfront by the DICGC as liquidity support to make a merger possible and then repaid back by the bank once asset recoveries start, he said.

Anaskar exuded confidence that the RBI will give it a go-ahead on both the mergers in about four months' time, despite its own record of having stuck with a mismanagement three years ago.

He said MSC Bank has a total capital adequacy of over 16 per cent, including core buffers at over 14 per cent, and will be able to take care of a merger like this.

At present, the bank is returning excess capital to the district banks which are its members, Anaskar said.

Rupee has five lakh depositors, while City has over 80,000 depositors.
Sri Lanka's new government omitted singing the national anthem in Tamil, the country's second national language, during the island's Independence Day celebrations on Tuesday.

The move marks a change from the previous government's decision to sing the anthem in both main languages to promote ethnic harmony in the aftermath of a decades-long civil war.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa elected last year largely through the votes of majority Buddhist Sinhalese.Minority Tamils overwhelmingly voted against him.He was a top defence official during the civil war and played a major role in defeating the rebels.

Many ethnic Tamils were killed or missing in the war.The country's 72nd anniversary of independence from Britain was celebrated in Colombo with military parades and air shows.

Speaking to the crowd at the celebrations on Tuesday, Rajapaksa said: "As the president today, I represent the entire Sri Lankan nation irrespective of ethnicity, religion, party affiliation or other differences."Rajapaksa supporters opposed singing the Tamil national anthem during the previous administration.

Tamil politicians had requested Rajapaksa not to discontinue the practice of singing the Tamil translation of the national anthem recognized by the constitution to give the Tamil community a sense of belonging to the country after decades of estrangement with the state.

(Image Credit: AP )
New Delhi, Feb 4 : The Okhla Assembly seat, a suburban colony in the South Delhi, has come up on the world map because of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest at Shaheen Bagh, which is part of the constituency and the epicentre of the protest. The seat is witnessing a triangular contest among the Congress, the AAP and the BJP, but it is the Congress and the AAP candidates, who are being seen as the gladiators.

The Congress has put faith on veteran Parvez Hashmi, a four-time MLA from the constituency before being elected to the Rajya Sabha. The seat was with the Congress till 2015 when the AAP's Amanatullah wrested it after defeating Congress veteran Asif Mohammad Khan. The BJP has again given the ticket to Brahm Singh, but, since 1993 this seat has been held by a member from the minority community.

Parvez Hashmi was first elected in 1993 on Janata Dal ticket defeating the rival candidate from the Congress, in 1998 he switched side and won the seat again and was made Minister of Transport during Sheila Dikshit's first tenure as the Delhi Chief Minister. Hashmi is largely credited with improving Public Transport system and switching to the CNG.

Hashmi is originally from Allahabad, but is a known face in the constituency. This time he is seeking votes for his work done during his tenure as the MLA when he "provided basic facilities in the area". Hashmi said: "I have brought the basic amenity in the area and the Delhi Metro has been developed during the Congress regime." The AAP is focussing on the work done by the Kejriwal government in the area with many development works, including proper sewage system, clean drinking water and Mohalla Clinic.

AAP MLA Amanatullah said: "The Delhi government has done a lot of work in the area despite being the illegal colony. The Chief Minister has provided all amenities, including the CCTV, which has been installed in the area". Amanatullah is chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board, but has been in the news for the wrong reasons.

While the BJP never won the election, but in 2019 it was able to come second in the Okhla seat behind the Congress. But this time, the party is hoping to garner votes on the Modi factor and the regularisation of the colony, which comprises Aali Gaon, Jamia Nagar, Zakir Nagar and Shaheen Bagh. The only legal colony, prior to the regularisation announcement, were Sarita Vihar and Jasola Vihar, which are the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) colonies and part of the New Friends Colony.

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COLUMBUS, OhioOhio legislative leaders indicated Tuesday that they will likely not take action anytime soon to abolish or formally freeze the states death penalty despite ongoing problems with finding lethal-injection drugs.

Speaking at the Associated Press annual legislative preview event, House Speaker Larry Householder and Senate President Larry Obhof acknowledged that fellow Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is in a dilemma by having to repeatedly reschedule execution dates because pharmaceutical companies have refused to sell the state the drugs used in lethal injections.

However, Householder said House Republicans, who hold a legislative supermajority, are very much mixed when it comes to what to do about the problem.

I do not know if we will have legislation this year, the speaker said. We continue to have discussions, [and] they are extremely mixed, as all of us have questions about this. But we are talking, and I think thats good.

Householder again expressed qualms about keeping the death penalty in Ohio, saying its extremely expensive to put someone to death and that we have a law on the books that quite frankly we cant enforce. He ruled out switching the states execution method to a firing squad or hanging.

I think maybe it's a far greater penalty on people to have to live by themselves in a cell and deal with the demons that they have in their life every single day for the crimes that they've committed, the speaker said.

Obhof said its unlikely that lawmakers would abolish the death penalty completely in the next year, as most lawmakers favor keeping Ohios death penalty for particularly heinous cases.

However, he predicted that both the House and Senate will have substantial discussions about where we want to head overall in the coming months.

Multiple bills have been introduced in recent years to abolish Ohios death penalty, mostly by Democrats. Those bills have gone nowhere, though legislation to prohibit executions of the severely mentally ill is currently moving through the legislature.

Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko, a RIchmond Heights Democrat, said he is rethinking his support of the death penalty in general, as some Death Row inmates have been released because new evidence shows they are innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted.

Im not as comfortable as I was with a death penalty in 2020, as I was perhaps 40 years ago, 30 years ago, 20 years ago, maybe even 10 years ago, Yuko said.

House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes, an Akron Democrat, said shes concerned about Ohios death penalty not just for financial reasons, as the speaker is, but because of questions about who is sentenced to death, and why.

Sykes noted that minorities are more likely to be given the death penalty than white defendants  especially when the victim is white and/or a woman.

I think if were going to talk about the death penalty and keeping the death penalty, we have to talk about the inequities, Sykes said.

Ohio hasnt put anyone to death since Robert Van Hook in July 2018. Since taking office last year, DeWine has postponed executions seven times, stating there will be no more executions in Ohio until the state can procure execution drugs.

DeWine expressed concerns that if companies find that Ohio used its drugs to put people to death, they will refuse to sell any of its drugs (not just the ones used in executions) to the state. That would endanger the ability of thousands of Ohioans  such as Medicaid recipients, state troopers, and prison inmates  to get drugs through state programs.

In addition, DeWine said he was concerned about a judges ruling last year that the lethal-injection drugs Ohio had been using were unconstitutional because they produced a painful drowning sensation comparable to the torture tactic of waterboarding. That ruling was later overturned on appeal, but it still gives DeWine pause.

As of December, Ohio had 138 people on Death Row. Twenty-four executions have been scheduled -- the next being June 17, when Romell Broom, a murderer and child rapist from Shaker Heights, is set to be put to death.

Broom survived a botched execution attempt in 2009, after state officials tried unsuccessfully for two hours to find a vein to use for the lethal-injection drugs.

Read other politics stories:

Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder wants EdChoice vouchers based on income, not school report cards

Iowa Democratic caucus results not released after reporting, counting debacle

Donald Trumps 2020 State of the Union address: How to watch on TV or stream speech before Congress

Ohio anti-drug task forces get an extra $5 million in state grants
Thousands of people shop at booths at the Ninth Avenue International Food Festival, in New York City, on May 18, 2014. Petr Svab/The Epoch Times

Do People Really Distrust Capitalism?

Commentary

During the past few years, there have been multiple reports of surveys and polls indicating that people are down on capitalism and may even prefer socialism.

In January, public relations firm Edelman published its 2020 Edelman Trust Barometerthe results of a survey of 34,000 people in 27 countries and Hong Kong. Edelman reports that more than half of respondents globally believe that capitalism in its current form is now doing more harm than good in the world.

Lets dig deeper.

One factor that makes the surveys findings problematical is hinted at by Edelmans own wordingspecifically, capitalism in its current form. Nowhere in the world is genuine free-market capitalism being practiced. The current practice of capitalism isnt capitalism, but shoddy counterfeits of genuine capitalism. This skews objectors perceptions of capitalism.

Furthermore, capitalism as practiced in Australia isnt the same as in Germany or Spain or Hong Kong. Its hard to draw any valid general conclusions about something as imprecise and protean as capitalism as it happens to be practiced at any given time in various parts of the world. Indeed, asking someone what he or she thinks of capitalism is similar to a Rorschach test. It gives one the opportunity to express ones subjective feelings, beliefs, ideology, personal experiences, resentments, etc. about a topic about which there are no standardized definitions or parameters.

Lets turn to specific complaints.

As stated in The Wall Street Journals report about the Edelman survey, capitalism draws fire due to worries about income inequality, jobs disappearing due to automation and environmental sustainability. Lets examine these issues, both on their own merits and in terms of the state of those problems under the most obvious alternative to capitalismsocialism.

Inequality

First, income inequality: Ive written about income inequality before. Briefly, income inequality is unjust and objectionable when it results from the political powers rigging the system to favor certain constituents and cronies at the expense of others. Income inequality is just, perfectly normal, and healthy in free markets (i.e., true capitalism) in which the sovereign consumer determines winners and losers.

The problem of making income inequality an ideological fetish is illustrated by the opinions of egalitarians such as Thomas Piketty, the French economist who made a splash with his book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, a few years ago.

There were enough economic errors in Pikettys book to impel me to write a book in response (Problems with Piketty: The Flaws and Fallacies in Capital in the Twenty-First Century), but one strange perspective should be of special interest to those who fret about income inequality: Piketty praised the 1930s because statistical income inequality diminished, while he lamented the 1980sa decade in which such inequality increased.

The 80s, if you recall, was a decade of growing prosperity and rising standards of living for working Americans, whereas the 30s were marred by the Great Depression, which featured increasing poverty and concomitant massive suffering.

Egalitarians may find widespread suffering a price worth paying to achieve greater statistical income equality, but I think its more humane to favor times when rising prosperity improves living conditions for the masses.

Prosperous periods are characterized by capitalist entrepreneurs making fortunes as they create lots of jobs and produce the goods and services that improve standards of living, and not by periods such as the Great Depression, when government intervention crippled free markets and economic activity consequently stagnated.

Under socialism, under which government control is even more pervasive than it was during our Great Depression, and consequently impoverishes a populace to a greater degree, you may think that at least everyone is economically equal, but thats not so.

There are two classes under socialismthe elite planners and the masses of people subject to their edicts. Most people suffer from shortages, but the political elite do not. (See my colleague Paul Kengors article, Bernies Billionaires.) We can actually see a split in the United States today between the governing elite and the rest of us: Government employees are compensated better than their private-sector counterparts, and the wealthiest counties in the country are clustered around Washington.

Automation

Second, losing jobs to automation: First of all, automation due to technological progress is a global phenomenon, affecting socialist economies as well as relatively capitalistic economies.

Again, Ive addressed the threat from automation before (see Will Robots Make Americans Unemployable?). This fear has been around for at least two centuries, but the good news is this: Today, there are more people working more jobsboth at home and abroadthan in any earlier era despite (and quite possibly because of) the development of countless labor-saving devices.

Its understandable that theres more anxiety about job loss today than in the past, since the pace of disruptive, job-shifting technological progress is faster than ever, but we must not lose sight of the fact that new jobs keep on appearing in free markets. The freest markets create the most jobs, so what the people should want is more capitalism, not less. Socialist promises of jobs for all drive hoped-for workers paradises into destitution and workers hells.

Environmental Sustainability

Third, environmental sustainability: Sadly, many children worry needlessly about environmental degradation. This is because theyre not taught important historical facts and economic principles. Theyre oblivious to the dismal track record of socialist countries, which suffer far more severe pollution than capitalist countries.

In capitalist counties, the profit motive incentivizes the conservation and efficient use of scarce resources. Also, strong economic growth gets countries over the hump of the Kuznets curve where environmental conditions begin to progressively improve. The bottom line: If you care about environmental conditions (what rational person doesnt?), then you should favor capitalism over socialism.

Corruption and Cronyism

In addition to concerns about income inequality, job loss, and environmental despoliation, the Edelman survey found that corruption has caused many people to distrust capitalism.

Indeed, corruption is a huge problem in the world today. But why blame capitalism for corruption? Corruption is a human shortcoming that appears in all societies, capitalist or socialist. In fact, under socialism, where scarcity of many consumer goods becomes the norm, corruption is rampant, as needy citizens often have to resort to bribing government employees to get what they wanteven to the point of prostituting themselves. Capitalism, with its relative abundance, doesnt eliminate corruption, but it makes it less necessary and less pervasive.

One other complaint in the Edelman survey is the common perception  that institutions increasingly serve the interests of the few over everyone. This is the very real and widespread problem of cronyism. Its essential to understand, though, that cronyism is not a form or characteristic of capitalism, but the actual antithesis of capitalism.

Genuine capitalism is a private-property order in which individuals are free to exchange or not exchange with whomever they wish, and in which the government acts as an impartial economic referee instead of picking winners and losers. Socialism, by contrast, is a system in which the government essentially picks all the winners and losers. Under socialism, the state dictates who produces how much of what. Cronyism, then, is partial socialisma practice by which the government chooses some, not all, of the winners and losers.

In sum, the Edelman survey reveals that the growing antipathy toward capitalism is tragically misplaced. It stems from faulty perceptions of what capitalism is and how it would work, if given the opportunity. Under genuine free-market capitalism, income inequality is benign and beneficial, job opportunities are maximized, environmental conditions improve, and cronyism is shunned rather than institutionalized.

If people understood what true capitalism is, and that what passes for capitalism today are shoddy, corrupted perversions of capitalism, they would realize that the world needs more capitalism, not less.

Mark Hendrickson, an economist, recently retired from the faculty of Grove City College, where he remains a fellow for economic and social policy at the Institute for Faith and Freedom.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
SALINE, MI  The son of a man whos been the subject of widespread backlash since asking a parent why he didnt stay in Mexico during a community meeting Monday is speaking out against racist and xenophobic behavior."

Matthew Burtell said he feels its important to challenge bigotry wherever it appears -- even when it involves his own father.

His father Tom Burtell, in a tense moment during a Saline Area Schools community meeting on diversity and inclusion Monday, Feb. 3, asked the provocative question to fellow parent Adrian Iraola, who was in the middle of describing his sons difficult experiences as a Hispanic student in the predominantly white school district south of Ann Arbor.

Its of vital importance to call out racism wherever you see it, said Matthew Burtell in an interview Tuesday. We cant stand idly by  as children, as brothers and sisters, as friends and as people interacting with each other in daily life  when someone says or does anything racist. Its all of our responsibilities and it shouldnt have to get to this.

Why didnt you stay in Mexico? School diversity and inclusion meeting turns volatile

Parents at the community meeting were encouraged to discuss incidents of bigotry after a series of racist Snapchat messages between Saline High School students came to light last week. Iraola was recounting incidents of his son being called taco, enchilada and nacho as a student.

Tom Burtell interrupted Iraola, the owner of Ann Arbors Chelas Restaurant & Taqueria, to ask, Then why didnt you stay in Mexico?

The comment caught most of the audience off guard, eliciting a chorus of gasps and shouts. Iraola replied that the United States is the greatest country in the world.

Act of racism in Snapchat group denounced by Saline Area Schools

Matthew Burtell, a 2014 Saline High School alum with siblings still in the district, said he wanted to voice how his views differ from his fathers. His friend sent him the video Monday evening. He said it gave him a sinking feeling."

I was horrified, said Matthew Burtell, a U.S. Navy veteran whos studying computer science and math at Yale University. "At some points in my life, Ive felt immense dread and a sort of sinking feeling, like Oh my god. So, I think it was that feeling."

28 School diversity and inclusion meeting

Tense moment at meeting on racial climate illustrates problem at Saline Area Schools, parents say

Racism was not uncommon when he attended Saline schools, Matthew Burtell said. It isnt uncommon in many environments, he added.

Its always around you, he said. Its microaggressions. It doesnt always come in the form of something totally, obviously racist. Oftentimes, thats not what racism looks like. I dont think theres ever been a long period of time where I didnt see either the effects of racism or racism itself in any situation.

I am a white guy. Im not the person to be asked the question. Theres so few people of color in the Saline Area Schools district. Asking them if they experienced racism would make much more sense.

Some students in the district said they were frustrated and hurt by the Snapchat messages at a school board meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 29. One said he wanted the district to make students of color feel more comfortable in the hallways following the incident.

Students weigh in on culture at Saline Area Schools after racist group Snapchat

The district was 88% white, 4% multiracial, 4% Asian, 3% Hispanic or Latino and 1% black from 2013 to 2017, according to the most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Tom Burtell declined to speak to a reporter after the meeting Monday.

Superintendent condemns this type of bigotry in response to 'Why didnt you stay in Mexico? comment

A message seeking comment on the districts ongoing community meetings was left with Superintendent Scot Graden Tuesday. Graden tweeted an April 2019 blog post titled The Courage to Challenge Insensitive Comments after the meeting Monday evening.

Courage.... watched a room filled with courageous Saline community members today - https://t.co/2n7kEGb60U  Scot Graden (@SuperScot) February 3, 2020

Saline Area Schools plans to host another community conversation on diversity, equity and inclusion at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 12 at Liberty School, 7265 N. Ann Arbor St., Saline.

More:

Why didnt you stay in Mexico? School diversity and inclusion meeting turns volatile

Our reputation as a city is that we are racist, Saline parent says

Students weigh in on culture at Saline Area Schools after racist group Snapchat

Act of racism in Snapchat group denounced by Saline Area Schools
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday set aside an order of a special court rejecting the bail plea of Areeb Majeed, who has been booked under terror charges, and directed the court to hear the plea afresh.

Majeed was arrested in November 2014 on charges of allegedly travelling to Iraq and Syria to join terror group Islamic State (IS). He is in jail since then.

A division bench of Justices B P Dharmadhikari and N R Borkar was hearing an appeal filed by Majeed challenging the September 19, 2019 order passed by a special court refusing him bail.

Majeed in his plea in HC claimed the special court, while refusing his bail plea, had failed to take into consideration the change in circumstances, on the basis of which he was seeking bail.

According to Majeed, he had sought bail from the special court on the ground that the trial against him was delayed, and that the NIA did not have jurisdiction to investigate an offence which allegedly took place in Iraq and Syria.

Majeed on Tuesday told HC that presently only 45 witnesses have been examined by the special court out of the 187 cited in the charge sheet.

"Out of the witnesses examined, several have turned hostile and have even testified they were coerced into giving false statements by the probe agency," Majeed told the court.

The bench, after hearing brief arguments, set aside the September 2019 order and directed the special court to hear his bail plea afresh.

The bench said the special court shall hear and decide Majeed's plea within a period of six weeks.

Majeed's bail pleas were rejected on two more occasions in the past.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DALLAS, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Chrysta Castaneda, the lead trial lawyer for T. Boone Pickens in his winning trial about an oil deal gone wrong, has written her first-person account of the final legal battle in his long and storied career.

The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens (Texas A&M University Press, Feb. 2020) is a high-stakes courtroom drama told through the eyes of Castaneda. It's the story of an American business legend still fighting in the twilight of his life, and the woman determined to help him make one final stand for justice.

Pickens, who was 88 by the time of the 2016 trial in Pecos, Texas, had made and lost billions over his long career. He'd come to Pecos seeking his share of what had become the biggest oil play he'd ever invested in, an oil-rich section of far West Texas that was primed for an unprecedented boom at the time he invested. After years of dealing with the media, shareholders and politicians, Pickens would need to win over a dozen West Texas jurors in one last battle.

To lead his legal fight, he chose an unlikely advocate  Chrysta Castaneda, a Dallas solo practitioner who had only recently returned to the practice of law after a hiatus borne of disillusionment with big firms. They shared an unwavering determination to win and formed a friendship that spanned their differences in age, politics and gender.

"I am proud to have represented T. Boone Pickens in his final legal battle, and I am proud to tell this account of the courtroom drama that unfolded in the heart of oil country," said Castaneda.

Castaneda co-authored the book with Loren Steffy, a leading journalist who covered Pickens over the decades for Texas Monthly and other publications.

For additional details, visit www.lasttrialoftboonepickens.com, Facebook or Twitter .

Chrysta Castaneda is a Dallas trial lawyer and head of The Castaneda Firm, a litigation boutique specializing in complex commercial oil and gas disputes. A former Big Law litigation partner, Chrysta formed her own firm in 2014 and has won accolades including the National Law Journal's Elite Trial Lawyers award and has been named to the Texas Lawyer's Verdicts Hall of Fame. Chrysta is a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Primary for Texas Railroad Commission, running on an environmental platform.

Loren Steffy is a journalist and author of three other books: George P. Mitchell: Fracking, Sustainability and an Unorthodox Quest to Save the Planet (Texas A&M University Press, 2019), Drowning in Oil: BP and the Reckless Pursuit of Profit (McGraw-Hill, 2010) and The Man Who Thought Like a Ship (Texas A&M University Press, 2012).

Contact:

Nicole Ballengee

[email protected]

SOURCE The Castaneda Firm

Related Links

http://www.lasttrialoftboonepickens.com/


The Supreme Court asked a Delhi BJP leader on Tuesday to approach its mentioning officer to get an early date for hearing of his plea seeking the removal of hundreds of anti-citizenship law protestors occupying a road-stretch in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area.

BJP leader Nand Kishore Garg has urged the top court for an urgent hearing, considering the difficulty faced by residents due to the nearly-two-month-long protest on a road connecting Delhi and Noida. Also, various other arterial roads of Delhi have been facing traffic congestion due the protest.

Restrictions have been imposed on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch and Okhla underpass since December 15, when hundreds of women sat on a protest against the amended law.

"You go to the mentioning officer," the SC bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde told Garg.

Saying that the law-enforcement machinery has been "held hostage to the whims and fancies of the protesters," the plea has sought laying down of guidelines for protests leading to obstruction of public place.

"It is disappointing that the state machinery is muted and silent spectator at hooliganism and vandalism of the protesters who are threatening the existential efficacy of the democracy and the rule of law and had already taken the law-and-order situation in their own hand," said the plea.

It said the Shaheen Bagh protest is "undoubtedly within the constitutional parameter" but it has lost its legality as constitutional protections were being "blatantly and brazenly flouted and violated."



The State has a duty to protect the fundamental rights of its citizens, who have been facing trouble due to the road blockade, it said.

"Hence, it is urgently required that the public places must not be allowed to be abused and misused for ulterior and mala fide purposes such as staging protest against the constitution amendment in the heart of the capital city and thereby causing incalculable hardships and difficulties to the common people," it said.

It said a similar plea was filed by another litigant in the Delhi High Court, which on January 14 directed the local authority to deal with the situation. The litigant has filed an appeal in the apex court against the high court order and sought supervision of the situation in Shaheen Bagh by a retired Supreme Court judge or a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) CEO Ezekiel Mutua has warned operators of Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) against airing content that he termed as pure pornography.

In a press conference on Monday, Mutua accused matatu operators of turning public service vehicles (PSVs) into mobile raunchy dens. He warned that they risk hefty fines over any unlicensed fitted screens.

According to Mutua, matatus fitted with screens are considered film exhibitors hence will need to obtain a license at Sh.2,000 per year. Posters and graffiti will also not be put up for display in PSVs without undergoing vetting by the board.

The stories of agony told by passengers in PSVs are very disturbing. The display, exhibition or playing of pornographic content, loud music and foul language used on passengers presents an image of a public transport sector gone rogue, said Mutua.

Some matatus have become theatres for pornographic content and are destroying our youth, especially students, some of whom simply spend the whole day consuming this content, he added.

Touts, drivers, and Sacco managers of vehicles found flouting the new rules will be liable to a fine of Sh.100,000 or a 5-year jail term or both.

Every content aired in PSVs has to be rated General Exhibition (GE)not showcase nudity or obscenity. From tomorrow all corners of the country will have police in place to crackdown the uncomplying vehicles, said Mutua.

The KFCB boss PSVs that comply with the new regulations will be awarded and named brand ambassadors of clean content.

He also appealed to members of the public to report vehicles that flout the rules.

We appeal to members of the public to report the above by giving the number plate, route of the matatu, the sacco and if possible evidence of the clip that was airedyou will be treated with confidentiality and protected by KFCB.

Mutua further faulted four local radio stations  Kiss FM, Classic 105, Radio Jambo and Ghetto Radio  which he has accused of airing adult content during morning hours.

He urged school administrators to ensure their drivers do not turn on the said radio stations in their school buses or they will be arrested.

Ezekiel Mutua also named PSVs plying Ngong Road, Mombasa Road, Langata, Thika Road and Magadi Road as the most notorious in exhibiting pure pornography content.
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Iowa should never go first again.

It should never go first again because it is an overwhelmingly white, disproportionately older state that distorts the presidential nominating process. In the 2020 campaign, Iowas outsize role has already helped doom two black candidates (Cory Booker and Kamala Harris) and given a boost to candidates whose main appeal has been among white voters (like Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar). Iowas Democrats look nothing like the nations Democrats, as Michael Tomasky explained in a Times Op-Ed.

Iowa should never go first again because its caucus excludes even some of its own citizens from voting. Absentee voting is not allowed. Thousands of people with disabilities cant participate, as Ari Berman (a native Iowan) of Mother Jones noted. Neither can many people who work at night or need to take care of children, as Judd Legum wrote in his newsletter. And the votes from Iowas metropolitan areas dont count as much as votes from rural areas.

Opinion Debate Will the Democrats face a midterm wipeout? Mark Penn and Andrew Stein write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond.

write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond. Matthew Continetti writes that time and again, the biggest obstacle to a red wave hasnt been the Democratic Party. Its been the Republican Party.

writes that time and again, the biggest obstacle to a red wave hasnt been the Democratic Party. Its been the Republican Party. Ezra Klein speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging.

speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging. Michelle Cottle examines two primary contests that will shake the parties well beyond the states in play.

Iowa should never go first again because the caucus is rife with strange, complicated rules. One example: Somebodys vote  even for one of the leading candidates  typically does not count if it comes in a place where that candidate doesnt get at least 15 percent of the local vote. These rules are complicated, The Timess Nate Cohn noted. There are ordinary people out there trying to make sense of these rules in running these caucuses. Many of them struggled.
Bollywood film fraternity showed up at Kareena and Karishma Kapoor's cousin Armaan Jain's wedding reception and hence it becomes a starlit gala event.

On February 3, the actor tied the knot with long-time partner Anissa Malhotra, top names from the industry were present to pour in their love and wishes on the couple. And, their attires indeed demand a noteworthy mention.

Kareena Kapoor Khan showed up in a yellow saree glazing on a sleeveless golden blouse and accessorised it only with a pair of Jhumkas. She did not bother going for any other jewelry pieces and completed her look with a black bindi. She rolled her hair in a tight low bun with a white garland wrapped neatly around it.

Whereas sister Karishma had opted for a peach-colored saree with light-embroideries and a golden border on it. She paired it with a similarly hued blouse and chic jewelry that included a choker, a statement long necklace and matching 'earrings' and bangles.

Producer Boney Kapoor showed up in an off-white kurta-pajama with an embroidered overcoat and aptly paired beige loafers. While Anil Kapoor was all suited up in dark navy blue and a bottle green shirt.

New generation actors Kiara Advani and Tara Sutaria also attended the event with glam over pouring their attires from tip to toe. Kiara went for an ash-and baby pink combination elegant yet sizzling lehenga whereas Tara followed the trend of going with the mild pinkish toned lehenga and matching jewellery.

The Ambanis were not exempted from the guest list and they (including Nita, Isha, Akash, and Shloka) also dropped by to bestow their wishes to the newlyweds.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has declined to comment on the ongoing Airbus bribery scandal.



The NDC Chief Scribe says he is in a "demonstration mood" in a bid to compel the Electoral Commission from compiling a new voters register; consequently, he does "not have time to discuss Airbus bribery scandal."



In an interview with Akosua Ago Aboagye, sit-in host of Okay FMs "Ade Akye Abia" Morning Show, General Mosquito as he is affectionately called, believed the Airbus scandal is a ploy to divert the attention from the issue of the new voters register.



This issue of Airbus or Airbicycle or whatever is a deliberate attempt to divert the attention of Ghanaians from the issue of new voters register and that is why they are doing that and so I dont have time to talk about Airbus bribery scandal now, he said.



The Crown Court at Southwark in the United Kingdom passed judgment on 31st January 2020, between the Director of the Serious Fraud Office and Airbus SE, in which the European multinational aerospace corporation was fined $3.9 billion for the payment of bribes to secure deals in five countries, including Ghana.



The London High Court found Airbus guilty and imposed a fine of three billion pounds (3bn) as penalties.



Airbus was charged with five counts of failing to prevent bribery, having used a network of secret agents to pay large-scale backhanders to officials in foreign countries to land high-value contracts.



The Office of the President, in this respect, charged the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, to with immediate effect delve into the bottom of the Airbus bribery scandal and investigate the complicity of any public official, "past or present" who may have been involved in the saga.



A statement signed by Communications Director at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin stated that these investigations are expected to be conducted in collaboration with the United Kingdom authorities.



" . . President Akufo-Addo has taken notice of the judgment and its implications, and has referred it to the Office of Special Prosecutor to collaborate with its UK counterparts to conduct a prompt inquiry to determine the complicity or otherwise of any Ghanaian government official, past or present, involved in the said scandal, and to take the necessary legal action against any such official, as required by Ghanaian law," the statement read.





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A teenager who began volunteering in a bid to boost his mental health after a friend took his life is one of nine young people from Northern Ireland to be recognised for their work within their communities.

The nine are among 20 finalists in the 2020 Spirit of Community Awards, the only all-Ireland youth initiative of its kind that rewards post-primary students for their exemplary acts of volunteerism.

Among those included in The Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards this year are Aaron Smith from St Louise's Comprehensive College, Co Antrim; Emma Smyth, St Louis Grammar School, Co Antrim; and Lauren Gaynor, Loreto Grammar School, Co Tyrone. They are all sixth year students.

After one of Aaron's close friends tragically took his own life in 2016, he began struggling with his own mental health and was diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorder.

Looking for help and support, Aaron turned to volunteering for help and joined a cross-community programme, Uniting Communities Young Leaders.

He said: "I began volunteering at around 12 as I had very low self-esteem, so in an effort to boost my self-confidence, I tried volunteering at local events through my youth club, and found myself growing more confident and self-assured."

Aaron joined the Young Ambassadors programme and was approached in early 2019 by the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Association to help co-design a declaration on Human Rights and Sport.

The declaration was a huge success and Aaron was invited to accompany the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Association to the 2019 Commonwealth Games Forum General Assembly in Kigali, Rwanda, where he helped deliver this declaration to 71 different Commonwealth Games associations.

Lauren Gaynor secured her nomination after she spent four weeks in Cambodia this year as part of the Camps International project where she helped rural and impoverished communities there.

She said: "The project was set up to let young people from the UK go to Cambodia and help the local children and learn about another community at the same time.

"We helped build drainage systems, houses, repaired classrooms and taught the children English.

"It was a challenging four weeks that became very rewarding very quickly and it made me very grateful for what I have."

Emma Smyth was first moved to volunteer along with her family to raise funds for Children with Cancer when her younger brother was diagnosed with the disease.

Since then she has gone on to volunteer with a project that helps connect elderly people in her local community, worked in Ghana for two weeks and raised money for Children in Need.

She said: "My motivation came from the support I received from various charities when my younger brother was diagnosed with cancer.

"As I got older, I realised that there were many problems in the world that needed support to find a solution. This encouraged me to partake in different fundraisers and begin to volunteer."

All 20 finalists will attend a gala night in Belfast at the end of May where they will receive their award.

Naomi Hegarty, vice president of Risk, Pramerica Systems Ireland, said the recognition the young people get is truly deserved.

She said: "The 20 finalists selected as part of this year's awards programme are proudly taking a stand for what they believe in and actively empowering others to do the same.

"Our awards programme celebrates these passionate and dedicated young people and aims to give them the recognition and voice they truly deserve."
As Porsche gears up to release the Taycan,its long-awaited $150,000 luxury electric car, many are pointing to the company's long history with electric vehicles.

The companys very first vehicle, the C2 Phaeton, sometimes nicknamed the P1, debuted in 1898, a carriage powered by a 187-pound electric motor that generated 3 horsepower and could reach top speeds of 21mph.

The P1 was designed by then 22-year-old Ferdinand Porsche, who worked for the Viennese electric utility company Bella Egger & Co..

The P1, the first car ever designed by Ferdinand Porsche, featured a 187-pound electric motor and could hit speeds of up to 21mph

Bell Egger & Co. had agreed to collaborate with the local carriage manufacturer, Jacob Lohner & Co.. on a prototype, and the young Porsche was assigned to the project.

He created a design with a rear-mounted engine that was powered by a bank of batteries weighing over 1,100 pounds, according to a report at Ars Technica.

In total, the P1 weighed 2,997 pounds and had a range of around 50 miles, outperforming many gas powered vehicles at the time.

The P1 had a 12-speed drive system, with two different settings for going in reverse and another four ultra-low speed options meant to be used for braking.

Uniquely, the system didnt rely on a conventional gear differential system, but instead altered the strength of the current being sent to the engine rotor to alter its speed.

The vehicle also had what Porsche described as an overboost function that would give the engine an additional 2 horsepower to help it push the vehicle up inclines.

The P1 was originally a collaboration between the Viennese carriage manufacturer Jacob Lohner & Co, and a local electric utility where a 22-year-old Porsche worked.

The P1 had a 12-speed drive system, but instead of gear differentials, it sent different strength currents to the engine's rotor

The P1 was powered by a bank of batteries that weighed more than 1,100 pounds and gave the vehicle a range of around 50 mile

Ferdinand Porsche had an aptitude for electrical systems from an early age, which helped him land a job at the Viennese electric company Bell Egger & Co.

In 1899, the P1 was entered into a race in Berlin, competing against a number of other electric car manufacturers.

The P1 came in first in the 24-mile race and beat its next closest contestant by over 18 minutes, establishing Porsches reputation for speed.

The success led Porsche to joining Loehner full time as an engineer, before moving to Austro-Daimler in 1906.

He worked fro Daimler until 1929 when he was laid off in part because of the Great Depression.

With few other options, he decided to start his own company, and formally launched Porsche GmbH in 1931, and the rest is history.
ASX-listed insurer IAG has restructured its operations, expanding the responsibilities of group executive technology, Neil Morgan.

Morgan, who reports to managing director and CEO Peter Harmer, will lead an expanded technology and digital division. The new division brings together the companys IT team as well as all the digital teams from Australia and New Zealand.

That includes the digital teams that were previously part of IAGs Customer Labs division. As part of the changes announced today, IAG chief customer officer Julie Batch  who leads Customer Labs  has been appointed chief strategy and innovation officer.

The new strategy and innovation division led by Batch will incorporate the strategy function of Customer Labs.

We continue to evolve our operating model to better align our customer and corporate strategies and further foster a culture of innovation as we consider and create new and different services for our customers, Harmer said.

IAG said that the changes, which will take effect on 24 February, will help emphasise the growth of the companys core insurance business as well as adjacent business opportunities.

IAG recruited Morgan in February 2018 to the then newly created group executive technology position. Previously he had been chief technology officer in IAGs Australian business, on a 12-month secondment from PwC.

In 2019, IAG completed consolidation of its claims platform onto Guidewires ClaimCenter. In the wake of that project, it kicked off a multi-year initiative to simplify policy administration on Guidewire, which Harmer has previously said will make it easier to respond to a sudden influx of claims in the wake of a major disaster.

Last year a particular focus of Customer Labs was on shifting all IAG customer data to a single platform, and the company in August revealed it planned to ramp up investment in artificial intelligence in the wake of a number of successful AI projects.

(In late 2018 IAG revealed it was a founding member of the Gradient Institute, which is focused on AI ethics.)
A 21-year old inmate at the Community Corrections Center in Omaha died early Tuesday, the Nebraska Department of Corrections said.

Carmichael Elya was found unresponsive in his cell about 4:20 a.m., a spokeswoman said. He was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Elya was convicted of first-degree sexual assault in Sarpy County and sentenced to six to 10 years in prison. He began serving his sentence on March 6, 2017.

The cause of death has yet to be determined, the spokeswoman said. As is the case whenever an inmate dies in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Corrections, a grand jury will conduct an investigation.

Another inmate, at the State Penitentiary in Lincoln, died at 12:55 p.m. Tuesday, the Nebraska Department of Corrections said.

James Hall, 63, was serving a sentence of 10 years to life for second-degree murder.

While Halls cause of death has yet to be determined, he was being treated for a medical condition, the Nebraska Department of Corrections said.

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UAE-based telecom group Etisalat has signed a multi-year partnership with Microsoft to drive public cloud first strategy through a digital transformation programme enabling AI-powered 5G and edge computing.



The tie-up enables Etisalat to build a digital platform infused with automation and AI providing a simplified network architecture and operations empowering Etisalat subscribers and improving customer experience.



Today, Etisalat and Microsoft embark together on a bold new digital transformation journey that will allow us to leverage our industry expertise to deliver the next generation of networks, said Saeed Al Zarouni, senior vice president, Mobile Networks, Etisalat.



Keeping in line with our overall strategy and vision of Driving the Digital Future to Empower Societies, we at Etisalat are committed to nothing less than the total transformation of the consumer and business customer experiences.



Etisalat today has transitioned to a digital service provider  the provider of choice for digital services among enterprises and SMB customers, supporting them to monetise services to generate new revenue streams. Together with Microsoft, we are building the communications network of the future, he added.



Microsoft Azure will power the infusion of AI capabilities into Etisalats network by expanding Microsoft Azure solutions into the network, and for Etisalats new technologies like Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) and Network Edge Computing (NEC).



These will significantly speed up computing at the edge, which combined with 5G, will enable new types of applications related to smart cities, autonomous systems, gaming, AR/VR, IoT, and vision computing solutions.



Our partnership with Etisalat is further demonstration of the trust regional enterprises place in the intelligent Microsoft Cloud, said Sayed Hashish, general manager, Microsoft UAE.



Our mission is to empower every individual and organisation on the planet to achieve more. Etisalats digital transformation journey centres on a public-cloud-first strategy including network workloads. Its partnership with Microsoft is designed to merge its telecommunications capabilities with our intelligent cloud solutions, including artificial intelligence and self-healing networks.  TradeArabia News Service
Missouri House Rep. Ben Baker introduced the bill, dubbed the Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act, in January that calls for the creation of a panel made up of non-library workers who will determine the removal of age-inappropriate sexual material, from their local branch. Libraries that dont comply will lose their funding. Library employees providing material deemed inappropriate would be hit with a misdemeanor charge and liable for a $500 fine or a maximum jail sentence of a year, according to the bills current language.  ABC News
Attempts to censor teen reading in schools and libraries are not at all uncommon. Although I am no fan of those policies, I recently caught myself censoring my own 13-year-old daughter, who has discovered John Green. First, there was "The Fault in Our Stars," followed by "Paper Towns" and "Turtles All the Way Down." Then she wanted to read "Looking for Alaska," a highly regarded young adult novel that includes sex scenes I had heard were a little less "fade to black" than those in Green's other books. I have always encouraged her to read anything she feels ready for, but this time I told her that she could dive in only if she was willing to talk with me about the book's mature themes and scenes while I read along. She opted out.
LONDON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Krane Funds Advisors, LLC, ("KraneShares"), a global asset management firm known for its China-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and innovative China investment strategies, today announced the launch of the KraneShares MSCI China ESG Leaders UCITS ETF (Ticker: KESG) on the London Stock Exchange.

KESG tracks the MSCI China ESG Leaders 10/40 Index, a capitalization weighted index that provides exposure to companies with high Environmental, Social and Governance ratings relative to their sector peers. The Index consists of large and mid-cap companies domiciled in China. KESG's index provider, MSCI, is the number one provider of ESG, Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) and corporate governance indexes based on a survey of global institutions.1

China's economy is moving from manufacturing to services. Typically, companies aligned with the "New China" economy experience greater growth than companies from China's legacy sectors. MSCI's ESG methodology not only identifies more socially responsible investment opportunities, it can also be an effective filter for capturing companies that are aligned with China's future growth trajectory.

Since its inception in 2013, the MSCI China ESG Leaders Index has outperformed the standard MSCI China Index by 58%. The 5-year annualized return of the MSCI China ESG Leaders Index was 12.34% as compared to just 7.49% from the MSCI China Index.2

"We have seen a lot of investor demand for a China-focused ESG UCITS ETF," said Jonathan Krane, CEO of KraneShares. "We are proud to partner with MSCI, a global leader in ESG indexing, to deliver the KraneShares MSCI China ESG Leaders UCITS ETF (Ticker: KESG) to our clients."

For more information about KESG visit kraneshares.eu/kesg or email europe@kraneshares.com.

About KraneShares

Krane Funds Advisors, LLC is the investment manager for KraneShares ETFs. The firm is focused on providing investors with strategies to capture China's importance as an essential element of a well-designed investment portfolio. KraneShares ETFs represent innovative, first to market strategies that have been developed based on the firm and its partners' deep knowledge of investing. These strategies allow investors to stay current on global market trends and provide meaningful diversification. Krane Funds Advisors, LLC is majority owned by China International Capital Corporation (CICC).





This information is being communicated by KraneShares, which is an appointed representative of DMS Capital Solutions UK Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom under the reference number 503325.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. There can be no assurance that a Fund will achieve its stated objectives. The Funds are subject to political, social or economic instability within China which may cause decline in value. Fluctuations in currency of foreign countries may have an adverse effect to domestic currency values. Emerging markets involve heightened risk related to the same factors as well as increase volatility and lower trading volume.

Narrowly focused investments typically exhibit higher volatility. Internet companies are subject to rapid changes in technology, worldwide competition, rapid obsolescence of products and services, loss of patent protections, evolving industry standards and frequent new product productions. Such changes may have an adverse impact on performance.

This material is for information only and does not constitute an offer or recommendation to buy or sell any investment, or subscribe to any investment management or advisory service. You are accessing information which constitutes a financial promotion under section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ("FSMA").

Any investment, and investment activity or controlled activity, to which this information relates is available only to such persons and will be engaged in only with such persons. Persons that do not have professional experience should not rely or act upon this information unless they are persons to whom any of paragraphs (2)(a) to (d) of article 49 apply to whom distribution of this information may otherwise lawfully be made.

For additional fund documentation, please visit www.DMSGovernance.com.

1 As voted by 1,300 participants of the SRI Connect and Extel Survey in 2018

2 Data from Bloomberg as of 31 December 2019



Related Links

http://kraneshares.com



SOURCE Krane Funds Advisors, LLC
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
Group CMD Baba N Kalyani said the firm had held a series of discussions with the Uttar Pradesh government and signed a memorandum of understanding in this regard. The state government has offered to allot us the required land at two to three places for our plant, he said, adding the firm would soon take a call. Its also planning to set up a small arms unit in the country in association with DRDO.

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Technavio has been monitoring the luxury eyewear market, and it is poised to grow by USD 6.75 bn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 6% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005692/en/

Technavio announced its latest market research report titled global luxury eyewear market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The utility of eyewear as a fashion product has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, challenges with threat from counterfeit products might hamper the market growth. Request a free sample report

Luxury Eyewear Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

Luxury Eyewear Market is segmented as below:

Product

Eyeglasses

Sunglasses

Geographic segmentation

North America

Europe

APAC

South America

MEA

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30677

Luxury Eyewear Market 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our luxury eyewear market report covers the following areas:

Luxury Eyewear Market size

Luxury Eyewear Market trends

Luxury Eyewear Market industry analysis

This study identifies increasing cases of vision disorder as one of the prime reasons driving the luxury eyewear market growth during the next few years.

Luxury Eyewear Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the luxury eyewear market, including some of the vendors such as Essilor, Kering, LUXOTTICA GROUP, LVMH, and Safilo Group. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the luxury eyewear market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports.

Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

Luxury Eyewear Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist luxury eyewear market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the luxury eyewear market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the luxury eyewear market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of luxury eyewear market vendors

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005692/en/

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Website: https://www.technavio.com/
Donald Trump will deliver his third State of the Union address before Congress and the nation on Tuesday evening at the Capitol as a new poll revealed he has reached record high approval ratings.

A Gallup poll shows Trump with 49 per cent approval, the highest this particular survey has recorded since the start of his presidency  and also revealed his approval is at 94 per cent among Republicans, which is a 6 per cent increase from a poll taken in early January.

This new number was revealed as 46 per cent of Americans said in the January 16-29 survey that they are in favor of the Senate voting to convict and remove Trump from office.

It's expected, however, that Trump will ignore the elephant in the room in his remarks.

He will declare that the state of the union is strong, as the two political parties remain bitterly divided over impeachment  and a vote on whether to acquit or convict the president will take place in the Senate the day after the annual address.

But instead of focusing on impeachment  which has monopolized Washington's attention since the investigation was launched in September  the president will spend his hours-long remarks focusing on the 'wins' of his administration while staring down those who want to see him removed from office.

'I've read through the speech and I haven't seen the word impeachment,' White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley said Tuesday.

Donald Trump will deliver his third State of the Union address Tuesday night, where the president is expected to declare the state of the U.S. is 'strong'  and the speech will follow a new high approval rating

The speech comes on the same day Gallup released a poll where Trump reached his highest approval rating of his presidency: 49 per cent. The president's last highest approval rating through Gallup with 46 per cent over the summer

'I've read through the speech and I haven't seen the word impeachment,' White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley told reporters Tuesday

The speech will come as the nation and parties remain bitterly divided over impeachment. Pictured are the seven House impeachment managers prosecuting him in the Senate trial (from left to right: Hakeem Jeffries, Jerry Nadler, Val Demings, Adam Schiff, Sylvia Garcia, Zoe Lofgren, Jason Crow)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who will sit behind the president for the full remarks, launched the impeachment inquiry in September, and has made it clear her party's prerogative is to remove him from office before the end of his first term

He added while speaking to reporters at the White House hours ahead of the address: 'He's in a great mood, he's ready to talk to the American people.'

Trump touted his high approval on Tuesday, but appeared to be referencing a different poll.

'My Approval Rating in the Republican Party = 95%, a record! Big Iowa win. Approval Rating overall = 53%, a new high,' he boasted in a tweet. 'With our great Economy and other major successes, would be 20 points higher without the phony Witch Hunts and Hoaxes???'

His previous highest approval rating in the Gallup polling was 46 per cent toward the start of the summer.

A senior administration official revealed ahead of the address during a background briefing Friday that the theme of the State of the Union is 'The Great American Comeback.'

The official added that the president would focus on presenting his vision of 'relentless optimism' and will encourage bipartisan cooperation in Congress to build an 'inclusive economy.'

Trump will focus on five different issues or points, the official previewed: the 'blue-collar boom,' supporting working families, lowering healthcare costs, continuing to reform the immigration system and more broadly protecting U.S. national security.

The official also previewed that Trump would focus on five different issues or points: the 'blue-collar boom,' supporting working families, lowering healthcare costs, continuing to reform the immigration system and more broadly protecting U.S. national security.

The official said he didn't want to 'get ahead of what the president will say' during his speech, but also claimed it isn't 'safe to assume anything' about the address.

'I'm not previewing what the President is going to say about that today,' the official told reporters. 'Clearly there's a lot going on, but I'm not going to preview.'

Keeping his focus on the economy could prove to be a winning point for Trump.

A new Morning Consult poll released Tuesday morning shows that the Majority of Americans say the economy is their top issue going into the 2020 election.

In the open-response question to 4,400 Americans, 28 per cent said economic issues are the biggest contributing factor to how they will vote at the ballot box in November.

A senior official revealed Trump will focus largely on the booming economy and job growth  a winning issue according to a new poll that shows the majority of voters feel the economy is the biggest issue going into 2020

Eighteen per cent of respondents said their biggest issue in the elections was national security, 15 per cent said health care issues, 10 per cent said senior issues and 9 per cent said partisanship.

Out of the 20 different responses, the rest all had 5 per cent or less  including environment, immigration, education and guns.

Five per cent of respondents said 'nothing' is their main focus and 2 per cent said 'everything.'

'This will be the first time the President has done one of these while there are people in the Chamber who are wanting to replace him as President,' another reporter pushed. 'How does the President feel about that? Will he mention any of those people or allude to them in any way?'

'I won't preview if he's going to call anybody out because I  but I think the President will be entirely comfortable with that,' the official claimed. 'I think  yeah, I'll just  I'll just say that.'

While the president delivers a hopeful message that focuses on the successes of his administration, about half of the lawmakers listening to his remarks have made it clear they want to kick him from office through impeachment.

On Monday the prosecution and defense presented closing arguments on the Senate floor and on Tuesday senators were given the chance to make remarks in the trial  and these two days followed two weeks of trial in the Senate with a proposal rules portion, opening arguments, senators' question-and-answer sessions and closing arguments.

Wednesday the Republican-majority chamber will vote on the president's fate  which almost certainly will be acquittal.

Although Trump could use the speech to insist he won when the Senate voted against calling new witnesses and prolonging the trial, by the vote occuring a day after the address, he won't be able to use the national stage in front of Congress to take a victory lap.

The president and first lady Melania Trump will also host a few guests, which is commonplace for the president and members of Congress to do during the State of the Union address.

One guest will be Afghanistan Army veteran Tony Rankins, a recovering drug user who is now a construction worker in a so-called 'opportunity zone' in Cincinnati, Ohio.

These zones were created by the Trump administration as part of the 2017 tax cuts and are low-income areas that receive tax advantages to drum up more investment.

The Trump administration has also touted the strides it has made toward decreasing overdose deaths  and last week White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway delivered a rare press briefing where she announced overdose deaths in 2019 decreased for the first time in decades.

Another one of Trump's guests Tuesday night is Border Patrol Deputy Chief Raul Ortiz.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who was forced to stay back in Washington, D.C. during the impeachment trial instead of continuing on the campaign trail, decided to hold a rally in New Hampshire Tuesday night rather than attending the State of the Union address.

Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Bernie Sanders is skipping out on the State of the Union address, and will instead on Tuesday hold a campaign rally in New Hampshire  the first primary state

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is campaigning for Bernie Sanders in the 2020 primary, is boycotting the address

The progressive congresswoman claimed that attending would further 'normalize' his actions

Ayanna Pressley, a member of the so-called 'squad' alongside Ocasio-Cortez, will also not attend the address

Maxine Waters, 81, is a frequent target of the president's ire  and she followed suit and joined others in boycotting the address

Mike Huckabee, a Trump defender and father of his former press secretary, made fun of those skipping the remarks  hitting at the fiasco over the still-pending Iowa caucus resorts

THE DEMOCRATS WHO ARE BOYCOTTING DONALD TRUMP'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS Earl Blumenauer of Oregon Steve Cohen of Tennessee Al Green of Louisiana Hank Johnson of Georgia Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts Maxine Waters of California Frederica Wilson of Florida Advertisement

Sanders isn't the only one skipping out on speech, which is historically attended by all federal lawmakers.

One of his highest profile surrogates, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, revealed she will be boycotting the address this year  claiming attending would 'normalize' the actions of what she calls an illegitimate president.

'After much deliberation, I have decided that I will not use my presence at a state ceremony to normalize Trump's lawless conduct & subversion of the Constitution,' the progressive New York congresswoman tweeted.

'None of this is normal, and I will not legitimize it,' the 30-uear-old lawmaker asserted. 'Consequently, I will not be attending the State of the Union.'

She was also joined by fellow 'squad' member Ayanna Pressley.

'The State of the Union is hurting because of the occupant of the White House, who consistently demonstrates contempt for the American people, contempt for Congress & contempt for our constitution. I cannot in good conscience attend tonight's sham #SOTU' the Massachusetts representative tweeted.

Pressley and Ocasio-Cortez are part of a quartet of congresswomen who make up the so-called 'squad'  which also includes Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar.

Although Omar and Tlaib are attending the address, Ocasio-Cortez made sure she clarified the decision to show up was 'personal.'

'This is a deeply personal decision for each member to make, and a choice I did not take lightly,' she said in a tweet attached to her original announcement.

Several other Democrats also announced Monday and Tuesday they will be boycotting Trump's third State of the Union address.

Maxine Waters, who often publicly spars with Trump, tweeted her opposition to the speech shortly after Ocasio-Cortez.

'To think that I would attend the #SOTU to hear the message of an IMPEACHED president is a thought that in no way would be consistent w/ my fight and struggle against this dishonorable president. I will certainly NOT be there!' the 81-year-old California congresswoman tweeted.

Three congressmen  Earl Blumenauer of Oregon (left), Steve Cohen of Tennessee (center) and Al Green of Louisiana (right)  were some of the first Democratic lawmakers to announce they are boycotting the State of the Union address. 'I have chosen not to dignify Trump's parade of lies,' Blumenauer said

There are several Democrats who announced they will be boycotting the remarks from the president.

Steve Cohen, a Democratic representative from Tennessee, said he will participate in the boycott.

'I have not attended prior Trump State of the Union addresses, and won't attended Tuesday night's, because I don't believe the President has the character or veracity necessary to address Congress from that august podium and is not worthy of the dignity and respect accorded to his predecessors,' Cohen said in a statement released Monday.

Earl Blumenauer, who represents Oregon in the House, also announced Monday night that he plans to boycott Trump's address.

'I have chosen not to dignify Trump's parade of lies about health care, his persistent exaggeration, and his personal attacks with my attendance,' he said.

Al Green, who represents Louisiana, won't be attending either.

'Because of an impeached, reckless, ruthless, lawless, shameless, corrupt, & unapologetically bigoted president - who is still engaging in a coverup, the state of the House, the state of the Senate, and the #StateOfTheUnion are divided. I will NOT attend #SOTU2020,' Green tweeted Tuesday morning.

This is the third year in a row that Cohen, Blumenauer and Green will skip Trump's address.

Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor, staunch Trump defender and the father of the president's former press secretary, made fun of the Democratic Party and those planning to skip out on the State of the Union.

'House Dems will boycott @realDonaldTrump SOTU speech but will watch on their app built by Iowa Dems. They expect to see it by Friday afternoon,' Huckabee tweeted Tuesday morning.

He is referencing the fiasco in the Iowa caucus Monday night, where the state's Democratic Party built an app for the event that ended up malfunctioning.

Due to the 'inconsistencies' with the app, no winner was announced Monday and Democratic candidates had to leave Iowa without knowing the results.

On the other hand, Trump  who is facing no real competition in the primary  won the Republican Iowa caucus with more than 97 per cent.
A teenager is fighting for life after he was stabbed repeatedly in a street fight in west London.

Police were called to Kingsley Road in Hounslow shortly before 7.30pm on Tuesday.

The victim, aged 19, suffered stab injuries and later took himself to hospital. He remains there in a critical condition.

A man, aged in his early 20s, has been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, police said.

A teenager took himself to hospital after the stabbing / @Tia24969426/Twitter

He has been taken to a west London police station and remains in custody.

Photos showed a section of the road where the attack happened had been taped off, while a number of police officers and cars were at the scene.
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By Sun Shuai

BEIRUT, Feb. 3The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese Armed Forces(LAF) recently held a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony aiming to strengthen both sides cooperation on humanitarian demining. As one of the core forces for demining in the UNIFIL, the 18th batch of Chinese peacekeeping construction engineering unit (CHINCEU) to Lebanon was invited to participate in the ceremony. Next, the 18th batch of CHINCEU will be devoted to the coming demining operations within the UN Missions area of operation in south Lebanon but beyond the Blue Line.

According to Brigadier General Frederic Boucher, Chief of Staff of the UNIFIL, in the wake of the 2006 Lebanon-Israel war and till 2010, the UNIFIL deminers had been conducting humanitarian demining operations within the framework of UN Security Council resolution 1701, in a bid to facilitate the Lebanon civilians safe access to their dwellings and agricultural land. However, these operations were suspended in 2010 because the UNIFILs tasks were to mark Blue Line and ensure the security of peacekeepers patrols. Now, the situation allows us again to resume efforts in humanitarian demining area, he said.

Lebanon still has more than 40 million square meters of land contaminated with deadly mines, noted Brigadier General Gihad Al Bechelany, director of the Lebanon Mine Action Centre (LMAC). The signing of the MOU marks the beginning of our joint humanitarian demining operations with the UNIFIL in the 1,060-square-kilometer area between the Litani River and the Blue Line.

After the signing ceremony, Colonel Gao Chaoning, commander of the 18th CHINCEU, accompanied Brig. Gen. Boucher to visit the LAFs Regional School for Humanitarian Demining, where they viewed the demining tools and unexploded ordnances (UXOs) collected in the country and exchanged demining experience.

Col. Gao explained that the UNIFIL currently has peacekeepers from China and Cambodia undertaking the deadly task of clearing contaminated areas along the 120-km Blue Line and around UN positions in south Lebanon. The Chinese peacekeepers are honored to take part in the humanitarian demining missions.

We will leverage our professional skills and strict operational standards to help the Lebanese people remove mines and clear off the major factor that hindering economy development and frightening local people, he said.
Crippled jet lands safely in Madrid: An Air Canada Boeing 767 with 128 passengers and eight crew members returned safely to Madrid's Barajas airport after reporting an engine issue and a burst tire on takeoff that forced it to circle for hours to burn fuel before landing. There were no reported injuries. The incident occurred just hours after a drone sighting near the takeoff area at the airport caused a brief disruption, with 26 flights diverted away from Barajas.
Setting up of common facility centres (CFCs) in the country for will help marginal workers upgrade their product quality and output, the said on Tuesday.

Gems and jewellery exports account for more than $40 billion (about Rs 2.84 trillion) annually, employing more than 5 million people across the country.

The industry has a huge potential to grow and it is the aim of the ministry to boost exports to $75 billion (about Rs 5.32 trillion) by 2025, it said in a statement.

It said that one such CFC is being set up in Kolkata for gems and jewellery artisans.

"This CFC will benefit one lakh artisans engaged in the manufacturing of handmade jewellery in and around Bowbazar, a major jewellery hub of Kolkata," the ministry said.

The centre will enhance the productivity and quality of products, especially the small gem and jewellery units, it added.

Apart from introducing trade-friendly policies for the sector, the ministry is also facilitating the industry through creation of infrastructure in the form of CFCs.

A jewellery CFC is also being set up at Coimbatore and is expected to be completed by March 2020.

Similar centres have already been set up at major diamond clusters in Gujarat like Amreli, Palanpur, Visnagar and Junagadh.

"The objective of setting up CFCs is to give the small and medium jewellery manufacturing units access to a common pool of high-end and capital-intensive state-of-the-art machinery/equipment which is otherwise unaffordable for individual small and medium jewellery manufacturers," it said.

The SME (small and medium enterprises) units located in small towns like Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Rajkot and interior villages are still operating with old technology, and this has affected the quality of the finished goods produced, it added.

"The artisans/goldsmiths in these places undertake the work on job-work-basis from wholesale jewellery manufacturer/retail jewellers. They use out dated technology to manufacture the jewellery," it said.

Usage of technology like casting technology, finishing techniques like tumbling and magnetic polisher are being used only in a few of the units, it added.

"The CFCs will empower the trade in this sector and increase overall productivity, yield and timely delivery," it said.
Most public schools are cash-strapped. PTAs work hard to close the funding gap by holding events to raise money to pay for school supplies, field trips, and groundskeeping. But when Emerson Elementary School in Berkeley, California held a screening of Disney's popular knock-off of Kimba the White Lion, which is called The Lion King, they were surprised to discover a bill for $250 for "illegally screening the movie," reports CNN:

"One of the dads bought the movie at Best Buy," PTA president David Rose told CNN. "He owned it. We literally had no idea we were breaking any rules."

While the school doesn't know how exactly the company discovered the movie was played, Rose said the school's PTA will "somewhat begrudgingly" cover the cost of the screening.

An email sent to the school by Movie Licensing USA informed Emerson faculty that the company had "received an alert" that "The Lion King" was screened during an event on November 15. Movie Licensing USA manages licensing for Disney and other major studios.

And since the school does not have a license with the company, it's been asked to pay $250 for the screening  and $250 per showing of the movie at any future events at the school.
N.J.s only high-end hardcore gym, Iron Culture, has launched an e-commerce platform to distribute its popular apparel. (Courtesy of Iron Culture.) "Iron Culture goes far beyond any franchise gymwe have created a real community where people are finding connection, hope and healing, and people are celebrating the brand," said Charles Addessi, partner at Iron Culture.

Iron Culture, New Jerseys first and only high-end "hardcore" gym, announced it has surpassed 500 members since its official opening in June 2019. To celebrate this milestone, the emerging fitness brand today announced the launch of an online platform to distribute its popular Iron Culture apparel, previously only available for purchase at the gym.

"Reaching 500 members in just over six months is an incredible milestone," said Charles Addessi, partner at Iron Culture. "Iron Culture goes far beyond any franchise gymwe have created a real community where people are finding connection, hope and healing, and people are celebrating the brand.

The Iron Culture team is launching its online store to accommodate the high demand for its merchandise, which typically sells out within days at the gym. The Iron Culture e-commerce platform debuts with activewear and accessories, including white camouflage hoodies, cropped sweatshirts and exercise tanks with the Iron Culture logo.

Located at 8 E. Frederick Place in Cedar Knolls, Iron Cultures facility has attracted members and guests from across the tri-state area  as far away as Philadelphia, the Jersey Shore, Rockland County, N.Y., and beyond. Iron Culture has also attracted visits from the fitness community, including 2018 Mr. Olympia Shawn Rhoden and other top bodybuilders like Guy Cisternino, Steve Laureus and Shaun Clarida.

Arthur Imperatore Jr., vice chairman of NY Waterway and president of Romulus Development Corp., and a mental health advocate himself, is the visionary behind Iron Culture, along with partner Charles Addessi.

Imperatore and Addessi created a whole wellness community within Iron Culture by assisting those who struggle with addiction and mental illnesseducating members on utilizing strength and weight training to improve psychological and physical health.

After tragically losing my son Justin, a former college lacrosse goalie, in the fall of 2018, I was motivated to create a new fitness community that emphasizes personal transformation through weight training and strength conditioning. Iron Culture is the realization of that goal, said Imperatore. We are proud of the community of like-minded fitness enthusiasts that we have built, and we will continue to invest in our members as we grow.

Since its grand opening, the gym has attracted just under 8,500 Instagram followers, where staffers frequently post images of its results-oriented members and first-class equipment and setup.

Iron Culture is more than a gym for me, its a place where I can escape everyday stressors and truly focus on bettering myself, said Gina, a 59-year-old Iron Culture member and Morris County resident. When I walked into the facility a year ago, I didnt know what to expect. Since then, my life has transformed from both a physical and mental perspective. This facility is so unique because Iron Culture staff and the community of members want you to reach your fitness goals and are always supporting each others journeys.

The gym's founders strive to foster an inclusive fitness community by hosting events with local vendors, unrivaled bodybuilding programming and competitions, as well as specialized member-focused programs catering to all fitness levels.

The gym recently unveiled two new programs, Member of the Month and Iron Culture Athlete. Member of the Month highlights members with inspiring stories who have overcome life challenges through fitness training. Iron Culture Athlete is a mentor program that allows members to learn how to body-build by shadowing the gyms top athletes.

ABOUT IRON CULTURE

The Cedar Knolls, N.J.-based Iron Culture is an independent, owner-operated, community-based gym. Founded in 2019, its owners Arthur Imperatore and Charles Addessi share a passion for hardcore training and a vision for a unique fitness experience, exceeding what corporate chains and small studio gyms can offer. Iron Culture quickly drew over 500 members, backed by its four core values: vision, passion, execution and transformation. The gym offers powerlifting, bodybuilding, cardio, weight management, a recovery and nutrition program, on-the-go meals, military and student discounts, competitive pricing and more. Find IC on Instagram @ironculturenj. For more information, visit http://www.ironculturenj.com
Scott Morrison is one of the winners from a thwarted revolt on Tuesday morning that ended with the confirmation of Michael McCormack as Nationals leader, but nobody can rest easy after this turmoil.

The outcome is a vote for stability after the Prime Minister was briefly exposed to the prospect of Barnaby Joyce as the government's deputy leader - a nightmare scenario given the friction of the past.

But an uprising does not have to topple a leader to have an effect.

The unhappy faction in the Nationals party room has sent a message to McCormack to muscle up against the Liberals. And it has sent a message to Morrison about the government's wider direction.
The team behind the disastrous app used in the Iowa election app has been revealed.

The app, created by a startup named Shadow, was supposed to be used to co-ordinate information from the caucuses and allow organisers to send results back to the party. But it crashed repeatedly through the night, and has led to a failure to declare any kind of result.

The party said the problems had been caused by a coding issue in the reporting system that has since been fixed but meant it was still unable to declare any results.

Now focus has turned onto the company behind the app, Shadow, and the confusion surrounding how it managed to be created and used in one of the most important parts of the lead-up to the presidential election later this year.

Shadows website describes the team behind the app as campaign and technology veterans who have built and implemented technology at Hillary for America, Obama for America, Google, Kiva, Apple, the AFL-CIO, and the DNC.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. 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March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

Explaining the name of the company, it claims to be a building a long-term, side-by-side Shadow of tech infrastructure to the Democratic Party and the progressive community at large.

The history of Shadow is unclear and somewhat obscure.

A since-deleted post on the website of nonprofit Acronym, apparently written by CEO Gerard Niemira, announced the launch of Shadow, a new technology company that will exist under the ACRONYM umbrella and build accessible technological infrastructure and tools to enable campaigns to better harness, integrate and manage data across the platforms and technologies they all use.

But in a statement last night, as the chaos in Iowa continued, Acronym distanced itself from the app. A spokesperson said it had not provided any technology for the causes, and suggested that Acronym was only an investor.

Shadow appears to have begun life as an app called GroundGame, and then Groundbase, which was first founded in 2017. It appears to have been re-branded in the intervening period, before being launched under its current name in 2017.

Niemira said in the same post that he had created the app with a few of my colleagues from the Hillary for America campaign where we built tools for [the campaigns] field team. Many of the people involved in the creation of what is now called Shadow worked on the Clinton campaign, as well as at technology firms, according to LinkedIn profiles.

The app will also be used in the Nevada caucus, due to happen on 22 February. The local Democratic parties in each state paid $60,000 to Shadow for their services, according to Federal Election Commission disclosures.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday quizzed eminent environmental historian and a professor of IIT Guwahati, Arupjyoti Saikia for the third day in connection with alleged nexus of peasants' rights leader Akhil Gogoi with the Maoists and the violent protest against CAA here in December.

The NIA did not relent on Tuesday despite displeasure expressed by more than 40 intellectuals including eminent historian Ramachandra Guha against Saikia's grilling since Sunday.

Sources said after Tuesday's grilling, Saikia was called by the NIA to appear again on February 7 for further questioning.

Although the NIA did not disclose why the 52-year-old professor was quizzed, sources said Saikia was asked questions regarding the allegation that Gogoi and his aides maintained relations with the Maoists to fuel public anger against CAA and the BJP government. Saikia also did not speak to media yet regarding his grilling.

Gogoi and a few of his aides were arrested by the NIA soon after the violent protest against CAA that broke out here on December 11 and 12. Saikia reportedly has close relations with Gogoi, who was booked under sedition charge and is still in judicial custody.

Days later, Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters that an academic associated with a central educational institute "monitored" the violent protest against CAA and instructed the agitators over the phone.

Saikia is a professor of history in the department of humanities and social sciences at the IITG.

Expressing concern over Saikia's grilling by the NIA, a statement issued by the intellectuals said, We, a group of Indian scholars and academics from across the country, write in distress and with concern with regard to the ongoing ordeal of Professor Arupjyoti Saikia. Professor Saikia is one of the countrys most distinguished and respected historians. The author most recently of a landmark history of the Brahmaputra River, he has also written significant works on forest and agrarian history."

It further said professor Saikia is an adornment to the literary and intellectual world of Assam and of India. He is also an individual of high moral character; gentle, soft-spoken, and utterly non-violent. His devotion to his students at IIT Guwahati is exemplary.

"That a scholar of such standing, and a human being of such decency, has been called for intensive grilling by the NIA is deeply distressing. We urge the NIA to treat him with dignity and respect he deserves, and allow him to continue his professional work unimpeded," it added.
The Ontario governments proposal to double logging volumes over the next decade goes too far in serving the forestry industry without doing enough to protect the provinces wildlife, environmentalists said Tuesday as they called for a more balanced plan.

Groups including the David Suzuki Foundation, Ontario Nature and the Wildlands League said they oppose the plan introduced in early December, pushing instead for an approach that would maintain conservation efforts and protect endangered species while still achieving the governments stated goal of bolstering the provinces forestry sector.

The Progressive Conservatives have proposed increasing logging on Crown-owned lands from 15 million cubic metres to 30 million cubic metres by 2030 in a bid to create more jobs and revitalize the industry.

Public consultations on the proposal were to close Wednesday, and environmentalists voiced concerns about both the plan to increase volumes and regulatory changes they fear could exempt the forestry sector from some key environmental protection legislation.

Were in a climate crisis and a biodiversity crisis it doesnt seem to me to be the most sustainable option to be removing these environmental safeguards, said Anna Baggio of the Wildlands League. Id like them to hit the pause button and really address the sustainability concerns.

A spokeswoman for Natural Resources Minister John Yakabuski said the province is currently only harvesting half the amount of wood it could be taking under its forest management plan, which has determined 30 million cubic metres is a sustainable target.

The Ontario Forest Industries Association lauded the plan when it was first announced last year, describing it as a way to unleash the full potential of the sector.

The changes will help create markets for wood and allow the sector to reach its potential while still managing forests sustainably, Justine Teplycky said in a statement.

The target harvest level of about 30 million cubic metres is significantly less than annual forest growth, she said. Ensuring the sustainability of our forests is a key principle of Ontarios forest management system.

Julee Doan, the boreal program manager of Ontario Nature, said the province has provided no evidence to prove that amount is sustainable.

We have concerns about locking down 30 million cubic metres of forest for the industrial sector only, she said. Especially at a time when were looking for more conservation opportunities and we dont want those to be excluded.

Rachel Plotkin, boreal project manager at the David Suzuki Foundation, called the provinces strategy greatly disappointing and said it will have a negative impact on a number of endangered species including boreal caribou.

She said the strategy runs contrary to a 2019 federal study of the caribou which directs provinces to protect 65 per cent of the animals woodland habitat to increase calf survival rates.

Those researchers found that logging roads made the caribou more susceptible to predators like wolves.

This is already a species that is on the path to extinction unless status quo operations change, she said. The province is saying the status quo is fine and were going to proceed with even more.

Green party Leader Mike Schreiner called on the government to reverse course before finalizing the strategy, saying it doesnt make sense in the face of the global climate crisis.

Its a short-sighted decision by the government that undermines our climate obligations and our obligations to protect endangered species, he said.

Judith Monteith-Farrell, NDP forestry critic representing the northern Ontario riding of Thunder Bay-Atikokan, said the forestry industry has long asked for help to bring more product to market despite concerns that there may not be demand for extra product.

The government needs to release more details before moving forward, she said.

I have some concerns about where the cutting is going to take place, she said. Theres no description of where the Crown land will open up.

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A Malaysian citizen who had not visited China has contracted the new coronavirus after travelling to Singapore, health authorities reported Tuesday. The 41-year-old man had visited neighbouring Singapore for a week from January 16 during which he attended meetings that also involved delegates from China, Malaysian Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said. "The Malaysian victim has not been to China. He met Chinese delegates from Wuhan in Singapore," Noor Hisham Abdullah, director-general of health, Ministry of Health, told AFP. The man is the country's first citizen to be infected with the virus. Malaysia's nine other confirmed cases are all Chinese nationals who came from Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus was first detected. It has so far infected more than 20,000 people, killing at least 425 in China, and spread to more than two dozen countries. At a press conference earlier, Malaysia's health minister Dzulkefly said the country was contacting Singapore authorities to find out the possible source of the infection by the Malaysian man. Dzulkefly said the individual is in a stable condition in hospital, and that his family members are being monitored. Malaysia has imposed an entry ban for Chinese nationals from Wuhan in a bid to stop the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, two out of the 107 people -- Malaysians and Chinese nationals married to Malaysians -- who arrived on a special flight from Wuhan early Tuesday were found to be feverish and were being treated in a hospital. Malaysia had sent the special flight to evacuate its citizens and their families trapped in the Chinese city which has been under quarantine by the authorities. The remaining 105 people on the flight are being held in a facility for 14 days, the incubation period for the virus.
Regulatory News:

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) ("PSH") today announced that it has purchased, through PSH's agent, Jefferies International Limited ("Jefferies"), the following number of PSH's Public Shares of no par value (ISIN Code: GG00BPFJTF46) (the "Shares"):

Trading Venue: London Stock Exchange Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 3 February 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 23,461 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 1,494 pence 19.42 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 1,482 pence 19.27 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 1,488 pence 19.35 USD Ticker: PSHD Date of Purchase: 3 February 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 19,094 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 19.42 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 19.42 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 19.42 USD Trading Venue: Euronext Amsterdam Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 3 February 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 29,140 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 19.48 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 19.40 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 19.43 USD

PSH will hold these Public Shares in Treasury. The net asset value per Public Share related to this buyback is 26.59 USD 20.13 GBP which was calculated as of 31 January 2020 (the "Relevant NAV"). After giving effect to the above buyback, PSH has 204,216,454 Public Shares outstanding, or 209,878,194 Public Shares calculated on a fully diluted basis (assuming that all Management Shares had been converted into Public Shares at the Relevant NAV). Excluded from the shares outstanding are 6,740,296 Public Shares held in Treasury. The prices per Public Share were calculated by Jefferies.

The number of PSH Management Shares and the one special voting share (held by PS Holdings Independent Voting Company Limited) have not been affected.

About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd.

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) is an investment holding company structured as a closed-ended fund that makes concentrated investments principally in North American companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200203005808/en/

Contacts:

Media

Camarco

Ed Gascoigne-Pees Hazel Stevenson +44 020 3757 4989, media-pershingsquareholdings@camarco.co.uk
The Municipal Chief Executive for Obuasi Honorable Elijah Adansi-Bonah on Monday, 3rd February, 2020 took delivery of a brand new Ambulance with registration number GV593-20.



The Ambulance is part of the 307 Ambulances commissioned by the President on Tuesday, 28th January, 2020 as part of the NPP Government's '1 Constituency 1 Ambulance' promise.



Receiving the Ambulance on behalf of the people of Obuasi Municipal, Honorable Elijah Adansi-Bonah who could not hide his joy was full of praise for the President.



He said "this is an indication that the President is a promise fulfilling President who has the interest of the people of Ghana at heart."



He said currently work is ongoing at the former Anglogold Ashanti Fire station ; the place earmarked to site the Ambulance. He has again promised to provide residential accommodation for personnel of the Service posted to the Municipality to provide emergency services.

Source: Sampson Manu/Municipal









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Dubais Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has unveiled legislation enacted to streamline the trial runs of autonomous vehicles in implementation of Resolution No (3) of the Executive Council Regulating Test Runs of Autonomous Vehicles in Dubai.



The aim of these rules is to raise the attention of the concerned parties to stipulations governing the test runs of such types of vehicles.



Rules enacted aim to achieve the strategic targets of Dubai Smart Mobility Strategy calling for transforming 25 per cent of mobility trips in Dubai into self-driving transport means by 2030, said Ahmed Hashim Bahrozyan, CEO of Public Transport Agency and chairperson of the Smart and Sustainable Transport Committee, RTA.



The underlying objective of the strategy is to reduce the cost of transport, carbon emissions, and accidents besides saving hundreds of million hours wasted in driving conventional vehicles.



Rights and duties



The legislation enacted provides for individuals, firms and public entities intending to carry out trials on autonomous vehicles in Dubai to conclude contracts with RTA. The contract shall define the rights and duties of both parties and stipulations set in the permit which will be granted by RTAs Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, said Bahrozyan.



The legislation defines the roles and responsibilities of government entities concerned with trial runs of autonomous vehicles namely RTA, Dubai Police, and Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services. RTA plays a crucial role as it is the licensing authority entrusted with the checking, auditing and endorsing the technical, security and safety standards of trials set by contracting parties such as manufacturers, developers and auto dealers. It also tasks RTA to set stipulations of roads, areas and speeds governing test-runs of autonomous vehicles, he explained.



Testing environment



The legislation tasks RTA to monitor the compliance of the concerned parties and certify vehicles that have passed the trial run. RTA shall prepare the infrastructure and logistics of the trial run in coordination with the concerned entities. RTA is entitled to form joint teams with those entities to oversee the conducting of such trials, commented Bahrozyan.



The legislation defines the roles of Dubai Police and Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services and entrusts them with the responsibility of coordinating with RTA, particularly in assessing the test-run of autonomous vehicles. It also calls on them to deploy traffic patrols and ambulance vehicles required for the conducting the trial run, he noted.



Stipulations



The legislation stipulates that the autonomous vehicle to be tested must be covered by a comprehensive insurance policy against accidents and civil responsibility. The policy must be valid throughout the testing period. It orders manufactures and other parties concerned with the trial run to comply with the conditions and processes stated by RTA in this regard, stated Bahrozyan.



The legislation entitles RTA to take measures if any of those parties that fail to honour its obligations. Measures include serving written notice, suspending the trial, abolishing the permit or annulling the contract; which renders such parties incapable of carrying out any trial run. The legislation exempts RTA from any third-party responsibility in connection with any losses incurred as a result of the test-run of autonomous vehicles, and obliges those parties to solely assume such responsibilities, concluded the CEO of Public Transport Agency.  TradeArabia News Service
File image

Henkel Adhesives Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Henkel AG & Co KGaA, announced the unveiling of its new production facility in Kurkumbh near Pune.

The company has invested about 50 million euro (Indian equivalent of Rs 400 crore) on the manufacturing unit and intends to invest another 50 million euro over the next five years, said Jan-Dirk Auris, Member of the Management Board and Executive President, Adhesive Technologies Business Unit, Henkel AG & Co KGaA.

With total investments of 100 million euro, the management aims to serve the growing demand of India industries for high-performance solutions in adhesives, sealants and surface treatment products.

Henkel Adhesive Technologies is in to adhesives, sealants and functional coatings. The business unit serves around 1,30,000 customers in over 800 industrial areas with tailor-made products and technologies used in a wide array of consumer foods and industrial products.

The manufacturing facility site measures 100,000 square meters and has a built up area of 51,000 sq m.

Phase I and II of the manufacturing unit has been completed and the company is planning to start Phase III and IV soon.

The expansion will increase Henkels capabilities to serve customers across markets including flexible packaging, automotive, agriculture and construction equipment, general industry and metals, he said.

Auris believes that Henkel India is among the most important emerging market with tremendous growth opportunities for the adhesives business.

Shilip Kumar, President, Henkel India said, We will continue to invest in local manufacturing as it gives our Adhesive Technologies business in India a strategic advantage.

Kumar said the new site will not only cater to the Indian market but also markets in geographic proximity such as Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Henkel Adhesive Technologies is a leader in laundry and home care and beauty care globally. Henkel, a 140-year old company, employs around 53,000 people globally.
Suicidal inmate makes history by launching mental health challenge & unites Colorado, Denver & the small business community "Jackson challenged the mayor of Denver, CO, Mayor Michael Hancock, and all elected officials to speak openly about their own mental health experiences live on video!"

All Marchell Taylor could remember prior to his January 2016 break down, was hearing voices in his head saying, No one valued him anymore, he wasnt important, all his relationships were damaged, he was a financially broke business founder. He says he remembers feeling he couldnt deal with life and needed to escape, and that that prison would be easier than dealing with failure. Taylor had been free from prison for 4 years, however none of his business ideas from prison had flourished. He said he pleaded for help, at least in his own maladaptive way, when he called C. A. Shively. Shively, another co-founder of AYBOS and confidante of Taylor, listened on multiple occasions, however, he was quietly damaged himself by small business stress. Four days later or on January 16th, 2016, he committed another aggravated robbery but this time with a second-degree kidnapping charge for robbing a Papa Johns Pizza.

Taylor called Shively and told him that he was in the county jail again for the third time in two years, to which he responded sarcastically, I see your home again, what the hell is wrong with you bro, I dont understand! Taylor responded, Its not me, its these damn demons! and the 20- second phone call ends. Taylors next move was to commit suicide by saving up his psychotropic medication. He attempted it, he took enough Elavil to put himself to sleep for five days straight and thought, Just a few more pills and no more problems.

Shively eventually visited the county jail and said, You are to valuable to our family, please dont do this. He pleaded with Taylor and said, Read the entire bible, front to back and vice versa." He reassured him that his family loves him and that theyd go through it together. For the first time since he was 17 years old, when his mother died, Taylor says he truly felt loved and valued.

Taylor eventually reached out for help from the mental health staff in the county jail and started getting treatment before even being diagnosed. His public defender David Kraut, from the Public Defenders Office came to Taylor and said, The district attorney is filing the habitual criminal statue against you. Meaning you can receive four times the sentence range, or over 300 years. Taylor understood clearly, looked at his attorney, started crying and said, I dont know how this happened? David could clearly see his clients emotional pain and how he seemed confused after serving many years in prison.

David began to ask questions such as how much time of incarceration Taylor had served? Taylor expressed, over 21 years. To this David replied, Oh no you need help, you have mental health disorders. He advocated and got him into the only mental health program of its kind, The Mens Mental Health Transition Unit in the Denver County Jail.

While in the program Taylor received a neuropsychological screening from the Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado, then lead by Professor Kim Gorgens from the University of Denver. In addition, he also received a mental health assessment from Dr. Natsumi Nina Minagawa of Minagawa Psychology Services, LLC, Denver, Colorado. He was diagnosed with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), PTSD, Anxiety Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Substance Use Disorder as well as physiological dysfunctions. Essentially, Taylor was a 47-year old individual with the mind and brain functions of a 10-year-old child.

Dr. Brad McMillan, Director of Psychology at Denver County Jail began to provide trauma classes and research tools for Taylor. He assigned Taylor a team of therapists, doctors and psychologist to help destigmatize, assess and treat his disorders. Dr. Nina Minagawa served as his One-on-One Counselor, Jarod Thiele served as his mental health case manager and skill development mentor and Deputy Mike Jackson, a 24-year deputy veteran (and the President of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #27) counseled him as well.

Taylor learned how to meditate, rationalize effectively, reason effectively, plan, play and use good judgement. In addition, he also learned to regulate his emotions and control his impulses, all things he shouldve learned as an adolescent. The team used a variety of trauma modalities, treatments and self-regulation strategies to assess and treat him, mainly Mindful Meditation taught by specialist Dr. Nina Minagawa. Deputy Jackson showed great interest in this inmates treatment and his passion to help others. He became the first deputy in the history of the Denver Sheriffs Department to join an inmate with a TBI, and mental health disorders and a small business, all while the inmate was still incarcerated.

Taylor used the program as an educational platform in addition to treatment. He studied a lot about his own brain and psychological disorders, while receiving the treatment. Still in communication with Shively and AYBOS, they organized the research and treatment into a campaign format and named it after the head Denver district attorney, "The Beth McCann Rebuild Your Mind Mental Health Challenge as McCann was a true inspiration with her passion for mental health alternatives.

Over 40 Inmates started challenging thousands of people through inmate letters. Parole board members, their judges (including Taylors judge), district attorneys, public defenders, other criminal justice and corrections staff were being challenged, to discuss their own mental health experiences on camera. Deputy Jackson advised not to place a political name to it and simply launch it as The Rebuild Your Mind Mental Health Challenge & Initiative.

Shively and AYBOS Marketing filmed the inaugural Rebuild Your Mind Video Challenge with Deputy Jackson in 2017. Jackson challenged the Mayor of Denver, CO, Mayor Michael Hancock, and all elected officials to speak openly about their own mental health experiences live on video. (See Challenge Video below). Deputy Jackson also became the first Deputy to openly speak about his own mental health experiences for the Challenge.

Taylor and Shivelys efforts resulted in Judge Brain Whitney sentencing Taylor to Mental Health Probation as opposed to incarceration. Upon release Taylor was so inspired by Deputy Jacksons challenge video, that he decided to do his own. In the video Taylor challenges Whoopi Goldberg, Chauncey Billups and Ellen DeGeneres, citing them as influencers that can encourage millions to destigmatize these mental health experiences (https://youtu.be/d5vgdXr2ee4). With over 60 challenges filmed to date, the question is why havent you went to @rebuildyourmindchallenge on Facebook and taken the challenge yourself?

Follow this story by going to @RebuildYourMindChallenge on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Media Contact:

AYBOS Marketing LLC

(303) 219-0251
The global anticoagulants market size is projected to reach 45.50 billion by the end of 2026. According to a report published by Fortune Business Insights, titled Anticoagulants Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Disease Indication (Pulmonary Embolism (PE), Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), Atrial Fibrillation, Heart Attacks, Others), By Route of Administration (Oral, Injectable), By Distribution Channel (Hospitals Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies, Online Pharmacies, Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026, the market was worth USD 21.45 billion in 2018 and will exhibit a CAGR of 9.9% during the forecast period,2019-2026.

The report includes thorough compilation of the quantitative analysis of the industry for the period of 12 years in order to assist players to grow in the market. Insights on specific revenue figures generated are also given in the report, along with projected revenue at the end of the forecast period. This study includes a widespread analysis of the key segments of the industry. This analysis sheds light in the current trends and opportunities in the Anticoagulants Market.

Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/anticoagulants-market-101807

Key Points of the Anticoagulants Market Report:

The report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications, and manufacturing technology.

The report also explores the major international players in detail. In this part, the report presents the company profile, product specifications, capacity, and production value along with the market shares for each company.

Through the statistical analysis, the study depicts the global market including capacity, production, production value, cost/profit, and supply/demand from an international perspective.

Considering segmentation, the market is divided in terms of product, end-use, company, region, and other important aspects. Each of these categories forms an important base point for the competitive landscape analysis.

The report then estimates the market development and trends of the Anticoagulants Market.

Increasing Number of Company Mergers Will Aid Market Growth

Several growth stimulating factors have been analyzed and discussed in detail. Among all factors, the increasing number of company mergers have had the highest impact on the market. In February 2019, Novartis AG and Blackstones LifeSciences announced the launch of Anthos Therapeutics. The company is aiming for the research and development of drugs that include anticoagulants as a prime pipeline candidate. Increasing number of drug approvals is another factor that has constituted an increase in the global anticoagulants market size in recent years. Janssen Pharmaceuticals Rivaroxaban is an example of a recent drug approval that has had a direct impact on the market.

Top manufactures of Anticoagulants Market are:

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

Pfizer Inc.

Bayer AG

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Eisai Co., Ltd.

Other Prominent Players

North America to Emerge Dominant; High Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease to Create Several Growth Opportunities

The market is segmented on the basis of regional demographics into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. Among these regions, North America will emerge dominant in the coming years. The high prevalence of cardiovascular disease, coupled with the increasing emphasis on the research and development of new drugs will open up a huge potential for the companies operating in the market in this market. As of 2018, the market in North America was worth USD 10.10 billion. Besides North America, Europe will witness significant growth in the coming years, owing to the high incidence of deaths caused due to cardiovascular disease in several countries across this region. The high demand for anticoagulants in emerging countries such as Germany, France, and UK will have a positive influence on the growth of the market in this region.

Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts:https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/anticoagulants-market-101807

Detailed Table of Content:

Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities

Key Insights Prevalence of Major Cardiovascular Diseases by Key Countries Overview of Novel Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs) Pipeline Analysis Key Industry Developments Such as Mergers & Acquisitions New Product Launches Regulatory Scenario in Key Countries Reimbursement Scenario by Key Countries



Continue

Global Anticoagulants Market Segmentation:

By Disease Indication

Pulmonary Embolism (PE)

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

Atrial Fibrillation

Heart Attacks

Others

By Route of Administration

Oral

Injectable

By Distribution Channel

Hospitals Pharmacies

Retail Pharmacies

Online Pharmacies

Others

By Geography

North America (U.S. and Canada)

Europe (U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, and Rest of Europe)

Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India, Australia, Southeast Asia, and Rest of Asia Pacific)

Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, and Rest of Latin America)

Middle East & Africa (South Africa, GCC and Rest of Middle East & Africa)

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Reasons to Purchase this Report:

Tracks the developments, such as new product launches, agreements, mergers and acquisitions, geographical expansions, and joint ventures.

Comprehensive analysis of the Aesthetic Implants Market growth drivers, obstacles, opportunities, and other related challenges.

Identifies market restraints and boosters.

Identifies all the possible segments present in the market to aid organizations in strategic business planning.

Related Reports:

Thrombin Market Global Trends, Size, Share, Regional Analysis by Key Players Forecast to 2026

Dermatitis Drugs Market 2020 Global Top Leading Players | Industry Updates, Future Growth Analysis and Future Investments by Forecast to 2026

2020 Acute Bacterial Skin and Skin Structure Infections Treatment Market Forecast 2026: Global Size, Share, Growth, Top Leading Company Analysis and Key Country

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Karina, a woman with short brown hair sits at a podium and speaks to an audience. She smiles.

I will never forget the moment when I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) in 2014. After four years of severe symptoms related to a complication of EDS, cervical spine instabilities and no help from doctors in Germany, where I grew up, I decided to fly to the United States to find an expert there.

A few months later, I was sitting in a doctors office in a country that I had previously only known from Hollywood movies with a diagnosis I had heard before but didnt know what it would mean for the rest of my life. The year following my diagnosis, I went through all stages of grief, and I still sometimes do today. It took a long time to accept my new reality: a life with a chronic illness.

The challenge related to EDS I struggled with the most was that the illness took away my whole identity for some time. I couldnt do most things that I loved; I was unable to continue my job, and I lost the abilities for most of my passions. Whenever someone asked me And what do you do for a living?, I would feel ashamed and say, Nothing. I cant work. Because people never understood that even though they cant see anything wrong with me, I am still severely sick.

Related: Why This Question From My Friends Is So Important for My Chronic Illness

I felt like, all of a sudden, I wasnt part of any community. I was isolated. And now, not only my symptoms were invisible, I became invisible as a person as well. It took years until I realized that I was worthy for just being me, but this realization didnt give me back the feeling of having a purpose in life. So I started to write down my thoughts, my worries, my daily life, and almost by fate, I found myself to become a journalist! My German teacher at school would laugh at the irony as I had the worst grades in school  mainly because I was never allowed to write about topics that interested me.

Slowly, but gradually, I dug myself out of the hole I was hiding in, and with every article I wrote, I felt more alive and more visible. I dedicated my work mainly to medicine and science, but when I officially signed up for a journalism degree in Scotland, it hit me! I realized that not only was I feeling invisible and unheard, many other members of my community must feel just like me. And I needed to actively do something about it!

Story continues

Related: What Its Like When My Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Has a Party

And this is how the idea behind We Are Visible, my film about people living with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, was born. First, this documentary was supposed to be a small student project only for my teachers to see, but all of a sudden, it became the center of my life. When I shared the trailers with the community, the resonance was so huge that I felt quite overwhelmed, but I was also proud since filming has cost me a lot: financially and emotionally.

Overall, I filmed in six countries: Germany, Malta, the U.K., the U.S., Belgium and the Netherlands. I followed each family for a few days and tried to catch their challenges as well as their strength to cope with all their EDS symptoms. Sometimes, I was too sick to film, and I would lie on the couch in the living room of my contributors, unable to move. Other times, my main subject was too exhausted to get up, and we would film them in bed.

Related: Why I Celebrate My Life With Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Filming chronically ill people as a disabled filmmaker came with more challenges than I could have ever imagined. Many times, my flights were canceled, or my wheelchair transport service forgot me, and I almost missed my flights. There were several instances when none of our filming plans worked out, because, as you can imagine, EDS just happened and someone ended up in the hospital for EDS related complications.

It took me 14 months from starting to film to finalizing the editing process, all of which I did by myself. I just kept investing more and more time and resources as the film took over my whole life. All of the people in my film taught me so much, and I often just ignored the physical consequences a project like this had on my body. I dont think I can ever produce a feature-length, non-profit film like this again, but I am not regretting a moment throughout the last years!

A few weeks ago, I was invited to be part of the film screening at Chapman University in Orange, CA. It was the first time that I got to see the reactions of an audience while watching the film. And I did not expect people to cry because they could relate so much; because all of a sudden, they felt heard, and they could see their own stories in every one of my films contributors.

Even though we had a pretty rough start that day, with lots of tech issues that could have easily distracted a critical audience, none of it seemed to matter after the film screening ended. I experienced a community that was just like me, and that made me feel like everything I invested in this film was more than worth it. Because together, we really arent invisible. We Are Visible!

Follow this journey on the authors blog.

Learn more about the film here:

www.we-are-visible-film.com

Read more stories like this on The Mighty:

The Stigma of Having an Invisible Illness When You're Young

5 Things I've Learned Since My Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Diagnosis

15 Things Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Warriors Have Learned to Love About Their Illness
DES MOINES, Iowa  A night that was supposed to bring clarity to the Democratic presidential contest turned into a long ordeal of confusion and delays Monday, as the Iowa Democratic Party failed to report results from more than a handful of precincts for hours after the states famed caucuses began.

Struggling to adopt a new byzantine process of tabulating results, Iowa Democrats offered little explanation for the problem for hours after the caucuses began. Eventually, not long before midnight on the East Coast, a spokeswoman for the state party said there was no issue with the integrity of the vote but it was taking longer than anticipated to collect and check the reported data for irregularities.

This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion, said Mandy McClure, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Democratic Party. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.

In the absence of hard results, election watchers in Iowa and across the country who had eagerly been awaiting the start of the Democratic nominating process had to make do with televised snippets of scenes from caucus sites, many of them playing out in messy fashion on college campuses and local meeting halls and gymnasiums.

And after anxiously awaiting results for much of the evening, the candidates grew impatient and, one after another, raced to their election night parties to address their supporters and get a few minutes of live television coverage. Without final results, none of them immediately emerged as a loser, allowing the candidates to project optimism and conceal their frustrations.

Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was the most upbeat, crowing that we are going on to New Hampshire victorious, though there were no results to back up his boast.

Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign, watching Buttigieg declare victory and barraged with questions about what their own results indicated, responded after midnight Central time by releasing their internal tally. They claimed to be winning based on an assessment of what they said were the returns from 40% of the states precincts, a mix of rural and urban communities.

The chaos, and the resulting scramble among candidates to gain an upper hand, was a deflating moment at the outset of an election Democrats have been eagerly awaiting since President Donald Trumps victory four years ago. Trumps campaign was quick to express glee about the confusion and issued a statement taunting Democrats about their caucus mess and train wreck.

The Iowa Democratic Party acknowledged in an emergency conference call with representatives for the candidates that there had been difficulties with the tabulation, according to a senior official with one of the campaigns. The delay, officials said, arose from the new rules requiring caucus leaders to report three sets of numbers to party headquarters, rather than just the delegate totals emerging from the complex caucus process.

A new app that was introduced this year for compiling and reporting results also caused confusion across the more than 1,600 caucus sites.

But when the campaign officials grew impatient and asked when the results would be disclosed, the state party leaders quickly ended the discussion, according to two Democrats who were on the call.

Hours later, on another conference call, the state party officials said they would release the results Tuesday, but it was not clear exactly when they would come.

While precinct captains across the state struggled to report the results, first with the app and then after calling and waiting on hold, the campaigns vented quiet fury at the lack of clarity about the outcome in a contest most of them had spent hundreds of days and millions of dollars to win.

Bidens campaign hastily dashed off a letter to the Iowa Democratic Partys leaders requesting a full explanation for the failures before any official results are released.

As the throng of candidates waited for the results Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, an underdog in the caucuses, finally broke the silence before a crowd of supporters in downtown Des Moines.

Briefly noting the delays, Klobuchar declared, We do know one thing: We are punching above our weight. With her actual standing in the caucuses unknown, she said she would be headed to New Hampshire soon to continue campaigning there.

Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts addressed their supporters soon afterward, with Biden noting that the state party was laboring to determine the results and that he was turning toward New Hampshires primary. Warren, branding the contest too close to call, pointed to the next round of contests and said her campaign was prepared for a long haul.

Following them was Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont  perceived as the candidate gathering momentum in the days before the caucuses  who promised his crowd that at some point the results will be announced.

When that happens, Sanders said, were going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa.

But nobody tried to seize the moment more aggressively, or perhaps brazenly, than Buttigieg, who said Iowa had shocked the nation.

His attempt to claim a victory without any corresponding evidence recalled Bill Clintons memorable declaration before the 1992 New Hampshire primary results were fully known that the states voters had made him the comeback kid.

This was not the first caucus that did not produce clear results on the night of the vote.

Four years ago, Hillary Clintons narrow victory over Sanders was not clear until early the next morning after delays in reporting results. And in 2012, Republican state party officials declared a split decision only to reveal more than two weeks later that former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania had narrowly won, a delay that robbed him of momentum he could have taken into New Hampshire.

Since the caucuses began 50 years ago, Iowa Democrats reported only one number: the delegate count from each of the states precincts.

But after the razor-close finish in 2016, Sanders allies pushed the Democratic National Committee to require caucus states to track and report the raw numbers of how many people supported each candidate.

For Iowa, the new reporting standards meant counting how many people backed each candidate on the first and second balloting. That change, requiring reporting of three separate numbers from each of the states precincts, slowed reporting the results.

Iowa remained a prize well worth winning for the leading Democratic campaigns: After a year of trying to differentiate themselves in what began as a sprawling field, each candidate hoped that finishing well here would encourage Democratic voters to see him or her as a strong general-election challenger for Trump.

The candidates made their final pitches throughout the day Monday, with an undercurrent of urgency that Iowa would be a critical test of their viability going forward. Everything comes down to today, said Buttigieg, 38, as he spoke to a crowd in West Des Moines. All of the dates, all of the appearances, all of the conversations with friends and neighbors.

Even as Democratic voters were united chiefly by a ravenous hunger to oust Trump, many Iowans went to register the first verdict of 2020 still undecided or convinced more of the risk of the candidate they opposed than of the promise of the one they ultimately backed.

Democrats here and beyond are deeply divided along generational lines, with Sanders building deep support among millennials, Biden appealing to those over 65 and each drawing sharp opposition from those voters in the opposite demographic.

As revealing was the chasm between Iowa progressives, who sided with Sanders and Warren, and more moderate voters who backed Biden, Klobuchar and Buttigieg.

A pre-caucus survey conducted for The Associated Press found that a majority of voters participating in the Iowa contest were female, a slight majority had graduated from college and about two-thirds were over age 45. Notably, in a contest in which voters have been divided by age, 34% of caucusgoers were over 55.

And in a reflection of how little Iowas demographics resemble those of the nation, 9 in 10 respondents in the survey were white.

The survey found the caucus-going electorate ideologically divided, with somewhat more moderates than liberals. But there was near unanimity that it was important to nominate someone who could defeat Trump.

This state helped catapult Barack Obama to the Democratic nomination in 2008, but it has not always been so prescient. Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri triumphed in the Democratic caucuses in 1988 but did not capture the nomination, and the past three Republican standard-bearers failed to win here but went on to win the nomination.

Still, the caucuses offered a first indication of Democratic voters preferences after an unusually unsettled primary season, defined mainly by voters angst and indecision about finding a strong challenger for Trump. The diffuse nature of the Democratic field has already given rise to temporary surges by several candidates  including Warren, Buttigieg and Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who dropped out of the race in December  and drew two late entrants from the partys moderate wing, Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, and Deval Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts.

At the heart of the partys schism is a debate over whether Democrats are more likely to defeat Trump by appealing to the electoral middle, nominating a pragmatist of the sort who helped them prevail in the 2018 elections, or by elevating a progressive who can galvanize some of the young and nonwhite voters who sat out the 2016 general election.

Even before the caucuses got underway Monday evening, Buttigieg offered a warning about deviating from the partys midterm formula.

Pointing to the largely moderate class of freshman Democrats in Congress, Buttigieg said there was a lot of concern in their ranks about running with Sanders. Look at how we actually took the House, he said of 2018.

Yet Sanders, in his final appeals to Iowa Democrats, said that the party would tempt another presidential defeat if it did not nominate a candidate who could excite the partys base. If it is a low turnout election, Trump will win, he warned over the weekend.

While all of the leading candidates had their ardent supporters, many Iowa voters seemed even more passionate when discussing those contenders they were most opposed to the party putting forward this fall.

As he has since he was sworn in three years ago, Trump could ultimately prove to be the most powerful force for Democratic unity.

But that prospect seems elusive now and may grow only more difficult over a long primary race. After New Hampshire, a larger and more diverse array of states will cast ballots that may further highlight the partys generational, ideological and racial divisions.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
NASCO Energie Rohstoff AG (NASCO), has completed a securitization transaction to refinance the debt secured by its helium assets at DBK Field in Arizona. The $83 million securitization transaction featured an investment grade rated senior tranche.

Guggenheim Securities, LLC served as Sole Structuring Advisor and Sole Bookrunner on the transaction which was sold to an investment group led by Nuveen, a New York-based investment firm.

NASCO CEO Jan Warstat stated, ?We are extremely pleased with the confidence shown in us by the investment community that recognizes the strength of our assets, management and our development plan. The ability to raise investment grade capital that has been rated by a leading Rating Agency in New York significantly reduces our interest exposure and adds to the net cash flow to the Company as well as underscoring management confidence in our assets. Nasco believes the DBK project is the first ABS transaction for a company that drills, completes, refines and sells its own Helium, underscored by a 13 year long term supply contract."

NASCO Energie Rohstoff AG has been making targeted investments to expand their helium activities since 2014. Previously, their helium production focused solely on a site in Arizona with the Navajo name Dineh-bi-Keyah (DBK), which is located in northeast Arizona, an area known as the Four Corners region. What makes the DBK field so remarkable is that its raw gas has an above-average helium content of more than five percent, a rare global occurrence. In comparison, the gas starts being economically worth extracting when it has helium content of 0.5 percent.

NASCO is the controlling shareholder of the DBK. The company has a long-term supply agreement with Praxair Inc., the leading industrial gas company in the USA.

Increasing Global Demand for Helium:

Global demand for the noble gas helium is increasing, yet its availability on this planet is limited. This is driving helium prices up. The USA is the biggest market for helium, followed by Asia and Europe. Helium has many commercial and scientific uses worldwide.

ABOUT NASCO

https://www.nasco.ag/kontakt/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005055/en/

Contacts:

Investor Relations

Jan Warstat

NASCO Energie Rohstoff AG

Telephone +49 (0) 40 2261 63030

Email ir@nasco.ag
Storyful

Birds swarmed over a Texas parking lot on January 8, perching on the cars in a scene worthy of Alfred Hitchcock.The unnerving sight was captured by Kenna Mitchell outside the Stonebriar Mall in Frisco.The footage shows birds perched atop parked cars, while others circle above in the foggy evening sky.We went to Stonebriar Mall just after dusk and the entrance by the Cheesecake Factory was overrun with thousands of birds, she told Storyful.These grackles were perched on cars, in the trees, and swarms were everywhere you looked. Other people in the lot were just amazed at the sheer number of birds, Mitchell said.Very loud and very gross, but still quite a site to see! Definitely in need of a car wash now! she added. Credit: Kenna Mitchell via Storyful
People wait for results at a caucus night campaign rally for democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 2020. (John Locher/AP Photo)

Iowa Democratic Caucus Results Delayed by Technology Issues, Inconsistent Reporting

Democrats still didnt know who won the Iowa Democratic caucuses on Tuesday morning after the Iowa Democratic Party said it was delaying releasing the results of the caucuses.

Iowa Democratic Party spokeswoman Mandy McClure said in an initial statement that results were delayed due to quality checks.

We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results, McClure added in another statement. McClure claimed an application used to enter results didnt go down and the party didnt get hacked.

In a statement on Tuesday morning, Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price said precinct-level results were still being reported to the party.

While our plan is to release results as soon as possible today, our ultimate goal is to ensure that the integrity and accuracy of the process continues to be upheld, he said.

The app, he added, was reporting only partial data but the data collected was sound. The failure to fully report the data was due to a coding issue, he said.

Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg arrives at a watch party at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Precinct chairs and voters reported widespread problems with the app.

We are experiencing some issues in terms of people being able to load and connect with the app for their precinct reporting, Bret Nilles, chairman of the Linn County Democratic Party, told Bloomberg News. Adam Mann, chairman of a caucus in Story County, told The Wall Street Journal that the app wasnt working at all.

The Iowa Democratic Party paid a company, Shadow Inc., over $60,000 to create the app.

Shadow said in a Tuesday statement: We sincerely regret the delay in the reporting of the results of last nights Iowa caucuses and the uncertainty it has caused to the candidates, their campaigns, and Democratic caucus-goers.

Several top executives in the company worked on Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign. People noted that Tara McGowan, founder of ACRONYM, a progressive nonprofit that invested in Shadow, professed excitement last year when then-South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg declared his candidacy. McGowan distanced ACRONYM from Shadow on Tuesday, saying the nonprofit was one of multiple investors in the company.

Federal Election Commission records showed Buttigiegs campaign paid Shadow over $42,000 for software rights and subscriptions.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden walks in the crowd at a caucus night campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 2020. (John Locher/AP Photo)

Buttigieg said early Tuesday that all indications showed that he won the Iowa Democratic caucus.

Dana Remus, general counsel for former Vice President Joe Bidens campaign, sent a letter to the Iowa Democratic Party late Monday calling what happened acute failures.

Remus said the campaign was aware of the partys plans to brief campaigns. However, we believe that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are reached, she wrote.

Sen. Bernie Sanderss (I-Vt.) campaign, meanwhile, released its internal reporting numbers representing results from nearly 40 percent of the precincts in the state.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks to supporters as they wait for results to come in at his caucus night watch party in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 2020. (Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images)

We recognize that this does not replace the full data from the Iowa Democratic Party, but we believe firmly that our supporters worked too hard for too long to have the results of that work delayed, the campaigns senior adviser Jeff Weaver said in a statement.

The data, which the campaign said was collected by trained campaign volunteers, showed Sanders in front in all three categories. Buttigieg, 38, was second in the final number, the state delegate equivalent, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), 70.

Buttigiegs campaign released internal data on Tuesday morning but it only showed his own results. The data showed that he had 28 percent of the state delegate equivalents.

The caucus featured three different results. Initial results showed which candidates were considered viable. Supporters from other candidates could then switch to other contenders and the second round of results reflected the new numbers. The final numbers were used to reach a number called the state delegate equivalents that each candidate earned.

I imagine, have a strong feeling, that at some point, the results will be announced, Sanders, 78, told supporters in Des Moines. And when those results are announced, I have a good feeling were going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) speaks to members of the media as she arrives at the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, N.H. on Feb. 4, 2020, after traveling from Des Moines, Iowa, following the Iowa caucus. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), 59, also expressed confidence, telling supporters that her campaign was punching above their weight.

Even in a crowded field of candidates, even during the well-earned impeachment hearing of Donald J. Trump, which had me bolted to my Senate desk for the last two weeks, we kept fighting, she said. And you kept fighting for me.

Warren called the race too close to call. Her chief strategist, Joe Rospars, wrote on Twitter late Monday that Any campaign saying they won or putting out incomplete numbers is contributing to the chaos and misinformation. One minute earlier, he had written that the race was a very close race among the top three candidates (Warren, Sanders, Buttigieg) and Biden came a distant fourth.

President Donald Trump, who won the Republican caucus, and his campaign said what transpired overnight showed Democrats were in disarray.

The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is Trump,' the president wrote on Twitter.

Democrat Party meltdown. They cant even run a caucus and they want to run the government. No thank you, Brad Parscale, Trumps campaign manager, added.
Wellington, New Zealand--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2020) - New Zealand Energy Corp. (TSXV: NZ) ("NZEC" or the "Company") announced today that it had received 12 months notice of termination of the current Ahuroa Gas Storage Facility (AGSF) Operations Agreement.

NZEC holds a 50% working interest (with New Dawn Energy Limited) in, and is operator of, the Waihapa Production Station and associated gathering and sales infrastructure (collectively the TWN Assets) which provide a range of services to third parties including operation of the AGSF, oil handling and pipeline throughput, gas processing and transport, LPG storage and produced water handling and disposal.

NZEC Chairman James Willis said, "A notice of termination of the Operations Agreement has been expected since Flexgas took over the AGSF from the previous owner Contact Energy Limited 18 months ago. The financial impact of this termination is hard to assess, as aspects of the current arrangements may be renegotiated. There will also be opportunities to reduce manpower costs."

NZEC also announces repair of the hole in the tubing in well Ngaere-1 identified in October 2019 and return of the Electric Submersible Pump to service.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"James Willis"

Chairman

New Zealand Energy Corp.

New Zealand Energy Contacts

Email: info@newzealandenergy.com

Website: www.newzealandenergy.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as such term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING RESERVE ESTIMATES

This document,contains certain forward- looking information, forward-looking statements ("forward-looking statements").

The Company notes that such forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond NZEC's control, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, imprecision of reserve estimates, environmental risks, operational risks in exploration and development, competition from other industry participants, the lack of availability of qualified personnel or management, stock market volatility and the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. Although the Company believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward looking information.

As such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward looking information, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document or the date of the documents referenced above, except as required by applicable law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52087
Allies of Sajid Javid believe the Chancellor will not be sacked at Boris Johnson's Cabinet reshuffle despite claims he and the PM's top aide Dominic Cummings have repeatedly clashed.

The Prime Minister is expected to shake-up his ministerial top team in the coming days now that the UK has left the European Union.

There had been speculation that Mr Javid was on course to be the most high profile casualty of the reshuffle.

But Mr Johnson has apparently given the Chancellor a private assurance that he will not be changing the occupant of Number 11 Downing Street.

Supporters of Mr Javid said his position was looking shaky last week but he now appears to be pretty safe.

Sajid Javid, pictured in Sunderland on January 31, has reportedly received a private assurance from Boris Johnson that he will not be replaced at the reshuffle

The Prime Minister, pictured in Downing Street today, is expected to shake up his top team in the coming days

The Chancellor and Mr Cummings have reportedly butted heads in recent months over government spending announcements.

The Buzzfeed website reported the pair's relationship had been 'irrevocably' damaged by Mr Cummings' decision to remove two of Mr Javid's special advisers.

Any decision to replace Mr Javid would likely have a massive de-stabilising effect on the government given that the reshuffle is expected to take place just weeks before the Budget on March 11.

Mr Johnson guaranteed during the general election campaign last year that Mr Javid would continue to be his Chancellor if he secured a Tory majority government.

The PM made the cast-iron guarantee as he hailed Mr Javid as a 'great guy'.

He told the Confederation of British Industry conference in November: 'I'm going to give you an absolutely categorical assurance that I will keep Sajid Javid as my chancellor. How about that?

Mr Javid and Dominic Cummings, pictured arriving in Downing Street today, have repeatedly clashed in recent months, according to reports

'I think he's a great guy and I think he is doing a fantastic job and I'm proud to count him as a colleague.'

The bullish attitude of Mr Javid's supporters came as it was reported that ministers who fear being sacked at the reshuffle have formed a new 'pizza club' group to discuss how to keep their jobs.

The original 'pizza club' was set up by Brexit-backing ministers to discuss strategy.

But the new one is apparently focused on trying to persuade Mr Johnson not to sack the group's members and to urge him to dismiss the alleged 'control freakery' of Mr Cummings.
Two men were arrested for allegedly killing a tailor and demanding ransom in outer Delhi's Mangolpuri, police said on Tuesday.

The accused, identified as Panjak and Saleem, were nabbed following raids at several locations, they said.

The matter came to light on Monday after a missing report of Pushpender was filed at the Sultanpuri police station, police said.

The victim's father told police that he had received a call from his son's cell phone.

The unknown caller claimed that his son was with him and demanded Rs 15 lakh in ransom.

A Koan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer), said the investigation revealed that Pushpender had gone to Saleem's house in Mangolpuri around 8.30 pm on Sunday.

He met Saleem and Pankaj there, he added.

Saleem suspected that Pushpender was the main cause of differences between him and his wife.

Pankaj had also some grudge against Pushpender.

Hence, Pankaj hit him on his head with a small gas cylinder at the instance of Saleem, the DCP said.

After that Saleem slit the throat of the victim with a blade and locked the room before leaving the house, he said.

On Monday morning, Saleem called the victim's father and demanded ransom, the DCP said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Oklahoma's top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Allie Beach

Nominated by Victory Christian School

Allie, a senior at Victory Christian School, helped her church create a ranch for children from low-income families and foster homes, after co-directing an annual summer camp for the past 11 years and helping to start a youth-run philanthropic pizza business. When Allie was 7, her church wanted to start a summer-long camp for children in need, but couldn't find an adult to serve as director. Allie quickly volunteered, and since then, she and a partner have led a 10-week camp that serves more than 100 kids each summer. In 2017, Allie worked with her church's nonprofit to establish a "pizza factory" to serve the homeless and teach kids life and business skills.

Recognizing that these youth could also benefit from a ranch experience, Allie and her team studied the operation of horse ranches in several states, raised funds through grants and fundraisers, found a five-acre property to rent, and recruited more than 120 volunteers from local high schools, colleges and churches. Then they built fences, prepared animal pens and began acquiring more than 100 rescue animals, including horses, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens. Now, nearly 200 young people a year spend time at the ranch, caring for the animals, doing chores and learning new skills. "The kids love the animals, and surprisingly love the ranch responsibilities," said Allie. "It is big-time, stress-relieving, confidence-building therapy they need." Allie and her church's YouthWorks nonprofit are now looking to buy a ranch so that they can continue to offer this experience to kids in need for years to come, she said.

Middle Level State Honoree: Justin Evers

Nominated by Classen Middle School of Advanced Studies

Justin, a sixth-grader at Classen Middle School of Advanced Studies, is an energetic advocate for children in Oklahoma, particularly those who are dealing with hunger, abuse or are in need of foster care. Growing up in a family that opened its home to foster children, Justin has had a close-up view of the problems that many young people face. "I've seen too many kids affected by the atrocities of hunger, abuse and poverty," he said. "I've felt their sadness and pain and longing for a family that cares." He decided that if he could share his experiences, he could make people in his state understand the importance of improving the lives of children in need.

When Justin learned that a pair of social services organizations, Sunbeam Family Services and the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, were looking for a "Kid Governor" to help publicize these same issues, he jumped at the chance. He dug up statistics on child welfare in Oklahoma, made an application video, explained his interest in a panel interview, and was ultimately selected for the position. He then starred in four advocacy videos discussing education, hunger and foster care on social media; gave interviews to newspapers, magazines and TV stations; spoke at school and fundraising events; and lobbied government officials to prioritize children's issues. Since his term ended, Justin has continued to work on behalf of kids in need. He has planned, organized and led activities at two week-long summer camps, packed food for the hungry, sorted clothes for the homeless, collected gift cards for foster children and wrapped Christmas presents for girls living in public housing.

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized four other Oklahoma students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Oklahoma's Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Delaney Barghols, 18, of Edmond, Oklahoma, a senior at Crossings Christian School, hosted [email protected], which featured 19 teen speakers who shared their stories about mental illness; her efforts included applying for a license, securing an event space, recruiting volunteers and speakers, and building an informational website. Inspired by her own experience with anxiety and anorexia, and the prevalence of youth mental illness, Delaney organized the event to help lift the stigma around the topic.

Autumn Hudgins, 18, of Midwest City, Oklahoma, a senior at Choctaw High School, created "Serving with HeART," and regularly volunteers her time to art-related initiatives; she produces an arts and crafts segment on a show that's broadcast in a children's hospital, organized several art supply drives in her community and serves as a co-chair for the OKC Arts Festival. Autumn also designed and printed more than 400 illustrated cards for hospital patients and children experiencing homelessness.

Jordan Mason, 18, of Dill City, Oklahoma, a member of Washita County 4-H and a senior at Burns Flat-Dill City High School, created and runs "Loving Hearts and Helping Hands," raising more than $13,000 by selling hair bows, toys, bath bombs and candy bars in her local community; her project has benefited tornado victims, people with cancer and other families in need. Jordan has also volunteered her time making bibs for nursing homes and dog toys for her local animal shelter.

Jentri Rayburn, 18, of Ardmore, Oklahoma, a member of Carter County 4-H and a senior at Plainview High School, runs an annual "Socktober" event, collecting socks in her community to benefit several local organizations; this past year, she collected and donated more than 3,200 pairs. Jentri's efforts for each drive include promoting the event, distributing drive boxes to local schools, churches and businesses, sorting socks and delivering the donations.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com .

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.

Related Links

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Amsterdam, NL, February 3, 2020 - Individuals at risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) because of family history or genetic predisposition who engaged in six months of aerobic exercise training improved their brain glucose metabolism and higher-order thinking abilities (e.g., planning and mental flexibility) called executive function; these improvements occurred in conjunction with increased cardiorespiratory fitness. The results of this study are published in a special issue of Brain Plasticity devoted to Exercise and Cognition.

Drugs currently available to treat AD have limited therapeutic capacity. At a time when both the human and monetary costs of the disease are projected to rise dramatically in the coming decades, there is a critical need to provide individuals with readily-deployable strategies that can decrease the likelihood of acquiring the disease or slow its progression. Researchers therefore investigated whether exercise training in asymptomatic individuals harboring risk for AD improves markers associated with AD.

"This study is a significant step toward developing an exercise prescription that protects the brain against AD, even among people who were previously sedentary," explained lead investigator Ozioma C. Okonkwo, PhD, of the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

The study investigated 23 cognitively normal, relatively young older adults with a family history or genetic risk for AD. All patients had a sedentary lifestyle. They underwent a battery of assessments, including cardiorespiratory fitness testing, measurement of daily physical activity, brain glucose metabolism imaging (a measure of neuronal health), and cognitive function tests.

Half of the participants were randomly assigned to receive information about maintaining an active lifestyle but no further intervention. The other half participated in a moderate intensity treadmill training program with a personal trainer, three times per week for 26 weeks.

Compared to the participants maintaining their usual level of physical activity, individuals assigned to the active training program improved their cardiorespiratory fitness, spent less time sedentary after the training program ended, and performed better on cognitive tests of executive functioning (but not episodic memory). Executive function, an aspect of cognition that is known to decline with the progression of AD, comprises the mental processes enabling individuals to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. The participants' improved cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with increased brain glucose metabolism in the posterior cingulate cortex, an area of the brain linked to AD.

"This research shows that a lifestyle behavior - regular aerobic exercise - can potentially enhance brain and cognitive functions that are particularly sensitive to the disease. The findings are especially relevant to individuals who are at a higher risk due to family history or genetic predisposition," noted Dr. Okonkwo. The lead author on the study, Max Gaitan, MEd, of the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, remarked that "an important next step would be to conduct a larger, more definitive, study. If these findings are replicated, they would have a tremendous impact on quality of later life, providing individuals with more years of independent living, active engagement with loved ones, and building memories."

###
Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani on Tuesday batted for artificial intelligence-based credit disbursal systems stating it would make access to funds easier, especially for small and medium enterprises.

"We shouldn't get distracted by the current challenges. Obviously we have an issue with bank non-performing assets (NPAs), non-banking financial company NPAs, but out of this will emerge the next generation of credit which is going to be entirely tech and data-based," Nilekani said at an event here.

He added that credit decisions by artificial intelligence (AI)-driven systems will be based on business flows rather than being asset-based.

"It is good for newcomers because they may not have assets," he said.

A recent Reserve Bank of India report had said non-bank lenders witnessed stress in their asset quality in the first half of the current fiscal, with gross NPA ratio increasing to 6.3 per cent in September 2019 from 6.1 per cent in March.

Nilekani explained that AI can be used to figure out good and bad credit risk, and rates at which loans are given can be tweaked based on such assessment.

"Today, big guys get cheap credit, small people get expensive credit through money lenders and all. All that will go away," he added.

Asked about his message for entrepreneurs, the Infosys co-founder said they should focus on "getting to the path of profitability fast".

He added that internet businesses globally had turned profitable after a few years of losses, and therefore, getting to that path should be kept in mind.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pope Francis with the mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi in Campidoglio square, Rome, Italy on 26 March 2019 (ANSA)

Pope Francis celebrates the 150th anniversary of the declaration of the city of Rome as the capital of Italy as providential, and invites residents to make the Eternal City a place of solidarity and peace.

By Devin Watkins

The nascent Kingdom of Italy declared Rome as its capital on 3 February 1871, soon after the city fell to the Italian forces led by Giuseppe Garibaldi.

This spelled an end to papal control over Rome and the papal states.

Pope Francis called the proclamation of Rome as Italys capital a providential event, which led to polemics and problems at the time. But it changed Rome, Italy, and the Church herself: a new story began.

Providence guiding history

His remark came in a message to the opening ceremony for the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Roma Capitale, read out by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

The event was held on Monday evening at the Opera Theater, in the presence of Italys President Sergio Mattarella and other dignitaries.

In his message, Pope Francis quoted Pope St Paul VI  written while still Cardinal Montini  on the subject.

It seemed like a catastrophe, and for the pontifical dominion over territory it was []. But Providence  as we now see well  had disposed things differently, almost dramatically orchestrating events.

Sharing joys and trials

Pope Francis went on to say Rome has changed and grown much over the course of a century and a half, and the Church has shared in the joys and trials of Romans.

He mentioned three historical events that illustrate how the Church and Rome have influenced each other.

The first was the 9-month Nazi occupation of the city in 1943 and 1944, during which over a thousand Roman Jews were sent to concentration camps to die.

The Pope said the Church offered refuge to many in danger of falling into their hands. This, he said, led to the fall of ancient barriers and painful distances between the Jewish and Catholic communities. From those difficult times we learn above all the lesson of the undying fraternity between the Catholic Church and the Jewish community, said the Pope.

Rome a home for all

He also recalled the Second Vatican Council  held between 1962 and 1965  during which Rome shone as a universal, Catholic, and ecumenical place as it welcomed hundreds of Council Fathers, ecumenical observers, and experts.

The third event Pope Francis mentioned was a conference held in February 1974 by the Diocese regarding the evils afflicting Rome.

Participants in that meeting sought to help the Church listen to the poor and the peripheries.

The lesson, said Pope Francis, is that the city must be a home for all.

Peace through fraternity

The Pope encouraged Romes residents and politicians to see their city through the eyes of those who arrive seeking a better life. Rome is a great resource for humanity. Rome is a city of unique beauty. And the city, he said, must be renewed both in openness to the world and in the inclusion of all.

Finally, Pope Francis said the Eternal City will promote unity and peace in the world, in the measure she is able to become a fraternal city.
Date: January 30, 2020

Contact: Samantha Richardson, (720) 878-8850



DENVEROn Tuesday, February 11th, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the National Park Service (NPS) invites the public to participate in the first of two informational meetings and open houses regarding the Amache special resource study. The first public meeting will be held at the Granada City Complex at 103 South Main Street in Granada, Colorado. The second meeting will be held on Thursday, April 9th, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., at Simpson United Methodist Church at 6001 Wolff Street in Arvada. During these meetings, the NPS study team will share information about the process, including the criteria used to evaluate a site for inclusion in the national park system, as well as answer questions from those in attendance. The NPS is conducting such a study to determine whether Amache should be considered for inclusion as a unit of the National Park System.



Members of the community are encouraged to take the time to share their thoughts and ideas. Anyone unable to attend the meetings in person is welcome to send comments or questions about the special resource study to:



National Park Service, Denver Service Center

12795 West Alameda Parkway

PO Box 25287

Denver, CO 80225-0287



Comments must be received by May 31, 2020 to be considered as part of the study.



The National Park Service values input from the public, said National Park Service Project Manager Tamara Delaplane. Feedback from communities and stakeholders will be a fundamental element of the Amache special resource study.



This special resource study will take place over the next two years. At the conclusion of the study, the National Park Service will forward its findings to the Secretary of the Interior who will then make a recommendation regarding creating a national park at the site and submit the study and recommendation to Congress.



More information about the study can be found at: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/Amache
Li Zichao, a 28-year-old Chinese patient who had been infected by the novel coronavirus (nCoV), was discharged from Cho Ray Hospital on the morning of February 4.

His case was one of the first two nCoV cases detected in Vietnam. Despite being released, the male patient has requested permission to remain at the hospital in order to take care of his father who has been receiving treatment for the disease at the hospitals Department of Tropical Diseases.

Both 66-year-old Li Ding his son Li Zichao were admitted to Cho Ray Hospital on the evening of January 22 following early indications of nCoV symptoms.

According to doctor Le Quoc Hung, Head of the Department of Tropical Diseases, two days after being admitted to the hospital, the son showed no signs of fever and remained in a stable health condition.

He received close monitoring at the hospital and throughout the treatment process, four tests of Li Zichao's samples had also been found negative for the nCoV.

Professor Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Medical Services Department under the Ministry of Health, presented flowers and sent congratulations to the patient and the team of health workers at Cho Ray Hospital for their great efforts in treating the first nCoV patient.

Dr. Khue also stated his belief that with great enthusiasm provided by the hospital's medical staff, the fathers health condition is improving, despite having suffered from several diseases before.

Earlier, Li Ding had traveled from Wuhan to Hanoi with his wife on January 13 before heading to Nha Trang. His son Li Zichao, who had been in Long An for the past four months, then went to Nha Trang in order to meet his father.

Following this, the whole family then continued their journey by travelling to Ho Chi Minh city and Long An. By January 17, the father was showing signs of a fever, with his son also displaying similar symptoms on January 20 before the pair were admitted to Cho Ray Hospital on the evening of January 22.

Hotel receptionist infected with nCoV in Khanh Hoa discharged from hospital

A 25-year-old female patient who had been infected with the novel coronavirus (nCoV) in the south central province of Khanh Hoa received a discharge from the Khanh Hoa Hospital of Tropical Diseases on the afternoon of February 4.

The female patient is from Van Ninh district and is currently employed as a hotel receptionist in Loc Tho ward of Nha Trang city. It is here she came into close contact with two Chinese nationals who passed on the nCoV to her.

Following this encounter, the female receptionist started displaying symptoms such as a fever and a cough on January 27, before heading to the Hospital of Tropical Diseases for treatment where her results came back positive for the nCoV virus after being tested.

Following a period of undergoing intensive treatment at the hospital, the female patient's health conditions has returned to normal.

As a result of her recovery, the patient is now eligible to be discharged from hospital due to suffering from no fever over the past three days and having further test come back negative for the nCoV.

Doctor Nguyen Dong, Director of Khanh Hoa Hospital of Tropical Diseases, along with representatives of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, presented flowers to the patient and congratulated the hospital on successfully treating nCoV first case in Vietnam.

Female nCOV patient in Thanh Hoa discharged from hospital

A female Vietnamese patient who was infected by the novel coronavirus has been discharged from Thanh Hoa General Hospital on February 3 after undergoing 10 days of isolation in addition to follow-up treatment.

According to reports by doctors, two test results belonging to the patient from Yen Dinh district of Thanh Hoa province came back negative for nCoV following 10 days of isolation, strict supervision, and treatment at Thanh Hoa General Hospital.

Le Van Sy, Director of Thanh Hoa General Hospital, stated that the hospital had isolated and treated the patient in an effective manner in line with the Ministry of Healths medical instructions, noting that the woman displayed no signs of fever for five days whilst her biochemical test parameters were within the normal limits.

The 25-year-old female patient was identified due to being one of seven other Vietnamese people who had been sent to Wuhan city in Hubei province for training by Nihon Plast Co., Ltd. of Japan, whilst the group returned to the nation together on the same flight.

In addition to the female patient, the hospital is also in the process of monitoring and isolating four other suspected patients who have shown epidemiological factors relating to the spread of the epidemic.

Three earlier days, the hospital organised training for all medical staff with regard to providing guidance on diagnosis, treatment, and measures to combat the spread of nCoV.

The hospital has also proposed the introduction of new provisions relating to additional medical equipment, supplies, and protective equipment as a way of meeting the emergency needs. VNA/VOV/VNN
Trump, Dershowitz

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Attorney Alan Dershowitz told Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" that he will consider Donald Trump's pressure campaign in Ukraine while deciding who to vote for in 2020.

"I will allow that to enter into my decision who to vote for, but it's not an impeachable offense," the former Harvard Law School professor said.

Dershowitz also criticized Democrats for twisting his words on the Senate floor last week, noting, "I never said, I don't mean and I don't believe that a president can do anything if he thinks it's in [the] national interest."

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz said on "Fox News Sunday" that President Donald Trump's decision to freeze aid to Ukraine until it investigated his political rivals will impact who he votes for in November.

Chris Wallace asked the retired Harvard law professor a question, noting that it was for "Alan Dershowitz, citizen."

"Do you find it troubling, problematic that a president would link in any way  forget his motive and I'm not saying it's criminal  his support for an ally and even military aid for an ally to investigating his political opponents?" he asked.

Dershowitz, who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and has identified as a Democrat, said he'd weigh it when it comes time to vote.

"On Election Day, as a citizen, I will allow that to enter into my decision who to vote for, but it's not an impeachable offense," he said. "I was there to argue a constitutional issue not to tell people who to vote for for president."

Public interest vs. quid pro quo

Wallace asked Dershowitz about an argument he presented in Trump's defense during the Senate trial Wednesday.

Story continues

"Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest and, mostly, you're right  your election is in the public interest," Dershowitz had said. "If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment."

Dershowitz denied that Trump determining an action to be in the "public interest" gave him "an extra level of immunity." He also said Trump participating in a "quid pro quo" would only matter if he had broken the law  which Dershowitz says he didn't.

alan dershowitz impeachment

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

"The president did something that is completely lawful, the fact that part of his motivation may have been to help his election cannot be the quid pro quo," Dershowitz said. "That's what I said. I never said, I don't mean and I don't believe that a president can do anything if he thinks it's in [the] national interest."

Dershowitz pointed to his support for the impeachment of former President Richard Nixon, who, he said, "thought that the five crimes he committed were all in the national interest."

'Deliberately and willfully' twisted words

Dershowitz also criticized House impeachment manager Adam Schiff and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for "distorting" his words when they saw his argument was resonating with some senators.

"[They] made it sound like I said, 'Oh, even if it's criminal, if the president thinks it's in [public] interest, it can't be an impeachment offense,'" an outraged Dershowitz said. "Nonsense. I never said that."

In this image from video, Alan Dershowitz, an attorney for President Donald Trump answers a question during the impeachment trial against Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. (Senate Television via AP)

Associated Press

The question of motive wasn't "relevant" to his argument and "doesn't matter" to him, Dershowitz told Wallace. He addressed it because a question had been posed only to have his answer "deliberately wrenched out of context."

"I was very upset about that because it has hurt me," he said. "People actually think I believe that a president like Nixon can do anything he wants. It's exactly the opposite of what I've been teaching, arguing, and, as a civil libertarian, believing in for 50 years. How dare they deliberately and willfully distort my position and then not give me an opportunity to respond?"

Read more:

Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz argues Trump can do whatever he wants to get reelected if he believes another term is in the public interest

3 years ago, Alan Dershowitz said Trump would be a corrupt president. Now he's part of his impeachment defense team.

Harvard professor slams Trump's lawyer for incorrectly citing him numerous times during Trump's impeachment trial: 'It's a joke'

Read the original article on Business Insider
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Citing inaction and unnecessary delay, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Tamil Nadu Advocate General to tell, by February 14, when will the Assembly Speaker decide on disqualification petitions filed in March, 2017 against Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and other MLAs.

Chief Justice S.A. Bobde said the Speaker's three-year delay on deciding disqualification pleas was "unnecessary".

"There is a judgment by this court now, which says the Speaker should decide within three months... But apart from this judgment, the Speaker cannot hold on to disqualification proceedings as long as three years", said the Chief Justice.

The Chief Justice reckoned the delay, on deciding the disqualification petition, as inaction.

"There is a judgement of this court, which is not set aside and it does not matter somebody likes it or not. At the moment you (Advocate General of Tamil Nadu) must take action, when are you going to take action, tell us now", said the Chief Justice.

In a reply to senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for the disqualified MLAs, the Chief Justice said, "This judgement holds the field... This judgement is there, it is the law, for three years the Speaker cannot sit on a notice".
Recent deadly clashes between Syrian government and Turkish forces threaten to raise tensions between Ankara and Moscow.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Ankara and Moscow should resolve differences over the conflict in Syrias Idlib region without anger after a deadly flare-up in violence challenged the fragile cooperation between the two sides.

The two countries support opposing sides in Syrias nearly nine-year war, but have worked together to contain the bloodshed partially and have forged close defence ties in recent years.

Russia supports President Bashar al-Assad in the war, while Turkey backs some of the rebels who once aimed to topple him.

An attack by Russian-backed Syrian government forces that killed eight Turkish civil and military personnel on Monday posed the biggest challenge to Russia-Turkey ties since their 2018 deal to stem fighting in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Erdogan told Russian forces on Monday there to stand aside while Turkey struck dozens of targets in retaliation. Moscow and Ankara then argued about whether Turkey had told Russia it was sending waves of reinforcements into Idlib.





There is no need for us to be engaged in a conflict or a serious contradiction with Russia at this stage, he was quoted by the Turkish media on Tuesday as telling reporters on a flight from Ukraine.

We will of course sit down and discuss everything. Not with anger, though. Because those who sit down with anger, get up with losses, Erdogan added.

A Turkish security official told Reuters news agency clashes between Turkish and Syrian forces continued intermittently on Tuesday around Saraqeb, a town 15km (9 miles) east of Idlib city.

Meanwhile, the Turkish foreign minister has urged Russia to restrain Syrian forces from launching further attacks on the Turkish army positions in Idlib.

I told my counterpart Sergey Lavrov that the regime was carrying out provocative attacks on our observation posts around Idlib, that we will retaliate if they continue this, and that they need to stop the regime as soon as possible, Cavusoglu said on Tuesday, after they spoke by phone.

The recent major Syrian government offensive in the region has rattled Ankara, which fears millions of displaced people could be driven towards Turkey, which already hosts 3.6 million refugees.

Moscow says it is concerned about the attacks by fighters who control Idlib, the last remaining major rebel stronghold after nearly nine years of war.

On Monday, Turkey retaliated by hitting dozens of targets in Idlib and neutralising 76 Syrian government soldiers, the state-owned Anadolu agency quoted Defence Minister Hulusi Akar as saying.

The Idlib violence has accelerated in recent months despite several ceasefire efforts, including as recently as January.

UN warns of displacement

The United Nations regional spokesman, David Swanson, on Tuesday said 520,000 people had been displaced since the beginning of December and the numbers could swell further.

He added that the latest wave of displacement compounded an already dire humanitarian situation that saw more than 400,000 people displaced from the end of April through the end of August, many of them multiple times.

Swanson said the UN was alarmed by the plight of more than three million people  half of whom were transferred there en masse from other parts of Syria that were taken by government forces  who live in Idlib province and the surrounding areas.

Last Saturday, UNICEF, the UNs children agency, said the violence in Syria has forced 6,500 children to flee daily, and estimated that 1.2 million children are in desperate need amid short supplies of food, water and medicine.
Kiev: A Ukrainian lawmaker's suggestion to a pensioner that she sell her dog to pay her gas bills has sparked an outcry in one of Europe's poorest countries and forced authorities to intervene.

Lyubov Kolyucha, 66, called in to a live political talk show late on Friday to complain that she could not afford to pay her gas bills on her pension of 2,000 hryvnia ($80, around Rs 5,700).

Yevgeniy Bragar, a 25-year-old lawmaker with President Volodymyr Zelensky's ruling party, said the solution was easy: "If she has (a dog) of an elite breed in her yard, then she can sell it... at any moment and pay easily."

His comment sent social media in Ukraine abuzz with jokes and memes poking fun at the politician.

One meme depicted Britain's Queen with her corgis, with the caption saying: "Queen Elizabeth II is heading to pay her Buckingham Palace bills."

"Do you have cash or a card? -- I have an elite dog", was another joke.

The woman on Tuesday said the lawmaker had called her to apologise.

"I forgave him. He is young, he needs to feed his family," she said, complaining she and her dog were getting tired of the attention. "I can't eat. I just want to forget it all."

Bragar said on Facebook he was "new to politics" and had not yet learnt how to handle sensitive questions.

Zelensky had ordered the government to sort out the situation following the lawmaker's "cynical" comments, his spokeswoman Yuliya Mendel said.

Speaking to AFP, Mendel said the retired woman, in fact, received state subsidies and needed to pay around 300-350 hryvnia a month for natural gas.
The Health Ministry has released Rs 3,520 crore in last two years to states under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan informed Parliament on Tuesday.

Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Vardhan said the reasons for slow utilization of funds allocated under the health insurance scheme was because four states West Bengal, Telangana, Odisha and Delhi which account for 20 per cent of the eligible beneficiary population, were not implementing the scheme.

"Two big states (Punjab & Rajasthan) have joined AB-PMJAY only in late 2019. Large states (UP, MP and Bihar) which account for 30 per cent of the beneficiary population are implementing the scheme for the first time and hence, their demand is still picking up," he said, explaining the reasons for the slow utilization of funds.

Vardhan said the experience of the last 16 months showed the average premium amount is Rs 800 per family per annum, however, this had been estimated at Rs 1,052 at the time of the inception of the scheme.

Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana is India's flagship public health insurance scheme.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Odisha government Tuesday said it has identified 14 people who have returned to the state from China and Thailand following outbreak of the killer novel coronavirus (nCoV) but none have tested positive for it.

While 13 people returned to the state from China, only one came from Thailand, said Odisha director of medical education and training (DMET) Prof C B K Mohanty said.

Two medical students - one man and another woman who have returned from China have been admitted to SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack for fear that they may be infected.

"However, the swab and blood sample of the male medical student have tested negative and he will be discharged from SCB Medical College and Hospital on Tuesday. The government is waiting for the test report of the woman medical student, Mohanty said.

They were admitted to the medical facility after showing some symptoms akin to coronavirus.

The male medical student was admitted to SCBMCH on January 31 after his return from China on January 11.

He said the state government has suggested that 12 other persons who have returned from China and Thailand that they remain in home isolation for 14 days.

We are keeping a vigil on the health condition of the persons in home isolation, Mohanty said.

The Odisha government, he said, has decided to increase the number of beds in the special ward for nCoV suspected patients to 150.

The state government said that all preparations have been made to tackle the disease and all district hospitals are ready with at least five beds specially meant for the nCoV suspected patients.

Asked about the number of people from Odisha in China, Mohanty said The district collectors have been told to collect information about this. However, it may be difficult to get the exact data as people used to get passport and visa from the central agencies. Therefore, the state government has little role in it. The Centre may help in getting the information.

Meanwhile, the administrations of Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kandhamal districts have already launched public awareness programme informing people about coronavirus.

Puri town has been identified as sensitive as it is a tourist destination. Puri district chief medical officer Nilakantha Mishra has written to the hotel association asking hoteliers to inform the government about Chinese tourists or on persons who have returned from China, Thailand and other countries hit by the deadly disease.

We have formed a district level task force in Puri to oversee the situation arising out of coronavirus disease, said Puri district public health officer Indira Kumari Mohapatra.

Kandhamal chief district medical officer Rajyashree Patnaik said the people are being made aware of the disease after a male medical student from China complained of cold and cough.

Meanwhile, Jagatsinghpur district collector Sangram K Mohapatra held a meeting with Paradip Port authorities and hostel owners to ensure that the coronavius do not spread in the area.

The port township is vulnerable to the disease because a large number of cargo ships from China and other infected countries come to the port every day.

The school and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash said all the educational institutions in the state have been directed to immediately start treatment of students who develop cold, cough or running nose.

We have told the school authorities to follow the advisory of the health department in regard to coronavirus, the minister said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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A young girl offers chocolate chip cookies Monday to a supporter of presidential candidate Andrew Yang in the gymnasium of West High School in Iowa City in an effort to persuade him to cast his lot with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders instead. Students from the three Indian Prairie District 204 high schools were amused by the tactic since because they knew Sanders needed just one more person for their candidate to be viable. (Suzanne Baker / Naperville Sun)
WASHINGTON  Boeing Co. has confirmed that securities regulators are investigating the company in connection with the 737 Max, which was grounded after two deadly crashes.

Boeing disclosed the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation in a regulatory filing Friday.

The filing provides few details of the probe beyond saying that Boeing is cooperating with government investigations including those by the Justice Department and the SEC. Boeing said it cannot estimate possible losses that could result from lawsuits and investigations.

Boeing said that in preparing financial statements, it made assumptions about the outcome of accident investigations and the expected costs it would bear in 2020 and 2021 from the Maxs grounding. It didnt disclose those assumptions, but said they are highly uncertain and significantly affect the estimates inherent in our financial statements.

The existence of an SEC investigation was previously reported by news organizations.

It has taken Boeing far longer than it originally expected to complete fixes to the plane including flight-control software that played a role in two crashes that killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia and led regulators to ground the plane worldwide last March.

Last week, Chicago-based Boeing reported its first annual loss in 20 years, as the grounding caused a sharp drop in orders and deliveries of new planes. The company has identified $18.6 billion in extra costs caused by the crisis.

Boeing shut down the Max assembly line near Seattle last month, although company officials have suggested it might re-open this spring. Boeing doesnt expect Federal Aviation Administration approval of its changes to the plane until mid-year.

Boeing shares ended Monday down $2.27 at $316, a drop of 29% from their early March peak.
"We believe Collaborative Response Graphics will increase the readiness level for public safety professionals during emergency responses."

The State of Georgia has joined the quickly growing ranks of states across the country in recognizing that the lack of a standardized common operating picture being available to first responders continues to slow response times and needlessly complicates the coordination of emergency resources.

Known as "America's Common Operating Picture", CRGs are sophisticated, yet simple to use visual communication and collaboration tools that are useable under stress to coordinate emergency response efforts both inside and outside a building. CRGs enhance response time and improve command and control efforts during any emergency.

The Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police is committed to introducing straight forward, common sense solutions to public safety. We believe Collaborative Response Graphics will increase the readiness level for public safety professionals during emergency responses. They have been recognized as a protective measure best practice, so were proud to be partnered with Critical Response Group in the State of Georgia, said Chief A. A. Butch Ayers (Ret), Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.

CRGs were born from lessons learned by the United States Military Special Operations community overseas. Like domestic first responders, our military faced the challenge of communicating about unfamiliar locations while under stress. To solve this problem, they developed a visual communication tool that combined a gridded overlay with high-resolution overhead imagery so that operators could easily and effectively communicate about unfamiliar locations.

Critical Response Group enhanced that communication technique by creating CRGs to solve the same problems encountered here at home. CRGs are designed to be standardized common operating pictures that combine geo-rectified accurate floor plans, up to date site-specific labeling, high-resolution imagery and a gridded overlay. They allow everyone at an incident to easily communicate locations and coordinate their response during life-saving efforts.

We feel extremely fortunate to partner with the GACP and look forward to working with them to enhance safety preparedness efforts across Georgia. Critical Response Group is committed to integrating CRGs to improve response protocols and enhance command and control efforts during an emergency. Our companys origins are grounded in thousands of real-life direct-action raids conducted by USSOF over the past two decades and dozens of county-wide deployments domestically, said Phil Coyne, President of Critical Response Group.

Members of the Critical Response Group leadership team have strong personal ties to the State of Georgia. The company has also been working with ACG Solutions, a Cornelia, Georgia based company, for the past two years and together have been able to introduce our products to several counties in the state. With the addition of this strategic partnership with the GACP we are excited about the future.

For more information on the Critical Response Group, Inc. and Collaborative Response Graphics (CRGs) visit their website at https://crgplans.com

You can find additional information here: https://youtu.be/10aghbY3AKI


The Texas Southern University board of regents has muzzled sidelined school President Austin A. Lane, but thats not stopping his wife from talking.

Loren Lane took to social media Monday to urge TSUs friends and family to rally around her husband at a board meeting Tuesday evening at which the regents are scheduled to consider whether to fire the president they put on paid leave on Jan. 10.

Please guys, plan to attend this meeting to express your support of the university and the immediate reinstatement of our 12th president, Dr. Austin A. Lane, Lane said in a video posted to Facebook. We need you to come out, to show up and to (provide) support so we can get back to doing the good work at (TSU).

She noted that people who want to make a testimony of support before the board can sign up before the meetings 7 pm start time. The meeting will be held in TSUs Library Learning Center on the fifth floor.

It is unclear if the regents will entertain such speakers. Their bylaws state that public comments or open presentation time are reserved for the beginning of each regular board meeting, but there is no indicator that public comments can be made during a special called meeting.

TSU regents, who called the special meeting, have yet to provide much reasoning for their actions regarding Lane. After giving no explanation for placing him on leave, they subsequently released a statement noting the decision was made amid a probe into admissions. Though the regents have said that the president was interviewed twice during the investigation, they have not said how hes connected.

On HoustonChronicle.com: TSU regents say president placed on leave amid probe into admissions improprieties

President Lane has since declined interview requests from the Houston Chronicle, citing the boards instruction he not speak to the media. In the Facebook post, Loren Lane said the silence has been taken as a sign of scandal or wrongdoing by some.

We chose to remain silent, putting our faith in the due process of fairness we expected from the board of regents, Loren Lane said. Although no one has communicated anything to us about a timeline, plans nor a resolution, we have remained faithful to due process and professionalism. We look forward to the day when Austin is reinstated as the president and his good name is cleared of any alleged improprieties, because there are simply none.

She added that she and her husband look forward to putting this pause behind us and getting back to the work that we love  the dedication to the students, the community and the continued advancement of the great work that hes done thus far and continue to do at (TSU). Until then, go Tigers.

As of early Tuesday afternoon, Lanes post had generated more than 2,600 views, 160 likes, 70 shares and 30 comments, some saying that they will pray for her husbands reinstatement, all supportive.

brittany.britto@chron.com
A group of displaced Burkinabes sit outside the home of a district leader in Kaya, Burkina Faso.  UNHCR/Sylvain Cherkaoui

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, wrapped up in Burkina Faso a three-nation visit to the Sahel region, and expressed his alarm about the rapidly deteriorating situation across the region, where escalating insecurity has forced a rising number of people to flee their homes.

The emergency is here, in the Sahel, where people are suffering, are being killed, women are being raped, children cannot go to school, said Grandi. Sahel is the place where we must intervene before this crisis becomes unmanageable.

Meeting with the Presidents of Burkina Faso and Niger, along with the Government of Mauritania, the High Commissioner praised these countries for continuing to welcome refugees while themselves facing humanitarian emergencies such as in Niger and Burkina Faso. In the Sahel, some of the poorest countries in the world remain some of the most generous, said Grandi, acknowledging the solidarity that Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso extend to some 165,000 refugees fleeing Mali, where the security situation does not show signs of improvement.

Despite the many challenges these three countries face today, we dont see this kind of engagement in most parts of the world, said Grandi, praising solutions to long-term forced displacement that foster social cohesion between host communities, refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs).

The number of IDPs in Burkina Faso has risen ten-fold in 2019 alone, reaching a total of 560,000. Another 70,000 people were displaced in neighbouring Mali during the same year, pushing the countrys displaced population over the 200,000 mark. In total, the Central Sahel region currently shelters over a million refugees and IDPs.

The stories I heard in Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso are shocking. Stories of killings by armed groups, stories of destruction of homes, schools and health centres, stories of violence against women, said the High Commissioner.

Indiscriminate attacks by armed and terror groups on state institutions and security services, on schools and health facilities are recorded with shocking frequency across the entire region. These aggravate existing social tensions and widespread poverty, as local communities are often the first responders.

In the area of the Liptako-Gourma, where Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger share common borders, refugees fleeing from Mali and Burkina Faso often find themselves seeking safety and shelter in areas that are also plagued by violence. The overwhelming majority of those fleeing violence across the region are women and children. Many of them have been displaced several times. Local communities can offer very limited support given the abject poverty in many parts of Sahel.

In Ouallam, in Nigers Tillaberi region, Filippo Grandi was welcomed by a community of 5,000 refugees, many of whom had been living in tents since 2012 in a camp close to the Malian border until recent violence forced them to relocate again. The same violence that forced refugees to relocate also forced Nigeriens from their homes. Grandi heard painful stories of the threats which they endured from armed groups who forced them to rapidly leave their villages with little more than the clothes on their back.

In Burkina Faso, in Kaya and Dori, the High Commissioner met with survivors of a very recent attack to a nearby village in which some 20 people were killed days prior. Their accounts were harrowing, as they provided details of a horrifying night-time attack on their village, where men and boys were killed, women raped, homes, pillaged and schools along with other infrastructure were destroyed

Rampant insecurity is having an adverse impact on the humanitarian response as it severely hinders access by humanitarian actors to reach people in need - those forced to flee and the communities hosting them all desperately need shelter, food, water, protection, health, education.

Despite insecurity forcing more to flee within their own country, the region also showcases exemplary solidarity towards refugees. In Mauritania, Grandi met with some of the nearly 60,000 Malian refugees who had fled over eight years ago and spoke to him of the generosity of the communities hosting them. In Niger, social cohesion is exemplified by innovative durable housing that brings together host communities, refugees and IDPs.

In the Sahel, the response to the crisis must not be a security one alone. The protection of those forced to flee must remain at the core of our response to this displacement crisis, said Grandi.

This includes a better coordination between civilian and military authorities to ensure humanitarian access for immediate assistance. It is also critical to create the conditions for humanitarian and development actors to help with solutions to the affected population.

In a displacement crisis of this scale, UNHCR reiterates its call for protection of those fleeing violence. The governments of the Sahel reaffirmed their commitments to protect civilians in a context of counterterrorism operations in the Sahel. They also reaffirmed the needs for greater access of displaced persons to civil status documents, identity documents and nationality to access education, jobs, housing or healthcare and prevent statelessness.

While ramping up its response UNHCR stresses that addressing the humanitarian needs in Sahel must not be at the expense of other regional crises. Sahel is also affected by the crisis in the neighboring Lake Chad region, where an estimated 2.8 million people are living in displacement and where there is a similar need to ensure humanitarian access and protection of those forced to flee. It is critical to avoid the risk of destabilization of the broader West Africa region, as insecurity spreads further.

Peace, security and development are key to the coexistence between those forced to flee and the communities hosting them, said Grandi. By supporting the Governments in bringing refugees and their host communities together, humanitarian and development actors must work toward ensuring access to education, health and economic opportunities, he added. Addressing the root causes of this crisis will enable to find lasting solutions. This also means addressing the key impact of climate change as well as the impact of these displacements on the nature.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, leads international response to protect those forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
Farmers are losing the battle against resistance to worm doses, with the latest research identifying further declines in the effectiveness of key products.

The problem is being exacerbated as many farmers do not realise they have resistance problems until it is too late.

Orla Keane of Teagasc Grange told the National Sheep Conference in Killarney last week that stomach and gut worms have great propensity to develop resistance. She said farmers have been using products in a way that encourages resistance.

To investigate the extent of anthelmintic resistance, faecal egg count reduction tests were performed on 19 farms in 2018-19.

The research found that white doses were not working on every farm tested, on 17pc of farms yellow doses were not working and on 56pc of the farms ivermectin was not working.

Keane said the huge increase in the number of farms where ivermectin is failing is of particular concern as farmers rely heavily on this product.

"We need to stop this. We rely heavily on anthelmintic drugs to control these worms. As the drugs get used more and more, you get a build-up of resistant parasites until the whole population is resistant," she said.

"Lamb performance is optimised when 95pc of these worms are killed. The problem is when that falls to 60-70pc.

"While farmer might be still seeing an improvement in performance and think the dose is working, they don't realise they have resistance, and quite often they don't realise they have a problem until its too late.

"It's vitally important that it's detected early, when farmers can do something about it."

4 key steps every farmer can take

1 Don't dose mature ewes unless there is demonstrated need

Older stock has generally developed good immunity to gut worms and so mature ewes should not require dosing for them. Lactating yearling ewes or thin or immunocompromised ewes may require treatment but this should be targeted to individual animals on the basis of demonstrated need.

2 Only use white drench for treating Nematodirus

There is widespread resistance to 1-BZ (white drenches) among mid-season worms. However, resistance to 1-BZ products among Nematodirus has not been detected. So only use products from group 1-BZ to treat Nematodirus in lambs.

3 Treat stock coming onto the farm

If you don't have resistance, don't buy it in. A good biosecurity protocol for all bought-in animals should be implemented to prevent bringing resistant worms onto the farm. Animals should be treated with one of the new anthelmintics (proscription) and housed for 24-48 hours. They should then be turned out to contaminated pasture recently grazed by sheep.

4 Monitor faecal egg count

Use anthelmintics when necessary based on indicators such as flock-level faecal egg count. Monitoring for gut worms is important and should be an integral part of a flock health strategy. Worm burden can be monitored using faecal egg counts. In lambs a group faecal egg count of greater than 500-600 eggs per gram may have an impact on performance and may indicate a need to treat for gut worms.
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel's Holocaust memorial centre has apologised over "errors" in films screened during a high-profile ceremony last month that distorted events related to the Soviet Union and Poland during World War II.

The Yad Vashem centre in Jerusalem said in a blog posted Monday that some of the material shown at the January 23 event, attended by more than 40 heads of state and government, included "inaccuracies that resulted in partial and unbalanced presentation of historical facts."

The ceremony marking 75 years since the Soviet Red Army liberated the Nazi death camp Auschwitz was co-organised by the World Holocaust Forum Foundation, led by Russian billionaire and Kremlin ally Moshe Kantor.

The films shown at the event were produced by Kantor's foundation "in cooperation" with Yad Vashem, a spokesman for the institution told AFP on Tuesday.

The films made no mention of "the division of Poland between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 or to the conquest of Western Europe in 1940," Yad Vashem head of research Dan Michman wrote.

"In addition, the maps show incorrect borders between Poland and its neighbours and erroneously identify concentration camps as exterminations camps.

"These short films were meant to serve as illustrations. However they do not reflect the complexity of the Holocaust and the war, to which Yad Vashem dedicates its ongoing research," he added.

"We apologise for the unfortunate errors."

The ceremony was held amid a bitter dispute between Poland and Russia over WWII history.

In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin falsely claimed that Poland had colluded with Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler and contributed to the outbreak of World War II, sparking new tensions between Moscow and Warsaw.

Polish President Andrzej Duda then declined to attend the ceremony in Jerusalem after he was not given a speaking slot.

He argued that he would not have an opportunity to respond should Putin use the event to cast further accusations of anti-Semitism against Poland.

Story continues

The Nazis built Auschwitz on Polish territory.

Soviet collaboration with the Nazis remains highly sensitive in the ex-Soviet bloc and frequently crops up in political rhetoric.

Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded and carved up Poland in September 1939 under a secret clause of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Nazi invasion prompted Britain and France to declare war on Germany.
Proceedings were disrupted at the district courts here as lawyers abstained from work after noon in protest against the filling of foundation pits for the construction of chambers and a canteen.

They also raised slogans against the administration.

A protesting advocate, Omvir Morta, said a portion on the courts premises was dug up on Monday as per a resolution passed by the newly elected Bar Association for the construction of lawyers' chambers and a canteen.

Upon getting information, the administration filled the pits in the night due which the advocates staged the protest.

The protesting lawyers also submitted a memorandum addressed to the district magistrate with regard to their demand.

When contacted, District Magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey said a committee would be constituted to find a solution to the issue.

He said the panel would have representatives from the judiciary, police, advocates and the administration.

Meanwhile, the Bar Association has called for a meeting on Wednesday to decide the future course of action in this regard.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hyundai Motors is suspending production in South Korea, a sign that the economic fallout from China's viral outbreak is spreading.

For other companies bracing for losses from coronavirus, the damage has so far been delayed, thanks to a stroke of timing: The outbreak hit just when Chinese factories and many businesses were closed anyway to let workers travel home for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

But the respite won't last.

If much of industrial China remains on lockdown for the next few weeks, a very real possibility, Western retailers, auto companies and manufacturers that depend on Chinese imports will start to run out of the goods they depend on.

In order to meet deadlines for summer goods, retail experts say that Chinese factories would need to start ramping up production by March 15. If Chinese factories were instead to remain idle through May 1, it would likely cripple retailers' crucial back-to-school and fall seasons.

"There's complete uncertainty,'' said Steve Pasierb, CEO of the Toy Industry Association. "This could be huge if it goes on for months."



Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak hit hardest, is a center of automotive production. It's been closed off, along with neighboring cities, isolating more than 50 million people and bringing factories to a standstill.

So far, U.S. automakers haven't had to curb production for want of Chinese parts. But David Closs, professor emeritus at Michigan State University's Department of Supply Chain Management, said the clock is ticking.

"I would say it's weeks at the most,'' Closs said. One to two to three weeks.''



Hyundai said Tuesday that it was suspending production in South Korea "due to disruptions in the supply of parts resulting from the coronavirus outbreak in China'' and that it "was seeking alternative suppliers in other regions.''The partial shutdown of Wuhan has already harmed the production of TV display panels and raised prices, according to a report by research group IHS Markit.

The city has five factories making liquid crystal displays, known as LCDs, and organic light-emitting diodes, known as OLEDs, both of which are used for television and laptop monitors. China accounts for more than half of the global production capacity for making these display panels.

David Hsieh, an analyst at IHS Markit, said in a report that "these factories are facing shortages of both labor and key components as a result of mandates designed to limit the contagion's spread," leading suppliers to raise panel prices more aggressively.

Phone-maker Motorola, which has a facility in Wuhan, said that so far, it expects little impact because it has a flexible global supply chain and multiple factories around the world. Its priority has been the welfare of local employees, Motorola, which is owned by the Chinese electronics giant Lenovo, said in a statement.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts last week that the company's contractors in China had been forced to delay reopening factories that closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. Cook said the company is seeking ways to minimize supply disruptions. Some of its suppliers are in Hubei, the Chinese province at the center of the outbreak. Most of Apple's iPhones and other devices are made in China.

In the meantime, economists are sharply downgrading the outlook for China's economy, the world's second-biggest. Tommy Wu and Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics have slashed their forecast for Chinese economic growth this year from 6% to 5.4%. They expect most of the damage to be inflicted in the first three months of 2020.

But a more serious and long-lasting impact cannot be ruled out,'' they wrote Monday.

Forecasters are contending with unknowns. No one knows how long the outbreak will last, how much damage it will cause or how policymakers will respond to the threat.

We're grasping for precedents,'' said Phil Levy, chief economist at the freight company Flexport who was an economic adviser in the administration of President George W. Bush.

Some look back to the SARS outbreak, which paralyzed the Chinese economy for the first few months of 2003. But the damage from SARS faded quickly: China was booming again by year's end. And the world economy emerged mostly unscathed.

But times have changed in ways that are not favorable to containing the economic damage. Back then, China was the world's workshop for cheap goods - toys and sneakers, for instance. Now, China has moved up to sophisticated machine parts and electronics like LCDs. And it accounts for about 16% of global economic output, up significantly from just 4% in 2003.

Levy said he was struck by how U.S. airlines reacted to the coronavirus: They suspended flights between the United States and mainland China for weeks - American airlines through March 27, United through March 28 and Delta until April 30.

The move doesn't just affect tourists, students and business travelers. Caryn Livingston, editor of Air Cargo World, noted that about half of air cargo has historically been transported in the bellies of passenger aircraft.

When you see them loading those big 747s, that's not just your luggage,'' Levy said. That can be pallets full of electronics and other things.'' The health crisis coincides with an especially difficult time for China's factories.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Many of the Republican senators who voted Friday against allowing new witnesses and other evidence in President Trump's impeachment trial said the House Democratic prosecutors proved their case  Trump did it  but using appropriated U.S. military aid and a White House visit as leverage to get a foreign country to investigate a domestic political rival didn't rise to the level of removal from office. On Sunday, some of those Republicans senators went on the political talk shows to explain their decision to vote against witnesses, and one of their arguments was that impeachment itself has already taught Trump a lesson.

"I think he shouldn't have done it," and it was "wrong" and "improper, crossing the line," Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) told Chuck Todd on NBC's Meet the Press. But "if you have eight witnesses who say someone left the scene of an accident, why do you need nine?" Since Trump doesn't think he did anything wrong, Todd asked, won't he do it again? "If a call like that gets you an impeachment, I would think he would think twice before he did it again," Alexander replied, prompting Todd to ask: "What example in the life of Donald Trump has he been chastened?" "I haven't studied his life that close," Alexander said.

WATCH: @SenAlexander says he hopes Pres. Trump does not continue to engage in foreign interference. #MTP #IfItsSunday Sen. Alexander: If a call like this gets you an impeachment, I would think he would think twice before he did it again. pic.twitter.com/fqVvlsQZjV  Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) February 3, 2020

Trump should have taken his purported concerns about corruption and Joe Biden's family to the Justice Department or international organizations, but instead he "chose to go a different route," Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said on CNN's State of the Union. "I think that he knows now that, if he is trying to do certain things, whether it's ferreting out corruption there, in Afghanistan, whatever it is, he needs to go through the proper channels."

Story continues

In the White House, meanwhile, "Trump and his entire inner circle convey supreme self-confidence, bordering on a sense of invincibility," Jonathan Swan reports at Axios, citing 10 senior administration officials. "Every day, Trump grows more confident in his gut and less deterrable," and "Team Trump's confidence snowballed into the weekend as the Senate voted against witnesses in Trump's impeachment trial."

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JACKSON, Miss. - As Mississippi lawmakers seek ways to improve a prison system shaken by recent deadly violence, a related problem is looming: A judge said Tuesday that parole officers are woefully underpaid and overworked.

Circuit Judge Prentiss Harrell said parole officers often handle hundreds of cases each. That has contributed to an increase in the prison population, because a growing number of ex-inmates are being returned to prison for parole violations.

Mississippi remains one of the nations poorest states, with one of the highest incarceration rates.

At least 15 inmates have died in the Mississippi prison system since late December. Most were in the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, and many died amid violent conflicts between inmates. Some were suicides.

Some of Mississippis prisons also have had longstanding problems with holes in cell walls, broken sinks and toilets in cells and widespread mould in showers.

Mississippis prison population decreased between early 2012 and early 2016 because of some policy changes. But the prisons population has crept back up in the past four years because some former inmates are returning to custody for violating terms of their parole, said Harrell, who leads a group that evaluates the states criminal justice system.

Mississippi prisons held nearly 21,500 inmates in January 2012. Legislators enacted criminal justice system changes in mid-2014. By January 2016, the prison population had decreased to just over 18,600. But by the end of 2019, it was back up to almost 19,200.

Senate Judiciary B Committee Chairman Brice Wiggins said Tuesday that its too early to know whether legislators will set aside money for the state to hire more probation and parole officers.

We realize that this is a significant issue and weve got to look at that, said Wiggins, a Republican from Pascagoula.

Harrell said he has toured all Mississippi prisons. He said many are in bad shape, and the state should spend money to improve them.

The task force recommends that the state do more to help inmates make the transition from prison to the outside world as they finish their terms or are released on parole. It says the state should provide more transitional housing to help inmates who would otherwise be homeless.

For many years, we were guilty in this state of giving them 20 bucks and a bus ticket and saying, Go be good, Harrell said.

The task force also recommends that the state ease the process for some former inmates to receive help through intervention courts. Such courts provide guidance for people who have mental health issues or problems with drug use.

Matthew Charles is a former Tennessee prisoner who advocates for sentencing reform for a national group called FAMM, previously known as Families Against Mandatory Minimums. He says Mississippi needs to offer better programs to rehabilitate prisoners.

Theyre not learning anything while theyre incarcerated because theres no real programming that is able to benefit them so they can actually get out, get a job and make a living wage, Charles said Tuesday at the Mississippi Capitol.

In 2014, Mississippi legislators and then-Gov. Phil Bryant sought to control prison costs and to reduce the incarceration rate. Republican Bryant signed a law modeled on criminal-justice changes enacted in Texas, Georgia and other states with Republican governors who campaigned as being tough on crime.

The Mississippi law said anyone convicted of a violent offence will be required to serve at least 50% of a sentence, and anyone convicted of a nonviolent offence will have to serve at least 25%. It gave judges more flexibility to impose alternate sentences, such as ordering treatment for drug users.

____

Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus.

____

This story has been updated to correct the national group name to Families Against Mandatory Minimums from Families for Mandatory Minimums.
Three years ago, WikiLeaks published thousands of pages of secret documents about how the CIA hacks into overseas targets, revealing its ability to compromise smartphones and turn certain televisions into listening devices.

The breach was the largest illegal disclosure of CIA information in the spy agencys history and caused catastrophic damage to national security, the government said.

This week, Joshua Schulte, a 31-year-old computer engineer who worked at the CIA, goes on trial in federal court in Manhattan to defend himself against charges that he was the leaker. Opening statements were expected Tuesday.

When the documents went public in March 2017, WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization, said the source of the information wanted to raise policy questions that need to be debated in public, including whether the CIAs hacking capabilities exceeded its mandated powers.

Prosecutors, however, say Schulte was a disgruntled CIA employee who stole the documents as retaliation because he felt management did not take his workplace complaints seriously. He quit the job in 2016, four months before the WikiLeaks disclosures.

Schulte worked in the CIAs Engineering Development Group and designed hacking tools, including malware that targeted the computers of suspected terrorists.

Schulte faces 11 criminal counts at trial, including stealing classified information from the CIA and lying to the FBI.

He has pleaded not guilty. In court papers, Schultes lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, has said that her client did not leak classified information and that other CIA employees had access to the same computer systems as Schulte.

After Schultes arrest, he was released into home confinement but got thrown in jail a few months later after he violated a federal judges order not to use the internet without the courts permission.

At trial, the government intends to show jurors Schultes writings from notebooks he kept in jail. In one of them, he wrote that if the government did not pay him $50 billion in restitution, he would visit every country in the world and try to break up diplomatic relationships, close embassies, and U.S. occupation across the world.

Schultes lawyers fought repeatedly to keep them out of the trial, saying his hundreds of pages of private musings were taken out of context and never disseminated.

Read more about:
EDWARDSVILLE  In every community there are dark, sordid, heart-breaking stories no one wants to tell, but must be brought to light to help combat the pungent reality of human and sex trafficking.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles Educational Outreach co-hosted a Human Trafficking Awareness Seminar with the Troy Tri-Township Library and Troy-Maryville Chamber on Jan. 29 at the Troy-Township Library. Erin Heil, PhD, author and associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, spoke about human trafficking. Kristen Shinn, director of Community Support Services at Hoyleton Youth and Family Services, addressed the subject of sex trafficking.

More than 40 people  including representation from shelters, hospitals, hotels, non-profit agencies and the Troy Police Department  attended the class.

I have done extensive research on the topic of human trafficking, said Heil, In 2008, I went to Immokalee, Florida, which is ground zero for modern day slavery. The tomato industry is in the area, and there is much agriculture labor trafficking there.

Some of the many abuses I came across involved one man getting paid $2 for every ton of tomatoes he picked, and someone getting paid with watermelons, she said. Then there were instances when people did not get any time off.

Labor trafficking can involve someone having to work to pay off debts or having someone else in control, according to Heil. Labor trafficking can also exist in factories, begging, hotel industry, carnivals, beauty salons and more.

Southern Illinois and southern Missouri are hot spots for trafficking because of agriculture, explained Heil. Trafficking can also involve bait and switch, where people are promised well-paying jobs and then end up with menial jobs, or not being paid at all. Heil co-authored the book, Human Trafficking in the Midwest.

She noted some indicators of human trafficking and victims:

Employees live on the premises

Employees are transported to work by the employer

No time clock or hours maintained in ledger by the employer

Avoids eye contact

Appears malnourished, exhausted, injured

Appears submissive or fearful of employer

Many times, there is a crossover between human and sex trafficking, according Shinn. She gave the following definition for sex trafficking: The recruitment, harboring, transportation, providing, or obtaining of a person for a commercial sex act, in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not yet attained 18 years old.

Shinn gave several scenarios of sex trafficking. One involved a 13-year-old boy on the run who needs a place to sleep. A man he meets at a party offers him the use of his couch for the night, if the teen will have sex with him.

Shinn then showed a film on sex trafficking that interviewed and followed actual sex traffickers and their victims. This film can be emotionally difficult to watch, she said. But the subject matter is important to know, and unfortunately, it is critical that we have this conversation with everyone, especially our youth.

There are aspects of our culture that makes human trafficking possible, or ways in which our society promotes or perpetuates exploitation, according to Shinn.

Some of those listed include racism, sexism and misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, sexualization of girls and young women, and glorification of pimp culture.

Shinn encouraged the audience with things that can be done to help alleviate the problem: strengthen practices and policies, increase awareness among schools, businesses and social service providers, celebrate clients success in their recovery and prosecute trafficking related charges.

We are more reactive than proactive. Its tough to be proactive, said Troy Chief of Police B.A. Parsons. We were finally successful in prosecuting a case involving sex trafficking. This is happening in our community, and we promote education and awareness.

I had a preconceived idea of what sex trafficking was. I thought that it always involved people being taken by force, said Charmian Aaron, of Edwardsville, sales manager for TownePlace Suites, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Express & Suites and Comfort Inn. I didnt realize that young girls can be groomed and manipulated and contacted through social media.

The workshop was extremely eye opening for me, said the mother of four, ages 2-17. After what I learned today, I will be spreading this information to our staff, my children and whomever else will listen.

Linda Alms, of Troy, attended the workshop to gain more information and find out how she could do more.

This has been heavy on my heart  human trafficking, said Alms. She and husband, Maurice, a retired Lutheran minister, have nine adopted children and have fostered 32 children. I dont want to walk out of the door and not do anything. I want to see about helping with funding for a women and childrens homeless shelter in Granite City. I also want to tell more people about it in order to generate more interest.

Sometimes it looks like a Mission Impossible, but you have to try to do as much as you can in this life.
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FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

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Australians can buy lobster for as little as $33 as prices fall due to demand dropping from China in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic.

China is one of the biggest buyers of Western Australia's rock lobster but due to the closure of the Chinese live animal trade, fishing industries are fearing the worst.

There are now tonnes of the crustacean sitting in holding tanks, forcing industries to sell them at reduced prices.

Lobster is being sold for as little as $33 after China closed its live animal trade (file image)

The Geraldton Fishermen's Cooperative (GFC) were expecting the Chinese New Year period to be their busiest time with around 50 to 60 tonnes of lobster being handled each day.

But CEO Matt Rutter said they have taken a massive blow in the wake of the market closure and fear it will be some time before it reopens.

Lobsters that once sold for $48 are now selling for $15 less.

'We are estimating that we have a month's worth of western rock lobster that we will continue to sell out of WA,' Mr Rutter told the ABC.

He said there was a few hundred tonnes that had been shipped before the market shut down - with the western rock lobster making up a large proportion.

Mr Rutter said that despite the low prices for consumers, staff and fishermen within the industry were at a loss.

Hundreds of tonnes of lobster are now stranded in seawater holding tanks, forcing industries to sell them at reduced prices

'Because we don't have product flowing through the door, we don't have trucks driving or people at the depots receiving  a lot of the staff that would normally be carrying that out have unfortunately been told to stand down until the product starts flowing again,' he said.

'It's not just the fishers who are hurting, but everyone who relies on the industry for income.'

GFC can hold 220 tonnes of lobster in refrigerated seawater storage tanks that keep them from four to six weeks.

Mr Rutter said the industry will continue to use other international markets like Japan and the USA.

There have been 12 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, and more than 17,000 cases and 360 deaths globally.

There have been 12 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, and more than 17,000 cases and 360 deaths globally
3,000 tour guides in Phuket out of work as Chinese arrivals plunge

PHUKET: Some 3,000 Chinese-speaking tour guides in Phuket are out of work and need financial assistance to pay their living expenses, Phuket Professional Guide Association Deputy Chief Natthakorn Ruengrote revealed yesterday (Feb 3).

tourismeconomicsChinesehealthCoronavirusCOVID-19

By The Phuket News

Tuesday 4 February 2020, 11:27AM

A Tourist Assistance Centre official assess a small queue of travellers at Phuket International Airport. Photo; TAC

Mr Natthakorn explained that there are about 7,000 tour guides registered to work in Phuket, reported Post Today. (See story here.)

Of those, an estimated 3,000 are qualified and registered to lead tours in Chinese language, he added.

During this time of the year is usually the peak season for Phuket tourism, but now more than 3,000 Chinese-speaking guides have no work because of the fall in the number of Chinese tourists [coming to Phuket], Mr Natthakorn said.

Even the guides not specifically trained to lead Chinese tours are being affected, he added.

In this situation, we have to adapt ourselves and cooperate with officials to promote tourism, Mr Natthakorn stressed.

Tour guides have to adapt and improve themselves by learning more languages used in Southeast Asia and work more with airlines, such as AirAsia and Nok Air, to promote tourism in neighboring countries, he added.

The target groups should be middle-class people in each country, and attract them by giving them promotions to come during the Songkran festival [Thai New Year] in April, Mr Natthakorn said.

Our association also wants a soft loan from the government in order to keep our industry going in this situation, he urged.

I predict that the coronavirus will affect Phuket tourism longer than six months, and more tourists will not come until October, Mr Natthakorn added.

ARRIVALS PLUNGE

Confirmation of the dire situation was initially confirmed by statistics posted by the TAT Intelligence Centre last week, marking huge falls in the number of international tourists arriving in Phuket for the same period last year.

Last Monday the number of arrivals had fallen 12.04% year-on-year. Last Tuesday that number blew out to -29.8%, by Wednesday last the number of arrivals had plunged by 32.98%. Thursdays international arrivals had recovered to a fall of only 8.6%

But the plunge returned in full vigour last Friday (Jan 31) as total international arrivals  not just Chinese  fell by 38.64% year on year.

The number of international arrivals Saturday (Feb 1) recovered somewhat to a plunge of 30.23%, before nosediving again to Sunday (Feb 2) seeing the plunge blow out to -41.04%, then to -44.22% yesterday.

Phuket Governor yesterday (Feb 3) assured that the government is doing everything it can to curtail the spread of the virus in Phuket, and elsewhere in Thailand, and still promoting tourism to the island. (See story here.)
I did not expect to begin my sixth year of teaching standing baffled before a folding table covered with tin foil, pipe cleaners, and mysterious mini-motors, but I suppose that I shouldnt have been surprised. Tinkering is a hallmark of a design thinking workshop, and design thinking is in fashion.

I understood the basic techniques of design thinking; this was, after all, my third design-thinking workshop as an independent school teacher. The task of the day: build a board game for your peers. As PhDs tinkered with copper foil in MIT-designed smart notebooks and 30-year veterans made pipe-cleaner game tokens, I noticed a set of naysayers gather around one table, hands idle and jaws flapping: the English departmentthose familiar crossed-arm Luddites.

Schools, especially well-resourced schools, love design thinking these days, but the tech-world language and startup buzz that frames it make the whole process easy to write off. Whether enthusiastic about or resistant to the elements of play in a workshop, most teachers leave design-thinking workshops with a conundrum: How could this actually change my teaching for the better?

Education is notoriously slow to adapt to the new, and that adaptation often falls along socioeconomic lines. Students at schools with more resources can receive the benefits of research and innovation decades ahead of those at less privileged schools. At independent schools especially, the curricular freedom to implement findings of popular recent texts (like Neuroteach or Make It Stick) and the resources to build new spaces (like separate design labs equipped with raw materials and devoted design-thinking instructors) allow them to offer what most schools cant, and to do it faster.

And because design labs, like the workshops that train teachers, encourage students to take on real world problemstoo much trash on a local beach, say, or not enough textbooks for middle school students at that school down the roadthe students who are empowered to take on these problems are often the least affected by them. In my experience, design thinking as it works now reproduces a system of patronage and salvation: Students with access to design-thinking resources take on the position of rescuer, a position that reinforces existing class barriers.

Design thinking need not be a show pony for schools with money, demonstrated with flashy products from expensive makerspaces. The Stanford Design Lab, a leading group in the design education field, breaks down design thinking into five steps: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Each of these buzzwords represents a concept already broadly known in the field of teaching. Teachers of writing, for example, could find significant overlap with the basic tenets of effective writing instruction, which ask students to establish their intended audiences needs; define what needs to be communicated; seek evidence, examples, and new ideas to answer the given question; build a prototype (as in, write a paper); and, finally, edit based on feedback.

Creators and presenters of design thinking dont seem to know how well design-thinking processes align with what teachers already do. In my experience, workshop coordinators usually havent gone through teacher-training programs or spent years in secondary school classrooms. They often lack empathya core tenet of their own processwhen they share it with groups of teachers. Instead, they alienate teachers, especially those whose non-STEM fields their workshops tend to treat as archaic (like English).

Any process introduced to shake things up in the classroom insinuates that teachers dont already seek ways to better engage their students on a daily basis. Design thinking does not offer teachers a groundbreaking way to think about their practice, but it could offer a way to frame and find consistency within the jumble of evidence-based best practices with which teachers are already familiar. If properly harnessed, this attitude could be transformative within a school.

The process could offer an opportunity to help schools offer more uniformly compelling tasks to their students, cost-free. Design-thinking workshop leaders, starting with major organizations like the Stanford Design Lab and trickling down to local groups, should pay more attention to conveying these ideas in the language that teachers already speak rather than importing language from the tech sector. This adjustment could help these ideas translate to teacher practice in standard disciplinesand not just at schools with the resources to build shiny new design labs. If presented in relatable language, design thinking could help teachers structure and streamline lessons to push students toward critical thinking, authentic real-world problem-solving, and, perhaps most important, actual enjoyment.

To be truly revolutionary, design-thinking training must adjust itself to be valuable to those who stand to benefit the most from its innovations. This means, ironically, abandoning the flashy branding it was built around. To accomplish successful curriculum overhaul, most teachers and administrators know that rigid public standards badly need to evolve. Yet some new structure, based on best practices in education, must enter into that vacuum to ensure consistent education and opportunities for growth across the country. Design-thinking principles can offer that structure for already existing teaching best practices. Teachers already try to, or wish they had the freedom to try to, implement many such practices. If its leaders organized around this opportunity, perhaps our elected leaders could, too.
If I were writing his speech, my speech would (address impeachment by saying) 'That was unfortunate, we shouldnt have gone through it, now weve got to do the business of the people, and weve got a lot to build on and I would try and turn the page," said Axelrod, who now runs the University of Chicagos Institute of Politics. "Whether he can do that  constitutionally, not the U.S. Constitution  if his own constitution allows that, I dont know. Whether he can keep from spiking the ball is the question.
Toronto, ON -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/04/2020 -- Toronto, Canada- January 27, 2020 - While going through a divorce, parties may find themselves with multiple questions or uncertainties. It is essential to understand that they do have rights. It is also essential that hiring a lawyer will help them understand those rights and be there to answer any questions or concerns that they have along the way. Family law cases tend to become very emotionally charged, especially when the custody of a child or a property dispute is involved. The family lawyers at Bluetown Law understand what clients are going through and here to help them every step of the way. DivorceGo only practices family law, and because of this, individuals can be confident that their lawyers are knowledgeable and well-experienced to handle any family law matter that they may have. Whether it's a divorce, child custody, child support, modification, or any other family law issue, their lawyers are here to help them rebuild their lives.



"Hiring a reliable divorce lawyer in Brampton will reduce a lot of effort from the clients' end. Once they give the details and entrust their case to the lawyer, it will be their duty to make the regular follow-ups and handle everything related to the case," said the company spokesperson. "Besides, our divorce lawyers offer more services than merely giving legal advice, they work extra hard to protect the interest of their clients and make sure everything goes smoothly without wasting time and money. Some family lawyers are also now offering their clients fixed fees rather than billing on the traditional hourly rate method."



Family lawyers also can help the parents to settle the visiting time if one parent is given the right to hold the child. Typically, the child is entrusted to the parent who can adequately support the child both financially and emotionally. It is also recommended to settle the cases out of court as court proceedings can be challenging not only for the parent but also for the child.



"Even though a parent may be denied custody, they will likely be granted visitation rights with their child if this is in the best interests of the child," said the company spokesperson. "Parental visitation rights are normally granted during the child custody hearing. It must be noted that if both parents decide to draft a separation agreement in Ontario, addressing visitation, such an agreement will be taken into consideration by the court. If it meets specific standards, it may be applied."



The best divorce lawyer has to be very cautious that every point that he or she puts in front of the judge has to be supported by valid reasons so that a fair decision can be taken. The best family lawyer in Toronto needs to have an idea about various situations and understanding so that he can guide his client in the best possible manner. During the divorce session, the couples may have to go through mental pressure. The case may see a lot of problems in the matter of child custody, division of assets, deciding over the visiting time with a child, and others. These types of cases are sensitive issues that require careful handling by the best divorce lawyer.



About The Bluetown Law Firm

The Bluetown Law Firm is a family law practice made up of experienced family lawyers. To meet Toronto divorce lawyer, contact the Bluetown Law Firm for a free consultation.
Billie Eilish has condemned 'disrespectful' fan impersonations of her. Billie Eilish took to Instagram on Thursday to urge people to stop pranking others by pretending to be her. Eilish asked her followers to "please stop doing this s***, saying it was not safe and mean. It is not safe for you and it is mean to the people who dont know any better. She also said the pranks make her look bad. In a separate post, she also shared a close-up of one of her YouTube impersonators, teasing them for their clothing choice. also soooo disrespectful that you'd go out pretending to be me wearing THIS. One of the YouTube stars featured in Eilishs plea, Jordan Matter, has since spoken out about his stunt. "I had absolutely no intention of disrespecting Billie. Im a big fan, like everyone else"
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday attacked the government in Lok Sabha for "partition of India's soul" in 2020 and slammed its "failures" on various fronts, saying it should name its schemes "sit-down" "shutdown" and "shut-up India".

Alleging a fundamental assault on democratic and secular structure of the country, he claimed that the government was dividing the country into "Hindus Vs Muslims", "us Vs they", "Ramzade Vs I won't say".

The present dispensation was abrogating its moral responsibility of dealing with the "constitutional and political crisis" facing the country, Tharoor said while participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address.

Wondering who actually was the 'tukde tukde gang', the Thiruvananthapuram MP said in 1947 India witnessed partition of its soil and in 2020, the government is giving "partition of India's soul".

Taking a swipe, he said government schemes should really be named as "sit-down India, shutdown India and shut-up India"



"Lip service" was paid to Skill India, Digital India and Startup India and no mention was made of Standup India as "you are so busy banning stand-up comedians", he said referring to the airline ban on stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra.

It was up to the people to decide whether the "new India" should be for all or for some. He also said that that the people will have to decide that the new India should stand for unity or be divided by hatred.

He alleged that the government has criticised institutions such as the CAG and has turned Parliament into a "notice board" for the ruling BJP.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad objected to his remark, saying while he is free to criticise the government, Tharoor should refrain from targeting institutions. He urged the Chair to look into the remarks.

Dubbing the government as "men of straws with limited vision", he said even if it "hijacks" names from the history, it won't succeed.

Tharoor said facts gave way to fiction in the President's address to Parliament.

The Congress member said there was a dearth of solutions and ideas to take India forward and attempts were made to "mask" failures of various schemes launched by the government.

He said Mahatma Gandhi was quoted to defend "draconian" law such as the Citizenship Amendment Act. He said Gandhi had also said during Partition that India should not drive out Muslims as it was against ethos. But that part was left out in the President's address.

He also flagged the issue of "prolonged" detention of leaders from Jammu and Kashmir and said the country has seen the largest number of internet shutdowns, including that in the Valley.

He said India cannot reach the USD 5 trillion economy target without a 12 per cent per annum growth and dubbed it as a "pipe dream".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Guwahati, Feb 4 : The massive fire that broke out on Burhi Dihing river - a tributary of Brahmaputra - following oil leakage from pipelines in Assam's Dibrugarh district, raising concerns about environmental damage including endangering of aquatic life, finally got doused on Monday, officials said.

There was no casualty or injury, police said.

Oil India Limited said there was a leakage in an underground crude oil pipeline due to mechanical issues at the Central Tank Farm (CTF).

"The spilled crude oil somehow managed to trickle into the nearby Burhi Dihing river. It appears that some miscreants set fire to the oil floating on the river. There has been no casualty and the fire has doused on its own, an OIL statement said.

The company said: "An incident took place at the Central Tank Farm (CTF) in Oil India Limited (OIL)'s field headquarters in Duliajan. There was sudden closure of remote operated shut off valves and motor operator valves of inlets and outlets of all the Crude Oil Storage Tanks.

"Consequently, there was pressure build up in the incoming lines to the tanks and it was observed that leaks developed at five points within the periphery of the CTF. Leaks also developed at two points in the incoming crude oil delivery line of one of the field installation near Duliajan." The authorities have formed an enquiry committee to find the root cause of the incident and suggest remedial measures.

"Normal operations have resumed and all leakages have been fixed and crude oil is being received from installations at Central Tank Farm, Duliajan," the company said.

A joint team comprising Circle Officer of Tengakhat Circle, Dibrugarh district, State Pollution Control Board, fisheries department and OIL experts were reviewing the possible damage to the environment.

Once the expert committee submits its findings, necessary action would be initiated.

The vide of the fire, with dense, huge, black smokes from the river covering the horizon, went viral on social media.

However, the officials said the damages were not of the magnitude as the video would suggest, and there were much bigger fires of such nature in the past.

However, environmental experts were concerned that the aquatic life on the river could have been damaged due to the fire.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-03 16:54:42|Editor: xuxin

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ULAN BATOR, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia on Monday launched a nationwide campaign to prevent crimes ahead of the traditional White Moon festival, or the Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 23 this year.

The campaign, which lasts until Feb. 28, focuses on crime prevention and improvement of citizens' legal education, Buyant Baatarkhuu, head of the press office of the National Police Agency, told reporters.

Hundreds of police officers and cadets will be deployed in the streets to prevent traffic accidents as the number of travelers increases dramatically during the holiday, he said.

The White Moon, which symbolizes the start of spring and the end of winter, is the most important holiday in Mongolia.
Peekaboo, I see you. Photo: Neon

Whats in a house? Much of the shock and thrill in Bong Joon Hos genre-flexible movie Parasite  nominated for six Oscars including Best Production Design  hinges on the fictional house built by a fictional architect owned by the wealthy Park family. When the housekeeper Mun-Kwang (Lee Jeong-eun) first welcomes the familys new tutor, Kim Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) a.k.a. Kevin, into the pin-perfect glass home, she tells him it was built by the famed Korean architect Namgoong Hyunja, who  lofty, four-character name and all  is just another construct of Bongs imagination. What appears to be a mansion is just an elaborate world built to the directors exact specifications: construction spanned four different sets, with footage from each mixed together in postproduction to create a seamless structure onscreen. Much like the movie itself, a minimalist facade belies a devilish complexity. Its so metaphorical.

The smaller details were important, but first we had to get the overall structure right for the storytelling, says Bong who, during production, called Parasite a staircase movie. As the audience, we spend the first third of the movie as Ki-woo and the rest of the Kims do, learning the basics of the homes architecture. The primary space is deceptively simple: a giant open-floor plan cascades from the kitchen through the living room, which in turn looks out onto the front lawn separated by a wall of glass. Two barefaced staircases connect the uninterrupted expanse to a series of bedrooms above and a small basement below it. I would explain to the production designer [Lee Ha Jun] that it was crucial for the blocking lines. Characters needed to be able to eavesdrop or hide from others, like when the original housekeeper returns to the house.

A still from Parasite looking into the kitchen from the living room. Photo: Neon

Indeed, the moment Mun-Kwang rings the doorbell in Parasite is a fulcrum, when the house suddenly breaks open and shows us how foolish we were to have been lulled by its beauty. The scene required Lee Ha Jun and his production team to build a third, heretofore unseen staircase system, giving way to a subterranean bunker. To do so, they created an elaborate, continuous unit, the fourth of the four sets, spanning from the kitchen steps to a small basement filled with fermentation projects to that hidden stairway to a secret shelter below. The following is a breakdown of Lee Ha Juns process of creating the Parasite landscape, from the bunker to the Park mansions carefully selected furnishings to the creation and eventual destruction of the Kim-family apartment.

The Park House

A gorgeous, modern oasis. Photo: Neon

The production designer was having a nervous breakdown every day, chuckles Bong. The props, furniture, and paintings [in the Park house] were really expensive, so they would always tell the cast and crew, Be careful! But me and the crew members dont know why its so expensive. Maybe some rich audience members can recognize it. Maybe uptown New Yorkers at the New York Film Festival.

The furniture, from the tables to the chairs to the lamps, was custom-made by a modernist carpenter named Bahk Jong Sun, chosen for his sleek, angular aesthetic. [The furniture] has a warm as well as a cold, metal-like feeling with the straight-cutting edges and clear ratios, Lee Ha Jun explained in an email to Vulture. The living-room table that the Kim family hides underneath, when the Park family arrives unexpectedly from their vacation, echoes the upstairs-downstairs visual theme. We made a large table in the form of stairs, made of four boards of different levels, says Lee. To make the scene work, the art-design team and the production team constantly lie down on the floor and ran simulations. We needed a structure and a level where Mr. Park couldnt see Ki-taeks family whatsoever, whether they were lying straight or on their sides.

A digital rendering of a birds-eye view of the first floor of the Park house with the surrounding garden. Photo: Neon

From left: A still from Parasite of Kevin looking outside into the yard. Photo: Neon A digital rendering of the scene from outside. Photo: Neon From top: A still from Parasite of Kevin looking outside into the yard. Photo: Neon A digital rendering of the scene from outside. Photo: Neon

Lee had good reason to want Bong and the rest of the crew to be careful with the props: The table, constructed of cherry wood, cost $19,800; the dining table where Mrs. Park (Cho Yeo-jeong) first meets Kevin is valued at a cool $22,300; the chairs are $2,100 apiece; a brass lamp is $14,000. And as every wealthy person knows, art is a solid investment: A piece depicting a forest made of stainless-steel mesh entitled Maya 2078 by SeungMo Park costs $120,000; another of cats is priced at $50,000.

A behind-the-scenes photo of the living room of Parasite, including a look at the artwork by SeungMo Park. Photo: Neon

The trash can cost like $2,300! It was German, says Bong. Me and my crew members were like, What the fuck? What kind of idiot would buy a trash can thats going to smell anyway? Still, they picked that trash can not only for its brand value, but because it was telegenic: Bong wanted one with a cinematic lid. When you step on it to open it, it would open really smoothly, and then when you released your foot, it would quietly close like some sort of computer graphic, he says. Usually a trash can just closes with a clack, but when you let your foot go on this one it just went ssaaaak  he says, using a Korean onomatopoeia that sounds similar to the doors closing on a Star Trek ship  and you could see it in the movie. So thats why the German one is expensive, I guess.

The Basement

A digital rendering of the basement storeroom of the Park house. Photo: Neon

The most kinetically charged scenes of Parasite take place up and down the stairs from the basement to the secret bunker underneath, and Lee and his team built the entire structure as a singular unit, from top to bottom, on a soundstage. The structure began at the very top: the stairs leading from the kitchen to the basement storeroom containing various fermentation projects, all of which are organized on a cabinet obscuring a hidden staircase system. The first flight of steps lead to a narrow hallway followed by another set of stairs and the eventual secret bunker, where Kun-sae, the husband of the housekeeper, has been hiding from debt collectors for years.

The reason why we did this was there was a scene that goes down the entire space with a steady cam, and it was the directors specific request that the scene proceeds in one breath, without stopping, says Lee. The set became enormous, almost to the point it was ridiculous. In the end, however, I think it was a choice very well made, especially considering the efficiency of shooting or the casts concentration on set. Because it is a space unfamiliar to everyone, walking down the stairs actually takes your breath away. I think acting on such a set may have helped the casts performance.

The Kim Apartment

The steps descending into the Kim-family apartment. Photo: Neon

Even Korean audiences didnt recognize that the poor neighborhood was a set, says Bong about the half-basement apartment the Kims reside in and the alleyway surrounding it, packed with storefronts and houses. Lee and the production team scavenged materials from neighborhoods that were in redevelopment zones set to be demolished by the government. We constructed Ki-taeks neighborhood with pictures taken in those areas and reminiscing about a semi-basement that I used to live in during college, says Lee. I used to lament my life looking at the moldy toilet, but now I found myself drawing my past. Much of the set of Ki-taeks home is comprised of found materials: doors, windows, tiles, bug screens, frames, and even electric wires. They used materials that carried the wear and grime from ten, 20 years of use, says Bong. You have to feel that from the beginning through images, since you cant convey it through smell.

A digital rendering of the surrounding alley the Kim apartment is inside. Photo: Neon

Moreover, they built the alley, neighboring buildings, and storefronts that the Kim house is inside as well. The production-design team began a fun project of our own, says Lee. There were about 20 buildings and 40 households, and we created an individual story for each one of them. For instance, they imagined an elderly woman who collects reusable garbage as a way she makes her living; another is a snack house piled up with fish-cake boxes and sauce containers; another is a milkman; then another a Navy veteran who runs an electrical shop. They would also place blue screens to create a visual extension for the rest of the neighborhood.

The Flood

A digital rendering of the layout of the Kim-family apartment. Photo: Neon

Then came the rains. After the Kims spend most of the night hiding from the Parks underneath the living-room table, the father Ki-taek and his two children run back to their home during rains of biblical proportion. That montage, too, was shot over four different locations in Seoul, chosen for their extreme verticality, and we watch the three family members descend further and further back to their house  as if they had been cast out of heaven.

In order to flood the house and the surrounding neighborhood, the production team built the entire set inside of a massive water tank generally reserved for disaster epics just outside of Seoul. The flood scene is so essential in the movie, says Bong. Much of our resources, budget, special effects, and preparation went to that scene. We had to do a lot of elaborate prepwork for a long time.

Part of that preparation included 3-D simulations to figure out the proper camera positions, assess buoyancy levels (the Kim house is 1.5 meters below street level), stave off electrical damage, and achieve proper clay-to-water ratio to ensure accurate color and viscosity for the flooding waters. They shot the flooding sequences over the course of three days, slowly raising the water level each time. We had calculated the amount and the level of water the set would be able to take per hour, says Lee. So we shot each scene at a different water level and amount. When the level was at its highest, we took the whole neighborhood into a high angle shot.
A former detective has said he was in fear for his life when a masked raider pointed a shotgun at him and threatened to kill him during the robbery in which his partner detective garda Adrian Donohoe was shot dead, a court heard.

Det Gda Joe Ryan gave evidence at the Central Criminal Court today of two armed men approaching the car he was sitting in with Det Gda Donohoe before he heard a "loud bang" and a flash coming from a shotgun.

He also said he was thinking during the robbery that he would prefer being shot with the "9mm" handgun being carried by a second man, rather than the long barrel shotgun, because there was a "better chance of survival" being shot with the smaller weapon.

The former officer was giving evidence this afternoon at the trial of Aaron Brady (28) who is charged with the capital murder of Det Gda Adrian Donohoe, who was then a member of An Garda Siochana acting in the course of his duty, at the Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Co Louth, on January 25, 2013.

Mr Brady is also charged with the robbery of approximately 7,000 in cash and assorted cheques from Mr Pat Bellew at the same location on the same date.

The accused, of New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Det Gda Ryan told the court he was at the Lordship credit union with Det Gda Donohoe that night as part of a regular armed escort for credit union takings.

They were preparing to leave the car park with three other vehicles, a Nissan Qashqai, a Nissan Micra and a Mazda, and the witness said they drove slowly towards to exit to let the Mazda into the convoy.

Det Gda Ryan told the court he noticed a car coming from the Carlingford direction to the right of the car park exit and block the Nissan Qashqai at the front of the escort.

The witness said he turned to his partner and said 'what the hell is going on here'.

Det Gda Ryan said the next thing he heard were 'banging noises' behind him and when he looked to his side he saw two men approach the vehicle on the right.

The first man, he said, was holding a long single barrel shotgun in his hand pointing it at him.

"I realised at that time we were being attacked and robbed," Det Gda Ryan said.

He said he went to reach for his firearm, which was in his holster, but didn't have a chance to get it. The next thing he said he recalled was the door of the car being opened and the shotgun barrel coming into his legs and body.

Det Gda Ryan said after this he then heard a loud bang and saw a flash from the shotgun. He said at this stage he could not see Det Gda Donohoe, who had exited the vehicle, and believed it was a warning shot.

He told the court that the person armed with the shotgun then threatened him and said 'I'm going to f***ing kill you, I'm going to shoot you. Give us the money.'

"I was in fear for my life," Det Gda Ryan said, adding that the raider was also looking for the keys of the car.

The witness told prosecuting counsel Brendan Grehan SC that there was a second individual armed with a handgun. Det Gda Ryan told the court he said: "Don't shoot. I've no money."

He also said he was thinking during the incident that he would prefer to be shot with the 9mm handgun rather than the shotgun because there would have been a "better chance of survival" with the smaller firearm.

He then noticed the two armed men run from his unmarked garda Toyota Avensis and towards the exit of the car park, while a third raider jumped over a wall towards the vehicle that was blocking the exit, which drove off in the direction of Dundalk.

Det Gda Ryan said he drew his weapon and pointed it towards the car, and following a quick assessment of the situation realised there was no threat to anybody's life and decided not to discharge the firearm.

After this he saw Det Gda Donohoe lying on his back on the ground in a pool of blood with a serious wound to his face.

"I knew at that stage he was dead but I went for a pulse anyway," the witness said, adding that there was "nothing that could be done for him".

Audio recordings of a 999 call made to Drogheda Garda Station after the shooting were also played to the court.

Det Gda Ryan can be heard telling the person on the other end of the line "We've just had a member shot" and that those involved were armed with a shotgun and a handgun.

A recording of conversations over the Garda Tetra radio after the incident were also played to the jury.

In the audio clip Det Gda Ryan calls for "urgent assistance" and an ambulance. He later says he thinks that his colleague, Det Gda Donohoe, has been "fatally shot".

Under cross examination from defence counsel Michael O'Higgins SC, Det Gda Ryan said that to the best of his knowledge the shot was fired over the roof of his car.

He also agreed with Mr O'Higgins that he was "within inches" of the shotgun.

The witness agreed with Mr O'Higgins that this individual was speaking more than the second man, and told counsel it was more difficult to place the accent because he was shouting.

The court earlier heard Det Gda Ryan described the first individual as not having a strong Northern Ireland or Dublin accent, and that the second individual had a border accent.

Earlier the court heard a garda who was on duty the night Det Gda Adrian Donohoe was shot dead knew "something terrible had happened" when an urgent call for assistance was made over the radio by his colleague.

Gda Alan Lynch gave evidence that he was on patrol on January 25, 2013, and had been tasked with escorting takings from credit union branches on the Carlingford Peninsula.

The Central Criminal Court heard that Gda Lynch and his colleague, the late Garda Tony Golden, shadowed the money in their marked Garda patrol car between three separate credit unions in Omeath, Carlingford and Cooley, before being relieved by an armed escort.

That escort, the court heard, took over at the Cooley branch at around 8.50pm and was made up of Det Gda Donohoe and Det Gda Joe Ryan.

Gda Lynch said that he spoke with his two colleagues briefly about the flooding that evening and minor damage to the front of his colleague's unmarked patrol car, before the witness and Gda Golden continued their patrol around the Carlingford Peninsula.

The court heard that they were patrolling in Drummallagh near Omeath when at around 9.30pm a call came through on their Garda Tetra radio.

Gda Lynch said that it was a garda colleague seeking "urgent assistance" and that "you could tell from his voice he was highly distressed".

The witness told prosecuting counsel Brendan Grehan SC that he recognised the voice and that he "knew something terrible had happened".

Gda Lynch agreed with Mr Grehan that he drove to the scene at "maximum haste" and that he was directed to man a Garda diversion around 100 yards from Lordship Credit Union before being relieved at 7.15am the following morning.
February 04 : The heartthrob of Bollywood, Salman Khan has been able to hold a special place of love, harmony, and brotherhood in our hearts for years. Now, this actor was thoroughly thrilled to share a photo on his Instagram page. It reveals a glimpse of this years' IIFA Awards, which will be held in Bhopal. That doubles his excitement, as this time, it will be held in his birthplace  Bhopal.

The post shows him posing in his best smiles along with the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath and Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez. The event will be held between March 27, March 29, 2020. There will be a pre-event function on March 21, in Bhopal.

Though Salman Khan has been in films, he has not been in many public functions as such. So, this 2020 will mark a special moment for the actor, as he will be the majestic host of the award ceremony. It is the first time that the IIFA Awards 2020 is going to conducted outside Mumbai.

Along with Salman Khan and the CM, Jacqueline was on cloud nine as she witnessed the happiness of the mob that squeezed in to see them. She was amazed to see how clean the city was and Kamal Nath mentioned that it was because his people worked to maintain such a clean state.

Apart from these stars, the function will also be attended by Katrina Kaif and Riteish Deshmukh. It has been heard that Jacqueline and Katrina will perform for the event night function.
I asked Julie Davis, our congressional editor, about whether Democrats could consider this impeachment a success.

Julie, how did House Democrats conceive of this case from the beginning?

Before last fall, they had all of this diffuse information about Mr. Trump that they found objectionable, or even potentially criminal  things that were generally inappropriate but might not reach the level of impeachable, in their minds. When the Ukraine revelations came to light, I think there was a feeling that it encapsulated the worst of what they believed the president was up to, that he had essentially been willing to cheat his way into power, then cheat on how he wielded it, and that he was now cheating to he keep it.

They thought of this impeachment as something they were obligated to do. And they felt like if they were going to have an effective message against Mr. Trump and why he was not fit to be president, this was the best way to organize it. I think there was a feeling that there was merit in explaining to people how democracy works and how fragile it really can be. The case that I think ultimately persuaded them to go forward was: There are some things you cant let that slide, and the integrity of an election is one of them. They wanted to present themselves as guardians of that.

On various House committees  the Intelligence, Judiciary and Oversight panels, to be specific  Mr. Trump has been the target of pretty relentless general investigation since Democrats won back power in 2018. What took them so long to get to a case they believed was impeachment-worthy?

There was worry early on that the public would see House Democrats newly in power and think they were only out to get the president. But if youre not seizing on the power to perform oversight, then youre not doing a big part of the job. They didnt want to be defined solely by impeachment, but they also didnt want to turn away from it if thats where their investigations led.
Bilingual parents and teachers are fretting about the future of their go-to francophone childrens bookstore, after its owners announced their forthcoming retirement over the weekend.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bilingual parents and teachers are fretting about the future of their go-to francophone childrens bookstore, after its owners announced their forthcoming retirement over the weekend.

One of two shops that specialize in French books in St. Boniface, Boutique du Livre has been selling French titles in the city since the 1980s. Its current owners, Nicole and Antoine Coudiere, took over the Marion Street shop in 2012.

"I know a lot of people will be very disappointed. Theres a lot of teachers in schools and parents who count on us to inform them on whats new and interesting in childrens literature. We always get excellent feedback  its the best job Ive ever had," said Coudiere, a former French immersion teacher who took over the shop with her husband as a pre-retirement project.

Coudiere said they have decided to start a new chapter to take care of their aging parents and spend time with their grandchildren. The hope, she added, is another French-speaking entrepreneur will step in to run the store once their lease is up in early spring.

Boutique du Livre has become known for its wide selection of childrens books, written by authors from France and Quebec. While the Coudieres primarily sell literature for readers 18 and younger, select adult books and French dictionaries are among the more than 5,000 titles on their shelves.

Lillian Klausen, a French-immersion teacher at College Pierre-Elliott Trudeau, often refers students and parents to the store, one of the rare locations in Winnipeg that sells books, games and other learning resources in French.

"Its difficult, in our anglophone communities, to be able to find resources for our students," Klausen said, adding shes been a customer since she first learned about the shop, when she studied at Universite de Saint-Boniface.

The Coudieres said theyve seen growing demand from teachers and librarians over the last eight years  something they attribute, in part, to the spike in popularity of French immersion schooling in the city.

The total number of students enrolled in French immersion, between kindergarten to Grade 12, increased 36 per cent between 2006-07 and 2016-17.

A long-time customer, Emma Durand-Wood began shopping at Boutique du Livre with her children to encourage them to read outside their classrooms in Division scolaire franco-manitobaine. When her mother, a former librarian from Lethbridge, Alta., came to visit Durand-Wood, she also put in orders with the shop.

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"We speak English and French at home, and we like books a lot," Durand-Wood said.

"I hope that somebody buys it. Being able to go and choose your own book, to buy good quality books for your family or for gifts, in the language that you want to read in, is really important, so I think any loss of that is a big loss for the city."

Her sentiments were echoed Monday by area Coun. Matt Allard.

"While I know that businesses come and go, this is definitely a loss," Allard said. "I want to thank the owners for their years of service to our French and St. Boniface communities."

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
The Police Ombudsman has dismissed a complaint from a Northern Ireland woman who claimed she was dragged from her car and attacked by officers.

An investigation found that the officer's actions were appropriate after the woman grabbed a petrol can and threatened to "blow herself up".

The woman alleged that she was dragged from her car and assaulted by police during an incident in Magherafelt, Co Londonderry, in January last year.

The incident was captured on police body worn camera and examined by a Police Ombudsman investigator.

The woman complained that police had refused to explain why they wanted her car keys before an officer forced open her drivers side window, pushed her head against the steering wheel and removed the keys from the ignition.

She then claimed she was dragged from the vehicle by her legs and head, thrown to the ground causing her knees to bleed, and elbowed in the face by an officer when she got back up.

The woman also accused officers of using foul language and smirking at her, and claimed that they refused to tell her why they were taking her vehicle.

The incident happened after police identified the car as having been reported stolen. When a Police Ombudsman investigator reviewed video footage it showed that police had explained this to the woman from the outset.

The woman was also seen in the video handing her car keys to police without issue when asked, and was not dragged from the vehicle as she claimed.

However, the footage also showed that the womans demeanour quickly changed, as she became verbally abusive and threatened to blow herself up before climbing into the back of the car.

An officer then opened the rear door of the car to find the woman with a petrol can in her hand. He grabbed her wrist and forced her to let go of it.

The Police Ombudsman investigator found that the officers use of force had been justified in the circumstances.

"There was no evidence that the woman had sustained any injuries to her face or knees, nor that any officer had used foul language or smirked at her," said a spokesperson for the Police Ombudsman.

"The Police Ombudsman did not uphold the complaint."
For example, a friend of mine went to a multilevel marketing presentation where the promoter claimed he was writing off all of his home expenses because he titled his personal residence in the name of his business. He was sharing this tip as a way the would-be entrepreneurs how a business could reduce its tax bills.
Guj HC gives death penalty to man for raping, murdering of 3-year-old girl in Surat

We worship minor girls as goddesses: Delhi court holds two guilty in 2013 Gudiya rape case

Samatha case: Three men get death penalty for raping, murdering Dalit woman in Telangana

30-year-old rag-picker arrested for raping 8-year-old girl after luring her with chocolates

Chhattisgarh: Tantrik held for raping ailing 17-year-old girl on pretext of curing her

Man gets 20 years in jail for raping junior student

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Dehradun, Feb 04: A POCSO court here has sentenced a man to 20 years imprisonment and three minors to two and a half years in jail for raping their junior student at a boarding school in 2018.

Special POCSO judge Rama Pandey sentenced a total of eight people in the sensational case on Monday. The school principal Jitendra Kumar Sharma was sentenced to three years in prison, director Lata Gupta and administrative officer Deepak Malhotra and his wife Tannu to nine years in prison each.

They were found guilty of covering up the matter to save the reputation of the boarding school.

The school management was slapped with a fine of Rs 10 lakh.

The main culprit, Sarabjeet, was put behind bars for 20 years.

The POCSO judge ordered the three minors to surrender before the juvenile court.

Man gets 20 years rigorous imprisonment for step daughters rape

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 4th, 2020

Sarabjeet and the three others had taken the minor student, who stayed in the school hostel, to the bushes and gangraped her in August 2018.

Sarabjeet has been found guilty under section 6 of POCSO Act, prosecution lawyer G D Raturi said.

The case had come to light after the girl became pregnant.
Hong Kong's retail sales fell 19.4 per cent in December from a year earlier, weighed down by anti-government demonstrations, now in their eighth month, as protesters roamed through shopping malls and clashed with police over the festive period. For the whole of 2019, sales fell 11.1 per cent from a year earlier to Hong Kong dollar 431.2 billion. For the month of December, sales fell to HK$36.2 billion ($4.66 billion), government data showed on Tuesday, the 11th consecutive month of decline. November's drop was a revised 23.7 per cent In volume terms, retail sales in ...
Defence Minister on Tuesday held talks with Qatar's minister of state for defence and his South Korean counterpart separately and discussed ways of ramping up India's bilateral defence cooperation with the two countries.

Singh held delegation-level talks with Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah and during the meeting, the two ministers reiterated their commitment to strengthen the bilateral defence cooperation, including defence industry relationship, a statement said.

The visiting minister, who was received by Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik, also inspected the Tri-Service Guard of Honour before his bilateral meeting with Singh.

The Qatari delegation will be visiting the DefExpo, being held in Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow between February 5-9.

Singh held a bilateral meeting with South Korean Defence Minister Jeong Kyeongdoo and during the meeting, both ministers held discussions on enhancing the bilateral security cooperation and collaboration in defence industry and research and development.

A roadmap for defence industries cooperation between India and South Korea was also exchanged after the meeting.

"The roadmap lists a number of possible areas of cooperation, including research and development.

It also promotes investment in Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu," the statement said.

The two ministers also exchanged views on regional security situation.

Singh thanked Jeong for his participation in DefExpo.
Aihik Sur By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: After a lot of struggle and tension, 16 students from Hyderabad, studying in Qiqihar Medical University in China, are all set to return home on Wednesday.

These students, whose varsity is situated in Heilongjiang, around 2,000 km from Wuhan, have been trying to return to India since the Coronavirus outbreak. On Sunday, they were to board a flight from Harbin International Airport in Heilongjiang for home. However, their hopes were dashed when they were not allowed to board the plane.

In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, P Surya Teja, one of the students, wrote, Since our parents are worried over our being present in China amidst this virus outbreak, they wanted us to come back to India before the matter turned more serious. We had a Harbin-Singapore-Hyderabad flight. But to our surprise, the airlines wasnt allowing any foreigner living in China to travel or pass through Singapore as part of their quarantine measure.We were struggling hard to stay in the airport amid this terror-filled virus environment, he added.

Surya claimed that no prior notice was given regarding the same. In the letter, they said they were struggling hard to stay in the airport amid this terror-filled virus environment (SIC). After that, they tried searching for another flight, this time from Heilongjiang to Beijing.

They planned to go to Bangkok from Beijing, then to Chennai and finally to Hyderabad. On the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, they issued an SOS to city-based social activist Amjed Ullah Khan, and wrote a letter to the MEA urging them to ensure that their planned flight wasnt cancelled.

Khan later confirmed that the students had boarded the flight and would reach the city in two days. However, he also slammed the Indian embassy in Beijing and accused it of not doing enough to help Indians in China. Many have contacted me through social media and have urged me to help them, Khan said.
A new study, led by researchers at Stockholm university and published in Science Advances, now demonstrates that the amount of methane presently leaking to the atmosphere from the Arctic Ocean is much lower than previously claimed in recent studies.

Methane is well known as a major contributor to global warming. Understanding the natural sources of this gas, especially in the fast-warming Arctic, is critical for understanding the future climate.

Compared with the amount of methane produced by human activities the amount from the ocean was long thought to be negligible. Nevertheless, over the past decade, there have been reports claiming large amounts of methane emitted from the Arctic Ocean to the atmosphere. The amounts released were sometimes claimed to be catastrophically large and, even though the emissions had not be observed by atmospheric monitoring stations, it raised the question that perhaps scientists had missed something important about the Arctic Ocean's methane cycle. However, measuring small amounts of gas escaping from the sea and properly scaling the emissions over millions of square kilometers of the remote Arctic Ocean is not an easy task.

A unique application of an established measurement technique

In their study, the researchers used direct measurements of the methane sea-to-air flux to determine how much methane is leaking from the eastern Arctic Ocean to the atmosphere. They used data from the 2014 SWERUS-C3 project, during which the Swedish icebreaker Oden crossed the eastern Arctic Ocean from Troms, Norway.

Although other researchers have calculated the sea-to-air flux before, this study used a unique measurement technique to measure the fluxes directly, and the authors believe their paper is the first to successfully apply this method from a ship. The reason the method has not been used before is that it requires measuring the gas concentration in the atmosphere very rapidly -- 10 times per second -- in addition to even faster measurements of the wind flow in three dimensions around the ship, and the precise location, acceleration and motion of the ship relative to the sea surface. Faster, smaller, accelerometers and inertial navigation units, similar to the chips which let smartphones know when you turn them sideways or upside down, as well as faster spectrometers for the methane measurement, and a detailed model of airflow around Oden, made this measurement possible.

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"By understanding the airflow over the sea surface, and simultaneously measuring methane concentrations, we can determine how much methane is coming out of the ocean," explains researcher Brett Thornton at the Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University.

"This is actually our second paper on the topic of methane emissions from the sea during the SWERUS-C3 expedition. The method used then relied on slower measurements of methane in the surface water, and so we could not detect the largest 'hotspots' of emission as precisely," says Brett Thornton.

This new study shows that "hotspots" of methane emission from the sea can be up to 25 times higher than emissions from on-shore wetlands. These emissions are driven by bubbles coming from the seafloor and reaching the sea surface. This study directly observed very high peak emissions and, for the first time, was able to map their spatial extent.

"The peak emissions are indeed large but at the same time they are also extremely limited in area," says Brett Thornton.

Across the Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi seas the authors saw no evidence of widespread emissions at the magnitude of the "hotspots." In fact, their estimates for total methane emission from the eastern Arctic Ocean did not substantially increase even when they included these "hotspots" in the budget calculations.

"What this means is that -- at least at the time of our measurements -- the shallow eastern Arctic Ocean was not a huge source of methane to the atmosphere, and our understanding of Arctic sea emissions in the methane cycle is still reasonably correct. So this is, I would say, a bit of good news in the global warming story. Yes, there is methane leaking from the Arctic Ocean to the atmosphere. But, at least for now, it is not globally important to atmospheric methane and global warming," Brett Thornton explains.

It's important to realize that this work doesn't give insight into what might happen to these methane emissions in the future Arctic Ocean, with warmer waters and less ice cover. Will they increase or decrease? Will they become important globally? That remains to be determined by future research.
There is a long-standing, somewhat cliched view in the community of North Korea experts that Pyongyang always holds the strategic initiative when dealing with the United States. While it may well have been the case in the past, North Korea may no longer have much freedom of action. Pyongyang finds itself in an unenviable position facing a stark and narrow choice: Start real denuclearization as demanded by the United States and lose much, or even all, of its hard-won nuclear and missile potential, or cling to the nukes and accept its rising dependence on China, with existential risks for North Korea's sovereignty.

The atmosphere at the Workers' Party plenary meeting in late December 2019, during which President Kim Jong Un presented a somber assessment of the current situation, contrasted sharply with the triumphant mood in late 2017 when the North Korean leader declared the "completion" of his country's nuclear forces after successful tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and a hydrogen bomb. In 2017, Kim seemed a winner vis-a-vis the United States. Now it is becoming clear that he made a strategic, perhaps fateful mistake by ordering ICBM and thermonuclear tests that year.

Kim's High-Stakes Gamble

Two years after Kim's victorious statements, no deal with the United States has been achieved. North Korea remains under heavy sanctions, while Pyongyang's dependence on China, its only significant economic lifeline, is growing dangerously. What went wrong? North Korea's young leader miscalculated the United States. Kim expected Washington would sue for peace after North Korea, in 2017, successfully fired intermediate-range (Hwasong-12) and intercontinental (Hwasong-14 and -15) ballistic missiles while detonating what might have been a thermonuclear device. However, the effect was the opposite of what Kim apparently anticipated. The United States was shocked to find out its mainland was now vulnerable to North Korean missiles, but instead of surrendering on Kim's terms, Washington launched its "maximum pressure" campaign, which is still in force.

In a sense, in 2017 North Korea repeated the fatal mistake Japan committed in 1941 by attacking Pearl Harbor. Rather than forcing the Americans into a panicked retreat from Asia, the shock of Pearl Harbor jolted the United States into an all-out war against Japan. The United States eventually might have tolerated a North Korea with a limited nuclear arsenal and medium-range missiles, but it would never accept the North with a thermonuclear-armed ICBM capable of reaching the American mainland. Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, probably understood this, which explains his relative restraint in nuclear and missile development. A limited nuclear capability that kept Japan and South Korea within range was just enough for deterrence purposes. But, unlike his risk-averse father, the younger Kim decided to take a high-stakes gamble by executing the ICBM and thermonuclear breakout. It is unlikely that any U.S. administration, even such an unorthodox one as Donald Trump's, would accept a deal with North Korea that leaves Pyongyang with the capability to produce ICBMs and thermonuclear warheads. That is why the United States will keep pressing for the verified dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear-missile complex, something unacceptable to Pyongyang.

America's maximum pressure campaign makes it essentially impossible for North Korea to interact economically with the outside world, except with China. In March 2018, when making his first trip to Beijing with a show of humble deference to President Xi Jinping, Kim apparently hoped dependence on China would not last long amid his expectations of a deal with Trump. A deal is still not in sight. The absence of a deal means the United States and its allies, including South Korea and Japan, will preserve the harsh sanctions regime that bans almost all types of economic contact with Pyongyang. That leaves North Korea at the mercy of China. By 2019, China's proportion of the North's overall external trade rose to 92 percent; in 2001, by contrast, China accounted for just 17 percent of North Korea's foreign trade. Back then, Tokyo was Pyongyang's top economic partner, accounting for 30 percent of the North's trade. Add to that the "informal" economic links that are taking place across the 1408-kilometer (880-mile) border that North Korea shares with China and in the Yellow Sea, where smuggling and other shadowy activities are rampant.

Apart from allowing commerce with the North, Beijing provides direct assistance to Pyongyang by continuing oil deliveries through a cross-border pipeline and sending food aid, for example. In 2019, China reportedly donated 1 million tons of rice and corn to North Korea. Considering that the North's domestic grain production is in the range of 5 million to 6 million tons a year, China's aid can keep North Korea from experiencing a mass famine, which is an ever-present menace in a drought- and flood-prone country with archaic agriculture. Sending Chinese tourists to the North is another form of Beijing's support for Pyongyang. By some estimates, around 350,000 Chinese visitors traveled to North Korea in 2019, generating some $175 million in revenue for Pyongyang. In a nutshell, without Chinese trade and economic assistance, North Korea would be unable to function as an industrial economy.

Pyongyang is very much aware of its growing reliance on China, with North Korean propaganda lately calling for "eliminating import sickness and dependence on others." Yet, North Korea's geo-economic dependence on China will only deepen, as there are no realistic alternative partners that Pyongyang can turn to in order to balance Beijing. Even though South Korea is led by the leftist government of President Moon Jae In, who aspires to expand humanitarian and economic contacts with the North, Seoul has to abide by the discipline of its alliance with the United States, which prohibits any sanctions relief for the North until substantial progress on denuclearization occurs. To make matters worse, Moon's term expires in 2022 and he could be replaced by a conservative, anti-North politician.

Likewise, Japan, another potential alternative for the North, is not going to rescue Pyongyang until Washington is happy with Kim's behavior. Besides, Japan has its own disputes with North Korea, particularly the unresolved issue of the fate of Japanese citizens whom Pyongyang kidnapped in the 1970s and 1980s. Russia will not be of much help, either. Even though Russian President Vladimir Putin had a polite summit with Kim in Vladivostok in April 2019, Moscow is not going to spend its limited resources on North Korea. Putin's main game is in Europe and the Middle East, with the Kremlin tacitly acknowledging that the Korean Peninsula belongs to China's sphere of influence.

China's Tightening Grip Over Pyongyang

Historically, North Korea has thrived by playing its suitors and great power patrons against one another. During the Cold War, it exploited the rivalry between Moscow and Beijing while getting generous assistance from both. After the Cold War, Pyongyang positioned itself to take advantage of the intensifying competition among China, the United States, South Korea and Japan over the geopolitical future of the Korean Peninsula. Kim Jong Il was quite good at that complex multiplayer game, engaging in a diplomatic dance with each power that had a stake in North Korea while incrementally advancing the North's nuclear capability. His heir, Kim Jong Un, apparently did not have the patience for this kind of long-term strategic diplomacy, choosing instead to make one powerful move with ICBMs. The Hwasong firings duly impressed the world, but they destroyed Kim Jong Il's careful diplomatic game, eliminating the prospects for rapprochement with the United States, South Korea and Japan.

North Korea's almost absolute dependence on China for its economic survival will inevitably shrink Pyongyang's foreign policy independence. The revelatory moment, which may have illustrated the extent of China's leverage over North Korea, came last month when Pyongyang threatened the United States with an unwelcome "Christmas gift," which many observers took as a sign of an imminent long-range missile launch. Following Pyongyang's threats, the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, made an unscheduled visit to Beijing. The substance of his talks remains unknown, but immediately after his appearance in Beijing, North Korea quickly backed off its threat, saying that a provocative test "like a satellite launch, firing an ICBM or detonating a nuclear weapon" was unlikely, because those acts are red lines for China and Russia. It would be logical to assume Biegun asked China to exercise its influence over North Korea to get it to refrain from an escalation, and Beijing obliged, probably in exchange for a softer U.S. stance in the ongoing trade negotiations.

The U.S.-led sanctions on North Korea are helping China tighten its geo-economic grip over the North, making it the only country that still has substantial economic interactions with North Korea. The longer the denuclearization deadlock continues  that is, the longer sanctions are in place  the more control Beijing has over Pyongyang. Kim will still have his nuclear weapons, but they will be of little use in dealing with China should Beijing decide to punish Pyongyang economically for any disobedience or disrespect. Eventually, North Korea could become a nuclear-armed protectorate of China. In this case, the North's nuclear weapons will not count for much, because the United States will view Beijing as being in control of North Korea's foreign policy. North Korea's nukes will be seen as an extension of China's strategic domain. North Korea has always prided itself on being among the few countries in the world that possess genuine, rather than nominal, sovereignty. Ironically, by acquiring powerful nuclear weapons, Kim put himself into a strategic trap where keeping North Korea's full sovereignty will become increasingly difficult.

China's increasing control over North Korea may not be the worst outcome for the United States, at least in the short term. China currently is not interested in destabilizing the security situation in Northeast Asia and it also has a vital stake in preventing a further deterioration in its relations with the United States. Thus, Beijing can be expected to make sure that Pyongyang does not act too provocatively. That said, Kim is not someone who will easily accept any outside control. He can still make surprises.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 03, 2020 | 05:42 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY





Steve Vasseur, a local insurance salesman, recently spoke with West Kentucky Star about the proposed tax.







"It is really unfair. I've been selling insurance in McCracken county for 40 years. There's so many factors in determining a person's auto insurance right, and home insurance right. Each person's situation is different," Vasseur said.







He says there are lots of things the Fiscal Court isn't considering with the proposed tax that would lead to additional fees the taxpayer would have to take on.







"The insurance companies collect that tax, and they also get a fee for collecting that tax. Just a lot of factors involved that you cannot control." Vasseur continued, "Then they're proposing a 6.9% tax on top of it, so you're automatically going to get a rate increase. On a homeowners policy usually your premium will go up every year anywhere from two to three percent because of replacement costs, the cost of building materials, and the cost of labor. When they do that, they will increase your coverage on your home insurance."







Vasseur closed by encouraging everyone to either attend the meeting, or call to voice their concern.







He said, "They're going to be talking about the insurance premium tax and they want public input, so I encourage everyone to call them at 270-444-4707 and tell them that you're not for this tax. Let's fight to keep this insurance premium tax off our insurance bill."







The meeting will take place at 1:30 pm at the McCracken County Courthouse in Courtroom C.

The McCracken County Fiscal Court will get public input on the proposed insurance premium tax at a specially called meeting Tuesday.
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To be forewarned is to be forearmed; so says the wise people. It is in this frame of mind that we have in recent time analyzed the media contents from a group that claims to represents herdsmen in the South-east known as Miyetti Allah cattle rearers. This group has been in the news lately in different media channels claiming that four Fulani herdsmen and 108 cows have reportedly been killed in Anambra state. We are shocked and worried that the media has continued to fly with this highly inflammable news content which could be a trigger for imminent attacks of those communities in Anambra state mentioned. The media reporting this one sided sensational and inflammable report have not displayed any empirical evidence to back up the claims made by their source of this toxic information. 

With the above summation, the foremost civil Rights advocacy group  HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has called on Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra state; forum of South-east traditional leaders; forum of South East governors and Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo to immediately take preemptive steps to ensure that no community in Anambra state or indeed any part of the South East of Nigeria is attacked by armed Fulani herdsmen because since the last four years, we have observed a sinister nexus between this sort of media signal and unfounded allegations by Miyetti Allah which had resulted in serial attacks of such communities. Plateau, Benue and Southern Kaduna have in recent times witnessed bloody invasions and attacks by suspected armed herdsmen shortly after such sensational claims are made by Miyetti Allah cows owners and President Muhammadu Buharis administration has so far refused to order the arrest and prosecution of such persons who had spread hate filled speeches that led to such despicable hate crimes like the mass killings of farmers and the destruction of their villages.

The reason we are raising this alarm is exactly because in the recent past and more specifically on June 28th 2018, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, made allegations against some Plateau communities and had followed it up with the description of the attacks on some communities in Plateau State as an act of retaliation over the killing of 300 cows belonging to its members. Suspected herdsmen had on prior Saturday night before June 28th 2018 through Sunday, attacked Riyom, Barakin Ladi and Jos South local government areas of the state, killing over 100 persons, though the Police confirmed 86. Miyetti Allahs statement came, as fresh attacks on Kwi village in Riyom local government area claimed one more life in the early hours, despite the dusk-to-dawn curfew declared in the three local government areas.

HURIWA recalled that the Chairman of the North Central zone of MACBAN, Danladi Ciroma, who signed the statement, said herdsmen in the state had lost about 300 cows in the weeks leading to the attack. He accused the communities of hiding cattle rustlers among them as well as frustrating peace efforts of the state government.

HURIWA recalled that the chieftain of the Miyetti Allah had also stated that; These attacks are retaliatory. As much as I dont support the killing of human beings, the truth must be told that those who carried out the attacks must be on revenge mission. There have been recent reports of cow rustling and destruction of farms between Berom farmers and Fulani herdsmen. The people carrying out these criminal activities are well known to the communities but the communities are hiding them. Fulani herdsmen have lost about 300 cows in the last few weeks  94 cows were rustled by armed Berom youths in Fan village, another 36 cows were killed by Berom youths. In addition to that, 174 cattle were rustled and the criminals disappeared with them to Mangu. Since these cows were not found, no one should expect peace in the areas. Even soldiers that went after the criminals to recover the rustled cows were shot by the armed rustlers and eventually escaped with all the cows. The government of Governor Lalong has done a lot to restore peace, but the criminal elements hiding among their people are the ones frustrating these peace efforts. Ciroma added that security agencies should be fair to all parties, and not neglect any report presented by herdsmen, saying because such report can lead to attacks and deaths if not properly handled. He said: Criminals thrive a lot in Berom communities, but when the herdsmen, who are always victims of their crime, react with attacks, they blame the government.

HURIWA wondered why President Muhammadu Buhari has continued to look on whilst officials of this body known as MACBAN continues to constitute a grave threats to national security just as the Rights group said the South East of Nigeria through her leaders and citizens must be vigilant to stop any plots to launch any attack on South East of Nigeria which may result from the media claims of some deaths and loss of cows as made by the MACBAN official.

HURIWA recalled that the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) had reportedly cried out for justice over the alleged killing of its members and 108 cows in Ifite-Ogwari, Ayamelum Council of Anambra State between December 20, 2019 and January 27, 2020.

HURIWA stated that the South East Chairman of MACBAN, Alhaji Gidado Siddiki, who disclosed this to the media in his office at Gariki Market, Amansea, Awka North Council, gave the name of the herder allegedly killed in December 2019 as Hasan Mobali (35), and those killed this year as Hassan Rabiu (35) Abdullahi Rahman (31) and Bahabu Ilu (38) just as he said that the association had recovered the body of Rabiu, while youths in the area allegedly prevented the recovery of the corpses of Abdullahi and Ilu, which were purportedly thrown into Omambala River. While speaking in company of 91-year-old Abdullahi Ahmadu, the father of Rahman, and Kawejo Musa, the guardian of Rabiu and Ilu, the MACBAN chairman said his association had written letters to Governor Willie Obiano and Commissioner of Police, John Abang, among others for intervention. He called on the authorities to bring the perpetrators to book to serve as deterrent.

HURIWA said generations unborn will not forgive the Anambra state governor Willie Obiano should he fail to protect his people from any attacks by armed Fulani herdsmen just as the Rights group said there is the urgent need for peace and harmony in all parts of Nigeria just as the Rights group said any claims of killing of citizens irrespective of Ethno-religious affiliations must be investigated and if there is merit in such a claim the perpetrators must be prosecuted and punished. However, HURIWA has once more asked President Muhammadu Buhari to be fair to all Nigerians and stop treating leaders of MIYETTI ALLAH CATTLE OWNERS/BREEDERS ASSOCIATION as if they are above the law.
While Air India's net loss in 2018-19 was around Rs 8,556 crore, its current total debt is around Rs 80,000 crore.

As the government already set a fresh deadline for bidders to submit the expression of interest in Air India, Tata Group reportedly evinced interest to bid for the national carrier along with its partner Singapore Airlines, said a media report.

The Tatas in association with Singapore Airlines reportedly started the process to formulate the framework for buying Air India  including a merger of AirAsia India, in which they hold 51 percent, and Air India Express, a 100 percent subsidiary of the national carrier, said a report in The Times of India.

Moreover, the Tatas reportedly approached Air Asia India's promoter Tony Fernandes for his approval to acquire Air India Express because as per shareholders pact, Tata Group cannot invest more than 10 percent in another no-frills carrier without Fernandes being willing to waive the covenant, said the report.

Fernandes, a Malaysian entrepreneur, holds 49 percent in AirAsia India while Tata Sons has 51 percent share in the low-cost carrier. The budget carrier commenced operations in June 2014 with Bangalore as its primary hub.

Tata's full-service airline Vistara is a 51-49 percent joint venture with Singapore Airlines while Tata Sons owns 51 percent in AirAsia India.

While Air India's net loss in 2018-19 was around Rs 8,556 crore, its current total debt is around Rs 80,000 crore.

The government is looking to shift more debt from the balance sheet of the ailing Air India to asset holding company Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL) to further sweeten the deal for prospective buyers, according to a senior airline official.

In efforts to make the disinvestment more attractive, the carrier has already transferred Rs 29,474 crore of debt to AIAHL, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

As the government is set to invite preliminary bids from potential investors for selling 100 percent stake in Air India, all eyes are on the portion of airline debt to be taken off its books and qualification for suitors.

Prospective buyers would have to respond to the Expression of Interest (EoI) by 17 March 2020 and some of the potential bidders could be Tata Group, Hindujas, IndiGo, SpiceJet and a few private equity firms.

As per the bid document, Air India has an aircraft fleet of 121 aircraft (excluding 4 B747-400 aircraft) as on November 2019, mainly comprising Airbus and Boeing aircraft, out of which 65 are owned or on finance lease.

Air India's low-cost subsidiary Air India Express has a total of 25 Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft of which 10 are owned and 7 on finance lease. The remaining 8 are on dry lease.

In January this year, Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri had asked disinvestment-bound Air India to set up an internal mechanism committee comprising members from the management and its various trade unions to sort out privatisation-related issues of employees, a source said on 20 January.

Meanwhile, Fernandes, one of the aviation industrys best-known faces, on Monday stepped aside as chief executive of Asias biggest budget airline for at least two months, according to Reuters. The authorities are investigating allegations that Airbus paid a bribe of $50 million through sponsorship of the Caterham F1 team to win orders from AirAsia.

 With inputs from agencies
Celebrated Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has been named Woman of the Decade Editors Choice by ThisDay Newspaper.

She was given the recognition by ThisDay Newspapers in celebration of their silver jubilee which recently held at the Eko Hotels Convention Centre, VI, Lagos.

Ms Adichie was unable to attend the event. She was, however, presented her award at a reception held in her honour at the ARISE office in Lagos on Monday.

Nigerian writer, John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo (J.P Clark), presented the Woman of the Decade Award to Ms Adichie at the brief ceremony.

During her remarks, she said, JP Clarks poetry means a lot to me  and to my character Obinze in AMERICANAH! Thank you to Thisday Newspapers for naming me woman of the decade. I am delighted to have the award presented by JP Clark.

24 winners were selected with two persons honoured with an award in the Peoples Choice and Editors Choice in each category.

Eminent Nigerian writer J.P Clark presented Thisday The Woman of The Decade award to Adichie

Winners of the awards were picked by the public and ThisDay editors from a pool of personalities and corporate organisations in a voting process that lasted one week.

Explaining the selection process, ThisDay noted in a statement, The board noted that whereas the editors choices were based on the strength of industry knowledge and professional advice, the readers votes were mostly based on their perception.

Alongside Ms Adichie, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms Amina Mohammed, was also named Woman of the Decade based on the peoples choice.

Prior to this award, Ms Adichie emerged the first recipient of the Belle van Zuylen Ring, an honorary prize awarded by the International Literature Festival Utrecht (ILFU), Netherlands.

She was awarded the prize for her contribution to humanity through her literary works and her public engagements which have played huge roles in effecting change and a better understanding of issues such as identity and feminism.

As part of the activities for the festival, Ms Adichie delivered a thought-provoking speech and had a conversation with renowned Dutch cultural historian and author, Nancy Jouwe.

She also engaged with writers and literary minds from all around the world and signed autographs for teeming fans at the event.
By PTI

CHANDIGARH: The district authorities in Punjab's Faridkot took police help to deal with a suspected coronavirus patient who initially refused to get himself admitted to an isolation ward at a government hospital.

The deputy commissioner told police to arrest him if he continued to resist.

However, the need for arrest of the patient did not arise as he himself got admitted to the isolation ward after he was counselled, officials said on Tuesday.

The man had returned from Canada via China and got himself checked at the Kotkapura civil hospital in Faridkot on Monday.

ALSO READ | Coronavirus: India cancels valid visas to Chinese, foreigners who visited China in last two weeks

Thereafter, he was advised to get himself admitted to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot as per guidelines issued by the Union government, the officials said.

However, the man refused to get admitted to the isolation ward and instead left for home, said Faridkot Civil Surgeon Rajinder Kumar.

When the matter was brought to the notice of the higher authorities, the district administration asked the Faridkot senior superintendent of police to take necessary action.

"Please issue instructions to police officers concerned to assist medical officers of the health department to keep this patient under isolation," the deputy commissioner wrote to the SSP.

"In case if there is any resistance, the person shall be arrested immediately and kept in isolation guarded by the police," read the letter.

ALSO READ: Are HIV drugs going to help win the war on coronavirus?

Kotkapura Deputy Superintendent of Police Balkar Singh said the patient got himself admitted to the government hospital after he was counselled.

The samples of the patient have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, for testing.

The coronavirus is a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has killed people in China is a novel strain and not seen before.

The virus - which first emerged in Wuhan city in China's central Hubei province - has spread to 25 countries, including India (three confirmed cases have been reported from Kerala), the US and the UK.
A leading Irish surgeon believes Her2 positive breast cancer may be treatable with drugs within 10 years - while new blood research could eventually help prevent cancer from recurring.

Professor Arnie Hill, a general breast and endocrine surgeon at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, said surgery may not be necessary for patients who are Her2 positive within a decade.

Her2 positive cancer accounts for about 20pc of breast cancers, Prof Hill said, and currently the drugs used in 50pc of cases "obliterate the tumour".

Target

However, for many, the disease returns. "The drugs can evaporate the cancer, that's where we're at," Prof Hill said. "We're working hard to target other pathways, but that's the group we're making a real difference in.

"Patients might not be operated on and rather may hopefully be treated with drugs in around 10 years. Eventually, we'll make Her2 positive into a chronic disease and more women will survive."

Currently, around 15pc of Her2 positive patients will develop metastatic disease - meaning the cancer spreads to other parts of the body.

While the treatment options for patients where this disease has spread are successful for some, for many patients the disease recurs. Prof Hill, who is also chair of surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and at Breast Cancer Ireland (BCI), said: "We've also identified a marker that's expressed in the bloodstream that predicts if cancer will return, and we're hoping we can stop it happening.

"It's in discovery phase at the moment."

S100Beta is a protein which, if found in high levels in the blood, can alert if cancer is likely to return.

Scientists have been testing drugs to block signals linked to the protein and have found tumours have reduced.

"It (S100Beta) has a way of predicting early recurrence of breast cancer - we think it has potential," Prof Hill said.

It comes as patients speak out today on World Cancer Day.

Jill Murphy (28) was diagnosed with breast cancer, had a double mastectomy and her eggs frozen.

She had been a gym goer, who loved to look her best.

Like most young women her age, she didn't place too much emphasis on the future. But the wellness worker from Killiney has endured the toughest year of her life and has managed to come out the other end stronger and reflective about life.

As part of World Cancer Day Jill reminded all young women to examine their breasts regularly for lumps and to be mindful of any symptoms, such as tiredness, indicators that something could be wrong.

Checked

"In 2018, I found a lump around April or May," Jill said. "I got it checked with a GP, but I was 26 at the time, so I didn't think cancer would affect me.

"But I was also feeling really tired. I was a gym-goer and I ate really well, so it didn't make sense why I was so tired.

"I almost didn't ask my GP to check the lump, as I was feeling embarrassed about it. I felt silly, due to my age. It was literally towards the end of the appointment, when I asked if she could check the lump."
Amid the ruckus that broke out in the Lower House of the Parliament, BJP's Locket Chatterjee, in her address, compared West Bengal to Pakistan on Tuesday. Claiming similarities, the BJP MP from West Bengal's Hooghly accused Trinamool supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee of playing 'appeasement politics.'

Locket Chatterjee said, "The situation in West Bengal is such that people are not allowed to celebrate Saraswati Puja. It is similar to Pakistan where Hindus are not allowed to conduct their pujas. Mamata Banerjee is doing politics of appeasement."

Both the Houses of the Parliament saw a ruckus by Opposition leaders over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and other issues. The first phase of the Budget Session of Parliament will conclude on February 11, while the second part of the session will begin from March 2 and end on April 3.

The contentious CAA came into force on January 10 this year, almost a month after its passing in the Parliament on December 11 during the winter session. The CAA and proposed NRC has caused nation-wide protests in the country. Protests in parts of the country led to violent clashes between the demonstrators and police, leading to the death of over 25 people. The Opposition led by Congress demanded to "roll-back" CAA and sought PM Modi's response over the violence unleashed in the country.

READ| Cong's Adhir Ranjan defiles Lok Sabha with 'Ravan Ki Aulad' shocker, attacks BJP's Hegde

Ruckus in Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha was adjourned till noon today after uproar by Opposition members over BJP lawmaker Anantkumar Hegde's statement against Mahatma Gandhi. While addressing a public event in Bengaluru on Saturday, the Lok Sabha MP from Uttara Kannada said the entire freedom movement was "staged with the consent and support of the British".

"None of these so-called leaders were beaten up by the cops even once. Their independence movement was one big drama. It was staged by these leaders with the approval of the British. It was not a genuine fight. It was an adjustment freedom struggle," he had said. The BJP leader also termed Mahatma Gandhi's hunger strikes and satyagraha a "drama". The opposition had staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha on Monday.

READ| Opposition raises 'Goli marna band karo' slogans as MoS Anurag Thakur speaks in Lok Sabha

READ| Now, BJP's Anil Vij spots 'partition mindset' in Shaheen Bagh & Jamia, points at AAP-Cong

(With ANI inputs)
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is ready for a big show at Auto Expo 2020. The manufacturers theme, this time is Freedom i Future Mobility.

Auto Expo 2020 starts on 5th Feb, and goes on till 12th Feb. First two days, 5-6 are media days. General Public days are 7-12 Feb. At the Hyundai stall, there will be about 15 product unveils that include its current product range, and future concepts. Highlight of the show will be the new gen Creta, which will be unveiled on 6th Feb. Tucson facelift will make its India debut on 5th Feb.

Hyundai India will showcase its tech prowess that offers an insight to brand capability. The manufacturer is committed to offer people quality time as well as happiness and joy while continuously evolving the mobility solution with Human Centric Technologies.

An exciting and much awaited showcase is the all new Hyundai Creta. A vehicle that is capable of selling in large numbers as is evident from past sales. In 2019, with Kia entering India, the closely inspired Kia Seltos too started putting in quite a show, raking in huge numbers. If the new-gen Creta is something that sounds attractive, one can take a look at the second-gen Creta thats already made its global debut in China as ix25.

Another focus area is connected tech. With seamless connectivity on the move an essential requirement, Hyundai BlueLink tech will be showcased on an interactive wall for customers to experience and understand it. The well connected Hyundai Venue and Elantra will highlight smart tech.

Hyundai has already expressed its desire to up its SUV market share, and the Auto Expo will be just the place to reiterate the SUV focus. Leading its Zero Emission Mobility path, the Hyundai Kona EV thats available on sale here will be showcased, alongwith NEXO FCEV.

Hyundai N brand will highlight the ability of the brands high-performance vehicles that are great for daily commute, and have track capability. HMILs Le Fil Rouge concept showcases the Future of Design and Technology. It is the coming together of the brands past, present and future designs being connected. Hyundai Kite two-seater dune buggy concept interestingly converts into a single- seater jet ski.

Hyundai Walking Car Concept, Elevate is described as an Ultimate Mobility Vehicle (UMV), and brings together the workings of electric cars and robots. This enables it to traverse diverse terrains that may be otherwise difficult.

Hyundai, not only fights hard to improve its position in India, but triumphs the export market, having recently announced that exports from India have surpassed the 30 lakh mark. Its easy to see why Hyundai is able to introduce vehicles in the country that enjoy repute overseas.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : The government on Tuesday banned all India-bound airlines from boarding any passengers from China on an e-visa, in view of the rapid spread of novel coronavirus which originated in Wuhan.

As of Tuesday, 425 people have died due to the outbreak and around 20,000 people tested positive for the virus infection in China.

In a letter issued by the Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, Kolkata, the government said: "All airlines are informed not to take on board any passenger from China, including Chinese or other foreign nationals who may be holding valid (electronic travel authority) ETA/e-visa to board their aircraft for any destination in India." The implementation of the order "starts with immediate effect and shall remain in force till further notice", the letter said.

The notice was signed by the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer, Kolkata.

The decision came two days after around 650 Indians, who had signed consent forms for evacuation by the government, were brought back from China. All of them are undergoing a 14-day quarantine process in Delhi at the moment.

Following the evacuation, the Indian embassy in China had said: "Due to certain current developments, travel to India on e-visas stands temporarily suspended with immediate effect." It had also informed that "holders of already issued e-visas were no longer valid".

However, the embassy has asked Indian citizens in China to contact them in Beijing or consulates and Indian visa application centres in Shanghai and Guangzhou in case there was a "compelling reason" to visit India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls himself a "brother" to Muslim women, then why is he "afraid" of them now, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, a day after Modi criticised anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh and other areas.

Attacking the government on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Population of Register (NPR), Owaisi said he challenges Prime Minister Modi to clarify in the House that the NPR and the NRC are not linked and there will be no NRC in the country.

He was participating in a discussion on Motion of Thanks on President's Address.

Without mentioning Shaheen Bagh, where Muslim women have been protesting against CAA, NPR and National Register of Citizens (NRC) since December 15, Owaisi said, "I would like to ask Prime Minister Modi that he describes himself as a brother to Muslim women then why is he afraid of them now."



Owaisi's remarks came a day after the Prime Minister, during an election rallly in Delhi, said that the anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh and other areas were not a coincidence but a political design to disturb harmony in the country.

Taking on the ruling BJP over the issue of CAA, Owaisi said for the first time in the history of Parliament a bill has been passed which is based on religion.

Today the BJP and the government have created "such atmosphere in the country that we are fighting the battle for our existence and if we fail in it, we will be finished", he said.

Owaisi said the current atmosphere in the country is similar to the one in 1933 in Germany, while alleging that ruling BJP is trying to make India similar to Hitler's Germany.

BJP members strongly objected to his remarks and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi demanded that objectionable statements by Owaisi be expunged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Manama

Bahrain International Airshow (BIAS)s important role in boosting the Kingdoms status as a pioneering regional and international hub in the exhibition and conference industry has been emphasised.

This came during a work meeting which convened yesterday between the National Communication Centre (NCC) and a team from the Ministry of Transportation and telecommunication to discuss implementation of the media plan for the air show which will be held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in November.

NCC Chief Executive Ahmed Mohammed Al Mannai underscored the centres keenness to support BIAS, being a landmark event in the international exhibition and conference industry.

He stressed that a comprehensive communication plan is being mapped out by NCC to project the event in the way it deserves given its regional and international importance.

For his part, BIAS Director at the Transportation and Telecommunication Ministry Yusef Mahmood praised the NCCs efforts in supporting the previous edition of the exhibition, pointing out the close follow-up of Personal Representative of His Majesty the King and Chairman of BIAS High Organising Committee His Highness Shaikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

He also lauded the efforts of Transportation and Telecommunication Minister Kamal Ahmed and the organising team to consolidate the Kingdoms status on the international air shows map.
A Bombardier advertising board is pictured in front of a SBB CFF Swiss railway train at the station in Bern

(Reuters) - Canada's Bombardier Inc is in talks to sell its business-jet unit to U.S. maker of Cessna jets, Textron Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The move will help the struggling Canadian train and plane maker to pare billions of dollars in debt, the report said.

Bombardier's shares have plunged more than 30% so far this year. On Jan. 16, company flagged a 2019 profit warning, citing problematic rail contracts, as well as warned of a potential write down in the value of a plane partnership with Europe's planemaker Airbus.

Bombardier declined comment on the WSJ report, but a source familiar with the company's thinking told Reuters it was holding talks over both rail and aviation assets to keep all its options open.

Acquiring Bombardier's business jet unit would add the Global series of large-cabin aircraft to Textron's portfolio, which mostly makes small- and medium-sized corporate planes.

Analysts have said that a deal would expand the U.S. company's aircraft offerings, allowing it to offer a complete family of jets to a wider range of customers.

Textron declined to comment.

Shares of Textron rose more than 9%, while those of Bombardier's were up over 10%.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Vinay Dwivedi)
Lockdown-like restrictions to return in Maharashtra? Here's what CM Uddhav Thackeray has to say

Uddhav Thackeray likens bullet train project to 'white elephant'

India

oi-PTI

Mumbai, Feb 04: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday likened the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project to a 'white elephant', saying a decision on it will be taken after he is convinced it will boost industrial development of the state.

In the second part of his interview to Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana', Thackeray said the state -- currently ruled by the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi alliance comprising the Sena, NCP and Congress -- was not getting its 'rightful share' of central funds which could be utilised for helping farmers.

The Sena president also said the farm loan waiver scheme announced by his government will be rolled out from next month, and assured that not a single industry will be allowed to move out of the state.

Uddhav Thackeray backs CAA, 'opposes NRC

Referring to the Centre's ambitious bullet train project, which has faced stiff opposition from farmers and tribals whose lands are to be acquired, Thackeray said there should be a comprehensive discussion on its viability.

'Who will benefit from the bullet train? How will trade and industry in Maharashtra get a boost because of it? If it is useful, convince me and then let's go before people and decide what to do,' the chief minister said.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 4th, 2020

'The bullet train may be a dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but when you wake up, it is not a dream, you have to face the reality,' he said.

Developmental projects need to be prioritised considering the state's financial situation, Thackeray said in the interview to Saamana's executive editor Sanjay Raut.

'We have to see what is urgent and not take up something because we are getting loan at zero interest or less interest. We acquire farmers' land for no reason and then look after these white elephants. This is not right,' he said.

Notably, the Narendra Modi government has set the deadline of completing the bullet train project by August 15, 2022, when India marks 75 years of Independence.

The introduction of the first bullet train, which is known as the Shinkansen in Japan, is expected to mark India's shift to an era of high-speed trains capable of hitting speeds of up to 350 km per hour.

Uddhav Thackeray's swearing-in cost government Rs 2.79 crore

Of the 508.17-km-long bullet train corridor, 155.76 km will be in Maharashtra, 348.04 km in Gujarat and 4.3 km in Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Thackeray said his government was in the process of reviewing the economic situation of Maharashtra.

'The work is almost complete. Once it is over, we will place it before people. Let them know how the state functioned earlier,' he said.

To a question, the chief minister said he recently met industry captains in Mumbai and assured them that their grievances would be addressed.

'I will not allow a single industry to move out of the state. Maximum locals should benefit in terms of employment from these industries,' he added.

The chief minister further said the state was not getting its 'rightful share' of central funds.

'In December last year, I wrote to the Centre that Rs 15,000 crore was pending, including the GST refund. Last month, we got around Rs 4,500 crore. Now, again the pending amount will increase. Will the opposition take out a morcha for this?' he asked.

'I will not say if the central funds are deliberately delayed. But there is a delay due to which state schemes are delayed,' he said.

If the central funds are received on time, the state government can utilise them for farmers, Thackeray said.

He also said the farm loan waiver scheme announced by his government in December last year will be launched next month and debts up to Rs two lakh will be waived off.

Reminded me of the 26/11 attack: Uddhav Thackeray on JNU violence

'A separate scheme for loans of more than Rs two lakh and for those who regularly repay their loan will be announced soon,' he said.

Loan waiver is a primary step to ease hardships of farmers, he said, adding that priority is to ensure cultivators are economically empowered.

'Efforts will be made to work on maximum crop (cultivation) in less space, adequate price for the crops and how it can be marketed well,' he added.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, February 4, 2020, 12:26 [IST]
Asia Hong Kong Reports First Coronavirus Death as Hospital Workers Escalate Strike

Health warning signs are seen outside Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong on Feb. 3, 2020. / Reuters

HONG KONGHong Kong reported its first coronavirus death on Tuesday, a 39-year-old male who had been suffering from an underlying illness and had visited Chinas Wuhan city in January, hospital staff said, marking the second death outside mainland China.

The first death outside of China was reported on Sundaya 44-year-old Chinese man who died in the Philippines after traveling there from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus.

The death toll in China rose on Tuesday by a new daily record to more than 420 and total infections in China rose by 3,235 to 20,438. There were at least 151 cases in 23 other countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Britain.

The Hong Kong death comes as hundreds of medical workers in the Asian financial hub began a second day of strikes on Tuesday to force the government to completely close the citys borders with mainland China, a day after embattled leader Carrie Lam left three remaining checkpoints open.

As Carrie Lam refused to close the border, more [deaths] might comeWe are not threatening the government, we just want to prevent the outbreak, said Cheng, a 26-year-old nurse attending the strike.

The latest coronavirus epidemic has rekindled memories of the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 300 people in the city.

The former British colony so far has had 15 confirmed cases of the newly discovered coronavirus, including one that was transmitted locally.

The Hong Kong resident who died on Tuesday had been kept in an isolation ward after the coronavirus was confirmed last week. His 72-year-old mother, who contracted the virus locally and had no travel history, was staying at home during the incubation period, authorities said.

The United States, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and Vietnam are among countries that have denied entry to foreign nationals who have recently been in China.

Lam has rejected calls to shut the entire border, saying such a move would be inappropriate and impractical as well as discriminatory.

On Monday, authorities announced the closure of four more border crossings with mainland China, leaving open the international airport, the bridge connecting the city to Macau and the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, as well as Shenzhen Bay Port in the north.

Around 2,700 workers from the newly formed Hospital Authority Employees Alliance (HAEA) went on strike on Monday calling for a sealing off of Hong Kongs border and for better protections for hospital staff.

Holding red and white placards reading Save HK now. I am a Hospital Authority staff on strike, masked workers on Tuesday spilled out from inside the authoritys Kowloon headquarters and onto the main road outside.

Around 9,000 of the alliances roughly 18,000 members are expected to join the strike on Tuesday, HAEA chairwoman Winnie Yu said. Our demands are not something the Hospital Authority can solve, so we urge Carrie Lam to negotiate with us directly, Yu said.

A spokesman for the citys hospital authority said that due to the large absence of medical staff in public hospitals today, some emergency services have been severely affected.

In a notice released on Monday, one of Hong Kongs voluntary ambulance brigadesSt. John Ambulanceannounced it would suspend all first aid and ambulance duties due to the recent spread of the coronavirus.

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Royston Smith is the MP for Southampton Itchen. Before his parliamentary career, he served as an engineer in the RAF

2020 marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, which was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces. The contribution of the Spitfire to defending Britain, at one of the bleakest times in the Second World War, and its boost to our collective morale, is something that should never be forgotten. Yet the number of remaining Spitfire pilots is now less than five and there is a risk that a vital link between our past and future generations will be lost.

This is why I believe that now is the most pertinent time to build a monument dedicated to the indelible mark this magnificent aircraft left on the course of British history.

One of the reasons Southampton is not as architecturally interesting as other English towns and cities is because of the extensive bombing during the Second World War. Over 470 tonnes of high explosives were dropped on Southampton during the war, damaging nearly 45,000 buildings. Southampton was a strategic target for the Luftwaffe because of our docks and more importantly, the Supermarine factory in Woolston where the Spitfire was manufactured.

In September 1940, during two daylight raids, the Woolston works were destroyed, killing about a hundred people. The Minister for Aircraft Procurement at the time visited Southampton and insisted that Spitfire production continue. As a result, laundries, bus stations, and garages were requisitioned. Within a few weeks, the Spitfire was back in production in Southamptons shadow factories. If you come to Southampton and speak to local residents, you will find that almost everyone has a personal or family story about the Spitfire.

The significance of R. J. Mitchells Spitfire should not be underestimated. The Spitfire is the epitome of what it is to be British: the plucky underdog who saw off the Nazi aggressor. It is a symbol of British innovation and courage. It is the reason we are free, but there is no national memorial to the designer, those who built it, and the brave pilots who flew it in battle.

The average age of a Spitfire pilot during the Second World War was 20. The youngest Spitfire pilot was Sqd Ldr Geoffrey Wellum who was only 18. They risked and, all too often gave their lives, so that we can enjoy the lives we have today. It is claimed that the average life expectancy of a Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain was just four weeks. There is no definitive evidence of this, but what we do know is fewer than half of those who flew Spitfires survived the war.

The Spitfires maiden flight was from Southampton Airport on 5 March 1936 and it entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938. Of the 20,000 Spitfire that were produced, over 8,000 were built in Southampton by the time production ceased in 1948.

South coast of England conjures up images of quaint market towns with access to the coast. Nothing could be further from the truth. Southampton is home to 230,000 decent, hardworking people; they are anything but wealthy. The main industries that gave them long-term, well-paid employment are long gone and Southampton is now too dependent on service industries. To put it into context, Southampton is a typical Northern industrial town located in the prosperous South. It is for this reason that people from Southampton feel successive governments have overlooked them.

Southampton has a past to be proud of. First settled by the Romans over 2000 years ago, Southampton has been a major British port ever since. It was from Southampton that the Mayflower set sail to the New World 400 years ago and where the Titanic began its fateful maiden voyage in 1912. But perhaps the most important claim to fame for Southampton was the design, test flight, and manufacture of the iconic Spitfire.

The people of Southampton deserve recognition for their courage, determination, and selflessness for this country. Instead of commemorating a tragedy such as the sinking of the Titanic, it is more important that we celebrate achievements embodied by the Spitfire.

I believe we have not properly and permanently honoured those who defended our freedom and democracy; not just those who flew the Spitfire but those who worked and sacrificed themselves in the Supermarine Factory in Southampton. As Churchill so eloquently put it, never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. It is long past time we commemorated the Spitfire, a significant player in the saviour of western freedoms and democracy and symbolic of the few. It is time for a national memorial to the Spitfire in its home town of Southampton.
Mongabay- India

By S Gopikrishna Warrier

On 27 January, the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement announced the two winners for 2020. Gretchen C. Daily and Pavan Sukhdev were selected for their work on the global impact of their work on environmental economics. Sukhdev is an Indian who was selected for the award for launching and leading The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) process.

Initiated by the United Nations in 2007, the TEEB is a process to give an economic value to natures resources such as biodiversity and ecosystem services, so that it is easy for policy makers and corporations to take decisions that help in conservation. It is a global initiative focused on making natures values visible. Its principal objective is to mainstream the values of biodiversity and ecosystem services into decision-making at all levels.

Sukhdev becomes the fourth Indian to receive the award, which is also known as the Nobel Prize for the environment. Agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan in 1991, ecologist Madhav Gadgil in 2015 and environmental economist Partha S. Dasgupta in 2016 are the earlier winners from India.

Sukhdev is the founder and chief executive officer of GIST Advisory, an organisation that develops platforms for corporates and governments to measure economic impact of their decisions. He is also the president of the World Wide Fund for Nature International (WWF), the international conservation organisation. Sukhdev will receive his Prize on May 1.

In a wide-ranging telephonic interview to Mongabay-India, Sukhdev talked about the global impact the TEEB reports have had since its inception, Indias shyness in implementing environmental economics and the new tools that have been developed to help policy and decision makers take decisions that are better for the environment. Excerpts from the interview:

Recognition for environmental economics

What does the Tyler Prize signify for the kind of work that you had done since the time of TEEB that you started 12 years ago? How has the process grown from then to today? Has the idea of giving an economic value to biodiversity become more acceptable with governments?

There have been huge steps in understanding that you cannot take nature for granted. There is a fundamental problem in the way that todays society treats nature. Nature by definition is in the public domain. Pollination services are very important otherwise no food crops can be grown. But no bees or insects ever send you invoices. The value of pollination does not figure anywhere in the GDP.

In the same way trees clean the air. Trees in the forest provide evapotranspiration which leads to rainfall. And most of the agriculture in India is rainfall dependent. The trees dont send invoices for rainfall generation, so they are not part of the GDP. So the first aspect is the economic invisibility of natures services.

The second aspect is that they are public services. So they belong to everybody and belong to nobody. Just because you restore a public service you cant necessarily make a profit out of it. For example, if you and I started planting some trees in Vidarbha, it would generate rain and some cotton farmers would bless us. But, we wont be able to profit from it because we cannot tell the clouds where to rain. We can only plant trees and we know that it makes a difference, and some farmers somewhere will benefit through more rainfall and more timely rainfall. Therefore, there is no way that a business  that is about making profit  can actually reengineer the way the world works.

So you must start by recognising that the economic invisibility of nature is a problem and the way in which we have constructed our economic systems  that is market based  has a defect. This defect is that it does not recognise externalities that affect natural capital. In other words, it does not reflect the invisible impact of our business activities on nature. This is the fundamental challenge of our time  the economic invisibility of nature and her services to humanity.

And yet, without these services the poor cannot survive, the farmers cannot survive and we in society cannot survive. But, our economic system has a defective lens which is unable to understand this basic fact. So, environmental economics is necessary, for it enables policy makers and businesses to recognise and demonstrate  in economic terms  and at times capture and reward these invisible values that are being generated by nature, which we are sadly losing because of our short-sightedness and inability to understand this basic difference between private goods and public goods.

There are goods made by man and transacted in the market, and those not made by man and not transacted in the market. These are the two fundamental issues in environmental economics  private versus public, and market transacted versus non-market transacted.

This is the challenge. We have to use the same toolkit to explain in a language that todays policy makers and business leaders understand, i.e., an economic language and say dont do these things that have high externalities. I have just been in Davos and spent a lot of time there with my colleagues in GIST  the Global Initiative for a Sustainable Tomorrow, which is my company, along with the participants. We launched two platforms, both of which are targeted to enable companies to measure their impact on nature, to measure all of the invisibles. So today it is possible for a government that is thinking right, or a company that is thinking right, they can use our platforms to do that.

The TEEB framework plus large data

There were two issues that arose when the TEEB started. The first one was the question that should man even put an economic value to nature. Has the resistance to that reduced? Second, while conceptually the idea of putting a value to nature is good, the scientific methodology and systems needed to put this in place needed to be more robust. Over the years have these systems become so robust that you can design a platform that governments and companies can feed in their details and get their impact in figures?

We are in a world where the [importance and availability of] big data is increasing. My company is in the intersection of sustainability and big data. The purpose of our company is to make sustainability accessible to all. We want to democratise sustainability and corporate sustainability. If we have to do that we have to resort to big data. Many companies dont have all these data points. We have to collect data from the market and all the reservoirs for big data, and put them together and make it available in a manner that it is simple. Today it is possible because of the big data, because of technology, and also because of the TEEB framework.

The fact that the TEEB framework was published 10 years ago and used by so many people, brings people to understand that this is not an outlandish idea, it is a United Nations report. People realise that this is mainstream and not a kind of crazy idea.

By the way, it is not about putting a price on nature, It is about recognising, demonstrating, recognising and valuing natures services to people. Nobody is buying or selling a cloud. The reality that forests can generate rainfall is vital for agricultural productivity  recognising and demonstrating that scientific value is the reality.

India did not keep pace

How has this progressed in India? There was a TEEB India interim report in 2014. Are you happy that India is keeping pace globally or is there anything lacking in the environmental economics process in India?

If we go back to the TEEB report, the study leader was an Indian (Pavan Sukhdev), and out of the five senior experts who were each responsible for one of the TEEB reports, there were two more Indians  Pushpam Kumar and Haripriya Gundimeda. While Kumar is currently working as a chief economist with the United Nations Environment Programme, Gundimeda is with the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai.

In a global report there are three Indians, I would imagine that it would make India proud about it, and do something from the findings. I am disappointed that not enough has been done. I think the opportunity lost is huge, especially for the poor. The concept that Haripriya and I came out with was the GDP of the poor.

If a forest is destroyed because of conversion to agriculture, industry or a car park, who suffers the most? It is the poor farmer who suffers. There isnt enough nutrients and fresh water going to his fields from the natural cycle. His cattle and goats suffer because they have to eat food that has to be purchased from a distance, when they could have been easily eating from the forest edge. It is the poor farmers wife who has to suffer for she has to walk many kilometres to the nearest forest to collect the fuelwood which she needs to cook food for the family.

So nature is the GDP of the poor. Their household incomes are hugely dependent on nature. More than 60% of the households in India are still using fuelwood. Why dont we recognise that reality and do something about it?

You are saying that India did not catch up the way it should have with the global processes?

You tell me, right now we publish GDP figures every year, isnt it? All the technology needed for calculating the GDP of the poor is already there. Do we publish the GDP of a village in India? Why dont we do it? Considering that three of the founders of this concept are Indians. It has been done in Indonesia. The first GDP of the poor was calculated for the province of Kalimantan in Indonesia, and the next one was done in Vietnam. Why cant we do it?

There are environmental economists in India and an Indian Society for Ecological Economics. Are you saying that despite these there hasnt been motivation and support from the government to take this forward?

At the end of the day the government has to make up its mind whether it consider the resolution of rural poverty to be an issue, which I believe it does. We are providing a tool kit which enables it do so  measuring what matters. What is GDP? From the income side it is equal to corporate profit plus taxes, salaries, net rent, net interest, minus depreciation and incomes outside the private sector. In this the single most important factor from the development point of view is the profit of farmers. What we are saying is that the GDP of the poor is a way of recognising that very important value that needs to grow. We need to realise that of the value for rural households in countries like India, Vietnam and Indonesia there is a large part that comes directly from nature.

If that is recognised would the trauma of the Indian farmers reduce? The farmers have been suffering for quite some time and more so in the past half-decade.

Of course. If we recognise that aspect such as the use of fresh water decreases, or the aspect of sequestration of carbon increases, on-farm health (of the farmers themselves) and off-farm health of people downstream will improve if we do natural farming. We will realise that the natural capital improves with natural farming. Instead, we are stuck in this debate that every time natural farming is done in Andhra Pradesh or Maharashtra there are a bunch of academics and journalists criticising it. Whats the point? You need natural farming to improve the livelihoods of the poor and to grow the GDP of the poor.

This article was originally published on Mongabay.com.

Mongabay-India is an environmental science and conservation news service. This article has been republished under the Creative Commons licence.
OPEC+ consulted with a Chinese ambassador as it conducted an urgent assessment of how the coronavirus may hurt oil demand, and what measures the group could take in response.

The unusual appearance at the cartels headquarters of Wang Qun, Chinas ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, underscores how the outbreak has upended the global market. Crude sank below $50 a barrel in New York for the first time in more than a year on Monday on signs that fuel consumption in the worlds biggest oil importer has plunged as much as 20%.

Wang is attending a meeting of technical experts from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies as they try to evaluate the diseases impact. Thats no easy task as the respiratory disease continues to infect and kill more people, while causing massive economic disruption.

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Economists have cut Chinas growth forecasts as the impact on businesses grows and BP Plc predicted the epidemic could wipe out about a third of global oil demand growth this year.

For oil markets, this is the worst crisis, at the worst place, and the worst time, said Roger Diwan, vice president of financial services at IHS Markit Ltd. OPEC has no option but to cut production as China is going to buy a lot less crude.

The JTCs assessment may help determine whether the 23-nation alliance -- which pumps about half the worlds oil -- convenes an emergency ministerial meeting later this month to consider new production cuts. Saudi Arabia, OPECs biggest member, has been pushing for such a gathering, but has faced some reluctance from Russia.

OPEC+ only just started a fresh round of deeper cutbacks last month, the latest step in a three-year effort to prevent plentiful U.S. shale supplies putting the global market into surplus. But the outlook has deteriorated rapidly in the last few weeks as the coronavirus curbs air traffic and slows Chinas economy.

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Given oils fast and furious fall -- and the havoc that it could wreak on government finances across the producer group -- it looks like they dont believe they have the luxury of time, said Helima Croft, chief commodities analyst at RBC Capital Markets LLC.

OPECs research department in Vienna has prepared two scenarios with different estimates of how the virus may affect oil consumption, according to a delegate, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

Reluctant Russia

The average price of crude sold by OPEC members was $55.51 a barrel on Monday, far below the levels that most of them need to cover government spending.

While West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, rose 1.3% on Tuesday, thats just the second increase since Jan. 17. The U.S. benchmark slipped below $50 on Monday for the first time in more than a year.

While Riyadh has urged fellow producers to meet and act, theres so far been a more cautious attitude from its most important partner, Russia. Though not an OPEC member itself, Moscow has proved to be an influential voice since the OPEC+ alliance was established three years ago.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz discussed the global energy markets by phone Monday evening, the Kremlin said in a statement, adding that both leaders confirmed readiness to continue cooperation within OPEC+.

Moscow doesnt face the same budgetary need for elevated oil prices as most OPEC members. Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday his country is prepared to meet this month, and intervene if necessary, but the impact of the virus should be assessed first.

Delegates from both Saudi Arabia and Russia will attend the JTC, which also includes Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
[February 04, 2020] Bode Introduces the Industry's First Digital Marketplace for Real Estate Transactions

Bode's latest innovation means Calgary buyers can use one of the world's most sophisticated and advanced systems for making real estate transactions. With consumers increasingly making purchases through digital marketplaces, Bode meets the modern buyer's desire for convenience, self-service and the ability to source the best value for their hard-earned money. Like other online shopping and e-commerce pursuits, 92% of Canadians start their search for their home online. Saving searches, sharing listings and creating favorite lists are all a part of the market research and organization phase of your home selection. In many countries around the world, including Australia and Denmark, the next step of requesting a showing, communicating with the seller and making an offer is done by the buyer without an agent. In fact, in each of these countries, there is no buyer agent service offering at all. Today, any Bode user can communicate, schedule showings and make offers to any Realtor.ca listing or Bode listing without any fees from Bode. The service collects a 1% fee from the seller only when the deal is closed. "We are really excited about providing buyers with the ability to go from search to keys starting with 6,500 Calgary listings on Bode at no cost to the buyer. This instantly cuts the cost of all transactions in half with even more savings when it is an offer on a Bode listing," says Lindsay Skabar, Bode's Chief Marketing Officer. "We've seen internationa buyers successfully purchase homes themselves for many years, and we're taking that trend to the next level by automating and digitizing the transaction."



Bode launched in September of 2019 and successfully sold all four high-end properties for list price in just 21 days, well below the average time on market. The innovative real estate model is gaining popularity with both property developers and homebuilders across Alberta and was recently selected as the sole listing provider of 49 lots for the luxury Springbank development, River Edge. "People who have utilized our system are overjoyed with the savings and ease of use. We're really looking forward to the spring months when the market heats up. People have become very comfortable with our simple and intuitive customer experience, motivating them to buy their next house with us," says Skabar.

In keeping with its non-traditional approach to real estate, Bode gives every seller an Augmented Reality "for sale" sign that interested buyers can scan with their phone to receive detailed information about the home. You can view the sign here. Bode is a licensed real estate brokerage and follows the guidelines set out by the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA). To learn more, please visit www.bodecanada.com. About Bode Canada: Bode is Calgary's first real estate marketplace and a smarter way to buy and sell a home. Bode is reimagining real estate with an intuitive, universal platform that gives everybody with an index finger the ability to control their real estate destiny. Bode reduces commissions by 75% by only collecting a 1% service fee when the deal is closed. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204006063/en/

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Prosecutors said in a court filing last week that they wanted to go to trial early next year. But after defense attorneys noted they have yet to review much of the potential evidence, the judge decided there were too many variables at this point to set a specific trial date.
India's most glamorous industry - Bollywood- has been sharing several remarkable on-screen stories ever since its inception. But, apart from the whole glitzy affairs, these celebs, every now and then, have also shared their real struggle stories that are full of strength and courage.

Amidst a lot of personal life struggles, some of the heroes have actually emerged out of the war that they have fought against cancer. On the world cancer day, here are five Bollywood celebrities who braved the deadly disease and emerged out even stronger.

1. Sonali Bendre

Announcing about her metastatic cancer diagnosis, actor Sonali Bendre shook the entire social media in July last year. The actor kept her fans well posted by sharing insights from the treatment and her daily life during the ailment. Even today on World Cancer Day, the actor shared a short video of herself that had pictures from her entire journey of the war against cancer. Bendre also asked people to get regular check-ups for early prevention of the disease.

2. Rishi Kapoor

After getting treated in New York City, Kapoor returned to India in full health and spirits in September last year. Keeping his life during the struggle and treatment low-key, the actor did not share much on social media.

3. Manisha Koirala

Confessing that her bad lifestyle choices led her to the deadly disease, Koirala made all her fans fall in love with her brutal honesty. The actor shared her real-life journey on a TedX talk and ended up sending shivers to the listeners and the online viewers. Emerging ever-beautiful from the disease, Koirala set an example of acceptance and bravery. Later, the actor also launched a book on her journey - 'Healed: How Cancer Gave Me a New Life'.

4. Tahira Kashyap

Just like Sonali Bendre, actor Ayushmann Khurrana's wife and director Tahira Kashyap also chose to share her battle against cancer on social media. The brave warrior today shared an audio file on her Instagram spreading awareness about early breast cancer detection.

"On this #worldcancerday I dedicate this post to the unlimited human potential that we all possess. And yes I will exploit and use each and every platform to spread the message of #earlybreastcancerdetection," Kashyap wrote.

5. Irfan Khan

One of Bollywood's most widely acclaimed actor Irfan Khan has always been known for his unshakable spirits. The actor shocked everyone when he announced about his diagnosis of the disease but he, later on, chose to share minimal about his journey. Soon after battling with the disease, the actor hopped back to work and started filming for 'Angrezi Medium'.

Some other Bollywood celebrities that have struggled with the disease are Anurag Basu, Rakesh Roshan, and Lisa Ray.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
He proposed to his new girlfriend, Lesley Cook, on Thursday night in Miami.

And David Beador's new investment is said to be worth up to $300,000, according to Page Six.

The former RHOC 54-year-old, worth $20 million, purchased a 4-6 carat diamond for his lady love.

Scroll down for video

High value: David Beader's ring he gave to now finacee Lesley Cook is estimated to be worth up to $300,000

'Lesleys show-stopping ring features an estimated 4-6 carat round brilliant-cut diamond surrounded by a diamond halo and set on a diamond-accented white gold or platinum band,' Page Six reported according to their source, Brilliant Earths VP of strategy and merchandising, Kathryn Money.

'Her engagement ring is also coupled with two additional diamond eternity rings on either side, estimated at between 1 and 1.5 total carats each, resulting in some serious sparkle!'

Kathryn estimated the total sparkler to be worth somewhere between $150,000 to $300,000.

Quite the sparkler! 'Lesleys show-stopping ring features an estimated 4-6 carat round brilliant-cut diamond surrounded by a diamond halo and set on a diamond-accented white gold or platinum band,' Page Six reported according to their source, Brilliant Earths VP of strategy and merchandising, Kathryn Money

However, jeweler Ajay Anad from Rare Carat's valued the ring to be closer to 4 carats with a value of $150,000.

'The diamond engagement ring looks to be surrounded by two matching bands  one stacked below and one stacked above the ring, he said.

'Assuming high quality, wed say retail value for the set would be $150,000. It is not traditional to have two bands above and below the ring like this, or to have a band as wide as the diamond.'

The valuer continued: 'Most usually opt for a thinner band, but we would guess that this style was probably chosen for the bling value.' Baring all: David and Lesley are in no way shy in stripping down for the camera online

She said Yes! David proposed to Lesley on Thursday while they were in Miami for the Super Bowl

Lesley was once again seen flashing her new accessory while watching the Super Bowl with her fiance on Sunday.

RHOC's Shannon Beador's ex-husband proposed to Lesley on Thursday while they were in Miami.

Shannon and David had a messy split in 2017 after 17-years of marriage.

The reality star was awarded a 1.4 million dollars and $10,000 a month in their 2019 divorce settlement.

And don't expect Shannon to make an appearance at the wedding.

In November, she called Lesley 'trashy' for posting nude photos with David and said her daughters were 'horrified' when they saw them.

The estranged exes are parents to Sophie, 18, and twins Adeline and Stella, 15.
The revival of the desi wool economy in Kutch is driven by Khamir, a platform for crafts, heritage and iconology that promotes and preserves the cultural and creative diversity of the region.

In a world saturated with homogenised machine-made products, provenance is increasingly in vogue. This was evident in the buzz created by an exhibition of Desi Oon that unfolded on a cold, sun-drenched morning on 10 January, at the gallery space of the ballroom in Bikaner House. Galleries can feel quite sterile, but this exhibition managed to open up a new design experience by stirring meaningful conversations on the sheep wool craft value chain of Kutch.

Tapping into the millennial zeitgeist, the colour palette of the products is a riot of reds and rusts, sage greens and indigos that coexist with the sedate blacks, browns, beiges and whites of the undyed hand-spun yarn. The warp lengths present an enchanting melange of blended wool surfaces, while the colourful namda repertoire, a reflection of the ability of wool fibres to interlock magically when whirled against each other, reconnect connoisseurs with a cherished slice of history. The contemporary designs of jackets, rugs, cushions, stoles, bags with pared-down aesthetics, the meticulously revived heritage weaves of disappearing traditions like the Tangaliya, and the heart-warming ubiquity of the dhablas (blankets), come with an invitation to dive into the compelling dialectics of rural pastoral traditions of Kutch, a culturally and ecologically sensitive region of India.

The revival of the desi wool economy in Kutch is driven by Khamir, a platform for crafts, heritage and iconology that promotes and preserves the cultural and creative diversity of the region. Its current engagement with pastoralists began with its involvement with Living Lightly, a travelling exhibition on the lands, lives and livelihoods of pastoralists, curated by Sushma Iyengar. Khamir is partnering with the Centre for Pastoralism and the Asian Heritage Foundation to put pastoralism and the ecosystem that nurtures it, at the heart of its community-led initiatives. A diminishing economy of local wool precipitates a dramatic decline in the size of the traditional Patanwadi flocks. Sheep breeds are now primarily raised for the meat industry. This trend pushes thousands of craftspersons to unskilled jobs in cities.

Motivating the pastoralists to revive the indigenous wool economy is as much of an uphill task as coaxing women of the Rabari community to reclaim their hand-spinning skills in villages like Kukma, Bhadroi, Harudi and Lodai. Our biggest problem is that the shepherds get a better price from the meat industry than for their wool that sells for anything between Rs 5 and Rs 50 a kilo. Naturally, their interest aligns with industrialised livestock agriculture. Everything we do is under threat of being offset We need to conserve our traditional breeds, with their unique genetic traits and also need to move away from fibres that are thirsty and saturated with pesticides There was a time when there was a greater demand for desi wool products than their supply and the pit looms on which the weavers worked seemed to thrive, says Ghatit Laheru, the director of Khamir, a little wistfully.

That the seemingly uncompromising coarse texture of the fibre, which causes an itching sensation on the skin, is tamed by blending it with silk, is a tribute to the genius of a new generation of barefoot designer-weavers from Kutch. They are part of a renaissance. Mansukh, Lalji, Dinesh, Vinod and Arun are together creating a stunning new visual dialogue with desi wool. The excitement and levity of these young debutants are palpable. Khamirs work to restore the near-comatose wool economy is also supported by an impressive line-up of weavers, bristling with unputdownable design ideas: Vankar Shamji, Virjibhai Khetabhai, Murji Hamir, Babubhai Padhiyar, Vishram Valji, Prakash Naranbhai Siju and Laljibhai and Mahadevbhai. They rue the fact that in the 1940s there were nearly 5,000 looms in Kutch, but now there are not even 1,000. I have been working on extra-weft weaves, adding tie-dyed patterns and embroidery to give my products a distinctive look I enjoy experimenting with different sustainable fibres, says Bhujodis Shamji.

What is happening is far from being a flash in the pan. A series of strategic collaborations with well-known designers has gradually cohered into a powerful desi wool narrative. Amit Vijaya and Richard Pandav, the duo behind Amrich, a couture label that is part of the eco-fashion movement, have partnered with Khamir to co-create designs with weavers and dyers. So has Himanshu Shani, creative director of avantgarde brand 11.11/eleven eleven, who was briefly associated with the Asian Heritage Foundation. Teasing out the sustainability conundrum in the fashion industry, they have built an ecosystem for innovative product design, combining artistry with an impressive environmental scorecard.

The fashion industry contributes disproportionately to greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined emissions produced by international shipping and aviation. Khamir and its eco-activists practice environmentalism, that is not just a fad. By following a zero-mile green philosophy, where everything is sourced and produced locally, they help in regenerating sustainable rural economies with limited ecological and carbon footprint. Ghatit allows himself a cautious optimism, this is just a beginning. There is much more to be done, individually and collectively, before we can hope to transform policy spaces.

A former civil servant, Sujata Prasad is an author and columnist who currently works with the Asian Heritage Foundation.
Russia Says It May Deport Foreigners Confirmed With Coronavirus

By RFE/RL February 03, 2020

Russia says it plans to deport foreigners diagnosed with the new coronavirus as an increasingly isolated China blamed the United States for stoking fears over the outbreak instead of providing concrete assistance.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told a televised government meeting on February 3 that an annual investment forum later in the month in Sochi had been postponed due to the virus outbreak.

There have been two confirmed cases of the virus in Russia, both of which involved Chinese citizens.

The number of deaths in China from the virus, which was first detected in December, was 361 as of February 2, a sharp increase from just 57 the previous day, according to the country's National Health Commission.

"Now it [the new virus] has been added to the list of especially dangerous illnesses. That will allow us to deport foreign citizens if they are diagnosed with such an illness," Mishustin said.

"First and foremost we have to think about the safety and health of our citizens [and] forum participants," Mishustin added, noting the "situation is under control."

Mishustin's announcement came hours after the United States said it planned "a handful more flights" to bring U.S. citizens home from Hubei, the Chinese province hit by the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

China's Foreign Ministry accused the United States on February 3 of overreacting to the situation by being the first country to suggest the partial withdrawal of its embassy staff, as well as the first to impose a travel ban on Chinese travelers.

"All it has done could only create and spread fear, which is a bad example," ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told an online news briefing.

The costs of the virus outbreak for China are rising dramatically, as researchers around the world scramble to create a vaccine with more than 17,300 cases confirmed globally.

On February 3, China completed construction of a new 1,000-bed hospital for treating the victims of the outbreak. The facility was built in just 10 days.

Huoshenshan Hospital and a second facility with 1,500 beds that is due to open this week were built by construction crews who are working around the clock in Wuhan.

Hubei has been under virtual lockdown, with roads sealed off and public transportation shut down.

Elsewhere in China, the eastern port of Wenzhou on February 3 became the first city outside Hubei Province to impose quarantine measures.

The city of 9 million is located about 700 kilometers from Wuhan on China's eastern coast.

Meanwhile, a death has been confirmed in the Philippines on February 2 -- the first fatality reported outside of China. The victim, a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan, appears to have been infected before arriving in the island state.

Russia, Britain, and Sweden were among the most recent countries confirming their first infections as the virus has now been reported in more than two dozen countries.

The United States and Australia are among countries putting sweeping, albeit temporary, travel restrictions on Chinese nationals or those who have traveled to China within the past two weeks.

The World Health Organization has said the number of confirmed cases will keep growing because thousands of samples from suspected cases have yet to be tested.

The economic impact of the virus on China's economy is "likely to be high, but short-lived," a research briefing by data analyst Oxford Economics said on February 3.

Analysts there said the world's second-biggest economy will grow by 5.4 percent this year, "compared with 6 percent forecast previously."

The impact will mainly be felt in the first three months of this year shaving growth by more than 2 percentage points.

With reporting by Reuters, dpa, AP, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-says- it-may-deport-foreigners-confirmed-with- coronavirus/30414159.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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But in 2017, when Mr. Haiders Freedom Party successor, Heinz-Christian Strache, scored a similar general election result and the party was once again invited into a ruling alliance, there was little attempt to ostracize the country. President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany moved quickly to welcome the new Austrian government, led by the 31-year-old conservative Sebastian Kurz, who sought success by adopting much of the Freedom Partys anti-migrant stance. The youngest leader in the expanded European Unions 28 nations, Mr. Kurz had called for Muslim-run kindergartens to be shut down and refugees relocated to outside Europes borders.

The Freedom Party was gifted the foreign, interior and defense departments, and Mr. Strache  who denigrated Islam as fascistic and as a young man had been arrested at a torch-lit neo-Nazi procession in Germany  took control of the office of vice chancellor. The coalition agreement was fittingly announced at Kahlenberg, the site of the Battle of Vienna, which resulted in the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1683. Crowds gathering in the Austrian capital to oppose the new government were a fraction of those who came out nearly two decades earlier, when protests were so severe that the new cabinet could only enter and exit the inauguration ceremony through hidden underground passageways.

The story of Austria in the 21st century is, in part, the story of the wider European project. Once, the far right was anathema. Now it is routine. Born outside the mainstream, its parties now operate as a powerful political force, pushing public debate and often government policy across the continent.

How did this happen?

The far rights rise ultimately emerges from a crisis of the political center. Politicians tasked with stabilizing the Continent after the global financial crash of 2007-08 became adept at turning the political narrative away from their own culpability. Europes leaders found themselves re-evaluating the benefits of historic migration into their countries  forever initiating debates on national identity (Nicolas Sarkozy of France), rejecting the multiethnic makeup of nation-states (Silvio Berlusconi of Italy) and proclaiming multiculturalism dead (Angela Merkel of Germany and David Cameron of Britain).
Novel Coronavirus Defies Conspiracy Theories As Data Shows Its Coming Decline

By Moon Of Alabama February 03, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - There are first signs that the novel Cornoavirus (nCorV19) epidemic will come to an end within a month or so. An analysis from the Chinese media house Caixin provides the newest numbers (machine translated): [O]n January 31, 2020, 2102 new cases of new coronavirus were diagnosed nationwide, 46 deaths were added, and 5019 suspected cases were added which increased by 6.1%, 7.0%, and 4.3% respectively compared with the previous day, and increased by 21.8%, 29.0%, and 23.3% respectively compared with the average of the previous three days. There are some 12.000 recognized infected persons in total. More than 99.9% of all nCorV19 cases are in China. The growth per day is still strong but not exponential. With people now traveling less from, to and within China the epidemic will likely stay contained. We had documented in an earlier post that neither the infectiousness nor the mortality of the novel Cornoavirus are especially severe. This New York Times graphic also explains that.

More from Caixin (machine translated):

As of January 31, the cumulative number of severe cases accounted for 15.8% of the confirmed cases, and the mortality rate (accumulated death cases accounted for the cumulative confirmed cases) has remained at the level of 2.2% for 3 consecutive days.

Both numbers are relatively low and here are the first signs that the epidemic is coming to a halt:

The current situation of the new coronavirus epidemic situation is still serious, the epidemic situation is still spreading and spreading throughout the country, and the number of newly diagnosed cases has increased. At the same time, the growth rate of confirmed cases nationwide has also shown signs of decline. The number of newly cured cases on the 30th and 31st days exceeded the number of new deaths.

The declining growth rate proves that the quite extreme quarantine measure China has taken are very effective.

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New test kits for the novel coronavirus have been developed and were approved by the Chinese regulator NMPA (vid). These new kits allow new patients to be tested in just 30 minutes. People who have a normal flu can now be early on distinguished from those who have caught the virus.

The graph of new suspected cases per day (yellow) is flattening while the number of newly confirmed cases per day (red) is now linear and starts to show a slight decrease.

Unless something unforeseen happens we are now coming near to the top of the epidemic. The number of new infections per day may soon start to decrease.

All this is good news. The Global Times is already pushing for new economic measures to increase growth when the epidemic is over.

But there is also bad news in that some people use the epidemic to profit from it.

There have been a number of conspiracy stories which make totally unfounded claims that the virus is a bio weapon or that it escaped from a high security bio lab in Wuhan or was intentionally created or released by Chinese researchers. To use such fantasies to then dox a researcher is irresponsible.

The novel coronavirus is NOT a bioweapon. No military will develop a weapon that kills only 2% of those affected by it. A real bio weapon would also spread much faster.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory are first class medical research institutions with many global cooperation agreements. The laboratory was built after China had been hit by the SARS epidemic. It is the only one in China that has a Bio Safety Level of 4:

BSL-4 labs are rare. However some do exist in a small number of places in the US and around the world. As the highest level of biological safety, a BSL-4 lab consists of work with highly dangerous and exotic microbes. Infections caused by these types of microbes are frequently fatal, and come without treatment or vaccines. Two examples of such microbes include Ebola and Marburg viruses. In addition to BSL-3 considerations, BSL-4 laboratories have the following containment requirements: Personnel are required to change clothing before entering, shower upon exiting

Decontamination of all materials before exiting

Personnel must wear appropriate personal protective equipment from prior BSL levels, as well as a full body, air-supplied, positive pressure suit

A Class III biological safety cabinet A BSL-4 laboratory is extremely isolatedoften located in a separate building or in an isolated and restricted zone of the building. The laboratory also features a dedicated supply and exhaust air, as well as vacuum lines and decontamination systems.

The U.S. has at least 13 such labs. Some of those are used by the military and may be used for bio weapon research. But most are medical research facilities.

The laboratory in Wuhan is specialized on viruses that are typical for the larger area. Some of its leaders are researching why bats are not affected by the viruses that they carry and which can kill people. SARS is known to have emerged from bats. Knowing how a bat's protection mechanism works could help to create better vaccines.

To jump from those facts to unfounded speculations and to accusing the researchers of having developed the nCorV19 or of spreading it is truly nefarious.

Aside from conspiracy nutters there is one serious suggestion that the novel coronavirus may indeed be something special.

A number of Indian researchers have self-published a paper that claims that the 'building plan' of the novel coronavirus, its RNA, contains elements of the HIV-1 Aids virus RNA. The paper was NOT peer reviewed and two researchers in microbiology I have contacted have, like me, doubts about its conclusions.

The paper confirms that the novel coronavirus is related to the virus that caused the SARS epidemic:

Our phylogentic tree of full-length coronaviruses suggests that 2019-nCoV is closely related to SARS CoV [Fig 1]. In addition, other recent studies have linked the 2019-nCoV to SARS CoV.

The researchers then sequenced 6 strings which form a part of the RNA of the novel corona virus. They find that there are four short insertions that distinguish it from the SARS virus:

We then translated the aligned genome and found that these inserts are present in all Wuhan 2019-nCoV viruses except the 2019-nCoV virus of Bat as a host [Fig.S4]. Intrigued by the 4 highly conserved inserts unique to 2019-nCoV we wanted to understand their origin. For this purpose, we used the 2019-nCoV local alignment with each insert as query against all virus genomes and considered hits with 100% sequence coverage. Surprisingly, each of the four inserts aligned with short segments of the Human immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV-1) proteins.

The inserts in the 1387 units long string which also occur in HIV-1 have a length of 6 to 8. They are in my estimate too few and too short to make a statistically viable case. But the researchers suggest, without providing a statistical model or calculations, that these are not only significant but probably artificial:

Although, the 4 inserts represent discontiguous short stretches of amino acids in spike glycoprotein of 2019-nCoV, the fact that all three of them share amino acid identity or similarity with HIV-1 gp120 and HIV-1 Gag (among all annotated virus proteins) suggests that this is not a random fortuitous finding. In other words, one may sporadically expect a fortuitous match for a stretch of 6-12 contiguous amino acid residues in an unrelated protein. However, it is unlikely that all 4 inserts in the 2019-nCoV spike glycoprotein fortuitously match with 2 key structural proteins of an unrelated virus (HIV-1).

The math that would support the assertion that it is unlikely that short sequences in parts of nConV19 and HIV-1 amino acid strings are identical is not in the paper. I doubt that the researchers made the necessary calculations.

The researchers then show that the insertions may help to form a part of the binding structure that allows the virus to attach to a host cell. They conclude:

This uncanny similarity of novel inserts in the 2019-nCoV spike protein to HIV-1 gp120 and Gag is unlikely to be fortuitous.

and

Taken together, our findings suggest unconventional evolution of 2019-nCoV that warrants further investigation.

What those researchers found is interesting. It suggests that something modified the SARS virus RNA by adding four small elements from HIV-1 to create nCorV19. If this is proven correct it might help to find a vaccine against nCorV19.

But the conclusions are in my view too strong and not substantiated enough to make them fully acceptable. While the similarities may not be 'fortuitous' they may make evolutionary sense and may have evolved through some natural process which is not 'unconventional'. If a host (a bat or human) carries the HIV-1 virus and the SARS virus might the replications of those viruses mix?

The presented paper nowhere tests or discusses that hypothesis.

The authors may well deserve more research money for the 'warranted further investigations' but that should be decided only after other experts have discussed their proposition.

This article was published by "Moon Of Alabama" -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==

Under cover of coronavirus, the US and its 'allies' are waging war against China. The racist travel bans and media hysteria are not approved by WHO. China's response to the emergency has been a model - unlike the US whose current flu epidemic has killed 10,000 and isn't news.  John Pilger (@johnpilger) February 2, 2020

====
Gov. Tom Wolfs latest budget once again calls for a fee to pay for state police services. In this iteration, every municipality across Pennsylvania would have to chip in.

The proposal jettisons both the $25 per capita fee, which drew the ire of smaller, cash-strapped municipalities in 2017, as well as last years sliding scale that would have charged larger communities more for state police services.
Stephen Kelly, CEO, Manufacturing NI, Sinead McLaughlin MLA, Colin Neill, CEO, Hospitality Ulster, Dr Caoimhe Archibald MLA, and Glyn Roberts, CEO Retail NI at Trade NIs Northern Ireland Economy  What Now? at The Long Gallery, Stormont. (Trade NI/PA)

Stormont MLAs have been challenged by business leaders to prove that devolved government can deliver.

The coalition Trade NI held the first major policy presentation by business groups to the newly restored Assembly.

First Minister Arlene Foster, Economy Minister Diane Dodds and prominent members of the business community were among those who attended the Northern Ireland Economy  What Now? event at the Long Gallery.

Trade NI  an alliance between Hospitality Ulster, Manufacturing NI and Retail NI  put on the event to highlight the urgent and pressing issues felt by the business community.

The group has launched its Vision 2030 document which sets out key policy priorities with the potential to create 65,000 jobs.

You must act, this is your opportunity as legislators to be change-makers and prove above all else that this place can deliverGlyn Roberts, Retail NI

Speaking at the event, Glyn Roberts of Retail NI said it was a call to action to make our economy fit for purpose.

If there is one thing that is clear this Executive cannot be business as usual, it needs to be radically rebooted and less about process and more about delivery, he said.

Its programme for government needs to be more than just a deal between the five parties, and instead it should include the key partners in the economy such as business and the wider civic society.

MLAs, you must listen to this genuine call for help on rates from independent retailers and hospitality businesses, and above all else, you must act. This is your opportunity as legislators to be change-makers and prove above all else that this place can deliver.

Colin Neill of Hospitality Ulster said the business community has played its part and it is now the turn of MLAs.

Mr Neill said the business community has been held back by legislation with outdated licensing laws and crippled by a business rates model that actually punishes hard work and investment.

We know the last few years here have been difficult and it hasnt been business as usual in this place, but the Assembly now has a new deal, its a new decade with a new approach, and now it is time the hospitality industry had their new deal, he said.

We need a modern, simple, fair and effective legislative framework and taxation framework to allow us to prosper.

This is a call for action. The Programme for Government needs to be more than the five parties. It needs to encompass all the sectors of NI that help make our economy thrive and grow. @retail_ni @glynrobertsni  Trade NI (@tradenitweets) February 4, 2020

In a joint statement with Stephen Kelly of Manufacturing NI, they said the cycle of limited economic growth must be broken to allow potential investment to flow into Northern Ireland.

The high cost of doing business in Northern Ireland, such as business rates, must be immediately addressed by this Executive, they said.

It is a scandal that businesses in Northern Ireland pay the highest rates in the UK.

They said Stormont must create an environment where business can thrive.

Reducing the cost of doing business, reforming business rates, investing in our infrastructure, developing skills, increasing our productivity and finding innovative new ways of stimulating investment, revitalising our high streets and creating an economy, which can deliver for working families, they said.

The heads of Stormonts Economy Committee also spoke at the event.

Chairwoman Caoimhe Archibald welcomed the Vision 2030 document and pledged to engage with the group.

Deputy chairwoman Sinead McLaughlin said Trade NI is to be commended for developing the document.

The Economy Committee has highlighted that there are only two years left of this sitting Assembly, and we must use that to make an impact, she added.
This is one village Kamara boy waving at you from the Ancient Mosque in Laribanga. Sir, I must first congratulate you for winning a seat in an urban constituency like Adenta and for your appointment as the National Communications Director of the NPP to face small Sammy Gyamfi in the battle of ideas. At least I know how it is to wade through this system to get elected as an MP and worse of all to be able to catch the eye of the NPP to appoint you to such a sensitive position to manage the propaganda machinery of the party. Congratulations sir!

I know it isnt easy to gain admission into the law school and ultimately get to be called to serve in the bar. I respect Lawyers because it is not easy to use technical language to free an armed robber. So I respect you sir! Sir, the fact that you are called a Lawyer doesnt mean you can engage in language manipulations, destroy peoples hard-earned reputations and think you can go unpunished. I know Ghana is an interesting country where stealers of roasted plantain are hurled to solitary confinement while stealers of heavy excavators are hailed to the seat of government. So, you feel the law is what you say it is once you are a lawyer in a government that can deny Gregory Afoko bail even after the courts have made two judgements in his favor. Power can be tricky...in the voice of President Kuffour.

Sir, I have followed your arguments both on the floor of Parliament and in the media, and I can say without doubt that you make very jaundice deductions, frivolous allegations, hollow arguments and very sad conclusions on issues. My first close encounter with you was when you were made one of the lead speakers on the issue of Ghana-US military deal which saw Ghana granting the US Military unfettered access to our radio spectrum and many other giveaways. Sir, your submissions and even your body language that day sounded like that of an ordinary street hawker who doesnt know the basic standing orders of Parliament. One thing Ive noticed about you is that, you enjoy the finite applauses mostly than the infinite inner satisfaction your truthfulness could bring to yourself. Well, I dont know what principles you operate with as an NPP communications director but I should think that a Lawyer like you should be interested in setting standards and working with time-tested principles.

I was once told that if you wanted to be hailed and applauded in the NPP and possibly get a position then, you ought to always sound illogical and ruthless. I know your position is very critical in the NPP scheme of affairs, but dont you think if they wanted to make any serious person out of you, given the work you did for the party in the 2012 Supreme Court Case, you would have been appointed to a position in government where you would deal directly with the law and policy other than a position where you would be seen churning out lies and speculations just to tarnish the image of President Mahama and your political opponents?

I am pained to see a Lawyer whose career is suppose to thrive on evidence beyond measure mostly descend so low to dabble in innuendos when serious matters are on the table for discussion. You think the NPP will ever make a serious person out of you? Between you and Kojo Oppong Nkrumah who is supposed to be respected to speak for government? If you want to guess your political future please watch closely to Bawumia Part 1 & 2. His part 1 which was full of propaganda and chest-beating has landed him a part 2 where he cant even look the Ghanaian in the face and mention the cedi or the economy without adding digital. This must be a lesson to those of you who think using Mahama as your chewing stick is the easiest route to the heart of the Nana Addo the king.

So, the President swiftly wrote to the idling Martin Amidu to start work after the latter spent our GHC 28m out of the GHC 180m for doing nothing. His letter ordered the so called Independent Special Prosecutor to start investigating an inconclusive matter which I think is just but an audit query. The Lawyer, Yaw Buabeng Asamoah on the other hand was ordered by the same President to come out and prejudice the investigation by forcefully pulling John Mahama into the conversation. To him, it doesnt matter the cost to the image of President Mahama once that might earn him a deputy ministerial appointment in Nana Addos God-forbid-second-term. So if the agenda of the government is to trace a long line to Mahama, Yaw Buabeng Asamoahs job is to cut that line and illogically pull Mahamas name into the mud at no cost.

I do know there is no absolute sincerity in politics and I also read from somewhere that in politics, foul is fair and fair is foul, but I think people must still be responsible in this game. Always throwing your left hand and peeping through your lenses in an attempt to intimidate people while telling a lie isnt what makes you a great Lawyer. You can still throw in the few propaganda bits to spice up the conversation but to stretch it to the point of brutally marring the image of high profile personalities is reckless, irresponsible and a trait of a weakling.

The issue in context is one that can be seen by any serious minded person as a scribbled signature which doesnt have meaning and cant be pronounced too. How much does that affect the International image of Ghana which the Australian VISA fraud didnt?

So, Airbus appointed its own agent and paid him/her some commission to engage governments and agencies in the sale and purchase of military hardwares in several countries including Ghana. Airbus didnt have any direct engagement with any government official whether elected or appointed in the process according to the 32 page ruling. Even if its established that the said agent was Mahamas brother, I want to know whether Mahamas relatives are less of humans to Nana Addos relatives. Is it the case that because Mahama was President that should necessarily stop all his brothers from doing business even outside the country? So what license does Mr Bumpty Akuffo-Addo have to be traveling with President Nana Addo to negotiate alleged shady energy deals which President Mahamas brothers dont have? Or some are first class citizens in this country?

The deal for the acquisition of military hardware wasnt cooked in anybodys room. Cabinet sanctioned it, the Attorney General gave legal backing, the Ministry of Defence with technical support from the Military High Command gave their advice, the Ministry of Finance gave their value for money judgement, Parliament of Ghana approved it and Ghana finally entered into the said agreement. Is the ruling to made to incriminate Airbus for engaging in corruption or for Ghana for ever purchasing those Military Hardware? If the NPPs Yaw Buabeng Asamoah has any information which is evidential enough to prove that the said agent was Mahamas brother and that he was paid a commission in the form of bribe which materially influenced President Mahama, the Ministry of Defence and the Military High Command to shortchange Ghana and Ghanaians, please prepare your case and drag the man Mahama to court. Hes lost his privileges after December 31st, 2019 if you didnt know.

I listened to Hon Dominic Nitiwul when he made similar arguments in Parliament when he was accused of inflating prices of the military hardware specifically some goggles. It was established that online sales agents had priced those goggles between $8 and $16, but Hon Nitiwul prepared agreement had $600 for the same item. When Hon Ayariga sought for clarification, the Minister said those equipment had their specifications and that it is only the officers who know the specific and approved ones to use and not those online materials. Should I say Hon Nitiwul stole from us?

If Hon Yaw Buabeng Asamoah and his NPP had this information that HE John Mahama was the one in reference in the said ruling, why waste our time referring the matter to the idling Special Prosecutor? Do you fear to drag Mahama to court to cough any amount Ghana lost in the process? Mind you, the Ghanaian is worried about the state of our water bodies as a result of state-sponsored-galamsey-activities. The small scale miners are worried that their excavators which were seized and given back to government officials and NPP National and Regional executives to go back to destroy our water bodies while enriching themselves and their families. We are still waiting for the President to issue a statement to that effect or even call for an investigation into the cause of the evaporation of the said excavators.

In all of this, I just wish I were President John Dramani Mahama, like I would have pressed the daring button and squeeze the idiocy out of some people who dont understand gentle language but ruthless engagements. The humble and gentle nature of President John Dramani Mahama can only give me High Blood Pressure and not any motivation to be like him. So if you ask me, I would say Mr Yaw Buabeng Asamoah is just but a noisy propagandist whose legal jargons are mostly meant to save his face in the bar while Parliament is serving as a cover for him to engage in empty rhetorics. Get serious Mr! Pray to get to where President Mahama is today and leave a legacy for your children sir.

I am ashamed!
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UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "very much alarmed" by reports of clashes between Turkish and Syrian troops in northwest Syria seen as a "threat to regional and international peace and security," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.

Guterres called for an immediate end to hostilities, said the spokesman.

Dujarric was asked at a regular briefing about a direct confrontation in northwest Syria between the forces in which eight Turkish soldiers were reportedly killed and an unspecified number of Syrian troops wounded.

"We're very much alarmed by the reports that we saw of clashes between Syrian government troops and Turkish forces in northwest Syria," Dujarric said. "This escalation underscores once again the threat to regional and international peace and security caused by the ongoing conflict in Syria."

"We also remain deeply concerned by the continuing reports of civilian casualties and the large-scale displacement of civilians, resulting from the current Syrian government offensive inside the Idlib de-escalation zone," the spokesman added. "The secretary-general affirms yet again that no attacks on civilians or civilian infrastructure should take place."

As to what the world organization is doing over clashes between the two neighbors, he said diplomatic contacts are being held at various levels to pass on the message publicly and privately for the need to de-escalate.

Dujarric said the UN is alarmed about the safety of more than 3 million civilians in Idlib and the surrounding areas, over half of whom are internally displaced, following reports of airstrikes and shelling.

Between Jan. 31 and Feb. 2, there were at least 25 communities reportedly affected by artillery shelling, while 47 communities were reportedly impacted by airstrikes, he said.

To add to that, the spokesman said there were more than 500,000 people displaced due to the hostilities since December 2019. Around 80 percent of them are women and children.

He also recalled the World Health Organization's reports that at least 53 health facilities suspended services last month due to insecurity and threats of attacks, or as areas were deserted by civilians fleeing violence.

Dujarric said that over the weekend the secretary-general reminded that military operations of all parties, including actions against and by designated terrorist groups, must respect the rules and obligations of international humanitarian law, which includes the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.

The secretary-general reiterated that there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that the only path to stability is a credible and inclusive UN-facilitated political solution as laid out in the Security Council.
Princess Beatrice is understood to be furious after she had to delay her wedding date for a second time over the furore surrounding Prince Andrew.

Her father's friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein postponed the Queen agreeing a date for her nuptials to property developer Edo Mapelli Mozzi.

And most recently the venue, The Guards' Chapel, St James's Park, had to be changed when the Duke of York announced he would be suspending ties with various military associations.

Insiders revealed that Beatrice, 31, and Mr Mapelli Mozzi, 36, will marry on May 29, with a reception at Buckingham Palace but no venue for the ceremony has been confirmed.

Insiders revealed that Beatrice, 31, and Mr Mapelli Mozzi, 36, will marry on May 29, with a reception at Buckingham Palace but no venue for the ceremony has been confirmed

Britain's Prince Andrew, Duke of York, arrives to attend a church service at St Mary the Virgin Church in Hillington, Norfolk, last month

An insider told The Sun: 'The decision has been delayed repeatedly because of all the issues, but finally they have something that seems to work - and barring any problems that should be when it goes ahead.

'The Queen has asked everyone to come together to put on a united front.

'The press officers of all the palaces hope to portray the Beatrice wedding as the big event that brings the family back together again.

'Aides know this will be a tough job, but it's all they can do not just to save the wedding, but potentially the monarchy's reputation.'

Generally, only current serving members of the military and their direct descendants can marry at The Guards' Chapel, though exceptions can be made for civilians who are very well known to the church.

Watched by millions, it was his glaring failure to express a single note of regret over what happened to Epsteins victims that provoked the most outrage

First, Beatrice and her property developer fiance Edo Mapelli Mozzi had to wait for a date to be agreed by the Queen, and then for the furore surrounding Prince Andrew to die down

For this reason, the chapel was deemed to be a perfect choice  exclusive yet not traditionally Royal, and striking just the right note at a time when the Yorks' prominence within the Royal Family is in flux.

However, the chapel, which played host to the wedding of Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973, looks to be off the cards.

Beatrice and father-of-one Edo had been together for 11 months when they announced their plans to get married.

Edo proposed with a ring estimated to have cost 100,000 while the pair were visiting Italy, but wedding plans were overshadowed by the ongoing scandal of Beatrice's father's friendship with Epstein.
Abnormal Climatic Phenomena Witnessed in DPRK

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Date: 03/02/2020

Pyongyang, February 3 (KCNA) -- In recent years, abnormal climatic phenomena have been witnessed so often in the DPRK as the seawater temperature in the equator and the subtropical zone goes up as a whole due to the global warming and much quantity of heat moves toward the middle latitudes.

In this regard, Kim Chol Min, section chief of the State Hydro-meteorological Administration, told KCNA:

High temperature has been recorded in the whole area of the country from the beginning of this winter season.

Around January 6, the beginning of the severest cold, the lowest daily temperature was registered as above zero in most areas south of the central part.

And there was rare-to-be-seen much rainfall under the influence of the low pressure of the Yangtze River.

Such weather phenomena are due to the southern high pressure strengthened by higher seawater temperature of the northwest Pacific, which weakened cold air from the north and made the frontal zone between hot and cold air placed in and around the country. -0-

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The impact of economic slump was visible in the Budgets fine print, as this step-by-step explanation show how the Budget math was worked out, reports Abhishek Waghmare.

IMAGE: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur arrive in Parliament to present the Union Budget, in New Delhi on February 1, 2020. Photograph: ANI Photo

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented an ambitious Budget for 2020-21 last weekend, but the impact of economic slump was visible in the fine print. Let us see through this, step-by-step, to understand how the Budget math was worked out.

The overall spending in 2019-20 was curtailed by nearly Rs 90,000 crore in comparison to the expected spending. This happened despite the fact that fiscal deficit was raised from 3.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to 3.8 per cent, showing that deficit widened during a fiscal contraction, a big worry (Chart 1).

Slowdown in economic growth has taken a clear toll on revenue growth, as Chart 2 shows. But the government expects economic activity to pick up in FY21, and push revenue growth up, too.

The externalities of this are severe. For instance, cheaper food for the poor would be increasingly financed from investments made by small savers, as government is unable to spend from its coffers (Chart 3).

Such financing by tapping into the National Small Savings Fund would take the real fiscal deficit close to 4.4 per cent of GDP (Chart 4).

A bigger worry, however, is the nature of the fiscal deficit. In FY21, a bigger part of the fiscal deficit will be used to fund revenue expenses such as welfare schemes, salaries and pensions, interest payments (Chart 5).

Capex is rising, but its load is being taken up by public enterprises in the last few years, so much that the latter has fast outpaced the former (Chart 6).

The uncertainty about budgetary spending, widening of deficit, and ambiguity on growth uptick would weigh on Februarys monetary policy decision. But a bigger worry is bond yields remaining stubborn, or worse, rising (Chart 7).

StatsGuru is a weekly feature. Every Monday, Business Standard guides you through the numbers you need to know to make sense of the headlines.
JACKSON, MI  The re-sentencing for a man who was sentenced at age 16 to life without parole was affirmed by the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Charles Finch, now 60, was given a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole in 1976 for the murder he participated in when he was 16 years old. The penalty was deemed unconstitutional in 2012 by the U.S. Supreme Court and clarified in 2016 to confirm the decision was retroactive, affecting current prisoners.

Finch was re-sentenced by Jackson County Circuit Judge Susan Jordan in late 2018 to serve 40 to 60 years in prison for one count of first-degree felony murder and life for one count conspiracy to commit first-degree murder he was convicted of in 1976. Questions as to the legality of the sentence sent the case the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Re-sentencing for juvenile lifer under review due to legal snafu

Appeals court judges Brock Swartzle, Jane Markey and James Robert Redford affirmed Jordans sentence Jan. 21. The sentence of life was appropriate for the conspiracy charge, the judges opinion said.

Finch was paroled from prison Sept. 4, 2019, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections. A footnote in the opinion notes his release before the court issued its decision, but it was not directly relevant to the decision.

During Finchs re-sentencing, the victims family asked for Finch to be allowed to work toward parole, the opinion said, and Finch asked for forgiveness from the victims family.

In 1976, when he was 16, Finch participated in the stabbing of John Clemons, 37, a janitor at the Bill Knapp's restaurant.

Finch; Roger Hinton, then 17; and a then 14-year-old went to Clemons house on Dewey Street in Jackson. Knowing the teens, Clemons let them inside. Finch hit him on the head with a wrench. Hinton bound his hands and legs and guarded him while the other two teens ransacked his home, looking for money.

It was Hinton who stabbed Clemons in the back. When the blade bent as it apparently struck a bone, he used a second knife to pierce Clemons heart.

Charlotte Richendollar, then 35, promised Finch and Hinton a $40,000 cut of a $75,000 insurance policy if they killed Clemons, her fiance.

Both Hinton and Richendollar have since died as prisoners. Richendollar, 74, on May 5, 2015, at Henry Ford Allegiance Health and Hinton, 54, on March 27, 2014, also at a hospital, according to a Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman.

Hinton would have qualified for re-sentencing had he not died in prison.

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The BLS counts any establishment engaged in the mechanical, physical, or chemical transformation of materials, substances, or components into new products. That also includes businesses that transform materials or substances into new products by hand or in the workers home and those engaged in selling to the general public products made on the same premises from which they are sold, such as bakeries, candy stores, and custom tailors.
The Iowa Democratic Party has refused to release results of the caucuses held throughout the state on Monday night to determine the allocation of delegates for the partys presidential nomination. Officials are now saying that they hope to have results some time Tuesday.

The action is an unprecedented intervention by the party apparatus into the process of choosing the partys presidential nominee. It is clearly directed at the campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who was leading in the polls and was expected to place first in a four- or five-way contest in Iowa.

The media and non-Sanders Democratic Party candidates quickly developed a common line, citing supposed quality control issues in the vote that questioned its legitimacy. The New York Times, which earlier posted polling results that clearly showed Sanders in the lead, removed all such figures from its front page by midnight.

An official statement from the Iowa Democratic Party claimed that there were inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results from each of the more than 1,700 precinct caucuses held across the state. The party statement did not explain the nature of the discrepancies or how they were to be remedied, except to claim that the issue was not the result of a hack or other external interference with the tabulation of the vote.

Lawyers for the campaign of former Vice President Joe Biden sent a letter to the Iowa Democratic Party Monday night demanding an accounting of the method being used for quality control in the vote tabulation before any results are released. This could keep the results of the caucus voting secret for days, if not weeks, while courtroom battles are played out, in a manner reminiscent of the 2000 vote in Florida.

Precincts covered by the major media Monday night reported that Biden suffered a debacle, often not even receiving enough support to pass into the second round of voting.

The manipulation of the results in Iowa is clearly directed from the top. The Democratic National Committee sent dozens of top operatives, including software and cybersecurity experts, into Iowa in the weeks before the caucuses. Even before Monday, there were efforts to develop the line that the vote might not be legitimate.

In fact, the software application used to report the results from precinct caucusesthree sets of numbers for less than a dozen candidateswould not have been very complex, and there was ample time for testing and security measures.

The weeks leading up to the Iowa caucuses featured a coordinated campaign by the corporate media and the Democratic Party establishment to undermine Sanders support. This campaign was widely viewed as unsuccessful or even counterproductiveboosting support for the self-described democratic socialist rather than reducing it.

The failure to report results from the caucus raises new questions about Saturdays decision to cancel the release of the final Iowa Poll by the Des Moines Register, allegedly because of a complaint by the Buttigieg campaign that at least one telephone survey worker did not include the name of their candidate. The poll was expected to confirm Sanders standing as the leading candidate, only two days before the caucuses.

All the major Democratic candidates made speeches Monday night thanking their supporters and pledging to continue their campaigns in the New Hampshire primary February 11. Significantly, however, Buttigieg was the only one to claim he had been victorious in the caucuses, an assertion that had no basis in any figures reported from the state, since there were none.

Data from entrance polls reported on cable television suggested that Sanders was in the lead with at least 23 percent, followed by Buttigieg, Warren and Biden, in fourth place with about 16 percent. Demographic information on caucus-goers also suggested such an order of finish, with the proportion of voters under 30 jumping from 18 percent in 2016, when Sanders and Hillary Clinton finished in a virtual tie, to 24 percent in 2020.

The proportion of voters over 65 years of agethe base of the Biden campaignfell from 34 percent in 2016 to only 28 percent in 2020.

The debacle and orchestrated operation over the Iowa caucuses is only a foretaste of what is to come in the efforts by the Democratic Party to rig the primary election process.
Passengers wear masks in a departure lobby at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. AP



With the entry ban taking effect Tuesday for non-Korean travelers coming from or through China's Hubei province, tensions are running high at Incheon International Airport, the gateway to Seoul, where an army of hundreds of customs and health officials are mobilized at the airport's three "China-only" arrival counters to detect passengers with suspected symptoms of the new coronavirus.



The unprecedented entry ban, announced Sunday by the South Korean government, applies to all foreign travelers who over the past 14 days have stayed in or traveled to the central Chinese province, the home to Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus is believed to have originated late last year.



Tension at the airport, located in Incheon's Yeongjongdo district, spiked at around 40 minutes past midnight Monday, when Korean Air Flight 854 landed there from Beijing and arrived at Gate 232 of Terminal 2.



It was the first plane arriving from China after the entry ban for non-Korean visitors to Hubei province went into effect.



All the passengers from Beijing were herded to one of the airport's three China-only quarantine inspection areas that opened the previous day to separate passengers flying in from China from arrivals from non-Chinese airports.



Terminal 2's China-only quarantine desk was manned by a large number of officers from the Incheon Airport National Quarantine Station and about 50 officials dispatched by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.



All the quarantine officers and health ministry officials, who were wearing face masks and gloves, moved in unison as Korean Air 854 passengers approached Terminal 2's China-only quarantine desk.



The passengers were first asked to fill out health questionnaires to check whether they had fever or respiratory symptoms. Foreigners, in particular, were required to write a special quarantine report, providing their mobile numbers and domestic stay addresses and disclosing any visit to Hubei province in the past two weeks.



Passengers then moved in front of the quarantine officers, who used thermometers to examine them for fever and respiratory symptoms. Anybody found with symptoms was immediately isolated for treatment.



Passengers who passed through the quarantine check without any symptoms were asked to confirm their domestic contact details.



A group of 24 officials actually called the mobile numbers submitted by passengers.



Passengers whose phone numbers were verified were issued a quarantine certificate. The certificate had to be submitted during the next stage of immigration. Without a certificate, immigration was to be denied.



Immigration officials also checked whether foreign passengers' passports were issued in Hubei province.



If a stay in or visit to Hubei was confirmed, entry was to be banned for the concerned passenger.



A foreign passenger who successfully went through all the quarantine and immigration screening with her daughter said that she didn't feel much inconvenience despite being forced to undergo multiple stages of quarantine and immigration.



She said such procedures are necessary to help stop the spread of the viral disease.



Airport officials said all 100-odd passengers arriving from Beijing aboard Korean Air Flight 854 passed through the lengthy quarantine and immigration procedures without reporting any trouble.






Last week NCA arrested six individuals in the United Kingdom because they are suspected to be involved in a Malta cyber-heist and money laundering operation.

Britains National Crime Agency (NCA) arrested six individuals in the United Kingdom because they are accused to be involved in a cyber-heist of a Malta bank and money laundering operation.

The individuals are accused to be involved in the attack against the Bank of Valletta that took place in February 2019.

Bank of Valletta is the largest bank in Malta that accounts for almost half of banking transactions in the country, it had to shut down its operations in February after hackers attempted to withdraw 13 million euros ($14.7 million).

The news was confirmed by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, hackers broke into the systems of the bank and transfer the funds overseas.

Muscat told parliament that threat actors attempted to transfer funds to banks in the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Britain, and the US.

The attackers used a network of accounts to receive those funds, one of which was in Belfast. According to the NCA, crooks transferred roughly 800,000 (~$1.04 million) in the account in Belfast.

Around 800,000 was illegally transferred into an account in Belfast, which then saw payments of more than 340,000 go out before the account could be blocked. reads the press release published by the NCA.

The money was spent at high end stores such as Harrods and Selfridges, to buy Rolex watches at a store in London, and on payments for a Jaguar and Audi A5 from a car dealership.

The suspects were able to p erform card p ayments and cash withdrawals of 340,000 (~$442,700) from the accounts, but once the authorities discovered the fraudulent activities it has blocked them.

The individuals used part of the money to make purchases at high-end stores such as Harrods and Selfridges in London, they bought Rolex watches for around 110,000 (~$143,000) at a store in London, and also made payments for a Jaguar and Audi A5 from a car dealership.

The NCA arrested two males (aged 22 and 17) on January 22, 2020, in the West Hampstead and Ladbroke Grove areas of London, the authorities also interviewed a third person.

On January 30, the NCA officers, along with officers from the PSNI, executed two warrants in the north and west Belfast areas and arrested a man (39) on suspicion of money laundering offences , fraud, and theft.

On January 31, two other males, aged 23 and 24, on suspicion of money laundering offences , fraud, and theft, the authorities handed them into a police station in Belfast. The police arrested another man, aged 33, at Heathrow Airport where he returned to the UK from China.

Our 12-month investigation, carried out with the help of the Malta Police Force Economic Crime Unit, has focused on a number of individuals we suspect may have been involved in laundering money on behalf of the organized crime group who carried out the cyber-attack, NCA Belfast branch commander David Cunningham said.

This has led us to the arrests in London last week and Belfast today, and our investigation continues.

This operation demonstrates the reach of the NCA, both domestically and internationally.

Working with our law enforcement partners at home and overseas we are determined to do all we can to target and disrupt those involved in organised crime, here in Northern Ireland and across the rest of the UK.

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs  Malta cyber-heist, hacking)
In at least two of the incidents, the suspect used the stun gun after the victims refused to hand over their property, police said. In other instances, the victims turned over their property after the suspect threatened to use the stun gun.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president J.P. Nadda attended the party's first parliamentary meeting in the capital on Tuesday after he took over as the president.

He was given a warm welcome by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the members of the Parliamentary Board.

Nadda said on the occasion, "We are fortunate to have a strong and efficient leader like Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Inspired by the Prime Minister, we are all dedicated to our services, developments and pride of the nation." Speaking on the occasion, Modi also heaped praises on Nadda and hoped that under his leadership the party would scale further heights.

Gozoop  One of Indias leading digital-first integrated marketing companies has won the digital mandate for Tata Steel Limited.

Tata Steel group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 33 million tonnes per annum. It is one of the world's most geographically-diversified steel producers, with operations and commercial presence across the world. The group (excluding SEA operations) recorded a consolidated turnover of US $22.67 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2019.

Gozoop will be in charge of developing effective digital engagement strategies for Tata Steel Limited, with key responsibilities focused on social media management, development of creative assets and Search Engine Optimization. Additionally, Gozoop will look after website development, including website performance and security.

Commenting on this win, Ahmed Aftab Naqvi, CEO & Co-Founder, Gozoop said Strategically this is one of the most exciting collaborations for us, because the brands legacy is so well-known that it will push us to build a body of work that is creatively unexplored and digitally disruptive. We look forward to working with the Tata Steel team and further crafting the brand together"
This is the impressive moment a daring kitesurfer harnesses stormy winds to make a spectacular jump over Brisbane jetty.

Learning that high winds were hitting the Brisbane coast on February 4, photographer Nienke Verhoef left college early to help her friend Ryan Parsons, a talented kitesurfer, achieve one of his long-held dreams: to jump Woody Point Jetty.

After setting up her camera on the jetty, Verhoef captured Parsons making a successful jump in spectacular fashion.

Ryan Parsons, a talented kitesurfer, achieved one of his long-held dreams: to jump Woody Point Jetty in Brisbane. He is pictured mid jump in the windy conditions

Footage shows the kitesurfer approaching the jetty from a distance after getting up some speed.

The wind then lifts him up and he rises into the air and flies over the jetty, clearing it before dropping back down again to make contact with the water.

The wind then lifts him up and he rises into the air and flies over the jetty, clearing it before dropping back down again to make contact with the water

'He wanted to jump the jetty for a long time,' Verhoef said.

'But we were waiting for the right amount of wind. So when we had the storm coming  I left school early and we made it work.'

An avid kitesurfer herself, Verhoef said she and Parsons were always trying new things for her to photograph.
Only five extremists in Britain are subject to anti-terror orders despite estimates that 3,000 suspected jihadis are at large, official figures reveal.

Ministers are under mounting pressure to beef up Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs) to stop attacks.

They are the toughest tool the security services have to restrict the activities and movements of terror suspects.

Sudesh Amman (pictured as a schoolboy) carried out a knife attack in Streatham, south London, on Sunday

Usman Khan (circled) killed Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, during an attack on London Bridge in November

They are supposed to ensure that the police and MI5 can protect the public from British-based fanatics who cannot be prosecuted or foreigners who cannot be deported.

They replaced the more restrictive Control Orders which were axed in 2011 after a row over human rights.

The latest figures reveal that, as of the end of November, only five TPIMs are in force. In 2013, there were nine.

Critics have warned that the diluted powers hinder efforts by counter-terror agencies to keep track of suspects through surveillance.

The UK's terror threat level is currently 'severe'  the second highest level  amid warnings that a jihadi atrocity is 'highly likely'.

Calls for stricter measures are now being made after Sudesh Amman (pictured) and Usman Khan carried out atrocities after they were released from prison

Pictured: The scene of the terror attack in Streatham by Sudesh Amman, 20, on Sunday

Calls for stricter measures come after two extremists who were released from prison carried out atrocities  Usman Khan at London Bridge in November and Sudesh Amman in Streatham on Sunday.

Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of terror legislation for ten years, said: 'The Government either needs to reinstate Control Orders, which were effective, or increase the powers available under T-Pims. It is absolutely crucial that the authorities should have the powers they need.'

David Spencer, of the Centre For Crime Prevention think-tank, said: 'It is quite staggering the Government's main anti-terrorist tool is being used so infrequently.'
Fashion World gives back to Planned Parenthood. Only One brand counters for life

It is no secret that the fashion industry is in bed with Planned Parenthood. In 2017 purple pins which read Fashion stands with Planned Parenthood were given to attendees during Fashion Week.

We are truly thrilled by the Council of Fashion Designers of Americas (CFDA) show of support for Planned Parenthood at New York Fashion Week, said Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America back in 2017.

CFDA President and CEO Steven Kolb added, Civic responsibility is an important CFDA pillar. We will raise awareness and support this fashion week and show that Fashion Stands with Planned Parenthood.

Currently over 62 fashion brands give back to Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry genuinely believes that aborting Americas children is helpful to women and the culture.

Brands like Diane Von Furstenberg, GAP, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Converse, Ann Taylor, Lauren Conrad proudly give back to Planned Parenthood.

One mom took action to counter the fashion industry for Life. Carla DAddesi and her daughters wanted to use their purchasing power to support their family values that all life must be protected. A fashion brand that gave back to pro-life organizations did not exist. Carla and her daughters began to research how to design, create and compete for life in the fashion industry. After a year of intense work, Carla and her 3 Gen Z daughters cofounded and launched the first and only pro-life fashion line in 2019. They chose the name Culture of Life 1972 (COL1972) as they wished to promote what the brand supported verses what the brand opposes. The logo 1972 honors the final year that the USA enjoyed a Culture of Life. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that our tiniest Americans could be denied the right to life. Since 1973, 60 million Americans have been denied the right to life. The brand on a mission desires to return to a Culture of Life and is using the mechanism of fashion to get there.

The fashion world glamorizes a Culture of Death by partnering with Planned Parenthood. We glamorize a Culture of Life with our brand. We believe that life is always in style and that every life is amazing! Our life tribe is growing. We are beautiful and bold. Every purchase gives back to the pro-life community. Said COL1972 CoFounder Carla DAddesi.

In just one year the pro-life fashion brand has Abby Johnson, author of unplanned, as their Global Ambassador and they have launched 6 chic and contemporary collections. They believe men are important to the Culture of Life movement and are actively working to expand the mens collection. They hope to add 2 collections in 2020 including swimwear.

The Fashion World has a history of glamorizing abortion. Notice they never say Fashion stands with abortion, as that is not glamorous. They do say we stand with Planned Parenthood, which softens their messaging of partnering with the death of Americas children. Said Carla DAddesi.

COL1972 is the only fashion brand that is countering the fashion world for life. This is a positive message that our culture needs to hear, especially in the often dark pop culture arena of the fashion world.

What are you waiting for? Join the life celebration @COL1972official on all social media and COL1972.com.

JOIN OUR LIFE TRIBE Culture of Life 1972 is inspired by LIFE! We are a squad, a posse, a tribe, a community. We are thinkers and doers. We are creative and adventuresome. We are generous and strong. We are blessed and bold. We are prayer warriors and faith-igniters who are united by the belief that every life has priceless value and great purpose. Everyone is welcome! Join us!
Editor's note: This article is part of Inc.'s 2020 Best Industries report.

In February 2017, Donovan got lost during a trip to the park. The skittish rescue dog's owner Collette Bunton spent hours frantically searching before the rat terrier mix finally found his own way home. To make sure her beloved pet would never get lost again, Bunton did some research on tracking devices, and decided to fit Donovan's collar with a device from a San Francisco-based startup called Whistle.

Fifteen months later, Bunton received a surprise phone call from Whistle: Want to be our CEO? "You probably don't know us very well," said co-founder Ben Jacobs, the voice on the other end. Bunton, a former Roku and Logitech executive, could only laugh: "I know you, and I have ideas on what kind of things we could do."

With Bunton at the helm, Whistle has become a leader in the fast-growing pet wearables industry by rapidly improving its technology for monitoring customers' furry friends. Its flagship product line of Whistle Go devices--think of them as doggy Fitbits with cellular data-enabled location tracking--used to simply report a pet's location and number of miles walked per day. Now, that data gets crunched in real time to notify you through a smartphone app when subtle changes, like decreased activity or increased scratching, could indicate a health problem.

"You can, today, do things that you couldn't do six months ago," Bunton says. "There really is a true technology and use case inflection point that's happening."

Whistle's devices cost between $100 and $130, plus a subscription fee. Whistle declined to disclose specific revenue figures, but says it has seen consistent double-digit revenue growth rates since its launch eight years ago. Business intelligence platforms Owler and ZoomInfo estimate Whistle's annual revenue at $30 million and $38.9 million, respectively.

Developments like longer-lasting batteries and 5G technology have sped advances in pet wearables, according to Ross Rubin, founder and principle analyst at consulting firm Reticle Research. The next step, he says, will be to more heavily saturate the market with affordable products: "It's just a question of finding the right combination of cost and functionality."

The pet wearables market--which includes GPS and fitness trackers, cameras, and smart clothing--is expected to grow to $1.7 billion in 2024 from $703 million in 2019, according to data from research firm MarketsandMarkets, and Whistle estimates that more than a million devices have been sold industry-wide to date.

Striving for customization

Whistle was founded in 2012 by Jacobs, fellow ex-Bain consultant Steven Eidelman, and software engineer Kevin Lloyd. Growing up, Jacobs had a German shepherd named Bear who seemed perfectly healthy, but just days later had to be put down due to intestinal twisting. The founders' idea centered not around pet tracking, but on monitoring canine activity for predictive health, which could have caught Bear's issue sooner.

The startup attracted talent from companies like Apple and Google and grew thanks to more than $20 million in venture capital funding--until 2016, when it was acquired by Mars Petcare for $117 million. Jacobs credits Mars, Inc.--one of the largest privately owned companies in the U.S.--for allowing Whistle to continue operating independently under its new corporate umbrella.

Between 2017 and 2019, the three co-founders left the company. Eidelman and Lloyd departed for other startups, and Jacobs became head of ventures and partnerships for Kinship, Mars's pet-focused startup accelerator and $100 million venture fund. Enter Bunton, who had run Roku's devices department as a senior vice president and general manager from 2012 to 2014. Upon joining Whistle in June 2018, Bunton immediately set about shifting the company's ethos to prepare for the industry's anticipated growth.

Strategically, that involved amping up services like data collection and analysis, in addition to the company's focus on hardware. For example: Whistle's Pet Insight Project, in which dog owners receive the company's newest product, a Whistle Fit, for free in return for access to that device's activity, calorie burn, and mileage data. Whistle has collected data from more than 60,000 dogs across 900-plus different breeds and mixes, which Bunton hopes will ultimately enable the app to give individualized health recommendations for every dog. "Even in my house, what my other dog, Monster, needs and what Donovan needs are different," she says.

Bunton is keenly aware of the stigma associated with data collection, and says Whistle's largely Millennial staff of about 60 employees (and eight dogs) constantly weighs in on moral and ethical considerations of issues facing the business. "It's [about] getting clearer vision on the things that matter to our users," she adds. "And you do that through the personal information that they're willing to share with you."

A competitive pack

Whistle says it's "fast approaching" a majority of the industry's market share by units sold. (The company declined to provide unit sales figures.) Still, it faces stiff competition from startups like Kansas City, Missouri-based FitBark, founded in 2013, as well as larger companies like Garmin and Motorola, which both sell pet-monitoring devices and boast financial heft on par with Mars.
This combined photo shows, from left, authors Kim Keum-hee, Choi Eun-young and Lee Ki-ho. A group of past winners and those who were chosen for runner-up prizes for this year's Yi Sang Literary Awards protested against the transfer of intellectual property rights. / Korea Times file



By Kang Hyun-kyung



Munhaksasang or "Literature & Thought," a publishing house and the organizer of the nation's prestigious Yi Sang Literary Award, broke a weeks-long silence about writers' protesting over the three-year copyright waiver it had inserted into its contracts, vowing to lift "the toxic clause."



In a statement uploaded on Facebook, Tuesday, the award organizers said they were sorry for the mishandling of the copyright issue.



"We would like to offer our sincere apology to the four authors  Kim Keum-hee, Choi Eun-young, Lee Ki-ho and Yun I-hyeong for causing trouble and hurting them," the statement read. "We also would like to apologize for disappointing our readers who love literature and books. We're so sorry."



The organizers vowed to fix the disclaimer in question which raised the ire of the writers. "We will remove all conditions runners-up had to take, in order to get the prize. From now on, the only thing those who were chosen for runner-up prizes will be asked is to answer if they are willing to take it (the prize)," the statement said.



"We also will fix the terms of conditions that grand prize winners need to agree on. The current rule stipulates that the winner must waive copyright of his or her chosen work for three years (and transfer it to Munhaksasang). This will be reduced to a one-year publishing right."



The organizers' official reaction came days after a group of past winners and those who were chosen for runner-up prizes for this year's awards protested against the transfer of intellectual property rights. Some authors who were chosen for this year's awards boycotted the awards, demanding the organizer lift the waiver requirement.



The Writers Association of Korea (WAK) joined hands with the authors.



In a statement released Monday, the WAK expressed "deep regret" about the terms and conditions which demanded those who were chosen for the prizes sign on in order to receive the awards. It said copyright is something akin to a lifeline for authors, and thus the organizers' three-year waiver request was an insult to authors.



"The organizer puts publishing rights ahead of copyright, which is unacceptable, and using intellectual rights for the purpose of marketing cannot be forgiven, either," it read.



The WAK claimed that Munhaksasang attached the toxic copyright waiver clause on the prize to undermine authors' rights. It urged the organizer to offer an apology and promise not to repeat the same mistake again.


Washington D.C. [USA], Feb 4 (ANI): India's new envoy, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, will present his credentials to US President Donald Trump on February 6 (Thursday), merely four days after arriving in the US capital.

Sandhu assumed charge as the Indian Ambassador to the United States on Monday.

Just like the previous Ambassador to the United States and now the Foreign Secretary of India, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Sandhu too is speedily scheduled for the formal ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House.

The usual wait time to present credentials in Washington can be anywhere between two to four months, given the number of embassies and envoys here.

A senior official told ANI that the prompt credentialing is of course due to President Trump's India visit later this month and also a sign of the high importance the US attaches to India, a trend that has steadily been growing stronger through successive US administrations.

Sandhu's most immediate task is President Trump's India visit, followed by keeping up the momentum in bilateral ties.

Sandhu is one of the most experienced Indian diplomats on US affairs, having served in the Indian Mission in Washington DC twice earlier. He was Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India in Washington DC from July 2013 to January 2017. Earlier, he was the First Secretary (Political) at the Embassy of India, Washington DC, responsible for liaison with the United States Congress from 1997 to 2000. He has also been at the Permanent Mission of India to United Nations, New York, from July 2005 to February 2009.

He comes to Washington from Sri Lanka where he had a remarkably successful tenure as the High Commissioner from January 2017 to January 2020. He also served at the High Commission of India, Colombo, earlier as the Head of the Political Wing from December 2000 to September 2004. Sandhu was the Consul General of India in Frankfurt from September 2011 to July 2013.

Besides this, he has worked in the Ministry of External Affairs in various capacities - as Joint Secretary (United Nations) from March 2009 to August 2011; and later as Joint Secretary (Administration) heading the Human Resource Division. He was Officer on Special Duty (Press Relations), Ministry of External Affairs, from December 1995 to March 1997, and was responsible for liaison with foreign media in India.

In a distinguished career spanning over 30 years in the Indian Foreign Service since 1988, Ambassador Sandhu started his diplomatic career from former Soviet Union (Russia) where he worked as Third Secretary (Political)/Second Secretary (Commercial) in the Indian Mission from 1990 to 1992. Following the breakup of Soviet Union, he was sent to open a new Embassy in Ukraine. He served as Head of Political and Administration Wings in Indian Embassy in Kiev from 1992 to 1994.

Born on January 23, 1963, in a family of educationists, Sandhu studied at The Lawrence School, Sanawar and graduated with History Honors from St. Stephens' College, Delhi. He pursued a Master's Degree in International Relations at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

He is married to Reenat Sandhu, who is Ambassador of India to Italy. They have two children. His interests include books, movies, and outdoor sports.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New research reveals just one-fifth of cement, aluminium, steel and paper firms are in line with Paris climate goals.

Research published on Monday shows high-emitting industries are making slow progress towards keeping global warming below two degrees Celsius.

A report from the United Kingdom-based Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) examining the steel, aluminium, cement and paper sectors found that only 19 percent of the largest, listed firms are aligned with 2015 Paris climate agreement pledges.

But in a sign of some improvement, 29 percent of companies in these heavy-emitting industries are set to line up their emissions targets with national commitments under the Paris Agreement by 2030, up from 24 percent two years ago.

Representing investors with $18 trillion under management, TPI analysed both the carbon performance and management quality of 72 companies across the four subsectors that represent the bulk of direct industrial carbon dioxide emissions.

The study was conducted at the London School of Economics by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

Very poorest performers

Edward Mason, the head of responsible investment at the Church Commissioners for England, supports TPI and uses its findings to influence financial markets.

Mason told Al Jazeera that the sectors covered are some of the hardest to decarbonise.

He described the depressing reality of many companies not even beginning to grapple with climate change after all these years and noted thats what really concerns us.

The Church Commissioners for England has set the threshold that companies need to meet to stay in our investment portfolio said Mason, who explained that his fund will jettison firms that do not comply during a round of divestments later this year.

In China, a higher percentage of companies are now disclosing their emissions, even in the high-emitting cement sector [David Stanway/Reuters]

We will be looking at the companies with the lowest TPI ratings, said Mason. Our trustees will be evaluating which ones should go on our list of exclusions.

Mason hopes that companies in divestment danger improve, and he suggested the TPI report could encourage corporations to respond more quickly to what their stakeholders are demanding for climate disclosures.

They can improve things in their annual reports for 2019, he added. This is really the last chance for the very poorest performers.

The Church Commissioners for England also belongs to the United Nations-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, an international group of investors with over $4 trillion that is working towards carbon neutrality by 2050.

Abdication of corporate risk

Faith Ward, co-chair of TPI and chief responsible investment officer at Brunel Pension Partnership in the UK, said: Industrial sectors like steel and cement face tough challenges to decouple emissions from production.

But make no mistake, these industries must transform themselves if they are to survive the low-carbon transition, Ward added. Most industrial companies are significantly off-track on climate and that is an abdication of corporate risk management.

Ward told Al Jazeera that she hoped the new findings would put pressure on [asset managers] to create, innovate and get better.

The TPI report also found that the share of industrial firms that disclose their emissions has increased from 61 percent in 2018 to 76 percent  largely driven by greater participation by firms in China and Russia.

More companies are setting long-range reduction targets, particularly in the cement and paper sectors.

In the steel industry, says TPI, companies have increased climate management quality  the way they assess and address financial risks and opportunities arising from the low-carbon transition. But when it comes to carbon performance  bringing down their bottom-line emissions numbers  there is much work to be done.

Responding to the climate emergency is an urgent priority for us as long-term investors, said Craig Martin, chief pensions officer at the Environment Agency Pension Fund.

The latest [TPI] research shows that within the industrial sector there are clear winners and losers emerging on climate, which will guide our investment decisions and engagements in the years to come, Martin added.

Steel and cement sectors

Cement and steel are by far the biggest industrial subsectors that contribute to carbon emissions.

Of steel companies, ArcelorMittal, Posco and ThyssenKrupp were among those given the highest rating for climate management quality, meaning that their strategic assessments and operational decision-making have integrated full awareness and capacity to face the crisis.

But in terms of performance, Tenaris and SSAB are leading the pack, while Nippon Steel Corp and Tata Steel are among the worst performers.

Carbon performance by steel makers is shown with companies colour-coded according to alignment with Paris goals and scaled by market capitalisation [TPI]

For aluminium firms, Alcoa Corp and Rio Tinto are among the best for climate management quality level, but Norsk Hydro is the only one with good carbon performance.

TPI says that cement firms are below average in climate management quality, but at least all cement companies have acknowledged that climate change is a business issue.

Ambuja Cements, Asia Cement Corp, Boral Limited, LafargeHolcim Ltd and Shree Cement received the top mark for management quality, whereas China National Building Material and Taiwan Cement Corp were among those with the lowest level-one rating.

With carbon performance, cement producers have watched their grades rise over the last year as companies have upped their ambition and disclosure. Alignment with Paris benchmarks rose from 10 percent to 23 percent in this subsector.

Of cement producers, Cemex and UltraTech Cement are among those not aligned with Paris goals, while Martin Marietta Materials and Fletcher Building have failed to disclose [TPI]

Paper companies largely perform poorly on management quality, and less than 40 percent of paper producers even have their operational emissions verified.

But with carbon performance, paper companies have fared better: more than half the firms are aligned with Paris pledges for 2030. Suzano, Stora Enso and DS Smith are among the top-rated.

Chemical companies were rated on management quality but not carbon performance. Only 19 percent of them undertake any sort of climate scenario planning.

The largest chemical firm by market capitalisation, DowDuPont, rated only a level one, whereas BASF Corp and Ecolab were among those to receive top marks.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 21:30:45|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China has taken measures to improve novel coronavirus prevention work and ensure safe travels during the Spring Festival travel rush as people are returning to work after the holiday.

The country's railways had transported 19,765 tonnes of epidemic control supplies by Monday evening, with total passenger trips expected at 1.3 million on Tuesday, down 88.5 percent year on year.

The Shanghai Railway Administration of the China State Railway Group Co. Ltd. has optimized inbound and outbound routes in railway stations to avoid a backlog of travelers while strengthening temperature detection.

China's civil air transport had transported 5,376 tonnes of epidemic control supplies through 5,319 flights by Monday.

China Eastern Airlines has required flight crews to wear protective clothing and complete health examinations before each flight.
A Houston man is in critical condition after being shot outside an Alief business late Monday night.

A clerk at a store in the 9000 block of Dairy Ashford Road told officers that the gunshot victim stumbled into the business around 10 p.m. with multiple gunshot wounds, Houston Police Department Lt. Larry Crowson said. Police believe he may have been shot in the parking lot, although little else was known about the attack as of late Monday night.
Barcelona's Ousmane Dembele has not played since Nov 27 (Photo: AFP/Josep LAGO)

"During this morning's training session, Ousmane Dembele felt some discomfort in his right leg as a consequence of muscle fatigue," Barcelona said in a statement. "He will continue with his rehabilitation."

Dembele has not played for Barca since Nov 27 but had been expected to return this month.

The 22-year-old has endured a spate of injuries since moving to Camp Nou from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 and has only made nine appearances this term.
Shares in Canadian lumber companies rose Tuesday on news that the U.S. government could reduce duties on softwood lumber imports in August.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Softwood lumber is pictured at Tolko Industries in Heffley Creek, B.C., on April, 1, 2018. Shares in Canadian lumber companies are on the rise on news that the U.S. government intends to cut its duties on lumber imports to single-digit levels in August. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Shares in Canadian lumber companies rose Tuesday on news that the U.S. government could reduce duties on softwood lumber imports in August.

In early trading in Toronto on Tuesday, Canfor Corp. stock rose as much as 7.5 per cent, West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. jumped by 6.2 per cent and Resolute Forest Products Inc. was up three per cent.

The shares closed at lower levels, with Canfor up 4.3 per cent, West Fraser up 2.1 per cent and Resolute down 5.2 per cent.

In a report on Monday, CIBC analyst Hamir Patel suggested average U.S. duties would drop from about US$67 per thousand board feet to about US$30 based on current pricing levels of about US$400.

"According to trade contacts, preliminary revised duty determinations from the U.S. government have been communicated to the Canadian industry," Patel said.

"We expect Canadian lumber equities to respond positively to this news as these rate revisions were better than most Canadian industry participants were expecting."

West Fraser's rate may fall from 23.6 to 9.1 per cent, Canfors from 20.5 to 4.6 per cent and Resolute's from 17.9 to 15.8 per cent, he said.

The report says the "all others" duty rate could fall to eight per cent from 20.2 per cent, but added it's not expected that Canadian companies will receive any refund or credit for overpayment until the trade dispute is resolved, something not expected for two to three years.

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A U.S. Commerce department spokesman confirmed on Tuesday that preliminary results of an administration review were issued on Monday but said the impact on softwood lumber deposit rates are not yet determined.

The U.S. imposed duties on most Canadian softwood exports in April 2017, alleging that Canada was unfairly subsidizing its industry and dumping wood into the U.S. at unfair prices.

This is the fifth time Canada and the U.S. have fought over the same issues.

In September, a joint Canada-U.S. trade panel gave the United States 90 days to rethink its tariffs, finding there was no evidence Canadian imports were causing injury to the U.S. industry.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:WFT, TSX:RFP, TSX:CFP)
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 16:21:07|Editor: yhy

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CANBERRA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Parliament resumed for 2020 on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison opening affairs by expressing sympathy and gratitude to the families of the 33 people who have died during the "Black Summer" of bushfires.

Thousands of buildings have been destroyed, more than 10 million hectares burned and wildlife devastated by the bushfires.

Morrison thanked volunteers, Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and international allies who have sent aid to Australia during the crisis.

"This is the black summer of 2019/20 that has proven our national character and our resolve. A national trauma, best described by Indigenous leaders who love our land so much as a grief for the victims; a heartache for our wildlife; and broken heart for the scarring of our land," he said.

"These fires are yet to end and danger is still before us in many, many places. But today we gather to mourn, honour, reflect and begin to learn from the black summer that continues and to give thanks for the selflessness, courage and sacrifice and generosity that met these fires time and again, and continue to."

Families of some volunteer firefighters who have died watched the proceedings.

The prime minister's leadership during the bushfires has been subjected to significant criticism, much of which stemmed from his decision to leave the country on a family holiday in December.

Speaking after Morrison, Anthony Albanese, the leader of the Opposition Labor Party, paid tribute to volunteer firefighters.
WTCI-PBS invites supporters of the Tennessee Valley community PBS station to share in a dining event on March 5 at Easy Bistro and Bar. Guests will enjoy a four-course meal, exclusive to the event, prepared by James Beard Award-nominated Chef Erik Neil, complemented by expert wine pairings.

Tickets are $175 each for seats within the main dining room and $275 each for the exclusive Chefs Table Dining Room, sponsored by Mauldin & Jenkins Certified Public Accountants. This signature event will include the dining experience, a silent auction, and WTCI-themed gifts for attendees. The proceeds from the event will support engaging programming and educational outreach in the Tennessee Valley through the work of WTCI, The Greater Chattanooga Public Television Station.

For five decades, WTCI has been providing quality, trusted programming and services that inspire and connect audiences to our community," said Bob Culkeen, president and CEO of WTCI. "The 2020 Masterpiece Experience Wine Dinner is a fantastic way to begin a year of recognition and celebration. Your support of this exciting event helps ensure top quality local and national programs and educational resources are available to our community for free through the mission of WTCI."

Tickets for this event are available at wtciTV.org/wine. Space is limited. For sponsorship opportunities and reservations, contact Brenda Orrell at 702-7804.




[February 04, 2020] Insight PA Cyber Charter School Earns State Grant from PA Smart Initiative to Help Prepare Students for Careers in IT

Insight Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School (Insight PA), an online public school, has earned a state grant that will help students prepare for careers in information technology. Insight PA serves more than 2,000 students across Pennsylvania, and the grant will help expand the school's computer science program for kindergarteners through twelfth graders. "In order for our students to be adequately prepared for an ever-growing and fast-paced economy, it's vital they have the education and skills needed to meet the needs of our future workforce," said Barry King, director of Career and Technical Education at Insight PA. "This grant will make a significant impact, both in the classroom, and in preparing our students for a career in the IT field." Insight PA's computer science program will now also provide students with exposure to coding classes through BSD Education, an international company that helps schools integrate grade-appropriate technology into the classoom. Students will have access to lessons in artificial intelligence, app and gaming development, and computer programming in Python, C++, JavaScript, Java, and Unity. Additionally, high schoolers will have the opportunity to enroll in AP Computer Science Principles.



The state grant is part of Gov. Tom Wolf's PA Smart Initiative, which supports computer science and STEM education and professional development at elementary, middle and high schools. Insight PA is one of 163 school districts, charter schools and intermediate units that were recently awarded a combined $5.7 million from the program. "PA Smart is strategically investing in science and technology education, so students develop the skills they need for high-demand jobs," Wolf noted in a news release. "To be successful, we must also invest in our educators by providing them the training to teach these critical subjects."

This PA Smart Grant prioritizes expanding access to computer science for underrepresented students across Pennsylvania. All Insight PA students will have access to this technology regardless of where they live. "PA Smart grants help train educators so they are providing high-quality STEM and computer science instruction and experiences in their classrooms to students of all ages, including those who have been historically underserved and underrepresented in these opportunities and fields," State Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera said. About Insight Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School Insight Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School (Insight PA) is an online public charter school authorized by the Pennsylvania Department of Education that serves students in grades K through 12th grade. As part of the Pennsylvania public school system, Insight PA is public school, giving parents and families the choice to access the engaging curriculum and tools provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about Insight PA, visit pa.insightschools.net. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005058/en/

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In light of the world coronavirus emergency, more than 175 Ontario health workers have signed an open letter urging the Ford government to restore paid sick day policies that were cancelled a year ago.

Public health officials recommend that if you have mild cold-like symptoms, you should stay home while sick, says the letter by the Decent Work and Health Network.

However, recent labour law changes under the Ford government mean that workers cannot follow this advice, says the letter sent Tuesday to the premier, Health Minister Christine Elliott and Labour Minister Monte McNaughton.

Evidence shows paid sick days are a vital measure to decrease the spread of illness and ensure proper recovery, says the letter, signed by doctors, nurses, personal support workers and public health workers.

In the context of recent concerns with the novel coronavirus in Ontario, we consider the current provincial labour laws to be a serious threat to the health and safety of Ontarians, adds the letter, also copied to other provincial and federal health officials, including Ontarios chief medical officer of health, the public health officer of Canada, Public Health Ontario and Torontos medical officer of health.

In January 2019, the Ford government reduced job-protected personal emergency leave from 10 to eight days, with no paid sick days. (Reforms enacted a year earlier by the previous Wynne government allowed two paid sick days.)

Unpaid personal emergency leave was further restricted by allowing just three days for personal illness, three days for a family emergency and two days for bereavement. Previously, workers could use emergency leave as required.

The province also restored a provision allowing employers to require sick notes from health providers before workers can take emergency leave. The move was criticized by the medical profession as an unnecessary burden on the health-care system and counter to good public health.

Requiring sick notes goes against all public health advice that urges people with mild illnesses to rest at home and not expose others to infection, particularly vulnerable patients at busy medical clinics, said network co-ordinator Carolina Jimenez, a registered nurse. Since the notes are not covered by OHIP, the policy also disadvantages low-income workers who may already be losing a days pay, she added.

A spokesperson for McNaughton defended the governments changes.

This legislation does not make medical notes a requirement. Instead, employers are now given the option to confirm whether a worker is unable to work due to illness when they believe it is appropriate to do so, Bradley Metlin said in an email.

We believe this is a balanced and fair approach, he added. We will continue to follow the direction of Ontarios chief medical officer of health for managing the coronavirus.

Many workers cannot follow their health-care providers recommendations to stay home and rest because it means losing wages, said Jimenez.

This is particularly problematic for low-wage workers such as food handlers, staff in acute care or long-term care facilities and those caring for young children, she added.

Not only are they risking their own health by not taking care of themselves at home, but they are putting others at risk.

For example, Jimenez recently advised a receptionist with chills and nausea to stay home, but she continued to work because losing pay meant she would have trouble paying rent.

Instead of being sick for two or three days, the womans illness dragged on for more than 10 days. She actually became quite ill, said Jimenez, who also has a masters degree in public health. All the while, she was infecting people coming into the clinic as well as co-workers.

Medical studies consistently show people with no sick leave are more likely to go to work and expose others to infection, she noted.

Research also shows that if these workers have children who are sick, they have no choice but to send them to school sick because they cant afford to stay home with them or to pay for a babysitter, the letter adds.

A lack of paid sick days results in children and adults transmitting infections at school and work, exacerbating contagion throughout the province, it says.

A U.S. study of the H1N1 virus outbreak in the fall of 2009 found nearly eight million infected employees in the U.S. took no time off work, likely due to the lack of paid sick days. The study estimates an additional seven million people were subsequently infected by those ill workers.

Two of five private sector employees have no access to paid sick days, leaving the nation ill-prepared for the H1N1 swine flu pandemic or for future outbreaks of contagious diseases, says the 2010 study by the Institute for Womens Policy Research.

Last September, Canadas federal government introduced five job-protected personal emergency days  including three that are paid  for workers in federally regulated industries such as banks, airlines and telecommunications.

Quebec also gives all workers five days of job-protected emergency leave, including two paid days.

Meanwhile, Ontario workers have no legislated right to paid sick days. They have just three days of unpaid job-protected leave for personal illness and may be required to provide a sick note in order to access that leave, the letter says.

The health workers say the Ford government should reinstate 10 days of flexible personal emergency leave with seven of those days paid. They are also calling for a ban on sick notes.

The novel coronavirus, first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, has spread to 26 countries and prompted the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency.

Ontario confirmed its first case on Jan. 27 in a man who had just returned from Wuhan. Since then, there have been two more confirmed cases, including the spouse of the first case and one in London, Ont. All have recovered or are recovering.

There are currently 29 people in Ontario under investigation for the virus, including three cases expected to test negative. All had travelled to Wuhan.

Although the risk in Ontario remains low, Dr. David Williams, Ontarios chief medical officer of health, told reporters Monday the province continues to be vigilant.

With files from Rob Ferguson

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Factories and warehouses have been two of the biggest markets for robots in the last several years, with machines taking on mundane, if limited, processes to speed up work and free up humans to do other, more complex tasks. Now, a startup out of Poland that is widening the scope of what those robots can do is announcing funding, a sign not just of how robotic technology has been evolving, but of the growing demand for more automation, specifically in the world of logistics and fulfilment.

Nomagic, which has developed way for a robotic arm to identify an item from an unordered selection, pick it up and then pack it into a box, is today announcing that it has raised $8.6 million in funding, one of the largest-ever seed rounds for a Polish startup. Co-led by Khosla Ventures and Hoxton Ventures, the round also included participation from DN Capital, Capnamic Ventures and Manta Ray, all previous backers of Nomagic.

There are a number of robotic arms on the market today that can be programmed to pick up and deposit items from Point A to Point B. But we are only starting to see a new wave of companies focus on bringing these to fulfilment environments because of the limitations of those arms: they can only work when the items are already "ordered" in a predictable way, such as on an assembly line, which has mean that fulfilment of, for example, online orders is usually carried out by humans.

Nomagic has incorporated a new degree of computer vision, machine learning and other AI-based technologies to elevate the capabilities of those robotic arm. Robots powered by its tech can successfully select items from an "unstructured" group of objects -- that is, not an assembly line, but potentially another box -- before picking it up and placing it elsewhere.

Kacper Nowicki, the ex-Googler CEO of Nomagic who co-founded the company with Marek Cygan (an academic) and Tristan d'Orgeval (formerly of Climate Corporation), noted that while there has been some work on the problem of unstructured objects and industrial robots -- in the US, there are some live implementations taking shape, with one, Covariant, recently exiting stealth mode -- it has been mostly a "missing piece" in terms of the innovation that has been done to make logistics and fulfilment more efficient.

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That is to say, there has been little in the way of bigger commercial roll outs of the technology, creating an opportunity in what is a huge market: fulfilment services are projected to be a $56 billion market by 2021 (currently the US is the biggest single region, estimated at between $13.5 billion and $15.5 billion).

"If every product were a tablet or phone, you could automate a regular robotic arm to pick and pack," Nowicki said. "But if you have something else, say something in plastic, or a really huge diversity of products, then that is where the problems come in."

Nowicki was a longtime Googler who moved from Silicon Valley back to Poland to build the company's first engineering team in the country. In his years at Google, Nowicki worked in areas including Google Cloud and search, but also saw the AI developments underway at Google's DeepMind subsidiary, and decided he wanted to tackle a new problem for his next challenge.

His interest underscores what has been something of a fork in artificial intelligence in recent years. While some of the earliest implementations of the principles of AI were indeed on robots, these days a lot of robotic hardware seems clunky and even outmoded, while much more of the focus of AI has shifted to software and "non-physical" systems aimed at replicating and improving upon human thought. Even the word "robot" is now just as likely to be seen in the phrase "robotic process automation", which in fact has nothing to do with physical robots, but software.

"A lot of AI applications are not that appealing," Nowicki simply noted (indeed, while Nowicki didn't spell it out, DeepMind in particular has faced a lot of controversy over its own work in areas like healthcare). "But improvements in existing robotics systems by applying machine learning and computer vision so that they can operate in unstructured environments caught my attention. There has been so little automation actually in physical systems, and I believe it's a place where we still will see a lot of change."

Interestingly, while the company is focusing on hardware, it's not actually building hardware per se, but is working on software that can run on the most popular robotic arms in the market today to make them "smarter".

"We believe that most of the intellectual property in in AI is in the software stack, not the hardware," said Orgeval. "We look at it as a mechatronics problem, but even there, we believe that this is mainly a software problem."

Having Khosla as a backer is notable given that a very large part of the VC's prolific investing has been in North America up to now. Nowicki said he had a connection to the firm by way of his time in the Bay Area, where before Google, Vinod Khosla backed a startup of his (which went bust in one of the dot-com downturns).

While there is an opportunity for Nomagic to take its idea global, for now Khosla's interested because of the a closer opportunity at home, where Nomagic is already working with third-party logistics and fulfilment providers, as well as retailers like Cdiscount, a French Amazon-style, soup-to-nuts online marketplace.

The Nomagic team has made significant strides since its founding in 2017, says Sven Strohband, Managing Director of Khosla Ventures, in a statement. Theres a massive opportunity within the European market for warehouse robotics and automation, and NoMagic is well-positioned to capture some of that market share.
The World Health Organization is "the most scientific, authoritative organization (on health issues), and I believe that we can base our decisions on WHO recommendations," Xing said.

Xing, who only arrived here last week wearing a surgical mask, called for public support but declined to comment on Seoul's travel restrictions from Wuhan and surrounding Hubei Province effective since Tuesday.

New Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming on Tuesday gave a press conference at the Chinese Embassy on the coronavirus outbreak in the world's most populous country.

He also expressed thanks for Seoul's assistance to China after Korea sent some 2 million masks and other medical supplies to Wuhan along with US$5 million in aid to help the country fight the outbreak. Korea, "through various channels, has sent messages supporting China in its fight against the contagious disease," he said. "We will not forget this warm support."

The government hopes that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Seoul in June once the coronavirus scare is over.

A day earlier, Beijing harshly criticized Washington for banning Chinese visitors. "There is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel," said Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. She added the U.S. has "inappropriately overreacted."

Meanwhile, Korea on Tuesday confirmed its 16th case of coronavirus infection. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the patient is a woman in her early 40s who had returned from a trip to Thailand on Jan. 19 and started feeling sick about a week later. Her condition has not improved and she tested positive for the disease on Tuesday.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 19:43:31|Editor: yhy

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RABAT, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Moroccan security seized 343 kg of cannabis in Bab Ceuta, the northern checkpoint with Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in Morocco, official news agency MAP report on Tuesday.

The banned substance was concealed inside a car, which was about to head to Spain, said the report, adding that the driver, a Frenchman of Moroccan origin aged 47, was arrested.

The operation, carried out by police and customs services using police dogs on late Monday, is part of a comprehensive and integrated action plan, aimed at tightening control mechanisms, as well as thwarting attempts to smuggle illegal products and drugs, the report said.

Despite efforts to crack down on cannabis cultivation during the past decade, Morocco remains one of the world's largest producers of the narcotic plant, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

TOKYO, Feb 4, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu today announced that it has received an order for the next generation of supercomputer system from Nagoya University's Information Technology Center. The system is scheduled to start operation in July 2020.For the first time in the world, this system will adopt 2,304 nodes of the Fujitsu Supercomputer PRIMEHPC FX1000(1), which utilizes the technology of the supercomputer Fugaku developed jointly with RIKEN. In addition, a cluster system, connecting 221 nodes of the latest x86 servers Fujitsu Server PRIMERGY CX2570 M5(2) in parallel, as well as storage systems are connected by a high-speed interconnect. The sum of the theoretical computational performance of the entire system is 15.88 petaflops(3), making it one of the highest performing systems in Japan.As a national joint usage/research center, the Information Technology Center of Nagoya University provides computing resources for academic use to researchers and private companies nationwide. It is currently operating a supercomputer system consisting of Fujitsu Supercomputer PRIMEHPC FX100 and other components. This time, the Center is planning to innovate the system in order to fulfill the large-scale calculation demand from researchers in joint usage nationwide, as well as the new calculation requirement for supercomputers represented by data science. Fujitsu won the order for this system in recognition of its proposal that concentrates the technical capabilities of Fujitsu and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd.With the new system, Nagoya University's Information Technology Center will contribute to various research and development activities. These include the conventional simulation of numerical computation to unravel the mechanism of typhoons and design new drugs. Moreover, the new system will develop a technology in the medical field that supports diagnoses and treatment, while apply AI in developing automatic driving technology.Fujitsu will continue to support the activities of the Center with its technology and experience nurtured through the development and offering of world-class supercomputers. By providing PRIMEHPC FX1000 worldwide, the company will also contribute to solving social issues, accelerating leading-edge research, and strengthening corporate advantages.Comment by Kensaku Mori, Director, The Information Technology Center of Nagoya UniversityIn recent years, the digitization of university education and research activities has increased the demand for computing. In addition to such areas as extreme weather including super typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis, which are closely related to the safety and security of people's lives, chemical fields such as molecular structure and drug discovery, and simulations in basic sciences such as space and elementary particles, there is an ever-increasing demand for computing in the fields of medicine and mobility, including artificial intelligence and machine learning. Also important are the data consumed and generated in computing, the networks that connect them, and the visualization of knowledge discovery from computing and data. Equipped with essential functions for such digital science in universities, the new supercomputer will be offered not only to Nagoya University but also to universities and research institutes nationwide, contributing to the further development of academic research in Japan.(1) Fujitsu Supercomputer PRIMEHPC FX1000 Features the CPU A64FX adopting Scalable Vector Extension (SVE) which is an extension of the Arm v8-A architecture for supercomputers. It achieves high performance per power as well as high computational efficiency due to the high memory bandwidth of HBM2 (High Bandwidth Memory), a high-performance stacked memory.(2) Fujitsu Server PRIMERGY CX2570 M5 Fujitsu's latest x86 server. It has a 2nd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable Processors and the NVIDIA V100 Tensor Core GPU that is ideal for AI and deep learning applications, with high bandwidth, energy efficient interconnect NVIDIA NVLink between the GPUs. PRIMERGY CX 2570 M5 is equipped with up to 4 GPU computing cards per server and connects them via NVIDIA NVLink for ultra-fast communication.(3) Petaflops Short for peta floating-point operations per second. Peta is an SI prefix indicating one quadrillion, or 10 to the power of 15, indicating performance of one quadrillion floating-point operations per second.About Fujitsu LtdFujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 132,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (Code: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.0 trillion yen (US $36 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019.For more information, please see www.fujitsu.com.Source: Fujitsu LtdCopyright 2020 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Congress leader on Tuesday accused the BJP-led government of having become "a tukde-tukde gang", saying they are dividing the country into Hindu versus Muslims, traitor versus patriot, us versus them, and remarked that while the country saw partition of Indian soil in 1947, the ruling dispensation was "giving us a partition of the Indian soul".

Participating in the debate in Lok Sabha on the motion of thanks to the President's Address, Tharoor made a strong attack on the government, saying it has driven the economy to doldrums and there was an "existential threat to the future of democracy and the freedoms".

He alleged that the government had selectively quoted Mahatama Gandhi in the address.

He said the address was "soaring rhetoric and was completely divorced from the abject reality of our country's social and economic situation".

"It failed to even speak of the constitutional and political crises that our country is facing in the face of nationwide protests. It was not just disappointing, but an abdication of any moral responsibility by the ruling dispensation," he said.

The Congress leader said the "government holds the record for the largest number of internet shutdowns in Jammu and Kashmir and the longest communications blockade and internet suspensions on any country in the world".

"There was no acknowledgment of the 27 protesters killed by the police, the mounting Non-Performing Assets, the record pollution levels in our air and water, the increasing assaults on women," he said.

Noting that the prolonged detention of political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir continues, he said there has been an increase in infiltrations across the LoC since August when Article 370 was revoked and Jammu and Kashmir bifurcated into two union territories.

He said there was a "larger crisis that is holding hostage the future of India" and there has been "a fundamental assault on the democratic, secular and constitutional fabric of India" under the government in the last few months.

"Even as they have driven the economy into the doldrums, the present ruling dispensation has become a tukde-tukde gang. They are dividing this country into tukde - Hindu versus Muslims, traitor versus partriot, Hindi speakers versus non-Hindi speakers, and us versus them. In 1947, we had a partition of the Indian soil. In 2020, this Government is giving us a partition of the Indian soul," Tharoor said.

Tharoor said the RTI Act had been disembowelled and UAPA Bill passed had "draconian measures". He also referred to Jammu and Kashmir Re-organisation Bill, the Citizenship Amendment Act and statements made by the ruling party Members outside the parliament.

"To you, that is the old India and you want to replace it with a hollow facade that you have dubbed the new India. In the old India, fought for by the blood of our forefathers and birthed in the crucible of our struggle, the fundamental premise that was ultimately forged was that of access to a historically inalienable set of rights and freedoms," he said.

He said these freedoms were embedded not just in the letter of the law but in the spirit of the Constitution and in the lived experience of India and its people.

"In today's times, that vision of India is questioned by rising intolerance, in which the forces unleashed by our present rulers have appropriated the tools of the State to marginalise and exclude. For, after all, they made no sacrifices to shape India's destiny, and for them, our country is a plaything for the satisfaction of personal glories, for their narrow-minded ideology, and their communal prejudices," he alleged.

He accused the government of misleading the Rashtrapati about the 'Rashtrapita' by merely reproducing a line without its context and it was another affront to a man who spent his lifetime advocating for Hindu-Muslim unity.

Tharoor cited Gandhi as saying "to drive every Muslim from India would mean war and eternal ruin for the country. If such a suicidal policy is followed, it would spell the ruin of Hinduism in the Union. Good alone can beget good. Love breeds love. As for revenge, it behaves man to leave the evil-doer in God's hands. The idea that India should only belong to Hindus is wrong. That way lies destruction."

"Destruction is the path you want to take us on. I am anguished as I say these words," he said.

"We must prevail in this greater struggle for the soul and the spirit of our nation," he said.

The Congress leader said if the Government continues down "this very slippery slope, they will be exposed and history will see them for what they really are - men of straw with limited vision, unable to comprehend the great, diverse, united society they are meant to govern, not to divide and break up".

He accused the government of trying to bring "uniformity and conformity".

"Our ideology binds the people of India together, theirs separates one Indian from another," he said.
A woman chose to call the police after her pet python wrapped itself around her hand and refused to let go.

The pet owner, from Mermaid Waters in Queensland, called police as a last resort on Sunday to report the incident.

Despite the petty nature of the call-out, two police officers eventually arrived at her house and got to work freeing the snake.

A Queensland woman called upon the help of police officers (pictured) when her pet python latched onto her hand as she was trying to feed it

'Now is it pet friendly?' one officer says in the bodycam footage.

The woman assures him the snake, which she named Monty, is friendly and had 'never acted' like that before.

'Has it eaten?' the officer asks.

'I was just about to feed him. I just dropped the rat there in the cage,' she replies.

The officers manage to find a reptile-handling hook to try and uncoil the snake which had constricted over the woman's entire hand.

'I feel like an idiot,' the woman says.

'No no thats okay. See its already happening now,' he reassures her as the snake starts to move.

She told the officers the snake had never reacted in this way before and she had only just thrown a rat into the cage when it latched onto her hand

At one point the officer asks his partner if he has any experience with snakes only to be told 'no.'

The senior officer then uses a digital tablet as a shield to prevent the snake biting him as he continues to try and uncoil it from the woman's hand.

Eventually the snake starts to uncoil and all three work together to wrangle it back into the cage.

Once the snake is back in the cage the second officer asks to see the woman's hand for damage.
OAKLAND (BCN)

An 18-year-old student was charged with special circumstances murder on Monday for his role in the death of a man who tried to get back his laptop computer, which was stolen while he worked in a coffee shop in Oakland's Montclair district last month.

Kejuan Wiggins, who was arrested at his home on Vidal Drive in San Francisco, near San Francisco State University, at 3:30 p.m. last Thursday, is the third suspect to be charged in the death of 34-year-old Shuo Zeng in the 2000 block of Mountain Boulevard shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 31.

Previously, Byron OJ Reed Jr. 22, of San Francisco, was charged with murder and the special circumstance of committing a murder during a robbery and 21-year-old Javon Lee was charged with involuntary manslaughter and both men were charged with second-degree robbery.

Wiggins was charged with murder, the special circumstance of committing a murder during the course of a robbery, and second-degree robbery.

Oakland police initially said surveillance video showed two individuals snatching a laptop from Zeng and then fleeing into a waiting vehicle.

Zeng chased the suspects to their getaway vehicle, which authorities believe Reed was driving, and a struggle ensued but he was struck by the vehicle and ultimately succumbed to his injuries, police said.

Oakland police Officer Gerald Moriarty wrote in a probable cause statement that police believe Wiggins was the person who grabbed Zeng's laptop.

Moriarty said police identified Wiggins after recovering the BMW X3 car associated with the theft and homicide, finding his DNA near the handle of a rear passenger door.

Police previously said witness statements and a review of surveillance camera footage indicated that Lee was one of the people involved in taking Zeng's laptop and his actions facilitated the robbery and homicide.

Witness statements and surveillance footage also showed that Reed was the driver of the getaway vehicle, police said.

Moriarty wrote that a witness told police that the suspect who took the laptop kicked Zeng to get him out of the BMW while the driver accelerated.

Moriarty said after Wiggins was arrested he confessed to being the suspect who took Zeng's laptop.

Reed and Lee were arrested at Reed's sister's home in the 9400 block of MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland at 4 p.m. on Dec. 31.

According to Zeng's LinkedIn profile, he was a native of China, graduated with a degree in physics from Sichuan University and got a doctorate at Kansas State University.

Zeng's profile indicated that he moved to the Bay Area in 2015 to work for Aspera, an IBM company in Emeryville, as a research scientist and engineer.

Wiggins was arraigned on Monday afternoon but his next court date isn't yet listed. Reed and Lee are scheduled to return to court on Feb. 11 to enter pleas.

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Police believe that a man whose body was dumped in the bush on the South Coast over the weekend was in the small town of Broulee to meet a man he connected with on dating app Grindr.

A bushwalker made the gruesome discovery of a man's body in bushland in Broulee on Sunday afternoon, and called emergency services just before 5pm.

Police want to speak to anyone in the Canberra or Batemans Bay areas who saw the Honda Jazz on Sunday. Credit:NSW Police Media

The State Crime Command's Homicide Squad and the South Coast Police District have formed Strike Force Henrick to investigate the man's death, which investigators believe is suspicious.

"A post mortem will be conducted this week, but detectives are treating this as a suspicious death," Homicide Squad commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty told reporters on Tuesday.
Authorities tried to gain access to Ancestry's massive DNA database with a search warrant last year, the genealogy company has revealed in its transparency report. Ancestry divulged the information requests it received from law enforcement in 2019 in the report, noting that it complied with six of the nine valid requests. It challenged the warrant on jurisdictional grounds, though, and refused to give authorities access to its database.

Ancestry told BuzzFeed News that the warrant came from a court in Pennsylvania, though it didn't say what case it was for. It did tell the publication, however, that the warrant "was improperly served" and that it didn't "provide any access or customer data in response." The company also noted in its report that it refused numerous other inquiries, because the requestors didn't go through the appropriate legal process.

As BuzzFeed News explains, it was only a matter of time before the authorities start serving Ancestry with search warrants. Cops have started using genealogy websites to solve cold cases in the past few years, especially after California police arrested who they believe was the "Golden State Killer." They were able to make an arrest after uploading the suspect's DNA profile to free genealogy website GEDMatch, which connected them to his distant relatives.

GEDMatch became law enforcement agencies' go-to genealogy website, even after it changed its policy so that authorities can only search for users who specifically allow the police to see their profiles. However, GEDMatch's database only contains information on over a million users, making it a much smaller counterpart to Ancestry's, which contains 15 to 16 million DNA profiles.

By gaining access to Ancestry's database, authorities will have a much larger chance of finding suspects for decades-old cases. This likely won't be the last time the website will receive a search warrant seeking access to its DNA records, even though the company previously vowed to protect users' genetic privacy. It recently updated its privacy statement to add that "Ancestry does not voluntarily cooperate with law enforcement." Further, it assured customers that the company does not "allow law enforcement to use Ancestry's services to investigate crimes or to identify human remains."
BEIRUT (AP)  A military investigative judge charged a Lebanese-American man with murder and torture of Lebanese citizens Tuesday, crimes he allegedly committed during Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, judicial officials said. The accusations could carry a death sentence.

Amer Fakhoury is accused of working as a senior warden at Khiam Prison, which was run by an Israel-backed Lebanese militia. The prison has been described by human rights groups as a center for torture. He was detained in September after he returned to his native Lebanon from the U.S., and Lebanon's intelligence service says he confessed during questioning to being a warden.

However, Fakhoury's lawyer and family in New Hampshire say that, while he was indeed a member of the Israel-backed militia and worked at the prison, they insist he had no direct contact with inmates and was never involved in the interrogation or torture of prisoners

Fakhoury, 57, is also undergoing cancer treatment, and it remains unclear if he'll be able to stand trial. The restaurant owner from Dover, New Hampshire, became a U.S. citizen last year.

We have a dying American citizen there," said his lawyer, Celine Atallah. By keeping him there, it's evident they're trying to kill him."

The Lebanese judicial officials said Tuesday that the judge, Najat Abu Shakra, referred Fakhoury for trial in a military court. No date was set for the tribunal. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The officials said Abu Shakra charged Fakhoury with "murder and attempted murder of prisoners inside Khiam Prison as well as kidnapping and torture." The prison, run by the so-called South Lebanon Army, was abandoned after Israeli forces pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2000, ending an 18-year occupation.

Human rights groups have said in the past that Khiam Prison was a site of torture and detention without trial. Israel denies the allegations.

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However, Fakhoury's lawyer and family have said he was never named when extensive investigations of Khiam Prison were conducted years ago. His family said that, as a former member of the SLA, he was charged alongside many others with collaborating with Israel. That charge was dropped in 2018, they said.

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire began drafting sanctions legislation against Lebanese officials last month in order to push for Fakhoury's release.

There has been no evidence to substantiate the charges against Amer Fakhoury and his health condition is dire," Shaheen said in a statement Tuesday. Time is of the essence and the Lebanese government needs to understand there will be consequences for his continued detention."

Lebanon and Israel have been officially at war since Israel's creation in 1948. Lebanon bans it citizens from traveling to Israel or having contact with Israelis.

The judge also dropped charges Tuesday of dealing with and visiting Israel, saying the incidents were outdated because two decades have passed, the officials said.

But the new charges also are outdated and the judges are not being impartial, Fakhoury's lawyer said.

If they simply apply their own laws, he shouldn't be charged with anything," Atallah said.

The charges by the investigative judge were separate from a lawsuit against Fakhoury filed by former inmates at Khiam Prison. He's being questioned in that case about alleged human rights abuses. The questioning was supposed to take place on Monday, but was postponed until Feb. 17 because Fakhoury is undergoing chemotherapy.

Fakhourys family said doctors have said his condition is life-threatening. In addition to an infection and a bleeding disorder, doctors believe he's developed an aggressive form of lymphoma.

I just call more on the U.S. to interfere and stop this injustice," his daughter, Guila Fakhoury, said Tuesday.

A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. Embassy in Beirut continues to monitor Fakhoury's case, and most recently visited him on Jan. 30.

We are concerned about his welfare, as doctors report his health is failing and he requires urgent specialized medical treatment. We have raised these concerns at all appropriate levels with the Lebanese government," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Hundreds of former Lebanese members of the SLA militia had fled to Israel, fearing reprisals if they remained in Lebanon. Others stayed and faced trial, receiving lenient sentences. Fakhoury's lawyer and family say he fled Lebanon in 2001 through Israel and eventually to the U.S.

____

McCormack contributed from Concord, N.H.
A pregnant woman was shot in a possible home invasion near Katy late Monday night, but both she and the man who took her to the hospital arent cooperating with police, an investigator told reporters.

Detectives with the Harris County Sheriffs Office believe the woman was shot around 11:30 p.m. at a home in the 22500 block of Auburn Valley Lane, which is near Grand Parkway and Clay Road in west Harris County. A man who was also at the home at the time of the shooting took her to a nearby hospital, where she was last listed as stable, according to HCSO detective Wallace Wyatt.
Seamus Mallon had this to say about Gerry Adams, who is adulated by Mary Lou McDonald and Sinn Fein: "I just can't be in the same room with him. I don't want to be. There is just something about him that I recoil from. He has his hand in too many awful events."

Mary Lou McDonald's Sinn Fein has never apologised, never mind atoned, for any of these "awful events".

Micheal Martin has made it clear he cannot bear to be in government with Sinn Fein, as long as it continues to condone these same awful events.

But, far from praising a politician with principles, most of the media seems to resent Martin taking a moral stand against coalition with Sinn Fein.

That media agenda was set by RTE, the primary patron of political pundits who toe the Montrose line to stay on the invitation list.

Last Friday, Sean O'Rourke's panel rounded on Martin for rejecting Sinn Fein. Neither presenter, nor panel, made any attempt to look at the merits of Martin's stance.

Later, Bryan Dobson, who had smiled benignly at Leo Varadkar in a light interview last week, stared stonily at Micheal Martin, asked second-rate questions and seldom let him finish a sentence.

Dobson's failure to delve into Martin's moral problem with Sinn Fein reflected RTE's reluctance to deal with the three main reasons for rejecting Sinn Fein in government.

First, it is now widely accepted that Sinn Fein is influenced by an outside group which includes members of the IRA army council.

Second, as long as Sinn Fein condones the Provisional IRA campaign, its presence in the Republic's government would make the state retrospectively complicit in IRA atrocities.

Finally, it would remove credible objections to the recurring IRA, which could reasonably hope for a similar absolution.

Luckily for the future of Irish democracy, Micheal Martin's reservations are shared by most politically alert people in the Irish Republic and supported by the heavyweights on his shadow front bench.

Unlike Fine Gael chief whip Regina Doherty, Fianna Fail's Dara Calleary, Jim O'Callaghan, Michael McGrath, Lisa Chambers and Barry Cowen have been rock-solid in rejecting Sinn Fein.

Incredibly, our gullible commentators seem to believe that Sinn Fein, in government, would give us a green Shangri-La. But what I see are dark shadows and dangers. Let me list them as follows.

Unlike our gullible Generation X, these gardai know the Provisional IRA has never gone away and is still pursuing its historical agenda at many levels

The army council of the IRA still exists and actively pursues the same agenda: to control the levers of state power, north and south.

The army council views Sinn Fein as its political arm and expects the ard comhairle to act accordingly.

The army council's influence on Sinn Fein is supplemented by the party's militaristic code of decision-making, which allows deceptively minor functionaries to act like political commissars.

The army council will urge Sinn Fein in government to seek ministries such as education, and communications, to legitimise their sectarian war against the Irish people.

The army council would ask Sinn Fein ministers in government to seek access to police intelligence and affect policing policy.

Goodbye to a crackdown on the crime empires of former comrades along the border.

The army council, which influenced the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly, will also influence when Sinn Fein pulls the plug on its coalition partner.

The army council will influence Sinn Fein in ramping up pressure at home and abroad to end partition, regardless of the wishes of Ulster unionists.

The army council will influence Sinn Fein to keep up Irish government pressure, even if it creates conflict on the island.

The army council believes such a crisis will lead to a British withdrawal, but it's much more likely to lead to prolonged sectarian violence.

Lest you think the above thesis far-fetched, I sent it through channels to some retired senior members of the Garda who specialised in subversion. They thought it a generally accurate analysis of the Provisional IRA's project to secure state power, north and south.

Unlike our gullible Generation X, these gardai know the Provisional IRA has never gone away and is still pursuing its historical agenda at many levels.

But, thanks to their craven dependence on RTE, many journalists now feel it's a social faux-pas to support Micheal Martin's concerns about Sinn Fein in government.

When you get away from the metropolitan media, however, you find most people privately support Martin's stance.

Irish people with a moral compass think a party that still weasels about the murder of Tom Oliver is not likely to be squeamish about abusing state power.

My fear of an IRA-influenced Sinn Fein with state power is rational and rooted in lived experience.

Like most of my family, I was reared a republican, but I clearly recall the first two murders that caused my lasting moral revulsion against the Provo IRA.

On September 16, 1974, Martin McBirney, a Protestant lawyer married to a Catholic, was shot dead at breakfast at his home in Belfast.

McBirney was a Labour democrat. His play on Daniel O'Connell was broadcast a few weeks before his murder.

On that same day, the IRA shot dead a Catholic judge, Rory Conaghan, in front of his eight-year-old daughter, in their home on the Malone Road.

They did this despite Justice Conaghan having a record in awarding damages against the Army and RUC for assaults arising from internment.

In spite of Sinn Fein still defending that foul murder campaign, most of our media spent the past three weeks castigating Micheal Martin for daring to draw attention to it.

In doing so, Martin is following in the footsteps of Eamon de Valera, who loathed the later IRA and used the full force of the state to crush it.

Most Irish people still respond to that rarest of political virtues: responsible moral leadership

Luckily for democracy, the media is out of touch with middle Ireland, which won't give Sinn Fein a mandate for government until it cleans house.

Come election day, the silent moral majority will reward Martin for acting with good authority by supporting his view that Sinn Fein is not just another normal political party.

Most Irish people still respond to that rarest of political virtues: responsible moral leadership.

As Christianity retreats from the public sphere, people want politicians who can act as moral guardians.

Micheal Martin has remodelled the Fianna Fail party in accordance with his own ideals of decency, civility and moral integrity. His honest personality and republican pluralism is the foundation of a new public trust in Fianna Fail.

I believe Martin's republican tolerance will be reciprocated by the real Arlene Foster revealed by Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late Show by simply asking her the right questions, in the right way, and letting her finish her replies.

My prayer for Ireland is that on Sunday, February 9, it will keep the wrong ones out and let the right ones in.

Eoghan Harris is a Dublin-based political commentator
Early today, on its South Korean website, Samsung posted that the Galaxy Home Mini will be released in South Korea on February 12th for 99,000 KRW, approximately $83. The post has since been removed, but it was online long enough to give us a few new details about the Galaxy Home Mini and suggest that rumors the device will arrive in early 2020 could be true.

According to the release, captured by Android Police, the Galaxy Home Mini will support Bixby voice commands. You'll be able to send and receive messages without connecting your smartphone. It can leverage external sensors to detect emergencies, like fires or leaks, and provide notifications when an appliance isn't working. It will offer some of the sound benefits that the yet-to-arrive Galaxy Home first bragged about, thanks to AKG speakers.

This news lines up with what we've heard and suggests Samsung might announce the smart speaker at its Unpacked event next week. Though, we should remind you that Samsung first announced the bigger Galaxy Home 18 months ago, and the device still isn't available. While we did see the larger Galaxy Home at CES 2019, it wasn't included in Samsung's last Unpacked event, and we're not sure yet if it's in the lineup for next week.

Update 2/4/20 11:15PM ET: The price has been corrected.
The Plateau State Government says it will establish community policing, using indigenous options, to secure the state.

Governor Simon Lalong said this on Tuesday while declaring open a meeting on Peace, Security and Community Dialogue at Government House, Jos.

Mr Lalong urged community leaders to examine what the conventional security agencies are doing, with the aim to create synergy between their work and that of the community policing structure.

He said the enlarged Peace and Security Dialogue, themed: Domestication of Community Policing in Plateau State: Exploring Indigenous Options, was organised to put forward practical and proactive measures that will address violent attacks in the state.

Sadly, we are compelled to hold this meeting once again instead of ordinarily coming together to celebrate peaceful coexistence and prosperity of our land and its good people, as we were looking forward to during the forthcoming Forgiveness Day, he said.

Mr Lalong urged participants at the dialogue to engage in frank, open and solution-driven interaction that will enable the state key into the community policing model in dealing with the state security situation more effectively.

Happily, we already have structures on ground which are in tandem with the Community Policing model such as the Operation Rainbow, Early warning System, Vigilante Volunteers and Community-based Intelligence Volunteers, Mr Lalong said.

: We should also examine what the conventional security agencies such as the Police, State Security Service, Operation Safe Haven, Civil Defence and related agencies are doing in securing lives and properties in the State.

What do we need to do in creating synergy between their work and that of the Community Policing structure in order to achieve better results.

The Federal Government had on January 23 directed the police to recruit special constables nationwide preparatory to the implementation of its community policing policy.

The state police commands are awaiting further directive from the force headquarters on the recruitment of special constabulary for the proposed community police force

Already, most of the commands had set up screening committees to kick start the process of the implementation of the new policing system.

The police have set up a screening committee in some states to assist in screening volunteers whose ages will be between 21 and 50 years.

The police said the community policing service would be purely voluntary and the constables would not receive salaries.

Mr Lalong said from the outcome of the meeting state governors had with the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) last month in Lafia, they have resolved to domesticate policing service in the North-Central region as part of efforts to tame criminality.
People pass by a screen warning about a new coronavirus in a subway station in Seoul, South Korea (AP)

Chinese authorities said on Tuesday that the death toll in mainland China from the coronavirus outbreak had risen to 425, with the number of cases standing at 20,438.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that it is still early in the outbreak, but coronavirus does not yet constitute a pandemic.

Cases of the deadly disease have already been confirmed in dozens of major cities across the globe.

But which cities are most at risk, and what is being done to stop the spread of coronavirus?

Travel bans have been put in place in several countries around the world (AP)

The virus has been spreading rapidly across the globe as people flee China (PA)

Which countries have been infected so far?

About 150 cases have been reported in two dozen other countries.

According to research carried out by analysts at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, the city of Hubei at the heart of the viruss epicentre in Wuhan has seen the most cases and deaths so far.

A total of 414 people have died in the city and there have been 13,522 confirmed cases.

In Beijing, by comparison, there have been 228 confirmed cases and just one death  according to research from the universitys Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Outside China, Bangkok in Thailand has seen the most recorded cases at 25, followed by Singapore with 24.

As of Tuesday there have been 17 confirmed cases in Hong Kong, with one recorded death.

The worst affected Western nation is Germany, with 12 people diagnosed with coronavirus so far in Germersheim.

Isolated cases have also been confirmed in the US cities of Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago.

The Chinese government has constructed a brand new hospital in the city of Hubei in response to the crisis (Getty)

Where have travel bans been put in place?

All but two of Hong Kongs land and sea crossings with the mainland were closed at midnight on Tuesday after more than 2,000 hospital workers went on strike.

The Philippines banned the entry of all non-citizens from China after two cases were confirmed there, including the only death outside China.

The US, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia have imposed similar restrictions despite criticism from China and WHOs guidance that such measures were unnecessary.

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South Korea, which has 15 confirmed cases, quarantined 800 soldiers who had recently visited China, Hong Kong or Macao or who had contact with people who had.

Britons in mainland China have been told to leave in case authorities force more towns and cities into lockdown, an expert said.

A total of 94 UK nationals and family members have been evacuated to Britain from Wuhan, the city in Hubei province at the epicentre of the outbreak, on two flights which arrived on Friday and Sunday.

The UKs Department of Health said that, as of Tuesday, 414 people have tested negative for coronavirus.

---How four years of utter Brexit chaos unfolded---
Existing visas for Chinese and foreign travellers who have been in China in the past two weeks stand cancelled, India clarified on Tuesday, while also announcing that aerobridges at dedicated gates at seven international airports will be used to screen passengers arriving from high-risk locations to contain the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak that has killed 427 people and triggered a global scare.

Three men and two women, housed in a camp set up for Indians who have been evacuated from China, were moved to Delhis Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday after they developed cough, fever and sore throat  symptoms of the fast-spreading virus that has infected over 20,000 people, including three in Kerala, across 25 countries.

They have been shifted to the hospital for better observation... Its just a precautionary shift, as their sample results are still awaited, a spokesperson for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) said in a statement.

Over the weekend, India has brought back 647 citizens and seven Maldivians from Wuhan, the Chinese city considered to be the epicentre of the outbreak. Those rescued have been quarantined in two facilities  one in Haryanas Manesar managed by the Indian Army and the other in the national capitals Chhawla Camp managed by ITBP.

Biological samples of 160 of the evacuees have been tested so far. All have returned negative. One of the doctors on the Air India flights that brought the Indians back has developed a cough, but officials in the Union ministry of health said it was unlikely that the doctor had contracted the infection.

On Tuesday, China reported a record daily jump in deaths of 64 to 425, and Hong Kong saw its first coronavirus death. Total infections in mainland China stood at 20,438. Hong Kongs first fatality was only the second outside mainland China, after last weeks death of a man in the Philippines.

The World Health Organization, which has declared the virus a global health emergency, said the outbreak does not yet constitute a pandemic and is at present an epidemic with multiple foci.

Back in India, Union health secretary Preeti Sudan held a video conference with representatives of states and senior officials of the ministries of shipping, external affairs, civil aviation, tourism and home affairs to take stock of Indias preparedness.

Sudan said flyers from high-risk locations such as China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore will have to pass through aerobridges at designated gates at the airports in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Cochin, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. This is being done to ensure effective prevention, she said.

Since January 17, altogether 777 flights and 89,500 passengers have been screened for symptoms at 21 airports. Such screenings are also being done at seaports and at international borders.

Separately, India also confirmed tightening visa rules for Chinese and foreigners who had visited China in the last two weeks.

It is clarified that existing visas are no longer valid. Intending visitors to India should contact the Indian Embassy in Beijing (visa.beijing@mea.gov.in) or the Consulates in Shanghai (Ccons.shanghai@mea.gov.in) and Guangzhou (Visa.guangzhou@mea.gov.in) to apply afresh for an Indian visa. Indian Visa Application Centres (www.blsindia-china.com) in these cities may also be contacted in this regard, the Indian Embassy in Beijing announced on Tuesday.

All those who are already in India [with regular or e-visa] and had travelled from China after January 15 are requested to contact the hotline number of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Government of India (+91-11-23978046 and email: ncov2019@gmail.com), it said.

On February 2, India temporarily suspended the e-visa facility for Chinese travellers and foreigners residing in China.

In a fresh statement, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said a total of 534 suspected cases have been tested till Tuesday, and that three have been found positive. All these cases were in Kerala and involved medical students studying in Wuhan, a business and educational hub in Hubei province that is now virtually quarantined.

Two students, who returned from China on January 15 and were quarantined at home, believed to have left for the Gulf a couple of days ago, Kozhikode district medical officer V Jayasree said.

Our request to those under surveillance is they should remain in isolation at home during the incubation period of 28 days even if they do not have any symptoms, particularly those who have come from China, she said.

The coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that is said to have originated from a seafood market in Wuhan is a new strain.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 15:47:03|Editor: yhy

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Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan (L) and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad attend a joint press conference in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Feb. 4, 2020. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan pledged to deepen bilateral cooperation on a range of issues on Tuesday, as part of the latter's working visit to Malaysia. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung)

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan pledged to deepen bilateral cooperation on a range of issues on Tuesday, as part of the latter's working visit to Malaysia.

Mahathir, who hosted Khan at his Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya here, said the two countries would engage in more frequent exchanges at the ministerial and agency level on a range of issues including economic and security cooperation.

"We also welcome the successful convening of the first bilateral consultation between senior officials of both ministries of foreign affairs as the key forum to intensify engagements at the working level," Mahathir told a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart after their meeting.

"On bilateral economic cooperation, we acknowledge the need for both sides to further explore the huge potential available in both countries and to develop further in economic partnership particularly in trade and investment, to establish networks between various economic entities and linkages among the private sector," he said.

Khan, for his part said both countries shared similar views on a range of issues.

"Traditionally we have been very close but the object of the visit is to even get closer. We feel that the future of trading ties, of investment, of cooperation between Malaysia and Pakistan is tremendous. It's because people in both countries, it's not just the government, the people of Malaysia and Pakistan, there is a very close affinity between them," he said.

Beside the face-to-face meeting, the two leaders also witnessed the signing of a extradition treaty.
The district authorities in Punjab's Faridkot took police help to deal with a suspected coronavirus patient who initially refused to get himself admitted to an isolation ward at a government hospital.

The deputy commissioner told police to arrest him if he continued to resist.

However, the need for arrest of the patient did not arise as he himself got admitted to the isolation ward after he was counselled, officials said on Tuesday.

The man had returned from Canada via China and got himself checked at the Kotkapura civil hospital in Faridkot on Monday.

Thereafter, he was advised to get himself admitted to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot as per guidelines issued by the Union government, the officials said.

However, the man refused to get admitted to the isolation ward and instead left for home, said Faridkot Civil Surgeon Rajinder Kumar.

When the matter was brought to the notice of the higher authorities, the district administration asked the Faridkot senior superintendent of police to take necessary action.

"Please issue instructions to police officers concerned to assist medical officers of the health department to keep this patient under isolation," the deputy commissioner wrote to the SSP.

"In case if there is any resistance, the person shall be arrested immediately and kept in isolation guarded by the police," read the letter.

Kotkapura Deputy Superintendent of Police Balkar Singh said the patient got himself admitted to the government hospital after he was counselled.

The samples of the patient have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, for testing.

The coronavirus is a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has killed people in China is a novel strain and not seen before.

The virus - which first emerged in Wuhan city in China's central Hubei province - has spread to 25 countries, including India (three confirmed cases have been reported from Kerala), the US and the UK.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The president was there to make brief remarks about an initial trade deal with China. But each time Donald Trump started into his speech, he got distracted by another thought he wanted to share with the audience.

Trump meandered through half an hour of off-the-cuff remarks before a room of lawmakers, Chinese officials and VIP guests. He told a story about front-row attendee Henry Kissinger, compared himself favorably to Abraham Lincoln and George Washington and lamented the "impeachment hoax." His unexpected remarks lasted so long, some House members had to excuse themselves to attend impeachment votes on Capitol Hill.

Each time Trump diverged from his prepared statement, Gabe Perez, the presidents teleprompter operator, had to hit pause, scroll forward or rewind the comments that had been loaded into the teleprompters. Perez was there to ensure the arrhythmic president could comfortably bounce between freewheeling Trump and teleprompter Trump.

Its a talent Perez has honed over nearly four years in what some describe as one of the White Houses toughest jobs. Hired by chance after the Trump campaign Googled teleprompters and the company he worked for in New York came up, Perez has become the one person Trump trusts to manage his oratorical acrobatics, embellishments and ad-libs during even the most scripted appearances.

Its like a high-wire act with no safety net, said Jason Miller, Trumps former communications strategist.

It may seem like a minor job, but Perezs ability to sync up with Trump during speeches is key to how the president communicates his message  and how he rose to power. Trumps brash and captivating style at the pulpit has always been key to his appeal and how he connects with his base. And on the global stage, teleprompter Trump is how the president translates America First for the rest of the world.

The presidents speeches can be likened to a roller coaster ride. They may begin with pre-written policy points, but will inevitably swerve into talk of windmills, dip into jocular opinions on light bulbs, corkscrew into savage commentary on immigration, then free-fall into musings on news of the day. Throughout the turbulence, Perez must listen closely to scroll through pre-written script, then pause and recalibrate when the president chooses to go in a different direction.

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On Tuesday night, Perez and the White House Communications Agency will face one of their biggest annual challenges  the State of the Union address. Nearly 50 million people will be watching as Trump tries to make his case for re-election. Over the course of nearly 90 minutes, Perez will likely have to navigate up to 100 applause breaks that constantly threaten to disrupt the speechs flow.

But the challenge is now one Perez has mastered.

The Trump campaign stumbled upon Perez in 2016. As Trump began making more consistent speeches on the trail, Trump campaign advance man George Gigicos Googled teleprompters, according to Corey Lewandowski and David Bossies account in Let Trump Be Trump. They came upon VIP Prompting, which has worked with the White House on teleprompters since the Lyndon Johnson administration. Perez, through VIP Prompting, was soon working for the future president.

"He made the device user friendly for the boss, learning just how he liked it positioned, Bossie and Lewandowski wrote. He became a whiz at breaking down and setting up the teleprompter, because hed fly with us on Trump Force One around the country.

Since that serendipitous moment, Perez has played a role in some of the most important and high-stress moments of the Trump presidency. At the White House, however, Perez has kept a low profile. He declined an interview request for this report. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Perez can often be spotted in the corner of the East Room with the WHCA staffers, sitting in front of one of two laptops, scrolling through the presidents prepared remarks. Just in case something goes awry, there is a backup system to ensure the president is able to continue with his remarks. Sometimes, before a speech begins, the presidents senior policy advisor and speechwriter Stephen Miller will huddle with Perez to change or add a phrase.

Any time you see Stephen [Miller] head over to Gabe before a speech starts, theres always a hold your breath moment like, Whats going on here? Miller said.

Adam Belmar, who served on President George W. Bushs communications staff and worked with the teleprompter, said the operator needs an intimate knowledge of the speech, the speakers tics and the audiences reaction.

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

You need to make sure youre on the same page in terms of applause and what theyre saying, Belmar said. Any time you get out of sync, you lose the confidence of the boss.

I wouldnt want that job, said another Bush administration senior official.

That Trump even uses a teleprompter is somewhat remarkable.

At first, the president was reluctant to use a prompter. He had mocked President Barack Obamas reliance on using one everywhere he went. We have a teleprompter president, Trump teased in 2015.

But Trump, too, found it was a useful tool, even as he rarely stuck to the script. It soon became apparent that there were two Trumps: Twitter Trump, the unpredictable, discursive president, and the more formulaic, teleprompter Trump.

Its much easier to tell when hes ad-libbing, said former Obama speechwriter David Litt. You can tell when hes not read through the material hes seeing.

For ex-Obama aides, Trumps reliance on the teleprompter to deliver pre-written speeches can be grating after hearing constant taunts from Trump and other Republicans about Obamas teleprompter use.

For years, Republicans would criticize Obama for using a teleprompter, meaning that he doesnt know what hes saying, which isnt true, Litt said. And now Trump uses a teleprompter and you can tell he doesnt know what hes saying, and those Republicans are nowhere to be found.

Leaning on a teleprompter is far from foolproof  it can even generate embarrassing headlines for a president.

Multiple former communications staffers pointed to President Bill Clintons 1993 address to Congress on health care as the biggest teleprompter mishap, when the wrong speech was loaded into the machine. Clinton spoke extemporaneously for seven minutes as every member of Congress and millions of Americans looked on. Behind the scenes, George Stephanopoulos, then a communications aide, scrambled to load the correct version into the machine.

Years later, the phonetic pronunciations displayed on President George W. Bushs teleprompter for locations like Kyrgyzstan (KEYR-geez-stan) was accidentally published on the United Nations website after an address, playing into criticisms that Bush was naive about foreign affairs.

Trump has also been known to have a few frustrating moments with the teleprompter.

In 2016, then-candidate Trump said to a cheering crowd he makes speeches better without a teleprompter, then, much to the dismay of advance staff, dramatically pushed the expensive machine off the stage, causing the glass to crash to the ground.

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump are seen in a teleprompter as he speaks during a campaign rally, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, in Sanford, Fla. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Three years later, Trump blamed the teleprompter for several gaffes that set Twitter ablaze during his Fourth of July speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Trump, recounting the American Revolution  but confusingly referencing historical sites from the War of 1812  made the eyebrow-raising remark that the American army had occupied airports.

"Our army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do, and at Fort McHenry, under the rockets red glare it had nothing but victory, Trump said. And when dawn came, their star-spangled banner waved defiant."

On Twitter, #RevolutionaryWarAirports instantly took off.

It kept going on and at the end it just went out," Trump told reporters about the teleprompter after his speech. "It went kaput  and that's not a good feeling, when you're standing in front of millions of millions of people on television.

More recently, at an August campaign rally in Lima, Ohio, the president said he pronounced the name of the city incorrectly  like the city in Peru rather than the bean  because the phonetic spelling was wrong on the teleprompter.

They have it wrong on the teleprompter, Trump said. But the good news is I don't use the teleprompter too much. If I did, you would have been out of here a long time ago, because it gets very boring when you do the teleprompter deal.

Arun Chaudhary, an Obama White House videographer who was later Bernie Sanders 2016 creative director, said in moments like that, the prompter operator has to be zen.

Youre speeding up and slowing down according to how you think the speaker is going to be or how they want, Chaudhary said.

One of the VIP Promptings co-owners, Chris OBrien, said teleprompter operators are trained to handle the machines in tense situations.

The stress level is high because if you make a mistake, millions of people find out, OBrien said.

But for a president who is so conscientious about his public image and not embarrassing himself, Perez has managed to stay on as one of the few staffers who has been in the White House since the campaign.

Hes been seamless in his performance and hes outlasted multiple chiefs of staff, and so hes doing something right, Miller said.
A BJP member on Tuesday made a plea to the Government in Lok Sabha to bring the National Register of Citizens (NRC) across the country.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Nishikant Dubey (BJP), said, "Today, I make a request to the Centre to implement NRC nationwide." He alleged that vote bank politics was being done in the name of Muslims of Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Congress, he said, wanted division of the nation and the country should be saved from it. Navneet Kaur Rana, an Independent Lok Sabha member from Amravati, raised the issue of women being burnt alive in Hinganghat area of Wardha district of Maharashtra and said there was a need for a strict law to deal with such incidents. She said women like her (a member of Parliament) were also not safe.
As Iowa Democrats prepare to pick their partys first winner in the presidential primary, the candidates approach to health care remains one of the most substantial and potentially divisive issues voters will have to face. Heres a brief review of where the candidates stand on Medicare for All, the proposed sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health-care system that has served as a point of contention during the campaign:

Bernie Sanders: The Vermont senator is the most vocal supporter of Medicare for All, which he says would end up saving money for the country overall, despite its enormous price tag. Sanders wants to ban private insurance and eliminate out-of-pocket spending for patients, while covering a wider array of services than the current Medicare system. The ambitious proposal would cost more than $30 trillion over 10 years, according to independent analyses, Reuters Joseph Ax writes.

Elizabeth Warren: The Massachusetts senator also supports Medicare for All and has released a detailed plan for financing it. Facing pushback on her proposal, Warren released a transition plan for moving to a single-payer system more gradually over several years. That proposal drew some criticism from the left, with Sanders supporters claiming she had backed down from her Medicare for All stance, Ax says. Warren has said she remains committed to Medicare for All and that her plan would provide more coverage to more Americans in a shorter time frame.

Joe Biden: The former vice president says he wants to expand the Affordable Care Act by offering a public option for insurance. His healthcare plan, estimated to cost $750 billion over 10 years and paid for partly by higher taxes on the wealthy, would let people enroll in a paid government healthcare plan as an alternative to private insurance, Ax writes.

Michael Bloomberg: The former mayor of New York City says Medicare for All is unaffordable and proposes to offer a public option for insurance that exists alongside the current employment-based system. His plan would cost $1 trillion over 10 years.

Story continues

Pete Buttigieg: The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has proposed a public option he describes as Medicare for all who want it. Buttigieg says that over time, that option would result in a single-payer system as more Americans sign up for cheaper and more efficient Medicare. His plan would cost $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

Amy Klobuchar: The centrist Minnesota senator says that Medicare for All is a pipe dream, and would instead offer a public option through either Medicare or Medicaid, paid for in part by raising taxes on the wealthy.

Andrew Yang: The tech entrepreneur says he supports the spirit of Medicare for All and wants to provide a public option to give people the freedom to leave their jobs. However, he does not want to ban private insurers.

Tom Steyer: The finance billionaire has proposed a public option that would cost $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

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The Mexican president will be hosting the national raffle. The grand prize is the presidential plane. The plane is similar to the Air Force One of Mexico. However, the president does not like to ride the presidential plane.

The Luxurious Government Aircraft

For President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the presidential plane signifies the government's excessive luxury.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been used by political personalities in the past. The political class who ordered the purchase and use of the plane are seen by President Obrador as corrupt people.

In 2012, the former president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon ordered the purchase of the plane. After four years, it was delivered to the possession of the Mexican government. Enrique Pena Nieto, Felipe Calderon's successor, received the luxurious air vehicle.

The reported value of the plane when it was purchased was $218.7 million. The plane was built with complete hotel-like facilities such as a full bedroom, a bathroom, and a conference area.

According to President Obrador, the plane is "too luxurious for a country as poor as Mexico."

After taking the responsibility to lead the country in December 2018, Obrador sent the luxurious presidential plane to a storage area in Victorville, California. Since then, he searched for a buyer.

The maintenance costs of the plane skyrocketed to $1 million. After one year in storage, the president of Mexico decided to bring the plane back to Mexico and decided to look for an alternative solution to the luxurious government asset.

According to an article by NPR, during a press conference held on Tuesday, the president revealed a non-finalized version of a raffle ticket. He said that the ticket design was still not final. He revealed the ticket through a large projector. The majority of the reporters present in the conference laughed at the image.

After asking the audience to contain their laughter, the president redirected the audience's attention to the bottom part of the ticket.

The words in the bottom part of the ticket showed the ticket's price amounting to 500 pesos (approximately $27). The total collected amount will be used for purchasing medical paraphernalia. A part of the collection will fund hospitals to provide free services to the needy. The raffle is dated May 5 where Cinco de Mayo, a holiday in Mexico is celebrated.

What do the Citizens Think of President Obrador's Plans?

Some citizens believe that the idea of the Mexican President was somehow a laughing matter and that it was a waste of time for further discussion.

Some critics of the leadership of President Obrador believed that his national raffle stunt is just his way to distract the people from the country's problems with crime and violence.

Some citizens are making a joke out of the idea of winning the plane. Some were making memes out of the plane's photo.

Some people made art using the plane and transforming it into residential quarters for an extended family. Some transformed it into a public utility bus.

Another humorous remark made by citizens is the issue of where to park the aircraft. Edited photos showed the plane park in the streets or a home garage.

Expected Profits from the National Raffle

The Mexican President aims to sell a minimum of 6 million tickets. This total number of tickets will be equivalent to $150 million. Based on the market value provided by the United Nations, this value is $20 million above its market value.

The winner of the raffle will also win a free 1-year aircraft maintenance assistance. The plane will be placed in a military field or an airport in Mexico City.
Global death toll reaches 427 with two reported dead outside mainland China as the number of infections passes 20,500.

Hong Kong reported its first death from the new coronavirus on Tuesday  only the second outside mainland China  as the death toll from the outbreak rose to at least 425 and China admitted shortcomings and difficulties in its response to the flu-like infection.

The Hong Kong victim was a 39-year-old man who had recently travelled to Wuhan, where the virus originated, and had underlying health problems, the authorities said. It was the second death recorded outside mainland China  the first was in the Philippines on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Chinas National Health Commission reported 64 new deaths as of midnight on Monday  the biggest daily increase since the virus was first detected late last year. Wuhan and the surrounding province of Hubei have been effectively sealed off from the rest of the country for more than a week.

There are now 20,471 people confirmed to have the infection in mainland China.

Late on Monday, the Standing Committee of the Politburo  the countrys top leadership  met in Beijing and acknowledged shortcomings and difficulties in Chinas response to the outbreak.

This is very rare sort of language to hear, Al Jazeeras Adrian Brown said from Hong Kong, where he was reporting from the border. This was the senior leadership of the party essentially admitting they had failed the people. They said officials who had made mistakes would be punished. And they said China would have to improve the way it responded to this sort of national emergency in the future.

Other countries have rushed to evacuate their citizens from Hubei and its capital city, Wuhan, while many have also imposed extraordinary travel restrictions on travellers to and from China.

More than 170 cases have been reported in two dozen other countries, with the United States reporting the second case of human-to-human transmission on Monday.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday called for greater solidarity and slammed some governments of being well behind in sharing data on virus cases as he has received complete case report forms for only 38 percent of the cases outside China.

Here are the latest updates:

Tuesday, February 4

WHO chief slams wealthy countries for failing to share virus data

Head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom, accused some wealthy countries of being well behind in sharing data on novel coronavirus cases, calling for more global solidarity to combat the virus.

Tedros said he has written to all health ministers to improve data-sharing on coronavirus cases immediately.

Of the 176 cases reported outside China so far, WHO has received complete case report forms for only 38 percent of cases. Some high-income countries are well behind in sharing this vital data with WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

WHO: 22 nations imposed travel or trade-related measures

WHO said 22 nations have officially reported trade or travel-related measures linked to a new coronavirus outbreak saying they should be short in duration, proportionate and considered regularly.

Chinas envoy to the UN in Geneva Chen Xu says some restrictions do not comply with WHO advice which urged countries to no overreact.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom reiterated the agencys advice not to impose travel or trade restrictions on China saying such measures can cause fear and stigma.

Hyundai to halt S. Korea output as China virus disrupts parts supply

Hyundai Motor will suspend production in South Korea because the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted the supply of parts, it said, becoming the first major carmaker to do so outside of China.

In China, global automakers have already extended factory closures in line with government guidelines. Those manufacturers include Hyundai, Tesla, Ford, PSA Peugeot Citroen , Nissan and Honda Motor.

Hong Kong Hospital Authority asks medical workers to return to work

The Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HA) has appealed to public hospital employees to return to work as it said nearly 5,000 staff were absent from duty on Tuesday.

Medical workers went on a strike to pressure the government into instigating a full border closure with mainland China.

According to Dr Deacons Yeung, HA director of cluster services, public hospitals can currently maintain only basic emergency surgery services due to the absence of staff.

People wear face masks as they walk through a shopping mall in Taipei, Taiwan [Chiang Ying-ying/AP]

France warns against travel to China

Frances government has joined the United Kingdom in warning against any non-essential travel to China and suggesting that all of its citizens in China leave while the new virus is still spreading.

The Foreign Ministry issued the travel warning Tuesday based on measures taken by Chinese authorities, and on the evolution of the epidemic.

It said Frances embassy and consular services in China will continue to help French people who decide to stay in China.

WHO joins forces with Google to fight infodemic about virus

The WHOs chief of global infections hazard preparedness says the UN health agency has teamed up with Google and other social media outlets to help fight an infodemic about a viral outbreak in China.

Dr Sylvie Briand explored the difficulties of getting facts straight about the coronavirus outbreak.

Expert warns disease appears to be on the rise

A doctor who led the WHOs response to the 2002-03 SARS outbreak said it is too early to tell when the new coronavirus will peak, but that it appears the disease is still on the increase.

Dr David Heymann said the spike in Chinas caseload in recent days was partly attributable to the fact that Chinese officials expanded their search to include milder cases, not only people with pneumonia.

Heymann said as the new virus starts to spread beyond China, scientists will gain a much better understanding of the disease.

Royal Caribbean cancels eight China cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd cancelled eight cruises out of China through March 4 in response to the coronavirus outbreak, the company said on Tuesday.

Royal Caribbean also said it would deny boarding to people who had visited mainland China or Hong Kong over the past 15 days. It will also screen Chinese and Hong Kong passport holders and people showing flu-like symptoms.

Iraq says OPEC weighing output cut

OPEC members and their ally Russia are discussing a further cut to crude oil output at a meeting in Vienna because of Chinas coronavirus epidemic, Iraqs oil ministry said Tuesday.

Crude prices have tumbled since the outbreak in the worlds second-biggest economy, which is a huge consumer of crude.

Depending on the needs of the market and how its been affected by the coronavirus, will a cut be necessary? This is being discussed as the technical reports are presented, said Iraqs oil ministry spokesman Assem Jihad.

US White Houses adviser: Its not a disaster

The coronavirus outbreak will likely have some effect on US supply chains, but the effects will probably not be catastrophic, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said in an interview with Fox Business Network.

Its not a catastrophe. Its not a disaster, Kudlow said, adding later: Weve been through this before and I just think the impact is minimal.



Plane brings Thais back from Chinas virus-hit Wuhan

A plane carrying Thais from Wuhan arrived in Thailand late on Tuesday.

The plane, which arrived at U-Tapao airport in the eastern Rayong province, was carrying 138 Thais, all of whom were healthy, public health minister Anutin Charnvirakul said ahead of the planes arrival.

They will be quarantined for 14 days in a navy resort near the Thai navy base in Sattahip, Chonburi, east of Bangkok.

Russia sends military planes to evacuate citizens

Russia has sent military planes to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan. More than 130 Russian nationals are expected to be brought back to Russia by Tuesday.

The Russian Ambassador to China, Andrey Denisov, said Russia received written permission from Chinese authorities on Tuesday to send the planes.

Those evacuated will be held in quarantine for 14 days in Siberias Tyumen region.





American Airlines suspends flights to and from Hong Kong

American Airlines Group, the largest US carrier, said it had suspended all its flights to and from Hong Kong.

A spokeswoman said the airlines suspension of its Hong Kong flights to and from Los Angeles and Dallas would continue through February 20.

Chinese racer Ma in quarantine for Mexican Formula E race

Chinas only Formula E driver Ma Qinghua has gone into quarantine in Mexico ahead of the countrys race on February 15.

Mas Nio 333 team said in a statement that Chinese employees who had gone home for the Chinese New Year celebrations after last months race in Chile were well and preparing for the Mexico City round.

In a responsible manner toward the championship and personnel involved in Formula E, Chinese driver Ma Qinghua arrived in Mexico City on the 2nd of February to ensure a 14-day quarantine period prior to the race, the team added.

Britain tells its citizens to leave China if they can

Britain told its citizens to leave China if they could after airlines suspended flights, making it increasingly difficult to get out.

In an update to its travel advice, the Foreign Office also said some staff and dependants from the British Embassy and consulates were being withdrawn from China.

Essential staff, such as those providing consular assistance, would remain.

Matches involving Chinese clubs in the Asian Champions League postponed

Matches involving Chinese clubs in the Asian Champions League have been postponed for the first three match days because of the coronavirus outbreak, the ruling body, Asian Football Confederation, said.

But the AFC also said after an emergency meeting in Kuala Lumpur that one match, Thailands Chiangrai United v Beijing, would remain set for match day two on February 18 as the Chinese team was training in South Korea and did not quarantine measures.

The outbreak also prompted the Chinese womens handball team not to participate in a Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualifying tournament next month; while Formula One teams are to discuss the fate of the April 19 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on Wednesday.

Uzbekistan evacuates 250 from China

Uzbekistan has evacuated 250 people from China and will place them in quarantine after their arrival shortly in Tashkent, the Central Asian nations state airline said.

Uzbekistan Airways said in a statement the passengers were being accompanied by doctors and specialists with protective equipment.

Ukraines last planned plane from China to arrive in Kyiv

The last planned Ukrainian flight from China before a ban over coronavirus is enforced was due to arrive in Kyiv shortly with about 200 passengers on board, Ukraine International Airlines said.

It said the plane, coming from the Chinese resort town of Sanya, was due to land at 2:28 pm local time (12:28 GMT).

Deputy director of Kyivs Boryspil airport last week said Ukraine would suspend direct flights to China over coronavirus fears from February 4.





Thailand approves price controls for face masks

The Thai government has approved measures to control the prices of face masks and hand-sanitising gel after a reported lack of supplies.

A proposal to place the products on the state price control list was approved by the cabinet, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said.

Businesses that produce or sell goods on the list are required to inform authorities of production costs and seek approval before making price changes.

WHO: World currently not in a pandemic of coronavirus

Sylvie Briand, director of global infectious hazard preparedness at the World Health Organization (WHO), said: Currently we are not in a pandemic, we are at a phase where we have an epidemic of coronavirus with multiple foci and we try to extinguish each of these foci.

She also said the WHO was working with different countries on repatriation of people from China, having intense discussions to see how we can harmonise the practices.

Briand said the WHO currently has no evidence of mutation of the virus, adding that it is quite a stable virus.

Sylvie Briand, director of global infectious hazard preparedness at WHO [Denis Balibouse/Reuters]

Singapore announces first local coronavirus transmissions

Singapores Ministry of Health said it had found six additional cases, four of them involving human-to-human transmission within Singapore, bringing the total infections to 24 in the city-state.

Though four of these cases constitute a local transmission cluster, there is as yet no evidence of widespread sustained community transmission in Singapore, the ministry said in a statement.

Thailand confirms six new cases

Thailand confirmed six new cases, four of them Thai nationals and two Chinese.

The four Thai people included a couple who had visited Japan and two drivers who had picked up Chinese passengers in Thailand, the health ministry said.

The new cases brought the total reported in the country to 25.

Jeweller Pandora says China business at standstill

Pandoras business in China has ground to a halt, the jewellery maker and retailer said, as a new flu-like virus forced the company to shut around a third of its stores in one of its top markets as shoppers stay at home.

As I sit here and watch the Chinese business, it is in a standstill mode, I mean theres pennies being sold, Chief Executive Alexander Lacik told Reuters, describing an unprecedented drop in business.

Pandora has closed 70 of its 240 shops in China on the order of the government and at its remaining ones, mostly in shopping malls, customer traffic is next to none, Lacik said.

Philippines monitoring 105 patients

The Philippines Department of Health said 105 people in the country were now under observation for possible novel coronavirus infection.

Can China handle the economic turmoil of its viral outbreak?

One analyst says the crisis may provide the government with the excuse it needs to miss its growth target.

Read the story here.

Cambodian PM to visit students in Wuhan for moral support

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said he will visit Cambodian students in Wuhan to give them moral support following criticism of his decision not to repatriate them.

Hun Sen, a close ally of China, said he would fly there on Wednesday from South Korea, where he is attending a summit, and that he had informed Chinese authorities of his trip.

He said in a post on his Facebook page he would visit the students to to show them warmth and to make sure they are not scared of the new type of infectious coronavirus.

Hyundai suspends domestic production

South Koreas largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Company, will suspend all domestic production this week because of a lack of parts due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, it said.

Hyundai Motor has decided to suspend its production lines from operating at all of its plants in Korea, the carmaker said in a statement.

The order of suspensions would vary, it said, but all production would cease by the end of the week.

Japans ANA to slash flights to Beijing from Tokyo

Japans biggest carrier ANA Holdings said it will slash the number of flights between Tokyo and Beijing by two-thirds beginning February 10, for at least seven weeks.

ANA will reduce flights from Tokyos two airports, Haneda and Narita, to the Chinese capital from 21 flights per week to seven, the airline said in a statement.

ANAs local rival Japan Airlines Co, in a separate statement, said it also planned to reduce services to China over the next several weeks, including cancellations and the use of smaller aircraft on some routes.

Repatriated Belgian tests positive for coronavirus

A Belgian person, one of nine repatriated from Wuhan in China on Sunday, has tested positive for the coronavirus, Belgiums health agency said.

The agency said all nine people had undergone a series of tests in a military hospital in the capital, Brussels. Eight of them tested negative.

No details were given about the person who tested positive, but the agency said they were in good health and not currently showing any symptoms of the virus.

Malaysia confirms first citizen infected with virus, total cases now 10

Malaysian health authorities confirmed the first citizen to be infected with the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 10.

They said the 41-year-old Malaysian had travelled to Singapore for a meeting last month with colleagues from China  including one from Wuhan. But he only showed symptoms on January 29, nearly a week after he returned to Malaysia.

Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said lab results on February 3 confirmed that the man, along with a 63-year-old man from Wuhan who had been under observation, had contracted the virus.

China moves virus patients into new facilities

China has begun moving patients suffering from the deadly new virus into rapidly built or adapted facilities, although the degree of medical isolation among them appears to vary widely.

The first 50 patients were moved into Huoshenshan Hospital, a pre-fabricated structure on the outskirts of the city of Wuhan.

Taiwan to restrict entry of foreigners from China

Taiwans foreign ministry said the island will deny entry to all foreign nationals who had been to China during the past 14 days, starting from Friday.

The new incoming travel ban includes all foreign nationals who have been in China since February 7, Taiwans foreign ministry said in a statement.

It extends an existing ban on visitors from China but does not include visitors from Hong Kong and Macau.

Macau to close casinos for two weeks over virus

Macau will close all its casinos for two weeks because of the coronavirus, the leader of the semi-autonomous territry announced.

Gaming forms the backbone of Macaus economy.

We will suspend the gambling industry and related casino businesses for half a month, chief executive Ho Iat-seng said.

Gambling is crucial to the economy of Macau, a semi-autonomous territory in southern China [File: Jason Lee/Reuters]

South Korean woman tests positive for coronavirus after Thailand visit

A South Korean woman has tested positive for coronavirus after visiting Thailand, South Korean officials said, the first foreign tourist reported to have been infected after a visit to the southeast Asian nation.

The 42-year-old, identified only as Patient 16, flew back to South Korea on January 19 after holidaying in Thailand, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement.

Treated since developing chills and other symptoms from January 25, she did not improve until Sunday, the KCDC added, and was confirmed positive on Tuesday, following checks at Chonnam National University Hospital.

Chinese cities far from virus epicentre sealed off

Two more cities in Chinas eastern province of Zhejiang, far from the epicentre of the health emergency, have restricted the movement of residents.

The city of Taizhou and three Hangzhou districts  including the area that is home to the main office of Chinese tech giant Alibaba  will only allow one person from each household to go outside every two days to buy necessities, city officials said.

Between them the areas are home to more than nine million people.

Taizhou and three districts of Hangzhou are the latest to impose severe restrictions on residents movement [China Daily via Reuters]

China tells domestic airlines not to cut international routes

Chinas civil aviation authority has urged domestic carriers to continue flying international routes, except to countries with travel bans as a result of the coronavirus epidemic, state news agency Xinhua said.

The comments of the Civil Aviation Administration of China were reported on Xinhuas account on messaging app Weibo.

Malaysia evacuates citizens from Wuhan on chartered AirAsia jet

Malaysia on Wednesday brought back 107 people  including citizens non-Malaysian partners and children  from Wuhan and placed them in quarantine for 14 days.

The chartered AirAsia aircraft landed in Kuala Lumpur at 6am (22:00 GMT) and the evacuees, as well as the 12 crew and 14 government officials on board, were taken to a separate building for screening, the National Disaster Management Agency said in a statement.

Of the 107, two did not pass the health screening and were admitted to Kuala Lumpurs main hospital, it said.

Taiwan calls China vile for restricting islands access to WHO on coronavirus

Taiwans foreign ministry said on Tuesday China is vile for restricting the islands access to the WHO during the coronavirus outbreak, adding to tensions with Beijing over the health crisis.

Minister Wu didn't mince words during our news conference on fallout from the global spread of the new #Coronavirus. @WHO must recognize #Taiwan is Taiwan & stop violating the health rights of the country's 23 million people! Read @Taiwan_Today's article. https://t.co/YjdXv5mffx   Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan)  (@MOFA_Taiwan) February 3, 2020

China said on Monday that it had shared full information on the virus with authorities in Taiwan, where there have been 10 confirmed cases, and that channels of communication were unblocked.

Hong Kong reports first death from coronavirus

Hong Kong reported its first death from the coronavirus on Tuesday morning; a 39-year-old man with underlying health issues, as the territory closed all but three of its border crossings and health workers stepped up a strike over the governments handling of the outbreak.

Chief executive Carrie Lam refuted the medics claims.

I certainly would not agree with the allegation that we are not addressing this public health concern adequately, Lam told reporters at a media conference on Tuesday. Certainly, I do not agree with the allegation that we are putting politics above public health.

For more on the strike and the medical workers concerns, read here.

Taiwan evacuates first group from Wuhan, announces mask curbs

Taiwan has evacuated the first group of an estimated 500 Taiwanese stranded in Wuhan.

Taiwan had complained that China had not responded to requests to fly out its citizens, even as Beijing gave such permission to other governments, including the United States and Britain.

Taiwan is limiting purchases of face masks after the outbreak of the coronavirus prompted a surge in demand [David Chang/EPA]

Taiwans Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement on Tuesday that 247 people had arrived at Taipeis main international airport late on Monday. They will be quarantined for 14 days, and anyone showing symptoms of the virus will be sent to the hospital.

Separately, Taiwan said it would begin rationing face masks, with people limited to two masks each week on presentation of their national insurance cards.

China says US should not overreact on coronavirus outbreak

Chinas foreign ministry reiterated on Tuesday the United States should refrain from overreacting over the coronavirus outbreak and called on Washington to work with Beijing and the international community to deal with the epidemic.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, in a statement issued by the ministry, also said Beijing notes the repeated offer from the US to China for assistance in fighting the outbreak. Beijing hopes that Washington will provide the offered aid soon, she said.

Japan quarantines cruise ship in Yokohama

Japan has quarantined a cruise ship with 3,500 people on board after a passenger who got off the liner in Hong Kong tested positive for the virus.

The Diamond Princess and the 3,500 people on board have been quarantined off Yokohama Port in Japan [Kyodo via Reuters]

Television footage showed images of several quarantine officers entering the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama on Monday evening to check the health of all 2,500 passengers and 1,000 crew.

An 80-year-old passenger who disembarked on January 25 in Hong Kong tested positive for the deadly virus.

Australian Wuhan evacuees arrive on Christmas Island

The first plane-load of Australians evacuated from Wuhan has arrived in the Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island, where they will be quarantined for two weeks to prevent the spread of the virus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said,

The plane carrying 243 passengers, 14 crew, four pilots and officials from the Department of Health first landed at a military airbase about 1,200 kilometres (746 miles) north of Perth, and a pregnant woman and her partner were put into isolation in Perth, Morrison said.

Thank you to everyone involved in what has been a complex and very challenging operation, from our medical staff, Qantas ground and air crew to Australian diplomats and other officials. I particularly want to thank the Chinese Government for their cooperative approach.  Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) February 4, 2020

The remaining 241 people continued their journey to Christmas Island, landing at 9:01pm (14:01 GMT) on Monday, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Morrison said Australia was now working with China on a second evacuation flight, and was working with New Zealand to secure Australian nationals a seat on their plane.

Russia postpones annual investment forum

Russia is postponing an annual investment forum in the Black Sea city of Sochi that had been scheduled to take place next week because of concerns about the coronavirus concerns, a government order said.

The Russian Investment Forum, which is attended by a string of high-ranking officials and foreign investors, had been set to take place from February 12-14. The government order did not say when it would now be held.

United Airlines suspending US-bound mainland China flights a day earlier

United Airlines said on Monday it will bring forward its temporary suspension of US-bound flights from mainland China by one day to Tuesday.

The airline, which is the last US airline still operating China flights said on Friday it planned to fly its last flight from China on Wednesday because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Delta Air Lines suspended flights over the weekend, while American Airlines ended its flights from mainland China on Friday. United said Monday it still plans to resume flights to and from China on March 28.

United Airlines is among numerous carriers that have suspended operations to China [File: Chris Helgren/Reuters]

World Bank calls for global effort against virus

The World Bank called on Monday for countries to step up programmes to fight the new coronavirus outbreak and said it was considering mobilising its own resources against the disease.

We are calling on all countries to strengthen their health surveillance and response systems, which is essential to contain the spread of this and any future outbreaks, the institution said in a statement.

It added that it was reviewing financial and technical resources that could be mobilised quickly to support affected countries and ways to accelerate the international response.

Read updates from Monday, February 3 here.
.        ,    .     ,   NOVA       .         -   .      ,     ,      ...
With a 6-1 vote Tuesday, the Mobile City Council hopped on board with its support of Amtrak service by committing around $3 million starting in the year 2023 so that passenger trains can run between the Port City and New Orleans.

But advocates for restoring the rail service along the Gulf Coast stressed that more work is needed  close to $2.2 million must be committed to improve infrastructure, and a train station will have to be built.

This is a positive and it sends a clear message that Mobilians want to see this train moving, said Wiley Blankenship, a representative on the 21-member Southern Rail Commission (SRC) and president and CEO of the Coastal Alabama Partnership. Weve got a lot of work to do. We can celebrate this one small milestone, but we have to secure infrastructure and we have to help the city find a way to secure (money) to build the station out.

The councils vote came one day before a crucial application deadline on a federal grant that is expected to pay for a majority of the expenses during the first three years of the trains operations.

SRC members said that with the councils support, they planned to officially apply for the money by Wednesday morning. The Mobile commitment joins similar commitments from the states of Mississippi and Louisiana. The route includes four Mississippi stops  Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay St. Louis.

Contingencies abound

Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, in a letter to council President Levon Manzie earlier Tuesday, expressed his administrations support for the project based on four contingencies:

-The citys financial commitment would be limited to no more than $3.048 million over a three-year period running from 2022 to 2024.

-The support would be contingent upon the completion of a study that will assess passenger rails impact on freight rail, and the citys finding that negative impact can be mitigated. The study, which involves CSX, Norfolk Southern and Amtrak, is expected to be finished this summer.

-The study would include an evaluation of freight rail activity and needs within the Port of Mobile. This evaluation will include the impact of widening and deepening the Mobile ship channel, which is set to receive funding through the states approval of a state gasoline tax increase approved last year.

- The city would not fund any portion of the improvements along the freight line as part of the future restoration of passenger rail.

Generally speaking, we are in support of Amtrak, said Stimpson. We want to doubly make sure we are not obligating ourselves for future spending.

The councils supportive vote could put the spotlight on either Alabama Gov. Kay Iveys office or the Mobile County Commission to dedicate funding for the capital improvements along the rail line; an estimated $2.2 million will be required.

Overall, the cost of improving the tracks, siding and switches from the Mississippi line to downtown Mobile is expected to run $5.786 million. Of that, $2.89 million is being financed through a $33 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration, and $671,000 through Amtrak.

Ivey, in a statement, applauded Stimpsons leadership and suggested that her administration needed to know where the Mobile County Commission stood on the project. Commissioners werent immediately available for comment.

Weve never been opposed to seeing passenger service return to Mobile; its been more of a methodical, fact-finding mission to get the facts before a final decision could be made, Ivey said in a statement emailed to AL.com. As the mayor outlined in his letter to City Council President Manzie, the Stimpson administration is recommending moving forward upon certain terms that will help everyone  including the Port of Mobile  understand what is at stake here.

Port, taxpayer concerns

Indeed, the Port of Mobile remains a wildcard in the Amtrak revival.

Jimmy Lyons, CEO of the Alabama State Port Authority, said he wasnt surprised nor disappointed with the City Councils vote. He said hes encouraged by the prospects of the forthcoming freight study, which he said will be overseen by HDR.

I am not necessarily opposed to the Amtrak (project), I am opposed to impairing our operations, reducing our services to our customers and potentially reducing our cargo and not providing a substantial benefit, Lyons said.

The only City Council member to vote No on Amtrak was Joel Daves, who has long raised concerns about what he feels could be a costly project for taxpayers.

Daves has repeatedly cited Amtraks conservative estimates that peg the rail lines operating costs at $7.7 million per year. This assumes 35,000 annual riders spending $18.33 per trip, generating a total revenue of $700,000. Each state would then be on the hook for $2.3 million.

This is not a viable transportation alternative, said Daves. This is a joy ride for the affluent. It was correctly described  as a travel adventure.

A majority of council members said the project is worth the investment, as long as the contingencies set forth by Stimpsons office, are met.

We have to protect and support what is our biggest economic engine in the state, and that is the port, said Councilwoman Gina Gregory.

If the Amtrak project overly too expensive, she said, We pull the plug.

Mobiles support

Polling for Amtraks return to Mobile has been overwhelmingly favorable, although Daves has said that people hes spoken to  when confronted with the potential costs associated with the Amtrak service -- have a negative viewpoint about it.

But other council members said they have received many supportive messages. Amtrak stopped coming through Mobile in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina damaged much of the line.

Ive received hundreds of (emails) in support for Amtrak, said Councilman Fred Richardson. I have not received one letter in opposition.

Councilwoman Bess Rich said its been almost a 4-to-1 response in favor of those who support the service versus those who are opposed.

I call it an amenity, she said. Offering this service is not a huge quality of life, but its certainly a component of that quality of life and allowing people to have that pleasure of a travel mode that best suits their needs.

Councilman John Williams and Gregory both admitted that supporting the project consisted of risk, and they both expressed hope that the Southern Rail Commission will find other parties  including the private sector  willing to back the project with added financing.

Lets not go back to the taxpayers and say, Lets fundraise it, said Williams.

Blankenship said the goal is to identify private partners willing to help support the construction of a train station that would be located at the Brookley Aeroplex and adjacent to a future commercial airport. The Mobile Airport Authority is awaiting the completion of a study this summer that will detail the costs associated with a shift of commercial air service from Mobile Regional Airport to its Downtown Airport at Brookley. And airport officials have expressed interest in having a train station located within the airports complex.

The skies the limit on who you can get to underwrite the infrastructure and the train station, said Blankenship. Well work with fellow commissioners to identify and to see what kind of proposals we can get. We are starting that immediately.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) arrives at the Capitol for President Donald Trumps State of the Union address, in Washington on Feb. 4, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Collins Will Vote to Acquit Trump, Says President Has Learned From This Case

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced she will vote to acquit President Donald Trump, just days after she and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) voted to call in witnesses.

Fellow moderates Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also said they would acquit, raising the possibility for a bipartisan acquittal for Trump in the Senate.

I believe that the president has learned from this case, Collins told CBS News on Feb. 4, adding that Trumps impeachment by the House of Representatives was a pretty big lesson.

The Senate plans to vote Feb. 5 on whether to acquit or convict Trump for charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, stemming from his dealings with Ukraine. Its highly likely that Trump will be acquitted, as the Senate has a 67-vote threshold for removing a sitting president.

Im voting to acquit. Because I do not believe that the behavior alleged reaches the high bar in the Constitution for overturning an election and removing a duly elected president, Collins said, adding that Trumps actions didnt amount to high crimes or misdemeanors.

The Maine Republican said she believes that the critical words offered by senators on the floor will make Trump reconsider how he handles foreign aid in the future.

There has been criticism by both Republican and Democratic senators of his call, Collins said. I believe that he will be much more cautious in the future.

The impeachment centered around a whistleblower complaint about Trumps July 25, 2019, phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which Trump asked Zelensky about whether the Ukrainian president could look into allegations of 2016 election interference and the activities of both Joe and Hunter Biden. Democrats said Trump withheld aid from Kyiv to exert pressure on Zelenksy, which both Trump and Zelensky have denied.

The presidents call was wrong. He should not have mentioned Joe Biden in it, despite his overall concern about corruption in Ukraine, Collins said. The president of the United States should not be asking a foreign country to investigate a political rival. That is just improper. It was far from a perfect call.

Collins is up for reelection in November, but she told CBS that shes not worried about whether her vote will hurt her chances moving forward.

Im sure there are going to be people unhappy with me in Maine. All I can do is apply the constitutional standard. And thats my job, Collins added. My job is not to weigh the political consequences, but to do impartial justice to live up to the oath that I took.
Im honored to be selected along with so many other dedicated professionals across the country, said Gilbert. The recognition is a reflection of the hard work of our entire MHS safety team, which strives every day to innovate, educate, as well as protect our students and campus.

Milton Hershey School has announced that Rick Gilbert, senior director of Campus Safety, is one of 15 national finalists for the Campus Safety Director of the Year Award. The awardpresented annually by Campus Safety magazineis given to a school or healthcare facility police chief, security director, or emergency manager who goes beyond the call of duty, while demonstrating outstanding leadership skills, ingenuity, selflessness, and overall achievement.

Im honored to be selected along with so many other dedicated professionals across the country, said Gilbert. The recognition is a reflection of the hard work of our entire MHS safety team, which strives every day to innovate, educate, as well as protect our students and campus.

During his tenure, Gilbert has led a number of important initiatives, including the adoption of non-lethal weapons for MHS safety officers, enhanced training for agency personnel, and most significantly, the pursuit of accreditation as a professional campus security agency. In March of 2017, the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies made MHSs Campus Safety department the first of its kind to be awarded this prestigious international honor.

Gilbert also helped design the schools new Campus Safety Building, which opened in 2019, and features a state-of-the-art central monitoring system. At MHS, Gilbert heads a team responsible for securing the schools 10,000-acre campus, which includes more than 180 student homes and 40 administrative buildings.

Through Ricks guidance, MHS continues to be on the leading edge of campus safety practices, placing a priority on keeping our students, staff, and visitors protected, said Pete Gurt 85, MHS president. I know Rick is one of the finest in his profession and this acknowledgement from Campus Safety magazine only underscores his talents and commitment to constant improvement.

A graduate of Hesser College and Kaplan University, Gilbert began his professional career in 1993 at the Lyndeborough Police Department in New Hampshire. As he received promotions, he was selected to supervise officers from around the world at the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta. Later, Gilbert co-founded the New England Campus Security Training Academy, providing instruction to officers from across the U.S., as well as South Africa and Bulgaria. In 2005, he was appointed director of campus safety at Endicott College, where he remained until joining MHS in 2009.

Campus Safety is spotlighting Gilbert on its website, along with other finalists. The publication will unveil its award winner during Campus Safety Conference East, which is being held in Bethesda, Maryland, from July 12 to 14.

ABOUT MILTON HERSHEY SCHOOL

Milton Hershey School is one of the worlds best private schools, offering a top-notch education and positive home life to children in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade from families of lower income at no charge. For more information, visit mhskids.org.
Chances, amounts of weekend snow still up in the air
There was a time when Gov. Andrew Cuomo actually made sense when talking about bail. Well, sort of.

Discussing criminal justice issues in his 2018 State of the State address, he said, We must reform our bail system so a person is only held if a judge finds either a significant flight risk or a real threat to public safety. Although on the money, it was nonetheless a curious statement since flight risk had always been an explicit factor in fixing bail, and public safety considerations an implicit one.

One year later, however, Cuomo, in a dramatic change of tune, teamed up with the Democratic-controlled legislature to eliminate bail entirely for almost all misdemeanors as well as a long list of felonies. In their rush to circumvent opposition and enact the radical reform, they stuck the bill in a $175.5 billion budget deal reached in the early hours of a Sunday morning. As one veteran Albany legislator told me, Cuomo and company knew that the measure could not have otherwise passed.

Today, a mere month beyond the laws effective date, several developments have Cuomo singing yet another tune. Bail reform, he now says, is a work in progress and so hes 100 percent open to making changes. Which, in reality, is a damning admission that he forced the legislation on New Yorkers without due thought and consideration despite its consequences for their safety. That wasnt just sloppy; it was a disgraceful dereliction of duty. And its led to predictable results.

Dire consequences

At a Jan. 24 press conference, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea blamed the bail reform legislation for an alarming spike in the citys crime rate, including a 32.5 percent increase in robberies.

There have also been several well-publicized instances of defendants being released on their own recognizance with infuriating consequences. Romell Nellis, for instance, was arrested on Jan. 8 for twice entering banks, handing tellers notes demanding money, and claiming to have a gun. At the time, he was already facing sentencing in connection with an unrelated crack-trafficking case.

Despite being homeless, lacking roots in the community, and facing decades behind bars, he was nonetheless released without bail under Cuomos legislation. Predictably, he failed to return to court on the adjourned date and hasnt been seen since. Any law that requires the release of a menace like Nellis is positively insane.

Its hardly surprising, therefore, that Cuomo is facing increasing bipartisan calls for changes to the bail legislation. There is even concern among some Democrats that the issue could cost the party control of the state senate in November. But while the governor appears ready to go back to the drawing board, the radical progressives behind the legislation are fighting hard to keep it as is.

They scream about fear mongering, as if its inappropriate to worry about people like Romell Nellis. They blithely dismiss his case and other publicized outrages as anomalies, and yet repeatedly cite the tragic case of Kalief Browder, whose three years in detention without a trial really was an anomaly. They whine about a disproportionate number of minorities in pre-trial detention, but ignore the fact that these same minorities commit a disproportionate number of crimes.

Dishonest analogy

They point to New Jersey, claiming that it has also largely eliminated bail without any negative consequences. But they dishonestly fail to mention that judges there can set bail if they believe that a defendant poses a significant danger to others. This dangerousness component, which is part of the law on the federal level and in all but one other state, was deliberately omitted from the New York legislation. And to be clear, neither the Constitutions Excessive Bail Clause nor Due Process Clause preclude use of the dangerousness standard in fixing bail, a point underscored by a lopsided majority of the U.S. Supreme Court in its 1987 decision in United States v. Salerno. In fact, that ruling upheld just such a provision in a federal bail statute enacted three years earlier.

New Yorks mindless bail legislation is ultimately on Cuomo. For it was he who signed the bill. It was he who, placating the extremists about him, placed the law-abiding people of this state at risk. And now, if sanity is to be restored, its up to him to lead the way. Hes been all over the place on bail in the past. He better land on the right place this time.

Daniel Leddys column On the Law appears weekly. Follow him on Twitter. His email address is column@danielleddylaw.com.
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

Armenia flag to be permanently raised on buildings of some more institutions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit trial judge to not self-recuse

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit court case resumes

298 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Artsakh emergency service: Remains of another participant in hostilities are found

816,660 tourists visit Armenia during 11 months of 2021

US proposes to UN Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea

World oil prices dropping

Newspaper: Amnesty process suspended in Armenia indefinitely

Newspaper: Those in Karabakh are resisting Armenia authorities arbitrariness

FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

Slovak government approves defense treaty with US

US imposes sanctions on 6 North Koreans

US senators unveil bill to impose sanctions against Russia

EU wants to help Lebanon avoid economic collapse

CSTO to approve Kazakhstan peacekeepers withdrawal order

German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

Boris Johnson apologizes for attending party during lockdown

Global COVID-19 cases rise by 55% percent, deaths stable

Thailand introduces $9 tourist fee

Erdogan vows to tame Turkish inflation as scepticism grows

Turkey's Turkic world ambitions face reality check in Kazakhstan

Teacher in Baku beats student

NEWS.am daily digest: 12.01.22

Turkish FM expresses concerns to Chinese counterpart

OSCE Chairman-in-Office speaks on situation along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021

China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded

Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation

Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods

Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day

3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings

Copper rises in price

One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning

About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions

Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night

French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly

289 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Gold slightly rises in price

North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile

OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

Oil is trading without a single dynamic

US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee

MOD: Armenia soldiers dead body found at midnight after Azerbaijan provocation

Newspaper: Casualties of Armenia PM Pashinyan's 'era of peace'

US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen

German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan

WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State

India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death

Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded

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Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States

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Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded
The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has reacted to reports a suspected suicide bomber at Living Faith Church, a.k a Winners Chapel, in Kaduna on Sunday.

The suspected bomber who snuck into the church located at Sabon Tasha in Chukun Local Government Area of the state was promptly arrested by the state Police Command.

In its reaction, MURIC said the arrest of a Christian attempting to bomb a church makes mockery of the rally organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Yakubu Sabo, had described the suspect as a middle-aged man, Nathaniel Samuel, a Christian from Bauchi State.

He said he was apprehended inside the church with a bag containing items suspected to be Improvised Explosive Devices (IED).

In a press statement the director of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Monday, the group commended the Kaduna State police command for its diligence and described the arrest as divinely ordained.

Read Also: Amotekun Has Its Origin From The Bible: MURIC

It added, This arrest is the outcome of our prayers for Allah to expose all those who are behind the bombing of churches. We are not surprised that the suspect happens to be a Christian. We have said it on several occasions that there is a Christian version of Boko Haram. Christians bomb churches and the whole world blame Nigerian Muslims for the atrocity.

The arrest of Nathaniel Samuel for attempting to bomb this church is not a new development. Victor Moses was arrested on 1st March 2016 for spying for Boko Haram bombers. He confessed that he carried out surveillance before the bombing of Madalla church in Abuja on 25th December 2011. It must be noted that for every single arrest there must have been several successful crimes committed. There is no doubt that there are many other Christians warming up somewhere to bomb churches and lay the blame on Muslims.

We give kudos to the Kaduna Police Command for this feat. People blame the security agencies for no just cause sometimes. This arrest must have been the outcome of careful planning and prolonged surveillance. Those who handled the operation deserve a promotion.

But the arrest of a Christian attempting to bomb a church makes mockery of the rally organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday. The rally was called ostensibly to protest against alleged rising insecurity in the country. But God works in wonderful ways.

He exposed another plot by a fellow Christian to bomb a church on the same day that CAN called for the rally. The coincidence is equally divine and it gives the impression that the rally itself was nothing but a hocus pocus.

CAN would have exploded immediately in its usual self-righteousness if Nathaniel Samuel had succeeded in bombing the church yesterday. A world press conference would have been held this morning to blame the killing on Muslims.

Also, there would have been screaming headlines in newspapers across the country: Boko Haram Bombs Church Again: Hundreds Killed! White House would have called Aso Rock: Why are you killing Christians?

This scenario is becoming too ridiculous. It is turning our country into a bundle of contradictions. We say enough is enough. This hypocrisy in articulated religiousity must stop.

CAN nurses a false dogma of permanent insecurity, incompetence, and persecution. But in reality, Nigeria today is much better than Nigeria in 2015 when the Buhari administration took over. Boko Haram that was controlling 17 local governments at that time has been reduced to a pack of hoodlums hitting and running.

Nigerian soldiers who were running and hiding from the insurgents before are now putting the latter on the run. The fact that Boko Haram tactics have diminished to guerrilla warfare cements our hypothesis of a debilitated insurgency. Ditto for kidnappings and armed robbery. There is a gross reduction in the spate of crime but groups like CAN feed fat on misinformation.

In a nutshell, MURIC calls on patriotic Nigerians to continue to pray for peace, political stability and economic prosperity. But above all, we call on the security agencies to step up their safety measures. Life is sacred and this country can only make progress in an atmosphere of security. Therefore, the security agencies must be alert to their responsibilities. We charge Nigerians to be extra-vigilant. Our enemies are in our midst.
Forecasters also warned that another storm system was expected in the Chicago area Wednesday night and Thursday morning, although meteorologists said it was too early to say how much snow may fall and which areas should expect the greatest accumulation. One social media post suggested the rate of snowfall Wednesday into Thursday could reach half-an-inch per hour. The thickest snowfall was expected at night Wednesday. A large part of the Chicago area, including all of Cook, DuPage and Kendall counties, as well as much of Will, Lake and Kane counties, according to the weather service.
Hong Kong: HA calls on staff to stay on duty

The Hospital Authority today called on healthcare staff to stay on duty and join hands to cope with the challenge of the service surge and worsening situation of the novel coronavirus.

Responding to the strike advocated by some staff members, the authority said it shares the same goal as its staff to safeguard the health of Hong Kong people.

It called on staff not to join the strike and to seek consensus through discussions, and reiterated that the strike would not be in the interest of patients and would affect public hospital services.

The authority convened the Central Command Committee to review the services and manpower situation in various hospital clusters.

It said that all hospital clusters need to significantly adjust services to focus their manpower to maintain emergency and essential services.

All hospital clusters will reduce elective surgeries and some outpatient services by about 50%.

Additionally, all specialist outpatient clinic services will be affected, while drug refill services will be arranged for follow-up patients.

General outpatient clinics will try to remain open by rearranging duty rosters and hiring part-time staff. For follow-up appointments for patients with chronic diseases, drug refill services will be arranged and consultations will be rescheduled.

Hospitals would also reduce physiotherapy and occupational therapy outpatient services by about 50%. Outpatients will be informed of their rescheduled appointment dates.

The Major Incident Control Centres of the authoritys Head Office and hospital clusters will be activated on February 3 to monitor the service situation closely.

The authority also thanked staff members who remained on duty to cope with the additional duties being deployed to them due to the strike.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The developers of the proposed Ruso Wind project in northern McLean County will appear before state regulators to make the case for an exemption from a new law requiring light-mitigating technology atop wind turbines.

Wind farms permitted after June 2016 must have new lighting systems to alert aircraft of their presence without blinking all night long. One of the complaints from neighbors of wind farms has to do with the blinking red lights ruining the night sky.

A common solution in North Dakota is to install a radar-based system that turns on tower lights only when an aircraft is detected in the area. But Public Service Commissioner Randy Christmann said Ruso Wind is under pressure because that option is not compatible with military operations.

"The Air Force is not wanting the light mitigation system, at least what's available," Christmann said at a recent PSC meeting.

The Air Force has expressed concern about a potential scenario in which lights blinking only in the presence of an aircraft would alert opposition forces to its location at night. Helicopters fly hundreds of missions each year related to the operations of intercontinental ballistic missiles buried in North Dakota.

An alternative light mitigation technology would dim the lights based on visibility conditions, but such a system has yet to receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The PSC has said the law doesnt give the commission any authority to grant waivers.

"Staff counsel has one opinion on what we're able to do under the law, as far as providing an exception for that wind farm," Christmann said.

Ruso Wind, a subsidiary of Southern Power, requested an opportunity earlier this month to speak before the commission. It will have that chance at an informal hearing the PSC has scheduled for Feb. 13.

Christmann said Ruso Wind would like to present its legal theory on why an exemption would be possible.

The wind farm is slated to contain 47 turbines for a total capacity of 205 megawatts.

Commissioners also are weighing a request from a union to require that Ruso Wind report the number of local and nonlocal workers involved in construction of the wind farm. The Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota, which represents construction workers who build wind farms, intervened in the case before the PSC.

The group has been pushing for more local workers to be hired at wind construction sites in North Dakota and Minnesota due to the prevalence of many out-of-state people who fill those jobs. The union estimates that just 14% of construction jobs on recent wind projects in North Dakota went to local workers.

Bismarck Tribune reporter Amy Sisk contributed to this story.

Reach Amy R. Sisk at 701-250-8252 or amy.sisk@bismarcktribune.com.

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By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Intelligence agencies are probing a Telegram post put up by Al Hind Brigade -- an organisation that allegedly supports the Islamic State -- threatening to take revenge on Special Cell Police and Q Branch officers. Officials suspect that continuous crackdown against men pledging allegiance to ISIS in south India could have kindled anger among many outfits, resulting in this social media post. The post, written in Tamil, was surrounded by two AK-47 guns, bullets and grenades. The note kept in between the ammunition read - To the dogs of the Delhi special cell and Q Branch. We are watching you and shall respond soon. Keep waiting.

Though unclear as to whom it was addressed, sources in Q branch told Express that the post appeared almost two weeks after Delhi Police, on January 8, arrested Khaja Moideen, the IS outfit head in Tamil Nadu and an Al Hind Trust coordinator. Earlier, Tamil Nadu Q Branch had arrested three IS sympathisers who aided SSI Wilsons murder in Kanniyakumari. Several teams have been formed to identify the men in-charge of the post and they believe that the ones behind it are IS sympathisers.

A senior Q Branch official said, Since it is written in Tamil, we suspect hands of some from the State. However, the handwriting suggests that it might have been written by someone who never learned the language. These are only suspicions and we will know details only after a thorough investigation.Al Hind Brigade came to the limelight when it claimed responsibility to the murder of Kamalesh Tiwari, a fringe Hindu group leader from Uttar Pradesh few months ago. Q Branch had earlier said that a few men arrested by TN Q -Branch officials in Bengaluru were part of the Al Hind Trust.

Sources said that the intelligence wing believes the trust had supported many IS sympathisers across the globe to travel to Syria to fight and create the Islamic Caliphate.C Khaja Moideen alias Abdullah Muthaleef (47), a native of Cuddalore, was arrested in July 2014 for murdering KP Suresh Kumar, a Hindu Munnani leader. He was enraged after Suresh Kumar allegedly made a hate speech in a public meeting in Avadi in 2012. An Emir or commander of the banned outfit - Tamil Nadu IS, Khaja Moideen was entrusted with the responsibility of recruiting youth to the IS.

He is a former SIMI activist. He was lodged in the Puzhal prison, but later transferred to Salem jail after being involved in an attack on the jail staff in 2015.The group, hailing from Tamil Nadu and Telangana, had been indulging in IS activities by forming the terror group, raising and receiving funds, organising camps, recruiting and training people and facilitating their travel to Syria to join the IS. U Haja Fakkruddin, a Cuddalore native, is the first man from the State believed to have joined the IS, after leaving his lucrative job in Singapore. He is still believed to be in Syria.
Kathmandu, Feb 4 : A row over how the yeti looks like has forced Nepalese authorities to remove some 22 statues of the mythical giant ape-like creature from tourist landmarks.

The controversy erupted after the authorities installed colourful and massive fiberglass sculptures of squatting yetis at Kathmandu landmarks to start the government's "Visit Nepal 2020" campaign, an Efe news report said on Tuesday.

Some people complained that the mascot looked like a Japanese sumo wrestler and others believed that the statues represented Hindu and Buddhist deities.

Some people even started praying in front of the statues that had religious pictures or symbols painted onto them. Pictures of women and children worshiping the mascot went viral on social media.

The statue placed at the Basantapur Durbar Square had an image of goddess Kumari painted on its forehead and back. The deity is worshiped by Hindus as well as Buddhists.

"The yeti is a mystical beast (and) this (the statues) has damaged the religious feelings of the people," Ganapati Lal Shrestha, a heritage activist, told Efe news.

Locals and activists with the help of the authorities removed the religious pictures or symbols painted on the sculptures by spraying color on the statues installed at Basantapur and Boudhanath Aditya Baral, a co-founder and country director of XcelTrip Nepal, said that a good idea to use yeti mascots to attract more foreigners has turned into an avoidable "religious ordeal".

Finally, all the statues, built with fiberglass at a cost of 500,000 Nepalese rupees ($4,385) each, were removed by the end of the last month.

"It took four months to design the mascot," said Bijay Maharjan, one of the 108 artists involved in the yeti's mascot project.

"Our intention was not to hurt the religious sentiments of the people. We designed it by imagining the laughing Buddha," Maharjan told Efe news.

The yeti, also known as the abominable snowman, is a mythical beast that is often described as a furry, ape-like creature taller than an average human and is believed to inhabit the Himalayas, Siberia or the Central and East Asian regions.

The elusive creature is part of the region's mythological folklore, although the hunt for proof of its existence has been taken up by many self-described crypto-zoologists across the world.

With no solid evidence available for its existence, most scientists dismiss the creature as mythical. But stories of people seeing the creature or its footprints are common.

In Nepal, the term yeti is a merger of the Sherpa words "yah" (rock) and "teh" (animal).

There have been numerous attempts in recent years to solve the mystery of the yeti.

In 2011, DNA tests on a "yeti finger" taken from Nepal to London believed to be half a century old was found to be a human bone.

In 2013, DNA tests on hair samples carried out by Oxford University genetics professor Bryan Sykes found that the strands matched those from an ancient polar bear.
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(Refiles to amend minister's title in paragraphs 2 and 3)

DUBAI/RIYADH, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with a fund linked to China's Alibaba to build a new headquarters in a "media city" in the kingdom's capital, the Saudi minister of culture said on Tuesday.

The minister, Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, said on Twitter that he signed the agreement with Jerry Li, founding partner of eWTP Capital, which is backed by Jack Ma, head of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.

"An important first step to strengthen our partnerships and attract innovators from all over the world," Prince Badr, who is also the chairman of the new media city, said on Twitter.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, has struggled to attract tech giants such as Google and Amazon, which it has courted as part of the kingdom's push to diversify its oil-reliant economy.

The minister also said an agreement had been reached to build a new headquarters for Saudi-controlled media group MBC, as well as a new hub for MBC-owned sister news channels Al Arabiya and Al Hadath.

The media city will be in the embassies district of Riyadh, state TV said on Twitter.

It will be in competition with Dubai Media City in the United Arab Emirates. The Dubai project is the region's leading media hub and where MBC Group is currently headquartered. (Reporting by Yousef Saba in Dubai and Stephen Kalin in Riyadh Additional reporting by Nayera Abdallah in Dubai Editing by David Goodman)
Sen. Bernie Sanders has scheduled a New Hampshire rally for the same night President Trump will deliver his State of the Union address.

Sanders' first event in the Granite State after Monday night's Iowa caucuses will be a Tuesday night rally in Milford, a community near Nashua.

Sanders is one of the four U.S. senators running for president who has had to bounce between Washington, D.C. and the campaign trail due to Trump's impeachment trial.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, photographed at his Saturday rally that attracted 3,000 supporters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is skipping President Trump's State of the Union address, holding another rally, this one in Milford, New Hampshire, on Tuesday night

Sen. Bernie Sanders had to leave the campaign trail to head back to Washington to listen to the closing arguments of President Trump's impeachment trial Monday. He'll skip the president's Tuesday night State of the Union address to hold a rally in New Hampshire instead

President Trump, seen delivering the State of the Union address in 2019, will deliver this address Tuesday night from the Capitol Building. The next day he's expected to be acquitted by the U.S. Senate

On Sunday Sanders spoke to both an overflow crowd and a crew of supporters at the bar Ingersoll Tap.

'I've got to be on a plane pretty soon going back to D.C.,' the Vermont senator said.

On Monday, in the hours before voters in Iowa were scheduled to caucus, Sanders was back in Washington taking in the closing arguments of Trump's impeachment trial.

A spokesperson for the campaign said he'll be back in time for his Caucus Night Celebration at a Holiday Inn conference center outside of Des Moines.

The Vermont senator will make his New Hampshire debut the next night and will hold an event mid-morning Wednesday in the Granite State.

President Trump is expected to be aquitted in the Senate's impeachment trial on Wednesday as well.

Sanders returns to New Hampshire Friday to resume business on the campaign trail.

Sanders has been recently leading former Vice President Joe Biden in Iowa in the polls.

The Real Clear Politics polling average had Sanders leading Biden by 3.7 points the day of the caucuses.

He's up by 9 points over Biden in New Hampshire.

Sanders lost Iowa to Hillary Clinton in 2016 by a hair, though beat the former secretary of state in New Hampshire, boosted by his next-door-neighbor status.

She went on to beat him in South Carolina, a more diverse state, eventually winning the Democratic nomination.
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
WASHINGTON  With the results of the nations first presidential nominating contest uncertain, Democratic candidates emerged one after the other in Iowa on Monday to cast the unsatisfying delay in the most positive light possible for their campaigns.

"I have a strong feeling that at some point the results will be announced," Sen. Bernie Sanders joked with supporters in Des Moines. "And when those results are announced, I have a good feeling were going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa."

In a series of statements that arrived hours after the caucusing in Iowa had mostly wrapped up, the Iowa Democratic Party cited "inconsistencies in the reporting" of results to explain a delay that left the nation waiting for answers. But the candidates  not wanting to miss the opportunity to appear on stage after the high-profile caucuses  couldnt wait to deliver their addresses, and to focus on the next contest.

Now, it is on to New Hampshire, said Sanders, who enjoyed late momentum in the Hawkeye State.

Its rare for candidates to speak without knowing the outcome of a contest, and the campaigns were all forced to rip up their victory and concession speeches. Many of the candidates delivered addresses that closely mirrored remarks they have been giving for months on the trial, along with gently ribbing the process in Iowa.

It's too close to call so Im just going to tell you what I do know, Sen. Elizabeth Warren told her supporters.

You won! one of her supporters screamed in response.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., addresses the crowd at her caucus night party on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, at Forte in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. At the time of her speech results of the caucuses were still unknown.

Behind the scenes, however, the campaigns were scrambling to understand why the party had put a hold on the results  delaying a win and the momentum that comes with placing in Iowa. Most of the candidates were expected to quickly shift focus to New Hampshire, where voters will hold their primary on Feb. 11.

Live coverage: Biden campaign slams Iowa Democratic Party for 'acute failures'

"We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results," said Mandy McClure, a spokeswoman for the state Democratic party, who acknowledged problems with an app that was to be used to tabulate results. "This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion."

Story continues

The state party scheduled a meeting with the campaigns to brief them on the delay. Former Vice President Joe Bidens campaign fired off a letter to those same officials calling for full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing.

Vice President and current Democratic presidential candidate hopeful Joe Biden speaks to supporters following the Iowa Caucus at the Olmstead Building at Drake University in Des Moines on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020.

Officials with President Donald Trumps campaign used the delay to question the process Democrats used to pick their nominee. Trump has often accused Democrats, without evidence, of rigging the 2016 Democratic primary for Hillary Clinton. Some Trump supporters began making similar claims on Monday.

Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history, said Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale. It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process.

Trump, who does not face a significant challenge for the GOP nomination, handily won the Republican caucus in Iowa.

But for the Democratic candidates, neither winning nor waiting was an option.

Some way, some how Im going to get on a plane tonight to New Hampshire, said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the first candidate to address her supporters.

Were going to be here, it looks like, a really long time tonight, Klobuchar said as she promised to head to the next campaign stop in New Hampshire.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar speaks on Feb. 3, 2020 at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown during a watch party awaiting Democratic caucus results.

The last of the Democratic frontrunners to speak, Pete Buttigieg, went farther than his competitors in claiming victory.

"We dont know all the results. But we know by the time it's all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation," Buttigieg told his supporters. "Because, by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious."

Former South Bend Mayor and democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg speaks to supporters at his Iowa Caucus Watch Party event inside Drake University on Monday, Feb. 4, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iowa caucus delay: Democrats not waiting for results to give speeches
Law Debenture is an unusual beast, combining an investment trust with a professional services business that provides advice to pension schemes, helps whistleblowers and administers bonds for companies.

The blend sounds complex but it works, creating a group that offers robust growth and reliable dividend income.

Midas recommended the shares in March last year at 5.76, since when they have risen nearly 7 per cent to 6.14 and paid out 19.5p in dividends.

Law Debenture's whistleblowing division, Safecall, is expanding fast

The shares hit 6.50 earlier last week but fell back on general market weakness. This was unjustified.

Chief executive Denis Jackson is driving the business forward and is optimistic about the future. His optimism is well placed.

Pension schemes are under increasing pressure to become more professional, Law Debenture provides professional trustees to over 200 company schemes and demand is growing.

The whistleblowing division, Safecall, is expanding fast as well. Employees can call the firm in confidence if they feel that something is not right where they work and it has 500 customers worldwide, including Save the Children, Virgin Money and the Odeon film group.

Politicians are interested in this area and an Office of the Whistleblower may soon be created to protect those who speak out against their employer.

On the investment side, Law Debenture focuses on UK companies, such as GlaxoSmithKline, Prudential and Rio Tinto.

UK shares are deemed hugely undervalued compared to their overseas peers but investors are becoming more optimistic about the London market and Law Debenture should benefit.

The company has maintained or increased dividends for the past 40 years, generating income from the professional service businesses and the shares in which it invests. This is set to continue in 2020 and beyond. Results at the end of February should show good momentum across the group.

Midas verdict: Law Debenture shares are moving in the right direction but the best is yet to come. Existing and new investors should find long-term value in this stock.
One of the six pillars of the Chester County Historic Courthouse on North High Street will shine in blue light on January nights beginning Tuesday evening in recognition of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
About 400 Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army militants destroyed the church and 25 Christian homes. Harassed women and girls; elders beaten. We are Christians from birth. We ask to be recognized as such ". Pope Francis in Bangladesh met the refugees, "but we were not invited".

Dhaka (AsiaNews) - A Christian family was kidnapped in the Kutupalong refugee camp in the Coxs Bazar district, and an underage daughter was forced to marry and convert to Islam. Savel Islam Peter, one of the Rohingya Christian refugees attacked last week by Arsa militants (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) in the refugee camp, reveals this in an exclusive interview with AsiaNews. The kidnapping, he says, occurred the day after the attack on the camp on January 27th. The family, Saiful says, was kidnapped for the faith. We are persecuted because we are Christians .

Saiful is a Protestant member of the Bethel Church Rohingya Christian Fellowship. He reports that the people kidnapped are: Taher, 55, his wife Kurshida, 32, and his daughters Mizan, 14, and Mariam, 8. Two days ago, he adds, "a Muslim neighbor told us that Mizan was forced to marry an Islamic extremist who lives near Nowkar camp, while there is no news of the rest of the family ".

He is hospitalized in a district mission hospital because of the injuries sustained during the attack. He was attacked because he filmed the homes of burning Christians on video. The police indicted him for filming the demolished houses. He said that "about 200 people from Arsa came to visit us carrying guns, knives, swords and iron bars".

At the moment, the families have been transferred to a UN camp. To those who question the presence of ARSA militants in the refugee camp, Saiful replies: "They really exist. We have encountered several in both the 2E and 2W camps. We have photos showing militant leaders carrying guns and knives. Many Rohingya Muslims detest them and I am sure they would be ready to testify that the members of ARSA are there. "

The Rohingya are an ethnic minority, mostly Islamic, who have lived in Myanmar for decades. At the outbreak of the violence in August 2017 between army soldiers and the Arsa armed group, at least 740 thousand people fled Burmese territory and camped in Bangladesh. Saiful highlights: "There is a hate speech that surrounds us, according to which for the Rohingya there is no other religion than the Islamic one. In reality, the Rohingyas were Hindus for a long time. "

On the attack on Christian families, the man says: " The Rohingya Christian women and children were beaten terribly. Many young girls were sexually harassed in the nights. During attack, attackers touch private part of women. Their married gold and earrings have snatched away, so many women got permanent damage in the ear of fingers. My elderly people and man have cut with swords on the shoulders, backs or in the arms " We have videos that demonstrate everything - he continues - at least 400 people attacked us. They stole all our belongings from homes, destroyed the church, took computers, projectors and other material for a value of 200 thousand taka [2,130 euros, ed.] .

At least 1,500 Rohingya Christians live in Bangladesh, who have arrived in various migratory waves since 1991. The only church for them is located in Camp 2, block 1, of Kutupalong. All "are Christians from birth, and not converted to Christianity after arriving in Bangladesh, as one would like to believe". Saiful denounces that as early as last May, between 10 and 13, the criminals had destroyed the church. They returned between January 25 and 27 and demolished the church and 25 houses again. "

For years - Saiful notes - we have been asking to be recognized as Christians by the Muslim majority Rohingya. We hope that card. Patrick DRozario, head of the country's Catholic bishops, help us get the kidnapped back. In 2017, we learned that Pope Francis came to Bangladesh and met Rohingya refugees. However, no one invited us to that meeting."
Lesotho's first lady was today charged with murder after turning herself in for questioning a month after going missing amid a probe into the brutal killing of the Prime Minister's former wife.

Maesaiah Thabane, 42, was remanded in custody tonight and charged with murder alongside eight others who are in Lesotho and South Africa, police confirmed.

Deputy police commissioner Paseka Mokete said that there was a 'strong case' against the first lady and that investigations had been 'satisfactorily completed'.

Thabane absconded after being summoned as part of an investigation into the killing of Lipolelo Thabane - Prime Minister Thomas Thabane's estranged wife.

Maesaiah Thabane, 42, was remanded in custody tonight and charged with murder alongside eight others who are in Lesotho and South Africa, police confirmed (file photo)

Prime Minister Thomas Thabane last month said he would leave office on the grounds of old age but gave no time frame for his departure (pictured at the UN in September last year)

The couple was involved in bitter divorce proceedings when the 58-year-old was gunned down outside her home in Lesotho's capital Maseru in June 2017, two days before her husband's inauguration.

New evidence surfaced in early January, when a letter from Lesotho's police chief was made public alleging that communication records from the day of the crime picked up the prime minister's mobile number.

Thomas Thabane, who is now 80, has since bowed to pressure and offered to resign at a date not yet disclosed.

He has also been questioned by the police over the killing.

Lipolelo Thabane, whose death sent shockwaves through the country, was assassinated outside her home in Maseru in June 2017

The prime minister and Maesaiah married a few months after Lipolelo's murder in 2017

But his current wife vanished when the police called her in to testify last month, prompting the issuing of an arrest warrant.

The murder of Lipolelo Thabane sent shock waves through the tiny mountain kingdom, which is ringed by South Africa and has a long history of political turmoil.

Senior members of the ruling All Basotho Convention (ABC) party have accused the prime minister of hampering investigations into the killing.

A picture taken in Maseru, Lesotho, on February 2, 2020 shows the exterior of the Palace of Justice of Lesotho

The prime minister (pictured being welcomed to London by then PM Theresa May in 2018) has offered to resign

Thabane last month said he would leave office on the grounds of old age but gave no time frame for his departure.

Hundreds of opposition supporters marched through the streets of Maseru on the day the prime minister was quizzed by police, demanding he step down with immediate effect.

Maesaiah Thabane was picked up on the border with South Africa following an arrangement between her lawyer and the police.
The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department has been recognized by the National Association of County and City Health Officials for its ability to plan for, respond to and recover from public health emergencies. The Health Department demonstrated these capabilities by meeting the comprehensive benchmarks required by Project Public Health Ready, a partnership between NACCHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Health Department joins a cohort of more than 520 local health departments across the country that have been distinguished for excellence in preparedness through PPHR.Health Department staff constantly practice basic skills, review emergency plans and coordinate with community partners to prepare for large or small scale disasters, says Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Maegan Kerr, We will continue to improve our ability to quickly and effectively respond to any public health crisis in Hamilton County.PPHR recognition confirms that a thorough and coordinated emergency response plan is in place, and that staff have the training to protect the health of the community during an emergency.Local health departments undergo a rigorous peer review process to assess their ability to meet a set of national standards for public health preparedness. These standards align with federal government requirements and other national best practices. This is the Health Departments second recognition in this program since joining PPHR membership in 2014.Several notable crisis responses by the Health Department in recent years were the April 2011 tornadoes, the May 2013 Patten Towers fire, and the May 2018 Hepatitis A outbreak, which recently has begun to wane. Health Department staff also conduct annual skills training to prepare for an evacuation of residents around the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant in the unlikely event that an incident should occur there."The Health Department would also like to recognize its many government, non-profit and private partners who play vital roles in community emergency preparedness," officials said. "Our community is stronger and more resilient because of these relationships."For more information about the Emergency Preparedness program at the Health Department, visit their website at Health.HamiltonTN.org , or call 423-209-8074.
K enyas former president Daniel arap Moi has died aged 95.

Mr Moi was the East African states second and longest serving president, holding office for 24 years.

He stepped down in 2002 after being constitutionally barred from running for a further term.

Despite being called a dictator by critics, Mr Moi enjoyed strong support from many Kenyans and was seen as a uniting figure when he took power, after founding President Jomo Kenyatta died in office in 1978.

In 1980, President Daniel arap Moi stands to propose a toast in front of President Jimmy Carter in the State Dining Room of the White House / AP

In office, he was feared and admired in equal measure, and was accused of human rights abuses.

He introduced multi-party politics in 1991, but subsequent elections were marred by rigging.

Mr Moi, a former school teacher, died on Tuesday after being in hospital for nearly a month.

Born on September 2, 1924 to a farming family, he served as home affairs minister from 1964 and in 1967 became the countrys vice-president.

In 2002, outgoing President Daniel arap Moi inspects a guard of honor / AP

He was unopposed as president at election in 1983 and 1988. After the introduction of multi-party politics he was elected for a further two terms in 1992 and 1997 in polls that were widely regarded as rigged.

According to a report by the governments Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission that assessed his rule, Mr Mois unopposed government in the 1980s became repressive at dealing with dissent.

Political activists and others who dared oppose his rule were routinely detained and tortured, the report said, noting unlawful detentions and assassinations, including the killing of a foreign affairs minister, Robert Ouko.

By the time Mr Moi left power in 2002, corruption had left Kenyas economy with negative growth.

Mr Moi often blamed the West for bad publicity and the economic hardships many Kenyans had to endure during his rule.
CRESWELL, Ore.  A Creswell woman who had 61 horses removed from her property due to severe neglect has avoided jail time.

Gwenyth Davies, 49, will serve five years probation after pleading guilty to 11 counts of second-degree animal neglect.

Davies operated a horse boarding facility. Investigators said a veterinarian determined the horses were not receiving the minimum care standards under Oregon law.

RELATED: NEW CHARGES FILED AGAINST CRESWELL WOMAN ACCUSED OF ANIMAL NEGLECT

In court, she was also ordered to pay $49,557.36 in restitution:

$18,540.07 to the Oregon Humane Society

$10,637.90 to Lane County

$20,379.39 to Sound Equine Options

According to the payment plan that has been agreed upon, Davies will pay $300 a month toward restitution.

Going forward, Davies will only be allowed to have four horses in her care at one time during her probation. She will not be allowed to board other horses, and will be required to send unaltered pictures of her horses to Lane County Animal Services and the Oregon Humane Society. Officials will also go to the property to evaluate the horses and any other animals on the property.

Special prosecutor Jacob Kamins said the plea deals comes as Davies has accepted responsibility.

"This would not be a case I would enter into negotiations with unless there was some showing of early acceptance of responsibility on Mrs. Davies' part," Kamins said.

The Lane County Sheriff's Office said the plea agreement allowed the state to place restrictions on Davies' horse ownership that may not have been possible if the case had gone to trial.

One of main goals in this case was to ensure this type of neglect doesnt occur again, and this agreement allows for a level of oversight that can aid in achieving that goal, said Sheriff Cliff Harrold.

The sheriff's office said that during the investigation, four dead horses were found at the property. During the seizure, horses were evaluated by a veterinarian and taken to another location for care. Three horses did not survive, the sheriff's office said.

Davies' attorney Laura Fine told the judge that Davies worked with the sheriff's office to help reunite owners with their animals.

"She reviewed photos of all seized horses, provided owner information and specific details about the horses' conditions and needs," Fine said.

Most of the remaining horses were returned to their owners. Four are still being held pending criminal charges against their owners, Erica and Raina Ott, who lived on the same property as Davies. They have been charged with second-degree animal neglect in connection with the Davies case, the sheriff's office said.

MORE: NEGLECTED HORSES REMOVED FROM CRESWELL PROPERTY

Davies has had previous contacts with Lane County Animal Services in 2018 regarding horses in poor condition, authorities said.

She lives at the property with her husband Michael DeLeonardo. In 2018, Davies complied with Lane County Animal Services requests and the horses were brought to minimum standards. The current investigation began on Oct. 16, 2019, and evidence suggested that the abuses may be criminal.

"Certainly looking at the emaciated horses it's clear to even people who aren't around horses a lot that's not what a horse should look like. It's important that we let the investigation continue and let the Oregon Humane Society gather evidence," said Lane County spokesperson Devon Ashbridge.

It started when Lane County Animal Services received photographs of horses that appeared to be severely neglected. The photographs were provided by Emerald Valley Equine Rescue after it received multiple complaints from people who once boarded their horses with Davies.

Neighbors KEZI 9 News spoke to recount seeing a back field on the property filled with horses, some showing ribs and hips. They also recounted hearing gunshots on the property regularly.

READ MORE: OWNERS WANT HORSES BACK AFTER MASS SEIZURE IN CRESWELL

High-schooler Breonah Jones trains her own horses on an adjacent property. She describes rarely seeing the horses fed.

"They should have had food back there, 100%; they had so many horses in that back field that there wasn't even any grass. Just sheer dirt," she said. "They should be put into jail for a very long time for each and every horse that they did that to."

However, Carol Mingst, the owner of three horses taken from Davies' property, said the Lane County Sheriff's office went too far and her horses were not neglected.

"He is lightweight because he has a broken bone in his leg," Mingst said, referring to one of her horses. "He can't have a lot of weight on it. He's also slimmed down because he lost a lot of weight when he was sick."

Due to the large number of involved horses, Lane County reached out to the Oregon Humane Society and rescue organizations to begin identifying people who could help with the evaluation, removal, treatment and housing of so many large animals  which far exceeds local capacity.

The Lane County District Attorneys Office is working with Oregon Animal Cruelty Deputy District Attorney Jake Kamins, who specializes in the prosecution of animal cruelty cases.

Ms. Davies is known to Animal Services, said Bernard Perkins, Lane County senior animal welfare officer. While we typically focus on voluntary compliance and education, the level of alleged neglect and Ms. Davies history of violations goes far beyond what is acceptable in our community. We are grateful for the support of the sheriffs office and district attorney in the pursuit of criminal charges.

Sound Equine Options, Emerald Valley Horse Rescue, Oregon Humane Society, and Lane County Land Management Division all assisted with the rescue operation and property compliance issues.
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By Express News Service

MUMBAI: In a shocking incident a 24-year old woman lecturer at a college in Wardha was set on fire by a stalker on Monday.

While accused Vicky Nagrale (27) was arrested soon after the incident, the victims condition is critical, doctors said.

The incident took place at around 7.15 am, the usual time for the victim, a part-time lecturer at the Matoshri Ashatai Kunawar College in Hinganghat town of Wardha district, to go to the college.

The college was just about 100 metres away from Nanderi Chowk area where the incident took place. It is a crowded area. As she alighted from bus, Nagrale came up to her, doused her with petrol that he took out from his two-wheeler, and set her ablaze before running away from the spot, said police inspector Pratibha Dunbale.

Wardha SP Basavaraj Teli, said that accused was arrested from Sawarkheda village near Butibori industrial area of Nagpur.

Victim has sustained around 40 per cent burns. Her face is completely charred. But, more dangerous is the toxic fumes emanating from the fire that she must have inhaled, which made her condition critical, said Dr Darshan Revankar of the Orange City Hospital in Nagpur.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Federal prosecutors in Virginia have taken the unusual step of conducting a public search for victims of a Russian national whose website facilitated more than $20 million in credit card fraud.

Aleksei Burkov of St. Petersburg, Russia, pleaded guilty last month in U.S. District Court in Alexandria to fraud, money laundering and other charges. He will be sentenced in May.

He admitted running a website called Cardplanet that sold more than 150,000 stolen credit-card numbers.

On Monday, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a public advisory seeking to find potential victims of the fraud scheme. Those who believe they may have been victimized can check a Justice Department website for information about submitting a victim impact statement.

Israel extradited Burkov to the U.S. in November over Russias objections.
The 37 Military Hospital will close down some units operations from Friday, February 7 to March 6, to the general public to enable it commence routine fumigation exercise within the facility.



Departments to be affected include the Medical and Emergency Unit (MEU) and the Trauma, Surgical and Emergency Units.



A statement issued on Monday and signed by Commander Andy La-Anyane, a Deputy Director, Press Relations, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the closure had become necessary to enable the authorities to undertake the exercise as a remedy to any infestation of these units.



It said management had however put in place measures to ensure that patients currently on admission were not negatively affected by the closure.



These patients would be transferred to the wards during the exercise, the statement said.



It therefore apologise to the public for any inconveniences this might cause.

Source: GNA









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Evacuated Child Quarantined at California Base From Wuhan Is Hospitalized

A child who was quarantined at a Southern California airbase after being evacuated from Chinas coronavirus epicenter, Wuhan, was taken to a hospital due to a fever, said officials on Tuesday.

The Riverside County health agency (pdf) said the child, accompanied by a parent, was taken to Riverside University Health System-Medical Center by ambulance for testing and observation. Officials said that testing results for coronavirus have not yet come back.

Testing samples will be submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and results expected later this week. No confirmed cases have been reported in Riverside County, the statement said.

The child was part of a group of 195 Americans who were flown from China to March Air Reserve Base. They were placed under a 14-day quarantine at the behest of the CDC.

Another passenger who arrived on Monday from China at the Los Angeles International Airport was placed under the CDC-mandated quarantine at March Air Base, the health agency said.

An airplane carrying U.S. citizens being evacuated from Wuhan, China, lands at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif., on Jan. 29, 2020. (Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP Photo)

That passenger, the agency said, has not shown any symptoms of coronavirus. However, they were taken to the base out of an abundance of caution and because of their travel history, county officials said, without elaborating on where they had been in China. The person will be isolated away from the other people in the group.

Last week, the State Department evacuated the Americans on a chartered flight before the plane arrived in Alaska and then California. Last week, Nancy Messonnier, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said none of the passengers showed symptoms of the virus.

Eleven cases of coronavirus have been confirmed so far in the United States, and of that figure, six have been confirmed by the CDC in California. Over the weekend, two people in Northern Californias San Benito County tested positive and another case was confirmed in nearby Santa Clara County.

Medical staff members wearing protective clothing arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China, on Jan. 25, 2020. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

The two San Benito casesa husband and wifewere transported to a hospital in San Francisco after their condition worsened, said officials in the city. The patients arrived on Monday morning, but they represent no elevated risk to the public, the citys health department said in a statement. The hospital is taking all appropriate precautions for patient and staff safety, it added. The husband had recently traveled to Wuhan.

Other than California, cases were confirmed in Arizona, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Washington state. The only other instance of person-to-person transmission of the virus was reported in Illinois, also involving a husband and wife, with the wife having also traveled to Wuhan in recent days.

The Department of Homeland Security has implemented new travel restrictions on Sunday on Americans who recently have visited China in an attempt to curb its spread in the United States.
Four military bases in Texas, California and Colorado were preparing to house American citizens for up to two weeks as part of a highly unusual federal effort aimed at slowing the spread of the deadly coronavirus. As of late Monday, though, expectations that a large number of Americans who had traveled to parts of China might quickly be held under quarantine had not come to pass.

No new travelers from China had been brought to the military bases, federal officials said. The only people under federal quarantine were fewer than 200 people who had been in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, and were flown to a base in Riverside, Calif., last week.

About 250 other Americans who had recently spent time in China and showed signs of symptoms were considered patients under investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and have been monitored, the federal authorities said.

This is an unprecedented situation, and weve taken aggressive measures, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, part of the C.D.C.
Courtesy image

Harris County Sheriffs Office deputies responded to a possible home-invasion related shooting at the 22500 block of Auburn Valley Lane in Katy. The victim is described as a female in her early 20s and pregnant. According to the sheriffs office, the woman was shot twice, and a man who lives in the home drove the female to the hospital. Both the woman and her baby are expected to survive.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez stated on his Twitter account that the suspect or suspects are currently unknown, but the investigation is ongoing. According to the sheriffs office Twitter post, investigators on scene reported that they found a trail of blood, bullet casings and drug paraphernalia in the home.
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi's sub-brand Poco on Tuesday said the company has one month of stock of mobile phones for sale in India and there is no clarity on impact of coronavirus outbreak on supplies thereafter.

The company will start selling three smartphone models of its latest phone Poco X2, priced in the range of Rs 15,999 to Rs 19,999, from February 11 on e-commerce portal Flipkart.

"It is very unfortunate situation. But fortunately for Poco we have taken enough steps to take care of the supplies but I don't know in which directions things will move," Poco India General Manager Manmohan Chandolu told reporters in response to a query on impact of coronavirus outbreak in China.

Poco shares Xiaomi's manufacturing facility in India and Chandolu said that the company has enough stock "for at least one month from the date of first sale. We will start the first sale on February 11".

The deadly virus, which originated in China's Wuhan city, is spreading to other nations. The outbreak has claimed more than 420 lives so far in mainland China, and has compounded fears of an economic impact.

India on Monday reported a third novel coronavirus case after another Keralite student from Wuhan university in China tested positive for the infection.

The Kerala government has declared the epidemic as a "state calamity".

is carving out the Poco brand as a separate entity which will focus on requirements for Indian market.

Chandolu said that it will take time for Poco to establish itself as a separate legal entity. However, it has started hiring people for various roles in India.

He said that the company is hiring a lot of workforce, but is unable to share the exact number.

Poco has started hiring for product development, sales and marketing and will start hiring for market strategy team and other service centric team.

It is developing its own portal from which it will gradually start selling smartphones as well, Chandolu said.
Schools in Vietnam have ensured that students can keep up with classes through online lessons while they are asked to stay home for one week to prevent the possible spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.

Over 20 provinces and cities in Vietnam have told kindergarteners and school students not to go to school from Monday, when they were slated to resume studies after the Lunar New Year holiday, to February 9.

More than 60 universities in the Southeast Asian country have requested their students to take a similar week off.

In order for students not to lag behind the school curriculum, several schools have started providing them with online lessons.

Pham Thu Tung, a physics teacher at Ernst Thalmann High School in Ho Chi Minh Citys District 1, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he has been doing so with the help of YouTube and Facebook.

According to Tung, he recorded his lectures and uploaded the video on YouTube while interacting with his students in Facebook groups.

I correct my students' mistakes in assignments by live-streaming on Facebook, Tung said.

Several other schools are also making similar moves, taking advantage of different platforms.

For examples, the Vietnam Australia International School in Ho Chi Minh City and Nguyen Tat Thanh Middle and High School in Hanois Cau Giay District use Office 365  a cloud-based Microsoft Office Suite.

A lecturer is filmed recording a lesson for students' online access at the University of Technology and Education in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Viet Tien / Tuoi Tre

Phan Huy Chu High School in Hanois Dong Da District use Skype, while the Wellspring Bilingual International School in Ho Chi Minh City makes use of a variety of online channels, including Google Classroom, Web page-creation tool Google Sites, classroom communication app ClassDojo, and game-based learning platform Kahoot!

Meanwhile, some other schools employ their internal platforms, such as the Vinschool Parents app of Vinschool in Hanoi, and the Learning Management System by the University of Science and the University of Technology and Education in Ho Chi Minh City.

Online education providers are also getting this chance to show what they have to offer.

For instance, the online study and examination website 789.vn has announced that it will run free online classes for high school students nationwide.

The novel coronavirus, a new strain of the coronavirus family that caused SARS and MERS, first surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.

It has since killed 425 people in mainland China, one in the Philippines, and one in Hong Kong, while infecting almost 20,000 others globally, an overwhelming majority of whom are in China.

Vietnam has confirmed nine infections so far, including six Vietnamese, one Vietnamese American, and two Chinese.

Among that, one Chinese and one Vietnamese have been cured.

The World Health Organization has declared the new coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Gage is also expected to attend the speech Tuesday.

Ivan Simonovis, who was jailed for years in Venezuela

Ivan Simonovis was a commissioner of the Caracas metropolitan police force in 2002 as protests broke out against Hugo Chavez, Venezuelas former president.

During a protest in Caracas, several demonstrators were killed. In 2004, Mr. Simonovis was jailed on charges related to the killings. He would remain imprisoned for some 15 years.

But many believed he had been made a scapegoat by government loyalists, and Mr. Simonoviss incarceration became a rallying cry for the political opposition.

He escaped to the United States in 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Trumps other guests include: Jody Jones, a California woman whose husband was fatally shot by an undocumented immigrant; Robin Schneider of Kansas City and her daughter Ellie Schneider, whose miracle birth in 2017 at 21 weeks and six days was hailed as a medical achievement; Janiyah Davis, a fourth-grade student from Philadelphia, and her mother, Stephanie Davis, an advocate for school choice; and Paul Morrow, an Army veteran who started his own business in Alabama.

Members of Congress each get one ticket to bring a guest to the speech  often a symbolic choice. This year is no different. Here are some of the people who have been invited.
ANNE DRAGO, Stonington, Girls Basketball, Senior; Drago was named to the all-tournament team at the WCCU Holiday Basketball Tournament. In two games, she scored 38 points and had eight rebounds.

DANTE WILK, Westerly, Boys Basketball, Senior; Wilk was named MVP of the WCCU Holiday Basketball Tournament after the Bulldogs beat Chariho in the title game. Wilk had a combined 35 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists and eight steals in two tournament victories.

TYLER LABELLE, Chariho, Boys Basketball, Junior; LaBelle scored 41 points in two games to earn all-tournament honors at the WCCU Holiday Basketball Tournament. LaBelle had 22 in a win against South Kingstown and 19 in a loss to Westerly.

ADDIE HAUPTMANN, Wheeler, Girls Basketball, Senior; Hauptmann scored 32 points in two games in the Montville Christmas Tournament. She also had 20 rebounds, seven assists and eight steals.

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Lightfoot released a statement Tuesday defending the Police Departments use of the technology, saying investigators only use it to compare mugshots with the public source information culled from the internet. The internet database is not used to try to identify images captured in a live or real-time environment like closed-circuit cameras that are part of the Police Departments citywide camera network, the mayor said.
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She's currently shooting for a new comedy series named Tias.

But Eva Longoria, 44, found time for a date night on Monday as she headed out for dinner with her husband Jose Baston, 51, at Mr. Chow Restaurant in Beverly Hills, California.

Cutting a smart casual figure, the Desperate Housewives star wore simple blue jeans with a white T-shirt paired with a grey structured overcoat.

Date night: Eva Longoria, 44, headed out for dinner with her husband Jose Baston, 51, at Mr. Chow Restaurant in Beverly Hills, California on Monday night

Completing the look, the actress wore clear perspex heels and a gold and diamond necklace reading 'Santiago', the name of their one-year-old son.

Businessman Jose went for a chino and blazer combo, teamed with a blue shirt and grey suede shoes.

The couple have been married since 2016 and have one child together. Jose also has two daughters and a son from a previous marriage.

The actress is set to produce a new female-driven, Latina drama series called Tias.

Elegant Eva: Cutting a smart casual figure, the Desperate Housewives star wore simple blue jeans with a white T-shirt paired with a grey structured overcoat

The news came days after Longoria joined Zoe Saldana and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in launching a new initiative to double Latino representation in Hollywood by 2030.

She said in a statement: 'As a Latina, I want to see more actors who look like me onscreen and behind the camera.

'I started my own production company to create content from our community, and I became a director and producer to be in a position to hire people who look like me.'

Actress turned producer: The Desperate Housewives star is set to produce a new female-driven Latina drama series, Tias, after starting her own production company

Relaxed chic: Eva looked sensational in a perfectly-fitting pair of blue faded jeans paired with a red handbag

In addition to acting, Longoria has added some producer credits to her name with Latino-driven shows like Telenovela, Devious Maids and Grand Hotel.

The actress is also filming for her part in Flipped; a TV series where a couple of self-proclaimed home renovation 'experts' try to become the U.S' next TV celebrity duo.

The hands on parents were spotted earlier in the day on Monday, playing with their young son at a park in Beverly Hills.
The protests in Iraq have drawn the attention of a minority group that emigrated decades ago. Although Iraqs Jews could not return to Iraq for reasons beyond their control, they have showed wide support and interest in the protests.

Iraqs Jewish emigrants in Israel have displayed varied feelings toward the protest movement. In addition to their amazement at seeing a national identity rising from the ashes of wars and conflict, they watched with heavy hearts as the protesters were brutally suppressed, with up to 600 people dead and more than 25,000 wounded, recalling the painful reasons they left their mother country in 1950-1951.

The current number of Iraqi Jewish in Israel is estimated at about 600,000. The Jewish population of Iraq was about 150,000 in the middle of last century. Now, there are very few of them left in Iraq, mostly very old people living under other religious identities.

Linda Menuhin Abdul Aziz, an activist and political analyst, sees herself present among the demonstrators in Tahrir Square in Baghdad. She bets that the protest movement will ultimately lead to a new political system that is representative of diversity, supportive of a civil representation of all of the components of the Iraqi people and will move the country forward.

Abdul Aziz, whose father was kidnapped in Baghdad shortly after she left the country in the early 1970s, expresses deep sadness at the deaths in the squares. She says, The news on daily casualties at the protest squares is agonizing. It recalls the hanging of Jewish corpses in Tahrir Square itself, where innocent victims fell today as well.

Lily Mindlawi Shor, director of external relations and events at the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Tel Aviv, attributed the Jewish communitys considerable interest in the protest movement to its sense of belonging to Iraq as part of a mosaic identity. Although the suppression of the demonstrators brings back painful memories, it created within them the very great hope that the situation will get better in their homeland where their ancestors contributed to the creation of an Iraqi historical identity for thousands of years, [an identity] that the Jews will undoubtedly remain a part of. The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center was initially set up to document and promote the long-lasting historical and cultural connection between Iraqs Jews and the history and heritage of the country of their fathers and grandfathers.

Shor believes that Iraq forms a major part of her identity. She says, How can I forget where I was born and raised? I still have great nostalgia for it.

Ofra Bengio, a professor at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, called the protests a movement for the right cause. Bengio questioned whether it could succeed in creating a new political reality anytime soon, yet she does see it as a sign of a broad societal change toward democracy.

Commenting on the interaction of Iraqs Jewish community in Israel with the protest movement, Ronen Zeidel with the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, said, Its aspirations represent a new model for the region upon which a liberal political reality can be built. He added that it affects many more people than just Iraqis because it aims to end the Islamist project that has been so detrimental to the whole region.

Zeidel follows the protest movement and posts daily analysis on Facebook. The large number of Iraqis reacting to his posts, written in Hebrew, surprised him. His Iraqi followers use Google Translate to read them and then they post positive comments of support.

Interestingly, Iraqis are widely reacting on a Facebook page Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs created to encourage Israeli-Iraqi dialogue. An Iraqi activist also created a Facebook page for a "virtual embassy" of Iraq in Israel.

Jewish Iraqi researcher and author Khodr (David) Basson said that Iraqs Jews were hopeful with the fall of the Baathist regime in 2003, which they perceived as the beginning of change, not only in Iraq but in the whole region. Yet such hopes faded with the sectarianism, civil war and terrorism that followed.

Nevertheless, he sees Iraqs protest movement as a return to the right path. The participation of young people in the protests has showed the world that there is a national identity that can overcome the divides among Iraqis and stands against terrorism, corruption and militancy. Basoon said, If the youth managed to bring down the deep state represented in the militias and corruption and replace it with a liberal, secular, civil system, Iraq will be able to rise again and take an active role in the comprehensive reform movement in the region as a whole. Basoon supports the protest movement with writing and poetry as well as seminars for the Iraqi Jewish community in Israel.

These indicators show that Iraqi Jews in Israel still have a deep connection with their ancestor's homeland. Likewise, the protest movement in Iraq has built a bridge to other Iraqis living outside of the country, even those who left Iraq decades ago.
ELLWOOD CITY -- No license, no hospital.

The Ellwood City Medical Center no longer can operate after its current provisional license with the Pennsylvania Department of Health expired last week without response.

It is unclear if this will impact any of the approximately 20 employees left there, but patients still have to have access to medical records, and the hospital is required to have someone there 24/7 for security. There was a note on the medical centers front door Monday saying patients can obtain medical records by calling 724-752-0081.

The medical center was on its second of a possible four provisional licenses after being cited more than 40 times by the health department since Americore Health LLC took ownership in October 2017 for various equipment, supplies and staffing issues.

That license expired Jan. 28 and has not been renewed.

Nate Wardle, a health department spokesman, said the facility was no longer able to meet the minimum requirements for even a provisional license, let alone a regular license. Without a license, the medical center no longer is permitted to offer any medical services and is considered a closed facility by the health department.

However, the health department has not closed the door on a hospital eventually reopening there. Wardle said there is potential for Americore to take care of its prior issues once it comes out from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection or new ownership could come in.

The Pershing Street hospital has been closed to patients since Dec. 10 after the health department shut down the emergency room and inpatient services on Nov. 27 for serious violations. More than 150 workers were laid off as a result, many of whom say they still are owed wages from November.

Americore, which filed for protection Dec. 31 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Eastern Kentucky District, where it already was going through bankruptcy proceedings for a hospital it once owned there, had previously said it intended to reopen the Ellwood City Medical Center by this week.

By Patrick OShea, Ellwood City Ledger, Pa. (TNS)
A 60-year-old man was killed in Tangdhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir during ceasefire violation by Pakistan on Monday evening. A soldier was also injured in another incident of ceasefire violation in Gurez sector on Sunday night.

There has been an increase in the intensity of shelling on Line of Control in the Tangdhar and Gurez sectors since Sunday night.

The Indian Army retaliated in adequate measure, officials said, reports PTI.

Officials said 60-year-old Saleem-ud-din was killed after shells landed close to his house at Tadd village.

Station House Officer, Tanghdar Waseem Ahmad confirmed that a civilian was killed in ceasefire violation. The civilian was killed in the evening at Tadd village. The shelling started in the morning and resumed later in the evening that resulted in the killing of a civilian, he said.

There have been several incidents of ceasefire violations in the last two months in Uri, Gurez and Keran sectors along the LoC when both Indian and Pakistani soldiers targeted each others posts.

Last month, an army soldier and a 22-year-old woman was killed in ceasefire violation in north Kashmirs Uri sector. On December 16, a soldier was killed in another ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Gurez Sector.

The cross-border shelling has triggered migration of some families from Silikote and Churunda villages to Uri town.
New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday (February 4) said in Lok Sabha that the Centre has not taken any decision on implementing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) at the national level. The confirmation was made by MoS Home Nityanand Rai in a written reply on a question in Lok Sabha whether the government has any plans to introduce the NRC.

"Till now, the government has not taken any decision to prepare National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) at the national level," he said.

This is the first time when the government has made the declaration on the NRC in Parliament.

On February 3, as the Parliament opened for the Budget Session, most of the opposition parties, including Congress and Trinamool Congress, issued notices in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seeking debate and answers on Citizenship Act (CAA), NRC and National Population Register (NPR).

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said yesterday almost all the opposition parties, including the DMK, CPI, CPI(M), NCP, RJD, TMC, SP and the BSP, gave notices under Rule 267 to adjourn all business and discuss the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). "For the last two months, the whole country is on the road since the citizenship bill became an act. The NPR has done earlier but the questions asked were simple, but in this NPR under this government, other details such as the date of birth of the father have been asked," he said, according to the PTI.

"The government represents it as a Hindu-Muslim issue. We all feel that there is no Hindu-Muslim issue," Azad said.

"The government is doing all this to deliberately divert the attention from their failures to deliver on their promises, he said, adding that "they keep us giving toys to keep us busy."

Sharma said violence is being orchestrated by the government, which is being "both arrogant and insensitive".

Protests have been going in several parts of the country over the NRC, Citizenship Amendment Act and National Population Register for over a month now. In Delhi, hundreds of women and children in Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar students have been on protests since December 2019 against the CAA and government's proposal to bring a nation-wide NRC.
[February 04, 2020] Big Data Exchange (BDx) Announces Construction of Nanjing Data Center

HONG KONG, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BDx announced the construction of its newest data center in Nanjing, China this week, set to launch June 2020. Including facilities currently being acquired, BDx will have eight data centers in cities across two continents, including Nanjing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Singapore and London. Once live, the Nanjing data center will connect to the BDx Global Operating Platform (BGOP) with its unique, fully redundant command and control systems. Using the BDx Single Pane portal, a customer in Nanjing can interconnect across the BDx cluster as well as to public clouds and third-party data centers with one click. The BDx Global Operating Platform allows local teams to leverage automated modules and offers customers smart hands in Nanjing and every other facility patched into the BGOP. In addition to serving the local industry, this facility will allow Chinese OTTs colocating in Nanjing to access overseas eyeballs from wherever BDx has a data Center or a PoP (Point of Presence). "Our new Nanjing data center is strategically located in the geographic center of the newly defined Yangtze River Delta, China's richest region and the country's bigest import and export base," said Bill Gao, Executive Vice President & CEO for BDx China. "Its location and connectivity help BDx form a network hub designed to meet rising internet and cloud exchange demands from international and domestic customers."



With 3,800 racks available, this facility is ideal for local organizations, Chinese OTTs and overseas companies looking to house their IT infrastructures in China. "We are pleased to present this latest addition to the growing global BDx platform," said David Kim, Executive Vice President & Head of Global Operations for BDx. "This Tier 3, purpose-built facility features a state-of-the-art network, power and environmental infrastructure, and security systems. It will be managed by our global service operations center and customer success teams and follows the highest standards of reliability, security and redundancy."

About BDx

Big Data Exchange (BDx) is a content exchange platform with data centers throughout Hong Kong, mainland China, Singapore and the U.K. Its unique hybrid cloud, connectivity and colocation solutions offer unparalleled security and reliability for the IT infrastructure of its global clientele. As a carrier-neutral provider, BDx creates a secure hybrid ecosystem with its BDx Federated SDN, BDx Armour, and BDx Single Pane offerings, providing connectivity solutions across Asia and the U.K. By using BDx automated modules, BDx is able to provide customers with a level of customization that rivals competitors in efficiency and cost, offering them the ability to manage physical racks with the same ease as working in public clouds. To learn more, visit www.bdxworld.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Media Contact:

Jaymie Scotto & Associates (JSA)

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/big-data-exchange-bdx-announces-construction-of-nanjing-data-center-300999034.html SOURCE BDx Data Centers

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Shift workers are at a significantly higher risk of sleep disorders and metabolic syndrome, which increases a person's risk for heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, according to a review of studies led by an Indian origin researcher.

The study, published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, noted that the risks increase even more for those who work irregular or rotating shifts.

"The strength of our economy and safety of our society depend heavily on night shift workers," said Kshma Kulkarni, from Touro University in the US, and lead study author of the study.

"It is critical we address the health issues facing people in this line of work," Kulkarni said.

She said that shift workers are central to the travel, hospitality and e-commerce industries, as well as the 24-hour support needed from nurses, physicians and first-responders, like police and firefighters.

One study found 9 per cent of night-shift nurses developed metabolic syndrome, compared to only 1.8 per cent of day shift nurses, the researchers said.

Other studies have noted that risks gradually increase with accumulated years of shift work, they said.

Working nights disrupts individuals' circadian rhythm, the body's internal clock responsible for neural and hormonal signalling, according to the researchers.

Once a person's circadian rhythm is desynchronised from their sleep/wake cycle, they will likely experience disturbances in hormonal levels, including increased cortisol, ghrelin and insulin, and decreased serotonin, among others, they explained.

The cascade of hormonal changes is what prompts the development of metabolic disorders, and causes people to develop multiple chronic conditions, the researchers said.

Kulkarni recommends the first essential step for night shift workers is to establish consistent sleeping hours.

Employers can help by eliminating rotating shifts that disrupt sleep patterns even further, she said.

They can also schedule shifts to start before midnight and last no more than 11 hours to help workers adjust, and stabilise their new circadian rhythm, according to Kulkarni.

Exposure to light promotes wakefulness in general, so researchers recommend night shift workers increase their light exposure prior to and throughout their shifts.

Previous studies have shown shift workers are more likely to eat snacks higher in sugar and saturated fat while consuming less protein and vegetables, and more likely to skip meals.

Kulkarni recommends shift workers exercise at a similar time each day, at least 5 hours before they go to bed.

They should incorporate aerobic exercise into their physical activity, as it has specifically been indicated to improve sleep quality. she said.

"It's true that getting enough sleep, eating right and exercising are critical to everyone's health," said Kulkarni.

"However, the nature of shift work is so disorienting and discordant with those principles, we really need to help people in those jobs strategise ways to get what they need," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Asian Chamber of Commerce is hosting a public health forum Tuesday evening at Houstons Chinese Community Center to discuss coronavirus outbreak prevention and its impact on local businesses.

Officials plan to address how community leaders can address public perception around the deadly pneumonia-like virus. Rumors have circulated on WeChat, a popular Chinese social media app, and Twitter about a temporary closure of Jusgo Supermarket in Chinatown due to an outbreak.
The Apple Inc. logo at the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, New York, on Oct. 16, 2019. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

iPhone App Makers Questioned in Apple Antitrust Probe: Report

App developers for Apple, one of the four major multinational technology companies facing antitrust probes, are being questioned by the Justice Department, according to a new report.

The chief executive of the app developer Mobicip told Reuters he was interviewed by a U.S. investigator in November. Suren Ramasubbu said he was asked about the companys interactions with Apple.

Ramasubbu said the Mobicip app was temporarily removed from the iPhone app store last year for a failure to meet requirements imposed by Apple. The app has nearly a million users worldwide and allows parents to control what their children see on their iPhones.

An unidentified source also told Reuters that the Justice Department has contacted a handful of app developers as part of their investigation, in what is reportedly the first indication of what officials are pursuing as part of their probe of Apple.

Facebook, Google, and Amazon are the three other big tech companies that are facing antitrust reviews. President Donald Trump has accused some of these companies of suppressing and censoring political speech, particularly conservative speech.

A congressional committee and subcommittee are investigating all four companies, even as the Justice Department (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission are reviewing one or more of the companies. The probes extend down to the state level as well, with dozens of state attorneys general scrutinizing the practices of Facebook and Google in separate cases.

If its not unprecedented, its something that hasnt happened in many decades, John E. Lopatka, an antitrust scholar and a distinguished professor of law at Pennsylvania State Universitys Dickinson School of Law, told The Epoch Times in December, referring to the number of probes.

Attorney General William Barr said on Dec. 10, 2019, that he hoped to have the DOJ investigations completed some time next year. In July 2019, the department announced that its antitrust division was reviewing whether and how market-leading online platforms have achieved market power and are engaging in practices that have reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers.

A spokesperson for Apple didnt immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times; the company pointed Reuters to a statement on its website that says its app store was designed to hold apps, to a high standard for privacy, security, and content.

Since 2016, we have removed over 1.4 million apps from the App Store because they have not been updated or dont work on our most current operating systems, the site says.

Apples ability to do just that has been a point of contention in the courtroom. The company was accused in lawsuits last year of abusing its clout in the app market. In one case, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the go-ahead last May to an antitrust lawsuit that accused Apple of forcing consumers to overpay for iPhone software applications.

Barr told the Wall Street Journal CEO Council in December that the investigation is moving very quickly.

Were talking very broadly with people and getting a lot of input from people in the industry and experts and so forth, he said.

Id like to have it completed some time next year. I think its important to move quickly on things, he said. These things have a cost to the marketplace and businesses. I think at some point, the government has to fish or cut bait.

Reuters contributed to this report.
The government is working on a proposal to allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment in as it moves ahead with disinvestment of the national carrier, according to sources.

Currently, FDI in is capped at 49 per cent through the government approval route while 100 per cent FDI is permitted in scheduled domestic carriers, subject to certain conditions, including that it would not be applicable for overseas airlines.

Allowing 100 per cent FDI in would allow Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to invest up to 100 per cent. Currently, they can acquire only 49 per cent in the national carrier.

Sources told PTI that the civil aviation ministry has asked the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to remove the clause which restricts FDI in Air India to 49 per cent.

A draft note has been circulated on the issue seeking comments from different ministries, they added.

In the case of scheduled airlines, 49 per cent FDI is permitted through automatic approval route and any such investment beyond that level requires approval.

Under the Substantial Ownership and Effective Control (SOEC) framework, which is followed in the airline industry globally, a carrier that flies overseas from a particular country should be substantially owned by that country's government or its nationals.

Making a second attempt in as many years to divest loss-making Air India, the government came out with the Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) for 100 per cent stake sale on January 27.

Besides, Air India's 100 per cent stake in budget airline Air India Express and 50 per cent shareholding in AISATS, an equal joint venture with Singapore Airlines, have also been offered.
In an explosive interview Dr. Francis Boyle, who drafted the Biological Weapons Act has given a detailed statement admitting that the 2019 Wuhan Coronavirus is an offensive Biological Warfare Weapon and that the World Health Organization (WHO) already knows about it.

Dr. Francis Boyle Creator Of BioWeapons Act Says Coronavirus Is Biological Warfare Weapon

Francis Boyle is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He drafted the U.S. domestic implementing legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, that was approved unanimously by both Houses of the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush.

In an exclusive interview given to Geopolitics and Empire, Dr. Boyle discusses the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China and the Biosafety Level 4 laboratory (BSL-4) from which he believes the infectious disease escaped. He believes the virus is potentially lethal and an offensive biological warfare weapon or dual-use biowarfare weapons agent genetically modified with gain of function properties, which is why the Chinese government originally tried to cover it up and is now taking drastic measures to contain it. The Wuhan BSL-4 lab is also a specially designated World Health Organization (WHO) research lab and Dr. Boyle contends that the WHO knows full well what is occurring.

Dr. Boyle also touches upon GreatGameIndias exclusive report Coronavirus Bioweapon  where we reported in detail how Chinese Biowarfare agents working at the Canadian lab in Winnipeg were involved in the smuggling of Coronavirus to Wuhans lab from where it is believed to have been leaked.

Watch Dr. Francis Boyles interview with Geopolitics and Empire below:

Dr. Boyles position is in stark contrast to the mainstream medias narrative of the virus being originated from the seafood market, which is increasingly being questioned by many experts.

Recently, American Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas also dismantled the mainstream medias claim on Thursday that pinned the coronavirus outbreak on a market selling dead and live animals.

In a video accompanying his post, Cotton explained that the Wuhan wet market (which Cotton incorrectly referred to as a seafood market) has been shown by experts to not be the source of the deadly contagion.

Cotton referenced a Lancet study which showed that many of the first cases of the novel coronavirus, including patient zero, had no connection to the wet market  devastatingly undermining mainstream medias claim.

As one epidemiologist said: That virus went into the seafood market before it came out of the seafood market. We still dont know where it originated, Cotton said.

I would note that Wuhan also has Chinas only bio-safety level four super laboratory that works with the worlds most deadly pathogens to include, yes, coronavirus.

China claimedfor almost two monthsthat coronavirus had originated in a Wuhan seafood market. That is not the case. @TheLancet published a study demonstrating that of the original 40 cases, 14 of them had no contact with the seafood market, including Patient Zero. pic.twitter.com/PdgqgHjkGy  Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) January 30, 2020

Such concerns have also been raised by J.R. Nyquist, the well known author of the books Origins of the Fourth World War and The Fool and His Enemy, as well as co-author of The New Tactics of Global War. In his insightful article he published secret speechs given to high-level Communist Party cadres by Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Chi Haotian explaining a long-range plan for ensuring a Chinese national renaissance  the catalyst for which would be Chinas secret plan to weaponiz viruses.

Nyquist gave three different data points for making his case in analyzing Coronavirus. He writes:

Meanwhile, the mainstream medias narrative still maintains that the origin of the 2019 Coronavirus is the Wuhan Seafood Market. After GreatGameIndia published the story on Coronavirus Bioweapon  not only were our databse tinkered with and our reports blocked by Facebook on the flimsy reason that they could not find GreatGameIndia Facebook page, but the report itself was viciously attacked by Foreign Policy magazine, PolitiFact (known widely as Facebooks propaganda arm) and BuzzFeedNews.

It is not GreatGameIndia alone which is being viciously attacked. Zero Hedge, a popular alternate media blog was suspended by Twitter for publishing a story related to a study by Indian scientists finding 2019 Wuhan Coronavirus to be not naturally evolved, raising the possibility of it being created in a lab. Shockingly, the study itself came under intense online criticism by Social Media experts resulting in the scientists withdrawing the paper.

In retaliation India has launched a full-scale investigation against Chinas Wuhan Institute of Virology. The Indian government has ordered an inquiry into a study conducted in the Northeastern state of Nagaland (close to China) by researchers from the U.S., China and India on bats and humans carrying antibodies to deadly viruses like Ebola.

The study came under the scanner as two of the 12 researchers belonged to the Wuhan Institute of Virologys Department of Emerging Infectious Diseases, and it was funded by the United States Department of Defenses Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

The study, conducted by scientists of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in the U.S. and the Duke-National University in Singapore, is now being investigated for how the scientists were allowed to access live samples of bats and bat hunters (humans) without due permissions.

The results of the study were published in October last year in the PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases journal, originally established by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

As the author J.R. Nyquist puts it:

We need your support to carry on our independent and investigative research based journalism on the external and internal threats facing India. Your contribution however small helps us keep afloat. Kindly consider donating to GreatGameIndia.

We must have an investigation of the outbreak in Wuhan. The Chinese must grant the world total transparency. The truth must come out. If Chinese officials are innocent, they have nothing to hide. If they are guilty, they will refuse to cooperate. The real concern here is whether the rest of the world has the courage to demand a real and thorough investigation. We need to be fearless in this demand and not allow economic interests to play a coy and dishonest game of denial. We need an honest inquiry. We need it now.
Prince Andrew, who has been accused of rape by Virginia Roberts Guiffre, once called her accuser a "very sick girl" who is simply lying.

Moreover, according to his friend, the Duke of York said there is no truth in all her damning allegations against him. Simply, he said he could just "shrug and move past everything."

Did He Call Her Crazy?

The royal made the alarming comments to a friend back in 2011, shortly after he was linked to the illegal sexual activities of his pedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein. According to the The Mail on Sunday, they have seen the exchange between the royal and this concerned friend.

This has been the second time that the royal referred to Giuffre directly despite being in denial of ever meeting her before the scandal came out. During his disastrous interview with BBC in November, the Duke of York denied ever meeting the woman whom he allegedly had sexual relations with. The woman claimed that the first time he and Prince Andrew did it was when she was only 17 years old.

The exchanges reported by The Mail was between Prince Andrew and his friend Jonathan Rowland. At that time, Rowland asked him how he was.

"Hope the press isn't getting you down to (sic) much," Rowland reportedly said, to which Andrew replied "No not at all."

Prince Andrew further said: "She is a very sick girl apparently. The innuendo is the problem. But there is nothing one could do with that! Shrug and move one."

Virginia's Mental Health

The lawyer of the victims who are suing Jeffrey Epstein told The Mail on Sunday that the credibility of the Duke of York is what was at stake and not that of Giiffre.

Virginia's mental health has been tested several times by both Andrew and Epstein, but her mental health has always been excellent throughout this ordeal.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre has yet to respond to the report, but she maintained her stance and called out the disgraced royal to talk to the FBI. His testimony will help clarify the ongoing investigation concerning Epstein's inner circle following the death of the convicted sex offender while in prison in August of 2019.

"Tick-Tock Andy -- Time To Talk!" Giuffre tweeted on Friday. She also emphasized that the world is tired of all the lies and the coverup and called on the fact that the privilege of being a royal is trying to buy Prince Andrew out of the mess he is in (again!).

"Do the right thing. If not for me, then for all the other victims of Epstein," Giuffre said.

After the disastrous interview thatPrince Andrew had with BBC in November, he has been asked to step down from his royal post. Although he tried to made justifications of his relationship with Epstein, he remained to be the subject of ridicule.

A week after that ill-judged interview, Virginia gave a tell-all interview with BBC and doubled down on her claims that she has had sexual relations with the prince because she was forced to become a sex slave by Epstein.

Buckingham Palace has vehemently denied all accusations thrown against him. Prince Andrew said there was not any shred of truth about them.
WARSAW, Poland, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Highlander Partners, L.P., a leading middle market private investment firm based in Dallas, Texas, with offices in Central Europe, announced the signing of a definitive agreement to sell Akomex Group, subject to approval from the Polish antimonopoly agency (UOKiK). Akomex is one of the leading manufacturers of packaging in Central Europe, specializing in high-quality solid cardboard, leaflets, labels, trays and laminated sheets for the pharmaceutical, food, electronics, technology, personal care and home appliance sectors. Akomex, headquartered in Poland and founded in 1993, maintains two manufacturing operations in Poland and one converting operation in Denmark, producing over 1.8 billion items per year.

The company is being acquired by Sebastian Sliwa, the co-founder of Akomex and a current minority shareholder, jointly with the management and support from AMC Capital IV S.c.Sp., a fund advised by Mezzanine Management.

Highlander acquired controlling interest in Akomex in 2010, undertaking a significant capacity expansion through new facilities and state-of-the-art production equipment in Starogard Gdanski, Poland. In 2014, Akomex acquired, Druk Pak in Aleksandrow Kujawski, Poland, to further diversify its offerings into pharmaceutical packaging. This acquisition was followed by the acquisition of Danish packaging producer, Planopack of Herning, Denmark, in 2018. The combination of these three companies created one of the largest packaging companies in Central Europe, serving many of the world's leading food and pharmaceutical producers.

"After more than nine years and two significant add-on acquisitions, including a take-private transaction, we are very pleased with the results and outcome of the Akomex Group. The management team has done an incredible job of integrating the businesses into a leading packaging concern, serving the biggest names in the food and pharmaceutical industries," stated Artur Dzagarow, Managing Partner of the Highlander Warsaw office.

"Akomex is a perfect example of the patient capital approach that Highlander undertakes. We have owned Akomex since 2010, and we have significantly expanded its facilities and capabilities through capital investment, invested in professional management and completed very significant and strategic acquisitions," added Jeff L. Hull, Highlander President and CEO. Hull continued, "We are very pleased with the job that Grzegorz Lajca, President and CEO of Akomex Group, and his team have done in making Akomex a leader in Central Europe. We wish them and Sebastian the best in their future endeavors. We believe that Akomex is very well situated to succeed in the future."

Rothschild & Co (Rothschild & Co Polska - www.rothschildandco.com) acted as exclusive financial advisor to Highlander and GESSEL (www.gessel.pl) as Highlander's legal adviser.

CIC Corporate Finance (www.cic.pl) acted as a transaction adviser to Sebastian Sliwa and Mezzanine Management. Baker & McKenzie (www.bakermckenzie.com) and Norton Rose (www.nortonrosefulbright.com) acted as legal advisers. Additionally, EY performed due-diligence analysis.

About Highlander Partners

Highlander Partners, L.P. is a Dallas-based private investment firm with over $2 billion of assets under management. The firm focuses on making investments in businesses in targeted industries in which the principals of the firm have significant operating and investing experience, including basic manufacturing, food, chemicals, building materials, consumer products, and others. Highlander Partners uses a "buy and build" investment approach, creating value by helping companies grow organically and through acquisitions. For more information, visit www.highlander-partners.com.

About Mezzanine Management

Mezzanine Management is currently investing from Accession Mezzanine Capital IV, which closed on 264 million in 2018 and is the firm's largest vehicle to-date. The firm is adding a direct lending strategy to its regional private debt platform to address the growing yet underserved opportunity in its core market of Central Europe. Mezzanine Management is the exclusive advisor to the Accession Mezzanine Capital group of funds, whose total investments exceed 700m. Mezzanine Management has been operating in Central and Eastern Europe since 2000 through its offices in Vienna, Warsaw, Bucharest, Budapest and Prague. The funds' investment portfolio is diverse, with more than 50 transactions across 12 countries in CEE. The funds are backed by reputable institutional investors, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Fund and a number of banks, funds of funds, pension funds and insurance companies. For more information, visit www.mezzmanagement.com.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/85592/highlander_partners_logo.jpg
The District Crime Investigation Branch (DCIB) police on late Sunday night intercepted a car, following a tip-off, near Dadabanahatti Cross in Yamakanamaradi police limits and seized 300 kg silver ingots and utensils worth Rs 63 lakh.

The police arrested Vijaykumar Shinde (48), a native of Savapet in Salem, Tamil Nadu, and Riyaz Mullani (20) of Satara district. The suspects were transporting silver to Salem, SP Laxman Nimbargi told reporters.

The police have recovered Rs 3 lakh cash from the suspects and seized Renault Duster car used for transporting silver. The Yamakanamaradi police have registered a case, the SP said.
DES MOINES  As Americans watched with bated breath for the results of Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus late Monday night, Minnesota's U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar began celebrating preemptively in downtown Des Moines.

Hours after Iowans cast their votes, Klobuchar took the stage after 10 p.m. to say that even before official numbers were released, she had proven that her campaign was "punching above its weight."

Harkening back to her candidacy announcement made mid-blizzard last February, she said some didn't even expect her to make it through that speech as the snow piled on top of her head. Now, a year later, she's pulling through and moving on to New Hampshire's primary.

From the start, Klobuchar has touted her political resume, rural America know-how and history of bipartisanship to prove herself as the Democratic nominee who can win not just Midwestern states like Iowa, but all of the country. In these times of divisive politics, she said she can unite voters, unlike her potential Republican counterpart.

"Our party can't win big by out-dividing the divider-in-chief," she told supporters at her Des Moines after-party. "Donald Trump's worst nightmare is the people in the middle  the people tired of the name-calling and mud-slinging  will have a candidate to vote for in November."

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In her yearlong campaign, Klobuchar has garnered the support of political allies like Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, as well as a New York Times editorial board endorsement.

On Sunday, Klobuchar still trailed her opponents in fifth place in CBS News/YouGov's Sunday poll of Iowans, just one day before caucus goers would make their final decisions. Her campaign took an early blow last February when the Huffington Post reported former Klobuchar staffers' complaints of alleged mistreatment, and again earlier this month when The Associated Press reported a questionable conviction of a black teen in Minnesota under Klobuchar's watch.

Moments before caucus goers in a Des Moines suburb made their first of two decisions of the night, Klobuchar came into the middle school gymnasium to make her final pitch, saying she "understood" the swing district and "how important it's going to be for us to win big."

"I want us to win big in the general election," she said. "Let's do it."

Asked what success would look like in Iowa, Klobuchar said, "a win is doing well and picking up support." She planned to travel to New Hampshire early Tuesday morning ahead of next week's primary election there.

On Sunday, Klobuchar took the stage in Mason City, Iowa, to give her final speech before heading back to Washington, D.C., to sit in on the final day of the U.S. Senate's impeachment proceedings.

Where an observer of a President Donald Trump or U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders rally would likely see crowded stadiums, chants and sign waving, Klobuchar's final speech was starkly different: For 40 minutes, she plead her case to a moderate crowd in a banquet hall, speaking instead of shouting, moving onlookers to quiet tears rather than loud cheers.

Comparing her humble Minnesota roots to Trump's Manhattan childhood, she said "the contrast between me and him couldnt be greater."

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"I stand before you as the granddaughter of an iron ore miner, daughter of a teacher and newspaperman, the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Minnesota and as a candidate for president," she said. Where Trump's father loaned him millions, Klobuchar said her grandfather saved his money in a coffee can.

Also making an appearance on Sunday was Walz, who, as a former U.S. Representative, worked alongside Klobuchar in Washington before running for governor. He said that when tragedy struck Minnesota in December, when three National Guardsmen died in a helicopter accident, Klobuchar showed her true character.

At a Sunday memorial in rural Minnesota, Walz said Klobuchar  "one of the busiest people in America"  made an appearance to console the family, "then quietly leaves and goes back to work."

"The press was not invited. No one said anything (to the public)," Walz said. "But everyone in that room knew what dignity, what leadership, what compassion and what the next president needs to look like and it looks like Amy Klobuchar."

Forum News Service reporter Dana Ferguson contributed to this report.
The shortlist for the IPAFs 13th edition includes five male and one female authors, representing Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, and Algeria

Egyptian author Youssef Ziedan has made it to the shortlist of the 13th International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), known as the Arabic Booker, for his novel Fardeqan  the Detention of the Great Sheikh by published by Dar El-Shorouk.

The shortlist that was announced today, 4 February, also included The Spartan Court by Algerian Abdelouahab Aissaoui, The Russian Quarter by Syrian Khalil Alrez, The King of India by Lebanese Jabbour Douaihy, Firewood of Sarajevo by Algerian Said Khatibi, and The Tank by Iraqi Alia Mamdouh.

Each of the six shortlisted authors will receive $10,000, with the winner announced on 14 April receiving an additional $50,000. The books were revealed by the judging panel during a press conference held at the Water Museum in Marrakesh.

The shortlist for IPAFs 13th edition includes five male and one female authors, ranging in age from 34 to 75 and representing five countries.

The shortlist features two authors who have been previously recognised by the International Prize for Arabic Fiction: Jabbour Douaihy (shortlisted for the inaugural IPAF in 2008 with June Rain and in 2012 with The Vagrant, and longlisted in 2015 with The American Quarter) and Youssef Ziedan (winner of the prize in 2009 with Azazeel). Shortlisted author Abdelouahab Aissaoui took part in an IPAF Nadwa (creative writing workshop for talented young writers) in 2016.

Chair of the 2020 judging panel Muhsin Al-Musawi said in a press release by the IPAF, The novels we have chosen include a superior collection of texts varied in style and subject matter. They have escaped the grip of traditionalism which often accompanies the writing of fiction. Nearly all of them are occupied with the oppressive effect of history, past and present, but they do not merely retell this history or current reality. Rather, they confront it in all its harshness to inspire in the reader questions about the destiny of the Arabic individual.

This years six shortlisted novels, selected from a longlist of 16 and published in Arabic between July 2018 and June 2019, showcase the best of contemporary Arabic fiction.

Spartan Court follows the interconnected lives of five individuals and their differing experiences of colonialism in nineteenth century Algiers.

The Russian Quarter describes the daily existence of ordinary people living on the frontlines of war, based on the authors experience of a Damascus neighbourhood.

The King of India recounts the story of a Lebanese murder case against the backdrop of sectarian animosity in the region.

Exploring the impact of exile and war, Firewood of Sarajevo follows two Algerian protagonists seeking a new life away from conflict in Slovenia.

The Tank details the architectural development of modern Baghdad, while also following its main protagonist in her new life in exile, with all its positives and negatives.

Fardeqan  the Detention of the Great Sheikh transports the reader back a thousand years to depict the life of Avicenna, the Muslim polymath whose work had a profound impact on world philosophy.

The shortlist was chosen by a panel of five judges chaired by Al-Musawi, an Iraqi literary critic and Professor of Classical and Modern Arabic Literature, Comparative and Cultural Studies at Columbia University.

Judging alongside Al-Musawi were Pierre Abi Saab, a Lebanese critic, journalist and co-founder of the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper; Reem Magued, an Egyptian broadcaster, television journalist and trainer in journalism and media; Amin Zaoui, an Algerian novelist who writes in both Arabic and French and a professor of Comparative Literature and Contemporary Thought at the Central University of Algiers; and Viktoria Zarytovskaya, a Russian academic, researcher and translator of numerous works of Arabic literature into Russian, including Ahmed Saadawis Frankenstein in Baghdad, winner of the prize in 2014.

The winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2020 will be announced at a ceremony at the Ritz Carlton in Abu Dhabi on 14 April 2020, on the eve of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. Last years winner was The Night Mail by Hoda Barakat.

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There were no political organisations in Vietnam except the Communist Party (CPV) that had the wisdom, experience, reputation and capacity to help the country overcome all difficulties and challenges and drive the national revolutionary cause.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, President Nguyen Phu Trong at Monday ceremony celebrating the 90th founding anniversary of the Party.  VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung

General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee and President Nguyen Phu Trong made the statement at a ceremony marking the CPVs 90th anniversary in Hanoi on Monday.

The ceremony also saw the attendance of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, and many other incumbent and former leaders of the Party, State and Vietnam Fatherland Front, along with veteran revolutionaries.

The top leader looked back on the establishment, training, devotion and development of the CPV, and highlighted the historical significance of its foundation on February 3, 1930.

The revolutions diverse reality over the past 90 years has demonstrated that the Partys sound and clear-sighted leadership has been a decisive factor for revolutionary victories and many achievements, he said.

The leader said Vietnam had emerged as a developing middle-income country, while its politics and society had remained stable, national defence and security, independence and sovereignty had been secured, and the country's position and reputation in the international arena had been enhanced.

The country had joined international organisations and become an active and responsible member of the international community, he stressed, noting that Vietnam was recently elected for the second time as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

He emphasised the need to carry forward national traditions, and spur the Partys revolutionary cause and pioneering role during building and rectification efforts.

Politics, ideology, morality, apparatus and personnel needed to be strong and pure, with revamped leadership methods, close-knit relations between the Party and people and prevention of degradation, he said.

The leader also pointed out major tasks in 2020  the final year of the 12th National Party Congress, such as completing all socio-economic development targets, reinforcing macro-economic stability, accelerating the implementation of strategic breakthroughs, restructuring the national economy in tandem with reforming the growth model, ensuring social security and welfare and improving peoples living standards.

He also called for greater efforts to maintain national independence and sovereignty, and a peaceful and stable environment to serve national development and promote external relations.

Due attention must be paid to the successful organisation of Party congresses at all levels, towards the 13th National Party Congress, as well as the implementation of resolutions on Party building adopted at the fourth plenums of the 11th and 12th Party Central Committees, and the Politburos Directive 5 on promoting President Ho Chi Minhs thoughts, morality and lifestyle, the leader stressed.

On behalf of Party members nationwide, 87-year-old Ha Ky, who has been a Party member for more than seven decades, expressed his pride in the glorious Party and beloved President Ho Chi Minh.

He said that despite his advanced age and declining health, on behalf of all veteran Party members, Ky pledged to continue to contribute to national construction.

Nguyen Thuy Linh, a student at the University of Languages and International Studies at the Vietnam National University-Hanoi, said the resolve of Vietnamese youngsters would uphold the traditions of older generations, and they would study and work harder to contribute to the nations development.

Earlier, a delegation of the Party Central Committee, the President, the National Assembly, the Government and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum, and laid flowers at the Monument to Heroes and War Martyrs in Hanoi.

The delegates expressed their gratitude to the late great leader, who was the founder and leader of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the vanguard of the working class, the working people and the Vietnamese nation.

They affirmed that the 90-year glorious history is the foundation for the Party to continue with its mission of leading the cause of building a strong socialist Vietnam that is on a par with power countries in all continents, realising the wish of President Ho Chi Minh.  VNS

2019 a successful year for Vietnam's economy Dr Nguyen Dinh Cung, a member of the Economic Advisory Group to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, talks to Nang Luong moi (New Energy) newspaper about Vietnams big change in policy thinking and economic management.
Juul Labs is the electronic cigarette company most often targeted by the government when it considers imposing tougher regulations. By far the industry leader and still the most popular device with teens, Juul is the one that suffers the greatest impact when strict, new rules are handed down.

Because teens also most often use flavored tobacco products, federal, state, and local regulators and politicians are banning their manufacture and sale, even though adults also use them in large numbers to help them migrate away from cigarettes. Juul also voluntarily stopped making them even before the Food & Drug Administration began formulating a policy on them.

While federal rules will still allow adults access to flavors under certain conditions, states and local policymakers are taking a more comprehensive approach, completely banning all flavored tobacco products and vaping devices. If allowed to stand, the fallout will extend far beyond the narrow confines of e-cigs.

A complete lack of taste

As tends to happen, California is at the forefront. The state senate introduced legislation in January to enact a total ban on flavored tobacco and e-cigarettes, that goes beyond a ban imposed by Massachusetts in December.

Where the Massachusetts law would allow for the sale and consumption of flavored e-cigs and other tobacco products to occur only in smoking bars (e.g., places established to sell and use tobacco), California's ban would be complete.

It targets every flavored tobacco product on the market, including menthol cigarettes, e-liquids, and anything else that is derived from tobacco or nicotine, no matter how a person consumes it. Whether you smoke, vape, inhale, chew, snort, or sniff, if it's flavored it will no longer be legal to sell and use in California.

Such a wide-ranging prohibition would obviously ensnare Juul, and the bill's proponents couch it in terms of saving children from nicotine consumption, but it will also drag tobacco giants Altria (NYSE:MO), British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI), and Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) into its net, as well as undermine newer cigarette smoking alternatives, such as the snus and nicotine pouches produced by Swedish Match (OTC:SWMAF).

Stamping out alternatives

A lot of these actions are hinging on the so-called "epidemic" the FDA has highlighted over teen e-cig use, as well as the lung illness outbreak last year that resulted in dozens of deaths and thousands of injuries.

The problem is that adult usage is getting swept up in the hysteria over teen use, and the health issues were almost entirely related to illicit vape products mostly bought on the internet. Policymakers are now willing to ban commercially tested products -- and that will lead to the purchase of more black market products.

It will also crush the movement away from cigarettes. Swedish Match was the first company to be granted a reduced-risk label by the FDA for a tobacco product, for its snuff-like snus. Although they're largely unknown by most tobacco users, they are generating a cult-like following, and are one of the fastest growing tobacco products today.

Similarly, nicotine pouches, which are completely tobacco-free, are a wholly new opportunity to shift people away from smoking. Swedish Match has been a leader here with its ZYN brand, and Altria seemed worried enough by its potential that it purchased Burger Sohne's On! brand and negotiated an agreement that allowed it to start selling them even before the deal was completed.

Preparing for a revaluation

Obviously Altria's investment in Juul is already on its way toward being completely devalued, but its 80% stake in Burger Sohne's business will also suffer a devaluation, as will its partnership with Philip Morris International for the sale and marketing of its IQOS heated tobacco device.

Swedish Match is the global leader in snus, though it trails British American's Camel and Altria's Copenhagen and Skoal brands here in the U.S. With the reduced-risk label it earned, though, that could quickly change.

While California's legislature is considering a ban, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Los Angeles County have already approved such measures.

If other states follow California's or Massachusetts' lead, the opportunity to wean smokers off of cigarettes will be greatly diminished.
President Donald Trump, foreshadowing elements of a State of the Union address set against the backdrop of impeachment, will bring a top Border Patrol agent as one of his guests on Tuesday night when he addresses a joint session of Congress.

In addition to that agent, Raul Ortiz, who last week was promoted to the job of deputy chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, Trump has also invited Tony Rankins, an Army veteran from Cincinnati who grappled with post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction and homelessness.

Rankins, who had been incarcerated, re-entered the workforce after being trained as a carpenter and tradesman by a company called R Investments.

The practice of presidents using the State of the Union to showcase special guests goes back to 1982, when Ronald Reagan invited Lenny Skutnik to sit in the gallery of the House of Representatives with the first lady, Nancy Reagan. Skutnik, a Congressional Budget Office employee, had saved a woman from drowning in the icy waters of the Potomac River when an Air Florida flight crashed into the 14th Street bridge in Washington.

Since then, presidents have singled out civil rights leaders, shooting victims, wounded veterans and others during the State of the Union speech, attempting to humanize the words on a teleprompter.

Members of Congress each get one ticket to bring a guest to the speech  often a symbolic choice. This year is no different. Here are some of the people who have been invited.

Courtney Wild, who said Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused her

Courtney Wild, who testified in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that disgraced financier Jeffrey E. Epstein sexually abused her when she was 14, will accompany Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., to the State of the Union address.

Wilds name is on a bipartisan bill that Speier introduced called the Courtney Wild Crime Victims Rights Reform Act of 2019.

The measure would require prosecutors to notify sexual assault victims of precharging developments such as plea bargains and other agreements, like the one that allowed Epstein to plead guilty in Florida to lesser state charges of soliciting prostitution and serve 13 months in a county lock-up as part of a highly criticized deal in 2008. Epstein, who had been facing charges of sex trafficking, took his own life last summer in a New York jail.

Rushan Abbas, a Uighur human rights activist

Rushan Abbas, a prominent Uighur human rights activist, will be the guest of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is the co-chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

As many as 1 million members of Muslim ethnic minorities have been sent to detention camps and prison in China, including the Uighurs, a largely Muslim Turkic minority in Xinjiang, in northwestern China.

Hatice Cengiz, fiancee of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., announced Monday that he would bring Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as his guest to the State of the Union speech.

Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident writer who wrote columns for The Washington Post, was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. Saudi Arabia sentenced five men to death and three to prison for the killing of Khashoggi. The Trump administration has faced sharp criticism for its reluctance to condemn Saudi leaders over Khashoggis death.

Hailey Seals, daughter of a Jersey City detective killed in December

Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., will take Hailey Seals as his guest. She is the eldest child of Joseph Seals, a Jersey City police detective who was killed Dec. 10 during an anti-Semitic attack that the authorities have called an act of domestic terrorism.

Five people  including Seals, 40  died during the chain of events, which ended with an attack on a kosher grocery store.

Rachel Wilke, wife of Nebraska flood hero who drowned

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., invited Rachel Wilke to be his guest for the presidents speech. Wilkes husband, James Wilke, 50, a farmer, died last March when he tried to save a driver from floodwaters in Platte County, Nebraska, which is about 90 miles west of Omaha.

Andrea Chamblee, whose husband was killed at The Capital Gazette

Andrea Chamblee lost her husband, John McNamara, who had worked as an editor and reporter for The Capital Gazette, in a June 2018 shooting at the Annapolis, Maryland, newspaper. He was one of five people killed by a gunman who had a long-running feud with the newspaper. In inviting her, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., cited her work on gun safety.

Nathan Law, pro-democracy activist from Hong Kong

Nathan Law, a graduate student at Yale University and pro-democracy activist from Hong Kong, will be the guest of Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. Laws Twitter biography said he was forcefully unseated as a Hong Kong lawmaker.

In October, he took part in a demonstration during a pre-season game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Toronto Raptors at the Barclays Center that was organized by the group NY4HK.

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February Monthly Tips

Academics. Encourage your student to utilize the Student Success Center resources to receive extra help in certain classes. Resources include peer tutoring, supplemental instruction, writing labs and more!

Commencement. Families can learn when their spring 2020 graduates ceremony will take place by visiting the Commencement website. Local hotels and restaurants will book quickly for Commencement weekend, so think about making your reservations soon.

Conversation Kick-Starters. Looking to have meaningful conversations with your South Carolina student? The Parent & Family Programs mobile application hosts conversation topics and questions on a variety of subjects to encourage discussion between you and your student. New posts are added monthly to help keep the conversation going.

Off-Campus Housing Search. Students who are still searching for next years housing can attend one of the Spring 2020 Off-Campus Housing Expos Feb. 6 and April 15 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. They can meet with representatives from local student apartment communities and can get their off-campus housing questions answered by the Office of Off-Campus Living & Neighborhood Relations.

Parents Association. Join the dues-free Parents Association! Youll receive monthly e-newsletters and other timely information from the Office of Parent & Family Programs to keep you updated. Its the best way for parents and families to stay connected to South Carolina!

Scholarships. Now is the time for students to think about applying for departmental scholarships (deadlines vary) to offset costs for the 2020-21 academic year.

Spring Break. Spring break is right around the corner, March 8-15. Have a conversation with your student about their plans during the break. Encourage your student to make safe and responsible choices whether theyre on campus, traveling, or home with you. As a reminder, residence halls will close for the break March 8 at 10 a.m. and reopen March 15 at 8 a.m. The Greek Village will close for the break March 6 at 6 p.m. and reopen March 15 at noon.

Stress Management. If your student is feeling stressed or overwhelmed, encourage them to schedule an appointment with Counseling and Psychiatry. South Carolina students who have paid the student health fee are eligible to receive most counseling services at no additional charge. Please note that students who request more than 10 individual visits per academic year may incur additional charges.

Undergraduate Research. Students who have participated in undergraduate research are encouraged to apply for Discover USC, an annual event to be held April 17 for undergraduates to showcase their scholarly pursuits in and out of the classroom. The deadline for students to register is March 6.

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A decision by Malawi's Constitutional Court to annul last year's election on the grounds that it was rigged sparked celebrations in the streets and gave a fillip to democracy in a continent where political processes are all too often abused.

In setting aside the victory that returned President Peter Mutharika and his Democratic Progressive Party to power, Malawi became just the second African nation to do so after Kenya's High Court overturned the outcome of a 2017 vote.

"The days of politicians playing fast and loose with electoral law are clearly numbered," Gary Van Staden, an analyst at NKC African Economics based in Paarl, South Africa, said in an emailed note to clients on Tuesday. "That is encouraging for the consolidation of democracy on the continent."

Numerous other recent elections in Africa, including those in Nigeria, Mozambique, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been dogged by allegations of rigging. A study of 44 nations on the continent carried out by Nic Cheeseman, a professor of democracy and international development at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., showed almost every criterion used to evaluate the state of democracy slipped between 2015 and 2017.

In a 500-page judgment that took about about 10 hours to read, Malawi's Judge President Healey Potani and four colleagues detailed a raft of irregularities, including the widespread use of correctional fluid to alter figures, duplicate result sheets and unsigned tally forms.

The judges were scathing of the country's electoral commission, saying it was incompetent, had abrogated its duty, and had discarded the constitutional rights of voters. Its actions "greatly undermined the integrity of the elections," they said.

Besides ordering fresh elections within 150 days, the court said the winner of the presidency must secure an absolute majority, as opposed to merely the most votes.

The country will be run by the previous government, which was headed by Mutharika and his deputy, Saulos Chilima, until fresh elections are held, the court said. Chilima quit the ruling party last year in protest at the government's perceived failure to clamp down on graft.

The Malawi Electoral Commission declared Mutharika the winner of the May vote with 38.6% support. That prompted the main opposition Malawi Congress Party, whose leader Lazarus Chakwera secured 35.4% backing, and Chilima's United Transformation Movement, who finished third with 20%, to approach the courts.

"Mutharika stole this vote, he was helped by some people who love money more than their country," Chakwera told supporters at the party's headquarters in the capital, Lilongwe and was broadcast on the party's Facebook feed. "What happened yesterday is not my victory, it is a victory for Malawi, victory for Africa."

Chimwemwe Maliseni, 22, who cast his ballot for Chilima last time and took part in opposition celebrations in Blantyre, the commercial capital on Tuesday said the court's decision "meant my vote has been reclaimed and I am ready to vote again. This time I am very hopeful, it will be a fair election."

The High Court initially blocked a recount, sparking widespread protests in the southern African nation's main cities and calls for MEC Chairwoman Jane Ansah to quit.

Mutharika has yet to comment on the ruling. Kalekeni Kaphale, a lawyer for the electoral commission, told the privately owned MIJ FM radio station it is still discussing the matter.

Landlocked Malawi is among the world's least developed countries with a low life expectancy and high infant mortality. The economy is mainly agrarian, with a largely rural population, and relies on aid from international donors, the World Bank and the IMF. It is Africa's biggest supplier of burley tobacco, a low-quality variety of the leaf used to fill cigarettes rather than flavor them and the crop accounts for the bulk of its exports.
Crowd cheers as commissioners make county a gun rights sanctuary

Mary Hill Henry holds a photo of her grandson, Riley Howell, who was killed by a classroom shooter at UNC Charlotte as he helped prevent more fatalities.

A capacity crowd filled the Henderson County Board of Commissioners meeting room at the Historic Courthouse on Monday night to advocate for and against a resolution making the county a Second Amendment sanctuary.

The outcome was never in doubt. Gun rights supporters far outnumbered those who opposed the resolution and commissioners unanimously adopted the statement that bars the county from spending public money "in contravention of the mandates" of the North Carolina and U.S. constitutions.

Among those who demonstrated against the proposal was Mary Hill Henry, the grandmother of Riley Howell, the 21-year-old UNC Charlotte student who died after helping to stop a gunman from killing more people. Howell was the son of Natalie Henry Howell, the youngest daughter of Mary Hill Henry, a retired Henderson County teacher who lives in Edneyville.

Henry held a large picture of Riley while John Owens, from the Moms Demand Action gun control group, argued against the Second Amendment resolution.

It appeared that supporters of the resolution far outnumbered opponents.

This resolution is good, said Donnie Burnett, a native of Henderson County. I love being part of a predominantly conservative county. I feel this would even make our forefathers happy that we are reiterating and holding on to their hard work. I feel this is good because I feel this is the right thing for our county.

He said he and other supporters of the resolution had covered a lot of ground in a short time.

I want thank you for looking at this and giving your attention to it, he told commissioners.

County Commission Chairman Grady Hawkins offered the only comment from the elected leaders, in response to remarks by opponents that the resolution would make families less safe.

Certainly this board has not been contemplating anything that would change any safety rules, he said.

Hawkins then recognized Commissioner Michael Edney, an attorney, to read a draft resolution supporting the U.S. Constitution and North Carolina constitution, which also guarantees the right to bear arms. The resolution ends by saying that "no public funds, resources, employees, buildings or offices which are under the control and direction of Henderson County shall be used in any manner in contravention of the mandates of said supreme laws of the land."

With no further discussion, the board unanimously adopted the resolution, triggering an enthusiastic standing ovation from several dozen Second Amendment advocates in the audience.
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University of New Mexico researchers underscore the need for better definitions

Some diseases are like black swans. They occur so rarely that many physicians never encounter them in their clinical practice, complicating efforts to treat them.

How many rare diseases are there? According to a new study co-led by University of New Mexico data scientist Tudor Oprea, MD, PhD, no one really knows - and that's a problem, because it's likely that many rare disease patients do not receive appropriate medical care.

In a commentary published in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, a high-impact research journal, Oprea and colleagues from the U.S., Australia, France and Germany point out that as much as 10 percent of the world's population suffers from a rare disease, which translates into hundreds of millions of people.

"You have thousands and thousands of papers a year related to rare diseases, yet very few translate into cures," says Oprea, professor and chief of the Translational Informatics Division in UNM's Department of Internal Medicine.

A big part of the problem has to do with definitions, the authors argue, because the inability to reliably diagnose a rare disease hinders researchers' ability to develop treatments for it.

In the U.S., the Orphan Drug Act of 1983 defines a rare disease as one affecting fewer than 200,000 people. In the European Union, legislation introduced in 2000 defines it differently: when fewer than one in 2,000 people is affected.

And, the authors point out, a disease that is considered "rare" in the general population might be relatively common within a subgroup - examples include Tay-Sachs disease among Ashkenazi Jews and sickle cell disease among people of sub-Saharan African descent.

Another complicating factor is that the terms used to define diseases are often inconsistent and imprecise, and they sometimes vary from country to country. For example, "breast cancer" actually encompasses a variety of tumor sub-types with unique genetic signatures and different optimal treatments, Oprea says. Should it be classified as one disease or many?

Estimates of the number of rare diseases usually settle in the range of 7,000, the authors report. But their recent analysis of an international disease classification database known as the Monarch Disease Ontology - or Mondo - suggests it could be as much as 50 percent higher.

"The Mondo project is the first computer-assisted human curation process to bring together separate efforts in the rare disease community in order to catalog and annotate all rare diseases, regardless of country or disease type," Oprea says.

Improving care for patients with rare diseases requires reaching consensus on the physical, genetic and environmental characteristics of each condition, but overlapping terminologies and models makes that difficult. The authors are calling upon the World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency, the National Academy of Medicine and other entities, to adopt a unified definition of rare diseases.

"We encourage the community to get together and come up with more precise rare disease definitions," Oprea says. "There needs to be a forum to discuss this and dedicated funding mechanisms to address it."

###
New Covid curbs in UP: Government and private employees to work at 50 per cent capacity

Night curfew in Andhra Pradesh: Know timings, guidelines, rules; What is allowed, what is not allowed

46 Covid deaths in 5 days in Delhi, 34 patients had comorbidities, 25 aged above 60: Govt data

Contacts of confirmed cases don't need to get tested unless identified as high risk: Govt

Omicron has clear growth advantage over Delta with highest level of immune escape: INSACOG

Karnataka: BSY govt places border districts under coronavirus surveillance

India

oi-Mousumi Dash

Bengaluru, Feb 05: The B S Yediyurappa-led-Karnataka government on Tuesday has placed border districts of Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Chamarajnagar and Mysuru under novel coronavirus surveillance following three positive cases in neighbouring Kerala.

Reportedly, on Tuesday the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services, State Surveillance Unit, said in a bulletin that till date 81 travellers from the coronavirus-affected countries have been identified and 58 of them are under home isolation.

It was also said in the bulletin, "(the remaining) four Chinese passengers have left the country and two are admitted in a selected isolation hospital."

The bulletin added, so far, 69 samples were been sent for testing; and results of 44 were available and that were also negative cases.

According to PTI report, three students, including a woman medico, from Kerala who studied in Wuhan university in China had tested positive for the virus in the last few days, following which the LDF government declared the epidemic as a 'state calamity' on Monday night.

The department has also asked the people to adhere to the health advisory issued by the State government.

"In case any person with recent travel history to China and other affected countries have developed any symptoms, they are advised to report immediately to call the helpline 104-Arogya Sahayavani," the department said.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 5th, 2020

Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh appealed to people to contact the Health Department if they come across anyone with symptoms of the virus.

At Mangaluru International Airport, a health unit comprising doctors and assistants have been formed to screen passengers.

Coronavirus: 5 admitted to ITBP facility shifted to Safdarjung hospital in Delhi

District Health Officer Ramakrishna Rao said that the Mangaluru Airport officials have been instructed to report any case of symptoms of the disease.

Besides this, an isolation ward with ten beds also set up at the Government Wenlock Hospital.
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Le Thi Thu Ha (C) receives a bouquet from a doctor at Khanh Hoa Hospital for Tropical Diseases as she is discharged, February 2, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Binh Vu.

A hotel receptionist in Nha Trang who caught the novel coronavirus infection from two Chinese has become the third nCov patient to be released from hospital in Vietnam.

Le Thi Thu Ha, 25, was discharged from the Hospital of Tropical Diseases in the central province of Khanh Hoa, home to Nha Trang beach town, on Tuesday afternoon after three latest tests found her free of the nCoV.

Her health is stable, she had no fever for around one week and all blood tests came back normal, said Nguyen Vu Quoc Binh, deputy director of the hospital.

Ha said that she felt happy to be back home, but is under more pressure when facing people around her and fear of being alienated.

"I have to try to overcome it," Ha said while collecting her luggage to leave the hospital.

"During the period of quarantine, I had only a smartphone to contact with my family. All doctors encouraged me a lot," she said.

Last Friday, Khanh Hoa authorities confirmed her as the sixth case of new coronavirus infection.

The patient worked at a hotel on Ton Dan Street in Nha Trang. Li Ding, 66, and his son Li Zichao, 28, confirmed as Vietnam's first cases of nCoV infection last week, checked into the hotel on January 16. They were assisted by the receptionist. The father came from Wuhan, the epidemic center, while his son joined him from the southern Long An Province.

Two days later, she developed a fever and cough, but took some medicine on her own.

On January 24, after the two Chinese nationals tested positive for the deadly new coronavirus, Khanh Hoa authorities isolated the receptionist and sent her blood samples to institutes in Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City. The results showed that she had contracted the virus too.

30 people who have been in contact with the female patient over the past time, are being placed under surveillance. The hospital have now isolated 18 people with symptoms of fever and cough.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Vietnam confirmed 10 infection cases, including a Vietnamese-American who transited in Wuhan en route, five workers returning from Wuhan, the core of the epidemic, and the Chinese father-son duo.

One of the workers from Wuhan and the Chinese son have been discharged from hospital.

Vietnam's government declared the novel coronavirus an epidemic on Saturday. The country has reported 304 suspected cases with symptoms like high fever and coughing, including some people who had visited infected areas in China, as of Monday. Of them, 214 have tested negative for the virus and 90 are in quarantine pending test results.

The death toll from the epidemic has reached 427, with 425 dying in China, one in the Philippines and one in Hong Kong.
Discover unique old churches in these 3 places

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Its that time of the year when spring or summer getaways are planned.

But instead of following the crowds to a beach consider a trip centered on religious heritage, including unique architecture and art on par with the finest museums.

Norway

This Nordic country isnt known for its old churches, but with 28 wooden medieval-era churches it should be.

Called stave churches, the name comes from the construction method of erecting load-bearing posts  staves in Norwegian  upon rocks or sill frames.

Kaupangers 12th century stave church features a 16th century baroque interior. Other notable stave churches are found in Borgund and Urnes, the latter of which dates to the year 1130 and includes its original crucifix.

Most of the stave churches are located in Norways Fjord region, which means flying into Bergen or Trondheim and renting a car.

Norfolk and Suffolk, England

East Anglia, as the region encompassing the historic English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk is called, has over 150 medieval churches with round towers. By contrast, this style is incredibly rare elsewhere in England.

Many remain active houses of worships. Others are so-called redundant churches in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

One of the finest specimens of round tower churches is St. Margarets Church, which is also known for its nearly perfect Norman architecture. The architectural style, also called Romanesque, came to England after the Norman Conquest in 1066.

You will want to fly into Londons Heathrow Airport (about three hours away). Dont worry: Driving on the other side of the road isnt that difficult.

Virginia

As one of the original 13 colonies Virginia has numerous colonial-era churches.

Most belong to Episcopalian congregations that date to when the Church of England was the established church of colonial Virginia.

Among the notable Episcopal churches are Ware Church and Abingdon Church, both about an hour by car from Norfolks airport; Bruton Parish in Colonial Williamsburg; Grace Church, near the Yorktown battlefield where American independence was won in 1781; Virginia Beachs Old Donation Church; and St. Johns Church in Hampton, which still uses early 17th century communion silver.

All of these churches are within driving distance of each other, which makes for a nice weekend getaway. Be sure to make arrangements ahead of time as some churches arent regularly open outside of services. Norfolks airport has frequent service on multiple airlines.

By the way, many of the place names can also be found in East Anglia. This is because a good number of Virginias earliest settlers after the 1607 establishment of Jamestown emigrated from Norfolk and Suffolk.

Spires and Crosses is a weekly travel column. Follow @dennislennox on Twitter and Instagram.
Mitzi L. Frank graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in psychology in 1997. For years after, Frank and her husband, Scott Ponch Frank, supported the university with graduate school fellowships in the College of Engineering and College of Science.

Mitzi Frank fought bravely against breast cancer for a decade before dying in March 2017 at age 41.

Considering the Franks long-time support of their alma mater, it is fitting that Ponch Frank 00, masters 01, has established the Mitzi L. Frank Memorial Scholarship in support of undergraduate and/or graduate student research, memorializing his wife and mother of their son, Hagen.

The inaugural scholarship award, to be given annually, has been awarded to Jesse Janoski, a first-year graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences, part of the Virginia Tech College of Science. Janoski is also an alumnus of Virginia Tech, earning dual degrees in biological sciences and biochemistry with a minor in chemistry in 2018.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Vasif Talibov.

Vasif Talibov informed the head of state of the works carried out in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

He highlighted successes achieved in socio-economic, agricultural, construction, tourism and other areas in Nakhchivan in 2019.

Vasif Talibov thanked President Ilham Aliyev for his attention, saying it played a crucial role in achieving all these successes.

President Ilham Aliyev congratulated Vasif Talibov on the successes achieved in Nakhchivan in 2019.

The head of state noted that the development and security of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic was always the focus of his attention, saying it was evidenced by the fact that he had paid 14 visits to Nakhchivan during his presidency.

On the occasion of his 60th anniversary, Vasif Talibov was awarded the Sharaf Order by the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan this January.

The President presented the Sharaf Order to Vasif Talibov.

Vasif Talibov thanked the head of state for highly appreciating his activities.
WASHINGTON  Sen. Dianne Feinstein, one of the few Democrats who had not revealed her position in President Trumps impeachment trial, said Tuesday that the Senate has no choice but to vote to convict and remove this president.

For weeks, Feinstein had stayed tight-lipped about whether she would vote to remove Trump over his conduct in the Ukraine affair. When she did speak, she stirred confusion about her thinking.

But the California Democrat left nothing unclear Tuesday when she gave her floor speech in the third presidential impeachment trial ever.

If we vote to acquit and allow President Trumps behavior, we will set a dangerous precedent, one that has a strong possibility of inflicting lasting damage on our country, Feinstein said. We will be saying that any president, Republican or Democrat, can leverage their office for personal political gain.

Feinstein spoke hours before Trump was to deliver his State of the Union address to Congress. The GOP-led Senate is expected to vote to acquit Trump on Wednesday, ending his trial without calling witnesses.

Trump is accused of abusing the power of his office by withholding military aid to Ukraine while pushing for investigations that could damage former Vice President Joe Biden and call into question whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election. A second impeachment article accuses him of obstructing Congress investigation.

Feinstein said Tuesday that failing to convict Trump will invite more foreign interference into our elections, noting he has previously encouraged Russia and China to hack or investigate rivals.

Last week, Feinstein told reporters that she was initially going to vote against convicting the president because the people should judge with less than 10 months to go before an election. However, she added that her feelings had changed given Trumps pattern of behavior.

Feinstein later clarified those comments in a tweet, saying she was still deciding how to vote but that Trumps conduct cant be allowed to stand.

Only four senators have yet to signal how they intend to vote. Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday she would vote to acquit on both articles, leaving Utah Sen. Mitt Romney as the only Republican yet to side with Trump.

Three Democrats have yet to announce  Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Doug Jones of Alabama and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris, who is certain to vote to convict, is expected to explain her decision on the Senate floor Wednesday.

Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner
New Delhi, Feb 4 : A court here on Tuesday extended by two days the police custody of Kapil Gujjar, who fired in the air near the ongoing anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh area on February 1.

Gujjar, who belongs to east Delhi's Dallupura, fired three bullets in the air after warning protesters to vacate the spot. He also shouted communal slogans.

He was arrested by the Delhi Police and a court sent him to two days police custody.

As he was produced before the Saket court at the end of his remand period, police sought four-day custody of the accused from Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur contending that the source of weapon used by him for the commissioning of crime needs to be traced.

After granting Gujjar's custody for two days, the CMM allowed his counsel to meet him for half an hour in the presence of the Investigating Officer (IO).

Protests have been going on in the Shaheen Bagh area from the last two months over the newly-enacted CAA and proposed National Register for Citizen (NRC).
A former Louisiana State Penitentiary inmate was sexually assaulted by a then-Angola guard seven times in 2014, the final time after he complained to slow-acting prison officials, one of the ex-inmate's attorneys told a federal court jury Monday.

The lawyer, Carmen Hebert, called former Angola guard Tyler Holliday a "sexual predator."

Holliday denies the allegations, his attorney, Courtney Joiner, told jurors on the opening day of the trial of the ex-inmate's lawsuit. Joiner said there is no proof of any sexual assault.

The suit seeks monetary damages.

The former prisoner who is suing former Angola Warden Burl Cain, two current deputy wardens and Holliday filed a complaint with Angola officials on March 13, 2014, but wasn't moved to another state prison until March 24, 2014.

Holliday, according to Hebert, raped the prisoner at Angola's Camp D for the last time two days before the transfer to the prison in Angie.

Hebert alleges that Angola officials were "more interested in protecting the institution" than protecting the inmate.

But an attorney for Cain and deputy wardens Leslie Dupont and Joseph Lemartiniere told the jury, which was selected Monday, that the prisoner's initial complaint was vague and said he never requested protection nor indicated he was being victimized by Holliday.

"These wardens were not aware," assistant state Attorney General Chris Walters argued in his opening statement. "These wardens acted reasonably based upon the information they had."

The Advocate has not identified the former inmate because he is an alleged sexual assault victim. The man, who was serving time at Angola on a manslaughter conviction, is now on parole and no longer in state custody.

"Rape was not supposed to be part of the sentence, but it was," Hebert told the jury.

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An internal review by corrections officials of the inmate's allegations found them to be unsubstantiated.

U.S. District Judge John deGravelles, who is presiding over the case in Baton Rouge, ruled in February 2017 that the inmate should have been immediately moved to another prison or Holliday should have been swiftly reassigned.

Ex-Angola Warden Burl Cain, 2 officials remain as defendants in sexual assault lawsuit A former Louisiana State Penitentiary inmate who claims a then-Angola guard sexually assaulted him eight times in 2014  the last time after h

Cain was informed March 19, 2014, of the inmate's allegations, the suit alleges, and Cain arranged for him to be moved to another prison five days later.

In refusing to dismiss Cain, Lamartiniere and Dupont from the suit three years ago, deGravelles wrote that the decision to move the inmate from Angola "is certainly evidence from which a reasonable jury could infer, despite lack of specificity as to whom Holliday was sexually assaulting, that the Defendants knew or reasonably believed that (he) was the target  or, perhaps, one of many targets  of Holliday's attacks."

A federal appeals court panel refused last year to dismiss Cain, Dupont and Lemartiniere from the case. The panel said the former inmate's version of the facts "supports a finding that the wardens acted with deliberate indifference when they inferred he was Holliday's victim, chose to transfer him, but disregarded the immediate risk by failing to protect him for the five days before the transfer was completed."

+2 Ex-Angola Warden Burl Cain, others to remain in former Angola inmate's sexual assault suit Former Louisiana State Penitentiary Warden Burl Cain and two assistant wardens will remain as defendants in an ex-Angola inmate's lawsuit that

Holliday resigned on March 26, 2014, amid the prison's probe into the inmate's claims and was arrested three months later, but not based on the inmate's allegations. He was booked on malfeasance in office after telling West Feliciana Parish Sheriff's deputies he had masturbated at work, an arrest report states.

Holliday was not formally charged with a crime. He was allowed to enter a pretrial program designed for first-time offenders of nonviolent crimes that does not require an admission of guilt for eligibility purposes.

Cain, the longtime Angola warden, announced in December 2015 that he was stepping down. His abrupt announcement came after an investigation by The Advocate that revealed his business ties to a family member of an Angola inmate and to the close friend of another inmate at the same prison.
Belle Meade Family Dentistry Relieves Dental Anxiety in Nashville, TN The team at Belle Meade Family Dentistry can address each of these problems with a comfortable and welcoming staff and office environment free from judgment.

Respected dentists, Dr. James Pace, Dr. Temp Sullivan and Dr. James Pace, Jr. of Belle Meade Family Dentistry, often hear about children, teens and adults with mild, moderate or severe dental anxiety in Nashville, TN who resist coming to the dentist for oral health care. As a result, the esteemed dental team urges everyone with dental fear to learn how sedation dentistry treatments can make their next dental visit easy and comfortable.

Thousands of Americans avoid necessary dental care each year, solely due to their dental anxiety. This fear of the dentist may be due to a prior bad experience, heightened sensitivity to sounds and smells, general anxiousness, inability to sit still for long, embarrassment stemming from an imperfect smile and concerns about discomfort. The team at Belle Meade Family Dentistry can address each of these problems with a comfortable and welcoming staff and office environment free from judgment. This team also knows that an additional relaxing touch of sedation dentistry can make a big difference. Thats why they offer oral conscious sedation, nitrous oxide and IV sedation at their modern and cutting-edge practice.

Patients who opt for oral sedation take medication before they arrive for their appointment. The medicine promotes a sense of calm and well-being. However, the oral sedatives used allow the individual to remain responsive throughout the entire procedure. Drs. Pace and Dr. Sullivan are each trained to deliver oral conscious sedation in Nashville, TN.

Nitrous oxide can be another excellent solution for combatting dental anxiety. Patients breathe in medication through a mask. This treatment begins working immediately to bring about intense feelings of relaxation. As soon as the mask is removed, the patient returns to a natural mental state.

For those with more advanced forms of dental anxiety, or those who wish to combine multiple treatments into one visit, patients can receive IV sedation from the Belle Meade Family Dentistry team as well. This team partners with an experienced anesthesiologist to administer and manage IV sedation throughout the appointment. That way they can focus on providing each patient with custom and meticulous care.

Anyone living in the Nashville, TN area who experiences dental anxiety and wants to get the dental care they deserve is invited to call Belle Meade Family Dentistry at 615-298-2030.

About the Dentists

Belle Meade Family Dentistry serves the Nashville, TN area with full-service family dentistry, for 35 years running. Dr. James Pace Sr. has served as a Chairman of the Nashville Dental Society and as a delegate to the Tennessee Dental Association. He was a 2015 Patients Choice Award Winner, has consistently received recognition by the Tennessee Dental Association for his hours of continuing education, and has led and participated in multiple dental and medical mission trips to the Dominican Republic. Dr. Temp Sullivan earned his fellow in laser dentistry at World Clinical Laser Institute and serves as a delegate for the Tennessee Dental Association and as a member of the Peer Review committee for TennCare. Dr. James Pace Jr. received the 2011 Tennessee Dental Associations Ace Award. The team at Belle Meade Family Dentistry strives to provide the finest quality dental care for patients in a warm, caring, and clean environment. They execute the most advanced dental care with every service, including teeth-in-a-day dental implants, Invisalign, the Pinhole Surgical Technique and laser dentistry. To learn more about the dentists at Belle Meade Family Dentistry and the services they offer visit http://www.bellemeadedental.com or call 615-298-2030.
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A shop assistant has been sexually assaulted in her workplace at Knox Westfield in Melbourne's eastern suburbs.

Sex offence detectives have released CCTV footage of a man they believe may be able to help with their inquiries, a month after the attack.

Police say a man went into a store within the Wantirna South shopping centre on Burwood Highway about midday on January 2.

He spoke to a 19-year-old woman working at the store, made inappropriate comments and sexually assaulted her, police said.
President Trump wasnt far behind. Though he didnt immediately suggest malfeasance, he claimed it as a personal victory: The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works. His 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, used the episode to sow doubt: Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history. It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process, he told The Washington Posts Anne Rumsey Gearan.
Despite several obstacles in procedures and policies, and endless hassles in implementation, investors are still pushing for a hold in some part of this fast growing and essential field of business.

ACV is not entirely autonomous

As an enterprise, ACV is managing and operating twenty one airports across the country. In 2019 company revenues were around VND 19,000 bn, exceeding by VND 8,000 bn from the previous year. Due to its effective and efficient management, ACV now has upto VND 25,000 bn in savings, and is expecting to bring this figure upto VND 87,000 bn by 2025. This will allow the company to invest in more airports throughout the country as planned, and still have left with sufficient funds to invest VND 25,000 bn in the forthcoming Long Thanh airport.

The efficient business model of ACV has led more and more outside businesses to invest in the airport sector. In particular, this sector is looking much more attractive after investors see the efficient running of the Van Don airport and the passenger terminal at Cam Ranh airport, both of which are being operated by private investors.

However, the infrastructure is becoming increasingly more overloaded and unable to cope with market growth and the fast pace of development. Even though ACV has constantly received favorable support from the Government and the Ministry of Transport (MOT), as well as the State Capital Management Committee for enterprises, it is also under severe pressure and a "victim" of excessive investment in the field of aviation, but without any operational autonomy.

Mr. Lai Xuan Thanh, Chairman of Board of Directors of ACV, said that despite sending repeated reports, proposals and requests in the last four years for the urgent need to repair the runways to ensure aviation safety, ACV is still waiting for the Government to approve clearance from the flight zone management body. ACV is entitled to only use capital for major repairs when it is assigned for it. ACV is currently struggling with minor repairs and hourly runway monitoring of two major airports, namely, Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat international airports. The heavy rush demand at Tan Son Nhat airport can peak at a record 56 flights per hour on any given day.

Due to the current authorized operational procedures, ACV does not have the right to invest in upgrading and expanding in any airport. For instance, ACV wants the opportunity to invest in building T3 terminal, considered a highly profitable venture, but management agencies are dragging their feet in choosing the right investors. Mr. Lai Xuan Thanh said that bidding is not fair for ACV, because this enterprise manages twenty one airports but only six airports are running profitably, while other airports are suffering losses. Among the airports showing profits are the Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat and Da Nang airports, while among the airports showing massive losses upto VND 80 to 90 bn are the Vinh, Tuy Hoa and Can Tho airports.

An ACV representative also said that the company had suffered losses for a long time because it has to continue to carry out political duties even when the market is weak and slow, as no business wants to participate at such times. Only when the market looks attractive, outside players want to immediately jump in to grab a slice.

Aviation experts await positive changes

According to aviation experts, the first difficulty that has to be cleared is for the regulatory agencies to decide the appropriate procedures and criteria to select investors for building of airports. As aviation is a specialized area, it is of utmost importance to clarify the investors credentials and experience in the aviation industry, along with economic potential and ability to manage in the long term. The latter is clearly an important issue because without the ability to manage in the long term, the investment is wasted, and upgrading and maintenance of airport infrastructure will suffer.

Aviation experts are awaiting for drastic and positive changes to take place in the aviation investment procedures, with some new and more secure policies taking effect. The Government issued Decree 89/2019/ND-CP (Decree 89) on November 15, amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 92/2016/ND-CP in areas of civil aviation, and Decree 30/2013/ND-CP on air transport businesses and aviation activities in general.

The current aviation infrastructure is extremely overloaded, with the State worried, the Government worried, the Ministry of Transport worried, and as a result businesses are also very worried. Only "the mechanism" is still stuck in its old order.

- Mr. Lai Xuan Thanh

According to Mr. Dinh Viet Thang, Director General of Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV), the new points on these decrees are that some administrative procedures and conditions will be reduced, investment in the aviation industry will be liberalized, and private investment in airports will be encouraged. For example, according to Decree 89, an airport enterprise needs a minimum capital of VND 100 bn (USD 4.3 mn) to get started.

Mr. Dinh Viet Thang also said that in the immediate future, CAAV will solve the problems faced at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat International Airports. Inadequacies in procedures regarding upgrading and repair work at airports will be included in the amended Decree 102/2015/ND-CP to prepare for a number of other airports. Because in coming times, some other airports will certainly become hotspots that need to have improved capacity. Mr. Thang said that even Long Thanh international airport must have a new unique mechanism to ensure completion on time, and fully operational by 2025 as planned. Currently, many investors from Sweden, Japan, Korea, China, and USA have shown their interest in Long Thanh airport. However, investors are still worried about the government not guaranteeing loans for the first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport project, as per a feasibility report released by the National Assembly.

Mr. Le Anh Tuan, Deputy Minister of Transport, has assured that in coming time, the Ministry of Transport and CAAV will focus on removing legal obstacles in civil aviation, create favorable conditions for investment in the airport sector, and ensure a good response to the growth of the aviation market.

Bich Quyen
A Shiv Sena corporator on Tuesday brought a live chicken in the general meeting of Akola Municipal Corporation to protest against unauthorised meat shops which he claimed were dirtying the city.

Rajesh Mishra brought the chicken in a bag and released it to much amusement and surprise when the general meeting began with Mayor Archana Mhasane and Commissioner Sanjay Kapadnis present at the civic body's Babasaheb Auditorium, officials said.

"Unauthorised chicken shops are making the city unclean. Action must be taken," Mishra said.

Civic chief Kapadnis said such unauthorised meat shops will be closed soon.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CHICAGO  Activist Hoda Katebi rarely takes a break from organizing. As tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated in recent weeks, she became even busier.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, the 25-year-old Iranian American sat in her Chicago apartment shifting between monitoring her Twitter feed, taking phone calls and texting via encrypted messaging: She and other organizers had word that an Iranian student was being detained at OHare International Airport.

This past week, I think I slept one night, she said.

Across the U.S., Iranian Americans  many of whom have family in Iran  said they are experiencing renewed anxiety since an American drone strike killed a top Iranian general last month and Iran retaliated by launching ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq. They say they are concerned both about the safety of family members abroad and about Iranians who live in the U.S. facing extra scrutiny at airports as they return. At least 10 students have been sent back to Iran on arrival at U.S. airports since August.

For many young Iranian Americans, this is a mobilizing moment: They are embracing their Iranian identity and beginning to identify as people of color in the U.S. as part of a larger struggle alongside other ethnic minorities.

For minorities in the United States, being viewed with suspicion is something that can happen at any time in a number of ways.

Activists say the episodes make minorities feel separated  othered, as the recently coined verb puts it.

Deep roots of othering

The concept of otherism is hardly new. It has lingered in the U.S. for decades  centuries, even.

Irish, Germans and Italians were sometimes viewed as others when they became new Americans during 19th- and early 20th-century immigration. Many were deported. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prevented Chinese laborers from immigrating to the U.S. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II, Japanese Americans were forced from their homes and sent to internment camps, despite trying to prove their loyalty to the U.S.

After the 9/11 attacks, Muslim Americans faced increased government surveillance and were viewed largely with suspicion. For black Americans, the legacy of chattel slavery lingers today in housing discrimination, mass incarceration and everyday instances of discrimination. Native Americans were forced to relocate to reservations in the West following the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

In each of these examples, both government policies and public perception served the function of othering particular ethnic communities.

More recently, many activists say the problem has grown since President Donald Trump was elected in 2016. And while European immigrants have become more accepted in American society, those from other parts of the world still face sometimes withering scrutiny.

Trump has opened up a Pandoras box of racism and bigotry that had been dormant, said Domingo Garcia, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, the nations oldest Latino civil rights organization.

Now I see no difference from attacks on synagogues to an Iranian student being detained for 10 hours to a migrant baby from Central America being taken from her mother, Garcia said. It all originates from the same hatred and fear.

Not just the Trump era

Destiny Harris, 19, an African American student from Chicago, said the othering goes beyond the Trump era. She was pulled into activism years ago after then-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, closed a number of under-enrolled schools in the city, primarily affecting black and brown students.

As someone who is black, poor, queer and a woman, being a part of those marginalized communities is the very definition of being other in this country, in terms of who belongs here and who doesnt and who deserves to be treated with equality and who doesnt, Harris said.

Much of the inspiration for Katebis work stems from her identity. Her Twitter bio reads, in part: angry daughter of immigrants. She was born and raised in Oklahoma and, as a practicing Muslim who also wears the hijab, or headscarf, found herself having to constantly explain her identity to others.

No one knew what I was, Katebi said, describing growing up in a post-9/11 America as politicizing.

When the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, I was Afghan. When it invaded Iraq, I was Iraqi. Every time, I had to answer to all these identities. So I started researching and learning so that I could respond and have something to say, for my own protection and safety.

She added: The more you learn, the more you get angry.

Hoosh Afsar came to the U.S. from Iran 43 years ago, just before the revolution. Now 58, the Bethesda, Maryland, resident said the rhetoric surrounding the 2016 presidential election made him much more aware of racial injustices in the U.S.

Before Trumps election, I probably saw myself as more included and accepted. Now I feel that I was delusional, he said.

New alliances

Katebi feels inspired that more Iranian Americans are beginning to wake up and build bonds with other communities in their fight for equality.

Indeed, recent incidents of othering people of different minority groups  ranging from violent attacks to more subtle forms of prejudicial treatment  have highlighted this common plight.

Last December, an Iowa woman admitted to intentionally running over a 14-year-old girl because she believed the teen was Mexican. Last month, a Native American woman traveling through the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport said a Transportation Security Administration agent pulled the womans long braids and said giddyup while snapping them like reins of a horse. The following week, tellers at a Detroit-area bank refused to cash $99,000 in checks from a black Air Force veteran, suspecting him of fraud, and calling the police.

Alborz Ghandehari, 31, whose parents are from Iran, said he saw support almost immediately. While recently protesting possible war with Iran, he was joined by black, white and Latino demonstrators. During the demonstration, a motorist drove by and yelled terrorists! at him and others.

On the one hand, it was inspiring to see the support from others, said Ghandehari, an ethnic studies assistant professor-lecturer at the University of Utah. On the other, we are still constantly having to prove our loyalty to the U.S.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : The Trinamool and DMK has given suspension notice under rule 267 in the Rajya Sabha on prevailing situation against the Citizenship Amendment Act across the country.

The DMK notice was given by Trichi Siva and the Trinamool's by Derek O'Brien. The opposition has kept the pressure on the government to roll back the Citizenship Act which was passed by Parliament in the winter session.

On Monday, the opposition leaders gave the suspension of business in both the houses but it was not accepted by the Chair.

The Supreme Court is hearing a batch of petitions filed against CAA challenging it on the ground of discrimination.

In the Lok Sabha controversial Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pravesh Verma had categorically said that CAA will not be rolled back, while participating in the Motion of Thanks to the President of India.
The Twitter world is all atwitter. In a tweet congratulating the Chiefs, President Trump wrote, "You represented the great state of Kansas and, in fact, the entire USA, so very well."

In fact, the Chiefs do represent Kansas. At least half their fans live there. In our bifurcated metropolis, there is a city called "Kansas City" on either side of the state line. Arrowhead Stadium is on the Missouri side.

The president got this wrong. It is a common mistake. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard celebrities says how pleased they were to be in Kansas when they were in Missouri.

Barack Obama's mistake was much worse. On the opening night of the Democratic Convention in 2008, while Michelle Obama addressed the delegates in Denver, Barack Obama camped out in a Missouri home to watch. The Kansas City Star's political reporter was there to take notes.

At the end of Michelle's speech, Barack joined his wife and daughters over closed-circuit TV. Said he unthinkingly, "I'm here with the Girardeau family here in St. Louis."

This was an awkward moment for Missouri Democrats, not because Obama needlessly repeated the word "here," but because the Girardeaus live in midtown Kansas City just a few blocks from my house. By Show Me standards, this screw-up ranks with the missed call at first base in the sixth game of the 1985 World Series, the one that allowed the undeserving Royals to slip by the haughty Cards.

Missourian Rush Limbaugh caught the significance. "You people don't understand this," he told his national audience at the top of his show the next day. "This is a gaffe. Kansas City and St. Louis hate each other."

The Star edited out the reporter's comment on the screw-up, and the rest of the media kept mum as well. For Obama, it was all omerta, all the time, which is why you have not heard of this one gaffe out of the 57 or so gaffes Obama made on the campaign trail alone.
A SHOE shop in Limericks William Street is to cease trading in May.

The shutters will fall at discount shoe retailer Shoe Zone at 6 William Street in three months time.

A closing down sale has swung into action.

Its unclear why the closure is occurring in Limerick. But the boss of the British retailer last month called for urgent business rate reductions, after the retailer posted lower annual profits.

Chief executive Anthony Smith warned up to 20% of stores could close if commercial rates did not change.

Local Fine Gael councillor Daniel Butler expressed sadness at the news.

He added: Shoe Zone has always been in the low cost market, so its always going to be very competitive with very tight margins. It just highlights the continued pressure in the retail space both locally, nationally and internationally. People are shopping more and more online. Often, they are only going to shoe shops to try on a size then go home and buy it online.

Cllr Butler says its crucial that a plan is now put in place to tackle the problems of retail in Limerick city centre.

Headquartered in Leicester in the British midlands, Shoe Zone has over 500 stores in cities and towns across Britain and Ireland. It currently has more than 4,000 staff on its books.

The company was founded in 1980 when brothers Michael and Christopher Smith brought controlling shares in a footwear company, Bensonshoe, that had been founded by their grandfather.
Overall, the court decision was expected. This is what Aram Orbelyan, one of the attorneys of second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, told reporters as he touched upon the sanction that the court applied today.

Overall, the decision was expected, even though we hoped there would be no court decision because, in essence, the absences from the two trials were due to the fact that the court hadnt investigated the incident that took place after the trials. The only thing the court had to do was to listen to the recording, ask what had been said and give an evaluation, and only after that would we be able to object or not object. In essence, we cant appeal, but Ill consider it with my fellow attorneys, he stated.

Orbelyan said he and his fellow attorneys have submitted a petition for custody, but expressed confidence that the case needs to be closed.

He didnt mention the names in the list of people who are ready to give personal pledge to commute Robert Kocharyans pre-trial measure, but stated that the list is being finalized.

Under the case regarding the events of March 1, 2008 and being investigated by the Special Investigation Service, second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan is charged with usurpation of power.
Billie Eilish made her Vogue debut Monday with a series of vibrant covers.

And it appears the five-time Grammy winner, 18, has honed her modelling skills since gracing the prestigious cover as she was spotted posing up a storm for an edgy new photoshoot in Palmdale, California. on Monday.

The green-haired hitmaker was sporting her favoured over-sized style as she donned all black while posing on a bike alongside a bevy of motocross riders.

Supermodel vibes: Billie Eilish sported a black avant-garde look Monday as she arrived for a photo shoot in the desert of Palmdale, California

Billie stepped out in an all-black look with a poncho and layers of padding strapped down the front to make a true mark on the shoot.

She was joined by a host of motocross riders with some motorbikes to match.

Billie posed at a cement picnic table, surrounded by the bikers with a birthday cake and balloons.

Hours before, she appeared on four colourful covers for the March issue of Vogue, each perfectly complementing her signature aesthetic.

Back in black: The green-haired hitmaker was sporting her favoured over-sized style as she donned all black while posing on a bike alongside a bevy of motocross riders

Biker boys: She was joined by some male models in orange and white motocross gear with some motorbikes to match

The covers were created by photographers Hassan Hajjaj, Ethan James Green and Harley Weir, as well as artist Nastya Kovtun.

During the interview, she discussed the heartbreaking reason behind her baggy sense of style.

She explained it as a cross between her love of style and insecurity with her body: 'I just hated my body. I would have done anything to be in a different one.'

Birthday girl: Billie posed at a cement picnic table, surrounded by the bikers with a birthday cake and balloons

Billie added: 'I really wanted to be a model, really bad, and I was chubby and short. I developed really early. I had boobs at nine. I got my period at 11. So my body was going faster than my brain.'

In the cover story, she also empathized with the mental health struggles of fellow artists like Britney Spears.

In the candid chat, the starlet recalled: 'As a fan growing up, I was always like, What the f*** is wrong with them?

Cover girl: Hours before, she appeared on four colorful covers for the March issue of Vogue, each perfectly complementing her signature aesthetic

Muse to many: The covers were created by photographers Hassan Hajjaj, Ethan James Green and Harley Weir, as well as artist Nastya Kovtun

Signature look: During the interview, she discussed the heartbreaking reason behind her baggy sense of style: 'I just hated my body. I would have done anything to be in a different one'

'All the scandals. The Britney moment. You grow up thinking theyre pretty and theyre skinny; why would they f*** it up? But the bigger I get, the more Im like, Oh, my God, of course they had to do that.'

The Bad Guy artist continued: 'In my dark places Ive worried that I was going to become the stereotype that everybody thinks every young artist becomes, because how can they not?'

The cover reveal comes days after Eilish swept five of the six Grammy categories she was nominated for.

Britney moment: In the cover story, she also empathized with the mental health struggles of fellow artists like Britney Spears: 'But the bigger I get, the more Im like, Oh, my God, of course they had to do that'

It was a record-breaking night for her, as she become the youngest person and the first female to win all top four awards: Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year.

And bigger things are on the horizon, as she was recently tapped for a special performance at the Academy Awards.

It was recently announced that she'll sing the coveted theme song for the latest James Bond film No Time to Die.
StarzTeairra Mari will reportedly have to reach deeper in her pockets to pay 50 Cent after losing a lawsuit.

The Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood star was ordered by a Los Angeles judge to pay an additional $5K to the rapper/actor, according to The Blast.

The court also ordered Mari to hand over financial records to the Power star to help him collect on the $30,000 she owes him in attorney fees.

As previously reported, Mari named 50 Cent in a revenge porn lawsuit in May 2018. She sued him for re-posting a sexually graphic image of her on social media that was originally posted by her ex-boyfriend, Akbar Adbul-Ahad.

Mari lost the lawsuit and was ordered the pay 50 Cents court costs.

Last month, the Big Rich Town rapper filled documents saying Mari hasn't paid him any money, and added that she's allegedly earned over $100K from Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood.

Her previous claims under oath that she is 'broke' no longer ring true, and it is more clear than ever that she has no intention of paying her debts, Fiddys attorney wrote.

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
The social media platform TikTok has said that the suspension of a pro-life group's account was "human error".

Lila Rose, the founder of Live Action, said that her organisation's page had been banned for "violating" the app's community guidelines.

The suspension was imposed after the non-profit posted a 15-second video showing the faces of babies and sharing the personal stories of some Live Action supporters who had chosen to go through with their pregnancies, Rose said.

TikTok is especially popular with young people and has over 800 million active users.

After Live Action appealed the ban, TikTok got in touch to say that the suspension had been lifted.

"We received an email from TikTok ... apologizing for what TikTok is calling 'human error.' They admitted that our account 'is not in violation of any of our Community Guidelines,'" said Rose.

A TikTok spokesperson told The Wrap: "TikTok is a platform for creative expression that welcomes diversity of users and viewpoints.

"Following a review, we have determined that there were no violations of our community guidelines and the issue was the result of a human error by a moderator. We apologize for the mistake and have reactivated the account."

Rose called on TikTok to improve training and oversight of moderators "to ensure that such dramatic 'human errors' like this aren't made in the future for us or any other pro-life organization".

She claimed that it was only after Live Action "escalated the problem" that the account was finally reinstated.

"Not every pro-life American has the reach that Live Action has to sound the alarm on censorship and viewpoint discrimination," she said.

"What we saw today is the power of social media, the pro-life movement, and news outlets in doing their job to report pro-life viewpoint discrimination."

The social media platform TikTok has said that the suspension of a pro-life group's account was "human error".
Dan Brouillette speaks during a press conference at the Economy Ministry in Berlin on Feb. 12, 2019. (Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)

US Energy Secretary Says Brazil Showing Commitment to Fighting Climate Change

U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette on Feb. 2 said that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is demonstrating a commitment to flight climate change by promoting nuclear energy.

Bolsonaro has been criticized in the past for his skepticism toward climate change, and for prioritizing economic development over environmental protection.

However, Brouillette said that recent conversations about nuclear energy showed that the Brazilian leader was committed to tackling the environmental issue.

I think the commitment of Brazil [to fight climate change] has been demonstrated by these conversations around nuclear energy, Brouillette said in an interview with local and international media.

Weve demonstrated through the use of a very diverse energy policy that you can grow your economy and reduce carbon emission at the very same time, the U.S. energy secretary said, adding that is it something he believes Brazil is interested in doing as well.

On Feb. 3, Brazilian energy minister Bento Albuquerque and Brouillette signed a memorandum of understanding increasing bilateral cooperation between the United States and the Brazilian nuclear industry. The Department Of Energy said in a statement that it recognizes the importance of maintaining a strong energy relationship with Brazil and strengthening energy security across the world.

The U.S. and Brazil are on a charted path to a revitalized relationship started by our presidents. A critical piece of that journey is cooperation in energy. Im leaving this beautiful and vibrant nation with a determination to ensure our best days lie ahead for our two countries, Brouillette said.

Thank you again to the Brazilian government and especially Energy Minister Bento for a successful forum and constructive discussions on how we can continue to partner in energy, he added.

Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro reacts during a signing ceremony of the decree which eases gun restrictions in Brazil, at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on Jan. 15, 2019. (Ueslei Marcelino/Photo via Reuters)

In a press conference on Monday, Brouillette said he hopes that this is just the beginning of a close working relationship. Its a very exciting time in energy for both Brazil and the United States.

As we just witnessed, the American energy industry is ready and eager to work with Brazil. This robust U.S. delegation is here on behalf of President Trump following his meeting with President Bolsonaro in Washington last year.

Together the presidents have charged a new, exciting path forward for a revitalized relationship between Brazil and the United States, and a critical piece of that path is increased cooperation in energy, he said.

Brouillette added: During the ministerial talks today, we had a discussion on a range of areas including oil and gas, civil clear energy, and power and energy efficiency. Im encouraged today by the significant steps taken to increase U.S. presence and investment in Brazils growing civil nuclear energy.

According to BP, Brazilian energy consumption grows by 2.2 percent per year, much faster than the global growth of 1.2 percent per year, and the consumption of every fuel increases. However, most of the growth is in renewables including biofuels, oil, and natural gas. The country also accounts for 23 percent of the increase in global oil production between 2017 and 2040, the website states.

Last year Bolsonaro sparked controversy when he said it was a fallacy to describe the Amazon as the heritage of humanity, and a misconception that its forests were the lungs of the world after fires erupted throughout the rainforest, which is the largest in the world.

Speaking during the annual debate in the U.N. General Assembly (pdf), Bolsonaro insisted that the Amazon was not being consumed by fire, and accused international media of sensationalist attacks.

We all know that all countries have problems. Yet the sensationalist attacks that we have suffered coming from a large part of the international media due to the fire outbreaks in the Amazonian region have aroused our patriotic sentiment, he said.

It is a fallacy to say that the Amazon is the heritage of humankind, and a misconception, as confirmed by scientists, to say that our Amazonian forests are the lungs of world. Using these fallacies, certain countries, instead of helping, embarked on the media lies and behaved in a disrespectful manner and with a colonialist spirit. They even called into question that which we hold as the most sacred value: our own sovereignty.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.
(Newser)  Fotis Dulos' family does not believe he killed his estranged wife, Jennifer Farber Dulos, they say in a statement released Monday regarding the Connecticut man's suicide. Dulos, who was charged with murder after Farber Dulos disappeared May 24, "found himself in a dead-end where he saw taking his own life as the only way to be granted peace," reads the statement, which was obtained by the Hartford Courant. It says the state "pursued and harassed him relentlessly," the media "used him to make sensationalistic headlines, thus manipulating public opinion," and society quickly decided he was a "monster." Dulos died Thursday after police found him suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning inside a vehicle in his garage; he had been free on bond after his arrest Jan. 7 but had just learned that bond might be revoked, sending him back to jail.

story continues below

The statement calls on investigators to probe Farber Dulos' disappearance and look into the "circumstances that led to this horrible end" for Dulos. It also called out Connecticut's family court system, where Dulos and Farber Dulos had been working through a contentious divorce and custody battle for more than two years before Farber Dulos disappeared; she is presumed dead, though her body has not been found, and authorities say they found Dulos' DNA mixed with Farber Dulos' blood on a faucet in her home, Farber Dulos' DNA on the front seat of Dulos' truck, and other evidence. But the family statement calls the evidence "paltry" and slams authorities for focusing on Dulos rather than "finding the real perpetrator." It also claims the divorce battle was biased toward Farber Dulos and too restrictive of Dulos' time with his five kids. Boston.com has the full statement. (Read more Fotis Dulos stories.)
European markets closed higher on Tuesday as sentiment improved and investors brushed aside economic fears over the coronavirus outbreak.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally up by 1.6%, with basic resource stocks leading gains with a 3.6% jump.

Global markets are seeing a rebound in sentiment after sharp declines related to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. In Asia, mainland Chinese stocks were higher by Tuesday as investors weighed the potential economic impact of the outbreak. As of end of Monday, there were a total of 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed cases in the country.

Two Chinese state media outlets on Tuesday urged investors not to panic over the plunge in mainland markets a day earlier.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 480 points as U.S. indexes also recovered from significant selling related to worries over the coronavirus.

U.S. investors also kept tabs in political news. Results from the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses were delayed Monday night as the state's Democratic Party said a "reporting issue" caused "inconsistencies" in some data.

Market focus in Europe was also concentrated on the forthcoming trade talks between the U.K. and EU. On Monday, both sides set out their diverging negotiating positions on a future relationship, setting up likely obstacles in forthcoming trade talks, as well as some areas where compromise could be found.
Xana Antunes, a business journalist who was editor of The New York Post from 1999 to 2001 and later ran the business news site Quartz, died on Jan. 27 at a hospice care center in Manhattan. She was 55.

The cause was pancreatic cancer, her husband, Scott Schell, said.

Ms. Antunes worked for some of the best-known business news outlets over a three-decade career. When she was appointed editor of The Post, she joined a handful of women who were leading major newsrooms at the time.

As I looked around the paper then, almost all the other senior staff were men, she said in a recent speech.

At The Post, under the ownership of Rupert Murdoch, Ms. Antunes bolstered the papers business coverage and introduced new lifestyle features, including a page devoted to the fashion industry.
South Africa: Government welcomes end of national student shutdown

Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Blade Nzimande has welcomed the calling off of a national student shutdown with immediate effect.

This follows a meeting between the Minister and the South African Union of Students (SAUS) held on 31 January 2020.

Fridays meeting discussed matters raised by the union. Common understanding and agreements were reached at the gathering.

The meeting agreed that indebted National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) students can register for the academic year, provided they sign an acknowledgement of debt form, and that they meet the 2020 academic year requirements for continued funding.

The Minister reiterated that all NSFAS qualifying students will be able to register for the academic year without making upfront payments.

There is also mechanisms in place, agreed to between NSFAS and institutions to assess financial eligibility of students who obtain a place and register for an approved programme, but have not applied to NSFAS, to be allowed to register, while the NSFAS assessment is underway.

Academic records and accommodation

In addition, Nzimande together with Universities South Africa (USAf) and the department also reiterated the agreement that all students, whether they owe the university or not, must be given their academic records, either for the purpose of pursuing employment opportunities or further study.

Regarding the issue of private accommodation accreditation, it was agreed that the relevant section of the 2020 Guidelines will be adapted and approved, to reflect the agreements made.

The issue of a differential incidental allowance for male and female students will be explored during 2020 for the 2021 academic year.

It was agreed that other issues will be dealt with through existing processes.

These include, amongst others, post-graduate funding, and in particular NSFAS recipients wishing to continue to postgraduate studies, student debt in the system for non-NSFAS qualifying students, funding for missing middle students.

Funding for post graduate students

From 7 February 2020, USAf and the department will determine the numbers of NSFAS students who have applied for postgraduate studies and currently registered, to understand the extent of demand in this area.

This process will explore additional funding for post graduate students within the registration process for the 2020 academic year.

Tackling campus safety

The ongoing issues relating to campus safety and security were briefly discussed and there is commitment between USAf and the Minister to continue working on these critical issues. The Ministry will continue to engage student leadership in finding solutions and urged students to fully cooperate and allow the registration and orientation processes of universities to continue peacefully, so that the 2020 academic year can start without any further delays," said the department.

Nzimande urged all institutions to ensure that all matters agreed to are implemented without any further delays.

He also emphasised the need for all role players to work together to identify problems and seek to resolve them timeously. SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Electric trucks and electric-powered conveyors are a big part of Teck's plans to be carbon neutral by 2050.

The diversified miner said it is making the change as nations and other businesses are transitioning to a low-carbon economy. Teck said the push also aligns with commitments made by Canada and Chile  which are home to the majority of Tecks operations  to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Setting the objective to be carbon neutral by 2050 is an important step forward in our commitment to reducing emissions and taking action on climate change, said Don Lindsay, president and CEO, in a news release. Climate change is a global challenge that our company and our industry need to contribute to solving. We will pursue the technologies and measures necessary to reduce carbon emissions across our business, while continuing to responsibly provide the metals and minerals necessary for the worlds transition to a low-carbon economy. Teck laid out a general roadmap to meet its carbon neutrality pledge.

"The most significant sources of emissions across our business today and in the future are from power supply and mobile equipment, such as haul trucks. To decarbonize these emission sources and ultimately achieve our goal of carbon neutrality," said the company.

The company plans to replace internal combustion engine vehicles with zero-emissions alternatives. Diesel haul trucks will be replaced with electric or low-carbon trucks. Teck will also roll out electricity-powered conveyors.

Teck isn't the first to make the pledge to drop internal-combustion engines. Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) announced last year that it plans to build the world's largest fuel-cell truck and have it operating in 2020.

Teck said it has been already been advancing low emission industrial practices. The company claims that various initiatives since 2011 have reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at its operations by 289,000 tonnes, which is the equivalent to taking over 88,000 combustion engine cars off the road.

The companys low emission goal is being weighed while it seeks to significantly increasing copper production through the construction of its Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 Project in Chile.
Researchers have conducted a study that reveals that plants tend to balance their increasing weights by thickening their stems. It highlights that they may be able to feel their own size and develop accordingly. The scientists, some of them from the University of Helsinki in Finland, manipulated the weight of shoots of soft birch (Betula pubescens) to test their theory that the plants have a sense of 'vertical proprioception'. According to their experiment, which was published in the journal Current Biology, the tree was able to adjust the radial growth of the stem in response to the added weight.

READ: Researchers Develop New Technique To Keep Smartphones Cool By Sweating

Researchers analyzed the growth pattern

The strength of this reaction varied over the length of the stem. Co-author Juan Alonso-Serra of the University of Helsinki reportedly said that the idea that the plants are able to feel their own weight and thicken their stems sounds interesting and their study is the first to address this question in trees. The researchers further examined their theory by analyzing their growth patterns in a birch mutant called elimaki, a plant species which lacked this ability. They said, Elimaki grows upright for straight three months and after that its stems suddenly bend from its base and the whole tree collapses.

READ: Study: Cows Can Talk To Each Other Using Their 'moos', Say Australian Researchers

Mutant trees fail to accurately adjust their width

As compared to the normal trees, the natural mutant trees fail to accurately adjust their width to their increasing weight which makes them less stable mechanically, according to the researchers. They further added that the lack of a proper response to balance weight increase in elimaki trees is linked to a single position in the birch genome. According to scientists, mutant trees played a crucial role in the research work. Many trees produce a new generation in decades while plant models like elimaki, can do it within just months, making them ideal for genetic studies. The study noted that birches are among the very few species where flowering can be induced already at six months age.

READ: Researchers Develop 'world's Most Efficient' Battery, Charges Phone For 5 Days

READ: IIT-Hyd Researchers Unravel Protein That Repairs Damaged DNA


At around 5:20 am Tuesday morning, Kenyas second president Daniel Arap Moi passed on peacefully surrounded by his family. The retired president was receiving treatment at Nairobi hospital.

Moi holds the record of the longest serving Kenyan president, and might hold that title for many decades or centuries to come. His reign lasted 24 years.

This is the first time Kenya is having to deal with the death of a former president. The first president, Jomo Kenyatta, died while in office, and thus subsequent events were lead by the military. While we await to see the procedure this time round, here is President Uhuru Kenyattas statement on Mois passing.

To the People of the Republic of Kenya, the Sons and Daughters of Africa,and the World at Large;

IT IS with profound sadness and sorrow that I announce the passing of a Great African Statesman, H.E. Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, the Second President of the Republic of Kenya. His Excellency the Former President passed on at the Nairobi Hospital on the early morning of this 4th February, 2020 ; in the presence of his Family.

OUR NATION and our Continent were immensely blessed by the dedication and service of the Late Mzee Moi; who spent almost his entire adult life serving Kenya and Africa in a number of capacities. The Late Mzee Moi served us as an Educator, a Teacher, a Legislator, Member of Parliament, a Cabinet Minister, the Vice-President and finally as the President of the Republic of Kenya.

UPON HIS RETIREMENT from State Office, and in keeping with these emingly boundless energy that characterized his many decades of Public Service,the Late Mzee Moi continued to serve Kenya and Africa by mentoring leaders in Kenya and beyond, continued participation in development projects and charitable works, and advocating for Peace, Love and Unity throughout Africa and the World.

AS A LEADING FIGURE in the Struggle for Kenyas Independence, and an ardent Pan-Africanist; the Late Mzee Mois Legacy undoubtedly positions him as one of Africas Greatest, a Man who made his Nation and the Continent immeasurably better. Following the sudden death of the First President of the Republic of Kenya,the Late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the Late Mzee Moi stepped into apex leadership in 1978 and immediately brought calm and confidence to a Nation reeling in shock,following the unexpected death of the Head of State.

THE LATE MZEE MOIS steady hand guided Kenya through the restoration of multi-partyism and many other challenging periods; culminating in the peaceful transfer of power in December 2002, a then rare occurrence in Africa and one which set an example that has been emulated across the Continent and beyond ever since.His Legacy endures in Kenya even to this day, encapsulated in the Nyayo Philosophy of Peace, Love and Unity that was his mantra throughout his tenure as our Head of State and Government.

AS WE MOURN THE PASSING of an African Icon, our heartfelt condolences go out to his Children, Relatives and Close Friends. We will never forget that even as he served Kenya, Africa and the World; the Late Mzee Moi remained a deeply committed family man, a loving Husband, Father, Grandfather and earnest Friend to so many. While they undoubtedly grieve his passing, I wish to assure them that Mzee Moi lives on in the hearts of the Millions of Kenyans who benefited from his servant-leadership, and in the peaceful, harmonious and united Kenya that was built in large part by the works of his hands.

ABOVE ALL ELSE, the Late Mzee Moi was a devoted Christian, who nevertheless championed the rights of all persons of all faiths to observe their religion without discrimination or impediment. Daniel Toroitich arap Moi ran a good race, kept the faith, and now he is enjoying his reward in heaven.

IN HONOUR OF THE LIFE AND TIMES of the Late Great Mzee Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, and on behalf of a grateful Nation forever indebted to our deceased Second President for all his many years of steadfast public service, I, UHURU KENYATTA, under the authority vested in me as the President of the Republic of Kenya and the Commander in Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT: 

I. THAT in testimony of the respect in which the memory of the Late Daniel Toroitich arap Moi is held, the nation will observe a period of national mourning from today until the day of his funeral;

II. THAT the Late Daniel Toroitich arap Moi shall be accorded a State Funeral, with all appropriate Civilian and Full Military Honours being rendered and observed;

III. THAT as an expression of public sorrow the Flag of the Republic of Kenya shall be flown at half-mast at State House, State Lodges, all Public Buildings and Public Grounds, all Military Bases, Posts and Stations, on all Naval Vessels of the Republic of Kenya, and however elsewhere throughout the Republic of Kenya; from dawn on 4th February, 2020 Until sunset on the day of the Burial; and

IV. THAT our national flag shall be flown at half-mast for the same length of time at all High Commissions, Embassies, Consulates, Diplomatic Offices and other facilities of the Republic of Kenya

abroad.

May the Late Mzee Daniel Toroitich arap Moi Rest in Eternal Peace.ISSUED under the HAND AND SEAL of the President, on this 4th Day of February, 2020.

UHURU KENYATTA,

President.
This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic.

Preparing for a catastrophe is a science. This science involves models built from data and analytics that can capture the worst-case scenario for businesses and homeowners. Knowing exactly what the worst looks like allows people to better prepare for it. But the impact of a hurricane doesnt end with the last drop of rainnor does a wildfires as the last ember flickers out.

Natural disasters affect insurance companies which do their best to understand a homes risk; reinsurance companies who grapple with aggregate risk; banks and mortgage companies who face risk to assets and find challenges ensuring customers have immediate access to local branches; the real estate industry which sees pricing pressure; and homeowners, families and businesses who do their best to just make it through in one piece.

Events like 2017s trio of hurricanes  Harvey, Irma and Maria  caused serious delinquency rates[1] on home mortgages to triple in the Houston, Texas, and Cape Coral, Florida, metro areas and quadruple in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[2]

On top of delinquencies, loss of housing stock also affects the cost of shelter in affected neighborhoods. The Camp Fire, for instance, incinerated about 20% of the single-family housing stock in Butte County and the Tubbs Fire destroyed about 6% of the single-family homes in Santa Rosa in Sonoma County.[3], [4] For some of the affected neighborhoods, the loss was close to 100%. Families displaced by the fire add to the demand for shelter in the local area. The increase in demand, coupled with the reduction in housing stock, translates into upward pressure on prices and rent for undamaged homes.

What does this mean for 2019s disasters?

Based on CoreLogic research, communities affected by wildfires, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes and other natural disasters in 2019 will likely experience an increase in mortgage delinquencies and shelter costs, and it can take more than 12 months for mortgage delinquency rates to normalizeand even longer for homes to be repaired or rebuilt. Though not as devastating as the prior three years, 2019 was an eventful year, complete with powerful hurricanes, tornadoes, hailstorms, floods, earthquakes and wildfires. The tornadoes in Dayton, Ohio, and Dallas, Texas, were among the most costly catastrophes to have occurred on record for each state. Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas, with losses reportedly exceeding one-third of the countrys $12 billion gross domestic product. Typhoon Hagibis put much of Japan underwater, with an estimated 30% of the flood damage uninsured.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2019 had at least 14 events with losses exceeding $1 billion in the United States alonemore than double the annual adjusted average (from 1980 to 2018) of 6.5 events per year.[5]

In those same 40 years, the average annual total losses is $6.5 billion. Comparatively, the average for the most recent five years alone has more than doubled at $13.8 billion. 2019 marked the seventh year in the last decade in which 10 or more weather and climate disasters exceeding $1 billion have occurred. In the past 40 years, there have been only two other years this has happened: 1998 and 2008.

The cumulative effect of high-loss events, both in 2019 and throughout the decade past, penetrate deeply into our connected world of finance  personal equity, insurance and our mortgage finance economies. Improving the data and analytics surrounding natural catastrophes helps us all by making our society more resilient.

For more information on insights gained from 2019s catastrophes, including economic and financial implications, as well as a lookback on market-changing moments of the decade past, read the CoreLogic 2019 Natural Hazard Report.

[1] The serious delinquency rate is the percent of loans that are 90-days-or-more delinquent or in foreclosure proceedings.

[2] 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season, National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center

[3] Incidents Overview, California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)

[4] Nearly 3,000 homes destroyed by Sonoma County wildfire, KCRA October 2017

[5] U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2019), NOAA, National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

Topics Catastrophe Trends Wildfire Hurricane
Research universities have been compared to storm troops that lead the way in carrying out scientific research. However, they have not received appropriate preferences from the government.

The regulations on the establishment of research universities, and their interests and responsibilities can be found in the decree that guides the implementation of the amended Higher Education Law.

Nguyen Dinh Duc from the Hanoi National University





Nguyen Dinh Duc from the Hanoi National University said the achievements in scientific research are one of the most important criteria for rating organizations to consider when ranking universities in the world.



Hanoi and HCM City National Universities, the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Ton Duc Thang and Duy Tan universities, which appeared in prestigious rankings of international universities in 2019, are schools with outstanding achievements in scientific research in Vietnam.

Research universities have been compared to storm troops that lead the way in carrying out scientific research. However, they have not received appropriate preferences from the government.

Duc affirmed that building research universities is within reach and that they could meet international standards.

However, he stressed that it is necessary to set up a reasonable mechanism for the universities to develop.



Duc compared research institutes as storm troops or vanguards which play a very important role in supporting Vietnams education to integrate into the global education. They need to be given more power, he said.



The decree only says research universities will get priority for receiving money for scientific research and having their schools accredited. With these small benefits, I would refuse to build a research university if I were the rector of the school, he said.



Universities need to see something more attractive to strive to become research universities, he said.



For example, the investment rate for each student at research universities must be three times higher than other universities.



At present, the investment rate for one student at a state-owned school is VND9 million, a very low level.

Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha said the government has assigned the education ministry to draft a decree on scientific research at universities to create a legal framework to encourage schools to conduct research.



I have agreed with the Minister of Science and Technology that we will check the schools and find out which schools have capability and have good research products. These schools will enjoy investment policies that encourage research and become the locomotives to lead the higher education system, Nha said.



He explained that the investments will be funneled to the schools with best research achievements and products.



It is necessary to consider schools products, not just school potential. If they have potential but their management is bad and they cannot make products, they wont receive investments, Nha said.

Le Huyen

First American Studies programme launched at Vietnamese university The Ho Chi Minh-based Hoa Sen University is set to launch an American Studies course this year, the first of its kind at a Vietnamese university.
UAE to suspend all flights to and from China, except Beijing

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the UAE has ordered that all flights to and from China, except those from the capital Beijing, be suspended from February 5, 2020.

The cancellation of all flights to Mainland China is in order to contain and control the spread of the coronavirus disease. The GCAA had already cancelled all incoming and outgoing flights to Wuhan - the city at the epicentre of the crisis - since January 23, 2020.

Emirates and Etihad Airlines are among those who have suspended flights with China, except for Beijing, starting from Feb 5, 2020. Photo Courtesy: General Civil Aviation Authority/ Twitter

The flights to and from Beijing are the only exception and the GCAA has set in place new procedures for these flights. All passengers flying to the UAE from Beijing have to undergo 6-8 hours of comprehensive medical screening before boarding the flight to ensure the safety of fellow passengers.

The World Health Organisation's declaration of the coronavirus as a global emergency has sharply reduced bookings for global airlines that serve the Asia-Pacific region. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, Oman Air and Saudia Airline have temporarily suspended some flights due to low travel demand.

The UAE requires all arrivals from Beijing to undergo advanced preventive medical procedures that will take 6-8 hours. Photo Courtesy: Twitter

The UAEs national carrier, Emirates too earlier reduced its capacity on China routes last week, due to low demand amid growing concern about the disease. The airline replaced the Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft, with the Boeing 777 on the Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou routes in order to better match capacity to demand and to reduce costs.

The UAE joins dozens of governments around the world that have banned people coming from China and have suspended flights to China because of the outbreak.
Some consolidation is afoot among the payments behemoths of Europe. Smaller, newer fintech companies are eating into their market dominance by adapting faster to changing spending habits, while also looking to capitalize on economies of scale.

Today Worldline, a financial services company that provides everything from in-store point-of-sale terminals through to online payments, data analytics, banking and fraud protection, announced that it would acquire Ingenico, the huge point-of-sale terminal provider that controls 37 percent of the market globally, in a cash and share deal that gives Ingenico a valuation of 7.8 billion ($8.6 billion at today's exchange rates).

The deal underscores two big themes in fintech, and specifically payments. The first is that the shift in payments and spending habits to more digital platforms has meant an increasing amount of fragmentation in the payments space, with each player getting a cut of the transaction: this means that a company doing business in this area needs economy of scale in order to make decent returns. The deal will give both companies a lot more economy of scale.

The second is a bigger theme of consolidation among larger players in part to better compete with the long tail of smaller and more fleet-of-foot fintech companies that have found a lot of traction in this new wave of commerce. While Stripe, Adyen, Google, Apple, Amazon and many of the others may not individually do enough competitive damage against Worldline or Ingenico, their collective presence could.

Worldline said that Ingenico shareholders will receive 11 Worldline shares and 160.5 in cash for every 7 Ingenico shares, working out to a 24 percent premium for Ingenico's average share price over the last month. Pending regulatory and shareholder approvals, the deal is expected to close in Q3 of 2020, with Gilles Grapinet, Worldlines Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, to lead the combined business.

Story continues

The companies  both based in France  are incumbents that were established in the first big wave of electronic financial services that formed in the 1970s and 1980s. (Worldline was spun out of Atos; Ingenico has been independent up to now.) The combined company will have 20,000 employees across 50 countries with 1 million merchant and 1,200 financial institution customers, and Worldline said it expects combined pro-forma 2019 net revenues of 5.3 billion out of the deal.

Although both work in online payments and related frontiers in commerce, the size and scale of being a legacy player means that Worldline has worn some of those evolutions awkwardly. Is "futuring" actually a word?

On the part of Ingenico, the business has been profitable. As of today, it has some 30 million terminals installed worldwide and works with 550,000 merchants; however, growth has been slowing with the gradual shift away from brick-and-mortar shopping towards online purchasing.

Specifically, consumers and those making and selling goods and services are using a number of new channels that have taken the focus away from traditional retailers, leading to a rise of new competitors that include smaller fintech startups (see: Stripe and Adyen), tech platform operators (see: Google Pay and Apple Pay) and e-commerce behemoths (see: Amazon and Alibaba). That has had an impact on Ingenico in particular, which has dabbled in partnerships with various tech companies like Google and Groupon, but has never led the charge. More recently, under a new CEO, it had been looking for a buyer.

Over the past decade through several transformational acquisitions and partnerships, we have repositioned Ingenico as a key player of the payment ecosystem," said Nicolas Huss, CEO of Ingenico, in a statement. "In a fast moving global payment market in which scale matters, the combination of Ingenico with Worldline is completely aligned with our strategic vision.

Catching up with changing tides is not only about increased competition from many fronts; it's also the strong theme of economies of scale that come out of digital transactions. In an ecosystem that often has a number of components, with each getting a cut of a payment, a company needs either to control more links in that chain of processes or handle an ever-bigger amount of transactions  ideally both  in order to make strong returns, and that is also a theme here.

"Together we create the European World-Class leader in digital payments," said Grapinet in a statement. I am convinced that the combination of our respective remarkable talents [SIC] pools, joint capabilities and state-of-the art offers will procure our combined Company an outstanding value proposition to pursue an exceptional growth benefitting to all our clients, banks and merchants alike and to all our business partners. This is a landmark transaction for the industrial consolidation of European payments, highly value creative for all our stakeholders and for the shareholders of both companies, and which ambitions to reinforce the role of Europe within the global digital payment ecosystem.

There has been a larger wave of consolidations in the payments and wider fintech space in Europe, which have totalled some 83 billion since 2013 (now over 90 billion with this deal). Worldline acquiring Ingenico is an outsized deal among these. Most recently, in November, Elavon announced it was acquiring Sage Pay in the UK for about $300 million.
A teenager identified as David Iyoha is reportedly missing since on November 25, 2019, after he left home for his clearance in school at the Yaba area of Lagos State.

According to Punch, David left his parents house in the Ago Palace Way area of the state for clearance at the Federal Science and Technical College, Yaba, prior to the issuance of the Senior School Certificate, but had not returned home.

Speaking with newsmen, Davids father, Hamilton said all efforts by the family and friends to ascertain his whereabouts had proved abortive, adding that the family had resorted to prayers and hope in God that he would return soon.

Since he finished his Senior Secondary School Leaving Certificate Examination, he had been at home waiting for when he would resume at an institution for computer programming; while he was waiting, we had a conversation about his secondary school clearance that would enable him to get his school leaving certificate and testimonial, Mr Himilton said. I told him that to be on a safer side whenever he wanted to go to a university, he should do his clearance and get his certificate, and on November 25, 2019, he left home for school to do the clearance, but he has not come back since then. At first, we thought it was the traffic that delayed him, but when it was taking longer than necessary, we became worried and my wife called him around 7.38pm and he said he was on his way but far away from home. My wife asked him exactly where he was but he did not tell us and the phone dropped and subsequent calls put across to his telephone line did not connect as the line indicated that it had been switched off. When I got home from work, I attempted to call the number, it was still switched off. We waited till around 1am thinking that he would be back by then, but we did not see him; so, I told my wife to go and report at the police station the following day. When I came back from work, there was still nothing about him, so I went to the police station the next day and I was told that they had made an internal announcement to all the stations so that if he was in a cell, he could be released but there was no response that he was with them. I was linked with someone at the Police Intelligence and Response Team, who collected his phone number to track it, but it was discovered that since his phone went off, it had not been switched on. I went to his school to find out if he ever got there and the head of the department said he had not seen him and when other teachers were called, they said he did not come to the school and that he had not done the clearance; and from the tracking information the police did, it was obvious that he never got to the school; there was information about where he got to before his phone went off.

Hamilton added that before Davids phone went off, he called his friend around 3pm and told him that they should go for the clearance, but the friend declined, stating that the teachers would have left the school and they agreed to go the next day.

The father added that some people told the family that David was seen around the Bode Thomas area of Surulere fiddling with his phone on the day of his disappearance, adding that when a search party was mobilised in the area and its environs, he was nowhere to be found.

We keep trusting God to bring him back home as we have resorted to praying that one day, he will come back, but I still repost tweets about his disappearance on the social media, hoping that someone may see him, he added.

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, stated that efforts were being made to trace the teenagers whereabouts.

We got the report of a missing person and we have declared him missing and commenced an investigation. Efforts are being made to locate his whereabouts, he said.

Meanwhile, a beautiful girl simply identified as Sadiya who was declared missing for over 5 days in Jos, Plateau State capital, has been found with a man she met online in Abuja.
The chair of an independent inquiry into how a prominent British breast surgeon was able to perform unnecessary operations for years concluded Tuesday that more than 1,000 patients might have been affected by a dysfunctional'' system that did not keep patients safe.

In 2017, a jury found rogue surgeon Ian Paterson guilty of 17 counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and three counts of unlawful wounding.

Prosecutors say the doctor lied to patients or exaggerated their risk of cancer to persuade them to have surgery.

But Paterson's patients demanded a more thorough reckoning to prevent such situations from ever happening again.

The examination of Paterson's actions concluded that patients were let down for many years both by Britain's National Health Service and by private medical insurance and workers.

The Rev. Graham James, the inquiry's chair, said opportunities to stop the doctor's behavior were repeatedly missed by a system characterized by willful blindness.''



"Eight years passed between medical professionals raising concerns about Ian Paterson's medical practice and his suspension," James said.

He was given the benefit of the doubt time and time again, undeservedly. And the consequences for the patients have been terrible.

Asked how many patients might have been affected by Paterson's malpractice, James confirmed it could "certainly" be more than 1,000.

Hundreds of Paterson's patients were recalled in 2012 after concerns about unnecessary or incomplete operations. Nine women and one man testified about the procedures during his trial, which dealt with surgeries between 1997 and 2011.

Initially sentenced to 15 years in prison, Court of Appeal judges later increased his sentence to 20 years.

Paterson owned a luxury home in Birmingham, in central England, as well as properties in Cardiff, Manchester and the United States, West Midlands police said.

Victims who accused him of playing God with their lives included Deborah Douglas, a mother-of-three who underwent an entirely unnecessary mastectomy that left her in "horrendous" pain.

At her home in Birmingham, she keeps memorial cards from the funerals of some other Paterson patients.

"We want recommendations that change the system that allowed Paterson to get away with it, because basically, people have died,'' she said.

"He left breast tissue behind, and that led to patients' deaths."



Among his recommendations, James urged the creation of an "accessible and intelligible" single repository of performance data a one-stop shop for patients. Paterson did not accept the inquiry's offer to comment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Greater Accra Regional Hospital, formerly the Ridge Hospital, has begun a month-long free cervical cancer screening for sexually active women between the ages of 21 and 45.



The gesture forms part of efforts by the hospital to raise public awareness of the condition, which its officials say is preventable and treatable if detected early, but from which over 2,000 lives are lost annually in the country.



Speaking to the Daily Graphic on the exercise, the Principal Nursing Officer at the Reproductive Health Unit of the hospital, Ms Doris Agyei, said the emphasis on sexually active people was because the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer, was transmitted sexually.



She said the hospital was ready to screen any number of women from the target age group and encouraged the public to take advantage of the offer, describing it as the hospitals corporate social responsibility to the public.



All the same, she said, females below 25 and above 45 could walk in to be screened at a fee.



Ms Agyei explained that the hospital was targeting that specific age group because at that age they had a blossoming cervix, which could facilitate one of the fastest and simplest diagnostic procedures known as the Visual Inspection of the cervix with Acetic Acid application (VIA).



Once a woman passes the age of 45, the cervix looks like folded lips or lips pushed in and so it becomes difficult to do the VIA or apply the acetic acid, and so in this instance the papanicolaou (Pap) smear is the required diagnostic procedure, she said.



However, she said, every female who was sexually active, irrespective of age, could undergo the Pap smear if she wanted to.





She said females who had not had sexual intercourse and were nine years and above could skip the screening for a straight vaccination to ensure life-long protection.



Late diagnosis



Ms Agyei said the mortality rate among cervical cancer patients was high because most of the cases were realised at an advanced stage, nearing hopeless, since most women often wanted to see symptoms before going for medical attention.





She said at the treatable stages, cervical cancer did not present any symptoms.



However, she said once infected, the virus could stay in the host for about 15 years before symptoms would show, by which time the condition would have reached a very advanced stage that could only be managed but not treated.



She said the chances of survival for a cervical cancer patient when the disease had reached the advanced stage were less than 50 per cent.



Symptoms



Ms Agyei mentioned the symptoms of cervical cancer as offensive discharge from the vagina, blood flow after normal menstrual period and during or after sexual intercourse, bleeding in women in their menopausal age, prolonged back pain, loss of weight, among others.



Throwing more light on the condition, she said cervical cancer developed in a woman's cervix, which is the entrance to the womb from the vagina.



She said the best way to stand protected from cervical cancer was to screen for it, get vaccinated and avoid multiple sexual partners.





Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
- A number of average Ghanaians caused a massive stir online with amazing feats in January 2020

- The Kotoko wonderboy, the Accra Academy rapper and the policeman who saved a poor dying man on the Spintex Road in Accra are just 3 examples

- YEN.com.gh compiled the full list

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

January 2020 has been a rather interesting month and a good way to start the new year for many reasons. Although there have been several negative reports, there have also been some amazing positive reports.

Notable among the positives are a number of everyday Ghanaians who stirred social media with their breathtaking stories and achievements in just the first month of the year.

YEN.com.gh takes a look at the top 5 normal Ghanaians who stirred the internet massively, almost breaking it.

READ ALSO: Top 5 January 'disasters' that must not happen again in 2020

1. FA Square, the Accra Academy rapper

FA Square, a young student rapper from Accra Academy stirred social media with unbelievable rap lines. His punchlines were so deep, Wyclef Jean, the owner of Carnival World Music spotted one of FA Square's videos and called him up for a signing.

2. The 2 local drummers

Two young boys from Ghana were captured in a viral video making amazing beats with empty cans. In a viral video, a crowd of witnesses gathered to watch as the magical hands of the boys created pleasing rhythms in their ears.

READ ALSO: Snake tongue: Meet talented lady who is able to fold her tongue into any shape (Photos)

3. The policeman who 'resurrected' a poor dying man

A kind policeman whose name has not been disclosed saved the life of poor man who was dying of hunger on the Spintex Road in Accra.

People who stood by before the police arrived at the scene reportedly thought he was actually dead. The man looked extremely relieved and revived in the video as his saviour came to his aid.

READ ALSO: If she asks you for money, she doesn't truly love you - Experienced slay queen breaks ice

4. Plantain seller who was reportedly a KNUST graduate

A social media user identified as Agbalenyo Nelson recounted the struggles of a Ghanaian roasted plantain seller after he successfully graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Agbalenyo Nelson disclosed in a post on social media that the married father of four kids struggled with unemployment after several submitted application letters yielded no results.

5. Kotoko wonderboy

Asante Kotoko midfielder, 16-year-old Matthew Cudjoe was in the news for his breathtaking contribution in helping Kotoko win over Hearts of Oak. Later, he donated 50% of his winning bonus to injured fan Augustine Oppong.

In other news, a team of seven talented kids of the Kristo Asafo Mission of Ghana has built a breathtaking version of the aeroplane car that was recently launched by the Kantanka group.

The young children who are all under the age of 12 gave a live demonstration on KTVs popular TV program, Kantanka Exclusive' of how the aero-car can be controlled with a software.

Nana Kwame Opoku who is 12 years of age was the spokesperson for the group and he explained with great eloquence that the reason they decided to embark on the mini-project was to prove to the outside world that Africans are also capable of creating great things.

Enjoy reading our stories? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news!

This is what makes 4-year-old Nii Omanye aka Kwame Nkrumah the smartest child in Ghana| #Yencomgh

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Source: YEN.com.gh
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 19:39:30|Editor: yhy

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DES MOINES, United States, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines, capital of the U.S. state of Iowa, was packed with hundreds of voters, observers and reporters on Monday night as the Iowa Caucuses kicked off the nomination competition for the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Before voting began at 7 p.m. CT (0100 GMT on Tuesday), supporters for several candidates were still making their last appeals to voters, chanting campaign slogans and distributing stickers and souvenirs bearing the names of candidates.

It was a big night for Democrats across the nation. As the result for the Republican side is totally predictable, all eyes were on the unusually crowded Democratic field -- currently with 11 runners. Though the small, rural Hawkeye state only allocates around 2 percent of the 1,991 national delegates a candidate needs to snatch the Democratic nomination, it's widely seen as a strong indicator for how far a candidate could go down the road ahead.

CONFRONTING TRUMP

Picking the strongest candidate to take on incumbent Republican President Donald Trump in November is the core concern for many Democrat voters. Jim Birkel, a local retiree in Des Moines who has been an independent for two decades, told Xinhua hours before the caucuses that this time he would register as a Democrat to take part in the voting.

"Mr. Trump will, in all probability, have the Republican party (nomination) ... I wanna be involved with getting the best candidate to actually go against him," said Birkel.

The man in his mid-60s had voted for Democrats, Republicans and independents in past elections. "It all depends on what I think the country needs for the particular time period," he added.

Though he supports some of Trump's policies, such as trade and tax cuts, he still saw the president as "divisive for the nation" and the growing polarization in the country as a dangerous sign.

"It's extremely unhealthy for the nation. It would be for any nation, I think. It just continues to get worse and worse. It's almost like a civil war without weapons," he said.

Birkel claimed that he would stand with billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer on Monday night. But if Steyer's supporters fail to meet the 15-percent threshold at his precinct location in the first alignment, he would support former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana Pete Buttigieg, at the final alignment, as stipulated by the caucus rules.

Kyle schulz, a Democrat from Chicago, Illinois just for observing the Iowa Caucuses, said he believes Buttigieg may have a good chance to win here.

"As a millennial, I think his position in my generation really is a strong appeal to me," said the 32-year-old new dad who brought his eight-month-old baby girl to the "political education tour."

"If you look at how he positions and presents himself in his vision for the future, I think that can carry the day and make him competitive."

Yan Xiaozhe, a Democrat and executive chairman of the Chinese Association of Iowa, told Xinhua that in his eyes, the odds are that former Vice President Joe Biden will replace Trump.

"He is moderate, which could attract more independents in the general election," said Yan. He called Biden a "people person" who really likes to talk to ordinary people.

INTRA-PARTY FRICTION

Many Democrats have demonstrated clear-cut support for moderates or progressives within the party, but some are concerned that a fractured base and growing tensions would lead to undesirable results for both sides.

"I think ideological differences are good. They're healthy for debate," said Schulz from Chicago, adding that the country could only end up with an extremist leader in the future "when they're entrenched and not willing to listen to the other side."

Schulz acknowledged that he favors the moderates like Biden and Buttigieg. "We're a country of moderates ... I think you need to have a centrist who can work both sides and who would be a little more flexible," he said.

Nonetheless, progressive candidates, represented by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have gained strong and loyal bases of their own. Christopher Jamerson, a local, told Xinhua on Monday night that he would vote for either Sanders or Warren.

"I want someone who has the courage to stand up with good ideas that help everybody else," said the 34-year-old who works in the IT industry, adding that the moderates are just claiming that they care about the pains of some people but refuse to really fight for their rights like the progressives have done.

Sanders, as a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, advocates Medicare For All and tuition-free public college education, while Warren has vowed to weaken the power of big corporations and made the proposal of Medicare for All.

"I don't think they're too progressive at all. We've had really progressive presidents before and they became extremely popular and well-known," he said, adding that the Republican Party is now "so far-right that it makes even moderate Democrats look extreme."

NEW FACE, NEW IDEAS

Yan Xiaozhe has been following Andrew Yang's campaign for months. Though he knows the odds are quite slim for the 45-year-old entrepreneur of Chinese descent to be elected this year, he believes it's still a good thing for Yang to make his face and ideas known to more Americans through the process.

An educator in his 50s who moved to the United States from China 28 years ago, Yan also hopes Yang's emergence could encourage more Asian Americans to actively engage in U.S. politics, thus gaining a greater voice for the Asian community in the country's decision-making process.

In Yang's campaign office in Des Moines on Monday afternoon, a 21-year-old who only gave his first name as Steve said he flew in from Virginia the day before to volunteer for the campaign and show his support for Yang.

"Andrew is just like a really great person. He's passionate, he's emotional, he's doing it out of nothing, but purely because he feels he needs to," Steve said. "You don't want a president that wants to be president. You want a president who needs to be president."

On Sunday, Steve knocked on many doors in the neighborhood to promote his favorite candidate, and the responses were varied just as he expected.

Steve believes that Yang is unique not for his racial identity, but the notion of "ideological diversity" he has brought to this year's presidential race. "Whether or not he's Asian, Middle Eastern or European, he's someone that's bringing something new, and that's what I'm there for," he said.
WASHINGTON  Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said on Tuesday that she would vote to acquit President Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, calling his conduct wrong but saying she could not support removing him from office.

I do not believe that the House has met its burden of showing that the presidents conduct, however flawed, warrants the extreme step of immediate removal from office, Ms. Collins said in a speech from the Senate floor.

Ms. Collins, a moderate who is facing a steep re-election challenge this year, was one of only two Republicans to break with the party last week and vote in favor of considering new witnesses in Mr. Trumps impeachment trial. But in announcing her vote on the verdict on Tuesday, she joined a growing chorus in her party who has argued that removing the president for his misconduct little more than nine months before he faces re-election was excessive.

It is my judgment that except when extraordinary circumstances require a different result, we should entrust to the people the most fundamental decision of a democracy  namely who should lead their country, Ms. Collins said.
Two sisters were killed and the two-year-old son of one was wounded in a shooting at a Texas A&M University-Commerce dormitory that police say was a 'target' and 'isolated.'

Texas A&M University-Commerce police identified the victims on Tuesday as Deja Matts, 19, and Abbaney Matts, 20.

Abbaney's two-year-old son, who has not been named, was injured but has since been released from hospital and is with family members.

The women, both from Garland, were killed at around 10.17am on Monday at Pride Rock residence hall on the campus in Commerce, about 65 miles northeast of Dallas.

Sisters Deja Matts, 19 (left), and Abbaney Matts, 20 (right) were shots and killed inside Deja's dorm room on the Texas A&M University-Commerce campus on Monday

Another student called 911 to report that when she entered her room at the Pride Rock dormitory that morning, she found that a 'part of the ceiling had fallen' onto her floor and desk.

When she looked at the wall, she saw 'a hole' in it and 'a nick' in her calendar 'like something was shot through the wall.'

University police Chief Bryan Vaughn said officers responding to the scene found the sisters' body in a room with Abbaney's injured son.

The toddler was struck by gunfire but has since been released from the hospital and is in the care of family.

Police tape cordons off the area outside of Pride Rock residence hall following the deadly shooting that killed the Matts sisters and injured Abbaney's two-year-old son

Law enforcement officers characterize the deadly campus shooting as a 'targeted' and 'isolated' incident

A resident is escorted out of the Pride Rock residence hall following the shooting Monday

School officials said Deja was a freshman at the university pursuing a bachelor's degree in public health. Abbaney was not enrolled at the school.

According to a LinkedIn profile, Abbaney worked as a dental assistant in the Dallas area.

Mark Rudin, the president of Texas A&M University-Commerce, released a statement addressing the incident on campus.

'Our continued thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of the victims from this weeks tragedy,' he stated.

Police said the shooting 'appears to be a targeted, isolated event,' but they did not identify the suspected shooter. They added that there appeared to be no other threats.

Deja (left and right) was a freshman at the university pursuing a bachelor's degree in public health

Abbaney Matts was not enrolled at the school, and it's unclear what she was doing in her sister's room at the time of the attack

WFAA reported, citing family members, that the gunman was someone Deja and Abbaney knew, and the station raised the possibility that it was a case of domestic violence. Police, however, have not confirmed this as of Tuesday afternoon.

The university has canceled all classes and activities until Thursday and says counselors are available for students..

In October, two people were killed and a dozen others injured in an off-campus shooting at a homecoming and Halloween party involving Texas A&M-Commerce students.
The chief executive of the troubled Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) is set to be grilled by MLAs on Wednesday as the chaos around MoT tests in Northern Ireland continues.

All MoT testing for cars and light vehicles were suspended last Monday due to safety concerns over cracks in vehicle inspection lifts.

The DVA warned that replacing the scissor lifts at the 15 MoT centres could cost millions of pounds and take months.

Paul Duffy is set to appear before the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) committee on Wednesday to demonstrate how the DVA is attempting to resolve the issue.

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon, who has already commissioned two separate reviews into the crisis, will also provide an update.

DUP MLA Keith Buchanan, who will be sitting on the committee, raised a number of concerns last night and said the "key question" is whether MoT tests will return at all in 2020.

"In particular, we need to provide certainty for the thousands of people whose MoT tests have already been cancelled, or who have an upcoming test and are uncertain as to whether it is going ahead," he said.

"I trust that the Minister will demand that the DVA fully explain the procurement details behind the contract with the manufacturer who installed the vehicle lifts in 2011/12 and subsequently discovered the cracks in a sizeable 48 out of 55 lifts.

"The focus must be the number of cycles which a vehicle lift can perform annually.

"What did the manufacturer suggest the life span was? We need to find out what figure is covered by the agreement and how long these machines should have been fully operational for."

Mr Buchanan added that the life span of the lifts must have been discussed during the procurement process and called on the publication of the procurement documents.

He said the DVA must explain what plans were in place for new lifts and asked how that decision was made.

"From one visit to one MoT centre, I was told the lifts in that centre operated at an average rate of 90 cycles - one lift up and down - per day for 320 days per year and were operating since 2011/12," he continued.

"On average that would suggest these lifts would have 28,800 cycles per year and since 2012 they would complete 230,400 cycles.

"I am aware that in the National Car Testing centres in the Republic of Ireland, use of vehicle lifts provided by the same manufacturer has also been suspended.

"I am concerned that this could exacerbate the delay in supplying working lifts to MoT centres here in Northern Ireland and trust that the DVA can set out steps it would take to mitigate such an impact.

"I look forward to receiving full and satisfactory answers to these questions, in the knowledge that this is causing considerable ongoing inconvenience and uncertainty for a vast number of drivers."

The DfI was not available for comment on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Inspector Rosie Leech from the PSNI Road Policing Unit said that where police detect a vehicle without a valid MoT certificate, and providing the vehicle appears to be in a roadworthy condition, officers will be encouraged to exercise discretion.

"Priority is being given to those with MoTs that have expired or expire today, so motorists can proceed to tax their vehicles," she said.

"Driving without vehicle tax is not prosecuted by PSNI and falls within the remit of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency [DVLA].

"Where a police officer encounters a vehicle without tax and it is outside of the 14-day grace period provided for in the legislation, a referral is made to the DVLA.

"It is for DVLA to determine whether they will take action in such cases.

"This is a fluid situation but I want to reassure the public that we'll keep in touch with our partners in DVA and if there's any change that affects our stated position, we will advise you as soon as possible."

The DVA asked the DVLA last week not to sanction Northern Ireland motorists affected by the MoT crisis. It came following calls for clarity around the issue of untaxed vehicles being clamped in Northern Ireland due to the debacle. Exemptions have been issued to drivers whose tests have been affected; however this does not apply to cars that are four years old or taxis.

In order to tax a vehicle, a valid MoT certificate is needed. There have been concerns raised that owners of cars not covered by the exemptions are having their cars clamped through no fault of their own because their test was cancelled.
Seen above is an assembly line at a Hyundai Motor plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor



By Nam Hyun-woo



Hyundai Motor's management and its union agreed to close all of its local production from Friday as the coronavirus outbreak is hitting component supply chains, which Hyundai must procure to manufacture vehicles.



On Tuesday, it stopped a manufacturing line in its plant No. 5 in Ulsan, which produces Genesis vehicles including the G70, the G80 and the G90. Following that, multiple lines will be suspended from operation and all of the company's domestic plants will stop from February 7 to February 10 or 11.



Prompting the company-wise shutdown is the shortage of wiring harnesses, which are supplied by three domestic firms _ Kyungshin, Yura and THN. The suppliers had been producing the harnesses at their respective plants in China, but will not be operating the plants until at least February 9, as the Chinese government ordered businesses throughout most of China to cease operations to prevent further spreading of the virus.



"We cannot measure the impact right now, but it seems clear that there will be setbacks in our production," a Hyundai Motor official said. "As production decreases, an impact on sales or first quarter earnings is expected to be inevitable. And the question is how we can minimize the impact."



Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors have been experiencing a slowdown in China sales. Hyundai Motor's joint venture Beijing Hyundai Motor sold 650,000 vehicles in China last year, down 17.7 percent from a year earlier. Kia Motors also ended up delivering 259,000 vehicles in 2019, down 30.1 percent year-on-year.



Since the numbers have already contracted prior to the coronavirus outbreak, analysts said the two companies' China sales will decline substantially, compared to other global carmakers in the region, such as Nissan, Renault, Honda, Peugeot and others. However, Hyundai Motor Group's bid to seek a rebound in the Chinese market may lose momentum, as China's growth rate is projected to drop to 5 percent or lower due to the epidemic, according to them.



Other automakers are also experiencing similar problems. SsangYong Motor, which also relies on a China-based supplier for wiring harnesses, stopped the production of all of its vehicles from Tuesday to February 12. Kia Motors has also reduced the number of vehicles made on its assembly lines.



"Automakers usually keep enough wiring harness inventory for a week, because it takes less than a week to receive the parts," an industry official said. "Since wiring harnesses require a lot of manual labor, parts suppliers tend to keep their plants in China, but nobody ever expected such a value chain would be affected by the epidemic."



Industry officials said automakers can overcome a week-long procurement setback through a temporary increase in workload. Though if the procurement setback is prolonged, damages will likely snowball, they said.



World top-tier auto parts maker Bosch also closed all its production locations in China following the government directives. Hyundai, Kia, SsangYong and other domestic carmakers use Bosch parts.



"Operations at all Bosch's locations in China have currently been shut down as a result of government directives and the shutdown is partly extended to February 13 depending on region," Bosch said in a statement sent to The Korea Times. "We are constantly evaluating the situation It is currently still too early to make any statements on its impact on our business."



Worsening the matter is the virus outbreak may paralyze the Korean auto industry, as a growing number of carmakers facing setbacks in procuring necessary parts from China and deteriorating sales, industry officials and analysts said.



They said the industrial fallout of the epidemic hinges on the timing of Chinese factories', plants' and businesses' resumption of normal operation, and a noticeable blow to carmakers' first quarter earnings is inevitable if the spread of the virus does not slowdown in the near future.




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Special Agent in Charge. FBI Los Angeles, Voviette Morgan Special Agent in Charge, Voviette Morgan is an example of one of the finest leaders in the FBI, having dedicated her life over the past 25 years to the safety of the people of the United States of America," commented Larraine Segil, Chair and CEO of The Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation.

The Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation (EWA, Los Angeles CA) today announced that after interviews with multiple candidates, Voviette Morgan, Special Agent in Charge, Los Angeles Office FBI, has been selected to participate in their Cohort of Women Leaders in the January 2020 EWA Program.

"SAC Voviette Morgan is an example of one of the finest leaders in the FBI, having dedicated her life over the past 25 years to the safety of the people of the United States of America," commented Larraine Segil, Chair and CEO of The Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation. "She is now the Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Division for the Los Angeles Field Office. Ms. Morgan most recently served as the chief of the Internal Investigations Section in the Inspection Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. As one of only two public sector women in our EWA , we look forward to exchanging insights from the private sector with SAC Morgan as well as learning from her the challenges and opportunities in her position. We are delighted to welcome her into EWA, to provide her with the support that our network of over 35 industry leaders can offer her."

"We congratulate SAC Morgan for this honor and know that she will bring her significant experience and know-how to those in the business community who are part of the EWA . In return she will gain insights from them to the mutual benefit of all. SAC Morgan serves our organization with great distinction," commented Paul D. Delacourt, Assistant Director in Charge.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the principal investigative arm of the Department of Justice, charged with defending the United States from domestic terrorism and enforcing federal laws. It employs over 35,000 individuals with diverse backgrounds and skills who investigate crimes related to over 200 categories of federal law. The mission of the FBI is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States. Special Agents enforce over 300 federal statutes and conduct criminal and national security investigations.

Learn more at https://www.fbi.gov/.

The Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation (EWA) selects high potential, upper-career Exceptional Women from multiple industries, develops and mentors them with guidance and career redesign advice to propel them to sustainable success - one woman at a time. Their year-long program enables the EWA to be connected for life to their ever-expanding EWA global network, as their fellow women leaders move into positions of significance. Learn more at The Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation https://www.exceptionalwomenawardees.com/.
Yahoo is committed to finding you the best products at the best prices. We may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Prices were correct at the time of publication.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived in a rather windy South Wales on Tuesday afternoon for a day of engagements.

The royal couple started off their day by boarding a lifeboat at Swansea Bay to speak to crew members at The Mumbles Lifeboat Station about their rescue services.

Kate wrapped up warm for the visit in a long military-inspired navy coat by British high street brand Hobbs.

The Bianca Maxi Coat, which features burnished crested buttons is currently on sale, down from 349 to 259.

However, the timeless item of outerwear is already proving to be popular and is only available in a few sizes online at Hobbs and John Lewis.

The Duchess of Cambrige wore a Hobbs coat and heart-adorned scarf in South Wales on Tuesday. [Photo: Getty]

The Duchess of Cambridge wore a Hobbs military-inspired coat for the day in Wales. [Photo: Getty]

The Duchess of Cambridge paired the coat with a red Zara coat and heart-adorned scarf. [Photo: Getty]

The 38-year-old contrasted the blue coat with a bold red knitted midi dress from Zara.

The dress is, however, old season and no longer available to purchase.

Kate seems to be a firm fan of frocks from the affordable high street store at the moment. The mum-of-three wore a black and white checked number by the brand whilst in Bradford last month.

The statement garment was complimented with Valentines Day-ready red accessories, including a Mulberry bag and heart-adorned scarf by London-based brand Beulah.

The blush and red printed scarf is available to purchase for 120, with 10% of the profits going towards helping modern day slavery.

Kate finished off the look with a pair of black knee-high boots by Stuart Weitzman.

The couples afternoon will also see them meet with workers and trade unions at Tata Steel. As well as, visit Bulldogs Development Centre in Port Talbot, a fitness centre for young people who may struggle with mental health issues.

Shop Kates coat

Bianca Maxi Coat | 259 (Was 349) from Hobbs

Shop an affordable alternative

Double-breasted wool coat | 79.99 from Mango

Military Double-Breasted Coat in Wool Mix | 40 from La Redoute
MUSKEGON, MI  Two months after a cadre of lawmakers asked for an emergency declaration due to shoreline erosion, Gov. Gretchen Whitmers office has declined to take action.

There are several reasons for the inaction, according to administration and emergency management officials. Counties have not exhausted their own resources; the threat is more to private property, rather than critical public infrastructure; and erosion is an ongoing problem, rather than a short-lived, single event.

As erosion ate away at the Lake Michigan shoreline in December, a dozen lawmakers  11 Republicans and a Democrat  signed a letter to the Democratic governor, seeking the declaration of a state of emergency in order to access more state and federal resources.

When the governors office was asked why she hasnt made the declaration, an MLive reporter was referred to a spokesperson for the Emergency Management & Homeland Security branch of the Michigan State Police.

That spokesperson, Dale George, told MLive that the process for formally requesting a state of emergency must go through local emergency managers, and that his office has not received any such applications.

In an email, George added that emergency management officials could reach out and receive state resources without an emergency declaration - and many have already, he added.

We have been made aware of resolutions passed by some city and county boards requesting a declaration for the Michigan shoreline, George wrote. When we are made aware of these resolutions, we check with the local/county emergency manager in the jurisdiction where the resolution originated to determine if they have any unmet needs or requests for state resources."

To date, 18 counties across Michigan have applied for additional mapping and aviation support, which do not require an emergency declaration, according to George. They include Muskegon, Van Buren, Lake, Mason, Ottawa, Oceana and Manistee counties, he said.

The governor can declare an emergency if theres an imminent danger; however, thats typically not done because we like to get all the information to validate and verify the reasoning for it, he said in an interview. Thats why were encouraging [local jurisdictions] to work with their emergency managers."

In response to the December letter, Whitmers office issued a statement, saying that Michigan State Police (MSP) would respond to requests from local emergency management officials, adding, "To this point in time, MSP has received no requests for resources from county emergency managers.

Afterward, the signatories had a conference call to discuss the issue with the governors office.

Brad Paquette, R-Niles, said he felt surprised at how erratic that call was, without a clear itinerary or sense of whom to ask questions of. He said that the representatives were told their local municipal funds would have to be exhausted before a state of emergency could be requested, but added that it is hard to calculate what that looks like.

We would love to have more interaction with the governors office, Paquette said. The Great Lakes, we all share in them, whether we live on them or not. ... I think this would be a great opportunity for her to build a bridge.

State Rep. Terry Sabo, D-Muskegon, the lone Democrat to sign onto the letter, told MLive that he views the letter as a way of raising awareness about the issue. He said that during the conference call, the governors office "really outlined how they didnt feel it was within the governors jurisdiction to issue such an order, so therefore there has been no such order.

I know shes very much concerned about it, and I think shes doing everything within her powers to come address it, he added.

At last weeks State of the State address, Republican state Rep. Mary Whiteford and another signatory to Decembers letter, brought Allegan County Emergency Manager Scott Corbin as a guest in order to draw attention to the issue of erosion and flooding. Whitefords district includes the Lake Michigan shoreline cities of Holland, Saugatuck, Douglas and South Haven.

During her State of the State address, Whitmer mentioned record-high Great Lakes water levels, but didnt expand upon the issue. She said shed have more to say in the coming weeks.

Whiteford did not respond to multiple requests from MLive for comment.

On Friday, Jan. 24, U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, toured a chunk of the coastline, from Saugatuck to Ludington, in a helicopter, and told reporters afterward that he thought an emergency declaration from the governor would free up federal resources.

It seems to me that the state should declare a state of emergency on that," he said at the time. That will then at least help us make the argument with the Army Corps [of Engineers] and FEMA and others, that we need their attention.

A formal declaration must be applied for under the parameters of a 1976 law that dictates, among other things, that a locality must first exhaust its own resources.

In order to get the declaration, locally, we have to expend all of our resources, said Rich Warner, Muskegon Countys director of emergency services. We have not done that. Not even close.

The cause of the emergency must also have a clear beginning and end. Thats easy to identify in a weather event like a tornado, but not for a slow-acting problem like erosion, said Nick Bonstell, director of emergency management for Ottawa County.

Erosion is one of those things that doesnt currently meet the criteria, because we dont have a start date, we dont have an end date, were in the middle of responding to it, and well probably be in it for the next year or so, he said.

Whats more, a declaration of emergency covers only critical, public infrastructure  roads, bridges, utility structures  and not private property. Warner said that, while he hears from concerned homeowners, no government-owned, critical infrastructure is in jeopardy as of right now.

On Tuesday, the Muskegon County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution requesting that the governor declare the shoreline a disaster area and seek federal assistance from Congress and the president.

Many other jurisdictions  including, last week, Van Buren and Berrien counties  have recently passed similar resolutions. Norton Shores is poised to issue one this week, according to their public agenda.

But those have no teeth, said Bonstell.

Resolutions that are passed by local units of government are just bringing attention to the issue, Bonstell said. Its basically saying, Hey, we think the state should be paying attention to this erosion issue.

But if a major weather event takes place and pulls at those same eroded bluffs, causing damage to public infrastructure, that could trigger a formal declaration process, he added.

If (jurisdictions) have a need for a resource, call me, and well see what we can do, said Warner. But a resolution is not a step in the local declaration process.

MLive followed up with Whitmers office about whether she plans to visit the areas of the coastline affected by erosion, but did not immediately hear back.

Read more:

State of emergency

Lawmakers ask Gov. Whitmer to declare state of emergency for Lake Michigan erosion

U.S. Congressman says lakeshore erosion is an emergency after helicopter tour

Move houses near Lake Michigan bluffs or lose them, experts warn

Fallen house

Erosion claims home on Lake Michigan despite owners attempts to save it

After Lake Michigan house collapse, the next challenge is cleaning up

Cleanup completed on collapsed Lake Michigan cottage before big storm hits

Video

See view of eroding lakeshore from Congressmans helicopter tour

Drone video shows house that fell off a Lake Michigan bluff
China said it would welcome assistance from the United States to fight a coronavirus outbreak, a day after it accused Washington of scaremongering, and as the death toll rose on Tuesday by a new daily record to more than 420.

The toll in China rose to 425 as of the end of Monday, up by a record 64 from the previous day, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday. All of the new deaths were in central Hubei province, the epicenter of the virus outbreak.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the flu-like virus a global emergency, although experts say much is still unknown about the pathogen including its lethality.

We expect to see more cases of person-to-person spread, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The total number of infections in China rose by 3,235 on Tuesday to 20,438, and there are at least 151 cases in 23 other countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Britain.

The CDC confirmed a handful of new cases in the United States, bringing the U.S. total to 11, including a patient in California who was infected through close contact with someone in the same household who had been infected in China.

It marked the second instance of person-to-person spread of the virus in the United States after such a case was announced last week in Illinois.

FILE PHOTO: A medical worker takes body temperature measurement of a man at an entrance to a hospital as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Suichuan, Jiangxi province, China February 2, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS

China accused the United States of whipping up panic over the coronavirus outbreak Chinese stock market plunged about 8% on Monday on the first day back from an extended Lunar New Year holiday.

Beijing made the accusation after the Trump administration on Friday said it was barring nearly all foreign visitors who have been to China within the past 14 days to address the threat of the virus.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman on Tuesday said the United States should adopt an objective, fair, calm and rational attitude and refrain from overreacting.

China has noted that the United States has repeatedly expressed its willingness to provide assistance to China, and hopes that the relevant assistance will be provided soon, spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement on the ministrys website.

With Wuhan and some other cities in virtual lockdown, travel severely restricted and China facing increasing international isolation, fears of wider economic disruption are growing; sources at the OPEC oil cartel said producers were considering cutting output by almost a third to support prices.

Airlines around the world have stopped flights to parts of China. A suspension by the United Arab Emirates on Monday will affect the Gulf airlines Etihad and Emirates.

The outbreak is reminiscent of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a virus from the same family that emerged in China in 2002 and killed almost 800 people around the world out of the 8,000 or so who were infected.

FILE PHOTO: Community workers wearing makeshift protective suits help residents to register for coupons to purchase face masks at pharmacies, in Shanghai, China as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, February 2, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS

Chinese data suggest that the new virus, while much more contagious than SARS, is significantly less lethal, although such numbers can evolve rapidly.

Some economists predict world economic output will be cut by 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points due to Chinas lockdown.

Countries continued to fly evacuation flights for citizens out of Wuhan. A plane load of Australians left the city on Monday and arrived in the Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island, where they will be quarantined, media reported on Tuesday.

The United States, which flew people out last week, is planning a handful more flights while Russia was due to start evacuating its citizens from Wuhan on Monday.

The White House said China had accepted its offer to have U.S. experts as part of a WHO mission to study and help combat the virus, which emerged from a market in Hubeis provincial capital of Wuhan late last year.
Turkish Airlines has ties with the German organisation following a declaration of intent signed between Turkish Airlines and BVMW last year.

Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, M. Ilker Ayc said: Turkish Airlines, has been flying to Germany since 1960. Since then, Germany has become our one of the most important markets outside Turkey as we carried millions of passengers between our countries. We at Turkish Airlines are pleased to be a substantial partner of Germanys Mittelstand businesses. I am happy to state that Turkish Airlines and BVMW have formed a relationship on a strategic level and member companies can now enjoy exclusive advantages when flying with Turkish Airlines for their trips all over the world. We believe that this special relationship will further improve in the years to come as Turkish Airlines and BVMW have both the will and means to work even closer.
The number of Kashmiri youth joining terrorist ranks has dropped significantly after the repeal of Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcation of the state into union territories but there was not much change in the pattern of infiltration attempts through the Line of Control (LoC), according to the official data.

Only 28 youths joined the ranks of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir between August 5, 2019 and January 26, 2020, says an internal document prepared by the security agencies.

This represents a 60 per cent drop compared to the number of youths joining the militancy in Kashmir between January 1, 2019 and August 4, 2019, which saw 105 youths join the terrorist ranks, mostly in south Kashmir districts of Pulwama, Anantnag, Kulgam and Shopian.

While an average 15 youths were sucked in by the scourge of militancy every month till August 5 last year, this number came down significantly to just 5.6 youths per month after that, as per the document.

The Centre had on August 5 last year ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and bifurcated the state into union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

According to the document, overall 2019 saw a drop of 35 per cent in fresh recruitment in militant ranks compared to 2018. While 135 youths joined militancy in 2019, 199 had taken to arms in 2018.

Officials, however, said the figures may be less as many of the assets of intelligence agencies were cut-off due to the telecommunication clampdown post August 5.

On the infiltration front, the attempts by Pakistan to push more terrorists into the Valley continued unabated as 133 militants managed to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir.

As many as 211 terrorists attempted to infiltrate in the union territory during the past year but 74 of them had to return to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) while four others were killed by the alert counter-infiltration grid, as per the document.

The security agencies feel that the situation in the newly created union territory has improved in 2019, despite a terrorist carrying out a deadly suicide car bomb attack at Pulwama that left 40 CRPF jawans dead on February 14 last year.

The agencies maintain that the incident failed to demoralise the security forces, who have hit back hard at the terrorists.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
No sooner than last weeks story about the Zimmerman family benefit set for this Friday at Greenfield School was published, The Fairfield Historical Society received a request regarding a photo of Greenfield School.

An anonymous donor contacted the Society, asking if the group would be willing to accept payment for a metallic print of a photo of Greenfield School that was taken between 1938-40.

The photo was discovered in the old Greenfields Irrigation District/Sun River Project files.

The donor reached out to Fairfield Sun Times publisher Darryl L. Flowers, who also serves as a board Co-Chair of The Fairfield Historical Society.

The donor asked if we had a historic photo, said Flowers. Searching the historical society database, we found two photos, taken around the same time. The donor made a choice between the two. According to Flowers, the donor requested that the photo be printed on metal and asked that it be the same size, 16 X 20, as the Wagner Cabin photo that was raffled by The Fairfield Historical Society in December.

Flowers reached out to other board members, and the other members agreed to the donation.

The information recorded with the photograph reads, Greenfield Community Bldg. Resettlement Headquarters and School, 1939-40. Now a rural school. #17 Sun River Project File.

The metal photo will be auctioned at the Zimmerman Family Benefit this Friday night.

The benefit, held during the Greenfield Stomp, will take place at 6:00 p.m. at the Greenfield School.

There will be a silent auction and a cash raffle. There will be a family-friendly dance as well as a taco bar dinner.

Admission is $20 for a family, or $5 for individuals.

There is still time to donate auction items by calling Greenfield School at 467-2433.
The North Atlantic Council met with members of the Defence Reform Advisory Board of Ukraine on Tuesday (4 February 2020) to exchange views on Ukraines reform agenda and current priorities. Established in 2016, the Board provides expertise and recommendations on defence reforms to Ukraines leadership.

NATO Allies welcomed the Boards efforts to support Ukraine in implementing key reforms along Euro-Atlantic principles, and ensuring these are sustainable. In particular, Allies welcomed efforts to advance civilian control and democratic oversight over the security and defence sector, improve the system of command and control of the Armed Forces, and tackle corruption. Chairing the Council, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana, also thanked the Board for its close cooperation with the NATO Representation in Ukraine.

Since 2014, NATO has strengthened its support to Ukraine, with new Trust Funds, more advisors and enhanced capacity building programmes. The Alliance continues to provide strategic advice on Ukraines security and defence sector reforms, in line with the goals of the 2018 Law on National Security.
By Lee Min-hyung





KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo
Press Release

February 4, 2020 De Lima to Duterte: Stop ignoring int'l reports on dismal HR situation in PH Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has asked Mr. Duterte to stop ignoring the growing global concerns by two reputable human rights organizations about the worsening human rights abuses under the government's all-out war on drugs. De Lima posed the challenge after Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) - both highly regarded human rights research and advocacy groups - reported continuous human rights abuses in the country over the past three years. "Since he became President in 2016, Mr. Duterte has consistently and arrogantly ignored damning reports, based on solid research and investigation, from HRW and AI," De Lima, the most prominent critic of Duterte's anti-human rights policies, said. "He would brag about his participation on murder, rape and other crimes in his public speeches, but will also conveniently deny his involvement in encouraging extrajudicial killings and summary executions in his skewed public order policies," she added. In its 2020 World Report, New York-based HRW claims that the Duterte administration continued its deadly drug war in 2019 "with new cases appearing in the media daily." HRW cited local estimates that there are about 27,000 drug related killings in the Philippines. "The modus operandi for the killings involved police raiding homes to apprehend alleged drug dealers or users, who instead of being taken into custody would be reported dead, with the police claiming self-defense," HRW said in its report. "Research by Human Rights Watch and credible media outlets such as Rappler and Reuters indicate that these vigilante-style killings were perpetrated by police officers themselves or by killers linked to the authorities," it added. Similarly, the AI Review of 2019 claimed that members of the police force have continued in apprehending drug suspects using "unsubstantiated 'drug watch lists'" and justified killings in anti-drug operations when "poor and marginalized" victims allegedly violently resisted. "Police continued to allege that victims fought back requiring the use of deadly force, despite witness accounts that they were killed in cold blood," the London-based human rights advocacy and research group said. "Families were unable to obtain justice for their loved ones, due to enormous obstacles to filing cases against perpetrators, including fears of retaliation. There remained no meaningful accountability for the killings at the national level," AI added. In 2016, even before he was sworn in as President, Duterte heavily campaigned and won on his platform to eradicate illegal drugs in the country, using any means necessary - including summary killing of alleged users, pushers and other suspects. Both HRW and AI reports also bewailed the Duterte regime's crackdown and harassment on human rights defenders and administration critics, including De Lima, noting that she has been detained since February 2017 based on "fabricated drug charges," according to HRW. "The government continued to repress human rights defenders. Senator Leila de Lima, the President's most prominent critic and a prisoner of conscience, remained in detention since February 2017 on politically-motivated charges," AI said for its part. Due to her impassioned advocacy of justice, human rights and observance of the rule of law for the Philippines, the lady Senator from Bicol was subjected by the President and his allies to vile accusations and sexist remarks. Less than eight months into her term as a neophyte Senator, she was arrested and detained based only on accounts of persons convicted of heinous crimes and dubious personalities who had axes to grind against her. "Instead of burying his head in the sand in face of the growing global uproar on the descent of humanity and accountability in the country, Duterte should face these reports head on instead of beating his chest in his public appearances," the feisty lawmaker said. "The walls of justice are closing in on you, Mr. President. Despite your numerous attempts to evade it, history has repeatedly proven that accountability is sure to come to those who abuse power for their personal gain," she added.
Releasing its manifesto a few days ahead of the Delhi Assembly Election, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has promised to introduce the Deshbhakti Curriculum in all government schools. This curriculum will follow the successes of Happiness Curriculum and Entrepreneurship Curriculum, asserted Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia.

READ | AAP releases party manifesto for Delhi Assembly election

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced the Deshbhakti Curriculum, a new patriotic course on the eve of 2019 Independence Day, to be introduced in government schools in 2020 to inculcate the love for the nation in the minds of students.

Live TV

The CM had mentioned about how people are generally reminded of their love for India only when there is an India-Pakistan match or tension on the border and not during their day-to-day activities. Deshbhakti Pathyakram is being introduced so that every citizen can truly love his country. When the children grow up and start working and at some point in time, if they take bribes, they must realize that they have betrayed their Bharat Mata. When he breaks the traffic rules, he feels that he has done wrong with his country, the Chief Minister had said in 2019.

In September 2019, CM Kejriwal had held his first meeting with a committee set up to formulate the curriculum on Deshbhakti Pathyakram. Addressing the meeting, the CM had directed the committee that the curriculum must instil a feeling of love and responsibility towards the country.

The Chief Minister had said in the meeting that his definition of patriotism is the feeling that encourages people not to evade taxes, pay or accept bribes, adding that those who do this cannot be patriotic.

The Chief Minister had said, The common man has gotten so busy in his own life, that he has no time to think about the country. Patriotism cannot come out in an India-Pakistan match alone. For our culture, the people of our country should feel love and pride. It is our responsibility to instill the feelings in our children. We have heard stories about Japan. People are extremely helpful even to strangers. This is patriotism and true love for the country. The significance of real education is only when all this comes to the children.

The committee had notified in the meeting that in the existing syllabus of class 1 to 12, a list of chapters was being prepared that already talk of patriotism. The Chief Minister had told the committee that the syllabus should include things that would lead to better civic and developmental sense in the coming generations.
Taranjit Singh Sandhu takes charge as US Ambassador

Indian Foreign Service officer (IFS) Taranjit Singh Sandhu took charge as the Indian Ambassador to the United States on Tuesday. Sandhu received a warm welcome from Deputy Chief of Mission Amit Kumar and other officials.

Sandhus position in Colombo is expected to be filled by Gopal Baglay, presently additional secretary in the Prime Ministers Office. Photo ocurtesy: Twitter/@IndianEmbassyUS

Sandhu, a 1988-batch civil service officer, took over from Harsh Vardhan Shringla who has been appointed as India's Foreign Secretary.

Sandhu's appointment comes in an election year in the US and at a time when India is looking to forge a new trade partnership with the western nation. His first responsibility will likely be organising US President Donald Trumps India visit set for later this month.

Sandhus previous posting had been as Ambassador to Sri Lanka. He had also served in the Indian Mission to the US twice earlier as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India in Washington DC from July 2013 to January 2017 and First Secretary (Political) responsible for liaison with the US Congress from 1997 to 2000.

Sandhus position in Colombo is expected to be filled by Gopal Baglay, presently additional secretary in the Prime Ministers Office.
Brad Pitt reportedly pulled out of the BAFTAs in a bid to repair his relationship with his son Maddox, 18.

The screen star, 56, is said to have opted against attending the ceremony at 'the last minute' due to 'family obligations', with sources claiming he cancelled his UK trip to speak to his son.

Maddox, who Brad shares with ex-wife Angelina Jolie, has been estranged from the actor since an altercation between the pair took place during a private flight back in 2016.

Priorities: Brad Pitt reportedly pulled out of the BAFTAs in a bid to repair his relationship with his son Maddox, 18 (pictured at the SAGs in January)

A source told The Sun: 'Maddox gave Brad the chance to talk and he dropped everything.

'Being a father is the most important thing in his life and he would do anything to repair their relationship.

'Maddox has been away at university so when Brad found out he was going to be around and they could have a conversation, he cancelled the UK trip.'

MailOnline has contacted Brad's representatives for further comment.

Complicated: Maddox, who Brad shares with ex Angelina Jolie, has been estranged from the actor since an altercation during a private flight back in 2016 (pictured in 2013)

Difficult: The screen star, 56, is said to have opted against attending the ceremony at 'the last minute' due to 'family obligations' (Angelina pictured with Maddox and Zahara, 15, in October)

Maddox grew apart from his father ever since late 2016, after the pair engaged in an altercation on a private jet to LA.

Although thespian Brad was cleared of any wrongdoing, the alleged incident is said to be responsible for putting a strain on their relationship.

The media personality, who shares kids Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 13, Vivienne, 11, and Knox, 11, with Angelina, 44, is said to be keen on becoming close with his eldest child in the near future as the teen continues his university education in South Korea.

A source told US Weekly in December: 'Brad didn't try to see Maddox. There's been no contact between them. Brad's hopeful that as soon as his son gets older, they'll become close again.'

Reports: 'Being a father is the most important thing in his life and he would do anything to repair their relationship', a source has claimed (pictured last month)

Last month, the Mr. & Mrs. Smith star said he'll celebrate his successful Hollywood awards season with his children once it's over.

The actor told ET: 'Really, it hasn't been a lot of time to celebrate, you know? It's like, they call it a season for a reason. So we'll do that when it's all said and done, I'm sure.'

In the work department, Brad has been scooping the top prizes during awards season, and was named Best Supporting Actor for his role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood at the BAFTAs over the weekend.

With the star absent from the London ceremony, his co-star Margot Robbie read out a speech on his behalf, quipping: 'He says he is going to name this Harry because he is really excited about bringing it back to the States with him.'

On top of the world: In the work department, the Mr & Mrs Smith star has been scooping the top prizes during awards season

Hilarious: Brad was named Best Supporting Actor for his role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood at the BAFTAs over the weekend during a funny speech read out by Margot Robbie

'Hey Britain, heard you just became single, welcome to the club,' read the speech while the funnyman went on to poke fun at Megxit.

Reading Brad's words from a sheet of paper, Margot, 29, closed the acceptance speech by saying: 'Oh, and he says that he is going to name this Harry because he is really excited about bringing it back to the States with him.'

As the audience reacted, the Australian beauty added: 'His words, not mine.'

When contacted by MailOnline, a representative for Brad declined to comment regarding the star's absence from the show, however, a source close to the actor revealed to MailOnline that the star was unable to attend the event due to 'family obligations'.
Billy Smith II/Staff

A lack of investment in new projects that would produce new supplies of crude oil in the coming years is a challenge that plagues the industry, a CEO told a gathering of energy company executives Tuesday.

Investors are losing confidence in oil stocks, said John Hess, CEO of New York-based oil exploration and production company Hess Corp. Just five years ago shale producers were darlings on Wall Street, he said. Now investors have turned their backs on energy firms, Hess said at the Argus Americas Crude Summit in downtown Houston. As evidence, he said, the S&P 500 index of energy stocks increased by just 6 percent last year compared with 30 percent for the overall index.
A Navy warship that was damaged in a deadly 2017 collision left a Mississippi shipyard on Monday morning after more than two years of repairs.

The guided-missile destroyer Fitzgerald will undergo testing at sea to make sure it's capable of taking on new missions. Seven sailors were killed on June 17, 2017, when the Fitzgerald collided with a cargo ship off the coast of Japan.

The destroyer's crew is credited with saving the vessel after that devastating accident. Now, Navy officials say the Fitz is marking "a significant step in her return to warfighting readiness."

The ship has spent two years undergoing repairs at the Huntington Ingalls Industries-Ingalls Shipbuilding's Pascagoula shipyard. It will now carry out a series of demonstrations at sea that will test the ship's navigation, electrical, combat, communications and propulsions systems.

Related: Navy Overhauls Ship Navigation Training After Deadly Collisions

"The underway reflects nearly two years' worth of effort in restoring and modernizing one of the Navy's most capable warships after it was damaged during a collision in 2017 that claimed the lives of seven Sailors," a Naval Sea Systems Command news release states.

Once the evaluations are done, the destroyer will head back to the shipyard for more training and crew certifications. The Fitzgerald is scheduled to return to the fleet in the spring.

"We are excited to take the next step to get Fitzgerald back out to sea where the ship belongs," Cmdr. Scott Wilbur, Fitzgerald's commanding officer, said in a statement. "My crew is looking forward to moving onboard the ship and continuing our training to ensure we are ready to return to the fleet."

The Fitzgerald was one of two destroyers damaged in separate fatal 2017 collisions in the Pacific. Ten sailors died when guided-missile destroyer John S. McCain collided with a civilian tanker near Singapore about two months after the Fitzgerald accident.

That ship headed back to sea in October for testing after years' worth of repairs.

The tragic accidents sparked a host of changes to the way the Navy trains personnel to operate on ships, as well as to sleep schedules and other policies. The accidents also led to fierce criticism after reports found Navy leaders had ignored a host of warning signs in the months and years leading up to the collisions.

Vice Adm. Richard Brown, commander of Naval Surface Forces Pacific Fleet, is scheduled to testify before members of the House this week on the state of Navy readiness in the Pacific.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Read more: Before the Navy's Tragic Fitzgerald Collision, the Crew Faced These Big Problems
Four children who were feared dead after going missing in a blizzard in western Alaska on Sunday have been found alive.

The youngsters are all suffering from severe hypothermia and were said to be 'cold, hungry and tired'.

Incredibly, the children aged 14, 8, 7 and 2, were found by searchers at around 4.25pm on Monday around 18 miles south of Nunam Iqua, a remote community of 190 people in western Alaska.

The children, Christopher Johnson, 14, Frank Johnson, 8, Ethan Camille, 7, two-year-old Trey Camille are being treated for severe hypothermia

The children's parents, Alphonso Thomas and their mother Karen Camille, pictured right were notified while they were taken by Coast Guard helicopter to hospital

The children, 14-year-old Christopher Johnson, 8-year-old Frank Johnson, 7-year-old Ethan Camille, and two-year-old Trey Camille had been outdoors to ride on a snow machine but failed to return back at 1pm when they had been expected.

Alaska State Troopers were then informed about the kids disappearance and a search party was launched.

Mother to three of the boys, Karen Camille, says the children went out to take a short ride when weather suddenly took a turn for the worse. The other child is Camille's brother.

'It became an hour and the weather started being bad, and that's when we called for someone to go out and look,' she said.

The kids were found at around 4.25pm on Monday around 18 miles south of Nunam Iqua, a remote community of 190 people in west Alaska. Pictured, an overhead view of the community

Coast Guard and Army National Guard helicopters were sent out along with search-and-rescue groups from neighboring villages to help look for the children.

In the end, the search had to be called off at around 2am on Monday morning after visibility was reduced after a blizzard hit the area.

But the children survived the frigid temperatures by finding a shelter in which to spend the night, only to be rescued on Monday afternoon.

'It immediately brought me to tears,' father to some of the missing children Alphonso Thomas told KTUU. 'I never would have thought that he would make it. Being two and with weather like that, people usually don't make it ... tough kids, all of them.'
By Gram Slattery and Gary McWilliams

RIO DE JANEIRO/HOUSTON (Reuters) - A former trader at oil firm Petrobras has signed a plea bargain agreement with Brazilian prosecutors investigating bribery allegations, defense lawyers and prosecutors said, a potential breakthrough in a case involving some of the world's top commodity trading houses.

Rodrigo Garcia Berkowitz, who was a trader at Petrobras' Houston office until he was charged with accepting bribes in late 2018, reached the deal in principle in December, the lawyers said. A judge then approved it in late January, they added.

He is the first former Petrobras employee known to have formally flipped in the Brazilian bribery and corruption probe.

Prosecutors alleged in December 2018 that Vitol, Glencore Plc and Trafigura, among other trading firms, funneled tens of millions of dollars of bribes from 2011 to at least 2014 to employees of state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is formally known. In return, those firms would purchase Petrobras fuel at discounts or sell to the firm at a premium.

Two of Berkowitz's defense lawyers spoke to Reuters on Monday. Federal prosecutors in Brazil also confirmed the deal to Reuters, but declined to comment further, noting that the contents of the accord are still confidential.

In court documents, Brazilian prosecutors have portrayed Berkowitz, who went by the code name "Batman" in messages with alleged co-conspirators, as a central player in the kickback scheme and a recipient of Vitol bribes. He previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in the United States, where the Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened a separate probe of the matter, Reuters reported last February.

But Brazilian prosecutors have sought to interrogate Berkowitz for their own separate case, saying in November court documents they consider his testimony "of extreme importance" for cracking the case, given his first-hand role in soliciting, receiving and laundering bribes.

Story continues

Vitol, Trafigura and Glencore, which together control about 10% of the world's oil consumption, have said they are cooperating with authorities.

Trafigura, which has denied that its current management knew of improper payments, referred Reuters to a November statement that said it "is continuing to keep these matters under review and is taking the allegations previously made seriously."

Vitol said it "has a zero tolerance policy in respect of bribery and corruption."

Glencore declined to comment on Tuesday. Petrobras did not respond to a request for comment.

The Berkowitz deal comes as the Brazil investigation heats up, with the pace of in-court interrogations quickly accelerating in recent months, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

Brazilian prosecutors met with Berkowitz over two days in Houston in early December as part of the discussions leading to the deal, and U.S. prosecutors were present for those meetings, said Kent Schaffer, Berkowitz's U.S. attorney. That version of events was corroborated by a Rio de Janeiro-based lawyer also representing Berkowitz, Jorge Luis Camera.

Schaffer added he is pushing for a broader agreement with Brazilian prosecutors that would also cover Berkowitz's family members, including his father, Paulo Cesar, who was charged in 2018 with laundering the bribe payments.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery in Rio de Janeiro and Gary McWilliams in Houston; Additional reporting by Julia Payne in London; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
President Klaus Iohannis will receive at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, on Wednesday, a delegation of the Board of Directors of the Society for the Conferring of the International Charlemagne Prize of the city of Aachen, informs the Presidential Administration.

According to the Presidential Administration, at the meeting, there will be discussions about the calendar of the ceremonies to be held in Aachen on May 21, when President Klaus Iohannis will be awarded the International Charlemagne Prize for the Unity of Europe in 2020.

The delegation will be led by Jurgen Linden, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Society, who will be accompanied by Marcel Philipp, the mayor of Aachen and a member on the said Board of Directors.

According to the Society for the Conferring of the International Charlemagne Prize, the Board of Directors of the Society "decided to reward the merits of the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, a remarkable promoter of European values, freedom and democracy, of protecting minorities and cultural diversity, a personality who has substantially contributed to the consolidation of the rule of law and the defence of the independence of the judicial system - a fundamental precondition for advancing European integration." AGERPRES
Employees of Hyundai Motor Group leave after the company's new year ceremony in Seoul

By Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin

SEOUL (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor <005380.KS> will suspend production in South Korea because the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted the supply of parts, it said, becoming the first major carmaker to do so outside of China.

The flu-like virus has killed more than 400 people and its economic impact has spread beyond mainland China.

In China, global automakers have already extended factory closures in line with government guidelines. Those manufacturers include Hyundai, Tesla <TSLA.O>, Ford <F.N>, PSA Peugeot Citroen <PEUP.PA>, Nissan <7201.T> and Honda Motor <7267.T>.

"Hyundai and Kia may be more affected as they tend to import more parts from China than other global automakers," said Lee Hang-koo, senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade.

European carmakers have suffered disruptions only to their Chinese factories so far, with their European and U.S. plants still running thanks to localised supply chains in keeping with a "build where you sell" strategy.

Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE>, Audi <NSUG.DE> BMW <BMWG.DE> and Fiat Chrysler <FCHA.MI> said their factories outside of China remain unaffected by supply bottlenecks.

Hyundai has built huge production capacity in China over the past two decades.

"South Korean parts makers followed and built their own facilities along with Hyundai," Lee said.

South Korea imported $1.56 billion worth of auto parts from China in 2019, up from $1.47 billion in 2018, trade data shows.

Most of Hyundai's South Korean factories will be fully idled from Feb. 7, with some production lines expected to restart on Feb. 11 or Feb. 12, a union official said, declining to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.

Schedules for suspension will vary by production line, a Hyundai spokeswoman said.

'EMERGENCY'

The move follows a shortage of wiring harnesses, which Hyundai sources mainly in China, industry officials said.

Story continues

Two of the affected suppliers, Kyungshin and Yura Corporation, said they were trying to boost production at their factories in South Korea and Southeast Asia to compensate for the disrupted supply from China.

Both also plan to resume production at their Chinese factories after Feb. 9.

"We are in an emergency," a Kyungshin official told Reuters.

Hyundai has seven factories in South Korea, catering for the local market and the United States, Europe, Middle East and other markets.

Its production in South Korea accounts for about 40% of the company's global output.

Hyundai's decision to halt assembly lines at home could delay supplies of its popular sport utility vehicles (SUVs), such as the Palisade and Genesis GV80.

The automaker recently turned in its best quarterly profit in more than two years and said it was on track for higher profit margins, aided by increased sales of SUVs.

The virus outbreak may slow manufacturing activities in the automotive and other sectors, Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co <8031.T> has warned.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin; additional reporting by Ilona Wissenbach, Joern Poltz and Jan Schwartz in Germany, Giulio Piovaccari in Italy; editing by Miyoung Kim, Jason Neely and David Goodman)
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On the occasion of Wolrd Cancer Day, Bollywood actor Sonali Bendre opened up about her struggle with cancer and how she battled it like a warrior by sharing an inspirational video on her social media.

After being diagnosed with 'high-grade cancer' in 2018, the 45-year old took to Twitter to share her diagnosis and used social media platforms to document her journey with cancer.

Sonali posted a video on her Instagram account, which she called 'Note to self'.

She explained how cancer has changed her life and how it taught her patience to look for the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Note to self, P.S. For the rest of you, listen to your body and go for regular check-ups, early detection helps!#WorldCancerDay," read the caption of the post.

In the video, Bendre started by saying, "change is the only constant in life and how life has changed. It's been almost two years. These two years have taught me many lessons."

She further added that cancer does not really define the people who are diagnosed with it and that there is much more to life.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Contributed photo

230 Old Gate Lane, LLC, is planning a new truck dealership at 230 Old Gate Lane, in Milford, announced Jon Angel, president of Angel Commercial, LLC, a commercial real estate firm based in Southport. They have purchased a 40,809 square foot building on 9.26 acres for $4,200,000.

Previously owned by CLS Milford LLC, the property is in a prime commercial area with immediate access to I-95, exit 40, and surrounded by both retail and industrial companies. It neighbors the Connecticut Post Mall on the opposite side of the highway.
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We welcome the governments overarching theme for Budget 2020-21 that will enable an aspirational India and it was reassuring to hear emphasis on digital inclusion and advanced technologies. However, it is disheartening to see that while the government hinges its aspirational and developmental goals on telecom infrastructure, the sector itself gets no support.

While a lot was expected, the Budget may have fallen short of that hope, despairingly so for telecom. Given that it is the backbone of economic growth, it is but natural that a slowdown here will have a lasting impact.

Various taxes, including 18 per cent GST, 8 per cent license fee and crushing spectrum costs, levied on the sector add up to be amongst the highest in the world, especially compared to other Asian countries. Even with a huge debt of Rs 7.7 lakh crore, the industry pays over `100 billion per year to the exchequer. If a large debt pile was not enough, thanks to the recent ruling of the Supreme Court on AGR, there is an additional burden close to Rs 1.1 lakh crore.

budget musings

Rajan S Mathews

DG, COAI

The Indian telecom industry has undergone a major transition where competition has led to consolidation. According to section 72A of the Income Tax Act 1961, an amalgamated company needs to hold three-fourth of the book value of the fixed assets of the amalgamating company for five years. This limitation restricts disposal of old inefficient equipment, restricting high technology-driven businesses from upgrading infrastructure by investing in newer technology. A relaxation here would play a critical role in furthering the Digital India initiative.

It was also requested that GST should not be levied on license fees, spectrum acquisition fees, and spectrum usage charge, as the sector has already accumulated massive input tax credits (ITC) resulting in blockage of working capital and amplifying operational challenges. The classification of spectrum payments, LF and SUC dues as government services is an anomaly seen nowhere else in the world.

Telecommunication towers and shelters are essential to ensure seamless connectivity. ITC is not allowed on towers and shelters and this leads to levy of tax. Measures should have been initiated to ensure that GST paid here is available as ITC.

The Budget proposed that New India will be driven by innovations where data will be the new oil. Linking 1 lakh Gram Panchayat to the existing Bharat Net program is helpful in achieving this goal. However, none of our key recommendations have been taken into consideration. While the government has got its heart in the right place, as far as a digitally empowered economy is concerned, linkage to the head appears to be missing.

It is equally imperative to pay attention to the nuts and bolts to achieve this aim. As the head and body are strengthened through a strong backbone with key intelligence flowing through, telecom should be seen for what it is: the backbone with a neural network driving India to take its rightful position as a leader in the Knowledge Economy.

AGR dues not included in Budget

Department of Economic Affairs secretary Atanu Chakraborty clarified on Monday that the government has not factored in pending adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues in the Union Budget 2020-21. The government estimates revenue of Rs 1.33 lakh crore under the communications head next fiscal. The SC has also not yet given a date for hearings on modificatory petitions filed by telecom firms on its earlier AGR judgement.
A bicycle thief has been jailed for three years for 'ecological crimes' in Belgium because his victims would be forced to drive their cars instead.

A judge at Brussels Criminal Court heard the man in his 40s stole a cycle in October and has 17 previous convictions.

The judge said: 'It is therefore advisable to severely punish the defendant who commits crimes the gravity of which is important for the planet, since the victim deprived of his bicycle has no other option than to use a more polluting means of transport.

He added that the man's thefts were 'contributing to global warming, and all this to allow the accused to buy narcotics.'

The judge said he gave a 'severe' punishment for 'contributing to global warming' (file photo)

The thief, who has 17 prior convictions, failed to appear at Brussels Criminal Court (pictured)

The unnamed thief did not attend court last Thursday and the judge ordered his arrest, Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure reported.

The court heard the man had served a previous 15-month prison sentence for bicycle theft in January 2018.

In total, he has been arrested 44 times between 1995 and 2019 and served 12 years in prison for 17 prior convictions.

Ecological crimes are usually restricted to actions that have a more direct impact on the environment, like polluting rivers or emitting greenhouse gases.

But campaigners are increasingly calling for the scope of such crimes to be greatly widened.

The judge said he had no choice but to jail the thief for three years 'since the victim deprived of his bicycle has no other option than to use a more polluting means of transport' (file photo)

Catriona McKinnon, a professor of political theory at the University of Exeter, has called for climate change denial to be a crime.

Writing for the UNESCO Courier last year, Professor McKinnon she wrote: 'We reserve the hard treatment of punishment for conduct that damages the things we hold most fundamentally valuable. Climate change is causing precisely such damage.'

Even the Pope is considering introducing new 'ecological sins' into the Catholic Church's teachings to protect 'our common home'.

Pope Francis said in November: 'We have to introduce, we are thinking about it, in the catechism of the Catholic Church, the sin against ecology, the sin against our common home, because its a duty.'

He was addressing members of the International Association of Penal Law in Rome.
She's been at the centre of all the drama as the presenter of this season's Love Island.

And Laura Whitmore, 34, looked ready to drop in a a cheeky social media post she entitled Instagram V Real Life on Tuesday.

The Irish presenter highlighted how social media can differ from reality with a pair of side swipe snaps of herself in a floral mini-dress with cleavage flashing peekaboo neckline.

Flagging: Laura Whitmore, 34, looked ready to drop in a a cheeky social media post she has entitled Instagram V Real Life on Tuesday

The Japanese inspired black frock was printed with white tulips and green foliage and boasted a high necked collar fastened with a delicate pussybow.

Laura posted two selfies taken moments apart, the first showed the blonde star looking poised and giving a sexy blue-eyed smoulder to the camera.

A single click revealed the second snap of the presenter letting her tired eyes droop while her lips puffed out in a exhausted sigh.

Poised: Laura sizzled in the first snap, but a single click revealed the Survival of the Fittest presenter letting her tired eyes droop while her lips puffed out in a exhausted sigh

Laura posted the before and after style duo moments before visiting the famous Love Island Aftersun sofa to interview recent evictee Sophie Piper, who was reunited with coffee bean beau Connor Durman.

Laura who replaced former Love Island presenter Caroline Flack following her 2019 assault allegations, regularly shares behind the scenes footage with her 744K followers.

After filming Tuesday's show the blonde star added footage of herself playfully shimmying around the Aftersun studio showing guests Matthew Edmonson and Olivia Atwood chatted on the couch while Maya Ama pouted for the camera.

Sweet: Laura also posted a pic of herself with Love Island's newest evictee Sophie Piper,21, captioned 'WHAT A SWEETHEART @SOPHPIPER'

Laura also posted a pic of herself with Love Island's newest evictee Sophie Piper, captioned 'WHAT A SWEETHEART @SOPHPIPER'.

Sophie reunited with her love interest Connor for the first time since his departure last month on Monday's Love Island Aftersun.

The medical PA, 21, and the coffee beans salesman, 25, beamed with delight as they revealed they're set to go on their first date together in the coming days, before he admitted he found it 'hard' watching her re-couple with flirty Mike Boateng.

After Connor left late last month, ex-police officer Mike, 24, made a move on a surprised Sophie, before the pair realised they were better off as pals and formed a friendship couple - which sent Leanne Amaning home.
U.S. Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks at a news conference after Democrats in the U.S. Congress moved to formally condemn President Donald Trump's attacks on the four minority congresswomen on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 15, 2019.

WASHINGTON  At least eight Democratic House members plan to boycott President Donald Trump's annual State of the Union address Tuesday night to protest Trump's presidency. They include two outspoken freshmen, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley, who both attended Trump's speech last year.

"After much deliberation, I have decided that I will not use my presence at a state ceremony to normalize Trump's lawless conduct & subversion of the Constitution," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Tuesday afternoon. "None of this is normal, and I will not legitimize it. Consequently, I will not be attending the State of the Union."

"The State of the Union is hurting because of the occupant of the White House, who consistently demonstrates contempt for the American people, contempt for Congress & contempt for our constitution," Pressley wrote in her statement, posted Tuesday afternoon on Twitter. "I cannot in good conscience attend tonight's sham SOTU."

Longtime Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer has also announced that he will boycott the speech, saying in a statement Monday that he has "chosen not to dignify Trump's parade of lies about health care, his persistent exaggeration, and his personal attacks with my attendance at this year's State of the Union Address."

This is not the first Trump State of the Union boycott for Blumenauer, nor for the five additional progressive lawmakers who have said they plan to skip the speech: Reps. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Al Green of Texas, Hank Johnson of Georgia, Maxine Waters of California, and Frederica Wilson of Florida. All of them boycotted Trump's State of the Union last year.

The White House has said that Trump's speech Tuesday night will be "relentlessly optimistic," but Trump is also expected to adapt language from his 2020 campaign stump speech to paint a stark contrast between what he sees as his own record, and what he says the future would look like under a Democratic president.

Trump's speech is also being delivered while he is still technically under the cloud of impeachment, with a final vote on whether to convict the president of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress scheduled for Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Trump delivers the State of the Union address.

Trump is all but assured of being acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate. Nonetheless, it remains to be seen whether the president will attack the House Democratic leadership on Tuesday night, or the House impeachment managers who have spent the past two weeks arguing before the Senate that Trump should be removed from office. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told reporters Tuesday that the final text of Trump's address did not contain the word "impeachment," although he cautioned that the president frequently makes last-minute edits to his speeches, so there was no guarantee of what he would or wouldn't say.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the boycotts.

The State of the Union address is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. EST on Tuesday, and will be broadcast live by the major networks.
GREENFIELD, Ind. and WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Elanco Animal Health Inc. (NYSE: ELAN) today (Feb. 4) announced a five-year collaborative research agreement with Purdue University and Purdue Research Foundation with a goal to collaborate and train talent as they seek solutions to some of the greatest challenges in animal health.

The partnership allows Elanco to work side-by-side with Purdues leading life science research scientists with specific expertise in animal science, structural biology, protein evolution and engineering, microbiome discovery and clinical veterinary medicine. Elanco and Purdues Life Sciences will conduct collaborative research in Purdues world-class laboratories as part of the agreement.

This alliance with Purdue adds momentum toward Elancos promise to rigorously innovate for the benefit of our customers and improve the health of animals, said Aaron Schacht, Elanco executive vice president for innovation, regulatory and business development. Purdues dedication to delivering solutions has propelled the institution into amassing strengths in a wide array of disciplines and is a natural partner of choice.

The agreement includes the potential for five types of research collaborations, three intellectual property opportunities and to support Elanco research team goals to turn ideas and technical needs into results that aim to improve animal health care in structural biology.

As a land-grant university, Purdue has long been rooted in a foundation of agriculture, natural sciences, life sciences and educating tomorrows leaders. In the U.S. News and World Report rankings, Purdues College of Veterinary Medicine is 13th among U.S. colleges of veterinary medicine.

Purdue and Elanco are working on ways to improve the animal health and their food intake to increase the absorption of important nutrients consumed by animals using state-of-the-art tools, said Richard Kuhn, the Trent and Judith Anderson Distinguished Professor in Science in the Purdue Department of Biological Sciences. This new agreement is a great opportunity to expand the collaborations between Purdue and Elanco because this type of research is a strength for both of us, and we anticipate the research will have a strong global impact.

The collaboration will:

Dramatically shorten the time to take projects from idea or technical need stage into active work by setting up a defined scheme of collaboration types and intellectual property management.

Support a visiting scholar in structural biology who will work with Purdue scientists.

Train future professionals to meet the needs in todays workforce.

Elanco and Purdue have a strong alignment of mission and values, and we anticipate many positive results from this important alliance, said Brian Edelman, Purdue Research Foundation president. This partnership is designed to educate students on real-industry problems, advance research endeavors, provide collaboration opportunities with skilled research scientists and laboratories, and train the next generation of our workforce.

This alliance among Elanco, Purdue University and the Purdue Research Foundation also will advance research endeavors such as collaborative discovery, co-development of new innovations and advance existing technologies with joint access to mutual resources and capabilities.

About Elanco

Elanco (NYSE: ELAN) is a global animal health company that develops products and knowledge services to prevent and treat disease in food animals and pets in more than 90 countries. With a 65-year heritage, the company rigorously innovates to improve the health of animals and benefit customers, while fostering an inclusive, cause-driven culture for approximately 5,800 employees. Elanco is driven by a vision of food and companionship enriching life  all to advance the health of animals, people and the planet. Learn more at www.elanco.com.

About Purdue Research Foundation

The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Established in 1930, the foundation accepts gifts; administers trusts; funds scholarships and grants; acquires property; protects Purdue's intellectual property; and promotes entrepreneurial activities on behalf of Purdue. The foundation manages the Purdue Foundry, Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, Purdue Research Park and Purdue Technology Centers. The foundation received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Visit https://prf.org/.

Sources:

Kristin Bloink, Elanco, kristin.bloink@elanco.com

Richard Kuhn, kuhnr@purdue.edu

Brian Edelman, beedelman@prf.org

Media contacts:

Colleen Parr Dekker, Elanco, +1-317-989-7011 colleen_parr_dekker@elanco.com

Cynthia Sequin, Purdue Research Foundation, +1 765-413-6031, casequin@prf.org
Former Foxtel and News Corp exec Nicole Sheffield will lead the ABC Advisory Council, in a part-time capacity.

The council advises the Board on matters relating to broadcast programs.

She is currently Executive General Manager, Community & Consumer at Australia Post.

ABC Chair Ita Buttrose said, As the national broadcaster, it is vital that the ABC reflects and listens to the Australian public. Nicoles passion for consumer interests will ensure that the Advisory Council is an effective advocate for the ABCs diverse audiences. Under her leadership the Council will serve as an important conduit between the ABC Board and the Australian community.

Nicoles extensive knowledge of the media and digital technologies, most recently at News Corp, and her experience at Australia Post building strong connections with regional communities will stand her in good stead understanding the needs and expectations of the ABC audience.

Ita Buttrose also thanked the outgoing Chair, Professor Emeritus Andrea Hull and acknowledged retiring members Fiona Duggan and Sam Almaliki.

Nicole Sheffield

Nicole Sheffield is a highly accomplished senior executive with extensive experience in the media, marketing and digital industries. In her role at Australia Post, Nicole is accountable for delivering key customer channels, including Australias largest retail network with over 4,300 post offices, the customer contact centre and digital channels. She is also responsible for brand, marketing, community and corporate responsibility. Prior to joining Australia Post, Nicole held a number of influential leadership roles in print, broadcast and digital media. Most recently, she was the Chief Digital Officer for News Corp Australia, responsible for the companys digital revenue growth and strategy, audience and subscription growth, content optimisation and marketing. Her career also spans roles in broadcast media, publishing and telecommunications. Ms Sheffield holds a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Law from Macquarie University and a Masters of Business from the University of Technology Sydney.
Actor Swara Bhaskar, one of the vocal critics of new citizenship law, claimed on Tuesday that the BJP-led Centre was making all efforts to polarise people, but those who have been able to see through its "divisive plans have rejected the party's narrative".

Bhaskar, while participating at a session at the 44th International Kolkata Book Fair, said citizens do not initially realise when their freedom is curtailed, as they try and adjust to the changes.

"It starts with someone telling us what to eat, what to read and which clothes to wear when you visit the house of God... it starts with small things," she said.

People in this country, however, have come to realise that the Constitution was in danger and many have rejected the "divisive narrative" of the government, she claimed.

"That is why places like Shaheen Bagh and Park Circus are abuzz with protests. Students and women are now coming out on the streets with their own narratives," she said.

The 31-year-old actor thanked the anti-citizenship law agitators for "awakening the conscience of the country" and asserted that the protests should have commenced earlier, when incidents of lynching were reported from several states.

"I find it interesting (that) women who were silent when men from their community were lynched...took to the streets upon finding out that the Constitution was in danger. They are protesting not to serve own interests, but for the future of the country's children," she claimed.

To a question about BJP leaders berating the anti- Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters, Bhaskar said, "We are in a state where law enforcement agencies are of the view that unarmed students, sitting in a library, pose greater threat than gun-toting youths," Bhaskar, who had visited Jamia Millia University to express solidarity with the agitators, said.

Slamming trolls, who "threatened to behead actor Deepika Padukone", she rued that none of them have been arrested.

"This is a country where vandals and criminals can threaten to behead Deepika Padukone, but no action is taken against them. Children performing in an anti-CAA play, however, can be slapped with sedition charges along with parents and teachers," she added.

Police in Karnataka has recently registered a sedition case against the principal and other authorities of a school in Bidar district for allowing students to stage a drama which allegedly "portrays Prime Minister Narendra Modi in poor light".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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It was bad enough that Donald Trump congratulated the wrong state following the Kansas City Chiefs victory in Sunday nights Super Bowl, but new footage shows him goofing off during the pre-game national anthem.

According to The Miami Herald, as other guests at the presidents Super Bowl watch party quietly stood for The Star Spangled Banner, Trump was seen mocking it.

The report notes that during the national anthem at his own Super Bowl watch party Sunday night, a brief video posted to Instagram shows Trump greeting guests, adjusting his chair, and straightening his suit jacket as other attendees  including first lady Melania Trump and their teenage son  stand with their hands over their hearts.

The Miami Herald added, As The Star Spangled Banner crescendoes, Trump raises both of his hands in the air, and twirls them around as if conducting the music.

Video of Trump mocking the national anthem:

Trump caught mocking the National Anthem during the #SuperBowl. Since we know the GOP takes a zero-tolerance stand against any display of disrespect toward the flag, I expect the right will be offering a full-throated condemnation. Any day now.pic.twitter.com/lMcwYfkPog  Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) February 3, 2020

Trump is an increasingly unstable man who has no respect for the flag

There are two things that this short video clip shows us about the most powerful man in the world.

First, its that Trump has no respect for the flag. The only time he cares about patriotism is when he can lean on it to attack minority athletes and rile up his already-angry base of supporters.

Second, it shows that the president is increasingly unstable. This type of behavior  the inability to sit still and refrain from clowning around during the national anthem  may be expected of toddlers, but not a 73-year-old man who controls the nuclear codes.

Ultimately, Trump making a mockery of The Star Spangled Banner should surprise no one. Its the kind of behavior that is expected of a president who has repeatedly sold out his country both publicly and privately.

But the latest episode of Trumps bizarre behavior is another disturbing look at just how increasingly unstable this man is.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter
Hong Kong: Measures for Filipino helper contracts

The Government today announced a flexibility arrangement for processing employers applications to extend the validity period of their contracts with outgoing foreign domestic helpers from the Philippines.

The new measures, effective immediately, follow a temporary ban by the Philippine Government on Filipino nationals travelling to the Peoples Republic of China, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Currently, an employer may vary the Standard Employment Contract to extend the employment period by not more than one month by mutual agreement between the employer and the foreign helper, and with approval from the Director of Immigration.

Prior consent from the Commissioner for Labour is required for extending a foreign helpers contract period beyond a month.

To help families who need to extend the contract for more than a month, the Commissioner for Labour has given in-principle consent for all foreign domestic helper contracts set to expire on or before March 31, to extend the period of employment up to May 31, on the basis that such variation is mutually agreed by both the employer and the foreign helper.

Employers in need may apply to the Immigration Department for extending the stay of their foreign helpers by March 31.

The Government hopes the flexibility arrangement can help the affected families so they can continue to retain their current foreign helpers temporarily while awaiting the new foreign helpers that they hired or intend to hire to report for duty upon the Philippine Government's lifting of the ban.

The Government will continue to monitor the situation closely and review the flexibility arrangement as necessary.

It has also been liaising closely with the Philippine Consulate-General to put across a clear message to the Philippine Government that the temporary ban should be lifted as soon as possible.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A holidaymaker claims he and his family fell ill at a four-star TUI hotel after they were served raw food - revealing images of pink, under-cooked sausages and regurgitated scrambled eggs.

Nicholas Hewitt, 38, and his wife Natasha, 32, stayed at Landmar Costa Los Gigantes in Tenerife with his sister-in-law, Roisin Barnes, 23, and her daughter Emily, three, over the new year period.

However Mr Hewitt claims three members of the party, including himself and Emily, fell sick while staying at the all-inclusive resort.

Nicholas Hewitt, pictured with his wife Natasha and niece Emily, three, spent a week over the New Year at the Landmar Costa Los Gigantes hotel in Tenerife

Mr Hewitt's sister in law Roisin Barnes, 23, and her daughter Emily, left, joined them on the trip to the all-inclusive resort

Mr Hewitt complained that several items of food during their holiday appeared under cooked

Mr Hewitt complained that these sausages appeared too pink in the middle

He also said the scrambled eggs, pictured, appeared to have too much liquid in them

He claims photographs show how eggs served to guests were largely liquid and looked like they had been scrambled by 'regurgitation. He claimed chicken also appeared under cooked while sausages also seemed to be bright pink in the middle.

Mr Hewitt, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire said he started throwing up with an upset stomach on the third day of their holiday - after only eating at the resort.

TUI confirmed they were discussing the complaint further with the family while the hotel cited their robust hygiene procedures and tests, claiming that no other guests reported being ill during that period.

The hotel confirmed they had 1,200 guests staying the same week as the Hewitts and nobody made any reports about food poisoning.

The hotel said: 'After checking our internal clients report we could not find any evidence of an official confirmation that the gastroenteritis was produced by food ingestion.

'As far as we are aware Mr Hewitt never went to the doctors to get tested for food poisoning despite the advice of ourselves and the Travel Operator.'

Mr Hewitt said: 'Its an absolute nightmare.

'One morning we were served what was supposed to be scrambled eggs however it looked more like soup.

'It looked like they scrambled the eggs by regurgitating them. A dog would turn its nose up at it. And [on another] morning we just got a load of raw sausage.

'When we cut into [the chicken] we found it looked under-cooked. Thats two dishes in one day.

'On the third day I started throwing up, and I was throwing up for about four days with an upset stomach and things like that.

Mr Hewitt also suggested that chicken served at dinner appeared to be under cooked

Mr Hewitt paid 4,200 for the all inclusive stay in the luxury Costa Los Gigantes hotel, pictured

'I didnt go to the doctors or anything, I just weathered it. It was after only eating in the all inclusive resort.

'I feel like weve been treated like animals. I feel like Im on a holiday production line. Ive got this wristband now - Im 73341, Im not Mr Hewitt anymore. Its weird.

Mr Hewitt said it was their first time in Tenerife and Emilys first proper holiday - a trip the couple had been looking forward to.

Mr Hewitt said: 'We went to Cuba last year and spent 2,500 for the pair of us all inclusive. We went through Thomas Cook.

'We didnt have one complaint - the food was nice, the staff were brilliant and it was a nice, clean place.

'And then we come here and its just "oh god". Its not like weve gone for the cheapest thing either.

'My niece is three years old, its her first proper holiday. Weve done something nice by bringing them with us because theyre both not going to see a holiday otherwise.

'We were all looking forward to it. I work for myself and I tend to take holidays around Christmas time when things are a bit quieter. I dont get paid for holidays in summer.

'Its something we look forward to every year - its not like we come every four months.'

The mechanical design engineer took to social media to share the photos of the food.

Mr Hewitt, pictured with his wife and niece said he paid 4,300 for the trip and was disappointed by the quality of food on offer in the resort

A TUI spokesperson said: 'Were very sorry to hear of Mr and Mrs Hewitts experience in Tenerife and we understand this would have been disappointing.

'Were contacting the customer directly to discuss this further.

'Wed like to reassure customers that all of the hotels we feature are regularly audited to ensure they meet hygiene, safety and comfort standards and we take matters like this very seriously.'

A spokesman for Landmar Costa Los Gigantes said: 'The health and well being of our guests is one of our top priorities. In order to assure this, our hotel is involved in the world-renowned hygiene assurance program with very high standards called Eurofins mas control.

'Any products or ingredients that are being used are subject to strict sanitary controls. These companies audit us periodically and verify the correct food handling and storage jointly with the water supply areas.

'The following are examples of a few procedures: Daily microbial culture test (microbial audit) including samples from: Water (general supply, ice machines, chlorine evaluation, swimming pool, etc.) Food (salads, fresh juices, fruit slices, seafood, food processing areas, processor machines, disinfection evaluation) Premises (kitchen, freezers, personnel hygiene, cooking tools, etc.)

A spokesperson for the hotel said Mr Hewitt did not seek medical assistance during his stay and no other guests reported any symptoms of food poisoning

'Food service safety inspection checklist completed every week by department supervisor (including cleaning and disinfection procedures and pest control program). Employee training and regular meetings according to results from culture test program and checklist results. Appropriate management personal maintains training in food safety.

'Regular meetings and inspections with hotels food and disinfectant suppliers in order to keep the food security program updated. Regular contact with external health institutions, private and government, to keep update on local health news.

'During the week of Mr Hewitt holidays we had a total of over 1200 guests in the hotel, all using the same facilities and no other cases are reported. After checking our internal clients report we could not find any evidence of an official confirmation that the gastroenteritis was produced by food ingestion.

'As far as we are aware Mr Hewitt never went to the doctors to get tested for food poisoning despite the advice of ourselves and the Travel Operator.'
Photo: Kahari King/Unsplash

Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Detroit.

Salt mine parent company to get new owner

The parent company of the so-called salt city under Detroit, which has been in operation since the early 1900s, will be acquired by a California industrial holding company.

Read the full story on Detroit Free Press.

Man shot, killed in home on east side

A 34-year-old man was shot and killed inside a home on Detroit's east side early Monday morning, police said.

Read the full story on The Detroit News.

Pistons and Phoenix Suns discuss Luke Kennard trade

Detroit Pistons shooting guard Luke Kennard could be on the move.



Read the full story on Detroit Free Press.

Lions sign former first-round pick Josh Garnett

The Detroit Lions signed offensive guard Josh Garnett on Monday. Garnett played three seasons for the San Francisco 49ers before being released.

Read the full story on Detroit Free Press.

'Mother' Lois Holden, Detroit matriarch, celebrates 110 years

The world has dramatically changed since 1910, and Detroit resident "Mother" Lois Holden was there for it all.

Read the full story on Detroit Free Press.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Digital payment technology company Paymob has signed a cooperation agreement with Tamweely Microfinance and the Arab Women's Enterprise Fund (AWEF) to increase financial and digital opportunities for female entrepreneurs in Egypt, within the broader context of the #AcceptTheChange campaign.

The campaign aims to empower 250 female merchants and their female clients by providing e-payment solutions.

The agreement also aims to empower a larger audience of female consumers, by providing them with greater payment choices, additional convenience, and the ability to generate valuable transaction records for future credit purposes.

As part of this partnership, the AWEF, which is a development programme financed by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), will provide technical and financial assistance to Paymob, while Tamweely Microfinance will facilitate linkages with their client base of female-owned micro-businesses to enhance their business strength and growth potential.

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The U.K. should regulate internet platforms like Facebook and Google over their use of online targeting algorithms and force them to share data with researchers, an advisor to the government has said. The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI), an advisory body set up by the government in 2018, released a 121-page report on Tuesday calling on London to implement new rules on how social media firms target users with posts, videos and ads. It said a year-long review into the practice found "existing regulation is out of step with the public's expectations." Content-sharing apps like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok all use machine learning algorithms to tailor content to users, based on other posts they've interacted with. The CDEI was tasked by the government with looking into the practices of such platforms and putting forward advice on how to regulate artificial intelligence to ensure it's being deployed ethically. Research conducted by the CDEI with Ipsos Mori found that internet users generally distrust tech platforms when it comes to targeting, with only 29% of people in the U.K trusting them to target them in a responsible way. It said that 61% of Britons want more regulatory oversight while only 17% support tech platforms regulating themselves. Britain is expected soon to start cracking down on big tech companies over how they deal with harmful content. Proposals laid out by the government last year would introduce an independent regulator with the ability to potentially slap tech firms with heavy fines and impose liability on senior executives for failing to limit the distribution of such content.

Regulation of social media became a particular priority for the country after the death of U.K. teen Molly Russell, who took her own life in 2017 after watching self-harm material online. Separately, the sharing of a video of the massacre at two New Zealand mosques last year hastened global efforts to curb the dispersion of toxic content and terrorist material online. "Most people do not want targeting stopped. But they do want to know that it is being done safely and responsibly. And they want more control," said CDEI Chair Roger Taylor. "Tech platforms' ability to decide what information people see puts them in a position of real power. To build public trust over the long-term it is vital for the Government to ensure that the new online harms regulator looks at how platforms recommend content, establishing robust processes to protect vulnerable people."

A.I. ethics

Experts have increasingly been urging companies and regulators to bring about frameworks to ensure artificial intelligence is developed ethically. The European Union set out its own guidelines for achieving "trustworthy" AI last year, while tech firms from Google to Microsoft have recently been calling for global rules on the technology. In its report, the CDEI said it aims to "create the conditions where ethical innovation using data-driven technology can thrive." It highlighted the potential for AI-based targeting in swaying public opinion  especially among "vulnerable" people  influencing voting behavior and facilitating discrimination as key risks that needed to be addressed by the government.

It echoed a call from the Royal College of Psychiatrists to force tech companies to hand data over to researchers to help them better understand how internet users are impacted by online content. The CDEI said this could help inform research into the possible links between social media usage and declining mental health as well as the spread of fake news. "We completely agree that there needs to be greater accountability, transparency and control in the online world," said Dr Bernadka Dubicka, chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' child and adolescent faculty. "It is fantastic to see the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation join our call for the regulator to be able to compel social media companies to give independent researchers secure access to their data," she added.

Political ads
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in mid-January, Hillary Clinton said she considered Bernie Sanders unaccomplished and unlikable, with few friends on Capitol Hill. Then, last Friday, as though sensing the controversy generated by her remarks had faded all too quickly, Mrs. Clinton appeared on the liberal-minded podcast Your Primary Playlist to accuse Senator Sanders of failing to do enough to unite the party behind her candidacy after her primary win in 2016.

Mrs. Clinton was not alone in her apparently rising anxiety. Near the end of last month, the centrist think tank Third Way released a memo all but begging Iowans not to vote for Mr. Sanders. The former Democratic nominee John Kerry was reportedly overheard on Sunday contemplating several strategies to stop Mr. Sanders from taking the nomination. Meanwhile, Democratic National Committee members are considering shifts in convention rules tailored to hobble Mr. Sanderss chances.

It is fair to conclude that the Democratic Partys center is panicking, and it is now fair to conclude that it has good cause: With 62 percent of Iowa caucus results in, Mr. Sanders leads the popular vote, with 26.3 percent. He trails former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., in state delegates by a slim margin. But with Mr. Buttigieg struggling in primary polls in New Hampshire and Nevada, it seems unlikely his campaign has the kind of momentum that could lead to the nomination. Thus, the greater Iowa upset is that heir apparent Vice President Joe Biden is a distant fourth. With Mr. Bidens front-runner status compromised, Mr. Sanders emerges from Iowa as a formidable candidate  without establishment imprimatur.

Mr. Sanders leads the popular vote in Iowa not because he is favored by entrenched powers within the Democratic Party or because he has institutional support in the form of steady contributions from policy-minting think tanks, big donors or major political pundits.
The Telegraph

News of the death of the QWERTY keyboard came, as well it would, via TikTok. It is there that Riley Keen posts videos of himself tapping out 500 words per minute  double the amount the human mind can compute. Using a CharaChorder  a device that looks almost like a digi-age dumbbell, with nine small joysticks on each of two black spheres connected by a silver bar  Keen is able to touch-type so fast that he has recently been banned from online typing competitions. Leaderboards automatically fla
Foxconn could see a "big" production impact and shipments to customers including Apple face disruption if a Chinese factory halt due to the coronavirus outbreak extends into a second week, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Foxconn, which makes smartphones for Apple and other brands, has halted "almost all" of its production in China after companies were told to shut until at least February 10, the source said, adding that an extension of the stoppage could disrupt shipments to clients including Apple.

The Taipei-based contract electronics maker, which is the world's biggest, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Apple declined to comment.

The source said on Monday that Foxconn has so far seen a "fairly small impact" from the outbreak as it was utilising factories in countries including Vietnam, India and Mexico to fill the gap, adding that the company will be able to make up for the delay if factories work overtime after the ban.
Las Vegas residents are growing squeamish over the existence of a sex doll only social club that lets customers 'create and interact' an 'erotic atmosphere that is perfectly customized' to their needs.

The Las Vegas Sex Dolls Experience prides itself on being the 'first establishment in Nevada where sex dolls are ready,' the company states on its social media pages and websites.

But the company's website also insists: 'We are not a brothel'.

The Las Vegas Sex Dolls Experience prides itself on being the 'first establishment in Nevada where sex dolls are ready,' the company states

Sex Dolls Experience operates out of The Studios at 5150 S Pecos Rd and does not appear to be licensed in Clark County

Sex Dolls Experience operates out of The Studios at 5150 S Pecos Rd and does not appear to be licensed in Clark County.

For local Cyndi Robbins, the issue is with the company's location so close to a residential area.

'We've got apartments and houses on the other side of the road on the other side of Pecos, and we've got houses over here with children. It shouldn't be allowed, and I didn't think by law it was,' Robbins explained to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

A Clark County spokesman shared that The Studios is currently under investigation by Clark County on suspicion of operating a business without a license.

'We are not a brothel,' the company declares on its website

The Las Vegas Sex Dolls Experience does allow for customers to purchase dolls and they are even allowed to give them a test run before buying

According to Robbins, would be customers park in front of her house on the weekends.

'I don't know these people, and I don't know what kind of people they are,' she said. 'And, I know they are not here to visit people in the neighborhood because you see them walking on up to the club.'

Roxanne Price, a sex worker based in Las Vegas, has been extremely vocal in the last few days with her critiques on the 'sex doll brothel.'

'Sex doll brothel in Las Vegas? Fine,' she said on Twitter. 'But, how about no longer criminalizing HUMAN sex workers in Vegas?'

Roxanne Price, a sex worker based in Las Vegas, has been extremely vocal in the last few days with her critiques on the 'sex doll brothel'

'I love my job as a Vegas-area legal prostitute,' she explained in an interview with AVN. 'I work hard to comply with all of the regulations in Nevada and I'm happy to travel to nearby rural areas in order to legally sell my sexual services. But this doll brothel is a slap in the face to me and the other hard-working sex workers that are trying to make our way in the world.'

On their website, Las Vegas Sex Dolls Experience advertises that a host will greet customers at the door at the time of their appointment. The host will then take customers to a 'discreet, safe and private studio.'

The Las Vegas Sex Dolls Experience does allow for customers to purchase dolls and they are even allowed to give them a test run before buying.

Experiences are said to cost roughly $150.

By RT



February 04, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - The White Helmets have shot a new fake video of 'Assad's chemical attack' in Syria's Idlib, the Russian MoD has said. The movie, co-produced by the notorious White Helmets, is expected to be released shortly on social media.



Production of the new film was concluded on Tuesday in the village of Zerba, located in the militant-controlled part of Syria's Idlib province, the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation has said, citing several independent sources.



The video, shot by the notorious White Helmets group in cooperation with local terrorists, purports to show the aftermath of a "chemical attack" on civilians by Syria's government troops.



The footage, according to the MoD, shows 'rescuers' wandering around in a thick plume of "mustard-colored gas" and attending to the 'victims' of the staged "attack." Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

According to the Russian military, the video is set to be released shortly on social media to be picked-up by the pro-militant news outlets in the Arab world and the West. A number of "chemical attacks" in Syria have been blamed on the country's government by the militants over the course of the war, which has been raging in the country since 2011.



The alleged "attacks" usually occur during rapid advances of the Syrian Army against anti-government militants and terrorists. In the recent days, the Syrian military has broken through jihadist defenses in Idlib and has been rapidly liberating territory that was under militants' control for years.



The UK and US-funded White Helmets group, that advertises itself as an impartial humanitarian organization seeking to save Syrias civilians, has been a media darling for years. A Netflix documentary about it has even won Oscar award back in 2016. The group, however, has also operated almost exclusively in jihadist-held parts of Syria, and is believed to have strong ties with the local Al-Qaeda offshoot. Russian military had previously accused the group of participating in staged videos of supposed chemical attacks.

This article was published by " RT " -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==
GODFREY  With the help of a miniature Juliana pig, North Elementary School students concluded their $2,500 Pennies for Patients campaign on Tuesday.

Pennies for Patients is a service that gives students a unique opportunity to make a difference through teamwork, working together to aid thousands of children and adults in the fight of blood cancers such as leukemia. The funds, collected during a three-week period, benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Societys St. Louis Chapter.

This year, the local cause was a little more personal. Funds collected will also help fourth grader Jackson Jax Smith who has been diagnosed with T-Cell Leukemia ALL.

Early last year, Smiths lymph nodes had become noticeably swollen. After being taken to his pediatrician, he was diagnosed with strep throat and prescribed amoxicillin. That treatment did not work and, after more testing, Smith was formally diagnosed with the disease in June 2019.

Because North Elementary School students met this years fundraising goal, teachers whose classes raised the most money during the campaign agreed to kiss a pig. They included Kim Scheurer in the 2nd grade, Barb Erwin and Niki Arview in the 3rd grade, Michael Moginot in the 4th grade and Brandon Moore in the 5th grade. Principal Heather Johnson and Assistant Principal Ann McLaughlin also put a peck on the pig.

Kim Scheurer is the head organizer of the campaign and has been for many years.

I actually started years ago at East (Elementary School)  whichever school Im working at: East, Lewis and Clark and now North, Scheurer said.

The campaign ran Jan. 7 through Jan. 24, during which time, students participated in events to help raise money and awareness, such as purchasing smencils (smelly pencils) and paying $1 to tape teachers to the gym wall.

When we come back from Christmas vacation, this gives us something to focus on for the month of January, McLaughlin said. There is a lot of love and support for what we do.

The pig was provided by Andy Torrez of Godfrey who runs the Barnyard Animal Rescue in Godfrey. Torrez has worked with North Elementary in the past, helping them with a rummage sale that took place last fall.

Students had the option to donate electronically or in cash. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Societys St. Louis Chapter sent out instructions to parents on how to set up a donation page, either on their own website or on social media platforms such as Facebook. One fifth grade student, Atticus Chapman, raised almost $600 in online donations, more than any student in the school.

All of the electronic donations were made to the LLS St. Louis Chapter. Half of all cash donations were made directly to the family to aide in Smiths ongoing treatments. The remaining cash donations were given to the LLS St. Louis Chapter in the name of Smith and his family.
If ride hailing is good enough for many countries and cities, why is it not good enough for Kelowna?

I recently travelled to Mexico and Toronto, and used a ride-hailing service frequently. It's efficient and it works.

Whenever my husband and I want to visit downtown Kelowna for a night out, one of us has to drive. Why? Because the taxi fares are as much as a night out!

We would love to enjoy downtown and spend money in our lovely restaurants more often, and would do this if only we could get there and back more cheaply than the current option and availability of affordable transportation.

Im sure this deters others, too, including our many tourists who contribute to our economy. Not to mention the potential to lower drunk driving as well.

Please allow this type of operator in our city soon!

Andrea Manifold
When U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and asked her to deliver the response to President Donald Trumps State of the Union address, she made two suggestions.

One was to pick a place where Im comfortable. The other was to ensure that were not solely focused on the president but really focused on our vision for America, Whitmer told reporters ahead of her speech on Tuesday.

For a comfortable location she picked East Lansing High School, in the heart of the mid-Michigan community she made a political career in, and where her daughters go to school. And on the second piece -- well, that comes naturally.

I ran on dinner-table issues, and those resonate with people all across our country, Whitmer said.

During the campaign, Whitmer staked her gubernatorial bid on things like fixing the roads, improving education and making sure people had clean drinking water, focusing on the practical rather while both of her primary opponents turned the conversation national by advocating for state-level, single-payer health care.

Related: 5 things to know about Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as she takes the national stage

This speech is very similar to speeches that Ive given many times here in Michigan, she said.

You wont see a big departure from dinner-table issues, or a big departure on the tone she uses, Whitmer said. There will be a mention of the impeachment trial in her remarks, Whitmer said, but "very quickly. Im not going to devote a lot of energy to it.

The audience at East Lansing High School will number a few hundred people, according to a spokesperson for Whitmer.

Whitmer said she picked the venue because she wanted to be surrounded by the energy of teachers, parents and students as she gave her address.

Whitmer has shared her remarks with Pelosi and practiced giving it a few times, she said, in preparation for the event.

Read more about Michigans 49th governor:

5 things to know about Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as she takes the national stage

Gov. Whitmer caps off first year with budget compromise, no road victory

Gretchen Whitmer sees energy of women as a plus in bid for Michigan governor

Gov. Whitmer unveils Plan B for roads: Shell fix them without lawmakers

Gov. Whitmer heads to Israel on first trade trip

Whitmer invites lawmakers to the negotiating table, again

Pro-life pregnancy services stripped from state budget in Whitmer veto

Gov. Whitmer signs bill overhauling Michigan auto insurance
HOUSTON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Yokogawa is pleased to announce the opening of the Open Process Automation (OPA) Test Bed Collaboration Center, located six miles north of ExxonMobil's Houston campus in The Woodlands, Texas. The opening of the center follows the announcement in July 2019 of Yokogawa's selection as ExxonMobil's OPA Test Bed system integrator. The technology center will house the Test Bed being used to evaluate candidate components and standards which will provide the basis for moving OPA technology into initial industrial field trials.

Today, end users in the energy and chemical industries must work with and integrate multiple proprietary systems in almost every process plant or facility. These systems include manufacturing execution systems (MES), distributed control systems (DCS), human-machine interfaces (HMI), programmable logic controllers (PLC) and inputs/outputs (I/O). These multiple proprietary systems, and the integration thereof, result in elevated capital costs on new projects and high total cost of ownership, especially in the operation and maintenance of such systems.

The Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF) is an international forum of end users, system integrators, suppliers, academia, and standards organizations who are working together to develop the specifications for open process control systems. OPAF's goal is to enable more open and modular systems that supports integration of best-in-class components. This architecture will provide both configuration and application portability across components from different suppliers, thereby reducing system capital cost and total cost of ownership.

Yokogawa is currently working on Stage 1 and 2 of the OPA Test Bed at the new center, which will result in an operational Test Bed ready for use by ExxonMobil and their collaboration partners in Stage 3.

"We are pleased to have the dedicated OPA Test Bed center located near our engineering campus and are looking forward to working there with Yokogawa and our collaboration partners," stated Brad Houk, OPA program manager, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering. "This is another milestone in our development and understanding of open systems technology for industrial control systems."

"We are looking forward to working with ExxonMobil, and their collaboration partners in the OPA Test Bed Collaboration Center," states Dave Emerson, vice president of Yokogawa's U.S Technology Center. "It is a privilege to be serving at the heart of these innovation efforts which could be an industry game-changer".

The Yokogawa OPA Test Bed Collaboration Center is located at 2407 Timberloch Suite D, The Woodlands, TX 77380. Further information about this new facility and other operations of Yokogawa Corporation of America can be found at: https://www.yokogawa.com/us/contact-b/#office-information

About Yokogawa

Founded in 1915, Yokogawa engages in broad-ranging activities in the areas of measurement, control, and information. The industrial automation business provides vital products, services, and solutions to a diverse range of process industries including oil, chemicals, natural gas, power, iron and steel, and pulp and paper. With the life innovation business, the company aims to radically improve productivity across the pharmaceutical and food industry value chains. The test & measurement, aviation, and other businesses continue to provide essential instruments and equipment with industry-leading precision and reliability. Yokogawa co-innovates with its customers through a global network of 113 companies spanning 60 countries, generating US$3.6 billion in sales in FY2018. For more information, please visit www.yokogawa.com .

About Yokogawa Corporation of America

Yokogawa Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Yokogawa Electric Corporation, partners and co-innovates with clients in the North American energy and chemicals industries to achieve optimum operability and competitiveness. Our expansive portfolio of state-of-the-art manufacturing, engineering and service solutions address current demands of clients' operations while our innovate-forward philosophy anticipates and solves for tomorrow's challenges. With a 60-year track record in North America delivering leading-edge measurement, control, and information solutions, the business is headquartered in Houston, TX and is supported by domestic manufacturing and service locations across the U.S, Canada, and Mexico.

The names of corporations, organizations, products, services and logos herein are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Yokogawa Electric Corporation or their respective holders.

Media Contact: Duncan Micklem, https://www.yokogawa.com/us/contact-b/#contact-us

SOURCE Yokogawa Corporation of America

Related Links

https://www.yokogawa.com/us/


Testimony began Tuesday in the trial of a former Birmingham police lieutenant charged with rape of a teen family member that reportedly happened for three years while she was in high school.

The alleged victim, now a 26-year-old mother of three, tearfully testified about the sexual abuse she says happened at the hands of Pete Williston, who was arrested in 2018. The woman said Williston engaged in multiple sex acts with her  usually two to three times a week  from 2008 through 2011.

I felt helpless, the woman said.

Jefferson County prosecutors contend Williston, who resigned immediately after his arrest more than 1  years ago, used his authority over her as a family member, and as a law enforcement officer, to force the then-teen girl to have sex with him, which she says began when she was 14.

Willistons attorney, however, said the relationship began when she was 16. That is the age of consent in Alabama and Willistons attorney said that the sexual relationship between the two was consensual.

Williston, 50, was a 17-year-old veteran of the Birmingham Police Department when he was arrested in June 2018. He was taken into custody after being discharged from UAB Hospital, where he was admitted for several days and underwent psychiatric evaluation amid suicide concerns after charges against him became public.

Before being placed on leave, Williston was serving as the interim commander of the city's East Precinct following the promotion of Allen Treadway to assistant chief. Prior to that, Williston served as the department's public information officer.

A jury of eight women and five men, with one to serve as an alternate, was selected on Monday. Attorneys on Tuesday delivered their opening statements.

The case is being prosecuted by Jefferson County assistant district attorneys Jessica Hebson and Jason Wilson. Wilson told the jury that the victims father committed suicide when she was too young to remember him, and that Williston eventually became the father figure in her life.

When the victim was a freshman in high school, Wilson said, she was dating a boy, but her parents felt it was getting too serious and they told her to break up with, which she did. Days later, the prosecutor said, Williston told her that if she was going to have sexual desires, the she would have sex with him instead. This defendant began raping her, Wilson said. It continued week after week, month after month, for about three years.

She suffered in silence, Wilson said.

Before the victim turned 18, Wilson said, she told her mother what Williston had been doing to her for years.

After she turned 18, the victim moved out of the house, got married and had children of her own. It was in May of 2018 that she went to Morris police to report the accusations against

Williston, because she said feared for the safety of other juveniles in the home. She couldnt stay silent any longer, the prosecutor said.

Willistons attorney Scott Morro told the jury their job was to get to the truth in the case. It is despicable what occurred, Morro said, but added the case does not meet the forcible compulsion criteria for first-degree rape. This situation was two people consenting. One person was 16 and one was older. When you have consent, you dont have forcible compulsion, you dont have rape.

The victim was on the stand for more than an hour. She testified that Williston made her uncomfortable by telling her she was sexy and that he was sexually attracted to her.

She said the sexual abuse began several days after she and her then-boyfriend were alone in the basement and things got serious. After forcing her to break up with the boy, she said, Williston came to her. He said he wanted to have sex with me so I wouldnt have sex with other people and get pregnant, she testified.

She said she repeatedly told him she didnt think it was right and he said it would be Ok, and that nobody would find out.

She estimated the abuse happened several hundred times.

She said she eventually told her mother what was going on. She looked shocked, absolutely devastated, she testified. It was a look of failing to protect me. However, she said, Williston continued to live in the home and that was why she said she didnt go to the police sooner.

I was afraid since she (her mother) failed to do anything, the police might not either, she said.

Under cross examination, Morro asked the victim if she had previously said that her mother didnt believe what happened. I feel like she somewhat didnt because she didnt do anything about it, she testified.

Morro also pointed out that the victim, her husband and their three children at some point voluntarily moved back into the home with Williston, questioning why she wasnt afraid for herself or her own children. We had nowhere else to go, the victim said. I knew my husband would protect me.

Additional witnesses scheduled to testify include Willistons wife and Morris police Det. B.R. McDonald. The case could go to a jury as early as Wednesday.
Mandsaur : , Feb 4 (IANS) Even while there is concern and worry over the outbreak of coronavirus which originated in China, wedding bells chimed for Jihao Wang from Beijing who married Satyarth Mishra at Mandsaur, 4500 km from her home.

The couple entered into wedlock on Sunday.

Jihao said she prayed to God to protect everyone from the coronavirus.

Satyarth, the son of Ved Mishra, a resident of Mandsaur, said everyone was worried about the virus and was wondering if they could get permission to travel to India for the marriage ceremony.

After some sustained efforts, 5 out of 8 people got permission to join the family.

Jihao's parents had wanted to delay the wedding for a couple of months but on consultation with all family members finally decided on the February wedding.

Jihao and Satyarth met in China while studying.

Satyarth was studying for a master's degree in Mass Communication while Jihao was training to be a makeup artist.

Sanskrit mantras were translated into Hindi, Chinese and English in the wedding pavilion.

Satyarth's mother Dr Gauri explained the mantras in Chinese while the others were conveyed the mantras in Hindi and English.

The family denied any worry over the virus as the couple has been in India for quite some time --- isolated from the viral outbreak.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
French politician highly values Vietnams integration achievements Updated: 09:29 - 04/02/2020

, , , ,

Vietnam, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, has gained remarkable economic growth and international integration achievements, said a French politician.Jean-Pierre Archambault, General Secretary of the France  Vietnam Friendship Association (FVFA), made the remarks during an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agencys correspondent in France on the occasion of the 90th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).The CPV is a political force which led the revolutionary struggle of Vietnamese people to regain freedom and independence for the nation, he said.Archambault expressed his admiration at great progresses of Vietnam thanks to its Doi Moi (renewal) policy that has been implemented since 1986.Vietnam escaped from the group of the most difficult countries, reaching the status of middle-income country in 2010, he said, adding that the nation achieved an annual average growth of between 6  7 percent over the past ten years, becoming one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia.The politician attributed Vietnams successes in international integration to the strong political spirit of the Vietnamese Party, State and people.Vietnam has so far established strategic cooperation with about 30 countries worldwide, including all the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Especially, the country was elected as a non-permanent member of the council for 2020-2021. This proves Vietnam's increasing position in the international arena, improved by the countrys achievements over its Doi Moi process, and the trust of the international community in Vietnam's foreign policy, he said.Vietnam's presence in the UN Security Council benefits Vietnam itself, as actions and contributions of the council will certainly help promote peace, stability and cooperation, and ensure sustainable growth and development, he added.The FVFA serves a bridge connecting Vietnamese and French people, contributing to further promoting cooperation and friendship between the two nations, he said.The association will actively operate in the coming time, focusing on the persistent struggle for Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, he noted.- (
Samir Dwivedi, the son of senior Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi, on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said he was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership.

After joining the ruling BJP in the presence of its national general secretary Arun Singh, Samir Dwivedi talked about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) and called upon the people to come together before the fire spreads all over.

This is my first political party Looking at the circumstances today, apolitical people should join politics, good and educated people should join politics, Samir Dwivedi said after joining the BJP at its headquarters.

There are things which have been done under Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership were not possible earlier. The abrogation of Article 370, triple talaq and CAA are its examples, he said.

The new joinee also spoke about Shaheen Bagh, the colony in southwest Delhi which has been a site of protests against the amended citizenship act for more than a month now.

Those who are fuelling protest at Shaheen Bagh are the same people who were praising China in 1962 And, if we do not come forward to support Prime Minister Modiji now we will not be able to control the fire that is raging today, he said.

I just want to ask the Muslim women protesters in Shaheen Bagh one question. Did anyone before PM Modi take the decision to end the historic decision to do away with triple talaq? How can a person who abolished the practice of triple talaq take away your citizenship? he asked.

Samir Dwivedi also accused the Left parties of propagating violence under the garb of such movements. He said the parties that are protesting against the citizenship act know that there is nothing wrong with the legislation.

Janardan Dwivedi, the former national secretary of the Congress party, said he had no knowledge of his son joining any political party.

I have no information about this, If he is joining BJP then it is his independent decision, the senior Congress leader said.

A former lieutenant general, Samir Dwivedi took voluntary retirement from the Indian Army in 2008. He has served in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh among other places.
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As fires ravaged Nowra on New Year's Eve, Blue Mountains MP Trish Doyle was at home on her couch when she received a text message from her son that turned her world upside down.

"I don't think we are going to make it. I love you, mum," the message from her son said. He is a firefighter in Fire and Rescue NSW and narrowly escaped being killed that night.

Ms Doyle, who is Labor's emergency services spokeswoman, faced an agonising 2 hour wait to discover that her son, who has asked not to be named, had miraculously survived.

He was caught in one of two Fire and Rescue trucks which were left immobilised on New Year's Eve, nearly costing the lives of eight crew members. The incident is now under urgent investigation.
A high-profile priest has described Michelle O'Neill's decision to attend a police recruitment drive as "a milestone", adding that "it paves the way for the normalisation of society in Northern Ireland".

Father Martin Magill was speaking after the Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister appeared at Tuesday's event at the policing college in east Belfast, alongside colleague Gerry Kelly, the party's policing spokesman.

It is the first time a senior Sinn Fein figure has attended a PSNI recruitment campaign.

Fr Magill praised both Mrs O'Neill and Mr Kelly for turning up at Garnerville for the launch event to recruit 600 officers.

The move comes amid ongoing concerns that progress to address under-representation of Catholics in the force has stalled and is starting to go in a backward direction.

Mrs O'Neill joined DUP First Minister Arlene Foster as they posed with Chief Constable Simon Byrne in holding up posters promoting the PSNI as a "positive career choice".

Fr Magill, who is credited with galvanising local politicians and the British and Irish Governments into restarting the Stormont talks, said it was a "very significant" move that "takes us into a new territory".

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"I was surprised to see Michelle O'Neill and Gerry Kelly walking into the room," he said.

"But that was quickly eclipsed by a very real sense of satisfaction. I made a point of thanking them both for doing this and they acknowledged me.

"This takes us somewhere new. It's a milestone. And it means we are beginning to normalise policing here, and that has to be welcomed."

Fr Magill, whose rousing speech won him a standing ovation at Lyra McKee's funeral, also voiced his support for the campaign and encouraged "anyone who feels a vocation to policing" to sign up.

Sinn Fein had previously been accused of not doing enough to advocate policing as a career, and Mr Byrne said the appearance of Mrs O'Neill yesterday was "seismic and historic".

Dissident republican targeting of Catholic officers is a key factor in the falling numbers of applications from the nationalist community here. Mr Byrne, who had urged nationalist and republican leaders to be more vocal in promoting the police, said: "We have called for that support in the past and now people have stood up to that challenge and stepped forward and are encouraging people to join the PSNI, so I think it's an historic day not just for policing but for Northern Ireland."

Mrs O'Neill said she wanted a police service that was more representative of the community it serves, adding that she wanted to see a return of the controversial 50:50 policy that ensures the PSNI recruits Catholics and Protestants in equal numbers.

"Clearly the PSNI have launched a very significant, intensive recruitment campaign and we are here because it is no secret that nationalists are under-represented in the police service, that Catholics are under-represented in the police service and, if we are going to have a police service that commands community confidence, then it needs to be reflective of the community it serves, so we are here because of that reason," she said.

DUP leader Mrs Foster welcomed the move and said it was the "next step" in Sinn Fein's journey in supporting the police.

"I think it is important because there have been a lot of conversations about the fact that we need to have a police service that reflects Northern Ireland society, so I think it's important that, as leaders, we show leadership and come along to these events to support our police service, so that is significant and I very much welcome it," she said.

Former Assistant Chief Constable Peter Sheridan, who was the highest-ranking Catholic policeman in Northern Ireland, said Mrs O'Neill was "making a particular point" by attending in person, adding that it would help maintain the number of Catholic officers in the PSNI.

"A representative police service is in everyone's interest in this society, it doesn't matter whether you're Catholic or Protestant," he said.

"Whether it's political parties or civil society, people should be supporting policing because that's what delivers safer communities and improves people's lives in communities.

"The police service should be owned by every community, so a critical part of that in nationalism and republicanism is demonstrating that visible support in leadership terms for good policing."
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). These are New York's top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Kunal Mohindra

Nominated by Yorktown High School

Kunal, a junior at Yorktown High School, has drawn from his own experience with autism to become an accomplished teacher and mentor who helps children with autism and other young people acquire computer coding and robotics skills. As a child, Kunal's autism made it very difficult for him to communicate with his family. But one day his older sisters taught him how to use computer programming to create games, and his whole world changed. "I found this new mode of communication to be very liberating and empowering," he said. Having an outlet for self-expression and creativity eventually enabled him to overcome many of his challenges, and instilled a desire "to share my love of coding with other students with disabilities who may be facing similar struggles," he said.

Two years ago, Kunal founded a nonprofit called "CodeConnect4All" to teach coding and robotics to kids with autism and other disabilities, and connect them to their neurotypical peers. Through his organization, Kunal teaches classes in robotics and video game design at local libraries, and conducts interactive workshops at after-school enrichment programs. He also teaches kids with autism and students from underserved communities at week-long summer camps, giving them hands-on experience in building their own robots and writing code for their own video games. As an Eagle Scout, Kunal helps fellow scouts earn badges in robotics, programming and engineering. He also works with Girl Scouts in hopes of kindling their interest in computer science. In addition, Kunal mentors middle level students as they prepare for science fairs, and even sponsored an award at the Dutchess County Science Fair.

Middle Level State Honoree: Victoria Holmes

Nominated by The Alternative School for Math & Science

Victoria, an eighth-grader at The Alternative School for Math & Science, began making fleece blankets for families dealing with serious illness after remembering what it was like when her mother had to spend months in the hospital being treated for leukemia. During that time, Victoria and her siblings had to stay with relatives hundreds of miles away. "One night I was very upset," she recalled. "I really missed mom." Her aunt wrapped her up in a blanket to comfort her, and the memory of that night stayed with her. "The blanket represented the love of my family," said Victoria. Years later, she decided she wanted to give others in similar situations the same kind of comfort by making blankets for them.

Last summer, Victoria performed chores and small jobs to raise money for her project. She also asked friends and family members for help. By the end of the summer, she had enough money to buy $500 worth of fleece. A generous donation and discounts from a fabric store enabled her to buy three times as much as she expected. She then appealed to her church congregation for donations, and asked friends to talk about her project on social media. A friend from school helped Victoria measure and cut material for her blankets, and contacts in two other states are also helping to produce them. Victoria's intent is to provide two blankets per family, one for a child and one for the parents, so "they can snuggle the same blanket while they are apart," she said.

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized eight other New York students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are New York's Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Gillian Duffalo, 17, of Scarsdale, New York, a senior at Edgemont Junior-Senior High School, runs "Nutrition 101: Live to 101," a project through which she has taught more than 30 boys from the Children's Village about wellness and healthy eating through regular cooking classes. Gillian also completed a project about emergency preparedness, helping spread safety awareness and teaching people in her community how to make first aid kits, go bags and car kits.

Eliza Fogel, 16, of Rye, New York, a junior at Rye Country Day School, is helping improve childhood literacy with her project "Our Books Your Books," through which she has held more than 10 free book fairs at community centers serving people in need; her efforts include spreading awareness of her project, collaborating with community partners, sorting donations and hosting the fairs. Eliza, who is passionate about reading, has collected and redistributed more than 4,000 books.

Viraj Jayam, 16, of Roslyn Heights, New York, a junior at The Wheatley School, founded "Helping Hands Long Island," through which he uses 3-D printing to create tailored prosthetics for people in need; he learned how to operate the technology and partnered with another prosthetics charity organization to provide prosthetics to people in India, Nepal and Mexico. Viraj was inspired to start this project after his childhood friend from India lost an arm in a factory accident.

Michael Keschner, 15, of Lloyd Harbor, New York, a sophomore at Cold Spring Harbor Junior/Senior High School, founded and runs "Veggies For Veterans," through which he has provided more than 4,000 pounds of fresh produce to veterans in his community by harvesting his own vegetables and soliciting donations from local grocery stores. Michael was inspired to start this project after learning about the lack of produce available at his local food banks.

Anna Lampman, 13, of Middle Village, New York, an eighth-grader at Sacred Heart Catholic Academy of Glendale, runs "Bedtime Bags," through which she has donated 200 drawstring backpacks to children in need, each filled with a blanket, stuffed animal, toothbrush, toothpaste and a book. Her efforts include promoting her project at her school and community churches, collecting and sorting donations and delivering the bags to two charity organizations.

Kayla Minutillo, 17, of Manhasset, New York, a senior at Manhasset Secondary School, co-founded "PINK," a project through which she and a friend sell handmade bracelets, hair accessories and a cookbook to benefit the Manhasset Women's Coalition Against Breast Cancer; they have raised more than $60,000 so far. Kayla also partnered with a local company that employs young adults with autism to design and sell T-shirts and pajama pants to benefit the PINK cause.

Jahin Rahman, 16, of New York City, New York, a junior at Academy of American Studies, founded "Efforts in Youth Development of Bangladesh (EYDB)," an organization run by students in New York City and Dhaka, Bangladesh; her group has built a library and computer lab, established a literary program, and donated clothing to benefit children from underserved communities in Bangladesh. Through EYBD, Jahin is currently working to establish a drug rehabilitation center in the Dhaka area.

Abigail Wu, 14, of Syosset, New York, a freshman at Syosset High School, founded "Vision Competition," through which she held two student music competitions in her community, raising more than $10,000 to benefit the music therapy program at the NYU Winthrop Cancer Center for Kids. Abigail's efforts for her project included securing a venue, recruiting volunteers, holding auditions and creating posters to advertise her competition.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.



While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com .

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.news.prudential.com


U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small had more money in her war chest than any congressional candidate in New Mexico heading into 2020.

And that includes Democratic Senate candidate Ben Ray Lujan.

The first-term Democrat had $2.3 million cash on hand at the end of 2019, easily outpacing her nearest potential Republican rival by $1.7 million in the 2nd Congressional District. Lujan  who represents the 3rd Congressional District  had more than $2 million at the end of the year for his bid for the Senate. Former CIA operative Valerie Plame, a Democrat, had the most cash on hand in the crowded 3rd Congressional District race with more than $586,000. Democratic U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland had the most cash on hand in the 1st Congressional District race with almost $264,000.

Torres Small reported raising nearly $2.6 million in 2019 in filings with the Federal Election Commission. The deadline for the end of the year filing was Friday.

This campaign is about serving the people of southern New Mexico, Torres Smalls campaign manager Helen Smith said. Xochitl Torres Small is delivering for New Mexico, and our strong grassroots support from across the district shows that New Mexicans know that.

Roswell oil and gas executive Claire Chase was Torres Smalls nearest Republican competitor in the states southernmost congressional district. She reported raising nearly $780,000 since entering the race in the fall and had more than $588,000 cash on hand. Former State Rep. Yvette Herrell of Alamogordo reported raising almost $630,000 and had almost $464,000 cash on hand. Las Cruces businessman Chris Mathys had more than $200,000 cash on hand.

Torres Small raised more than $648,000 during the final quarter of the year. She received almost $513,000 in individual donations and almost $137,000 in political action committee money. According to the FEC, she received more than $327,000 from contributions of $200 or less.

Her campaign said she received 11,000 contributions of $100 or less during the last cycle, with the majority coming from New Mexicans.

Chase again led the Republicans in the race during the final quarter. She raised more than $261,000 in the final three months of the year. But that represented a more than $240,000 drop from the previous quarter. She received more than $247,000 in individual contributions and $18,500 in PAC money. Chased received almost $8,200 in donations of $200 or less.

We are honored by the outpouring of support from across New Mexico for Claires candidacy. Chases campaign manager Mike Berg said. It should surprise no one that New Mexicans are showing a clear preference for a conservative political outsider like Claire over a failed career politician like Yvette Herrell.

Chases campaign said 60% of her contributions came from New Mexico residents.

Herrells campaign reported raising more than $188,000 in net contributions during the quarter. More than $16,000 came from PAC funding. She has received almost $121,500 in donations of $200 or less.

Yvette continues to demonstrate tremendous momentum in this race by raising nearly $200,000 and reporting over $460,000 cash on hand, in addition to landing endorsements from national conservative leaders like (Ohio) Rep. Jim Jordan and (former Arkansas) Gov. Mike Huckabee, campaign manager Dakotah Parshall said.

Mathys reported $1,850 in individual donations. The majority of his campaign funding has come from personal loans.

I am the only candidate that has not accepted contributions from out-of-state donors, he said. We are focused on a grassroots campaign with the goal of meeting every voter in every county in the district.
Home Minister on Monday said that the coming will be a battle between two ideologies.

"Your vote to the will ensure security and development for Delhi as well as the country. This election is between two ideologies. At one side there is Rahul Gandhi and Kejriwal who say we are with Shaheen Bagh," he said at a rally in Chirag Delhi.

"I want to ask you are you with Shaheen Bagh? On the other hand, there is the ideology of under Prime Minister Narendra Modi for whom the country is the top priority," he said.

Shah continued, "What kind of slogans are raised at Shaheen Bagh? 'Humein Chahiye Azadi (freedom), Jinnah Wali Azadi'. Those who are supporting Shaheen Bagh tell what kind and from whom you want freedom."

Attacking the AAP government in Delhi, the Home Minister accused Kejriwal of telling lies.

"Kejriwal is on top when it comes to telling lies. There are competitions amongst governments regarding development work but the Kejriwal government is breaking all records in terms of telling lies. If there is a competition of telling lies, the Kejriwal government will emerge at number one spot across the world," he said.

"Delhi is getting worst water when compared to 21 other cities. Kejriwal should be ashamed of that. I challenge him to take a dip in the Yamuna river on Tuesday. Kejriwal has promised that 5,000 new DTC buses will be introduced instead, 1,095 buses were reduced in Delhi," Shah further said.

Earlier, the Home Minister held a roadshow in Paharganj.

Voting in all 70 Assembly seats of Delhi will be held on February 8. Counting of votes will take place on February 11.
REHOVOT, Israel, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aleph Farms, a food company co-founded with The Kitchen Hub and the Technion  working passionately to grow delicious, real beef steaks from the cells of cows, has announced today that it is rolling out the welcome mat at its Visitor Center. The launch of the educational complex is set to showcase the public with up-close and transparent viewing on how Aleph Farms takes a nature-inspired approach to produce meat  with full traceability, without any harm to animals and with far less impact on the environment. Together with advocating for higher-education and mobilizing young youth for conscious consumerism, Aleph Farms has also announced today on the launch of "Z-Board", its Generation Z global advisory board program (born from 1995-2015). Over 9-months programs, Gen-Z leaders from all continents will be partners in Aleph's vision of developing a sustainable food system and building a transparent relationship with consumers and young communities.

As a spotlight to the movement of youth urging for climate action and its exceptional interest in cellular agriculture, the launch of Aleph's educational center represents its commitment to younger generations  delivering a healthy and sustainable future for them to live in. Backed by survey insights of The new Future of Humanity, it was indicated that of 10,000 18-25-year olds across 22 countries  41% respondents cited global warming as the most important issue facing the world today.

Co-developed with the Technion Institute of technology, Aleph's innovation harnesses the power of nature and design to recreate the regenerative capabilities of the cow's own body By mirroring the regeneration process under controlled conditions and understanding the compositions of meat, the company expertly crafts a thin-cut beef steak composed of non-GMO cells found in tissues of beef, with a fraction of the resources needed to produce meat inside an animal.

"The initiative of launching a visitor center, came on the heels of substantial demand we've been receiving from schools and universities around the world  seeking to visit the facility and meet our team", says Didier Toubia, Co-Founder and CEO of Aleph Farms. "As a leader in the emerging cultivated meat ecosystem, it is our responsibility to foster a candid dialogue with younger generations. The "Z-Board" provides a unique idea-exchange platform, to make sure Aleph Farms is building the right future for our children", he adds. "The visitor center's transparency and authenticity provide a balance between access unlike any meat producer had provided before, and the protection over Aleph's proprietary technologies," Yoav Reisler, External Relations Manager at Aleph Farms adds.

Qualifications for submissions to the visitor center are provided below:

The visitor center is welcoming delegations of up to 15-20 members

Submissions are welcome to be sent and will be positively considered per case: [email protected]

Visitor tours have been fully booked up until the month of April 2020

A priority will be given to student delegations, academy, non-governmental and non-profit organizations

About Aleph Farms:

Aleph Farms is a food company that was co-founded with the food-tech incubator The Kitchen, and Prof. Shulamit Levenberg of the Technion institute of technology. It paves a new way forward as a pioneer in the eld of cultivated meat, working passionately to grow delicious, real beef steaks from the cells of cows. In December 2018, the company revealed the prototype of the world's first whole-muscle meat cultivated outside of an animal, and in September 2019, together with 3D Bioprinting Solutions, it announced that it has successfully produced meat on the International Space Station, 248 miles (339 km) away from any local natural resources. With aiming to re-shape the global animal-protein market, valued at over $1 trillion and growing, Aleph Farms is one of few companies poised to emerge as a leader in the global meat production. The company reported in the month of May 2019, on a $12M Series-A investment participated by strategic partners and venture capital.

Aleph Farms was named as one of the: 20 Hottest Startups of 2019, 50 Hot Tech Companies Globally in 2019 and Top 10 Israeli inventions of the last 10 years.

Twitter/Linkedin/Facebook/Instagram/YouTube: @AlephFarms

Company Contact:

Yoav Reisler

External Relations Manager at Aleph Farms

Tel: +972-52-4559924

[email protected]

SOURCE Aleph Farms

Related Links

https://www.aleph-farms.com/


WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. (CFP Board) announces two new members: Roberta S. Karmel, a leading authority on securities regulation, and Alexander G. Rozman, a global expert in risk and compliance.

Karmel is the Centennial Professor of Law and co-director of the Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law at Brooklyn Law School in New York City. She becomes the fourth public member of the Board of Directors.

Karmel was the first woman to be appointed as a Securities and Exchange Commissioner and has served as a director on numerous nonprofit and corporate boards including the New York Stock Exchange, Kemper Insurance and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. She is the author of two books, has been the recipient of many honors, and has written extensively for journals and periodicals, including serving as a columnist on securities regulation for the New York Law Journal for more than 35 years.

She joined Brooklyn Law in 1986 and became a part-time partner and then of counsel at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP. Previously, she served as a partner and of counsel for Roger & Wells in New York City; associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP; and in several positions at the Securities and Exchange Commission's New York regional office.

Rozman is head of Financial Crime Compliance and compliance counsel for CLS Bank International, a leading global multi-currency settlement provider based in New York City and London. Past experience includes serving as a senior leader for Deloitte, where he led multiple large-scale compliance and risk assessment projects as well as the Deloitte Digital Currency and Blockchain Group; director of Regulatory Advisory Services for Navigant Consulting; general counsel and chief compliance officer for Capital Market Services LLC; and staff attorney for UAW Legal Services.

He is a member of the University of Rutgers Design Thinking Advisory Board and provides Legal Aid pro bono legal services for its indigents program. Throughout his career, Rozman has placed a special emphasis on working in consumer protections within the financial services industry.

"With enforcement of the new CFP Code and Standards beginning June 30, 2020, these two new members will bring deep, invaluable experience and insights to ensure that our new Code and Standards is relevant and credible to the public and fair to CFP professionals," said Jack Brod, CFP, chair of the CFP Board of Directors.

"We are honored to welcome two members of such stature," added Douglas S. King, CFP, chair-elect of the CFP Board of Directors and chair of the Nominating Committee. "They will help strengthen CFP Board's role in the financial planning profession as it enters its sixth decade."

Terms for Karmel and Rozman run through December 2023. They join 14 other members and CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE, on the Board of Directors.

ABOUT CFP BOARD

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board sets standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CFP certification  one of the most respected certifications in financial services  so that the public has access to and benefits from competent and ethical financial planning. CFP Board, along with its Center for Financial Planning, is committed to increasing the public's awareness of CFP certification and access to a diverse, ethical and competent financial planning workforce. Widely recognized by firms and consumer groups as the standard for financial planning, CFP certification is held by more than 86,000 people in the United States.

SOURCE Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.cfp.net


Over 16,000 water consumers in Kilkenny received good news this week following the removal of two water supplies by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from their Remedial Action List (RAL). The latest report from the EPA shows that Irish Water has reduced the number of schemes on the RAL in Kilkenny from 7 to three since 2015.

The RAL identifies drinking water supplies that are at risk of failing to consistently supply safe, clean drinking water. The Inistioge and Kilkenny City (Troyswood) water supplies have been given the thumbs up by the EPA following extensive investment and upgrade works by Irish Water working in partnership with Kilkenny County Council.

Works are continuing on two other water supplies on the RAL in Kilkenny, the Glenmore, Kilkenny City (Radestown) and Pilltown-Fiddown water supplies with a view to having them removed from the RAL as soon as possible.

Irish Water Compliance Specialist, Pat Duggan says: The publication of the latest RAL by the EPA confirms that whilst improvements have been made in many areas, the scale of the challenge faced by Irish Water in ensuring the delivery of clean and safe water in Kilkenny and throughout the country remains.

As a single national utility Irish Water has been able to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of Irelands drinking water treatment plants and focus investment where the risk to our customers is highest. Nationally Irish Water has adopted a prioritised programme of works which will require an investment of 2 billion by 2021. Significant improvements are being achieved year on year by this approach right across the country.

Irish Water is committed to addressing ensuring that all of its customers have safe, clean drinking water. It is working in partnership with Local Authorities to address the issues affecting the water supplies which remain on the RAL and to bring them to a standard where the EPA determines that they can be removed.

The RAL is updated quarterly by the EPA for those water supplies where investment in treatment processes is required. Irish Water has a prioritised programme of investment for all schemes on the RAL.
PANAMA CITY - A Dominican man convicted of kidnapping and murdering five young people of Chinese descent has escaped from a Panamanian prison for a second time, presumably with help from police, authorities in the Central American nation said Tuesday.

The Ministry of Public Security said there was an operation underway to search for Gilberto Ventura Ceballos, the man blamed for one of the countrys most horrifying crimes. Police announced a reward of $30,000 for information leading to his capture.

It was another black eye for a penitentiary system that recently came under criticism following a December prison inmate massacre that was the countrys deadliest.

Authorities did not say exactly when Ventura Ceballos escaped from the Mega Joya lockup on the outskirts of Panama City  part of the same prison complex where the massacre took place.

According to early information, the last time he was known to be inside was 10:30 p.m. Monday, the ministry said.

There are signs registered by the prisons security cameras that there was participation by police officers assigned to security in the penitentiary, it said in a statement.

Ventura Ceballos was sentenced along with a fellow Dominican accomplice to 50 years in July 2018 for the abduction and killing of the five university students about a decade ago. He acknowledged murdering them and burying them beneath the floor of a home in the town of La Chorrera west of Panama City, authorities say.

Investigators said at least two were buried alive. The Dominicans ran a cellphone sales business and had collected nearly a quarter-million dollars in ransom payments from relatives.

Ventura Ceballos escaped the first time in December 2016. He was recaptured the following September in Costa Rica where he had died his hair and was living under a different name, working at an auto shop.

We are so disappointed, said Judith Chen, whose daughter was one of the victims, on Tuesday. This man has the number of Panamas security institutions. He comes and goes when he pleases. ... How did he get out? Who helped him? How much money does this man have and from where did he get it?

Chen expressed concern that victims relatives could be in danger with Ventura Ceballos on the loose.

Fifteen people were killed in the Dec. 17 massacre at the prison complex in gunfire between jailed members of the same gang in a cellblock housing over 500 inmates.
NHS scrutinizes puberty blockers amid complaints, lawsuit against Tavistock clinic

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Amid an ongoing legal challenge against the United Kingdom's lone gender clinic, The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, the National Health Service is now giving greater scrutiny to experimental puberty-blocking drugs prescribed to gender-confused children.

The NHS announced that it has examined the use of experimental hormone drugs in children who say they desire to undergo a medicalized gender transition. The findings of this official review, conducted by a former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and her team, will be published later this year, The Guardian reported Sunday. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) is also involved in the formal review and will advise Dr. Hilary Cass' team.

This is a fast-developing area of medicine with emerging evidence and high public interest. I look forward to chairing this independent group, bringing together medical and non-medical experts with a range of perspectives, to make evidence-based recommendations about the future use of these drugs, Cass said.

She will lead a team of 20 experts.

The Tavistock clinic maintains their approach is "evidence-based" and that they work with each patient on a "case-by-case basis." A clinic spokeswoman said they welcome the review.

The increased scrutiny of these practices is in part due to the testimony of Keira Bell, 23, who underwent a medical gender-transition during her teens and is a claimant in a lawsuit against the Tavistock clinic, brought by former NHS psychiatric nurse Sue Evans.

Bell, who is now known as what is called a "detransitioner"  someone who once lived and identified as the opposite sex but no longer does and in many cases regrets their transition  said in a statement last week that she does not believe minors are capable of giving informed consent to using experimental hormone drugs.

"The treatment needs to change so that it does not put young people, like me, on a torturous and unnecessary path that is permanent and life-changing, Bell said.



Bell's lawyer noted during court proceedings that she "seriously regrets the process and feels that the way it was handled and her involvement in it was not appropriate.

Evans and others, such as former Gender Identity Development Service-Leeds clinical psychologist Kirsty Entwistle, have in recent months gone public with their concerns about the internal practices within the Tavistock clinic, particularly the speed with which young people were being referred for hormone blockers.

In July, Entwistle noted in an open letter to Dr. Polly Carmichael, who runs the Tavistock clinic, that an "unspoken rule" existed within the facility, that clinicians were never to inform families that their children were not transgender. Children and their families were also told that puberty-suppressing drugs used to transition youth were "fully reversible," when in fact the long-term effects on developing bodies and brains are unknown.

In June it was documented that in less than 10 years the numbers of youth referred to the clinic for gender identity disorders have skyrocketed, a 1,460% increase in referrals of boys and a 5,337% increase in girls.

U.S. critics of the medicalization of gender often point out that, despite assurances that blockers are reversible, the relevant research on the subject show that the vast majority of patients who start using blockers continue further down the pathway and take cross-sex hormones and undergo surgery, which results in sterility among other grave health complications.

In Ireland, it was reported Monday that doctors who have objections to puberty blockers are having their concerns about the safety of the hormonal agents suppressed.

According to The Irish Independent, concerns over the standards of clinical care and governance were brought up at a meeting of doctors and hospital officials in Crumlin last March, including some who called for the gender identity meds to be "terminated with immediate effect." Some discussed that children had been started on hormones when it did not appear to be suitable.

Yet their concerns were omitted from draft minutes of the meeting, the outlet reported.

The administration of gender identity medicine in Ireland occurs through two Tavistock clinicians who fly in from London and treat the children at Crumlin Children's Hospital. It is estimated the 291 children have been treated there since 2015.

"There was usually no clear record of how or when the decision to commence treatment was made," said Dr. Paul Moran, a consultant psychiatrist who expressed concerns.

Moran also reportedly raised questions over the clinical governance of the GIDS service, and noted the funding for it was irregular, utilizing money streams from outside the country.
The Czech Republic does not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Tomas Petricek has stated.

We do not forget Crimea. The issue is still on the agenda. The Czech Republic has never recognized and will never recognize the annexation of Crimea. This is an integral part of our strong position in the EU, Petricek said after talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Vadym Prystaiko in Prague on Tuesday, February 4, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

The minister also stressed that the Czech Republic is sure that sanctions against Russia can be lifted only after it changes its behavior.

Prystaiko, in turn, drew attention to the fact that Ukraine actively interacts with the Czech Republic as part of its membership in the UN Human Rights Council (both countries are HRC members from 2019 to 2021). In addition, the policy of non-recognition of Russia's annexation of Crimea and pressure on the Russian Federation was agreed between Ukraine and the EU.

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Manager of the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant (MNTR) Virgil-Stefan Nitulescu said on Tuesday that 30 years after the reopening of the museum on February 5, 1990, a new beginning awaits its team, currently working on reopening MNTR's permanent exhibition.

"February 5, 1990 represents to us the moment of a new beginning. It is similar, if you will, to the moment of the new beginning for Romania recorded in 1989. Because under the communist regime our museum, which opened in 1906 based on an existing collection dating back to the late 19th century, was disbanded and its collections were scattered away. We went back to the building that had been built from the beginning for us and we started from scratch, fortunate to be led by a team of wonderful people, like Horia Bernea. That resulted in an exhibition that to this day is a cultural landmark for the whole of Europe," Nitulescu told AGERPRES.

He voiced hope that the museum's permanent exhibition will be rebuilt by the end of the year.

"Our museum is still the only museum in Romania to win in 1996 the most prestigious museum award in Europe. After 30 years we are facing a new beginning, because we have to reconstruct the permanent exhibition of the museum, which was closed for the time when the building, a historical monument, was under refurbishment. We hope to succeed by the end of this year," said Nitulescu.

He announced that Wednesday, on the 30th anniversary of the reopening, the 2019 issue of the "Martor" magazine, the museum's publication, will be released. There will be the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the Romanian blouse, the ie, mounted together with the Embassy of Moldova in Bucharest, and the screening of a series of films about the cultural heritage of Romania, including "Nunta la Leresti" (Marriage at Leresti) (1976, 22 min, directed by Eugenia Gutu), included on the Sahia Vintage V DVD, under the care of One World Romania.

The Embassy of Moldova in Romania is inviting the public for the launch of an album dedicated to the genuine Romanian blouse, whose author is Stela Moldovanu of Moldova. The launch will be accompanied by an exhibition of authentic, hand-sewn blouses under a Moldovan project involving over 100 women and a man passionate about sewing.

Running at the museum's cinema hall, from 19:00hrs to 20:30hrs, there will be films dedicated to the seven things from Romania inscribed in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: the Calus ritual; doina; the traditional ceramics of Horezu; men's group colindat, Christmas-time ritual; lad's dances; traditional wall-carpet craftsmanship; cultural practices associated to the 1st of March.

On February 5, 1990, the Roadside Museum reopened under a new name, the Romanian Peasant Museum. It has gained recognition thanks to the vision of its founder, Horia Bernea, being the only author museum in Romania and a place favorable to individualities. It is also one of the few museums in the country whose intangible heritage is revised and reinterpreted in the artistic projects of some of its specialists. AGERPRES
The Crown Casino is in the process of pulling its lease for Heston Blumenthal's (pictured) restaurant

A high-end restaurant fronted by MasterChef regular Heston Blumenthal owes its staff more than $4million after years of under paying them.

Dinner by Heston, which overlooks the Yarra River at Melbourne's Southbank precinct, appointed provisional liquidators late last year.

The fine-dining restaurant is owned by company Tipsy Cake and opened at the Crown Casino complex in 2015.

In December 2019, Tipsy Cake missed its deadline with the Fair Work Ombudsman to pay back millions of underpaid wages owed to staff then, days later, appointed provisional liquidators.

And now Crown Casino has made moves to terminate the lease of restaurant owner Tipsy Cake Pty Limited.

It's the latest in a string of Australian restaurants accused of underpaying staff, others include MasterChef judge George Calombaris' company MAdE and celebrity chef Neil Perry's Rockpool Dining Group.

Dinner by Heston, which overlooks the Yarra River at Melbourne's Southbank precinct, appointed provisional liquidators late last year

Crown Casino is in the process of terminating the restaurant's lease, which is currently on the gambling empire's Southbank site in Melbourne

'While this is disappointing, Crown is working to provide assistance to Tipsy Cake employees looking for employment within Crown,' a Crown spokeswoman told The Age.

'The provisional liquidator of Tipsy Cake, however, will need to deal with employee matters at the first instance.'

Crown is yet to provide the expected date of termination.

United Workers Union is now urging Crown step up and pay staff back the estimated $4.5 million they are owed after it was found to have a 'cosy joint venture' which saw Tipsy Cake pay just $1 a year for rent.

'We have requested that Crown repay all unpaid wages and entitlements owed to our members  and offer employment to these members, as well as sponsoring those who are on temporary visas,' United Workers Union national president Jo-anne Schofield told The Age.

While Blumenthal was a driving force behind the conception of the swanky Melbourne restaurant, the world-renowned chef has no ownership of it.

It is not suggested that he had any interest in the company which underpaid its staff.

An investigation found Dinner by Heston (pictured) owed staff millions in unpaid wages

The fine-dining restaurant is owned by company Tipsy Cake and opened at the Crown Casino complex in 2015

Last month, Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said it was 'disappointing' that Tipsy Cake did not pay back underpaid workers before it went into provisional liquidation.

The Fair Works Ombudsman launched an investigation into the company's financial activity after an investigative report revealed Dinner by Heston was underpaying staff.

The report found chefs were regularly working 25 hours overtime unpaid, driving their hourly wage well below the award wage, to $15-$17 per hour.

Southbank's Crown Casino provided the award-winning eatery with a $750,000 interest-free loan, which, industry sources say, was potentially a tactic to draw in high-profile business.

British-born Blumenthal is known for unusual food pairings and 'multi-sensory' cooking, which include bacon and egg ice cream, parsnip cereal and snail porridge.

Over his 24-year culinary career, he has opened several high-profile restaurants and fronted television shows, also making guest appearances on Master Chef Australia.
Post from MilitaryByOwner

Imagine for a moment that youve just signed a residential lease on a cute little property at your new assignment. Suddenly, with one fell swoop of an email, youre notified that your orders have changed.

You're now headed to a completely different assignment. This baffling situation may remind you of placing a take-out order from a favorite fast food joint, Ill have an order of stress with a side of frustration...and super-size it, please!

Thankfully, there is hope. A federal law called the Servicemember Civil Relief Act (SCRA) is a legal statement allowing an active duty member out of a lease with official military orders. Plain and simple.

As outlined in the post, 3 Common Misconceptions About the Military Clause, there are rules to follow as this whole situation plays out.

If breaking a lease and invoking the SCRA law, you must follow a specific procedure.

This plan includes providing the landlord with:

a written notice of your intent to vacate due to military orders

a copy of your official military orders

payment of rent for the month in which you give notice

payment of rent for the following month.

Remaining honest and straightforward as you interact with your landlord may help ease this spontaneous transition.

Additionally, you may want to book an appointment with the legal assistance office of the closest military installation. A legal professional at that office can give you more details about the SCRA, as well as inform you of state and local landlord and tenant laws.

For example, when moving to ye olde Virginia, the guidelines of a rental agreement may differ from what is stated in a current lease in sunny California. The legal virtuosos know the ins and outs of laws and bylaws and can guide you through this unexpected turn.

When creating a letter of notice to your landlord with intent to vacate, consider the following suggestions.

Make it short and sweet. There's no need for elaborate detail or lengthy paragraphs. Simply state, "This letter is my written notice of intent to vacate."

There's no need for elaborate detail or lengthy paragraphs. Simply state, "This letter is my written notice of intent to vacate." Share accurate contact information. Although you may feel like a special snowflake, you may not be the only tenant on your landlord's radar. Clarify who you are, where you live, how to be in contact with you, and what your new address may be.

Although you may feel like a special snowflake, you may not be the only tenant on your landlord's radar. Clarify who you are, where you live, how to be in contact with you, and what your new address may be. Highlight the timing. With military orders enclosed, define the exact date of when you will depart the residence. Explain that the next 30 days of rent will be paid and add the termination date--the last date of that month.

With military orders enclosed, define the exact date of when you will depart the residence. Explain that the next 30 days of rent will be paid and add the termination date--the last date of that month. Request the return of your security deposit. For a full refund of the security deposit, two things must occur. This letter of notice must reach the landlord in a timely manner and the residence must be vacated in favorable condition. State that the residence has been left in good shape and confirm your new address for return of your deposit.

Perhaps this letter could be sent to your landlord via certified mail, for security and tracking purposes.

As you roll with this sudden change of assignment, another piece of the puzzle that may work in your favor is a military clause. This clause may allow a lease to be broken for additional reasons--most likely revolving around military life.

As explained in What Exactly Is a Military Clause?, the terms of this clause may offer added tenant protection for a military member and their family. If a lease you're considering does not already have a military clause, discuss with the landlord the terms youd like to include, for their benefit and for your own.

To find out what lingo is commonly used with a clause, consider a visit to the nearby military housing office. A representative at a military housing office should have samples of local leases and how they're laid out. Taking time to review these important details may help tailor a lease with the best fit for your military lifestyle.

Just to review, if you find yourself needing to break your lease due to official military orders, under the SCRA your lease will terminate 30 days after the first date on which the next monthly rent payment is due. So, plan accordingly to cover rent for the following month even though you will not reside there.

If you have been completely open and honest with the landlord and provided written notice and a copy of your orders in a timely fashion, the landlord cannot attempt to penalize you for breaking the lease by refusing to return your security deposit. However, if you leave the property damaged beyond normal wear and tear, it is within the rights of the landlord to withhold your security deposit.

Is a move into military housing covered?

While on the topic of spontaneous military orders, sometimes the assignment of military housing may also be a spontaneous moment. At certain assignments, the housing wait list is epic, leaving you and your family unsure of how long youll be without a place to live. While keeping your name on the housing list, its a good idea to alert the housing office of your plans to begin a lease off base.

They can offer suggestions for working with a landlord and your current situation. For example, the terms of your lease could stipulate month-to-month renting guidelines. Or, you may come to an agreement with the landlord regarding the temporary nature of your housing needs. Ensure that the landlord understands your intent to live in military housing upon availability. Be aware of what the landlord may require from you upon discontinuing your lease, such as one or more months of rent or for you to find a new tenant to move in.

Working with your landlord to agree upon fair terms may prevent frustration and unwelcome stress. As mentioned earlier, its a good idea to go over the terms and clauses of the lease with a legal professional before signing.

Of course, the information included here is for discussion and informational purposes, and is not meant to be taken as legal advice. To delve into the specifics of the rights of a servicemember when breaking a lease, you'll need to consult the experts. To do so, it may be as simple as making an appointment at a military installation legal office.

By meeting with a legal professional, you can confirm local and state laws, the guidelines of invoking the SCRA, and the terms you may need to include when adding a military clause to a lease.

A Tip to Keep in Mind

Whether you buy, lease, or rent your home, make sure your home and property are protected against damage and theft with insurance. You can compare insurance rates and coverage with our insurance quote comparison tool.
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Almost a month before Delhi was to go to polls scheduled for February 8 the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on January 5 witnessed violence after masked miscreants entered the campus and beat up students, who were reportedly protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed nation-wide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

This was the second such instance of violence on a university campus in the national capital. The first came on December 15, when, after anti-CAA protests turned violent in Delhi, police entered Jamia Millia Islamia campus and reportedly fired tear-gas and clashed with protesters inside the campus.

While both these instances were met with criticism against the Delhi police, and, after the JNU violence, senior Congress leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), where injured students were admitted, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was conspicuous by his absence. There was a reason for that, say Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders.

"After the violence at Jamia particularly, Kejriwal had called his advisors to seek an opinion on whether he should visit the campus. Everyone said no," a source in AAP said. "That visit would have provided the BJP with a link to connect the Delhi polls to national issues, particularly the CAA and NRC stir," the source said, adding that the BJP was "itching" for that to happen.

Even as he received criticism on social media sites for his absence, Kejriwal stuck to his guns. AAP leaders, however, said that was the first hurdle the protests at Shaheen Bagh, which the BJP has made a poll issue, is the second.

The source in AAP said a month before the polls, internal surveys painted a rosy picture for AAP, with the BJP losing "even its core base". However, within a month, things have changed.

"It's not a piece of cake anymore," another AAP functionary admitted, adding that the BJP's reference to Shaheen Bagh has polarised voters. BJP's own internal surveys seem to be backing this claim, with the protests being cited as one of the reasons for the party's upswing in seat predictions.

Shaheen Bagh, where protests against the contentious CAA have been on for more than a month, has effectively become the central point of the election, with senior BJP leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath aiming barbs at the protesters.

Some, like Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP MP Parvesh Verma, have also made controversial remarks, with the latter stating that lakhs of anti-CAA protesters in Shaheen Bagh could enter homes to kill and rape women. The former had egged on the crowd at a rally to raise an incendiary slogan "shoot the traitors" after he lashed out at anti-CAA protesters.

Days after Thakur's remarks, three incidents of firing, near or around Jamia and Shaheen Bagh, have been reported. While AAP leaders have said that the BJP is trying to polarise voters, it is confident that Kejriwal will come back for a second term, "only on the back of the development work done by the party".

With battle lines drawn, both the BJP and AAP leaders have said that the results of the Delhi Assembly polls will be a litmus test for them: for the AAP, according to its leaders, it will be a test of its claim of having done developmental work; for the BJP, it will indicate for the first time electorally the effect of the anti-CAA stir.
Kim Kardashian West is opening up about prison reform and how she discusses the topic with her children. Ahead, find out how the star of Keeping Up with the Kardashians (KUWTK) and founder of the shapewear line Skims and KKW Beauty broaches the subject with her kids.

How many children does Kim Kardashian West have?

The 39-year-old and her husband, fashion designer and rapper Kanye West, have four children together; North, 6, Saint, 4, Chicago, 2, and Psalm, 8 months. Due to pregnancy complications with her first two children, the couple welcomed Chicago and Psalm via a surrogate.

Kardashian West mightve avoided a conversation about death with North after her hamster died during an episode of KUWTK but shes (hilariously) explained why she and West are famous and no doubt had other talks with her kids when cameras arent around about sensitive topics.

Shes studying to become a lawyer

Kardashian West has been studying to become an attorney since the summer of 2018. Worth an estimated $350 million, She began a four-year apprenticeship with a San Francisco law firm and is preparing to take the bar exam in 2022. She studies after work and on weekends, personalizes her practice test questions, and has shared her least favorite subject in law school.

Kim Kardashian West attends the WSJ Magazine 2019 Innovator Awards on Nov. 6, 2019 | ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

She told Vogue in a 2019 cover interview she decided to pursue a legal career after she got involved with Alice Marie Johnson, a woman who had been in prison on a nonviolent drug charge since 1996.

Kardashian West worked with lawyers and the White House to get Johnson released. Since then shes gotten more involved with prison reform. She helped free 17 inmates in 90 days by providing money to cover legal fees.

Kim Kardashian West is very open and honest with kids about prison reform

During an interview with Us Weekly published on Jan. 31, 2020, the mother of four shared that she lets her kids in on whats going on with her prison reform work saying all of them have met Johnson.

They have met Alice [Johnson]. Two of my kids met Momolu [Stewart], whos in the documentary and has gotten out, she said referring to her upcoming project with Oxygen about prison reform. They are around the people that I hang around, and know what Im going through, she told the publication before adding, Im very open and honest with them about what Im doing.

Maybe one day one of Kardashian Wests kids will want to follow in her footsteps and become a lawyer thanks to their moms prison reform work.

Kardashian Wests documentary airs in April 2020

In the upcoming documentary, Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project, the mother of four will be shown in a different way. Shell be putting a spotlight on mass incarceration in the United States.

Based on the programs trailer, the documentary will follow Kardashian West as she visits different prisons and speaks with incarcerated people who are serving life sentences to determine if the punishment fits the crime. Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project will premiere Sunday, April 5 at 7 p.m. EST on Oxygen.
In this image from video, a Senate page brings a question from a Senator to the desk to be read by presiding officer Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts during the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. (Senate Television via AP)
Bill & Ted Face The Music (United Artists)

The first  and most excellent  poster for the long-awaited Bill & Ted sequel, Bill & Ted Face The Music, has arrived online.

With a blast of electricity and a familiar guitar riff, the pair's time-travelling phone box beams in from the cosmos in this first marketing push.

And often these days, the such posters precede a trailer of some description incoming, so we're keep our fingers crossed for that.

The movie will arrive nearly 30 years after Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, the sequel to 1989's original cult classic Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

Read more: First look at William Sadler as Death in Bill & Ted sequel

It will find William 'Bill' S Preston, Esq (Alex Winter) and Theodore 'Ted' Logan (Keanu Reeves) in the midst of middle age, having not managed to write the song that will unite the universe.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures (Orion Pictures)

As such, they are visited by a messenger from the future (Kristen Schaal) and warned that if they do not fulfil this destiny, it will prove perilous for all life everywhere.

The film's original writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon have penned the script, with Galaxy Quest helmsman Dean Parisot in the director's chair.

Bill & Ted Face The Music (Orion Pictures/United Artists)

Winter and Reeves are joined by Brigette Lundy-Paine as Ted's daughter Billie, and Samara Weaving as Bill's daughter Thea, while William Sadler will reprise his role as Death from Bogus Journey.

Story continues

Also on the bill are Kid Cudi, Barry star Anthony Carrigan as the film's main villain, Jillian Bell and Kelly Carlin, daughter of the legendary George Carlin, who played Rufus in the first two movies.

It arrives in cinemas on 21 August.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 18:15:21|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's civil air transport is playing its role in delivering emergency supplies to help fight the novel coronavirus epidemic.

As of Feb. 2, a total of 4,330 flights had been dispatched in missions delivering emergency supplies, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

These flights have transported more than 604,000 items, including masks, medical protective clothing and disinfectant, for epidemic prevention and control.

Among them, 138 flights have been sent to central China's Hubei Province to deliver more than 192,000 emergency supplies, with a total weight of around 1,213 tonnes.

Meanwhile, China's civil aviation authorities have coordinated with airliners to carry 7,558 medical personnel to areas hard-hit by the virus and bring 399 stranded Chinese back home from overseas by charter flights.

The country's largest air carrier China Southern Airlines (China Southern), has sent flights to carry a total of 380 tonnes of medical supplies as of 6 p.m., Feb. 2, according to the airline.

It also carried a total of 1,600 medical personnel from multiple cities around the country to reinforce the medical crew in Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak in China and capital of Hubei Province.

By the end of 2019, China Southern operated a fleet of more than 860 airplanes, including passenger aircraft and all-cargo freighters.

SF Airlines, the aviation branch of China's express giant SF Express, integrated the air freight capacity to meet demands for the transportation of emergency supplies, according to the airline.

The air cargo carrier opened multiple temporary routes and allocated larger freighters in emergency flight services to send medical and other supplies.

As of Feb. 3, the airline had sent around 767 tonnes of emergency supplies to Wuhan.

SF Airlines is now China's largest air cargo carrier. It operates a total of 58 all-cargo freighters on its global air cargo service network with 65 destinations.
Thousands of pieces of space junk are speeding around Earth, but current tracking tools aren't yet able to pinpoint where most of the junk is at any given time, putting other satellites in danger  and fueling a growing industry to track debris and satellites.

Why it matters: Trackers warn collisions can knock out communications, cause millions of dollars in damage, and add to the price of insurance and therefore operation.

The big picture: Hundreds of satellites are expected to launch to orbit in the next few years, greatly increasing the number of spacecraft  and possibly junk  circling Earth.

The danger isn't in quantity though  space is big.

The risk comes from not knowing where defunct satellites, spent rocket bodies or other debris are located.

Driving the news: Last week, two dead spacecraft may have come within just a few meters of colliding above Pennsylvania.

People and companies on the ground were tracking the event closely, but there were different estimates about where exactly the satellites were, complicating predictions around whether the two objects would collide.

What's happening: The Air Force is able to follow more than 20,000 pieces of space junk, but NASA estimates that there are millions of tiny pieces of debris that could still harm functional satellites in orbit. Today, a handful of companies are popping up to try to fill in those gaps and make a profit from satellite and junk tracking.

LeoLabs  which sounded the alarm about the possible collision last week  plans to have six ground-based radars to track pieces of space junk down to 2 centimeters.

NorthStar Earth and Space expects to launch the first of its space junk-tracking satellites as early as next year after raising more than $38 million in 2018.

to launch the first of its space junk-tracking satellites as early as next year after raising more than $38 million in 2018. Others are working to compile the data collected by companies in order to make their own predictions and satellite tracks.

"The stuff the government does is good ... It's got its place, but we all know that the tea leaves aren't as dependable as they could be. The accuracy is not great."

 Victoria Samson of the Secure World Foundation told Axios

Yes, but: The best way to figure out where exactly all of the junk in orbit is may be to combine data from multiple sources and aggregate it in one place.

Companies are also building their businesses around the idea that satellite operators, and even insurance providers for the space industry, will want to use their data to make sure that spacecraft remain safe in orbit.

However, it's not clear those organizations will want to pay for the service in the future when they could either create their own tracking methods or use free services instead.

The bottom line: Private companies are close to surpassing the government in tracking satellites and space junk, looking to profit as space becomes more popular.

Go deeper:
French police evacuated more than 400 people from the remaining migrant camp in the capital on Tuesday morning following a government promise to evacuate all such camps from the north-east of the city.

The operation to clear out the camp along a canal by the Porte de la Villette in the north-east of Paris began at 6am and lasted until 8am.

State officials said 427 people including four women were taken from the camp of tents and makeshift shacks and brought to reception centres where they would receive temporary housing.

The evacuation at the Porte de la Villette puts an end to camps that posed a sanitary risk for the area and a security risks for both occupants and residents, Paris police said on Twitter.

The evacuation came a week after police dismantled a camp of some 1,400 migrants and asylum seekers at the nearby Porte d'Aubervilliers.

There are no more camps, officials told AFP agency. The police will monitor this site to ensure the camps are not rebuilt, as they do at Porte d'Aubervilliers and Porte de la Chapelle, the site of another camp evacuated in November.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner pledged in November to evacuate all migrant camps in northeastern Paris.
Suspected novel coronavirus cases of two patients, who were hospitalized in Oleksandrivska Clinical Hospital in Kyiv, have been disproved, and three more people, who returned from China recently, have been diagnosed with adenovirus infection, the press service of the Health Ministry of Ukraine said.

"Suspected cases of infection caused by 2019-nCoV [novel coronavirus] have been disproved following medical examinations and consultations of two patients, who were hospitalized in Kyiv's Oleksandrivska Hospital. Laboratory tests to establish the etiology are in progress," the ministry said on Facebook on February 3.

The Health Ministry also said that three more suspected coronavirus cases also have been disproved as those people were diagnosed with adenovirus infection.

The ministry recalled that two passengers appealed with a suspicion of 2019-nCoV disease at the Boryspil Airport on February 1. Following the examination, both were previously diagnosed with acute respiratory viral infection.

"The ministry continues to monitor the epidemic situation," it said.
Weather Alert

...The Flood Warning continues for the following rivers in Kentucky...Illinois...Missouri... Ohio River at Paducah...Olmsted Lock and Dam...and Cairo For the Ohio River...including Paducah, Olmsted Lock and Dam, and Cairo...Minor flooding is forecast. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive cars through flooded areas. Caution is urged when walking near riverbanks. Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles. Additional information is available at www.weather.gov. && ...FLOOD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM THIS MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING... * WHAT...Minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Ohio River at Paducah. * WHEN...Until early tomorrow afternoon. * IMPACTS...At 39.0 feet, Minor flooding occurs affecting mainly bottomland and surrounding low lying areas. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 11:00 AM CST Monday the stage was 38.5 feet. - Forecast...The river is expected to rise to a crest of 39.0 feet tomorrow morning. - Flood stage is 39.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood &&
The essence and character of the Armenians is such that they try not to lose sight of any achievement or success of their compatriot, wherever he is. And it should be noted that we have many reasons to be proud of. It has already become a usual thing that we learn about many success stories of our compatriots living in different parts of the world.

However, there are cases when stories and legends about some outstanding personalities spread abroad without reaching the Armenian audience or reaching it in a distorted form. Today's article is about such a case and refers to one of the most widespread names in the European cultural sphere.

Konstantin Ishkhanov of Armenian descent had to leave his house during the days of the massacre of Armenians in Baku and first move to Moscow, and then to distant Malta. The road was a long one, but during this time an art lover, who had already achieved success in business, witnessed an unacceptable phenomenon for him. There were many talented musicians, some of whom were powerless in the face of a seemingly overpowering reality and got broken of not being able to continue their careers. In an interview about these events, he admitted: Lost talents are my greatest fear.

This is what prompted Konstantin Ishkhanov to create the European Foundation for Support of Culture (EFSC) after moving to Malta. The foundation created by our compatriot took on a mission of supporting cultural and educational projects that will coordinate the work of young talents and allow worthy musicians to express themselves on international platforms.

In April of this year, Ishkhanov became the only foreigner to receive the highest national award in the field of culture in the nomination Exceptional Contribution to the Cultural Life of Malta.

Throughout the evening, awards, congratulations and words of thanks sounded in Maltese. There was only one exception. The words of gratitude were spoken in English when Konstantin Ishkhanov, president of European Foundation for Support of Culture, entered the stage, The Maltese Herald wrote.

In early December, Konstantin Ishkhanov was also awarded a medal for his contribution to the development of musical culture as part of a grand charity concert held in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. The medal was handed to Ishkhanov by rector of the State Musical Pedagogical Institute Valery Vorona.

Having settled in Malta, our compatriot began to actively engage in deepening the Armenian-Maltese relations and popularize the Armenian culture in his country of residence.

Foreigners are interested in Armenia, its culture. A deeper awareness of this came to me when my son was invited to play at the New Names festival in Yerevan at the age of five. Once he returned he showed interest in learning the native language and Armenian dances. After returning to Malta, his first question was: Can I learn the Armenian language?, Ishkhanov said.

The foundation of Konstantin Ishkhanov has been engaged in cultural life of Armenia for many years and has been organizing a number of events. These are classical music festivals held in Armenia, and tours of many famous and young Armenian musicians (Hayk Ghazazyan, Nare Aghramanyan, Khachaturian Trio, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra) around the world.

As an Armenian, I strive to involve my compatriots in all events in Malta as much as possible. Famous musicians are the cultural ambassadors of Armenia in the world. Our rich culture is of great interest in Europe. I consider this extremely important, Ishkhanov said in an interview.

The main events, that EFSC supported in Armenia last year are the Contemporary Classics Composers' Festival and the ballet Crystal Palace, which have turned Armenia into a cultural center, by their scale, uniqueness and the involvement of world-famous guests like Yuri Bashmet, Krzysztof Penderetsky, Karl Jenkins, Alexey Shor, Gidon Kremer.
A Japanese destroyer left for the Gulf of Oman on Sunday amid simmering Middle East tension to guard sea lanes that supply nearly all the oil that powers the worlds third-biggest economy.

Thousands of Japanese ships ply those waters every year including vessels carrying nine tenths of our oil. It is Japans lifeline, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the crew at Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo, before they cast off in a ceremony attended by 500 family members and representatives from the United States, European nations and Middle East.

Abes government has said it is prepared to authorize force to protect ships in danger, a controversial decision because Japans war-renouncing constitution forbids the use of military force in international disputes, Reuters reported.

The Takanami, which will be joined by two maritime patrol planes, will not, however join a naval force led by Japans U.S. ally or other naval coalitions in the region.

In addition to the Gulf of Oman, the Takanami, with 200 sailors and two helicopters, will patrol the northern Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, but will not enter the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important choke point between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.

The Japanese destroyer will share water in the region with a growing number of warships from other countries, including vessels from the United States, France and Britain.

Japanese merchant ships were attacked in June, and other nations have increased patrols so Japan too is acting to gather intelligence there, the mission commander, Captain Yosuke Inaba told reporters before he departed.

We are honored to have Dr. Zanetti, a researcher leading the way in the development of lidars use in planetary exploration, speak at ILMF this year."

The International Lidar Mapping Forum (ILMF) has announced that Dr. Michael Zanetti, Planetary Scientist at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center, will give a keynote presentation titled Bringing Light (Detection and Ranging) into Shadow: The Role of Lidar in Exploring the Moon. This keynote is the second of several available to attendees of both ILMF and the co-located ASPRS Annual Conference, taking place March 23  25, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.

Dr. Michael Zanetti, a lunar and planetary geologist, will discuss NASAs Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024, as well as their goal to have sustainable lunar exploration by 2028 in preparation for future Mars missions. The target is the Moons South Pole, an area of strategic importance that presents significant benefits and challenges, both related to persistent sunlight and shadows. Dr. Zanetti will introduce the Artemis program and examine the role for lidar in reconnaissance, landing hazard avoidance, and terrain navigation and mapping in aiding exploration of the Moon and Mars. A full description of the keynote can be found here.

We are honored to have Dr. Zanetti, a researcher leading the way in the development of lidars use in planetary exploration, speak at ILMF this year, said Lisa Murray, Group Director at Diversified Communications. It will be fascinating to learn about the future of this technology in helping us understand and map the Moons South Pole.

Dr. Zanetti specializes in Comparative Planetology, using field investigations on Earth as analogs to better understand geologic processes and features seen in remote-sensing data from the Moon and Mars. He is currently the project manager and principal investigator for the Kinematic Navigation and Cartography Knapsack (KNaCK) lidar system, a mobile Doppler lidar terrain mapping and navigation technology development project funded by NASAs Science and Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Early Career Initiative (ECI).

Were thrilled to add Mike as a keynote speaker for ILMF, added Bill Emison, Conference Chair at Diversified Communications. Im looking forward to hearing about his research work using lidar for NASAs planned 2024 trip to the Moon, which presents many difficult challenges.

Registration for the 20th edition of ILMF, taking place with the ASPRS Annual Conference and the MAPPS Federal Programs Conference, as part of Geo Week 2020, is now open. Event organizers recommend registering early for the best price and to avoid lines onsite. To register, please visit: https://xpressreg.com/register/ilmf0320/landing.asp?sc=208910

###

About International Lidar Mapping Forum

International Lidar Mapping Forum (ILMF) is a technical conference & exhibition focused on airborne, terrestrial, and underwater lidar as well as emerging remote-sensing and data collection tools and technology used for applications including Asset Management, Civil Infrastructure, Coastal Zone Mapping, Emergency Services & Disaster Response, Land and Natural Resource Management, and Urban Modeling.

ILMF is part of a network of events and media for the global geospatial market organized by Diversified Communications, a leading organizer of conferences, trade shows, and online media with 15 years in the geospatial arena, including Commercial UAV Expo Americas, Commercial UAV Europe, Commercial UAV News, International Lidar Mapping Forum, SPAR 3D Expo & Conference, SPAR3D.com, AEC Next Technology Expo + Conference and AEC Next News. For more information, visit International Lidar Mapping Forum (ILMF).

About Geo Week

Geo Week is a multi-event collaboration including participation from International Lidar Mapping Forum, ASPRS Annual Conference, and MAPPS Federal Programs Conference to accomplish a year of geospatial business in just one week.

Each of the three events will retain the distinct educational programs their respective attendees have come to rely upon for industry news and information as well as career development. Various conference pass options are available to allow attendees to take part in any or all programming and activities. For more information regarding Geo Week, please visit geo-week.com.

About Diversified Communications

Diversified Communications is a leading international media company with a portfolio of face-to-face exhibitions and conferences, online communities and digital and print publications. As producers of these market-leading products Diversified Communications connects, educates and strengthens business communities in over 14 industries including food and beverage, healthcare, natural and organic, business management and technology. Established in 1949 and headquartered in Portland, Maine, USA with divisions and offices around the world, Diversified Communications remains a privately held, third generation, family-owned business. For more information, visit http://www.divcom.com.

Contact:

Jason Lavigne, Diversified Communications

jlavigne@divcom.com | 207-842-5494
A Winona man was sentenced Monday to more than 38 years in federal prison for what the U.S. District Attorney for Minnesota described as "one of the most egregious cases of child sexual abuse" her office has ever prosecuted.

Ryan Thomas Feine, 35, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis by Judge John Tunheim to 456 months in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release. Feine pleaded guilty in October 2019 to two counts of production and attempted production of child pornography.

In court, Judge Tunheim said Feines criminal conduct was among the worst hes ever seen. U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald echoed the sentiment in a news release.

"This is one of the most egregious cases of child sexual abuse my office has prosecuted," MacDonald said in a statement. "We will never shy away from difficult cases such as this, we are committed to pursuing justice for innocent children."

Between Feb. 10, 2013, and Sept. 10, 2013, Feine created multiple video recordings of his sexual abuse of a less than 1-year-old child as well as produced sexually explicit images of a child who was approximately 5 years old.

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Feine came to the attention of law enforcement in August 2018. A search warrant was executed and law enforcement found more than 1,000 images and 150 videos of child pornography on Feines electronic devices. The National Center for Missing or Exploited Children identified Feine as the creator of a multi-part child pornography series that has been distributed across the country.
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STAMFORD  Technology firm Pitney Bowes reported Tuesday lower revenues for the past quarter and flat returns for the past year, as a recent cyber attack cut into its returns.

Fourth-quarter revenues totaled about $831 million, decreasing 3 percent year over year. The top line factored in a ransomware breach last October that adversely impacted revenues by about $7 million in its global e-commerce business, $4 million in its presort mailing-services division and $8 million in its sending-technology group for shipping and mailing.

The company said in a statement Tuesday it has seen no evidence that customer or employee data was improperly accessed.

Related to the cyber breach, Any profit impact, including the profit associated with any loss of revenue, (is) to ultimately be covered by insurance, the company said. Insurance proceeds will be recorded when there is a high degree of certainty regarding the amount of insurance proceeds to be received.

Quarterly profits of about $177 million compared with $50 million in the same period in 2018.

The bottom line reflected a gain of about $169 million, including taxes, from discontinued operations. During the past quarter, Pitney Bowes completed the sale of its software solutions business to Syncsort for about $700 million. A related deal for its Australian software and data business closed in the past month.

For all of 2019, revenues amounted to $3.2 billion, flat compared with 2018. Its 2019 profits of $195 million compared with $242 million in 2018.

2019 was another important step forward in transforming our company, Pitney Bowes CEO and President Marc Lautenbach said in a statement. We substantially realigned our business and our product portfolio, strengthened our balance sheet, and set ourselves up to drive profitable revenue growth going forward. Importantly, over the last two years, we have reduced our debt by over $1 billion, while maintaining significant investment in the business.

After the release of the results, Pitney Bowes shares rose about 3 percent Tuesday, closing at $3.98.

A few years ago, Pitney Bowes officials had considered selling the company. Improving returns persuaded them in 2018 to keep the firm independent.

Pitney Bowes is headquartered at 3001 Summer St., on the edge of downtown Stamford.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
SARASOTA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / After many years in the business, David Joslin has succeeded as a radiology consultant. As a senior executive, David Joslin has put together multi-million dollar deals for relevant healthcare companies. In his roles, he has also driven results in corporate strategy, project development, and financial management. As someone familiar with M&As in the healthcare industry, David Joslin has seen an increase in the trends. For example, from 2017 to 2018, there was an M&A increase of 14.4 percent.

Going into 2020, healthcare M&As have accounted for transactions that exceed $11.3 billion. David Joslin explains that aside from the benefits M&As bring to the organizations, patients also receive a lot of benefits. Most healthcare M&As involved small community-based healthcare centers merging with large regional hospitals. According to David Joslin, when these mergers take place it's usually to guarantee the survival and growth of the smaller hospitals. Larger hospitals and health care organizations have more access to resources.

After a merger, healthcare centers and hospitals have more access to capital, which in turn can lower overall costs for patients. Those in favor of healthcare mergers argue that these transactions mean lower out-of-pocket costs for patients. According to the American Hospital Association, healthcare mergers accounted for a 2.5 percent cost reduction between 2009 and 2014, which saved healthcare centers and patients a total of $5.8 million. David Joslin explains that the purpose of healthcare M&As is to produce a significant cost reduction for the patients.

When a healthcare merger happens, the smaller healthcare facility has access to more services. Aside from the cost reduction benefits, healthcare mergers also have a positive impact on the quality of the services. For example, if a smaller community health center doesn't merge with a larger facility, the community could lose access to those services. Small practices have the backup and support of large hospitals, which means better care. Due to the added resources and technology, patients will have better outcomes.

David Kent Joslin obtained his MBA in finance and accounting from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in history and political science from Duke University. He also holds a real estate license in the state of New York. David Joslin also has business proficiency in Spanish since he is also a board member of InSight Radiology Puerto Rico, a multi-site operator of free-standing radiology facilities.

CONTACT:

Caroline Hunter

Web Presence, LLC

+1 7865519491

SOURCE: Web Presence, LLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575156/David-Joslin-Goes-Over-the-Benefits-Mergers-and-Acquisitions-Have-for-Patients
(This is part of an ongoing feature that showcases some of the best food and drinks in Central New York that you probably dont know about. Do you have a hidden gem? Share your favorite by emailing me at cmiller@syracuse.com. I might even buy you lunch. If you want to know my next hidden gem before its published, join my text group for subscribers where Ill announce it a day in advance. Thatll allow you to get there before everyone else.)

Scipio, N.Y.  Sometimes a great meal is worth a drive, even if its a 48-minute stroll from Syracuse, through roads squeezed between acres of farmland full of cattle.

Meals at Dugans Country Grill are prepared by a Culinary Institute of America graduate who cooked at fine dining restaurants across the countrys before opening his own place on Route 34B in the southern half of Cayuga County.

We can thank Matt Cowen for this hidden gem. He lives 10 minutes away in Union Springs. The sausage gravy breakfast is sublime, he wrote in his email. Good food, large portions and a unique place.

Matt had me at sublime gravy. So I put on some music and headed to Scipio (population 1,648).

After graduating from the CIA in 1992, Michael Dugan served as a chef at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston before he was transferred to Aspen, Colorado, and later to Laguna Beach, California. He spent four years at The Peninsula Beverly Hills (California) and four years at the Four Seasons in Newport Beach, California, before moving closer to his home in Webster, N.Y., cooking at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

But he longed to run his own restaurant, and his uncle happened to own a farm in Scipio that had an old tavern on the premises. It was a little more than 11 years ago that Michael and his wife, Josea Walkingstick, created Dugans Country Grill.

He remembers sitting in a booth of what had been the Silver Dollar Saloon through the 70s and 80s. He counted four cars drive by in an hour and put his head in his hands.

I thought, How are we going to make it? he said. I had to figure out a way to make this profitable.

Dugan's Country Grill in Aurora is about a 50-minute drive from Syracuse.Charlie Miller

He figured much of his customer base is the hundreds of nearby farmers, so he molded Dugans to cater their needs. He serves big breakfasts, lunches and dinners seven days a week. Dairy farmers dont take days off, not even Thanksgiving.

He takes lunch orders from farms and bills them at the end of the month.

That was Willet (Dairy Farm), Michael told the kitchen after hanging up the phone. They want eight cheeseburgers for 11:30.

Dugans grossed $100,000 the first year. Last year, it brought in $605,000.

Dugan's Country Grill in Aurora. Charlie Miller

Dugans is one of about three restaurants in the area between Auburn and Ithaca. Its perfectly placed for students and staff from Wells College 4 miles away in Aurora. The state snowmobile trail also runs along the rear of the property.

Michael added a bar to the dining room a year ago and has nightly specials: half-priced chicken wings on Thursday, fried fish on Fridays and prime rib on Saturdays.

You cant get a drink anywhere around here, so I added the bar, he said. Its just a nice place to come in with your wife and have a cocktail while you wait for your steak.

Much of his business, though, comes in the morning for his signature breakfasts.

The Breakfast Landfill at Dugan's Country Grill in Aurora. Charlie Miller

Popular items include the huevos rancheros, grande breakfast burrito and steak and eggs. The eggs, by the way, come from Edwards Poultry Farm in nearby Genoa.

These are farmers who work hard and want a good meal. They will never leave here hungry, Michael said. The Breakfast Landfill (photographed above) is $9.50, but its a tractor trailer worth of food.

The Landfill is three eggs on top of potatoes and house-made hash. Its smothered in the sublime gravy that brought me here in the first place. The best part about this meal is the three yolk-pokes that create yellow ponds within the gravy and add an entire new dimension of flavor to the meal.

You must try ...

Hangover Helper ($9.45): Michael might be a professionally trained chef, but you might think hes a doctor who nursed you back to health after a rough night.

Its a simple remedy, really. He grills cheesy potatoes, sausage, bacon, peppers, onions and mushrooms until theyre a bit crispy. He puts a couple eggs on top next to two slices of toast. I recommend getting your eggs over-easy or even sunny side up. Youll want the yolk to spread over the meat and veggies. It almost serves as a binder.

Full disclosure: I wasnt hungover when I ordered this, but the guy one table over was and ordered this Sunday morning ... along with a Bloody Mary.

The Hangover Helper at Dugan's Country Grill in Aurora. Charlie Miller

The Philly Plate ($9.75): Heres a fun breakfast spinoff of a classic sandwich. Michael cooks the philly steak with peppers, mushroom, onions and cheese on the flat-top griddle just as you would when making a Philly cheesesteak sub. He spreads that over a layer of breakfast potatoes, adds two eggs and finally his own hot meat sauce.

Once again, I asked for the eggs over easy so Id get an eruption of yolk midway through.

The Philly Plate from Dugan's Country Grill in Aurora. Charlie Miller

Pancake ($2.49): If you order a pancake here, keep in mind its about a foot in diameter and a quarter-inch thick. It covers the whole plate. One will fill you up.

If you dont think one is enough, you might consider having it made with blueberries or chocolate chips for an additional 50 cents. If if you still dont think its enough, add bacon or sausage for $1.

Michael makes the batter daily. It stays light and fluffy, he says, because he doesnt over-mix. He dusts the pancake with powdered sugar and adds a dollop of butter.

Longtime customer Melvi Hunt ordered a pancake several times a week. She doesnt come in anymore because shes 103, but she still thinks about them. Shes already made arrangements to have a pancake buffet for family and friends after her funeral.

Tip: Ask your server if they have fresh maple syrup during your visit. Its tapped from Swayzee Farm 3 miles away in Union Springs. It will make your breakfast that much more special.

A blueberry pancake with real maple syrup at Dugan's Country Grill in Aurora. Charlie Miller

Biscuits & Gravy ($4.75): The menu calls this dish The Cat Nap, probably because youll want to curl up and doze off after polishing off this plate of heaven.

The biscuits are flaky enough to separate in half, but theyre heavy enough to provide a foundation for the dense gravy.

Michael starts the gravy with bacon fat, which he uses to cook down the onions. He adds butter, locally made sausage, flour, heavy cream, salt and pepper. Its among the best gravy Ive had since leaving Indiana 32 years ago. That says something because thats one of very few foods I miss from back home. Plus, this gravy is better.

Tip: The two servers during my first visitGinger Obed and Kathy Mindesuggested I place a few drops of Cholula hot sauce on the side of the plate to occasionally mix with a bite. Absurd, I thought at first. Shows what little I know. Try it.

Biscuits and gravy from Dugan's Country Grill, also known as the Cat Nap.Charlie Miller

It was 9 degrees outside when I first visited Dugans, but I left with a good case of the food sweats. It was more temperate last Sunday for my second visit, and I still left sweating. It felt great.

The 48-minute drive home from Scipio was even more pleasant than the ride there, partially because I knew we wouldve waited at least 48 minutes to get a table at many Syracuse-area diners. But here, we left everything behind for a three-hour country getaway that came with a top-notch meal.

The Details

The restaurant: Dugans Country Grill, 3228 NY Route 34B, Aurora, (315) 364-5500

Hours: 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday to Tuesday; 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Credit cards? Yes

Access to disabled? Yes

Inside seating: Yes.

Parking: Plenty.

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Read More

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Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drink and fun across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 382-1984, or by email at cmiller@syracuse.com.

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Multiple cars caught fire Monday morning at the Annapolis Car Center, billowing dark smoke into the sky.

The Annapolis Fire Department and Baltimore General Electric were at the used-car dealership, WBAL-TV reported.

"When our crews arrived on location, they found four cars that were on fire, electrical wires down on top of them," Annapolis fire Battalion Chief John Ortlieb said.

Firefighters haven't ruled on an official cause of the fire except to say it does not look suspicious.

Nearby streets were closed and drivers were asked to avoid the area.



Tap the video above to see how the flames engulfed the vehicles.
Iran in the top five producers of air defense missile systems with its local-made Bavar-373, according to Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Brigadier General Qassem Taqizadeh. The Bavar-373 is designed and built by the defense ministry, domestic industries, and some Iranian universities.



A battery of Bavar-373 Iranian-made air defense missile system. (Picture source Defanews Iranian News Agency)

Iran's Deputy Defense Minister Brigadier General Qassem Taqizadeh highlighted his countrys great advancements in the fields of anti-armor missiles, cruise missiles, and air-defense systems, adding that the domestically-built Bavar-373 missile defense system is the best arms production accomplishment made by his country since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

The first prototype of the Bavar-373 was built on 22 November 2011 and it was formally unveiled during a ceremony attended by the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on 22 August 2019.

The latest version of Bavar-373 seems to be based on a 1010 Zoljanah truck with four rectangular container launchers mounted at the rear of the chassis. Each container contains one Sayyad-4 missile. According to the Iranian defense industry, the Sayyad-4 has a range of 300 km and can reach an altitude of 27 kilometers. It is designed to intercept and destroy any types of aerial targets as wells as ballistic missiles.



The Sayyad-4 missile is very similar to the Russian-made 48N6E which is the missile used by the Russian S-300 air defense missile systems. The 48N6E is a vertical tube-launched, solid fuel, single-stage, long-range, Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) designed to engage aircraft, cruise missiles, UAVs, and Theater Ballistic Missiles (TBMs). It is able to operate in the clutter and jamming environment. 48N6E features high maneuverability, a fragmentation warhead, proximity fuse, and a semi-active radar guidance system.



Sayyad-4 surface-to-air missile of Bavar-373 air defense system (Picture source Defanews Iranian News Agency)

According to Iranian sources, the Bavar-373 can detect up to 300 targets at a time at a range of 300 kilometers, simultaneously tracking sixty of them and engaging six, whether aircraft or ballistic missiles. A battery of Bavar-373 includes up to six mobile launcher units with four ready to launch missiles, active electronically scanned array (AESA) engagement radar mounted on truck chassis, one acquisition radar operating in S-band frequencies mounted on 88 Zafar truck and a command-and-control using also an 88 Zafar truck chassis.

The Iranian defense company Iran Electronics Industries has listed the Meraj-4 as a component of the Bavar- 373 battery, which is a road-mobile S-band early warning 3D AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar. The manufacturer claims that the Meraj-4 radar has a detection range from 400 to 500 km, a tracking range of 200 km maximum, and a 360-degree azimuth.



Meraj-4 radar part of Bavar-373 air defense missile system (Picture source Twitter)



Command post truck of Bavar-373 (Picture source Defanews Iranian press agency)



Acquisition radar of Bavar-373 (Picture source Defanews Iranian press agency)
Georgian opposition parties have postponed todays demonstrations on election issues as six individuals, four minors and two women, died in a fire in Bagdati municipality yesterday.



Leader of the European Georgia opposition party Gigi Ugulava urged the ruling Georgian Dream party to also postpone the opening of the spring session in parliament today.



Ugulava said that demonstrations demanding the early transition to a proportional electoral system from this year will renew starting tomorrow at parliament and governmental buildings, Agenda.ge reported.



The opposition is demanding the 2020 elections to be held per the voting.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has struggled to explain how her party would finance a multi-billion-euro giveaway.

Ms McDonald also floundered when questioned last night about her party's links to the Provisional IRA and in particular its treatment of the family of murdered Paul Quinn.

She refused to ask her finance minister in the Northern Assembly, Conor Murphy, to apologise to Mr Quinn's grieving mother for suggesting he was involved in criminality.

An IRA gang are believed to be behind the brutal killing of the 21-year-old in Monaghan in 2007. Every bone in his body was broken after he was lured to a shed near Castleblayney.

Last night, Briege Quinn pleaded with voters: "I'm saying to the people: remember Paul Quinn when you are marking your X."

Popular

Expand Close Taoiseach Leo Varadkar meets people while on a general election campaign trail at Crescent Shopping Centre in Limerick City / Facebook

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Whatsapp Taoiseach Leo Varadkar meets people while on a general election campaign trail at Crescent Shopping Centre in Limerick City

However the latest opinion poll shows support for Sinn Fein is continuing to rise and they are now the most popular political party in the country. Ms McDonald is also the country's most popular leader five days out from the General Election.

The 'Irish Times'/Ipsos MRBI poll has Sinn Fein up four points to 25pc while Ms McDonald's personal satisfaction rating is up seven points to 41pc.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael is down three to 20pc and Fianna Fail has dropped two points to 23pc. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin's personal ratings are both at 30pc.

The Green Party are unchanged at 8pc and the Labour Party are down one to 4pc. Solidarity-People Before Profit is unchanged at 2pc, the Social Democrats are also stagnant at 2pc, Independents4Change are at 1pc, as are the Independent Alliance and Aontu.

The poll results came after Ms McDonald was robustly interviewed by Bryan Dobson on RTE television yesterday.

She was forced to defend her party's record in the North, including plans to increase the state pension age and massive hospital waiting lists.

And she admitted that the party's plan to raise 107m through a vacant site levy would see a large chunk of that windfall collected from local authorities.

She could not explain who would pay the 12bn subvention Northern Ireland receives from Westminster in the event of a united Ireland.

However, she said the British would "not walk off the pitch scot free".

Ms McDonald also said a Border poll was not a "red line" issue for her in government formation talks, although she added that the next administration should prepare for a referendum.

The interview came shortly after RTE did a U-turn and invited Ms McDonald to take part in a televised election debate along with Mr Varadkar and Mr Martin tonight.

The move followed a surge in support for Sinn Fein in recent polls.

However, Ms McDonald was under pressure last night over her grasp of her own election pledges.

Costing

She was asked to explain how her plans to increase the vacant site levy from 7pc to 15pc would raise 107m when last year it only raised 882,000.

Ms McDonald responded: "I'm not the costing unit of the department concerned."

She said she was aware most of the vacant sites being charged the levy are owned by local authorities and an increased charge could affect council services.

Under questioning, she also accepted the purpose of the levy was to release land, meaning that if it works, less revenue would be raised.

She also admitted that her party was given a free vote on increasing the state pension age to 66 in the North and decided to support the move due to concerns it would have on budgets.

She said keeping the pension age at 65 in the Republic, as they are promising, would have "blown a hole of 70m" in the Northern Assembly's budget.
ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images

Jeff Bezos and his chief of security on Monday accused the brother of Bezos girlfriend of trying to extort the Amazon chief after leaking his private text messages to the National Enquirer.

In a filing in California court, Bezos and his longtime personal security consultant, Gavin de Becker, claim that Michael Sanchez, the older brother of Bezos girlfriend, Lauren, is abusing the California legal system in an attempt to extract money from Bezos, the worlds wealthiest man. The case stems from Sanchezs leaks of text messages between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez to the National Enquirer, as first reported by The Daily Beast in early 2019.

Michael Sanchez filed a defamation lawsuit against Bezos and de Becker in California on Friday, accusing them of defaming him through public statements and comments to the press that implicated Sanchez in those leaks. Sanchez is seeking unspecified damages.

Extortion rears its head again in this lawsuit, this time not only aimed at Defendants but also directly threatening speech protected under the First Amendment, wrote William Isaacson, the attorney for Bezos and de Becker, in their Monday motion. By filing this lawsuit, Mr. Sanchez hopes to put himself back on the front pages and extract money from Defendants by leveraging the current media environment to harass them.

Saudi Crown Prince Appeared to Taunt Jeff Bezos Over Secret Affair Before Enquirer Expose

Bezos motion, and Sanchezs underlying lawsuit against him and de Becker, come a year almost to the day after Sanchez was revealed as the main source behind a huge Enquirer expose on Bezos affair with Lauren Sanchez. American Media Inc., the Enquirers parent company, has since confirmed that Michael Sanchez provided text messages between the couple that undergirded that story.

Sanchez has never denied that he provided those text messages, and in fact admitted in his lawsuit that he worked with AMI on its Bezos expose to get ahead of the story, as his lawsuit characterizes his involvement. The lawsuit also admits that AMI paid him $200,000 for information that informed the Enquirers reportingto cooperate strategically on the story, as the lawsuit puts it.

Story continues

The complaint Sanchez filed on Friday appears to be the third draft of the lawsuit. Two previous, unfiled versions, each drafted by different attorneys, were attached as exhibits to Bezos and de Beckers motion. One of those undated drafts even alleged violations of the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act by Bezos, de Becker, and Lauren Sanchezs ex-husband, Hollywood talent agent Patrick Whitesell, collectively referred to as the Jeff Bezos Protection Racket. Those allegations did not make it into the version of the lawsuit filed on Friday.

Bezos and de Beckers motion on Monday seeks to dismiss Sanchezs lawsuit under a California law that penalizes strategic lawsuits against public participation, commonly known by the acronym SLAPP. The law allows for the swift dismissal of frivolous lawsuits designed to stifle a defendants First Amendment rights.

Californias anti-SLAPP law is one of the strongest in the country, and has the most developed law surrounding it, according to Ken White, a former federal prosecutor in the state and now a partner at the Los Angeles law firm Brown, White & Osborn, LLP. Judges are quite familiar with it here and generally do not hesitate to grant the motions when warranted.

I think this turns on how competent Sanchezs lawyers are at opposing the SLAPP, White said of the anti-SLAPP motion in this case. The quantum of evidence needed to survive is very smallSanchez only needs to offer evidence that, if accepted as true, could possibly be enough. So, if they can get their act together more than they did in the poorly-drafted complaint, they could survive. But the defense has the upper hand.

At issue is reporting that revealed and detailed Sanchezs involvement in the Enquirer story. The Daily Beast first reported that Sanchez had provided the tabloid with Bezos text messages. The Wall Street Journal subsequently reported that Sanchez and AMI had a contractual agreement under which Sanchez would be paid $200,000 to provide the Enquirer with the text messages and photographs that informed its Bezos reporting.

It was Michael Sanchez who tipped the National Enquirer off to the affair on Sept. 10, 2018, and over the course of four months provided all of the materials for our investigation, AMI said in a March 2019 statement.

Sanchez has sought, in his lawsuit and public statements since last year, to deflect questions about his involvement by denying that he provided AMI with nude photographs of Bezos, which the Amazon chief claimed AMI had used in an attempt to extort him. Contrary to Sanchezs claims in his lawsuit, The Daily Beast never reported that Sanchez provided AMI with those photos.

The anti-SLAPP motion takes aim at that tactic directly. The Complaint fabricates defamatory statements to manufacture a basis for a lawsuit, Isaacson writes. Mr. Sanchez does this by inventing statements that are not anywhere within the materials he cites.

Sanchezs lawsuit also claims, inaccurately, that this publication sourced its reporting on Sanchez to Amazon investigators.

His lawsuit against Bezos and de Becker comes in the wake of reporting on a criminal inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the Enquirers Bezos reporting. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that federal prosecutors in New York have evidence that Lauren Sanchez provided communications with Bezos to her brother, who subsequently sold them to AMI.

A separate inquiry commissioned by de Becker and funded by Bezos has concluded with moderate to high confidence that the government of Saudi Arabia successfully hacked Bezos phone. That report did not conclude that any material in the Enquirers story had come from the Saudis.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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David Neal will leave his role as Future Fund chief executive at the end of this month to take up the top job at $148 billion fund manager IFM Investors.

Mr Neal joined the Future Fund in 2007, a year after the sovereign wealth fund was set up by then treasurer Peter Costello to manage $56 billion in public funds. He was promoted from chief investment officer to chief executive of the now $166 billion fund in 2014.

David Neal is departing the Future Fund to take up the top job at fund manager IFM. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

In a statement, Future Fund chairman Mr Costello praised Mr Neal for having done a "terrific job" in both roles.

"He has been instrumental in designing and implementing an investment strategy that has grown the Future Fund to its current value and in building a robust and effective organisation.
The Maharashtra government has taken adequate precautions to strictly monitor air passengers arriving here from the coronavirus-hit China and no confirmed case of the deadly infection has been reported from the state till now, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Tuesday.

There was no need to panic in the wake of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the neighbouring country and proper precautions are being taken to deal with any situation, he said.

People returning from abroad and showing symptoms of cold, cough and body ache were admitted in isolation wards of various hospitals in the state, including in Mumbai and Pune, Tope said.

Isolation wards have been set up in select hospitals at Mumbai, Pune and Nanded where dedicated teams of medical professionals are handling suspected cases of the viral infection, Tope said.

The Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) is analysing blood and swab samples of patients.

Meanwhile, health officials in Maharashtra on Tuesday claimed that till February 3 they have screened as many as 11,093 passengers arriving at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for the novel coronavirus.

The screening of passengers at the airport started on January 18, weeks after the first case of the virus was reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

"We have so far screened 11,093 passengers at the Mumbai international airport of which 107 had arrived from the virus-affected area of China.

"Officials found that 21 passengers experienced cough, cold and mild fever, symptoms similar to the novel coronavirus infection," a health department official said.

"These passengers were admitted to hospitals for observation. Out of these 21 passengers, 19 have been discharged but are being tracked for some days as a part of standard procedure," he said.

"Of the two patients, one each is admitted in hospitals in Pune and Miraj town of Sangli district. Their swab samples have been sent to the NIV for analysis and results are awaited," the official said.

"All samples generated and examined till now have tested negative," he said.

The 107 passengers returning from the virus-affected area of China were put under mandatory 14-day daily telephonic follow-up process which was completed on February 3, the official said.

Air passengers who returned from China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand, and underwent thermal screening hailed from various parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Pune, Ahmednagar, Thane, Nanded, Buldhana, Nagpur, Wardha and Sangli, he said.

"All suspected passengers are being followed up on a daily basis and details of their health are being noted down," the official said.

The coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has killed people in China is a novel strain and not seen before.

Common symptoms of the novel coronavirus strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the WHO.

So far, the disease has killed more than 400 people in China and infected a further 20,000, nearly all of them in Hubei, a province in central part of the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Japanese pianist Yuhki Kuramoto poses in this undated photo. Courtesy of Yuhki Kuramoto



By Park Ji-won



Japanese new age pianist and composer Yuhki Kuramoto says his difficult past didn't bring him down, but rather helped him find his passion for music.



"When I was a teenager, it was difficult to continue practicing piano as I had no piano at home (because my parents went bankrupt,)" Kuramoto, one of the most renowned pianists, told The Korea Times in a recent email interview.



"However, while playing the cello, I was able to play the piano on behalf of harp as a member of school orchestra in my middle and high schools I learned how to play the piano with other musical instruments there which was lucky for me to learn the ensemble being surrounded by good friends and a teacher."



Kuramoto became famous among Koreans in the 1990s when the Korean government lifted its ban on Japanese cultural content. His music started to be used in various TV commercials and his nature-inspired soft and melodic sound resonated with many Koreans. Since then, he has participated in various composition projects with Korean media, and visits here more than five times a year for concerts.



His success, however, didn't come overnight. He didn't go to music school and ended up studying applied physics at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, one of the most prestigious universities in Japan, as he thought he would not be able to make money out of music.



However, he didn't give up playing the piano, spending countless nights practicing at the university. He dreamed to become a pianist.



"There was a piano in the university which was for the student orchestra and chorus. I played the piano as much as I could. It is not something advisable, but I missed many classes to play the piano. (Sometimes I started practicing at 9 a.m. and finished at 5 p.m.) I did so because I was purely motivated by the self-determination that I want to become a better pianist."



Studying physics, however, wasn't a waste of time, but it was a detour to his current career, he recalls.



"Music was one of my hobbies before getting into the university. My knowledge of physics is helping me understand instruments and harmony. And my knowledge of electronics is helping me understand recording and synthesizers. But spending a lot of time studying them was a detour to my music career."



He was able to make money out of playing popular music in his first year at university and bought his own piano. Juggling two jobs as a physicist and pianist for a while, he decided to become a full-time musician and became actively engaged in composing music.



Kuramoto maintains his enthusiasm for his musical professional, spending most of his time composing or arranging and playing his music while being inspired by various things such as classical music and traveling.



"I spend most of my time composing and arranging new music and playing my music. But I spend more time on the arrangement before concerts Above all, I was inspired by classical music. Not only did I listen to it, but also I played and analyzed it. Because I am not a machine, I also create some time to fill my soul with nutrition. I get inspiration while travelling or walking in nature. I also think it is good to go to a random street and watch movies, performances and reading books Sometime I play jazz to get inspired."



He pledged to remain trying to heal people with his new age music.



"Music becomes meaningful when people listen to it. In the future, I will continue to make new albums and hold concerts in various places. My music is soft and calm, so I hope many people will be able to heal their lives through it.




WINNIPEGThe former scientific director of Canadas National Microbiology Laboratory who had experimental brain surgery to battle alcoholism has died.

Dr. Francis (Frank) Plummer, a world-renowned microbiologist and infectious-disease expert, was 67.

He was a scientific maverick, Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, tweeted on Tuesday.

Plummer was a mentor, she said, who helped set up and make the national laboratory in Winnipeg a world-class institution.

Plummer was at the helm of the lab during the SARS, influenza and H1N1 epidemics, as well as during the development of an Ebola vaccine.

Prior to his time at the lab, Plummers research shaped public health policy around the world. He built a world-class research operation in Kenya, where he observed a particular group of women who had a natural immunity to HIV-1. That discovery provided important information for HIV vaccine and drug development.

He was admired and regarded highly by academics and researchers around the world, and his legacy of seeking to develop an HIV vaccine remains one of the landmarks of infectious disease prevention, University of Manitoba president David Barnard said in a statement.

His contributions have had a cumulative global impact on saving the lives of tens of thousands of people for decades and also improving the lives of HIV positive people around the world, added Digvir Jayas, the universitys vice-president of research.

Plummer was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2006 and a member of the Order of Manitoba three years later. He received numerous prestigious awards throughout his career, including the Flavelle Medal from the Royal Society of Canada in 2018 for his contributions to biological science.

Plummer had recently shared his own battle with alcoholism. In an article he wrote for Torontos Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Plummer explained how he began to drink scotch to to celebrate, relax and deal with stress, anxiety, disappointment and grief.

After decades of drinking, attempts at quitting and a liver transplant, Plummer decided to get experimental treatment using deep brain stimulation in 2018.

Having committed my career to medical science and human health I saw this study as one more way to make a contribution  this time, literally using my brain! Plummer wrote.

Keith Fowke, head of medical microbiology and infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba, was a grad student under Plummers tutelage when they made the major discovery in Kenya. They later became close friends and colleagues.

Fowke said as a scientist or a research participant, Plummer always wanted to help people.

He was always focused on truth and knowledge and making the world a better place, Fowke said.

Fowke described his friend as warm and kind. He called Plummer a loving father and husband who enjoyed having his friends over for dinner.

He wanted everyone to know he was a proud Winnipegger and a proud Canadian, and that all of us can make important globally significant contributions.
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, speaks while his wife Jill Biden listens during a caucus night watch party in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020.

Joe Biden's campaign tried to reassure donors on Tuesday that the former vice president is on track to win the Nevada caucus and the South Carolina primary, just a day after the Iowa caucus was derailed by vote-counting glitches.

On a conference call with some top donors just hours after the Iowa contest concluded, campaign officials said they were confident they can win the two votes scheduled for the end of the month, according to people familiar with the call, who declined to be named as the conversation was deemed private.

The call left the donors feeling positive about Biden's efforts in those two states, according to the people. The Nevada caucuses are set for Feb. 22, and the South Carolina primary is a week later.

While official results hadn't been released Monday night or Tuesday morning, there were reports and entrance polling data suggesting that Biden had not performed as well as his top three rivals, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Biden's advisors stressed to donors that they're not convinced Buttigieg won the Iowa caucuses, despite his claim Monday night, these people added. They also pushed the notion that turnout wasn't as high as Sanders had hoped for. An NBC News entrance poll shows that turnout was slightly below 2016's total.

Biden aides started sharing similar sentiments to donors late Monday, the people familiar with the matter added.

The Iowa Democratic Party has been under scrutiny since the delay of releasing the data that would show who won the caucuses. The state party released a statement on Tuesday saying its on track to release much of the results Tuesday and acknowledged that a technical glitch was the cause for the delay. Party leaders in the state told campaigns on Tuesday they will release the majority of the results by 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Ballia: A mahant (head priest) of the Nath sect escaped narrowly and a priest accompanying him was injured when two unidentified men pelted stones at their vehicle in Ballia district. The incident occurred near Mundera village late on Monday (February 3) when Mahant Kaushalendra Giri, along with Tunna Baba, were on their way to a wedding in their SUV, when about half a dozen people accosted them and pelted stones at their vehicle.

Giri escaped with minor injuries and Tunna Baba was also injured. Their SUV was severely damaged. He heads the Matth in the Rasada area and is said to be close to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who heads the Nath sect at Goraksh Peeth in Gorakhpur.

Inspector Surendra Nath said a case has been registered against unidentified people following a complaint by Giri.

The incident comes two days after another Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha leader Ranjit Bachchan was shot dead by unknown assailants in Lucknow. Even after two days of the incident, the Lucknow police have not yet been able to zero in on the killers of Ranjit Bachchan.

Based on the CCTV footage, the police have released images of two youths, wrapped in blankets, who were seen near the site of the crime. The police have announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for clues about the killers.
Two persons, including a woman, were booked for allegedly duping their former employer, an outsourcing company, of around 90,000 by using the companys funds and resources to stay at a hotel room in Bahrain, the police said on Sunday.

According to the police, the complainant company is based in Udyog Vihar. While one of the suspects joined it in September 2017 and the other in May 2016. Both of them left the company in June and February 2019 respectively.

In the police complaint, the company alleged that it was managing the outsourcing business of a leading pan -European travel company. The incident took place on September 5, 2019, when the complainant company received an email from its accounts department informing the management about the stay of the suspects at a hotel in Bahrain.

The company, in the FIR, alleged that the suspects checked in the hotel on August 31, 2019, and later left the room without informing the hotels staff. It further accused the two employees of a variety of criminal offences, including, stealing the confidential business information of complainant for personal benefit, embezzlement of funds from of complainant by excess booking and swindling the business of the complainant, dishonest misappropriation of the funds from the complainant towards personal and wrongful gain, illegal diversion of the funds of the complainant, illegal and unauthorized use of the resource and property of the complainant, illegal and unauthorized possession of confidential business information, login ID, data, user codes, passwords and data of the complainant and illegal and unauthorized disclosure of confidential and sensitive information of the complainant to third parties for personal and wrongful gains (sic)

A police official privy to the investigation said, We have registered a case and are verifying the claims of the complainant company. A case was registered against the suspects under Section 66D of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act and Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Cyber police station on Saturday.

In a separate incident, a 30-year-old man was duped of 20,000 after an unidentified man allegedly used a fake profile on a social media platform and asked for a loan in Dundahera village, the police said on Sunday. The unidentified man allegedly used the pictures and name of one of the friends of the 30-year-old.

According to the police, Ankur Sharma, the victim, alleged that the suspect sent him a message on the social media platform, impersonating his friend, and asked for 20,000 as a loan. He then allegedly transferred him the money through an e-wallet mobile application. The incident took place in September 2019.

A police official privy to the investigation said, Sharma later realised that the suspect was using a fake profile ID and approached the police. We are yet to identify the suspect and arrest him.
She's currently trying to find long-term romance on E4 show Celebs Go Dating.

But Amy Hart may not need to look much further after she was spotted having a backstage laugh with newly single Strictly Come Dancing pro Giovanni Pernice.

The pair were seen getting to know each other at the National Television Awards on January 28th at London's O2 arena, two days before he announced his split from girlfriend of one year Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts.

NTA's romance? Amy Hart was spotted chatting with newly single Strictly Come Dancing pro Giovanni Pernice, 29, at the NTA's last Tuesday at London's O2 arena

Dressed in bridal chic at the awards ceremony the Love Island star, 27, looked cheerful as she chatted with 29-year old Giovanni at the annual event.

The pair were surrounded by a larger group of guests as they chatted backstage at the cavernous venue.

Taking to Twitter to share the news of his split on Thursday Giovanni wrote: 'Ashley Roberts and I have made the decision to separate as a couple. We remain friends and wish each other well for the future.'

Chatting: The pair were seen getting to know each other before he announced his split from girlfriend of one year Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts

Despite his last girlfriend having blonde hair Giovanni recently announced that he 'doesn't like blondes', while speaking on Made in Chelsea's Jamie Laing and Francis Boulle's Private Parts podcast.

When Jamie joked that he and Giovanni know each other because they 'hooked up' during a trip to South Africa, Giovanni replied: 'Can you imagine? That makes me feel sick.

'I don't like blondes. He's not my cup of tea. We met on Strictly when he got injured.'

Giovanni and Ashley began dating in 2018, after she appeared on Strictly Come Dancing.

Getting on: Giovanni was animated as he told a story to Amy while holding his phone while she listened intently

Single and mingling: Amy looked away while Giovanni appeared to reach out towards her hair, the Love Island star wore a pair of diamond drop earrings and a statement diamond necklace

Ashley was partnered with Pasha Kovalev at the time, while Giovanni danced on the show with Steps star Faye Tozer.

They chose to keep their relationship under wraps, despite mounting speculation, and were first pictured kissing outside a nightclub in Miami in December 2018.

Ashley and Giovanni both later confirmed their romance on Instagram - and Giovanni had seemed smitten with his dancer ex, writing in one post: 'I never thought anyone would ever make me smile, laugh and steal my heart as fast as you did !! I love you amore.'

All over: Giovanni Pernice announced his split with Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts on Twitter on Thursday (pictured together in October)

Since splitting both have appeared to delete all traces of the other from their pages, Ashley is yet to comment on the break up

Meanwhile Amy has taken her dating life into her own hands by signing up for the upcoming series of Celebs Go Dating.

The star, who walked from the Love Island prematurely after being left heartbroken Curtis Pritchard, will join Celebs Go dating along side The Only Way is Essex star Amy Childs, Made in Chelseas Olivia Bentley and TV presenter Alison Hammond.
America has added a low-yield nuclear warhead to its submarine fleet - the first major addition to its arsenal in decades.

The warhead, which has less explosive power than the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima during the Second World War, is thought to have been fitted into Trident missiles on board long-range 'boomer' submarine USS Tennessee last year.

Military chiefs previously said the weapon will add an extra layer of deterrence for countries such as Russia, which was thought to be developing tactics that involved the use of small-scale nukes in the event of a war in Europe.

Deploying its own small-scale nukes would allow the US to strike back against Russia without fears of causing widespread collateral damage, analysts argued.

The US military has fitted a small-scale nuclear warhead to Trident missiles on board nuclear submarine USS Tennessee (file image), the first major upgrade to its arsenal in decades

Supporters of the strategy say this lowers the threat of nuclear war, because Russia will be less likely to use nukes in the first place if they know a response is primed.

Opponents of the strategy say low-yield nukes are potentially more dangerous than high-yield nukes, because leaders will be more likely to use them even thought their destructive capabilities go far beyond conventional explosives.

The warhead itself - thought to be the W76-2 - is not new to the US arsenal, though its deployment on long-range subs, also known as 'boomers', is.

W76-2 has an explosive yield of 5kilotons of TNT, a third the size of the Little Boy bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima but still 450 times larger than the Mother Of All Bombs - the most powerful conventional weapon in the US arsenal.

The MOAB was dropped on an ISIS tunnel network in Afghanistan in 2017.

The W76-2 warhead is thought to have been mounted on two Trident II missiles on board the USS Tennessee in the final weeks of 2019 before it deployed to Atlantic.

Each Trident missile can carry up to eight warheads, though it is unclear how many warheads were mounted in total.

Bombs armed with the W76-2 warhead were previously mounted on long-range US bombers, but there were fears this would not allow them to be deployed quickly enough in the event of a Russian strike.

Bombers would also be unlikely to penetrate current Russian air defenses, critics of the plan argued.

The warhead will add an extra layer of deterrence to Russia, which was thought to be developing tactics that involved the use of small-scale nukes in a potential war in Europe (file)

The Federation of American Scientists first reported the deployment, which was confirmed by the Pentagon on Tuesday.

John Rood, the undersecretary of defense for policy, said in an AP interview Monday that adding the 'low-yield' warhead, known as the W76-2, to submarines which tote Trident II ballistic missiles lowers the risk of nuclear war.

He said the United States will continue its stated policy of using nuclear weapons only in 'extraordinary circumstances.'

He also said the warhead will help the United States dissuade Russia from risking launching a limited nuclear conflict.

'This supplemental capability strengthens deterrence and provides the United States a prompt, more survivable low-yield strategic weapon,' Rood said.

He added that it supports the U.S. commitment to deter attacks against allies, and 'demonstrates to potential adversaries that there is no advantage to limited nuclear employment because the United States can credibly and decisively respond to any threat scenario.'

Adding the W76-2 fits President Donald Trump's stated interest in beefing up the nuclear arsenal, although he has not commented on this specific weapon.

His administration is committed to a broader, costly modernization of the nuclear force after Obama's policy of lessening America's reliance on nuclear weapons in favor of conventional arms.

The essence of critics' argument against the low-yield weapon is that it makes the world less safe because it offers decision-makers another option for using a nuclear weapon in a conflict that could then escalate to a full-blown nuclear war.

They also contend that lower-yield air-launched nuclear weapons already in the U.S. arsenal make the W76-2 redundant.

Rood, however, said the submarine-launched low-yield missile is important because it can more reliably penetrate air defenses than could an airplane armed with nuclear weapons.

Supporters of the move say it makes nuclear war less likely overall because Russia will be less likely to use any nukes if it knows the US has a response primed. Critics say low-yield nukes could lead to a tit-for-tat escalation that spirals into use of bigger bombs (file image)

The W76-2 is the Trump administration's answer to what it calls a Russian misconception of an exploitable 'gap' in U.S. nuclear capabilities.

By deploying missiles at sea with a lower nuclear yield, or destructive power, the administration aims to dissuade Moscow from thinking it could 'win' a war in Europe, for example, by firing its own low-yield nuclear weapon first, forcing Washington and its NATO allies to either commit to full-scale nuclear war or capitulate.

The newly deployed warhead was produced by modifying the W76.

Last February the administration said it expected to have the new version ready for use by late 2019.

The W76-2 has been fitted atop an undisclosed number of Trident ballistic missiles carried aboard the Navy's Ohio-class submarines.

This submarine fleet, split between bases at Bangor, Washington, and King's Bay, Georgia, represents one leg of the U.S. nuclear 'triad,' along with the Air Force's long-range B-2 and B-52 bombers and land-based Minuteman 3 missiles.

The newest addition to the arsenal comes amid important shifts in the U.S.-Russia strategic relationship.

Doubts are growing that the Trump administration will accept Moscow's offer to extend the New START arms control treaty before it expires next February.

It is the only remaining treaty limiting the number of U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapons.

Rood noted that deploying the new lower-yield missiles has not increased the total number of American weapons under the New START limits because each of the warheads replaces one of the more powerful versions that had been exclusively deployed aboard the subs.

Bruce Blair, a former Air Force nuclear weapons officer and co-founder of Global Zero, an international group that advocates the elimination of nuclear arms, said he sees merit in reducing the destructive power of nuclear arsenals.

'But we must not delude ourselves into thinking lower-yield nukes are more usable in a conflict,' he said.

'Any use of this sea-based weapon -- either first or second -- will risk stoking the flames of conflict and escalating to all-out nuclear war.

'A wiser response to an enemy's use of one or two low-yield nukes would be to refrain from nuclear escalation while unleashing America's ferocious and decisive conventional juggernaut.'

Blair, who testified to Congress last year in opposition to the new weapon, also argues that the rationale has been overtaken by events.

The Russians, in his view, have shifted their focus to non-nuclear means, including with cyberweapons, of striking primarily Western civilian infrastructure.

'Instead of using small numbers of tactical nukes to frighten the U.S. and NATO into suing for peace, the Russians today plan to paralyze civilian financial, energy, communications and transportation grids to incite NATO populations to demand an end to hostilities,' he said.

The Trump administration moved quickly to produce and deploy the new weapon after announcing its intentions in a nuclear policy document published two years ago this month.

Opposition in Congress was led by Rep. Adam Smith, a Washington Democrat who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

The House version of the 2020 defense bill prohibited deployment of the modified warhead, but that was dropped in the final version passed by Congress and signed by Trump in December.

'I maintain that this is one weapon that will not add to our national security but would only increase the risk of miscalculation with dire consequences,' Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said in Senate floor speech in December.
From New York to London to Dubai to Sydney, Bacardi Goes Back to the Bar and Releases the Bacardi Cocktail Trends Report Showcasing What's Stirring in 2020

This Thursday, 7,000 Bacardi employees across the globe will turn on their "out of office" message to go out on the town and visit bars in more than 100 cities, all in the name of spotting what's new and next for cocktails. The activity, called Back to the Bar, brings everyone at Bacardi together for a day of "barstool research" with bartenders who are the trend spotters and tastemakers of the spirits business and a direct link to consumers. According to Nielsen CGA, 40% of revenue in bars is influenced by bartenders as they are the go-to experts to help you pick your drink.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005256/en/

Bacardi employees go Back to the Bar to spark conversations about cocktails and culture. (Photo: Business Wire)

As part of the third iteration of Back to the Bar, the largest privately-held spirits company sheds light on what's creating excitement for bartenders with the release of the Bacardi 2020 Cocktail Trends Report. The report highlights trends based on insights captured from a survey Bacardi ran with bartenders and bar ambassadors in 2019, as well as third-party research from the world's leading consumer insights firms.

"Back to the Bar tradition is a time when everyone across the company, regardless of day job, becomes an ambassador and a researcher by going back to where our business is made the local bars and restaurants," says Mahesh Madhavan, CEO of family-owned Bacardi Limited. "We are in the relationship business and I never miss an opportunity to talk to a bartender or our consumers to learn what they're seeing and what they think will be the next big thing."

As the company celebrates its 158th anniversary this week, Back to the Bar also commemorates the company's legacy of a founder's mentality and entrepreneurial spirit. For seven generations, the family-owned business has instilled a belief that brands are built in bars, not boardrooms. Everyone at Bacardi participates in this "roll-up your sleeves" approach to data collection and serves as influencers by talking to friends, family, and consumers about the brands.

"In an era where people are flooded with data, there is no substitute for putting feet on the street and seeing first-hand what's happening at the bar," says Jacob Briars, Global Advocacy Director at Bacardi. "When something excites the bartenders, we know that it is a matter of time before we start to see a shift in the mindset and behavior of our guests."

Among the findings of the Bacardi 2020 Cocktail Trends Report are that:

Mindful drinking goes mainstream, with 83% of bartenders citing that low-alcohol drinks are hot and an increase of 42% in the online searches with the word 'mocktail' in 2019. (Technomic Behind the Bar Insights, 2019 and Google Trends, 2019)

Natural products are in the spotlight with 31% of bartenders increasingly interested in local, fresh ingredients. (Global Brand Ambassador Survey (GBAS), 2019)

The culinary cocktail trend borrows methods and techniques from the kitchen and champions fresh, seasonal, savory and herbal ingredients 91% of bartenders use vegetables in their cocktails, and 68% of American Culinary Federation members rated culinary cocktail as a 'hot trend' last year. (Technomic Behind the Bar Insights, 2019)

Dark rum is leading the premium game 43% of bartenders ranked it as the top spirit to premiumize. (GBAS, 2019)

Sustainability is at the forefront of every consumer's mind, and it's reflected in the bar 66% of bartenders mention that sustainable drinks are hot right now. (Technomic Behind the Bar Insights, 2019)

Ready-To-Drink (RTD) cocktails are here to stay, reflecting the overarching demand for consistent and convenient well-crafted cocktails beyond the bar there was a 26% increase of vodka soda and flavored RTDs in North America last year. (GBAS, 2019)

38% of Americans prefer to make their cocktails at home, and the industry has quickly adapted, offering consumers myriad ways to facilitate at-home imbibing, from home cocktail kits to AI-recommended recipes. (Mintel, 2019)

Click here to access the complete Bacardi 2020 Cocktail Trends Report

About Bacardi Limited

Bacardi Limited, the largest privately held spirits company in the world, produces and markets internationally recognized spirits and wines. The Bacardi Limited brand portfolio comprises more than 200 brands and labels, including BACARDI rum, GREY GOOSE vodka, PATRON tequila, DEWAR'S Blended Scotch whisky, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE gin, MARTINI vermouth and sparkling wines, CAZADORES 100% blue agave tequila, and other leading and emerging brands including WILLIAM LAWSON'S Scotch whisky, ST-GERMAIN elderflower liqueur, and ERISTOFF vodka. Founded more than 158 years ago in Santiago de Cuba, family-owned Bacardi Limited currently employs more than 7,000, operates more than 20 production facilities in 11 countries, and sells its brands in more than 170 countries. Bacardi Limited refers to the Bacardi group of companies, including Bacardi International Limited. Visit www.bacardilimited.com or follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005256/en/

Contacts:

For more information and interview opportunities, please contact:

Elaine Fintel

Nike Communications

Account Supervisor

efintel@nikecomm.com



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Nike Communications

Assistant Account Executive

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Farmers and the wider public are using the whole of February to celebrate all things dairy and the work that goes behind the humble glass of milk.

The initiative launched on on 1 February and sees the hashtag #Februdairy as the main focal point across social media platforms.

Farmers and the public have been sharing tweets, Instagram photos and Facebook posts using to promote dairy to a wider audience.

Yorkshire farmer Victoria Hudson said the month is exciting because it gives British farmers the chance to showcase dairy.

Welcome everyone to #Februdairy ??????

An exciting month showcasing dairy from around the world & sibling industries incl beef from dairy, dairy small ruminants, dairy foods, fabulous dairy people, tech & umpteen calf photos?? pic.twitter.com/o1aeYf98hE  Victoria Hudson (@vet_vickyhudson) February 1, 2020

Dairy farmer Tracy Hodgson used the hashtag to explain how her family have been producing milk for generations.

Meanwhile, plenty of posts have highlighted how the nation often wakes up to dairy - be it a cup of tea, a glass of milk or fresh British yogurt.

A fab start to the day (and week) thanks to UK dairy farmers; yum! #Februdairy pic.twitter.com/oGXfLggcPI  Sam Gayton (@SamGayton) February 3, 2020

It's #Februdairy! Whether it's in a glass, cup of tea or bowl of cereal, milk remains a firm household favourite! Lets thank and support all the dairy farmers who make this possible ????? pic.twitter.com/5S6ydX2Nxz  Devenish (@DevenishNutri) February 1, 2020

Farmer Jim Breary gathered a lot of attention when he congratulated retailer Aldi for including nutritional information on its milk cartons.

The brainchild behind the initiative, livestock sustainability consultant Dr Jude Capper, said those who choose to consume dairy should be entitled to celebrate.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A team of researchers from a host of institutions in Singapore and China has found that there are genetic differences between some lung cancer tumors in East Asians versus Europeans. In their paper published in the journal Nature Genetics, the group describes their analysis of tumors from East Asian and European lung cancer patients and what they found.

Lung cancer is the deadliest type of cancer worldwide and prior studies have shown that it exhibits strong ancestral disparities. In this new effort, the researchers sought to isolate such differences to find out if doing so might lead to new therapies for the different tumor types.

The work by the team involved sequencing the transcriptomes and exomes from tumors removed from 213 Chinese lung cancer patients being treated in Singapore. They combined their results with genetic tumor data for 92 additional Chinese patients from a BGI cohort. They then compared the genetic information from the combined set with similar data for 305 Europeans in the Cancer Genome Atlas. Doing so revealed what the researchers describe as differences in "tumor mutational burden (TMB)." TMB is a biomarker identified as having a major impact on cancer immunotherapy. The marker is a measure of the number of mutations found in a tumor. More specifically, the researchers found that the tumors from the East Asian patients had fewer genetic alterationsthey had an average TMB of 2.04 per Mb, whereas the Europeans had an average TMB of 5.08 per Mb. They note that the TMB averages were different for patients who smoked, but were still lower for the East Asian patients. They also found that the nature of driver mutations and their number also differed between tumors from the two groups of patients.

The transcriptomic profiles of the tumor samples also showed that two of three cancer subclusters were similar to terminal respiratory unit and proximal inflammatory subclusters that had been seen in European patients before. The third subcluster was specific to just East Asian patients. This finding suggests that it might be possible to identify which patients would respond better to different therapies. The researchers also found that genetic differences could be linked to predictions of survival rates. Predictions for those with East Asian tumor characteristics were more accurate than for those with European characteristicslikely because they had tumors with a more stable genome.

Explore further Revealed an alteration related to the loss of effectiveness of a treatment in lung cancer

More information: Jianbin Chen et al. Genomic landscape of lung adenocarcinoma in East Asians, Nature Genetics (2020). Journal information: Nature Genetics Jianbin Chen et al. Genomic landscape of lung adenocarcinoma in East Asians,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41588-019-0569-6

 2020 Science X Network
Dubai: Flights carrying patients needing urgent medical attention began from the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Monday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, a long-sought confidence-building measure in diplomatic efforts to end the five-year war.

Fifteen-year-old Abdallah Abed was one of 16 patients on the first flight to Amman.

"I have kidney failure and I need a transplant," he said. "God willing we travel today to Jordan for treatment."

A Yemeni boy waves from inside a bus before boarding a United Nations plane at Sanaa International airport. Eight patients and their families were flown to Egypt and Jordan to receive life-saving specialised care. Credit:AP

Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Iran-aligned Houthis ousted the government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi from Sanaa in late 2014. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore Hadi.
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Montcalm Capital announces the successful close of Montcalm Capital Fund I LPs investment in CLEARAS Water Recovery, Inc. CLEARAS is a leading provider of sustainable wastewater treatment technology.

Montcalm Capitals CLEARAS investment demonstrates Montcalms vision of financing structures that benefit both companies and investors. Montcalm provided non-dilutive capital that will enable CLEARAS to build out environmentally sensitive wastewater treatment facilities for a number of municipalities. Montcalm Capital Funds investors were attracted by the yield and predictability of the offering as well as the mission and power of the CLEARAS non-chemical, closed-loop technology.

Montcalm Capital was founded in 2018 to address the market need for a greater range of financing solutions tailored for companies solving global challenges. Montcalm focuses on investments in five sectors: clean energy, water, women, food, and health.

CLEARAS was introduced to Montcalm when they were first investigating raising a traditional equity round of financing. We met with Holly (Ruxin) and Dave (Cooper) and found an exciting alignment, says Jordan Lind, CEO of CLEARAS. We decided to work with Montcalm because we could create an offering that would be supportive of our companys long-term health, nondilutive, and attractive to investors.

We are immensely grateful to CLEARAS for their partnership, says Dave Cooper, Montcalm Capital Co-Founder and General Partner. They have been instrumental in proving out and developing the Montcalm financing concept, and we have many partners creating innovative, sustainable global solutions who will only benefit. Montcalm invested in CLEARAS because of its environmental solutions and its commitment to all of its stakeholders. Montcalm Capital has a portfolio of mission-driven companies totaling $100M in positive impact investment opportunities with attractive returns.

Montcalm Capital grew out of Montcalm TCR, a holistic private wealth management firm founded in 2012 by Holly Ruxin. Montcalm TCR creates smarter equations for long-term personal financial well-being by emphasizing authentic relationships and sophisticated investing. Many Montcalm wealth management clients seek opportunities to invest in positive impact companies, and Montcalm Capital investments are designed to address this interest.

Montcalm is a family of innovation companies building finance infrastructure to provide enriching financial services for people, communities, companies, and the planet. In addition to Montcalm Capital and Montcalm TCR, the Montcalm Trevor Foundation enables economic empowerment through health, education, and finance innovation.

About Montcalm Capital

Montcalm Capital is an advisory and investment firm dedicated to the success of companies delivering beneficial environmental and social impact. Through the Montcalm Capital Fund I LP, Montcalm provides innovative capital solutions that support the long-term sustainability of inspiring companies. Our investment opportunities are well-suited for a wide range of investors seeking financial returns with transparent and positive impact. Montcalm is transforming the flow of capital to provide prosperity for all stakeholders.

http://montcalmcapital.com

About CLEARAS

CLEARAS Water Recovery, Inc. is a leading provider of sustainable wastewater treatment technology. Municipal and industrial dischargers leverage Advanced Biological Nutrient Recovery (ABNRTM) to cost-effectively recover phosphorus, nitrogen, and other constituents. Benefits include reuse-quality water, recycled carbon dioxide, and a valuable plant-based biomaterial byproduct.

https://www.clearaswater.com

Contact:

Suzanne Andrews

info@montcalmcapital.com

(415) 326-7640

LinkedIn: Montcalm Capital
New Delhi: Three days ahead of polling, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will release its manifesto for the Delhi Assembly election on Tuesday. Congress and BJP both have already released their manifestos for the polls.

In January, AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had released `Kejriwal Ka Guarantee Card` which included promises to continue 200 units of free electricity, Mohalla marshals and 24x7 clean water to every resident of the national capital.

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The AAP chief had said that his government would continue the existing 20,000 litres free water and promised to provide 24-hour clean water in the next five years.

Polling on 70 Assembly seats of Delhi will be held on February 8 and the counting of votes will take place on February 11.
* China markets recover after a $400 bln wipeout * Singapore index posts best session since Sept. 11, 2019 * Malaysian equities set to snap 10 sessions of losses By Shruti Sonal Feb 4 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets rebounded on Tuesday, tracking a recovery in China stocks amid official efforts to calm virus fears, while surprise strength in U.S. manufacturing activity also lent support. The Shangai Composite index recovered some lost ground, following a $400 billion wipeout on Monday, after China said it would welcome assistance from the United States to fight a coronavirus outbreak. Analysts believe that the slowing rate of new confirmed cases outside China will help mitigate investor anxiety. However, Hong Kong reported its first fatality on Tuesday, marking the second death outside mainland China and taking the total number of coronavirus deaths in China to 425, as of the end of Monday, from 20,438 cases. "Stimulus measures from the Chinese central bank may have also helped sentiment as well, with other central banks possibly conducting their own measures to cushion the impending economic impact," ING senior economist Nicholas Mapa said. Southeast Asian markets have also taken comfort in a surprisingly solid reading of U.S. manufacturing, which rebounded in January after contracting for five straight months amid a surge in new orders. Domestic manufacturing data helped trade-reliant Singapore shares rebound from sharp losses in the previous session, with the index marking its best session since Sept. 11 last year. The city-state's manufacturing data https://sipmm.edu.sg/about-sipmm-academy/singapore-pmi rose to 50.3 in January, its second month of expansion after six straight months of contraction, the Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM) showed. Financials and industrials led gains in the index, with Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd jumping nearly 3%. Leading gains in the region, the Philippine benchmark climbed 1.8%, buoyed by index heavyweight Globe Telecom Inc that jumped more than 4% after posting an increase in full-year net income. Malaysian shares were on track to snap 10 straight sessions of losses ahead of December trade data due later in the day. Analysts at ING expect a continuation of moderation in the country's exports, which contracted 5.5% in November from a year-ago period, slower than October's fall of 6.7%. Indonesian equities and Thai stocks were up as much as 1% and 0.6% respectively, while the Vietnam index dropped nearly 0.7%. For Asian Companies click SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS at 0400 GMT Change on the day Market Current Previous close Pct Move Singapore 3157.07 3116.31 1.31 Bangkok 1506.41 1496.06 0.69 Manila 7249.78 7137.03 1.58 Jakarta 5930.226 5884.17 0.78 Kuala Lumpur 1542.56 1521.95 1.35 Ho Chi Minh 922.06 928.14 -0.66 Change so far in 2020 Market Current End 2019 Pct Move Singapore 3157.07 3222.83 -2.04 Bangkok 1506.41 1579.84 -4.65 Manila 7249.78 7,815.26 -7.24 Jakarta 5930.226 6,299.54 -5.86 Kuala Lumpur 1542.56 1588.76 -2.91 Ho Chi Minh 922.06 960.99 -4.05 (Reporting by Shruti Sonal; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
President Donald Trump easily won the 2020 Iowa Republican Caucuses in his reelection bid.

The Associated Press called the Republican caucuses for Trump at 7:26 p.m. Central Time, 26 minutes after voting began on Monday.

Trump faces primary challenges from former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price speaks during the Iowa Democratic Party's Liberty and Justice Celebration in Des Moines, Iowa, on Nov. 1, 2019. (Nati Harnik/AP Photo)

Iowa Democratic Caucus Results to Start Being Released by 5 PM

The Iowa Democratic Party told presidential campaigns on Tuesday that it would start releasing results from Mondays caucuses by 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

We are going to release the majority of results that we have by 4 [CT] p.m. today, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price told campaigns in a conference call.

Results were initially scheduled to start being released on Monday night but were delayed because of coding issues plaguing an application that was developed for the caucuses, Price said in a statement on Tuesday.

The app delivered only partial results but the underlying data was sound and the app was recording data accurately, Price said in the statement.

Paper documentation of the caucuses was used to verify the data from the application and precinct heads were manually reporting results to the party, causing the delay.

Price spoke with campaigns on Tuesday afternoon over the phone.

People participate in a 2020 Democratic caucus at a fire station in Kellogg, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 2020. (Brenna Norman/Reuters)

We have always said that we have a paper trail in this process, Price told campaigns on a briefing call. Weve always had to chase down results.

Price declined to answer pointed questions from frustrated campaign representatives about when the party would release the full results or how it could ensure their integrityeven whether it would be a matter of days or weeks.

The problems started on Monday night as candidates waited for results to be reported. Iowa Democratic Party spokeswoman Mandy McClure said in an initial statement that results were delayed due to quality checks and in a later statement said there were inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results.

Price said Tuesday that as precinct caucus results started coming in, an accuracy and quality check showed inconsistencies with the reports. The underlying cause of these inconsistencies was not immediately clear, and required investigation, which took time, he said.

Entering the data manually took longer than expected and some results were still being reported on Tuesday.

Democratic presidential candidates still gave speeches to supporters, choosing different ways to handle the delay. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg claimed victory while Sen. Bernie Sanderss (I-Vt.) campaign released internal reporting numbers it said showed Sanders winning the caucuses.

Caucus goers check in at a caucus at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 2020. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) expressed confidence in how she did and Sen. Elizabeth Warrens (D-Mass.) chief strategist, Joe Rospars, said she was in a very close race with Sanders and Buttigieg, claiming former Vice President Joe Biden came a distant fourth.

Bidens campaign questioned the actions of the Iowa Democratic Party. Dana Remus, a lawyer for the campaign, wrote to the party late Monday saying that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are reached.

Much focus on Tuesday was on the application that failed to work correctly for the caucuses. Developed by a company called Shadow Inc., the app was developed by a team of people involved in the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, fueling notions that the caucuses were stacked against perceived outsiders like Sanders.

The Department of Homeland Security said they offered to vet the app but were rebuffed.

Right now, we dont see any malicious cyber activity going on. No one hacked into it, Acting Secretary Chad Wolf said. This is more of a stress or a load issue as well as a reporting issue that were seeing in Iowa.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
One of the final sentences of the Phase 1 trade deal may prove to be key. The provision calls for consultations between the parties if a natural disaster or other unforeseeable event outside the control of the Parties delays a Party from timely complying with its obligations under this Agreement.

But even with a deadly disaster looming, Chinas failure to meet its commitments may create some opposition in the United States, potentially returning the countries to their rockier relations before the signing of the trade deal.

Economists have predicted a drag on global growth from the virus, at least in the short term. In the United States, Goldman Sachs analysts estimate a 0.4 percentage-point reduction in first-quarter economic growth, though that effect is likely to fade.

Those costs could quickly outweigh the economic benefits of the trade agreement. While the Trump administration has touted big economic gains from the pact, economists forecasts have been modest, since the deal leaves tariffs in place on more than $360 billion of Chinese goods.

Privately, some Trump administration officials say that China may use the virus as an excuse to delay meeting its commitments, in hopes that Mr. Trump will ultimately be voted out of office this year.

Some in China have reacted negatively to the Trump administrations decision to restrict travel between the countries, including barring entry to all foreign nationals who recently traveled in China.

In a note to clients, Ian Bremmer, the president of Eurasia Group, said that the Chinese government had found the American move to shut its borders unnecessarily provocative, and it adds a sour tone on the back of the recently agreed Phase 1 trade deal, he said.
Crimes like burglaries, robberies and thefts are more likely to go unsolved in the greater Dublin region than in other parts of the country - while Kerry has the best detection rates in the country for those offences.

Figures obtained from the Central Statistics Office reveal sharp contrasts in the success rates by gardai in the 28 divisions in solving crimes both by area and by type of offence during 2018.

Gardai in Kerry had the best detection rates in the Republic for three categories of crime, burglary, theft and public order offences, while the Cavan/Monaghan division had the best record for solving cases of threats and assaults as well as criminal damage offences.

Gardai in Westmeath solved the highest proportion of sexual and drug offences of any division.

In contrast, one of the six Garda divisions in Dublin had the lowest detection rates for the majority of crime categories, while gardai in the capitals commuter belt of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow also tended to have below-average detection rates for a range of offences.

Across all types of crime, Garda divisions with above-average detection rates included Kerry, Cork West, Westmeath, Cork North, Cavan/Monaghan, Kilkenny/Carlow and Tipperary.

The CSO figures, based on data extracted from the Garda Pulse system, tracked the progress of Garda investigations of all crimes recorded during 2018.

They reveal only 1 in 3 cases of the most common crime  theft  were classified as solved. Almost 67,000 theft offences were recorded nationwide in 2018 with an overall detection rate of 33%.

It ranged from a high of 49% in Kerry to a low of 24% in Kildare. Below-average rates were also recorded in five of the six Dublin divisions as well as Wicklow.

The CSO figures show that on average only 1 in 6 burglaries were solved with detection rates ranging from just 7% in Dublin West to 33% in Kerry.

On robberies, the lowest detection rates were found in Dublin and Kildare, while Tipperary gardai had the best record for catching offenders for such crimes.

At a national level, only 11% of sexual offences, which can involve both historical and recent crimes, were solved with the detection rate ranging from 6% in a number of divisions including Cork City, Dublin East, Dublin West and Tipperary to 30% in Westmeath.

The CSO does not calculate detection rates at divisional level for certain crimes such as homicide and kidnappings and in relation to some divisions for sexual offences and robberies because the number of such offences is relatively small and risk identifying the incidents and victims in question.

Some categories of crime have naturally high detection rates such as dangerous and negligent acts (mostly drink-driving cases) as well as controlled drug and public order offences because they are usually directly linked to Garda enforcement measures where offenders are immediately identified.

The main criteria for classifying an offence as detected is when at least one suspect has been identified and sanctioned which can take the form of a charge, summons, caution or fine.

However, there are a number of scenarios where an offence will be considered detected even though no criminal proceedings have started, such as the refusal or inability of an essential witness to give evidence, the death of an offender or where a child offender is treated under the Juvenile Diversion Programme.

The CSO said all statistics on recorded crime were still being published under reservation due to ongoing issues about the reliability and quality of data as gardai address concerns over the non-recording and misclassification of offences.

A CSO spokesperson said detection rates for 2018 were not comparable with similar figures from previous years due to a significant change in data recording practices.

Overall the forces best detection rates were for drug offences (85%), dangerous or negligent acts (84%), public order offences (81%) and homicide (75%).

The lowest detection rates were for sexual offences (11%) followed by burglaries (16%), criminal damage (19%), fraud (21%) and robberies (26%).
Chechen blogger Imran Aliyev, known for his criticism of the Kremlin-backed leader of the Russian North Caucasus region of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has been found dead with multiple stab wounds in a hotel in France, according to reports.



AFP quoted unnamed sources close to the investigation late on February 3 as saying that the 44-year-old blogger, who resided in Belgium and was known online as Mansur Stary (Old Mansur), was found dead on January 30 in his hotel room in the northern city of Lille.



According to the source, Aliyev arrived from Belgium a day earlier with another man, "who presumably had the same nationality."



The prosecutor's office in Lille said no one had been detained so far in the investigation but declined to provide further details, according to AFP.



On January 30, a local newspaper, La Voix du Nord, reported that a man's body was found with multiple stab wounds in a hotel in Lille. The report did not identify the man.

The Chechenskiye Novosti (Chechen News) account on Telegram on February 1, identified the man as Aliyev, citing relatives and friends of the deceased.

It is not the first time that a critic of Kadyrov has been killed in Europe.



In August 2019, a former Chechen separatist fighter, Georgian native Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, was shot dead in Berlin.

A 49-year-old man with a Russian passport has been detained in connection with the killing. The suspect, also implicated in the murder of a Russian businessman in 2013, has maintained his right to keep silent.



Berlin expelled two Russian diplomats over the apparent assassination, but Moscow has rejected the allegations of state involvement.



Rights groups say Kadyrov, who has ruled the volatile region since 2007, uses repressive measures and has created a climate of impunity for security forces in the region. They claim Kadyrov is ultimately responsible for the violence and intimidation of political opponents by Chechen authorities, including kidnappings, forced disappearances, torture, and extra-judicial killings.



Kremlin critics say Putin has turned a blind eye to the alleged abuses and violations of the Russian Constitution by Kadyrov because he relies on the former rebel commander to control separatist sentiments and violence in Chechnya, the site of two devastating post-Soviet wars and an Islamist insurgency that spread to other mostly Muslim regions in the North Caucasus.

With reporting by AFP, La Voix Du Nord, and RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service
A pregnant Wisconsin womans baby has miraculously survived a fatal drive-by shooting that took the life of his mother.

Annie Sandifer was 26-weeks pregnant with her sixth child when she was shot outside Genes Supper Club in Milwaukee around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Police told the outlet the expectant mom was on board a party bus when an unknown gunman fired five to six rounds from the sunroof of a passing car.

Authorities said Sandifer was rushed to Ascension St. Joseph Hospital, where her baby was born in stable condition after doctors performed an emergency C-section, according to the local newspaper. Sadly, Sandifer did not survive.

Sandifers aunt, Tonya Rockett, described the mother as loving and caring during a candlelight vigil on Saturday night.

RELATED: Pregnant Chicago Womans Baby Saved After Mom Dies in Shooting: Its a Blessing

You took someone away that we love dearly and itll never be the same. You took her away from her husband, her children, her mother, her family and friends. Its a miracle that the baby is still alive, nothing but God, and I thank God for it, she told WISN 12 News. I just want people to remember the kind of person that she was, joyful, happy, and always remember the smile that she have and the love that she have for her husband and children.

The outlet reported that the baby  named Tyrese  weighs 3 pounds and remains in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Sandifers cousin, Marquita Pirtle, told Fox 6 News that Sandifer was celebrating a birthday the night of the shooting and believes the bullets that struck her were intended for someone else inside the supper club.

She felt like the safest thing to do was, instead of being inside the club, was to be on the bus, where she thought shed be safer, she said.

RELATED VIDEO: Gun Violence Survivors Share Stories of Shattered Lives  and How Theyre Working for Change

Story continues

I believe someone got into it at the club, not the people on the bus, or the people affiliated with the party, and initially, like a lot of cases happen, people, come back and retaliate by shooting.

Police said on Monday that an investigation into Sandifers is active and ongoing and investigators are still seeking suspects and trying to determine a motive, the Associated Press reported.

The Milwaukee Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment.
February 04 : With the successful film Housefull 4 in her kitty, Kriti Kharbanda was last seen in Anees Bazmees Pagalpanti. The actress has a good sense of sartorial picks and has never failed to impress her fans.

Kriti has been gaining attention for her sartorial choices at the red carpet. Taking to her Instagram handle, the Pagalpanti actress shared a bunch of her gorgeous pictures as she appeared at the 65th Filmfare Awards curtain raiser ceremony. The diva set the internet on fire in a neon green tiny dress that featured one shoulder. With fun colours and millennial picks, the actress can never be accused of having a boring closet. Kriti proved that her love for neon is worth the risk. Her option for this trendy dress will help you update your mini dress collection.

Kriti left her textured hair messy and open, while she opted for toned makeup, highlighting her cheek bone and choosing a pale red lip colour. The diva rounded off her look with a pretty pair of pumps.

Kriti has two films in her kittythe Tamil film Vaan opposite Dulquer Salmaan, and Bejoy Nambiars Hindi film Taish with her boyfriend Pulkit Samrat.
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Chicago police are looking for a suspect or suspects responsible for a series of robberies targeting men using the gay dating app Grindr

Chicago police are searching for a suspect or suspects using a dating app to lure victims to hotel rooms where they use a stun gun to rob them.

According to police, there have been at least five robberies in the downtown area that all follow the same pattern in which suspects arrange on the gay dating app Grindr or other dating sites to meet their victims.

Then, once the men are in a hotel room, the suspect displays a Taser and demands money and other valuables.

In at least two of the incidents, the suspect used the stun gun after the victims refused to hand over their property.

In other instances, the victims turned over their property after the suspect threatened to taser them.

Police said the robberies have occurred between December 22 and last Tuesday night.

Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Grindr is cooperating with the investigation and 'we have some good leads.'

The first reported attack took place on December 22 in the area of the Embassy Suites Hotel

He said in the meantime, the police department is urging people who use dating sites to be cautious and, 'When meeting for the first time, try to meet in public places.'

The first reported attack took place on December 22 in the area of the Embassy Suites Hotel in the 600 block of North State Street, reported CBS Chicago.

The next occurred on January 6 at the Cambria Hotel, where a 60-year-old man said a date he met on Grindr used a stun gun on him and got away with his wallet.

Police managed to track down and arrest the suspect in that case, but the victim did not want to press charges, so his accused attacker was let go.

On January 6, a 60-year-old man said a date he met on Grindr used a stun gun on him and got away with his wallet at the Cambria Hotel

In late January, two more men were robbed near the W Hotel (left) and the Four Seasons Hotel (right) after meeting their attacker on Grindr

Two weeks later, another similar robbery involving a stun gun occurred near the W Hotel on North Lake Share Drive, where a 42-year-old victim said he was shocked and robbed inside a room.

The latest robbery involving an online date-gone-wrong took place on January 28 near the Four Seasons Hotel at 900 North Michigan Avenue, where police say the victim was tased and deprived of his possessions.

Police believe there may be more than one perpetrator fleecing unsuspecting Grindr dates.

'This offender is known not only to Chicago police, but is known to front desk clerks and hotel staff all throughout the downtown area,' Second Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins told ABC 7 Chicago. 'We believe he's been doing this for a while.'
Photo: The Canadian Press Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez

Michael Sanchez, the brother of Jeff Bezos's girlfriend, is suing the Amazon founder for defamation, alleging that Bezos and his team falsely told reporters that Sanchez provided nude photos of Bezos to The National Enquirer.

In the complaint filed Friday night in Los Angeles, Sanchez, a Hollywood talent manager, says he has lost clients and has been shunned by family and friends. The lawsuit doesn't specify how much money he is seeking.

The lawsuit says Bezos began his affair with Sanchez's sister, Lauren, in 2017, when her production company was hired to do work for Bezos's space exploration company. The couple kept the relationship secret based on advice from a psychic in New Mexico, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit alleges that in 2018, Lauren Sanchez approached her brother, who was her manager at the time, about leaking information about the affair to gossip website TMZ as a way to get ahead of the media and limit any backlash.

Michael Sanchez says he advised his sister against the move but after quashing rumours about the affair by multiple tabloid reporters, he entered a deal with the publisher of The National Enquirer, in which he agreed to corroborate the existence of the relationship under conditions that would help Mr. Sanchez manage the timing of the story and the way in which the affair was portrayed.

Shortly after the National Enquirer ran a story on the affair early last year, Bezos published a blog post alleging that the tabloid tried to blackmail him with embarrassing photos that he sent to Lauren Sanchez. He also suggested that the Enquirer had ties with Saudi Arabia, which was upset with coverage in The Washington Post, which Bezos owns. The Post had been harshly critical of the Saudi government after the killing of columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi.

A lawyer for Bezos said his client will address Sanchez's lawsuit in court very soon." In a prepared statement provided by her lawyer, Lauren Sanchez said her family is hurting over this new baseless and untrue lawsuit, and we truly hope my brother finds peace."
The first session of the Ukrainian-Czech Forum has opened in Prague, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko said.

"Together with [Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic Tomas] Petricek opened the first session of the Ukrainian-Czech Forum. On agenda  cooperation in counteracting hybrid threats, Czech experience of reforms and European integration. We are much more united than it seems. Perfect platform for discussions and future projects," the minister said on Twitter on Tuesday.

Before that Prystaiko met with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis to discuss the implementation of the agreements reached during his visit to Ukraine in November 2019.

"Discussed realization of agreements with [President of Ukraine Volodymyr] Zelensky arising from his visit to Ukraine last November and the "reboot" of our political dialogue. We share many areas of mutual interest on which we can cooperate constructively," the minister said.
Your favourite cooking show could help you convince your child to eat healthier, according to a new study.

Research published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour showed that children who watched an episode of a kid-oriented cooking show that focused on healthy food were more than two times as likely to choose to eat a healthy snack compared to children who watched the same show about unhealthy foods, according to Science Daily.

The findings from this study indicate cooking programs can be a promising tool for promoting positive changes in childrens food-related preferences, attitudes, and behaviours, Frans Folkvord, assistant professor at Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands, said in a press release. Folkvord served as the studys lead author.

After getting parental consent, researchers surveyed 125 children at five schools in the Netherlands to view 10 minutes of a Dutch cooking show. The public television program was geared toward children and as a reward, participating children ages 10-12 were offered a snack after viewing.

CNN reported the programs saw contestants from Dutch schools battling it out by cooking their own dishes, tasting them and describing the ingredients they thought were used to make the meals when asked. Among the healthy options in the footage were vegetables like brussels spouts and onions and fruits like tomatoes. Unhealthy options depicted included french fries and hamburgers.

Participants were asked to rate how healthy or unhealthy they thought the meals were based on a 10-point scale. Zero meant the food was unhealthy and 10 was very healthy.

Children who viewed the healthy segment were more likely to pick a healthy snack  like an apple or cucumber slices  compared to children who viewed the unhealthy segment. Children who saw the latter program, meanwhile, opted for chips or mini pretzels. That breaks down to 41 per cent of children choosing a healthy snack in the healthy condition, while only 20 per cent of children in the unhealthy condition chose healthy foods.

Among the kid-friendly programming parents can use to help their kids make better eating choices, CNN lists Food Networks recently rebooted show Good Eats, which features Atlantas own Alton Brown. On the series, Brown dives into the history of food while using science to explain how cooking forms a meal. Often, puppets and sketches are employed to demonstrate cooking processes. Past episodes have focused on ancient grains like quinoa and vegetables including asparagus and cauliflower.

If you promote healthy foods to children, it can be beneficial to improve their intake, Folkvord told CNN.

For parents, its important that they promote healthy foods during day time by different methods, and one of the methods is these cooking programs.
Medication can control seizures in about two-thirds of people with epilepsy. The drugs are not a cure, but seizures don't always last a lifetime; in as many as half of people with epilepsy, the seizures may stop on their own. This means there's a subset of people taking anti-seizure medication who don't need it.

After years without seizures, many people want to try stopping their medication. Some of them will stay seizure free, and some won't.

Predicting who might safely come off medication and who should continue taking it is part science, part art and part personal preference. Some believe that anyone diagnosed with epilepsy should take medication for the rest of their lifetime; others say it's clear that not all epilepsy is lifelong, and taking unnecessary medication for decades can be a physical, financial and psychological burden.

"There is certainly a group that benefits from medication withdrawal. Who are those patients and how do we identify them?" asked K.P. Vinayan, from the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kerala. Vinayan spoke during a debate at the ILAE International Congress in Bangkok focused specifically on tapering medication in people with adult-onset focal epilepsy with a known cause.

Alejandro De Marinis, University of Chile, represented the other side of the issue. "We have no idea when we should be taking someone off medication, or even if we should," he said.

Roadblocks to research

Because of the variety of epilepsy types and patient characteristics, studies on stopping medication tend to combine heterogenous groups. One study might include adult-onset and pediatric onset epilepsy, generalized and focal epilepsy, and adults and children.

Randomized, double-blind studies-;while considered the gold standard of evidence-;are ethically compromising. Both physicians and people with epilepsy generally have strong opinions about whether to continue or stop medication, which could affect compliance. In addition, there's general agreement that certain subgroups of people with epilepsy need to continue their medication for life.

Only two randomized studies about the effects of stopping medication have been completed; one also was double-blind. That study, known as the Akershus study, found that people whose medication was stopped (through gradual dose tapering) did not have a greater risk for seizures in the following year, compared with people who stayed on their medication. Of the group that stopped medication, 15% had seizures, compared with 7% of the group that continued. But because each group included only about 70 people, statistics showed that the difference in risk could have been due to chance (RR=2.46, 95% CI 0.85-7.08, p=0.095).

The other randomized trial-;a 1991 study of 1,013 adults and children authored by the Medical Research Council (MRC)-;found that stopping medication increased the risk for seizures in the first 2 years: 41% of the group that stopped medication had at least one seizure, compared with 22% of the group that stayed on medication. After that time point, the difference between the groups equalized.

A recent study from China focused specifically on people with adult-onset focal epilepsy. It categorized study participants by seizure-free period: 2 to 3 years, 3 to 4, 4 to 5, and more than 5. Unlike most studies, this one followed participants for up to 15 years after stopping medication.

The research found that people with at least 5 years of seizure freedom before stopping the medication could stop taking medication without an increased risk for seizures. Those with less than 5 years of seizure freedom under their belts were at double to triple the risk for seizures if they stopped their medication, compared with a similar group who stayed on their prescriptions.

In this study, most seizures happened during the first 4 years; in the group with 5 or more years of seizure freedom, most happened during the first 2 years.

As a real-world cohort study lasting more than 10 years, this study provides evidence for patients who would like to consider withdrawing from medications after a long period of seizure freedom." Xinshi Wang, First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University

She noted that seizure relapse rates were likely higher in this study than in most others, due to the study population. "Quite a proportion of adult-onset focal epilepsy is caused by focal lesions, whether detectable or undetectable," said Wang. "This will result in recurrent seizures if the lesions are not removed through surgery."

Risks and benefits

Study participants were not randomized; they chose whether to stop or continue medication. More than 80% decided to continue treatment. Other studies of patient preference have found similar skews; for example, a survey in Macedonia found that 55% of seizure-free adults preferred to stay on their anti-seizure medication.

"Patients who have been seizure free for a long time are usually tolerant of the drugs they are taking," said Wang. "And some are afraid that a witnessed seizure would lead to job loss or put them in a dangerous situation."

Wang said some people in the study may have been reluctant to stop medication because they had risk factors for seizure relapse, such as symptomatic epilepsy or abnormalities on EEG.

On the other hand, some patients may strongly prefer to try stopping their medication, due to side effects, cost, or other issues. This is another reason why clinicians must keep an open mind, said Vinayan, as they need to be involved in the process.

"If their physician is not willing to discuss this option with them, they may try to [stop taking medication] themselves," she said. "This can be dangerous."

Who stays seizure free?

Studies have found that between 34% and 88% of patients remained seizure free after stopping medication, which means that 12% to 66% had seizures. The wide range of estimates reflects diverse patient populations, study designs and follow-up times.

Only 15% of people had seizures in the Akershus study; however, that figure comes from the first year of follow-up. The study also had strict criteria that excluded people with certain risk factors for seizure relapse, such as juvenile myoclonic epilepsy or generalized epilepsy with abnormal EEG, as well as anyone taking more than one anti-seizure medication.

Over the years, studies have identified at least 25 factors associated with seizure risk after stopping medication. Eleven are included in an online risk estimator for health professionals. Based on a 2017 meta-analysis, the calculator estimates seizure risk two years and five years after medication is stopped.

Regaining seizure freedom

If seizures are going to recur, research suggests they will do so in the first five years after stopping medication, with about two-thirds of recurrences happening in the first year.

If seizures come back, how easy is it to regain control? Again results vary, due to diverse study populations and varying years of follow-up. A re-analysis of the 1991 MRC data found that 95% regained seizure control at 1 year and 90% at 2 years. A 2005 review of 14 studies found that between 76% and 85% of people could regain seizure freedom after stopping medication. In general, there are people who may need years to regain seizure control, or who may never regain it.

How and why this "acquired drug-resistant epilepsy" happens is still unknown, but certain subgroups appear to be at risk: People whose seizures were difficult to control after diagnosis, people who have been seizure free for a shorter period of time, and people who have focal seizures after stopping medication have all been shown to also have difficulty regaining seizure control.

A lack of seizure control can damage independence and affect driving privileges, employment prospects and overall quality of life.

Continuing medications is a solution that avoids any concerns about re-establishing seizure control, said De Marinis. "Complete seizure control is the best therapeutic measure to improve quality of life," he said during the debate. "So we should keep people on the drugs."

However, continued seizure freedom while taking medication is not a guarantee. The two randomized studies saw seizure recurrence rates in people who continued their medication of 7% after 1 year (Akershus) and 22% after 2 years (MRC). Participants in both studies had been seizure free for at least the previous 2 years.

An open question

De Marinis cautioned that any discussion of stopping medication must provide full information and interpretation. "They will need to know the chances of having seizures again, and that there is a chance that if they have seizures, they may no longer be controlled with medication," he said.

Vinayan concluded that the data support stopping medication in some people; the key is carefully selecting the ones with the lowest risk profile.

"Many of the studies are in very diverse groups, with varying age at epilepsy onset," he said. Yet they seem to consistently show that after a few years, about half of people who stop taking medication remain seizure free.

"We are not giving half of these people the benefit of coming off their medicine," Vinayan said. "Because we don't yet know who they are."

Epilepsy surgery: A different animal?

Because epilepsy surgery is meant to "cure" seizures, it may seem like a natural next step for someone to stop taking anti-seizure medication after surgery. Though this is generally true for children, some adults remain on medication for years post-surgery, though many end up on tapered doses or fewer drugs.

Clinicians have no randomized trials to guide decisions; trials are done with selected patient cohorts, which "represent a biased sample in which both physicians and patients felt comfortable enough to attempt [medication] withdrawal," said Lara Jehi in a 2013 commentary .

She suggested that medication withdrawal after surgery may be something like a cardiac stress test for coronary artery disease: A tool to screen for underlying pathology. However, she noted, until randomized controlled studies are done, this "stress test hypothesis" cannot be proven.

A 2015 meta-analysis calculated seizure-free rates of 71% after stopping medication after surgery. But a 2014 critical review estimated that only about 50% of "carefully selected" patients could successfully stop taking medication after temporal lobe surgery, and only about 25% could find success after extra-temporal surgery.

Even good candidates for stopping medication after surgery may prefer not to. A recent study in Denmark found that 3 seizure-free years after surgery, 62% of adults were still taking medication. About one-third were on the same doses and types of medications as before surgery; the rest were on reduced doses. Contacted again 4 years later (7 years after surgery), 18% were still taking medication.

Finding a balance

"For the most part, the decision to maintain the drugs was by the patient's own wish, and not due to a doctor's advice," said study author Anna Stefansdottir, Copenhagen University Hospital.

"Perhaps the surgery allows them to decrease the medication doses and they reach a balance," she said. "They are seizure free and their side effects have lessened. They're happy with the results, even if they are still taking medication."

Fear of relapse was the most commonly cited reason for continuing treatment. Because surgery can bring an end to years of seizures, it's not surprising, said the authors, that people wouldn't want to jeopardize that.

"When we discuss surgery, we tell patients that there will be an option to get off the medications," said Anne Sabers, University of Copenhagen. "But maybe when a patient achieves seizure freedom after surgery, they don't want to take that risk."
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Former Galway juvenile hurling chairman Pauric Lohan has hit out at the county board, following their decision to remove him from the position.

Lohan had one year of his five-year term remaining when he was recently asked to attend a meeting with three county board officers.
While recalling the 90-year glorious history of the CPV, Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong noted with pride the great victories of the Vietnamese revolution and the strong and comprehensive development of the country.

On February 3, 1930, three communist organisations gathered to unite and form a party called the Communist Party of Vietnam. The founding of the Party was an important milestone and turning point in the Vietnamese revolution, the Party General Secretary noted.

He highlighted the Partys glittering milestones over the past nine decades, stating that since its inception, the CPV has soundly combined the targets of the workers movements and the patriotic movements, the interests of the working class and the nation, and became the true vanguard for the working class, labourers and the entire nation of Vietnam. The CPV has already led the people to achieve great victories of historical significance that have defined an era.

Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong speaks at the meeting. (Photo: NDO/Duy Linh)

Over the past 35 years, the cause of renewal has gained many history-making achievements, proving itself as a comprehensive and thorough revolution in the new period. From a poor and backward country, Vietnam has risen to become a middle-income developing country with a stable social and political outlook; national independence and territorial sovereignty has been maintained; external relations have been expanded; and the countrys position has consistantly been improving in the international arena.

The Party chief affirmed that the reality of the past 90 years has proved that the Partys correct and wise leadership is the decisive factor for all victories of the Vietnamese revolution.

Expressing his deep gratitude for the merits of Uncle Ho, the leader of the Party, heroes, martyrs, compatriots and comrades who fought bravely and sacrificed themselves for the longevity of the nation, the Party leader called for greater responsibility to build a strong and comprehensive Party.

The entire Party, people and army should strive to overcome challenges and continue to promote all of its potentials, advantages and resources to make a definitive change in all fields to achieve higher results in 2020 - a year of special significance, he stressed. He also added that this is the last year of the term to implement the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congress, in which the county will organise party congresses at all levels towards the 13th Party Congress; celebrate many important political events; while taking over the dual role of ASEAN Chair and non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

On behalf of Party members nationwide, 87-year-old Ha Ky who has 70-year Party membership expressed his pride and deep sentiments to the glorious Party and beloved President Ho Chi Minh.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thuy Linh, a student of the University of Languages and International Studies under the Vietnam National University-Hanoi, affirmed the resolve of the Vietnamese youth to uphold the tradition of older generations, study and work harder to contribute to the nations development.

A special art programme was also held during the meeting to celebrate the Partys 90th founding anniversary. The programme featured famous songs praising the glorious path during the last nine decades of the Party, as well as showing deep felt sentiments towards beloved Uncle Ho, the spring and the nation.
Five Indians evacuated from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan last week were admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital here on Tuesday for better observation, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) said.

The five individuals -- three male and two female -- were among over 400 people who were shifted to the quarantine facility -- managed by ITBP -- upon their return from Wuhan on special Air India flights on Saturday and Sunday.

Meanwhile, the samples of all 406 persons at the ITBP facility have been collected for testing.

Earlier on Monday, five people staying at the quarantine facility at Manesar were admitted to Military Base Hospital in Delhi after they showed symptoms of cough and cold.

As many as 647 Indians and 7 Maldivians had returned to New Delhi on two special Air India flights on Saturday and Sunday and were subsequently taken to the quarantine facilities in Manesar and Chhawla.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday said he will immediately double his already massive nationwide television ad spending and expand his staff after the debacle of Iowas failure to promptly announce its caucuses results, Trend reports citing Reuters.

Bloomberg, 77, has spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars of his own fortune on TV advertising on an unconventional White House bid that has him skipping early voting states and entering the race on March 3, when 14 states will vote on Super Tuesday.

As his rivals campaigned in Iowa and New Hampshire this week, the business tycoon and former New York mayor instead traveled to delegate-rich California and general election swing states Michigan and Pennsylvania.

He said he would seize the moment created by confusion surrounding the Monday caucuses in Iowa, where no winner had been declared as of Tuesday afternoon.

I think where there is no one clear winner it gives us the opportunity to get the message out, and were going to take the opportunity, Bloomberg told Reuters in an interview in Detroit.

A Bloomberg aide said the campaign would expand its staff to more than 2,100 people nationwide and double its TV advertising in every market where it is currently advertising.

Bloomberg has been climbing in national opinion polls. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week showed him moving into third place behind front-runners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders among registered voters for the 2020 Democratic nomination.

Some of Bloombergs rivals, including U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, have accused the billionaire of trying to buy a presidential election.

The Democratic National Committee, which oversees the partys process for picking a candidate to take on Republican President Donald Trump in November, was criticized last week for changing the rules on how candidates can qualify for debates, a move that was seen as opening the door for Bloomberg to participate.

While most of the Democratic field has been investing money and time in early voting states for the past year, Bloomberg, who entered the race in November, has focused on later states such as California, the single biggest prize of the presidential primary with 10 times as many delegates available as the 41 delegates for Iowa.

Within two months of jumping into the race, Bloomberg had hired more than 200 employees in California, according to his campaign, dwarfing Sanders 80-strong team in the state. Bloomberg also has spent more on television ads nationally than all 10 other Democratic candidates combined.
One room, eight computers, six months and many dozens queuing up to send the Kashmir word out to the world. That's been the arithmetic of journalism in troubled times for media personnel in the Valley since August last year.

Braving rain, storm and bone-chilling cold, journalists in Kashmir have spent hours on end each day outside the cramped makeshift media room set up by the administration.

On August 5, the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 and bifurcated it into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The night before, mobiles and the internet were suspended.

It has been six months to the day, but the communications lockdown is near total still.

Some local media houses can access internet lease lines, but it is an expensive affair with only two or three newspapers opting for it, and 2G mobile network has been restored.

The problem of many journalists - most newspapers in the country have a representative in the Valley -- and too few computers continues.

The result: all roads for journalists -- those visiting and those who live here, print, television and online -- lead to the media room next to Polo Ground on Maulana Azad Road.

"The situation has eased somewhat after internet lease lines were opened for local newspapers and the rush has come down since January 27 but our problems persist," said a senior journalist who refused to be quoted by name.

Journalists are wary about coming on record because they fear they will be barred from entering the media centre and be deprived of their only connect with the outside world.

A policeman, equipped with a hand-held body scanner, greets journalists at the entrance.

After the security check, they have to enter their details in a register and then access the room that opens at 10 am and goes on till about 9 pm.

Some journalists have found a way to circumvent the waiting period.

They create hotspots on their laptops using LAN connections provided at the media centre, and share the wi-fi connection with others, thereby increasing the number of journalists accessing internet facility by four to five times at a go.

With the centre being a meeting point for journalists, the administration also used it to give out press releases on the reopening of schools, operations in hospital and traffic jams.

"The truth definitely has been a casualty and the claims of the government about normalcy cannot be challenged in such an environment of fear," said a senior journalist working with a national daily.

According to some journalists, the register kept outside the room to log in entry times became a source of showcasing achievements of the government.

The government last month came up with a press release claiming that more than 50,000 internet sessions were facilitated for scribes at the media centre after August 5.

There were several reports of journalists being harassed and even roughed up by security forces in the first couple of months of the lockdown in Kashmir but most said it it is safer to not talk about it.

"It seems there is a knife on my neck when I write a story. If I write the truth, I fear a midnight knock by security agencies at my door," said a reporter working for a online portal.

The Kashmir Press Club, which has nearly a dozen journalist bodies' as its affiliates, was initially silent about the internet shutdown and harassment of the journalists.

In October last year, the executive body of the club finally held a meeting. It was decided to set up a committee to record incidents of high handedness by security forces and other difficulties faced by the media personnel in their line of work.

"We kept a window of 15 days for recording statements of those journalists who wished to highlight their plight and suffering during the lock down period. However, no one came forward," said a member of the press club committee, adding that it was because of fear of the government.

Several applications, requesting restoration of internet facilities at the offices of accredited journalists or at least at the Kashmir Press Club, are pending before the district magistrate of Srinagar.

"We are yet to hear from the government," said a member of the club.

Though journalists from the Valley admit that there has been an improvement in their working conditions over the past few days compared to August 5, the day the Centre locked down on communications, normalcy is still a far cry.

Messages sent to Dr Syed Sehrish Asgar, head of publicity and information department, went unanswered.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Breeze.

Andy Newman/Carnival Cruise Lines via Getty Images

More than 79,500 people have contracted the coronavirus, and more than 2,600 people have died from it.

Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, and Norwegian Cruise Line are banning people who have been to mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau in the weeks before a cruise from sailing on their ships.

Passengers may also receive health screenings before or during their cruise.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Wuhan coronavirus has rocked the cruise industry, as some passengers have had their cruises canceled, while others have been stranded or quarantined on board.

The world's three biggest cruise lines are taking precautions to protect passengers and crew members from the virus, which has killed more than 2,600 people and infected more than 79,500.

These are the steps Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, and Norwegian Cruise Line are taking in response to the coronavirus.

This story has been updated to reflect that the coronavirus has now spread to more than 79,500 people and killed over 2,600, up from roughly 494 and 24,000.

Carnival

Carnival Victory cruise ship

Alan Diaz/Associated Press

"Protecting the health and safety of our guests and crew is our top priority," a Carnival representative said.

Customers who have been in mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau in the two weeks prior to their cruise will not be allowed to board. Carnival has also introduced "enhanced screening, prevention, and control measures for our ships, guests, and crew," but the Carnival representative did not offer further detail about them.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean canceled all cruises in China and Hong Kong through the end of February.

For all other cruises, anyone who meets any of the following criteria will not be allowed to board:

Has been in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Iran, South Korea, Lombardy, or Veneto in the 15 days prior to their cruise.

Has come within six feet of someone who has been to China, Hong Kong, Macau, Iran, South Korea, Lombardy, or Veneto in the last 15 days.

Reports feeling ill or shows symptoms that resemble the flu.

Story continues

Customers in that group will have their trip refunded.

The following groups will be required to receive health screenings:

People who have been in Japan, Singapore, Thailand, or Italy (aside from Lombardy and Veneto) in the 15 days before their cruise.

People who may have been within six feet of anyone who has been to mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Iran, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, or Italy in the last 15 days.

If a guest is found to have a fever or low blood oximetry, they will not be allowed to board the ship.

"These steps are intentionally conservative," a Royal Caribbean representative said. "We apologize for the inconvenience created by these precautionary measures."

Norwegian

Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Gem

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line has canceled all of its cruises in Asia through September.

"The safety, security and well-being of our guests and crew is our number one priority," said a representative for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, the parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line.

Customers and crew members who have been to mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau in the 30 days before their cruise will not be allowed to board. Customers in that group will receive a refund.

For those still planing to sail, passengers who appear to have coronavirus symptoms will be evaluated before boarding. Passengers who show symptoms of any respiratory illness on board will receive a coronavirus screening and may be quarantined or removed from their ship, and Norwegian ships will receive more thorough cleanings and disinfection procedures.

Read the original article on Business Insider
As word of a mysterious virus mounted, Li Wenliang shared suspicions in a private chat with his fellow medical school alumni.

The doctor said that seven people seemed to have contracted SARS - the respiratory illness that spread from China to more than two dozen countries and left hundreds dead in the early 2000s. One patient was quarantined at his hospital in Wuhan, Li said. He urged people to be careful.

Li and seven other doctors were quickly summoned by Chinese authorities for propagating "rumors" about SARS-like cases in the area - but their warnings were prescient. Soon, health officials around the world would be scrambling to combat a novel virus with a striking genetic resemblance to SARS. The outbreak in Wuhan has exploded to more than 20,000 confirmed cases just in China.

Among the ill: the ophthalmologist who was censured for sounding an early alarm.

"The diagnosis is finally confirmed," Li posted Jan. 31 on the social media platform Weibo.

Li's situation has drawn rare acknowledgment of official missteps in China, where a bureaucratic culture that prioritizes political stability over all else probably allowed the new coronavirus to spread farther and faster. Late last month, China's highest court admonished the Wuhan police for the detentions.

"If society had at the time believed those 'rumors,' and wore masks, used disinfectant and avoided going to the wildlife market as if there were a SARS outbreak, perhaps it would've meant we could better control the coronavirus today," the court said. "Rumors end when there is openness."

Li, an ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital, had shared his concerns the same day that Chinese authorities confirmed they were investigating 27 cases of viral pneumonia. Officials at the epicenter in Wuhan - the capital of Hubei province, where millions are now trapped in an unprecedented lockdown - sent an "urgent notice" to all hospitals about the existence of "pneumonia of unclear cause."

The notice ordered all departments to immediately compile information about known cases and report them up their chain of command. But it did not mention SARS or a coronavirus.

Li had posted a snippet of an RNA analysis finding "SARS coronavirus" and extensive bacteria colonies in a patient's airways, according to a chat transcript that he and other chat members later shared online.

On Jan. 1, the Wuhan Public Security Bureau issued summons to Li and the others accused of fanning rumors. The detentions were reported on "Xinwen Lianbo," a newscast watched by tens of millions.

The police followed up in the state-run Xinhua News Agency with a chilling warning.

"The police call on all netizens to not fabricate rumors, not spread rumors, not believe rumors," the Wuhan authorities said, adding that they encouraged web users to "jointly build a harmonious, clear and bright cyberspace."

As authorities cracked down, the outbreak was quickly worsening amid an information vacuum. Wang Guangbao, a surgeon and popular science writer in eastern China, later said speculation about a SARS-like virus was rampant around Jan. 1 within medical circles, but the detentions dissuaded many, including himself, from speaking openly about it.

"The eight posters getting seized made all of us doctors feel we were at risk," he said.

Li was released by Wuhan police on Jan. 3 after signing a document acknowledging he committed "illegal acts." The doctor, who did not immediately respond to The Washington Post on Tuesday, later explained to CNN that his family would "worry sick" about him "if I lose my freedom for a few days." CNN reported that he was able to leave the police station within about an hour.

He hurried back to work to see sick patients - and worked "normally" for a while, he wrote on Weibo, tending to patients with the new coronavirus.

Then, on Jan. 10, he got a cough.

The next day, Li wrote, he had a fever, and by Jan. 12 he was in the hospital. Tests for the virus he'd been scrutinizing came back negative, but he was having a hard time breathing and moving.

China had yet to declare an emergency. That would come on Jan. 20, as more than 400 million Chinese people prepared to travel home to mark the Lunar New Year. A renowned pulmonologist appeared on state media to announce that the new virus was transmissible between people, and Chinese President Xi Jinping called for quick information-sharing and "resolute efforts" to contain the virus.

Within days, all of Wuhan and several nearby cities - an area the size of Washington state with more than 50 million people - were locked down. Authorities raced to accommodate ballooning numbers of patients, working to erect entire new hospitals.

By late January, officials were also acknowledging mistakes.

The Supreme People's Court's rebuked police for punishing Li and his fellow doctors. Wuhan police said in a statement a day later that the eight people summoned had committed only mild transgressions, spreading "unverified information."

Officials gave "education and criticism" and did not fine or detain people, the police said.

Li, who emphasized that his license has not been revoked, said he's been cheered in the hospital by "netizens' support and encouragement." His last post on Weibo, the Feb. 1 announcement of his latest test results, drew tens of thousands of comments.

"Dr. Li, you are a good doctor with conscience," read one well-wisher's message with more than 100,000 upvotes.

Another person counted Li among eight "prophets."

"The people of the whole country are in solidarity with you," the commenter said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Lena H. Sun and Emily Rauhala contributed to this report.
RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A coalition of bipartisan lawmakers, the Virginia Municipal League, the American Car Rental Association and Virginia vehicle rental operators are calling on the Virginia General Assembly to "Care Before You Share" in response to the rise of peer-to-peer vehicle sharing companies currently facilitating rental transactions without paying taxes.

In fact, the Virginia Department of Taxation's Fiscal Impact Statement, submitted alongside the proposed legislation, states the following: "Both peer-to-peer shared vehicles and commercially owned rental vehicles are currently subject to the full 10 percent Motor Vehicle Rental Taxes. However, compliance within the peer-to-peer rental industry is extremely low." (SB 749)

"Unfair to the Commonwealth"

Michelle Gowdy, Executive Director of the Virginia Municipal League, said, "The Virginia Municipal League's position is that it is incredibly unfair to ask the residents of the Commonwealth to subsidize essential services because there are peer-to-peer vehicle rental companies who are opting out of paying their fair share."

In Fiscal Year 2019, the Virginia Department of Taxation reported that the total tax revenue from the MVRT imposed at a 10 percent rate was $111,047,462 and that the revenue collected from the MVRT was distributed in the following manner:

$46,756,228 to Virginia local governments

to local governments $23,333,228 to the General Fund for STARS debt service

to the General Fund for STARS debt service $42,537,359 for Transportation $21,262,666 to Rail Enhancement Fund $10,629,867 to Transportation Trust Fund $9,685,833 to WMATA Capital Fund $958,993 to Highway Construction Fund

for Transportation

To preserve this important revenue stream generated by businesses paying taxes, the "Care Before You Share" coalition supports HB 891 and HB 892 sponsored by Delegate Mark Sickles  and SB 749 and SB 750 sponsored by Senator John Cosgrove.

This proposed bipartisan legislation will clarify that under existing Virginia law, the peer-to-peer company  not vehicle owners or "hosts"  is responsible for collecting and remitting all appropriate rental taxes. As a result, all vehicle rentals would be treated the same, taxed at a 10 percent rate and thereby help fund essential services for local and state governments.

"Valuable Tax Revenue Would Be Lost"

In contrast, both SB 735 and HB 1539 would instead impose a completely NEW tax on peer-to-peer vehicle rentals: SB 735 would impose a NEW tax on peer-to-peer vehicle rentals at 4 percent and HB 1539 would impose a NEW tax on peer-to-peer vehicle rentals at 6 percent.

The Virginia Municipal League estimates that, if peer-to-peer rentals replace 10 percent of current vehicle rentals, valuable tax revenue would be lost. In that scenario, if peer-to-peer vehicle rental companies fail to collect tax on vehicle rentals, over $11 million would be lost. If this same revenue is taxed under SB 735, approximately $6.7 million would be lost. If this revenue is taxed under HB 1539, approximately $4.44 million would be lost.

"Care Before Your Share" coalition members are asking the Virginia General Assembly to stop the loss in important tax revenue by governing all consumer transactions, including peer-to-peer vehicle rentals, in a fair and consistent way.

SOURCE Enterprise Holdings, Inc.
Two miscreants on Tuesday looted gold jewellery worth more than Rs 30 lakh from a shop in Khagaul area of Patna district, police said.

The two miscreants posing as customers went inside the jewellery shop at Khagaul station road and sprayed some chemicals. After the shopowner fell unconscious they looted gold jewellery and fled, the police said.

Asked about the value of looted gold jewellery, the SHO said that it is difficult to tell about the exact amount of the looted jewellery but as per the claims of family members of the jewellery shop owner, it could be anything between Rs 30 to Rs 40 lakh.

The shop owner, who fell unconscious, was admitted to a nearby hospital, the police said, adding that he is fine now.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two more people suspected with coronavirus have been admitted to Fever Hospital in Hyderabad, said the doctors on Tuesday.

"Till now the state-run Fever Hospital has admitted 19 cases and yesterday two more people were admitted. All the 21 suspected cases of coronavirus have a history of visiting China," Dr. Shankar, Superintendent, Fever Hospital and Director, Institute of Preventive Medicine told ANI.

The doctor said the two suspected people with coronavirus are being subjected for the required tests and till now there have been no positive cases.

"19 suspected coronavirus cases have been tested negative from Pune lab. The two suspected cases which were admitted yesterday, one person is having the symptoms of coronavirus and the other is suffering from mild fever. The two suspected samples are being sent today for tests. Till now no one has reported positive for the virus," he added.

The doctor said the Telangana Health Department has issued advice to all the health officials and hospitals have been kept on alert.

In addition, three isolation wards with over 100 beds have been set up in Fever Hospital, Gandhi Hospital and Chest Hospital in the state.

"We can get the report in just six to eight hours now. We are taking samples for tests irrespective of symptoms. The suspects are being kept in isolation for 14 days and are under observation," the doctor added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Joe Biden. Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images

If Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee for president and if he wins the general election in November, Republicans may try to impeach him on his first day in office, GOP senator Joni Ernst warned Sunday.

I think this door of impeachable whatever has been opened, she told Bloomberg News. Joe Biden should be very careful what hes asking for because, you know, we can have a situation where if it should ever be President Biden, that immediately, people, right the day after he would be elected would be saying, Well, were going to impeach him.

On what grounds would Biden be impeached? For being assigned to take on Ukrainian corruption yet turning a blind eye to Burisma because his son was on the board making over a million dollars a year, said Ernst. The Iowa senator also said this weekend that she plans to vote for President Trumps acquittal.

Ernst is not the only senator preparing to turn their attention from Trumps abuse of power to Biden. Lindsey Graham on Sunday said the Senate Intelligence Committee will soon begin investigating the whistle-blower whose complaint led to the impeachment proceedings. Speaking on Fox News, Graham suggested that the whistle-blower and the former VP could be connected. If the whistle-blower is a former employeeassociate of Joe Biden, I think that would be important, Graham said.

Biden said Ernsts comments show how scared the GOP is of him winning the Democratic nomination. They very much dont want to face me obviously, Biden told the Des Moines Register. Ive never seen a sitting president and his allies this frightened about who may be the nominee.

In an email to the paper, a senior adviser to Ernst explained that she was laying out a hypothetical, not saying Biden should be impeached if hes elected. She said that because of how House Democrats have lowered the standards of impeachment, if Biden wins, there could be people calling for it, the spokesperson said.
WASHINGTON - Democrats are bracing for a more emboldened President Donald Trump now that his acquittal is at hand, beginning with Tuesday's State of the Union address before a nationally televised audience.

Rather than seeking to unify Congress and the nation with remorse, Democrats expect Trump to ratchet up his rhetoric of grievance on the eve of Senate impeachment votes that are all but certain to acquit him from charges of abusing power and obstructing Congress.

"Whatever happens, he claims that it's a victory for him, in many instances when it's far from it. So that's what he'll say," Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., a 2020 presidential contender, said during a break in Monday's closing arguments by the prosecutors and the president's defense team.

"For a while he might almost be like a cartoon-figure president," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., comparing the president to the Incredible Hulk breaking off chains holding him down. "The guardrails are gone."

A day shy of the one-year mark since the 2019 presidential address, this speech will have some of the similar trappings in a political landscape that is far different.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will again being wearing white, sitting behind Trump and next to Vice President Mike Pence, in honor of the suffragist movement, according to an adviser. Dozens of Democratic women will also be wearing white, an echo of last year's address, when they celebrated their record numbers from the 2018 midterm elections and the new Democratic majority.

Trump, having just been embarrassed over a 35-day partial shutdown of the government, took a moment to praise the 100-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment and how there are "more women serving in Congress than at any time before."

Pelosi gave Trump an almost mocking clap at one point, an instant viral moment.

Now, however, the president comes to the House chamber having been impeached by Pelosi and House Democrats and on the verge of an acquittal in the Senate - with the added bonus of the majority of senators voting to acquit and possibly one or two Democrats.

Pelosi seems to be expecting the worst. "Does the president know right from wrong? I don't think so. That's all I can say to you," she told reporters Thursday when asked whether Trump would be humbled by impeachment or empowered by the acquittal.

Pelosi's guests for Tuesday's speech are expected to be symbols of soaring health-care costs and survivors of gun violence. In a sign they want to move beyond discussing impeachment, most Democrats who have announced that their guests are similarly focused on health care as the issue they want to put forward.

Republicans do not want Trump to use his State of the Union platform as a grievance cudgel against Democrats, but they also know that their views of decorum are often ignored by this president. "We're not done tomorrow, and I don't think it's appropriate for him to bring up," Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said. "But he is his own person."

Lankford wants Trump to keep the impeachment talk to political rallies. "At official events, not so much," he said. "I don't think the State of the Union is the place for it."

Some Republicans and Democrats held out hope that Trump would use the annual address in a manner similar to Bill Clinton, who in 1999 delivered the address in the middle of his presidential impeachment trial.

Over 77 minutes Clinton focused entirely on policy, never mentioning his trial. Trump will not formally have been cleared, but the president knows the outcome is preordained. He has usually stuck to the script in his prepared remarks at his first three joint addresses to Congress, relishing the chance to have the political stage all to himself.

He could choose to seize the moment and air his frustrations with Pelosi for leading the House to make him only the third president to have ever been impeached.

"The vote will not have occurred yet. I hope not, I hope he doesn't do that. I think that would simply inflame things further, but I have no idea," said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats.

Regardless, King is expecting Trump's next few weeks to be particularly outlandish.

"Principally because he's expressed no remorse or understanding that he did anything wrong," he said. "So why should he hold back? That's what worries me."

As he closed out the House managers' case, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., made that point to a cast of Senate Republicans who had already rejected his pleas to bring witnesses and documents sought in the trial. Schiff said that "even a single vote" by a Republican to convict Trump would be a victory, at least sending a signal that some GOP senators were willing to defy the president.

Otherwise, he said, "He will not change, and you know it."

Schiff warned that a full acquittal by Republicans would give Trump a path to encourage other foreign powers to help his 2020 reelection.

"He has done it before, he will do it again," Schiff said.

Klobuchar, however, said her experience on the campaign trail had given her a level of optimism about voters. At Monday night's Democratic caucuses in Iowa, two former GOP state legislators will be supporting her campaign, a sign that, she believes, shows the difference between Republicans in Washington and those across the country.

"Maybe in this place a bunch of the Republicans, when he says jump, they say how high. That's not true of regular people out there," Klobuchar said.

These Republicans, in her mind, have given Democrats a chance to win the case against Trump before the ultimate jury, voters in the 2020 election, and they support what Democrats have done so far.

"They think this is going to be a decency check on this president, a patriotism check," Klobuchar said. "So he can claim victory all he wants, depending on what happens Wednesday, but I think people know what went on here."
Won Jong-gun, one of the newly introduced members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea for the April 15 general election, leaves a press conference hall at the National Assembly in Seoul, Jan. 28, after announcing he would leave politics amid a #MeToo scandal. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun



New members used in gaining attention; their speciality not reflected in policy



By Jung Da-min



Scouting iconic figures representing minorities has been an important part of parties' election strategies, and they are again gearing up such moves ahead of this year's April 15 general election.



A chronic problem of such a strategy, however, is that the parties focus more on gaining popularity through the "fresh faces," choosing to put on a show of caring about certain minorities but then failing to come up with any specific practical agenda or plans to support them.



Additionally, in the process of scouting these people, parties often fail to sufficiently vet the figures they select as candidates for constituencies or proportional representation.



A recent #MeToo scandal that brought down a young politician newly scouted by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), has brought these problems into the spotlight.



Won Jong-gun, a 27-year-old man, known for his "moving" story of overcoming difficulties as a son of a deaf-blind mother, was introduced as a new member of the DPK at the end of last year. His relatively young age also received attention as a presumed sign of the party's new strategy to appeal to the younger generation.



But even before the scandal was revealed, political watchers raised the issue of the party's lack of policy plans for young people, as Won himself said he had not had enough time to think of which policies he wanted to promote.



Another decision that added to the criticism against the ruling party was the scouting of ballerina-turned-physical rehabilitation professor Choi Hye-young, 41, who was paralyzed following a 2003 car accident and has since been working to improve awareness of the disabled. They said that the party only promoted Choi's symbolic story without presenting specific policies or plans that would help women or disabled people.





Choi Hye-young, a ballerina-turned-physical rehabilitation professor newly scouted by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, speaks during a press conference at the party headquarters in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Dec. 26. Yonhap



Bae Bog-joo, the leader of the civic group Women with Disabilities Empathy, said the DPK has focused too much on displaying iconic figures representing minorities to craft an image while such new members' political values were hardly represented.



"For Won's case, aside from the story of him having a disabled mom and overcoming difficulties, his political beliefs as a typical young man should have been presented," Bae pointed out. "The failure in using Won stemmed from the DPK's strategy that put too much emphasis on his story. They promoted him using a good story then got struck by a bad story.



"Instead of trying to craft a particular image by using these iconic figures, they should put more focus on presenting the party's long-term agenda," she said.



Political watchers also say that parties should establish follow-up systems to continuously support such new members.



They said the case of a Philippines-born naturalized Korean politician Jasmine Lee who left the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) to join the progressive minor opposition Justice Party in November last year, showed that the LKP had failed to come up with policies supporting immigrants after it "temporarily" used her to promote its image.





Jasmine Lee, center, a Philippines-born naturalized Korean politician, poses with minor opposition Justice Party leader Rep. Sim Sang-jeung, right, and party floor leader Rep. Youn So-ha during a ceremony to welcome her joining the party at the National Assembly, Nov. 11, 2019. Yonhap
Nearly a week after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global public health emergency due to the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, the number of confirmed cases continued to climb.

The virus, which was first detected in the Chinese province of Hubei on Dec. 31, 2019, and has shut down the metropolis of Wuhan where more than 11 million reside, has infected over 24,000 in China, and killed 490 according to the country's National Health Commission.

According to The New York Times, the death toll from the current coronavirus outbreak exceeds that of the SARS outbreak, which killed 349 people in mainland China in 2002 and 2003.

People wear face masks and walk at a shopping mall in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. People wear face masks as they walk through a shopping mall in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. According to the Taiwan Centers of Disease Control (CDC) Friday, the tenth case diagnosed with the new coronavirus has been confirmed in Taiwan. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

One point of optimism according to the Times is the number of patients who have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from an infection. Chinese officials said on Wednesday that a total of 892 people have been cured and discharged, which indicates treatments dispersed have been effective.

A new hospital that was constructed in only 10 days opened Monday in Wuhan, one of the latest drastic measures implemented to try to combat the growing health crisis. Over 1,400 medical staff from China's military have been assigned to treat patients at the 1,000-bed facility.

In addition to building new hospitals, the Chinese government's "unprecedented" response to battling the epidemic has included extending the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, postponing the opening dates for schools and businesses, and imposing travel restrictions.

Two deaths have been confirmed outside mainland China, including one this week in Hong Kong, The Associated Press reported. The other death was reported in the Philippines.

Story continues

Despite the rapid climb in confirmed cases in China and the spread of the virus to over twenty other countries, the WHO says the coronavirus does not yet constitute a pandemic.

Dr. Sylvie Briand, the WHO's director of global infectious hazard preparedness said at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday that even though there is a rapid spread of transmission in Hubei, the cases outside the province are mainly "spillover" cases with sporadic clusters or transmission, according to a report from China's health commission.

"Countries are implementing early case detection, early isolation and treatment of patients, contact tracing to make sure they identify very early contacts that become symptomatic," she said.

Cruise ships have also come under close scrutiny during the outbreak.

Reuters reported that at least 3,700 passengers are facing two weeks in isolation on a ship anchored off the coast of Japan after 10 people tested positive for the virus.

Earlier this week, another 3,600 passengers and crew had to stay aboard their ship as it remained in port in Hong Kong after three people reportedly contracted the virus.

The World Dream cruise ship docked at Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. A Hong Kong official says more than 3,600 people on board the cruise ship that was turned away from a Taiwanese port will be quarantined until they are checked for a new virus. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said the number of confirmed cases in the United States has reached 11. Six of those have been reported in California. At least 25 other countries have reported cases.

NBC News reported Monday that the first patient confirmed to have coronavirus in the U.S. has been released from the hospital. The unidentified man had been treated at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington, and is expected to be kept in isolation as he recovers.

Travel restrictions to and from China and enhanced airport screenings at five U.S. airports are two of the preventative methods U.S. officials have instituted based on the CDC's recommendation. More than 14,000 people traveled daily to the U.S. from China in 2019.

There is no current vaccine to utilize against the virus, but according to a report from the U.S. News and World Report, dozens of labs are said to be working on a vaccine to protect against the pathogen. Due to manufacturing and regulatory hurdles, it could be months or more than a year before a vaccine becomes commercially available, experts have said.

People wearing masks, play in a park in Hong Kong, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

"Though we may be in clinical trials within a year, I do not expect a coronavirus vaccine to be commercially available within a year," Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told U.S. News and World Report.

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The spread of the virus initially was blamed on a link to a seafood and animal market in the Wuhan area, indicating an animal to person spread, according to CDC. Yet, in the ensuing weeks, officials believe that a person-to-person spread is occurring, including two such cases in the U.S.

"At this time, it's unclear how easily or sustainably this virus is spreading between people," CDC officials said.

Symptoms can include fever, cough and shortness of breath and may appear as soon as two days or as long as 14 after exposure. More severe cases can produce pneumonia, kidney failure or death.

The fact that it's winter in Wuhan when people tend to spend more time indoors versus outside, could be a significant factor in the spread of the virus, Aaron Glatt, chairman of medicine at Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside, New York, told AccuWeather.

"If people are in a small, poorly ventilated area, the spread of any virus, especially a virus like this would be much more likely to spread," Glatt said. "As opposed to if people are playing outside, it's less likely they spend a significant amount of time next to somebody in a highly contagious area."

Glatt said if an effective vaccine could be developed in a short amount of time, that would be a "game-changer." He also explained that this strain of coronavirus spreads in similar ways to the common cold or flu but there is much health experts still don't know about this virus.

"We're not 100 percent certain how close you have to be to somebody to get this virus. We're certain that if you're within 6 feet of them for some sort of a prolonged period of time, that would put a person at risk," Glatt continued. "We're not sure if there's a greater distance that would also put a person at risk. And we're not sure exactly how long a period of time you need to be exposed to somebody."

If a patient is known to have the virus, the individual should cover the mouth with a mask. Doing so should be a number one priority, he added.

China's air quality issues could also play a factor in whether or not a person is more or less vulnerable to the coronavirus.

Dr. Bryan Lewis, an associate professor at the University of Virginia's Biocomplexity Institutive and Initiative, said those with lung damage that could be caused by air pollution could have a higher susceptibility to becoming infected.

"It certainly could stand to reason that in some of those urban areas in China where the air quality is an issue, that the population might be more susceptible to this kind of infection," he told AccuWeather.

Despite fears about the spread of coronavirus, health experts like Glatt continue to stress that influenza, which has killed more than 10,000 so far this flu season in the U.S. remains the bigger threat.

"There's a tremendous amount of attention on coronavirus but there's not enough attention on influenza and how we can prevent the flu with a good vaccine, albeit not a perfect one, and how we can stay home if we get the flu and not infect all of our colleagues, co-workers and other people we come into contact with," Glatt said.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Some leaks have hinted that the next couple of major Xiaomi mobile device launches may lack physical locations. This may mean that the Mi 10 and Black Shark 3 events may be online-only. This may be due to the risks posed by the new coronavirus epidemic in China.

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Xiaomi's Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro is currently rumored to be an effective competitor to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S20 series. They are thought to have the Snapdragon 865 processor, in addition to state-of-the-art LPDDR5 RAM and 108MP main-camera sensors.

Some additional leaks have suggested that it might also pre-empt the S20s onto the market, so as to be the first phones rocking flagship Qualcomm silicon in 2020. However, recent developments may disrupt these possible plans...or, alternatively, offer Xiaomi the path of least resistance to this goal.

Recent reports have indicated that a SARS-esque epidemic, attributed to a novel coronavirus, has affected life in China to the extent that the authorities currently discourage large public gatherings outdoors. They would include events such as smartphone launches, even that of flagships like the Mi 10. Therefore, the OEM might convert theirs into a purely online event.

The tipster Digital Chat Station has posted a leak to this effect on Weibo. It states that the Mi 10 launch may not be a physical event. Furthermore, this may also apply to the Black Shark 3, which is probably Xiaomi's next premium gaming smartphone. Should this be the case, the OEM may indeed beat Samsung, scheduled to hold its next Galaxy Unpacked event on February 11, 2020, in this respect.

On the other hand, a separate report asserts that the Mi 10 series will in fact be launch on February 13. However, it may also be on sale as early as February 14, whereas Samsung is not likely to actually release its new flagships until late in the year.

Buy Mi Note 10 now on Amazon
South Dakota's chief justice seeks $5 million for courthouse security

In Chief Justice Jensen's State of the Judiciary Address, he mentioned courthouse security, sexual harassment training and a lack of court reporters.
Though a source of friction, analysts say Ankara will not jeopardise its relationship with Moscow over events in Syria.

Ankara, Turkey  Since last April, Syrian government forces have conducted an off-and-on military campaign to retake the final rebel stronghold in northwestern Idlib province. More than 1,000 civilians have been killed while hundreds of thousands of others have been displaced.

In the early hours of Monday, the offensive took a dramatic and potentially critical turn when forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed eight Turkish military and civil personnel.

Since the start of the offensive, weve seen a cycle whereby the regime forces attack, Turkey complains and Russia intervenes to slow the attacks. Then the process starts again, said Ahmet Evin, a senior scholar at Sabanci Universitys Istanbul Policy Centre

This time could be different because the killing of Turkish soldiers raises the stakes considerably.

The escalation has threatened to damage relations between Moscow and Ankara. Despite supporting opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Libya, the two countries have been moving closer in recent years with growing energy, defence and trade ties.

The Turkish deaths came on the eve of a visit to Ukraine by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who used the trip to call on Russia to honour the 2017 Astana agreement that seeks to pave the way for a political solution in Syria.

It also established a number of de-escalation zones in Syria, including Idlib province, which Ankara said have been violated by Assads forces.

Even before the latest developments, Erdogan said Syrian government advances meant there was no such thing as the Astana process any more.

Alexey Khlebnikov, a Middle East expert and Russian foreign policy analyst at the Russian International Affairs Council in Moscow, said Erdogan could be overestimating the Kremlins power over al-Assad.

Russia cant make Assad do whatever it wants, he said. Moscow had significant difficulties with Damascus in the past and I dont see Moscow as being in full control of what Damascus is doing on the ground.

Ankara has also failed to follow the demands of Astana, such as separating moderate Turkey-backed fighters from radicals or preventing attacks on a Russian airbase, Khlebnikov added.

Deep ties

Despite the apparent fracture in Turkey-Russia relations, Ali Bakeer, an Ankara-based political analyst and researcher, said cooperation between them was deep enough to weather such a rift.

Theres a deep relationship between Turkey and Russia and they have common interests on many levels, he said. Among these ties are a Black Sea gas pipeline unveiled last month and an air defence deal that has caused concern among Turkeys NATO allies.

In particular, Erdogan and Russias Vladimir Putin appear to have a good personal relationship, often referring to one another as dear friend when they meet. In a sign that the two countries were working to repair the damage from the latest escalation, they spoke directly on the phone on Tuesday.

In the call, Erdogan told Putin that the attack on Turkish military personnel had damaged joint peace efforts and that Turkey would defend itself in case of a similar attack, the Turkish presidency said.

In its report on the same phone call, the Kremlin said the leaders agreed to take immediate measures to improve coordination of their countries actions in Syria.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had already spoken with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Monday. The following day Cavusoglu told a meeting in Ankara that the Astana process and last years Sochi deal with Russia over Syria did not disappear completely but the damage has started.

He added: We want to give momentum to the political process as soon as possible, along with a permanent ceasefire and a constitutional commission. But theres no way we can tolerate attacks on us.

Regional cooperation

Turkish and Russian cooperation in northeast Syria, where Turkeys operation against Kurdish forces in October was brought to an end by Russian mediation, seemed to suffer a setback. Turkish broadcaster NTV reported that joint a Turkish-Russian patrol in the border region was cancelled on Monday.

These two things are parallel, Khlebnikov said. There may be some trade-off between Turkey and Syria over Idlib and the northeast, which is more important for Turkey.

Idlib is where opposition forces dominated by Hayet Tahrir al-Sham, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, are making a last stand against government forces backed by Russian airpower. Among the anti-Assad fighters are groups backed by Turkey.

Under an agreement reached with Russia last year, Turkey has 12 military observation posts dotted around Idlib, some of which have become engulfed by al-Assads troops.

The Turkish deaths happened near Saraqib, a town that lies at the junction of the strategically important M4 and M5 highways where Turkey deployed extra troops at the weekend.

Turkey responded with attacks on Syrian positions that, according to a war monitor, led to 13 Syrian fatalities. Turkey claimed to have neutralised  a term it applies to killed, wounded or captured enemies  more than 70 regime members. The Syrian government made no immediate statements on any casualties.

As well as protecting the rebel groups that it backs, Turkey is concerned about hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians who, according to Erdogan, have fled towards the Turkish border to escape the Syrian assault.

Turkey is currently home to around 3.6 million Syrians and the presence of such a large refugee community has become a contentious domestic political issue.

Turkey knows the inevitable outcome of Idlib falling is a fresh wave of refugees, which would cause problems for Erdogan domestically, said Kamal Alam, a UK-based military analyst who wrote a recent article on Turkey-Syria relations.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, waves of civilians continued to flee their homes on Tuesday as regime troops pushed towards Idlib city and Russian jets bombed targets.

The UK-based war monitoring group said most were escaping towards the Turkish border or parts of Syrias Aleppo province under Turkish control while others were trying to cross into Turkey itself with the help of smugglers.
When it comes to breast milk, Meghan Azad is the $6.5-million researcher.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (705 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When it comes to breast milk, Meghan Azad is the $6.5-million researcher.

That's how much the Winnipeg researcher has been granted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to create a new global health initiative to examine  more in-depth than ever before  how breast milk helps babies grow and fight illnesses.

"It's the largest grant I've ever received," Azad said Tuesday. "The way (the foundation) works is, they find you. They found out about my breast milk research.

"I had to pinch myself for a few days."

Azad  an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba, as well as the Canada Research Chair in developmental origins of chronic disease and a research scientist at the Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba  will combine her work with that of other researchers in maternal nutrition and infant growth in Tanzania, Pakistan, Nepal and Burkina Faso.

During the next three years, researchers in the new International Milk Composition Consortium will collect samples of breast milk from 1,200 mother-infant pairs to be analyzed at the U of M.

As well, Azad said the research grant means her current study, involving 3,500 Canadian infants, will be completed. She currently has only been able to look at about 1,000 of those samples taken during the last five years.

"We don't need a very large volume, we only need one millilitre... mom expresses enough milk (for us) and then the rest to baby," she said.

The consortium researchers will get two samples of breast milk: one when the baby is two months of age; the other when the child is six months old, Azad said.

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They will then look at all the components of the breast milk samples, including fat, protein and hormones.

"I think we're going to find out a lot of new information. By looking at it in totality, it will give us new answers... (Breast milk) is so fundamentally important to infant health and yet we know surprisingly little about breast milk composition and its variation around the world," Azad said.

"This project will help us learn about how human milk helps healthy babies develop and grow up healthy."

Azad has never met Bill nor Melinda Gates, but hopes to someday. (Bill Gates is a co-founder of software giant Microsoft Corp., and has been ranked by Forbes magazine for more than two decades as one of the richest people in the world.)

"The University of Manitoba thanks the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for this commitment to improving the health of children and mothers around the globe," Digvir Jayas, U of M vice-president, research and international, said in a statement.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Raids at multiple locations in Shopian to trace Davinder Singhs terror links

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 04: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted raids at multiple locations in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the Davinder Singh case. The raids were conducted at several locations at Shopian district.

The NIA during the raids seized incriminating material, which includes documents. These documents will help us further our probe, NIA sources told OneIndia.

It may be recalled that Singh, a police official from J&K was arrested on charges of helping three Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists.

Protection in lieu of money: Davinder Singhs close association with Hizbul revealed

The NIA which is probing the case has also learnt that Singh had taken the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists to Jammu last year too and facilitated their return to Shopian, interrogators have claimed.

Singh is alleged to have brought Naveed Babu, Mir Irfan and Rafi Rather from Shopian to Srinagar earlier this month. They set out to Jammu, from where they were planning on going to New Delhi. However before he could leave, the police arrested him sources familiar with the developments confirmed.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 4th, 2020

Singh during his interrogation claimed that he was ferrying the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists to facilitate their surrender.

Officials investigating him say that he had made this made claim during interrogation, but we are investigating the same further. Interrogators say that he has denied the charges against him. He says that he was facilitating a big catch, but there are several inconsistencies in his statements, the officer also said.

NIA gets 15 days custody of Davinder Singh

However, sources also said that Singh was helping the terrorists cross the Banihal tunnel in lieu of money. The source also said that an amount of over Rs 10 lakh was agreed upon. Singh, however, denied the charge during interrogation. The source added that Singh was not being truthful and he had no authorisation to organise a surrender.

The official cited above said that they were tracking their movements from Shopian. A police party in civvies was near his residence keeping a watch over their movements.
The chief executive of Heathrow airport has defended air travel, saying it is not the enemy in the battle against the worsening climate crisis.

John Holland-Kaye said: The answer is not to stop people flying. It has to be about decarbonising aviation.

Aviation is currently one of the most energy and carbon intensive forms of transport, with planes also producing a stream of other pollutants including hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, lead, and black carbon.

And while improvements in the efficiency of aeroplanes fuel consumption have been made in recent years, the global rise in demand for air travel means overall emissions have risen enormously.

In Europe, the average airline fuel consumption per passenger in 2017 was 24 per cent less than it was back in 2005, but as air traffic grew by 60 per cent to 1,643 billion passenger kilometres during the same timeframe, CO2 emissions rose by 16 per cent, according to EU figures.

The village threatened by Heathrow's third runway Show all 4 1 /4 The village threatened by Heathrow's third runway The village threatened by Heathrow's third runway Heathrow's third runway expansion is threatening the village of Harmondsworth Simon Calder The village threatened by Heathrow's third runway Roy Barwick, a Harmondsworth Farmer, said: To be threatened with eviction is a trauma second only to bereavement. Simon Calder The village threatened by Heathrow's third runway Simon Calder The village threatened by Heathrow's third runway Resident Justine Bayley said: The runway would be 100 yards from my front door. Simon Calder

Mr Holland-Kaye told the BBCs Today programme: The enemy is carbon not aviation. We need to protect the ability to fly in a world without carbon.

He added: When the government blocked Heathrow expansion 10 years ago, people started flying through Amsterdam and Paris instead, taking two flights instead of one and not a single tonne of carbon was saved.

This can be done thanks in large part to the introduction of new synthetic fuels. Such fuels have been around for about 100 years and [are] becoming more affordable. It needs a real push on investment, Mr Holland-Kaye said.

The UK aviation industry has pledged to cut its net carbon emissions to zero by 2050  but is also still planning for a staggering 70 per cent more flights over the next three decades.

Sustainable Aviation, an alliance of firms and operators such as Heathrow Airport, British Airways, easyJet, Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Nats, has published a Decarbonisation Road-Map, which includes plans for modernising airspace, carbon offsetting, introducing less polluting aircraft and technology, and making ground operations more efficient.

With these actions, the UK will be able to grow passenger numbers by 70 per cent  in line with current projections  whilst reducing net emissions from 30 million tonnes of CO2 per year today down to zero, the organisation said on Tuesday.

While the report indicates many of the aircraft and sustainable aviation fuels they hope to see are yet to be invented or commercially available, the prime minister has today suggested an even more optimistic alternative  electric passenger planes in two years.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, Boris Johnson said: The aviation industry has committed to being carbon-neutral by 2050. We are on the verge, I am assured, within a couple of years, of having viable electric passenger aircraft. And we will get there.

The sceptics are wrong to doubt the Promethean genius of humanity to solve these problems.

In a statement, transport secretary Grant Shapps made no mention of electric aircraft being able to begin replacing existing fleets in such a short timeframe.

He said: The fight against climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the modern world, but the aviation sectors commitment today is a huge step forward in creating a greener future.

Aviation has a crucial role to play in reducing carbon emissions, and with the help of new technologies, renewable fuels and our continued international co-operation through the UN agency, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, well be able to strike that balance, creating a greener and cleaner future.

In response to the net zero roadmap outlined by Sustainable Aviation, Paul Beckford, Policy Director of the No 3rd Runway Coalition, said: Sustainable Aviations own information shows almost nothing being done in the next five years  forcing larger carbon reductions on other sectors of the economy. This road map still talks about offsetting which has been widely discredited and biofuels which help drive deforestation.

He added: The current global targets for alternative jet fuel use in 2050 would require 3 new bio-jet fuel refineries to be built every month for the next 30 years. Today there are just two facilities  the market is not delivering at the pace required.

It seems that the industry simply doesnt grasp that there may need to be restrictions on growth until these technological advances are actually proven to be operational. Their message that we can carry on as normal contradicts all the evidence showing that must act now to protect our climate.

At the COP26 climate summit launch event at the Science Museum in London on Tuesday morning, environment secretary Theresa Villiers said climate concerns remain a key component in whether a third runway goes ahead at Heathrow.

Speaking to The Independent, she said: Parliament has given outline planning permission for Heathrow expansion and now its for the promoters of the scheme to demonstrate that they can meet the really tough environmental conditions.

If they cant deliver on the conditions, obviously the future of the project is in question.

But parliament has voted on it.
Royal Jordanian has announced special fares on most of its routes between February 3 and 10.



Under the new campaign "Dont Look, Just Book", travellers who book their tickets during this sales period can travel any time between March 1 and May 10, for a maximum stay of 45 days.



The starting economy class fares for the round-trip flights departing from Amman and Aqaba, including taxes, are as follows:



 To New York, Chicago, Detroit and Montreal: JD570 ($803.9)

 To Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong: JD375 ($528.9)

 To Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, London, Madrid, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Geneva, Zurich, Moscow, Rome, Copenhagen and Doha: JD355 ($500.7)

 To Istanbul: JD285 ($401.9)

 To Tunis and Algiers: JD255 ($359.6)

 To Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh, Medina, Baghdad, Basra, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Najaf: JD215 ($303.2)

 To Larnaca and Athens: JD185 ($260.9)



The Amman-Aqaba fare during this sales promo is JD60 ($84.6).



Passengers coming from the above destinations to Amman or Aqaba are offered similarly attractive ticket fares, which vary by destination.



Travellers who buy their tickets during this sales promo can purchase checked baggage allowance of up to 23kg per bag for cheap prices. Passengers to North America and the Far East are allowed one piece of 23kg luggage free of charge.



Royal Club members who wish to take advantage of this offer will earn tier miles and flight segment counts in their account.



Interested travellers can book their tickets across all RJ sales channels, including through the airline's official website and mobile app, at its global sales offices and travel agents, and through the contact centre. - TradeArabia News Service






Haiti - Exodus : 243 Haitian boat-people intercepted in 48 hours in the Turks and Caicos Islands





Following the interception of 243 illegal Haitian boat-people in the waters of the Turks and Caicos islands, Governor Nigel Dakin recalled "Illegal migrants do not only buy a passage through dangerous seas but they buy the suppression of all future attempts at legal emigration."



Recall that on January 28 around 22:30 a first boat loaded with illegal migrants was reported by coastal radar operators 6 miles south of the Port of South Dock in Providenciales.



144 migrants from Haiti (110 men and 34 women) aboard a 40 ft (12m) wooden boat were arrested and taken to port aboard the Sea Guardian of the Royal Police, to be handed over between the hands of immigration services.



Two days later, more precisely on January 30, 2020, naval officers from the Turks and Caicos Islands, who were carrying out surveillance near French Cay, intercepted a second boat 6 miles east of French Cay. wooden 36 feet (11m) which transported 99 illegal migrants from Haiti.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29588-haiti-bahamas-185-haitian-boat-people-arrested-off-little-inagua.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-27992-icihaiti-social-200-haitian-boat-people-intercepted-in-southwest-bahamas.html



SL/ HaitiLibre


















In October 2019, the New Zealand Government announced that it was establishing an industry-wide Airspace Integration Trial to work with leading, innovative domestic and international industry partners to safely test and demonstrate unmanned aircraft. Wisk, based in the United States and New Zealand, was announced as the first industry partner to join this program.

Wisk CEO, Gary Gysin, said: "We are delighted to now have a signed agreement with the New Zealand Government, which will propel Cora's entry to the air taxi market. We see this agreement as a sign of confidence in our product and abilities to develop and deliver a safe and reliable air taxi service, starting in New Zealand. As the Minister of Research Science and Innovation Hon. Dr. Megan Woods said in her announcement :

"This trial is the first of its kind and Wisk's innovative technology and commitment to New Zealand make them an ideal partner for advancing the future of travel in New Zealand and the world."

"Wisk has been working with the Government and people of New Zealand since 2017," said Gary Gysin. "We are excited about what this agreement and trial represents in our journey to bring safe everyday flight to everyone. New Zealand values innovation, excellence and technology that is safe for people and the environment. Being selected as the partner for this program is an honor and testament to our hard work and steady progress."

Around the globe, Urban Air Mobility is an emerging, high-value industry and New Zealand is an attractive location because of its thriving innovation ecosystem with unique expertise, people and technology.

With the agreement now in place, the planning for a passenger transport trial in Canterbury is now underway. The passenger route is a world's first and will commence after Cora's certification by the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority.

About the NZ Government Airspace Integration Trials

The Airspace Integration Trial programme is being centrally managed by New Zealand's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Innovative Partnerships team, working alongside the Civil Aviation Authority, the Ministry of Transport and other key stakeholders to support industry partners to take their technology from testing to in-service operations.

About Wisk

Wisk is an urban air-mobility company dedicated to delivering safe, everyday flight for everyone. Cora, its self-flying, eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) air taxi, will make it possible for passengers to skip traffic gridlock and get to their destination faster. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area and New Zealand, Wisk is an independent company backed by The Boeing Company and Kitty Hawk Corporation. With a decade of experience and over 1000 test flights completed, Wisk is set to shape the future of daily commutes and urban travel, safely and sustainably.

Wisk's Cora has been testing in the Canterbury region since 2017, generating new job opportunities and contributing to local businesses in the area. The company is also working closely with Ngai Tahu, to support STEM education and to develop technical skills and a pipeline of talent.

In New Zealand, Wisk New Zealand is the trading name of Zephyr Airworks LLC, a Delaware (USA) limited liability company.

For more information, visit: wisk.aero

Wisk Media contact

Becky Tanner

[email protected]

SOURCE Wisk.aero

Related Links

wisk.aero


Joaquin Phoenix caused a stir with his BAFTAs appearance - but it's not his win or powerful speech that has people talking.

The Hollywood star, 45, curtsied heavily to the Duke of Cambridge as they met following the show.

Attempting to use royal protocol, the actor awkwardly curtsied Prince William, 37, who can be heard saying: 'Lovely to meet you'.

Unfortunately for the Oscar winner, men are only required to give a small head bow whilst women perform a curtsy when meeting royalty.

But as the star and royal chatted alongside fellow award winner Taika Waititi, it became clear that His Royal Highness is a huge fan of Joaquin's work.

'I absolutely loved The Joker. It was brilliant,' praised the Prince.

I'm a fan of your work! Joaquin Phoenix appeared to be star-struck when Prince William came over to congratulate him

Formalities: Attempting to use royal protocol, the actor, 45, awkwardly curtsied to the Duke of Cambridge who can be heard saying: 'Lovely to meet you'

'I put it off and put it off watching it, as people kept telling me "be careful when you choose to watch it", but when I did it blew my mind, it was really good.'

Prince William and Joaquin also shared a similar message in their speeches at the Royal Albert Hall event, addressing the clear lack of diversity in the acting and directing categories.

Appearing downcast as he took to the stage to receive his award, the star said: 'I feel very honoured and privileged to be here tonight. BAFTAs have always been very supportive of my career and I'm deeply appreciative.

Admirer: As the star and royal chatted alongside fellow award winner Taika Waititi, it became clear that His Royal Highness is a huge fan of Joaquin's work.

Conflicted: Prince William and Joaquin also shared a similar message in their speeches at the Royal Albert Hall event, addressing the clear lack of diversity in the acting and directing categories

'But I hate to say I also feel conflicted, because so many of my fellow actors don't have that same privilege. I think we send a very clear message to people of colour that you're not welcome here.

'I think that's the message we have contributed so much to our medium and our industry. I don't think anybody wants a handout or preferential treatment, this is not a self-righteous condemnation.

'I have not done everything in my power to ensure the stuff that I worked on are inclusive. We have to do the hard to work to truly understand systemic racism.

Speech: Appearing downcast as he took to the stage to receive his award, the star said: 'I feel very honoured and privileged to be here tonight

'I think that it is the obligation of the people that have created and perpetuated and benefited from the system of oppression that dismantle it, and that's on us. Thank you.'

The actor also made a statement of a personal nature at the prestigious awards ceremony, when he arrived wearing his recycled Stella McCartney tuxedo.

He cut a dapper figure as he hit the red carpet in his black ensemble of choice, which was teamed with a crisp white shirt bow tie, after vowing to re-wear his suit to all awards shows as part of his eco-friendly message.

Hollywood actor Joaquin has been the driving force between the 2020 awards season's green initiative.

Award winner: The screen star received his trophy from award-winning actress Olivia Colman

Problems: 'But I hate to say I also feel conflicted, because so many of my fellow actors don't have that same privilege. I think we send a very clear message to people of colour that you're not welcome here'

According to Variety the actor pushed the Hollywood Foreign Press, who are behind the Golden Globes, to opt for a meat- and dairy-less meal at this month's ceremony.

He used his acceptance speech for the Best Actor gong to praise the move, telling the crowd: 'I would like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press for recognising and acknowledging the link between animal agriculture and climate change.

'It's a very bold move, making tonight plant-based.'

Joaquin proved that he was dedicated to the cause, as he left last month's SAG Awards festivities early to attend a vigil for pigs at an Los Angeles slaughterhouse.

Etiquette behind the 'perfect' curtsey (and technically Joaquin did nothing wrong!)

Extracted from a previous interview with etiquette expert Jean Broke Smith and Adam Partridge, spokesman for the Debretts A To Z Of Modern Manners, with the Daily Mail.

HOW TO GREET A ROYAL

'Members of the public are not bound to the traditions and protocols of the Royal Family, although they can choose to curtsey if they wish,' says Adam. 'The Queen herself has said she does not expect people to curtsey, and Buckingham Palace reflects this in its protocol advice.'

IF YOU ARE A ROYAL Within the Royal Family, however, there are explicit rules as to who curtsies to whom. And yes, it's complicated. Obviously, everyone should curtsey to the Queen and Prince Philip. 'Even in private I would hope that other female royals perform a slight bob to Her Majesty when she walks into a room. In public, her daughter Princess Anne will always curtsey before giving her mother a kiss,' says Jean. If Kate and Meghan are accompanied by their husbands William or Harry, then royals such as Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie or even the older Countess of Wessex would have to curtsey to them. But if they're unaccompanied, they would have to curtsey to Beatrice and Eugenie because they are of royal descent. When Kate becomes Queen, everyone will have to curtsey to her. Advertisement

However many people choose to show deference to the royals with their greeting. Women typically curtsey while men bow their heads forwards. However there is no rules stating men cannot curtsey.

'If you're meeting the Queen, she will always put her hand out to you and that is your cue to curtsey,' says Jean Broke Smith.

'You should not look at her as you curtsey but keep your eyes lowered. Only as you come back up should you meet her eyes and if she is offering you her hand you can shake it. Otherwise, keep you hands to yourself.'

Other members of the royal family, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, are less formal than the Queen.

The rules are the same for foreigners like Joaquin Phoenix as for Brits. It is up to the individual as to whether they curtsey or not.

When former First Lady Michelle Obama met the Queen, she gave a small curtsey. Not so Melania Trump, however, during her visit in 2018.

THE HISTORY OF THE CURTSEY

The curtsey is a traditional gesture of greeting by a girl or a woman to someone more senior in social rank and dates back to at least the Middle Ages.

It is derived from a 'courtesy' and is simply a mark of respect. It became gender specific in the 17th century, with men adopting the bow, and women the curtsey.

It really took off in Victorian times. Women's dresses were so large that a little bob would hardly have been noticeable. Instead, women began to curtsey with more depth. Later, when Edwardian dress came in, some women started holding up the material of their skirts or dresses as part of the curtsey.

HOW TO DO IT...

'A curtsey should be a discreet, brief movement and not a ballet plie, or a grand, sweeping descent to the ground,' says Adam Partridge.

'From a standing position, transfer your weight to one foot (usually the left). Place the ball of your other foot behind and slightly to the outside of your standing ankle.

Bend your front knee while keeping your torso upright and your hands relaxed at your sides. There is no need to hold your skirt or dress.

To come up, slowly straighten your knees, bringing your feet back into a parallel position. The whole motion should take a few seconds.'

INCH PERFECT

Changing fashions have affected the curtsey (long skirts facilitated a deep plunge, while shorter hem-lines require a more modest dip) and now, we see everything from deep, deferential curtsey to the slight, barely-see-it bob.

'There's no rule as to how many inches from the ground you must go  it depends on how flexible you are and how good you are with your core strength and balance,' says Jean.
January 31, 2020 Alisa Lynch , 760-878-2194, ext. 3311 Rose Masters , 760-878-2194, ext. 3317

Manzanar National Historic Site is honored to host author/entertainer Kinji Inomata for its 2020 Day of Remembrance program at 1:00 pm, Saturday, February 22, 2020. Organizations and communities across the country host Day of Remembrance events to mark the anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signing Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. While never specifically mentioning Japanese Americans, the executive order allowed the US Army to forcibly round-up and incarcerate more than 110,000 Japanese Americanstwo-thirds of whom were US citizensin Manzanar and nine similar camps around the United States.



Kinji Inomatas family experience was the exception. Kinjis talk Taming Prejudice and Defeating Executive Order 9066 will highlight the story of his grandfather Kenji Inomata, the only known Issei (first generation immigrant from Japan) to remain officially free on the West Coast during World War II.



The elder Inomata illegally entered the United States through New York Harbor in the late 1800s. He went on to serve as a steward in the US Navy for nearly thirty years. Despite federal laws forbidding Asian immigrants from becoming US citizens, he naturalized in 1919.



In 1935, Inomata, his Creole wife Genevieve, and their children moved from Florida to Los Angeles to escape the prejudice of the South, only to face different prejudices in the West.



Kinji Inomata has captured his familys experiences in his book Pure Winds, Bright Moon: The Untold Story of the Stately Steward and his Hapa Family Beautiful. The book highlights 125 years of twists and turns in the lives of the Inomata family. The Smithsonian recently accessioned his book into its National Museum of American History.



Kinji Inomata is also a Polynesian entertainer and will perform a few songs. The program is free and open to all. Manzanars non-profit partner, Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association, will host a book signing with Kinji Inomata after his talk. Proceeds will benefit programs and projects at Manzanar National Historic Site. The site is located at 5001 Highway 395, six miles south of Independence and nine miles north of Lone Pine, California. Learn more on our website or on our .


OTTAWA - The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion overcame another legal hurdle Tuesday when the Federal Court of Appeal struck down a challenge filed by several British Columbia First Nations.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Pipe for the Trans Mountain pipeline is unloaded in Edson, Alta. on Tuesday June 18, 2019. The Federal Court of Appeal is set to release its decision on the latest challenge of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

OTTAWA - The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion overcame another legal hurdle Tuesday when the Federal Court of Appeal struck down a challenge filed by several British Columbia First Nations.

The court decided in a 3-0 ruling that cabinet's decision last June to approve the project a second time was reasonable under the law.

"For the reasons that follow, we conclude that there is no basis for interfering with the (cabinet's) second authorization of the project," the 95-page decision said.

In deciding that, the judges dismissed the four challenges from First Nations in British Columbia, who argued the government had already made up its mind to approve the project again before undertaking another Indigenous consultation process in 2018 and 2019.

The judges said "this was anything but a rubber-stamping exercise."

The court found the government made a genuine effort, listened to and considered concerns raised by First Nations, and sometimes agreed to accommodate those concerns, "all very much consistent with the concepts of reconciliation and the honour of the Crown."

They also say while it is true not all the concerns raised were accommodated, "to insist on that happening is to impose a standard of perfection," that is not required by law.

This is the second victory for the pipeline and its proponents in the last month. In mid-January, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the B.C. government could not regulate what flows through the pipeline because those that cross provincial borders are wholly within federal jurisdiction.

Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan said the government welcomes the ruling and believes it proves that if consultations and reviews are done properly, major projects can be built in Canada.

"This has worked out well," he said.

Minister of Finance Bill Morneau looks on as Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan responds to a question from the media in Ottawa, Tuesday, February 4, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

"The courts have acknowledged that we listened and that we want to do things right."

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said the project has been through years of "the most detailed and rigorous" environmental reviews and Indigenous consultations and pointed out there are many First Nations who back the project.

"It's a great day for Canada because it demonstrates that the vast majority of Indigenous groups will not have their voices ignored," he said. "It demonstrates that we do have the rule of law, that decisions can be made, that big projects can be completed."

Kenney said "it's time to get this pipeline built." Construction began in earnest on the project last fall, with the first lengths of pipe laid in December.

Leaders of the First Nations which brought the challenge last summer expressed disappointment in the outcome.

"Reconciliation stopped today," said Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation.

"We're still trudging forward. We always said that we would do what it takes to make sure that we stop this pipeline. We have proven that it's not in the best interest of our nations that are standing here, for Vancouver, for British Columbia, for Canada," he said.

"This government is incapable of making sound decisions for our future generations. So we are and we will. Even for their children, we will take those steps, to make sure that Canada stays the way it is."

Chief Lee Spahan of the Coldwater Indian Band said the route through the First Nation's territories is still to be determined and Canada has an ongoing duty to consult with it on the route and protection of its water.

The First Nations leaders said they are still consulting with their lawyers and councils to decide whether to seek leave to appeal of the decision in the Supreme Court of Canada, which they have 60 days to do, but they will continue to pursue all available legal options to fight the project.

Khelsilem, an elected councillor with the Squamish Nation, said court is not the only option because the Squamish never surrendered their lands or their rights to their territory.

"B.C. has a long history of civil disobedience," said Khelsilem.

In November 2016, the Liberal cabinet issued its first approval for the expansion, which will twin the existing pipeline and triple its capacity. That approval was struck down in August 2018 by the Federal Court of Appeal, which said the government's Indigenous consultation was lacking in some areas and that it had failed to fully account for impacts on marine life off the B.C. coast.

Ottawa then launched another round of consultations with Indigenous communities and asked the National Energy Board to look at marine life.

In June 2019, cabinet issued its second approval for the project. Following that, the Coldwater Indian Band, Squamish Nation, Tsleil-Waututh and a group of small First Nations in the Fraser Valley asked the court to review the decision a second time. The court refused to hear a challenge from environment groups seeking a review of the decision on environmental grounds but agreed to go ahead with the First Nations case.

Environment groups are asking for leave to challenge that decision to the Supreme Court.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has always maintained Canada has to balance between getting resources to market and protecting the environment.

Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

He has promised every cent the government makes off the pipeline will be invested in a transition to renewable energy and clean technology. His government stepped in to buy the existing pipeline when political opposition from the B.C. government compelled Kinder Morgan Canada to bail on the expansion.

The government intends to eventually sell it back to the private sector, or Indigenous communities that have formed partnerships, once the project is completed.

O'Regan acknowledged there is work yet to do with First Nations.

"I want to say clearly to those who are disappointed with today's court decision: we see you and we hear you," he said. "As construction continues to move forward we will take every step that we can to ensure that this project moves forward in the right way."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2020.

 With files from Christopher Reynolds in Montreal and Laura Kane in Vancouver.
The 12-day Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump concluded Monday with four hours of final arguments, two by the Democratic House managers and two by the White House defense team. Following last Fridays 51-49 vote against admitting new witness testimony or documents, the stage is set for a party-line vote on Wednesday to acquit Trump of the two articles of impeachment passed in December by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives: one for abuse of power and the other for obstruction of Congress.

The outcome is a foregone conclusion, as conviction and removal from office require a two-thirds vote in the Republican-controlled chamber. The only question is whether any senators will defect from their partisan camps and vote with the opposing party. Late Monday, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin presented a resolution to censure Trump rather than convict him, an initiative that has virtually no chance of succeeding. However, it suggests that the right-wing Democrat may be preparing to vote against Trumps conviction on Wednesday.

It is widely acknowledged that the Democratic impeachment drive has ended in a debacle that has only strengthened Trump. Even as the Democrats argued Monday that Trump was a menace to US national security, a stooge of Russian President Vladimir Putin and an aspiring dictator, they were preparing to welcome him to the House Tuesday night to deliver his State of the Union Address, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi sitting on the rostrum behind him, alongside Vice President Mike Pence.

Under these circumstances, the closing arguments had something of a farcical and perfunctory character. Opinion polls confirm that despite broad and intense opposition to Trump within the population, the Democrats impeachment campaign has generated little popular interest or enthusiasm. Trumps poll numbers, already among the lowest of any post-World War II president, have not been negatively impacted by months of hearings in the House and the two-week Senate trial.

Meanwhile, Trumps legal team has seized on the Senate trial as an opportunity to advance legal arguments for a vast expansion of presidential authority and diminution of Congresss constitutionally mandated powers of oversight of the executive branch. There is no doubt that Trump, who regularly jokes about remaining in office indefinitely and in practice rejects any congressional restraint on his actions, will take his acquittal as legal sanction for establishing a presidential dictatorship.

Harvard law Professor Alan Dershowitz argued during the trial that abuse of power and obstruction of Congress were not constitutionally impeachable offenses, and Trumps legal team as a whole defined the constitutional separation of powers to mean that Congress has no right to challenge presidential actions.

Thus, they asserted, Trump was absolutely in the right in declaring a blanket ban on compliance with House subpoenas for testimony by administration officials and documents as part of the House impeachment inquiry. Trumps personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, summed up the defense case on Monday by declaring: I simply ask this body to stand firm today to protect the integrity of the United States Senate, stand firm today to protect the office of the president, stand firm to protect the Constitution.

The Democrats final arguments only underscored the reactionary basis of their impeachment drive, demonstrating once again that the political warfare in Washington is a conflict between two right-wing factions of the ruling class and the state, entirely divorced from and hostile to the interests of the broad mass of the American people.

In presenting their arguments, the Democrats went out of their way to appeal to the disaffected sections of the military-intelligence and foreign policy establishment with which they are allied. They chose Colorado Representative Jason Crow to lead off their summation. Crow, a former paratrooper in Iraq and Army Ranger in Afghanistan, is one of 11 freshmen Democrats in the House with intelligence, military or national security backgrounds, whom the World Socialist Web Site has called CIA Democrats.

He began his remarks, perhaps unwittingly, by pointing to the depth of the political crisis wracking the American ruling class, referring to the speech by Daniel Webster urging support in the Senate for the 1850 Compromise. That measure was adopted in an attempt to avert a civil war over the issue of slavery. Just 11 years later, the Confederate South fired on Fort Sumter, triggering the Civil War that ended with the revolutionary abolition of slavery and expropriation of the Southern slave-owning planter class.

Crow referred, as did all of the subsequent Democratic speakers, to the concocted narrative of massive Russian government intervention in the 2016 election to undermine Hillary Clinton and elect Trump. He attacked Trump for jeopardizing US national security by temporarily withholding military aid from Ukraine in an effort to bully Ukraine into announcing a corruption investigation of Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, calling this an attempt to once again solicit foreign interference, this time by Ukraine, in a US electionthe presidential election to be held in nine months.

The pro-war, rabidly anti-Russian political line animating the impeachment drive was spelled out most clearly by House manager Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who chairs the House Democratic caucus. Promoting the Democrats argument that Trumps fate cannot be left to the voters in November because, if not removed from office, he will once again collude with foreign countries to cheat in the election, Jeffries warned against letting foreign powers choose our commander-in-chief.

And what could undermine our national security more, he asked, than to withhold from a foreign ally [Ukraine] fighting a hot war against our adversary [Russia] hundreds of millions of dollars of military aid to buy sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, radar and night vision goggles? So that they may fight the war over there, keeping us safe here.

Mouthing the Cold War rhetoric that has become the stock-in-trade of the Democrats, he continued: If we allow the presidents conduct to stand, what message do we send? What message do we send to Russia, our adversary, intent on fracturing democracy around the world?

What will we say to our European allies already concerned with this president? About whether the United States will continue to support our NATO commitments that have been a pillar of our foreign policy since World War II?

What message do we send to our allies in the Free World?

He went on to deliver a nauseating tribute to the late Senator John McCain, one of the most vicious Republican war hawks, saying: The late Senator John McCain was an astounding man, a man of great principle, a great patriot. He fought admirably in Vietnam and was imprisoned as a POW for over five years As you all are aware, Senator McCain was a great supporter of Ukraine, a great supporter of Europe, a great supporter of our troops.

This was followed by praise for the right-wing, anti-Russian National Security Council (NSC) and State Department officials who defied Trumps order of non-cooperation and testified in the House impeachment inquiry, including the fired US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, her replacement, Ambassador Bill Taylor, and NSC Ukraine desk officer Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman.

In closing the Democrats presentation, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff linked the authoritarian arguments of Trumps defense team directly with Trumps alleged softness toward Russia. If abuse of power is not impeachable, he said, then a whole range of utterly unacceptable conduct in a president would now be beyond reach. Trump could offer Alaska to the Russians in exchange for support in the next election

In an editorial Monday (A Dishonorable Senate), the New York Times made clear the emergence of Trumps former national security adviser John Bolton, a notorious war hawk and architect of the US invasion of Iraq, as the central figure in the Democrats impeachment drive. During the Senate trial, the Democrats increasingly based their case on the demand that Bolton be allowed to testify, knowing that he left the White House after opposing Trumps maneuvers with Ukraine. Bolton also clashed with Trump over his reluctance to militarily attack Iran, North Korea and Venezuela.

The Times wrote: This week began with such promise, or at least with the possibility the Senate might not abdicate its constitutional duty. Leaks [in the New York Times] from John Boltons forthcoming book about his time in the White House appeared to confirm the core of the impeachment case against Mr. Trump: his extortion of Ukraine by explicitly conditioning hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid on the announcement of investigations into his political rival.

These foreign policy issues ran like a red thread through the final arguments of the Democrats. Completely absent was even a mention of Trumps real crimes against democratic rights and the American people: his mass incarceration of immigrants in concentration camps, his cuts to social programs, tax windfalls for the rich, war crimes such as the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Suleimani, incitements of violence against political opponents, support for fascist, white supremacist and anti-Semitic elements.

The entire impeachment process has underscored the central political fact that the working class must oppose Trump and fight for his removal, but that this can be done only on the basis of the expansion of the class struggle, independent of and in opposition to the Democratic Party and the capitalist system as a whole.
OTTAWAA Ukrainian filmmaker who spent five years in a Russian prison is in Ottawa today for meetings with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and parliamentarians.

Oleg Sentsov was jailed in what is widely viewed as a vendetta by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Sentsov was released in September as part of a larger prisoner-swap between Ukraine and Russia after serving part of his 20-year sentence in a prison colony in Russias Arctic, for conspiring to commit acts of terrorism  charges he denies.

Amnesty International has said Sentsov was subjected to an extremely cynical show trial and should never have spent a moment in prison. Sentsov staged a 144-day hunger strike to protest the jailing of dozens of Ukrainians in Russia.

Sentsov is a vocal opponent of Russias 2014 annexation of his native Crimea region in Ukraine.

Two months after his release, Sentsov was awarded Europes highest human-rights honour, the Sakharov Prize, named for the celebrated Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov.

Sentsov is to take part in a special meeting of MPs and senators that was also to include Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Freeland welcomed the release of Sentsov, journalist Roman Sushchenko and the 24 Ukrainian sailors detained by Russia in the Kerch Strait in November 2018.

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Linkedin Shatha Yaish (Agence France-Presse) Dubai, United Arab Emirates  Tue, February 4, 2020 08:08 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206260979 2 Entertainment Sesame-Street,children,Syria,United-Arab-Emirates,Puppet Free

A band of Muppets, both old favourites and new friends, will star in an Arabic retooling of Sesame Street with a regional twist.

In its Western iterations, the long-running franchise addresses issues including family breakdown. The new Middle East version instead seeks to help children, especially young Syrian refugees, cope with emotions.

New characters will join Cookie Monster (Kaa'ki), Grover (Gargur), Elmo and others in the new show in Arabic, called Ahlan Simsim! (Welcome Sesame).

"We always play and sing and try new things and have many adventures," new puppet Basma, a five-year-old purple girl with a twin twist hairstyle, told AFP on a publicity tour in Dubai.

"We have a lot of friends in the neighbourhood, but Jad is my best friend," she added of her new co-star, a yellow boy with a tuft of canary-coloured hair.

Basma, Jad and their gluttonous goat friend Ma'zooza, will take to the airwaves six days a week on Middle East satellite channel MBC 3 from Sunday February 2.

The show is a partnership between the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Sesame Workshop, which is responsible for the programme worldwide.

The aim is to offer "nurturing care to children and caregivers affected by the Syrian conflict", according to a statement.

Since erupting in 2011, the war has displaced over 5.1 million Syrian children, with 2.5 million of them now living in regional host countries including Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.

'Emotional ABCs'

"Jad and I are not that similar. He is an artist and a painter. I love to sing and dance and he likes things in order. He thinks and plans while I get bored," said Basma.

Sesame Street mainstay Grover, meanwhile, sets out to interview children from across the Arab world, tackling myriad issues including jealousy and how to care for loved ones.

"We are all different from each other," Grover told AFP.

"Some of us like to sing and some of us like to dance and some like to exercise," added the gangly blue character, beloved of children and grownups since his 1970 Sesame Street debut.

"But I discovered we are all alike because we love each other."

The new show is produced in Jordan and is the result of a two-year-long collaboration with numerous child development specialists.

"We have the emotional 'ABCs' and at the same time we present coping mechanisms to deal with these emotions. In every episode, we have a coping mechanism," said executive producer Khaled Haddad.

He said Arab children had difficulty expressing their emotions.

"They don't know what their emotion is, the child does not know he is terrified or angry or even jealous. Through our episodes we talk about these emotions and how to deal with them," he added.

'Inhale and exhale'

In one episode, Basma and Jad learn from big brother figure Hadi how to handle fear.

"You put your hand on your tummy then you take a breath through your nose -- inhale and exhale. It calms you down," Basma said, demonstrating the technique.

Jad's character, who didn't join the trip to Dubai, is portrayed as new to the community.

But "we don't label him as a refugee in the show", Haddad stressed. "He is new to the neighborhood, meets all the kids and becomes friends with them."

He noted that across the region, "you have kids going from one place to another".

"Our show speaks to all the children of the Arab world", he added. "This is not for a certain group".

The first Arabic version of Sesame Street, known as Iftah ya Simsim (Open Sesame), aired in the region from 1979 until 1990 and enjoyed immense popularity.

Filming for a second season of the new series will begin in March.

"We hope children will become smarter, kinder and better at expressing their emotions after watching this show," Haddad said.
SYRACUSE, N.Y.  The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse has reinstated a priest who was accused of sexually abusing a boy in the early 1980s.

Rev. Paul Angelicchio went on voluntary leave in November while a diocese review board investigated the persons allegation of abuse.

The review ruled it could not substantiate the allegation, the diocese said in a news release this weekend:

Based on the information available at this time and the refusal of the complainant to cooperate in an independent investigation, the Diocesan Review Board was unable to substantiate the allegation. Bishop (Douglas) Lucia has accepted the Boards findings.

Angelicchio was restored to his position as pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Rome on Saturday, according to the diocese.

An attorney for the alleged victim, Jon Little, said he directed his client not to take part in the review, and he thinks the review boards decision is premature. He said he had concerns about the reviews integrity based on his experience of the process with a former client, Kevin Braney, who also made accusations of abuse by Angelicchio.

And Little said his client was going to be deposed soon regarding his allegations for his pending civil lawsuit against Angelicchio, making the review boards interview unnecessary.

Why would I let them have their investigators talk to my client and then depose my client? Little told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

Angelicchio is facing two lawsuits for alleged abuse in Onondaga County. Littles client accused Angelicchio of rape at the Our Lady of Lourdes church in Syracuse in 1980 and 1981 when the plaintiff was a fifth-grader. He filed a lawsuit against him and the diocese in November.

The other lawsuit is by Braney who accused Angelicchio of abuse in the late 1980s. Braney has also accused two other priests of sexual abuse. Those two other priests  James Quinn and Charles Eckermann  are deceased. (Both Quinn and Eckermann appeared on the dioceses list of priests with credible allegations against them in 2018.)

The diocese suspended Angelicchio in 2016 regarding Braneys allegations, then cleared him of wrongdoing a month later.

On the same day the diocese announced Angelicchio had been placed on leave in December 2016, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said his office had investigated and determined there was no proof or evidence of Braneys allegations against Angelicchio.

Braneys lawsuit details about two years of alleged abuse, mostly by Angelicchio and Eckermann together at St. Anns in Manlius. He alleges Quinn assaulted him separately while visiting Eckermann at St. Anns during this time.

Little, the attorney, said the fact that two men who didnt know each other have accused Angelicchio of abuse at separate times should give more weight to their allegations.

The two plaintiffs dont know each other... are distant in age, Little said. Reinstating Angelicchio "is really, really reckless and an unnecessary chance to be taking when young people are at risk.

The dioceses statement said the diocese is committed to its cooperation with the District Attorneys Offices and the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, a set of procedures adopted by dioceses nationwide to prevent sexual abuse of children.

We continue to pray for and seek to assist all whose lives have been affected by child sexual abuse, the diocese said in the statement.

Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard does not name victims of alleged sexual abuse without their consent.

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
An individual accused of spying for the CIA in Iran has been sentenced to death, Iran's judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Ismaili said.

He added that the Supreme Court has upheld the capital punishment for the U.S. intelligence officer for gathering classified data related to Iran's nuclear programme.



"Amir Rahimpour who was a CIA spy and got big pay and tried to present part of Iran's nuclear information to the American service had been tried and sentenced to death and recently the supreme court upheld his sentence and you will see it carried out soon," Fars cited the spokesman as saying.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 23:26:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SHANGHAI, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Opening up his suitcases, Jeffery S. Lehman, vice chancellor of Shanghai New York University (NYU Shanghai), handed out various medical materials to his faculty members, including protective clothing, sterile gloves and digital thermometers.

Lehman returned to China from New York earlier this month and brought these materials to Shanghai to help prevent the novel coronavirus on campus.

During his stay in New York, he had been following the progress of the epidemic. To help ensure the health of students and faculty members, he filled up his suitcases with various medical supplies.

By 10:00 a.m. Monday, no cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported in the university.

"Everyone cares about China," said Lehman. "People all around the world are concerned about the coronavirus outbreak.

Greatly touched by the commitment of Chinese people on the frontline of the epidemic battle, Lehman said many of his American friends are eager to help.

According to the statistics of the Shanghai Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, there are more than 200,000 foreigners living and working in Shanghai. As China ramps up the fight against the infectious disease, these foreign residents also joined in the battle.

Some helped translate health tips from Chinese to English to alert other foreigners in Shanghai, while some choose to share foreign experts' analysis of the epidemic with Chinese netizens.

Afu Thomas, a German living in Shanghai and also an internet celebrity on Bilibili, a Chinese online video sharing platform, uploaded a video of his interview with Rolf Hilgenfeld, professor at Lubeck University, to give audiences some advice on disease prevention.

The Ronghua Neighborhood, known as "a pocket United Nations" in Shanghai, homes more than 16,000 foreign residents from over 50 countries and regions.

Some foreigners who have been to the epidemic-hit areas during the Spring Festival holiday are under isolation observation at home.

Sakai, a Japanese resident in the neighborhood, had just returned to Shanghai from a business trip to Wuhan before the Spring Festival. He was under home quarantine along with his family members, expressing understanding of the measure.

"It is an effective prevention and control measure against the epidemic, and there is nothing to worry about," Sakai said.

During the isolation observation period, Sakai said he deeply felt the love from Shanghai residents to foreigners like him.

"I am very grateful to the medical workers and the neighborhood volunteers who provide food delivery and psychological counseling services to us," Sakai said. "It is still reassuring to live in Shanghai."
In the years after Jeffrey Epstein registered as a sex offender, he closed his money management firm and started a business to develop algorithms and mine DNA and financial databases.

Then he set up a bank.

In a banking license application reviewed by The New York Times, Mr. Epstein described himself as one of the investing worlds pioneers and said he wanted to pursue the dynamic discipline of international banking.

Officials in the Virgin Islands, the United States territory where Mr. Epstein set up most of his businesses, approved a license for him in 2014 to run one of the territorys first international banking entities, a specialized bank that can do business only with offshore clients. The approval was unusual, given Mr. Epsteins status as a convicted sex offender.

The bank, Southern Country International, renewed its license for each of the next five years, but its unclear whether it conducted any business or had any customers. Mr. Epstein, who died while in federal custody last summer following his arrest on sex trafficking charges, does not appear to have done any marketing for the bank or hired much staff.




Haiti - News : Zapping...





Ounaminthe : vandals set fire to cars

For a week in Ouanaminthe (Dept. Northeast) vandals have been burning private cars. At least 5 cars have already been destroyed without knowing the reasons for these acts. Victims threaten to do justice for themselves if the police do not put an end to the vehicle fires.



8 bandits arrested

Last weekend in Titanyen (West Dept.), the Haitian National Police arrested 8 armed bandits including Sunday Mackendy, a police officer (Agent I) and 7 of his accomplices (Jourdain Brunel, Jean Marck, Auximis Ernst Rene , Claude Jean Francois, Luc Lucien, Desir Felixo and Blanc Mackenson) member of a Gang operating in the Canaan and Titanyen areas, accused of having hijacked a truck belonging to the Acierie of Haiti.



Towards a first presidential decree ?

Monday at the National Palace, the President Moise met the members of the Conference of Presidents and Rectors of the Universities of Haiti (CORPUHA) around the 4 bills relating to higher education and the organization of trades and professions which are tabled in Parliament since 2013 "The CORPUHA delegation requests my administration to take the necessary measures to fill the legal vacuum which has characterized the higher education sector for more than 50 years and widen the field regulated trades and professions in the country."



The hard wing of the opposition absent...

Moise Jean Charles (Pitit Dessalin), Andre Michel Sector known as Democratic and Popular, Youri Latortue (AAA) and Maryse Narcisse (Fanmi Lavalas) representatives of the radical opposition shone by their absence from the negotiations at the Nunciature https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29925-haiti-flash-failure-of-the-political-conference-for-a-way-out-of-the-crisis.html



The first 25 laureates of the Bac admitted without test to the UEH

The first 25 national baccalaureate laureates will now be admitted to the UEH without having to go through the entrance examination stage. This is one of the effects of the signing of the "Collaboration Protocol" signed Monday, February 3 between the Ministry of National Education and the Rector of the State University of Haiti (UEH) https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-29928-icihaiti-education-collaboration-process-between-the-ministry-and-the-ueh.html



Tennis WTA: Naomi OSAKA down by 6 places

The elimination of the Haitian-Japanese Naomi Osaka (22), in the 3rd round of the Australian Open by the American Coco Gauff (15) https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-29846-icihaiti-australian-open-naomi-osake-eliminated-by-the-young-american-prodigy-of-15-years-cori-gauff.html costs Naomi 6 places in the world ranking of the "Women's Tennis Association" (WTA) published Monday, dropping from 4th worldwide to 10th



HL/ HaitiLibre


















As Democrats melt down in Iowa, unable to competently tally their winner, and battle a base deeply suspicious of them, one winner has handily emerged: President Trump.

He's clocked in with just about all of the Republican vote, a tremendous vote of confidence from his party all by itself.

According to Fox News:

President Trump easily defeated his primary rivals in Monday's Iowa Republican caucuses, in the first indication that those attempting to take on the president inside his own party stand a slim chance of making headway against the incumbent. Iowa results showed the president winning with roughly 97 percent of the vote over former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh. The primary challengers walked away with about 1 percent each.

Better still, the participation rate in Iowa, with more than 30,000 caucus tallies, tops that of President Obama at his peak, who won about 25,000 in his heyday.

Fox News adds:

Iowa is considered a swing state in the general election. It was narrowly carried by the Democrats in the 2000 election and narrowly by Republicans in 2004. Then-Sen. Barack Obama captured the state by 6 points in 2012. And Trump won Iowa in 2016 by nearly 10 points.

This is very bad news for the Democrats, who may well see the same pattern happening across the country.

Trump was fully aware of it, too, as Real Clear Poltics reported from the ground:

"The good people of Iowa have had a front-row seat to the lunacy and the madness of the totally sick left," he declared before accusing Democrats of "not caring about farmers." This, he told an adoring crowd while slipping into third person, was why "you should love Trump, with what I've done. We're going to win the great state of Iowa, and it's going to be a historic landslide." And if the opposite should happen, Trump predicted that "your farms are going to hell, I can tell you right now."

Here was the focused, Mamba-mentality attitude coming from Trump campaign operative Tim Murtaugh, who runs the communications operation:

The president seemed to lay off progressive favorites Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who leads the polls in Iowa, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has slipped to fourth. But the Trump campaign has maintained from the beginning that it doesn't care who wins the nomination. "It doesn't matter to us which nominee gets thrown free from the wreckage on that side," Murtaugh insisted in a sentiment that Trump later echoed: "We will make sure that they face another crushing defeat."

Now we have Trump's Twitter reaction to Iowa  driving the stake in:

The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is Trump.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2020

In other words, winning.

For all the news coverage about the Iowa caucuses and how the Democrats were doing, out emerges the real story.
The deadly coronavirus has become an epidemic. It has already claimed the lives of hundreds of people and is still spreading at an alarming rate. Wuhan, China which has been ground zero is now in complete lockdown.



Among the people who have been diagnosed with the deadly virus, is 25-year-old Connor Reed who is reportedly the first British person to have caught the virus. He was diagnosed by doctors in Wuhan, China two months ago where he had been living and working as an English teacher since last summer.



 Reuters

He went to the hospital after showing classic symptoms - trouble breathing and a cough that would not go away. After a two-week stint at the hospital, he apparently managed to beat the virus.



Speaking to The Sun, he said, "I was stunned when the doctors told me I was suffering from the virus. I thought I was going to die, but I managed to beat it."



Well, he had an interesting way to deal with it and honestly, I still can't believe it actually worked.

 The Sun

He said, "I used the inhaler which helped control the cough and drank hot whisky with honey until that ran out. Its an old fashioned remedy but it seemed to do the trick."



Looks like alcohol can fix everything. And yes, it was his remedy that seems to have worked since he didn't take any medicine. He said, "I did refuse to take the antibiotics the doctors prescribed me because I didnt want to take any medicines."



He was also able to give an insider's view on what is actually going on in Wuhan right now, and it doesn't look too promising. He said, "Wuhan is becoming a real ghost town  there is hardly anybody in the streets and the shops are running low on fresh fruit and vegetables. And there is no medicine or masks left in the pharmacies. If you go out without a mask, the police will arrest you."



 The Sun

He added, "The authorities are really worried about how to contain this and stop it from spreading." It's a real concern - it needs to be contained and a cure is desperately needed before any more people lose their lives.



Lastly, he said, "They kept asking if I wanted a place on a flight out but I said no. Ill stick it out here. I am proof coronavirus can be beaten."



Well, everyone should keep a bottle of whiskey and some honey, as a precaution.
CARLISLE - More than 250 Dickinson College students are occupying the lobby of the Holland Union Building in a peaceful protest aimed at pressing for change in the colleges handling of student sexual assault cases.

Sit-in organizer Rose McAvoy said the demonstration - located in the center of what is essentially the community center of the Carlisle campus - will continue for as long as it takes to get President Margee Ensign to sign a contract that commits Dickinson "to doing what is right...

People are being sexually assaulted and when they report it Dickinson is mistreating them. Traumatizing them, McAvoy said. We are here for those people. It has gone on for far too long, and it will continue unless we remain united.... We have an opportunity to right an incredible wrong. Lets stay here until that happens.

"The time for inaction is over. We have been waiting for justice for almost a decade. Times up, Dickinson, McAvoy said to a swell of applause.

She and her allies are petitioning for a list of demands that includes:

A minimum punishment of a semester suspension for students found to have committed sexual assault, and automatic expulsion for second-offenders.

A 60-day deadline for the completion of all case investigations.

Free access by the parties to all transcripts, investigative records and other reports generated in any investigation

Stricter enforcement of campus no contact orders intended to give students who have been victimized some level of comfort while continuing to live in the same campus community as an assailant.

Clearer public reporting of how Title IX cases have been disposed of and what penalties resulted. Title IX refers to the federal law that prevents all forms of sex discrimination in education. All the issues involved here revolve around that process, which is campus-based and separate from the public criminal justice system.

Students rolled into the HUB lobby shortly after 10:00 a.m., many carrying pillows, floor mats and sleeping bags in a sign of their intent to stay the course. The crowd quickly swelled to about 10 percent of Dickinsons student body. College officials said they have no plans to disrupt the protests.

Organizers also asked faculty members not to penalize any students for participating in the protest, even to the point of cancelling classes and joining them in the HUB.

As long as they are orderly and are not disruptive to campus activities, this is going to be taking place, said Dickinson spokeswoman Christine Baksi. Though no formal meetings had been set up as of this writing, McAvoy said that she had received overtures to meet from the colleges Working Committee on Sexual Assault.

McAvoy, a senior whose family lives in Orlando, Fla., triggered the new wave of student activism when she went public last week in a column in the student newspaper, The Dickinsonian, with her personal tale of frustration over how a founded assault against her in late October 2017 was handled.

McAvoys case - in which McAvoy said a fellow student made an unexpected and unwanted sexual advance, and eventually pinned her to the floor and partially disrobed her before she was able to break free - was adjudicated by the school and her perpetrator was found guilty and placed on probation for a semester. But McAvoy points out that meant her assailant was permitted to remain on campus without further sanction as long as his conduct from that point on was exemplary.

The accused student, who McAvoy did not name in her column, has since transferred to another school. But the outcome, McAvoy said, left her feeling like she received no justice.

McAvoy and her family quietly pushed for change ever since, she says, over a range of problems with the Title IX process that included an investigation that took seven months to complete; a punishment that, for her, called into question the seriousness of Dickinsons approach to sexual assault; and what McAvoy felt was a lack of supports for students going through the process, including a simultaneous lifting of a campus no-contact order against her attacker at the same time the guilty finding was rendered by a campus review panel.

The McAvoys dropped their back-channel approach to Dickinson last year, after failing to win significant change.

Among those listening in to the start of Mondays protest was Dickinsons Title IX coordinator, Katharina Kat Matic.

She pledged, in an interview with PennLive, an open ear to the students concerns. I think Im pretty confident that we can pretty promptly work with the students, Matic said.

But Matic, who is in her second year in the position, also wanted to make clear that she feels that Dickinsons policies and actions against sexual assault are demonstrably strong, and that part of the gulf in perceptions may be the result of a failure to communicate.

For example, Matic said, what many of the protestors may not know is that students are immediately suspended on an interim basis in the case of violent sexual assaults.

In 2018, other officials noted in a written response to McAvoys column last week, the school hired two full-time Title IX administrators to focus on prevention/education programming, rapid response to reports, and support to ensure timely investigations. Assault awareness and prevention programs reached 99 percent of first-year students this fall, as well as 600 employees, the vice-president said.

But several Dickinson students in and around the protest said they feel the college is still falling short in too many areas, and that their voices needed to be heard.

Weve done a lot in recent years with movements like the #MeToo movement in making people aware (of the problem of sexual assault). But what this is about isnt just being aware. Its that there are issues we need to change, said Olivia Greenleaf, a senior from Pasadena, Calif. Greenleaf said she felt students were best positioned to drive for those changes.

Greenleaf and other students said they didnt feel sexual assaults cases happen with any more frequency at Dickinson than other college campuses in America.

Dickinsons own TItle IX report for the 2018-19 year (the year after McAvoys case) shows that the office fielded complaints about 65 different incidents ranging from gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment to sexual assaults. In forty-three of those cases, the complainants named specific suspects.

Most cases ended with no further action after a preliminary review or voluntary resolutions; six triggered formal investigations.

Five investigative cases were closed in 2018-19. In two of them, Dickinson employees were dismissed for separate incidents of fondling and sexual harassment; in a third, a student was placed on disciplinary probation for a sexual assault also characterized as fondling; a fourth case of reported sexual assault is still open pending appeals; and a fifth assault case was suspended when the complainant decided not go forward.

But as a junior who identified herself by her first name, Cara, noted that one case is too many. Were a close-knit community, and if you hurt one person you hurt the whole campus, she said.

The fight against sexual assault on campus has received a great deal of attention in Pennsylvania and nationally in recent years. But colleges have continued to struggle with the role of serving as the arbiter of justice in student-to-student assaults.

A survey of campus climate undertaken by the Association of American Universities last year stated that while 65.6 percent of students reported it was very or extremely likely that school officials would take a report of a sexual assault seriously, that number dropped to 45 percent among those who said theyd experienced non-consensual sexual contact by physical force or inability to consent.

On the flip side, some colleges have now been sued by male students who say the pendulum has now swung too far in the opposite direction.

Dickinson has not been immune.

McAvoy is a psychology and studio arts double major who is scheduled to graduate from Dickinson this spring. Having stayed another year to make up for credits that she dropped while trying to cope with the after-effects of the assault, she sees the reform effort as the real capstone of her Dickinson experience.

I didnt feel like I could just leave and let more people go through this same thing, she said after a Friday town hall-style meeting where students began considering what demands to take to the administration. I was committed to staying here and somehow figuring out a way to do something.
Actor Richa Chadha, who was lauded for her turn in Kangana Ranauts Panga, shared a new picture on Twitter, hinting at her next film. Sharing it, she simply wrote on Instagram, Something exciting coming soon, Watch this space for more.

In a statement, it was revealed that the film will be an intense love drama. The stunning image shows her in a silk cotton sari, paired with a check blouse. She is wearing jewellery worn in rural areas -- ornaments in the nose with her necklace grabbing eyeballs. She is, perhaps, in a process of undress and looks at the camera with straight, piercing eyes. Her hair is dishevelled; her bindi (vermillion dot) and kaajal (kohl) too reflect a period of unrest or drama.

Richa Chadha, who is known for expressing strong opinions on politics, says that as an actor she chooses films that interest her, and not necessarily projects that are in sync with her political ideology. My politics does not reflect in the choices of films I do, not always. A film is a fictional work. In future, what if I play a Naxalite? I may not agree with the violence that that ideology holds but that does not mean I will say no to the film as an actor. I am a performing artist and not every single performance is a reflection of my political belief,

Citing an example of one of her earlier films, Richa added: Look at Gangs Of Wasseypur. It is the story of the coal mafia underworld. I played Nagma Khatoon, who kills her son. As Richa, do I support Nagmas decision to kill her son and take revenge? Of course not! She continued: It is a luxury to get the right balance of character in a film, where my politics meets the politics of the character.

Also read: Only Hina Khan will watch her own film, says KRK; Rocky Jaiswal, Karanvir Bohra come to her defence

Richa is among actors who participated in a non-violent protest against the JNU student attack and CAA, along with Taapsee Pannu, Huma Qureshi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Swara Bhaskar and Dia Mirza. On social media, too, she openly expresses her opinion on current affairs and social issues that bothers society at large.

She prefers not to use cinema as a tool of protest all the time. Filmmakers are trying to make films. Actors work as performing artistes. Not every single film has to be a piece of political opinion. We have other platforms to explore that, she concluded.

(With IANS inputs)

Follow @htshowbiz for more
NASA has awarded a $142 million contract to Maxar Technologies of Westminster, Colorado,to robotically assemble a communications antenna and manufacture a spacecraft beam in orbit. The technology demonstration is slated to take place on NASAs Restore-L spacecraft, designed to service and refuel a satellite in low-Earth orbit.

Above  The Space Infrastructure Dexterous Robot (SPIDER) technology demonstration is slated to take place on NASAs Restore-L spacecraft. The payload will assemble a functional communications antenna and manufacture a spacecraft beam. Credits: Maxar Technologies

The Restore-L spacecraft will be modified to accommodate a payload called Space Infrastructure Dexterous Robot (SPIDER). The payload includes a lightweight 16-foot (5-meter) robotic arm. Previously known as Dragonfly during the ground demonstration phase of the NASA Tipping Point partnership, SPIDER will assemble seven elements to form a functional 9-foot (3-meter) communications antenna. The robotically assembled antenna will demonstrate Ka-band transmission with a ground station.

The payload also will manufacture a 32-foot (10-meter) lightweight composite beam using technology developed by Tethers Unlimited of Bothell, Washington. The manufacturing element of the demonstration will verify the capability to construct large spacecraft structures in orbit.

We are continuing Americas global leadership in space technology by proving we can assemble spacecraft with larger and more powerful components, after launch, said Jim Reuter, associate administrator of NASAs Space Technology Mission Directorate. This technology demonstration will open up a new world of in-space robotic capabilities.

The second phase of the public-private partnership combines NASA resources with an industry contribution to reduce the overall cost to American taxpayers and the agency. The demonstration will mature technologies with cross-cutting applications for government and commercial missions, including human exploration of the Moon and Mars and in-space construction of large telescopes.

In-space assembly and manufacturing will allow for greater mission flexibility, adaptability, and resilience, which will be key to NASAs Moon to Mars exploration approach, said Brent Robertson, project manager of Restore-L at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The Restore-L project is developing a suite of technologies capable of refueling and servicing satellites in space. The spacecraft is currently targeted for launch in the mid-2020s.

The SPIDER payload team includes Maxar, Tethers Unlimited, West Virginia Robotic Technology Center in Morgantown, and NASAs Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
The mother of a young man who took his own life in Londonderry three years ago this week has described the return of 300,000 in unused funding to Stormont that had been earmarked for suicide prevention projects in the city as "disgusting".

Hester Glenn, whose son Jack (23) died on February 2, 2017 and whose family endured a gruelling 52-day wait until his body was recovered from the River Foyle, said the loss of the money that should have gone towards preventing other suicides was completely unacceptable.

The Department of Health returned the 300,000 set aside for a "Foyle Suicide Project" to the Department of Finance.

It has since been absorbed into a pot of Stormont underspends and was reallocated to departments in the January Monitoring Round.

Ms Glenn said: "So many people in the Foyle area are affected by suicide and every single one of them will be devastated to know that 300,000 that could and should have gone towards preventing suicide wasn't used.

"It is disgusting, there is no other way to describe it.

"It is three years this week since we lost our precious Jack and the pain never goes away.

"I miss him so much. At times I still cannot believe he is gone and it is something I would never want another family to go through, which is why the return of this money makes me so angry."

She added: "I talk to people so often who tell me they are trying to get help for their son or daughter or someone they love but all they hear is there's a waiting list or there are no available beds. It is completely unacceptable that money which would have gone a long way to paying counsellors or medical staff so there would be more beds has been lost."

Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan has written to the Department of Health asking for details about the "Foyle Suicide Project" and why the money was returned to the Executive's coffers.

He said it was "mind-boggling" that such a sum was not spent and pointed to a pilot crisis intervention service operating in Derry that may close next month if funding to sustain it isn't forthcoming.

The service run by Extern operates in Derry city centre from Thursday evening to Monday morning as a safety net for people feeling vulnerable.

Mr Durkan added: "It is mind-boggling that 300,000 went unspent when you consider the number of groups who work in the field of suicide prevention that are struggling badly because there is such a demand for their services and they are under resourced. There are question marks over the future of the Crisis Intervention Service in Derry, whose funding hasn't been finalised beyond March, and yet we now know 300,000 for a Foyle suicide project wasn't used.

"I have written to the Department of Health about this and I have asked the Finance Minister in the Assembly for assurances that any future bid for money for projects in Foyle would be viewed favourably."

A Department of Finance spokesman explained the money had been allocated under the Programme for Government transformation fund.

They added: "The Department of Health was unable to use the funding for the purpose it was allocated for and it was therefore returned to the Executive for reallocation against its wider priorities."

The Department of Health had yet to respond to a request for comment.
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have sharply come down on an annual basis to Rs 5,244 crore in the first three quarters of this fiscal on account of improved detection and reporting, Minister of State for Anurag Thakur said in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

reduced significantly from Rs 38,548 crore in the 2016-17 fiscal to Rs 16,084 crore in 2017-18 fiscal.

Frauds rose slightly to Rs 18,893 crore in 2018-19 but started declining again to Rs 5,244 crore in the first three quarters of 2019-20 fiscal, he said during Question Hour.

"Bank frauds, which stood at 0.58 per cent during 2009-14, have come down to 0.16 percent in the last two and half years. In the first six months of this year, frauds were only 0.04 per cent. This has happened because our government has taken right steps towards fraud reporting and detection," Thakur said in the Upper House.

A declining trend in is observed in respect of public sector (PSBs) as well with the amount involved by year of occurrence of fraud reducing sharply, he said.

It reduced from Rs 35,578 crore in 2,043 cases in 2016-17 to Rs 12,234 crore in 1,949 cases in 2017-18, increasing slightly to Rs 15,575 crore in 1,250 cases in 2018-19, and declining again to Rs 3,781 crore in 436 cases in the first three quarters of 2019-20 fiscal, he added.

To check frauds, the minister said, "We came out with a framework for improved detection and monitoring. We also reviewed the quality of assets, cleaned up the bank balance, and recapitalised "



To a supplementary query by Congress member Motilal Vora if the government has arrested anyone involved in fraud, the minister said, "The member has shown right concern. But frauds took place in cases of loan that were sanctioned during that time (2009-14)."



"Loans were taken at that time and frauds were of that time. When our government came to power, we brought the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act for attaching assets of offenders who ran away and stayed abroad," he said.

The government also came out with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) through which about Rs 4 lakh crore has been recovered so far, he added.

Responding to another member Narendra Jadhav (Nominated)'s query why the government has not created a separate agency for monitoring banking frauds, the minister said, "We need to note the year of occurence and we started reporting now. We have made many changes in the banking sector and reforms will continue in future."



To Shiv Sena member Anil Desai's query whether reports of National Financial Services Authority match with declining trend of frauds shared by the government, the minister reiterated the government has taken various steps to bring in more accountability and transparency in the system.

"At the same time, we look at various reports of regulators and other authorities also," he said.

He also mentioned that regulator RBI in its Financial Stability Report of December 2019 has observed that the systematic and comprehensive checking, including of legacy stock of non-performing assets (NPAs) of PSBs for frauds under the framework has helped unearth frauds perpetrated over a number of years.

With regard to frauds with on account of digital transactions, the RBI has informed that it does not collect data on frauds under the category Digital Transaction, while making available data on fraud as reported by Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) and select Financial Institutions (FIs) for amount involving Rs 1 lakh and above, he added.
The Inter-Party Resistance Against New Voters' Register have embarked on its third demonstration today [Tueday] to protest the compilation of the new voters' register.

The group has already held a protest in Tamale dubbed Tikusayi demo and another one in Kumasi known as the Yennpini demo.

The group resumed its suspended protest last week after the EC announced a date for the compilation of a new register, despite a planned meeting with the EC's Eminent Advisory Committee.

The group also accused the Commission of not being open enough with modalities for the new voter register despite calls for dialogue by its Eminent Advisory Committee.

Speaking to Citi News, the founder of the All People's Congress, Hassan Ayariga, said he expects the Accra protest to be massively patronised.

Don't be shocked when you see people you don't expect to be there. So we are expecting a huge number of people to be out there  members of political parties, people from civil society and others from Non-Governmental Organisations, he said.

Why the protests

The EC plans to abandon its current biometric verification system and procure a new one which has facial recognition technology.

The commission wants to do away with all forms of manual verification of voters.

As part of this, it also plans to compile a new voters' register which has been assigned a budget of GHS 390 million.

The EC has announced April 18, 2020, as the date to begin compiling the new register.

A provisional version of the register is expected to be ready in June 2020.

Stalemate after dialogue

Last week, an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting on the dispute over the compilation of a new voters' register ended in a stalemate.

The parties opposed to the new compilation said they remained unconvinced by the ECs argument for a new register because there was no proof that the current register is not credible.

But the EC still plans to go ahead with a compilation of the register and has assured political parties that an electronic version of the electoral roll will be delivered to them in the middle of October 2020.

Per the provisional time of the EC, printing and distribution of the final register is expected to take place between October 10 and November 8, 2020.

--citinewsroom
Ill admit that if you look closely enough  OK, maybe you dont even have to look all that closely  youll see dust bunnies. And sand tracked in on the porch. Oh, yeah, and fingerprints on the windows.

So, in other words, my house is not quite spotless.
A person in Uttar Pradesh's Lalitpur district, who recently returned from China, has been advised to stay in isolation as a precautionary measure.

Dr. Pratap Singh, CMO, Lalitpur told ANI that so far no symptoms of the virus has been found in the man who recently returned from China.

"We have advised him to be in isolation at home also for a few days. He has also been asked to visit the hospital if he develops cough or fever. If he falls ill, we will send his blood samples to Lucknow for further investigation," he added.

In the morning, Uttar Pradesh Department issued a statement informing that samples of four travellers were collected and sent to the Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. The reports of all four samples have come negative.

The department also informed that 820 isolation beds have been reserved across the state for travellers returning back from China.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian today held a working meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Presidential residence, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

President Sarkissian and PM Pashinyan attached importance to these traditional, regular meetings and discussed issues relating to the current agenda of the country.

Mr. Prime Minister, I am happy to host you today. This, seems, is our tradition to meet regularly to discuss all events taking place inside and outside the country, and also to share the visits, meetings, achievements and difficulties of both the government and the presidential institute. Therefore, I again welcome you at the Presidential Palace, the President said.

Thank you Mr. President, I am happy to see you. This is in fact our first meeting this year, and I am happy to record that 2019 was a successful year for Armenia. The economic activity indicators of 2019 were released, and I can state that we had the maximum number of the economic activity index in 2019 since the launch of economic calculations with that method: it launched in 2011. In 2019 we have recorded the transitional government stage after the Revolution, and our discussions have always focused on the fact that we should attach more and more importance to the topic of institutional reforms and introduce the strategic governance logic in our country.

I think that in 2020 we are entering into a similar stage, the institutional development, the introduction of counterbalance and mutual restraint system has always been under our spotlight and now as well. We know that you have also reacted to the current situation around the Constitutional Court, if it can be said as crisis, and today I hope we will discuss also this issue.

Of course, I definitely share your vision that we should approach to this issue from the logic of countrys institutional development, national and state interests, from the logic of having an accurate and working system of counterbalance and mutual restraint because only in this case we will have an irreversible democracy, irreversible rule of law with its consequences, and of course, an irreversible Constitutional reality which has always been under our spotlight and focus of our discussions. Therefore, I am very happy for this meeting, PM Pashinyan said.



In his turn President Armen Sarkissian said he is ready for the discussion. He said its also necessary to discuss the future programs and the investment projects.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
KYOTO, Japan, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nidec Corporation (TSE: 6594; OTC US: NJDCY) (the Company) today announced the following personnel changes based on the resolution at a meeting of the Board of Directors held on February 4, 2020.



1. Reason for the changes

Further enhance the Companys management system to generate consolidated net sales of 10 trillion yen in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2031.

2. Appointment of new President

(1) Details

Mr. Jun Seki

Current position: Special Executive Consultant

New position: President and Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Hiroyuki Yoshimoto

Current position: Representative Director, President and Chief Operating Officer

New position: Representative Director and Executive Vice President

*Mr. Yoshimoto will assume the post of Executive General Manager of the Companys Appliance, Commercial & Industrial Motor Business Unit on March 1, 2020.

(2) Effective date: April 1, 2020

3. Appointment of a new representative director

(1) Details

Mr. Jun Seki

Previous position: President and Chief Operating Officer

New position: Representative Director, President and Chief Operating Officer

(2) Effective date: June 17, 2020

This personnel change will take effect on June 17, 2020 upon shareholder approval at the Regular General Meeting of Shareholders and a subsequent meeting of the Board of Directors to be held on the same day.



Brief personal history of Mr. Jun Seki, the newly appointed President and Chief Operating Officer, is as follows.

Name: Jun Seki Birthdate: May 9, 1961 (age 58) Birthplace: Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan

Education and career summary:

March 1984: Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, School of Systems Engineering, National Defense Academy of Japan April 1986: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. April 2014: Senior Vice President December 2019: Executive Officer, Vice-COO January 2020: Special Executive Consultant, Nidec Corporation (current position)



Number of the Companys shares in possession: 0 (as of January 16, 2020)
Guwahati, Feb 4 : At least seven people were killed and 40 others were injured in two separate bus accidents in Assam's Goalpara district on Tuesday, the police and the Army said.

According to the police, five people were killed and 40 others were injured when a Guwahati bound bus fell into a gorge at Kutahuti village near Dhupdhara area.

The speeding passenger bus from Dhubri skidded off the road and hit a roadside electric pole before it was overturned and fell into the ditch, killing five people on the spot. Another passenger died on the way to the hospital.

Army troopers and police personnel rescued the injured passengers and shifted them to Guwahati Medical College and Hospital and Goalpara Civil Hospital.

In another incident, a passenger bus, on its way to Goalpara from Guwahati, ran over a cyclist at Dudhnoi area in the same district, killing the man on the spot.

The police have seized both the buses and took the drivers into custody.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has condoled the death of the passengers and asked Goalpara Deputy Commissioner to provide all kind of aid to the injured people.
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 20:34:37|Editor: yhy

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CHINGOLA, Zambia, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Zambian students in China have been urged to consider embarking on a program of complimenting Zambian government to promote the southern African nation as a tourist destination in China, a tour operator said here on Tuesday.

The tour operator has also called on Zambian government to provide students with leaflets to help in marketing of the country's tourism.

Martha Nachalwe, member of Chingola Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Zambia should strengthen marketing of its historical sites in China.

"The country can also take advantage of the hundreds of students that are at universities in China to let them market the country in the Asian nation, what is important is to provide them with tourism advertising materials," she said.

According to Nachalwe, students can act as Zambia's tourism ambassadors in China by marketing the country's rich tourism sector.

She said the Chinese market is huge to enable Zambia generate income for economic growth.

"So far there is increased Chinese tourists coming into Zambia, this is encouraging especially that China and Zambia enjoys a healthy bilateral relationship," she said.

And Myabin Mwale, an entrepreneur based in Chingola, said it was costly for Zambia to advertise its tourism industry through the international media alone.

"The participation of students in marketing Zambia as a tourist destination is welcome, we need such initiatives as a country," he said.

Mwale said Zambia is a home of the Victoria Falls, one of the seven-wonders of the World, which should be aggressively marketed to foreign tourists across the globe.

And Grace Lungu who runs a transport firm is optimistic that students' role in tourism will increase flow of Chinese tourists in Zambia.

"Youths participation in national activities is important to supplement government's efforts to grow the sector as well as the economy," she said.
Artists depiction of a black hole. Credit: James Josephides, Swinburne University of Technology

Astronomers regularly observe gravitational waves (GW)ripples in space and timethat are caused by pairs of black holes merging into one. Einstein's theory of gravity predicts that GW, which squeeze and stretch space as they pass, will permanently distort space, leaving a "memory" of the wave behind. However, this memory effect has not yet been detected, as it would be extremely small, leaving only the faintest traces.

Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) at Monash University have finally developed a method to search and detect GW memory. Led by OzGrav Ph.D. student Moritz Huebner, the recently published paper explains the tricky conquest of searching for memory by analyzing data from numerous observations. Huebner will be presenting these results at the Australian National Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (ANITA) in Canberra this Thursday 6 February 2020.

The scientific models expect memory to leave an extremely faint trace on the detectors that is far smaller than the waves from the black hole collision itself. Therefore, data from many gravitational wave events needs to be combined. To do this, the team used some of the most precise GW and memory models developed from the study of black hole mergers.

"Our algorithms carefully comb through the data and measure the exact evidence for the existence of GW memory," said Huebner.

For each individual observation, this painstaking method can take hundreds of hours on a normal computer chip to explore all the possibilities of how a GW signal came aboutthis prompted the researchers to focus on fine-tuning the setting to reduce the amount of computing hours without compromising the search. So far, the results of the search applied to the first 10 black-hole collisions detected by LIGO and Virgo between 2015 and 2017 have proven inconclusive. LIGO and Virgo are not yet sensitive enough to make any statements about GW memory.

So, will we ever be able to detect memory?

"Thankfully, we can now use data from the first 10 black-hole collisions and have a decent idea of how many observable GW events there will be in the future. We can also calculate how much evidence of memory can be detected in each event," said Huebner.

Throughout the study, the researchers also discovered that their new search method must take data from approximately 2000 black hole mergers to detect memory. While this might sound implausible, the team expects to hit this number by the mid-2020s.

Plus, LIGO and Virgo are continuously being upgraded and have seen more than 40 mergers since April 2019, when the third observation run started. With further technological advances and the Japanese KAGRA observatory soon coming online, the team is confident that they'll detect multiple binaries every day which will finally lead to revealing GW memory.

Explore further Squeeze leads to stellar-mass black hole collision precision

More information: Moritz Hubner et al. Measuring gravitational-wave memory in the first LIGO/Virgo gravitational-wave transient catalog, Physical Review D (2020). Journal information: Physical Review D Moritz Hubner et al. Measuring gravitational-wave memory in the first LIGO/Virgo gravitational-wave transient catalog,(2020). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.101.023011
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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung  Tue, February 4, 2020 14:45 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206276851 1 National McDonalds,McDonalds-Indonesia,West-Java,students,university,hangout,fast-food,fast-food-chain Free

Current and former students reminisced about their favorite local haunt after finding out that the Simpang Dago McDonalds in Bandung, West Java, was among the top-10 outlets worldwide in terms of deliveries according to the 2019 Global McDelivery Records.

A photo of the rankings went viral after Twitter user @Nickwisely97 tweeted it on Sunday.

Saya bangga telah berkontribusi untuk membanggakan Indonesia masuk 10 besar dunia. Mari lestarikan makanan khas Kota Bandung pic.twitter.com/VEAbHBMcnM  Nick Wisely (@Nickwisely97) February 2, 2020

I am proud to have contributed to Indonesias achievement in reaching the top 10 in this global ranking. Lets preserve Bandungs unique cuisine, he said.

The photo showed that the Simpang Dago McDonalds ranked eighth for most deliveries in one hour with 104 deliveries on Aug. 25, 2019. In the most deliveries in one day category, Simpang Dago McDonalds ranked fourth with 1,158 deliveries on Oct. 12, 2019.

Sutji Lantyka, associate director of communications for McDonalds Indonesia confirmed the rankings displayed in the photo.

The data is valid, although it was only issued for internal use. Until now, we do not know who made this photo viral, she told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The tweet garnered dozens of responses, mostly from customers who shared their experiences about dining or ordering from the Simpang Dago McDonalds.

Twitter user @AlfarusFG, for example, said the place had served as his office and place of study.

McD Simpang Dago is not just a restaurant but also my office and campus, he said.

Meanwhile account @vallyanelsmy shared her experience of crying at the same store.

McD Simpang Dago is the most memorable place. Studying, hangout, finishing the thesis, meeting with my ex at midnight, also crying at 2 p.m., she said.

Simpang Dago McDonalds is one of 12 McDonalds branches in Bandung, all of which operate 24 hours a day.

The Simpang Dago branchs location is particularly strategic, with at least five universities within a 1 kilometer radius of the eatery.

Its no wonder then, that the outlet has become a favorite place for students of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Padjadjaran University, Indonesia Computer University, Harapan Bangsa Technology Institute and the Academy of Social Welfare.

When the Post visited the branch on Monday, there were many students hanging out on the second floor. Most of them sat inside the air-conditioned room, while some sat outside at the smoking area.

Tia Jasmine, a 20-year-old ITB architecture student, said the Simpang Dago McDonalds was one of her favorite hangout spots. She said the strategic location, Wi-Fi and the availability of electricity plugs made the fast food place stand out compared to cafes or other dining places around the area.

This place is like my second boarding home, she said.

Riska Salsabila, 20, Tias friend, said they would often spend an entire night in the restaurant.

We would get there at 3 p.m., buy a meal for dinner and go home the next day. We did it a lot during our freshman year, she said, adding that she and her friends would often hold group study sessions and even watch Netflix together at the outlet, taking advantage of its fast Wi-Fi.

Dirga Hutama of National Technology University said the Simpang Dago McDonalds was convenient for its abundance of electric plugs.

I have visited other McDonalds, but all the plugs at the Simpang Dago branch are functioning. It is also very close to campus, Dirga said. (gis)
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NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

Kiosk (Self-service/ Interactive Kiosk) Market - Scope of the Report



recent publication on the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market for the forecast period of 2019-2027 is the result of detailed and comprehensive analysis provided by its top-rated analysts.The report provides projections in terms of both, value (US$ Mn) and volume (million units) for statistical evaluation of the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p04130342/?utm_source=PRN

Objective insights of the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market provided herein will equip stakeholders in making impactful business decisions. So much so, the analysis provided is deemed to be game-changing for competitive dynamics in the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market.



The report studies the past and current growth trends to provide reliable insights for the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market for the 2019-2027 forecast period.Market indices including demand drivers, restraints, threats, and opportunities have been studied at length for their impact on the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market for the forecast period.



Analysis of SWOTs of the entire kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market over the forecast period is a highlight of this report.



The report on the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market is prepared using industry-centric tools and proven research methodologies. Porter's Five Forces analysis and SWOT analysis are some tools employed in an attempt to gather information on industry strongholds as well as areas for scope of improvement.



Apart from this, the competitive analysis of players in the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market is a key feature of this report. This entails insights into the mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, R&D, and technological innovations of key players to accelerate growth in the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) landscape.



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In order to understand the finer details of the market, the report segments the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market on the basis of component, industry, and region.



Kiosk (Self-service/ Interactive Kiosk) Market  Key Questions Answered in the Report

Adopting a holistic approach to analyze the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market, authors of this report have provided answers to some critical questions pertinent to the said market;



What are the key factors influencing growth in key regions of the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market?

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What are the revenue shares of key segments under various criteria in the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market?

What are the key developments likely to come to the fore in the kiosk (self-service/ interactive kiosk) market by the end of forecast period in 2027?



Kiosk (Self-service/ Interactive Kiosk) Market  Research Objectives and Methodology

The making of the report involved extensive primary and secondary research carried out by seasoned analysts.They referred to proprietary databases and annual reports of companies for data collection.



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Growth behaviour of key segments in the past as well as future projections are presented pictorially for ease of comparison.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p04130342/?utm_source=PRN



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LOS ANGELES - A gunman who killed a woman and wounded five others on a Greyhound bus in Southern California was cursing and muttering incoherently before the attack, passengers and authorities said.

Investigators are trying to determine a motive for the apparently random assault Monday that left two people in critical condition.

Anthony Devonte Williams, 33, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, was arrested after passengers managed to disarm him and get him off the bus, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Brian Pennings said.

Theres no indication that he knew anybody on there, Pennings said.

Williams has been booked into jail on suspicion of murder and attempted murder and is being held without bail. It wasnt immediately known whether he had an attorney.

The Kern County coroners office said Tuesday that 51-year-old Lurbis Elena Vence of Molino, Colombia, died in the attack. An autopsy will be conducted.

The packed bus was heading from Los Angeles to San Francisco when shots were fired at about 1:30 a.m. Monday on Interstate 5 near the small mountain community of Lebec, about 70 miles (113 kilometres) northwest of Los Angeles.

The driver and 42 passengers were aboard, including 6- and 8-year-old children who were not hurt.

Passenger Mark Grabban, 29, told The Associated Press that the gunman had been sitting with his leg sticking out into the aisle, muttering to himself incoherently.

He was just saying weird stuff like, You dont know me like that, Wait till we get to the station, Get away from the dude in the striped shirt, Grabban said in a series of Instagram messages.

Suddenly, the man started cursing and shooting, Grabban said. Grabban hid beneath the seat in front of him. He said the gunman fired eight or nine shots that seemed to go on forever. He added: I was waiting for one to hit me.

I thought I was shot because I felt a rush of heat on the back of my head as I went down, he said. But I guess I just smashed my head on the seat as I went down to the floor.

Then, silence fell. The injured passengers began moaning, and others started panicking.

The driver had pulled to the shoulder of the freeway, where authorities said some passengers managed to get the man off the bus.

Due to some very heroic acts by the passengers, they were able to overcome this subject and disarm him, Pennings said. They were able to escort him off of the bus.

The sergeant didnt provide details.

Passengers told Grabban that someone wrestled the gun away from the shooter, but he said he didnt witness it.

Grabban said the driver of the stopped vehicle asked over the loudspeaker if anyone had been hurt and did not immediately pull away.

Everyone was screaming at him to drive off, Grabban said.

The passengers gave first aid to the wounded as the driver went to the next exit, where he pulled off at a gas station.

Meanwhile, CHP officers took Williams into custody on the side of the road where he had been left.

The gun, a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, and several ammunition magazines were found in the bus, Pennings said.

Grabban, who was sitting near the back of the bus with his girlfriend, said he had picked up the guns empty magazine and handed it to the driver. A casing ended up on Grabbans lap, and he noticed a bullet hole in the floor next to him.

I saw the blood on the floor of the aisle, Grabban told NBC News. I looked to the woman on the left, and she wasnt responding, wasnt moving or anything. She was lifeless.

A 45-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were hospitalized in critical condition, a 39-year-old woman had major injuries, a 49-year-old man had moderate injuries and a 50-year-old woman had minor injuries, Pennings said.

The remaining passengers were later driven to Northern California on another bus.

Authorities were looking into whether a video camera aboard the vehicle captured the attack when the bus was at the top of Tejon Pass, which rises to an elevation of more than 4,100 feet (1,250 metres) in Lebec.

Greyhound prohibits passengers from bringing guns, explosives or dangerous chemicals on board its buses or in their luggage, according to its website. The company declined to answer additional questions about security on its buses.
Puro Politics is a weekly podcast hosted by columnist Gilbert Garcia, covering the drama and nuance of local government issues.

Produced by Joy-Marie Scott.

Listen and subscribe on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Stitcher TuneIn& RSS All Episodes

Charlotte Williamson Eisenhauers desire to get along with every faction of the party she is seeking to lead might be the most controversial part of her campaign for Bexar County Republican chair.

Eisenhauer, a St. Marys University School of Law graduate who has worked in her familys oil-and-gas business and ran for state representative in 2018, wants to pull together the feuding wings of the local GOP.

Keep in mind that the Bexar County Republican Party voted in 2017 to censure then-Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, who was San Antonios most prominent Republican elected official at the time.

Over the past two years, the party has become further divided under the erratic leadership of Cynthia Brehm, the party chair who threatened to pull out of the countys joint primary election and recently engaged in a very public altercation with GOP activist Monica Rojas Stone.

Eisenhauers concerns about the fracturing of the party compelled her last summer to launch a campaign for party chair, even as she was on the verge of giving birth to her first child, a girl who is now 3 months old.

On ExpressNews.com: Brehm faces primary challenger for GOP chair

This didnt just start with Cynthia. This has been going on a long time, Eisenhauer said during an interview on this weeks edition of the Express-News Puro Politics podcast. Theres been a division in the party that I didnt even know, really. I was aware of it before I ran for office, but then when I ran for office, I really sort of saw the level of animosity that there was.

Along those lines, Eisenhauer has heard complaints from some party activists resistant to her unity message.

When I first started giving speeches, when I was 9 months pregnant, it was interesting. It was unity, unity, unity, Eisenhauer said.

And a certain activist who I will not name texted me and said, I heard that you led with this unity crap speech. By far and away, when people criticize my speeches, they say, Could you just leave out the unity?

At one meeting with a local Republican club, Eisenhauer described herself as the only one of the four candidates in the primary race who has spoken to all the various GOP clubs.

And the thing that they held against me the most was, I thought you just went to our club. What do you mean? You go to all of them? So, they were a little hurt that I was getting along with everybody when they thought I was only speaking to them.

Hear these and other issues discussed on this weeks edition of the Puro Politics podcast.

Gilbert Garcia is a columnist covering the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
That 70s Show actor Danny Masterson has slammed four women who have accused him of rape, saying the lawsuit they have filed against him and the Church of Scientology is just a 'shameful money grab'.

Four women filed a lawsuit against Masterson in California last year claiming the actor drugged, raped and sexually assaulted them in the early 2000s.

The Church of Scientology, of which Masterson is a member, is also named as a defendant in the long-running lawsuit after the women claimed they were stalked and harassed by the church in a bid to silence them after they complained.

In the latest court documents filed in the case, Masterson has asked a judge to throw out the lawsuit.

Masterson's new filing, obtained by TMZ, argues that the women haven't specifically said what they're accusing the actor of doing.

He claims the women are too vague with their allegations.

That 70s Show actor Danny Masterson has slammed four women who have accused him of rape, saying the lawsuit they have filed against him and the Church of Scientology is just a 'shameful money grab'

Masterson has also asked the judge to force two women, who have so far remained anonymous, to publicly reveal their names. He claims they are trying to hide to avoid potential scrutiny.

Two of the women named in the suit were Masterson's ex-girlfriends - Chrissie Bixler and Bobette Riales - while the other two were only identified as Jane Does.

He said the women are all ex-girlfriends just trying to humiliate him.

The actor claims the four accusers are engaged in a 'shameful money grab'.

He has always denied the allegations and said a criminal investigation two years ago did not result in any charges.

The women claim that when they came forward to report the sexual assault allegations against Masterson, the church allegedly conspired to stalk, harass, invade their privacy and cause emotional distress in a bid to intimidate and silence them.

In the initial lawsuit, Bixler said she dated Masterson for several years and joined Scientology 'per his orders'.

She claims Masterson would regularly force her to have sex with him and says he 'became violent' when she refused, citing one occasion when he dragged her naked across their bedroom floor while berating her appearance.

Bixler claims that after the incident she was required to do an 'ethics program' where she told a church employee about Masterson's alleged abusive behavior.

Chrissie Bixler dated Masterson for several years and claims he would forcefully have sex with her and became violent when she refused. She says her dog mysteriously died after she reported him

Bobette Riales, who dated the actor for two years from 2002, claims he drugged and sexually assaulted her. She claims she was followed, watched and had her trash stolen after going to the police with her allegations against Masterson in 2017

She said the employee told her it was her job as Masterson's girlfriend 'to give him sex whenever he wants it' and that if she complied 'these things wouldn't happen', according to the suit.

After coming forward with her allegations, she claims her dog mysteriously died from unexplained traumatic injuries to her trachea and esophagus.

According to the suit, Bixler claims she was also run off the road in June by a car that had been following her. In the same month, Bixler claims one of Masterson's friends threatened to release nude photos of her taken when she was underage.

Another woman in the suit, Bobette Riales, claims she experienced similar threats, including being followed, watched and having her trash stolen after going to the police with her allegations against Masterson in 2017.

Riales claims Masterson, who she dated for two years from 2002, drugged and sexually assaulted her.

The other two women, who have not been identified, claim they experienced Masterson and his alleged abuse between 1999 and 2002.

In new court papers filed on Tuesday, the church argued that the women consented to 'ecclesiastical rule' when they became members and therefore relinquished their rights to sue

Jane Doe 1 claims she may have been drugged by Masterson after he gave her two drinks and ended up alone in his guestroom where she fell asleep. She claims she woke up to Masterson having sex with her and fought him off.

A few years later, Jane Doe 1 said she again felt disoriented after having a drink given to her by Masterson. She claims she passed out and woke up to the actor raping her.

Jane Doe 1 claims she reported the incident to the LAPD on June 6, 2004, but said the Church of Scientology 'mobilized' against her to ensure no charges were filed.

The other woman, Jane Doe 2, claims she also felt disorientated after having a drink given to her by Masterson. Jane Doe 2, who was a member of the church since childhood, claims Masterson sexually assaulted her in the shower and in his bedroom.

Jane Doe 2 said she knew from Scientology that she would 'not be permitted to report the assault to civil authorities outside of Scientology' so she did not disclose the alleged incident to the LAPD until 2017.

Since reporting it, Jane Doe 2 claimed her phone and computer were hacked, her car was vandalized and she received harassment on social media.

Masterson has repeatedly denied all the accusations against him since they first came to light in 2017.

Netflix fired him from its show The Ranch after the LAPD confirmed they were investigating the allegations.

Masterson is best known for his role on That 70s Show.
Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday set a target of May 1 for complete ban on single use plastic in the state.

He issued orders to this effect to collectors, and municipal body chiefs after chairing a meeting in Mantralaya which was attended by many officials via video conferencing.

A state government release said Thackeray asked officials to submit an action plan by February 20.

"Single use plastic is more dangerous to our We need to curb its use and pollution caused by it," he said.

"The May 1 deadline is set so that alternative measures can be made available by that time. We want to plan in detail and then go in for its implementation," an official of the state ministry said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Discovery of more than 250 individual mineralized dykes covering an area of 30 km2

Average grade of 18.95% TREO from 59 grab samples from the distinct LREE-carbonatite dykes, grades range from 9.64% TREO to maximum of 26.47% TREO(see sample distribution below)

Simple mineralogy in carbonatite confirmed as bastnasite and calcite

Mapping and structural analysis continues in early 2020. Geophysical surveys planned (ultra-high resolution magnetics and gravity), followed by drilling.

HALIFAX, NS / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Namibia Critical Metals Inc. ("Namibia Critical Metals" or the "Company") (TSXV:NMI) today announced significant results from rock samples taken from the Company's 95% owned Kunene project area in the Kunene Region of north-western Namibia. Grab samples taken from the carbonatite dykes have returned grades of 9.64% TREO to 26.47% TREO which are highly enriched in neodymium and praseodymium. Grab samples are selected samples and are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted everywhere on the property. Mineralization has been confirmed in over 250 carbonatite dykes throughout an area of 30 km2. The project is situated about 340 kilometers north of the Company's Lofdal Heavy Rare Earth Project and represents a new light rare earth ("LREE") opportunity for the Company.

Pine van Wyk, CEO of Namibia Critical Metals, stated "This discovery provides Namibia Critical Metals with the foundation for a new light rare earths project. The project complements our advanced heavy rare earths project at Lofdal which has now firmly secured a strategic partnership with JOGMEC. It offers our shareholders an opportunity in the early stage exploration of a high grade neodymium-praseodymium project on a district scale. We have undertaken to focus the Company on critical metals opportunities and our generative team led by Rainer Ellmies has delivered again with an outstanding discovery."

Mineralization

The LREE-mineralization is associated with discrete carbonatite dykes over strike lengths of tens to several hundred meters with widths of between 20 centimeters to a maximum of 4 meters. The dykes follow a broad east-west zone and are interpreted as distinct primary magmatic features hosted by fenitized country rocks. Initial reconnaissance mapping has delineated at least 250 of the LREE carbonatite dykes over an area of more than 30 km2 (Figure 1).

Locally, the dykes form sets of sheeted, sub-parallel dykes or mineralized breccia zones. On a larger scale the dykes follow elongated dome-like structures with thick mineralization in jogs of adjoining domes or in the roofs of the domes (Figure 2). Further detailed mapping and geophysics will concentrate on these swell zones to understand the structural and magmatic setting of thicker dykes.

Grab Sample Results

Mineralization in the dykes was initially assessed during mapping using a handheld XRF analyser. Outcrop analyses were taken of the distinct LREE carbonatite dykes, other magmatic rocks, fenites and country rocks. Selected grab samples of the mineralized carbonatite were submitted for ICP-MS analyses to confirm grades. Grab samples are selected samples and are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted everywhere on the property. A total of 59 grab samples were taken systematically from LREE carbonatite dykes throughout the area. ICP-MS analyses of these 59 samples average 18.95% TREO with grades ranging from 9.64% TREO to 24.67%. Grade distribution of the samples is as follows:

9-10% TREO n= 2 samples

10-15% TREO n= 9 samples

15-20% TREO n= 21 samples

20-25% TREO n= 23 samples

>25% TREO n= 4 samples(highest grade 26.47% TREO)

The mineralization shows a strong LREE distribution with an average grade of 2.01% neodymium oxide and 0.73% praseodymium oxide (the "magnet LREEs"). See Table 1.

Table 1 - Average REO concentration of 59 grab samples taken from the LREE-carbonatite dykes.

Sample preparation and analytical work for the rock samples was carried out by Activation Laboratories Ltd. (Windhoek, Namibia and Ancaster, Ontario) with internal laboratory QAQC controls employing ICP-MS techniques suitable for rare earth element analyses.

Very Simple and Favorable Mineralogy

QEMSCAN analysis of one typical LREE carbonatite sample determined that the only significant REE-mineral is bastnasite [(LREE)CO 3 (OH,F)] which makes up 27.35% of the rock and is associated with calcite at a ratio of 1:2.5. Minor minerals included hematite (1.5%) and parasite (1.6%). This simple mineralogy is a favourable metallurgical characteristic for processing.

Planned Work

Mapping and structural analysis will continue in early 2020. Geophysical surveys planned will include ultra-high resolution magnetics and gravity to assist in tracing the dykes where they cannot be mapped under cover and to provide better interpretation for possible source areas/carbonatite plugs that may be related to the high grade mineralization exposed at surface. Follow up drilling will test lateral and vertical extents of the dykes and interpreted intrusive features of interest.

Figure 1 - Overview of the dyke system indicating the general structural setting of the mineralisation and TREO grades of the LREE-carbonatite. (To view the full-size image, please click here)

Figure 2 - Detailed mapping of dykes in the western zone showing partly circular structures. (To view the full-size image, please click here)

Donald M. Burton, P.Geo. and President of Namibia Critical Metals Inc., is the Company's Qualified Person and has reviewed and approved this press release.

About Namibia Critical Metals Inc.

Namibia Critical Metals Inc. holds a diversified portfolio of exploration and advanced stage projects in the country of Namibia focused on the development of sustainable and ethical sources of metals for the battery, electric vehicle and associated industries. The Company also has significant land positions in areas favourable for gold mineralization.

At the Erongo Gold Project, stratigraphic equivalents to the sediments hosting the recent Osino gold discovery at Twin Hills have been identified but not yet sampled. Detailed soil surveys are planned over this highly prospective area.

In addition to Lofdal, the Epembe Tantalum-Niobium Project is also at an advanced stage with a well-defined, 10 km long carbonatite dyke that has been delineated by detailed mapping with over 11,000 meters of drilling. Preliminary mineralogical and metallurgical studies including sorting tests (XRT), indicate the potential for significant physical upgrading. Further work will be undertaken to advance the project to a preliminary economic assessment stage.

The Kunene Cobalt-Copper Project comprises a very large area of favorable stratigraphy ("the DOF") along strike to the west of the Opuwo Co-Cu-Zn deposit. Secondary copper mineralization over a wide area points to preliminary evidence of a regional-scale hydrothermal system. Exploration targets on EPLs held in the Kunene project comprise direct extensions of the DOF style mineralization to the west, sediment-hosted cobalt and copper, orogenic copper, and stratabound Mn and Zn-Pb mineralization.

Earlier stage projects include the Grootfontein Project which has potential for magmatic Cu-Ni mineralization, Mississippi Valley-type Zn-Pb-V mineralization and Otjikoto-style gold mineralization.

The common shares of Namibia Critical Metals Inc. trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "NMI".

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For more information please contact -

Namibia Critical Metals Inc.

Don Burton, President

Tel: +01 (902) 835-8760

Fax: +01 (902) 835-8761

Email: Info@NamibiaREE.com

Web site: www.NamibiaCriticalMetals.com

The foregoing information may contain forward-looking information relating to the future performance of Namibia Rare Earths Inc. Forward-looking information, specifically, that concerning future performance, is subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the appropriate securities commissions.

-30-

SOURCE: Namibia Critical Metals Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575188/Namibia-Critical-Metals-Discovers-High-Grade-Light-Rare-Earths-Mineralization-on-New-Project-Area
Chatlinesusa.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

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DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE English (United States) UTF-8English (United States) DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache/2.2.23 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.23 OpenSSL/1.0.0-fips DAV/2 mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 (PHP/5.2.17) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux

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Bishop David Oyedepo has laid a curse on terrorists behind several killings in the country. Recall that a suspected suicide bomber was arrested inside the Living Faith church in Kaduna on Sunday, the founder of the church, Bishop Oyedepo has cursed the Boko Haram sect and Miyetti Allah group over the attempted bombing. Read Also: 10,000 Of My Church Members Qualify To Be President: Oyedepo

Speaking during a recent church program, the respected cleric in his reaction pointed out that the end has come for the group.

The most irresponsible, most murderous system, is what we have today and in the name of Jesus by the Apostolic authority upon my life and Prophetic seal on my forehead, your end has come.

We are here this morning to celebrate Jesus for delivering us from so great a death.

There was a failed attempt to bomb one of our Churches in Kaduna yesterday.

This agent of the devil already entered the premises, found his way to the toilet, (but who delivered us from so great a deathwink, was accosted and arrested.

One, thats a proof that God is in our midst. It shows that God is in our midst and we are here not to assume but to celebrate his faithfulness.

To tell this Nation as they would expect me to do, the last straw that will break the back of everybody in authority, backing these callous killers has come.

To tell everyone behind this: your days are numbered. This prophet is saying the Kingdom is taking away from you. Its impossible for these killers to be on the loose without some authorities backing them up.

So many precious lives have been wasted in the last 2 weeks and in the name of Jesus, the generations of those involved is declared wasted.

I dont care: Boko Haram, Miyetti Allah, whatever name you are called, I decree the curse of the Lord upon you now.

Everyone in government, everyone in security services, that is behind these killings: YOUR END HAS COME.
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I found out I was in a gang database  a shared criminal intelligence system used by policing agencies to store information on identified gang members  in 1996 after a dozen members of the Los Angeles Police Department crashed through my front door. The officers were from an anti-gang and graffiti task force and the arrest warrant identified me as a leader of not one, but two, graffiti gangs. When I found out that officers had torn through my familys apartment looking for spray paint and markers as per the search warrant, it reminded me of the actual gang members who had done the same just a few years earlier.

As a local graffiti writer I had spent my adolescence running from gangs that resented how taggers like me wrote in the neighborhoods they claimed as their own. Now I was labeled a gang member. I had been labeled a gang member because I must have looked like one. Or it may have been because a judge is more likely to issue a warrant for a kid in a gang than a kid who writes on walls. I will never be sure. I was a vandal, but I was not in a gang, and the legal consequences for each are vastly different.

At my arraignment, my gang identity was brought up to frame the many charges for vandalism I was facing. Like the more than 94 percent of state-level felony defendants in America, I plea-bargained and received a fine, probation and community service, but avoided jail time. It was the gang label, not the criminal charges, that scared me most. I realized then, as I understand now, that gang categorization is often more of a legal tactic than a matter of identity.

Recent accusations of Los Angeles Police Department officers falsely identifying people as gang members are nothing new, and the problem is certainly not just a local issue. The Los Angeles Times reported last month that 20 officers from the Metropolitan Division assigned to crime suppression duties were suspected of having willfully falsified information on field interview cards during traffic stops. Information on such cards is relied upon later to determine who should be entered into a gang database. Self-identifying as a gang member, in addition to tattoos and officers descriptions of gang related clothing, are used to make a gang distinction.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Hotel Business News and Analytics

Important! This article is written by orangesmile.com editors and is protected by copyright law. The article can only be re-used with a direct link to www.orangesmile.com

NEWS BLOCKS:

2019 was a Record Year for Marriott Hotels

Marriott International had an exceptionally successful year in 2019. It managed to sign a record number of rooms, and so its pipeline increased to roughly 515,000 in December 2019. This is the best result of the famous hotel company on record.



Last year, Marriott signed 815 contracts regarding new hotels with over 136,000 rooms in total. The company was growing in different regions around the world. Moreover, Marriott added as many as 516 hotels in 60 different countries during 2019. These hotels added another 78,000 rooms to the hoteliers portfolio. This is truly unprecedented speed  on average, Marriott opened one new hotel every 17 hours last year.



This is definitely a success for the famous hotelier. Marriott names several reasons for such an achievement. The company has a range of popular brands suitable for different hotels, both new and converted, and offers business support and access to its loyalty program. In December 2019, Marriott International was present in 134 countries and territories where it had over 7,300 hotels with approximately 1.38 million rooms.



An interesting fact: Marriott is now focused on new hotels outside North America. Actually, more than half of the companys pipeline is located outside this region. The Asia Pacific had the biggest number of signed hotels in 2019 (38,000 rooms in total), followed by Europe with 17,000 rooms. More than 9,000 rooms were signed for the Caribbean and Latin America, and 8,000 rooms  for the Middle East and Africa. In 2019, the company also debuted in new countries. Marriott added hotels in Cyprus, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan, and Moldova hotels.



Marriott was also opening more hotels than usual in the luxury segment in 2019. The hotelier signed 42 new contracts regarding the opening of new luxury hotels in 27 countries. It also opened 34 new luxury hotels around the world. The most notable of them are the W hotel in Dubai  The Palm, St. Regis hotel in Venice, and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Pune. Marriott also plans to make its W hotel brand more luxurious. The company bought a hotel on Union Square in New York and plans to use it as a showcase property of the renewed brand. Another important change in the business of Marriott  the hotelier decided to step into the all-inclusive business. Soon after the launch of the new all-inclusive hotel platform, Marriott signed the first seven agreements for all-inclusive hotels. An 800-room hotel in Jamaica and a 240-room hotel in Mexico are some of the most anticipated all-inclusive hotels by Marriott.

04.02.2020Stay in touch with the latest news of a worldwide hotel industry. All up-to-date analytics, reports , and news about hotel business trends on OrangeSmile.com.
Gibraltar - Artist Residency in Greece 2020  Call For Artists

Gibraltar Cultural Services is organising the Gibraltar-Artist Residency in Greece 2020. The cultural programme is organised in conjunction with Plan B. International Artist Studios, directed by artist Francis Gomila.

The residency focuses on mentoring mid-career and younger artists, to energise and sharpen their artistic direction with a special emphasis on how to advance their professional career.

The two week residency will be based at PLAN B, with artists spending part of the time at an artist studio in Athens. The two artists selected to take part from Gibraltar, will be required to travel to Athens from the 10th July to 25th July 2020.

Local artists wishing to apply to participate are required to do so via email at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Artists are required to submit a CV and statement detailing recent projects, a portfolio with samples of works and a brief description of their interest in this particular residency.

For further information please contact Plan B. on the above email or visit their website: www.plan-b-artist-studios.com or alternatively, contact GCS Cultural Development Unit on 20079750.

Closing date for applications is Friday 27th March 2020.
Panic has increased in Pakistan due to the threat of Corona virus spreading rapidly in China's neighboring country. A suspected patient of corona virus has emerged in Pakistan's Sindh province. Pakistani authorities have isolated him after seeing symptoms of the virus in an engineering student returned from China. On the other hand, the Pakistani embassy in China has asked its citizens to register themselves with the embassy office to ensure their repatriation.

According to media reports, the youth returned from China is a student of petroleum engineering and his name is Shahzeb Ali Rahuja. His brother Irshad Ali told that Shahzeb was studying in a university in Wuhan, and after the outbreak of the epidemic, he returned to Karachi from China via Qatar on Saturday. Irshad said that after screening Shahzeb at the airport of China, he was examined at Karachi airport but there was no problem in it.

After returning home, Irshad got fever and cough after which he was given medicines but after bleeding from his nose we brought him to the hospital. Irshad has also posted a video of the case in which Shahzeb is sitting on the hospital bed and blood is falling from his nose. Shahzeb is still undergoing treatment at the Pir Jo Goth government hospital near Khairpur. In the video, Irshad claimed that doctors, after seeing Shahzeb's condition, locked him in a room and refused to treat him.

Also Read:

This Indian man fired for stealing sandwich, earns salary of 9 crores 20 lakh

Russia started building this defense system to increase India's strength

Coronavirus overwhelmed Chinese Air Force, markets become empty

Islamic State did terrorist attack in London, the organization took responsibility for itself
A search is underway for a middle-aged man who allegedly performed an indecent act while sitting next to a young on a bus.

The man allegedly began touching himself after he sat next to the 13-year-old on the 241 bus on Grote Street, Adelaide on October 21, 2019.

Police have released CCTV footage of a balding man they believe may be able to help with the investigation.

Police have released CCTV footage of a man they believe may be able to help with the investigation

The man boarded the bus at 3.20pm and spoke briefly with the driver before choosing a seat next to a young girl.

The young girl moved to the front of the bus when the man allegedly began touching himself and alerted the driver to what had happened.

The driver immediately stopped the bus but the man ran away before police arrived.

The man was last seen running through parklands on Anzac Highway.

Anybody with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000
President Trump's campaign team branded last night's Democrat caucus results chaos 'the sloppiest train wreck in history' after technical glitches meant no clear winner was announced.

The Iowa Democratic Party said last night that results from the state's first-in-the-nation caucus were delayed due to 'quality checks' and 'inconsistencies' in some reporting.

Problems with a mobile app appeared to force the delay in reporting the results, leaving the campaigns, voters and the media in election limbo.

It was an embarrassing complication that added a new layer of doubt to an already uncertain presidential primary season, with both Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders declaration themselves the winners.

The president's campaign eagerly seized on the Democrats' problems, with Trump's campaign manager, Brad Parscale, laying into their rivals.

He said: 'Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history.

'It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?'

Campaign manager for the Trump 2020 reelection campaign Brad Parscale speaking at a press conference in Des Moines, Iowa, yesterday

Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders speaking to supporters. Pre-caucus polls put him ahead in polls but by a small margin

Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten (right) wave to supporters at a caucus night campaign rally yesterday

Parscale also seized on the issue to sow doubt about the validity of the results.

He tweeted on Monday evening, adding a emoji with furrowed brows: 'Quality control (equals) rigged?'

An unsurprising development of the night came when Trump won the Republican Iowa caucus, a largely symbolic victory given that he faced no significant opposition.

But Parscale added: 'Tonight President Trump posted a record performance in the well-run GOP Iowa caucuses with record turnout for an incumbent.'

The Democrats said the problem in reporting the winner was not a result of a 'hack or an intrusion' and promised that final results would be released today.

The statement came after tens of thousands of voters spent hours Monday night sorting through a field of nearly a dozen candidates who had spent much of the previous year fighting to win the opening contest of the 2020 campaign and, ultimately, the opportunity to take on President Donald Trump this fall.

The confusion threatened to permanently stain the kickoff caucuses and allowed critics to raise questions about the integrity of this year's results whenever they are released.

And with no official evidence to the contrary, virtually every candidate claimed momentum heading into next-up New Hampshire, which votes in just seven days.

Caucus-goers check in at a caucus at Roosevelt High School on Monday in Des Moines, Iowa

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks to supporters at a caucus night campaign rally Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

'It looks like it's going to be a long night, but we're feeling good,' former Vice President Joe Biden said, suggesting the final results would 'be close.'

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said he had 'a good feeling we're going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa' once results were posted. 'Today marks the beginning of the end for Donald Trump,' he predicted.

'Listen, it's too close to call,' Warren said. 'The road won't be easy. But we are built for the long haul.'

And Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was most certain.

'So we don't know all the results, but we know by the time it's all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation,' he said. 'By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.'

Democrats had hoped Iowa's caucuses would provide some clarity for what has been a muddled nomination fight for much of the past year.

Instead, with no results in sight several hours after caucus-goers cast their votes, they faced the possibility that whatever numbers they ultimately released would be questioned.

And beyond 2020, critics began wondering aloud whether Iowa's decades-long tradition of hosting the first presidential primary election was in jeopardy.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden walking in the crowd at a caucus night campaign rally on Monday in Des Moines, Iowa

Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg arriving to speak at a campaign office the day of the Iowa Caucus

State party spokeswoman Mandy McClure said it had 'found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results.'

'This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion,' she said. 'The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.'

Des Moines County Democratic Chair Tom Courtney blamed technology issues in his county, relaying precinct reports that the app created for caucus organizers to report results was 'a mess'.

As a result, Courtney said precinct leaders were phoning in results to the state party headquarters, which was too busy to answer their calls in some cases.

Organizers were still looking for missing results several hours after voting concluded.

Shortly before 2am, the state party was making plans to dispatch people to the homes of precinct captains who hadn't reported their numbers. That's according to a state party official in the room who was not authorized to share internal discussions publicly.

Earlier in the night, Iowa voters across the state cast their votes balancing a strong preference for fundamental change with an overwhelming desire to defeat Trump.

At least four high-profile candidates vied for the lead in a contest that offered the opening test of who and what the party stands for in the turbulent age of Trump.

Younger caucus-goers holding signs for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden at the Knapp Center on the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa

Local residents waiting to enter an Iowa Democratic caucus at Hoover High School last night

It's just the first in a primary season that will span all 50 states and several U.S. territories, ending only at the party's national convention in mid-July.

For Democrats, the moment was thick with promise for a party that has seized major gains in states since Trump won the White House in 2016.

But instead of clear optimism, a growing cloud of uncertainty and intraparty resentment hung over the election as the prospect of an unclear result raised fears of a long and divisive primary fight in the months ahead.

Pre-caucus polls suggested that Sanders entered the night with a narrow lead, but any of the top four candidates - Sanders, Biden, Warren and Buttigieg - was positioned to score a victory.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who represents neighboring Minnesota, was also claiming momentum, while outsider candidates including entrepreneur Andrew Yang, billionaire activist Tom Steyer and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard could be factors.

'We know one thing: We are punching above our weight,' Klobuchar said late Monday, promising to keep fighting in New Hampshire.

New voters played a significant role in shaping Iowa's election.

About one quarter of all voters reported that they were caucusing for the first time, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of voters who said they planned to take part in Monday's Democratic caucuses.

The first-timers were slightly more likely to support Sanders, Warren or Buttigieg, compared with other candidates.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders speaking to supporters at a caucus night campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa

Caucus-goers checking in at a caucus at Roosevelt High School on Monday in Des Moines, Iowa

At the same time, VoteCast found that roughly two-thirds of caucus-goers said supporting a candidate who would fundamentally change how the system in Washington works was important to their vote.

That compared to about a third of caucusgoers who said it was more important to support a candidate who would restore the political system to how it was before Trump's election in 2016.

Not surprisingly, nearly every Iowa Democrat said the ability to beat Trump was an important quality for a presidential nominee.

VoteCast found that measure outranked others as the most important quality for a nominee.

The 2020 fight has already played out over myriad distractions, particularly congressional Democrats' push to impeach Trump, which has often overshadowed the primary and effectively pinned several leading candidates to Washington at the pinnacle of the early campaign season.

Meanwhile, ultrabillionaire Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, is running a parallel campaign that ignores Iowa as he prepares to pounce on any perceived weaknesses in the field come March.

The amalgam of oddities was building toward what could be a murky Iowa finale before the race pivots quickly to New Hampshire, which votes just eight days later.

For the first time, the Iowa Democratic Party planned to report three sets of results: a tally of caucus-goers' initial candidate preference; vote totals from the 'final alignment' after supporters of lower-ranking candidates were able to make a second choice; and the total number of State Delegate Equivalents each candidate receives.

There is no guarantee that all three will show the same winner when they're ultimately released.

The Associated Press said it will declare a winner based on the number of state delegates each candidate wins, which has been the traditional standard.
Chinese citizens and foreign nationals based out of China intending to visit India will have to apply afresh for an Indian visa after Indian Embassy in Beijing said that the existing single/multiple entry visas issued to such visitors are no longer valid. The embassy asked visitors to ascertain the validity of visa by contacting the Visa Section of the Embassy/Consulates of India in China.

The Indian Embassy in Beijing took to Twitter to inform that such intending visitors should contact them through the official email id. The embassy said that they can also contact the Consulates or Indian Visa Application Centres in both cities in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

All those who are already in India (with regular or e-visa) and had traveled from China after January 15 are requested to contact the hotline number of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Government of India (+91-11-23978046 and email: ncov2019@gmail.com). (4/4)  India in China (@EOIBeijing) February 4, 2020

e-visa facility suspended

Earlier on February 2, India temporarily suspended e-visa facility for such travellers in view of the deadly coronavirus that has killed 425 people and infected more than 20,000 others. Due to certain current developments, travel to India on e-visas stands temporarily suspended with immediate effect," the Indian Embassy had announced. Other countries that have temporarily suspended visa for Chinese travellers include the United States, Switzerland, Slovakia, Norway, Belgium, and Estonia among others.

Read: Coronavirus Death Toll Rises To 425 In China, Over 20,000 Infected

China calls travel bans 'overreaction'

China has been critical of countries for not only evacuating its citizens and imposing a travel ban with the highest level of alert but also prohibiting Chinese residents in their country. Following the announcement of the global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the US Department of State had ordered the departure of all family members under age 21 of government officials in China. In a travel advisory issued on February 2, the department urged travellers to be prepared for the possibility of travel restrictions with little or no advance notice.

Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said the US overreacted to the situation and created panic among people by withdrawing some embassy staff and imposing a travel ban on all visitors from China. The spokesperson to MFA, in a tweet, said that they understand reasonable quarantine measures based on WHO advisory but oppose excessive measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel.

Read: Kerala Declares Coronavirus As 'state Calamity' After Three People Test Positive

Chinas acting ambassador to Israel went ahead and compared the travel bans, imposed by several countries, with turning away of Jewish refugees during the Holocaust. Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, ambassador Dai Yuming said that the entry ban on Chinese citizens due to coronavirus reminded him of World War II and the Holocaust.

Dai said that very few countries, including China, opened the door for Jews when they sought refuge from other countries. Later, the Chinese Embassy in Israel issued an apology and said that there was no intention to compare the dark days of the Holocaust with the current situation.

Read: Blood Samples Of Suspected Coronavirus Patients Sent For Testing

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Can Surgical Masks Protect From The New Virus? Know Here
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Larsen & Toubro (L&T), India's leading engineering and construction conglomerate, said it has been awarded a large contract - in the range of Rs2,500 to Rs5,000 ($350 million to $701 million) - by Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE's integrated railway network, for the design and build of freight handling facilities at seven strategic locations across the emirates.



This design and build contract for freight facilities package has been bagged by L&T's metallurgical and material handling strategic business group, against stiff international competition, stated the Indian group in its statement.



This is a major breakthrough project for L&T in the Stage-2 expansion phase of Etihad Rail and will be executed in a joint venture with Power China, it stated.



The scope of work involves design, engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of bulk material handling systems (Rail loading and unloading systems) with associated civil and structural works, bulk material storage facilities, general cargo and container handling facilities with freight terminal management and control systems, said the L&T statement.



All the freight stations will include railway siding and track works apart from other infrastructure works such as bridges, buildings, roads & drains, water and electricity utility systems, it added.-TradeArabia News Service

HARTFORD  Gov. Ned Lamont received a B- for his positions on cannabis policy, according to a new report released by a group advocating for legalization of the substance.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) recently released its 2020 Gubernatorial Scorecard, a scorecard that assigned grades from A through F to states governors based upon their comments and voting records in 2019 specific to matters on legalizing marijuana.

In a press release about the report, NORML said that most legislative activity specific to marijuana policy takes place at the state level, and nobody has more influence than a governor.

These 50 lawmakers play a key role in whether or not marijuana policy reform advances at the state level so it is vitally important that reformers are aware of where they stand on the issue, NORML said.

NORML gave Lamont a B- for meeting with governors of neighboring states to discuss the possibility of taking a regional approach to the issue in 2020.

Last week, Lamont told reporters that hes letting the legislature take the lead on the issue.

Look the legislature is taking the lead on this, Lamont said last Thursday following an unrelated event.

Lamont is in close contact with New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, which has already legalized it.

It does seem to me crazy that Connecticuts going to be the small outlier giving that market over to the black market or sending people out of state, Lamont said,

Overall, NORML gave 32 governors a passing grade of C or higher (22 Democrats, 10 Republicans. Thats an increase of five more getting a passing grade than on last years report card.

Nine governors  all Democrats  received an A grade; 12 received a B, 11 received a C, 10 got a D, and eight  all Republicans, got an F.

The Connecticut chapter of NORML has been a constant presence at the state Capitol the past few years, holding rallies and flocking to myriad public hearings held on bills proposing recreational marijuana legalization.

An example of a governor who is charting the right course, according to NORML, is Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat who NORML noted last year signed into a law a bill that regulates the production, use and retail sale of cannabis by adults.

The Illinois law also facilitates the automatic expungement of low-level marijuana convictions, decriminalizes home cultivation by adults and legalizes personal cultivation for qualified patients.

For that, NORML gave Pritzker an A+ on his report card.

On the other end, there were some F grades picked up by Republican governors, such as Mike DeWine of Ohio.

NORML said DeWines repeated assertion that it would be a mistake to legalize simply because other states are jumping on board is the reason he deserves a flunking grade.

NORML said that the big takeaway is that while support among governors for marijuana policy reform continues to grow, this support is more partisan than ever before.

No Republicans are on record in support of adult-use legalization and few are in favor of regulating medical cannabis access, NORML said. By contrast, a large percentage of Democrats are supportive of both issues. This partisan divide is not similarly reflected among the general public.

Back in Connecticut, the three different bills to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis passed out of committee last year, but none of them received a vote in the House or the Senate.

Proponents of recreational marijuana have repeatedly tried to push their cause over the past few years by referring to different polls that show the majority of the public is in favor of legalizing marijuana and that Connecticut is allowing other neighboring states that have legalized pot to rake in millions in tax revenue.

But those arguments havent been successful in convincing moderate Democrat legislators and any single Republican legislator to jump over to the legalization side.
Auvik Networks Auvik recently announced plans to expand their classification and troubleshooting capabilities for Internet of Things devices.

Patrick Albert, VP of Product Management at Auvik Networks, has joined the IoT Advisory Council of CompTIA, the leading trade association for the global technology industry. As a member of the council, Albert will contribute to CompTIAs efforts to give solution providers the knowledge and skills necessary to implement Internet of Things strategies in the market.

Albert has 15 years of experience in the IT channel and is a frequent commentator on issues of IoT security, network management, and automation. He leads product management for Auvik, a cloud-based software that simplifies and automates network monitoring and management.

With the influx of smart lights, sensors, and other IoT devices on business networks comes a host of new security and performance issues. Albert works closely with IT managed service providers (MSPs) and network managers to understand their challenges and evolve the Auvik system to enable effective monitoring and management of smart devices on the network. Auvik recently announced plans to expand their classification and troubleshooting capabilities for Internet of Things devices.

With the breadth of his experience in our industry, Albert is a strong addition to our IoT Advisory Council, said Annette Taber, CompTIAs senior vice president for industry outreach. His insights around IoThow it is developed, marketed, purchased and deployedwill help guide the actions we take as an advisory council, an association, and an industry.

The CompTIA IoT Advisory Council addresses relevant industry trends and issues affecting the IoT market, where platforms and methodologies are evolving rapidly. Among its tasks, the council will define the many complex components of IoT solutions, including the barriers and accelerators to adoption that help businesses of all sizes improve operations and profit from market expansion and innovation.

Albert will support the councils main objectives this year which include:



Articulating relevant industry trends and issues affecting IoT and smart city development.

Creating an infographic highlighting IoT reference architecture, ecosystem, and associated players.

Developing IoT use cases by vertical, including outcomes and impacts.

Increasing IoT security awareness for devices, networks, and data.

IoT presents a massive opportunity, as well as a massive challenge for MSPs and network administrators, says Albert. I look forward to contributing to the IoT Advisory Councils work in helping our industry navigate the growing pains and ultimately reap the benefits of this technology as it reaches widespread adoption.

About Auvik Networks

Auviks cloud-based software simplifies and automates network monitoring and management for IT managed service providers. Auvik gives MSPs better visibility, documentation, and monitoring for their client networks, and automates many time-consuming network tasks. With Auvik, MSPs have an efficient and profitable way to manage their client networks. Visit http://www.auvik.com or follow @AuvikNetworks on Twitter. Auvik is a registered trademark of Auvik Networks Inc.

About CompTIA

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is a leading voice and advocate for the $5 trillion global information technology ecosystem; and the more than 50 million industry and tech professionals who design, implement, manage, and safeguard the technology that powers the worlds economy. Through education, training, certifications, advocacy, philanthropy, and market research, CompTIA is the hub for advancing the tech industry and its workforce. http://www.comptia.org.

Media Contact

Jennifer Tribe

Director, Content

jtribe@auvik.com

519-804-4700 x132
China was front and center on the Q4 2019 earnings call for water heater manufacturer A.O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) on Jan. 28. But for a change, it wasn't about tariffs or the coronavirus; it was all about sales.

About 34% of A.O. Smith's revenue comes from China, so the slowing economy there has materially affected earnings. That trend continued in the most recent quarter, but management seems to think the worst is behind it.

A.O. Smith earnings: By the numbers

Metric Q4 2019 Q3 2019 Q4 2018 YOY Change (Decline) Revenue $750.9 million $728.2 million $812.5 million (7.6%) Net Income $91.3 million $87.3 million $126.3 million (27.7%) Earnings per Share $0.56 $0.53 $0.74 (24.3%)

Although revenue, net income, and earnings per share crept up slightly from Q3, they were way down versus the year-ago quarter. The company divides its operations into two divisions: North America and Rest of World. The biggest factor in the underperformance was the Rest of World segment, where net income fell so much as to be virtually nonexistent:

Focus on China

The vast majority of A.O. Smith's overseas sales (about 94.3%) are from China. Unfortunately, thanks to unfavorable currency headwinds, a slowing economy, and a product mix that consisted of more lower-margin midprice models, China sales fell 19% in 2019, to about 29.4% of overall revenue.

Sales in the company's only other overseas market of any significance, India, actually grew by 13% in 2019, but India makes up only about 2.4% of overall sales. Which means that A.O. Smith has to either boost North American sales to make up for the Chinese losses, or figure out how to reverse the trend in China.

On the earnings call, management said that its elevated inventory levels in China have already returned to normal, and that it anticipates a 2.5% increase in China sales, which will drop to a 1% increase in U.S. dollars after currency effects are factored in.

What management had to say

CEO Kevin Wheeler acknowledged that China sales were a problem, but said the company had been taking steps not only to turn things around in its top overseas market, but also to boost sales in North America:

In 2019, we laid the groundwork for future success with several activities. An acquisition was added to our North America water treatment portfolio; China channel inventory levels declined, to be within the normal range of two to three months; we substantially completed our re-entry into the high-end of midprice-range products in China with new products specifically designed to target this demographic; and full implementation of our enterprise resource planning environment in North America is nearly complete. In 2020, we look forward to building from these actions.

The outlook

Wheeler announced guidance for 2020 revenue growth between 4.5 and 5.5 percent, which wouldn't quite erase 2019's 6% decline in revenue from 2018. He projected 2020 per-share earnings between $2.40 and $2.50, which would represent an increase between 8.1% and 12.6% over 2019. But he cautioned that the guidance excluded the potential impact of the coronavirus, which has been causing travel disruptions and economic uncertainty in China that have rippled around the globe.

In good news for dividend investors, the company has already announced a quarterly dividend increase of 9%, to $0.24 a share, continuing a long string of annual dividend increases for the company. This bumps the yield to 2.1%, the highest in 10 years.

A.O. Smith has low debt and is currently priced attractively at 19.5 times earnings, which is near the low end of its range. Problems in China may limit the company's growth in the near term, but value investors may want to keep it on their radar screen.
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Kathmandu, Feb 4 : The Nepal government is set to finalise the location to quarantine Nepalis who are stranded in the Chinese province of Hubei, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, a media report said on Tuesday.

The government has been holding discussions on evacuating the Nepalis from Hubei since February 1, as the disease is spreading rapidly across China, which has till Tuesday morning killed 425 people in the Asian giant, The Himalayan Times said in the report.

But it has neither confirmed the date of evacuation nor finalised a place to quarantine the evacuees.

"We are still holding discussion on these issues. We will evacuate them soon and finalise the location to quarantine them by tomorrow (Tuesday) evening," Mahendra Shrestha, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, said on Monday.

"We are looking for a facility that is away from human settlement. We are also holding discussion on whether to hire an empty house or a place with basic facilities to quarantine evacuees," he said.

The quarantine facility, according to Shrestha, will have internet service, a place to engage in sporting activities and other amenities.

At least 180 Nepalis are expected to return from Hubei, as they have filed applications at the Nepali Embassy in Beijing requesting their evacuation, The Himalayan Times report said.

The government is planning to evacuate them using a chartered aircraft of Nepal Airlines Corporation.

Nepal, so far, has carried out 14 laboratory tests for novel coronavirus, among which one was tested positive and results of three were awaited.

The person who tested positive is fine now and out of danger, according to health authorities.

Besides Nepal, Sri Lanka and India are the other two South Asian countries to have reported confirmed case.
An ambulance driver wearing a protective suit prepares to exit the special isolation ward where coronavirus-suspected patients are being quarantined at the Kochi Medical college in Kerala, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. (PTI Photo)

KOCHI: Three people have been found coronavirus positive, all from Kerala, and the state government has declared it a state calamity. But while anxieties are growing, they have not boiled over into panic.

Yet.

Out in the streets of Kochi, surgical masks are not yet ubiquitous, except around the Government Medical College where a suspected case, the CEO of a Bengaluru-based startup who travelled to China to visit his TCS-employed wife, was quarantined for nearly a fortnight before he tested negative and was sent home.

There have not been any reports of returnees from China being sequestered from community, as we have heard from Chinese provinces far from the epicenter, Wuhan. The first coronavirus suspect has gone home with nary a notice.

This coronavirus thing in Kerala has so far been nothing like the Nipah virus scare seen in this tourist-friendly state in 2018. That outbreak, from fruit-eating bats, took 17 lives in Kerala and triggered familiar panic syndromes, such as people refraining buy all fruits lest they be infected from bats.

The major reason being cited for Kerala keeping its nerve now is the fact there have been no deaths. Even the three positive cases are reportedly in a stable condition in quarantine. And then, the positives have all been directly associated with Wuhan, the eye of the storm, being medical students there.

In the case of Nipah, the outbreak was from within the state and the epicentre was Perambra in Kozhikdoe district. But in the case of the coronavirus, only those who have had a recent overseas travel history are vulnerable, said a source in the health department.

For its part, the authorties have kept ahead of the panic curve by quickly invoking the WHOs privacy protocols of not disclosing the identities of the suspects or the positives. Also, the police also quickly rounded up six people who spread unwanted knowledge sourced from WhatsApp University.

Theres also another good enough reason why this hasnt been a Nipax redux. The mortality rate of coronavirus is only 2-7 per cent, much less than the the Nipah virus which had a high mortality rate of 60-70 per cent.

Since the first circle of suspects -- those exposed to China travel or Wuhan residency -- is well known, unlike the Nipah episode, the authorities have acted with clear knowledge of where to draw the first line of defence. All persons in the contact list of the infected Wuhan University students are being traced and isolated.

However, health minister K.K. Shylaja, speaking in the Legislative Assembly Monday, did not rule out the possibility of more positive cases coming up. All districts of the state have returnees from Wuhan.

There is no room for panic but maximum efforts have to be made to prevent the spread of the virus. While the coronavirus is not known to cause immediate death, it can trigger complications in people with other health issues and in pregnant women. So considering the possibility of more positive cases, the government has stepped up health vigil, she said.

Extensive training is being given to medics and parameds virus preventive measures. The government is focused on preventing the hospital staff from getting infected themselves.

A total of 2239 persons are under observation among whom 84 are admitted in isolation wards at various hospitals.

Meanwhile, the three coronavirus patients in Thrissur, Alappuzha and Kasargod districts are recuperating. Their condition is stable and they will be shifted from the isolation wards after the symptoms fully ease.
: The first-of-its-kind facial recognition app used in the recently concluded municipal polls in Telangana yielded an accuracy of 80 per cent, officials have claimed.

However, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi objected to using the technology alleging that it was dangerous and would invade privacy.

"The result (of face recognition app) was encouraging. The accuracy was upto 80 per cent. Some of the factors such as poor quality of lighting in some polling booths and pictures (of electors photo identitycard) that were fed to the app being old, have impacted the accuracy at some places," a senior official involved in using the app told PTI.

Otherwise the result would have been above 90 per cent. Even then the result was encouraging, the official said.

The Telangana State Election Commission used facial recognition app in a bid to counter impersonation of voters. The app was used on a pilot basis inthe selected 10 polling stations of Kompally Municipality of Medchal Malkajgiri district in the urban local bodies polls on January 22.

The data collected using the app would be deleted after the polls, an official press release had said earlier.

An additional polling officer with a smartphone first verified the identity proof of the voters and then took photographs and uploaded to the server using face recognition app installed on the mobile phone provided to him so as to compare the same with the photographs of the orders of the polling station concerned.

The app displays the results of the verification based on the match established with anyone of the voterswith anappropriate message, an official release had said adding the entire process properly encrypted and the data is kept anonymously.

The AIMIM, ahead of the polls, had requested the state Election Commission not to use face recognition app alleging that it would invade the privacy of the citizens, among other violations.

Use of facial recognition technology is dangerous and will cause irreversible damage to our right to privacy as individuals. There must be a moratorium on its use. Instead, it is seeing widespread use despite SC judgement (Puttaswamy) Owaisi tweeted on Tuesday reacting to a media report.

Telangana State Technology Services (TSTS) developed the app to be used on a trial basis during the municipal polls.

A senior official of the TSTS told PTI that the technology was originally developed for pensioners under Pensioners Life Certificate Authentication using a selfie (PLCS) method under which a beneficiary would take the selfie using the app which would be verified using the stored database.

The official also said the TSTS has informed the Election Commission of India about the usefulness of the app, but the EC did not respond.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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While the coronavirus outbreak is wreaking havoc in parts of China, it's also stirred up trouble in the Los Angeles area. For some businesses, it's posing what could become an existential threat.

Local travel agencies that cater to the Chinese community are seeing so many cancellations right now that some are afraid of being driven out of business.

It certainly isn't helping that the U.S. State Department is telling travelers not to go to China, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending Americans avoid all non-essential travel there.

The outbreak could hit mom-and-pop travel agencies especially hard, said Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst with Atmosphere Research Group.

'SOME MAY OPT TO CLOSE'

"If all they specialize in is travel to and from China and they have very limited financial reserves, it's possible some may opt to close," he said.

The coronavirus situation is unprecedented, said Harteveldt, who has decades of experience studying the travel industry. "This is the first time that I can recall seeing either countries or individual airlines announce suspension of all flights to a specific country specifically because of a health matter," he said.

Thousands of travelers are being forced to rethink their plans right now. That includes John DiScala, who's been planning a trip to Southeast Asia for months.

"I'm going to cancel the trip because I have two little kids at home," he told us.

An L.A.-based travel writer, DiScala recently wrote a piece on his blog asking readers whether he should cancel his Asia travel plans.

"I would say 98% of the people said, 'Do not go,'" DiScala said. "So that was like, 'Ok, I'm staying home, I'm not even going to take a chance.'"

'CANCEL, CANCEL, CANCEL'

Monterey Park travel agent Anthony Ng said this is the worst catastrophe he's had to weather in the 11 years he's been in business.

"We had multiple cancellations, multiple refunds," he said. "Even trips out to summer are all cancelled right now."

Fifty of Ng's clients cancelled trips in January alone, he said.

Ng's company, Elite 5 Star Travel, is in a strip mall above a supermarket that caters to the area's large Asian American population. He understands the fears surrounding coronavirus. Ng keeps a face mask on his desk, mostly to reassure customers.

"I felt weird going to the post office the other day not wearing a mask," he said.

Less than a mile from Elite 5 Star Travel is Sky and Sea Travel, where agent Cindy Lu is facing the same problem.

"Cancel, cancel, cancel," Lu said as she read through a list of clients.

Even clients who have travel plans to areas of Asia outside of China are cancelling, she said.

Ng is hoping his business can survive, but added, "the difficult thing is, it's going to go on. It's not going to just [be fixed] overnight or in a month it's going to be taken care of."

He and his partner are "crossing our fingers, we're praying we can make it throughout the year," Ng said.

He worries his business will continue to suffer even after the coronavirus outbreak is contained, since it may take some time for people to get over their fear of traveling to Asia.
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CNBC's Jim Cramer said Monday his negativity toward oil stocks is not about environmentalism but economics.

"I am not here, though, to take political stands. My job is to help you try to make money," the "Mad Money" host said.

"And the honest truth is I don't think I can help you make money in the oil and gas stocks anymore," he added.

Cramer's comments followed proclamations the former hedge-fund manager made Friday, when he compared fossil fuel stocks to tobacco companies.

"I'm done with fossil fuels ... they're just done," he said then. "You're seeing divestiture by a lot of different funds. It's going to be a parade. It's going to be a parade that says, 'Look, these are tobacco and we're not going to own them.'"

Cramer said Monday he has taken heat for his stance in recent days, but he was not backing down from it.

Fossil fuel stocks, he said, "feel like a slowly melting ice cube, a wasting asset that will have down revenues unless the price of crude jumps and stays higher."

"But after recent events, I don't know what's going to make that happen," Cramer said, referencing the lack of sustained oil hikes following major events in the Middle East, including a September attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities and an Iranian rocket attack against military bases in Iraq in January.

And oil fell to its lowest level in more than a year Monday as fears mount about the coronavirus. OPEC is reportedly considering a cut in production to dampen the loss of demand brought about by the illness.

Cramer said he knows his decision to not recommend oil stocks is in contrast to advice he used to give. But that's because state of play is dramatically different, he explained.

"I love the environment, but that never stopped me from recommending the oil stocks for my entire career," he said.

That was fine advice when Wall Street did not prioritize issues of sustainability and carbon emission reduction, Cramer said.

"Right now tons of money managers care about [those issues]," Cramer said, with BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink leading the way.

Fink, whose firm has more than $7 trillion in assets under management, recently warned that climate change will soon cause a "significant reallocation of capital."

"This is not about what I think. It's not about my opinions  you have to check your own opinions at the door," Cramer said. "But when a critical mass of money managers [is] behaving this way, you have to care because their buying and selling is what drives stock prices."

For evidence, Cramer said to look at the divergent movements of Tesla and Exxon Mobil on Monday.

Shares of the electric-vehicle maker rose nearly 20% during the session, notching an intraday high of $786.14. Tesla closed at $780 and is up almost 150% in the last year.

Cramer has called Tesla the "ultimate Larry Fink stock."

Exxon, by contrast, closed at $60.73, its lowest level in about a decade. Shares of the Irving, Texas-based oil company are down about 20% in the last year.

"And the reason I think they're on the wrong side of history has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with the fact that Tesla was up huge today and Exxon's stock was down after Goldman Sachs, of all places, downgraded the stock from hold to sell," Cramer said.
Over 36 hours after a woman college lecturer was burnt alive by her spurned suitor, the victim's condition became "extremely critical" on Tuesday when thousands of people filled the streets here as the town observed a spontaneous shutdown.

The matter reverberated in Lok Sabha on the day as well, as the 24-year-old victim's family demanded the accused be handed over to the people.

The bereaved family said the 27-year-old Vicki Nagrale, the married man who was stalking the victim and finally attacked her after being spurned, should be meted out a similar fate. They said justice should be "by burning him publicly".

The college lecturer was set ablaze around 7.15 a.m. on Monday outside her college and by the time she was rushed from a Primary Health Centre to the specialized Orange City Hospital & Research Institute, Nagpur, her oxygen levels had plummeted to dangerously low levels.

"The woman has suffered deep burns on her face, scalp, neck, right shoulder, left hand, upper back, eyes and respiratory system. Yesterday, she underwent a tracheostomy, debridement, escharectomy and burns dressing.

"She has suffered 35-40 percent Grade III deep dermal burns with respiratory distress and inhalational injuries with related complications," OCHRI Director (Dr) Anup Marar said.

He described her condition as "very critical" though she is holding onto her vital parameters with intensive care and oxygen support of five litres per minute.

Wardha Guardian Minister Sunil Kedar, Hinghanghat MLA Samir Kunnawar and others visited the hospital to enquire after her condition.

State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has said that the case will be transferred to a fast track court to ensure speedy justice, while Energy Minister and Nagpur Guardian Minister Nitin Raut has assured all help to the victim's family.

Several thousands of people comprising men, women, schoolkids, college students, youth, political activists, business community and others trooped out on the streets of Hinghanghat, to protest against the incident.

Many women and girls were seen crying as they staged the silent protests and several people demanded instant capital punishment to the accused for the gruesome crime.

Meanwhile, the accused Nagrale was produced by police before a local court which remanded him to police custody for five days.
[February 04, 2020] PortSys heightens security for SSH network services with Total Access Control

MARLBOROUGH, Mass., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PortSys, a global innovator in information security and Zero Trust Access control for the enterprise, today announced that Total Access Control (TAC) now offers protection for SSH network services. TAC secures Command LineInterfaces (CLIs) such as those used to gain access through Unix and Linux platforms and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The clientless solution includes strong authentication technologies  such as 2-factor and multifactor authentication, device validation and GeoIP intelligence  to enforce security policy based on a user's full context of access.



A CLI vulnerability exploited through a brute force attack on Target led to one of the most damaging breaches ever, exposing data on 40 million shoppers. Target paid $18.5 million to settle claims related to the breach. TAC is the first technology to secure CLI command controls based on a user's full context of access. If someone requests access from an untrusted device, TAC prevents them from deleting, moving or changing files or executing catastrophic demands. It also removes the need for a terminal client application like PuTTY, since all SSH connections can be provided exclusively via any modern browser.

TAC's Single Sign-On (SSO) connects users directly to an SSH session by seamlessly enabling credentials mapping with attributes tied to a CLI. Users gain session access while commands sent to the CLI by way of the SSH service are fully monitored. This enables organizations to block malicious SSH commands based on a user's context of access. "TAC's reverse proxy gateway makes CLIs invisible to the Internet while providing security capabilities previously not available to SSH services," said Michael Oldham, CEO of PortSys. "TAC provides all the dimensions of intelligence about a user's context of access to much more securely deliver full, rich SSH sessions through a browser." ABOUT PORTSYS, INC. PortSys, Inc., a privately funded company, is a global innovator in information security and Zero Trust Access Control. Enterprise organizations around the world rely on PortSys's scalable Total Access Control solution to significantly strengthen, simplify and unify IT security across the enterprise. PortSys serves customers from its U.S. headquarters in Marlborough, MA, offices in the UK, and distributors throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. For more information, visit www.portsys.com . Media Contact

Tim Boivin

[email protected]

+1-781-996-4899 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/portsys-heightens-security-for-ssh-network-services-with-total-access-control-300998417.html SOURCE PortSys, Inc.

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WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump declared his scorched-earth political style an unmitigated success Tuesday in a fiercely partisan, made-for-TV state of the union speech that made it clear he expects to be back in the White House next year on the strength of the U.S. economy and his trade deals with Canada, Mexico and China.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, as Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., watch on Feb. 5, 2019. It was once among the most predictable spectacles on the American political calendar -- but with Donald Trump on the dais, there's as much suspense surrounding tonight's state of the union address as there is in the race to choose his Democratic challenger. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Andrew Harnik

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump declared his scorched-earth political style an unmitigated success Tuesday in a fiercely partisan, made-for-TV state of the union speech that made it clear he expects to be back in the White House next year on the strength of the U.S. economy and his trade deals with Canada, Mexico and China.

Trump, addressing a joint session of Congress in the very chamber where House Democrats voted to impeach him less than two months ago, became only the second president in American history  Bill Clinton was the first  to deliver a state of the union while standing trial in the Senate.

Unrepentant, he pointedly refused to shake the offered hand of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the dais before singing the praises of what he billed as "the great American comeback," pointing to strong job growth, a soaring stock market and low unemployment as evidence of his leadership. And when he was done, Pelosi ripped up the speech in full view of the television cameras.

"America's enemies are on the run, America's fortunes are on the rise, and America's future is blazing bright. The years of economic decay are over," Trump declared, taking full credit for the country's "roaring economy," including what he billed as seven million new jobs and the lowest jobless rate in half a century  a "blue-collar boom" that he's counting on to help his re-election chances in November.

One half of the lawmakers in the chamber rose to applaud his every sentence, many chanting, "Four more years" at the outset. Democrats, on the other hand, sat stone-faced throughout much of it. Several walked out; several others stayed away entirely.

Trump took credit for replacing the "unfair NAFTA trade deal" with USMCA, blaming it for the loss of one in four manufacturing jobs over the course of that agreement's 26-year life, and denouncing his predecessors for ignoring the damage being done.

"Unfair trade is perhaps the single biggest reason that I decided to run for president," he said.

"The USMCA will create nearly 100,000 new high-paying American auto jobs, and massively boost exports for our farmers, ranchers, and factory workers. It will also bring trade with Mexico and Canada to a much higher degree, but also to a much greater level of fairness and reciprocity."

On tariffs, the president's preferred lever for prying favourable conditions out of trading partners and allies, "our strategy has worked," he insisted.

"Days ago, we signed the groundbreaking new agreement with China that will defend our workers, protect our intellectual property, bring billions of dollars into our treasury, and open vast new markets for products made and grown right here in the United States of America."

Perrin Beatty, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said he had been hoping to hear evidence of stability on the trade file, along with details of the so-called second phase of the China deal. Neither was forthcoming.

Even with USMCA now largely complete, pending ratification in the House of Commons, Canadian industry is smarting from how it was treated during the negotiations, the former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister said in an interview.

Canadians had every reason to expect the talks to reflect the importance of the trading relationship between the two countries in defending North America's shared industrial base from the mounting threat of global rivals.

"Instead, what we saw was an approach ... (that) treated Canada and Mexico as if they were the enemy, rather than partners, and the approach was zero-sum. It wasn't, 'If we get a good deal, everyone can win,' it was, 'One of us can win only if the others lose,'" Beatty said.

"The net impact of all of that is to cause Canadians to be more cautious  to say, for reasons of self-preservation, 'We need to diversify, not have so many eggs in one basket.' And that's a problem the U.S. has with allies and trading partners around the world: that often the people whom they most need have been targeted at one time or another and are feeling a bit gun-shy as a result."

Beatty was in Washington this week for meetings of the so-called B7, the official business advisory group to G7 countries. This year, the focus of the meeting is on fostering international trade and defending multilateral institutions like the World Trade Organization, which have long been in the Trump administration's sights.

The Canadian chamber's priorities at the meetings this year include digital trade and e-commerce, as well as the issue of foreign subsidies for domestic producers and state-owned organizations that distort international trade metrics  long a complaint about China, which promised a year ago to bring its programs into compliance with WTO rules.

"For decades, China has taken advantage of the United States," Trump said.

"We have changed that, but at the same time, we have perhaps the best relationship we have ever had with China, including with President Xi. They respect what we have done because, quite frankly, they could never believe what they were able to get away with year after year, decade after decade, without someone in our country stepping up and saying, 'Enough.'"

Contrary to the expectations of many, Trump appeared to resist the temptation to excoriate Democrats for the day-long delay in the reporting of complete results from Monday's Iowa caucuses, or to publicly complain about impeaching him. He may be waiting for Wednesday, when senators are widely expected to vote to acquit the president.

Regardless who ends up in the White House after November, the uncertainty and upheaval of the last three years might not go away, Beatty warned.

"There's been an isolationist strain, a sense that Americans are being victimized by the rest of the world, that they're being asked to carry too much of the burden, that they'd be better off sealing themselves off from the rest of the world and focus on their domestic situation," he said.

"That's not new. I don't think we can assume that that impulse disappears when there's a change in administration."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2020.

Follow James McCarten on Twitter @CdnPressStyle
President Moon Jae-in, second from left, presides over a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday, to discuss measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Yonhap



By Jung Da-min



President Moon Jae-in has called for all possible measures to minimize the possible impact and damage from the new coronavirus, amid fears that the outbreak could be prolonged.



"The economy and livelihood of the people are facing difficulties again due to unexpected factors. Even people's daily lives have been constrained due to the new coronavirus, which has impacted consumption, tourism, culture and leisure," Moon said during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday.



He said the outbreak was having a negative influence on consumer sentiment and domestic demand, which had been showing signs of a recovery. "While China accounts for a quarter of Korea's exports and Chinese tourists represent a third of all foreign visitors to Korea, factories in China have been shut down, causing failures in supply chains of parts, and Chinese travelers have stopped coming. This has already damaged Korea's exports and tourism industry."






Former Deputy Communications Minister Felix Kwakye-Ofosu has slammed the governing New Patriotic Party of deliberately dragging former president John Mahama into the Airbus controversy.

He said the NPP is seeking equalisation to shore up President Akufo-Addo's corrupt image with the haste in which they are dragging in the former President.

This quick uninformed, pedestrian analysis belongs to the garbage and we should leave it there. The hasty conclusions being drawn by the NPP is an attempt to equalise because President Akufo-Addo has failed and has come to be known as the most corrupt Ghanaian president since independence, he told Starr News Monday.

has alleged the government official 1 cited in the UK and US court documents in the Airbus scandal as former President and NDC candidate John Dramani Mahama.

The party has consequently dared Mr Mahama to publicly speak to confirm or deny the assertion instead of hiding behind a statement from former AG Marietta Brew Appiah Oppong.

Addressing the media, director of Communications for the party Yaw Buaben Asamoah argued the former president is not fit to return to the Presidency in the wake of claims bribes were paid him through his brother.

Meanwhile, a member of the opposition NDCs legal team Abraham Amaliba says the Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu will struggle to probe the Airbus controversies tasked him by the President.

President Akufo-Addo has referred the Airbus bribery scandal to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for immediate investigations.

A letter signed by Communications Director at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin stated that these investigations are expected to be conducted in collaboration with the United Kingdom authorities.

The reports which emerged after the company admitted in a UK court that it paid bribes to officials in some five countries including Ghana between 2009 and 2015 have sparked rumours in Ghana.

Some Ghanaians have challenged NDC which was in charge of the governance of the country during the period to respond to the claims.

Speaking to Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Monday, Mr Amaliba said there are easier jobs the president could have given the Special prosecutor to work on.

Now you give this difficult task, now martin Amidu has to go fishing, he must identify who is government officer 1 and then meet those people and all that. There was a reason the court did not mention names; because the said government were not heard in the trial.

There are many easy cases that could be dealt with by Martin but you ignore that and give him such a difficult task. There many of such cases around the president but he is jumping all of them. I dont know why he will burden Mr. Amidu with such difficult jobs.

---Starrfm.com.gh
A California husband and wife, both 57, diagnosed with coronavirus were rushed to the hospital on Sunday night after they developed 'worsening symptoms,' San Benito health officials said.

The pair, who were also the second case of human-to-human transmission in the US, had been in home isolation.

They are among six total patients confirmed in the US, one of whom visited the emergency room of Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, California while wearing a mask on January 28, Santa Clara health officials said Tuesday.

San Benito County health officials came to evaluate the worsening couple on Sunday night, and determined that they needed to be hospitalized somewhere 'equipped for a higher level of care.'

Now the couple is being treated at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Parnassus, according to the San Francisco Business Times.

The other nine confirmed cases in the US thus far have only been reported to be in stable condition, and patient zero in the US, a 35-year-old man in Washington, was discharged Monday.

Meanwhile, five Good Samaritan Hospital employees have been given paid leave and put in home self-isolation until February 11.

A California couple infected with coronavirus (pictured) developed worsening symptoms on late Sunday night, just hours after their diagnosis, and were hospitalized at UCSF

Meanwhile, one child among the 195 Americans evacuated from Wuhan and quarantined at March Air Reserve in California has been taken to a Riverside County Hospital with a fever, but has not been diagnosed with coronavirus.

After their Sunday night evaluation, 'it was then determined that both patients needed to be admitted to a hospital equipped for a higher level of care,' said Dr Marty Fenstersheib, San Benito County Health Officer.

'The patients have been transferred out of San Benito County by specialty ambulance.'

Confirmed on Sunday, the San Benito couple are among the latest of the 11 cases of coronavirus in the US.

The husband traveled to Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

His wife, however, had not.

It's not clear when the husband arrived back in the US, whether he passed through screening now implemented in 11 US airports, or when he developed symtoms.

According to the San Benito health department's statement, neither of the two had left their home since the man returned from China.

They were instructed to remain in their home, under isolation protocols.

At the time, they weren't deemed to need hospital care, but were kept under close supervision.

In a matter of hours, their conditions deteriorated.

It's unclear exactly how their symptoms changed or intensified.

Coronavirus causes symptoms similar to flu, such as fever, congestion, cough, runny nose and difficulty breathing.

Although many groups - including the US government, in collaboration with both private companies and universities - are racing to develop therapies, most coronavirus patients have simply been given supportive treatment, such as IV fluids.

One US coronavirus patient has been treated with a drug designed to treat Ebola and showed significant improvements after just one dose, according to a New England Journal of Medicine article.

Although the virus has spread like wildfire in China and to other countries - now sickening more than 20,500 around the globe - it's fatality rate remains fairly low, at just 427 (around two percent).

'Even with news of this case, the risk to the general public remains low because the patient remained at home,' the county health officials said.

They reminded the public that, although the couple had not left their home, even if they had, casual contact - like passing someone on the street or being in the same grocery store with them - is unlikely sufficient to get infected.
Macy's is planning some big changes.

The department store chain is reportedly closing 125 of its least productive stores over the next three years and shuttering its tech offices in San Francisco and the Cincinnati headquarters, resulting in the loss of some 2,000 corporate jobs, according to the Wall Street Journal.

More than 800 employees and about 200 contractors work in the San Francisco building at 680 Folsom, and eligible staff will be offered severance and given the opportunity to reapply for jobs that are being relocated in New York and Atlanta, according to Business Insider.

We believe these changes will eliminate any duplication of efforts, bringing these teams closer to our business teams and strategy, spokesperson Andrea Schwartz told Bloomberg.

Departments that are moving include Macy's Product and Digital Revenue, Macys.com and Macy's Technology.

Details on how many people in San Francisco will lose their jobs hasn't been released.

ALSO: Slurp Noodle Bar in San Francisco quietly closes after six years

The store closures represent about one fifth of Macy's current total. The stores, which include about 30 that are in the process of closing, account for $1.4 billion in annual sales. Macy's didn't specify how many jobs would be lost at the shuttered stores.

Macy's is also testing a new store format that's located at a strip center, instead of a mall.

This news comes as Macy's prepares for a meeting with investors in New York on Wednesday when the company is expected to share a three-year plan on how to grow, as more customers shop online.

SFGATE reached out to Macy's for comment and will update the story when we hear back.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 23:09:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TOKYO, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The number of foreign workers in Japan hit a record high in 2019, the government said in a report on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of foreign workers topped 1.65 million in the recording period.

Specifically, the labor ministry said that as of the end of October last year, the number of foreigners working in Japan stood at 1,658,804, rising by 190,000 workers, which is the equivalent of about a 13-percent increase, compared to the previous year.

The ministry said that the increase in the numbers of workers from overseas was partly due to more workers coming to Japan under a new technical trainee program.

The majority of overseas workers were from China in the recording period, the ministry said, totaling around 418,000 people, while 401,000 workers came from Vietnam. In third place, 179,000 workers originated from the Philippines, the government's data showed.

Some 531,000 workers were of Japanese descent or spouses of Japanese nationals, the ministry also said.

Around 383,000 workers belonged to the technical trainee program, while 329,000 were those categorized as having specialized knowledge and skills, with the category including engineers and researchers.

The labor ministry compiled the statistics based on data gathered from employers.
Corporate tax revenues were the star performer in the first month of the year, but Vat receipts fell back and Government spending rose sharply, the monthly exchequer figures showed.

The exchequer took in a total of 5.9bn from all tax sources in January, an increase of 10% from January 2019.

However, corporate revenues jumped by over 213%, to bring in 116m, but the comparison is with the negative revenues the exchequer took in from corporations in January 2019 when the exchequer paid back companies for overpayments.

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, the Economic and Social Research Institute, and independent economists have long warned the Government against relying on corporate tax revenues to fuel spending programmes.

Most of the other big four tax sources grew sharply, but Vat revenues fell by 1% in the year to 2.7bn.

At almost 2.2bn, income tax revenues increased 16.7% and excise duties rose 10.4% to 512m.

The Department of Finance figures also showed that net spending topped 4.5bn in the month, up 8.5% from a year earlier, including a 6.6% rise in current spending.

Austin Hughes, KBC chief economist said the exchequer tapped a rising economy in the month but spending increased at a faster than expected rate too.

However, Vat returns in a Vat payments month were surprisingly weak, said Mr Hughes.

January is the second most important month for tax receipts and the biggest month of the year for Vat, said Peter Vale, tax partner at Grant Thornton Ireland.

Vat receipts in January reflect trading activity over the Christmas period.

Perhaps surprisingly, the figures for the month were 1% below the 2019 comparative. It looks like lingering Brexit uncertainty fed into consumer confidence over the Christmas period and depressed spending, said Mr Vale.

There was an exchequer surplus of 1.6bn in January, little changed from a year earlier, the figures show.

Among other tax sources, excise tax revenues rose 10.4% in the year to 512m, but capital gains tax revenues brought in 68m, down from 73m collected in January 2019.

Motor tax revenues brought in 91m in the month, down from 95m a year earlier.
[February 04, 2020] Lively Launches Flexible Spending Accounts, Expanding Modern Healthcare Solutions

Lively, Inc., creators of the modern Health Savings Account (HSA), today announced the launch of its Flexible Spending Account (FSA) offering that will include Medical/Healthcare FSAs, HSA-Compatible (aka Limited Purpose) FSAs, and Dependent Care FSAs. This is in response to the overwhelming customer and partner demand to bring its innovative approach and trademark dedicated customer experience to the traditional FSA experience. Specifically, the Lively FSA will enable employers to offer a more robust health savings package so employees can maximize their tax-free healthcare dollars smartly and effortlessly. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005275/en/ "In under three years, our HSA has helped account holders save more than $1.6 million in fees, put $275 million to work for their healthcare needs, and get back endless hours that would have been wasted in frustration," said Alex Cyriac, CEO and Co-Founder of Lively. "Bringing innovation to the traditional FSA experience was the obvious next step in helping our customers optimize their overall healthcare spending." Many of the issues Lively set out to correct with the traditional HSA experience can also be found with the typical FSA. Many providers fail to provide adequate education to address employer and employee questions. In fact, the average FSA user forfeited $263 in 2019, up from $159 the previous year*. Lively FSA tackles these issues with automated claims substantiation for nearly 90% of all transactions to alleviate administrative burdens for employees, and machine learning-driven features that help employees maximize the utilization of their FSAs year-round. This is all in addition to the exceptional customer service that has become its trademark. For Employees Reliable access to funds when they need them - Lively's FSA Visa  Debit Card can be used for eligible expenses so employees don't need to pay out of pocket and will be compatible with Aple  Pay, Google (News - Alert) Pay, and Samsung  Pay.

- Lively's FSA Visa Debit Card can be used for eligible expenses so employees don't need to pay out of pocket and will be compatible with Aple Pay, Google (News - Alert) Pay, and Samsung Pay. Fast, accurate, and transparent claims processing - Employees are kept up to date every step of the way so they always know where their reimbursement is.

- Employees are kept up to date every step of the way so they always know where their reimbursement is. Real-time activity monitoring and notifications - Lively's intuitive dashboard makes it easy for employees to track progress and get the most out of their FSA benefits, even while they are on the go.

- Lively's intuitive dashboard makes it easy for employees to track progress and get the most out of their FSA benefits, even while they are on the go. Personalized resources and support - Lively's team of experts actively engages employees and is easy to reach for any questions. Additionally, machine learning-driven features are available in the experience to help them get the most of their benefits.



For Employers Flexible funding options - Lively's proprietary technology allows for agile and hassle-free set up and can accommodate a variety of funding options to support a company's changing needs as it grows and evolves over time.

- Lively's proprietary technology allows for agile and hassle-free set up and can accommodate a variety of funding options to support a company's changing needs as it grows and evolves over time. Innovative substantiation process - Claims substantiation is automated and streamlined from day 1. Lively's OCR technology and machine learning models help drive up auto-substantiation, leaving fewer claims that slip through the cracks and giving employees their time back.

- Claims substantiation is automated and streamlined from day 1. Lively's OCR technology and machine learning models help drive up auto-substantiation, leaving fewer claims that slip through the cracks and giving employees their time back. Data-driven tools and insights - Lively's simple to use dashboard helps employers take timely action and make informed decisions. Employers can be confident that they are on track and the company is compliant with regulations.

- Lively's simple to use dashboard helps employers take timely action and make informed decisions. Employers can be confident that they are on track and the company is compliant with regulations. Engaging education and ongoing support - Lively's user-centric features take employee education off employers' plates, helping them understand how to plan for and utilize their FSAs. And Lively's team of experts are always available to address any issues. The Lively FSA will be available for employers starting January 2021. Full details are available here.

This is the latest offering in an intense period of growth for Lively that has included adding debit processing powered by Visa, investments through TD Ameritrade, industry-leading iOS and Android (News - Alert) apps, healthcare deductible spend tracking, and zero fees for individuals and families. Lively was named one of Morningstar's top HSA providers in 2019. They are taking on legacy HSA & FSA providers and giving consumers the experience they need and deserve. *Source (News - Alert): Visa. "Visa Annual Healthcare Research (FSA & HSA)." August 2019. About Lively Lively is the modern healthcare spending experience built for-and by-those seeking stability in the ever-shifting landscape. By harnessing modern innovation and deep industry expertise, Lively is committed to bridging today's savings with tomorrow's unknowns. Unlike traditional institutions hindered by bureaucracy, Lively's commitment extends beyond initial set up. It provides dedicated, ongoing support and education during every step, so that each account can reach its maximum potential with minimal headache. Lively is headquartered in San Francisco, CA (News - Alert). For more information please visit Livelyme.com or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) (@LivelyHSA). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005275/en/

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WASHINGTON, DCAs the Democratic congressional effort to impeach U.S. President Donald Trump fizzled towards its conclusion Monday afternoon in Washington, the race to face him in the November election kicked off in earnest with the Iowa Caucuses Monday evening. Official results of the caucuses were slower coming in than anticipated, and were not yet available.

Youve probably heard we dont know the results, Amy Klobuchar told her supporters at 11:20 p.m. Eastern Time. But we know one thing, were punching above our weight.

Well, it looks like its gonna be a long night, Joe Biden said roughly 10 minutes later. We dont know exactly what it is yet, but we feel good.

So listen, its too close to call, Elizabeth Warren said. So Im going to tell you what I do know. As the baby daughter of a janitor, Im so grateful to be up on this stage tonight.

Let me begin by stating that I imagine at some point the results will be announced, Bernie Sanders said. And when those results are announced, I have a feeling were going to be doing very, very well.

Democratic candidates for president spoke to their supporters in Iowa Monday night without knowing the results of the Iowa caucuses that kicked off the presidential election season, many of them rushing to board planes to New Hampshire where they had appearances scheduled in the morning.

Delays in reporting of results to state party officials, who said they were taking extra time to verify vote counts after some inconsistencies, made the much-anticipated first election contest a cliffhanger as midnight approached with no results at all available. No doubt the hiccup in knowing who won  a result expected to shape the rest of the contest for the Democratic nomination  will heighten criticism of the states disproportionate influence on American elections.

Its a tiny state with huge influence. Iowa has a population roughly half that of the GTA, but its position as the first state to vote in the primary and caucus process that determines the nominee has given it a prominence that traditionally shapes the race. Every winner of the Iowa Democratic caucuses stretching back to 2000 has gone on to be the partys nominee in the general election.

In recent weeks the contest for the Democratic nomination has become singularly focused on who is best positioned to defeat Trump in the general election. How to accomplish that has become a divisive question.

Some  coalescing behind candidates Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar  think a moderate, centrist program based around a pitch to unite the country is whats needed to lure independents and Republicans who are disaffected with Trump. Others, who back Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, think a strong progressive alternative that will energize young voters and motivate the progressive base is the better approach.

Biden has repeatedly said this election is a battle for the soul of this nation, and the primaries, beginning with Iowa, seem to first promise a struggle over the soul of the party.

That struggles resolution began in Iowa when Democrats gathered to caucus, in a process unlike anything seen in electoral politics in Canada. People gather at their local polling places, in school gyms, church basements and even private living rooms, and physically sort themselves into groups representing the various candidates. A preliminary tally is taken, and any candidate who has less than 15 per cent of support from those in the room is dropped out of contention, and their supporters physically go and join those of remaining candidates. Eventually, Iowas 41 pledged delegates (out of 4,750 total delegates at the Democratic National Convention) are allotted to the viable candidates who remain.

Its a process that can take hours, and such caucuses have been criticized as a deterrent to participation compared to simple votes held in the primary election states. Even more, Iowas prominent place and influence in the process as the first state  along with that of following New Hampshire, which holds the first primary Feb. 11  has come under fire because of its small size and mostly white, unrepresentative demographic.

Defenders of the system say the small size of the states, combined with their prominence, means candidates spend a lot of time meeting voters up close  as a city council candidate might  allowing residents of those states to vet candidates before the televised air war takes over in the larger states.

Traditionally Iowa and New Hampshire have served to narrow the field of candidates going into the contests in the larger and more diverse states that follow. Its not necessarily likely that any candidates will actually drop off the ballot after Monday night, but their placing could dramatically affect how viable they appear to voters  and donors  going forward.

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Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal began his tenure as an aggressive and confrontational chief minister, but has now mellowed and matured into a politician whose electoral plank is his work and governance

From raising his fist in air, declaring himself as 'an anarchist' and sitting on a dharna at Lieutenant-Governors office to emerging as a doer whose steadfast focus is on providing the basic necessities to his electorate, the metamorphosis of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in his five years in office is one of the most mature and fastest political course-corrections in recent times amidst dramatic turn of events.

Activist-turned-politician Kejriwal began his tenure as an aggressive and confrontational chief minister, who left no opportunity to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi for all apparent ills that came his way. He was a man at war with everyone  political opponents, the media and members of his own party. After all, his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had got a historical mandate of 67 out of 70 seats in 2015.

Fast forward 2020. Delhi is witnessing the emergence of a new Kejriwal  a mellowed, matured and focussed politician whose electoral plank is his work and governance. And he is steering away from making any controversial statement during his election campaign.

Kejriwal, who began as an abrasive and over-confident leader, went on to pitch himself against Modi from Varanasi in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. But in five years, he has weaned himself away from the anti-Modi and anti-centre rhetoric, scaled-down his political ambitions and is focussing on Delhi alone.

How, why and when did this political wisdom transform the activist chief minister into a focussed leader who has the gumption to do away with pure political gimmicks and seek re-election on the strength of non-glamorous issues such as education and Mohalla Clinics?

The turnaround seems to have taken place in the past one-and-a-half years. By deciding not to take Modi head-on or fighting with the Centre on jurisdiction over Delhi Police or asking for statehood, Kejriwal not only avoided controversy but also got the time and energy to focus on the development work that his government has been able to do for the electorate.

Most interesting has been Kejriwals pro-Centre approach  a complete U-turn since his early days as the Chief Minister of Delhi. Instead of staying splendidly neutral, he has conspicuously supported some of Modi governments decisions.

Throughout 2019, Kejriwal was prompt in his support to the Balakot airstrikes, the abrogation of Article 370 and Supreme Courts verdict on Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case while staying relatively silent on JNU fracas and the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.

Kejriwal's strategy is similar to the one applied for long by the incumbent Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who has gone on record saying that he would work with the Centre  no matter who is in power  as he wants to focus on work for the people of his state. This attitude has paid him good dividends by getting him funds from the Centre without creating many hurdles for development work in the state.

Once known as a fierce member of the anti-Modi block that comprised Mamata Banerjee, N Chandrababu Naidu, Congress party and others, Kejriwal has made a tactical shift by avoiding being seen with the group that had aspired to emerge as a strong anti-BJP alliance.

When asked if he was afraid of Modi in a recent media interview, the Delhi chief minister said, "Is he threatening me? No. Hes doing his job as countrys prime minister, and I as Delhi chief minister."

The fierce anarchist today is not hesitant to call himself a staunch Hanuman Bhakt (devotee of Hanuman); he has even chanted couplets from Hanuman Chalisa in public.

The Delhi chief minister has indeed travelled a long distance in the five years  from being an anarchist chief minister to an everymans chief minister whos now emotionally connecting with Delhi households as their bada beta (eldest son)', while seeking a repeat mandate in his recently held rallies.
The Democrats' intensely-awaited vote in Iowa has descended into chaos and farce, as officials were forced to delay releasing the results after finding "inconsistencies in the information collected.

In a huge embarrassment for the Democratic Party - and one immediately leapt on by Donalds Trumps supporters - the release of the results was held up. Unconfirmed reports said the results would be released "some time" on Tuesday. At the same time, Mr Trump easily won the Republican caucus.

Candidates were forced to deliver speeches to supporters without the results being known. Some appeared more happy to do so than others. Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders all delivered victory speeches of sorts.

Meanwhile, the campaign of Joe Biden, who, according to a number of anecdotal reports from caucus venues had done less well than he would have hoped, wrote to the Iowa Democratic Party demanding a full investigation.

His lawyer, Dana Remus, said there were widespread failures in the party's system of reporting results. We believe that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are released, she said.

The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Show all 25 1 /25 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Bernie Sanders The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Joe Biden The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling EPA The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial "stop and frisk" programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor Getty Images The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Pete Buttigieg The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Deval Patrick The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party's various voting blocs AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Steve Bullock The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated "We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people's voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone." He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor's seat in a red [Republican] state Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Andrew Yang The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tom Steyer Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor AFP/Getty

Democratic officials said the problem was not a hack and they were acting to ensure the results of the first state to vote were accurate and trustworthy.

We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report, said Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Mandy McClure.

This is simply a reporting issue. The app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.

The delay forced various candidates to deliver their victory speeches before the results had been made public.

Ms Warren said the results were too close to call and used much of a speech at her caucus party to criticise Mr Trump.

We dont know all the results tonight, but tonight has already shown that Americans have a hunger for big structural change, she said.

 Bernie Sanders responds to Hillary Clinton's 'nobody likes him' comments

A presidents values matters and the only thing Donald Trump values is Donald Trump.

Mr Sanders said that he had a good feeling the results would be released at some point. He added: I have a good feeling when they are, well be doing well in Iowa.

Joe Biden, Andrew Yang and Amy Klobuchar also spoke before their supporters.

Folks, we need a president who is not only ready to fight but is also ready to heal this country, said Mr Biden.

We cant hold grudges. Weve got to be able to go out and unify the country. Because the president is supposed to heal as well as fight.

Mr Biden also claimed that his campaign was close.

The Iowa Democratic Party is working to get this result  get em straight, he said. And I want to make sure theyre very careful in their deliberations. And indications are its going to be close. Were going to walk out of here with our share of delegates.

Reports said the campaigns had been told there would be no results until Tuesday. The [Iowa Democratic Party] hung up on campaigns when they pressed for a release time, one senior strategist for a leading candidate told The Hill. We wont know anything until some time tomorrow. All campaigns are p*ssed."

Mr Trumps supporters immediately sought to seize on the chaos.

Democrat party meltdown. They cant even run a caucus and they want to run the government, tweeted Mr Trumps campaign manager, Brad Parscale. No thank you.
ALBANY  Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the launch of a new hotline and website that New Yorkers can consult if they have questions or concerns about a deadly new coronavirus that has spread to the U.S. in very small numbers.

He confirmed Tuesday that there are still no known cases of the virus in the state, but revealed samples from five additional New Yorkers have been sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing.

That brings the total number of samples sent out from New York for testing to 17. Eleven have come back negative and six are still pending, he said. Three of the pending samples were taken from New York City residents and three were taken from residents outside of the city.

Cuomo also shared information about a new hotline (1-888-364-3065) and website (ny.gov/coronavirus) where New Yorkers can go to get more information about the coronavirus. The hotline will be staffed by state Department of Health officials who can answer questions about travel, symptoms and other concerns, he said.

Even though there are no confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in New York state, we continue to take every precaution necessary to ensure the health and safety of all New Yorkers, he said. While the risk to New Yorkers is still low, we urge everyone to remain vigilant, stay informed, follow the recommended steps to protect themselves and their families, and call our coronavirus hotline if you still have questions or concerns.

Scientists and public health officials worldwide are monitoring the spread and behavior of the deadly new coronavirus first reported in Wuhan, China on New Years Eve.

At least 427 people have died from the virus so far and another 20,000 have been infected, officials reported Tuesday. Almost all of the deaths have occurred in mainland China.

In the U.S., officials say risk of infection is low, especially for people who have not recently traveled Wuhan or come into contact with someone who has. Out of 260 cases sent to the CDC for testing, 11 have come back positive, the organization's website stated Tuesday. The first East Coast case was reported Monday in Boston.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The World Health Organization last week declared the coronavirus a global health emergency, citing the high possible death toll that could occur should the virus travel to countries with weak health systems.

Its unclear how deadly this coronavirus may be. Based on preliminary observations so far, scientists say it appears to be much less deadly than MERS and SARS, two other coronaviruses that, respectively, kill about one in three people and one in 10 people who become infected.

It could take anywhere from two to 14 days for an infected person to show symptoms, they say. These may include fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath.

Prevention measures are similar to that for other infectious diseases, such as frequent hand washing and staying home from school or work when sick.
EAST ALTON  Members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday overrode Gov. J.B. Pritzkers veto of a bill local business leaders said was needed to protect Madison County aviation jobs.

Last fall House Bill 3902, co-sponsored by state Rep. Monica Bristow, D-Alton, reinstated Illinois sales tax exemption for aircraft materials which had expired on Dec. 31, 2014. The bill passed in the House 113-0; the Senate approved it 48-1 with two members not voting.

The tax exemption was in place since 2010, but it expired without regulatory or other official bodies taking note, Bristow said. Aviation repair companies consequently did not collect the tax from jet owners during that period.

In November, state Sen. Rachelle Crowe, D-Glen Carbon, said it would be absurd to ask businesses to recover those taxes retroactively.

On Nov. 25, Pritzker vetoed the bill, saying the past due taxes from Illinois private jet companies amounted to about $50 million, including interest and penalties.

Giving private aircraft companies tens of millions of dollars in past due tax forgiveness is not the right fiscal decision for our state as we face billions in debt associated with unpaid bills, a multi-billion-dollar structural deficit, and critical needs in schools and public safety services, Pritzker said in his veto letter.

On Tuesday, House members voted to override Pritzkers veto 107-0, with two members voting present. The Senate has 15 days to call the vote for an override. As in the House, a two-thirds vote is required for an override.

Today, the Illinois House sent a strong, bipartisan message that we value good-paying jobs in our state and will do what it takes to protect them, Bristow said. With major concerns about people and businesses leaving Illinois, it is our responsibility to protect industries and jobs, including the more than 3,400 jobs in aviation repair across our state.

Bristow said the bill will protect more than 3,700 jobs at 14 aviation facilities in 12 communities across Illinois. She added 36 other states have similar laws on the books.

Despite Pritzkers threat to veto House Bill 3902, local lawmakers and business leaders had argued for the legislation, saying it would help keep Illinois aviation repair businesses competitive with those in neighboring states.

West Star Aviation in East Alton is one such firm, providing maintenance and repair services for private aircraft. West Star Aviation CEO Jim Rankin had said the legislation greatly helps our more than 500 employees and would allow the firm to remain in Illinois.

I came to Springfield to put local jobs, people and families over politics, even if it means standing up to a governor of my own party, Bristow said. While some party leaders may not have wanted me to do this, I overrode the veto of the governor because he chose to misrepresent this issue and play politics with legislation that directly impacted hundreds of local jobs in the Metro East that people depend on to support their families.

Ronda Sauget, executive director and CEO of the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois which had lobbied heavily for the bill, said Tuesdays vote was very good news.

The House had such a positive vote on the aviation legislation, she said. In addition to West Star Aviation, Sauget said the bill will affect a number of companies at St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia including Gulfstream, which has a large workforce there. In all, about 1,200 to 1,500 jobs will be affected, she said.

There are extremely high-paying, manufacturing kinds of jobs, she said. We want to maintain this manufacturing sector.

Rebecca Anzel of Capitol News Illinois contributed to this story.
GENEVA, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- iOnctura SA, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, developing a pipeline of next generation molecules targeting cancer and fibrosis, announces the addition of new members to its Clinical Advisory Board (CAB) with the appointment of Dr. Hendrik-Tobias Arkenau, Executive Medical Director, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, UK, and Dr. Jordi Rodon Ahnert, Clinical co-director MD Anderson Cancer Center.

These appointments come as the company is poised to enter clinical development of its lead product candidate and continues to evolve into a leading biotechnology company with a diverse and sustainable pipeline. The two new CAB members will add additional expertise in tumour immunology, translational research and clinical drug development with a focus on precision medicine in oncology.

On welcoming the new members to the CAB, Catherine Pickering, CEO of iOnctura commented: "We are delighted to have attracted these two world-renowned experts to our Clinical Advisory Board. Their collective knowledge and experience in the field of immunology and oncology, and specifically PI3K, will help iOnctura prepare for the next stage of development and maximise the potential of our pipeline of oncology and fibrosis programs.

"Each member brings a wealth of experience in advancing oncology compounds from early to late stage clinical development and through to marketing approval, and the guidance we will receive will be invaluable as we move our first candidate into clinical development and first-in-human studies."

Drs. Arkenau and Ahnert will join the CAB at the time the company is entering the clinic. iOnctura's most advanced programme, IOA-244, is a clinical phase, next generation PI3K inhibitor with a unique chemical structure, exquisite selectivity, excellent drug-like properties and an expected best-in-class safety profile. It is being developed as a novel targeted therapy for solid tumours that over express PI3K and are burdened by immune-suppressive subtypes sensitive to PI3K inhibition.

iOnctura's second programme, IOA-289, is a novel autotaxin (ATX) inhibitor with superior potency compared to clinical-stage ATX inhibitors. IOA-289 is being developed as a first-in-class therapy for solid tumour indications that over express ATX and are burdened with cancer-associated fibrosis. IOA-289 has demonstrated anti-tumour and anti-fibrotic efficacy in preclinical models and is in advanced in vivo safety studies.

About iOnctura

iOnctura SA, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, was founded in June 2017 as a spin out from Merck and funded by M Ventures. It is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing a pipeline of next generation, differentiated molecules that are at the forefront of pioneering new therapies for the treatment of cancer. Each of iOnctura's programs harness the combined effect of immune-mediated and direct anti-tumour activity and aim to deliver molecules with superior clinical efficacy and safety in oncology.

The company's lead program, IOA-244, will enter the clinic in Q1 2020. The study is aimed to clinically demonstrate for the first time that a highly selective PI3K inhibition not only drives an immune-mediated response but also a direct anti-tumoural effect in a stratified patient population across multiple solid tumour indications. The Company's second molecule is a novel autotaxin (ATX) inhibitor at IND stage for patients with solid tumours burdened with cancer-associated fibrosis. For more information, please visit www.ionctura.com

Clinical Advisory Board Biographies

Dr. Hendrik-Tobias Arkenau

Dr. Arkenau joined Sarah Canon in 2000 and serves as the Executive Medical Director for Sarah Cannon Research Institute, UK. He leads Sarah Cannon's UK drug development program of early clinical and tumour specific trials and supports the molecular profiling initiative of Sarah Cannon.

Dr. Arkenau has vast experience in early oncology clinical drug development with a special interest in gastrointestinal cancer and melanoma. He received his medical degree in 2000 at the Medical School Hanover, Germany, and completed his internship and specialist training in oncology in 2007. Before joining Sarah Cannon, he was senior clinical fellow at the Royal Marsden Hospital and team leader for early drug development at the Prince of Wales Clinical School at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. He has published and co-authored >150 peer-reviewed manuscripts.

Dr. Jordi Rodon Ahnert

Dr. Rodon specializes in early drug development, biomarker discovery, personalized cancer medicine, and neuro-oncology. He received his medical and doctoral degrees from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and pursued post-graduate medical training at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital. Dr. Rodon spent two years at the Advanced Drug Development program at the Institute for Drug Development (IDD) in San Antonio, Texas, and completed his training in drug development in ICT as a senior clinical research fellow. He joined the MD Anderson faculty in 2016 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics (ICT) with a joint appointment in the Department of Genomic Medicine. Dr. Rodon also serves as Associate Medical Director for the Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy and Clinical Co-Director of the Precision Oncology Decision Support Group. Over the course of his career, Dr. Rodon has been the principal or co-principal investigator on over 30 early phase clinical trials focusing on a range of advanced solid malignancies, partnering with leaders in industry including Novartis, Merck, Eli Lilly, Genentech, Sanofi, and others. With this, he has contributed to about 60 peer-reviewed publications detailing both trial results and basic research findings. Dr. Rodon's most significant contributions to the field include the development of PI3K, FGFR and TGF inhibitors and multiple translational collaborations in those fields.

SOURCE iOnctura
Two years ago, Army veteran Tony Rankins was homeless and had nearly given up hope on finding a job, when he saw a construction site across the street from where he was sleeping in his car in Nashville.

Tuesday night, he will be one of President Donald Trump's guests at his State of the Union address.

Rankins, 55, said being homeless for eight months made him feel degraded, embarrassed and worthless. The former corporal, who left the Army in 1986 after serving a tour in Germany as a combat engineer, had post-traumatic stress disorder and a drug addiction that sent him to prison several times.

But there was something about seeing the construction crew that morning two years ago, Rankins said, that helped him get over the hump of being turned down so many times before.

"Somehow, I went anyway, and I was walking across the parking lot and they gave me a job and a place to stay and tools to do the job with," he said.

Related: Combat Vets Aim to End Homelessness with Tiny Homes

The company, R Investments, is dedicated to addressing the American homelessness crisis. It renovates or builds affordable multi-family housing and hotels in economically distressed neighborhoods designated under the 2017 tax plan as "Opportunity Zones."

Rankins said he hopes sharing his story at the State of the Union on Tuesday will make a difference for at least one veteran so they don't make his mistakes. He advises them to get help as early as possible so they can find a job "because it's going to be hard for them to find one -- it really is. It's not as easy as they might think.

"The post-traumatic stress will hit," he added.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's latest report on homelessness estimated 568,000 Americans were homeless in 2019, up 3% from 2018. About 37,000 veterans were homeless in 2019, but that's down nearly 50% from 2009.

R Investments CEO Travis Steffens, who will also be at the president's address, said he wishes the private sector would step up and take responsibility for the crisis.

Travis Steffens is CEO of the company that hired Rankins two years ago. R Investments employs and helps house veterans and former felons to rebuild affordable multifamily dwellings in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. (Dorothy-Mills Gregg/Military.com)

"The homelessness in this country is a reflection of us as a country," Steffens said. "It's not a disease; it's simply a reflection of who we've become as a society, and we have to put aside the illusion of separateness to become unified again and pull together our resources."

The company employs Rankins for a project in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he does carpentry, framing, brickwork and painting. While he will eventually move onto another project in another city, R Investments is creating an "Academy" to employ people like Rankins to manufacture 30 "tiny homes" for the homeless every three months.

"What's cool about people when they're starting from the ground up is the gratitude is there and the entitlement is not," Steffens said. "So it's beautiful when you have someone who is grateful for every breath of air, for every moment in time and for every piece of love that you can share with them."

Rankins said he is still shocked by the job invite, but grateful for everything that's happened in the last couple years.

"People don't usually ask me for my story. It's like people didn't care when you're homeless," he said. "They don't care ... so they don't ask until something like this happens."

-- Dorothy Mills-Gregg can be reached at dorothy.mills-gregg@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DMillsGregg.

Read More: SecDef Memo: Next Defense Budget Supports Robust Troop Pay, Joint Warfighting Plan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kokrajhar in Assam, on February 7, to participate in the celebrations over the recently signed Bodo Agreement.

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to address the gathering to hail the historic Bodo Agreement signed in January this year.

More than 4,00,000 people from the BTAD (Bodoland Territorial Area Districts) districts - Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri and Chirang and all over Assam will attend the event which includes a cultural programme of ethnic groups of the state.

As per the agreement signed in New Delhi on January 27, nearly 1615 cadres of different factions of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) surrendered their arms and joined the mainstream within two days of the signing of the agreement.

A special package of Rs 1500 crore has been earmarked for the development of the region.
His heart attack inspired him to purchase the Teatro del Soho CaixaBank, his theater company in his hometown of Malaga, Spain.

And while on Conan, Antonio Banderas attempted to teach show host Conan O'Brien, 56, the choreography for A Chorus Line.

The Oscar-nominated actor, 59, recently starred in a production of the classic show, which was put on in his theater.

Instruction: While on Conan, Antonio Banderas, 59, attempted to teach show host Conan O'Brien, 56, the choreography for A Chorus Line

The handsome star, dressed in a black T-shirt and trousers, informed Conan that he would like to teach him some moves.

'I would like just to show you some....You dance with me,' he told Conan

The father-of-one began to teach the comedic host a few steps, and Conan hilariously attempted to follow along.

His role: The Oscar-nominated actor recently starred in a production of the classic show, which was put on in his theater

Antonio spoke with The New York Times about the success of his show, and his hopes to bring the Spanish production to Broadway.

'A Chorus Line was a very frustrating thing for me. The first time I went to New York, in 1984, A Chorus Line was still at the Shubert, but the tickets were unbelievably expensive for me, so I couldn't see it. But A Chorus Line has been always a play that I love, and now I have it in my own theater.

I am playing Zach [the director character] and having a blast. The success has been incredible. I didn't expect that. Malaga is not such a big city, but we fill the theater every night. And God help us, if everything goes right, we may just end up in New York to show that a musical like this can be done in Spanish. With the legacy of A Chorus Line, they are very meticulous with the changes, but we managed to convince them, and I think we've got a very, very interesting performance. So I will be there in New York, probably playing Zach this next summer.'

His heart attack inspired him to purchase the Teatro del Soho CaixaBank, his theater company in his hometown of Malaga, Spain

The Spanish star is nominated for Best Actor with his film, Pain and Glory. It is his first ever nomination.

The star received the news while dining with the mayor of Magala. A few minutes after he heard the news, paparazzi swarmed the star's restaurant, El Pimpi.

'I had to behave just because I was in front of the mayor, so I didn't scream on the outside, but I screamed on the inside. And in about 15 minutes - this is not an exaggeration - I had a hundred paparazzi out in front of the restaurant. From my restaurant to my home I have no more than 50 meters, but it took me half an hour just to get home.'
In a joint operation, the Commissioners Task Force and Asif Nagar Police on Tuesday busted a fake Indian currency racket and arrested four in connection with the case.

The accused have been identified as BV Shiva Sandeep (30), Akber Pasha (30), Mohammed Moin (44) and Raziuddin (30).

"A fake currency racket was busted and four accused persons were also arrested. These people were printing and circulating fake currency. The police seized the fake currency worth Rs 8.5 lakhs," said Anjani Kumar, CP, Hyderabad City.

"Along with this printing material, one laptop, one printer, paper cutting scale and pad, six cell phones were also seized from the possession of the accused persons," he added.

The accused and the seized property have been handed over to SHO Asif Nagar police station for further investigation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Merchants Fleet, the nations fastest-growing FleetTech company, and Addison Fleet, a privately-owned Canadian fleet management company, have formed a partnership that will expand their service capabilities to cover both the United States and Canada. The partnership was made with the goal of better serving their growing client bases.

We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Merchants Fleet. After meeting with their senior leadership team, the parallels between our companies became quite evident, said Brent Addison, President of Addison Fleet. Both family-owned businesses began from car dealerships that grew into the fleet industry over time. We also have a mutual desire to create a great place to work for our employees, and this is reflected in the way we service and care for our customers, which ultimately drives business results.

As a FleetTech company that values innovation and creating flexible, customizable client solutions, we are excited to partner with Addison, said Brendan P. Keegan, CEO of Merchants Fleet. Thanks to the reach this partnership provides, were able to deliver a market-leading experience for companies that have vehicles across North America.

Under the partnership, each company can offer clients with vehicles in both the United States and Canada a harmonized selection of vehicle products and services. Merchants products and services will cover the United States while Addison Fleets services will cover Canada, and both companies will work together to satisfy client needs in both countries and consolidate fleet data. The result is cross-border coverage for Addison and Merchants clients, plus access to country expertise and a unified analysis of vehicle data.

We are delighted to enter into a strategic partnership with Merchants Fleet, said Janice Jucke, SVP, Sales and Client Operations. Like Addison Fleet, Merchants is not only committed to the development and enhancement of best-in-class technology, but also shares our deep commitment to ensure that mutual clients have access to the most powerful technology, efficient and effective tools, and industry experts to meet the challenges fleets face today.

Both Addison and Merchants are known in their respective countries for offering a high level of client service, flexibility, and innovation in their offerings, which include a comprehensive suite of fleet programs and solutions for businesses that use vehicles as part of their operations. Their programs include maintenance, fuel, telematics, consulting, safety, accident management, leasing, remarketing, mobility solutions, and more.

About Addison Fleet: Addison Fleet is a Canadian family-owned (third-generation) and operated national fleet management company with roots dating back to 1956. We offer Canadian clients multiple comprehensive and customizable fleet management solutions and high touch personalized service coupled with leading-edge technology. Our team is comprised of industry experts who partner with our clients to build a solution that is right for their business and will achieve their fleet and corporate goals.

About Merchants Fleet: Merchants Fleet is the fastest growing fleet management company nationally. Merchants provides clients with the most high-touch service and innovative experience across the industry for fleets, with flexible terms from three months to seven years. Our unique technology platforms coupled with specialized fleet teams provide the most comprehensive FleetTech solutions to drive proven results. Find out more at merchantsfleet.com.

Contact: Amanda Desmarais, Marketing Communications Specialist, 603.836.6419, amandadesmarais@merchantsfleet.com
Sanjeev Chatterjee, a professor of cinema and interactive media and journalism in the University of Miamis School of Communication, has been starting conversations with his films for years. His 2008 documentary One Water, prompted audiences around the world to rethink their relationship with water and how they might be taking it for granted.

Chatterjee is tackling another global problem: the effects of sugar. In his new film, Sweet Malady, Chatterjee follows a family in Kolkata, the capital of Indias West Bengal state and a city known for its obsession with sweets, as well as its scarily high rate of Type 2 Diabetes.

Chatterjee said that besides opening a discussion about diabetes, there were other factors that drew him to this project. I also really enjoy the diversity of sweets that come from that state and how much pride people take in saying that this is from my city, my town, in my district, he said. In Kolkata, obviously, the sweets dont cause diabetes, but when you have diabetes you cant eat them in such copious amounts, and thats the challenge, he added.

There are practices that are deep-seated, culturally, that get in the way of medical advice, said Chatterjee. So, its not as though people dont realize that these diseases are a problem, but they have habits, they have cultural norms that compete with best practices that medicine would like groups to do.

Chatterjee found himself in Kolkata on a Fulbright scholarship and itching to put together a film about this cultural addiction to sugar. With some funding from friends and a team of three local students helping him, Chatterjee got to work on a project he described as unique, because it allowed him to combine filmmaking and teaching at the same time. The film is produced by Souren Sarkar, an alumnus of the Miami Herbert Business School, and his brother, Soumen Sarkar, both of whom were born and brought up in Kolkata.

Within the first couple of minutes of Chatterjees film, we are introduced to the city of Kolkata, shown some of the sugary delicacies it is known for, and presented with a startling fact: one in five people in Kolkata has Type 2 diabetes. As the camera pans over wide shots of pithaa variation of fried or steamed rice dumplings from eastern India and Bangladeshit is easy to forget the relationship between the sweet satisfying flavors and diabetes.

Chatterjee is Bengali and knows, firsthand, the sugar craze that plagues this area of India. Even though his family is not from Kolkata, he said they are just as enamored with sugary treats, describing himself as the black sheep of the family since he does not actually like sweets.

The film follows a family whose culture holds sweets as something almost sacred and whose mother feels an enormous sense of pride cooking them. Growing up being fed these sugary foods proved to be an issue for this particular family, who all suffer from diabetes and are addicted to foods they associate with their happiness.

This is a beginning of a journey, said Chatterjee. If I go to a crowd of people and tell them how to behave, that will be confrontational. If I show them people that behave like themselves on the screen, that is less confrontational. And, if its happening somewhere else in the world and people are watching it, they are more open to starting a conversation.

Chatterjee not only has plans to make a series of these types of films discussing diabetes, but also plans to create a feature film on sugar and its societal power. His goal is always to make people think long after theyve left the theater or turned off the film.

Sweet Malady debuts on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. in Shoma Hall in the School of Communication, followed by a panel of diabetes experts who will discuss this worldwide, chronic health condition. Register now at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sweet-malady-film-screening-and-panel-discussion-tickets-89643132021
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Steps to rebrand downtown North Platte as the "Canteen District" was at the forefront Monday evening at the Espresso Shoppe.

The Downtown Association as well as members of the community met with the Nebraska State Historic Preservation to discuss the potential of nominating the downtown district to the National Register of Historic Places.

Recently, the North Platte City Council approved the "Canteen District project.

Nebraska State Historic Preservation National Register Coordinator David Calease says two communities are actively working to get this designation.

Currently, there are more than 1,000 listings in the national register in the state.

Calease says about 80 percent of the buildings in the downtown district could qualify for state and federal tax credits.

"It's no cost to the property owners in the district which is a huge win and on top of it, you have access to these tax incentives for the rehabilitation," said Calease. "However, if you decide not to use it and you want to do a project your way with no review from our office, there is no restrictions on that; you have the right as a property owner to do that."

The next step is to present the nomination to the city council, which could happen as early as March or late spring at the very latest.

The final draft of nomination will be presented to the State Historic Preservation Board in September.

A decision whether the U.S National Park Service approves the nomination could be expected in November.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trumps job approval reached a record high in a Gallup poll released Tuesday, hours before his State of the Union address and a day before Senate Republicans are expected to acquit him in an impeachment vote.

Trump, only the third U.S. president to be impeached, had a job approval rating of 49% of Americans, with 50% disapproving. It was his highest rating since taking office, though he has continued to be the only president never to achieve a 50% approval rating in the Gallup poll.

The presidents approval ratings have been on the rise since the House began an impeachment inquiry in September. In a survey taken 2019 Oct 1-13, 2019, only 39% of Americans had a positive view of the job he was doing as president while 57% viewed him negatively.

The House in December, voting primarily along party lines, voted to impeach Trump for holding up congressionally approved aid to Ukraine in order to pressure that government into announcing investigations to help him win re-election in 2020.

The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said Trump broke federal law in doing so.

The Senate, which last week refused to call witnesses for the first time in an impeachment trial, is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to convict Trump. None of the Republicans who control the chamber have said they will vote to remove the president from office, even as some criticized his actions.

In the Gallup poll, a majority of Americans, 52%, favored a Senate acquittal of Trump while 46% wanted to convict him and remove him from office.

In addition to the support for acquitting Trump, Gallup suggested that the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the new United States-Canada-Mexico-trade agreement, and the continued strength in the economy also may have contributed to his growing approval ratings.

The poll of 1,033 adults was conducted Jan. 16-29 with a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday released the party manifesto for the upcoming Delhi Assembly election, saying that the vision of the party is to make every family prosperous. The AAP guaranteed quality education, health, clean water, 24-hour electricity to the people of Delhi asserted Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. The manifesto comes a few days ahead of the voting for the election. The party has also promised the doorstep delivery of rations and free pilgrimage to 10 lakh senior citizens in its manifesto for the Delhi polls. Polling on 70 Assembly seats of Delhi will be held on February 8 and the counting of votes will take place on February 11.

Live TV

The manifesto has two parts--the first part is the ten guarantees that the AAP has already issued and the second part explains in detail the works that the AAP will do in the next five years. The party said that the AAP government passed the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill in 2015, which has been pending with the Central government for the last four years, adding that the struggle of the AAP government will continue. It said that after the success of Happiness Curriculum and Entrepreneurship Curriculum introduced in schools by the Delhi Government, the Deshbhakti Curriculum will also be introduced.

Apart from implementing the 10 guarantees of Arvind Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party promises the following landmark initiatives in its Manifesto for 2020 Assembly election:

1. DELHI JAN LOKPAL BILL: Aam Aadmi Party had passed the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill 2015 in Delhi Assembly in December 2015 and it is pending with the Central government since last 4 years. AAP resolves to continue its struggle to get the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill passed by the Central government.

2. DELHI SWARAJ BILL: Delhi Government had approved the formation of 2,972 Mohalla Sabhas in 70 Assembly constituencies across the city in June 2016 as the first step in devolution of power to the people and making them direct participants in solving day-to-day issues affecting their quality of life. We will pursue with the Centre to bring in a strong Delhi Swaraj Bill that will formalize the roles and responsibilities of

Mohalla Sabhas and ensure adequate funds and functions in the hands of the community.

3. DOORSTEP DELIVERY OF RATION: We will introduce doorstep delivery of ration as a revolutionary initiative to ensure dignity, transparency and accountability in the supply of food ration and ensure food security for all.

4. TEERTH YATRA FOR 10 LAKH SENIOR CITIZENS: Our senior citizens have spent their entire lives in the upbringing of their children. They are hardly able to fulfill their own wishes such as a visit to a holy site of pilgrimage. AAP has taken upon itself to fulfil the wishes of senior citizens. We will take 10 lakh, senior citizens, in Delhi for Teerth Yatras over the next 5 years.

5. DESHBHAKTI CURRICULUM: Building on the successes of Happiness Curriculum and Entrepreneurship Curriculum introduced in Delhi government schools, Deshbhakti Curriculum will be introduced.

6. SPOKEN ENGLISH FOR YOUTH: We will introduce spoken English, soft skills and personality development classes for students who have completed their schooling from any Delhi school, government or private, in the last 5 years, to raise their employment opportunities and income potential.

7. WORLD'S LARGEST METRO NETWORK: We will extend Delhi's metro network to 500 km making it one of the world's largest metro networks and will connect several new areas such as Burari, Kirari, Bijwasan, Narela, Karawal Nagar, Mangolpuri and others.

8. YAMUNA RIVERSIDE DEVELOPMENT: Along with reviving Yamuna river, we will work together with the Central government to develop a beautiful riverside along the banks of Yamuna. This will play a big role in maintaining the Yamuna Eco-System and in creating a new tourist destination for Delhi.

9. WORLD-CLASS ROADS: Well-designed, cater to the needs of all its users are essential features of a world-class city. Delhi's roads will be redesigned on these lines starting with a pilot of 40 km of roads within a year.

10. APPOINTMENT OF NEW SAFAI KARMACHARIS: Making Delhi's streets clean isn't possible without an adequate number of Safai Karmacharis. We will ensure new appointments of Safai Karmacharis as per the 2011 census of Delhi's population and taking into account the rapid expansion of residential colonies in Delhi.

11. COMPENSATION OF RS 1 CRORE FOR DECEASED SAFAI KARMACHARIS: Safai Karmacharis play the most important role in keeping the city clean. We salute their contribution and shall award a compensation of Rs 1 Crore to families of all those Safai Karmacharis who die while performing the duty.

12. NO RAID RAJ: We shall continue providing a free and fair business environment without raid raj to all businesses in Delhi like in the past five years. We will work closely with the trade and business community with a spirit of trust and collaboration to strengthen Delhi's economy.

beautifully landscaped and safe roads that

13. PROTECTION FROM SEALING: We will continue to take all legal and administrative measures to put pressure on the Central government, DDA and MCD to not allow sealing of industries/shops and ensure that the sealed shops are opened.

14. UPGRADATION OF MARKETS AND INDUSTRIAL AREAS: We will allocate adequate funds for infrastructure development and upgradation of market and industrial areas.

15. RATIONALISATION OF CIRCLE RATES: We will carry out a comprehensive review and rationalization of circle rates across Delhi with actual market prices so that it protects the interests of the property owners.

16. AMNESTY FOR OLD VAT CASES: We shall bring out an amnesty scheme to dispose off old VAT cases that have been pending since 2017 or earlier

17. 24X7 MARKETS IN DELHI: We will establish 24x7 markets on a pilot basis in key commercial areas where shops, restaurants etc. can remain open round the clock. This will make Delhi a bustling, 24x7 hospitable city and also contribute to tourism and the overall economy.

18. ENHANCE WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN ECONOMY: We will undertake initiatives to connect housewives with job and business opportunities from or near their homes so that they can contribute to their household income as well as to Delhi's and nation's economic development. Women shall be provided access to cheap capital and requisite skills.

19. OWNERSHIP RIGHTS FOR RESETTLEMENT COLONIES: We shall pursue the Central government to ensure full ownership rights with freehold status for residents of resettlement colonies.

20. REGULARIZATION AND REGISTRY OF UNAUTHORIZED COLONIES: The Central government has still not regularized and changed the land-use of unauthorised colonies. AAP will continue to put pressure on Central government to ensure all of Delhi's unauthorised colonies get regularized and homeowners get proper registries for their houses.

21. SIMPLIFY CRITERIA FOR OBC CERTIFICATE: The current requirement of having an address proof of Delhi from or before 1993 for being eligible for an OBC certificate is retrograde. We will pursue the Central government to replace this with the requirement of an address proof in Delhi for the past 5 years.

22. DUE RECOGNITION FOR BHOJPURI: We shall pursue with Central government for the Bhojpuri language to be included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.

23. JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF 1984 ANTI-SIKH GENOCIDE: We will ensure that the findings of the Supreme Court-appointed SIT under Justice SN Dhingra are acted upon promptly and the victims of the 1984 Anti-Sikh genocide get justice.

24. REGULARISATION OF CONTRACT EMPLOYEES: We will ensure all contractual employees employed with the Delhi government are made permanent.

25. PRO-FARMER LAND REFORMS: We shall pursue with Central government to amend Sections 33 and 81 of the Delhi Land Reform Act to remove the unjust restrictions on farmers' rights on their land and so that they can use it as per their wishes.

26. CONTINUED COMPENSATION TO FARMERS ON CROP LOSS: We will continue providing the highest compensation in the country of Rs 50,000 per hectare to farmers who suffer from crop loss.

27. LEGAL PROTECTION FOR STREET VENDORS: Delhi will become the first state in India to give legal protection to street vendors and hawkers. We will issue the certificate of vending within 6 months and set up international quality kiosks to prevent the harassment of street vendors at the hands of MCD and Delhi Police.

28. FULL STATEHOOD FOR DELHI: AAP will continue to push for full statehood for Delhi within the Constitutional framework using its social, political and moral authority. Our proposal for full statehood is defined in the draft State of Delhi Bill 2016 brought out by the current AAP government. The draft bill proposes that the New Delhi area (under the jurisdiction of New Delhi Municipal Council) which is of national and international importance and has only 3% of Delhi's population, be kept under the ambit of Central government. The rest of the areas will transition to a full state. This will bring in overall efficiency and democratic accountability in the administration of the national capital. It will also prove to be a long-term solution for issues like MCD-led sealing, deteriorating law and order, non-provision of land for building new schools, colleges, clinics, hospitals etc.

CM Kejriwal has also appealed the BJP to announce their chief ministerial candidate till 1 pm on Wednesday. He gave an open challenge to have a debate, saying that both parties can select anchors of their choices. "If BJP doesnt announce, then well meet at 1 pm again tomorrow (Wednesday) for another conference," said CM Kejriwal.
NEW YORK and HOUSTON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Genpact (NYSE: G), a global professional services firm focused on delivering digital transformation, and HighRadius, an enterprise SaaS (Software-as-a-service) fintech company, today announced a strategic partnership that will provide improvements to enterprise accounts receivable and bring together digital automation solutions powered by advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence.

"Many enterprises today have been unable to streamline their receivable processes, negatively impacting business operations and profitability," said Katie Stein, Genpact's chief strategy officer. "Genpact and HighRadius will solve this challenge by delivering a transformative digital automation solution that enables businesses to maximize their working capital, while enhancing the customer and user experiences. We see a great opportunity to leverage the potent combination of domain know-how, proven technology, and digital sophistication this partnership will bring."

Genpact and HighRadius, both leaders within their respective areas, will work together to innovate within the order-to-cash cycle  a critical business process that has a direct impact on improving key value outcomes for enterprises spanning customer experience, revenue optimization, margins and cash flow, and more. In fact, according to IDC, a leading analyst firm, the accounts receivable process is one of the most critical and complex processes within an organization, and more companies are investing in SaaS platforms to address their need for flexible and agile financial applications that are easy to implement, configure, and update.

"Enterprises can achieve true ROI from investing in order to cash only with an integrated receivables platform that leverages artificial intelligence to automate clerical work, enable decisions, and focus people on real value creation," said Sayid Shabeer, chief product officer of HighRadius. "This partnership will fundamentally shift accounting departments away from legacy models and toward a turnkey solution that is future-proof, scalable, and flexible."

Sashi Narahari, founder and chief executive officer, HighRadius, and Tiger Tyagarajan, chief executive officer, Genpact will participate in a fireside chat focused on "The Past, Present, and Future of the Office of Digital CFO" on Wednesday, February 5, 2020 at Radiance 2020 - the Order to Cash and Treasury Unconference, at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, TX.

See Genpact and HighRadius websites for more information on the partnership.

About HighRadius

HighRadius is a Fintech enterprise Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company which leverages Artificial Intelligence-based Autonomous Systems to help companies automate Accounts Receivable and Treasury processes. The HighRadius Integrated Receivables platform reduces cycle times in your order-to-cash process through automation of receivables and payments processes across credit, electronic billing and payment processing, cash application, deductions, and collections. HighRadius Treasury Management Applications help teams achieve touchless cash management, accurate cash forecasting and seamless bank reconciliation. Powered by the Rivana Artificial Intelligence Engine and Freeda Digital Assistant for order-to-cash teams, HighRadius enables teams to leverage machine learning to predict future outcomes and automate routine labor-intensive tasks. The radiusOne B2B payment network allows suppliers to digitally connect with buyers, closing the loop from supplier receivable processes to buyer payable processes. HighRadius solutions have a proven track record of optimizing cash flow, reducing days sales outstanding (DSO) and bad debt, and increasing operational efficiency so that companies may achieve strong ROI in just a few months. To learn more, please visit www.highradius.com

About Genpact

Genpact (NYSE: G) is a global professional services firm that makes business transformation real. We drive digital-led innovation and digitally-enabled intelligent operations for our clients, guided by our experience running thousands of processes primarily for Global Fortune 500 companies. We think with design, dream in digital, and solve problems with data and analytics. Combining our expertise in end-to-end operations and our AI-based platform, Genpact Cora, we focus on the details  all 90,000+ of us. From New York to New Delhi and more than 30 countries in between, we connect every dot, reimagine every process, and reinvent companies' ways of working. We know that reimagining each step from start to finish creates better business outcomes. Whatever it is, we'll be there with you  accelerating digital transformation to create bold, lasting results  because transformation happens here. Get to know us at Genpact.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

Safe Harbor

This press release contains certain statements concerning Genpact's future expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking terms such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "could," "may," "shall," "will," "would" and variations of such words and similar expressions, or the negative of such words or similar expressions. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that include but are not limited to the risks detailed in our reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Genpact's Annual Report on Form 10-K. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Although Genpact believes that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's current analysis of future events and should not be relied upon as representing management's expectations or beliefs as of any date subsequent to the time they are made. Genpact undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of Genpact.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Danielle D'Angelo

Genpact Media Relations  Global

+1 914-336-7951

[email protected]



Siya Belliappa

Genpact Media Relations  India

+91 9823133365

[email protected]

SOURCE Genpact

Related Links

https://www.genpact.com


HOUSTON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Houston, Texas based Insgroup, Inc. ("Insgroup"), Texas' largest closely-held property/casualty insurance broker, is expanding its footprint again through the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of the well-established Harris F Underwood III, Inc. ("HFU") in Dallas. The deal between the two firms is effective as of January 1 and is Insgroup's second announced deal in the DFW Metroplex in the past twelve months.

HFU has been passionately serving the needs of commercial and private clients in the DFW area for more than 40 years, and has earned a strong reputation for client advocacy under the leadership of Chris Hill, co-founder, and Cash Harbaugh, President.



Insgroup's President and CEO, Brian Kapiloff, said "We've been searching for the right partner to help us expand our commercial insurance practice in the DFW market for quite some time. We believe Cash and Chris share our core values and vision for the future, and we're excited to work with them and their team to grow our presence in Dallas."



"HFU's focus on serving the insurance needs of Commercial Real Estate owners and managers is a natural fit for our large Real Estate practice. In addition to growing our Real Estate book of business and helping us push into the DFW market in this niche, we will use HFU's office as a launching pad for growth in DFW in other verticals including construction, manufacturing, transportation, financial/professional services, as well as private clients," said Kapiloff.



Through the partnership, the entire Underwood team has joined Insgroup and will continue to operate at its current location in downtown Dallas under the existing leadership of Harbaugh and Hill.



"I am thrilled to be working alongside such well-respected leaders and knowledgeable colleagues who will help to support our growing list of clients, serve the needs of even larger, more complex accounts, and accelerate our expansion into additional specialty areas," said Harbaugh.



Hill said, "We've considered other options to support our growth over the years, but Insgroup's vision and values align so closely with ours that this is the right fit at just the right time."



This expansion is the latest example of talented practitioners recognizing the unique opportunity that Insgroup offers. Since its founding over 40 years ago in Houston, Insgroup has been named a Top 100 Broker of U.S. Business by Business Insurance magazine, and is one of the largest such firms in Texas. The firm maintains offices in Austin, Dallas and Houston, and practices in the following areas: commercial insurance brokerage and risk management, employee benefits consulting and brokerage, and private client insurance services.

SOURCE Insgroup, Inc.
India's biennial will kickstart in Lucknow on Wednesday with the aim to showcase the potential of the country to become a global defence manufacturing hub.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said delegates from 70 countries and 172 foreign military manufacturers will attend the five-day mega exhibition. As many as 856 Indian defence firms will also showcase their products at the event.

"We want to make India a hub of defence manufacturing. The is a step in this direction," Singh said.

"The participation of a large number of foreign firms in the reflects India's growing stature," he said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said his government has been encouraging defence manufacturing in the state. He said two Dornier aircraft of aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited will be used by the state government for civil purposes on two routes.

It will be for the first time that the 19-seater aircraft will be used by a state government for civilian purposes.

Singh said India cannot continue to rely on imports for defence platforms and the country has to create its defence manufacturing space.

"By end of this decade, I am confident that India will be among the top three economies in the world. The indigenous defence production will contribute significantly in taking India's economy forward," Singh said.

The 11th edition of DefExpo promises to bring new technologies and technological solutions, and a single platform for Defence manufacturing companies from India and abroad to showcase their products and services in the defence sector.

The main theme of the DefExpo India -- 2020 is 'India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub' and the focus will be on 'Digital Transformation of Defence', a release said.

Reflecting the government's focus on 'Make in India', DefExpo 2020 would offer an excellent opportunity for the Indian defence industry to showcase its capabilities and promote its export potential.

The formal inauguration of the event by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be held on Wednesday followed by a live demonstration of naval systems, aero systems and land systems.

Live demonstration will be done for systems which are designed or built in India.

Three parallel business seminars, organised by industry associations and business chambers, will also be held on the opening day. The themes of the seminars will be 'Skill Development in Aviation & Defence', 'IndiaFrance Defence Industry Seminar' and 'Indo- Israel -- Opportunities in Defence Cooperation- Future Vectors of the Digital Battlefield'.

The fifth India Russia Military Industry Conference will also be held on the sidelines of DefExpo with over 100 Russian and over 200 Indian industry leaders expected to participate.

Singh will preside over African Defence Ministers' Conclave and host a dinner in the honour of African Defence Ministers.

There will be live demonstration of large platforms and also flying display at the Gomti riverfront and the DefExpo venue.
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Femi Fani-Kayode says it will be delusional to believe that the alleged suicide bomber who caused a bomb scare at the Living Faith Church, aka Winners Chapel, in Sabon Tasha area of Kaduna metropolis, on Sunday is a Christian. The bomber, Nathaniel Samuel was said to have gained access into the churchs auditorium before he was arrested.

Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, says he is not afraid to work with the Chinese because coronavirus is not a killer disease.

Amaechi said this Monday when he featured on Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels Television. As of today, Coronavirus which first broke out in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province in China, has killed more than 300 people.

Ali Ndume, senator representing Borno south, says the country is presently at war with criminals.

The lawmaker said this when he appeared as a guest on a Channels TV programme on Sunday. According to him, the security challenges in the country have gone beyond Boko Haram insurgency to other crimes in various parts of the country. Ndume said, Nigerians think it is Borno state that is at war, and the armed forces, but that is not the case. Nigerians are supposed to know we are in a state of war.

Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Sunday urged the Federal Government to do all it can to prevent another civil war in the country.

The Christian body says happenings in the country at the moment is not the dream of any well-meaning Nigerian.

Samson Ayokunle, CAN President said this in a statement by the associations spokesman, Adebayo Oladeji.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has asked Senate Minority Leader, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, to seek forgiveness from God over his call on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign.

The Ekiti State Chairman of the ruling party, Paul Omotoso, said this while speaking at Saint James Anglican Church on Sunday. He described the comment as not only political and sentimental, but that it failed in rational thinking.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has described Nigeria as the safest country to live in the world. The minister reportedly made this statement while welcoming Finland Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Jyrki Pulkkimen and his team, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office on Monday. According to reports, the minister also cleared the air on the allegations of human rights violations against President Muhammadu Buharis government.

The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has reacted to reports a suspected suicide bomber at Living Faith Church, a.k a Winners Chapel, in Kaduna on Sunday.

The suspected bomber who snuck into the church located at Sabon Tasha in Chukun Local Government Area of the state was promptly arrested by the state Police Command.

Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra state, says 98 million people are living under poverty in Nigeria.

Obi, a former vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said this when he featured on a Channels TV programme on Sunday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is sending 250,000 coronavirus test kits to labs around the world as the number of cases from human-to-human transmission rises.

The test kits will be shipped on Tuesday from Germany to 70 labs globally to support an influx of test samples, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the head of the Outbreak Investigation Task Force at Institut Pasteurs Center for Global Health in Paris, told United Nations member states during a briefing on the virus on Tuesday.

Specialized laboratories in Africa, the United States, Europe, and Asia will get the kits to facilitate faster testing for the virus.

Tens of thousands of cases have been officially reported in China, though some health experts believe the true number of cases is higher. A number of deaths have been reported in China. There are 176 cases in 24 other countries, WHO said on Tuesday. One death occurred in the Philippines and another in Hong Kong.

WHO officials urged member states to take action, including submitting information and assisting the agency with combating the spread of the new coronavirus, which started in Wuhan in December 2019.

We have a window of opportunity while 99 percent of the cases are in China, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states at the briefing. There is a window of opportunity because of the strong measures China is taking at the epicenter, at the source, so lets use this opportunity to prevent further spread and to control it.

WHO said there are now 27 human-to-human coronavirus cases outside of China, across nine countries.

In Germany, 10 people were infected from a female work colleague who got the virus in Shanghai. Four people in Singapore contracted the illness either from a tour guide or at a health store while three people in Japan contracted the virus from a bus driver.

Vietnam had three cases of human-to-human transmission, the United States had two, and Thailand, France, and Malaysia each had one.

The other cases were primarily driven by close contact with family members who had traveled to China.

Patients are experiencing symptoms including fever, coughing, shortness of breath, confusion, and headaches. Two to 3 percent of the patients are experiencing diarrhea. Severity of the illness ranges from mild to severe disease resulting in death.

The true number of fatalities per sickness is difficult to assess because the denominator, or the real number of infections, is not known, according to WHO. Experts still have not confirmed the animal source of the coronavirus, which spreads through droplets and contact with infected people. The incubation period is estimated to be between one to 14 days, WHO said.

Chinas representative at the briefing and Ghebreyesus both reiterated opposition to the travel restrictions that some countries have imposed to try to stop the spread of the disease. Ghebreyesus claimed that such restrictions were inconsistent with international health regulations and can increase fear and stigma with little public health benefit.

We believe overreaction by adopting restriction, isolation, and blocking measures are not beneficial to international collaboration and such measures may lead to more complicated outcome and interference in prevention control efforts, Chinas representative added.

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Center for Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on Monday that the United States imposed restrictions to try to stem the spread of the virus.

I would say is this is an unprecedented situation and we have taken aggressive measures, she said in a call with reporters, citing the number of deaths inside China, the first death outside of China, and the rising number of cases as well as data indicating that people who are asymptomatic, or not showing symptoms, or mildly symptomatic could be transmitting the disease.

We made an aggressive decision in front of an unprecedented threat that action now would slow this down, and action now has the biggest potential to slow this thing down. And thats what the theory is here, she said.

From The Epoch Times
Dowling recovering at home after long hospital stay

State Rep. Matthew Dowling has returned home after suffering a one-vehicle crash in October. Dowling represents parts of Somerset County.
by Paul Nguyen Hung

The Bishops Conference issues instructions for communities across the country. The faithful are urged to pray for the victims of the disease and for doctors seeking a speedy treatment. Nine cases have been confirmed in Vietnam. The government temporarily shuts down schools.

Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews)  The Vietnamese Church has taken a number of steps to counter the spread of the 2019-nCoV virus in the country.

Two days ago, Bishop Phero (Pierre) Nguyen Van Kham of My Tho, secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Vietnam (CBCV), sent a note on Preventing the coronavirus epidemic in the country to all 27 dioceses, as well as parishes, religious communities and seminars.

In it, the prelate urges the faithful with flu-like symptoms not to leave home and calls on those who plan to take part in Eucharistic celebrations to receive communion in their hands.

The CBCV also suggests postponing meetings and pilgrimages until the outbreak is under control, urging Catholics to pray so that God can heal those who have been infected and ensure that others do not become victims of the epidemic.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health has confirmed the latest case of infection this morning.

A 30-year-old man returning from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak, tested positive in the northern province of Vinh Phuc.

He joins the eight people who are already infected in the country, three in Ho Chi Minh City.

That figure however is widely dismissed as inaccurate as the authorities seem to be downplaying the health emergency.

Nevertheless, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last Saturday declared a coronavirus epidemic in the country. The next day, the authorities ordered the temporary closure of the schools.

The Hanoi Department of Education and Training announced that kindergarten to vocational training schools would shut from 3 to 10 February.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the local department followed suit, closing local schools for a week, from 3 to 9 February.
Prosecutors seek to reduce Russian activists sentence for rally order breaches by 3 years

 TASS, Andrey Vasilyev

10:54 04/02/2020

MOSCOW, February 4 (RAPSI)  Russias Prosecutor Generals Office seeks to reduce sentence of activist Konstantin Kotov, who has received 4 years behind bars for repeated violations of a rally holding order, up to 1 year, lawyer Sergey Golubok has told RAPSI.

According to the attorney, prosecutors believe that the 4-year term given to Kotov is illegal and disproportionate.

Moscows Tverskoy District Court convicted and sentenced Kotov in September. A month later, the Moscow City Court upheld the verdict.

According to investigators, the man, who was repeatedly brought to administrative liability for breaking an order of public events in the last 180 days, recently took part in an unauthorized protest action ignoring police demands to stop illegal actions. Investigative authorities claimed that his actions had an intentional nature.

Kotov pleaded not guilty. His defense insisted that there were no elements of a crime in his actions.Protest actions began in Moscow in mid-July after election commissions denied registration of certain opposition members as candidates for the Moscow City Duma elections reasoning that documents submitted by them contained numerous violations.

The first unauthorized rally took place hear the Moscow City Election Commissions building on July 14 and looked like a provocation, according to law experts.

Unauthorized rallies in support of candidates seeking to become lawmakers of the Moscow State Duma but refused registration by the Election Commission were also held on July 27 and August 3 in central Moscow. Over 1,000 people were arrested for various violations as a result.

Following the 27 July rally, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case over mass riots. Investigators believe that the protest action was held with the use of force against representatives of authority.




Demonstrating business momentum with FY2019 Q3 year-to-date (YTD) revenue 2,519.5 billion yen, up +82.6% versus prior year due to acquisition of Shire and continued strong performance of 14 global brands; while Underlying Revenue expected to recover in Q4 resulting in flat to slightly increasing for the full year

Core Operating Profit* of 792.2 billion yen and Underlying Core Operating Profit Margin of 30.9% driven by accelerated integration synergies and OPEX efficiencies

Raising full year guidance to reflect strong business momentum and faster than expected realization of integration synergies; Reported Operating Profit forecast now positive primarily due to the impact of the completed purchase accounting

Core Operating Profit1

definitions are identical

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TOKYO:4502)(NYSE:TAK):

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200203005855/en/

Underlying Revenue declined -1.2% vs FY2018 Q3 YTD pro-forma2, expected to recover in Q4 resulting in flat to slightly increasing for the full year

Takedas 14 global brands, with reported revenue of 836.4 billion yen in aggregate, posted a strong year- over-year underlying revenue growth of +20%, driven by ENTYVIO (+35.4%), TAKHZYRO (+622.2%), and NINLARO (+28.9%).

Underlying revenue growth year-to-date was solid in the key business areas of GI (+10%), Plasma Derived Therapy (PDT) Immunology (+5%), Oncology (+7%), and Neuroscience (+5%), while Rare Diseases declined (-11%) for the following reasons: Rare Hematology (-14%) continues to be impacted as expected by intensified competition and increasing price pressure. Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) (-11%) continues to be negatively affected by stocking in the prior fiscal year, as well as generic entry for FIRAZYR. Rare Metabolic (-4%) continue to be impacted by NATPARA which was recalled in the U.S. in September 2019.



Please refer to note iii to the table entitled Reported Results for FY2019 Q3 YTD (April - December) below for Core Operating Profit definition. FY2018 Q3 YTD pro-forma baseline represents the sum of Takeda revenue for FY2018 Q3 YTD (Apr-Dec) plus Shire revenue for the same period, where Shire revenue was converted to JPY at the rate of $1 = 111 JPY (average FX rate for FY2018) and converted from US GAAP to IFRS with no material difference; Takeda revenue and Shire revenue was adjusted to remove the revenue from divested assets. Please see the appendix for more details.

Underlying Core Operating Profit Margin of 30.9% for FY2019 Q3 YTD driven by cost synergies and OPEX efficiencies

Reported Operating Profit declined year-over-year -42.9% to 162.5 billion yen, largely impacted by non-cash purchase accounting expenses including the unwinding of inventory step-up and amortization of intangible assets. Reported Operating Profit was also impacted by significant one-time costs related to the Shire integration.

Core Operating Profit increased year-over-year +129.9% to 792.2 billion yen, primarily due to the consolidation of Shire, while also benefitting from the strong performance of Takeda 14 global brands, cost synergies and improved OPEX efficiency.

Underlying Core Operating Profit Margin year-to-date was 30.9% reflecting continued OPEX discipline and cost synergies.

Underlying Core EPS year-to-date was 359 yen.

R&D Engine Delivered Several Important Pipeline Milestones in Q3

Wave 1 pipeline assets achieving important milestones: Phase 3 study start for TAK-788 in treatment naive Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) with exon 20 insertion mutations, and pevonedistat (TAK-924) in unfit Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Updated Dengue vaccine candidate TAK-003 results from the phase 3 study were presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Meeting. Announced partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center which includes the development of ongoing Phase 1/2a Study of TAK-007, a CD19 CAR-NK.

Global Brands generating additional data in new indications: Phase 3 trial of NINLARO (TOURMALINE-MM4) as first line maintenance therapy met primary endpoint (PFS) in multiple myeloma patients not treated with stem cell transplantation. ALUNBRIG ongoing phase 3 data continued to show reduction in disease progression after two years as a first line treatment in adults with advanced anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive (ALK+) NSCLC who had not received a prior ALK inhibitor.



Continued emphasis on divesting non-core assets and deleveraging to focus the business

Net debt / adjusted EBITDA at 4.1x having paid full-year dividend and tax on XIIDRA proceeds.

Negotiations ongoing for further potential non-core asset divestments.

Costa Saroukos, Chief Financial Officer, commented:

Takedas third quarter results demonstrated a continuation of our solid year-to-date financial and business performance, driven by our 14 global brands, powerful R&D engine, and OPEX improvements that will help to ensure our sustainable growth. We are again increasing our full year guidance to reflect strong business momentum and faster than anticipated realization of synergies.

Now operating as One Takeda, we continue to execute as anticipated on our business priorities to drive long-term value, including the realization of $2 billion in cost synergies by the end of FY 2021, divest $10 billion in non-core assets to optimize our portfolio, and rapidly de-leverage our net debt / adjusted EBITDA towards our goal of 2x within fiscal years ending March 2022 - March 2024. In parallel, our R&D engine continues to advance highly innovative medicines that make a critical difference to patients through both Takedas global brands and new molecular entities, with multiple important data readouts on the horizon. Executing on these priorities will maximize value creation for all of our stakeholders and position Takeda for continued success.

Reported Results for FY2019 Q3 YTD (April - December) (billion yen) REPORTED CORE UNDERLYING i. FY2019 Q3 YTD VS. PRIOR YEAR FY2019 Q3 YTD VS. PRIOR YEAR Revenue 2,519.5 +82.6 % 2,519.5 +82.6 % - 1.2 % y-o-y ii. (pro-forma) Operating Profit 162.5 -42.9 % 792.2iii. +129.9 % Margin 6.5 % -14.2 pp 31.4% +6.5 pp 30.9% Net Profit iv. 42.5 -74.1 % 560.2 +113.1 % EPS (JPY) 27 yen -183 yen 360 yen +24 yen 359 yen

Underlying results compares two periods (quarters or years) of financial results under a common basis and is used by management to assess the business. These financial results are calculated on a constant currency basis and excluding the impact of divestitures and other amounts that are unusual, non-recurring items or unrelated to our ongoing operations. Growth versus FY2018 Q3 YTD pro-forma. FY2018 Q3 YTD pro-forma baseline represents the sum of Takeda revenue for FY2018 Q3 YTD (Apr-Dec) plus Shire revenue for the same period, both adjusted to remove the revenue from divested assets, converted to JPY at the rate of $1 = 111 JPY (average FX rate for FY2018), and converted from US GAAP to IFRS with no material differences. Please see the appendix for more details. Core Operating Profit represents net profit adjusted to exclude income tax expenses, the share of profit or loss of investments accounted for using the equity method, finance expenses and income, other operating expenses and income, amortization and impairment losses on acquired intangible assets and other items unrelated to Takedas core operations, such as purchase accounting effects and transaction related costs. Attributable to the owners of the company.

FY2019 Management Guidance: Upgrading guidance to reflect positive business momentum Previous Guidance

(October 31, 2019) Revised Guidance

(February 4, 2020) Underlying Revenue Growth i. Flat to slightly increasing Flat to slightly increasing Underlying Core Operating Profit Margin High-twenties % High-twenties % Underlying Core EPS 370  390 yen 385  405 yen Annual Dividend per Share 180 yen 180 yen

Constant Exchange Rate growth (applying FY2018 full year average foreign exchange rate of 111 JPY/USD) compared to baseline of JPY 3,300 billion (Rounded pro-forma April 2018-March 2019 combined revenue of Legacy Takeda and Legacy Shire, converted at April 2018-March 2019 average exchange rate of 111 JPY/USD; also adjusted to remove the revenue from divested assets such as Techpool, Multilab, and TACHOSIL from Legacy Takeda, and the oncology portfolio and XIIDRA from Legacy Shire) and converted from US GAAP to IFRS, without material differences.

FY2019 Reported Forecast: Increasing Revenue and Profit (billion yen) Previous Forecast

(October 31, 2019) Revised Forecast

(February 4, 2020) change Revenue 3,260.0 3,286.0 +0.8% Operating Profit -110.0 10.0 N/M i. Net Profit -273.0 -162.0 +40.7% EPS -175 yen -104 yen +40.7% Core Operating Profit 930.0 950.0 +2.2% Exchange Rate

(annual average) 1 US$=109 yen 1 euro=121 yen 1 US$=109 yen 1 euro=122 yen

Not Meaningful

For more details on Takedas FY2019 Q3 results and other financial information, please visit https://www.takeda.com/investors/reports/

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to bringing Better Health and a Brighter Future to patients by translating science into highly-innovative medicines. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Gastroenterology (GI), Neuroscience and Rare Diseases. We also make targeted R&D investments in Plasma-Derived Therapies and Vaccines. We are focusing on developing highly innovative medicines that contribute to making a difference in peoples lives by advancing the frontier of new treatment options and leveraging our enhanced collaborative R&D engine and capabilities to create a robust, modality-diverse pipeline. Our employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients and to working with our partners in health care in approximately 80 countries and regions.

For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com

Important Notice

For the purposes of this notice, press release means this document, any oral presentation, any question and answer session and any written or oral material discussed or distributed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) regarding this release. This press release (including any oral briefing and any question- and-answer in connection with it) is not intended to, and does not constitute, represent or form part of any offer, invitation or solicitation of any offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, exchange, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction. No shares or other securities are being offered to the public by means of this press release. No offering of securities shall be made in the United States except pursuant to registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom. This press release is being given (together with any further information which may be provided to the recipient) on the condition that it is for use by the recipient for information purposes only (and not for the evaluation of any investment, acquisition, disposal or any other transaction).

Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of applicable securities laws.

The companies in which Takeda directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this press release, Takeda is sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Takeda and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words we, us and our are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and any materials distributed in connection with this press release may contain forward- looking statements, beliefs or opinions regarding Takedas future business, future position and results of operations, including estimates, forecasts, targets and plans for Takeda. Without limitation, forward-looking statements often include words such as targets, plans, believes, hopes, continues, expects, aims, intends, ensures, will, may, should, would, could anticipates, estimates, projects or similar expressions or the negative thereof. Forward-looking statements in this document are based on Takedas estimates and assumptions only as of the date hereof. Such forward-looking statements do not represent any guarantee by Takeda or its management of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including but not limited to: the economic circumstances surrounding Takedas global business, including general economic conditions in Japan and the United States; competitive pressures and developments; changes to applicable laws and regulations; the success of or failure of product development programs; decisions of regulatory authorities and the timing thereof; fluctuations in interest and currency exchange rates; claims or concerns regarding the safety or efficacy of marketed products or product candidates; the timing and impact of post-merger integration efforts with acquired companies; and the ability to divest assets that are not core to Takedas operations and the timing of any such divestment(s), any of which may cause Takedas actual results, performance, achievements or financial position to be materially different from any future results, performance, achievements or financial position expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For more information on these and other factors which may affect Takedas results, performance, achievements, or financial position, see Item 3.

Key InformationD. Risk Factors in Takedas most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and Takedas other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, available on Takedas website at: https://www.takeda.com/investors/reports/sec-filings/ or at www.sec.gov. Future results, performance, achievements or financial position of Takeda could differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Persons receiving this press release should not rely unduly on any forward- looking statements. Takeda undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or any other forward-looking statements it may make, except as required by law or stock exchange rule. Past performance is not an indicator of future results and the results of Takeda in this press release may not be indicative of, and are not an estimate, forecast or projection of Takedas future results.

Certain Non-IFRS Financial Measures

This press release and materials distributed in connection with this press release include certain IFRS financial measures not presented in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), such as Underlying Revenue, Core Operating Profit, Underlying Core Operating Profit, Core Net Profit, Underlying Core EPS, Net Debt, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow. Takedas management evaluates results and makes operating and investment decisions using both IFRS and non-IFRS measures included in this press release. These non-IFRS measures exclude certain income, cost and cash flow items which are included in, or are calculated differently from, the most closely comparable measures presented in accordance with IFRS. By including these non-IFRS measures, management intends to provide investors with additional information to further analyze Takedas performance, core results and underlying trends.

Takedas non-IFRS measures are not prepared in accordance with IFRS and such non-IFRS measures should be considered a supplement to, and not a substitute for, measures prepared in accordance with IFRS (which we sometimes refer to as reported measures). Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of non- IFRS financial measures to their most directly comparable IFRS measures.

Further information on certain of Takedas Non-IFRS measures is posted on Takedas investor relations website at https://www.takeda.com/investors/reports/quarterly-announcements/quarterly-announcements-2019/

Reconciliation from reported revenue to underlying revenue growth presented in accordance with IFRS are included as an appendix to this document.

Medical information

This press release contains information about products that may not be available in all countries, or may be available under different trademarks, for different indications, in different dosages, or in different strengths. Nothing contained herein should be considered a solicitation, promotion or advertisement for any prescription drugs including the ones under development.

Financial information

Takedas financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The revenue of Shire plc (Shire), which was historically, presented by Shire in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (U.S. GAAP), has been conformed to IFRS, without material difference.

The Shire acquisition closed on January 8, 2019, and our consolidated results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019 include Shires results from January 8, 2019 to March 31, 2019. References to Legacy Takeda businesses are to our businesses held prior to our acquisition of Shire. References to Legacy Shire businesses are to those businesses acquired through the Shire acquisition.

This press release includes certain pro forma information giving effect to the Shire acquisition as if it had occurred on April 1, 2018. This pro forma information has not been prepared in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation S-X. This pro forma information is presented for illustrative purposes and is based on certain assumptions and judgments based on information available to us as of the date hereof, which may not necessarily have been applicable if the Shire acquisition had actually happened as of April 1, 2018.

Moreover, this pro forma information gives effect to certain transactions and other events which are not directly attributable to the Shire acquisition and/or which happened subsequently to the Shire acquisition, such as divestitures and the effects of the purchase price allocation for the Shire acquisition, and therefore may not accurately reflect the effect on our financial condition and results of operations if the Shire acquisition had actually been completed on April 1, 2018. Therefore, undue reliance should not be placed on the pro forma information included herein.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200203005855/en/
Mr Simon Batamya Aseno, the Community Lead for Zone three Zipline Technology at Vobsi in the West Mamprusi Municipality of North East Region, says the company will start delivering medical supplies via drones in the sector by end of February.



The Centre, which would be run by an all Ghanaian crew of engineers, health professionals and logistics personnel, would deliver 148 medical products including; blood and life-saving medicines to about 500 health facilities across the Savannah, Northern, North East and Upper East Regions.



He gave the assurance that irrespective of the location of the operation Centre, all the designated points of delivery would be served, and further explained that Our service coverage is about 80 kilometres and by air, if you are going 80 kilometres, you go the shortest distance between here and your destination.



Mr Aseno was speaking to Journalists in the Upper East Region at Vobsi after Officials of Zipline Technology had schooled them on their operations, and flew a drone in their presence.



He noted that within the 80-kilometre radius, Bawku, parts of Garu, Navrongo, Fumbisi and all places that were farther away from the Centre were covered, adding that The radius of coverage actually allows us to reach many health facilities.



The Zone Leader said one of the biggest challenges the country faced was access to vital medicines on time, and stressed that the benefits of the service were enormous.



If you look at our technology, it actually comes with a lot of speed, if we have to fly from here to Bawku, we can do that in about 30 minutes. If you were going to move with an ambulance from Vobsi to Bawku, you probably would spend more hours, especially with the bad terrain of the road between Bolga and Bawku.



Mr Aseno emphasised that the most important aspect of the Technology was the speed in the delivery of medical products, and the capacity of the sick to access healthcare irrespective of their location in any part of the country.



He said there were some misconceptions among some sections of Ghanaians during the initial stages of the introduction of the concept, but indicated that people were beginning to realise the usefulness of the technology, which would help strengthen the public health system.



He said they had begun with Regional entries to ensure that Regional stakeholders were aware of the technology, and they would soon move to sensitize members of the public at the various community levels and also engage the media to spread information about the technology.

Source: GNA









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Featured Video
I vanka Trump is facing backlash after posting a photo of her and dad Donald eating a McDonald's on Air Force One.

On Monday evening, the 38-year-old First Daughter shared a snap of her and Donald Trump tucking into a Big Mac and fries on board the US President's jet with her 7.6million followers, along with the caption: "Memories from Iowa... post caucus snack with dad on Trump Force One!"

The photo, which has since racked up more than 42,000 likes and 5,000 retweets, was originally taken four years ago, when the duo attended the Iowa caucus in 2016.

Since, the internet has responded in a not-so-sympathetic way.

One person wrote: "[sic] OMG the position of POTUS has been reduced to a frickin McDonald's commercial. How pathetic."

Another commented: "Garbage food for garbage people."

A third said: "Ahh those memories. Which city was this again?", referencing Mr Trump's recent Super Bowl blunder where he congratulated Missouri instead of the Kansas City Chiefs.

An hour before, Ivanka posted another photo from the campaign trail four years ago, before her father was president.

In the second photo, she can be seen standing at the podium with her father standing to her left. She captioned the post: "4 years ago...caucusing with 45 in Iowa."

Iowa, which is a swing state, is key in any presidential campaign, as not only does it act as a sort of litmus test for the rest of the election, it has notoriously flitted between voting for Democrats and Republicans.

At the time, during Mr Trump's campaign for the 2017 US election, the business mogul pulled out all the stops to win over the foothold, and was accompanied by his daughter for the most part.

Currently, the results for the Iowa caucus, which was supposed to determine the Democratic presidential candidate winner in the state, has been delayed while "quality checks" are taking place.

The party has denied claims that the voting app used to submit votes crashed, hacked or suffered an intrusion.
In KBS Cool FM's "Kang Han Na's Volume Up", Actor Lee Yi Kyung recently showed up as a guest at the show.

On the episode released of the show this February 3 broadcast, actor Lee Yi Kyung shared some of his experience on his failures on a lot of auditions that he attended. He shared comparing to actress Han Na, as an actress, he is sure that Han Na understands that he would attend auditions. He would attend so many auditions and fail them every time.

There was also a time when he even went to an audition wearing a traditional Korean garment called a min bok he was using public transportation at that time and would just go to his auditions like that. He did not feel embarrassed to be seen by other people in that situation.

He then continued that joining a production for his really something to be thankful for. He is sure that everyone feels very lucky like they have won a lottery ticket. And each one of them wants to do well. He added that he thinks that experiencing those past hardships made him a better person than he is now.

Actor Lee Yi Kyung expressed his gratefulness and gave thanks to his senior actors who gave him strength during difficult and hard times. Sharing some of the unforgettable advice he received, he said that in the past there was one senior that told him "Flowers don't just bloom in spring" at first we did not get it but then after some time he eventually began to understand it.

Plus, when he was busy attending many auditions, he must have looked rushed and nervous. Then actor Choi Daniel told him "I'm not entirely sure but even Choi Min Sik and Song Kang Ho must feel nervous too. You don't have to feel so nervous" those words gave him strength and Lee Yi Kyung was thankful.

The show's DJ Kang Han Na later added a question to the actor; she asked what role the actor plays at karaoke. He then gave his answer expressing that he is the type who follows the mood well. If they sing ballads he also starts with a ballad genre. And if they sing exciting songs, he shows them how exciting he can get. Then he added that if he sees someone sitting quietly without singing at all, we will begin to take notice of them.

This mid-February of the year 2020, Actor Lee Yi Kyung is also set to release his trot song. A trot song is a genre of Korean popular music it is commonly noticed for its use of repetitive rhythm and vocal inflections.

Actor Lee Yi Kyung commented that he is not singing because he is good at it. He explained that it is the same as people say, 'Being happy doesn't make you smile, smiling makes you happy. The actor is also asking us to please listen to it comfortably without analyzing it.
Tailor-made vaccines could almost halve rates of serious bacterial disease

New research has found that rates of disease caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae could be substantially reduced by changing our approach to vaccination. Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Simon Fraser University in Canada and Imperial College London combined genomic data, models of bacterial evolution and predictive modelling to identify how vaccines could be optimised for specific age groups, geographic regions and communities of bacteria.

The study, published today (3 February) in Nature Microbiology, simulated the performance of vaccines over time to assess the risk of vaccine-targeted strains being replaced by other potentially dangerous strains. Through this predictive modelling approach, the researchers identified new vaccine designs that could help reduce overall rates of disease.

S. pneumoniae is often found at the back of the nasal cavity, where it is normally harmless. But when it migrates to other parts of the body, it can cause serious bacterial infections such as pneumonia, sepsis and meningitis - known collectively as invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). IPD was estimated to cause around 1.6 million deaths per year worldwide prior to the introduction of widespread vaccination, with higher rates of disease in many low- or middle- income countries*. Infants and the elderly are most at risk.

Vaccines against pneumococcus have prevented millions of infections. But like many bacteria, S. pneumoniae is difficult to target with vaccines because infection can be caused by different serotypes**. Each part of a vaccine usually protects against a single serotype, with the most complex pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) targeting 13 serotypes.

Because there are approximately 100 S. pneumoniae serotypes around the world, vaccine effectiveness varies between countries depending on which serotypes are present. When serotypes are removed from circulation by a particular vaccine, other serotypes of S. pneumoniae rise to take their place.

In this study, researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Simon Fraser University and Imperial College London optimised a computer model to approximate the effect of vaccines targeting different serotype combinations. Analysis of vaccine effectiveness was then carried out on S. pneumoniae genomic data from Massachusetts, USA and the Maela refugee camp in Thailand.

The complexity of S. pneumoniae vaccines means many designs are possible, each with different effects on disease. In Maela, for example, the presence of 64 S. pneumoniae serotypes means around 100 trillion vaccine designs are possible. But it would take 19,000 years to simulate them all, with most being sub-optimal. The researchers developed a more efficient method that made it feasible to identify the best-performing designs from the trillions of possibilities.

The team discovered that rates of infant IPD in Maela could actually be reduced by omitting components from the PCV13 vaccine to keep certain serotypes in place, removing the possibility of their replacement by highly-invasive serotypes. In Massachusetts, a vaccine targeting 20 serotypes was found to be more effective than the current PCV13.

The results highlight the need for vaccine programmes to be tailored to specific communities of bacteria and to consider vaccination at different ages.

Dr Nicholas Croucher, of the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London, said: "Our research shows that the best vaccine designs strongly depend on the bacterial strains present in the population, which vary considerably between countries. The best vaccine designs also depend on the age group being vaccinated. These ideas will be critical for applying lessons learned from introducing vaccines in high-income countries to combatting the disease where the burden is highest."

Vaccination of infants also affects IPD in adults. However, trends in IPD can differ between infants and the elderly in the same country, as seen recently in the UK. In many places, older adults already receive an S. pneumoniae vaccine, which was designed before the infant vaccine. The study also found that adult disease rates could be reduced by almost 50 per cent by redesigning adult vaccines to complement those administered to infants.

Professor Caroline Colijn, of Simon Fraser University and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "This approach to optimising vaccines will help to address several problems, such as invasive disease among infants or adults and minimising antibiotic resistance in the post vaccine population. Such an approach also enables public health policy-makers to assess the likely effectiveness of an existing vaccine for a local population based on genomic surveillance data."

The findings coincide with growing alarm at the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to common medicines. S. pneumoniae infections are sometime resistant to multiple antibiotics and have been highlighted as a priority threat by the WHO***. This study highlighted how vaccines can be designed to reduce the chances that a person's S. pneumoniae would be resistant to common treatments.

Professor Jukka Corander, of the University of Oslo, University of Helsinki and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "With the power of the latest DNA sequencing technology we are heading towards a future where large-scale genomic surveillance of major bacterial pathogens is feasible. The approach we describe in this study will play an important role in accelerating future vaccine discovery and design to help reduce rates of disease."

###

Contact details:

Dr Matthew Midgley

Press Office

Wellcome Sanger Institute

Cambridge, CB10 1SA

Phone: 01223 494856

Email: press.office@sanger.ac.uk

Notes to Editors:

*The World Health Organization has more information on Invasive Pneumococcal Disease (IPD). https:/ / www. who. int/ ith/ diseases/ pneumococcal/ en/

** Serotypes are groups of a species of microorganism that share similar features. The Centre for Disease Control website has more information on bacterial serotypes using the example of salmonella. https:/ / www. cdc. gov/ salmonella/ reportspubs/ salmonella-atlas/ serotyping-importance. html

*** For more information on WHO priorities, see: https:/ / www. who. int/ news-room/ detail/ 27-02-2017-who-publishes-list-of-bacteria-for-which-new-antibiotics-are-urgently-needed )

Publication:

Caroline Colijn, Jukka Corander and Nicholas J. Croucher. (2020). Designing ecologically optimised pneumococcal vaccines using population genomics. Nature Microbiology. DOI: 10.1038/s41564-019-0651-y

Funding:

This research was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the UK, the Government of Canada's Canada 150 Research Chair program, Wellcome, the Royal Society, the UK Medical Research Council and the European Research Council.

Selected websites:

Imperial College London

Imperial College London is one of the world's leading universities. The College's 17,000 students and 8,000 staff are expanding the frontiers of knowledge in science, medicine, engineering and business, and translating their discoveries into benefits for our society.

Imperial is the UK's most international university, according to Times Higher Education, with academic ties to more than 150 countries. Reuters named the College as the UK's most innovative university because of its exceptional entrepreneurial culture and ties to industry. http://www. imperial. ac. uk

The Wellcome Sanger Institute

The Wellcome Sanger Institute is a world leading genomics research centre. We undertake large-scale research that forms the foundations of knowledge in biology and medicine. We are open and collaborative; our data, results, tools and technologies are shared across the globe to advance science. Our ambition is vast - we take on projects that are not possible anywhere else. We use the power of genome sequencing to understand and harness the information in DNA. Funded by Wellcome, we have the freedom and support to push the boundaries of genomics. Our findings are used to improve health and to understand life on Earth. Find out more at http://www. sanger. ac. uk or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and on our Blog.

About Wellcome

Wellcome exists to improve health by helping great ideas to thrive. We support researchers, we take on big health challenges, we campaign for better science, and we help everyone get involved with science and health research. We are a politically and financially independent foundation. https:/ / wellcome. ac. uk/

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
WASHINGTON  When U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney announced he would vote to convict the president on the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Chris Murphy was in the chamber listening.

When Romney finished, Murphy, D-Conn., emerged from the chamber his voice quavering.

I think history will judge that to be one of the more important speeches of my time in the Senate, Murphy said. I was choked up listening to him speak.

Murphy had just finished his own impeachment speech highlighting the importance of putting country over party, when Romney took the podium.

Its the hardest thing to do in the world, to stand up to your party and your friends and your donors and just decide to do whats right, Murphy said. I think we all wonder if we would make the same decision if we were in the same position.

Murphy said Romneys decision convinced him there is still left honor in this place.

With his speech, Romney because the first Republican support convicting President Donald J. Trump of the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress passed by the House in the articles of impeachment.

The President is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust, Romney said. What he did was not perfect. No, it was a flagrant assault under electoral rights, our national security and our fundamental values.

Trumps counsel has stated that Trump has not committed any impeachable offenses, nor engaged in wrong doing.

Although a few other Republicans have called the presidents behavior toward Ukraine inappropriate, Romney is expected to be the only Republican to join Democrats in a vote to convict Trump.

In a speech Tuesday, a grave U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., entreated senators to support removing the president.

I implore each of my colleagues to think about the gravity of what we will do if we fail to convict this president, Blumenthal said, speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday morning. The message that we send to countries struggling to overcome corruption - because America is more than just a country, America is an idea and an ideal - when we implore them to fight corruption, our credibility is shredded when we condone it at home.

Murphy, in his speech, urged senators to act to protect a fragile and rare democracy. Murphy acknowledged the difficulty of bucking party lines in a hyper-partisan Washington atmosphere and wondered aloud if Democrats would be so bold if the roles were reversed. Murphy said he would vote to remove a Democrat, but I admit to some level of doubt.

The pressures today to put party first are real on both sides of the aisle and they are much more acute today than they were during Watergate, Murphy said.

Murphy spoke of the need to reduce partisanship for the future of the Senate.

This senate needs to figure out a way after today to reorder our incentive system and recalibrate our faiths so the health of one party never ever again comes before the health of our nation, Murphy said.

Blumenthal also revealed some emotion Tuesday, when he described how the Senate voted 51-49 against calling new witnesses and documents in the trial on Friday.

That moment  unfortunately a moment of dismay and disappointment  will stay with me after aspiring for so long to be part of this body which I respected and revered, so utterly failing the American people at this moment of crisis, Blumenthal said.

During the trial, Blumenthal said he thought of Ukrainian soldiers who were treated in 2015 in Connecticut hospitals for their wounds after they fought with Ukrainian separatists, reportedly backed by Russians.

One such fighter was treated at Yale-New Haven Hospital, while two others were treated for burns at Bridgeport Hospital. Blumenthal said he met some of the soldiers at Bridgeports burn center.

Their stories of suffering and hardship came back to me as I sat on the floor here, Blumenthal said.

In his speech, the former Connecticut attorney general accused the president of a criminal act, bribery, and then using the powers of his office to cover it up. He rejected the presidents lawyers claims that executive privilege permitted the White House to withhold some evidence from Congress.

Executive privilege cannot be invoked to conceal criminal conduct, he said.

Senators were permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Their remarks were typically given to a Senate chamber empty of other lawmakers.

Not all Democrats strongly support removing the president like Blumenthal and Murphy. One of the few undecided senators, Joe Manchin, D-W.V., said on the Senate floor Monday night that he would support an effort to censure the president because he believes that would receive bipartisan support.

Censure would allow a bipartisan statement condemning his unacceptable behavior in the strongest terms, Manchin said.

But several leading Senate Republicans have criticized the idea of censuring Trump, making it unlikely such a step would advance.

I think theres some people that just want to tarnish what I expect will occur, which is the president will be acquitted, said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told the Hill. So, I dont think theres any support for a censure.

In one of the most surprising moments of the senate impeachment speeches, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., repeated his question that named a person widely believed to be the whistle-blower on the Senate floor Tuesday. This questions was rejected by Chief Justice John Roberts during the trial, a move that Paul criticized Tuesday.

Were people plotting to bring down the president? Paul added.

emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson
South Dakota's chief justice seeks $5 million for courthouse security

In Chief Justice Jensen's State of the Judiciary Address, he mentioned courthouse security, sexual harassment training and a lack of court reporters.
Turkey: Agreement on sanctions for two people for drilling Probable adoption at EU Foreign Council on 17 February

(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, FEBRUARY 4 - The Working Party of Foreign Relations Councillors (RELEX) on Tuesday morning reached an agreement to put two individuals on the European blacklist for illegal drilling by Turkey in Cypriot waters, ANSA learned from EU sources.



Sanctions associated with placement on the blacklist include the freezing of assets and a ban on travel in the EU.



RELEX will now continue the legal work, in view of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 17 February, which is expected to adopt the measure.(ANSAmed).




Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-05 05:57:39|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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KHARTOUM, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan reaffirmed on Tuesday Sudan's principled position in favor of the Palestinian cause and the right of its people to establish an independent state.

His comment comes just a day after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Uganda, according to a statement released by the sovereign council.

Al-Burhan said this step is in line with his work to maintain and preserve the Sudanese national security and achieve the interests of the Sudanese people.

For years, Sudan has remained within the axis of the countries opposing normalization with Israel.
As the coronavirus death toll mounted to 425, India on Tuesday further tightened visa rules by cancelling the existing visas for Chinese and foreigners who had visited the country in the last two weeks. (Photo: File)

Beijing: As the coronavirus death toll mounted to 425, India on Tuesday further tightened visa rules by cancelling the existing visas for Chinese and foreigners who had visited the country in the last two weeks.

On February 2, India temporarily suspended e-visa facility for Chinese travellers and foreigners residing in China in view of the coronavirus outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

The death toll in China's coronavirus rose sharply to 425 with 64 deaths on Monday and the number of those infected with the deadly disease rose to 20,438, Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday.

All those who are already in India (with regular or e-visa) and had travelled from China after January 15 are requested to contact the hotline number of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Government of India (+91-11-23978046 and email: ncov2019@gmail.com, the announcement by the Indian Embassy here said.

About the validity of the visas, it said the Embassy of India and our Consulates have been receiving several queries from Chinese citizens as well as other foreign nationals, who are based out of China or visited China in the last 2 weeks, as to whether they can use their valid single/multiple entry visas to travel to India.

It is clarified that existing visas are no longer valid. Intending visitors to India should contact the Indian Embassy in Beijing (visa.beijing@mea.gov.in) or the Consulates in Shanghai (Ccons.shanghai@mea.gov.in) and Guangzhou (Visa.guangzhou@mea.gov.in) to apply afresh for an Indian visa. Indian Visa Application Centres (www.blsindia-china.com) in these cities may also be contacted in this regard, it said.

The Visa Section of the Embassy/Consulates of India in China can be contacted to ascertain the validity of visa before undertaking any visit to India, it said.

The deadly virus has spread to more than 25 countries, including India.

India has reported three cases of the coronavirus. All the three patients from Kerala recently returned from the affected Wuhan city.

Currently, 647 Indians and seven Maldivians who have been evacuated from Wuhan and Hubei province are in 14-day quarantine at a medical camp in Manesar, near Delhi.
Len was well aware that the impact of trauma was modified by unconscious fantasies, and that one never got a totally accurate depiction of a traumatic experience, Dr. Blum said in a phone interview.

Image Dr. Shengold had been treating adult victims of childhood abuse for about 25 years when he wrote his influential book Soul Murder, published in 1989.

Leonard Shengold was born on Dec. 5, 1925, in Syracuse, N.Y., to Chaim and Sonia (Kosofsky) Shengold, both of whom had immigrated from cities that were part of the Russian empire at the time. His father, a watchmaker, came from Minsk; his mother, a homemaker, was from Vilna.

Leonard was 5 years old when his father started experiencing severe angina attacks, prompting his mother to caution him, You mustnt get him excited; it might kill him, he recalled in an interview with the International Forum of Psychoanalysis in 2011. And as soon as she said that, I could tell from her face how distressed she was to have said it. She started to cry, and I started to cry. Perhaps I had an early talent for empathy.

His father died seven years later.

Leonard, a bookish youngster, attended Syracuse University for one semester before transferring to Columbia College in New York, where one of his teachers, the literary critic Lionel Trilling, sparked his interest in Freud and psychoanalysis.

At 18 he entered the Army, where he served as an air-to-ground radio operator in India and then as a clerk in North Africa and Saudi Arabia after the Japanese surrender. He took two books with him to the war reflecting his literary and scientific interests: Prousts Remembrance of Things Past and Freuds Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis.

He graduated from Columbia in 1947 with a bachelors degree in English and earned a medical degree at the Long Island College of Medicine (now SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University) four years later. He received training at the Psychoanalytic Institute and Clinic at Downstate (now the Psychoanalytic Association of New York, which is affiliated with the New York University School of Medicine).

Over his 60-year career, Dr. Shengold saw patients privately; was a training analyst at the institute, as well as its director from 1975 to 1978; and taught psychiatry at N.Y.U. He received the Sigourney Award, for work advancing psychoanalysis, in 1997.
WAUKEE, Iowa  The Republican Party belongs to President Trump, and everyone in the Waukee Elementary School gymnasium knew it. Even the man who was ostensibly trying to persuade his neighbors otherwise.

I want to explain to you why I, I  you might be surprised to see someone supporting Joe Walsh in front of all these Trump fans  and why I have the bravery that I do, Jim Marwedel, 50, said nervously. Its because of my fifth great-grandfather, William Lee. He came from Ireland to the colonies and fought in the Revolutionary War. He was left for dead at the Battle of Guilford County, and I figured if he has the bravery to come forward and die for his country, I can just stand before you and talk about the Constitution for a few minutes.

It did take some courage to do what Mr. Marwedel and a very small minority of Republicans did on Monday night when they registered protest votes against Mr. Trump  even if it wasnt exactly the kind of courage required on a real field of battle. Mr. Trumps true believers dominated school gyms, churches and other caucus sites across Iowa and helped deliver his first victory on the path to reclaiming the nomination of a political party that four years ago broke into civil war over his insurgent candidacy.

Some 140 miles away, when the caucus captain at the Butcher Block Steakhouse in Cedar Rapids called out to two men standing in the very back of the room  the only two who had not raised their hands to support Mr. Trump  there was a very pregnant pause.
Ireland's top privacy regulator has launched a probe into Google's processing of location data that it collects from users.

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) said it had received "a number of complaints" from various consumer organizations across the European Union.

It said that those groups raised concerns relating to the "legality of Google's processing of location data and the transparency surrounding that processing."

"The Inquiry will set out to establish whether Google has a valid legal basis for processing the location data of its users and whether it meets its obligations as a data controller with regard to transparency," the Irish DPC said in a statement.

Because Alphabet-owned Google's European headquarters is in Ireland, the Irish DPC supervises it under the European Union's sweeping General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

A spokesperson for Google said people should be able to understand and control how companies use location data to provide services to them.

"We will cooperate fully with the office of the Data Protection Commission in its inquiry, and continue to work closely with regulators and consumer associations across Europe. In the last year, we have made a number of product changes to improve the level of user transparency and control over location data," the spokesperson said.

GDPR, which came into effect in 2018, seeks to give users more control of their data and force companies to adhere to stricter rules around processing that information. If a firm is found in violation of GDPR, regulators can impose fines of up to 20 million euros or 4% of a company's total global turnover, whichever is higher.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Nargiz Sadikhova  Trend:

Kazakhstan will soon resume oil export to China, Kazakhstans Minister of Energy Nurlan Nogayev said, Trend reports with reference to Kazakh media.

According to Nogayev, currently oil export is not being carried out at all.

On Jan. 16, 2020, KazTransOil detected an excess of organochlorine compounds in the fractions during crude oil receiving into the trunk pipeline system from CNPC-Aktobemunauygas.

KazTransOil suspended crude oil receiving from CNPC-Aktobemunaygas on the same day until the oil quality issue is resolved. As of Jan. 22, 2020, the acceptance of crude oil from CNPC-Aktobemunaygas was not restarted.

Kazakhstans Ministry of Energy, given the decline in volume of oil delivery for transportation through trunk oil pipelines system, adjusted the schedule for oil transportation to the refineries of Kazakhstan and for export for Jan. 2020. In particular, the scheduled volume of export to China was reduced.

The transit of Russian crude oil to China through the system of trunk oil pipelines of KazTransOil JSC is not suspended and is carried out in full compliance with contractual obligations and quality in accordance with GOST (quality standard).

---

Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
We couldnt be happier to have NewRoad lead our Series A, said Michael Leto, Emerges CEO. They bring a strong mix of operational expertise and industry leadership to the table. Were excited to add a category-leader and tech veteran like Tracy Black to the board and see what we will be able to accomplish together in 2020 and beyond.

The company has assembled a board of freight industry leaders that includes Jack Holmes, the former President of UPS Freight, who has joined as Chairman of the Board and Pat Reed, the former Executive Vice President and COO of FedEx Freight. NewRoads Tracy Black, who previously served as SVP of Information Technology at J.B. Hunt Transport, has also joined the board since leading Emerges Series A.
The US Justice Department has reached out to app developers as part of its investigation into Apple Inc, one of the four big tech companies being probed for alleged anti-competitive behavior, according one of the developers and another person familiar with the investigation. The chief executive of developer Mobicip, Suren Ramasubbu, told Reuters he was interviewed in November by a US investigator who asked about the company's interactions with Apple. The app, which has nearly a million users worldwide, allows parents to control what their children see on their ...
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Attacking the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Delhi needs a government that will give direction and not resort to blame games.

Addressing an election rally in Dwarka three days before the February 8 assembly elections, the prime minister accused the AAP dispensation of not implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the national capital.

Modi sought to know if 'mohalla clinics' set up by the AAP government will work if Delhiites fall sick outside city. He said the people of Delhi have seen how the AAP government practises the politics of hate.

The people of Delhi say the country has changed, and now is the time for Delhi's transformation, the prime minister told the gathering. "Delhi does not need a government which gives opportunity to enemies to attack us," he said.

He added that the Centre opened more bank accounts for the poor than the population of US, and built more houses than the population of Sri Lanka.
Feb 4, 2020 KRR

Producer Anand Pandit, who has been working with actor Abhishek Bachchan in the upcoming film The Big Bull, is all praise for the actor.

According to Pandit, Abhishek is committed to everything he takes up. He said Abhishek believes in acing everything he does and he is very committed to his craft. The producer added that coming from a family that has been around for many years, he makes sure everyone on set is comfortable.

He makes sure to read his script thoroughly and doesnt waste peoples time. He has been an example to many people on set. As a producer, he is a dream to work with, Pandit said.

The Big Bull is reportedly based on Indias biggest securities scams, which happened in 1992. The film is co-produced by actor Ajay Devgn. It is directed by Kookie Gulati. It also stars Ileana D'Cruz and Lekha Prajapati et al.

Click the Movie button below for more info:

The Big Bull

Abhishek Bachchan Pictures
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: In a shocking incident at the holy town of Alandi near Pune in Maharashtra, a 14-year-old boy allegedly raped a 4-year-old girl.

The crime came to light when the girl suffered extreme bleeding and had to be hospitalised, the police said.

The accused who was the girl's neighbour saw her playing in the courtyard on Monday evening. He lured her using his smartphone and called her home. He fled his house after raping her. The girl, left in tears, returned home. Her parents found out that she was bleeding profusely. On the way to the hospital, the four-year-old narrated her ordeal.

ALSO READ: Doctors restore respiration of Maharashtra lecturer who was burnt alive by her lover

The victim is recuperating at a Pune hospital, police said. The accused ran from his home and was hiding at a nearby farm. He was nabbed when he emerged from the fields in search of food on Tuesday, police added.

Teacher molests his students in Nanded

In another shocking incident, a 30-year-old teacher identified as Swapnil Shrungare was arrested in Nanded of Marathwada region for allegedly molesting students at a primary school.

He allegedly showed pornographic video clips to 10-year-old students of the primary school and molested them. The incident came to light on Saturday when one of the students fell ill after returning home from school and confided in her parents about Shrungare. The girls parents reached the school and thrashed Shrungare before handing him over to the police.

A case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been registered, upper superintendent of police Dattaram Rathod said.
Jeffrey Epstein once complained to authorities that someone dressed as a ninja who had ties to the mafia was caught hiding in the bushes outside his home in Florida while on house arrest

Jeffrey Epstein once complained to authorities that someone dressed as a ninja who had ties to the mafia was caught hiding in the bushes outside his home in Florida while on house arrest.

The millionaire pedophile had claimed in a letter to the State Attorney's Office around 2008 that the mafia ninja was stalking him, according to court documents related to his case.

In the letter, which was written on Epstein's behalf by his attorney, the financier claimed his security team caught the man outside his home.

Epstein claimed his security chased the ninja to a nearby car and was able to obtain the license plate number, The Sun reports.

That's how Epstein was able to determine the man had links to the Gambino crime family, his lawyer claimed.

Epstein and his attorney included the information as they asked the State Attorney's Office to reconsider his probation.

The Attorney's Office responded by saying that Epstein had got the 'deal of the century'.

At the time, Epstein had pleaded guilty to a single charge of soliciting an underage prostitute under a sweetheart deal that saw him serve just 13 months in prison and required him to register as a sex offender.

He pleaded not guilty last year to charges of abusing women and girls between 2002 and 2005 in both New York and Florida.

The millionaire pedophile had claimed in a letter to the State Attorney's Office around 2008 that the mafia ninja was stalking him, according to court documents related to his case. Epstein owned this $12 million estate in Palm Beach, Florida

Epstein killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell in August while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

In lawsuits filed after his arrest, women say the abuse spanned decades.

It comes after a judge last week postponed for two months the trial for two jail guards charged with failing to make required checks on Epstein in the hours before his death.

U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres moved the date from April to June 22 after defense lawyers said they needed more time to prepare for trial.

Guards Tova Noel and Michael Thomas have pleaded not guilty to lying on prison records to make it seem they had checked on the financier before his death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

New York Citys medical examiner ruled his death as a suicide.

His death ended the possibility of a trial that would have involved prominent figures and it sparked widespread anger that he wouldn't have to answer for the allegations.

Epstein had once counted the rich and powerful, including President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, among his associates.
Popular Nollywood actor, Yul Edochie has reacted to the Lagos State Governments ban on commercial motorcycles popularly known as Okada and keke in the state.

The ban on motorcycles and tricycles on major highways and some selected areas within the state, has left a lot of people trekking to their destinations and it has led to serious protests on social media.

Also Read: Okada, Keke Ban: Many Dont Care About The Riders, Just Their Services  Seun Kuti

Reacting to the ban, the movie actor queried the Lagos State Government on its plans for employment for bike riders who have stopped working as a result of the ban.

See his tweet below:
Bank Holidays March 2021: On these dates banks will remain closed in India, check full list here

India's first bad bank or NARCL is here to tackle NPA, free up lenders: Details here

Explained: The Budget proposal to increase the insurance cover on bank deposits

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 04: In the Union Budget that was tabled on Saturday, the government proposed to increase the insurance cover on bank deposits from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

This was done with the aim of instilling more trust of the public in the banking system.

Why was the insurance cover hiked:

In September 2019, the Reserve Bank of India had slapped curbs on the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank and also appointed an administrator, while superseding the board of directors.

Explainer: When a public health emergency declared by WHO

This led to panic among the depositors. The customers rushed to the banks but were unable to withdraw more than Rs 1,000, which led to protests.

What is the DICGC:

The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is a subsidiary of the RBI. It gives insurance cover of up to Rs 1 lakh on deposits in banks. Now the banks will ensure deposits up to Rs 5 lakh.

Explainer: Why state government resolution against citizenship law has no legal sanctity

How does it benefit depositors:

When the bank collapses, depositors will get insurance of Rs 5 lakh from the corporation. However it must be noted that irrespective of the amount deposited, a customer would be entitled only for Rs 5 lakh insurance cover.
ALTON  The Illinois Judicial Branch has begun a strategic agenda to improve the states courts.

Whats yet to be determined is how the agendas success will be defined, Appellate Court Justice David Overstreet told the Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club Monday night.

You look at this plan, this idea, and it all looks good on paper, he said. What is going to be the result in one to three years? I dont know. Well see (in the next three years) if we get some positive results from these efforts.

Overstreet was a member of the Illinois Judicial Conference reorganized in October 2018 by former Illinois Chief Justice Lloyd Karmeier.

There has been a push over the last few years to bring other stakeholders in on discussions to improve the judiciary, Overstreet said. At a meeting in October of last year, we proposed Illinois first strategic agenda (for courts).

What weve come up with is something, first of all, to give us a big picture focus on what we do and how we serve the public, he said.

Guiding the work is a mission statement to protect the rights and liberties of all by providing equal access to justice, resolving disputes and upholding the rule of law pursuant to the powers and duties entrusted to the courts by the Illinois Constitution.

We feel it is very important that the public have confidence in what we do as the judiciary, that we are fair and impartial, Overstreet said.

In addition to a vision to be trusted and open by being fair, innovative, diverse and responsive, the conference also defined four core values: fairness, accountability, integrity and respect.

Overstreet said that respect is not necessarily for judges, but also for how those in the judicial system treat other people.

Its very important that judges listen and are courteous, he said. Were public servants; were not the masters.

The strategic agenda consists of five goals over the next one to three years:

 Accessible justice and equal protection under the law

 Procedural fairness, timeliness and operational efficiency

 Professional and accountability throughout the judicial branch

 Understanding of, and confidence in, the judicial branch

 Sufficient funding and effective use of judicial branch resources.

Within the five goals are 15 initiatives, such as remote appearances, self-represented litigants, plain language legal court forms, innovative dispute resolution, codes of ethical conduct, public relations and judiciary funding.

Technology keeps expanding. Our court system is basically the same, Overstreet said. There are some things that we can do differently.

He added that issues with self-represented litigants is huge.

We want everybody to have a fair shake, Overstreet said. The idea is within a county or a circuit that someone can work with self-represented lititgants or how to best serve them, he said. In the last 10 years or so the number of folks who do not hire an attorney for civil cases and represent themselves continues to climb.

In criminal cases, if you cant afford an attorney under the constitution the court will appoint an attorney for you, Overstreet said. Thats not the same in civil cases. It slows down the system and, if you dont have an attorney youre at a disadvantage because you dont have a trained person representing you.

Overstreet said the idea behind court coordinators is to help self-litigants know where to go and make the process more efficient.

A Mt. Vernon native, Overstreet was appointed to the Second Judicial Circuit Court in 2007, winning election in 2008 and retention in 2014. He was assigned to the Fifth District Appellate Court in 2017 and elected to serve on that court in 2018.

As vice chair of the efforts public relations plan, Overstreet currently is working to improve communication by the courts with the public, including schools and civic organizations, as well as through social media.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Infectious disease researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and other institutions in Hong Kong, mainland China and France have concluded there is a high probability that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus spread beyond Wuhan and other quarantined cities before Chinese officials were able to put a quarantine in place. At least 128 cities in China outside of the quarantine zone, including cities with no reported cases to date, had a greater than even risk of exposure, according to a paper currently in press with Emerging Infectious Diseases, a journal of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Based on comprehensive travel data from location-based services and modeling of the disease done at UT Austin's Texas Advanced Computing Center, 128 cities in China had a 50% chance or greater risk that someone exposed to the virus traveled there before the quarantine began. The team also estimated there were 11,213 cases of the coronavirus in Wuhan by the time of the quarantine on Jan. 22a rate 10 times higher than the reported cases.

"This risk assessment identified several cities throughout China likely to be harboring yet undetected cases of [Wuhan coronavirus] and suggests that early 2020 ground and rail travel seeded cases far beyond the Wuhan region quarantine," write the authors.

As of Feb. 4, officials have confirmed 425 fatalities from the virus, all but two in mainland China, and more than 20,000 confirmed cases spread across the world.

The paper shows there is a 99% chance that at least one patient carrying the virus traveled to the cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai by the time the quarantine was put in place for the city of Wuhan on Jan. 23. The quarantine has since expanded to include cities with populations totaling 60 million people. Beijing reported its first fatality from the virus on Jan. 27.

The team estimated new cases of the virus doubled roughly every week, and on average, that every infected person transmitted the disease to approximately two other people.

Lauren Ancel Meyers, a mathematical epidemiologist and professor of integrative biology and statistics and data sciences at UT Austin; and Zhanwei Du, a computer scientist working at UT Austin, along with a team of scientists from France, China and Hong Kong, used historical travel data for the busy Spring Festival season to chart human movements between 371 cities in China. The team used road, train and air travel data to yield results more accurate than those of other models.

"Given that 98% of all trips during this period are taken by train or car, our analysis of air, rail and road travel data yields more granular risk estimates than possible with air passenger data alone," said Meyers, who specializes in modeling the spread of infectious diseases. "The quarantine will probably prevent future transmission out of Wuhan. However, introductions of the novel coronavirus had already occurred throughout China and the world by the time the quarantine started."

The model also takes into account the reported cases of the disease outside of China to estimate the rates of epidemic growth.

Based on the team's estimates, there are at least 128 cities and as many as 186 cities in China that had at least a 50% chance of an infected visitor from Wuhan arriving sometime in the three weeks before the quarantine was enacted. Several cities reporting no cases had a 99% probability that an infected person visited. Those citieseach with a population of more than 2 million peopleinclude Fushun, Laibin and Chuxiong.
The armed forces are likely to collaborate and create an air defence command to cover all aerial operations taking place in the Indian airspace, a peninsula command to look after all naval operations in the closer Indian Ocean region, and a logistics command, said Indias first chief of defence staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday.

In order to become the armed forces of the Union, we need to start working on some of the aspects where we think immediate integration can happen. There, we find that air defence is one area, which according to me, is a low hanging fruit and can happen in a time-bound manner, the CDS told reporters.

The responsibility of the management of the airspace is that of the Air Force, therefore, the security and safety of the airspace must rest with that one service, he explained.

We feel that all the assets which are there must integrate under one service so that command and control issues can be simplified, he said.

In a landmark decision, the government on December 24 last year approved the creation of a CDS in the rank of a four-star general who acts as the principal military adviser to the defence minister on all matters relating to the tri-services.

The government also decided to create a new Department of Military Affairs (DMA) under the Defence Ministry, which is headed by the CDS as its secretary.

The CDS said there should be an integrated logistics command.

There is a great scope of logistics issues being integrated, Rawat said. Giving the example of medical resources, Rawat said among all three services, surpluses and deficiencies need to be better managed so that the doctors are neither overworked nor underutilised.

Rawat also said there is a need for a peninsula command, which would be with the Navy.

Our thought process is that let us go with the peninsula command. Currently there is East and West command in Navy over Indian Ocean, he said. If you look at the Navy Chief, these two commands are just one of his charters. Look at his charter, he is looking at the entire Indian Ocean region. He is looking from east coast of Africa to right down to Australia. So, he has got a bigger picture to look at, Rawat explained.

Therefore, with the creation of the peninsula command, the Navy Chief can disinvest himself from the closer Indian Ocean region and look at the bigger picture, Rawat added.

When asked if he has finalised which theatre commands would be finally created, he said, I am final in my mind... I would like to discuss this with the three service chiefs before I give out what is on my mind. They may be better than me. They may be having better ideas. Rawat added that for the northern borders - which means Indias border with China - no decision has been taken as yet on how many theatres would be created.

Some thoughts have been exchanged with the service chiefs regarding this matter, he added. The CDS stated that initially, the theatre commanders would be reporting to their respective service chiefs.

Once we are done with our cross staffing, initially the theatre commanders will have to be assigned with the regular theatre with the chiefs taking over, Rawat told the reporters.

When asked if it will become too complex as there will be one more layer with the theatre commanders reporting to the service chiefs, he said, This is a transformational phase... Initially, you see, you dont want to mess up the thing while going for the transformation as you dont know when things will turn ugly. And at that time, we dont want people saying I dont know about this. You have to keep this overlap for a while because in our case we dont know when this requirement may come up of when you have to engage. So, when one doesnt know when the requirement may come, it is better to have those systems, the CDS added.

On the question about the time frame he has in his mind to create these theatre commands, the CDS said, I have been given three years...for the creation of these theatres. Rawat added that in the DMA, total six joint secretaries - four from armed forces and two from civil services - are working.
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Neighbors remember man killed by firework following Super Bowl KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) - Sadly, last night's celebration did result in one death where a Kansas City man was killed by fireworks. KCTV5's Greg Payne spoke to the man's neighbor in the 9800 block of Richmond Ave, where the incident happened. There was a lot of emotion on the street.

We really like this personal and neighborhood take from KCTV5 . . . It's a compliment to our discussion about the dude and a more complete representation of this bittersweet moment in time . . . Take a look:
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Because Overstock continues to shine with a fantastic inventory and customer-friendly policies, were thrilled to once again give them our top ranking among retailers of Charm Bracelets in 2020

TopConsumerReviews.com recently gave another best-in-class 5 star rating to Overstock, a leader among stores that sell Charm Bracelets.

What better way to commemorate an accomplishment or special memory than with a charm bracelet? Although this style of jewelry came about hundreds of years ago as a means of warding off evil spirits or inviting good luck, it has come to be one of the most popular ways to show off a persons unique interests, history, or treasured moments. And the available styles of charm bracelets are as varied as the wearers themselves: options include dangling charms and slide-on beads, precious stones and Swarovski crystal elements, costume jewelry for young children or white gold for more refined tastes. The best way to ensure that a bracelet contains the perfect arrangement of charms is by shopping online, where the worlds best selection awaits.

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TopConsumerReviews.com, LLC is a leading provider of reviews and rankings for thousands of consumer products and services. From Charm Bracelets to Diamonds and Jewelry, TopConsumerReviews.com delivers in-depth product evaluations in order to make purchasing decisions easier.


An Illinois man and his five-year-old grandson have been killed in a fire that broke out overnight.

Approximately 60 firefighters from various agencies responded to the scene and struggled to get to David Castellanos and his grandfather David Castellanos III as the blaze engulfed the two-story building in Cicero just after midnight on Monday.

The flames were worsened by 30mph winds that spread to the neighboring building and when firefighters arrived the back porch was already burning.

'The back entrance of the building was completely consumed by flames and we had to go through the front,' Cicero Fire Chief, Dominic Buscemi, said. 'The front had extensive damage from the fire, also, making access very difficult.'

David Castellanos III and his grandson were killed in a fire in Illinois Tuesday. The flames were worsened by 30mph winds that spread to the next building

Approximately 60 firefighters from various agencies responded to the scene and struggled to get to David Castellanos and his grandfather Tuesday

Fire chief said: 'The front had extensive damage from the fire, also, making access very difficult'

Local news images showed the building rapidly burning in the early hours of the morning.

Cicero spokesman Ray Hanania said the winds 'severely hampered' their efforts.

By the time rescuers reached them, the grandfather had died from smoke inhalation.

'This was a very difficult fire,' Cicero Fire Chief Buscemi said. 'Our firefighters fought through the flames to get to the upstairs bedroom where we believed a man and a child and possibly others were located, but we couldn't save them.

'The child had a faint pulse but died at the scene. The grandfather was deceased in the burning structure and we were able to recover his body.'

The deceased were not immediately identified pending notification of their family members.

When firefighters arrived the back porch was already burning, the 'back entrance of the building was completely consumed by flames' Fire Chief said

At least four other people have been displaced due to the fire damage and the building is still too difficult to enter

Cook County Medical Examiner's Office had not shared details of the deaths on Tuesday afternoon.

'You don't want to have any fires, but when you have fatalities that involve a child, it hits home,' Buscemi added.

Later on Tuesday morning the property was still too dangerous to 'to inspect more closely and in detail' for a cause of fire.

State representative Elizabeth 'Lisa' Hernandez said the young victim was a Liberty Elementary kindergartner and as she extended her condolences on Tuesday.

Saying her 'heart goes out to the family and friends  especially his three siblings', she added: 'I commend the Cicero Fire Department on their bravery and service. The tragedy in Cicero sadly reminds us that life is fleeting and we must always treasure our family and friends.'

It was so difficult to contain that one firefighter was hospitalized with minor injuries.

At least four other people have been displaced due to the fire damage.
The Trump administration has also had an interest in promoting dialogue between Saudi Arabia and the rebels. Congressional anger over the administrations support for the Saudis has been growing, and U.S. officials worry that Yemen was becoming an increasingly dangerous second front for Iranian attacks on U.S. regional allies. The U.S. military has argued that the conflict complicates counterterrorism efforts in Yemen and expands Irans reach on the Arabian Peninsula.
SIOUX CITY -- Jeff and Jessika Lopez couldn't find a sitter Monday night, but they weren't going to let that keep them from showing their support for Bernie Sanders.

Instead of staying home, the two brought their sons, Tristan, 4, and Theodore, 2, to West High School with them to Woodbury County's 3rd Precinct Democratic caucus. Standing for the Vermont senator was worth the hassle of bringing two young boys along.

"This isn't easy, but we both really want our candidate to win," Jeff Lopez said after corralling Tristan and returning to their seat in the school auditorium.

Child care wasn't an issue for Christina Gormally, who brought daughters Olivia, 10, and Amelia, 8, with her to experience a caucus for the first time.

"I think it's a good experience for them to see how it all works," Gormally said.

Munching on cookies provided by supporters of former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg, the girls scanned the room from their mother's side.

"I don't care who wins, I like Joe," Amelia said in reference to former Vice President Joe Biden.

Her preference didn't sit well with older sister Olivia, who wanted Buttigieg to win.

Though well below caucusing age, the two girls have watched countless political ads and were familiar with all the Democratic candidates, said Gormally, who supported Buttigieg.

Young, old and in between, 88 Democrats from Sioux City's west side gathered here in Iowa's time-honored tradition of hosting the nation's first contest to begin choosing the next presidential nominees.

"It's always been important to me, I majored in political science. It's a sense of duty, I guess," said Megan DeDoncker, a lawyer who moved to Sioux City in August.

After months of observing campaign stops by dozens of candidates, Democrats had a lot to chew on -- figuratively.

Biden's precinct co-chair Cynthia Hansen laid out a table full of Rice Krispie treats and assorted cookies along with literature on the former vice president. At Buttigieg's table, Chips Ahoy was top among the choices. Snickers and Salted Nut Roll candy bars were the snack of choice at the table for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Whether it was the cookies or his stance on the issues, Biden pulled in the most support, getting 31 votes and three delegates. Sanders was second with 21 votes and two delegates, followed by Buttigieg with 17 and two and entrepreneur Andrew Yang at 14 and one.

"I think it was the monster cookies and the chocolate chip cookies," a joking Hansen, happy with Biden's showing, said while packing up leftover cookies after the caucus.

The snacks weren't enough to keep Warren viable. Her supporters dispersed during the first alignment when it became obvious they were not going to reach the 15 percent viability threshold at 14 supporters.

Yang's supporters pounced on the Warren camp and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar's, too, in search of one more supporter to stay viable.

Sitting at 13, Yang's supporters quickly zeroed in on the Warren and Klobuchar camps.

"We need one person," a Yang supporter said, descending the steps toward the Klobuchar supporters, who were trying to recruit two more supporters themselves to stay in the race.

"They're staying with us," Klobuchar supporter Michelle Meyers said, tugging on the Yang supporter's arm as he tried to recruit them.

A short time later, cheers erupted from the top of the auditorium from the Yang section as they welcomed a new supporter.

Caucus chairman Jeremy Saint looked on, giving the caucusgoers extra time to make their pitches to one another even though it meant keeping them there a little bit longer.

"Thank you for your patience, everyone," Saint said. "Democracy is a little messy, but it's beautiful."

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Superannuation funds are agitating for lower retirement age thresholds for Indigenous Australians, warning lower life expectancy means they're not getting fair access to the pension and super.

Major fund AustralianSuper, consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees and the Australian Council of Trade Unions all raised concerns about Indigenous access to funds in retirement as part of submissions to a government review.

Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said there were systemic and structural transformations needed. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population born between 2015 and 2017 the life expectancy for men was 71.6 years and for women was 75.6 years. Non-Indigenous men and women have a life expectancy of 80.2 years and 83.4 years respectively.

In the past decade there has been a small narrowing in this life expectancy gap. The federal government has committed $4.1 billion for Indigenous health initiatives for four years from 2019-20.
PHOENIX - An Iraqi man living in metro Phoenix is accused of leading an al-Qaida group that authorities say killed two police officers 14 years ago on the streets of Fallujah in attacks carried out by masked men.

Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri was arrested last week in Arizona as part of an extradition request made by the Iraqi government, which charged the 42-year-old with murder in the 2006 shooting deaths.

Court records unsealed Monday reveal details of the two attacks in which armed men who were wearing masks jumped out of cars, fired on the officers and fled.

In the first shooting, an attacker held a gun to a witness head, while another attacker who started to fire on a police officer experienced a malfunction with his gun. Another attacker then killed police Lt. Issam Ahmed Hussein. The witness later identified Ahmed, who wasnt wearing a mask, as the groups leader, according to court records.

Four months later, Iraqi authorities say Ahmed and other men fatally shot Officer Khalid Ibrahim Mohammad as the officer was sitting outside a store. A person who witnessed the shooting recognized Ahmed, whose mask had fallen off, as one of the assailants, according to court records.

Ahmeds attorney, Jami Johnson, didnt immediately return a call Monday seeking comment on her clients behalf.

The U.S. Attorneys Office in Phoenix declined to describe Ahmeds immigration status.

A court hearing for Ahmed is scheduled Tuesday in Phoenix.

The Arizona Republic has previously reported that Ahmed has been in the United States since January 2008 and ran an Arizona driving school.
Pompano Beach, Florida, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brownies Marine Group, Inc. (OTC:BWMG) a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of modern recreational diving products and onboard compressed air solutions is pleased to announce a sales update for the BLU3 NEMO Diving Product and their attendance as a displaying party in the 2020 Miami International Boat Show.



BLU3 NEMO Product Continues to Build Momentum

The Companys wholly-owned subsidiary, BLU3 ( diveBLU3.com) , has now shipped over 400 NEMO units to date to customers in more than 20 countries. The manufacturing team continues to focus on streamlining production to scale at larger volumes to meet growing market demand. The Company has now pre-built enough units in stock to facilitate next day-shipping versus the longer lead time necessary in Q4-2019.

We feel so gratified that customers are liking the product so much, and telling their friends about it, and we can roll the units out to them faster for people to enjoy said Robert Carmichael, Chairman & CEO of Brownies Marine Group, Inc. Our conversations with various dealers and sales partners are getting more interesting as we start delivering to the market more efficiently. We hope to be to finalize some of those new relationships and share the news with everyone soon.

Display at the 2020 Miami International Boat Show

NEMO will be on display at the 2020 Miami International Boat Show that will be held between February 13th - February 17th at the Miami Marine Stadium Park & Basin in Virginia Key. They will be displaying at the Brownies Yacht Diver booth in C Tent # C398.

About BLU3 NEMO

NEMO ( diveBLU3.com/NEMO ) is a battery-powered and ultra-portable tankless dive system created for the recreational diving population under the BLU3 brand to make diving more user friendly, easier, and accessible to a new and larger group of divers. It was designed with the mass, global market in mind, ultimately creating a market much greater than SCUBA by eliminating barriers to entry. Weighing in at about 10 lb., NEMO is portable and travels as carry-on luggage on an airplane including multiple spare batteries which run the system for over 60 minutes each. NEMO has many potential applications, from river treasure and fossil hunting, boat hull cleaning, pool maintenance and even underwater yoga.

About Brownies Marine Group

Brownies Marine Group, Inc., is the parent company to a family of innovative brands with a unique concentration in the industrial, military and recreational diving industry. The Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, tests, manufactures, and distributes recreational hookah diving, yacht-based scuba air compressors and nitrox generation systems, and scuba and water safety products in the United States and internationally. The Company has three subsidiaries including Trebor Industries, Inc., founded in 1981 and dba as Brownies Third Lung, BLU3, Inc., and Brownies High-Pressure Services, Inc. dba LW Americas. The Company is headquartered in Pompano Beach, Florida. For more information, visit: www.BrowniesMarineGroup.com

To stay up to date with exciting Brownies Marine Group, Inc. news, please register to our YouTube Channel .

Contact Information: (954)-462-5570 | investors@browniesmarinegroup.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release may contain forward looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those anticipated or expected. Actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors. Stockholders and potential investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements in this report are reasonable, we cannot assure stockholders and potential investors that these plans, intentions or expectations will be achieved. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements made with respect to the development, production and marketability of our development stage NEMO product. Except to the extent required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, a change in events, conditions, circumstances or assumptions underlying such statements, or otherwise. You are urged to carefully review and consider any cautionary statements and other disclosures, including the statements made under the heading Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and our other periodic and quarterly filings with the SEC.
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Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Mahua Moitra on Monday accused the BJP-led government of betraying the voters, who had reposed their faith in it, saying that nobody wants to be part of us versus them debate.

Participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the Presidents Address in the Lok Sabha, Moitra made a hard-hitting attack on the government, saying it should not go beyond tenets of democracy or arrogate any extra-constitutional authority.

She accused the government of betrayal of body politic and said that the people were on the streets against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

As a member of the opposition, I have an unquestionable right to tell you that as a government you lack humility, she said.

Do not go beyond the tenets of democracy. Today I rise to speak of betrayal. And this betrayal is not just for myself. I was not part of 31 per cent who voted for you in 2014 and 37 per cent who voted for you in 2019. This is not about people like me. I was sceptical about you, your ideology, your rhetoric right from the word go. In a sense, you owe me little. The truth is you have betrayed the very citizen who did vote for you, she said.

Moitra said the BJP did not come to power only on votes of the Hindu right but because a very large section of ordinary people, the aspirational middle-of-the-road voters cast aside whatever reservations they might have had about your past and believed in the slogan of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.

She said these were not hard-core believers but they still believed you, they voted for you.

You have betrayed the young voters looking forward to their first job. You have betrayed small businessmen by your decision of demonetisation killing his market, she said.

She accused the government of questioning the citizenship of the people who had voted for it.

The middle-of-road voters who cannot recognise the India they are living in, cannot recognise the images they see on TV screens, she said and accused the members of the ruling party of spewing hate-filled invective.

She also mentioned the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp and said all holocaust memorials serve one reminder that it could happen again.

NPR, NRC, and CAA are all tools in Machevillian design to first mark out and then disenfranchise and finally annihilate. This is your biggest betrayal of those who voted for you. Nobody wants to be part of this us versus them debate. My friends who voted for you in 2014 are horrified by what is happening in their name under your watch, she said.

She accused the BJP of demonising dissent and forgetting dharma.

Moitra also objected to BJP choosing its MP Parvesh Sahib Singh as its first speaker in the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the Presidents Address, saying that he had been barred from campaigning for 96 hours by the poll panel.

You have executive authority to do so but your government depends on higher authority -- moral authority, she said.
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AKRON, Ohio  The owner of a store in West Akron exchanged gunfire with robbery suspects, wounding one of them, police say.

The wounded suspect is now facing charges as he recovers in the hospital. Two other suspects have been arrested and charged.

Police say the shooting occurred at about 1 p.m. Saturday at the Delia Market on the 900 block of Delia Avenue. The owner of the market tells police that two masked men entered the store with guns drawn. The store owner opened fire, causing both men to run from the scene, but not before one was wounded in the arm. No one in the store was injured.

The wounded man, identified as Marcell Clay, 32, was dropped off at Akron City Hospital minutes later by two other suspects, police say. The two other suspects, Dominic Smith, 31, and Marsean Grier, 20, ran from the area after dropping off Clay, but later were arrested without incident near the hospital, according to police.

Investigators say Smith and Grier gave information that linked them to the incident at the store. A handgun was recovered from inside their vehicle, a Dodge Caliber.

Clay is charged with aggravated robbery and felonious assault, Smith is charged with aggravated robbery, and Grier is charged with aggravated robbery, felonious assault, carrying a concealed weapon and a probation violation, according to police. Smith and Grier are being held in the Summit County Jail.

To comment on this story, visit Mondays crime and courts comment section.

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A bulldog climbs into a female bodybuilder's top while she is working out in a gym in adorable footage.

Gus snuggles up to owner Alexis Karstetter as she does press ups on a rowing machine at the Foundation Gym in Westport, Kansas City, Missouri.

The video shows the English bulldog lumber up to his owner and shove his head up her baggy t-shirt.

Gus the bulldog shoves his head up Alexis Karstetter's baggy t-shirt as she tries to work out in Westport, Kansas City

Ms Karstetter laughs and falls off the equipment as Gus continues up the top until his head pokes out the neck hole.

He licks her face happily and pulls her along the ground as she struggles to pull his head free.

The pair then move out of the view of the camera as the struggle continues.

Ms Karstetter laughs as Gus continues up the top until his head pokes out the neck hole at the other end

He licks her face happily and pulls her along the ground as she struggles to pull his head free from the top

The hilarious video now has over 1.9 million views and counting with users quick to comment on the cute pair.

One viewer said: 'This was so adorable. The way he wriggled his head to get in the shirt!'

Another said: 'He wants some kisses, how cute!'

Gus the English bulldog has his own Instagram page with over 49,000 followers and regularly posts updates of him out and about and in the gym with Alexis.

Gus the English bulldog has his own Instagram page with over 49,000 followers and regularly posts updates of him out and about and in the gym with Alexis
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called for a downward review of salaries of political office holders.

The union also explained the levels of implementation of the minimum wage by the states.

Its call follows the recent move by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to review salaries of political office holders with current realities in the country.

The NLC president, Ayuba Wabba, said this during a press briefing held in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said political office holders in Nigeria are being overpaid, and the salaries of our political elite are much higher than any other in the world.

I was thinking that wage review should be upward or downwards, but in the case of our political elites, it should be downwards, he said.

He said that in other climes like South Africa, the margin between the minimum wage and what politician earns can be determined because there are imperial data to arrive at the differential.

In our own case, what is the differential? He said

Minimum wage implementation

President Muhammadu Buhari signed the new minimum wage bill into law on April 18. But its implementation had been stalled over salary adjustments and disagreement between the labour unions and government representatives.

Speaking on the status of minimum wage and consequential adjustment, negotiation in states, Mr Wabba said there are at least eight categories which each state falls under on the implementation of minimum wage and consequential salaries adjustment.

In the first category, Mr Wabba said there are 16 states that have agreed and signed like Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, FCT, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Lagos, Ondo.

In the second category, he said three states have reached an agreement but have not signed. They are: Cross River, Enugu and Sokoto.

The third category, he said there are 17 states where negotiation is ongoing. They are: Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Yobe, and Zamfara.

The fourth category, he said, includes states that have commenced implementation. They are Borno, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, FCT, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Lagos, Ondo, Sokoto, and Yobe.

The union said that, in the fifth category, Taraba has not started anything, a committee has not been inaugurated, the process of dialogue has not commenced.

The union appealed to the Taraba State Government to quickly respect the provision of the minimum wage act.

In the sixth category, Mr Wabba said in the three states, implementation has commenced for level 1-6. These are, Adamawa, Bauchi and Niger.

The seventh category includes states that have negotiated but yet to implement and these include Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra and Bayelsa.

Finally, there are states where no implementation has commenced like Benue, Cross River, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba and Zamfara.

Mr Wabba said the minimum wage act is already a law, and that every political office holder must respect the sanctity of our constitution and also the sanctity of oat of office theyve sworn to uphold.

If a worker is entitled to be paid his wages, the wages must be commensurate to what has been negotiated, he said.

Meanwhile, the labour union also appealed to the president to address the issue of national security as a matter of emergency.

When asked whether the service chiefs should be sacked or remain in office, Mr Wabba said, I dont want to be in the politics of whether they should go or not.

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What we demand is that the issue must be addressed, if in the process they needed to go, that is the decision that the president and commander in chief need to take but what we want is efficiency, we want the issue to be brought to an end, Mr Wabba said.
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Linkedin Elodie Cuzini (Agence France-Presse) Des Moines, United States  Tue, February 4, 2020 12:26 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20626cb8b 2 World #USA,#Elections,Democratic-party,Iowa,delay Free

Americans kicked off the first vote of the 2020 presidential race Monday in Iowa, but delayed results in the state's Democratic caucuses triggered hours-long waits and growing confusion on the ground.

Iowa is a closely-watched test for the frontrunners, far-left Senator Bernie Sanders and moderate former vice president Joe Biden, in the months-long process to determine who will face President Donald Trump in November.

But with organizers yet to publish any official results four hours in, the tension was palpable among caucus-goers and Democratic campaigns -- while in television studios news anchors were left filling in the blanks with guesswork.

In a statement read on US networks, Mandy McClure, communications director at the Iowa Democratic Party, said further checks were ordered after "inconsistencies" were found in the reporting of three sets of results.

"This is simply a reporting issue," he said, denying there was "a hack or an intrusion" -- as Republicans including Donald Trump Jr rushed to suggest either incompetence or foul play by the Democratic leadership.

Held across nearly 1,700 sites, the Iowa vote offers a critical early look at the viability of the 11 Democrats still in the race -- even though just 41 delegates are up for grabs, a fraction of the 1,991 needed to secure the nomination in July.

It appeared the delays may have been exacerbated by new rules that the state's Democratic Party instituted after the 2016 election that now require caucuses to report three sets of numerical data rather than one set previously.

As the waiting dragged on, the candidates seized the chance to speak directly to voters with live television addresses -- each making the so far indisputable claim to have beaten expectations.

"When those results are announced I have a good feeling we're going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa," Sanders told loudly cheering supporters.

"Tonight in this enormously consequential 2020 election, the first state in the country has voted, and today marks the beginning of the end for Donald Trump."

'Feeling good'

Biden likewise rallied his supporters, telling them: "It's going to be a long night, but I'm feeling good."

"So it's on to New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, well beyond. We're in this for the long haul."

Senator Amy Klobuchar struck a similarly upbeat tone, saying: "We know there's delays but we know one thing, we are punching above our weight!"

Typically at 11:00 pm in Iowa on the night of a caucus, the large majority of results would already be reported.

One party official took matters into his own hands, announcing the results of his precinct via social media.

"I've been on hold for over an hour to report the results," tweeted Shawn Sebastian, the caucus secretary for Story County Precinct 1-1.

He reported that final results from his caucus showed Sanders with 116 votes, Senator Elizabeth Warren with 82 and former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg with 73.

Sanders and Biden had been leading the polls in Iowa, followed by centrist Buttigieg and progressive Warren.

But polling has fluctuated and Iowa's caucus system -- where voting is not by secret ballot but by public declaration for a candidate -- can make the night hard to predict.

Unlike secret ballot voting, caucus-goers publicly declare their presidential choice by standing together with other supporters of a candidate.

Candidates who reach 15 percent support earn delegates for the nomination race while supporters of candidates who fall short can shift to others.

- Sanders ahead -

As the White House nomination race kicked off in Iowa, another hugely consequential political process was nearing its conclusion: the Senate impeachment trial of Trump, the man Democrats hope to see off in the election exactly nine months away.

Trump is almost certain to be acquitted Wednesday by the Republican-led chamber on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Three Democratic candidates -- Sanders, Warren and moderate Amy Klobuchar -- have faced the unprecedented scenario of spending much of the past two weeks tethered to Washington for the impeachment trial instead of on the campaign trail.

Even at the 11th hour, the senators were obligated to return to Washington for the trial's closing arguments Monday.

Biden -- who still holds the lead in national polls -- spent the weekend crisscrossing Iowa in a final push to convince undecided voters he is best placed to accomplish Democrats' number one goal: defeating Trump.

The president has not stood idly by. On Sunday he branded Biden "Sleepy Joe" and described Sanders as "a communist," previewing a likely line of attack were Sanders to win the nomination.

Running virtually unchallenged, Trump himself was "overwhelmingly" confirmed as the Republican nominee in Iowa Monday, the party said.
This week in Christian history: John Wesley arrives in America; Protestant martyr; anti-Nazi pastor tried

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Christianity is a faith with a long and detailed history, with numerous events of lasting significance occurring throughout the ages.

Each week brings the anniversaries of great milestones, horrid tragedies, amazing triumphs, telling tribulations, inspirational progress, and everything in between.

Here are just a few things that happened this week, Feb. 2-8, in Church history. They include the execution of the first Protestant martyr under Englands Bloody Mary, John Wesley arriving in George colony to evangelize, and the trial of a famous anti-Nazi pastor.

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Johns Hopkins senior scholar Dr. Amesh Adalja told CNBC on Tuesday that the new coronavirus will likely cause yearly outbreaks, with most of the cases being mild.

"It's going to become a part of our seasonal respiratory virus family that causes disease," Adalja said on "Squawk Box."

However, he expects the current outbreak to turn into a mild pandemic and spread further in the United States. Currently, there's only 11 confirmed U.S. cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

China's National Health Commission on Tuesday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases in the country to 20,900. The death toll rose to 425 there  with one fatality in the Philippines and one in Hong Kong. The World Health Organization said there's been more than 150 coronavirus cases in about two dozen countries outside of China.

Many health professionals and analysts believe the number of cases to be much higher, which could bring the mortality rate below it's current 2%.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC in recent days that they also believe the coronavirus outbreak will turn into a pandemic.

Health officials could declare a "pandemic" if the virus were to start to affect a larger number of people across the globe. The term epidemic is reserved for a more localized spread.

"It's important that we get a handle on what the severity is and who has the risk factors, so that we can protect those individuals," Adalja said. "Many people are going to get mild illness and it's going to be more like a flu-like illness for many people but for some it may be very severe."

Adalja compared the coronavirus to the 2009 H1N1 swine flu outbreak, which is now seen as a regular flu virus. The swine flu pandemic killed about 285,000 people at the time, but it had a low mortality rate. The 2002-2003 SARS outbreak saw 8,098 cases and 774 deaths. That was a mortality rate of 9.56%.

"There are probably a lot more people who were infected in China who have not been really counted ... because they were either asymptomatic or their symptoms were so light that they didn't come to the attention of health authorities," Fauci told CNBC on Monday.

Countries around the globe have responded to the coronavirus outbreak by putting preventative measures, such as travel restrictions, in place. Companies, including Starbucks and Apple, have temporarily closed some China operations.

The U.S. instituted on Sunday a mandatory 14-day quarantine of Americans who in the last two weeks have visited Hubei province in China, where the city of Wuhan, the center of the outbreak, is located. The Trump administration is also instructing Americans returning to the U.S. to undergo a two-week self quarantine if they have been in other parts of mainland China in the past two weeks.

However, Adalja said he's not sure containment efforts will work, since it's a respiratory virus that's already in more than 20 countries. "That really argues against containment."

Dr. Corey Hebert, assistant professor at both Louisiana State and Tulane universities, told CNBC earlier Tuesday that in order to help prevent the virus, people should wash their hands with hot water and soap, get a flu shot, avoid touching their face and wipe areas around them when travelling.
An Iowa Democratic caucus voter who agreed to back Pete Buttigieg on Monday night dramatically rescinded her support after being stunned to learn what millions of people already knew about the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor  he's gay and married to another man.

The voter had been a supporter of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., before joining Buttigieg backers at the caucus site in Crestwood High School in Cresco, Iowa.

The voter then overheard some of the backers mention Buttigieg's spouse, Chasten Buttigieg, whom he married in June 2018.

"Are you saying that he has the same-sex partner? Pete?" the voter said on a video of her electoral about-face that went viral Tuesday after it was posted on Twitter by filmmaker Annabel Park.

"Are you kidding?" she said.

"Yes," replied Nikki van den Heever, who was wrangling votes for Buttigieg at the caucus. "He's married to him."

"Then I don't want anybody like that in the White House," the voter said. "So can I have my card back?"

Tweet

"I never knew that," she added.

Van den Heever then told her, "The whole point of it is, though, he's a human being, right? Just like you and me, and it shouldn't really matter."

But the voter shot back, "Well, he better read the Bible."

"He does, and he says that God doesn't choose a political party," van den Heever said.

The voter cut her off, "Why does it say in the Bible that a man should marry a woman then?"

"How come this has never been brought out before?"

"I never heard it," the voter said.

Van den Heever said, "I guess what I would like you to just think deep inside and think should it matter if it's a man or if they're a woman or if they're heterosexual or homosexual if you believe in what they say."

The voter replied, "It all just went right down the toilet, that's where it all went."
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(Bloomberg) -- Iowa Democrats will finally release most of the much-delayed results from their troubled caucuses by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, hoping to salvage the process after a disastrous night cast doubts on its key role in the presidential nominating process.

State party chairman Troy Price told the campaigns on a conference call that more than 50% of the results would be released after the party worked through the night to check the quality of its tabulation and to collect any outstanding data.

On Monday night, the caucuses that were meant to give shape to the Democratic presidential race devolved into political embarrassment for the party and left candidates and voters hanging with no results and no springboard into the next round of contests, including New Hampshires primary in seven days.

The top Democratic candidates, except Joe Biden, claimed strong showings using their internal analysis. Bidens campaign didnt have the organization in place to collect the data, an emblem of his struggling effort in Iowa.

One candidate who didnt compete in Iowa, Michael Bloomberg, moved to capitalize on the chaos by authorizing his team to double his already record spending on advertisements and doubling his field staff to 2,000 people, the New York Times reported. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

The chaos in Iowa began when an attempt to modernize the arcane caucus system and make it more transparent melted down with the introduction of new technology and more complex rules. The Iowa Democratic Party said it was unable to release results from Mondays caucuses after discovering inconsistencies in reporting from some precincts.

Partial Returns

Bidens campaign expressed concern on the state partys conference call about the plans to release partial returns.

But Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver responded that the party should release results as theyre available and that only campaigns that fared badly -- implying Bidens -- wanted a delay.

Story continues

In the interest of not discrediting the party, the folks who are just trying to delay the return of this because of their relative positioning in the results last night, I think thats a bit disingenuous, Weaver said.

After virtual silence on Monday night, the state Democratic Party said Tuesday morning that it had identified a flaw in the phone application used to report results that led to the failed vote tabulation.

We determined with certainty that the underlying data collected via the app was sound, Price, the state chairman, said in the statement. While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data. We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed.

The partys clean-up efforts are unlikely to quiet critics.

An official with Bidens campaign confirmed that his team had previously used services from the vendor that created Iowas failed app, but stopped because its IT team expressed security concerns. However, the campaign didnt use the specific app that the Iowa Democratic Party adopted.

Earlier Tuesday, Chad Wolf, acting secretary of Homeland Security, said in a Fox News interview that the federal department had offered to review the Iowa Caucus app, but the offer was rebuffed.

In the void, several campaigns leaked unverified internal campaign data -- submitted by their own precinct captains -- to claim a strong showing.

Pete Buttigieg effectively delivered his victory speech to supporters, saying, By all indications we are going on to New Hampshire victorious. Bernie Sanderss campaign also released a ranking that showed Sanders at No. 1. Amy Klobuchars campaign said she outperformed Biden for fourth place.

None of those results could be confirmed.

Electoral Credibility

President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning claimed on Twitter that he was the only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night, referring to the Republican caucuses where he easily triumphed. He called the Democratic results an unmitigated disaster.

The Iowa contest is the first in a long cycle of caucuses and primaries that stretches until June -- awarding just 1% of the delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. But Iowa offers outsized momentum to its strong finishers as they headed to New Hampshire a week away. Sanders leads the polls there comfortably, followed by Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Buttigieg.

The Iowa Democratic Party said there was no evidence of hacking in the stalled reporting of results, merely human error and other inconsistencies that forced the party to resort to hand-counting the votes.

What happened was that the state party deployed a new phone app for precinct chairmen to report results at the same time it deployed a new system for tabulating winners. Both appear to have failed.

Precinct chairmen found it difficult to use the app and instead resorted to calling a hotline. The hotline got so jammed up that they were waiting for 30 minutes or more for someone to answer. Then the party reported there were inconsistencies in the count and decided to withhold announcing results until at least Tuesday.

Full Explanations

Bidens campaign was the most muted about its Iowa showing, preferring instead to issue a sharply worded letter from the campaigns general counsel, demanding full explanations and relevant information about its quality control efforts and a chance to respond before any official results are released.

Biden, who had been leading in national polls but was struggling in Iowa, said he was moving on to the New Hampshire primary and beyond. Were in this for the long haul, he told a crowd in Des Moines.

Trumps campaign and his allies ridiculed the Democrats for the chaos and used it to try to stoke divisions among the candidates, suggesting the party was trying to fix the results. Brad Parscale, Trumps campaign manager, called it the sloppiest train wreck in history.

And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system? he said in an email.

The disruption in the reporting is likely to accelerate calls for an end to caucuses. Only three other states -- Nevada, Wyoming and Kansas -- still use the caucus system in the nomination race as the national party has tried to shift states toward using primaries.

The Iowa Democratic Party went into the 2020 caucuses touting a series of reforms intended to make the process more fair, accountable and transparent.

There are now three sets of results reported, allowing greater visibility into who participants supported in the first and second rounds, as supporters of candidates who dont meet a 15% threshold are given a chance to join with backers of other candidates.

The party developed a smartphone app to expand the online reporting of results from precincts to party headquarters. And theres a paper trail of presidential preference cards filled out by each caucus-goer, allowing the party to re-create the results even after the caucus ends.

But the rule changes created chaos and confusion.

The delay in reporting results followed complaints from some local party officials that they were struggling to use the new telephone application to report tallies from precincts.

The party first used a smartphone application to report results in 2016, but before then, all results were submitted by phoning them in.

A lot of us are going to be doing it on paper and calling it in, said Kelcey Brackett, the chairman of the Muscatine County Democratic Party.

(Updates with Sanders and Biden representatives starting in seventh paragraph)

--With assistance from Gregory Korte, Jennifer Jacobs and Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tyler Pager in Des Moines at tpager1@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Epstein in Des Moines at jepstein32@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

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Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349
ROANOKE, Va., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Salem-based Carter Machinery, a leading Caterpillar, Inc. dealer, announced today an agreement to acquire the assets of Baltimore-based Alban Tractor Co., Inc. effective February 4, 2020. In connection with the acquisition, Carter Machinery will become the Cat dealer in an expanded service territory that will now include Northern Virginia; Washington D.C.; Maryland; and Delaware.

For more than 92 years, Carter has serviced customers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and southern West Virginia, becoming one of Caterpillar's top performing dealerships in the country.

"Carter's growth is evidence of the caliber of our employees' expertise and the speed at which they service the industry to ensure customer success every day," said Drew Parker, CEO, Carter Machinery. "Carter is enthused about expanding our services to more customers with the same commitment that our Virginia and West Virginia customers have come to rely upon."

The acquisition will strengthen Carter's position as an equipment leader in key industries, including construction, mining, aggregates, and forestry, as well as expand upon its market leadership in key growth areas such as rental and power generation.

"Alban's reputation in heavy equipment and power systems is strong and one we're excited to build upon in the coming months and years," added Parker.

In addition to Cat equipment, Carter also supports more than 70 world-class brands. The company will begin customer outreach immediately to ensure seamless transitions and uninterrupted service.

About Carter Machinery

Carter Machinery has been enabling the success of construction and equipment industries for 92 years. Headquartered in Salem, Virginia, the company serves customers in Virginia and West Virginia and employs more than 1,350 employees. Carter's diverse business portfolio supplies machinery, rentals, power, and product support to customers across many industries, leading the market in construction, mining, transportation, and power infrastructure, as well as supplying Virginia's largest and best maintained rental inventory.

Learn more at www.cartermachinery.com.

About Alban Tractor Co., Inc.

Established in 1927, Alban Tractor Co., Inc. is a Baltimore-based construction equipment and power systems company and Cat dealer employing a team of 750 across 16 locations serving customers in Northern Virginia, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and Delaware. The company, is the recognized construction and power systems leader for the mid-Atlantic, supplying power generation equipment to top tier global brands with East Coast operations based in the Capital Beltway region.

Media Contact: Rachel Spencer, 540.204.4032, [email protected]

SOURCE Carter Machinery

Related Links

http://www.cartermachinery.com


F1's return to Jerez for 2021 is still on the cards.

Spain is still on the 2020 schedule, but only because Barcelona received an eleventh-hour reprieve in the form of a single-year deal.

We reported last November that Jerez, the scene of the climactic finale of the 1997 season, is in talks with Liberty Media about a three-year deal for 2021-2023.

"The council has been working for two years so that Formula 1 returns to Jerez," the Spanish city's mayor Mamen Sanchez told Diario de Jerez at the time.

It is believed the regional government - Junta de Andalucia - may even have signed an agreement in principle with Liberty Media, involving a $25 million per year race fee.

Junta de Andalucia tourism minister Juan Marin has now told Andalucia Informacion: "I cannot say anything.

"Some claim it is done but until May or June it will not be known," he said.

"The investment for this is very high and we also need other administrations to support the cause, not just the Andalucian government."

(GMM)
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Market Overview:

Mining Chemicals Market is primarily driven by the increasing investments in mining projects in the Asia Pacific. This growth can be attributed to the high demand for mining chemicals in industrialization and infrastructure development. The market is also segmented on the basis of the application as mineral processing, explosives & drilling, water & wastewater treatment, and others. Among these, mineral processing accounted for a major share of the market. These chemicals are widely used in various processes such as open pit & underground, crushing, leaching & absorption, elution & electrowinning, and others. Explosives & drilling application is extensively used for rock penetration and fragmentation. The increasing demand for clean and safe water has augmented the use of mining chemicals in wastewater treatment.

Mining chemicals play a vital role in the mining process and enhance their productivity and efficiency. The various products of the mining chemicals include grinding aids, flocculants, frothers, collectors, solvent extractant, and others. Among these, the grinding aids segment is the largest segment in terms of volume due to their extensive use in cement manufacturing. The increasing infrastructure and construction activities across the globe is anticipated to drive the global market over the assessment period. Flocculants absorb particles and destabilize them by neutralization and consist of anionic and cationic polymers. Anionic flocculants are used in the production of salts and metallic hydroxides. The flocculants are highly used in water and wastewater treatment.

Competitive Analysis:

Some of the manufacturers operating in the Global Mining Chemicals Market are:

Ashland (U.S.),

The Dow Chemical Company (U.S.),

Chevron Philips Chemical Company (U.S.),

BASF SE (Germany),

Exxon Mobil Corporation (U.S.),

Cytec Solvay Group (U.S.),

NALCO (India),

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (U.S.),

3M (U.S.),

Cheminova A/S (Denmark),

Akzo Nobel N.V. (Netherlands),

SNF Group (U.S.),

Nasco (U.S.),

Clariant (Switzerland),

Huntsman International LLC (U.S.).

Market Segmentation:

Mining Chemicals Industry is segmented on the basis of the product, mineral type, application, and region.

Based on the product, the global mining chemicals market is segmented into grinding aids, flocculants, frothers, collectors, solvent extractant, scale inhibitors, and others.

The market is segmented on the basis of the mineral type into base metals, non-metallic metals, precious metals, and rare earth metals.

On the basis of the application, the global mining chemicals market is segmented into mineral processing, explosives & drilling, water & wastewater treatment, and others.

Regional Analysis:

The global Mining Chemicals Market is segmented into five regions of Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.

Asia Pacific is the leading region in the global market owing to the increasing mining activities in countries such as China and India.

The high demand for mining chemicals in the limestone grinding is the major driver of the North American market.

Europe is anticipated to showcase a significant growth due to the rising mining activities in Eastern Europe.

The expanding mining sector in Africa is likely to propel the market growth in the coming years.

Browse key industry insights spread across 100 pages with 47market data tables & 13 figures & charts from the report, Global Mining Chemicals Market Information: By The Product (Grinding Aids, Flocculants), Mineral Type (Base Metals, Non-Metallic Metals), Application (Mineral Processing, Explosives & Drilling, Water & Waste Water Treatment), and Region- Forecast Till 2023 in detail along with the table of contents @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/mining-chemicals-market-5851
Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) European Department Poul Thomsen will retire in July, the fund announced in a press release.

"International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced on Monday that Poul Thomsen, European Department Director, will retire at the end of July," the release said.

The IMF noted that the majority of Thomsen's 37-year career at the fund was focused on working on European countries in Washington as well as the Fund's representative in Russia.

Prior to taking up his position as head of the European Department in November 2014, Thomsen led programmes with European countries affected by the global financial crisis and the Euro Zone.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Queensland mine bosses will face 20 years in prison and fines up to $13 million under a government proposal to expand industrial manslaughter laws to the resources sector.

The proposed changes, introduced to Parliament on Monday, follow the deaths of eight workers in Queensland's mines and quarries in the past 20 months.

Under the proposed laws, senior officers of a mine or quarry company could be prosecuted if criminal negligence is proven for a worker's death. Credit:Robert Rough

Mines Minister Anthony Lynham said it was totally unacceptable that workers continue to die in Queensland mines.

These laws will give our 50,000 mine and quarry workers the same protections as other Queensland workers," he said.
Disgraced Hey Dad actor Robert Hughes will soon make an application for parole, according to A Current Affair.

Hughes, now 71, was convicted of numerous sexual assault charges in 2014 and sentenced to 10 years, nine months. His sentence includes a six-year non-parole period set to begin in April.

Eighteen women testified against Hughes, but he was only convicted for the abuse of four of them  including his own niece. Throughout the high profile court case, Hughes never expressed remorse.

Last night former Hey Dad child actor Sarah Monahan told A Current Affair she did not believe Hughes should be paroled if he had not shown remorse.

If hes going to get out early it should be because hes admitted guilt, she said.

The question is whether he admits hes guilty, or if he still think hes the innocent victim here.

If he still thinks hes innocent, then he probably should spend some more time in prison thinking about it.

US-based Monahan has now made a submission to the Parole Board expressing concerns. She also told ACA she would be nervous about revisiting Australia if there was a chance Hughes might seek revenge.

ACA host Tracy Grimshaw also addressed archival vision of former reports with Ben McCormack confronting Hughes in Singapore, as part of its ongoing investigation.

McCormack himself later pleaded guilty to unrelated child porn offences in 2017 and was put on a three-year good behaviour bond and fined $1000. He was sacked by Nine.

You may have noticed our former reporter Ben McCormack in that story, Grimshaw told viewers.

McCormack left this show in disgrace two years ago after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.

His involvement many years before in our Hey Dad investigation has caused us distress and embarrassment.

But that interview in Singapore remains the only time Hughes has publicly addressed the allegations against him, so its an important historical record.

We wish wed sent someone else but of course we didnt know then what we know now.

She also apologised to Monahan for introducing McCormack to her as part of the story.

I never had the opportunity to apologise to you publicly, for introducing him to you back then, of course back then we had no idea, she said.

We had no idea what would ultimately transpire, but I do apologise to you.

Monahan replied, I think it taught us all a lesson that you really just dont know who theyre just so well-hidden.

Via: news.com.au, Daily Mail
AGCO Corporation AGCO is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2019 results before the opening bell on Feb 6.



Which Way are the Estimates Headed?



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the December-end quarters earnings per share is pegged at $1.55, suggesting year-over-year increase of 18.3%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total sales of $2.6 billion also represents a year-over-year rise of 2.7%.

A Sneak Peak into Q3 Performance



In the last reported quarter, AGCOs earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate, while sales missed the same. Both top and bottom lines declined year over year.



Notably, AGCO outpaced estimates in all of the trailing four quarters, the average beat being 32.7%.



Share Price Performance



AGCOs shares have appreciated 12.1% over the past year, as against the industrys decline of 2.3%.





Lets see how things have shaped up prior to this announcement.



Factors to Consider



Benefits from cost-reduction initiatives and positive impact of pricing are expected to have bolstered AGCOs gross and operating margins during the October-December period. AGCO is consistently making strategic investments in products and technology to enhance and expand its product lines, strengthen product offerings, upgrade system capabilities as well as improve factory productivity. These factors are likely to have contributed to its quarterly performance.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the North America segments sales is pinned at $566 million for the quarter, calling for year-over-year growth of 6.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the segments operating income is $21.05 million, indicating a significant jump of 239.5% from the year-ago quarter. Late harvest and slow crop production as well as ongoing trade concerns are likely to have adversely impacted the segments results in the to-be-reported quarter, while also straining large equipment sales. However, the segments margin and top-line results in the quarter are likely to have benefited from product introductions.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the South America segments fourth-quarter sales is $284 million, suggesting growth of 2.9% from the prior-year quarter's $276 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the segments operating income is pegged at $.08 million, indicating a 99.2% slump from the year-ago quarter. Further, a bleak macro-economic scenario in Brazil and tepid demand in Argentina are expected to have thwarted margins during the period in discussion. Nevertheless, market conditions in South America are anticipated to have improved in the quarter.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the EME (Europe/Middle East) segments quarterly sales is pinned at $1,580 million, projecting a year-on-year rise of 4.5%. The segments operating income is expected to be up 10.8% year on year to $205 million. However, weak demand environment in Europe is a concern.



For the Asia/Pacific segment revenues, the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $262 million, indicating a fall of 4%, year on year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the segments operating income is anticipated to have edged up to $24.98 million from prior-year quarters $22.7 million.



Weak agricultural market, low commodity prices, prevalent trade tensions, along with poor growing and harvesting conditions are likely to have eroded AGCOs top line in the December-end quarter. Further, currency translation and higher engineering expenses might have impacted AGCOs performance during the period.

Story continues

AGCO Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

AGCO Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

AGCO Corporation price-eps-surprise | AGCO Corporation Quote

What Our Model Indicates



Our proven model doesnt conclusively predict an earnings beat for AGCO this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But thats not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.



Earnings ESP: The Earnings ESP for AGCO is -2.40%. This is because currently the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at $1.51 per share and $1.55, respectively.



Zacks Rank: AGCO currently carries a Zacks Rank of 5 (Strong Sell).



Stocks Poised to Beat Earnings Estimates



Here are a few Industrial Products stocks which you may consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their upcoming releases.



Tennant Company TNC has an Earnings ESP of +4.20% and carries a Zacks Rank of 2, at present. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



Valmont Industries, Inc. VMI currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 and an Earnings ESP of +2.93%.



Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. LECO, a Zacks #3 Ranked stock, has an Earnings ESP of +1.01%.



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Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers Most Likely for Early Price Pops.



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BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

The practice of using webcams during the elections has successfully proven itself many times, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Central Election Commission (CEC) Mazahir Panahov said at the CEC meeting in Baku on Feb. 4, Trend reports.

Such cameras have been installed in 1,000 polling stations (about 20 percent) in Azerbaijan, the chairman said. It is very easy to monitor the election process through the cameras and no permission is required.

Any person may visit the CECs website and observe the voting process in 1,000 polling stations via the webcams, the chairman said. It is possible to view the Azerbaijani elections from any country. Only internet is required. This is also accepted in the electoral practice of other democratic countries."

"All necessary conditions have been created in Azerbaijan to conduct transparent and free parliamentary elections, said Panahov.

The early parliamentary elections will be held in Azerbaijan on February 9.
Today, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian had a working meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Presidential Palace. They discussed the country's current agenda.

"The year 2019 was a successful year for the Republic of Armenia," Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said. In 2019, we had the highest number of economic activity index since the start of economic calculations with this method; the launch was in 2011. In 2019, we noted that the post-revolutionary transitional government period, and at the heart of our discussions have always been the need to focus more and more on the topic of institutional reform in our country and to establish and implement a strategic management logic. I think we are entering such a phase in 2020.

You know, you have also reacted to the situationif one say, the crisisaround the Constitutional Court, and today I hope we will discuss, exchange ideas also on the problem linked to it.

Of course, I definitely share your view that we should approach this issue with the very logic of institutional establishment of the country, with the logic of national and state interests of our country, with the logic of having an accurate and working system of balances and mutual restraint.

"Of course, it is also worth discussing future plans, investment plans," President Armen Sarkissian said in his turn. "I can happily say that there seem to be new, small victories during my visits, be it to the Persian Gulf states, Davos, or to Israel."
Momentum investing is all about the idea of following a stock's recent trend, which can be in either direction. In the 'long' context, investors will essentially be "buying high, but hoping to sell even higher." And for investors following this methodology, taking advantage of trends in a stock's price is key; once a stock establishes a course, it is more than likely to continue moving in that direction. The goal is that once a stock heads down a fixed path, it will lead to timely and profitable trades.

Even though momentum is a popular stock characteristic, it can be tough to define. Debate surrounding which are the best and worst metrics to focus on is lengthy, but the Zacks Momentum Style Score, part of the Zacks Style Scores, helps address this issue for us.

Below, we take a look at Hawaiian Electric (HE), which currently has a Momentum Style Score of B. We also discuss some of the main drivers of the Momentum Style Score, like price change and earnings estimate revisions.

It's also important to note that Style Scores work as a complement to the Zacks Rank, our stock rating system that has an impressive track record of outperformance. Hawaiian Electric currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). Our research shows that stocks rated Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and #2 (Buy) and Style Scores of A or B outperform the market over the following one-month period.

You can see the current list of Zacks #1 Rank Stocks here >>>

Set to Beat the Market?

Let's discuss some of the components of the Momentum Style Score for HE that show why this the parent of Hawaii's largest electricity generator shows promise as a solid momentum pick.

Looking at a stock's short-term price activity is a great way to gauge if it has momentum, since this can reflect both the current interest in a stock and if buyers or sellers have the upper hand at the moment. It is also useful to compare a security to its industry, as this can help investors pinpoint the top companies in a particular area.

Story continues

For HE, shares are up 2.04% over the past week while the Zacks Utility - Electric Power industry is up 1.12% over the same time period. Shares are looking quite well from a longer time frame too, as the monthly price change of 6.28% compares favorably with the industry's 4.9% performance as well.

While any stock can see a spike in price, it takes a real winner to consistently outperform the market. Shares of Hawaiian Electric have increased 12.54% over the past quarter, and have gained 31.51% in the last year. On the other hand, the S&P 500 has only moved 6.66% and 21.4%, respectively.

Investors should also pay attention to HE's average 20-day trading volume. Volume is a useful item in many ways, and the 20-day average establishes a good price-to-volume baseline; a rising stock with above average volume is generally a bullish sign, whereas a declining stock on above average volume is typically bearish. HE is currently averaging 315,514 shares for the last 20 days.

Earnings Outlook

The Zacks Momentum Style Score encompasses many things, including estimate revisions and a stock's price movement. Investors should note that earnings estimates are also significant to the Zacks Rank, and a nice path here can be promising. We have recently been noticing this with HE.

Over the past two months, 1 earnings estimate moved higher compared to none lower for the full year. These revisions helped boost HE's consensus estimate, increasing from $1.89 to $1.92 in the past 60 days. Looking at the next fiscal year, 1 estimate has moved upwards while there have been no downward revisions in the same time period.

Bottom Line

Taking into account all of these elements, it should come as no surprise that HE is a #2 (Buy) stock with a Momentum Score of B. If you've been searching for a fresh pick that's set to rise in the near-term, make sure to keep Hawaiian Electric on your short list.



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Authorities say the pair, armed and wearing masks and hoods, entered the store about 6:50 p.m. Saturday, and ordered the sole employee at gunpoint to a back room. Once there, the duo forced the employee to open a safe, and the men took about 60 phones and electronic devices, prosecutors said.
News

Phoenix, Arizona - Wednesday, Governor Ducey released the following statement upon President Trumps signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Todays historic signing ushers in a new era of trade for Arizona, our nation and North America, said Governor Ducey. The USMCA means more jobs and trade for Arizona and closer ties with Canada and Mexico, where the state exports nearly $10 billion in Arizona-made goods already.



Todays achievement was years in the making. It required working together, not just across party lines, but across international lines as well. It should be looked to as an example of what we can accomplish when we put the prosperity and well-being of the American people first. My thanks goes out to President Trump, Arizonas Congressional delegation and everyone inside and out of the Administration who worked persistently to get this done.



Arizona will continue to be a leader in growing international relationships that mean more prosperity and opportunity on both sides of the border.

Background

The USMCA will strengthen Arizonas economy and enhance trade opportunities with two of Arizonas top trade partners. Arizonas trade relationships with Canada and Mexico support:

228,300 Arizona jobs

More than $20 billion in total trade

Last year, Governor Ducey launched the USMCA Now website to provide Arizonans resources to learn more about the USMCA and get engaged to support it. It features Arizona-specific information related to the states trade relationships with Canada and Mexico and outlines the benefits of the Agreement.



The Governor joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in September 2019 to discuss the USMCA and urge Congress to ratify it, citing the economic impact trade has in the state. He also spoke about the importance of ratification at events with Mexican Ambassador to the United States Martha Barcena and Sonora Governor Claudia Pavlovich.
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A physical education teacher at Dickinson High School in Jersey City is accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old student, authorities said.

Francisco Mike Realpe, 43, was arrested Monday night at his home in Hoboken and charged with aggravated sexual assault, criminal sexual contact, and endangering the welfare of a child.

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency first reported the alleged sexual assault to the HCPO on Jan. 31.

Realpe has been at Dickinson High School since 2005, according to his LinkedIn page. He earned an annual salary of $84,019 as of March 2019, payroll records indicate.

Norma Fernandez, a spokeswoman for the Jersey City Board of Education, said Realpe was removed from the school once the allegations surfaced, but he remains employed pending the outcome of the investigation.

Authorities did not specify where the alleged sex assault took place.

Suarez said he was transported to Hudson County jail in Kearny, where he awaits his first court appearance on the charges.
[February 04, 2020] KFC Canada re-creates the voice of Colonel Sanders using AWS AI technology

New Alexa skill allows KFC Canada fans to chat with Colonel Sanders and re-order chicken VAUGHAN, ON, Feb. 4, 2020 /CNW/ - Today, KFC Canada announced their latest digital innovation, a voice-activated skill available through any Alexa-enabled Amazon device that allows KFC lovers from coast-to-coast to chat all things chicken with Colonel Sanders himself, including re-ordering their favorite KFC. KFC worked with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) to use Amazon Polly, an artificial intelligence service that turns text into lifelike speech using advanced deep learning technologies to re-create the iconic voice of KFC's Founder, Colonel Harland Sanders. KFC is the first global quick service restaurant (QSR) to use this sophisticated text-to-speech technology from AWS to provide fans with a truly unique ordering experience. So, whether fans are looking to feast on a 12-piece bucket with friends and family, or dine solo for one, just ask and the Colonel will deliver. "We are excited to be one of the first brands to adopt the Amazon Polly enhanced text-to-speech voice technology to create a seamless and distinctively KFC re-ordering experience for our fans," said Jason Cassidy, Marketing Director, KFC Canada. "The Colonel was passionate about his fried chicken and this new skill makes re-ordering your favorite KFC menu items easier than ever but in a fun and memorable way."



KFC's new skill comes on the heels of KFC Canada's "Chicken Talk" skill launched in 2017, which saw Alexa feed fans chicken jokes, poultry pick-up lines, random chicken thoughts, and even a Colonel Quiz game. Now, the Colonel will serve fans the same Chicken Talk in addition to the new re-ordering capabilities, all through KFC's new skill. "We're pleased to have worked with KFC Canada to cook up this unique experience for their customers to interact with Alexa-enabled devices through the voice of Colonel Sanders," said Dr. Matt Wood, Vice President of Artificial Intelligence, AWS. "We extended Amazon Polly, an artificial intelligence cloud service which creates life-like speech, to incorporate a spicy Southern accent and speech patterns that are consistent with the world famous persona of Colonel Sanders. We think KFC customers will agree, the Colonel never sounded so finger lickin' good."

How to access KFC's new skill: In the Alexa skills store or the Alexa app, search for " KFC " and enable skill

" and enable skill To re-order your latest KFC order with the Colonel, say "Alexa, ask KFC Canada to reorder"

Once the skill is enabled, you can test your chicken knowledge and play chicken games with the Colonel by saying "Alexa, talk chicken to me." To learn more about KFC's new skill, visit https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B084DJL3K2 About KFC Canada

Founded by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952, KFC is now the world's most popular chain of chicken restaurants. To this day the Colonel's own blend of 11 herbs and spices is still used to season our Original Recipe chicken and it still remains a very closely guarded secret. KFC's specialty is our famous Original Recipe chicken, but we also feature a variety of freshly prepared sandwiches and wraps, on the go snack items, home-style sides, desserts and beverages. Today KFC Corporation is a subsidiary of YUM! Brands Inc. and operates more than 23,000 restaurants in more than 140 countries and territories around the world including more than 600 locations right here in Canada. To learn more about KFC Canada, visit our website www.kfc.ca SOURCE KFC Canada

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A chartered plane thats to airlift Canadians from the centre of a virus outbreak in China was on its way overseas Tuesday, while its prospective passengers were told to get ready to leave.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the flight will wait in Vietnam for final permission from Chinese authorities to land in Wuhan, an area quarantined to contain an outbreak of a new coronavirus that has killed more than 400 people there.

The plane will be ready to leave hours after it receives the final go-ahead from China, likely sometime Wednesday, he said.

The Canadian Press obtained a copy of a letter sent by the government to Canadians and permanent residents of Canada currently in Wuhan. The letter said a flight is to depart from the citys international airport early Thursday morning.

Due to demand and the restrictions associated with this flight, we cannot guarantee that everyone who is eligible for a seat will be able to board the plane, the letter says.

Though the numbers change by the hour, Champagne said as of Tuesday 308 Canadians have asked for help to leave the country but the plane has room for only about 250 passengers.

They are being told to arrive at the airport Wednesday evening. The letter says they will be screened for any signs of the virus and those with symptoms will not be allowed to board the plane.

Chinese authorities will perform health screening and immigration controls before boarding the flight, the Canadian government says.

The letter says passengers must get to the airport themselves and warns of possible delays at checkpoints.

Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said the government must be realistic, about the difficulties families will face in reaching the airport in time.

The city is under heavy quarantine, including police officers or security outside of buildings to prevent people from coming or going without having any sort of clarity about where theyre going, Hajdu told reporters Tuesday.

So we are working very closely with these families in terms of how theyll navigate their way across this very large city.

Based on the experience of allied countries and previous evacuations in other circumstances, officials expect as many as 20 per cent of those people on the approved manifest will not show for the flight.

The government has already made arrangements to send a second chartered plane to Wuhan if there are enough Canadians left behind, but Champagne and Hajdu would not say how quickly that flight would follow the first.

The letter also says that people should expect delays as the check-in experience for the flight will be significantly different from what they are used to.

We recommend you bring some food and water for you and your family for the time you are at the airport waiting to depart, it says. You will not be able to take the food on the plane.

The new coronavirus has so far killed 425 people in China and two others in Hong Kong and in the Philippines. More than 20,000 people have been sickened in China and at least 180 in other countries, including four in Canada.

During question period in the House of Commons, Conservative MPs demanded more information about the location of the plane that transported the first two Canadian patients with confirmed cases of coronavirus into the country on Jan. 22.

Conservative health critic Matt Jeneroux asked if other passengers boarded the plane before it was disinfected, and whether others could have been unwittingly infected.

All 27 people sitting near those patients on the plane have tested negative for the virus, Hadju assured the House before she reprimanded the Opposition for sensationalizing the risk to Canadians associated with the virus.

Ottawa has said that upon arrival in Canada, the evacuees aboard the upcoming flight from Wuhan will be quarantined at the Canadian Forces Base in Trenton for 14 days. The letter says visits from friends and family will not be permitted to prevent possible transmission of the virus.

Richard Fabic, whose 15-month-old daughter, Chloe, is in Wuhan with her grandparents, said the plan by the government to keep families together is thoughtful.

Looks like they spent the extra time to get it right and (Im) very appreciative that Chloe has been included on that list to board that plane, Fabic said from his home in Mississauga, Ont.

He said he was emotional after seeing the letter.

Relief, happiness, exhaustion.

Fabic said he will talk to the government about dropping off diapers and a few toys for Chloe in Trenton, and hopes the place has internet access so he can continue to see his daughter, who took her first steps while in China.

It took her so long to start walking but now she wants to run, he said. I cant wait to just bring her to a park and let her run around until shes exhausted.

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LONDON  The British government proposed on Monday stopping the early release of hundreds of terrorism convicts after a succession of attacks by people let out halfway through their prison terms underscored long-festering problems with its anti-terrorist strategy.

Under the governments extraordinary plan, about 220 people currently locked up on terrorist offenses in Britain would have their prison terms extended, said Robert Buckland, the justice secretary.

Instead of automatically being released halfway into their sentences, as is customary for many offenders in Britain, terrorism convicts would be forced to serve at least two-thirds of their terms, he said. And even then, they would only be released with the agreement of a parole board.

But it was not clear the governments proposal would withstand scrutiny in the courts, let alone solve a crisis that analysts said had more to do with a decade of austerity cuts to prison and probation services than with the length of sentences.
The older brother of two siblings who apparently disappeared from Idaho in September says hes done with their mother, who has refused to cooperate in the investigation and last week defied a court order to turn the missing kids over to police or child welfare officials.

Colby Ryan says he turned his back on his mother, Lori Vallow, and her new husband after seeing video of the couple in Hawaii, where authorities tracked them last month after police say they abruptly vacated their Idaho home in November as the search bore down for 7-year-old Joshua J.J. Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan.

Im done. Ive been done. The day that I saw them without the kids walking around Hawaii, that was it, Ryan told Fox10 Phoenix.

But he also says he doesnt think Vallow would hurt his siblings. I feel like my mom would die for the kids, so to see this and hear it, and also be questioning why theyre not being found, thats where this all comes into a battle [between] what you think and what you feel, he said.

RELATED: Idaho Mom had 5 Days to Produce her 2 Missing, Endangered Kids  and She Missed Deadline

Police have said they strongly believe that Joshua and Tylees lives are in danger, and in a statement alleged that Vallow has refused to work with law enforcement to help us resolve this matter.

Lori Vallow | Rexburg Police Department

Relatives of Vallow have raised other concerns. Vallow allegedly believes she is a God assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christs second coming in July 2020, according to a divorce court filing by her estranged husband and the childrens father, Charles Vallow. The man to whom Vallow is currently married, Chad Daybell, is an author who writes about doomsday prophecy.

Charles Vallow was shot and killed in a July confrontation at Lori Vallows home with Vallows brother, Alex Cox, who has since also died. Lori Vallow and Daybell subsequently married after the October death of Daybells then-wife, Tammy, which police have called suspicious.

Story continues

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Theres too many deaths  people dying  around Lori for it to all be natural. Unless she is the most unlucky person in the world, Kay Woodcock, a grandmother to one of the missing kids, said at a news conference last Thursday.

Mom Initially Said Slain Ex Died of Heart Attack, Says Son

Colby is the half-brother to J.J. and Tylee. Colby earlier issued a plea in a video he posted to YouTube, asking his mom to safely return the missing children and end the uncertainty for everybody, for the kids, for yourself, for all of us.

RELATED: Brother of Missing Idaho Kids Begs Mom to Help Investigators Find Them

In the interview Monday with the Phoenix TV station, Colby says his relationship with his mom began to strain about a year ago when Vallow abruptly left Arizona for Hawaii with Tylee, leaving behind J.J., an adopted son who has special needs, and Charles, who was Colbys stepfather. He says she returned after about a month and Lori and Charles Vallow later separated.

When Lori called to tell Colby about Charles death, he says his mom initially said Charles had a heart attack  an alleged lie that emerged when Colby visited her later that same day, and he learned about the confrontation between Charles Vallow and Alex Cox.

Why would you not tell me what was going on? This is worse, this is a million times worse than what you said, Ryan says he recalled thinking. No matter what happened, why was he shot in the chest, why was he killed? That just doesnt make sense, why did he have to die for a fight?

Chad Daybell | Rexburg Police Department

Then, in August 2019, Colby says he learned Lori planned to leave Arizona again, this time with J.J. and Tylee. She said, I got a new job and that she was moving, so that was it, thats all she told me and she didnt tell me where, he said.

He did not initially know they had moved to Idaho  and the day before last Thanksgiving, he learned something was amiss when police showed up at his door to ask about J.J. and Tylee.

I called my mom and Im like, Two detectives just came to my door, what is going on? And she said I got it, Ill take care of it  Love you, and that was it, he said.

RELATED: Mom of 2 Missing Idaho Kids  Who Refuses to Cooperate  Allegedly Believes Shes God Reincarnated

Lori Vallow had initially told investigators that J.J. had returned to live in Arizona  another claim that was allegedly quickly disproven by authorities.

In his YouTube video posted in early January, Colby said he was hurt by the situation and that his mother has an opportunity to put this all to rest.

I know you know [what] the right thing to do is and I know you have a good heart, Colby said. Its time to do the right thing.

Mom Missed Deadline to Produce Kids

After locating Vallow and Daybell January 25 on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, authorities served notice that Vallow had five days to turn over the missing kids to police or child welfare officials or risk a civil or contempt of court citation. That deadline passed with no apparent action taken. The grandmother, Woodcock, says she was told by police in Rexburg, Idaho, that the couple remained for now in Hawaii with no sign of the children.

We are grateful for the concern and attention being shown regarding the location, health and safety of Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow, Madison County, Idaho, prosecutor Rob Wood said in a statement last week obtained by PEOPLE. We hope and pray that the children will be produced or found and that they are safe and healthy.

Anyone with information about either missing child is asked to call Rexburg police 208-359-3000 or 1-800-THE-LOST (843-5678).
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Tuesday for an end to fighting between Turkey and Syria in Syria's opposition-held province of Idlib on Tuesday.

Guterres told reporters it was "extremely worrying" that the Turkish army and the Syrian army were now "bombing each other" in the restive northwest region.

"My strong appeal is for a cessation of hostilities," he said.

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French President accused Russia of engaging in historical revisionism on World War II but said during a visit to Poland on Tuesday that a strong Europe needs to remain open to honest dialogue with Moscow.

Macron addressed students and faculty members at Jagiellonian University in Krakow on the second day of his trip to Poland. Both the French leader and Polish officials called the visit a breakthrough for relations between their countries.

While speaking at the university, Macron condemned the Kremlin's recent efforts to blame the outbreak of World War II on acts by Poland and some western European governments.

He said "scientific and historical facts" clearly show that Poland, which was occupied by Nazi Germany throughout the war, was a victim and suffered immense losses in its population.

While Moscow's misrepresenting of facts needs to be kept in mind, Macron stressed that Russia is part of Europe geographically and should not be isolated as the EU looks toward the future following Britain's departure last week.

I am convinced that we can build an architecture of stability, of peace, of trust in Europe only if we talk with Russia but not yield things to Russia, not forget what it did or what it does, but demand a deescalation, Macron said.

I think it a major error to distance ourselves from a part of Europe that we don't feel comfortable about, Macron said.

French companies engaged in trade with Russia have pressured Macron to repair relations with Moscow and to ease economic sanctions.

The companies are central to Macron's political base.

The Polish government favors maintaining EU sanctions on Russia for its activities in Ukraine, including the 2014 seizure of Crimea.

Another reason for Macron reaching out to Russia is his disillusionment with US foreign policy under President Donald Trump, who has made important decisions without without consulting European allies.

Commenting on France's view of Moscow, Poland's ambassador to France, Tomasz Mlynarski, said the should speak with one voice in its dialogue with Russia and that there was no room for avant-garde ideas.

Poland's relations with Russia are strained, and recent remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin about the start of the war have added to the tension. Poland rejected the allegations as untrue.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Tuesday that Poland has not yet been invited to ceremonies scheduled for May 9 in Moscow to commemorate the end of World War II.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. A highly unusual and eccentric 1947 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith designed by Armenian business tycoon Nubar Gulbenkian is expected to fetch 30,000 at an auction, despite undergoing a 200,000 restoration by the current owner of the vehicle ,Daily Mail reports.

73 years ago Gulbenkian approached Rolls Royce with the design but eventually his idea was rejected. But the Armenian business magnate was able to have a single model made for him elsewhere.

Speaking in 1965, Gulbenkian said: 'I felt that a modern car should be streamlined, curved and look like it had been designed by someone who had never seen horse drawn carriages and had been presented for the very first time with the task of building a body around an internal combustion engine.

The car itself is one of many Gulbenkian had made.

The 1947 Rolls Royce has unusual bars across the head lights, a curved body and a striking square windscreen. Even the businessman himself admitted that he was unsure about the finished product.
It turns out Iowa Democrats have their own ideas about electability.

Their message was overshadowed by the bizarre delay in releasing results, but the Iowa caucuses nonetheless provide the first hard judgment by voters rather than pundits. The candidates leading in partial returns were Pete Buttigieg, 38 years old, openly gay and with no higher governmental experience than serving two terms as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, 78 years old and a self-described Democratic Socialist.

Trailing well behind in a disappointing fourth place was former Vice President Joe Biden, erstwhile front-runner and the favored candidate of much of the Democratic establishment  and one who has built his campaign on the argument that he would have a better chance than his rivals of defeating President Donald Trump. He was finishing behind U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Defeating Trump is unquestionably top of mind for Democrats, in Iowa and nationwide. As they arrived at caucus sites Monday, voters by 61% to 37% told the ABC entrance poll that electability mattered more to them than ideology. But a debate has raged over the best way to achieve the goal: Win back moderate swing voters, as the familiar Biden contends? Or energize new voters, many of them younger and liberal and diverse, as the disruptive Sanders claims?

Attendees hold letters that read "CAUCUS" during a campaign event for Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at Northwest Junior High, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, in Coralville, Iowa.

With 62% of the precincts counted, representing all 99 counties, Buttigieg was at 26.9% of the state delegates, Sanders at 25.1%, Warren at 18.3% and Biden at 15.6%. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar was fifth at 12.6%.

Sanders was ahead of Buttigieg in the popular vote, 28,220 to 27,030.

In Iowa, voters went for outsiders over the establishment, the risky over the safe.

In doing that, history is on their side. In modern times, Democrats have more often won the White House when they nominated fresh faces, sometimes groundbreaking ones: Barack Obama in 2008, Bill Clinton in 1992, John Kennedy in 1960. They often have lost the White House when they nominated the establishment's preference over a challenger: Hillary Clinton in 2016, John Kerry in 2004, Al Gore in 2000.

Story continues

While Iowa kept counting, the candidates and the campaign moved on Tuesday to New Hampshire, where Sanders currently leads. The first-in-the-nation primary, just a week away, often splits with Iowa's returns, and sometimes doesn't decide until last moment. Iowa's boost almost certainly has been diminished by the failure to release results Monday night, making the state Democratic Party look inept and fueling a flurry of conspiracy theories.

In a way, that enabled Trump to win both the Republican and the Democratic caucuses in Iowa. He was virtually unchallenged on the GOP side, carrying 97% of the Republican vote. He ridiculed the mess in the other party as a sign that Democrats can't run an election, much less a government. "Nothing works, just like they ran the Country," he tweeted derisively.

More: Is the Iowa caucus dead? Chaos and no results puts Hawkeye state's status in question

'A mess': Iowa Democratic caucus fiasco may put system on the brink of extinction

Sanders and Buttigieg were left to deliver awkward victory-night speeches without the imprimatur of certified victories. They didn't get the banner headlines that Iowa winners dream about to use as a sail into New Hampshire.

"So we don't have all the results," Buttigieg told cheering supporters in Des Moines Monday as midnight approached. "But we know by the time it's all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation. Because, by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious." The partial results showed Buttigieg winning 31 Iowa counties that had flipped from Obama to Trump, an important bragging point.

Biden, on the other hand, got a temporary reprieve from having to explain a dismal finish. "I don't know what happened in Iowa this morning," he told reporters Tuesday after an event in Nashua, New Hampshire, throwing up his hands and declining to take questions. His campaign hopes to recover with a victory in the South Carolina primary on Feb. 29, where he's counting on his strength among African American voters.

One other winner from Iowa: a candidate who wasn't in the mix. Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is skipping the first four contests  in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina  and focusing on March 3 Super Tuesday. His theory is he could be a centrist alternative if Biden stumbles and Sanders is on a roll. His campaign confirmed that he approved hiring more staff and buying more TV ads in the wake of Iowa.

All that said, the Iowa results still speak to the first judgment of voters that we have. What we heard from them: Go new.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iowa caucus message: You want electability? Try something new
Oil traded near $51 (U.S.) a barrel in New York  recovering from a one-year low  as OPEC+ officials gathered for an urgent meeting to assess the impact of the coronavirus on demand and consider how best to respond.

An internal analysis presented to OPEC+ technical experts in Vienna estimated a reduction in average global oil-demand growth of 200,000 barrels a day this year in a worst-case scenario, one delegate said. The outcome of Tuesdays talks may determine whether the OPEC+ group convenes an emergency meeting to weigh up new output cuts later this month.

The virus has already upended trade flows and probably led to a 20 per cent cut in Chinas oil demand as cities are quarantined and factories shut. Refineries are curbing operations, while the nations top processor is trying to resell millions of barrels of crude it no longer needs. The crisis could wipe out a third of the growth in global consumption this year, said BP Plc finance chief Brian Gilvary.

The energy complex is clawing its way back into positive territory amid expectations that the recent price rout will trigger a supply response from OPEC+, PVM Oil Associates analysts Tamas Varga and Stephen Brennock wrote in a report. Further production cuts are thought to be on the agenda.

West Texas Intermediate for March delivery advanced 96 cents to $51.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 9:06 a.m. local time. The contract slumped 2.8 per cent on Monday to the lowest since January 2019. International benchmark Brent gained 1.4 per cent on Tuesday to $55.19 a barrel.

Even with the recovery in near-term contracts, there was no similar move in the oil markets structure. The closest Brent spread languished in a bearish contango structure  indicating oversupply  trading about 5 cents weaker than Mondays close.

On Tuesday, the OPEC+ Joint Technical Committee was joined by Chinas ambassador to international organizations for the meeting in the Austrian capital. A full meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners is currently scheduled for March, but the group is considering whether to hold that gathering earlier to respond to the virus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz discussed the market by phone on Monday and confirmed a readiness to continue co-operation. Russia is ready to participate in any OPEC+ meeting that is called, a Kremlin spokesman said on Tuesday.

With assistance from James Thornhill and Sharon Cho.

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SPRINGFIELD  Police have charged a 30-year-old city man with attempted murder in connection with the stabbing of a customer inside a State Street package store two weeks ago.

Duane Addy of Arthur Picard Circle was arrested inside a home on Sycamore Street around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to police spokesman Ryan Walsh.

Addy was charged with armed assault with intent to murder in connection with a stabbing Jan. 23 inside the Benton Park Package Store, 521 State St.

A customer inside the store suffered potentially life-threatening injuries in the stabbing and was taken to Baystate Medical Center for treatment. Police said at the time that the injured man was stabbed by another customer as they waited in line inside the store.

Springfield detectives under the command of Capt. Trent Duda identified Addy as the suspect within two days and applied for an arrest warrant through Springfield District Court.

Walsh said Addy and the victim were acquaintances who got into an argument just before the stabbing.

Participating in the arrest were officers with the Springfield Police Warrant Apprehension Unit, the Hampden County Sheriffs Department, Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, the U.S. Marshals Task Force and Massachusetts Parole Officers.

In addition to the warrant for the Springfield stabbing, Addy was also charged with a Chicopee warrant for driving with a suspended license and other motor vehicle charges.

He is due to be arraigned Tuesday in Springfield District Court.
Hong Kong, Feb 4 : Thousands of medical workers in Hong Kong on Tuesday continued a strike that started a day ago, to demand the city's government to completely close the border with mainland China in an effort to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

A day after almost 3,000 doctors and nurses walked out in protest at the government's response to the coronavirus outbreak, thousands more joined them as the stand-off escalated on Tuesday morning, reports the South China Morning Post.

The demonstrators held banners saying, "Save Hong Kong now. I am staff on strike", and submitted a petition letter to the city's Hospital Authority.

Health officials said emergency services, neonatal intensive care units, cancer and radiology services, and isolation wards had been severely affected, and asked patients with minor complaints to seek help from private doctors and clinics.

Deacons Yeung Tai-kong, a director at the Authority, said the situation in public hospitals "has been very serious and worrying".

"On Monday, about 4,000 people sought help from our accident and emergency departments, and 937 of them have to be transferred to our medical wards.

"So I appeal to all nurses from our medical wards to come back, because the work there will be very busy, especially at night," he added.

On Monday, the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, a union formed during the anti-government protests, began its strike action after Chief Executive Carrie Lam did not give in to their demands to fully close the border with mainland China.

Instead, Lam announced that almost all 15 crossing points would be closed, leaving open the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, Shenzhen Bay Port, and the international airport, said the South China Morning Post.

The 18,000-strong union, together with other leading medical experts, has argued that all borders should be closed to any non-Hong Kong residents entering from mainland China to stop the killer disease, which originated in Wuhan, from spreading.

Also on Tuesday, Hong Kong reported its first coronavirus death, making it the third country after China and the Philippines to report fatalities.

China's death toll now stands at 425, with 20,438 confirmed cases.

The number of deaths in China now exceeds the 349 killed on the mainland in the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak of 2002-03.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday slammed BJP leaders for allegedly branding anti-CAA protesters as "anti-nationals", and said the recent firings outside Jamia Millia University and Shaheen Bagh in Delhi were attempts to terrorise the peaceful agitators.

In a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Banerjee said unlike the PM, who "calls himself a 'chowkidaar' (watchman) only during polls", she takes care of people and attends to their problems round the year.

"I don't belong to a group that spreads hatred among masses. It is due to instigation by the BJP leaders, incidents of firing took place outside Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia. These are attempts to terrorize the masses," Banerjee said, while addressing a rally at Bongaon in North 24 Parganas.

Extending her support to the Shaheen Bagh protesters, Banerjee, who is also the TMC supremo, said some parties are tyring to "spread misinformation" on the issue of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

"CAA won't grant you citizenship, it will turn you into a foreigner," she added.
Russian MP Vyacheslav Nikonov eutoday.net

Nikonov is the head of the State Duma Committee on Education and Science and chairman of the board of the Russkiy Mir Foundation. His remarks follow fast on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. He was speaking at a round table entitled Spiritual, moral and patriotic education of youths in the light of the Great Victory.

After the UK leaves the European Union, there is practically no country left in the EU that was not either a member of the Nazi axis or allied with Nazi Germany. The whole European Union was in the past Hitlers coalition or those who bowed before him. There was not a single country opposing Hitler. France was also defeated, and its plans worked for Germany, Nikonov said.

It is perhaps no surprise that Nikonov is the grandson of the former Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov, who signed the Non-Aggression Treaty with Nazi Germany Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop.

According to the agreement, Russia and Germany undertook to refrain from attacking each other and to maintain neutrality if one of them were attacked by a third party. Germany and Russia were also bound to refrain from alliance with other countries, directly or indirectly targeting the other side. The mutual exchange of information on issues affecting the interests of both parties was also provided for in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The agreement was accompanied by a secret additional protocol that carved out shares that defined the areas of interest in Eastern Europe in the event of a territorial and political reorganisation.

The protocol provided for the allocation to the USSR of Latvia, Estonia, Finland, the eastern regions that make up the Polish state, and Bessarabia. Lithuania and the western part of Poland were assigned to Germany.

Read the full story here.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A newly published study in JAMA shows that people with neurological disorders have a 75% higher suicide rate than people with no neurological disorders. Still, suicide deaths are rare events. While the suicide rate for the general population is around 20 per 100,000, the rate for people with neurological disorders is around 40 per 100,000 person-years. The study is based on the data covering the entire population of Denmark and followed over 37 years.

The researchers found that one out of 150 persons diagnosed with a neurological disorder dies by suicide. For severe neurological diseases, such as Huntington's, one out of 61 diagnosed died by suicide. This study is the most comprehensive assessment of a link between neurological disorders and suicide conducted to date.

"This is the first time we have examined this many different neurological disorders to gain a more detailed understanding of when risk of suicide is pronounced. These insights can help us shape dedicated preventive effort," says Dr. Annette Erlangsen, lead author and senior researcher at Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention (DRISP).

Up to five times higher suicide rate

The study shows that people who have been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Huntington's disease have particularly high risk, as the suicide rate associated with these disorders is four to five times higher than in the general population.

Furthermore, people who have been exposed to traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis or epilepsy have a suicide rate double the level of the that among those with no such disorders.

"There may be several coexisting explanations for the excess suicide rate. People may have difficulties understanding and coming to terms with the consequences of a newly diagnosed chronic disorder. In addition, mental disorders as well as social and relationship factors may play a role," explains Dr. Elsebeth Stenager, a professor in social psychiatry at University of Southern Denmark.

Changes in risk

The risk of suicide has previously been associated with psychiatric disorders, but this new study shows that neurological disorders are also linked to an elevated suicide rate. It is even possible that undiagnosed mental disorders may account for some of this excess risk.

"The elevated risk appears at different stages during the course of the disorders. For example, people with dementia were found to have a two to three times higher suicide rate during the first three months after being diagnosed. On the other hand, people who had been diagnosed with dementia more than a year ago were found to have a lower suicide rate than the general population," explains Dr. Egon Stenager, a clinical professor in neurology at University of Southern Denmark.

He and the research team cannot yet explain these differences in the risk of suicide. However, it seems to be related to the type of disorder, the progress of the disease and what treatment options exist.

Development of preventive initiatives

The research team behind the study consisted of international experts on neurology, psychiatry, and suicide prevention. By using unique linkable Danish medical data, it was possible to calculate exact suicide rates for disorders such as ALS and Huntington's disease. The researchers expect that the findings will be of great benefit for future interventions.

Further analyses will be needed to identify how the risk of suicide should be addressed for individual disorders. Annette Erlangsen explains that the goal for this first step was to identify which disorders ought to be addressed by preventive efforts. The next steps are to consider at what time and how intervention should be offered.

Some of the neurological disorders that were examined:

Head injury

Apoplexy

Epilepsy

Polyneuropathy

Myasthenia gravis

Parkinson

Multiple Sclerosis

Central nervous system infections

Meningitis

Encephalitis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Huntington's disease

Dementia

Intellectual disabilities

Explore further Lifetime suicide risk factors identified

Provided by University of Southern Denmark Faculty of Health Sciences
I bought a hose last weekend. I was at Kern Turf and the hoses were on sale. A new hose was not on my list, but when I turned around, a green 
Pakistan Foreign Office on Tuesday summoned a senior Indian diplomat to lodge a protest over the alleged ceasefire violation by the Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC) a day before.

In a statement, Pakistan Foreign Office claimed that the "indiscriminate and unprovoked" firing by the Indian troops in Danna Sector of LoC resulted in serious injuries to four civilians, including two women and a child.

"Due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian forces in Danna Sector of LoC on 3 February 2020, 22-year-old Shamim Bibi d/o Muhammad Shabbir, 10-year-old Farhaz s/o Muhammad Shabbir, 35-year-old Ansar, all three residents of village Chatargam and 17-year-old Moniza Bibi d/o Sain Noor, resident of Bagh Ali, sustained serious injuries," the statement read.

New Delhi has repeatedly urged Pakistan to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement between the two countries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
GENEVA - The U.N.s special representative for Libya said he hopes cease-fire talks that began Tuesday between the countrys warring sides will result in a deal that will convince foreign powers to stop pouring in weapons.

Ghassan Salame, head of the United Nations support mission in Libya, lamented that an arms embargo has been incessantly violated since the fall of longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. He said an international conference in Berlin last month sought to renew respect for it.

Cease-fire talks in Geneva focus on the military aspect of diplomatic efforts aimed at easing tensions in a country that has been roiled by instability for most of the last decade. Salame said an economic track to the talks began in Tunis, Tunisia last month and is to resume in Cairo on Sunday. A political track is set to get under way in about two weeks, he said.

The weak U.N.-recognized administration holds the capital Tripoli and parts of the countrys west. Led by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, its backed by Turkey and to a lesser degree Qatar and Italy.

On the other side of the civil war is Gen. Khalifa Hifter, based in the countrys east. His forces have been fighting to capture the capital for months, and are backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt as well as France and Russia.

Sarraj and Hifter have each named five members of a military committee to represent them at the Geneva talks aimed at a more permanent cease-fire, in meetings that quietly got underway Monday.

Playing down expectations, Salame said such a meeting between high-ranking officers was unprecedented: So dont expect from one meeting yesterday afternoon to settle all these issues.

Speaking in Arabic through a translator, he noted a genuine will for both parties to sit together and start negotiations.

We started yesterday with a long list of points on our agenda, starting on an attempt to transform the truce into a more solid one less often violated by either side  but also to transform that truce into areas of agreement on a lasting cease-fire, he said.

Salame said talks would centre on how to organize a cease-fire on the ground, what kind of monitoring could take place, and what could be done with heavy weaponry, among other things.

There are violations of the truce. But it was accepted publicly by the two sides, and we want these rules to be implemented, he said, alluding to a cease-fire deal struck last month. We want to maintain it. We think its a very positive development.

If we come to a lasting cease-fire ... at least the parties in Libya will not need more weapons or more fighters, Salame said. If these talks succeed, at least the pull factor will disappear. Because with the violation of the arms embargo, there is a push factor and a pull factor.

If you agree on a lasting cease-fire, the pull factor will certainly weaken, Salame said, pointing to more than 20 million pieces of weapons in the country and that is enough. The country doesnt need more.

He reiterated his comments to the U.N. Security Council last month citing new evidence about new equipment and foreign fighters joining the two sides: Therefore we believe that the arms embargo is being violated by both parties.

Salame also noted that a blockade by tribes loyal to Hifter has slowed Libyas oil output to a trickle.

I call on countries to support the U.N. attempts to resume production, he said. Production has been hit severely. In fact, now Libya is only producing offshore, which is 72,000 barrels a day compared to 1.3 million barrels a day before the closure.

The countrys National Oil Corporation, which dominates Libyas critical oil industry, said losses from the closures have reached more than $930 million in the past two weeks. It put the daily losses at nearly $55 million.

The daily oil production has since the closure fallen to 187,337 barrels a day, the NOC said, the lowest since the 2011 uprising.

Libya has the ninth largest known oil reserves in the world and the biggest oil reserves in Africa.

Salame called the situation not sustainable and said he would be grateful if some of the largest countries in the world, who have been helping us in solving previous crises in oil production and exports, do the same for this particular crisis. He did not elaborate.

Just hours after Salames press conference, the cease-fire appeared to further fray. Hifters self-styled army launched airstrikes on militia convoys south of Misrata, a stronghold of fighters loyal to the U.N.-backed government, according to a Facebook page run by Hifters forces.

___

Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre contributed from Cairo.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/KOCHI: For the hotel and tourism industries in Kerala, the three coronavirus positive cases could not have come at a worse time. The Gods Own State is bang in the middle of the annual tourism season, September-April, and the hotel industry is reporting mass cancellation of bookings already.

Tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran said in the Assembly Tuesday that the hotel bookings for the February-March months have been cancelled widely across the state.

Three students, including a woman medical student who studied in Wuhan University in China have tested positive for the virus in Thrissur, Alappuzha and Kasaragod districts in the last few days. The LDF government declared a state calamity on Monday night.

Even before the outbreak, Kerala tourism had not been having the best of luck with the Nipah outbreak, unprecedented floods and landslides, and the global economic downturn affecting it badly in the past two years.

Surendran said he expected the impact to be even more severe this time than during the Nipah outbreak. This time, the impact is more severe... As soon as the reports came in, all hotel bookings for the February-March months have been cancelled.

Sources in the tourism department said educational study tours from other states to Kerala have already been cancelled as parents and college and school authorities are apprehensive about sending students to Kerala.

Several MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourism events also face the same possibility.

As part of the coronavirus health vigil, resorts, homestays and serviced villas are being monitored without causing difficulties to tourists. One homestay owner in Fort Kochi cancelled the booking of Chinese tourists and sent them back, considering the apprehensions of other foreign nationals staying there.

The tourism deputy director has issued notices to homestay and resort owners asking them to provide details of tourists from China, if any. Even though the situation is under control and there is no room for panic, it would be difficult to convince the tourists if any more cases are reported, said Sivadathan, director of the Kerala State Homestay and Tourism Society (Kerala HATS).

The government has urged the media to exercise self-restraint and keep away from fear-mongering. Minister Surendran said blowing up issue beyond proportion would adversely impact the tourism industry. There is no doubt that we should be vigilant. But, there is no need to create a scare among public, he added.

One tour operator said cancellations would accelerate if more virus infection cases are reported in the days and weeks ahead. Several countries already have imposed travel restrictions on travel to virus-infected countries, he pointed out.

Ironically, barely four weeks ago, Lonely Planet had named Kochi among the Top 10 Best Destinations for 2020.
T he terrorist behind the Streatham attack had reportedly told fellow inmates in jail that he wanted to murder an MP and mocked up an Islamic State-style execution.

Sudesh Amman, 20, was released from Belmarsh prison just days before he was shot dead by police during a knife attack in Streatham High Road on Sunday.

Amman, who was wearing a fake bomb vest during the violent knife spree, had voiced his intentions to take out MPs, a former prisoner who spent time with him told The Times.

The source told the newspaper that the terrorist wanted to copy the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox and had said: The only way to get these filthy kafirs (non-believers) out of Syria is to take out MPs like that white guy did with the lady in 2016.

Streatham terror attack - In pictures 1 /28 Streatham terror attack - In pictures Police are dealing with an incident in Streatham Andy Bullemor Police officers conduct a search of a bail hostel in south London AFP via Getty Images A woman reacts near to the scene where a man was shot and killed by armed police Getty Images Forensic officers at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road PA Police cordon off a property in Streatham PA Forensic officers outside a property on Leigham Court Road, Streatham PA Police activity at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road PA Police officers look under a bus as they work at the scene of Sunday's terror stabbing attack in the Streatham area of south London AP Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Police officers at the scene after a man was shot by armed police Getty Images Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Armed police officer on Streatham High Road PA Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Police officers guard a cordon on Streatham High Road, at the junction of Prentis Road AFP via Getty Images Forensics investigate the scene Nigel Howard Police officers at the scene after a man was shot by armed police Getty Images Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Items left on the pavement at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Police secure the area in Streatham AP Forensics investigate the scene Nigel Howard

Amman was released from prison on January 23 this year after serving half his three year and four-month sentence for possessing and distributing terrorist documents.

The government has announced plans to introduce emergency legislation to prevent terrorists from being released automatically after serving half of their sentences.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland addressed the House of Commons on Monday afternoon following a terrorist attack.

Sadiq Khan: Streatham attack was preventable

Justice Buckland told MPs: Yesterdays appalling incident makes the case plainly for immediate action.

We cannot have the situation, as we saw tragically in yesterdays case, where an offender  a known risk to innocent members of the public  is released early by automatic process of law without any oversight by the Parole Board.

We will be doing everything we can to protect the public, that is our primary duty.

We will, therefore, introduce emergency legislation to ensure an end to terrorist offenders getting released automatically having served half of their sentence with no check or review.

Police at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road / PA

Sundays knife rampage led to three members of the public being hospitalised, although none are in a life-threatening condition.

Amman was under active surveillance since his release because authorities were concerned he still held extremist views.

Legal experts raised concerns about plans to apply the new rules to prisoners who have already been sentenced, with former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Lord Carlile telling BBC2's Newsnight: "I think it may have gone too far.

"The decision to lengthen the sentences of people who have already been sentenced, and therefore expected to be serving half the sentence the judge imposed upon them, may be in breach of the law.

"It is certainly going to be challenged."

Scotland Yard said armed officers were following Amman on foot as part of a "proactive counter-terrorism surveillance operation" when the incident took place.

The three victims were taken by ambulance to south London hospitals.

One man, in his 40s, is in a serious but stable condition, police said.

A woman in her 50s, a teacher at a nearby school, had non-life threatening injuries and has been discharged from hospital.

Police said a second woman, in her 20s, who suffered minor injuries believed to have been caused by glass following the discharge of a police firearm, has also left hospital.

Investigations continue with officers also searching two addresses in south London and Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire.

The attack in the south-London suburb comes just over two months since the London Bridge attack when two died and others were injured at the hands of Usman Khan a recently released convict who had been released on licence after serving time for terrorist offences.

He too had worn a fake suicide vest and attacked unsuspecting members of the public with a knife. He was also shot dead by armed police.

Both incidents have led to a spotlight being put on the current criminal justice system, with many calling for longer sentences while others urge for better rehabilitation.

Those killed in the London Bridge attack, Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones, were both working at the time for Cambridge University's Learning Together prison-rehabilitation programme and Merritt's father spoke out publicly against Prime Minister Boris Johnson's promise to introduce harsher punishments.

The bridge attack prompted a raft of measures to be proposed including forcing dangerous terrorists who receive extended determinate sentences to serve the whole time behind bars.

Following the most recent attack, Mr Buckland said the government would be looking to change legislation with "the underlying principle has to be that offenders will no longer be released early automatically and that any release before the end of their sentence will be dependent on risk assessment by the Parole Board."

We face an unprecedented situation of severe gravity and, as such, it demands that the Government responds immediately and that this legislation will therefore also apply to serving prisoners," he added.

The earliest point at which the offenders will now be considered for release will be once they have served two-thirds of their sentence and, crucially, we will introduce a requirement that no terrorist offender will be released before the end of their full custodial term unless the Parole Board agrees.

We will ensure the functions of the Parole Board are strengthened to deal even more effectively with the specific risk that terrorists pose to public safety so, for example, we will ensure that the appropriate specialisms are in place.

That work is in train and we will take steps to implement this as soon as possible.
US President Donald Trump on Monday won the Iowa Caucus with the members of his Republican party standing solidly behind him.

While the focus of this year's Iowa Caucus which formally kicks off the 2020 presidential season has been on the tough race among the over a dozen odd Democratic presidential aspirants, Trump, according to the local Des Moines Register, garnered the support of more than 95 percent of his party votes Monday night when the reports last came in.

"President Trump recaptures overwhelming Iowa Republican support," Des Moines Register said.

"Republicans in Iowa, go out and Caucus today. Your great Trade Deals with China, Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea and more, are DONE. Great times are coming, after waiting for decades, for our Farmers, Ranchers, Manufacturers and ALL. Nobody else could have pulled this off! Trump had said earlier in the day.

In the US presidential elections system, the political parties have to undergo a democratic exercise in each of the 50 States either through caucus or primaries to elect their presidential nominees.

The winners of the primaries are finally declared as nominee by both the Republican and the Democratic parties held late summer, who then fight out in the November presidential elections.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Meng Wanzhou extradition hearing in Vancouver ended in late January, with most of the focus on how this case negatively impacts the overall Canada-China relationship. But there is another interesting piece of this contentious and challenging puzzle  namely, the role of the United States.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

The Meng Wanzhou extradition hearing in Vancouver ended in late January, with most of the focus on how this case negatively impacts the overall Canada-China relationship. But there is another interesting piece of this contentious and challenging puzzle  namely, the role of the United States.

It is true that Canada was tipped off by Washington about the top Huawei executives travels through British Columbia in December 2018. She was subsequently arrested (for fraud) by the RCMP at the Vancouver Airport for allegedly violating the U.S. sanctions regime against Iran. Accordingly, the U.S. Justice Department formally requested that Meng be extradited under a long-standing bilateral legal treaty.

But given our status as a close, like-minded and strategic partner to the U.S., has Washington had Canadas back during this lengthy and painful ordeal? Since we were doing our neighbour a huge favour, has U.S. President Donald Trump championed Canadas concerns and interests with his counterparts in Beijing? And what does this particular case say about the state of Canada-U.S. relations today?

Furthermore, could Canada, a country of laws, have simply looked the other way and allowed Meng to escape our jurisdiction? Would it not be a good idea to use Ms. Meng as a bargaining chip to secure the release of "the two Michaels"  Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor  who are imprisoned in China on trumped-up charges and living in difficult cell conditions?

Is it not possible for Canadas justice minister, as authorized under the Canada-U.S. extradition treaty, to order Mengs eventual release?

The big problem with any of those options would have been the outraged reaction in official Washington. It would have raised serious questions about Canadas loyalty and trustworthiness as a bilateral friend and ally. And it most assuredly would have angered Trump, who has never missed an opportunity to aggressively go after the Chinese.

Obviously, we dont want him to turn his venom on Canada and start talking (or tweeting) once again about slapping punishing tariffs on Canadian auto imports. At the same time, Canada needs Trump to be open to "thinning" the Canadian-American border as opposed to building a wall, adding needless regulations or sending thousands of U.S. border agents to various designated crossings.

Now, it is the case that Trump has handled the Meng Wanzhou affair very poorly. His ill-considered comments about withdrawing the U.S. extradition request as part of his years-long trade dispute with the Chinese government were unhelpful, even reckless. He obviously put Canada in an extremely awkward position and played right into Beijings claims that the whole Meng arrest was little more than a "political" move by a pliant Ottawa.

In fairness, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has offered some comforting words to Canadian authorities over the imprisoning of Kovrig and Spavor. But those words, unfortunately, have not been followed up by any concrete or meaningful actions. For example, there were no efforts to link the recent signing of a "Phase One" U.S.-China trade deal to the release of the two Canadians.

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Clearly, what the Meng case tells us is that officialdom in Ottawa should not view the U.S. as a reliable and trusted partner today. Just as the killing of 57 Canadians in the downed Ukrainian airliner barely registered on the radar screen in Washington, so, too, are the "two Michaels" unlikely to ever ascend to the top of the Trump administrations agenda.

It used to be that Ottawa could count on our friends in Washington to go to bat for us on various things. It used to be possible for Canadians to use our "in" with the U.S. to leverage concessions from other countries around the world. But as the Meng case has highlighted, that is not the case anymore, Im afraid.

If Canadian officials didnt realize it before, they should now: Trump is largely a transactional president  for whom the transactions take place on a one-way street. The reality is that Trump, notwithstanding Justin Trudeaus urgings, was never going to pressure the Chinese on releasing the imprisoned Canadians. Not a chance.

Its no stretch of the imagination, then, to posit that the Trump White House has been the most difficult U.S. administration since the John F. Kennedy years in the 1960s. But unlike a prickly Kennedy, who allowed a personal animosity toward a crusty John Diefenbaker to poison the bilateral relationship, Trump doesnt care who the Canadian prime minister is.

In fact, he doesnt really care if the Canadian PM is actually naughty or nice to him. As far as Trump is concerned, he just wants to "win"  which means Canada has to lose. Welcome to "America First."

Peter McKenna is professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown.
Parents claim Chinese children are being ostracised by their friends in British schools because of the coronavirus outbreak, with some refusing to play with them.

Mothers have told the BBC that people are being 'racist' against the youngsters because of an 'unfair' perception that the outbreak is a Chinese virus.

Meanwhile blogger Jex Wang has claimed people on public transport are 'moving away' from those of East Asian origin, leaving her 'anxious' to leave the house.

And a 54-year-old Taiwanese market stall holder in Aberystwyth, West Wales, has said other stallholders tried to turf her out and told her to 'go home'.

Parents claim Chinese children are being ostracised by their friends in British schools because of the coronavirus outbreak. Pictured: File image of students in a classroom

One mother told Radio 4's Today programme: 'Some of them say 'my mum told me I'm not going to play with you because you going to carry virus'.'

Another said: 'People really racist against the Chinese children because from the newspapers and the media say this is a Chinese virus, which is so unfair.'

Commenting on the Radio 4 report, Muslim author Shelina Janmohamed tweeted: 'So sad to hear the bullying and racism faced by the UK's Chinese community especially kids.

'I hope we all intervene if we see this. It brings back sore memories of being told as a child I had the 'lurgy' because my skin is brown. Wrong then. Wrong now.'

Writer and photographer Jex Wang, who has lived in Australia, China and France, told BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme: 'I got the same treatment when I was a child when the Sars outbreak happened.

'My friends' parents said that they weren't allowed to hang out with me any more at school in case they got Sars.

Blogger Jex Wang told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire today that people on public transport are 'moving away' from those of East Asian origin, leaving her 'anxious' to leave the house

Writer and photographer Jex Wang, who has lived in Australia, China and France, told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme that she is concerned about dealing with more racism

'I was nine, and at that point in my life I hadn't been to China for two years. I grew up in Australia, so I was just like where are these thoughts coming from?

'It's not only Chinese people, it's a lot of East Asian people I know as well going through the same thing, like people moving away from us on public transport. That's why I've been anxious to leave the house.

'Because when I first saw the virus, I mean my first thought was with the people in Wuhan and what they are going through because it's horrible, then my second thought was 'I'm going to have to deal with more racism because of this now'.'

Wales market stall-holder Su Chu Lu had been to Taiwan  an island off the coast of China  to visit her family, but when she came back neighbours had turned on her.

She said a group of them had held a meeting and decided to try and ban her from returning to her stall over fears she would 'put them all at risk' of catching the virus.

Ms Lu became upset and refused to leave unless the authorities told her to. Other traders sided with her and even put up posters saying she should be allowed to stay.

Su Chu Lu, who runs an oriental market stall in Aberystwyth, Wales, said she was told to leave by fellow stallholders after she visited her family in Taiwan, where there have been 10 coronavirus cases

Another insisted it wasn't racist and they would have said the same if she'd been somewhere else where there was a disease outbreak.

How the coronavirus has infected more than 20,600 people globally The coronavirus began in China has infected more than 20,600 people around the world. The latest figures as of today in Beijing are: China : 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed cases on the mainland. In addition, Hong Kong has had 15 cases, including one death. Macao has had 10 cases. Most of the deaths have been in central Hubei province, where illnesses from the new type of coronavirus were first detected in December.

: 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed cases on the mainland. In addition, Hong Kong has had 15 cases, including one death. Macao has had 10 cases. Most of the deaths have been in central Hubei province, where illnesses from the new type of coronavirus were first detected in December. Japan : 20

: 20 Thailand : 19

: 19 Singapore : 18

: 18 South Korea : 16

: 16 United States : 11

: 11 Germany : 12

: 12 Taiwan : 10

: 10 Malaysia : 8

: 8 Australia : 7

: 7 Vietnam : 9

: 9 France : 6

: 6 United Arab Emirates : 5

: 5 Canada : 4

: 4 India : 3

: 3 Philippines : 2 cases, including 1 death

: 2 cases, including 1 death Russia : 2

: 2 Italy : 2

: 2 Britain : 2

: 2 Nepal : 1

: 1 Sri Lanka : 1

: 1 Sweden : 1

: 1 Spain : 1

: 1 Cambodia : 1

: 1 Finland : 1 Advertisement

There have been ten confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Taiwan, which has a population of around 24 million people.

Ms Lu said: 'I have no doubt this is because of my nationality, because of my skin colour, that's what makes me deeply unhappy about this.

'I think they assume I have gone to China but I didn't go, and they still didn't believe me. I don't know if they believe me now.'

It comes after boarding schools were told to watch out for anti-Chinese bullying among pupils prompted by the outbreak which has killed 425 people in China.

Guidance issued by the Boarding Schools' Association (BSA) also says that pupils who do travel to China should be told that when they return to the UK they may face 'protective measures', including quarantine.

China sends more pupils to UK fee-paying schools than any other country, with Chinese children making up around one in six of all international students.

On Saturday it emerged Chinese pupils at a top British boarding school had been barred from flying home for the holidays for fear of them contracting the virus.

Hereford Cathedral School said all planned trips to visit loved ones had been scrapped and the boarding house would stay open during half term next week.

The 15,000-a-year institution ratcheted up efforts to insulate its students and staff from the infection after the first two cases were confirmed on UK soil.

Other private schools with overseas students are also banning them returning to China.

A senior source at a top British boarding school told MailOnline: 'I doubt many if any schools will be sending pupils back at half term. All of ours are not returning, including some from Thailand.'

Parents bring their children to school wearing protective facemasks in Bangkok yesterday

Guidance published on the BSA's website gives its member schools information on the virus and advice on dealing with the situation.

In a section on supporting students, the guidance says it is natural that students, particularly those from China, will be concerned.

The BSA suggests that pupils from affected areas should be 'suitably and publicly supported'.

'They will be worried about themselves but more particularly about their friends and families', the advice says.

It also counsels schools to 'stay alert for any signs of xenophobia by students towards one another, or by any external audiences, either in school or on social media sites'.

Search in UK for more travellers from Wuhan British officials are still trying to trace 239 people who flew from the Chinese city of Wuhan to the UK before travel restrictions associated with the coronavirus came into force. Efforts to track down and assess the travellers, who left Wuhan after the virus emerged, began last week as the crisis intensified, leading British Airways and Virgin Atlantic to suspend UK-China flights. A total of 94 UK nationals and family members have been evacuated to Britain from Wuhan, the city in Hubei province at the epicentre of the outbreak, on two flights which arrived on Friday and Sunday. The evacuees are now undergoing 14 days in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral. The British Embassy in Beijing yesterday announced the last flights from China to the UK for British nationals were set to leave this week. It said flights would be run by 'partner countries' and any British nationals and their immediate families, including those with non-UK passports, must make themselves known if they wish to travel. Advertisement

'Such behaviour should not be tolerated and action should be taken against anyone acting in this way', it adds.

A BSA spokesman said: 'We have not heard of anything happening in our schools, and we don't envisage it happening in our schools, we are trying to make sure we are covering every eventuality.'

A separate section on pupils travelling to China advises schools that they should tell students who decide to travel that 'protective measures could well be in place before they return'.

'Depending on how the virus spreads in that time, this could include the need for returning pupils to be quarantined', it says.

'This should not be seen as an over-reaction or 'scare-mongering' but is based on experience gained from the progress of previous such diseases.'

The BSA also says it understands that some schools have already cancelled visits from prospective parents and pupils from China.

'While cancellation may be unnecessary, it is obviously prudent to minimise any unnecessary risk', it said.

Sources have told MailOnline that parties of prospective students and parents who planned to tour schools ahead of next year's intake have been axed while the world wrestles to squash the spread of the virus.

Students wear face masks at a Chinese school in Quezon City in the Philippines last week

Wellington School in Somerset has advised parents of Chinese pupils to forbid their children from flying back for the break.

Headmaster Eugene du Toit told the County Gazette: 'I have also told parents of students in year 11 and in the upper sixth that they should anticipate not allowing their children to travel home during the Easter break so that their ability to complete external examinations is not compromised.

'It is of paramount importance that we do everything within our power to minimise the threat of coronavirus to our children and the community and keep everyone safe.'

Chinese face a racist backlash across the globe as they are banned from restaurants and asked to leave hotels amid panic of coronavirus spreading

French started a Twitter hashtag under #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus - I am not a virus

Cafe in Rome notice said 'all people coming from China are not allowed access'

Restaurants in South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam refused Chinese people

Hotel in Danang, Vietnam, a popular beach resort, was refusing Chinese tourists

By JAMES GANT FOR MAILONLINE

Chinese citizens have faced a racist backlash across the world following the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus.

Restaurants in South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Vietnam have refused to accept Chinese customers.

Indonesians marched near a hotel and called on Chinese guests there to leave.

Restaurants in South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Vietnam (pictured) have refused to accept Chinese customers

French and Australian newspapers face criticism for racist headlines. Chinese and other Asians in Europe, the United States, Asia and the Pacific complained of racism.

Two dozen countries outside of China have reported cases of the new coronavirus, which has killed hundreds of people and sickened thousands of others in China.

Many countries have sent planes to the Chinese city of Wuhan to evacuate their nationals.

The anti-China sentiments come as Beijing bolsters its global influence, and China's rise has caused trade, political and diplomatic disputes with many countries.

But with rising fear of the mysterious disease has come a more acute anti-Chinese and, in some cases, anti-Asian backlash.

A French teacher started a Twitter conversation under #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus - I am not a virus) - that has drawn numerous accounts of discrimination, from children taunted in the schoolyard to subway passengers moving away from people who appear Asian.

France has a significant and growing Asian community, and Chinese visitors are a pillar of the French tourism industry, but old prejudices run deep.

French Asians are using a hashtag 'I am not a virus' in an effort to counter racist abuse

A regional newspaper in northern France carried a front-page headline warning of a 'Yellow Alert,' and later apologised amid national criticism.

'It's a virus that comes from a region in China. It could have come from North Africa, Europe or anywhere,' said Soc Lam, a legal adviser to Chinese community groups in Paris.

'People should not consider that just because we are Asian, we are more likely to spread the virus.'

A Danish paper, Jyllands-Posten, published a cartoon that replaced the yellow stars of the Chinese flag with representations of the virus.

The Chinese Embassy in Copenhagen called the cartoon 'an insult to China' and demanded the newspaper apologise.

The German Der Spiegel magazine ran a headline that said 'made in China' along with a photo of an individual in protective gear.

Last Friday, a cafe near Rome's Trevi Fountain, a popular tourist site, posted a notice in its window saying 'all people coming from China are not allowed access in this place,' according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

On Friday, a cafe near Rome's Trevi Fountain, a popular tourist site, posted a notice in its window saying 'all people coming from China are not allowed access in this place,' according to the Italian news agency ANSA

The post banning Chinese people from the cafe was no longer in the window when reporters went back. Pictured: A tourist wearing a mask by the Trevi Fountain on Friday

The post was no longer in the window when reporters went back.

After news broke that someone attending Arizona State University has the virus, Ari Deng, who is Chinese American, said she sat down at a study table on the Tempe, Arizona, campus near five other students.

Deng, who was the only Asian, said the other students began whispering. 'They got really tense and they quickly gathered their stuff and just left at the same time.'

In a recent business class a non-Asian student 'said `Not to be racist, but there's a lot of international students that live in my apartment complex.

'I try my best to keep my distance but I think it's a good precaution for all of us to wash our hands,' Deng said. 'It stings but I don't let it take up room in my mind or weigh on my conscience,' she said.

Meanwhile, the University of California, Berkeley's health services centre removed an Instagram post last Thursday that said 'fears about interacting with those who might be from Asia and guilt about these feelings' were a normal reaction to the coronavirus outbreak.

'No matter how much time we spend in this country, at times we are almost immediately viewed as a foreigner,' Gregg Orton, the national director of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, said. 'It's a pretty frustrating reality for many of us.'

South Korean websites have been flooded with comments calling on the government to block or expel Chinese and racist remarks about Chinese eating habits and hygiene.

A popular Seoul seafood restaurant frequented by Chinese tourists posted a sign saying 'No entry for Chinese' before taking it down Wednesday after an online backlash.

More than 650,000 South Koreans have signed an online petition filed with the presidential Blue House calling for a temporary ban on Chinese visitors.

More than 650,000 South Koreans have signed an online petition filed with the presidential Blue House calling for a temporary ban on Chinese visitors. Pictured: A citizen receives directions from a quarantine official at the National Medical Centre in Seoul

Some conservative opposition lawmakers publicly back these steps, and about 30 people rallied near the Blue House last Wednesday demanding the government immediately ban Chinese tourists.

'Unconditional xenophobia against the Chinese is intensifying' in South Korea, the mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said in an editorial Thursday. 'Infectious diseases are a matter of science, not an issue that can be resolved through an emotional outpouring.'

The virus has deepened anti-Chinese sentiment in Hong Kong, where months of street protests against Beijing's influence have roiled the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam suspended ferry and high-speed train services to the mainland and reduced flights between Hong Kong and Chinese cities.

Last week, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam suspended ferry and high-speed train services to the mainland and reduced flights between Hong Kong and Chinese cities. Pictured: Masks sold out at one grocery store in Hong Kong

Tenno Ramen, a Japanese noodle restaurant in Hong Kong, is refusing to serve mainland customers.

'We want to live longer. We want to safeguard local customers. Please excuse us,' the restaurant said on Facebook.

More than 51,000 signatures have appeared on an online petition demanding apologies from Australia's two biggest-circulation newspapers over their headlines.

The petition condemned Melbourne's Herald Sun headline Wednesday that read, 'Chinese virus pandamonium,' a misspelling that plays on China's native pandas, and Sydney's The Daily Telegraph headline on the same day that read, 'China kids stay home.'

Singaporean Kiwi Dollice Chua told the New Zealand Herald that when she went to an Auckland mall last week to buy a wedding card a woman gave her a dirty look and told her 'You Asians are the ones who brought this virus.' Chua has lived in New Zealand for 21 years. 'It's racist and beyond rude,' she said.

Many Japanese have taken to social media to call for a travel ban for the Chinese visitors amid worries they'll come to Japan for virus-related treatments.

One tweet said, 'Please ban Chinese tourists immediately,' while another said, 'I'm so worried that my child may catch the virus.'

A candy store in Hakone, a hot springs town west of Tokyo, recently made headlines after it posted a note saying, 'Chinese people's entry into the store is prohibited.'

A candy store in Hakone, a hot springs town west of Tokyo, recently made headlines after it posted a note saying, 'Chinese people's entry into the store is prohibited'

Last Wednesday, Menya Hareruya, a popular ramen chain in Sapporo on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, posted a sign saying 'No entry for Chinese tourists.'

Zhang Jiaqi, a Chinese student in Tokyo, said he has not faced any unpleasant response from his Japanese classmates and friends, but, he added, 'I noticed that some people have turned around or watched me with angry looks on their face when I was talking to my friends in Chinese.'

Several hundred residents in the Indonesian tourist city of Bukittinggi marched to the Novotel Hotel, where some 170 Chinese tourists were staying, to protest their entrance into Indonesia.

They blocked roads near the hotel to prevent the Chinese, who'd arrived a day earlier, from getting out of the hotel. Local authorities decided to send the visitors back to China later in the day.

More than 400,000 Malaysians have signed an online petition calling for a ban on Chinese travelers and urging the government to 'save our family and our children.'

A hotel in Danang, Vietnam, a popular beach destination, has been refusing to accept Chinese tourists.

A former police officer and town mayor, Abner Afuang, said he burned a Chinese flag last Friday in front of the National Press Club in Manila to protest the problems China has brought to the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries, including the virus and Beijing's claim to disputed islands in the South China Sea.

The Philippine president's office said in a statement: 'Let us not engage in discriminatory behavior, nor act with any bias towards our fellowmen. The reality is everyone is susceptible to the virus.'
The Marlins announced today that they have designated southpaws Jarlin Garcia and Jose Quijada for assignment. Their roster spots will go to Brandon Kintzler and Matt Joyce, whose signings are now official (see here and here).

Young hurlers continue to fly off the Miami 40-man roster. The club vowed to compile a strike-throwing relief corps entering the 2020 season, but it remains surprising to see so many pitchers flowing out  most of them to this point landing on other MLB rosters via claim or trade.

Garcia, 27, is entering his final pre-arbitration season after working to a 3.02 ERA over 50 2/3 innings in 2019. He managed only 6.9 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9, but did post a 46.9% groundball rate and had success at preventing home runs (0.71 per nine, 7.8% HR/FB). Garcia was exceptionally difficult for MLB hitters to square up; he held them to a 31.8% hard-hit rate that sat in the 84th percentile among pitchers leaguewide.

The 24-year-old Quijada had struggled quite a bit last year in his first taste of the majors. He was bombed for a 5.76 ERA in 29 2/3 innings, allowing 10 long balls on a whopping 34.5% HR/FB rate. But Quijada also showed he could get MLB hitters to swing and miss, as he has in the upper minors, by producing a 14.0% swinging-strike rate.
A case of robbery of Rs 1.86 crore was solved with the arrest of one person from Airoli in neighbouring Navi Mumbai in the early hours of Tuesday, Thane police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar said.

On January 30, six armed men entered the bungalow of builder Jagdish Patil in Narpoli area of Bhiwandi and looted Rs 60 lakh cash and gold jewellery weighing 4.1 kilograms, cumulatively valued at Rs 1.86 crore, at gunpoint, police said.

A probe by the Crime Branch's Property Cell and Central Crime Unit zeroed in on Dharmesh Vaishnav (38), a resident of Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, Phansalkar said.

He said five others, identified as Sanjay Punjabi, Rakesh Shaligram, Ravindra, Baba and Keshav, all residents of Madhya Pradesh, are on the run and efforts were on to nab them.

A major portion of the loot has been recovered, he added.

The commissioner also announced a cash reward of Rs 25,000 each to the two probe teams.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rashid Khalidi in The Wall Street Journal:

THE ERASURE OF the Palestinians on display this week as President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled a one-sided vision for peace might have been an unusually blatant act of disregard, but it was in no way new. The omission is the essence of the conflict. I was reminded of this back in the early 1990s, when I lived in Jerusalem for several months at a time, doing research in the private libraries of some of the citys oldest families, including my own. I spent over a year going through dusty worm-eaten books, documents, and letters belonging to generations of Khalidis, among them my great-great-great uncle, Yusuf Diya al-Din Pasha al-Khalidi.

Through his papers, I discovered a worldly man with a broad education acquired in Jerusalem, Malta, Istanbul, and Vienna. He was the heir to a long line of Jerusalemite Islamic scholars and legal functionaries, but at a young age, Yusuf Diya sought a different path for himself. After absorbing the fundamentals of a traditional Islamic education, he left Palestine at the age of 18  without his fathers approval, we are told  to spend two years at a British Church Mission Society school in Malta. From there, he went to study at the Imperial Medical School in Istanbul, after which he attended the citys Robert College, recently founded by American Protestant missionaries. For five years during the 1860s, Yusuf Diya attended some of the first institutions in the Middle East that provided a modern, Western-style education, learning English, French, German, and much else.

With this broad training, Yusuf Diya filled various roles as an Ottoman government official: translator in the Foreign Ministry, consult in the Russian Black Sea port of Poti, governor of districts from Kurdistan to Syria, and mayor of Jerusalem for nearly a decade. He was also elected as the deputy from Jerusalem to the short-lived Ottoman parliament established in 1876, and he did stints teaching at the Royal Imperial University in Vienna.

More here.
Doctors should be in hospitals not streets: Kejriwal writes to PM Modi on NEET counselling

Punjab elections: You will never have to stage another dharna says Kejriwal

Covid-19 cases are rising in Delhi, but no need to panic as hospitalisation low, says Kejriwal

No lockdown in Delhi for now but some curbs, says Arvind Kejriwal amid Covid surge

Delhi polls: AAP likely to release manifesto today

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 04: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to release its election manifesto today, party leader Sanjay Singh has said.

In the last three days of election campaigning, AAP will intensify its campaign through 500 members of its frontal organisations.

"In the next three days, 15,000 meetings will be held. In the last phase, we would use the slogan 'acche honge paanch saal - Delhi mein toh Kejriwal' (five years will go well - Kejriwal should be there in Delhi)," Singh said on Monday.

AAP set to win Delhi with 54 to 60 seats says opinion poll

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 4th, 2020

He also said party leaders will meet the Chief Election Commissioner Monday evening and seek a ban on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from campaigning in the national capital over his alleged provocative speeches.
One of the biggest issues to dominate the General Election discussion so far is the pension age. Trade unions and civil society organisations have highlighted the injustice for workers forced to retire at 65 but who are unable to access their State pension.

Those who cannot work must apply for jobseeker's benefit or allowance. The maximum rate for jobseekers is 203 per week - 60 below the poverty line. Both payments require you are capable of work and genuinely seeking work.

Testimony from workers forced to take up jobseeker's, and effectively pushed into poverty, solidified the pension age as a key election issue. All political parties have committed to either stopping the planned increase to 67, reversing the pension age to 65 or putting in place a transitional payment. Campaigners have put pensions on the agenda and prompted an important discussion on the sustainability, security, and fairness of our pension system.

The debate has also shone a light on two important, but rarely discussed, issues. The first is the stigmatised nature of the social welfare system.

Research shows welfare stigma can affect both the decision to take up income supports and the well-being of those who do. The interaction people have with the system can vary and everyone's experience is different. But the narrative in the past few weeks encapsulates a prevailing view that 'signing on' is something people feel embarrassed about.

While this is entirely valid and understandable for those affected by the pension changes, it does raise questions about how we as a society view our welfare system and how that system responds to citizens who access it. Fundamentally, access to social protection is a human right and no one should feel shame when vindicating that right.

People in a variety of situations receive social welfare payments; unemployed and underemployed precarious workers, those with an illness, disability or mental health difficulties, part-time workers, carers, parents and those experiencing long-term unemployment due to issues of intergenerational disadvantage, marginalisation and discrimination.

We all rely on the social protection system at different points in our lives, and without it over 40pc of our population would be living in poverty. A strong welfare state is something we should aspire to and a discussion on how we can make sure the system works for everyone is needed. This brings us to the second issue and the fact almost all social welfare payments are inadequate to meet basic needs.

The Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice calculates the amount of weekly income required to have a minimum essential standard of living (MESL) for 90pc of household types in Ireland.

Deep income inadequacy is now exclusively found in households headed by one adult, namely single working-age adults and one-parent households. A one parent family with two children living in an urban area and in receipt of social welfare has a weekly gap of 80 between their income and the cost of a minimum standard of living. For a single working age adult, the shortfall is 45.

The reality is even when social welfare payments help address very basic needs, without the means to access opportunities people can get trapped in poverty.

It is possible to progressively achieve adequate social welfare for all as part of the next programme for government, through a combination of increases in social welfare and investment in public services that reduce the cost of living for individuals and families.

In Fine Gael and Fianna Fail's manifestos, both parties commit to pension increases of 5 annually over the lifetime of the next government. Fianna Fail promises to introduce a cost of disability payment, improve in-work supports for lone parents and establish a basic income commission. Fine Gael said it will increase payments for carers and people with disabilities. The Green Party commits to introducing a universal basic income.

One reason there is a reluctance to provide people with an adequate income is a widespread assumption people will not actively look for a job if welfare is too generous. But a study published in the 'American Journal of Sociology' in 2017 found the association between benefits and unemployment depended heavily on the types of opportunities available.

Using data from 20 European countries and the US, it showed that in countries with strong protections for workers there were better job opportunities and in those circumstances, generous benefits worked to improve employment.

Therefore, rather than disincentivising paid employment, adequate social welfare combined with measures to improve the quality of job opportunities, a living wage, affordable childcare and accessible education and training, helps people access sustainable, good quality work.

In this election campaign candidates should not only be asked if they are committed to ensuring older people have an adequate income in their retirement but also if they are committed to a social floor that protects people from undue hardship, values caring work, supports people into decent work and fulfils the basic human right of living with dignity.
04.02.2020 LISTEN

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has arrested six persons in connection with the 500 missing mining excavators.

The suspects are believed to be members of the ruling New Patriotic Party which claim to be fighting against illegal mining.

The Head of Public Affairs, CID, and Deputy Superintendent of Police, Juliana Obeng, made this known in a press release dated February 4, 2020.

According to the release, the missing excavators and other equipment were those seized by Operations Vanguard in the fight against illegal mining popularly known as Galamsey.

Suspect Ekow Ewusi who was contracted to take custody of the equipment, was arrested on Monday February 2, 2020 at Abelemkpe in Accra together with five (5) other accomplices namely: Frederick Ewusi, Joel Asamoah, Adnan Harurna, Frank Gyan and John Arhin, according to the statement.

Ekow Ewusi is a suspended first Vice Chairman of the NPP in the Central Region.

All suspects are in police custody. The police is assured that due processes will be followed, it added.

---Daily Guide
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A Bismarck man who pointed a gun at his neighbors before becoming involved in a standoff with a SWAT team recalls few details of the day because he was having a flashback to an overseas war zone incident in which he and fellow soldiers were forced to kill a dog, his attorney said.

Scott Brand Jr., 44, pleaded guilty to two terrorizing charges on Tuesday and was placed on probation for two years. He was charged in May 2019 after police were called to a Centennial Road address on a report of a man pointing a gun at two adults and two children. He gave up the weapon but refused to leave his home until the West Dakota SWAT team used chemical munitions. Two rifles and a shotgun were seized, according to police.

Brand is a veteran who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and another in Kosovo, said his attorney, Kent Morrow. The incident in May centered around a barking dog and Brand, who has been diagnosed with PTSD, flashed back to Afghanistan, where a barking dog had threatened to give away the position of Brand and other troops, according to Morrow.

Their only recourse was to kill the dog, he said.

Brand told South Central District Judge Gail Hagerty that he had no intention of killing anyone in May but that his medical condition made it hard for him to recall details of the day. He and the neighbors at whom he was accused of pointing the weapon got along until then, said Burleigh County States Attorney Julie Lawyer, adding that the neighbors had not asked that Brand be sent to prison.

The clinical diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder doesnt excuse his actions, but it does explain them," Lawyer said. She requested a three-year deferred imposition of sentence, with Morrow countering at 1  years.

Hagerty deferred the imposition of a two-year prison sentence and ordered Brand to spend two years on supervised probation. That means he wont go to prison if he abides by the conditions of probation. He also must register as an offender against children. Hagerty agreed to a request from Lawyer that an order prohibiting Brand from having contact with the neighbors be allowed to expire on Tuesday.

Morrow did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.

Reach Travis Svihovec at 701-250-8260 or Travis.Svihovec@bismarcktribune.com

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A beautician has won 8,500 in damages from holiday firm TUI after she was left in a wheelchair when she suffered food poisoning during a luxury wellness break in Morocco.

Masseur Jennifer Irving's week-long all inclusive holiday at four-star Hotel Les Jardins d'Agadir in Morocco in March 2018 ended with her projectile vomiting in her hotel room.

The reflexologist then fainted on the flight home and being shuttled off the plane in a wheelchair.

Jennifer Irving is pictured outside Central London County Court as she won her payout against TUI for her awful bout of food poisoning

Ms Irving, who runs Hampstead-based therapy salon, Natural Beauty from Within, was poorly for two weeks following her return to London, and could not work for several days after jetting back.

She fell ill on the fifth day of her stay at the hotel, which has its own hammam, spa and 'wellness centre' as well as more traditional holiday attractions such as a pool and waterpark.

She told Central London County Court: 'I suddenly started feeling really ill and felt like I needed to be sick. It was like projectile vomit came out of me.

'One minute I was literally vomiting and the next minute it was diarrhoea so I didn't know which way to turn.'

Pictured: Hotel Jardins D'Agadir in Morocco, where the reflexologist claims she had food poisoning

Jennifer Irving says she got food poisoning at this hotel after booking through TUI and has won a payout against the firm

She had booked an all-inclusive package through TUI at the massive luxury hotel, and ate nowhere else throughout her stay.

Judge Jonathan Hand QC has now ordered TUI to pay out 8,639 in costs and damages, after finding that the hotel was the most likely source of her stomach bug.

Ms Irving, from the witness box, told Judge Hand that her symptoms were 'acute' for the last two days of her stay and blighted her flight home.

'I felt sick (on the plane) and before I realised I had fainted and an air hostess was there with some ice,' she told the court.

A wheelchair was waiting for her at the other end and Ms Irving said the service she received from TUI on the flight home was excellent.

But the 60-year-old later claimed damages, blaming the holiday company for her disrupted break and the lingering after-effects of her illness.

Her lawyers pointed the finger of blame at the hotel for her food poisoning, although the precise cause cannot be known.

Ms Irving told the court she only ventured outside the hotel to take strolls and tour the surroundings.

Jennifer Irving (pictured) fainted on a plane and had to be taken off in a wheelchair, the court has heard

She did not swim in the pool or the sea and, although she visited a local zoo, had no contact with the animals.

While she was happy with the hotel, she felt the 'serving areas were not as clean as they should be,' she said, and was concerned by the number of 'large feathered birds' in the outside eating areas, who seemed to gather when the cooks were preparing pancakes.

She was also troubled by waiters handing over glasses of Moroccan mint tea, held 'from the top'.

Lawyers for TUI disputed her claims, insisting there were no complaints of food poisoning from other guests, and pointing out the hotel's first-class reputation for hygiene - having recently been awarded 98 percent for food safety.

But Judge Hand, ruling against TUI, highlighted medical evidence pinpointing the hotel as the likely cause of her stomach bug.

'Of course the court and the experts cannot rule out the possibility of some other cause,' he told the court.

'But it seems to me, mindful that she did not eat outside the hotel, that the fundamental conclusions of the expert remain good.

'She does not need to prove the cause of the contamination, she simply needs to prove that her symptoms were caused by contaminated food.

'Taking all the evidence together, it seems that on the balance of probability she has established her case on liability.'

Judge Hand awarded Ms Irving 1,623 for her two days of misery on holiday, and for the aftermath.

On top of the damages bill TUI must shell out 7,016 in legal costs and other case-related expenses.

A TUI UK spokesperson said afterwards: 'We acknowledge the court's judgement and would like to apologise to Mrs Irving for her experience.'
WATERLOO  Mirroring the polls leading up to Monday nights Iowa caucuses, Democrats in Waterloos Ward 3, Precinct 1 voted the four top-polling candidates into a four-way delegate tie.

People began lining up right at 6 p.m. outside Waterloo East High Schools upper gym. First in line were the poker-playing buddies Greg Patterson and Doug Marston, along with Dougs wife, Sandy Marston.

Im a (Tom) Steyer fan. Hes a (Elizabeth) Warren fan, Patterson said.

Both Marstons, in fact, planned to caucus for Warren.

Shes got a track history of a lot of the things I believe in, Sandy Marston said. Doug agreed: Shes been around long enough.

Thats the problem with her  shes been around too long, Patterson argued.

But she has done some good things with her votes throughout the years, Sandy Marston said.

Shes a multimillionaire, Patterson said.

And she was broke when she started, Doug Marston replied.

Patterson said he liked Steyer because of the fact he hasnt been in office years and years, noting he made his own money and he spread the wealth.

I do like that about him, Doug Marston said.

It was reminiscent of the back-and-forth gentle persuasion inside, where 86 caucusgoers choose their favorite and, if needed, their second-favorite candidates.

That was fewer than years past. Precinct captain Rich Kurtenbach said 108 people caucused at the site in 2008, and 120 in 2016. Black Hawk County Democrats had anticipated up to 50% higher turnout countywide than in 2016.

Too many candidates, he said about the turnout after adjourning his precinct at 8:23 p.m. The message is getting lost.

Lee Nicholas has been attending the caucuses since they began in the 1970s, but said this one felt different.

Its certainly making the national news, he said.

He was backing U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar because he liked that she was a Midwestern gal.

Shes from Minnesota, No. 1, and shes never lost an election, Nicholas said.

But Klobuchar didnt manage viability  Nicholas was only one of two supporters in the first alignment  and he was prepared switch. He was particularly incensed about the handling of the recent impeachment trial of President Donald Trump by the U.S. Senate.

Its anybody but Trump, he said.

Mark Gonzales was dressed head to toe in Andrew Yang gear, including Yangs famous MATH hat, Make America Think Harder.

I think he has the best vision for our future, Gonzales said.

When Yang failed to get viability, Gonzales and a few other Yang supporters hung out, talking to several others before finally meandering over to Pete Buttigiegs corner, to applause.

Phillip Sellers was officially undecided as he walked in the door.

Ill vote for a stray dog over Trump, Sellers said.

Like Nicholas, Sellers was angry about Trumps impeachment trial.

They just let him off. How can you have a trial with no witnesses? he asked.

At the last minute, however, Sellers ended up with supporters for former Vice President Joe Biden.

Hes got the experience, he said. I know hes gonna get it done.

When the first alignment was called, Sanders had the largest group, at 23. Biden was next, with 19, followed by Warren at 17, Pete Buttigieg at 14, Tom Steyer at 6, Andrew Yang at 5 and Amy Klobuchar at 2. With 13 needed for viability, that meant Steyer, Yang and Klobuchar voters had to move someplace else.

They all went to different corners: Sanders gained one supporter to end up with 24. Buttigieg gained seven mainly Steyer and Yang supporters to end up at 21, and Warren also added four supporters to end up tied with Buttigieg. Biden also gained one to end up at 20.

With the precinct awarding eight delegates, each of the four got two delegates apiece, according to precinct secretary Marianne Kurtenbach.

After Steyer was announced as not viable, Patterson ended up moving to Warrens camp.

That was always my second choice anyway, he said after the event adjourned.

He decided to join the good guys, teased Doug Marston.

But, like Kurtenbach, Patterson was wondering where his neighbors were.

I am highly concerned about the number here, he said. I thought this place would be packed to the walls.

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[February 04, 2020] Two-weeks of tech deals: Lenovo Presidents Day Sale starts Feb. 10

Presidents Day is a time when many companies offer steep discounts on consumer products and Lenovo (News - Alert) is no exception, offering great, money-saving deals on some of its most popular technology. The 2020 Lenovo Presidents Day Sale will run February 10-23, with outstanding offers like these: Think Sale: At least 40% off ThinkPad X/T/P Series laptops and Think-brand desktops and workstations

Up to 40% off flexible Yoga 2-in-1s

Doorbuster Deals that include a ThinkPad T480 for $699.99 and an IdeaPad 1 for just $149.99

Big discounts on gaming PCs and laptops, plus great prices on smart devices and accessories

"Sneak Peek" Week, February 3-9 (including early access to the Think Sale for MyLenovo Rewards members) "The Lenovo Presidents Day Sale allows tech savvy shoppers to get our high-quality products at extremely reduced prices, as much as 40% off in some instances," said Carlo Savino, executive director of North America eCommerce at Lenovo. "Steep discounts are being offered across our entire product portfolio, so check out all of the great deals at lenovo.com." 2020 Lenovo Presidents Day Sale (Feb. 10-23) * The 2020 Lenovo Presidents Day Sale is a two-week sale with outstanding mid-winter technology savings: "Sneak Peek" Week (Feb. 3-9) - Shop these early offers before the general sale even starts: Yoga C930 2-in-1 for $829.99 Desktop PCs from $239.99, touchscreen laptops from $369.99 Early access to Think Sale for MyLenovo Rewards members (details below)

Shop these early offers before the general sale even starts: Week 1 (Feb. 10-16) - The Presidents Day Sale kicks off with these great deals: Think Sale: At least 40% off all ThinkPad X, T and P Series laptops, ThinkBooks, ThinkCentre desktops and ThinkStation workstations (extends through Week 2) Daily 9 a.m. Doorbusters (Feb. 10-14), such as 65% off a ThinkPad T480 - just $699.99 Legion gaming laptops starting at $789.99 Easy-to-use Chromebooks from $169.99

The Presidents Day Sale kicks off with these great deals: Week 2 (Feb. 17-23) - The 40% off sale of Think-branded products continues, along with these new deals: Beginning on February 17 at 9 a.m., get an IdeaPad 1 laptop for just $149.99 or a Flex touchscreen system for $399.99 (while supplies last) ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 7 laptop starting at $999 Up to 32% off Lenovo gaming PCs Up to 40% off flexible Yoga 2-in-1s

The 40% off sale of Think-branded products continues, along with these new deals: Not looking for a PC or laptop? Additional offers will include up to 33% off Fitbit devices, up to 40% off Logitech (News - Alert) products, monitors from just $67, and a Yoga Smart Tab for under $225. *All times EST. Offers good while supplies last. Shop early to ensure the best selection. Ready to shop? For an advance look at the 2020 Lenovo Presidents Day Sale, go to https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/catalog/presidents-day-deals/. When the sale starts on Feb. 10 (Feb. 3 for the "Sneak Peek"), go to https://www.lenovo.com/doorbusters/.



Plus, don't forget about MyLenovo Rewards. Customers who sign up and buy things on lenovo.com get 3% of the purchase price returned to them as MyLenovo Rewards to use on future website purchases. Learn more at https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/rewards/. It's never too late. Register today to earn rewards in the big Presidents Day Sale - and get early Think Sale access during "Sneak Peek" Week. ABOUT LENOVO

Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a US$50 billion Fortune Global 500 company, with 57,000 employees and operating in 180 markets around the world. Lenovo designs, engineers and develops world-changing technologies that create a more inclusive, trustworthy and sustainable digital society, including the world's most complete portfolio of smart devices and infrastructure. For more, visit https://www.lenovo.com, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Weibo, and read about the latest news at our StoryHub. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005877/en/

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Many South Africans are experiencing slow Internet connectivity to international websites due to breaks on both the WACS and SAT-3/WASC submarine cable systems.

These cable systems are deployed in the Atlantic Ocean and are used to connect a number of African countries  including South Africa  to Europe.

The Tertiary Education and Research Network of South Africa (TENET) recently said that the repair on the WACS cable system would be completed by 8 February 2020, with no estimated repair time for the other cable breaks.

Openserve has now released an update on the cable repair schedule which states that the first repair will be completed two days earlier on 6 February.

After the WACS cable break in the Congo is fixed, however, there are two more breaks to address on the SAT-3/WASC cable system.

Openserve said that all the cable breaks are expected to be repaired on 25 February 2020. This schedule is subject to weather conditions and other external factors.

Inclement weather

Rough conditions at sea and inclement weather seem to be the major factor directing the crew aboard the Leon Thevenin as they progress with the joint repair mission of the South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable (SAT3/WASC) and the West African Cable System (WACS), Openserve said.

The Chief of Mission aboard the vessel has reported that in order to mitigate against unfavourable conditions, the sequence of the repair work has been changed from what was initially planned but the restoration process is continuing.

The company said that, as it stands, the repair ship is scheduled to depart for the SAT3/WASC cable break off the coast of Ghana on 6 February.

As per the report received, the vessel will travel on to offshore Ghana next, to attend to the repair of a section of the SAT3/WASC repair, Openserve said.

It is anticipated that this restoration portion will be completed by 17 February 2020.

Thereafter, the ship will proceed to the next break location of the SAT3/WASC cable and again, if all goes well, the work is set to be completed around 25 February.

Internet speeds affected

Multiple ISPs have said their international connectivity has been affected by the cable breaks, and tests by MyBroadband show that mobile operators are also negatively affected.

MTN and Vodacom were virtually unaffected by the breaks, while Rain and Cell Cs international speeds were roughly half of its local speeds.

Telkom suffered the worst of all mobile networks, with international speeds of only 5% of local speeds.

It is unclear whether international Internet connectivity will return to previous levels after the WACS break off the coast of the Congo is fixed, or if speeds will still be impacted by the breaks on the SAT-3/WASC cable system.

Openserve stated that repairs should be completed on 25 February, which means that Internet speeds to international websites are only guaranteed to return to previous levels after this date.
New Delhi/IBNS: At a time India is witnessing widespread criticism over the new law which aims to grant citizenship to six minority communities of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, nearly 100 Pakistani Hindu families, which crossed the Attari-Wagah border, are seeking refuge in India fearing religious persecution in the neighbouring nation.

The families, which reached Amritsar on Monday, said as quoted by India Today, "Humanity has died in Pakistan and they have told the Islamabad-based Indian Embassy that they want to settle in India."

The families also reportedly said they want to perform religious rites in Haridwar.

Though the Hindu families came to India with a small duration visa, they are in no mood to return to Pakistan.

While some immigrants said the situation of minorities are not favourable in Pakistan, some said they have come to perform the last rites of their relatives in Haridwar.

Akali Dal MP Manjinder Sirsa, who received one of those Hindu families at the border, tweeted, "I received one Hindu doctor family which was betrayed in Pakistan.... I urge Amit Shah to grant them citizenship soon."

In one of the recent incidents, which describes the plight of minorities in Pakistan, a Hindu girl named Mehak Kumari was allegedly kidnapped and then converted to Islam forcibly and was married to a man named Ali Raza Machi.

Manjinder Sirsa tweet embed code:

Image Credit: Manjirder Sirsa Twitter
Broadcaster Alan Jones has labelled Q&A 'out of touch' and 'clearly biased' after a fiery episode discussing climate change and the bushfire crisis on Monday night.

Liberal senator Jim Molan was laughed at and heckled by the show's audience as he admitted he was not convinced humans were causing climate change.

Q&A host Hamish Macdonald also pressed Mr Molan for evidence changes in the climate was not human-induced, to which the latter responded 'I'm not relying on evidence.'

But Jones hit out at Macdonald's line of questioning in his debut show, saying the senator was a politician and should not be expected to have detailed evidence.

Broadcaster Alan Jones (pictured) has labelled Q&A 'out of touch' and 'clearly biased' following a fiery episode on climate change on Monday night

'Jim Molan is not a climate scientist so why would he be expected to have detailed scientific knowledge of the "evidence" relied on by climate scientists who dispute anthropogenic climate change?' Jones wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.

Molan's response that he was not relying on evidence had prompted laughter and looks of disbelief from the studio audience.

Jones added Macdonald had not lived up to the 'even-handed approach' Q&A executive producer Erin Vincent had paid tribute to in the days before the episode aired.

'Why conservatives agree to appear on this clearly biased program I have no idea,' Jones wrote.

'Last night guest senator Jim Molan was set up as the clay pigeon for the studio audience and panel to target.'

Macdonald had to twice step in to quieten the audience so Mr Molan, a 69-year-old former general, could be heard.

Macdonald is pictured moderating Monday night's episode of Q&A. He had not lived up to the 'even-handed approach' praised by Q&A executive producer Erin Vincent, Jones said

Following the exchanges of the night before, Jones on Tuesday morning said it was time for the ABC to stop pretending it was impartial and admit to being bias.

'Q&A and its unrepresentative studio audiences remain profoundly out of touch with mainstream Australia,' the 2GB host wrote as he concluded his post.

Jones' comments followed a testing first episode of the year for the new host, which was filmed in Queanbeyan.

The audience could not help but laugh when Senator Molan said he did not rely on evidence for his opinion he was not convinced humans were causing climate change

In a section on climate change, American panellist Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, said: 'Climate change is real and human caused.'

'It's already leading to disastrous impacts here in Australia and around the rest of the world. And it will get much worse if we don't act.'

Hamish MacDonald then asked Senator Molan if he agreed with the scientists.

Hundreds of viewers expressed their fury on twitter after Senator Molan said he was 'open minded' about the cause of climate change

The senator replied: 'I accept the climate is changing. It has changed and it will change and what it's producing is hotter and drier weather and a hotter and drier country.'

Macdonald pressed him, saying: 'What's causing that?'

Senator Molan continued: 'As to whether it is human-induced climate change is...'

At that point he was cut off by frustrated jeers and boos from the crowd.

Mr Molan hushed to crowd by saying: 'Thank you, thank you' before Macdonald helped him by shushing the audience.

He went on to say he respected 'scientific opinion' but 'every day across my desk comes enough information for me to say that there are other opinions.'

Macdonald asked him to outline exactly what opinions he was referring to but Mr Molan repeatedly dodged the question.

Who is Jim Molan? Jim Molan returned to Canberra as a senator in November after receiving the support from a ballot of his NSW Liberal delegates. The former major-general, 69, had previously served as a NSW senator for 18 months but failed to gain pre-selection for the May election. He had the backing of the likes of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and former Liberal leader John Howard. Mr Molan replaced Liberal stalwart Arthur Sinodinos, who left the upper chamber in October to become Australia's next ambassador of the United States. Mr Sinodinos had gone against the prime minister's wish and backed former federal MP Peter Hendy to take his place. Advertisement

'I see so much that, I'm a very practical man, Hamish. I'm going to get out there and do things,' he said.

In another attempt to dodge the question, he rambled: 'The one thing that I agree with Michael is that climate change and our policies in relation to climate change are designed to mitigate the risk.

'It's very difficult to mitigate the risk. You can go back and look for the last 100 years how or why it started. If we can't mitigate risk, then we've got to adapt. And that's the key to what they're doing. We are adapting.'

Macdonald pressed him again, saying: 'You haven't answered the question. You said you get information across your desk every day which leads you to doubt or be open-minded about the science.'

Mr Molan replied: 'I am open minded' before Macdonald said: 'What is that information?'

'It's a range of information which goes,' Mr Molan said before he was cut off by heckling.

Macdonald tried to tame the crowd, saying: 'Sorry. Could we just respectfully listen to this question.

He then asked the senator once more to explain his position: 'What is the evidence that you are relying on?'

Mr Molan replied: 'I'm not relying on evidence, Hamish,' prompting laughter from the crowd.

As the crowd laughed, Dr Mann said: 'You said it. You said it.'

Dr Mann then put on an Australian accent and said: 'Come on now, mate.'

One scientist on Twitter called for Senator Molan to take time to speak to scientists

Prompting a huge laugh from the audience, he added: 'You should keep an open mind but not so open that your brain falls out.'

Later, the scientist said: 'When it comes to human caused climate change, it is literally the consensus of the world's scientists that it's human caused... natural factors would be pushing us in the opposite direction.'

It is literally the consensus of the world's scientists that climate change is human caused

Molan was mocked online for being unable to explain why he doubted climate change was human caused.

Even Tasmania senator Jacqui Lambie piled in, writing: 'Oh dear @JimMolan it's gone from a car crash to a train wreck #qanda #ClimateEmergency.'

Macdonald received mostly positive reaction for the way he handled the situation on his debut show.

One Twitter user said he did a 'remarkable job moderating an emotive edition of tonight's #qanda on the ABC.

'I predict this experienced and engaging journalist will bring a younger audience to the show while retaining the respect of regular watchers of this unequalled programming format.'

Another added: 'The new faces at the ABC have done well! David Speers on his Insiders debut and Hamish Macdonald on a very emotional Q and A.'

Not everyone was impressed, however. One viewer wrote: 'Macdonald is a hopeless moderator'.
(Alliance News) - Bluejay Mining PLC on Tuesday reported "highly encouraging results" from soil geochemical surveys at its Disko-Nuussuaq project in Greenland.

Bluejay also said it was "granted a newly expanded licence area at Disko" plus a new licence on Disko Island by Greenland's Mineral Licence & Safety Authority.

Mobile Metal Ions or MMI-ME soil samples from Disko - a nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum group metals, and gold project - "identified multiple nickel and copper geochemical anomalies, further enforcing both new and pre-existing anomalies".

Spatiotemporal Geochemical Hydrocarbon or SGH results for nickel and copper mineralisation was found to coincide with Bluejay's defined drill targets at Disko.

Overall, 1,161 samples were taken at Disko in "the first ever systematic geochemical sampling programme over existing targets at Disko" and four has an SGH rating of between 4.0 and 5.0, which confirmed "strong signatures consistent with nickel and/or copper mineralisation".

Chief Executive Roderick McIllree said: "These results are the first large scale systematic geochemical evidence of mineralising systems at Disko and further support the existence of metal bearing mineralising systems. We are extremely pleased with these developments. Significant successful geophysical and geotechnical analyses have been carried out before and since Bluejay acquired the Disko-Nuussuaq licences. However, being able to now add, for the first time, a geochemical overlay to our work significantly increases the confidence level as well as further refining exact drill site positioning. We expect to expand these successful methods across other prospective regions within our extensive licence holding.

"We are delighted to also have been granted both the new licence area and licence extension on Disko. Our new ground is strategically located in drill accessible valleys and coastal regions that benefit from absent or limited flood basalt cover - this allows access to the feeder intrusions that may host nickel-copper mineralisation. Our decision to further increase our licence holdings is testament to our confidence in the district-scale prospectivity and discovery potential of the area."

Shares in Bluejay ended up 3.8% at 8.12 pence in London on Tuesday.

By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
T he father of terrorist Sudesh Amman said he spoke to his son on the eve of the Streatham attack and "never thought he would go this far".

Amman was shot dead after he stabbed two people in south London just days after being released from prison, where he was detained over terror offences.

His father, Faraz Khan, told Sky that he spoke to his son a day before the attack.

"I spoke to Sudesh one day before he passed away. I didn't know he had become radicalised," he told the broadcaster.

Streatham terror attack - In pictures 1 /28 Streatham terror attack - In pictures Police are dealing with an incident in Streatham Andy Bullemor Police officers conduct a search of a bail hostel in south London AFP via Getty Images A woman reacts near to the scene where a man was shot and killed by armed police Getty Images Forensic officers at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road PA Police cordon off a property in Streatham PA Forensic officers outside a property on Leigham Court Road, Streatham PA Police activity at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road PA Police officers look under a bus as they work at the scene of Sunday's terror stabbing attack in the Streatham area of south London AP Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Police officers at the scene after a man was shot by armed police Getty Images Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Armed police officer on Streatham High Road PA Forensics investigate the scene of the terror attack on Monday morning Jeremy Selwyn Police officers guard a cordon on Streatham High Road, at the junction of Prentis Road AFP via Getty Images Forensics investigate the scene Nigel Howard Police officers at the scene after a man was shot by armed police Getty Images Armed police at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Items left on the pavement at the scene in Streatham High Road PA Police secure the area in Streatham AP Forensics investigate the scene Nigel Howard

In their conversation he told his 20-year-old son "not to be naughty", he told Sky.

"I heard they found a lot of things and I saw them on the news, but I never thought he would go this far," he said.

He said his son "got angry" sometimes but he had "nothing bad to say about him".

Mr Khan also described how his son had read passages of the Koran down the phone to him.

Having left the UK three months ago, he heard about his son's death through a message from a cousin.

Police at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road / PA

Amman was jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents in December 2018,

Scotland Yard said armed officers were following Amman on foot on the day of the attack, as part of a "proactive counter-terrorism surveillance operation".

Three victims were taken by ambulance to south London hospitals.

One man, in his 40s, is in a serious but stable condition, police said.

A woman in her 50s, a teacher at a nearby school, had non-life threatening injuries. She has been discharged from hospital.

Police said a second woman, in her 20s, had suffered minor injuries believed to have been caused by glass following the discharge of a police firearm. She has also left hospital.
Last month was the warmest January on record globally, while in Europe temperatures were a balmy three degrees Celsius above the average January from 1981 to 2010, the European Union's climate monitoring system reported Tuesday. Across a band of countries stretching from Norway to Russia, temperatures were an unprecedented 6C above the same 30-year benchmark, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reported in a statement. New temperature highs -- monthly, yearly, decadal -- have become commonplace due to the impact of climate change, caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuels, scientists say. The five last years have been the hottest on record, as was the ten-year period 2010-2019. 2019 -- the second warmest year -- was only 0.04C below 2016, when temperatures were boosted by a powerful El Nino, a periodic natural weather phenomenon over the Pacific Ocean. The global record last month was 0.03C above the preceding warmest January, also in 2016. For Europe, last month was "about 0.2C warmer than the previous warmest January in 2007, and 3.1C warmer than the average January in the period 1981-2010," C3S reported. Records also tumbled in specific locations across the northern reaches of the continent. The village of Sunndalsora in western Norway, for example, hit 19C (66 Fahrenheit) on January 2, more than 25C above the monthly average, while the Swedish town of Orebro saw its warmest January day on the 9th since records began in 1858. Cross-country ski tracks were closed across large swathes of Norway and Sweden. Exceptional above-average temperatures extended over nearly all of Russia as well, and they were higher than normal over much of the United States, eastern Canada, Japan and parts of eastern China. Temperatures were likewise higher than normal in New South Wales in Australia, where massive bushfires devastated large areas of the state. Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 -- which causes global warming -- are now at their highest level in at least 800,000 years. The United Nations said last year that manmade greenhouse gas emissions needed to tumble 7.6 percent annually over the next decade to cap global warming at 1.5C above preindustrial levels, the aspirational goal set in the landmark Paris Agreement. Current pledges to cut emissions put Earth on a path of several degrees warming by the end of the century.
Latinos make up about 6% of the population of Iowa, and about 3.4 percent are eligible voters.

Salazar commented the Sanders team had done a lot of door knocking in the weeks leading up to the caucus. She said there were volunteers from as far away as New Jersey helping to get the vote out.

In the colleges auditorium, the Precinct 9 caucus was also being held. Chair Linda Kelty explained the process that would be used to determine who would get the precincts nod. People had begun arriving well before the 6 p.m. start time and dividing into groups the support their pick for a Democratic candidate for president.

Its a process of narrowing everything down, she explained. Viable candidates are determined based on the number of supporters. As candidates are removed for lack of supporters the final candidate is narrowed down. Kelty said also in the case of two candidates remaining with tied numbers of supporters, the winner can be decided with a coin toss.

Andrea Wilford turned out to the caucus with a plate of cookies and a sign to show her support for Amy Klobuchar.

I think her voice of moderation is the most electable at this point, she said.
Workers carry the aid provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) for distribution in Pissila, Burkina Faso

Increasing poverty, the effects of climate change, rapidly escalating conflict and deteriorating security are threatening the lives of millions of people across the Central Sahel.

By Lydia OKane

UN agencies including the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) are sounding the alarm over the escalating humanitarian crisis in Africas Central Sahel region.

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger

WFP said that conflict and violence in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, are exacerbating the effects of climate change on peoples food security.

Around 3.3 million people in the Central Sahel need immediate assistance and if action is not taken urgently nearly 4.8 million people will be at risk of food insecurity between June and August.

The World Food Programme is currently supporting 1.4 million people across the three countries with vital food assistance.

During his Urbi et Orbi address at Christmas, Pope Francis prayed that the Redeemer, would bring comfort to the victims of attacks by extremist groups, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.

Speaking to Vatican News, the Head of Communcation and Advocacy for WFP in West and Central Africa, George Fominyen, said that rapidly escalating armed conflict has seen scores of people killed and hundreds of thousands of people displaced. This he added, has led to a very difficult humanitarian situation for most of the people who have been affected.

Fominyen noted that in the last year or so there has been an increase of attacks which have involved civilians. He said, that whether they are being directly or indirectly attacked, they face the brunt of the crisis.

Listen to the interview

Nearly one million people internally displaced

Villages are being emptied out in parts of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, the Head of Communication highlighted, and so you have more than 950,000 people who are internally displaced within these three countries.

With attacks continuing to occur every day, schools have been closed, and the violence is also impeding access to humanitarian aid.



George Fominyen called it a rising humanitarian crisis because of the numbers, which are escalating, but also the people who are therefore in need.



He pointed out that despite restrictions of movement due to the conflict, humanitarian organisations are doing their utmost to be able to overcome these challenges and try to reach people.

International response

He stressed that what is essential is the international attention on the situation, which should consider that there is a rapid need to scale up in terms of the humanitarian response, and assist people in need so that they are able to have the basics, which is food, shelter, health and education.
A man who pretended being a doctor and then attempted to murder his wife and her family members over fears of his secret being exposed has been sentenced to 28 years' imprisonment by a UK court.

Satya Thakor, a failed medical student, had faked his medical qualifications as he pretended to be busy with late night shifts for seven years, Reading Crown Court was told as the 35-year-old was sentenced on Monday.

The prosecution told the court that in May last year he attempted to suffocate his mother-in-law Gita Laxman before arming himself with a knife to attack wife Nisha and brother-in-law Primal and sister-in-law Rishika.

Police found Thakor in the bath of the home in Wraysbury, Berkshire, where he had stabbed himself a number of times and was shouting about demons.

"You chose an extreme act of violence to get out of the difficulty that you were in. You could have stopped it as the madness that it was and as the idiotic decision that it was, but you chose not to," Judge Paul Dugdale noted.

Thakor, his wife Nisha and daughter had travelled from their home in Leicester to his mother-in-law's house when the attack happened.

In addition to the prison sentence, Thakor has an indefinite restraining order imposed on him against his family, 'Leicester Mercury' reports.

The court heard that Thakor had been leaving home every day and pretending to go to work but had in fact been spending all day in the library, reading medical books.

He thought his secret was about to be exposed when his wife suggested a dream holiday to Los Angeles a trip he could not pay for because he had not been earning money.

You had reached the very last weekend before your deceptions would have come crashing around you, the judge said.

Thakor was found guilty of three counts of attempted murder and one count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

In a letter to the judge, Thakor wrote: The shame of not being able to graduate as a doctor and the fear of admitting this would cause my family and friends to abandon me and my upcoming wedding to be called off, led me to lie and say that I had graduated and become a doctor.

He had been briefly sectioned under the Mental Health Act after the knife attacks but was deemed fit for trial.

In a victim impact statement, his wife told the court: "The financial and emotional abuse he has inflicted on me is very real and I feel it every day."



She met her husband while studying biochemistry at a university in London. After failing his exams to qualify as a doctor, he lied by saying he had passed and kept up the pretence for up to a decade.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ive been trying to force this movie on everyone I know since it became available on digital. I looooved it.



Im glad I went into it without knowing anything about the story.

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same, I tried to avoid spoilers as much as possible because I just knew it was gonna be so damn good.

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My husband thought it was gross but I gave it the benefit of the doubt saying it was probably some miss-translation. So now this makes me re evaluate those scenes

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Because most of us see the commentary on predatory men who see women no matter how bright or privileged to exist for their benefit while women come at it openly with love vs logic.

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It really hasn't come up on here. Me and another user brought it up in another post.



Whether or not he actually has certain feelings for her, he mostly interested in her due to her status. The previous tutor is no different either to a degree.



Park So-Dam steals in the first half. I would've loved for her to have gotten a best support nom!



Edited at 2020-02-04 03:18 am (UTC)

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it was creepy but I didn't get the vibe that bong + co wanted me to see it as not creepy (or at the very least, kinda sleazy.)

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"Parasite (2019) had fantastic official subtitles across the board, but they did make a few errors, the most egregious probably being translating Year 2 of high school into high school sophomore.



In Korea, the school system goes 6 years of elementary school, 3 years of middle school, 3 years of high school, so the equivalent in American English would have been high school junior.



Additionally, the Korean school year starts in the spring, so this high school girl in the movie is more or less a couple years older than some people are assuming. Taking Korean age into consideration (the system where everyone gets older all together on Jan 1 instead of on individual birthdays), she was probably either 17 or 18 years old."



https://sableaire.tumblr.com/post/189141086700/parasite-2019-had-fantastic-official-subtitles



I had to google the ages after watching the film, and they have a 9 year age gap in rl. I believe she was 19 and he was 28 during shooting. But yes I remember being shocked when they hooked up. In the end, I took it as how male ego can be both fragile and also detrimental to themselves and others. Not that it makes it better but I found this interesting:"Parasite (2019) had fantastic official subtitles across the board, but they did make a few errors, the most egregious probably being translating Year 2 of high school into high school sophomore.In Korea, the school system goes 6 years of elementary school, 3 years of middle school, 3 years of high school, so the equivalent in American English would have been high school junior.Additionally, the Korean school year starts in the spring, so this high school girl in the movie is more or less a couple years older than some people are assuming. Taking Korean age into consideration (the system where everyone gets older all together on Jan 1 instead of on individual birthdays), she was probably either 17 or 18 years old."I had to google the ages after watching the film, and they have a 9 year age gap in rl. I believe she was 19 and he was 28 during shooting. But yes I remember being shocked when they hooked up. In the end, I took it as how male ego can be both fragile and also detrimental to themselves and others.

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TY for bringing this up / starting this thread (I wondered about it too even though I also loved the movie)

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honestly, its a creepy trope that is used in a lot of kdramas/jdramas and anime/manga.



the student getting with the teacher/older tutor forbidden love until they graduate thing. and it is then honorable to see them wait until they graduate/are of age to then get immediately married.



im not gonna lie, i dont believe we are meant to see it as creepy, it is an accepted trope that i have seen for almost two decades in asian media. i will say im asian american and havent lived in asia, and this is just what ive seen from consuming asian media growing up to this current day.



Edited at 2020-02-04 05:42 am (UTC)

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as a kdrama watcher, I know the girl as a former child actress who plays the child version of the main characters in shows so even though she was of age when it was filmed, still weird to see her in kissing scenes and being 'paired' with actors who are 29 and 31 year old.



maybe I was also busy reading into everything in the movie and just interpreted her role as an example of how young women are always exploited by men, especially in relationships with uneven balance of power (i.e. teacher to student). It's another form of parasitism, which is in line with the theme of the movie.



I also think Ki Woo was projecting his feelings of inferiority towards his friend MinHyuk the entire time, and he subconsciously "copies" him, because MinHyuk has the life that he wishes he had (College student, popular, rich family). I think he might have only gone after Da Hye because Min Hyun has expressed interest, and he event repeats Min Hyuk's line of officially dating her when she goes to college.

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Do you mean to say that the subplot is problematic or that having that subplot in the movie is problematic?



Because its clearly played up to show that it is one of the only ways those stuck in a cycle of poverty can hope to get out of it. But it still implies that at its core its exploitative. Exploitation that is more acceptable because it has been a norm.

Most analyses of Parasite lump it in with that aspect of it.

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Parasite was everything!

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love him in Pasta too... in a chef outfit! yumm!

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This is an amazing post and makes me want to watch Parasite!

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I highly recommend Taxi Driver. I watched it in Korean class and that shit made me cry in the middle of lecture.

My favorite Park So Dam drama is Beautiful Mind. My favorite Lee Sun Kyun drama is My Wife is Having an Affair.



I want them to win all the awards!!!! That's the only way this country can disappoint me even more

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Not OC but yes, is absolutely worth it! The episodes are long though (like 70-90 minutes), so watch out for that. But the cast is fantastic and it might just make you cry.

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Highly recommended -- that drama is magnificent!

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I actually haven't seen it but it was very highly rated when it came out and most people praise it when they talk about it so it might be worth it. Depends on what kind of dramas you're into. It seems very heavy?

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TW:

[ Spoiler (click to open) ]

It also deals with assault.





Other than that, it was also heralded as a masterpiece! Its also free to watch on Viki rn :) I heard its both healing and comforting but also deals with some heavy topics. It's about the power of kindness. Def. need to watch this asap!TW:

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Watch My Mister / My Ahjusshi. One of the best dramas to have been released along with Sky Castle.

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I watched this movie by sheer curiosity. Saw rave reviews when it came out and I lived near a Korean cinema where it was showing. Didn't know much about the historical event it was based on but I really loved the film! There's something very authentic about his acting, no pretentious drama school air to it, just pure human reactions.

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Watched it again last night. Its got so many layers to it and challenges that western good vs bad mentality. It doesnt spell everything out and yet its all there. Great movie.

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I finally got to see it! Not what I was expecting at all, but it was soooo good. So different in tone to anything else. And the cast were excellent. Hope it sweeps at the Oscars

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I just watched it.

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Aww the Spike and Lupita mention is so cute!!

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what is that damn movie CWS is filming?! he needs to be at the friggin Oscars... just cause that Blue Dragon Awards in Korea didnt even bother to invite him!

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I would like to recommend the following in regards to Lee Sun Kyun.







Jang Hye-jin (the mom of Park So-Dam and Choi Woosik) and Park Myunghoon (the housekeeper's husband) are in Crash Landing on You.







Hye-jin plays the second female lead's mother and Myunghoon plays her uncle.





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omg i JUST started watching Crash Landing On You. loving it so far!

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Crash Landing on You is amazing. You will love it. ONLY TWO WEEKS LEFT. T_T

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This. Soompi is out to lunch not recommending My Mister.

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Ive been watching Crash Landing on you and no wonder they looked familiar. She looks so different as Dan's posh mom who owns a department store. And omg her brother in the show is played by her mortal enemy in the film, and he is a one-star general in the show lmao!

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I'm obsessed with Crash Landing On You, it's so good

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The Host is required viewing tbh

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Period.

One of, if not the first, Korean big "Blockbuster Monster" film.

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We finally just rented it on iTunes

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I think its out everywhere for rent/streaming now.

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of Airbus is pictured at the aircraft builder's headquarters of Airbus in Colomiers near Toulouse

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka has ordered a probe into allegations of bribery by European planemaker Airbus over the sale of aircraft to state-run carrier SriLankan Airlines, after Airbus agreed to settle a corruption probe with regulators.

The Indian Ocean nation was among the countries whose officials were mentioned as having allegedly received bribes in Airbus's $4-billion settlement with European and U.S. authorities.

Sri Lanka will conduct "a comprehensive investigation into reports of allegations over financial irregularities", the office of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said in a statement on Sunday.

Detailed findings from Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said Airbus had hired the wife of a SriLankan Airlines executive as its intermediary and misled UK export credit agency UKEF over her name and gender, while paying $2 million to her company.

On Monday, a senior official at SriLankan Airlines said a Colombo court had issued orders to arrest the former CEO of the airline, Kapila Chandrasena, and his wife Priyanka Niyomali Wijenayake as suspects of money laundering.

Reuters was unable to reach Chandrasena and his wife as their mobile phones were switched off. A court source confirmed the issue of the arrest warrants.

In a statement on Sunday, SriLankan Airlines said its chairman and board had directed the management to cooperate fully with any government agency regarding any investigation or prosecution.

The board has also told management to "preserve and study all available internal documentation with a view to take all possible corrective future action," it added.

The alleged corruption in dealings between Airbus and SriLankan Airlines took place between July 2011 and June 2015, the SFO added.

Saturday's announcement of the Airbus settlement followed a nearly four-year investigation spanning sales to more than a dozen overseas markets.

Ghana said late Sunday it was also opening an investigation into alleged bribery over an Airbus plane deal.

(Reporting by Waruna Karunatilake; Writing by Euan Rocha; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Mark Potter)
Elon Musk is the genius entrepreneur many look up to, being a constant source of inspiration for not just becoming successful but for also having a cool attitude.

Getty Images

From launching rockets to creating EDM tracks, he does it all. And in case you wanted to work under him and absorb more of his creativity and knowledge, this might just be your lucky day.

Elon Musk on his Twitter profile announced to the world that hes looking to hire people for his Artificial Intelligence (AI) team. He stated, Join AI at Tesla! It reports directly to me & we meet/email/text almost every day.

Twitter: Elon Musk

He further stated, in further replies that he isnt looking for someone with the fanciest degrees or PhD. He is just on the lookout for people who have a deep understanding of AI and right implementation of neural networks. Coding skills are paramount, and if youre good at coding, you are eligible to apply for the job.

This isnt the first time Elon has been vocal about his opinions on students with impressive degrees. In 2014, in an interview for a German publication, he stated, If somebody graduated from a great university, that may be an indication that they will be capable of great things, but its not necessarily the case. If you look at, say, people like Bill Gates, or Larry Ellison, Steve Jobs, these guys didnt graduate from college, but if you had a chance to hire them, of course, that would be a good idea.

Getty Images

While he hasnt disclosed the kind of remuneration he would offer for selected candidates, we hope its the best in the Industry.

In case you check all the boxes and wished to work with Musk for his future auto-pilot tech on the Tesla vehicles, you can learn more about it and apply for it here.
[February 04, 2020] Calian Announces Filing of Final Base Shelf Prospectus

OTTAWA, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Calian Group Ltd. (Calian or the Company) (TSX: CGY) today announces that it has filed and obtained a receipt for its final short form base shelf prospectus (the Shelf Prospectus) with the securities commissions in each of the provinces of Canada. A copy of the Shelf Prospectus can be found on the Companys directory on SEDAR at www.sedar.com .

The filing of the Shelf Prospectus allows Calian to distribute by way of prospectus in Canada up to Cdn.$100 million of common shares, preferred shares, warrants, units, subscription receipts and debt securities, or any combination thereof, during the 25-month period that the Shelf Prospectus is effective. Should the Company decide to offer securities during this period, the specific terms, including the use of proceeds from any offering, will be set forth in a related prospectus supplement to the Shelf Prospectus, which will be filed with the applicable Canadian securities commissions. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. About Calian Calian employs over 3,400 people in its delivery of diverse products and solutions for private sector, government and defence customers in North American and global markets. The Companys diverse capabilities are delivered through four segments: Advanced Technologies, Health, Learning and Information Technology. The Advanced Technologies segment provides innovative products, technologies and manufacturing services and solutions for the space, communications, defence, nuclear, government and agriculture sectors. The Health segment manages a network of mre than 1,800 health care professionals delivering primary care and occupational health services to public and private sector clients across Canada. Learning is a trusted provider of emergency management, consulting and specialized training services and solutions for the Canadian Armed Forces and clients in the defence, health, energy and other sectors. The Information Technology segment supports public- and private-sector customer requirements for subject matter expertise in the delivery of complex IT and cyber security solutions. Headquartered in Ottawa, the Companys offices and projects span Canada and international markets. For investor information, please visit Calians website at www.calian.com or contact the Company at [email protected] .



Kevin Ford

President and Chief Executive Officer

613-599-8600 Patrick Houston

Chief Financial Officer

613-599-8600 Media inquiries:

Simon Doyle

613-599-8600 x 2205 Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes statements containing certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (forward-looking statements). Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as plan, continue, expect, project, intend, believe, anticipate, estimate, may, will, potential, proposed and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions may or will occur and include, but are not to, statements regarding the filing of any potential prospectus supplement; the amount and terms of any securities to be offered and anticipated timing of any financing under the Shelf Prospectus. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this press release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Factors which could cause results or events to differ from current expectations include, among other things: the impact of price competition; scarce number of qualified professionals; the impact of rapid technological and market change; loss of business or credit risk with major customers; technical risks on fixed price projects; general industry and market conditions and growth rates; international growth and global economic conditions, and including currency exchange rate fluctuations; and the impact of consolidations in the business services industry, the potential offering of any securities by the Company; uncertainty with respect to the completion of any future offering; the ability to obtain applicable regulatory approval for any contemplated offerings; the ability of the Company to negotiate and complete future funding transactions, as well as the risks identified under the heading Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Information Form for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.



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State coffers are, by and large, flush with cash again this year. The country is more than a decade out of the recession, and property, sales, and income tax revenues are finally starting to rebound. This doesnt mean, though, that districts coffers will be flush with cash in the 2020-21 school year. States still deliver to school districts billions of dollars in aid in a byzantine and insufficient manner which has allowed for some districts to thrive and many others to struggle.

Because so many districts right now are experiencing dramatic fluctuations in student enrollment, on which revenue is heavily dependent, superintendents and district business managers continue to lay off staff and increase class sizes in order to fill budget deficits. In addition, theres been a significant increase in many districts of English-language learners and students with special needs , two categories of student aid that are woefully underfunded at the local, state, and federal levels.

All thats led to the rolling teacher activism and school funding all of a sudden taking on an outsized role in this years presidential race.

Here are some things that Education Week will be watching during this years state legislative sessions.

1. To save or to spend? States are still traumatized by the last recession, when they had to send waves of budget cuts down to local government bodies. Many governors have pledged this year, as they did last year, to build up their reserves so that, in the case of another recession, government employees can survive the storm. This has frustrated many school district lobbyists, who argue that with the recent lag in statewide and national test scores, and a spotty, but widespread teacher shortage, states need to act now and assist their most academically struggling school districts and boost teacher pay. Read our previous coverage here .

2. Will teachers receive a pay raise?: Teacher activism has not died down. Already this year, there have been several capitol protests in Indianapolis, Richmond, and Raleigh. Last year, 22 states attempted to provide some sort of raise to teachers, either through raising the minimum teacher salary, providing teachers with a one-time bonus, or sending out to districts extra cash in hopes that districts would provide during negotiation their teachers a raise. Most of those efforts did not pacify teachers , who have rightly complained that, compared to other government workers, their pay has not kept pace with cost-of-living increases. The pay bumps have also made district negotiations in recent years especially contentious , as superintendents and CFOs have told teachers theyd rather use the extra state money to reduce class sizes, increase the minimum wage for classified staff, or increase starting salaries for teachers. Read our previous coverage here .

3. Will districts classified employees see a pay raise?: The Fight for $15" movement, which pushes for fast food and service workers to make at least $15 an hour, has had an outsized impact on school districts budgets. More than a quarter of districts staff are classified employees and, if they dont make $15 an hour, they usually make just above that amount. As more and more states require government bodies to pay at least $15 an hour, districts are being forced to overhaul their entire pay scale for janitors, office secretaries, teacher aides, and recess monitors. Governors and legislatures have not provided school districts more money in order to comply with these new requirements, a far less politically savvy move than, say, providing teachers with a pay raise. School districts lobbyists, such as in New Jersey, have come out against new minimum wage requirements. Other districts have said they will have to lay off instructional aides if new minimum wage requirements kick in too soon. Read our previous coverage here .

4. Will funding formulas finally be overhauled?: There seems to be widespread, bipartisan agreement in most states that funding formulas, which are, on average, more than 20 years old, need to be replaced. But nobody seems to agree on what to replace it with. At issue is how much legislatures think it should cost to educate a student versus how much districts think it should cost and then which districts should get the bulk of the new state aid. An unspoken but politically potent force is the threat that wealthy suburban districts could lose money and will have to layoff staff. This happened in New Jersey and Washington last legislative session and led to parent protests and weeks-long teacher strikes in wealthy, politically powerful sububurban school districts. Maryland, Idaho and Ohio are all states to watch this year . Massachusetts, one of the nations highest performing states, made early in this years legislative session a historic overhaul of its system, providing schools with more than an annual amount of $1.5 billion over the next seven years, with much of that money going to its most academically struggling schools. Read our previous coverage here .

5. Will states hold districts accountable for wayward spending patterns?: As states continue to roll out school-by-school spending data as required under the Every Student Succeeds Act, advocates are pointing out that much of the federal and state aid intended for low-income and ELL students is not getting to the schools that serve the majority of those students. This has alarmed state officials, who have been hungry to crack down on inequitable district spending strategies. Many now want to more heavily dictate to school districts exactly how to spend their money. Local school districts have pushed back, arguing that they know whats best for their students and that the new spending numbers only tell part of the story. In Kansas , district officials have been put on the defensive after a study was released before this years legislative session that showed that much of the $400 million in new aid districts received after a long-fought court battle has not been getting to the students most in need. And in West Virginia , the states auditor is pushing for school districts to release to the public how each and every K-12 penny is spent. Read our previous coverage here .
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Standex International Corp. (SXI) said, in the third quarter, the company expects total revenue to increase slightly sequentially but be similar to the third fiscal quarter of 2019. Standex expects operating income to be sequentially similar to or slightly better than the second fiscal quarter of 2020 and show significant improvement year-over-year. For the second-quarter, adjusted EPS increased to $1.03 from $0.98, prior year. On average, four analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $1.01, for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Operating income was $17.8 million, a decline of 11.7%. Second-quarter net sales were $190.6 million, a decline of 2.5% over previous year. Analysts expected revenue of $193.68 million for the quarter. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
A Tamil-language version of Sri Lanka's national anthem was dropped from independence day celebrations Tuesday, with critics saying the move was a setback to reconciliation after years of ethnic civil war. A Tamil-language version was included in the 2016 event as part of a push to heal the wounds of a 37-year war between Tamil separatists and the Sinhalese-majority. But at celebrations Tuesday marking the 72nd anniversary of independence from Britain, the anthem was sung only in Sinhala. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's 20-minute speech in Sinhala, however, was translated into Tamil -- the language of the largest minority, who account for just over 15 percent of the country's 21 million people. Rajapaksa won a landslide in November elections with the backing of the majority Sinhalese, for whom he is a hero. He was a key figure in the crushing of the Tamil Tiger separatists that ended Sri Lanka's conflict in May 2009. The war claimed more than 100,000 lives between 1972 and 2009. Opposition legislator Mano Ganesan said dropping the anthem in Tamil was disappointing. "By rejecting the anthem in Tamil... in front of local and the international community, the government has justified discrimination, and has disappointed patriots," said Ganesan, a former minister of national integration and official languages. Several private media organisations also said dropping the Tamil version was a setback to reconciliation. Authorities insisted the anthem could still be sung in either language. In his address, Rajapaksa vowed there would be no discrimination. "As the president today, I represent the entire Sri Lankan nation irrespective of ethnicity, religion, party affiliation or other differences,? he said. Sri Lankan military personnel in traditional dress holding national flags during Sri Lanka's 72nd Independence Day celebrations in Colombo Sri Lankan Navy personnel fire a 21-gun salute to mark the island nation's 72nd Independence Day
The airport had been inaugurated almost 6 months ago, but was handling less than 20 flights a day. (Image: Reuters)

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Share price of infrastructural company GMR Infrastructure gained over 2 percent intraday on February 4 after the company signed an agreement to operate Bidar Airport.

Under the government's regional connectivity  UDAN Scheme, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd has signed the concession agreement to commission, operationalise and maintain the civilian enclave at the Bidar Airport in North Karnataka. GHIAL is expected to start the airport operations in the first week of February 2020 with the operations of one daily flight connecting Bidar with Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka, the company said in a filing to the BSE.

"The operationalization of Bidar Airport is a testimony to our commitment to support the Government of Indias flagship Regional Connectivity Scheme. We are very pleased to partner with the Government of Karnataka to support efforts for all-round development Bidar and nearby regions and we are confident that the start of commercial operations at Bidar will provide a boost to the local economy through better connectivity for the people of Bidar and a large number of tourists who visit the area," said SGK Kishore, Executive Director  South, GMR Airports and CEO at GMR Hyderabad International Airport.

The stock price surged over 49 percent in the last 6 months with the scrip hitting 52-week high on January 16, 2020 after the company said it has decided to increase the transaction size by agreeing to divest 49 percent stake in GMR Airports to TRIL Urban Transport, a subsidiary of Tata Realty and Infrastructure.

It was quoting at Rs 21.95, up Rs 0.45, or 2.09 percent. It has touched an intraday high of Rs 22.00 and an intraday low of Rs 21.45.
Taiwan approves new rationing system for surgical masks

ROC Central News Agency

02/03/2020 10:39 PM

Taipei, Feb. 3 (CNA) Faced with continued shortages of surgical masks amid fears of the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, Taiwan's government will soon institute a registration system to ration the supply of masks to two per person per week.

Under the system, Taiwanese residents will have to present their national health insurance (NHI) cards to buy face masks at more than 6,000 NHI contracted drugstores or pharmacies, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced Monday.

The policy, set to begin Feb. 6, will allow each person to buy two masks a week at a price of NT$5 per mask, and once an individual makes a purchase, it will be recorded to prevent the same person from buying other masks the same week.

The government began requisitioning the 4 million surgical masks produced by domestic manufacturers every day on Jan. 31, with 2.6 million masks distributed to consumers and 1.4 million channeled to medical workers and people involved in prevention efforts.

The masks for consumers were being provided through convenience stores, cosmetic retailers, drug stores, and medical supply stores, and their sale was limited to three per customer at a price of NT$6 per unit.

But that system has led to people being forced to wait in long lines when new masks come in, with many leaving empty-handed when supplies run out.

With the launch of the name-based system, mask sales at the stores will be halted starting at midnight Monday, the CECC said.

(By Ku Chuan and Evelyn Kao)

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In solidarity with stand-up comic Kunal Kamra, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap says he has decided to not fly IndiGo airlines.

The director said he chose another carrier, Vistara, instead.

"No @IndiGo6E.. on @airvistara.. in solidarity with @kunalkamra88," Kashyap tweeted on Monday.

Last week, IndiGo suspended Kamra from flying with the private airline for six months, after he allegedly heckled journalist Arnab Goswami aboard one of its planes from Mumbai to Lucknow.

SpiceJet, GoAir and Air India also imposed a similar ban on Kamra without specifying any period.

On his part, Kamra on February 1 sent a legal notice to the airline demanding an unconditional apology, revocation of the ban and Rs 25 lakh compensation.

The video of the incident posted by Kamra on Twitter went viral on social media last week. The stand-up comedian is seen asking Goswami if he is a "coward or a journalist".

Kamra received both praise and criticism from people belonging to different walks of life, including IndiGo pilot-in-command Rohit Mateti who conveyed his anguish to the airline management for not consulting him before announcing the ban on the comedian.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A distillation of the madness of the Iowa caucus was captured live on CNN Monday night.

Shawn Sebastian, Iowa caucus secretary for Story County Precinct 1-1, was invited on CNN to share his views on the breakdown; a mobile app that precincts were supposed to use to send in results failed, leading the Iowa Democratic Party to send volunteers and staffers across the state to retrieve hard-copy results so they could check them against numbers reported from precincts via the app.

READ MORE: Red-faced Democrats struggle to announce Iowa caucus results

Sebastian was on hold with the state Democratic party, attempting to convey his precinct's votes, when he was patched in to Wolf Blitzer's show.

"Well, Wolf, I have been on hold for over an hour with Iowa Democratic Party," Sebastian said. "They tried to, I think, promote an app to report the results. The app by all accounts just doesn't work, so we've been recommended to call into the hotline and the hotline has not been responsive."

Blitzer and Sebastian chit-chat a bit more, before the hold music emanating from Sebastian's phone stops. A woman can be heard saying, "Hello? Hello?"

"This is a real coincidence, Wolf," Sebastian tells the anchor. "I just got off hold just now, so I gotta get off the phone to report the results."

But apparently the woman didn't realize Sebastian was still there, because after a few more "hellos," she hangs up.

"They hung up on me," Sebastian says in disbelief. "They hung up on me. OK, I've got to get back in line on hold."

Sebastian wrote on Twitter that he was eventually connected to a party rep and reported his precinct's results around 11 p.m.

"With all the complicated things to report (total, first alignment, caveats about the math and totals, etc.) it took almost 20 minutes to report. Starting to understand why I was on hold for so long," he wrote.

In a statement early Tuesday, the Iowa Democratic Party blamed a "coding issue in the reporting system" that it said has since been fixed. The problem kept party officials from releasing results from Monday's caucus, the much-hyped kickoff to the 2020 primary. It was an embarrassing twist after months of promoting the contest as a chance for Democrats to find some clarity in a jumbled field with no clear front-runner.

Instead, caucus day ended with no winner, no official results and many fresh questions about whether Iowa can retain its coveted "first" status.

"I think tonight is the best argument there is to abolish the caucus," Sebastian told the Washington Post.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Katie Dowd is an SFGATE senior digital editor. Contact: katie.dowd@sfgate.com | Twitter: @katiedowd
The Maharashtra government is mulling to set up a coronavirus testing facility at Kasturba Hospital here to reduce the burden on Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) which is currently handling such samples from across the country, an official said on Tuesday.

An additional testing facility at the civic-run hospital here will help in getting faster results, the senior state health official said.

"The plan is being discussed to share some load of NIV. The institute is getting swab samples from across the country for testing of novel coronavirus infection. If a similar testing facility is set up in Mumbai, it will minimise the waiting period," she said.

More and more samples are being received for testing at NIV, hence it is better to set up an additional examination facility in Mumbai at the earliest, the official said.

"Health officials have communicated their views to higher authorities about setting up a coronavirus testing facility in Mumbai. We will come to know about it in the coming days," she added.

As of now, six patients have been kept in observation wards at various hospitals in the state. Of these, four are in Pune, and one each in Mumbai and Sangli district, another official said on Monday.

Since January 18, state health officials have screened 8,878 passengers at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for the coronavirus infection, he said.

No confirmed case of the deadly virus, which has killed 425 people in China till now, has been detected yet in Maharashtra.

The coronavirus is a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has killed people in China is a novel strain and not seen before.

Common symptoms of the novel coronavirus strain include respiratory problems like cough, shortness of breath and fever, according to the World Health Organisation.

The WHO has declared the coronavirus epidemic as a global health emergency.

The virus - which first emerged in Wuhan city in China's central Hubei province - has spread to 25 countries, including India (three confirmed cases have been reported from Kerala), the US and the UK.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Bahk Eun-ji







With roughly 70,000 Chinese students set to return to Korean campuses, an increasing number of universities are deciding to postpone their spring semester amid fears of the new coronavirus, according to school officials Tuesday.







A notice at a dormitory on the campus of Sogang University in Seoul, Tuesday, saying any visitors who have visited the Chinese province of Hubei within the last two weeks should report to the supervisor's office immediately, regardless of symptoms. /Yonhap

Kyung Hee University, which has more than 4,700 Chinese students, has decided to delay its start of the spring semester, which was originally scheduled to begin on March 2.







"This decision comes amid growing fears of the possible spread of the coronavirus on our campus. We are also beefing up all efforts to prevent the spread of the disease by preparing measures with related departments in the school," a Kyung Hee University official said. The school has canceled group events, including graduation and entrance ceremonies, and orientation programs for freshmen.







Sogang University also announced that it would delay the new semester for two weeks, starting from March 2, for both undergraduate and graduate courses. Accordingly, the start day of the new semester is expected to be in the middle of March.







The university said it would also cancel the graduation and entrance ceremonies, together with orientation programs to avoid potential spread of the disease, a Sogang University official said.







Other universities in Seoul, including Yonsei University, Ewha Woman's University and Korea Unversity, also canceled similar group events.






By PTI

NEW DELHI: Hitting out at the Congress and the Aam Adami Party for giving "moral support" to Shaheen Bagh stir, the ruling BJP on Tuesday said in Rajya Sabha that young minds were "poisoned through hate-filled speeches" in the name of freedom of expression during anti-CAA protests.

Initiating the debate on Motion of Thanks on President's address in the Upper House, senior BJP leader Bhupender Yadav also lauded the government for multiple initiatives to take India ahead globally while being rooted to its values whether on digital front, agriculture, health or national security.

As in Lok Sabha, the BJP launched a frontal attack on opposition parties specially Congress for their stance against the amended Citizenship Act saying they were trying to divide the nation.

Congress leaders like Shashi Tharoor and Digvijay Singh have gone to the demonstration against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Shaheen Bagh besides AAP leader Amanatullah Khan.

"Congress and AAP are giving moral support" to the agitation and the "minds of small children are being poisoned", Yadav said, pointing out that a girl there spoke of violence against the prime minister and the union home minister while a "crowd was applauding", and the video was widely shared online.

He said, unfortunately, none of the leaders or parties going there have raised issues of atrocities against minorities in Islamic nations and were busy politicising the issue for petty self-interest.

Yadav alleged that by passing resolutions against the CAA, states ruled by non-BJP parties were hurting the Constitution.

Lauding the government for Citizenship Amendment Act, Yadav also said that there has been an improvement in national security ever since Bharatiya Janata Party has been voted to power.

Yadav quoted a statement by Trinamool MP Derek 'O Brien on how his relatives who went to Pakistan had to migrate and how those who came to India prospered.

"We have got the citizenship law so that O'Briens remain O'Briens and are not forced to convert to other religions," Yadav said.

The ongoing anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh since December 15 had figured prominently in the debate in Lok Sabha on Monday, with the BJP and opposition parties trading charges.

Yadav also appreciated the move to appoint a Chief of Defence Staff for better coordination between the three wings of the armed forces - Army, Navy and Air Force.

Yadav said a previous parliamentary standing committee which had several important congress leaders as members had recommended "compulsory registration of citizens of India" and had stressed for a national identity card.

Yadav said President's speech provides an insight into government's commitment for the development of all sections of society including Dalits, women, tribals and minorities.

The government has identified 115 aspirational districts for development.

He said the list of Padma awardees post-2014 indicates how the government was committed to uplift the poor.

Targeting the Congress, he said, "You have objections to abrogation of Article 370" which was a temporary provision but "you had changed the preamble of the Constitution."

He said before abrogation of Article 370, democracy in Jammu and Kashmir was hostage to three families but now there was development.

"Apple is being purchased through NAFED," he said and added that similarly North East which was reeling under violence for long was undergoing all-round development under Look East Policy of the government.

He said the government has undertaken a number of economic reforms including Aadhar and digital account through Bhim App and urged the Congress to support the government in a positive manner.

About Delhi, he said earlier 40 lakh people were forced to live without basic amenities, but now 1,737 illegal colonies have been regularised.

He said it was the BJP government which threw open Kartarpur corridor and has plans to celebrate Bal Gangadhar Tilak anniversary.

"BJP is a party which believed in respect to all religions and freedom of expression," he said.

The BJP believes in democracy but the Congress when it loses "blames EVMs" and prompted moves like "Award wapasi", he said, asking the opposition party to introspect "how it provoked students of JNU in 2015".

He said the Congress questioned the Army after the surgical strike and "had to apologise on Rafale".

Yadav said Congress opposed moves like legislation on Triple Talaq and "instead of appreciating BJP for solving a 700-year-old dispute on Ram Temple which is linked to the faith and values of masses tried to complicate the case in the court".

He asserted that the BJP does not believe in discrimination and gave due credit to former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for modern India and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay for Antyodaya.

"Oppose us but don't divide India....Don't like us but let positive development happen," he appealed to Congress.
New Covid curbs in UP: Government and private employees to work at 50 per cent capacity

Night curfew in Andhra Pradesh: Know timings, guidelines, rules; What is allowed, what is not allowed

Coronavirus: 5 admitted to ITBP facility shifted to Safdarjung hospital in Delhi

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Feb 04: Five people admitted to an ITBP facility in Delhi after being evacuated from coronavirus-affected Wuhan in China were shifted to the Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday, officials said. Among those shifted are three men and two women, they said.

The five have been shifted as a "precautionary measure" after they showed basic symptoms like cough and sneezing and some had a medical history.

A total of 406 people have been quarantined at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) facility in Delhi's Chhawla area since the last week after they were brought in two batches from Wuhan onboard separate Air India flights. ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said the centre now has "401 inmates and they are being well taken care of".

Another official said samples of all the people quarantined at the facility have been collected by doctors in coordination with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and they are being sent to laboratories in AIIMS and Pune for further tests. Over 600 Indians were evacuated from Wuhan.

The remaining evacuees have been kept at another quarantine facility set up by the Army in Manesar (Gurgaon).

People in Nagaland who came from foreign countries show no signs of coronavirus

According to Chinese government officials, the death toll from the coronavirus epidemic has risen to more than 420 while the number of those affected by the deadly disease has crossed 20,000. India has reported three cases of coronavirus so far, all from Kerala. Wuhan, Hubei's capital, is the epicentre of the outbreak.
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A prominent Moscow-based watchdog says the number of casualties in attacks on members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Russia increased in 2019, while it also said its research showed that ethnic-based hate crimes declined.

The Sova Center, a respected research organization that tracks hate crimes and extremist movements in Russia, also said in its annual report released on February 4 that the number of attacks by pro-government groups against their opponents declined in 2019.

Sova said one LGBT activist was killed and seven injured in 2019. In the previous year, one member of the LGBT community was killed and five injured in apparent hate-based attacks.

The report said that victims in 2019 were mainly participants in rallies or other events associated with the LGBT community, but it added that "there were also attacks on passersby to such events [and] on those who were mistaken to be LGBT in appearance."

"In addition to physical attacks, LGBT activists regularly face threats from homophobic citizens and right-wing radicals of all kinds," the reported added

Sova stressed there were no official statistics on such attacks and that it remained impossible to gauge the actual level of homophobia in the country.

Members of Russia's LGBT community and advocates for their rights have been the targets of worsening threats in recent years.

President Vladimir Putin has asserted that Russia does not discriminate against gay people, but rights activists strenuously dispute that claim.

The most high-profile killing in 2019 of an LGBT activist was the murder of Yelena Grigoryeva in St. Petersburg.

Before her death, Grigoryeva received numerous threats from unknown individuals and her name was included to the so-called "black list" of a homophobic group -- Saws Against LGBT. However, investigators did not label her killing as a hate crime.

Sova noted Grigoryeva had contacted law enforcement about the threats but that "there was no reaction."

The Sova report also said that four attacks by pro-government groups against government critics were registered in Russia in 2019, down from 19 in 2018.

Also, the number of ethnically motivated attacks in 2019 was 45, down from 55 in 2018. Five people were killed in such attacks in 2019.

The majority of the attacks were in Moscow and St. Petersburg, with the main targets being individuals from Central Asia and the Caucasus, the report said.
Two top members of the ruling Zanu PF partys Youth League are accusing three Zimbabwean businessmen of allegedly causing the current economic crisis in the country through manipulating the exchange rate, prices of fuel and maize and other commodities.

Deputy secretary Lewis Matutu and political commissar Godfrey Tsenengamu told a press conference in Harare on Monday that director Billy Rautenbach of Green Fuel, Kuda Tagwirei of Sakunda Holdings and Tafadzwa Musarara, chairperson of the Grain Millers Association, are bleeding the countrys economy by allegedly engaging in some of these activities, which have a negative impact on prices of various commodities.

Tsenengamu said, We are in a ship where some individuals are busy drilling holes for it to sink. Our action to name and shame the corrupt are driven by our patriotism. This a generational fight because if we leave this to continue, future generations will curse us for turning a blind eye to a cancer which is tearing the social and moral fibre of our country.

These corrupt cartels are very powerful and have been left to do as they please for a long time. Their actions are driven by greed. They are fuelling all black market activities and claim that they are related or close to the national leadership. They have become the untouchables.

His views were echoed by Matutu, who claimed that some of the businessmen were allegedly engaged in shady deals and looting state resources by taking advantage of their close links with the countrys political leaders.

Why is it an individual is almost everywhere, be it fuel or Command Agriculture? How come some individuals are allowed to withdraw as much as $500,000 from the bank? Most of our problems are coming from this heartless individual.

He claimed that it was strange that the same individual is always winning state tenders and also getting cash from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which is then used to manipulate the exchange rate.

Matutu and Tsenengamu claimed that they were making these remarks on their individual capacities and not Zanu PF Youth League representatives.

Musarara, Rautenbach and Tagwirei were unavailable for comment as they were not responding to calls on their mobile phones. Garikai Chaunza of the Grain Millers Association declined to comment saying Matutu and Tsenengamu should unveil the evidence linking Musarara to the alleged shady deals.

Some members of the Zanu PF Youth League distanced itself from the allegations leveled against the three businessmen.

In a tweet, they said, We dissociate ourselves from the ongoing presser by Cdes Matutu and Tsenengamu. Views expressed dont represent Zanu PF Youth League, but personal opinions. We urge anyone with incriminating evidence against anyone to approach lawful authorities and responsible agencies.
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Press Release

February 4, 2020 GORDON CITES POSSIBILITY OF TAPPING INTO TRANSCO'S DARK FIBER TO SPY AGAINST PH Concerned about national interest, Senator Richard J. Gordon on Monday pointed to the possibility of China tapping into the dark fiber assets owned by the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) and managed by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) to tap into conversations in the country. Gordon noted that the NGCP appears to be run by the Chinese, even if the State Grid Corp. of China only owns 40 percent and despite the Constitutional provision which mandates that all the executive and managing officers of public utility corporations or associations must be citizens of the Philippines. He warned against the possibility that the Chinese could fire up the 6,154 kilometers-long unused fiber-optic cables which span from Luzon to Mindanao, to tap into conversations and control communications. "Napakahalaga ng NGCP kasi it involves a franchise na kinocover niya ang ating kuryente, transmission all over the country. Nakadikit tayo diyan, 'yung mga distributor, nagbabayad tayong lahat diyan. Pangalawa, meron pang nakasakay diyan na nagfa-fastbreak na communications. Paano nagkaroon ng dark fiber? Kontrolado nila transmission, pati communications. Pag sinindihan mo yan (dark fiber), pwedeng gumamit ang Smart, Globe at other telcos. Nakikita nila lahat ng nangyayari pati communications dito. Kasama ba sa contract, o rider lang 'yun," he said. Gordon also pointed to the need to put up firewalls or for defence mechanisms to be put in place, such as audits and inspections, to prevent making the country vulnerable to cyber-attacks, among others. "It is paramount for the government to protect the interest of the country. Because not only can (China) shut us down and control our power, control our economy with that, they could also listen to our conversations and put us in a dark line. We should protect the country from a situation where it has no control," he pointed out. NGCP is a privately owned corporation in charge of operating, maintaining and developing the country's state-owned power grid, but the State Grid Corp. of China has a 40 percent stake in the firm.
(Newser)  Finland's leader thinks her nation and neighboring ones might be better at giving people a shot at the "American Dream" than America itself. I feel that the American Dream can be achieved best in the Nordic countries, where every child no matter their background or the background of their families can become anything, because we have a very good education system, said Sanna Marin, the world's youngest prime minister at 34. The comments, first given last month, are being revisited in a Washington Post analysis about Bernie Sanders and his quest to bring aspects of the "Nordic model" to the US.

story continues below

We have a good health-care and social welfare system that allows anybody to become anything," said Marin. "This is probably one of the reasons why Finland gets ranked the happiest country in the world. (She's right about that ranking.) Though she doesn't mention Sanders by name, Business Insider thinks the comments amount to a "tacit endorsement" of the progressive senator. (Marin comes from a blue-collar family and once worked as a sales assistantwhich is apparently why a 70-year-old government official in Estonia dismissed her as a "sales girl.")
Brian May says heart medication almost cost him his life

It's strange, talking about it now, it seems unreal. It feels like it couldn't possibly have happened, it couldn't possibly have been that bad.
The paramount chief of Kpembe, Kpembewura Babanye Haruna Bismark, has praised President Akufo-Addo for bringing to an end the water crisis in the East Gonja district of the Savannah region.

 Through your efforts, the people of Salaga are seeing water and I want to use this opportunity to thank you President Akufo-Addo, he said.

According to him, the age-old water crisis in Salaga affected economic conditions of the people severely.

He indicated that the water expansion project is a sign of good things for the people of the East Gonja municipality.

The Kpembewura made this known when the president paid a courtesy call on him at the Kpembe palace on Monday, February 3, 2020.

President Akufo-Addo, addressing residents in Salaga in 2017 assured that the Salaga Water Plant will be incorporated into urban water supply system.

He gave the assurance that his government would address the numerous problems in Salaga to improve living standards in the area.

The Salaga Water Expansion project has a tank capacity of 85,000 gallons which will serve Salaga and its environs.

The GWCL is also constructing a booster station which will carry water from Kalande where two tanks have been placed to pump water to Kpembe where the new tank of 85,000 capacity has been constructed to serve the Salaga community.

The Ghana Water Company is putting up raw water pipeline (200m diameter HDPE) which covers 500meters stretch, replacing and upgrading the treated water pipelines which is 18km stretch.

The GWCL is also replacing the old pipelines with PVC (150mm diameter) which is 4km stretch with 668 pipes as distribution pipelines.

Residents of the East Gonja municipality who spoke to DGN Online, expressed their joy at the expansion of the salaga water project.

We are happy that finally our water crisis has come to an end and it will help us expand and enhance our businesses in the municipality,  a beneficiary said.

---Daily Guide
Democratic prosecutors declaring "no one is above the law" went head to head with White House lawyers as closing arguments wrapped up at President Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial, setting the stage for his likely acquittal on Wednesday. "You can't trust this president to do the right thing," chief House prosecutor Adam Schiff said in an emotional speech on the Senate floor on Monday at the end of the two-week trial. "Truth matters little to him," the California lawmaker told the 100 members of the Senate who will decide Trump's fate. "What's right matters even less and decency matters not at all. "He will not change and you know it," Schiff said of the former New York real estate tycoon turned politician. "Now do impartial justice and convict him." White House lawyers flatly rejected the arguments that Trump -- just the third president in US history to be impeached by the House of Representatives -- should be removed from office by the Senate for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. "The president has done nothing wrong," White House counsel Pat Cipollone said, calling the impeachment by the Democratic-led House "purely partisan and political." "We put our faith in the Senate," he said. "End the era of impeachment once and for all," Cipollone said, arguing that the American people -- not the Senate -- should decide whether Trump remains in office. Jay Sekulow, another of Trump's lawyers, said the House impeachment was "reckless" and urged the Senate to acquit. "The bottom line is that the president's opponents don't like the president and they don't like his policies," Sekulow said. - 'Cheat' - The Senate is to vote at 4:00 pm (2100 GMT) on Wednesday and the Republican president is all but certain of being acquitted. Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate to 47 for the Democrats, but a two-thirds majority, or 67 senators, is needed to remove a president from office. Trump is scheduled to deliver his nationally televised "State of the Union" speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday and has voiced no plans to delay until after the Senate vote. The House of Representatives impeached Trump on December 18 for withholding $391 million in military aid to Ukraine to demand that Kiev open an investigation into his potential November election rival, Democrat Joe Biden. Schiff urged senators to find "courage to stand up" to the president. "When the president tries to coerce an ally to try to help him cheat in our elections and covers it up we must say enough," he said. "He has compromised our elections and he will do so again." Colorado lawmaker Jason Crow, another House prosecutor, said impeachment was an "extraordinary remedy." "It is in the Constitution for a reason," he said. "In America, nobody is above the law, even those elected president of the United States." Crow told the senators their votes would echo through history. "What you decide on these articles will have lasting implications for the future of the presidency, not only for this president, but for all future presidents," he said. - Iowa caucuses - With the focus shifting to the final vote, all eyes will be on whether any Democrats facing potential tough re-election battles in November will vote to acquit the president. Democratic Senator Doug Jones, for example, is facing what is shaping up to be a tough re-election fight in Alabama, a state which voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016. West Virginia's Joe Manchin, a Democratic senator in a heavily Republican state, said he was "struggling" with how to vote on impeachment but he believed there would be bipartisan support for a censure motion of the president if one was offered. Final arguments in the trial came as voters held caucuses in Iowa to begin the process of choosing a Democratic candidate to face Trump in November. Former vice president Biden is among the front-runners in Iowa along with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, whose campaigning in the Midwestern state has been hamstrung by the requirement that they remain in Washington for the impeachment trial. As the Democratic prosecutors addressed the somber Senate chamber, Trump lashed out on Twitter. "I hope Republicans & the American people realize that the totally partisan Impeachment Hoax is exactly that, a Hoax," he said. Final arguments were held on Monday after Democrats failed last week in a bid to introduce new witnesses and documents into the trial. Only two Republicans -- Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine -- joined Democrats as the motion to introduce witnesses was defeated 51-49. Democrats had been eager to hear from Trump's former national security advisor John Bolton and other key administration figures caught up in the scandal. Bolton reportedly says in an upcoming book that Trump told him military aid to Ukraine was tied to Kiev's investigating Biden -- corroborating the central accusation against the president.
The Perth Night Noodle Markets will say goodbye to Elizabeth Quay where they have been held for the past three years and move to new digs in Yagan Square on the event's return next month.

The markets, which are part of Good Food Month, will feature food vendors from all over Australia as well as some of Perths best offerings.

Perth's night noodle markets are on the move.

The Asian street food festival will run from March 25 to April 5, with the 12 nights offering a vibrant flavour journey through Asia, new creations, dynamic flavours and signature dishes from hawker-style stalls served alongside live music, DJs and lion dancing.

Local favourites Fryd and Kumokumo will be joined by multicultural flavours from Hoy Pinoy, Wonderbao, Bangkok Street Food, Calabang, Twistto, Flying Noodles, Teppanyaki Noodles, Shallot Thai, @Roll Up, Waffleland, Raijin, Poklol x Puffle, Donburi Station and Bao Brothers with this years stallholder menus to be revealed in March.
Photo: Adriano Aurelio Araujo/Flickr

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Austin police identify homeless man in Friday night stabbing following Gov. Abbotts tweets

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Fire extinguishing agent contaminated South Austin water, affecting hundreds in late January

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The Le Life Lonnoc Framework signed last year in March, between the Ministry of Trade and the MALFFB paved the path forward towards the launching of the recent VPPA office in Port Vila.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf delivers his 2020-21 budget address in the state House of Representatives as Speaker Mike Turzai, left, and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, right, look on, on Feb. 4, 2020, in Harrisburg, Pa. Read more

Capitol Notebook by Spotlight PA provides updates on important news and notes from the halls of power in Harrisburg. Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

HARRISBURG  Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday proposed a $36 billion budget with no major tax increases that would boost funding for public education, expand full-day kindergarten to all students, borrow money to address environmental hazards in schools, and make sweeping changes to how charter schools are funded.

In his annual address before a joint session of the General Assembly, the Democratic governor also departed from the boundaries of a traditional budget speech to make a strong plea for stricter gun laws in a state with a long history of taking a hands-off approach to the issue.

Wolf called for universal background checks, stronger reporting requirements for lost and stolen firearms, and a red flag law that would give judges the ability to temporarily seize firearms from people considered a threat to themselves or others.

The steps Im proposing are supported by the evidence and supported by the vast majority of Pennsylvanians, Wolf said, adding: To let another session go by without action would be a failure of imagination that will cost lives.

Though the governors sixth proposed budget reflected his long-held priority of championing public education, it also recognized the reality of negotiating with Republican lawmakers who control the legislature, and who in years past have rejected several of the administrations big-ticket revenue proposals.

Wolfs plan, for instance, would not hike either the sales or income tax  the two largest sources of revenue  and instead would seek to raise new dollars through targeted fees on municipalities to fund, among other items, the state police budget.

The governor also renewed his call to gradually raise Pennsylvanias minimum wage to $15 an hour, another proposal that has been met with resistance by some Republican lawmakers.

Republicans emerged from Wolfs speech with a list of complaints about the proposal, which calls for increasing spending by almost 6% over this fiscal years $34 billion plan. (That does not include an additional $600 million the governor is seeking to cover cost overruns in this years budget.)

GOP lawmakers took aim at Wolfs proposed increase in spending, saying the administration wants to spend more than it can bring in. Wolfs budget relies heavily on a projection that revenue will grow 4.5%, or $1.6 billion, in the next fiscal year. Republicans also attacked the amount of money the governor is seeking to borrow to fund some of his signature proposals.

Its easy to put things on a credit card and then ask other people in the future to pay for it," said State Rep. Stan Saylor (R., York), who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee. "That is not the solution for Pennsylvania.

Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R., Centre) called Wolfs budget address the red meat speech, meant to please the governors constituency but ultimately unrealistic.

We will get to a fiscally responsible budget that does not ask the taxpayers to invest more in state government, Corman said.

But this is an election year  a time when elected officials try to avoid any drawn-out conflict or controversy  and there could be pressure to wrap up the budget well before the July 1 deadline.

Here are some highlights from Wolfs budget:

Education

Public schools would receive an additional $100 million, and the governor is proposing an extra $25 million for special education funding.

Wolf would boost funding for early childhood education by $30 million: $25 million for Pre-K Counts and $5 million for the Head Start Supplemental program.

The governor would expand free, full-time kindergarten to every Pennsylvania student, and pay for it through a separate reform plan for charter schools.

Wolf is again proposing to raise the minimum salary for public school teachers to $45,000 per year, from $18,500 per year.

Under an expanded grant program, $1 billion in state funding, typically set aside for capital projects would be available to remediate lead- and asbestos-tainted schools, an issue that has been particularly acute in Philadelphia.

Higher education

The governor wants to siphon $204 million from the states Race Horse Development Trust Fund to provide financial assistance to full-time students in Pennsylvanias state colleges and universities.

State-run universities would receive almost $13 million to redesign technology infrastructure.

Funding to state-related universities including Pennsylvania State and Temple would remain unchanged.

Charter school reform

The governor is proposing changes to charter school laws that he said will save school districts, which pay for charters but do not run them, about $280 million every year. Among the proposed changes:

The administration would apply a tiered special education funding formula to charter schools.

Wolf would establish a statewide tuition rate for cyber charter schools, which currently receive between $7,700 and $21,400 per student per year. The new rate would be $9,500 per student every year.

Minimum wage

Wolf is asking the legislature to approve raising the states minimum wage from the current $7.25 per hour to $12 beginning this July. That rate would increase every year by 50 cents until it reached $15 per hour in 2026. The Senate late last year approved a plan to gradually hike the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour, but the House has not yet taken up the proposal.

State police fee

Wolf has a new version of a proposal he championed in recent years to impose a fee for state police coverage on municipalities that dont have their own police forces. This year, the governor is seeking a fee on all municipalities based on the level of coverage. It would factor in a towns population and income.

Spotlight PA receives funding from nonprofit institutions and readers like you who are committed to investigative journalism that gets results. Become a Founding Donor today at spotlightpa.org.
The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Republic of Bulgaria residing in Berlin, Abdulla Abdullatif Abdulla, participated in the annual New Year reception, at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, and his wife. The ceremony, which was held at the National Museum of History in Sofia, was also attended by Ambassadors and Heads of Diplomatic Missions to the Republic of Bulgaria. The Ambassador conveyed the greetings of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, to President Radev, alongside their wishes of continuous progress and prosperity to the President, Republic of Bulgaria and its friendly people. He also affirmed their pride in the development of relations between the two friendly countries.
People often assume that getting a gorgeous kitchen like the ones they see in design magazines would require draining their bank account. And often, theyre right: Building a custom kitchen with upscale materials and finishes can easily run into six figures.

What they might not realize is that there are cost-saving alternatives that can deliver a high-end look for a fraction of the price. One of the most popular, employed by a number of architects and designers, is building a kitchen with Ikea cabinets and then covering those cabinets with custom doors, drawer fronts and panels from companies like Reform, Semihandmade and Kokeena.

Ikea makes a great box, said John McDonald, the founder and chief executive of Semihandmade, a company based in Monrovia, Calif. And inside its Sektion cabinets, he added, Ikea uses the best hardware you can get.
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court challenging a Bombay High Court order which had earlier directed for the sale of HDIL assets to recover the dues of crisis-hit PMC Bank.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde asked Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, who mentioned the matter before the court, to approach the SC Registry for an urgent listing.

The Bombay High Court, had on January 15, appointed a three-member committee headed by retired Judge S Radhakrishnan to sell the encumbered assets of Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) to expeditiously recover dues payable to crisis-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Bank Co-operative (PMC).

In September last year, the RBI restricted the activities of the PMC Bank for six months and asked it not to grant or renew any loans and advances, make any investment or incur any liability, including borrowing of funds and acceptance of fresh deposits after an alleged fraud of Rs 4,355 crore came to light.

The central bank had initially capped the deposit withdrawal at Rs 10,000 but later raised it to Rs 40,000. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized and identified movable and immovable assets worth more than Rs 3,830 crore owned by HDIL in connection with the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bayonne police in investigating a shoplifting incident at the Walmart in Bayonne Monday arrested two Jersey City residents and recovered a stun gun from one of them, authorities said.

Clayton Cureton Jr., 30, and Ashley Varner, 31, were taken into custody at 11:50 a.mby officers responding to a report of shoplifting, Bayonne Lt. Eric Amato said.

During the investigation police learned that Cureton and Varner were each wanted on outstanding warrants, Cureton out of Jersey City and Varner out of Trenton. While searching Cureton after his arrest, police found he was carrying a stun gun, Amato said.

Cureton was charged with possession of a prohibited weapon and unlawful possession of a weapon. Varner was charged on the outstanding warrant after Walmart officials decided not to pursue the shoplifting charges.
Google and Microsoft keep attacking, but when you're talking cloud-based computer systems, you're still really only talking about one name: Amazon.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is still the 800-pound gorilla of the cloud market, and getting accredited as an AWS Certified Solutions Architect is a big deal for hiring managers and those getting hired. You can learn exactly what it takes to pass that CSAP exam on your first shot with the training included in the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional Practice Tests + Courses Bundle ($14.99, 88 percent off).

This training is a full download for working in the AWS environment. Once you've gone through these courses, you'll understand how to navigate the AWS Management Console as well as how to design, implement, and scale up web operations for an organization of any size, no matter its budget or timeframe.

You'll also learn how to craft stable architecture, put together security with potential for growth, and how to study data flowing in and out of your system for top optimization of resources.

With five full-length mock exams packed with over 400 unique AWS CSAP certification exam practice questions, there isn't an element of AWS you won't know like the back of your hand.

Typically a $130 training package, the complete AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional course is priced at just $14.99 right now.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Feb. 4

By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend:

Turkmenistan will begin work on the nomination for inclusion of the South Cheleken Gulf with Ogurjaly island, Kelif lakes, including the Kelif ornithological reserve to the List of Wetlands of International Importance (the Ramsar List), Trend reports referring to the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper.

It is also planned to submit for nomination the lands of Turkmen Lake, a reservoir named after the 15th anniversary of independence (formerly Zeyd), lakes of Gurtly, Sultandag and Sarykamysh.

These wetlands of the country have conditions for wintering, migration and nesting of at least 20,000 wetland birds during one or more of their life cycles, which is one of the important criteria for inclusion in the Ramsar List of protected areas.

A meeting of the working group of the Ramsar Convention was held recently in Ashgabat. It is expected that Turkmen specialists will participate in a rapid assessment of environmental characteristics and ecosystem services, mapping and creating a database of wetlands in Central Asia.

Convention on Wetlands of International Importance as a habitat for waterfowl was signed on February 2, 1971 in Irans Ramsar city (Mazandaran Province).

In 2009, the Turmenbashi Gulf was included in the Ramsar List.
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The Aviation Minister Paul Maynard visited the City of Derry Airport yesterday as part of his UK tour of regional airports as he carries out the Regional Air Connectivity Review.

Welcoming the visit and the opportunity to participate in the governments review of regional connectivity, the Chairperson of the CoDA Board, Albert Harrison, said the meeting with the Minister had been positive.

He said: City of Derry Airport plays an integral role in making Derry-Londonderry and the wider North West City Region a more attractive and competitive proposition for inward investors, contributing to the development and growth of the regions tourism potential, whilst also delivering economic and social benefits to local communities and the North West Region as a whole.

The meeting today with the Minister provided us with the opportunity to outline to him the airports strategic aim to provide improved connectivity and frequency of flights to major business hubs, and to improve connectivity and boost economic growth for the wider city region by increasing access.

We outlined to the Minister the challenges we face in the current economic environment and stressed the difficulties we are experiencing in attracting new airlines and routes, in common with other smaller regional airports. We highlighted the need for Government intervention, both in the form of funding assistance to and reduction in tax burdens on airlines to attract new routes.

Concluding, Mr Harrison thanked the Minister for including the City of Derry Airport on his tour of regional airports, saying that CODA welcomed the opportunity to participate in the governments review of regional connectivity.

Ends
(Reuters) - Higher prices for Ralph Lauren Corps (RL.N) down jackets and fleeces during the crucial holiday season boosted its margin and helped the company beat quarterly profit estimates on Tuesday, sending the fashion houses shares up over 8%.

The company said it was assessing the financial impact of shutting about half of its 110 stores in China due to the coronavirus outbreak. It gets about 4% of its total revenue from China, a growth market for luxury goods makers.

Sales in China remained strong, rising 30% in the third quarter, benefiting from a marketing drive on social media channels TikTok and WeChat.

The company said it was able to increase product prices and cut promotions due to a ramp up in marketing, especially on social media through supermodels and actors, which has helped lift its brand image.

Heavyweight parkas, coats, light down jackets and wind breakers were among Ralph Laurens bestsellers during the holidays, Chief Executive Officer Patrice Louvet said.

The companys winter wear was on trend in terms of color and silhouette, Jessica Ramirez, analyst at research firm Jane Hali & Associates said. They got them right.

Ralph Laurens adjusted gross margin rose by 60 basis points in the quarter, driven by a 6% gain in average prices at its own stores and website.

However, new advertising campaigns on television and in stores, as well as a new holiday-themed Snapchat filter drove Ralph Laurens marketing expenses higher by 16% in the quarter.

Net revenue rose 1.4% to $1.75 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 28, inching past average analysts estimate of $1.72 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Its wholesale revenue in North America fell 8% as a record number of consumers shopped online during the holiday season, leading to a drop in traffic at department stores Macys (M.N), J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP.N) and Nordstrom (JWN.N).

Ralph Lauren said it expects fiscal 2020 revenue, excluding fluctuations in foreign exchange, to rise 2% to 3%.

The companys net income rose nearly three-fold to $334.1 million, or $4.41 per share, lifted by a one-time tax benefit.

Excluding one-time items, the New York-based company earned $2.86 per share, beating analysts expectation of $2.45 per share.
She rose to fame after reaching the final of last year's series of Love Island with boyfriend Tommy Fury.

And Molly-Mae Hague looked nothing short of sensational as she attended Australian blogger Gabby Epstein's PrettyLittleThing event in Los Angeles on Monday.

The reality star, 20, cut a stylish figure for the evening, donning a white shirt dress which she paired with an eye-catching black lace corset.

Style: Molly-Mae Hague, 20, looked nothing short of sensational as she attended a PrettyLittleThing event in Los Angeles on Monday

Molly-Mae added height to her frame with a pair of black heels with an ankle strap, the Love Islander also carried a matching clutch bag.

Adding further glamour to her look with a pair of diamond earrings, Molly-Mae styled her platinum blonde locks into voluminous curls for the event.

Molly-Mae was a sight to behold as she posed up a storm at the bash where she posed for a snap with Gabby, with the collection now available on PrettyLittleThing.

The beauty follows in the footsteps of Megan Barton Hanson, 25, and Montana Brown, 23, who both signed deals with PLT to become brand ambassadors following their Love Island stints in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Fashion: The reality star cut a stylish figure for the evening, donning a white shirt dress which she paired with an eye-catching black lace corset

Despite not winning the show, Molly-Mae appears to have matched the record-breaking fee earned by former Love Island winner Dani Dyer, who reportedly signed a half-a-million pound deal with In The Style following her triumphant stint in 2018.

Molly-Mae has joined the growing host of PrettyLittleThing ambassadors, which also includes the likes of Ashley Graham and Malika Haqq and Kourtney Kardashian.

Last December she appeared on the PLT Podcast where she discussed life before the villa and admitted: 'As an influencer you have to give off this persona of having a great life... before I went on the show, I didnt have money at all.

Pals: Molly-Mae was a sight to behold as she posed up a storm at the bash where she was joined by Australian blogger Gabby Epstein

Looking good: Molly-Mae added height to her frame with a pair of black heels with an ankle strap, the Love Islander also carried a matching clutch bag

Beauty: Molly-Mae styled her platinum blonde locks into voluminous curls for the event (pictured with PLT Head of Brand Amy Reddish, far right)

Ambassador: Molly-Mae follows in the footsteps of Megan Barton Hanson, 25, and Montana Brown, 23, who both signed deals with PLT to become brand ambassadors after Love Island

Good company: Molly-Mae has joined the growing host of PrettyLittleThing ambassadors, which also includes the likes of Ashley Graham and Malika Haqq and Kourtney Kardashian

'I think it's really important people know that what you see on Instagram isnt a true reflection of whats going on in that person's life.'

She added: 'This time last year, I was living by myself in a flat in Manchester, I had literally no one around me, I was really just trying to create this social media career for myself.'

Talking about her relationship with Tommy, who she met on Love Island over the summer, she gushed that she wants to marry the boxer.

Dinner: Invited guests enjoyed a sit down meal at the PrettyLittleThing event

Luxury: The gathering was held in an elegant venue with a burning fire and many of the brand's clothes on display

Fun: Guests were also treated to custom made cocktails with an elegant floral display decorating the table

She said: 'We're just so happy right now doing our thing. I've found the person Im going to marry!'

Molly-Mae, who self-confessed that she was a 'massive gym freak' before she went on Love Island, also claimed that she doesn't think about working out or salads since the show ended.

She said: 'Since I've come off the show, I honestly havent thought about the gym once, I havent even thought about looking at a salad.
Over the last year theres been a lot of talk about social media. Between scandals around privacy at Facebook and the rise of TikTok, theres a lot to take in on this subject. So heres where we stand

Social Media Remains a Popular Activity

According to Statista, in 2019, 79 percent of the population in the United States had a social networking profile, representing a two percent increase from the 77 percent usage reach in the previous year. But does just having a social profile really mean people are active on those networks?

In fact, people are using these profiles. Broadband Search reports that In 2018, the average time spent on social networking was projected as 144 minutes per day, an increase of 1 hour a day, or 62.5% over 2012.

So despite the move by some to want more privacy online, the overall draw to social media remains high.

And with Americans spending an average of 6 hours and 31 minutes on the internet each day, we know they have to be doing SOMETHING there, so banks and credit unions need to take notice.

Branch Transaction Volumes Continue to Trend DOWN

Most of us have heard the statistics about branch traffic moving down. The widely accepted number is that transactions have declined by more than 45% since 1992. But that is whats already happened. We need to make decisions for the future based on what else is left to come.

According to Jeffry Pilcher of the Financial Brand, Consumer visits to retail bank branches are set to drop 36% between 2017 and 2022. He goes on to explain that mobile transactions [are] rising 121% in the same period, as customers increasingly shift to accessing their banking information via apps and secure, responsive sites on their mobile devices.

Does this mean branches are irrelevant? Absolutely not! But retail banking branches will need to compliment a robust digital growth strategy in order to remain impactful. And this strategy needs to keep mobile experience in the forefront.

With this shift to more mobile transactions, its worth noting that users will use desktop versions of websites less and less. All very important indicators of where banks and credit unions need to be focusing on a Mobile FIRST strategy.

Mobile First + Social Relationship Building is the Winning Strategy

So as mobile usage increases, and social media adoption also continues to climb, it makes logical sense that financial institutions need to be present when people are on their phones, and this will need to involve being helpful and friendly on platforms where people are browsing (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.), and then having solid content and robust mobile versions of your website and mobile banking apps.

Gone are the days of creating a beautiful website for desktop, and then simply scaling it down for smaller devices. Instead banks and credit unions will need to be more intentional with their digital approach. Your mobile app and website should have more succinct content with very clear calls to action and a menu that is concise and intuitive.

Mobile experiences should connect seamlessly with smart phone capabilities and navigation should not send you from one window or app to another unnecessarily. The users mobile experience is just as important as the content they will see, and load times are KEY if you want to keep a user from bouncing to the next option in their search results!

Well-Designed Ads and Helpful Content will Continue to Win Out

Any social media strategy for a financial institution should include several key elements. First, you will need to focus your paid ads on boosting early stage or awareness types of content. As this is the best way to provide value to users while not interrupting their experience with overly sales-oriented offers or posts. Share blogs around how to budget or saving for a major life event rather than promoting special rates or promotions.

In addition to early stage content, keep in mind that social is still all about relationship building and serving your members or customers. So, institutions need to first think of being USEFUL to followers in as many ways as possible. THEN, you can slowly relate these posts or interactions back to your business services, but only when it is appropriate, natural and logical. You have to remain authentic or users will know youre only in it for selfish reasons.

At the end of the day, the popular social platforms will change, but how to successfully reach customers on them will not. Being genuine and meaningfully engaged will ALWAYS be the keys to positive business growth in the end. But these efforts take time, so not having staff devoted to cultivating relationships online will have a negative impact over the long term.

For more information on social media and digital marketing for banks and credit unions visit the FI GROW blog or Contact Us today.
By IANS

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As promised by the Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala to the parents of the two arrested Communist Party of India (Marxist) activists from Kozhikode in November last year, and the case now being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), on Tuesday raised the arrest to nail Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who again failed to explain the exact reason for the arrests.

The two students of law and journalism, Allen Shuaib and Thaha Fazil, both CPM workers, were arrested in November from their home town in Kozhikode, after the police recovered Maoist leaflets that condemned the government's action in Jammu & Kashmir.

Seeking leave for an adjournment motion in the floor of the Kerala Assembly, it was deputy leader of the opposition M.K.Muneer first hit hard on Vijayan and pointed out that since their arrest, you ( Vijayan) have failed to give the exact reason for their arrests and rules permit for the state government to get back the case by seeking the permission of the Centre.

"There has been lot of contradictions as Ayour party general secretary Sitaram Yechury said that they will seek all legal options to help them and then your Kozhikode district secretary P.Mohanan , first said they continue to be your party members, but then hastly changed his position after your top state leader M.V.Govindan said the youths are not CPI-M members. Please let us know what wrong have they done, mere possessing literature is not a crime. You come to my house, I have books on Communism and also on RSS, does it mean I am either a Communist or an RSS," asked Muneer.

Replying to it, Vijayan said the case was taken over by the NIA according to rules that was framed when P.Chidamabaram was the Home Minister and do you think I will catch the feet of Amit Shah.

"The police here registered charges under UAPA and the state government's role, should such charges continue, comes after a committee submits its report, but before that the NIA took over the case.All similar cases like MISA, POTA, UAPA were all framed by the Congress Aand it was done without analysing , if it will be misused. In Kerala itself a few of our leaders have been targeted using these laws. We all know that to oppose us, you support Maoists and what should happen is a wrong should be identified and corrected and it should not be supported," hit back Vijayan.

Then came the turn of Chennithala who said that he along with Muneer had visited the homes of the two youths and all are baffled that they have no clue on what they did wrong.

"If you can catch the feet of Kerala Governor, then what prevents you doing the same of Shah. In fact you did that also, when you were in Delhi, the last time. In my tenure as Home Minister, we also registered case sunder UAPA, but everything was cleanly done, however in this case, so many months have passed and you still are not able to say what wrong they did and even your own ally- the CPI top leader Prakash Babu has compared you to the UP chief minister Yogi. All like to know what crime did these two youths do,a asked Chennithala.

Later Chennithala led the entire opposition out of the house to protest the denial of having a discussion on this topic.
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The countries Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited on a five nation-tour over the last week varied from longtime ally Britain to ex-Soviet republics in Central Asia. But the message he conveyed to his hosts stayed the same: Beware of China.

In his trip to Europe and Central Asia, Pompeo denounced China's human rights record, criticized its aggressive trade practices and urged his hosts to be wary of Chinese investment and influence. He warned that China poses a risk as countries develop next-generation, high-speed wireless networks.

His language was blunt. The Chinese Communist Party presents the central threat of our times," Pompeo said last week in London, just days after the European Union unveiled security guidelines for 5G wireless networks that stop short of a ban on Huawei in the latest setback for the U.S. campaign against the Chinese tech company.

Pompeo's tough rhetoric, on a trip coinciding with the rapid spread of a new virus that originated in China and threatens global growth, underscores his preoccupation with the country and its recent diplomatic and trade victories.

His comments contrast with President Donald Trump's more conciliatory language on China. That's partly because Trump is working to complete a trade deal with President Xi Jinping.

When he signed the first phase of the agreement last month, Trump called Xi a "very, very good friend of mine" and said he planned to visit China in the not-too-distant future.

Trump said then that he and Xi have developed an incredible relationship." Pompeo's comments in London, however, maintain the tough approach that he and Vice President Mike Pence have espoused about China, driven mainly by the country's repression of Muslims and ethnic minorities in its western Xinjiang Province, but also by what they say are Beijing's predatory trade practices and development projects that they say put small and poor countries at great risk.

Pompeo's visit to Britain came just 48 hours after the country, which is eagerly hoping to secure a massive post-Brexit trade deal with the U.S., ignored American threats and allowed Huawei to have a role in its 5G network.

The decision highlighted the limits of the Trump administration's ability to lobby for its policies as it defied a U.S. threat to sever intelligence sharing if Huawei had any presence. U.S. officials believe that the security of information on a network that uses Huawei technology or equipment could be compromised.

The U.S. has been lobbying European allies to ban Huawei over concerns it could be compelled to help with the Chinese government with electronic eavesdropping. U.S. officials also worry that 5G networks would rely heavily on software, leaving them open to vulnerabilities, and have repeatedly warned they would have to reconsider intelligence sharing with allies that use Huawei. The company has denied the allegations.

Stung by the British move but still hoping to retain and boost the U.S.-Britain special relationship," Pompeo appeared to step back from the threat on intelligence sharing, saying that he was certain a way could be found to avoid it.

Yet, he made clear that the Trump administration would continue to confront China on multiple fronts, including commerce, infrastructure and technology, militarily and diplomatically, even as the administration pursues a second phase of a massive deal to end a current trade war with Beijing.

We have to collectively the West ensure that the next century is governed by Western democratic principles, he said. And that will take a concerted effort not just by the United States but by all of those who love freedom and cherish democracy and the rule of law to ensure that that remains the predominant model for the world for the next century. In Central Asia, where three of the five nations share borders with western China, Pompeo denounced Chinese human rights abuses.

The United States urges all countries to join us in pressing for an immediate end to this repression, he said on Sunday in Kazakhstan. We ask simply for them to provide safe refuge and asylum to those seeking to flee China; protect human dignity; just do what's right. In Uzbekistan on Monday, Pompeo played up the benefits of Central Asia doing business with the U.S. rather than China.

They have long borders, they sit in a region where both China and Russia are present," he said.

What we want them to do and what America is here to do is to support their capacity to make good decisions, to have transparent rule of law investments be present."



We remind them constantly of the benefits of American investment and warn them against state-sponsored, politically driven transactions of the kind favored by China, Pompeo said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BEIRUT - A military investigative judge charged a Lebanese-American man with murder and torture of Lebanese citizens Tuesday, crimes he allegedly committed during Israels occupation of southern Lebanon, judicial officials said. The accusations could carry a death sentence.

Amer Fakhoury is accused of working as a senior warden at Khiam Prison, which was run by an Israel-backed Lebanese militia. The prison has been described by human rights groups as a centre for torture. He was detained in September after he returned to his native Lebanon from the U.S., and Lebanons intelligence service says he confessed during questioning to being a warden.

However, Fakhourys lawyer and family in New Hampshire say that, while he was indeed a member of the Israel-backed militia and worked at the prison, they insist he had no direct contact with inmates and was never involved in the interrogation or torture of prisoners

Fakhoury, 57, is also undergoing cancer treatment, and it remains unclear if hell be able to stand trial. The restaurant owner from Dover, New Hampshire, became a U.S. citizen last year.

We have a dying American citizen there, said his lawyer, Celine Atallah. By keeping him there, its evident theyre trying to kill him.

The Lebanese judicial officials said Tuesday that the judge, Najat Abu Shakra, referred Fakhoury for trial in a military court. No date was set for the tribunal. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The officials said Abu Shakra charged Fakhoury with murder and attempted murder of prisoners inside Khiam Prison as well as kidnapping and torture. The prison, run by the so-called South Lebanon Army, was abandoned after Israeli forces pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2000, ending an 18-year occupation.

Human rights groups have said in the past that Khiam Prison was a site of torture and detention without trial. Israel denies the allegations.

However, Fakhourys lawyer and family have said he was never named when extensive investigations of Khiam Prison were conducted years ago. His family said that, as a former member of the SLA, he was charged alongside many others with collaborating with Israel. That charge was dropped in 2018, they said.

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire began drafting sanctions legislation against Lebanese officials last month in order to push for Fakhourys release.

There has been no evidence to substantiate the charges against Amer Fakhoury and his health condition is dire, Shaheen said in a statement Tuesday. Time is of the essence and the Lebanese government needs to understand there will be consequences for his continued detention.

Lebanon and Israel have been officially at war since Israels creation in 1948. Lebanon bans it citizens from travelling to Israel or having contact with Israelis.

The judge also dropped charges Tuesday of dealing with and visiting Israel, saying the incidents were outdated because two decades have passed, the officials said.

But the new charges also are outdated and the judges are not being impartial, Fakhourys lawyer said.

If they simply apply their own laws, he shouldnt be charged with anything, Atallah said.

The charges by the investigative judge were separate from a lawsuit against Fakhoury filed by former inmates at Khiam Prison. Hes being questioned in that case about alleged human rights abuses. The questioning was supposed to take place on Monday, but was postponed until Feb. 17 because Fakhoury is undergoing chemotherapy.

Fakhourys family said doctors have said his condition is life-threatening. In addition to an infection and a bleeding disorder, doctors believe hes developed an aggressive form of lymphoma.

I just call more on the U.S. to interfere and stop this injustice, his daughter, Guila Fakhoury, said Tuesday.

A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. Embassy in Beirut continues to monitor Fakhourys case, and most recently visited him on Jan. 30.

We are concerned about his welfare, as doctors report his health is failing and he requires urgent specialized medical treatment. We have raised these concerns at all appropriate levels with the Lebanese government, the spokesperson said in a statement.

Hundreds of former Lebanese members of the SLA militia had fled to Israel, fearing reprisals if they remained in Lebanon. Others stayed and faced trial, receiving lenient sentences. Fakhourys lawyer and family say he fled Lebanon in 2001 through Israel and eventually to the U.S.

____

McCormack contributed from Concord, N.H.
Kathmandu, Feb 4 : Nepal has kicked off the third edition of the 'World Peace Pooja' ceremony to pray for world peace and welfare of the entire human race.

The three-day ceremony, organized by Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), a non-governmental organization working to promote mountain tourism, started on Monday in the tourist city Pokhara, some 200 km away from the capital Kathmandu, reports Xinhua news agency.

As part of the ceremony, a peace torch was handed over to the organizing team by a high-ranking Buddhist monk in Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, on Monday morning.

The torch has been brought and kept in a monastery in Pokhara, which will be shifted to the main worshipping venue at the International Mountain Museum on Tuesday.

"The world is suffering from different problems currently, thus, we are hosting this special worshipping ceremony to pray for the world peace. We will also pray for the eternal peace of those who have died in course of mountaineering and trekking in Nepal," Santa Bir Lama, President of NMA, told Xinhua news agency.

According to Lama, the worshipping as per the Buddhist rituals had begun since a month ago within different monasteries across the country, while the formal ceremony started from Monday and will last till Wednesday.

As part of the ceremony, the monks will study the hymns and religious scriptures.

He said around 25,000 people were taking part in the ceremony this year.

"The Peace Pooja has also been organized considering the ongoing Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign. If there was no virus outbreak, we would have invited delegates from different countries to promote tourism," Lama added.

The final day has been regarded as the most important day of the event, when the visitors will receive special blessings called "Wang" from the senior Buddhist leaders.

Former Prime Minister and Nepal Communist Party's co-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, provincial ministers along with other high-level leaders will take part in the concluding ceremony, according to NMA.

The last World Peace Pooja was organized by NMA in 2016 following the devastating earthquake in 2015 that killed nearly 9,000 people.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Following the US travel ban on Nigerians, Reno Omokri has taken to his IG page to react, saying Nigeria is the best country in the world.

According to the author, he is proud to be Nigerian, despite all the bad governance.

Read Also: Reno Omokri Reacts To Lagos Okada Ban (Photo)

Green and White:

Everywhere I go, I go being proud of Nigeria. The US ban does not stop Nigeria from being the best country in the world, even though we have the worst government on Earth. One day, this government will go, but the brilliance of Nigerians will last forever! What other people on Earth can thrive in every part of the world, like Nigerians. It used to be said that if you go anywhere and you dont see a Chinese man, you should leave. But Nigerians have changed that narrative. We are everywhere. We work hard and smart. In the US, people now attract crowds to their parties by saying the Nigerians will be there. From Russia to Ecuador, Davido, Wizkid and P-Square rule the airwaves. And in places as far as South Korea, Things Fall Apart is compulsory reading. Nollywood is overtaking other hoods and delivering the goods. Nigerians have that Midas Touch!

I love Nigeria and Nigerians! #FreeLeahSharibu #RenosNuggets 
ANN ARBOR, MI -- A new womens clothing store, a Pac-Man themed arcade and multiple eateries are among new or returning retailers expected to open at Briarwood Mall this year, mall executives announced Monday.

Aerie, the American Eagle Outfitters brand of casual swimsuits and underwear, will open a storefront next to J. Crew by spring, according to a mall news release. American Eagle will relocate to the spot next to the new Aerie store once renovations are finished.

The mall will also add a 4,600-square foot arcade called The Pac-Man Zone near the JCPenney in the spring, according to the release. A Pac-Man Zone opened at Jackson Crossing mall in Jackson in November 2019.

Pac-Man-themed arcade debuts at Jackson Crossing mall

Mens and womens clothing store Express is renovating its store, with plans to reopen by the summer, the mall announced. Itll relocate between Pink and Windsor until the remodel is complete.

Briarwood also plans to add two restaurants: Chinese-cuisine Ah-ha Noodles and a Cinnabon bakery. Ah-ha Noodles will be next to Tricho Salon and Cinnabon, which previously had a storefront in the mall, will return to its original location next to Olgas.

Briarwood Mall Papyrus among store closures nationally

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The Government will "look at what we can do" to ensure police officers in Northern Ireland are protected from vexatious legal claims, the Defence Secretary has said

The Government will "look at what we can do" to ensure police officers in Northern Ireland are protected from vexatious legal claims, the Defence Secretary has said.

Ben Wallace, a former Scots Guard whose patrol captured an IRA unit in Northern Ireland, was replying to the DUP's Ian Paisley in the House of Commons yesterday.

Mr Wallace gave a commitment that legislative plans to tackle vexatious claims against armed forces personnel will be introduced within 100 days.

Mr Paisley welcomed that, but added: "Will he ensure that other Cabinet colleagues are aware of the implications of vexatious claims for police officers who served in Northern Ireland?"

Mr Wallace replied: "I served alongside RUC Special Branch in my time, and I have the highest regard for the RUC officers, many of whom lost their lives in fighting during the Troubles," he said.

"Obviously, we will look at what we can do around other Crown servants to make sure that they are protected from that same vexatious industry that is going on at the moment in Northern Ireland."

Later, Tory MP Mark Francois was given a similar commitment after reminding the House that the Prime Minister had pledged to "legislate to protect veterans including Northern Ireland veterans from vexatious prosecution".
Photo: iStock

Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Chicago.

Man gets 99-years in mothers murder-for-hire killing

Qawmane Wilson, an aspiring Chicago rapper, who posted a video on YouTube of himself throwing thousands of dollars that he inherited from his mother to his fans, has been sentenced to 99 years in prison for her 2012 murder-for-hire killing.

Read the full story on KTVU Fox 2.

2 officers injured in South Side crash

Two Chicago police officers were injured after a rollover crash on the South Side on Monday morning, police said.

Read the full story on ABC Chicago, WLS.

East of Chicago Pizza in Barberton now selling medical marinara

Its a sign that will have you doing a double take.

Read the full story on WKYC.

Judge sets high bond for man who spit on Chicago officer, then was body-slammed

A man who was body-slammed after allegedly spitting on a Chicago police officer in late November likely will remain in custody after picking up a new felony charge for allegedly striking a store manager.

Read the full story on Chicago Tribune.

As area Catholic schools close, parents hope new funding scheme signals churchs commitment to education

The recent announcement of an historic agreement between the archdiocese and the non-profit Big Shoulders Fund has left many parents hoping the move signals a new commitment by the church to Catholic education.

Read the full story on Chicago Tribune.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
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TORONTO, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Equifax Canada and Creditsafe, a global business intelligence leader, today announced a new partnership to improve opportunities for Canadian businesses to leverage world class data to make informed business decisions. With this partnership, Equifax Canada customers will be able to access Creditsafes global coverage of business data, while Creditsafe will be able to provide immediate value to risk and credit professionals throughout Canada by taking an active role in servicing small and mid-markets.



Were offering our clients an opportunity to be more competitive on the global stage through our alliance with Creditsafe, said Carrie Russell, President and General Manager of Equifax Canada. Borders arent barriers. Whether you are signing a contract with a new business partner, providing funding to a business with international ownership, or evaluating a new-to-Canada customer and considering their prior term debt behaviour, youll now have insight into who youre doing business with.

Creditsafe has access to credit information on over 330 million businesses across the globe and services companies of all sizes and industries. Their credit reports are known for being intuitive enough that most decisions can be made with just a glance while comprehensive enough that their hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide can have confidence in the decisions theyre making based on Creditsafe data.

Creditsafes value has already transformed the markets in Europe, the United States and Asia and we anticipate that entering the Canadian market by partnering with Equifax will allow us to hit the ground running, and help credit professionals make more informed decisions from day one, said Cato Syversen, CEO of Creditsafe. Known for being agile and innovative, Canadian businesses have a great reputation globally and we cannot wait to help these companies to not only reach new markets, but also their full potential.

Creditsafes global database is one of the most comprehensive and rapidly expanding in the industry being updated over a million times a day with information gathered from thousands of sources. With 23 offices across 14 countries, Creditsafe can offer instant access company credit reports in over 160 countries throughout the world.

About The Creditsafe Group

The Creditsafe Group is the worlds most used supplier of company credit reports. Privately owned and independently minded, Creditsafe is looking to change the way business information is used by providing high-quality data in an easy to use format that everyone in an organization can benefit from.

Founded in Norway in 1997, Creditsafe has offices in countries all over the world including the UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Ireland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan and the United States. Globally, The Creditsafe Group employs approximately 1,300 people and has more than 100,000 subscription customers. In 2013, The Creditsafe Group opened offices in the US under the name Creditsafe USA, Inc. Its U.S. operations are headquartered in Allentown, PA with nearly 10,000 companies in the U.S. subscribing to its services, ranging from small businesses to large, global companies like Staples, Ryder, and Nestle.

Creditsafes global database is one of the most rapidly expanding in the industry and also one of the most comprehensive. Each day over 500,000 users around the world leverage the company's database to gather strategic, insightful business information. Creditsafe's database is updated over a million times a day with information gathered from thousands of sources. In 99.9% of the cases, reports requested by customers are delivered instantly. Over 40 percent of Creditsafes customers leverage the companys internationally reporting capabilities. For more information about Creditsafe, please visit www.creditsafe.com.

About Equifax Inc.

Equifax is a global information solutions company that uses unique data, innovative analytics, technology and industry expertise to power organizations and individuals around the world by transforming knowledge into insights that help make more informed business and personal decisions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. It is a member of Standard & Poors (S&P) 500 Index, and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. Equifax employs approximately 11,000 employees worldwide. For more information on our Canadian affiliate, visit Equifax.ca and follow the companys news on Twitter and LinkedIn .

The information in this press release is published by Equifax Canada Co.  2019 All rights reserved. This press release is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice and should not be used, or interpreted, as legal advice. The information is provided as is without any representation, warranty or guarantee of any kind, whether express or implied. Equifax will not under any circumstances be liable to you or to any other person for any loss or damage arising from, connected with, or relating to the use of this information by you or any other person. Users of this informational publication should consult with their own lawyer for legal advice.

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Our job is no longer to assess whether low-dose CT screening for lung cancer works: it does, write Stephen Duffy of Queen Mary University of London and John Field of the University of Liverpool in an editorial accompanying the study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Our job is to identify the target population in which it will be acceptable and cost-effective.
Mexico is a beautiful country but behind these picturesque beaches, amazing and varied cuisines, and warm, welcoming people lies an underworld known for its ruthless Mexican cartels that aren't even afraid of openly confronting the military forces.

Since a crackdown on drug cartels began in 2006, more than 60,000 people have disappeared in Mexico, according to an article by Latin Post. These disappearances can be traced back to 1964, according to New York Times. Since President Obrador took office in December 2018, authorities uncovered 873 clandestine burial sites containing more than one thousand bodies.

Here are the top four most dangerous cartels in Mexico operating until today, according to Latin Times:

1. The Sinaloa Cartel

The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the largest drug trafficking groups in the world according to the US government. The group controls much of Mexico's north-west part.

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the notorious drug lord who was once known as one of the world's richest man, founded the cartel in the late 1980s. The Sinaloa Cartel is known for being very violent and has kidnapped, tortured and slaughtered members of other cartels.

When El Chapo's son Ovidio Guzman Lopez was captured in 2019, the cartel openly fought with the army in daylight, forcing the Mexican government to free the younger Guzman.

2. The Jalisco New Generation (CJNG)

Jalisco New Generation may be considered a young cartel formed in 2010 but it quickly established itself as Sinaloa's most aggressive competitor and has an international reach. Operating in the western part of the country, the group is said to be the largest distributor of synthetic drugs in America and is also a leading amphetamine distributor in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

It is headed by Ruben "El Mencho" Oseguera, a former police which turned into Mexico's most wanted man. A $10 million bounty is being offered by the Mexican government for his capture.

This cartel is also known for its violence, killing dozens of public officials and attacking security forces. It even attacked an army helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade.

3. The Gulf Cartel

The Gulf Cartel operated mainly in the north-east area of the country with the state of Tamaulipas as its center. One of the earliest cartels in Mexico and has been around since the 1980s, it is known for its partnerships with other cartels in Colombia.

Juan Garcia Abrego, the head of the group, is the first Mexican drug lord included in the FBI's 10 most wanted list. When he was captured, he was taken over by his son Osiel Cardenas Guillen who is even more violent.

Abrego's arrest and his brother's death forced the group to split into several factions. At present it is currently engaged in a turf war with Los Zetas, a cartel composed of former corrupt special forces soldiers.

4. Los Zetas Cartel

The Los Zetas Cartel shares the same area with the Gulf Cartel which explains the current turf war between the two groups since Los Zetas was formed in 2010. Los Zetas san be called a breakaway group from the Gulf Cartel since it was formed by corrupt members of an elite unit of special forces who previously worked the Gulf Cartel's leader back in the 1990s.

At the height of their power in 2012, the Los Zetas Cartel overtook their rivals including the Sinaloa Cartel. The group started to decline when many of its leaders were captured.
NEW YORK - Profits at Ralph Lauren soared in the third quarter and the high-end retailer topped almost all expectations on Wall Street by any metric.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE- In this April 4, 2017, file photo, people pass the Polo Ralph Lauren store on Fifth Avenue in New York. Ralph Lauren Corp. is reporting that third-quarter profits and revenue beat Wall Street expectations. The results come as the luxury clothing company is seeing more customers buying outerwear and other fashions at full price. Shares rose nearly 10% in morning trading Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

NEW YORK - Profits at Ralph Lauren soared in the third quarter and the high-end retailer topped almost all expectations on Wall Street by any metric.

Profit jumped from $120 million in the same period last year, to $334.1 million, with more customers buying goods at full price, rather than waiting for promotions, the company said.

Shares rose nearly 10% in early trading Tuesday.

Ralph Lauren and other retailers are facing a myriad of challenges including a trade war with China, unrest in Hong Kong. Now, a new virus in China threatens to disrupt the supply network of U.S. companies.

The New York company has temporarily closed about half of its 100 plus stores in mainland China because of the virus and is monitoring the outbreak, it said Tuesday. Less than 4% of Ralph Lauren's total sales comes from China, the company said.

Ralph Lauren in recent years had been forced to discount a lot of the clothing its sells at department stores. The company has begun raising the average price on some of its products, 6% in the latest quarter, and it raised its spending on marketing by 16% in the quarter.

The company reported per-share earnings of $4.41, or $2.86, when removing non-recurring events. That far exceeds the $2.45 that industry analysts were looking for, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue of $1.75 billion was also better than expected.

In Ralph Lauren's North American retail business, comparable store sales in North America rose 4%, driven by a 4% increase in brick and mortar stores and a 6% increase at ralphlauren.com. North America wholesale revenue decreased 8%.

Comparable store sales rose 3% in Europe, driven by a 2% increase in brick and mortar stores and a 15% increase in digital commerce. Europe wholesale revenue increased 2%.

Comparable store sales in Asia fell 1%, with growth in both brick and mortar and digital commerce operations more than offset by a decline in Hong Kong. Excluding Hong Kong, comparable store sales increased 2%.

Ralph Lauren expects net revenue growth in the range of 2% to 3% this year on a constant currency basis. The outlook continues to include the impact of tariffs and business disruptions in Hong Kong, but not the potential impact from the newly emerged coronavirus in Asia.

That virus is cutting across all business sectors.

The lockdown of Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak and a manufacturing centre of 11 million, has disrupted production of liquid crystal and light-emitting diode panels, according to IHS Markit technology research, now a part of Informa Tech. That has depressed supplies and pushed up prices for manufacturers that use them in computer displays, TV sets and other products.

A clampdown on travel could depress auto production and sales and prices of oil, iron ore and other materials from Australia, Brazil and African suppliers to China's huge industries, forecasters say.

China is the worlds biggest importer of many commodities, including oil. The price of Brent crude, the benchmark for international oil trading, has fallen to about $55 per barrel from $70 in early January, partly due to weak Chinese demand.

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General Motors Co. and other automakers are telling employees to limit travel to China, their biggest market.

Global companies increasingly rely on China, the world's No. 2 economy, as a major buyer of food, cars, movie tickets and other goods. But that has left them more exposed than ever to the pain of its latest abrupt slump.

Executives at Ralph Lauren said they'd already been diversifying its supply chain because of the tariff fight between the U.S. and China. That, they said, would allow them to more deftly navigate the virus outbreak.

Share of Ralph Lauren Corp. rose $9.96 to $123.22.

_____

Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on RL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/RL




Vietnam becomes stricter with use of ethoxyquin in fish food manufacture

Vietnam will impose stricter control on the use of ethoxyquin as additive in the production of aquafeed to ensure stability in seafood exports to the European Union, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Viet Nam News reported.

Ethoxyquin is an anti-oxidant used in the preservation of fish meal, and most countries set its maximum residue limits (MRL) between 77 ppm (parts per million) and 150ppm.

The EU will, however, ban the use of ethoxyquin as additive in the manufacture of feed and feed materials for all animals, including aquatic products, starting April 1, according Tran inh Luan, director of the MARD's directorate of fisheries.

The ban on the use of ethoxyrin in feed is due to fears that it poses a risk to human and animal health, as well as the environment.

Deputy Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Phung uc Tien has asked feed producers to review the use of ethoxyquin according to the requirements of export markets, especially the EU, which is one of Vietnam's largest seafood export markets.

The EU was the largest export market of Vietnamese shrimp in 2019, with export value of about US$700 million, accounting for 21% of total seafood export value, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP). It was also the third-largest export market for Vietnamese pangasius, with export value of $227 million, accounting for 11.5%.

VASEP, meanwhile, said MARD should propose the EU consider the use of ethoxyquin in feed materials within limits.

In Vietnam, the maximum residue limit of ethoxyquin for seafood products is 150 ppm, while the permissible limits of this substance for Vietnamese export seafood products in South Korea and Japan are 0.01 ppm and 0.2 ppm, respectively.
February 3, 2020

INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL PARK: Octave Chanute, the renowned civil engineer and flight pioneer, is known by many in Northwest Indiana as the region's icon of innovation. Now, a feature documentary is telling the story of the influential flight pioneer whose experiments in the Indiana Dunes propelled the development of the airplane to new heights. Indiana Dunes National Park will host the national premiere of the film, Octave Chanute: Patron Saint of Flight, on Sunday, February 16, at 2:00 pm at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center.





At 2:00 pm, Chanute biographer, Simine Short, will give a brief talk and introduce filmmaker Paul Nelson before the screening. The hour-long film tells the story of the French immigrant who eventually earned wealth and admiration as a high-profile civil engineer before pursuing the study of heavier than air flight. The documentary provides insight on Chanute's groundbreaking flight experiments on the southern shore of Lake Michigan and Chanute's complicated relationship with the Wright Brothers. These sites that are located right on the lake in Northwest Indiana should be revered in the same way that Kitty Hawk, North Carolina is for flight enthusiasts, said Paul Nelson, the film's director. It's just another aspect that makes the Indiana Dunes so special.





After the screening, viewers can partake in a Q&A session with Short and Nelson and also connect with others interested in aviation, Octave Chanute and Region history. Light refreshments will be provided.





Funding for the Chanute video was provided in part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Indiana Department of Natural Resources Lake Michigan Coastal Program. The Indiana Arts Commission, South Shore Arts, Indiana Humanities, The National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, The Anderson Foundation and Indiana Dunes Tourism.





The Indiana Dunes Visitor Center is located at 1215 North State Road 49, about one mile north of Interstate 94. For more information on this or other programs at Indiana Dunes National Park, call 219-395-1882 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/indu and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ IndianaDunesNPS.



www.nps.gov



Indiana Dunes National Park is one of 419 units of the National Park System ranging from Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty. Located in Northwest Indiana, the park includes 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and 15,000 acres of biodiverse beaches, woods, prairies, and marshes. Up to 3 million visitors come to the Indiana Dunes each year.


Technavio has been monitoring the school stationery supplies market and it is poised to grow by USD 17.88 bn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 3% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005618/en/

Technavio announced its latest market research report titled global school stationery supplies market 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Growing emphasis on product personalization has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, challenges with increased adoption of digital education might hamper market growth. Request a free sample report

School Stationery Supplies Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

School Stationery Supplies Market is segmented as below:

Product

Paper Products

Computer and Daily Use Stationery Products

Writing Instruments

Geographic segmentation

APAC

North America

Europe

South America

MEA

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30658

School Stationery Supplies Market 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our school stationery supplies market report covers the following areas:

School Stationery Supplies Market size

School Stationery Supplies Market trends

School Stationery Supplies Market industry analysis

This study identifies product Innovations in Notebook as one of the prime reasons driving the school stationery supplies market growth during the next few years.

School Stationery Supplies Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the school stationery supplies market, including some of the vendors such as BIC, ITC, Kokuyo Camlin, Newell Brands and Pilot Corporation. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the school stationery supplies market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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School Stationery Supplies Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist school stationery supplies market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the school stationery supplies market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the school stationery supplies market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of school stationery supplies market vendors

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005618/en/

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Email: media@technavio.com

Website: https://www.technavio.com/
Novak Djokovic has been pictured on a tennis court in Melbourne today as he began training for the Australian Open at midnight - hours after a judge slapped down the government's attempt to rip up his visa, though with the threat of deportation still hanging over his head. 'I'm pleased and grateful that the judge overturned my visa cancellation. Despite all that has happened, I want to stay and try to compete,' Djokovic said in a tweet alongside an image of himself on court with his team. I remain focused on that. I flew here to play at one of the most important events we have in front of the amazing fans. For now I cannot say more but thank you all for standing with me and encouraging me to stay strong.' The judge's ruling freed Djokovic from migrant detention where he has been languishing for the last six days in a 'torture chamber' hotel alongside refugees, but does not spell an end to the drama as he still faces being kicked out of the country by immigration minister Alex Hawke who has the power to rip up individual visas. Mr Hawke declined to use those powers on Monday night but insisted he is still actively considering the move, leaving a Sword of Damocles hanging over Djokovic's head even as he prepares to compete at the Open in a bid to become the most-decorated men's singles player of all time. Speaking at a press conference in his native Serbia after the verdict, Djokovic's family (bottom right) blasted his treatment by Australian authorities which mother Dijana said amounted to 'torture'.
The condition of a woman college teacher who was set ablaze by a stalker in Maharashtra's Wardha district was "very critical", hospital authorities said on Tuesday.

Residents of Hinganghat and Samudrapur areas in Wardha took out a protest march on Tuesday, demanding death penalty for the accused -Vikesh Nagrale (27).

The accused set Ankita Pisudde (25) ablaze on Monday morning while she was on her way to the college.

She was initially rushed her to a nearby primary health centre from where she was shifted to Orange City Hospital and Research Centre in Nagpur where doctors said her condition was "very critical".

"At present, her conditionis still critical," the medical bulletin issued by the hospital said, adding that she was on oxygen support and under critical care monitoring.

"In view of her very critical condition, prognosis has been repeatedly explained to her relatives and police personnel," the bulletin said.

Wardha's guardian minister Sunil Kedar and Hinganghat BJP MLA Samir Kunnawar visited the hospital.

Meanwhile, around 7,000 people, including members of political parties, activists, women and college students, marched from Nanduri Chowk to Ambedkar Square in Wardha while raising slogans against Nagrale.

They also submitted a memorandum to a senior revenue official in Hinganghat, demanding trial in the case to be fast tracked and death penalty for the accused.

A few demonstrators also demanded that the accused be handed over to the public for 10 minutes, an official said.

Residents of Hinganghat town and neighbouring areas also called for a shut down, following which routine activities in the area were hit, he said.

Meanwhile, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the incident was a "blot on humanity".

"The victim will be provided all medical assistance. The accused was nabbed yesterday. The case will be tried in a fast track court and he would be punished severely," Deshmukh tweeted.

Condemning the incident, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena said stringent action should be taken against the accused so that the state of law can be established.

The Maharashtra State Commission for Women on Monday directed the Wardha superintendent of police to submit a report in connection with the case.

Nagrale, who was arrested on Monday after the incident, was the victim's friend till two years ago before she severed ties with him due to his "irrational behaviour", a senior police official earlier said.

"Nagrale is a married man and has a seven-month-old son. He works at a firm in Balharshah. He used to stalk the woman. He had even tried to commit suicide last year, though no complaint was lodged at that time," the official said.

The victim's cousin, Shubham Pisudde, told PTI that Nagrale had been harassing her for last many years despite repeated warnings.

"Her marriage was broken last year due to Nagrale," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Most Americans say they are worried about the deadly coronavirus spreading from China, but believe the US government is 'doing enough' to contain it.

In a new Marist/NPR/PBS NewsHour poll, 56 percent of respondents say they are 'concerned' or 'very concerned' about the infection's spread across the country.

What's more, 66 percent say they considered the disease to be a 'real threat' and not 'blown out of proportion'.

However, six in 10 Americans think the Trump administration and federal health agencies are doing enough to prevent the virus's spread including issuing travel restrictions and quarantines for Americans evacuated from the virus's epicenter.

In a new poll, 56% of Americans said they are 'concerned' about the deadly coronavirus spreading throughout the US

The poll was conducted between January 31 and February 1 among more than 800 US adults.

Results show that Americans aged 45 or older are much more anxious about the possible spread of coronavirus compared to younger generations.

While 57 percent of adults younger than age 45 the outbreak as a real risk, the percentage rose to 72 among those aged 45 and older.

And while most adults were worried about a spread across the US, they are less apprehensive about it reaching their respective neighborhoods.

Approximately 55 percent said they weren't concerned about the spread of coronavirus to their individual communities.

'People are concerned overall, but not necessarily about their community,' Dr Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, told NPR.

'And, so far, the only people who have been diagnosed in the US have either been to the region in China where the virus was first detected, or have been in close contact with people who have returned from China.'

Since the outbreak began in December 2019, more than 20,500 people worldwide have become infected with coronavirus.

All of the 427 deaths - aside from two - have been occurred in China, mostly in the city of Wuhan, where the virus originated.

There are 11 confirmed cases in the US including six in California, two in Illinois and one each in Arizona, Massachusetts and Washington.

Two-thirds of Americans say they believe the US government is doing enough to prevent the spread of the virus

Although most Americans say they are concerned, 61 percent of those surveyed say the government is doing enough to prevent the virus's spread.

Last week, the US State Department issued a Level 4 - Do Not Travel warning to China, the highest travel alert warning the agency can issue.

Additionally, anyone who has traveled within China in the last 14 days is being be through 11 US airports for screening.

The 195 Americans that were evacuated from Wuhan are also currently under a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

And, this week, new rules from the Trump administration went into effect barring foreign nationals who have been in China in the last two weeks from entering the US.

However, this excludes immediate family members of US citizens or permanent residents as well as citizens from Hong Kong or Macao.

'A majority of Americans don't see this as something that is necessarily going to strike here,' Dr Miringoff told NPR.
RACINE  One of two teens charged in last years fatal shooting of 19-year-old Jose Angel Padilla plans to claim that another person also was responsible for Padillas death.

Laura Walker, the attorney of 17-year-old Dashawn Ellison, said in court Monday that she had filed a third-party liability motion for Ellisons upcoming trial, naming another party for their role in Padillas death.

I was given some information via pictures of some texts that basically, if associated with this case, would show that (omitted name) is more than involved in this homicide, Walker said.

That party is not being named by The Journal Times as he has not been charged in connection the crime. An attorney for the unnamed party also was present during court proceedings.

Ellison, of the 1000 block of Main Street, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide with the use of a dangerous weapon as a party to a crime, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and possession of a firearm by an adjudicated delinquent of a felony as a party to a crime, all felonies.

Christopher Stanley Webster, 19, of the 1200 block of Center Street, is also charged with first-degree intentional homicide as party to a crime.

Walker and Assistant District Attorney Diane Donohoo agreed that both sides are prepared for trial; however, Walker said she has been unable to get two key defense witnesses served in the case.

If I am able to get these two people to verify that they received that text message and that it was from (name omitted) or comes from his phone number, then I think it goes a huge way to show this isnt first-degree intentional homicide, but felony murder, Walker said.

Felony murder is a death that occurs during the commission of another crime. Felony murder convictions add a maximum of 15 years in prison to the sentence of the crime being carried out at the time of the murder, whereas first-degree intentional homicide carries a mandatory life prison sentence, Wisconsin law says.

Donohoo said that while she had no argument against the use of the texts in questioning the unnamed party on the stand, she did express concerns about other witnesses testifying on those text messages, citing hearsay concerns.

Counsel has shown me some screenshots of some texts messages which are only words, Donohoo said. They dont give me any phone numbers or dates or times or anything else associated with it to give context.

Ellisons trial is scheduled to take place March 9-12.

Fatal shooting

The charges stem from the May 22 incident in which Ellison allegedly shot Angel Padilla in the back with a shotgun in front of a home in the 1200 block of Center Street, according to the criminal complaint.

Ellison changed his story several times while being interviewed by police, but admitted to being at Websters home. At one point, Ellison reportedly said that Webster had tipped him off about a potential robbery they could commit, but later changed his story, claiming that the shooting of Angel Padilla was retaliation for a previous robbery.

Vigil for Jose Angel Padilla From left, Ivan Angel Padilla, 14, Jose Angel Padilla's younger brother; Giayanah Garcia; and Steasy Gomez mourn Jose at a vigil on May 26 nea

Websters jury trial is set for Sept. 15-18, as he recently obtained a private attorney who needed time to get up to speed on the case, and Angel Padillas family plan to be out of country for two months.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 23:13:02|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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PARIS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- French police dismantled an illegal migrant camp in northern Paris early on Tuesday and moved more than 400 people to shelters in the capital's suburbs for general welfare and security reasons, local authorities said.

The police department of the Ile-de-France region said in a statement that officers had evacuated the Porte de la Vilette camp in the 19th arrondissement (district) of Paris in a predawn operation.

Tuesday's evacuation has "made it possible to shelter 427 people, who were moved to accommodation structures in Ile-de-France where social, health and administrative support will be offered to them," it said.

On its Twitter account, the Paris prefecture said that authorities had decided to clear out the site as it "put at risk the health situation and security of the (camp's) occupants and the residents (of the district)."

In a similar operation, 1,436 migrants were evacuated last week from the Porte d'Aubervilliers tent camp north of Paris as part of President Emmanuel Macron's plan to manage the influx of migrants.

As part of its new immigration measures unveiled on Nov. 6, 2019, the French government introduced quotas for immigrant workers and restricted access to non-urgent healthcare for newly-arrived asylum seekers.

Thousands of people from Africa and the Middle East have been fleeing war and poverty in their native countries, leading to an unprecedented migrant crisis in Europe.

In France, they had ended up in the northern port of Calais, where the French end of the Channel Tunnel is located. They had attempted to board lorries and trains heading to Britain to seek a better life before the Calais "Jungle" was cleared by police in late 2016.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday exhorted India Inc to shed its hesitation and make investments to push up economic growth, saying the government had taken several pro-business measures such as reduction in corporation tax rates, removing minimum alternate tax in the new tax structure, and scrapping dividend distribution tax (DDT) levied on companies. We have done whatever little we can. We are ready to do more.

But I want meaningful interventions from the government and not the ones which are irrelevant to the ground situation. Now, we expect you to be an equal ...
8th meeting of the Intergovernmental Belarusian-Slovenian Commission on Trade, Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation

04-02-2020

On February 4, 2020 the 8th meeting of the Intergovernmental Belarusian-Slovenian Commission on Trade, Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation was held at the Brdo Congress Center near Ljubljana.

The Belarusian delegation was headed by the Deputy Foreign Minister, Oleg Kravchenko, the Slovenian delegation was led by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dobran Bozic.

During the meeting, the parties considered topical issues of bilateral trade in goods and services, cooperation in the fields of transport, energy, industry and tourism, expanding the legal framework of bilateral cooperation. Special attention was paid to identifying promising areas of cooperation and projects.

The agreements of the parties were reflected in the final protocol of the meeting of the commission, signed by the heads of delegations at the end of the event. On the margins of the meeting, the memorandum of cooperation between the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus and the Slovenian Development and Export Bank SID Bank was also signed.

Linked to the meeting of the commission, a business seminar was held on the premises of the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce, with the participation of representatives of business circles of the two countries.

Background Information: In January  November 2019, trade turnover increased by 19.8% and amounted to 114.8 million US dollars. The exports declined 8.3% to $ 10.6 million, the imports increased 23.7% to $ 104.2 million.

Over the specified period, the turnover of services grew by 38.3% to $ 54.2 million with the exports increased by 22.3% to $ 25.4 million, the imports  by 56.2% to $ 28.8 million.

In January  September 2019, the volume of Slovenian investments in the Belarusian economy amounted to $ 676.2 thousand (in the same period in 2018  $ 1 464.1 thousand).

   

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NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Out Leadership, the premier global network for LGBT+ business leaders and companies, today unveiled the second wave of U.S. State CEO Business Briefs, based on Out Leadership's LGBT+ Business Climate Index.

The State CEO Business Briefs released today assess the economic impact of discrimination on business and equip business leaders and policymakers with a clear sense of the most impactful steps states can take. The goal is to have states make themselves more hospitable to forward-thinking, innovative, inclusive businesses that become more competitive through inclusion. The latest reports rate Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming.

"Supporting LGBT+ employees isn't just the right thing to do, it's better for a company's bottom line," said Out Leadership Founder & CEO Todd Sears. "States that have comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people are better for business, plain and simple."

The final 15 State CEO Business Briefs will be released in the coming weeks.

The CEO Business Briefs use eye-opening data from Out Leadership's LGBT+ Business Climate Index, the first index of its kind, which measures the impact government policies and prevalent attitudes have on the LGBT+ people residing in each state, quantifying the economic imperatives for inclusion and the costs of discrimination.

Out Leadership's LGBT+ Business Climate Index was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos 5 years ago. The CEO Business Briefs for the U.S. States are an expansion of the global CEO briefs for 24 countries and have been used by hundreds of CEOs globally.

View and download the full LGBT+ Business Climate Index report here.

"CEOs must do their part by making sure all employees are protected inside and outside the workplace," said Sears. "By equipping business leaders with the data they need to make more informed decisions about where to operate, Out Leadership's CEO Business Briefs will help remind local lawmakers that equality is essential to growing their state's economy."

The LGBT+ Business Climate Index gives each state a score out of 100 points, based on 20 carefully-selected and nuanced markers assessing LGBT+ people's lived experiences across 5 broader categories:

Legal and Nondiscrimination Protections

How difficult is it to change a gender marker on a birth certificate?

How difficult is it to change a gender marker on a driver's license?

Does the state have any employment nondiscrimination policies for LGBT+ people?

Do any other nondiscrimination policies in the state apply to LGBT+ people?

Youth and Family Support

How supportive is the state of LGBT+ people who are in or want to start families?

What resources are available to LGBT+ children and youth in the state?

Is conversion therapy banned for minors?

Can educators discuss LGBT+ issues and identities in schools?

Political & Religious Attitudes

Has the governor recently spoken or campaigned against LGBT+ issues?

Has the junior Senator recently spoken or campaigned against LGBT+ issues?

Has the senior Senator recently spoken or campaigned against LGBT+ issues?

To what extent does the state allow for religious exemptions from its laws?

Health Access and Safety

Do LGBT+ people, particularly the most vulnerable and economically precarious, have access to health care and insurance?

Do state employees receive transgender-inclusive health benefits?

Are LGBT+ people protected by any hate crimes laws in the state?

Is exposure of others to and transmission of HIV criminalized?

Work Environment and Employment

At what rate are transgender people subjected to harassment at work?

What percentage of LGBT+ people are unemployed, and how does it compare to the unemployment rate of non-LGBT+ people in the state?

What percentage of LGBT+ people experience food insecurity, and how does it compare to the unemployment rate of non-LGBT+ people in the state?

What percentage of LGBT+ people have an annual income below $24,000 (approximately the federal poverty line)?

The Index was funded by the Gill Foundation, as part of its support of Out Leadership's CEO Business Briefs for the 50 U.S. States. It is based on data generously provided by Out Leadership's partners at the Williams Institute, the United States Transgender Survey, and the Movement Advancement Project.

About Out Leadership

Out Leadership is the oldest and largest global LGBT+ business advisory that partners with the world's most influential companies to build business opportunities, cultivate talent, and drive LGBT equality forward. We believe that LGBT+ inclusion positively impacts business results, and that including LGBT+ people at the most senior level of executive leadership builds business. We call this idea Return on Equality.

Comprised of 75 global member firms and dedicated to cross-industry collaboration, Out Leadership is a certified B Corporation. Out Leadership convenes CEOs, business leaders and allies at exclusive invitation-only events across 4 continents. Out Leadership also operates three talent initiatives: Quorum, which aims to increase LGBT+ representation on corporate boards; OutNEXT, the first global talent development program for emerging LGBT+ leaders; and OutWOMEN, connecting senior-level LGBT+ women in business.

SOURCE Out Leadership
Contract Research Organization Market Overview:

Outsourcing of critical operations has become a norm in pharmaceutical industry owing to the changing economic conditions and high demand and supply gap for advanced healthcare solutions across the globe. Contract research organizations provide clinical trials, research and manufacturing of therapeutic drugs and advanced medical devices along with other research support to biotechnological and pharmaceutical industries. Market Research Future (MRFR) has published a report stating that the global contract research organizations market is anticipated to expand remarkably at a CAGR of 11.48% during the forecast period of 2017-2023.

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Market Segmentation:

The global market for contract research organization is segmented on the basis of clinical trial phase, segment, and end users. Based on segment, the contract research organization market has been segmented into drug discovery, clinical development, post-marketing services, and others. Based on clinical trial, the contract research organization market is segmented into preclinical trials, phase I, phase II, phase III, phase IV, and others. Based on end users, the contract research organization market has been segmented into pharmaceutical/ biotechnology companies, medical devices companies, academic institutes and others.

Regional Analysis:

Globally, North America accounts for the largest share in the global Contract Research Organization market. Factors substantiating this growth include the growing activities of outsourcing the research processes by the Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies backed by the well-established healthcare sector and huge patient pool. The US among other North American countries, accounts for a large share owing to the expanded healthcare industry in the country. Additionally, changing lifestyle and increasing healthcare expenditure have boosted the market growth in America.

Europe is the second-largest market for Contract Research Organization, followed by the Asia Pacific. Attributing to the presence of promising players mainly the UK, Germany& Switzerland; the regional market is expected to grow at a considerable CAGR. Other factors expected to contribute to the regional market growth include a well-developed healthcare sector, huge patient population, increasing healthcare expenditures, and public & private funding for research activities.

Among the two divisions of Europe, Western Europe holds the larger market share owing to the major contributions from Germany, the UK, and France. On the other hand, Eastern Europe accounts for the fastest growing region owing to the huge opportunities from the untapped market.

The Asia Pacific region is expected to be the fastest growing market for Contract Research Organization. Substantial investments by Asian CMOs are, sufficing the exponential progress resultantly. Furthermore, factors such as availability of cost-competitive, skilled labor force are propelling the rapid growth in this region. A vast patient population, along with the continually improving economic conditions are providing impetus to the market growth, pervasively increasing the per capita healthcare expenditures mainly in India and China.

The Middle East and Africa certainly hold the huge potential for the pharmaceutical products development & production, but due to the poor economy, and political conditions in Africa, the MEA market as a whole gets affected.

On the other hand, market in the Middle East region is poised to witness a phenomenal growth due well-developed healthcare sector backed by the governments initiatives and funding. Countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Qatar are majorly contributing to the market growth, which in turn, is transforming the market, facilitating it to reach the global space. Cost competitive product development is undoubtedly the key factor driving the regional market growth.

Competitive Dashboard:

The players in the global contract research organization market are focusing on business expansion in the global contract research organizations market through strategic mergers and acquisitions in order to sustain the competitive environment of the market. For instance, in May 2018, PolarityTE, a U.S.-based healthcare firm, has announced the acquisition of GLP/USDA Preclinical Biomedical Research Facility with the goal of accelerating the research and development of companys pipeline products.

The prominent players profiled by MRFR that are operating in the global contract research organization market are Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings. (the U.S.), QuintilesIMS (the U.S.), PAREXEL International Corporation. (the U.S.), Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC. (the U.S.), INC Research LLC (the U.S.), PRA Health Sciences.

OBTAIN RESEARCH REPORT DETAILS WITH TOC @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/contract-research-organization-market-3322

About Us :

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.

MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.

In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.

Contact:

Market Research Future

Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers

Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar,

Pune  411028

Maharashtra, India

+1 646 845 9312

Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Welcome to the CNY Foodie 5, a roundup of pop-up dinners, restaurant specials and anything else a food-loving Central New Yorker desires for the week to come. Have an event youd like to see featured? Email me at jpucci@syracuse.com.

Subscribers only: Join an insider text group with Jacob Pucci to get the inside scoop on the restaurants and cuisines of Central New York. SIGN UP HERE

1. Fish Friar Equilibrium Dinner

The Fish Friar, Syracuse, NY.SYR

New York beer meets Maine seafood. This four-course dinner starts with tastings of three IPAs from Equilibrium, the Middletown-based brewery that has earned international acclaim. Dinner features five types of seafood, capped off with dessert. See the menu.

Where: The Fish Friar, 239 E. Genesee St., Syracuse.

When: Thursday, Feb. 6, from 5 to 8 p.m.

How much: Tickets are $45.

2. Winter Fair

25 New Winter Fair debuts inside Expo Center

A smashing success in its first year, Winter Fair returns to the New York State Fairgrounds this weekend. There will be fair favorites like pizze fritte and Italian sausage and pepper sandwiches, as well as outposts from local restaurants, such as Otro Cinco, Limp Lizard, Evas European Sweets and Glazed & Confused. See the full list of food vendors.

Where: New York State Fairgrounds, 581 State Fair Blvd., Geddes.

When: Friday, Feb. 7 to Sunday, Feb. 9.

How much: Tickets are $5 in advance or $7 at the door.

3. Wolffs Hot Chocolate Bar

Charlie Miller going after a free 2-liter boot of beer at Wolff's Biergarten. What I ate and drank for free on my birthday. (Photo by Ed Donohue)Charlie Miller

Pair cupcakes with boozy hot chocolate for a distinctly Syracuse winter happy hour. Wolffs Biergarten will have five kinds of hot cocoa, while Liverpool-based Country Diva Cupcakes will be on hand selling homemade cupcakes. Just the kind of thing you need to kick off the weekend.

Where: Wolffs Biergarten, 106 Montgomery St., Syracuse.

When: Friday, Feb. 7, from 6 to 9 p.m.

How much: Hot chocolates are $12.

4. A Taste of Chocolate

Whether youre buying Valentines Day sweets for your sweetheart, or just want to treat yourself, check out this pop-up shop of all things chocolate. There will be lots of cookies, muffins, candies, breads and other treat for sale, all with one thing in common: Chocolate. Buy a sample, or a full-sized dessert. Half the proceeds from the sale go toward the LaFayette Outreach Food Pantry.

Where: Columbian Presbyterian Church, LaFayette.

When: Saturday, Feb. 8, from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

How much: Samples are 50 cents each, or 22 for $10.

5. Baltimore Woods Winter Farmers Market

Held on the second Saturday of the month from November to April, the winter farmers market brings together a variety of vendors, including many food vendors selling baked goods, macarons, produce, locally-roasted coffee, maple products, honey and lots more.

Where: Baltimore Woods Nature Center, 4007 Bishop Hill Road, Marcellus.

When: Saturday, Feb. 8, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

How much: Free to shop.

Final Bites

The 1820 House along Skaneateles Lake announced Friday that it was closing

Gamers, drinkers unite: New bar/arcade to open in Armory Square

Secret Chicken Wings of CNY, Part 2: A dozen great spots you shared

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Jacob Pucci finds the best in food, dining and culture across Central New York. Contact him by email at jpucci@syracuse.com.

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The new coronavirus will take a chunk out of China's oil demand. Producers must respond with an output cut.

The extent to which the outbreak will reduce fuel demand in China is not yet known, but Opec+ producers must respond with an output cut, say Julian Lee and Tyler Cowen.

Oil producers are feeling the impact of coronavirus as it spreads, and they need to act to head off a devastating fall in prices.

The worlds biggest producers face two key questions: how long will the outbreak last and how severe will the consequences be?

The Opec+ group of nations must make some educated guesses soon.

Their initial reaction resembled the frantic scurrying of an anthill. Last week, there were calls for their next meeting, scheduled for the first week of March, to be brought forward, perhaps by a month.

That suggestion, by Saudi Arabia, Opecs biggest producer, initially found little support from the largest of the non-Opec members of the wider group, Russia.

One of the key challenges for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its big oil-producing counterparts is that they have no idea how big a problem they face.

Estimates of the epidemics impact on oil demand vary widely. S&P Global Platts sees global oil demand falling by an almost catastrophic 2.6m barrels a day in February and 2m barrels in March, in its worst-case scenario.

No wonder producers are in a panic.

China is by far the biggest market for Opec+ crude exports, with the big Arabian Gulf producers particularly vulnerable.

Tanker-tracking data, compiled by Bloomberg, show that almost a quarter of all shipments out of the region last year went to China.

Add in the other three big Asian buyers  India, Japan, and South Korea  and that share rises to two thirds.

Four Asian countries took two thirds of the crude passing through the Strait of Hormuz in 2019; China took almost a quarter.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of China to global oil balances. Earlier this month, Opec forecast that the worlds most populous country would account for more than a quarter of all the growth in oil demand worldwide this year.

The International Energy Agency predicted 40% of incremental demand in China. The word virus didnt appear in either of those agencies monthly reports.

The virus will not affect all oil products equally. With travel bans and an extended Lunar New Year holiday, transport fuels will be hit hardest.

Petrol, jet fuel, and gas/diesel oil were expected to account for 55% of Chinas oil demand this year and make up almost 60% of the growth.

Transport fuels, likely to be hardest hit by the virus, account for 60% of forecast Chinese demand growth this year.

Flight bans to China by many airlines, including British Airways Plc and Delta Air Lines Inc, and travel restrictions on Chinese tourists, will have a knock-on effect on fuel use elsewhere, particularly in nearby countries that are favoured destinations for tour groups.

And there are other knock-on effects. Lower demand from end users means lower demand from refiners.

Major, state-owned Chinese refiners may cut run rates below 70% to cope with falling demand, industry consultant JLC said, while operating rates at privately-owned independent refineries in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong may be cut to below 50%.

Almost all of Chinas biggest crude suppliers are Opec+ members. Even before coronavirus began to affect oil consumption, the swing producers that make up Opec+ were in trouble.

The hard-won output deal they reached in December failed to deliver any significant cuts to total output levels, and prices have drifted lower.

The deals scheduled to expire at the end of March. Simply extending the cuts will do nothing to improve the worsening balances between supply and demand, and it will take more to light a fire under oil prices.

Deeper cuts will be much harder to agree  Russia, for one, is against them  but thats the only thing that will lift prices in the face of a Chinese slowdown.

There are signs that slowdown is happening. Sales of Latin American oil cargoes to China ground to a halt last week.

Arabian Gulf producers are receiving preliminary nominations from their customers of how much oil they want in March, and that will indicate whether Chinese refiners seek to reduce the volumes they lift from export terminals in the region.

Non-Opec countries  led by the US, Norway, Brazil, and new producer, Guyana  were already expected to add two extra barrels for every additional one consumed worldwide this year, squeezing Opec.

The loss of much of Chinas oil-demand growth will crush the producer group under the weight of falling oil prices, unless, collectively, they cut their output further.

Separately, there has been talk about how the coronavirus might erode trust between the Chinese public and its leadership.

In the US, however, the coronavirus is likely to have the opposite effect: to increase the re-election chances of the president, Donald Trump.

The public-health and economic risks of the virus are significant, and it could be a front-page story for months.

Even if the coronavirus does not lead to many deaths in the West, that risk will continue for some time, and quarantines and travel bans will continue.

That will make Trumps nationalism seem understated. Hundreds of flights to China have been cancelled, countries are refusing to receive (or deciding to quarantine) Chinese nationals or visitors from China, and China is severely limiting travel within the country.

Travel bans no longer seem unconstitutional, even if voters are confusing normal times with times of pandemic.

When the flight of Americans returning from Wuhan was sent to Alaska last week, instead of San Francisco, and subject to quarantine, very few political complaints were heard, including from leading Democrats.

There might still be arguments about whether that was a justified violation of civil liberties, but the notion that a pandemic requires the federal government to take such measures, without a congressional vote, is not seriously contested.

That is going to help any incumbent US president who believes in the strong exercise of executive power, as does Trump.

Trumps suspicions about China also now seem to be more justified. Of course, they have been more about trade and foreign policy than public-health.

Still, the general feeling being conveyed by the news  Bad Things Are Coming Out of China  makes Trump seem prescient, regardless of whether his views are justified.

American voters are more likely to harbour negative feelings toward China and to support a nationalistic stance. Whether the issue is trade or pandemics is a second-order detail.

If the coronavirus continues to be an issue in the build-up to the US general election in November, it might discourage large public gatherings and thus make it more difficult for the challenger to campaign.

The incumbent can appear presidential by implementing policies  such as increased vaccine production  that any president would.
The Joint Investigation Team announced the names of four suspects in the crash in June 2019.

The prosecutor's office of the Netherlands has brought in an indictment against four persons involved in the crash of the Malaysian Boeing MH17 flight over Donbas in 2014.

They have been summoned for investigative actions, the news outlet hromadske reported, quoting the Russian TASS news agency with reference to the lawyer of one of the accused Elena Kutina.

According to her, one of these defendants  Oleg Pulatov  will be defended by an international defense group, which will include two Dutch lawyers and one Russian.

Read alsoMH17 suspect Tsemakh reportedly killed in Moscow late in Jan  Russian media

The Joint Investigation Team announced the names of four suspects in the crash in June 2019.

UNIAN memo. Malaysia Airlines' MH17 Boeing 777 heading from Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, over Russia-occupied territory in Donetsk region. All 298 people on board who were citizens of 10 countries were killed in the crash. The majority of the victims, 196, were citizens of the Netherlands.

The Dutch Safety Board October 13, 2015, issued a report on the causes of the accident. It was revealed that the plane had been shot down by a Buk anti-aircraft missile system. The Joint Investigation Team in its report published on September 28, 2016, confirmed that the plane had been downed by a Russian-made Buk brought to Ukraine from Russia. On June 19, 2019, JIT investigators accused four Russia-controlled military intelligence officers of involvement in a missile attack that shot down MH17.

The first four suspects in the MH17 case are Russian terrorist Igor Girkin (AKA "Strelkov"), who in the summer of 2014 was the so-called "Minister of Defense of the Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR"); Russian General Sergei Dubinsky (nom de guerre "Khmuryi"), who led the "DPR intelligence;" Oleg Pulatov (nom de guerre "Gyurza"), who in 2014 headed of "the 2nd division of the GRU of the DPR;" as well as Leonid Kharchenko (nom de guerre "Krot"), who was a leader of the "reconnaissance battalion" of Russia-led forces. The trial of those suspects in the crash of the Malaysian Boeing should begin on March 9, 2020.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will take the national stage Tuesday and deliver the Democratic response to President Donald Trumps State of the Union address.

Whitmer, who is 48, has served as Michigans 49th governor since 2019. Shes garnered national attention as a pragmatic Democrat who carved her way through Michigan in 2018, just two years after Trump bucked decades of precedent by turning the state red for the 2016 presidential contest.

She served in the Michigan House of Representatives starting in 2001 and in the state Senate starting in 2007. She became the first woman to lead the Senate Democratic Caucus and championed issues like Medicaid expansion, abortion access and collective bargaining.

Here are five things to know about her before her nationally-televised speech Tuesday night:

1) In Michigans political climate, she has to work across the aisle.

When MLive asked gubernatorial candidates how they sought to run Michigan during the 2018 election, Whitmer said shed run the state like former Republican Gov. Bill Milliken.

As she was growing up, her father worked for Milliken, who died last year, while her mother worked for longtime Attorney General and Democrat Frank Kelley.

When she kicked off her own career in politics, she worked for a literal house divided -- Republicans and Democrats had an even split and shared control of the House of Representatives.

Fast forward to present-day and every bill she signs must make it through a Republican-led House and Senate, first.

Running for governor, she incorporated the Mackinac Bridge, an iconic landmark that unites Michigans two peninsulas, into her logo. She kicked off her term as governor talking more about what united Michiganders than what divided them.

2) She led Michigan moderates to big wins in 2018.

In the gubernatorial race in 2018 Whitmer resisted joining her primary opponents Abdul El-Sayed and Shri Thanedar in advocating for a state-level Medicare for all plan (though recently she said she supports it in concept.)

As national and international attention focused on progressivism, Whitmer doubled down on pragmatism, focusing on issues like infrastructure and clean drinking water. That strategy paid off, and she won the three-way primary with 52 percent of the vote. She went on to win the general election over Republican Bill Schuette 53 to 44 percent.

Whitmer helped lead the so-called pink wave that saw more women elected to congress and the state legislature in the last election cycle. Shes one of three Democratic women who swept the top three state offices in Michigan in 2018, along with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel.

3) Her catchphrase is fix the damn roads, but shes still trying to realize that goal.

Before she was governor, Whitmer hit the campaign trail and got to all 83 Michigan counties early. A big promise? That she would find a way to fix the damn roads." By some measures, Michigan has the worst roads in the nation.

She proposed raising the gas tax by 45 cents last year, but after butting heads and getting nowhere with the Republican-led legislature, announced a plan to put out $3.5 billion in bonds to complete projects on state roads last week.

The state budget took up a lot of bandwidth during her first year in office, and she reached a deal with Republican legislative leaders. She also reached an agreement with them on systemic changes to the states auto insurance system, breaking a logjam that had lasted for years.

4) Back in Michigan, she doesnt focus on Trump.

Whitmer is known for her bluntness but doesn't have a reputation of publicly sparring with the Trump administration. She's recommended Democrats seeking to oust Trump stay focused on issues instead of slamming his character.

The Democratic governor has sent letters to White House officials opposing various policy decisions, like the administrations decision to lower the number of refugees allowed in the U.S. Whitmer also criticized Trump for supporting legal efforts to kill the Affordable Care Act.

Meanwhile, Trump has made references to Whitmer in both of his campaign rallies in Michigan during this election cycle. Trump said Whitmer shouldn't "take credit" for securing funding for repairs to the Soo Locks at a March 2019 rally in downtown Grand Rapids.

The president criticized Whitmer for failing to make good on her promise to "fix the damn roads" during his visit to Battle Creek last December. Trump said he wasn't a fan of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and "not a big fan of the one that can't fix the potholes" either.

I understand shes not fixing those potholes, Trump said. It was all about roads and they want to raise those gasoline taxes, and we dont want to do that.

5) Shes been in the national spotlight before.

Back in 2013, Whitmer made national waves by sharing her personal story about being sexually assaulted in an effort to stop a vote OKing what she called rape insurance, a citizen initiative requiring women to carry insurance riders to receive abortion coverage.

She failed to sway enough senators, and the measure passed anyway. But it catapulted her name into the national news and cemented her reputation in Michigan as a fighter for Democratic causes and for womens rights.

In 2019, Whitmer was back in the national spotlight again as she aimed to make Michigan the first state to ban flavored vapes. Trump announced a national effort to ban some flavors shortly afterward. Whitmers state ban on flavored vapes is currently tied up in litigation.

Also in 2019, she took to the national debate stage ahead of the Democratic debate in Detroit, underscoring Michigans importance in the 2020 presidential election.
The Founder of the Watch Your Tongue (WYT) initiative, a non-profit organisation, Sergeant Daniel Ofori-Appiah, has called on political leaders to refrain from utterances that threaten the prevailing peace and unity among Ghanaians.



He said engaging in speeches that engendered fear, hatred, tribalism and insults could seriously undermine the resolve to create an atmosphere critical for the peaceful conduct of the general election this year.



It is for this reason that our politicians must avoid hate and tribalistic speeches and rather focus their campaigns on issues that promote national cohesion and development, he stated.



Launch of campaign tour



In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra last week, Sergeant Ofori-Appiah said: If we want to see another peaceful general election this year, we must all do away with name-calling and abusive words in our writings.



He had visited the office of the Graphic Communications Group Limited to give an insight into the entitys nationwide Watch Your Tongue National Peace Campaign 2020.



The tour, whch is on the theme, Help maintain Ghanas peace, would be launched in March this year in Accra, and in May, a team of volunteers, led by Sgt Ofori-Appiah, would visit all the 16 regions to sensitise Ghanaians to the need to be mindful of their utterances before, during and after this years general election.



The tour, scheduled to begin in the Central Region and end in the Greater Accra Region, would see the volunteers visiting schools, churches and communities to undertake the exercise.



Campaign



Sergeant Ofori-Appiah noted that freedom of speech was guaranteed by the constitution but the same constitution required everyone to be responsible in their utterances in order to foster peaceful co-existence.



This means that you have every freedom to share your opinion for sustainable peace and development but that should not ruin the peace of the nation, he said.



Sharing insight into the tour, the police officer, who is also a gospel musician, said the WYT campaign was an educational project about the use of the tongue in communication and it was aimed at building a positive mind-set to impact and inculcate the right attitude and character in Ghanaians.



The campaign deals with three thematic areas, namely utterances, human actions and writings to encourage people to think right, speak right, act right and write right, all of which was to educate, transform and impact the life of others, he said.



He pointed out that since 2017, the group had organised a number of programmes on radio, television, churches, mosques, markets, lorry stations and communities in selected regions.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Chinese national Li Zichao holds flowers gifted by HCMC's Cho Ray Hospital as he is discharged on February 4. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

The second coronavirus patient to be discharged in Vietnam has expressed his gratitude to the doctors and staff of Saigon's Cho Ray Hospital.

Li Zichao, 28, is one of two Chinese men who were the first people confirmed infected with the deadly new coronavirus in Vietnam.

Zichao was discharged Tuesday morning.

He had tested negative for the nCoV four times since January 27, four days after he was first detected with the virus.

His health is completely normal now, said hospital director Nguyen Tri Thuc.

But Zichao wants to continue staying at the hospital to take care of his father, who was also infected and is still under treatment.

"I would like to express my gratitude to doctors and nurses that have willingly treated me. They have not just cured me, but taken care of me mentally and created conditions for me to stay and look after my father," Zichao said at a ceremony held to celebrate his discharge.

Zichao and his father Li Ding, 66, are the first two infection cases of the new Wuhan pnenomina virus in Vietnam.

Ding arrived in Hanoi from Wuhan City, the epicenter of the epidemic, in Hubei Province, on January 13, before proceeding to Nha Trang in the central province of Khanh Hoa. His son Zichao, who had been residing in Long An Province for the previous four months, went to visit him in Nha Trang. Both of them traveled to Saigon and Long An later. Ding developed a fever on January 17, and Zichao followed suit on January 20. Both were admitted to the Cho Ray Hospital and tested positive on January 23.

Le Quoc Hung, the dean of the hospitals tropical diasease department, said the father is recovering well and his health is now in stable condition.

Treatment varies from place to place based on each patient's situation, he said.

For Ding, doctors have had to run tests and keep track of his situation each day to make suitable adjustments because he has different ailments including diabetes, hypertension and coronary insufficiency, apart from an operation for lung cancer.

Phan Trong Lan, head of the Pasteur Institute in HCMC, said which could be considered good news is that 28 people that have had come into contact with the two patients in the city have all passed the quarantine period without signs of having caught the virus, and all doctors and nurses directly treating the two patients do not have any symptoms of infection.

Doctors at Cho Ray Hospital said previously they had applied methods not recommended by the World Health Organization to treat Zichao, including sending him to the hospital's rooftop every morning for sunlight and outdoor exercise, quarantining him in the room with windows kept opened to receive natural air and sunlight and ensure warm indoor temperatures to weaken the virus, and making him gargle every day with an antiseptic solution.

Zichao is the second nCoV infection patient to be discharged from hospital.

The first one is Vietnamese woman Nguyen Thu Trang, 25, a native of Thanh Hoa Province in north central Vietnam.

Vietnam confirmed Tuesday morning its ninth nCoV infection case, a man who was among a group of eight workers returning from work training in Wuhan on January 17.

Four of them, including Trang, have tested positive for the nCoV.

Other confirmed cases in Vietnam are a Vietnamese-American who transited in Wuhan en route and a hotel receptionist who caught the coronavirus infection from the Chinese father-son duo.
Taiwan loosens restrictions on surgical mask imports

ROC Central News Agency

02/03/2020 11:49 AM

Taipei, Feb. 3 (CNA) The Customs Administration said Sunday that Taiwan's restrictions on surgical mask imports will be temporarily lifted, amid a mask shortage in the country as people try to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

Under Taiwan's Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, people without a pharmaceutical license who wish to bring masks into the country must apply for a special import permit before doing so, regardless of the quantity, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official Wu Cheng-ning () told CNA Sunday.

As the demand for masks has skyrocketed in Taiwan, however, the restrictions have been loosened temporarily, Customs Administration Deputy Director-General Peng Ying-wei () said later Sunday.

People can now bring masks into Taiwan, regardless of the quantity, without applying for a permit, Peng said.

Customs officers have been notified of the temporary change, Peng said.

The novel coronavirus, which has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization, has infected more than 17,000 people around the world, including 10 in Taiwan, and killed 362.

Surgical masks, which are seen as one way to prevent the spread of the virus, have fallen far short of demand in Taiwan. Sales are being rationed by the government, allowing three masks per customer, but many people are leaving the stores empty-handed.

(By Pan Tzu-yu and Chiang Yi-ching)

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President Rouhani: Iran Ready to 'Return to Its Commitments' to Nuclear Deal

02/04/20

Sources: VOA & RFE/RL

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says Iran is ready to "return to its commitments" under the 2015 nuclear deal when other parties uphold their commitments. Rouhani's office issued a statement Monday after his talks in Tehran with the new European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell.





Iran's official news agency quotes Rouhani as saying that Iran will continue cooperating with international nuclear inspectors "unless we face a new situation."



IRNA did not elaborate on what kind of situation Rouhani was talking about.



Iran has been backing away from the nuclear deal since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out in 2018 and imposed sanctions.



Britain, France, and Germany are working to keep the agreement alive.



Borrell's trip to Tehran is part of what is called the dispute settlement mechanism under which Iran would enter negotiations to keep the deal alive and avoid taking matter to the U.N. Security Council, where the agreement could end.

Under the 2015 deal also signed by China and Russia, Iran would curb its uranium enrichment in exchange for relief from sanctions that have wrecked its economy.



After the U.S. killed top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in January, Iran announced it is no longer bound by the limits on enrichment spelled out in the agreement.



Borrell's mission aims "to de-escalate tensions and seek opportunities for political solutions to the current crisis," his office said.



Borrell said last month that he had consulted the countries still in the accord -- which also include Russia and China -- and that all are determined to save the deal.



The current trip will allow Borrell "to convey the EU's strong commitment to preserve" the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and to discuss cooperation between the EU and Iran, his office said.

Borrell and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have held talks in Tehran on Tuesday. Borel will also meet Iran's Parliament speaker Ali Larijani.
A midcentury modern boutique hotel is not quite what you would expect to find off the beaten path in Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas.

The beauty of the Fredonia Hotel is rooted in its rich historic origins. The hotel opened in 1955 as the crowning jewel of the town. Peer back into the hotels storied past and youll find it was one of the most unique "community-owned hotels" in America, financed completely by the citizens of Nacogdoches. From the color of the brick to the hotels name, Nacogdoches residents had a hand in selecting all the finer details of this Texas inn.
The New Inn at Norton Lindsey has been named as a finalist in the prestigious Countryside Alliance Awards 2020 along with Hillers Farm shop in Alcester.

Both businesses are nominated for the Midlands Region, the New Inn in the pub category and Hillers in the local food and drink section.

Judges will now visit both businesses before the regional winners are announced in May.

Back in November the New Inn was awarded the Community Story of the Year Award by the Plunkett Foundation.

The New Inn became the first community owned pub in Warwickshire when it was purchased collectively by more than 240 people in 2016.
CICERO, N.Y.  Two Mohawk Valley Girl Scouts were honored recently for showcasing leadership and creating Take Action projects that positively impact the community.

Amethyst Gardner, of Oneonta, and Holly Sagrestano, of New Hartford, both received Gold Awards from Girl Scouts of NYPENN Pathways for their projects.

Gardners project was establishing the United Methodist Clergy Marker Program, which created permanent grave markers for ministers buried in Oneonta cemeteries.

She also created a book naming the minsters and their burial locations.

Gardner is a graduate of Oneonta High School and is a current student at SUNY Oneonta studying early childhood and elementary education.

Sagrestanos project, Make Music Happen, established a musical instrument lending program available to people in the MidYork Library System.

She is a senior at New Hartford Senior High School and plans to study vocal music education at Northern Arizona University after graduation.

To win the Gold Award, Girl Scouts must dedicate at least 80 hours to preparing and executing the programs.
The money was laundered through US banks and held on Channel Islands under the name of ex-military rulers son.

The United States and the British crown dependency of Jersey have agreed with Nigeria to repatriate more than $300m in funds connected to former Nigerian military ruler General Sani Abacha, the three governments said. Abacha allegedly stole the money from public funds.

Abachas family members, who have never admitted or denied that funds were stolen, could not be reached for comment, and their present whereabouts are not known.

Abacha ruled Nigeria, Africas biggest oil producer, from 1993 until his death in 1998. Corruption watchdog Transparency International estimates he stole as much as $5bn of public money during that time.

He was never charged with corruption during his life, and Nigeria has been fighting for years to recover the money.

Companies linked to the Abacha family have gone to court to prevent repatriation, alleging infringement of their rights to a fair trial.

The governments of Nigeria, the US and Jersey, which is one of the Channel Islands between Britain and France, said in a statement they had entered into an asset recovery agreement to repatriate forfeited assets to Nigeria.

The Nigerian government pegged the total amount at $321m. The funds were laundered through the US banking system and then held in bank accounts in Jersey in the name of Doraville Properties Corporation, a British Virgin Islands company, and in the name of the son of the ex-military ruler, they said.

This agreement has culminated in a major victory for Nigeria and other African countries as it recognises that crime does not pay and that it is important for the international community to seek for ways to support sustainable development through the recovery and repatriation of stolen assets, Nigerian Attorney General Abubakar Malami said.

Nigeria has been working with governments around the world in recent years on an asset recovery scheme to help repatriate its stolen funds to boost its finances. The government did not state how much in total it believes Abacha stole.

As of 2013, Nigeria had recovered about $1.3bn of Abachas money from various European jurisdictions, with more than a third of that from Switzerland.

The Swiss government in 2017 said it would return to Nigeria about $321m in assets seized from Abachas family via a deal signed with the World Bank.

Abachas laundering operation extended to the US and European jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, and Luxembourg, the statement said.

In a separate news release, the US Department of Justice said it is seeking to enforce forfeiture judgments for approximately $30m in assets located in the UK and more than $144m in France.

In 2014, a US court forfeited the money as property involved in the illicit laundering of the proceeds of corruption arising in Nigeria during the five years when Abacha was head of state. Negotiations for repatriation commenced in 2018.

The funds would be administered by Nigerias sovereign wealth fund and would be used to develop road infrastructure that will boost supply chain connections and economic growth, Malami said.
Local Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leaders have put up hoardings in Panvel threatening illegal Bangladeshi immigrants of MNS-style action. Party leaders said they would take law into their hands if the administration does not act. The hoardings have come up ahead of the February 9 rally against illegal immigrants called by party chief Raj Thackeray.

MNS leader Mahesh Jadhav said, The number of Bangladeshi immigrants has been on the rise in the region, but no action has been taken against them.

He said, For Maharashtra and Hindutva, we will ensure that Bangladeshi and Pakistani Muslims flee from this place... It would be good if the administration acts before the February 9 rally.

Sudhir Navle, another leader, said, We have learnt that illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are hired as cheap labour... These illegal immigrants should get out of Panvel or else they will be taught a lesson in MNS style.

When contacted, deputy commissioner of police (zone II) Ashok Dudhe said, We have been taking regular action against illegal immigrants in the city, including Bangladeshis. In the past two years, 77 Bangladesh nationals have been deported.

He said, We will continue our drive against illegal immigrants, but nobody will be allowed to take the law into their hands.
Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has expressed Nigerias chance to join top 20 economies in the world by leveraging of telecoms and ICT resources.

ATCON expressed this possibility as it finalized plans to host a National Dialogue on Telecommunications and ICT Sector in Nigeria

With the theme Harnessing the Digital Resources for the building of our National Economy, the national dialogue is scheduled to hold in Abuja on March 26.

One of the overriding deliverables of this national dialogue on telecoms and ICT sector is that the adoption of digital resources by all aforementioned sectors would lead to development which would eventually make Nigeria to join the league of the top 20 global economies, ATCON said on Friday in at statement signed by Ajibola Olude, its executive secretary.

According to the umbrella body of telecom operators in the country, growth across all the sectors of Nigerias economy should be exponential, following recent resolve by the federal government through the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy to drive the entire economy with digital resources.

This National Dialogue on Telecoms and ICT is targeted at changing the narrative of our countrys development through the optimal utilization of digital resources.

To achieve this, state governors, ministries, agencies and sectors like agriculture, education, oil & gas, health, industry, trade and investment, security and defence have been invited along with telecom and ICT companies, the statement read.

According to the association, the supply side which is comprised of telecom and ICT companies and the demand side which is made up of all the MDAs, Nigerians and non-Nigerians are expected to have higher level of productivity on the condition that they adopt and leverage on the opportunities presented by the digital economy to improve their output.

This strategic dialogue plans to bring together the presidency, National Assembly, relevant federal ministries, state governors, ICT state commissioners, telecom and ICT operating companies, World Bank and other international relevant agencies, according to ATCON.

The strategic objectives of the proposed National Dialogue are to channel collaborative efforts toward Nigerian Digital Economy with the sole aim of accelerating the economys performance in relation to other leading African countries.

Other objectives highlighted by ATCON are to serve as a forum to discuss the recently launched documents on Digital Economy and take stakeholders input for implementation, optimally X-ray the factors that have worked for and against the telecom and ICT sector in Nigeria, and to discuss regulations and policies around AI, IoT and Blockchain.

Meanwhile, thought leaders have been invited to do discuss various topics bothering on dynamic ways of leveraging of telecoms and ICT resources to multiply growth pace in the country.

Other thematic topics for the conference include National Funding and Investment Strategy for Broadband Infrastructure and Digital Economy: The Importance of Education and Awareness and Regulation on Emerging Technologies such as AI, IoT, robotics, blockchain, etc: Leveraging on Nigerian Young Populations Innovation and Creativity for National Development.
3 1 of 3 Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 3





It is clear to most Americans that the president of the United States used aid approved by Congress to pressure a foreign country to begin an investigation of a potential political opponent to help him win re-election later this year. More to the point, the presidents legal counsel argued Wednesday that it is perfectly acceptable for a sitting president to use our government to further his own personal re-election goals so long as he believes that his continuing as president is in the best interest of the country. This new theory of unlimited presidential power is not merely preposterous, it is frightening. In exonerating the president, the GOP Senate is poised to adopt and endorse this position, which, frankly, should have us all in the streets in protest  regardless of party affiliation. We are looking into the abyss that is authoritarianism.

So what is the citizenry to do? If we cannot count on our elected officials to do whats right then it falls on us to speak out and ultimately to replace them. It is a moment in history where we must all act in order to protect our democracy. Specifically, we must ensure Trump does not serve a second term and that the senators that have enabled this utter abdication of checks and balances are voted out of office. It is not acceptable to say, this is a national issue; it doesnt concern me or my town. Our town does not exist in a vacuum and we are U.S. citizens first and foremost. If not us, who?
Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday lent his support to the Aam Aadmi Party lawmaker Sanjay Singhs call for early execution of the four Delhi gang rape convicts and underscored that all institutions involved should fulfil their responsibilities and see to it that the verdict is implemented at the earliest.

We cannot allow this sort of thing to go on in the country, said Naidu.

The Rajya Sabha chairman said the convicts had been given available legal opportunity and they had exhausted all of them. Now they were delaying execution of the penalty decided by the courts on one excuse or the other.

The four men - gym instructor Vinay Sharma, bus cleaner Akshay Kumar Thakur, fruit-seller Pawan Gupta and unemployed Mukesh Singh - had been sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 23-year old paramedic student inside a moving bus in December 2012. The gruesome crime had sparked nationwide protests over increasing sexual violence and forced the government to revisit laws.

Sanjay Singh, who referred to the public outrage and street protests that had followed the gang rape, said the men were convicted by a fast-track court but it had taken years to enforce the verdict. In the higher courts, Singh said, the case has only been getting deferred from one date to another.

They have no right to be alive, he said, urging the House to seek the intervention of the President and Supreme Court for speedy execution of the death sentence.

A Delhi court, after having twice issued the black warrant for their execution, declined to issue a third one last week, pointing that all the convicts were entitled to exhaust their legal options.

Over the weekend, the Delhi High Court held a special hearing at the request of the Centre which wanted orders to hang the convicts who had exhausted their appeals and mercy petition. It is yet to deliver its ruling.

The Centres second most-senior law officer Tushar Mehta, had argued that the convicts were trying to frustrate the mandate of the law in a deliberate calculated action

President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected the mercy petition of two convicts, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur. The mercy plea of the third death row convict Akshay Thakur is pending. The fourth convict is yet to file the mercy petition.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said the delay in hanging the convicts was a sensitive issue but blamed the AAP-led city government for the delay. The Supreme Court rejected the appeals of the convicts more than a year ago but Tihar jail delayed their execution. This delay is due to the state government, Javadekar said.

Rajya Sabha chairman Naidu, however, told members not to politicise the issue. No politics no discussion, he told members.
Five days after he was granted bail by a judge, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has yet to comply with a court order for the release of Bello Adoke, a former attorney-general, charged with corruption.

As part of a controversial strategy being deployed to keep Mr Adoke in perpetual custody, anti-graft agents and other prosecution officials working on the matter have been stonewalling Mr Adokes release since January 30 when the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory approved his release on bail.

Mr Adoke was granted bail on Thursday afternoon by Justice Idris Kutigi. The terms included N50 million and a surety with residential properties in Abuja.

He met all the bail conditions by Thursday evening, a few hours after they were imposed, and the judge subsequently signed a warrant for his release, PREMIUM TIMES learnt from officials familiar with the matter.

Rather than comply with the order to release Mr Adoke, however, EFCC officials instead demanded an enrolment order of the former attorney-generals release warrant, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

Enrolment of order is an official summary of a court ruling prepared and issued to parties in a case until the full version is available.

The demand infuriated Mr Adoke legal team as they wondered why the EFCC would impose its own conditions in a manner that undermined the release warrant that had been duly signed by a judge.

Nonetheless, Mr Adokes lawyers, led by senior counsel Mike Ozekhome, returned to court on Friday to iron out the additional conditions imposed by the EFCC.

They presented the enrolment order and other necessary release documents signed by Justice Kutigi on Friday. The registrar for Mr Kutigis court also followed Mr Adokes team to the EFCC on Friday to understand why the former AGF was still being held.

But all the efforts were frustrated. Mr Adoke was never released and his legal team members were simply tossed from one office to another.

For several hours on Friday, the EFCC prosecutor was also said to have disappeared and was unable to advise the commission to comply with the court order, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

Tony Orilade, a spokesperson for the EFCC, did not return requests for comments about why Mr Adoke was still being held days after a judge signed warrant for his release  a development that has now added to a worsening string of controversial disregard for court orders which critics said has become the hallmark of the Buhari administration.

Charges

The former attorney-general was slammed with 42 counts of corruption allegations, including claims of money laundering, economic sabotage and bribery.

He strongly denied all the charges.

The case stemmed from a 2010 sale of OPL 245 between Malabu Oil Limited, Shell and Agip-Eni. The $1.1 billion deal has since become a subject of international investigation, with several former executives of Shell, Agip-Eni already being charged for alleged crimes in Italy.

The EFCC said Mr Adoke allegedly took bribes to give favourable legal advise that closed the deal. Mr Adoke denied the allegations.

The EFCCs failure to release Mr Adoke on bail as he continues to answer the charges against him comes weeks after the Nigerian government faced criticism for failing to reign in another law enforcement agency that disobeyed court orders.

The State Security Service rebuffed two orders of a federal judge for the release of Omoyele Sowore, who was arrested and charged with treason for alleged illegal acts that included insulting President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Sowore, who was arrested on August 3, 2019, was ultimately released on December 24, 2019, after intensive local and international pressure was put on the Buhari administration.
More Chinese cities, including one just 175 kilometres (110 miles) from Shanghai, were put under lockdown on Tuesday, as the impact of a deadly new virus spread further from its epicentre.

Around 12 million people are affected by the new restrictions, adding to the tens of millions of people already quarantined in and around Wuhan, ground zero for 2019-nCoV.

The city of Taizhou, parts of Hangzhou -- including the district that is home to the headquarters of Chinese tech giant Alibaba -- and some of Ningbo will only allow one person per household to go outside every two days to buy necessities, city officials said.

Taizhou -- 850 kilometres from the epicentre in Hubei province -- will also suspend 95 train services from the city from Tuesday.

In addition, residential communities will only be allowed to use one entrance and residents must present ID each time they come or go, Taizhou's government said on its official WeChat account.

Landlords were also forbidden from renting property to people from "severely affected areas such as Hubei" if they have travelled to their hometowns recently, it added.

In the Hangzhou districts, additional measures included mandatory mask-wearing and compulsory ID and temperature checks.

On Monday, Hangzhou's Yuhang district also said it would suspend buses, taxis, shuttle buses, and airport lines until further notice.

In Taizhou, public bus services were suspended at the end of January, while Ningbo closed the entrances of nine highways last Wednesday.

The latest restrictions follow similar measures announced Sunday in Wenzhou, which has a population of nine million people.

The city has restricted the movement of residents, and closed roads.

Zhejiang -- the eastern province in which these cities sit -- has confirmed 829 cases, the highest number outside central Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak and where more than 50 million people are under lockdown.

Other provinces have restricted travel to try to stop the virus spreading, with several -- including Guangdong and Sichuan -- making it compulsory to wear masks in public.

Nationwide, more than 20,000 people have been infected by the new virus, with 425 now known to have died.

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Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor on Tuesday said he was back home after being discharged from a Delhi hospital for pneumonia.

There were reports that the 67-year-old actor, who was in the capital to attend a family function, was admitted to a hospital.

In a series of tweets, Kapoor said he had caught an infection due to "pollution" while shooting in the city. He also thanked his well-wishers for their concern.

"Dear family, friends, foes and followers. I have been overwhelmed by all your concern about my health. Thank you. I have been filming in Delhi past 18 days and because of the pollution and my low count of neutrophils, I caught an infection whereby I had to be hospitalized," the actor wrote on the microblogging site.

Kapoor said he decided to issue a clarification as "people seem to have assumed a lot different".

The actor returned to India last September after undergoing treatment for cancer in the US for almost a year.

"I was running a slight fever and on investigation, doctors found a patch, which could have lead to pneumonia, was detected and is being cured. People seem to have assumed a lot different. I put to rest all those stories and look forward to entertain and love you. I am now in Mumbai," he continued.

Last week amid reports of hospitalisation, the actor told PTI he was being treated for an "infection".

Kapoor recently announced his next project, a remake of Hollywood film "The Intern", in which he will feature alongside Deepika Padukone.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kapil Baisala who opened fired at Shaheen Bagh protest site last week is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, police said on Tuesday, sparking a war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the AAP.

IMAGE: Kapil Baisala, who fired bullets in Shaheen Bagh area, being detained by police in New Delhi. Photograph: ANI Photo



While the BJP accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of 'playing' with the security of the country, the AAP hit back, stating the saffron party was indulging 'dirty politics'.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Rajesh Deo said that Baisala and his father joined the AAP in early 2019.

Baisala's family, however, refuted the police's claim.

Kapil Baisala's uncle Fatesh Singh told PTI, "I have no idea where these photographs are circulating from. My nephew Kapil had no association with any political party nor does any other member from the family.

"My brother, Gaje Singh, (Baisala's father) fought assembly elections in 2008 on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket and lost. After that no one from our family had any links with any political party."

His uncle Fatesh Singh told PTI, "I have no idea where these photographs are circulating from. My nephew Kapil had no association with any political party nor does any other member from the family is.

"My brother Gaje Singh, (Kapil's father) fought assembly elections in 2008 for Bahujan Samaj Party and lost. After that no one from our family had any links with any political party".

Singh added that Baisala also doesn't have friends associated with the AAP or any other political party.

He had also contested the 2012 civic body polls from the BSP, the police said.

The police officer said they seized Baisala's mobile phone and retrieved WhatsApp data.

On Saturday, Baisala fired two rounds in air at Shaheen Bagh. According to eyewitnesses, the man shouted "Hindu Rashtra Zindabad" and fired two rounds.

He was overpowered by the police and later arrested.

In the pictures, it was seen that he and his father joined the party in the presence of Atishi Marlena, Sanjay Singh and other leaders, sources said.

The police said on Thursday, Baisala, along with his friend Sarthak Larolla, went to Shaheen Bagh from his village on a bike.

Through CCTV footage, it was found they took the DND flyover, Maharani Bagh, Sarai Jullena and reached Holy Family hospital, a senior police officer said.

"Baisala was not comfortable on the bike as he had hidden the pistol near his waist. They entered the hospital's parking where he adjusted the pistol, used the washroom and headed towards Shaheen Bagh," the senior official added.

When they reached the protest site, Larolla left the spot with the motorcycle and Baisala's mobile phone. Later, Baisala fired two rounds in the air and was apprehended. The weapon was recovered from near the spot, the police said.

Larolla joined the investigation and the mobile phone was seized from his residence.

Baisala has been remanded to police remand for two days.

He had bought the pistol around seven years ago for his brother's marriage. The source of the weapon from where he procured it is yet to identified, police said.

The sources said Baisala was previously also involved in firing incident but was never caught nor was a case registered against him.

Hitting out at the AAP, BJP president J P Nadda accused Kejriwal of playing with the security of the country and said that the people will give the party a befitting reply.

"I want to make clear to Kejriwal that this country is bigger than any election, any government, and the country will not forgive those who play with its security. The people of Delhi will give a befitting reply," Nadda tweeted.

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh asked on whose directions was the Delhi Police accusing his party.

"Before the police revealed it (Baisala being an AAP member), how did BJP's Delhi president Manoj Tiwari come to know about it," Singh asked and accused the police of maligning the party.

Earlier in the day, a court extended Baisala's police custody by two days after the Delhi Police told it that there was a possibility of a larger conspiracy behind the incident.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur extended by two days the police custody of Baisala.

The police had sought four-day remand of Baisala, saying the agency only had one day to investigate the matter.

"Time and place of the incident clearly indicate that the incident of using firearms is a part of a larger conspiracy which is to be unearthed.

"He (Baisala) is associated with different groups on WhatsApp. He is to be interrogated regarding the other members of these groups keeping in view the possibility of larger conspiracy," the investigating officer said.

He further said investigation has revealed that his WhatsApp account was purposely deleted.

"The account has been retrieved and most of the data has been recovered. Due to shortage of time it could not be analysed.

"The data is bulky in nature and he needs to be confronted with it," the police said.

It added that Baisala also needs to be confronted with his friend who had accompanied him to the site of the incident.

"His friend is being interrogated at length in order to ascertain his involvement. Data in his friend's phone is also being scrutinised. The investigation is at an initial stage.

"The case is very serious and sensitive in nature which requires in-depth interrogation of the accused.

"Also, Baisala needs to be confronted with his friend. The motive of firing needs to be ascertained. He is changing his version and not cooperating with the investigating agency.

"Identity of the supplier of the recovered firearm is yet to be ascertained. He is misguiding the agency by changing his versions regarding supplier again and again," the probe agency said.

Advocates M S Sisodia and Akhil Rexwal, appearing for Baisala, opposed the remand plea saying the probe agency has seized his mobile and all other relevant materials required for the investigation.

"The offences are bailable in nature. What will they do with my WhatsApp chats? What links do they want to establish? Where else do they need to take me," Sisodia asked.

On February 1, Baisala had fired two rounds in the air at Shaheen Bagh, where anti-CAA protests are being held for over a month now.

After being overpowered by police personnel, he had chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' and said, 'hamare desh me aur kisi ki nahi chalegi, sirf Hinduon ki chalegi (only Hindus shall have a say in our country, no one else)', as he was taken into custody by the Delhi Police.

This was the second such incident reported from Shaheen Bagh in a span of three days. A man had fired from a pistol on a group of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters in the area on Thursday, injuring a student of the Jamia Millia Islamia University.

Meanwhile, the court also sent a wrestler arrested for supplying a weapon to the juvenile who had opened fire on anti-CAA protesters outside Jamia Millia Islamia last week, to fourteen days' judicial custody.

The police told the court that they have recovered a country-made pistol and two live cartridges from Ajeet Singh and case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Arms Act.

On January 30, the juvenile had fired at a group of anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters outside the Jamia Millia Islamia injuring a student.

The Juvenile Justice Board had earlier sent the juvenile to 14 days' protective custody.
NASHUA, N.H.  New Hampshire rarely takes its cues from Iowa. And this time, there arent clear cues anyway.

The Democratic presidential hopefuls descended on the small New England state on Tuesday, fresh off overnight flights, full of caffeine and without official results from Iowa. That didnt stop many of them from offering some form of a victorious message  and raising the stakes on the importance of New Hampshire.

Everything we know is extremely encouraging, Pete Buttigieg said Tuesday after being endorsed by Jim Donchess, the mayor of Nashua. Bernie Sanders, whose campaign released its own caucus results with a claim of winning, wasnt expected to greet voters in the state until the evening. Andrew Yang held a middle-of-the-night rally at the airport upon landing in the state, while Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden planned mid-day events.

New Hampshire had largely taken a backseat to Iowa through January, but the state is poised to take on a more important role following Iowas delayed, chaotic results.

New Hampshire becomes, I think, more important because we dont know what Iowas going to come out with, said Bill Shaheen, a Democratic National Committeeman from the state who is backing Biden.

The states Feb. 11 contest is a primary, which is far simpler than a caucus; the election is also run by state and local governments, not the political parties, like Iowa. A primary works like a general election, with people going into the voting booth and selecting one candidate. New Hampshire uses paper ballots, with some places counting them electronically.

Even if those systems failed, New Hampshire would still have an election and would report results at the end of the night, Deputy Secretary of State Dave Scanlan said Tuesday morning.

The states political class has long liked the characterize New Hampshire as more influential than Iowa, even as Iowa has had a better track record of picking the eventual nominee in recent Democratic contests. Not since 2004 have its independent-minded voters followed Iowas lead in an open Democratic presidential primary.

While voters have been courted by candidates for the past year, at house parties, town halls and rallies, about half said they still hadnt decided who to support, according to a January CNN poll, making the final week before the primary a critical opportunity for candidates to close the deal.

You all are extremely famous in this state for folks waiting until the last five days to finally make up their minds, former Vice President Joe Biden told supporters in January at a campaign office in Manchester, the states largest city, at 110,000 people.

None of the top-tier candidates had characterized winning the state as a must, though the results of Iowa may change that. While there is a perception that because Sanders hails from neighboring Vermont, and Warren from Massachusetts, they need to do well in New Hampshire, key surrogates have softened the idea that victory is necessary.

New Hampshires never been a state that determines who the nominees going to be. The question is doing well in New Hampshire, Kathy Sullivan, a Democratic National Committee member from New Hampshire who has endorsed Warren, said last week.

Indeed, New Hampshire is known more for humbling the front-runner than for picking the winner, at least in recent Democratic elections. In 2008, the state backed Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama, setting up a lengthy nomination battle. Eight years later, New Hampshire voters bucked Clinton for Sanders.

We want to make up our own minds, were somewhat contrary, said John Lynch, a former Democratic governor with a centrist bent who is a Biden supporter.

Still, polling shows Sanders in the lead, with competitors like Biden and Warren trailing behind.

It is Bernies to lose, said Lou DAllesandro, a longtime state senator who is backing Biden.

Thats despite Sanders having a late start in the state. Warren showered the state with more attention through the summer, though Sanders has dialed up his efforts since. The Sanders campaign says it has over 150 staffers in New Hampshire, which gives the senator the largest publicly announced staff in the state. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has about 80 staffers, while the Biden campaign has more than 50, and the Warren campaign has more than 55, according to aides.

We are confident, but were not taking anything for granted and were not slowing down, Shannon Jackson, a longtime aide to Sanders who now works as his New Hampshire state director, said last week.

Most of the major candidates, except for Biden, ran television ads in January. New Hampshire has just one statewide television network, and many people in the southern part of the state rely on Boston stations for news. That, combined with Massachusetts voters moving into the state to take advantage of the low taxes and cheaper housing, means Warren is known to many voters in New Hampshire.

Rep. Annie Kuster, who is backing Buttigieg, cited voters independent nature  more people are registered without a party than Republicans or Democrats  and history of divided government at the state level as reasons why Buttigiegs message and personal background can resonate.

Its a very fluid electorate, she said. They are very tuned in to the person.

New Hampshire is richer, whiter and older than the rest of the country. But while unemployment is less than 3%, wages have stagnated over the past decade, rising far slower than nationally, according to a report from the University of New Hampshires Carsey School of Public Policy. The state is dealing with an aging population, particularly in the rural North Country, that will call for a ramp up in health care and personal care jobs in the coming years. Meanwhile, New Hampshire residents have some of the highest student debt in the country. All that combines to show why a candidate like Sanders could appeal to voters in the state in 2016.

But this time around, both Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Yang are appealing to those same voters, and they spent far more time in New Hampshire than Sanders in January.

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, meanwhile, skipped Iowa entirely to focus on New Hampshire. He was holding his 47th town hall meeting on Monday night as Iowans went to the polls, and he said hes hoping for a third place finish. Thats still a long shot, based on polls. Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has similarly emphasized New Hampshire, but doesnt seem to be benefiting from leading a neighboring state.

Klobuchar won the endorsements of three New Hampshire newspapers, offering her a second look and added credibility in the races closing days.

Voters have frequently pressed on the candidates over the feasibility of Medicare for All and how the contenders intend to get their ambitious plans passed if their tenure begins with a Republican-controlled Senate. But they are quick to say that their main priority is defeating Trump.

I have somebody Id like to vote for, but I dont think they can beat Trump, 78-year-old Rita Kirk said after attending a Bennet event in January.

Joleen Little, an administrative assistant at Franklin Pierce University, said shes an independent who is deciding between Biden, Buttigieg and Yang. As someone in retirement age, she cares about health care, as well as Americas place in the world. But her interest in Buttigieg and Yang reflected New Hampshire voters desire to see candidates up close and learn what makes them tick.

The ambition they have, she cited as reason for her interest. And the comfort thats in their voices.

___

Associated Press writer Holly Ramer contributed from Concord, N.H.

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast,  Ground Game.
But many of the people who cause problems are likely the ones who could benefit from a long-term city partnership with a mental health service provider.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : The Supreme Court has scheduled, for February 7, hearing on a petition seeking directions to the police to take action to ensure smooth traffic movement on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch, which has been closed for over a month due to anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests, making the public at large suffer.

The plea moved by lawyer-activist Amit Sahni on January 20 sought supervision of the situation in Shaheen Bagh where several women are sitting on an indefinite protest, by a retired Supreme Court judge or a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court to avoid any further deterioration in the situation and to circumvent any violence.

"The respondents (Delhi Police) cannot be permitted to behave like mute spectators particularly in a situation presently faced by persons living in the vicinity of Kalindi Kunj," said the plea.

Sahni contended that the Delhi High Court did not order the forthwith removal of traffic restrictions and observed that no direction can be issued on the methodology to handle protest and traffic movement successfully, and left it to the discretion of the police.

"No one can be permitted to occupy a public road for any reason whatsoever under the pretext of peaceful protest and that too for indefinite period to make others suffer for the same", his plea said.

The High Court had asked the police to examine the issue while bearing in mind that law and order is supposed to be maintained.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde on Tuesday asked BJP leader Nand Kishor Garg, the petitioner seeking court direction to remove road blockade at Shaheen Bagh, to approach the mentioning officer.

Shashank Deo Sudhi, lawyer for Garg, sought a direction from the court to the Centre, police and state government to take immediate steps to remove protesters from Shaheen Bagh.

The petition urged the apex court to pass appropriate directions, as the protests were causing severe inconvenience to the common people as an arterial road connecting Delhi and Noida had been blocked. The protests have also caused obstruction to entire vehicular and pedestrian movement from the road connecting two important cities i.e. Delhi and Noida.
The Centre on Tuesday categorically declared that it is the prerogative of a state to decide the location of its capital city, indicating that it will not interfere in the decision of the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh to shift the administrative capital of the state from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam.

It is for each state to decide its capital within its territory, Union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai said, in a written reply to an unstarred question raised by Jayadev Galla, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) lawmaker from Guntur parliamentary constituency, during the question hour in Lok Sabha.

Galla asked whether the Central government had taken note of the recent decision taken by the Andhra Pradesh chief minister to set up three capitals for the state and what the Centres reaction was for the same. He sought to know whether the manner in which the three capitals are being formed would be of any help to the state and the people.

The MP further asked whether the Centre would advise the state government not to resort to such decisions, which would not only vitiate the investment climate but would also be a great loss to thousands of farmers who had given their land for construction of new capital Amaravati.

In his written reply, the minister said the state government had notified Amaravati as its capital city through a government order dated April 23, 2015. Recently, media reports have appeared indicating the State Governments decision to create three capitals for the State of Andhra Pradesh. It is for each State to decide its capital within its territory, the minister replied.

Senior YSRC leader and Andhra Pradesh minister for municipal administration and urban development Botsa Satyanaryana welcomed the statement made by the Union minister. We have been telling right from the beginning that location of the capital city is purely a state subject and the Centre has no role whatsoever in this regard. This has been endorsed by the Centre today, he said.

Former TDP legislator and party spokesman Bonda Umamaheshwar Rao said the Centre had clarified that Amaravati had already been notified as the capital of Andhra Pradesh on April 23, 2015 itself.

It is true that the Centre had no role in deciding the capital city of a state. But it also acknowledged the fact that Andhra had already notified Amaravati as the capital city and it was included in the countrys political map as well. Now, the Jagan government is creating three capitals on the pretext that there is no gazette notification of Amaravati, the TDP leader said.

Interestingly, the Union ministers statement was made at a time when a delegation of Amaravati farmers joint action committee was in New Delhi to seek Central intervention in stalling the state governments three capitals plan.

The JAC leaders met vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu to represent their issue. They also sought an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to request them to stall the shifting of the executive capital from Amaravati to Viskahapatnam.

The Andhra assembly on January 20 passed two crucial bills  one to repeal AP Capital Region Development Authority formed to develop Amaravati as the capital city and second one on decentralisation of administration by creating three capitals for the state.

The bills were later stalled in the state legislative council which referred the same to the select committee for further study. Peeved at this, the Jagan government adopted a resolution in the state assembly last week abolishing the legislative council.

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DUBLIN, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Biometrics in Healthcare Market, Forecast to 2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global market for biometrics in healthcare is witnessing strong revenue growth, with a higher rate of adoption of electronic healthcare systems and digital tools for healthcare. The rise of a smart, connected healthcare system augurs well for the uptake of biometrics in healthcare. Worldwide adoption of electronic health records is the key marker driver for biometrics in healthcare.



Initially, biometrics adoption in healthcare was limited to patient identification and verification use cases. However, non-traditional biometric systems (e.g., behavioral biometrics, cognitive recognition, and wearable technologies) are emerging due to the distinct advantages they provide, in terms of remote monitoring and diagnostic healthcare services.

In addition, the integration of technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare is promoting the shift of cloud-based healthcare systems, providing new avenues for cloud-based authentication and biometrics integration to ensure enhanced cybersecurity.

Multi-modal biometrics is expected to be a growth opportunity that reinforces the adoption of biometric technology, as it ensures higher resilience to data thefts and counterfeit. Multimodality can promote biometrics as a stand-alone authentication by replacing passwords with multilayer biometric modalities.



Technology in the healthcare market is rapidly evolving, and biometrics strives to meet the dynamic demands of the industry. Cloud-based healthcare services, electronic health records, electronic prescriptions, remote monitoring, and digital care provisions have security gaps and low operational efficiencies that can be resolved by integration with biometrics technology. Therefore, biometric technology vendors need to be well positioned and adjust their product portfolio to meet the diverse needs of the healthcare market.



Synergic market network and partnership with key stakeholders across the healthcare value chain remains imperative to establishing dominance in the industry. As service models and value-based care business models emerge in hospitals and clinics, vendors need to differentiate their biometrics offerings to enhance efficiency and healthcare experience and capitalize on the emerging as-a-service trends of the industry.



Key Issues Addressed

Is the market growing? How long will it continue to grow, and at what rate?

What are the key growth drivers and restraints for the market?

How is the competitive environment, and which companies are the key market players in the industry?

What are the major growth opportunities and trends for biometrics in the healthcare industry?

Which Mega Trends have an impact on the healthcare biometrics market?

Are the vendors in the space ready to go it alone, or do they need partnerships to take their businesses to the next level?

Key Topics Covered



1. Executive Summary

Key Findings

Market Engineering Measurements

CEO's Perspective

2. Market Overview

Market Definitions

Key Questions This Study Will Answer

3. Drivers and Restraints - Biometrics in Healthcare Market

Market Drivers

Drivers Explained

Market Restraints

Restraints Explained

4. Forecasts and Trends - Biometrics in Healthcare Market

Market Engineering Measurements

Forecast Assumptions

Revenue Forecast

Revenue Forecast Discussion

5. Market Share and Competitive Analysis - Biometrics in Healthcare Market

Market Share

Market Share Analysis

Competitive Environment

Top Competitors

Product Highlights

6. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action

Growth Opportunity 1: Biometrics as-a-service

Growth Opportunity 2: Behavioral Biometrics

Growth Opportunity 3: Healthcare-as-a-Service

Growth Opportunity 4: Cybersecurity

Strategic Imperatives for Success and Growth

7. Mega Trends and Industry Convergence Implications

Mega Trend Impact on the Biometrics in Healthcare Market

Impact of Blockchain on Biometrics

Impact of Cloud Computing on Biometrics

Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Biometric

Impact of IoT in Healthcare on Biometric

8. The Last Word

3 Big Predictions

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/omdlt3

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.



Media Contact:

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It was like watching six very different, very similar parallel universes. After a shambolic process by the Democratic Party  yes, even more shambolic than how a caucus is supposed to go  candidates started coming out onstage and reading identical victory speeches in the absence of any actual results. One of the caucus precinct captains who was supposed to report results from his area to the party was left on hold for an hour then, while talking live to CNN, was overtaken by excitement when the operator finally picked up; seconds later, he was accidentally hung up on. Donald Trumps spokespeople, currently tasked with defending the president against allegations that he tried to get Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, started drumming up rumors that Democrats had rigged their own process. You couldnt make it up, and if you did, everyone would hate you.

So Amy Klobuchar came up onstage first, taking advantage of the fact that the TV cameras of the nation had nothing to point at. It was 10.15pm in Iowa and she delivered an energetic, passionate speech about beating a president who should have a sign on his desk saying The buck stops anywhere but here and her own personal achievements winning elections in the reddest of the red and the bluest of the blue places. You had to admire her chutzpah. Why not take the reigns, after all, while everyone else ran around like headless chickens? She had been supposed to sink after Iowa but all of a sudden, Klobuchar came out looking like the only Democrat who was getting something done.

Then came Biden, led by his wife Jill. Were in this for the long haul, he said. On to New Hampshire!, Everything that makes America, America is at stake!, God bless our troops! It was classic, middle-of-the-road Uncle Joe.

Not to be outdone, Elizabeth Warren got onstage while Biden was finishing off, declaring that Americans do big things, thats who we are and promising to bring big solutions for big problems. Her speech, which at times felt Biden-esque, felt like it had been written with a lot of second-choicers in mind.

Trailing behind were Bernie and Buttigieg, the favorites to win tonight. Both had presumably been waiting to do a proper victory speech before their best-laid plans were unceremoniously torn apart by the combine harvester of impossible math. Bernie stood alongside three generations of his family and said, in place of real numbers, I have a good feeling were gonna be doing very, very well here in Iowa. Like everyone else, he paid lip service to this not being just any election. Iowa sent a clear message today, he said, before tailing off, because everyone knew the message it had actually sent was we have no idea how to run a caucus.

Finally, as midnight crept forward, Buttigieg got up onstage to the loudest crowd of the night (BOOT-EDGE-EDGE, BOOT-EDGE-EDGE, BOOT-EDGE-EDGE! was how it began, and there was even a moment where the crowd cheered CHASTEN, CHASTEN, CHASTEN! after Mayor Pete thanked the love of my life, his husband, for keeping my feet on the ground.) Buttigieg wasnt even pretending not to make a victory speech. Tonight an improbable hope became an undeniable reality, he said, smoothly skimming over the fact that a complete lack of numbers can make things relatively deniable. Catching himself, he added, We dont have all the results yet, but Iowa, you have shocked the nation. It was deliciously audacious. There were no results at all. But this is America, where big solutions mean God bless our troops and lets kick Trump out the White House on the way to New Hampshire!

What should have been an evening that would resemble a particularly disorganized college society vote gradually began to resemble the hour of night at a college party where you realize youre not actually having fun but youre also incredibly drunk and cant remember how to get home. Bernie Bros on Twitter were claiming a fix, like in 2016. Whoever controls the alt-right bots on social media were gearing up for a busy Tuesday. News anchors started fighting among themselves about why the results werent in, why no one could go home to bed, and whether or not an app had crashed. They cant even run a caucus and they want to run the government, tweeted Trumps campaign manager Brad Parscale.

The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Show all 25 1 /25 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Bernie Sanders The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Joe Biden The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling EPA The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial "stop and frisk" programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor Getty Images The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Pete Buttigieg The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Deval Patrick The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party's various voting blocs AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Steve Bullock The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated "We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people's voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone." He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor's seat in a red [Republican] state Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Andrew Yang The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tom Steyer Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor AFP/Getty

All the intrigue along the way paled in comparison to the chaos. And there had been intrigue. At the beginning of the night, for instance, there was a moment at Grinnell College where the voters for Buttigieg, Klobuchar and a handful of other moderate voters, all of whose candidates had failed to reach the necessary 15 per cent for viability, decided that they wouldnt sit out or choose between the big blocs of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders voters. Instead, they clubbed together into an Uncommitted group and began a shouting match to attempt to convince Buttigieg supporters to come and join them. Eventually, the Uncommitteds passed the viability threshold with 15.4 per cent, allowing the moderates of Grinnell a voice of sorts in a place dominated by supporters of the progressive wing of the party. What that says about the divisions within the Democrats at this time is interesting.

Whats not interesting, though, it seems, is what the overall results will tell us. Everyone has claimed victory, candidates have flown out of the state on private jets, people have gone home to bed. The caucus which was supposed to be so important for the 2020 election turned into a weird Kafka play on caffeine. Everyone was cheering and nothing was progressing and people were saying the wrong lines but they didnt have the tools to do anything else. It was, in many ways, fascinating to watch.

The Iowa caucus was a lot of things. It was the scene of a lot of rhetoric. It was a positive contributor to the miniature flag industry. It was a sociological experiment. What it wasnt was a worthy start to a sensible, consequential election. But after the last four years, who was expecting that?
Former speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow shared his thoughts on the recent Megxit and explained why he feels so sympathetic towards Meghan Markle.

A Victim of Racism

Bercow said that Markle had been a subject of "explicit and obnoxious racism."

"I want to say that I believe unequivocally that Meghan has been the victim of explicit and obnoxious racism. I am crystal clear about that. She has been subjected to racism, sexism, and misogyny," Bercow told The Sunday Times.

The former Commons speaker also thinks that the media and the public have targeted the Duchess of Sussex because, in the past, Markle criticized U.S. President Donald Trump and supported feminist values.

Bercow believes that speaking about the two crucial topics riled up the "bigot factions" in Britain. He even went on to say that he understood why Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, left the U.K. and their royal duties to spend more time in Canada -- away from the spotlight.

"Harry and Meghan have a right to opt for change, accepting some of the consequences and costs," Bercow added before saying the couple is "entitled to put their marriage and health first."

Bercow's comments came after the comments of home secretary Priti Patel disputed that Markle faced racism in the U.K. She dismissed claims that Markle was driven by racism and argued that people of any background could get on in life in Britain.

Patel said that she has not seen any debates or commentary or "things of that nature" from the media directed towards Markle.

Meghan Harrassed and Abused

Piers Morgan also claimed that racism is what drove away Prince Harry and Markle, but he believes that it is not her racial background why she has been criticized.

However, in the span of Meghan Markle's relationship with the Duke of Sussex, she has dealt with racism from the British press.

In 2016, Prince Harry highlighted and foreshadowed the treatment that was going to follow Meghan Markle throughout her royal career, calling out the press over the racial undertones he identified in articles written about the former "Suits" actress.

A representative for Prince Harry at that time said that his then-girlfriend Markle has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment.

"Some of this has been very public. The smear on the front page of a national newspaper. The racial undertones of comment pieces. The outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web-articles comments," the representative said.

During a charity dinner in January, Prince Harry spoke about his relationship with the media. He addressed the Sussexes' departure from the royal family, saying, "When I lost my mom 23 years ago, you took me under your wing. You've looked out for me for so long, but the media is a powerful force. My hope is one day our mutual support for each other can be more powerful because this is so much bigger than this."

Queen Elizabeth II also addressed the scrutiny Markle has faced ever since entering the royal family, saying that she recognizes the challenges that have experience as a result of intense scrutiny.

Though the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not directly cite that racism is one of the reasons why they are leaving behind their royal life, they did write on their website that they believe in a "free, strong and open media industry which upholds accuracy, fosters inclusivity, diversity, and tolerance."
Patna: Police in Patna busted a gang of highway robbers who had spread a reign of terror between Patna and Barh targeting travelers and stealing their cash and other valuables, even their vehicles, police in Patna said on Monday.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Upendra Sharma, who recently replaced Garima Malik, said that based on credible information, the police formed a special team led SP (Rural) K K Mishra and Fatuha ASP Manish Kumar to nab the gang operating between Patna and Barh.

As rightly anticipated by the police, the gang had gathered on Bakhtiarpur-Patna 4-lane highway on Saturday night. Seeing the police, the criminals made an attempt to escape in the cover of darkness the police were able to apprehend nine of them.

Police said the gang mainly used to operate at a sharp turn where vehicles usually slowed down to avoid any accident. Taking advantage of the road condition, the criminals would force the vehicles to stop at gun points and then rob them of their valuables while driving away with the stolen vehicle that were later stripped and sold in auto salvage shops.

Arrested criminals were identified as kingpin Dharmendra Kumar; Rahul Kumar, Mantu, and Kundan Kumar of Khusrupur; Pawan Raj, Sonu Kumar, and Chandan Kumar of Dhanarua, Shlok Kumar of Bakhtiarpur, and Rakesh Kumar of Kankarbagh.

Police recovered four country-made pistols, live bullets, and cell phones from their possession.
mediQuo also announces an exciting addition to its management team. Bruno Cuevas will join the company as Co-CEO, along with founder and Co-CEO Dr Guillem Serra. Bruno is the former Vice President of Global Markets at Adevinta/Schibsted, a global group of leading online marketplaces, where he was responsible for an international portfolio of operations in Europe, Asia, Latin America and North Africa. He has also been board member in numerous international marketplaces, including Schibsted Spain (Fotocasa, Infojobs, Milanuncios, coches.net, etc.). Before Adevinta, he worked at Groupon and in strategy consulting.

mediQuo will soon launch its mediQuo PRO app, which will allow doctors and health professionals to manage consultations online for both their own patients as well as for the users of the app. This is in compliance with the European GDPR regulation at all times, thus reinforcing patient and doctor confidentiality. With the launch of mediQuo PRO the company aims to reach a total of 14,000 health professionals and to be able to manage 1.5 million patient consultations within the next 15 months.

mediQuo founder Dr Guillem Serra says: "The recent funding round and the launch of the new app are major boosts to the growth of the platform and to fulfill our purpose to foster the digitization of medicine and healthcare. We are happy to have Bruno Cuevas, joining the team. With his proven track record developing and managing international marketplaces, we are going to take a giant step forward."

Bruno Cuevas says: "mediQuo wants to change the way in which patients interact with health professionals, thus improving people's lives. We have a great team, the required technology, knowledge of the health arena as well as of how to operate marketplaces, and the support of renowned investors within the sector. Our ambition is as great as the company's potential, and with this funding round we have set out to deeply change the health sector - to place a hospital in each person's pocket."

This Spanish startup was founded by Guillem Serra, a medical doctor, mathematician, founder and investor in multiple startups, together with Albert Castells and Jose Lopez, also founders of iSalud.com. Since its launch 2 years ago, mediQuo has received 4 million euros in funding. Its app has been installed by nearly 600,000 users and has been able to manage nearly one million medical consultations, multiplying by 10 the sale of premium subscriptions over the last year.

More about mediQuo:

mediQuo is the leading eHealth app in Spain and Latin America.

Developed by the Barcelona-based company Medipremium S.L., it was launched in November 2017, focusing its growth on Spain and Latin America with the aim of enabling everyone to access a doctor from their mobile devices.

By the end of 2019, mediQuo had already reached 940,000 medical consultations and 570,000 downloads on mobile devices.

At the beginning of 2020 the platform launched mediQuo PRO, the exclusive app for doctors and health professionals (specialists in general and family medicine, paediatrics, gynaecology, dermatology, cardiology, psychology, nutrition, sexology, couples therapy, personal trainer...).

More information at: [email protected]

Download on Google Play and Appstore

SOURCE MediQuo
New Delhi, Feb 4 : The Congress and some other opposition parties protested in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday over the remarks of BJP MP Anant Kumar Hegde on Mahatma Gandhi and staged a walkout.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi accused Congress of being fake followers of Gandhi.

Raising the issue in Zero Hour, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that protests were being held all over the country against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in a peaceful manner on the path shown by Mahatma Gandhi.

He said "abuse" was being hurled at Mahatma Gandhi, who is worshipped all over the world.

"They are criticizing the worshipper of Lord Ram. He is like a father to the whole world," Chowdhury said.

Joshi said the BJP leaders took out marches to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

"They are unnecessarily making it an issue," he said.

The Minister said the concerned member had conveyed that he had said "nothing like that" and had been told to express regret.

"BJP people are the real followers of Mahatma Gandhi. These people are fake followers of Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi," he said.

Chowdhury said they had not expected such remarks from Joshi about party leaders.

Chowdhury said they were walking out as the government was "defending" the remarks of Hegde.
Im pretty mainstream for the most part, the 60-year-old said. Its really just trying to think of who is going to match up well against Mr. Trump. Initially, I was like, I dont want to vote for anybody over 70 or anybody under 40. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is 78, and Biden is 77. While he said nothing Bernie says is untrue, and Biden has done some great things, he decided to support the 38-year-old Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Ind., in hopes that he can unite Democrats.
Highlights:



Millrock has been advised that its partner Resolution Minerals has raised sufficient capital to fund a planned drilling program on the Aurora Target , immediately to the west of the Pogo Mine, Alaska.

The first drill phase is planned to begin in early March 2020 with a planned initial program of 2,000 meters in four or five holes. An overall US$5 million exploration program is planned for 2020.

Millrock has been granted a royalty on Northway Minerals Napoleon property in Alaska, in return for an exclusive copy of proprietary exploration information owned by Millrock.

First Quantum Minerals has elected not to proceed further with its exclusive right to enter an option agreement on the Dragonslayer prospect, a portion of the district-scale Chisna copper-gold porphyry project, Alaska.

Millrock will raise C$1 million as announced last week. Proceeds will primarily be used to acquire more gold projects in Alaskas Tintina Gold Province.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Millrock Resources Inc. (TSX-V: MRO, OTCQB: MLRKF) ("Millrock" or the Company) is pleased to provide an update on recent activity and plans.

Millrock President & CEO commented: Millrock has made some strong advancements through 2019. We believe that 2020 will be a watershed year for the Company, and we are particularly excited to begin exploration work in earnest at the 64North Gold Project. We will begin with a drill program at the compelling Aurora Target located immediately west of the Pogo Gold Mine in Alaska.

64North Gold Project, Goodpaster Mining District, Alaska.

Initial drilling at the Aurora target on the West Pogo Block of the 64North Gold Project is scheduled to begin in early March 2020. Earn-in partner Resolution Minerals Ltd., (Resolution ASX: RML) reported yesterday in a press release that it had successfully raised A$4.5 million to fund the planned work. The initial program will consist of four or five holes totaling 2,000 meters and will test the Aurora target. The target area is located within sight and approximately 2.5 to 3.5 kilometers west of Northern Stars Pogo Mine. Northern Star reports an endowment of approximately 10 million ounces of gold at Pogo. (3.8 million ounces mined at 13.8 grams per ton gold (gpt Au), 1.5 million ounces reserves at 7.5 gpt Au included in a resource of 5.95 million ounces at 9.5 gpt Au, as reported by the ASX-listed company in an August 1, 2019 press release. The reserves and resources reported on are not on Millrocks ground and Millrock has not independently verified the numbers reported by Northern Star).

Story continues

More recently, Northern Star has reported the discovery of the Goodpaster gold deposit northwest of the mine, even closer to the mutual Millrock  Northern Star claim boundary and the Aurora target. The Aurora target is a 1.5 by 4.0 kilometer long zone of low-magnetic rocks adjacent to a late diorite intrusion. The setting is very similar to that observed at the Pogo Mine.

Millrock postulates that the late diorite intruded along a westerly extension of the Liese Creek fault, which is known to have played a key role in the genesis of the Pogo gold deposits. Highly anomalous gold-bismuth-arsenic in soil is documented. High-angle gold-bearing quartz veins have been intersected by prior drilling, however, the few holes drilled by earlier workers did not go deep enough to intersect the low-angle shear zone that is known to host gold at Pogo and the Goodpaster deposit. Millrock believes this structure exists at the Aurora target. From a recent CSAMT survey it appears likely that a favourable shear zone is present below surface. Drilling will begin at the east end of the target. The various attributes of the target are shown on the following compilation map.

Figure 1 accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/52628b70-3a4e-46c8-a1ef-f440786864db

64North Project Partnership Summary

Resolution can earn up to a 60% interest in the 64North Gold Project through exploration expenditures of US$20 million, payment of US$200,000 cash and issuance of 38 million Resolution shares. The minimum commitment for 2020 is US$5.0 million. Other details of the agreement between Millrock and Resolution are documented in Millrocks announcement made on December 16, 2019.

Napoleon Gold Royalty, Fortymile Mining District, Alaska

Millrock has signed an agreement with Northway Resources (TSX-V: NTW Northway) concerning its Napoleon gold exploration property in eastern Alaska. Millrock previously held claims in this area and owns geological and geochemical information concerning the project. Millrock has sold an exclusive copy of the information to Northway. In return, Northway has granted a 0.5% Net Smelter Returns royalty to Millrock on the Napoleon claims, and any claims Northway may acquire in a prescribed area of interest surrounding Northways current claim block.

Dragonslayer Copper-Gold Prospect, Chisna Project, Alaska

In an announcement made by Millrock on September 23, 2019, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. was granted an exclusive right to enter an option to joint venture agreement concerning the Dragonslayer copper-gold prospect, a key area of Millrocks larger Chisna project. A program of stream sediment and soil sampling was carried out in September 2019. Sampling conditions proved difficult, with low gradient streams and thick overburden with extensive organic cover. Despite the poor sampling conditions, anomalous values of copper and pathfinder elements were returned. The work did not clearly demonstrate that a porphyry copper deposit is present; the results are inconclusive. Further exploration work is warranted. However, First Quantum elected not to exercise its exclusive right. Millrock will seek out other funding partners.

Private Placement Equity Financing and Project Generation

Millrock has announced that it will raise $1.0 million in a non-brokered private placement financing. Existing Millrock shareholders are being given priority. Proceeds of the financing are to be used primarily to acquire early stage gold projects in the Alaska portion of the Tintina Gold Province.

Figure 2 accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0b09b164-738e-428b-ad39-3e2da6d676a0

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information disclosed within this document has been prepared, reviewed and approved by Gregory A. Beischer, President, CEO and a director of Millrock Resources. Mr. Beischer is Certified Professional Geologist (American Institute of Prefessional Geologists CPG#10505, BSc. (Honours) Laurentian University, 1987) and a Mining Engineering Technologist (Hailerybury School of Mines, 1981) and is a qualified person as defined in NI 43-101.

About Millrock Resources Inc.

Millrock Resources Inc. is a premier project generator to the mining industry. Millrock identifies, packages, and operates large-scale projects for joint venture, thereby exposing its shareholders to the benefits of mineral discovery without the usual financial risk taken on by most exploration companies. The company is recognized as the premier generative explorer in Alaska, holds royalty interests in British Columbia, Canada and Sonora State, Mexico and is a significant shareholder of junior explorer ArcWest Exploration Inc. Funding for drilling at Millrocks exploration projects is primarily provided by its joint venture partners. Business partners of Millrock have included some of the leading names in the mining industry: EMX Royalty, Centerra Gold, First Quantum, Teck, Kinross, Vale, Inmet and, Altius as well as junior explorers Resolution, Riverside and PolarX.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Gregory Beischer

Gregory Beischer, President & CEO

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Melanee Henderson, Investor Relations

(604) 638-3164

(877) 217-8978 (toll-free)

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information (within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation) including, without limitation, managements expectation that it will form an exploration agreement after the due diligence period, receive funding from N27, enter a Shared Use Agreement, complete installation of a drill trail and water well during 2019, and to begin a drilling program in the first quarter of 2020. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, without limitation, Millrocks ability to raise funds needed to perform additional exploration on the claims staked and customary risks of the resource industry.
NEW YORK - Former Obama housing secretary Shaun Donovan has filed papers to run for mayor of New York City in 2021.

Donovan, 54, registered a campaign Monday to succeed Mayor Bill de Blasio, who by law cannot run for a third term.

Donovan, a native New Yorker, served as federal secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2009 to 2014 and as director of the Office of Management and Budget from 2014 until Democratic President Barack Obama left office in 2017.

Prior to that Donovan served as a deputy assistant HUD secretary under President Bill Clinton and as commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

As HUD secretary, Donovan led the administrations efforts to rebuild from 2012s Superstorm Sandy as well as overseeing the Federal Housing Administration in the aftermath of the 2008 mortgage crisis.

As a lifelong New Yorker, Ive committed my life to public service and focused on building opportunity for all communities, Donovan said in a statement. I was proud to serve as secretary of Housing and Urban Development and director of the Office of Management and Budget for President Obama, and am actively considering how best to apply my experience on behalf of the city I love.

Donovan attended the elite Dalton School in Manhattan and earned a bachelors degree as well as masters degrees in architecture and public administration from Harvard University.

Donovan, who has never held elected office, would likely have to beat several seasoned politicians in a June 2021 Democratic primary in order to run in the November general election.

Likely Democratic mayoral candidates include City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and City Comptroller Scott Stringer. The three all have greater name recognition than Donovan, who is not well known outside of policy circles.
Authorities in Cape May County are trying to find whoever is responsible for painting a racist, white-supremacist slur on a telephone pole.

The graffiti was found Friday on a pole on a utility power access road in the Swainton neighborhood of Middle Township, the Cape May County Prosecutors Office said Tuesday. The exact location was not disclosed.

The slur is being investigated as a bias crime, authorities said.

Anyone with information or has been a victim of a bias crime is asked to call the Cape May County Prosecutors office at 609-465-1135, extension 3331 or the New Jersey Department of Criminal Justice Bias Crime Tip line at 800-277-2427.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Non-lethal shark hooks will be trialled in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

The federal government has funded $5 million towards non-lethal shark protection measures after the Queensland government lost a court decision last year.

The state government has resisted installing non-lethal shark measures after losing the right to use baited hooks to catch and shoot dead 19 shark species in the world's largest coral reef.

But of the funding announced on Tuesday, $4 million will go towards non-lethal measures including so-called SMART drumlines, which alert authorities when sharks have taken bait on a hook so the animal can be removed and released elsewhere.

The money will also go to rebating councils to install swimmer safety netting, drone surveillance and swimmer education.

Non-lethal shark hooks will be trialled in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (file image)

The federal government has funded $5 million towards non-lethal shark protection measures after the Queensland government lost a court decision last year (file image of a shark drumline buoy)

Authorities in the Whitsundays region, rocked by a number of recent shark attacks, will have $1 million to help with shark management.

It is expected the equipment will be installed within weeks.

Queensland Fisheries Minister Mark Furner says the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority amended a permit which took into account workplace health and safety issues.

Mr Furner has previously said handling live sharks and releasing them from drumlines was dangerous for state government workers.

He resisted calls from the state opposition to install the SMART, or Shark-Management-Alert-In-Real Time drumlines, in the marine park.

Mr Furner also released a study which indicated SMART drumlines would not work along the Great Barrier Reef.

A diagram explaining how the smart drumlines to be deployed in Queensland work

On Tuesday Mr Furner said relocating and releasing the sharks would reduce the immediate risk to swimmers in the area but not entirely eliminate dangers.

The Administrative Appeal Tribunal last year found the lethal component of Queensland's program does not reduce the risk of an unprovoked shark attack.

There have been several such attacks in the Great Barrier Reef region in the past two years, including the death of Melbourne doctor Daniel Christidis.

The animal rights group which launched the legal action, Humane Society International, on Tuesday welcomed the additional funding and cooperation between the state and federal government.

'We will be pleased to see an end to 60 years of deliberately and needlessly killing sharks in this precious ecosystem,' said HSI's Lawrence Chlebeck.

SMART DRUMLINES A trial of non-lethal shark risk management measures will be rolled out on Queensland's Great Barrier Reef in coming weeks. The federal government has committed $5 million to non-lethal shark protection measures in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Area featuring installation non-lethal SMART drumlines. The Queensland Government was forced to remove over 150 lethal drum lines from the marine park following a court decision last year. WHAT ARE DRUMLINES? * They are unmanned baited hooks that target large sharks off popular Queensland swimming beaches. * Traditionally sharks snared on hooks are left on the line to die or are killed by authorities to keep beachgoers safe. * The measures are in place along Queensland coast outside of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. * Queensland Government says since the shark control program was implemented in 1962 there has been only one fatal shark attack on a protected beach. * Last year, the Administrative Appeal Tribunal found the lethal component of Queensland's program does not reduce the risk of an unprovoked shark attack. WHAT ARE 'SMART' DRUMLINES? * Shark-Management-Alert-In-Real Time drumlines are basically a traditional drumline with an alert mechanism. * When a shark takes the bait and puts pressure on the line, workers are sent to remove and release it elsewhere. * They have been trialled in Northern NSW since 2015. * In NSW, SMART drumlines are collected daily to avoid sharks dying on unmanned hooks overnight. * There has been resistance to SMART drumlines in Queensland due to cost and dangers to workers whose job it is to remove the hooked sharks. Advertisement

There has been an unprecedented number of shark attacks in the Great Barrier Reef in the last few years prompting the protection measures by the government




Prince Charles had a warm welcome as he arrived at high street store T.K.Maxx in London yesterday - particularly from one royal fan.

The Prince of Wales, 71, was greeted by well-wishers who lined the streets before he strolled into the bargain shop on Tooting High Street to meet with Prince's Trust alumni.

But one lady who couldn't contain her excitement after meeting Prince Charles, reached her hand out before gently placing it on his right cheek.

While there is no official protocol on touching members of the royal family, tradition dictates that a curtsy or bow is appropriate, while shaking hands is also acceptable.

Prince Charles, 71, was greeted by an excited fan who reached out to place a hand on his cheek as he arrived at high street store T.K.Maxx in London yesterday (pictured)

The royal was then seen walking through discounted rails of clothing while he was given a tour of the shop floor (pictured)

Despite the close contact, the royal appeared in high spirits and continued to engage in conversation with the superfan, and would no doubt have taken the touch to his face in his stride.

Following the encounter, Prince Charles could be seen walking through discounted rails of clothing while he was given a tour of the shop floor.

He went on to meet with shop workers who had been helped into employment by the Prince's Trust, before joining them for discussions about life as a young Londoner today.

The royal was greeted by Dame Martina Milburn, Chief Executive of The Princes Trust Group, as well as Louise Greenlees, who is the President of TJX Europe.

Prince Charles appeared in good spirits as he visited Tooting High Street yesterday to meet with T.K.Maxx employees

The royal could be seen beaming while meeting employees at the store who had participated in a TK Maxx Get into Retail programme with The Princes Trust

Later, the Prince of Wales remained in high spirits despite being mobbed as he departed the TK Maxx Tooting store in London

Despite being mobbed by fans outside the T.K.Maxx store, Prince Charles was all smiles and looked happy to engage in conversation

The royal went on to meet with employees at the store who had been helped through the Get Into Retail programme, which is a partnership of T K Maxx and the Prince's Trust.

He appeared engaged as he chatted and joked with employees on the shop floor.

ROYAL PROTOCOL: WHY DO ETIQUETTE RULES STILL EXIST? For visiting dignitaries, royal protocol can be a disaster waiting to happen. A complicated system of rules that have evolved over hundreds of years, the basic premise is that a respectful distance should be kept between royals and their people. Touchy-feely: Michelle Obama caused a stir when she put her arm around the Queen - and it was reciprocated - on a US presidential visit to the UK in 2009 Try telling that to Michelle Obama though; the former First Lady embraced the Queen during a US presidential visit to the UK in 2009, swiftly creating the day's newspaper headlines. And the Australians have a terrible track record, with former Prime Minister Paul Keating dubbed 'the Lizard of Oz' when he put his arm around the Queen in 1992. The uninitiated could spend several weeks studying the rules of who can speak first, where to stand, what you may call them and even where your gaze can fall. If in doubt, play it safe. Advertisement

Prince Charles went on to move upstairs and joined a discussion with the young people to hear about life as a young Londoner today.

They also discussed the challenges they face in order to gain stable employment

The Prince's Trust gives disadvantaged young people the skills and confidence to find a job.

A small crowd could be seen gathering as they attempted to catch a glimpse of the royal as he strolled through Tooting

The royal beamed as he visited the high street store earlier today where he met with Prince's Trust alumni

Prince Charles strolled past rails of discount clothing as he was given a tour as part of his visit to the store

The charity has helped 870,000 young people since 1976 and supports over 100 more each day. Three in four of these young people move into work, training or education.

T K Maxx and it's sister store Homesense have been supporting The Prince's Trust since 2013 through the Get into Retail and Achieve programmes.

The Get Into retail programme has helped over 1000 young people, with 70 per cent going on to get jobs with them.

It offers a four week course which develops young peoples skills in the retail sector and supports them into positive outcomes in retail.

It comes after a busy few weeks for Prince Charles, having travelled to Austria and Bethlehem for events in January.

Last week, he made a visit to the University of Cambridge's Whittle Laboratory, where he learned about work to develop environmentally friendly planes.

The royal appeared to browse the bargain store during his visit to Tooting high street yesterday afternoon

He donned a smart blue checked suit for the visit along with a striped shirt and a blue and white polka-dot tie

The royal walked through rails of discounted clothing during his tour of the shop floor yesterday

Prince Charles chatted with mentors and young people who had taken part in the Prince's Trust programme

The royal appeared engaged as he chatted with employees at the store who had taken part in a Prince's Trust programme

The royal could be seen beaming as he met with young people who had been helped by the Price's Trust
Kapil Baisala who opened fired at the Shaheen Bagh protest site last week is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, police said on Tuesday, sparking a war of words between the BJP and the AAP.

While the BJP accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of "playing" with the security of the country, the AAP hit back, stating the saffron party was indulging "dirty politics".

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Rajesh Deo said that Baisala and his father joined the AAP in early 2019.

Baisala's family, however, refuted the police's claim.

Kapil Baisala's uncle Fatesh Singh told PTI, "I have no idea where these photographs are circulating from. My nephew Kapil had no association with any political party nor does any other member from the family. My brother, Gaje Singh, (Baisala's father) fought assembly elections in 2008 on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket and lost. After that no one from our family had any links with any political party."



Singh added that Baisala also doesn't have friends associated with the AAP or any other political party.

Gaje had also contested the 2012 civic body polls from the BSP, the police said.

The police officer said they seized Baisala's mobile phone and retrieved WhatsApp data.

On Saturday, Baisala fired two rounds in air at Shaheen Bagh. According to eyewitnesses, the man shouted "Hindu Rashtra Zindabad" and fired two rounds.

He was overpowered by the police and later arrested.

In the pictures, it was seen that he and his father joined the party in the presence of Atishi Marlena, Sanjay Singh and other leaders, sources said.

The police said on Thursday, Baisala, along with his friend Sarthak Larolla, went to Shaheen Bagh from his village on a bike.

Through CCTV footage, it was found they took the DND flyover, Maharani Bagh, Sarai Jullena and reached Holy Family hospital, a senior police officer said.

"Baisala was not comfortable on the bike as he had hidden the pistol near his waist. They entered the hospital's parking where he adjusted the pistol, used the washroom and headed towards Shaheen Bagh," the senior official added.

When they reached the protest site, Larolla left the spot with the motorcycle and Baisala's mobile phone. Later, Baisala fired two rounds in the air and was apprehended. The weapon was recovered from near the spot, the police said.

Larolla joined the investigation and the mobile phone was seized from his residence.

Baisala has been remanded to police remand for two days.

He had bought the pistol around seven years ago for his brother's marriage. The source of the weapon from where he procured it is yet to identified, police said.

The sources said Baisala was previously also involved in firing incident but was never caught nor was a case registered against him.

Hitting out at the AAP, BJP president J P Nadda accused Kejriwal of playing with the security of the country and said that the people will give the party a befitting reply.

"I want to make clear to Kejriwal that this country is bigger than any election, any government, and the country will not forgive those who play with its security. The people of Delhi will give a befitting reply," Nadda tweeted.

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh asked on whose directions was the Delhi Police accusing his party.

"Before the police revealed it (Baisala being an AAP member), how did BJP's Delhi president Manoj Tiwari come to know about it," Singh asked and accused the police of maligning the party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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LNP councillor Kate Richards, who is facing a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation after being referred by her own party, has made an emotional speech in council insisting she is still the councillor for Pullenvale ward.

Paying tribute to her mother and grandmother on World Cancer Day for their support, Cr Richards referred to her maiden speech in 2016 when she spoke about her mothers three-year battle with cancer.

Pullenvale ward councillor Kate Richards has said a faction in her own party had been trying to vilify her for years. Credit:Tammy Law

"My mother at the age of 63, who was my wise counsel, passed away, just a few months after her mother who was 94," Cr Richards said.

"These two matriarchs shaped who I am today. It is to them that I am eternally grateful, for they showed what women can achieve.
SAN DIEGO - An African-American man fired from his TV talk show producer job at One America News Network was not harassed on the basis of racial prejudice, but was fired in part because he lodged his complaint, a California jury found.

The San Diego Superior Court jury on Monday awarded Jonathan Harris nearly $290,000 in damages, the Union-Tribune reported. The bulk of the award was for non-economic losses including pain and suffering.

The panel will reconvene Wednesday to decide whether to award Harris punitive damages.

Harris lawsuit claimed he was harassed at work based on his race and because of his liberal political views, which clashed with OANs conservative bent, according to the newspaper.

The San Diego-based cable channel gained national prominence after President Donald Trump praised it, while critics have questioned its journalistic standards.

The lawsuit named Graham Ledger, the host of a talk show that Harris helped produce and Robert Herring Sr., OANs founder and the CEO of its parent company, Herring Networks Inc.

Jurors decided Harris was not harassed or discriminated against because of his race. However, they did conclude that he had complained about race-based harassment and discrimination, and that those complaints helped motivate his firing.

The jury also found that the network failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment, or discrimination, or retaliation, the Union-Tribune reported Tuesday.

In addition, the jury found that Ledger and the network engaged in conduct with malice, oppression or fraud toward Harris.

However, the attorney representing the defendants said that the jury had mistakenly answered that question on the jury form.

Attorney Patrick Nellies said that was because the panel  in an earlier question on the form  had already unanimously cleared the defendants, including Ledger, of harassing Harris on the basis of race.

Once they were cleared of that allegation, Nellies said, Ledger and Herring were no longer part of the lawsuit.

Because Mr. Ledger had already been exonerated on the harassment claim, it was legally impossible for the jury to find that he acted with malice, fraud, or oppression, Nellies said.

Harris attorney did not immediately respond to an email from the Union-Tribune for comment on the verdict.
When Queenie Fan went looking for protective surgical masks in State College, she found that they were mostly sold out, and she said the same has been true across the region, the state and, she suspects, the country.

Its been that way, Fan said, since she and other Chinese college students studying in the United States began pooling their money to purchase medical supplies and ship them to family members and doctors overseas.

Thats been just one reaction at local colleges to the outbreak of the deadly, contagious coronavirus, which continues to sicken people in China, shutting down a city and leading officials at the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency.

College students across Pennsylvania are changing study abroad plans as universities cancel programs, Chinese students visiting the United States are worrying about loved ones back home and university officials are offering emotional support.

As of Monday afternoon, the virus had killed 362 people and infected more than 17,300 globally  most of them in China, where the virus was first detected in the city of Wuhan on Dec. 31. At least 11 cases of the virus have been detected in the United States. None of those confirmed cases have been reported in Pennsylvania.

Still, the virus continues to affect college life, specifically among those who were planning to study abroad in China this semester. Several Pennsylvania universities have canceled study abroad programs and urged staff and students to follow guidance from officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, who warned against nonessential travel to China.

The rapidly spreading virus that causes respiratory illness has raised alarm across the world, with some major airlines, including Delta and American, announcing last week that they are suspending flights between the United States and China.

U.S. State Department officials last week placed China on its do not travel list, noting that travelers should be prepared restrictions to that could be announced with little or no advance notice. The do not travel designation is the State Departments highest advisory level.

Three Dickinson College students planning to study at Peking University in Beijing will instead stay in Carlisle for the spring semester. Three students at Temple University also had plans to study abroad in China this semester, a spokesman said. None of the roughly 1,000 Temple students from China have reported any issues related to the virus, the spokesman said.

At the Univerity of Pittsburgh, officials have canceled or changed venues for spring semester and spring break programs planned in China, according to a spokesman.

Individuals from the University of Pittsburgh who are slated to visit China in the coming weeks should work to cancel these plans, officials said in a statement.

Although only a few students at the University of Pennsylvania area affected by changes in study abroad plans, hundreds of students had signed up for spring break programs in China, Director of Media Relations Ron Ozio said.

Spring break also is on Fans mind. Fan is president of Penn State Universitys Chinese Students and Scholars Association, which has hundreds of members. According to Penn States website, more than 5,000 students from China are enrolled at the universitys campuses.

Many of them, Fan said, have plans to return home for spring break in March. Though she was optimistic, Fan admitted she wonders if the virus will be under control by that time.

Thats definitely one thing that is a huge concern for students here, said Fan, a Penn State senior studying hospitality.

But its not their only concern, Fan said, pointing out that most of Penn States Chinese students have families back home where the virus has spread rapidly.

They worry about their parents a lot, she said, explaining that Wuhan has been mostly shut down, with residents and visitors encouraged to remain indoors as much as possible.

Early indications suggested that the virus may have spread to early patients through interaction with animals at seafood and livestock markets, but medical experts have since determined that the virus has been able to spread person-to-person, according to officials at the CDC.

Fan has family in the province of Jaingxi, which she said neighbors the province housing Wuhan.

In an effort to help, Fan said members of her student association have contacted Chinese doctors to find out what medical supplies they need before establishing an online fundraiser to raise money for those supplies. Theyve raised thousands of dollars but later learned of the supply shortage, she said.

Thats actually a huge problem over in China right now, she said.

In this photo released by Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Indonesian people who arrived from Wuhan, China, are sprayed antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam, Indonesia Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020. Indonesians evacuated from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landed on Batam, an island near Singapore on Sunday morning. (Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP)AP

Some of Penn States Chinese students have chosen to wear protective surgical masks on campus, too, Fan said, explaining that news of the illness spreading back home has put them really in a panic.

Its a panic thats spread to the larger student body, among whom false rumors of on-campus cases of coronavirus have been circulating, drawing unwanted attention to Chinese students, Fan said.

Those rumors have been circulating so frequently that Fan said she reached out to university officials, urging them to send out emails dispelling misinformation while providing facts. They obliged, she said.

Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers said a universitywide notice about the illness has been posted online along with information about newly implemented travel restrictions that warn staff and students not to travel to China until the virus is under control.

While we are taking every precaution to prepare for an outbreak, its very important to note that there are no cases of 2019-nCoV at Penn State and no reports of the virus in Pennsylvania at this time, Senior Director of University Health Services Dr. Robin Oliver-Veronesi said in a statement. Coronavirus symptoms can be very similar to those of the flu, which is very active right now. So, we urge anyone with flu-like symptoms to contact their health care provider for an evaluation.

Thats all in addition to a message sent solely to Chinese international students, offering counseling and other forms of support.

There are limits to what the University can do in response to a global challenge emerging half a world away, but there also is much we can offer to those among us affected by this concern, it reads.

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The problems facing Nairobi County will be dealt with Kiambu style, Minority Whip Peter Imwatok has indicated.

The Makongeni MCA says the impeachment motion against Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko is ready and will be the first on the order of business when the county assembly reconvenes from recess.

Imwatok said the motion has received the requisite signatures from Members of County Assembly in support of kicking Sonko out of office.

We know clearly that Maina Kamanda spoke loud and clear It is very clear to all Kenyans that Nairobi has a problem which ought to be sorted out in the Kiambu style. And there is no shortcut, he said.

We are initiating the process of impeachment. We have to do a motion before the assembly which will be supported by 82 members and we already have those numbers.

This come days after Nominated MP Maina Kamanda urged Nairobi MCAs to impeach Sonko.

Speaking during the swearing-in of new Kiambu Governor James Nyoro, Kamanda praised the Kiambu MCAs for impeaching Ferdinand Waititu. He further urged Nairobi ward reps to follow suit and kick Sonko out of office.

We are telling Nairobi MCAs to take note of what their Kiambu counterparts have done. Let them (Nairobi MCAs) remove that thief in office and send him home or Shimo la Tewa, said Kamanda.

However, Nairobi County Assembly Majority Leader Charles Thuo has dismissed the motion against Sonko, saying it has no support of Jubilee MCAs.

Nairobi MCAs are expected back for normal sittings on February 11, 2020.
New Delhi [India], Feb 4 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked BJP's parliamentary party members to reach out to the people and apprise them about the historic agreements to thwart insurgency and ensure peace in the North East.

Speaking to BJP MPs today morning, the Prime Minister asked them that the historic accords to settle BRU refugees and Bodo peace accord was not being highlighted and needed to be brought to the fore.

"The Prime Minister said that the central government was trying its level best to find a permanent solution to all insurgency operations in the North East on a priority basis," sources said. Prime Minister Modi also stated that historic steps taken by the government like the abrogation of 370 have sent a message to the world.

The Narendra Modi-led central government has been proactive in seeking peace for the North East region with the party also calling on ULFA and Naga extremists to join mainstream earlier. The Prime Minister pointed out that this had ensured better goodwill for the country across the region and internationally as it was attempting to promote peace in the region.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also apprised the MPs on the steps taken by the government to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, how it planned to control its spread and how Indian Nationals were flown in from China.

Apart from this issue, the Prime Minister also asked the party MPs to be more active indicating that they may have been deployed for the campaign in Delhi assembly, they still had to participate in parliamentary proceedings.

He sarcastically said that "we MPs are so busy we don't care."

The Prime Minister is also understood to have asked his party MPs to go on the offensive on budget and asked them to reach out to the masses stating that it was a pro-people budget.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Imperial Valley News Center

Court Sentences Bloods Gang Members for Racketeering Conspiracy Involving Murder

Charlotte, North Carolina - Four North Carolina members of the United Blood Nation (UBN or Bloods) street gang were sentenced in Charlotte, North Carolina, after pleading guilty to federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy charges, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray of the Western District of North Carolina.

Tyquan Ramont Powell, aka Savage, 24, of Charlotte, North Carolina, Lamonte Kentrell Lloyd, aka Murda Mo and Moo, 26, of Scotland Neck, North Carolina, Thomas Oliver, aka T.O., Recon, Rex, and Mr. Trippbadd, 34 of Gastonia, North Carolina were each sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Frank D. Whitney to serve 35 years in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release. Each of these defendants pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy charges involving murder. Judge Whitney also sentenced Marquel Michael Cunningham, aka Mayhem, 23, of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, to 15 years in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release following his guilty plea to RICO conspiracy and his role in an attempted murder.

According to court documents and evidence presented at May 2018 and October 2019 trials of co-defendants, the UBN is a violent criminal street gang operating throughout the east coast of the United States since it was founded as a prison gang in 1993. UBN members are often identified by their use of the color red, and can also often be identified by common tattoos or burn marks. The UBN has a militaristic structure, with positions of Godfather, High, Low, Five-Star to OneStar Generals and soldiers. UBN members use distinct hand signs and written codes, which are used to identify other members and rival gang members, as well as to try to thwart law enforcement efforts against them.

Members of the UBN are expected to conduct themselves and their illegal activity according to rules and regulations set by their leaders. Prominent among these is a requirement to pay monthly dues to the organization, often in the amounts of $31 or $93. UBN gang dues are derived from illegal activity performed by subordinate UBN members including narcotics trafficking, robberies and wire fraud, among other forms of illegal racketeering activity.

According to court documents, Powell and Lloyd were members of the UBN and together committed two murders and three attempted murders in January and February of 2016. Powell and Lloyd committed the first murder in Scotland Neck, North Carolina, by shooting into a car with three occupants because they believed one of the occupants was cooperating with law enforcement and intended to testify in a criminal case against a close associate of the defendants. Bullets struck all three occupants and the intended target of the shooting was killed. The defendants then fled to, among other places, Charlotte, North Carolina, where they received refuge and resources from UBN members and associates while attempting to evade arrest.

Powell and Lloyd also committed murder in Gastonia, North Carolina, while attempting to rob four victims using handguns. When the victims resisted the defendants robbery attempt, Powell fired his gun and killed one of the victims, who was attempting to flee to safety. Powell and Lloyd also attempted to rob another victim in Charlotte, North Carolina. Lloyd shot the victim in the back of the head, but the victim was effectively treated for his injuries at the hospital and lived.

According to court documents and evidence presented at an October 2019 trial of a co-defendant, Oliver drove himself and four other UBN members from Cleveland County, North Carolina, to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in order to rob an 18-year-old victim of marijuana and money. Oliver coordinated the crimes as a local UBN leader, and was present when his fellow gang members shot and killed the robbery victim and attempted to kill the victims friend, who survived a gunshot wound to his arm.

Also according to court documents, Cunningham committed an armed robbery for the UBN, as well as an assault of a fellow UBN member for violating UBN gang rules. Court documents and evidence presented at sentencing also showed that Cunningham was present in a car with UBN coconspirators in November 2014 when they saw a man who Cunningham believed to be a member of the rival gang called the Crips. Cunningham pointed the man out to his fellow Bloods and flashed UBN gang hand signs. Occupants of the car then opened fire on the victim, exited the car, and chased the victim while shooting approximately a dozen times. No one was injured in the attempted murder.

In May 2017, 83 UBN gang members were indicted in the Western District of North Carolina for RICO conspiracy and other crimes. In all, 82 defendants have been adjudicated guilty from the investigation. A jury convicted three top leaders of the UBN of racketeering conspiracy in May 2018, one defendant was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy at a bench trial in July 2019, and a jury convicted four defendants of racketeering conspiracy and other charges in October 2019.

The investigation was conducted by the FBIs Charlotte Field Office; the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department; the Shelby Police Department; the Cleveland County Sheriffs Office; the Gastonia Police Department; the North Carolina State Highway Patrol; the Mecklenburg County Sheriffs Office; the North Carolina Department of Public Safety Adult Corrections and Juvenile Justice; North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles; Scotland Neck Police Department; the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation; the Halifax County Sheriffs Office; the U.S. Federal Probation; the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the IRS Criminal Investigation; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command; and the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Office of Special Investigations. Trial Attorney Beth Lipman of the Criminal Divisions Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matt Warren and Christopher Hess for the Western District of North Carolina are prosecuting the case.

This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program. OCDETF is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nations primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations, and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
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A Russian satellite will reportedly be making its closest approach yet to a US spacecraft that it has been stalking in orbit since last week.

As of last Thursday, the Russian satellite, Cosmos 2542, had synchronised its orbit with USA 245, a US satellite deployed for military and intelligence applications.

This shift in orbit had brought Cosmos 2542 within about 90 miles of USA 245, according to Michael Thompson, a graduate researcher at Space Flight Projects Laboratory at Purdue University.

But the two satellites are set to move even closer this weekend  possibly as close as 26 miles (42km) as of this Thursday afternoon  publicly available satellite data reveals.

'Cosmos 2542 made another maneuver on January 31st and is now drifting back towards USA 245,' tweeted Thompson.

'Closest approach is currently set for February 7-10.'

The blue line (US satellite) and the purple line (Russian satellite) as the latter moves to within a relatively short distance between the two

Cosmos 2542 has had the capability to observe USA 245 consistently for the past week and is loitering around US 245 in consistent view, Thompson said last week.

It's unknown why the Russian inspection satellite started to track the US craft, but there may be a counter-intelligence motive.

USA 245 captures photos of Earth to benefit the US government's intelligence efforts.

By moving closer, Cosmos 2542 may be capturing intelligence photos of its own of USA 245 or moving into a position to debilitate its new American space neighbour.

Russia has a number of communications satellites positioned above the Earth that the Kremlin could use to gather intelligence or even disable or destroy other satellites, according to The Drive.

This could potentially usher in a new era of space war, where weaponised satellites in orbit attempt to gain ground on satellites from other nations.

Dates on the x axis and kilometres on the y axis of this graph illustrate the distance between the two satellites - and what could be the closest approach yet this weekend

The Russian satellite was launched in November but only since late January had it started to orbit relatively close to its American counterpart, according to Thompson based on data detailed online by a community of amateur satellite trackers.

As Im typing this, that offset distance shifts between 150 and 300 kilometres [93 and 186 miles] depending on the location in the orbit, Thompson tweeted last Thursday.

This distance is relatively close for two satellites orbiting at a speed of thousands of miles an hour  about a second apart, he said.

The relative orbit is actually pretty cleverly designed, where Cosmos 2542 can observe one side of the KH11 [USA 245] when both satellites first come into sunlight, and by the time they enter eclipse, it has migrated to the other side.

Their orbital periods are now less than 1 second apart, meaning that Cosmos 2542 is 'loitering around USA 245 in consistent view'

Thompson said there is a hell of a lot of circumstances that make it look like a known Russian inspection satellite is currently tracking the US spy satellite.

Cosmos 2542 was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, about 500 miles north of Moscow, back in November, and settled into orbit between 250 miles and 550 miles over the Earths surface.

In December, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced it had conducted an experiment to deploy another smaller satellite, called Cosmos 2543, while in orbit, The Drive reports.

When launched, the Russian Ministry of Defense said: The purpose of the experiment is to continue work on assessing the technical condition of domestic satellites.

On the original launch in November, Russia said that only Russian satellites would be inspected, Thompson added.
The Japanese governments drive to reform public education through controversial changes in the common university entrance exam has hit two major potholes, calling into question the very premises of the reform. A leading opponent of the plan criticizes the dogma-driven policy-making process, which ignores the real crisis facing public education in Japan.

Associate professor, Graduate School of Education, University of Tokyo. Specializes in the sociology of education. Born in 1967. Graduated and received his PhD in education from the University of Tokyo. Author of Boso suru noryokushugi (Meritocracy Run Amok) and other works.

The governments drive to overhaul Japans university entrance exam system with an emphasis on critical thinking and real world English skillsone of Prime Minister Abe Shinzos pet projectshas hit two major potholes on the eve of the scheduled transition. On November 1, 2019, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology Hagiuda Koichi announced that plans to outsource English-language testing to the private sector were being postponed. Then on December 17, the minister pulled the plug on another centerpiece of the reform, the inclusion of written-response (as opposed to multiple-choice) questions in the Japanese and mathematics portions of the new Common Test for University Admissions, slated to replace the 30-year-old National Center Test for University Admissions in January 2021.

Precipitating the debacle was a televised gaffe by Hagiuda, who appeared to sanction unequal opportunity when he spoke of students competing in keeping with their [economic] status on the private English tests. But the reforms were controversial from the start. The new emphasis on spoken English was unpopular with educators, and the plan for outsourcing English testing raised serious questions about equal access and opportunity, among other concerns. With respect to the use of written-response questions, education experts and advocates questioned the ability of test administrators to ensure fair and accurate scoring. The government was ultimately obliged to admit that it had no answers to these concerns.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) has said that it will take an additional year to study the issue of written sections and the best way to evaluate student proficiency on the four skills of English (reading, listening, speaking, and writing). It currently plans to introduce a new English-language testing scheme during the 202425 academic year, but it has offered no timeline for introduction of written sections. Meanwhile, pressure is building for further delay while policy makers rethink the premise of their reform plan.

A Dogma-Driven Reform

Among those fighting the current timetable is the Conference on Entrance Examination Reform (Nyushi Kaikaku o Kangaeru Kai), a recently organized group of university professors and professional test-prep instructors. Professor Nakamura Takayasu of the University of Tokyo was one of the groups founders.

From the beginning, there was a lot of buzz on social media expressing concern about the reforms, he explains, especially in respect to the outsourcing of English testing. But the design of the new system was so untenable that we figured it would stall of its own accord. When it became clear that they meant to go through with it regardless, we became really alarmed. In August 2019, a group of us, including [Chukyo University Professor] Ouchi Hirokazu, [test-prep instructor] Yoshida Hiroyuki, and myself, launched the Conference on Entrance Examination Reform. In November and December, we submitted letters calling on MEXT to rethink its exam reform plans and postpone implementation of the new test.

As Nakamura sees it, education policy makers, driven by dogma, closed their eyes to the realities of public education in Japan and tuned out the advice of experts and educators on the ground.

Theres a tendency to associate entrance-test preparation with rote memorization of historical names and dates, English vocabulary, and so forth. Reform advocates in the ruling party and the bureaucracy presumably began with the assumption that we need to get away from the spoon-feeding and regurgitation of rote knowledge that dominates secondary education in Japan, explains Nakamura.

This assumption pervades the 2014 recommendations of the Central Council for Education on integrated reform of high school and university education, which set the direction for reform of the entrance examination system. The council repeatedly criticizes the emphasis on memorization and repetition of factual knowledge, arguing that it has left Japan unprepared to meet the future. It insists that students need to create knowledge rather than storing it up and calls for a shift from passive learning to an active, independent, student-driven approach.

This is scarcely a new concept. In Japan, educational policy makers have been criticizing rote learning and evaluation ever since the establishment of the Ad Hoc Council on Educational Reform under Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro in the mid-1980s. The council called for a shift from a uniform, standardized education system to a flexible model that respected individual differences with a view to preparing Japanese citizens for the demands of internationalization and an information-intensive society. That was the starting point for a long procession of reforms guided by the same basic dogma.

For more than three decades now, theyve been reiterating this notion of reforming education to develop new abilities adapted to the futurebasic skills completely different from those of the past. But all theyve really done is invent new jargon for the same abilities people have always valued. Furthermore, its all based on an inaccurate perception of whats actually going in education today.

A Global Snipe Hunt

Nakamura attributes such criticism of the education system to higher levels of educational attainment overall and the proliferation of information, compounded by growing social malaise and insecurity about the future of our economy in a changing international environment.

The trend is by no means unique to Japan. In the early 2000s, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development introduced the idea of key competencies in its Program for International Student Assessment. In a complex, fast-changing society where the specific knowledge and skill sets needed for success are difficult to anticipate, the OECD stressed the ability to use tools (such as language and technology) interactively, to interact in heterogenous groups, and to act autonomously as fundamental to success in a well-functioning society. Successive Japanese reform programs have likewise extolled such ideals as ikiru chikaratranslated as zest for livingand independent thinking skills, as if they were new concepts.

It turns out that its not so easy to identify new abilities. When people insist on coming up with something new anyway, what they end up with is just new names for abilities that everyone has to start with. In Japan, theres this assumption that the West is more advanced than us, but people over there have been chasing their tails on education reform as well. Maybe the whole idea of molding our curriculum to a vision of society fifty or a hundred years hence is misguided. It seems to me that at a time when the future is so opaque, we should be looking back on what weve done to this point and, with that as a foundation, see how we can add to it.

The Fantasy of Top-Down Reform

In regard to English teaching in particular, Nakamura accuses policy makers of pursuing a simplistic utilitarianism divorced from reality. In the face of widespread and vocal opposition from language-education specialists, they persisted in their determination to impose change from the top down by incorporating practical English communication skills into the university entrance exams. The plan to outsource the test to private companies was a total, albeit predictable, failure.

The Japanese have an inferiority complex when it comes to English because a lot of people here study the language for ten years, beginning in junior high school, without achieving conversational proficiency. Businesses have lobbied for change because they want to hire university graduates who can hit the ground running. But the kind of English you need to function in the real world differs by industry and profession. The relative importance of reading, listening, speaking, and writing also varies. If the aim is professional and business proficiency, then it seems to me it would be faster to develop industry- or company-level language training programs than to try to engineer reform via the university entrance exam system.

The architects and supporters of the recent reforms have high hopes that they can change the way secondary schools teach by changing the university entrance exams. Nakamura is skeptical. When you change the exam, all that really triggers is a change in test-taking strategies, he argues. Adopt speaking tests, and immediately people will be offering tips and tools for passing specific exams. Is that what we mean by real-world English? Im betting the outcome will be quite different from what the policy makers envisioned.

Reality Check

Nakamura and other members of the Conference on Entrance Exam Reform acknowledge that a computer-graded multiple-choice exam like the National Center Test for University Admissions can only provide so much information about a students abilities. Unfortunately, a lot of second- and third-tier universities rely on it because they lack the resources to design their own entrance exams, he says. But the answer is to use the National Center Test as one screening tool, while at the same time supporting alternative pathways, such as admission by recommendation or admissions-office [AO] screening [on the basis of grades, interviews, personal essays, etc.]."

AO screening and other alternative pathways offer precious opportunities for students from less advantaged high schools, bad test takers, and others whose potential may not be adequately gauged by the results of standardized multiple-choice examinations. According to MEXT, in academic year 2018, a full 45.2% of incoming Japanese university students were admitted by recommendation or on the basis of multiple factors under AO screening. Among private universities, the share came to more than half. Moreover, applicants to Japans most prestigious universities need to demonstrate much more than memorization skills in these institutions individual exams to outshine the competition. In Nakamuras view, the belief that Japans university admissions process encourages a focus on mindless memorization is out of step with todays realities.

Nakamura believes that the goal of linking high school and higher education, as touted by the Central Council for Education, should be pursued by providing support tailored to individual students, so they can fulfil their potential at university, rather than revamping the entrance exam system.

He feels that government policy makers should stop wasting their time trying to perfect the university entrance exam and start addressing the serious real-world challenges facing Japanese schools and school teachers today. Theres a shortage of full-time teachers, so more and more positions are being filled by part-time and temporary staff. I know of cases in which faculty members had to take time off on account of illness, and the school was unable to find anyone to take over their duties. That can go on for a whole semester in some cases.

In one Tokyo elementary school, a teacher resigned because the students in the class were out of control, and they couldnt find a permanent replacement. The substitute teacher they brought in also quit in a hurry, so the vice-principal ended up teaching the class, but that didnt work out either. The chaos spread to neighboring classrooms until the entire grade was in turmoil. Parents demanded extra staffing to deal with the situation, but there was no extra staff available. All over the country were seeing similar cases of serious dysfunction in our compulsory education system.

The government sees little need to boost the ranks of full-time teachers, given the ongoing decline in the school-age population. But Nakamura and others argue that the demands of teaching have escalated drastically.

As things stand today, schools lack the capacity to implement the reforms envisioned by the central government. Our policy makers need to recognize that more teachers are urgently needed to shore up the foundations of school education in Japan.

In another example of reform by fiat, MEXT has decreed that English will become a required subject in the elementary school curriculum beginning in April this year. But the government has provided only meager budgetary support for the change. Its a thoughtless plan, complains Nakamura. If they want elementary school students to learn English, then they should design a real program and allocate funds to train elementary school teachers overseas, or hire qualified English-language instructors, or even pay junior high school English teachers extra to go and teach in elementary schools. Instead, theyre trying to do it on the cheap with some training course that elementary teachers are supposed to take in their spare time.

Spare time is something Japans notoriously overworked schoolteachers have precious little of. Yet a law enacted in December 2019 as part of the Abe cabinets work-style reform actually raises the limit on overtime for public school teachers during busy periods, offering extended vacations during school breaks in return. Teachers are furious about the change, according to Nakamura.

The teachers are saying that their responsibilities wont allow them to compensate [for the extra overtime] by working fewer hours during summer break. If thats the case, then what were seeing is yet another reform whose basic thrust is divorced from the realities of our schools.

(Originally published in Japanese on January 17, 2020, based on an interview by Itakura Kimie of Nippon.com. Banner photo: High school students prepare to sit for the National Center Test for University Admissions at the University of Tokyos Bunkyo campus on January 19, 2019.  Jiji.)
WASHINGTON  Whos clapping now?

On the brink of his Senate acquittal, President Donald Trump will be unleashing relentless optimism during his third State of the Union address, a speech designed to pivot from his impeachment to his drive for reelection. Trump is speaking from a position of strength, with nearly complete control of the Republican Party. The theme of his speech: The Great American Comeback.

Itll be a different experience for Democrats, nearly all of whom voted for Trumps impeachment in the House. Where Trump will point to GOP unity ahead of the 2020 elections, Democrats and their difficult nomination will be on display after a long night of uncertainty in Iowas kickoff caucuses  an unmitigated disaster, as Trump tweeted Tuesday.

The contrast with Trumps State of the Union address last year will be stark. Then, Democrats were triumphant just a few days after taking control of the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi had forced Trump to reopen the government. Her smirking clap, eye-to-eye with him, mocked the president of the United States in front of the world.

What to watch during Trumps speech at 9 p.m. EST Tuesday:

___

TRUMP AND PELOSI

Trump walks into the House chamber Tuesday night between what hell tout are two victories: Iowa Democrats technical failure that delayed Mondays caucus results and his expected acquittal in the Senate on Wednesday.

The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country, Trump Tweeted Tuesday morning, declaring himself the only big winner of the contest.

Watch the body language as the steps to the podium  just a few feet from Pelosi  in the very chamber where he was impeached .

Also in the chamber will be Chief Justice John Roberts, the presiding officer of Trumps Senate impeachment trial.

Trump and Pelosi havent spoken since Pelosi stood up, pointed at Trump across a table at the White House and bluntly suggested he is controlled by the president of Russia. All roads lead to Putin, she said, before stalking out.

The extraordinary moment last October was captured in a now-famous photograph that Trump released and Pelosi slapped across the top of her Twitter page. At other times, shes questioned his manhood and hes called her crazy.

Impeachment has only inflamed things. Pelosi last week said Trump will never have a true acquittal because the Senate did not hold a real trial with witnesses. But, shes said with relish, Hell be impeached forever.

____

TONE

The White House said last week to look for can-do optimism in the face of unjustified pessimism we are hearing from some in Congress. But how will he handle impeachment?

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said hed seen the speech and Ive not seen the word impeachment. But, as the president likes to say, well see what happens.

Theres no guarantee that Trump will stick to his speech. The president will be in the same room as his accusers at a moment of impending victory. He has a strong and often-stated sense of grievance and is known for going off-script.

Look for roaring applause and cheers from Republicans, who have almost completely stuck with the retribution-loving president.

___

THE BIG PICTURE

Trump is sure to use the speech to try to remind the country of what hes accomplished.

The White House would not say whether it is modeling Trumps speech on President Bill Clintons in 1999, amid his own impeachment trial. Clinton never mentioned the I-word.

Look for Trump, like Clinton, to promote a strong economy. Trump is expected to lead with talk about what the White House calls a blue-collar boom. There have been gains in blue-collar wages under Trump, though some of those gains have faded as Trumps trade war hurt manufacturing.

Watch to see if Trump can stick to the high road rhetorically, in his own style. Clinton ended his by asking the nation to envision a State of the Union speech 100 years from that night, from the mountaintop of the American Century.

Let it be said of us then that we were thinking not only of our time, but of their time; that we reached as high as our ideals. That we put aside our divisions and found a new hour of healing and hopefulness; that we joined together to serve and strengthen the land we love.

At the time, some said his rhetoric was over the top.

____

UKRAINE?

Will Trump even mention Ukraine? Republicans have started to come out and agree that the president had inappropriately tried to get political help from that country while he held up military aid.

The House impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for his actions in response to the House investigation.

The issue clearly puts Republicans in a bind. Several have said that House prosecutors proved their case, but even so, the wrongdoing didnt rise to the level of impeachment or removal from office.

___

CORONAVIRUS

Will he make any mention of the new coronavirus?

Weve offered China help, but we cant have thousands of people coming in who may have this problem, the coronavirus, Trump said Sunday. At the same time, the president has tried to avoid angering China by being too outspoken, according to confidants.

Under new rules, U.S. citizens who have traveled in China within the last 14 days will be re-routed to one of 11 designated airports, where they will undergo enhanced health screening procedures.

___

MIDEAST PEACE

Trump is focused on re-introducing himself to Americans as a president who has made the country  and voters lives specifically  better. So listen for any mention of foreign policy and national security issues.

Trumps Mideast peace plan is a good test. Trump said that his efforts to solve the long-running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians would gain support because its a win-win for both sides. In fact, Trumps plan favors Israel on key contentious issues and attaches nearly impossible conditions for granting the Palestinians their hoped-for state. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plan as nonsense.

If Trump says nothing about the plan during the speech, that could signal that Trump knows its in trouble.

___

IRAN

Listen for how harsh Trump is on Tehran in the wake of Irans bombing that injured U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The attack was retribution for the U.S. killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. In the month since, an uneasy quiet has settled over the region.

Will Trump suggest hell eventually want to sit down and talk with the Iranians, signal the door is closed for talks, or poke Tehran?

The White House said to expect Trumps tone to be determined and forceful.

___

IN THE ROOM

Theres always some suspense over who shows up and who stays away.

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warrens campaign said late Monday it was unlikely that the Massachusetts senator will attend Trumps speech, coming the day after the Iowa caucuses. Another Democratic contender, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, has an event in New Hampshire scheduled earlier Tuesday evening.

Other legislators have their own reasons for attending  or not.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said shell attend to bear witness.

That means that I do not clap. I do not acknowledge. Im just there as a witness, she said.

____

Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.

____

Follow Kellman at http://www.Twitter.com/APLaurieKellman
Kenya has requested technical support from Ghana to introduce double track system in its secondary schools as part of ongoing educational reform in the East African country.

It is seeking a government- to -government support to conceptualise and design the system to enable the country to achieve 100 per cent transition for two cohorts of students who would enter secondary school in 2023.

A letter from Kenyas Ministry of Education to its Ghanaian counterpart, sighted by the Ghanaian Times, applauded Ghana for the robust reforms that your country has embarked on and the success stories are emerging.

Dated January 31, 2020 and signed by its cabinet secretary, Professor George Magoha, the letter was addressed to Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the sector minister.

I will appreciate if you can consider sending one or two officers to spend about 10 days in Kenya , preferably before the end of March, 2020 to help conceptualise and design the double track system, it said.

It expressed the hope of the country for a fruitful engagement and other initiatives to continuously improve the quality of education in our respective countries and the continent.

The double track system is a shift system introduced in Senior High Schools (SHS) in Ghana in 2018, to ensure that all qualified students had access to a SHS education following accommodation challenges encountered as a result of the Free SHS programme implementation the previous year.

It is in two sessions, Green and Gold in which students alternate during vacation to study.

The government is currently building more infrastructure across the country to gradually end the system.

Find a copy of the letter below:
By Colin Young | State House News Service

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe will get a hearing before a federal judge this week to appeal a 2016 ruling that 321 acres of reservation land in Mashpee and Taunton could not be held in trust for the tribe, which had broken ground on a $1 billion casino in Taunton.

Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell said in a tribal newsletter last week that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit will take up the tribe's appeal at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Boston.

"Through this appeal, the Tribe hopes to uphold the original Record of Decision accepting the Tribe's land into trust. This appeal concerns the question of whether the Department of the Interior was [authorized to] take the Tribe's land into trust," Cromwell said in the notice.

In early 2016, the Obama administration took 321 acres of reservation land in Taunton and Mashpee into trust for the Wampanoag tribe, which was federally-recognized in 2007. The tribe planned to construct its $1 billion First Light Resort and Casino on the land in Taunton.

After a citizen group challenged the land in trust designation, a federal judge's ruling later in 2016 nullified the Obama administration's decision and President Donald Trump's administration last year officially reversed the Obama-era declaration. The tribe appealed the case, Littlefield et al. v. U.S. Department of the Interior, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

At issue is whether the tribe qualifies as "Indian" under the second definition included in the 1934 federal Indian Reorganization Act. That definition applies the term "Indian" for the purposes of the law to "all persons who are descendants of such members who were, on June 1, 1934, residing within the present boundaries of any Indian reservation."

The plaintiffs challenging the land in trust decision argue that the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe cannot qualify as "Indian" under the IRA, and therefore would not qualify for land in trust status, because the tribe was not under federal jurisdiction in 1934. The tribe argues that saying its members do not qualify for protections under the IRA is ridiculous.

"Appellant is part of the Indian tribe that met with the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving and thereafter suffered hundreds of years of persecution and land theft. It has maintained its tribal identity, community, and culture," lawyers for the tribe wrote in a recent brief. "A conclusion that Appellant is not 'Indian' is too absurd and darkly ironic even for Franz Kafka and antithetical to the IRA's ambitious mission. Such a ruling would place yet another black mark in the long ledger of the United States' history of failing to treat this Indian Tribe fairly and honorably."

Cromwell said the court is not expected to make a decision at Wednesday's hearing, which will consist of 15 minutes of arguments from each side, but "will likely do so within the next several months."

A further ruling in the case could help break up a bit of a logjam in the state's gaming policy. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has been considering whether to solicit proposals for the state's third resort casino license, which would be required to go to a project in either Bristol, Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes or Nantucket county, and has kept a close eye on the status of the tribe's effort.

In 2016, when it appeared a tribal casino in Taunton was likely, regulators rejected a proposal for a commercial casino in Brockton. Since then, the commission has fended off repeated requests from gambling giant Rush Street Gaming to reconsider its rejected 2016 proposal.

The possibility of a tribal casino in Taunton -- the $1 billion First Light Resort and Casino the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe hopes to build would have a significant impact on the state's commercial casino industry -- is a major consideration for regulators as they seek public and industry comments on what the commission should take into account if it moves forward with a southeastern Massachusetts casino bid.

One concern, as expressed by local officials and others, is that commercial casino operators might not be willing to invest the minimum $500 million in a project that could have to compete with a nearby tribal casino. If the Gaming Commission opts to go ahead with licensing a commercial casino in Region C and the tribe is allowed to open its own casino under federal law, Massachusetts would receive no tax revenue from the tribal casino.

Though the hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit could be a meaningful step forward in the tribe's quest, it will not necessarily end the legal wrangling over the tribe's land. There's also a case in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia -- Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe v. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt -- in which the tribe argues that the interior secretary failed to properly consider extensive factual evidence it submitted to make the case that it should be eligible for land in trust.

As the tribe works to secure its land in trust through the courts, U.S. Rep. William Keating, who represents Taunton and Mashpee, has pushed legislation that would use the power of Congress to reaffirm the 2015 decision by the Interior Department to take land into trust for the tribe, though Trump has opposed it.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 275-146 in May to approve that bill, titled the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act, and it has not moved since being referred to the U.S. Senate that same month.
DES MOINES  For a third consecutive cycle, Iowas first-in-the-nation presidential precinct caucuses featured an error or delay in reporting results.

Official results from Mondays Democratic Iowa caucuses, the kickoff of the process that ultimately selects the nations next president, were delayed as the state party dealt with inconsistencies in the reporting.

As of midnight, the Iowa Democratic Party had released no official results even though most precinct caucuses were finished.

Black Hawk County Democrats were voicing frustration Monday as precinct chairs attempting to call in caucus results to Des Moines were put on hold for 30 minutes or more.

Precinct workers were returning stands and caucus cards to the downtown Waterloo party headquarters and had been instructed to try emailing the results to the state party.

No full Black Hawk County results were available as of 10 p.m. on caucus night.

Precinct leaders across the state said they had issues using the app that was designed to report results to the state party, and also had issues reaching the state party in order to use backup systems.

Elesha Gayman, chairwoman of the Scott County Democrats, said late Monday she was at a local union hall in Davenport collecting the vote tallies from precincts around the county. She was aware of only one precinct chair who had been able to successfully use the app to report results.

At about 10:15 p.m., Gayman said she had collected the results from 17 precincts and was waiting to report them. She said shed been on hold for about 30 minutes.

Its definitely put a strain on the system, she said.

The delay in reporting official results came on a night when the state party planned to alter the way it reported caucus results.

For the first time, the party planned to release not only the final number of state delegate equivalents earned by each candidate, but the number of participants who lined up for each candidate in the first and final rounds of caucusing.

We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results, the state party said in a statement. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report. This is simply a reporting issue; the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.

It is the third consecutive cycle the state parties have had an issue reporting caucus results.

In 2012, Iowa Republicans reported late on caucus night that Mitt Romney won a close race over Rick Santorum. After a recount, it was discovered Santorum had actually beaten Romney.

In 2016, Iowa Democrats did not report the results of a historically close race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders until the early morning hours the next day.

While Republican President Donald Trump mocked Iowa Democrats in a late-night statement, Republican Party of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann implored Americans to be patient while Iowa Democrats sort out the caucus results.

Accuracy is so much more important (than timely reporting, Kaufmann said during an interview on WHO-TV in Des Moines. This is transparent. The entire world is going to be able to check these numbers and audit these results.  Accuracy should take precedence here.

The kerfuffle in reporting Mondays results could all but eliminate the impact of the results, as Iowa Democrats gathered to choose a nominee to face Trump.

Early reporting from precincts across the state suggested encouraging results for Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, and a difficult night for Joe Biden.

Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar also appeared in the run for top-4 finishes.

But without official results as of late Monday evening, the candidates gave generic speeches and pledged to move on to New Hampshire, whose first-in-the-nation primary election is next Tuesday, February 11.

We dont know all the results, but we know by the time its all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation. Because by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious, Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, told his supporters late Monday evening.

Sanders also expressed an optimistic view of the Iowa results  whenever they arrive.

When those results are announced, I have a feeling were going to be doing very good here in Iowa, Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont, told his supporters. The message that Iowa has sent to the nation, the message shared by the American people, is that we want a government that represents all of us, not just wealthy campaign contributors and the 1%.

Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, said her campaign is one step closer to winning, and Klobuchar, a U.S. senator from Minnesota, proclaimed her campaign has beat the odds every step of the way.

Biden, the former vice president, promised his supporters, Were going to get this done. 

On to New Hampshire.

Courier Staff Writer Tim Jamison contributed to this article.

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As a 24-year-old Plainfield Township man, found in contempt of a protection from abuse order on Wednesday afternoon, was led to prison, he threatened to kill a woman and a child, authorities report.

Mykol Jason Bradford, of the 400 block of Sexton Road, was in Northampton County Court after violating the order, the county sheriffs department said in court papers. After Judge Abraham Kassis found Bradford in contempt, deputies were returning Bradford to the prison when the defendant asked how much more time he would spend behind bars, court papers say. When Bradford was told 30 days, he became agitated and stated approximately 5-6 times, Im going to kill that bitch when I get out," adding at one point, Im going to kill that bitch and her child when I get out, court papers say.

Bradford has since been charged with 15 counts of terroristic threats, five counts of disorderly conduct and five counts of harassment, records show. He has yet to be arraigned. He remained Tuesday morning in jail.

Court papers dont list an attorney for Bradford in this case or the contempt case.

He did a stint in jail in 2017 and 2018 after pleading guilty to simple assault, records show. He initially received nine months of probation, but he was found in violation of that status and sentenced to 45 days in nine months in jail, records show. After being paroled, he violated conditions again and went back to jail, records say.

He was ordered at the time to get into a drug rehabilitation and anger management programs, records show.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Jacobabad/IBNS: Members of the Hindu community recently staged protests here after a court in Pakistan did not record statement of minor Hindu girl Mehak Kumari who was allegedly kidnapped and then converted to Islam forcibly and was married to a man named Ali Raza Machi.

The protest took place in Jacobabad.

The incident remained as another instance of persecution of minorities in the Muslim-dominated South Asian nation.

The protest came as the second hearing in the case of the alleged forced conversion of 15-year-old Mehak Kumari, a Pakistani Hindu girl, was deferred after the judge cancelled it, saying he was unwell, reported Sputnik news agency.

The protesters could be seen holding placards which read: "Mehak Kumari Wants Justice."

#Breaking;Hindu community in #Jacobabd,Pakistan staged protest after court didnt recorded statement of minor #HinduGirl #MehakKumari who was allegedly kidnapped, converted to #Islam & married to a Muslim. Pak Rangers sealed the city to stop Hindus to assemble in favour of #Mehak pic.twitter.com/Vjo3T333No  Ravinder Singh Robin aaaaaa aaaa UUUUUU UU (@rsrobin1) February 3, 2020

Sharing the video of the protest, journalist Ravinder Singh Robin tweeted: "#Breaking;Hindu community in #Jacobabd,Pakistan staged protest after court didnt recorded statement of minor #HinduGirl #MehakKumari who was allegedly kidnapped, converted to #Islam & married to a Muslim. Pak Rangers sealed the city to stop Hindus to assemble in favour of #Mehak."
Ashley Menser, 36, was sentenced January 22 by Lebanon County, Pennsylvania Judge Samuel A. Kline to serve 10 months to seven years in prison. Menser pleaded guilty to shoplifting $109.63 worth of merchandise from a local grocery store in 2018.

In a news release, Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf stated that Menser pled open, meaning that the court decides the sentence it deems appropriate. The judge has made her eligible for parole as early as seven and a quarter months under a special program for nonviolent offenders.

Menser and her family were hoping that the fact that she was being treated for cancer would persuade the judge to either delay or defer her sentencing. They were wrong. Menser was diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and her family says she has advanced ovarian cancer as well as cervical cancer.

Ashley Menser

Her family and attorney asked that she be allowed to serve her sentence under house arrest and be allowed to undergo treatment from her doctors at Hershey Medical Centers Cancer Institute. Menser had an oncology appointment at Hershey later on the morning of January 22, the same day as her sentencing, where she was expected to be scheduled for a hysterectomy to remove the cancer that has already spread to her lymph nodes.

However, Judge Kline showed no mercy and denied their requests.

Stephanie Bashore, Mensers mother, said she had met with a doctor who said that Menser would likely die within a month if she did not receive treatment. She has no choice, its life or death, she told reporters. The doctors sat there and told us this. On news of his daughters sentencing, Steve Via, her father, told the PA Post, I sat there and sat there and was like, No, this cant happen. She must have this operation or shes going to die.

Menser has a history of drug abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), for which she is receiving psychiatric medication. Her PTSD is likely connected to the loss of one of her children. The 2018 shoplifting charge resulted in her ninth shoplifting conviction since 2007. Due to the prior convictions, this latest charge was a felony, carrying a maximum possible prison sentence of 10 years.

Her mother said she had been trying to turn her life around and had gotten a job at a fast food restaurant. Her wages there, however, would not have relieved her of any financial distress she might have been suffering in her life.

There are sentencing guidelines in Pennsylvania that allow judges discretion in sentencing for defendants suffering from mental illness. The law is unclear on sentencing for those suffering from terminal illnesses. In Mensers case, the line between mental illness and physical illness is blurred, as she suffered from both cancer and PTSD. According to her lawyer, Scot Feeman, the medication she was taking for her PTSD caused her to act out irrationally.

Since being sentenced, Menser has been held in the Lebanon County Correctional Facility. Although court dockets show Judge Kline did urge she be moved to a state correctional facility promptly so her medical needs could be addressed, the latest reports received by the family indicated she was still in the county facility.

At the Lebanon County facility, while inmates can request to see a doctor, a doctor is only available two days per week. The facility contracts a private company, PrimeCare, to attend to inmates medical need, and is unlikely to have highly skilled oncologists on staff.

Bureau of Justice statistics in 2016 estimated that 22 percent of US inmate deaths were cancer related, while it is not clear how many of these cases were pre-existing. Cancer is the leading cause of death for state prisoners in Pennsylvania.

The laws of modern American society take a heavy toll on the poor and most vulnerable. Those suffering from cancer and other serious diseases have to fight to overcome their medical conditions as they struggle to pay for the treatment necessary to do so.

A 2018 study from the American Journal of Medicine found that of the 9,527,522 diagnoses of cancer studied between 2000 and 2012, 42.2 percent had lost their entire lifes assets by the second year.

It is under these conditions that the Trump administration recently unveiled a change in the Medicaid program, the health program for the poor jointly administered by the federal government and the states, that would allow states to cap Medicaid spending for poor adults without children, an estimated 13.1 million of whom have gained coverage under the Affordable Care Act since 2014.

The proposal would also allow states to limit prescription choices to just one drug per class for most conditions. Access to drugs would be restricted for a range of serious illnesses, like the cancer debilitating people like Menser.

Additionally, a new Trump rule going into effect in April would allow states to impose work requirements for receiving food stamps (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) on many of those designated as Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents. By the governments own estimates, this restriction would cause 700,000 adults to lose their benefits. In reality, these able-bodied individuals are often unable to work due to a disability that cannot be documented or are the caregiver for another adult.
Overland Park businessman weighing run for U.S. Senate in Kansas An Overland Park businessman best known locally for his company's "Better Call Bob" tagline is considering jumping into the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts. Bob Hamilton, who has frequently appeared in his plumbing company's television and radio commercials, met with officials from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) last week to discuss his possible candidacy, a source familiar with the discussion confirmed to The Star.

Draining the swamp didn't really happen so now maybe Kansas can look beyond the alt-right vs. establishment GOP debate to a small biz dude who has practical experience working on toilet and sink drains . . . And yes, we'll be sending him a TKC invoice for the campaign advice . . . Here's the paywall headline tease and boring coverage:
Despite Tesla's meteoric rise, which has seen the shares more than double this year, some investors argue that the company's fundamentals and future growth justify its current valuation and stock price. Underlying the bull thesis is that Tesla and its founder Elon Musk are at the forefront of a push towards a greener future, and that the company's position as an early adopter gives it a competitive advantage in the market. Not only is Tesla a leader in electric vehicles, but its growing battery, solar and autonomous driving divisions will fuel future gains. Essentially, it's a leader in its field, and the competition is well behind, say those who favor the stock.

"I think they have potential for a trillion dollars of revenue within 10 years, so basically you're looking at the very start of Tesla; this can be one of the largest companies in the whole world," billionaire investor Ron Baron said Tuesday on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Baron said he's not selling one of the nearly 1.63 million shares that his firm, Baron Capital, holds. In addition to strong demand for the Model Y and Cybertruck, he noted that the company's energy storage business is doubling each year, and that the solar division, which he said is just getting started, is already worth between $40 billion and $50 billion. "It's not just the next 10 years that's going to be phenomenal growth, it's going to be years after that," he added. The bullish investors still see a fundamental case for the company at these levels, even as many others decry the run as a bubble. On Tuesday, Tesla was trading around $930, up about 120% for the year.

$7,000 target

Investors who are optimistic on the stock highlight that the company has a competitive advantage in the electric vehicle market since they've been manufacturing 100% electric vehicles since 2008  well before other auto companies  and also because they can streamline their operations since they focus solely on electric vehicles. Other companies, however, have to split their operations between internal combustion engine and electric vehicle manufacturing. And the more vehicles Tesla makes, the cheaper each one becomes to produce. On Monday Panasonic, which has a joint venture with Tesla, said their automotive battery business was profitable for the first time, and also that they would be ramping up production to keep up with demand from the automaker. "Tesla has not lost market share in the EV market and traditional autos have had a really hard time producing a car that's on par with Tesla in terms of a dollar per performance or efficiency basis," ARK Invest's Tasha Keeney told CNBC Tuesday. The firm has been a long-time supporter of the company, and on Friday raised its 2024 target on the stock to $7,000. "We've also seen them scale Shanghai in less than a year which is incredible progress. They've proven that they can scale in a capital efficient manner." She said that one of the most under-valued areas of the business is Tesla's autonomous data and hardware unit, which is significantly ahead of competitors.

Taking profits

At a time when investors have started to place a premium on "green" and "clean" companies, Tesla is uniquely positioned. Ross Gerber, CEO of $1.1 billion Gerber Kawasaki, noted that through the auto, solar and battery business Tesla is "creating a sustainable future for people in one company." "Tesla has proven that you can do this profitably and I think it's the only company in the world positioned to really create a solution for climate change," he added.
Hundreds of Australians have been rescued from the coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan, as the Chinese city of 11 million people went into lockdown.

But the emergency Qantas flight puzzled aviation specialists, who were confused by the unusually long route the plane took to rescue stranded civilians.

There is a direct route that would be the quickest way to fly citizens back from Wuhan, going directly south and continuing until the plane is over Australia.

Instead, the crew of four pilots and 14 cabin crew - who all volunteered for the mission - decided to remain almost entirely in international air space.

The Qantas flight took an unusual flight from Wuhan to Western Australia (pictured) with experts saying it did so to avoid flying in international airspace

This allowed the crew to avoid wasting precious time by seeking Landing and Overflight permits, which experts said can be 'time consuming'.

As the flight was an emergency charter and not scheduled, it would have to have requested overfly approval to fly in a country's airspace.

The unusual route it took allowed it to avoid entering the jurisdiction of the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Qantas flight (pictured) landed in Western Australian at an RAAF base near Exmouth on Monday afternoon

Carrying 241 Australian citizens, who paid $1,000 each to be evacuated, the Qantas flight left Wuhan and arrived in Western Australia on Monday afternoon.

It landed at the RAAF Learmonth base, near Exmouth, where the passengers were transferred onto a series of smaller planes bound for Christmas Island.

Mr Morrison said all passengers had now been transferred into a two-week-long quarantine on Christmas Island, other than a pregnant woman and her partner who will remain in isolation in Perth.

Two Australians (pictured) wore face masks as they spoke about their rescue flight out of Wuhan

Footage emerged showing the Australian citizens aboard the Qantas rescue flight (pictured) which was staffed by four pilots and 14 cabin crew, all of whom volunteered for the mission

Of the passengers that returned safely to Australia, five were under two years old while 89 were younger than 16.

'Thank you to everyone involved in what has been a complex and very challenging operation, from our medical staff, Qantas ground and aircrew to Australian diplomats and other officials, Mr Morrison wrote on Instagram.

'I particularly want to thank the Chinese Government for their co-operative approach.'

But some worried families decided not to make the trip, fearing the medical facilities on the isolated island would not be up to scratch.

The citizens were met by army and medics (pictured) in Western Australia before being taken to buses ahead of a 14-day quarantine

It is the first of what is likely to be two flights giving Australians the change to escape Wuhan, where the coronavirus first broke out in a local food market.

Aviation expert Neil Hansford told news.com.au: 'This flight was a charter and not a scheduled flight, so instead of going Malaysia and straight over Java  following the South China Sea meant they didnt have to get any overfly approvals.

'This path means they wouldve missed the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Indonesian airspace  which wouldnt have wanted this plane to land.

'So instead, he (pilot) stayed out on international waters before coming into Australian air space. As soon as they got to Aussie airspace, they went directly to Learmonth.'

A man wearing a face mask cycles past the body of a man who collapsed and died on a pavement in Wuhan (pictured) where hundreds of Australian citizens were stranded

Passengers filmed themselves holding up what they called their 'golden tickets' at the airport while wearing face masks before boarding the flight from China.

The airline provided passengers with a bright yellow plastic 'clinical waste' bags on their seats.

Inside the emergency kit was sanitiser, face masks and hand wipes.

Professional rollerblader Rob Kellet, whose girlfriend remains in Wuhan, filmed himself on the plane saying: 'Who knows what the right choice was but it's the safer one.'

His friend Josh Nielzen, also a rollerblader, shared messages to his father on social media.

Three more cases of coronavirus (pictured) confirmed on Saturday took Australia's tally to 12

'Hey dad just thought I'd give you the latest update,' he said.

'There's a flight leaving here in five hours and I'm at the airport,' to which his father responded: 'Great news Josh.'

WA Health Minister Roger Cook said it would likely take considerable time for the passengers to be assessed once they landed at Learmonth.

'My understanding is the federal government is anticipating that scenario and they have the appropriate accommodation for those patients on the ground,' he told reporters in Perth.

WA authorities have made contingency plans to immediately transport any unwell passengers to hospitals in Perth if needed.

Of the 243 passengers, five are under two years old while 89 are younger than 16.

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said the plan was for passengers to be isolated in small family groups on Christmas Island.

'There won't be a full mingling,' he said in Canberra.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 12 cases of coronavirus in Australia, and more than 20,000 people infected worldwide.

The virus has killed 426 people in China, officials confirmed on Tuesday afternoon.

It comes after the country opened a new hospital built in 10 days, infused cash into tumbling financial markets and further restricted people's movement in hopes of containing the rapidly spreading virus and its escalating impact.

Despite this, the death toll rose by a daily record of 65 from Monday to Tuesday, the National Health Commission confirmed.

There are at least 151 cases in 23 other countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Britain.

Of the 20,626 afflicted with the virus, 14 per cent are in a critical condition - though 653 have now recovered.
Keralas response to the coronavirus  there are three confirmed cases in the state  has been so comprehensive and swift that other states have been asking it to share its protocols with them. The system put in place after the nipah outbreak, which claimed 17 lives in the state, was seamless and multi-tiered. Its first line of defence against contagious diseases involves immigration officials, the police, the panchayats and local health volunteers, and, of course, health professionals. There is a robust awareness campaign. Around 2,239 individuals are under surveillance for coronavirus and 84 are in hospitals. A tracking system monitors everyone coming into the state from high-risk destinations and also those who have come into contact with suspected cases.

Keralas health ministry has linked its five airports to ambulances and emergency response wards in district hospitals. Any passenger with symptoms entering from an airport or seaport is shifted to a linked hospital and medical officers contacted, following which the family members are alerted. This is the only way to contain the rapidly spreading virus. It helps that the states enviable primary health care system has constantly upgraded itself. Paramedics have been trained to deal with emergencies, as also a host of workers involved in the health system from drivers to cleaners. The states battle against the nipah virus was recognised as an exemplar. With the coronavirus threat looming large, other states must learn from Kerala.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said that he hopes All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi will recite Hanuman Chalisa with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

"They always support anti-India and anti-social elements. On one hand, they feed biryani to protestors at Shaheen Bagh and on the other, they oppose scrapping of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir," said Aditynatah while addressing a rally here in Patparganj.

"Last time, I was banned (by the election commission) for taking Lord Hanuman's name. I wish Owaisi also recites Hanuman Chalisa with Kejriwal," he said.

The Chief Minister further targetted ruling Aam Aadmi Party in the capital over its slogan -- "Ache beete paanch saal" (5 years went well ).

"I want to ask Kejriwal whose five years went well. In Delhi, neither there are proper roads nor potable drinking water. He has failed to open schools. In every street, he has opened 'madushala' (liquor shops)," Adityanath said.

He said that the BJP government allowed Kanwar yatra and made River Ganga clean under Namami Ganga project.

Adityanath also challenged Kejriwal to take a dip in the Yamuna and said, "Kejriwal shall take a dip in river Yamuna to show people whether he maintained his promise of cleaning Yamuna or not. Kejriwal said he will provide RO (reverse osmosis) water but he sends poisonous water to every household."

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister claimed people of Delhi have been deprived of the various central schemes due to Kejriwal.

Adityanath alleged that Congres leader Rahul Gandhi, Kejriwal and Pakistan Minister Imran Khan speak the same language over the issue of article 370.

"Rahul, Kejriwal and Imran Khan have the same tone on the revocation of Article 370. Pakistan Ministers say they do not want BJP to come into power in Delhi. Does Pakistan care about India? Are they worried about our development, security and peace?" he asked.

Delhi will go to polls on February 8 and counting of votes will take place on February 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Discover Puerto Rico, the Island's Destination Marketing Organization (DMO), today announced the rollout of a new campaign, #GoForPuertoRico, to encourage travel to the Island following January's seismic activity. Drawing inspiration from Puerto Rico's resilient spirit, the new creative reminds travelers that Puerto Rico is open for tourism, focuses on the Island's diverse offerings, and communicates that by traveling, visitors are fueling local communities.

Puerto Rico had record-breaking numbers in lodging revenue, airport arrivals and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) bookings for the 2019 calendar year and expects to sustain the tourism momentum through 2020. From air access being at an all-time high to witnessing notable advancements in the lodging industry, tourism numbers in 2019 surpassed the Island's past high. Lodging revenue reached nearly $1 billion in the past year. The Island also received 5.2 million travelers across all airports throughout the Island, which include tourists, diaspora, and visiting friends and relatives. And, specifically, the MICE sector showed a tremendous increase in leads, which could positively impact the next six years, providing a potential economic impact of over $320 million to Puerto Rico.

The new campaign builds upon Discover Puerto Rico's brand campaign "Have We Met Yet?," which re-introduced the Island to the world in April 2019. Travelers and meeting planners will immediately be drawn by the many aspects that make Puerto Rico a unique and meaningful destination  ranging from the hospitality of the Puerto Rican people, to the cuisine, to the festive spirit, to abundant natural attractions, and much more.

"Our destination is ready and continues to receive visitors not only in the San Juan area, but across all regions," said Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico. "A way people can show their support for the Island is to travel to Puerto Rico for their vacations, work trips, meetings, conferences and events. Flights are operating normally to all airports, attractions across the Island are open, and all major hotels are operating," he added.

"The campaign launched across digital banners, social, and pre-roll in key markets and in over-the-top TV, the first since the DMO's inception," said Leah Chandler, CMO of Discover Puerto Rico. "The overall impetus behind the development of the campaign is to remind people that the best way to support Puerto Rico is to go, and now more than ever, hotels, small business owners, restaurants, artisans, tour operators, among other tourism partners, are ready to welcome visitors with open arms, which in turn will spur the local economy," she added.



To view the "#GoForPuertoRico" creative online, visit YouTube.com/DiscoverPuertoRico and we encourage you to share it broadly. For more information about Puerto Rico, visit www.DiscoverPuertoRico.com.

About Discover Puerto Rico

Discover Puerto Rico is a newly established private, not for-profit Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) whose mission is to make Puerto Rico visible to the world as a premier travel destination. The DMO brings prosperity to the people of Puerto Rico by collaboratively promoting the Island's diversity and uniqueness for leisure and business travel, and events. It is responsible for all global marketing, sales and promotion of the destination and works collaboratively with key local governmental and non-governmental players throughout Puerto Rico's visitor economy and community at large, to empower economic growth. To discover all the beauty the Island has to offer, visit DiscoverPuertoRico.com.

SOURCE Discover Puerto Rico
Marijuana prices need to be low enough to keep consumers away from the black market. However, for regulators, there's also a need to generate sufficient tax revenue from the industry so legalization can achieve various funding goals that different states envisioned when they decided to legalize pot. Finding a balance has been difficult, but few would argue that taxes are low enough for the industry to succeed.

Some customers in Illinois pay more than 40% in tax

Depending on where in the country you live, the amount of taxes that you pay on a cannabis purchase varies significantly. Customers in Anchorage, Alaska only pay up to 5% between state and local taxes, although pot there is still among the most expensive in the country. In Illinois, where pot was recently legalized, taxes can soar to more than 40%. What's surprising is that it's still not the most taxed cannabis state. That honor belongs to Washington, where state and local taxes on cannabis in Seattle can reach 47%.

This, of course, is without the federal government imposing any taxes of its own on cannabis, since pot is not legal federally. If legalization were to happen, it would open up more growth opportunities for the industry, but it could also make pot even more expensive. Despite the taxes, however, demand still remains strong. In Illinois, the state generated $11 million in legal pot sales during the first week pot shops were open.

However, in California, which has a more modest tax rate at around 22% to 25%, the black market still holds a decisive edge in market share. One projection has illicit sales making up more than two-thirds of the state's total market in 2019 and that it won't be until 2024 that the legal market gets the edge.

Are states expecting too much?

Higher tax rates mean that states can generate more in revenue from cannabis. The problem is that their expectations can quickly become too optimistic. Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois argues that the state will benefit from tourists coming from other states to purchase pot, and that "It gives us a chance to collect tax revenue from the residents of Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa and Indiana."

While Illinois will likely see out-of-state cannabis customers, the problem is that as more states legalize pot, its advantage will lessen as consumers have more options. And states with higher legal pot prices may not only lose sales to the black market, but also to neighboring states selling more competitively priced cannabis. Finding an equilibrium that works well for the government and consumers will likely take years to sort out. Keeping taxes down is crucial in an industry where prices are already very volatile.

Colorado tracks the average market rate (AMR) per pound of flower that cannabis producers are charging wholesalers. On Apr. 1, 2019, the AMR was $806, less than half the $1,876 it was on Jan. 1, 2014 when the recreational pot market was first legal in Colorado. That kind of volatility can wreak havoc on expectations, which, in turn, could affect the taxes regulators decide to impose on cannabis as well.

What this means for investors

For an Illinois-based company like Cresco Labs (OTC:CRLBF) that's banking on a strong pot market in its home state, a high tax rate could hurt its potential growth. While there's no denying that the hype remains strong and cannabis is still new and exciting, the real test will be if consumers come back and keep purchasing from the legal market. That leaves companies like Cresco Labs at the mercy of regulators as high tax rates will make it challenging to set and meet forecasts for future growth.

When choosing a marijuana stock to invest in, investors should consider which key markets will be crucial to the company's growth, and evaluate the tax rates there and how well the pot market is likely to grow in those areas. If a state's growth prospects are concerning, then that's likely going to be problematic for any cannabis operators in the state as well. And underperforming sales numbers can send a pot stock crashing in a hurry.
Colombo, Feb 4 : Sri Lanka and India are expected to finalise an implementation agenda for a $450 million line of credit offered by the latter during Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to New Delhi this week, a media report said on Tuesday.

In a statement on Monday, Rajapaksa's office said that the line of credit was announced by his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during President Gotabaya Rajapaksa state visit to New Delhi last November shortly after being elected, the Daily Financial Times reported.

While $400 million will be for infrastructure projects, $50 million will be given as a grant for Sri Lanka to fund security needs including resources needed to fight terrorism, the office added.

Mahinda Rajapaksa will visit India will from February 7-11 on an invitation extended by the Modi.

This will be his first overseas visit after assuming office in November 2019.

According to the statement, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister will hold high-level bilateral meetings with Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other senior government officials.

"The scheduled meetings will build on the strong relationship that already exists between the two countries and include discussions on politics, trade, development, defence, culture and tourism, among others," it added.

With the aim of enhancing engagement in sub-regional maritime security cooperation, the two delegations were also expected to discuss key areas under the defence and maritime security initiatives that include the Sri Lanka-India Annual Defense Dialogue and the Trilateral Maritime Security Cooperation with New Delhi and Male, the Daily Financial Times quoted the statement as saying.

The two sides will also pay attention to strengthening people-to-people contacts by expanding aviation links to the sacred Buddhist sites in India, including the 'Sanchi Buddhist Complex' in Madhya Pradesh.

Following his high-level engagements, Prime Minister Rajapaksa is scheduled to visit several historic religious sites including, Varanasi, Sarnath, Bodhgaya and Tirupati.
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India is set to host an East Asia Summit conference this week in Chennai with a focus on maritime security cooperation and tackling challenges in the maritime domain.

As announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 14th East Asia Summit (EAS) in Bangkok in November 2019, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in partnership with the governments of Australia and Indonesia, will organise the fourth EAS Conference on Maritime Security Cooperation in Chennai from February 6-7, 2020.

The Conference is expected to serve as a platform for free and open dialogue among all the EAS partners on various issues of maritime security cooperation, and to come up with useful suggestions on tackling challenges in the maritime domain in a cooperative manner, the MEA said.

As a nation deeply committed to strengthening the EAS as an ASEAN-led organisation, India continues to contribute positively to the EAS goals, including maritime security cooperation, it said.

This conference is the fourth in a series of EAS Maritime Security Conferences organised by the Indian government -- the first conference was organised in New Delhi in November 2015, the second in Goa in November 2016 and the third in Bhubaneswar in June 2018. ?



Senior officials and experts from the EAS participating countries will deliberate upon various aspects of maritime security cooperation under five thematic sessions such as Holistic Maritime Security, Maritime Safety, Transition to a Regional Blue Economy, India's Indo-Pacific Oceans' Initiative and the Way Forward.

These sessions will be interactive in nature and more than 100 participants are expected to attend the Conference, including about 50 delegates nominated by the EAS participating countries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 13:15:47|Editor: mingmei

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DES MOINES, the United States, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Iowa, a state in the Midwestern United States, is holding Democratic and Republican caucuses Monday night, kicking off the 2020 U.S. presidential primary.

The caucuses began at 7 p.m. Central Time on Monday (GMT 0100 on Tuesday), bringing tens of thousands of Iowa's registered voters to churches, public libraries, and school gyms for discussions of their presidential preferences.

Sitting U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sail through the Republican caucuses, in which participants cast a vote to indicate their support, in the "Hawkeye State" that he won by 9.5 percentage points in the 2016 presidential election.

Unlike the Republican process, the Democratic caucuses require party members to show up to their precinct and physically move into designated parts of a room to express their preference for a certain candidate.

This year, the Iowa Democratic Party will release three numbers: first preferences, final preferences, and "State Delegate Equivalents (SDEs)."

The SDEs will be used to determine how the state's national delegates are awarded to candidates.

A crowded field of Democrats are vying for Iowa's 41 pledged delegates to the party's national convention on July 13-16 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a gathering for the party's delegates to choose their presidential nominee.

Though delegates of Iowa account for only 2 percent of the 1,991 national delegates a candidate needs to win the Democratic nomination, a strong performance in the state could inject strong momentum into his or her campaign.

"It's a game of expectations," veteran U.S. pollster John Zogby told a recent briefing in Washington D.C. "That's where we pollsters and the pundits enter into the picture," Zogby said.

Currently, there are 11 Democrats and three Republicans, including Trump, seeking the presidential nomination of their own parties, while 17 Democrats and one Republican have dropped out of the race in this election cycle.

According to the latest RealClearPolitics national Democratic primary polling average, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is leading with 27.0 percent, followed by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, with 23.7 percent and 15.0 percent, respectively.

Other Democratic hopefuls, including Indiana's former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Andrew Yang, also deserve attention.

Kyle Schultz, from Chicago, Illinois, who's in Des Moines, Iowa to observe the Democratic caucuses, told Xinhua that though the Illinois primary is still weeks away he's trying to figure whom he wants to vote for by seeing the candidates firsthand.

Schultz also said he's not concerned about the differences between moderates and progressives but will be concerned if the Democratic Party "doesn't work together."
The death toll in mainland China from the new type of virus has risen to 425, with the total number of cases now standing at 20,438, officials said Tuesday.

The new figures come after the country opened a new hospital built in 10 days, infused cash into tumbling financial markets and further restricted people's movement in hopes of containing the rapidly spreading virus and its escalating impact.

Japanese officials were deciding whether to quarantine more than 3,000 people on a cruise ship that carried a passenger who tested positive for the virus.

The latest figures are up from 361 deaths and 17,205 confirmed cases.

Other countries are continuing evacuations and restricting the entry of Chinese or people who have recently traveled in the country. In the province at the epicenter of the outbreak, a specialized 1,000-bed hospital started treating patients and a second hospital with 1,500 beds is to open within days.

Other countries continued evacuating citizens from hardest-hit Hubei province and restricted the entry of Chinese or people who recently traveled to the country.

The World Health Organization said the number of cases will keep growing because tests are pending on thousands of suspected cases.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, presiding over a special meeting of the country's top Communist Party body for the second time since the crisis started, said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic."



He told the Politburo standing committee that the country must race against time to curb the spread of the virus and that those who neglect their duties will be punished, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Medical teams from the People's Liberation Army were arriving in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, to relieve overwhelmed health workers and to staff the new 1,000-bed hospital, located in the countryside far from the city center.

Its prefabricated wards are equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and ventilation systems. A second hospital with 1,500 beds is due to open within days.

China's Shanghai Composite stock index plunged nearly 8% on the first day of trading after the Lunar New Year holiday, despite a central bank announcement that it was putting 1.2 trillion yuan ($173 billion) into the markets.

"We are fully confident in and capable of minimizing the epidemic's impact on the economy," Lian Weiliang, deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a conference in Beijing.

Hong Kong's leader, Carrie Lam, announced that the semi-autonomous territory will shut almost all but two land and sea border crossings with the mainland at midnight to stem the spread of the virus. Only the land checkpoints at Shenzhen Bay and the bridge to Macao and Zhuhai will remain open.

More than 2,000 hospital workers went on strike earlier in the day, demanding a complete closure of the border, and their union has threatened a bigger walkout Tuesday.

Hong Kong was hit hard by SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in 2002-03, an illness from the same family of viruses as the current outbreak and which many believe was intensified by official Chinese secrecy and obfuscation.

Chinese scientists said they have more evidence that it likely originated in bats.

In a study published in the journal Nature, Shi Zhen-Li and colleagues at the Wuhan Institute of Virology reported that genome sequences from seven patients were 96% identical to a bat coronavirus.

SARS is also believed to have originated in bats, although it jumped to civet cats before infecting people.

Scientists suspect the latest outbreak began at a seafood market in Wuhan where wild animals were on sale and in contact with people.

Meanwhile, Japanese health officials said a passenger on a Japanese-operated cruise ship tested positive for the virus after leaving the vessel in Hong Kong on Jan. 25.

The Diamond Princess returned to Yokohama carrying more than 3,000 passengers and crew after making port calls in Vietnam, Taiwan and Okinawa. A team of quarantine officials and medical staff boarded the ship Monday and began medical checks of everyone on board, a health ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with department rules.

The passengers and crew members may be quarantined on the ship if the captain agrees to do so, the official said.

The ship's captain said Hong Kong's health authorities notified the ship about the passenger's infection on Saturday, six days after he got off the ship after not being caught on thermal screening, according to a recording of the announcement tweeted by a passenger.

The patient is currently recovering and is in stable condition, and his traveling companions so far have not been infected, the captain said.

"I wish we were informed as soon as they found out, then I could have worn a mask or washed hands more carefully," the passenger said. "I was in Hong Kong nine days ago and it seems to be too late now."



South Korea, which has 15 confirmed cases, quarantined 800 soldiers who had recently visited China, Hong Kong or Macao or had contact with people who had, defense ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyunsoo said.

The Philippines banned the entry of all non-citizens from China after two cases were confirmed there, including the only death outside China.

The US, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia have imposed similar restrictions despite criticism from China and WHO's guidance that such measures were unnecessary.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 20:45:39|Editor: yhy

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MADRID, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Spain's maritime rescue services rescued 67 people of sub-Saharan origin before midnight on Monday from a dinghy, which had been attempting to cross from the north coast of Morocco to Spain.

The dinghy was at first sighted by rescue plane "Sasemar 101", which relayed its position to the vessel "Salvamar Gienah" before the latter completed the rescue.

The rescue services had stayed alert to the dinghy's presence after receiving a heads-up from a Moroccan charity organization that a boat had departed with would-be immigrants on board.

Spanish TV network RTVE reported on Tuesday that 14 women and two children were among the 67 people rescued and taken to the port of Motril in southeast Spain, where they arrived shortly before midnight on Monday.

After being checked by the Red Cross, all 67 migrants were reported to be in good physical health. The Spanish National Police will transfer them to a temporary immigrant resident center.

The early hours of Tuesday morning saw a second dinghy intercepted by Civil Guards as it was arriving with 11 migrants at Carchuna, also in southeast Spain.

The 11 people, described as being of North African origin, were detained when landing on the beach.

According to data on the website of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 1,602 immigrants made a sea crossing to reach Spain in the first four weeks of 2020 after 26,168 made the journey in 2019.
The Wheeler Centre for books, writing and ideas was still on the drawing board when Michael Williams joined as programming manager nearly 11 years ago. At the end of next month he will leave the literary institution, having steered its course for more than eight years after succeeding the inaugural head, Chrissy Sharp.

Williams, 40, said he had over the summer reflected on his exhilarating and wonderful time at the centre, which opened 10 years ago this month.

Michael Williams has an appetite for the cultural sector. Credit:

Its time for me and the organisation to have a bit of a change. I do think people can stay too long at cultural organisations. The success of the Wheeler Centre is not down to one person, its about the incredible teams. Because Ive been here since the start it is tied up very much with me and my imagination and my ambition and it feels like a good and logical time to step aside and let it become whatever its going to be next.

The Wheeler Centre was conceived as a central plank of Melbournes successful 2008 bid to become only the second UNESCO City of Literature. Because it was announced on the back of the bid, it was a response to how rich and full Melbournes literary culture already was, Williams said.
by Bernardo Cervellera

In Vietnam and other Asian countries, celibacy is accepted as a gift and a responsibility. Vocations also grow in the universal missionary dimension. The great value of the book of Card. Robert Sarah and Benedict XVI on ecclesiastical celibacy. The mud-slinging of two groups in the Church: the Team Francis and those anti-Bergoglio. It is time to learn from the Churches of Asia.

Rome (AsiaNews) - I recently returned from a trip to Vietnam, where I visited several dioceses and met bishops and priests. I am still comforted by their witness: there are seminaries and convents full of young people, as well as packed churches on Sundays; there is no lack of vocations, where celibacy is welcomed as a gift and responsibility, as an almost natural, obvious grace.

The problem with these vocations is that due to the difficulties for religious freedom and past persecutions, young people do not always have models and teachers who can support them on their journey. It is also true that right now, even in Vietnam, there is a decline in vocations, caused by families with fewer children, by secularization, a fascination with urbanization and worldly success. But the enthusiasm with which young people embrace consecrated life in the priesthood and in the monastery is plain for everyone to see.

And it is also true that these young people and these vocations feel the duty to proclaim the Gospel not only in their country, but also abroad (of course: however much the government allows, given that not everyone is can obtain a passport). A bishop from the north of the country tells me that more and more young priests from his seminary are ready to serve the Church in neighboring countries as well. I myself have met Vietnamese priests in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and there are also several in Europe and the United States.

The point is that - as I have always experienced living in Asia in contact with many communities - Asian Catholics see the faith as a gift that revolutionizes life and completes it. The overabundance of this gift means that priestly celibacy and even a foreign mission abroad are accepted.

I returned from Asia the day after Cardinal Robert Sarah and Benedict XVIs book on priestly celibacy was published, entitled "From the Depths of our Hearts". At Paris airport, I immediately took two copies (one to give away) and read it avidly: it is a profound and exhilarating reading.

I later learned that the next editions will not be co-signed, that they will only bear the signature of Card. Sarah, specifying that there is "an intervention" by Benedict XVI, but the content will be the same. Thus in reality this somewhat formal "correction" changes little regarding the value of the book. The pope emeritus offers an important reflection on the bond and development of the priesthood from the Old to the New Testament and points out that celibacy was required of priests from the earliest apostolic times. And this not as a "law", but out of ... convenience: for the total gift of the priest to be joined with the total gift of the Lord Jesus.

Card. Sarahs intervention is even more passionate because he shows through his experience that the Church grows and produces vocations where priests live celibacy. Among other things, some experiences presented on AsiaNews are also mentioned.

It is truly saddening that such a beautiful and very useful book has been the target of a mud-slinging match between two emerging groups in the Church: the Team Francis and those who are anti-Bergoglio. The former, saying they want to "defend Francis", suffocate and shoot down any contribution that does not come close to their trivially progressive and relativist agenda. The others, wanting to "defend Benedict", continually hammer the alleged errors of the present papacy, claiming tradition.

It is a pity that this involves celibacy  in a reductive vision as a law to be implemented or to be removed - and mission are involved. Especially when it is precisely mission, that is, the desire and passion for the world to know Christ, which should be the reason why we live and for which we have been given baptism, is lost in this ideological struggle and of mutual excommunication. Maybe it's time to learn from the churches of Asia.
New hospital ready in Wuhan

PLA Daily

Source: China Daily

Editor: Dong Zhaohui

2020-02-03 10:09:08



PLA medical teams to begin treating patients on Monday; second facility to open by midweek

A 1,000-bed hospital in Wuhan, Hubei province, will begin receiving highly contagious pneumonia patients on Monday, less than 10 days after construction began.

The new facility will ease the shortage of beds in the city resulting from an increasing number of patients infected by the novel coronavirus.

Medical personnel from the People's Liberation Army will take over the newly constructed Huoshenshan Hospital, with a total of 1,400 expected to start receiving and treating patients on Monday.

A second special hospital for the treatment of the novel coronavirusLeishenshan Hospitalis under construction in Wuhan. It is expected to be completed on Wednesday and start receiving patients the following day.

The military assistance was approved by President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Huoshenshan Hospital, with a floor area of 25,000 square meters, will deal primarily with patients who have been confirmed with the coronavirus. It is a copy of Beijing Xiaotangshan Hospital, which was built in seven days in a Beijing suburb in April 2003 during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. Its purpose was exclusively to treat SARS patients, and it played a key role in the prevention and control of the deadly disease.

Construction of Huoshenshan Hospital in suburban Wuhan formally started on Jan 25 to cope with the rapidly increasing number of people infected by the coronavirus. At the peak of the massive construction project, more than 4,000 workers and about 1,000 construction machines and trucks were on the site.

The majority of the 1,400 medical personnel who will treat patients in the hospital come from hospitals administered by the PLA Joint Logistic Support Force, with others from PLA Ground Force Medical University, PLA Navy Medical University and PLA Air Force Medical University.

Fifteen experts from the PLA Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the PLA Academy of Military Science's Military Medical Institute will join them to offer professional consultation.

Many personnel involved in this operation, the largest mobilization of the PLA's medical forces since the devastating earthquake in Sichuan province in May 2008, are experienced in handling infectious diseases because they took part in fights against the 2003 SARS outbreak in China and the Ebola epidemic in Western Africa in 2014.

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan in December, infections have leaped across China. Cases have also been reported in other countries.

The number of confirmed cases rose to 14,380 on the Chinese mainland on Saturday, including 304 deaths, according to the National Health Commission. Hubei, the most-affected province in the outbreak, reported 9,074 confirmed cases as of Saturday, including 294 deaths, the provincial health commission said on Sunday morning.

In Wuhan, the number of confirmed cases reached 4,109 on Saturday, accounting for nearly 30 percent of total cases on the Chinese mainland.

Bai Xuejian, a publicity officer from China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co, a leading builder of the hospital, said the company was given the task from the authorities in Wuhan on Jan 23, with construction formally beginning two days later.

To ensure timely completion, construction work was done in shifts 24 hours a day. Strict disease control and prevention measures were enforced, he said.

Xu Ming, a project manager at Wuhan Construction Group, said he has been on duty every day since the project began.

"The workers are organized in two or three shifts for 24 hours a day. And for me, I have to keep supervising and coordinating to ensure the work is done according to requirements," he said on Sunday at the construction site. "Everything has been in a rush, keeping everyone so busy that getting no sleep at night is normal."

The construction process for both new hospitals has been livestreamed online every day since the start of the projects.

Although construction of Huoshenshan Hospital was expected to be finished on Sunday, Xu and his colleagues may continue working for the hospital for maintenance, he said.

"We have to take care of the workers and ensure they are not infected with the virus, such as giving them masks for free and taking their body temperatures every day," he said.

Also on Sunday, the People's Liberation Army Air Force used eight of its large transport planes to ferry medical personnel and supplies from the military to Wuhan to aid with disease prevention and control.

The eight aircraft landed at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport with 795 medical personnel from the armed forces and 58 metric tons of equipment and materials. They came from Shenyang, Lanzhou, Guangzhou and Nanjing.

Wu Peixin, an aviation observer in Beijing, said Sunday's operation showed the Air Force's ability to mobilize a large transport unit on short notice.

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Stocks in the news today: Here is a list of top stocks that are likely to be in focus in Tuesday's trading session based on the latest developments. Investors are also awaiting December quarter earnings that are scheduled to be released today. Companies set to announce their earnings are Adani Ports, Adani Green, Tata Global Beverages, Bharti Airtel, TVS Motor, PNB. Investors will also keep an eye on the central bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) that will kick off its three-day meet today.

Bharat Road Network: BSE had sought clarification from Bharat Road Network Limited with respect to announcement dated Jan 14, 2020, regarding resignation of Atanu Sen as non-executive independent director of the company

Dr Lal Pathlabs: The company has informed BSE regarding the appointment of Om Prakash Manchanda as Managing Director, Bharath Uppiliappan as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hony Brig Dr Arvind Lal as Executive Chairman and Whole-Time Director and Dr Vandana Lal as Whole Time Director of the company effective from April 1, 2020.

Jubilant Life Sciences Q3: The company reported a 24 % fall (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 203 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, as against Rs 260 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Total income fell 3.5% (YoY) to Rs 2,321 crore in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 2,406 crore in the same period last financial year.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation, has been named the #1 Top Employer in the UK by the Top Employers Institute. TCS received this recognition for the third consecutive year and has been a top employer in UK for the last 10 years.

Mahindra & Mahindra: The company rolled out its 25th lakh vehicle from its Nasik manufacturing facility. Mahindra's power brand Scorpio was the 25th lakh vehicle that was rolled out from the facility.

Bayer CropScience Q3: The company reported 1.18% rise in (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,379 crore in Q3 FY20 from Rs 631 crore in Q3 FY19. Total income recorded 10% rise to Rs 8,734 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, from Rs 7,911 crore, booked in the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

Tata Chemicals Q3: The company has posted 6.54% rise in net profit to Rs 233.84 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2019 as against Rs 219.48 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. Net sales rose 0.65% to Rs 2,682.28 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019 as compared to Rs 2,665.09 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2018.

Q3 Earnings Today: Adani Green, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Piramal Enterprises, Apollo Pipes, Avanti Feeds, Bajaj Electricals, Balmer Lawrie & Co, Bharti Airtel, CSB Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Exide Industries, Future Market Networks, Firstsource Solutions, Punjab National Bank, Jindal Saw, JSW Energy, Liberty Shoes, Mahindra Logistics, Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers, TVS Motor Company, Triveni Engineering & Industries, Titan Company, Thermax, Tata Global Beverages, Shipping Corporation of India, Sayaji Industries are the companies that will release their December quarter results today.

The Oil Ministry has moved a cabinet note seeking approval for hiving off state-owned gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd's pipeline business into a separate entity for a possible sale to a strategic investor at a later date, sources privy to the development said.

GAIL is India's biggest natural gas marketing and trading firm and owns more than 70 per cent of the country's 16,981-km pipeline network, giving it a stranglehold on the market.

Users of natural gas have often complained about not 'fairly' getting access to GAIL's 12,160-km pipeline network to transport their fuel.

Sources said to resolve the conflict arising out of the same entity owning the two jobs, bifurcating GAIL is being considered.

GAIL's core business after the bifurcation would be the marketing of natural gas and petrochemical production. It will have to hire capacity on pipelines from the subsidiary and pay regulator approved traffics for the same.

It will continue to execute the gas sales agreements it has already signed and will be responsible for the discharge of the obligation under purchase pacts including for import of LNG.

The Ministry last month floated a note for consideration of the Union Cabinet for transferring the pipeline business into a 100 per cent subsidiary.

The proposal involves separating the accounts of the pipeline division as well as transferring employees directly connected with the pipeline operations to the new subsidiary, they said adding a suitable name for the subsidiary is being mulled over.

The Cabinet, they said, is likely to consider the proposal shortly.

After the Cabinet approval, a consultant will be appointed to transfer the pipeline business into a separate subsidiary. This would take 8-10 months to accomplish.

Sources said the pipeline subsidiary may be sold off to a strategic investor but the sale is not likely before 2022 as the thinking in the government is that the gas market will not be mature before that and state support would be needed for GAIL to accomplish building a national gas pipeline grid.

The government had recently approved viability gap funding for a gas pipeline grid in the North-East which a consortium comprising GAIL and other state-owned firms will be executing.

GAIL will continue to own the marketing business as also the stakes in liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals after the split, they said.

Previously, the government was considering transferring marketing business into a separate subsidiary for a sell-off at a later date but now a hive off of the pipeline business is being considered.

GAIL has multiple long-term contracts to import gas in its liquid form (LNG) from countries such as the US and no strategic buyer would like to take the responsibility of those, particularly when the fuel is available at a cheaper price in the spot or current market, the sources said.

They said it is now being considered that GAIL continues with the marketing business that would include all the sale contracts as also city gas retailing.

Post-2022, the pipeline business can be sold to a strategic investor such as Canadian asset management company Brookfield that recently bought a 1,480-km pipeline owned by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RIL).

The sources said the strategic partner will operate the pipelines and give access on a non-discriminatory basis to any entity wanting to transport gas either from a natural gas field or an LNG import terminal to consumers.

GAIL already keeps separate accounts for its gas pipeline and marketing businesses, making it easier to split them into two entities.

By unbundling GAIL and opening the sector, the government hopes to increase gas use to 15 per cent of the energy mix by 2030 from current 6.2 per cent.

When talk of splitting first started in January last year, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had stated that GAIL should focus on laying pipelines, suggesting hiving off the marketing business.

Incorporated in August 1984 by spinning off the gas business of ONGC, GAIL owns and operates over 11,500-km of natural gas pipelines in the country. It sells around 60 per cent of natural gas in the country.

The sources said the oil ministry has not been very happy with GAIL's performance in building the pipeline network. Besides, there is a possible conflict of interest in its role as an infrastructure provider and carrier.

GAIL did not start executing the Rs 12,940 crore Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra pipeline until the government agreed to give 40 per cent of the project cost as a grant from the budget. The pipeline takes the gas to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, Varanasi.

Plans to split the company had been discussed more than a decade back too but these did not materialise.

The sources said refiners Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) had in 2017 evinced interest in acquiring GAIL to expand their gas marketing business.

GAIL also owns a petrochemical plant at Pata in Uttar Pradesh.

The company had in the past resisted the split on grounds that it's gas marketing and transmission businesses operate at arm's length and hence do not need to be separated.

GAIL's marketing business formed 76 per cent of its 2018-19 total sales and about 30 per cent pre-tax profit.

The government has a 54.89 per cent stake in GAIL India.
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In the wake of Democrats' Iowa disaster, the Nevada Democratic Party has abandoned the problematic app  and Wyoming Democratic Party officials tell Axios they will conduct a thorough run-through with their own technology ahead of their caucuses.

Why it matters: The technological failure in Iowa caucuses is becoming another nail in the coffin of the caucus system, which nearly a dozen states have ditched and replaced with primaries since 2016.

What to watch: Nevada and Wyoming are the only other two states that will hold traditional Democratic presidential caucuses this year, on Feb. 22 and April 4, respectively.

North Dakota also has a caucus, but it will be "firehouse style," allowing participants to cast ballots at certain locations over several hours  closer to a primary.

Nevada Democratic Party Chairman William McCurdy II announced on Tuesday that the party won't use the same app used by the Iowa caucus.

"We had already developed a series of backups and redundant reporting systems, and are currently evaluating the best path forward," he said in a statement.

In Wyoming, there are three ways for registered Democrats to participate in their caucus, including mailing in or dropping off ballots in person ahead of time.

"That gives us the added benefit of being able to iron out any problems that pop up before our actual caucus date," party spokesperson Nina Hebert told Axios.

The Department of Homeland Security claims to have offered to help test the Iowa Democratic Party's app. While the Wyoming party has yet to receive an offer, Herbert said the party "would certainly welcome any testing assistance from federal agencies that are experts in collecting voting."

Between the lines: There are broader issues with the caucus format, including the fact that the lengthy evening process can make it difficult for people who work at night or care for young children or older parents to participate. Because participants disclose their preferences in a group format, it also can deter those who want their vote to be private.

As the New York Times reported last year, caucuses tend to "be dominated by the most motivated, engaged and informed voters, who also tend to be more ideologically consistent."

The big picture: Caucuses are on their way out. Per NPR's calendar, Democrats held caucuses in 14 states and five U.S. territories in 2016,

Then, in 2018, the Democratic National Committee encouraged state parties to use a primary system rather than caucuses.

It also passed sweeping rule changes that stripped superdelegate powers and encouraged state parties to make their primaries and caucuses more accessible.

"After the 2016 election, Maine had the foresight to improve their process for choosing the Democratic nominee," Maine Democratic Party spokesperson Seth Nelson told Axios.
The Lucknow University (LU) has asked a city-based RTI activist to submit proof of citizenship to get information under the Right to Information Act (RTI).

This when rule 6 (2) of the act clearly says that an applicant making request for information shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information or any other personal details except those that may be necessary for contacting him.

To be sure, RTI is a right available to Indian citizens only. The preamble to the law says that it is for setting a practical regime for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities. 

The Central Information Commission, while hearing a case when information was denied on the grounds of citizenship, said in its order in 2014 that the principal information officer or PIO will have to give reasons for doubting the applicants citizenship in case of denial of information.

In this case, RTI activist Alok Chantia sought information on financial irregularities, misuse of grants sanctioned to the Lucknow University by various agencies, and details of appointment of principals, especially in self-financed colleges, and appointment of teachers in the university in 2004, from the universitys RTI cell.

Instead of responding to my queries, they (universitys RTI cell) sent a letter asking me to attach a document of my identity that establishes that I am an Indian citizen. This is bizarre and uncalled for. University cannot ask for any identity proof as there are provisions that clearly state that identity of the citizen need not to be revealed, said Chantia, who has now written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath on the matter.

The matter has been brought to our knowledge. University will respond to his RTI queries as per rules, said universitys spokesperson, Durgesh Srivastava.

LUs deputy registrar, VP Kaushal said, The matter is being looked into. Kaushal is also incharge of universitys RTI cell.

A former information commissioner, Arvind Singh Bisht said: Theres no rule in RTI to demand for citizenship proof, but only Indian citizens can file RTI request application. And if someone has asked, one may submit his Aadhar card.

RTI activist Nutan Thakur, who claims to have filed over a thousand RTI applications, said she has so far never been asked to prove citizenship.
Carla Handley meeting with the Turkana community. Credit: Carla Handley

It may not always seem so, but scientists are convinced that humans are unusually cooperative. Unlike other animals, we cooperate not just with kith and kin, but also with genetically unrelated strangers. Consider how often we rely on the good behavior of acquaintances and strangers from the life-saving services of firefighters and nurses, to mundane activities like our morning commute and queueing at the airport check-in counter. Of course, we encounter people who cheat, disregard the welfare of others, and engage in cronyism and nepotism. But we tend to perceive these behaviors as deviant, whereas in most animal societies these behaviors are the gold standard.

The hotly contested issue is why we are the famed cooperators of the animal kingdom. The answer is thought to be some characteristic that is exaggerated in humans compared to other animals: language, intelligence, culture, large-game hunting, or our very needy children. Teasing apart how these traits influenced the evolution of cooperation has been challenging and has led to a proliferation of theoriesand acrimonious debatesthat emphasize one or other of these characteristics.

A study by ASU researchers Carla Handley and Sarah Mathew published in Nature Communications provides some insight on this issue by pinpointing how culture may have fueled our capacity to cooperate with strangers. The researchers empirically testedand confirmedpredictions of a controversial theory referred to as cultural group selection theory. The idea is that culturally different groups compete, causing the spread of traits that give groups a competitive edge. Cooperation is exactly such a traitcostly for individuals, but advantageous for groups. Handley was a postdoctoral researcher with Arizona State University at the time of study, and Mathew is assistant professor in the ASU School of Human Evolution and Social Change and research affiliate with the Institute of Human Origins.

During the second half of the 20th century, biologists famously discredited the idea that selection could act on groups. They found that, typically, groups are not different enough from each other for selection to act on. Because individuals migrate, over time migration makes the composition of groups similar. Group-beneficial behaviors like cooperation therefore lose out.

The above concern may not apply, however, for behaviors that are culturally, rather than genetically, transmitted. When people migrate, they can, through social learning, culturally acquire the behaviors that are popular in their new surrounding. Thus, cultural groups can remain different, even if people move a lot. This means that selection can act on groups, and group-beneficial behaviors like cooperation can flourish.

Carla Handley meeting with Turkana children and adults. Credit: Carla Handley

"People have the intuition that being cultural helps us cooperate. What we are showing is that culture allows groups to be different, and therefore to compete. It is this group competitionironicallythat sculpted our cooperativity," said Mathew.

To evaluate this theory, Handley and Mathew examined cultural variation and cooperation among Kenyan pastoralists. They sampled 759 individuals from nine clans spanning four ethnic groupsthe Borana, Rendille, Samburu and Turkanaall of who practice semi-nomadic subsistence pastoralism in the arid savanna of northern Kenya. These groups compete intensively among each other for pasture, dry-season water wells and livestock, including through lethal cattle raids. The researchers found that, as predicted, cultural practices and beliefs were substantially variable between populations. Ten to 20 percent of the observed cultural variation was between competing groups. In contrast, typically less one percent of genetic variation is between groups. This indicated that there is potential for cultural group selection to occur.

Next, they examined who people cooperate with and found that cooperation is indeed directed towards cultural ingroup members. People feel obliged to cooperate with strangers, as long as they share their cultural values, beliefs and norms with those people. Such culturally parochial cooperation is to be expected if competition between cultural groups influenced the evolution of cooperation.

"This study is unique as an empirical field test of cultural group selection by examining how cooperation operates between and within four distinct ethnolinguistic groups," said Handley. "Taking a step back, it may also contribute to a reframing of conflict discourse in small-scale societies where cooperative action has been severely underrepresented and 'illegitimate' violence is regarded as the status quo."

The findings caution that although humans are hyper cooperative, our evolved cooperative dispositions are still limited in their scale, thus proving challenging for solving global-scale problems. Innovative thinking is necessary if we are to save ourselves from climate change, pandemics, and of course, aliens.

Explore further The rich, the poor and social cooperation

More information: Handley, C. and Mathew, S. Human large-scale cooperation as a product of competition between cultural groups. Nature Communications (2020). Journal information: Nature Communications Handley, C. and Mathew, S. Human large-scale cooperation as a product of competition between cultural groups.(2020).
"Aileen Ugalde is the perfect chair of the Trust and I look forward to working with her," said Adrienne Arsht, founding chairman of the Adrienne Arsht Center Foundation Board. "She has contributed so much to the Arsht Center while on the Trust Board these past few years. Complemented by Chair-Elect Richard Milstein and the other elected officers, Aileen and Johann will take the Center to new heights of excellence."

"What an honor it is to be able to lead one of the premier performing arts centers in America, a place that has transformed and enriched our community," said Ugalde. "We can never say thank you enough to the County for its vision and to Adrienne Arsht for her support."

A Miami native, Aileen Ugalde is the first Latina to chair the Trust Board and has served on the Board since 2015, most recently chairing the strategic planning committee. Ugalde is vice president and general counsel of the University of Miami. She was appointed to that role in 2006, and previously served as vice president for government affairs, assistant to the president, and as secretary to the Board of Trustees. She served as executive director of the 2004 Presidential Debate Committee, which hosted the first televised U.S. Presidential Debate in South Florida. Ugalde graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in Latin American studies and international relations and earned her law degree with honors from the University of Miami.

For more information on the officers of the Board, visit arshtcenter.org/press.

About the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County

Set in the heart of downtown Miami and designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is one of the world's leading performing arts organizations and venues. The Center programs several Signature Series, including the largest jazz series in South Florida, a major annual Flamenco Festival, and a robust program of new theatrical works as well as free programming for the community and an arts education program that serves nearly 60,000 children each year. Visit arshtcenter.org for more information.

Contact: Suzette Espinosa Fuentes, 786-468-2221, [email protected]

SOURCE arshtcenter.org
People wearing masks pass by a China's flag with a virus image as Korean protesters call for a ban on Chinese people entering Korea in front of the Gyeongbok Palace, the main royal palace during the Joseon Dynasty, in Seoul, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020. AP



South Korea on Tuesday confirmed its 16th case of the novel coronavirus infection, with the latest patient having recently visited Thailand, as more stringent quarantine measures are being taken to stem the spread of the virus.

The patient, a 42-year-old South Korean woman, returned from a trip to Thailand on Jan. 19 and started feeling chills on Jan. 25, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

Her condition did not improve despite receiving treatment for several days, so she was tested at a general hospital in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, on Monday, with the test results coming back positive. Thailand has reported 19 cases of virus infections.

The KCDC said that she has been placed in quarantine with efforts under way to find out where she has been and whom she met, to see if they too have symptoms.

The latest case, which is likely to be a person-to-person transmission, is the second one involving a person who has not been to China but could have contracted the illness in a foreign country, although this has not been determined yet.

On Saturday, a 48-year-old Chinese man, who worked as a guide in Japan, arrived here and tested positive.

Since Jan. 3, the public health authorities have checked 607 people, with 462 testing negative. The agency said 129 are in quarantine and being checked for potential cases.

It stated that 1,318 people who have been in contact with the confirmed coronavirus patients here are being closely monitored for symptoms.












The coronavirus outbreak claimed its first life in Hong Kong on Tuesday, compounding the international financial centres problems after anti-government protests, and Macau, the worlds biggest gambling playground, urged casinos to shut their doors, Trend reports citing Reuters.

The victim in Hong Kong was a 39-year-old man with an underlying illness who had visited Chinas Wuhan city, the epicentre of the outbreak and now under virtual quarantine.

It was the second death outside mainland China and brought the toll from the fast-spreading outbreak to 427.

Thousands of medical workers in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous region of China, held a second day of strikes to press for complete closure of borders with the mainland after three checkpoints were left open.

On the financial front, global and Chinese markets bounced, with both Europe and metals enjoying their best sessions of the year after Shanghais main market lost nearly $400 billion the previous day.

But in the latest corporate hit, Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) said it would gradually suspend production at South Korean factories because of supply chain disruptions.

China, meanwhile, reported a record daily jump in deaths of 64, taking the toll to 425. A man also died in the Philippines last week after visiting Wuhan, the first overseas fatality.

Total infections in mainland China rose to 20,438, and nearly 200 cases have been reported across 24 countries, Hong Kong and Macau.

Macau, also a special administrative region of China lying across the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong, said it had asked all casino operators to suspend operations for two weeks to help prevent the coronavirus spreading.

Macaus chief executive, Ho Iat Seng, made the announcement as the former Portuguese colony, whose glittering casinos draw hundreds of thousands of gamblers from across the globe, reported 10 confirmed cases of the virus and imposed tight restrictions on movements in and out of the territory.

Thailands tally of infections jumped to 25, the highest outside China, while Singapores rose to 24.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the flu-like virus a global emergency and experts say much is still unknown, including its mortality rate and transmission routes.
Tyler J. Claringbole

This position was previously held by Herrling Clark Attorney Andrew J. Rossmeissl, whose term ended in October 2019. Commissioners of Condemnation are appointed by Circuit Court judges and serve for a three-year term.

According to Wisconsin Statutes, The office of commissioner of condemnation is created. In counties having a population of less than 100,000 there shall be 6 commissioners; in counties having a population of 100,000 or more and less than 750,000 there shall be 9 commissioners; in counties having a population of 750,000 or more there shall be 12 commissioners. Each such commissioner must be a resident of the county or of an adjoining county in the same judicial circuit prior to appointment and remain so during the term of office. Not more than one-third of such commissioners shall be attorneys at law, licensed for active practice in this state.

Tyler joined Herrling Clark in 2015 after clerking with the firm. Tyler has a general practice and focuses on business law and related issues, including: business litigation and transactions, contracts, employment law, real estate, municipal law, bankruptcy, and estate planning.

While enrolled at the University of Wisconsin Law School, Tyler served as the Senior Managing Editor of the Wisconsin Law Review and as a judicial intern for Chief Judge William M. Conley of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Active in the legal community, Tyler is a member of the Wisconsin State Bar Association, the Outagamie County Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. Tyler is also a recent graduate of the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerces Leadership Fox Cities program.

About Herrling Clark Law Firm Ltd.

With more nationally board-certified trial attorneys located in northeast Wisconsin than any other law firm, Herrling Clark Law Firm, Ltd. handles Personal Injury; Family Law; Wills, Trusts and Probate; and Business law matters.

The accomplished lawyers at Herrling Clark have held prominent positions in various state legal organizations, appeared as regular guests on local radio programs, and hosted a local legal education television program. They have also authored articles in various renowned legal publications. The firm is skilled in the latest technology and is well-versed in recent changes to case law. Their knowledgeable attorneys are prepared to handle the most complex legal matters to achieve the most favorable outcomes for their clients.

To learn more about Herrling Clark, visit https://www.herrlingclark.com/ or call 920-739-7366 to schedule a consultation.
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- In a new paper published Feb. 4 in JAMA, Mayo Clinic researchers describe the benefits of in-home noninvasive ventilation therapy ? which includes a type referred to as bilevel positive airway pressure, or BiPAP ? for many patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The team identified a number of benefits, including reduced mortality, fewer hospital admissions, lower risk of intubation, improved shortness of breath, and fewer emergency department visits.

COPD is a chronic lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe. COPD is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., with more than 15 million people currently living with the disease, according to the American Lung Association.

Many people who have COPD suffer from hypercapnia, the retention of carbon dioxide -- a waste product of metabolism normally expelled by the lungs as a person breathes. This may lead to acute respiratory failure and hospitalization. One treatment for chronic hypercapnia is noninvasive ventilation, or a machine with a mask that helps to improve breathing.

Michael Wilson, M.D., a pulmonary and critical care physician at Mayo Clinic, led the study, which was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality under a contract with the Mayo Clinic Evidence-Based Practice Center.

"Although there is ample evidence supporting in-hospital use of breathing devices such as BiPAP, until now, we didn't know which benefits may be available when we send people home with a new piece of equipment," says Dr. Wilson. "There were indications that at-home therapy might be beneficial, but there were conflicting studies and guidelines as to what would be best for our patients."

He and his colleagues wanted to determine the best practice, collecting and summarizing all available medical knowledge surrounding the topic.

To that end, the team conducted a meta-analysis, combing all available peer-reviewed and other expert literature for relevant randomized clinical trials and comparative observational studies.

After reviewing more than 6,300 citations, the researchers found 33 studies evaluating outcomes for 51,085 patients with COPD and hypercapnia who were followed for at least one month while using a noninvasive ventilator at home during nighttime sleeping hours.

Among these patients, use of a noninvasive ventilator device, such as bilevel positive airway pressure, compared to no device was significantly associated with lower mortality: 29.2% versus 22.3%. The use of a noninvasive ventilator device also led to fewer emergency department visits and hospitalizations, and lower rates of intubation if patients were admitted to the hospital.

"While there does seem to be some clear benefits to using devices such as BiPAP, we should be cautious as the studies included a lot of different types of patients with COPD. And many of the studies we evaluated were low or moderate in quality," says Dr. Wilson. "We still have a lot more to learn about which machine settings are best for different types of patients. In addition, although many studies in our review included quality of life measurements, we didn't see an improvement. While some studies showed better quality of life, other studies showed no difference. Again, this points to the importance of needing to more carefully evaluate which patients with COPD may receive benefit."

"Patients with COPD should talk with their physicians to determine whether a breathing device such as a BiPAP machine might be a good choice for them," he says. "For many patients, such a device may offer important benefits."

###

The senior author of the study is Zhen Wang, Ph.D., associate director of the Mayo Clinic Evidence-Based Practice Research Program. This project also was supported by the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, in which Dr. Wang holds a leadership role in knowledge synthesis research and Dr. Wilson is a Kern Scholar Program alumnus.

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news and An Inside Look at Mayo Clinic for more information about Mayo.

Media contact:

Emily Blahnik, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu
Independent Community Living would like to introduce its December 2019 Employee of the Month, Anissa Allen.

Allen has been with the company for almost three years. She is very good with communication and works hard to support Independent Community Living's participants. She goes above and beyond and completes all tasks required of her. Allen is willing to adjust her schedule to accommodate the lives of the people she supports.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 21:54:49|Editor: yhy

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JAKARTA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia has slightly increased its coal reference price known as coal benchmark reference price (HBA) for February amid the lower supplies and rising demands.

The Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry set the coal reference price for the month at 66.89 U.S. dollars per metric ton, up 1.45 percent from the price for January.

Spokesman for the ministry Agung Pribadi said on Tuesday that the lower supply of coal in China after the country celebrated the Spring Festival and bushfires in Australia dragged outputs of the commodity.

"However, demands for coal increase during winter in China, Japan and South Korea," he said, referring to the buyers of Indonesia's coal.

Director of Indonesia's Coal Miner Association (APBI) Hendra Sinadia said the coal supply from Indonesia, the world's largest producer and exporter of thermal coal, could not be maximized during the wet season, local media reported.

The coal price has weakened since September 2018 and for 2019, the Indonesia's coal reference price only averaged at 77.89 dollars per metric ton.

The Indonesian reference price for thermal coal is the basis for setting up the prices of the country's 77 coal products and measuring the royalty producers have to pay for each metric ton of coal sold.

Indonesia's coal reserve is forecast at 26.2 billion tons, according to the ministry.
Practising yoga may increase levels of a messenger molecule involved in regulating brain activity, and completing one yoga class per week may maintain elevated levels of this chemical, according to a study which may lead to better ways of mitigating depressive symptoms.

The study, published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, assessed a group of 30 clinically depressed patients who were randomly divided into two groups.

According to the researchers, including those from Boston University in the US, both groups engaged in coherent breathing, and Iyengar yoga -- a form of hatha yoga, developed by B. K. S. Iyengar, emphasising on detail, precision, and alignment in the performance of yoga postures.

The only difference between the groups, the scientists said, was the number of 90 minute yoga sessions, and home sessions in which each group participated.

Over three months, they said, the high-dose group (HDG) was assigned three sessions per week, while the low-intensity group (LIG) engaged in two sessions per week.

The participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of their brain before the first and after the last yoga session, and also completed a clinical depression scale to monitor their symptoms, the study noted.

Results of the study revealed that both groups had improvement in depressive symptoms after three months.

Their MRI analysis showed that levels of the brain messenger molecule GABA were elevated after three months of yoga, as compared to the levels before starting yoga.

According to the study, this increase was found for approximately four days after the last yoga session, but the rise was no longer observed after about eight days.

"The study suggests that the associated increase in GABA levels after a yoga session are 'time-limited' similar to that of pharmacologic treatments such that completing one session of yoga per week may maintain elevated levels of GABA," explained study co-author Chris Streeter from Boston University.

Providing evidence-based data may help in getting more individuals to try yoga as a strategy for improving their health and well-being, the scientists said.

"A unique strength of this study is that pairing the yoga intervention with brain imaging provides important neurobiological insight as to the 'how' yoga may help to alleviate depression and anxiety," said study co-author Marisa Silveri from Harvard University.

In this study, we found that an important neurochemical, GABA, which is related to mood, anxiety, and sleep, is significantly increased in association with a yoga intervention," Silveri said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
National Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammy Awuku, has attempted to solve the mystery surrounding the Airbus bribery scandal.



Reports of a bribery scandal emerged over the weekend where Ghana, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Taiwan, have been cited as destinations where Airbus, the largest aerospace multinational in Europe, admitted that it paid huge bribes in order to secure contracts.



In the case of Ghana, the operations were reported to have taken place between 2009 and 2015; during which former President John Mahama served as vice president and subsequently president.



According to the UKs Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Airbus hired and disguised payments to a close relative of a government official in Ghana with no aerospace experience in connection with a sale of military transport planes.



No names were however mentioned in the report.



Speaking to this on Peace FM morning show 'Kokrokoo', Sammy Awuku said even though no name was mentioned in the report and though "we have no evidence to prove, but you can piece things together. if you take a look at my first coup de'tat (written by former President John Mahama), the connection to Intermediary 1 (is there)..."



Listen to the rest of his submission in the video below







Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4)  Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he is in favor of postponing the homecoming event of the Philippine Military Academy and to close off the premises to visitors amid the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.

Lorenzana said Tuesday this is in accordance with Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong's order suspending public events scheduled for the first three weeks of February.

"Unless the City Mayor reverses his decision before February 14, then I suggest that the PMA Homecoming be moved to a more auspicious date in the future," said Lorenzana in a statement.

Magalong on January 31 ordered to postpone "all crowd-drawing activities" for three weeks from February 1 to 23. The order also meant the postponement of the Panagbenga Festival's opening parade, celebrated by locals and visitors.

The Philippines so far has two confirmed cases of the 2019-nCoV, wherein one died from the infection. Meanwhile, some 105 are under observation.
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A federal judge in Nashville, TN, has awarded $15.1 to a teen who sustained a severe brain injury at birth at the Fort Campbell Army hospital.

U.S. District Court Judge Aleta A. Trauger ruled Jan. 28, that Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, Clarksville, TN, committed medical malpractice in not fully informing Kelly D. Wilson, the boy's mother, of the dangers of a vaginal delivery given her medical history, small stature, and short time since her last pregnancy.

Had Wilson received accurate information, she likely would not have chosen to delivery vaginally and the baby would not have been injured, the judge concluded.

"It's heartbreaking to know I went into the hospital with a healthy son and that his injuries never should have happened," Wilson said. "I'm grateful Judge Trauger awarded enough to fund my son's life care plan and to compensate him for his disabilities."

The teen, 15, sustained a severe brain injury as the result of oxygen deprivation toward the end of his mother's labor, which ended in an emergency caesarean. He has cerebral palsy and other neurological deficiencies and cannot speak or feed himself.

Court Ruling Affirms Patients' Rights

"The judge basically said it's not enough to walk a patient through a general consent form. The doctor must factor in a patient's individual risks as well, and counsel her accordingly," said Gerald Jowers, a partner with Janet, Janet & Suggs law firm, who represented the family.

"The award is a big victory for the rights of patients to be fully informed about their choices. It also sends a clear message to military hospitals that lax care will not be tolerated," said Kenneth M. Suggs, a partner with JJS and a Vietnam veteran, who also represented the family.

"Steps must be taken to improve military hospitals if our servicemen and women are to receive the care they deserve," added Howard A. Janet, JJS founding partner.

Wilson and the boy's father, Delvin D. Tavarez, filed suit in 2015, under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Wilson served three years in the Army and is an Iraq veteran. She was stationed at Ft. Campbell at the time of her son's birth.

The case is A.J.J.T., et al, v. United States, Case No. 3:15-cv-01073, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee.

About Janet, Janet & Suggs

Janet, Janet & Suggs is a leading national medical malpractice law firm known for taking on military and other hospitals to obtain justice for injured patients. JJ&S attorneys are recognized for securing fair compensation for brain-injured children and their families and others severely hurt by medical negligence. Our victories include a $13 million settlement for a child who developed cerebral palsy as the result of poor post-operative care at a U.S. government-employed hospital, and an $11.5 million settlement for a child brain-injured at birth as the result of delayed resuscitation at a Naval hospital.

CONTACT: Teresa Kelly

512-217-8051

For Janet, Janet & Suggs

SOURCE Janet, Janet & Suggs, LLC

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.4

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 21 times, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Feb. 4, Trend reports.

The Armenian armed forces were using large-caliber machine guns.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Our top priority is the health and well-being of our musicians and artists, Ginstling said. Looking at the facts in front of us, in some ways the decision was made for us. The combination of warnings from the State Department and the CDC, and our flights were canceled; there was no way to get there and no way to get home.
Britannic is the third and largest of the Olympic White Star Line's Olympic class trio.

It was the sister ship of Titanic and Olympic.

Following the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912, the hull of the 53,000-ton Britannic was redesigned and it was launched on February 26, 1914.

It was never used as a commercial trans-Atlantic liner because of World War I.

It was requisitioned as a hospital ship in November 1915 and sent to the Middle East and Aegean fronts.

On its sixth trip, on its way to pick up wounded soldiers from the disastrous Gallipoli campaign, it was sunk on November 21, 1916.

Of the 1,066 passengers aboard, 30 died.

For years, the cause of Britannic's sinking - whether by a torpedo or a mine - was unclear.

Britannic was located in 1975 by Jacques Cousteau, the famous French underwater explorer.

But a 2003 analysis and documentary provided conclusive evidence of a single mine blast causing it to sink.

The explosion gouged a hole in its hull and it rapidly took on water. It sunk within an hour.

Lifeboats were deployed too soon while the captain, unaware they had been deployed, tied to deliberately beach the cruiser.

Two lifeboats became entangled in the propellers and they, and their occupants, were torn to shreds by the spinning blades.

Britannic continued to take on water through the portholes that were open to ventilate the hospital wards.

The 883-foot ship is now listed on one side more than 100m (328 feet) underwater at the bottom of Aegean Sea, off the coast of Greece.
Though youve secured employment to provide for yourself and loved ones: No.

Though youve served your time and met all parole conditions: No.

Though youve reconnected with family members, and they welcome you in their homes: No.

Though youve reunited with your partner and both desire to cohabitate: No.

Though youve worked hard on your mental and physical health, seeking to thrive, not just survive: No.

No, you cannot live here. No, due solely to your record  often because of an action from decades ago  you are banned from all forms of rental housing, from private units to publicly subsidized housing to nonprofit housing.

What options remain? A vehicle, if youre lucky enough to have one, or the streets, both of which can lead to encounters with law enforcement and potential re-criminalization.

Its no coincidence that 73% of Oaklands homeless encampment residents are formerly incarcerated, and that homelessness has increased by 47% in the past two years. Meanwhile, efforts to reduce statewide prison overcrowding along with progressive court decisions to address mass incarceration are bringing more people home than ever before.

Its the trauma  of being told no over and over again, while living fearful of being reported by neighbors or seen by property management  that thousands in our community face while fighting to meet a need so fundamental to survival: having a roof over your head.

Its a failure of our systems and decision-makers to ensure every individual can successfully reintegrate, heal and move forward. Rather than expanding the economic pie, the lack of legal housing options contributes to an underground economy where crime can fester.

Thats why last week, City Council unanimously passed Oaklands Ronald V. Dellums and Simbarashe Sherry Fair Chance Housing Ordinance. This legislation is the first in California  joining cities nationwide like Seattle and Portland  to ensure that people returning home from the criminal justice system can legally live with family members and access, on their own, nearly all other forms of previously off-limits rental housing.

In our current affordable housing and homelessness crisis, the overwhelming majority of Oaklanders agree: Housing and homelessness are residents number one concern, outstripping any other priority by a wide margin. If we truly believe housing is a human right, we cannot permanently punish individuals who have paid their debts to society by structurally denying them access to every single form of housing. Our countrys legacies of government-sanctioned, de facto residential segregation and housing discrimination  disproportionately impacting African Americans, the same group most experiencing homelessness and incarceration today  make an ordinance like this absolutely necessary to the realization of justice.

We want to note three important details: (1) The ordinance does not apply to individuals with sex-related or meth manufacturing offenses. (2) It fully preserves landlord discretion to require employment, income, reference and past addresses, and other necessary information. (3) With respect for landlords who cohabitate with tenants, it does not apply to owner-occupied properties (including duplexes and triplexes), accessory dwelling units and tenant-occupied units seeking a roommate. To reiterate, this ordinance does not require any landlord to rent to an individual  it only encourages them to give these folks a second look.

Too many of our formerly incarcerated community members, Oakland born and raised, have spent years struggling to find stable housing. Theyve bounced from family members couches to friends living rooms to vehicles to the streets, unable to stay in any location for long before being forced to leave.

In addition, it is widely known that criminal background check databases are often flawed and inaccurate. The lack of up-to-date data on case outcomes means that arrests are routinely listed in background reports even when the charges were dropped, reduced or disproven in Court.

By lowering barriers to housing, this ordinance will directly reduce the increasing rate of unhoused individuals in our city, as well as reduce recidivism.

Thank you to all of the community members  formerly incarcerated individuals and their families  who partnered with organizers, elected officials and allies tirelessly over many years to achieve this long overdue win. We share our gratitude to City Attorney Barbara Parker, Vice Mayor Larry Reid and Councilmember Dan Kalb for co-sponsoring the ordinance.

This legislation is a powerful example of democratic, participatory policy-making where the most impacted residents identified both the policy problems and best practices, and partnered with a diverse range of stakeholders  including but not limited to property owner associations and landlords, as well as incorporating feedback from tenants and other community members and organizations  to tailor solutions to a local context.

Together, we can ensure that our laws are continually revised to become more humane and just. We can transform and heal our communities, centering those most impacted by past injustice, providing housing for all and co-governing with compassion, love and community by our side.

John Jones III is campaign director of Alameda County Fair Chance Housing Coalition; Nikki Fortunato Bas is Oakland District 2s City Councilmember. The authors have previously worked together on fair chance employment.
We initially thought it was a bad dryer in the laundry room, but it wasnt, Drdla said. With all the doors being open, the smell was dissipating, so we thought we had it. We reset the alarm, the alarm was holding and we were getting ready to leave when the residents were still calling us in. They still smelled something.
In 1946 a group of World War II military veterans took on the entrenched political machine in McMinn County and ousted the corrupt office holders in a bloody revolt called the Battle of Athens that re-established law and order in that county.

A young Chattanooga attorney, Jac Chambliss, from one of Chattanoogas historically powerful families decided that the same type of revolt could be established in our town to remove the political machine dominated by gamblers and bootleggers that effectively controlled elections.

Thus the Good Government League was formed with the announced purpose of cleaning up politics in Hamilton County, an attractive theme that appealed to all law-abiding citizens.

Their first political step was to select a candidate to take on one of the public office holders favored by the political machine. In the 1950 judicial election for Criminal Court Judge they selected as their reform candidate a 45-year-old controversial but successful trial attorney, Raulston Schoolfield.

In a surprise upset, Schoolfield defeated Tom Meyers and strengthened the political image of the GGL.

However, the marriage between the league and their victorious candidate soon ended and eventually evolved into a campaign to get Schoolfield impeached and disbarred from the practice of law. It created a lifelong split between the two powerful enemies. After losing his judgeship in 1958 and law license in 1960, Schoolfield would enter into a lifelong crusade to be vindicated in the eyes of the public and his many supporters. He was elected in 1974 and re-elected in 1982 as a non-lawyer General Sessions Judge in Hamilton County.

The split between the Jac Chambliss group and Raulston Schoolfield remained until the judges sudden death from a heart attack on Oct. 5, 1982. Armed with the power of the judiciary that created fear in the hearts of his opponents. However, it has been said that he never used that authority and recused himself from hearing any cases of the Chambliss law firm.

Public opinion amongst those that grew up in that era remain split on the question of whether Raulston Schoolfield was a corrupt Judge or just unwilling to bow down and do the bidding of the GGL.

However, the obvious disdain for the GGL remained with Schoolfield and, when asked about the group in later life, he quipped that their membership was so small that their meetings could be held in a telephone booth."

Forward to 2019 and the Hamilton County Community is now being offered the GGL off-spring, the Good Government Coalition (GGC) headed primarily by Tom Decosimo and heavily endorsed by announced Republican conservatives like Hugh Maclellan, Ken Meyer, Davis Lundy and other advocates for no tax increases for education as a group of people that think Hamilton County has got to live by its conservative and traditional values.

"We are going to help elected leaders who share those values, says Decosimo, while denying any allegiance to either Democrats or Republicans. (Chattanooga Times Free Press, Jan. 27, 2020.)

In 1946 Hamilton County was predominately Democratic until Bill Brock defeated Democrat Wilkes T. Thrasher, Jr. for Congress in 1962.

In 2020 the political cycle is reversed with Republicans seated as a large majority of office holders including several former Democrats who have switched parties in order to prevail and hold on to their political positions.

The voters will eventually have the opportunity to listen to all of the rhetoric by the GGC as they espouse their ideas that they claim are in the best interest of its electorate and to model their thinking accordingly.

Hopefully, the public will listen carefully and vote their own consciences irrespective of any recommendations now of candidates by groups or individuals.

Jerry Summers

* * *

First and foremost, attorney Jerry Summers, I dont feel worthy to respond to anything you author.

Who am I to counter the great attorney Jerry Summers? I will not even attempt it, but I would like to share my honest opinion.

Your pieces on local history are my number one read, and are insanely interesting and fun to read. The last piece about Pikeville, I read twice.

I remember your written pieces of the implications of publishing arrest mug shots as public records, and other legal positions. What clarity you presented in the outcomes of arrested, published, yet without hearing or finding of guilt. Pure brilliance in your position. Sadly, it all became reality.

I agree with your advice, we need to collect facts when voting, and think for ourselves. I dont want to blindly follow any politico. I tire of political panderers and climbers, regardless of their political party, and want quality elected officials to enact tangible changes, and dont care what party they are with.

How do we get those great leaders? If there is a recipe to acquire great leaders in elected office, please share. We desperately need them.

How many times do we all support a candidate, only to learn the candidate was just kidding about their position on taxation, PILOTs, and everything else. My smart friends gave up on the pursuit of enlisting great leaders after continually being hoodwinked by the say or do anything to get elected crowd.

I also enjoyed the historical background you provided of one good government organization in your letter. I do wish you would write more about our local political history, it is truly sizzling, ouch. Our local political history is the wild west, and those rodeos are fun to revisit.

As an Election Commission board member, I attended hearings for conservative petition efforts. One petition will resonate in my memory. You argued and upheld every legal and regulatory position like the professional you are, and checked your partisanship at the door. That is what I remember about you. We dont get to see that often these days.

The Democrats of Hamilton County gone by aint nothing like the UnifiEd alt left Democrats. The ideology of UnifiEd applied in Hamilton County is more than concerning to me. If you have time, please read, the APEX plan published by UnifiEd. It is on their website.

These UnifiEd folks are not our beloved Dalton Roberts type Democrats, where leaders followed logic and good horse sense prevailed.

If it takes an army of GGCs, the inept local Republican Party, the wonderful Tom Decosimo, and grassroots conservatives to flush UnifiEd out, let the WWTA waters flow freely.

Sincerely, a huge Attorney Summers fan.

April Eidson
The US yield curve has inverted at the short end  three month interest rates on Treasury securities are now higher than two and five-year rates  signalling, if not an economic slowdown, a flight of global cash to safety.

Oil prices have fallen more than 20 per cent since the outbreak, copper is down about 13 per cent, iron ore prices have fallen about $US10 a tonne and soy beans, which were supposed to benefit from the Phase One trade deal between the US and China, have fallen about 8 per cent.

Thats why the markets are gyrating, with the US stockmarket tumbling on Friday and then recovering half those losses on Monday.

The great unknowable about the impact of the coronavirus for businesses, investors and economic policymakers is just how much damage it will inflict on the global economy.

That rush to a perceived safe haven is echoed in the strengthening of the US dollar against the basket of its major trading partners currencies, the flip side of which is an Australian dollar that has weakened from around US70 cents at the start of this to trade just below US67 cents.

It is obvious that Chinas economy will be hard hit by the virus. The epicentre of the crisis, Wuhan and Hubei Province, are key manufacturing, transport and logistics hubs. More than 50 million people in the province are now in lockdown in the worlds largest-ever quarantine.

With the virus still spreading rapidly throughout China  almost all of the 17,000-plus confirmed cases so far are within China, with only a relative handful elsewhere  its industries and consumers are going to be adversely impacted, with the major uncertainties being the related questions of severity and duration.

At an economic level, the visible response of the Chinese authorities has so far been measured, with an injection of the equivalent of $US173 billion ($258 billion) of liquidity into their financial markets on Monday. That failed, however, to stop their stock market falling about 8 per cent, its steepest one-day fall since 2015.

China does have the option of embarking on a large-scale stimulus program, lifting some of the constraints on its shadow banking system and opening the governments coffers for a massive infrastructure spending program. Chinas capacity to respond in the way it did to the financial crisis is, however, limited by the degree of leverage in its financial system.

Companies around the world have warned that the coronavirus outbreak in China could disrupt supply chains or hurt bottom lines as factories and shops shut and airlines suspend flights.

And car makers are also feeling the impact.

Vehicle manufacturers and parts suppliers have been forced to close factories in line with government guidelines. These are the brands that are currently implementing plant shutdowns.

Hyundai Motor said it will suspend production in South Korea due to the coronavirus outbreak disrupting parts supply, becoming the first major automaker to do so outside China

Measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus will disrupt the global auto supply chain and may dash hopes of a mild recovery in China's auto industry, warned S&P Global Ratings.

Credit analyst Vittoria Ferraris said the timing couldn't be worse, given that production volumes in China had only just started to recover last November after a two-year decline.

'We estimate the current two-week production shutdown imposed in the Chinese province of Hubei will knock 2 to 4 per cent off total annual production in the region, which is home to about 9 per cent of the total Chinese auto production,' Ms Ferraris said.

We believe China may further extend shutdowns beyond Hubei to limit contagion risk, possibly affecting up to one-half of China's auto and auto-parts production.

Volkswagen is the automaker with the highest exposure to China.

It manufactures vehicles and components at 23 sites in China, representing nearly 40 per cent of the group's consolidated production.

Among suppliers of car parts, the analysts predicted that Bosch will be particularly hard hit, with China being its second-largest market worth around 14 billion.

'The coronavirus outbreak represents a material downside risk to our scenario for a mild recovery of the Chinese auto market in 2020, with no relevant mitigant on the radar, said Ms Ferraris.

'While the Chinese market maintains its long-term attraction for most global auto manufacturers and suppliers, recent developments may contribute to turning 2020 into an ever more challenging year for global automakers and suppliers than we originally expected.'

These are the brands that have confirmed factory closures in light of the virus outbreak.

Fiat Chrysler

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles may be forced to close European plants within two to four weeks due to the deadly virus outbreak, ceo Mike Manley told Reuters.

FCA so far has not reported production shutdowns at plants outside China related to the virus outbreak but if disruptions to production and shipment of auto parts get worse, Manley said FCA could potentially see a risk to production at a European plant within by the end of February or early March.

FCA has yet to identify which plant could be affected.

Ford

Ford Motor plans to resume production on 10 February at its factories in Chongqing and Hangzhou with joint venture partner Chongqing Changan Automobile after an extended Chinese New Year break.

Honda

The Japanese car maker plans to extend the closure of its three car plants in Wuhan, which it operates with Dongfeng Group.

The intention is for the factories to reopen on 13 February.

Hyundai

Hyundai Motor said it will suspend production in South Korea due to the coronavirus outbreak disrupting parts supply, becoming the first major automaker to do so outside China.

Most of Hyundai's South Korean factories will be fully idled from 7 February while some production lines are expected to restart on 11 or 12 Feburary, a union official said.

Nissan

Nissan Motor said it is considering restarting production in China in its venture with Dongfeng sometime after 10 February.

Production at another facility in Hubei will start sometime after 14 February, the maker said.

It will also temporarily halt production at its plant in Kyushu, southwestern Japan.

It makes Nissan the first automaker to shut a plant in Japan because of the outbreak, though it is claimed this is due to increasing difficulty to procure parts from China.

Peugeot, Citroen

French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen said its three plants in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, will remain closed until 14 February.

Telsa said the impact of Model 3 production shutdown at its Shanghai factory could impact profitability in the first quarter of 2020

Tesla

Tesla said last week a 1 to 1.5 stop to production of its Model 3 built at its new Shanghai plant due to a factory shutdown could impact profitability in the first quarter of 2020.

The company is also evaluating whether the supply chain for cars built in its Fremont, California plant will be affected.

Toyota

Toyota Motor shut factories in China through 9 February.

The Japanese auto maker, which runs plants in regions such as the northern city of Tianjin and the southern province of Guangdong, said it was assessing its parts supply situation.

Valeo (parts)

The French car parts maker said its three sites in Wuhan will stay closed until at least 13 February.
LAS VEGAS, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Australis Capital Inc. (CSE: AUSA) (OTC: AUSAF) ("AUSA" or the "Company") is pleased to announce AUSA has entered into a non-binding letter of intent (the "LOI") to acquire 100% of Paytron, LLC ("Paytron"), a privately held omnichannel payment services provider, which will continue its operations as a wholly-owned subsidiary as well as expand the existing service offering of the Cocoon Technology platform.

Founded in 2015, Paytron offers merchant services, including credit and debit card processing, secure gateway processing, point of sale hardware, card terminals and business loans. Partnered with some of the largest companies in the payment processing industry, Paytron's team brings significant experience in merchant services and independent sales organizations (ISOs). Upon completion of the acquisition, Paytron will continue to operate as an ISO and become the payment branch for Cocoon Technology, an operating subsidiary of AUSA.

Marc Ruben will also join the AUSA team as Vice President, Payments. Marc is a respected payments executive, proven leader, and force behind multiple high-achieving U.S.-centric merchant sales organizations. He provides a wealth of experience in building strategic partnerships as well as large National and Regional Sales Teams. His experience and successful stints at Bank of America Merchant Services, Sun Trust Merchant Services and First Data Canada over the past 20 years will provide an excellent foundation in payments for the Cocoon Technology team.

"Through our acquisition of Paytron and the addition of Marc Ruben and his team, Cocoon Technology will be positioned to bundle self-service technology, payment processing technology and ISO referral networks across North America," said Cleve Tzung, SVP, M&A at AUSA. "These existing relationships will aid in the growth of Cocoon Technology sales while providing dispensaries with an even more robust self-service solution."

"I'm very excited to be bringing over 20 years of expertise in the payments space to AUSA," said Marc Ruben, VP, Payments at AUSA. "I look forward to rapid growth as we bring our existing partnerships to the AUSA family."

The LOI is non-binding and the completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.

About Australis Capital Inc.

AUSA operates and builds transformative, differentiated cannabis companies predominantly in the United States, a highly-regulated, fragmented, and rapidly expanding industry. AUSA adheres to stringent evaluation and operating criteria focusing on high-quality opportunities while maintaining a steadfast commitment to governance and community. AUSA's Board and management team have material experience with, and knowledge of, the cannabis space in the U.S., extensive backgrounds in highly-regulated industries and regulatory compliance. AUSA operating and portfolio assets include Rthm Technologies Inc., Body and Mind Inc., Quality Green Inc., Folium Biosciences, Mr. Natural Inc., Green Therapeutics, LLC., and Cocoon Technology LLC.

The Company's Common shares trade on the CSE under the symbol "AUSA" and on the OTCQX under the symbol "AUSAF".

For further information about AUSA, please visit the website at ausa-corp.com or contact the Company by e-mail at [email protected].

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"Scott Dowty"

________________________________

Scott Dowty

Chief Executive Officer

Forward-Looking Information Statement

This news release contains statements and information that, to the extent that they are not historical fact, constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect.

Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking information. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company's management to predict all of such factors and to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on the Company's business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking information to reflect information, events, results, circumstances or otherwise after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law including securities laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Australis Capital Inc.

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PHOENIX  A nonprofit Arizona political coalition is launching an effort to register 250,000 people across the state to vote, and to encourage everyone to participate in this years census.

The non-partisan One Arizona says its launch party will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix.

The coalition comprises 22 community groups from around the state.

Volunteers will register people to vote and ask them to fill out cards pledging to participate in the 2020 census. There will also be mural painting, carnival games and other activities.

One Arizona says in 2018 it registered 190,000 people to vote in a state with a burgeoning Latino population. That was far more than any other one group or political party in Arizona.

The coalition has done voter registration and engagement work since 2010, with a focus on the Latino community.

The most recent numbers available from the Arizona Secretary of States website say there were some 3.8 million people registered to vote statewide as of October.
The prime minister is well known for eschewing detail and travelling light when approaching policy dilemmas. So light, in fact, that he ties to glide over them.

Even so, his landmark speech at Greenwich on the future of British international trade was exceptionally sparse. Approaching a half of British exports go to the European Union, as of now, and millions of jobs depend on what new arrangements will take the place of the single market and the customs union, which have operated for nearly 30 and 50 years respectively.

Yet all Boris Johnson had to say in specifics  leaving aside his references to the glories of Britains maritime past  was: The question is whether we agree a trading relationship with the EU comparable to Canadas  or more like Australias. And I have no doubt that in either case the UK will prosper.
Des Moines, Iowa: The Democratic Party's search to find a presidential nominee has been derailed by an embarrassing technical error, leading to a major delay in the release of the results of the influential Iowa caucuses.

Americans went to bed on Monday night (Tuesday AEDT) unsure of which candidate had won the most votes in Iowa, the first state in the nation to have a say on who will be on the ballot in November's presidential election.

The campaign team of US President Donald Trump, who will deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday (Wednesday in Australia), leapt upon the snafu to sow doubt about the legitimacy of the results.

"Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history," Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement.
Story Highlights Approval among Republicans hits 94%

Poll shows highest party polarization on record

Half of registered voters say Trump deserves to be re-elected

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Donald Trump's job approval rating has risen to 49%, his highest in Gallup polling since he took office in 2017.

The new poll finds 50% of Americans disapproving of Trump, leaving just 1% expressing no opinion. The average percentage not having an opinion on Trump has been 5% throughout his presidency.

Trump's approval rating has risen because of higher ratings among both Republicans and independents. His 94% approval rating among Republicans is up six percentage points from early January and is three points higher than his previous best among his fellow partisans. The 42% approval rating among independents is up five points, and ties three other polls as his best among that group. Democratic approval is 7%, down slightly from 10%.

The 87-point gap between Republican and Democratic approval in the current poll is the largest Gallup has measured in any Gallup poll to date, surpassing the prior record, held by Trump and Barack Obama, by one point.

The Jan. 16-29 poll was conducted in the midst of the Senate impeachment trial that will likely result in the president's acquittal. The poll finds 52% of Americans in favor of acquitting Trump and 46% in favor of convicting and removing him from office.

In addition to possibly reflecting sentiment regarding his impeachment, Trump's increased approval rating may also result from other issues, including:

The recent military action in Iran. More Americans in the new poll approve (53%) than disapprove (45%) of the U.S. military action that resulted in the death of a leading Iranian military general. Iran retaliated but, despite fears of escalation, no further military action has been taken by either side.

More Americans in the new poll approve (53%) than disapprove (45%) of the U.S. military action that resulted in the death of a leading Iranian military general. Iran retaliated but, despite fears of escalation, no further military action has been taken by either side. Foreign trade. During the poll's field period, Trump also signed the United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.

During the poll's field period, Trump also signed the United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. The economy. Americans' confidence in the economy is higher than at any point in the past two decades. Similarly, national satisfaction is the highest in nearly 15 years.

Sixty-three percent of Americans now approve of the way Trump is handling the economy, up six points from the prior reading in November. It is the highest economic approval rating not only for Trump, but for any president since George W. Bush enjoyed stratospheric job approval ratings in the first few months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Trump's ratings for handling foreign affairs (47%) and foreign trade (50%) are also his best to date.

Republican Party Image Also Improving

As Trump's job approval rating has improved, so has the image of the Republican Party. Now, 51% of Americans view the Republican Party favorably, up from 43% in September. It is the first time GOP favorability has exceeded 50% since 2005.

Meanwhile, 45% of Americans have a positive opinion of the Democratic Party, a slight dip from 48% in September.

Additionally, the poll finds 48% of Americans identifying as Republicans or leaning toward that party, compared with 44% Democratic identification or leaning. Recent Gallup polls had shown a fairly even partisan distribution, after the Democratic Party held advantages for much of 2019.

Gallup observed similar public opinion shifts when Bill Clinton was impeached.

Clinton's approval rating spiked to a personal high of 73% after the House impeachment vote, and stayed above his pre-impeachment readings through his acquittal by the Senate in early 1999.

A seven-point average Democratic advantage in party identification and leaning in two early December 1998 polls (49% to 42%) swelled to an average 17 points (53% to 36%) in two late December polls after the Dec. 19, 1998, impeachment vote.

The latest impeachment saga has had a different effect on party favorable ratings, however. When Clinton was impeached, favorable ratings of the Democratic Party were unchanged (but high, at 57% and 58% in two December polls), while the GOP's ratings plummeted, falling from 43% pre-impeachment to an all-time low of 31% after the House vote to impeach.

Election Context

Impeachment and a strong state of the nation may have brightened Trump's election prospects, but U.S. registered voters are evenly divided at 50% as to whether he deserves re-election. When the question was last asked, just before the 2018 midterm elections, 41% of Americans thought Trump deserved a second term.

With the Democratic nomination campaign fully underway, 39% of registered voters say they will vote for Trump regardless of whom the Democratic Party nominates for president, while nearly the same percentage (36%) say they will vote against Trump regardless of whom the Democrats choose. Twenty-four percent of voters say they are waiting to see whom the Democrats nominate.

For their part, Democrats continue to prefer a nominee who can defeat Trump over a candidate closer to them on the issues. Fifty-six percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents want the party to nominate a candidate who has the best chance of beating Trump, even if the candidate does not agree with them on the issues they care most about, while 42% want a nominee who agrees with them on the issues but does not have the best chance of beating Trump. The current 14-point margin in favor of electability is smaller than the 24-point gap measured in November, suggesting Democrats may have a harder time settling for the eventual nominee if it's someone they don't agree with.

Democrats identify Joe Biden (44%) as the candidate they think has the best chance of beating Trump, followed by Bernie Sanders at 19% and Michael Bloomberg at 10%. Meanwhile, Democrats are most likely to name Sanders (28%) as the candidate who is closest to them on the issues, followed by Biden (20%) and Elizabeth Warren (16%).

Implications

Whether the rise in Trump's approval rating and the Republican Party's image is being driven by a backlash against impeachment, the strong economy or other factors may become clearer in the near future. If it is mostly impeachment-based, his approval rating may revert quickly back to pre-impeachment levels, as it did for Clinton. Within two months of his acquittal in February 1999, Clinton's approval rating returned to where it was before he was impeached, as did the Democratic Party's advantage in party identification and leaning.

If Trump's higher approval rating is being driven by Americans giving him credit for improvements in the economy, his support may increase over the course of the year, as it did for Ronald Reagan in 1984, Clinton in 1996 and Barack Obama in 2012. All of those recent presidents held office during periods of sustained economic improvement and were re-elected with job approval ratings of better than 50%.

View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).

Explore President Trump's approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.

Learn more about public opinion metrics that matter for the 2020 presidential election at Gallup's 2020 Presidential Election Center.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Skeena Resources Limited (TSX.V:SKE, OTCQX:SKREF) ("Skeena" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a purchase and sale agreement to sell the Company's 100% interest in the GJ Copper-Gold Property (the "GJ Property") to Newcrest Red Chris Mining Limited ("Newcrest") for $7.5 million of cash. In addition, Skeena sold its wholly owned subsidiary, Sona Resources Corp., including the Blackdome-Elizabeth property, to Tempus Resources Ltd. for $500,000 of cash.

Walter Coles, Skeena's CEO commented, "Advancing the Eskay Creek project is Skeena's primary focus. Therefore, we are divesting the GJ Property and the Blackdome-Elizabeth property as a way to raise funds for Eskay while incurring the least amount of equity dilution possible to our shareholders."

Under the terms of the purchase and sale agreement with Newcrest, dated February 3, 2020, Skeena will sell 100% of Skeena's interest in the GJ Property in consideration for:

A cash payment of $7,500,000 to Skeena; and

The assumption by Newcrest of future payment obligations and royalties on the GJ Property, including those outlined in the Company's October 6, 2015 news release.

It is anticipated that closing of the transaction with Newcrest will occur prior to May 3, 2020. The transaction is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary consents and approvals, including the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.

The sale of Sona Resources to Tempus Resources Ltd. has already closed.

About Skeena

Skeena Resources Limited is a junior Canadian mining exploration company focused on developing prospective precious metal properties in the Golden Triangle of northwest British Columbia, Canada. The Company's primary activities are the exploration and development of the past-producing Eskay Creek mine and Snip mine.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Skeena Resources Limited,

Walter Coles Jr.

President & CEO

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

Certain statements made and information contained herein may constitute "forward looking information" and "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. These statements and information are based on facts currently available to the Company and there is no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements and information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "targets", "estimates", "plans", "expects", "may", "will", "could" or "would". Forward-looking statements and information contained herein are based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, metal prices, taxation, the estimation, timing and amount of future exploration and development, capital and operating costs, the availability of financing, the receipt of regulatory approvals, environmental risks, title disputes and other matters. While the Company considers its assumptions to be reasonable as of the date hereof, forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees of future performance and readers should not place undue importance on such statements as actual events and results may differ materially from those described herein. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or information except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CONTACT:

SOURCE: Skeena Resources Limited

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575042/Skeena-Sells-Assets-for-C8-Million
The Saudi teenager who fled the kingdom for Canada last year has been subjected to a barrage of online abuse after posting a picture of herself in a bikini to celebrate her new life.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun shared the before-and-after pictures of herself in a niqab and then a bikini on her Twitter account.

She hailed the transformation as 'the biggest change in my life.. from being forced to wear black sheets and being controlled by men to being a free woman'.

However, she quickly came under fire from her critics in conservative Saudi Arabia who said she was making herself 'naked'.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun - who fled Saudi Arabia for asylum in Canada last year - posted these before-and-after pictures on Twitter

The Saudi teenager posted this picture of herself in a bikini - prompting a barrage of abuse from her critics in the ultra-conservative kingdom

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun wearing a niqab when she lived in Saudi Arabia. She says she was subjected to physical and psychological abuse by her family

Qunun posted the pictures in response to another Twitter user's call for pictures of 'major appearance changes'.

Many social media users celebrated her post, saying she 'looked amazing' and calling her 'incredibly brave'.

But she came under attack from a series of online critics, many of whom defended the kingdom she fled in January last year.

'I really feel sad for people like you, Saudi woman are living in happiness, they are living a normal live they drive, go malls and now they travel alone, plus our prophet Muhammad said that women and men are equal,' said one person in response.

Another claimed: 'Nobody forced you to wear anything you don't want to wear, stop writing stupid things that are not even true.'

Yet another critic wrote: 'I was checking her previous posts and got to know that she literally got all this fame because she threw hijab away and started clothing like in the second picture.'

Many of her critics took aim at the bikini picture, with one asking: 'From your point of view freedom means naked?'.

'It's too good to feel your freedom... To do whatever you want. Can't you do that without insisting to mock in the culture of your country,' said another.

'Believe me Honey, not every woman is forced to wear black sheet. Please, respect other women and wear whatever you want. We support you.'

Another said: 'Niqab was never a punishment for us, but may God give your parents some peace and bring you back to Him.'

After posting the pictures the teenager came under attack from a series of online critics, many of whom defended the kingdom she fled in January last year

Other Twitter users celebrated the Saudi teenager's post, more than a year after she made international headlines by fleeing the Gulf kingdom

Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun is welcomed by Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland (right) after arriving in Toronto in January 2019

Qunun was welcomed to Canada last January after the United Nations refugee agency reportedly withdrew its referral for her to be resettled in Australia because Canberra was taking too long to decide on her asylum.

The teenager had drawn global attention with a live-tweeted asylum plea from a Bangkok hotel after fleeing her Saudi family.

She said she was being subjected to physical and psychological abuse from her family the in ultra-conservative kingdom.

The posts ignited a #SaveRahaf movement while rights groups said she had also renounced Islam, risking prosecution in Saudi Arabia.

Her family has denied the allegations of abuse.

The Saudi embassy in Bangkok faced global criticism after allegedly attempting to repatriate her to the Gulf kingdom against her will.

Thai authorities instead turned her over to the UN's refugee agency before Canadian PM Justin Trudeau announced that his country would welcome her.

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said the teenager's escape had 'captured the world's attention'.
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ALBANY  As the state Board of Elections continues its certification process to adopt controversial touch-screen voting machines, the head of the Senate elections committee is urging the board's commissioners to hit pause while lawmakers gather feedback about the new technology.

The board is currently testing the "ExpressVote XL" voting system, designed by the Nebraska-based company Election Systems & Software, as part of a growing nationwide interest in ballot-marking devices  hybrid machines that allow voters to cast their ballots using a touch screen. The system spits out a paper record of the votes as a secondary measure to ensure an accurate count  but advocates have questioned the precision of the machines and whether they are vulnerable to hackers.

In addition, the machines were at the center of a botched November election in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, where a judiciary race was undercounted by thousands of ballots.

"Everything is always good until its not," said state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, D-Brooklyn, who chairs the Senate Committee on Elections. "Everything is shiny and cutting-edge until it's not."

On Friday, Myrie wrote a letter to the state Board of Elections, urging commissioners to hold off making any decisions about the voting machines until he can call a public hearing on ballot-marking devices. At first glance, the machines "seem convenient and modern, but questions remain," he wrote in the letter, citing concerns from experts that the devices may be unreliable in close elections or produce paper records that are difficult to review.

"Through public testimony and submissions, we will be able to better assess the efficacy and security of not only ExpressVote XL, but ballot-marking devices generally," the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Times Union, states.

He anticipates the hearing would occur after the state budget  due April 1  is finalized.

Members of the good-government organization Common Cause New York have been raising alarms about the technology for months, arguing that certifying the machines would "risk jeopardizing [New York] elections."

The ExpressVote XL is a hackable voting machine that, if certified, will compromise the safety and security of our elections," said Sarah Goff, the deputy director of Common Cause NY. "Were glad to see the Legislature commit to public hearings. Next, the NYSBOE must reject the machine.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Election Systems & Software has stood by its devices, saying they are "among the newest election technology on the market today."

"Ballots cast with the ExpressVote XL are fully auditable," said Katina Granger, a company spokeswoman. "It has been through hundreds of thousands of hours of testing, including millions of ballots, and is certified by the Federal Election Assistance Commission."

Board of Elections spokesman John Conklin said the board received Myrie's letter, and the Legislature "should take whatever steps they deem appropriate." He said the board is following procedures described in elections law, as Election Systems & Software brought the machine to the board for certification and paid testing fees.

"The testing process is rigorous and can take many months to complete," Conklin said in an email. "The boards decision will be based on the merits of the voting system and whether it passes or fails the statutory and regulatory requirements. Our independent testing authority is reviewing the source code at this time. No decision by the board is imminent."

Read the full letter here:
Spanish police Monday said it has rounded up 26 people organized in a network which has been trafficking immigrants to the European country, mainly from Algeria.

The alleged traffickers used to transport the immigrants aboard powerful speedboats, which set out from the northern port of Oran and crossed the western Mediterranean in three hours, the police said in a statement, relayed by AFP.

The smugglers had also established a route between Tangiers in northern Morocco and the southern Spanish port of Algeciras.

The would be immigrants had to pay between 2,000 and 2,500 for the crossing and another 500 euros to be transported by car to cities in southern and eastern Spain where they stayed with family and friends, Spanish authorities said.

If they fail to make the full payment, they were dumped along the way or held hostage until their families covered the amount owed to the network. The business earned the network more than 1.5 million last year, the police said.

Spain is a key transit point and gateway for immigrants mainly from Africa willing to join Europe. Over 26,000 people arrived in Spain last year, compared to 57,498 arrivals the previous year, according to official figures.

The number has drastically dwindled by 54.5 percent thanks to Morocco, which stepped up its efforts to thwart illegal migration. The policy has forced traffickers and immigrants to find new routes, including Algeria and the Canary Islands.

Since the start of the year, illegal migrants arrivals in the Canary Islands have exploded.

According to statistics provided by the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, relayed by media, the arrivals of illegal migrants in the Canaries were multiplied by 17.7 in January 2020 compared to January 2019. A total of 708 migrants arrived or were rescued at sea, on board 23 boats.

The Spanish Ministry of the Interior indicates that this situation contrasts with the statistics recorded for the rest of Spain, where a drop of more than 54% for the arrivals of illegal migrants has been noted.

In percentages, and for the month of January 2020 alone, out of ten illegal migrants arriving in Spain, four opted for the Canary Islands, or 38.2% of the total.
My colleague Farhad Manjoo wrote recently in a column that what he finds more worrisome than a little-understood, dangerous illness is the spread of misinformation and fear, which have historically been used to justify acts of repression against minorities.

[Have you or someone you know faced prejudice in the United States as a result of coronavirus fears? Please contact us at coronavirus@nytimes.com if you are willing to share your story.]

All this is to say the situation is serious, but its important not to lose perspective. The flu, for example, has caused 10,000 deaths in the U.S. this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So here are some answers about the coronavirus:

There are now six cases in California, the most of any U.S. state. That includes one case each in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, while four are in the Bay Area.

A husband and wife in San Benito County learned they had the illness on Sunday and were taken by ambulance to a hospital in San Francisco on Monday, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. They were the first cases involving the household person-to-person transmission of coronavirus in California.

Because of the number of people in California who travel to and from China, the state is on that front line, an infectious disease expert told my colleagues. Screenings at the San Francisco and Los Angeles airports were put into place on Jan. 17. But flights have been canceled and officials advise against traveling to China if its avoidable.

[Read about a 17-year-old exchange students journey back to the U.S.]

Military bases in California, Colorado and Texas were getting ready to house Americans under quarantine. So far, though, the only people under quarantine were the 195 people who have been held at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside.

The outbreak is looking increasingly like a pandemic  an ongoing epidemic on two or more continents  according to top experts. But how fast the disease spreads depends on a number of factors, including how contagious the virus is and how long it takes to show symptoms. (Two to 14 days, experts say.)

[See how various factors will determine how bad the outbreak will get.]
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Preeja Prasad By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Sheer desperation on the part of a 34-year-old IT professional from Magadi Road has caused him a triple whammy.

It not only cost him Rs 37 lakh as he became a victim of two back-to-back incidents of cybercrime but also cost him his marriage as his wife has filed for divorce in connection with the second incident.

All this happened over a period of just three months.

The trouble began for Mohan Rao (name changed) in mid-October 2019 when he responded to an online call for applications for engineering jobs in Dubai.

Incidentally, it was from a fake job placement portal, which subsequently told him that he was selected.

A joyous Mohan suspected nothing even when the fraudsters sent him a message saying that as his job in Dubai as an engineer was confirmed, he would have to make a payment of Rs 25 lakh so they could arrange his housing and other needs, especially as he was married and had a six-month-old daughter.

An excited Mohan, with an eye on earning a huge salary packet, did not think twice about taking a loan to make the payment.

However, just two days after he made the payment to a bank account specified by the fraudsters, Mohan found that he could no longer access the portal, nor could he get in touch with his contacts who were dealing with his placement -- and who had asked him to make the payment.

A week later, realising that he had been duped, Mohan, instead of approaching the cyber police, turned to Dark Net in search of a hacker to help him trace the fraudsters and retrieve his money.

Dark Net is the part of internet below the private deep web that uses custom software and hidden networks superimposed on the architecture of the internet and is considered illegal.

There, he came across a woman named Lucy, with whom he started an online affair as she assured him of her help and cooed sweet-somethings which tugged at his romantic heart-strings.

Once netted, Lucy told him that it would be easy to get his Rs 25 lakh back, but that he would have to send her Rs 12 lakh.

Blinded by the affair and desperate to get his money back, Mohan sold one of his houses and paid the amount to Lucy, keeping his wife in the dark about all these dealings.

And Lucy too vanished

But worse was in store for Mohan. His wife came across the chat messages he had exchanged with Lucy and realised what was happening behind her back.

She picked up their six-month-old daughter and walked out of his house. She has now filed for divorce and both are being counselled.

A shattered Mohan then filed a case with the cybercrime police on January 17.

Mohan was afraid of filing a case with the cybercrime police as he had sought help from the Dark Net, said Dr Bindhya Yohannan, a counsellor at the helpline.
Dieppe, New Brunswick--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2020) - Colibri Resource Corporation (TSXV: CBI) ("Colibri" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has contracted Major Drilling for its maiden drilling program at its Evelyn Gold Project located 60 km NW of Caborca, Mexico.

The Evelyn Gold Project lies in the prolific "Caborca Gold Belt" which hosts many mines and deposits including La Herradura, Mexico's largest gold mine which produced 474,168 ounces of gold in 2018 at an average grade of 0.80 g/t Au (25km west of Evelyn) and Noche Buena mine which produced 167,208 oz Au at an average grade of 0.52 g/t Au in 2018 (9km south west of Evelyn) (www.fresnilloplc.com).

The initial 5 hole diamond drilling program will focus on testing the high priority targets that were selected by Aurometallum Geology Consulting Services and Colibri geologists. Aurometallum completed a geological, geochemical, and structural mapping study at Evelyn in late 2019 and has identified two mineralized corridors of strong initial interest. These corridors have now been named "Cerro Rojo" and "El Sahuaro" (CBI press release December 3, 2019).

The first two planned holes will test the area encompassing the "Saddle Vein" in the Cerro Rojo where previously announced grab samples in the area of the two holes have assayed up to 43.9 g/t Au (CBI press release June 3, 2019). The Cerro Rojo mineralized corridor measures 1200 meters by up to 500 meters.

A third hole within the Cerro Rojo will test a fault zone where previously announced chip samples returned up to as 0.98 g/t and soil samples run up to 0.251 g/t Au (CBI press release December 3, 2019).

Drilling of two holes at the El Sahuaro will test areas of shearing. The El Sahuaro mineralized corridor area measures approximately 950 meters by 350 meters with chip sample assays up to 4.81 g/t Au and soil samples up to 0.40 g/t Au (CBI press release June 3, 2019).

Final drill permitting for this program is expected to be received shortly and an update will be released upon its receipt.

Qualified Person and NI 43-101 Disclosure

Jackie E. Stephens, P. Geo for Colibri, is the Qualified Person, (as defined in NI 43-101), who has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.

Figure 1





To view an enhanced version of Figure 1 please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4269/52100_28d5154a44863bd4_001full.jpg

About Colibri Resource Corporation:

Colibri is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company listed on the TSX-V (CBI) focused on acquiring and exploring properties in Mexico. The Company currently has five active exploration properties at various stages of exploration.

For more information about all of our projects please visit: www.colibriresource.com.

We seek safe harbour.

For further information: Ronald J. Goguen, President, Chairperson and Director, Tel:(506) 383-4274, rongoguen@colibriresource.com

The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52100
Zaira Wasim, who was last seen in The Sky Is Pink, which was also her last movie before she quit Bollywood to "follow faith" took to social media recently to pen down a note and highlight the plight of Kashmiris.

The former actress who hails from Kashmir wrote how "Kashmiris continue to exist and suffer".

Kashmir continues to suffer and see-saw between hope and frustration Theres a false and uneasy semblance of calmness in place of escalating despair and sorrow (sic)," she wrote.

She raised a lot of questions for which she was seeking answers.

Why do we have to live in world where our lives and wills are controlled, dictated and bent? Why is it so easy to have our voices silenced? Why is it so easy to curtail our freedom of expression? Why arent we ever allowed to voice our opinions, let alone our disprovals to decisions that are made contrary to our wishes? Why is it that instead of trying to see the cause of our view, our view is just condemned ruthfully? What is so easy to curb our voices so severely? Why can we not live simple lives without always having to wrestle and remind the world of our existence. Why is that life of a Kashmiri is just about experiencing a lifetime of crisis, blockade and disturbance so abundantly that it has taken away the recognition of normalcy and harmony from the hearts and minds?



Mobile and internet services were resumed in Kashmir on Jan 25. They were suspended after the abrogation of Article 370 of the constitution.

devdiscourse.com

She also expressed her worry and warned everyone to not believe the picture of Kashmir that media is painting currently.

Do not believe the unfair representation of the facts and details or the rosy hue that the media has cast on the reality of the situation. Ask questions, re-examine the biased assumptions. Ask questions. For our voices have been silenced- and for how long....none of us really know!



Here's her post.

Zaira Wasim had announced her decision to quit her acting career in July 2019. She faced severe backlash after she said that she made the decision because it interfered with her faith and religion.


Surprise! Samsungs 2015 Gear S2 smartwatch is getting a 2020 update at an old age.

Gear S2 smartwatch 2020 update details

The new update for the 5-year-old smartwatch comes in at version R730AUCU3CQK1 and weighs a very small 6.79MB. It isnt a hefty update, but its goal is to improve battery usage and device security. This isnt the Gear S2s first battery optimization update. Samsung updated the Gear S2 for battery life back in December 2015. TizenHelp says that the new update brings Samsungs Galaxy Watch Active 2 UI as a nice addition.

Samsungs 2020 Gear S2 update is a pleasant surprise indeed

Android smartphones, in many cases, get only two years of major system updates and three years of security patches. Google is changing this with its Android 10 update for the OG Pixel and Pixel XL, three-year-old devices from 2016. Normally, two years is the cutoff for system updates, but Google defies that with the first-generation Pixels. The same thing is true for Samsungs 2020 update for the 2015 Gear S2 smartwatch.

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Just as a reminder, the Gear S2 is a 3G-capable smartwatch that lacked 4G cellular connectivity. Think about how popular 4G connectivity is in the current market. The Gear S2 arrived on the market at a time when 4G-capable smartwatches were futuristic.

To see the Gear S2 receive an update now, after five years, is nothing short of incredible. The smartwatch launched just a few months after the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, and Galaxy Note 5. None of those devices are getting an update  just the Gear S2.

And the smartwatchs update after 5 years is incredible simply because no one expects it from Samsung. The reason? The Gear S2 is too old and is thought of as no longer update-eligible.

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Why update a 5-year-old smartwatch?

Why would Samsung update a 5-year-old smartwatch? For some, the move defies reason, but it makes sense to Samsung. The Gear S2 was Samsungs most popular smartwatch of its day in 2015. Remember, the Gear S before it was a smartwatch considered to be too futuristic with a 2-inch display too bulky for many wrists.

The Gear S has its fans (still), but Samsung sold more units of its successor. The Gear S2 came with a circular display, the first in Samsungs smartwatch lineup. Its small screen size and circular shape made it an instant favorite.

The Gear S3 Frontier and Classic and, subsequently, the Galaxy Watch, are too bulky and large for some wrists. Samsungs Galaxy Watch Active series provides a small wrist form factor that finds its appeal with some buyers in a way the Gear S3 and Galaxy Watch do not.

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Samsung said back in 2016 that the Gear S2 would continue to evolve. The company is apparently sticking to that, even 5 years later.

How to update your Gear S2 smartwatch

It isnt surprising to think that some smartwatch buyers are still rocking the Gear S2. If youre one of those OG smartwatch owners, its imperative to update your smartwatch. Head on over to the Galaxy Wearable app on your smartwatch. Inside the app, go to Software Update, then Download and Install.

Follow the on-screen instructions. Keep in mind that, if your device is connected to your phone, the update will disconnect the phone before installing the update. The Gear S2 should restart and reconnect your smartphone immediately after the update installs.
The retail building is part of what is known as the Meijer subdivision - one of the outlots along 59 in front of the superstore. Meijer officials said in a letter to the city that according to the original 2001 agreement that brought in the Meijer and all the lots in that subdivision, no zoning variance or special use can be granted without written consent from Meijer.
A South Korean woman has reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus after travelling to Thailand, as per South Korean officials on Tuesday. The 42-year old woman is reportedly the first foreign tourist who is infected after a visit to the Southeast Asian nation.

Identified as Patient 16, the woman flew to Seoul from Bangkok on the January 19 and developed pneumonia-like symptoms a week later, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) informed the reports in an official statement.

KCDC spokesperson added that the woman was confirmed positive for the Wuhan 2019-nCoV on Tuesday and was under medical supervision. The authorities, however, refused to explicitly rule out the patients visit to the province of Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak and KCDC Director Jeong Eun-Kyong declined to further comment in context to China, stated reports.

Read: World Bank Calls On Countries To 'strengthen Health Surveillance' Amid Coronavirus Dread

Read: Coronavirus Death Toll Rises To 425, Total Cases Now Over 20,000 In China

Patient could have contracted the Wuhan 2019-nCov in Thailand

The deputy director-general of the Thai Department of Disease Control, Tanarak Plipat told the media that the patient could have contracted the Wuhan 2019-nCov in Thailand. However, it was not ascertained. He further added that it was possible that the coronavirus was spreading across Thailand domestically amid the global spread crisis.

The South Korean case is speculated as the first human-to-human transmission of Coronavirus where the said patient did not travel to China and yet contracted the disease in a foreign country. As of Tuesday, South Korea has imposed restrictions on the entry of south Koreans re-entering its territory after a visit to Hubei province, the focal point of the disease, suggest reports.

Thailand has confirmed highest figures of Wuhans 2019-nCoV cases

The entry ban applies to the non-Korean Nationals that stayed over the past 14 days in the Peoples Republic of China as a border control measure to avert the outbreak in the country.

Thailand has reportedly confirmed the highest figures of Wuhans 2019-nCoV cases outside mainland China that has recently climbed to 19, suggest reports. Director-general Plipat told the reports that Thailand was in the stage of disease transmission as many Koreans were travelling to foreign tourist locations and were most likely in areas of disease contagion.

Read: China Suspends Work On Aircraft Carrier, Fighter Jets Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Read: 11th US Case Of Coronavirus Confirmed In California
Pakistan will do its best to buy more palm oil from Malaysia after top buyer India put curbs on imports last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday, uring a visit to the Southeast Asian nation.

Last year Pakistan bought 1.1 million tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia, the world's second biggest producer and exporter of the edible oil.

Also read: Adani, Patanjali and Emami to gain from restrictions on Malaysian palm oil

Also read: Malaysia to increase purchase of sugar from India to resolve palm oil spat
Tesla's white-hot start to the year has severely burnt the naysayers who have shorted the stock - and prominent local fund managers are likely among the victims.

Platinum Asset Management's flagship $10 billion Platinum International Fund had more than 2.1 per cent of its portfolio invested in a short position against Tesla as of September 30 last year, according to its most recent quarterly disclosure released in November.

The position would represent a bet of more than $200 million that the Tesla share price would fall. Platinum did not respond to queries from The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age by deadline.

A rocketing Tesla share price may have burnt a number of local investors who were short-selling the stock. Credit:AP

Tesla shares have soared in recent sessions, including a 20 per cent rise on Monday morning (AEDT). The stock has been lifted by stronger than expected results from Tesla, and a disclosure by Japanese electronics firm Panasonic, which said its 'Gigafactory' battery joint venture with the automaker turned profitable last year.
Who's clapping now?



On the brink of his Senate acquittal, President Donald Trump will be unleashing "relentless optimism" during his third State of the Union address on Tuesday, a speech designed to pivot from his impeachment to his drive for reelection.

Trump is speaking from a position of strength, with nearly complete control of the Republican Party.

The theme of his speech: "The Great American Comeback. It'll be a different experience for Democrats, nearly all of whom voted for Trump's impeachment in the House of Representatives.

Where Trump will point to unity within the Republican Party ahead of the 2020 elections, Democrats and their difficult nomination will be on display after a long night of uncertainty in Iowa's kickoff caucuses.

The contrast with Trump's State of the Union address last year will be stark. Then, Democrats were triumphant just a few days after taking control of the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi had forced Trump to reopen the government.

Her smirking clap, eye-to-eye with him, mocked the president of the United States in front of the world.

They haven't spoken since Pelosi stood up, pointed at Trump across a table at the White House and bluntly suggested he is controlled by the president of Russia. All roads lead to Putin, she said, before stalking out.

The extraordinary moment last October was captured in a now-famous photograph that Trump released and Pelosi slapped across the top of her Twitter page. At other times, she's questioned his "manhood" and he's called her crazy.

Impeachment has only inflamed things. Pelosi last week said Trump will never have a true acquittal because the Senate did not hold a real trial with witnesses. But, she's said with relish, He'll be impeached forever.

Trump, meanwhile, is poised to claim vindication in yet another witch hunt by Democrats who, he says, just wanted to overturn the 2016 election.

Pelosi and many Democratic women are expected to wear suffragette white to the speech.

The White House said last week to look for can-do optimism in the face of unjustified pessimism we are hearing from some in Congress." But officials would not guarantee that Trump will stick to his speech.

The president will be in the same room as his accusers at a moment of impending victory. He has a strong and often-stated sense of grievance and is known for going off-script.

Look for roaring applause and cheers from Republicans, who have almost completely stuck with the retribution-loving president.

Trump is sure to use the speech to try to remind the country of what he's accomplished.

The White House would not say whether it is modelling Trump's speech on President Bill Clinton's in 1999, amid his own impeachment trial. Clinton never mentioned the I-word.

Trump is expected to lead with talk about what the White House calls a blue-collar boom. There have been gains in blue-collar wages under Trump, though some of those gains have faded as Trump's trade war hurt manufacturing.

Will Trump even mention Ukraine? Republicans have started to come out and agree that the president had inappropriately tried to get political help from that country while he held up military aid.

The House impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for his actions in response to the House investigation.

The issue clearly puts Republicans in a bind. Several have said that House prosecutors proved their case, but even so, the wrongdoing didn't rise to the level of impeachment or removal from office.

Will he make any mention of the new coronavirus? We've offered China help, but we can't have thousands of people coming in who may have this problem, the coronavirus," Trump said on Sunday. At the same time, the president has tried to avoid angering China by being too outspoken, according to confidants.

Trump is focused on re-introducing himself to Americans as a president who has made the country and voters' lives specifically better. So listen for any mention of foreign policy and national security issues.

Trump's Mideast peace plan is a good test. Trump said that his efforts to solve the long-running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians would gain support because it's a win-win for both sides.

In fact, Trump's plan favours Israel on key contentious issues and attaches nearly impossible conditions for granting the Palestinians their hoped-for state. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plan as nonsense. If Trump says nothing about the plan during the speech, that could signal that Trump knows it's in trouble.

Listen for how harsh Trump is on Tehran in the wake of Iran's bombing that injured U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The attack was retribution for the U.S. killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. In the month since, an uneasy quiet has settled over the region.

Will Trump suggest he'll eventually want to sit down and talk with the Iranians, signal the door is closed for talks, or poke Tehran? The White House said to expect Trump's tone to be determined and forceful.

Will Trump announce a troop withdrawa from Afghanistan? The Taliban want US and other coalition forces to leave.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says a deal is close, but it won't happen without a reduction in violence and a pathway for talks between the Taliban and other Afghans about a peaceful way forward for the nation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SpendEdge has been monitoring the global EPC and EPCM services market and the market is poised to experience spend growth of more than USD 360 billion between 2019-2024 at a CAGR of more than 4% during the forecast period. Request Free Sample Pages.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005390/en/

Read the 117-page research report with TOC and LOE on "The Global EPC and EPCM Services Market Procurement Intelligence Report, Pricing Outlook in Geographies that include APAC, North America, South America, and MEA, top suppliers, supplier selection and negotiation strategies, and insights into best practices to optimize procurement spend."

Owing to the recent growth in the global power generation sector and the rising demand for cleaner electricity sources, the investments in the construction of natural gas-fired and renewable energy power plants are on the rise. This is expected to drive investments in the EPC and EPCM services market.

Subscribe to our procurement platform to get instant access to over 1000 market-ready procurement intelligence reports without any additional costs or commitment.

The Top EPC and EPCM Services Suppliers Enlisted in this Report:

The growing demand from the construction industry is expected to increase the cost of raw materials such as steel, electrical and plumbing components, among others. This will simultaneously propel EPC and EPCM service costs. Considering this possibility, this report has listed the top EPC and EPCM services suppliers, SLA agreement insights, and the selection and negotiation strategies that buyers must undertake to achieve optimal and cost-effective procurement in this market. Insights into some of the suppliers are given below:

Bechtel Corp - Prior to finalizing a contract with this supplier, it is prudent of buyers to engage an ECI model. This model involves the participation of this supplier right from the preparation phase prior to the bidding stage. Such involvement enables buyers and initial stage project planners to gain valuable insights to ensure that the project meets their requirements. It also gives planners an idea about the operational capabilities of suppliers so that they can design the project accordingly to achieve cost-savings.

Bouygues SA - Utilizing the SRM software will enable buyers to track this suppliers' performance since its initial registration with the former's organization, which allows easy assessment of the performance. The software also reduces the effort required to manage suppliers, thus providing buyers cost-savings.

Fluor Corp Buyers must determine this supplier's ability to offer bundled services such as facility maintenance and building maintenance services along with EPC/EPCM services. This will enable buyers to seek value-added discounts for these bundled services, thus helping them to achieve cost-savings in the long-term.

Buy 1 report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 reports and get the third for free. Download the free sample of this report on the EPC and EPCM services market.

Some of the key topics covered in this report are:

EPC and EPCM services market spend segmentation by region

EPC and EPCM services supply market analysis

Regional spend opportunity for EPC and EPCM services suppliers

EPC and EPCM services suppliers cost structure

Total cost of ownership analysis in the EPC and EPCM services market

EPC and EPCM services pricing models analysis

Category management objectives

Cost saving opportunities in the EPC and EPCM services market

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mashabuba/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- A Russian court denied a motion to release American Paul Whelan Tuesday, meaning the veteran U.S. Marine will be detained for at least another month after spending more than 400 days in prison.



Whelan has been charged with espionage, but there has never been any evidence introduced against him. He and his lawyers have denied the charges, while the U.S. embassy in Moscow has questioned the lack of evidence, called for his immediate release, and expressed concern about his deteriorating health.



Imprisoned since December 2018, Whelan was arrested while on vacation in Russia -- a country he has visited multiple times.



In court in Moscow Tuesday, he looked tired, but smiled at those gathered and thanked them for coming.



In late December, the Moscow City Court extended his detention until March 29, 2020, but his lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov had filed an appeal for his release.



From behind a glass cage guarded by two plain-clothes masked men, he attempted to speak multiple times, but was cut off by a court secretary.



"Your honor, March 5 is my 50th birthday. Could I have a cake please?" he said at one point, addressing the judge. He added later that the entire case against him, including Tuesday's decision, was pre-arranged.



The judge denied that appeal. Zherebenkov said that he would file another one to a higher court, but that he expected Whelan's trial will begin at the end of March or in early April.



Whelan, his lawyer, and his family have said that his health is deteriorating in Russian custody and he has been denied access to proper medical care. In particular, he said last August that he was dragged by prison guards, exacerbating a hernia and injuring his left shoulder.



Despite those concerns, Whelan said Tuesday that he was OK.



U.S. ambassador to Russia John Sullivan tried to visit Whelan last Thursday, telling reporters outside that his "case has gone on far too long. Investigators have shown no evidence -- zero. Russian authorities show no credible justification for isolating Paul and refuse to allow Paul to get proper medical attention. This is shameful treatment."



The next day marked his 400th day in prison.



Whelan's espionage charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years in a Russian prison.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
EuroLife's Education and Technology Subsidiary to Redesign and Redevelop Retail-Focused Budtender Education Portal

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2020) - EuroLife Brands Inc. (CSE: EURO) (FSE: 3CM) (OTC Pink: EURPF) ("EuroLife" or the "Company"), a leading global markets cannabis brand empowering the medical, adult-use and CPG cannabis industry worldwide through a data-driven CBD marketplace with exclusive physician-backed education, is pleased to announce it has finalized an agreement with Aphria Inc. ("Aphria") (TSX: APHA) (NYSE: APHA), a global cannabis leader with an unrelenting commitment to people, product quality and innovation, to redevelop and redesign its budtender education portal, accessed by hundreds of cannabis retailers and staff across Canada.

"Aphria is a leader in the adult-use cannabis market and we were impressed with the level of education they felt necessary to ensure budtenders are familiar with Aphria's line-up of products and able to capably converse with potential consumers about frequently asked questions pertaining to recreational cannabis usage," said Shawn Moniz, Chief Executive Officer, EuroLife Brands Inc. "We are pleased to partner with Aphria to deliver a refreshed budtender education portal to ensure retail employees across Canada are well-versed in Aphria's line-up of adult-use brands such as Solei, RIFF, Good Supply and Broken Coast and well-educated above and beyond the basics of responsible adult-use of cannabis to offer added value to consumers looking to learn more."

EuroLife will leverage the skills of its education and technology teams to redesign and redevelop Aphria's existing budtender education portal. The new concept will include educational modules on topics ranging from cannabis growing and production, formats and methods of consumption, and responsible usage. The platform also incorporates dynamic and interactive elements to facilitate learning with detailed reporting and analytics, options for gamification and social elements such as shareable completion badges. Once completed, legal cannabis retailers across Canada will have the opportunity to direct employees to the platform to learn in more detail about the Aphria line-up of adult-use brands while increasing their knowledge of all aspects of cannabis through visually-stimulating educational content.

Aphria produces and sells high-quality medical and adult-use cannabis under the Aphria, Solei, RIFF, Good Supply, and Broken Coast brands. With headquarters in Leamington, Ontario and a corporate office in Toronto, its global reach includes cultivation licenses, distribution, research and innovation across North and South America, Europe, Australia and Africa.

About Aphria Inc.

Aphria Inc. is a leading global cannabis company driven by an unrelenting commitment to our people, the planet, product quality and innovation. Headquartered in Leamington, Ontario - the greenhouse capital of Canada - Aphria Inc. has been setting the standard for the low-cost production of high-quality cannabis at scale, grown in the most natural conditions possible. Focusing on untapped opportunities and backed by the latest technologies, Aphria Inc. is committed to bringing breakthrough innovation to the global cannabis market. The Company's portfolio of brands is grounded in expertly-researched consumer insights designed to meet the needs of every consumer segment. Rooted in our founders' multi-generational expertise in commercial agriculture, Aphria Inc. drives sustainable long-term shareholder value through a diversified approach to innovation, strategic partnerships and global expansion.

For more information, visit: aphriainc.com

About EuroLife Brands Inc.

EuroLife Brands (CSE: EURO) (FSE: 3CM) (OTC Pink: EURPF) is a leading global markets cannabis brand empowering the medical, recreational and CPG cannabis industry worldwide through a data-driven CBD marketplace supported by exclusive and unbiased physician-backed cannabis education and detailed consumer analytics.

For additional information:

Contact: ir@eurolifebrands.com or visit EuroLifeBrands.com

No stock exchange or securities regulatory authority has reviewed or accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Some of the statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements, such as estimates and statements that describe the Issuer's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Issuer or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are posted on www.sedar.com.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52067
John Piper: Calling female church leaders 'pastors' is 'misleading, unwise and ill-founded'

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Theologian John Piper said it's misleading and unwise and ill-founded to call female church leaders pastors amid an ongoing debate about the role of women in the Church.

In a recent episode of his podcast, Piper, the founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary, responded to a reader whose church is changing its view on the use of the word pastor to include women.

The readers church claimed that Ephesians 4:11 is the only place in the Bible where the Greek word for pastor is ever used, and that it doesnt have any specific qualifications there.

Women could fill this role and still be under male headship and a male elder board, the reader said. But would this change in title be in line with other parts of Scripture?

Piper first stressed it is misleading and unwise to use the English word pastor for women in ministry, adding that the attempt to say that it is more biblical to use it is built on a misunderstanding of how language works, as well as the supposed use of the word pastor in the New Testament.

In English, the word pastor is understood to mean a person with official leadership in the local church that ordinarily involves preaching and governing, Piper contended. But the New Testament, written in Greek, doesnt use the English word pastor at all, he explained, adding that Greek has only one word for shepherd and pastor: "poimen."

Its highly misleading to claim that in applying the word pastor to laypeople, we are recovering New Testament usage. Thats highly misleading when the word pastor does not even occur in the ESV, and only once does it occur in other versions, Piper said.

[Not] only is there no New Testament word that corresponds to pastor as distinct from shepherd, but the idea of shepherding in the New Testament was consistently associated with the leadership of elders and overseers, he added.

Its also misleading and unwise and ill-founded to use the word pastor for non-elders or non-overseers in the church because doing so communicates that the office of pastor, as almost everyone understands it in English, is properly filled by women, Piper cautioned.

In other words, I think those who are arguing for the use of the word pastor for women ministering or men who are not elders or overseers are undermining the teaching of the New Testament about church leadership, even as they aim to do the opposite, he concluded.

Piper is a self-professed complementarian. Complementarians hold to the belief that Scripture restricts women from serving in church leadership roles, as the Bible establishes male authority over women. Instead, women are called to serve in equally important, but complementary roles to their husbands and to male leaders in the church.

In contrast, Egalitarians insist that Scripture does not warrant such restrictions.

Although a longstanding debate, the subject of gender differences and their implications for church ministry has risen to the forefront in recent years thanks to movements like #MeToo, #ChurchToo, and the public downfall of several prominent church leaders due to sexual impropriety.

Additionally, a 2016 Pew research report found that women were leaving the Church faster than men, corroborating an earlier report from the Barna Research Group.

Kadi Cole, author ofDeveloping Female Leaders: Navigate the Minefields and Release the Potential of Women in Your Church, told CP that in her experience, churches on both sides of the debate are struggling to help women take on more leadership.

After interviewing over 1,200 female ministry leaders from across the globe, she found that while women make up 61% of church congregations, less than 10% serve in any sort of leadership role. She encouraged churches stuck in a binary way of thinking about women in the church to look at the bigger picture.

Complementarian churches are finding that womens leadership is not where they want it to be, whether its their childrens ministry, Bible studies, or any other ministry typically led by a woman. Theyre realizing they haven't done a good job developing the leadership capacity of those women who are in leadership, she explained. And in churches that are full-on egalitarian  there are churches who have ordained women for over 120 years, and they still don't have anyone on their senior or executive leadership teams that are women.

The theology piece is an issue obviously, but it's not the main issue in my mind, she added. All across the board, were missing out on what women can bring to the table and really knowing how to develop and leverage their gifts in the mission that God has called our churches to."
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said a female will direct Star Wars 'without question'.

During an interview with BBC News on the red carpet of the 2020 Baftas on Sunday, Kennedy was asked if the iconic film franchise could see a female director any time soon.

'Oh absolutely, without question,' she said.

Kennedy was attending the ceremony to receive the Baftas Fellowship, the highest honor of the academy, which was in part presented by Star Wars actors Daisy Ridley and John Boyega.

To date, all eleven of the award-winning live action Star Wars movies have been directed by men, but Kennedy assured that women have already begun taking charge on other properties in the franchise.

'Weve already got [female directors],' said Kennedy, who became president of the Lucasfilm in 2012.

'Were doing Mandalorian and weve got two or three fantastic women working with Star Wars, and we just brought in Deborah Chow, whos doing the Obi-Wan [Kenobi] series. Were cultivating a lot of great talent.'

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Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy (pictured) says the Star Wars film franchise will see a female director 'without question'

Chow directed 'Chapter 3: The Sin' and 'Chapter 7: The Reckoning' for the standout Disney+ series, and will be the sole director for the upcoming Ewan McGregor series.

Filmmaker Bryce Dallas Howard directed 'Chapter 4: Sanctuary' of The Mandalorian.

Additionally, Victoria Mahoney made franchise history by becoming the first black female filmmaker to helm any Star Wars film as The Rise of Skywalker's second unit director.

Kennedy (left) received the Baftas Fellowship on Sunday night, the highest honor of the academy

Kennedy has previously spoken out about how finding a female director was a priority of hers and, because there haven't been opportunities for women to direct major movies, Lucasfilm is looking at creatives in the early stages of their careers.

'We want to make sure that when we bring a female director in to do Star Wars, theyre set up for success,' she told Variety.

'Theyre gigantic films, and you cant come into them with essentially no experience. We want to really start to focus in on people we would love to work with and see what kinds of things theyre doing to progress up that ladder now, and then pull them in when the time is right.'

Bryace Dallas Howard (left) and Deborah Chow (right) have directed episodes of the Disney+ series, The Mandalorian

Victoria Mahoney (pictured) made history as the first black filmmaker to direct any Star Wars film with the 2019 Rise of Skywalker, where she was second unit director

The Baftas delved into conversations surrounding diversity, or the lack thereof, at the annual awards ceremony this year.

Prince William touched on the subject while presenting Kennedy with the Bafta Fellowship.

'Yet in 2020, and not for the first time in the last few years, we find ourselves talking again about the need to do more to ensure diversity in the sector and in the awards process - that simply cannot be right in this day and age,' he said.

'I know that both Pippa (Harris), chair of Bafta and Amanda (Berry), Bafta CEO, share that frustration and continue to work tirelessly to ensure that creative talent is discovered and supported.'

Williams remarks come after an outrage sparked over the lack of diverse representation at the recent Golden Globe Awards and Academy Awards.

Prince William (left) helped present Kennedy (right) with the Baftas Fellowship, the academy's highest honor on Sunday night

At the Golden Globes, female directors were completely shut out from the entirely male dominated Best Director category.

In the award show's 77-year history, only five women have been nominated in the category.

This includes Barbara Streisand (Yentl), Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), Jane Campion (The Piano), Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) and Ava DuVernay (Selma).

Streissand is the only female filmmaker to win the honor.

Actress Charlize Theron, whose movie Bombshell received a nomination, called the lack of female acknowledgement 'ridiculous.'

'They represent 10% of our directors in the industry, and when you have a good year like we had this year with such great work, it is incredibly frustrating,' she told Los Angeles Times.

'Its really hard, and I think its unfair, and its why we cant stop this fight. We gotta keep making noise until were heard and these stories get recognized,' Theron said.

Frustrating: 'I think it gets really frustrating when we we have to remember that women directors, especially, are just trying to get their numbers up,' she added

The Oscars were met with a similar wave of disappointment as the Best Director category was all male. This marks the 87th time out of the 92 award ceremonies.

Additionally, only one black actor, British star Cynthia Erivo, was nominated this year for her role as U.S. anti-slavery icon Harriet Tubman in Harriet.

Greta Gerwig missed out on the director category for her acclaimed Little Women adaptation - despite being one of nine films nominated for the best picture Oscar.

Lulu Wang, director of The Farewell, also missed out.

William then recalled the memories and fondness he had for Kennedy's many movies, including Indiana Jones and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Ridley: 'With over 70 feature films to her name and an impressive career spanning over 40 years, Kathleen Kennedy has been described as an inspiration, a visionary and a trailblazer'

'This year, the award goes to a simply legendary figure in film. Someone whose films I have been watching all my life and continue to watch, time and time again. I couldn't be happier she's receiving her award,' William said.

While presenting the award alongside Boyega, Ridley described Kennedy's impact on the film industry since she began in the 1980s.

Ridley said: 'With over 70 feature films to her name and an impressive career spanning over 40 years, Kathleen Kennedy has been described as an inspiration, a visionary and a trailblazer.'

'Her work has produced some of the most iconic, cherished and celebrated films of the last three decades, enriching the cinema-going's experience.'

'Kathleen is setting a precedence, both around her -more than half her team at Lucasfilm are female - and on a global scale.'
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BELLEVUE  An industrial property at 1600 127th Ave. N.E. in Bellevue has sold for just under $13 million, according to King County records.

The seller and the buyer were members of the Everett family, which has owned the property for decades. The last recorded sale was for $850,000 in 1991, which may have only been a part interest.





. . .
The Democratic Partys Iowa caucuses, which were expected to begin to bring clarity to a crowded field, turned into an embarrassing fiasco when a new smartphone app meant to speed the reporting of results crashed early in the evening. The debacle raised questions about the future of Iowas complicated, idiosyncratic caucus system.

We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results, Mandy McClure, a spokesperson for the state party, said in a statement. In addition to the tech system being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report. This is simply a reporting issue: The app did not go down, and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.

The counting of votes was delayed for hours, after a reported glitch with the smartphone app prevented precinct captains from reporting vote totals. The app was meant to speed the reporting of results from over 1,600 locations across the state, but officials had to resort to tabulating the results by hand, reporting them by phone. One captain, interviewed on cable news, said he had been on hold with state headquarters for two hours.

The integrity of the results is paramount. We have experienced a delay in the results due to quality checks and the fact that the IDP is reporting out three data sets for the first time. What we know right now is that around 25% of precincts have reported, and early data indicates turnout is on pace for 2016, the IDPs communications director, Mandy McClure, said in an initial statement.

Republicans used the delay to stoke conspiracy theories and boast about the results of their own caucus, in which President Trump, facing only token opposition, won almost unanimously. Brad Parscale, Trumps campaign manager, said: Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history. It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system? Tonight President Trump posted a record performance in the well-run GOP Iowa caucuses with record turnout for an incumbent.

Story continues

And by Quality Control they mean fixing the results to get the candidate the Democrat Overlords in DC want. https://t.co/EkIztYHYuN  Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 4, 2020

Iowa Democratic Party officials assured the campaigns on a phone call that the app had not been hacked, and that the results were backed up with a paper trail. At the same time, the officials said they had spotted inconsistencies in the vote totals being reported.

Can you believe it? It only had to work one time! This time! a staffer of Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, exclaimed in exasperation.

An adviser to one of the Democratic campaigns told Yahoo News that this could spell the end of Iowas long-standing prerogative of holding the first vote in the nation. "It's dead. The campaigns gave them millions of dollars. It's dead."

The lengthy delay sent the candidates scrambling to come up with a strategy for how to cope with a delay that threw their schedules into doubt and left them scrambling to address their supporters  and the country.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., was the first candidate to break the silence, taking the stage in Des Moines at 10:23 p.m. local time to deliver what was neither a victory nor concession speech, but a preview of the campaign she hopes to run against President Trump.

Former Vice President Joe Biden spoke next.

It looks like its going to be a long night, but Im feeling good, he said to a room of enthusiastic supporters. Biden, who has led in national polling since he entered the race, had slipped in Iowa polls in recent weeks.

In a terse letter to the Iowa Democratic Party chairman, Troy Price, however, the Biden campaign said that all the candidates deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are released.

The other leading candidates also spoke, attempting to steer the messaging of the night back to their campaign themes.

"I have a strong feeling that at some point the results will be announced. And when those results are announced, I have a feeling that we're going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa, said Sanders, who had pulled into the lead in some state polls.

"We don't know all the results," said Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., adding that "Iowa had shocked the nation" because his campaign was "going on to New Hampshire victorious."

With less than 2 percent of the votes counted by midnight EST, Sanders was in the lead, with 27.75 percent of the votes cast. Warren was in second place, with 25.07 percent, while Buttigieg was in third place, with 23.8 percent.

With reporting by Hunter Walker and Brittany Shepherd in Des Moines



Cover thumbnail photo: Charlie Neibergall/AP

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was endorsed by Caroline Kennedy, former U.S. ambassador to Japan and daughter of President John F. Kennedy, in a Boston Globe op-ed early Tuesday.

The big picture: The endorsement was a boost for the former vice president ahead of the New Hampshire Democratic primary elections and as the results of the Iowa caucuses were delayed while the state party conducted "quality checks."

[P]eople still tell me that they are inspired by the words from my father's inaugural address: 'Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.' Joe Biden embodies those words."

What she's saying: In her op-ed, Kennedy noted that her uncle Sen. Ted Kennedy endorsed former President Barack Obama in 2008 because "America was ready for a new generation of leadership."

But Kennedy said the situation had changed and "President Trump has done immense damage to our institutions, exploited our differences, and shredded our credibility around the world."

She said she's "excited by the Democratic candidates and the ideas they have put forward." But she added, "We need a president who can bring people together, who knows how to get things done at home and abroad, whose word we can count on, and who can nurture the next generation of leaders. We need Joe Biden."

Go deeper:

Editor's note: This article has been updated with more details on the endorsement and context.
P lumber Ferguson will consult shareholders on plans to scrap its London shares and move to New York amid fears the move may prevent some UK investors from backing the company.

The heating giant is undergoing a radical shake-up following pressure from activist investor Trian Investors, founded by Cadburys raider Nelson Peltz.

It plans to hive off historic British brand Wolseley and today unveiled plans to pursue a US listing because companies in the home improvement sector are more highly valued across the pond.

The FTSE 100 unveiled a consultation on two options: a dual listing in New York and London, which would keep the firm on the FTSE 100 or scrapping the UK listing altogether and only trading shares in America.

The second option may prompt concern from British investors because some are barred from owning US shares if they promise only to invest in UK-listed firms.

A push by Unilever to ditch its UK listing and move to Amsterdam prompted an investor backlash in 2018.

Around 30% of Ferguson shareholders are based in the UK.
Six hundred policemen, including 37 assistant sub-inspectors, were transferred in Jammu region on Tuesday.

The orders in this regard were issued by Jammu Range IGP Mukesh Singh after an approval of the Police Establishment Board (PEB) set up by the government recently.

Of the 600 transferred policemen, 37 were ASIs, 166 head constables, 215 special grade constables and 182 constables, officials said.

On January 15, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu had issued an order giving his adviser Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar sweeping authority on security and policing.

The policemen transferred on Tuesday were posted in the Jammu-Samba-Kathua range, Udhampur-Reasi range, Rajouri-Poonch range and Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban range.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Managed Cloud Services Provider Adds Unity EdgeConnect to Network Portfolio

GLASGOW, Scotland, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- UK managed cloud services provider iomart has selected global SD-WAN leader Silver Peak to deliver managed Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) services to its customers.

iomart has added the Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect SD-WAN edge platform to its already comprehensive network services portfolio. EdgeConnect is a self-driving wide area network platform that delivers a cloud-optimised network experience for enterprise organisations with multiple office locations.

"Performance is critical as organisations move more workloads to the cloud," says Bill Strain, Product Development Director for iomart. "With Silver Peak we are giving our customers an affordable, business-driven network that's designed to maximise the opportunities that today's diverse transport options provide."

The EdgeConnect platform from Silver Peak is designed from the ground up as one system, uniting SD-WAN, firewall, advanced segmentation, routing, WAN optimisation and application visibility and control in one platform. EdgeConnect is business-driven, powering real-time response to eliminate the impact of network disruptions as monitoring and analytics detect changing conditions and trigger immediate adjustments to deliver the highest quality of experience for application users. Detailed insight into the network and application specific metadata is visible from a single pane of glass via the Unity Orchestrator centralised management interface.

"Instead of having to send staff out to manually update policies at every branch office every time a change is made, the whole network is centrally orchestrated," explains Bill Strain. "As a result, the IT team can focus on other important projects knowing that the network is optimised to support the business strategy."

There is no longer the need to build costly and complex WANs. Lower cost broadband connections are used to augment or replace existing networks where applicable. The EdgeConnect platform can be deployed, as a physical or virtual appliance at a branch office, data centre or in the cloud, all within minutes.

Gartner recently recognised Silver Peak as a Leader for the second consecutive year in the 2019 Magic Quadrant for WAN Edge Infrastructure.

"To realise the full transformational promise of the cloud, enterprises are coming to the realization that they need a modern WAN" said Allan Paton, Sales Director UK and Ireland for Silver Peak. "As enterprises embark on WAN transformation, many are electing to select a partner that has the expertise to provide turnkey managed SD-WAN services like iomart. Together, we will enable our customers to architect a business-driven WAN that ultimately yields a multiplier effect on their ongoing investments in the cloud."

By choosing Silver Peak, iomart can deliver the application-centric services that address the network requirements of the modern cloud-first enterprise.

About iomart

For over 20 years iomart Group plc (AIM:IOM) has been helping growing organisations to maximise the flexibility, cost effectiveness and scalability of the cloud. From datacentres we own and operate in the U.K., and from connected facilities across the globe, we deliver 24/7 storage and protection for data across the most complex of cloud and legacy infrastructures. Our team of over 400 dedicated staff work with our customers at the strategy stage through to delivery and ongoing management, to implement the secure cloud solutions that deliver to their business requirements. For further information visit www.iomart.com

About Silver Peak

Silver Peak, the global SD-WAN leader, delivers the transformational promise of the cloud with a business-first networking model. The Unity EdgeConnect self-driving wide area network platform liberates enterprises from conventional WAN approaches to transform the network from a constraint to a business accelerant. Thousands of globally distributed enterprises have deployed Silver Peak WAN solutions across 100 countries. Learn more at silver-peak.com.

 2020 [iomart Group plc] All rights reserved.

[Silver Peak, the Silver Peak logo, and all Silver Peak product names, logos, and brands are trademarks or registered trademarks of Silver Peak Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.] All other product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners.

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Ziguinchor, Senegal (PANA) - Students at the University of Ziguinchor, in southern Senegal, Monday walked through the streets of the city to denounce what they called the shortcomings and poor conditions of their university
The Women's Heart Fund, a philanthropic arm of Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation, has announced that for its newest venture, the organization will sponsor 'Community Conversations with the CDI,' a women-focused, three-year lecture series featuring researchers from Hackensack Meridian Health's Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI). The lectures will focus on topics relevant to community members throughout the state, including heart disease, breast and ovarian cancer, vaccines, Alzheimer's Disease and diabetes.

Over the years, the Women's Heart Fund has raised valuable funding for a wide variety of Hackensack Meridian Health initiatives. Their dedication and passion have helped to advance health care and education for our community and we are thankful for all that they do to help our organization, and more importantly, for the impact they have made on the health of women in our region." Joseph Stampe, president and chief development officer of the Meridian Health Foundation

The first of the lecture series will feature a panel of Hackensack Meridian Health physicians and researchers from the CDI. It will take place at 2:30 p.m. on February 9 during the Count Basie Center for the Arts and Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center HeartHealthExpo taking place at the Basie's Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre. The panel will be moderated by Alla Rabinovich, chief operating officer of the Center for Discovery and Innovation, and will include the following physicians:

Evelyn Minaya, M.D., obstetrics and gynecology

Rajney Bais, M.D., internal medicine

Dawn Calderon, D.O., cardiology

David Leopold, M.D., integrative health and medicine

Claire Carter, PhD, researcher at the CDI

Ravi Diwan, M.D., cardiology

"Advanced biomedical research is just one aspect of the CDI's work  another big part of our mission is to serve as a forum for public education about how science innovation is improving peoples' lives," said David Perlin, Ph.D., the chief scientific officer and senior vice president of the CDI. "Awareness events like these, done in partnership with the Women's Heart Fund, help us further that mission."

The Women's Heart Fund 2018 to 2019 initiative raised funds in support of The Center for Survivorship and Wellness Care at Hackensack Meridian Health Jersey Shore University Medical Center, which will open its doors to the public later this quarter. The center will offer face-to-face meetings with cancer survivors, help to create Survivorship Care Plans, provide referrals to social workers and host cancer and caregiver support groups.

"The Women's Heart Fund has raised more than $700,000 for many different Hackensack Meridian Health programs and services throughout the years," says Heidi Maggs, board chair of the Women's Heart Fund. "We have supported the purchase of new vascular screening equipment, provided nursing scholarships, created a peaceful waiting area in the CardioVascular Intensive Care Unit at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, offered CPR training to the community and more. This next initiative will really help to provide education on issues that are impacting us every day and we are excited to sponsor the innovative researchers at the CDI who will be able to impart invaluable information on breakthroughs on our selected topics."

'Community Conversations with the CDI' will be free to the public and dates, times and locations will be announced prior to each lecture. For more information about the Women's Heart Fund and the upcoming lecture series, please visit www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/womens-heart-fund. For more information about the Center for Discovery and Innovation, please visit https://hmh-cdi.org/.
Melania Trump is stepping into the campaign spotlight for her husband, telling a crowd of supporters she was looking forward to the coming battle and hosting a pair of fundraisers for Donald Trump's re-election campaign.

'I'm looking forward to campaigning and fighting for Americans and our great nation. Thank you very much,' the first lady told the president's supporters at the Red, White and Blue gala at Mar-a-Lago Saturday night, as seen on a video from the event posted to social media, as the crowd cheered her on.

She'll also be raising money for the president's November re-election bid in two posh - and wealthy - locations.

Melania Trump is stepping into the campaign spotlight for her husband

She has been a reluctant presence on the campaign trail but did introduce Donald Trump at his June Florida rally where he formally announced his re-election bid

In 2016, Melania Trump virtually disappeared after her July convention speech was revealed to have lifted passages from a speech given by Michelle Obama

Melania Trump is listed as the host of a March 18 fundraiser in Beverly Hills and for a March 25 event at Mar-a-Lago, according to invitations obtained by Politico.

The fundraisers will jointly benefit the president's campaign and the Republican Party.

The Trump campaign did not respond to DailyMail.com's inquiry about the first lady's 2020 plans.

Her shy public presence hasn't reduced her popularity among Republican voters, who cheer loudly when the president mentions his wife during his campaign stump speeches.

And Melania Trump could help the president with women voters and in key swing areas in Midwest states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

First ladies, in general, tend to be big draws on the fundraising circuit and the campaign trail. They balance the dual appearance of being non-political while being close to presidential power.

Michelle Obama was in high demand during her husband's White House tenure and had some Democratic elders frustrated at her reluctance to campaign.

Melania Trump has shown the same hesitation for the rough and tumble game of politics.

She introduced her husband at his June rally in Florida last year when he formally announced his bid for a second term.

'It has been my honor to serve as first lady of this incredible country for the past two years. And I'm excited to do it for six more,' Melania Trump said in her first - and thus far only - campaign appearance for the 2020 election.

Melania Trump was a rare presence for her husband in the 2016 campaign and did no campaigning for Republicans in the 2018 midterms, despite her high popularity among the party faithful.

Melania Trump will host two fundraisers for her husband in March; she is seen returning to the White House Sunday evening with President Trump and Barron

Melania Trump on the campaign trial with her husband in Iowa in February 2016

The president gave the first lady a kiss on each cheek after she introduced him at his June Florida rally

President Trump and Melania Trump at the Mar-a-Lago party Saturday night

In Trump's first presidential campaign, Melania virtually disappeared from the public after it was discovered her speech to the Republican National Convention had lifted passages from a previous speech made by Michelle Obama.

Melania Trump did make a stop for Trump in Pennsylvania the week before the election at a 'Women for Trump' campaign event but she spent most of the last campaign tending to the couple's son, Barron, who was 10 years old at the time.
The coronavirus is an epidemic in China and seems to be morphing into a worldwide pandemic. In its current form, the virus does not appear to be extremely deadly, but the fear is that it could mutate into something far worse. Maybe it will; maybe it won't.

In any event, much of China is now on lockdown. Travel is restricted, and people are being prevented from going to work to curtail the spread of the virus. This is until February 10 at the least. And it's happening not just in Wuhan, the viral epicenter, but in many other provinces, including modernistic Shanghai. As Peter Zeihan reports, "[t]he most dynamic portion of the Chinese economy  the Yangtze Basin  is at least for now closed for business." He estimates that this could knock off a full GDP percentage point from China's already sagging economy.

From there, things get worse. There has already been a three-year exodus of manufacturing out of China due to uncertainties over the trade war, rising labor costs, environmental concerns, access to raw materials, and China's increasing authoritarian nature. This coronavirus outbreak can only accelerate the trend of companies to relocate out of China proper. Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross touched on this in an interview with NBC News. He said:

Well, first of all, every American's heart has to go out to the victims of the coronavirus. So, I don't want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease," Ross told Fox Business Network on Thursday. "But the fact is, it does give businesses yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain." "On top of all the other things, you had SARS, you had the African swine virus there, now you have this," Ross continued. "It's another risk factor that people need to take into account. So, I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America. Some to U.S., probably some to Mexico, as well."

Ross mentioned supply chains, but what are they? Here's a short definition:

A supply chain is a connected system of organizations, activities, information and resources designed to source, produce and move goods from origination to a final destination  typically from a supplier to an end customer. Modern supply chains are often very complex, spanning multiple countries and involving many steps.

Another feature of modern supply chains is that they apply Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory policies. At its best, links in the chain get the parts and raw material they need only when they are ready to use them. Computers make this all possible. JIT is done to minimize inventory holding costs. The axiom of JIT is that inventory is bad; it is a needless cost. While JIT is highly efficient from an accounting point of view, it makes the supply chain highly vulnerable to disruptions, for, like any other chain, a supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Basically, if parts or raw material don't make it to one of the links in the supply chain, the whole process stops. There is no slack inventory to buffer the disruption.

This is what China is now doing to the global supply chain. It is hindering a significant part of product flow. Non-Chinese businesses and economies will be adversely affected to the degree they are dependent on China. Many business leaders outside China have been sitting on the fence, trying to decide on whether or not to move their operations out of China. The coronavirus could be the last straw. With it, the scales could drop from the eyes of business executives, allowing them to see China for the risk it truly is.

Adding to this assessment is a fact that has been conveniently ignored up to now: coronavirus is not the first Chinese virus epidemic. China is the world's premier incubator of new flu strains. Experts blame it for the 1918-19 "Spanish' flu," 1957's Asian flu, the Hong Kong flu of 1968, and the Russian flu of 1977, and the more recent SARS outbreak of 2003.

Businesses cannot withstand risks like that. The coronavirus could be the final grain added to the Chinese sand pile that causes it to collapse. The perception of China as a place to do business and where to get fat profits is quickly changing.
West Des Moines, Iowa  The results of the Iowa caucuses, the first voting contest of the US 2020 presidential election season, have been delayed due to quality checks, the Iowa Democratic Party said late on Monday.

The integrity experienced a delay in the results due to quality checks and the fact that the [Iowa Democratic Party] is reporting out three data sets for the first time, the party said in an emailed statement, adding later that there was simply a reporting issue and there had been no hack or intrusion with the app the precincts were using to report results. It was unclear when exactly official results would be announced.

As Iowans eagerly awaited the results, Senators Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg appeared in their respective campaign headquarters to reassure their supporters.

We know one thing: we are punching above our weight, said Klobuchar, the first of the 10 candidates participating in Iowas caucuses to address the delay.

Warren told her supporters that they may not know the results from tonight, but tonight has already shown that Americans have a hunger for big structural change.

Attendees sit in a gymnasium during a caucus in Des Moines, Iowa [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

Both Biden and Sanders told those gathered at their respective headquarters they had a good feeling about the results.

When those results are announced, I have a good feeling were going to be doing very, very well in Iowa, Sanders said.

We feel good about where we are, so its on to New Hampshire, Biden said, referring to next weeks primary in the northeastern US state.

Buttigieg, speaking later in the night, said: Tonight, Iowa chose a new path  to say that the time has come to turn the page and start a new chapter.

Inconsistences

Without the results from nearly 1,700 precinct sites across the state, it is still anyones game. Polls going into Monday nights caucuses indicated Sanders and Biden leading a still crowded field of candidates, followed by Klobuchar, Warren and Buttigieg.

Iowa, a Midwestern state, kicks off the presidential nominating contest every four years. In 2016, 171,000 of the two million registered voters attended a caucus. The state Democratic party leadership and campaigns are hoping for much higher numbers this time around, especially given that the country is deeply divided along party lines and its opinions of the current president.

The Republicans also held caucuses across the state, with current President Trump declared the winner early in the night.

Attendees sit in a gymnasium during a caucus in Des Moines, Iowa [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

In a first this year, raw numbers from all precincts will be released for both rounds of caucusing, as well as the final overall results. That means the public will be able to see exactly how less-popular candidates did across the board. In the past, only final numbers were released. That change appeared to have contributed to the delay of Monday nights results, leading to confusion and frustration across the state.

We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results, IDP Communications Director Mandy McClure said in a statement.

In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of the results and a paper trail to validate that all the results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report, she added. This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report and the results.

First time caucus participant

The delay was a sobering moment in what had been an electric night for Iowans at different caucus sites.

Moneer Alazzawi participates in his first Iowa caucus [Teresa Krug/Al Jazeera]

Residents of Precinct 118 in West Des Moines began its caucus with cheers as supporters of several of the US Democratic presidential hopefuls gave one-minute speeches.

For 15 minutes, caucus-goers moved around the room, grouping up under signs for their first-choice candidates, including one woman who remained committed to caucusing for Cory Booker, who dropped out of the race last month.

I just love Cory, said Kathy Ferguson, who turned down requests to join other candidates campaigns that were struggling to meet the minimum viable 15 percent.

According to the precinct leader, there is no official list of candidates, so any name can be voted on.

For Moneer Alazzawi, who became a US citizen late last year, the entire experience was exciting.

This is really cool. Ive never done it before, not even in Iraq. When we used to vote, we never caucused, Alazzawi told Al Jazeera.

Moneer Alazzaw, far right, caucuses for Bernie Sanders [Teresa Krug/Al Jazeera]

When time was called in West Des Moines, the results showed viability for Warren, Klobuchar, Buttigieg and Sanders  whom Alazzawi decided to caucus for. Neither Biden nor entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who placed fifth and sixth, met the viability threshold.

Another 15-minute round was called and supporters from other campaigns once again networked through the crowd, trying to convince the few supporters of US Representative Tulsi Gabbard and Senator Michael Bennett to join their group.

Yangs group disbanded after holding on up until the last minute. Bidens group, with help from former Iowa Governor Chet Culver, was able to swing enough supporters from other non-viable camps to squeak out a fourth-place win and hit the viable threshold. Sanders came out on top as the clear winner of precinct 118.

While political observers usually look to the top three candidates who emerge from the Iowa caucuses, many say the top four candidates are significant.
A teenager who stabbed his mothers ex-boyfriend to death during a domestic row was trying to protect the most important person in his life, a barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.

Michael Bowman SC said his client Alexander Whelan sprang to his mothers defence, having previously seen the deceased Bruno Rolandi assault his mother.

He made a split second decision which counsel said has had tragic consequences for him and the Rolandi family.

The court heard Mr Rolandi was a violent heroin-user.

Alexander Whelan (19) had originally been charged with murdering Mr Rolandi (56) at Green Road, Ballymoran, Edenderry, Co Offaly, on November 19, 2017.

Mr Whelan, with an address at Green Road, Lumville, Edenderry, pleaded guilty when a charge of manslaughter was put to him at the Central Criminal Court in November last year.

Detective Sergeant Caroline Lyng told the court that Alexander lived with his mother Mary and his older brother Victor.

His father died when he was two years old and his mother developed an on and off relationship with Mr Rolandi.

There was tension in the house, she said, and the two brothers put this down to Mr Rolandi being there.

On the night in question Mr Rolandi became petulant, during a row over a wi-fi password and the accused, who was then aged 17, saw Mr Rolandi pawing at his mothers breasts. He became upset and called Victor on the phone.

The two boys and their mother went to the kitchen and talked about telling Mr Rolandi he should no longer live with them, but he came into the kitchen and there was a kerfuffle between Victor and the deceased.

Mr Rolandi tried to grab Ms Whelan so Victor stood in front of his mother and pushed Mr Rolandi.

There was a lot of pushing and shoving and shouting before Mr Rolandi got hold of Victor with one hand and raised the other fist as if he was going to strike. Ms Whelan tried to put herself between the two men and then Alexander decided to act. He took the knife from a cupboard in the kitchen and stabbed Mr Rolandi three times.

The family immediately alerted the emergency services and Alexander put his hands up.

Det Sgt Lyng agreed there was no attempt to clean the weapon or engage in any kind of cover up. Alexander and his family cooperated fully with gardai. She also agreed that Alexander was the last person in the world you would expect to find in this situation.

He pleaded guilty to manslaughter at the earliest opportunity and has no previous convictions, nor has he previously come to the attention of gardai.

Despite being charged with the offence he struggled on to complete his Leaving Cert and has since started working.

Det Sgt Lyng agreed with Mr Bowman that Victor called 999 that night immediately after the stabbing. When emergency services arrived they found Alexander in a panic trying to stop the bleeding in a bid to undo the damage.

She agreed when Mr Bowman said: He was in a state of shock, panic, shaking like a leaf. At one point he was seen on his hands and knees uncontrollably sobbing.

Another witness at the scene said he overheard the boys mother apologising for putting him through this. Alexander replied: This is not your fault. Please dont blame yourself. Promise me you wont blame yourself.

Det Gda Lyng agreed the deceased weighed more than 16-and-a-half stone and was more than six feet tall. Alexander was 5ft 7in at the time and of a slight build and physically immature for a boy his age.

The court heard there had been violent episodes, in particular during family holidays to Turkey in 2013 and 2017, during which the two brothers witnessed Mr Rolandi assaulting their mother.

Mr Bowman handed a number of testimonials to Mr Justice Michael White including one from his school headmaster who said that in 34 years he cant think of a student with a better temperament.

He also pointed to psychological and probation reports which stated that Mr Whelan is not quick to anger and does not act in temper.

A number of witnesses had described his mother as the most important person in his life and Mr Bowman said he felt overwhelmed and sprang to his mothers defence.

In victim impact statements on behalf of the deceaseds family they said they strongly disagree with the description of Mr Rolandi, who they said was a kind man and a good father.

Sentencing will take place on March 2.
On Jan. 27, I introduced a motion to rescind The Fair Chance Act, also known as ban the box, but it died for lack of a second.

I have opposed ban the box from the beginning because it had parts to it that were patently unfair to private business. This law says you may not ask, on a job application, whether the applicant has a criminal record. It also says you may not ask, during the interview, if the applicant has a criminal record. It goes further and does not allow the business owner to check for a criminal background as he debates, internally, who to hire. The owner is only allowed to check for a criminal record after a job offer has been made.

Businesses are not allowed to use what they find in the criminal background to retract the offer of employment. They can only withdraw it if they can come up with a legitimate business reason to do so. We are directly interfering in private business. The owner may have passed over someone well suited for the job who has since accepted other employment. What a costly procedure this will become for our businesses, in both time and money.

Many council members claim they want to build the tax base by bringing in new jobs. If your business is looking to relocate in the Cedar Valley, would you choose the community that makes it difficult for you to know exactly who you are hiring? Would you take that risk? If things go badly for you because you hire the wrong person and someone gets hurt, you could be sued.

In fact, Waterloo is being sued over this matter by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, and the Iowa Legislature is moving to make changes to the state code that are directly aimed at the ordinance we passed here in Waterloo.

Even though the City Council passed ban the box and is preparing to implement it this summer, I thought it would be a good time to pause and wait to see what the amendment to strengthen wording in the state code actually is so we dont spend money unnecessarily. I figured we could save some money on a lawsuit by being patient.

Your City Council should be just as reluctant to spend money on lawsuits as you are. How could pausing this thing hurt? I never got to make that argument because they refused to second my motion. Even a discussion of saving money wasnt allowed.

Cities are magnets for lawsuits. In this case, even when we were warned businesses would sue, we went ahead with the ordinance. Even when our lawyers flagged a state code that appeared to conflict with our proposed ordinance, we went ahead with it. We nearly sent out engraved invitations for someone to sue us, and they did.

This is a waste of your money, which you work hard for. I think councils should treat potential lawsuits as though each council member might have to pay the bill. It would certainly make us all more careful.

What can you do? First, pay attention to what is going on in town. Second, put your council persons phone number on your refrigerator and call them each and every time you think their spending doesnt match real needs. It is time to keep us all accountable.

If you would like us to pause ban the box, let us know. It is time to stand up for private business in Waterloo!

Margaret Klein is on the Waterloo City Council, representing Ward 1.

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Three people were killed on Tuesday night after a car moving on the wrong side of the road rammed into their motorcycle in Godhani area of Nagpur, police said.

A Koradi police station official identified the dead as Hindbaji Kakde (52), Nandkishore Pusadakar (38), Chandrabhan Ingole (65), all residents of Bailwadi, while car driver Sunil More (50) was injured and has been hospitalised.

"The incident took place near Jhulelal Institute of Technology at around 7pm. The car was on the wrong side of the road and hit the motorcycle going towards Bailwadi," said Inspector Ashok Pardhi.

More has been booked under sections 304A (causing death by negligence) and 279 (rash driving) of the IPC, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Last week, Lyz Lenz, a journalist and writer who lives in Iowa, predicted that the states caucuses are going to be a f*cking nightmare. In a piece for Gen, Lenz (who also contributes regularly to CJR) wrote that the caucuses are inaccessible at the best of times, and that state Democrats efforts to fix problems seen in 2016which affected vote counts, among other thingswould only make a confusing process even more confusing. In the past, only one metricthe estimated number of delegates each candidate will send to the Iowa state conventionwas used to decide the winner of the caucuses; this year, for the first time, caucus sites were told to also report other metrics, including voters first preferences and voters final preferences, following the elimination of any candidates below a 15-percent viability threshold. (Pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention were also to be reported.) Math worksheets and an app would help caucus managers with the results. There has been absolutely no information about the security of the smartphone app, Lenz wrote. So that seems safe.

Confused? So was Iowa, apparently. As last night drew on, the results were delayed and delayed some more, and it became ever clearer that Lenzs nightmare had come true. If you want to know what the panic and hold up is, Lenz tweeted in the early hours, re-upping her Gen piece, pick from the list.

ICYMI: The Jared bubble

As confusion deepened and state Democratic officials remained tight-lipped, reports emerged that there had been problems with the app, and that there were long delays in reporting tallies by phone. Late in the evening, the Iowa Democratic Party confirmed in a statement that there had been inconsistencies linked to the new metrics; around 1am, Troy Price, the party chair, insisted, on a press call, that the results had only been delayed, not compromised, and would likely be announced later on Tuesday. (Reporters on the call said it lasted little over a minute, and ended abruptly, with no chance for questions.) In the meantime, the narrative was up for grabs, and every major candidate, starting with Amy Klobuchar, moved to grab it. Pete Buttigieg seemed to declare victory outright, despite the lack of results. Then they all left for New Hampshire. This morning, we still dont know who won.

Ahead of the caucuses, Nate Cohn, of the New York Timess Upshot team, wrote that the new caucus metrics risked creating confusion for readers, and would be an additional challenge for the media. But we didnt even get a chance to screw them up. (Not yet, at least). Instead, journalists on the ground were left scrambling for something to report. (Some of them resorted to humor on Twitter; Rosie Gray, of BuzzFeed, said Olivia Nuzzi, of New York, asked her for feedback on her caucus piece so far, then showed her a blank phone screen.) At the Times, the Upshots predictive election-night needlewhich has a fraught reputation among mediawatchers, and caught skeptical glances all day yesterday because of thatfell still. This morning, its landing page, otherwise empty, suggested to me that while youre waiting for results to come in, I should Go beyond Iowas state borders: Take a trip around the world in 5 kids games. There were links out to other Times content, too.

Blank space has to be filled with something. Cable news, in particular, abhors a vacuum. As the night wore out, the lack of results forced it to feed off scraps. At one point, CNN interviewed Shawn Sebastian, a precinct official who had been waiting for more than an hour to report results by phone. While he was talking live to Wolf Blitzer, Sebastian finally got through; he told Blitzer he needed to go, but by the time hed said that, his call had been dropped. They hung up on me, Sebastian said, and laughed. So frustrating indeed, Blitzer said. Indeed.

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Occasionally, the unhelpful and repetitive gave way to the nonsensical, with anchors and pundits popping out inane observations. What you have now is all the donors around the country thinking, Well, what do we do tomorrow? CNNs John King said. Whoevers on the bottom got a real break tonight, because they got an extra day of not being called the loser in Iowa, Chris Cuomo added. Van Jones said, twice, that Joe Biden had avoided an anvil in Iowa; one was about to drop on his head, and he got to scoot away like Wile E. Coyote. Jones wasnt the only one thinking about things falling on Biden. Biden just won the lottery, Alex Castellanos, a Republican operative and contributor on ABC News, said. The guillotine didnt drop on Biden tonight. He gets to say, What caucus?! On NBC, Chuck Todd made a similar point: The Biden campaign couldnt have asked for a better outcome: no results.

The weirdest segment (that I saw, at least) was a CNN panel discussion on Buttigieg. David Axelrod, the Obama adviser turned commentator, said the lack of results had victimized Buttigieg, in particular, because of his Iowa-reliant strategy. Before Buttigieg spoke to his supporters, Rick Santorum, the former Republican senator (who knows all about mess-ups in Iowa), urged him to go out and declare victory; when Buttigieg did just that, Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic governor of Virginia, said hed done the right thing. If Mayor Buttigieg won the Iowa caucuses, then he got really screwed, Anderson Cooper said. Gloria Borger urged caution due to the lack of facts, but she was shouted over, and discussion soon swung back to which candidate had best exploited the uncertainty. Buttigieg, I think, left his voters feeling good, feeling excited, Nia-Malika Henderson, a CNN politics reporter, said. I think he did a good job. Jones then said that Buttigieg, the first openly gay presidential candidate, had been denied a historic moment. He deserved for the numbers to be running below him while he was giving that speech. He got robbed of that. And I think thats terrible.

Some of the people named above are political hacks, but news channels choose who they put on air, and have a chance to mediate what they say. Just because we didnt get results last night doesnt mean that speculation is useful, nor that Iowa is over. Sure, no one got to make a primetime victory speech (not one backed by evidence, at any rate) and this mornings front pages will be barren, but whoever won still will have won and whoever did poorly still will have done poorly. Not that the results, whenever they finally come, will necessarily bring total clarity. In her Gen piece, Lenz predicted that if results are close, Twitter conspirators and a media thirsty for controversy will cast them into doubt. We dont know, yet, if shes right about that. But last nights mess hardly bodes well.

Below, more on Iowa:



Other notable stories:

Update: The description of the Iowa caucus process in this piece has been updated for clarity.

ICYMI: Why did Matt Drudge turn on Donald Trump?

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
Trump admin. adds 6 countries to travel ban list, cites security concerns

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Adding to a list of countries facing stringent travel restrictions imposed in 2017, President Trump signed a proclamation barring citizens of six other nations, including Nigeria, from gaining permanent residency in the United States.

Four of the six countries are in Africa  Nigeria, Eritrea, Sudan and Tanzania. The other two are Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet state, and Myanmar in Southeast Asia. The six countries, barring Myanmar, have large Muslim populations.

These countries, for the most part, want to be helpful, but for a variety of different reasons simply failed to meet those minimum requirements that we laid out, Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said Friday.

The proclamation, which cites the six countries failure to comply with U.S. security and information-sharing standards, will take effect Feb. 21, but these restrictions will not apply to refugees, officials have clarified.

The U.S. State Department issued about 7,900 immigrant visas to Nigerians in the last fiscal year.

Citizens from Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan wont be allowed to apply for visas to immigrate to the U.S. under the policy, which the Trump administration said was designed to tighten security for countries that dont comply with the U.S. minimum security standards or cooperate to prevent illegal immigration, The Wall Street Journal reported.  Sudan and Tanzania will be barred from participating in the diversity visa lottery, which randomly awards green cards to 50,000 immigrants from underrepresented countries annually.

U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., said the decision unfairly singled out Africa, according to Reuters. It is un-American to discriminate against immigrants solely because of where they come from or how they pray, Neguse, son of Eritrean refugees, was quoted as saying.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also called the restrictions un-American and discriminatory in a post on Twitter. The Trump Admins expansion of its un-American travel ban is a threat to our security, our values and the rule of law. Barring more than 350 million people from predominantly African countries from traveling to the US, this rule is discrimination disguised as policy.

She added that the Democrats would work on removing religious discrimination in the countrys immigration system within a few weeks, Reuters added.

In his proclamation, Trump explained, Consistent with the January 2020 proposal, I have prioritized restricting immigrant visa travel over nonimmigrant visa travel because of the challenges of removing an individual in the United States who was admitted with an immigrant visa if, after admission to the United States, the individual is discovered to have terrorist connections, criminal ties, or misrepresented information.

Because each of the six additional countries identified in the January 2020 proposal has deficiencies in sharing terrorist, criminal, or identity information, there is an unacceptable likelihood that information reflecting the fact that a visa applicant is a threat to national security or public safety may not be available at the time the visa or entry is approved.

Trumps original travel ban that was issued in 2017, and its subsequent versions, was blocked by a federal court but was later allowed by the Supreme Court.
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Tuesday it was too early to adopt further easing measures though he would pay "maximum attention" to the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak on Japan's economy and prices.

Kuroda said China's economic presence had grown larger and its supply chain linkages had expanded compared with during the time of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, thus the impact from the virus could also be large.

"The BOJ will pay maximum attention to the virus impact on our nation's economy and prices, as well as the financial market movement," Kuroda told parliament.

He said the BOJ had been gathering information and would exchange views with financial authorities of other nations at international meetings such as the G20.

"We will make sure to take necessary measures when needed."

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Kurod reiterated the BOJ would ease policy further if necessary but said it was not the time yet.

"It is too early to adopt further easing steps at the moment," he said.

China is Japan's second-largest export destination. The Chinese make up 30% of all tourists visiting Japan and nearly 40% of the total sum foreign tourists spent last year, an industry survey showed.

Hong Kong reported its first death from the coronavirus on Tuesday, the second outside mainland China from an outbreak that has killed 427 people, mostly in the Chinese province of Hubei.
Fans of 90 Day Fiance would be hard-pressed to forget the time Tania Maduro bailed on Syngin Colchester to go to Costa Rica. Not only were they shocked that she decided to spend 30 days of his 90-day visa in another country without him, but some were surprised when they learned shed gone to allegedly study herbalism. Whats more, it seems as if Maduro reached out to friends and family to help fund her costly trip  which also seemed to involve plenty of partying without Syngin Colchester.

Why Tania Maduro left Syngin Colchester for Costa Rica

Tania Maduro and Syngin Colchester of 90 Day Fiance | syngin_colchester via Instagram

Tania Maduro brought Syngin Colchester over to the U.S. on a 90-day visa, and then spent 30 days of that time in Costa Rica. Syngin Colchester was understandably upset with his 90 Day Fiance co-stars decision.

At the time, he said, Im literally around everything that is yours. Im all alone in the backwoods of America, you knowSo I am not at all looking forward to staying here by myself. I kind of feel lost and it sucks.

While Maduro was away, it seemed as if she enjoyed flirting with men in Costa Rica. She told producers, I like to flirt, and I like to talk to other guys that I think are cute. I cant really do anything more than look. But I can still look.

It seems Tania Maduro attended the Wild Ginger Herbal Center and took a Tropical Herbal Medicine Apprenticeship there.

A course description posted on the Centers website informs prospective students that they will study a variety of topics, including pseudosciences like astrology. It reads, Our immersion program focuses on providing a strong foundation in folk herbal medicine, and includes an engaging balance between field studies to local indigenous and traditional herbalists and farms, practical and theoretical classes at our center, and time spent exploring plants with amazing teachers who have dedicated their lives to plant medicine both local from Costa Rica as well as those who have immigrated here.

Tania Maduro asked friends and family for help

Tania Maduro and Syngin Colchester of 90 Day Fiance | syngin_colchester via Instagram

Naturally, the 90 Day Fiance stars course didnt come cheap. In fact, it seems it was far too expensive for Tania Maduro to handle alone.

According to Soap Dirt, she took to Facebook to advertise her plight to her friends and family, asking them for financial assistance in order to attend the Costa Rican retreat.

In the image posted by Soap Dirt, Maduro allegedly wrote, Its my birthday yall! And the charitable foundation Im raising funds for- is myself and some healing! But anything I ever do, I always bring back to the community- so its really a family affair!

Maduro added, My next journey is a monthlong herbal intensive in Costa Rica. The cost, including a BIPOC discount, is $2,488 including housing and 5 days a week meals. Flight is also extra. Please donate if youre able and share, share, share. Thank you so much and I cant wait to share what I learn!

Given how Tania Maduro had been riding Syngin Colchester about finding work, and the state of the shed he was living in at her house, it surprised many fans that Maduro was willing to shell out so much cash for a trip to Costa Rica.

Are they appearing on a new 90 Day Fiance season?

Meanwhile, to the chagrin of some 90 Day Fiance fans, it seems as if Tania Maduro and Syngin Colchester will be returning for another season of the show.

Soap Dirt has uncovered the couples marriage certificate, and recently a fan on Reddit claims that an acquaintance spotted the two filming with TLC.

The Redditor wrote, My wifes boss was out to dinner in Colchester, CT last night and there was a camera crew there with Tania and Syngin. Apparently Tania was in a car accident recently and was in a walking boot. She was not wearing the pink shirt. She told my wifes boss that the episode will air in the summer. She didnt talk to Syngin at all. She said Tania yelled at him the entire time and they reshot the scene a bunch of times. Nothing groundbreaking, but last I heard, he was back in South Africa.
A sharply divided Superior Court panel has overturned the homicide by vehicle conviction of a distracted bus driver who ran over and killed a 93-year-old pedestrian in a crosswalk.

SEPTA driver Katrina Sanderss recklessness during the April 2016 crash in Cheltenham simply didnt rise to the level of criminal recklessness needed to justify such a conviction, Judge Victor P. Stabile concluded in the state courts majority opinion.

He sent the case back to Montgomery County Court for resentencing only on careless driving and traffic violation convictions. A county judge had sentenced Sanders, 50, of Philadelphia, to 5 years of probation after convicting her on the homicide by vehicle charge during a nonjury trial in 2017.

Stabile and Judge Mary Jane Bowes Voided Sanders most serious conviction over the strident objections of Judge Maria McLaughlin, who argued that Sanders homicide by vehicle conviction was fully justified.

According to court filings, pedestrian Edward Hill Sr. had the right of way in a crosswalk when Sanders articulated tandem bus struck and ran over him. Hill was still underneath the bus when police arrived.

Investigators said surveillance video from bus showed Sanders, an 18-year SEPTA veteran, was looking at papers while stopped at the intersection for a red light. She had pulled partway into the crosswalk, impairing her ability to spot Hill as he stood on the corner, they said.

Sanders violated SEPTA rules by not waiting a full 4 seconds to check for pedestrians before driving forward, police said. They said the bus moved into the crosswalk and hit Hill after just 2.33 seconds. One eyewitness told police Hill put his hand up toward the bus just before impact.

Investigators also said Sanders was holding a sheaf of papers in one hand while steering the bus with the palm of her other hand.

Those facts still dont add up to homicide by vehicle, Stabile found, because the gross negligence and degree of recklessness needed for such a conviction isnt there.

The evidence simply does not support a finding that (Sanders) was conscious that her driving created a substantial and unjustifiable risk that would cause injury, but that she nonetheless proceeded to drive in a reckless manner causing the victims death, Stabile wrote.

It might be reckless or grossly negligent for a driver to read while her vehicle is in motion, but not when, as here, (Sanders) was stopped at a red light, he continued. Taken to its logical extreme, the (prosecutions) position would characterize any activity while stopped in traffic, such as checking ones GPS, as reckless or grossly negligent conduct.

McLaughlin argued the homicide by vehicle conviction was justified because Sanders consciously disregarded a known risk by failing to be wholly focused on her driving and by violating traffic laws and SEPTA safety rules.

The prosecution put evidence before the trial court that Sanders did not see (Hill) until it was too late because she violated safety rules that she admitted she not only knew existed, but also was aware served to prevent just the sort of tragedy that occurred here, McLaughlin wrote. Sanders consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk.

Stabile countered that McLaughlins stance would stretch the definition of criminality too far. Prosecuting drivers simply for failing to guard against the risks identified by (McLaughlin) would transform every fatal accident into a homicide by vehicle case, he wrote.

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Now that Iowas Democratic caucuses are officially FUBAR, there are many theories trickling out about just how deep this conspiracy runsagainst every candidate, depending on which one you ask. Even before the country went to sleep late Monday night without the gratification of a winner, stories were already surfacing about the sad state of the technology the state party was relying on to, ahem, modernize the process. The backup, analog plan to report results was phoning them in to the party, but that process appeared to be woefully undermanned and in utter disarray as well. The result? We dont have a winner! Yet. Its still not totally clear the full extent of went wrong Monday night when Iowans went to caucus, but after the dust settled on the caucuses that werent, heres what we know (so far).

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There appear to be several problems that Iowa Democratic Party leaders say are related to the reporting of the votes, not the actual counting of them. The most troubling development was the news that there were inconsistencies in the numbers of votes getting reported. The state party says the inconsistencies, however, are not in the actual final tally, but in some of the auxiliary numbers that are being tracked in Iowa for the first time this cycle. As part of a push for greater transparency, the DNC now requires caucus states to report the vote tally for each of the three rounds, rather than just the final count. Previously, candidates actual support could get swept away by the viability requirements of the caucus system that require at least 15 percent of the vote in any given precinct.

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On a conference call with the presidential campaigns, Iowa Democratic Party officials said the delay was because of the new rules requiring caucus leaders to report three sets of numbers to party headquarters, rather than just the delegate totals, the New York Times reports. For Iowa, the new reporting standards meant counting how many people backed each candidate on the first and second alignment. That change, requiring the reporting of three separate numbers from each of the states more than 1,600 precincts, has slowed the gathering of data to a crawl.

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We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results, said Mandy McClure, the state partys communications director. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report. This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.

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The technology also reportedly failed, as the app designed to assist in reporting the precinct vote totals appeared to be deeply flawed. Sean Bagniewski, the chair of the Polk County Democratic Party and its 177 precincts, told the Washington Post that the apps problems surfaced last week and that state officials were aware of the issues. The state party leaders failed to provide any training on how to use the new app, Bagniewski said, and local officials had difficulty downloading and logging in to the program.

LISTEN: Des Moines County Democratic Party co-chairman Tom Courtney speaks with NPR about the new app used for Iowa caucus results:



"The app didnt work. Things didnt work out right." https://t.co/as8BgUQrU6 pic.twitter.com/ESPi1JdnRk  NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) February 4, 2020

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Why did the app break down? From early reports and stories from Iowa, it appeared to be hastily conceived and not fully vetted, and it quite simply didnt work that well. Well surely get a full forensic breakdown of what happened in the future, but the apps functionality was known to be vulnerable. From the Times: J. Alex Halderman, a professor of computer science at the University of Michigan, and David Jefferson, a computer scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said Monday night that they had warned state officials that the mobile reporting app was vulnerable to what is known as a denial of service attack, in which hackers flood the central servers used to power the app with traffic, stalling them or knocking them offline.

With the app by all accounts not functioning, and the phone lines to report hundreds of precinct totals jammed, the party finally called time on its effort to get results up and out Monday night. Given the digital failure, the party is now piecing together the votes the old-fashioned way, using the paper trail.
Congress leader on Tuesday said that it's India, and not the US, that can compete with on the economic front, but the of hate and division was not letting India grow.

Addressing his maiden election rally in Delhi, said: "Global investors want to invest in India. But the present day India is about violence, hatred, rape, hooliganism, murder."

He said that the country's economic growth was being affected due to political volatility as investors are keeping away.

Gandhi targetted Prime Minister and Delhi Chief Minister for not taking any measures to tackle unemployment.

"Prime Minister Modi had said he would provide two crore jobs. But what did he do for this? The same case is with Kejriwal... what he did to tackle unemployment? The youth have understood now that neither of them can generate employment," he said.

Lambasting the BJP and its parent organisation RSS over their ideology of Hindutva, he said: "Hinduism talks about taking everyone along. What kind of 'Hindu dharma' is this of PM Modi and the RSS?"

"Hatred is not in our history, our country is a country of love. They (BJP) talk of religion, they don't understand religion. No religion tells its followers to kill and oppress others. None of our religious texts preaches violence?" he said.

He also challenged the BJP to show any one of its leaders who has raised slogan of 'Hindustan zindabad' inside Pakistan, and added that one Congress leader had done it.

"The BJP leaders talk about patriotism. Show me just one BJP leader who raised 'Hindustan zindabad' slogan in Pakistan. Congress' Jangpura candidate (Tarvinder Singh Marwah) did that and he went to jail for it," said Gandhi.

Delhi will go to polls on February 8 and counting will take place on February 11.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 15:14 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206278c9e 4 National Bali-tourism,Timor-Leste,quarantine,coronavirus,repatriation Free

The Bali provincial administration has rejected Timor Lestes request to put 17 of its citizens who are due to be repatriated from China due to the novel coronavirus outbreak into quarantine on the island.

The decision to reject the request was made during a meeting held by the administration on Monday.

The relevant parties in the province did not agree to grant the request; therefore, its difficult for us to accept it," Bali Deputy Governor Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati said on Monday, as quoted by kompas.com.

He previously said Timor Leste had asked for Indonesian permits and assistance to quarantine 17 of its citizens in Bali. The request was made through the Indonesian Embassy in Dili.

The decision was made based on considerations and input from several tourism stakeholders in Bali.

It is also in line with Indonesias policy to restrict travel to visitors from China because of the outbreak, by suspending flights to and from all regions in mainland China. Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said on Sunday that Indonesia would bar visitors who have been to China in the past 14 days. The ban will be effective starting Feb. 5.

Read also: 10,000 Chinese tourists cancel trips to Bali over coronavirus fears: Travel group

Tjokorda said the provincial administration had responded to the governments policy by asking all Bali tourism stakeholders, including hotel management and travel agents, to collect data on Chinese tourists who were still in Bali. The restriction is expected to affect Chinese tourists who have arrived since Feb. 2 because the average length time of Chinese tourists visiting Bali stay is four days, he added.

I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali would also follow the governments restriction on people travelling from China.

We will suspend 164 of 247 regular flights from Bali to China, airport spokesperson Arie Ahsanurrohim said, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The ban, however, would not apply to 55 flights to Hong Kong and 28 to Taipei, he went on to say.

The Indonesian Tour Guide Association (HPI) in Bali has reported that the viral outbreak has affected the islands tourism as nearly 1,000 Chinese-speaking tour guides are currently unemployed.

HPI Bali Chairman I Nyoman Nuarta said some 1,300 people acted as guides for Chinese tourists visiting the island, about 80 percent of these focused on serving tourists from mainland China.

Some of the unemployed tour guides have switched to other work such as taxi driving and others have chosen to return to their hometowns, he said.

Hopefully, this wont last too long and there will soon be certainty, he added. (syk)
New Covid curbs in UP: Government and private employees to work at 50 per cent capacity

Night curfew in Andhra Pradesh: Know timings, guidelines, rules; What is allowed, what is not allowed

46 Covid deaths in 5 days in Delhi, 34 patients had comorbidities, 25 aged above 60: Govt data

Contacts of confirmed cases don't need to get tested unless identified as high risk: Govt

Omicron has clear growth advantage over Delta with highest level of immune escape: INSACOG

People in Nagaland who came from foreign countries show no signs of coronavirus

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Kohima, Feb 04: The 33 people who had come to Nagaland recently from coronavirus affected countries did not show any symptoms of the deadly virus, a senior official of the health and family welfare department said.

However, those coming from China have been quarantined in compliance of the protocol set by the Centre, the department's Principal Director Dr Vizolie Z Suokhrie said.

The department has taken up all precautions to monitor such persons and set up measures adhering to the guidelines of the Centre to face any untoward event, Suokhrie said in a statement here.

Coronavirus: Toll rises to 425, Hong Kong reports first fatality

The number of confirmed deaths from China's coronavirus outbreak reached 425 on Tuesday.

Nagaland Health and Family Welfare Minister S Pangnyu Phom has held a meeting to review the preparedness of the department to meet any exigency in case of coronavirus outbreak in the state, Suokhrie said.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 4th, 2020

He urged people not to panic about the virus.
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A day after the Kerala government declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a state calamity after detecting three infected people,the state government on Tuesday sought immediate central assistance to tide over the crisis.

The state sounded an emergency on Monday after the third patient tested positive for novel coronavirus in Kasaragod in north Kerala. All three were medical students studying in Wuhan, the Chinese city considered the epicentre of the outbreak. A group of seven, including the three infected persons, travelled back to Kerala on January 24, according to health officials.

A health ministry official said all three patients have lower respiratory infection and they were responding well to symptomatic treatment. Around 2,500 people are under surveillance at their homes across the state and some 84 have been admitted to hospitals, according to the government.

We want the Union government to release more funds to meet the emergency. Proper surveillance and isolation involve a lot of expenditure. The Union health minister has assured to help us. We expect urgent assistance, said state health minister K K Shailaja.

The calamity status will help the government to allot more funds to preventive measures and the police will also get additional powers to deal with China-returnees who dodge health authorities, and rumour mongers, an official privy to the development said.

However, despite a high alert and increased surveillance, two men who came from China left for Saudi Arabia on Monday without informing health authorities in Kozhikkode. We have identified them and efforts are on to bring them back, said Kozhikkode district medical officer Dr V Jayashree.

At least 70% of the returnees report on their own. But some skip, thinking that they can approach hospitals once they develop some symptoms. Since the majority of the returnees are medical students they understand the gravity and cooperate fully. At times their relatives argue and we convince them, said Dr Satheesan P V, district programme manager of Thrissur.

Health minister Shailaja has already warned those who dodge authorities that such an attitude will be treated as a crime.

Besides opening more isolation wards, the government has also started training doctors and paramedical staff to meet the emergency. Although the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended 14 days isolation, the state has raised the bar to 28 days to rule out any possibility of infection. Health officials said they are using the experience gained while fighting the nipah virus outbreak two years ago, to fight coronavirus.

Keralas tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran said the epidemic outbreak had begun affecting the tourism sector, citing cancellations of hotel bookings. This is another blow to the tourism industry, he said, citing the damage done by two consecutive floods. There were good bookings this time. But many hotels now say they are getting mass cancellations, he said in the state Assembly during question hour.
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

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German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

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NEWS.am daily digest: 12.01.22

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Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

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Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

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Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

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Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

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3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

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About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions

Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night

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OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

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US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

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Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

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Delhi Assembly Election Results 2020 LIVE updates, Delhi Assembly Polls: Check constituency-wise poll-results, candidates, winners, losers

The campaign for February 8 Delhi Assembly election reached its crescendo with stalwarts from the BJP, the AAP and the Congress launching a no-holds-barred attack on rivals on issues like anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh and performance of the Kejriwal government.

Addressing his first public meeting ahead of polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi trained his guns at protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) currently underway at Shaheen Bagh, Jamia and Seelampur, saying it was not a coincidence, but an "experiment" and a political conspiracy to destroy the country's harmony, as he accused the AAP and the Congress of fuelling the stir for vote bank politics.

Union Minister and BJP incharge of Delhi polls Prakash Javadekar targeted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader had called himself an "anarchist" and there is "not much of a difference between an anarchist and a terrorist".

Kejriwal took out roadshows in various parts of the city, while his party tried to corner the BJP for allegedly calling him a "terrorist" by releasing a video in which the kin of 'martyred' Delhi police officers, who were given compensation by the AAP government, expressed their disapproval of the remarks by BJP leaders against the chief minister.

BJP's firebrand leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath continued his blistering attack on Kejriwal at public meetings, saying the AAP leader has become a "toy in the hands of antisocial and anti-India elements".

"Now when elections are taking place in Delhi, who is speaking in favour of Arvind Kejriwal? It is the ministers of Pakistan. They are aware that Kejriwal is feeding 'biryani to protesters at Shaheen Bagh'," he said, referring to Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhry's tweet asking Indians to defeat Modi.

"Will Pakistan decide who Indians should vote for? If voting for Kejriwal will make Pakistan happy, should it be done," he asked at a rally in Mehrauli.

The AAP on Monday approached the Election Commission against Adityanath, BJP MP Parvesh Verma and other BJP leaders for their alleged objectionable remarks against Kejriwal, and demanded an FIR against them.

"We met the CEC and raised the issue of statements of several BJP leaders. BJP MP Parvesh Verma called the CM a terrorist. We also demanded action against UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his Pakistan remark against the Delhi CM," AAP leader Sanjay Singh said.

He alleged the BJP does not have any issue to raise in the Delhi assembly election and was trying to defer the polls.

For the Congress, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh joined the campaign on Monday and targeted both the AAP and the BJP, saying Delhi has suffered in the turf war of the two parties and only Congress can bring development in the city.

Singh, participating in a roadshow for Congress candidate from Kalkaji constituency, alleged that Kejriwal had done "nothing exceptional" by providing cheap power and healthcare in Delhi as all Congress chief ministers have been doing it in their respective states and alleged the AAP leader was a "shifty character" who had "mastered the art of deceit and lies to mislead people".

Addressing an election rally in Hari Nagar, he also hit out at the BJP, accusing it of converting "the entire country into Shaheen Bagh", using it to polarise elections in Delhi and in the process, destroying India's foundations.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar tried to woo voters in Wazirpur. He alleged that the Kejriwal government did not work in areas of Delhi where people from Bihar lived.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati also addressed a rally in support of her party candidates in Delhi elections at Talkatora stadium.

She said the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) had made life more difficult for Muslims, as she appealed to the voters of Delhi not to get lured by the "enticing manifestos" of Congress, BJP and AAP.

Mayawati said if her party wins the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, it would bring development on the lines of the BSP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, driven by the principle of "sarvajan hitaye, sarvajan sukhaye".

Top BJP leaders, including party president J P Nadda and Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goel, Hardeep Puri and Smriti Irani, also slammed the Kejriwal government, accusing it of failing to fulfil its promises and supporting "anti-national" elements.

Shah claimed that former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had promised citizenship to minorities from Pakistan but the Congress is now protesting the amended citizenship law because it is "afraid of its vote bank in Shaheen Bagh".

Addressing an election rally in support of the BJP candidate from Rajinder Nagar, R P Singh, he said the February 8 polls were no longer for electing assembly members and a chief minister, but were a contest between two ideologies.

"On one hand, there are people who stand with Shaheen Bagh and on the other hand, there are people who enter Pakistan and avenge the deaths of our soldiers," he said.

In their rallies, Shah and other BJP leaders have been referring to the sit-in by anti-CAA protesters at Shaheen Bagh here, which began on December 15, asking people to vote for the saffron party to show their disapproval for the stir.

"Kejriwal only cheated Delhi people in past five years," Shah said in his election meetings.

Irani, while addressing meetings in Trinagar, Madipur and Patel Nagar, said "Why are Kejriwal, Congress and 'tukde tukde' gang pained if the BJP came out with the CAA for giving citizenship to victims."

Campaigning for the polls will conclude on February 6 evening.

The elections for the Delhi Assembly's 70 seats will be held on February 8. Results will be declared on February 11.
It took time for the Blue and White party leaders to understand that Chairman Benny Gantzs unconditional support of US President Donald Trumps program has placed them in a Catch-22. Before the two election campaigns (April and September 2019), Gantzs party viewed cooperation of Blue and White and the Arab Joint List as a historic opportunity for Jewish-Arab cooperation. But recent developments have turned this opportunity into a catastrophic crisis  one that might not be repaired after the elections of March 2.

In May 2019, after Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced his intention to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pending a hearing, Blue and White organized a demonstration in Tel Aviv with the participation of all the factions in the opposition, against corruption and in favor of the rule of law and democracy. Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh expressed willingness to participate in the demonstration, and Knesset member Ofer Shelah (Blue and White) invited him to speak. The right-wing camp within Blue and White, including Knesset members Moshe Yaalon, Yoaz Hendel and Zvi Hauser, opposed the invitation to Odeh and argued that it would thwart all options of recruiting right-wing voters in the future. True, they did not use the kind of pejorative rhetoric used by Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman  such as fifth column and supporters of terrorism  but they essentially transmitted the same message: "Arabs not wanted here." On the other hand, Gantz understood that he would not be able to cobble together a government without the support of the Joint List (from inside or outside). Therefore, a few hours before the demonstration, Gantz himself invited Odeh to speak. The sky didnt fall and Gantz and Odeh agreed to political cooperation.

Meanwhile, Odeh was the object of criticism of his public for attending a demonstration of the Blue and White chief-of-staff party (three former Israel Defense Forces generals are part of the partys leadership). Thus, Odehs answer to his detractors was to say, The fight against Netanyahus corruption and his attempts to destroy democracy in order to hold onto his seat is a joint struggle of all the democratic forces  Jews and Arabs alike. Therefore, there must be representation of all the factions of the opposition. I am willing to speak against the dangers of a Netanyahu government from all possible platforms.

After the election in September 2019, the Joint List  minus three Balad faction members  recommended to Israels President Reuven Rivlin that Gantz be tasked with assembling a government. Ultimately, no government was created. But it seemed that the cooperation would continue in the third election campaign as well.

On Jan. 28, Trump whipped out his deal of the century. A day earlier, Gantz had been invited to the White House where he was photographed with the American president and where he toed the line with the "deal." The presidents peace program is a meaningful milestone," said Gantz, quickly adding, "Immediately after the elections, I will work to implement it in a permanent government with the coordination of the other countries in the region." Gantz expressed no reservations regarding the main problem of the presidents program: land exchange. To put it more precisely, the program mandates a transfer of the authority over Israeli-Arab citizens from the Wadi Ara and Triangle localities to the Palestinian Authority (PA). In his rush to show that he is more Netanyahu than Netanyahu himself, Gantz hurried to announce that he would bring the entire plan as is to the Knesset for authorization in one fell swoop.

Gantz did not stop for a minute to think about how this would affect him on Israels political map. It seems that in order to woo one mandate or half a mandate from the "soft right" to Blue and White, Gantz is willing to divorce about 1.5 million Arab citizens of Israel. These Arab citizens get the point: that Gantz is willing to toe the line with the right, and transfer Israeli cities with their Arab residents to the PA.

Meanwhile, several Blue and White Knesset members  all of them of the Yesh Atid faction within the party  hurried to express their doubts regarding the Trump deal. Yael German tweeted Jan. 30: I want to tell the citizens of Kafr Kera, Arara, Baqa al-Gharbia, Umm al-Fahm, Kalansua, Taibe, Kafr Qasim, Tira, Kafr Bara and Jaljulia  you are definitely Israeli citizens and we have no intentions of renouncing you.

Shelah, who had an open channel with Joint List senior Ahmad Tibi in the course of the earlier election campaign, tweeted: While there are many positive aspects of Trumps plan, there is also one thing that should be ruled out immediately. Israeli citizens and localities will not transfer to the Palestinian state. Neither Kfar Saba [Jewish] nor Tira [Arab], neither Kochav Yair [Jewish] nor Taiba [Arab]. The very idea is offensive.

On Feb. 1, thousands of people from Baqa al-Gharbia demonstrated against Trumps plan, with the participation of Knesset members from the Joint List. If Gantz supports the Trump plan, we wont support him, said Odeh to the media. Knesset member Yusuf Jibrin, an Umm al-Fahm resident who would be transferred to Palestinian sovereignty under the Trump plan, said, We heard [Blue and White senior] Yair Lapid tell us that he does not support the transfer of Arab-Israeli villages to the future Palestinian state. But until now, we never heard what Gantz thinks about this issue  and this is of course direct criticism of him.

Not a word from Gantz, Tibi told Al-Monitor. He is trying to outflank Netanyahu from the right. He doesnt understand that he is losing his way. Tibi is still expecting to hear Rivlin say that he will not relinquish Israels Arab citizens. I dont suspect Rivlin [of supporting such a move]. I know that his whole outlook is against it, Tibi noted. But we didnt hear from him either.

By adopting the Trump plan unconditionally, Gantz erected a giant obstacle between Blue and White and the Joint List  and he needs the latter faction in order to make his way to the prime ministers office. It is doubtful that he would be able to remove this rift after the elections. In fact, Trumps transfer plan of widespread annexation has been to unite Israels Arab citizens against it. The Joint List hopes that this will energize the Arab voters to make their way to the voting booths in order to neutralize the plot. Tibi said, According to our clear indications in the territory, the Joint List will grow and strengthen to 16 mandates. This is a realistic goal that we set [for ourselves] and is based on field work.

If, indeed, this is what will happen, Gantz will have a very hard time establishing a government without any support at all from the Joint List. In reply to the question whether the Joint List will condition its support of Gantz, only if he will backtrack from Trumps plan, Tibi said, I dont want to talk about that now. His hint was clear: Tibi will not forget Gantzs support of the US plan.
Intuit held a daylong trans summit last week that looked at the experiences of its own trans workers as well as bringing in trans youth from the GenderCool Project to get their perspective.

Why it matters: Historically, the discussion around transgender people in tech has focused a lot on workers that have transitioned at some point in their working careers. But many in the next generation of workers are entering the workforce as their authentic selves.

Plus, trans youth are increasingly in the crosshairs of legislators, with bills pending in a number of states that would criminalize doctors who provide them with gender-affirming healthcare.

What they're saying:

Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi said he feels passionate about the need for inclusion at work, in part based on his own experience after moving to the U.S. from Iran at age 9. "I was bullied in school every day," he said. "I was told to go back home."

Tanner Arnold, who works at Intuit's Tucson office, says his experience as a transgender man allows him to help make the company's products more inclusive, such as the ability to add a third gender in QuickBooks. "We want to represent all facets of our customers," he said.

The key message from the GenderCool youths was that while they were all transgender, they were so much more than that.

Jonathan skipped high school and started college when he was 14.

Eevee is teaching herself Italian using the mobile app Duolingo.

Daniel is mostly vegan, but will eat eggs from the chickens his family raises.

Ashton is trying to teach himself piano.

Lia sang with her jazz band at Disney World.

"Our stories are way cooler than just being trans," Jonathan said.

What's next: Intuit says it plans to make an annual affair of the event, which also brought in a smattering of folks from other Bay Area companies, including VMWare, Impossible Foods, Airbnb, Adobe and Bank of the West.

Go deeper: Intel opens up about its (lack of) diversity
[February 04, 2020] Legislation to Limit Exorbitant Attorney's Fees Passes Florida Senate Committee

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted today 4-2 in support of Senate Bill 914 by Senator Jeff Brandes. This marks the second successful stop in the Senate for meaningful legislation to rein in the exorbitant fees trial attorneys take home on lawsuits tied to property insurance. "The bill codifies the federal standard of rare and exceptional circumstances for contingency risk multipliers to be used in the same way they are prohibited under the PIP statute back in 2012," said Sen. Brandes. "So that as it relates to attorney's fees ... a strong presumption is created that the lodestar fee is sufficient and reasonable. Subsequent presumption may be rebutted only in rare and exceptional circumstances." SB 914 would limit the use of the contingency fee multiplier when awarding attorney's fees to only situations of extreme and rare circumstances. Currently, using the contingency fee multiplier, attorneys can collect up to 30 times more in fees than the value of the homeowner's claim. Due to frivolous lasuits and these excessive attorney's fees, homeowner's property insurance rates could climb 10-fold over the next 10 years. Those higher rates contribute to the already rising cost of homeownership in Florida.



SB 914 was previously heard in Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on Jan. 21, where it was voted favorably 5-3. Next, the bill will be heard by the Senate Rules Committee. The House companion bill, HB 7071 by Rep. Mike Beltran, passed 13-5 last week at its first stop in the House Judiciary Committee.

"The current system is not a level playing field. When there's a contingency risk multiplier on the table, the business accused is forced to pay three fees: their own attorney's fees, the plaintiff's attorney's fees and the plaintiff's attorney's fees again because of the multiplier. This bill will fix something that's gone too far," said Rep. Beltran. "I would not be sponsoring this bill if I thought it created an unfair advantage to an insurance company. On the contrary, I believe this bill will create more reasonable settlements, which will provide rate relief for consumers." HB 7071 will be heard next in the House Commerce Committee. ABOUT FLORIDIANS FOR LAWSUIT REFORM Floridians for Lawsuit Reform is a 501(c)4 organization that was formed by Floridians to pursue lawsuit reform. The goals of the nonprofit are to: 1) raise awareness for the abuse of the system; 2) demonstrate the impact of frivolous lawsuits and over-the-top attorney fees on homeowners property insurance rates; and 3) promote possible solutions that will benefit Florida families. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204006029/en/

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Shilajit Mitra By

Express News Service

Accepting her Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, Malala Yousafzai joked how her brothers, despite all her accolades, still call her that annoying bossy sister. We get a glimpse of that girl in Gul Makai, an Indian biopic of the Pakistani education activist, who was shot by the Taliban. Malala, played by Reem Shaikh, holds court outside her tiny primary school, ordering a pair of younger girls to bring her something to eat. They return with roasted corn, which Malala chomps off without sharing with anyone. She might just be the class bully, but her friends cant stop giggling. Theyre transfixed.

This, sadly, is the lone insight of Gul Makai. The film, directed by HE Amjad Khan, is a tacky approximation of a globe-conquering tale. In late 2007, Taliban militants took over Swat Valley, in northern Pakistan. They banned music and television and outlawed female education. Malalas father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, who ran a private school, encouraged her to keep studying and led a pro-education campaign against the Tehrik-i-Taliban. With his support, Malala starts blogging for BBC Urdu, initially under the pen name Gul Makai, but later emerging as a vocal public figure.

The journey of Malalas life has been well-documented. Besides her bestselling autobiography, one can check out Davis Guggenheims influential documentary He Named Me Malala, streaming in India on Hotstar. For lighter viewing, theres David Lettermans interview on Netflix, of her life at Oxford.

Good intentions do not redeem a bad caricature. The terrorists in Gul Makai have Leprechaun beards, plastic swords and suicide vests with bulbs on them. The Pakistan Army has it worse, with shabby uniforms and exactly one military chopper, which keeps reappearing. Its exhausting how many great actors turn up for this joint  from Atul Kulkarni, Divya Dutta and Abhimanyu Singh to cameos by Sharib Hashmi, Pankaj Tripathi and the late Om Puri.

Theres something that sticks though. Gul Makai is bookended by the image of a man, gun-drawn, taking aim at a bunch of students. Wholly unintentional and hundreds of miles apart, the image assumes an eerie resonance in the India of today. Sure, the contexts vary  and contexts matter. But try seeing that shot for yourself and not feel a lump in your throat.
Ken Bush III, a lawyer whose family has been involved in Onondaga County politics since 1959, said Tuesday he will run for the New York Assembly seat that will open with the retirement of Gary Finch.

Bush, a Republican from the village of Jordan, announced his bid less than 24 hours after Finch told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that he would retire at the end of his term this year. Finch, R-Springport, is the Assemblys assistant minority leader.

Bush served as legislative counsel to former state Sen. Bob Antonacci, R-Onondaga, who left the post on Jan. 1 after he was elected as a state Supreme Court judge.

Bush said in an interview Tuesday that he has continued work in the Senate office, which remains open to serve constituents until Antonaccis successor is chosen in a special election.

Bush, 30, will be making his first bid for elected office. In addition to working in the state Senate office, he is president of the Jordan Volunteer Fire Department and works part-time as a lawyer handling cases for students with disabilities.

His father, Ken Bush Jr., is an Onondaga County legislator who was elected to his second term in November. Ken Bush Jr. previously served as Town of Elbridge supervisor.

Bushs grandfather, Ken Bush Sr., was known as the dean of the Onondaga County Legislature during a long career in elected office that dated to the old Onondaga County Board of Supervisors in 1959.

Bush Sr. died at 83 in 1989 while serving in his 16th year in the legislature.

Bush III said Tuesday he wants to continue working on Finchs priorities for the 126th Assembly District, focusing on clean water protection and the heroin and opioid epidemic. The mostly rural district covers parts of Onondaga, Cayuga, Cortland and Chenango counties.

Read more

Gary Finch will retire from NY Assembly after 10 terms

Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
China has been endeavoring to ensure medical supplies and daily necessities as it battles the novel coronavirus epidemic. Medical manufacturers have taken immediate actions to ramp up production to meet increasing demand.

With concerted efforts, the supply of daily necessities in Wuhan and the whole of Hubei Province as well as other places in China are also being secured.

SHANGHAI/JINAN, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- China is making every effort to ensure the supply of medical and daily necessities for citizens as the country battles the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The novel coronavirus epidemic has triggered a sharp increase in demand for masks for citizens and protective clothing for medical workers. Companies have been mobilized to run at full capacity to produce these high-demand materials.

PRODUCTION AT FULL CAPACITY

Since the novel coronavirus outbreak, residents have rushed to buy masks. However, shelves in physical stores are empty, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to buy masks online. Hospitals in the hardest-hit city of Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province are also in urgent need of medical materials.

Medical material manufacturers have resumed production despite the shutdown period of the Spring Festival holiday to cope with the problem.

A worker makes masks at Shanghai Dasheng Health Products Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, east China, on Jan. 31, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang)

In the city of Zaozhuang, east China's Shandong Province, over 300 workers from Kangli Medical volunteered to work during the holiday.

"Orders have soared in the past two weeks, and we have ensured that our machines will run 24 hours a day," said Lyv Zuopin, the company's deputy general manager.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) decided on Jan. 29 to send special representatives to 15 companies that produce medical protective clothing.

Kangli Medical, listed among the selected companies, can make a total of 1,200 protective clothing items a day. With the help of ministry officials, the company has been urgently allocating raw materials and purchasing equipment to expand production scale.

Given the unexpectedly high demand, the mask and medical device manufacturers in Shanghai have also managed to resume and ramp up production.

Workers count masks at Shanghai Yuanqin Purification Technology Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, east China, on Jan. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

Shanghai Yuanqin Purification Technology Company, a protective mask manufacturer for Honeywell, has been in full production with 40,000 to 45,000 masks being made every day since last week.

Liao Huolin, the company's president, said the factory had planned to suspend work on Jan. 17, but it urgently recalled its employees who had returned to their hometowns and also invited nearby villagers to assist in production after the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Shanghai has recovered its mask production capacity with a daily output of over 1 million masks, the Shanghai municipal government said last week.

According to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, a total of 17 mask manufacturers in Shanghai are gradually resuming their production, and the daily production capacity can reach 4 million after the companies reach a full production scale.

SUPPLIES SUSTAINED

Detection reagents are also in urgent demand. The reagent manufacturers have also joined the coronavirus fight.

Shanghai BioGerm Medical Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is one of the novel coronavirus detection reagent manufacturers approved by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most of the company's employees canceled their trips home for the holiday and returned to their posts.

"It's not about the money. We are honored to work for our country at this moment," said Zhou Yan, the company's director of operations.

With the high demand for detection reagents, employees from the sales department even took high-speed trains and planes to deliver goods in person to make sure the reagents could be delivered as soon as possible.

A worker counts masks at Shanghai Yuanqin Purification Technology Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, east China, on Jan. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

The preventive traffic restrictions taken by the authorities to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus have to some extent affected transportation of supplies entering the coronavirus-stricken area.

The government, however, has pledged efforts to sustain the continuous supply of necessities to coronavirus-stricken areas, with the National Development and Reform Commission arranging daily transport of vegetables, cooking oil, rice and flour to Wuhan.

Alibaba's Cainiao Logistics has also coordinated with courier firms to deliver 300,000 medical supply items to Wuhan from Beijing, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and other provincial-level regions such as Gansu, Sichuan, Hunan, Liaoning and Hainan. The medical supplies include the urgently-needed surgical masks, isolation gowns, protective gowns and goggles.

SUPPLY OF DAILY NECESSITIES SECURED

Farmers in the city of Shouguang, Shandong Province, China's major vegetable production base, are also making a contribution by providing vegetables for Wuhan.

A farmer clears up vegetables at an agricultural products logistics park in Shouguang, east China's Shandong Province, Feb. 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Guo Xulei)

Sang Xuemei, a farmer in Sangjiazhuang Village, got up at about 3:00 a.m., put on a headlamp and walked into the field.

"Every family has bought headlamps to pick vegetables in the dark," she said. "We used to pick vegetables in the afternoon, but we changed the schedule to deliver the freshest vegetables to Wuhan."

Two hours later, she sent 250 kg of freshly-picked cucumbers to the agricultural product examination center at the village's cooperative where cooperative members were busy loading the vegetables onto trucks heading for Wuhan after they were examined.

"China is battling against the epidemic, and we as farmers should make sure that people can eat vegetables as normal," she added.

On Jan. 28, Shandong donated 350 tonnes of vegetables to Wuhan and has been providing 600 tonnes of vegetables to Wuhan at par price daily since then.

The winter season, Spring Festival holiday and preventive transport restrictions in different areas put in place to contain the epidemic affected logistics and resulted in price hikes of some commodities. However, market authorities have worked to crack down on abnormal price hikes by dealers who took advantage of the epidemic situation.

With concerted efforts, the supply of daily necessities in Wuhan and the whole of Hubei Province as well as other places in China has been secured, said Lian Weiliang, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a press conference in Beijing, on Monday.

Some problems, such as less varieties of leafy vegetables and delayed replenishment due to logistics, still exist and efforts are underway to solve these shortcomings, Lian said.

A staff member arranges fruits at a supermarket in Qingshanhu District of Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Jan. 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chenhuan)

Liu Liansen, a resident in the city of Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, wore a mask and shopped at a local supermarket on Sunday. He bought some green onions, garlic, pork ribs and Chinese cabbage.

"Several days ago, I was worried that there would not be enough supplies of daily necessities, so I rushed to the supermarket. But I was assured when I found that there are ample supplies of rice, cooking oil, vegetables and meat," he said.
P eter Knipe suggests crime can only be reduced with more resources [Letters, January 29]. Of course, numbers are part of the answer, which is why I believe the Mayor should have put a thousand more officers on the street three years ago. But the right leadership and plan is equally  if not more  important.

As prisons minister, I inherited a position which had seen violence triple in five years. Many thought there was no way to stop it, but I promised to reduce violence in a year or resign. We did it in seven months  thanks to a fantastic team of prison officers  by backing uniformed officers on the landings, using data properly, and getting the basics right. We can do the same in London through Operation Local.

Our plan will triple the number of uniformed officers on the streets. But most importantly it will make the right use of data, set realistic targets, and ensure communities know their officers  a vital element of the fight against terrorism, too. With the right plan and backing, the Metropolitan police will reduce violent crime.

This is why I am prepared to promise I would resign as Mayor unless we succeed in reducing Londons violent street crime rapidly.

Rory Stewart, Independent candidate for Mayor of London

Police at the scene in Streatham High Road, south London after a man was shot by armed officers / PA

Editor's reply

Dear Rory

Increasing the number of police should certainly help, in the same way that extra prison officers were a factor in the partial progress made in jails under your watch. So, too, will more resources devoted to addressing underlying factors connected to violent crime.

But youre right that money alone isnt the answer. Without the right focus and grip, pouring funds in will not achieve the overdue success this city needs in the face of so many knife fatalities. Your emphasis on improving community involvement seems sensible too, particularly if it can encourage more of those who know or associate with criminals to help turn them away from offending.

Achieve this, and if you get to City Hall you might not have to honour your bold resignation pledge.

Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor

Windrush victims still need justice

As we approach the second anniversary of the Windrush scandal in April, we must remember how much people are still suffering.

Many survivors are frustrated with the implementation of the Windrush Compensation Scheme, as there is an onerous burden of proof when making a claim, and no support for completing the forms.

We need a scheme based on the principles of restorative justice to fix the harm of the hostile environment. We must ask MPs to amend the compensation Bill in line with our petition (you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/restorative-compensation-scheme-for-windrush-scandal) as part of Februarys Second Reading.

Patrick Vernon OBE

We disengaged from EU too early

Regarding Louis de Bernieress comment that his was the generation which voted us into the EU, and also out of it [We may be able to enjoy Europe more outside of the European Union, January 31], what about the war veterans who knew why European integration is so vital?

Its about all members agreeing to follow the same rules, whose system of creation is in most ways far more transparent than Westminster.

If Britons chose not to engage with the EU process, that was our missed opportunity and our folly.

Jason Freeman

Sanders is answer to USs prayers

Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters at a caucus night campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa / AP

For many Americans, Bernie Sanders is the person we believe can fight to restore economic justice and democracy. Medicare for all and a tuition-free college policy have drawn so many voters to him.

For too long the working class has been disenfranchised, and now so many say enough is enough.

Sanders has more than 40 years experience of being on the right side of history. He was involved in the civil rights movement and fought for womens and LGBT rights. He will benefit both the poor and wealthy.

Habiba Choudhury

Take the no 201 to kindness central
NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspir Carnegie Hill, a new luxury senior residence in Manhattan, announces the appointment of Dr. Wendy Suzuki, Professor of Neural Science and Psychology at New York University's Center for Neural Science, BrainBody CEO and presenter of the second most viewed TEDTalk of 2018, to its Advisory Board. Consisting of national experts from a variety of senior care disciplines, the Advisory Board provides an unparalleled level of expertise to ensure the very latest and most effective care practices are employed.

Dr. Suzuki's research spans over 25 years studying memory and brain plasticity. She conducted extensive work studying the formation and retention of new long-term memories. Her recent research focuses on understanding the role aerobic exercise plays in improving learning, memory and higher cognitive abilities. Through her research, Dr. Suzuki has concluded that physical exercise helps to strengthen key areas of the brain that are most susceptible to both aging and Alzheimer's disease, making it our best hope in addressing the epidemic of Alzheimer's disease in this country. These conclusions led her to develop her company BrainBody, which employs an easy to use platform that is able to quantify the brain enhancing effects of exercise and provide individualized exercise prescriptions that help protect the brain from aging and neurodegenerative disease states.

"Inspir aims to deliver transformative senior living experiences that exceed every dimension of senior care," said Gregory D. Smith, president and CEO of Inspir. "Dr. Suzuki's breakthrough BrainBody program is an example of the caliber of cutting-edge technology and innovative programming we are bringing to residents to support whole-person health and wellness. We are thrilled to have her advising on wellness programs for our residents."

Inspir offers residents a transformative senior living experience by curating an environment and lifestyle that supports a philosophy of vibrant, intentional living and meaningful connection based on nine core elements. These elements are based on lifestyle commonalities found in areas around the world, known as blue zones, where people live longer, happier lives. Members of the Advisory Board play a critical role in helping guide the Inspir team to develop programs and services that deliver on the nine core elements. Among the elements are Brain Health and Movement & Mobility, which aligns directly with Dr. Suzuki's work.

"The research shows that as we age, it is imperative to stay in motion and exercise to maintain cognitive function," Said Dr. Suzuki. "Exercise provides a brain-enhancing effect that protects the brain from neurodegenerative and age-related diseases."

Dr. Suzuki is taking her research to the next level and focusing specifically on the aging population. Through an exclusive relationship with Maplewood Senior Living, the suburban counterpart of the company's urban brand, Inspir, she will be conducting pilot programs at two Maplewood Senior Living communities where she will enlist a group of residents to utilize her BrainBody platform. Through their participation she will measure the brain-enhancing effects that each exercise program has for them, and provide customized exercise programs that will help protect their brain and maintain optimal cognitive function. Findings from the pilot will help shape future exercise and wellness programs offered at Maplewood Senior Living communities and at Inspir Carnegie Hill.

Scheduled to open early 2020, Inspir Carnegie Hill will provide residents with a brain-healthy lifestyle and offer daily programs to keep residents in motion naturally and purposefully. An on-site fitness facility, access to personal trainers and group fitness classes empower residents to stay mobile and exercise regularly. In addition, Inspir Carnegie Hill offers lifelong learning classes, cognitively stimulating activities, and brain-healthy foods to keep the neurons active and to maximize brain function.

For more information, please call 646-978-9040 or visit https://Inspir seniorliving.com

About Inspir

Inspir is a new, luxury senior living brand offering a different approach to living for discerning seniors in urban markets. Inspir is the convergence of luxury accommodations, exceptional hospitality, cutting-edge technology, whole-person wellness, and world-class care. The brand is debuting its flagship senior living residence, Inspir Carnegie Hill, located at 1802 Second Avenue at 93rd Street, in the heart of New York City's Upper East Side, scheduled to open in early 2020. Inspir Carnegie Hill boasts a masterfully designed building with state-of-the-art technology and private residences customized to fit the needs of an aging population. The community will offer assisted living, memory care and enhanced care options. Inspir is developed by Maplewood Senior Living, a premiere provider of senior living options, in partnership with Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. (NYSE: OHI). For more information, please call (646)978-9040 or visit Inspir seniorliving.com

*Inspir Carnegie Hill is pending approval from the State of New York, Department of Health, for the following licenses: Adult Home, Enriched Housing and Assisted Living Residence, with Enhanced and Special Needs Assisted Living Residence certifications.

About Wendy Suzuki

Dr. Wendy A. Suzuki is a Professor of Neural Science and Psychology in the Center for Neural Science at New York University. In 2018, Dr. Suzuki's 2018 TEDWomen talk was the #2 most viewed TED talk of the year. Dr. Suzuki's major research interest continues to be brain plasticity. She is best known for her extensive work studying areas in the brain critical for our ability to form and retain new long-term memories. More recently her work has focused on understanding how aerobic exercise can be used to improve learning, memory and higher cognitive abilities in humans. Dr. Suzuki received her undergraduate degree in physiology and human anatomy at the University of California, Berkeley in 1987 studying with Prof. Marion C. Diamond, a leader in the field of brain plasticity. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from U.C. San Diego in 1993 and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health before accepting her faculty position at New York University in 1998.

SOURCE Inspir

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Students at the "Selfies are Out. Self-Made is In!" symposium ask questions of the panelists "While we love to support youth with their numbers like GPA and test scores, we care that they also pursue valuable life experiences and understand the importance of internships, mentorship and relationships with teachers." - Jennifer Winward, Founder and CEO of Winward Academy

Young Women In Bio, the nations largest nonprofit supporting high school students to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) careers, and Winward Academy, a national leader in learning programs for high school students in mathematics and ACT and SAT college entrance exams, have announced a partnership to support San Diego teens. The goal of the partnership is to create opportunities for high school students to interact with women who are self-made stars of STEM and to learn how they became leaders.

Dr. Jennifer Winward, an instructor at University of California, San Diego and the founder and CEO of Winward Academy, actively collaborates with Young Women In Bio (YWIB) to organize professional panels for high school students. Winward affirms, Winward Academy promotes a holistic view of teen paths to success. While we love to support youth with their numbers like GPA and test scores, we care that they also pursue valuable life experiences and understand the importance of internships, mentorship and relationships with teachers. Our partnership with YWIB enables us to promote that holistic approach.

Winward Academy and Young Women In Bio created the Selfies are Out. Self-made is In! symposium for teens, generously hosted by AMN Healthcare. The events have featured panels of impressive female leaders sharing their paths, giving advice and inspiring local youth. We share with Winward Academy the desire to not only get girls thinking about STEM, but also to see a future for themselves as leaders in STEM, said Lily Wound, National Chair of Young Women in Bio. Thats why this partnership with Winward Academy is so exciting for us, and we look forward to working together on creating more programming for girls in the San Diego area like this [wonderful] symposium.

The panelists are all highly driven and successful women, ranging in careers from medical doctors to veterinarians, pharmacists, company founders, educators and biotechnology executives. Over 300 teens and their parents from 30 schools across San Diego listened to panel discussions that addressed how these women became leaders and what they see in the future of STEM careers. Speakers encouraged teens to shape and change the world through STEM, describing the tools and resources available to them to build successful careers.

Dr. Cathy Schnabel, Chief Scientific Officer at Biotheranostics Inc., summarized the views of the panel on mentoring and shared, You arent always able to recognize the skills and talent that you have. It takes a special person in your life to tell you that you are really great at something and to pursue itkeep your mind open; find mentors; use the resources available to you to develop your own GPS for your career.

Panelists also spoke to the importance of learning from every experience along ones career path and to acquiring both hard and soft skills. Julie Ames, Vice President of Corporate Communications for BIOCOM, focused on the value of developing soft skills. The number one skill is telling the truth. You must be honest. You must be transparent. You must be authentic. You must be accountable. You must maintain poise amid the chaos, staying poised, organized and calm, regardless of what you face.

Winward Academy and YWIB will continue to nurture their partnership to plan more events throughout San Diego. For more information about the "Selfies are Out. Self-Made is In!" symposium series or other national YWIB events, please contact Lily Wound at 240.204.0719 or YWIB@womeninbio.org.

About Young Women in Bio

Young Women In Bio (YWIB) is a nationwide, nonprofit, volunteer organization that encourages young girls to explore opportunities, education, and careers in STEM. YWIB is affiliated with Women In Bio. YWIB gives girls the inspiration and support they need to become tomorrows leaders in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). As a nonprofit with 13 chapters across the U.S. and Canada, YWIB partners with leading companies, universities, hospitals, and organizations to develop engaging, educational, and motivational programs.

About Winward Academy

Test success, college success, and life success  they all begin at Winward Academy, a research-based, student-centered learning platform for the ACT, SAT, math class, and college applications. Winward Academy applies a scientific approach to customize learning for each student, enabling growth for students of all levels and learning styles. Winward Academy is a team of passionate adolescent learning researchers committed to thoughtfully developing curriculum that improves learning, retention, and test performance  building confidence for life. Winward Academy curriculum is used by students at home, by teachers in the classroom, and by charities in after-school and summer programs. For more information on Winward Academy, see winwardacademy.com or follow the company on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Chinese men wear protective masks as they walk in a nearly empty shopping street on February 2, 2020 in Beijing, China. Kevin Frayer | Getty Images

The extended factory shutdown in China is costing automakers that have idled plants as the government grapples with a worsening virus outbreak that has already claimed more than 420 lives. Automotive research firm IHS Markit expects automakers to lose about 350,000 units of vehicle production in the first quarter as local Chinese governments keep plants closed to keep the new coronavirus from spreading. China closes its factories, which were supposed to reopen last week, to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday every year. Government officials have extended the shutdown to Feb. 10 in some provinces. If the plants remain closed until mid-March, as some industry analysts have speculated, IHS forecasts lost production of more than 1.7 million units for the first quarter. That's a roughly 32.3% decline from its initial expectations before the first patient was discovered in Wuhan, China, in the Hubei province on Dec. 31. "In this scenario, we might expect the potential of a China-wide supply chain disruption caused by parts shortages from Hubei, a major component hub  and adjacent province closures for the majority of the month of February as a result," the company said in a Friday release. As of Monday, at least 24 provinces, municipalities and other regions in China have told businesses not to resume work before Feb. 10 at the earliest. Some auto companies are asking employees who can to work from home, while others continue to extend the holiday shutdown for operations across the country.

Operations impacted

Employees with Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler who are able to do so are working from home this week, while production at both automakers' plants is scheduled to remain closed until at least next week, the companies confirmed to CNBC. Nissan Motor on Tuesday said its operations with Wuhan-based automaker Dongfeng Motor, one of the largest and most diversified joint venture automakers in China, could restart as early as next week. "In full compliance with government directives and in view of the situation of the epidemic and our suppliers, we are considering to restart production in China after Feb. 10, with operations in Hubei Province including Wuhan to resume after Feb. 14. We will update as necessary," the company said in an emailed statement. Other automakers such as Honda Motor and French carmaker Renault have extended plant shutdowns in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, until Feb. 13, in accordance with the Chinese government's guidance, according to Reuters. General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker in China, last week told employees there that it will keep its Chinese factories shut down through Feb. 9. A company spokesman on Tuesday confirmed those plans remain. South Korean automakers Hyundai Motor and SsangYong Motor also have suspended operations at some locations in their home country due to supply disruption, according to Reuters. Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn last week confirmed the company was in the "early stages" of understanding whether and to what extent its new Shanghai plant may be impacted by the coronavirus. The automaker, he said, is expecting a one to one-and-a-half-week delay in the ramp of its Model 3 sedan due to the government-required factory shutdown.

'Unprecedented' outbreak

Michael Dunne, CEO of ZoZoGo, which advises automakers doing business in China, described the coronavirus as "unprecedented in so many ways." Dunne said the last time China had any issue close to this was the SARS outbreak; however, that was nearly 20 years ago and the country didn't have the global impact it does today on industries such as automotive. China's auto factories produced 1.1 million passenger vehicles in 2002 when the SARS epidemic erupted, killing 349 people in China from 2002 to 2003, according to International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers. That compares with roughly 23.5 million vehicles produced today, according to the group.

"That's 2 million [vehicles] a month; 500,000 a week. So, you miss a couple weeks and that's a million units, boom, right there," Dunne said. "That's pretty stunning when you start to take the scale down instead of up." Dunne said people in China tell him the streets and public transit systems that would normally be packed during rush hour are nearly empty. He said, "They're feeling it nationwide."

Resuming operations
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

CHICAGO  More than $39 million in adult-use cannabis sales were recorded by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation during January, the first month of such sales.

State officials said dispensaries across Illinois sold 972,045 items over the 31-day period, with sales to Illinois residents totaling $30,611,632.22 and sales to out-of-state residents totaling $8,636,208.61.
The Swedish royal family gathered in Stockholm earlier today to pay their respects to one of the king's cousins Dagmar von Arbin.

Dagmar, granddaughter of Prince Oscar of Bernadotte, was the oldest member of the Swedish royal family when she passed away aged 103 just before Christmas.

Leading the mourners at the Oscars Church were King Carl Gustaf, 73, and Queen Silvia, 76, who looked solemn as they paid their respects.

They were closely followed by eldest daughter and heir to the throne Crown Princess Victoria, 42, who walked arm-in-arm with her husband Prince Daniel, 46, as they paid their final respects to the late Countess.

The Swedish royal family gathered at the Oscars Church in central Stockholm earlier today to pay their respects to Dagmar von Arbin (pictured, Crown Princess Victoria, 42, and Prince Daniel, 46, at the service)

Crown Princess Victoria arrived alongside her husband and her parents Queen Silvia, 73, and King Carl Gustaf, 76,

They were joined by Prince Carl Philip, 40, and his wife Princess Sofia, 35, at the funeral service earlier today in Stockholm

Crown Princess Victoria arrived alongside other members of the royal family as they prepared to pay their respects to Dagmar

They were also joined by son Prince Carl Philip, 40, and his wife, Princess Sofia, 35.

Younger sister Princess Madeleine, who lives in Florida, was noticeably absent from the proceedings in Stockholm earlier today.

Crown Princess Victoria arrived alongside her parents and husband Prince Daniel, with the couple walking arm-in-arm to the service.

The mother-of-two, who appeared without her children, looked elegant in a belted black coat teamed with a matching bow in her hair.

Crown Princess Victoria donned a smart black dress with a matching bow in her hair as she arrived at the church in central Stockholm

Meanwhile Queen Silvia donned a smart black cape with a white scarf for the service earlier today

Queen Silvia was among the mourners who looked solemn as they arrived to pay their respects to Dagmar (pictured, walking into the service)

Crown Princess Victoria could be seen shaking hands with the priest as she arrived at the funeral today

Meanwhile Princess Sofia and her husband Prince Daniel walked arm-in-arm into the service in Stockholm

Her sister-in-law Sofia, Duchess of Varmland, donned a fur-trimmed coat dress with black stilettos for the event, teaming her outfit with a wide-brimmed hat.

After the church service, the royal family will move on to a memorial service, which will be held in the Royal Academy of Engineering's party hall.

Dagmar, who was born Bernadotte af Wisborg, had held the title of oldest member of the Swedish royal family before she passed away.

Dagmar was the granddaughter of Prince Oscar Bernadotte, who was King Gustaf V's younger brother.

Dagmar von Arbin, who was the granddaughter of Prince Oscar of Bernadotte, passed away aged 103 just before Christmas last year (pictured, Dagmar in December 2018)

Queen Silvia and King Carl Gustaf appeared pensive as they arrived for the funeral of their relative earlier today

She was a second cousin and friend of the King's father, Prince Gustaf Adolf, making her a distant cousin to King Carl Gustaf, and remained close to the royal family throughout her life.

According to her daughter Cathrine von Arbin, her mother was 'full of life' until she passed away in December.

Speaking to Swedish Woman's magazine, she said: 'She was the best you have had in her life, she was an amazing mother.'

She added: 'It was always full speed of mother. She had many friends and was healthy until the end which is a great joy.

Other attendees appeared pensive as they arrived for the funeral of Dagmar in Stockholm earlier today

Queen Silvia appeared emotional after the service as she departed the funeral of Dagmar von Arbin in the Oscars Church

Princess Sofia donned a smart wide-brimmed hat and a fur trimmed coat for the service in Stockholm today

Prince Carl Philip's wife appeared sombre after leaving the church following the service today

After the service, Crown Princess Victoria appeared pensive as she left the church alongside her mother
[February 04, 2020] Kofax Chief Strategy Officer Chris Huff Speaking at ARC Industry Forum in Orlando

Kofax, a leading supplier of Intelligent Automation software to digitally transform end-to-end business operations, today announced Chief Strategy Officer Chris Huff is speaking at the 24th annual ARC Industry Forum, Driving Digital Transformation in Industry and Cities - February 3 - 6 in Orlando, Florida. Huff is speaking February 5 on Robotic Process Automation at Ryder System; Transactional Process Automation at Dow - along with Leslie Mandrell, Group Logistics Manager at Ryder System, John Wassick, Integrated Supply Chain Technology Fellow at Dow, and Mark Wiebe, Group Director of Transportation Management at Ryder System. Steve Banker, Vice President of Supply Chain Managementat ARC, is moderating the session.



What: ARC Industry Forum Who: Kofax Chief Strategy Officer Chris Huff

When: February 5 at 10:30 a.m. Where: Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld, 6677 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida Event Details: Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is software used to automate high-volume repeatable tasks. RPA does this by performing the same computer keystrokes and opening the same modules humans do. Ryder System has obtained great ROI by using the technology to automate a legacy planning system. ?Dow is extending automation to higher level decisions for which Robotic Process Automation isn't well suited. Specifically, Dow's focus is automating order transactions and the related material flows supporting these transactions. Dow's insight is that methods used to automate batch manufacturing can be applied to order fulfillment transactions. By applying batch-control methodology, Dow approaches transactional process automation in a more structured manner. At the 24th annual ARC Industry Forum, attendees will discover strategies and stories from the digital front lines, powered by ARC's research. There are countless ways for businesses to conduct their digital transformation journeys, many technologies and suppliers to evaluate, and endless choices to make along the way. Embedded systems, networks, software platforms, augmented reality and machine learning may play a role as enterprises begin to improve uptime, optimize operating performance, enhance service and re-think business models. ARC Industry Forum participants and attendees will discover what peers and industry leaders are doing today and what steps they're taking in their respective journeys. About Kofax Kofax software enables organizations to Work Like Tomorrow - today. Kofax's Intelligent Automation software platform helps organizations transform information-intensive business processes, reduce manual work and errors, minimize costs, and improve customer engagement. We combine RPA, cognitive capture, process orchestration, mobility and engagement, and analytics to ease implementations and deliver dramatic results that mitigate compliance risk and increase competitiveness, growth and profitability. Kofax provides a rapid return on investment for over 20,000 customers in financial services, insurance, government, healthcare, supply chain, business process outsourcing and other markets. Kofax delivers its award-winning software and solutions through its direct sales and services organization and more than 650 indirect channel partners and integrators in more than 60 countries throughout the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific. For more information, visit kofax.com.  2020 Kofax, Inc. Kofax is a registered trademark of Kofax Limited. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005330/en/

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Mumbai, Feb 4 : Actress Taapsee Pannu is gearing up for her upcoming release "Thappad", and she asserts that the act of slapping amounts to violence, disrespect and, to an extent, a controlling nature, whether it involves a parent and a child, or husband and wife. She adds that a slap can never be an expression of love, ever.

"I think no one takes a stand against the disrespect of women, including women themselves. Standing up against it is the need of the hour. Women who are living in poor economic condition cannot stand up because of their conditioning and financial dependency on their spouses. They have no place to go and they do not earn money, so they deal with disrespect and torture every day. In elite society, they refuse to address the issue only because they look at it as social embarrassment and (feel that) it hampers their image of a perfect family!" Taapsee told IANS.

She added: "The fact is, whether it is one slap or several more slaps or other acts of domestic violence, it all comes from a place of disrespect and discrimination. There is nothing called a slap out of love. No, never!" "Thappad" revolves around a young couple and how one day the husband slaps his wife in front of guests at a house party. The wife decides to walk out of the marriage.

The "Pink" fame actress believes the first introduction to violence happens through parents and it gets normalised by them. Therefore the actress emphasised on sensible parenting.

"A kid is slapped by an elder because of the elder wants to create fear in the child's mind, because the child is comparatively weak. It is the wrong style of parenting. Since childhood, the human mind learns to normalise a few acts of physical violence like slapping or raising a hand. In adulthood, men especially use the same habits to control people. It is a cycle and we need to question it," she said.

"Thappad" also features Paveil Gulati, Ratna Pathak Shah, Tanvi Azmi, Dia Mirza, Ram Kapoor and Kumud Mishra among others.

Taapsee did a dozen-odd glamour roles in southern commercial films before "Pink" changed the tide of her career in 2016, and she carved her image as a serious actress in Bollywood. In a short time, she has crafted for a "no-nonsense" image on and off the screen with films like "Naam Shabana", "Soorma", "Mulk", "Badla" among others.

Taapsee said that playing the protagonist Amrita in "Thappad" was a huge challenge. "The character Amrita was suffocating for me in the end and I took it as a challenge. After 15 days of shooting, I started feeling claustrophobic. It was tough for me to get out of my firebrand image and mindspace and get into the skin of this character," she said.

She describes Amrita as a "good-hearted, loving and homely girl", who finally decides to walk out of a relationship that she invested all her emotions in.

"She took all the typical nonsense of 'girls should compromise', 'little physical violence is part of love', 'and girl should do everything to save the marriage'. As Taapsee, I cannot take such no-sense at all. So, emotionally I was feeling claustrophobic," she shared.

Directed by Anubhav Sinha, "Thappad" is scheduled to release on February 28.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Japan's Tohoku University has found that a gene regulator, called BACH1, facilitates the spread of pancreatic cancer to other parts of the body. The scientists, who published their findings in the journal Cancer Research, say drugs that control BACH1 could improve disease prognosis.

"Pancreatic cancer is a malignant disease with one of the poorest prognoses," says biochemist Kazuhiko Igarashi, who led the study. "One of the reasons for this is that pancreatic cancer cells undergo rapid, profound metastasis to other organs, like the liver. We found how pancreatic cancer cells acquire this ability for metastasis."

Igarashi, surgeon-scientist Michiaki Unno and their team investigated the effects of silencing and over-expressing the BACH1 transcription factor in pancreatic cancer cells. Previous studies had already identified a role for this gene regulator in promoting breast cancer metastasis. But its role in pancreatic cancer was unknown. The team also grafted pancreatic cancer cells with and without the BACH1 gene disruption into mice. Finally, they studied BACH1 protein levels in human pancreatic cancer tissues and compared them to their survival rates.

Their investigations showed that BACH1 reduces the expression of some genes involved in cell-to-cell interaction, and enhances the expression of others that cause cells to lose their 'stickiness' to each other, making them more mobile and invasive.

For example, BACH1 was found to play a role in repressing the gene FOXA1 and activating the gene SNAI2, which ultimately leads to the suppression of a gene called CDH1. This gene codes for a protein called E-cadherin, one of the most important cell surface molecules involved in cell-to-cell adhesion.

By reducing or abolishing BACH1 activity, the metastatic potential of pancreatic cancer cells was greatly reduced in a mouse model. We also found that patients at Tohoku University Hospital showed poorer prognoses when their pancreatic cancer cells expressed higher levels of BACH1." Kazuhiko Igarashi, biochemist

Further investigations into BACH1's roles in pancreatic cancer metastasis could lead to the development of therapeutic strategies that reduce metastasis and thus improve the prognosis for people with pancreatic cancer, Igarashi explains.

The team next plans to look for other genes targeted by BACH1 in pancreatic cancer cells, which could have effects other than promoting metastasis.
Answering a starred question in the Lok Sabha on whether the Centre had any plans to introduce the National Register of Citizens, MoS Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Tuesday made it categorically clear that the government had not taken any decision in this regard. This is the governments first official statement on the NRC in the Parliament. The question pertaining to the possibility of the roll-out of the NRC was raised by LJP MP Chandan Singh and TRS MP Nama Nageswara Rao.

Read: PM Modi Highlights Pak's Atrocities On Minorities, Slams Opposition For Missed Opportunity

Read the government's official position on NRC here:

Read: TMC Gives Suspension Of Business Notice In RS To Discuss Nationwide Anti-CAA, NRC Protests

PM Modi's assurance

The MoS Home's clarification comes a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the Ramlila Maidan where he had assured the people on the NRC. On December 22, the PM accused the Congress of misleading people and attempting to divide the country. Moreover, he reminded the audience that the NRC had been originally created during the Congress regime. Furthermore, he stated that there had been no discussion on the NRC.

PM Modi remarked, "Congress has resorted to their old tactics to divide the country. Citizenship amendment law is not for Indian citizens. This has been said in the Parliament. False statements are not allowed inside the Parliament. Regarding NRC, they are spreading false rumors. NRC was made under Congress rule. Were the protestors sleeping then? We have not made NRC, it has not come to Parliament."

#LIVE | The 130 cr Indians have no connection to the CAB. A lot of lies are being spread about NRC as well. It was made during the Cong regime. Where were the protesters then? We did not make it, nor did we bring it to the Parliament: PM Modi



Watch here - https://t.co/rGQJsiKgt2 pic.twitter.com/ElsRXx3hU7  Republic (@republic) December 22, 2019

Read: Bihar: College Research Team Held Hostage In Darbhanga On Suspicion Of Being NRC Surveyors

The uproar over the CAA and NRC

There have been nationwide protests against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the NRC. The former was passed by both House of Parliament in December. It seeks to provide citizenship to the minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This will be applicable to the members of these communities having arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Moreover, they will not be considered as illegal migrants.

On the other hand, the NRC has only been conducted in the state of Assam under the supervision of the Supreme Court. However, the opposition has raised the apprehension about the possibility of NRC being implemented along with the CAA. It has been alleged that a particular community would be targeted in this process.

Read: CPI Leaders D Raja & Binoy Viswam Detained By Delhi Police During Anti CAA, NRC Protest
Donald Trump blamed the Iowa Democratic Party's app malfunction on Russians, claiming Tuesday morning Moscow is attempting to interfere in the 2020 elections like they did in 2016.

'When will the Democrats start blaming RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, instead of their own incompetence for the voting disaster that just happened in the Great State of Iowa?' Trump tweeted, giving credit to the Democrats for not being behind the massive faux pas that threw the Iowa caucus into confusion.

By putting onus on Russia, Trump is invoking a throwback to the 2016 elections, when Russia launched a massive interference campaign to influence the outcome.

Earlier in the day Tuesday, however, Trump blamed Democrats and defended the MidWest state against those who criticized the first-in-the-nation caucus.

'It is not the fault of Iowa, it is the Do Nothing Democrats fault,' Trump lamented 'As long as I am President, Iowa will stay where it is. Important tradition!'

The president was responding to a tweet from an NBC reporter.

'Iowa's outsize role has faced attacks for decades, along with periodic failed attempts by other states to take the first-in-the-nation slot,' Steve Kornacki tweeted. 'But criticism has been louder than ever this past year, and now those critics may have the ammunition they need to kill it.'

Donald Trump blamed the Iowa caucus fiasco on Russia  even though the Iowa Democratic Party said there was no hack or improper activity that led to the 'inconsistencies.' 'When will the Democrats start blaming RUSSIA,' he lamented on Twitter

The reference is a throwback to the 2016 elections where Russia launched a massive interference campaign, which some Democrats claim was one of the reasons Trump won

In other Tuesday tweets, however, Trump put the blame on Democrats, claiming they 'really messed up' in Iowa

He also touted his approval rating and said his '53% approval rating overall' would be '20 points higher without the phony Witch Hunts and Hoaxes'

Trump claimed Tuesday morning that he is the only winner of the Iowa caucus after the state's Democratic Party's app crashed Monday, thrusting the first-in-the-nation primary competition into crisis.

'The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster,' Trump asserted on Twitter Tuesday morning. 'Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that.'

'The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is 'Trump,' the president declared.

And even though Trump is facing no real primary competition, he touted winning the first caucus state.

'Big WIN for us in Iowa tonight. Thank you!' he posted Monday night as Democrats scrambled to count paper results from 1,700 different caucus locations.

He also used the opportunity to tout his approval ratings  especially among the Republican Party.

'The Democrat Party in Iowa really messed up, but the Republican Party did not,' Trump lauded a few hours before he will head to Capitol Hill to deliver his third State of the Union address.

'I had the largest re-election vote in the history of that great state, by far, beating President Obama's previous record by a lot. Also, 97% Plus of the vote! Thank you Iowa!' he continued.

'My Approval Rating in the Republican Party = 95%, a record!' he said in another tweet. 'Big Iowa win. Approval Rating overall = 53%, a new high. With our great Economy and other major successes, would be 20 points higher without the phony Witch Hunts and Hoaxes???'

There are still no official results in any form from the caucus, and the Iowa Democratic Party rushed out a statement promising that they had not been hacked to shut down any speculation and confirmed it was an app malfunction.

Donald Trump declared he is the only one who emerged a victor from Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus Monday night  which is technically true as he came out with 97.1 per cent in the caucus

Trump is facing no real primary competition and is the assured Republican candidate for the November general elections  but Democratic candidates left Iowa without knowing who won

An Iowa Democratic Party app, which was being used to calculate the results of the caucuses, malfunctioned, which spun the night into crisis with no winner. The party said it would report the results Tuesday  stretching the caucus into a new day

The Iowa Democratic Party said there were no concerns over a hack, and chalked the situation up to 'inconsistencies' on the app used for the caucus: 'Shadow'

Trump declared a 'big win' in Iowa

Trump also defended Iowa as the first-in-the-nation primary competition, putting on the blame on the Democratic Party rather than the state. 'It is not the fault of Iowa, it is the Do Nothing Democrats fault,' Trump said of the fiasco

Instead, the party said it would be using paper results with a count which will stretch knowing the final results into daylight on Tuesday morning, according to Democratic Party Chair Troy Price.

In a call with reporters Tuesday night, Price said that the party is manually verifying precinct reports, which is taking longer than expected.

He did not give a timeline for when to expect final tallies.

The still unreported results didn't stop frontrunner candidates from giving victory-like speeches before leaving Iowa for New Hampshire  the first primary election state.

Former vice president Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Elizabeth Warren, tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg all gave such speeches.

'We don't know all of the results. But we do know that by the time it's all said and done, Iowa: you have shocked the nation. Because by all indications we are going on to New Hampshire victorious,' Buttigieg declared victory in remarks to cheering supporters.

Other candidates were a bit more careful than the 38-year-old candidate  the youngest in the still-thinning field of 11 Democratic contenders.

The mishap didn't stop former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 38, from declaring victory in the midwest state. 'By all indications we are going on to New Hampshire victorious,' he told to a cheering crowd

While several other candidates  including Amy Klobuchar (top left), Bernie Sanders (top right), Joe Biden (bottom left) and Elizabeth Warren (bottom right)  also gave victory-like remarks, they were more cautioned than Buttigieg

Sanders' campaign sent out numbers from '40 percent of precincts in Iowa' that showed the independent Vermont senator beating Buttigieg out for the No. 1 spot.

'We recognize that this does not replace the full data from the Iowa Democratic Party, but we believe firmly that our supporters worked too hard for too long to have the results of that work delayed,' Jeff Weaver, Sanders' 2020 campaign adviser, said.

Biden's campaign also issued a letter  but from its lawyers  warning the results could not be trusted, even though the Iowa Democratic Party assured there was no foul play in the malfunction.

The former vice president's campaign did not say how they believed they had performed.

Caucus-goers gathered at nearly 1,700 sites all over Iowa around 7:00 p.m. Central Timre on Monday night, only to see the results delay after the party found 'inconsistencies.'

Three hours after the caucuses started, not a single precinct's results were officially reported.

'We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results,' Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Mandy McClure said in a statement.

'In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results,' she continued, 'we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report. This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion.'

Trump's campaign basked in the Democratic fiasco.

'Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history,' Trump's reelection campaign manager said Monday night. 'It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?'

'Tonight President Trump posted a record performance in the well-run GOP Iowa caucuses with record turnout for an incumbent,' he said.

Although Trump technically has two Republican primary competitors  former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Governor William Weld  they pose no real threat to the incumbent president.

Trump won the Republican Iowa caucus with more than 97 per cent.
Technavio has been monitoring the MRI systems market, and it is poised to grow by USD 1.58 bn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 5% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005629/en/

Technavio announced its latest market research report titled global MRI systems market 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire)

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MRI Systems Market is segmented as below:

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Open MRI Systems

Geographic segmentation

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Actor Disha Patani has said that actors shouldnt be jealous of those born into acting families, and therefore at an advantage over outsiders. Citing the example of her sister Khushboo, who is in the army, Disha said that nepotism exists in every industry.

She said in an interview to Mumbai Mirror, Nepotism exists in every industry. My sister is in the army. If she has a child, they will have an edge over others if they decide to join the forces. Instead of being jealous, its better to work your way up, on the strength of your talent.

The Malang actor added, We are all special and doing different kinds of movies. There arent too many Fridays with solo releases so theres enough work for everyone. I believe in feminism and equality. At the end of the day, its the work that speaks. Youre lucky if people like you, that cannot come with birth or be bought.

Disha will be seen opposite Aditya Roy Kapur and Anil Kapoor in Malang, a crime caper directed by Mohit Suri. She also featured in the song Hui Malang, which was released on Monday, ahead of the films Friday release.

Recently, several newcomers such as Alaya F and Ananya Panday have voiced their opinions on nepotism. While Alaya got into hot water with her remarks, Alayas admission that star kids are privileged even as they struggle was received more positively.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
The Odonigi community in Moro local government area of Kwara State is blessed with large quantities of gold deposits over the years. However, illegal miners hold sway  five were arrested in 2017 with seven bags of gold.

For a gold-rich community, however, basic amenities like schools and health care facilities, are luxuries. The only school in this community was locked, during a recent visit by this reporter, leaving the children to travel about seven kilometres to Alapa, which is located in another local government, to get basic education.

This is also the case with healthcare and other basic necessities of life.

The only primary school in Odonigi. However, it is locked, due to lack of teachers.

For such a community, one would expect that the resources gotten from their land will be harnessed for their growth and development, but this is far from reality. Yes, gold mining is ongoing but it does not yield them any compensation.

In fact, many, like Hassan Odonigi, the Mogaji of the community, were surprised at the mention of mineral resources in their community.

The Mogaji of Odonigi, narrating the lack of basic amenities in the community

In an interview with this reporter, he acknowledged their poor living conditions and confessed that asking for hospitals would be requesting too much. We have not even gotten teachers for our school, you are talking about healthcare centre. Let them even give us the teachers first, he said.

Lost resources

According to the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparent Initiatives (NEITI), Nigeria lost $9 billion between 2014 to 2015 to illegal mining of gold and other mineral resources. While the definition of illegal mining has been restricted to miners without license, little attention is paid to the legal miners acting illegally.

The money lost to illegal mining is mostly licensing fees and royalty to the government. While the government could be losing these funds, there is a bigger loss: this is the loss incurred through governments inability to properly monitor and regulate the activities of miners.

For instance, there was a rush in the mining of mineral resources in Oro town, Kwara State in the early 2000s. Tourmaline and topaz were in abundance, and people travelled from far and wide to partake in the rush. Labourers and buyers of gemstones, from within and outside the country, including places such as Mali and Senegal, thronged the place. But, this did not last beyond 2005, even though the exploration of mineral resources has not ceased.

Labourers continue to dig massive holes looking for gemstones, using crude tools such as hammers, diggers and shovels. With a general lack of trust in the government, as well as the portable nature of the gemstone, the difficulty of monitoring both the legal and the illegal mining remains a huge challenge.

An active mining site in Ilodun Oro, Kwara State.

After an initial difficulty accessing miners and dealers in the town, the reporter was finally directed to Dahiru Liman, a former senior special adviser on solid mineral to a former governor of Oyo State, Rashid Ladoja, who currently coordinates the mining activities in the town.

Mr Liman told the reporter that illegal mining persists because of the failure of the federal government to implement its policies, particularly, on financial interventions.

In June 2016, then Minister of Mines and Steel, Kayode Kayemi, announced the approval of N30 billion intervention to the mining sector, among other things, to improve the sector. But, Mr Liman is concerned about the disbursement of such funds.

According to him, even if such funds are released, miners will not get it. They will call the miners together, and present all our certificates. They will say, we will give you N50 million, N250 million, at the end, only one person will get from Kwara. It will be hard for you to see two people from Kwara., and the person  go and look  they are not miners. The real miners are suffering. How can things go on like that? That is why things are like this.

Difficulty in obtaining licence encouraging illegal mining

The miners also said that the process of acquiring a mining licence is frustrating.

The centralisation of the mining sectors regulatory bodies also do not help. The Nigeria Mining Cadastre,  the agency with the permission to issue mining permit and lease  is located in Abuja. The implication of this is that miners have to go to Abuja, to process the permit.

To the miners in Oro, the most important licence is to settle the land owners and the King of the town, while Mr Liman handles the registration and licensing. He also provides protection in the event of police harassment through his company, Afrorocks Nigeria Limited.

There is also a lack of trust in the governments registration process, according to Mr Liman and Ayuba, popularly known as Pastor, who just like most miners in the town, is from Niger State.

The first place is to go to the owner of the land, then to the Kabiyesi. The kabiyesi will send you to the local government, then to Ilorin. Ilorin will be the one to send you to Abuja, he said.

You will spend money, because anywhere you go to, you must drop something. If the state sees that there is plenty of resources there, you, (the person) who submitted it will not get it. They will exchange your certificate. When you talk, they will say where is your certificate. So how can you see another place, and take it to them again?

What the law says

Section 44 (3) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) vested the ownership of mineral resources to the federal government. As such, the licence to explore mineral resources is the exclusive right of the federal government.

For a potential miner to get a permit, the individual must first have a registered company. If he suspects that there is mineral deposit on a piece of land, he will approach the owner of the land in question and after an agreement is reached, then the coordinate of the land is supposed to be taken to the Cadastre office in Abuja.

But, this is one rigorous process most miners would rather avoid, especially because of the lack of trust in the system. For these miners, the easy compromise is to get people who are not miners but with existing permit and settle the King.

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A miner, Ede Obinna, re-echoed this concern during an interview with this reporter.

The process of acquiring (the) permit is cumbersome. The 2007 Mining Act does not recognise individuals. When you locate the site, you will take it to cadastre. They are in charge of issuing mining licences, permit to export minerals for commercial purposes, permit to export minerals for analysis, and collecting royalties on behalf of the government.

The problem is that if the government says N50,000, for you to speed up the process, you have to get people to help speed up the process by paying more, he said.

For a town of civil servants, the economy of Oro significantly benefits from the mining activities, legal or illegal. Here is how: Mr Ayuba explained that the local miners first get the permits from the land owner, who they pay. Then they source for labourers who are usually not paid, but settled with foods and drinks. They get to work until the gems are found. The gems are then divided into 10. The miner takes two portions, while the other eight are given to the labourers but are later bought back at bush rate which is usually very cheap. They are then taken to Ibadan where they are sold to Senegalese and Malians.

But there seems to be a big problem with this structure: The miners are supposed to pay N75 for every gram of Pink Tourmaline. How then will the government determine the quantity of tourmaline removed? Henry Bolarinwa, the federal mines officer in Kwara State, said there is supposed to be an attache to the sites, who monitors the activities of miners.

It is expected that you have to station an officer, and if you want to station an officer, you must cater for the officer. We need results, but how do you help those officers to achieve the result. You must be able to get accommodation for the officers, Mr Bolarinwa said.

He further complained about the shortage of manpower, lack of adequate support from law enforcement agents and also traditional rulers, with respect to providing covers for miners to operate illegally.

Unfortunately, we are constrained by the attitude of our people. At times, you will get to a site, and they will say a particular Emir is in charge. Whatever we get, there is the 13 per cent derivative. The state government is not even helping us. The law says when you are licenced, bring it to the ministry for us to monitor and inspect the site. Unfortunately, they only move to the site as soon as they have the permit.

The valuation process is equally faulty, according to Mr Ayuba, because even the royalty for the gems is determined by the bush rate and not the actual rate they are supposed to be sold.

Although the officer said his office is conducting awareness through the joint committee called Mineral Resources and Environment Management Committee (MIREMCO), however, the level of awareness is still poor.

The Mogaji of Odonigi, narrating the lack of basic amenities in the community

Another area where even legal miners are coming short is in the aspect of maintaining the environment.

In Oro, there are several abandoned pits and tunnels that are just an inch from collapsing, which pose a great threat to residents and livestock.

A department of the Ministry of Solid Mineral; Mining Environmental Compliance (MEC) is supposed to monitor the mining sites, to ensure environmental compliance. However, in all the mining sites, legal and illegal, abandoned pits litter the environment.

According to Mr Ayuba, since they have paid the land owners, they have no business with the pits.

To further exacerbate the situation, the sand at the sites are sold to people for sand filling, leaving holes that are more than 10ft deep, in the bush.

One of the locals who gave his name as Adekunle recounted how about four years ago, a student at Dab Comprehensive High School, Iddo Oro died in one of the pits, while attempting to swim in the pool in one of the pits, some of which have been abandoned for more than four years. The pits are behind the school.

Photo Caption: Dab Comprehensive High School where a student died while attempting to swim in an abandoned pit just behind the school.

The abandoned mining pit where the student died

Way Forward

Mr Bolarinwa said the means for solution to these challenges fall within the scope of the Mining Environmental Compliance (MEC) department of the Ministry of Solid Minerals.

According to him, if you are removing sand, there is a particular level (at which) you can remove it. If you go below that, it means you want to completely degrade the place. The law says you must have a development agreement. (There is) the Environment Protection and Rehabilitation Program (EPRP), which you have to do, (as well as) the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which every mineral title holder is obliged to do before the commencement of mining.

The pits are still there, uncovered.

The communities are still there, without lifes basic amenities.
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The global markets are struggling with a new virus threat that has already claimed 80 lives in China. The novel coronavirus has been spreading really fast over the past week, having infected people in Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, France, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, South Korea, Macao and Nepal, with its epicenter in Wuhan, China.

Thailand and Hong Kongs count is eight patients each, the United States and Macau have already confirmed five cases each, Taiwan, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia each have confirmed four, three each in France and Japan, Vietnam and South Korea have reported two each, and one each in Canada and Nepal. Notably, authorities in the United States, France and Japan are planning to evacuate their nationals from Wuhan (read: ETF Strategies to Combat Coronavirus Outbreak).

In this regard, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors in London, Seema Shah, has said, the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak has the potential to whipsaw Chinese equities and, indeed, all global risk assets. With valuations elevated, asset classes are already vulnerable to shifts in sentiment, and memories of the meaningful economic impact of SARS has [have] the potential to play havoc with market confidence.

Moreover, according to an official statement from Saudi Arabia, the movements in the global oil markets are being closely monitored to analyze fall in demand due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus. Meanwhile, Trade Minister of Singapore mentioned that the countrys economy will suffer hugely from the coronavirus outbreak as a large chunk of the tourists to the nation are Chinese nationals. Notably, Singapore was one of the worst hit nations outside of China in the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome pandemic (read: What Lies in China ETFs' Fortunes in the Year of Rat?).

ETFs to Play

Against such a backdrop, seeking refuge in low-volatility products seems judicious. These global low-volatility products could be intriguing choices for those who want to stay invested in equities but like the idea of focusing on minimum volatility. Low-volatility ETFs generally tend to offer positive risk-adjusted gains, though not enormous.

Story continues

iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF ACWV

The United States is the top holding of the fund, followed by Japan, Switzerland and Canada. Financials, Consumer Staples, Information Technology and Communication get a double-digit weight in the fund. The fund charges 20 bps in fees.

iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol EAFE ETF EFAV

EFAV looks to replicate the performance of international equity securities that have lower absolute volatility. No single stock makes up more than 1.61% of the portfolio. Country-wise, the fund appears more focused on Japan (28.5%), Switzerland (13.7%) and United Kingdom (11.6%) equities. The fund charges 20 bps in fees (read: ETFs to Buy as Flare-up in Middle-East Tensions Spurs Volatility).

iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Europe ETF EUMV

It tracks the MSCI Europe Minimum Volatility Index giving exposure to 174 European stocks having low-volatility characteristics relative to the broader European developed equity markets. The product charges 25 bps a year.

Like many other funds in the space, the ETF provides higher diversification benefits with none of the securities making up for more than 1.59% of assets. In terms of country exposure, United Kingdom takes the largest share at 21%, followed by Switzerland (20%), France (13%) and Germany (11.7%).

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This ETF provides stable income through investment in stocks of profitable U.S. companies, with relatively high dividend yields, lower price and earnings volatility. Utilities, Real Estate and Consumer Staples make up the top three sectors with a double-digit allocation each. It charges 27 bps in annual fees.

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South Africa: SA relations unchanged with UK amidst Brexit

The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) says South Africas trade relationship with the United Kingdom continues unchanged after the UK left the European Union (EU).

South Africa has been notified by the EU that in terms of the Withdrawal Agreement concluded and ratified between the EU and the UK, during the transitional period, the UK will be treated as a Member State of the Union for the purposes of international agreements concluded by the Union, or by Member States acting on behalf of the Union, or by the Union and its Member States jointly, said the Department of Trade and Industry (dti).

The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 in what is widely known as Brexit (British exit from the EU).

The transitional period is set to end on 31 December 2020, but can be extended on agreement between the EU and UK.

South Africas trade with the UK currently takes place under the terms of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

The EPA between the SADC EPA Member States and the EU entered into force on 10 October 2016.

Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel said during the transitional period provided for in the UK Withdrawal Agreement, the trade between South Africa and the UK will continue unchanged under the SADC-EU EPA.

South African exporters can plan ahead with confidence in the period ahead. Their legal and regulatory arrangements remain stable and in place, as it was during the period that the UK was part of the European Union.

The UK remains one of South Africas key trading partners. In 2018, the UK was the fourth largest destination for South African exports, with bilateral trade between the two countries amounting to more than R140 billion, said Minister Patel.

To avoid the disruption to South Africas exports, once the UK exits the EU and the SADC-EU EPA does not apply to the UK any longer, South Africa and five other countries -- namely Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini as well as Mozambique -- engaged with the UK over a two-year period following the announcement of the UKs intention to leave the EU.

SACUM-UK EPA

A new agreement, which is known as the SACUM [South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini, as well as Mozambique]-UK Economic Partnership Agreement, was agreed between the parties in September 2019.

The SACUM-UK EPA effectively retains the terms of trade present in the existing SADC-EU EPA, and will govern the bilateral trading relationship between each of the SACUM countries and the UK in the event that the SADC-EU EPA no longer applies to the UK after December 2020.

Patel said the SACUM-UK EPA will enable South African businesses to continue to export their products to the UK market and protect South African jobs once the SADC-EU EPA ceases to apply to the UK.

The preferential market access contained in the SADC-EU EPA was transposed into SACUM-UK EPA. However, additional market access was agreed for South Africa in regards to 13 agricultural products, including wine and sugar, in the form of new volumes in relation to the Tariff Rate Quotas contained in the EPA with the European Union, said Patel.

The United Kingdom is SAs fourth largest market for exports, behind China, Germany and the United States, and it is the seventh largest supplier of imported goods.

It is estimated that SAs exports to the United Kingdom support 56 500 direct jobs and a further 117 500 indirect jobs, bringing the total number of jobs supported by exports to the UK to nearly 175 000.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Under the EU-WCO Programme for the Harmonized System in Africa funded by the European Union, the WCO organized a national workshop for the General Directorate of Algerian Customs on the implementation of an Advance Ruling System for Classification, Origin and Valuation. The workshop, facilitated by a Technical Officer and a WCO accredited trainer, was conducted in Algiers from 13 to 16 January 2020.

Following two days of intensive examination of the Circular formally laying down this new procedure, two information days were held, each attended by some 100 participants, one for the benefit of economic operators and Customs brokers and the other for Customs officials.

In his address, the Director General of Algerian Customs, Mr. Mohamed Ouaret, referred to the objectives of the action plan adopted by Algerian Customs: adapting foreign trade policy to Algerias new priorities, upgrading the countrys Customs Administration in order to meet international norms and standards, rolling out a new information system relying on digitization and automated Customs procedures, and providing support for economic operators working in foreign trade under the Customs-Business Partnership principle.

He also pointed out that the objective of the advance ruling procedure is to promote trade facilitation, secure equality of treatment between operators, safeguard their operations and streamline Customs clearance.

In the light of the legislative and regulatory instruments already drawn up by Algerian Customs, the effective launch of the procedure is scheduled for 1 March 2020, especially since the Algerian Customs Administration has now informed the WCO Secretariat of its acceptance of the WCOs Recommendation of 18 June 1996 on the introduction of programmes for binding pre-entry classification information.

For more information, please contact: capacity.building@wcoomd.org
Its no secret that hackers the world over target Windows vulnerabilities in order to wreak havoc, hold up data and networks for ransom, pull off money-making scams, and disrupt elections and the workings of democracy. They target Windows for a simple reason: volume. The operating system is on the vast majority of desktop and laptop computers worldwide.

Over the years, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has unwittingly helped hackers in some of the worlds most dangerous and notoriously successful attacks by developing tools to exploit Windows security holes, rather than alert Microsoft to those vulnerabilities. Some of the tools have been leaked to hackers and used in massive attacks, including the EternalBlue cyber-exploit, which was used in the WannaCry global ransomware attack that affected computers in more than 150 countries and is estimated to have caused billions of dollars in damage.

The NSA may be changing its ways, but perhaps not completely. In mid-January, the agency alerted Microsoft to a severe Windows security breach rather than develop tools to exploit it. Microsoft patched the hole, and the world  and your computer and data  is now safer.

Thats all to the good. But the NSA hasnt gone nearly far enough in helping keep Windows safe from hackers. To understand why  and what the NSA ***should be doing  lets start by looking back at EternalBlue and Microsofts very public spat with the NSA about its role in the attack.

In 2017, malicious Windows software developed by the NSA called EternalBlue was leaked by a group called the Shadow Brokers and used to launch WannaCry, the largest ransomware attack the world has ever seen. The software exploited the 30-year-old Windows networking protocol SMB1 that even Microsoft acknowledged at the time should no longer be used by anyone, anywhere, at any time.

The exploit lives on and has been used to launch successful ransomware attacks against the city of Baltimore and other municipalities. The New York Times noted in 2019: Security experts say EternalBlue attacks have reached a high, and cybercriminals are zeroing in on vulnerable American towns and cities, from Pennsylvania to Texas, paralyzing local governments and driving up costs.

When the WannaCry attack was first launched in 2017, Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote a blistering blog post about the NSAs role in it. He noted that when the NSA finds security holes in Windows and other software, rather than alerting the appropriate vendors so they can quickly patch them, it instead stockpiles them and writes software to exploit them. He wrote: This attack provides yet another example of why the stockpiling of vulnerabilities by governments is such a problem.  Repeatedly, exploits in the hands of governments have leaked into the public domain and caused widespread damage. An equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the U.S. military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen.

He added, The governments of the world should treat this attack as a wake-up call. They need to take a different approach and adhere in cyberspace to the same rules applied to weapons in the physical world. We need governments to consider the damage to civilians that comes from hoarding these vulnerabilities and the use of these exploits.

Finally, he concluded that a Digital Geneva Convention should be convened, including a new requirement for governments to report vulnerabilities to vendors, rather than stockpile, sell, or exploit them.

Since then, theres only been radio silence from the NSA. Presumably, the agency has been continuing to uncover Windows security holes and write malware to exploit it.

However, in mid-January the NSA changed its approach  at least for a moment. It uncovered an exceedingly dangerous security hole in Microsoft's CryptoAPI service, which Windows uses to determine whether software being installed is legitimate, and to establish secure internet connections with web sites.

Kenn White, security principal at MongoDB and director of the Open Crypto Audit Project, explained to Wired magazine just how dangerous the hole is: This is a core, low-level piece of the Windows operating system and one that establishes trust between administrators, regular users, and other computers on both the local network and the internet. If the technology that ensures that trust is vulnerable, there could be catastrophic consequences.

For once, the NSA did the right thing. Instead of hoarding the Windows vulnerability and writing malware to take advantage of it, the agency warned Microsoft about it. Microsoft quickly issued a patch. Theres no evidence that any hackers have been able to take advantage of the hole.

All that is to the good. But the NSA hasnt said it will follow Smiths recommendation to report all Windows and other vulnerabilities, rather than stockpile them and write malware to exploit them. The Times reports, It was not clear how much of a strategic shift the agencys announcement amounted to. The agency presumably is still hunting for vulnerabilities and flaws that could allow them to infiltrate Iranian computer systems, as well as those used by Russia, China and other adversarial countries.

As weve seen, though, the NSAs actions in doing that make the United States and the world a less safe place, not a safer one. Microsofts Smith is right. In the same way governments of the world recognized in the Geneva Convention that some weapons and ways of waging war should be outlawed, they need to ban countries from stockpiling cyber-vulnerabilities and writing Windows malware and other software to take advantage of them. What the NSA did in January was a good first step. But it should follow through and never again stockpile Windows and other vulnerabilities, and instead report them to software makers so they can plug them and keep us safe.

Krishna Nagar Delhi Assembly Constituency Election Results 2020 Live Updates - Read Krishna Nagar constituency vidhan sabha chunav latest news, party, constituency, candidate name wise winner, loser, leading, trailing live updates online at Firstpost.com.

Delhi Assembly election 2020, Krishna Nagar profile | AAP's SK Bagga, also the sitting MLA, is trailing behind BJP's Ajay Goyal. Bagga had breached the BJP bastion Krishna Nagar in the 2015 Asssembly polls, but has received 51,486 votes till 2 pm. Goyal, on the other hand, got 53,907 votes.

The Krishna Nagar Assembly constituency, once considered a BJP stronghold, is set to witness a fierce battle between the BJP, AAP and Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections. While the Congress has fielded former minister and four-time MLA Ashok Walia, the BJP has fielded Anil Goyal to take on sitting MLA and AAP candidate SK Bagga.

According to a report in the The Times of India, Goyal, a doctor by profession, is the seventh richest candidate contesting the 2020 elections, with declared assets worth rs. 64.1 crore. Walia had won four elections prior to 2013 from the neighbouring Laxmi Nagar seat. Walia may garner votes as part of his erstwhile constituency was merged with the Krishna Nagar constituency in 2007. The AAP on the other hand is seeking a repeat of its victory in 2015 by fielding Bagga.

Demography: The Krishna Nagar Assembly constituency lies in the East Delhi district. As per the 2011 Census, the East Delhi district has a population of 17,09,346. The sex ratio is 843 while the average literacy rate is 89.31 percent.

The Krishna Nagar Assembly seat under the East Delhi Lok Sabha seat includes areas like Jagat Puri, Radhey Puri, Shastri Nagar, Khureji Khas, Indira Park, Police colony, Brij Puri, Ram Nagar, Anar Kali, Govind Pura, Pandit Park, Ghondli Village and others, and has a majority population of Punjabi community and traders.

Following is a brief description of the Assembly constituency:

Constituency number: 60

Total electors: 1,90,152

Male: 1,00,523

Female: 89,626

Transgender: 3

Voter turnout in previous election: 72 percent

Polling stations: 203

Major parties in the fray: BJP, AAP, Congress, BSP

Results in the last three elections: From 1995 to 2015, Krishna Nagar was a BJP bastion, with senior BJP leader Harsh Vardhan winning the seat five consecutive times. In 2008, Vardhan defeated Congress' Deepika Khullar by a slim margin of over 3000 votes. The BJP wrested the seat in the 2013 elections, with incumbent candidate Vardhan garnering more than twice the votes won by Congress' Vinod Kumar Monga. In 2015, the BJP's spell was broken when AAP's SK Bagga defeated Kiran Bedi, who was BJP's chief ministerial candidate, by a slim margin of over 2200 votes.

Assembly elections in Delhi will be held in a single phase on 8 February while results will be announced on 11 February. 1.46 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes. The term of the 70-member Delhi Assembly comes to an end on 22 February and a new House has to be constituted before that.

The election notification for the Delhi Assembly Election was issued on 14 January . The last date of nomination of candidates was January 21 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature was 24 January .

The Arvind Kejriwal led- Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power in Delhi in February 2015 sweeping 67 of the 70 Assembly seats. The BJP had won three seats while the Congress drew a blank.

The Delhi Legislative Assembly was first constituted on 7 March, 1952 under the Government of Part C States Act, 1951. The 70 constituencies are distributed across nine districts North West, North, West, Central, South West, District New Delhi, South, East, North East.
Kirubhakar Purushothaman By

Express News Service

After setting up a time for the telephonic interview and seconds before cutting the call, I ask her, Are you the one who translated the Tamil novel Zero Degree into English? She breaks into long laughter and for a moment, I can recognise Rachael teacher in that cackle. While Angulimali (Raj Kumar) had to run around beheading people to strike terror in our hearts, his school teacher Rachael, played by Pritham K Chakravarthy, evoked the same queasiness just being confined to a cell.

That sinister laughter and the perfect dialogue delivery made her stand out despite her brief screen time in the film. Pritham is a lot more than a debut film actor. The 60-year-old has had an eclectic mix of careers, and in our free-flowing chat, we trace her journey as a theatre actor, a translator, a columnist, and an acting professor.

Pritham started acting in Sabha Nadagam very young but after her political awakening during her student days in Madras Christian College, she did not want to go back to Sabha culture. Thats when she joined Gnanis drama troupe. She was with the Tamil writer/playwright for about two decades and launched her popular play, Nirvanam, back in 2001. The play, about the surgical transformation of transexual and transgender people, was selected for the Edinburgh International Festival that year. Later, she made several other acclaimed plays like Mirror, and a Mahabaratam play from the perspective of Dushala, the only sister of the Kauravas.

Then came her translator phase in 2008 with the launch of her book, The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction, Vol. 1. When asked what pulled her towards translation, Pritham candidly says, Chumma. I was doing theatre and I was at home. I know Tamil and English have read a lot. So, why not? (laughs) Also, everyone was translating authors like Sundara Ramasamy and I was like, pulp is also literature.

Talking about the importance of pulp fiction in culture, she says, If you can read Raymond Chandler and treat his work as literature, then why not extend the same recognition to our Rajesh Kumar? Chandler is as much a pulp writer as Rajesh. So too are Dan Brown or Robert Ludlum. And cinema is drawing inspiration from these pulp writers. So, I hunted down all the best works of our pulp writers, including Tamilvanan and Ramani Chandran, and translated them.

As the conversation steers towards Psycho, Pritham reveals how she met Mysskin. It was at my husband Venkatesh Chakravarthys book launch. The book, Suvadugal, is a compilation of all of his writings on cinema. We knew Mysskin through a mutual friend, and were fascinated by his love for reading and thought he would be the right person for the event. Mysskin met me for the first time in that function. Later, I got a call from him and he said I have written a role for you, Pritham.

You are coming and acting in it. If you are not doing it, I will scrap the role (laughs).Pritham, who was brought up in a convent, didnt have to go scouting around for inspiration. Her first-hand experience of religious fanaticism during her school days shaped her role. In our hostel bedroom, there used to be a painting of a big eye and below that, a line that went: God is watching you. So, we shouldnt even have bad thoughts in our dreams. It was very creepy. I used that as my starting point for shaping Rachael.

The actor also adds that Mysskin was generous enough to let her make suggestions about her character. In fact, she made a significant change to the role. Initially, Rachel is supposed to be sleeping in the chair during the sadangu sequence. I told Mysskin that Rachael has not been sleeping for the past eight years as she is waiting for her god to help her out. So, she will not sleep during the ritual as well. Mysskin told me, Do whatever you want. He liked that I read my character.

Such reading comes from her theatre background and Pritham feels the relationship between theatre and cinema should continue for the betterment of the latter. If you look at good actors in Hollywood, many continue to do theatre. Unfortunately, it is not the same with actors here anymore. Earlier, Sivaji continued to do theatre, director Balachander as well. Manohar was active in the theatre until his death.

Taking a dig at Tamil cinema, Pritham says, I find it funny when I actors say Antha role-avae maaritaen. How can someone become the role? It was Pritham who derived inspiration from that eye to create Rachael. Pritham was the one who saw the eye, not Rachael. It is my memory and the emotion that I have to give for the role.

She adds, Another problem with Tamil cinema is the under-usage of talent. A lot of potential is wasted in songs and fights, but at the end of the day, you want actors to tell your story thats where people go wrong. Not many people can write unconventional roles here. Take Asuran for example, Poomani wrote Vekkai in 1987 but it is getting filmed only now. Even then, you shift the perspective from Chidambaram to Sivasami because you need an overactive hero and action. You dont want a person with a flaw.

Pritham is currently an acting professor at Ramanaidu Film School in Hyderabad. She is quite sceptical about her prospects in Tamil cinema  I dont want to play grandma of Vijay, where I die in the third scene and he gets to avenge my death and becomes a hero. Write something creative. Hollywood is still writing roles for Meryl Streep, why cant we do the same?

As a former columnist of a popular daily, Pritham has been raising her voice against the misrepresentation of women in cinema since long, and she says the conversation hasnt moved forward till now. If you take a film like Pink, the defense lawyer, played by Amitabh Bachchan asks what she did when he forced himself on you. She whispers, No. He then turns to the judge and calls out, She said no. But it is her voice that should have been loud and clear. Do we still need a father figure to say our no?
Press Release

4 February 2020

MCLEAN, Va. - From picturesque island getaways to charming small towns, Hilton's full service Collection brands - Curio Collection by Hilton and Tapestry Collection by Hilton - opened 40 unique hotels last year in sought-after destinations. In 2020, the brands' development goals feature notable milestones, including Curio Collection's 100th hotel opening and Tapestry Collection's debut in Europe.

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"Today, Curio Collection and Tapestry Collection offer travelers distinctive experiences at more than 100 hotels worldwide - from enjoying locally sourced seafood from the surrounding ocean waters as part of the Dock to Dish program at Baker's Cay Resort Key Largo, to admiring the original chocolate factory design at The Wilbur Lititz near historic Hershey, Pennsylvania," said Jenna Hackett, global head, Hilton's Collection brands. "Hilton's Collection brands promise our guests an enriching travel experience. Through the introduction of unique hotels to our growing global portfolio, we can maintain that promise on an even greater scale with anticipated openings in destinations like Lisbon, Paris and Madrid."

In the year ahead, Curio Collection and Tapestry Collection are expected to welcome the following hotels:

Curio Collection Openings

The Emerald House Lisbon, Curio Collection by Hilton (Q3 2020) : The Emerald House Lisbon is undergoing a multi-million-dollar renovation and will be situated in the heart of Lisbon, steps away from many of Lisbon's top attractions and the historical districts of Chiado and Baixa, known for its vibrant restaurant scene, boutique shops and local culture. The hotel will boast 67 guest rooms, a fitness center, restaurant and bar for guests and local residents to enjoy.

: The Emerald House Lisbon is undergoing a multi-million-dollar renovation and will be situated in the heart of Lisbon, steps away from many of Lisbon's top attractions and the historical districts of Chiado and Baixa, known for its vibrant restaurant scene, boutique shops and local culture. The hotel will boast 67 guest rooms, a fitness center, restaurant and bar for guests and local residents to enjoy. Navy Pier Chicago, Curio Collection by Hilton (Q3 2020): As Curio Collection's second property in Chicago and the first hotel on Navy Pier, Navy Pier Chicago's 222 guest rooms will feature floor to ceiling windows that showcase breathtaking views of the city's famed skyline, Lake Michigan and the Pier. Guests will also enjoy a high-energy first floor restaurant, a state-of-the-art fitness center and an unparalleled 30,000-square-foot rooftop restaurant, bar and event space.

As Curio Collection's second property in Chicago and the first hotel on Navy Pier, Navy Pier Chicago's 222 guest rooms will feature floor to ceiling windows that showcase breathtaking views of the city's famed skyline, Lake Michigan and the Pier. Guests will also enjoy a high-energy first floor restaurant, a state-of-the-art fitness center and an unparalleled 30,000-square-foot rooftop restaurant, bar and event space. The Fellows House Cambridge, Curio Collection by Hilton(Q3 2020): The Fellows House Cambridge embraces Cambridge's heritage as home to one of the U.K.'s most prestigious universities. Everything from the hotel's interiors to its name pays tasteful tribute to the great minds who have graced the city through the centuries. Filled with poetry, scientific drawings and famous quotations, the hotel will offer guests a place to truly stay, eat and drink in the style and culture of the city.

Tapestry Collection Openings

Atocha Hotel Madrid, Tapestry Collection by Hilton (Q1 2020): The first Tapestry Collection hotel to open in Spain, Atocha Hotel Madrid will introduce the Tapestry Collection experience to Madrid locals and visitors alike. The 46-room hotel on Calle Atocha is just metres from Madrid Atocha railway station, the busiest in Spain, and is within walking distance of popular tourist attractions, including the Golden Triangle of Art museums, Puerto del Sol which contains the famous city square clock and Plaza Mayor, boasting grand Spanish architecture.

The first Tapestry Collection hotel to open in Spain, Atocha Hotel Madrid will introduce the Tapestry Collection experience to Madrid locals and visitors alike. The 46-room hotel on Calle Atocha is just metres from Madrid Atocha railway station, the busiest in Spain, and is within walking distance of popular tourist attractions, including the Golden Triangle of Art museums, Puerto del Sol which contains the famous city square clock and Plaza Mayor, boasting grand Spanish architecture. Le Belgrand Hotel Paris Champs Elysees, Tapestry Collection by Hilton (Q1 2020 ): As the first Tapestry Collection hotel in France, Le Belgrand Hotel Paris Champs Elysees is undergoing a significant renovation designed to create a unique ambience and reflect the building's heritage. Guests will enjoy a lobby/bar area and thoughtful touches throughout the property, including original artwork exclusively curated for the hotel and placed in all rooms and public areas showcasing well-known French artists.

): As the first Tapestry Collection hotel in France, Le Belgrand Hotel Paris Champs Elysees is undergoing a significant renovation designed to create a unique ambience and reflect the building's heritage. Guests will enjoy a lobby/bar area and thoughtful touches throughout the property, including original artwork exclusively curated for the hotel and placed in all rooms and public areas showcasing well-known French artists. Bermudiana Beach Resort, Tapestry Collection by Hilton(Q4 2020): Situated on a cliff overlooking the pristine pink-sand beach and turquoise waters, Bermudiana Beach Resort will welcome guests to 90 fully furnished hotel residences. As the first Hilton property in Bermuda, the resort will offer an array of vibrant amenities including a family-friendly swimming pool and infinity pool, an indulging spa, an immaculate and secluded beach in addition to a terrace with its signature restaurant, bar and ocean views.

Together, Curio Collection and Tapestry Collection have more than 120 properties in their pipelines. From urban destinations like Washington, D.C. to cultural hot spots like Taipei, both brands will continue to evolve their offerings to feature each hotel's unique identity and story, weaving in local culture and providing each guest a rich experience that is authentic to its destination.

Guests of Curio Collection and Tapestry Collection hotels have the ability to tap into Hilton Honors, the award-winning guest-loyalty program for Hilton's 18 distinct hotel brands. Members who book directly have access to instant benefits, including a flexible payment slider that allows members to choose nearly any combination of Points and money to book a stay, an exclusive member discount, free standard Wi-Fi and the Hilton Honors mobile app.

For news on Curio Collection by Hilton, visit newsroom.hilton.com/curio. For news on Tapestry Collection by Hilton, visit newsroom.hilton.com/tapestry.
Dog detectives might be able to help save ailing citrus groves, research published Monday suggests.

Scientists trained dogs to sniff out a crop disease called citrus greening that has hit orange, lemon and grapefruit orchards in Florida, California and Texas.

The dogs can detect it weeks to years before it shows up on tree leaves and roots, the researchers report.

In one experiment in a Texas grapefruit orchard, trained dogs were accurate 95 percent of the time in distinguishing between newly infected trees and healthy ones.

Dog detectives might be able to help save ailing citrus groves, research published Monday suggests. Scientists trained dogs to sniff out a crop disease called citrus greening that has hit orange, lemon and grapefruit orchards in Florida, California and Texas (pictured)

'This technology is thousands of years old - the dogs nose,' said Timothy Gottwald, a researcher with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a co-author of the study.

'Weve just trained dogs to hunt new prey: the bacteria that causes a very damaging crop disease.'

Dog sleuths are also faster, cheaper and more accurate than people collecting hundreds of leaves for lab analysis, according to the study in the Proceedings of National Academies of Sciences.

Citrus greening - also called huanglongbing - is caused by a bacteria that is spread by a tiny insect that feeds on the leaves and stems of citrus trees. Once a tree is infected, there's no cure.

The disease has also hurt citrus crops in Central and South America and Asia.

In this February 2017 photo provided by the United States Department of Agriculture, detector canine 'Szaboles' works in a citrus orchard in California searching for citrus greening disease, a bacteria that is spread by a tiny insect that feeds on citrus trees

'The earlier you detect a disease, the better chance you have at stopping an epidemic' by culling infected trees, explained Gottwald.

Matteo Garbelotto, who studies plants at the University of California, Berkeley, says the new research elevates the study of dog sleuths in orchards from anecdotal to field-tested, showing that dogs can detect an infection well before current methods.

Garbelotto has been involved in similar research but had no role in new study.

Another plant scientist, Laura Sims, of Louisiana Tech University, said she was impressed by the rigorousness of the research. She applauded the steps taken to determine if the dogs were sniffing out the bacteria itself or a plants response to an infection.

To do that, the researchers infected a variety of unrelated plants with the bacteria in a laboratory. The dogs were still able to pick out the infected plants.

'Youve seen dogs working in airports, detecting drugs and explosives,' said Gottwald.

'Maybe soon you will see them working on more farms.'
[February 04, 2020] Driving Rules Differ between Japan and Foreign Countries; JAF Releases Videos Featuring Safety Tips for Joyful Driving in Japan

TOKYO, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Japan Automobile Federation (hereinafter "JAF") announced on February 4 the launch of a dedicated webpage for video guide to driving etiquette and rules in Japan for visitors from abroad, publishing video clips on this webpage. - For safe and trouble-free driving in Japan These days, traffic violations and accidents involving overseas visitors to Japan driving rented vehicles are on the increase. To help them enjoy driving safely and without trouble in Japan, JAF has produced and published videos that outline differences in driving etiquette and rules between Japan and other countries. - Videos in Chinese to address three matters puzzling visitors from overseas

https://videos.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105454/202001316311/_prw_PM1fl_tb0z386wmp4



These short videos portray an overseas tourist going on a drive with a resident in Japan. As the tourist discovers a difference from the practice in his/her country, the resident gives an explanation. The video content is thus designed to elicit more empathy from viewers. The videos have been produced in English, and five other foreign-language versions have subtitles in French, German, Chinese, Vietnamese and Portuguese. JAF has thus offered them in a total of six languages to make the advice understandable to many foreign visitors to Japan. They address three carefully selected issues associated with the Japanese driving etiquette and rules that may be particularly puzzling to visitors from abroad. 1. Left-hand traffic

A left-hand traffic system is practiced in 70 countries and regions, and Japan is one of them.



2. Stop sign

In Japan, stop signs are a point-down triangular shape with "STOP" written in Japanese. The international standard is an octagonal sign with "STOP" written on it.



*Some Japanese stop signs have "STOP" written both in Japanese and English but the number of these signs is limited.

3. Stop before railroad crossing

Stopping before a railroad crossing is required in a very small number of countries and regions. In Japan it is required because trains run through narrow residential districts and roads. Special website "Drive safe to enjoy your stay in Japan"

https://english.jaf.or.jp/safe-driving/drive-safe-to-enjoy-your-stay-in-Japan JAF's official website: https://english.jaf.or.jp/ SOURCE Japan Automobile Federation

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We're still waiting for a full explanation about what, exactly, went wrong during Iowa's caucus Monday night, but the state's Democratic party claims a "coding issue" in a new app is the biggest reason for the delayed results. The app, which the WSJ reports was developed by the Washington, DC-based company Shadow, managed to accurately record caucus data submitted by precincts across the state. But the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) claims a programming error made the app only report partial data. The organization managed to locate and fix the error, but now it's in working on confirming the caucus results via paper records. (Update: The IDP says it plans to announce results by 5PM ET today, the Washington Post reports.)

"Because of the required paper documentation, we have been able to verify that the data recorded in the app and used to calculate State Delegate Equivalents is valid and accurate," the IDP said in a statement this morning, WeAreIowa reports. "Precinct level results are still being reported to the IDP. While our plan is to release results as soon as possible today, our ultimate goal is to ensure that the integrity and accuracy of the process continues to be upheld."

The new app was meant to be an easier way for Iowa Democrats to report caucus results, versus manually calling in data over the phone. A smartphone-based reporting method could have been particularly useful, given that the state planned to report three sets of results: the amount of votes at the beginning and end of the night, in addition to the total delegates for each candidate. But on Monday party officials also reported difficulties downloading and logging into the app. And to make things worse, some also had trouble reaching the party's headquarters by phone. The IDP's statement this morning didn't acknowledge those issues at all.

In the weeks leading up to the caucus, the IDP refused to say who developed the app and kept technical details secret. That's actually a detriment to cybersecurity, experts say, since it leaves the public in the dark about how well the app is functioning. According to the Huffington Post, the app's developer Shadow is also funded by the Democratic non-profit ACRONYM, which was quick to distance itself from the botched results this morning.

Story continues

Just in  a statement from ACRONYM.



"We, like everyone else, are eagerly awaiting more information from the Iowa Democratic Party." pic.twitter.com/cBy2ZNwsPz  Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) February 4, 2020

If anything, Monday's caucus issues should be a wake up call for political parties across the country. Cybersecurity risks are still a major concern leading up to the 2020 election, but as we saw with the IDP app, parties also need to make sure their new tech-enabled tools actually work.

Update 2/4 12:48PM: Nevada Democrats initially planned to use the app for their caucus later this month, but in a tweet this afternoon they confirmed they'll be avoiding the app and its vendor entirely.

NV Dems Statement on the Iowa Caucus: pic.twitter.com/Yyf6ArV4ie  NV Dems (@nvdems) February 4, 2020

Here's the full statement from the IDP:

Last night, more than 1,600 precinct caucuses gathered across the state of Iowa and at satellite caucuses around the world to demonstrate our shared values and goal of taking back the White House. The many volunteers running caucus sites, new voters registering as Democrats, and neighbors talking to each other about the future of our country demonstrated the strength of our party. We have every indication that our systems were secure and there was not a cyber security intrusion. In preparation for the caucuses, our systems were tested by independent cybersecurity consultants. As precinct caucus results started coming in, the IDP ran them through an accuracy and quality check. It became clear that there were inconsistencies with the reports. The underlying cause of these inconsistencies was not immediately clear, and required investigation, which took time. As this investigation unfolded, IDP staff activated pre-planned backup measures and entered data manually. This took longer than expected. As part of our investigation, we determined with certainty that the underlying data collected via the app was sound. While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data. We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed. The application's reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately. Because of the required paper documentation, we have been able to verify that the data recorded in the app and used to calculate State Delegate Equivalents is valid and accurate. Precinct level results are still being reported to the IDP. While our plan is to release results as soon as possible today, our ultimate goal is to ensure that the integrity and accuracy of the process continues to be upheld.

Update 2/4 4:00PM ET: Shadow finally responded publicly to reports about its involvement in a Twitter thread. The company says it has fixed the underlying data reporting issue, and confirmed that it didn't affect the collection process. "We take these issues very seriously, and are committed to improving and evolving to support the Democratic Party's goal of modernizing its election processes," Shadow said.
More than 370 people have complained to Ofcom over Channel 4's recent programme 'How to Steal Pigs and Influence People'.

The media watchdog, who says the controversial programme is still under investigation, has received hundreds of complaints.

The National Pig Association (NPA) submitted a formal complaint last week, saying Channel 4 could be considered complicit in the theft of pigs.

The programme, which aired on 14 January, followed activists as they trespassed onto farms and stole pigs.

In the NPAs complaint to Ofcom, policy services officer Lizzie Wilson said she found it astonishing that the programme showed activist Wesley Omar stealing five pigs on separate occasions.

The pig industry group said Channel 4 had acted incredibly irresponsibly and should therefore be held accountable

In our opinion Channel 4 could be considered complicit in the theft of those pigs; they accompanied Wesley Omar to film his illegal activity, instead of alerting police, she wrote.

The National Rural Crime Network (NRCN) asked Ofcom to look into whether the programme breached guidelines by broadcasting material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or to lead to disorder.

In her letter to Ofcom, NRCN chair Julia Mulligan said: The NPA and the four UK farming unions, including the NFU  who are NRCN members  are among those who expressed their worries to Channel 4 ahead of broadcast that the programme glamorised and condoned crime and violence in rural areas.

The broadcaster insisted the programme did not glamorise or condone illegal activity.

We do not agree. We believe the programme itself, and particularly the title and promotion ahead of broadcast, explicitly glamorises illegal activity and, therefore, we would be grateful if Ofcom would consider whether it has breached Rule 3.1 of the Broadcasting Code.

We understand that broadcasters often give titles to programmes which are intended to create debate, but we believe this goes beyond that.

The four UK farming unions issued a statement expressing deep concern about the programme and highlighting the dreadful impact these attacks have on the health and wellbeing of those farmers targeted.
I am responding to Sen.Dean Takko's critical comments regarding the lengthy review process for the proposed methanol refinery in Kalama.

Others of us applaud Gov. Jay Inslee and the Department of Ecology for protecting our environment  not only in southwest Washington, but globally as well.

And we are not alone: 11,000 scientists agreed with the findings of a Nov. 5 study in the journal BioScience warning of a "climate emergency." Among the recommendations were replacing fossil fuels with renewables, and reducing emissions such as methane.

Clearly, the decision regarding the Kalama methanol refinery will have serious and lasting impacts. The wise choice for the long term is to deny the project.

Jean M. Avery

Vancouver

Note: The BioScience report is at https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biz088/5610806.
Over the last few weeks the government has managed to revive the peace talks with the southern separatists, particularly the BRN (Barisan Revolusi Nasional). This is the oldest (founded in 1960) separatist group in the south as well as one of the largest. BRN had earlier rejected the army safety zone proposal that would have experimented with some autonomy in the south, along with a ceasefire by all concerned. The main BRN objection was the government refusal to allow foreign observers to monitor any peace agreement. BRN considers the Thai government an occupying force but the government refuses to accept that label. These attitudes are the main reasons it has been so difficult to get peace talks going at all, much less making any progress. The government openly blames disagreements among the southern separatist organizations for the difficulties in achieving a negotiated settlement. There is some truth to that but many negotiators on both sides agree that it is something of an endurance contest.

Moslem majority neighbor Malaysia has long been serving as a facilitator for the peace talks and provided a safe place to do it. The new talks were made possible by the return of elected government in Thailand and loss of enthusiasm in the south for continued separatist and Islamic terrorist violence. The violence has been going on since 2004 and left more than 7,000 dead so far. Violence has sharply declined in the last few years and the southern Moslems are eager to try some of the long offered economic development efforts.

For the first time since 2013 Thai and BRN negotiators have met face-to-face, rather than negotiate via Malaysian intermediaries. Both sides have agreed to work out a framework for negotiations to include goals both sides could agree on, either now to eventually. Meanwhile, the government has started a major economic development project in Songkhla province, which has a large Moslem minority and is just north of the three Moslem majority provinces. If the Songkhla economic effort works it will encourage the three Moslem majority provinces to try it themselves.

The Trouble From China

Thailand once had the fastest growing economy in the region and but has had one problem after another since the 2014 coup. The March 2019 elections returned democratic government, which now has to deal with a growing list of economic problems. A major source of such problems is China.

The recent outbreak of coronavirus in China halted Chinese tourist visits to Thailand at the busiest time of the year for Chinese vacationers. It may take months for the virus related panic to subside and that will cost Thailand a few percent of its usual annual tourist income. This comes at a time when the economy's rate of growth was already stalled, despite growing tourism activity and more businesses moving their operations out of China to other nations in the region, like Thailand. But Thailand is not the best destination because it has a lot of economic problems other regional states do not suffer from.

There were some record-breaking droughts in Thailand recently and there is a growing shortage of new workers. The local currency (the baht) refused to cooperate and remained stronger than it should be. The GDP growth rate for 2019 was 2.5 percent and that is now expected to be no more than 2.5 percent and possibly a lot less. In late 2018 there were forecasts for 2019 GDP growth of between three and four percent. Ever since then the forecasts have been lower and lower. Economists point out that since the military took over in 2014 the economic fundamentals have changed for the worse. China has become a major source of economic problems. Before the coronavirus, there was the continuing unrest in Hong Kong. That city is a key economic component for the regional economy and its growing problems were already contributing to the possibility of another regional or global recession. The Hong Kong stock exchange is the fifth largest in the world and Hong Kong financial services are key elements in the economic success of China and most of East Asia. For Thailand, the economic angle appears to be less of a factor than the military hoped. Add to that the regional and worldwide economic disruption of the coronavirus and Thai economists have ample reasons to be pessimistic.

Chinese tourist activity in Thailand had already become an accurate indicator of how the Chinese economy was actually doing as well as how good Thai-China relations were. In mid-2019 Chinese tourists were not visiting as much as they used to while tourist traffic from India was increasing

A year earlier, in 2018, there was a tourism-related accident in which two boats carrying 127 tourists capsized off the island resort of Phuket and left 47 Chinese tourists dead. Chinese tourists comprised a growing portion of the three million tourists who visit Phuket each year and as a result of this accident, several thousand Chinese canceled their plans to visit Phuket. The cancellations were made worse as the Thai government shifted blame to the Chinese company that operated the boats. The crews were Chinese and all but two of the tourists were Chinese. This did not play well in China. But the Chinese government noted that there was indeed a problem with Chinese establishing Thailand based businesses in the areas frequented by Chinese tourists and often breaking Chinese and Thai laws along the way. While denouncing Thailand publically the Chinese officials quietly conferred with their Thai counterparts to deal with the Chinese tourism businesses that were causing problems. This sort of thing is happening in most areas now favored by Chinese tourists. There are more of these tourists since the 1990s as millions more Chinese enter the middle class and can afford to travel abroad.

By 2017 annoying changes in the south were largely traced back to the growth in Chinese tourism. Many of the Chinese tourists are troublesome and, worse yet, on budget tours and dont spend much money. Tourism accounts for 11 percent of GDP and the big spenders tend to cause less trouble. Thus, while Chinese tourism accounts for nearly 30 percent of tourist income, it seems wise to change the visa rules to block the low budget Chinese tourists. That didnt happen but the Thais were warning the Chinese tour operators that the Chinese government was not going to protest them if their bad behavior continued. The Thais have a reputation for being tough negotiators, even with powerful nations they want to (or must) cooperate with. The Chinese, like the Americans and Japanese (especially during World War II) learned it was better to negotiate with the Thais than try to bully them.

Despite the tough Thai negotiating methods, China has since 2015 attempted to make Thailand a partner in the construction of a high-speed rail line from China to Thailand. This could more than double the number of Chinese tourists. The Chinese still did not pay attention to the Thai lack of enthusiasm for more Chinese budget tourists. The Chinese high-speed (180 kilometers an hour) rail line from southern China (Kunming) to Bangkok would cut the cost of travel (currently mainly by air) for Chinese by more than half and increase the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand by at least two million a year. China offered to supply most of the $23 billion costs and construction was expected to be completed by 2021. So far the basic terms of the deal are not yet agreed on because the Thais are still tough negotiators while the Chinese refuse to give in. The Thailand section of the high-speed railroad is part of a larger effort to build a Shanghai to Singapore high-speed rail line. With the growing Chinese economic, political and diplomatic problems, the ambitious schedule for completing the Shanghai to Singapore line is now subject to major changes and delays while more urgent economic matters are attended to.

January 22, 2020: In the south (Yala province), a local soldier was killed, while his young son was wounded, by two unidentified gunmen.

January 21, 2020: In the south (Songkhla province), the government has agreed to set up and finance (with $600 million) an SEZ (Special Economic Zone) to boost the local economy. The construction of infrastructure improvements will improve transportation and local electricity supplies. All this is expected to create at least 100,000 new jobs. Songkhla is just north of the three Moslem provinces and also borders Malaysia. Separatist and Islamic terrorist activity is rare in Songkhla province but not unknown. Only about 25 percent of the people in Songkhla are Moslems. Moreover, they speak Thai rather than Malay and have not shown any support for Moslem separatism. Despite that police have warned since 2015 that some of the Islamic terrorists to the south have discussed carrying out attacks in nearby non-Moslem majority provinces.

January 15, 2020: Thailand and Indonesia signed an intelligence-sharing agreement that covers Islamic terrorism. This will help Indonesia more than Thailand because Indonesia has more active Islamic terrorists than Thailand. Yet sharing data on citizens confirmed or suspected of Islamic terrorist activities will benefit both nations because Indonesia is not a safe place for active Islamic terrorists and when the police pressure gets too intense the Indonesian Islamic terrorists often move to a less hostile country and either continue terrorist operations or just take a break. Neighboring Malaysia also has an intel sharing arrangement with Thailand as well as more Islamic terrorist activity. But, like Indonesia, Malaysia has a track record of eventually running down active local Islamic terrorists and many of them flee to Thailand to recuperate. With these intel sharing deals, Thai security forces have a better chance of encountering, identifying and arresting foreign Islamic terrorists. These intel sharing deals also make it more difficult for these criminals to get into the country, even when using forged documents.

January 12, 2020: In the south (Narathiwat province), gunmen attacked an outpost manned by local defense volunteers. One of the defenders was killed but the others fired back and then pursued the attackers, killing one of them. Seven of the defense volunteers were wounded. Reinforcements arrived along with air support and the pursuit of the attackers continued. It was unclear if the attackers were separatists or Islamic terrorists. It the dead man can be identified that would help clarify who was responsible. Police do know of a separatist group in the area that has been active for nearly a decade and often pays locals to help with attacks.
By PTI

MUMBAI: Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor on Tuesday said he was back home after being discharged from a Delhi hospital for pneumonia.

There were reports that the 67-year-old actor, who was in the capital to attend a family function, was admitted to a hospital.

In a series of tweets, Kapoor said he had caught an infection due to "pollution" while shooting in the city.

He also thanked his well-wishers for their concern.

"Dear family, friends, foes and followers. I have been overwhelmed by all your concern about my health. Thank you.

I have been filming in Delhi past 18 days and because of the pollution and my low count of netrophils, I caught an infection whereby I had to be hospitalized," the actor wrote on the microblogging site.

Kapoor said he decided to issue a clarification as "people seem to have assumed a lot different".

The actor returned to India last September after undergoing treatment for cancer in the US for almost a year.

I was running a slight fever and on investigation,Dr.s found a patch which could have lead to pneumonia,was detected and is being cured. People seem to have assumed a lot different. I put to rest all those stories and look forward to entertain and love you. I am now in Mumbai.  Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) February 4, 2020

"I was running a slight fever and on investigation, doctors found a patch, which could have lead to pneumonia, was detected and is being cured. People seem to have assumed a lot different. I put to rest all those stories and look forward to entertain and love you. I am now in Mumbai," he continued.

Last week amid reports of hospitalisation, the actor told PTI he was being treated for an "infection".

Kapoor recently announced his next project, a remake of Hollywood film "The Intern", in which he will feature alongside Deepika Padukone.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Feb. 4

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

A presentation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project will be held as part of the Oil and Gas Turkmenistan 2020 International Roadshow scheduled for Feb. 24-25 in Dubai (UAE), Trend reports referring to the Turkmengaz State Concern.

It is planned to consider the possibilities for partnership in the implementation of the next stage of the development of the giant Galkynysh field to provide natural gas to the transnational TAPI gas pipeline and other investment projects, the report said.

As many as 200 delegates representing 80 companies and agencies from more than 20 countries have confirmed their participation in the event. On the sidelines of the roadshow, business negotiations with interested parties are envisaged.

The prospects of business partnership in a number of areas will be discussed during the event.

They include the development of deposits on licensed shelf blocks in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea, attracting investments to the introduction of new technologies that contribute to the optimization of production in mature fields, attracting investments in hard-to-develop fields, as well as gas chemical projects.

Turkmengaz, Turkmennebit (Turkmen oil) state concerns and the Turkmengeologiya (Turkmen geology) state corporation act as organizers of the roadshow with the assistance of the Turkmen Forum, and Gaffney, Cline & Associates.

The construction of the Turkmen section of the TAPI pipeline was launched in December 2015. The design capacity of the pipeline may reach 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The pipeline will pass through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar (816 kilometers), through the cities of Quetta and Multan across Pakistani territory (819 kilometers), and reach the city of Fazilka in India.

The construction of the Afghan section of the pipeline was initiated in February 2018, while the construction of the Pakistani section is planned to be launched in 2020.

The Turkmengas State Concern is the leader of the TAPI Pipeline Company Ltd. international consortium. It acts as the main financier and manager of the project. The consortium also includes Afghan Gas Corporation, Pakistans Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited Company and Indias GAIL Company.

Turkmenistan exports gas to China and Russia.
Specialist fraud gardai have arrested a man in relation to suspected mortgage fraud worth more than 4m.

Gardai have so far identified 109 suspect mortgage applications that have been submitted to a number of financial institutions.

The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau conducted searches this morning in the Rathfarnham and Templeogue areas of south Dublin and removed a large amount of documents and digital devices.

A man has been arrested for suspected conspiracy offences relating to the alleged frauds.

The operation was conducted by the bureau's Serious Economic Crime Investigation Unit.

A Garda statement said: Gardai attached to the Serious Economic Crime Investigation Unit are currently investigating a number of complaints from various financial institutions relating to fraudulent mortgage applications.

Over 109 suspect mortgage applications, with a value in excess of 4 million, have been submitted to these financial institutions.

The statement said applicants paid varying amounts of money for the creation of false documents, which were then submitted to financial institutions in order to make their applications appear more favourable to the banks.

They paid both in an upfront fee and then with an additional payment when the mortgage was secured," it said.

It said searches were carried out at premises in the Rathfarnham and Templeogue areas of Dublin.

A large quantity of documents and computers were seized during the course of these searches, it said.

It added: On the 4th of February 2020 at approximately 7am, a male was arrested at his home address in Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 on suspicion of the offence of conspiracy contrary to Section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006.

He was taken to Rathfarnham Garda Station where he was detained under the provisions of Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007.

This investigation remains ongoing, the statement said. A full file will be prepared and submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
A 33-year old woman techie allegedly stabbed her mother to death and made a murderous assault on her younger brother before fleeing their home here, police said on Tuesday.

According to police, the woman fatally stabbed her mother using a knife and attacked the brother early on Monday. The injured brother has been hospitalised here.

A search was on for the techie and the motive for her action under investigation, police said.

The woman, employed as a software engineer with a company here, earlier had told her mother and 30-year old brother that she has been transferred to Hyderabad and she may have to relocate.

The brother told police that in the early morning on Monday he saw his sister searching something desperately and offered to assist, which she refused.

However, minutes later she made a murderous assault on him, he told police, adding when he screamed for help and called his mother, his sister said she has killed their mother.

She stabbed him and attacked with an iron rod before fleeing, her brother told police.

The body of the mother was found in another room in the house.

"We are still investigating the matter. We are not clear about the motive behind the murder," a police officer told PTI adding the woman was yet to be arrested.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At long last, you don't have to be in the room where it happens.

For all those who have been unable to afford, or even find, tickets to "Hamilton," there is going to be a solution: A filmed version of the stage performance will be distributed to movie theaters late next year.

The blockbuster musical was filmed in June 2016, during one of the last weeks when the original Broadway cast was still intact. The producers, who include the show's creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, have been sitting on the film since, trying to weigh when would be the best time to release it to the public  while interest was still high but without damaging the multiple ongoing stage productions.

The decision: The Walt Disney Co. will release it on Oct. 15, 2021, a little more than six years after the show opened on Broadway.

This is not a feature film  that may yet happen  but an edited version of two performances captured live at the Richard Rodgers Theater on Broadway. The filming was directed by Thomas Kail, who also directed the stage production, and is produced by Kail; Miranda; Jeffrey Seller, the musical's lead producer; as well as Disney.

"We worked a very long time to make the very best piece of theater possible, and Tommy has translated that into an exciting film version, where you have the best seat in the house with the original cast," Miranda said in a phone interview. "The ability to democratize this is a really rare privilege."

Kail shot a Sunday matinee and a Tuesday night performance, before live audiences of regular ticket holders, and then shot close-ups and details with the cast in the empty theater between those performances. He cut the footage into a film some time ago, and said he will continue to polish it before next year's release.

 The New York Times

RPI president will learn her ancestry

RPI President Shirley Ann Jackson will be among those featured on the latest episode of "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr." Tuesday night on PBS.

In the episode, Gates traces the family trees of Francis Collins, Harold E. Varmus and Jackson  three pioneering scientists who've made dramatic contributions to our understanding of the world, all the while knowing little about their own ancestry.

The segment was filmed on the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus, according to an official.

A theoretical physicist, Jackson received her bachelor's and doctorate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jackson has led RPI since 1999. Prior to her arrival at RPI, Jackson chaired the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 1995 to 1999.

Collins was appointed as the 16th director of the National Institutes of Health by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate. In 2017, President Donald Trump said Collins would continue in his post.

Varmus received the Nobel Prize in 1989 for work on the genetic basis of cancer.

 Staff report

New audio surfaces in Depp-Heard case

Hashtags are lighting up in support of actor Johnny Depp as new abuse allegations emerged, apparently supported by a verified recording of ex-wife Amber Heard admitting she hit him.

The newly released audio seems to corroborate Depp's account of an abusive marriage perpetrated by Heard, who divorced the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star in 2016. It's a recording of a discussion they had over a fight that got physical, as USA Today reported.

"I did start a physical fight," she says at one point.

"Yeah you did. So I had to get the f--k out of there," Depp replies.

She also calls him a "baby" for saying he was punched, when she was just slapping him.

"Babe, you're not punched," Heard tells Depp. "I don't know what the motion of my actual hand was, but you're fine. I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you."

Heard says she can't promise perfection but will try.

"I can't promise you I won't get physical again," she says on the tape, according to USA Today.

This is proof that she was the abuser, Depp's lawyer told USA Today.

In March 2019, Depp filed a $50 million lawsuit against Heard, alleging that her abuse allegations were false. Her accounts have long had their detractors, under the hashtags "Justice For Johnny Depp" and even "Amber Heard Is An Abuser."

Both hashtags are exploding with the latest allegations, including a copy of the audio.

Tribune News Service
New Covid curbs in UP: Government and private employees to work at 50 per cent capacity

Night curfew in Andhra Pradesh: Know timings, guidelines, rules; What is allowed, what is not allowed

Contacts of confirmed cases don't need to get tested unless identified as high risk: Govt

Existing visas no longer valid for Chinese citizens: India amid Coronavirus scare

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Feb 04: India has cancelled all visas from China after an outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus in Hubei province that has claimed 425 lives so far.

"It is clarified that existing visas are no longer valid. Intending visitors may contact Embassy in Beijing (visa.beijing@mea.gov.in) or the Consulates in Shanghai (Ccons.shanghai@mea.gov.in) and Guangzhou (Visa.guangzhou@mea.gov.in) to apply afresh for an Indian visa," the Indian embassy in Beijing tweeted.

"All those who are already in India (with regular or e-visa) and had travelled from China after January 15 are requested to contact the hotline number of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Government of India (+91-11-23978046 and email: ncov2019@gmail.com)," the embassy tweeted.

Coronavirus: Toll rises to 425, Hong Kong reports first fatality

"Embassy and our Consulates have been receiving several queries from Chinese citizens as well as other foreign nationals, who are based out of China or visited China in the last 2 weeks, as to whether they can use their valid single/multiple entry visas to travel to India," it said.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 4th, 2020

"Indian Visa Application Centres (http://blsindia-china.com) in these cities may also be contacted in this regard. Visa Section of the Embassy/Consulates of India in China can be contacted to ascertain the validity of visa before undertaking any visit to India," the embassy tweeted.

As of Tuesday, 425 people have died due to the outbreak and around 20,000 people tested positive for the virus infection in China.
The Supreme Court Tuesday said the issue related to implementation of its 2018 verdict allowing live streaming of court proceedings of cases of constitutional and national importance would be dealt with by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) on the administrative side.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said it would not pass any judicial order in the matter and it would be appropriate for the CJI to deal with the matter as the administrative head.

Attorney General K K Venugopal told the bench that the apex court has already started the process of installing infrastructure for live-streaming of court proceedings.

"There cannot be any command to the administrative side of the Supreme Court. The CJI has to take a call on the administrative side on this issue," said the bench, also comprising Justices Vineet Saran and M R Shah.

"Can we issue a command to the parliament to frame this or that law? Let the matter be examined on the administrative side by the CJI," the bench said, adding that there can not be any judicial command on this and the Secretary General of the apex court would place the matter before the CJI.

Additional Solicitor General Madhavi Divan, appearing for the Secretary General of the apex court, informed the bench that the process of implementing the 2018 verdict has already started.

The bench was hearing an application filed by senior advocate Indira Jaising who has sought implementation of the 2018 verdict.

The top court had on September 26, 2018 delivered a verdict allowing the live-streaming of court proceedings of cases of constitutional and national importance, saying this openness would be like "sunlight" which is the "best disinfectant".

It said that as a pilot project, only a specified category of cases, which are of constitutional or national importance and are being argued before a constitution bench, should be allowed for live-streaming.

During the arguments on Tuesday, Jaising told the bench that broad guidelines for implementing the directives were set out in the verdict itself.

"Should it be by a judicial order or should we not leave it to the discretion of the Chief Justice of India? Let the CJI take a call on this on the administrative side," the bench said.

Jaising told the bench that she had written to the Secretary General of the apex court to know about the progress made in pursuance to the directives given in the verdict.

Referring to the verdict, she contended that the top court had said that live streaming of court proceedings is part of the right to access of justice.

"Where is the room for us to direct any further on this now?," the bench said, adding, "For this, we will have to experiment (pilot project) first".

When the bench said that it would not give any judicial command on the issue, the Attorney General said, "Then the full court should decide this. You can ask the full court to take it up".

To this, the bench said, "Can we direct this? The CJI can take a call on this. He (CJI) is the administrative head".

"It will be better if CJI will take a call on this. It is not appropriate for us to issue command on judicial side," the bench said.

The apex court had said in the 2018 verdict that sensitive cases such as those of matrimonial disputes or sexual assaults should not be live-streamed.

It said that for live-streaming of proceedings, the permission of concerned court will have to be sought in writing, in advance, in conformity with the prescribed procedure.

It further said, "The concerned court would retain its power to revoke the permission at any stage of the proceedings suo motu (on its own) or on an application filed by any party to the proceeding, if the situation so warrants."



It also said that till a full-fledged module and mechanism for live-streaming of the court proceedings of the apex court over the internet is evolved, the first phase of live streaming would start from designated areas in the top court.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Ukrainian television channel, TSN, aired an audio file of a conversation between the control tower at Tehran airport and an Aseman Airlines co-pilot who was landing his plane. In it, the co-pilot reports seeing two missiles fired at the Ukrainian flight and the control tower tries to contact the Ukrainian pilots nine times

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed this audio recordings authenticity and said that Iranian officials had access to it from the start, so clearly knew the cause of the crash.

This is true. Are we supposed to believe that the control tower didnt notify the regimes Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) or that the CAO didnt notify President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei? That would be ridiculous.

But yet, the regime spent three days blaming a fictitious mechanical problem, before eventually revealing that they were at fault after the US presented other evidence.

Then, on January 11, when the regime made its admission, Rouhanis spokesman Ali Rabiee claimed that the regime did not know the cause of the crash until the day before, while IRGC Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh claimed that officials knew immediately. Even in their cover-up, the regime cant decide on a single narrative; perhaps they just want to confuse the rest of us until the truth stops having meaning.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) wrote in a statement: Khamenei and Rouhani, therefore, directed an extensive cover-up to conceal, lie, and mislead the public and the international community at all levels of the regime with the complicity of all its factions. The IRGC general, the Civil Aviation Chief, the Minister of Roads and Urban Development, and Rouhanis spokesman claimed one after the other on January 8, 9, and 10, that the crash had been due to a mechanical failure. Nearly a month later the regime continues to stall and lie, and refuses to hand over the planes black boxes to relevant authorities in a bid to prevent the disclosure of the truth about this major crime.

It should be noted that Zelensky once again demanded that Iran send the flights black box recorders to Ukraine for a full and proper investigation.

NCRI President Maryam Rajavi said the incident was a major crime that Iranians would neither forgive or forget. She called for Khamenei, Rouhani, and the IRGC commanders to be prosecuted and punished.
Pharmacists say customers are bulk-buying P2 masks, shipping them to relatives in China and reselling them online at inflated prices, prompting federal health authorities to ask them to limit sales and keep masks on hand in case the deadly coronavirus spreads.

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia president Chris Freeman said pharmacists should avoid "short term profiteering" when dealing with "a long term health risk", saying members should think carefully about how many masks they were selling, and to whom.

Health authorities are asking pharmacists to limit sales of P2 masks to ensure they have enough in reserve. Credit:Getty

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy has asked the Pharmacy Guild, which represents 5723 pharmacy owners, and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia - representing employed pharmacists - to advise members to keep a sufficient stock of masks in reserve.

Pharmacy Guild president George Tambassis said pharmacists should be free to decide when to sell the masks and what, if any, limits to impose - but should inform customers that masks are only recommended for people with flu-like symptoms or who recently travelled to affected areas in China.
As he steps out of his car on the rooftop parking at Irish Examiner headquarters, with dusk falling, Leo Varadkar stops to observe the landscape of Cork City.

He takes a minute to gather himself. He appears tired and troubled.

Munster was an unhappy hunting ground for Fine Gael in the 2016 election, losing 15 seats, and General Election 2020 has not gone to plan for his party.

Handed a strong cup of coffee by his aide, the Taoiseach finally approaches us to say his hellos. Shy and reserved, it is an awkward enough interaction as we greet each other, despite having known each other since 2007.

Once the formalities are out of the way, the Fine Gael leader and I sit down in an expansive office away from prying eyes and ears and begin the interview he has come to give.

He cannot but admit the campaign has been very difficult for him and his party.

I would say that, certainly, we feel that the first week of the campaign was very difficult, he concedes.

It was very much a focus on all the many real problems that the country has, like health and housing, but lots of other ones.

Bertie Ahern actually said it to me, he said, you know, dont pay too much attention to opinion polls, because when the election is called, public opinion resets. And it can reset in your favour.

It can reset against you. As it happened, public opinion reset against us at the start of this campaign or just before it. I think that probably would have happened anyway, even if the election had been called in November.

He admits the best time for Fine Gael to have had the election was back before October 2018, when he and his party were polling well ahead of Fianna Fail.

I think the best time for Fine Gael in terms of calling the general election would have been a long time ago, 2018, he says. The nature of politics, particularly when youre a new Taoiseach and youre part of a new Government, is you have a honeymoon period and youre doing well in the polls.

Mr Varadkar makes it clear that when he called the election last month, it was a time not fully of his choosing.

But I decided early on that wasnt going to be the reason why the Dail would end, he says. And I feel that I put the country first by making sure that we didnt head into an election until we had a Brexit withdrawal agreement over the line and also the Northern Ireland institutions up and running. Would a summer election have been nicer? Of course it would. That is not what politics should be about.

Translating that negative mood toward his party to local matters, I ask him about Colm Burkes chances of winning a seat in Cork North Central in the wake of former minister Dara Murphys resignation, first revealed by the Irish Examiner.

He says while he thinks Mr Burke will win a seat, it would be unjust if he lost out as a result of the Murphy controversy.

Im confident that we will take a seat in Cork North Central, he says. You know, wed over 20% of the vote in the by-election. Yeah, thats not that long ago. And thats more than a quota.

But I do think the controversy around Dara Murphy has made things more difficult for Colm and also for Lorraine ONeill [Fine Gaels other candidate in the constituency]. And I think thats really, really unfair in many ways, because theres actually nobody who is more diligent, hard-working, head-down that Colm Burke. He really is a grafter.

Asked about Mr Burkes poor election track record, Mr Varadkar says: I think this time might be his time. But it would be a real shame, I think, if somebody who is a total grafter and so committed to, you know, the everyday work of politics, to individual queries, to local issues, you know, was the one who ended up being damaged because of somebody elses actions.

That would be a real shame. It would be unjust actually.

But all the promises being made by Mr Varadkar, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, and Tanaiste Simon Coveney are undermined by the failure to deliver many of them on time.

Just reference the National Childrens Hospital, broadband, and locally the M20 motorway, the event centre in Cork, and Dunkettle interchange upgrade. Such delays have annoyed the hell out of people.

Leo Varadkar was given a Brigids cross by Gillian Murphy while canvassing in Kinsale on St. Brigids Day. Picture. John Allen

Its annoyed everyone, including me, and Dunkettle is going ahead and works are under way at the moment and well go to tender and that job will be done, says Mr Varadkar.

It needs to be done. Its absolutely frustrating for everyone, and not just in Cork, but in the Department of Transport as well, and in Transport Infrastructure Ireland, that the tender came in at such a high cost. The decision was made by TII; the right thing to do was to re-tender it. Itll come in at a lower cost and we can go ahead with it.

He pays tribute to Mr Coveney for making sure the event centre was saved.

I have to really compliment the Tanaiste for grabbing the event centre project by the scruff of its neck and saving it and coming to me, to Eoghan Murphy, to Paschal, to say that this has to happen, says Mr Varadkar.

Cork needs this done and it will be transformative for the city.

We took the decision to provide additional money; we took the decision to move it, essentially from arts to urban development. Now we just need to get through the planning.

I put it to him that one minister told me recently that the best work he and Mr Coveney ever did was convincing everyone that they get on.

With a smile, he replies: We actually do get on. We always did. You know, were a similar age, we are of a like mind on almost all kind of political issues, in terms of policy party issues. Weve been in Government together since 2011.

Like, the only time that our relationship would have been a little bit strained was obviously in the run-up to the leadership change and maybe the first couple of weeks after. Thats to be expected.

Does he regret not appointing Mr Coveney as his Tanaiste at the outset?

His answer is intriguing.

I dont, because I gave Frances [Fitzgerald] my word. She was the sitting Tanaiste. She said that she would support me. It wasnt a trade-off as such, but when the sitting [Tanaiste] backs you... I gave her my word that I would reappoint her.

He goes on to say that the relationship is better given he is from Dublin and Coveney is from Cork.

Leo Varadkar and Christoper OSullivan, Cork County Mayor and Fianna Fail candidate whose paths crossed while canvassing with Senator Tim Lombard in Kinsale on Saturday listen to the concerns of a constituent. Picture. John Allen

But, notwithstanding the very unfair way in which Frances Fitzgerald was removed from office  which Ill never forgive Micheal Martin for, quite frankly, because it was terrible what was done to her  I think it has worked out well for the Government of the country.

Its better to have, I think, Taoiseach and Tanaiste coming from different parts of the country. And I think that he has really shone in his role on Brexit and in Northern Ireland.

I conclude by asking what his biggest regret has been since becoming Taoiseach. He pauses and is unable to answer.

Time is called and he is off again. A man with troubles on his shoulders.
A student with a bloodied hand is lifted over the police barricades after the gunman fires  barricades which have not been lowered for an ambulance to pass through, or even parted to allow the wounded student to reach the ambulance.

A gunman walks towards a group of unarmed protesters, as police look on from before and behind barricades.

The photograph has the potential to represent the nation as it is in 2020.

Much has been made of the fact that it happened on the seventy-second anniversary of the assassination of the man we call the Mahatma, and occurred as the protesters were heading for Rajghat.

The gun-wielding man claims to be a boy. The first-year student whom he wounded was a peaceful protester.

The gunmans actions rendered the protest violent for several hours, with people pushing down barricades and clashing with the police.

It may have happened on the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhis assassination.

But this incident is hugely different  not only because no one was killed, not only because no great leader was targeted.

It is different because of the climate in which we live.

Back then, the country went into mourning.

We have reason to go into mourning now, when we see that tens of armed policemen could not protect  or did not protect  students from a gunman, and that their excuse is that it all happened too fast.

For the less dramatic of us, who are not inclined to mourn the inefficiency of an arm of the legislature, perhaps shock and horror are not entirely a stretch.

However, it appears large sections of the country are celebrating.

Screenshots from the gunmans now-deleted Facebook profile are going viral, with all the venom he spewed on social media receiving validation from others of a similar bent.

His old school mark sheet is doing the rounds too, in what may be an attempt to prove that he is indeed a juvenile  and also, unlike several of his idols, not shy of revealing his public examination scores to the world.

Even after the bloodiness of Partition, even after years of communal mistrust and hatred, no central minister in the 1940s ever urged people to shoot down traitors.

Days before the gunman fired at the students, Anurag Thakur did mention the phrase goli maaro as he campaigned in Delhi.

Also days before the incident, the Republic Day parade at Rajpath in Delhi had for its chief guest Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro, who assumed office in January last year, would find much sympathy with the Twitter trolls here. He shares many of their passions and pet peeves.

He is a vocal opponent of secularism, LGBT rights, abortion, and affirmative action, among other things that are anathema to them. He is a votary of national conservatism, supports deforestation in favour of development, and has expressed his admiration for the genocide in Chile under the watch of dictator Augusto Pinochet.

During the 1990s, he often expressed distaste for the democratically-elected government of his country and praised the military dictatorship which had ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985.

In photographs, he looks happiest posing with Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Benjamin Netanyahu. This is the august company in which the current Indian leadership will find themselves in his office.

Perhaps we should look at the signals it sends out when such a man is invited to the event which celebrates the day India declared itself a republic.

In 2009, Feroze Varun Gandhi became infamous for allegedly saying he would cut off the hands of anyone who dared attack a Hindu, and was jailed for it; in his defence in court, he said the tape had been doctored and that he had not made such a statement.

Eleven years on, and after the youngest Gandhi has either been sidelined or chosen to distance himself from his party or both, it is rather hard to imagine that a Member of Parliament who spoke of cutting off limbs would become infamous rather than popular. It is almost impossible to imagine the person being arrested, let alone defending himself with the argument that he didnt speak the words the court heard.

We live in a climate in which airlines will bend their own rules and the rules of the land to put a man on the no-fly list for doing unto a BJP ally what he has very often had his subordinates do unto others.

More Columns by Nandini Krishnan:



Nobel for economist, tailspin for economy



Why the Diaspora has so much love to give



Hindi debate: We are all obsessed with homogeneity



We are choking the earth



When Kamal Haasan endorsed harassment



The Dalai Lama and the death of humour



The delusionary Indian intellectual



India's culture of worship has to end









Nandini is the author of Invisible Men: Inside India's Transmasculine Networks (2018) and Hitched: The Modern Woman and Arranged Marriage (2013). She tweets @k_nandini. Her website is: www.nandinikrishnan.com
'The lessons from tiny New Zealand about mobilising to prevent an environment going up in flames around us and combatting the feral Whatsapp politics of hatred are in many ways Gandhian,' says Rahul Jacob.

IMAGE: New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, centre, flanked by Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, left, and Prime Minister Damodardas Narendra Modi at the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership summit in Bangkok, November 4, 2019. Photograph: Athit Perawongmethamage/Reuters

After a white supremacist went on a shooting rampage in two Christchurch mosques last March that resulted in the death of more than 50 people, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern led from the front with compassion rather than hot-headed rhetoric.

She visited mosques of course, but also pushed through a law disallowing the ownership of military assault weapons within a week of the attack.

The contrast with the US on this issue was stark. Ardern famously refused to refer to the terrorist by name, arguing that he desired notoriety.

'I implore you: speak the names of those who were lost, rather than the name of the man who took them,' she said in a speech that was Shakespearean in its use of language as it was statesman-like.

As majoritarian populism takes an enormous toll on the pillars of democracy everywhere, from Donald J Trump's America to Boris Johnson's Britain to Narendra Damodardas Modi's India, tiny New Zealand (population: 4.7 million) is an unlikely role model.

It has problems, of course; housing prices have spiralled out of the reach of many. In a country much visited for its idyllic countryside, rural suicides are growing in the high teens.

Yet, from climate change to dealing humanely with immigrants, New Zealand lives on the seismic faultlines of our zeitgeist.

It is fashioning responses that do not evoke the anxiety attack that the once futuristic, even auspicious, year of 2020 has prompted from Washington DC to New Delhi.

In our global dystopia, a country whose politics do not evoke unbridled pessimism seems a hopeful place.

In neighbouring Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a staunch denialist of climate change, bumbled through the crisis of bush fires that claimed the lives of one billion native animals and more than 20 people.

IMAGE: New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at a press conference in Wellington. Photograph:Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

One example of the Kiwi focus on the environment is the request to clean the soles of one's shoes as you walk on paths in reserves in order to save the magnificent kauri tree which risks extinction from dieback disease.

On a mostly deserted beach on Barrier Island that looked an idealised, photoshopped vision of a perfect beach, my host fretted that some young men horsing around were running too close to a cluster of birds that are endangered; the fright could cause permanent stress.

The battle to preserve our environment, notably absent in the public consciousness in India on issues such as conserving water, is as urgent as the challenge of democracies managing diverse cultures.

New Zealand is grappling with high net inflows of migrants of 1.5% of the population annually, whereas most countries track well below 1%.

Every other Uber driver was from India and came to the country on a student visa, many studying at obscure technical institutes where diplomas became a track to citizenship.

New Zealand's population will pass 5 million this year, a jump that has taken 14 years rather than the 30 years that increasing from 3 million in 1976 to 4 million in 2006 did.

Inevitably, there is a debate starting on the levels of immigration, but little of the harsh rhetoric that one has heard against immigrants's from India's government over the past several months.

While Australia herds illegal immigrants on a harsh, sweltering island that is expected to act as a deterrent to others, New Zealand has offered to give them shelter.

The articulate cab driver taking me to Sydney airport Sunday said while Aussies had patronisingly regarded New Zealand as a kid brother, nowadays it seemed the other way round.

New Zealand is also richly bicultural in respecting its original Maori inhabitants and Maori heritage in ways that, for example, the US and Australia fall short.

I was at the gay wedding of a Kiwi friend where the wedding dinner abounded with moments made more beautiful -- the presentation of a feathered cape to a son getting married by his mother -- because they were distinctively Maori.

Watching the funeral of a Kiwi friend's father a few years ago, I was struck by how many eulogies were in Maori.

Part of the country's charm is how laidback it remains.

A mecca of fitness for fitness lovers worldwide is Les Mills, founded in Auckland, now a global group fitness phenomenon unlike any other with its patented high-intensity classes taught in 16,000 gyms worldwide.

Last month, an exercise class was a minute from starting when the owner of the company, Phillip Mills, gave up his spinn bike to a member who had just walked into the full class.

I tried to imagine this happening in India, but couldn't. I have not only worked for a diverse Kiwi macroeconomic research firm, but am such a sycophant of Les Mills Kiwi instructors in Hong Kong that I retain a gym membership in a city I left six months ago.

But the lessons from tiny New Zealand about mobilising to prevent an environment going up in flames around us and combatting the feral Whatsapp politics of hatred are in many ways Gandhian -- and global.

We should all sign up.
He celebrated his first birthday without wife Beth by his side on Sunday.

And on Monday, Duane 'Dog The Bounty Hunter' Chapman, who turned 67 on February 2, was seen running some errands by himself in Denver, Colorado.

Hours earlier, he'd posted a sweet photo to Instagram of himself and his late wife sharing a kiss, writing: 'I sure miss you today !!'

Solo outing: He celebrated his first birthday without wife Beth by his side on Sunday. And on Monday, Duane Chapman was seen running some errands by himself in Denver, Colorado

Grief: Chapman, better known as Dog The Bounty Hunter, turned 67 on February 2 and posted a photo to Instagram of himself and Beth sharing a kiss, writing: 'I sure miss you today !!'

Chapman braved the wintry weather in just a plaid shirt and black trousers tucked into lace-up black boots.

His long platinum dyed hair was loose and he wore sunglasses despite the cloudy skies.

Beth, his fourth wife, passed away from cancer last June.

Cold: Chapman braved the wintry weather in a plaid shirt and black trousers tucked into lace-up black boots. His platinum hair was loose and he wore sunglasses despite the cloudy skies

Mourning her: Beth, his fourth wife, passed away from cancer last June

Monday's sighting of Chapman came as it was revealed that his shocking proposal to his late wife's friend and his son's ex-girlfriend Moon Angell was just a stunt.

Last week, a teaser clip for The Dr. Oz Show seemingly showed him popping the question to Angell, with sources telling TMZ that at the time of the taping, the proposal appeared to be sincere.

However, the full episode of the daytime medical talk series that aired on Fox Monday showed that the whole thing was a stunt meant to prove to fans that the pair are no more than 'friends.'

During the episode, the reality star revealed to Dr. Oz that he was suicidal following Beth's death in June and he credited Angell for helping him find the will to live.

Fake: Monday's sighting of Chapman came as it was revealed that his shocking proposal to his late wife's friend and his son's ex-girlfriend Moon Angell was just a TV stunt

For her part, Angell said their platonic relationship would remain that way despite the flurry of rumors and anger about their companionship from Dog's own daughter.

'I think he's an amazing human being, but I've known him before he was famous,' she said of Chapman. 'To me, he will always be my best friend. I don't see myself thinking past that.'

'Beth was my best friend. Duane is my best friend. I'm not crossing that line,' she added.

Chapman has 12 children from his four marriages, including three with Beth, and they were said to be shocked over his supposed proposal.

Platonic: On an episode of The Dr. Oz Show, it was revealed that Chapman's proposal shown in a teaser clip was simply meant to prove to fans he and Angell are just 'friends'

His 32-year-old daughter Lyssa Chapman hit out at Moon Angell, because she reportedly romanced Lyssa's brother before she struck up a relationship with Dog.

Taking to her social networking sites, Lyssa wrote: 'If someone who met your family by dating your brother, tried to date your father after your step- mom died what would you do?

'If you went to your mothers closet and saw she moved all her clothes and replaced them with her own, what would you do? #ItsNotWhenOrWhyItsWho.'

According to TMZ, Angell had promised Beth to look after Dog following her death.

However, sources close to the Bounty Hunter star insist he has no intention of replacing Beth while leaning on Angell for support.
From trying out adventure sports, strolling along the streets of a new place, or immersing yourselves in the culture and history of a gorgeous place; there is so much you can do with your partner. Below listed are some great travel destinations for couples to travel this Valentine's day 2020. And make sure you inform your better half, book your tickets, pack your bags and get along on another journey of surprises and adventure together.

Paris

It seems that when it comes to romance, the old favourites are still the best. Paris is the most romantic city in the world. The French City of Love is an ideal destination for couples looking to romance in a beautiful city. You and your partner could cruise down with a romantic dinner, or go up the Eiffel tower, or simply take a long walk in the city.

Cyprus

Cyprus is known for its fascinating history of archaeological sites making it the ideal destination for nature lovers and history buffs alike. Explore the ancient castles, marvel at the beauty of the waterfalls and get the chance to see exciting sea caves no matter what time of the year it is.

Also read | Ranveer Singh And Other B'town Celebs To Take Valentine's Day Outfit Inspiration From

Maldives

The Maldives is known for its crystal-clear waters and tropical climate. The place is an ideal destination for couples looking to spend a relaxing Valentines weekend amidst perfect beaches and turquoise lagoons. With minimal chances of rainfall in February, Maldives offer a wealth of activities for all tastes, ranging from snorkelling and scuba-diving to swimming, surfing, and sunbathing.

Also read | Valentines Day Makeup Looks You Can Try To Impress Your Date

Georgia

Explore the Georgian Capital, Tbilisi to admire the citys iconic landmarks. Make sure to walk down Rustaveli Avenue and explore the beautiful architecture of the Opera House and the Rustaveli Theatre. Georgias climate is quite diverse, with the Caucasus mountains and the Black Sea both playing a part in the differing weather conditions.

Also read | Valentines Day Traditions: Unique Practices& Celebrations From Countries Around The World

Also read | Nail Trends 2020: Check Out These Amazing Nail Trends Ideal For Valentine's Day

Image courtesy: Canva
BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday urged relevant countries to view the novel coronavirus epidemic rationally and calmly and form science-based and measured responses.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks when asked to comment on the situation that certain countries have successively announced restrictions on the entry of Chinese citizens. Among them, the United States has raised its travel advisory for China to the highest level and has temporarily banned all foreigners who have traveled to China in the past 14 days from Feb. 2.

Acting with a high sense of responsibility to people's health, the Chinese government has taken the most comprehensive and strict prevention and control measures after the outbreak of the epidemic, many of which have far exceeded what International Health Regulations required, said Hua.

Hua quoted the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as saying, China is setting a new standard for outbreak response. In the same speech, he said explicitly that declaring a public health emergency of international concern is not a vote of no confidence in China. On the contrary, the WHO continues to have confidence in China's capacity to control the outbreak. There is no reason to take unnecessary measures restricting international travel and trade.

Noting most countries appreciate and support China's efforts to fight the novel coronavirus, Hua said China understands and respects them when they adopt or enhance quarantine measures at border entries. "But in the meantime, some countries, in particular the United States, have inappropriately overreacted, which certainly runs counter to WHO advice."

"The U.S. government hasn't provided any substantial assistance to us, but it was the first to evacuate personnel from its consulate in Wuhan, the first to suggest partial withdrawal of its embassy staff, and the first to impose a comprehensive travel ban on Chinese travelers. (The U.S. actions) could only create and spread fear, setting a bad example for others," said the spokesperson.

Hua said even U.S. media and experts doubted the government's decision. They said that the U.S. government's restrictions on China are precisely what the WHO rejects, that the United States is turning from overconfidence to fear and overreaction, and that banning the entry of foreigners who traveled to China in the past 14 days is suspected of infringing on civil rights rather than reducing risks of virus spreading, according to Hua.

Hua cited a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as saying that the flu from 2019-2020 season has caused 19 million infection cases and at least 10,000 deaths in the United States. By contrast, by Feb. 2, 17,205 cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection had been confirmed in China with 361 deaths, and 475 patients had been cured, while there are only 11 confirmed cases in the United States.

"The contrast is thought-provoking," Hua said.

She pointed out that the Canadian minister of health said Canada would not follow the U.S. to impose travel restrictions on Chinese or foreign nationals who had been to China, which was baseless. "It is a sharp contrast to the U.S. behaviors," Hua said.

Noting that the destinies of all countries are closely linked in a globalized world, Hua said in the face of a public health crisis, countries should work together to overcome the difficulties, rather than resort to beggar-thy-neighbor practice, let alone take advantage of others' difficulties.

According to Hua, since Jan. 3, the Chinese side has notified the United States of the epidemic and China's control measures altogether 30 times. Chinese Center for Disaster Control and Prevention and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held many rounds of communications on the outbreak. On Jan. 29, China's National Health Commission (NHC) replied through an official channel to the U.S. side that China welcomes it to join a WHO joint expert group. The United States thanked China for this on the same day. On Jan. 31, the United States told NHC that it had contacted WHO headquarters and submitted a list of U.S. experts wishing to join the group.

"We hope relevant countries will make reasonable, calm and fact-based judgments and responses," said the spokesperson, adding that China will enhance cooperation with the WHO and the international community in an open, transparent and highly responsible manner.

"We have the confidence and capability to win this battle as soon as possible," she said.
CIO Knowledge Club in Bahrain held a meeting, discussed the best applications of artificial intelligence in the framework of the national plan for the transition towards digital economy in Bahrain.

Ahmed Al-Hujairi, The CEO Gulf Future Business "GFB" said that Bahrain has a great opportunity to take advantage from the applications of artificial intelligence in the fields of education, health, trade, industry and others, in public and private sector, using this technology to provide more quality and less expense services and products. This contributes to the acceleration of development rates.

AL-Hujairi pointed out in a presentation during the meeting the strides made by countries in the region by establishing an integrated system of artificial intelligence including colleges, institutes, business accelerators and incubators, laboratories, and others.

Accelerating the benefit from artificial intelligence applications in Bahrain enhances the Kingdom's competitiveness regionally. Al hujairi said. Artificial intelligence is one of the main pillars in the current work to develop an integrated Bahraini national digital economy plan, he added.

ICT companies are the main responsible parties to bring and resettle modern technologies and present them to other businesses and are ready to take our responsibility in participation in the national plan for digital transformation in Bahrain, Al-Hujairi confirmed.

Al-Hujairi also stressed the importance of training and qualifying Bahraini cadres in the field of artificial intelligence. Hi stressed the importance of training and qualifying Bahraini cadres in the field of artificial intelligence as a basic pillar in the digital transformation in Bahrain.-- Tradearabia News Service
DES MOINES, Iowa  Sean Bagniewski had seen the problems coming.

It wasnt so much that the new app that the Iowa Democratic Party had planned to use to report its caucus results didnt work. It was that people were struggling to even log in or download it in the first place. After all, there had never been any app-specific training for his many precinct chairs.

So last Thursday Bagniewski, chairman of the Democratic Party in Polk County, Iowas most populous, decided to scrap the app entirely, instructing his precinct chairs to simply call in the caucus results as they had always done.

The only problem was, when the time came during Mondays caucuses, those precinct chairs could not connect with party leaders via phone. Bagniewski instructed his executive director to take pictures of the results with her smartphone and drive over to the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters to deliver them in person. She was turned away without explanation, he said.

I dont even know if they know what they dont know, Bagniewski said of the state party shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday.

It was a surreal opening act for the 2020 campaign that included unexplained inconsistencies in results that were not released to the public, heated conference calls with campaigns that were hung up on by the state party, firm denials of any kind of hacking and a presidential primary left in a strange state of almost suspended animation.

A systemwide disaster, said Derek Eadon, a former Iowa Democratic Party chairman.

Amid the chaos and confusion, there were conflicting candidate speeches declaring various degrees of victory, as Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign released its own set of favorable partial results, and multiple campaigns hoped that the mess would not lessen the eventual impact of what they said appeared to be a disappointing first test for former Vice President Joe Biden.

Any campaign saying they won or putting out incomplete numbers is contributing to the chaos and misinformation, Joe Rospars, the chief strategist for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, scolded on Twitter. Two tweets and one minute earlier, he had written, Its a very close race among the top three candidates (Warren, Sanders, Buttigieg) and Biden came a distant fourth.

With no actual results, the only clear loser was Iowa and its increasingly precarious caucuses. For the third consecutive presidential cycle, the results here are riddled with questions, if not doubt. First it was the Republicans, when Mitt Romney was initially declared the winner in 2008 before that was later reversed, and then the Democrats suffered when a virtual tie between Hillary Clinton and Sanders in 2016 set off a number of rule changes that culminated in the 2020 debacle.

The evening had begun well enough. Iowa Democrats said turnout was strong and the caucuses themselves  held across more than 1,600 precincts from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River  had mostly proceeded smoothly. For the first time, there would be not just one result recorded but three: the initial alignment of caucusgoers, the realignment of those who were with candidates below 15% support, and then the final delegates won at each site.

The added detail was the result of complaints from four years ago about the opaqueness of Sanders narrow loss in the Iowa delegate chase to Clinton.

Some precinct leaders said they had filed their results Monday with little struggle. Jerry Depew, the county chair in rural Pocahontas, said he had called in his results after a five-minute hold, at 8:05 p.m.

But soon the party phone lines were completely jammed.

The app wasnt included in the chair training that everyone was required to take, said Zach Simonson, the Democratic Party chair in Wapello County.

When you have an app that youre sending out to 1,700 people and many of them might be newer to apps and that kind of stuff, it might have been worth doing a couple months worth of testing, said Bagniewski, the Polk County chairman.

Unlike a primary run by the state government, caucuses are party affairs and they are powered by the dedication of a small army of volunteers in every city, town and hamlet of a state.

Simonson said that he had spent nearly three hours trying to report results Monday. At one point, he received one call from a state party official who was in a very loud room and screamed at me about wanting a precinct ID number but couldnt hear my reply over the din in the room.

More for you Mishap with Iowa caucus voting sparks bevy of hilarious memes

While I was talking to him, Simonson said in an email, my call on the other line, holding for 90 minutes, was answered and hung up.

Depew, who had filed shortly after 8 p.m., said he had received a call from the state party almost three hours later asking for the results he had long since filed. I said, I already reported nearly three hours ago. She took my word for it and moved on without explaining the apparent snafus, he said.

But those delays and confusion did not explain why the state party had released zero results  including from the precincts that had successfully filed their results either via phone or the app. The party said at first that it was conducting quality control efforts.

At 10:26 p.m., the Iowa Democratic Party issued a longer statement.

We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results, it said. This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.

Around that time, the state party tried to brief the campaigns in a phone call. It did not go well. Party officials mostly reiterated their public statements: that the delays were related to issuing three numbers per precinct for the first time. Party officials hung up after being pressed for more by the campaigns, according to two people on the call.

Soon after, the Biden campaign sent a sharply worded letter to the state party that said acute failures are occurring statewide.

The app that was intended to relay caucus results to the party failed; the partys backup telephonic reporting system likewise has failed, wrote Bidens general counsel, Dana Remus. Now, we understand that caucus chairs are attempting to  and, in many cases, failing to  report results telephonically to the party.

The campaign asked to see the methods of quality control being used by the party and requested an opportunity to respond, before any official results are released.

Even before Monday, there were other concerns with the app itself, which was developed by a private firm called Shadow. Cybersecurity experts worried that it had not been vetted, tested at scale, or even shown to independent experts before being introduced in Iowa.

Christopher C. Krebs, the director of the Homeland Security Departments cybersecurity agency, said late Monday that the mobile app had not been vetted or evaluated by the agency.

The candidates decided not to wait for any results, one by one giving variations of a victory speech, beginning with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, though none were quite as bold in their proclamations of success as Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

Tonight, an improbable hope became an undeniable reality, Buttigieg declared, as a campaign spokesman spent the evening posting screen shots of precincts where the candidate had won.

The Sanders campaign was then even bolder, releasing shortly after midnight a set of internal caucus numbers that it said accounted for 40% of the states precincts.

We believe firmly that our supporters worked too hard for too long to have the results of that work delayed, wrote Jeff Weaver, a senior Sanders adviser.

At 1 a.m., the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, Troy Price, arranged a call with the news media, though he took no questions. Price issued a statement saying that he planned to release the results later Tuesday and that the delay was because the integrity of our process and the results have and always will be our top priority.

He spoke for less than a minute.

We are validating every piece of data we have against our paper trail. That system is taking longer than expected, he said, but its in place to ensure we are eventually able to report results with full confidence.

By then, most of the candidates were wheels up and on the way to New Hampshire.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
A day after getting bail in the case of sexual assault of a law student, former Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand could not secure release from the district jail here on Tuesday for lack of completion of legal formalities.

"The bail papers could not reach here. After they are received, they will be filed in the local court and then he would be released. It can take a few days," Amit Singh, a family member of Chinmayanand, told PTI here.

Shahjahanpur jail superintendent Rakesh Kumar said some people met the 72-year-old former MP after the Allahabad High Court granted him bail on Monday.

Kumar denied reports that sweets were distributed inside the jail to celebrate his bail. "No sweets were distributed in the jail," he said.

While granting him bail, the high court on Monday also transferred Chinmayanand's trial from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow.

"The trial court will take up the case on priority basis, preferably on day to day basis and trial will be concluded within one year," the court said while shifting the trial to the Lucknow district court based on the survivor's apprehension that Chinmayanand, being a powerful person in his home town Shahjahanpur where the trial is currently taking place, could tamper with evidence and influence the proceedings.

Justice Rahul Chaturvedi issued the bail order on the plea filed by the BJP leader.

The order directed Chinmayanand to file an undertaking stating that he shall not seek any adjournment on the date fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in court.

"In case of default of this condition, it shall be open for the trial court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law," the order said.

Justice Chaturvedi also directed Senior Superintendent of Police, Lucknow to ensure the security and safety of the survivor, her family members and witnesses during the entire trial period by deputing an officer of the rank of Senior Sub Inspector and armed constables for their protection.

"Chinmayanand alias Krishna Pal Singh be released on bail on his executing a personal bond and furnishing two heavy sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned in case with some conditions," the court said.

On November 16, the court had reserved its order after hearing the counsels from both sides.

Chinmayanand, whose trust runs the Shahjahanpur law college where the woman studied, was arrested on September 20 under section 376-C of the IPC, a charge short of rape. It is applied when someone in authority takes advantage of his official position to "induce or seduce" a woman to have sex with him.

In a parallel case, the woman was charged with trying to extort money from Chinmayanand, whom she had accused of rape.

The high court granted her bail on December 4.

The Supreme Court had stepped in after the 23-year-old law student went missing for a few days in August last year after posting a video clip on social media, alleging sexual abuse.

A special investigation team of Uttar Pradesh Police, formed on the directions of the apex court, arrested Chinmayanand about a month later.

The SIT also arrested the student after a complaint that she and her friends had tried to extort Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand, threatening to make public videos showing her giving massages to the former minister.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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In eastern Iowa, a little under half of precincts were reporting in Dubuque County  a reliably blue county that flipped to Donald Trump in 2016. It has been closely watched this caucus season as a barometer of party enthusiasm, including whether Democrats who backed Trump four years ago would come back into the party fold. Party officials there had been expecting record turnout. But several precincts in the city of Dubuque struggled to meet their 2016 numbers amid lower-than-expected participation. Biden had been betting on a strong showing in Dubuque, in part because of his deep ties to Catholic voters in the community, and Sanders had been hoping to expand on his support from four years ago, when he defeated Hillary Clinton in many inner-city precincts.
9 Oscars celebrity couples you probably forgot about originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com

There's nothing like a red carpet romance  especially when it's at the Oscars.

Over the years, we've seen the biggest celebs show off their relationships at the iconic awards show.

Although some romances have stood the test of time, others have been more short-lived and easily forgotten. But while (some) relationships come and go, red carpet photographs are forever.

Take a look below at some of the most surprising Oscars pairings from yesteryear.

(MORE: 20 celebrities who brought their moms to the Oscars and melted our hearts)

Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey Jr., 1989

PHOTO: Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey Jr. arrive for the 61st Annual Academy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, March 29, 1989. (WireImage/Getty Images, FILE)

Before she was Carrie Bradshaw and he was Iron Man, SJP and RDJ conquered Hollywood as one of the 80s rising power couples and attended the 61st Academy Awards together.

Juliette Lewis and Brad Pitt, 1992

PHOTO: Juliette Lewis and Brad Pitt at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images) (Ron Galella Collection via Getty)

Believe it or not, these two dated for four years. Lewis and Pitt met on the set of a TV movie "Too Young to Die?" and their relationship took off shortly after. The couple walked the 1992 Oscars red carpet together, where Lewis was nominated for her performance in "Cape Fear."

(MORE: Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt's relationship: from marriage to friendship)

Michael Jackson and Madonna, 1991

PHOTO: Michael Jackson and Madonna arrive for an Academy Awards after-party at Spago's in Los Angeles, March 25, 1991. (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, FILE)

Who better to escort the Queen of Pop to the Hollywood's biggest night than the King of Pop? Madonna and Jackson made headlines when they attended the 63rd Academy Awards together. She performed "Sooner or Later" from "Dick Tracy," which won Best Original Song. In 2018, she called that night the "best date ever!"

Julia Roberts and Kiefer Sutherland, 1991

PHOTO: Julia Roberts and Kiefer Sutherland walk the red carpet for the 63rd Annual Academy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, March 25, 1991. (WireImage/Getty Images, FILE)

Roberts and Sutherland had a fast but fiery romance. The two began dating after starring in "Flatliners" together and went to the Oscars in 1990 and 1991, where Roberts was nominated for Best Actress for "Pretty Woman." They planned to get married in June of that year, but the couple called it quits just days before the wedding.

Story continues

(MORE: How Oscars fashion has evolved since the 1930s)

Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston, 1986

PHOTO: Anjelica Huston and Jack Nicholson arrive for the 58th Annual Academy Awards at Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in Los Angeles, March 24, 1986. (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, FILE)

Nicholson and Huston's tempestuous relationship spanned nearly two decades  the two met in 1972 and dated on and off until 1990. During that time, the pair starred in two movies together and attended multiple Oscars ceremonies at each other's side, including the 1986 show where Huston won Best Supporting Actress for "Prizzi's Honor."

Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere, 1991

PHOTO: Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford attend the 63rd Annual Academy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, March 25, 1991. (Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty, FILE)

Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford were spotted at the 63rd Academy Awards before he presented the Best Art Direction Oscar later that night. The fashionable couple met in 1988 and tied the knot later that year in a surprise Vegas wedding but unfortunately, their romance didn't last past 1995.

(MORE: #CoupleGoals: Hollywood's cutest partners slay the red carpet together at the 2019 Oscars)

Billy Bob Thornton and Laura Dern, 1999

PHOTO: Billy Bob Thronton and Laura Dern arrive for the 71st Annual Academy Awards at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, March 21, 1999. (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, FILE)

Thornton and Dern began dating in 1997, after they met while filming the iconic episode from "Ellen" about her coming out. The pair were engaged and even attended the Oscars together twice, including when Thornton was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 1999. However, the relationship dissolved in 2000 when Thornton married Angelina Jolie.

Patricia Arquette and Nicolas Cage, 1997

PHOTO: Patricia Arquette and Nicolas Cage arrive for the 69th Annual Academy Awards at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, March 24, 1997. (WireImage via Getty Images, FILE)

It would take an entire book to properly outline the trajectory of the eccentric couple's relationship but it reportedly involves a Los Angeles deli, a "quest" for Cage to prove his love and Arquette carrying a purple wedding cake. Long story short: the two wed in 1995 and attended the 69th Academy Awards where Cage presented the award for Best Actor. They divorced in 2000.

(MORE: Female directors were snubbed in 2020 Oscar nominations -- here's what can be done)

Salma Hayek and Edward Norton, 2003

PHOTO: Salma Hayek and Ed Norton attend the 75th Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theater on March 23, 2003, in Hollywood, Calif. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images, FILE)

Norton and Hayek dated for four years and even appeared in "Frida" together, which Hayek also co-produced in 2002. The film received six Oscar nominations at the 73rd Academy Awards, including one for Best Actress for Hayek.

And the Oscar goes to ... our nostalgia!
In Eskasoni, Nova Scotia, a group of children and the staff of a school were given a cake with cannabis, as reported by police.

In a recent report, Nova Scotia RCMP stated that the molasses cake that was served in the school contained THC. It is a toxic element found in cannabis.

After the cake was served, an adult was immediately sent to a nearby hospital on Friday. Adults and minors who ate the cake were also sent to the hospital after feeling unwell.

Some of the patients who were tested came out THC positive.

In an article by MSN, One of the patients was the 8-year-old daughter of Kate Augustine. Her daughter goes to the Eskasoni Immersion School. The school educates children from kindergarten through Grade 4. Eskasoni is approximately 40 km Southwest of Sydney, Nove Scotia.

The Parent of One of the THC-Positive Children

Augustine was angry and disappointed with what happened to her daughter. However, she was thankful that her child did not experience a terrible anxiety attack or worse, a heart attack.

The mother shared how scared she felt. She also cried for her daughter who was unaware to have ingested cannabis during their school's event.

After going home from school on Friday, she noticed that her daughter was pale. She was also sweating. When Augustine asked her what was wrong, her daughter answered that she was exhausted. The mother even noticed that her daughter's eyes were sore.

When her daughter woke up the next morning, she noticed that her child was still groggy.

Cpl. Jennifer Clarke stated that there were less than 10 people who got sick from eating the cake. A caterer outside the school provided the cake for the school's event on Friday.

According to Clarke, the information that she was certain was that the event was catered. However, they do not know who catered the event and provided the cake.

Clarke shared that she was unaware of the complete details of the incident. They are currently investigating whether the incident was intentional or not.

Augustine learned about the incident from another parent on Saturday. After her conversation with another parent, she immediately brought her two children to the hospital. Her 8-year-old came out positive for THC after being tested.

It was disappointing that she found out about the issue through social media.

Augustine was not contacted by any of the school's representative regarding the incident. She claims that she should've been informed by the school upon knowing about the incident where the students of the school were accidentally given food with cannabis.

Eskasoni School Board Social Media Statement

On Friday, the school was said to be celebrating a mid-winter feast.

In a Facebook post by the Eskasoni School Board, it revealed that cannabis (an edible type) was accidentally placed in the cake served in the school event.

In the social media post, the school advised anyone who was at the event, ate the food, and brought home some of the food served in the event to consult a medical center immediately.

Those who brought home food from the event were advised to destroy it immediately.

The chief of Eskasoni Leroy Denny revealed that he will cooperate with the council to act on the findings of the police investigation after all necessary information is collected.
INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 1, 2020 /CNW/ -- IMG's Chief Medical Officer (Dr. Geoff Tothill, MB, BS, FRCP Edin.) shares his latest thoughts on the coronavirus below:

"The spread of the novel coronavirus within China represents a continuing health emergency for that country. We continue to see cases arising in other countries. Overwhelmingly those 'exported' cases are in people who have travelled from China. There have been cases of human to human spread outside China, but it is thought that close contact is required for this to occur. Only time will tell if case numbers grow around the world and it is hoped that the extensive efforts to control spread will be effective. Despite a huge amount of media coverage, it is important to keep this outbreak in perspective. Seasonal flu remains a far more significant risk to public health and the simple measures outlined above can go a long way to reduce your chance of catching the virus."

The first case of a new virus that causes respiratory disease was reported to the World Health Organization China Office on December 31st, 2019, having been detected in Wuhan City (population 19 million), Hubei Province of China. Since then, the numbers of people infected in China increased as it spread to almost every province. At the time of writing, there are 11,822 confirmed cases in mainland China and 142 in 25 other countries around the world.

What is the coronavirus?

The virus (scientific name 2019-nCoV) comes from a family of viruses called coronavirus. It is thought that this virus was originally prevalent in animals and jumped to humans. Coronaviruses also caused the SARS and MERS outbreaks.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms are like those of an upper respiratory infection. You may have a cough, sore throat, and fever. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, please speak with your health provider. Most infections are relatively mild but a small percentage, especially in the elderly and those with pre-existing disease, can progress to more severe disease.

A public health emergency of global concern

On January 30th, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a public health emergency of global concern. This declaration is made under strict criteria and is 'an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other states through the international spread of disease, and to potentially require a coordinated international response'. In assigning this status, consideration is given to a range of factors that include assessment of the risk to human health, risk of international spread of disease, and risk of interference with international traffic.

How can I protect myself from infection?

Probably the most effective protective measure is regular hand washing and both the CDC and WHO have good advice on their websites. Other protective steps include coughing into the crook of your elbow (catching your sneeze), use of alcohol gels, avoiding large public gatherings, and teleworking where possible in affected areas.

Are my travel plans affected?

It depends  airlines in North America, Europe and Asia have suspended flights to China. Delta Airlines has suspended all flights from U.S. to China beginning February 6th  April 30th. Cruise lines are also cancelling and rerouting several ships.

Over 60 countries have announced immigration control for Chinese citizens entering their countries. Countries including Russia, Pakistan, and Vietnam have enacted border closings with China.

The U.S. State Department has issued a level 4 travel advisory  do not travel. Several other countries have issued travel advisories, but they focus on Wuhan, not the entire mainland of China.

About International Medical Group (IMG)

International Medical Group (IMG), a Sirius Group company, is an award-winning global insurance benefits and assistance services company that has served millions of members worldwide since its founding in 1990. A leader in the global benefits and assistance services industry, IMG offers a full line of international medical insurance products, as well as travel insurance plans, medical management services, and 24/7 emergency medical and travel assistance. For more information, please visit www.imglobal.com.

SOURCE International Medical Group (IMG)

For further information: Kate Ruddell, [email protected], http://www.imglobal.com

Related Links

http://www.imglobal.com


Donald Trump was given his first election victory of 2020 on Monday as the Iowa Republican Party said he had won its caucus by a landslide.

Trump got 97.1 per cent of the vote, with his two opponents, Bill Weld and Joe Walsh getting just 1.3 and 1.1% with 0.5% split between 'other' candidates and with a handful precincts yet to report.

The result was hardly a surprise, but the Trump team had sent his two adult sons and other senior figures to the state in a dry run for the presidential elections.

Iowa was one of the states which had not suspended their mechanism for choosing a Republican candidate, so that it could keep its first in the nation status.

That gave the Trump campaign a chance to practice its 'ground game,' although in reality, there was no real opposition.

Your browser does not support iframes.

Trump 2020: A landslide in Iowa is hardly a surprise, but the president's campaign used it as a dry run for the real re-election campaign later this year

Quixotic campaigns: Former Tea Party firebrand turned fervent anti-Trump Republican Joe Walsh got 1.4% of the votes, and former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld came in on 1.5%

Guess who I voted for: In Garnavillo, Clayton County, it was clear who was backing Trump -and across the entire county, just six people didn't while 214 voted for him

Top of the ballot: How Republicans were asked to caucus in Clayton County

Votes are seen during the Republican caucus at Thoma Dairy Bar Cafe in Garnavillo, Iowa, U.S. February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski

Back where he came in fourth: Ben Carson was one of the high-profile supporters the Trump campaign dispatched to Iowa, where he had been a presidential candidate four years ago

Walsh and Weld have each launched a quixotic campaign bid to unseat Trump with little hope of winning any significant number of votes, seeking backing from a party now in lockstep with the president.

The result is hardly a bellwether for the Trump camp, with turnout a fraction of what it was in 2016, or compared to the Democratic caucuses under way at the same time.

In some counties, there was 100% backing for Trump, including Lyon, Franklin , Emmet and Buena Vista counties all recording no votes against the president.

Iowa had in fact not been a victory ground for Trump in 2016, with Ted Cruz coming out on top by 27.6% to Trump's 24.3%. Marco Rubio was a close third at 23.1%, while Ben Carson came in at 9.3%.

Carson, now HHS Secretary, was back in Iowa for the day, speaking in support of Trump at the Heartland Presbyterian Church in Clive, West Des Moines.

He was one of dozens of senior Trump figures who flew in, led by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump and his wife Lara.

Donald Trump Jr. was among the Trump surrogates who went into campaign mode in Des Moines, with his brother Eric by his side

Also in Iowa: Kimberly Guilfoyle was with her boyfriend Donald Trump Jr. to take part in the Trump campaign practice run for the real re-election campaign

Also speaking was Mick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff who has not been seen speaking in public since he held a press briefing at the White House and said of holding aid to Ukraine, 'get over it, we do it all the time.'

Iowa's decision to press ahead with its caucus is in line with most states - although some have cancelled their contests.

Among those which will not have a contest are Kansas, Nevada, South Carolina, Arizona, Alaska, Virginia, Nevada and Hawaii.

Cancelling primaries is in line with both parties' practice when an incumbent is seeking re-election; in recent years it has been done by Democrats for Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and Republicans for both the Bushes.

Both Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were hit with grueling primary challenges and went on to lose; in Ford's case he had become president through the resignation of both Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew as vice president.

Trump's challengers have however failed to reach the support which Ronald Reagan achieved against Ford, whom he came close to toppling from the party's nomination, and Edward Kennedy gathered against Jimmy Carter, in a contest which went to the 1980 Democratic convention.

Walsh, 58, was a firebrand Tea Party supporter who became notorious for shouting 'you lie!' at Barack Obama during a State of the Union address in 2009, during Walsh's one term in Congress.

But he is now an outspoken anti-Trump Republican and has publicly repented many of his previous positions.

Weld, 74, was governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997, and ran as a Libertarian in 2016.

Both are on the ballot for the primary in New Hampshire on February 11.
Rowena Chiu, a former assistant to disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein who broke her silence to join other women accusing him of sexual misconduct, will accompany U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark at Tuesdays State of the Union address, the Boston Globe reported.

Chiu will also advocate for the BE HEARD Act, legislation co-sponsored by Clark that extends the federal statute of limitations on sexual harassment claims and blocks companies from requiring new hires to sign off on nondisclosure agreements or mandatory arbitration, the Globe reported.

Her story and her experience really demonstrate the urgency around passing the BE HEARD Act, which is the legislation that codifies all the lessons that weve learned, Clark told the Globe.

Weinstein, whose alleged sexual misconduct helped spark the #MeToo movement after reporting by The New Yorker and The New York Times, is on trial in New York for alleged sexual offenses against multiple women.

The Globe reported that according to Chiu, Weinstein tried to rape her and was relentless in his advances, including requests for massages and baths during a meeting one night at the Venice Film Festival in 1998.

Chiu, who confronted Weinstein along with a colleague, quit and reported his behavior, demanding that he receive treatment in the hopes that other women would be spared. But Chiu says the pair was forced by lawyers to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

We were told we couldnt even come to negotiating table unless we agreed to an NDA and agreed to taking some money, Chiu told the Globe. Our lawyer said to us if you dont take monetary consideration they wont believe that you will be silenced.

She eventually received a $213,000 settlement, but she was not allowed to speak of the incident. Chiu described the silence as suffocating, acknowledging she survived several suicide attempts.

Too often, we see situations like Rowenas where she is working for a very powerful person who has access to money and lawyers that she couldnt possibly have in her first job, Clark told the Globe.

Chiu, who has not faced lawsuits for breaking her silence despite initial threats from Weinsteins lawyers, works for the World Bank and has joined others speaking out against Weinstein and sexual misconduct. She told the Globe that often, many victims are not privileged enough to travel the world and spread the word.

I think its really important to remember the voices that are still silent, she said.

Last year, Clark inivted Angela Tejada-Soliz, a Malden constituent and student gun violence activist, to join her for the State of the Union.
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Lagos, the financial hub of Nigeria, recently banned the use of commercial motorcycles and three-wheelers following the rise of fatal accidents in the city.

Nigeria is one of Bajaj Auto's largest export markets, and the news, and a 22 percent decline in January two-wheeler domestic sales in Q3, caused shares to fall on the BSE by over three percent.

The government in Lagos imposed the ban on motorcycles that were running commercially as well as auto rickshaws on February 1. The increased number in vehicles have reportedly added up to four hours to the daily commute in the city. Known as Okadas, commercial two-wheelers have become a popular mode of transport because of their ability to snake through traffic alongside three-wheelers, known as kekes. This has also unfortunately given rise to the number of fatal accidents.

However, Bajaj says that the ban isn't of major concern to the company. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Rakesh Sharma, Executive Director of Bajaj Auto said that though Nigeria comprises of about 25 percent of the company's exports, Lagos in itself, contributes to only 6-7 percent of the total exports in two-wheelers, whereas that of three-wheelers is about 10 percent.

Sharma also said that they are not expecting any significant hit to businesses due to the news from Nigeria. "This kind of thing keeps happening in international business; Bangladesh did it last year. So its not a significant event from our perspective, not for Nigeria and not for international business. So I dont see any reason to be circumspect about the future of Nigeria in our portfolio," he said.
Vietnam declares novel coronavirus epidemic Updated: 14:37 - 01/02/2020

, , , ,

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on February 1 signed Decision No.173.QD-TTg, declaring the acute respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus (nCoV) an epidemic in Vietnam.The decision noted that the epidemic began on January 23 with the first two confirmed infection cases to be a pair of Chinese father and son. The scope of the epidemic was identified in three provinces of Khanh Hoa, Thanh Hoa and Vinh Phuc.The total number of nCoV infections in Vietnam is six, including two Chinese, three Vietnamese returning from Chinas Wuhan city, and a receptionist at a hotel in Khanh Hoa province. nCoV is classified as a Class A contagious disease, a group of extremely dangerous infectious diseases that can transmit very rapidly and spread widely with high mortality rates, including the likes of influenza A-H5N1, SARs, Ebola or smallpox.The same day, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam announced it has temporarily revoked all permits granted for flights between Vietnam and China from 13:00 until further notice.Earlier, the World Health Organization declared the nCoV epidemic in China as a global health emergency of international concern.-
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jim Risch said Tuesday that he has no plans to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden over Ukraine, despite being urged to do so by a top Senate Republican and Donald Trump ally.

When asked whether he was going to look into Bidens role in the firing of Ukrainian prosecutor Victor Shokin  including allegations that it was done to to stop an investigation into Burisma, a top Ukrainian natural gas company on whose Hunter Biden served  Risch said it isnt something he is considering.

Ive got other things Im doing right now, and I havent given it any thought, Risch told reporters. And thats how most of his colleagues feel.

Judiciary Committee Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and other GOP hardliners are pushing for a multipronged Biden probe by Senate panels, despite the fact that no evidence exists the former vice president was involved in any Ukraine cover-up. Graham has said hes going to look into potential abuse of surveillance laws that led to the Russia probe by former special counsel Robert Mueller.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. President Donald Trump's legal team prepared to wrap up arguments in his impeachment trial Tuesday as Senate Republicans wrestled with whether to allow witnesses, including John Bolton who appeared ready to contradict a key Trump claim. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

But there appears to be little appetite among other Senate Republicans for an extended effort to investigate Biden, who has already taken a political hit over the Hunter Biden controversy.

Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) has been looking into the whistleblower process overall, although he is not specifically targeting the individual whose complaint triggered the Ukraine scandal.

And Burr acknowledged that he isnt trying to relitigate the events that led to Trumps impeachment.

Ive never conducted an investigation in public, and Im not going to now, Burr said when asked whether he planned to subpoena the whistleblower.

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) wouldnt say whether he had any plans to subpoena the Bidens.

Johnson, though, said his focus was more on alleged efforts by Ukrainian officials to interfere in the 2016 election and whether there was any involvement of Obama administration officials. As with the alleged Biden cover-up of Bursima, no evidence has emerged to show any such links, but Trump seized on the theories during his push to get Ukraine to pursue investigations that would help his political prospects.

Story continues

My concern is to really get to the bottom of DNC involvement, meetings in the White House in January 2016, that involved a certain NSC Ukraine specialist, and involved Ukrainian prosecutors. We have to get to the bottom of this, Johnson said. Johnson and Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have sought thousands of pages of internal documents from the Obama White House, but former President Barack Obama would have to agree to release this information, which doesnt seem likely at this point.

The top Democrat on Foreign Relations, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, said Republicans should focus on the real issues facing the country, not the Bidens.

Theres a lot of things happening in the world that affect the national interest and security of the United States far more than any investigation of the Bidens, Menendez said. Looking at Russia, looking at China, looking at North Korea, Iran ... Its ridiculous.
Three of the four children killed in a car crash in Sydneys northwest over the weekend regularly volunteered to help the homeless.

Sienna, 8, her sister Angelina, 12, and brother Antony Abdallah, 13, and their cousin, 11-year-old Veronique Sakr, died after they were allegedly hit by a car in Oatlands on Saturday night.

The siblings father, Danny Abdallah, said the children were walking to buy ice cream at the time of the crash.

Team Jesus, a Christian volunteer group devoted to helping the homeless, wrote on Facebook on Sunday the Abdallah children were little angels and active members of the team.

The Abdallah children regularly volunteered with a Christian community group and fed the homeless. Source: Facebook/ Team Jesus

Since day one of our ministry in Blacktown, where we provide a food and clothing service to the poor, needy and the homeless, Anthony, Angelina and Sienna, and all Danny's family joined us regularly and they put themselves in the service of those who are in most need of our help, it wrote.

They stood in line with the adult team members to serve food and to give a smile to those who needed it most.

Team Jesus added Sienna, Angelina and Antony would encourage or insist mum and dad take them to Blacktown on Friday night to help.

By this, they set an example to all other children to do the same and they made a huge impression on everyone who met them at this community service, Team Jesus wrote.

Not only did they serve at tables, but they insisted on praying for the people whom we served, and their prayers brought the blessings and favour of God upon the place.

All credit goes to Danny and Leila for their parental guidance, their wisdom and their perseverance in getting their children educated in the way of charity, giving and loving without expecting anything in return.

Sienna Abdallah, 8, brother Antony, 13, and her sister Angelina, 12, all died on Saturday night. Source: Facebook

Team Jesus called Ms Abdallah a model mother for prayer and discipline and her husband the perfect father who is firm yet loving beyond words toward their children.

Danny and Leila are not raising average children, Team Jesus wrote.

They are raising children after God's own heart and this is an absolute blessing for their home.

Story continues

Samuel William Davidson, 29, who was allegedly behind the wheel of the car, has been charged with 20 offences including four counts of manslaughter, dangerous driving occasioning death and grievous bodily harm, negligent driving and drink driving.

His case was heard at Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday. He did not appear in court and did not apply for bail, which was formally refused by magistrate John McIntosh.

Davidson is scheduled to return to Parramatta Local Court on April 2.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So before you buy or sell Kingsrose Mining Limited (ASX:KRM), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock in the company. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.

View our latest analysis for Kingsrose Mining

Kingsrose Mining Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Non-Executive Director John Morris bought AU$157k worth of shares at a price of AU$0.045 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than AU$0.03 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

While Kingsrose Mining insiders bought shares last year, they didn't sell. The average buy price was around AU$0.023. We don't deny that it is nice to see insiders buying stock in the company. However, you should keep in mind that they bought when the share price was meaningfully below today's levels. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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ASX:KRM Recent Insider Trading, February 4th 2020

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership of Kingsrose Mining

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Kingsrose Mining insiders own about AU$5.2m worth of shares. That equates to 22% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Kingsrose Mining Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Kingsrose Mining shares in the last quarter. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Kingsrose Mining insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. Along with insider transactions, I recommend checking if Kingsrose Mining is growing revenue. This free chart of historic revenue and earnings should make that easy.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Pilot of helicopter that crashed heralded for 'miracle' landing

The crew of a Hagerstown-based helicopter and the juvenile patient they picked up in Chambersburg, Pa., are OK after a crash near Philadelphia.
KABUL -- Dozens of Afghan media outlets have joined their voices to denounce the "deterioration" of access to government-related information in the country.

In a joint statement issued on February 4, 30 media outlets including privately owned national TV channels, local broadcasters, and newspapers blamed the "carelessness" of the government for endangering media freedom in recent years.

The protest was supported by media-freedom watchdogs, the UN mission in Afghanistan, and Western embassies in Kabul, which said access to information for citizens will make Afghan democracy stronger.

In their joint statement, the 30 media outlets said that all government institutions had "shortcomings" when it comes to providing access to information, but cited the Supreme Court, the Attorney General's Office, the National Directorate of Security, the president's office, the Finance Ministry, the central bank, and the Defense Ministry as being "the worst ones."

It urged the Afghan government and the international community to "act in the strongest possible ways to safeguard the free flow of information, our press freedom, and our young democracy.

Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah responded by calling on "all the government organizations to cooperate and share information with the citizens."

Abdullah said that "freedom of speech and freedom of media is one of the most important national achievements of the people of Afghanistan," adding that "honoring and respecting this achievement is the responsibility of government officials."

In a statement, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it supported the protest by the 30 media outlets and criticized the Afghan authorities' "failure" to fully implement the law on access to state-held information.

The European Union office in Afghanistan also called for the law to be "implemented in full," saying the "free flow of information is crucial for any democracy &progressive society."

The Afghan government "needs to respond to calls of media and fully implement" the law, according to Britain's embassy in Kabul.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said that "open and healthy societies promote access to information for citizens," which it said was "vital" for accountability and fighting corruption, improving government performance and efficiency,

encouraging investment, and empowering citizens in public life.

Ross Wilson, charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy, said the authorities "must work with the press to make Afghan democracy stronger."

The German ambassador in Kabul, Peter Prugel, said the Afghan government "must assure free & indiscriminate access to information." "FreeMedia, #pressfreedom & #access2information are key to #accountability & #GoodGovernance and an open, transparent & democratic society in #Afghanistan," he tweeted.

The French Embassy said it "stands by Afghan journalists, who demonstrate on a daily basis courage, professionnalism (sic) and commitment to the information of [the Afghan] people and the world, often in difficult circumstances."
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Tilak Nagar Delhi Assembly Constituency Election Results 2020 Live Updates - Read Tilak Nagar constituency vidhan sabha chunav latest news, party, constituency, candidate name wise winner, loser, leading, trailing live updates online at Firstpost.com.

Tilak Nagar Assembly Elections 2020 | Jarnail Singh, AAP candidate and incumbent MLA from Tilak Nagar Assembly constituency defeated his closest rival, BJP's Rajiv Babbar by 28,029 votes. While Singh has a vote share of 62.2 percent, Babbar has 34.28 percent of the votes polled.

The Tilak Nagar Vidhan Sabha constituency, which is part of the West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, has for long been a BJP bastion before the AAP breached the fortress in the 2015 polls. Due to large the Sikh population, Tilak Nagar is considered a hostile seat for the Congress.

Hence, the fight for the seat was expected to be largely between the AAP and BJP. The AAP re-nominated the incumbent MLA who is also a local, Jarnail Singh, for a third term, while Rajeev Babar, son of local strongman OP Babbar, contested on a BJP ticket. The constituency, which has the best gender ratio among voters across Delhi, went to the polls on 8 February.

According to a report by Dainik Jagran, Rajeev contested the seat in 2013 and 2015 also, but failed to make it to the Assembly.

Here is brief information about the constituency:

Constituency name: Tilak Nagar

Constituency number: 29

District name: West Delhi

Total electors: 1,46,940

Female electors: 70,855

Male electors: 76,079

Third gender: 6

Reserved: No

Results in previous elections: Singh is the incumbent MLA. Between 1993 and 2013, OP was the BJP representative of the constituency, except for the period between 1998 and 2003 when Jaspal Singh of the Congress represented the seat.

Demographics: Like other areas in the West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, Tilak Nagar has a significant population of Sikhs. Most of these Sikhs, as well as Punjabi Hindus, migrated from Pakistan in the aftermath of the Partition.
As the cost of college has steadily risen over the past several decades, students across the country are beginning to question if earning an advanced degree is worth it. While research still consistently shows that earning a college degree leads to higher lifetime earnings and lower rates of unemployment, prominent figures in business have begun vocally proposing an alternative  trade school. "I don't recommend college for everybody," Kevin O'Leary, star of ABC's "Shark Tank" told CNBC Make It in May of 2019. "The fact is, there's a lot of trade schools that would help you make a lot more money. "Be a plumber, they get rich. Everybody has to have a plumber, even in a recession," he says. "Every single building on Earth wants to have electricity and plumbing working These are careers that actually can help you provide for your family forever." Businessman-turned-politician Michael Bloomberg has also offered similar advice. "Today if your kid wants to go to college or become a plumber, you've got to think long and hard," he said at the 2014 annual meeting of Wall Street trade group SIFMA. "If he's not going to go to a great school and he's not super smart academically but is smart in terms of dealing with people and that sort of thing, being a plumber is a great job because you have pricing power, you have an enormous skill set." Representatives for his presidential campaign confirmed to CNBC Make It that Bloomberg still believes in the power of skills-based trade school. And many other politicians across the political spectrum from Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to Donald Trump have voiced support for technical schools. So does becoming a plumber live up to the hype? CNBC Make It spoke with plumbers, students and administrators about the costs of training, how much plumbers really earn and what it's like to work in the profession. We learned that going to trade school to be a plumber isn't necessarily as easy, cheap and profitable as some have promised. But it can be a smart investment for those who want to work in the field. Costs of training programs can vary widely, and the payoff depends on your job title and where you live. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters was $25.92 per hour and $53,910 per year in 2018. In New York, the median wage for plumbers is closer to $76,410. What's more, it's difficult, physical work. There's a reason wealthy parents typically send their children to prestigious  and often expensive  colleges and universities: Earning a college degree from a reputable institution remains one of the most profitable investments that workers can make. Here's what we've learned about what it really takes to become a plumber:

The process of becoming a plumber

Many plumbers have engineering backgrounds, and the wealthiest plumbers can often be more accurately categorized as business owners who, after working as plumbers for several years, started their own businesses that employ several other plumbers. Importantly, there is a wide range in the cost and quality of trade schools, impacting how much the return on an investment in trade school may be. For-profit programs can often cost more than traditional colleges, while many public universities offer affordable options with low costs that can be hard to beat. For instance, Apex Technical School's 30-week undergraduate certificate program for plumbing and pipefitting costs $17,816 for tuition and fees and $590 for books and supplies. The New York-based program's website says that students typically graduate with $11,150 in debt and pay monthly loan payments of about $115 per month with an interest rate of 4.45%. These costs are higher than the average four-year public university. During the 2018-2019 school year, the published tuition and fees for full-time, in-state undergraduate students at public four-year colleges was about $10,230. When room and board are included, this figure increases to $21,370. The College Board reports that students who go to public universities receive an average total of $6,490 in grant aid and tax benefits, bringing the net cost of public university for these students down to $14,880 per year. For-profit schools such as Apex are required by the Department of Education to disclose student outcome information, which reveals that 46% of students who qualify for federal financial aid funds (known as Title IV students) graduate from the program within its duration of 30 weeks. Among the students who do graduate, just 67% of program graduates got jobs, according to the New York job placement rate. Steve Markowitz, president of Apex Technical College, says a big appeal of the program is its expediency. "Most of our students that take this program, they want to go to work as soon as possible," he tells CNBC Make It. For instance, "If they take our welding program, it's all just welding. We just give them what they need to get an entry-level position. And if they will go to a four-year school, they'd be out of school and then have three and a half years' salary and experience already by the time they first be graduating. And that's very appealing to a lot of students." LaGuardia Community College in New York offers a 14-week plumbing course for $2,239, including books and fees. At the end of the course, students receive their OSHA 30 certification and their plumbing level one certification, and their construction core certification from the National Center for Construction Education and Research  credentials needed to secure a job as a plumber in New York. David Daza, who oversees the plumbing, electrical and veterans workforce initiatives for LaGuardia, says students cannot take out federal financial aid or loans for the program. Typically, students pay out of pocket, he says. "College is expensive, and for most people even courses like this that are more affordable than the Apexs and stuff, it's still $2,000 that people don't have in their pockets all the time," says Daza. "So we offer payment plans for our students so they can break up the tuition for those three months or so as they're going through the program, and then pay monthly."

David Daza and Natalie Kavral. Photo by Abigail Hess

The experience of being a plumber

Natalie Kavral, a former nursing student, teaches a plumbing class at Laguardia Community College. Kavral estimates that she spent roughly $25,000 on two years of nursing school, including tuition, books and transportation before she admitted to herself that she couldn't handle the sight of blood, no matter how passionate she was about medicine. Instead, Kavral became a plumber, eventually working for four years as part of a plumbing union. She says she earned $40 per hour working as a plumber, but when she learned about the opportunity to teach, she jumped. "I love the theory of plumbing. I hate the cold, the heat and the physical demand. [Teaching] was my opportunity to stay within my field, but do it differently," says Kavral. "I took the opportunity and I was like, 'You know what, if it doesn't work out, I'll go back to the union.'" The promise of a stable, well-paying union job is a big appeal for her students, says Kavral, adding that she has heard of plumbers making as much as $60 an hour in New York. Daza says that since the plumbing program launched two years ago, graduates have reported hourly wages between $15 and $24 per hour, "depending on the employer, the individual and their experience," he says. "But certainly after a few years of experience, they could be onto the next bracket. Definitely there is a lot of potential for good wage earnings." Because the program is relatively new, the LaGuardia program does not have the same level of statistics made available as those from Apex. Slowly, students trickle into the classroom named Plumbing Shop 434. "I tell my students, even the ones that they're like, 'School's not for me.' I tell them, 'Once you start to see the money that comes in, and then you find out you can make more, you're not going to want to stop,'" says Kavral. "They come here and they bust their butts, coming here after a long day of work to sit from 4:30 to 9:30. They're doing it because they want more money." One of Kavral's students, Cameron Duncan, says that was the case for him. "I went to college, but I never finished," he says. "And right after college, I went straight to work. I was a janitor and I was like, 'Since I'm here, I might as well find a trade to get into, get involved in it, make myself and make a big living out of it." Duncan says he studied psychology at Tompkins Cortland Community College for four years and came up a few credits short of graduating  a circumstance most college students can relate to. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, just 41% of first-time full-time college students earn a bachelor's degree in four years, and only 59% earn a bachelor's in six years. "I wish I actually found this school in high school," says Duncan. Other students in Kavral's class include author Richard Zacks, who says he took six years to graduate himself and is taking the class as a passion project, alongside students who are full-time Uber and Lyft drivers hoping to find a steady career. A military veteran himself, Daza says the program has attracted a number of veterans. "Veterans tend to be more hands-on," he says. "I think this is a good fit for veterans. I think it's a good fit for a wide range of people. There is no typical student for this program." Kavral says that while the majority of her students are men, they come from all walks of life. And while most directly enter the plumbing profession, others follow more unique paths. "A lot of people have that idea and that interpretation of 'Just because I chose a technical training means that I can't go to college.' I tell them this is just a start to your education. You're just planting the seeds,'" she says. "You could learn the trade, you could go work, you could go to college. For some of my students, they're politicians and they're business people and they say 'I might not work hands-on for five, 10 years, but I could probably partner up and help someone run a business.'"

The door to plumbing shop 434 Photo by Abigail Hess

Doing the math
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Justice Minister Naomi Long has said she is willing to consider the controversial policy of 50/50 recruitment to encourage more Catholic officers to join the force.

Mrs Long's comments come as the PSNI opens a recruitment campaign on Tuesday in a bid to hire 600 trainees in the course of this year.

The force is aiming to attract more Catholic officers, as well as more women and people from ethnic backgrounds.

Mrs Long, speaking on the BBC Radio Ulster's Nolan Show, said it was important the police force was as representative of the community as possible but said there were barriers to Catholic officers joining.

"If we don't get the kind of diversity that we are hoping for we need to look at what the barriers are," she said.

"If there are barriers to coming forward we need to tackle those. It is not enough to simply dip into a very unbalanced pool and try to draw from that."

Asked whether she is considering reintroducing 50/50 recruitment, the Justice Minister said: "I have said before I will take it under consideration at the point at where it comes.

"I believe it is a fairly blunt tool when it comes to trying to create diversity in the work place, but it is one that is there to be used in circumstances were nothing else works.

"I am willing to take advice and listen to the arguments on all sides when it comes to that point. For now the focus should not be on the negatives that we don't get a diverse range of candidates, it should be on encouraging a diverse range of people to come forward."

Mrs Long said that one of the barriers to Catholic officers joining the force was intimidation and the threat level from dissident republicans and other paramilitary organisations.

"The problem is not just about recruitment, it is also about retention, it is about support in the community, so that people who join the police service feel that they can continue to live in their community and be part of the community when they are members of the police service," she added.

DUP MLA Mervy Storey, who sits on the Policing Board, told Good Morning Ulster that he does not support the return of the practice.

"It is institutionalised sectarian discrimination and nationalists have rejected discrimination in the past and wanted equality and wanted parity and now they can't have it both ways," he said.

The 50/50 recruitment policy ran for the first 10 years of the PSNI after it replaced the RUC.

This meant that 50% of all recruits had to be from a Catholic background, and 50% from a Protestant or other background.

This saw numbers of Catholic police officers rise from 8% to 32%. However, this has stalled since the policy was ended.

SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly, who also sits on the Policing Board, said a return to 50/50 recruitment would enhance the PSNI and increase confidence in policing in Northern Ireland.

We acknowledge that its (50/50 recruitment) a crude instrument but it has been undeniably effective in enhancing the makeup of the PSNI, making the service more reflective of the society we live in," she said.

"That objective, in our view, more than justifies a return to 50-50.

But we also have to recognise that as well as changing policing to reflect our society, we have to shape a society that embraces the PSNI. Our vision is of a community where people can talk openly about policing and about their pride in family members who choose to serve in the PSNI."

Mrs Kelly added that dealing with the threat from dissident republicans to police officers is key to encouraging more Catholic officers to join.

"I understand the fear of parents who worry that their child will be murdered by cowards in balaclavas simply for serving their community," she said.

"And I understand the fear of young officers who worry that theyll have to leave home to protect family members. No one should face that choice."
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Tamilla Mammadova  Trend:

All decisions on economic issues in Georgia will be made only after consultations and a detailed discussion with the private sector of the country, said Georgian Prime Minister Georgi Gakharia, Trend reports citing the Georgian government.

He made the remark at the meeting of the Georgia Investors Council held on February 3, 2020, at the administration of the Government of Georgia.

The meeting was attended by members of the Cabinet of Ministers, British Ambassador to Georgia Justin McKenzie, business ombudsman and representatives of the country's business associations.

"We believe that the Investors Council is a very important platform for cooperation between the government and the private sector. Fast economic growth and additional jobs are Georgias priority, and, of course, we are ready to deepen cooperation with the private sector within the framework of the Investors Council," the prime minister said.

The main topics of the meeting agenda included raising investment attractiveness of Georgia, the prospects for further promoting the work of the private sector, a bill on bankruptcy, and the development of the securities market.

The Investors Council is an effective tool for dialogue between government departments, business and international financial institutions. The Council has existed for two years and is working on specific issues so that our investment environment becomes even more attractive, said Natia Turnava, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia.

According to Turnava, the Investors Council also made interesting suggestions and recommendations on the tourism development strategy for 2020. In addition, the Council provided great support to the Produce in Georgia Agency in the process of developing a strategy to attract foreign direct investment.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356
Chinas top leadership group headed by President Xi Jinping has admitted lapses and shortcomings in the Communist Party of China (CPC)-ruled countrys response to the raging Coronavirus outbreak.

The CPC politburos standing committee issued a statement late on Monday talking about shortcomings and deficiencies in the response as the outbreak death toll reached 425 and total number of infected shot up to more than 20,000 in China.

The 64 new deaths and more than 3,000 new infections mark the single biggest rise in toll in a day.

Also Watch | Second batch of Indians reach Delhi from Wuhan, undergo screening

Its a clear indication that numbers will rise exponentially in the coming weeks as new infections  of the disease thats transmissible between humans  are reported.

The number of deaths in China, excluding Hong Kong, now exceeds the 349 killed on the mainland in the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

More than 150 cases have been reported from over two dozen countries with one death  that of a Chinese citizen from worst-hit Wuhan in central China -- in the Philippines.

Official news agency, Xinhua, published a report on the meeting of the powerful seven-member standing committee of CPCs politburo held Monday evening.

We will improve the national emergency management system and improve our ability to deal with urgent, difficult and dangerous tasks in light of the shortcomings and deficiencies exposed in the response to this outbreak, the meeting discussed.

One area to be tackled is the trade in illegal wildlife, which should be resolutely banned, while supervision of markets should be strengthened.

The outbreak is a major test of Chinas system and capacity for governance, and we must sum up the experience and draw a lesson from it, according to the statement on the meeting.

The meeting stressed improving the countrys emergency management system and capacity of handling urgent, difficult, dangerous and important tasks.

An overhaul of environmental sanitation conditions should be conducted, the meeting said, calling for efforts to strengthen the areas of weakness in public health, the statement said.

The meeting, according to Xinhua, underscored the need to systematically review the areas of weakness in the national reserve system, enhance reserve efficiency and capacity, and improve the production capacity for essential supplies.

Meanwhile, the central Chinese province of Hubei, and its capital, Wuhan, continue to be at the centre of the epidemic with the province reporting 2,345 new cases of novel coronavirus, with 64 new deaths and 101 recovered on Feb 3; total infected number of the province rose to 13,522, with 396 recovered and 414 dead.

In addition to the designated Huoshenshan and Leishenshan hospitals  rapidly built in days -- to meet growing demand from coronavirus patients, Wuhan will convert Hongshan Stadium and Wuhan International Conference & Exhibition Center into hospitals so it can provide 1,000 beds, local authorities have said.

In a worrying development, cluster cases of the outbreak have begun appearing in different regions of China including in Beijing, Chinas sprawling capital with more than 21 million population.

A cluster of coronavirus infection cases was seen in a Beijing hospital, as nine patients including five medical personnel and four hospitalised patients were infected.
Travel can prove a financial challenge for South Africans due to the declining value of the rand, but there are numerous destinations out there that will stretch it that little bit further.

According to finance experts at ABSA, the rand is likely to continue to weaken back to R15.16 against the dollar by the end of the first quarter, 2020. Despite the reduction in the SARB repo rate announced earlier in January, and more predicted interest rate cuts set to come into effect in the near future, ABSA believes that South Africa will conclude the year at a depressing R16.13 against the dollar.This is not good news for the economy, nor is it good news for locals intending or hoping to travel. With the rand consistently losing value, most sought-after holidays have become practically impossible for the average South African to afford.It is for this reason that many South Africans have chosen to set their sights on domestic locations only, booking cheap flights to Durban from Johannesburg or cheap flights to Cape Town from East London. However, what many are not aware of is the fact that it is both possible and affordable to travel abroad, as long as one is aware of the destinations where the rand still holds some value!One of the most popular countries in which the rand still has a decent amount of value iswhere accommodation will set you back around R250 and a decent meal in the region of R120.The average exchange rate sits at 4.59 ARS/1 ZAR and there is the added benefit that travellers flying over on South African passports are allowed to travel Visa-free for a stay of up to 30 days from the date of arrival.is another firm favourite to consider with a similar exchange rate of 4.85 INR/1 ZAR. Here, you can eat for under R100 and rest your weary travel body in decent accommodation for around R240.However, South African travellers will need an e-Visa to visit this popular Eastern country. It is relatively easy to apply for one via Indian Visa Online. Furthermore, there is no need to travel to a Consulate in order for a tourist to have their biometrics captured ahead of their flight  all biometrics will be captured upon the tourists arrival in India.Cheap holidays are also possible in, where the rand currently sits at 956.39 IDR/1 ZAR and, once again, South Africans are able to travel without a Visa for up to 30 days. This popular destination is a little steeper than saywhere the rand reigns supreme. Decent accommodation will cost R400-R500/night and a meal close to R200 on average.We enjoyed a spectacular holiday to Indonesia a few months ago, and were shocked to discover how little it cost us overall. Despite initial reservations, we had a wonderful time and spent hours on the beaches  which were extremely clean and peaceful, comments Molly Keegan from Johannesburg.If international travel is on your agenda in 2020, there is no need to wait until the local currency improves in order to explore the world without incurring debt. With countries such asorall still affordable on the South African Rand, you really can pick smarter for your wallet in 2020.The secret lies in travellers being more mindful about where they go and how they spend their money
The police chief of Washington Township, Northampton County, spent about eight hours in a bar prior to a single-vehicle crash that totaled his car, according to the Northampton County district attorney.

And Chief Scott Miller never called police after the crash, which delayed the police response by about an hour and 15 minutes, according to District Attorney Terence Houck.

That delay may have prevented responding police from gathering evidence necessary to charge the chief with drunken driving, Houck concluded.

Instead, Houck charged Miller on Tuesday with driving at an unsafe speed and failing to report the crash. He crashed around midnight Jan. 6 in front of the home of Michael Drosnock at 5715 Kesslersville Road in Plainfield Township, according to police. Houck took a look at the case after receiving anonymous tips and calls from media, including lehighvalleylive.com.

Miller never called police after the crash, Houck said. Instead, he called Lanes Towing. The tow truck driver couldnt remove the significantly damaged 2008 Nissan Titan from the site and came back with a bigger tow truck. Thats when he called police around 1:15 a.m., Houck said.

Houck said both front fenders were dented, the grille and mirrors were broken off, headlights were broken and the entire passenger side was dented.

It was pretty significant stuff, Houck said.

I dont know how he survived the accident. That truck was in really bad shape, admits Slate Belt Regional Police Department Interim Chief Jonathon Hoadley.

Despite the seriousness of the crash, Miller wasnt injured, Houck said.

Miller did not return a call left at the Washington Township police station on Tuesday. Both charges against him are summary offenses. They wont prevent Miller from carrying his weapon or driving. Its unclear what effect, if any, the investigation will have on his job status. Messages left with the township supervisors and the township solicitor werent returned Tuesday.

Houck said responding Slate Belt police officers Joshua Lowe and Sgt. Alan Daly noted Millers slurred and mushmouth speech. One of them detected the odor of alcohol on his breath, Houck said. But the signs of driving under the influence dissipated during the crash response and the officers determined there wasnt probable cause to charge Miller, according to Hoadley.

Miller only told them he came from Forks prior to the crash. Houcks investigation showed Miller made credit card charges for food and alcohol at Big Woodys bar in Forks Township from 4 p.m. until sometime between 11:30 p.m. and midnight immediately prior to the crash, Houck said. Miller was there with his girlfriend. A bartender at Big Woodys had some indication that Miller was drinking there during that period, Houck said.

Miller was using wintergreen chewing tobacco when police arrived, Houck said. Miller blamed the crash on snowy conditions, according to former Slate Belt Regional Police Chief David Mettin. Mettin was in charge at the time of the crash but retired last week.

The responding officers said the weather conditions prevented them from conducting a field sobriety test of Miller, Houck said.

Hoadley said both officers are trained to spot signs of alcohol impairment. They didnt administer a breath test or even an eye test because they didnt think Miller was significantly impaired, Hoadley said. Theres no way to tell how impaired Miller was immediately after the crash, Hoadley said, because they werent called until later.

The passage of time and the loss of potential evidence, if it existed at all, prevented us from establishing a factual basis for probable cause to charge Mr. Miller with drunken driving, Houck said. Could things have been done differently? Yes.

Houck said body camera footage of the incident shows Miller did nothing to intimidate the officers. Nor did he ask for any special treatment. The audio for Lowes camera cut off at portions of the broadcast, Houck said. That could be a violation of department policy, Houck said.

Hoadley said officers are allowed to turn off their body camera audio to discuss tactical or operational procedures. Thats what happened here, he said. That lack of audio was not malicious or intentional, Hoadley said. However, Lowe forgot to turn his audio back on. Hoadley said he addressed that issue with Lowe.

The issues with the crash response did not warrant any discipline for the officers, Hoadley said. He said hell treat the incident as a learning experience for the two men. Both officers have under three years of experience. It was Dalys first response to a call as a sergeant, Hoadley said.

Hoadley said the officers did not give Miller special treatment. He said Lowe never met Miller and Daly met him two or three times.

Those two guys give their hearts and soul to the department. Theres not an indecent bone in their bodies, Hoadley said.

Homeowner Michael Drosnock wasnt satisfied with Hoadleys explanation. He believes Miller got special treatment.

If that would have been me or you, you know the outcome, Drosnock said.

Drosnock was upset nobody notified him of the crash. Miller took out Drosnocks landscaping, his stone walkway, an iron water pump, some shingles and the pipe leading to his pellet stove. The crash jarred the pellet stove and Drosnock said its fortunate the stove didnt spill ashes and cause a fire.

The stove pipe leading to the pellet stove inside Michael Drosnock's home was ripped out during the crash on Jan. 6, 2020. The old pipe is on the ground. The new one is in the wall.Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com

Hoadley said by the time his officers arrived the truck had been towed near the street. As a result, they werent clear on the extent of the damage to the front of the home. They thought the house was abandoned, Hoadley said. They couldnt see a mailbox. There werent blinds on the windows and when police shined a light inside they didnt see anybody moving. Nobody came outside despite all the noise and commotion.

Drosnock said he sleeps with earplugs and doesnt wake up easily.

I know for a fact that they didnt look in the garage. I have a brand new car in there and a truck. It tells you the place isnt abandoned, Drosnock said.

Hoadley said the officers were shocked the next day when they learned the extent of the damage. He said their lack of notifying Drosnock that night was an honest mistake.

Drosnock was upset with the lack of accountability for both Miller and the responding officers.

It is what it is. Just give me my check in the mail so I can fix my house up, he said.

These photos show the landscaping and walkway in front of Michael Drosnock's home before the crash on Jan. 6, 2020.Courtesy Michael Drosnock

These photos show the front of Michael Drosnock's home after the crash on Jan. 6, 2020.Courtesy Michael Drosnock

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
NEW YORK, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Valued at $1.5 billion in 2019, the global EVSE market share is projected to reach $2.7 billion by 2025, growing with a CAGR of 10.7% between 2020 and 2025. The alternating current (AC) charger category dominated the market in 2019. This is attributed to the preferred usage of AC chargers for day-to-day charging, due to low costs for installation and operation.



Get the Sample Copy of this Report at: https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/electric-vehicle-charging-station-market/report-sample

Increasing usage of direct current (DC) fast chargers for electric vehicles is a trend observed in the electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) market. Through these chargers, vehicles are charged at rapid pace. The rising electrification of vehicles and range anxiety among electric vehicle users are leading both public and private players to install more DC fast chargers at public and commercial places. Furthermore, electric vehicle manufacturers are also installing DC fast charging points at their point-of-sale places. For instance, in November 2019, MG Motor India launched and installed four 50 kW DC public fast-charging stations in Gurugram, India. Hence, rising penetration of DC fast chargers globally is seen as a major trend in the EVSE industry.

Across the world, the governments are playing a major role in the growth of the EVSE market by mandating policies and setting targets related to the adoption of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. Also, the range anxiety of electric vehicle owners is further leading to the installation of more public fast chargers, which require huge investments for robust charging infrastructure by the governments. For instance, in the U.S., the Californias Executive Order includes the proposal to invest $900 million for deploying 250,000 charging points by 2025. These huge investments and targets set by countries are boosting the growth of the EVSE industry.

Browse report overview with 125 tables and 49 figures spread through 174 pages and detailed TOC on "Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Market Research Report: By Type (AC, DC), Application (Public, Private)  Industry Size, Share and Demand Forecast to 2025" at: https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/electric-vehicle-charging-station-market

In 2019, Europe and APAC held the cumulative share of over 65% in terms on value, in global EVSE market. Among these, APAC generated the highest revenue in the global EVSE market in 2019. This is majorly due to the high adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in China. In 2018, the electric vehicle market in China grew by 85% over 2017. Standing at 1.13 million units (around 51%) of global electric vehicle sales, the Chinese electric vehicle market is now around three times the size of the U.S. market and the European market each. Owing to this, the county has built the worlds largest electric vehicle charging infrastructure network.

During the forecast period, North America is estimated to witness the fastest growth in the EVSE market. The sustainable market growth depends on the support provided by the government in the form of tax credits, incentives, and subsidies. Besides, California contributes almost half to the U.S. electric vehicle sales, due to local and state incentives and zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) policy, which mandates significant sales percentage of electric vehicles.

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In recent years, the key players in the EVSE market have taken several strategic measures, such as product launches, partnerships, and client wins. For instance, six charging stations have been installed at MG Motor India dealership places in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad. The charging stations were installed in partnership with Finland-based clean energy organization Fortum. Also, in the same month, BMW South Africa collaborated with Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) to launch BMW ChargeNow electric vehicle charging stations at three South African airports, namely, Cape Town International Airport, O.R. Tambo International Airport, and King Shaka International Airport.

Other significant players in the market include Shanghai Anrui, China Putian Information Industry Group Co. Ltd. (Potevio), China Southern Power Grid Company Ltd., EVgo Services LLC, Blink Charging Co., Wanbang NE, Tesla Inc., Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc., Webasto Charging Systems Inc. (Webasto), Chargemaster Ltd., Efacec Electric Mobility S.A., ABB Ltd., BYD Co. Ltd., and Eaton Corporation plc.

More Reports of Automotive and Transportation By P&S Intelligence

India EVSE Market

Faster growth is expected to be witnessed by DC chargers in the Indian EVSE market. The extensive government plans to install fast-charging stations in tier-1 cities and along national highways and expressways are expected to propel the growth of the category during the forecast period.

https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/india-evse-market

Electric Vehicle Communication Controller Market

Among all regions, APAC held the largest share in the electric vehicle communication controller market in 2018. In the region, China accounted for more than half of the worlds electric vehicle sales in 2018; and thus, it was the largest market for electric vehicle communication controller.

https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/electric-vehicle-communication-controller-market



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Iraq's Independent High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) said on Monday that the death toll from four months of nationwide anti-government protests has reached 536, with 23,545 injured.

A statement by the commission affiliated with the Iraqi Parliament said the death of 519 protesters and 17 security members and the injury of 20,026 protesters and 3,519 security members were registered during the period between October 1, 2019 and January 30, 2020, reports Xinhua news agency.

Ali al-Baiyati, an IHCHR member, said the number of detainees during the same period was 2,713, but only 328 of them remain in detention, according to the statement.

Mass anti-government demonstrations have been continuing in the capital Baghdad and other cities in central and southern Iraq, demanding comprehensive reform, fight against corruption, better public services and more job opportunities.

On Sunday, protesters in Baghdad's Tahrir Square rejected the appointment of Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi as the country's new Prime Minister over his links to the ruling class, Efe news reported.

Allawi, who was Minister of Communications in 2006 and 2010, is "a part of the political process that destroyed the country since 2003", when the US invaded Iraq, toppling Saddam Hussein, according to demonstrators.

They called on fellow activists in other cities to "get ready for a next peaceful escalation," of demonstrations.

On Saturday, President Barham Saleh named Allawi as the new Prime Minister two months after Adel Abdel-Mahdi resigned.

Allawi's appointment ended a two-month period in which Abdel-Mahdi was running the country on an interim basis amid increasing unrest and the escalation of tensions between the US and Iran following the January 3 killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.
The coronavirus could affect the tech products that show up on your doorstep.

Most of the popular best-selling products, like the Apple iPhone, iPad and Amazon Echo speakers, are assembled in Shenzhen and Hengyang, China, not the Wuhan area, where the virus has broken out.

But most products are shipped from Wuhan, and due to the various restraints on travel there, these woes could affect shipments.

TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who historically has the inside scoop on Apple from a manufacturing point of view, said Monday in a note to investors Apple could see a 10 per cent reduction in shipments for the current quarter.

In China, Apple has temporarily closed its Apple retail stores and some offices.

Daniel Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, says that if the virus isnt contained by mid-month, consumers could start seeing a delay of one to two weeks before getting their new phones. If it continues into March, it will have even more of a negative impact.

Apple is expected to stage a spring event to launch a new, budget-priced iPhone, according to Ives, which has been dubbed either the SE2 or iPhone 9 in various trade reports.

The phone is a successor to the SE, which Apple killed off in 2018, and was a smaller, less expensive iPhone for consumers. Ives says if the virus hasnt been contained by then, consumers could see a delay in shipments.

Coronavirus impact on TVs and PCs

Beyond iPhones, TV manufacturers are also getting hit. Five factories in Wuhan produce much of the LCD and OLED panels produced for flat-panel TVs and computers. According to researcher IHS Markit, production could fall by between 10 per cent and 20 per cent this month.

These factories are facing shortages of both labour and key components as a result of mandates designed to limit the contagions spread. In the face of these challenges, top display suppliers in China have informed our experts that a near-term production decline is unavoidable, says David Hsieh, senior director, displays, at IHS Markit.

New giant screen TVs introduced at the annual CES in January historically get produced in the winter, and released in early spring.

In China, tech giant Huawei returned to work Monday, reports Reuters, mostly in the southern province of Guangdong.

The Chinese government has said over 300 people have died from the virus locally.

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Miami, Florida - Francisco Joseph Arcila Ramirez (Arcila), a Colombian national and South Florida resident was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison last week by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez for illegally selling firearms to the National Liberation Army (ELN), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization and a violent paramilitary group operating in South America.

John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBIs Miami Field Office, Diane J. Sabatino, Director, Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Miami Field Office, Robert Cekada, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Office, and Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office made the announcement.

On Oct. 17, 2019, Arcila pleaded guilty to providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

According to court records, on Aug. 16, 2018, Arcila instructed two co-conspirators to illegally purchase six firearms in Miami-Dade County on Arcilas behalf. These firearms included four Draco 7.62mm caliber AK-style pistols and two Zastava M92 7.62mm AK-style pistols. The firearms were then concealed in Husky air-compressors purchased by Arcila at a Miami-area Home Depot and shipped to Barranquilla, Colombia. This shipment also contained approximately one hundred AK-47 ammunition magazines.

On Sept. 5, 2018, Arcila attended a meeting in Colombia, where he met with an ELN weapons broker to discuss the sale of the six firearms Arcila had recently shipped into Colombia. In addition to agreeing to the sale of these six firearms, Arcila and the weapons broker further discussed other future sales, to include firearm magazines and firearm components in the coming months. At the conclusion of this meeting, the weapons broker provided approximately sixty million Colombian pesos as the purchase price for the firearms.

Assistant Attorney General Demers and U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of FBI, CBP, ATF and ICE-HSI. This case was prosecuted by Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorneys Randy A. Hummel and Michael R. Sherwin, and by the Department of Justices National Security Division Trial Attorney David Smith.
Harvey Weinstein's legal team grilled one of the prosecution's key witnesses during cross-examination Monday. Jessica Mann, who testified Friday that Weinstein raped her twice in 2013 when they were in a relationship, fielded questions from Donna Rotunno that targeted her credibility.

Rotunno, the disgraced producer's top lawyer, read an email Mann sent to Weinstein in April 2013, one month after she said she was raped at the DoubleTree Hotel in Manhattan. "I hope to see you sooner than later," it said, per the Hollywood Reporter. In August 2013, Mann emailed him, "I hope some of your genius rubs off on me."

Court is dismissed early Monday after Harvey Weinstein accuser, Jessica Mann, suffers panic attack. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)

"You knew that your words were a problem in your testimony," Rotunno told Mann, according to THR. "You sent him emails telling him how wonderful he was. You sent him emails thanking him. You sent him emails asking for things."

Mann, a hairdresser and former aspiring actress, explained that she sent flattering emails because she was scared of Weinstein and wanted to appear non-threatening.

"There was a reason my behavior was like this," she said. "Its just keeping him happy. I felt safe on email."

At one point, Mann admitted to being "confused" about what she had said in the past, a word Rotunno jumped on.

"Youre confused a lot, Ms. Mann," Rotunno said, which drew a sustained objection from the prosecution. Weinstein's lawyer also suggested Mann maintained a relationship with the former media mogul because she liked having access to Hollywood parties. Rotunno claimed Mann "manipulated" Weinstein during their interactions.

Harvey Weinstein arrives at the courtroom for his sexual assault trial at Manhattan criminal court on Feb. 3, 2020 in New York City. (Photo: Getty Images)

"You made him think that you wanted to be there," Rotunno alleged. "You could have walked away from Harvey Weinstein and never seen him again."

During their relationship, Mann said Weinstein forced her to participate in degrading sexual acts. On Monday, she was asked to elaborate about a time when he allegedly urinated on her. "I was shocked by it," she said. "It was gross."

Rotunno also had Mann read from a letter she wrote to her then-boyfriend in 2014.

Story continues

"My secret and my fear is knowing that a part of the dynamic with Harvey would mean that you would never talk to me again," Mann read in court, according to the Wrap. "I had to work through a lot of illusion  and father issues.

"I told you how sometimes I felt hopeless, that I should just be with an older man because Im a lost cause," Mann continued. "I accepted that my father was that older man.  I in turn would be that kind of woman because of my failed relationships."

Mann read, "Harvey validated me. He always offered to help me in ways that my parents didnt... Harvey was my fathers age and he gave me all the validation I needed.

"I remember the day I realized it was controlling my world because I was sexually assaulted," she stated in the letter. "That story played out where I played into sexual dynamics with people to feel like I would never be taken advantage of again. When that happened I grieved deeply for myself."

According to the Wrap, court was dismissed early Monday when "Mann began uncontrollably sobbing and appeared to be having difficulty breathing. She was not able to regain composure after a short break, telling attorneys she was experiencing a panic attack..." Fox News reported Mann "started sobbing and couldn't stop."

On Friday, Mann emotionally testified about being abused by Weinstein. She claimed he assaulted her when she told him she was dating another man. "The more I fought, the angrier he got," she said, choking back tears. "His anger scared me."

She added, "I entered into what I thought was going to be a real relationship with him and it was extremely degrading from that point on."

Mann claimed she "stayed in contact with [Harvey] for several reasons" including that she thought "he was going to hurt my father."

On Tuesday, Tarale Wulff will be called back to the witness stand to answer more questions. Last week Wulff, a former cocktail waitress, wept as she claimed Weinstein raped her in 2005. She is one of the three "prior bad acts" witnesses allowed.

Harvey Weinstein accuser Jessica Mann testifies in court with shocking details:

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
After large projects for organizations like Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and LA Metro, we recognized the need to concentrate on customer experience, sales and support processes.

Parking Sense, the fastest growing parking technology company in the world, today announced new appointments to its executive leadership team. Ed Robinson has been appointed CEO and executive director, and Matt Taub has been named Executive Vice President of Sales. Both appointments are effective immediately. Former CEO Jake Bezzant has concluded his work with Parking Sense, and will no longer work in the parking industry. Parking Sense founder Paul Collins has resigned from the board of directors and will continue to serve as an advisor to the CEO.

These changes signify a new approach for Parking Sense. Robinson said, After large projects for organizations like Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and LA Metro, we recognized the need to concentrate on customer experience, sales and support processes. This is important not just for Parking Sense, but for the parking automation industry as a whole, which is fragmented and often leaves customers wishing for more.

Robinson has a history in high-growth technology companies, founding website optimization company Aptimize and growing through to acquisition by Riverbed Technology, then working with companies like MuleSoft until successful IPO and NGINX until acquisition by F5. I started my career in the product group at Microsoft, where we learned quickly about connections. Technology doesnt exist in a vacuum - its role is to help people solve serious problems you couldnt solve otherwise. Were in the business of connecting people to solutions, said Robinson.

Matt Taub, EVP of Sales, joins Parking Sense from the manufacturing industry where he pioneered using customer experience management to achieve the highest customer satisfaction in the industry. We start by listening to people, said Taub. Listening for the important problems - the ones that will increase revenue, decrease costs and improve customer experience. This is what we concentrate on. Above all else, you have to be honest, if we cant help you well tell you. It sounds simple, but its a lot of work - solving problems isnt about saying yes to everything.

Taub said, To understand the problem Parking Sense solves, think of the parking experience at a hospital. If you have a 2:00pm appointment, drive to a parking garage at 1:45pm and find its full, youre going to be late for your appointment. Parking is the first and last experience a patient has with a hospital. Late patients are unhappy to begin with, and that puts pressure on the medical staff.

Parking Sense installs sensors and indicators in every space in a parking building, connecting these to signs, the Internet, and a mobile app so people can see parking availability ahead of time. If a hospital has several parking lots, the Parking Sense app and LED signs shows you where to find an empty space and gets you there quickly. The combination of these sensors and tools effectively increases parking availability by 20 percent.

Where it gets really interesting, is when you connect that to the business, said Robinson. Early in 2020 we will release a reservation system for medical centers, so hospitals have the option to reserve parking for patients, further improving the experience. Were also extending this to hospital staff, so they can be assured reserved parking is available during their shift.

Robinson further explained, What were doing here is starting with the best IOT hardware that detects parking occupancy, combining this with a wayfinding service and connecting this to other business services and customer experience management. We are not the only people doing this, but we have are only ones taking it further - using parking to improve customer experience. People park somewhere for a reason, and we are dedicated to improving that experience, so they forget about parking and have more time for what they really want to do.

The parking industry is estimated to be worth between $11 and $20 billion in the US alone, yet the smart/automated parking segment is still in the early stages of growth, with some researchers projecting an aggressive 13.4% CAGR between 2019 and 2025. Parking Sense is well positioned to lead the industry through this exciting period of expansion.

To learn more about Parking Sense, please visit: https://parkingsense.com

About Parking Sense

Parking Sense is a technology company disrupting the parking and transportation industries with a cost- effective, comprehensive and easy-to-install suite of intelligent parking solutions.

Parking Sense technology reduces both the time it takes drivers to find a parking space and related vehicle emissions by half, while offering businesses real-time data that allows them to better manage, track and charge for on and off-street parking. The system is based around low-energy infrared technology that has 99+% accuracy. At its core, the Parking Sense system is a scalable, dynamic, evergreen technology solution that allows clients to integrate additional features and technology over time. Learn more at https://parkingsense.com.


Innovus advanced analytics capabilities is the perfect complement to our platform so customers can leverage data from both technologies to help them make better strategic decisions. - Anne Marie Kirby, CEO CoreHealth

Innovus healthcare analytics platform, benchmarking data and engagement services are now available via CoreHealths total well-being platform. The integration of Innovus proprietary technology into CoreHealths platform helps companies identify waste in their healthcare, retirement and workers compensation spend.

Innovu's state-of-the-art platform integrates carrier data to provide companies transparency in their healthcare spending. By leveraging clinical expertise and benchmarking capabilities, Innovu can identify areas for improvement and pinpoint cost saving opportunities.

We provide clients with a Director of Analytics, who are experts in their field. Each has over 10 years of healthcare experience and meets with their clients on a quarterly basis. Using the Innovu platform, client data, benchmarks and expertise, these meetings identify specific areas of waste, opportunity and emerging risk. The collaborative team of Innovu experts provides clients with transparency, accountability and quantifiable savings in healthcare, says Kevin OBrien, CRO of Innovu.

Innovu identifies specific areas of opportunity by looking at member-level claims data. Automatic feeds are established between Innovu and carriers, data is run through a proprietary enrichment algorithm, then pulled into the cloud-based platform where the claims information is available to clients and their advisors 24/7.

CoreHealths wellness platform powers the health and well-being programs for leading wellness providers so the opportunity for our customers to delve deep into healthcare and program ROI is always top priority, says Anne Marie Kirby, Co-Founder and CEO of CoreHealth Technology. Innovus advanced analytics capabilities is the perfect complement to our platform so customers can leverage data from both technologies to help them make better strategic decisions. We are excited to partner with Innovu.

Combined with powerful analytics and clinical knowledge, this database enables Innovu to accurately identify where advisors should focus their efforts and where clients are spending more than they should. Through collection, aggregation and analysis of thousands of data sets, Innovu has established benchmarks in a variety of claims areas, allowing clients to save money, secure better pricing and identify where they stand against companies of comparable size.

About Innovu

Innovu provides transparency, quantifiables savings and accountability in healthcare to help employers and employees recapture waste and regain their financial security. When you integrate your human capital data, you and your advisors get a 360-degree view of the issues and cost savings opportunities in your population. Together with your benefit advisor, we will use data-driven insights to make strategic decisions, pinpoint opportunities, recapture waste and ultimately regain financial security. To learn more, visit us at innovu.com

About CoreHealth Technologies

CoreHealth Technologies Inc. is a total well-being technology company trusted by global providers to power their health and wellness programs. Our wellness portals help maximize health, engagement and productivity for 3+ million employees worldwide. We believe people are the driving force of organizations and supporting them to make behavior changes to improve employee health is in everyones best interest. With the most flexibility, customizations and integrations of any software in its class, CoreHealths all-in-one, multi-lingual, white-labeled wellness management platform helps grow great wellness companies. Simple to sophisticated, based on you. For more information, visit the CoreHealth website or YouTube Channel.
The driver of the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco bus pulled onto the shoulder, where some of those aboard led the killer off the vehicle, and he was quickly taken into custody, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Brian Pennings said. The driver continued on to the next exit as passengers performed first aid on the wounded, he said.
The American Embassy in Accra has cautioned its citizens to keep a low profile as members of the Inter-Party Resistance against the New Voter Register hold their third demonstration today, Tuesday, 4 February 2020 in Accra to protest the compilation of the new voters register.

The U.S Embassy in an alert said: any demonstration, even one that is expected to be peaceful (such as this one), is volatile and can become confrontational at any moment.

The alert cautioned U.S citizens to avoid the area where the demonstration is taking place, monitor local media for updates, avoid crowds and keep a low profile.

The EC believes the integrity of the 2020 polls could be undermined if a new roll and a new Biometric Voter Management System are not put in place.

However, members of the Inter-Party Resistance against the New Voter Register said a new register with 10 months to the general election is only not an attempt by the EC to rig the election for the governing New Patriotic (NPP) but also a waste of state resources which should be channeled to other areas of development.

---classfmonline
A group of over 100 farmers from across the state staged a protest outside the office of an insurance company in the western suburb of Andheri on Tuesday, demanding insurance for damaged crops.

Farmers, under the banner of Prahar Janshakti Paksh, alleged that the company had not released their claims under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana for the crop damage they have suffered since 2018.

Farmers from Ahmednagar, Nashik, Jamkhed, Karjat and other districts were seen holding crops in their hands and shouting slogans.

The insurance was not being paid despite the fact that farmers had paid premiums on time, one of the protesting farmers said.

"We met the district agriculture officer in Ahmednagar to apprise him about the losses we have incurred, but nothing has been done so far," he added.

A delegation of farmers met an official from the insurance company who assured them that their demands were taken in writing and will be forwarded to the Central government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kirra Consulting, a Los Angeles-based public affairs and government relations consulting firm, today announced that it has expanded its government relations services to the Bay Area with the addition of Anthony Harrison. Harrison, who is based in San Jose, will manage Kirra's local practice in Northern California, representing clients before the City of San Francisco, the City of San Jose, the City of Oakland, and many Bay Area local and regional agencies. Anthony will also focus on Kirra's Renewable Energy practice, which helps support clients as they engage with Community Choice Energy providers and municipal utilities across the State of California.

"Anthony extends our local government relations coverage to Northern California, adding deep knowledge of renewable energy and strong relationships in the public and private sectors to our capabilities in that market," said Alec Evans, partner at Kirra Consulting. "Anthony's hands-on experience with implementing sustainable projects at the local level will be an asset to our firm and to our clients. We are very pleased he has joined our team."

Harrison's background includes more than 12 years of government and campaign experience at the federal, state, and local levels. He specializes in providing government and regulatory affairs strategy and support to private companies, investment firms, and trade associations. His areas of expertise include renewable energy, clean transportation, electric utilities, project finance, and sustainable development.

Prior to joining Kirra, Harrison led local government affairs for Chargepoint, the world's largest electric vehicle charging company, where he oversaw the company's smart city public policy, procurement, and market development efforts within the top 25 U.S. metropolitan areas. Harrison graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from San Jose State University and is a certified LEED Accredited Professional.

"Kirra's collaborative approach works particularly well within the renewable energy market where success often depends on bringing a diverse set of interests together to solve complex issues," said Harrison. "I am looking forward to helping the companies that Kirra represents accomplish their goals."

Kirra's Renewable Energy practice assists companies engaged with Community Choice Energy providers and municipal utilities. It supports leading independent energy providers and other companies that work with local agencies to implement sustainable projects and infrastructure. From utility-scale projects to in-basin solar, Kirra's knowledge of renewables and their local government relationships have helped clients collaborate with municipal utilities to fulfill a commitment to renewable energy.

About Kirra Consulting

Los Angeles-based Kirra Consulting represents technology, renewable energy, infrastructure, engineering, aviation, construction, advertising, food service, and venue management clients in California, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia. Kirra assists businesses with their interactions with all levels of government. Its services include government advocacy, business development, crisis management, media relations, and grassroots coalition building.

Contact: Alec Evans, 310-893-0647, [email protected]

SOURCE Kirra Consulting

Related Links

http://kirraconsulting.com


A 12-year-old mystery has been solved, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez announced Tuesday.

A 42-year-old Harrison man has been charged with murder and robbery of a Jersey City truck driver on Aug. 24, 2007. The prosecutor did not provide details of how they connected Joel Esquijarrosa, whose Facebook page says he is also a truck driver, to the fatal stabbing of Rafael Angel Aguero Espinoza, who was 50.

Esquijarrosa was arrested Monday night, hours after he was arrested by Harrison police on criminal mischief charges, Suarez said. Harrison officials notified the prosecutors office, and after a brief investigation, Esquijarrosa was charged in the 2007 murder.

Espinoza, bound hand and foot, was found with multiple stab wounds inside the cabin of his tractor trailer, which was parked on Senate Place and Van Winkle Avenue in Jersey City. Investigators determined that Espinoza was murdered during a robbery. No arrests were made at the time.

Esquijarrosa is charged with murder, felony murder, robbery, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon. The 42-year-old is currently being held in Hudson County jail in Kearny.

The prosecutors office has filed a motion for pretrial detention of the defendant.

The prosecutor at the time Edward DeFazio, said at the time that two paychecks belonging to Espinoza had been cashed after his death, and was hopeful that the killer would be caught quickly.

Fellow truck drivers said Espinoza was known for carrying large amounts of cash, leading investigators to believe the victim may have known his attacker, DeFazio said at the time. Detectives said they found thousands of dollars in his room, but none in the cab or on his body.

Espinoza worked for the Jersey City-based Mariel Waste Removal, which hauled trash from New York City to landfills in Pennsylvania. A roommate described him as a funny guy and a good friend who didnt smoke or drink and was trying to learn English from a DVD.
The Goa Legislative Assembly has become the first to pass a 'congratulatory motion' in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has claimed. Sawant said this reflected the real gratitude of people of Goa towards the "historic decision" taken by the BJP-led central government.

The state Assembly on Monday passed the motion congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for enacting CAA, amid a walkout by members of the opposition Congress and Goa Forward Party.

"I am delighted that Goa Assembly has had the privilege of being the first to pass a congratulatory motion in support of #CAA2019. This is the real sentiment of gratitude and support from the people of Goa towards the historic decision by PM @narendramodi ji and HM @AmitShah ji," Sawant said in a tweet late Monday evening.

BJP Goa president Sadanand Tanavade on Tuesday said the coastal state leads the way in support of the CAA.

"Goa leads the way in support of CAA. After successful, massive rally in Panaji, now the Goa Legislative Assembly has passed a congratulatory motion, supporting the CAA. Sentiments of the Goan people have to be resounded in the assembly. #GoaSupportCAA," Tanavade tweeted on Monday evening.

In the 40-member House, the ruling BJP has 27 MLAs including the speaker, who all were present during the passage of congratulatory motion, besides two Independent legislators who support the saffron party-led government. NCP MLA Churchill Alemao, who also supports the state government, was absent.

Majority of Catholic MLAs of the BJP supported the motion, which was moved by Atanasio Monserratte and Clafacio Dias on the first day of the Assembly's budget session. The opposition MLAs in the House include five members of the Congress, three of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), one of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and an Independent.

Members of the Congress and GFP, led by Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat, on Monday created ruckus and rushed to the Well of the House demanding that Speaker Rajesh Patnekar disallow the motion. They later staged a walkout saying they had submitted a notice seeking a discussion on the new citizenship law and the proposed country-wide National Register of Citizens (NRC). The CAA, under which non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship, came into force from January 10. It was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019.
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Drawing comparison on various performance parameters between erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) state and the "model" state of Gujarat, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday once again questioned the government's move over removal of Article 370 and downgrading the state into two Union Territories (UTs).

In his speech on the debate in the Rajya Sabha on Motion of Thanks to the President's joint address, the senior Congress leader dismissed the arguments made by the government strip the hill state of its special status.

Citing data of the RBI and the central government, Azad said that J&K outscored Gujarat on multiple parameters such as employment, poverty, girl education and average attendance of children in schools.

"As per RBI Handbook of 2019, the unemployment rate in J&K was 5.3 per cent while the all India average in the same period was 6.1 per cent. Poverty ratio in the state was 10.4 per cent while the All India ratio was 21.9 per cent," he said.

Azad noted that these were the key arguments for abrogation of Article 370. The former Minister then went on comparing various indicators of the erstwhile J&K and Gujarat.

"Those who attended the 11th and 12th class in 2015-16 in J&K was 58.6 per cent. The same for Gujarat, a model state, was 43 per cent. All India figure was 56 per cent. Girls with over 15 years of age who attended school for 8 years in case of J&K was 87 per cent in comparison to 75 per cent in J&K," he said.

Azad also took on the government for NRC in the North East saying the move had left the entire region burning.

"No one is with you in the Northeast. You have used trickery and deceit. People in the region are not with your ideology," he said.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Alabama's top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Lindsey Wood

Nominated by Thorsby High School

Lindsey, a junior at Thorsby High School, has made and sold more than 10,000 hair bows over the past seven years to provide more than $7,000 worth of essential items for children entering the foster care system. Lindsey was inspired to create her "Bows That Bless" initiative by her best friend, who was adopted after being in foster care. From conversations with her friend and her adoptive mother, Lindsey said she learned that "when children enter foster care, they usually have nothing more than the clothes on their backs." Coincidentally, at about the same time, Lindsey learned how to sew hair bows and realized that she could help foster kids by selling her handmade creations.

She sells each bow, which takes about five minutes to make, at schools, festivals and boutiques. She also hosts bow-making parties to encourage other students to raise money for local foster parents, and organizes breakfasts for National Foster Care Month and National Adoption Month. With the money she raises, Lindsey fills backpacks or diaper bags with items such as clothing, pajamas, bottles, blankets and stuffed animals, and donates them to agencies that place children with foster parents. "This makes the process of entering foster care more comforting and smoother for the children," said Lindsey. In addition, she helps organize countywide clothing drives for a children's home, speaks at schools to advocate on behalf of foster children, and volunteers at a foster care camp each year.

Middle Level State Honoree: Brooke Bennett

Nominated by Saint James School

Brooke, a seventh-grader at Saint James School, has worked with her twin, Breanna, to assemble and distribute approximately 200 bags of feminine hygiene products and toiletries every month to girls who otherwise might have to miss school during their periods because they can't afford personal care products. Their mother used to work at a school in a low-income area, and often brought personal care items because many girls there couldn't buy their own. "I thought that girls at other schools must be having the same problem," said Brooke. From research, she learned that "period poverty" keeps 20 percent of girls out of school during their monthly cycle because they don't have the proper protection. "People often think this is a problem that affects only poor girls in Africa, Asia and South America," said Brooke. "However, girls right here in Alabama and throughout the United States suffer, too."

So Brooke persuaded her sister to help her address this need. Last July, on their 12th birthday, they asked for donations instead of gifts, and convinced friends to do the same. After recruiting a group of student and adult volunteers and filing for nonprofit status, the sisters began collecting monetary and product donations through Facebook, a GoFundMe page and media interviews. Every month, the sisters assemble kits that include sanitary napkins, tampons, wet wipes, lotion, deodorant and other toiletries, which are then distributed to girls in need. An important component of their project is education, so they also include information from the Alabama Department of Health about menstrual health and how to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized four other Alabama students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Alabama's Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Anna Lee, 17, of Saraland, Alabama, a senior at UMS-Wright Preparatory School, partnered with a friend on a service project to benefit local teens experiencing housing instability; together, they collected and donated more than $1,500 in gift cards, as well as basic toiletries and linens. Anna spread awareness of her project by speaking at a school assembly, creating flyers and promoting a social media and email campaign.

Chayce Pyfrom, 17, of Huntsville, Alabama, a senior at Oakwood Adventist Academy, regularly volunteers his time to Free2Teach, an organization that has given free school supplies to more than 3,800 teachers in three local school districts; he helps sort and organize donations, complete inventories and has recruited his brother to start volunteering as well. Chayce was inspired to start this activity by his grandmother, who regularly contributes her time to charitable initiatives.

Anushka Sikdar, 17, of Mobile, Alabama, a junior at Alabama School of Mathematics & Science, founded "Light The Way," through which she has donated more than 500 homemade pillows to children with cancer; along with sewing the pillows, she has held pillow-making events and fabric drives, and auctioned off pillows to raise money for the Mitchell Cancer Institute. Anushka was inspired to start this initiative after her brother died from acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Anna Wilkes, 18, of Pelham, Alabama, a senior at Pelham High School, helped create a community service project, "Kits For Kids," that provided backpacks filled with clothes, toys and hygiene products to children in the foster care system; her efforts included running a fundraising campaign and organizing a toy and clothing drive. Anna and her service group ultimately raised more than $2,400, which they used to buy additional materials and donate to a foster care agency.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.
Scammers are using fake fundraising pages in a bid to profit from the deaths of four children who were struck by a ute in Sydneys west as they walked to buy ice cream.

As the Abdallah family and the community of Oatlands struggle to come to terms with the tragic events on Saturday evening that killed three siblings Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna, 8, alongside their 11-year-old cousin Veronique, their unimaginable grief hasnt been enough to deter online fraudsters.

Thousands of dollars have been wrongly raised across several pages posing as official fundraisers for the family after the four children died when a ute allegedly driven by Samuel William Davidson mounted the footpath along Bettington Road and struck them.

One of the fake fundraisers shared online. Source: Facebook

Davidson allegedly returned a 0.15 blood-alcohol content reading  three times the legal limit.

As the wider community rallies around Danny and Leila Abdallah, who revealed her forgiveness for Davidson, tributes and flowers continue to be left at a makeshift memorial for the children.

However, some people who have tried to make a financial contribution to the family have been duped by a series of fake fundraisers online, NSW Police said.

Police have received a number of reports regarding allegedly fraudulent crowd-funding pages relating to the victims of the Oatlands crash, a spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia.

Leila Abdallah at the scene of the crash on Sunday. Source: AAP

Family friends took to social media on Monday to warn of multiple pages circulating online.

A fake Facebook account was set up yesterday using Leilas name regarding a fundraiser for the children, Rosie Lancaster said.

Please, please make others aware that this is fake. DO NOT DONATE.

Dozens responded to her post in disbelief.

That's just disgusting, so sad thinking there's lowlife scum out there using such a tragedy to try benefit themselves, one person said.

Antony, Angelina and Sienna. Source: Nine

Police urged the public to remain vigilant online.

Always check the legitimacy of people asking for donations, a spokesperson said.

Story continues

Do not donate via fundraising pages on platforms that do not verify the legitimacy of the fundraiser or that do not guarantee your money will be returned if the page is determined to be fraudulent.

A friend of the Abdallahs, Stuart Bonds, has since set up a legitimate fundraiser for the family on Facebook.

Money cannot solve this. But it can allow their father, Danny to stay at home with his wife and children where hes needed, he explained.

Pages believed to be fake should be reported to Scamwatch, police said.

Anyone who has paid money to a scammer should contact their bank and Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
I dont know about you, but Id say that Speaker Lucys got some splainin to do. Hey, Lucy -- Nancy, that is -- what exactly is the point of staging an impeachment when the other party actually has a majority in the Senate? Hello? Anybody there?

Actually, I think the rot started way back on the night of November 8, 2016, when Hillary Clinton didnt concede the election.

See, if I were the dark Sorotic force behind the Democratic Party I would have gotten the leaders together in a room on November 9 and then called up Hillary Clinton to tell her to get her nose out of the Chardonnay and concede the election right now -- or we take another look at the emails, know-what-I-mean.

Thats because I believe that the one thing our democracy needs to do is have proper alternation of the parties in power. That means that the losing presidential candidate gets up on election night and concedes the election and says we are all Americans and wait until next time.

But Hillary Clinton didnt do that. And the rest of the Democratic leaders didnt either. In retrospect you can see what a weak, feeble decision that was. Because it licensed all the usual suspects in the activist community to rile up their supporters and encourage the deep state actors to continue their anti-Trump shenanigans and all the rest of the last three years of epic stupidity.

Now, because Im a profound sexist, I believe that folly issues from the fact that Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi are women. What is needed in the agony of defeat is male courage, the willingness to fall on your sword and take the blame. Honor among men is courage, the reputation to stand with your brothers in combat. In the extreme case it is the Sacrificial Hero that gives up his life so that others may live.

Trouble is that honor among women is chastity, being pure and sweet and never making a mistake, and knowing when to wear white and when to wear black when sitting in the Speakers chair. So Hillary Clinton could not admit her failure. And Nancy Pelosi did not have the courage to fall on her sword and resign her speakership rather than give in to a stupid and divisive impeachment. Notice how she calls Trumps impeachment a stain. Of course.

So Id say that today that, thanks to these two women, the Democratic Narrative is demolished. Hey, it worked for decades, but sooner or later every Narrative bites the dust.

We Americans need a New Narrative, and right now I am pushing Curtis Yarvins notion that America is three social layers: Gentry, Commoners, and Clients.

The thing about Gentry is that they expect us to maintain their dignity in high-status careers. In Jane Austen novels the Gentry maintained their dignity with their income from land and the Funds. And as rectors and vicars in the state church. Today the Gentry is educated and expects professorships, lifetime gigs in the State Department and the intelligence community, and, for recreation, ordering the Commoners around.

Whatabout Commoners? In Charles Dickens novels they abounded. In David Copperfield they included the Peggottys, Mr. Micawber, Uriah Heep, getting by as best they can. Today, of course, Commoners are Trump voters, bossed around by the modern Gentry and reviled as deplorables and racist-sexist-homophobes and fed up with it.

Clients used to be serfs and then landless laborers and then the workers. Today they are the Little Darlings of the ruling class and the Gentry.

The world is changing. It used to be the old three-class system of landowners and capitalists, the middle class, and the workers. Now its educated Gentry, Commoners, and Clients. Gentry used to be the middle class; Commoners used to be the workers.

On this Narrative, the Commoners are just starting to achieve strategic concentration, and so, all of a sudden, politicians like Donald Trump in the US and Nigel Farage in the UK have emerged to give the Commoners a voice.

And the Gentry dont like it.

Guess what. If the Gentry had conceded the election in 2016 then Trump would just have been an ordinary president doing a bit of deregulation and tariff manipulation. But because they fought him for three years he has now won what the strategerists call a decisive victory that will echo down the years.

Hey Nance and Hillary! Nice going, ladies! We couldnt have done it without you!

I understand that Nigel Farage is coming to Trumps State of the Union speech. Do you think that Trump will recognize the divisive British populist in the gallery? And do you think that Farage will get a thumping standing ovation from all the Republicans?

And do you think that Sandy O and the Ladies in Stain-free White will sit on their hands?

Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also get his American Manifesto and his Road to the Middle Class.
NAPLES - Italian explorer Max Calderan walked more than 1,000 kilometres in the Rub Al Khali desert, the so-called "Empty Quarter", a piece of unexplored desert that he crossed in 18 days, a feat that no one had ever done before.



"The border police were incredulous when I told them that I had just finished crossing the Empty Quarter," Calderan said.



"They couldn't believe that I had been walking for 1,000 kilometres," he said.



"The last leg I faced in total solitude. My team was waiting for me at the finish and even the Saudi company that was managing logistics and security refused to proceed due to the danger of the route," he said.



Temperatures are extremely high in that section, the sand is boiling hot, and the dunes are much more imposing and difficult to climb compared to the ones that come before it.



"It was a trip through hell," Calderan said.



The exploration didn't produce scientifically significant discoveries, due to the lack of genetic samples available for collection in the desert.



However, Calderan encountered a profound difference in the territory compared to what is on satellite maps, and he marked out more than 100 points of interest along the route, which has been named the Calderan Line in recognition of his achievement.



The Calderan Line will soon be included on geographic maps of Saudi Arabia.



The Italian explorer is a physiological anomaly - DNA tests revealed that he has extremely low levels of cortisol, showing that his body can tolerate levels of extreme stress better than the average person.



This is why he dedicated himself to crossing the most treacherous sands in the world, completely alone, surviving in conditions that go beyond human limits. In 2014, Al Jazeera produced the documentary "Son of the Desert" on his explorations.



Al Madhi, as the Beduins call him, now holds 13 world records for desert exploration, including a crossing for 90 consecutive hours in Oman along the line of the Tropic of Cancer, and a crossing of 360 kilometres in 75 hours (in the summer, no less) in Saudi Arabia.



Max Calderan's extraordinary accomplishment will be the subject of the documentary "Into the Lost Desert", filmed by a crew that followed him on his incredible journey.
Peru's ex-president Alberto Fujimori was rushed from his prison cell to a hospital with an acute respiratory ailment, Trend reports citing Reuters.

Because Fujimori "also has an underlying (health) problem, which is atrial fibrillation, it calls for a complete evaluation," Aguinaga told Radio Programas del Peru news network.

Fujimori, 81, is serving a 25-year sentence for human rights violations.

He was admitted to the Peruvian-Japanese Centenary Clinic in the capital Lima's Jesus Maria district, said his doctor.

He was convicted of ordering the slayings of anti-government activists in 1991 and 1992.

In 2017, he was pardoned by then president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. The pardon was later overturned by the courts and he returned to prison in early 2019.
Update: Hayward has been located and is safe, according to police.

NEWAYGO COUNTY, MI -- Authorities are looking for community help in locating a man who has been reported missing.

Police said Leon Hayward, 69, was last seen around 9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3, at his sisters residence in Baldwin. The man was reportedly heading home to Bitely -- a community within Lilley Township of Newaygo County.

The drive should have taken him about 20 minutes driving time, according to police. He was reported missing later that evening.

Hayward drives a 2003 Cadillac four-door with a Michigan license plate (EAP8737).

Police ask anyone with information about Haywards whereabouts to contact Newaygo County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Don Austin at 231-689-7303.
This time last year, Alfred Portale was in the middle of his fourth decade as the chef of Gotham Bar & Grill. The loftlike dining room still looked so much like 1985 that it could have served as a set for The Bonfire of the Vanities, in the unlikely event that any studio wanted to remake it. The cooking may not have been in the vanguard any longer, but Mr. Portale was still wringing fresh pleasures out of ideas he had been refining for years.

Meanwhile, Victoria Blamey, a chef who cut her teeth in kitchens that practiced the latest avant-garde techniques, was between jobs, taking a long eating tour while she looked for inspiration and a new place to show off her stark, contemporary cooking.

Somehow, files containing the fates of these two chefs must have ended up on the desk of some cosmic prankster who decided it would be amusing if they switched places, Freaky Friday-style. Today, Ms. Blamey is the chef at Gotham and Mr. Portale no longer works there. Since November, he has been found at Portale, a few blocks northwest in Chelsea.
New York, Feb 4 : Technology failed the Democratic Party when it launched the process of selecting its candidate to run against President Donald Trump in the November 3 election and it could not announce the results as scheduled.

The results reporting app introduced by the party crashed on Monday in Iowa, the first of the 50 US states to hold the party election.

Officials ruled out a hack on the system after the party's Iowa unit said that it found "inconsistencies in the reporting system" and was conducting quality checks.

"This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion," Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Mandy McClure said.

On the Republican side, the election, which was a mere formality, went off smoothly with Trump getting 97.1 per cent of the votes against two rivals, who each polled a little over 1 per cent.

Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale taunted the Democrats with a tweet: "They can't even run a caucus and they want to run the government." In the US election system, party members vote to elect their candidate for the presidential election and it traditionally starts with Iowa.

The state follows the caucus system, which uses open balloting rather than secret voting, with registered party members gathering at 7 p.m. in voting precincts and standing in spots assigned to different candidates.

Party election officials tally their numbers twice. After the first tally, voters for the lagging candidates are allowed to exercise their second preferences and a second and final tally is made.

But party election officials could not transmit the results using the app and the backup phone reporting system using manual tabulation also failed.

Party officials said the caucuses were secure because there was a paper trail and precincts were being asked to send in photos of the local tallies.

As of Tuesday morning, the results were not announced.

The Washington Post's entrance poll of voters going into the voting precincts showed that it was a tight race between the leftist candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders, and the centrist, Pete Buttigieg, the Mayor South Bend, Indiana.

The poll showed former Vice President Joe Biden lagging behind them.

Buttigieg declared himself the winner in a speech to his supporters, calling it a victory for his inclusive policies that eschewed extreme positions -- a criticism directed against Sanders.

Sanders told his supporters sarcastically: "I have a strong feeling that at some point the results will be announced and when they are, I have a feeling we will be doing well." His campaign was hurt by the impeachment of Trump, which required him to be in Washington while his rivals who were not Senators campaigned in Iowa.

If Biden is found to have fared badly when the results are known, he could take advantage of the system's failure and question the validity of the caucus lessening the blow of defeat.

Biden's campaign demanded that before they announce the results the state party official give a full explanation of the quality control for the system they are using and give the campaign a chance to respond.

Adding fuel to the fire, Parscale said in a statement: "It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process." Without waiting for the results, most of the candidates left Iowa for New Hampshire, where the next election based on secret ballots and known as primaries will be held on February 11.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
Parks was taught by her grandfather never to accept mistreatment, advice she took to heart. Of her bus protest, she wrote: I had been pushed around all my life and felt at this moment that I couldnt take it anymore. When she asked the arresting officer why we had to be pushed around, he said he didnt know. The law is the law. You are under arrest. 
Eastwood in Sydney's north west has become a veritable ghost town amid fears of the deadly coronavirus.

Businesses in the usually bustling area are struggling as people avoid the suburb partly due to hysteria on social media saying the suburb was hit by the outbreak.

Some shop owners have reported a downturn over more than 70 per cent since the virus reached Australia.

Locals have shared footage of the deserted suburb, showing eerily empty streets and vacant car parks.

One man wearing a face mask uploaded a video to Instagram showing a shopping centre car park with just one vehicle.

One man wearing a face mask uploaded a video to Instagram showing a shopping centre car park with just one vehicle

Another man shared a photo of an intersection in Eastwood with just a single car during what would normally be peak-hour traffic

'Ohhh no it used to be full parking,' he wrote.

Another man shared a photo of an intersection in Eastwood with just a single car during peak-hour traffic.

A photo of Eastwood Shopping Centre shows an eerily quiet main strip.

'I can seriously say Eastwood was a bit quiet today. Even the car park was empty. No matter how hot the day is. People will still be at Eastwood. But today was sure dead empty,' one person commented.

'Eastwood is never like this,' said another.

Ryde councillors are now launching an emergency 'Return to Eastwood' PR campaign to regenerate the area.

Mayor Jerome Laxale and deputy mayor Simon Zhou have put forward a motion to promote local businesses to get owners back on their feet.

The 'Eastwood Small Business Hardship' motion has called on the general manager to set up a $500,000 Small Business Hardship Fund to help Eastwood Town Centre.



Part of the money will go towards subsidised gift vouchers to revamp the local economy.

Mr Laxale said the main focus of the campaign was to educate people about coronavirus in the area to avoid misinformation being spread.

Ryde councillors are now launching an emergency 'Return to Eastwood' PR campaign to regenerate the area

'Eastwood has been targeted with false information. The fact is Eastwood is safe and we want to educate the public and get the right facts out there,' he told the Northern District Times.

'The last three weeks it's been a ghost town and it's an incorrect perception of Eastwood. It's not good for local businesses and local employees.

'People are staying away from Eastwood and there is nothing out there to say Eastwood is not safe. I'm calling on the local MP Victor Dominello and the Premier to do the same.'

There have been 12 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, and more than 20,600 cases and 426 deaths globally.

The cases have occurred in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
While this story from the Royal Air Force Museum is very much at the edge of our remit, we are deeply committed to helping younger generations get involved in aviation  and this program for high schoolers at RAF Museum Cosford definitely fits within that category After all, who among us wouldnt have loved to have had this opportunity growing up?

Have you got what it takes to be a STAAR?

The Royal Air Force Museum is offering young adults aged 14-15 years the chance to become a high-flyer in STEM, as applications for the highly commended Summer Time Advanced Aerospace Residency (STAAR) programme officially open on 10 February 2020.

With 60 places up for grabs, the Museum is calling on secondary school teachers across the UK to nominate students who they feel demonstrate an interest in and aptitude for one or more STEM subjects. Successful STAAR recruits will experience life as an RAF engineering trainee, and over a five-day period they will live, work, learn and solve tasks together.

With exclusive access to real aircraft and engines, this immersive hands-on programme will see recruits exploring aircraft design, gaining an understanding of an aircrafts needs and test how innovative new materials and technologies are changing the landscape of aviation. Recruits will learn about important historical missions, explore current conflicts and potential ways in which technology will need to evolve in the future. Working together in teams, recruits will plan mock missions, fly drones to gather intelligence, and by the end of the week develop their own advanced aerospace system.

Julie Brierley, Royal Air Force Museum Cosford Access and Learning Manager said: The STAAR week will challenge participants and encourage them to think outside the box. The opportunities and resources that STAAR offers students is second to none and invaluable for those interested in future careers in the world of advanced aerospace. We hope by the end of the week, they will leave with a sense of achievement and an enthusiasm for the future.

STAAR is fully funded by the global aerospace and defence technology giant, Northrop Grumman, in partnership with the Royal Air Force Museum. Created to address a skills gap in the STEM industries, STAAR is an engaging programme that develops the skills needed by the next generation of engineers and innovators, encouraging them to study and consider taking up careers in STEM related fields. The programme of activities is delivered by the RAF Museum in association with RAF Cosford, RAF Youth and STEM team and Tablet Academy.

Nick Chaffey, Chief Executive of Northrop Grumman UK and Europe said: The STAAR programme is an incredible opportunity for students to learn new skills and experience the challenges and excitement of the aerospace industry. We are proud to support STAAR because we know it is vital to bring classroom STEM studies to life and provide young people with the opportunity to learn practical skills; it also gives them visibility of tangible career paths that they can pursue. Our work with the teams at the Royal Air Force Museum and RAF Cosford makes the STAAR programme stand out as an exemplar of hands-on STEM activity and we hope inspires the next generation into the aerospace sector.

Two STAAR residential weeks are planned for up to 60 students and will be held jointly at RAF Cosford and the RAF Museum Cosford on 20-24 and 27-31 July 2020, with 30 recruits taking part each week. Two places each week will go to students on the Jon Egging Trust Blue Skies programme. Participants will also work towards a CREST Awardand an Industrial Cadet Award during the programme.

Applications open on 10 February and must be completed by a teacher explaining why their student is suitable. For more information on the STAAR programme visit rafmuseum.org/STAAR. The closing date is 24 April, successful applicants will be notified early May. The class of 2020 will then be invited to attend the RAF Cosford Air Show on 14 June, where they will have the opportunity to meet with fellow recruits, STAAR partners and enjoy a day viewing the very pinnacle of the aerospace industry.
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Statewide early voting began Feb. 6, but only at the office of each local election authority. That expanded on March 2. In the city, after a court order, early voting sites are staying open on Election Day, although election officials urged people to go to their usual polling places first. Officials also say to check the address of your polling place, because it may be relocated because of coronavirus concerns.
The plan to move a Patriot anti-missile battery from Kuwait into Iraq to protect U.S. troops against another attack from Iran is on hold. It requires approval from the Baghdad government, which is in turmoil, the Pentagon said.

The U.S. has yet to receive assurances from Baghdad that the Patriot would be allowed into the country. "That conversation is still ongoing," Pentagon chief spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said at a briefing Monday.

The presence of an estimated 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and the movement of equipment are "at the invitation of the host nation," he said.

"We like to give our partners, and we like to give our friends, a heads-up on things that are coming and like to seek their permission," he added.

Related: Army May Send Missile-Defense Systems to Middle East to Counter Future Iran Strikes

Hoffman spoke ahead of an unannounced visit Tuesday to Iraq by Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, who met with the new leadership in Baghdad. He also was to tour Al Asad Air Base, where a recent Iranian airstrike took place, according to The Associated Press.

Al Asad was the main target of Iranian ballistic missile strikes on Jan. 8, in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike Jan. 3 at Baghdad International Airport that killed Iranian Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani.

Initial reports following the Al Asad attack claimed there were no U.S. casualties, but at least 64 troops have since been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and are eligible for Purple Hearts if the service branches approve.

The attack underlined that there are no Patriot or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems in place in Iraq that might have been able to intercept the incoming Iranian missiles.

However, Hoffman said, "The missile defense systems are not the only defensive asset we have."

He said the U.S. also relies on dispersal of forces, hardened bunkers and early warning systems, a possible reference to the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) of satellites for detecting missile launches worldwide.

In a White House address following the Al Asad attack, President Donald Trump praised "an early warning system that worked very well."

At a Pentagon news conference last Thursday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said, "We need the permission of the Iraqis" to put the Patriot system into the country.

"That's one issue. There may be others with regard to the placement, things like that, more tactical, operational -- it's a combination of things," he said.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, who joined Esper at the news conference, said it is impossible to know whether the Patriots would have been effective against the Iranian missiles, but "that's what they're designed to do."

The U.S. effort to put a Patriot battery into Iraq comes amid months of deadlock in the Iraqi parliament on responding to waves of violent anti-corruption and anti-Iran street protests.

In December, Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi resigned but stayed on in a caretaker capacity as the parliament was unable to agree on a successor.

Following the strike that killed Soleimani, the parliament backed a resolution demanding the withdrawal of American troops, but the U.S. ignored the move and has since resumed operations against the Islamic State, according to Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve.

Last Saturday, Iraqi President Barham Salih stepped in to break the gridlock in parliament and named Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, a Shiite and a former communications minister, as the new prime minister.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Read more: 2 Navy Jets Fly Like Drones in First-of-Its Kind Experiment
Two AirAsia chiefs stepped reportedly step aside for at least two months as authorities and airlines look into claims that aerospace paid the company $50 million to secure a plane order. Last week, Airbus said that it had set aside up to 3.6 billion euros to settle a corruption probe by authorities in Britain, France and the United States.

Both employees to leave position immediately

In a late Monday filing on Malaysias stock market, the budget carrier reportedly said that its chief executive Tony Fernandez and executive chairman Kamarudin Meranun would leave positions immediately. It later said in a statement that both the employees were to stand down for a period of two months or any other time period the company would deem fit.

Read: File Status Report On Money Laundering Probe Against AirAsia Officials, HC Tells ED

Read: Remove Tags To Get More Women In Workforce: Tata Sons Chairman

The airlines board formed a committee to review the allegations stating Kamarudin and Fernandez would reportedly be kept as company advisors and redesignated as non-independent non-executive board members. Previously after Airbuss confession of setting aside money to settle corruption probe, Malaysia based AirAsia was named in a bribery investigation by Britains serious fraud office (SFO0 allegedly implicating the two company executives.

Read: Sensex, Nifty Recover From Budget Despair As Manufacturing Data Raise Hopes

Read: Bengaluru Airport Receives Threat Call, Air Asia Plane Cordoned Off

Both Kamarudin and Fernandes have denied any wrongdoing. In a joint statement, both of them said that they would not harm the very companies that we spent our entire lives building up to their present global status." The airline previously said it was not involved in any way with the SFO's Airbus investigation, nor was it given an opportunity to provide any information to the fraud investigator office. On Saturday, Malaysia's anti-corruption commission said that it was empowered to investigate any act of corruption committed by citizens or permanent residents anywhere outside the country. chief commissioner Latheefa Koya said that in the case of the Airbus-AirAsia disclosures, he could confirm that the Malaysia Anti Corruption Committee is in touch with the British authorities and has already begun investigating the matter.
On Feb. 11, the record-smashing phenomenon Hamilton: An American Musical will make its Canadian debut at the Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto. Hamilton follows the life of American founding father Alexander Hamilton as he rises from a poor orphan in the Caribbean island of Nevis to a leading revolutionary in New York City to the first treasury secretary of the United States.

It has taken five years since the shows Broadway debut for a tour to come to Canada. In that time, Donald Trump has succeeded Barack Obama as president of the United States and the country has transformed. American news now includes migrant children in cages, white supremacist attacks, and the president soliciting foreign election interference.

According to a 2018 survey, Canadian opinion of the United States is at an all-time low and just 13 per cent of Canadians approve of President Trump.

Hamilton offers audiences an escape by transporting viewers not just to the 18th century, but also to the comforts of the Obama era  when we rooted for Americans, saw a Black man as president, and believed in the fundamental justice of American democracy.

Hamilton presents a version of the United States and its history that is unifying, reassuring, and hopeful. But while this celebratory account provides a welcome balm to the distress of the Trump era, its inaccuracies distort America then and America now.

The first act depicts the American Revolution as a struggle between good and evil, although what makes the Patriots heroic and the British villainous remains unsaid. Audiences are left to project onto the American side their own ideas of a just cause. The show certainly does not grapple with why many American colonists (historians estimate up to 20 per cent) chose to remain loyal to the Crown.

Instead, we get a revolutionary movement that is unified and undeniably righteous. A reminder of when Canadians could trust the United States as a country striving for, if not always achieving, good.

Hamilton omits the darker elements of Americas founding story. Slavery, for instance, is relegated to an occasional mention and there are no enslaved characters in the show. The inclusion of these stories would certainly complicate the one-dimensional portrayal of the American Revolution. After all, for the thousands of enslaved people who fled to British lines during the War of Independence, liberty lay with the Empire, not the Patriots.

Race, however, is central to the telling of Hamilton. With the exception of King George III, the main cast and much of the ensemble are comprised of actors of colour. The shows race-conscious casting challenges audiences to imagine African-American, Asian-American, and Latino men in positions of power. A vision that Obamas election made manifest and Trumps has put into question.

But the casts diversity further elides the racism at the centre of the nations founding. For instance, George Washingtons portrayal by a Black man erases the fact that the real Washington owned hundreds of enslaved African-Americans. The wealth this uncompensated labour created enabled Washingtons political and military career.

Immigration, not slavery, is the shows core theme and the titular characters rise from immigrant to cabinet member offers a rebuttal to the Trump administrations xenophobic rhetoric. Its a worthy message and one that will likely land with Toronto audiences. But the real Hamilton would have balked. During the John Adams administration, he worked to nearly triple the naturalization period and empower the president to imprison or deport non-citizens without a trial. Hamilton was no friend to immigrants.

Nor is his life evidence of a just, meritocratic America. Hamiltons race, language, and status as a free person granted him privileges that most 18th century migrants to North America, the majority of whom were enslaved or indentured, lacked. How many people who shared Hamiltons abilities wasted away on plantations or city streets?

Hamilton is an aspirational view of America, one that matches the rhetoric of hope that characterized the Obama presidency. But when audiences leave the theatre, they will be back in the Trump era. And confronting the history that the show omits  the racism, xenophobia, inequality, and so on  is the only way to understand how Alexander Hamiltons America became Donald Trumps.

Shira Lurie is the University College fellow in early American history at the University of Toronto, where she teaches the course Hamilton: Musical and History. You can follow her on Twitter @ShiraLurie.

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The outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China has sent concern across the world, with the U.S. government restricting travel from China, and the White House calling the virus a national emergency.

But coronavirus fears are also having effects on a local scale -- like at some Chinese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley.

At Mian, a Chinese restaurant in San Gabriel beloved by the late food critic Jonathan Gold, it was business as usual on Friday. People were lining up outside for a taste of numbing, spicy noodles and sweet mung bean soup.

"Everything is just normal in this area," said owner Zhan Feng. If anything, he said, he's just seeing more people come in wearing medical face masks.

He'd heard that another local restaurant, Sichuan Impression, was scanning customer's temperatures, but Feng said that's something he'd never do.

"It's debasing, I think," he said.

Zhan Feng is the owner of Mian, a Sichuan noodle restaurant in San Gabriel. (Caroline Champlin/LAist)

WHY THE REGION MAY MATTER

Geography may be one reason why Mian is busy. Feng serves food from Sichuan province, in eastern China, far from the coronavirus containment zone.

In the same stripmall, however, is another restaurant, Tasty Dining, also acclaimed by Jonathan Gold. It specializes in dry hot pot from Wuhan -- the epicenter of the outbreak.

Unlike Mian, that restaurant was half empty.

"Last month, we can do like 70 orders per day, but now just like 40 orders," said Ming Chen, a waiter at Tasty Dining. He said when people are craving dry hot pot, this restaurant is the first place they think of. But now that specialty is making customers wary.

"Because the disease is from Wuhan, everybody sees the Wuhan restaurant and is scared," he said.

THE SIGN IN THE WINDOW

Almost all of the customers they've lost are Chinese, he said, because they recognize the regional food and can read the sign in the window advertising food from Wuhan.

Chen has even fielded phone calls from those would-be customers asking if Tasty Dining is safe to go to. "They told me, do you have some employees who come back from Wuhan?" he said.

Nobody working in Tasty Dining has been to Wuhan recently, according to Chen, but the restaurant's owner is stuck there now (his wife is running the restaurant in the meantime).

Chen understands that people in America talk with people in China, which he said probably puts them on edge. He was unfazed, though, by concerns about the coronavirus -- including those expressed by his father, who wants him to stay home. He's more worried about contracting the flu, and even got a flu shot, just in case.

He said he won't turn anybody away from the restaurant if they're from Wuhan. "We are Wuhanese now. We are a family. We need to go together to solve these problems," he said.

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Democrats could not have feared an outcome worse than a presidential primary caucus frozen by a technical glitch and in-fighting among their candidates, allowing Donald Trump to pounce.

From impeachment to the first 2020 votes to be cast, Democrats' hopes that they would have knocked the president down a peg have taken several blows. Rather than taking momentum into New Hampshire with perhaps two or three candidates looking more able to take him on, top Democrats are seizing on moral victories while the party's presidential campaigns are trading allegations about whether the process in Iowa was legitimate.

As Democratic Party officials scrambled to accurately count the votes from Monday night's caucuses, Mr Trump and top White House officials were raising questions about whether the opposition party is hell bent on blocking self-proclaimed "democratic socialist" Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders from securing early primary wins - and possibly the Democratic nomination by this summer.

"If you win Iowa or really over-perform, finish higher than most people expected, you really get 24 hours - at least - of unfettered media coverage. That's huge," said one White House official who has worked on presidential campaigns.

"Now, with Bernie, he won't have that. And now they've robbed it from him twice," the official said, referring to Mr Sanders narrow loss - two-hundreths of a percentage point - to eventual nominee Hillary Clinton - in the state's disputed 2016 caucuses.

That "robbed" line of thinking is one that goes to the top levels of the Trump campaign and White House.

"Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history. It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process," Mr Trump's re-election campaign manager, Brad Parscale, said in a statement.

He then uttered the Trump team's line that the Iowa debacle shows Democrats are unfit to run the federal government.

"And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?" Parscale added.

At the White House, Mr Trump mocked and criticised Democrats from the residence as he prepared for his third State of the Union address and fourth address to a joint session of Congress.

"The Democrat Party in Iowa really messed up, but the Republican Party did not," he wrote. "I had the largest re-election vote in the history of that great state, by far. ... Thank you, Iowa!"

In another tweet, the president mocked the opposition party by wondering if Democrats would "start blaming RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, instead of their own incompetence for the voting disaster that just happened in the Great State of Iowa." (He was referring to the conclusion of all 16 US intelligence agencies, Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans that Russia meddled in the 2016 US election; Mr Trump has been reluctant to consistently agree, suggesting China or independent actors meddled, too.)

One Democratic source responded to a message about the situation there and Mr Trump's Tuesday morning response with seven vomit emojis. One reason: Former Vice President Joe Biden's deputy campaign manager is openly questioning the entire process for gathering and counting votes in Iowa.

Kate Bedingfield told CNN the Biden campaign has "real concerns about the integrity of the process," adding: "I think there were significant failures in the process last night that should give voters concern." The campaign posted an image of the former VP on Instagram with the words "Thank you, IA" beside his smiling face. With pollsters and political analysts suggesting the results there will show Mr Biden had a poor showing there, it's unclear what he would be thankful for, however.

Another, Democratic strategist Brad Bannon, said the "chaos in Iowa is a godsend to Donald Trump."

"The problems and delays in reporting the results undermine the integrity of the Democratic nomination process," he said. "Because Trump lost the popular vote and benefited from Russian interference, Democrats had a legitimate argument about the legitimacy of his election in 2016. After Iowa, it's more difficult to make that case."

Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist, acknowledged the delayed Iowa vote results "looks bad."

"I think they'll figure it out, but the president is going to exploit it," Manley said. "He is going to use every tool in his tool shed, including calling every Democrat under the sun a socialist - which seems to explain his interest in Sanders. ... The bottom line is this is not good because President Trump doesn't play the rules, and never will. This just helps him with that."

White House officials were taking a noticeably long-term view, saying they see a long fight ahead.

"If Democrats would like to talk about the economy, we'd love to have that debate," Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, said Tuesday.

So would Democratic candidates, who argue Mr Trump's economic stewardship has benefited the wealthiest Americans and large corporations - but has not really helped many of his core supporters or average Americans. But Democrats were not talking about that on Tuesday as they reeled from the mess in the Hawkeye State.

"It's a mess. We'll see if they get it together," the White House official said before flashing some team Trump confidence: "They better."
Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Carl Michael inspects the underpinnings of Belt and Road Initiative in his second post for our Emerging Fellows program blog. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the APF or its other members.

The desire for silk provided the impetus for the Silk Road in the millennia past. Without silk to be traded there would be no merchants and no customers and therefore there would be no silk road. In our generation silk could be considered as the manifestation of highly desired trade goods as well as trade secrets. The underpinning silk is also about the people who create it and provide it to others along roads, routes and journeys to distant places.

The BRI is further underpinned by Chinas enviable position on the far-eastern edge of the Eurasian landmass, where the bulk of its people and economic might is situated. This position provides the starting point of the BRI, which ends in Europe, on the far-western edge of Eurasia. Chinas advantageous location enables it to be both a land power and a sea power. Its geographical location provides it with the potential to dominate the pivot point in Eurasia while having access to warm water ports, a position not available to Russia until the advent of viable Arctic shipping routes. This geographical advantage that enables the BRI is often overshadowed by the focus on Chinas economic power. Chinas immense geographical size also means that one has to take into account the impact of geography within itself. There is a balance that the Chinese government needs to maintain between its coastal eastern heartland, with its huge markets and wealth, and the orbitals of its far-western inland buffer regions which insulate it from the rest of the Eurasian landmass. The coastal areas and central plain have been governed for millennia by strong unified central authority. Ensuring this continuity is a core Chinese geo-political imperative, coupled with ensuring the unity of the entire geographical entity.

The goal to reinstate China's place in the world as a Great State after centuries of relative displacement also underpins the BRI. This desire has been accompanied by exercising hard and soft power. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been ploughed into the initiative of becoming the world's premier military power by 2050. This hard power initiative is accompanied by the establishment of foreign military bases as part of the BRl as well as by soft power initiatives in culture, the arts, science and scholarship. At the same time, China's economic power in general and its growing domestic market have acted as a major engine for growth in East Asia making it the most important trade partner for most of Central, East and Southeast Asia. A Sino-centric regional economic integration model is now the reality in most of these areas. All this can be considered to have prompted a converged approach to refabricating and recreating the geopolitical world system covering the entire gamut from physical security, to the global economy and to the global monetary system. To this end it can be observed that China has sown the seeds for a multilateral framework over the last twenty years, challenging the accepted wisdom of the historical Westphalian model, with a thirty-year plan to bring the seeds of a Tianxia Chinese model to fruition.

In a broader context, the BRl itself provides an underpinning narrative with which China can hold a mirror up to itself as well as explain its image of itself to others. This narrative could be viewed as being as significant as the BRI itself as it provides inherent meaning to Chinas approach to its international relations. To this end the Chinese leadership has invoked the Silk Road spirit and emphasised historical, cultural, educational and scientific cooperation and so the narrative of the BRl is clearly understood to be about more than mere economics. This underpinning narrative is crucial to the success of the BRl. In its absence, all the BRI would appear to be is a vast conglomeration of state and market geo-strategic profit-driven enterprises.

THE ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL FUTURISTS is a global community of futurists advancing professional foresight. Our credentialed members help their clients anticipate and influence the future. https://www.apf.org

 Carl Michael 2020
Conakry, Guinea (PANA) - Twenty-four hours after the decree issued by President Alpha Conde postponing the parliamentary elections, initially due for 16 February to 1 March, Tuesday announced the holding of a referendum for the same day all over the Guinean national territory
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Linkedin Kornelius Purba (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 07:58 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20625cdf8 1 Opinion Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,Wuhan-coronavirus,coronavirus,diplomacy,Jokowi,China-Indonesia,bilateral-relations,#commentary Free

Thank you Ambassador Xiao Qian! Also thank you Batik Air, a member of the frequently complained about Lion Group! No less important, gratitude should go to Indonesian diplomats in Beijing and across China because their hard work has helped Indonesian nationals trapped in coronavirus-hit Wuhan and other cities return home.

The Chinese ambassador to Indonesia deserves plaudits because he certainly played a key role in convincing his government to approve the repatriation of 238 Indonesian nationals from Wuhan and other cities in China on Sunday. Diplomatic sources indicated that President Xi Jinping, who is now facing his most sensitive challenge and leadership test, was fully informed about the Indonesias plan. He was clearly satisfied with Indonesias silent diplomacy.

Against the basic sense of humanity and common standard of diplomacy, United States President Donald Trump and his Cabinet not only showed little empathy toward China, they basically said Serves you right! to millions of Chinese people whose Lunar New Year celebration was severely disrupted by this infectious disease. Trump forgot such a tragedy could happen to his country.

The silence of President Joko Jokowi Widodo about Chinas response to the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) outbreak reflects his full understanding of the situation in China. Jokowi also knows that the initial reactions of Chinese officials, who tended to play down the contagious disease, if veiling the real facts, are very similar to the typical behavior of Indonesian bureaucrats who tend to want to please their boss.

Bureaucrats will only tell their leaders the truth when a problem has spiraled out of control. Just look at the reports of the proud Chinese media that showed off the one-week or so construction of a huge hospital to treat those contracting the virus. The officials should realize that although financially, scientifically and technologically China is superior, the country cannot fight 2019-nCoV alone. The world must work together to address this calamity.

Now that the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a global emergency, the disease has morphed into a global disaster and could spark political upheaval in China, too. In its analysis, CNN questions whether the Chinese leader will pass his ultimate test with the Wuhan coronavirus.

Indonesians and people all over the world share a common interest that China will soon overcome this ordeal. In the current era, when China sneezes, the world will cough immediately.

I am also pretty sure that Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi briefed Ambassador Xiao before Indonesia disclosed its decision to temporarily ban all travel to and from China to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. The announcement came on the same day as the arrival of Indonesian nationals to their quarantine site on Natuna Island, Riau Islands, the waters of which have often become a source of tension between Indonesia and China, which claims the maritime area as a traditional fishing ground for its fishermen.

To be honest, I just dont know whether the choice of Natuna bears a political message. One thing is sure: The people of Natuna were upset by the governments decision, partly because they had not been informed in advance.

Ambassador Xiaos response was totally different from that of Chinas acting ambassador to Israel, Dai Yuming. When Israel announced its total travel ban to and from China, Dai unveiled the generous treatment China gave to about 30,000 Jews who had fled to Shanghai to escape Nazi persecution during World War II. China has apologized to Israel and retracted the offending statement.

We must also appreciate the brave decision of Batik Air. Some may speculate airlifting Indonesian nationals from China was merely part of the companys efforts to restore its public image. But let us be honest. When offered, other airlines will likely look for excuses to avoid the risky mission. Using Lion Airs regular slot to Wuhan, Batik Air volunteered to bring the Indonesians, many of them students, back home. The airline group has often been the target of complaints over the poor handling of passengers and their baggage, as well as flight delays. This time, we must give due credit to them.

Indonesia has rightly issued a temporary travel ban to and from China, although it will be very difficult to realize because Indonesia and China are so vast in terms of territory and the economic relations between the two countries are so deep.

Nevertheless, anti-China sentiment has started to brew in society here, as reflected in the reactions of many Indonesians to the outbreak on social media. Some of them want to block any activities related to China, such as shipping and purchases of Chinese-made products. They seem to forget that China is too big to boycott.

Thanks to President Jokowis diplomacy, Indonesian nationals are now at home, albeit having to endure two weeks of quarantine. The coronavirus diplomacy has worked well.

Some may ask: Will the government exercise the same diplomatic efforts to repatriate about 600 Indonesians who fought for the Islamic State? They have torn up their passports and abandoned their citizenship because of their belief in the group.

Should the President send an airplane to bring them home? I have my own view about these people, but let me keep it to myself.
TURKMENABAT, Turkmenistan -- Males working at state organizations in Turkmenistan's northeastern region of Lebap have been ordered not to dye their hair ahead of an expected visit by the Central Asian nation's autocratic leader, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov.

Several employees at local schools, medical institutions, and municipal offices told RFE/RL on February 4 that all men over the age of 40 were told to refrain from dyeing their hair to conceal any graying.

Anyone found breaking the edict will not be allowed to attend public meetings with the president during his upcoming visit, the employees added.

No explanation was provided for the move, but many believe that the ban is linked to Berdymukhammedovs decision to stop coloring his hair in 2018.

After that, authorities in the capital, Ashgabat, ordered all hairdressers in the city to stop providing dyeing services to men.



When Berdymukhammedov took over the former Soviet republic following the death of his authoritarian predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov, in 2006, he had touches of gray in his hair.



He later started dyeing his hair black, but stopped in 2018 without explanation.
To say Lauren Billet enrolled at the University of North Georgia unprepared would be an understatement.

"I was really distracted and didn't know what I wanted to do," she said.

But once she walked onto UNG's Dahlonega Campus, she found her home and a path to find her passion. The native of Columbus, Georgia, explored many avenues at UNG, including graduate school. After she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in political science in December 2016, she enrolled in UNG's Master of Arts in International Affairs program.

As a graduate student, Billet took advantage of several opportunities and garnered a couple of distinguished honors.

In fall 2017, she was selected to attend a Fulbright symposium to discuss Canada's role on the world stage. For a week in September 2017, she debated and discussed policy formulation and cultural activities with Canadian diplomats, government officials, and the media. Then she and the other students reported their conclusions in a collaborative brief and submitted it to Fulbright Canada.

In spring 2018, Billet was the first UNG graduate student to apply for and win a David L. Boren Fellowship. It provides funding opportunities for U.S. graduate students to study less commonly taught languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests.

Through the Boren Fellowship, Billet spent four months in Amman, Jordan, learning Arabic and immersing herself in the Middle Eastern culture.

"It was challenging in all honesty," she said. "It taught me a lot, but more than anything it helped me realize what I really wanted out of life and the places I wanted to go."

The trip in fall 2018 helped her connect her interests in Palestine, and potentially attending law school. She said she would like to use the law to help the Middle Eastern country through international law and human rights.

The trip also taught her about multitasking. As she studied the language in Jordan, she conducted her graduate work for UNG online.

"I did most of my reading and assignments for the MAIA program at night," Billet said, noting she only took one course while overseas. "I would not have been able to complete the program if it wasn't online. The malleability has been its greatest asset for me since I valued the extracurricular opportunities as much as I valued the education itself."

After she returned from Jordan, Billet concentrated on her MAIA degree and worked part time for the Georgia Writers Museum while she lived with her mother in Eatonton, Georgia. In August 2019, she earned the MAIA. She said she felt fine during graduation but knew she was not finished with higher education yet.

"I don't think I'm done with going to school, and I don't want to be done. Im leaning toward law school," she said. "But I needed to relax after this since I've been in school for six years."

In the months that followed, Billet searched for a job that suited her skills and filled her with purpose.

"I wanted to work for an organization whose mission I believed in, agreed with and found important in the long run," she said.

Billet found that at the think tank Center for International Policy in Washington, D.C. In June 2020, she became a communications associate for the center after previously serving as an assistant to the president and CEO with different roles including office manager and internship coordinator.
Teachers on the 2012-2015 Teachers NSW Facebook social media site are continuing to express their anger over the New South Wales Teachers Federation (NSWTF) 2020-2021 Salaries and Conditions award, which was pushed through at stop-work meetings on December 5. Some have publicly announced they intend to resign from the union, denouncing the agreement as a sell-out.

In the deal reached between the NSWTF and the NSW Department of Education, the union claimed to have resolved a pay anomaly that emerged in the transition from the Common Incremental Scale (CIS)the long-established system of pay according to seniorityto Standards Based Remuneration (SBR), in which pay rises are tied to the acquisition of standards. During the course of the transition, some 5,000 mainly young teachers whose employment commenced during 2012-2015 lost up to $50,000 in remuneration, with no possibility of back pay.

President Maurie Mulheron asserted: The anomaly has been resolved once and for all. Teachers are incensed by this false claim.

Writing on the 2012-2015 NSW Teachers Facebook page, Dane responded: Many of the teachers impacted by this will get nothing out of the resolution and the Federation sold it as a win. Nadia replied, Totally agree! Incredibly disappointed by the whole process. No transparency, no questions answered and told to vote for a terrible agreement. 2.5 percent for only 1 year of the agreement, no clarity on the pay anomaly and now we are being asked to fight next year for what should have been in the agreement! No wonder members are disillusioned. Sandra wrote: I feel like having a mass walk-out of the union.

Others voiced their disgust at the way the vote had been rushed through. Michael posted: They railroaded the meeting and the vote. Austin commented: Anomalies are not resolved and we were painted into a corner to vote for the motion. Adam added: 1,000 percent dictatorship. Vote yes or you get nothing.

Numbers of teachers have posted their resignation from the union on the social media site. One wrote: I would like to end my membership of the teachers federation, this is due to what I, and everyone else in my situation believe to be the unfair and divisive action the federation has taken by sidelining 2012-2016 teachers, and bullying all federation members into voting for a resolution which has not been resolved

Standards Based Remuneration was one a range of measures contained in the Local Schools Local Decisions (LSLD) program introduced by the Barry OFarrell Liberal-National Party state government in 2012 and implemented over a five-year timeframe. The plan devolved power over most financial decisions to principals. LSLD was the state version of the Empowering Local Schools program of the federal Labor government of then Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who called for every school in the country to be self-managed by 2018.

The school autonomy blueprint was part of the Rudd governments pro-market Education Revolution, which was aimed at cutting government spending costs. In the neighbouring state of Victoria, which first introduced local autonomy, 50 percent of new teachers are employed on temporary or casual conditions as principals seek to meet shrinking budgets. Since LSLD was introduced in NSW, casual or contract employment of teachers has soared by 40 percent.

The Socialist Equality Party opposed the move to standards-based pay, describing it as a veiled measure to introduce the teacher pay for student test performance model that is widely in place in the United States and United Kingdom (see: Quality teaching and the Labor/union assault on public education).

The NSWTF, conscious of the long history of teacher opposition to performance pay, sold the move to SBR as a win. It claimed it would protect teachers from attempts to lower the status and salary of the profession by reducing qualification requirements.

This is completely bogus. Governments in the US and the UK, as well as the NSW government, have unilaterally downgraded teacher qualifications. Over the past decade, education ministries in the UK and various US states have permitted unqualified teachers into classrooms at increasing rates. It is highly unlikely that Australian school principals will not follow their international counterparts, as government spending on public education continues to decline.

A precedent has already been set in the case of NSW Technical and Further Education (TAFE) teachers. In 2007, the NSW Education Department announced the downgrading of teacher qualifications from a university level teaching degree to a Certificate 4 accreditation, with the NSWTF quickly falling into line.

Moreover, each schools principalnot the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA)is authorised to determine whether or not teachers have acquired the standards under SBR and therefore have the requirements to teach or go up the salary scale.

Just as their international counterparts have been under budgetary pressures to replace more expensive older teachers with lower paid casual or temporary younger teachers, Australian school principals will likewise be able to hire unqualified or lesser qualified staff at lower pay rates.

As an additional sweetener, the union announced that the transition to SBR would allow classroom teachers to reach a six-figure salary within seven years rather than taking nine years under the Common Incremental Salary Scale. It is hardly rocket science to work out that if some teachers are able to get to the top of the scale faster than others, inequities will occur. The reality is the NSWTF were so determined to push through SBR that they regarded the teachers who would be adversely affected as simply collateral damage.

Teachers on the NSW 2012-2015 Facebook page are debating the way forward in the wake of this betrayal. Some think the NSWTF is a bad apple and other unions are better fighters. Others hope the union can be reformed. The reality is that the NSWTF, like the Australian Education Union, is committed to enforcing the acceleration of the pro-corporate agenda for public education.

The betrayal over the pay anomaly has exposed once again the contempt of union bureaucrats for their membership. The chief concern of the NSWTF and its counterparts is that it retains a formal role in implementing the regressive education agenda that federal and state governments are determined to impose.

Social media has provided the possibility for teachers anger to be voiced, despite the attempts of the union to suppress their concerns. This outrage expresses growing militancy and opposition among teachers in Australia and internationally. It must become part of a broader campaign among education employees, parents and students.

Teachers are faced with two alternatives. Either the NSWTF will remain in control and continue to enforce the assault on public education and teachers working conditions. This will result in the downgrading of teacher qualifications and the widening of already stark inequities in Australias school system.

Or teachers and staff in schools, universities and TAFEs can take matters into their own hands and form rank-and-file committees, independent of the unions and led by the most self-sacrificing and trusted teachers. It is only through such bodies that teachers voices will be heard and a struggle developed to fight for what educators and their students neednot what big business politicians claim is affordable.

We urge all those who agree with this perspective to contact the CFPE at sep@sep.org.au or call 02 8218 3222 and become actively involved in this vital political initiative.
Heather Vincent lives as modestly as possible. She avoids buying new clothes and making repairs on her old car to save money for medical bills associated with her sons rare cancer. She tries to anticipate everything she and her son might need to buy en route to New York City, where seven-year-old Jackson sees a paediatric oncologist specialising in central nervous system relapse and neuroblastoma.

The financial impact it has had on us has been overwhelming, sometimes just as overwhelming as the cancer itself, Vincent told Al Jazeera.

Vincent estimates that since Jackson was diagnosed with stage four cancer in October 2015, her family has spent $25,000 on out-of-pocket, nonmedical expenses. Those costs include occasional weekly trips between their home in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 725km (450 miles) away in Manhattan.

Thirty percent of children diagnosed with cancer in the United States must travel at least 96 kilometres (60 miles) to reach the closest paediatric oncologist, found a 2013 study by the University of Minnesota, the Childrens Oncology Group and the non-profit Compass to Care.

Heather Vincent and her son must travel 725km (450 miles) to see his paediatric oncologists [Photo courtesy of Heather Vincent]

But in addition to the enormous physical and emotional toll cancer takes on children and their families, there is also a financial one. The specialised treatment paediatric cancer requires  as well as the long distances some families must travel to access it  magnifies both medical and out-of-pocket expenses.

Paediatric cancer hospitalisations cost almost five times as much as hospitalisations for other paediatric conditions in 2009, amounting to $40,400 over an average stay of 12 days, according to a brief published by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

As adults, we can sit in waiting rooms, have blood drawn and process all the medical treatments that we are thrust into, Jeri Wilson, the executive director of the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, told Al Jazeera.

For children, on the other hand, the process requires costly modifications: social workers and special treatment to help a child through the scary and sometimes painful process of treatment, says Wilson.

Hospitals spend much more time and money on children than adults to ease the experience not only for the child, but for the entire family, says Wilson.

The hidden cost of childhood cancer

Cancer is the second-leading cause of death for children in the US, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), which estimates that 11,050 children under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer in 2020.

Treating those young patients is different than treating adults, according to the ACS. First, the types of cancers that children develop are different and generally less linked to environmental or lifestyle factors.

Since Jackson was diagnosed with stage four cancer in October 2015, Heather Vincent estimates, her family has spent $25,000 in out-of-pocket, nonmedical expenses [Photo courtesy of Heather Vincent]

Children respond better to treatment than adults, on average, but can face more long-term side effects. Because of this, children with cancer in the US are generally treated by specialised medical teams at paediatric cancer centres, which means that in addition to medical bills, many families  like Jacksons  also face high travel costs.

More than once, I havent known how I was going to pay for something associated with Jacksons medical costs or just the cost of basic living, Vincent said.

Michelle Ernsdorff-May founded Compass to Care, which helps families cover those travel costs, after surviving childhood cancer herself.

When she was 14 months old, Ernsdorff-May was diagnosed with kidney cancer and sent for treatment to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, more than 322 kilometres (200 miles) away from her home in Dubuque, Iowa. For the year and a half that she underwent treatment, her parents struggled to take time off from work, pay medical bills, and afford gas, hotels and meals near the hospital.

On one occasion, my father hitchhiked home because he didnt have money to pay for a car rental or bus ticket when I had to be admitted unexpectedly, Ernsdorff-May told Al Jazeera. The experience of my father taking the first steps of a 200-mile trip  hoping someone safe would pick him up as I was fighting for my life in the hospital  was all so devastating to hear, yet not a unique story.

Unlike medical bills  which insurance can help cover  travel costs such as hotels, flights, gas, parking and tolls come directly out of families pockets and are usually not reimbursable.

Some parents have reported skipping taking their child to treatment when they did not have money in the bank to cover these expenses, Ernsdorff-May said. Because so many children travel to access cancer treatment, these expenses are often considered the hidden cost of childhood cancer. Yet they are the ones that can truly stand in the way of a childs cancer cure.

Loss of income

Another obstacle for parents is taking time off from work to take children to treatments or stay home with them when their immune systems are too weak for them to go to school. Vincent, who used to work at a merchant processing company, said she has been unable to find a job since Jacksons cancer diagnosis in 2015, another major source of financial stress.

Because so many children travel to access cancer treatment, these expenses are often considered the hidden cost of childhood cancer. Michelle Ernsdorff-May, Compass to Care

Finding a new job with the flexibility that I would need to still be able to travel for all Jacksons treatments -[and] still take him to all his weekly local appointments when we are home and also stay home with him when he is unable to go to school  has unfortunately proved impossible thus far, she said.

The federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows eligible employees to take job-protected leave to care for a sick family member, including a child. But it only guarantees 12 workweeks of leave over the course of a year, and it is not paid. Affording childcare for other children can also be a challenge.

Most children with cancer are typically treated anywhere between a few months to up to three years, making the FMLA inadequate, Ernsdorff-May said. The reduction in household income comes at a time when the familys expenses are rising, and the longer a child is in treatment, the more financially devastating the situation can become.

The newness wears off; the funds run out

Survival rates for childhood cancers have been rising over the past four decades, according to the ACS, and 84 percent of children with cancer now survive five years or more.

But that also means families must find the money to pay for years of treatments and travel, as well as the lifelong follow-up care and monitoring that childhood cancer survivors need. Vincent said that when she and Jackson see his doctors today, they stay at Ronald McDonald House New York, a charity that provides temporary housing to paediatric cancer patients and their families.

Vincent said she felt incredibly grateful when family and friends pitched in and organised fundraisers to help. But four and a half years into Jacksons cancer treatments, Vincent said, the newness wears off, the help stops coming in, and the funds run out, but youre still facing all the same costs as you were since day one.

You feel bad reminding everyone that you are still struggling to be able to afford the costs associated with just trying to save your childs life, so thats when it becomes the hardest financially, Vincent said. Its really stressful and emotionally overwhelming at times, trying to figure out how you are going to afford the costs for the next treatments.
A 56-year-old father met a man on dating app Grindr before he was found dead in beach-side bushland on the NSW South Coast, police believe.

The Canberra man's arms and legs were tied with duct tape when his body was discovered behind Bengello Beach in Broulee at 4.50pm on Sunday.

Police believe the man arranged a meetup on Grindr before driving two hours from Canberra to Batemans Bay, just north of Broulee, on Sunday morning.

A Canberra father, 56, was discovered dead just behind Bengello Beach in Broulee (pictured) on the NSW South Coast at 4.50pm on Sunday. The man's legs and hands were reportedly bound by duct tape

Police believe the man arranged a meetup on popular dating app Grindr (pictured) before driving two hours from Canberra to Batemans Bay, just north of Broulee, on Sunday morning

NSW Homicide Squad Commander Danny Doherty said the popular dating application may have played a role in the man's death on Tuesday.

'Upon arriving in Batemans Bay, we believe this man may have been using the dating app Grindr to meet with another person before his body was found,' Detective Superintendent Doherty said.

'This is a small community and we hope that someone may be able to assist our investigators  either through sightings of the car, or who also may have been using dating applications to meet people in the area.'

Police have now released pictures of the man's dark purple Honda Jazz with ACT registration plates YFD 00H (pictured), which they believed would assist in their investigation

Police have now released pictures of the man's dark purple Honda Jazz with ACT registration plates YFD 00H, which they believed would assist in their investigation.

'We are interested in speaking with anyone who may have seen or who may have dashcam footage of this car as it was driven between Canberra and Batemans Bay on Sunday,' Detective Superintendent Doherty said.

According to Nine News, the man was a 'once-successful sales executive'.

'We are interested in speaking with anyone who may have seen or who may have dashcam footage of this car (pictured) as it was driven between Canberra and Batemans Bay on Sunday,' Detective Superintendent Doherty said

When the man's body was found, he was wearing a dark blue sleeveless fitted t-shirt, light blue jeans and white sneakers.

Detectives from the State Crime Command's Homicide Squad and South Coast Police District have established a strike force to investigate the circumstances surrounding the man's death.

A post-mortem examination will be conducted in the coming days to determine the cause of death.
New Delhi/Washington, Feb 4 : As Pakistan continues to launch its diplomatic offensive against India worldwide, a city council in the US has passed a resolution condemning the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which fast tracks Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities in three theocratic states in South Asia.

The Indian American Muslim Council in the US welcomed the Seattle City Council's unanimous resolution against CAA, which was recently enacted by the Modi government and National Registry of Citizens (NRC) which the government aspires to set up.

Officials in New Delhi, however, maintained the government's stand on CAA, saying the legislation was passed by the Indian Parliament which represents the democratically elected legislature of the country, and therefore remains an internal matter of India. There is no official notification on NRC and as of now it does not exist, officials said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is on a two-day visit to Malaysia, lashed out against India on Tuesday over CAA and Kashmir. Khan has been travelling around the world campaigning against India ever since the Modi government reorganised Jammu & Kashmir in August 2019, nullifying Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which granted autonomy to the only Muslim majority state in India.

Under the pressure of Saudi Arabia, Khan had skipped an Islamic summit hosted by Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Kuala Lumpur in December last year.

Turkey, supported by Malaysia and Pakistan, has been attempting to compete with Saudi Arabia for leadership of the Islamic world. All three countries have been critical of India over Kashmir and CAA.

Saudi Arabia, which had not been invited to the Malaysian summit of Muslim nations, took offence to Imran Khan's participation. Since Pakistan is obliged to the Saudi kingdom for its massive financial aid, Khan at the last minute had decided to skip the summit.

In Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, Khan said that Pakistan will buy more palm oil from Malaysia since India, the top buyer, has put curbs on imports last month.
After nearly seven weeks, one of three large fires plaguing the Blue Mountains' World Heritage areas has been extinguished. But it's estimated up to 80 per cent of the areas have been damaged.

The Grose Valley fire was declared out by the Rural Fire Service (RFS) on Tuesday afternoon after burning through about 510,000 hectares of land in the Blue Mountains.

A water bombing helicopter races along the flank of the Grose Valley Fire in December. Credit:Nick Moir

"A big thank you to all fire crews from all agencies that have worked on this fire and thank you to all from the community that have supported the operations," RFS Blue Mountains district said in a statement.

Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said this news would "give people on the northern side of the Blue Mountains a moment to relax - but only a moment."
Photo: Nan Palmero/Flickr

Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in San Antonio.

San Antonio Police say 13-year-old girl is missing

Jada Gardner was last seen in the 22000 block of Tower Terrace, near Highway 281 and TPC Parkway.

Read the full story on KHOU 11 News.

San Antonio woman set ex's truck on fire

Anita Lopez Rosales was arrested last Thursday after police said she broke the windows of the man's 2002 Toyota Sequoia and set the truck on fire. The vehicle was reportedly parked outside the victim's East Side home.

Read the full story on San Antonio Current.

San Antonio officials and JBSA tell residents not to panic over Lackland quarantine site

City officials and Joint Base San Antonio are working to reassure residents that the designation of JBSA-Lackland as a quarantine site amid the coronavirus outbreak doesn't pose health risks to the community.

Read the full story on San Antonio Current.

Young girl dies after car crashes into taco truck on San Antonio highway

Authorities have identified a child killed Saturday evening when the car she was riding in collided with a taco truck.

Read the full story on San Antonio Current.

San Antonio teen saves five others through organ donation

Aisha Williams said her son 19-year-old Hezekiah Williams had his whole life ahead of him.

Read the full story on KENS5.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has described the statement of President Muhammadu Buhari that 90% of Boko Haram victims are Muslims as untrue.

The former minister expressed that the overwhelming majority of communities that the terrorist group and militias target are occupied by Christians.

Also Read: Lai Mohammed Is Completely Insane, Says Fani-Kayode

The former minister went further to express that killing ot Christians in Nigeria has now turned to a common blood sport.

Taking a swipe at the President, the former minister expressed that killing of Christians in the country will continue as long as President Buhari is leading the country.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  A Massachusetts man who flew to Grand Rapids, intending to rape a womans young daughters, was sentenced Monday, Feb. 3, to nearly 16 years in federal prison.

Jonathan Ryan Ledoux had been in online contact with an undercover investigator posing as the mother of two girls, ages 9 and 14.

He was arrested March 22 at Gerald R. Ford International Airport by Department of Homeland Security Investigations. Ledoux pleaded guilty to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, punishable by at least 10 years in prison, and up to life.

A charge of interstate travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, a potential 30-year felony, was dismissed in a plea agreement.

U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney in Kalamazoo sentenced Ledoux to 15 years, eight months in prison.

Early on, defense attorney Helen Nieuwenhuis had concerns about his competency. She sought a forensic evaluation based on information disclosed in the police reports as to the nature of these events, the review of the defendants social history, and counsels (and her staffs) own observations  .

Ledoux was found competent to stand trial.

He had no previous criminal record. He has a bachelors degree in computer-game design.

On Nov. 16, 2018, he began conversing in a chat room with an undercover agent, Scott Bauer, who posed as a woman with two daughters. Ledoux said he wanted to sexually abuse the girls, the government said.

Upon his March 22 arrest at their airport, investigators found bondage collars he wanted to put on the girls, condoms and a document saying he was clear of sexually transmitted diseases, court records said.

Ledoux had feared he would be arrested. As he left the airport with federal agents, he hummed Amazing Grace.

Court records showed that Ledoux, with the online name, DeviantNerd 42, asked the undercover agent: Would you prefer it if was something long term? Or just have me visit for a one time raping?

He said on the KIK application that the girls would learn that they are to be obedient and be ready to sexually please me whenever I want, the government said in court records.

He told the investigator that if he was caught up in a police sting, he would go quietly. He just didnt want his parents to find out.

'I would rather disappear in a jail cell and have them never know what happened to me than for them to find out that their perfect, good, morally sound son would go out to meet a complete stranger and attempt to have sex with a minor, he said, according to court records.

Online plan of good, morally sound man to rape girls ends in airport arrest, indictment, records say

Birdseye view of Lake Michigan shore shows impact of erosion

Why didnt you stay in Mexico? School diversity and inclusion meeting turns volatile
Israel's Holocaust memorial centre apologised Tuesday over "errors" in films screened during a high-profile ceremony last month that distorted events related to the Soviet Union and Poland during World War II. The Yad Vashem centre in Jerusalem said some of the material shown at the January 23 event attended by more than 40 heads of state and government included "inaccuracies that resulted in partial and unbalanced presentation of historical facts." The ceremony marking 75 years since the Soviet Red Army liberated the Nazi death camp Auschwitz was co-organised by the World Holocaust Forum Foundation, led by Russian billionaire and Kremlin ally Moshe Kantor. The films shown at the event were produced by Kantor's foundation "in cooperation" with Yad Vashem, a spokesman for the institution told AFP. The films made no mention of "the division of Poland between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 or to the conquest of Western Europe in 1940," Yad Vashem head of research Dan Michman wrote in a blog. "In addition, the maps show incorrect borders between Poland and its neighbours and erroneously identify concentration camps as exterminations camps. "These short films were meant to serve as illustrations. However they do not reflect the complexity of the Holocaust and the war, to which Yad Vashem dedicates its ongoing research," he added. The ceremony was held amid a bitter dispute over WWII history between Poland and Russia. In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin falsely claimed that Poland had colluded with Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler and contributed to the outbreak of World War II. Polish President Andrzej Duda then declined to attend the ceremony in Jerusalem after he was not given a speaking slot, even though the Nazis built Auschwitz on Polish territory. The Soviet collaboration with the Nazis remains highly sensitive in the ex-Soviet bloc and frequently crops up in political rhetoric. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded and carved up Poland in September 1939 under a secret clause of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Nazi invasion prompted Britain and France to declare war on Germany.
San Francisco Police Department

A 35-year-old man is accused of a stealing $8,000 worth of electronics and tools from a San Francisco high school robotics team and making off with the loot in two separate burglaries over the last two months.

Police say Carlos Vallecillo, of San Francisco, targeted the Ruth Asawa School of Arts Cyberdragons team on Dec. 23 and Jan. 11, stealing equipment financed by student fundraising and donations.
South Carolina trades more goods with China than any other country, but the coronavirus that's shut down factories within Asia's economic powerhouse has had no measurable impact to date on operations at the Port of Charleston, maritime officials said.

Trade between the two countries amounts to roughly $13 billion a year, and business at the port in January exceeded expectations.

That could change as a delayed Lunar New Year celebration halts production in China and the coronavirus outbreak extends into February.

"The major impact on China trade is dependent on when workers can return to the factories," said Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the State Ports Authority.

He said West Coast ports are more vulnerable because China trade accounts for a larger percentage of their ocean-going cargo business.

Chinese factories typically shut down for weeks to let workers travel for the New Year holiday, and the later celebration could lead to canceled trips for some shipping lines.

The U.S. Coast Guard is requiring commercial ships docking within the U.S. after recent visits to most China ports to disclose any health problems crew members have experienced over the previous two weeks. As long as there are no sick crew members, ships will be allowed to berth as normal.

Crew members will be required to remain aboard the vessel except to help with loading and unloading cargo, according to a Coast Guard bulletin this week.

Newsome traveled to Asia this week to meet with port customers, but he canceled a trip to Shanghai because of the spreading virus. Instead, Newsome was to travel to Singapore, Taipei and Seoul.

"We altered our trip plan to exclude Shanghai when it was apparent that China, outside of Hubei province, would be more seriously impacted than originally seemed to be the case," Newsome said. "Suitability of visits to other countries has been coordinated with our customers there. We also monitor State Department guidelines."

In an effort to contain the coronavirus, Chinese authorities have suspended air, road and rail travel in the area around Wuhan  where the virus originated  and placed restrictions on travel and other activities throughout the country. They have also advised travelers not to visit the country at this time.

Charleston International has no specific plans to check passengers to see if they are infected with the virus, said airport CEO Paul Campbell. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has agents at domestic airports monitoring air travelers.

Most air carriers have temporarily suspended flights to and from China, and the resulting decline in high-spending Chinese visitors is one reason economists think the virus will knock down first-quarter output in the U.S. by as much as a half-percent.

But with the number of cases still on the rise, the final cost is unpredictable.

"It could be a few minimal tenths of a percent, or it could be up or near a full percent depending on the depth and duration of the actual exposure, Lindsey Piegza, an economist at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in New York, told The Wall Street Journal.

The World Health Organization and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have declared the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency. There are 11 known cases of the respiratory illness in the U.S. The virus, which is spread person-to-person, has killed more than 420 people in China and infected more than 20,000 others in the country.
Every election campaign has its low points. Being reminded last week that Willie O'Dea still roams Leinster House like the ghost of Fianna Fail past and might be in government again soon was certainly one of them.

The noise pollution that passed itself off as a televised election debate on Virgin last Thursday was another.

That's what radio and telly do sometimes: emphasise and exaggerate all the things that are wrong with politics while making us neglect it on a more human and relatable scale.

We could all reel off names of duly elected lousers and chancers down the years who have turned the waters putrid, but most of our elected representatives have done their best.

The fact that we blame them for all our excesses and stupidities shows just how useful they are on a therapeutic level. It was handy, for instance, that every eejit who bought an apartment on the Bulgarian Riviera had Bertie Ahern to blame when it all went belly up.

But there is a disconnect which mass media, by its very nature and calling, only heightens.

Performing for the cameras - the successor to standing up on the back of a trailer outside Mass - means any sort of intimacy with voters has been replaced by spin, sound bites and, very obviously, make-up.

We don't know our politicians any more and, considering how many seem to be tone deaf, it's fair to suggest they don't know us either. Both sides could benefit from a touch of the personals: the handshake, the eye-to-eye and an honest if polite exchange of views.

I had one such chance encounter early Saturday week as I strolled home with a few newspapers tucked under my arm, looking forward to an afternoon of selfish idleness. What little was on my mind did not include contemplation of the election.

It was just then I saw Stephen Donnelly, Fianna Fail spokesman on health and a candidate in my Wicklow constituency, stride across the road to greet me, a big beam on his face and a cheery hello not far behind it.

He introduced himself, though there was no need.

I said I had voted for him as a Social Democrat the last time out and hadn't been impressed when, within a year, he turned up on the front bench of the very party he made his reputation grinding into the dirt.

He didn't flinch, prevaricate, smarm or even do the Fianna Fail shuffle. Instead he explained with sincerity, conviction and no little detail about that particular journey and the personal tossing and turning involved.

It didn't seem like I was just another cranky voter being fobbed off and I was impressed as much by the honesty as his reasoning. He returned my frankness with some of his own and I couldn't ask for anything more.

It's good to talk. Politicians are human too you know, despite what they tell you on the telly.





Sinn Fein takes a step towards respectability

In A famous 1928 Dail exchange Sean Lemass taunted the government by declaring Dev's new Fianna Fail to be only "slightly constitutional".

When this anti-Treaty party came to power in 1932 it so worried the British that the government in London set up a high-powered cabinet committee to keep a beady eye on this post-revolutionary rabble.

You can sense the same sort of panic around now as Sinn Fein, itself slightly constitutional in many respects, threatens to win office.

But democracy didn't collapse in 1932 and instead of routing the establishment the once radical Fianna Fail became a defining element of it.

If history is good at anything it is repeating itself.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it seized $8,065,615 at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. Hameed Ali, NCS comptrol...









The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it seized $8,065,615 at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.Hameed Ali, NCS comptroller-general, made this known at a press conference on Tuesday.Ali said the cash, stashed inside a car, was intercepted when it was about to be loaded into an aircraft.He said the money was wrapped in large brown envelopes, and that the driver of the vehicle who works with the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) at the airport has been arrested.He, however, did not reveal the name of the driver or the aircraft involved but said the service would unravel the identities of the owners of the money.From the day we seized this money, no bank has come to claim ownership. But our investigation will reveal the mystery behind the owners, he said.
At least 14 children were killed and dozens injured in a stampede at a primary school in Kenya when they were let out to go home.

The pupils, mostly aged between 10 and 12, are said to have been crushed as they ran down a narrow staircase at Kakamega Primary School after lessons.

One mother claims the children were running away from teachers who were beating them while other reports suggested the staircase had collapsed.

Some of the children were said to have fallen from the third floor of the building during the crush at around 5pm on Monday.

Distressing scenes showed parents collapsing in grief after identifying their children's bodies in a local hospital.

Among those who died was nine-year-old Vanesa Andeso.

Her mother Pamela said: 'I had a strange feeling when I saw ambulances speeding towards the county referral hospital. Little did I know my daughter was long dead.'

Among those who died in the crush at the primary school was nine-year-old Vanesa Andeso

The children's bodies were taken to a local hospital where parents identified them

A devastated mother leaves the Kakamega County General Teaching and Referral Hospital after identifying the body of her child who was killed in the school stampede

A father sits next to his injured daughter in hospital after she was injured in the crush

Parents gathered at Kakamega Primary School in Kenya after a stampede killed 14 pupils

Education minister George Magoha confirmed that 14 children had lost their lives.

At least 39 other children were injured, including two who were in intensive care.

He said: 'The loss of a child is very painful. My condolences to parents who have lost their children.'

Peter Abwao, a spokesman for Red Cross Kenya, said: 'As kids were going home from school there was a stampede as they were going down the stairs.

'It's a three-storey building, it's a classroom block.'

Parents identify their children in hospital after the school stampede that left 14 dead

Grieving parents mourn their children after the tragedy Kakamega Primary School,

A grieving mother is comforted after learning of her child's death in the school stampede

In the aftermath of the stampede, the police cordoned off the school and took statements from the teaching staff.

Kakamega's police chief David Kabena said: 'We have launched an investigation to establish what exactly happened.'

One of the children's mothers blamed the teachers.

'Those who survived said they were running because there were teachers who were beating them, and that is why they were escaping and fell on each other,' the mother said in an interview with local media.

Corporal punishment is banned in Kenya.

Distressing scenes showed parents collapsing in grief after identifying their children's bodies

Kakamega Primary School was cordoned off after the tragedy that killed at least 14 pupils

The tragedy happened at Kakamega Primary School in western Kenya on Monday

Kakamega area regional commissioner Anne Ngetich ruled out that a 'scare' had sparked the stampede.

'I know there are people who might think these children always use the same entrance and exits, what might have happened today? Was there an explosion?' she said. 'No there was nothing, nothing physical that we have established.'

Kenya's Vice President William Ruto said on Twitter: 'We are devastated by the tragedy that has hit Kakamega Primary School this evening.

'Our prayers, love and thoughts to the families and relatives of the victims of the misfortune.'

Former prime minister Raila Odinga tweeted: 'My heartfelt condolences to parents who have lost loved ones in the unfortunate and regrettable tragedy at Kakamega Primary School.

'I wish a quick recovery to the injured children and pray that God grant strength to the affected families.'

A group of pupils from Kakamega Primary School in western Kenya wait to be picked up by their parents

A mother mourns for her dead child at Kakamega Hospital mortuary in western Kenya

Kenya Red Cross said it was setting up psychological support services, as well as a 'tracing desk' to help relatives locate potentially affected students.

Safety in school has become a major concern for Kenyan parents.

In 2016, nine students were killed by a fire at a girls' high school in the Kibera neighbourhood of Kenya's capital Nairobi.

In September last year eight pupils died and 69 were injured when a classroom collapsed at a primary school in Nairobi.

Several days later, Kenya's education ministry closed St Catherine's Children Education Centre Bombolulu, near Nairobi, due to safety concerns.

'This is just a start and we are going to crack down on all schools in the country with poor structures,' Mr Magoha said at the time.
A junkie was allowed to care for children at a daycare centre despite receiving a sanctioned for 'placing children at risk' and being ordered to take regular drug tests.

The enforcable order by the Queensland Education Department required the carer to agree to 'abstain from using illicit drugs'.

The Queensland Government refused to identify the individual on Monday despite allowing them to continue caring for children, according to The Courier Mail.

The enforcable order by the Queensland Education Department required the childcare worker to agree to 'abstain from using illicit drugs'

The childcare centre worker was required to inform the Education Department within 72 hours of changing jobs or moving house but a department spokesperson yesterday could not confirm if the person was working in childcare.

'The department has been advised the educator is no longer employed at this [original] service,' the spokesperson told the publication.

'The department is unable to identify the individual due to confidentiality requirements under national law. The safety and wellbeing of all children is the highest priority for the Department of Education,' she said.

Productivity Commission data also revealed this week that that more than more than 16,000 children were harmed in daycare throughout Australia in 2019.

These 'serious incidents' included broken bones, asthma attacks, allergic reactions, and burns.

The data also reveals that childcare operators throughout Australia also breached the law on more than 21,000 occasions.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Queensland Department of Education for comment.

The Queensland Government refused to identify the individual on Monday despite allowing them to continue caring for children




Israel, Morocco and the United States have been pursuing back channel negotiations on the disputed Western Sahara for more than a year, Axios reported on Monday. The deal would reportedly involve Morocco normalizing ties with Israel in exchange for the United States formally recognizing the 1975 annexation of the Western Sahara, which the United Nations lists as a non-self-governing territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started discussing the issue with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly summit in 2018. The meeting was a result of a back channel that originated between Netanyahus national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and Moroccan businessman Yariv Elbaz, a close associate of White House adviser Jared Kushner.

Why it matters: Kushner is the main architect of the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan that President Donald Trump unveiled last week. Morocco put out a statement last week noting that it appreciates the plan, which would allow Israel to annex all its West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley.

Morocco also started targeting Iran  a bugbear for both Netanyahu and Trump  around the same time it started back channel talks with Israel. Shortly before meeting with Netanyahu in 2018, Bourita made the rounds on conservative media outlets accusing the Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah of providing missiles to the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi independence movement demanding autonomy in the Western Sahara. Bourita levied similar accusations against Iran in May 2018, when Rabat severed ties with Iran at the same time Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal.

Morocco has provided no evidence to support its allegations, which Trump administration officials and pro-Moroccan lawmakers in Congress subsequently echoed.

Whats next: Axios reports that Netanyahu had unsuccessfully sought to announce a deal ahead of both rounds of Israeli elections last year. The embattled prime minister is gearing up for a third election in March and has touted past efforts to normalize Israeli relations with African countries. He announced on Monday that Israel will gradually normalize relations with Sudan.

Know more: While Netanyahu and Bourita were meeting to discuss normalizing ties, Al-Monitor correspondent Bryant Harris was keeping readers up to date on Moroccos efforts to use Iran to curry Washingtons favor for its position on the Western Sahara.
DENVER, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the "We Believe in Smiles" campaign has just posted its one-millionth reminder of the magic of a healthy smile.

Launched in March 2017, each day, "We Believe in Smiles"  WBIS  posts a radiant, life-affirming portrait of a smiling individual or individuals on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/webelieveinsmiles/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/WeBelieveSmiles), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WeBelieveInSmiles/).

The 1,000th "We Believe in Smiles" portrait of two boys in Austin, Texas Two language students participating in the summer program at Middlebury College in Vermont. Captured by "We Believe in Smiles" photographer Avital Rotbart

Today marks the 1,000th WBIS post, capturing two pre-teen boys, smiling wryly, as they take the wheel of a vintage pickup truck. The caption, borrowed from the 1991 hit movie "Thelma & Louise," reads: "I don't ever remember feeling this awake."

The WBIS portraits represent a broad cross-section of smilers from throughout the United States, as well as international locations. Among the most popular photo subjects are children, couples, military veterans, and pet owners.

"Smiles not only generate a feeling of happiness, like yawns, they are contagious," says Avital Rotbart, the award-winning lead WBIS photographer and proprietor of Denver-based Photography by Avital (https://avital.me). "People absolutely love to see other people smiling."

A collection of Rotbart's WBIS portraits, The Story Behind the Smiles, recently was ranked the #1 New Release in the photojournalism category on Amazon (https://amzn.to/2GogqxT).

Wrote one reviewer: "It's a fun, uplifting book filled with great photography. Leave [it] on the coffee table and just look at the photos and let the perfectly-captured, genuine smiles lift your spirits"

All 1,000 WBIS portraits are available for purchase on photo canvases. In addition, businesses and professional offices can license the WBIS Gallery of Smiles for posting on their own websites and social media accounts. The smiling portraits have proven particularly popular with dental offices and companies providing oral health-related products and services. A daily license starts at only $15 a month.

Avital Rotbart not only serves as the lead photographer of the WBIS campaign, she is also the chief photographer of the "2020 Business News Visionary Awards" and commemorative book, which honors influential journalists who've had a significant, positive impact on the profession over the past two decades. Honorees who she's photographed include top journalists and editors at FORTUNE, Yahoo! Finance, LinkedIn, and The Wall Street Journal.

Rotbart began her professional photography career in 2012. She is a member of Professional Photographers of America, and the National Press Photographers Association.

Her photography services include "Kids at Play," which captures children at home with their favorite toys or in nearby parks and playgrounds; "Special Engagements Photography," focused on newly engaged couples; and "Just the Two of Us Photography," legacy portraits of mature couples who wish to celebrate their long-term union.

For more information about the We Believe in Smiles campaign or any of the portrait services provided by Rotbart, contact her at [email protected] or phone 844-2-AVITAL (844-228-4825).

SOURCE We Believe in Smiles
San Francisco firefighters are working Monday night to rescue two people and a dog from a cliff, fire officials said.

Someone reported the stranded people and the dog at 6:55 p.m. 100 feet above Marshall's Beach.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4)  Prepare your jackets and blankets as the cold weather is here to stay - at least for the next few weeks.

The cold spell in Luzon will last until the third week of February due to the northeast monsoon or amihan, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration forecaster Ariel Rojas told CNN Philippines' Newsroom Ngayon on Tuesday.

Winds coming from mainland Asia will bring cold weather to the Philippines throughout the week, especially in the morning and at night, Rojas said.

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with light rains will also prevail over the Philippines until tomorrow due to the northeast monsoon, PAGASA said in its latest bulletin.

Meanwhile, the tail end of a cold front and the low pressure area will drench Visayas and Mindanao by Thursday or Friday, PAGASA Weather Specialist Aldczar Aurelio said in a Tuesday briefing, adding that the LPA may enter the country by Thursday afternoon.

The LPA has low chance of becoming a storm, Rojas said.

Weather is usually cool this time of year in northern Luzon such as Baguio City, and PAGASA said that temperatures in the area will be from 10 degrees Celsius to 22 degrees Celsius until Saturday.

People over Banaue in Ifugao, may experience temperatures as low as 9 to 10 degrees Celsius until Saturday. Metro Manila residents may experience cloudy skies, with temperatures ranging from 18 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius up till this weekend.

Rojas said that warmer and sunny weather will begin by March or April.
Family Cancels Cruise Over Coronavirus Fears, Claims They Cant Get Refund

Norwegian Cruise Lines Says Family Didn't Get Travel Protection Insurance

A Hawaii family claimed they will lose $32,000 after they canceled a cruise trip that stops in Hong Kong amid escalating fears over coronavirus.

We definitely wanted to go on this Asian cruise. It was always a lifetime thing we wanted to go on a beautiful cruise, Pua Morrison told KHON2, adding that the trip was booked in February of last year, which was long before coronavirus was discovered.

Morrison said that because the virus is spreading rapidly across China, triggering mass quarantines and lockdowns, she had to cancel the trip with Norwegian Cruise Lines.

[Norwegian Cruise] is saying, we understand the situation and safety is our number one issue and we would never put any of our passengers in harms way. But the bottom line is if you cancel you lose all your money, Morrison said. We had excursions booked, weve updated the trip packages. This was a family vacation so we were going for the gusto, she added.

She said that her family doesnt want to go on a cruise and risk contracting the contagious illness.

Rather than put myself through all that headache and most of all the risk of getting this virus, I just want to be able to cancel my cruise and get my refund. Thats all I ask. And I dont think thats a lot to ask with whats going on. And its getting worse every day, Morrison said, adding that she would be happy to attend a cruise on a later date. I just want to be safe and I dont want to go in the direction of the virus.

In a statement to The Epoch Times, Norwegian Cruise Lines said that it is because of the very nature of unexpected situations that we strongly recommend that guests obtain travel protection insurance.

Please know that the guests did not purchase the travel protection plan that allows for cancellation. The guests purchased travel protection that covers them only in the case of a medical emergency. We understand and apologize for the frustration these guests are experiencing. However, as mentioned, we have these policies in place for situations exactly like these, said the Norwegian Cruise Lines spokesperson.

According to KHON, Norwegian Cruise Lines also said none of their itineraries have changed in light of the virus outbreak.

This week, the Japanese government placed the Diamond Princess cruise under quarantine after a passenger tested positive for coronavirus. More than 3,500 people are on the vessel.

While on the ship, he did not visit the ships medical center to report any symptoms or illness, according to a news release from the cruise operator, reported USA Today. The hospital reports that he is in stable condition and the family members traveling with him remain symptom-free.


PETAH TIKVA (dpa-AFX) - Today's Daily Dose brings you news about the Fast Track Designation granted for Anavex Life Sciences' lead asset ANAVEX2-73; Insmed's phase II WILLOW study; Rockwell Medical's public offering of common stock and disappointing results from United Therapeutics' DISTINCT study.



Read on.



Anavex Life Sciences Corp.'s (AVXL) lead asset ANAVEX2-73 has been granted Fast Track Designation by the FDA for the treatment of Rett syndrome.



Rett syndrome is a devastating, non-inherited genetic postnatal progressive neurodevelopmental disorder that occurs almost exclusively in girls and leads to severe impairments, affecting nearly every aspect of the child's life: their ability to speak, walk, eat and even breathe easily.



A phase II study of ANAVEX2-73 in the U.S. is underway, and the data to date has demonstrated significant improvements of the two global efficacy endpoints, the Rett Syndrome Behaviour Questionnaire (RSBQ) Total score and the Clinical Global Impression - Improvement.



An international study of ANAVEX2-73 in pediatric patients in Australia, dubbed EXCELLENCE, is expected to be initiated in early 2020.



ANAVEX2-73 is also being tested in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease dementia.



Data from a phase II study of ANAVEX2-73 in Parkinson's disease dementia is expected by mid-2020.



AVXL closed Monday's trading at $3.28, up 14.69%.



Shares of Insmed Inc. (INSM) jumped more than 40% on Monday, following positive top-line results from its global phase II study, dubbed WILLOW.



The WILLOW trial is evaluating the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of INS1007, of dosages 10 mg or 25 mg, administered once daily in adults with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis.



Non- cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis is a severe, chronic pulmonary disorder in which the bronchi become permanently dilated due to a cycle of infection, inflammation, and lung tissue damage. The condition is marked by frequent pulmonary exacerbations requiring antibiotic therapy and/or hospitalizations. There are currently no approved therapies specifically targeting this severe and chronic pulmonary disease in the United States, Europe, or Japan.



The WILLOW study met its primary endpoint with statistically significant improvement in time to first pulmonary exacerbation over the 24-week treatment period for both the 10 mg and 25 mg dosage groups of INS1007 compared to placebo. In addition, treatment with INS1007 resulted in a reduction in the frequency of pulmonary exacerbations, a key secondary endpoint, versus placebo.



INSM closed Monday's trading at $28.88, up 40.60%.



Shares of Rockwell Medical Inc. (RMTI) dropped nearly 14% in extended trading on Monday after the Company announced an underwritten public offering of its common stock.



The underwriter of the proposed offering has a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the number of shares of the Company's common stock offered in the public offering.



The net proceeds from the offering are expected to be used for the commercialization of Dialysate Triferic and I.V. Triferic, research and development and general corporate purposes.



RMTI closed Monday's trading at $2.78, up 6.51%. In after-hours, the stock was down 13.67% to $2.40.



Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.'s (TEVA) preventive treatment of migraine Ajovy is one step closer to getting approved in Japan.



In two pivotal studies that will enable the Company to seek approval of the drug in Japan, Ajovy has yielded positive results.



The primary endpoints were achieved with both clinical and statistical significance versus placebo for subjects with chronic migraine and episodic migraine, respectively.



Ajovy is the first and only anti-CGRP drug approved in the US and EU that is designed for the preventive treatment of migraine that offers both quarterly and monthly dosing options. The drug notched up sales of $25 million in the third quarter of 2019.



TEVA closed Monday's trading at $11.15, up 7.21%.



United Therapeutics Corp.'s (UTHR) phase II/III trial evaluating Unituxin Injection added to irinotecan compared to irinotecan or topotecan alone in patients with relapsed or refractory small cell lung cancer, dubbed DISTINCT, did not meet its primary efficacy objective of extending the overall survival.



Unituxin is approved for children with high-risk neuroblastoma who have responded to previous treatment.



The Company is also planning to expand the label of Unituxin in combination with irinotecan and temozolomide for the treatment of pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory neuroblastoma.



A supplemental Biologics License Application of Unituxin is expected to be filed shortly after the Company meets with the FDA and discusses the proposed label expansion in the first half of 2020.



Unituxin raked in sales of $30.1 million in the third quarter of 2019 compared to $22.9 million in the year-ago quarter.



UTHR closed Monday's trading at $95.56, down 2.16%.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
The mother of a prostitute who murdered her two toddler daughters has been found dead at home after being tormented by the crimes.

The body of Sharon Porton, 48, was discovered in Willenhall, near Walsall on Sunday afternoon by police.

Her daughter Louise Porton was jailed for life last year for the murders of her two grandchildren Scarlett Vaughan, 17 months, and three-year-old Lexi Draper.

Ms Porton's family believe she took her own life having been tormented by her daughter's crimes.

Sharon Porton, pictured with her daughter Louise while a baby, was found dead at her home near Walsall on Sunday Afternoon. Her family believes Ms Porton took her own life following the second anniversary of the murder of her two grandchildren Scarlett Vaughan, 17 months, and three-year-old Lexi Draper

Lexi Draper (left) and Scarlett Vaughan (right) were murdered by their mother in 2018

Porton murdered the two girls because they interfered with her sex life.

West Midlands Police said: 'Police were called after a woman's body was discovered at an address in Willenhall around 12.45pm on Sunday.

'The death is not being treated as suspicious and the coroner has been informed.'

According to The Sun, Ms Porton's niece Kerry confirmed the tragic news: 'It's very sad to share the news that my auntie Sharon apparently felt the need to take her own life.

'Sharon wasn't a bad person - she had a few personal demons but she didn't deserve to go like this.

'She was tormented and upset by her daughter Louise and what she did. She couldn't handle the fact her daughter had murdered her two grandchildren and felt it to hard to live with the taunts and verbal abuse off people who knew.'

She added that her aunt was now at peace with 'her grandbabies'.

Louise Porton murdered her two daughters Scarlett Vaughan, 17 months, and three-year-old Lexi Draper over the course of two weeks in January and February 2018

Louise Porton, pictured, murdered her two daughters Scarlett Vaughan, 17 months, and three-year-old Lexi Draper separately over the course of two weeks in January and February 2018

Porton's trial heard she murdered her two children less than three weeks apart because they 'got in the way' of her sex life.

A jury at Birmingham Crown Court convicted her of both murders following a five-week trial.

Jailing Porton, Mrs Justice Yip described Porton's actions as 'evil' and 'calculated', telling her: 'These were blameless young children who were plainly vulnerable and ought to have been able to rely on their mother to protect and nurture them.

'Instead you took their young lives away.'

The judge added: 'One way or another you squeezed the life out of each of your daughters, only calling the emergency services when you knew they were dead.

'I am sure at the time of the deaths, you intended to kill each of your daughters. Why you did so, only you will know.'

Porton, who described herself to male suitors as a 'model', accepted 41 friend requests on a dating app the day after Lexi's death.

She was described as 'calm and emotionless' after Scarlett's death and delayed calling an ambulance for the youngster, even filling up with petrol as the toddler lay dead or dying in her car.

When Lexi was ill in hospital, just over a week before she died, Porton took topless photos in the toilets and was arranging to perform sex acts for money with a man she had met through a website.

Warwickshire Police said it was also 'clear from the evidence' that Porton had tried to kill her three-year-old twice before, in early January 2018.

Porton's mother Sharon has said her daughter (pictured) told her 'after Lexi died that Scarlett will be next. It was threatening. She was already planning what she would do'

Porton complained that her two daughters had affected her sex life. After trying to murder Lexi, left, on January 4, she googled 'how long after drowning can someone be resuscitated?'

After murdering her two girls, Porton attempted to sell their clothes for 20

The judge said she was sure Porton had been responsible for events leading to Lexi's earlier admissions to hospital on January 2 and 4.

Mrs Justice Yip said: 'On January 4, you left Lexi in a critical condition, her life being saved by skilled resuscitation by paramedics.'

Father says girls were an 'inconvenience' to 'evil' Louise Porton The following statement from the girls' father Chris Draper was read out in court at the time of her sentencing in April 2015: 'I am broken. I will never be the same person. I just keep asking myself why did Louise do something so evil to my beautiful daughters. They were just an inconvenience to you. Why did she not give them to me? 'Because of Louise I will never be able to hear their voices. Louise deprived me of my daughters. I never met Scarlett. That pain will live me forever. 'I hate Louise. No punishment will ever be enough. I now have depression and anxiety. I constantly think about the girls. Since Lexi and Scarlett died my mental health has declined. 'I have regular appointments with my GP. I am unable to go back to work. All of these things have made day to day life difficult. We feel that the girls have been let down by the system. 'This could have been prevented. This is something I thought I would never have to write. The only comfort is that both Lexi and Scarlett are together now.' Advertisement

At the time, she used her Google account to search for 'Why did my 3 year(-old) stop breathing', and 'How long after drowning can someone be resuscitated?'.

The judge added that the night Lexi was killed, Porton made further 'sinister' internet searches about death.

'I am left in no doubt that you delayed calling for an ambulance until you were sure she was dead and could not be resuscitated,' she said.

Porton, of Skiddaw, Rugby, Warwickshire, suffocated Lexi in the early hours of January 15, 2018 and was then heard 'laughing' at a funeral parlour two days before killing Scarlett just over two weeks later, on February 1, 2018.

The judge added that post-mortem examinations revealed signs of previous injuries, possibly caused by Porton, while Scarlett 'had signs of prior airway obstruction'.

She told Porton she had carried out 'the grossest abuse of trust' against her girls.

The judge said: 'Those who loved Lexi and Scarlett have been left bewildered as to how and why you could have done something so evil. Your actions have devastated so many lives.'

The children's father Chris Draper, who never met Scarlett, said he felt 'broken', with 'nothing to live for'.

In a victim impact statement read to court by the prosecution, he said: 'Why did Louise do something so evil to our beautiful daughters?

'You are their mother, the person supposed to care for them, protect and love them. They were just an inconvenience to you; how could you do this?

'I sit and think, day and night, and I can't understand why my two little girls were taken away because Louise wanted to sleep around.

'Maybe if social services had listened to me, my girls would still be alive today.'

Mr Draper, who was in court for sentencing, said: 'I hate Louise. No punishment will ever be enough, as I will never get my daughters back.'

Porton, who sat in the dock throughout the hearing looking at her feet with her head resting on her hands, did not react.

For confidential support in the UK call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details
Interim leader of the PSD (Social Democratic Party) Marcel Ciolacu on Monday evening said his party has no problem with any elections and that, regardless if the motion of censure against the Government passes or not, mayors will still be elected in one round of elections.

Asked during a TV broadcast with Digi 24 private television broadcaster if it mattered to him if PM Ludovic Orban took steps to organise early polls, Ciolacu said: "The Social Democratic Party has no problem with any elections. (...) I don't now what steps he takes, but I know what new steps we take. And I repeat, there is no state in the European Union that allowed the modification of the election law four months before the elections. Which is also why this assumption bothers me that I have an understanding with Orban. There will be no elections in two rounds, the mayors will be elected in one round. Regardless if the motion passes or not. So what could be my understanding with Orban? About what, about something that it's not going to happen anyway? Mayors will be elected in one round of elections, this is obvious. For anybody who has a little legal logic and calculates the timing knows that there can be no two-round mayoral elections. If Mr. Orban wants to commit an abuse of office and he comes with a ordinance on top of a law that is being discussed by the CCR (Constitutional Court of Romania). This is clearly an abuse of office and he will answer before the law for it."

Marcel Ciolacu said he did not rule out early polls, but he wanted the laws to be observed.

Regarding such simulations showing that, if local elections were held in two rounds, PSD would lose mayors, he said he didn't believe in simulations.

"I am not sure I believe in these simulations. (...) Maybe based on these simulations, Orban is doing something that is against democracy. (...) I don't want to follow PM Orban's logic, he should be the one who tells us what his intentions are," said Ciolacu, also adding that he did not believe in the survey polls pointing to the results of the elections either. "This is a game of the survey polls and I know that PSD also believed in it at some point, namely it believed that Romanians believe such tricks," said the representative of the PSD.

According to him, if the motion of censure doesn't pass, this would be like a personal failure for him.

"It would be like a personal failure for me, but maybe not for the Social Democratic Party, since we weren't sure from the beginning if it will pass. But now, looking at the figures, mathematically, the motion will pass. (...) We have announced this to colleagues that, on Sunday, in front of the mayors, presidents of county councils, MPs, colleagues fro the Executive Committee that my priority right now is the Congress and to defend democracy," said Ciolacu, when asked what would be the consequences for him and for the PSD if the motion failed, in the context in which the PSD is about to have its Congress. AGERPRES
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Another plane will be sent to China to collect British nationals as the coronavirus continues to spread.

Earlier, the Foreign Office advised the 30,000 Britons thought to be in China, where the virus originated, to leave if they are able to.

It warned that, as the Chinese government tightens travel restrictions in an effort to stop the virus spreading, departure options "may become harder to access".

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have suspended flights between the UK and China.

The civilian flight chartered by the Foreign Office is expected to leave China in the early hours of Sunday morning and land at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

There will be a small number of medics and FCO officials on board.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "We have been working round the clock to help British nationals leave Hubei province, on UK, French, and New Zealand flights.

"The Foreign Office is chartering a second and final UK flight with space to help all British nationals and their dependants remaining in Hubei to leave.

"I encourage all British nationals in Hubei to register with our teams if they want to leave on this flight."

More than 20,400 people have been infected with the virus and Chinese state television reported 479 people had died as at Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a Belgian woman who tested positive for coronavirus is confirmed to have been on the same flight that brought British nationals back from China on Sunday.

Belgium's health agency said the woman was among nine people from Belgium on the flight to France, which then continued to RAF Brize Norton with 11 British nationals and their family members on board.

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The Department of Health said on Monday that 326 UK tests for coronavirus have concluded, with a total of two coming back positive.

The two infected people - a University of York student and one of their relatives - continue to be treated for coronavirus in the specialist infectious diseases unit at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Story continues

The first confirmed coronavirus fatality was in the Philippines - a 44-year-old Chinese man who appeared to have been infected before arriving in the country, according to the World Health Organisation.

Hong Kong also reported its first death linked to the virus on Monday, that of a 39-year-old man who had travelled to the territory from Wuhan, China.

Late on Tuesday, Japan confirmed 10 cases of coronavirus on a cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, which has been quarantined in the Japanese port city of Yokohama.

Some 3,700 passengers and crew were screened after an 80-year-old passenger from Hong Kong tested positive after sailing on the ship last month.

A number of Britons are among those who have been told to stay in their cabins.

The coronavirus has been declared by WHO as a global health emergency and, with the world's second-largest economy worst-affected, it has also affected world markets .

:: British nationals in China's Hubei province wanting to register for the flight should register by calling +86 (0) 10 8529 6600, or the FCO in London on (+44) (0)207 008 1500.
The full extent of the burden should strengthen the Governments demands for a deal on the bank debt, although Germany is especially reluctant.

The figures show that while the banking crisis cost Berlin 40bn, Ireland is liable for 41bn. With fractions of the population and GDP of the EUs biggest state, the crisis has cost Ireland 25% of GDP and Germany 1.5%.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is due to speak in the European Parliament today on the countrys work during its six months at the helm of the EU and is expected to address bank debt and the need for solidarity.

Labour MEP Nessa Childers urged him to point out that the bank debt is neither just or sustainable and must be written down if Ireland is to exit the bailout programme.

Without burden sharing on banking debt in Europe, any pretence of solidarity left in the EU will be extinguished. If we have no burden sharing on bank debt, if the failed policies of austerity are pushed and pushed, what in the end will be left of our communities, our economies and our democracies? she asked.

Michael Taft, research officer with the Unite trade union, said the Eurostat figures show that Ireland is a special case and requires a special solution.

The Government has a real challenge in the negotiations over bank debt. But there is a bottom line here. If any deal does not qualitatively alter these dismal statistics, then it wont be a deal worth applauding.

If people are still paying nearly 9,000 each while the remainder of the EU pays only a fraction of that, then it is no deal at all; just a rearranging of euro notes on the decks of a sunken ship, Mr Taft said.

The average banking crisis debt across the EU is 192 per person, and the figure of 9,000 for each Irish person does not take into account the 18bn put in from the National Pension Reserve Fund.

After Ireland, the German people at 491 per person have shouldered the next biggest cost of bailing out their big regional banks, which invested heavily in hedge funds.

In real terms, Latvia was the second hardest hit, with the banking crisis costing 317 per capita.
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan pledged to deepen bilateral cooperation on a range of issues on Tuesday, as part of the latter's working visit to Malaysia.

Mahathir, who hosted Khan at his Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya here, said the two countries would engage in more frequent exchanges at the ministerial and agency level on a range of issues including economic and security cooperation.

"We also welcome the successful convening of the first bilateral consultation between senior officials of both ministries of foreign affairs as the key forum to intensify engagements at the working level," Mahathir told a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart after their meeting.

"On bilateral economic cooperation, we acknowledge the need for both sides to further explore the huge potential available in both countries and to develop further in economic partnership particularly in trade and investment, to establish networks between various economic entities and linkages among the private sector," he said.

Khan, for his part said both countries shared similar views on a range of issues.

"Traditionally we have been very close but the object of the visit is to even get closer. We feel that the future of trading ties, of investment, of cooperation between Malaysia and Pakistan is tremendous. It's because people in both countries, it's not just the government, the people of Malaysia and Pakistan, there is a very close affinity between them," he said.

Beside the face-to-face meeting, the two leaders also witnessed the signing of a extradition treaty.
A few hundred Indian and Maldivian nationals arrived in Delhi from Wuhan, China, on February 2, and were screened for the new coronavirus on the tarmac, according to reports.

The Ministry of Health of India said 300 of the passengers were sent to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) forces camp in Chawla and the other 30 were sent to the Manesar camp, both located in metro Delhi, to be monitored.

Two confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported in Kerala, according to the Ministry of Health, which said the patients were clinically stable.

Chinese state media said 361 people had died as a result of the virus by Sunday, with a further 17,205 confirmed cases. Authorities in the Philippines said they had recorded the first death from the virus outside of China on Sunday, according to the AP.

Video from the ITBP shows officials screening passengers as they disembarked at Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday. Credit: ITBP via Storyful
Eric Trump has claimed his father's critics were 'enraged' by the president's Super Bowl ad because it showed what he has achieved on prison reform.

President Trump's second son claimed his father's work on criminal justice outstripped the Democrats' promises to help those incarcerated on life sentences for non-violent crimes.

Trump spent $5.6 million on a 30-second Super Bowl commercial, boasting about freeing black prisoner, Alice Johnson, sparking fury on Sunday.

In the clip, priced at more than $186,000 a second, the president pitched himself as a champion of criminal justice reform and claimed credit for the release of Johnson, who is shown crying and holding flowers, after she was released following a life sentence for nonviolent drugs offences.

Johnson was sentenced to life in prison in 1997 for committing a first-time non-violent drug crime in Memphis.

Eric Trump claimed his father's critics were 'enraged' by the president's Super Bowl ad as it highlighted how much he achieved on prison reform

Trump told Sean Hannity on Fox News that the Democrats had promised to help prisoners on life sentences for non-violent crimes but had done nothing

The Super Bowl advert (pictured) pitched Trump as a criminal justice reformer. It showed prisoner Alice Johnson crying and holding flowers after she was released from a life prison sentence following a conviction for non-violent drug offences

She spent 21 years in prison before being pardoned by Trump after he met with reality star Kim Kardashian at the White House in June 2018.

Eric Trump told Fox News yesterday his father's campaign ad showed the public what the president could accomplish on an issue the Democrats had promised to take action on for decades.

He said the First Step prison reform act was highlighting that the Democrats' had not taken serious steps to reform the criminal justice system, despite pledging to do so in numerous campaigns.

Eric Trump told host Sean Hannity: 'It's one of the reasons they were enraged about the Super Bowl commercial. I was so proud of my father.

'What he did with prison reform is incredible and justice reform. And that was one incredible case.

'[The president] did something about it, and it's driving the Democrats nuts, that something they tried to run on, that they would always promise and didn't get done and that reminds you of the Democratic Party in general. They always say they are going to get things done and they never do.'

Kim Kardashian pictured with Alice Johnson after petitioning President Trump to pardon her

Trump tweeted the first advert with a caption saying he promises to 'restore hope in America. That includes the least among us'

Eric went on to claim his father had fulfilled many of his 2016 campaign promises and that the First Step Act would be a 'hallmark' of his presidency.

Last night President Trump won the Republican Iowa caucus, a largely symbolic victory as he faced no significant opposition.

Eric along with the 2020 campaign team, said Trump had posted a record performance in the GOP Iowa caucuses with record turnout for an incumbent.

During the rally in De Moines, Iowa, yesterday, Eric told the crowd: "We're gonna beat them again.'

Although two other candidates are running against Trump - Joe Walsh and Bill Weld - they are unlikely to beat the incumbent, who has the official support of the Republican Party and high popularity among his voter fan base.

Iowa had in not been a victory ground for Trump in 2016, with Ted Cruz coming out on top.

But last night Trump got 97.1 per cent of the vote, with his two opponents, Weld and Walsh getting just 1.3 and 1.1 per cent with 0.5 per cent split between 'other' candidates and with a handful precincts yet to report.
US Emphasizes Rule of Law to Advance American Investments in Uzbekistan

Pompeo praises Uzbekistan for its support to peace in Afghanistan

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Uzbekistan on Feb.3 to discuss further expansion of American investment in the Central Asian country along with cooperation in the science, technology, and education fields.

At a joint press conference with Pompeo, Uzbekistans Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov expressed his countrys interest in creating joint investment projects with U.S. businesses.

Pompeo stressed the importance of further strengthening the rule of law as a prerequisite to attract foreign investment, which in turn will create jobs and prosperity for Uzbeks. He discussed with Kamilov ways to achieve that.

Pompeo said that the United States recognized significant progress made by Uzbekistan over the past three years in respecting human rights, religious freedom, liquidation of forced labor and child labor, and the creation of the conditions for freedom of speech. He especially commended the progress the country achieved with regard to religious freedom. Where religious freedom is protected, peace and prosperity flourish, Pompeo said.

Cooperation between the two nations entered a new era upon Uzbekistani President Shavkat Mirziyoyevs meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House in 2018. Uzbekistan signed more than 20 major business deals with American companies in 2018 which would amount to $4.8 billion upon full implementation. Currently the total American investment in Uzbekistan exceeds $1 billion. These investments will create thousands of jobs in both the United States and Uzbekistan, according to a statement.

In 2019, we committed nearly $100 million to bolster the rule of law, education, English language training, support for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and other forms of assistance, Pompeo said. The United States is committing, pending congressional approval, $1 million of technical assistance to help Uzbekistan develop its capital markets, he added.

In order to further expand economic cooperation, Uzbekistan needs to continue privatization, regulatory reform, strengthen the rule of law, and join the World Trade Organization.

The United States provides financial aid to Uzbekistans education initiative, English Speaking Nation, which provides English language instruction and innovative university partnerships, facilitating students, teachers, professionals, and alumni exchanges between the two countries. In 2018 the United States established the Central Asia University Partnerships Program (UniCEN), which includes more than 70 Central Asian universities.

Both foreign affairs chiefs agreed that they still need to find solutions to issues that they have disagreed upon in the past.

Pompeo also talked with President Mirziyoyev during his visit to Uzbekistan on Feb.3.

Hawa Alam Nuristani, chief of Election Commission of Afghanistan, center, leaves after a press conference at the Independent Election Commission office in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019. (Rahmat Gul/AP)

Working Together For Peace in Afghanistan

The United States and Uzbekistan share a common stance on security in the region. Pompeo and Kamilov agreed to work harder on achieving piece in Afghanistan despite threats and challenges impeding the peace process. Pompeo announced that the United States will provide a million dollars of assistance to increase trade and connectivity between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, which will have a positive effect on the entire Central Asian region.

Pompeo praised Uzbekistan for fostering stability in the region through its relationship with Afghanistan, which includes commercial ties, security ties, those things that tie Afghanistan, as well as through supporting U.S. policy in Afghanistan and the Afghan Government of National Unity, as Trump plans to reduce the American presence in Afghanistan.

Kamilov said that his country is actively involved in the Afghan peaceful process because it touches on our lives and the national interest and interest of security of our state. Uzbekistan, as a country neighboring Afghanistan, highly values the U.S. policy in Afghanistan because the U.S. presence in Afghanistan is a stabilizing factor of the situation and deters the push of terrorism and extremism and radicalization  [as well as] drug trafficking and crime and other serious challenges and threats.

Uzbekistan cooperates closely with the United States to maintain security at the border with Afghanistan to prevent the movement of foreign terrorist fighters, narcotics traffickers and other criminal elements, while promoting the legitimate flow of people and goods, a statement says. In 2018, the United States designated $2.2 million to support these efforts.

Concerns with Chinese Investments

When answering a reporters question on whether Central Asian countries should be concerned about Chinese investment, Chinese influence, particularly 5G within Huawei and the 5G networks, due to their proximity to China, Pompeo said that American companies investing in Uzbekistan come to create wealth, opportunities, and jobs for Uzbeks, obey the local law, not pollute the environment, and support Uzbekistans sovereignty. The economic growth and wealth generated through this process creates opportunities for Uzbeks to invest in the American economy, which will further increase wealth of both countries.

Pompeo said the United States investment in Uzbekistan is a response to its demand for independence and sovereignty, adding that when other nations come to participate in these countries, if theyll participate by those same set of rules of transparency and openness, doing real market transactions not state-sponsored, politically driven transactions, we welcome that competition anywhere in the world.

Kamilov said in response to the question that Uzbekistans policy is to have good relations with countries in the region.

We want to see Central Asia as a region of stable development, prosperity, and cooperation, and we would really not like to feel on ourselves unfavorable political consequences in relation to some competition in our region between large powers, he said.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said that the people of the state are with the central government in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and accused the opposition parties of trying to misguide the public.

"There is nothing objectionable in the Act. The majority of Catholic 15 MLAs from BJP supported the motion. Some people, especially Congress and other opposition parties are trying to misguide the people," Sawant told ANI.

"I will not say that the opposition members are innocent about the Act. They are well aware of it but they are purposely trying to misguide people," he said.

On Monday, the Goa Legislative Assembly passed a congratulatory motion, congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for passing the CAA.

The opposition, while walking out from the House, demanded two and half-hour-long discussion on the issue of CAA and NRC, and not the congratulatory motion which was moved by the ruling BJP government.

Sawant further said that there is nothing objectionable in the CAA and it is enacted to take care of the minority communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.

He pointed out that Hindus in Pakistan has been reduced from 13.5 to 1.85 per cent.

"Where have these people gone? They have either got converted or migrated and naturally they have come to India," the Chief Minister said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The protest by the Inter-Party Resistance Against the New Voter Register turned chaotic as protestors tried to force their way past police in front of the Jubilee House.

The protestors, who were marching from Kawkudi Park to the 37 roundabout , were stopped by police at a barricade around the entrance of the seat of the Presidency.

But the protestors forced their way through and pushed down the barricade to allow them to move in front of the Jubilee House.

The protestors were eventually able to present a petition to the presidency.

The petition was presented by the Peoples National Congress Chairman, Bernard Monah; the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo and the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah.

It was received by Kwaku Afriyie, a Minister of State at the Presidency.

The protestors were seen to be moving at snails pace disrupting traffic during their march to the 37 roundabouts which took over an hour instead of about 30 minutes.

From the 37 roundabout, the protestors are expected to march to the Electoral Commission headquarters in Accra.

Some of the protestors threatened to picket at the commissions headquarters overnight to drum home their demands.

The group has already held a protest in Tamale dubbed Tikusayi demo and another one in Kumasi known as the Yennpini demo.

The group resumed its suspended protest last week after the EC announced a date for the compilation of a new register, despite a planned meeting with the EC's Eminent Advisory Committee.

---citinewsroom
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal dared the BJP to announce its chief ministerial candidate by 1 pm Wednesday and said he was ready for a pubic debate with the CM face

New Delhi: With just three days left for the Delhi Assembly elections, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal dared the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP )to announce its chief ministerial candidate by 1 pm Wednesday and said he was ready for a public debate with the saffron party's CM face.

After releasing the manifesto at the party's office, Kejriwal said if the BJP doesn't do so by then, he will meet the press to announce his next course of action. He said people want to know who would be the BJP's chief ministerial face, claiming that people are saying why they should vote for the party if it does not have the chief ministerial candidate.

"Delhiites want the BJP to declare its chief ministerial candidate. If BJP declares its CM candidate by 1 pm tomorrow, I am ready for a public debate with him and we will work out modalities for the same," Kejriwal told reporters on Tuesday.

The AAP chief said the BJP can decide place for the debate, adding that in democracy, people should have a chance to ask a question. By withholding the name of CM candidate, senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah is demanding a "blank cheque" from the people of Delhi, he said.

Shah is telling people that he will fill up the name of the chief minister on the cheque later, if the saffron party gets Delhi's mandate, Kejriwal said.

"In democracy, the chief minister is chosen by people not by Amit Shah... What if Amit Shah names some uneducated person for CM post, which will be a betrayal to the people of Delhi," the AAP chief said.

Delhi goes to polls on 8 February and the results will be declared on 11 February.

"I ask people everywhere that your one vote will directly go to Kejriwal. People want to know where their vote will go if they support the BJP in the election. If they don't have a chief ministerial candidate, it means people's vote for BJP will go waste," he said.

The AAP and the BJP  apparently the two main players in the polls  have been fighting a bitter electoral contest in Delhi. They have accused each other of skirting "real issues" and focusing on rhetoric. The AAP targeted Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and the saffron party later hit back by directly taking on Kejriwal.
We're just weeks away from the 2020 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, and as you finalize your event plans we wanted to highlight a new community space debuting at GDC 2020 in March: GDC Arcade Play!

As you may have guessed, this is a new community space dedicated to giving GDC attendees an opportunity to relax, chat, and check out some of the latest, most interesting arcade and pinball games between appointments.

We realized that many of you may not have a chance to see contemporary arcade games in the flesh, so as the arcade game renaissance continues we've worked to put together this showcase, curated by Adam from notable arcade game news site ArcadeHeroes.

GDC Arcade Play will be open on the GDC Expo floor in the Moscone Convention Center Wednesday through Friday of GDC week, which runs March 16th through the 20th. It's shaping up to be a great place to delve into a selection of arcade hits, including the latest full-sized releases from:

Sega

Raw Thrills

Glitchbit

American Pinball

Chicago Gaming

So as you're using the GDC 2020 Session Scheduler to plan out your time at the show, leave room in your schedule to swing by Arcade Play and have some fun! And if you haven't yet, register now for GDC 2020 to avoid paying more at the door!

For more details on GDC 2020 visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent Informa Tech
What The Study Did: Nearly 40 years of registry data for 7.3 million people living in Denmark were used to examine whether people diagnosed with neurological disorders, including dementia, stroke, epilepsy, Parkinson disease and multiple sclerosis, die by suicide more often than others.

To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/

Authors: Annette Erlangsen, Ph.D., of the Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention in Copenhagen, Denmark, is the corresponding author.

(doi:10.1001/jama.2019.21834)

Editor's Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

###

Media advisory: The full study is linked to this news release.

Embed this link to provide your readers free access to the full-text article This link will be live at the embargo time https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2019.21834?guestAccessKey=d5649cd4-8b2b-4f8b-9694-3ec2845cb59e&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=020420
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Linkedin Wahyoe Boediwardhana (The Jakarta Post) Surabaya, East Java  Tue, February 4, 2020 13:25 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2062705f8 1 National defamation,West-Java,defamation-case,ITE,ITE-Law,Tri-Rismaharini,Surabaya-Police,East-Java,bogor Free

Zikria Dzatil  a homemaker and mother of three in Bogor, West Java  had not thought much of a Facebook status she casually posted almost a month ago, in which she lobbed an ad hominem at Tri Risma Rismaharini, the mayor of Surabaya in East Java.

That was at least until the post came back to haunt her in recent weeks as it had attracted the attention of fellow social media users and subsequently -- albeit not too surprisingly -- the Surabaya Police.

The police arrested Zikria at her home on Friday last week, charging her with defamation for allegedly posting derogatory remarks about Risma, in which she called the mayor "kodok betina" (female frog) alongside a photo of Risma sitting at what appeared to be the side of a river.

Surabaya Police Chief Sr. Comr. Sandi Nugroho said during a press conference on Monday that Zikria acknowledged that she had posted such remarks during questioning.

The arrest was made based on a report submitted by the Surabaya administration, he said. Zikrias now-deactivated Facebook page, along with a screenshot of the controversial post, was reported to the police on Jan. 21, he added.

Read also: Police charge Blitar woman under ITE Law for sharing 'Jokowi pharaoh', 'dog demon' memes

The police questioned nine witnesses prior to the arrest and considered input from experts on linguistics and the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law, Sandi said.

I apologize profusely, Bunda Risma. Please forgive me for what I have done, Zikria said during Mondays press conference at the Surabaya Police headquarters.

She went on to say that she and her children had received death threats and experienced various forms of cyberbullying in the wake of the controversy surrounding her post.

Im just an ordinary housewife who has had to experience constant fear as my children were threatened, terrorized. I myself was also bullied. This was a hard lesson for me. Once again, I sincerely apologize, Bunda Risma, Zikria said as she broke down in tears.

Surabaya Polices general crimes unit head, Adj. Sr. Comr. Sudamiran, said Zikria was a vocal supporter of Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and that she had reportedly taken offense to a slew of sharp criticism levied against the governor following widespread flooding that hit the nation's capital on Jan. 1.

Read also: ITE Law increasingly used to silence critics

Although Zikria did not live in Jakarta, she said that she was hurt by negative remarks about Anies and felt the need to bite back at another official, he said.

The perpetrator was simply hurt because Anies faced criticism, Sudamiran said, while calling on the public to use social media platforms wisely.

Zikria's case is the latest in a string of defamation charges based on the contentious ITE Law, which activists say is especially prone to being abused by those in power to silence critics.

Previously, West Nusa Tenggara native Baiq Nuril Makmun was sentenced to six months in prison and fined Rp 500 million (US$33,749) after the Supreme Court found her guilty of defaming her alleged harasser, the principal of a school where she worked in 2018.

House of Representatives Commission III called on President Joko Jokowi Widodo to grant Baiq Nuril amnesty last year, which Jokowi subsequently issued.

In 2014, Ervani Emy Handayani was sued for defamation after she posted disparaging comments on Facebook about her husbands work supervisor. The Bantul District Court in Central Java eventually exonerated Ervani as the judges agreed that she had been clouded by emotions when making her statement. (rfa)
When 37-year-old Subhash Batham walked out of jail early December after spending a month behind bars for an alleged jewellery theft, he had only one goal in mind: building a new house.

Over the next few weeks, neighbours saw Batham and his wife, Ruby, toiling round-the-clock to construct a brick house consisting of a 8x10-feet bedroom without any windows, a slightly larger store room, and a mud backyard covered by an asbestos sheet. No mason or labourer was hired. What no one knew was that the couple also constructed an underground bunker with an iron trapdoor, accessible only by a makeshift ladder, and no staircase. The neighbours also didnt note Batham meticulously laying an elaborate mesh of wires through slits in the brick structure connecting the bunker, the bedroom, and the entrance. A social boycott enforced in the village because Ruby was from a lower caste and the couple married without community sanction, ensured Bathams actions went unnoticed.

This would prove deadly on January 30, when Batham locked 25 local children in the bunker after luring them home on the pretext of a birthday party, triggering an 11-hour hostage crisis that culminated in the death of the couple  Batham shot dead by the police and Ruby lynched by the villagers.

Despite the house stacked with 150 crude bombs, and Batham wielding a rifle and a pistol, all 25 children escaped unscathed, thanks largely to the presence of mind of two teenagers who managed to stall Batham, snap the bomb-connecting wires, and lock the hostage-taker out of the bunker.

THE PARTY INVITE

It was afternoon last Thursday when loud Punjabi songs blared from speakers at Bathams house in Karthia village in Farrukhabad, about 200km from Lucknow. Soon, Batham was out on the mud road outside to invite the village children for the birthday celebration of his daughter, who turned one six months earlier.

Over the next hour, 25 children between eight months and 15 years trooped into his house, dancing to the music either in his cramped bedroom or outside the house. When I told Subhash his daughters birthday was celebrated just months ago, he laughed and said that it was actually his house-warming ceremony, said 13-year-old Vineet Kateria.

Batham then hurried the children downstairs, asked them to blow balloons and decorate the bunker. The older children were asked to hold the toddlers in their arms as they awkwardly descended into the dark lair using a rickety bamboo ladder. The moment all of us climbed down, he bolted the lid from above and stopped the music. He screamed to say that he wanted revenge for being framed in the theft, said Akash Kateria, also 13.

Along with the children were Ruby and her daughter. Till nearly the end of the drama, either Ruby or Batham stayed with the children, ensuring no one could climb out of the bunker.

As the children cried, Batham threatened to kill them all. He said he would spare us if we kept the wailing children silent. He then opened the bunker lid to show us a rifle hanging from his shoulder and a pistol in his hand, said Akash.

Any chance of escape seemed impossible, not only because of the closed lid, but also because explosives had been placed in all four corners of the bunker. The explosives were connected by wires that were controlled by Subhash in the bedroom, said Akash.

Around 2.30pm, Babli Devi walked to the house to call her three kids home. I found the red iron door locked from inside and Subhash screaming. He asked me to gather all the villagers and call the police. He said the children would be blown up if I didnt listen to him, said Babli.

To make his intent clear, Batham allegedly fired a round through a tiny shaft under the main door but didnt hit anyone.

Shiv Bahadur Singh, a local head constable who was among the first to the spot around 3pm, said when he initially offered to solve Bathams problems, the man fired a round and said he wouldnt talk to lower-rung officers. I felt helpless and said that he was sinning. Subhashs wife abused me in response, said the head constable. Anil Mishra, superintendent of police (Farrukhabad), said the first call to the police control room was made at 4.20pm, upon which a group of policemen surrounded the house and took positions atop surrounding buildings. The problem was that no one knew the layout of the house. We didnt even know what the bunker looked like until a local man who had once cast a glimpse inside gave us a rough idea, said Mishra.

MOTIVE UNCLEAR

Bathams motives remain unclear. Vineet said he heard Batham name five villagers  including a local policeman  and asked them to be brought before him. He said that these men had framed him in the recent theft case and that the policeman had beaten him up, said Vineet.

Rajani Kashyap, another woman whose three children were held hostage, said she stood next to a wall and spoke to Batham for almost an hour before the police took over. He said he held no grudge against my children. All he wanted was to punish those who had allegedly framed him. He asked for the local MLA to be called to the spot, said Rajani, indicating that Batham may have some grudge with him.

It was unclear what Batham wanted from the local Bhojpur MLA -- Bharatiya Janata Partys Nagendra Singh - who told HT that he did not know the family.

Local residents and police confirmed that Batham sent a list of demands on a piece of paper. That paper was never made public.

Mishra and Farrukhabad district magistrate Manvendra Singh said that, in it, Batham asked that the theft charges be dropped, assistance for housing and a toilet and 1 crore each for the release of the children. He also handed over some documents in which he had applied for housing and toilet assistance, but he didnt qualify for the scheme, Manvendra Singh told reporters.

Both Mishra and Manvendra Singh, however, declined to show a copy of the note.

TROUBLED PAST AND SOCIAL BOYCOTT

Batham was born in a potter caste family and had four siblings  including a half-brother. His first brush with crime was in 1998 when he was booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The next year, he was named in a second caste-based atrocity case. Two years later, he was arrested for burglary and jailed, said Mishra.

Soon after he was released from jail in that theft case, Subhash stabbed his distant uncle in 2001.

He held some Thakur villagers responsible for framing him, but blamed his uncle the most, said a local police officer on condition of anonymity. Subhash was arrested for murder, awarded a life sentence, and stayed in jail until 2011, when the high court lessened the sentence to 10 years. His mother Surja Devi, too, was arrested for the conspiracy, but was let off earlier.

When Batham returned home, he withdrew from the villages social life, occasionally picking fights with locals. For other residents of Karthia village, Batham was an unemployed man who committed petty theft. For a brief while, he built a tiny underground bunker in his agricultural field and stayed there all alone, said Harveer Singh, a local resident. Bathams half-brother, Rakesh, said he used to fly into a rage at the mention of sharing the family property or land, and threatened to shoot him on two occasions.

Relations further deteriorated four years ago, when his relations with Ruby became public and the couple married without community sanction. In response, the villagers began boycotting him. Ruby belonged to a different caste. That marriage was unacceptable in our village. We totally stopped visiting their house since then, said Sudha Srivastav, a local resident. Surja Devi, who suffers from poor sight and can barely walk, moved in with her sister in another village after Batham hit her. But she repeated the charge that Thakur men had framed her son in the theft case.

NO BLANK THREATS

By 5pm last Thursday, when villagers and policemen surrounded the home, among Bathams first demands was to summon legislator Nagendra Singh. The MLA was at the spot in no time, but was cautious not to approach the door. I stood next to the wall and asked Anupam Dubey to speak to Subhash, said the MLA.

Dubey was among those few people who interacted with Batham as a friend. Dubey seemed unafraid, marched to the door, and scolded Subhash for keeping children as hostages. Moments later, a bullet came flying out and hit Dubey in his right leg, said Rajababu Omer, a policeman. Batham would go on to fire at least 11 rounds in all, added Mishra. Minutes later, Batham used a crude bomb to trigger an explosion outside the house. The bomb was triggered by a wire connected to a battery placed in the bedroom, Mishra said. It was hidden under a pile of bricks, which flew in the air and hit people in vicinity. Three policemen and a villager were hurt in the explosion, forcing the police to call the National Security Guard (NSG), who were eventually not required.

HORROR AND RELIEF IN THE BUNKER

Each gunshot outside triggered loud cries from the children inside. It was a congested bunker and the gunshots would make us collapse on each other, said Anjali Kashyap, a 15-year-old girl later hailed for her bravery. Vineet said that when the blast happened, he was sitting with his back rested against the wall. My body shivered for an hour after that. Moments later, Batham opened the bunkers lid and shouted swaha (a reference to throwing offerings into a fire during a ritual havan ceremony). Whenever the cries disturbed Batham, he would allegedly lift the lid, point the rifle inside, and threaten to shoot them all. I would shout that if he killed any of us, him and his daughter would die too, said Anjali.

Earlier in the afternoon, Ruby had handed over a packet of toffees to the children. Initially, we threw away the packet. But when hunger set in, we began eating them, said Anjali.

A darkness set in, and the little ones began dozing off, Anjali requested for bedsheets. He gave us plastic sheets that we spread on the floor and put the children to sleep. When we told him we were hungry, he arranged about 25 packets of biscuits and also some glasses of water, said Anjali. When the biscuits were exhausted, the children got chapatis. Ruby made chapatis and gave us pickle, said Vineet.

A RAY OF HOPE

As the night dragged on, the authorities kept Batham engaged. If one topic got over, we would initiate another. Our aim was to tire him out, said Singh. At one point, Batham allegedly fired two rounds inside and announced he had killed two children. The police had no way of knowing the truth, said the collector. The first ray of hope came around midnight when the youngest of the captives  an eight-month-old girl  began wailing. She wanted her mothers milk. I urged them to release the little one. When he refused, I asked him to kill us all, but let the toddler go, said Anjali.

Batham agreed and said he would free the toddler. Initially he tried to pass the child through a narrow shaft through the front door. When the child wouldnt fit, he called Ruby and asked her to briefly open the rear door to let the child out, said Shiv Bahadur.

As Ruby opened the rear door, Subhash threw the toddler on a chair in the backyard. A policeman scaled the wall and took away the child.

But in that brief moment, Anjali saw an opportunity. As soon as I felt that the child was rescued, I closed the bunkers lid and bolted it from inside, she said. An incensed Batham threatened to blow up a 15kg LPG cylinder, but the children wouldnt open the lid. The threat drove a wedge between the husband and wife, said the children. Ruby begged Subhash not to trigger a blast as it would kill their daughter as well. She cried and pleaded with him, said Anjali.

With the husband and wife busy, Vineet thought he would try to remove the wires placed in the bunker. I wasnt sure, but I remembered that some wires in the bedroom earlier werent connected to anything. So, I pulled out all wires from the bunker and hoped that no blast would occur, said Vineet. Vineets hunch was right. There was no blast.

Over the next 90 minutes, one police team kept the couple engrossed while another team planned to break open the rear door. Around 1.30am, when the couple was tired and hopeless, we brought down the rear door. The couple tried to escape from the front door, but we captured Ruby. Subhash then hurled bombs and began firing at us while running back into the bedroom, said Mishra.

One of the policemen shot Batham in response, killing him on the spot. As Ruby was being escorted out by the police, the villagers moved to attack her. The police told us that she was strapped with explosives, but the people wouldnt listen. They beat her with stones and bricks. The police joined in the lynching, said Rajani Kashyap.

Mishra denied the charge. It remained unclear, however, how the police was unable to stop her being beaten to death. As police bundled an injured Ruby into an ambulance  she would die on the way  another team walked into the room, and sounded assurances to the children locked underground. Minutes later, the children were climbing into the room. It was 1.30am.

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Stocks soared for the second straight day Tuesday despite the growing coronavirus outbreak.

Three experts say investors should be watching this now.

Jeff Mills, chief investment officer at Bryn Mawr Trust, says the chances for volatility are high.

"I do see complacency in the market. I think you can point to a number of different data points, whether it's flows into SPY or the QQQs in the 95th percentile, whether you're looking at the options market, the put call ratio is still very very low. AAI came out with the survey yesterday, the lowest percentage allocated to cash in nearly two years, so I would not be surprised to see additional volatility here. So I wouldn't necessarily be chasing this higher and buying with both hands but what I would say is the market is not as stretched as it was, say, in the beginning of 2018."

Libby Cantrill, head of public policy at PIMCO, says Monday's Iowa debacle did little to clear the political fog.

"We've been talking with our clients about Iowa and New Hampshire, that even though they capture the imagination, from a delegates perspective they really don't matter. Now they came at it from a momentum and fundraising perspective, but what really does matter for the current investors and markets perspective will be March 3. March 3 almost 40% of the delegates will be decided. And we should either have a very good idea of who the nominee is or who the front-runners are. And if we don't, then we would say the chances of a brokered convention actually increase, and not many people are talking about a brokered convention."

Chetan Ahya, chief economist at Morgan Stanley, says the global economy should continue to expand once the coronavirus outbreak stabilizes.

"We just got the global PMIs data yesterday. And that was very strong. We had a one-point-plus jump in the global headline PMI, and we had 1.9 percentage point jump in the new orders index, which is a sub-index which is more forward looking. So we had pretty good data in terms of what's going on in the global economy before we got this virus ... You probably get the resumption of recovery as soon as the situation is controlled."

Disclaimer
American man anxiously awaits family to return from Wuhan, China, amid coronavirus outbreak originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Wisconsin resident Samuel Roth has been on edge for the past two weeks.

His wife and children have been stranded in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of a newly discovered coronavirus.

The Chinese government imposed a lockdown on the city and others in central Hubei province on Jan. 23, in an effort to stymie the spread of infection. The first cases were detected there back in December. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global health emergency on Jan. 31, as the number of cases climbed in China and spread overseas to other countries.

MORE: 2nd person-to-person transmission of coronavirus reported in US; 1st death confirmed outside China

By Tuesday, the Chinese government reported 20,438 confirmed cases and 420 deaths on mainland China. At least 190 cases have been reported in over two dozen other nations and territories, including 11 cases in the United States.

PHOTO: An aerial view of the roads and bridges are seen in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Feb. 3, 2020. (Stringer/Getty Images)

Roth's wife, Daisy, is from Wuhan and she took their two young daughters to visit relatives in the Chinese city in mid-January, while Roth stayed home in Neenah, Wisconsin. At the time, the threat of the novel coronavirus seemed low.

"When my family went there, we had heard about a disease that was starting to spread, but we thought it would get under control," Roth told ABC News in a recent interview. "It was really kind of shocking when we saw that the entire city was locked."

"My first thoughts were, wow, this is a big deal," he added. "My wife and two daughters are there, but also all of my in-laws are there. My wife's parents, their brothers and sisters, their children and their children's children. Everybody is in Wuhan."

PHOTO: This photo taken on Feb. 3, 2020, shows a doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak, in China's central Hubei province. (Str/AFP via Getty Images)

Roth, who lived in China for a few years, has been scrambling to get his family back home safe ever since. He said his wife and kids have been holed up in his parents-in-law's home in Wuhan, which he described as once "very lively."

Story continues

"It's just sort of been like waiting in an apartment for the rain to stop so that you can go back outside," he told ABC News. "When I was in the country, the streets of Wuhan were busy, bustling, noisy -- just a very exciting place."

MORE: US plans more coronavirus evacuation flights from Wuhan, China, this week

The United States is planning more flights to evacuate American citizens out of Wuhan, China, this week, according to the U.S. embassy in Beijing. Those flights will land at four U.S. military bases and -- similar to the evacuation flight that landed in California last week -- passengers will be quarantined upon arrival. The planes will be loaded with medical supplies and humanitarian goods, which the U.S. government hopes to deliver to Wuhan on the first leg of the journey.

PHOTO: A person wears a protective mask while walking down an empty street in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Feb.3, 2020. (Stringer/Getty Images)

Roth said the plan is for his father-in-law and an uncle to take his wife and children to the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, where the trio will board a charter flight back to the United States on Tuesday night. But Roth is concerned about the drive to the airport.

"They need to get to the airport and that has the challenge of driving through a city that's locked down," he told ABC News. "There's going to be checkpoints everywhere. Chinese government officials or military personnel are likely to stop their car and ask why they're traveling because they shouldn't be traveling."

MORE: Apple temporarily closing all stores, offices in China amid coronavirus outbreak

Roth said the U.S. embassy has been in touch with Hubei provincial authorities so that checkpoint personnel have the license plate of the vehicle and the personal information of the people inside who are traveling to and from the airport.

"I think we've we've done everything that we can," he added. "It's some of the hitches like that I'm concerned about. Once they're in the airport, I'm going to feel a little bit of comfort because there's going to be a lot of officials there that are looking to facilitate this evacuation."

PHOTO: In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, medical workers in protective suits help transfer the first group of patients into the newly-completed Huoshenshan temporary field hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. (Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua via AP)

Roth said his wife's family is particularly worried about their relatives trying to get back into Wuhan after dropping off Daisy and the kids at the airport, especially if one of them falls ill.

MORE: What to know about coronavirus symptoms

The new coronavirus causes symptoms similar to pneumonia that can range from mild, such as a slight cough, to more severe, including fever and difficulty breathing, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"They'll have to go through those checkpoints again and hopefully they will not get stopped," Roth told ABC News. "But even just venturing outside and going to the airport and coming back, they're putting themselves at risk where the alternative of just staying home in the apartment would be safer. That has me worried because if they need medical care, my understanding is that it might be very difficult for them to get in Wuhan at the moment."

"The worst thing that could happen is if they get ill," he continued. "The hospitals are overwhelmed."

PHOTO: People wearing masks line up for departure at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, Feb. 4, 2020. (Achmad Ibrahim/AP)

Once Roth's wife and children board the flight, it's unclear where the plane will fly to in the United States. Over the weekend, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that flights entering the country from China would be rerouted to one of several airports designated for coronavirus screenings. The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar has declared a public health emergency and a temporary travel ban.

Roth said his wife and children will likely be quarantined for up to 14 days once their flight lands. He told ABC News that his family is "willing to comply with all the precautions necessary to avoid spreading this in the United States."

"Once they're discharged from quarantine, I'll pick them up and take them home and hopefully we can start to get back to normalcy," he said. "I'll be very happy to see them. There's just so much uncertainty that they are undergoing right now, and just to know that they're home and they're closer to me is going to be a huge weight off of my back."

"I just hope that people who don't know anybody personally who is affected by this virus are compassionate and understanding," he added, "that we are just normal families looking to reunite ourselves and take our family members out of dangers in harm's way and to understand that we are not trying to bring the disease back to the country. We're just trying to reunite our family."

ABC News' Monica Bousa, Jessica Mendoza, Erin Schumaker and Joseph Simonetti contributed to this report.
Surrey, UK -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/04/2020 -- A well-renowned IT Recruitment Agencies in the UK, Volt Europe offers specialized recruitment services to help candidates find a job in various sectors such as engineering, information technology, life sciences and professional services. Getting to know each candidate, the company's experts assist candidates at every step of their job-seeking journey. The experts at the agency take time to assess candidates' skills and expertise to deliver the best recruitment chances and help candidates take the next step in their career.



The company provides candidates with both contract and permanent positions where they can thrive and advance their career. The agency's team of consultants help each candidate find the best job according to their skills and knowledge. With a wealth of expertise and industry knowledge, they have helped thousands of candidates to find the best jobs as per their skills and interests. You can rely on Volt Europe to find you the best job available.



Volt Europe is one of the most reputable life science recruitment agencies in the UK. The company is known amongst businesses across the UK for supplying the talented candidate who can meet the ever-evolving industry demands. The organisation has many third-party affiliations and professional accreditations that prove them one of the best recruitment service providers in the industry.



Talking further about their specialised recruitment services to candidates, one of the representatives from the company stated, "We believe that people are more than a collection of keywords on a CV. Personality and ambition are as much a part of your value as your work experience, so we strive to get to know each candidate because we want to provide more than just a job  we want to find you a position where you can thrive."



About Volt Europe

Volt's EU business is wholly owned by Volt Information Sciences, Inc. a global company with operations in over 110 offices covering Europe, the Americas and Asia. Generating annual revenues over $1.5 billion, the company delivers best in class Talent, Technology and consulting services to its customers. Volt first traded in Europe in 1978, initially delivering temporary and permanent IT recruitment solutions to clients in the UK. The company has since enjoyed significant growth in both the range and geographical scope of its services, and now has European bases in Belgium, France and the UK.



For more information, please visit: https://www.volt.eu.com/
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Hey Dad! star Sarah Monahan has claimed disgraced reporter Ben McCormack may have become a paedophile after covering her child sex abuse case.

The former child actress spoke out on the scandal on Channel Nine's A Current Affair on Tuesday, where she admitted she felt 'guilt' over the journalist's downfall.

McCormack, 43, was found guilty of child pornography charges in 2017 - years after he famously confronted Monahan's abuser and former co-star Robert Hughes on air in Singapore.

Ms Monahan described the shocking turn of events as 'surreal', knowing McCormack had worked closely with her on her story and had been in her house.

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Hey Dad star Sarah Monahan (pictured right as a child) has admitted she felt 'guilt' over disgraced journalist Ben McCormack's downfall

The 43-year-old journalist was found guilty of child pornography charges in 2017 - years after covering the child sex abuse case against actor Robert Hughes

'He was so invested in the story and part of me almost felt guilt for a while because I didn't know if he had been that way - and that's why he was so invested - or if he did so many of these stories [that] it changed something in him, and it almost made him that way,' she said.

McCormack narrowly avoided jail time with a three-year good behaviour bond and $1,000 fine for his offence - but left Sydney with his career in ruins.

A Current Affair host and former colleague Tracy Grimshaw admitted the incident had been 'deeply uncomfortable' for the network, before issuing an apology to Ms Monahan on air on Tuesday night.

'I never had the opportunity to apologise to you publicly, for introducing him to you back then, of course back then we had no idea,' she said.

'We had no idea what would ultimately transpire, but I do apologise to you.'

Ms Monahan added: 'I think it taught us all a lesson that you really just don't know who... they're just so well-hidden.'

McCormack had famously confronted Monahan's abuser and former co-star Robert Hughes after tracking him down in Singapore (pictured)

Actor Robert Hughes, 71, (front row, left) with the cast of Hey Dad. Hughes was sentenced to ten years and nine months in prison after he was found guilty of 11 counts of child sex abuse in 2014

The 42-year-old actress had appeared on Tuesday night's show to weigh in on Hughes's potential early release from jail later this year.

Hughes, 71, was sentenced to ten years and nine months behind bars after he was found guilty of 11 counts of child sex abuse in 2014.

His sentence includes a six-year non-parole period set to begin in April.

Ms Monahan, who played his onscreen daughter on the hit sitcom, said she felt safe now living in New York, but revealed his other victims are fearful of 'reprisal' once Hughes is released.

'Since he has said that we're horrible people for doing this to him, we don't know if he's going to want revenge,' she said.

'I would be nervous to return to Australia for work or to visit family because he could know that I'm there. If I was doing a life broadcast somewhere he could see it and show up.

'What if you're walking down the street and you bump into him... everyone's just very nervous of his reaction or what he might do when he gets out.

'The other girls [who live in Australia] are very fearful for reprisal because who knows what his state of mind is.'

Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes was sentenced in 2014 to a maximum of 10 years and nine months jail with a non-parole period of six years for sexual and indecent assault of four young girls

During Hughes's 2015 sentencing at the Sydney District Court, Judge Peter Zahra said the Hey Dad! actor had not expressed remorse

Ms Monahan said she believes Hughes should only be released back into the community if he finally takes responsibility for his crimes.

'If he's going to get out early it should be because he's admitted guilt,' she said.

'The question is whether he admits he's guilty, or if he still think he's the innocent victim here.'

'If he still thinks he's innocent, then he probably should spend some more time in prison thinking about it.'

Eighteen women testified against Hughes, but he was only convicted for the abuse of four of them - including his own niece.

Former colleagues who worked on set with the former Hey Dad! star also gave evidence, testifying that Hughes would repeatedly expose himself.

During Hughes's 2015 sentencing at the Sydney District Court, Judge Peter Zahra said the actor had not expressed remorse.

He denied all the allegations, screaming 'I'm innocent' in court when he was found guilty.

Hughes was originally placed in Goulburn Maximum Security Prison, where authorities had to build a wall to stop him being pelted by faeces thrown by the other inmates.

It's understood he has since been moved to Long Bay Correctional Centre.
Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson has launched a petition calling for the band he helped create to cancel an upcoming show at a hunting convention.

The Safari Club International Convention takes place in Reno, Nevada, this week with the Beach Boys due to play on Wednesday.

Mike Love, another band founder, will perform alongside longtime member Bruce Johnston - to the fury of Wilson, whose name is synonymous with the group.

The convention will also see a keynote address by Donald Trump Jr, where he will auction off a trip to Alaska to hunt deer and duck with him and his son.

Brian Wilson, founder of the Beach Boys and whose name is synonymous with the group, has called on fans to sign a petition to stop members of the band playing at a hunting convention

The petition calls on Mike Love and Bruce Johnston - the two band members who are playing - to cancel the gig and publicly renounce trophy hunting

Writing on Twitter, Wilson said: 'It has been brought to my attention that on Wednesday February 5, The Beach Boys touring group licensed by Mike Love are headlining at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada.

'This organization supports trophy hunting, which both [founder Al Jardine] and I are emphatically opposed to.

'Theres nothing we can do personally to stop the show, so please join us in signing the petition.'

The petition calls on fans to stop buying Beach Boys music, merchandise and gig tickets until the show is cancelled and the band publicly acknowledges an opposition to trophy hunting.

'We will call... on members of the public to protest at forthcoming Beach Boys concerts, unless they do so,' it adds.

The petition was created by a fan of the band with the hope of getting to 75,000 signatures, a goal it hit just a day after Wilson first promoted it.

The four-day Reno hunting convention is marketed as a 'hunter's heaven' which will culminate on Saturday with the Trump Jr auction and address.

The Safari Club International Convention will take place in Reno this week, and culminate with a keynote address by Donald Trump Jr and an auction of a hunting trip with him and his son

The seven-day trip will involve shooting Sitka blacktail deer (pictured) and ducks while cruising aboard a yacht

It is thought to be the biggest event of its kind in the world, with permits to shoot elephants, giraffe and bears up for sale.

A description of the auction prize says: 'Donald Trump Jr and Master Guide Keegan McCarthy, owner of Coastal Alaska Adventures, are proud to launch the 'Hunter Heritage Series'.

'This exciting new program is designed to bring youth/new hunters into the field and experience the essence of what we love.

'Together we recognize the need to improve access to young hunters and create opportunity and excitement around getting them into the field.'

The winner will be allowed to shoot two Sitka black tailed deer along with water ducks during a seven-day excursion aboard a yacht.

The bidding currently stands at $10,000.

Trump Jr has made no secret of his love for trophy hunting, and has appeared in pictures along with brother Eric while clutching big game such as buffalo.

The President's eldest son argues that hunting is vital to conservation efforts, while convention organizers described him as 'an accomplished conservationist'.
LUCKNOW: United States ambassador to India Kenneth Juster on Tuesday said his country wanted Indo-US defence trade to grow up to $80 billion per annum from the existing $18 billion

We also wish to expand cooperation in the defence industrial corridor in Uttar Pradesh, he said.

Juster is in the state capital to attend the 11th Defence Expo, which will start from Wednesday.

The US firms at the expo produce battle-proven, high-technology equipment and networks. These companies have supplied modern land and sea-based fighter aircraft; ballistic missile defence systems; the most advanced networked avionics equipment and secure communications equipment for the United States and our partners. They are poised to offer the same to India, Juster told media persons here on Tuesday.

On investment in the upcoming defence corridor project in Uttar Pradesh, Juster said: We look forward to expand our cooperation as the Indian government establishes defence industrial corridors in Uttar Pradesh and in Tamil Nadu.

The US firms participating in this event are partnering various companies across India, including in Uttar Pradeshs Defence Corridor, to produce defence equipment not just for our countries militaries, but for those of partner nations, said Juster.

Tata has partnered with Lockheed Martin to build all C-130 tails and F-16 wings here. And Boeing is collaborating with HAL to produce all AH-64 Apache fuselages in Hyderabad, he added.

Juster said: The theme of the Defence Expo is Digital Transformation of Defence. It is critical that India moves toward systems  not just weapons  that are effective, agile and resilient. In addition, we believe that India must ultimately move toward systems that are interoperable with equipment and networks of its security partners.

Emphasizing on removing barriers in Indo-US trade, Juster said: For industry-to-industry relationship barriers must be overcome. It is our goal to identify obstacles to enhancing industry-to-industry cooperation.

He also asserted that US defence cooperation with India continued to grow stronger and defence trade with our companies is creating skilled jobs in India.

Replying to a question that US was maligning Chinas image on the outbreak of coronavirus, Juster said: We refute all such allegations. Rather we are willing to extend all help to China to fight the virus.
A scary video of a river on fire made its way onto Twitter and now it has raised concerns among people about environment. The massive fire erupted on a tributary of Brahmaputra river. Turns out, it was caused due to leakage from pipelines. Thankfully, the fire got doused on its own.

Fire on river. Burhi Dihing river caught fire at Naharkatia, Assam, due to oil pipe blast in last three days. But no one cares, wrote a Twitter user and shared the video.

Fire on river. Burhi Dihing river caught fire at Naharkatia, Assam, due to oil pipe blast in last three days. But no one cares. pic.twitter.com/lym6NvNye7  Nandan Pratim Sharma Bordoloi  (@NANDANPRATIM) February 2, 2020

People had lots of thoughts and they expressed the same while commenting on the video. While some wrote that its an environmental disaster, others were concerned about the incident not being a part of the mainstream news.

Shocked that it is not part of mainstream media, wrote a Twitter user. And how it happened? Rather itd ask, who did it? commented another. An environmental disaster, wrote a third. OMG! Stop this insanity now, commented a fourth.

Heres how others reacted:

Oh my god...

Please save it  abani kanta sharma (@AbaniSharma) February 2, 2020

Shocking and terrible!  Nuxalbari Tea Estate (@NuxalbariTea) February 3, 2020

Oh my God  TheOptimistANM (@Anm74471922) February 3, 2020

Due to a mechanical issue a crude oil pipeline the Oil India Limited (OIL) got ruptured and it caused spillage on Burhi Dihing river in Assams Dibrugarh.

It appears that some miscreants had set fire to the oil floating on the river. There have been no casualties and the blaze got doused on its own. The situation is under control, said an official.

OIL has also initiated actions to recover and clean the crude oil from the affected site, the official further added.

An enquiry committee has been set up to find out the underlying root causes of the incident and suggest remedial measures. Presently, normal operations have resumed and all leakages have been rectified and crude oil is being received from installations at CTF, Duliajan, he added.

(With inputs from PTI)
Goa Deputy Chief Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar has claimed that Dr had thought of a 'Dalitstan' for Dalits, but people of India remained united.

Ajgaonkar was speaking in the Goa Assembly on Monday during the motion congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the passage of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Parliament.

"During partition, Muslims went to the other side, Pakistan became a Muslim nation. (But) Hindustan did not become a Hindu nation," Ajgaonkar said addressing the House.

"Some people speak about Hindu nation. Hindu comprises all communities, Catholics, Hindus, Muslims, Dalits. For Dalits, Babasaheb Ambedkar said there would be another Dalitstan. But still, we all are together," said the BJP MLA from Pernem constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.

"When the country became independent, Ambedkar gave us a Constitution for democracy which has Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Dalits," the deputy chief minister said.

If this country is great, it is because of everyone's contribution, he added.

The state Assembly on Monday passed a motion congratulating Modi and Shah over the passage of CAA in Parliament.

The new law, under which non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship, came into force from January 10. It was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON  In their final appeals in President Trumps impeachment trial, House Democrats argued on Monday that he had corrupted the presidency and would continue to put American interests at risk if the Senate failed to remove him from office. Mr. Trumps defenders, denouncing the case against him, said he had done nothing wrong and should be judged by voters.

Making their closing arguments from the well of the Senate, the House managers and the presidents lawyers invoked history and the 2020 presidential campaign as Democrats and Republicans prepared to take the fight over Mr. Trumps fate to the broader public arena. Neither side expected to change the outcome of the final vote on Wednesday, when the Senate is all but certain to acquit the president, largely along party lines.

The Democratic impeachment managers, led by Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, warned that Mr. Trump had tried to rig the 2020 election in his favor  by withholding military aid from Ukraine in an effort to pressure the country to investigate his political rivals  and had put a blot on the presidency that would stain those who failed to stand up to him. Calling the president a man without character or ethical compass, Mr. Schiff insisted that now was the time for members of his own party to choose between normalizing corruption or removing it.

Truth matters to you. Right matters to you, Mr. Schiff said, making a case aimed at Republicans. You are decent. He is not who you are.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the proposed law on the land market is "the most loyal for Ukraine," as compared with similar ones in other countries.

"I would like to tell you that there is not such a loyal land market law as we have anywhere else. Yesterday we met with Turkish President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan. He told me that they also faced many questions from the community, farmers and the government, especially from the previous government. There were many calls on various TV channels. They had a tougher system. They opened it [the land market] for everyone. They opened and completely liberalized it," the head of state told reporters while checking the work of the Affordable Loans at 5-7-9% program at Ukrgasbank on Tuesday.

Zelensky also said that in 1991, when Ukraine declared its independence, it had the same level of economic growth, GDP, population as Turkey, while today the population and GDP in Turkey are much higher than in Ukraine.

"They [Turkey] liberalized the economy as much as possible and the money came into the country," Zelensky said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-03 16:54:42|Editor: xuxin

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SUVA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Conservation of wetland ecosystems is essential for sustainable fresh water supply, flood mitigation and preserving biodiversity for plants, animals and humans, said a Fijian minister on Monday.

According to a government statement on Monday, during the 2020 wetland day celebration at the Upper Navua Conservation Area, in Serua on the west side of Fiji's main island Viti Levu, Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development, Waterways and Environment Mahendra Reddy said that wetland conservation is vital considering its role in the ecosystem.

"Wetlands are incredibly vital for humans, ecosystems, and for our climate as they nurture a great diversity of life," he said.

He urged Fijians to take care of the environment by being active in bringing about positive changes in human behavior towards it.

The Minister said human activities such as inappropriate disposal of waste ended up in their wetlands and mangroves, killing the very prospects of the marine prosperity wetlands that it provides to the communities.
Todays chat: What do you think about the lawsuit and the events leading up to Meighan Cordies death?

A man whose daughter died after she jumped or fell from a moving car is suing an Oregon wedding venue for overserving alcohol to the womans mother, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident, according to a lawsuit filed last week.

On Thursday, Anton Tony Cordie filed a lawsuit seeking nearly $1 million from Yamhill County-based Heiser Farms Events LLC, which he accused of negligence in the hours before his daughter, Meighan Cordie, fell to her death.

Jennifer Weathers, Meighan Cordies mother who changed her name to Jennifer Jaeger after the incident, was visibly intoxicated at the Aug. 18, 2018, event, according to the lawsuit.

During the event, Weathers was consuming alcohol provided by Heiser and became visibly intoxicated, according to the lawsuit. Despite the objective signs that Weathers was under the influence of alcohol, Heiser continued to serve her alcohol.

Jaeger and Cordie were seen arguing on their way to the vehicle, court documents allege.

Jaeger, Cordie and Cordies young daughter left the wedding venue and had planned on returning to Jaegers King City home. The next day, Jaeger called a non-emergency dispatcher to report that she was kind of worried about Cordie.

In a recording of the call, Jaeger said that after the wedding her daughter "was upset and got out of the car and I haven't heard anything since."

Cordies body was found down an embankment Aug. 23, 2018, by joggers along Southeast Foster Road in Dayton. An autopsy showed she suffered two broken or severed vertebrae and died instantly upon hitting the roadway.

Police and prosecutors originally investigated whether Jaeger should be charged with a homicide after her daughters body was found. Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry said Cordie apparently jumped or fell from the moving car that Weathers was driving.

Prosecutors say Jaeger didnt tell investigators all that she knew, including that she had gotten into a physical fight with her daughter in the car and that her daughter had pulled out a clump of her hair.

But Berry said there was insufficient evidence to pursue homicide charges against Weathers. The state medical examiners office ruled Cordies death accidental. Jaeger went on to complete a five-night sentence for driving under the influence of intoxicants on the night her daughter died.

In October, Tony Cordie filed a $500,000 lawsuit against Jaeger.

In last weeks lawsuit, he accused the venue of negligence, saying but for Heisers failure to stop serving alcoholic beverages to (Jaeger), Cordie would not have lost her life.

The venue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

-- Kale Williams

kwilliams@oregonian.com

503-294-4048

@sfkale

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
The Allahabad High Court has said it is difficult to determine who exploited whom in the case in which former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand is accused to sexual abusing a law student.

In fact, both of them used each other, Justice Rahul Chaturvedi said on Monday while granting bail to the BJP leader, accused of sexual exploitation of the student for several months.

The judge also transferred the case to a trial court in Lucknow, noting the woman's apprehension that the BJP leader could infringe with the law if the case is heard in his hometown Shahjahanpur.

Chinmayanand, whose trust runs the Shahjahanpur law college where the woman studied, was arrested on September 20 under section 376-C of the IPC, a charge short of rape.

It is applied when someone in authority takes advantage of his official position to "induce or seduce" a woman to have sex with him.

In a parallel case, the woman was charged with trying to extort Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand, whom she had accused of rape. The high court granted her bail on December 4.

In Monday's order granting bail to Chinmayanand, Justice Chaturvedi took note of the allegations that the woman and her three friends tried to blackmail the politician with the videos she shot while giving massages to the politician.

The woman has, however, alleged that she went to Chinmayanand under threat from his goons. She had then started using a spy camera to make video clips.

The judge also noted material on record indicating that she and her family members enjoyed the patronage and benevolence of the politician.

In the present scenario where this court finds that it might be a case of quid pro quo, the intriguing question arises whether the applicant be granted bail or not? the judge noted.

As pointed out earlier, that both the parties crossed their limits and at this stage it is very difficult to adjudicate as to who exploited whom? In fact, both of them used each other, the bail order said.

It is also noticeable that there is also nothing on record that during the period of the alleged atrocities committed upon Miss A she made any complaint or even any whisper to her family members against the accused applicant, the order said.

The judge said at this juncture the court draws the conclusion that it was a complete matter of quid pro quo.

But over a span of time there was greed to extract more and the woman tried to blackmail Chinmayanand through the obscenic videos recorded by her, the court observed.

The judge, however, directed the trial court that no observation made while passing the bail order should affect it in its own proceedings.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kokrajhar in Assam on Friday to take part in an event to celebrate the signing of the Bodo peace accord last month.

This will be Modis first visit to Assam after protests started in December last year against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The protests seeking repeal of the legislation, which are still continuing, had claimed five lives in police firing in the initial days.

Modi could not visit Assam in December for the India-Japan bilateral meet in Guwahati which had to be cancelled due to the protests. The PM was expected visit Guwahati for the opening ceremony of the Khelo India Youth Games last month but that also did not happen.

On Tuesday, senior Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma reviewed preparations for the Bodo Accord celebrations in Kokrajhar along with other ministers and bureaucrats.

We are excited to welcome PM Narendra Modi to this historic event, Sarma tweeted.

Senior district officials at Kokrajhar, the headquarters of Bodoland Territorial Council (renamed as Bodoland Territorial Region after last months accord), said that preparations for Fridays event is going on well.

We are in touch with security officials to ensure that the event passes without any glitch. The preparations are going on in full swing, said Partha Pratim Majumdar, deputy commissioner Kokrajhar.

Around 4 to 5 lakh people from all the four districts under Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) are expected to take part in the event, which will include a cultural programme of ethnic groups of the state.

Cadres of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) who laid down arms will be part of the event which will be attended by eminent personalities from the BTAD region, informed Pramod Bodo, president of All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), one of the signatories of the peace deal.

The Bodo Accord, the third such deal after two earlier ones in 1993 and 2003 was signed at New Delhi on January 27 with leaders of all four factions of NDFB, who were demanding a separate Bodoland state, taking part as signatories.

The deal is expected to bring peace to the Bodo-dominated areas in Assam. With signing of the accord United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I), which is seeking a sovereign Assam, remains the only major banned militant outfit in the state.

Last week, 1615 cadres of all the factions of NDFB laid down arms in front of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at an event in Guwahati.

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Hong Kong reported its first death from the novel coronavirus on Tuesday morning local time.

Why it matters: The second reported death outside of mainland China came as over 2,400 Hong Kong medical workers went on strike to demand authorities fully close the border with mainland China to stop the spread of the virus, per the South China Morning Post.

A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted.

The big picture: A health authority spokesperson confirmed to Axios that the 39-year-old man died in Hong Kong's Princess Margaret Hospital after being infected with novel coronavirus.

A Hong Kong Hospital Authority spokesperson said the patient was a Hong Kong resident who traveled to Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak in mainland China, on Jan. 21. He returned to the city two days later, AFP reports.

A 44-year-old man who was a Wuhan resident but died in the Philippines on Saturday was the first person to have been killed by symptoms related to the virus outside of China.

Go deeper: The global economic threat of the coronavirus

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for Active Design (CfAD) today announces the 2020 winners of Best in Building HealthTM, its flagship recognition program that identifies the leading firms enhancing human health via Fitwel, the world's leading certification system committed to building health for allTM. Winners reflect notable geographic diversityincluding projects from Thailand, Ireland, and Swedenconfirming the rapid expansion of Fitwel's global reach. The number of countries implementing Fitwel-certified projects has doubled over the last year to generate health impacts across four continents.

The twenty firms recognized as the Best in Building Health also reflect industry diversity, including national and multinational real estate companies, affordable housing, architecture and engineering, consulting, technology, construction, healthcare, and more. By applying the evidence-based Fitwel standard across their portfolios, these leaders are demonstrating their commitment to enhancing human health while maximizing appeal to occupants, investors, and community stakeholders.

"Fitwel was launched into the market just 3 years ago, and from the outset we've seen strong and growing demand from individuals to investors," says Joanna Frank, CfAD's president & CEO. "Today's winners exemplify the industry-leading companies who are using Fitwel to attract and retain talented employees, ensure the success of their businesses, and foster the wellbeing of residents. Our team is thrilled to present them with this esteemed recognition."

CfAD will convene Best in Building Health winners and other Fitwel leaders on February 27th at the iconic Ferry Building in San Francisco. This year's event will feature new awards that reflect Fitwel's growing breadth of impact, including recognition of Quartier des lumieres in Montreal, Canada, the frontrunning project to pilot the Fitwel Community Scorecard. This brand-new standard for neighborhood-scale development was released for public use on January 30, along with a Commercial Sites Scorecard.

Additionally, two firmsQuadReal Property Group and Harrison Streetwill receive the distinguished Industry Leadership award, which is offered at the discretion of CfAD leadership to honor companies demonstrating exceptional leadership in advancing Fitwel's commitment to "building health for all." These winners go above and beyond Fitwel implementation practices to cultivate new tools and resources that make health-promoting strategies more accessible to a wide range of practitioners and advance market transformation.

"At QuadReal, we are proud of our partnership with the Center for Active Design as part of our commitment to making a positive impact on the health and productivity of our tenants and residents. Continuing to work towards Fitwel certifications in our portfolio is vital to maintaining our overall sustainability goals," says Jamie Gray-Donald, senior vice president, sustainability & EHS at QuadReal Property Group.

"At Harrison Street ESG is an integral part of both our investment strategy and overall culture. We continually work to deepen positive impacts on the lives we touch, as demonstrated by our strong focus around wellness. We want the buildings we own to be the gold standard in health and safety for our tenants, residents, and staff," states Jill Brosig, chief impact officer for Harrison Street. "CfAD/Fitwel has been a tremendous partner in helping us define, design, and measure what healthy means in our asset classes, especially given the nuances of the senior and student populations we serve. We are honored to be recognized by the Center for Active Design for the Best in Building Health 2020 Industry Leadership Award. This is a testament that what we are doing together is making a difference, and we look forward to continuing to enhance our partnership with CfAD and Fitwel."

Fitwel Certification System by the numbers: 980+ registered projects, impacting 815,000+ people, with 370+ projects certified or pending certification, 2,800 + global users. 57% of certified projects received a 1 Star Rating, which requires a minimum score of 90 out of 144 points; 32% received a 2 Star Rating and 7% a 3 Star Rating.

Best in Building HealthTM 2020

Award Recognition Categories

Special Recognition for Industry Leadership

Industry Leading Company: QuadReal Property Group

Industry Leading Company: Harrison Street

Special Recognition for All-Time Performance

Fitwel Excellence Award (Most Certifications of All-Time): Kilroy Realty Corporation

Fitwel Promise Award (Most Registrations of All-Time): Anthem, Inc.

Fitwel Impact Award (All-Time Highest Scoring Project): Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.  Alexandria LaunchLabs at the Alexandria Center at One Kendall Square; Cambridge, MA, United States

2019 Distinctions

Greatest Number of Certifications (2019)

Professional Consultant: Verdani Partners

Building Owner: Boston Properties

Tenant: Clark Construction Group

Greatest Number of Registrations (2019)

Professional Consultant: Goby

Building Owner/Manager: LaSalle Investment Management and JLL

Tenant: LinkedIn

Greatest Impact on Building Health (2019)

Most People Impacted: Paramount Group (owner) / Sustainable Investment Group (consultant)

Highest Square Footage: Boston Properties

2019 Highest Scoring Projects

Commercial Interior Space v2: Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. - Alexandria LaunchLabs at the Alexandria Center at One Kendall Square. Cambridge, MA, United States

Commercial Interior Space v2.1: Tenant & Partner - Norr Malarstrand 14 Stockholm. Stockholm, Sweden

Single-Tenant Building v2.1: Undisclosed Company

Single-Tenant Building v2.1: SCG Consulting - The Stock Exchange of Thailand. Bangkok, Thailand

Multi-Tenant Base Building v2: Skanska USA - Bank of America Tower. Houston, TX, United States

Multi-Tenant Base Building v2.1: Lothbury Investment Management (owner) / Workman LLP (manager) - The Paragon. Bristol, England, United Kingdom

Multi-Tenant Whole Building v2: Lemay - Phenix. Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Multifamily Residential v2: Gerding Edlen - ZO. Oakland, CA, United States

Multifamily Residential v2.1: GID (owner) / Verdani Partners (consultant) - Element 47 by Windsor. Denver, CO, United States

Fitwel Community v2.1: MACH (owner) / Lemay (consultant) - Quartier des lumieres. Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Sara Neff, senior vice president, sustainability at Kliroy Realty Corporation

"Our goal is to provide best-in-class work environments that foster innovation, and we believe that those environments have to help our tenants stay healthy. Fitwel helps focus on the active design features that will best enable us to maximize tenant health outcomes in our properties."

Hakon Mattson, director of sustainability at Anthem, Inc

"Anthem strives to build for health  in our offices and in our communities. We have certified a quarter of our office space under Fitwel and continue to wake up each day looking for ways to improve the impact we have on the world. This recognition is a testament to that great effort."

Ari Frankel, assistant vice president of sustainability and high performance buildings at Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.

"As a mission-driven company focused on advancing human health and improving the quality of people's lives, we are proud to be recognized by CfAD and Fitwel for our dedication to creating and operating dynamic campuses and cutting-edge spaces that support the highest levels of health and wellness for our innovative tenants and LaunchLabs members. Fitwel remains important to our ongoing efforts to foster the well-being and productivity of our innovative tenants, which enhances their ability to attract and retain top talent and ultimately enables them to discover and develop the scientific breakthroughs that will benefit humankind."

Ruby Gonzalez, senior director of certifications at Verdani Partners

"Working with the Fitwel certification system has deepened our certifications consulting by giving us the opportunity to educate our clients about the benefits of addressing health as an interconnected system for building occupants. We present Fitwel's evidence-based strategies and work with clients to identify how to implement programs across selected buildings in their portfolios as they work towards improving the overall health of their properties in communities around the world. We really believe in the value of these certifications to improve quality of life for tenants and residents as Fitwel continues to grow in influence in the real estate industry."

Ben Myers, vice president, sustainability at Boston Properties

"We are thrilled by the recognition and BXP's substantial progress in 2019. Our strategy has long been to develop, own, and operate "A Buildings, in A Locations." We're making that "Healthy Buildings in Healthy Locations" by strengthening our partnership with Center for Active Design, adding 12 million SF of Fitwel certifications to our portfolio, raising awareness in our regions, and by advancing our healthy building strategy at the Back Bay Station Office Tower development."

Fernando Arias, director of sustainability at Clark Construction

"Providing our employees across the country with a safe and healthy work environment reaffirms our commitment to being a health-conscious, collaborative company. The journey to become Fitwel champions has allowed us to be a better advisor to our clients looking to build state-of-the-art, healthy workplaces."

Sean Daley, vice president, ESG at Goby, Inc.

"Aligning with Fitwel allows Goby to further support our clients ESG goals and strategy by helping our clients demonstrate and communicate their commitment to occupant and building health. Fitwel has quickly become a client and consultant favorite, and we've seen the demand for Fitwel certification and support grow significantly in the last year."

Eric Duchon, managing director, global head of sustainability at LaSalle Investment Management

"JLL and LaSalle together are proud to be recognized for having the greatest number of registrations in 2019. At LaSalle, the Fitwel standard aligns well to our multifamily investment strategy focus on the health and well-being of our residents. We look forward to certifying these registered properties in 2020!"

Crissy Halley, vice president, energy & sustainability at Jones Lang LaSalle

"JLL strives to provide innovative solutions to our clients that promote health and wellness in the built environment. We are pleased to be recognized as a Best in Building Health 2020 award winner for our leadership in the healthy building movement. JLL works closely with the Center for Active Design to ensure our projects involving public and private spaces support optimal quality of life and public health."

Peggy Brannigan, senior program manager, global sustainability at LinkedIn

"At LinkedIn, we build green and healthy workplaces to support the health and wellbeing of our employees and the local community. We appreciate standards like Fitwel that provide a roadmap for strong indoor environmental quality and responsible operations. Important factors like air quality, ventilation, acoustics, and architectural features that encourage people to get up and move really do enable our Talent to thrive."

Charlie Cichetti, CEO + co-founder at Sustainable Investment Group

"Sustainable Investment Group (SIG) is proud to partner with Paramount Group in navigating the wellness real estate options for their portfolio. Paramount Group has had a lot of success with high-level LEED and Energy Star Certifications, and a healthy building certification was a logical next step for them. We are excited to already have earned several Fitwel Certifications as an early adopter to the program and looking forward to even more in 2020."

Fitwel and the Center for Active Design

Fitwel is the world's leading certification system committed to building health for all. Generated by expert analysis of 5,000+ academic research studies, Fitwel is implementing a vision for a healthier future where all buildings and communities are enhanced to strengthen health and wellbeing. Fitwel was created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. General Services Administration. The Center for Active Design, a global not-for-profit organization, was selected as the licensed operator of Fitwel, charged with expanding Fitwel to the global market.

SOURCE Center for Active Design

Related Links

centerforactivedesign.org


Former Fortis Healthcare promoter Malvinder Singh, arrested in a case related to alleged misappropriation of funds at Ltd (RFL), told a Delhi court Tuesday he has paid back the money to the entities concerned.

The submission was made before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur during hearing of arguments on the bail plea moved by Singh in the case lodged by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police.

The court has put up the matter for further hearing on February 6.

Advocate Manu Sharma, appearing for Singh, further said that the probe agency "cherry picked" him because of his affiliation with the family of spiritual head of the Radha Soami Satsang Gurinder Singh Dhillon, who allegedly conspired with other co-accused in the case in carrying out financial fraud.

He added Singh, who is in judicial custody, claimed that he has paid back the alleged laundered money to 14 entities through which he had received it.

"The probe agency is not investigating the Dhillon family. Singh has paid the money back to 14 entities. The probe agency need to investigate why the money has not been paid back to Religare yet," the counsel said.

Also the promoter does not have any direct shareholding with any of these entities. If these entities do not return the money to RFL, it is not his fault. The money has come back. The probe agency chose not to look into it," he said.

Sharma added RFL owes money to Religare Holding Company (RHC), of which Malvinder Singh and his brother Shivinder are promoters.

"Singh is trying to recover the money that others owe to him. RFL owes money to RHC... Also, the police have not brought on record the increase in the ledger of the money. They are not doing a fair investigation. Further, he has gone abroad several times during the investigation of the case and has returned. The probe agency's apprehension that he may flee the country does not hold ground," the counsel said.

He added that the FIR had stated that Rs 2,400 crore was allegedly laundered by the Singh brothers but their charge sheet states that there was a financial fraud of Rs 1,260 crore.

"The probe agency should look into the total of Rs 4,200 crore scam which has come to light. It should take into account all the funds that have been allegedly misappropriated in the case," he said.

Singh's brother Malvinder (46), also a former Fortis Healthcare promoter, former CMD of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) Sunil Godhwani (58), former CEO of REL Kavi Arora (48) and former CFO of RFL Anil Saxena were arrested by the EOW for allegedly diverting RFL's money and investing in other companies.

Senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta, appearing for the complainant RFL, had earlier told the court that loans were disbursed to shell companies known to the promoters and the ultimate beneficiary was RHC Holding company, of which Shivinder was a shareholder.

He had further claimed that unsecured loans had been given to shell entities without any due diligence as they were known to the promoters.

Gupta had alleged that documents showed the involvement of Shivinder in disbursal of unsecured loans to the shell companies which were further diverted to other companies and other co-accused Malvinder resulting in huge amount of public money being mis-appropriated.

RFL is a group firm of REL - Religare Enterprises Ltd, which was earlier promoted by Malvinder and his brother Shivinder.

The EOW registered an FIR in March last year after it received a complaint from RFL's Manpreet Suri against Shivinder, Godhwani and others, alleging that loans were taken by them while managing the firm but the money was invested in other companies.

"They put RFL in a poor financial condition by disbursing loans to companies with no financial standing and controlled by them. The companies to which the loans were disbursed willfully defaulted in repayments and caused a loss to RFL to the tune of Rs 2,397 crore," the police had alleged.
The Hong Kong death comes as hundreds of medical workers in the Asian financial hub began a second day of strikes on Tuesday to force the government to completely close the city's borders with mainland China

Hong Kong reported its first coronavirus death on Tuesday, a 39-year-old male who had been suffering from an underlying illness and had visited China's Wuhan city in January, hospital staff said, marking the second death outside mainland China.

The first death outside of China was reported on Sunday: a 44-year-old Chinese man who died in the Philippines after traveling there from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus.

The death toll in China rose on Tuesday by a new daily record to more than 425 and total infections in China rose by 3,235 to 20,438. There were at least 151 cases in 23 other countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Britain.

The Hong Kong death comes as hundreds of medical workers in the Asian financial hub began a second day of strikes on Tuesday to force the government to completely close the city's borders with mainland China, a day after embattled leader Carrie Lam left three remaining checkpoints open.

"As Carrie Lam refused to close the border, more (deaths) might come...We are not threatening the government, we just want to prevent the outbreak," said Cheng, a 26-year-old nurse attending the strike.

The latest coronavirus epidemic has rekindled memories of the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which killed nearly 300 people in the city.

The former British colony so far has had 15 confirmed cases of the newly discovered coronavirus, including one that was transmitted locally.

The Hong Kong resident who died on Tuesday had been kept in an isolation ward after the coronavirus was confirmed last week. His 72-year-old mother, who contracted the virus locally and had no travel history, was staying at home during the incubation period, authorities said.

The United States, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and Vietnam are among countries that have denied entry to foreign nationals who have recently been in China.

Lam has rejected calls to shut the entire border, saying such a move would be "inappropriate and impractical" as well as "discriminatory".

On Monday, authorities announced the closure of four more border crossings with mainland China, leaving open the international airport, the bridge connecting the city to Macau and the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai as well as Shenzhen Bay Port in the north.

Around 2,700 workers from the newly formed Hospital Authority Employees Alliance (HAEA) went on strike on Monday calling for a sealing off of Hong Kongs border and for better protection for hospital staff.

Holding red and white placards reading Save HK now. I am a Hospital Authority staff on strike, masked workers on Tuesday spilled out from inside the Authoritys Kowloon located headquarters, and onto the main road outside.

Around 9,000 members out of the alliances roughly 18,000 members are expected to join the strike on Tuesday, HAEA chairwoman Winnie Yu said. Our demands are not something the Hospital Authority can solve so we urge Carrie Lam to negotiate with us directly, Yu said.

A spokesman for the citys hospital authority said that due to the large absence of medical staff in public hospitals today, some emergency services have been severely affected.

In a notice released on Monday, one of Hong Kongs voluntary ambulance brigades - St John Ambulance- announced they would suspend all first aid and ambulance duties due to the recent spread of the coronavirus.

The outbreak, meanwhile, has infected more than 17,300 people globally.

Other countries are continuing evacuations and restricting the entry of Chinese or people who have recently traveled in the country. A plane carrying Malaysians from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province where the illness has been concentrated, arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday morning, and the 133 people on board were to be screened and quarantined for 14 days, the maximum incubation period for the virus.

Medical teams from the People's Liberation Army were arriving in Wuhan to relieve overwhelmed health workers and to staff the new 1,000-bed hospital. It was built in just 10 days, its prefabricated wards equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and ventilation systems.

A 1,500-bed hospital also specially built for patients infected with the new virus is due to open within days.

Chinese scientists said they have more evidence the virus, which was first detected in Wuhan in December, likely originated in bats. In a study published in the journal Nature, Shi Zhen-Li and colleagues at the Wuhan Institute of Virology reported that genome sequences from seven patients were 96% identical to a bat coronavirus.

SARS is also believed to have originated in bats, although it jumped to civet cats before infecting people. Scientists suspect the latest outbreak began at a seafood market in Wuhan where wild animals were on sale and in contact with people.

The World Health Organization last week declared the virus a global health emergency and expressed concern about how it was spreading in other countries, beyond those who were Chinese or who had traveled in Hubei recently.

With inputs from agencies
A Republican state lawmaker is introducing legislation to put new restrictions on campaign contributions from gambling interests.

Sen. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, announced at a press conference this morning that he would sponsor a bill to prohibit candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, and the Legislature from receiving contributions from anyone connected to racing, pari-mutuel betting, or any other gambling operation.

The bill would also prohibit those connected to the gambling industry from making contributions to candidates for those offices.

McClendon said his bill is aimed at curbing the influence of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, which operates three electronic bingo casinos in Alabama.

The purpose of this legislation is to get things in Alabama back in balance, McClendon said.

McClendon has tried unsuccessfully to pass legislation allowing voters to decide whether to establish a state lottery. Representatives of the Poarch Band have said they are not opposed to a traditional paper lottery but are opposed to a lottery bill that would include electronic lottery terminals at the states dog tracks, like one McClendon sponsored last year.

I am not making claims of undue influence based on monetary contributions, but we must be wary of the appearance of undue influence based on campaign contributions, McClendon said.

The legislative session begins today. Lottery legislation and other gambling issues are expected to be among key topics for lawmakers.

McClendon said an Alabama law that prohibits utilities from donating to candidates for the Public Service Commission shows that restrictions on campaign contributions from certain sources are not new in the state. He also said other states have restricted campaign contribution from gambling interests.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- January 31, which is supposed to be the first workday after the Lunar New Year holiday, failed to witness the restart of operation for most manufacturing industries in China. To minimize the negative influence from the novel coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan, Hubei Province last December before spreading countrywide, many local governments have required companies to resume operation no earlier than Feb. 10, another week later in accordance with the state's decision to extend the holiday.

Most global automakers which have businesses in the world's largest auto market also announced the decision to postpone the resumption of their China factories' production afterwards. Companies having joint ventures with Dongfeng Motor Corporation, the auto giant in the epicenter Wuhan, such as Honda, Nissan, PSA Groupe and Renault, certainly take the brunt of the fast-spreading virus. According to the Hubei provincial government's request, companies were not allowed to resume operation before Feb. 14.

Others like Toyota, Ford and even the startup Tesla have also determined to temporarily halt operation in China amid the national battle even though they don't have operations in Wuhan.

Toyota

Toyota Motor Corporation decided to postpone the restart of operations at four automobile plants until sometime after February 10 due to the severe novel coronavirus outbreak, Kyodo news agency reported.

The aforesaid auto plants are respectively located in Tianjin, Chengdu, Changchun and Nansha, which were formally scheduled to resume operations in early February. Up until now, the Japanese automaker hasn't set a date for the restart yet.

We will monitor the situation and make further decisions on operations from Feb. 10, said Maki Niimi, a spokesman for Toyota.

Honda

Honda Motor announced on January 28 it will delay the resumption of its motorcycle production at two plants in Tianjin and Taicang, which were supposed to be reopened after the Lunar New Year holiday ends on Jan. 30.

The decision is made in accordance with a request issued by local governments. The automaker's motorcycle business is based in Shanghai, whose local authority has urged enterprises in the city to restart operation no earlier than February 10 considering the rapid spread of the disease. Thus, its main office in Shanghai will be correspondingly reopened on February 10 or later.

Focusing on manufacturing two-wheeled vehicles for China market, the Tianjin and Taicang plants to-day possess annual capacity of 350,000 and 500,000 motorcycles respectively.

Honda also operates three automobile plants in Wuhan, which feature a combined annual capacity of more than 600,000 vehicles. The automaker said on Jan. 30 that it has decided to keep its Wuhan plants closed until Feb. 13, according to a Japanese media report.

Ford

Ford Motor does not have any joint ventures in Wuhan, but it also planned to resume the operation at the Chongqing-based plant of Changan Ford, a joint venture with Changan Automobile, on February 10.



Last year, Ford and its joint ventures in China sold 567,854 vehicles in the country, a year-on-year slump of 26.1%. However, Changan Ford has seemingly encountered a critical turning point to get sales pick up as the all-new Ford Escape hit the market in last December and the first China-built Lincoln-branded model, the Corsair, is to go on sale in March 2020. The put-off of plant operation will perhaps retard Fords step to get sales rebound in China.

In Chongqing, Hangzhou and Harbin, Ford currently operates seven manufacturing factories in totalfive for complete vehicles and the other two focusing on engines and transmissions respectively. Of those, Chongqing has become Fords second biggest production base following Detroit.



Tesla

The EV manufacturer Tesla is also among the companies whose local production business has been delayed due to the virus.



At this point we're expecting a one to one-and-a-half week delay in the ramp of Shanghai-built Model 3s due to a government required factory shutdown, Tesla's chief financial officer Zachary Kirkhorn said during an earnings call on Jan. 29.

Tesla began delivering the first cars produced at its Shanghai-based Gigafactory 3 at the end of 2019, marking a milestone for the company as it wishes to fortify offensive in China, the world's largest EV market. As China's first wholly foreign-owned car plant, the Gigafactory 3 is also significant to China's auto development.
Turkey's president said on Tuesday his country won't allow Syrian forces to gain additional territory in a northern Syrian province, Turkish media reported, a day after clashes between Turkish and Syrian forces killed soldiers on both sides.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments came as Syrian forces reached the western gate of the rebel stronghold of Saraqeb in Idlib province in the north, while the UN announced that more than half a million people have fled their homes since December 1, because of the offensive.

"At the moment, Syria is trying to gain territory by forcing the innocent and poor people toward our border," private NTV television quoted Erdogan as telling a group of journalists late Monday.

"We won't give Syria the opportunity to gain territory."



Eight Turkish citizens were killed in an exchange of shelling with Syrian government forces in Idlib on Monday.

The assault on the Turkish troops came amid a Syrian government offensive that has been advancing since December into the country's last rebel stronghold, which spans Idlib province and parts of the nearby Aleppo region.

Turkish troops are deployed in some of those rebel-held areas to monitor an earlier cease-fire that has since collapsed.

On Tuesday, Syrian government forces were advancing north under the cover of airstrikes reaching areas that have been held by insurgents for eight years. The bombardment forced more people to flee for safety in areas close to the Turkish border.

"Since the first of December, in just 2 months, more than 520,000 people have been displaced from their homes, the vast majority of them being women and children, said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"There are no safe places in Idlib, bombs fall everywhere and anywhere even those fleeing the front line areas are not safe and there is just a sea of people moving in all directions, he said.

Laerke added that in 10 days starting January 20, the UN Human Rights Office verified incidents in which at least 83 civilians, including 20 women and 33 children, were killed and dozens of other civilians were wounded airstrikes and ground-based attacks.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said that in recent weeks, Syrian troops have captured more than 60 towns, villages and hamlets as they try to open a highway linking the capital Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest.

Rebels have closed the highway in Idlib since 2012 and Saraqeb is the last major rebel-held town in their way.

On Monday, Turkish artillery targeted Syrian government forces in northern Idlib province, responding to shelling that killed seven Turkish soldiers and a Turkish civilian. A Syrian war monitor said 13 Syrian troops were killed in the clash.

The deadly exchange of fire in Idlib increased tensions between the neighboring countries and threatened to drive a wedge between Russia and Turkey, which have sought to coordinate their actions in Syria.

Earlier on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara and Moscow were trying to keep peace efforts for Syria alive. He renewed a call on Russia to "rein in" Syrian government forces and reiterated Turkey's determination to retaliate against any future Syrian attack on its troops.

"The Astana and Sochi peace processes have not been completely destroyed but have lately started to suffer and to lose importance," Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara, referring to Russian-Turkish peace initiatives that have also involved Iran.

He said Turkish officials were in constant contact with Russian counterparts in order "to keep the Astana and Sochi processes alive, to strengthen them, and to arrive at a political solution."



Cavusoglu, who held a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hours after the Turkey-Syria clash, added: "The regime's aggressiveness has to be stopped immediately. That was the message I gave Lavrov yesterday."Cavusoglu dismissed claims by Russia that it cannot fully control the Syrian government and said the attack came despite a prior notification by Turkey of its troops' coordinates in Idlib. Russia insisted Turkey failed to notify the Russian military about troop movements overnight.

Meanwhile, funerals were being held across Turkey for the Turkish servicemen that were killed. The deaths marked one of the highest single-day tolls for Turkish troops in Syria. The country has lost scores of military personnel in the Syrian war.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It makes little sense to repose hopes in the Trial By Judge Alone Act as a solution to the e
China said it would welcome assistance from the United States to fight a coronavirus outbreak, a day after it accused Washington of scaremongering, and as the death toll oin China rose on Tuesday by a new daily record to more than 420.

Here are the latest developments:

The death toll in China rose to 425 as of the end of Monday, up by a record 64 from the previous day, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday.

The total number of infections in China rose by 3,235 on Tuesday to 20,438, and there are at least 151 cases in 23 other countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Britain.

Japan's government said on Monday it would quarantine a Yokohama-bound cruise ship, after a Hong Kong man who sailed on it last month tested positive for coronavirus.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

The first death outside of China was reported on Sunday - a 44-year-old Chinese man who died in the Philippines after travelling there from Wuhan.

The United States, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and Vietnam are among countries that have denied entry to foreign nationals who have recently been in China.

China said it would welcome assistance from the United States to fight a coronavirus outbreak, a day after it accused Washington of scaremongering.

A fragile calm gripped Asian shares on Tuesday as investors waited anxiously to see if Beijing could stem the rout in Chinese assets, which saw $393 billion wiped off share values a day earlier.

China's central bank injects 1.2 trillion yuan ($174 billion) worth of liquidity into money markets, after promising to help companies struggling due to the virus.

Oil hit 13-month lows as the coronavirus throttled demand in the world's biggest importer of fuel.

The German fashion house Hugo Boss closed some stores in China, the Swiss watch producer Swatch cancelled a retail event in Zurich.

Business jet manufacturers Bombardier Inc, Textron Inc and General Dynamics Corp's Gulfstream division said they would stay away from the Singapore Airshow.

Chinese data suggest the virus is less deadly than the 2002-03 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 800 people of the some 8,000 it infected - although it appears to spread much faster.

The United States, Germany, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea have recorded person-to-person transmission infections, suggesting greater potential for spreading.

China's central city of Wuhan and the surrounding province of Hubei - the centre of the epidemic - are under a virtual quarantine.

Global airlines have suspended or scaled back direct flights to China's major cities.

Countries including Russia, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the United States are working to evacuate citizens from Wuhan or have already done so.
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Jerritt Canyon Mine began operations in 1981 with over 8M ounces of gold produced

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2020) - Ely Gold Royalties Inc. (TSXV: ELY) (OTCQB: ELYGF) ("Ely Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it entered into an agreement with Eric Sprott of Toronto, Ontario ("Sprott") dated February 3, 2020, pursuant to which Ely Gold has agreed to acquire from Sprott a 0.50% net smelter returns royalty (the "Target Royalty") on the gold producing Jerritt Canyon Mine facility, located in Elko Nevada (the "Jerritt Canyon Mine"), and currently operated by Jerritt Canyon Gold LLC, ("JCG LLC") a private Nevada limited liability company (the "Transaction"). Sprott originally acquired the Target Royalty from Veris Gold USA Inc. ("Veris") in 2014, pursuant to an April 9, 2014 agreement concerning the Jerritt Canyon Mine wherein Veris was obligated to convey and grant the Target Royalty to Sprott. Ely Gold already holds a per ton royalty interest on the Jerritt Canyon processing facilities that it acquired in a private transaction in 2019 (refer to press release dated May 23, 2019).

In consideration for the Target Royalty, Ely Gold has agreed to pay CAD$8,000,000 to Sprott, payable by issuance of 12,698,413 Ely Gold common shares at a deemed issue price of $0.63 per share (the "Ely Gold Shares"). In connection with its assistance with the Transaction, Ely Gold has agreed to pay a finder's fee to Medalist Capital Ltd. comprising a cash fee of 1.0% of the Transaction price, plus 300,000 Ely Gold Share purchase warrants each exercisable over a three-year term to purchase one Ely Gold Share at an exercise price of $0.63 per share. All of the Ely Gold securities issued in the Transaction will be subject to a four-month hold period pursuant to applicable TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") policies and applicable securities laws.

The Transaction remains subject to certain customary commercial conditions, including Ely Gold's completion of its due diligence on the Target Royalty, settling definitive Transaction documentation, and receipt of all approvals required under TSXV policies and applicable securities laws. As part of its Transaction due diligence, Ely Gold plans to commission and file an independent updated National Instrument 43-101 technical report on the Jerritt Canyon Mine within 45 days of this news release. The last publicly available technical report on the property was filed by Veris in on July 11, 2013 ("NI-43-101 Technical Report Veris Gold Corp. Jerritt Canyon Property, Elko County, Nevada; Effective Date: December 31, 2012", See www.sedar.com).

Before giving effect to the Transaction, Sprott holds, directly and indirectly, 5,615,454 outstanding Ely Gold Shares, and warrants to purchase up to an additional 19,023,943 Ely Gold Shares at an average exercise price of $0.36 per share. On this basis and given the current approximate issued and outstanding total of 100.3 million Ely Gold Shares, Sprott's direct and indirect holdings represent approximately 5.6% of the outstanding Ely Gold Shares on a non-diluted basis, and approximately 20.7% on a partially diluted basis. After giving effect to the Transaction, Sprott will hold approximately 16.2% of the outstanding Ely Gold Shares on a non-diluted basis, and approximately 28.3% on a partially diluted basis. However, pursuant to a pre-existing agreement (refer to press release dated November 29, 2019), unless the TSXV accepts Sprott becoming a "Control Person" (as defined under TSXV policies) of the Company, Sprott has agreed not to exercise any portion of his warrants if, as a result of such exercise, his direct and indirect holdings would exceed 19.9% of the outstanding Ely Gold voting shares. The Company plans to seek such an approval at its next annual general meeting expected to be held on or before May 2020.

About Jerritt Canyon Mine

Gold was first discovered at the Jerritt Canyon Mine in 1972, with the first gold poured in 1981. Between 1981 and 1999, mining was conducted via open pit. Underground operations began in 1993 with the opening of the SSX-Steer Complex and Smith mine. Presently, the Jerritt Canyon Mine is operated by JCG LLC, a private mid-tier North American gold producer. Its primary assets are the permitted and operating Jerritt Canyon processing plant and associated four gold mines located 50 miles north of Elko, Nevada. According to JCG LLC, since mining began at Jerritt Canyon, more than eight million ounces of gold have been produced. The mineral processing operation at Jerritt Canyon is designed to process highly refractory gold ores up to 4,000 tpd and the mill reported processing in excess of 1.1 million tons in 2017 and 1.2 million tons in 2018.

Gold mineralization at Jerritt Canyon occurs in both upper plate and lower plate stratigraphy. While approximately 30% of the 119 square mile land package has experienced first-pass exploration, most of the property outside the mined areas, has not been explored to date. Lower plate rocks are known to occur at Jerritt Canyon at surface, near-surface and under valley fill.

Qualified Person

Stephen Kenwood, P. Geo, is a director of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Kenwood has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release. The Company does not intend to file a technical report supporting disclosure with respect to acquisition of this royalty interest.

About Ely Gold Royalties Inc.

Ely Gold Royalties Inc. is a Vancouver-based, emerging royalty company with development assets focused in Nevada and Quebec. Its current portfolio includes 36 Deeded Royalties and 22 properties optioned to third parties. Ely Gold's royalty portfolio includes producing royalties, fully permitted mines and development projects that are at or near producing mines. The Company is actively seeking opportunities to purchase existing third-party royalties for its portfolio and all the Company's option properties are expected to produce royalties, if exercised. The royalty and option portfolios are currently generating significant revenue. Ely Gold is well positioned with its current portfolio of over 20 available properties to generate additional operating revenue through option and sale agreements. The Company has a proven track record of maximizing the value of its properties through claim consolidation and advancement using its extensive, proprietary data base. All portfolio properties are sold or optioned on a 100% basis, while the Company retains royalty interests. Management believes that due to the Company's ability to generate third-party royalty agreements, its successful strategy of organically creating royalties, its equity portfolio and its current low valuation, Ely Gold offers shareholders a low-risk leverage to the current price of gold and low-cost access to long-term mineral royalties.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Signed "Trey Wasser"

Trey Wasser, President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Trey Wasser, President & CEO

trey@elygoldinc.com

972-803-3087



Joanne Jobin, Investor Relations Officer

jjobin@elygoldinc.com

647 964 0292

FORWARD-LOOKING CAUTIONS: This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the contemplated acquisition of the Target Royalty (as defined above) (including the requirement for certain TSX Venture Exchange approvals), significance of the forecast contribution to the Company, the Company's intention to seek a shareholder approval at its 2020 annual general meeting, its current assets, Company acquisitions of additional royalty interests. These matters are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include risks that the Company may not secure the required regulatory approvals, including the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange, and the Company may not be able to identify suitable new royalty acquisitions, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal disputes or changes in the jurisdictions where the Company carries on its business that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effect.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52115
A man in Vinh Phuc Province has tested positive for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), marking the 9th confirmed case in Vietnam so far, the Ministry of Health reported this morning.

The 30-year-old worker is a resident in Minh Quang commune, Tam Dao district. He returned to Vietnam from Chinas Wuhan in January on a Southern China flight, the same flight with four other Vietnamese previously tested positive for the novel virus.

He is one of the eight workers of the Vinh Phuc-based Nihon Plast Company who were sent to Wuhan for a training course and returned to Vietnam on a flight of the Southern China on January 17.

He is being isolated and receiving treatment at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Dong Anh district, Hanoi. He is now in stable condition.

The other cases include two Chinese nationals (a man and his son, with one already recovering), a Vietnamese hotel receptionist having contact with the Chinese father and son, and a US citizen transiting Wuhan on his flight to Vietnam.

On February 2, companies in Vietnam were asked to suspend receiving Chinese workers who return from infected areas in China after the Lunar New Year holiday, following an urgent notice issued by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Those who have already arrived in Vietnam must be quarantined and monitored for 14 days, the notice says.

Industrial parks, processing and economic zones across the country must also halt granting new working permits to foreigners from infected areas.

According to the health ministry, the deadly virus originating from Wuhan has now spread 27 countries and territories worldwide, with 19,843 confirmed cases as of 6:00 on February 4.

By 9am of February 4, Vietnam had 304 suspected cases of nCoV infection, including 214 with negative testing results and 90 under strict quarantine. In addition, 270 people without symptoms of nCoV infection are isolated for having contact with the suspected people.

Health sector capable of diagnosing, curing nCoV patients: official

The isolation ward for nCoV patients at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City

The health sector of Vietnam is capable of diagnosing, treating and curing patients infected with the acute respiratory disease caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV), Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son has said.

Expressing the confidence at a meeting in Hanoi on February 3, Son further said there are about 17,000 confirmed nCoV cases, including 362 deaths, around the world at present. The fatality rate of this disease is some 2 percent, compared to the 9.6 percent of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the past.

He predicted that the number of nCoV cases is likely to soar in the time ahead.

Meanwhile, health of the eight infected patients in Vietnam has shown improvement. Notably, a case under treatment at the Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City has been tested negative for the virus for three times, and he is set to be discharged from hospital on February 4. A patient in Thanh Hoa province has also been tested negative and came out of hospital on February 3.

The deputy minister said with the health sectors capacity, support from other sectors and drastic directions by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam, the Ministry of Health will fulfill its tasks to ensure peoples health.

Regarding Chinese nationals returning to work in Vietnam after the Lunar New Year holiday and the possible surge of Vietnamese coming home from China, where the nCoV is raging, Deputy Minister of Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Tran Don said the border guard force has suspended the entry into Vietnam by people from China at all border crossings.

At border gates, relevant agencies will isolate all people coming from nCoV-hit areas, especially Chinas Hubei province  the epicenter of the epidemic. Meanwhile, suspected cases or persons from other affected regions will also be quarantined at medical establishments or local communities, he added.

At the meeting, Deputy PM Dam, head of the national steering committee for the nCoV-caused disease prevention and control, stressed that relevant agencies and localities must not be subjective but stay proactive in disease prevention and control.

MoH virus hotline open for questions

A free-of-charge hotline set up by the Ministry of Health has received more than 18,600 calls relating to coronavirus outbreak issues since it was set up two days ago.

The hotline (19009095) is being manned by 80 healthcare experts.

Most questions are focused on symptoms of the nCoV infection and how to prevent the disease, accounting for 51.3 per cent, places for testing (15.1 per cent), prices of masks and telephone numbers for market surveillance agencies (15 per cent), information on school closures (10.8 per cent), spraying disinfectant in residential areas and schools (5.2 per cent), costs of testing and medical treatment (1.4 per cent), and immigration procedures (1.2 per cent).

The peak hour was at 7pm on Sunday when 2,700 calls were placed regarding school closures.

Nguyen Lien

Coronavirus: A visual guide to the outbreak Six maps and graphics explaining how the respiratory virus has spread and how it is being dealt with.
Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

CenterPoint Energy, the Houston-based regulated utility, said Monday it will sell its infrastructure services business to Atlanta-based infrastructure company PowerTeam Services for $850 million in cash.

CenterPoint will use the money from the sale of natural gas distribution and transmission pipeline contracting firms Miller Pipeline and Minnesota Limited to repay a portion of its outstanding debt. The sale also will streamline CenterPoint's operations so the company can focus on its core utility businesses. CenterPoint predicts that the contribution from utility earnings will increase to more than 80 percent over the next few years.
Sociologist Asad L. Asad studied how documented and undocumented immigrants living in Dallas, Texas, perceive and respond to threats of deportation. Credit: Harrison Truong

For some Latin American immigrants living in Dallas, Texas, holding a legal statuslike a green carddoes not stop them from fearing deportation. If anything, it can make some more fearful of deportation because they are now known to immigration authorities who could easily deport them, Stanford sociologist Asad L. Asad has found.

These are just some of the findings to emerge from Asad's research that recently published in the Law & Society Review.

Asad, an assistant professor of sociology in the School of Humanities & Sciences, conducted multiple, in-depth interviews with 50 undocumented and documented immigrants living in the Dallas metropolitan area between 2013 and 2015. In that time, he learned about their everyday lives and the decisions they made as they navigated their life in the United States.

For some of the undocumented migrants that Asad interviewed, those decisions sometimes included remaining undocumented, even when eligible to legalize. They felt that remaining undetectable to U.S. immigration authorities was advantageous to their long-term presence in the United States, Asad found.

For example, Asad interviewed Josefina, an undocumented mother of two from Mexico. While she was eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that would grant her work authorization and temporary reprieve from deportation, she chose not to apply because it would make her known to authorities.

"Why would I let La Migra [immigration officials] find me?" she told Asad.

Instead, she preferred to live in the United States "off the radar." By remaining unknownand undocumentedJosefina felt safe. When Asad asked her if she feared deportation, she said, "Why should I have to worry about that?" She added, "I don't know La Migra and La Migra doesn't know me."

For Josefina and others in Asad's study, the formal records associated with legal status were perceived as riskya view Asad found applied to the documented immigrants as well.

Another one of Asad's research subjects was Marina, who entered the United States from Mexico illegally and remained undocumented until she received a permit through DACA.

Asad expected Marina to feel relatively safe from deportation because of her legal status. Instead, she felt more vulnerable. She feared that even the most minor infraction, such a traffic violation, could get her deported.

"You have to live cautiously," Marina told Asad. "Whatever mistake you make, you end up tagged in the system. If you're driving and you get a ticket, you have to pay it. If you don't pay, you could then get arrested. That could lead to deportation."

Legal status is perceived as a double-edged sword, Asad said.

"Documentation is hardly a shield from deportation fears," Asad said. "Documentation affords some protection from deportation, but it can also heighten fears since the bureaucracies that 'document' immigrants have a greater perceived ability to surveil and expel them."

Asad also found that the documented migrants in his study were just as fearful of deportation as migrants who had previously been deported. Now easily identifiable, they feared they could be expelled at any timewhether they violated the law or not.

As Marina presciently told Asad in 2015, well before the election of President Donald Trump and his administration's eventual withdrawal of DACA protections, "This is something temporary. You never know, they may take it back."

Implications of punitive policies

According to Asad, deportation fears stem from decades-long immigration reform that placed deportation at the center of its policy.

Since the mid-1980s, conditions to deport immigrants have dramatically expanded. For example, in 1988 the Immigration and Nationality Act mandated deportation of any noncitizen convicted of an "aggravated felony." In 1996, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act expanded the "aggravated felony" category to also include any convicted misdemeanors with a sentence of at least one year in prison.

As a result of policy changes like these and others, deportation has significantly increased over the past four decades. About 79 percent of the 7.4 million deportations recorded between 1892 and 2015 have occurred since 1986, Asad noted in the paper.

If immigration policy is perceived as punitive and unpredictable, it may lead to more migrants remaining undocumented, Asad cautioned.

"Some undocumented migrants may be chilled out of legalization opportunities in an attempt to maintain a sense of invisibility to a system they view as primarily punitive," Asad said. "If fears of deportation lead immigrants to pass up rare opportunities for legal status in their search for invisibility from a system they view as unforgiving, they and their U.S.-citizen children may face restricted opportunities for promoting their long-term well-being in this country."

Explore further Immigrant statements in Trump's presidential campaign linked to US Latinos feeling unsafe

More information: Asad L. Asad. On the Radar: System Embeddedness and Latin American Immigrants' Perceived Risk of Deportation, Law & Society Review (2020). Asad L. Asad. On the Radar: System Embeddedness and Latin American Immigrants' Perceived Risk of Deportation,(2020). DOI: 10.1111/lasr.12460
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Benovia makes sophisticated yet accessible pinot noir and chardonnay, and smaller amounts of sparkling wine, zinfandel and grenache. Liberation was largely driven by the passion of Anderson, a former healthcare executive whose father and two uncles fought in World War II. Benovia is donating some of the proceeds of the sale of Liberation, which costs $160 for a magnum, to the D-Day Squadron, an organization devoted to preserving the memory of D-Day and the men who fought in that operation. Earlier this year, Anderson and his full-time pilot, Jeff Coffman, flew the 13-seat plane, which Anderson named the Spirit of Benovia, from Arizona to the East Coast before heading to France to participate in D-Day commemorations.
President Donald Trump is headed for an expedited acquittal in his impeachment trial after the Senate rejected the call for additional witnesses in a vote on Friday.

What Happened

The Republican-controlled Senate voted 51 to 49 to block any additional witness from being called for the trial.

The vote was divided across the party-line, as was expected, with Democrats getting only two of the four needed Republicans to side with them on the matter.

Utah senator Mitt Romney and Maine senator Susan Collins joined the Democrats in calling for more witnesses, as Tennessee senator Lamar Alexander decided against it at the last minute. Alexander said that while President Trump's actions were inappropriate, they don't constitute an impeachable offense.

"Senate Republicans turned away from truth and went along with a sham trial," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Twitter. "If President Trump is acquitted with no witnesses, no documents, the acquittal will have no value because Americans will know this wasn't a real trial."

"America will remember this day," he added.

The House of Representatives had formally initiated the impeachment proceedings against the president on charges of obstruction of Congress and abuse of presidential powers.

What's Next

The Senate will have a final vote on whether to convict or acquit the president on Wednesday evening.

The vote is seen as a mere formality of procedure as the Senate is widely expected to acquit Trump, especially after the rejection of the call for witnesses, with votes divided across party lines.

Before the vote, the House prosecutors and Trump's defense team will make the closing arguments on Monday.

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Health officials in China on said that more than 400 people had died of coronavirus infections by evening, with more than 20,000 confirmed cases globally, as local governments continued to announce lockdowns in cities and counties with the spread of the epidemic outwards from Wuhan.



A total of 20,520 coronavirus cases were confirmed globally, with the number of cases in the central province of Hubei, of which Wuhan is the capital, still the highest, at 13,500.



Of the 426 officially recorded deaths from coronavirus, 414 have been in Hubei, where the authorities have scrambled to open a 10,000-bed emergency hospital built using prefabricated buildings in just 10 days. A second hospital is still under construction.



But as the number of confirmed cases grows in other major cities, local governments are shutting schools and public facilities in places hundreds of miles from Wuhan.



Authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou this week deployed large numbers of riot police after angry local residents clashed with police after being denied access to their own homes.



The authorities announced a total lockdown of the city, which has seen hundreds of cases of novel coronavirus -- named nCoV-2019 (Wuhan) by the World Health Organization (WHO) after the central Chinese city at the epicenter of the epidemic.



The Wenzhou municipal authorities announced that stringent measures would be brought in from Feb. 2-8, with long-distance transportation to the city suspended and police checkpoints on the streets looking for suspected cases, according to video clips seen by RFA.



The scenes were in sharp contrast to reports from Wuhan, where the number of cases is suspected to be many times more than the official figures because fever patients are routinely turned away by the city's overwhelmed hospitals.



Residents returning from Wuhan were forcibly cut off from their homes by the authorities on and , sparking clashes and the deployment of hundreds of riot police, according to social media video sent to RFA.



"The reason there are so many cases [of coronavirus] in Wenzhou is that there are a lot of people here who do business in Wuhan, and they all came home for Lunar New Year," a Wenzhou resident surnamed Chen said in a video sent to RFA.



'Critical stage' in Wenzhou

By the end of , the eastern province of Zhejiang, where Wenzhou is located, had reported 724 confirmed cases of coronavirus, while the worst-hit province of Hubei, of which Wuhan is the capital, reported 11,177 confirmed cases and 350 deaths during the same period.



Wenzhou ruling Chinese Communist Party chief Chen Weijun told an emergency meeting on that the epidemics spread was still at a critical stage and officials who fail to take responsibility will be punished.



Two health officials in one district of the city have already been fired for "dereliction of duty," state news agency Xinhua reported on.



City officials say that some 170,000 people from Wenzhou live and do business in Wuhan, and there are 7,375 Hubei-based members of the Wenzhou Chamber of Commerce, Reuters reported.



State broadcaster CCTV said that an estimated 48,800 people had returned to Wenzhou from Wuhan and other parts of Hubei.



"Things are very inconvenient right now, because only one person is allowed out every couple of days from each household to buy food and daily necessities," Chen, who heads a clothing company in Wenzhou, said.



She said many people in Wenzhou were taken by surprise at the sudden announcement and the restrictions to their daily lives.



Major highways in the city and expressways leading out of the city have been sealed off, and movie theaters, swimming pools and other public facilities shut down, she said.



A Wenzhou resident surnamed Quan told Reuters that the city is famous for its private entrepreneurs, and its residents are used to being highly mobile.



"Wenzhou is a place that is well known for its businesspeople who do business abroad and since Wuhan is in the centre (of China), there are a large number of Wenzhou people doing business in Wuhan and around in the country," Quan said.



Now, the city's businesses won't be allowed to reopen until Feb. 18, while schools will stay closed until , one of the longest suspensions in the country.



"Its pretty heartbreaking," Toby Ye, a student from Wenzhou, told Reuters. "Its a different city from the one Im used to."



Travel restrictions

Authorities in Zhejiang's Songyang county have implemented similar measures, in a bid to control the spread of the virus, according to an official notice posted to the social media platform WeChat.



"Travel restrictions for residents will be in place from midnight on Feb. 4, 2020," the notice said.



"Each family ... may assign one family member to go out to purchase daily necessities every other day," it said.



"Nobody else will be allowed to go out, other than for epidemic prevention and control work, seeking medical treatment, or to work in markets, supermarkets and pharmacies," the statement said.



It said the measures would be enforced using the nationwide "grid" system that breaks up districts into grids with a few households in each square for tighter monitoring and surveillance.



"The timing of the end of the restrictions will be announced at a later date," the notice, signed by the "Coronavirus Pneumonia" Prevention and Control Command Center of Songyang County," said.



Hong Kong authorities reported the city's first death from coronavirus, that of a 39-year-old man who had previously traveled to Wuhan.



In Macau, the authorities have shuttered the city's iconic casinos in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus there.



The city's chief executive Ho Iat-seng said the government will also temporarily shut down, leaving only emergency services on duty.



Ho called on all residents to stay home and only go out to buy food.



Meanwhile, the democratic island of Taiwan has closed its borders to anyone who has visited mainland China in the past two weeks, with the exception of its own nationals.



"Starting Feb. 7, 2020, foreign nationals who have visited or resided in the PRC over the past 14 days before they arrive in Taiwan will be prohibited from entering Taiwan (including those who are eligible for visa-free treatment, landing visas, and e-visas, as well as those carrying valid visas)," Taiwan's foreign ministry said in a statement.



Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Tseng Yat-yiu and Chung Kuang-cheng for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.


Mark J. Terrill/AP

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton suggested that Chinese officials misled the public on the origins of the novel coronavirus from Wuhan, China, saying it may have originated in a "superlaboratory."

At a Senate hearing with US military leaders on Thursday, Cotton said the coronavirus was "worse than Chernobyl."

Cotton qualified his remarks by saying "we still don't know where" the virus originated, but his comments come amid numerous conspiracy theories on its origins  including one alleging the virus "originated in lab linked to China's biowarfare program."

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

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Republican Sen. Tom Cotton suggested that Chinese officials misled the public on the origins of the novel coronavirus that has killed at least 362 people and infected more than 17,400 others, saying it may have originated in a "superlaboratory."

At a Senate Armed Service Committee hearing with US military leaders on Thursday, Cotton described the coronavirus as the "biggest and most important story in the world" and "worse than Chernobyl."

Cotton, a longtime China hawk, suggested Beijing had not been as forthcoming about the number of infections and was "lying about it from the very beginning" to downplay the seriousness of the epidemic. Chinese officials have been accused of lowering the number of cases and tamping down on reports weeks before it was formally acknowledged by the government.

"They also claimed, for almost two months until earlier this week, that it originated in a seafood market in Wuhan," Cotton said, referring to a study published by The Lancet. "That is not the case."

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2020 file photo, medical staff in protective outfits wait at the entrance of a clinic for fever patients and patients from Wuhan in Fuyang in central China's Anhui Province. As China institutes the largest quarantine in human history, locking down more than 50 million people in the center of the country, those who have recently been to Wuhan are being tracked, monitored, turned away from hotels and shoved into isolation at their homes and in makeshift quarantine facilities. (Chinatopix via AP. File)

Associated Press

Initial studies linked the virus to various sources, including a seafood market in Wuhan, China, and bats. In one of the studies from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, six of the seven virus samples were from patients who worked at the Huanan wholesale seafood market.

"Of the original 40 cases, 14 of them had no contact with the seafood market, including patient zero," Cotton said. "I would note that Wuhan also has China's only bio-safety level four 'superlaboratory' that works with the world's most deadly pathogens to include, yes, coronavirus."

Story continues

Cotton was referring to China's first Biosafety Level 4 lab, the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which investigates "the most dangerous pathogens," according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While Cotton qualified his remarks by saying "we still don't know where" the virus originated, his comments come amid numerous conspiracy theories about the virus's origins  including one that says the virus "originated in lab linked to China's biowarfare program."

The amount of false information spreading across social-media platforms has prompted several companies, including Facebook, to limit the reach of such posts. In a statement, Facebook said it would display "accurate information" and notify users if they are suspected of sharing false or misleading information.

China accused the US of "fear and overreaction" after President Donald Trump imposed a temporary travel ban on people who had visited China within the past 14 days.

"In the face of the public-health crisis, countries should work together to overcome the difficulties and not shift one's troubles onto others, let alone take advantage of people's precarious position," a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
ALEPPO, Syria  The area in northeastern Syria affected by Operation Peace Spring continues to suffer from a chaotic security situation, raising fears among residents. The area is controlled by the Syrian National Army (SNA) of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Turkish army. This is happening despite elaborate efforts by the local councils to achieve stability in the area and help Syrian refugees in Turkey return to their homes.

The opposition-affiliated Ministry of Interior of the Syrian Interim Government announced Jan. 12 that the police and general security forces would begin their work in the Turkish-occupied security zone after having received the adequate and necessary training in Turkey. The situation, however, remains unsettled.

A car bomb exploded Jan. 16 in the town of Suluk near the Tell Abyad district in the north of Raqqa governorate. The explosion targeted the SNA headquarters and killed at least 10 fighters, including three Turkish army soldiers.

Earlier, on Jan. 8, four Turkish soldiers were killed in a car bomb in the town of al-Arbaeen on the western side of the town of Tell Tamr in Ras al-Ain.

The towns and villages in the area witness similar sporadic attacks that cause the deaths of dozens of civilians and the disruption of normal life and raise fear among residents; this is compounded by SNA violations against citizens, including stealing and setting houses ablaze.

On Jan. 1, FSA al-Majd Corps fighters killed Ammar Al-Hajji, a civilian, in the city of Tell Abyad. They stopped Hajji and asked him for his car key. When he refused, a fighter hit him on the head with a sharp object, killing him. This led dozens of people to protest the National Armys violations and gather in front of the National Army Military Police building in Tell Abyad to demand the arrest of the killer.

SNA media coordinator Yahya Mayo told Al-Monitor the area controlled by Turkey following Operation Peace Spring has been facing a difficult security situation given the bombings targeting civilian gatherings.

Mayo blamed the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for what he called terrorist attacks that are hindering the return of normal life in the towns.

We are well aware the SNA factions bear part of the responsibility of what is happening in the Peace Spring area. There are determined efforts to maintain security and limit violations on the part of some fighters among different SNA factions. Those are being punished when they cause chaos or infringe on peoples liberties. They are either dismissed from their work in the SNA, imprisoned or fined  especially when it comes to infringement on private or public property in the area, Mayo explained.

He said accused SNA fighters are also being chased down and arrested via a follow-up committee affiliated with the Syrian Interim Governments Ministry of Defense that was established Oct. 13, 2019. Should they be convicted of the charges, these fighters are referred to the military judiciary for trial and punishment.

Ahmad Nour, a grocery store owner in the city of Ras al-Ain, told Al-Monitor, The security situation in the area is unstable. The people in the city are scared to leave their houses to run errands because of the random car bombs targeting civilians.

Life will not return to normal unless people feel safe to go about their daily lives without having to worry about getting killed. We hope the police will be able to control the security situation, he added.

Feras Allawi, a Syrian journalist, told Al-Monitor, People seek security and stability. The ongoing attacks, explosions and assassinations are evidence of instability in the Peace Spring area, which would definitely affect the return of refugees to their homes and the resumption of basic services.

What is happening is the result of the ongoing repercussions of the military operations. I think we will witness more operations at the hands of the SDF, he said.

Allawi continued, Local councils are not yet able to provide basic services with several obstacles in their way, mainly the difficulty of movement. They also lack expertise and competencies to work under complex security conditions.

Abdel Karim Mohammad, a member of the local council in the Ras al-Ain area, told Al-Monitor, Things need more time as the area has recently emerged from war. The services provided by the local councils are currently not sufficient given the bad security situation and the ongoing bombings by the SDF.

Mohammad Borhan, an official with police forces in Tell Abyad, told Al-Monitor the police forces received military training in Turkey and police volunteers hail from the area and are very familiar with it and with the peoples traditions, which would help control the security situation. But it all needs time and effort, Borhan said.

The police are in for a big challenge as the SNA factions control the area, and they bear the bulk of responsibility for the deteriorating security situation since they do not coordinate among themselves and corruption is rampant in their ranks. This gives more ground to the SDF to maneuver and make security breaches, Allawi said.

Journalist Ali Ahmad al-Najjar, who is based in Ras al-Ain, told Al-Monitor, The SNA established military police and a military court to arrest and prosecute criminals.

This would greatly contribute to changing the security situation for the better. There are also joint operations between the civil and military police to achieve stability in the area, he added.

Suhaib al-Jaber, spokesman for the 20th Division in the SNA, told Al-Monitor, The police and the general security units have received training to preserve the internal security and were provided with equipment and devices to be able to detect explosives, which would facilitate their tasks. The SNA factions will not stand in their way but will help them in their mission.
[February 03, 2020] Uniken appoints Kopal Agarwal to lead go-to-market expansion in APAC

CHATHAM, N.J., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Uniken, a pioneer in mobile-first security, announces today the appointment of Singapore Banking executive Kopal Agarwal as Vice President Business Development APAC. In this role, Kopal will lead Uniken's go-to-market efforts in the region and work closely with our great partner network to accelerate the adoption of the company's REL-ID security platform that empowers organisations to drive transformative engagement while taking fraud to zero. "Having a Singapore banking executive with Kopal's background join us to lead our regional go-to-market is a key differentiator for us," said Bimal Gandhi, CEO of Uniken. "Her experience driving digital transformation at the Bank of Singapore, Barclays and JP Morgan, coupled with a passion for delivering amazing customer experience, makes Kopal the ideal person to work with large enterprises in Asia to drive transformation, deliver a phenomenal client experience, maintain the highest level of security and most importantly preserve privacy. Her track record of delivering strong resuts is well suited to lead Uniken's regional go to market efforts as we continue our mission to make connecting safe for our customers."



Uniken APAC PTE. LTD. is open for business in the Marina Bay Financial Center. This will be our regional HQ as we expand in the coming months and strengthen the Uniken team in APAC. "I was thrilled when Uniken asked me to drive the growth of REL-ID in the region," said Kopal Agarwal. "Digital banking and mobile commerce are exploding in APAC, with organisations investing heavily in security, customer experience and fraud prevention. There is a real need in the market for an integrated offering. The unique technology that Uniken has deployed across the globe has proven to be a strong platform to address those needs, and more. I look forward to working with our partners, customers and the talented team at Uniken in making their vision of a securely connected world a reality."

About Uniken



Uniken is a pioneer in the field of mobile first security. Uniken's flagship product REL-ID is an advanced, first-of-its-kind, security platform that secures connections between customers and businesses while taking fraud to zero. A mobile-first solution, REL-ID effectively protects customers, enterprises and the entire ecosystem from a wide variety of risks such as identity attacks, device attacks and network attacks. For its pioneering products, Uniken has received various awards and recognition including Gartner Cool Vendor in Identity and Access Management (2018) and Forrester Now Tech Industry Leader in Authentication Management Solutions (2018) and most recently (2019) the Frost & Sullivan Identity & Access Management Technology Innovation Award. Visit www.uniken.com Press contact:

Graeme Rowe

[email protected] SOURCE Uniken Inc

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A woman in Pakistan has cut off the pen!s of a man she accused of trying to r.a.p.e her, police said today.

The 25-year-old woman used a knife to defend herself from the assault of a man who stormed her house in the central province of Punjab, police official Mohamed Ilyas said.

The woman told police she was alone at home when the man broke in and tried to overpower her.

The woman then ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and then cut off his pen!s when he again tried to assault her, Ilyas said, citing the womans account.



The 28-year-old man was being treated at the hospital in the city of Faisalabad and will be interrogated once his condition improves, Ilyas added.

Hundreds of women are r.a.p.e.d in Pakistan each year, but those who commit the assaults are rarely punished due to weak laws and complicated procedures for prosecution, according to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Rape victims are often blamed for their assaults, accused of socialising with men  something frowned upon in conservative Muslim societies  or of bringing the attack on themselves.

Many women remain silent and decline to file a police report to avoid being named and shamed by Pakistans conservative society, advocacy group Aurat Foundation said.

It is a painful situation. Often victims are blamed both by the legal system and the society, womens rights activist Farzana Bari said.

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The travel ban would prevent tens of thousands of people from immigrating to the United States. Nigerians still could get tourist and business visas, though they are difficult for them to obtain because so many people from the country overstay their permitted time, U.S. officials say.
Young adult woman walking up the stairs with sun sport background

Value investing has always been attractive to long-term investors. The successful hunt for an undervalued stock has created significant wealth. However, in some cases, investors get caught in a value trap.

Even though the stock has a low valuation multiple, trades below its book value and has a high dividend yield, it might continue to underperform the broader markets and peers due to weak fundamentals.

One such company that is attractive to value investors is Recipe Unlimited Corp. (TSX:RECP). The stock has declined by 32% in the last year and is down over 50% from its record highs.

It has a market cap to sales ratio of 0.84 and an enterprise value to sales ratio of 1.24. RECP stock is trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 10.7 with a forward dividend yield of 2.4%. So, is now the right time to double down on this stock?

Slowing revenue growth

Recipe Unlimited Corp is a Canadian full-service restaurant operator and franchisor. It has four business segments: corporate restaurants, franchise restaurants, food processing & distribution, and central operations.

The company has several restaurant brands, including Harveys, Swiss Chalet, New York Fries, East Side Marios and Montanas. RECP sales rose from $463 million in 2016 to $1.19 billion in 2018. However, this growth is expected to decelerate in the next few years.

Analysts expect sales growth of 5.5% in 2019, which could fall to 0.7% in 2020. In the September quarter, RECPs key metric, same-store sales, fell 3.1% compared to 2.2% in the first nine months of 2019. Its adjusted earnings in Q3 fell 22% as well.

The companys press release states, Recipe and the full service industry, as a whole, continue to face headwinds due to caution in consumer spending; more restaurant seats in the market, and continued staffing and wage pressure due to a four decade low in unemployment.

Whats next for investors?

Analysts expect Recipes earnings to fall by 10.2% in 2019 and then gain 15.3% in 2020. Restaurant businesses are generally safe bets and Recipe has a wide enough reach to get investors attracted.

Story continues

Recipe has 24 brands and 1,375 restaurants. Over 85% of these are operated by franchisees or joint venture partnerships. It has restaurants in 10 locations including Canada, U.S., Bahrain, China, Oman, Qatar, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Macao, and the UAE.

In the first nine months of 2019, the company bought back 10% of shares outstanding, which indicates that management is optimistic about long-term prospects. This buyback will also help to boost the companys bottom line.

Further, analysts expect free cash flow per share to increase in 2020, despite subdued growth in sales, which will mean that Recipe Unlimited has enough room to increase dividend payments as the payout ratio currently stands at 50%.

The upcoming results and company guidance will be critical for investors. Should Recipe Unlimited manages to beat consensus estimates and provides robust guidance, given its low valuation metrics, the stock will soar.

In the December quarter, analysts expect RECP to post revenue of $333 million and earnings of $0.44.

More reading

Fool contributor Aditya Raghunath has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2020
In this 2005 file photo, Jonathan Nyce is led into a courtroom in State Superior Court in Mercer County during his trial for killing his wife, Michelle Rivera Nyce. Read more

First, he was convicted of killing his wife.

Now, Jonathan Nyce, a 70-year-old former pharmaceuticals executive, faces charges of scamming money off the owners of dying dogs.

In an indictment filed Tuesday, federal prosecutors accused Nyce, of Collegeville, of bilking desperate pet owners online by selling unapproved drugs he claimed were capable of curing canine cancer.

The new charges come 16 years after he was convicted of beating his wife to death in the garage of their Hopewell Township, N.J., home  a 2004 case that became a true-crime tabloid sensation.

Investigators believe Nyce began his alleged pet-meds scam shortly after his release from an eight-year prison sentence. Marketing his product under the names Tumexal and Naturasone, he allegedly bilked pet owners out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by claiming his medicines could treat a wide variety of cancers and restore the ailing pets appetite, spirit and energy.

In reality, prosecutors said, the drugs Nyce peddled had not been FDA-approved and were nothing more than a collection of bulk ingredients he mixed at a facility in Collegeville.

Nyce allegedly charged others for access to clinical trials he claimed he was running for other promising treatments. One woman from Illinois, referenced in the indictment, handed Nyce more than $5,000.

U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain called the new accusations against Nyce shameful and accused him of taking advantage of nurturing pet owners doing everything they [could] to keep their beloved pets alive and well.

That is both cruel and illegal, and now the defendant will face the consequences, he said in a statement.

Nyce is expected to surrender to authorities in the next several days on charges including wire fraud and selling misbranded drugs, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office said. Nyce could not be reached for comment Tuesday and it was unclear whether he had retained an attorney.

But Nyce has repeatedly maintained his innocence in the case that first drew him into the public spotlight  including in his 2012 book titled Under Color of Law, which he describes on the dust jacket as a fact-driven account of an innocent mans nightmare journey through the American criminal justice system.

The 2004 murder of Michelle Rivera Nyce drew national headlines as much for where it took place  a 21-room, 5,600-square-foot McMansion in a tony section of Hopewell Township  as for the high profile of the accused killer.

Nyce, a Temple University graduate and an East Carolina University professor, founded the pharmaceutical firm EpiGenesis and had attracted millions of investor dollars in the 90s for an asthma drug he was developing

He was introduced to Michelle in 1989 after responding to a newspaper ad offering to connect American men with women from the Philippines. She eventually immigrated to the United States, married Nyce, and took a job at the Chanel counter at the Quaker Bridge Mall.

But when Nyce learned she was having an affair with their landscaper in 2004, he confronted her as she returned home one night from one of their trysts. He slammed her head into the floor of their garage, killing her and leaving their home covered in blood.

Investigators testified at his trial that Nyce panicked after the slaying, . He stuffed his wife behind the wheel of a Land Rover and somehow drove it through their upscale neighborhood using an 18-inch ice pick to press the pedals from the passengers seat. Eventually, he drove the car off a six-foot drop and into an icy creek bank.

A Mercer County jury found Nyce guilty of passion/provocation manslaughter, a lesser crime than the original charge of murder, and he was sentenced him to eight years in prison.

Despite the notoriety his case drew, Nyce and his then-attorney, Robin Lord, always maintained that prosecutors had it all wrong.

If he really wanted to kill his wife, she said in a 2005 interview with the New York Times, he could have designed a drug to do it.
SAN JOSE (BCN)

A Spam-based snack shop will open Tuesday morning in San Jose near San Jose State University, city officials said Monday.

Hapa Musubi (pronounced moo-soo-bee) is holding its grand opening at 11 a.m. in Unit 50 of 200 S. First St. on Paseo de San Antonio.

Musubi is Hawaii's well-known Spam-based snack food and Hapa Musubi's owners Liz Ruiz and Nam Ngo fell in love with it when they first visited the Hawaiian Islands, according to city officials.

Ruiz and Ngo believe it to be a perfect food for busy students on a budget. Hapa means to be half-Hawaiian, according to Hapa Musubi's website at hapamusubi.com.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that defence engagements between India and South Korea have made immense progress in recent years.

"Defence engagements between India & RoK have made immense progress in the recent years. India's Indo-Pacific vision shares many commonalities with RoK's New Southern Policy. We recognise that unity and centrality of ASEAN must be a key element in developing an Indo-Pacific vision," he tweeted after holding "extensive deliberations" with the Defence Minister of Republic of Korea, Jeong Kyeongdoo-Doo here.

The Defence Minister said their talks were "extremely fruitful" and aimed at further deepening bilateral defence cooperation.

"The Defence Industry cooperation has been one of the most vibrant aspect of bilateral defence cooperation between India & RoK. Today we exchanged the Roadmap on Defence Industries cooperation which includes a list of possible areas of cooperation," tweeted Singh.

Singh said he looks forward to investment by the South Korean companies in Indian defence corridors.

"The Defence Corridors present excellent opportunity for RoK industries to establish their manufacturing units, benefit from the skilled & economical labour force, natural resources and tailored incentives," he said.

The Defence Minister added: "We recognise the influence of Artifical Intelligence and digital technology in defence sector. The theme of DefExpo-2020 in Lucknow is 'Digital Transformation of Defence'. India and RoK are ready to leverage mutual strengths in digital application and other advance technologies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
VANCOUVERB.C.s public health authority is reporting that a second person in this province has tested positive for the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV.

The woman had been in contact with family members who had recently returned from Wuhan, China, health officials said.

The woman in the Vancouver Coastal Health region was found to be positive for the virus late Monday night as a result of B.C. Centre for Disease Control tests. Samples will be sent to a national lab in Winnipeg to verify the result.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.s provincial health officer, said the woman who tested positive for the virus, and her family members who had recently visited Wuhan, are all at home. The patient is in stable condition, and being monitored.

They left Wuhan before the travel restrictions were put in place, but they were also very conscious of the outbreak taking place and were minimizing their contact outside their home, Henry said.

The provincial health officer said detection of the case is not unexpected.

It tells us that our system is working, she said.

British Columbians should continue to take the typical precautions they would take at this time of year to prevent the spread of pathogens: including covering coughs, and regularly washing hands, Henry said.

There are more than 40,000 novel coronavirus cases worldwide, the vast majority of which are in mainland China. As of Tuesday, 427 people were confirmed to have died from the virus.

A chartered plane thats to airlift Canadians from the centre of the virus outbreak in China was on its way overseas Tuesday, while its prospective passengers were being told to get ready to leave.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the flight will wait in Vietnam for final permission from Chinese authorities to land in Wuhan, a city quarantined to contain an outbreak the virus.

Henry said about a third of the people requesting to come back to Canada on the evacuation flight have connections in B.C.

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Lucky Cement wins International Corporate Social Responsibility Award

04 February 2020

Lucky Cement Ltd received the International Corporate Social Responsibility Award in the category of "Green Environmental Stewardship", organised by The Professionals Network (TPN), at the 9th CSR Summit and Awards held on 30 Jan 2020 at a local hotel in Karachi, Pakistan.



Lucky Cement Ltd received this prestigious award in recognition of its efforts to control carbon emissions into the atmosphere, via innovative techniques and contribution towards protecting the overall environment.



Speaking of the occasion, Amin Ganny, chief operating officer, Lucky Cement Ltd, said, "Lucky Cement being one of the leading cement manufacturers in Pakistan, has both the responsibility and opportunity to make contributions in bringing sustainability to the construction industry. We have extensively invested in implementing programs that ensure sustainability at all levels of our business operations."



He further added that, "The management strongly believes in following environmentally sustainable practices and extensively invests in implementing programs that reduce energy consumption for effective use of resources and address issues of environmental degradation."



Sustainable development forms a significant part in Lucky Cement's business strategies and is one of the key factors in progress and growth of the company. Lucky Cement holds the prestigious ISO 14001 certification for environment management, ISO 9001 certificate for its quality management system, and OHSAS 18001 for its occupational health and safety.



The total production capacity (including both north and south plants) of the company has now increased from previous 9.35Mt to 12.15Mta.

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Chances, amounts of weekend snow still up in the air
LINCOLN, Neb. - The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has suspended its study abroad programs and faculty travel to China amid the global spread of coronavirus.

Chancellor Ronnie Green said the university will follow the advisory issued by the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC recommended Jan. 6 that travellers avoid nonessential travel to China.

University policy allows students to request a waiver, however.

Green said in an email to the campus that the university suspended its programs for the 2020 spring semester and will monitor the situation ahead of a decision about summer travel.

This decision affects only a limited number of students, Green said. The university is in contact with those students and will work with them to adjust their academic plans for the semester.

No Nebraska cases of coronavirus have been confirmed, and officials have said there are only 11 confirmed cases so far in the United States.
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A coalition of Seattle-area South Asians celebrated the passage of Seattle City Council Resolution on 3 February, opposing CAA and NRC

Seattle: A coalition of Seattle-area South Asians celebrated the passage of Seattle City Council Resolution 31926 on 3 February, opposing Indias National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), after hundreds of people rallied and attended a midday City Council vote to express their support. The resolution, introduced by Council member Kshama Sawant, affirmed Seattle as a welcoming city, and expressed City Councils solidarity with Seattles South Asian community regardless of religion and caste.

We welcome the Seattle City Councils resolution denouncing the divisive and draconian CAA and NRC. These acts are unconstitutional and designed to disenfranchise several million Muslim, Dalits and other minorities in order to create a fascist state. said Javed Sikander, spokesperson for the Seattle chapter of the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC).

Seattle City Council became the first legislative body in the United States to take a stance on Indias CAA and NRC, which have created turmoil in India since the CAA passed in December 2019. The CAA imposes a religious criterion to fast-track Indian citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, and Christian immigrants, notably leaving out Muslims. When paired with the NRC, the CAA could lead to hundreds of millions of people in India being stripped of their citizenship and rights. The NRC requires extensive documentation to prove an individuals citizenship and has already left out millions of residents when applied in the state of Assam.

Seattle is leading the moral consensus in the global outcry against the CAA. When genocidal campaigns begin, one important intervention is international condemnation, and the Seattle community feels a deep sense of solidarity with their elected, as the time to stand against the Indian government's Islamophobic policies is now, said Thenmozhi Soundarajan, Executive Director of Equality Labs. These genocidal projects happen in the shadows and this resolution highlights the significance of Seattle City Council standing up for South Asian minorities, Muslims, and caste oppressed communities.

In Seattle, hundreds from the South Asian community and allied organisations have spoken out against the CAA and NRC, including over 400 people who rallied in Bellevue on 26 January. Local organisations API Chaya, Tasveer, IAMC Seattle, Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Washington, Seattle South Asians Building Accountability and Healing (SABAH), Khalsa Gurmat Center Federal Way, Gurudwara of Renton, Gurudwara of Auburn, Gurudwara of Kent, Gurudwara of Bothell, and the Seattle LGBTQ Commission joined national organisations Equality Labs, Amnesty International USA, and the Ambedkar King Study Circle in calling for the passage of the resolution. Seattle-area residents recognise that international condemnation will apply pressure on the Indian government to account for the discrimination and violence perpetuated by the CAA and NRC.

As South Asians in Seattle, SABAH confirms that the CAA is not an internal issue to India, and that Seattle must take a stand against it, said Veena Roy of SABAH. There are thousands here in Seattle who are intimately connected to the minority experience in India, some have needed to migrate here after similar violence in the past, and many who have family in India who directly experience the violence that the Indian government clamors to keep hidden. We know that Kshama Sawants resolution is much more than a symbolic gesture. It has created ripples in the Greater Seattle Area, even in India. As a community of Seattle, a sanctuary city that fights for equality and safety for the undocumented, we applaud the passing of this resolution, she added.

Javed Sikander, Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), Seattle welcomed the resolution. These acts are unconstitutional and designed to disenfranchise several million Muslim, Dalits and other minorities in order to create a fascist state. The prime minister of India and his party BJP has to be stopped from further damaging India and its secularism, he said.

Tyna Ek, of the Seattle Indivisible, said, "The NRC/CAA, in combination, threatens to make millions of Indian Muslims stateless. Seattle Indivisible stands against religious persecution here and abroad; and we are proud that our City Council does as well."

Full text of the resolution:

Seattle City Council Resolution 31926 by Karan Pradhan on Scribd
Learning that your child has cancer is perhaps the most devastating news a parent can receive.

To raise three young children, all battling cancer is a near-unimaginable strain on a family.

But that's the reality that Aaron and Angie Rush, from Marietta, Georgia, face after all three of their sons were diagnosed with the same rare eye cancer.

Five-year-old Tristan; three-year-old Caison and six-month-old Carter all have retinoblastoma, which is usually diagnosed in young children.

The Rush family says they live under a shadow of uncertainty: wondering how long their boys will be in treatment, how they'll pay their medical bills, and whether any of their children will need to have an eye removed as their mother did.

But their children have thus far remained happy and resilient, in spite of round after round of treatment.

Three brothers, Tristan Rush, five (right); Caison Rush, three (left); and Carter Rush, six months (center), from Marietta, Georgia have all been diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer

The oldest brother, Tristan was diagnosed with the cancer, which affects the retina - a thin layer of tissue that lines the back of the eye - at one week old in 2015. Pictured, left to right: Caison, Tristan and Carter

The boys' mother, Angie Rush, was diagnosed with retinoblastoma when she was an infant and she lost her left eye at just six weeks old, according to WXIA.

The cancer can be genetic and doctors warned the couple that there was a 50 percent chance any children they had would develop the disease.

'I feel a lot of guilt, knowing that this is something I could pass down to them' Angie told WXIA.

'They're smart, and they're kind. They're definitely a joy to have.'

The Rushs have been taking their sons to doctors' appointments and hospital visits every month for the last five years.

In addition to the emotional stress of not knowing if their children will lose their sight, there is also financial stress.

The boys' paternal grandmother, Jeanne Rush, told WTHR that the family has already met their insurance deductible for 2020.

They've met it every year for the last five years,' she said.

'They've sold their home and moved in with Angie's parents [to save money to pay for medical bills].'

It all began in 2015 when the couple's oldest son, Tristan, was diagnosed with retinoblastoma when he was just one month old, according to a GoFundMe page.

The disease affects the retina, a thin layer of tissue that lines the back of the eye and converts light into signals to send to the brain.

Symptoms typically include a white color in the pupil when light is shone in the eye, redness in the eyes and eye swelling.

Between 200 and 300 children in the US are diagnosed every year, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

If the tumors are contained to the eyes, then more than 95 percent of patients can be cured, St Jude's Research Hospital states.

His younger brother Caison, three, was also diagnosed with the cancer when he was born in 2017. Doctors discovered the youngest brother, Carter, also had the cancer in January 2020 at just six months old after two tumors were discovered in his eyes. Pictured: Caison and Carter, left; and Carter, right

The cancer can be hereditary and the boys' mother was diagnosed with the disease when she was an infant. Pictured: Angie and Aaron Rush (back row) with their three children Carter, Caison and Tristan

Every month, Tristan visited Children's Hospital of Atlanta for MRIs, chemotherapy and laser therapy.

Two years later, in 2017, the couple had their second son, Caison, who was diagnosed with retinoblastoma at birth.

And so Aaron and Angie started the familiar cycle of treatments again, when Caison was just one week old.

Six months ago, Angie gave birth to the couple's third son, Tristan.

He was cancer free, until January 6, when scans revealed two tumors in his eyes. Tristan diagnosed with the same cancer his brothers face.

The couple says they hope sharing their story encourages more donations to researchers studying pediatric cancer.

'[More funding] would lead to less side effects, possibly less time for kids being in the hospital and more time for them to be kids,' their mother, Angie, told WTHR.

'Just more effective treatment, so they can get better.'

A GoFundMe account has been created to raise money for medical expenses. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than $45,000 has been raised out of a $50,000 goal.
The US Air Force has revealed that the number of airmen and civilian employees committing suicide rose by more than a third last year.

A total of 137 airmen  across active duty, Guard and Reserve  and civilian employees died by suicide in 2019, a 33 percent increase from the previous year.

The figure is the highest annual number since the Air Force began keeping an official record in 2008.

The latest number of Air Force suicides marks an increase of more than a third from 2018

A total of 59 airmen and civilians have died since officials raised concerns over rising suicide levels in the Air Force in August last year, despite a one-day stand-down being announced to focus on prevention.

Kaleth Wright, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, said 78 airmen had taken their own lives so far that year, which amounts to 28 more than at the same point in 2018.

Lieutenant General Brian Kelly, deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services for the Air Force, told Military.com on Monday: 'Suicide is a difficult national problem without easily identifiable solutions that has the full attention of leadership.

'The Department of the Air Force has been and continues to pursue immediate, mid-term, and long-range suicide prevention initiatives for the total force that focus on connections between individuals, units, and Air Force family; protections in environments, services, and policies; detection of risk in individuals and units; and equipping the total force and family members to mitigate risk and increase resilience.'

Men are statistically more likely to die by suicide than women, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Men make up around 80 percent of the active-duty Air Force.
Portland is considering appealing a Multnomah County judges 2019 ruling that ordered the city to stop charging excessive fees for routine email and document searches to fulfill public records requests.

The City Council is set to vote Wednesday on whether to allow the city attorneys office to appeal Circuit Court Judge Shelley D. Russells order to the Oregon Court of Appeals.

The case stemmed from a September 2018 lawsuit filed by attorney and activist Alan Kessler, who claimed the city overcharged him by requiring he pay $311.67 for metadata from emails between a member of Portlands Historic Landmarks Commission and four employees at the citys Bureau of Development Services.

Russell wrote last November that Portland often uses high-paid employees to conduct public records request searches, which can drive up the costs for the requester.

The judge noted the city doesnt have a method to refund money to requesters when they are overcharged.

She could also order the city to pay Kesslers attorney fees, which city officials said are $120,000.

Russells ruling isnt straightforward enough to ensure the city can comply, according to city officials. The ruling as it stands would also prevent the city from using its expertise and discretion in using the Bureau of Technology Services employees it feels are qualified from conducting public records searches and from recouping its actual costs.

The City Attorneys Office believes that the judgment is unclear and seeks clarification from the Court of Appeals as to the breadth and scope of the judgment, city records show.

The city has until Feb. 7 to file a notice with the Appeals Court that it wants to challenge the prior ruling.

-- Everton Bailey Jr; ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 | @EvertonBailey

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Whether were talking THC, CBD, hemp were speaking on solutions. As attitudes and actors shift toward supporting the cannabis industry, it is garnering growing attention from technology developers. One in particular, blockchain, is impacting this industry from seed to sale.

Next week, cannabis industry leadership will come together in sunny South Florida for Cannabis on the Blockchain a workshop devoted to educating attendees on how technology is assisting the space, but more so unpack best practice for current or prospective cannabusiness ventures, exploring business strategy, legislation, supply chain and more.

In advance of the event, I had the honor of catching up with keynote speaker and U.S. Cannabis Pharmaceutical Research and Development (USCPRD) Chief Executive Officer Michael Patterson to pick his brain a bit on the industry, and offer some insight as to what we can expect at Cannabis on the Blockchain next week.

Patterson explained that USCPRD is a global Cannabis, Hemp, and CBD company which has its hands in cultivation, processing, distribution of Cannabis. USCPRD also consults and collaborates on all issues regarding the Cananbis, Hemp and CBD industry including best practice in investing; technology, blockchain, crypto; regulation, law; and global trade.

Digging a little deeper in blockchain, Patterson noted that it, is becoming the standard for track and trace and seed to sale software to track the cannabis plant through the entire value chain. Also, blockchain is being used to track international shipments of Cannabis/Hemp product to decrease confusion and/or rejection of product in customs. Blockchain enables the industry to, build TRUST into a system which has little trust globally, Patterson continued.

Internationally speaking, we are only seeing the beginning of trade, and one can expect this to expand in 2020 and beyond. The key to capitalizing is best practice, Domestic and international markets are extremely lucrative if you can navigate your way and find trusted, reliable partners, Patterson explained.

The primary obstacle of growth is consistency. Specifically, in regard to regulation, as Patterson highlighted they vary widely from state to state or nation to nation. He continued, Laws and regulation are constantly changing, so staying on top of current regulatory practices can be daunting.

Its time for the rubber to meet the road. With growing attention, comes scrutiny. 2019 proved, Reality set in and companies must actually create revenue and get to profitability in order to have accurate valuations. I hate to belabor the point, but this harkens best practice and the right partners.

Patterson has been nothing short of enthusiastic about his opportunity to educate the tech world about major challenges and choke points in the cannabis industry in order to fix them. Attendees should expect Patterson to unpack the areas negatively impacting the industry, as he noted, If you know the biggest problems in cannabis, it will give you the ability to create the best tech solution.

Tech and cannabis are natural partners, and as the two industries come together we are reaching a tipping point in building trust, ditching stigmas and delivering the results patients and recreational users expect.

See you in sunny south Florida!

Interested in attending, exhibiting or sponsoring Cannabis on the Blockchain? Curious about what lays ahead for this much maligned but undeniable opportunity? Email Moe Nagle for more information. Dont forget to ask how you can save 50% on registration!

Edited by Maurice Nagle
CAPE TOWN, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A new state company set up by the Democratic Republic of Congo to manage the country's artisanally mined cobalt could seek a private partner if the state does not have the funds to purchase all production, the mines minister said.

DRC produces about 60% of the world's cobalt. Most of that is extracted by industrial operators like Glencore and China Molybdenum , with artisanal miners accounting for about a quarter of output.

DRC on Friday granted the new company a monopoly to purchase and market all cobalt that is not mined industrially in an effort to exert greater influence over prices. "The easiest thing for us is to be financed by the Congolese state," Mines Minister Willy Kitobo Samsoni told Reuters on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba investment conference in Cape Town. "But if the state cannot raise the funds to buy all the artisanally mined cobalt, then the state will have to enter into partnership with a company."

"We have plans for talks with financiers here," Samsoni added.

The new company, Entreprise Generale du Cobalt (EGC), would be managed independently by state mining company Gecamines, Samsoni said.

(Reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Four Tibetans are believed to be among eight confirmed novel coronavirus (nCoV) cases in a Tibetan area of western Chinas Sichuan province, RFA has learned.

According to the Facebook and Weibo pages of Tsering Woeser, a Tibetan author, the eight confirmed cases were in Tawu county (Daofu in Chinese), Karze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

Hospitals in the region are working with limited resources.

In an announcement published Tuesday, the Tawu County Peoples Hospital asked for donations of protective clothing, disposable gowns, masks, medical-grade sanitizer, antibiotics and other supplies needed by frontline medical personnel working to contain nCoVs spread.

This echoed a Jan. 29 announcement from the Karze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Peoples Hospital which said the hospital was experiencing large patient volume, and that the hospital was treating people who had tested positive for nCoV. The hospital called for donations of medical items that exceed national standards.

Meanwhile in the Tsojang (Haibei) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai province, two more patients were diagnosed with nCoV, increasing the total there to three.

As of Tuesday, Qinghai had a total of 15 positive cases, with 12 in the capital Xining and the three in Tsojang, according to statistics confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Chinese state media.

In addition, there were eight total in the Karze, one in the Ngaba (Aba) and one in the Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous prefectures.

Inside the Tibetan Autonomous Region (Xizang) only one confirmed case has been announced, an individual named Zhang who arrived in Lhasa by train from Hubei on Jan. 24.

No further information was provided by the TAR authorities.

Reported by RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Rigdhen Dolma. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
LAUREL, Md., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- City Wide, the nation's largest facility management solutions company, announced continued growth with the opening of a new office in Laurel serving D.C. and the surrounding communities.

Local building owners and property management companies throughout the Laurel, Silver Spring and Frederick area now have access to a single-source solution for all of their facility management needs.

"My career has been built upon the value of not only working hard for myself, but working hard for others as well," said Matt Carroll, president of City Wide of DC West. "The City Wide model allows me to continue doing just that. It also gives me the ability to serve the community in a way that leaves a lasting impact. Being the best at what we do is important, but it isn't enough if we aren't impacting more than just our clients."

As president, Carroll joins City Wide with over 25 years of experience in the transportation, information management and food services industries. During each of these roles, he held key managerial and directorial positions. His knowledge on how to manage client and employee experiences as well as expectations will ensure the D.C. West community receives top-notch support.

Playing an instrumental role in boosting local economies, City Wide puts business back into the community by partnering with smaller, independent and locally owned companies to execute services. Aligning with independent companies ensures clients have access to more specialized services, while providing an opportunity for small businesses to develop alongside a reputable national company.

For more information about City Wide of DC West and the services it offers, please visit www.GoCityWide.com/DCWest or email [email protected].

About City Wide

Founded in 1961, City Wide has a proven reputation for being the go-to resource for facility management solutions in its home Kansas City market and more than 60 locations across the U.S. and Canada. A single-source solution, City Wide manages dozens of interior and exterior services for commercial facilities. City Wide simplifies the janitorial and maintenance issues most critical to building owners, operators and management companies, saving time, reducing stress and minimizing resources typically required to oversee an entire facility.

SOURCE City Wide

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Mitch McConnell and the Republican claque made it clear at the outset of impeachment proceedings that they had no intention of conducting a fair and impartial trial, of even pretending to be anything but toadies defending President Donald J. Trump at all costs. And they have been true to their word.

They have closed their eyes to stark evidence of Trump's clear abuses of power, blocked their ears to new revelations and sloughed off any suggestion that the president's conduct even deserves closer scrutiny.

Of all the things they have done and said in the president's defense, perhaps the most cynical is this: Even if Trump did all those things, those actions don't amount to impeachable offenses. But if Trump's conduct isn't impeachable, what is? By defending the president, Republicans have coddled corruption, encouraged treason and betrayed the democratic values on which the nation was founded.

But as evidence piled up that McConnell and his allies could not dispute, that became their fallback position: So what if he did it? All presidents conduct foreign policy by extorting vulnerable allies for damaging information about their domestic political rivals, they insist. Or as acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney put it during an October press conference: "I have news for everybody: Get over it. There is going to be political influence in foreign policy."

The most naked and unhinged presentation of that theory came last week from Alan Dershowitz, a member of Trump's defense team, who claimed that the president can do anything he wants to get re-elected. "If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment," declared Dershowitz.

A retired Harvard law professor, Dershowitz was once widely admired for his brilliant criminal defense work, but in recent years he has come across as a self-aggrandizing hack. As his longtime Harvard colleague Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law expert, told The New Yorker: "He revels in taking positions that ultimately are not just controversial but pretty close to indefensible."

Even some of Trump's ardent defenders among Republican senators seemed stunned by that assertion, but they shouldn't have been. Isn't this where they have been aiming all along, toward declaring Trump a ruler with absolute power?

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

This business of sullying every administration in the nation's history with the rank and offensive conduct of Donald John Trump is sickening. And it is, of course, a lie. There is no evidence anywhere in the historical record that any previous president has ever threatened to make a vulnerable ally less safe  that's what holding up military aid would have done  in order to help his own re-election. Not even Richard Nixon did that.

Nor, by the way, did Barack Obama. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Republican political consultant Karl Rove argued that Obama committed a similar misdeed in March 2012 when he told then-President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, in remarks caught over an open mic, that he would have more "flexibility" to negotiate on missile defense after his re-election. Sorry, Karl. Obama didn't ask for dirt on Mitt Romney in exchange for lenience with the Russians on missile defense. If he had, Republicans would have impeached him, removed him and tried to put him in prison.

When Trump loyalists make the argument that all presidents behave as the current one has, they are also sowing the seeds of deep cynicism and mistrust of government for decades to come. Voters are already disinclined to believe much of what their political leaders tell them, a state of affairs that encourages crazy conspiracy theories, aids the spread of misinformation and depresses voter participation. Trumpists have now watered and fertilized that awful cynicism.

If Trump is re-elected, there will be no barriers against his abuses of power, no line that will go uncrossed. He will behave as if the rule of law doesn't apply to him  because it won't. And that could be the beginning of the end of this democratic experiment we know as America.
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cherry Creek Mortgage Company announced that 2019 was a record year where they were able to help nearly 17,000 home buyers and home owners reach their financial goals. Over the last 33 years, Cherry Creek Mortgage Company (CCMC) has continued to grow and serve more home buyers, and 2019 was CCMC's most productive year to date.

"This company's journey from a three-person, local office to a trusted nationwide lender has been phenomenal, and we continue to grow and expand every day," said Stacey Harding, Cherry Creek Mortgage's Executive Vice President. "The opportunity to serve more home buyers than ever is a testament to our dedicated team members across the country who make home ownership a reality for our valued clients."

CCMC began in 1987 as Denver-based mortgage company, and it has since expanded with offices in 18 states supporting loan officers licensed in 33 states. With a culture based on service and personalized expertise, the company is one of the largest privately-owned mortgage companies in the United States.

CCMC continues to grow through ongoing expansions into new states, and it also recently expanded its tech footprint with the launch of a mobile app for real estate agents and builder partners.

About Cherry Creek Mortgage Company

Cherry Creek Mortgage Company Co., Inc. NMLS #3001 has a 33-year tradition of serving the needs of home buyers across the country. With a reputation built on a passion for responsible lending and dedication to personal relationships, Cherry Creek Mortgage has helped thousands of customers realize their goal of home ownership. Cherry Creek Mortgage's specialized internal processes and proprietary technology deliver a digital mortgage experience with a personal touch. The company is headquartered in Colorado and is licensed in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Learn more at cherrycreekmortgage.com.

Media Contact:

Megan Duggan

[email protected]

SOURCE Cherry Creek Mortgage Company

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(This Feb. 3 story corrects paragraph six to show possible cut could be 500,000 bpd, not one third)

By Kevin Yao and Winni Zhou

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has agreed to allow U.S. health experts into the country as part of a World Health Organization (WHO) effort to help fight the fast-spreading coronavirus, as the number of cases and deaths continued to mount.

In central Chinas Hubei province, epicenter of the epidemic, China state TV reported there were 2,345 new cases of the virus and another 64 deaths, bringing the total of virus-related fatalities in Hubei to 414 by Monday.

The Chinese stock market plunged about 8% on Monday, wiping $393 billion off the value of the Shanghai bourse, on the first day of trading following an extended Lunar New Year holiday in a bid to help keep people at home and contain the virus spread.

The White House said on Monday China had accepted its offer to have U.S. experts as part of a WHO mission to study and help combat the virus that emerged in Hubeis provincial capital of Wuhan.

A 1,000-bed hospital built in eight days to treat people with the virus in Wuhan was due to receive its first patients on Monday, state media said. A second hospital with 1,600 beds is due to be operational later this week.

For a full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak click, here

With Wuhan and some other Chinese cities in virtual lockdown, travel severely restricted and China facing increasing international isolation, fears of wider economic disruption are growing. Sources at the OPEC oil cartel told Reuters producers were considering cutting output by a further 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) to support prices.

The WHO last week declared the flu-like virus a global emergency. It has spread to 23 other countries and regions. The Philippines reported the first coronavirus death outside of China.

Airlines around the world have stopped flights to parts of China. A suspension by the United Arab Emirates on Monday will affect the Gulf airlines Etihad and Emirates.

Earlier on Monday, China accused the United States of spreading fear by pulling its citizens out and severely restricting travel.

Washington has unceasingly manufactured and spread panic, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters, noting that the WHO had advised against trade and travel curbs.

It is precisely developed countries like the United States with strong epidemic prevention capabilities and facilities that have taken the lead in imposing excessive restrictions contrary to WHO recommendations, she said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defended the measures taken by the United States, including suspending the entry of foreign nationals who had visited China within the past 14 days.

We made an aggressive decision in front of an unprecedented threat that action now had the biggest potential to slow this thing down. Thats what the theory is here, said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDCs National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, as she noted that there are already some 17,000 cases of a virus for which the population does not have immunity.

NO REASON FOR TRAVEL CURBS

The WHOs director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, again said travel bans were unnecessary.

There is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade, he told the WHOs executive board in Geneva.

The chance of getting this (virus) going to anywhere outside China is very low, and even in China when you go to other provinces, its very low, he added.

The outbreak is reminiscent of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a virus from the same family that emerged in China in 2002 and killed almost 800 people around the world out of the roughly 8,000 who were infected.

Chinese data suggests the new virus, while much more contagious than SARS, is significantly less lethal, although such numbers can evolve rapidly. Prior to the latest figures from Hubei, the number of confirmed infections in China stood at 17,205.

GRAPHIC: Tracking the novel coronavirus - here

The WHO said at least 151 cases had been confirmed in 23 other countries and regions, including Japan, Thailand, Germany, Britain and the United States, which on Monday reported its second case of person-to-person transmission within its borders.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said controlling the virus was his countrys most important task, Xinhua state news agency said.

In addition to Mondays Chinese stock selloff, the yuan currency had its worst day since August, and Shanghai-traded commodities from oil to copper hit their lower limits - all despite the central banks injection of 1.2 trillion yuan ($174 billion) into money markets.

The selloff did not extend to U.S. markets, which closed higher on Monday with the S&P 500 up 0.7%.

Fears over the effect of Chinas lockdown on global growth have slashed more than 22% off the price of the Brent global crude oil benchmark since its recent peak on Jan. 8..

Economists are predicting world economic output will be cut by 0.2 to 0.3 percentage point.

YOU HAVE BEEN SPOTTED

Taiwans Foxconn, which makes smartphones for Apple and other brands, has halted almost all of its production in China after companies were told to shut until at least Feb. 10, a source said. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Countries continued to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan.

The United States, which flew nearly 200 people out last week, is planning a handful more flights. Russia was due to start evacuating its citizens on Monday, and Canada said 304 of its citizens were seeking to be flown out.

Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, rocked by months of anti-China protests, announced the closure of four more border crossings with mainland China, leaving just three open.

Chinas efforts to contain the virus have taken some unexpected, and some might say unnerving, forms.

A video clip posted on the microblogging website Weibo showed people playing mahjong in a village near the city of Chengdu being spotted by a camera mounted on a patrolling drone.

Playing mahjong outside is banned during the epidemic! an official tells the villagers through a loudspeaker. You have been spotted.

For a graphic comparing coronavirus outbreaks, see here .
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin on Tuesday demanded a CBI probe in the failure of the Tamil Nadu government to conduct fair 'Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission' (TNPSC) recruitment exam. He also protested against the State government on the same.
Storyful

Supporters of world No.1 Novak Djokovic gathered outside a courthouse in Melbourne on January 10 as the player appealed against his deportation from Australia in the hope of staying to play in the Australian Open.According to court filings, Djokovics lawyers say he was granted a visa on November 18. An exemption certificate was issued by Tennis Australias chief medical officer on December 30, they said.The hearing on Monday was due to start at the Federal Circuit and Family Court at 10am but was delayed multiple times due to technical issues. According to local reports, Judge Anthony Kelly said a professor and an eminently qualified physician have produced and provided to the applicant a medical exemption.Further to that, that medical exemption and the basis on which it was given was separately given by a further independent expert specialist panel, established by the Victorian state government. And that document was in the hands of the delegate.And the point Im somewhat agitated about is, was what more could this man have done? Judge Kelly asked.Footage by Slobodan Bendjo shows fans waving Serbian flags and dancing outside the Federal Circuit and Family Court in Melbourne. Credit: Slobodan Bendjo via Storyful
Max Glauben, a Holocaust survivor and U.S. Army veteran, spoke to Lee High and Midland High students about his experience living in the Warsaw ghetto as a teenager during World War II, and asked them to not be complacent in a time when bigotry and hatred still exist.

Glauben was born in Warsaw, Poland in the late 1920s, he told students on Monday. He came from a middle-class family, and his father was a newspaper reporter at a family-owned Jewish publication.

When he was 13 years old, he became one of hundreds of thousands of Jews forced to live in the Warsaw ghetto, where every disease known to mankind was in epidemic stages and starvation was rampant, he said.

He said his family of eight was forced to divide 368 calories a day between them. By the end of the war, he was the last surviving member of his family.

Glauben told students, You can feel sorry for [Holocaust survivors] but remember this: bigotry and hatred still exist. He said they can fight against bigotry by treating everyone the way you want to be treated.

Dont allow another holocaust, or bullying, or anything that is detrimental to our lives and to our freedoms that we possess, he said.

Glauben lived in the Warsaw ghetto for three years before he and his family were sent to concentration camps, he said. His father died three weeks after the two were sent to the same camp, but Glauben was assigned to do slave labor.

He designed patterns for German airplanes until April 1945, when he and thousands of others were sent on a death march after Allied forces began shutting down concentration camps. Glauben said he was forced to march for a week until they were liberated by the U.S. Army.

Glauben immigrated to the U.S. through an orphan program that allowed Jews to enter the country if they lost their entire families in the war. He lived in an orphanage in the Bronx, New York, before moving into a foster home in Atlanta.

In 1951, he was drafted and served two years as active duty military. He met his wife in Dallas, and they had three children; he has seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Midland ISD communications specialist Trevor Hawes said Glaubens visit was part of the MISD Education Foundations Grants for Great Ideas program, which encourages teachers to apply for grants that fund an innovative idea that enhances student learning.
Tokyo, Feb 4 : Japanese authorities were awaiting tests results on Tuesday for passengers aboard a cruise ship that arrived at a port in Yokohama and was immediately quarantined after a passenger was found to have been infected with the deadly novel coronavirus.

According to the Japanese governmet, the "Diamond Princess" had left Yokohama on January 20, and before returning, had stopped at the ports of Kagoshima, Okinawa and Hong Kong, where a passenger who disembarked in the city was found to be infected with the coronavirus, Efe news reported.

The vessel also stopped in Vietnam and Taiwan, public broadcaster NHK said in a report.

Upon becoming aware of the case, the Japanese authorities ordered the cruise ship to remain moored off Yokohama and sent a team of doctors and quarantine officials to conduct tests on the approximately 2,500 passengers and 1,000 crew members.

The authorities will not allow people with fever, cough or other symptoms aboard the ship to disembark until they have the results of the medical tests expected on Tuesday evening, a Japanese Health Ministry spokesperson told NHK.

On February 1, Japan announced a ban on the entry of foreign nationals who had visited China's Hubei province, whose capital Wuhan is the outbreak epicenter, in the past two weeks, as well as Chinese citizens whose passports were issued in that region.

As of Tuesday morning the death toll in China increased to 425, with 20,438 confirmed cases.

Outside China, Hong Kong and the Philippines have reported one death each.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
California inmates' plans to 'go big' for the Super Bowl were foiled when guards discovered hundreds of gallons of homemade alcohol hidden in jail garbage cans.

Corrections officers at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin confiscated the large stash of contraband booze made from fruit and juice on Saturday.

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office posted a photo of 25 deputies standing in front of the haul on Instagram.

'There will be no super bowl party at Santa Rita Jail tomorrow. Good work by our team on duty today,' the caption read.

Guards at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California, confiscated hundreds of gallons of homemade 'prison wine' from inmates who were planning to 'go big' for the Super Bowl. The Alameda County Sheriff's Office posted a photo of 25 deputies posing with the haul on Instagram

The alcohol - known as pruno or prison wine - is typically made in lock-up by fermenting fruit, sugar, water and yeast from bread for a number of days in a plastic bag (file photo)

Sgt Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, told the San Francisco Chronicle that corrections officers had received a tip about inmates 'going big' to watch the San Francisco 49ers face off against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV on Sunday.

The alcohol - commonly known as pruno or prison wine - is typically made in lock-up by fermenting fruit, sugar, water and yeast from bread for a number of days in a sealed plastic bag.

'It smells horrible and can make people very sick,' Kelly told the Chronicle.

'We find it commonly in much smaller batches, but we're told they were going big for the Super Bowl.'

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that homemade alcohol provides the perfect environment for botulism bacteria to grow, creating a toxic poison that can be life threatening and lead to paralysis.

The agency has an entire web page devoted to the dangers of pruno.

'It's hard to know if pruno has botulism toxin in it, because you cant see, smell, or taste the toxin,' the page states.

'If you make pruno, you put yourself and anyone who drinks it in danger of getting botulism. The alcohol in your drink won't destroy the toxin (make it harmless).

'The only way to be sure you dont get botulism from pruno is to not drink it.'

The CDC says its unclear how to make pruno safely.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4)  Thirty police personnel were apprehended for violating traffic laws and the Anti-Carnapping Act, said the Philippine National Police Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (PNP-IMEG).

PNP-IMEG conducted nationwide simultaneous law enforcement operations against the police personnel. Areas included in the operations were: National Capital Region Police Office Headquarters; Southern Police District Headquarters; Police Regional Office 4-A; Cavite Provincial Police Office; Pampanga Provincial Police Office; Angeles City Police; and Police Regional Offices 7,9,10,11, 13, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

During the operations, 6,126 motor vehicles and motorcycles were verified and checked.

Aside from the 30 PNP personnel, also apprehended were 101 civilians, one each from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

Most of the violations recorded were expired registration of vehicles and having no drivers license.

All violators will be issued temporary operators permit and in addition to that, apprehended police personnel will also be administratively charged depending on the gravity of the offense.
Indonesian authorities have called off the cash reward to any person who would have removed a motorbike tyre stuck around a crocodile's neck and survive. The 13-foot reptile was spotted at Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi, and has had a tyre stuck in its neck for quite long. For several years, local conservation authorities have tried their best but have failed to find a way to untangle the croc.

The authorities had posted about offering an unspecified reward for an outsider who could help them in removing the tyre out of crocodile's neck. A video had also surfaced on the internet where the reptile can be seen gasping for air. The video had sparked worries that the tyre was choking the beast to death.

After the most recent sighting of the crocodile, the governor of the province instructed his resource-strapped conservation agency to figure a way out that puts an end to years of failure. Hence, the idea of the contest was born.

Read - Australian Man Rescued Alive, Weeks After Missing In Crocodile Infested Forest

Read - Crocodile Population Rises In Bhitarkanika National Park

Officially cancelled the contest

However, now the environment ministry has said that it would redouble the efforts to free the reptile from the rubber around its neck. Central Sulawesi Natural Resources Conservation Agency Head Hasmuni Hasmar officially declared the cancellation of the contest.

Previously, the agency had offered few details on the reward, or how some outsiders could pull off the task. The agency's chief has reportedly said that cash for the rescuer will come out of his own pocket. He also issued a warning that they were not calling on amateurs to hunt down the reptile, but are looking for people with a background in wildlife rescue and a sense of conservation.

Hasmuni Hasmar, head of the Central Sulawesi Natural Resources Conservation Agency had also said that the officials are asking the general public to remain away from the reptile's habitat and refrain from disturbing it.

Read - How A Philippines Home-improvement Mogul Built A Crocodile Empire

Read - Kenya: Video Of Lioness Saving Her Cubs In Crocodile Infested River Is Winning Hearts
The Silent Treatment

Shut Up! my 7-year-old son said to me. Stunned silence. A single mother, I knew it was decision time. We dont talk to each other like that. So shut up I did. For three days I would not speak to him or answer his questions. He begged me to say something as I performed our daily rituals. I was hurt and determined, though unsure of the outcome. On my pillow, day four, lay a note: Dear mum, I miss the sound of your lovely voice, and I am truly sorry. Tears. Hugs. He never said shut up to me again.  Diana Henry
A staff member with the state Assembly is on paid leave while he is investigated for alleged sexual misconduct, NJ Advance Media has learned.

The Assembly staffer is accused of raping a female lobbyist after the pair went out for drinks several years ago, according to an account the alleged victim gave NJ Advance Media for a Dec. 29 report on sexual harassment in New Jersey politics.

NJ Advance Media is not identifying the employee while the investigation is ongoing. The alleged victim also asked that she not be named.

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, placed the employee on paid leave last month after learning about the allegation, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

He moved quickly, one source said of Coughlin.

The nonpartisan state Office of Legislative Services and an outside law firm are leading the investigation, according to two sources familiar with the probe.

Coughlin could not be immediately reached for comment, and his spokesman Kevin McArdle said declined to discuss the issue.

We dont comment on personnel matters, McArdle said.

The Assembly staffer accused of sexual misconduct did not respond to a request to comment.

The allegation came to light in late December in an NJ Advance Media report about the male-dominated and often toxic environment of New Jersey politics from the perspective of about 20 women who work in the field.

A 30-year-old lobbyist who declined to be identified in the story said she had been raped by a colleague who is currently employed by the Assembly. She said the man suggested she sleep on his couch so she wouldnt have to drive home after a night of drinking. In the middle of the night, he raped her, leaving bruises on her neck and limbs, she said.

The woman told NJ Advance Media she never reported the allegation to the police out of fear she would not be believed and her career would suffer.

People wouldnt want to deal with someone who complains about something that happens all the time, the lobbyist said in the Dec. 29 NJ Advance Media report. Once you complain ... youre the difficult woman.

The investigation of the Assembly employee comes as a newly formed committee of 11 prominent women in politics and government are asking women to share their own experiences of sexual harassment and misogyny in New Jersey politics.

The Workgroup on Harassment, Sexual Assault and Misogyny in New Jersey Politics, formed in response to the NJ Advance Media story, plans to use anonymous surveys, public listening sessions and private meetings with women to look for ways to change the toxic culture in politics, members said.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was on Tuesday ruled out of the first two ODIs against India owing to a left shoulder injury he sustained during the third T20I here at Seddon Park.

He hadn't featured in the last two T20Is in Wellington and Mt. Maunganui afterwards. There is no official confirmation if Williamson will be available for the last ODI either, albeit he will start batting again later this week and is expected to fully recover ahead of the two-Test series beginning February 21.

Left-handed batsman Mark Chapman has been called up to the ODI squad. Tom Latham will lead the side in Williamson's absence with the series starting here on Wednesday.

Tim Southee had led New Zealand in the last two T20Is.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Egyptian and Russian foreign ministers agreed in a phone call on Tuesday on continued cooperation to achieve a fair and comprehensive solution for the Palestinian cause, a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry read, in the wake of controversy over a new US peace plan.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry received a call from his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in which they discussed developments in the region, including in Palestine, Syria and Libya.

The two ministers agreed on the need for a comprehensive solution in accordance with international legitimacy accords, to ensure achieving peace and stability in the whole region, foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez said.

They also agreed on continued work towards boosting bilateral ties in various fields, and the importance of continued coordination and consultations on issues of bilateral interest.

In the past weeks, Egypt has intensified talks and consultations with international partners over a number of key crises in the region, including escalations in Libya and Syria, and concerns over the peace plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump last week.

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The chaos that upended the Democrats Iowa caucus bears all the hallmarks of a collision between poorly vetted computer code, inadequately trained volunteers and party officials who waved off warnings from outside experts.

It most likely wasnt the work of hackers, homeland security and cybersecurity officials said Tuesday  though some cautioned that it's too soon to say even that much for certain. But security researchers expressed bafflement at the flubs and miscues in deploying the app, calling it a cautionary tale in how not to launch technology thats critical to Americans faith in democracy. And they said they hope the lesson sticks.

Experts have been unanimous in warning of the dangers of Internet and mobile apps in voting, said Matt Blaze, a professor of computer science and law at Georgetown University and a leading voting security expert. While the risks and threats in a caucus are somewhat different from those in a general election, what happened in Iowa is a perfect example of why this technology is so perilous.

Heres what we know about the app, which left multiple candidates declaring victory while President Donald Trumps supporters chuckled at the Democrats dysfunction.

Where did the app come from?

The Iowa Democrats commissioned it to help volunteers send the results of Monday nights low-tech caucusing  a series of in-person gatherings around the state  to a central office so they could be posted online. The app was also supposed to help precinct chairs do the math to help figure out which candidates met the caucus viability thresholds, according to a complicated tallying formula that the Democrats were also debuting Monday.

The software was the handiwork of Shadow Inc., a maker of digital campaign tools for Democrats that received more than $63,000 from the Iowa Democratic Party in November and December. On Tuesday, the company expressed "regret" about the confusion without disclosing what went wrong.

Story continues

"Importantly, this issue did not affect the underlying caucus results data," the company wrote on Twitter. "We worked as quickly as possible overnight to resolve this issue, and the [Iowa Democratic Party] has worked diligently to verify results."

Shadow also received $58,000 last year from the Nevada Democratic Party  which announced Tuesday that we will not be employing the same app or vendor used in the Iowa caucus  and had done text messaging, software and other work for clients including Joe Bidens and Kirsten Gillibrands (D-N.Y.) presidential campaigns, according to federal election records.

Shadow has ties to a nonprofit group, Acronym, that has expressed ambitions about boosting the Democratic Partys digital innovation and countering President Donald Trumps dominance of online advertising and free social media. Acronyms leadership includes Tara McGowan, a veteran of the digital advertising operation of the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA Action, and David Plouffe, a former Obama campaign adviser who has joined its board of directors in September.

Acronym declined to comment Tuesday.

Didnt anyone vet the app ahead of time?

The state party has said it consulted with cyber experts at the Department of Homeland Security, Harvard University and elsewhere about how to safely report the results, according to a party official who had insisted on being anonymous. We are confident in the security systems we have in place, Iowa Democratic Chairman Troy Price told POLITICO last week.

But a DHS official told POLITICO on Tuesday that it had not vetted or tested the app. And acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said on Fox News that his departments Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency offered to test the app "from a hacking perspective," but "they declined.

Is this the first time the parties used an app?

No  in 2016, both the Democrats and the GOP used an app devised by Microsoft to record the results in Iowa. And the Republican Party used an app from a different company  which it would not identify  on Monday night, with no apparent distress.

Mitt Romneys (R-Utah) 2012 White House campaign had its own brush with disaster when an app called Orca, which it used for turning out voters, broke down on Election Day in November, his former chief digital strategist Zac Moffatt recalled Tuesday.

Moffatt, who was in Iowa on Monday as a caucus observer, had this take on what went wrong this time: Im assuming there was a combination of bad tech, bad adoption, bad education, and then people on social media showing [the apps] vulnerabilities.

So what happened on Monday?

The Iowa Democratic Party has refused to release any details, though on Tuesday it blamed the problems on an unspecified coding error. But the trouble at the caucus started early on Monday, as POLITICO reported at the time, when volunteers said they were struggling to download or use the app just a few hours before the voting started.

Many precinct volunteers tried to use the partys telephone hotline to call in the results instead  only to face hours of waiting on hold.

Those reports stunned the cyber experts, who said they bore all the signs of a rush to deploy inadequately tested software without fully training the users.

The modest sum of money paid to the app provider over a couple months, the absence of any meaningful testing and the poor system performance on caucus night shows that you get what you pay for, said Eddie Perez, global director for technology development at the OSET Institute, which advocates for open-source election systems.





As a friend wrote, Macy's doesn't [roll] out a new cash register the day before Black Friday  you test it out in a limited market and figure out the problems without the pressure, said Jeremy Epstein, a voting security expert who is the vice chairman of the Association for Computing Machinery's U.S. Technology Policy Committee. Writing reliable software is very hard, and I'd say this is a case in point.

Duncan Buell, a computer science professor at the University of South Carolina, likened Mondays caucus to previous elections in which election-related software in counties in Kansas and Indiana couldnt handle the traffic on Election Day.

One ought not be testing for the first time the ability of the system to handle a full load in a live event, Buell said. That's just dumb.

Is anyone saying, I told you so'?

Plenty of people could  Buell and other cybersecurity researchers had raised alarms in the weeks before Monday about the partys plans to use an app installed on volunteers personal smartphones for such a critical task, noting that phones have often proven easy prey for hackers. They also criticized both the Democrats and Republicans refusal to identify the maker of their apps or describe how they work  saying the parties were making a classic mistake in supposing that security through obscurity could keep a determined attacker from exploiting holes in the software.

Precinct captain Carl Voss, of Des Moines, Iowa, holds his iPhone that shows the Iowa Democratic Party's caucus reporting app Tuesday.

The Iowa Democratic Party said in a statement Tuesday that in preparation for the caucuses, our systems were tested by independent cybersecurity consultants." But that didnt satisfy any of the doubts.

Do they name who did the testing? asked Dan Wallach, a computer science professor at Rice University. Can we read their report? Has anybody from the testing been quoted by the press, even? If not, it doesn't mean much.

Does anybody think hackers are to blame?

None of the experts said they had seen any evidence that a cyberattack was to blame for the failures of the app or the telephone hotline. Neither did DHS, which said in a statement that "we have no reporting of any malicious cyber activity."

Then again, some experts said its impossible to know for sure.

At the moment, there is no way to distinguish between an inadvertent error and a malicious attack, said one cyber researcher, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to offer a candid opinion. Even if we can identify a specific coding error that can explain everything that happened, we can never be certain that the error wasnt introduced with malicious intent. This probably was just incompetence, but theres no way to be certain.

And regardless of whether any hacking occurred, Mondays turmoil fuels the kinds of conspiracy theories that undermine peoples faith in the electoral process  as seen in tweets from people like Trumps son Eric, who wrote shortly before midnight: Mark my words, they are rigging this thing.

Even if the app wasnt hacked, without sufficient transparency about the app and its developer, darkness is a ripe environment for disinformation campaigns, said Perez, from the OSET Institute. When the public doesnt have solid information about the tools that elections depend on, its that much easier to raise questions about the integrity of the democratic process. Trust is built on the combination of communication + transparency  and the state party fell short in both of those areas.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, echoed that warning in a statement. As weve seen in the past, foreign actors like Russia and China wont hesitate to latch onto this kind of content in order to add to the domestic discord and distrust in our elections, he said.

Are there any positive lessons to draw from this debacle?

Several of the experts were optimistic that Monday could put the kibosh on any stabs at allowing people to cast actual votes through apps or online. They noted that at least in Iowa, the in-person caucus process should leave a paper record of how people voted  a safeguard that would be lacking in an online vote in a traditional primary.

Indeed, the Iowa Democrats had initially intended to use a telephone-based virtual caucus on Monday to people to vote remotely, in the name of increasing participation. But it scrapped those plans last year amid warnings about security risks.

Despite the delay, we're all going to learn what the correct results are, because the results from individual sites are on paper and will eventually be reported and cross checked, said J. Alex Halderman, a computer science professor at the University of Michigan who has tested many voting systems. It would have been far, far worse if this was an app-based voting system  then we might never know for sure what the results were.

Tim Starks, Martin Matishak and Zach Montellaro contributed to this report.
Its mostly of historical interest at this point, but the Reds pursuit of Marcell Ozuna was perhaps more spirited than was known at the time. The Cincinnati club offered him a three-year, $50MM contract, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).

Though it is somewhat unusual for a player to turn down a similar annual salary over a longer term for one on a shorter term, thats just what Ozuna did. He picked the Braves offer of one year and $18MM. Whether the Reds also wouldve considered a single-season arrangement isnt clear.

For Ozuna, this was a calculated gamble  not unlike the one he took when he spurned the Marlins interest in an extension way back when. Hes still just 29 years of age and has shown rather an impressive offensive ceiling (143 wRC+ in 2017).

If Ozuna can turn in another campaign along those lines, he might well earn a much larger contract. Even if not, another solid effort could allow him to take down something close to or even in excess of what the Reds wouldve paid him. At the same time, theres always risk  especially for a corner outfielder who has endured some shoulder problems and sagging numbers of late.

This bit of information is obviously also interesting because of its impact on the rest of the market. The Reds went on to strike a multi-year pact with Nick Castellanos, promising him $64MM over four seasons in a deal that he can opt out of after either of the first two campaigns.

Its still a bit unclear how the market interplay between these players unfolded, but it was obviously a major factor. Notably, the Castellanos deal is far more desirable from the players perspective than that obtained by Ozuna from the Braves. After all, the formers contract conveys both the upside of a possible return to the open market as well as long-term security. Unless Ozuna had another reason to prefer Atlanta, it stands to reason that his offer from the Reds did not include such generous opt-out opportunities.

Signing Ozuna cost a draft pick, its worth noting, since he turned down a qualifying offer from the Cardinals. Hes also no longer eligible to receive one in the future. The Reds mightve been more comfortable with the structure they gave Castellanos since he did not cost a pick up front and remains eligible to receive a QO if he opts out (thus carrying the possibility of eventual draft compensation to the team).
Behind Amazons HQ2 Fiasco: Jeff Bezos Was Jealous of Elon Musk Bloomberg

YouTube Reveals Revenue for First Time: $15.1 Billion in 2019 Hollywood Reporter

Citi suspends senior bond trader over alleged theft from canteen FT

Small, modular nuclear reactors in Eastern Washington could balance more renewable electricity, power agency says Seattle Times

Japan tries to explain to embassies merits of releasing Fukushima water into ocean Japan Today

Brexit

Death of a movement Open Democracy. On Italys Five Star movement.

#2019-nCoV

Cutting-edge technology! A Chinese community worker uses a drone to measure the temperature of residents and avoid face-to-face visits during #coronavirus outbreak. People need to stand in their balcony to get their temperature checked. pic.twitter.com/TE1L3xLtab

Coronavirus has put globalisation into reverse FT. I would disagree. I think election 2016 (and to a lesser extent, Brexit) put globalization into reverse, aided by the subsequent world-wide round of protests. But Coronavirus stomped on the accelerator.

How to invest during a pandemic Macrobusiness

China?

Syraqistan

Impeachment

Trump Transition

2020

Iowa results not expected until Tuesday, leaving campaigns without answers The Hill. Utterly shambolic. The Iowa Democrat Party blames quality checks and inconsistencies for the delay. Unsurprisingly, the app that was supposed to record and relay caucus results to tabulation failed (this was the app with an unknown developer and security issues). Summarizing what I saw go past on the Twitter, Klobuchar and Buttigieg gave victory speeches, Warren said the race was too close to call, and Sanders said he was sure his campaign did well. The Sanders campaign then released the results from their own, parallel app:

Caucus numbers per Sanders camp pic.twitter.com/6XUmX0Fkbn  Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) February 4, 2020

(40% was as much as they had). Leaving open the question of why the Sanders campaign developed an app that worked, and the Democrat Party did not.

App Used to Tabulate Votes Is Said to Have Been Inadequately Tested NYT. The app used by the Iowa Democratic Party was built by Shadow Inc., a for-profit technology company that is also used by the Nevada Democratic Party, the next state to hold a caucus, as well as by multiple presidential campaigns. Shadows involvement was kept a secret by Democratic officials through the caucuses. Shadow, Inc.? Really?

Democrats public relations disaster in Iowa FT
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3)  The chairperson of the House Committee on Health is seeking an additional 1-billion budget for the Department of Health to address the threat of the novel coronavirus.

Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan said the department can use the supplemental budget to enhance capabilities of frontline offices in dealing with the new coronavirus, officially known as 2019-nCoV.

It is about time that Congress approved a supplemented budget to fight the spread of nCOV in the country and protect the Filipinos from this deadly virus, Tan said Monday.

A portion of the additional funding could also be spent on strengthening the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, where confirmatory tests for patients suspected of being infected with 2019-nCoV are carried out, she said.

I believe that it is also about time that we strengthened the RITM because currently it has only 60 beds for patients with infectious diseases requiring tertiary care, seven of which is for [persons under investigation,] Tan said.

The lawmaker said she is also eyeing a congressional investigation to determine the preparedness for health emergencies such as disease outbreaks.

Health authorities are now looking at 80 patients who may have been infected with 2019-nCoV, including eight people who came in close contact with the Chinese couple who tested positive for the virus.

A 44-year-old Chinese man, the partner of a 38-year-old Chinese woman who is the countrys first confirmed case of 2019-nCoV, succumbed to acute respiratory disease. He is also the first death due to the virus outside of China.

Health authorities have assured that they are fully-equipped and ready to deal with the disease.

The country has imposed a wider travel ban, expanding it to include all of mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. The updated policy also prompted some airlines to cancel flights between the Philippines and mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

The 2019-nCoV outbreak has killed 362 people and infected more than 17,300 globally, CNN reported Monday.

The number of infected people have surpassed that of the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, but is significantly less lethal. 2019-nCoV's mortality rate stands between two and three percent.
The Solar Orbiter is ready for its journey to the Sun where the European Space Agency satellite will orbit our star and study it like 'never before'.

The craft has been fitted inside its protective casing, mounted on top of the launcher  and is now ready for blast off this coming weekend.

Once in the correct position, the orbiter will beam back high-resolution photos of the Sun and also take measurements of the solar wind.

Scroll down for video

The Solar Orbiter is ready for its journey to the Sun where the European Space Agency satellite will orbit our star and study it like 'never before'

Built by Airbus, the Solar Orbiter has ten in-situ and remote-sensing instruments to take photographs and measure solar wind plasma, fields, waves and energetic particles as it loops around the Sun.

It will make a close approach to the star every five months  getting as near as only around 26 million miles (42 million km) away  closer than the planet Mercury.

During these times, it will remain positioned for several days over roughly the same region of the Suns surface, keeping pace with the star's rotation.

This will allow the orbiter to observe magnetic activity building up in the atmosphere  a phenomenon that can lead to powerful flares and eruptions.

The Solar Orbiter will have to endure temperatures of more than 932F (500C)  hot enough to melt lead.

However its heat shield  which has a special coating called SolarBlack  will continually face the Sun in order to protect the sensitive instruments behind it.

Built by Airbus, the Solar Orbiter has ten in-situ and remote-sensing instruments to take photographs and measure solar wind plasma, fields, waves and energetic particles

'After eight years of design and manufacture, Solar Orbiter is now ready to launch and to study the Sun as never before,' said Ian Walters, Airbus programme manager for the Solar Orbiter.

'Everyone in Airbus is excited and just a little apprehensive as we approach the day when the spacecraft starts its journey to the Sun.'

The Solar Orbiter is due to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on the evening of February 9, 2020.
WATERLOO -- As Tuesday morning dawning with no Iowa caucus results, worried local party officials were pondering the impact.

"We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results," said Mandy McClure, Iowa Democratic Party communications director, Monday night. She noted the app as well as photos of results and "a paper trail" were all being used to confirm results, but denied any "hack" or "intrusion" into the system. "The underlying data and paper trail is sound."

The Iowa Democratic Party said it would release caucus results sometime Tuesday.

Black Hawk Democrats chair Vikki Brown was locked in her office Tuesday morning, sending photos of caucus worksheets to the state party by herself. An official from Story County had just called for support, asking how she was holding up.

"Thank God for these, because this is the paper trail," she said, holding a stack of presidential preference cards. Those, she noted, provided the proof of each voter's alignment, the back-up to caucus worksheets in case of inconsistencies.

Overall, turnout wasn't as good as Brown expected countywide.

"A lot of people are just undecided, so they weren't ready to choose a candidate yet," she said.

A silver lining from Monday night, however, was that voter registration was up, including those switching parties.

"It's kind of evening out," Brown said.

Dilip Kapasi, an observer from Texas who watched the caucus at Poyner Precinct 2 and Fox/Gilbert/Jesup inside the Waterloo Center for the Arts, said Tuesday morning he was surprised there were still no results.

"Interesting that I left about 9 p.m. in the mood that results will be out pretty soon on TV, but only to hear that the app failed," Kapasi said.

LeaAnn Saul, chair of the Republicans of Black Hawk County, said even though the app Iowa Republicans used -- the Advantage app -- worked fine, knowing the other side had problems was worrisome.

"I'm concerned about it," Saul said Tuesday morning. "It kind of puts a black eye on Iowa."

She noted that, for the most part, Republicans' app worked, "and when it didn't, we were able to call in our numbers." It was the same app Iowa Republicans have used in the past, however, and Republicans only needed to report one number, not three.

Turnout wasn't as big as Saul had predicted, but she still said it was "really good," particularly with an incumbent President Donald Trump.

"One thing is, Republicans didn't know we were caucusing, which is crazy to me," she said, but noted they were "very happy" with turnout.

Gov. Kim Reynolds and U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst released a statement just before 8 a.m. Tuesday trying to shore up support for the state's first-in-the-nation status.

"The process is not suffering because of a short delay in knowing the final results," they said in the statement. "Iowans and all Americans should know we have complete confidence that every last vote will be counted and every last voice will be heard. We look forward to Iowa carrying on its bipartisan legacy of service in the presidential nominating process."

The IDP clarified just after 8 a.m. that the results were forthcoming.

"Because of the required paper documentation, we have been able to verify that the data recorded in the app and used to calculate the State Delegate Equivalents is valid and accurate," IDP chair Troy Price said in a statement, noting that precincts were still reporting results as of Tuesday morning. "While our plan is to release results as soon as possible today, our ultimate goal is to ensure that the integrity and accuracy of the process continues to be upheld."

In the meantime, candidates variously declared some sort of muted victory.

"Tonight, we are one step closer to winning the fight for the America we imagine is possible," U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a speech Monday night.

"We're going on to New Hampshire victorious," the campaign of Pete Buttigieg said in a fundraising appeal just after midnight.

"We are grateful for the support Iowa showed last night," the campaign of Joe Biden said.

Just after midnight, the campaign of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders released "the campaign's internal reporting numbers" from what it said was "nearly 40% of precincts in Iowa," showing Sanders capturing more than 28% of delegates and nearly 30% of the final alignment.

"We recognize that this does not replace the full data from the Iowa Democratic Party, but we believe firmly that our supporters worked too hard for too long to have the results of that work delayed," said Jeff Weaver, the campaign's senior advisor.

Not to be one-upped, Buttigieg's campaign released its own internal data at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday from "1,259 precincts," or about 75% of the total. That data showed Buttigieg capturing 28% of delegates and 25% of the final alignment.

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Cambodias Appeal Court on January 28 dismissed an appeal by two former Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalists against alleged espionage charges. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemns the rejection of the appeal, urging authorities to immediately drop the charges.

The Phnom Penh court rejected former RFA journalists Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearins joint appeal to drop a reinvestigation into allegations of espionage made against them. The long-running case dates back to November 2017 when they were arrested for allegedly illegally collecting information from a foreign source. Chinn and Sothearin were released on bail in August 2018 but have since been unable to leave the country or shift address. While a trial judge ruled on October 3, 2019, that there was insufficient evidence to convict Chhin and Sothearin, instead of interpreting insufficient evidence as justification to dismiss the case, the court ordered a re-investigation into the matter.

Chhin and Sothearin deny all allegations against them. I think this is a political decision, not a judicial decision, Sam Chamreoun, the journalists' lawyer said in response to the courts decision.

The IFJ said: The continued repression of Chhin and Sothearin depicts the severe lack of press freedoms and media rights in Cambodia right now. The ongoing repression and intimidation of these journalists is clearly intended to send a signal to other journalists and effectively silence the media. The state of media freedom in the country remains egregious so long as the state continues to see media as a threat rather than a vital pillar of democracy that serves to report in the public interest. We urge authorities to drop the charges.
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BRIDGEPORT  Fairfields former chief fiscal officer was arraigned Monday for allegedly stealing confidential town files relating to the contaminated fill pile scandal, files he claimed he had turned in last year, according to court documents.

Robert Mayer, 77, who also served as chief of staff under former First Selectman Michael Tetreau, pleaded not guilty before Superior Court Judge Tracy Lee Dayton to third-degree burglary, third-degree larceny and tampering with evidence.

He asked for a jury trial.

The judge continued the case to March 2.

This is an example of taking innocent acts and making them into something they are not, said Mayers lawyer, Richard Meehan Jr., as he and his client left the Golden Hill Street courthouse.

The arrest is part of a widening investigation by Fairfield police and the Office of the Chief States Attorney into the dumping of contaminated soil on town-owned land.

Joseph Michelangelo, who served as the towns public works director since 2012, is accused of conspiring with Scott Bartlett, the towns former superintendent of public works, and Jason Julian, co-owner of Julian Enterprises, to allow Julians company to dump truckloads of contaminated waste onto property adjacent to the towns public works garage.

The three, who are awaiting trial, have pleaded not guilty to illegal dumping and kickback charges.

Recently elected First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick terminated Mayers employment on Jan. 15. The next day, police began investigating allegations that Mayer took confidential files from his office on his way out.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Mayer, who retained the keys to his office after being let go, was supposed to return on Jan. 18 to clear out his personal belongings. However, the affidavit states that on Jan. 16, it was discovered that several files were missing from Mayers office.

The affidavit states that when police contacted Mayer, he admitted that he had removed some work files that he wanted; he claimed he was going to use them to put a resume together. He agreed to return the documents, the affidavit states.

On Jan. 16, the affidavit states Mayer arrived at the Fairfield Police Department carrying a box filled with folders, files and other paperwork. He claimed he did not know removing the files was illegal.

One of the files pertained to the FEMA application for the Penfield Pavilion which was being sought as part of the contaminated soil investigation, the affidavit states. Other documents concerned DPW audits and contamination clean-up estimates and information from environmental companies regarding potential contaminated sites in Fairfield.

The files had all been sought but not turned over to investigators in the contaminated soil case, the affidavit states.

The affidavit states Mayer had previously emailed the towns attorney that he had turned over all the documents being sought.
Creative Group Receiving this distinguished award recognizes the talent and creativity of those who produced this marketing campaign and the results it achieved for our client

Creative Group, Inc., a full-service meeting, incentive and recognition company, was recognized by Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) with a Crystal Award for Most Effective Incentive Marketing Campaign at the Crystal Awards Recognition Ceremony held during SITE Global Conference 2020 in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Considered the highest honor in the Incentive Travel industry, SITE Crystal Awards recognize creative, practical, and truly memorable incentive programs that not only keep employees engaged, but also drive business results and improve a business' bottom line.

Receiving this distinguished award recognizes the talent and creativity of those who produced this marketing campaign and the results it achieved for our client, noted Janet Traphagen, President, Creative Group.

For this 2018 Living Legends Incentive Program the goal was to continue to increase sales in the distribution channel of Alliance Laundry Systems, Huebsch Division. A Living Legends program website was created to house all information related to the incentive program to Machu Picchu. A 14-month communication campaign included a wide variety of messaging touch points from e-newsletters to monthly blogs to physical gift mailers to participants homes.

Post program participant feedback was very positive. Their comments spoke of the goodwill that comes from strengthened relationships when a group experiences a legendary adventure together.

I am truly honored to congratulate the 2019 SITE Crystal Award winners for their stellar programs. Incentive travel drives business results and nowhere is it more apparent than these award winners, recognized for their creative and memorable incentive travel programs, said SITE President 2020 Jenn Glynn, CITP. 

About Creative Group

Creative Group is a full-service meeting, incentive and recognition company that delivers business results by inspiring people to thrive. An industry leader, Creative Group has been honored with Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) awards and the CMI 25 Award, which recognizes the top 25 most influential meeting and incentive management companies in the U.S.

Creative Group was founded in 1970, and has served clients in financial services, life sciences, insurance, manufacturing, retail, technology, automotive and hospitality. Employing over 260 people, the company is headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, and maintains offices in Detroit, Denver, San Francisco, Appleton, Wisconsin and Toronto, Canada. Creative Group was acquired by Direct Travel in 2015. For more information about Creative Group, visit http://www.creativegroupinc.com

About the SITE Crystal Awards Recognition Program:

Since 1980, the annual SITE Crystal Awards Recognition Program has provided industry acclaim for world-class organizations that excel in the design of unique, memorable group travel experiences that deliver measurable benefits for their clients. Today, the awards serve as a benchmark for incentive travel programs and are regarded as the highest honor in the motivational events and incentive travel industry. Incentive programs held between May 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019 were eligible and an independent panel of judges evaluated entries.

The Crystal Awards Program is sponsored by IMEX Group, the worldwide exhibitions for incentive travel, meetings and events.

About Incentive Travel & SITE:

Incentive Travel, the I in MICE, is the fastest growing sector of the Business Events industry with the highest per capita spend and the widest supply chain. Accounting for about 7% of all Business Events activities, the Events Industry Councils Global Economic Impact study (2018) estimates the incentive travel industry to be worth around $75 billion globally. The Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) is the only Business Events association dedicated exclusively to the global incentive travel industry. Founded in 1973, we are a professional association of 2,500 members located in 90 countries, working in corporations, agencies, airlines, cruise companies and across the entire destination supply chain. We bring value to our members at both global and local chapter level by networking, on-line resources, education, certification and advocacy. SITE Foundation was established by SITE to support research, education and advocacy projects on behalf of the incentive travel industry. Monies raised by the SITE Foundation help us make the business case for incentive travel and highlight the transformational potential of travel experiences on individuals, enterprises and communities. The SITE Foundation is a registered charity holding a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization status. http://www.SITEglobal.com.
Ahead of the DefExpo 2020 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, the intelligence agencies on Tuesday issued a high alert to the administration and security agencies after receiving input that 11 terrorist organisations might try to disrupt the event. The event will kickstart on February 5 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to preside over the inaugural ceremony.

The intelligence agencies have given input that these terrorist organizations will enter India via Nepal route, after which a high alert was issued on the India-Nepal border. Along with this, the police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel have been conducting flag marches around the venue and in the crowded areas.

Live TV

This Expo will house the Defense Ministers of 35 countries, Military Chief of 54 countries and Industrialists of arms manufacturers from all over the world.

This is the 11th edition of the biennial mega Defence Exhibition, DefExpo. With over 1000 national and international Companies vying to present their wares at the expo, this is the largest DefExpo so far in India.

The theme of the Expo is India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub. The aim is to bring the leading technologies in the defence sector under one roof and provide a myriad of opportunities for the government, private manufacturers and startups. The event will cover the entire spectrum of the country's aerospace, defence and security interests.

The sub-theme of the exhibition is Digital Transformation of Defence which aligns with the concept of the future battlefield through the application of newer technologies will also be focused upon.

After the invocation ceremony, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi would be visiting the India and UP Pavilions. The India Pavilion will exclusively showcase the strong partnership between the public and private sector, including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)/Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and innovation eco-system, which is the key to the way forward.

The Uttar Pradesh Pavilion shall be displaying industrial prowess and the huge potential of the State for the investors in the identified Defence Corridor in the state. The UP government is also organising several cultural programmes showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the northern state. A unique experience for the visitors is planned at the Tent City, which is being especially erected at the venue.

After the visit to the two Pavilions, the Prime Minister shall be presiding over Full Live Demonstration by the Land Systems, Flying Display by Aero Platforms and Operation Demonstration by Naval Systems.

The DefExpo 2020 is expected to see participation from over 70 countries and will be in line with the biggest of the international defence exhibitions.

A substantial number of Memoranda of Undertaking (MoUs) are expected to be inked during the Expo, resulting in forging of new business collaborations.
Medical officials waiting for people who want to be tested for the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district in Seoul, South Korea, on Jan. 31, 2020. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Russia Sets up Siberia Quarantine Over Escalating Coronavirus Fears

Russia announced Tuesday it will set up a quarantine zone in Siberias Tyumen region, where nationals who will be evacuated from coronavirus-ravaged Wuhan, China, will be held for 14 days.

Russia previously said that it would send planes to evacuate Russian nationals in Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said that in addition to the Siberian quarantine zone, Russia will temporarily restrict the entry of foreigners arriving from China starting Tuesday. Those restrictions wont apply to Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport, according to the Moscow Times and Reuters.

On Monday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said that foreigners who test positive for the virus will be deported back to their country of origin, Reuters and The Associated Press reported.

This will allow us to deport foreign citizens if they are found to have such a disease, and to introduce special restrictive measures, including isolation or quarantine, he said, according to Reuters.

He added that Russia has all the necessary medications, protective means to counter the coronavirus spread, CNBC reported.

Last week, Russia reported its first cases of coronavirus, isolating two Chinese citizens. Meanwhile, Moscow declared an emergency to shut down the 2,500-mile-long border with China and suspended the issuance of electronic visas to Chinese citizens.

A corresponding instruction was signed today. Work on it is already in progress. We will inform all those concerned properly about the measures to close the border in the Far Eastern region and other steps the government has taken [to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Russia], Mishustin said during a cabinet meeting on Thursday, according to the state-run TASS news agency.

The Russian evacuation mission will be carried out next week, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Due to the fact that it has taken certain time to finalize the coordination of flight information by the Chinese side, the evacuation of Russian nationals from China by planes of the Aerospace Force will be carried out on February 3-4, Peskov told the TASS news agency.

Last week, President Donald Trump signed an order to deny entry of any foreign nationals who have traveled to China within 14 days, although immediate family members who have done so will be allowed into the country. The U.N.s World Health Organizations (WHO) director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared a global public health emergency in light of the outbreak.

On Tuesday, WHO confirmed that 684 patients have now recovered from the mysterious illness. Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease expert on the organizations Emergency Committee, stated that patients are presenting symptoms including fever, a cough, shortness of breath, and confusion.

But she noted that the case-fatality ratio is difficult to assess.
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Satellite images shared on Moroccan media showed a sand wall built by Algerian authorities around the Polisario-run Tindouf camps where thousands of Sahraouis remain hostage.

The Polisario and its mentor Algeria have restricted access by independent rights groups to the camps and prevented the UN refugee agency from conducting a head count.

The recent move to build a sand-wall, probably sown with landmines, will further complicate the lives of thousands of Sahraoui youth, disenchanted with Polisarios separatist chimera.

The sand wall also confirms fears amid the Polisario and their Algerian paymasters of a potential exodus from the camps where unbearable living conditions, political repression, slavery and lack of prospects are pushing annually hundreds to take the risky escape which often exposes them to being targeted by live ammunition.

Any attempt to flee the camps may lead to death, as happened in recent years, when Algerian army shot Sahraouis dead. To mention but a few, in March 2018 Algerian soldiers fired without warning at a car leaving Tindouf camps killing Kari Mohamed Ali Elouali and his friend Ahmed Lebouiya Sahraoui. Two others, Mohamed Alyine Bih and Khadri Hamadha Khandoud, were previously killed in 2014.

The reinforcement of the Algerian siege on Tindouf camps also comes against the backdrop of mounting tension and protests in the camps against the Polisairos corruption and their perpetuation of their ordeal as well as against the crackdown of dissent.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump will stride Tuesday night into the House chamber where he was impeached 48 days earlier to deliver his annual State of the Union address, seizing the dais on the cusp of acquittal by the Senate to position himself to fight for a second term.

The theme of Trump's speech will be "the great American comeback," which is how he and his advisers see his presidency now after nearly six months of impeachment proceedings that have scrutinized the president and his administration's conduct with Ukraine.

Trump plans to present a vision of "relentless optimism," as one aide put it, and to summon lawmakers from both parties to work together on economic policies and other issues. But the traditionally presidential tone previewed by the White House has been belied by the president's own messages of discord and disunity, and his vow to seek retribution on the Democrats he feels wronged him by searing his impeachment into history.

The pervasive toxicity at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue all but forestalls the possibility of legislative accomplishments this year. Rather, Trump's speech, coming one night after Democratic voters began choosing their presidential nominee, will be the sounding gun for the march toward Election Day in November.

"This is such a brutal election cycle, and Trump has a take-no-prisoners-or-collaborators approach; it's going to be scorched-earth 2020," presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said. "Congress is virtually going to be at a standstill."

Last year, Trump delivered a delayed State of the Union address in the wake of the government shutdown that he helped instigate and for which a majority of voters blamed him.

Trump was visibly on the defensive, staring into a sea of Democratic women wearing bright white in tribute to suffragists while newly empowered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., perched stone-faced over his shoulder. The tableau was a reminder of the peril his presidency faced with the House under Democratic rule - and the president's own words that night revealed his concern.

"An economic miracle is taking place in the United States - and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics or ridiculous partisan investigations," Trump said. "If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation."

One year and numerous investigations later, Trump will return to the chamber probably feeling emboldened by his all-but-certain acquittal by the Republican-controlled Senate.

It is an open question whether Trump will use the address to complain as he has in other forums about his impeachment or to prematurely celebrate the trial's likely outcome. Some Republican lawmakers have urged the president not to do so, in part because the Senate is not expected to vote to formally conclude its trial until Wednesday.

"If I was writing the speech or delivering it, I wouldn't include it, but I'm doing neither of those two things, and Donald Trump has been very successful being Donald Trump," Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said. "Most people that have suggested he be something different have never been president, and he has."

On the Senate floor Monday, as he delivered closing arguments on behalf of the president, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone insisted that Trump wants to work with Democrats after the impeachment trial.

"This is something that we should reject together and we should move forward in a bipartisan fashion, and in the way that this president has done successfully," Cipollone said. "He's achieved successful results in the economy and across so many other areas working with you on both sides of the aisle, and he wants to continue to do that."

Yet Trump in recent weeks has offered a stark counter to the bipartisan bonhomie described by Cipollone. Almost every day, Trump has fired off Twitter broadsides against the "Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats," as he referred to them in one such tweet Sunday, and maligned the party's leaders. In a single tweet on Jan. 25, the president called the House speaker "Nervous Nancy Pelosi," the Senate minority leader "Cryin' Chuck Schumer" and the House Intelligence Committee chairman "lyin', cheatin', liddle' Adam 'Shifty' Schiff."

Looking ahead to Tuesday night's address, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said, "I expect the president will be in full campaign mode, probably pretty bellicose and boasting. I wish it were otherwise because I think my Republican colleagues are hoping for a more conciliatory approach."

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., added, "I'd be surprised if he wasn't bombastic and self-congratulatory. I'd be surprised if he didn't take potshots at the press and Democrats and the impeachment managers. My expectations are so low these days."

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., stopped short of a detailed prediction. "I think he's just going to be the president," Tester said, leaving his comment open to interpretation.

In a briefing with reporters to preview the speech, a senior administration official said Trump would focus on five issue areas: a "blue-collar boom" for which he credits his trade negotiations with China, Mexico and Canada; domestic policies to help working families, including paid family leave; health care; immigration; and national security.

"The speech will celebrate American economic and military strength and present an optimistic vision of America's future," said the official conducting the briefing, who refused to be identified by name.

Trump also plans to use the speech to sound appeals to his conservative base. For instance, he intends to pitch a tax break to support scholarships for private and religious schools, a pet issue for advocates on the right.

Meaningful legislative achievements in the year of a presidential election are rare in normal times, but Democrats said they are even more pessimistic about the likelihood of any breakthroughs this year in the aftermath of impeachment.

"It doesn't feel like we're setting ourselves up to pass anything big," Murphy said.

For Trump, the State of the Union address presents an opportunity to set the foundation for a post-impeachment Washington and to establish a tone for his reelection. He has shown an interest in broadening his coalition, despite language at rallies and on social media that seems less welcoming, such as with a television ad that aired during the Super Bowl promoting the passage of bipartisan criminal justice legislation.

Brinkley said Trump would be wise to sound optimistic and inclusive, and to ask himself, " 'What can I say that will make people in Wisconsin or Ohio or Michigan or Pennsylvania feel better?' . . . He's the worst at pretending to be a statesman . . . but he needs to operate with humor and be above the fray and try to represent all of the American people and not a red-meat rally."

One way Trump will try to expand his connection to viewers is with guests seated in the gallery with first lady Melania Trump and other dignitaries, a tradition for State of the Union addresses.

The White House has announced that the guests will include Tony Rankins, who served in the Army in Afghanistan, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and now works in the construction industry through an "opportunity zone" program in Cincinnati. Another guest will be U.S. Border Patrol Deputy Chief Raul Ortiz, who has been honored for his leadership in the force.

As for what Trump might say on impeachment, if anything, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said he, too, would advise him not to bring it up.

"I think the American people want to have bipartisanship, to actually know that we can get stuff done," Cassidy said.

Asked whether he really thinks Trump will steer clear of impeachment, the Louisianian confessed ignorance.

"Does anybody imagine that they know what President Trump's going to do?" Cassidy said. "Not me!"

- - -

The Washington Post's Karoun Demirjian and Laura Meckler contributed to this report.
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Joseph Conyers is a fit 38-year-old whose regular workout  like dead-lifting 315 pounds in three sets of 25 reps  favors weightlifting over cardio.

But on a recent Monday afternoon, as he tried to wrangle more than 100 teenagers toward a cohesive reading of the famous Fifth Symphony by Beethoven, Conyers got moving enough to break a sweat.

Nearing the end of a five-hour rehearsal of the Philadelphia School Districts All-City Orchestra, Conyers, now in his fifth year conducting the ensemble, perched on a podium on a stage at Girls High School.

Clad in dress pants and shirt with a striped rep tie, he tried to pull his young musicians through some difficult rhythmic passages. He waved his arms, stabbed a hand toward the percussion section, rose up to the toes of his snazzy loafers, and then dipped back down in a deep bend to coax a diminuendo in the woodwinds. The result of this highbrow Zumba session was a gloss of sweat on his close-cropped skull and two spreading perspiration marks on the back of his shirt.

There we go, yall, said the Georgia native, breaking a wide smile. It really sounds really good. Then he prompted the students to give themselves a sitting ovation.

Conducting is something of a side hustle for Joseph Conyers. His real job puts him on the other side of the podium, usually on the stage of Verizon Hall, playing bass with the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he won the assistant principal chair in 2010, and now works beside Hal Robinson, the orchestras veteran principal bassist, who spotted Conyers talents as a teenager and helped guide him through four years at the elite Curtis Institute of Music.

What makes Joe so unique is that we all take for granted that hes one of the premier musicians on earth, said Frank Machos, the Philadelphia School Districts executive director for Arts and Academic Enrichment, who helped recruit Conyers to the All-City post.

He doesnt just show up and play the music and go home. Hes always striving for more  more for the organization, more for the community. Hes a living example that theres more to life than just being one of the worlds great musicians. And kids see that.

Conyers makes a point of being visible, regularly giving inspirational talks to students. A few years ago, as he spoke to a musical honor society at a New Jersey high school, a parent was inspired.

He spoke to the kids about the inherent power of music to teach life skills and entrepreneurial skills  whether they chose to make music a profession or not, said Tad LeVan, a litigator whod recently started his own firm in Philadelphia. After hearing him I was just so motivated that I went up to him and said, 'I love what youre doing. I want to be as helpful as I can.

So Conyers enlisted LeVan, an enthusiastic amateur musician, for the board of directors of Project 440, a nonprofit music education project that Conyers founded with several musicians in his hometown of Savannah. Transferred to Philly, Project 440 (the name refers to the frequency of the note musicians commonly use to get in tune with each other) helps public school students develop their musical skills and training into broader life skills, with an emphasis on building community.

Most musicians in high school are not going to become professionals, said Conyers, who serves as the organizations executive director. So why are they learning all these things? You can say it connects them to the arts and all that fun stuff. But I say, they can take all those skills that they learn in music and translate them into the jobs they have as adults. And the Project 440 twist is that they do this while thinking about the community all the way. So, never leaving people behind. Really figuring out a way to lift each other up.

We teach entrepreneurship, he added. But its specifically social entrepreneurship. Investing in their communities. That, to me, is how the world should work. Were using music and the arts to create better people. Its really that simple.

For example, Project 440s Doing Good program is devoted to social entrepreneurship, training students over the course of 30 after-school classes to design and implement a community outreach initiative using music. The students learn to plan a presentation and pitch their idea in a Shark Tank like setting (though Project 440 more gently dubs it a Dolphin Tank").

One of the Doing Good success stories is called Generation Music, conceived by two All-City woodwind players  Chloe Cooper and Claire Casanova  to introduce classical music to underserved schools. Starting with $500 in seed money from Project 440, the group found further outside funding and in 2018 registered as a 501(c)3 nonprofit. Cooper and Casanova are now university music education majors.

Finishing the long All-City Orchestra rehearsal, Conyers rode down to South Philly High to observe the final class for this years Doing Good students. Arriving, he devoured a pear. That was really, really good, and I was really hungry, he said, before withdrawing to the back of the classroom to observe. He responded to the students presentations of their public service ideas with as much enthusiasm as hed shown for the pear, which is the same enthusiasm he shows for almost everything.

It was dark and cold, and Conyers seemed a little fatigued as he rode back up Broad Street to his apartment at the Academy House, steps away from his workplace in Verizon Hall. The Philadelphia Orchestras new season had started, and a full slate of concerts lay ahead. That weekend, Conyers would begin teaching bass students at the Juilliard School in New York. The next week he would give a speech to a music foundation in Detroit and fly to London for chamber music concerts.

Is it hard work? Yes, Conyers said. Is it tiring? Yes. But as long as I have the energy to do it  and provide a pathway for somebody else  Im going to keep doing it.

Im only one person. But I can play my part.
Mark Gatiss will star as Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol as part of Nottingham Playhouse's autumn 2020 and spring 2021 season, it was announced today.

The WhatsOnStage Award-winning actor will return to the venue to star in his own adaptation of the classic Dickensian tale when it plays from 30 October to 14 November, with a press night on 3 November. The show will be directed by the venue's artistic director Adam Penford, reuniting the pair after The Madness of King George III, which won the WhatsOnStage Award in 2019 for Best Play Revival. A Christmas Carol will transfer to London's Alexandra Palace for its Christmas season.

The production will follow on from Red Ellen, a new show by Caroline Bird which will be co-presented with Northern Stage and the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh. Directed by Wils Wilson, the play tells the story of Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson who saved Jewish refugees in Nazi Germany, served in Churchill's cabinet and lead 200 workers in the Jarrow Crusade. Red Ellen will play from 6 to 17 October, with a press night on 7 October.

The previously announced annual pantomime Beauty and the Beast will run from 27 November to 16 January 2021, with a press night on 28 November. It will be directed by Bill Buckhurst (Sweeney Todd, Sweet Charity, Assassins, Sister Act), with Kenneth Alan Taylor  who has directed the venue's pantomime for the last 36 years  writing the script for this production. John Elkington will return to reprise his role as pantomime dame.

Joining the line-up for the festive season is Nottingham Playhouse's Neville Studio show Jack and the Beanstalk, suitable for children aged 3 to 8. The production will play from 9 December to 2 January 2021 before touring to primary schools across the East Midlands.

Nancy Medina (Two Trains Running) will direct Choir Boy by Tarell Alvin McCraney from 12 to 27 February 2021, with a press night on 16 February. The coming-of-age story about scholarship high school student Pharus explores themes of class, sexuality and race within the confines of the school system. It features a gospel music soundtrack and will be co-produced by Theatre Royal Stratford East.
In this Feb. 3, 2020, file photo, a security officer wearing a face mask stands on a subway train in Beijing. Health authorities are preparing for a possible pandemic as they work to contain a respiratory illness in China that's caused by a new virus. Governments are working to contain the virus by limiting travel, isolating sick people and keeping travelers returning from the affected region under quarantine to watch for symptoms. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Health authorities are preparing for a possible pandemic as they work to contain a respiratory illness in China that's caused by a new virus. Governments are limiting travel, isolating sick people and keeping travelers returning from the affected region under quarantine to watch for symptoms.

In the United States, the scope and cost of the government response is increasing. U.S. health officials already have tapped into a $105 million rapid response fund and notified Congress that they may need $136 million more.

Here's what you should know about the illness:

IS IT A PANDEMIC?

Not yet. The virus is an epidemic in China, where more than 17,000 cases have been reported, but has not affected enough people around the globe to be considered a pandemic. So far, other countries have reported only a few dozen cases, most involving travelers returning from China and their close contacts.

And while there have been more than 360 deaths, all but one has been in China.

Based on the way the virus spread in China, investigators believe each infection has led to an average of 2.2 others getting sick. That's a bit more than ordinary flu but less than SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, a genetic cousin of the new virus.

Governments are preparing for a possible pandemic and taking actions to prevent one.

The World Health Organization designates a pandemic when there are outbreaks on at least two continents. So far, WHO has called this a "public health emergency of international concern."

In this Jan. 27, 2020, file photo, a poster warning about coronavirus is seen as passengers wear masks in a departure lobby at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea. Health authorities are preparing for a possible pandemic as they work to contain a respiratory illness in China that's caused by a new virus. Governments are working to contain the virus by limiting travel, isolating sick people and keeping travelers returning from the affected region under quarantine to watch for symptoms. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

The 2009 H1N1 influenza virus reached pandemic level. Now, H1N1 is a regular flu virus that circulates around the globe seasonally.

WHAT IS THE NEW VIRUS?

Scientists have identified it as a new coronavirus. The name comes from the Latin word for crowns or halos, which coronaviruses resemble under a microscope. The coronavirus family has many types that affect people. Some cause the common cold while others originating in bats, camels and other animals have evolved into more severe illnesses such as SARS or MERS, Middle East respiratory syndrome.

WHERE DID IT COME FROM?

The first cases appeared in December in Wuhan, a city in central China's Hubei province. Many of the first people infected had visited or worked at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, which has since been closed for an investigation. Chinese health officials say they believe the illness first spread from animals to people. They now say it can spread between people.

This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Health authorities are preparing for a possible pandemic as they work to contain a respiratory illness in China that's caused by a new virus. Governments are working to contain the virus by limiting travel, isolating sick people and keeping travelers returning from the affected region under quarantine to watch for symptoms. (CDC via AP, File)

In this Feb. 3, 2020, file photo, people wearing face masks walk through a normally busy subway station during the morning rush hour in Beijing. Health authorities are preparing for a possible pandemic as they work to contain a respiratory illness in China that's caused by a new virus. Governments are working to contain the virus by limiting travel, isolating sick people and keeping travelers returning from the affected region under quarantine to watch for symptoms. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

In this Jan. 30, 2020, file photo, travelers wearing face masks walk along a concourse at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing. Health authorities are preparing for a possible pandemic as they work to contain a respiratory illness in China that's caused by a new virus. Governments are working to contain the virus by limiting travel, isolating sick people and keeping travelers returning from the affected region under quarantine to watch for symptoms. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?

Common symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. In serious cases, the virus can cause pneumonia. Some patients have needed oxygen. Others have had only mild illness.

It's too early to say whether the new virus will fade out as cold and flu viruses do when winter ends. If it does, a second wave of illness could start up in the fall. By then, there may be a vaccine to slow it down.

HOW IS IT TREATED?

The World Health Organization has said there is not a specific medicine recommended to treat the illness, although some will be tested. For now, doctors are treating symptoms with anti-fever drugs. Some doctors are trying antiviral drugs developed for HIV or Ebola.

HOW IS IT SPREADING?

Many coronaviruses can spread through coughing or sneezing, or by touching an infected person. Scientists believe the new virus can spread from person to person in close contact through the respiratory tract.

Masks can block large droplets from sneezes and coughs. They also can stop people from touching their own mouths and noses, another way to stop germs. Experts say the best way to avoid getting sick from any virus is washing hands with soap and water.

Explore further Science Says: What to know about the viral outbreak in China

 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Arvind Kejriwal, who is fighting from the New Delhi constituency, has attacked the BJP, saying that Shaheen Bagh is the only poll issue for the saffron party. The Delhi chief Minister also accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of peddling lies.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has lashed out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying the former BJP boss wants win polls on Shaheen Bagh, a centre of anti Citizenship Amendmnet Act (CAA) protests. He said that the BJP has no other issue other than Shaheen Bagh, Hindu-Muslim and Pakistan.

The Delhi chief minister said that Shah was not in favour of clearing the Shaheen Bagh protest site as he wants to contest the February 8 polls on these protests. He asserted, if the Delhi Police were under his control they would have cleared the site within two hours. Kejriwal made these remarks in an interview to a national news channel.

Kejriwal also accused the BJP and Shah of uttering lies. Ever since the Election Commission announced poll date for the Delhi elections in early January, Shaheen Bagh took a centre stage in the election campaign. Several BJP leaders have used hate rants against the protesters in their poll campaign. They also accused the Kejriwal-led government of providing biryani to the dissenters.

Also read: Delhi Election 2020: Social media slams BJP leader Kapil Mishra for saying Arvind Kejriwals AAP should rename itself Muslim League

Also read: Shaheen Bagh shooting: 2 days after Jamia, man opens fire at anti-CAA protest site

Responding to BJP MP Parvesh Vermas remarks wherein he called Kejriwal a terrorist, the AAP chief asked that does he look like a terrorist? He said that he had provided free electricity, free water etc to the Delhiites and the people of Delhi should decide what he was. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar had seconded Verma, claiming there was an evidence to substantiate the claim.

Several BJP leaders including Verma, Kapil Mishra, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath among others made controversial remarks. Mishra went on to ask the AAP to rename party as Muslim League and accused the Delhi CM of doing Jinnah politics. Campaigning in the poll-bound national capital, Verma said that all the mosques built on the government land will be demolished. While Adityanath linked Kejriwal with Pakistan.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alpine Income Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: PINE) (the Company) announced the acquisition of a net-leased retail income property for a purchase price of approximately $4.3 million.



The Company acquired a BP branded convenience store with approximately 10.8 years remaining on the initial 20-year term which includes annual rent escalations. The property is in Highland Heights, Kentucky, just south of Cincinnati, Ohio and sits at the entrance of Northern Kentucky University campus. The tenant is Lehigh Gas Wholesale Services, Inc. a subsidiary of CrossAmerica Partners, a publicly-traded company. CrossAmerica Partners is a distributor of branded petroleum to over 1,300 locations.

Including this single-tenant net leased retail income property, the Companys portfolio now consists of twenty-four properties located in 18 markets and 12 states across 14 industries, with a weighted average remaining lease term of 8.5 years.

About Alpine Income Property Trust, Inc.

Alpine Income Property Trust, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, owns and operates a portfolio of high-quality single-tenant net leased commercial income properties.

We encourage you to visit our website at www.alpinereit.com .

Safe Harbor

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements that may be identified by words such as could, may, might, will, likely, anticipates, intends, plans, seeks, believes, estimates, expects, continues, projects and similar references to future periods, or by the inclusion of forecasts or projections. Forward-looking statements are based on the Companys current expectations and assumptions regarding capital market conditions, the Companys business, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, by their nature, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. As a result, the Companys actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include general business and economic conditions, continued volatility and uncertainty in the credit markets and broader financial markets, risks inherent in the real estate business, including tenant defaults, potential liability relating to environmental matters, illiquidity of real estate investments and potential damages from natural disasters, and other factors set forth under Risk Factors in the Companys registration statement on Form S-11, as amended from time to time. Any forward-looking statement made in this press release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
After months of having a habeas corpus case pending in front of Gujarat High Court, Janardhan Sharma- the father of the two girls who had been 'missing' since November 2019 has filed an application asking for the investigation to be transferred to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Republic TV has accessed the Special Criminal Application that has been submitted by the father of the two 'missing' daughters who are allegedly in confinement of Nithyananda. Janardhan Sharma and his legal team have written this application asking for the case to be transferred to CBI citing various reasons for their prayers.

Read: Karnataka HC Issues Notices To Nithyananda On Bail Cancellation Plea

Need for central agency's probe

They have stated that the local police authorities are not equipped to deal with the investigation and that there is a longer procedure that needs to be followed. Also, since there are affidavits which are submitted in HC every other week citing that the girls are in Jamaica, Barbados and that keeping in mind the sense of urgency, they are of the opinion that a central agency will be able to carry out more freely and efficiently. They have also stated that there are several locally powerful people involved in the 'disappearance' of Janardhan Sharma's two daughters.

Read: Interpol Issues Blue Corner Notice Against Nithyananda: Here's What It Means

Questions raised on the influence of Nithyananda

That even after several appeals and statements that were provided to the local Gujarat police, they have not registered a complaint of sexual assault on the two daughters of Sharma. That, there were numerous questionable instances that they feel have taken place which shows that Nithyananda is 'influential' including and not limited to the aide of Nithyananda mysteriously dying in a car accident in Nepal- just hours after the Gujarat police had tracked him down to question him in the Habeas Corpus matter already being heard in Gujarat High Court. There are several instances also shared in the application which shows deep involvement of Manjula Pooja Shroff (Calorx Foundation) and Amitabh Shah (founder of Yuva Unstoppable).

Read: Nithyananda Likely In Jamaica, 'accidental Death' Of Counterpart Raises Questions

Complainant alleges the involvement of other individuals

That even on the day that the complainant (Sharma) had arrived at the Ahmedabad ashram, he was not only not allowed to meet his children but was made to wait for several hours outside. During which time he was made to speak to Shroff, Shah, and Nithyananda himself who had assured him that he will be allowed to take his children back within a week. After the aforementioned time period when the complainant had arrived at the ashram, he was told that his daughter was not present in the Ahmedabad ashram.

It is also the claim of the complainant that Shroff and Shah were deeply involved in smuggling Nanditha out of the country via the route of Nepal and Mauritius. Since they claim that they have worked closely with the ashram and know that Shroff has several contacts in Mauritius and would have been no 'difficult task' for her to smuggle his daughters out. In fact, there are allegations made in the application that the girl Nanditha was smuggled out of the state to Nepal in the trunk of the car which belonged to Manjula Pooja Shroff. They have also stated that one of the 50 witnesses that have been mentioned in the chargesheet, there is the name of the driver who had driven the car out of the state to Nepal and yet the driver has not been questioned by the police.

Read: Nithyananda In Barbados? Complainant's Daughters' Affidavits Confirm Their Location
Protest camps across Iraq began fracturing on Monday over whether to back premier-designate Mohammad Allawi or continue opposing the government, marking a pivotal point for the four-month-old movement. One demonstrator was killed in southern Iraq, medics and security sources said, after men in blue caps, the signature headgear of followers of cleric Moqtada Sadr, attacked an anti-regime rally. Iraq's capital and mainly-Shiite south have been rocked by months of protests demanding an overhaul of the government, but Allawi's appointment as premier on Saturday has so far failed to quell the rallies. Most young protesters have rejected Allawi, twice communications minister, as too close to the ruling elite and a product of consensus among much-reviled parties. But Sadr, who has backed the rallies and demanded reform, has both welcomed Allawi's appointment and urged his followers to stay in the streets. That has sparked confusion and created a rift in protest squares across Iraq between organised Sadrists and angry, leaderless youth. Late Sunday, demonstrators opposed to Allawi's nomination began clustering their tents closer together in Baghdad's Tahrir Square, away from those occupied by Sadrists. "They're split into two parts now, and there are plenty of people on both sides. I'm worried about a clash," one long-time protester in Tahrir told AFP. At the weekend, dozens of Sadrists stormed a key building in Tahrir that was occupied for months by protesters, driving out activists and removing banners listing their demands. - 'Not the people's choice' - Sadr, a 45-year-old figure with a cult-like following across Baghdad, endorsed the protests when they broke out in October but has repeatedly rethought his support. On Sunday, he condemned student sit-ins and road closures, the two tactics most used by protesters, and tweeted that "the 'blue caps must coordinate with security forces and education directorates" to reopen schools and streets. The next morning, Sadrists deployed at schools and public offices in the southern city of Hilla to ensure they would fully reopen after intermittent closures due to the rallies, AFP reporters said. But they clashed with protesters who insisted on keeping the provincial government's headquarters there shut as a sign of resistance to Allawi, AFP's correspondent said. One man at the sit-in was stabbed in the neck and died of his wounds in hospital, while three others were hurt after being hit with batons, the medical and security sources told AFP. In Nasiriyah, a southern city where government offices have been shut for months by the rallies, prominent protester Alaa Rikaby said it was a "critical time" for the movement. Rikaby, a pharmacist by training, insisted Allawi was "not the people's choice", and appeared to try to steal Sadr's thunder. "Let's take the initiative to open schools and public offices starting tomorrow, so as not to lose this opportunity to anyone else," Rikaby said in a video posted to Twitter. In Kut, anti-regime protesters began donning red caps to distinguish themselves from the Sadrists. Further south in Basra, university students relocated their tents to move away from Sadr supporters, AFP's correspondents there said. "If Sadrists come to the protest square, don't come into contact with them, don't make problems," one organiser there called out over a loudspeaker. - 'Smooth transition' - The divisions appear to have worried the incoming premier, who has asked demonstrations to "pull back the fuse of conflict". "Otherwise, we will lose what great achievements we have made and drag our country into the abyss," Allawi said in an overnight tweet. Allawi, 65, launched his political career in the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, first as a parliamentarian and then twice as communications minister under former premier Nuri al-Maliki. But he resigned both times, alleging mass graft in a country considered among the top 20 most corrupt in the world by watchdog Transparency International. His appointment came after crisis talks prompted by President Barham Saleh, who threatened to select his own candidate unless parliamentary blocs agreed on someone by February 1. The negotiations were highly secretive and it remains unclear what unlocked the deal that saw Allawi announce his own nomination Saturday in a video posted to Twitter. Allawi has until March 2 to form his cabinet, which he insisted will be staffed based on skill, not nepotism. It would be subject to a vote of confidence from parliament, at which point Allawi's term would officially begin. He is expected to oversee early parliamentary elections under a new voting law but no date has yet been set. Allawi met with the United Nations' top official in Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert for the first time on Monday after receiving his first public congratulations from a foreign counterpart, Jordanian PM Omar al-Razzaz.
Two power plants in Homs and south-west of Aleppo are targeted. The authors of the attack and the extent of the damage are unknown. The structures are used to supply fuel to the whole national territory. Heavy clashes with victims yesterday between the Syrian and Turkish armies in Idlib. Ankara warns Moscow: don't interfere.

Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Rockets struck two natural gas plants in the early morning area, in the area of Homs and Ebla, about 60 km south-west of Aleppo. The Syrian state television reported, according to which the firefighters have been busy for several hours to put out the flames in the first of the two plants; the situation was better in the second, where there would have been no substantial damages.

At the moment, there is no information on the origin of the mortar rounds and who attacked it. Damascus has yet to confirm the extent of damage to structures and any interruptions in production.

The Ebla gas plant suPplies local power plants with around 2.5 million cubic meters of gas per day. Both structures are used to supply fuel nationwide.

Yesterday, meanwhile, in the disputed region of Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in the country, heavy clashes took place between the Syrian army, which advances towards the city, and the Turkish military, which support the anti-Assad opposition (and the jihadist militias). From 12 January in the area there has been a (fragile) ceasefire agreed between Turkey and Russia, an ally of the Bashar al-Assad government.

The Ankara defense ministry talks of at least six dead, including five military and one civilian, hit by mortars launched by the Syrian army. The response of the Turkish army, which would have "neutralized" 76 elements among the Syrian troops, was not long in coming. News denied by Damascus, according to which there are no victims or injuries.

Sources of the Turkish Anadolu agency speak of at least 1300 civilian deaths in the area since September 2018, when Moscow and Ankara reached an agreement for the formation of a "demilitarized zone". Added to this are the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the Syrian army offensive or the violence perpetrated by jihadist groups.

Yesterday's clashes between Turks and Syrians threatens to undermine the ongoing dialogue between Moscow and Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who yesterday ordered his Russian counterpart not to interfere in the clashes between the parties. The Turkish leader asked the Kremlin to "assume its obligations" in the Idlib province and "not to interfere" in the clashes with Syria. "We expect Russia - said Omer Celik, spokesman for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) - not to cover the regime or protect it after this clear attack on our armed forces".
Stocks in the news today: Here is a list of top stocks that are likely to be in focus in Tuesday's trading session based on the latest developments. Investors are also awaiting December quarter earnings that are scheduled to be released today. Companies set to announce their earnings are Adani Ports, Adani Green, Tata Global Beverages, Bharti Airtel, TVS Motor, PNB. Investors will also keep an eye on the central bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) that will kick off its three-day meet today.

Bharat Road Network: BSE had sought clarification from Bharat Road Network Limited with respect to announcement dated Jan 14, 2020, regarding resignation of Atanu Sen as non-executive independent director of the company

Dr Lal Pathlabs: The company has informed BSE regarding the appointment of Om Prakash Manchanda as Managing Director, Bharath Uppiliappan as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hony Brig Dr Arvind Lal as Executive Chairman and Whole-Time Director and Dr Vandana Lal as Whole Time Director of the company effective from April 1, 2020.

Jubilant Life Sciences Q3: The company reported a 24 % fall (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 203 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, as against Rs 260 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Total income fell 3.5% (YoY) to Rs 2,321 crore in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 2,406 crore in the same period last financial year.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation, has been named the #1 Top Employer in the UK by the Top Employers Institute. TCS received this recognition for the third consecutive year and has been a top employer in UK for the last 10 years.

Mahindra & Mahindra: The company rolled out its 25th lakh vehicle from its Nasik manufacturing facility. Mahindra's power brand Scorpio was the 25th lakh vehicle that was rolled out from the facility.

Bayer CropScience Q3: The company reported 1.18% rise in (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,379 crore in Q3 FY20 from Rs 631 crore in Q3 FY19. Total income recorded 10% rise to Rs 8,734 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, from Rs 7,911 crore, booked in the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

Tata Chemicals Q3: The company has posted 6.54% rise in net profit to Rs 233.84 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2019 as against Rs 219.48 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. Net sales rose 0.65% to Rs 2,682.28 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019 as compared to Rs 2,665.09 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2018.

Q3 Earnings Today: Adani Green, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Piramal Enterprises, Apollo Pipes, Avanti Feeds, Bajaj Electricals, Balmer Lawrie & Co, Bharti Airtel, CSB Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Exide Industries, Future Market Networks, Firstsource Solutions, Punjab National Bank, Jindal Saw, JSW Energy, Liberty Shoes, Mahindra Logistics, Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers, TVS Motor Company, Triveni Engineering & Industries, Titan Company, Thermax, Tata Global Beverages, Shipping Corporation of India, Sayaji Industries are the companies that will release their December quarter results today.
Last week, former state Sen. Martin Sandoval pleaded guilty in a separate scheme to bribery and tax charges, admitting in a plea agreement with prosecutors that he took more than a quarter of a million dollars in payments in exchange for his influence or official action in Springfield, including $70,000 in protection fees from a clout-heavy red-light camera company executive.
Two men killed at a major intersection in Melbourne's north as they were trying to outrun police in an allegedly stolen car have been linked to earlier burglaries and an attempted carjacking.

The men were in a Toyota Kluger when it slammed into the side of a truck at the intersection of Bell and High streets in Preston about 10pm on Tuesday.

The truck's container fell onto its side and hit an Audi sedan which was stopped at the traffic lights.

The two men in the Kluger died at the scene.The extent of their injuries meant police were having difficulty identifying them on Wednesday.
The European Union rejected a U.S. proposal within a Middle East peace initiative to recognize Palestinian territories of the West Bank occupied by Israel.

"We are especially concerned by statements on the prospect of annexation of the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank," EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

At the same time, stressed that the EU is "fully committed to the transatlantic partnership and values all efforts to help find a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." He stressed that the EU recalls its commitment to a negotiated "two-State solution, based on 1967 lines, with equivalent land swaps, as may be agreed between the parties."

It was also noted that in line with international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, the EU does not recognise Israels sovereignty over the territories occupied since 1967.

Borrell stressed that the EU will continue to "support all efforts aimed at reviving a political process in line with international law."
A wanted man was taken into custody Monday following a standoff that began after he fired a shot inside a residence, police said.

Spotsylvania County Sheriffs spokeswoman Liz Scott said deputies went to the Brittany Commons apartment complex about 1:15 p.m. to serve arrest warrants on 25-year-old Juquan Depri Washington.

Scott said Washington was wanted on multiple weapons charges in Fredericksburg, including two counts of shooting from a vehicle and two counts of shooting at a vehicle. He was also wanted in Spotsylvania on charges of discharging a firearm in public, reckless handling of a firearm and brandishing.

After deputies arrived in the 10000 block of Crystal Palace Lane and surrounded the residence, a deputy spotted Washington on the apartment balcony and told him to open the door, Scott said. A short time later, police heard a gunshot inside the home.

Police spent the next several hours negotiating with Washington to turn himself in, and he finally came out and was taken into custody.
When Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union addresses, they typically include a few boastful half-truths, an array of promises for what the future of the country holds, and the usual smattering of political campaigning.

What they have lacked so far, however, is any reference to First Lady Melanias work as an anti-bullying advocate.

In May 2018, Mrs Trump launched her initiative Be Best, a public awareness campaign focused on well-being for youth, and advocating against cyber-bullying and drug use.

I feel strongly that as adults, we can and should be best at educating our children about the importance of a healthy and balanced life, the first lady said of the campaign, which she unveiled 16 months into her husbands presidency.

A year later, Mrs Trump expanded the initiative, which she promoted during visits to 15 states and nine countries, to focus on drug abuse in children of all ages - not just those born dependent on opioids and other addictive substances.

President Trump delivers State of the Union address Show all 22 1 /22 President Trump delivers State of the Union address President Trump delivers State of the Union address Nancy Pelosis sarcastic clapping stole Trumps thunder For many the president's speech was overshadowed by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's applause after his call for political unity, which many interpreted as "sarcastic" AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Trump issues ominous threat over investigations as he rails against immigration and abortion In a State of the Union speech calling on Washington to cast aside revenge, resistance and retribution, Donald Trump was accused of issuing a veiled threat over the investigations dogging his administration. An economic miracle is taking place in the United States  and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics or ridiculous partisan investigations, Mr Trump said AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Congresswomen, dressed in white in tribute to the women's suffrage movement, pose for a photo as they arrive AFP/Getty Images President Trump delivers State of the Union address The 72-year-old harkened back to American achievements, celebrating the moon landing as astronaut Buzz Aldrin looked on from the audience and heralding the liberation of Europe from the Nazis AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address He also led the House chamber in singing happy birthday to a Holocaust survivor sitting with first lady Melania Trump. "Together, we represent the most extraordinary nation in all of history. What will we do with this moment? How will we be remembered?" Mr Trump said Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  dressed in white in an act of solidarity with other women  declined to join a standing ovation for Donald Trump despite his purported call for unity Reuters President Trump delivers State of the Union address The president ticked through a litany of issues with crossover appeal, including boosting infrastructure, lowering prescription drug costs and combating childhood cancer Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Republican Veronica Escobar reacts as President Trump claims that El Paso, Texas, has become safer due to a wall along the border with Mexico Reuters President Trump delivers State of the Union address Despite no one working in the White House Office of National Aids Policy, and having sacking his HIV advisory council last year, Mr Trump pledged to inject funds to stop the spread of the disease in America by 2030 Getty Images President Trump delivers State of the Union address "Scientific breakthroughs have brought a once-distant dream within reach," the president said. Together, we will defeat Aids in America and beyond." he said Reuters President Trump delivers State of the Union address Trump led the House chamber in singing happy birthday to a Holocaust survivor sitting with first lady Melania Reuters President Trump delivers State of the Union address He also appealed to his political base, both with his harsh rhetoric on immigration and a call for Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the "late-term abortion of children EPA President Trump delivers State of the Union address Women from both political parties wore white outfits tonight at the behest of the Democratic Womens Working Group to honor the legacy of women's suffrage in the United States AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address He devoted much of his speech to foreign policy, another area where Republicans have increasingly distanced themselves from the White House EPA President Trump delivers State of the Union address Trump greets Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, alongside Vice President Mike Pence AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address US First lady Melania Trump (left) with Grace Eline and Joshua Trump, special guests of President Donald Trump AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Trump announced details of a second meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, outlining a summit in Vietnam starting on 27 February AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address "If I had not been elected president of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea," he said AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address Supreme Court Justices John Roberts, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch laugh AFP/Getty President Trump delivers State of the Union address President Trump greets lawmakers after delivering his second State of the Union address EPA President Trump delivers State of the Union address Independent Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders holds his notes EPA

However, the president has yet to acknowledge the work of his wife in any of his State of the Union speeches to Congress, despite touching on the opioid epidemic in his 2019 address.

The omission is glaring when considering the State of the Union addresses of past presidents during their respective first, and subsequent, years in office.

In 1993, during what was referred to as President Clintons Address to a Joint Session of Congress, the then-president discussed the importance of health-care reform and his beliefs that his wife would be successful as chair of the National Commission on Health Care Reform.

 Donald Trump claps at his own State of the Union speech

Later this spring, after the First Lady and the many good people who are helping her all across the country complete their work, I will deliver to Congress a comprehensive plan for health care reform that finally will bring costs under control and provide security to all of our families, so that no one will be denied the coverage they need but so that our economic future will not be compromised either, he said.

Bill Clinton mentioned his wifes work in his later State of the Union addresses as well.

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When George W Bush took office, he also used his first State of the Union to raise awareness of the work his wife Laura would be undertaking as first lady.

Acknowledging the importance of childrens education, the president said: We have increased funding to train and recruit teachers, because we know a good education starts with a good teacher.

And I have a wonderful partner in this effort. I like teachers so much, I married one. Laura has begun a new effort to recruit Americans to the profession that will shape our future: teaching. She will travel across America to promote sound teaching practices and early reading skills in our schools and in programs such as Head Start.

He also mentioned his wife in his 2005 State of the Union.

Barack Obama was no different, as he too addressed the work of his wife during his first address to Congress as president.

And, by the way, I want to acknowledge our first lady, Michelle Obama, who this year is creating a national movement to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity and make kids healthier, the then-president said. Thank you, honey.

 Melania Trump on her initiative BeBest whcih aims to 'take care of the next generation'

While it is possible Mr Trumps decision not to acknowledge his wifes work had to do with the delay before her initiative was revealed, it may also be because of the nature of the first ladys goals - which appear to be in contrast with the presidents own use of Twitter.

A former Obama speechwriter quoted by Politico said: "I think his speechwriters know that Donald Trump talking about an anti-bullying initiative is ironic at best, and you dont want people laughing during the middle of a State of the Union address."

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Since announcing the initiative, the irony of Ms Trump being an advocate against cyber-bullying has not been overlooked.

In December 2019, the first ladys work came to the forefront of the cyber-bullying conversation when she avoided speaking out against her husbands decision to attack 16-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg on Twitter.

Rather, a week later, the first ladys spokesperson Stephanie Grisham released a statement in which it made a distinction between the bullying of Thunberg and the president and first ladys 13-year-old son Barron.

BeBest is the First Ladys initiative, and she will continue to use it to do all she can to help children, the statement read. It is no secret that the President and First Lady often communicate differently - as most married couples do.

Their son is not an activist who travels the globe giving speeches. He is a 13-year-old who wants and deserves privacy.

With impeachment and the 2020 election now the focus of attention, it seems unlikely that tonights State of the Union will make time for an acknowledgement of the first ladys work.
Actor Rishi Kapoor took to Twitter to clear the air with regard to his hospitalization in Delhi and the exact nature of his illness. The actor, who had been filming in Delhi, had to be rushed to a Delhi hospital after he got fever.

He wrote on Twitter, Dear family,friends,foes and followers. I have been overwhelmed by all your concern about my health.Thank you. I have been filming in Delhi past 18 days and because of the Pollution and my low count of neutrophils, I caught an infection whereby I had to be hospitalized. Continuing the same Twitter thread, he said, I was running a slight fever and on investigation,Dr.s found a patch which could have lead to pneumonia,was detected and is being cured. People seem to have assumed a lot different. I put to rest all those stories and look forward to entertain and love you. I am now in Mumbai.

He explained that Delhis pollution had a role to play in his illness and that he had contracted an infection. He was quick to point out that there was a lot of speculation, which were not true.

Also read: Sara Ali Khan says getting trolled for overacting in Love Aaj Kal hurt her: I had no idea what it was looking like

Speaking to PTI earlier, he had said, I have had an infection which am getting treated. Nothing dramatic. Pollution got me I guess. Ranbir and Alia had reported rushed to Delhi to be by his side. On Monday, a number of fan sites posted videos of the Bollywood couple at a Delhi hospital. In them, the couple could be with mask. Ranbir was seen in a mask before too at the Mumbai airport and had reportedly told the waiting paparazzi that soon everyone will wear it.

Rishi Kapoor returned to India in September 2019 after undergoing treatment for cancer in the US for almost a year. The actor recently announced his next project, a remake of Hollywood film The Intern, in which he will feature along side Deepika Padukone.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
At least nine people were killed, including five boys aged under 18, when an armed gang opened fired inside an arcade west-central Mexico on Monday.

The Michoacan state prosecutors office said eight of the victims died inside the gaming center and the ninth person was declared dead at a local hospital.

According to local media reports, four men barged into the arcade located in La Magdalena, a neighborhood in the municipality of Uruapan, approximately at 3pm local time and starting shooting.

Mexican newspaper Razon reported that the arcade allegedly served as a drug selling point.

Another outlet reported that the owner of the gaming center was an active member of the Michoacan police force.

Video footage posted on social media showed multiple victims lying on the arcade floor, with one woman crying, 'my son has been wounded.'

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

A woman stands in the middle of an arcade where nine people, including five minors, were gunned down by a hit squad in Uruapan, Michoacan, on Monday afternoon

Four men stormed an arcade (pictured) in Michoacan, Mexico, on Monday and executed nine people, among them five boys. The gaming center allegedly served as a place were drugs were sold and it was reportedly owned by an active member of the Michoacan police force

Authorities identified the victims as Luis Angel S., 12; Miguel Angel B., 13; Jose Alexis Z., 14; Oscar Enrique C., 17; Christopher M., 18; and Sergio Arturo N., 39.

Orlando Ramses M., whose age is unknown, died while doctors were trying to save him.

Several Mexican news outlets report that a woman and another child were killed in the deadly assault.

Also wounded in the attack were two males identified as Luis Gustavo L. and Hector S.

Police collected 65 9mm bullet casings while canvassing the murder scene. No arrests had been reported as of Tuesday morning.

A police officer (right) stands outside an arcade center in Michoacan, Mexico, where nine people were executed by a narco hit squad

Witnesses told investigators the hit squad, reportedly connected to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, was searching for two men known as 'El Ruso' y 'El Pelon'. Both are alleged members of Los Viagras.

The municipality of Uruapan has been consumed with a wave of violence for two years now as Los Viagras has waged war on the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, considered by analysts to be the most powerful criminal organization in Mexico.

Luis Felipe 'El Vocho' Barragan Ayala, who reportedly oversaw the Jalisco New Generation Cartel operations in Uruapan, was captured there by security forces last Friday.

The Michoacan state prosecutor's office connected El Vocho to the murder of 16 men and women whose bodies were found hanging from a highway overpass and mutilated on a road in Uruapan in August.

Government data registered 2,049 homicides in Michoacan in 2019, ranking it as the sixth deadliest state in the country.
Srinagar, Feb 4 : As Kashmir limps out of its harshest winter in decades, the hope of a bountiful spring and summer kindles the hearts and minds of its people.

Having remained virtually shut for nearly six months since article 370 was abrogated on August 5 last year, Valley's economy has taken a serious beating.

It is in this backdrop that both the central and the union territory governments have been working overtime to ensure that tourism, handicrafts, agriculture, horticulture and other local industries get back on the rails.

"A mega investors summit is being held in March-April to woo investments for J&K from both domestic and foreign investors.

"Incentives are being announced for both tourism and the industrial sectors and tour and travel operators are being engaged to ensure maximum tourist inflow during the year", said a senior official of the UT administration.

Local artisans have been complaining of official neglect and lack of markets for their products ever since armed violence started here in 1990s.

"Wood carving, shawl and carpet weaving in addition to Papier-mache have suffered so much that almost all of our children have decided to abandon these family professions," said Gazanfar, a Papier-mache artisan from Zadibal area of Srinagar city.

It is commonly believed that traditional handicrafts have suffered so much neglect that unless aggressive revival measures are immediately taken Kashmir's centuries old arts and crafts would be relegated to history books.

"It was once proudly said that Emperor Napoleon had gifted a Kashmiri shawl to his empress, Josephine. Those engaged with shawl making are giving up this unprofitable profession fast.

"Competition from machine made shawls looking like the local ones has dealt a death blow to this industry in Kashmir," said Muzaffar Khan, a retired college principal.

After banning of Shahtoosh shawls made from the fleece of Tibetan antelope, Chiru, Pashmina now remains the best beat for the local shawl weavers.

"It takes nearly four months for an artisan to complete one Pashmina shawl, but the returns are very low because of middlemen in this business," said Salaam Bhat, a shawl weaver in central Badgam district.

"The Union Territory administration plans to hold special crafts festivals highlighting local shawl, Papier-mache, wood carving and other arts of Kashmir this year. We are hopeful that with Pro-active efforts we should be able to help the local arts and crafts regain their lost glory," said a senior official of the UT industries department.

Hoteliers, taxi operators, houseboat and Shikara owners are all looking forward to a tourism rich spring and summer in the valley this year.

"The most important factor to ensure that official efforts to revive the local economy succeed, is peace. We need a peaceful spring, summer and autumn to allow these efforts produce the desired results.

"This is the reason that the security forces have launched an all out effort to end the residual militancy in J&K before this year's tourist season begins," said another top official of the lieutenant governor led administration here.
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They are the stars of Netflix's To All The Boys I've Loved Before.

And on Monday night Lana Condor and Noah Centineo took the red carpet for the film's highly anticipated sequel To All The Boy: P.S. I Still Love You.

The pair were joined by their costars and other celebs at the Hollywood premiere before the film's February 12 release.

Stars: On Monday night Lana Condor and Noah Centineo took the red carpet for the film's highly anticipated sequel of their Netflix film To All The Boys I've Loved Before, To All The Boy: P.S. I Still Love You

Dotted: Condor, 22, stunned in a dark blue mini dress, covered in white polka dots

Condor, 22, stunned in a dark blue mini dress, covered in white polka dots.

Coming just above her knees, the one piece outfit was adorned with a bubble skirt, puffed long sleeves and tight cuffs.

The dress was belted by a Valentino Vlogo belt in all black. According to the brand's website the belt retails for $1,045 and is 70MM calfskin.

In a sweet style, her raven locks were pulled into a sleek ponytail and held in by a black ribbon with pearl details, that showed off her diamond earrings.

Details: The dress was belted by a Valentino Vlogo belt in all black. According to the brand's website the belt retails for $1,045 and is 70MM calfskin

Classic: Centineo, 23, looked clean cut in a dark blue suit, along with a grey tie and black dress shoes

We did it: Condor and Centineo seemed to be enjoying their time together on the pink carpet

She teamed the look with black pointed toe stilettos for a complete style.

The Vietnam native had a perfect complexion for the night, with bronzed and rosey cheeks.

Matching her eyeshadow to her cheeks in a golden hue, she topped it off with a rosey and shiny lip.

Power color: Costar Janel Parrish looked absolutely stunning in a bright red pantsuit

Sister, sister: Parrish stars as Lara Jean's (Condor) older sister Margot

New costar: Jordan Fisher (left) joined the cast for the second movie after his character John Ambrose was played by Jordan Burtchett in the first

Condor posed with her co-star and close friend Centineo on the pink carpet.

The former The Foster star, Centineo, 23, looked clean cut in a dark blue suit, along with a grey tie and black dress shoes.

In the first film he sported a shaggy hairdo, he rocked a short cut style for the premiere.

Love triangle: The second film picks up where the first left off with Lara Jean (Condor) and Peter (Centineo) in a real relationship that is put to the test when an old flame John Ambrose ( Fisher) comes back into the picture

On the carpet and inside the event the two seemed to be in good spirits, laughing and smiling at each other.

The first film in the trilogy followed high-school aged Lara Jean (Condor) after she writes letters to all of the boys she has liked, after those letters get mailed without her knowing.

One of the boys, and arguably her biggest crush Peter (Centineo), suggests they pretend to date to give her some faux experience and help him make his ex jealous.

After turmoil between Lara Jean and her sisters, real feelings between her and Peter, and more letters being received, the film ends with Lara Jean and Peter starting a real relationship.

Sweet kiss: Fisher was joined at the premiere by his girlfriend Ellie Woods

Fierce: Madeleine Arthur broke from the common one colored outfits for a leopard print maxi dress

Role: Arthur stars as Chris, Lara Jean's (Condor) BFF

Though before it comes to a close, John Ambrose, another letter recipient gets his letter to his doorstep.

The sequel picks up right where the first left off and sees Lara Jean navigating a series of real firsts (kisses, dates and Valentines Day) with Peter. Though once John Ambrose comes back into her life she has to figure out if she can be in love with two boys at once.

Janel Parrish, who stars as Lara Jean's sister Margot, plays a big support to the character in both films.

Former Pretty Little Liars star Parrish, 31, looked bold in a fire red pantsuit with a deep V-neckline.

Doll like: Emilija Baranac, plays Peter's (Centineo) ex girlfriend Gen, she wore a pink dress and had eyelashes drawn onto her face mimicking a doll like appearance

Similar: Ava Michelle, Lilia Buckingham and Britt Baron all featured white outfit pieces for the night that stood out on the pink carpet and blue background

Get the feel: Ross Butler took a twist on a simple black suit, wearing a textured two piece suit, with a partly unbuttoned black shirt and dress shoes

Her shoes were covered with her wide pant legs, but her silver and diamond jewelry of rings, bracelets and a crescent moon shaped necklace.

She kept her brown hair down in long wavy curls.

The infamous John Ambrose actor, Jordan Fisher posed for the cameras with his longtime girlfriend Ellie Woods.

Fisher, 25, continued the trend of bold looks as he wore a silver metallic suit, while Woods wore a a pink dress with a wrapped belt and puffed sleeves.

Date night: Butler posed for cameras with Jean Watts who stunned in a skin tight and revealing beige dress and sky high stilettos

Printed: Diana Hopper wore a unique patterned mini dress with small prints of scenes that say 'the coast' over black tights and a black turtle neck with black platforms

The couple shared a sweet kiss on the pink carpet, before heading inside.

Fisher also posed with his love triangle costars, embracing with Centineo with Condor between them.

Other costars including Ross Butler, who plays Trevor, and Madeleine Arthur, who plays Lara Jeans friend Chris, were in attendance.

Arthur showed a bit more skin in a long leopard print gown.

Dad's here: John Corbet stars as Lara Jean's (Condor) dad in the film, he was casual in black jeans, a black blazer and a dark t-shirt

The LBD: Talia Jackson and Jill Morrison both rocked different versions of little black dresses

Slick look: Armani Jackson looked cool in black boots, black jeans, a black coat and white shirt

The animal print dress featured a semi sheer skirt, spaghetti straps and an open back.

While Butler went in all black, donning a textured suit, button-up shirt with no tie and matching dress shoes.

He posed with Jean Watts for the cameras, she stunned in a skintight, ruched dress in a beige color.

The blonde showed off her curves in the thin strapped and lowcut dress, paired with beige heels and a sleek wavy blonde hairdo.

Emilija Baranac, who plays Peter's ex Gen, echoed the sweet style by actresses for the night in a baby pink dress, with a full skirt and puffed sleeves.

Disney in the house: Alyson Stoner and Jake T. Austin, both Disney alums, were in the house for the premiere

Busting up: Centineo and Condor seemed to be having a good time inside as the actor was spotted in the middle of a big laugh with the star

Together: Condor and Centineo embraced inside the event as fans snapped photos

Sister, sister, sister: Condor posed with Parrish and Anna Cathcart, who stars as Lara Jeans younger sister

She teamed the pink midi dress with black boots and a black bag.

Disney stars Alyson Stoner and Jake T. Austin, who Centineo took over for on The Fosters, were out for the premiere.

Stoner opted for a dark look, from head to toe.

She donned a black, fringed botice dress, with matching heels and a smokey eye.

While Austin, who also hit another premiere Monday night, was casual in a blue camo bomber jacket, blacks jeans and button-up and white sneakers.

No release date has been announced for the third installment To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean, though it is in post production.

Full cast: All of the cast members at the event posed together (from left to right) Parrish, Condor, Corbet, Baranac, Sarayu Blue, Butler, Cathcart, Centineo, Arthur, Fisher, Trezzo Mahoro

With film makers: Michael Fimognari (left) took over directing from the first film's director Susan Johnson, he posed with Fisher, Condor, Centineo and producer Matt Kaplan

The big cheese: Centineo posed with Netflix head Ted Sarandos

The films are based on the book series by Jenny Han.

To All The Boys I've Loved Before 2018 film, holds a 97 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was directed by Susan Johnson, though she was replaced by Michael Fimognari for the second film. Matthew Kaplan and Dougie Cash produced both films.

Sofia Alvarez penned the first film's screenplay and was joined by J. Mills Goodloe for the second.

Israel Broussard is the only cast member who did not return for the second film. With John Corbet, Anna Cathcart and Trezzo Mahoro among others returning. Holland Taylor also joined the cast for the second film.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, February 4, 2020

Consumer intelligence company Suzy announced a $12 million Series C funding round Tuesday. Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) led the round, with participation from Foundry Group and Triangle Peak Partners.

Existing investors also include Tribeca Venture Partners and Kevin Durants 35 Ventures.

Matt Britton, Suzy CEO, in an email to Search Marketing Daily said the company will use the funding to grow the enterprise, drive product expansion, and capitalize on the companys continued momentum in the marketplace.

The platform supports about 200 brands. Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Clorox, Coca-Cola, Chobani, General Mills, Dunkin, Chipotle, Starbucks Coffee, American Express, Publicis Groupe, and State Farm are among its clients.

Most clients have a global footprint, but the focus is on serving the U.S. market with help from 74 employees. The plan is to hire another 30 in 2020.

Launched in early 2018 at South By Southwest in Austin, the software-as-a-service model combines advanced research tools with its own consumer network to deliver quality insights and fend off rivals such as Survey Monkey and Toluna, or Kantar and Ipsos.

When asked how the company got its name, Suzy, Britton explains: "We value and celebrate consumers and felt like the 'voice of consumers' should be something human, personal and approachable."

The platform is available on desktop and the mobile web.
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Organizations around the world identify innovation as a top business priority and are intrigued by the potential of emerging technologies, according to a new report from CompTIA, the leading trade association for the global information technology (IT) industry.

At the same time, concerns about cybersecurity readiness and the struggle to find enough workers with the right skills to meet their workforce needs add a measure of caution to expectations and plans for 2020, CompTIA's "International Trends in Technology and Workforce" finds.

More than 1,500 business and technology professionals from 14 countries shared information on their business priorities for 2020, as well as perceptions of emerging technologies, cybersecurity, workforce skills, professional development strategies and the future of work.

"The ingredients for innovation have never been more accessible, and tech hubs can now be found in nearly every corner of the globe," said Tim Herbert, executive vice president for research and market intelligence at CompTIA. "While the research points to momentum on many fronts, there remains much work to be done in helping businesses and workers navigate the path ahead."

The Business of Technology

With global spending on hardware, software, services and telecom projected to reach nearly $5.2 trillion this year, it's evident that technology has a growing and integral role in business operations.[1] A full 95% of executives rate technology as a primary or secondary factor in reaching their business objectives.

Nearly 9 in 10 companies (87%) turn to outside providers to assist with their technology requirements. Repair and maintenance, consulting, deployment and integration, cybersecurity and software development are among the most common outsourced services.

A majority (66%) also report that they get excellent or good return on investment (ROI) from their technology spending. Firms who regularly or frequently outsource some of their technology needs are significantly more likely to report excellent or good ROI (72%) compared to those who occasionally outsource or rarely or never do so.

"These findings are in line with the feedback we receive from our member communities around the world," said Nancy Hammervik, executive vice president for industry relations at CompTIA. "Organizations can focus more effectively on their core business knowing that their technology needs are being handled by a trusted provider. The financial and operational benefits of this outsourcing arrangement are likely to become even more evident as new technologies take hold."

Emerging Tech Momentum Builds

A majority of executives (54%) have a positive view of emerging technology, while another 21% taking a middle-ground position, expressing equal parts excitement and trepidation. At the other end of the spectrum one in four report mostly feelings of trepidation about emerging tech. Budget constraints, risk aversion and a lack of a clear business case are among the primary factors that are causing some organizations to take a go-slow approach.

Although still far from mainstream adoption, the emerging technologies with the highest rates of implementation are the internet of things and big data.

Cybersecurity Disconnects

Nearly 7 in 10 executives describe their organization's cybersecurity as completely or mostly satisfactory. This indicates much room for improvement, especially with the remainder labeling their firm's approach as simply adequate (25%) or inadequate (6%).

A low understanding of new cybersecurity threats is a top challenge for companies. Given the projected high growth rates for emerging technologies expected over the next several years, the need for businesses to re-evaluate approaches to cybersecurity is apparent. This even as a full 88% of firms reported recently changing their security approach.

Workforce Challenges

Skills gaps remain an ongoing challenge for most organizations, with 46% of executives reporting that situation has grown more challenging over the past two years.

The research confirms the distinction between the generic use of the phrase "skills gap" and the more nuanced discussion of "workforce gaps" that encompass location, pay, soft skills, perceptions, innovation and more.

Interestingly, one-third of executives acknowledge that unrealistic expectations with skills and experience contribute to exaggerated perceptions of the skills gap. Another 53% acknowledge it is somewhat of a factor.

CompTIA's "International Trends in Technology and Workforce" report is the result of an online survey of 1,554 business and technology professionals in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Ireland, Japan, the Middle East (Oman, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates), the Netherlands, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The complete report, including country specific data, is available at https://www.comptia.org/content/research/international-trends-workforce-cybersecurity-emerging-tech .

About CompTIA

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is a leading voice and advocate for the $5.2 trillion global information technology ecosystem; and the estimated 75 million industry and tech professionals who design, implement, manage, and safeguard the technology that powers the world's economy. Through education, training, certifications, advocacy, philanthropy, and market research, CompTIA is the hub for advancing the tech industry and its workforce. Visit www.comptia.org to learn more.

Contact:

Steven Ostrowski

CompTIA

630-678-8468

[email protected] 

[1] International Data Corporation (IDC), ICT Spending Forecast, https://www.idc.com/promo/global-ict-spending/forecast

SOURCE CompTIA

Related Links

http://www.comptia.org


[February 04, 2020] Violet Gro: Ready to Get Growing in Grand Junction

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- After getting a "Jump-Start", Violet Gro is officially ready to open its new headquarters in Grand Junction. The company will have its grand opening on Thursday, February 20, 4:00-6:00 p.m. MT, at 2764 Compass Drive, Suite 101. Violet Gro, an agricultural lighting company, has been actively collaborating with local growers and businesses for the last couple of years but will now take the next step in officially growing its business in Colorado. As a result of being accepted in 2019 into the Colorado Rural Jump-Start Tax Credit program, a statewide economic development initiative created to attract primary jobs to rural areas to spur diversification, the company will now officially establish its operations in Mesa County with plans to add 4-5 employees to its initial team over the next 12 months. Through the Jump-Start program, Violet Gro will receive performance-driven tax incentives for bringing its business to the state and making a commitment to job creation, academic engagement, and meaningfully adding to the economic base of rural Colorado. "We are thrilled to officially welcome the Violet Gro headquarters to Grand Junction. It's another testament to the Grand Valley and our ability to support tech companies like Violet Gro with the infrastructure and workforce they need to be successful," said Robin Brown, Executive Director of the Grand Junction Economic Partnership.



"We are excited to be surrounded by the caliber of partners that exist here and can help us continue to advance our lighting solutions and grow our business. This is exactly why we chose Colorado for our new headquarters. We look forward to capturing the opportunities that lie ahead of us, and doing so from right here in the Grand Valley," said Kurt Kucera, President and Global Head of Business Development for Violet Gro.

For more information about the grand opening or Violet Gro's LED grow lights, contact Violet Gro at [email protected] or 970-880-9476. About Violet Gro

Violet Gro's LED grow lights combine cutting-edge design with the patented technology to create cost-effective, long-term solutions to indoor growing, providing plants more light with less heat, leading to substantial energy savings. Violet Gro is uniquely capable of incorporating UV light into grow environments to protect against harmful mold, mildew, and pests, as well as drive increases in medical substances produced by plants. For more information, visit www.violetgro.com or follow us on Facebook (@violetgro) or Instagram (@violet_gro). Media Contact for Violet Gro:

Jessica Jones, Vice President of Marketing

407.433.1104, x1002

[email protected] Related Images violet-gro-ag-lights.jpg

Violet Gro Ag Lights View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/violet-gro-ready-to-get-growing-in-grand-junction-300997980.html SOURCE Violet Gro

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The head of Sudan's sovereign council on Tuesday confirmed that he held a meeting with the Israeli prime minister in Uganda on Monday.

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said in a statement the responsibility of discussing Sudanese-Israeli relations and developing them are the responsibility of concerned authorities, in an apparent reference to the cabinet.

Khartoum's position towards the Palestinian issue and the right of Palestinians to set up their independent state "remained and will remain firm", said Burhan.

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Tesla was then trading at $303. One expert, Bob Lutz, the one-time Ford, Chrysler, and GM executive famously said in September 2018 that Tesla is " headed for the graveyard ." He even went as far as stating Tesla CEO Elon Musk is "a nice guy who doesn't know how to run a car company." Source

A year has gone by, and Tesla seems to be solidly headed for success. The Tesla Model 3 sales are booming, its new factory in China is open and producing cars, and the new Model Y is scheduled to start deliveries in the U.S. before April. Tesla also increased the range of the Model Y with the announcement of the production version. The electric SUV will now have up to 315 miles of range on a single charge, which extends Model Y's lead as the most energy-efficient electric SUV in the world.

The stock is reaching $900, approaching 200% since Investor Thalheimer's call in December 2018.

Even Bob Lutz has reversed his position, saying, "I think they've achieved sort of a volume breakthrough with the plant in China opening and given that Tesla is selling a lot of Model 3s," Lutz said in an interview on with CNBC. Source

Investor Thalheimer, who is living the Tesla experience first hand with his personal fourth Tesla, continues to be bullish about Tesla and its stock price, noting the new competition is lagging: "All the analysts predicted that the new generation of electric cars from BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Jaguar would be "Tesla-Killers." This has turned out not to be the case. They have actually had disappointing sales.

Mercedes' new electric car has sold so poorly in Germany, its home market, that the launch in the US has been postponed for a year. Source

Sales of Jaguar and Audi have been disappointing also:

"Sales of luxury electric SUVs by Jaguar and Audi have been weak in the US this year," according to InsideEVs. Through November, the website reported that Jaguar has sold 2,418 I-Pace vehicles, while Audi has sold 4,623 e-tron SUVs. Tesla sold 13,725 Model X SUVs in the US through September, according to InsideEVs. The electric-car maker's Model 3 sedan, the best-selling electric vehicle in the US, sold 111,650 units through September. Source

Investor Thalheimer's prediction for the future, based on his experience at Sharper Image, is that the buyer's positive brand identification with Tesla, and the first-mover advantage, has resulted in an insurmountable lead for Tesla.

There's another plus for Tesla as well. The Supercharger Station network, which provides Tesla owners with convenient and fast charging all across America and much of the world, is a huge advantage.

This is similar to the advantage Apple has with its ecosystem. Tesla owners love the car, and they also love they can travel longer distances without worrying about where to charge up. Other car companies have missed this important differentiating factor.

Perhaps it is no surprise Thalheimer was correct about predicting this stock rise. He's been consistently making profitable stock calls. His own investing performance, in his family office fund, was up 93% in 2019.

Looking forward, Thalheimer expects Tesla, and its stock price, to continue to do well. "The Model Y will be the most successful Tesla yet in terms of unit sales, and the company will continue to improve financially, and demonstrate profitability." As for the stock price, analysts have predicted future prices in a range of $600 to $6000.

Will we see a continuing gain? Investor Thalheimer is confident of those predictions: "Buy on any dip. Tesla is heading higher."

For more information go to: RichardThalheimer.com or RichardSolo.com.

Contact: Meredith Sasseen for Richard Thalheimer



[email protected]



805-636-8182

Richard is available for interviews.

SOURCE Richard Thalheimer

Related Links

https://www.richardthalheimer.com


Britain's membership of the European Union came to an awkward end last week after the UK's representative to the bloc was told by his opposite number from another member state: 'Good riddance.'

The remark was made to Sir Tim Barrow by Irena Andrassy, Croatia's permanent representative in Brussels, during Sir Tim's final pre-Brexit meeting with EU counterparts.

However, the exchange was apparently the result of a misunderstanding of the British phrase which Ms Andrassy believed equated to something like 'good luck'.

Chairing the last meeting of EU envoys two days before January 31, Ms Andrassy told Sir Tim: 'Thank you, goodbye, and good riddance.'

Diplomats stressed to the Financial Times that the comment was not meant as a swipe at the departing UK.

Instead they suggested it was simply another occasion when Britain and another EU member state were not quite on the same page and something was lost in translation.

However, it was noted that 'history will show' the unfortunate remark was the last one made to the UK's representative by the EU before Brexit.

Irena Andrassy, Croatia's permanent representative to the EU, reportedly told Sir Tim Barrow 'good riddance' ahead of the UK's split from Brussels

Sir Tim Barrow, pictured in Brussels on January 31, was the UK's permanent representative to the EU before Brexit. He is now the UK's ambassador to the bloc

Ms Andrassy apparently misunderstood the meaning of the phrase but subsequently appeared to suggest that she had been joking

Who is Croatia's representative to the EU Irena Andrassy? Irena Andrassy was appointed as Croatia's new permanent representative to the EU in July last year. She previously worked as a legal adviser on Croatia's bid to formally join the bloc before then becoming deputy chief of staff to the country's EU commissioner. The current prime minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic described Ms Andrassy as one of the nation's 'most experienced diplomats'. She recently described her 'profound sadness' at the UK's departure from the EU and said she hoped the two sides can 'build a close future relationship with our former member'. Advertisement

One official said: 'The Brits saw the funny side and understood how it was meant.'

However, it was noted that 'history will show' the unfortunate remark was the last one made to the UK's representative by the EU before Brexit.

Ms Andrassy subsequently suggested that she had meant the comment as a joke.

She tweeted: 'One more thing we share with our British friends - a good sense of humour...'

Sir Tim's time as the UK's permanent representative in Brussels came to an end at the point of Brexit at 11pm on January 31.

However, he seamlessly moved into a new role as the UK's ambassador to the bloc.

Sir Tim will be a crucial figure in the coming months as the UK and the EU try to hammer out the terms of their future partnership.
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

Armenia flag to be permanently raised on buildings of some more institutions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit trial judge to not self-recuse

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit court case resumes

298 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Artsakh emergency service: Remains of another participant in hostilities are found

816,660 tourists visit Armenia during 11 months of 2021

US proposes to UN Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea

World oil prices dropping

Newspaper: Amnesty process suspended in Armenia indefinitely

Newspaper: Those in Karabakh are resisting Armenia authorities arbitrariness

FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

Slovak government approves defense treaty with US

US imposes sanctions on 6 North Koreans

US senators unveil bill to impose sanctions against Russia

EU wants to help Lebanon avoid economic collapse

CSTO to approve Kazakhstan peacekeepers withdrawal order

German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

Boris Johnson apologizes for attending party during lockdown

Global COVID-19 cases rise by 55% percent, deaths stable

Thailand introduces $9 tourist fee

Erdogan vows to tame Turkish inflation as scepticism grows

Turkey's Turkic world ambitions face reality check in Kazakhstan

Teacher in Baku beats student

NEWS.am daily digest: 12.01.22

Turkish FM expresses concerns to Chinese counterpart

OSCE Chairman-in-Office speaks on situation along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021

China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded

Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation

Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods

Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day

3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings

Copper rises in price

One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning

About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions

Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night

French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly

289 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Gold slightly rises in price

North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile

OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

Oil is trading without a single dynamic

US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee

MOD: Armenia soldiers dead body found at midnight after Azerbaijan provocation

Newspaper: Casualties of Armenia PM Pashinyan's 'era of peace'

US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen

German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan

WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State

India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death

Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded

NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22

Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States

Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia

Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death

Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded
AAP MP Sanjay Singh on Tuesday gave Zero Hour notice in the Rajya Sabha over 'demand to expedite the death sentence of 2012 Delhi gang-rape convicts.'

A Delhi court last week stayed till further orders the execution of the four convicts -- Akshay Thakur, Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, and Vinay Sharma -- which was earlier scheduled to take place on February 1.

The case pertains to the gang-rape and brutal murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people, including a juvenile, in Delhi. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.

One of the five adult accused, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail during the trial of the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Generous donation of new ECG machines to Noble's Hospital

Three new ECG machines have been donated to Nobles Hospital by a local charity.

Manx Heart Foundation donated 20,000 for the purchase of two Philips TC70 with wireless connectivity ECG machines for the Emergency Department - which previously had one - and another for use by Childrens Ward and Paediatric Outpatients.

Attendances at the Island's Emergency Department have risen sharply over the last four years with 6,000 more people arriving at the door in 2019 than in 2015, and approximately every third patient needs an ECG during their visit.

Manager for Unscheduled Care at Nobles Oliver Radford said: Our need to increase ECG capacity has never been greater. ECG machines are an essential immediate means to diagnose and treat patients who present with chest pain, seatbelt injury or who feel dizzy, hot or faint  conditions which need swift investigation. Having two machines will ensure a better flow of patients, improving the experience at ED for all. This donation from the Manx Heart Foundation means improved care for Island patients and is very much appreciated.
Taxpayers are an interesting lot.

Collectively, they contribute the hard cash that allows a political and civil service system to operate from year to year.

Thats a powerful role, yet  at an individual level  a taxpayer has an insipid voice.

Just consider the realms of political debate that has festooned the airwaves over the weeks running into the general election.

A wide variety of cohorts in the population have been called out.

Farmers, house owners, patients and those with children have been packaged and targeted in political declarations.

The common denominator is that all of them are being promised more money and that money can, in reality, only come from one source  the taxpayer.

When anyone tries to make a legitimate case on behalf of a taxpayer they are either shouted down or consigned to a category labelled selfish or self centred.

The clear implication is that individual taxpayers should not form a core part of political discourse but instead stand by for the higher taxes that inevitably come from the lengthening list of spending plans being put forward.

At its centre, this narrative positions taxpayers as being simply a source of money instead of being self standing economic agents that should be allowed to make their own decisions about their own income.

The 18th Century economist and so-called father of economics Adam Smith used to explain how an invisible hand operated in the economy, whereby the combined spending habit of income earners fuelled an efficient system of checks and balance.

That thesis argued a collection of individual decisions were better than centralised spending and, hence, taxes should be kept to a minimum.

An alternative school of economics believe employees should be taxed hard and that money is best allocated by the political and civil service classes who are best placed to oversee an economy.

This latter version is full of potential for pork barrel politics, corruption, cronyism and poor economic outcomes.

If a small group of individuals have control over large tax revenues they can become intoxicated with the short-term power that brings.

Anyone old enough to remember the 1970s will know of a political class that thought marginal personal tax rates of close to 70% were just fine because they funded the elite while having the masses foot the bill.

These memories are alive in my head while listening to the various efforts to justify higher tax rates as the means to solving Irelands problems at present.

A recent study by the Irish Tax Institute shows that income earners in Ireland are number two in the entire OECD when it comes to paying progressive taxes.

That means the higher your income the greater the tax you pay compared to other countries.

The study found that when income rises above 48,000 Irish taxpayers pay relatively more than all OECD countries aside from Germany, France and Sweden.

This general election has allowed a narrative to develop that suggests Irish PAYE taxpayers should be hit with more taxes as they earn more to fund various shortcomings in the economy.

So, on top of what are already massive state borrowings, this proposal would extract more money from individuals pockets.

If we aim to enlarge the Irish economy as home for future generations that do not have to emigrate then we need to stimulate a much greater number of jobs.

That, in turn, can fuel a higher tax take to support public services without gouging even more money through higher tax rates.

To create those jobs, we need a tax system that rewards hard work and makes living in Ireland more attractive than abroad.

Jacking up tax rates is a poor way of delivering that.

Economic buoyancy that delivers a larger tax pot is better.

Joe Gill is director of origination and corporate broking with Goodbody Stockbrokers. His views are personal.
Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy S20 lineup next Tuesday, and now we got more info about its pricing and availability in the company's home market. According to a rumor, the phones will start from over $1,000 on the home market in South Korea, with the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra costing $1,350.

Reservations and pre-orders will begin on February 14 with actual shipping dates and market launch scheduled for March 6.

The Galaxy S20 is said to start from KRW1.25 million, which is equal to exactly $1,052. Going for the Plus version will cost KRW100,000 extra - this price tag translates to exactly $1,137.

The cost of the Ultra is KRW1.6 million in domestic currency, but unlike the two other phones which will have 128 GB storage, here we are talking about 256 GB.

All these prices are for versions with 12 GB RAM, which should be the base across the lineup.

Source (in Korean) | Via
Immediate past Secretary to Imo State Government, Uche Onyeagocha, says he is confident that the Supreme Court will reverse its verdict on the Imo governorship case.

Mr Onyeagocha, in an interview with journalists in Owerri, the state capital, said the judgment left many unanswered questions and hoped that the court would always correct its errors.

The Supreme Court on January 14 removed erstwhile Governor Emeka Ihedioha and ordered the immediate swearing in of Hope Uzodinma as governor.

Mr Onyeagocha, a former member of the Federal House of Representatives for Owerri Municipal/Owerri North/Owerri West Constituency, assured all the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) faithful in the state that the party would laugh last.

He further said with the recent move by the PDP for a review of the judgment, the Supreme Court would reaffirm its position as a court of justice by reversing what he described as the miscarriage of justice.

He urged Imo people to keep faith with the judiciary, saying that the current struggle would be healthy for the advancement of democracy in Imo and Nigeria.

He reacted to the recent defections by state lawmakers from PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the people should not be deceived by the movement.

He said the defections were only part of trying times, which would soon end.

Our case is clear and our argument logical.

We are not asking the Supreme Court to allot votes to us that we did not garner.

We are only urging it to set a reliable precedence by revisiting its judgement with a view to setting the records straight.

Trying times put a test to the quality of elected leaders. The lawmakers defecting from the PDP to the APC owe the electorate a lot of explanation.

I urge all the PDP faithful to keep their fingers crossed because ours is a legitimate fight for justice and we shall all laugh the best, Mr Onyeagocha said.

(NAN)
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
Firouz Naderi will speak on NASA's exploration of Mars.

FEBRUARY 4, 2020  UTSA will welcome Firouz Naderi, former director of solar system exploration at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to present NASAs Exploration of Mars; Past, Present and Future, a College of Engineering Distinguished Speaker Seminar, on Feb. 7.

Mars exploration creates many questions. Was Mars ever habitable 4.5 billion years ago? If so, did life ever appear on the Red Planet? These questions highlight the NASA Mars Exploration Programs science objectives.

In his lecture Naderi will speak about the discoveries made by NASAs robotic envoys over the past two decades while looking ahead at NASAs ambitious plans to bring back samples of Mars to Earth to help solve these questions.

Naderi spent over 30 years contributing to NASAs space exploration in various technical and senior executive positions before retiring in 2016. His work has impacted systems engineering, technology development and projects management. During his time at the Mars exploration program, he contributed to three NASA robotic missions: the Mars Odyssey Orbiter and the two Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.

 For information about Naderis seminar, contact professor Mo Jamshidi.

Naderi is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and has been honored with multiple awards for his leadership and service within NASAs JPL. In 2016 a celestial body was named after him for his career contributions to space science and explorations. It is known as Asteroid 5515 Naderi.

Naderi earned his bachelors degree in electrical engineering at Iowa State University and his M.S. and Ph.D degrees in electrical engineering at University of Southern California. Currently he serves as a consultant and adviser to early stage start-ups.

NASAs Exploration of Mars; Past, Present and Future will begin at 2 p.m., Friday, Feb. 7 in the Business Building, Room 2.01.02, on UTSAs Main Campus. The event is free and open to the public.
The man who raped and murdered a jogger in a Hudson County park last year could serve 30 years in state prison after admitting to the heinous crimes on Monday, officials said.

Jorge Rios, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree aggravated sexual assault in front of Hudson County Superior Court Judge Patrick Arre.

He admitted to sexually assaulting and strangling Carolina Cano, 45, in Lincoln Park in the early morning hours of March 24, 2019.

The state recommended a 30-year prison sentence that would be subject to the No Early Release Act. Prosecutors are also recommending 10 years for the aggravated sexual assault, which would run concurrently to the murder sentence

Rios is in the country illegally and authorities have said he was deported twice before the murder. He was arrested on March 31 and eventually ordered to be detained throughout his prosecution.

The Hudson County Sheriffs Office on March 24 received a report of a possible body found in Lincoln Park. Canos body was recovered from the lake inside the park, although the crime wasnt initially classified as a sexual assault.

A Hudson County grand jury returned an indictment in June 2019 against Rios, charging him with murder, felony murder, aggravated sexual assault, and kidnapping.

Canos murder spurred the county to introduce new security measures at the park.

A blue light system, which consists of seven emergency stations spread throughout the park, allow visitors to get help from emergency services at the click of a button. The stations, which are like those found on college campuses, each contain a camera and blue light at the top.

The county also added 11 surveillance cameras, bringing the total in the park to 55, not including the cameras attached to the blue light stations.

Sentencing for Rios is scheduled for April 24.
February 03, 2020

News

By Jim Garamone

Defense.gov

Pentagon Spokesman Discusses Coronavirus Response Assistance

The Defense Department is standing by to provide assistance to the Department of Health and Human Services to combat the coronavirus, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman said today.

Hoffman said DOD is housing 198 people at March Air Reserve Base, California, and has identified housing support for up to 1,000 people at four bases who may need to be quarantined upon arrival from overseas travel, he said during a Pentagon news conference.

The department is not involved with treatment or observation of those at the facility; Health and Human Services is doing that. ''DOD personnel will not be in direct contact with these individuals nor will these individuals have direct access to the bases beyond the housing,'' Hoffman said.

Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper will speak with Air Force Gen. Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy, commander of the U.S. Northern Command, to ensure the general has what he needs to support the effort, Hoffman said.

The four bases where people could be housed if they are quarantined are: the 168th Regiment, Regional Training Institute in Fort Carson, Colorado; Travis Air Force Base, California; Lackland Air Force Base, Texas; and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California.

The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus outbreak in China a public health emergency of international concern, and U.S. officials are closely monitoring the situation.

The State Department has raised its travel advisory recommendation to ''do not travel'' to China, the epicenter of the outbreak. On Jan. 23, the State Department ordered the departure of all non-emergency U.S. personnel and their families from the Chinese province of Wuhan.

Worldwide, more than 17,000 people have been infected by the virus and more than 350 have died from it; the vast majority of those infected are in China. Eleven people are infected in the United States.

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday evoked both 'Mahabharata' and history to hit out at archrival BJP and slammed it for branding CAA protestors as "anti nationals".

She said the recent firings outside Jamia Millia University and Shaheen Bagh were attempts to terrorise peaceful agitators.

Banerjee called BJP a "party of Dussasanas", the brother of Kaurava prince Duryodhana in the epic 'Mahabharata' and "offsprings of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq", the Sultan of Delhi from 1325-1351 known in history for his eccentric ways.

The TMC supremo addressed two anti-CAA and anti-NRC rallies in Bongaon area of North 24 Parganas and Ranaghat area of Nadia district.

Lambasting the saffron party for trying to forcibly implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register, the TMC supremo, who has been among the strident critics of the BJP, said she will stop it "anyhow".

In a jibe at the prime minister, Banerjee said unlike Narendra Modi, "who calls himself a chowkidaar (watchman) only during polls", she takes care of the people of the state and attends to their problems round the year.

"I don't belong to a group that spreads hatred among masses. It is due to instigation by the BJP leaders, incidents of firing took place outside Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia. These are attempts to terrorise the masses.

"Some goons of BJP will come and say goli chala do. Will we accept it? Are we sitting here wearing bangles? A union minister, the UP chief minister are saying goli maro (shoot). How can you shoot a peaceful protester? Is this acceptable in a democracy?" the chief minister said at a rally at Bongaon in North 24 Parganas district.

Union minister Anurag Thakur during a rally in Delhi, urged people to raise an incendiary slogan - "traitors should be shot" - after lashing out at the CAA protesters.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath courted controversy during a rally in Delhi by saying those who attack Kanwariyas (devotees of Lord Shiva) will have to face police bullets.

Addressing another rally at Ranaghat area of Nadia district, Banerjee said "We(TMC) are not a party of Dussasanas like the BJP. They (BJP) are the offsprings of Muhammad-bin- Tughlaq and people must unite to save the country from them".

Continuing her tirade, she said "Whoever speaks against the BJP is branded a traitor. Those who never did any good for our country have suddenly turned into patriots. We will listen to Gandhiji, Netaji, Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore. Why should we listen to hooligan leaders of the BJP?



"They (BJP) are saying that the murderer of Gandhiji (Nathuram Godse) is a big leader. The partys leaders are instigating people to kill, to burn. Is this how a political party should behave?" she said.

Alleging that BJP spreads rumours and creates trouble, she said the people should stand up unitedly against them. "Never give even an inch of land without a fight," she said.

Banerjee said her party leaders, unlike those of the BJP, do not attend rallies and programmes with guns and sticks.

Referring to the National Population Register, she told the gathering "I again appeal to you (people) not to show any documents. If anyone asks anything, dont give full information. Dont submit any documents. Never believe the riotous BJP.

Extending her support to the Shaheen Bagh protesters, Banerjee said "some parties" (BJP) are trying to spread misinformation on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

"CAA won't grant you citizenship, it will make you a foreigner," she insisted.

"What was the use of voting for the BJP (In the Lok Sabha polls)? They took your votes and gave you NRC in return. They took away your rights. They caused so much distress for banks. They sold the Railways. They sold BSNL. They sold Air India. They sold Burn Standard (a PSU)," she said.

Iterating that she will not let NRC or NPR to be implemented in West Bengal, Banerjee said "NPR is the first gateway to implementing NRC".

Referring to the new tax regime proposed in the union budget, Banerjee said the BJP-led government at the Centre is trying to fool people "with new tricks every day".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rashid Engineer: The mainstream politician who helped establish a terror base and move funds

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 04: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will question former J&K MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid for his links with self-styled Hizbul Mujahideen commander Naveed 'Babu', arrested along with suspended Jammu and Kashmir Police DSP Davinder Singh.

Rashid, popularly known as 'Rashid Engineer' and leader of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), contested as an Independent candidate in the 2014 Assembly constituency from Langate in North Kashmir.

The officials said the agency would soon approach court for seeking a production warrant for summoning Rashid and question him about his association with Naveed alias 'Babu', whose full name is Syed Naveed Mushtaq Ahmad.

Naveed had claimed during interrogation that he had been in constant touch with the legislator for establishing a firm base for the terror group in North Kashmir and was looking for possible hideouts in that area, the officials alleged.

NIA to quiz former J&K MLA for links with Hizbul Mujahideen commander

Engineer has been questioned by the NIA several times. After his arrest in the terror funding case, it was found that he was a frontman for the main accused in the case, Zahoor Watali, a Kashmiri businessman.

This is the first arrest involving a mainstream politician from the Valley in the terror funding case, in which Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief, Hafiz Saeed is also an accused. Rashid was a legislator from the Langate Assembly constituency in north Kashmir prior to the Jammu and Kashmir assembly being dissolved a year back.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 4th, 2020

Rashid's name cropped up during the questioning of Kashmiri businessman, Zahoor Watali, who is accused of channelising the funds for separatists and terrorists, who in turn caused trouble in the Valley. Watali was arrested by the NIA in 2017.

Watali is centric to the probe by the NIA, which has so far unearthed heaps of details on how funds were brought in to the Valley and challenged.

In 2017, Rashid had been questioned by the NIA. Sources in the NIA said that he was not convincing during the questioning and hence he had to be arrested so that he could be questioned in custody.

During the probe, the NIA stumbled upon a front in which money would be parked. Watali would receive money from Pakistan and Engineer in turn would help him park it in the Joint Effort Trust. Some of the money from this trust would be channelised to various other accounts and the same would be used to create unrest in the Valley.

It may be recalled that the Enforcement Directorate had attached properties belonging to Watali to the tune of Rs 1.73 crore. It may be recalled that the ED had in April attached properties worth Rs 6.19 crore belonging to Watali and his family members. The attached assets consisting of immovable properties worth Rs. 1.48 crores in the name of family members of Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali and balance available in the Bank Account of Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali in Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd, New Delhi worth Rs. 25 lakh.

Raids at multiple locations in Shopian to trace Davinder Singhs terror links

Investigation revealed that Zahoor Ahamad Shah Watali is one of the main hawala conduits who used to generate and receive funds from Pakistan, ISI, UAE and had floated various shell companies to disguise foreign remittances for further transfer to separatist leaders and stone pelters in the valley. These funds were used to fuel unrest in the Kashmir valley and organise violent agitations and anti-India activities which resulted in large scale violence leading to numerous injuries and deaths of civilians and security forces.
New Delhi: Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor's fans were in for not so good news when the buzz about him being hospitalised again started doing the rounds. But to put all the rumours to rest, the man himself has given a health update on Twitter.

Rishi Kapoor wrote: Dear family,friends,foes and followers. I have been overwhelmed by all your concern about my health.Thank you. I have been filming in Delhi past 18 days and because of the Pollution and my low count of neutrophils, I caught an infection whereby I had to be hospitalized. (1).....

Dear family,friends,foes and followers. I have been overwhelmed by all your concern about my health.Thank you. I have been filming in Delhi past 18 days and because of the Pollution and my low count of neutrophils, I caught an infection whereby I had to be hospitalized. (1).....  Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) February 4, 2020

I was running a slight fever and on investigation,Dr.s found a patch which could have lead to pneumonia, was detected and is being cured. People seem to have assumed a lot different. I put to rest all those stories and look forward to entertain and love you. I am now in Mumbai.

I was running a slight fever and on investigation,Dr.s found a patch which could have lead to pneumonia,was detected and is being cured. People seem to have assumed a lot different. I put to rest all those stories and look forward to entertain and love you. I am now in Mumbai.  Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) February 4, 2020

The senior was in the capital city for the past few days and was shooting for his next. However, air quality and high pollution levels might have affected his health.

Reportedly, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt visited Delhi after Kapoor senior was admitted to a hospital for his check-up.

Rishi Kapoor was in New York City for almost a year undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer. In September 2019, he returned back hale and hearty, accompanied by wife and veteran actress Neetu Kapoor.

She later studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and by the end of the decade was writing literary criticism for Commonweal, a liberal Catholic magazine. Her work there seemed to reflect a religious upbringing: Her older brother, Leonard, was a priest in Georgia, where he befriended the Southern author Flannery OConnor and once introduced her to Ms. Mayhew over lunch  an occasion that OConnor later commemorated in a letter. The Mayhews seem to have survived growing up in New York City so I suppose it can be done, she wrote, but as a kind of miracle, not the normal thing surely.
Fueled by its sales drive, online supermarket Grofers is well on track to surpass its FY 2019-20 revenue target of Rs 5,000 crore, according to Albinder Dhindsa, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer - Grofers.

The company is optimistic about achieving the target after it clocked a revenue of Rs 515 crore in Jan 2020 during its (GOBD)-3 from Jan 18-26, driven by its grocery sales week in the month.

In comparison, during January 2019, the company garnered sales revenue of Rs 310 crore in the offer period.

Grofers is a low-price online grocer that allows consumers to order products across categories like grocery, staples, beverages, personal care, home and kitchen, and meats and seafood, and it delivers these products to their doorsteps.

Grofers recently concluded it GOBD-3 when it brought 10 lakh new customers to its platform. During GOBD-1, we sold 1.81 crore items worth Rs 207.5 crores and had brought 2.5 lakh, new customers. Subsequently, during GOBD-3 we sold 4.8 crore items worth Rs 403 crores and brought 10 lakhs, new customers, Dhindsa said.

Of the total online users on Grofers platforms, 25 percent new users were acquired from non-metro cities every month in 2019 and during the GOBD a similar trend was noticed, Dhindsa said.

In all 27 lakh, customers shopped during GOBD, of which 10 lakh were new users. During the sale, more than 32 lakh orders were placed on the platform, according to Dhindsa.

Speaking on the Union Budget 2020, Dhindsa said, "Support to the farming community for improved income and a dual option for computing personal income tax will leave consumers with more disposable income in their hands. This is a pro-middle class move to lift consumer confidence and we expect this to be beneficial for many sectors including FMCG, consumer durables among others which were facing growth challenges last year.

Moreover, he said, skilling, significant investments in infrastructure and an overall boost to the start-up ecosystem will generate employment opportunities.

He further opined that the investment in improving infrastructure and better connectivity is likely to help the movement of goods across India and may benefit small manufacturing businesses operating from distant locations.
TikTok restores pro-life group's account, blames 'human error' for ban

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Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok has reinstated the account of Live Action, which has the largest social media presence of any nonprofit pro-life organization, hours after banning it for violating the apps community guidelines. It was removed due to a human error, the app now says.

We received an email from TikTok  apologizing for what TikTok is calling human error. They admitted that our account is not in violation of any of our Community Guidelines, Lila Rose, the founder of the leading digital pro-life organization, said in a statement, urging TikTok to improve their training and oversight to ensure that such dramatic human errors like this arent made in the future for us or any other pro-life organization.

The platform, on which short music videos are shared and has over 800 million active users, blamed it on a moderator. The pro-life groups account was banned late last week after it posted a 15-second educational video featuring baby faces, highlighting lives saved by our content and raising awareness of the importance of speaking out on abortion, Rose said.

TikTok is a platform for creative expression that welcomes diversity of users and viewpoints, TheWrap quoted a TikTok spokesperson as saying. Following a review, we have determined that there we no violations of our community guidelines and the issue was the result of a human error by a moderator. We apologize for the mistake and have reactivated the account.

After her group was censored, Rose said, Immediately after being notified of the violation, we appealed the removal. And at 3PM EST (Thursday) Live Action was completely BANNED from the platform. TikTok stated this account was banned due to multiple Community Guidelines violations.

In the educational video, Live Action shared the beautiful personal stories that some of our followers have shared with us about choosing life for their babies.

Rose stressed that her group contacted TikTok asking for an answer and resolution and only after we escalated the problem, did they finally reinstate the account. She added, Not every pro-life American has the reach that Live Action has to sound the alarm on censorship and viewpoint discrimination. What we saw today is the power of social media, the pro-life movement, and news outlets in doing their job to report pro-life viewpoint discrimination.

Live Action created an account on the platform last summer and managed to gain more than 21,000 followers.

However, this is not the first time the pro-life group, a nonprofit with over 4 million followers on social media, has faced censorship. Last year, Live Action experienced similar censorship from Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.

Late last year, the U.S. government launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDances $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly, according to CNBC.

U.S. lawmakers suspect that the Chinese company might be censoring politically sensitive content, and have therefore called for a national security probe into TikTok. Questions about how the platform stores personal data of its users have also been raised.
File image

More than 1,100 defence personnel from the Indian Army, Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy committed suicide in the past decade, The Times of India reported.

The figures prompt the urgent need for better suicide prevention and intervention in the country, the paper noted.

The 12 lakh strong Army recorded 895 suicides, the highest number among the defence forces in the period of 2010-2019. It is followed by the IAF which reported 185 suicides and the Navy which saw 32 suicides, as per data cited in the report.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the numbers.

The paper further suggested that mental stress could be the reason behind the extreme step, adding that it is a common problem among military personnel world over, especially among active-duty ones.

For instance, the United States military forces, grappling with a record-high suicide rate, recorded 541 cases in 2018. The suicide rate among active-duty troops was 24.8 per 100,000 personnel, up from 21.9 in 2017, it added.

In India, factors taking a toll on the mental health and physical endurance of soldiers were protracted deployment along the volatile border with Pakistan as well as counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the north-east region. Soldiers posted in field areas also faced immense stress for being unable to tackle family problems back home.

Earlier, news from home came periodically. Now, they get updates 24x7 through mobile phones, which has added to the stress level, a senior officer told the publication.

Several studies conducted by the Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) since 2006 state that domestic and personal problems, marital discord, stress, health issues and financial problems have been identified as major causes behind suicides in the armed forces.

Considering this, the Defence Ministry has taken several measures over the years to reduce stress among military personnel. This includes counselling, yoga and grievance redressal mechanisms to improve food, clothing, married accommodation and liberalised leave policy, said the report.

However, the high numbers say that much more needs to be done.
Good Morning America

The Biden administration's plan to send 500 million at-home tests to Americans for free is an historic undertaking, but one that will take weeks or months to fully execute, recently released contracts and interviews with seven test manufacturers suggest. Contracts for the first two batches of tests were announced on Friday, one for 13.3 million kits from a health technology company and another for an undisclosed amount from a distribution company in Virginia that had extras on hand -- all to be distributed in an effort to reduce the massive testing shortage in the U.S. Tests won't be available to be ordered through a government website until later this month, the official said, meaning it's unlikely the average American will get free tests delivered in time for the January peak of omicron cases predicted by most models.
Delhi in 2015 was an exceptional story though. In the actual poll, the vote shares obtained by different parties were: 54.3 per cent for the AAP, the BJP 32.3 per cent, the INC 9.7 per cent; the opinion poll predictions were nowhere close to the actual result.

Only a areful implementation of sophisticated statistical models will enhance the credibility of opinion polls, says Atanu Biswas.



Photograph: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters

Another assembly election in Delhi is around the corner. People might be struggling to understand to what extent opinion polls can be relied on, at least so far as the Delhi assembly election is concerned.

The last time, in 2015, it was a disaster for the pollsters -- almost all the opinion polls failed to predict the ultimate result (the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP: 67, the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP: Three, out of 70 seats).

Of the 27 opinion polls related to the 2015 Delhi assembly elections available on Wikipedia, the one that went the closest had predicted 516 seats for the AAP, while the most bizarre one had predicted only 17 seats for the winning party.

The average seats (votes) of these 27 opinion poll results was: the AAP 32 (40.22 per cent), the BJP 33 (39.7 per cent), the INC 4 (14.1 per cent). Samples from 51 constituencies were taken for these studies, on an average, and the average total sample size was 7,034.

Quite often, opinion polls fail to predict the number of seats of different parties due to the complex relationship between the percentage of votes and seats, while they usually don't make many mistakes predicting the vote shares of different parties.

Delhi in 2015 was an exceptional story though. In the actual poll, the vote shares obtained by different parties were: 54.3 per cent for the AAP, the BJP 32.3 per cent, the INC 9.7 per cent; the opinion poll predictions were nowhere close to the actual result.

Opinion polls exhibited disastrous predictions in many other recent polls, even pan-India.

Let's first try to understand how these polls are supposed to be carried out.

It's customary to estimate the sample size to keep the margin of error within, say, 3 per cent. It is, however, unclear how many Indian opinion polls estimate the sample size a priori, and what their estimated margin of error is.

Even ignoring the sample size estimation part, to draw 7,000 samples across 50 (out of 70) constituencies one needs to select 50 constituencies randomly, and draw roughly 7,000/50=140 samples from each. Now, samples from each constituency should be taken by maintaining proportions of several key parameters -- gender ratio, several economic and educational groups, age groups, religions and castes -- of the actual population.

It's unknown whether and how these are maintained in different opinion polls.

In contrast, a new style of opinion polls has become popular elsewhere, especially in the United Kingdom, in the recent past.

YouGov's Multilevel Regression and Post-Stratification (MRP)-based election model had nicely predicted a hung Parliament in the UK in 2017 (seats predicted: the Conservatives: 302, the Labour: 269; actual: the Conservatives: 318, the Labour: 261), and also the victory of the Boris Johnson-led Conservatives in 2019, where the predicted seats (votes) were: the Conservatives 339 (43 per cent), the Labour 231 (34 per cent); while the actual numbers were: the Conservatives 365 (43.6 per cent), the Labour 203 (32.2 per cent).

Langer Research Associates, a United States polling company, also tested an MRP model during the 2016 US presidential election, and correctly predicted the outcome.

It's inevitable that such a model will soon be attempted in opinion polls in India as well.

The idea of an MRP model was suggested in a 1997 research article by Professor Andrew Gelman of Columbia University, and Thomas C Little of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

Let's see how it can be implemented in the Delhi assembly election, for example.

First, 7,000 samples may be taken from the whole state, at random. In contrast to the traditional opinion polls, there is no need to maintain the population proportions of different socio-economic-religious parameters in the sample.

Also, there is no need to pay attention to how many individuals are from which constituency.

However, several important socio-economic-educational-religious parameters are also recorded for the individuals in the sample, in addition to their voting intentions.

This data is then used to frame a statistical relationship which will represent the 'probabilities of voting for different parties' as functions of some important socio-economic-educational-religious parameters.

The model will be such that, when the gender, age group, educational status, economic status, religion and caste of an individual is provided in the model, it will offer the chances (probabilities) of voting for the AAP, the BJP, the INC or Others, for that person.

These voting probabilities will change with the change in these socio-economic statuses. The choice of an appropriate relationship model is important and that should be done with utmost care and with top-level expertise.

Now consider any constituency -- say, Laxmi Nagar in East Delhi. From different registers, it is easy to find the socio-economic statuses of the voters of this constituency.

For example, in the case of the UK election, data from the UK Office of National Statistics, the British Election Study, and past election results were used.

Similarly, from past data it's not difficult to estimate that about 1,65,000-1,70,000 voters are expected to cast their votes in this constituency in 2020.

From the data of the last three assembly elections, one can easily estimate the percentages of votes cast by different social, religious and economic groups.

Then, the MRP model for Delhi might come into play. One can obtain the probabilities of each of the 1,70,000 expected voters voting in favour of the AAP, the BJP, the INC and Others in the coming election.

By adding these 1,70,000 probability-values for each party in that constituency, the expected total number of votes favouring that party can be obtained.

Consequently, a prediction for the winner for this constituency can be made. The same MRP model can be used for other constituencies as well, using previous election data and data from different registers for those constituencies.

Is any polling organisation using such a model for the upcoming Delhi election? Careful implementation of such sophisticated statistical models will enhance the credibility of opinion polls, for sure.

Atanu Biswas is professor of Statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
Airlines in Pakistan resumed flights to and from China Monday after health authorities said they were confident they had systems in place to keep the deadly coronavirus out of the country. The move comes as dozens of global airlines are halting flight services with China, and governments are increasingly barring entry to anyone who has recently visited the country. China has long been an all-weather ally of Pakistan and in recent years has provided Islamabad with billions of dollars in loans as part of Beijingas global Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. Some 28,000 to 30,000 Pakistanis are living in China, and more than 500 nationals are believed to be in Wuhan, where the virus originated. "Flight operations with China have resumed," Zafar Mirza, a public health advisor to Prime Minister Imran Khan, told reporters Monday. "I personally received passengers from China this morning. I checked the whole system step by step and we have not seen any suspected patients that needed to be kept under observation," he added. The decision was questioned by medical experts in the country, where investment in health care has been woefully lacking for decades. "Pakistan is not capable of treating the coronavirus," said Athar Niaz Rana, a senior medical practitioner at Islamabad's Shifa International Hospitals. "We don't have any facility to properly test suspected cases," he told AFP. So far there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Pakistan, but four students living in Wuhan have been infected. There are currently more than two dozen weekly flights between Pakistan and China, civil aviation authority spokesman Abdul Sattar Khokhar said. Prime Minister Khan has visited China three times since taking office in 2018, and has repeatedly refused to criticise Beijing when asked about the countryas treatment of its Muslim minorities.
Washington, Feb 4 : The US state of Iowa held Democratic and Republican caucuses which are the first nomination contests for the 2020 presidential primary schedule.

The caucuses began at 7 p.m. on Monday, bringing tens of thousands of Iowa's registered voters to churches, public libraries, and school gyms for discussions of their presidential preferences, reports Xinhua news agency.

Sitting President Donald Trump is expected to sail through the Republican caucuses, in which participants cast a vote to indicate their support, in the "Hawkeye State" that he won by 9.5 percentage points in the 2016 presidential election.

Unlike the Republican process, the Democratic caucuses require party members to show up to their precinct and physically move into designated parts of a room to express their preference for a certain candidate.

A crowded field of Democrats were vying for Iowa's 41 pledged delegates to the party's national convention on July 13-16 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a gathering for the party's delegates to choose their presidential nominee.

Though delegates of Iowa account for only 2 per cent of the 1,991 national delegates, a candidate needs to win the party nomination, while a strong performance in the state could inject strong momentum into his or her campaign.

Currently, there are 11 Democrats and three Republicans, including Trump, seeking the presidential nomination of their own parties. Seventeen Democrats and one Republican have dropped out of the race in this election cycle.

Meanwhile, a poll released hours before the caucuses showed that top candidates of the Democratic presidential primary field were locked in a tight race.

Focus on Rural America, a Democratic group, found that former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg was leading in the field with 19 per cent support, followed by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders with 17 per cent.

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were tied on the third place at 15 per cent, while Senator Amy Klobuchar trailed behind them with 11 per cent, according to the poll.

"The top four candidates are in a virtual dead heat," the group said. "Anyone who says a particular candidate is best positioned to win is, to borrow from Vice President Biden, full of malarkey." The poll also saw Buttigieg with the highest net favourability, 69 per cent. The rest of the top five candidates were not far behind, as each of them garnered at least 62 per cent.

According to the latest RealClearPolitics national Democratic primary polling average, Biden was leading the Democrat race with 27.2 per cent, followed by Sanders and Warren with 23.5 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.
The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has risen to 426, with the total number of cases worldwide now standing at almost 21,000, officials said on Tuesday.

It comes after the country opened a new hospital built in 10 days, infused cash into tumbling financial markets and further restricted people's movement in hopes of containing the rapidly spreading virus and its escalating impact.

Despite this, the death toll rose by a daily record 65 from Monday to Tuesday, the National Health Commission confirmed, up from 361 deaths and 17,205 confirmed cases previously.

There are at least 151 cases in 25 other countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Britain.

Volunteers from a public welfare alliance in Shandong province visit a company in the area, and sprayed disinfectant with drones

Out of the 20,700 afflicted with the virus, 14 per cent are in a critical condition - though 653 have now recovered so far.

All of the new deaths on Tuesday were in central Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus outbreak.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the flu-like virus a global emergency, although experts say much is still unknown about the pathogen including its lethality.

It comes as China said it would welcome assistance from the United States to fight the coronavirus outbreak, a day after it accused Washington of scaremongering.

'We expect to see more cases of person-to-person spread,' said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC confirmed a handful of new cases in the United States, bringing the U.S. total to 11, including a patient in California who was infected through close contact with someone in the same household who had been infected in China.

Doctor talks with colleague through the intercom at the microbiology laboratory of the Zhijiang campus of the First Affiliated Hospital of College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, in the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, where coronavirus patients are being treated

It marked the second instance of person-to-person spread of the virus in the United States after such a case was announced last week in Illinois.

China accused the United States of whipping up panic over the coronavirus outbreak Chinese stock market plunged about 8% on Monday on the first day back from an extended Lunar New Year holiday.

Beijing made the accusation after the Trump administration on Friday said it was barring nearly all foreign visitors who have been to China within the past 14 days to address the threat of the virus.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman on Tuesday said the United States 'should adopt an objective, fair, calm and rational attitude' and 'refrain from overreacting'.

'China has noted that the United States has repeatedly expressed its willingness to provide assistance to China, and hopes that the relevant assistance will be provided soon,' spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement on the ministry's website.

With Wuhan and some other cities in virtual lockdown, travel severely restricted and China facing increasing international isolation, fears of wider economic disruption are growing; sources at the OPEC oil cartel said producers were considering cutting output by almost a third to support prices.

A staff member disinfects buses in Jinan, China as the country continues to battle the Coronavirus outbreak

Airlines around the world have stopped flights to parts of China. A suspension by the United Arab Emirates on Monday will affect the Gulf airlines Etihad and Emirates.

The outbreak is reminiscent of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a virus from the same family that emerged in China in 2002 and killed almost 800 people around the world out of the 8,000 or so who were infected.

Chinese data suggest that the new virus, while much more contagious than SARS, is significantly less lethal, although such numbers can evolve rapidly.

Some economists predict world economic output will be cut by 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points due to China's lockdown.

Countries continued to fly evacuation flights for citizens out of Wuhan. A plane load of Australians left the city on Monday and arrived in the Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island, where they will be quarantined, media reported on Tuesday.

The United States, which flew people out last week, is planning 'a handful more flights' while Russia was due to start evacuating its citizens from Wuhan on Monday.
I dont rule out the fact that our counterparts of the political opposition join our initiative during the discussions. This is what Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan told reporters at the National Assembly today, touching upon the agenda for the special parliamentary session to be held on February 6.

He stated that this bill is aimed at resolving the judicial crisis in Armenia and that the crisis will be solved.

When told that President of the Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan has declared that he wont give up and will fight until the end, Alen Simonyan said the following: I dont know how far hes going to go, but I can say that based on his recent interview, he is even ready to do everything possible to make sure the crisis is resolved to his benefit. However, unfortunately, not only him, but also many others are in a situation where there are people who are telling them that they can bring back the past in some way.
NAPLES - The Economic Development Board (EDB) of Bahrain, the agency tasked with promoting investments in the Kingdom of Bahrain, announced that it will guarantee a fast-track process for Italian businesses and startups that will allow them to quickly set up in the country and take advantage of all the benefits of the Bahraini system. The initiative will allow Italian businesses to have access to the Bahraini market and the markets of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).



The announcement was made on Monday during the official two-day visit in Italy of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Heir Apparent, Deputy Supreme Commander, and First Deputy Prime Minister of Bahrain. The visit was an occasion to celebrate the opening of a new embassy in the country, but it was also a chance for high-profile meetings between the Bahraini delegation and the main members of the Italian innovation system, according to a statement.



The fast track will be offered without cost to Italian businesses, and will provide a dedicated concierge service to include: a process of rapid insertion into the Bahraini system, addressing the requirements for requesting residency, a visa, and business registration; support from Bahraini business incubators and accelerators for Italian startups, as well as access to their network and programmes that will allow Italian businesses to create useful relationships for growth and expansion. The initiative will allow businesses and startups to benefit from the entire Bahraini system, which has lower operating costs than surrounding countries, one of the most highly qualified local work forces in the region, and some of the most advanced soft infrastructures in the MENA area. The Kingdom offers a launching pad to the broader Gulf area, including Saudi Arabia.



"I am proud to be able to say that Bahrain, since the 1970s, has had strong business ties with Italy, one of the 10 largest world markets," said Khalid Humaidan, CEO of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain.



"This relationship is of great importance to us. The Kingdom of Bahrain offers numerous opportunities for Italian investors in a wide range of sectors," he said.(ANSAmed).


SpiceJet on Monday said it is offering hundreds of free tickets, where the base fare will be waived but taxes and other surcharges have to be paid, to select people who want to fly to Delhi to vote in the upcoming assembly elections on February 8.

The budget carrier clarified that the participants, who will be selected by the airlines internal panel after their online registration, will have to bear all applicable taxes, surcharges, levies and any other additional costs incurred on the air tickets.

In this SpiceDemocracy initiative, the airline stated that if the departure to Delhi and return from the city is on February 8, it will refund the entire base fare on both tickets.

Alternatively, flyers will be offered a one-way ticket, with the base fare waived off, if they plan to fly on February 7 and return on February 8 or fly on February 8 and return on February 9. The online registration for this initiative will remain open from January 31 to February 5. The shortlisted participants will be informed on February 6, and will be provided a link to book tickets where the base fare is waived.

The airline stated that the shortlisted participants are required to fly to Delhi on February 7 or February 8 to vote in the Delhi assembly elections and upload a selfie on their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter profiles with their inked finger, along with #SpiceDemocracy.

Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet said, Voting is a big part of democracy and unfortunately a lot of our working population who live away from their homes is unable to exercise this right. Now, SpiceJet gives voters of Delhi, an opportunity like never before to fly home to cast their vote. We will fly you home from anywhere in India and your tickets will be on us. We hope that with SpiceDemocracy, SpiceJet will help build a stronger and even more vibrant Indian democracy, he added.
President Donald Trump is not a calm man. And yet, faced with one of the most ominous outbreaks of an infectious disease in years, he has remained shockingly cool.

In response to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, China has shut down factories, banned travel and shuttered whole cities. Airlines have canceled routes to the mainland. As the number of U.S. cases has crept upward (to 11, as of this writing), the federal government has declared a public health emergency, taking what Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has called "fairly incremental" steps, such as expanding airport screenings and quarantining U.S. citizens.

Meanwhile, the president has offered only a few bland asides. This, at signing ceremony last week: "We're very much involved with them [China] right now on the virus that's going around." He blithely assured Fox News: "We are in great shape. China is not in great shape right now, unfortunately. But they're working very hard. We'll see what happens."

On Twitter, he offered this anodyne and only mildly self-congratulatory update: "Just received a briefing on the Coronavirus in China from all of our GREAT agencies, who are also working closely with China. We will continue to monitor the ongoing developments. We have the best experts anywhere in the world, and they are on top of it 24/7!" On Super Bowl Sunday, he put the problem almost entirely in the past tense: "We're gonna see what happens, but we did shut it down, yes."

It's remarkable restraint from the man with a legendary, self-professed phobia for germs, whose entire political career stems from an almost otherworldly ability to kindle similar fears of foreign contact in others and stoke support for stronger barriers and closed borders.

On one memorable occasion, Trump's twin anxieties about disease and people he views as "unclean" met in the hospitable medium of Twitter, where they feasted on an overhyped suspicion and it bloomed, algae-like, into obsession. His response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak exemplified the fast-fingered, fact-light paranoid style we all recognize today.

In the space of 90 days, Trump tweeted or retweeted almost 100 times (which, back then, seemed like a lot). He took to talk radio and "Fox & Friends" to speculate that the virus was much more contagious than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated. At every venue, he stoked panic and nudged along misinformation, usually at the same time: "A single Ebola carrier infects 2 others at a minimum. STOP THE FLIGHTS! NO VISAS FROM EBOLA STRICKEN COUNTRIES!" (That "infecting two others" thing is not true, and, according to the CDC, travel bans could have made things worse, hampering the flow of aid.)

Despite a genuinely frightening wave of deaths in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, health professionals never deemed Ebola a major concern within our borders. Ebola can only be contracted through physical contact with bodily fluids, and so transmission is fairly easy to contain. Only two people contracted the virus in the United States, both nurses who treated a doctor who had just returned from West Africa; all three of them survived. Trump responded to these developments with callous, unthinking cruelty, offering tepid praise for volunteer efforts only to insist that medical workers be barred from returning home: "People that go to far away places to help out are great - but must suffer the consequences!" He did seem to find a bright side to the situation: "Something very important, and indeed society changing, may come out of the Ebola epidemic that will be a very good thing: NO SHAKING HANDS!"

Nearly a third of Trump's tweets from that time harp on the outbreak's origin in West Africa, punctuated with florid epithets: The region was "Ebola-stricken" or "Ebola-torn" or "Ebola-infested." By 2014, he had already become the most well-known proponent of the false, bigoted conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama was from Africa - and so the president played an outsize role in Trump's Ebola hysteria. Trump called him a "delusional failure," "arrogant," and "a stubborn dope." He theorized that maybe Obama "just doesn't care" and even declared, "President Obama has a personal responsibility to visit & embrace all people in the US who contract Ebola!"

These sentiments fit right in with the feverish conservative commentary of the time. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. - the eye doctor! - echoed Trump's paranoid claims about Ebola's transmission rate, claiming that some patients contracted the virus after they "simply helped people get in or out of a taxicab." Paul blamed Obama's insufficient response on "political correctness." At the fringe conservative outlet WorldNetDaily, one of the former stars of "Dallas" mused that the Obama administration was actually preparing for a wave of Ebola deaths, "so martial law can be declared, guns can be seized and the populace can be controlled."

Trump's outsize reaction to the vanishingly faint possibility of a domestic Ebola outbreak prefigured his style of governance, and how he would navigates actual crises and the promotional opportunities he disguises as crises. Again and again, his attitude has depended on his ability to reap personal benefit from the situation, and, of course, it's been brazenly racist. The anxieties he preys upon (used "stokes panic" above) often fall under the category of "scaring the white folk": "bad guy" immigrants described as "animals," the "war zone" in Chicago, the "invasion" at the southern border. And then there are the picayune situations he attempts to coax into emergency status so he can claim to be a savior. The army had run out of bullets before he came around. He'll take care of the syringes spewing out of storm drains in San Francisco. When Hurricane Sharpie almost hit Alabama, he was, in fact, the only person to see it coming.

Coronavirus presents a situation where Trump's usual instincts run up against his personal interest. His reticence "is part of a strategy to avoid upsetting the stock market or angering China," reports the Associated Press. He seems to have staked his economic strategy on a trade deal with China that he promises will "put Americans first." Critics noted that "phase one," announced in January, left in place most of the trade-war tariffs that have raised prices for U.S. consumers and forced Trump to bail out the agricultural sector. It also left significant conflicts about subsidies and state-run enterprises on the table and didn't clearly spell out any enforcement mechanisms to guarantee that China will follow through on its pledge to buy $200 million in U.S. goods. "Phase one" only proves how important "phase two" will be - all the more reason for Trump to maintain cordial relations with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

I know better than to predict what Trump will do, but I suspect he's compartmentalized the coronavirus in a clean room of the mind. It cannot be allowed to mingle with the half-truths and hazy projections that usually fuel his Twitter binges - he has to stay focused on the agreement he imagines as his legacy.

It'll be interesting to see if they shake on it.

_ _ _

Cox is the host of Crooked Media's "With Friends Like These."
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The city Department of Parks and Recreation says it has found no evidence of a coyote population on Staten Island, months after a video surfaced on social media showing a large canine dragging a deer carcass in Travis.

After receiving reported coyote sightings, the department set up game cameras in Freshkills Park between 2017 and 2019, and did not find any coyotes in the more-than 100,000 images captured, a spokeswoman for the department said.

Parks has also sent animal waste samples from Brookfield Park to the Gotham Coyote Project for analysis, and no results have come back conclusively belonging to coyotes. The spokeswoman said the department will continue to investigate reported sightings.

A video surfaced in November showing a large canine dragging a deer carcass into a brush patch in Travis. Staten Island residents and elected officials have long raised concerns that the boroughs deer population would inevitably lead to the introduction of their natural predators.

City Council Minority Leader Steven Matteo (R-Mid-Island) wrote to Mayor Bill de Blasio in late November raising concerns about the video.

The dangers posed by deer are real, but they will pale in comparison to a situation where a large number of predatory animals, like coyotes or wolves, descend on our borough in search of easy prey, Matteo wrote. Under that scenario, we could see situations where our pets are attacked and killed and human lives are in direct danger.

Matteo tweeted Tuesday morning that in the citys response they confirmed theyre aware of the video, and that the animal in the video is not a wolf, because wolves are no longer found in the state.

Back in November there was a widely circulated video on social media that showed a large animal  which some believed was a coyote or wolf  dragging a dead deer into the brush.  Steven Matteo (@StevenMatteo) February 4, 2020

COYOTES IN THE CITY -- UPTOWN

According to the Parks Department, coyotes live in New York City and are particularly active in the Bronx. Most coyotes are not dangerous to humans, and only a few bites are reported each year nationwide.

The Parks Department advises people to keep their distance if they cross paths with any wildlife, and to report the sighting to the WildlifeNYC website -- unless it poses a clear danger to public safety, in which case, call 911.

While the Park Departments recent surveys have not discovered a presence of coyotes in the borough, the Advance reported in 2012 that a photo of a coyote had been captured near the former Fresh Kills landfill.

At the time, Dr. Paul D. Curtis, the extension wildlife specialist in the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell University identified the animal as a typical Eastern coyote. Curtis was also working as an investigator for the New York Suburban Coyote Study initiated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

A spokeswoman for the DEC said the department never confirmed that the photo was of a coyote, and has no confirmed sightings on Staten Island in the past ten years.

In addition to the large canine, and the typical deer and turkey sightings, red foxes have also been spotted on the island and captured in recent videos.
"I have a file on you."

- MK Narayanan's routine threat to his adversaries as National Security Adviser (NSA) quoted in Sanjay Baru's book 'The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh'

"One way to ensure that the unique identification (UID) number is used by all government and private agencies is by inserting it into the birth certificate of the infant. Since the birth certificate is the original identity document, it is likely that this number will then persist as the key identifier through the individual's various life events, such as joining school, immunizations, voting etc."

The concerns over the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) has prompted several state governments to halt the ongoing data collection process for a National Population Register (NPR). The fear is that the information sought under NPR is much wider in scope and could potentially be used to target a section of the society.

What these anti-CAA advocates do not realise is that there are more solid reasons to fear that NPR is not just a census exercise, but a larger data convergence project that can result in the government putting its citizens under surveillance, that is unwarranted and dangerous to the secular and constitutional credentials of the country. NPR's linkage with Aadhaar number plays a central role here.

Also Read: CAA, NPR-NRIC V: Does India really need these nation-wide exercises?

In fact, MHA's NPR and MEITY's UIDAI's Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) of UID/Aadhaar numbers are aimed at creating an architecture for indiscriminate mass surveillance of the present and future voters who are being structurally coerced to give their consent to the immoral and illegitimate exercise of their profiling for countless times.

It has turned every newborn into a suspect. There is a file being created to track and profile him for good. Like Indian NSA's threat to his adversaries about having a file on them, having a UID/Aadhaar number and NPR automatically creates a file of the Indian residents in question. Even infants are not spared in this cruel scheme of things.

In a country where no intelligence chief or official has held accountable for the assassination of two of its Prime Ministers and for betraying nation's secrets, can it be hoped that all those who compromised India's data security will be made liable for their treacherous acts of transferring the sensitive data of present and future citizens including ministers, soldiers, judges and ministers?

Also Read:I told PM Modi to withdraw CAA, NRC and NPR: Mamata Banerjee

There is a compelling logic for setting up a High Powered Commission of Inquiry to probe the ongoing bartering of citizen's databases and transfer of national data assets to foreign entities.

The States should un-sign the MoUs they have signed with UIDAI and discontinue both UID/Aadhaar and NPR exercise to resist the emergence of an unlimited government, unlimited by the Constitution of India and Constitutionalism.

Here are the Nine reasons why I say so:

1. The majority order of the Supreme Court's 5-Judge Constitution Bench on September 26, 2018, has pointed out that the Unique Identification (UID)/Aadhaar Number project and National Population Register (NPR) project are part of the one database convergence scheme. NPR has been mentioned at least on eight occasions in the order to underline the same.

2. One of the earliest documents that refer UIDAI, a 14-page document titled 'Strategic Vision: Unique Identification of Residents' prepared by Wipro Ltd for the government envisaged the close linkage that the UIDAI's Aadhaar would have with the electoral database. The use of electoral database mentioned in Wipro's document remains on the agenda of the proponents of UID/Aadhaar.

3. The 41-page Wikileaked document titled 'Creating a unique identity number for every resident in India' that declared itself to be a 'Confidential- property of UIDAI' states, "The Unique ID or UID will be a numeric that is unique across all 1.2 billion residents in India. The UID number will not contain intelligence. In older identity systems, it was customary to load the ID number with information related to the date of birth, as well as the location of the person."

This document reveals that from day one the Prime Minister wanted to create a file on each of "1.2 billion residents", the division of work between Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)'s NPR and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY)'s UID/Aadhaar was/is merely an attention diversion tactics to outwit citizen's scrutiny.

The ongoing merger of the electoral database with UID/number debunks UIDAI's claim that UID/Aadhaar number "will not contain intelligence" and "the location of the person."From these disclosures, it seems that the government has adopted an adversarial role vis-a-vis Indians and acting beyond its constitutional mandate in order to pander to the interests of the commercial czars, non-state actors and foreign intelligence companies.

4. In an RTI reply dated October 25, 2013, UIDAI shared a truncated contract agreement with Ernst & Young. The contract agreement states that "the Unique ID will be a random 12-digit number with the basis for establishing uniqueness of identity being biometrics". It announces that "we will provide a Unique Identity to over 113.9 crore people."

This is evidently a fraudulent announcement because UIDAI with which the agreement has been signed had the mandate to provide Unique Identity to only 60 crore residents of India, and not to 113.9 crore people.

It is evident that while the government kept Ernst & Young informed about its motive, it kept states, citizens, the parliament and the Supreme Court in the dark. The contract agreement reveals that "biometric systems are not 100 % accurate" and "uniqueness of the biometrics is still a postulate." This admission pulverizes the deceptive edifice on which MEITY's UID/Aadhaar and MHA's NPR rests.

5. Section 57 of un-amended Aadhaar Act, 2016 stated that "Nothing contained in this Act shall prevent the use of Aadhaar number for establishing the identity of an individual for any purpose, whether by the State or any body corporate or person, pursuant to any law, for the time being in force, or any contract to this effect".

It implies that UID/Aadhaar of "over 113.9 crore people" has been shared with foreign private body corporates like Ernst & Young. It is only after the horse had escaped the barn that door has been closed through Section 25 of Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019 in compliance of the Court's order dated September 26, 2018.

Section 25 of the Amendment Act 2019 states that Section 57 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 has been omitted with effect from July 24, 2019.

Also Read: Census 2021: Govt to seek info on toilets, mobile number, vehicles owned; NPR alongside from April 1

6. At paragraph 8 of the majority order authored by Justice A K Sikri, it is recorded that "a Processes Committee was set up on July 03, 2006, to suggest the process for updation, modification, addition and deletion of data and fields from the core database to be created under the Unique Identification for BPL Families project.

This Committee, on November 26, 2006, prepared a paper known as 'Strategic Vision Unique Identification of Residents'. Based thereupon, the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) was set up on December 04, 2006, to collate the National Population Register under the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Unique Identification Number project of the Department "of Information Technology.

Subsequently, "a Committee of Secretaries was formed. The said Committee gave its recommendations which were discussed by EGoM. After approving the Aadhaar Scheme in principle, it instructed the Cabinet Secretary to convene a meeting to finalise the detailed organisational structure of the UID.

After considering the recommendation of the Cabinet Secretary, Notification No. A-43011/02/2009-Admn.I was issued on January 28, 2009, by the Government of India which constituted and notified the UIDAI." Annexure 1 of this notification that constituted UIDAI deals with the Role and Responsibilities of UIDAI. The fourth point in this notification reads: "implementation of UID scheme will entail" taking "necessary steps to ensure collation of NPR with UID (as per. approved strategy)".

7. The minutes of a meeting of Committee of Secretaries held under Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary November 23, 2015 talks of "integrating the twin approaches under NPR and Aadhaar."

The "integrating the twin approaches under NPR and Aadhaar" which is referred here is the same as taking "necessary steps to ensure collation of NPR with UID (as per. approved strategy)" underlined in the notification mentioned in the Aadhaar Act.

8. A Ministry of Home Affairs communication dated July 19, 2019 states that "The National Population Register (NPR) thus prepared, was seeded with Aadhaar number during its updation exercise in 2015 along with a collection of demographic details of new household members. Approx. 60 mores Aadhaar numbers have been seeded in NPR Database."

This communication discloses that "It has now been decided by the Ministry of Home Affairs to update the existing NPR database during April 2020 - September 2020 along with House listing & Housing Census of phase of Census 2021. While updating the NPR, the Aadhaar number of all the individuals whose Aadhaar number is not available in the NPR Database will also be collected along with various other items. Necessary notification for updating NPR in 2020 will be issued shortly."

9. The Court's order reveals that "A core group was set up to advise and further the work related to UIDAI...The core group, inter alia, decided that it was better to start with the electoral roll database of 2009 for undertaking the UIDAI project."

There was never an occasion wherein there was an all-party meeting to seek the consent of all the political parties with regard to such use of "electoral roll database". This framework tantamount to rewriting the political geography of the country with hitherto unknown consequences for political rights.
It takes a certain kind of person to play that kind of game  namely, a cynical careerist. There used to be Republican politicians who were more than that, but they were mainly holdovers from an earlier era, and at this point have all left the scene, one way or another. John McCain may well have been the last of his kind.
On Monday, when Vancouver activist and out-and-proud transgender woman Norma Lize receives an award for her work in the local LGBT community, it'll be the culmination of a long journey.

"I never imagined that the day will come when I am recognized and honoured and just appreciated for the work that I was doing and for being who I am ... a visibly trans person," Lize told host Stephen Quinn on CBC's The Early Edition.

Growing up in Lebanon, Lize, 27, always felt that there was something missing in her gender identity.

That changed when she met a trans person for the first time when she was 18. It planted a seed of an idea that Lize, too, might be transgender.

But the incident also brought up complicated feelings  and a lot of fear.

"[The trans woman] was rejected from the community. She was rejected from her family, from her society, and I didn't want to be rejected just like her," Lize said.

The social stigma of being transgender or gay in Lebanon is very high, Lize said, with fewer legal protections.

"Being born and raised in the Middle East and in Lebanon, [it] is not an easy thing, especially when it comes to gender and sexuality."

Lize grew more comfortable in her own gender identity and started working with LGBT organizations in Lebanon  but she was still not fully out.

"I was never out as a trans person in Lebanon," Lize said. "I kept my trans identity in the dark for a long time just to be able to be safe and to help my trans community."

Ben Nelms/CBC

Lize eventually applied for asylum in Canada and moved to Vancouver in 2018.

She recalled the first time she walked down Davie Street in heels, wig and makeup.

"I looked around and was like, 'oh my God, this is not Halloween. I'm not the only person here. This is very normal. No one is looking at me,'" she said. "That's when I knew I was like 'OK I'm saying here.'"

Even her chosen name  Norma Lize  hearkens back to that feeling, and the fact "we are human beings just like everyone else."

Story continues

As part of her life in Vancouver, Lize, who is fluent in English and French, has been connecting with transgender refugees moving to Vancouver and helping them navigate the bureaucratic network of government and non-profit organizations.

Monday's award  named after January Marie Lapuz, a transgender Filipina woman who was murdered in New Westminster eight years ago  recognizes Lize's involvement, commitment and leadership in the LGBT community.

"I'm here to learn from the organizations here, from the nonprofit organizations and from the community. I'm here to learn and hopefully one day, I'd be able to share this back home [in Lebanon]."

Listen to the full interview with Norma Lize here:
[February 04, 2020] HealthSpace Announces Successful Bid for the State of Colorado

VANCOUVER, Feb. 4, 2020 /CNW/ - HealthSpace Data Systems Ltd. (the "Company" or "HealthSpace") (CSE:HS) (Frankfurt:38H) (OTC:HDSLF) is pleased to announce that it has received the bid award with State of Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment ("Colorado", the "State" or the "Department"). Once the contract is finalized, the multi-year deal will be worth in excess of $700k USD for the Company. This deal comes on the heels of several sales the Company has closed in Colorado. It positions the Company's HSCloud Suite to be the premier cloud platform across the State and opens the doors to local agencies in the State who will first look to HealthSpace when considering their own solutions. This provides the Company numerous opportunities for revenue expansion within Colorado in the future. HealthSpace CEO, Silas Garrison noted "I am very pleased that we were selected as the winning bid with Clorado. We continue to expand our geographical footprint which gives us leverage and opportunity across a wide array of agencies. This is the kind of momentum that will help drive sales growth on an exponential basis both in 2020 and in years to come."



HealthSpace Data Systems Ltd. HealthSpace is an industry leading technology company currently providing inspection, information, communication and data management systems for federal, state, county and municipal governments. Over the last decade, HealthSpace has successfully developed both enterprise and mobile internet-based applications currently serving over 300 state and local government organizations across North America. HealthSpace currently offers the only integrated inspection, administration and analytics product suite across all platforms in North America. Further, HealthSpace now delivers its government grade technologies to private businesses enabling them to gain visibility and predictability into their own organizations and move from a reactive to a proactive operational status. HealthSpace continues to deliver focused service and innovative solutions to government organizations, while expanding into commercial enterprise verticals to enable new customers with proactive environmental health best practices and policies. HealthSpace has now entered into the FinTech space by creating a payment platform that streamlines the intake of government revenue for the agencies it serves.

Forward-Looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although HealthSpace believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. HealthSpace expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE HealthSpace Data

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The Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry has sought a report from the East Delhi Municipal Corporation on the death of a sanitation worker while cleaning a deep sewer in the national capital on Sunday.

Based on the EDMC's report, the next course of action will be decided. It would be a gross violation of Supreme Court guidelines if manual cleaning of the sewer was really carried out instead of using machines, ministry sources said.

"In Delhi alone there are 200 machines available for sewer cleaning," they said.

The SJEM has also sought a detailed report from the Delhi Police in the matter, they added.

SJEM's Economic Advisor Yogita Swaroop, who is monitoring the scheme to rehabilitate and provide vocational training to manual scavengers, said immediately after she learnt about the incident she wrote to the Delhi government's social welfare department asking for details.

"I am continuously following up with the authorities concerned about the unfortunate incident and all the needful will be done to ensure that the family of the deceased gets adequate monetary compensation from the authorities responsible," she said.

The sources said the Supreme Court had made it clear that the onus of providing compensation to the family of such persons who die while cleaning sewers lies with the concerned state government. They have to either pay on their own or by making the contractor who engaged the worker do so.

The sanitation worker, Ravi (24), died after inhaling toxic fumes while cleaning a 15-ft deep sewer near the BSES office at the Central Business District (CBD) ground in Karkardooma, police had said.

Another worker, Sanjay (35), who went inside the sewer to rescue Ravi suffered from suffocation and is now admitted in a hospital, they said.

The workers were not provided safety gear while doing the job, they added.

According to the sources, under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Rules, 2013, manual cleaning of sewers or septic tanks is totally banned even if the persons doing it have protective gear and safety devices.

They said even if written permission is granted in exceptional circumstances for manual cleaning, the rules specify that the worker should wear safety gear, carry protective equipment, including oxygen supply.

An ambulance should be kept on standby to handle emergencies, the manhole or septic tank covers should be opened three hours before the commencement of the cleaning job to drive out poisonous gases, and at least three persons should assist the worker who enters the manhole for cleaning, they added.

The rules also state that in case of unfortunate death of such a worker, it is mandatory for the state government concerned to provide a minimum ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to his family. Besides, the police have to file an FIR and prosecute those responsible for his death, the sources said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The NRMA has issued a warning to drivers who eat at the wheel.

Australia's largest insurance company explained how eating and drinking can result in prosecution even though there is no specific rule against it.

In NSW, driver distraction is broadly covered under Road Rule 297(1) which states 'a driver must not drive a vehicle unless the driver has proper control of the vehicle'.

Australia's largest insurance company explained how eating and drinking can result in prosecution even though there is no specific rule against it (stock image)

If eating while driving interferes with a driver's control of the vehicle, the driver may be committing an offence depending on the circumstances, the NRMA said.

These types of offences are assessed on a case by case basis, with different penalties in different states.

In New South Wales in school zones, the penalty is $541 with 4 demerit points. In WA the fine in $600 and in the Northern Territory it is $500.

It is not only eating that can land drivers in trouble under driving without control rules.

Drivers who are caught doing their make up fall under the category of driving a vehicle without control, with the most expensive fines being handed out in Western Australia, where motorists will have to cough up $600.

New South Wales and Queensland drivers will incur three demerit points on top of their fines.

The lowest penalty for the offence is in Tasmania at $163.

Honking your horn to say goodbye could be costly for motorists if considered unnecessary, with New South Wales drivers risking a $344 fine, Tasmanian motorists $126 and Victorian drivers $282 for improper use.

Flashing your lights to warn drivers of speed cameras or police presence in Victoria risks a $165 fine, and in New South Wales can incur a $110 fine and one demerit point for 'dazzling' incoming drivers.
Hagerty Consulting Names Chris Hartnett Senior Disaster Recovery Program Manager "Chris Hartnett is a lifelong public servant who brings a wealth of programmatic, first responder, and management experience to our clients and team, said Brad Grining, Chief Operating Officer, Hagerty Consulting.

Hagerty Consulting today announced that Chris Hartnett, former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region II Public Assistance Branch Chief, has joined the firms New York City office as Senior Disaster Recovery Program Manager. In his new role with Hagerty Consulting, Hartnett will provide comprehensive preparedness, response and recovery subject matter expertise. Chris will be based in Hagertys New York City office, where he will serve clients throughout the country in the delivery of Preliminary Damage Assessments (PDAs), Individual (IA) and Public Assistance (PA) programs, and leading innovative policy initiatives throughout Emergency Management operations.

Chris Hartnett is a lifelong public servant who brings a wealth of programmatic, first responder, and management experience to our clients and team, said Brad Grining, Chief Operating Officer, Hagerty Consulting. His real-world leadership experience will only strengthen our results-oriented approach to client service and disaster recovery.

As FEMAs Region II Public Assistance Branch Chief, Hartnett provided oversight, coordination, and management of all PDAs with stakeholders, as well as PA grants. He was also responsible for the management of resources to support staff deployments for Cadre of On-Call Recovery Employees. As a Region II asset, Hartnett was deployed pre-landfall for response and recovery to Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria, where he spent 16 months in the U.S. Virgin Islands, serving as both the Infrastructure Branch Director, as well as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Response and Recovery efforts.

Hagerty is not only a national leader in disaster recovery, but in emergency management as a whole, said Chris Hartnett, Senior Disaster Recovery Program Manager, Hagerty Consulting. The firms commitment to clients, and to success, is evident at every turn, and I am proud to be a part of this team. The quality of professionals that I have met over the course of my career has always given me a level of confidence and assurance that things would get done, and done correctly.

Prior to serving as the Region II Public Assistance Branch Chief, Hartnett was the Director of FEMAs New Jersey Sandy Recovery Office for Hurricane Sandy. Before joining Hagerty, Hartnett was also deployed to Ponce, Puerto Rico, as a part of FEMAs Incident Management Assistance Team for the regions earthquakes in January 2020.

Hartnett began his professional career as a New Jersey State Trooper, where he was assigned to the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management as the State Public Assistance Officer. In that position, Hartnett served as one of the State Coordinating Officers for 11 presidential declared disasters, including Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy. Prior to his tenure with the New Jersey State Police, Harnett served four years in the U.S. Air Force. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and Criminal Justice from Centenary College.

ABOUT HAGERTY CONSULTING

Hagerty Consulting is an emergency management consulting firm that helps clients prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. Established in 2001, Hagertys work includes some of the nations largest preparedness projects and recovery events, including 9/11, hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, Irma, Maria, and Michael, as well as the Tubbs, Carr, and Camp Fires. The firm is consistently recognized throughout the industry for its innovative thinking, client-centric service, and the superior results it delivers to every project. The firms corporate headquarters are in Evanston, Illinois, with offices in Austin, Texas; New York City, New York; Sacramento, California; Hickory, North Carolina; and Washington, D.C. Learn more about Hagerty at http://www.hagertyconsulting.com.
In the first comprehensive study mapping global patterns of stillbirth rates, University of Saskatchewan (USask) researchers have found that pregnant women who are poor and have lower access to education and employment are more likely to experience a child's death at delivery.

"Our research offers a better understanding of where stillbirth rates are higher, and what the social causes underlying stillbirths are, not just taking into account the medical factors as most studies do," said USask community health and epidemiology researcher Nazeem Muhajarine, whose findings have been recently published in Nature Scientific Reports.

The model developed by the USask researchers shows that stillbirths are more likely in countries where gender inequality is high--where women experience financial challenges and have less access to education and employment opportunities compared to men.

While stillbirth rates are relatively understudied, according to the World Health Organization every year almost three million children reportedly die before or at delivery, but the majority of these deaths are preventable.

"Many mothers-to-be experience stillbirths around the world and this loss takes a personal toll on the families and the women who are preparing to give birth and see their dreams dashed. We hope we will help these women with our research," said Muhajarine.

Focusing on data from 194 countries, Muhajarine and his PhD student Daniel Adeyinka's model shows which social causes in addition to gender inequality have a potential link to stillbirth rates worldwide. They found that stillbirths rates are more likely in countries where pregnant women have higher rates of anemia (iron deficiency caused by low nutrition), limited pre-birth healthcare, and lack of access to skilled professionals such as nurses, midwives or doctors for delivering the babies.

"We hope that our study will provide policy makers with information for improving women's social conditions so that fewer and fewer women will experience stillbirths around the world," said Adeyinka.

The USask model, which used novel artificial intelligence software, also mapped the "hot spots" of highest stillbirth rates, a cluster of 37 countries in Africa and Southern Asia. Nigeria and Pakistan led with 43 deaths for every 1,000 children born. This is an average four times higher than the 2030 national target of 12 deaths per 1,000 births of the World Health Assembly Every Newborn Action Plan (WHA ENAP). The researchers also identified "cold spots" of low stillbirth rates, mostly in in Canada, Europe and Northern Asia, oscillating between one and 12 deaths per 1,000 births.

"A cultural change is needed in 'hot spot' countries around women's conditions," said Muhajarine. "Not only should we offer better hospital services and more access to skilled healthcare professionals, but we also need to make sure that women and girls have access to enough food, better education and work opportunities, and are not married off too early."

Muhajarine and Adeyinka ran simulations to predict how to improve children's survival at birth, especially in "hot spot" countries. The researchers found that to decrease stillbirths worldwide by 44 per cent would require improving women's access to education and by 51 per cent, and improving mothers' nutrition by 59 per cent compared to current worldwide rates.

The researchers also recommend that pregnant women should have more access to pre-birth health services and skilled healthcare professionals at delivery--an average increase of 27 per cent on healthcare services and 26 per cent on access compared to current rates.

Adeyinka will apply this study to design recommendations that could inform policy makers in Nigeria, his home country, where stillbirths are the second highest in the world.

"The time to act is now," said Adeyinka. "Stillbirths are more expensive than successful deliveries. On top of saving lives, if we lower stillbirths, the money could be invested in improving mothers and children's health and on the healthcare system as a whole, including in Nigeria."

###

The researchers used data from the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) databases. University of Nevada public health PhD student Babayemi Oluwaseun Olakunde contributed to the study.
Footage of New Military-Operated Coronavirus Hospital in Wuhan Reveals Prison-Like Environs

A newly built hospital in the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in central China, began operations on Feb. 3 under the supervision of Chinas military.

Medical staff there will comprise workers from different organizations, such as military medical universities and military hospitals. The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Joint Logistic Support Force will oversee the operations.

The hospital, which isnt open to the public, will only receive patients as arranged by the local government in Wuhan.

Netizens and Chinese media shared videos showing the interior of the facility, which corroborate footage released by the authorities.

In video footage published on Feb. 2, a member of the construction crew that worked on the hospital demonstrates that all of the doors are locked from the outside, meaning that patients cant freely enter or leave their rooms or the facility.

This so-called hospital is actually a prison. You cant leave if you are inside, the man says. Basically, [patients] are waiting to die here. They will then be sent to the crematorium after death.

That information couldnt be independently verified by The Epoch Times.

Hospital

On Feb. 3, the Huoshenshan Hospital was officially in operation. Chinese state media Xinhua praised that this hospital was built quickly, because more than 4,000 workers only spent 10 days to build this 1,000-bed capacity hospital.

Another state media China Pictorial reported that the total construction area of the hospital is 59,000 square meters (635,070 square feet). The isolated ward area is 34,000 square meters (365,970 square feet).

The other buildings inside the hospital are living quarters for medical staff and soldiers.

Another new facility built in Wuhan in response to the outbreak, Leishenshan Hospital, will be handed over to the army on Feb. 5 and put into operation on Feb. 6, according to the report. Leishenshan Hospital is bigger, and can accomodate 1,300 coronavirus patients.

As with the Huoshenshan Hospital, the Leishenshan Hospital will also be guarded by soldiers and only receive patients arranged by Wuhan authorities.

A Prison?

On Feb. 2, state-run media and Chinese netizens shared photos and videos of the Huoshenshan Hospital.

From the released photos, the makeshift container rooms are compact and clean. Each patients room has a window facing the corridor, but the window is sealed by iron bars.

An inside view of the Huoshenshan hospital in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, on February 2, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Next to the window is a small box, where food trays can be inserted. The box can be opened from the room and the corridor.

Inside the room, there are two doors: one is connected to an adjoining bathroom, and the other opens to a so-called buffer room where medical staff prepare their treatments. The buffer room has a hand washbasin and a door to the corridor.

On the other wall of the patients room is a large double door, but it cannot be opened from the inside.

Twitter is blocked inside China, but some use VPN software to circumvent the firewall. @Dubha3 said on Twitter on Feb. 2: The Huoshenshan hospital is like a prison or cage. Im worried that patients wont be allowed to leave, before they [die and] are sent to a funeral house for cremation.

Guyan Gonggong posted on Pincong, a Chinese social media platform, on Feb. 2: The hospital is managed by the army, which means everything inside are military secrets. Itll be a crime if somebody leaks it out.

Nobody can enter the military-managed areas freely. Family and friends [of the patients] wont know if a person died inside, Twitter user @Zhanyoutongmeng feared.

Pollution Concerns

Chinese netizens are also worried that construction of the facilities has polluted nearby water sources.

Huoshenshan Hospital is located on the bank of Zhiyin Lake, one of Wuhans freshwater sources. Although the hospital has wastewater integration equipment installed on Jan. 30, people are still worried whether the device can effectively filter biowaste and prevent the coronavirus from spreading into water sources.

Chinese media Economy Observer quoted Wuhan government officials on Jan. 25, who acknowledged that the hospital could be a potential pollution source to the Wuhan water supply system. They said they have contacted device suppliers to find the best wastewater treatment equipment for the hospital.
- Disappointing auto numbers in major segments- Slowdown, axle load norms, tight liquidity and non-availability of finance weigh on CVs- Three-wheelers gained traction- Passenger cars did relatively well- Two-wheelers moved from one bump to another

--------------------------------------------------

The auto sector, especially the commercial vehicle (CV) segment, continues to lose steam. There seems to be no respite due to a weak macro environment and a tough regulatory framework.

Auto majors, however, have seen some recovery in passenger vehicles (PVs) and three-wheelers (3Ws).

Pre-buying ahead of BS VI implementation is a big catalyst for the sector. Additionally, higher reservoir levels, adequate soil moisture conditions and expectations of a good Rabi crop are all expected to augur well for tractor and two-wheeler (2W) demand in the next few months.

CVs  Still a drag

Factors such as the economic slowdown, the liquidity crunch and non-availability of retail finance have led to a significant decline in demand within the segment. This got further aggravated by the axle load norms, which increased carrying capacity in M&HCVs (medium and heavy commercial vehicles).

However, month-on-month, there has been improvement in demand, which has led to low inventory as well. According to Tata Motors management, there has been higher buying interest, especially from fleet owners, which saw the company posting second-highest M&HCV numbers in the past seven months. The management also highlighted that the buying interest in small commercial vehicle segment continues to be better than other segments.

Company-wise, Tata Motors registered a 13 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline in CV volume, hit by 30.8 percent slide in M&HCVs whereas LCVs grew 2.3 percent. Eicher Volvo witnessed a decline of 6.1 percent. Ashok Leyland registered a drop of 41 percent. M&Ms sales numbers remained flat primarily because of good LCV numbers.

Cars  Not much respite

The car segment did relatively well. The leader, Maruti, posted a volume growth of 4 percent YoY in January 2020. PVs grew 11.2 percent whereas utility vehicles took a hit of 26.6 percent.

Other players continue to disappoint. M&Ms passenger cars volume fell 17.1 percent YoY. Tata Motors, however, disappointed with PV sales declining by 21.9 percent for the month under review.

The lacklustre demand in this space stems mainly from increase in total cost ownership led by mandatory long-term insurance. Further, implementation of safety norms has jacked up prices and impacted sales amid weak consumer sentiment.

Two-wheelers (2Ws): All red marks

Market leader Hero saw a sharp volume decline of 13.9 percent. The sales decline for Bajaj Auto and TVS stood at 22.4 percent and 18 percent, respectively. Eicher, the leader of premium bikes, took a knock of 12.6 percent in its January sales numbers.

Three-wheelers (3Ws): All tanked up

The overall 3W market turned out to be an oasis of hope, which posted strong numbers in January 2020. M&M led the race, clocking the highest growth of 35.5 percent. While the sales growth figure for TVS came in at 8.4 percent, Bajaj Auto, the leader in the space, notched up a strong 24.8 percent growth for 3Ws.

Tractors: Stable now

Delayed and uneven rainfall distribution have played spoilsport for the tractor segment. However, it has stabilised. Escorts recorded a growth of 1.4 percent and M&M 4.1 percent. The M&M management expects a positive momentum for tractor demand, driven by the expectations of a good Rabi output and the governments renewed focus on the rural sector through higher allocations as announced in the Union Budget.

Exports: Some hits, some misses

Export numbers came in mixed for January. While it was a smooth sail for Bajaj Auto, TVS and Maruti, others had to put up with a contraction.

For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research page
Bobyacks insurance industry career dates back to 1997, when he first started as a workers compensation specialist. Since then, he has built up a brokerage business focused on the auto dealership space, with clients in multiple states.

Robs specialty knowledge about auto dealership risks is really second to none. You dont often find someone so passionate about his niche clients like Rob is and we are thrilled to have him join Tom Moody to grow our presence in South Florida, commented LCIB CEO Jerry Pickett.

Bobyack said in a statement that he has been looking for a partner over the past few years that could help him grow, and had the resources to make it happen.

None of them offered the core values and feel that the Liberty Company gave me. Meeting the staff and other partners solidified this is where I need to be, and I look forward to the future with Liberty, the newly named partner said.

Last month, LCIB appointed Kimaili Davis as its newest claims manager. Daviss appointment came as the company looked to expand its claims department to match its aggressive growth strategy.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 08:17 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206261391 1 National Wuhan-coronavirus,Natuna,evacuees,school-break,China,health-ministry Free

The Natuna administration has closed schools for a two week period after the regency in Riau Islands was officially named a quarantine and observation zone for 243 evacuees from Wuhan and surrounding cities in Hubei province, China.

Read also: Indonesia readies plans for post-quarantine period: Health Ministry

Natuna administration secretary Wan Siswandi said authorities had issued a circular on the school break, explaining that children were prone to exposure to the coronavirus.

At least with the break, children can stay at home to avoid possible infection, Siswandi said on Sunday, as quoted by kompas.com.

The school break will last from Feb. 3 to Feb. 17 for all elementary and high schools located near Bunguran Island, where the evacuees, comprising 242 Indonesian citizens, including five Foreign Ministry officials, and one non-citizen, are being quarantined.

Yulius Piliang, a Natuna resident confirmed the closure, saying that a copy of the circular had been given to all parents with children in schools around the island.

We, as parents are very supportive of the steps taken by the local administration, said Piliang.

Residents of Bunguran Island reportedly flocked to the port by the Lampa Strait on Sunday night to get off the island as soon as possible.

The people of Natuna have protested the decision to quarantine the repatriated Indonesian citizens in the regency.

Read also: Theyre our brothers and sisters: Jokowi asks for understanding for Wuhan evacuees quarantined in Natuna

The Indonesian Youth National Committee (KNPI) in Natuna demanded Jakarta transfer the evacuees to a navy vessel to be relocated offshore.

The committee also asked the government to provide healthcare, including psychiatrists, for the Natuna community.

It also asked the health minister to open an office in Natuna during the quarantine process to ensure the well-being of the Natuna community.

At the moment, Natuna people are worried and anxious, committee chairman Haryadi said recently.

In response, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi confirmed Sunday that the health minister would open an office in Natuna during the observation period, Kompas reported. (syk)
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Istanbul. Photo: Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

Turkey struck dozens of Syrian government targets after five of its soldiers were killed in Syria's Idlib region, a move that could test ties between Moscow and Ankara.

President Tayyip Erdogan said 30-35 Syrians were "neutralised" in Turkey's response to intense shelling of its soldiers in Idlib, the last major Syrian rebel stronghold.

Turkey has reinforced Idlib, which lies just across its southern border with Syria, in a challenge to Damascus and its Russian backers. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, backed by Russian air power, have made large advances in Idlib, prompting Turkey to warn it may launch a military operation there. "We have responded in kind to these attacks and will continue to do so, " Mr Erdogan said. A Turkish security official said the shelling that killed the soldiers occurred near Saraqeb, at the junction of two main roads that Damascus seeks to control.
Gone are the days when you had to download apps to recharge your phones, now a mere Google search will do the job for you without much ado. Google on Tuesday introduced a new feature to help the users compare and recharge their prepaid plans using Google Search. The feature is available only for Airtel, Vodafone-Idea, Jio and BSNL users across India.

The search experience is only available to Android users who have signed into their Google accounts. You only have to type out Sim Recharge on your Google search bar and in the results, it will ask you to fill your mobile number. In case you have already linked your mobile number with your Gmail account, you wouldn't have to manually enter your phone number. Google will automatically enter your number and detect your operator; it will then provide you with an option to browse all the plans available. Once you select your preferred plan, Google will redirect you to a page with different payment options available such as the Google Pay, Freecharge, Mobiwik and Paytm. You can enter your details if you have any of the payment wallet mentioned above and checkout. If you do not have any of the payment wallets, you can pay via the service providers app.

Once you complete the transaction, you get a confirmation notification and also get an option that says Back to Google. If you select the button, you will be taken back to the Search option.

This feature is however not available for iPhone users and even when you look for Sim Recharge on your Google search bar, you don't get the option to check and compare plans. The tech giant might implement the same for iPhone users once it successfully runs the feature in Android.

However, one thing that raises the eyebrows is that Google didn't ask for permission before automatically entering the registered mobile number on the search bar. The first time users might get a little taken aback after witnessing Google's rather uncalled for promptness. It somewhere breaches the privacy of users as many times you don't want your number to be used without your permission. Nonetheless, as long as Google doesn't disclose your number to a third-party app without your permission it should not really be a problem.

There are over 1.1 billion cellular connections in India, out of which 95 per cent are prepaid connections. Although there are a plethora of options to recharge a phone, this service by Google can definitely make things simpler and hassle-free.





As the rich get richer, they are also branching out. They are muscling aside or buying out rivals. And they are locking in the industrys best engineers with paydays smaller companies could never match.

Amazon said last week that it had invested in the infrastructure needed to speed up shipping times for its Prime members to one day from two, raising the bar even higher for retail competitors. But Mondays trading on Wall Street showed just how hard it is to stay in the trillion-dollar club. Despite its e-commerce and cloud-computing dominance, Amazons value dipped just a bit below $1 trillion.

Apple recently earmarked billions of dollars to create shows and movies for its video subscription service in a challenge to Netflix, while Alphabet agreed to buy the activity tracker Fitbit for $2.1 billion in November and the analytics software firm Looker for $2.6 billion in June.

Todays dominant companies have so much power across such a broad array of markets and continue to leverage that power to expand into new markets, said Patrick Spence, chief executive of the speaker maker Sonos, at a congressional antitrust hearing last month in Boulder, Colo.

Sonos has sued Google, accusing Google of infringing on five of its patents, including technology that lets wireless speakers connect and synchronize with one another.

Techs richest companies seem to be defying a Wall Street assumption that as a company gets bigger, it becomes difficult to find new ways to make money and maintain rapid growth. Alphabet said profits in the last quarter of 2019 were 19 percent more than a year earlier. Revenue rose 17 percent to $46.1 billion, slightly below Wall Street expectations. The companys stock fell 4 percent in after-hours trading

To assuage some concern about sluggishness in its main search ad business, Alphabet disclosed for the first time detailed revenue figures for its YouTube and cloud computing units, which are growing faster than the rest of the company. YouTube sold $15.1 billion worth of ads in 2019, up 36 percent, while its cloud unit grew more than 50 percent to $8.9 billion. Ad revenue from search increased 15 percent to $98.1 billion.
For this reason, Warren said in his email that the school would not keep the students from attending classes. He said those who are concerned may instead keep their own children out of school.
In a nutshell: Twitter says it's fixed a bug in its API that made it easy for someone to match a user's Twitter handle with a phone number, which was discovered last year. The company also revealed that it has detected several attacks using the exploit, which seem to originate from Israel, Malaysia, and Iran -- likely the work of state-sponsored actors.

Back in December, security researcher Ibrahim Balic revealed a vulnerability in Twitter's Android app that allowed him to match millions of public usernames with their phone numbers.

Balic didn't report this to Twitter, but the company did its own investigation into the issue not long after the report was published. Today, it officially acknowledged the issue and revealed that several attackers had been abusing an API functionality to gain access to users' personal information.

The feature in question is normally intended as an easy way for you to find friends or colleagues on Twitter using their phone number, provided that they've enabled the option in Settings > Privacy and Safety > Discoverability and contacts. If you're in the EU, you should be safe as the functionality is opt-in there. However, if you live anywhere else it's actually opt-out and there's a high chance you didn't even know it exists.

Twitter says Balic wasn't the only one that exploited the feature "beyond its intended use case," as it identified several other accounts being used to perform the same kind of attack. The company didn't give an exact number, but indicated a lot of these are located in Iran, Malaysia, and Israel, indicating a possible link to state-sponsored actors.

The social giant suspended the accounts and fixed the loophole, so the only thing left for you to do is to review the discoverability settings for your account and disable them if you'd prefer not to be found using your phone number or email address.

It's worth noting that third party APIs can be an even bigger headache when it comes to vulnerabilities, and Twitter is also known for having misused user data to sell targeted ads in the recent past. That's why some speculate that Twitter will benefit from CEO Jack Dorsey's plan on creating a decentralized social media standard.
While the opinion polls suggest Boris Johnson is enjoying a honeymoon with the voters after Decembers election, Downing Street is certainly not enjoying a honeymoon with the media. Relations between No 10 and Westminster journalists have sunk to their lowest point for many years.

The warning signs were there during the election campaign when some media outlets that did not actively support the Conservatives were initially denied a place on Mr Johnsons battlebus.

Since the election, the advisers he recruited from Vote Leave have seemed determined to use the power stemming from the Tories huge majority to put their foot on the medias throat and keep it there. There have been selective government briefings for Tory-supporting newspapers on important issues such as Huaweis role in 5G and the decision on HS2.
Wilshire Quinn Provides $7,300,000 Refinance Loan in Newport Beach and Menifee, California

Wilshire Quinn Capital announced Tuesday that its private lending fund, the Wilshire Quinn Income Fund, has provided a $7,300,000 refinance loan on three properties located in Newport Beach and Menifee, California.

The properties consist of two newly built custom homes in Newport Beach, each consisting of 4474 square feet, with 5 bedrooms and 6 baths. The third property consists of 21 acres of land in Menifee which is zoned for the development of single-family residential properties.

The properties appraised collectively for $12,595,000, giving the Wilshire Quinn Income Fund a total loan-to-value ratio of 58 percent on the transaction.

Wilshire Quinn, a California hard money lender, typically funds loans in 5 to 7 business days and originates bridge loans ranging from $200,000-$10,000,000. Wilshie Quinn works directly with real estate owners and mortgage professionals nationwide.







As for Wilshire Quinn's typical borrowers, their customer base is fairly diverse; borrowers range from builders looking for rehab financing, to individuals who are looking to purchase or refinance an investment property.

ABOUT WILSHIRE QUINN

Wilshire Quinn is a San Diego private money lender, Los Angeles private money lender, and San Francisco private money lender, and provides financing to borrowers who are unable to obtain credit from traditional lending institutions or need to close quickly on a property. Wilshire Quinn will consider lending on properties located nationwide, including Seattle, Portland, Denver, and New York.

Loans are made or arranged by Wilshire Quinn Income Fund, LLC pursuant to California Finance Lenders Law license #603J060. Wilshire Quinn Capital, Inc. serves as manager of the Wilshire Quinn Income Fund, LLC. The information above is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. Nothing contained in the information above is an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. Any such offer to purchase securities will be made only through the Private Placement Memorandum of Wilshire Quinn Income Fund, LLC.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005926/en/
BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- China has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), shoring up its economy and providing support for local governments and individuals to fight the epidemic as a growing number of confirmed cases of infections is reported.

Here are the latest developments:

-- Chinese health authorities Monday said they had received reports of 2,829 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection on Sunday, bringing the total to 17,205 from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. A total of 361 people had died of the disease on the Chinese mainland by the end of Sunday.

-- By the end of Sunday, 15 confirmed cases had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), eight in the Macao SAR and 10 in Taiwan.

-- The novel coronavirus epidemic will only have a temporary impact on China's economy, and the country's good economic fundamentals for long-term growth remain unchanged, said Lian Weiliang, deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a press conference Monday in Beijing.

-- Several departments of China's central government have rolled out favorable policies or provided funds for local governments and individuals to fight the novel coronavirus, according to Li Bin, deputy director of the National Health Commission, at a press conference on Monday.

-- Eight large transport aircraft dispatched by the Chinese People's Liberation Army air force Sunday landed at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, delivering 795 military medical staff and 58 tonnes of supplies to help the city fight the epidemic.

-- Medical supplies to control the outbreak of the novel coronavirus are in a "tight balance" in central China's Hubei Province while related production capacity is recovering fast, according to Tian Yulong, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

-- The supplies of daily necessities across the country remained ample with stable prices amid the epidemic, the Ministry of Commerce said Monday.

-- Chinese experts warned that the novel coronavirus could be transmitted through the digestive system, according to the latest findings.

-- Multiple medical institutions are conducting clinical trials for the anti-novel coronavirus drug Remdesivir, Chinese health authorities said Monday.

-- Six biotech companies in Hubei Province have developed new products for detecting the novel coronavirus, according to Wang Wei, director of the Hubei Provincial Department of Science and Technology.

-- At least seven small-molecule drugs, specifically targeting the RNA polymerase and protease of 2019-nCoV, are currently in clinical research, renowned Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

-- The headquarters for the control and treatment of the epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus in Hubei Province has announced that it will conduct centralized isolation of all suspected infection cases to better contain the epidemic.

-- China has built a makeshift hospital in 10 days to battle against the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak. Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital with 1,000 beds was delivered Sunday in Wuhan.

-- A pregnant woman with novel coronavirus pneumonia has delivered a healthy baby in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, doctors said Monday.

-- Eight patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia were discharged from Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital in Hubei on Monday after they had been cured by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) or a combined treatment of TCM and Western medicine.

-- Southwest China's Yunnan Province has shut down 2,673 live poultry trading markets and banned the sales of wildlife and related products at farm produce fairs, supermarkets, restaurants and online stores for the epidemic control, provincial market supervisory authorities said Monday.
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

Armenia flag to be permanently raised on buildings of some more institutions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit trial judge to not self-recuse

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit court case resumes

298 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Artsakh emergency service: Remains of another participant in hostilities are found

816,660 tourists visit Armenia during 11 months of 2021

US proposes to UN Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea

World oil prices dropping

Newspaper: Amnesty process suspended in Armenia indefinitely

Newspaper: Those in Karabakh are resisting Armenia authorities arbitrariness

FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

Slovak government approves defense treaty with US

US imposes sanctions on 6 North Koreans

US senators unveil bill to impose sanctions against Russia

EU wants to help Lebanon avoid economic collapse

CSTO to approve Kazakhstan peacekeepers withdrawal order

German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

Boris Johnson apologizes for attending party during lockdown

Global COVID-19 cases rise by 55% percent, deaths stable

Thailand introduces $9 tourist fee

Erdogan vows to tame Turkish inflation as scepticism grows

Turkey's Turkic world ambitions face reality check in Kazakhstan

Teacher in Baku beats student

NEWS.am daily digest: 12.01.22

Turkish FM expresses concerns to Chinese counterpart

OSCE Chairman-in-Office speaks on situation along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021

China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded

Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation

Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods

Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day

3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings

Copper rises in price

One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning

About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions

Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night

French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly

289 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Gold slightly rises in price

North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile

OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

Oil is trading without a single dynamic

US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee

MOD: Armenia soldiers dead body found at midnight after Azerbaijan provocation

Newspaper: Casualties of Armenia PM Pashinyan's 'era of peace'

US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen

German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan

WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State

India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death

Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded

NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22

Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States

Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia

Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death

Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded
People wearing protective masks pray beside their clothes laid out on a table, at a Taoist Baoan temple in Taipei on Feb. 4, 2020. Taiwan has uncovered 10 cases of the new coronavirus so far, including two female Chinese nationals in their 70s who arrived in the country as part of a tour group. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

Taiwan Calls China Vile for Limiting WHO Access During Virus Outbreak

TAIPEITaiwan dramatically escalated its war of words with Beijing on Feb. 4 over the islands exclusion from the World Health Organization, saying vile China was preventing Taiwan from getting timely information about the coronavirus outbreak.

Taiwan is not a WHO member because of Chinas objections. Beijing claims the island is a wayward Chinese province and is thus adequately represented in the organization by China.

Taiwan says it is not and has never been part of communist China.

China told the WHO on Monday that it had shared full information about the coronavirus with Taiwan, and that outbreak communication had been smooth between the two sides.

The WHO also says Taiwan has been getting the information it needs.

But speaking in Taipei, Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said Taiwan has received very limited information and has been unable to get it quickly.

Although the virus is really serious, they are still using the one China principle to impede Taiwan from taking part in the WHOs technical meetings, she said.

The Chinese regime views Taiwan as part of its territory, despite the island being a full-fledged democracy with its own military, currency, and constitution. And Beijing has never renounced the use of military force to unite the island.

Taiwan has reported 10 cases of the coronavirus.

Disease has no national boundaries, Ou added. Putting political considerations over peoples health and safety, this, basically, is extremely vile.

Taiwan has been getting virus information from friendly countries such as the United States and Japan, she said, adding that Taiwans epidemic prevention efforts seem to have worked well.

In another area of tension between Taiwan and the WHO, Taiwan Health Minister Chen Shih-Chung said they had lodged a protest with the WHO for listing on its website a total of 13 cases for the island.

This is fake news, Chen told reporters. Our confirmed cases are only 10.

The WHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The island on Tuesday said it would deny entry to all foreign nationals who had been to China during the past 14 days starting Friday, extending an existing ban on visitors from China that does not include travelers and residents from Hong Kong and Macau.

China late on Monday allowed the first batch of an estimated 500 Taiwanese stranded in Wuhan, which has been locked down by the government as it tries to contain the spread of the virus, to return home.

Taiwan had complained that China had not responded to requests to fly out its citizens, even as Beijing gave such permission to other governments, including the United States and Britain.

Taiwans Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement on Tuesday that 247 people had arrived at Taipeis main international airport late on Monday.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, writing on her Facebook page, expressed thanks for the efforts of both sides to get her countrymen back home.

Although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have different political stances, in the face of the virus human rights and humanitarianism should be put before political considerations, she wrote.

By Ben Blanchard. The Epoch Times contributed to this report.
Marrying someone you love while believing that you will be miserable is not a rational, healthy, or adult choice. You've already been together for seven years. Marriage will not magically transform your personal preferences or your life's goals. Perhaps you two could agree to a year of a long-distance relationship, where you each live where you want to live. You could also research cities with outdoorsy reputations (like Boston, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, and Denver) that might give you each the lifestyle you want.
GUYSBOROUGH, N.S.A psychiatrist who assessed Lionel Desmond two days before he fatally shot his family and himself says the former soldier showed no signs he was planning to hurt anyone when he arrived at the hospital in Antigonish, N.S., on Jan. 1, 2017.

Dr. Faisal Rahman, who has extensive experience treating veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, told a fatality inquiry Tuesday that Desmond had come to the hospital because he was suffering from symptoms of the disorder after having an argument with his wife Shanna the night before.

It just kept on escalating until next morning, Rahman recalled Desmond telling him during a 30- to 40-minute interview at St. Marthas Regional Hospital.

Desmond said the dispute was part of a long-standing pattern of conflict with his wife, which had included calls to police in the past, Rahman testified.

He said Desmond admitted to striking a table and startling his 10-year-old daughter, something for which he felt remorseful.

Rahman said Desmond was distressed over what happened, but he was otherwise pleasant, engaging, forthcoming, calm, composed and showed no signs of psychosis or thoughts of suicide or homicide.

The inquiry, which began last month, is investigating why Desmond fatally shot his 31-year-old wife, his 52-year-old mother Brenda and 10-year-old daughter Aaliyah on Jan. 3, 2017  a day after he left the hospital. He then shot himself in the head with the same military-style carbine he had legally purchased earlier in the day.

On Tuesday, Rahman told the inquiry he was aware of another psychiatrists assessment that raised concerns about Desmonds previous treatment for mental illness.

The inquiry has been told that in the fall of 2016, Dr. Ian Slayter  a colleague of Rahmans  was worried that Desmonds case wasnt getting the proper attention from military and veterans programs.

Slayter wrote that normally he would see a patient with PTSD once to confirm the diagnosis and make recommendations. However, given the complexity of (Desmonds) case, and given that he seems to be falling through the cracks ... I said I would follow him for a short while to help him get connected, he wrote.

The report also stated that Slayter was concerned about Desmonds borderline delusions regarding his wifes fidelity  though he rated Desmonds risk of suicide as low.

Rahman testified he was aware of Slayters concerns, having skimmed his three-page report the night he met Desmond at the hospital.

However, Rahman said Slayters note gave him a sense of relief because it was clear Desmond had sought help and was receiving treatment from the hospitals outpatient mental health clinic.

The note also said Desmond was seeing a social worker from the federal Veterans Affairs Department and he had an appointment with a therapist.

I thought it was a good plan, Rahman said.

During his interview with Desmond, Rahman said he asked the former infantryman if he was thinking of hurting himself or anyone else, or if he had abused his wife.

Desmond denied having suicidal or homicidal thoughts and insisted he had never abused his wife, Rahman said. As well, the 33-year-old veteran told him police had taken away his firearms during an earlier incident, though the details were not disclosed.

Rahman said Desmond admitted that jealousy used to be a problem in his relationship with his wife, but he said that problem had abated after he stopped consuming medical marijuana in 2016.

As well, Rahman said Desmond told him about the seven months he served in Afghanistan, where he was involved in intense firefights and was sometimes ordered to place human remains in body bags.

When inquiry counsel Allen Murray asked if Desmond presented any concerning behaviours, Rahman replied: No.

Rahman said he happened to be at the hospital the next day when Desmond was released and he made a point of asking Desmond if he was having any thoughts of hurting himself or others. Desmond said he wasnt.

Rahman also reminded Desmond to book another appointment with Slayter, which Desmond did the next day  only hours before the killings.

Rahman described Desmond as thankful and obliging, adding: If he wanted to go, I had no grounds to keep him.

Lawyer Thomas Macdonald, who represents Shanna Desmonds family, asked Rahman if he was concerned about Lionel Desmonds military background, PTSD diagnosis, previous borderline delusions, ownership of firearms and rocky marital relationship.

Wouldnt those be red flags in terms of taking everything he tells you at face value when, the next morning, he says he wants to go home? Macdonald asked.

Rahman said his decision to release Desmond was based on his clinical assessment.

Thats how psychiatrists assess people ... (but) theres always a risk, he said. (Desmond) did not meet the criteria to stay in the hospital against his wishes.

Read more about:
Sri Lanka on Tuesday dropped the rendering of the Tamil-version of the national anthem from its Independence Day ceremony for the first time since 2016, raising concerns over the government's policy for national reconciliation after the end of the brutal civil war against the LTTE.

In his first address to the nation on the occasion of the 72nd National Day here, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa however vowed there would be no discrimination.

"As the president today, I represent the entire Sri Lankan nation irrespective of ethnicity, religion, party affiliation or other differences," he said.

He said he would ensure civil freedoms like free press and the right to expression.

At today's ceremony, the national anthem was only sung in the Sinhala language.

This was the first time since 2016 that there was no Tamil national anthem at the Independence Day celebrations in the country.

The then Sri Lankan government in 2015 started including the Tamil national anthem as a means of achieving reconciliation with the Tamil minority community.

Sri Lanka's Constitution provides for the singing of the national anthem in both Sinhala and Tamil.

The Tamil version Sri Lanka Thaye' is a direct translation of Namo namo matha' in the Sinhala language.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after his swearing-in ceremony in November thanked the powerful Buddhist clergy for backing his presidential bid and vowed to protect all communities, while giving foremost priority to Buddhism. He also thanked the Sinhala-majority people for electing him.

While the Tamils in 2016 appreciated the symbolic gesture of recognizing them by adding the Tamil version at the Independence Day celebrations, the opposition, then led by the Rajapaksas and a majority Sinhala community member, filed a fundamental rights petition against the move.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa earlier served as the country's president from 2005-2015, a period which was mired by allegations of human rights abuses, especially against the Tamils.

According to UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by security forces during Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime that brought an end to the brutal civil war with with the defeat of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009.

Muslims make up nearly 10 per cent of Sri Lanka's over 21 million people, who are predominantly Sinhalese Buddhists. About 12 per cent of the population are Hindus, mostly from the ethnic Tamil minority. Some seven per cent of the population are Christians.

There are already concerns in the country that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's remarks may have led to apprehensions among the minority communities, who are already worried about the possibility of the return of an iron-fist rule under the Rajapaksa-duo's regime.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa during his address said his government was ready to tolerate and accommodate opposing views.

"I wish to fully strengthen the freedom of people to think and write freely," he said.

He also vowed to tackle extremism in the country.

"We will not allow extremist organisations that pave way for terrorism to be active in the country," Gotabaya Rajapaksa said recalling that thirty years of conflict in the north and east had delayed the development of the country.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected the country's president on November 16 with overwhelming support from the Sinhala majority community. During the elections, the minority Tamil and Muslim communities had largely supported his main rival.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TUSCOLA COUNTY  A Caro man is lodged in the Tuscola County Jail facing charges of accosting a minor following a video posted online by a vigilante.

Jeffery Lloyd Bader, 47, of Caro has been charged with using a computer to commit a crime and accosting a child for immoral purposes. The first charge carries with it a maximum seven-year sentence, while the second carries a four-year maximum if convicted.

On Feb. 1 a video posted on social media began circulating in the region. The video showed partial transcripts of some alleged conversations between a man and a person claiming to be a 14-year-old boy.

Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene said his office is working with the Caro Police Department and the Michigan State Police on the case. Reene said his office learned of the situation early Feb. 2.

After establishing interests, the individuals talking in the transcripts agreed to meet in Bay City at the YMCA, where the older man agreed to pick up the teenager. The older man included a description of his vehicle and where he would be parked.

Following the transcripts, the video continues by showing the vigilante walking to the agreed upon location outside the YMCA, where he opened the rear passenger door of the mans car and proceeded to converse with the man.

I am actually recording this right now for your safety and mine, the person recording the video said. I dont know Who were you coming here to meet today? How old was the boy?

Well people lie, so I dont always know, the older man replied.

After being prompted again by the person recording, the man states that he was meeting someone who stated they were 14-years-old.

According to a press release from the prosecutor's office in Caro, the Caro Police Department is investigating the matter with assistance from the Tuscola County Sheriff's Office. Caro Chief Brian Newcomb has also been coordinating with the Bay City Police Department for additional investigative measures.

Search warrants were prepared and executed Feb. 2, according to the release, and several items of evidence were seized and are currently being analyzed by investigators.

Bader was arraigned Feb. 4 and bond was set at $20,000 cash/surety 10%. A probable cause/pre-preliminary exam has been scheduled for Feb. 12 at 9:30 a.m. and a preliminary examination Feb. 19 at 9 a.m.

Bader's LinkedIn profile listed him as a chaplain and activities director at Lighthouse Neurological, however, Lighthouse Clinical Director Connie Hart said Bader has not been affiliated with the organization for several years.

"The Lighthouse is deeply saddened and horrified by the video," she said. "We are grieving about the video. Jeff Bader is not employed at the lighthouse and has not worked here for many years. He has no relationship with the Lighthouse."

The video was posted to YouTube by the channel OG Rages, which has two other videos of similar nature.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact the Caro Police Department at 989-673-2402.

As in all criminal cases, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in the court of law, the release states.
There's yet another new rocket launch startup throwing its hat in the ring -- Astra, an Alameda-based company that's actually been operating in stealth mode (though relatively openly, often referred to as "Stealth Space Company") for the past three years developing and testing its launch vehicle. Astra revealed its business model and progress to date in a new feature article with Bloomberg Businessweek, detailing how it plans to use mass production to deliver rockets quickly and cheaply for small satellite orbital delivery. Astra revealed it has raised more than $100 million from investors, including Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors, Airbus Ventures, Canann Partners and Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff, to name a few, and it has big ambitions in terms of cost and capabilities.

Astra's rockets are smaller than most existing launch vehicles in operation, designed to delivery up to 450 lbs of cargo to space, but with the specific mandate of doing so quickly and responsively. The company is a finalist (and the only remaining one) on Darpa's Launch Challenge, the terms of which mandate that the winning company deploy two rockets from two different locations within a few weeks of each other. Astra is still in the running, while its erstwhile competitors have dropped out, with Virgin Orbit having voluntarily withdrawn and Vector Launch having gone out of business.

The Darpa challenge, which includes an award of $12 million for the winner, represents a growing trend in terms of defense customer needs: Fast turnaround and responsive operations for small satellite delivery. In an industry where the process of securing a launch service provider to actually flying a payload has typically taken at least six months in the best-case scenario, there's a growing need for quicker timelines in the interest of building more redundancy and resilience into defense and reconnaissance space operations through use of networks of small satellites, versus single large geostationary satellites that are expensive to launch and more time-consuming to task.

Story continues

Astra, led by serial entrepreneur and former NASA CTO Chris Kemp, wants to address this growing demand (which extends to commercial customers like Spire, Planet and others that are putting up large communications and Earth observation small satellite constellations) by producing rockets fast and with high frequency. Per the Bloomberg article, Astra says it can launch "profitably" for $2.5 million per mission, which is around half the going rate for a Rocket Lab launch, and that it eventually hopes to attain costs as low as $1 million per mission with a daily launch operational cadence. To that end, it's looking to ramp production to a rate of producing hundreds of vehicles per year in a 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility it's setting up.

Astra is also different in that it's using aluminum primarily in its launch vehicle, as opposed to the more costly but premium carbon fiber used by Rocket Lab in its Electron vehicle. And their launch platform is designed with mobility in mind, as the whole point is that it can be deployed responsively and globally on short notice. If Rocket Lab's launcher is a finely crafted and engineered supercar, Astra's is aiming to be a reliable, adequate daily compact commuter car.

Next up for Astra in terms of key milestones is a launch planned for February 21 from Kodiak, Alaska -- an island spaceport owned and operated by Alaska Aerospace. The company has flown two suborbital test launches from this site, both in 2018, and both resulted in failures shortly following launch, so it's got a lot to prove with this latest forthcoming attempt.

TechCrunch is hosting its first ever dedicated space event in 2020  TechCrunch Sessions: Space, happening June 25 in LA. Get your tickets now!
Snow and ice could cause problems

The road has been closed.

Follow the latest updates from our travel feed below

The Dobbin Road in Armagh has been reopend folowing an earlier crash.

Diversions are in place and traffic is being diverted onto the Vicarage Road, delays are expected.

Our live updates from across Northern Ireland are compiled by @TrafficwatchNI, @BBCNITravel and @PSNITraffic.
In China, the epicenter of the new strain of the coronavirus, a powerful movement restriction policy has been implemented, with public transportation temporarily suspended and cities blocked.

China borders North Korea, which is the main route for North Koreans to defect. In order to defect from North Korea by land, there is no choice but to head to China. However, China is using its official power to forcibly repatriate North Korean refugees.

So many North Korean defectors are not reassured even if they cross the Yalu River and escape from the North. The unrest continues until it reaches "third countries" such as South Korea from China, and they are moving in secret to avoid being caught by local police.

To North Korean defectors in China whom should migrate immediately, 'new coronavirus' is becoming another disaster. North Korean human rights activists gathered their mouths and asked for prayers, saying North Korean defectors in China are in a difficult position due to the incident.

Kim Sung-eun, a pastor at the Kaleb Sun Church, said, "The civil and military are blocking the movement in China in general. "As North Korean defectors live in places because they can't move," he said. "That's why the food and clothing issue is a necessary reality right now."

"We hope that North Korean defectors in China will pray so that everything necessary for their lives can be supported while the Wuhan pneumonia recede from their safe houses," Kim said on his SNS.

"All means of transportation and city inspections in China have been tightened," said Pastor Jeong Peter of the North Korean Justice Union, who is working to rescue North Korean defectors. Even rural village entrance was shut down, all activities of North Korean women from escaping was suspended," he said.

Local activist groups protecting North Korean defectors are facing growing difficulties, with the need to keep them safe until the incident ends.

Pastor Kim Kyu-ho (a permanent representative of the Sunmin Network) said, "North Korean defectors in China cannot receive proper treatment because of their status as refugees or illegal aliens. I am worried that being under a concealed place they may be affected by the incident," he said. "So, it is more urgent to revise the law on the protection of North Korean defectors."

Revising the law, Kim said, should provide a system for local embassies to actively move when urgent relief situations arise in third countries.
There is no case of love jihad in Kerala, the Centre said in Parliament on Tuesday in response to a question about whether the government was aware of the observation of Kerala High Court on the issue.

The Union ministry of home affairs made the remarks in a written reply to a question by Congress leader from Kerala, Benny Behanan, whether any of the central agencies have reported any case of love jihad from the southern state during the last two years.

The term Love Jihad is not defined under the extant laws. No such case of Love Jihad has been reported by any of the central agencies, junior home minister G Kishan Reddy said in the reply.

However, two cases from Kerala involving inter-faith marriages have been investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Reddy said.

Article 25 of the Constitution provides for the freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion subject to public order, morality and health. Various courts have upheld this view including the Kerala High Court, he said.

Love jihad is a term popularised by radical Hindu groups to describe what they believe is an organised conspiracy of Muslim men to force or trick Hindu women into conversion and marriage. The purported motives include expanding Indias Muslim population and aiding the Islamic State.

Keralas largest Christian denomination, the Syro-Malabar Church, had recently said girls from the community are being targeted and killed after being forced into marriages and blamed the police for not taking effective measures to curb the menace.

It had expressed concerns over the issue and exhorted believers to be alert. It also said such practices were posing a serious threat to Keralas secular as it cited examples to prop its claim.

The claims were later questioned within the church.
A 47-year-old man from Ohio has been accused of cutting his friend's throat in a row over the last slice of bacon.

Gregory Seipel is behind bars after he was charged with second-degree felonious assault triggered by an argument over the number of pieces they had eaten.

Mr Seipel, from Ludlow Falls in Miami County, is facing a jail sentence of up to eight years after the alleged attack at a home on Sugar Grove Road on Thursday night.

Gregory Seipel, 47, is in jail after being accused of cutting his friend in a row over bacon

The victim told officers that the row began after he cooked bacon for breakfast, according to a Miami County Sheriff's Office report.

'He said Mr Seipel was arguing with him about the bacon and the amount [he had eaten]', WHIO reported.

The victim said Mr Seipel grabbed him by the back of the head, held a razor blade to his neck and cut him.

A witness at the scene is reported to have said the two men had been arguing when Mr Seipel cut the victim on the side of his throat and threatened to kill him before he was able to escape.

He said Mr Seipel was staying with him after being released from prison.

According to records, Mr Seipel was released from prison in December last year after being jailed for second-degree felony burglary and third-degree felony theft in Allen County in 2010.

Mr Seipel's bond was set at $50,000 in Miami County Municipal Court on Monday.
Special Aide to the former President John Dramani Mahama, Lawyer Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, has described President Nana Akufo-Addo's decision for thorough investigations into the Airbus bribery scandal as the "height of hypocrisy.



He has accused the President of double standards for his swift directive to the Office of the Special Prosecutor led by Mr. Martin Amidu, when equally other stinking issues of graft are being watched to go cold; including the "disappearance" of over 500 seized excavators in the fight against galamsey.



Speaking on Okay FMs "Ade Akye Abia" Morning Show, the private legal practitioner wondered why within 24hours, President Akufo-Addo could act when the tables appear to turn to his favour.



"As for me, I am happy that within the space of two days or less of this Airbus scandal, the President has called on the Special Prosecutor to investigate the case. Sometimes, the hypocrisy in this country is too much. We have a lot of double standards in this country and sometimes too I have a feeling that even the media is not helping . . . "



 . . For almost a week now, we have asked the Chairman of the Inter-ministerial Committee Against Galamsey and he has come to say that the over 500 seized excavators as part of this galamsey fight cannot be located. So, the President has not heard about this for him to instruct the Special Prosecutor to investigate the matter? he wondered.



 . . we are in this country when for more than 2 years, premix fuel, worth more than 22 million Cedis has gone missing and the President has not told Martin Amidu to investigate it, but with the Airbus issue, the President is so much interested that he has called for investigations; so we welcome it. We are happy but we will plead with the President not to stop at the Airbus but extend it to 500 missing excavators for Martin Amidu to investigate as well, he added.



Airbus has admitted that a top Ghanaian government official was among many officials from different countries the company bribed between 2009 and 2015 in exchange for contracts, which has led to a court in Britain slapping a fine of 3 billion on the company.







Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The most-touted salary negotiation advice boils it down to a few simple steps.

Receive job offer. Negotiate. Push hard. Don't leave any money on the table. Take what's yours. Get what you want.

Then you start the job, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Yet this aggressive negotiation advice often glosses over a very important next step. The people you're negotiating with are your future co-workers. Going hard at the negotiating table can start this relationship off on rocky footing. And it can have serious impacts on your job performance.

When hard negotiations backfire

A study conducted by a professor and a postdoctoral researcher from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania suggests a different approach to negotiating. Maurice Schweitzer and Einav Hart's research encourages a softer approach that takes into account the relationship-building aspect of the transaction. They published the results of their study in the journal SSRN.

You might ultimately get what you want salary-wise. But consider that a short-term gain. If you went head-to-head during those negotiations, your future co-workers won't forget it. Conflict begets conflict. You've already set the tone for your working relationship before you've even started the job.

"These relationships can have long-term implications beyond the negotiation table," Hart explained on a recent episode of the Knowledge@Wharton podcast.

Hard negotiators proved to be less productive workers

The research also found that wage negotiations can influence performance and harm productivity.

Schweitzer and Hart examined the outcomes of two cohorts of workers. One group of workers negotiating their wage with the employer. The other group of workers received a set wage that wasn't negotiated. Whether they negotiated or not, both groups were paid the same.

Even though they were receiving about the same wage, one group was less productive once they started the job. Negotiators did substantially less work when compared with the workers who didn't negotiate.

Schweitzer and Hart's hypothesis is that negotiators were more likely to view their employer as their competitor. They had something to "win" in the negotiation process. That process brought forth competing interests that then continued into the workplace. Because negotiators don't see their interests as aligned with their employers', perhaps they aren't as motivated when it comes time to do the work.

A case for not negotiating your salary

So should you just skip the whole rigmarole? Schweitzer would like you to consider it. Of course, it all depends on the offer itself and your specific situation. The Wharton researchers aren't saying you should never negotiate.

Above all, Schweitzer and Hart encourage you to understand the implications baked into your negotiation style.

"The key idea here is that we can't assume that when we negotiate, the negotiation process ends with an agreement and we start fresh right after that," Schweitzer explains. "Rather, the negotiation process is part of a broader relationship that we have."
English Finnish

Trustee Appointed for the Arbitration Proceedings Concerning the Redemption of Minority Shares in Silmaasema Oyj





Silmaasema Oyj

Stock Exchange Release  Inside information

4 February 2020 at 5:00 p.m. EET



Silmaasema Oyj has received the following information regarding proceedings concerning the redemption of minority shares in Silmaasema Oyj:

Coronaria Oy ("Coronaria") has on November 26, 2019 commenced redemption proceedings in respect of Silmaasema Oyj's ("Silmaasema") minority shares by initiating arbitration proceedings in accordance with Chapter 18, Section 3 of the Finnish Companies Act in order to obtain ownership of all the issued and outstanding shares in Silmaasema.

As a result of Coronaria's application for the above-mentioned arbitration proceedings, the Redemption Board of the Finland Chamber of Commerce has petitioned the District Court of Helsinki for the appointment of a trustee to look after the interests of Silmaasema's minority shareholders during the redemption process. With its decision given on January 15, 2020, the District Court of Helsinki has appointed attorney-at-law Pauliina Tenhunen to act as such trustee.

Coronaria's notice, as referred to in Chapter 18, Section 5, Subsection 2 of the Finnish Companies Act, is attached to this release and has been published on the website of the company at https://company.silmaasema.fi/en/share-information .





SILMAASEMA OYJ



For further information, please contact:

CEO Teppo Linden, tel. +358 400 684 119

Niina Streng, Head of Communications and Investor Relations, tel. +358 50 322 5195



Silmaasema is a Finnish company, which offers all products and services for optical retail and eye healthcare nationwide. Silmaasema is the largest private eye clinic provider offering eye surgeries and the second largest optical retail chain in Finland. The Silmaasema chain has nearly 150 stores and 13 eye clinics in Finland as well as eight stores in Estonia. The Silmaasema chain employs over 1,000 eye healthcare professionals. The Silmaasema Groups net sales were EUR 122.9 million in 2018 and adjusted EBITDA was EUR 11.8 million.





Attachment
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CRB is pleased to announce that Carmine Stropoli has joined the organization as Life Sciences Technologist.

Stropoli has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical engineering field. Based in CRB's Philadelphia office, he will help CRB evaluate and determine appropriate pharmaceutical process technologies for client design-build projects. Among his other key responsibilities, Stropoli will identify and implement designs for process optimizations, including new applications for robotics in pharma facilities, and lead or support the determination and arrangement of GMP compliant facility operations in existing and new facilities.

"We are so excited to bring a world class talent like Carmine onboard. His diverse expertise strengthens our team and provides us with more opportunities to support our clients," said Pete Matson, CRB Core Team Leader.

Stropoli is a specialist at developing, coordinating and directing pharmaceutical process designs for aseptic fill/finish, oral solid dosage manufacturing and packaging operations and facilities from conceptual through detailed design engineering phases. He offers diverse engineering and operations experience developing and directing the design of GMP compliant fill/finish, Oral Solid Dosages packaging and material handling operations involving the specification of appropriate technologies, arrangement of the functional and support unit operations, directing core Life Sciences teams and performing due diligence and the selection of vendors.

Stropoli's design experience includes aseptic filling, barrier isolation and restricted access barrier systems, components preparation operations, lyophilization, dispensing, blending, wet/dry/extrusion granulation, compression, encapsulation and coating, blister and bottle packaging, IBC technology, containment technology, material handling and warehousing.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to work for a great and respected competitor after all these years," Stropoli said. "I look forward to working with our teams and helping CRB forward its reputation for excellence."

Before joining CRB, Stropoli served as Director, Life Science Technologies, for Exyte in Boston, Mass. In that role, Stropoli completed a variety of projects in the following areas: aseptic filling and finishing operations and facilities; oral solid dosage operations and facilities; existing facility upgrades and improvements; technology transfer from R&D to commercial production; and alternative technologies assessments and evaluations.

About CRB:

CRB is a leading provider of engineering, architecture, construction and consulting solutions to the global life sciences and advanced technology industries. Our more than 1,000 employees provide best-in-class solutions that drive success and positive change for our clients, our people and our communities. CRB is a privately held company with a rich 35-year history of serving clients throughout the world, consistently striving for the highest standard of technical knowledge, creativity and execution.

Media Contact:

Colleen Scarborough

Phone: 816-891-3725 | [email protected]

SOURCE CRB
Britain officially quit the European Union last Friday, eliciting loud hosannas from anti-Europe campaigners and deep anxiety from Britons who wanted to keep their country in Europe. U.K. representatives withdrew from EU assemblies, councils and committees, but for the moment, nothing else changed.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Britain officially quit the European Union last Friday, eliciting loud hosannas from anti-Europe campaigners and deep anxiety from Britons who wanted to keep their country in Europe. U.K. representatives withdrew from EU assemblies, councils and committees, but for the moment, nothing else changed.

Prime Minister Boris Johnsons government and the masters of the EU now have to work out how trade, fisheries, migration, citizenship rights, joint public services and other connections, built up during Britains 47-year membership, will be managed in these new circumstances. At the same time, Mr. Johnson has to keep the United Kingdom from disintegrating and the EU has to keep its 27 remaining members working together.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has to keep the United Kingdom from disintegrating. (Kirsty Wigglesworth / The Associated Press)

Canada will have to figure out what to make of this new entity in the North Atlantic that used to be part of Europe but soon will not be. Is it an important market we should try to trade with, or is it a sinking ship we should steer clear of?

Mr. Johnson said Monday, as he has before, he wants a trade agreement with the EU rather like the 2016 trade treaty between the EU and Canada. This would eliminate tariffs on most merchandise, open government procurement and leave each side free to choose their own social and economic policies and product standards.

The EU has a different plan. Michel Barnier, Europes top trade negotiator, said Britains access to the EU market will depend on British compliance with EU policies and standards so as to ensure a level playing field. In other words, our market, our rules.

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Since the EU population of 446 million far exceeds the U.K.s 66 million, any compromise between these two positions is likely to tilt Europes way. If a compromise cannot be reached, Mr. Johnson and his people will have to get along without a European trade treaty. Since Europe is Britains nearest neighbour and main export market, failure to achieve a treaty would be a misfortune for Europe and a catastrophe for Britain.

Withdrawal from Europe has, however, changed the argument over Scottish independence. Scots rejected independence by 55 per cent to 45 per cent in a 2014 vote, when Britain was staying in Europe. Now Britain is dragging the Scots unwillingly out of Europe. A trade deal that erects barriers between Scotland and Europe may sharply change Scottish opinion.

British withdrawal from the EU has already started commercially separating Northern Ireland from the U.K. and attaching it more closely to the Irish Republic. Mr. Johnsons plan seems likely to weaken Scotlands attachment as well.

Canada has close sentimental attachments to Britain, the former colonial power that ran this place from far away shaped Canadian institutions and eventually made us run our own country. Because of a long, shared history, Canadians will wish Britain well in its leap into the unknown.

Sentiment should not, however, cloud our vision of the choice Britain has made and the risks it is running. Britain has chosen to be small and local rather than large and continental. It runs the risks of fragmentation, economic decline and political irrelevance.

Like Russia, Britain still passes for a great power and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council on the basis of its greatness 75 years ago. Time, however, has not been kind to the old dear. Shes making quirky decisions and we cant do much about it.
A top London trader has been suspended from work following accusations he stole from the staff canteen.

Paras Shah, 31, allegedly took items from Citigroup banks European headquarters in Canary Wharf, the Financial Times reported.

The multinational suspended him following the allegations, sources told the newspaper.

Another banker said of the canteen: I can easily tell you there is nothing worth stealing there.

Citigroup's European HQ in Canary Wharf / AFP via Getty Images

Mr Shah was previously reported to have left the bank after a tough year. Both Mr Shah and Citigroup have declined to comment on the grounds of his alleged suspension.

The 31-year-old, moved from HSBC to Citigroup in 2017, joining the trading department. Just two months later he was promoted to the position of head of high-yield credit trading for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The lucrative role involves selling companies risky debt to investors. Successful traders in this area are usually among banks highest earners, earning more than a million pounds in salary and bonuses in a good year.

Educated in economics at the University of Bath, Mr Shah first joined HSBC in 2009, first as a summer analyst while he was still at university, according to LinkedIn.

In 2014 Jonathan Burrows, a managing director at BlackRock Asset Management Investor Services, was banned from taking senior roles in the British financial sector after he was found to have repeatedly skipped paying for his train ride.
cleveland.com

Cleveland, Akron forecast

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Conditions across the area should be relatively calm throughout the day on Wednesday with cloudy skies and highs around freezing.

The National Weather Service forecast calls for a wintry mix to blanket Northeast Ohio late on Wednesday and into the overnight hours.

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Cleveland sunrise - 7:37 a.m.

Cleveland sunset - 5:47 p.m.

Lake Erie water temp: 37 degrees

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Hazardous weather outlook

A Small Craft Advisory is in effect until noon Wednesday. Wind gusts up to 25 knots and waves of 3-5 feet are expected.

A mix of sleet and freezing rain are expected Tuesday afternoon and into the evening. Overnight rain and freezing rain Wednesday will continue into Thursday and could lead to slick conditions in some areas.

Don't Edit

Extended forecast for Northeast Ohio

Thursday will switch between periods of rain, freezing rain, and snow depending on the temperatures. Highs will reach 40.

Friday will see morning snow followed by some clearing and highs only around 30.

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Ohio regional radar

Don't Edit

Don't Edit
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc met on February 3 with Ambassador of Armenia to Vietnam Vahram Kazhoyan.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, greeting the Ambassador, Prime Minister Phuc noted that there is a positive atmosphere of mutual understanding between the two countries and particularly emphasized the importance of the development of cooperation in the spheres of trade, economy and investments.

Thanking the Prime Minister of Vietnam for the reception, Ambassador Kazhoyan congratulated him on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the establishment of Communist Party of Vietnam and assumption of the chairmanship over the UNSC and the ASEAN by Vietnam.

During the meeting Ambassador Kazhoyan referred to the priorities of the Armenian-Vietnamese cooperation. He added that the Armenian companies show great interest to participate in Vietnam Expo 2020, which can be a good platform for the export of Armenian products not only to Vietnam, but also ASEAN countries.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
Asia US Disinfectant Maker Boosts Output as China Hospitals Battle Virus

A worker in a protective suit disinfects Dongxinzhuang village in Qingdao, China as a preventive measure against the spread of the new coronavirus on Jan. 29, 2020. / REUTERS

BEIJINGUS manufacturer Decon7 Systems is stepping up production of a powerful disinfectant at six facilities, up from three, to fill surging demand from hospitals in China grappling with the coronavirus epidemic, the firms founder, Joe Drake, told Reuters on Monday.

As hospitals in the central province of Hubei and neighboring regions struggle to rein in a new coronavirus that has killed 361 people and infected more than 17,000, demand has swelled during the last fortnight.

This is off the charts, Drake said by telephone. They want everything we can manufacture.

China has repeatedly said it is short of key medical supplies in the worst-hit areas, including basic gear to protect medical workers, such as face masks and protective suits.

With hospitals in the cities of Wuhan, Jingzhou, Xiaogan and Changde all requesting disinfectant, Decon7 will run double shifts at three new facilities in the United States from this week, in addition to three sites already in operation, Drake added.

The company hopes to air freight seven containers of product, each containing 80,000 pounds, or about 36 tonnes, this week to hasten delivery that normally takes three to four weeks by sea, he said.

Its not hard to make the product, but its the packaging, Drake added. They want it in small sizes, which are easier for staff to handle.

The Scottsdale, Arizona company, which supplies major food processors and poultry farms in the United States, started shipping its hydrogen peroxide-based product to China last year to decontaminate farms infected with deadly African swine fever.

On Saturday, Beijing waived a duty of 48 percent it has levied on the product because of its trade war with the United States, with the Finance Ministry saying it had implemented a temporary exemption on US products aimed to help curb the outbreak.

The disinfectant, known as D7, works by attacking viruses and killing the virus RNA.

Effective for up to eight hours in a wide range of temperatures, it is being sprayed in hospital areas where virus patients have been treated, in order to kill particles left on surfaces, equipment or in ventilation systems, Drake said.

Large slaughterhouses and industrial farms typically buy the product in multi-gallon drums.

The Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore has also asked for a price quote for 1 million face masks and 1 million bottles of hand sanitizer, Drake added.

With its manufacturing operations in the United States, the firm has escaped the production woes facing mask makers in China.

You may also like these stories:

Hong Kong Reports First Coronavirus Death as Hospital Workers Escalate Strike

China to Supply 1.2 Trillion Yuan to Money Markets Amid Virus Spread

Virus Deaths in China Top 360, Overtake Mainland Toll for SARS
South Dakota's chief justice seeks $5 million for courthouse security

In Chief Justice Jensen's State of the Judiciary Address, he mentioned courthouse security, sexual harassment training and a lack of court reporters.
[February 04, 2020] Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin Ready to Help Families Enroll for the 2020-2021 School Year

Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin (WIDCA), an online public school serving students in grades 9-12 throughout the state, is ready to welcome students to enroll for the 2020-2021 school year. WIDCA gives students a personalized learning experience and is designed to assist those who seek alternative pathways to education. With more than three years as a trusted education program, WIDCA is available to all students who reside in Wisconsin. Authorized by the McFarland School District, and delivered entirely online, WIDCA combines online instruction, a rigorous curriculum and the support of state-licensed teachers. In addition to working toward their high school diplomas, WIDCA students can participate in the Destinations Career Program, which allows them to discover exciting options for their future in career fields like Business, Health nd Human Services, IT, and Manufacturing and the Trades.



Students can also earn college credits through partnerships with local colleges and universities and prepare to take industry-recognized certification exams upon graduation. "With college costs spiraling out of control nationwide, it's good to get an idea of what you want to do before you get there," says Head of School Fadia Afaneh "Our career program lets students try new things and get a sense for the options they have, while they're still in high school. Our teachers and staff truly help Wisconsin students take charge of their own future."

Overall, WIDCA offers challenging academic curriculum focused on college preparation. Students take a full course load in the core subjects of math, science, English language arts, and history. Electives include world languages, art and music, as well as high school honors courses. WIDCA also offers student clubs, in-person field trips, online guest speakers, and social gatherings to foster a sense of school community. Virtual classes are taught by Wisconsin-licensed teachers who provide instruction during live online class sessions, and are available to students via phone, email and one-to-one meetings. Students choose online school for a variety of reasons including advanced learning, a bullying-free environment, and the ability to support extracurricular pursuits or medical needs. WIDCA's online platform gives students the opportunity to pursue their academic goals in a supportive environment and at an appropriate pace for their learning style. WIDCA is now accepting enrollments for the 2020-2021 school year. Families are encouraged to attend an online or in-person information session hosted by the school. More information on WIDCA, how to enroll, and a schedule of upcoming events can be found at widca.k12.com. About Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin, a charter school authorized by the McFarland School District, is the first-ever career and technical education-focused online high school in Wisconsin using the curriculum and academic programs by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN). It is also the first online career readiness program in Wisconsin to offer a construction pre-apprenticeship program in partnership with industry leaders. As part of the Wisconsin public school system, Destinations Career Academy is tuition-free and serves students statewide in grades 9-12. For more information about Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin, visit widca.k12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005119/en/

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Shock jock Kyle Sandilands revealed his receding hairline and slicked back undercut as he stepped out on Sunday.

The 48-year-old was spotted at Sydney Airport before catching a flight to Los Angeles with girlfriend, Tegan Kynaston.

Kyle's do was on show as he skipped wearing his trademark black cap for the flight.

Is he going bald? Kyle Sandilands, 48, showed off his receding hairline and slicked back undercut while out with girlfriend Tegan Kynaston on Sunday. Pictured before and after

The radio star also donned his signature all-black outfit - a black T-shirt, a dark vest and shorts.

He teamed the look with dark sunglasses and monochrome sneakers.

The KIIS FM host kept his beard long and has his locks slicked back off his face.

Jetting out: The 48-year-old was spotted at Sydney Airport before catching a flight to Los Angeles with girlfriend, Tegan Kynaston

No hats about it: Kyle is known for wearing his trademark black cap

Last week, in a hilarious video posted to Kyle and Jackie O's Instagram page, Kyle's radio co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson gave him a haircut in studio.

But it was all part of a prank, with Jackie putting a strand of grey hair from a wig onto her scissors, scaring Kyle that she cut too much off.

'You've got to be kidding... That's not mine is it?' Kyle said, before Jackie admitted that she was joking.

Remember that? Kyle has had a number of hairstyles over the years, and in his early days of radio rocked a blond 90s quiff. He made headlines back in 2015 when he shaved his hair live on air after Jackie gifted him a shaving kit

Kyle has had a number of hairstyles over the years, and in his early days of radio rocked a blond 90s quiff.

He made headlines back in 2015 when he shaved his hair live on air after Jackie gifted him a shaving kit.

Kyle initially refused to trim his locks but after Jackie pleaded: 'Do it because I think you would look great with short hair', he hacked it off.

'I'll just hack down the sides and if it looks bad then I'll just get a Mohawk,' he said.
David McNew/Getty

Three new cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed in California on Sunday, bringing the U.S. total to 11. Health officials predict there will be more cases in the coming days but have warned Americans not to panic.

The new cases are linked to travel to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak that has shaken the stock market, caused a run on face masks, and prompted restrictions on travel.

In San Francisco, a woman visiting family in the Bay Area since Jan. 23 fell ill and has been in isolated at home, along with her relatives, officials announced Sunday afternoon.

Hours later, authorities in San Benito County said that a couple, both ages 57, were sick with the virus. The husband had visited Wuhan, and infected his wife; neither of them have left their home sick since becoming ill, authorities said.

While the virus is considered a serious public health threat, based on current information, the risk to the general public in California and locally in San Benito County continues to be low at this time, said Dr. Marty Fentersheib, the county health officer.

U.S. Declares Public Health Emergency Over Coronavirus Fears

U.S. officials have said infected people are only contagious once they start showing symptoms, though there have been reports by doctors overseas of pre-symptomatic transmission.

More than 350 people have died in China since the outbreak began. A Chinese man in the Philippines became the first person to die outside China last week.

More than 17,000 people have been infected globally, though the vast majority are in China, where some 50 million people have been locked down in a desperate effort to control the spread of the virus.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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News

Phoenix, Arizona - Last year, the Governors Executive Budget proposed and the final budget passed included funding for the Arizona Rural Broadband Development Grant. The Arizona Commerce Authority recently announced the awardees of the grant, which accelerates the enhancement of broadband infrastructure and supports economic growth.

The Governors FY 2021 Budget Proposal includes $10 million to more than triple the Arizona Rural Broadband Development Grant and enhance broadband infrastructure in even more rural communities.

In addition, this years balanced budget includes $50 million to install broadband conduit and fiber along 514 miles of rural interstate highway as well as an additional $9 million for highway safety technology that utilizes the new fiber. These Smart Highway Corridors include:

Interstate 17 between Sunset Point and Flagstaff,

Interstate 40 between the Arizona-New Mexico and Arizona-California borders,

And Interstate 19 between Tucson and Nogales

The Smart Highway Corridors include new traffic safety technology along the three routes such as infrared wrong-way detection systems, road temperature sensors, dynamic message signs and traffic cameras that will support first responders and improve highway safety. The new broadband conduit will open the door for private sector partnerships that support 21st century freight, the future of automated vehicles and rural broadband connectivity.
Republican State Rep. Rodney Garcia (above) has rejected calls from legislative leaders for his resignation over remarks he made that the US Constitution calls for people who identify as socialists to be jailed or shot. Garcia said on Monday the 'only way I would give my resignation is if God asked me to'

A Montana Republican state lawmaker has said he will only resign for saying it is okay to shoot socialists if God tells him to.

Republican State Rep. Rodney Garcia rejected calls from legislative leaders for him to step down over remarks he made that the Constitution calls for people who identify as socialists to be jailed or shot.

Garcia said on Monday the 'only way I would give my resignation is if God asked me to'.

He also dismissed threats he had received in the wake of his comments, suggesting that if people attempt to shoot him he would shoot them back.

'They can't come up to me and talk to me, but they want to shoot me,' Garcia said.

'That's fine, but if you miss, I won't.'

Garcia has faced a backlash from his own party for saying socialists are 'dangerous' and 'can be jailed or shot'.

He made his original comments at a Republican gathering in Helena, Montana, on Friday, after former interior secretary Ryan Zinke spoke at the election season kickoff event.

Garcia said that he was worried about socialists 'entering our government' and being 'everywhere' in Billings - the city he represents - the Billings Gazette reported.

The newspaper reported that Garcia then said that the Constitution stated that socialists could be shot or put in jail.

When asked to clarify his comments Saturday, Garcia stood by what he had said.

'So actually in the Constitution of the United States (if) they are found guilty of being a socialist member you either go to prison or are shot,' he said.

'But more than likely they would never be shot because we just don't do that in today's society. We're supposed to be civilized.'

The State Capitol Building in Helena, Montana. Garcia made his original comments at a Republican gathering in Helena on Friday, saying he was worried about socialists 'entering our government' and being 'everywhere' in Billings

Garcia could not, however, point to the section of the Constitution that backed his claims.

He hinted it could be done to those who supported the political philosophy 'enemies of the free state.'

'What do we do with our enemies in war? In Vietnam, (Afghanistan), all those. What did we do?' Garcia told the Billings Gazette.

He then went to state, 'I agree with my Constitution' and added 'Thats what makes us free. Were not a democracy, were a Republic Constitution.'

Garcia continued to back his own comments again on Monday, saying socialism - which he called 'pretty much communism' - is dangerous.

Speaker of the House Greg Hertz, Speaker Pro Tempore E. Wylie Galt and House Majority Leader Brad Tschida wrote to Garcia on Monday, calling the 'inflammatory remarks' he made Friday 'deeply disturbing' and stating that Garcia refused a request from Hertz to retract the comments.

In the letter, the leaders called his remarks 'reckless and un-American' and called for him to resign.

'Your reckless and un-American remarks are beneath that of a public official and do not represent the values of the Republican Party, Montana House of Representatives or the people of our great state,' the leadership wrote.

Speaker of the House Greg Hertz (above), Speaker Pro Tempore E. Wylie Galt and House Majority Leader Brad Tschida wrote to Garcia on Monday, calling the 'inflammatory remarks' he made Friday 'deeply disturbing' and stating that Garcia refused a request from Hertz to retract the comments

'Your actions have irreparably undermined the body in which you serve and irrevocably broken the trust of those you were elected to represent. We believe it is clear that you can no longer effectively discharge the duties of the office you hold; therefore, it is our request that you submit your resignation with immediate effect.'

Spenser Merwin, the executive director of the Montana Republican Party, has also condemned Garcia's comments.

'Under no circumstance is violence against someone with opposing political views acceptable,' Merwin said.

'Its disappointing that this isolated incident took away from the weekends events which showcased the strength of our statewide candidates and the importance of the upcoming election.'

Garcia told The Associated Press that he won't resign but also won't be returning to the state House next year.

Instead, he said he filed to run for the state Senate on Friday.

He claims the move has nothing to do with the backlash over his comments.

'They can ask me to step down, but, no, I don't think so,' Garcia told The Associated Press.

'I'm going to run for the Senate and I'm going to win. People are going to have to eat their words.'

Hertz, Galt and Tschida were at the Republican gathering on Friday and they didn't say anything to him, Garcia alleged, nor did Merwin.

'I'm getting my head so big from people saying, `Thank you, Rodney, for bringing this up,' he said.

'If people don't want me in the Senate they can say: `Well, Im not going to vote for ya.' That's their prerogative.'

University of Montana law professor Anthony Johnstone told the Washington Post that there is 'nothing in the Constitution of the United States authorizes the government to punish socialists or anyone else on the basis of their political beliefs.'

Johnston added that the US Constitution's First Amendment actually prohibits punishing political speech, while the Constitution of Montana 'expressly prohibits discrimination on the basis of political beliefs.'

Johnston noted that Article 3, Section 3 of the Constitution, which deals with treason, is often misinterpreted and used as justification for punishing political opponents.

This, in fact, runs contrary to what the framers of the Constitution intended, as Johnston said that they 'were careful to define treason narrowly so it could not be used for merely political purposes.'
DES MOINES  The day youve been hearing about for months is finally upon us: the Iowa caucuses.

Iowas first-in-the-nation caucuses on Monday kick off the start of the primary election season, and many Democratic presidential candidates have been zig-zagging across the state in the week leading up to the big night.

But the Iowa caucuses are different than other primaries, and there is some specific terminology you might hear Monday that seems sort of ... odd. Well, we're here to help.

Here are some common questions about the Iowa caucuses, and what you need to know while waiting for the results:

What is a caucus?

First things first.

A caucus is a party-organized gathering of members to discuss their presidential preferences, elect local party leadership and discuss issues that make up the partys platform.

The Republican and Democratic parties each hold their own caucuses, but they don't use the same process.

In a Republican caucus, participants simply cast a vote of support, the votes are added up and delegates are allocated proportionately to those results.

Iowa caucus results: Follow live Iowa caucus results on Monday night.

More: Caucus night alliances? Campaigns have been approached, but no one is making deals

The Democratic caucus, on the other hand, has quite a few more steps.

Democratic caucusgoers gather in groups to pick their preferred candidate. They are counted up, and its determined whether a candidate group is viable or not viable.

If a candidate group is not viable, caucusgoers have a couple options: Join another group, convince people to come to their group, or caucus in the uncommitted group. (Don't laugh: The uncommitted group technically won the Iowa caucuses in 1972 and 1976.)

Then a final tally is counted. From there, delegates are awarded to the candidates, based proportionally on how many supporters those groups had.

More: Could multiple candidates 'win' the Iowa Democratic caucus? New rules make it possible.

Story continues

Attendees listen as ACLU volunteer leader Holly Thayer holds a training session for "connection-making" strategies on caucus day pertaining to civil and immigrant rights, criminal justice reform and other issues on Jan. 19, 2020, in Urbandale, Iowa.

Wait, what? How does caucus viability work?

Lets break it down further.

A candidate is viable if the size of their group of supporters is at least 15% of the people attending that specific caucus. If a candidate is not viable, then their supporters must find a new candidate to support or they can choose not to support anyone.

Caucusgoers that are part of a viable candidate group cannot move. So if you're in a group that hits viability on the first round, you're locked in. No changing for you.

After supporters of nonviable candidates have realigned, then the final votes are counted and the state delegate equivalents are awarded.

More: Iowa's caucusgoers have a new place to vote: Overseas

Um, OK. What is a state delegate equivalent?

State delegate equivalents (or SDEs) are the number of delegates a candidate has earned for the party's state convention in June. It will also determine the number of national convention delegates each candidate receives.

Iowa has 41 pledged delegates who will go to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, and they must support specific candidates based on the caucus results.

But how will I know if my candidate wins?

That answer can also be a little complicated, since the Iowa Democratic Party changed some things this time around. Previously, the party released just SDE totals at the end of the night.

But this year, the party will release the total number of votes from the first grouping, as well as the final vote total after realignment.

All of these numbers can be used by campaigns and pundits to determine who the winners are. But when it's all said and done, delegates are what earn a candidate the eventual nomination, and a lot of people view SDEs as the number that really matters.

More: How do the Iowa caucuses work and how they are different than a primary?

This sounds like a lot. Why are the caucuses so important?

Although Iowas pledged delegate count is about 1% of the national total, the Iowa caucuses arent just about the delegate number.

The first-in-the-nation event is looked at as a way to foreshadow how well a candidate might do going forward. Campaigns, pundits and even voters look at the results to see who has a chance of continuing to the New Hampshire primary or should call it quits.

Campaigns that are seen as winners could see an influx of fundraising dollars and media attention that could help push them forward as the primary season continues. If a candidate underperforms, they could possibly see fundraising dry up and have to battle a negative narrative around their campaign.

But are the caucuses predictive? Well, since 2000, every single winner of the Iowa Democratic caucuses has gone on to win the Democratic nomination. So Monday night has some high stakes.

Want to talk more about politics?: Join our Facebook group: Across the Aisle, Across the Nation.

Contributing: The Des Moines Register

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iowa caucus: How the Iowa caucuses work and terms to know definitions
In his first visit to Tehran as the European Unions foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell met with top Iranian officials to discuss the trajectory of the tenuous Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Irans President Hassan Rouhani assured the top EU diplomat of Tehrans willingness to maintain cooperation with the 27-nation bloc. Once the other parties fully honor their obligations, Iran will resume its compliance [with the nuclear deal], Rouhani said of the JCPOA and a phased reduction of commitments Tehran started last May.

The cuts have technically taken Iran back to its pre-deal uranium enrichment status and have come as a response to the European signatories failure to actively fulfill the economic pledges they offered the Islamic Republic under the accord. Those breaches, Rouhani told the 72-year-old Spanish diplomat, were carried out under the JCPOAs framework. He also noted that Iran will continue to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to visit its nuclear sites, unless we face a new set of circumstances.

Borrell also sat down with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani Feb. 3 to exchange views on the deal as well as the regional security situation. According to Iranian media reports, Borrell expressed regret over Europes handling of its side of the agreement. Borrell brought along [nothing but] his regret, read the front page of ultraconservative daily Javan, which has been a staunch critic of what it views as the Rouhani governments trust in the European sides.

Even Reformists, who have applauded the JCPOA, appeared to be equally pessimistic. If the Europeans had any willingness to protect the deal, they could have done so one and a half years ago, before regional tensions flared up to the current level and US-Iran escalation became irreversible, wrote Reformist paper Ebtekar, describing the visit as Europes eulogy for the nuclear deal.

Basically, European officials do not travel to Tehran for useful and concrete measures, said hard-line cleric Mojtaba Zolnour, who chairs the Iranian parliaments National Security and Foreign Policy Commission. All they do is bargaining and pressuring Iran, and Borrells trip is no exception. Zolnour warned that Iran would definitely embark on a fresh phase of nuclear deal breaches if Europe maintains the status quo.

Those European signatories  France, Germany and the UK  announced Jan. 14 a controversial plan to trigger the dispute mechanism, which they said was meant to bring Iran back into compliance. Failure to resolve the disputes could potentially reimpose all UN sanctions on Tehran and effectively kill the accord. Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi, however, told reporters Feb. 3 that the three states have abandoned the push after Irans Zarif submitted to them a 14-page document that presents Irans reasoning against the case.
An off-duty lifeguard saved the lives of nine people caught in a rip at one of Sydney's most popular beaches for tourists.

James McClennan was at home on Saturday when he saw the strangers struggling to stay afloat at Bronte Beach, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, at 7.45pm.

The club captain at Bronte Surf Club raced down to the beach and grabbed a rescue board to save the swimmers.

James McClennan was at home on Saturday when he saw the strangers struggling to stay afloat at Bronte Beach, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, at 7.45pm. He launched a rescue operation

'As I ran down, I could hear a lot of screaming and yelling coming from the beach. I could see at least six people in trouble, so I had to get a board and get straight into the water,' Mr McClennan told Nine News.

'I simply didn't have time to call Triple-0. So, as I was running to the beach, I sent a message to our Board and Surf Skills Group on WhatsApp requesting assistance.'

Other club members braved the nasty conditions to help save the beachgoers.

They were joined by NSW Police, paramedics and a rescue helicopter.

Mr McClennan said one man had ingested water and was in a 'particularly bad way'.

'He was frothing at the mouth and I had to clear his airway several times while I was paddling him back to the beach on my board,' Mr McClennan said.

The group rescued all nine and only one person was taken to hospital.

Other club members braved the nasty conditions to help save the beach-goers. They were joined by NSW Police, paramedics and a rescue helicopter

Surf Live Saving Sydney took to Facebook on Sunday to remind everyone the danger of swimming at unpatrolled beached (stock)

Matt Spooner, Support Operations Manager at Surf Life Saving NSW, said Mr McClennan was part of a 'heroic' and 'incredible' rescue.

Surf Live Saving Sydney took to Facebook on Sunday to warn of the dangers of swimming at unpatrolled beached.

'Had our off duty lifesavers not responded to assist, this could have easily been a major tragedy,' the post read.

'As we move into another forecast busy day along our coastline, we implore the public to follow the directions of lifesavers and lifeguards and only swim between the Red and Yellow Flags.'
Parliament LIVE Updates: In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the Centre said that as per the information received from Assam Government, the state has not constructed any detention camp in Assam exclusively to detain those who do not have documents proving their citizenship under National Register of Citizens

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As soon as the Lok Sabha convened, members of the Congress, CPI, CPM, BSP and TMC demanded that a debate be held on the issues pertaining to the contentious law and the violence witnessed in its wake.

On Monday, the Lok Sabha had seen protests by Opposition members even as the Speaker turned down the adjournment notices given keeping in view the anti-CAA, NRC agitations and resultant violence all over the country, apart from the controversial statements by Verma and Union Minister Anurag Thakur.

The Lok Sabha will continue the debate on Motion of Thanks to the President's Address moved by controversial BJP MP Parvesh Verma, seconded by Kripal Yadav. The Lower House will also take up the Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

Meanwhile, BJP MP RK Sinha gave a zero hour notice over the "anti-India propaganda under the guise of protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)".

TMC's Derek O'Brien and DMK's T Siva have given suspension of business notices in the Rajya Sabha under Rule 267 over the "prevailing situation in the country due to proposed NPR-NRC following the Citizenship Amendment Act".

BJP MP Saroj Pandey has given a zero hour notice in the Rajya Sabha over the "need for One Nation, One Election".

AAP MP Sanjay Singh has given a zero hour notice in the Rajya Sabha over the "demand to expedite the death sentence of 2012 Delhi gangrape convicts".

A Parliamentary party meet of the BJP was held at the Parliament complex ahead of the Budget Session's third day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the meet.

You are fake Hindus," he said, adding that if its members were "asli (genuine) Hindus", they would have behaved differently. It's a conspiracy by ruling party to scare and threaten protesters. The ruling party's goons are doing such things and the government is silent, he added.

During the debate on the Motion of Thanks, Chowdhury strongly criticised the situation prevailing in the country since the passage of CAA and due to NRC and NPR. He had said that the government cannot silence people's "boli" (voice) with "goli" (bullets). When he was allowed to speak during Zero Hour, the Congress leader hit out at the BJP and alleged that even as anti-CAA protestors held the national flag and sang the national anthem, they were fired upon and killed, making a reference to the deaths reported across the country during agitations against the law.

Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Choudhary and Congress MP Manickam Tagore have given an adjournment motion notice in the Lower House over the "environment of fear and intimidation in the country due to Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)".

Hegde had questioned the freedom movement led by Gandhi, saying it was an "adjustment" with the British, remarks which triggered a huge political row.

Additonally, TMC MP Derek O'Brien raised his voice against the Chair not taking up the suspension of business notice given by him under Rule 267 over the "prevailing situation in the country due to proposed NPR-NRC following the Citizenship Amendment Act".

The slogans are an apparent reference to the firing incidents reported within a week's time at Shaheen Bagh and in Jamia Nagar and the violence witnessed during the protests against CAA, NRC and NPR.

The proceedings of the Rajya Sabha began on a stormy note as Opposition members raised the slogans and demanded a discussion on CAA, NPR and NRC. Soon after, members started chanting 'Goli chalana band karo (Stop firing bullets)' and descended into the Well.

Protests were also raised against BJP minister Anant Kumar Hegde's comment about Mahatma Gandhi's freedom struggle being framed in collusion with the British. Minutes within the convening of the session, it was adjourned till 12 pm.

After Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla read out the obituary references, Congress members raised protests against CAA, NRC and NRC, demanding a debate on the issue.

Chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu said that the continuous delay in the execution of the death sentence is "making people restive".

AAP MP Sanjay Singh requested for the intervention of the President and Supreme Court for speedy execution of death sentence awarded to the convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case. "Fast track courts were created but the matter is seeing only dates after dates," he added.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha in response to AAP's Sanjay Singh's notice on expediting the execution of 2012 Delhi gangrape convicts, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "The appeal of the convicts was rejected by Supreme Court in 2017 but jail authorities took more than a year to complete the process for informing the convicts. The delay is due to the state government."

Questions were raised about whether the Government has any plan to introduce National Register of Citizens (NRC) all over the country, the timeline fixed for implementation of NRC, whether all the state governments are being taken into confidence before introduction of NRC and whether the Government has received any communications from the state governments regarding their refusal to implement the NRC.

Centre also said in the reply that the government is in discussion with the states having concerns in regard to the preparation of National Population Register (NPR).

The government has not taken any decision regarding the preparation of the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) at the national level, Minister of State Home Nityanand Rai said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Even as Rajya Sabha members raise issues ranging from sale of onions produced in Andhra Pradesh and the cultivation of rabi crops and assistance planned for farmers, Congress members remain in the Well and continue raising slogans like 'CAA pe halla bol', 'BJP pe halla bol' (Down with CAA, BJP).

The reply added that two cases from Kerala involving inter-faith marriages have been investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

In response to the questions about whether the Government is aware of the observation of Kerala High Court that there is no case of love jihad in Kerala, the Ministry of Home Affairs told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that there are no such cases in the southern state.

Union Minister of Parlaimentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi says that BJP members are real 'bhakts' and ' followers of Mahatma Gandhi, calling the Congress members 'followers of Sonai Gandhi'. Following his statement, protests intensify.

Raising his voice against BJP leader Anantkumar Hegde's remark about Mahatma Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "They (BJP) are insulting the follower of Ram. They are the children of Raavan."

BJP's Neeraj Shekhar also asked if there is any way to bring private hospitals under the ambit of Ayushman Bharat scheme.

During Question Hour, BJP MP Ashok Bajpai asked why the Ayushmann Bharat scheme is not being implemented in Delhi. In reponse, Health Minister Harsh Varshan said that India has a federal structure and the Centre cannot impose a scheme on the states. Vardhan added that Delhi, West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana are yet to adopt the scheme.

He also blamed the government for sitting over recommendations made by the Supreme Court Collegium. "230 names have been recommended by the SC Collegium but the government is causing inordinate delay in clearing those names." he said. He sought a "mandatory time frame" for acting on the Collegium's recommendations.

DMK's P Wilson said there's an alarming emergency regarding appointment of judge to the High Courts, adding that most HCs are working at 50 percent of their sanctioned strength.

BJP MP Locket Chatterjee said that people are not being allowed to celebrate Saraswati Puja, an important festival in West Bengal. "It is similar to Pakistan where Hindus are not allowed to conduct their pujas. Mamata Banerjee and the TMC are doing politics of appeasement," she said.

After raising their voices against BJP leader Anantkumar Hegde's remarks about Mahatma Gandhi, Congress members said they were not being allowed to discuss the issue. Soon after, they walked out of the Lok Sabha.

"The speech is in the public domain and if anyone wants to see, it is available online and on my website. I never said a word against Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru," he added. He further said that all related media reports are false and "unnecessary controversy" is being created.

BJP MP Anant Kumar Hegde, standing by the statement he made on 1 February, said he never made any reference to any political party or Mahatma Gandhi or anybody else. "I was just trying to categorise the freedom struggle," he told ANI.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the Centre said that as per the information received from Assam Government, the state has not constructed any detention camp in Assam exclusively to detain those who do not have documents proving their citizenship under National Register of Citizens (NRIC).

Dilip Ghosh of the BJP says that the Citizenship Amendment Act is a historic step and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be thanked for it. He added that anti-CAA protests are a "drama".

The TRS leader said that the fund allocation for Andhra Pradesh, and all other south Indian states has been cut down drastically. He said that Andhra has been demanding funds due to it, and the Centre has shirked its responsibility.

Janata Dal United leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh said that the first caste-wise census of India was done for the last time in 1931 and since then the demography must have changed drastically. He said that there was a need to determine the exact composition of our population and extend reservation benefits accordingly.

As many as 62 police personnel and 127 others were injured during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act at Jamia Millia Islamia, the government told Lok Sabha Tuesday. Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy also said that as reported by the Delhi Police, they entered the university campus chasing a "violent congregation of students/mob, to nab/disperse the offenders, control the situation and to protect the government property as well as saving the lives of innocent students residing in the area," PTI reported.

Referring to a report by The Times of India saying that the CAG had cautioned against the "huge shortages and grossly inadequate reserves" of winter wear for forces in the Siachen glacier and Ladakh regions, stated, "In 2014, the BJP won by talking about their plans for the defence sector, but what has happened now? The defence forces need to be strengthened by more than just words."

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, criticised the NDA government over promises about employment and healthcare made by the BJP and said that on the counts of the economy, unemployment, education, the government has fallen short of the promises made.

Accusing the government of "breaking" Jammu and Kashmir by stripping its special status under Article 370 and Assam by implementing the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Azad countered the government on the issues of development, education, healthcare, and other social issues in the erstwhile state with statistics in comparison to the statistics in Gujarat.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, in his Motion of Thanks speech in response to the President's joint address, on Tuesday gave the Centre a point-by-point rebuttal of the points given as reasons for the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, in August.

He also said that the Jammu region has suffered as much as the Kashmir Valley after the abrogation of Article 370, which accorded a certain degree of autonomy to the region. "Small businesses, tourism sector, people of all communities have suffered, not just Kashmiris," he said.

After giving a point-by-point rebuttal on the reasons given by the Centre for abrogating Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, Azad said that since in comparison with Gujarat, the erstwhile state had fared better, "even Gujarat should be put under President's Rule".

Out of 114 parametres of development, the then-state Jammu and Kashmir was above the national average in 80 parametres, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Tuesday.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday in the Rajya Sabha said that the Centre "misled the nation" on the policy of demonetisation, and the GST system. "Parliamentary system, procedures and democracy were killed on 5 August, 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir's special status was withdrawn," he was quoted by The Hindu as saying.

Leader of Opposition, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, said, "If you had brought constructive matters, we would have bowed before you, but you brought destruction."

Referring to Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur, Azad said that the party should have suspended her for her statements on Nathuram Godse, the man who assassinated Gandhiji. Because the BJP doesnt condemn such statements, we are wary of the government, we suspect that you support them.

He said, "The country has been on the streets for the last two months against CAA, NRC, and NPR. I have never seen the amount of people  from oldest to youngest  protest against a policy of the government till now. But not even one minister of the government has spoken to the people, tried to understand their opinion. But instead, what are the statements being given by the BJP MPs? They claim to be following Gandhiji but they have destroyed his principles and values," he said.

Congress veteran and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad urged the Centre to hold a dialogue with the citizens protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), NRC, and NPR for almost two months since the CAA was passed in the Parliament on 11 December.

He accused the Opposition of protesting against the CAA because "it couldn't find an issue to rally against," The Hindu reported.

The JD(U) in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday extended support to the Centre over the contentious CAA, which seeks to give citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. JD(U) MP Sunil Kumar Pintu also said that the BJP had worked to extend Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's "vision of 'Jal, Jeevan Hariyali' to the whole country.

Earlier in the year, amid nationwide protests against the CAA and NRC, Modi had said that his government had never mentioned that NRC would be implemented, however, several Opposition leaders and journalists pointed out Shah's statements in the Parliament regarding the government's commitment to implement a nationwide NRC.

He sang a sentence of 'mile sur mera tumhara' along with 'jhoot bole kauva kaate', both popular yesteryear Bollywood songs, to taunt the Centre over the confusion.

TMC MP in the Rajya Sabha Sukhendu Sekhar Ray slammed the Centre over its approach to the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah's mismatched statements on the NRC, a proposed project which is also being opposed, were an indication of the government's "own confusion about the topic".

"Citing the book Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, he says that at a prayer meeting Gandhi said: "Assumption of the Hindus that India has become a land of Hindus is erroneous. India belongs to all who live here," the report said.

He also referred to the quotes of Mahatma Gandhi which were used in President Ram Nath Kovind's joint address. Ray said that Gandhi's statements had been "distorted".

TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, condeming the reduced investments in public institutions, said that the government should provide clarity on why LIC was "forced to provide funds to loss-making enterprisesm," The Hindu reported.

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said that the Centre's 'neighbourhood first' police had failed, which was evident from the fact "that Nepal has offered to mediate between India and Pakistan, that the US Congress and Senators have been discussing India's policy, and that the EU Parliament passed a resolution against the citizenship law," The Hindu reported.

Dilip Saikia, Assam BJP MP, said that the state had "progressed" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. He also lauded the government's deals with the Bodo and Bru communities in the North East and said that the development will "usher in a peaceful environment in the region".

BJD MP Prasanna Acharya, making a pitch to pay tribute to all freedom fighters equally along with Mahatma Gandhi, said that while political leaders quote the leader, the country is in "an atmosphere of hatred and mistrust".

Keshava Rao, TRS MP, said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that the Telangana state government under TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao will pass a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) "on the principle that there cannot be a law that can change the Constitution", The Hindu reported.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday in the Rajya Sabha said that the Centre "misled the nation" on the policy of demonetisation, and the GST system. "Parliamentary system, procedures and democracy were killed on 5 August, 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir's special status was withdrawn," he was quoted by The Hindu as saying.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress in Rajya Sabha: If you had brought constructive matters, we would have bowed before you, but you brought destruction. What is Shaheen Bagh? It is your creation. If you will do such work, then Shaheen Bagh will come up everywhere in India. pic.twitter.com/RGHAoU0isZ

Leader of Opposition, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, said, "If you had brought constructive matters, we would have bowed before you, but you brought destruction."

Referring to Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur, Azad said that the party should have suspended her for her statements on Nathuram Godse, the man who assassinated Gandhiji. Because the BJP doesnt condemn such statements, we are wary of the government, we suspect that you support them.

He said, "The country has been on the streets for the last two months against CAA, NRC, and NPR. I have never seen the amount of people  from oldest to youngest  protest against a policy of the government till now. But not even one minister of the government has spoken to the people, tried to understand their opinion. But instead, what are the statements being given by the BJP MPs? They claim to be following Gandhiji but they have destroyed his principles and values," he said.

Congress veteran and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad urged the Centre to hold a dialogue with the citizens protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), NRC, and NPR for almost two months since the CAA was passed in the Parliament on 11 December.

He accused the Opposition of protesting against the CAA because "it couldn't find an issue to rally against," The Hindu reported.

The JD(U) in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday extended support to the Centre over the contentious CAA, which seeks to give citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. JD(U) MP Sunil Kumar Pintu also said that the BJP had worked to extend Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's "vision of 'Jal, Jeevan Hariyali' to the whole country.

Earlier in the year, amid nationwide protests against the CAA and NRC, Modi had said that his government had never mentioned that NRC would be implemented, however, several Opposition leaders and journalists pointed out Shah's statements in the Parliament regarding the government's commitment to implement a nationwide NRC.

He sang a sentence of 'mile sur mera tumhara' along with 'jhoot bole kauva kaate', both popular yesteryear Bollywood songs, to taunt the Centre over the confusion.

TMC MP in the Rajya Sabha Sukhendu Sekhar Ray slammed the Centre over its approach to the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah's mismatched statements on the NRC, a proposed project which is also being opposed, were an indication of the government's "own confusion about the topic".

"Citing the book Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, he says that at a prayer meeting Gandhi said: "Assumption of the Hindus that India has become a land of Hindus is erroneous. India belongs to all who live here," the report said.

He also referred to the quotes of Mahatma Gandhi which were used in President Ram Nath Kovind's joint address. Ray said that Gandhi's statements had been "distorted".

TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, condeming the reduced investments in public institutions, said that the government should provide clarity on why LIC was "forced to provide funds to loss-making enterprisesm," The Hindu reported.

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said that the Centre's 'neighbourhood first' police had failed, which was evident from the fact "that Nepal has offered to mediate between India and Pakistan, that the US Congress and Senators have been discussing India's policy, and that the EU Parliament passed a resolution against the citizenship law," The Hindu reported.

Dilip Saikia, Assam BJP MP, said that the state had "progressed" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. He also lauded the government's deals with the Bodo and Bru communities in the North East and said that the development will "usher in a peaceful environment in the region".

BJD MP Prasanna Acharya, making a pitch to pay tribute to all freedom fighters equally along with Mahatma Gandhi, said that while political leaders quote the leader, the country is in "an atmosphere of hatred and mistrust".

Keshava Rao, TRS MP, said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that the Telangana state government under TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao will pass a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) "on the principle that there cannot be a law that can change the Constitution", The Hindu reported.

Parliament LATEST Updates: In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the Centre said that as per the information received from Assam Government, the state has not constructed any detention camp in Assam exclusively to detain those who do not have documents proving their citizenship under National Register of Citizens.

On the construction of Ram temple, the Centre informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply that it is taking all necessary steps, including consultation with the state government of Uttar Pradesh, in compliance of the directions contained in the Supreme Court judgment.

Centre told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that three cases have been registered by Delhi Police against the mob, who were found involved in unlawful activities and defacing the public property while protesting against CAA at and around Jamia Millia Islamia.

BJP MP Anant Kumar Hegde, standing by the statement he made on 1 February, said he never made any reference to any political party or Mahatma Gandhi or anybody else. "I was just trying to categorise the freedom struggle," he told ANI.

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned after an uproar over BJP leader Anant Hegde's remark on Mahatma Gandhi.

BJP MP Locket Chatterjee said that people are not being allowed to celebrate Saraswati Puja, an important festival in West Bengal. "It is similar to Pakistan where Hindus are not allowed to conduct their pujas," she said, criticising TMC and Mamata Banerjee.

DMK's P Wilson said there's an alarming emergency regarding appointment of judge to the High Courts, adding that most HCs are working at 50 percent of their sanctioned strength. He also blamed the government for sitting over recommendations made by the Supreme Court Collegium

During Question Hour, BJP MP Ashok Bajpai asked why the Ayushmann Bharat scheme is not being implemented in Delhi. BJP's Neeraj Shekhar also asked if there is any way to bring private hospitals under the ambit of Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Raising his voice against BJP leader Anantkumar Hegde's remark about Mahatma Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "They (BJP) are insulting the follower of ram. They are the children of Raavan."

In response to the questions about whether the Government is aware of the observation of Kerala High Court that there is no case of love jihad in Kerala, the Ministry of Home Affairs told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that there are no such cases in the southern state.

The government has not taken any decision regarding the preparation of the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) at the national level, Minister of State Home Nityanand Rai said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh requested for the intervention of the President and Supreme Court for speedy execution of death sentence awarded to the convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case. In response, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "The appeal of the convicts was rejected by Supreme Court in 2017 but jail authorities took more than a year to complete the process for informing the convicts. The delay is due to the state government."

In response to a query about the damage being caused to crops by locusts, Parshottam Pupala, MoS Agriculture, said that world bodies have recognised that India alone has been able to control the menace.

The proceedings of the Rajya Sabha began on a stormy note as Opposition members raised the slogans and demanded a discussion on CAA, NPR and NRC. Soon after, members started chanting 'Goli chalana band karo (Stop firing bullets)' and descended into the Well.

After Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla read out the obituary references, Congress members raised protests against CAA, NRC and NRC, demanding a debate on the issue. Protests were also raised against BJP minister Anant Kumar Hegde's comment about Mahatma Gandhi's freedom struggle being framed in collusion with the British. The House was adjourned till 12 pm.

Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Choudhary and Congress MP Manickam Tagore have given an adjournment motion notice in the Lower House over the "environment of fear and intimidation in the country due to Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)". Congress MPs Gaurav Gogoi, K Suresh, Abdul Khaleque and Hibi Eden have given adjournment motion notices in Lok Sabha over BJP leader Anantkumar Hegde's statement on Mahatma Gandhi.

TMC's Derek O'Brien and DMK's T Siva have given suspension of business notices in the Rajya Sabha under Rule 267 over the "prevailing situation in the country due to proposed NPR-NRC following the Citizenship Amendment Act". Meanwhile, BJP MP RK Sinha gave a zero hour notice over the "anti-India propaganda under the guise of protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)".

AAP MP Sanjay Singh has given a zero hour notice in the Rajya Sabha over the "demand to expedite the death sentence of 2012 Delhi gangrape convicts". BJP MP Saroj Pandey has given a zero hour notice in the Rajya Sabha over the "need for One Nation, One Election".

A Parliamentary party meet of the BJP was held at the Parliament complex ahead of the Budget Session's third day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the meet.

On the third day of the Budget session, both the Houses will move and consider a Motion of Thanks in response to President Ram Nath Kovinds address to a joint sitting of the Parliament on 31 January, in which he hailed the governments passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

The Lok Sabha will continue debate on Motion of Thanks moved by controversial BJP MP Parvesh Verma, seconded by Kripal Yadav. On Monday, the Lok Sabha had seen protests by Opposition members even as the Speaker turned down the adjournment notices given keeping in view the anti-CAA, NRC agitations and resultant violence all over the country, apart from the controversial statements by Verma and Union Minister Anurag Thakur.

As soon as the Lok Sabha convened, members of the Congress, CPI, CPM, BSP and TMC demanded that a debate be held on the issues pertaining to the contentious law and the violence witnessed in its wake. When Thakur, who has been criticised for his shoot the traitors remark and given a campaigning ban by the Election Commission, began talking, the outcry by members grew stronger, with slogans 'Goli maarna band karo, desh ko todna band karo (Stop shooting, stop breaking the nation)' being raised. The House was adjourned, only to be followed by a walkout by Opposition members when it reconvened and Verma began speaking to move the Motion of Thanks.

Verma on Monday strongly criticised the Congress in the Lok Sabha for opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act and accused the Opposition party of creating problems like Article 370 as part of its "vote bank politics". "They (the Congress) should know that it is not Rajiv Feroze Khan government, it is Narendra Modi's government," he said. "We will not take back CAA. It is a question of the country's integrity," asserted Verma.

Widespread protests have been witnessed across India ever since the Parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill in December last year, with many deaths reported in various states. Following controversial statements by Thakur and Verma, three incidents of firing were reported in the Jamia Nagar and Shaheen Bagh areas within a week. Both these areas are epicentres of the protests against CAA and NRC.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri is slated to move the The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020. Additionally, among the questions submitted for oral answers are those concerning the NRC and plans for its implementation, applications for citizenship received after the CAA came into force, detention centres in Assam, the grant of citizenship to Muslim refugees, love jihad cases in Kerala and the PM-KISAN scheme.

BJP minister Bhupendra Yadav will move a Motion of Thanks to the Presidents address in the Rajya Sabha. The Rajya Sabha too had seen repeated adjournments on Monday as members demanded a discussion on CAA and NRC and even trooped into the Well.
Rati Akash, village planner for the village of Buffalo Grove who is spearheading the census effort for the village, said a Buffalo Grove Complete Count Committee also has been created and is comprised of 10 individuals from the libraries, local businesses, schools and faith-based organizations which will drive participation in the census among their constituents. The schools, she said, are very integral because they are one of the trusted voices in the community and conducting mock census activities.
Securing and cultivating new revenue streams is imperative to horse racing's survival, we all know that. But it's become clear lately that defending ourselves from political attacks is equally important.

I'm sure many of you have seen the recent bad press received by our partners in the Thoroughbred industry. Over the years we too have faced similar hurtles on the Standardbred side, but today's attackers are much more sophisticated.

In a day and age ruled by popular opinion that is largely driven by social media, we have once again fallen drastically behind. Social media has affected presidential elections, sparked revolt and is now the preferred communication tool of the White House.

Using this tool correctly can be a difficult thing to do, and we certainly haven't mastered it, but the people pushing this current narrative about horse racing have.

Santa Anita, now directly in their cross hairs, has come under extreme scrutiny regarding horse fatalities at their facility over the past year.

The track's statement about this is both political, and poignant:

"Horses raced or trained at Santa Anita Park more than 420,000 times over the last year with a 99.991% safety rate."

There is no easy way to talk about horses dying, but I believe Santa Anita has done everything right in being transparent about what it is doing to combat future fatalities.

The most important points for racing to touch on in this day and age should always be:

 The care of the horse

 addressing and improving safety procedures

 expanding post-career care and adoption avenues for our equine athletes

I think we are growing as an industry in the right direction but we cannot continue to fight as counter punchers in every battle. At some point we have to be ahead of the criticism.

The little things we can easily do every day on social media can help shape how we are viewed and what people think about us.

Social media is reshaping society and we need to speak on behalf of our sport, horses, and the industry that we all love. Share your stories and invite people on social media into our sport. Show them why you love being a part of it. This is the very definition of a grassroots movement.

You can be sure the people on the other side of the fence will do as much, or more, and are every bit as loud as we ever could be. Look at what they have accomplished thus far:

CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and every other major mainstream media outlet has printed less than flattering stories about California racing in recent months.

The latest was the Washington Post in a recent Sunday publication. It's sad, but the newspapers that used to inform us are now really just magazines that push their own agenda, worrying more about exciting their own base and selling ad space rather than reporting the day's events with any degree of unbiased accuracy.

The news today is whatever sells; and these that's clicks, shares, and likes.

The once mighty truth tellers, are now all in sales, and what used to be mainstream media cowers and claws for advertising revenue however they can get it.

Factor in the deep pockets of special interest groups and things start to get scary.

Before you ask why we wouldn't simply educate people about the difference between Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds. Explaining to them how low our catastrophic injury rate is and separate ourselves from the sport of kings......the answer is, albeit blunt, because no one cares. People who don't know the difference between our breeds, are certainly not going to take the time to find out. A horse is a horse as they say.

We in harness racing may see two very different ships on the sea, but everyone else will only see one. Make no mistake, they will sink together if we continue to offer no defense to claims of animal cruelty.

Our politicians are watching closely and will not stand behind us if enough of their constituents complain, and the people we all thought were our friends will be the ones holding the knife when we feel that familiar sharp pain in our backs again.

Belinda Stronach had all the right answers at the Pegasus in January when interviewed on T.V., and yet all that the Washington Post would write about is horses dying at Santa Anita, even quoting an organization like "Horseracing wrongs" with absolutely no rebuttals awarded from racing at all in the editorial. This of course is on the heels of the October editorial from Patrick Battuellos, the operator of the very same "Horseracing wrongs", who penned a riveting piece titled "The time for horse racing has passed. It's time to outlaw it." A rather unbiased take on horse racing as you can imagine.

Nevertheless, this isn't some tabloid churned out in a public print shop somewhere in Greenwich village, this is the Washington Post.

Make no mistake, this is a coordinated attack on an industry completely inept at defending itself. So although I will win a gold medal in the 100 metre dash before Mr. Buttuello will ever win a Pulitzer, he has a platform happy to peddle his biased garbage, and we do not.

We will always encounter push back from these groups. For most of us the tool to fight back is in your back pocket right now, or on your bedside table at home. We are all connected to social media, and we are in the bloodstream of today's society everyday.

Until we have a funding model that supports significant marketing revenue increases we should start by looking inward to ourselves to begin to change the narrative about our industry and show society what horse racing means to us, and what it could mean to them.

By engaging the general public and showing them what horse racing means to us, and offering that to them, we can start to make real change. I know that message well and it most definitely works.

This isn't a plea for anything more than you can provide right now, and at any time of the day. We can't change the minds of the special interest groups, but we can level the playing field, somewhat.

One thing is for certain, this is not a California problem, and it is not a Thoroughbred problem. It is a horse racing problem whether we like it or not.

This is 2020 and we need to start understanding the world around us.

Anthony MacDonald

The views presented in Trot Blogs are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Standardbred Canada.
Democratic prosecutors declaring "no one is above the law" went head to head with White House lawyers as closing arguments wrapped up at President Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial, setting the stage for his likely acquittal on Wednesday. "You can't trust this president to do the right thing," chief House prosecutor Adam Schiff said in an emotional speech on the Senate floor on Monday at the end of the two-week trial. "Truth matters little to him," the California lawmaker told the 100 members of the Senate who will decide Trump's fate. "What's right matters even less and decency matters not at all. "He will not change and you know it," Schiff said of the former New York real estate tycoon turned politician. "Now do impartial justice and convict him." White House lawyers flatly rejected the arguments that Trump -- just the third president in US history to be impeached by the House of Representatives -- should be removed from office by the Senate for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. "The president has done nothing wrong," White House counsel Pat Cipollone said, calling the impeachment by the Democratic-led House "purely partisan and political." "We put our faith in the Senate," he said. "End the era of impeachment once and for all," Cipollone said, arguing that the American people -- not the Senate -- should decide whether Trump remains in office. Jay Sekulow, another of Trump's lawyers, said the House impeachment was "reckless" and urged the Senate to acquit. "The bottom line is that the president's opponents don't like the president and they don't like his policies," Sekulow said. - 'Cheat' - The Senate is to vote at 4:00 pm (2100 GMT) on Wednesday and the Republican president is all but certain of being acquitted. Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate to 47 for the Democrats, but a two-thirds majority, or 67 senators, is needed to remove a president from office. Trump is scheduled to deliver his nationally televised "State of the Union" speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday and has voiced no plans to delay until after the Senate vote. The House of Representatives impeached Trump on December 18 for withholding $391 million in military aid to Ukraine to demand that Kiev open an investigation into his potential November election rival, Democrat Joe Biden. Schiff urged senators to find "courage to stand up" to the president. "When the president tries to coerce an ally to try to help him cheat in our elections and covers it up we must say enough," he said. "He has compromised our elections and he will do so again." Colorado lawmaker Jason Crow, another House prosecutor, said impeachment was an "extraordinary remedy." "It is in the Constitution for a reason," he said. "In America, nobody is above the law, even those elected president of the United States." Crow told the senators their votes would echo through history. "What you decide on these articles will have lasting implications for the future of the presidency, not only for this president, but for all future presidents," he said. - Iowa caucuses - With the focus shifting to the final vote, all eyes will be on whether any Democrats facing potential tough re-election battles in November will vote to acquit the president. Democratic Senator Doug Jones, for example, is facing what is shaping up to be a tough re-election fight in Alabama, a state which voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016. West Virginia's Joe Manchin, a Democratic senator in a heavily Republican state, said he was "struggling" with how to vote on impeachment but he believed there would be bipartisan support for a censure motion of the president if one was offered. Final arguments in the trial came as voters held caucuses in Iowa to begin the process of choosing a Democratic candidate to face Trump in November. Former vice president Biden is among the front-runners in Iowa along with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, whose campaigning in the Midwestern state has been hamstrung by the requirement that they remain in Washington for the impeachment trial. As the Democratic prosecutors addressed the somber Senate chamber, Trump lashed out on Twitter. "I hope Republicans & the American people realize that the totally partisan Impeachment Hoax is exactly that, a Hoax," he said. Final arguments were held on Monday after Democrats failed last week in a bid to introduce new witnesses and documents into the trial. Only two Republicans -- Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine -- joined Democrats as the motion to introduce witnesses was defeated 51-49. Democrats had been eager to hear from Trump's former national security advisor John Bolton and other key administration figures caught up in the scandal. Bolton reportedly says in an upcoming book that Trump told him military aid to Ukraine was tied to Kiev's investigating Biden -- corroborating the central accusation against the president. Chief Democratic prosecutor Adam Schiff presents closing arguments at President Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial The Senate is hearing final arguments in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump Protestors hold a rally during closing arguments in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone said American voters should decide whether President Donald Trump should remain in office US presidents who have been impeached or threatened with impeachment by the House of Representatives
COMMERCE, Texas  Two people were killed and a third person was wounded in a shooting Monday at a dormitory at a university in Texas, police said.

A recommendation for students and employees to shelter in place was lifted early Monday afternoon at T exas A&M University-Commerce,about an hour and a half after it was announced on Twitter. The university said there were three gunshot victims at its Pride Rock residence hall, and two people were confirmed dead.

The third person was taken to a hospital. Classes were canceled for the day.

The university has has not said if a suspect is being sought.

The university said that even with the lifting of the shelter in place recommendation, the residence hall and the surrounding area was still blocked off due to the ongoing investigation. The university said the student center would be available for displaced students and that counselors were available there.

Commerce is about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of Dallas.

Larry Cooper III, a freshman who lives in the Pride Rock residence hall, told the Dallas Morning News that he left his room Monday just before the shelter-in-place was announced. He said he was waiting in a friend's room on the first floor of the residence hall.

Theres police blocking the doorways, but other than that were all just kind of sitting in and waiting on the news to happen, Cooper said.

Last October, two people were killed and a dozen others injured in an off-campus shooting at a homecoming and Halloween party involving Texas A&M-Commerce students.
James Argent returned to social media for the first time in nearly two months on Monday evening.

The former TOWIE star, 32, revealed he's set to take to the stage at pal Elliott Wright's Olivia's La Cala restaurant in Spain after reportedly checking himself into rehab following 'two drug overdoses in two months' last year.

Sharing a promotional poster of his residency on Instagram, the media personality will perform at the fine eatery's Famous Thursday events on selected dates from April until September.

He's back! James Argent returned to social media for the first time in nearly two months on Monday evening (pictured in February last year)

The Waltham Forest native wrote on his social media account: 'After many comments & dms I can finally reveal Ill be back @olivias_la_cala for my 2020 residency! Jessie J & Tyson Fury amongst others joined me last year.

'There will be many more familiar faces joining me this year! Here is a list of all of my gigs, Please book ASAP to avoid disappointment as theyll all be guaranteed sell outs!', he wrote alongside a series of his performance dates.

Treated to support from his loved ones, former TOWIE co-star Carol Wright commented: 'Me and big mark with be there for sure. .'

Olivia's La Cala owner Elliott and his wife Sadie added: 'Gonna be a great summer 2020... Cannot wait for this summer! Gonna be the best yet!!!!.' [sic]

Back to the grind: The former TOWIE star, 32, will perform at pal Elliott Wright's Olivia's La Cala restaurant in Spain after reportedly checking himself into rehab (pictured in November)

Working hard: Sharing a promotional poster of his residency on Instagram, the media personality will take to the stage on selected dates from April until September

James' last Instagram post was shared in late September, when he uploaded a gushing tribute to his best friend Mark Wright for the platform's decade challenge.

James told his 767,000 followers: '2010 Two Essex boys who are literally complete opposites in every way & have not much in common but some how are the closest of friends & pretty much brothers!

'2019 & I still dont know what Id do without him! Love ya @wrighty_  #Marg.' [sic]

The troubled star was recently taken to hospital for the second time in two months after friends and family feared he had attempted a second 'overdose'.

Excited: The Waltham Forest native was treated to support from his nearest and dearest, including former co-star Carol Wright and the eatery's owners Elliot and Sadie

Paramedics rushed to his 1.3million home in South Woodford, Essex where they found the star 'disorientated' shortly before friends - including Mark - rallied around in a bid to help him get the support he needs.

Insiders told MailOnline: 'Mark was at his house for around six hours to support him. This was after Arg had been to hospital and come home again...

'Arg cant afford rehab but Mark and other close friends and family are clubbing together to put him in a good place so he can overcome this.'

A friend indeed: His last Instagram post was shared in late September, when he uploaded a gushing tribute to his best friend Mark Wright for the platform's decade challenge

James' on/off girlfriend Gemma Collins was said to be 'worried sick' following his admission but vowed to stand by her man in his time of need.

He allegedly started the New Year with an indefinite stay at a 20,000 a month retreat in Thailand until he feels 'happy and healthy' enough to come home.

An insider told The Sun: 'Arg has jetted off to Thailand to start the New Year at a specialist facility.

'He has realised he needs help with his recent addiction issues and with his weight loss battle, so has turned to professionals.

'Arg is receiving some of the best care in the world and so is in an environment to finally improve his physical and mental state.'

MailOnline contacted James' representatives for further comment at the time of publication.
TORONTO - Health officials in British Columbia believe there is a new case of the novel coronavirus in the province and are waiting for results to be confirmed by the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg. There have been four confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Canada  three in Ontario and one in B.C. Here is a timeline of Canadian cases.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (705 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO - Health officials in British Columbia believe there is a new case of the novel coronavirus in the province and are waiting for results to be confirmed by the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg. There have been four confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Canada  three in Ontario and one in B.C. Here is a timeline of Canadian cases.

Jan. 25, 2020: A man in his 50s who arrived in Toronto from Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the outbreak, becomes the first "presumptive" case of the new coronavirus in Canada. The man called 911 as soon as he got sick with relatively minor symptoms and was placed in isolation in Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital.

Jan. 26, 2020: The wife of the Toronto man who was Canada's first "presumptive" case of the new coronavirus becomes the second presumptive case. The woman is kept in home isolation.

Jan. 27, 2020: The National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg confirms that a man in quarantine in Sunnybrook Hospital is Canada's first documented case of the new coronavirus.

Jan 28, 2020: Health authorities confirm Canada's second case of the novel coronavirus. The woman had recently travelled to Wuhan with her husband, who was the first case confirmed in Canada.

Jan 28, 2020: Health officials in British Columbia say a man in his 40s is presumed to have the new coronavirus and is doing well as he recovers at his Vancouver home. B.C.'s health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, says the man often works in China and voluntarily isolated himself upon returning to Canada.

Jan. 28, 2020: The presumed case of the new strain of coronavirus in B.C. is confirmed by the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

Jan. 31, 2020: Toronto man hospitalized with the novel coronavirus is well enough to go home. Sunnybrook Hospital says he'll continue to recover at home, where his wife is also in self-isolation.

Jan. 31, 2020: Ontario's third case of the new coronavirus is confirmed. The patient, a woman in her 20s, had travelled to the affected area in China. The London university student initially tested negative for the virus, but a subsequent test at the national lab in Winnipeg was positive. Health officials say her symptoms are minor.

Feb. 4, 2020: Henry says officials believe a second case of the new coronavirus has been confirmed in B.C. It is a presumptive confirmed case until tests are completed by the national lab. Henry says the woman had family visiting from China's Hubei province and she is in isolation at her home.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2020.
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has urged former President John Mahama to open himself up for investigation over the recent Airbus bribery scandal that cited top Ghanaian officials who were in office between 2009 and 2015.

According to him, although Mahamas name was not explicitly mentioned in the court documents that gave detailed accounts about the alleged corrupt deal, it is important that having served as Vice President and President within the period, he avails himself to the ongoing probe into the matter.

Ghanas case was with regards to the purchase of two C-295 military aircraft for the Ghana Armed Forces.

Speaking to Citi News, he said attempts by the then Minority in Parliament, to get details about the deal proved futile.

The issue we raised then was about suspicion and we wrote to the [Airbus] centres, the one in Brazil, Spain and finally France but we hit a roadblock in all of themI think if former president [John] Mahama is committed to transparency and accountability, he should open himself up for these institutions to probe into the matter, he said.

While debating the matter, at the time, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, then the Minority Leader, found that the price of the C-295 was captured on Airbus' website as US$22 million but was shocked to see that the documents tabled before Parliament pegged the price of the aircraft at 24 million per piece.

Mr Speaker, the cost price of the C-295, the Shell is US$22 million from the manufacturers  their own website. Here, we are saying that it is 24.5 million. Again, you wonder where these figures are being conjured from, he said.

Mr Speaker, the X 24.5 million euros certainly, is going to be in the region of about US$35 million  US$35 million for the purchase of one, when we know that the manufacturers themselves are saying that the cost of the C-295, also known as 'Persuader' is going for US$22 million, he noted during a debate on the matter in Parliament.

The UKs Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in stating facts of the case said between 2009 and 2015, a number of Airbus employees made or promised success based commission payments of approximately 5 million to Intermediary 5, who is said to be a close relative of a high ranking elected Ghanaian Government official (Government Official 1).

Significantly, Government Official 1 was a key decision-maker in respect of Government of Ghana aircraft orders.

The payments to Intermediary 5 by officials of Airbus SE were, thus, intended to induce or reward improper favour by Government Official 1 over the purchase of three (3) C-295 military transport aircraft. Indeed, out of the 5 million promised Intermediary 5, 3.85 million was paid between March 2012 and February 2014.

There have been wild speculations and guesses about who the persons may be especially as the period the investigations focused on, was during the administration of the late Prof. Evans Atta-Mills and John Mahama.

But Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu believes John Mahama, who is seeking to return to power, must allow himself to be probed to bring clarity on the matter.

He indicated that his caucus at the time had strong suspicions that something was wrong about the deal but the challenges in Parliament made it difficult for the minority to push further to get full details on the matter.

---citinewsroom
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ARCHIVED - 10 unauthorized Algerian migrants intercepted off Cartagena



Four of the Algerians are reported to be under the age of 18

A small boat carrying ten unauthorized migrants from north Africa towards the coast of Murcia and the EU was successfully intercepted on Monday morning near EL Gorguel, just a couple of kilometres east of the city of Cartagena.

It is reported that all ten of the occupants, who received medical attention, food and blankets from the Cruz Roja before being handed over to the authorities, were male and had travelled from Algeria to reach the southern coast of Spain. Four of them are under the age of 18.

For more local news, events and other information go to the Cartagena section of Murcia Today.

Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest news, events and information in the Region of Murcia and the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/
The justice minister now accepts a recommendation that the States longest-serving prisoner  serial killer John Shaw  be granted two days of escorted temporary release per year, the Court of Appeal has been told.

The court also heard that Shaws lawyers needlessly spent half a day arguing the ministers initial refusal was unjust, as they never checked their emails to learn the decision had already been reversed.

Shaws case has been the subject of a number of reviews, first by the Sentence Review Group and subsequently the Parole Board.

In April 2016, the Prison Review Committee noted Shaw, 73, was very frustrated that he has never got a day out of prison in his 38 years in custody He has no family in Ireland and has only received one family visit over the course of his sentence.

The Parole Board recommended Shaw be granted two days of escorted outings per year, but in a letter dated November 29, 2016, the justice minister refused the recommendation, which was subsequently challenged by Shaws lawyers through the courts.

During a half-day hearing in January, Shaws counsel asked the Court of Appeal to quash the ministers decision on grounds that no reasons were given for refusing him temporary release.

However, neither Shaws senior counsel nor junior counsel had read their emails in which they would have learned that the minister had reversed the decision on the recommendation for temporary release.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said it was not satisfactory that the decision to accept the recommendation in a letter sent to Shaw on December 9, 2019, was not communicated to his lawyers until the morning of the hearing on January 14.

He said it was a serious thing that the case proceeded to full hearing in this court in circumstances where it was in fact moot.
Baja California kidnapper arrested in Cancun

Cancun, Q.R.  An alleged member of the Arellano Felix cartel who had an outstanding arrest warrant in Baja California was arrested in Cancun Monday by city police.

Quintana Roo police executed an arrest warrant for Jose Luis Escudero Escandon, whom the Attorney Generals Office says is alleged responsible for the abduction of a woman in August of 2019. After an investigation, authorities were successful in requesting a warrant for his arrest for his likely involvement in the abduction.

A judge from the Federal Justice Center in Ensenada, Baja California issued the arrest warrant against Escudero Escandon. He was taken into custody in Cancun and sent to the Centro Federal de Readaptacion Social in Durango where he will be held until his trial.
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The federal government on Tuesday sought the approval of Senate for concessionary external borrowing of $22.8 billion for development of infrastructure across the country.

Minister of Finance and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, made the presentation on behalf of the federal government, when she appeared before Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts.

Mrs Ahmed said the loan sought for was segmented into seven concessionary loans from multilateral institutions.

She said the loans which was part of the 2016 to 2018 external borrowing plan was designed to enhance productivity of the economy via development of roads, railway lines, electricity projects, agriculture among other sectors.

She said the loan sought for involved states and federal government, noting that the state governments would be responsible for their own repayments.

She said the loan will also assist in provision of soft loan for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMES) in the country and ultimately improve employment generation in the country.

Mrs Ahmed said what Nigeria had was a revenue problem and not debt problem, noting that the nations revenue profile was sustainable.

This, she said, was evidenced in the nations debt to Gross Domestic (GDP) sustainability ratio which stood at 25 per cent.

She said, if the loan sought for was approved and disbursed, the nation Debt to GDP sustainability index would be 20 per cent.

This, she said, was below the World Bank threshold of 55 per cent.

She said the government was making frantic efforts to address the revenue challenge facing the nation.

Also present to defend the external borrowing plan of their states before the committee were officials of Kogi, Kaduna and Katsina governments.

The Ministers of Works, Babatunde Fashola; Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; and Minister of State for Transport, Gbemisola Saraki, were also present to defend the borrowing plans of their ministries.

The Minster of Federal Capital Development Territory Mohammed Bello, also appeared before the committee to defend external borrowing plan request for the FCTA.

Chairman of the Committee, Clifford Ordia, said seven of the agencies of government were yet to respond to the request of the committee to defend their borrowing plan request.

He said the delay on the loan approval was caused by inability of the agencies to respond to the invitation of the committee.

(NAN)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday held talks with Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah and discussed ways to deepen bilateral ties as well as the evolving regional situation.

Al Attiyah also held talks with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

"Welcomed DPM and MoS for Defence Affairs @kbmalattiya of Qatar. Defence cooperation is an important pillar of our multifaceted partnership. Also exchanged views on the evolving regional situation," Jaishankar tweeted after the meeting.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shares in Elon Musk's Tesla raced past the $900 mark for the first time last night, meaning shares have now doubled in value this year.

Amid frenzied buying, the electric car maker's stock rose more than 13 per cent, adding to a rise of 20 per cent on Monday.

Tesla's value is now 122billion, more than five times what it was worth as recently as June when shares were changing hands for $177.

Electric car maker Tesla's stock rose more than 13 per cent, adding to a rise of 20 per cent on Monday

The extraordinary rise means Tesla is worth more than three times General Motors, the largest car producer in the US.

And Musk has seen the value of his stake jump from 4.6billion to 23billion since June.

The rally has also boosted shares in UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment trust, one of the top shareholders, to record highs.

Analysts said Tesla retained a big lead over other electric car makers, while its joint batteries venture with Panasonic also turned a profit for the first time.

Some observers cautioned that the 'insane' growth of recent months would be difficult to sustain.

But Ron Baron, the billionaire boss of the Baron money management empire, whose firm holds 1.63m shares, or 0.9 per cent of Tesla, said he bought in at around $219 per share in 2014, adding: 'The company's business had grown from $2.8billion of annual revenues to $25billion.

'Now what's happening, it's just catch-up. This could be one of the largest companies in the whole world.'

However, Craig Irwin, an analyst at Roth Capital who has given Tesla a 'Sell' rating, said many investors were flocking to the company simply because it was trendy.

Irwin added: 'I can't believe this freaking stock. It's insane. It's fear of missing out.' Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak, said: 'This is taking Tesla well above a level that would be supported by its current fundamentals. The stock is going to get absolutely clobbered before long.'

Musk, 48, is the biggest shareholder in Tesla, with 18.8 per cent of its stock. He is on course for a bonus of at least 263million after getting the market capitalisation to $100billion (77billion).

The next biggest shareholders include UK wealth manager Baillie Gifford with 7.7 per cent, Capital World Investors with 5.7 per cent, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund with 4.6 per cent and the Vanguard Group with 4.4 per cent.

Baillie Gifford's total stake, held through Scottish Mortgage and other trusts, was worth more than 9billion yesterday.

Fund manager James Anderson has talked up the company and said last year that rivals 'cannot compete with what it is doing'.

More than 14,500 investors piled into Tesla via US-based investment platform Robinhood over the past three days.

But the surge has proved brutal for short-sellers, who have lost 6.4billion so far in 2020 alone, according to data firm S3 Partners.
Equity market benchmark Sensex and Nifty recorded 2.3% gains each on Tuesday's trade led by gains in index heavyweights. BSE 30-share S&P Sensex closed 917 points higher at 40,789 and NSE 50-share index Nifty50 climbed 271 points higher at 11,979. This was the biggest single-day rise for the Sensex since September 23, 2019.

Market breadth was strong as the wider market participated in the rally. The broader markets BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap underperformed the benchmark but still ended higher by 1.3%-1.4%.

All the sectoral indices recorded healthy gains with Oil & Gas, Metals and Consumer Durables recording the highest in the range of 3.1-3.5%. Midcap and Smallcap index gained 1.29%-1.37% respectively.

Santosh Meena, Senior Analyst, TradingBells said, "Today's rally can be attributed to a sharp fall in crude oil prices, positive global market, and a serious short covering. There was pessimism in the market post-budget with worries of coronavirus and the market has a habit to surprise by a rally in the mood of pessimism."

1. Profit booking

Indian bourses tanked on Saturday after the Budget didn't live up to Dalal Street's expectations. With the Budget overhang gone, investors are breathing a sigh of relief and are back to making fresh calls. In terms of BSE Sensex, the index closed 136 points higher at 39,872 yesterday and ended at the hike of 917 today, totalling to 1,053 points of the rise in mere 2 sessions post-budget.

"Indian bourses tanked on Saturday after the Budget disappointed the Street's expectations. However, as the Budget failed to provide any short-term relief, the market experienced massive carnage. This was a knee jerk reaction but as investors realized that the budget will aid in the long-term growth of the economy, the market picked up. With the Budget overhang gone, investors are breathing a sigh of relief and are back to make fresh calls," said Umesh Mehta, Head of Research, Samco Securities.

2. Global indices rise

Domestic market started 400 points higher, led by positive global cues and declining oil prices today and continued a bullish momentum. Globally, stocks were reversing some of the previous coronavirus-related plunge led by gains in China's Shanghai Composite today.

After plunging nearly 9% on Monday, Shanghai Composite rose 1.35% higher today after China said it would welcome assistance from the United States. Further, China's central bank flooded the economy with cash while trimming some key lending rates. This too led investors into a buying spree in international markets.

"A global rally in equities post a correction due to the Corona Virus had a positive rub off in India as well today with the BSE Sensex gaining more than 900 points with all sectoral indices ending in green," said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.

3. January auto sales

Auto shares traded higher today after reporting January sales figures, which were better than street estimates. Shares of Hero MotoCorp rose 2.35% higher today, followed by Motherson Sumi Systems, Bharat Forge, Apollo Tyres and MRF that traded over 1% each. TVS Motor Company, Amara Raja Batteries, Bosch, Mahindra & Mahindra and Exide gained in the range of 0.50% to 1%.

Umesh Mehta, Head of Research, Samco Securities said, "January auto sales numbers were comparatively decent and with no other negative news, the Indian bourses saw a sudden rally today."

4. Metal, Banking stocks

Metal stocks traded higher today on the back of positive cues from China, which is the industry's largest importer. Hindalco and Tata Steel gained by 3.8% and 3.3%, respectively.

Banking shares also gained ahead of the RBI MPC meet which started today. S&P BSE Bankex gained 751 points or 2.19% intraday to 35,201, primarily led by gains in ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI.

"Banking sector led the rally today ahead of RBI policy on Thursday, there are expectations of no rate cut in upcoming policy but RBI may surprise by a rate cut amid growth concerns and falling crude oil prices, said Santosh Meena, Senior Analyst, TradingBells.

5. Brent Crude

Internationally, Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell to December 2018 low of USD 54 dollars a barrel, down nearly 25% from the peak it registered early last month when Iran-US tensions had escalated. This was on the back of coronavirus outbreak in China, which is one of the largest importers of crude in the world. Brent crude barrel traded higher by 0.40 per cent.

"A decline in oil prices and rupee appreciation is working in favour of the Indian markets. However, concerns regarding coronavirus still persist and we may witness volatility in the short-term", said Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking.

Share Market Update: Sensex ends 917 points higher, Nifty at 11,979; Titan closes 7.5% higher post Q3 earnings

ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI stocks make gains; Sensex up 860 points
Pilot of helicopter that crashed heralded for 'miracle' landing

The crew of a Hagerstown-based helicopter and the juvenile patient they picked up in Chambersburg, Pa., are OK after a crash near Philadelphia.
I will not ask why is it that we did not relocate the Beetham Waste Disposal (garbage) site 
Burma Internet Ban Reimposed in Five Townships in Western Myanmar

Burned trucks lie abandoned next to the Yangon-Sittwe Highway near Yoe Ta Yoke Village in Ponnagyun Township, Rakhine State, in September 2019. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

YANGONMyanmar authorities have reimposed a ban on internet services in five townships in conflict-torn western Myanmar where government troops are fighting Arakan Army rebels, one of the countrys leading telecom operators announced Monday.

Telenor Myanmar said the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) had ordered it and Myanmars other mobile operatorsMyanma Posts and Telecommunications, Ooredoo and Mytelto again suspend mobile internet traffic in five townships in Rakhine and Chin states.

As the basis for its order, the MOTC cited security requirements and the public interest, Telenor said.

The shutdown went into effect at 10 p.m. on Feb. 3.

The five townshipsRakhines Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Rathedaung and Myebon, and Chins Paletwawere subject to a government-imposed data network shutdown from June 20 to Aug. 31 last year.

The latest order limits the duration of the shutdown in the five townships to three months, Telenor said.

Internet services in the four other townships in RakhinePonnagyun, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw and Minbyahave been restricted since June 2019.

Telenor said customers in the affected areas were being informed of the resumed shutdown via SMS. The order does not affect voice and SMS services.

The company will continue its dialogue with Myanmar authorities in order to try and have services restored, the operator said.

As of Tuesday, the government had not made any announcement regarding the resumption of the internet blackout in Rakhine and Chin states.

During the previous shutdown, Myanma Post and Telecommunications (MPT) told The Irrawaddy that the order was issued under Article 77 of the 2013 Telecommunications Law, which permits the suspension of a telecommunications service when an emergency situation arises.

Maung Saung Kha, director of Athan, an organization promoting the right to freedom of expression, told The Irrawaddy, We completely condemn the governments action banning the internet in those areas.

Maung Saung Kha said civil society organizations (CSOs) and right groups have been collecting signatures for an open letter to the President and Myanmar government urging an end to the internet ban in the four other townships in Rakhine where services have been restricted for nearly seven months.

The action shows that the government ignores the demands of CSOs, rights groups and local people, Maung Saung Kha said.

Last year, a number of human rights groups along with international and local civil society groups expressed concern over the impacts of the internet shutdown, particularly on civilian safety amid the ongoing conflict. The group said the shutdown had reduced the availability of information about the armed conflict in the area for civilians.

The groups said removal of internet services, including access to Facebook, reduced the ability of emergency services to communicate with and locate people, and undermined authorities ability to disseminate important information when it was necessary that people move for their own safety. They also warned that less information will be available for those seeking to defend residents human rights, including elected members of Parliament, human rights defenders and the media.

Since November, fighting has intensified in Rakhine between the military and the Arakan Army, driving tens of thousands of civilians from their homes.

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From Brad Pitt's cheeky Megxit jibe at the BAFTAs to Ricky Gervais taking aim at Prince Andrew at the Golden Globes, the royal family has been well and truly in the firing line this awards season.

The monarchy, once seen to be above mockery, has become fair game for A-listers on both sides of the pond during the 2020 awards season, which happens to coincide with the departure over the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The couple count a string of celebrities among their supporters and friends, including Oprah Winfrey, Ellen Degeneres and George and Amal Clooney, and some social media users speculate their move has emboldened stars to step up and make jokes about the royals.

Today Joaquin Phoenix, 45, is making headlines over his treatment of the royal family, after a video emerged showing his curtsey to Prince William, 37, as the pair were introduced following the BAFTAs on Sunday night.

The unconventional greeting sparked debate online over whether Phoenix was being sincere, or if he was subtly undermining the prince and royal convention. William himself appeared unfazed and praised the star's 'brilliant' work in The Joker.

There has been similar division between viewers over other royal family jokes this awards season - with some questioning whether celebrities have simply gone too far.

London-based etiquette expert William Hanson explained that the royals are currently an 'easy target' for celebrities, saying: 'It is inevitable that the Monarchys appeal will ebb and flow over time. We have had years of the royal family being admired and adored, with no one able to do any wrong.

'Arguably, the pendulum is swinging in the other direction and the Hollywood stars, who will never understand the nuances and heritage of royalty, are using the Queens family as easy targets for their humour.'

He continued: 'Currently, the tiding of magpies that flock around Hollywood see The Duke and Duchess of Sussex as the shiny new toys. It wont last.'

JOAQUIN PHOENIX'S CURTSEY

Royal greeting: The Joker star Joaquin Phoenix curtsied to Prince William when the pair met following the BAFTAs in London on Sunday night. It is one of a string of recent examples of Hollywood stars poking fun at the royal family, with varying levels of success

Unconventional: A clip of the moment, which has been widely circulated online, shows the actor apparently attempting to adhere to royal protocol while greeting Prince William, 37

Divisive: Viewers couldn't decide whether or not Phoenix was trying to mock the prince

Joaquin Phoenix caused a stir with his BAFTAs appearance on Sunday night - but it's not his win or powerful speech that has people talking today.

The Hollywood star, 45, curtsied heavily to the Duke of Cambridge as they met following the show.

A clip of the moment, which has been widely circulated online, shows the best actor winner apparently attempting to adhere to royal protocol while greeting Prince William, 37.

Stand-out moment: The curtsey prompted much discussion from fans on social media, above

Some fans applauded the actor for using the deferential greeting, pointing out that he might not have known the correct way to address the royals.

Etiquette on curtseys Members of the public are not bound to the traditions and protocols of the Royal Family, although they can choose to curtsey if they wish. The Queen herself has said she does not expect people to curtsey, and Buckingham Palace reflects this in its protocol advice. However many people choose to show deference to the royals with their greeting. Women typically curtsey while men bow their heads forwards. However there is no rules stating men cannot curtsey. The rules are the same for foreigners like Joaquin Phoenix as for Brits. It is up to the individual as to whether they curtsey or not. Advertisement

Men typically bow their heads to a member of the royal family and women curtsey, although it is not a requirement for members of the public.

One American supporter tweeted: '[Meeting a royal is] not a circumstance we, as North Americans are exposed to, he was showing respect, bow or curtsy, either way ... all good ... very proud of Joaquin Phoenix this night.'

However others claimed that the actor was mocking William. One tweeted simply: 'That's what you call roasting someone.' Another asked: 'Was that a joke?'

Certainly the unconventional move didn't phase Prince William. The pair went onto discuss Phoenix's film, The Joker, with the royal saying it 'blew his mind'.

'I absolutely loved The Joker. It was brilliant,' praised the Prince. 'I put it off and put it off watching it, as people kept telling me "be careful when you choose to watch it", but when I did it blew my mind, it was really good.'

Prince William and Joaquin also shared a similar message in their speeches at the Royal Albert Hall event, addressing the clear lack of diversity in the acting and directing categories.

BRAD PITT'S 'HARRY' JOKE

'I'm calling it Harry': Margot Robbie read out a speech on behalf of co-star Brad Pitt when she collected his Best Supporting Actor BAFTA, pictured. She said: 'He says he is going to name this Harry because he is really excited about bringing it back to the States with him'

Cracking up: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were seen laughing at the joke

Famous friends: Some fans speculated that Brad Pitt was making a point by telling the British Royal Family that Harry is a 'trophy' who has now stepped down from his role

Brad Pitt, 56, was not at the BAFTAs to accept his Best Supporting Actor award and instead asked Once Upon A Time in Hollywood co-star Margot Robbie to pick up the gong.

Robbie read out a speech on his behalf, quipping: 'He says he is going to name this Harry because he is really excited about bringing it back to the States with him. His words not mine.'

The camera immediately panned to the Duke and Duchess at the ceremony, who were seen laughing alongside the rest of the crowd from their seats.

The joke also tickled viewers at home, who took to Twitter in their hundreds to praise the well-placed joke.

REBEL WILSON'S PRINCE ANDREW JIBE

Taking aim: Actress Rebel Wilson made a quip about Prince Andrew, who stepped back from royal duties last year amid the scandal surrounding his connection to Jeffrey Epstein

Controversial: The moment divided opinion on Twitter and appeared to fall a little flat

Prince Harry wasn't the only royal to come under fire during the BAFTA ceremony.

Actress Rebel Wilson made a quip about Prince Andrew, who stepped back from royal duties last year amid the scandal surrounding his connection to Jeffrey Epstein.

Presenting the Best Director award, Rebel referenced the controversy as she quipped: 'It is really great to be here at the Royal Andrew... uh, Royal Harry... no, sorry, Royal Phil- at this royal... palace place.'

The joke appeared to land less well than Pitt's royal family venture, with William and Kate looking stony-faced in their seats.

Viewers were divided, with one fan tweeting: 'I didn't realize that Rebel Wilson made a Prince Andrew joke. Good job Hollywood.'

However one critic posted: 'Brad Pitts joke totally couldve slipped although it was disrespectful IMO, but the joke Rebel Wilson was making about Andrew and Harry was totally out of line and clearly no one there found it funny. Why do celebs think things like this is a good idea?'

... AND ANOTHER ONE FROM RICKY GERVAIS

In the firing line: Ricky Gervais used Prince Andrew's controversial relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to make a joke about Leonardo di Caprio's string of younger girlfriends during his opening monologue at the Golden Globes last month (pictured)

Laughing at himself: DiCaprio saw the funny side and could be seen laughing in the audience

This year's awards ceremony kicked off with the Golden Globes on 5 January - before the Sussexes' departure - and Prince Andrew was firmly in the firing line.

In his monologue, the comedian used the royal's controversial relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to make a joke about Leonardo di Caprio's string of younger girlfriends.

Discussing the actor's recent movie Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Gervais, 58, complained it was too long.

He joked: 'Leonardo DiCaprio attended the premiere and by the end, his date was too old for him.'

Amid laughter from the star-studded audience, Gervais added: 'Even Prince Andrew is like, ''come on Leo mate, you're nearly 50, son''.'

Inside the event, cameras caught Leo's reaction. It seemed the actor - who is currently dating 22-year-old Camila Morrone - was able to poke fun at himself, blushing and smiling while the rest of the room cracked up.
Multiple outlets say Iowa Caucuses results are held up as the Iowa Democratic Party is performing a quality control on the caucus data.

Officials are combing through the information coming from the caucuses for any discrepancies that could be related to human error, CBS News tweeted Monday at about 10:45 p.m.

Ruby Cramer of Buzzfeed News tweeted that there was a technical issue with Iowa results reporting.

There is technical issue with Iowa results reporting. Hearing from multiple campaigns that the Iowa Democratic Party is sending a tech staffer to the shared boiler room in Des Moines, where the campaigns have staff headquartered, to brief them momentarily on whats going on.  Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) February 4, 2020

Hearing from multiple campaigns that the Iowa Democratic Party is sending a tech staffer to the shared boiler room in Des Moines, where the campaigns have staff headquartered, to brief them momentarily on whats going on, she tweeted.

CNN reported that multiple campaigns were concerned about the delay. The Iowa Caucuses are the first votes cast in the 2020 presidential election, which features an unprecedentedly large field of Democratic contenders.

Iowa Democratic Party communications director Mandy McClure issued a statement to CBS News that The integrity of the results is paramount.

McClure said the delay was due to quality checks and because the party was reporting out three sets of data for the first time.

What we know right now is that around 25% of precincts have reported, and early data indicates turnout is on pace for 2016, she said.
President Donald Trump was named the winner of the GOPs Iowa caucuses in the least surprising result of the night.

As Trumps Democratic rivals faced a tight race, the incumbent won the symbolic vote after running against former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld and Illinois rep Joe Walsh.

Team Trump headed to the state for the caucus with the Presidents two sons Donald Jr and Eric holding a 'Keep Iowa Great' rally.

Insiders say the Presidents re-election team saw the vote as a good opportunity to test the campaigns organization ahead of the general election in November.

Donald Trump Jr, who was also joined by his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, mocked the left-wing swing of the Democratic Party to Bernie Sanders.

"When I see the ideals of socialism and communism actually being pushed  I know we say this as a joke and everyone's laughing, but it's not a joke," the 42-year-old said.

While we've done a lot, there's still a lot left to be done. Donald Trump's gonna do that.

The rally also included a speech from the presidents campaign manager, Brad Parscale, who told supporters: We're here in force to show the American people that this is a real movement.

The President sat out the vote in the White House. On Tuesday he will deliver his State of the Union Address.
How the US became the center of global kleptocracy

February 03, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - Critics of President Donald Trump frequently use the word kleptocracy to describe his leadership, administration, and imprint on American policy writ large.

Before 2016  before Trumps election and presidency flipped assumptions about Americas liberal democratic project on its head  the word, which literally means rule of thieves, was mostly only used by academics and foreign policy wonks.

Thanks to Trumps reign, though, kleptocracy is having an unprecedented moment.

Its not hard to see why. As Voxs Zack Beauchamp argued in 2017, Trumps kleptocratic instincts share significant overlap with post-Soviet dictators and autocratic strongmen elsewhere, from his nepotistic corruption to his insistence on targeting opponents with all the levers of power at his disposal  as seen most obviously in his attempt to strong-arm a foreign government into trying to investigate a political rival.

All of that is, of course, true: Trumps illiberalism, and his predilection for inserting and expanding corruption wherever he can, is hardly a secret.

But this administration is merely the culmination of the USs decades-long slide toward becoming the center of modern kleptocracy. The US has become the worlds greatest offshore haven, allowing the crooked and the criminal to launder and stash their ill-gotten gains across the country  money ransacked from national treasuries and prone populations abroad.

For despots and their families, human traffickers and gun runners, theres no better friend than the US, at least when it comes to hiding their finances from prying eyes, both at home and abroad.

All told, the US has become the key cog in the machine of modern kleptocracy worldwide, allowing illiberal regimes everywhere to flourish  and threatening Americas democratic experiment in the process.

How US states became masters of the shell game

The biggest single provider of anonymous shell corporations in the world isnt Panama or the Cayman Islands. Its not the financial secrecy stalwart Switzerland, or a traditional offshore haven like the Bahamas.

Its Delaware. And the main reason is federalism.

Thanks to the USs federal structure, company formation remains overseen at the state level, rather than in Washington.

So if youre a budding autocrat interested in a bit of easy money laundering, you dont turn to federal officials in Washington. Instead, you look to state officials in Dover, Cheyenne, or Reno to help construct anonymous shell companies to funnel and clean your illegitimate money.

And these states have taken full advantage. Since there are no regulations in the US requiring that shell companies identify their true owners  known as beneficial owners  American states have been under no compunction to try to peel back who may be behind the anonymous shell companies mushrooming across the country.

These states and their constituents are raking in fees  at last check, Delaware made some $1.3 billion annually from its company formation industry  so whenever, say, a human trafficker or extremist network sets up an anonymous company in Wilmington or Laramie or Carson City, they have little incentive to try to figure out who may be behind the companies.

Unsurprisingly, the anonymous company industry has been staggeringly profitable for these states. The revenues that Delaware, which pioneered targeting corrupt officials as potential clients for its anonymous shell company industry, continues to make represent about a quarter of the states annual budget.

Nevada, which actively marketed itself as the Delaware of the West in the early 1990s, directly linked company formation fees to funding teachers salaries. And Wyoming, which invented the limited liability company (LLC) in 1977, has been only too happy to capitalize on allowing shell companies to flourish in the state, generating millions of dollars for its general budget  yet another small state all too willing to participate in this race to the bottom.

All you need is 15 minutes, a bit of money  Delaware offers packages for around $100, pocket change for the crooked and corrupt racing to the state  and a willingness to conceal your identity, and an anonymous American shell company can be yours. Its easier than getting a library card.

And what better way to purchase American real estate, perfectly anonymously  which almost all of the US (outside of a few major metro areas) continues to allow  than via an anonymous American shell company?

The criminal and corrupt of the world have taken notice. Merchant of Death Viktor Bout, the most prolific illicit arms dealer of the past few decades, used anonymous American shell companies to smuggle missiles and rocket launchers to rebels in Colombia.

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Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who once joined Indonesian dictator Suharto and Serbian genocidaire Slobodan Milosevic among the ranks of the worlds most corrupt leaders, relied on a network of anonymous shell companies in Wyoming to plunder Ukraine.

Even the ongoing impeachment saga in the US hinges in large part on anonymous Delaware shell companies, which Rudy Giulianis Ukrainian-born bag-men used to funnel foreign funds into American elections.

For the worlds warlords, criminals, and autocrats, theres no gift finer than an anonymous American shell company.

Of course, other places  territories like the Cayman Islands or the Isle of Man, or countries like Panama or St. Kitts and Nevis  have sprouted their own anonymous shell company industries. (Many of which are, perhaps unsurprisingly, specifically modeled on their American precedents.)

But what separates the US is the sheer magnitude of operations. At last check, some 2 million companies were formed annually in the US, a greater pace than any other country or jurisdiction.

Tax Haven, USA

Still, itd be too facile to blame the USs collapse into a mecca of offshore secrecy on the states alone. While Washington hasnt been able to capitalize (or crack down) on anonymous shell companies spreading like fungus across the country, Congress recently figured out another way to accelerate Americas evolution into a corrupt officials best friend: taxes.

Specifically, a tax loophole big enough to welcome as many cheats, crooks, and criminals as youd like.

While the US has been busy over the past decade making headlines for slapping debilitating fines on foreign banks actively participating in money laundering, all while prying open offshore jurisdictions like Switzerland, a lesser-known transformation has taken root in the US.

After all, all that dirty money the US targeted elsewhere  in Latvia, in Estonia, in Germany  had to find a new home somewhere. Why shouldnt it be America?

The US opening its arms to a flood of shady foreign money might seem counterintuitive, given the USs previous role (thanks to things like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) as a leader in the fight against corruption. But while the US targeted dirty money  and those enabling its flow  abroad, it simultaneously rejiggered its own finance-sharing regulations to try to attract much of that same money, turning the US into a behemoth in the world of tax havens.

This isnt technically a new phenomenon: In 1984, Time magazine described the US as the largest and possibly the most alluring tax haven in the world. The Tax Justice Network, a UK-based anti-offshore advocacy organization, traces Americas transformation into a financial secrecy haven even further back, to the early 20th century.

But what really kicked things into overdrive was a law passed in 2010, under the Obama administration: the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). This law all but assured the USs role as a giant magnet for suspicious finance.

On its face, FATCA reads like a basic, multilateral approach to financial transparency. A range of US allies had already enacted something called the Common Reporting Standard, which allows governments to share information on foreign nationals who open bank accounts in other countries. According to the Obama administration, FATCA did much the same  and as such, the US didnt need to join the Common Reporting Standard.

But there was one hitch: Whereas FATCA forced foreign governments to reveal American accounts abroad, the US was under no compunction, legal or otherwise, to share information on non-Americans opening up accounts in the US proper. So while the US would gain deep, detailed information on where Americans were opening bank accounts abroad, Washington was not going to reciprocate for governments elsewhere.

It didnt take long for those tracking financial transparency to realize the bait-and-switch that had happened  and what it portended for where dirty money would suddenly start flocking to.

Washingtons independent-minded approach risks tearing a giant hole in international efforts at financial transparency, one analysis read, describing the result as a disaster. Bloomberg summed up the result in 2016, saying that the US  before Trump ever set foot in the White House  had become the leading tax and secrecy haven for rich foreigners, with some referring to the US as the new Switzerland.

Little surprise, then, that the Tax Justice Network, which described FATCA as only slightly better than useless, now ranks the United States second worldwide in its annual Financial Secrecy Index, just behind Switzerland. Thanks to measures like FATCA, they wrote, the US now accounts for nearly a quarter of the global market in offshore financial services.

The looming backlash

The USs development into the worlds leading offshore haven  one recent estimate placed the total offshore wealth in the US at $800 billion, if not more  was the result of a series of clear, concerted decisions from policymakers across the country.

The Trump administration, of course, has further cemented Americas role as a pioneer in the world of offshoring (and helping roll back the USs anti-corruption safeguards along the way). But Trump inherited a country that was already drowning in illicit funds, pilfered loot, and blood-soaked finances first swiped by authoritarian and autocratic governments and networks elsewhere.

When it comes to the USs role as a massive laundromat for dirty money, the Trump administration is simply continuing a trend years in the making.

But that doesnt mean that trend will continue in perpetuity. Ironically, Trumps bombast and transparent corruption has already spurred unprecedented momentum in Congress toward finally cleaning up some of these American offshore vehicles and policies. For instance, the House passed a bill late last year that will finally eliminate anonymous shell companies from coast to coast.

Several of the top 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have also put anti-kleptocracy measures at the heart of their foreign policies, and worked to highlight the threats the USs role as an offshore mecca plays not only to national security, but to global stability writ large.

(Trumps latest brush with war, following Americas strike against Iranian figures in Iraq, only highlighted the link; Iranian officials relied on anonymous American shell companies, and anonymous American real estate purchases along the way, to spend years skirting sanctions and generating millions in revenue.)

Former Vice President Joe Biden, who represented Delaware in the US Senate for more than three decades, has publicly broken with his states track record as an offshore epicenter and called for the US to finally eradicate anonymous shell companies.

Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2018 specifically linked the struggle for democracy with the struggle against kleptocracy and corruption, and has called for everything from an end to anonymous perpetual trusts, which allow trust owners to effectively hide their finances in perpetuity  perhaps the next frontier in American offshoring, as South Dakota has so gleefully illustrated  to expanding the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

And Sen. Elizabeth Warren recently issued the most comprehensive anti-kleptocracy plank any American candidate has ever authored. Her proposal runs the gamut of recommended fixes, from barring shell company formation to eliminating anonymous real estate purchases to expanding data collection for cross-border financial flows. Warrens plan even specifically targets Americans  such as accountants, realtors, and lawyers  who offer the services the crooked and corrupt of the world take advantage of in the US.

Its far too early to say that the worst days of Americas pioneering role in the world of offshoring is over. But theres a swelling awareness of the unending damage the anonymous shell companies in Nevada and Delaware, anonymous real estate purchases in New York and California, anonymous trusts in South Dakota, and tax havens across the country have caused  and of how Trump, cresting a wave of rising authoritarianism, is a harbinger of whats in store if action isnt taken soon.

Casey Michel is a writer based in New York, whose work has been featured in Foreign Affairs, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, and the New Republic, among others. Find him on Twitter @cjcmichel.

This article was published by "Vox" -

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The protests at Shaheen Bagh are making the silent majority angrier by the day. The BJP's theme song is seeking to tap into that anger.

If poll jingles are a measure of a political party's aggressive messaging, the Bharatiya Janata Party's new campaign song for the Delhi Assembly election can be said to break new ground. The jingle conveys a clear message to core Hindu nationalistic voters, and also seeks to win over fence-sitters.

In a political battle that is changing contours almost every day, the BJP's Delhi unit has released a 4 minutes and 28 seconds long theme song #JagoDilli, which focusses on the party's no-compromise narrative on the Citizenship Amendment Act in the backdrop of protests at Shaheen Bagh, Jamia Milia Islamia and elsewhere. Perhaps no other party's theme song has provoked such intense debates, or have the potential to leave a deep impact on voters.

The song's lyrics are powerful, right from the opening lines:

Dekh ye kya ho raha, tujhe o meri Dilli

Dhongi dharna de rahe uda rahen hain khilli

Ab jaag tu, chhed raag tu

Dilli tu ab jaag le, zoron se gaanth baandh le

Har drohi tu pehchaan re, desh apna abhimaan re

(These lines broadly translate as follows: 'See what's happening to you, my city of Delhi/Charlatans are mocking you through their protests/Rise, make your voice count; take a resolve/Recognise every traitor; our country is our pride')

While the song plays, images of rioting and arson are shown in the video. These images were picked from footage of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act at Shaheen Bagh, JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia.

The poll song was immediately criticised by sections of the Left-liberal intelligentsia. They argued that the song's lyrics spread hate and vitiated social harmony.

However, the problem with this argument is that it does not take into account the communal narrative that was propagated from Shaheen Bagh, Jamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University. It also does not take into account how a motivated misinformation campaign was unleashed to create a fear psychosis among Muslims, leading to violence, Muslim supremacist slogans and assertions about cutting off Assam from the rest of the country.

The BJP is merely making the most of an already surcharged atmosphere. The party is now in a much better position vis-a-vis the Aam Aadmi Party as compared to a few weeks ago.

It is difficult for the BJPs adversaries to take the moral high ground if they failed to condemn the blatant displays of communalism by the protesters, and the blocking of an arterial road connecting Delhi with Noida and Faridabad for 52 days. Indeed, protesters have not allowed even school buses or ambulances to pass, creating a daily traffic nightmare for a large number of people.

Perhaps due to this, the BJP's theme song has touched a chord even among those who do not have strong political leanings.

The protests at Shaheen Bagh are making the silent majority angrier by the day. The BJP's theme song is seeking to tap into that anger.

A day after the song was released on social media, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his first rally in this campaign, said, Be it Seelampur, Jamia or Shaheen Bagh, the past few days have seen protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill. Are these protests merely a coincidence? No, this is an experiment. Behind this is a political design which intends to destroy the amity of the country

He further remarked, "The Constitution and the Tricolour are being kept in front and attention is being diverted from the real conspiracy."
SPARTANBURG, S.C., Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Integrated Biometrics (IB), the world leader in mobile FBI-certified biometric fingerprint scanners, follows its recent announcement of record-breaking growth with the addition of new biometric expertise within its engineering group and notable increases in the companys Research and Development (R&D) footprint and global manufacturing capacity.



IB announced today the addition of Demian Bigelow, Vice President of Engineering, to the Companys management team. Demian will drive development of new products and oversee continuing advancements to the companys patented Light Emitting Sensor (LES) film technology. During his 20 years of visionary product development, Mr. Bigelow has made major contributions in biometric sector companies in senior roles ranging from principle engineer to CTO. Ive watched IBs product and technology leadership grow for a number of years, Bigelow commented. Its very exciting to join a technology sector leader at such a pivotal time in their history.

To better address the growth in demand, the company has expanded engineering and manufacturing capacity at its US and South Korea facilities, most recently acquiring new offices in Phoenix, AZ. The new space includes an expanded clean room, enabling a far greater range of thin-film research and manufacturing. With the addition of both people and space, Integrated Biometrics has tripled its R&D capability and increased its global, year-to-year manufacturing capacity by over 100%.

The changes weve announced are based on solid forecasts for very strong years in 2020 and beyond. The addition of Demian Bigelow means we will meet those demands with confidence and excellence, said Stephen Thies, Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Biometrics. The increase in our manufacturing and research facilities meets our aggressive sales forecasts with the flexibility to respond to unpredictable market interruptions, such as the current health-related situation in China.

About Integrated Biometrics

Integrated Biometrics, LLC designs and manufactures FBI-certified fingerprint sensors for law enforcement, military operations, homeland security, national identity, election validation, social services, and a wide range of commercial applications. Identity management solutions providers, government agencies, and corporations around the world rely on Integrated Biometrics products to enroll and verify individual identity quickly and accurately, even in remote locations. For more visit www.integratedbiometrics.com.

Media Contact

David Wright

david.wright@integratedbiometrics.com

t: +1-408-363-2843

m: +1-408-836-6694

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8fffcff1-f1e9-408a-8d68-e1d2b1862d80
Two Taiwanese men have been caught trying to smuggle 15 kilograms of heroin in packets of instant noodles from a Bangkok airport, Thai police said, in a kingdom which is a key regional drug route.

Police found the haul inside packets of MAMA noodles -- a Thai brand ubiquitous across Asia -- as well as tins of prickly heat powder.

The pair were trying to return to Taiwan when they were arrested on January 30 at Suvarnabhumi Airport after a tip-off, police said Monday, without saying from where the heroin originated.

The lawless border areas of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos have for decades been a hub for heroin.

But the large-scale production of synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine, ketamine and fentanyl has overtaken heroin in recent years.

Opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar fell 11 per cent in 2019 from the year before, according to data released Tuesday by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

But the agency said the region still has around three million heroin users in a market worth USD 10 billion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:

By the end of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2020), Iran and Azerbaijan are expected to reach final agreement on the establishment of a joint industrial park in Iran's Ardabil province, located in the country's northwest, Governor of Ardabil province Akbar Behnamju said at the event on the laying of Ardabil-Miyaneh railway, Trend reports citing Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Along with this, a railway terminal will be built to develop economic relations between the two countries, Behnamju said.

Currently, the weight of Ardabil's exports and imports is around 250,000 tons per year, the governor said, adding that this figure will exceed 3.2 million tons upon the establishment of a terminal in Ardabil's Parsabad county.

Iran's railways will be connected to Azerbaijan's rail network upon the construction of a 14 kilometers long railroad in Ardabil province, the governor said.

According to him, initial agreement between Iran and Azerbaijan to create a joint industrial park in the Parsabad county was reached in 2019. The matter was discussed between Iran's Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Reza Rahmani and Azerbaijan's Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev during his visit to Iran last year.

The construction of the Ardabil-Miyaneh railway with length of about 175 kilometers was launched in 2005. As reported, 62 tunnels with total length of 23.8 kilometers, a 4-kilometer bridge over a gorge and a 3-kilometer bridge over a water body will be constructed as part of the railway project. As of Feb. 4, 90 kilometers of the railroad have been laid. The Ardabil-Miyaneh railway is expected to be commissioned by March 21, 2022.
Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, we are living in the United States of Propaganda.

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For companies bracing for losses from China's viral outbreak, the damage has so far been delayed, thanks to a stroke of timing: The outbreak hit just when Chinese factories and many businesses were closed anyway to let workers travel home for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

But the respite won't last.

If much of industrial China remains on lockdown for the next few weeks, a very real possibility, Western retailers, auto companies and manufacturers that depend on Chinese imports will start to run out of the goods they depend on.

In order to meet deadlines for summer goods, retail experts say that Chinese factories would need to start ramping up production by March 15. If Chinese factories were instead to remain idle through May 1, it would likely cripple retailers' crucial back-to-school and fall seasons.

There's complete uncertainty,'' said Steve Pasierb, CEO of the Toy Industry Association.

This could be huge if it goes on for months.'' Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak hit hardest, is a center of automotive production.

It's been closed off, along with neighbouring cities, isolating more than 50 million people and bringing factories to a standstill.

So far, US automakers haven't had to curb production for want of Chinese parts. But David Closs, professor emeritus at Michigan State University's Department of Supply Chain Management, said the clock is ticking.

I would say it's weeks at the most,'' Closs said. One to two to three weeks.''



The partial shutdown of Wuhan has already harmed the production of TV display panels and raised prices, according to a report by research group IHS Markit.

The city has five factories making liquid crystal displays, known as LCDs, and organic light-emitting diodes, known as OLEDs, both of which are used for television and laptop monitors.

China accounts for more than half of the global production of these display panels.

David Hsieh, an analyst at IHS Markit, said in a report that these factories are facing shortages of both labor and key components as a result of mandates designed to limit the contagion's spread, leading suppliers to raise panel prices more aggressively.

Phone-maker Motorola, which has a facility in Wuhan, said that so far, it expects little impact because it has a flexible global supply chain and multiple factories around the world.

Its priority has been the welfare of local employees, Motorola, which is owned by the Chinese electronics giant Lenovo, said in a statement.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts last week that the company's contractors in China had been forced to delay reopening factories that closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. Cook said the company is seeking ways to minimize supply disruptions.

Some of its suppliers are in Hubei, the Chinese province at the center of the outbreak. Most of Apple's iPhones and other devices are made in China.

In the meantime, economists are sharply downgrading the outlook for China's economy, the world's second-biggest.

Tommy Wu and Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics have slashed their forecast for Chinese economic growth this year from 6 per cent to 5.4 per cent.

They expect most of the damage to be inflicted in the first three months of 2020.

But a more serious and long-lasting impact cannot be ruled out,'' they wrote Monday.

Forecasters are contending with unknowns. No one knows how long the outbreak will last, how much damage it will cause or how policymakers will respond to the threat.

We're grasping for precedents,'' said Phil Levy, chief economist at the freight company Flexport who was an economic adviser in the administration of President George W. Bush.

Some look back to the SARS outbreak, which paralyzed the Chinese economy for the first few months of 2003. But the damage from SARS faded quickly: China was booming again by year's end. And the world economy emerged mostly unscathed.

But times have changed in ways that are not favorable to containing the economic damage.

Back then, China was the world's workshop for cheap goods toys and sneakers, for instance.

Now, China has moved up to sophisticated machine parts and electronics like LCDs. And it accounts for about 16 per cent of global economic output, up significantly from just 4 per cent in 2003.

Levy said he was struck by how US airlines reacted to the coronavirus: They suspended flights between the United States and mainland China for weeks American airlines through March 27, United through March 28 and Delta until April 30.

The move doesn't just affect tourists, students and business travelers. Passenger planes also carry a lot of freight.

When you see them loading those big 747s, that's not just your luggage,'' Levy said. That can be pallets full of electronics and other things.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two young Derry girls are to head to Ghana in West Africa during their mid-term break later this month to volunteer in an orphanage.



Eimear McColgan, 17, and Emma Fril, 18,  Year 14 students at St Cecilia's College - are to set sail on February 13 for a week of volunteering work with London-based Original Volunteers.

This will be Emma's first time taking such a trip but Eimear spent all of last summer in Marrakesh in Morroco working in an orphanage and in a special needs school there.



She said the experience 'completely changed my outlook on life'.



Speaking to the Derry News about her first trip, Eimear said: It helped me detach from materialism and made me have more compassion and empathy for others.



It can be tempting at times to slip back into that materialistic lifestyle but I look at the pictures from my time away and I realise that I have everything I need already.



She added: When I'm volunteering, it feels like I'm in a different world. One much more free and more filled with love than the one we live in over here.



Emma said she was inspired by her friend's first adventure and decided she couldn't pass on the opportunity to join her on her next trip.



She added: Eimear was telling me about the experience and it sounded really amazing. I just can't wait to get out there now and see it for myself.



Both girls got part-time waitressing jobs and saved all their pay to fund the trip.



They are the only ones from Northern Ireland going away but flying alone doesn't phase the pair.



It was my first time flying alone when I went to Marrakesh but I was excited by that and this time isn't much different. My parents, on the other hand, are scared for me to go, said Eimear.



Closer to home, Eimear is involved with Reach Across and she said volunteering at home was a great start for someone who wanted to work abroad.



There's loads of opportunities here in Derry to volunteer and, of course, there are so many people here in need too so you don't have to go abroad to make a difference.



St Cecilia's principal, Martine Mulhern, is incredibly proud of the two girls and the work they are doing for those less fortunate than them.



She said: We are so in awe of the two girls to make the arrangements and raise the money needed all by themselves.

Eimear and Emma are quite shy by nature but this has shown us their inner strength to do something that a lot of other people wouldn't do.



Here, we have two young women quietly doing amazing things and changing lives for other people and that is incredible. It's great to have such wonderful role models for the rest of the school.



Bernadette O Mianain, head of year 14, is also delighted the girls will be able to show the goodness of young Derry people.

She said: The girls are so modest about what they are doing but they are going above and beyond to help others.



Concluding, Ms O Mianain said: It's so important we highlight the wonderful work that young people are capable of, especially here in Derry.



Eimear brought toys and art supplies with her when she went to Marrakesh in the summer, which she paid for out of her own pocket.



This time around, however, the Upper Sixth girls at St Cecilia's had a secret bake sale and raised over 100 to be spent on gifts for the Ghanian children.



Eimear and Emma were incredibly surprised and humbled by their classmates' generosity.



The girls will jet off on February 13 for a week in Ghana, volunteering with an orphanage there.
Now Open

4 February 2020

Luxury travel company andBeyond has added a brand new way to experience the romance, adventure and magic of Africa at andBeyond Ngala Private Game Reserve in South Africa. The Ngala Treehouse is a remote overnight retreat that offers guests the ultimate in sleep-out experiences beneath the stars.

Cocooned in a pristine bush setting, the four-level treehouse features a choice of two sleeping areas - an enclosed and weatherproof bedroom with a king-sized bed, hot running shower and flushing toilet on the third level or an elevated sleep-out platform set beneath a retractable awning on the rooftop.

Guests can choose to arrive at the Treehouse in time to toast the sunset with cocktails and snacks or after their late afternoon game drive. A tapas-style picnic dinner is set up in the safety of an enclosed boma beneath the stars. Guests are then left in luxurious solitude for the night, provided with a radio and mobile phone for use in case of inclement weather or other emergencies.

While the Treehouse does not offer a full kitchen, a stocked bar and selection of midnight and breakfast snacks, as well as a coffee station, are available for guests. The Treehouse is solar-powered, allowing guests to charge their camera batteries and other appliances.

Not designed for long-term stays, the Ngala Treehouse is an innovative overnight wilderness experience that complements a stay at one of the reserve's two permanent lodges, andBeyond Ngala Safari Lodge or andBeyond Ngala Tented Camp. A room at one of the other two properties at andBeyond Ngala Private Game Reserve must be booked in addition to the Treehouse. Ngala Treehouse can cater for a maximum of two adults and two children aged between 10 and 16 in the two sleeping areas, one of which is the open sleep-out platform.

Situated on the border of the Kruger National Park, andBeyond Ngala Private Game Reserve shares unfenced borders with South Africa's most famous wilderness area, allowing a variety of wildlife species, including the entire Big Five, to wander freely through the reserve.

The reserve is home to several larges prides of lion and the packs of the endangered African wild dog may also be spotted moving through the reserve. Guests enjoy exclusive game drives and bush walks on 14 700 hectares (36 000 acres) of private wilderness land.
One of New Jerseys top business groups will offer a series of free training seminars to help CEOs and other senior business executives prevent sexual harassment in the workplace under a partnership announced Tuesday.

The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce will partner with the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault to offer sexual harassment prevention seminars throughout the state this year, the two groups said. The time and location of the first seminars will be announced during the Chambers annual Walk to Washington train trip on Feb. 27-28.

These seminars will be an important first step as we work to create safer working environments for all of us, said Patricia Teffenhart, executive director of the state Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Executives are in a position to make workplaces safer for everyone by setting the tone from the top that their organizations are not places where harassment of any kind, including sexual harassment and assault, is tolerated.

The seminars are one of several steps the state Chamber of Commerce has taken in response to a Dec. 29 NJ Advance Media report on sexual harassment in New Jersey politics. The report included accounts of several women who said they were groped on the Chambers annual train trip to Washington, one of the states marquee political events.

Several women said they no longer ride the Chamber train, a series of Amtrak cars filled with politicians, lobbyists and business executives, because of its reputation as being uncomfortable for women.

In the days after the story ran on NJ.com and in The Star-Ledger and its affiliated newspapers, the Chamber announced several steps to address harassment at the networking and lobbying event. They include banning hard alcohol on the train ride, publishing a new Code of Conduct, increasing security and setting up a hotline for attendees to report incidents.

The free training seminars for business executives will help expand the conversation about making workplaces safe and comfortable for everyone, said Tom Bracken, president and CEO of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

Business leaders are in powerful positions to initiate change, Bracken said. The goal is straightforward. There is no place for sexual harassment anywhere. Lets work together and fight harassment everywhere. The fight starts with our own workplaces.

The seminars will be held as state lawmakers are also looking for ways to address sexual harassment in politics. State Sen. Loretta Weinberg launched a committee last month that is looking for ways to combat the toxic culture for women in state politics.

The Workgroup on Harassment, Sexual Assault and Misogyny in New Jersey Politics has launched an anonymous survey on misogyny and sexual misconduct in politics. The group is also planning public listening sessions and private meetings with women.

Tell us your experiences with allegations of sexual harassment in New Jersey: Heres how to share your story.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.
[February 04, 2020] Cargo Chief Now Using Headhaul and Backhaul Data to Find the Right Carrier for Brokers

--Cargo Chiefs C4 platform sorts carrier lanes by headhaul and backhaul using a carriers headquarters-- MILLBRAE, Calif., Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cargo Chief today announced the release of the latest version of its C4 carrier management platform, version 3.0now the most advanced finder of backhaul full truckload carriers in the OTR (over-the-road) industry. The C4 platform now sorts carrier lanes by both headhaul and backhaul using a carriers headquarters and most frequent routes. C4 leverages carrier lane preferences by giving any sized brokerage actionable results to see where, when, and how often a carrier runs a given lane. C4 also aggregates a brokers existing carriers and out-of-network carriers to provide a complete view of available capacity for their next load. In addition to the location of the carrieroften the most important consideration in finding a truckC4 now sorts through backhaul and headhaul options to find the most immediate capacity, said Russell Jones, CEO, Cargo Chief. C4 intuitively ranks available carriers by location, capacity and haul direction to provide C4 brokers an inherent advantage when searching for the em>right carrier.



C4 brokers can enter an upcoming loads origin, destination, as well as the trailer type to see hundreds of available carriers. Getting the most actionable carriers for a lane is prioritized and sorted by best match, lane frequency, and now a carriers haul direction. Headhaul and backhaul serve as the distance from the load origin or destination in relation to the carriers headquarters. Our experience from booking hundreds of thousands of loads over the years is that a backhaul carrier could save us 5% to 15% on the cost to cover a load, commented John Andreotti, COO of Trek Freight Services, LLC. Finding backhaul carriers definitely increases our margins.

When the searched lane is paired with haul direction, brokerages can quickly find coverage for their shipments instead of relying on load history or call-ins from posted loads, giving them an effective outbound and proactive approach to build carrier relationships for long term success and greater profitability. Cargo Chiefs C4 platform leverages the industrys most comprehensive database of carriers and an unparalleled array of integration technologies that enable any size carrier to seamlessly share their available capacity within the Cargo Chief network. This valuable information is aggregated so that 3PLs can see which of their carriers and additional carriers is the right carrier for their next load. About Cargo Chief

Cargo Chief provides multi-patented, award-winning technology and a carrier management and sourcing platform called C4 that enables 3PLs to buy trucking capacity more effectively and efficiently. The combination of the industrys most comprehensive database of carrier preferences with an unparalleled array of integrations technologies empowers clients to build relationship carriers for any lane. This carrier development improves our 3PL clients service levels and margins. For more information or to schedule a demo, visit www.cargochief.com . Contact:

William Haraway

Phone Number: 4045938320

Email: [email protected]



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Like many, Im perplexed by the divide in the Christian community over President Trump  but Im not surprised. The media is fueling lies, and the world is listening. This was demonstrated in a worship song by Daniel Deitrich (talk about the wrong place to express political views). Deitrichs song was written in response to the 81% of white evangelical Protestant voters who supported Donald Trump in 2016. Here are the lyrics: They started putting kids in cages. Ripping mothers from their babies. And I looked to you to speak on their behalf.

This, of course, is in response to what is perceived as happening at the border. I assume that Mr. Deitrich is sincere and his heart truly wants to help people, but we must get our facts from reputable sources or first-hand experience. God willing, Im touring the border with other California pastors very soon and hope to gain that perspective personally (look for that op-ed in mid-February).

Some say, How can you follow Jesus and Donald Trump? We are not following a man, we are shaping a movement. A better question to be asking, though, is What direction is the country heading? If a leader lacks Christian character but is pointing the nation back to God, is that a bad thing? If they are minimizing murdering babies and maximizing godly values, is that a bad thing? If they are being a terror to terrorists and making America secure, is that a bad thing? If they are honoring hard work and minimizing free handouts, is that a bad thing? God doesnt judge a nation based on the character of one man; He judges it based on the spiritual health of her people. Never forget that.

I regularly say that we Christians love refugees and immigrants and are eager to help with food, lodging, and jobs. But at the national level, the president is to put the safety and provision of the American people first. When an airplane loses cabin pressure, parents put on their oxygen masks first to better assist their child. This isnt selfishness; its wisdom. Opening the borders parallels cabin pressure falling and a limited supply of masks. Our law enforcement officers could not sustain the load, nor could our nation. Lets streamline the process and welcome God-fearing immigrants and have them contribute to society so everyone benefits. The truth is, kids are not being put in cages and ripped from their mothers, as the song accuses.

The majority of news outlets spin everything (yes, everything) to put President Trump in a bad light. Their hatred for him trumps the truth. Their agenda is simple and clear: remove him from office at any cost! And I hope you realize this: they are really coming after you, me, and our Christian values.

The push toward open borders is more about votes than truly helping people. Open borders would be like me telling my kids to leave their windows open in case a stranger needs a warm nights sleep. That would be severe parental neglect because many harmful things could also enter through those open windows. Open borders would parallel that type of irresponsibility. Additionally, our financial system cannot support people flooding in who need assistance. How is that using wisdom? Its not a matter of if this type of financial irresponsibility causes damage but when and how much. Our California representatives in Sacramento need to wake up to this factand wake up quickly. There is a better way, but our leaders must repent and seek God for wisdom.

Most critics dont care what the facts are. Their hatred for the president overshadows their desperate need for humility. Let this sink in: innocent children are being protected, godly counsel is surrounding President Trump, terror is being restrained, good judges are being selected, socialism is being resisted, families are being encouraged via employment (black employment is at an all-time high), prayer is being brought back in schools, Gods wisdom is being sought, and on and on it goes. So again, we are not following a man, we are revitalizing a movement  a movement back to God. Im more concerned with our nations national character than I am with the president's personal character.

An analogy that I often use will bring this point home. The head of a neighborhood watch program, who took the late-night watches, had previously had an affair. He was occasionally gruff and impulsive, and sometimes his words were crass and offensive, but he watched over the neighborhood diligently each night. Each week he invited church leaders into his home to pray for him and his family and to seek their advice. He often stood against others on the committee who wanted to enact policies harmful to the neighborhood and to the children, such as advocating an open-door policy where residents were required to allow anyone into their homes at all hours of the day for handouts.

Is this not the kind of person you would want leading your neighborhood watch? Does his past or his demeanor matter more than the results he is accomplishing? If you are intellectually honest, the answer is not difficult. In the same way, the answer is simple for America. Again, we are not voting for people based on how godly they are; we are voting for the future direction of America: the right to life, the elevation of Gods Word back to its proper place, the appointment of conservative judges, securing America and her borders, creating jobs, and improving the quality of life for all Americans.

As a personal observation, I have noticed that those who oppose president Trump typically embrace liberal theology. It makes one wonder what is truly leading them: worldly mandates or biblical principles.

I will close with what I stated in a brief op-ed: we cant have our cake and eat it too  there is no middle ground for Christians today. You can choose a president who will wear a Planned Parenthood scarf at her inauguration or one of the countless others who would seek to destroy the America we know and lead us down the primrose path of socialism  or worse. Or you can choose to back President Trump. There is no Plan B.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, accusing them of splurging money on publicity to hide their lack of work.

AAP and BJP are good only at publicity Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent Rs 5200 crore on publicity. Kejriwal spent Rs 611 crore on publicity. What is the need to spend so much money on publicity if your work speaks for itself? she said at an election rally in Sangam Vihar ahead of the February 8 polls.

Priyanka claimed that it was under the leadership of late Sheila Dikshit that Delhi had developed.

ALSO WATCH | Manifesto Wars: Freebies versus Polarization in Capital Clash

Sheila Dikshit built Delhis roads, flyovers and the Metro, she said.

The Congress leader lashed out against the AAP over health care and education.

All schools and colleges in Delhi have been built by the Congress. APP promised five hospitals but did not build a single one.

The Congress in its manifesto has promised free education from nursery to doctorate in government institutions.

The Congress leader said jobs and development are major issues that the AAP and the BJP have not addressed.

Youngsters are desperate for jobs. Unemployment and development are huge problems which no one is addressing. Voters should introspect on who works for them. If development and employment have not been addressed, use your vote wisely, Priyanka said.

The Congress which ruled Delhi for 15 years from 1998 to 2013 under Sheila Dikshit has been out of power in the national capital since 2013. In the 2015 assembly elections, the grand old party drew a blank as AAP romped home with 67 of the 70 seats in the House.

Specific Forms at Loretta Howard, installation view

Contributed by Kim Uchiyama / Specific Forms at Loretta Howard Gallery illuminates a particular moment in 20th century art history where works created by a variety of artists occupied the space between the then diverging ideologies of a young Donald Judd and those of the older critic Clement Greenberg. Saul Ostrow has curated a finely-tuned exhibit that demonstrates the highly individual modes of thought that were at play during this transitional time, ideas distinct from the critical positions of Minimalism, Pop and Color-field.

The movement known as Abstract Expressionism  a movement itself comprised of highly individualistic artists  can be seen in retrospect as the physical and psychological response to the global tensions of World War II. Mary Gabriel, in Ninth Street Women, her invaluable contribution to understanding the full scope of this era, emphasizes the war  and the lead up to war  as the underpinning for the formation of a new American art which would reflect the exigencies of the moment. The works in Specific Forms came about because these times had changed. Post-war America lacked the angst of the 1940s and 1950s, and was increasingly replaced in the 1960s and 1970s by an art that sought to look to itself reflexively, on its own terms  the thing being the thing itself.

In an era characterized by an implicit questioning of authority and established norms, these fourteen artists sought to break the mold of existing -isms and are seemingly preoccupied in creating a new consciousness via their art. The resulting works are highly specific unto themselves and characterized by strikingly individualistic terms for their existence.

Signs and systems were also in the air. In 1970 at the Guggenheim Museum, Annette Michelson introduced the ideas of anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss to the American art world. Levi-Strauss theory of human development was organized by linguistic, semiotic modes of thought which some felt could be applied to the visual arts. After all, painting and sculpture were themselves forms of language. But in its fundamentally rationalist approach, Structuralism had limiting consequences for any real understanding of art. A systemic organization of thought could not be the full measure of any art form, because art is more than a description of systematic functions, or an accumulation of language  it seeks to recreate an experience of consciousness greater than the sum of its parts.

In the absence of any prevailing concept of avant-garde, artists became newly engaged with posing fundamental questions. After Abstract Expressionism artists wondered how painting could find new meaning. Is there a place in art for culture and sensuality? What connection does the artist have to art history, or, for that matter, to any history?

With this in mind, Ostrow has curated an intelligent and reflective exhibit in which art forms are perceived as simultaneously open (looking outside of itself) and closed (looking only to itself). With further viewing, it becomes clear that the works here chosen are meant to create specific visual and contextual relationships with each other  as well as stand their own ground as individual works of art.

Larry Poons, Rock and Roll, 1958, oil on canvas, 68 x 68 inches (measured on the diagonal), 48 x 48.25 inches

Two works on paper by Judy Chicago, Optical Shapes #6 and Optical Shapes #10 (1969) are cannily selected to illustrate the difference between them. Optical Shapes #6 looks to reflect the kind of stasis that occurs with four mirrored forms, while Optical Shapes #10, using the same components, centers on the permuted rotational movement of its four color-comprised circles.

Edward Avedisian, Untitled, 1965, acrylic on board, 30 x 30 inches

Taken together, these two works compel the viewer to compare the progression of movement from one of Chicagos paintings to the next. In Edward Avedisians Untitled (1965), particular formations are also taking place. Gently morphing cell-like orbs suggest growth and reproduction, as if we are witnessing a biomorphic transition. This in turn invites comparison to the adjacent works by Chicago. Careful pairing of works throughout the exhibit seems intended to encourage the viewer to reflect on analogies and differences between the works presented.

Marcia Hafif, 157, 1967, courtesy  Marcia Hafif

Duality constitutes Marcia Hafifs 157 (1967) where color defines two singular and enigmatic forms to optically mesh finger-like on the picture plane before the viewer. Two color shapes create a quite different spatial relationship in Ray Parkers Untitled (#635) (1963), where lozenges of sky blue and yellow ochre exist as equal but conjoined entities, highlighting their commonality but also their distinctness.

Ostrow says that each of the fourteen works were specifically selected as individual artworks, not necessarily meant to represent the artists overall oeuvre. Accordingly, some of his selections do not illustrate an artists best-known periods. One of the shows biggest surprises was Larry Poons Rock and Roll (1958), presented on a near square diamond format. Its affinities to Al Helds adjacent 60 S-2 AP(1965) is striking, and both reference a large central O of blue or green shapes. The use of alphabetical forms creates a familiar context, but one that is entirely reinvented in its organization  and used quite differently in both instances.

The one sculpture included in the exhibit, George Sugarmans Trio (1969-70), comprises bright yellow components organized in a gene-like chain, which progressively increase in scale as the viewer moves from one end to the other. Thomas Downings painting Position 2-13-75 (1975) speaks to the concept of numerical positions in which the order of circular forms also implies a familiarity of organization. But what is it exactly? Military formation of an army phalanx? A sequence of columns populating the long and short sides of a Greek temple? Subtle, alternating shifts in Downings use of reds again suggest movement as opposed to stasis.

Color for Ostrow was a key factor in his selections for Specific Forms. Here color does not merely function descriptively or decoratively, but is used to meaningful and specific effect. As much as the show is a fascinating and informative slice of art history, the real importance of experiencing these works is that we can reexamine where we are now. Are todays artists using color to determine form and structure to meaningful effect? What is there yet to learn from where abstraction has been  and how might that determine where it could go? Abstraction is still a viable vehicle of expression for contemporary thought. Specific works of art  and the formulations of specific artists, rather than any isms  seem the way forward in contemporary abstraction. As such, they demand a closer look.

Specific Forms, curated by Saul Ostrow. Loretta Howard, 521 West 26th Street, 1st floor, New York, NY. Through March 7, 2020. With works by Edward Avedisian, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Darby Bannard, Billy Al Bengston, Judy Chicago, Gene Davis, Thomas Downing, Marcia Hafif, Al Held, Ray Parker, Larry Poons, Leon Polk Smith, and George Sugarman.

About the author: Kim Uchiyama is a painter who has had solo exhibitions at John Davis Gallery, Hudson, NY, Spazio Contemporaneo Agora, Palermo, Italy, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, Bridgehampton and Lohin Geduld Gallery, New York. She is a recipient of many fellowships including New York Foundation For The Arts, MacDowell Colony, and BAU Institute in Puglia, Italy.

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Book report: Mary Gabriels Ninth Street Women
LONDON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Governors of the IoT M2M Council has voted to elect Sara Brown of MultiTech and Kim Bybjerg of Tata Communications as their new Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively. Nominations and voting took place at the IMC's Annual General Meeting at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month. The IMC is comprised of 25,000 enterprise users, OEMs and apps developers as rank-and-file members, and its board includes representatives from AWS, HPE, Semtech, and Vodafone, among many other technology solutions providers.

"The IMC is the largest trade group serving the IoT sector, and we aim to increase adoption of IoT technology by bringing buyers and sellers together," says Brown, who is VP of Marketing at edge hardware provider MultiTech, in addition to her new role IMC Chair. "In addition to our growing trade-show relationships with CES and Hannover Messe, we've developed template RFPs and Guidelines for IoT Technology sourcing, software tools that help byers identify their needs, a library of over 200 IoT use-cases, and eight vertical-market push-content channels."

Both Brown and Bybjerg bring decades of experience to their new roles. Brown has worked for IBM, Wavecom/Sierra Wireless, and Telit, and has consulted to global technology companies. Bybjerg, who is VP for IoT and mobility at Tata Communications, has held senior positions in IoT at leading companies like KPN, Vodafone and Jasper. Brown replaces Volkhard Bregulla of HPE as IMC chairman as he steps down after his one-year term.

"Significant expansions for our trade-show activities at CES and Hannover Messe  the world's largest manufacturing show  as well as increase in the scope and format of our RFP Guidelines are just some of the projects Kim and I intend to get rolling this year. We intend to take the IMC to the next level in terms of providing enhanced value of both content and engagements to drive digital transformation," says Brown.

About the IoT M2M Council

The IMC is the largest trade group dedicated to the global IoT/M2M sector  with over 25,000 IoT OEMs, enterprise users, and apps developers that buy IoT solutions as members. Board Member-Companies include 1NCE, Aeris, Amazon Web Services, BICS, Digi International, HPE, iBasis, KORE, Losant, Micro-Ant, MultiTech, Pod Systems Group, Semtech, SIGFOX, Taoglas, Tata Communications, Telit, u-Blox, and Vodafone. For more information, visit www.iotm2mcouncil.org.

SOURCE IoT M2M Council

Related Links

http://www.iotm2mcouncil.org


The final days of the trial have focused attention on a handful of senators in both parties who were viewed as potential votes to break with their party. GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska called the president's actions shameful and wrong" in a powerful speech late Monday, but she also derided the highly partisan process. I cannot vote to convict, she said, though she also sees blame within the Senate.

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

Embassy of Uzbekistan in France took part in ChangeNOW 2020 summit (January 30th, 31st - February 1st 2020), which was held in Grand Palais exhibition in Paris, Trend reports via Uzbek media.

During the session on biodiversity and sustainable development, the Uzbek diplomatic mission presented information on Uzbekistan's efforts to mitigate the consequences of the Aral Seas drying up, restore and socio-economic development of the Aral Sea region.

Initiatives of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on creation of multi-partner trust fund on human security for the Aral Sea region, under the aegis of the UN, the International innovation center of the Aral Sea region was especially noted.

Speaking at the event, Nicolas Busch from the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment, shared that he had twice visited Uzbekistan, including to participate in the International Conference of High Level, organized under the auspices of the UN "Aral Sea - Zone of Environmental Innovation and Technology", held in Nukus in October 2019.

"I witnessed the planting of green areas on the dried-up bottom of the Aral Sea, as well as other innovative solutions to ensure sustainable development in the region," he said. "These initiatives are consonant with the objectives of ChangeNOW, which prompted us to organize the participation of Uzbek representatives in the event."

"We are ready to consider the possibility of organizing in Nukus a joint event dedicated to finding innovative solutions to a range of problems in the region with the participation of representatives of business and academic circles, financial institutions of France and other countries," said Busch.

"Uzbekistan has a great potential in this area, as the country has a unique resource - the ability to use solar energy almost all year round. This provides great prospects for Uzbekistan to develop international cooperation in this direction," said the Chairman of Smart Building Alliance for smart cities, Emmanuel Francois.

ChangeNOW is a key global initiative founded at the Paris Conference of the Parties. Issues on the agenda include climate change, environment, agriculture, education, energy, sustainable management of cities and regions.

The event was attended by over 20,000 participants from more than 100 countries and 500 companies.
Theyre baaaaaaaaaack!

Nearly a million boxes of Girl Scout cookies were unloaded and distributed last week to the 450 troops and 15,000 girl scouts served by Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas, beginning with Jan. 29s cookie drop day that continued through Saturday.

A brisk wind on a chilly 44-degree morning last Wednesday did not deter the Girl Scout sponsors and their necessary caravans from trekking to the storage warehouse on Lookout Road in Schertz. Once there, they began loading cases of Thin Mints, the new Lemon-Ups, Samoas, peanut buttery Tagalongs, Do-Si-Dos, Trefoils, Toffee-tastics, Caramel Chocolate Chip, and Girl Scout Smores.

Alicia Stewart drove her vehicle into the first of three lines and was ready to hop out and start the process of counting and loading 350 cases of cookies, which come 12 boxes to a case.

Stewart is co-leader of Troop 238 in the northeast sector of Bexar County. Her daughter, Kaitlyn, 15, attends Judson Early College Academy and is one of 14 girls in the troop.

Ive got four vehicles with me today, and each of them will help (unload) back at my house, Stewart said. Ive got two people at home waiting, so weve got an army. Itll probably take us about 30-45 minutes to get it all unloaded into my dining room.

This is Kaitlyns sixth year in scouting, so Stewart is a seasoned cookie distribution veteran.

Our girls usually sell about 10,000 boxes a year. Kaitlyns one of our top sellers in the troop. She and her best friend, they each sell about 2,000 boxes each year, Stewart said. The 350 cases, thats 4,200 boxes that Ill bring home today. But just those two girls would easily sell those throughout the entire year.

She said the troop will be manning tables for eight hours a day at sites around the Metrocom, increasing sales far beyond what was picked up last Wednesday.

We have a whole system. Once they are unloaded, we line them up by varietal and then  well start separating those by girl, Stewart said, and then we have a whole system for cookie booths.

At the end of the day, everyone comes in and brings their cookies. We count boxes, we count money, and then load up again for the next morning, she added.

Stephanie Finleon Cortez, chief development and communications officer for Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas, said cookies began arriving from the Girl Scouts Louisville, Kentucky bakery a few weeks ago.

From (Jan. 29 and Feb. 1) were going to distribute nearly one million boxes of cookies throughout our 21 counties, she said.

Once again, Thin Mints are the most popular cookie, with Samoas not far behind. The third most-popular cookie last year for this region, she said was the Smores cookie.

Each troop submitted its initial order online and thats what was being distributed on Jan. 29. We know we have the quantity they need and we know we have the manpower to distribute them in a timely manner, she said.

Finleon Cortez said a fair chunk of cookie cases would remain at the warehouse following the conclusion of the four-day cookie pick-up. As more orders come out, through booth and table sales, theyll come get what they need.

More cookies are stored at the regions cookie warehouse at the Sally Cheever Girl Scout Leadership Center on Coker Loop North, near U.S. 281 and Wurzbach Parkway. We also run a few locations throughout our 21 counties. We try to make it convenient so that if you need to come every weekend to pick up more cookies, you can do that.

Kerri Walls-Gullion came from Troop 861 in La Vernia to pick up 215 cases of cookies that her troops seven scouts pre-sold.

We have over 2,000 boxes sold already, Walls-Gullion said. Her daughter, 7-year-old Hallee, has already sold 265 boxes.

The troop, in its second year, more than doubled its sales from last year. Like Troop 238s Stewart, Walls-Gullion was ready to unload her cases into her living room, where each girls order would then be separated.

We will have cookies in our living room throughout the month of February, she said. We sell over 100 boxes at each booth sale, so were probably going to have to come get another 50-60 cases, minimum.

Her personal favorite? Samoas. Hey, coconut and chocolate together, you cant beat it.

jflinn@express-news.net
A skydiver plunged to his death in a horrific accident in Thailand after his parachute failed to open during a jump.

Stefan Eiriksson Andersen, 30, from Denmark, jumped from the plane after it took off from an airfield in the Sri Racha district of Chon Buri, eastern Thailand on Saturday afternoon.

But during the descent, witnesses said Stefan opened the parachute but it failed to fully spread - and he fell to the ground.

Stefan Eiriksson Andersen, 30, fell to the ground from thousands of feet after his parachute failed to fully open

His friends ran over to check the tourist after he fell to ground.

He was found face up near the jump site at the Nong Khor reservoir.

Paramedics performed first aid at the scene and while he was rushed to the Phayathai Sriracha Hospital but he was pronounced dead shortly after due to the severity of the injuries.

He had suffered broken legs, among other injuries.

Police arrived and questioned the staff at the sky diving centre.

Paramedics performed first aid at the scene and while he was rushed to the Phayathai Sriracha Hospital but he was pronounced dead shortly after due to the severity of the injuries

They said they had checked Stefan's equipment before he boarded the plane and it was all working correctly.

Police Colonel Khongsak Boonsuesuwan said that the evidence suggested that it was an accident but they would not rule anything out at this stage.

He said: 'Initially, this looks like an accident, but we will investigate the case again thoroughly to find exactly what happened.

'Parachute jumping is dangerous with several risk factors, so we have to consider, points such as the wind strength at the time.'
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Thumbs up to public engagement in questioning plans for a new Norwalk High School that would be a pilot regional early college program with an expected 80 percent reimbursement from the state. While the program, which would draw students primarily from Stamford and Bridgeport, is an exciting idea, the $200 million estimated price tag warrants close examination. The city would be responsible for $40 million of the cost and state Sen. Bob Duff will work to get the project on the states School Priority List. Local approvals are necessary for the project that could expand the schools STEM education and enable students to graduate high school with an associates degree from Norwalk Community College.

Thumbs up to Richard Colangelos promotion to chief states attorney after more than four years as states attorney for the Stamford and Norwalk Judicial District. Colangelo is completing the term of Kevin Kane, who retired in November. I think we do a bad job of letting people know what we do, Colangelo said. Were always encouraged by officials willing to acknowledge shortcomings.
Popular Nigerian fashion designer and beauty entrepreneur, Toyin Lawani has queried the Lagos state government following its blanket ban of Keke Napep and Okadas across the state.

Toyin Lawani while speaking on how hectic it became for employees to get to work queried why the outright ban without providing an alternative for the people.

Read Also: Toyin Lawani Claims John Legends Fashion Designer Copied Her Design (Photos)

She made this known via a post on her official Instagram page on Monday, 3rd February.

She wrote:

Why will the government ban Keke and Gokada without an alternative
Editor's note: This article is part of Inc.'s 2020 Best Industries report.

Talk about moving targets. Roughly 36 million trucks crisscross the country 24 hours a day carrying 71 percent of U.S. freight, according to the American Trucking Associations. To make money, the close to 900,000 owners of those trucks--most of them small businesses with six or fewer vehicles--need to minimize the distance they travel with empty trailers (called dead-heading in industry lingo). At the same time, shippers must ensure that billions of dollars' worth of wares reach their destinations on schedule. If they fail, consumers will fume. Assembly lines will stall.

Freight brokerages--the largest subset of the third-party logistics (3PL) industry--evolved to match loads with wheels. It's a huge sector--$86.5 billion in the U.S. alone. The problem: The vast majority of freight brokerages are older companies that typically rely on off-the-shelf transportation-management systems, which don't provide the same efficiencies as powerful, purely digital upstarts like Uber Freight and Convoy.

Now, a cadre of new businesses is leveling that field with technology to augment traditional systems--a $3.3 billion market, according to Evan Armstrong, president of supply-chain consultancy Armstrong & Associates. While that's much smaller than the overall brokerage market, "you can get to profitability much faster than by trying to be another freight broker," Armstrong says.

One of those companies, the nine-employee, San Francisco-based Parade, uses natural language processing and data analytics to address a particularly knotty problem: the volume of time-sensitive messages flooding in from truckers looking for loads. Say you're the driver of a refrigerated truck delivering 40,000 pounds of sirloin in Oswego, New York, at 7 a.m. You shoot an email at 5 a.m. to a broker to find another perishable load in that vicinity you can pick up afterward. But the brokers' reps are asleep, and when they get to the office, they'll be facing thousands of similar requests.

Parade's platform reads such requests as they come in, and then combines them with the brokerage's historical records--for example, how a particular trucking company has performed in the past and what routes it prefers, as well as government data on things like inspection reports and liability certificates. It tees up a match, prompting a human to finalize details like price and terms, in most cases. That function and others performed by Parade allow brokerages to increase their load bookings 250 percent, according to the company.

While truckers fume that their messages often go unread, brokerages must identify carriers in the right place at the right time and with the right capacity for their shipper clients' pickups and deliveries. In the past, USAT Logistics, the brokerage arm of Plano, Texas-based freight company USA Truck, primarily used commercial boards to send out the bat signal. "In the industry, it's called the post-and-pray model," says Erik Jenkins, the company's director of strategic carrier development. "You post on a load board and hope someone will call in and take your freight."

Now that Parade makes the preliminary match for about 20 percent of USAT's bookings, Jenkins says he no longer has to rely on prayer. The company is booking an additional 75 loads a day just from the platform, a boon for the business and for carrier managers who book the loads and work partly on commission. "I wish I had something like that back when I was a carrier manager," Jenkins says. "I would have gotten rich."

A relative's woes

Growing up in Cupertino, California, Preet Sivia worked summers for SPS Transportation, a relative's one-truck operation. He observed his uncle Surinderpal Singh's frustration when emailing and calling brokers trying to line up jobs. In 2015, Sivia, still a student at the University of California, Davis, contacted his childhood friend Tony Wu about starting a freight brokerage more responsive to business owners like Singh. Wu and his Berkeley classmate Anthony Sutardja--both former interns at companies including Google, Uber, Yelp, and Facebook--joined Sivia to launch Parade as a digital brokerage, developing their own technology to rapidly match truckers' messages with potential loads.

But small brokers work with only a limited number of truckers. "If you want to improve the lives of somebody like my uncle, you have to become a $50 billion company," says Sivia, Parade's president. "Our vision was to help people at scale."

So in 2017, Parade, which has raised $2 million from investors including Berkeley's House Fund and Arena Ventures, decided to tackle the problems faced by freight brokerages, especially companies competing with purely digital upstarts. (The purely digital market could top $30 billion in 10 years, according to FreightWaves, which provides news and research on the freight-transportation industry. Sutardja, who is Parade's CEO, believes the business can serve that market as well.)

Parade launched with the email product it developed for itself and then began integrating other information sources from inside and outside its clients to ensure optimal matches of trucks and loads. "Now, email is just 4 percent of the data we collect for our customers," Sivia says.

To know them is to book them

The strongest supply chains minimize the number of vendors and maximize the level of trust. Parade's research has found that a brokerage typically engages with a single small trucking company just twice a year, and consequently doesn't know much about how it prefers to work--or whether it works at all. Parade encourages deeper, longer-term relationships between brokerages and carriers by capturing data about how the carriers have performed in the past--that they've often picked up early morning loads in El Paso, for example, and always delivered on time.

One of Parade's first customers was ReedTMS, a $210 million third-party logistics company in Tampa. Before ReedTMS deployed Parade's platform, "it was one truck to one load and that was pretty much the extent of the relationship," says director of pricing Cody Thacker. Now the company knows what trucks are in the same cities or travel the same routes every day or follow other patterns. That has allowed it to build processes around booking loads.

"We've developed better relationships in the carrier community and also support our customers at a higher level," Reed says. "They are starting to see the same faces in their sheds and in the docks, whereas in the past it was a turnstile of carriers. We couldn't sell as high a level of service because we didn't know who we were using every day."

To date, Parade has 30 enterprise customers ranging in size from $30 million brokerages to billion-dollar-plus behemoths. As Sutardja predicted, three of its clients are digital freight brokers.
10 US schools moved forward in ARISS selection process

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is pleased to announce the schools and host organizations selected for the second half of 2020.

Of the proposals submitted during the recent proposal window, 10 were accepted to move forward in the selection process for a scheduled amateur radio contact with a crew member on the ISS.

The primary goal of the ARISS program is to engage young people in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) activities and raise their awareness of space communications, radio communications, space exploration, and related areas of study and career possibilities.

The schools and host organizations are now engaged in the next step of the acceptance process. When ready, they will be put in the scheduling queue for a contact during the July to December 2020 time period. Although ARISS expects to schedule all 10 during this period, changes to NASA crew availability might force some delays to the next time period.

The schools and host organizations are:

Estes Park Elementary School Estes Park, CO Green Bank Elementary School Green Bank, WV Tecumseh Public School Tecumseh, OK RSU #21 Kennebunk, ME JFK High School Denver, CO Oregon Charter School Mill City, OR Newcastle High School Newcastle, WY Tarwater Elementary School Chandler, AZ Kopernik Observatory Vestel, NY Salem-South Lyon District Library South Lyon, MI

About ARISS:

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio.

For more information, see www.ariss.org.
003 - Elections on the agenda of the UEFA Congress on 3 March in the Netherlands

The 44th Ordinary UEFA Congress will take place on Tuesday 3 March 2020 at the Beurs van Berlage Conference Centre, Damrak 243, 1012 ZJ, in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The Congress, which is UEFA's supreme governing organ, meets annually and is attended by senior representatives of each of UEFA's 55 member associations.

The Congress will open at 09:00 CET and close at 11:00 CET approximately. It will be followed by a press conference with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin that is planned to start around 30 minutes after the close of the Congress.

Key items on the agenda of the 44th Ordinary UEFA Congress include:

 the UEFA annual report

 an update on the work of UEFA's committees

 elections:

- UEFA Executive Committee (one member for a one-year term)

- FIFA Council (one member for a three-year term)

 ratification of the composition of the UEFA Organs for the Administration of Justice

 ratification of the composition of the UEFA Governance and Compliance Committee

The media accreditation application period is open until Monday 17 February 2020 (23:59 CET). Media representatives with a valid UEFA media portal user account can apply through the portal fame.uefa.com/media. The same accreditation device will grant access to the league phase draw for the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League, which will take place at the same venue as the UEFA Congress, starting at 18:00 CET.

Due to space restrictions, only a limited number of seats in the Congress hall will be available for media representatives. The Congress will be streamed live on UEFA.com.

Ahead of the Congress, the UEFA Executive Committee will meet on Monday 2 March 2020 at the NH Collection Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky in Amsterdam. No media activities are planned for this event.
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Calling all foodies!

Whether your passport is one stamp away from renewal or you're saving those vacation days for something special, every traveler knows the importance food plays in a trip. Not only does a meal provide valuable memories by bringing together family and friends, but food is truly is the best way to immerse yourself in the culture of a city.

Food has become such an integral part of travel that some tourists even choose their next getaways based on its food scene.

To help plan your next vacation based on your cravings, Yelp has released its top five American foodie destinations of the year. And let us just say, our stomachs are grumbling just reading about it.

"The Top Foodie Destinations of 2020 isn't a list of the cities with the most award-winning restaurants. Yelpers love all kinds of restaurants, from white tablecloth, to food trucks and donut shops," Yelp Trends Expert Tara Lewis told AOL. "The list is powered by the community, not a small group of restaurant critics, so its representative of the cities people are excited to visit for their unique food scenes."

To compile its top five list, the review site's data science team looked to the hotspots with the highest restaurant ratings from visitors. Here's where they dined and what they were noshing on.

5. New Orleans, Louisiana

Why: From jambalaya to beignets, NOLA has been a long-loved destination for foodies. In drawing inspiration from the city's unique and multicultural history, it has also become home to some of the world's top chefs.

What to order: The Muffuletta sandwich from Central Grocery & Deli. Layered with olive salad, salami, ham, mortadella, provolone and swiss cheese, the sandwich has become somewhat of a culinary legend in the Big Easy.

4. Maui and Honolulu, Hawaii

Story continues

Why: Various local hotspots have spun the state's famous macadamia nuts into scrumptious dishes, leaving Yelp reviewers going back for seconds.

What to order: Macadamia nut pie from the Hawaii Tart Company

3. Charleston, South Carolina

Why: Southern cooking at its finest. You can't go wrong with fried chicken, and of course, Charleston's famous biscuits. But Callie's Hot Little Biscuit may do it the best.

What to order: Palmetto Cheese biscuit from Callie's Hot Little Biscuit

2. Portland, Oregon

Why: The Pacific Northwest city has quickly been rising the ranks of foodie destinations and for good reason. Doe Donuts, a woman-owned bakery specializing in artisanal vegan donuts, is one of the most popular shops in the bustling city.

What to order: The french toast donut or the pink lemonade donut from Doe Donuts

1. Asheville, North Carolina

Why: The regional food powerhouse replaces San Francisco as this year's top foodie city due to its plethora of restaurants, cafes, breweries and local food businesses. The city does take inspiration from its southern history, but offers a variety of cuisines fit for any kind of foodie.

What to order: The Liquid Truffle from French Bread Chocolates

For more Asheville recommendations, watch the video above.
Bidens commitment to the state also ebbed and flowed. It wasnt until early December that he visited Ames  one of Iowas largest cities  and there, the first questioner rose and chided him for not being in the state as often as his rivals were. But in the past two months he came often, and in the end he and the super PAC supporting him aired $9 million in ads here.
Ballia : , Feb 4 (IANS) A mahant (head priest) of the Nath sect escaped narrowly and a priest accompanying him was injured when two unidentified men pelted stones at their vehicle in Ballia district The incident occurred near Mundera village late on Monday when Mahant Kaushalendra Giri, along with Tunna Baba, were on their way to a wedding in their SUV, when about half a dozen people accosted them and pelted stones at their vehicle.

Giri escaped with minor injuries and Tunna Baba was also injured. Their SUV was severely damaged.

Giri heads the Matth in the Rasada area and is said to be close to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who heads the Nath sect at Goraksh Peeth in Gorakhpur.

Inspector Surendra Nath said a case has been registered against unidentified people following a complaint by Giri.

The incident comes two days after another hindu leader Ranjit Bachchan was shot dead in Lucknow.
Washington: A technology meltdown triggered chaos in the hours after the Iowa caucuses were held on Monday night, upending a highly-anticipated first contest in the US Democratic presidential nomination race.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters at a caucus night event. Credit:AP

Iowa officials had anticipated releasing results before bedtime. But by midday on Tuesday, not a single precinct result had been made public.

"This was the biggest technological meltdown of an election that was broadcast on live TV," said Marian Schneider, the president of Verified Voting, a group that advocates for secure voting technology.

What broke?
RACINE  Like most school districts across the country that educate diverse groups of students, Racine Unifieds teacher population does not reflect its students.

While there has been a slow increase at Racine Unified over the past 10 years in the percentage of Hispanic and black teachers it employs, the vast majority of its teachers are white, while most of its students are not.

In the 2018-19 school year, about 85% of Racine Unified teachers were white. Thats compared to about 92% in 2010, according to Wisconsin Policy Forum, a nonpartisan, independent statewide policy research organization.

About 60% of Unified students are either black, Hispanic or mixed race.

The percentage of teachers of color is slowly increasing, but a huge gap remains between the teacher and student populations.

Diversity in hiring is however, on the minds of the Unified administration.

Recruiting and hiring the most highly qualified and best-suited candidates with a goal to reflect the diversity of our community continues to be a priority for us, said district spokesperson Stacy Tapp, in an email.

Why it matters

The authors of a paper published in 2017 by the Institute of Labor Economics found that if a black male student has at least one black teacher in third, fourth or fifth grade he will be less likely to drop out of school and more likely to attend college.

For economically disadvantaged black students, the impact is even larger. The authors found that if a black male student has at least one black elementary school teacher, he will be 40% less likely to drop out of school.

Akosua Aning, education chairwoman for the Racine NAACP, said there is an important role-model effect at work when students learn from teachers who look like them.

Its important for students to see themselves in their teachers, Aning said. They need to see what they can achieve.

Diversity in the teaching force is an issue in districts across the country, said Angelina Cruz, president of Racine Educators United, Unifieds teachers union.

She added that its difficult to hire teachers at all at the moment, due to a shortage of teachers, let alone teachers of color.

I do recognize that the district is trying to make an effort, Cruz said.

But Cruz added that she thinks the district can do better.

That effort includes the districts School-based Teacher Academies of Racine, in partnership with University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The STAR program aims to eliminate some traditional barriers, such as cost of tuition, which can impede people from obtaining a teaching license.

The district recruits people from the community for the program, including educational assistants who already worked within the district. Program participants teach four days per week at Unified schools and attend the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Fridays at a reduced tuition rate.

The first STAR program cohort is to graduate at the end of this school year, with the second cohort to begin training in the fall.

RUSD continues to develop partnerships with local colleges and universities to develop in-district certification and alternative certification opportunities to not only address diversity but the overall teacher shortage, Tapp said.

Aning said it is not enough to just recruit black teachers.

You have to create the conditions to keep them, Aning said. I dont necessarily think the district is creating the conditions to keep them.

She questioned whether teachers in the STAR program, who start in the classroom without a teaching degree, are provided adequate support by the district.

In her eyes, one possible solution is to inspire current Racine Unified students to obtain teaching degrees, then work in Racine. But she said the culture at the schools would have to change first.

You have students who are having very negative experiences in the schools, Aning said. You have very high expulsion rates and off-the-charts suspension rates for black students. So if theyre having negative experiences in school, is this going to motivate them to want to become teachers and come back into that community?

In 2017-18, black RUSD students were suspended 3,134 times, compared to 828 times for white students, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Black students comprised about 26% of Unifieds population that year while Hispanic students were at 28%. White students accounted for 39%.

Superintendent Eric Gallien knows that hiring a diverse group of teachers can positively affect students and staff.

A diverse teaching staff allows students to see themselves in the educators who inspire, guide and serve as role models to them, he said. Diversity among our teaching staff also creates stronger educators because they are able to benefit from a variety of perspectives of their colleagues.

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The tiny Pacific nation of Micronesia banned its citizens from visiting mainland China Tuesday in the latest move by regional leaders to protect island populations highly vulnerable to infectious outbreaks.

A measles epidemic in Samoa late last year showed the devastating impact infectious outbreaks can have in remote and under-resourced Pacific islands, killing 83 people, most of them babies and toddlers.

Samoa's initial measles response was criticised for a lack of urgency and bureaucratic inertia, but preventative action against the coronavirus has been swift.

Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) President David Panuelo declared a state of emergency last Friday, banning anyone who had been in mainland China from January 6 from entering his country.

"It is imperative that immediate precautionary measures are put in place in FSM in order to protect (the) lives and safety of its citizens," he said in a public health declaration.

A follow-up statement Tuesday said citizens of Micronesia -- an archipelago in the northern Pacific with a population of 102,000 people -- were not allowed to visit mainland China.

It said the ban would remain in place "until such time that a determination is made that the coronavirus is effectively contained".

Samoa has also barred visitors from mainland China, unless they have undergone 14-days quarantine in a coronavirus-free country prior to arrival and provide a medical clearance certificate.

Fiji has implemented similar measures, while the Marshall Islands ban includes visitors from Hong Kong and Macau, as well as mainland China.

In New Zealand, a major travel hub for the Pacific islands, concerns about coronavirus prompted Auckland to cancel its annual Lantern Festival, which usually attracts crowds of about 200,000.

"It's sad that the festival won't be going ahead this year," Auckland mayor Phil Goff said.

"But it's important to respect the wishes of Auckland's Chinese community, many of whom don't feel it is appropriate to celebrate the festival given the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in China and its toll on life there." Health authorities have not reported any confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Pacific islands or New Zealand.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON  Closing arguments Monday in President Donald Trumps impeachment trial were directed more toward history than to sway the outcome, one final chance to influence public opinion and set the record ahead of his expected acquittal in the Republican-led Senate.

The House Democratic prosecutors drew on the Founding Fathers and common sense to urge senators  and Americans  to see that Trump's actions are not isolated but a pattern of behavior that, left unchecked, will allow him to "cheat"' in the 2020 election.

Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff implored those few Republican senators who have acknowledged Trump's wrongdoing in the Ukraine matter to prevent a runaway presidency and stand up to say enough.

For a man like Donald J. Trump, they gave you a remedy and meant for you to use it. They gave you an oath, and they meant for you to observe it, Schiff said. "We have proven Donald Trump guilty. Now do impartial justice and convict him.

The president's defense countered the Democrats have been out to impeach Trump since the start of his presidency, nothing short of an effort to undo the 2016 election and to try to shape the next one, as early primary voting begins Monday in Iowa.

Leave it to the voters to choose, said White House counsel Pat Cipollone.

He called for an end to the partisan era of impeachment.

All that's left, as the Senate prepares to acquit Trump on charges that he abused power and obstructed Congress, is for Americans to decide now and in the November election, as the third presidential impeachment trial in the nation's history comes to a close.

Most senators acknowledge the House Democratic managers have essentially proven their case. Trump was impeached in December on two charges: that he abused his power like no other president in history when he pushed Ukraine to investigate rival Democrats, and he then obstructed Congress by instructing aides to defy House subpoenas.

But key Republicans have decided the president's actions toward Ukraine do not rise to the level of impeachable offense that warrants the dramatic political upheaval of conviction and removal from office. His acquittal in Wednesday's vote is all but assured.

GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska called the president's actions shameful and wrong, but in a powerful speech late Monday she also derided the highly partisan process. I cannot vote to convict, she said.

Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Marco Rubio of Florida and Rob Portman of Ohio are among those who acknowledged the inappropriateness of Trump's actions, but said they would not vote to hear more testimony or to convict.

What message does that send?  asked Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., a House prosecutor. He warned senators that for Trump, the past is prologue." He urged the Senate to realize its failure to convict will allow the president's misconduct to stand.

The Senate proceedings are set against a sweeping political backstop, as voters in Iowa on Monday are choosing presidential Democratic primary candidates and Trump is poised to deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday in his own victory lap before Congress.

It is unclear if any Republican or Democratic senators sworn to do "impartial justice'' will break from party lines. One centrist Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin, W-Va., said he was heavily weighing the vote ahead. He suggested censure may be a bipartisan alternative.

The House Democrats unveiled a striking case centered on Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, running an alternative foreign policy that drew alarm at the highest levels. As part of the scheme, Trump held up $391 million in U.S. aid from Ukraine, a fragile ally battling Russia, for his personal political gain, they argued. The money was eventually released after Congress intervened.

As Chief Justice John Roberts presided, the House managers opened with a plea from Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., a freshman and former Army Ranger: We cannot and should not leave our common sense at the door.

One by one, the Democrats drew on their life experiences to remind senators, and Americans, of the simple difference between right and wrong in the case against Trump.

Rep. Val Demings, a former police chief, argued that the president is not behaving like someone who is innocent. She warned that if senators do not convict, Trump will try to cheat again ahead of 2020.

You will send a terrible message to the nation that one can get away with abuse of power, cheating and spreading of false narratives, she told them.

Before Trump's celebrity defense mounted its closing argument, the president himself already registered his views on Twitter, where he decried the whole thing  as he often does  as a hoax.

Kenneth Starr, the former prosecutor whose investigation led to Bill Clinton's impeachment, complained about the inadequacy of the House prosecutors' fast track case.

Trump attorney Jay Sekulow showed political clips of Democrats calling for impeachment  with many lawmakers of color, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a top Republican foil  to argue this was the "first totally partisan presidential impeachment in our nation's history, and it should be our last."

One key Trump lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, who was forced to walk back a sweeping defense of presidential power in last week's arguments, did not appear.

Trump wanted acquittal secured before he arrives at the Capitol for the State of the Union address Tuesday, but that will not happen.

Senators carrying the power of their votes to the history books wanted additional time to make their own arguments, in public speeches from the floor of the Senate. Those began Monday afternoon and were expected to continue until Wednesday's vote.

The trial unfolded over nearly two weeks and reached a decisive moment last Friday when senators voted against calling witnesses and documents. Key Republicans said they had heard enough. It becomes the first impeachment trial in the nations more than 200-year history without any witnesses.

Even new revelations from John Bolton, the former White House national security adviser, whose forthcoming book discloses his firsthand account of Trump ordering the investigations, did not impress upon senators the need for more testimony.

Bolton said he would appear if he received a subpoena, but GOP senators said the House should have issued the summons and the Senate did not want to prolong the proceedings.

Prosecutors relied on a 28,000-page report compiled over three months of proceedings in the Democratic-controlled House, including public and private testimony from 17 witnesses, among them current and former ambassadors and national security officials with close proximity to the Ukraine dealings.

The case stems from Trump's July 25 call with Ukraine that he maintains was perfect. A government whistleblower alarmed by the call filed a complaint that sparked the inquiry.

__

By Lisa Mascaro and Eric Tucker. Mary Clare Jalonick, Matthew Daly, Laurie Kellman and Padmananda Rama contributed.
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The Rajasthan High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against a businessman, a retired IAS official and others in a case of leasing land near the Jal Mahal Lake.

Justice S P Sharma granted the relief to businessman Navrattan Kothari, retired IAS officer Vinod Zutshi, RAS officer Hridesh Kumar and the then managing director of Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Rakesh Saini.

The high court said the officers, who have been posted for certain period alone in the project, could not be subjected to criminal process, and the offences under Section 420 for cheating and Sections 409 (Criminal breach of trust) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code are not made out against the petitioners.

The lower court had ordered initiation of criminal proceedings against the petitioners on the complainant filed by one Bhagwat Gaur alleging illegalities in the tender process which was challenged in the high court.

"The ingredients of the said offences are totally absent once there is a seal of approval of the entire project, which was initiated from 2001, as noticed by the Supreme Court. The petitioners Vinod Zutshi, Rakesh Saini and Hridesh Kumar Sharma have only joined subsequently in 2004 after the letter of intent was already issued," the high court said.

It said that so far as Kothari is concerned, merely because he has participated in the global tender and the project was awarded to his firm, KGK Enterprises, it cannot be said that he has committed any act within the definition of Offence under Section 420, 406 or 120B IPC.

Moreover, the Supreme Court has even upheld awarding of the contract and has further directed the Project to continue, it said.

"The stand taken by the Additional Advocate General and Public Prosecutor is appreciated. Unnecessary criminal proceedings ought not be allowed to continue. Keeping in view above, the order of taking cognizance impugned herein dated September 9, 2011 passed by the Additional Civil Judge (Sr Div) and Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate No.4, Jaipur City, Jaipur is quashed and set aside and the subsequent criminal proceedings initiated pursuant thereto are also quashed and set aside," the high court said.

It further said that the order passed by the Additional Sessions Judge No.5, Jaipur Metropolitan, Jaipur in Criminal Revisions filed by the petitioners -- Zutshi, Sharma and Kothari is also quashed and set aside.

The petitioners had contended before the high court that the proceedings cannot continue in view of the judgment passed by the Supreme Court in Jal Mahal Resort in which it allowed the project.

The high court had on May 17, 2012 cancelled the 99-year lease for 100 acre land with historical Jal Mahal on it within the 16th century Man Sagar Lake given by the State government to the firm Jal Mahal Resorts Pvt Ltd.

The public land adjoining Man Sagar Lake was handed over on lease for 99 years by Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) to the firm for developing tourist facilities around the lake.

The Supreme Court later gave its nod to the Jal Mahal tourism development project near Jaipur's Mansagar lake with certain modifications.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 20:37 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20628d760 1 Business Bank-Muamalat,Ilham-Habibie,OJK,Financial-Services-Authority,Wimboh-Santoso,Al-Falah-Investment,acquisition Free

Singapore-based sharia investment company Al Falah Investments led by Ilham Akbar Habibie, the eldest son of the late former president B.J. Habibie, is set to acquire sharia-compliant Bank Muamalat Indonesia.

Financial Services Authority (OJK) chairman Wimboh Santoso said on Tuesday that the authority had approved the deal, adding that the consortium led by Al Falah would only need to complete some administrative work.

The deal will be sealed soon, Wimboh told reporters in Jakarta.

Al Falah Investment, which is owned by Bank Muamalat commissioner Ilham and Hong-Kong based SSG Capital Management Limited, is a holding company focusing on banking and other financial services.

Bank Muamalat is currently seeking a capital injection to support its business.

According to data from the OJK, Bank Muamalats net profit in January-August 2019 fell by 94 percent from the same period in 2018 to Rp 6.57 billion (US$453,103).
The Kerala Government on Tuesday said no fresh positive cases of novel coronavirus infection was reported from the state, even as 2,421 are under watch at houses and hospitals.

At least 100 people with minor symptoms of the virus are at isolation wards of various hospitals, state Health Minister K K Shailaja told reporters here



India's three positive cases for the virus has been from the state's three districts-- Thrissur, Alappuzha and Kasaragod.

All the three are students of China's Wuhan university, the epicentre of the epidemic.

"No new cases of coronavirus has been detected in the state today. At least 2,321 are under observation at home while 100 are in isolation wards at various hospital across the state," Shailaja said.

The health status of the three patients, who had tested positive for the virus infection, "remains satisfactory," she said.

After three cases were reported, the LDF government had declared the epidemic as a "state calamity" on Monday.

"Even though there are no positive cases today, we need to be careful and I would like to reiterate that 28 days is the quarantine period.

There are certain other diseases like H1N1 also. So it is necesary to maintain personal hygiene. Wash your hands and keep the locality clean. Our aim is to avoid fatal cases," the minister said.

Allaying fears, Shailaja said the government has deployed 191 personnel across the state and till now 1,043 patients have been given counselling.

Meanwhile, Rathan U Kelkar, the State Mission Director of the National Health Mission, said the union health ministry has asked the states to "replicate Kerala model" for containing the virus.

Asked about two persons who disregarded health authorities directions to refrain from travelling during the virus's incubation period and left for a Gulf nation while they were under home quarantine in Kozhikode, Shailaja said they had gone to Saudi Arabia and attempts were on to trace them.

"We came to know about it. We are trying to trace them. We want them to be kept under home quarantine.

Once they are traced, we will inform the authorities concerned to keep them under observation," she said.

The health ministry also said it has identified 82 people who came in direct contact with the first patient from Thrissur, 51 people, who had been in contact with the second patient in Alappuzha and 29 in contact with the third from Kasaragod.

The minister said the government had held a meeting with the Indian Medical Association and discussed arrangements of maintaining isolation wards in private hospitals.

"It is a huge task to open an isolation area for the patients in government hospitals. We have joined hands with IMA to open isolation wards in private hospitals in case of emergency," she said.

Of the 2,421 people under observation, the maximum number is from Malappuram (357), followed by Kozhikode (316), Ernakulam (315) and Thrissur (230).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, Feb 4 : Mahindra Group's Chairman Anand Mahindra has recently tweeted that Google's Super Bowl 2020 commercial made him cry.

The tear-jerker is making millions emotional and among them is Anand Mahindra.

The business tycoon has shared the video link of the ad on his Twitter handle and wrote, "This Super Bowl ad made me cry. Seriously. Perhaps it's my vintage that made me identify with it. But I think it will strike a chord with most people, no matter what their age is... Well done Google. You managed to dive deep into our hearts..." Titled 'Loretta', the advertisement shows how an old man reminisces about his late wife with the help of Google Assistant. As his post went viral, social media has been abuzz with reactions.

A user wrote, "While the creative is nice. Creepy though as to how much Google knows about us...." Another wrote, "@anandmahindra ji you're spot on; I'd urge you to imagine a scenario where we forget our marriage anniversary. It is petrifying." A post read, "Google knows how to tap the emotions." Another Tweeple remarked, "It's not about the human touch, it touching emotions is the CX, code of success, lovely advert."

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
As an investor its worth striving to ensure your overall portfolio beats the market average. But if you try your hand at stock picking, your risk returning less than the market. We regret to report that long term PunaMusta Media Oyj (HEL:PUMU) shareholders have had that experience, with the share price dropping 11% in three years, versus a market return of about 34%.

Check out our latest analysis for PunaMusta Media Oyj

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

During the three years that the share price fell, PunaMusta Media Oyj's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 21% each year. In comparison the 4.0% compound annual share price decline isn't as bad as the EPS drop-off. This suggests that the market retains some optimism around long term earnings stability, despite past EPS declines.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

HLSE:PUMU Past and Future Earnings, February 4th 2020

We know that PunaMusta Media Oyj has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? If you're interested, you could check this free report showing consensus revenue forecasts.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of PunaMusta Media Oyj, it has a TSR of 2.6% for the last 3 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

Story continues

A Different Perspective

PunaMusta Media Oyj shareholders are up 9.0% for the year (even including dividends) . Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it's actually better than the average return of 2.6% over half a decade It is possible that returns will improve along with the business fundamentals. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with PunaMusta Media Oyj (including 1 which is is potentially serious) .

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on FI exchanges.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold an election rally in Dwarka area here on Tuesday ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections.

Pradyumna Rajput is the BJP candidate from the Dwarka Assembly constituency.

On Monday, while addressing his first election rally for the Delhi Assembly polls at Karkardooma, Modi said that there was a "political design" behind anti-CAA protests including in the city's Shaheen Bagh and urged the people to vote for the of "development".

"Be it Seelampur, Jamia or Shaheen Bagh, protests are being held over the past several days over the new citizenship law. Is this just a coincidence? No. This is an experiment," the Prime Minister said.

"There is a political design behind all these protests including Jamia and Shaheen Bagh. These protests are a conspiracy to divide India. These protests are going to ruin the harmony of the nation," he asserted.

On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal held a roadshow in Dwarka.

Vinay Kumar Mishra is the party's candidate from the Dwarka Assembly constituency.

Election to the 70-member assembly in Delhi will be held on February 8, while the results will be declared on February 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Syrian forces discover network of long tunnels once used by militants in Idlib

Iran Press TV

Monday, 03 February 2020 3:15 PM

Syrian government forces have discovered a network of long tunnels as well as underground makeshift facilities once used by militants in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Army soldiers and pro-government fighters from popular defense groups found the secret tunnels and the fortified headquarters for the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, during wide-scale clean-up operations in the newly liberated city of Ma'arat al-Nu'man in Idlib, Syria's official news agency SANA reported on Monday.

The facilities, equipped with tunnels and ventilation systems, were built under the museum of the city on an area of approximately 1,000 square meter, it added.

The heavily fortified concrete structures were used as weapons storage.

"The terrorists also used the fortified headquarters to reside there and allocated parts of it as prisons and centers to torture the abducted civilians who oppose their presence in the area," SANA quoted a military source as saying.

Separately, in the liberated town of Khan al-Subol, Syrian troops seized a hospital and a field medical center used for treating the injured terrorists. They also discovered a number of trenches and caves used by terrorists to fortify and protect themselves from the Syrian army strikes.

In recent days, Syrian troops, backed by Russia's air cover, made rapid advances in Idlib liberating the city of Ma'arat al-Nu'man, which is situated about 100 kilometers southwest of the militant-controlled city of al-Bab.

Syria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates wrote to the United Nations on January 25, stressing that the operation in Idlib and Aleppo against Takfiri elements "will not stop until the elimination of those terrorists, who threaten safety and security of Syrian civilians."

Idlib and the area north of Aleppo province form part of the only large territory in the hands of terrorists after the Syrian military managed to vanquish the foreign-backed terrorists across the country and bring back almost all of the Syrian soil under government control.

The Syrian army declared the start of Idlib operation in August.

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In the wake of the coronavirus scare, Ludhiana-based businessmen have cancelled their visits to China and Taiwan where they were to scheduled to participate in international bicycle shows.

"After the rising cases of fatal coronavirus, the upcoming five tours to China and Taiwan have been cancelled," said Gurmeet Singh Kular, president of Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation (FICO). The FICO mostly comprises representatives of the bicycle industry.

The industrialists were supposed to participate in Taipei cycle show (March 4 to March 7) in Taiwan, China Plas (April 21 to 24) in Shanghai and Canton Fair Phase I, II and III to be held in April and May, Singh said.

General secretary, FICO, Rajeev Jain said more than 40 industrialists had already made bookings for Taipei Cycle Show.

Fifty had made bookings for China Plas and more than 80 for all three phases of the Canton Fair, he added.

Kular said the largest show of the bicycle industry -- China International Bicycle and Motor Fair 2020 -- to be held on May 6-9 was still under review.

"If situations improve, only then we will continue, otherwise that tour will also be cancelled," he said.

Ludhiana is a major industrial hub, caters to the country's over 90 per cent bicycle and bicycle parts' demand.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has killed people in China is a novel strain and not seen before.

The virus - which first emerged in Wuhan city in China's central Hubei province - has spread to 25 countries, including India, the US and the UK.

So far three confirmed cases have been reported from Kerala.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
04.02.2020 LISTEN

Former Member of Parliament for Bantama Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Henry Kwabena Kokofu has said Ghana will be disgraced worldwide if President Akufo-Addo led administrations fails to prosecute government officials who were involved Airbus corruption scandal.

According to him, Ghanas reputation is as stake so the government must do well to arrest and prosecute people who are involved in the Airbus scandal.

As a nation, we need to do investigations and punish the people who are involved in the scandal and clear our name as a country. I know the President has directed the special prosecutor to ensure justice is done, am pleading with Ghanaians to have patience, Henry Kwabena Kokofu told Kwaku Dawuro on Pae Mu Ka on Accra-based Kingdom FM 107.7

 As a lawyer, this is a technical issue we need to have patience and allow the law to work but if we fail to punish the offenders we will be disgraced wold-wide.

In the case of Ghana, the Judgement of the Crown Court highlights instances where Airbus officials, as part of a scheme to obtain and or maintain contracts with the government, either bribed or agreed to bribe intermediaries with close links to a high-ranking state official said to have influence over the countrys aircraft purchase plans between 2011 and 2015.

According to The Guardian of the UK, Airbus was found guilty by a High Court in London for paying huge bribes to secure contracts during Mr. Mahamas tenure as President of Ghana and Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces.

The Court later fine Airbus of three billion pounds (3bn) as penalties, something that anti-corruption investigators have described as the largest ever corporate fine for bribery in the world after judges declared the corruption was grave, pervasive and pernicious.

---KingdomfmOnline
SPRINGFIELD  After collaborating with the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts for 29 years, the Bank of America in May transferred three trusts totaling over $22 million to the Valley-wide grant funder.

The move brings the Community Foundations total earned assets from roughly $153 million to $175 million and bolsters its role as an enduring philanthropic leader in the Pioneer Valley.

That the Bank of America has enough faith in us and what we can do, and in our ability to effectively administer funds, acknowledges that we are truly a leader of philanthropy in the Pioneer Valley, said Elizabeth H. Sillin, trustee chair of the Community Foundation.

She said the increase in assets will help the Community Foundation to better position itself to attract funds from partners and other granting entities outside the region to support its work. The more internal muscle they see that we have, the more confident they will be in investing their dollars with us, said Sillin, a partner with the law firm Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas, LLP. The bigger and more effective you are, the more likely it is that you are going to attract other dollars.

Founded in 1990, the Community Foundation administers a charitable endowment consisting of over 600 separately identified funds totaling approximately $175 million. Some of these charitable assets are unrestricted and are used to meet emerging and changing needs in our region. Others support named nonprofit organizations or provide financial support to college-bound students. Still others are donor advised, offering flexibility to donors in timing, amount and beneficiary of their giving.

Last year, the Community Foundation awarded $7.3 million in grants to nonprofits, and $2.2 million in scholarships and interest-free loans to over 770 area students. The Bank of America funds will continue to support a wide variety of organizations for generations to come, from grassroots community food pantries to region-spanning arts programsand will preserve the original donors wishes to support their communities in perpetuity.

Serving Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties, the Community Foundation is fueled by over 150 active volunteers who take on tasks ranging from reviewing scholarship applications to serving on committees focused on finance, investing, education and philanthropy.

At the end of its first fiscal year in 1991, the Community Foundation reported assets of $830,730, representing the first group of donors and contributors. The transfer marks the largest, single gain in its assets, said Community Foundation Trustee George Arwady, the publisher and CEO of The Republican. Generations of local families will benefit.

Arwady explained, By adding these new assets to CFWM, the foundation increases its ability to meet the needs of the community while also increasing its visibility and attractiveness to other donors who are looking for the right vehicle for their funds to make the most difference.

The three trusts transferred from the bank to the foundation are: The Eugene A. Dexter Charitable Fund, established in 1944; The Nan and Matilda Heydt Fund, established in 1960; and The Valley Charitable Trust Fund, established in 1960. All three were originally created to support and serve charitable organizations and interests with a focus on Springfield and Hampden County.

This transfer represents decades of a dedicated, collaborative effort between the foundation and the bank and is an inspiring example of how the legacy of philanthropy can have a profound and sustainable impact, said Katie Allan Zobel, the foundations president and CEO.

Carol Leary, longtime president of Bay Path University and an emeritus trustee of the foundation, said, This significant act of philanthropy will have a lasting legacy and will certainly signal to other organizations or individuals the trust that Bank of America has in the board and the leadership of the foundation.

While the bank transfer provides growth for the Community Foundation, Sillin said another recent advancement for the organization was the well-known Valley Gives Day, which was run from 2012 to 2018.

Valley Gives Day helped area nonprofits increase their giving by using online vehicles for donations, and it also earned trust and visibility for the foundation. We offered a way for people in the Valley to self-identify as givers, and we served as effective consciousness raisers, she said. Over $10 million was raised over the six 24-hour giving days.

Sillin and Arwady both emphasized how community foundations play a key role in any regions philanthropic endeavors.

Sillin was inspired to get involved with the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts 15 years ago because her father helped launch a foundation in central New York, where she was raised. She said community foundations were formed because big donors were creating trusts at banks, and the banks, in turn, were becoming overwhelmed.

The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts was formed with a lot of these banking organizations to help administer the trusts and distribute the money effectively, Sillin said. There are all kinds of donors in the Valley looking for a place that is nimble enough to achieve philanthropic goals over time, and the Community Foundation is in a great position to do that.

Arwady said community foundations in general do the most good with donor assets for their communities  forever. Ive moved around the country and have four community foundations in my will. They are the best way to use your money for good, he said.
City officials are eyeing an empty building on Valencia Street as a new spot to temporarily shelter some of San Franciscos mentally ill homeless population.

A lease for the vacant Salvation Army building at 1156 Valencia St. in the Mission District is in the works. If approved, the facility would be the citys second dedicated to a population that is particularly difficult to treat.

The facility would have 30 beds and services such as counselors, group therapy sessions, laundry and showers. People would be allowed to stay for as long as they want and most would be referred from Psychiatric Emergency Services at San Francisco General Hospital.

There would be no drug and mental health treatment on site, but case managers can make referrals to other programs in the city.

The need for places for people who are mentally ill or high that is not sidewalks and plazas is so clearly obvious, said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, whose district includes the site. There is plainly a need for places like this, and many more of them.

The original site, called Hummingbird Place, on San Francisco General Hospitals campus, is run by Nonprofit PRC Baker Places, which would run the new site, too.

Clients at the existing facility stay for between a few hours and a few weeks before moving onto another treatment program in the city  or deciding to leave the citys system of care altogether. The average length of stay is 19 days, according to the Department of Public Health.

The existing facility has been expanded twice since it opened in 2017, from 15 to 29 beds, to meet soaring demand. It served more than 500 clients in fiscal year 2018-19.

Hummingbird Place is a good example of the Department of Public Health trying something new, figuring out what works and building on that success to serve more clients with behavioral health needs, said Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the citys health department.

Photos by Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

Mandelman and Mayor London Breed plan to introduce the lease proposal to the Board of Supervisors at Tuesdays meeting. The site would cost about $300,000 to renovate and about $3 million to operate annually. The supervisor will hold a community meeting at the building on Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m.

This is about getting people off the street and into a supportive environment, Breed said in a statement. We need more places for people to go to seek treatment and get healthier.

There are more than 4,000 people on San Franciscos streets struggling with homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction, according to the health department.

If the lease is approved, the 30 beds would make a small dent in the hospitals overwhelmed emergency units. Psychiatric Emergency Services was so crowded between October and December that it was on condition red  which means it cannot accept more patients  40% to 54% of the time.

Dr. Mark Leary, deputy chief of San Francisco General Hospitals psychiatry department and acting head of the psychiatric ER, told The Chronicle in November that the increased diversion numbers were partially due to a lack of other places for people to go in the citys system of care.

He mentioned Hummingbird Place as a facility where more beds could be useful.

If that resource were even more available, then it would allow us to discharge people more quickly and shorten the length of stay and then decrease our condition red, he said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Meanwhile, The Chronicle found that the overcrowding of Psychiatric Emergency Services was also spilling into the hospitals emergency room  which is already understaffed and overwhelmed with demand.

Cal/OSHA, the state agency that oversees workplace safety, and the California Department of Public Health opened separate investigations into conditions at the hospital late last year after receiving numerous complaints from staff.

While the proposed facility is technically in Mandelmans district  District Eight  it is on the border of District Nine, an area of the city that shoulders many of the citys homeless services.

The yellow Salvation Army building is across from City College San Franciscos Mission campus, and a block away from Buena Vista Horace Mann, a public school whose gymnasium turns into a shelter at night for homeless San Francisco Unified School District families.

Its also next to an Indian restaurant, Mediterranean restaurant and the Crepe House.

The new site would be part of Mayor London Breeds goal of opening 2,000 new spots within the next two years for people with mental health issues  such as residential treatment programs and sobering centers.

Still, Mandelman said 30 beds is not nearly enough to meet the huge demand on San Franciscos streets.

It is remarkably challenging to find locations that are large enough that they can accommodate any kind of homeless facility, he said. But we need Hummingbirds in communities throughout San Francisco.

Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani
It would weed out the people who just want a picture from those who actually want to see a famous site.

I took my best-ever travel photo in a grand Hindu temple in the city of Jaffna, in northern Sri Lanka. It's a picture of the late-afternoon sun slanting down through a courtyard in the center of the temple, illuminating a small, thin man with a palm-frond broom who is sweeping the marble floor. Dust particles can be seen in the beams of light that surround him, and in the shadows behind are rows of golden pillars disappearing into the distance.

But the curious thing about this photo is that it doesn't actually exist for anyone else to see. It's only in my mind. There was no photography allowed inside the temple, so despite the frantic itching in my fingers to reach for my phone in the moment that I saw that amazing scene, I had to resist. Instead, I stopped walking, studied it, and seared it into my brain. It's still there, and I think of it frequently.

There's something to be said for not being allowed to take photos everywhere and anytime. We've become such camera-happy travellers that we've almost forgotten how to meander, observe, absorb, and remember without clicking a button. There is a frantic desire not only to commemorate every experience with a photo, but also to post it on social media to prove to others that we're doing fun, cool things.

Ian T. McFarland/CC BY 2.0

The problem is that this obsessive photo-taking is affecting the quality of visits to well-known tourist attractions. It's adding congestion and confusion, with all those extra slow lineups, screens blazing, repeated posing, hands in the air, and irritated security guards. This is why more cities and property managers are considering full photography bans, or at least reviewing how to allow photography in a less intrusive, more beneficial way.

An article for CNN offers some examples. The city of Amsterdam has removed its big I AMSTERDAM sign to cut down on the selfie queues, and the Van Gogh Museum has designated selfie spots where people can take pictures next to enlarged versions of iconic art. In Mexico City, Frida Kahlo's home charges an extra fee for photography, and the UNESCO heritage site Cast Barragan requires a photo permit to be purchased. Many other destinations, such as the Bone Church in Czech Republic and Gion neighborhood in Kyoto, have banned photos outright.

After my trip to Sri Lanka, when every person in the group insisted on taking a picture of the same thing, I realized just how much I dislike repetitive tourist photography. I took the bare minimum of photos for the articles I knew I'd write about the trip or if I saw scenes that struck me as truly beautiful or unusual, but I tried mostly to focus on remembering and seeing what was around me, not trying to record it other than through writing in my travel journal  and of course, no selfies. As Lilit Marcus wrote for CNN,

"Separating photography as an art form from the instantaneous quality of likes online means that you value the picture you took for its own sake, rather than for how others react to it."



CNN cites a trend forecast that thinks some tourist destinations, i.e. hotels and restaurants, will start to fight back against the Instagram craze by redesigning interiors to be dark and intimate and not conducive to photography. Some predict it will become trendy not to post about trips, to remain mysteriously silent. It will be interesting to see what happens.

 K Martinko  Pre-smartphones (2008), when it didn't even occur to me to get in the picture & there was no one else around

Personally, I remember most from the places where photos weren't allowed because I worked harder to remember them, like that temple I described at the beginning. And it was even easier to do when others around me weren't waving their phones and posing repeatedly. I know I'd be very keen to go on a tour where photos aren't allowed at all, like the ones offered by Wild Frontiers and mentioned on CNN. (I'll find out more and write about them for TreeHugger.)

If you haven't pondered it before, take a moment to think about how often you whip out a camera to take pictures of things without pausing to absorb the scene. Ask yourself if it's annoying to anyone else around, if it's disrespectful, if you'd want to be photographed if the tables were turned, and how you'd feel if a tourist in your hometown were doing the same. A bit of mindfulness and self-restraint, practiced collectively, could go a long way toward creating a more pleasant atmosphere.
GOLDEN, Colo., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CoorsTek, a leading global manufacturer of engineered ceramics, announced its continued partnership with University of Colorado Denver as lead sponsor of the Denver Metro Regional Science and Engineering Fair (DMRSEF). The 57th DMRSEF will be held February 28, 2020 at the University of Colorado Denver campus.

This annual competition engages students in eight counties from Denver metro-area middle schools, high schools, and home schools. DMRSEF is one of Colorado's 13 Science and Engineering Regional Fairs, with the top winners earning eligibility to compete in the Colorado Science and Engineering Fair.

"Engaging the next generation of scientists by sponsoring STEM related events will encourage more young people to become curious about careers in science," said Randel Mercer, Chief Technology Officer at CoorsTek. "With hundreds of scientists and engineers working at CoorsTek, our goal is to educate more young people about the amazing impact science has on improving everyday lives."

Last year, CoorsTek employees served as judges at the fair, helping to determine which students moved on to the Colorado State Fair and to the Intel International Science and Engineering competitions. Krithik Ramesh from Englewood, Colorado received the top prize of First Place, Best in Category and The Gordon E. Moore Award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, which provided him a $75,000 scholarship for his undergraduate education.

"Winning last year was one of the most humbling experiences of my life," said Ramesh. "The event gave me a platform to talk about the need for effective communication in science and how to engage all audiences. I am incredibly fortunate and lucky to have won this award and am endlessly grateful for all the support that DMRSEF gave me throughout the entire process."

CoorsTek has a long history of supporting STEM education in the communities where the company has a presence. By encouraging young people to be involved in STEM education, CoorsTek aims to prepare the next generation of engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs for future success in the world of science and technology.

Media Contact:

CoorsTek, Inc.

Nancy Fullerton

Phone: +1-517-304-4695

Email: [email protected]

About CoorsTek

Founded in 1910 and headquartered in Golden, Colorado, CoorsTek is a fifth-generation, family owned and operated global manufacturer of engineered ceramics. By utilizing over half of the world's known elements in our material formulations, we deliver unique solutions to our diverse customer base by leveraging ceramic properties. With more than 30 facilities across 3 continents, 5 million square feet in manufacturing space, and more than 6,000 team members, we are the partner of choice in engineered ceramics. CoorsTek Makes the World Measurably Better by providing customers with amazing solutions to complex manufacturing needs across all industry sectors around the world.

For more information, please visit www.coorstek.com

About the Denver Metro Regional Science and Engineering Fair

The Denver Metro Regional Science and Engineering Fair (DMRSEF) was established in 1963 to give pre-collegiate researchers an outlet to engage their scientific interests and an opportunity to interact with professional researchers and scientists. Serving eight counties in the Denver metropolitan area (Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, and Summit), the CoorsTek DMRSEF provides area middle school and high school students a vehicle to develop their scientific skillsets and an annual opportunity to present their research. The 57th Annual CoorsTek DMRSEF will take place February 28, 2020 at the University of Colorado Denver.

SOURCE CoorsTek

Related Links

http://www.coorstek.com


A council has taken down around 60 white supremacist posters plastered around a UK town over the weekend, authorities have said.

"It's OK to be white" and "reject white guilt" were written on signs across Ipswich, according to images shared on social media.

Max Stocker, a council spokesperson, told The Independent they have been working to remove the posters, which also included the message "beware non-white rape gangs".

Similar messages have been spotted around different parts of the UK in recent months, including Hull and Perth, according to local media.

Signs saying "it's OK to be white" were also put up in Bristol city centre last week.

The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Show all 23 1 /23 The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Members of the ShieldWall Network, a white nationalist group, burn a swastika and cross during a party outside Atkins, Arkansas, U.S on March 9, 2019 Reuters The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Members of the ShieldWall Network hold up balloons decorated as the face of Adolf Hitler and give a white-power hand signal as they celebrate the German fascist's birthday outside Atkins, Arkansas REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Billy Roper of the ShieldWall Network attends a party at a home outside Atkins. The group primarily operates in Arkansas and includes three other members who were recently charged with assault in connection with the beating of a gay man, according to police reports REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Members of the ShieldWall Network march to a rally opposing legal abortion and supporting gun rights at the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Jeff Schoep, former chairman of the National Socialist Movement, speaks during a rally at the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas on November 10, 2018 Reuters The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Crosses lit by members of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan burn outside Yanceyville, North Carolina, U.S., November 4, 2017. The Loyal White Knights is one of the largest Klan groups in the United States, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks extremist groups REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Members of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan prepare for a cross-burning outside Yanceyville, North Carolina, U.S., November 4, 2017 REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Members of the ShieldWall Network perform a Nazi salute as a swastika and cross burn during a party outside Atkins, Arkansas, March 9, 2019 REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US High chairs are seen in a building owned by The Knights Party, a white nationalist group formerly named the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, outside Harrison, Arkansas, March 10, 2019. The organisation is opening an education center for the children of white nationalists REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Chris Barker of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan addresses an audience before a cross-burning outside Yanceyville REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US A figurine of a black man being lynched inside the home of Chris Barker of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Yanceyville REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US John Carollo, a member of the ShieldWall Network, holds up a photo montage of (clockwise from top left) Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, Adolf Hitler, founder of the American Nazi Party George Lincoln Rockwell, Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof and Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess, while attending a party at a home outside Atkins REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Symbols of white nationalism are displayed on the jacket of a member of the National Socialist Movement as they gather in a parking lot before attending a rally at the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Members of the ShieldWall Network prepare a swastika for burning to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Atkins REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US A new member of the ShieldWall Network, Nicholas Holloway, and other members of the white nationalist group go boating to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Russellville, Arkansas REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Courtney Calfy, wife of Julian Calfy, helps to prepare a meal as members of the ShieldWall Network gather to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Atkins, Arkansas REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US John Carollo, a member of the ShieldWall Network, on the phone during a celebration of Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Atkins, Arkansas REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US A plaque on top of a flagpole with the number 1488 is carried by members of the National Socialist Movement as they attend a rally at the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas, November 10, 2018 REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Members of the ShieldWall Network John Carollo, Julian Calfy and Nicholas Holloway gather at a member's home before departing to disrupt a Jewish Holocaust memorial event in Russellville, Arkansas REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Members of the ShieldWall Network burn a swastika to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Atkins, Arkansas REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Chris Barker of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is seen inside what the group calls its church, next to his home in Yanceyville REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Members of the ShieldWall Network go boating to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Russellville, Arkansas REUTERS The far-right plot to normalise white supremacy in the US Members of the ShieldWall Network, a white nationalist group, prepare to burn a swastika and cross during a party at a home outside Atkins, Arkansas REUTERS

Some of these posters bear the mark of Hundred-Hands, a group encouraging the spread of posters containing messages of white supremacy over social media.

Sam Murray, an Ipswich resident, claimed she removed 10 signs in the town herself.

"This does not have a place here," she told The Independent.

"Ipswich is a nice town," she said. "It is diverse and normally people just get on with their lives."

(Ipswich Borough Council ) (Ipswich Borough Council)

Bryony Rudkin, deputy leader of Ipswich Borough Council, called the white supremacist messages "deplorable".

"This racist behaviour does not represent the people of Ipswich or our town," she said.

"Council staff have been out over the weekend taking these stickers down."

Police are investigating the posters and aware of similar reports in other areas of the UK, a Suffolk Police spokesperson said.

"It's OK to be white" spread as a slogan across the US several years ago, and posters started appearing across American universities.

The phrase received support from neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, as well as alt-right figures.

An online store stopped selling T-shirts with the message "it's OK to be white" earlier this year after acknowledging backlash over the "divisive slogan".

Ipswich council have asked anyone who notices any more white supremacist signs to contact the Cleaner Ipswich Hotline on 01473 433000 or through the website My Ipswich.
Alarmed by the growing risks of a new coronavirus, Brazil has decided to repatriate Brazilians from Wuhan, China, and will declare a national health emergency, Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said on Monday Trend reports citing Reuters.

A chartered plane would be sent to pick up 40 of the 55 Brazilians in Wuhan who have asked to be evacuated from the city at the center of a coronavirus outbreak, Mandetta said. They would be quarantined for 18 days at a military base, he said.

President Jair Bolsonaro said last week that repatriating Brazilians from Wuhan would not be opportune as it could put the population back home at risk. But he changed his mind over the weekend when Brazilians in Wuhan posted a video appealing to Bolsonaro to get them out.

In their six-minute video here posted on Youtube, the Brazilians noted that other nations where preparing to evacuate their citizens with the help of Chinese authorities, and they pleaded with Bolsonaro and Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo to rescue them.

On Sunday, Bolsonaro said his government will evacuate every Brazilian from Wuhan who wants to return home. He is expected to issue a decree by Tuesday to authorize the quarantine steps and speed up the repatriation of Brazilians.

A ministry spokesman said Brazil is in talks with the Chinese government to obtain authorization for a plane to land in Wuhan, which has been under lockdown since Jan. 23. Airlines around the world have stopped flights to parts of China.

The death toll in China from the newly identified virus, which emerged in Wuhan, rose to 361 as of Sunday, up by 57 from a day earlier, the National Health Commission said.

Mandetta said Brazilians would be tested before embarking and no one with symptoms would be allowed on the plane.

Brazil has had no confirmed cases of coronavirus. Health authorities are checking 14 suspected cases in the states of Sao Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Rio de Janeiro, after dismissing 13 other cases, the health minister said.

A ministry spokesman said talks are underway with the Chinese government to obtain authorization for a chartered plane to land in Wuhan and pick up the Brazilians who want to leave.
The logo of Netflix, a leading content giant, is seen in this file photo, Tuesday. After approval from the country's top telecom regulator over its suggested acquisition deal with T-broad, SK Telecom was in discussions with Hyundai Department Store Group to purchase the latter-owned major stakes in Hyundai HCN. Korea Times file



By Kim Yoo-chul



SK Telecom is in talks with Hyundai Department Store Group to acquire a 66.2 percent stake in its pay-per-view TV operator, Hyundai HCN, an official at a top-tier local consulting firm said Tuesday.



"SK Telecom approached local consulting firms and banks for a valuation of the Hyundai group-owned PPV TV operator Hyundai HCN. SK is in talks with the relevant authorities to acquire a majority stake of Hyundai HCN for an expanded presence in the growing local PPV TV market," the official with direct knowledge of the matter said.



Earlier, the SK Group telecommunications affiliate received approval from the country's top telecom regulator for its purchase of T-broad. At the time of the approval, SK Broadband, SK Telecom's fixed-line subsidiary, said the acquisition would allow both to "better and quickly respond to the changes in the local PPV TV market and further strengthen their media competitiveness."



Hyundai HCN is currently worth between 750 billion won and 820 billion won  not including a (management) control premium. The 66.2 percent stake is divided amongst Hyundai HomeShopping, which has 38.34 percent, followed by Hyundai Shopping, Hyundai Department Store and Hyundai Green Food with 11.05 percent, 11.03 percent and 5.79 percent, respectively.



Neither SK Telecom nor Hyundai HCN has confirmed or denied the reported figures.



Given Hyundai HCN's stable financial structure and its "sizable share" in the local PPV TV market, the acquisition is expected to help SK Telecom move faster in the growing market than its chief local rivals  KT and LG Uplus, both of which are also seeking to boost their presence in the segment.



Further testament to HCN's financial soundness is the fact that HCN was maintaining 125 billion won debt as of the third quarter last year out of total capital of 739 billion won. The debt ratio was below 15 percent, which is considered manageable. For the first nine months of last year, Hyundai HCN's cash and cash-equivalent assets were about 424 billion won. Its annual operating profit is in the range of 44 billion won to 51 billion won, according to data provided by the financial authorities.



"The local PPV TV market is on an expansionary track on multiple fronts. Hyundai HCN is financially stable and SK Telecom plans to outsource multimedia content from overseas content operators including ComCast-NBC Universal and utilize the procured content for its expanded PPV TV platform," the official said.



The merged SK Broadband-T broad combined share in the local PPV TV market is about 24 percent after KT-KT SkyLife's 31.3 percent and LG Uplus-LG HelloVision's 24.7 percent. Other than the big players, the remaining shares are divided up by D'Live, CMB and Hyundai HCN with 6.09 percent, 4.73 percent and 4.07 percent, respectively.


Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3)  President Rodrigo Duterte assured that the government "will never hide anything" about the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), following an "emergency meeting" with officials at the forefront of the battle against the new virus from China spreading worldwide.

"If it says youre going to die tomorrow because of this [2019-]nCoV, its a contagion all over, we will tell you that. If it would cost you lives, we will not hide that," Duterte said in a press briefing Monday night after a two-hour closed door meeting with the body leading the government's response to the virus.

He added, "Everything is well in the country. There's nothing really to be extra-scared of that coronavirus thing."

Duterte added that the government is buying more face masks amid a shortage in medical supply stores due to a surge in demand over the coronavirus scare.

However, he did not give specifics on how many face masks the government has bought and who would be provided with them.

"We do not want to give you the expectations because thats something which cannot be delivered almost all on time. And you know, sometimes when we announce it, it is taken differently in a different light," Duterte explained.

Duterte also said the government has not yet identified places where quarantine sites can be set up as there is no need for them at the moment.

However, he has directed the Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to prepare spaces in hospitals which can be used as quarantine sites. Duterte also floated the possibility of seizing buildings which will be used as quarantine sites and hospitals.

He added that the government is looking into using a drug rehabilitation facility located in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija as a quarantine site.

Duterte reiterated that the travel ban currently being enforced covers all foreign nationals who have traveled to China, Hong Kong and Macau. He added that there is no need yet for the ban to be expanded to include other countries which are also reporting cases of 2019-nCoV.

The President also appealed to stop xenophobia towards Chinese people, stressing that it is in "bad taste" to be pushing for all Chinese people in the Philippines to be sent back to their country.

'Not late'

The emergency meeting led by Duterte came four days after the Philippines confirmed its first 2019-nCoV case. The country has also recorded a death due to the virus, which is the first mortality outside of China.

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar defended the Duterte administration from accusations that the inter-agency meeting is long overdue.

"It's not late. Very timely ang desisyon ng gobyerno. We follow the recommendation of the World Health Organization, the Department of Health... Ang mga desisyon ng gobyerno ay very methodical," he said in a media briefing.

[Translation: It's not late. The government's decision is very timely. The decisions of the government are very methodical.]

Andanar also urged Filipinos not to discriminate against the Chinese nationals in the country.

"There were several times when countries around us were there for us. So we should be also there for the Chinese people who are suffering (from) the coronavirus. There should be no room for discrimination," he said.

Health authorities in the Philippines are now looking at 80 patients who may have been infected with 2019-nCoV, including eight people who came in close contact with the Chinese couple who tested positive for the virus.

The 2019-nCoV outbreak has killed 362 people and infected more than 17,300 globally, CNN reported Monday.

The number of infected people has surpassed that of the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, but is significantly less lethal. 2019-nCoV's mortality rate stands between two and three percent.

The World Health Organization said there is no community-wide spread of the deadly virus in the country.

CNN Philippines Senior Digital Producer Lara Tan contributed to this report.
Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - This afternoon, at approximately 3:56 p.m., the Yuma Police Department was alerted to a suspicious package in the 200 block S. 2nd Avenue. Due to the uncertainty of the package and the concern for the community, the immediate buildings were evacuated, and several roads were blocked.

The Yuma Police Department, with the assistance of another local agency, investigated the incident. The package was examined and later determined not to pose a threat to the community.

The Yuma Police Department encourages anyone with any information about this case to please call the Yuma Police Department at (928) 373-4700 or 78-Crime at (928) 782-7463 to remain anonymous.
Theres a reason we emphasize the role of the American people in impeachment, preferring they render judgment on Trump. Impeachment shouldnt be a strictly partisan exercise, a chesslike effort by members of one party to defeat the other by knocking off its king or, someday, queen. To remove a president from office is one of the gravest actions Congress can undertake. It represents the overturning of an election and, in this scenario, the disruption of another. It ought to be a break-glass-in-case-of-constitutional-emergency response.
Australians evacuated from Wuhan to Christmas Island have branded the centre 'worse than prison' and expressed fears shared bathrooms could spread the deadly coronavirus.

There are 241 'vulnerable' Australian citizens, including children and infants, in quarantine at the detention centre formerly used to house asylum seekers.

They will spend the next 14 days on the island after arriving in the early hours of Tuesday from Wuhan.

But after escaping the epicentre of the outbreak, evacuees claim they are now being forced to stay in cockroach-infested rooms, with some of the 84 children on the island 'too scared to touch their beds'.

There are 241 'vulnerable' Australian citizens, including children and babies, currently in quarantine in the detention centre formerly used to house asylum seekers. Pictured: A general view of the entrance to the Christmas Island

A sign on display in the airport arrival hall on Christmas Island

'The hygiene issues make it worse than a prison. I understood that there would be very limited facilities here, but the actual condition is no facilities at all,' evacuee Belinda Chen told the ABC.

Ms Chen, who is staying at the centre with her two kids, said the conditions were 'thousands of times worse' than what she imagined.

'I felt sick when I walked into the bathroom, there were bugs and flies everywhere,' she said.

Another evacuee said it felt like they were being treated like 'a group of animals'.

'It's even more dangerous than staying in Wuhan, it is life-threatening conditions here, it is worse than self-isolation in Wuhan,' the person, who chose to remain anonymous, said.

241 Australian evacuees will spend 14 days on Christmas Island after arriving in the early hours of Tuesday from Wuhan (pictured arriving in WA before transferring to a charter flight for last leg)

The citizens were met by army and medics and taken to buses ahead of a 14-day quarantine

A $10 credit for the centre's phones was handed out to the evacuees in case they needed a doctor in the middle of the night. Pictured: Phone boxes are seen during a tour of the North West Point Detention Centre on Christmas Island

Evacuees claim they are being forced to stay in cockroach-infested rooms, with some of the 84 children on the island 'too scared to touch their beds'. Pictured: A 'high care accommodation room' during a tour of the North West Point Detention Centre on Christmas Island

Other families claimed the cots provided for their babies were dirty and the linen hadn't been washed.

Photos of the housing unit show plain steel bunk beds with mini fridges and shelving, while the shared bathrooms have metal toilets with plastic lids.

Another woman said the facility looked 'completely different' from the photos evacuees were shown by the Government.

The evacuees were given a brochure written in simplified Chinese saying they would be provided with 'every facility and service' they needed while on the island.

Some evacuees have struggled to get in contact with their families as there is little to no mobile reception on the island, which is located 1500km west of mainland Australia.

A $10 credit for the centre's phones was handed out to the evacuees in case they needed a doctor in the middle of the night.

But others said the state of the facility were 'acceptable' and 'very simple but clean'.

Sydney resident Gloria Zeng said there was a large courtyard with grass for kids to run around on.

She also said staff painted a welcome sign to greet the evacuees with when they arrived in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The evacuees endured about 24 hours in transit, including a stop at Western Australia's RAAF Base Learmonth before being taken on smaller aircraft to Christmas Island. Pictured: Australian citizens aboard the Qantas rescue flight

The evacuees endured about 24 hours in transit, including a stop at Western Australia's RAAF Base Learmonth, near Exmouth, before being taken on smaller aircraft to the island.

A team of specialist doctors and nurses are now closely monitoring the evacuees, who are being kept in discrete clusters of family members, or friendship groups.

That will allow medics to effectively manage any emergence of the virus and guard against any widespread transmission.

There have been 13 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, and more than 20,600 cases and 426 deaths globally.

The cases have occurred in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
Lucknow, Feb 4 : Uttar Pradesh chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is widely recognised as a monk-turned-politician, who continues to follow his traditional religious practices.

However, of late, the chief minister is turning increasingly tech-savvy, leaving his officers, aides and supporters pleasantly surprised.

He is promoting his e-office concept that is in consonance with the 'Digital India' policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The chief minister has installed the 'Darpan' dashboard on his iPad which helps him remain updated about the works in various departments.

"Yogi Adityanath travels within the state and even outside the state very frequently. He remains updated on the Dashboard wall, tracks the progress of every department, issues orders and even gives sanctions on various files through the dashboard. While air-travelling, he remains busy on the 'Darpan' dashboard and does not waste a minute," said one of his aides.

The chief minister also communicates with senior officials, his ministerial colleagues through the dashboard.

The Darpan dashboard has been suitably modified for the UP chief minister and helps him monitor the developmental projects.

"He can view files, give orders, check the statistics related to every district. In fact, his iPad is now his office on the go," said Alok Kumar, secretary to the chief minister, who is heading an IT team that works on the projects.

The new tech-savvy chief minister, meanwhile, has put the entire bureaucracy on its toes.

"We can no longer relax if the chief minister is travelling because we know he is on the dashboard when not addressing rallies. This has made the system quicker and more responsive because you never know when a query from the chief minister will pop up on our phones," said a district magistrate.

Yogi Adityanath's supporters, however, are amazed at this transformation.

"We always knew that Yogi ji is a keen learner and remains tuned to latest developments but we did not expect him to adapt to new technology so soon," said a Yogi supporter at the Gorakh temple in Gorakhpur.
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Linkedin Made Anthony Iswara (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020 16:39 706 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206280e53 1 Business Luhut-Binsar-Pandjaitan,nuclear-power-generation,Indonesia,Agriculture-Ministry,green-energy,President-Jokowi Free

Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan has shared a story of his enlightenment that maybe Indonesia, after all, needs to have nuclear power.

Luhut, a retired Army general, recalled a moment at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month, in which he spoke to President Joko Jokowi Widodo, asking: Who has wrought havoc in the world? Its countries with nuclear power.

Luhut shared the story at the launch of the Agriculture War Room at the Agriculture Ministry in Jakarta on Tuesday. He said he was triggered to start the discussion on nuclear power with the President after seeing an American general who only wanted to speak with North Korea and China, and not with Indonesia.

[Indonesia] was overlooked. In my mind I was, damn you. I told him, Hey, general, I am also a US graduate. You know what? Our country has it all, Luhut said.

As a general I also thought of having nuclear power, but President Jokowi is still discussing about prosperity issues. [But the American general] told me, General, dont ever think about that. I thought in my mind, maybe only if we have nuclear power will it scare you.

Luhut closed his remarks with that statement, after boasting of the vast resources of green energy that Indonesia can develop. He shared the nuclear story to make a point that: Indonesia has it all in terms of resources for power generation and to become self-sufficient.

It was not certain whether Luhut implied that he would use nuclear power for power plants, research or weaponry. Still, his current position contrasts with his previous stance that prioritized nuclear development for research purposes only, not as an energy source.

Luhut in 2017 expressed reluctance when the Russian Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation offered to develop turnkey nuclear power plants in Indonesia.

However, we have told them that we are not ready yet. We need to raise public awareness, which takes time, he said following a meeting with Rosatom representatives at his office in Jakarta in 2017.

The new "Agriculture War Room" will allow the Agriculture Ministry to better update its data through a satellite-backed monitoring system, generating informations on the area of paddy fields, fertilizer supply and harvest area. Apart from Luhut, Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil, Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo and House of Representatives Commission IV chairman Hasan Aminuddin attended the launch event, among others.
Appointment

4 February 2020

Celebrating 30 years with AHC Hospitality this year, Jemison joined the Amway Grand Plaza, Curio Collection by Hilton team in 1990 as an assistant executive steward before discovering his passion for the culinary arts. In 1996, following a brief stint with Peter Island Resort and Yacht Harbor, he was named the assistant manager of food and beverage of Amway Grand Plaza. When AHC Hospitality embarked on opening the JW Marriott Grand Rapids eleven years later, Jemison was promoted to director of food and beverage and held the position for almost a decade. In 2017, he was promoted to director of food and beverage projects and procurement for AHC Hospitality. Jemison's new role will allow him to work in conjunction with the vice president of food and beverage to oversee the day to day operations of the five downtown Grand Rapids properties while continuing to be the procurement specialist for new projects.
Coronavirus is spreading havoc in China as well as all over the world. Passengers coming from China are being screened in all countries. India is also taking full caution regarding Coronavirus. The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, in a special conversation with Amar Ujala, said that so far 89 thousand people have been screened in India.

Regarding this matter, Harsh Vardhan told that high level of vigilance is being taken at 21 airports. A high level of vigilance continues in the border areas, including the surrounding areas bordering Nepal. We are fully alert and our preparation is at a high level. People of the country do not need to panic with this virus. Air India on Tuesday announced the suspension of its Delhi-Hong Kong flight service from 8 February, after the coronation virus was confirmed dead in Hong Kong. Ashwani Lohani, Chairman and Managing Director of the company gave this information by tweeting.

Apart from this, Lohani said that Air India is suspending its Hong Kong flights after the AI 314 departed on February 7 in view of the threat of corona virus. The first case of coronavirus came from the city of Wuhan in China. In China, the number of dead is increasing continuously due to the deadly coronavirus. According to the latest data released by the Chinese government, so far 425 people have died due to coronavirus. At the same time, 64 new cases of infection have also been reported. The number of people infected across the country has gone up to 20,400. A 39-year-old person suffering from coronavirus died in Hong Kong. This is the first case of death of a person infected with this virus here. Health officials confirmed this. This is the second case of death of this virus outside China. Earlier a person died in Philippine due to this.

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A leading human rights group has urged the Morrison government to threaten Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen with trade barriers over its human rights record and a crackdown on the opposition.

The call by Human Rights Watch comes as concern remains about witnesses and journalists not being granted access to the trial of Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha.

Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha is on trial for treason charges. Credit:AP

Mr Sokha has been charged with treason over a speech he gave in Melbourne in 2013, in which he told supporters he had received advice from advisers from the US about changing the government.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said Australia should join with the European Union, which has threatened to end preferential trade access unless Cambodia improves its human rights record.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 4, 2020 / Silver Range Resources Ltd. (TSXV:SNG) ("Silver Range") announces that property options granted in 2018 to Amaroq Gold Corp. ("Amaroq") and Zinciferous Limited ("Zinciferous"), pertaining to the South Kitikmeot Gold Project and the Michelle Project respectively, have been terminated effective January 28th, 2020. In both cases, conditions precedents, including obtaining a public listing, were not satisfied by the required date. Neither Amaroq nor Zinciferous performed any surface exploration on the projects which are now available for option or joint venture.

The South Kitikmeot Gold Project consists of five properties covering extensive zones of high grade gold (> 5 g/t Au) in iron formation. Highlight drill intercepts include 3 m @ 11.7 g/t gold at Esker Lake. The projects are located within the Back River - Contwoyto Gold Belt of Western Nunavut which hosts the past producing Lupin Mine as well as Sabina Gold and Silver's George and Goose Lake deposits. The Michelle project encompases multiple drill confirmed silver lead zinc showings that adjoin the Dempster Highway in Northern Yukon. Drill highlights include 16.75% zinc, 8.86% lead and 310 g/t silver over 18.29 m.

About Silver Range Resources Ltd.

Silver Range is a high grade focused precious metals prospect generator working in Nevada and Northern Canada. It has assembled a portfolio of 45 properties, 6 of which are currently optioned to others. Silver Range is actively evaluating new prospects while seeking joint venture partners to explore the high grade precious metal targets in its portfolio.

ON BEHALF OF SILVER RANGE RESOURCES LTD.

"Mike Power"

President and CEO

For further information concerning Silver Range or its exploration projects please contact:

Investor Inquiries

Richard Drechsler

Vice-President, Communications

Tel: (604) 687-2522

NA Toll-Free: (888) 688-2522

rdrechsler@silverrangeresources.com

http://www.silverrangeresources.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Silver Range Resources Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575050/Silver-Range-Resources-Terminates-Property-Options
71 suspects arrested at the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Recruit Training School (RTS) on January 26, 2020 have pleaded guilty to two charges of forging calling letters.

The 71 who were among 99 arrested pleaded guilty before Eldoret Principal Magistrate Naomi Wairimu on Monday.

The Court sentenced them to six months in prison with an alternative fine of Sh20,000 each.

The remaining 28 suspects denied the charges and were released on a Sh30,000 cash bail or Sh100,000 bond.

Each of the suspects had been charged with two counts of forgery and uttering a false document. Those who pleaded guilty were fined Sh10,000 each for every count.

On the first count, the court heard that on unknown dates at unknown place within Kenya the accused, jointly with others not before court, with intent to deceive made KDF calling letters purporting that the same was issued by the army.
CVH Information

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A Russian-backed Syrian government offensive against the countrys last rebel enclave has caused one of the biggest waves of displacement in the nine-year war.

Weeks of intensive aerial bombardment and a bruising ground offensive have emptied entire towns in northwest Idlib and sent huge numbers fleeing north towards the Turkish border.

Since 1 December, some 520,000 people have been displaced from their homes, the vast majority  80 percent  of them women and children, said David Swanson, spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian coordination office, OCHA.

The exodus, which coincides with a biting winter, is one of the largest since the 2011 start of a conflict in which more than half of the countrys pre-war population of 20 million has been displaced.

This latest displacement compounds an already dire humanitarian situation on the ground, Swanson said.

He said the UN was alarmed by the plight of more than three million people  half of them displaced by violence elsewhere  who live in Idlib province and surrounding areas.

Government troops and militia forces backed by Russian and other allied forces have in recent weeks upped the pressure on the jihadist-dominated region.

They have retaken dozens of villages and some major towns  including the former rebel bastion of Maaret al-Numan  and continue to advance, pushing displaced populations ever closer to the Turkish border.

On Tuesday, a day after Turkish and Syrian forces exchanged deadly fire, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the escalation between the two states extremely worrying.

My strong appeal is for a cessation of hostilities, he told reporters at the world bodys headquarters.

 No idea where to go 

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara would not allow Syrian forces to gain further ground.

Syria is right now trying to buy time by driving those innocent and grieving people in Idlib toward our borders, Erdogan said.

We will not allow Syria the opportunity to gain ground there.

Turkey, which already hosts more than three million Syrian refugees, is keen to stop another mass influx.

But in the town of Hazano, an AFP correspondent saw dozens of small trucks, vans and tuk-tuks piled high with belongings crawl along a main road.

They advanced bumper-to-bumper, carrying men, women and children, along with blankets, carpets, washing basins and furniture.

Mohammad Bahjat, 34, said he and his family were escaping deadly bombardment for the third time in days.

We fled in the middle of the night, and have no idea where to go, he told AFP, sitting in the front of a pickup truck next to his wife and three small boys.

You never know when a rocket or shell is going to hit.

Almost 300 civilians have been killed since mid-December in bombardment on the Idlib region, says the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syrian forces are attacking the enclave on two fronts, from the south of the province where they have already reconquered much ground, and from the province of Aleppo to the west.

On Tuesday, regime forces fought to advance just eight kilometres (five miles) south of Idlib city, causing residents to flee, the Observatory said.

 War crimes 

United Nations experts said Tuesday that the heightened attacks in the northwest may amount to war crimes.

The UNs Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic said attacks on civilian infrastructure, including schools, markets, and medical facilities have been reported in the last two weeks.

The deliberate and systematic targeting of hospitals follows a pattern already documented by the Commission, and may amount to war crimes, it said in a statement.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) also condemned attacks against healthcare.

An important number of hospitals in the area have been hit and have been either partially or fully destroyed in  the space of just a few months said Cristian Reynders, the organisations project coordinator for northern Idlib.

The escalation comes amid spiking tensions between Damascus and Ankara.

On Monday, the Turkish and Syrian armies engaged in their deadliest clashes since Ankara sent troops to Syria in 2016.

Regime shelling of Turkish positions in Idlib killed at least five Turkish soldiers and three civilians, Ankara said.

Retaliatory fire from Turkey killed at least 13 Syrian government troops, the Observatory said, in an incident that further tested the uneasy coordination between Russia and Turkey  the two main foreign brokers in the Syrian conflict.

Under an agreement reached in Sochi last year, Russia was meant to prevent Damascus from launching a devastating operation in the densely populated Idlib enclave.

Turkeys part of the deal was to contain the extremist groups running the region, but instead the forces it supports have been sidelined by Syrias former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which dominates Idlib.

strs/bur-jmm/ho/par
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2020) - LaSalle Exploration Corp. (TSXV: LSX) ("LaSalle" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that a comprehensive exploration program is set to begin on its 100% owned Radisson Property ("Radisson") located in the Eeyou-Itschee-James Bay Territory of Quebec. The 2020 exploration program is fully funded from the Company's oversubscribed Initial Public Offering ("IPO") that raised $1.94M. LaSalle began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") under the symbol "LSX" on January 2, 2020.

The 4,450-hectare Radisson Property covers a portion of the highly prospective regional contact between the La Grande and Opinaca geological subprovinces, a structural setting highly favourable for gold mineralization, and which also hosts the Eleonore Mine (Newmont) and the Cheechoo deposit (Sirios Resources) to the southeast and the La Pointe deposit (Quebec Precious Metals) to the northeast. Radisson is easily accessible via the main north-south James Bay paved road 1.5 kilometres to the west, and two north-south Hydro Quebec power lines cross the property.

Of regional significance, Azimut Exploration Inc. ("Azimut") recently reported diamond drill results from the Patwon Prospect, located southwest of Radisson, which demonstrating the potential for exciting new discoveries in under-explored areas of the region. Azimut reported several significant near-surface gold intersections, highlights of which included 10.1 g/t gold over 20.5 metres within a broader intercept of 3.15 g/t gold over 102.0 metres (Azimut Exploration Inc., January 14, 2020).

LaSalle's field work to date on the Radisson Property included airborne surveys, local prospecting, mapping and ground EM geophysics, resulting in the discovery of widespread gold-copper-silver mineralization disseminated in favourable volcanic and sedimentary rocks typical of the region. These showings are distributed across areas of the Property explored to date with 43 of 428 grab samples returning greater than 0.10 g/t gold with individual results up to 25 g/t gold and 0.22% copper, 6.3 g/t gold and 3.08% copper, and, 5.1 g/t gold and 5.30% copper, all of which are open for expansion.

The exploration program will commence with an IP geophysical survey to further delineate zones of sulphide disseminations associated with the gold and copper mineralization discovered to date in preparation for diamond drill testing. This will be followed by a summer field program consisting of property wide geological mapping, prospecting and geochemical sampling on areas not yet explored.

"We are excited to begin the first ever comprehensive field program on the Radisson property which has already demonstrated the presence of widespread gold and base metal surface mineralization in the areas explored to date" commented Ian Campbell, President and CEO of LaSalle.

LaSalle has already been successful in defining several electromagnetic ("EM") anomalies corresponding to host rocks interpreted as being favourable for copper-nickel mineralization with grab samples returning up to 4.77% copper and 1.15% nickel and also containing platinoids with values reaching 0.65 g/t platinum and 1.77 g/t palladium. The EM conductors and targets identified following the completion of the Induced Polarization ("IP") survey will be drill tested in subsequent exploration programs.

Cautionary statement: Mineralization occurring at the mines, deposits and occurrences not on the Radisson property listed above is not necessarily representative of mineralization that may be found on the Radisson project held by LaSalle and described herein. Grab samples described above are selective by nature and reported grades might not be representative of more extensive mineralized zones.

Qualified Person and Quality Control

The technical information in this news release was reviewed and approved by Brigitte Dejou, PEng, Vice President Exploration, LaSalle Exploration Corp. Ms. Dejou is the non-independent qualified person for the technical disclosure as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and described herein this news release and has worked on and supervised the onsite field work on the Radisson property.

Exploration program design and interpretation of results is performed by qualified persons employing a Quality Assurance/Quality Control program consistent with industry best practices. All samples received a number, its location recorded by GPS, then put in a plastic bag closed with a tie wrap and brought ALS Minerals analytical facility in Val d'Or, Que., an accredited laboratory, for geochemical analyses. All the analyses for multi-elements were performed using ICP (ME-MS41 or ME-MS61). Samples with gold values higher than 1 g/t were fire assayed using a gravimetric finish (Au-GRA21); samples returning values equal to or higher than 1% Cu were assayed with an AAS finish (Cu-OG46); platinum group elements were analysed by ICP (PGM-ICP23).

About LaSalle Exploration Corp.:

LaSalle is an exploration company focused on less explored districts of the Abitibi, recognized for mining investment based on mineral potential, policy and success, and the developing Eeyou Itschee-James Bay region in Quebec. LaSalle trades on the Toronto Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") under the symbol "LSX". Additional information about LaSalle can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.lasallecorp.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

LASALLE EXPLORATION CORP.

"Ian Campbell"

President and Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: (604) 647-3966

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Information

The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the actual results, expectations, achievements or performance may differ materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward-looking statements. Any number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as well as future results. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52076
No matter what you believe, Peter Webers season of The Bachelor is not Americas Next Top Model  and certainly not Americas Next Top Best Friend. The Feb. 3 episode kicked off the night with a rose ceremony, eliminating four of Webers women straightaway. Then after a modelling gig and more drama among the cast, fans were gifted with a second rose ceremony, which sent two women packing. So who went home and who is left after The Bachelor Episode 5? Weber is down to the wire and were not sure he has a winner just yet.

[Spoiler alert: The Bachelor Season 24 Episode 5.]

Peter Weber eliminates Alayah Benavidez in The Bachelor Episode 5

The Bachelor Season 24 Week 5 opened by Webers elimination of Alayah Benavidez. In the previous episode, Weber invited the former Miss Texas USA to return to the mansion. However, after the other women went off on the bachelor. So in the Feb. 3 episode, Weber decides to let Alayah go.

This is a little too much and I dont want to put you through any more of this, Weber says. I think its probably time to say goodbye.

The couple walks hand-in-hand and before Alayah heads home, she apologizes.

Its too much. Im sorry that I made this so hard for you, Alayah says.

Then Weber jumps right into the rose ceremony, sending three women home.

The Bachelor Week 5 group date sparks drama

Weber went on two one-on-one dates during The Bachelor Week 5 episode. First, he hits it off with Sydney Hightower, who opens up about her past. Then Kelley Flanagan gets real with the bachelor. At first, Weber tries to pin their lack of connection on Kelley. However, she calls him out on rewarding bad behavior, which always leads to less time with other contestants. They eventually come together with an understanding and hope their relationship progresses.

Despite two romantic dates, there is more drama featured in the episode. When Weber flies off with Sydney, Kelsey Weier breaks down, stressed over competing against other girls for attention. Tammy Ly tries to talk to her and tells her the reality of the situation. However, nothing prevails.

Then at the group date, Webers contestants partake in a photo shoot for Cosmopolitan. Victoria Fuller wins. But during the shoot, Weber kisses a few of the women, sparking some jealousy within some castmates.

Later, Kelsey opens up about her struggles with Weber. He appreciates her honesty and reassures her theyre on a good path. But then Tammy tells Weber that Kelsey had a mental breakdown and drank excessively when the bachelor went on his date with Sydney. Kelsey denies the claims. But regardless, Hannah Ann Sluss receives the group date rose  not that fans actually got to see the romance blossom.

Ahead of the next rose ceremony, Kelsey and Tammy confront one another. Once again, it seems like there is no resolve. Then Kelsey goes to Weber and refutes Tammys alcoholism and drug allegations. Weber takes it in and gives Kelsey a rose. But then Weber decides to stir the pot and cancels the cocktail party.

Eventually, all the women are fighting with one another  again. And spoiler alert  no one comes off well. Everyone seems angry at Kelsey for going to Weber, taking away more time from everybody else. Tammy loses her cool on Sydney. Sydney belittles Tammy. Victoria Paul is also accused of spreading the pill-popping rumor about Kelsey, but the former Miss Louisiana USA just wants to be excluded from the narrative. Its a mess.

And then the rose ceremony begins  sort of.

Who goes home on Peter Webers season of The Bachelor Episode 5?

Peter Weber | Noel Vasquez/Getty Images

Before diving into The Bachelor Week 5 elimination, Weber is interrupted by Tammy. She tries to clear her name and is eventually interrupted by Mykenna Dorn. No other women attempt for more time with the 28-year-old pilot. Now, the rose ceremony really begins. So heres who went home  and who is left  by the end of the Feb. 3 episode:

Alayah, 24-year-old orthodontist assistant from Texas: Eliminated

Deandra, 23-year-old home care coordinator from Texas: Eliminated

Hannah Ann, 23-year-old model from Tennessee: In the running

Kelley, 27-year-old attorney from Illinois: In the running

Kelsey, 28-year-old professional clothier from Iowa: In the running

Kiarra, 23-year-old nanny from Georgia: Eliminated

Lexi, 26-year-old marketing coordinator from New York: Eliminated

Madison, 23-year-old foster parent recruiter from Alabama: In the running

Mykenna, 22-year-old fashion blogger from Canada: In the running

Natasha, 31-year-old event planner from New York: In the running

Savannah, 27-year-old realtor from Texas: Eliminated

Shiann, 27-year-old administrative assistant from Nevada: Eliminated

Sydney, 24-year-old retail marketing manager from Alabama: In the running

Tammy, 24-year-old house flipper from New York: In the running

Victoria F., 25-year-old medical sales representative from Virginia: In the running

Victoria P., 27-year-old nurse from Louisiana: In the running

Read more: Will Peter Weber Get Engaged? The Bachelor and Chris Harrison Say the Finale Will Break Tradition
Amid protests and sloganeering by opposition Congress and Trinamool Congress members to press for debate on CAA and NPR, Rajya Sabha on Tuesday carried on with its listed business during the morning session when as many as 21 issues of public importance were raised during the Zero Hour.

MPs from different parties highlighted issues like the spread of coronavirus, onion exports, Nirbhaya rape case, and locust attack on crops in some states, as Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu refused to yield to the demand of opposition members that routine business be suspended to take up the issues of CAA, NPR and NRC, saying they can raise them during the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address.

The trouble in the Upper House started at the outset when Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur rose to lay the paper listed against his name. The moment his name was called, some opposition members started shouting slogans against him.

The Election Commission had recently barred Thakur from campaigning for the Delhi assembly elections in the wake of a controversial remark made by him at a poll rally.

Soon after Naidu dismissed notices from several opposition members to suspend the routine business of the day and take up the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O' Brien insisted that his notice be taken up.

Naidu said the issue of CAA has been mentioned in the speech of the President, and the matter could be discussed while debating the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address.

However, some TMC MPs trooped into the Well of the House and started raising slogans like 'Goli marna band karo' (Stop firing bullets) and 'Loktantra ki hatya nahi chalegi' (Won't tolerate murder of democracy).

The chairman, however, held his ground and ensured that the members are able to raise the issues listed for the Zeo Hour. He asked protesting members to return to their seats. Naidu even warned that he would take action against protesting members.

Earlier, when some members of Rajya Sabha met Naidu in the chamber seeking an opportunity to make zero hour submissions, he asked them to first impress upon their leaders to ensure normal functioning of the House, sources said.

"This is killing democracy, not allowing the House to function," Naidu said as some opposition members were raising slogans of 'save democracy'.

Naidu asked the opposition members to support, oppose or make suggestions while speaking on the Motion of Thanks, and let the House function.

Soon, several Congress MPs too joined the TMC members in sloganeering in the Well. However, the Chairman continued with Zero Hour proceedings.

Some of the protesting MPs, however, returned to their seats when their name was called out to raise the listed issues.

While the opposition members stopped raising slogans when MPs from the Congress, AAP and the DMK were raising their points, their protest resumed when members from the BJP or its allies stood up to speak.

Some ruling party members as well as YSRCR MP V Vijyasai Reddy too objected to the "selective protests" by the TMC and the Congress.

Just before the start of the Question Hour at noon, TMC members walked out of the House.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
GREEN BAY, Wis., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TNT Crust LLC ("TNT" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer and distributor of pizza crusts, announced the purchase of a new production facility located in St. Charles, Missouri to support continued growth and capacity expansion across all product lines. It is anticipated that the additional capacity will be operational by the second half 2020.

Scott McNair, Chief Executive Officer of TNT, said, "This expansion represents a transformative milestone for TNT and one that we have been working towards since our acquisition by Peak Rock in 2018. We are very excited to have the opportunity to meaningfully grow with our valued customers and continue to support their commercial success for years to come. The new facility will be outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment and exemplifies TNT's commitment to enhancing our production capabilities and leading the industry in quality, service, and innovation."

Robert Pistilli, Managing Director of Peak Rock Capital, added, "We are enthusiastic about the progress that the TNT team has made to-date, and this investment is a testament to Peak Rock's support for the Company. We look forward to finding additional avenues to help the Company achieve its strategic growth plan in the future."

The new facility in St. Charles, Missouri will complement TNT's current operations in Green Bay, Wisconsin and provides a strategic distribution point to serve new and existing customers from both locations. The St. Charles site will add more than 100,000 sq. ft. on 12 acres, with additional room to support future growth. The new operations are also expected to create more than 100 jobs in the greater St. Louis community. In addition, the Company expects to continue to expand its existing operations in Green Bay.

TNT Crust is a portfolio company of Peak Rock Capital, a leading middle-market private investment firm. Since the acquisition of the Company, TNT has invested substantially in its manufacturing operations, personnel and new product development. In early 2019, TNT installed additional production capacity to support growth, and in August 2019, TNT announced its expansion into better-for-you pizza crusts through a dedicated USDA-certified organic and certified gluten-free facility.

ABOUT TNT CRUST LLC

Founded in 1981, TNT Crust is a leading manufacturer and distributor of partially baked, selfrising, flat breads, gluten-free, vegetable-based, and other pizza crusts for the foodservice, quick service restaurant, and retail channels. Based in Green Bay, WI and operating out of two BRCcertified facilities, the Company offers products to a diverse customer base of blue-chip restaurants, pizza manufacturers and foodservice distributors. For further information about TNT Crust, please visit www.tntcrust.com.

ABOUT PEAK ROCK CAPITAL

Peak Rock Capital is a leading middlemarket private investment firm that makes equity and debt investments in companies in North America and Europe. Peak Rock's equity investment platform focuses on opportunities where it can support senior management to drive rapid growth and profit improvement, with expertise in corporate carveouts and partnering with families and founders seeking firsttime institutional capital. Peak Rock's credit platform focuses on providing bespoke primary financings and making investments in secondary loans for corporate debt and commercial real estate. Peak Rock's principals have deep expertise in complex situations and crossborder transactions, with the ability to provide tailored capital solutions and close transactions quickly where speed and certainty are priorities. For further information about Peak Rock Capital, please visit www.peakrockcapital.com.

Media Contact:

Daniel Yunger

Kekst CNC

(212) 521-4800

SOURCE TNT Crust LLC

Related Links

http://www.tntcrust.com


New Delhi, Feb 4 : As many as 50 Pakistani Hindu families, comprising 200 people, crossed over to India through the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab as they were facing prosecution, and were desperately fearful there on account of their religion, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on Tuesday.

"I personally knew four of those families for whom I have been working for the past three-four months to bring them out from there (Pakistan)," Sirsa said in a video tagged along with his tweet.

He said when he came to know of the families' plight, he realised their circumstances. "They were living in hell," he said.

The refugees are all from well off families. While some are from Baluchistan, others come from Sindh and also from Thar.

"They all are saying one thing they will die but will not go back to hell in Pakistan," Sirsa, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee President, said.

He said he was at the border to receive four families which have fled Pakistan.

Sirsa also said he would meet Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday to seek Indian citizenship for them.

Officials here told IANS that all the Pakistani Hindus arrived in India on 25-day tourist visas and were allowed by the Indian authorities to visit Haridwar in Uttarakhand.

"It is hell for us in Pakistan," said Ram Chand, who has come from Pakistan.

"I want to stay here. I will work and earn here. This is my country and I will educate my children," he added in Hindi.

According to Ram Chand, many people in Pakistan are thinking of coming to India, while such migrants are coming daily.

Another Hindu person from Pakistan told the media that he has been trying for long to come and live in India.

"We are happy here. My parents have been staying in India for the last four-five years. I was in Saudi Arabia earlier, and I have been trying to apply for a visa for two and a half years," he said.

"Finally, I am here now. I am very happy to back in my country, Hindus didn't get any facility in Pakistan. They only torture Hindus in Pakistan," he added.

A Pakistani woman said: "Our girls feel insecure as they fear that they could be kidnapped any time by hardliners while police watch as mute spectators. Our girls cannot walk freely in the northwest area of Pakistan." Officials have told IANS that the arrival of Hindus from Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border has increased abnormally since the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019.

The Act envisages giving Indian nationality to members of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in these countries.

Sirsa won a Delhi assembly byelection on a BJP ticket.
WASHINGTON - Arguments for and against President Donald Trump's ouster ended Monday in the Senate impeachment trial, with the House managers calling the president a danger to democracy because of his actions toward Ukraine and Trump's legal team arguing that impeachment, not Trump's conduct, is the real threat.

Two days before Trump's expected acquittal, the two sides summarized their arguments and pleaded for agreement before a chamber that had largely made up its mind. Democrats have nowhere near the two-thirds of the Senate needed to remove Trump from office, and the only remaining drama centered on a few possible swing votes from each party, particularly the handful of Democrats who would hand Trump a messaging victory if they join Republicans on the final votes.

In a floor speech, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., declined to announce his decision, but he asked his colleagues to consider censuring Trump, a rebuke less severe than removal from office that few senators were willing to pursue. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., said he remains undecided about how he will vote.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, condemned the House's probe while also calling Trump's behavior "shameful and wrong." But she said she could not vote to convict.

Meanwhile, House impeachment manager Adam Schiff, D-Calif., argued that senators who believe Trump will change in his approach to the presidency are mistaken.

"He has betrayed our national security, and he will do so again. He has compromised our elections, and he will do so again. You will not change him. You cannot constrain him. He is who he is. Truth matters little to him. What's right matters even less, and decency matters not at all," Schiff said.

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone argued that Trump has done "nothing wrong."

"These types of impeachments must end," he told the senators. "You will vindicate the right to vote. You'll vindicate the Constitution. You'll vindicate the rule of law by rejecting these articles. And I ask you to do that on a bipartisan basis."

Closing statements from House managers and Trump's legal team consumed just over four hours on the Senate floor, a leisurely day reflecting the sense on Capitol Hill that the trial's outcome was a foregone conclusion. The Senate voted Friday to block witnesses and evidence related to Trump's conduct, barring additional information that could sway moderate Republicans and setting up a final vote for Wednesday, after Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

The feeling of anticlimax was heightened by a shift in the political spotlight toward Iowa, with the first nominating contest of the 2020 election Monday night. The four Democratic senators who are running for president were prevented from traveling to the early voting states until after the arguments concluded in the early afternoon.

House managers and Trump's legal team crafted their remarks with a view toward the campaign trail - voters will decide the future of his presidency.

"We're sitting here on the day that election season begins in Iowa," Cipollone said in his closing remarks. "It is wrong. There is only one answer to that, and the answer is to reject those articles of impeachment, to have confidence in the American people, to have confidence in the result of the upcoming election, to have confidence and respect for the last election and not throw it out."

Trump is accused of withholding military aid and an Oval Office meeting to push Ukraine's leaders into announcing probes of Democrats, including former vice president Joe Biden, now a presidential candidate, and his son Hunter. The House impeached the president in December on two counts - abuse of power and obstruction of Congress - related to these allegations and his response to the investigation.

Schiff argued that Trump lacks the character to comport himself properly as president, describing his behavior as "far more destructive" than the actions of Presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton that triggered their impeachment proceedings.

"If you find that the House has proved his case and still vote to acquit, your name will be tied to his with a cord of steel and for all of history," Schiff told Republicans who have called Trump's behavior inappropriate. "But if you find the courage to stand up to him, to speak the awful truth to his rank falsehood, your place will be among the Davids who took on Goliath, if only you will say enough."

Lawyers for Trump said his conduct was not improper and not impeachable.

"However you are to define high crimes and misdemeanors, there is no definition that includes disagreeing with a policy decision as an acceptable ground to removal of a president of the United States," said Trump attorney Jay Sekulow.

More Senate Republicans have acknowledged since Friday that the president's behavior was problematic, though none is expected to cross party lines and vote to eject him from office.

"I think it's not something that should have been done, and I think that [is] needlessly inviting a lot of controversy when you're going after a person that might not even be your opponent," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chamber's president pro tempore, told NBC News.

After Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., called Trump's conduct "inappropriate" on Friday, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., told reporters, "Let me be clear: Lamar speaks for lots and lots of us." He declined to elaborate.

At least 10 Senate Republicans have made similar comments, including Richard Burr of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Rob Portman of Ohio, Mitt Romney of Utah, Marco Rubio of Florida and PatToomey of Pennsylvania. But only Collins and Romney joined Democrats on Friday to vote in favor of witness testimony.

These comments have contributed to speculation that Congress could pursue censure, as Manchin proposed. "What the president did was wrong," Manchin said in his floor speech.

But senators of both parties dismissed the idea as they arrived at the Capitol on Monday.

Asked to gauge the appetite for censure among Republicans, Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said, "zero."

Most Republicans, he said, believe that Trump committed no wrongdoing and that he has been subjected to a partisan, politically motivated investigation.

Several Democrats said they were also uninterested in the idea, calling it a punishment well short of what Trump's alleged conduct deserves.

"What he did was an impeachable offense. I think it's absolutely obvious, and giving a slap on the wrist doesn't do any good," said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.

- - -

The Washington Post's Aaron Blake, Brittany Shammas, Felicia Sonmez and John Wagner contributed to this report.
Trade between India and Mexico is expected to increase 10 per cent during the current financial year, Mexican Ambassador to India Federico Salas said on Tuesday.

The volume of bilateral trade was USD 10 billion last fiscal, he said.

"Mexico is the first trading partner of India in the Latin American region. India has also emerged as one of the top 10 trading partners of Mexico," Salas told reporters at the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.

This fiscal, Salas said, the volume of bilateral trade is expected to rise 10 per cent due to trade dynamism between the two countries.

Mexico exports oil, automobile products and communication gadgets to India, and imports technology, auto parts, chemicals and pharmaceuticals from this country.

More than 200 Indian businesses are operating in Mexico, the envoy said.

He also said women entrepreneurs from India are welcome in Mexico.

Due to issues of human trafficking, Salas said Mexico has become strict in issuing visas.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A court on Tuesday extended by two days police custody of Kapil Baisala, arrested for firing in the air in Shaheen Bagh area during an anti-CAA protest, after the Delhi Police told it there was a possibility that the incident was a part of a larger conspiracy.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur extended by two days the police custody of Baisala.

The police had sought four-day remand of Baisala, saying the agency only had one day to investigate the matter.

"Time and place of the incident clearly indicate that the incident of using firearms is a part of a larger conspiracy which is to be unearthed. He (Baisala) is associated with different groups on WhatsApp. He is to be interrogated regarding the other members of these groups keeping in view the possibility of larger conspiracy," the investigating officer said.

He further said investigation has revealed that his WhatsApp account was purposely deleted.

"The account has been retrieved and most of the data has been recovered. Due to shortage of time it could not be analysed. The data is bulky in nature and he needs to be confronted with it," the police said.

It added that Baisala also needs to be confronted with his friend who had accompanied him to the site of the incident.

"His friend is being interrogated at length in order to ascertain his involvement. Data in his friend's phone is also being scrutinised. The investigation is at an initial stage. The case is very serious and sensitive in nature which requires in-depth interrogation of the accused.

"Also, Baisala needs to be confronted with his friend. The motive of firing needs to be ascertained. He is changing his version and not cooperating with the investigating agency. Identity of the supplier of the recovered firearm is yet to be ascertained. He is misguiding the agency by changing his versions regarding supplier again and again," the probe agency said.

Advocates M S Sisodia and Akhil Rexwal, appearing for Baisala, opposed the remand plea saying the probe agency has seized his mobile and all other relevant materials required for the investigation.

"The offences are bailable in nature. What will they do with my WhatsApp chats? What links do they want to establish? Where else do they need to take me," Sisodia asked.

On February 1, Baisala had fired two rounds in the air at Shaheen Bagh, where anti-CAA protests are being held for over a month now.

After being overpowered by police personnel, he had chanted "Jai Shri Ram" and said, "hamare desh me aur kisi ki nahi chalegi, sirf Hinduon ki chalegi (only Hindus shall have a say in our country, no one else)," as he was taken into custody by the Delhi Police.

This was the second such incident reported from Shaheen Bagh in a span of three days. A man had fired from a pistol on a group of anti-CAA protesters in the area on Thursday, injuring a student of the Jamia Millia Islamia University.

Meanwhile, the court also sent a wrestler arrested for supplying a weapon to the juvenile who had opened fire on anti-CAA protesters outside Jamia Millia Islamia last week, to fourteen days' judicial custody.

The police told the court that they have recovered a country-made pistol and two live cartridges from Ajeet Singh and case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Arms Act.

On January 30, the juvenile had fired at a group of anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters outside the Jamia Millia Islamia injuring a student.

The Juvenile Justice Board had earlier sent the juvenile to 14 days' protective custody.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Aftab Ahmed and Rajendra Jadhav

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's gold imports in January plunged 48% from a year earlier to their lowest in 4 months as a rally in local prices near record highs prompted buyers to curtail purchases, a government source said on Tuesday.

Lower buying by the world's second biggest consumer of the precious metal could weigh on global prices trading near their highest level in almost seven years, but help New Delhi bring down the trade deficit and support the rupee.

India imported 36.26 tonnes of gold in January, compared with 69.51 tonnes a year earlier, the source said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak to media.

In value terms, January imports totalled $1.58 billion, down from last year's $2.31 billion, he said.

"Consumers are struggling to adjust with higher prices. They have risen too much, too fast," said a bullion division head of a private bank, adding "Many potential customers are delaying purchases hoping prices will correct."

Gold futures in India hit a record high 41,293 rupees per 10 grams in January after rising nearly a quarter in 2019.

The weak demand forced dealers to offer as much $13 an ounce discount over official domestic prices in January, the highest in nearly three months. The domestic price includes a 12.5% import tax and 3% sales tax.

The demand is unlikely to revive in the short-term unless prices fall significantly from the current level, said Ashok Jain, proprietor of Mumbai-based gold wholesaler Chenaji Narsinghji.

"Retail demand is muted. Even for weddings, people are cutting back on purchases," Jain said.

Weddings are one of the biggest drivers of gold purchases in India as bullion in the form of jewellery is a popular gift.

India's gold consumption in 2019 fell 9% from the previous year to 690.4 tonnes, the lowest since 2016, the World Gold Council (WGC) said last week.

India's gold imports could fall below 40 tonnes in February as prices are still elevated, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a gold importing bank, which would mark a drop from last year's 77.64 tonnes.

(Reporting by Aftab Ahmed and Rajendra Jadhav; editing by Jason Neely, William Maclean)
Nghis family of 15 considered canceling a four-day vacation in the north but then all the tickets and reservations had been paid for.

For the family from the southern city of Can Tho, sanitizer gel and expensive Japanese masks were thus indispensable.

She bought a pack of the masks and a dozen bottles of sanitizer.

Her family landed at Hanois Noi Bai International Airport on the third day of the lunar new year, wearing the masks. During their four days in the north, they traveled to numerous places and only took them in hotel rooms.

At Tran Quoc Pagoda in Hanois Tay Ho District, thousands of local and foreign visitors came with their faces covered during the Lunar New Year holidays.

Tran Quoc Pagoda on the morning of January 31, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Tat Dinh.

Her preparations made Nghi feel safe since masks and hand sanitizers were in short supply in Hanoi after fears of the new coronavirus epidemic caused demand to skyrocket.

"The first time I come during the festival to the north and everyone is wearing masks," the woman said before heading for the airport to return home.

Pagodas and temples are not as dangerous as airports when it comes to contracting the virus, she thought.

Le Van Son, 24, and Ngo Van Ha, 26, of Hanois My Duc District went to Tran Quoc Pagoda, quickly burning incense and praying before leaving.

Son and Ha wear masks while visiting Tran Quoc Pagoda. Photo by VnExpress/Tat Dinh.

They did not go sightseeing since they wanted to avoid crowds. Even their masks could not put them at ease. Son, who hates wearing masks, tried to find masks with breathing valves but ended up with surgical ones.

Tour guide Dinh Thi Ha had a hard time with 28 Taiwanese travelers during New Year in the capital.

The visitors scared many Vietnamese, and the woman had to explain that they were not coming from infected areas.

"They understand the situation, wear masks all the time and avoid talking at public places," Ha, who always carried dozens of masks for her customers, said.

Not far from Tran Quoc Pagoda is Quan Thanh Temple, which attracted huge numbers of faithful wearing masks since the beginning of the New Year holidays. Tran Le Thuy, a member of the temple management board, said he has never seen such a sight before.

People wear masks at a pagoda in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Tat Dinh.

The ancient temple gets 130,000 visitors on average during the month before and after New Year, including an increasing number of Chinese nationals every year, according to Thuy.

During the last month of the last lunar year there were up to seven groups of Chinese visitors coming daily, and Thuy and her colleagues could do nothing to stop them from entering the temple.

Located three kilometers from Quan Thanh Temple, Tay Ho Temple receives 10,000 visitors a day. Its management board has set up a medical team to thoroughly check any visitor with a fever.

With people returning to work after the week-long holiday, the number of pilgrims visiting the Perfume Pagoda in Hanoi has reduced by more than half to 200,000. The management board makes regular announcements telling people to wear masks to avoid the coronavirus.

If the epidemic worsens, the annual festival at the Perfume Pagoda will be canceled, according to the board.

Vietnam's government declared the novel coronavirus an epidemic on Saturday.

The nCoV death toll has reached 362  361 in China and one in the Philippines. More than 17,300 have been infected and 486 have recovered.

As of February 3 eight people in Vietnam had been diagnosed with the infection.
ALBANY  Nearly 10 months after it was first announced, a $26.9 million grant to help CDTA build its new bus rapid transit line is now in hand.

U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, and U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, made the announcement Tuesday morning.

Construction has already begun along the route of the new Riverfront bus rapid transit line, also called the Blue Line, which will connect Albany to Watervliet, Troy, Cohoes and Waterford.

This is the second bus rapid transit route of three that CDTA plans to build. The Red Line began operating in 2011 along the Route 5 corridor connecting downtown Albany to Schenectady. Its introduction increased ridership along the route, where the bus makes limited stops, with synchronized traffic signals and in some areas dedicated lanes to help speed the bus and shorten travel times.

Tuesday's announcement means "we can keep going forward with peace of mind" on Blue Line work, said CDTA spokeswoman Jaime Watson. "We've been moving along with construction and pedestrian improvements along the corridor."

Planning is also continuing for the Purple Line, which eventually will connect downtown Albany to the Harriman State Office Campus, the University at Albany, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, and Crossgates Mall. Together, the three lines will provide 50 miles of bus rapid transit in the Capital Region.

For the Blue Line, CDTA will have a fleet of 12 to 15 buses, identified by their blue and silver livery. The buses will be housed in an addition to CDTA's downtown Troy garage that's currently under construction.

One element, the downtown Troy transit center, is being sent "back to the drawing board," Watson said. The one bid received was over budget.

"We are now taking another look at what that transit center will look like," she said CDTA recently prevailed in a court battle to acquire a corner of the Uncle Sam parking garage for the center.

This is a big year for CDTA. Aug. 1 will mark the 50th anniversary of its creation from a number of privately operated bus companies, ranging from the Albany-Nassau Bus Co. to the Troy Fifth Avenue Bus Co. and the United Traction Co., as well as the Schenectady Transit System owned by Schenectady County.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

CDTA introduced its CDPHP Cycle! bicycle rental program in 2017. The program has seen steady growth, as has CDTA's Universal Access program, which provides employees, students and staff at participating schools and employers with free access to CDTA's route system.

And it rolled out its Navigator app, which provides current information on bus status and gives passengers the option of paying their fare by smartphone.

CDTA also received its first four all-electric buses, which are now in regular service.

"All four go out every day," Watson said. "Preliminary data shows the range is doing really well," she added, with the buses each traveling 160 to 170 miles between charges.

Meanwhile, work continues on the Blue Line. Service is expected to begin by the end of the year.
New Hy-Lite acrylic block walls provide style and design appeal to A Cleaner World cleaners throughout North Carolina and Virgina. Im continually hearing that the acrylic blocks add more light to the stores and help create a more open, vibrant store design.

As part of its lobby remodeling process, A Cleaner World has selected Hy-Lite acrylic block interior wall panels for the companys dry cleaning stores. Located throughout North Carolina and Virginia, the company welcomes 500,000 customers yearly to its 32 stores.

As we progress through the renovation of the lobbies in all our locations, weve been incorporating acrylic block walls to separate the customer area from our operational area, says Chris Edwards, president of A Cleaner World. Were replacing older, solid panels in favor of the more stylish acrylic block walls.

Both our employees and customers like the new appearance. Im continually hearing that the acrylic blocks add more light to the stores and help create a more open, vibrant store design.

Edwards and his team have been upgrading the lobby areas of the stores on a regular basis over the past few years. Hy-Lite has provided acrylic blocks in the cross rib block style mounted in aluminum frames with mull strips. The walls panels help create a uniform, more welcoming and tasteful lobby area. With the bulk of the stores refurbished, just five remain to be renovated in 2020.

The acrylic block walls with our company logo is the centerpiece of our lobbies, says Edwards. Its the first thing customers see when they enter a store. It makes a clean, bright impression on them.

Reasons for Selecting Acrylic Block Panels

Founded in 1969, A Cleaner World offers a variety of services from dry cleaning of household items and formal wear to uniform and commercial cleaning to rug cleaning and restoration. According to Edwards, foot traffic in the stores is very strong on a regular basis.

Growing our business means continually creating a welcoming atmosphere for our valued customers, says Edwards. We selected the Hy-Lite acrylic block walls primarily for their look. However there are other valuable reasons we chose these products.

The lightweight nature of acrylic blocks means we do not need to cut out part of the floor and add footings to support the panels. They come to us pre-assembled and ready to install. Theres no grouting involved, as there would be with glass blocks. Thats a huge benefit. We simply put the acrylic block panels together with molding strips.

The portable nature of the acrylic block walls is also a distinct advantage for A Cleaner World. Because the walls are removable, theyre not part of the building structure. According to Edwards, thats a business tax advantage. Plus, should a specific dry cleaner location change in a marketplace due to an expired lease or for another reason, the acrylic block wall panels can easily be moved to a new location.

Creating a Signature Look

The Hy-Lite acrylic block walls are now part of our signature look, says Edwards. It makes good business sense for us to use these lightweight wall panels.

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Paul Keating Credit:Shakespeare

Paul Keating held nothing back when he appeared as the star of Labors start of the year knees-up in Canberra on Monday night.

Some Labor MPs grumbled that organisers of the National Press Club dinner had in the past dangled the possible attendance of the former prime minister to ensure a major turn-out.

By all accounts, it was worth the wait. Keating recounted at length the economic record of his time in government. But he saved his most pointed remarks for the Australian Council of Social Service and its chief executive Cassandra Goldie.

This particular intervention was no doubt spurred on by Goldies appearance in the Financial Review on Monday, where she opposed an increase to compulsory superannuation contributions to 12 per cent. She suggested it would slow wage increases to low income earners.
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" " A flying squirrel caught in a flash of UV light shows up bubblegum pink. J. Martin

It's amazing what you can find if you shine a flashlight into your backyard trees.

Biologists in Wisconsin have made a rather startling discovery  in part, because it apparently hasn't been recorded until now. Three different species of flying squirrels (all in the Glaucomys genus) found across North America and into Central America  southern, northern and Humboldt's flying squirrel  sport light brown fur that, when spotlighted with ultraviolet (UV) illumination, lights up a hot bubblegum pink.

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The phenomenon occurs on both dorsal (top) and ventral (bottom) surfaces of the flying squirrels, though it's the underside of a flying squirrel's carriage  including flaps of skin that spread out when the squirrel glides from tree to tree  that really glows.

Jonathan Martin, a biologist at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, made the discovery in the forest one evening just by shining a UV flashlight into the tree canopy. He was looking for lichens, certain types of frogs and flora that light up in UV. That's when he heard the chirp of a southern flying squirrel. As the squirrel glided by, he shined the UV flashlight on it, and he saw a flash of fuschia.

Martin and his colleagues soon found themselves examining the skins of flying squirrels at the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Field Museum in Chicago. They took photos of the skins under visible and ultraviolet light. All but one specimen of the gliders glowed a pink that has been variously compared to bubblegum, Day-Glo and lycra from the 1980s.

" " Flying squirrels in the lab  the one on the left under visible light and the one on the right showing up pink under UV illumination. Journal of Mammalogy

"I have to admit that the discovery was a little confusing to me," Paula Spaeth Anich, a biologist at Northland College and senior author on the study, told National Geographic. The results of the study were published in the Jan. 23, 2019 issue of the Journal of Mammalogy.

The pink is caused, the researchers say, by the squirrels' ability to fluoresce, which is what happens when light is absorbed in one wavelength and emitted in another. Some birds can do this; some fish, too. Few mammals can.

Flying squirrels are nocturnal and are most active at dusk and dawn. No other squirrels in North America are known to possess this ability to fluoresce, including tree squirrels like the Eastern gray (Sciurus carolinensis). There are over 250 squirrel species around the world, and the researchers have not yet tested other species' fur.

The next question is: What purpose could this fluorescence serve? Humans can't see ultraviolet wavelengths except under special lighting. But other animals can.

One theory suggests the pink is used to confuse owls, which  as it turns out  also have undersides that fluoresce a similar pink. Owls prey on flying squirrels, among other mammals. Perhaps the squirrels are mimicking owls, so as not to be eaten by them?

Another theory, which is already being challenged, is that the pink attracts potential mates. However, although flying squirrels having mating seasons, their flamboyant fluorescing is available for viewing year-round, researchers say. Anyway, it's not even clear that squirrels can see UV wavelengths.

Ultimately, the researchers point out that age-old impetus of science: This is proof of how much we don't know and still need to learn. The study concluded, "The ecological significance of this trait ... warrants further investigation."

Now That's Colorful Meet the Indian giant squirrel, with fur colored black, beige, orange, brown, and a hue somewhere between mauve and purple.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday regretted not attending a recent summit of Muslim nations hosted by Malaysia, saying there was "misconception" among some countries that it would divide the global Muslim community, according to media reports.

Khan's visit to Malaysia comes weeks after he skipped the Kuala Lumpur summit of some 20 Muslim countries hosted by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed in December which was attended by leaders from countries like Iran, Turkey and Qatar.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which had extended financial assistance to the Khan government to stave off the looming economic crisis, had objected that Pakistan would be sharing stage with leaders from Iran and Qatar, seen as challengers to their dominance in the region.

Khan travelled to Riyadh while Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa went to the UAE to persuade the leaders of the two Arab nations not to oppose Pakistan's participation in the summit but both returned empty handed.

Khan skipped the summit after Saudi Arabia made it clear that Riyadh was against the summit evolving into a group rivalling the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which is dominated by the Gulf Kingdom.

"There was a misconception among some countries that the conference would divide the ummah," Khan said during a joint press conference after talks with Mahathir in Putrajaya.

"I want to say how sad I was that I couldn't attend the conference in Kuala Lumpur in the middle of December," Khan was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.

Citing sources, the paper said that the visit of Khan is aimed at removing misgivings Malaysia may have about Pakistan for skipping the summit.

Khan said that at the time of the summit, he was looking forward to attending it as he felt that it was important that Muslim countries educate the West and other non-Muslim countries about Islam.

He responded in affirmative when asked whether he would attend the next Kuala Lumpur summit.

"Of course I would because now it is evident that the KL Summit was not to divide the ummah...If anything it was to unite the ummah, so of course I would love to come," he was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.

Khan's Malaysia visit was aimed at further strengthening the historic Pakistan-Malaysia ties and taking bilateral cooperation to a higher level, the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As the fate of hundreds of thousands of immigrants hangs in the balance before the Supreme Court, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro drew attention to the issue by bringing a San Antonio teacher who immigrated to Texas as a toddler as his guest at the State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

Maria Rocha had lived in the shadows as an undocumented immigrant for more than two decades when the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy was enacted in 2012, on her 25th birthday. Today, shes a second grade teacher at Mark Twain Dual Language Academy in the San Antonio Independent School District.

She is among more than 1,800 teachers in Texas with DACA status, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute.

Obtaining DACA truly changed my trajectory in life. I was able to take my certification exam to become a teacher and drive with the security of a drivers license, said Rocha, 32, before the speech. Id been driving without a drivers license for quite some time.

On ExpressNews.com: DACAmented teachers worry about their future

The fate of more than 650,000 people who hold DACA status has been uncertain since the Trump administration in 2017 announced an end to the program, which had been introduced by President Barack Obama in 2012. It allowed young adults who had come to the U.S. as children to apply for work permits and be shielded from deportation for up to two years at a time.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in November in legal challenges to the decision and is expected to issue a ruling by June.

The safety and security provided by her DACA status enabled Rocha to become more outspoken about the immigration debate, especially in her role teaching children who might themselves be undocumented or have family members who are.

I felt that my place, especially as an educator, was important for me to speak out and be a role model for students. They see these role models who speak out in our textbooks. Encountering one on a daily basis is where the true inspiration comes from for the younger generation, Rocha said.

She immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 3 and lived with her family in Stonewall, a Hill Country community east of Fredericksburg, for six years before they moved to San Antonio, where she attended public schools. Rocha said it was a primary school teaching assistant in Stonewall who first inspired her love of education. Rocha recalls how that woman, Ms. Dora, worked with her to become fluent in English at a young age.

By attending Tuesdays speech, Rocha said she hoped to bring immigration and DACA recipients back into the national conversation. The high courts decision is going to affect not only us DACA recipients, but all DACA recipients have family, (including) children who were born in the U.S., she said.

Ashley McBride covers several school districts and the Alamo Colleges District in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | Ashley.McBride@express-news.net | Twitter: @Ashleynmcb
According to a report from Diverse: Issues In Higher Education, the Lone Star College System has conferred the most associate degrees to minority students in Texas.

In its December issue, Diverse published rankings of degrees conferred in the 2017-18 school year awarded to minority students graduating in all disciplines combined. Along with being number one in the state, Lone Star College was ranked number four in the nation among community colleges for the number of minority students graduating in all disciplines combined.

ON HOUSTON CHRONICLE.COM: UT and Lone Star College partner to train energy employees

The data for the report was compiled using the information submitted to the U.S. Department of Education by institutions of higher education. Among the reports findings for LSC, according to a release:

In 2017-18, 44 percent of the associate degrees awarded (439,482 degrees) were conferred to minority students, up from 42 percent in 2016-17.

More than 50 percent of all associate degrees conferred by for-profit institutions were conferred to minority students in 2017-18.

More Information By the numbers: Enrollment numbers for the fall 2019 semester: 42.8 percent Hispanic, 29.9 percent white, 13.6 percent Black, 7.8 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, and 5.9 percent Other/Unknown/Multiple. Almost half of enrolled students (45.9 percent) are younger than 20. There were more female students (60.3 percent) in the fall 2019 semester than male students (39.6 percent). See More Collapse

While LSC is eager to celebrate its success, Chancellor Dr. Stephen Head recognizes that diversity on Lone Stars campuses didnt happen completely organically, part of the work to get here came from relationships the college system has built locally.

EXPANDING OFFERINGS: Lone Star College System will offer bachelors degree program in September

Weve tried to create a student success culture thats welcoming and open to everyone, Head said. We have 11 different school districts that are boundaries that compose the community college district, and they range from predominantly Hispanic, to predominantly African American, to predominantly Anglo, to a mixture. So, we work very hard through our colleges to work closely with the ISDs.

Head sees this outreach as a key part of why Lone Star College is graduating such a diverse student body.

The other part, he said, was the consciously diverse faculty and staff that Lone Star College hires.

What I personally like is that we hire employees who live in the area or used to, went to school at the college, I think that makes a big difference, Head said.

The third part, Head argues, is that Lone Star keeps a close eye on the data it collects about what its student body looks like and uses that information when creating marketing campaigns. Through data collection, mindful hiring practices, and targeted outreach, is how the college system landed as number one in the state.

Im very proud when I see those kinds of articles, to me thats why community colleges exist, Head said. Theyre located in the community so thats what we try to do, attract people from the community.

Operating in an area as multicultural as the greater Houston area, diversity in the student body is important Head said because thats what the community is: diverse. The future of America, in his estimation, is one that looks much like the Houston area.

But the work isnt over yet. As LSC celebrates its success with its students, Head still sees room for improvement in the diversity of its faculty.

We look pretty good in administration, we look good in staff, its the faculty, Head said. To teach here you need a Masters degree and 18 hours in your field, so theres a lot of competition for the number of African American and Hispanic graduates, so thats one of our priorities, to increase the diversity with the faculty.

Outside of student success and improving student success, faculty diversity is one of the college systems top priorities, Head said.

jamie.swinnerton@chron.com
The European Union rejected parts of the new US peace plan for the Middle East on Tuesday, saying the plan broke with "internationally agreed parameters", and any Israeli annexation of Palestinian land would be subject to challenge.

President Donald Trump's plan, announced last week, was warmly welcomed by Israel and rejected outright by the Palestinians. It would give Israel most of what it has sought during decades of conflict, including nearly all Palestinian land on which it has built settlements.

The EU, which often takes time to respond to international developments because of a need for unanimity among its 27 members, had said last week that it needed to study the Trump plan before it would give its verdict.

It made its conclusions public on Tuesday in a statement from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

"To build a just and lasting peace, the unresolved final status issues must be decided through direct negotiations between both parties," Borrell said, noting the issues of the borders of a Palestinian state and the final status of Jerusalem were among those still in dispute.

"The U.S. initiative, as presented on 28 January, departs from these internationally agreed parameters," Borrell said.

Steps by Israel to annex Palestinian territory, "if implemented, could not pass unchallenged," Borrell said.

EU policy in the Middle East tends to be cautious, as the bloc includes members with varying degrees of sympathy towards the Palestinians and Israel. Some EU members have already recognised a Palestinian state, although the bloc as a whole says this is a matter to be resolved in peace talks.

The EU condemned Trump's decision in 2017 to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, saying Washington had compromised its position as a mediator for peace.
Storyful

A bear in South Lake Tahoe, California, beat the heat by crawling through a muddy pond, footage from a nearby trail cam shows.The trail cam, set up by local wildlife photographer Tooge Sielsch, captured the bear taking a dip last summer.Posting the footage to Instagram on December 28, Sielsch said that he was bored of everything being white as the area experienced record-breaking snowfall.Here is what was happening six months ago during the warmest summer on record here in Tahoe, he wrote.Sielsch regularly sets up trail cameras to film the antics of the local bear population and other native fauna. Credit: Toogee Sielsch via Storyful
Senior Indian Foreign Service officer (IFS) Taranjit Singh Sandhu has taken charge as the Indian Ambassador to the United States on Tuesday. Sandhu received a warm welcome from Deputy Chief of Mission Amit Kumar and other officials. Sandhu took over from Harsh Vardhan Shringla who has been appointed as the Foreign Secretary.

READ | Chinese Ambassador To Israel Compares Coronavirus Travel Bans To Holocaust, Faces Flak

Former Ambassador to Sri Lanka

Prior to becoming the Ambassador to the US, Sandhu has been an ambassador to Sri Lanka. A 1988-batch IFS officer, Sandhu has served twice before at the Indian mission in the US. His appointment to the high-profile job comes at a critical time when the US-India strategic partnership is deepening and also tensions are simmering in the Gulf region after the US killed top Iranian commander General Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad.

India is looking at a trade pact with Washington and is readying for a visit by US President Donald Trump next month. Also, Indian and US officials are engaged in talks to finalise dates for a possible visit by US President Trump to India.

READ | UK's Ambassador To EU Leaves His Residence

Sandhus position in Colombo is expected to be filled by Gopal Baglay, presently as additional secretary in the Prime Ministers Office.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Shringla was appointed for the post of Foreign Secretary last month after replacing Vijay Gokhale who had completed two years in office. Shringla, the former Indian Ambassador to the United States has become the 33rd Foreign Secretary of India.

READ | Israel Ambassador Says 'Jai Hind', Extends Greetings On 71st Republic Day

Besides Sandhu, there have been several shifts. In other appointments, Indias high commissioner to Singapore Jawed Ashraf will move to France as an ambassador while ambassador to Paris Vinay Kwatra shift to Nepal in the same rank. Ajay Bisaria, Indias former high commissioner to Pakistan, is expected to take up a similar assignment in Canada.

READ | EU Appoints Joao Vale De Almeida As First Ambassador To Post-brexit UK

(Photo: Indian Embassy in US | Twitter)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 14:28:53|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China will eventually win the fight against the novel coronavirus, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said Monday.

In a phone conversation with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Faisal, on behalf of the Saudi government and people, said Saudi Arabia supports China in its battle against the epidemic.

Faisal said Saudi Arabia commends China's strong measures to curb the spread of the virus and highly appreciates China's sense of responsibility in the prevention and control of the epidemic.

For his part, Wang thanked Saudi Arabia for its strong support at the critical moment in the fight against the disease, saying that China has set up a nationwide system that has held the Chinese from all walks of life together for an all-out campaign against the epidemic.

Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has spoken highly of China's strong measures against the epidemic and expressed confidence in China's effort to overcome the challenge, Wang said, noting that WHO has recommended against imposing travel and trade restrictions.

Wang said China is capable and confident of protecting the Chinese people's health and safety, and will continue to take effective measures to ensure the working and living conditions of foreign citizens, including Saudi nationals, in China, so as to make due contributions to the cause of international public health.

Underlining the tradition of mutual support between the two countries, Wang said the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Saudi Arabia has been deepening and that practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results in various fields.

Wang said he believes that Saudi Arabia will always stand with China in the fight against the epidemic, adding that the epidemic is temporary while China-Saudi Arabia cooperation and friendship are long-standing.
ISTANBUL  Turkey deployed F-16 fighter jets against government forces in northwestern Syria on Monday, a sharp escalation of the conflict there after six Turkish soldiers were killed by artillery strikes.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said that as many as 35 Syrian troops had been neutralized. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said the number of military personnel killed was at least 13, while state news media in Syria made no mention of any deaths. There were also reports on social media of at least eight civilian deaths when a minibus was struck.

Erdogan warned Russia, which backs the Syrian government and which controls the airspace in western Syria, not to prevent Turkey from retaliating.

It should be out of discussion to block us, Erdogan said. Describing the dead Turkish soldiers as martyrs, he added that, It is not possible for us to keep silent as long as his countrys troops were being targeted.

Erdogan has frequently met with President Vladimir Putin of Russia to discuss Syria and, in particular, the thorny problem of Idlib province, which Moscow wants to bring under Syrian government control to declare victory in the war.

Syrian government forces have recently intensified their offensive in Idlib, in western Syria, the last rebel-held province. Turkey deployed several hundred troops to observation posts there in 2018, as part of an agreement with Russia to create a de-escalation zone in the area.

But Russian and Syrian forces have been conducting an offensive on the major highway through the province, prompting hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee north toward the border with Turkey.

Turkey already has taken in nearly 4 million people trying to escape the war, which started nearly nine years ago, and is concerned that the Syrian push into the area will create a fresh surge of refugees. It has closed its border with Syria to prevent more refugees from entering.

Nearly 700,000 people have been displaced since the Russian-led offensive began in Idlib last year  140,000 in January alone. Many are camping in the open in increasingly desperate conditions.

The deployment of air power came after the Turkish Defense Ministry said a supply convoy bringing reinforcements to the observation posts Monday had come under fire, leaving six Turkish soldiers dead and several others wounded.

Those who test Turkeys determination with such heinous attacks will understand they have made a huge mistake, Erdogan said.

Moscow, however, disputed Turkeys account, saying that the Russian Defense Ministry had not been told about the troop movements.

Syrian forces were trying to hit militants linked with al Qaeda, the Russian Defense Ministry said, according to the Associated Press, and Turkish forces were struck because they were in the area. (To justify their attacks, including those that have killed many civilians, Russia and the Syrian government have consistently argued they must go on the offensive to eradicate terrorists.)

Carlotta Gall is a New York Times writer.
The Southern Poverty Law Center on Monday said Margaret Huang, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, will become president and CEO of the civil rights organization, effective April 20.

A release announcing Huang's selection stressed her work on behalf of immigrants and refugees, survivors of torture, and victims of gun violence.

Margarets leadership, passion for justice and strong track record of initiating and leading change, strengthening organizations, and innovating amid a rapidly changing legal and political landscape make her the best candidate to lead SPLCs continued transformation.

Huang, a native of Tennessee, said in a statement released by SPLC that she was "thrilled" to be joining the organization "as they rethink how to tackle their work fighting for justice and against hate."

I am leaving Amnesty in good hands, under the leadership of a committed board and with the support of hundreds of thousands of Amnesty's grassroots activists. I can't wait to see what Amnesty does next! pic.twitter.com/b3aZQa2bwi  Margaret Huang (@MargaretLHuang) February 3, 2020

Change in the South is coming, and SPLC is eager to work collaboratively with other social justice advocates to ensure that the change improves the lives of all communities," the statement said.

The announcement comes near the end of a tumultuous year for the Southern Poverty Law Center. SPLC has long been dogged by accusations of internal discrimination against minority employees, particularly in the area of promotions. Last March, co-founder Morris Dees was dismissed amid questions about racial and gender equity within the civil rights organization. Dees' ouster was soon followed by the resignations of several other executives at SPLC, including President Richard Cohen and Legal Director Rhonda Brownstein.

SPLC employees voted in December to unionize. Union organizers said that racial and gender equity played a role in their decision to form a union. The union and SPLC management are in the collective bargaining process.

In a statement on Monday, the SPLC Union congratulated Huang and said it looked forward to a "productive working relationship" with her.

"The SPLC Union will continue to fight for a workplace democracy, in which there is zero tolerance for race, sex, and gender discrimination, including sexual harassment," the statement said. "It is our hope Margaret will join us in this effort."

Huang holds degrees from Georgetown and Columbia. Besides her work with Amnesty International, Huang has worked for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights and at The Asia Foundation. She also served on staff for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Written by the Montgomery Advertiser. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A Briton on board a cruise ship which has been quarantined in Japan over coronavirus fears has today accused some of his shipmates of increasing the risk of infection with poor personal hygiene.

David Abel said passengers had 'no idea' when the quarantine would end as he and 3,710 others were left in limbo in Yokohama Bay today.

Mr Abel said the crew of the Diamond Princess had imposed strict hygiene measures with tourists warned to avoid public toilets - but claimed that some of his fellow passengers 'don't give a damn about personal health'.

Japan ordered the ship into quarantine after an 80-year-old passenger who left the ship in Hong Kong on January 25 tested positive for coronavirus.

Medics in hazmat suits were today going deck-to-deck to test for the virus, which has killed more than 400 people in China.

The cruise ship Diamond Princess is anchored off Yokohama in Japan today after it was quarantined over coronavirus fears

Quarantine officials in face masks were today going through the ship (pictured) to test for the virus, which has killed more than 400 people in China

The planned 14-day cruise has been abandoned but passengers do not yet know when they will be able to disembark - leaving them unable to book flights home.

'Nobody is able to book onward flights as we have no idea when the quarantine will clear,' said Mr Abel, who is travelling with his wife and described himself as a 'captive' on the ship.

'The whole ship is in quarantine, we are in the middle of the bay, anchored, so nobody can get on or off this ship.

'My guess is we are going to be here throughout the whole of the day and the night.'

Praising the crew, he said staff had imposed stringent hygiene measures under which passengers had to wash their hands in sight of a staff member before eating.

'Staff are constantly cleaning and sanitizing public areas such as handrails and door handles. Passengers are requested not to use public toilets unless in emergency,' he said.

However, Mr Abel also accused some of his fellow passengers of increasing the risk of infection with poor personal hygiene.

'Some of the passengers on board just don't give a damn about personal health,' he said.

In one case, an American tourist had blown his nose on a napkin and left it on a dinner table where waiters carrying food were likely to touch it, he said.

It is not yet known exactly how the virus spreads.

A man in protective clothing walks on the sixth deck of the Diamond Princess today where quarantine specialists are carrying out tests

One of the rooms on board the ship, which has abandoned its planned 14-day itinerary

The Diamond Princess off Daikoku Pier in Yokohama last night where it is expected to remain for at least another 24 hours

Describing the medical tests, Mr Abel said: 'We've had the medical guys come into our stateroom and it's taken all night, from midnight to 10am, for them to do four of the decks and there are 14 in total.

'They came in, took our temperature, asked three questions - have we got a cough, have we got a fever, do we take medication to lower temperature.'

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the ship had already been quarantined on Saturday at the port of Naha, but the unnamed 80-year-old man's diagnosis has now forced further checks.

None of the passengers or 1,045 crew showed any symptoms during Saturday's tests, a health ministry official said.

However, officials now say that eight people on the vessel have symptoms such as fever.

Passengers with symptoms are being checked for coronavirus as well as other infectious diseases such as malaria, officials say.

In addition, any passengers who got off in Hong Kong or had close contact with the infected man will be subject to tests for coronavirus.

David Abel (pictured) said passengers had 'no idea' when the quarantine would end as he and 3,710 others were left in limbo in Yokohama Bay today

Medics today went deck-to-deck through the Diamond Princess to test for the virus

Until the results are in 'everyone on board... will stay there', Japan's health minister Katsunobu Kato said.

The 80-year-old patient 'did not visit a medical centre inside the ship while he was sailing with us', according to cruise operator Carnival Japan.

'According to the hospital where he is staying, his condition is stable and infection was not found among his family members who sailed with him,' they said.

One passenger told broadcaster TBS today that all the passengers had been asked to stay in their rooms and wait for tests.

The ship's planned 14-day cruise has been abandoned early.

A decision on whether to allow the vessel to dock at Yokohama port and let passengers land on Japanese soil 'will be made at the quarantine station', said Suga, the government spokesman.

Japan has already barred foreign nationals who have been to Hubei, the Chinese province at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak.

A TV crew films the cruise ship Diamond Princess off the port of Yokohama today as health officials carry out medical checks

People with passports issued in Hubei are also banned from Japan in a bid to contain the crisis.

Visitors who display symptoms of the new virus when they arrive in Japan can also be denied entry.

A total of 11 foreigners have been barred from entering so far, the immigration service agency said today.

The health ministry said that 20 people in Japan had tested positive for the new virus as of Monday, of whom four showed no symptoms.

Japan has also flown more than 500 citizens out of Wuhan, where the coronavirus originated.

The disease is believed to have emerged in a market in Wuhan that sold wild animals, spreading rapidly as people travelled for the Lunar New Year holiday in late January.

The virus has so far spread to more than 20 countries, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency.

In addition, Hong Kong today announced that a 39-year-old coronavirus patient had died in hospital - only the second fatality outside mainland China.
If there's one show you need to watch this year, it's The Circle.

The new show has quickly become one of the most popular on Netflix for 2020 and we literally can't get enough of it.

Quick run down, people on the show are living on their own, in their own apartments, and can only talk to each other via text.

This meant that not only could people play different versions of themselves but also play the catfish game and be someone completely different to who they said they were.

That brings us to 'Rebecca' AKA Seaburn who went in to The Circle pretending to be his girlfriend...

Pretending to be his GF, Seaburn didn't hold back when it came to flirting with other guys (i.e Alex who was also a catfish but don't even get us started on him or his *vom* flirting #aroused) and building a super close relationship with Shubham which he said was like a brother/sister thing but Shooby, come on, let's be real...

Now that the show has finished, what did the real Rebecca, aka Sami, think of her boyfriend's performance of her?

In a short clip on Twitter, the Sami told Netflix that she actually thought he did a great job! That was except for *that* cramps moment in the gals chat...

Watch the full vid below:
A two-member Gujarat Police team reached Amritsar on Tuesday to join Punjab Police for further investigations into the recent 200 kg heroin haul in the district, officials said.

Authorities believe that the 194 kg heroin seized by Punjab Police's Special Task Force (STF) on January 31 was part of a 300 kg consignment that they suspect reached Mandvi coast in Gujarat in 2018.

The recent seizure was made after the arrest of six people, including an Afghanistan national and a woman.

The STF has also named Sahil Sharma, the son of a Congress Councillor in Amritsar, in this case, according to police officials.

Sharma's name cropped up in the case after investigations revealed that he was allegedly involved in storing drugs at a house on Majitha road for a week before being shifted to a house in Sultanwind village in Amritsar where the drugs were seized.

On Tuesday, the officials said inspector rank investigating officers from Gujarat will be questioning the accused in the case pertaining to the smuggling of 300 kg heroin from Pakistan.

The Punjab Police's STF had seized 194 kg heroin and other contraband from a rented house in Akash Avenue in Sultanwind in Amritsar district last week.

Simranjit Sindh Sandhu, a resident of Ranjit Avenue in Amritsar and a proclaimed offender, is the alleged kingpin of the drug racket busted by the STF.

Sandhu was also wanted in the 300-kg heroin smuggling case registered in Gujarat. Sandhu was detained by the Interpol in Italy on the request of the Gujarat Police.

"A two-member team of investigating officers of Gujarat ATS will join us in the investigation. It will help us in tracking the drug consignment," an STF officer said on Tuesday.

" We have also asked certain details pertaining to their case (300 kg heroin smuggling case)," the officer added.

Earlier, after the heroin seizure in Amritsar, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had said the contraband appeared to be part of the consignment of 300 kg of drugs that arrived in Mandvi in Gujarat.

Meanwhile, the STF on Tuesday seized three kg heroin from the residence of Ankush Kapoor, one of the accused in the 194-kg drugs seizure case.

"We have recovered three kg of heroin and some chemicals from the residence of Ankush," an STF official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Newser)  Democrats were in disarray Monday night after the Iowa caucus results were delayed due to what officials said were "inconsistencies" in the results. Sources tell the Hill that results from the first-in-the-nation vote are not expected until Tuesday morning. Mandy McClure, communications director for the Iowa Democratic Party, said the delay was due to the fact that for the first time, the party is reporting three sets of resultsthe first round, the second round, and the overall delegate numbers, the Des Moines Register reports. She said inconsistencies were found in the three data sets. "This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion," McClure said.

story continues below

Candidates including Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren addressed caucus watch parties despite the lack of results and delivered what seemed to be modified victory speeches, Politico reports. "It looks like it is going to be a long night but I'm feeling good," Biden said. Warren told supporters it was "too close to call," and Sanders said he had "a good feeling we're going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa." Pete Buttigieg said Iowa had "chosen a new path" and he was going on to New Hampshire "victorious." The Trump campaign, meanwhile, mocked the Democratic Party, calling caucus night the "sloppiest train wreck in history," the Guardian reports. (Read more Iowa caucuses stories.)
has requested the ministry to give a new name for the entity that will be created after it merges with Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Union Bank of India (UBI), a top official said on Tuesday.

"This is an amalgamation of equals," the bank's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Mukesh Kumar Jain told PTI in an interview here.

"We have requested Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that the name of the new bank to be created after amalgamation is either different from the three or it should reflect the old identity of the three banks, so that a sense of equal participation appeared in the name," he added.

On August 30 last year, Sitharaman had announced the merger of OBC, PNB and UBI as part of a streamlining process where the government decreases the number of it runs to a dozen.

Mergers of two more sets of were also announced as part of the process. The only precedent for such a process is the three-way merger of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank, where the merged entity has been named Bank of Baroda, the largest among the three.

If the bank formed after amalgamation is not given a separate name, people would feel that OBC and UBI merged into PNB, Jain said.

Jain said the process of amalgamation might begin soon and hoped for the new name of the merged entity to be included in the notification merging the three banks.

He said OBC has 2,400 branches, 2,600 automated teller machines and 22,000 employees and added that the bank is already organising customer outreach, especially for the requirements of the small businesses and corporate segments, considering that there is a heavy demand for loans in the last quarter.

The pace of business growth at OBC is at 11 per cent currently, which is higher than the industry average of 6-7 per cent, he said.

Currently, the bank's overall business stands at Rs 4.02 trillion and it is targeting to take it up to Rs 4.25 trillion by March 31.
Mumbai, Feb 4 : A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court against Vidhu Vinod Chopra's upcoming film "Shikara: The Untold Story Of Kashmiri Pandits", demanding a stay on its release and deleting some of the scenes.

"Shikara" is set against the backdrop of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus from the Kashmir Valley in late 1989 and early 1990, in the wake of violent Islamist insurgency. The film is scheduled to release on February 7.

The petitioners are Iftikhar Misgar, Majid Hyderi and Irfan Hafiz Lone, who have alleged that the film portrays untrue facts about Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandits.

Misgar told IANS: "We are asking for stalling the release and deleting a few scenes that portray the valley's Muslims in a bad light." "We have urged the high court to take the case up on a priority basis," he added.

A new video earlier in the day tweeted by Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films' official page said: "In 1990, more than 4,00,000 Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their home. 30 years later, their story will finally be told." It also showed that a select audience at the special pre-screening showered praises and gave a standing ovation.

The petition said that those who have moved the plea are businessman, social activist and journalist-political analyst. They said that though the period depicted in the film is one of the most painful of memories for the Pandits, "however, one unquestionable view is that local Kashmiri Muslims were deadly against the incidents leading to the mass migration of Kashmiri Pandits".

It also said: "...Kashmiri Muslims and Sikhs tried their level best to prevent the Kashmiri Pandits from leaving the valley".

The plea furthersaid: "The Government records also suggest that there was no role of the Muslim population, especially Kashmiri Muslim, for the mass migration....

The movies trailer though showed, says the petitioners: "...shabby and cruel picture of the local population, especially Muslims, has been portrayed, which is not only against the actual facts and events, but has also the tendency of hurting the sentiments of all Kashmiris".

One of the screenplay writers of the film, Rahul Pandita, recently replied to a tweet and wrote: "I am a Kashmiri Pandit who lost everything in 1990, while you were doing God knows what in Bombay. I am the writer of #shikara and I would not let anyone compromise on the Pandit story. I will not betray the memory of those who fell to the bullets of radical Islamists." In a separate tweet he shared: "This is what I said in my opening remarks on the day #shikara was screened in Delhi. Unlike makers of soft porn films, Kashmir and the story of what happened to the Pandits in 1990 is not a money-making venture for me. It is what I lived." "Shikara: The Untold Story Of Kashmiri Pandits" marks Vidhu Vinod Chopra's comeback to Bollywood as a director for the first time since his 2007 release, "Eklavya", starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, Raima Sen, Jackie Shroff and Jimmy Sheirgill. Chopra introduces Aadil Khan and Sadia in the lead roles of "Shikara".
Thackeray also said that becoming the chief minister was never his dream or ambition.

Mumbai: Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has indicated that he is likely to choose the Legislative Council to enter the state legislature instead of contesting the Assembly election. Mr Thackeray, who is not a member of either the state Legislative Assembly or Council, has to get elected to any one of these houses in six months.

In an interview with Sena mouthpiece Saamana, Mr Thackeray said, In the next two or three months, I will take a decision on contesting polls. I will never run away from my responsibilities. But for getting elected to the Assembly, somebody will have to resign. I will take the decision without hurting anyone.

Mr Thackeray also said that becoming the chief minister was never his dream or ambition.

When I realised that I cant achieve the promise made to my father by staying with the BJP, I had no option but to accept the bigger responsibility, he said. Mr Thackeray said that he had decided that he will go to any extent to fulfill the promise made to his father about making a Shiv Sainik the chief minister of the state.

He also said that a 50:50 formula was agreed upon between himself, the then BJP president Amit Shah, and the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis ahead of last years Lok Sabha polls.

Promises made are supposed to be fulfilled. There is the sadness and anger of breaking a promise and then I had no option. I dont know if the BJP has recovered from the shock. Did I ask for the moon or the stars? I just reminded them about what was agreed upon before the Lok Sabha elections, he said.

On criticism from the BJP that he had compromised on the Sena ideology, Mr Thackeray hit back saying, You want to break other parties and induct their prominent leaders. Is the laundry with you only? Whats wrong if we align with parties?

On aligning with ideologically different parties like the NCP and Congress, Mr Thackeray said such tie-ups were made earlier also, and asserted that the interest of the state and country was bigger than any ideology.

I was not new to political power as I have seen my father (late Sena supremo Bal Thackeray) wield it since my childhood. What came unexpected was the chair of power (CMs post), he said.

My becoming chief minister is the first step towards fulfilling the pro-mise made to my father, the 59-year-old Shiv Sena president said. The Shiv Sena snapped ties with its pre-poll ally BJP last year over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post in the state.

Asked if he had shocked people by accepting the post of chief minister of an unlikely coalition, Thackeray said "political shocks are of many kinds.

On what changed his earlier stand of going alone in the elections, Mr Thackeray said, When (the then BJP president) Amit Shah paid a visit to me, I felt what is the harm in starting all over again." Thackeray said he went to Gandhinagar and Varanasi when Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi filed their respective nominations for the Lok Sabha polls last year.

I got sandwiched between the elder (Modi) and younger brother (referring to BJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis). Making a promise and honoring the word givenis Hindutva for me, he said.

Asked about aligning with parties of different ideologies, Thackeray said it had happened before and cited the example of the previous BJP-led governments at the Centre.

Are the ideologies of BJP and (Lok Janshakti Party leader) Ram Vilas Paswan, (JD(U) president) Nitish Kumar, (Trinamool Congress chief) Mamata Banerjee and (TDP head) Chandrababu Naidu same? he asked. In Kashmir, there was an alliance with the PDP and talks were held with separatists. The interest of the state and country is bigger than ideology, he said.
A veteran Journalist, Dominic Ozoh, and three other persons have been killed in a motor accident on Kaduna-Zaria expressway, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Mr Ozoh was a former Secretary of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna State Council.

Addressing journalists in Zaria on Tuesday, the Unit Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Zaria Unit Command, Abubakar Murabus-Tata, said they received a distress call that an accident happened.

At about 12.30 p.m today (Feb. 4), we received a distress call that an accident happened on Kaduna-Zaria expressway precisely at Dumbin Rauga, about six kilometres away from Zaria.

It involved two vehicles, a long DAF truck and a Toyota Hiace commercial Bus with registration numbers FKY 321 YF and XB 632 NSR, respectively.

The accident was as a result of dodging potholes by the truck thereby jammed the bus and subsequently burst in flames which led to the death of four people, three males and a female.

He said 12 people were involved in the accident, 10 people were inside the bus while two were in the truck (truck driver and his boy), adding that nothing happened to the truck driver and his boy.

Mr Murabus-Tata said of the 10 people inside the bus, six were responding to treatment at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Shika, where the corpses were also deposited.

Two of the victims were burnt to ashes and two others died while on the way to the hospital. Actually when we reached the scene of accident the vehicles were still in flames.

We had no option than to seek the services of the fire service who immediately responded and aided to quench the fire. One person inside the bus was not identified because he burnt beyond recognition and nobody knows where he is coming from.

In view of that we reported the case to the Chairman, Zaria Local Government, who authorised us to go and bury him and the man has been buried according to Islamic rights, he said.

The Unit Commander attributed the accident to over-speeding and appealed to motorists to be cautious while on wheels and always respect traffic rules and regulations to arrive at their respective destination safely.

On the veteran journalists, Mr Murabus-Tata said he had no idea about it but their main duty in the event of an accident was to rush the survivors to hospital.

Actually I dont know, you know when an accident happens, our own is to rush them to hospital and those who died if their relations are around with the collaboration of the police we release the corpse to them.

However, daughter to the deceased journalist, Dame Dominic, confirmed that her father died in the accident, saying that she was still in ABUTH Shika waiting for her uncle to come for the corpse.

She said the deceased left behind four children, including three females and a male.

(NAN)
Armenia reservists training camps to be held from January 15 to April 15

Armenia flag to be permanently raised on buildings of some more institutions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit trial judge to not self-recuse

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit court case resumes

298 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Artsakh emergency service: Remains of another participant in hostilities are found

816,660 tourists visit Armenia during 11 months of 2021

US proposes to UN Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea

World oil prices dropping

Newspaper: Amnesty process suspended in Armenia indefinitely

Newspaper: Those in Karabakh are resisting Armenia authorities arbitrariness

FLYONE Armenia gets permission from Turkey to operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul

Slovak government approves defense treaty with US

US imposes sanctions on 6 North Koreans

US senators unveil bill to impose sanctions against Russia

EU wants to help Lebanon avoid economic collapse

CSTO to approve Kazakhstan peacekeepers withdrawal order

German president calls for thorough discussion on mandatory vaccination

Andranik Hovhannisyan elected UN Human Rights Council vice-president

Aliyev: Peace treaty with Armenia not a guarantee for avoiding war

Russian Foreign Ministry: Further NATO enlargement involves risks

Aliyev not to let OSCE deal with the Karabakh conflict

Ex-Mayor of Yerevan invited to police

Boris Johnson apologizes for attending party during lockdown

Global COVID-19 cases rise by 55% percent, deaths stable

Thailand introduces $9 tourist fee

Erdogan vows to tame Turkish inflation as scepticism grows

Turkey's Turkic world ambitions face reality check in Kazakhstan

Teacher in Baku beats student

NEWS.am daily digest: 12.01.22

Turkish FM expresses concerns to Chinese counterpart

OSCE Chairman-in-Office speaks on situation along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Iran cancels travel ban on common borders

CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council?

4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021

China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison

State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal

Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved

Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community

World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023

Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech

Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded

Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels

Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia

Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation

Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods

Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan

Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan

Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day

3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings

Copper rises in price

One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning

About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan

Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions

Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night

French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly

289 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Gold slightly rises in price

North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile

OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force

Oil is trading without a single dynamic

US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee

MOD: Armenia soldiers dead body found at midnight after Azerbaijan provocation

Newspaper: Casualties of Armenia PM Pashinyan's 'era of peace'

US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project

Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen

German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan

WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State

India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death

Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded

NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22

Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States

Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia

Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death

Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has awarded a renewable contract to a University of Massachusetts Amherst team to continue groundbreaking research into the socioeconomic impacts of introducing casino gambling in the state.

The new funding - about $1 million a year for three years, with two annual options to renew - will enable researchers with the Social and Economic Impacts of Gambling in Massachusetts (SEIGMA) study, based at the UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences, to complete an unprecedented, comprehensive, 12-year investigation.

"This will continue to be the longest-lasting study of the impacts of the introduction of a new form of gambling in a jurisdiction," says lead investigator Rachel Volberg, a UMass Amherst research professor who has studied gambling and problem gambling across the world for more than three decades. "What's going to be most interesting going forward is being able to have a fine-grained understanding of the disparate impacts that introducing different kinds of casinos has on communities that are differentially at risk of experiencing gambling-related harms."

In 2013, the Gaming Commission chose the UMass consortium, which includes the UMass Donahue Institute, the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center and colleagues at the University of Nevada Reno and the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, to carry out the robust research agenda mandated by the 2011 Expanded Gaming Act.

The wide-ranging research began with community profiles and baseline population studies to depict gambling behavior in Massachusetts before any of the casinos opened. "The baseline survey allows us to monitor trends over time and to inform stakeholders of what the state looked like before casino gambling in Massachusetts, which then allows for a real assessment of impacts," Volberg says.

Volberg also is spearheading a separate Massachusetts Gambling Impact Cohort (MAGIC) study funded by the Gaming Commission. It is the first major study of its type in the U.S. MAGIC researchers are examining how problem gambling develops over time. Goals include identifying populations in Massachusetts who are at higher risk of problem gambling and experiencing gambling harm, which will help in developing data-driven prevention and treatment programs in the state.

The initial SEIGMA investigation period assessed impacts associated with the state's first new gaming facility - the Plainridge Park Casino, a slot parlor that opened in 2015 in Plainville. The SEIGMA team reported largely positive impacts initially, with clear economic benefits and relatively minor negative social impacts, such as problem gambling.

For instance, in regard to economic benefits, Plainridge Park Casino was found to have created new employment opportunities that benefited the unemployed and underemployed, as well as those with little educational attainment, experience or training.

Concerning public health impacts, however, and as detailed in a more recent report, the research team found that a smaller number of people are spending more dollars at the slot parlor, which may signal a public health concern.

Such assessments underscore the importance of ongoing evaluation of the dynamic gambling landscape in Massachusetts. "The impacts are clearly not static and continue to evolve," Volberg notes.

With two large resort casinos now open, the research will shift toward assessing the emerging impacts of MGM Springfield, operating in downtown Springfield since August 2018, and Encore Boston Harbor, opened in Everett in June 2019.

"The characteristics of Plainville are quite different from the host communities of the two resort-style casinos now operating," Volberg says. "Our research team looks forward to assessing the impacts of the opening of casinos in Springfield and Everett."

The UMass Amherst research team will release reports on the employment, operational and public health impacts of MGM Springfield this spring and summer, and will begin a comprehensive assessment of Encore Boston Harbor next fall.

###
Greece will send some of its Patriot defence missiles to Saudi Arabia under a programme involving the US, Britain and France, the government spokesman said Tuesday.

Athens will deploy the missiles at Saudi cost "to protect critical energy infrastructure," government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters.

"The deployment contributes to energy security, promotes our country as a factor of regional stability and strengthens our ties to Saudi Arabia," Petsas said, adding that talks on the move began in October.

He did not give a date for the deployment.

The US, Britain and France are part of the same initiative and Italy is likely to join, the spokesman said.

The announcement came as Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was on a Middle East tour for investment talks with the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He visited Riyadh on Monday and is in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. "As a defensive system, this constitutes no threat to other countries in the area," Petsas said.

Earlier this week Petsas said that "around 130 personnel" would accompany the missiles.

Greek opposition parties have condemned the move as dangerous "adventurism." "This would be a Greek military presence outside the Mediterranean for the first time in decades," leftist Eurodeputy Dimitris Papadimoulis tweeted in January.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A second Qantas flight could be dispatched to Wuhan to pick up Australians still stranded in the coronavirus outbreak.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government was working with the the Chinese authorities "on a possible second assisted departure flight" for Australians seeking to leave Hubei province in central China.

The announcement came as China expressed anger at Australia's recent travel ban, saying it was not "not given enough time to be alerted".

Wang Xining, Minister and Deputy Head of Mission at the Chinese Embassy in Australia, said the short notice resulted in dozens of Chinese citizens - mostly students - stranded at airports.
The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, which abruptly slowed the pace of parole hearings and the number of paroles granted after a change in leadership last year, will sharply increase the number of hearings this week.

Terry Abbott, director of communications for the bureau, said in a news release that the three-member parole board would hold 80 hearings this week. Thats up from the approximately 25 to 35 hearings the board held per week in January.

Abbott said increase is part of a planned progression to increase the number of parole hearings.

Weve been increasing the hearings each month after the new board chair took over and began holding hearings, Abbott said in an email. We expect to go to about 35 hearings a day this month and up to 45 hearings a day in March.

Gov. Kay Ivey appointed Assistant Attorney General Leigh Gwathney chair of the board in September. Gwathney started on the job in October, replacing Lyn Head, who resigned. Heads term had ended.

Ivey also appointed former Attorney General Charlie Graddick as the director of the Pardons and Paroles Bureau effective Sept. 1. The Legislature passed a bill last year giving the governor the authority to make that appointment. Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall advocated for changes at the board after a parolee was charged with killing two women and a child in Guntersville. Ivey and Marshall said they found other problems with how the board was operating.

When Graddick came on the job in September, he suspended parole hearings for two months because he said the board was not following requirements on notifying victims and victims families about parole hearings.

Hearings resumed in November but on a smaller scale than over the past several years. The ACLU of Alabama said there were 200 parole hearings in November and December and 17 inmates were granted parole.

That contrasts sharply with the 2,000 to 4,000 paroles granted per year over the previous five years.

The ACLU said overcrowding in Alabama prisons was getting worse because of the low number of paroles granted. Alabama prisons were at 170% of capacity as of October, a number that will get worse with the partial closing of Holman Correctional Facility announced last week.

Legislators questioned Graddick about the decline in paroles during budget hearings in January. Graddick said prison overcrowding should not be the basis for decisions on whether to grant parole. Graddick said the high proportion of violent offenders in the inmate population and the lack of sufficient training and rehabilitation programs in prisons are factors holding down the rate of parole.
FILE PHOTO: A gardener mows the grass outside the headquarters of AIB on the day the bank announced it's results, in Dublin

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Allied Irish Banks <AIBG.I> has set aside a further 300 million euros (255.2 million) to cover possible compensation owed to customers caught up in Ireland's mortgage tracker scandal.

In a statement on Tuesday, the bank's board said it had set aside the sum after acknowledging that "redress may be due to a previously identified group of customers who had an option of a prevailing tracker rate".

More than 40,000 homeowners have been compensated by banks in recent years after regulators discovered mortgage lenders had systemically overcharged on home loans that should have been switched to cheaper rates.

AIB said it was in discussions with Ireland's Central Bank with regard to potential appropriate treatment of this group of customers.

By the end of June last year, AIB had set aside 272 million euros to cover the cost of the tracker mortgage redress since the examination began in 2015 and said the process was materially complete.

The 300 million euro provision will be taken in the bank's 2019 financial results, it said.

In Tuesday's statement, AIB also announced that it expects to propose an ordinary dividend in line with its range of between 40-60% of attributable earnings, subject to regulatory approval.

The bank said its CET1 capital ratio - a measure of financial strength - was in excess of 16% at 31 December 2019.

(Reporting by Sinead Cruise and Conor Humphries, editing by Iain Withers and Louise Heavens)
In solidarity with stand-up comic Kunal Kamra, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap says he has decided to not fly IndiGo airlines. The director said he chose another carrier, Vistara, instead. Kashyap had tweeted on Monday, "No @IndiGo6E.. on @airvistara..in solidarity with @kunalkamra88."

While interacting to The Telegraph, Anurag said, "I was booked on IndiGo by the organisers to come to Dum Dum. After Kamra was banned, I told the organisers I will not fly IndiGo. I told them I will not fly this airline because I thought the ban was very unreasonable."

"My thing is: there is nothing I can do about it. It does not make much of a difference. But as I wanted to register my dissent, I thought that I would not fly IndiGo. I want to fly Vistara. The IndiGo flight was on Monday afternoon and the Vistara flight was in the morning. The organisers informed me that to fly Vistara, you have to wake up at 4am. I said, 'I will wake up at 4am, but I will not fly IndiGo'."

For the unversed, last week, IndiGo suspended Kamra from flying with the private airline for six months, after he allegedly heckled journalist Arnab Goswami aboard one of its planes from Mumbai to Lucknow. SpiceJet, GoAir and Air India also imposed a similar ban on Kamra without specifying any period.

Anurag Kashyap: An Artiste Should Have The Guts To Talk About His Rights

On his part, Kamra on February 1 sent a legal notice to the airline demanding an unconditional apology, revocation of the ban and Rs 25 lakh compensation.

The video of the incident posted by Kamra on Twitter went viral on social media last week. The stand-up comedian is seen asking Goswami if he is a 'coward or a journalist'.

Kamra received both praise and criticism from people belonging to different walks of life, including IndiGo pilot-in-command Rohit Mateti who conveyed his anguish to the airline management for not consulting him before announcing the ban on the comedian.
An MRI scan can be used to diagnose MS (Anna Gowthorpe/PA)

Significantly more people than previously estimated are living with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Northern Ireland, according to new research.

There are an estimated 4,830 people living with MS in Northern Ireland, with four newly diagnosed every week.

Across the UK more than 130,000 people are living with MS  over 20% more than previously thought.

This is according to a new estimate based on Public Health England data, published by the MS Society.

The society said the relentless, painful and disabling condition damages the bodys nerves, which makes it harder for people to do everyday things, like walk, talk, eat and think.

David Galloway, director of MS Society Northern Ireland, said the new figures confirm what his organisation already suspected, and urged Health Minister Robin Swann to act to increase neurologist numbers.

Northern Ireland is around 20 consultant neurologists short of meeting the needs of people living with or suspected of living with neurological conditions, he said.

The latest statistics show over 11,500 people are waiting more than a year for their first time neurology appointment.

Those already inside the system face waits for treatment, review, diagnostic testing  in many ways they are perpetually waiting.

People with MS need the health service, Health Minister and Northern Ireland Assembly to step up and create a sustainable system that meets the need.

There is currently a review of neurology under way.

Mr Galloway urged the minister to grasp that opportunity.

Philippa Donnelly, 27, from Belfast, described how she came to be diagnosed with MS at the age of 24.

Philippa Donnelly spoke about her experience of being diagnosed with MS (MS Society/PA)

My symptoms originally started with a numb leg. I was a keen runner and thought it was a result of training too hard, she said.

The numb leg went away after a few months, however soon a numb arm followed. Again, a few months later it went back to normal  to then have the other leg go numb. At this time, I was completing my final year of university, so I put it down to stress.

After I graduated, I moved to London for a job. The day I moved, I realised I had large black spots in my vision which affected both eyes. I was able to get an eye test that same day in London, however the optician couldnt explain the vision loss.

I was recommended to go to a specialised eye hospital in central London where I waited over six hours to meet with one of the top consultants. I was advised there was nothing wrong with my eyes and it was probably due to stress.

Another year of symptoms went by before I came across the MS Society website due to a charity race they had organised. I had never heard of MS before, however reading the information on the MS Society website, I knew straight away the symptoms they listed described my problems exactly.

After an appointment with my doctor and a six-month wait for a brain and spinal MRI, I was diagnosed with high-active relapsing MS. Only a few months later I started an infusion treatment, which I seem to be responding to quite well to.

There are so many misconceptions about MS, and with diagnosis rate increasing, I hope to show that life can continue. You can live well with MS especially when diagnosed and treated early.
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The new figures from Chinas Health Commission on Wednesday showed that 65 people died on Tuesday and that 3,887 more people had been infected. So far, 24,324 people have been infected.

Health experts say the death toll is likely to rise because of the large number of infections. The mortality rate of the coronavirus, about 2 percent so far, appears to be far lower than SARS, which has a mortality rate of about 10 percent.

Experts warn they still lack full data to say definitively how lethal the new coronavirus is. Many residents in Wuhan believe the death toll is much higher than the official tally because people with flulike symptoms are being turned away by overstretched hospitals. The health care system there is so overwhelmed that many cases are not diagnosed because of a shortage of testing kits.

The number of people recovering from the virus is also rising, suggesting that the treatment plan is working. On Tuesday, 262 people left the hospitals. The number of new suspected cases has dropped for two days in a row. Officials said they were tracking 3,971 new suspected cases, compared with 5,173 cases the day before.

On Tuesday, health officials released details of the deaths so far, saying that two-thirds of them were men. More than 80 percent were over 60 years old, and they typically had pre-existing health conditions such as cardiovascular diseases or diabetes.
Mo Farah is suing a vape liquid company he claims used a lookalike on its poster in order to suggest that its products were endorsed by him.

The four-time Olympic champion is suing Diamond Mist after its advert, which appeared on London buses last year, featured the eyes and eyebrows of a man bearing a stark similarity to the athlete alongside the text: 'Mo's Mad for Menthol.'



The athlete, whose legal action has now reached the High Court, claims the company used a lookalike and his first name to advertise its menthol-flavoured e-liquid products.

The advert for Diamond Mist's product was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in August after members of the public complained that the man looked similar to Sir Mo.

Mo Farah is suing the vape liquid company Diamond Mist after its advert featured a lookalike to advertise its products

The poster (pictured on London bus), which appeared on London buses last year, featured the eyes and eyebrows of a man alongside the text: 'Mo's Mad for Menthol'

He has since taken Diamond Mist, its director Mahrokh Amini Mandehmahalleh and a connected company, SRN Horizon, to the High Court, accusing them of 'passing off' his likeness to sell its vaping liquid.

At a preliminary hearing in London on Tuesday, Judge Richard Hacon ordered a hearing to be held in December to determine whether the ad was 'likely to misrepresent' to the public that Sir Mo had endorsed the product.

If the advert is found to have been misleading, there will be a further hearing to decide the extent to which Diamond Mist and Exterion Media, the company that distributed the ad campaign, are liable and any damages to which Sir Mo may be entitled.

His claim against Exterion was formally put on hold by the judge pending the December hearing.

The athlete claims that the vaping company used a lookalike and his first name to advertise its menthol-flavoured e-liquid products

Sir Mo himself took to social media back in March to make clear the advertisement had nothing to do with him

After the posters began to appear on London buses the athlete took to social media to assure fans that he did not endorse the product or the company.

A statement on Twitter read: 'You may have seen this ad and think it's me!! I can assure you that I have NOT endorsed this product or company!!! We're looking into it.'

In a statement last March, Diamond Mist defended the advert, saying it was one of five promoting different flavours which used alliteration and popular first names, such as 'Claire's Crazy for Cola'.

The company added: 'At no point was there any intention to associate our menthol product with Sir Mo Farah.'

But the ASA found the advert was 'likely to give consumers the misleading impression that the product had been endorsed by Sir Mo Farah'.

The advertising watchdog said the model's bald head and eyebrow shape were reminiscent of Sir Mo's, and that the athlete was one of the most recognisable and well-known figures in the UK to go by the name.
A blogger who challenged former Prime Minister Theresa May about funding for mental health issues during a BBC interview hanged herself in a psychiatric hospital, an inquest heard.

The father of 22-year-old Teyneen Taylor told a jury how his daughter felt passionately about the subject and aspired to work in mental health support.

He told a coroner that Teyneen, an avid blogger, had challenged Mrs May during an interview on BBC Radio Berkshire about the lack of money for treating the mentally ill.

She used her young voice to advocate mental health improvements in a blog before her tragic death.

Teyneen Taylor (pictured, left, and, right, with Mrs May) aspired to work in mental health support before she was found hanged and challenged the Prime Minister about funding

However, when the she discovered she had multiple sclerosis, her mental health declined as she was terrified she wouldn't walk again and desperately tried to overcome the feeling that it was a 'death sentence,' her blog explained.

The girl - who was diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder and found hanged at Prospect Park Hospital, Reading, on October 16 2018 - explained to her blog followers why she felt so passionately about mental health.

She wrote: 'I have watched family members and friends battle with mental health issues. I have lost two friends to mental illness and recently watched a childhood friend lose her mum because of mental health related issues.'

Mark Taylor (pictured with his daughter, Teyneen) has told how his brave daughter wanted to work in mental health support before she was found hanged

Teyneen, from Maidenhead, Berks., met with her local MP Theresa May in 2015 to discuss funding for mental health services on behalf of Rethink Mental Illness and their 'fair funding' campaign.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Wais Ravi, from Prospect Park Hospital in Reading, Berks., told the inquest jury how Teyneen was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and was admitted to the mental health hospital on July 15 2018 after she was found in the river by police.

Speaking to the doctor, senior coroner Heidi Connor said: 'She had a very difficult time as an inpatient. In your statement you said 'it was identified that hospital admission did not work for Teyneen'.

'Teyneen simply was not safe enough to be discharged but it was not helpful for her to stay at the hospital.'

Dr Ravi replied: 'When she was aged one year the relationship with her mother was quite abusive and because of that, since the age of 12, she had been self-harming and suffering with her mental health.

'At the end of her admission unfortunately she killed herself. Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder is one of the most difficult conditions for patients, staff and doctors. I describe it like staying on a horse and the horse can do anything, you cannot control it.'

In the months leading up to her death, Teyneen was found in her hospital room with a ligature tied around her neck several times. Just five days before her death she had 'more than one ligature attempt in one day.'

The doctor said: 'It was felt by all of those present that hospital was not suitable for Teyneen. I do not think it was her intention to die, I believe she did it accidentally. Teyneen tried to harm herself to ask for help as sometimes she could not talk to people. I found her a polite and nice girl who tried to help people.'

Mark Taylor wrote a tribute to his daughter which was read to the inquest jury along with a photograph which was passed to the panel. It said: 'Teyneen the young woman, the writer and the thinker. She loved arts and crafts and had a handbag collection that would rival Meghan Markle.

'She had a wonderful sense of humour and loved all kinds of music. She always put others before herself. She was very well-read, reading anything from fictional to factual. She read up on mental health issues before writing her own blogs.

'She also had a radio interview with Theresa May which she was very proud of doing. She was a northerner stuck in the south.'

Joking with the father, Mrs Connor said: 'I too am a northerner stuck in the south Mr Taylor, you'll notice how I say bath.'

She added: 'I am very sorry to meet you in these sad circumstances, as far as I am concerned you and your family are the most important people in this room today. I know this will be a very difficult week for you. We have to make sure we deal with the evidence fully, fairly and fiercely.'

The inquest, expected to last three days, continues.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
Behind the app that delayed Iowas voting results is a dark money operation funded by anti-Sanders billionaires. Its top donor, Seth Klarman, is a Buttigieg backer who has dumped money into pro-settler Israel lobby groups.

At the time of publication, twelve hours after voting in the Democratic Partys Iowa caucuses ended, the results have not been announced. The delay in reporting is the result of a failed app developed by a company appropriately named Shadow Inc.

This firm was staffed by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaign veterans and created by a Democratic dark money nonprofit backed by hedge fund billionaires including Seth Klarman. A prolific funder of pro-settler Israel lobby organizations, Klarman has also contributed directly to Pete Buttigiegs campaign.

The delay in the vote reporting denied a victory speech to Sen. Bernie Sanders, the presumptive winner of the opening contest in the Democratic presidential primary. Though not one exit poll indicated that Buttigieg would have won, the South Bend, Indiana mayor took to Twitter to confidently proclaim himself the victor.

Iowa, you have shocked the nation. By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious. #IowaCaucuses  Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) February 4, 2020

The bizarre scenario was made possible by a mysterious voting app whose origins had been kept secret by Democratic National Committee officials. For hours, it was unclear who created the failed technology, or how it wound up in the hands of Iowa party officials.

Though a dark money Democratic operation turned out to be the source of the disastrous app, suspicion initially centered on former Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook and his Russiagate-related elections integrity initiative.

Leveraging Russia hysteria into lucrative election opportunities

While Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price refused to say who was behind the failed app, he told NPR that he worked with the national partys cybersecurity team and Harvard Universitys Defending Digital Democracy project Price did not offer details on his collaboration with the Harvard group, however.

The New York Times reported that this same outfit had teamed up with Iowa Democrats to run a drill of worst-case scenarios and possible foreign threats, but was also vague on details.

Robby Mook, the former campaign manager for Hillary Clintons failed 2016 presidential campaign, was the co-founder of Defending Digital Democracy. His initiative arose out of the national freakout over Russian meddling that he and his former boss helped stir when they blamed their loss on Russian interference. Mooks new outfit pledged to protect from hackers and propaganda attacks.

He founded the organization with help from Matt Rhoades, a former campaign manager for Republican Mitt Romney whose public relations company was sued by a Silicon Valley investor after it branded him an agent of the Russian government and a friend of Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Rhoades firm had been contracted by a business rival to destroy the investors reputation.

As outrage grew over the delay in Iowa caucus results, Mook publicly denied any role in designing the notorious app.

.@RobbyMook, you may not have built the app, but the @nytimes is reporting that you were involved in stress testing it. Any comment? https://t.co/OHOVs2vX4u pic.twitter.com/2FmbnZc4tT  Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) February 4, 2020

Hours later, journalist Lee Fang reported that a previously unknown tech outfit called Shadow Inc. had contracted with the Iowa Democratic Party to create the failed technology. The firm was comprised of former staffers for Obama, Clinton and the tech industry, and had been paid for services by the Buttigieg campaign.

An Israel lobby moneymans path to Mayor Petes wine cave

Shadow Inc. was launched by a major Democratic dark money nonprofit called Acronym, which also gave birth to a $7.7 million Super PAC known as Pacronym.

According to Sludge, Pacronyms largest donor is Seth Klarman. A billionaire hedge funder, Klarman also happens to be a top donor to Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar.

Though he has attracted some attention for his role in the campaign, Klarmans prolific funding of the pro-settler Israel lobby and Islamophobic initiatives has gone almost entirely unmentioned.

Seth Klarman is the founder of the Boston-based Baupost Group hedge fund and a longtime donor to corporate Republican candidates. After Donald Trump called for forgiving Puerto Ricos debt, Klarman  the owner of $911 million of the islands bonds  flipped and began funding Trumps opponents.

The billionaires crusade against Trump ultimately led him to Mayor Petes wine cave.

By the end of 2019, Klarman had donated $5600 to Buttigieg and pumped money into the campaigns of Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris as well.

The billionaires support centrist candidates appears to be not only by his own financial interests, but by his deep and abiding ideological commitment to Israel and its expansionist project.

As I reported for Mondoweiss, Klarman has been a top funder for major Israel lobby outfits, including those that support the expansion of illegal settlements and Islamophobic initiatives.

Klarman was the principal funder of The Israel Project, the recently disbanded Israeli government-linked propaganda organization that lobbied against the Iran nuclear deal and backed the Israeli settlement enterprise.

Klarman has heaped hundreds of thousands of dollars on the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and the American Jewish Committee. And he funded The David Project, which was established to suppress Palestine solidarity organizing on campuses across the US and battled to block the establishment of a Muslim community center in Boston.

Through his support for the Friends of Ir David Inc, Klarman directly involved himself in the Israeli settlement enterprise, assisting the US-based tax exempt arm of the organization that oversaw a wave of Palestinian expulsions in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

Other pro-Israel groups reaping the benefits of Klarmans generosity include Birthright Israel, the AIPAC-founded Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), a neoconservative think tank that helped devise Trumps maximum pressure campaign of economic warfare on Iran.

Klarman is the owner of the Times of Israel, an Israeli media outlet that once published a call for Palestinian genocide. (The op-ed was ultimately removed following public backlash).

In recent weeks, Buttigieg has sought to distinguish himself from Sanders on the issue of Israel-Palestine. During a testy exchange this January with a self-proclaimed Jewish supporter of Palestinian human rights, the South Bend mayor backtracked on a previous pledge to withhold military aid to Israel if it annexed parts of the West Bank.

NEW: The day after Trump unveiled his plan green-lighting Israeli annexation and Netanyahus announcement of a cabinet vote on annexation this Tuesday, @PeteButtigieg backtracked on his repeated promise that the "U.S. will not foot the bill for annexation." #StopFundingOccupation pic.twitter.com/dldyRnI5lo  IfNotNow (@IfNotNowOrg) January 30, 2020

Another recipient of Klarmans funding, Amy Klobuchar, has taken a strongly pro-Israel line, vowing to support Trumps relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Battling Bernie with hedge fund money and sexism claims

Like Klarman, Donald Sussman is a hedge funder who has channeled his fortune into Pacronym. He has given $1 million to the Super PAC and was also top donor to Clinton in 2016.

Sussmans Paloma Partners operates through a series of offshore shell companies, and received tens of millions of dollars in the 2009 federal bailout of the banking industry.

His daughter, Democratic operative Emily Tisch Sussman, declared on MSNBC in September that if you still support Sanders over Warren, its kind of showing your sexism.

MSNBC pundit says if you support Bernie Sanders over Elizabeth Warren its showing your sexism. pic.twitter.com/fghFIqOF6C  Ibrahim (@ibrahimpols) September 27, 2019

As Democratic elites like the Sussmans braced for a Bernie Sanders triumph in Iowa, a mysterious piece of technology spun out by a group they supported delayed the vote results, preventing Sanders from delivering a victory speech. And the politician many of them supported, Pete Buttigieg, exploited the moment to declare himself the winner. In such a strange scenario, the conspiracy theories write themselves.

Max Blumenthal is an award-winning journalist and the author of several books, including best-selling Republican Gomorrah, Goliath, The Fifty One Day War, and The Management of Savagery. He has produced print articles for an array of publications, many video reports, and several documentaries, including Killing Gaza. Blumenthal founded The Grayzone in 2015 to shine a journalistic light on Americas state of perpetual war and its dangerous domestic repercussions.

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The official results from last night's Iowa caucus are now 12 hours late. Offering a terse update, the Iowa Democratic organization said Tuesday morning that their new app-based reporting system, which was never tested before caucus-day, had a "coding issue" but that the results would still be reliable.

Why are so many intelligence veterans throwing their weight behind a young Indiana mayor with such a thin foreign policy resume?

Wednesday, June 5, 2019 - Candidates pledge support for Israel in AJC Global Forum videos

Over half of the 2020 presidential candidates recorded videos of themselves for this years American Jewish Committee Global Forum... All the candidates except two spoke in support of Israel, many claiming it is an important American ally. All ignored Israels pattern of spying on the US and stealing American technology, attacking a US Navy ship, the cost of Israel to Americans, and the role of Israel partisans in pushing the US into disastrous wars.

Saturday, May 4, 2019 - More New AIPACs Popping Up

Concern that Israel is losing its grip on U.S. politicians is breeding even more pro-Zionist lobby groups
A Russian firm is suing France's far-right National Rally (RN) party, led by Marine Le Pen, for failing to repay a multi-million euro loan, court documents revealed.

Court documents filed at the website of Moscow's Court of Arbitration show that aviation parts company Aviazapchast is suing the RN for 639.8 million rubles (USD 10.1 million) loaned to the party.

The party, which has struggled financially for several years, originally took out the loan with Russia's First Czech-Russian Bank in 2014.

The debt-recovery action was filed with the Russian court in December. Le Pen's party was notified in a letter dated December 25, and the first hearing is set for June The RN should have made a single payment of nine million euros in 2019, after interest payments.

The party's treasurer, Wallerand de Saint Just, told AFP the party had "good relations" with its creditor Aviazapchast.

Of the loan, he said: "We are in the process of paying it back." When first broke of the 2014 loan, it sparked speculation that the Kremlin was backing Le Pen's party, which is a critic of Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis.

In March 2016, the original loan was passed on to Russian car hire firm Konti, shortly before the First Czech-Russian Bank went into administration and eventually shut down in July the same year.

State-owned Deposit Insurance Agency then indicated that the loan had been passed on to Aviazapchast in November 2016.

The RN was already in debt in its previous incarnation as the National Front, when it was led by co-founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, the father of the current leader.

Marine Le Pen took over the leadership of the party in 2011.

In 2018, the French authorities withheld two million euros (USD 2.2 million) of public subsidies normally paid to political parties, pending an inquiry into the alleged misuse of EU funds it had received.

The French authorities are also pursuing the party to recover nearly 11.6 million euros in damages and interest over alleged fraud and the misuse of public money during the 2012 parliamentary election campaign.

Russian site Open Media says Aviazapchast has its roots in a Soviet-era company. As well as selling Russian aircraft parts to Asia and Africa, it also sells metals for the aerospace industry to India and Syria.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Manama :

The King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Co-existence and This is Bahrain society held a meeting with the Labour and Social Development Ministrys Directorate for NGOs Support and a delegation from the British Charity Commission which is on a visit to Bahrain to benchmark openness and peaceful co-existence in the kingdom.

The meeting was attended by Board of Trustees Chairman of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Co-existence Dr Shaikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, This is Bahrain society President Betsy Mathieson, NGOs Support Director Najwa Abdellatif Janahi and Projects Director at the British embassy in Bahrain Chris Thompson.

The meeting spotlighted ways of benefiting from the British experience and boosting cooperation in carrying out joint projects regarding houses of worship.

Dr Shaikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa affirmed the centres keenness on availing of the experience of prominent international institutions in the development and social fields and benefiting from the British expertise in boosting tolerance and peaceful co-existence among the youth.

He pointed out the centres efforts, since its establishment, to provide many quality programmes to promote those values, in line with the directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

The British Charity Commission delegation expressed appreciation of the centres goals and programmes to project the kingdoms pioneering experience in fostering peaceful coexistence and religious freedom
Dowling recovering at home after long hospital stay

State Rep. Matthew Dowling has returned home after suffering a one-vehicle crash in October. Dowling represents parts of Somerset County.
This was a caucus like Iowans had never seen before: voters from Egypt, Italy, the Netherlands and beyond descended on a town hall in France on Monday to choose their Democratic candidate for the 2020 election.

Some are serving at US military bases, some are studying in foreign capitals, and some had never met another Iowan abroad until Monday night.

Some used to vote Republican.

And they all loved being able to caucus outside Iowa for the first time, huddled in a municipal meeting room in Paris, up the street from the Louvre Museum.

Only 17 voters took part in the Paris caucus, so the result says little about the political direction of a state where some 200,000 people are expected to caucus overall Monday.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren's corner drew the biggest crowd, putting her on top with eight votes, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg made it into the first round but didn't make the decisive final "alignment".

No one voted for former Vice President Joe Biden.

The voters erupted in frequent laughter, exchanged social media handles and begged for each others' votes.

They celebrated Midwest values and European public healthcare systems - and debated passionately about how best to beat Donald Trump in November.

They're all part of a new experiment aimed at making Iowa's unusual voting process more inclusive, by allowing caucuses outside the state.

Their votes will be added to the complex formula for allocating delegates among the Democratic candidates seeking their party's nomination.

The Paris caucus wrapped up with a Facetime call to Iowa Democratic Party headquarters to report the results, and hearty applause for the 20-year-old student who organized it all - and voted herself for the very first time.

Paris was one of just three satellite caucus locations outside the US, along with Glasgow in Scotland and Tbilisi in Georgia.
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Opposition led by intellectuals arose. But Mr. Moi, who also controlled the news media and the police and military services, and whose pronouncements had the force of law, closed the universities and suppressed his opponents with detentions, torture and killings, according to United Nations investigators and human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Africa Watch.

Official corruption, abuse of power and a deteriorating economy exploded in 1982 in an attempted coup by low-ranking air force officers. But army loyalists crushed the uprising, and Mr. Moi ordered the arrest of the entire 2,100-member air force. Hundreds were imprisoned or executed, and the services ranks were replaced. He also ordered all civil servants to join the ruling political party, of which he was president.

Despite Western military and economic aid and income from tourists drawn to Kenyas game preserves, the economy lagged for most of Mr. Mois tenure, mired in corruption that affected all manner of transactions, from cab rides and the delivery of goods and services to bribery and kickbacks in public and private dealings.

Investigations after Mr. Moi stepped down found that his government had lined the pockets of his family and its allies with as much as $4 billion. The biggest fraud in Kenyas history, the Goldenberg affair, in which the central bank paid incentives to a company for exporting gold, diamonds and jewelry that did not exist, cost taxpayers billions and sent Kenyas economy into a tailspin in the early 1990s.

When he was still vice president, Mr. Moi met President Jimmy Carter at the White House in 1978, and after becoming president he met President Ronald Reagan there in 1981 and 1987 (when he also met Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in London). But after the Cold War, the West no longer regarded Kenya as a strategic outpost, and Mr. Moi was increasingly seen as a despot.

Constitutionally barred from running in the 2002 elections, he agreed to give up power in a smooth transfer that was then still rare in Africa. He supported a son of Jomo Kenyatta, but Mwai Kibaki, who had lost to Mr. Moi in 1992 and 1997, and who was nearly killed in a traffic accident during the campaign, won the presidency by a 2-to-1 margin. Mr. Moi later supported his old opponents re-election.

As Mr. Moi retired, his successors found even more corruption and human rights abuses than had been suspected. A 2003 inquiry exposed torture cells at Nyayo House in Nairobi, a government building where dungeons yielded evidence supporting the accounts of victims.
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VULNERABLE children at risk of forced marriage have been given the protection of full court orders.

Initial proceedings began last autumn over the group of youngsters, which includes boys and girls.

The orders are a safeguarding tool to help police and partner agencies and breaches can result in prison sentences.

A 42-year-old woman from Rotherham was arrested and bailed in October on forced marriage offences.

Det Sgt Tom Bishop, from Rotherhams Protecting Vulnerable People team, said: Concerns were initially raised about the welfare of several children as a result of a referral from one of our partner agencies.

With the FMPOs now in place in the form of full-term orders, we and our partner agencies are able to effectively safeguard these vulnerable children and ensure that they are not forced into marriage.

There are numerous adults and children in different communities across South Yorkshire who are protected by forced marriage protection orders.

I hope this demonstrates to victims and affected communities that we treat these reports incredibly seriously and work closely with our partners to ensure we safeguard vulnerable people.

Sally Hodges, RMBCs interim childrens services director, welcomed the orders as part of ongoing efforts to protect the children involved.

She added: We will continue to work closely with the police and raise concerns where we believe other young people may be at risk of forced marriage.

Forced marriage is where one or both parties do not consent. Often, pressure and abuse is used against victims.

The practice differs from arranged marriages, where both parties consent to families or others helping to choose their spouse.

If you have concerns about forced marriage, call South Yorkshire Police on 101. If a life is at risk, call 999.

Specialist national charity Karma Nirvana can be contacted on 0800 5999 247 and the Forced Marriage Unit at fmu@fco.gov.uk.
A father of eight who was before Athy District Court for assault and the theft of six dog collars was given a three-month prison sentence on Tuesday, January 28.

Edward O'Reilly, with an address listed as 2 St Mary's Cross, Hebron Halting Site, Kilkenny, came to the attention of gardai on July 25, 2018 at 11.20am at Mr Price in Athy.

The court heard that the defendant, who is in prison on another matter, placed a number of items under his clothes and left the shop without paying.

He then tried to take some empty pallets from outside the shop without permission and the court heard he called a staff member a faggot when told to stop.

The court heard that the defendant also became verbally aggressive to the staff members. He has 19 previous convictions. Sgt Brian Jacob said the defendant was quite intimidating towards the staff but didnt lay a finger on anyone.

The defendant is 42 and has eight children with one on the way. The court heard he is hoping to better himself while in prison and is attending woodwork and metalwork classes. Ms Murphy said a derogatory remark had been made about the defendants children and he jumped the gun.

She said that two of his children were with him and went to buy sweets and a staff member a refused to serve them. Judge Zaidan then read a letter out in court that the employee told the defendant to get the children out of the shop and called them "knackers".

Sgt Jacob said that he was unaware the remark had been made. The defendant was very annoyed by the comment and when he went out to the car he spat on the ground and not at the staff member. He apologised to the court. Judge Desmond Zaidan said the word "knacker" should not be used to describe anyone, nor should "faggot".

Two wrongs don't make a right, he said. I'll impose three months to run in line with his release date on April 24.
By Sankalp Phartiyal

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Taiwan's Wistron Corp plans to assemble printed circuit boards (PCBs) for iPhones at its new plant in southern India, two sources said, highlighting Apple Inc's push to expand manufacturing in the world's second-biggest smartphone market.

The local assembly of PCBs by Wistron's India unit will be a first for the contract manufacturer, which began making Apple's low-priced SE model in the southern tech hub of Bengaluru in 2017. It currently assembles the 6S and 7 iPhone models there as well.

A PCB is a bed for key components such as processors, memory and wireless chip sets that are the heart of an electronic device. Once assembled, or populated with components, PCBs account for about half the cost of a smartphone.

Wistron's second iPhone plant, some 65 km (40 miles) from Bengaluru, is expected to become operational by April, the sources said, adding that it will make iPhone 7 and 8 models, some of which will be exported.

The facility will be capable of producing up to 8 million smartphones annually, they said.

The plan is part of Wistron's 30 billion rupee ($422.12 million) investment proposal submitted to the Karnataka state government in 2018.

Wistron's bigger rival Foxconn, which began making iPhone XR models in India last year, already assembles PCBs for those devices locally.

The deepening of PCB assembly in India will help Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple save on import taxes on smartphone components, levied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to boost local manufacturing and create new jobs.

On Saturday, India said in its federal budget that it will from April begin taxing imports of populated PCBs at a higher 20%, from the previous rate of 10%.

Apple declined to comment. Wistron did not respond to a request for comment.

Apple, which still makes most of its iPhones in China, has gradually moved to expand production in other countries as Washington and Beijing wage a disruptive battle over trade and technology.

Story continues

In India, a market with 1.1 billion wireless connections and about 480 million smartphones, Apple's premium devices have proven too costly for many consumers. The company's market share by shipment volumes is just over 1%, though it was among the fastest growing smartphone brands in India in the quarter to Dec. 2019, according to market researcher Counterpoint.

India remains largely dependent on China for supplies of smartphone parts such as cells, display panels, camera modules and printed circuit boards.

The coronavirus outbreak in China could cause a delay in Wistron and Apple's plans for India, one of the sources said.

The epidemic, which has killed more than 250 so far, threatens to disrupt India's production of smartphones if it continues to spread, Reuters reported previously.

(Editing by Jonathan Weber and Jacqueline Wong)
The government said in Parliament on Tuesday that no decision has been taken as of now to prepare a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC). This is the first time such an admission has ben made in Parliament and it comes against the backdrop of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, and the proposed NRC.

It also claimed that when data for National Population Register (NPR) is collected between April and September, no documents will be sought nor any verification be carried out to identify individuals whose citizenship is in doubt.

Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha: Till now, the government has not taken any decision to prepare the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) at the national level.

Some of the protests against the CAA, which fast-tracks Indian citizenship for non-Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014, arise from fears that the act will used in tandem with the proposed NRC.

A similar exercise in Assam last year excluded 1.9 million people, both Hindus and Muslims. Subsequently, in the run-up to the 2019 elections, several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including current home minister Amit Shah, said the NRC would be implemented in tandem with CAA.

After the elections, President Ram Nath Kovind too, on June 20, 2019, said the Narendra Modi government had decided to implement the process of NRC on a priority basis. Kovind had said illegal infiltrators posed a major threat to Indias internal security and this was leading to social imbalance in many parts of the country as well as putting huge pressure on limited livelihood opportunities.

However, both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the home ministry said in December that there is no plan for a nationwide NRC.

Several opposition parties had given notices in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seeking a debate and also answers on CAA, NRC and the NPR on Monday.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) , Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) gave notices under Rule 267 to adjourn all other business and sought a discussion on the CAA, NPR and NRC.

Opponents of the amended law say it is discriminatory and unconstitutional as it leaves out Muslims and links faith to citizenship in a secular country. Protests against the law continue in many parts of the country. There have also been protests against the ongoing NPR exercise.

NPR is a comprehensive biometric database of all usual residents in India as opposed to the Census, which is a database of households. It has generated controversy with the opposition parties contending that the exercise is linked to the NRC and aimed at identifying undocumented immigrants. The government has in the past described NPR as the first step towards a nationwide NRC. It now maintains that there is no link between the two.

On a query related to NPR, Rai said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday: The NPR updation will be undertaken through house-to-house enumeration for collection of specified particulars relating to each family and individual. The respondent has to provide the information true to the best of his knowledge and belief.

Rai also made it clear that no document will be collected during the updation of NPR and providing the Aadhaar number during the exercise is voluntary.

The government is already in discussion with the states having concerns with regard to the preparation of the NPR. The demographic and other particulars of each family and individual are to be updated/collected during the exercise of updation of NPR. Rai added that an instruction manual for updation of NPR 2020 for enumerators and supervisors has been prepared and people will have to provide information for the NPR to the best of their knowledge and belief.

The minister also said that no verification will be done to identify individuals whose citizenship is doubtful.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has termed the NPR a dangerous game, which seeks birth details and residential proof of parents. She has said it is a precursor to the NRC.

The Kerala government has announced that it will implement the Census exercise but will not cooperate with the NPR.

The Union government also denied on Tuesday the construction of any detention camps in Assam exclusively to detain those who do not have documents proving their citizenship under the National Register of Citizens. Interestingly, the ministry of home affairs has called the detention centres in Assam as holding centres in its reply in Parliament. Rai informed Parliament that 1,381 detainees have been in holding centres for the past three years in Assam after they were declared foreigners by foreigners tribunals.

The MHA also informed Parliament on Tuesday that 21,408 foreigners had been granted Indian citizenship since 2010.
A Georgia family is dealing with unimaginable circumstances after all three of their sons were diagnosed with the same type of cancer.

Tristen Rush was just four weeks old when his parents, Aaron and Angie Rush, learned that he was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma in 2015, according to a GoFundMe page set up by Aarons mom Jeanne Rush on the familys behalf.

But that was only the beginning of what was to come for the Rush family, as the Marietta parents welcomed two more boys after that year  Caison in 2017 and Carter in 2019  and both were also diagnosed with the eye cancer, which forms in the retina during early childhood.

Aaron and Angie are now dealing with the astronomical medical expenses that come with treating three children battling cancer while their family continues to push for more funding for childhood cancer research.

Video: 8-Year-Old Cancer Patient Fulfills Dream of Working at Taco Bell

[More funding] would lead to less side effects, possibly less time for kids being in the hospital and more time for them to be kids, Angie told NBC affiliate WTHR. Just more effective treatment, so they can get better.

After Tristen was diagnosed in 2015, Aaron and Angie spent their days taking their son to the Childrens Hospital of Atlanta for monthly chemotherapy treatments, Evaluations Under Anesthesia (EUA), MRIs, and laser treatments, according to the GoFundMe.

Carter and Caison Rush | GoFundMe

RELATED: Parents Lose Their Loving Twin Toddlers to Cancer 18 Months Apart: They Were Just Amazing

Two years later, they welcomed Caison but the baby was born with Retinoblastoma, which prompted the cycle of treatments, EUAs and MRIs to begin again, the GoFundMe stated.

Unfortunately, things only got worse this month when Carter, who was born cancer-free in July 2019, learned that he also had two tumors in his eyes.

They are about to embark on this cancer journey for the third time, Jeanne wrote on the GoFundMe page. Carter will begin 6 months of chemotherapy and continued laser treatments to keep the tumors at bay.

Story continues

With the third diagnosis, the family spoke to doctors and learned that the Retinoblastoma can be hereditary, especially since Angie lost her left eye as an infant, WTHR reported.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, researchers estimate that one-third of all retinoblastoma diagnoses are hereditary and caused by mutations in the RB1 gene, which is a tumor suppressor gene. Though rare, Retinoblastoma is often curable when diagnosed early and treated promptly.

The dangers are that the tumors can completely cover the eye in which you would have to remove your eye because you dont want the cancer to spread, Angie told the outlet.

RELATED VIDEO: Cookies for Kids Cancer Funds Cancer Treatments by Encouraging Everyone to Be a Good Cookie

To cope with medical expenses, the Rush family has sold their home and moved in with relatives to save money, according to the GoFundMe. Still, that hasnt prevented some financial struggles, including meeting their insurance deductible just one month into the new year, WTHR reported.

Theyve met it every year for the last five years, Aarons mom, Jeanne, explained to the outlet. Theyve sold their home and moved in with Angies parents [to save money to pay for medical bills.]

Jeanne has also been traveling from her home in Crawfordsville, Indiana, to Atlanta to help the parents care for the boys, whose strength and courage she pointed out as admirable.

They are warriors, Jeanne explained to WTHR. I go with them to the hospital many times and they get IVs, they get drops in their eyes and they are just warriors.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLEs free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In addition to selling their house, the Rush family has been relying on the GoFundMe page for financial assistance. Since it was created on Jan. 14, the fundraiser has brought in over $10,000.

the unknowns of dealing with cancer are stressful enough without the added financial stress associated with the numerous doctor visits, hospital stays, and missed time from work, the page reads. Please keep this family in your prayers as they face each new challenge associated with childhood cancer head-on.

As Carter approaches his next chemotherapy treatment on Feb. 17  the second of six treatments  the Rush family is urging the federal government to allocate more from its cancer research budget towards pediatric cancer research. Currently, only 4 percent of the funds are allocated to pediatric cancer research.

But above all, theyre just feeling grateful that the treatments have not yet taken a major toll on Carters cheerful mood.

The fact that he is happy most of the time and hes just living his life is a wonderful blessing for him and us too, Angie told WTHR.
The outbreak of coronavirus in China has caused uncertainty among concerned operators in the Nigerian economy as oil prices continue to slide downward below the nations budget benchmark.

PREMIUM TIMES check at 11:40 a.m. on Tuesday morning showed Brent crude, the main international price, stood at $54.82 per barrel, up from about $54.45 on Monday.

Earlier in January, the face-off between the United States and Iran had forced prices above $70/barrel. The crisis followed diplomatic rows between both countries after U.S. airstrikes killed a top Iranian military commander, Qassem Soleimani.

However, oil prices slid into bear-market territory again on Tuesday, raising global investors concern that Chinas coronavirus will hurt the global economy. It is expected that the ripple effect of the virus will reduce demand for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

READ ALSO:

Reports from Beijing showed that there are prospects of canceled flights, closed international borders and uncertainties over operations of factories. This has created disruption in financial markets, sparking swings in stocks, bonds and commodities around the world.

China is the worlds biggest oil importer.

On Tuesday, a CNBC report claimed that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies are considering cutting their oil output by a further 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) due to the impact on oil demand from the coronavirus. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/03/opec-considering-further-500000-bpd-oil-output-cut-sources.html

The oil cartel is also considering holding a ministerial meeting on February 14 and 15, earlier than a current schedule for a meeting in March.

All of these developments may negatively impact the Nigerian economy, especially the nations budget performance.

Effects on Nigerian Economy

Last December, the Nigerian Senate passed the 2020 budget into law, approving N10.59 trillion as aggregate expenditure.

A breakdown of the budget figures showed that N560.4 billion was budgeted for statutory transfers, N4.84 trillion for recurrent expenditure, N2.46 trillion for capital expenditure and N2.72 trillion for debt servicing.

However, the fiscal deficit of the budget was put at N2.28 trillion while the deficit to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio was 1.52 per cent.

Most importantly, the two major key assumptions upon which the 2020 budget was premised are a crude oil production of 2.18 mbpd and oil price benchmark of $57.

The proposed cut in supply by OPEC and the slump in prices in the international oil market could worsen the nations fiscal concern for the year, with attendant effect on foreign exchange demand among local businesses.

On Monday, Brent crude closed 3.8% lower at $54.45 a barrel after being down more than 6 percent earlier in the day. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. price gauge, briefly traded below $50 a barrel for the first time in more than a year and settled down 2.8% at $50.11.

Representatives of OPEC and its allies are reportedly set to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday to debate possible action amid corona virus outbreak. The oil cartel could then make a decision to reduce output at a possible meeting next week, raising the fear of nations like Nigeria.

On Monday, JBC, an energy-consulting firm, cut its forecasts for Chinas oil consumption by one million barrels a day in February and March, amid signs refiners in the country have reduced their oil intake.

Nigeria slipped into recession in 2016 following a slump in oil prices and unrest in her oil-rich Niger Delta region. The nation would later recover from the economic recession in the second quarter of 2017 after oil prices appreciated and relative peace was restored in the delta region.

Last November, Action Aid Nigeria warned that set objectives for the 2020 proposal are unrealistic given the volatility in the global oil market and the increasing insecurity across the country. The social justice organisation also pointed out that the oil benchmark at $57, and the crude oil production of 2.18 barrels per day (bpd), are very unrealistic.
CHICAGO, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Century Aluminum Company (CENX) today announced its wholly-owned subsidiary, Norural Grundartangi ehf, has successfully achieved Aluminium Stewardship Initiative's (ASI) Performance Certification for its Grundartangi, Iceland operations, demonstrating our commitment to environmental, social and governance performance. The plants operations comprise an aluminum smelter and casthouse that use hydroelectric and geothermal energy.



The ASI Certification program was developed through an extensive multi-stakeholder consultation process and is the only comprehensive voluntary sustainability standard initiative for the aluminum value chain. The ASI Performance Standard defines environmental, social and governance principles and criteria, with the aim to address sustainability issues in the aluminum value chain. It sets out 59 criteria under the three sustainability pillars of Governance, Environment and Social, which address key issues such as biodiversity, Indigenous Peoples' rights, and greenhouse gas emissions. The independent, third-party audit of the Grundartangi facility was carried out by DNV GL.

Gunnar Gulaugsson, CEO of Norural Grundartangi ehf, noted the certifications confirmation of Centurys continuing commitment to responsible aluminum production: We are very proud to receive the ASI Performance Standard certification. It demonstrates our commitment to operate in a sustainable manner, focus on continuous improvement and respond to society's demand for responsible aluminum production in which the goal is to minimize environmental impact.

Dissemination of Company Information

Century intends to make future announcements regarding Company developments and financial performance through its website, www.centuryaluminum.com .

About Century Aluminum

Century Aluminum Company owns primary aluminum capacity in the United States and Iceland. Century's corporate offices are located in Chicago, IL.

Contact

Peter Trpkovski

(Investors and media)

312-696-3112
By Express News Service

DEHRADUN: A special POCSO court on Monday awarded 20 years of rigorous imprisonment to eight people apart from imposing Rs 10 lakh fine on a boarding school in the 2018 gangrape of a minor. Of the eight, three are minors and two happen to be women.

The survivor, the then 14-year-old student of a boarding school in Dehradun, was reportedly raped and got pregnant. Following this, the school administration made ger undergo an abortion. The director of the school was also involved in the incident.

Special POCSO judge Rama Pandey sentenced school principal Jitendra Kumar Sharma three years in prison, director Lata Gupta and administrative officer Deepak Malhotra and his wife Tannu to nine years in prison each. They were found guilty of covering up the crime to save the reputation of the school.

The court imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on the school management.

The main culprit, Sarabjeet who raped the minor was put behind the bars for 20 years. The court also ordered the three minors to surrender before the juvenile court. Sarabjeet and the three others had taken the minor student, who stayed in the school hostel, to the bushes and gang-raped her in August 2018.

The case has rocked the state as well as the nation along with tainting the reputation of boarding schools in Dehradun.
A consortium of buyers, including mall owners Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners, is bidding $81 million for Forever 21, the ubiquitous mall staple that filed for bankruptcy protection in September.

Simon and Brookfield are Forever 21's biggest landlords. The other bidder is Authentic Brands Group, which has acquired the licensing rights to other troubled retailers like Barneys New York.

In 2016, Simon and mall owner General Growth Properties, which is now owned by Brookfield Property Partners, teamed up to save struggling teen apparel retailer Aeropostale, which was in bankruptcy. Simon's Chairman and CEO David Simon told investors during an earnings call last year that Simon was looking at other potential bankrupt retailers.

Mark Hunter, managing director leading CBRE's mall management and leasing business in the Americas, says that Simon and others are trying to keep occupancy high at their malls. They don't want to trigger a clause that lets other retailers at the shopping center ask for a lower rent or eventually get out of a lease. Still, Simon and others remain "strategic" regarding which retailer to buy.

Forever 21, based in Los Angeles, is a privately held company founded by the Chang family. It joined a rapidly growing list of retailers that have fallen victim to changing shopping behaviors and preferences among teens who have increasingly turned away from malls in favor of online brands, or thrift stores.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Forever 21's bankruptcy marked a dramatic fall for the retailer. The company was founded in 1984 and, along with other fast-fashion chains like H&M and Zara, rode a wave of popularity among young shoppers that took off in the mid-1990s. It had the market heft to win over customers from traditional stalwarts like Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle.

Their popularity grew during the Great Recession, when shoppers sought fashion bargains. But Forever 21 went on an aggressive expansion of stores just as shoppers were moving online. It has since closed hundreds of stores globally. As of the bankruptcy filing, it operated about 800 stores worldwide, including more than 500 stores in the U.S.

The retailer operates a store at Crossgates Mall in Guilderland.
The North Alabama mother who lost her children briefly after a false positive drug test did not know she had agreed to any sort of screening, according to advocates fighting on her behalf.

Rebecca Hernandez gave birth last week at Crestwood Medical Center and lost custody of her newborn and toddler after a drug test came back positive.

Kirsten Clark, representative of the Alabama Cohosh Collaborative, said staff at Crestwood Medical Center did not ask for permission to test Hernandez before running her urine through a quick screen for controlled substances. Hernandez, who had eaten poppy seeds right before her admission, tested positive on the initial screen, triggering a call to DHR.

Clark said Hernandez might have unknowingly signed a consent form when she entered the hospital. Crestwood Medical Center tests all mothers for drugs, according to policy documents provided to Al.com.

Crestwood was one of several hospitals that declined to participate a survey of drug testing policies conducted by Al.com and ProPublica in 2015. Results indicated that few hospitals in the state seek permission from mothers before initiating drug tests that can lead to loss of custody and even criminal charges. Alabama leads the nation in charging women with felonies for drug use during pregnancy, with hundreds of cases since 2012.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that pregnant women could not be involuntarily drug tested if the results could be used for criminal prosecution. Hernandez was not charged under Alabamas chemical endangerment law but did suffer several hours of separation from her child.

She suffered a lot of trauma from being separated from her child, Clark said. Especially because she is a breastfeeding mom.

Clark said her organization has since heard from other women who had false positive drug tests after birth.

What were hearing from other moms in the community is that a lot of moms dont know that theyre being screened, Clark said.

A spokeswoman from Crestwood did not answer specific questions about the case, but did give the following statement:

Crestwood Medical Center is committed to following the law and regulatory requirements as well as ensuring the health and safety of our patients. Our hospital also incorporates patient care practices that are established by credentialed members of our medical staff so as to further insure safe and quality care for all of our patients.
OKI Europe has showcased its revolutionary print solutions for the medical and healthcare sectors at the recently-concluded Arab Health Exhibition 2020.

The exhibition took place at Dubai World Trade Centre, from January 27 to 30, 2020, and received more than 105K visitors from 150+ countries.

During the exhibition, OKI exhibited the first in digital printer technology; combining high quality output of an LED printer with DICOM embedded software.

This allows the DICOM printers to talk directly with the medical imaging equipment, presenting many opportunities for printing high-quality, near-diagnostic images in High Definition mono and colour on a wide range of media.

Delegates who visited OKI Europe at Stand S3.F50 had the opportunity to preview a completely new innovation to revolutionise their medical imaging, as well as discover how customer satisfaction can be improved through personalised A4 and A3 patient leaflets and brochures.

They also learned how OKI devices save medical and healthcare businesses time and money in medical imaging and standard office printing. The stands visitors have seen live demonstrations of OKIs DICOM printers and medical printing solutions, which drew the crowds as these machines could also print 1.2 million banners.

The devices on display included OKIs ES6410DMe and the ES8431DMe A4/A3 respectively colour and mono printers which combines LED technology with embedded DICOM software, and the Pro9431DMe a versatile DICOM embedded printer.

OKI Europe delivers unbeatable accuracy and precision printing for the medical industry by removing the requirement for additional hardware that enables DICOM imaging and streamlining support through a single point of contact with a lower cost of ownership.

OKIs embedded DICOM solution provides superior "near" diagnostic image quality with DMe (DICOM Enhanced) and higher quality mono printing for x-ray and ultrasound with its DMe (DICOM enhanced) printers.

We were excited to receive high number of visitors at our stand who were interested in the revolutionary DICOM embedded OKI medical printers, said Carine Haddad, Health care Manager - MEIT, OKI Europe Ltd.

We showed how OKI DICOM printers are the machines that serve both healthcare staff and patients with all aspects of medical printing; whether the high quality, near-diagnostic images doctors can get immediately without connecting their medical machines to external software or hardware, besides the sharp or clear images and reports that patients can keep. OKI always enables you to print the best of yourself! -- Tradearabia News Service
Renewable energys standing in the nations electricity sector may eclipse coals as soon as next year.

Led by solar and wind, renewable generation could produce as much as 21.6 percent of the nations electricity by 2021  beating out coal at 20.8 percent, according to new projections published last month by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In the meantime, coal consumption will decrease another 11 percent this year, the federal data agency predicted.

Thats not a surprise, University of Wyoming economist Rob Godby said in response to the data agencys latest forecasts. While a lot of people still arent aware of it, renewables are really the cheapest and most promising form of new energy generation in most places.

Its all part of the same story  coal has become less competitive with alternative forms of generation, those being natural gas and renewables, Godby added.

The newest forecasts could spell trouble for Wyoming, the largest coal producer in the nation. But several industry insiders also said the rapidity of the shift toward renewable energy could catalyze additional economic opportunities for the Equality State, if the state acts fast.

Part of reason behind renewable energys ascent into the upper echelons of the countrys energy market comes down to cost.

The price of wind and solar energy generation has declined rather dramatically in the past decade. Technological advancements and manufacturing improvements cut wind installation costs by one-third between 2010 and 2016, according to the Energy Information Administration. And the average cost of solar photovoltaic generators also dropped 37 percent between 2013 and 2017.

The real price decline in solar is basically (due to) economies of scale, said Bruce Parkinson, a University of Wyoming professor and expert on solar energy.

Parkinson notes that factories that manufacture parts for photovoltaic systems have sprouted up around the world, especially in China. The economies of scale provided by the growth in large facilities has driven prices of solar generation down.

The price (of solar) is just going to continue to go down. Its getting close to being as low as it can go, Parkinson said.

Meanwhile, electricity demand has remained static, allowing renewables to eat into coals share of the energy market.

Whats more, recent deadlines to cash in on renewable energy subsidies extended by the federal government have also prompted an uptick in wind and solar development nationwide.

In fact, one such tax break for wind energy projects was even extended late last year. If developers now launch construction in 2020 and bring a project online by 2021, they can qualify for the federal wind production tax credit.

Despite having a prime landscape for wind and solar facilities, Wyoming is still a relatively small contributor to the renewable energy market. Investments in renewable energy often face public scrutiny here given the states fidelity to coal and oil and gas producers.

But to Dennis Wamsted, an analyst and editor at energy transition think tank Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, its imperative that state leaders acknowledge and respond to the shift.

You actually need to plan for this transition, Wamsted said. You cannot pretend like this transition is not going to occur. Renewables and natural gas, they are both cheaper than coal.

Economics aside, public pressure for corporations and utilities to pivot to renewable energy sources in light of human-driven climate change has also mounted in recent years. Companies and lawmakers have responded in kind by setting mandates for increasing clean energy or lowering emissions.

That puts coal in a tough place.

The Energy Information Administration reported late last year that energy-related activity contributed 5.27 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in 2018, a nearly 3 percent increase from 2017. Coal contributed to 24 percent of carbon dioxide emissions among the various energy sources that year. Natural gas contributed even more: 31 percent.

Though constructing wind and solar energy systems also contribute some greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere, emission levels are still less than coal and natural gas.

These transitions are hard; there is no doubt about it, Wamsted said. But saying, Something is hard and then saying, Well, I should ignore it  thats just a dereliction of duty.

Proponents of the renewable energy source point to solar technologys increasing efficiency and cost-effectiveness, not to mention its potential tax and job contributions for the state. Some new solar and wind developments in Wyoming could be just around the corner, though.

Energy firm Raven Solar LLC (a part of Energy of Utah) submitted an application last month to construct and operate a new fleet of solar panels on 400 acres of public land near Rock Springs.

The solar farm would provide 66 megawatts of generating capacity. The proposed Raven Solar Energy Project is in a 30-day scoping period, a time when the Bureau of Land Management reviews the potential land use impacts of the new venture.

In addition, a new 504-megawatt wind farm, proposed recently by Houston-based renewable energy firm ConnectGen, could come online in southeast Albany County as soon as 2022.

The Rail Tie Wind Project would flaunt upward of 151 wind turbines on both sides of Highway 287 just outside Tie Siding. Construction could start in the fall of 2021, if the project meets necessary federal and state regulations.

Follow the latest on Wyomings energy industry at @camillereports

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The government on Monday said four states of Delhi, West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana have not yet implemented the ambitious Ayushman Bharat Yojana due to which the poor in these states are unable to derive benefits of comprehensive healthcare facilities.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan said he has personally talked to chief ministers and health ministers of these states and urged them to implement the scheme to help benefit the poor.

He, however, said no action has been taken against any state not joining the scheme as India has a federal system.

"There are four states which have not joined this scheme. Besides Delhi, these are West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana," he informed the Rajya Sabha during Question Hour.

"Our government has requested these states and I have written and urged the chief ministers and health ministers of these states, after meeting them personally, to implement the scheme, as the poor in states like Delhi are bereft of benefits of the healthcare Ayushman scheme.

"We will keep on insisting. We again appeal to these four states to join the scheme in the larger interest of healthcare. This will also help reduce their burden as the central government shares the burden with state governments in the scheme," he said.

"We have a federal system. We cannot take any action against states. We can try and persuade them to join then scheme and we are trying that," Vardhan said.

To a question on whether the government was considering to implement the scheme in Delhi through the local Municipal Corporation, the minister said there is no such talk yet but the government will find whether it is technically possible.

"Mechanism has been developed to implement the scheme in consultation with state governments. There is no discussion yet to implement the scheme bypassing states and implement it through municipal corporations. We can check whether it is technically possible," he said.

While the Aam Aadmi Party has its government in Delhi, the BJP is in power in the MCD in Delhi. The three other states which have not yet joined the scheme are also non-BJP ruled states.

The minister also informed the House that the government is also using technology, including artificial intelligence, to detect fraud or negligence in various hospitals.

Vardhan said as per the 2011 list, there are a total of 10.74 crore families who are potential beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat scheme and the allocation of funds has been done on the basis of number of beneficiaries in each state.

"There is need for more proactive approach to help increase the beneficiaries. As many as 80 lakh people have been hospitalised under the scheme," he said.

The central government has held discussions with the highest levels in state governments and urged them to implement the scheme.

The Ayushman Bharat Yojana comprises two components namely - Provision of Comprehensive Primary Healthcare through Ayushman Bharat - Health and Wellness Centers (AB- HWC), and Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB- PMJAY).

In response to another question, the minister said enough resources have been allotted under the scheme and the government has already created 29,650 wellness centres and the target of making 40,000 wellness centres by end of this year has been set and over 1.5 lakh such centres by 2022.

The health minister said all states are benefiting under the scheme and the Ayushman scheme has been lauded the world over, including by the WHO.

"That is why we are keen that all states, including these four should join the scheme," he said.

Vardhan said the central government has worked pro- actively with states and 12.21 crore health cards have been made across the country. He said anyone can get a health card by registering at call centres.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Russian President Vladimir Putins visit to China is still planned for the latter half of 2020, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.



The spokesman noted that the year had just begun, "so it is too early to discuss any changes to the presidents plans."

"[Putins] visit [to China] was outlined for the latter half of the year, and this visit is on the agenda," Peskov said, answering a question on whether the coronavirus outbreak has affected the Russian leaders plans to visit China this year, TASS reported.

Deputy Director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University Andrey Karneev, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that Putin didn't cancel his visit to China due for two reasons.

"First of all, some experts predict that the coronavirus outbreak may reach its peak in mid-February, after which the situation will gradually move towards normalization. Most experts say that sufficient quantities of the vaccine can be produced in three months at the latest or the virus will weaken," he said, explaining that the visit to China will be completely safe by the second half of the year.



"Based on the nature of the relations between our countries, the visits of top leaders should not be postponed. And this is the second meaning of the statement - the postponement of the presidents visit will be psychologically accepted as confirmation of some apocalyptic development of events," Andrei Karneev revealed the second reason.
RESTON, Va., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Leidos (NYSE:LDOS), a FORTUNE 500 science and technology leader, has been awarded a prime contract by the General Services Administration in support of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) to provide network operations and general IT maintenance services to the command's systems directorate. The single award, hybrid firm-fixed price time and material contract has a one-year base period of performance followed by four one-year option periods and a final six month option period, at an approximate value of more than $75 million, if all options are exercised. Work will be performed at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.

Under the contract, Leidos will help ensure secure, reliable, and uninterrupted availability of the command's IP networks and associated capabilities. Key services to be provided include information transport, network distribution and monitoring, computing services, application services, technical management, and cybersecurity. Additionally, Leidos will support the Combatant Command (COCOM) Mission Service category with service desk and technical management functions.

"Leidos is proud to keep NORAD and USNORTHCOM warfighters connected as they defend citizens and interests in North America," said Daniel Voce, Leidos senior vice president, Enterprise Cyber and Solutions. "Our consummate past performance in global network operations and sustainment will serve the combatant command well in keeping watch and outpacing threats should they arise."

About Leidos



Leidos is a Fortune 500 information technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets. The company's 36,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Va., Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $10.19 billion for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2018. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.



Statements in this announcement, other than historical data and information, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be very different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 28, 2018, and other such filings that Leidos makes with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.

SOURCE Leidos

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 22:55:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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HONG KONG, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The spokesperson of the Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Tuesday refuted wrong remarks on Hong Kong reportedly made by former governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten and urged him to immediately stop using any excuse to meddle in Hong Kong affairs.

The affairs of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, are purely China's internal affairs, The spokesperson said, urging Patten to put himself in the right position and respect the facts.

Since Hong Kong's return to the motherland in 1997, the implementation of the policies of "one country, two systems," "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong," and a high degree of autonomy has achieved universally recognized success.

However, Patten and some others, still indulging in the dream of colonialism, often make unwarranted remarks and meddle in Hong Kong affairs in an attempt to contradict history, facts and justice, the spokesperson pointed out.

What they did have been condemned and spurned by all the Chinese people including Hong Kong compatriots, the spokesperson added.

"Hong Kong is China's Hong Kong and no external forces shall be allowed to dictate. We solemnly warn the likes of Chris Patten against daydreaming about colonialism," the spokesperson said.
The US said Tuesday India must move towards defence systems that are interoperable with those deployed by its security partners.

"It is critical that India moves toward systems, not just weapons, that are effective, agile, and resilient," US Ambassador Kenneth Juster told reporters ahead of a five-day DefExpo which begins here on Wednesday.

"We believe that India must ultimately move toward systems that are interoperable with the equipment and networks of its security partners," he said.

The Ambassador said the potential for industry partnership between India and the US on state-of-the-art defence is "enormous".

He said along the pathway to a deeper industry-to-industry relationship "there are, of course, barriers that we must overcome".

"It is our goal to identify obstacles to enhancing industry-to-industry cooperation and formulate solutions in concert with the government of India as well as the US and Indian industry, so that we can build a closer defence relationship," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Five people evacuated from Chinas coronavirus-hit Wuhan city have been taken from the Indian Armys quarantine facility in Haryana to a military hospital in the Capital after developing cough and cold.

More than 600 people were brought back from Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in Hubei province, over the weekend and moved to the two quarantine facilities set up by the army in Haryanas Manesar and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Chawla Camp.

They were shifted to the armys Base Hospital after showing symptoms of cough and cold. The symptoms of the coronavirus infection start with fever, dry cough followed by breathing problems, according to doctors.

Officials said the samples collected from them were sent for various tests to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi.

We have received test result of one person and it is negative, an official said, according to news agency PTI.

Kerala on Monday reported another case of the coronavirus from Kasaragod taking the total number of the affected in the country to three as the state government declared novel virus epidemic as state calamity.

Health officials said like the other two patients, the latest is also a medical student who returned to India in the last week of January from Wuhan and that all the three travelled back together from China.

The death toll in the coronavirus epidemic has climbed to 425 and the total number of infected shot up to more than 20,000.
The evidence points in the direction of the president inviting Ukraine to engage in the corrupt acts of investigating a US political opponent, House manager Adam Schiff told the U.S. Senate about a thousand times last week.

A master dissembler, Schiff said whatever he had to in his effort to remove President Trump from office. However shameful, that was his job. The media had no excuse for enabling him. Those old enough to remember the Clinton years know what corrupt acts by a sitting president really smell like.

In 1997, the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs chaired by Sen. Fred Thompson laid out in broad terms the scope of corruption that President Bill Clinton orchestrated:

The president and his aides demeaned the offices of the president and vice president, took advantage of minority groups, pulled down all the barriers that would normally be in place to keep out illegal contributions, pressured policy makers, and left themselves open to strong suspicion that they were selling not only access to high-ranking officials, but policy as well. Millions of dollars were raised in illegal contributions, much of it from foreign sources.

Johnny Chung described the state of affairs a bit more colorfully. The White House is like a subway, he told the Thompson committee. You have to put in coins to open the gates. Chung admitted to funneling $100,000 from the Chinese Military to the Democratic National Committee.

In the runup to the 1996 election, the Clintons needed every dollar they could extort to rebound from their own scandalous missteps and the Democratic Partys drubbing in the 1994 midterms.

I could cite a score of specific outrages during that campaign, but I will concentrate on one that, as Schiff was fond of saying, endangered U.S. national security. By comparison, anything the U.S. or the Ukraine suffered as a result of the celebrated funding pause was a trifling inconvenience.

Here are a few of the other, lesser outrages during that election cycle:

In February 1996, Clinton met with with Chinese arms dealer Wang Jun, a meeting greased by a $50,000 donation, a meeting even Clinton would admit was clearly inappropriate but only after Wang Juns company was caught flooding Californias inner cities with illegal semi-automatic weapons.

In April 1996 Clinton sent embattled Commerce Secretary Ron Brown to Croatia to broker a sweetheart deal between the neo-Fascists who ran that country and the Enron Corporation.

In April 1996, the Clinton White House sabotaged the investigation into the inexplicable USAF plane crash that killed Brown and 34 others.

In July 1996, the White House orchestrated a cover-up of the accidental missile strike on TWA Flight 800 that killed 230.

In September 1996 Clinton unilaterally declared a new 1.7 million-acre national monument in southern Utah, in the process handing his patrons, the Riady family of Indonesia, a monopoly on the worlds supply of low-sulfur coal.

Now for the bad stuff. In February 1996, a Chinese Long March 3B rocket carrying a Loral-built Intelsat 708 satellite crashed just after liftoff and killed or injured at least sixty people in a nearby village.

The Pentagon welcomed the news. Just a few months earlier, a Chinese military officer had warned American ambassador Chas Freeman, If you hit us now, we can hit back. So you will not make those threats [about Taiwan].

American technical advice was making Chinese missile rattling more than an empty threat. And yet in their relentless drive to raise money, the Clintons were fully prepared to broker that advice.

A month after the Long Marchs failure, Clinton signed off on a decision memorandum that countered the State Department recommendations, voided Pentagon veto power, and awarded authority over satellite-export licensing to the deeply compromised Ron Brown at Commerce. Said an attached memo, Industry should like the fact that they will deal with the more user friendly Commerce system.

Soon after the Long March failure Loral CEO Bernard Schwartz dispatched a review team to China to assess the damage and suggest refinements. Schwartz paid for the privilege. In the 1996 cycle he gave $632,000 to the presidents reelection effort and emerged as the single largest donor to the Democratic Party.

A House Select Committee on National Security would later describe Schwartzs actions as an unlicensed defense service for the PRC that resulted in the improvement of the reliability of the PRCs military rockets and ballistic missiles.

So serious was the offense that in 1998 the Criminal Division of the Justice Department launched an investigation. Incredibly, while the investigation was in process, Sandy Berger, Clinton fixer and national security advisor, sent a memo to the president urging him to waive the legislative restriction on the export to China of the communications satellites and related equipment for the Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) Chinasat 8 project.

This waiver would present a huge problem for the prosecution. Berger admitted as much: Justice believes that a jury would not convict once it learned that the president had found SS/Ls Chinasat 8 project to be in the national interest.

But Berger was not about to let that stop him: We will take the firm position that this waiver does not exonerate or in any way prejudge SS/L with respect to its prior unauthorized transfers to China. Berger was blowing smoke, and he knew it. A waiver would make prosecution all but impossible.

The president could only issue a waiver, however, if it served Americas national interest. Berger made a comically specious case that it did, arguing satellite technology would give remote Chinese villagers access to people and ideas in democratic societies.

For its part, Loral had no greater cause than its own bottom line. If a decision is not forthcoming in the next day or so, we stand to lose the contract, Loral lobbyist Thomas Ross wrote Berger. In fact, even if the decision is favorable, we will lose substantial amounts of money with each passing day.

So much for the national interest. Ross then added the kicker, sure to win the presidents heart. Bernard Schwartz had intended to raise this issue with you at the Blair dinner, but missed you in the crowd. Schwartz knew he had a friend in the White House. The president approved the waiver, and the prosecution came to naught.

Democrats like Jerry Nadler and Nancy Pelosi were in Congress for all of this. Schiff was there for the tail end. If they were really concerned about acts that endangered U.S. national security they would have moved to impeach the traitor themselves.

Jack Cashills new novel, The Hunt, a political thriller co-authored with Mike McMullen, is widely available. Signed first editions can be had at www.TheHuntBook.com.
Every now and again, a single human has an impact far beyond his lifespan. Marx was one. Donald Trump will be another.

We have been living in the shadow of Marx's corpse since his death almost 137 years ago. This is despite the fact that socialist economics has been debunked, and Marxist political experiments have been an unmitigated disaster. Yet, like a continually adapting virus, Marxist ideologues have infected every area of knowledge. Consequently, Marx-inspired dogma informs the politics of the Left, the hermeneutics of academia, Common Core's woke "bootcamp for the global economy," rabid feminism, justification for bureaucratic intervention, revenge plots against the traditional Western canon, revisionist history, the undermining of individual freedom in favor of "victim" groups, and now the deconstruction of human nature itself.

Worse has been the recent liaison of the Left with the globalist Right, represented by the likes of George Soros, the Bush dynasty, the clepto-Clintons, RINOS, and "Manchurian candidate" Bloomberg (invested to the eyeballs in China). As NeverTrump Bill Kristol says, "We're all Democrats now." Marxism was an international movement from its inception.

Yet, in merely three years, Donald Trump has felled the Marxist Goliath. While lowering taxes and pruning the overgrown administration, he has raised up the "downtrodden." The poor are finding jobs and getting off food stamps. Black American employment has never been so high. Unemployment has rarely been so low. Those companies who sold out to globalism are returning to the USA. The economy is booming.

Donald Trump has exposed the corruption of unelected bureaucrats and depraved politicians (an inevitable outcome of socialist regimes). He has not feathered his own nest by propping up a foundation to camouflage grand theft, and he abstains from collecting the salary he's entitled to as president  hardly the action of a dictator! Patriotism is more important to him than siding with one class against another, as the Left does. And he does not believe that God is the opiate of the masses, which Marx and Lenin claimed.

He sees the state as the protector of last resort for its citizens, not as the instrument of oppression, as Marx accused. Yet, under communism, the state became the greatest source of terror to its people, from the Soviet Union to China. And let's not forget the "socialism" in Hitler's National Socialism  and its millions of victims! Unelected bureaucrats remain abusers of power in local, national and global arenas  under the pretext of serving the people. What hypocrisy. They serve themselves!

Now we understand why the Left hates Donald Trump. He's put a stake through Marxism. And the Left knows it's fighting for its life. It will ultimately lose, but the battle is far from over. The enemy congests within institutions of power like an overgrowth of candida. No wonder the body politic is suffering chronic inflammation!

Donald Trump is the new broom of the New Conservatism. Unlike the Left, he does not seek to remake society through an endless revolution of radical transformations. His broom is to sweep the Republic's Augean stables, to crop the pile-up of regulations and cauterize the deformed ideologies that have mushroomed inside the morbid Marxian corpse.

A good cleaning and decontamination will unveil the solid bones of the Republic and its supreme Constitution  one of the most illustrious documents ever written. The venerable conservative thinkers of the first half of the twentieth century, ignored by the Left, will return and give us light. The New Conservatism is founded on the primacy of hearth and home, which secure the family as the fundamental unit of society. Our first human bonds are those between parents and children. The family deserves to be revered, not desecrated by feminist rants against men, LGBT lobbies, murdering the unborn, and perpetuating childish dependence through the Nanny State.

Trust must be restored. It is the organic glue that holds a community together. Marx destroyed trust, and the state stepped in to compel unity by the threat of force. The Rule of Law will be restored, and all citizens should speak English and be educated to respect the American way of life and its history. We are the taxpayers. We have the power to do it in partnership with the president. The Left has turned the state into a racket for extorting citizens, and it's about time we supported Donald Trump in holding its feet to the fire. Clearly, there is an enormous amount of work to be done in dealing with corruption, the public dishonesty of the Left's MSM, and the urgent necessity to defang leftists' poisonous ideology.

Marx viewed tradition with utter contempt. He believed that his "scientific method" had unlocked the key to the perpetual political engineering of society. Perhaps he, and his ideological offspring, ought to have taken warning from the Father of the Scientific Method itself, Rene Descartes. Descartes admonished against the "claim of any private individual to reform a state by altering everything, and by overturning it throughout" (quoted in The History of Political Philosophy, edited by Leo Strauss and Joseph Copley, pp. 712-713).

Donald Trump will be forever remembered. He proved, in real time, that Marxism is no more than "fake news," and he is leading us into an American Renaissance.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr.
Amid the rising death toll due to coronavirus in China, president of Noida Medical Association, Anup Khanna has expressed helplessness over not being able to send masks for his son's family residing in Hong Kong.

Speaking to ANI, Khanna said, "I am worried about my son who is in Hong Kong with his family. We tried to send masks for them but the courier has returned it to us. We also tried to send them by airline but got to know that the export of any medical equipment has been banned."

"I have requested BJP MLA from Noida, Pankaj Singh and he assured me a solution," Khanna said.

According to Khanna, he also requested the central government to allow Indian families to send at least 10 masks to Hong Kong in a month.

Due to an epidemic breakout in China, the demand for masks has been increased.

In India, personal protection equipment including N95 masks has been prohibited by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) since January 31, 2020.

"DGFT vide Notification No. 44/2015-20 dated 31.01.2020 has prohibited the export of Personal Protection Equipments including Clothing and Masks with immediate effect," a tweet of DGFT read.

The confirmed cases of coronavirus in China have now surged past 20,000.

The virus originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year and has since spread to various cities around the world.

Several countries including India have sped up the evacuation process after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global health crisis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The deadly coronavirus could slash global oil demand growth by 40 per cent this year, BP has warned.

Finance chief Brian Gilvary, said between 300,000 and 500,000 barrels a day were at risk.

The oil giant expected demand to grow by 1.2m barrels a day this year. But it is feared the virus could have a devastating impact, particularly on China, the world's largest importer of crude oil.

Fuel retailers have come under fire for hiking prices at the pumps, despite a fall in wholesale costs

Gilvary said BP is keeping a close eye on whether the Opec oil-producing cartel and allies such as Russia attempt to push up prices by cutting production.

Opec and Russia are already discussing emergency cuts. Oil was trading at $55 a barrel last night.

Meanwhile fuel retailers have come under fire for hiking prices at the pumps, despite a fall in wholesale costs.

Drivers saw the price of a litre of petrol and diesel rise almost a penny last month.

But wholesale prices fell 4.2p and 7.5p respectively.

The average price of unleaded is 127.6p, and just over 132p for diesel.

Breakdown recovery group the RAC said retailers were 'very quick to protect themselves' by hiking prices after heightening tensions between Iran and the US but when the cost of oil fell sharply as the virus hit demand, prices at the pumps continued to go up.

RAC spokesman Simon Williams said 'drivers are at the mercy of fuel retailers and this means they lose out on getting a fair deal'.
In the first national study of its size, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Health, Department of Nursing, have found that male and female nurses are at higher risk of suicide than the general population. Results of the longitudinal study were published in the February 3, 2020 online edition of WORLDviews on Evidence Based-Nursing.

Using the 2005-2016 National Violent Death Reporting System dataset from the Centers for Disease Control, we found that male and female nurses are at a higher risk for suicide, confirming our previous studies. Female nurses have been at greater risk since 2005 and males since 2011. Unexpectedly, the data does not reflect a rise in suicide, but rather that nurse suicide has been unaddressed for years." Judy Davidson, DNP, RN, senior author, research scientist at UC San Diego

The World Health Organization reports that one person dies every 40 seconds by suicide. It is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, occurring at a rate of 13 per 100,000 persons. While overall mortality rates are decreasing in the US, the suicide rate is rising.

Davidson and colleagues found that female nurse suicide rates from 2005 to 2016 were significantly higher (10 per 100,000) than the general female population (7 per 100,000). Similarly, male nurses (33 per 100,000) were higher than the general male population (27 per 100,000) for the same period.

"Opioids and benzodiazepines were the most commonly used method of suicide in females, indicating a need to further support nurses with pain management and mental health issues," said co-author Sidney Zisook, MD, professor of psychiatry, UC San Diego School of Medicine. "The use of firearms was most common in male nurses, and rising in female nurses. Given these results, suicide prevention programs are needed."

UC San Diego has successfully tested a suicide prevention program called the Healer Education Assessment and Referral (HEAR) program. HEAR provides education about risk factors and proactive screening focused on identifying, supporting and referring clinicians for untreated depression and/or suicide risk. HEAR has been acclaimed as a best practice in suicide prevention by the American Medical Association.

Also published in the same issue of WORLDviews on Evidence Based-Nursing is a paper describing the sustainability of the HEAR program.

"To achieve success, suicide prevention programs for nurses should be anonymous and have a proactive screening process," said lead author Rachael Accardi, LMFT, HEAR therapist. "When a distressing event occurs in the hospital or clinic environment, an evaluation team should be deployed to access any psychologic needs. This is best achieved through tight organizational connections among the hospital's experience, risk management and HR teams, who can flag an event and then deploy confidential resources."

Since 2009, more than 500 HEAR referrals have been made for clinicians to mental health professionals. Approximately 40 nurses per year, many in crisis, have communicated with counselors, often anonymously through the website and always confidentially by email, phone or in person.

"It is time to take urgent action to protect our nursing workforce. The HEAR program is ready for replication at the national level to address this newly recognized risk among nurses," said Davidson, who co-chairs a task force for the American Nurses Association to address nurse suicide. "The HEAR program can be complemented with tested cognitive-based therapy resiliency skills building for maximum effect."
Bucharest, Feb 4 /Agerpres/ - The National Weather Administration (ANM) issued a code orange warning for heavy showers valid through 23:00hrs in nine northern and western counties and two code yellow warnings for snow and blowing snow for more than half of Romania.

According to the meteorologists, on Tuesday between 15:00hrs-23:00hrs, in the mountain areas of the counties of Cluj, Salaj, Bihor, Arad, Timis, Hunedoara, Maramures, Bistrita-Nasaud and Caras-Severin a code orange for heavy showers of up to 40-50 l/sq.m. will be in place.

At the same time, February 4 from 13:00hrs - February 5, 08:00hrs, during the first code yellow warning, in places of 28 counties, winds will pick up speed, significant amounts of precipitation are expected, as well as blowing snow, especially at elevations of over 1,700 meters.

Tuesday, February 4, it will rain on extended areas in the west, northwest and centre parts of Romania, while in the mountains there will be mixed rainfall. On Tuesday night, in the intra-Carpathian regions, rain will gradually turn into sleet and snow, while in the mountains and in northern Moldavia snowfall will predominate. Precipitation will exceed 20-25 l /sq.m. even 35-40 l/sq.m in some instances.

Winds will pick up speed in the western and central regions, with speeds generally of 55-65 km/h. In the mountainous areas, especially at high elevations gusts of over 90-100 km/h are to be expected and even blizzards. Gusts in excess of 50-55 km/h are also expected in southern Oltenia. Ground frost should also be expected.

According to ANM, a second code yellow warning will come into effect on Wednesday, at 08:00hrs, to be valid for three quarters of Romania, Bucharest City included, until Thursday morning.

In the eastern regions, there will be precipitation, at first snowfall in the mountain areas and in northern Moldavia, and mainly rain and sleet in the remaining areas, while in the evening and at night snow will predominate. In the mountains, in the northern and central areas of Moldavia, as well as in the evening in southern Moldavia, Dobrogea and most of Muntenia there will be snow that will stick. Blowing snow will reduce visibility. Gusts will exceed 60-70 km/h, and even 90-100 km/h in the mountain areas.

In the second part of Wednesday (February 5) and in the first part of the Wednesday night, the wind will be intense in the western and central regions, with gusts exceeding 55-60 km/h.

ANM is expected to update its code yellow warning on February 5 in the morning. AGERPRES
Shaheen Bagh firing: The Delhi Police has claimed that the who opened fire at Shaheen Bagh protesters is affiliated with Aam Aadmi Party. To which, MP Sanjay Singh retaliated and scrapped the claim.

The Delhi Police, after an interrogating Kapil Baisala aka Kapil Gujjar, the man who opened fire at the Shaheen Bagh protesters on Tuesday said he is affiliated with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Talking to thr media, Deputy commissioner of Police ( DCP Crime Branch), Rajesh Deo said police has checked Kapils mobile phone and have found some photos and videos and this has come to knowledge that he and his father are members of AAP.

Reports said accused Kapil Gurjjar and his father had joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in February 2019.

Police has also released a photo of the accused with AAP MP Sanjay Singh and party leader Atishi greeting them at an event.

Soon after Delhi Polices press conference, AAP MP Sanjay Singh came out and denied accused Kapils connection with him and his party. Singh also accused BJP of mudslinging as elections are due in the Capital.

ANI quoted Sanjay Singh stating days ahead of the Delhi polls photos and conspiracies will be found and cooked. BJP will stoop to any low just to defame the AAP as Arvind Kejriwal-led party is all set for a landslid victory. He asked Home Minister Amit Shah thaw What does having a picture with someone mean?

The shooting incident took place on Saturday, after which, the police deployed at the Shaheen Bagh area had taken Kapil Baisala aka Kapil Gurjjar in custody.

Also read: Coronavirus in India: How to make hand sanitizers at home?

Also read: Coronavirus in India: KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan says players, spectators health first

Reports said Kapil Gurjjar had fired two rounds in the air at Shaheen Bagh chantting Jai Shri Ram and hamare desh me aur kisi ki nahi chalegi, sirf Hinduon ki chalegi (only Hindus will rule in this country, no one else).

The incident took place where anti-CAA protests were marching and protesting peacefully.

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OTTAWALiberal star recruit and rookie cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault clarified Monday the Trudeau government will not move to licence news media organizations as he tried to contain political damage from comments he made in a weekend interview.

Guilbeault clutched notes as he went before cameras to say a report submitted last week to the government did not recommend Ottawa regulate news media content.

However, Guilbeaults response to that report in a CTV interview muddied the waters and became fodder for critics and right-wing groups and commentators.

It fuelled a full-on attack by Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer in the House of Commons, and prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to declare Monday that, We will not impose licensing requirements on news organizations nor will we regulate news content.

The report from an independent panel made 97 recommendations that urged Ottawa to enact sweeping regulatory changes to the countrys broadcast, telecommunications and internet sectors, in part to require international corporations to spend more on creating Canadian content, to pay taxes on their revenue-generating activity in Canada, and to turn the CRTC into a more robust enforcement agency.

In an interview broadcast Sunday, Guilbeault was pressed to explain how Ottawa would regulate internet content providers. He pointed to regulations that already govern the broadcast sector, and suggested online content providers could be similarly regulated similarly, saying: If youre a distributor of content in Canada we would ask that they have a licence, yes.

Asked if the government would block foreign news websites like Breitbart News, the New York Times or Daily Mail if they failed to comply with Canadian regulators, Guilbeault said no one has said sites should be blocked in Canada but he added, Frankly, Im not sure I see what the big deal is. He pointed to other industrial sectors where international corporations are required to comply with rules and regulations in Canada.

On Monday Guilbeault scrambled to walk his comments back amid charges by the Conservatives the Liberals were Orwellian, a Big Brother government that was acting like North Korea.

Trudeau and his rookie minister clarified what they wont do. But they havent said what they will do.

They say Canadians will have to wait for the governments formal response, possibly in legislation by years end, to see which recommendations the government will enact.

Here are a few of the reports highlights, and the chances that recommendations by the panel, led by broadcast veteran Janet Yale, will see the light of day:

Impose sales tax on foreign online content providers like Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google

The report urges Ottawa to start charging GST/HST equitably to foreign-based online providers, such as Netflix. Quebec and Saskatchewan impose provincial sales tax on them. Trudeau has said the government is open to a federal sales tax on such subscription-based streaming services as early as this springs federal budget, expected late March. The Conservatives have long opposed any Netflix tax as former prime minister Stephen Harper used to call it, but in their 2019 platform the Conservatives backed unspecified measures to tax web giants. The NDP, Greens and the Bloc Quebecois support different ways of taxation on web giants.

Probability this will happen? Pretty good in a minority parliament where the Liberals could count on the support of at least the Bloc or the NDP.

Eliminate ads from the CBC/Radio-Canada. The report says ads should disappear on all CBC platforms over the next five years, starting with news content

This is a pet peeve of many private-sector broadcasters and news organizations who complain the publicly-funded CBC competes with them for advertising dollars at a tough time when thousands of Canadian advertisers have switched to spending their ad budget on Facebook and Google to better target customers. The Liberals have hiked funding for the CBC and its French-language counterpart Radio-Canada in their first mandate. In 2016 Trudeau boosted the CBCs budget by $675 million over five years. And in the last election, the NDP and the Greens called for even more sustainable funding for the Crown corporation. Still, it would mean giving the CBC another quarter billion dollars. According to its latest report for 2018-19, the CBC receives $1.2 billion in government funding, and generated another $490 million for its operations across all languages and platforms. That included $249 million in advertising revenue, $31 million of which came from digital advertising on its websites (and $124 million from subscriber fees.) That represents potentially about a $250 million gap for Ottawa to fill.

Probability this will happen? Possible in a minority government with support from the NDP, Bloc and Greens, and plaudits from private broadcasters and media outlets.

Enact stronger regulations around personal information and data protection, through amendments to the telecommunications and broadcast laws

All parties support better digital protections for Canadians. The hitch is what would those protections look like. The Liberal government last spring introduced a digital charter of rights, but critics said it was pre-election posturing to little effect. But the power of Big Data is a big political hot button issue.

Probability this could happen? Mixed, depending on what form it takes.

Roll out the announced funding for expansion of broadband, boost access to public infrastructure and set aside spectrum to help expand broadband connectivity

Since the dawn of the internet, all governments of all political stripes have grappled with how to reach the most hard-to-connect communities in rural, remote and northern Canada. In the 2019 budget the Liberals proposed to spend up to $6 billion over 10 years to build a fully connected Canada, including rural, remote and northern communities. This specifically included a $1.7 billion universal broadband fund. It is not clear how much if any of that money has been spent, but better access to broadband is something all political parties have supported in theory. This needs to happen, says the NDPs Charlie Angus. The Conservatives industry critic Michelle Rempel Garner says her party supports changes to the regulatory environment to provide access to the hardest to reach Canadian within a three-year period.

Probability this will happen? Fair to middling.

Require media content curators like Netflix to contribute to Canadian content

The Liberals have long said Netflix and others should boost their production of Canadian content, but backed away from mandating it. The report proposes several mechanisms to ensure it happens. But critics like the Conservatives, and University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist say its fraught with problems, including having the government too involved in regulating free speech. Besides, Geist noted in an online blog, Netflix is already doing much to distribute good Canadian content to a global audience. He says Canadian content is already not hard to find on streaming services. He also wrote that Netflix committed in 2017 to spend at least $500 million over five years on film and television production in Canada but has already exceeded that figure.

Probability this will happen? Dont hold your breath.

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CNBC's Jim Cramer on Monday called The Trade Desk a "more enticing" play on the growing video streaming arena than Roku.

"Roku and The Trade Desk are both high-flying momentum stocks that benefited enormously from cord-cutting, but because Roku's more consumer facing, people reflexively buy this one as the true cord-cutting play," the "Mad Money" host said. "And, at this point, I much prefer the less well-known Trade Desk, which has better financials and I think is a better story."

The way Cramer sees it, The Trade Desk, whose software helps media clients with targeted ads, presents a better growth proposition than Roku. Though Roku stock rallied hard in 2019 on increasing competition in the online TV and video industry, the glitter may be wearing off as the streaming service carrier's sales growth shows signs of slowing.

The Trade Desk is in a better position than Roku to continue serving as a third-party player to rival streaming companies, the host argued. He pointed to Roku's contract dispute with Fox ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl, which threatened to limit millions of Roku customers' access to Fox channels on its devices, as a sign of ongoing risk for the company.

The two companies did, however, make a last-minute deal that cleared Roku to carry the channel and the contest that saw the Kansas City Chiefs taking down the San Francisco 49ers.

"With 30 million users of its own, Roku has a lot of heft, a lot of influence. That's generally a good thing, but it also means they're increasingly more likely to be seen as a competitor than a partner," Cramer said. "The Trade Desk, on the other hand, is still a pure facilitator. They can work with anybody."

He recommended investors buy into Trade Desk shares on any weakness ahead of its earnings report later this month. The stock rallied almost 124% last year. It has climbed more than 5% to $274.22 per share thus far in 2020.

Starting 2019 near $30 per share, Roku peaked on the market near $170 in early September before finishing the trading year at about $134 a piece. The stock began to slip near the end of the year after the company revealed in November that sales growth fell quarter over quarter from 59% to 50.5%, Cramer noted. The next month a Morgan Stanley analyst downgraded the stock to underweight from equal weight.

"In short, people started worrying that the growth had peaked," Cramer said. "I think [the stock] deserved most of that run, though, but by the winter Roku had clearly gotten ahead of itself. ... After such a huge move, [investors] didn't like the risk-reward anymore."

Still, Cramer is convinced that Roku shares have more room to run when the company reports fourth-quarter results next week. Wall Street analysts expect to see revenue of $392 million and losses of 13 cents per share, according to FactSet. That would represent growth of nearly 50% on the top line when compared with the same quarter the year prior.

"I don't want to count Roku out," he said, adding that if their quarterly numbers are strong, "I expect the stock to soar. However, even with the stock down nearly 50 points from its highs last fall, I'm not loving the risk-reward here."
Lent Definition

Many Christians have heard of Lent, but do all know what it means? According to Merriam-Webster, Lent means "the 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Easter observed by the Roman Catholic, Eastern, and some Protestant churches as a period of penitence and fasting."

Between Ash Wednesday and Easter, many Christians observe a 40-day period known as Lent. This name comes from the Old English lencten springtime, spring and from West Germanic langitinaz long-days or lengthening of the day. Popularly regarded as a period of fasting, there are many ways to make the Lenten period meaningful without missing meals. What is Lent and why should one take part? Does every participant follow a strict Lenten plan of rigid self-denial?

When does Lent Start and End in 2021?

Meaning of Lent

Lent is meant to be a time of repentance. Thats not a feeling of shame, but an awareness that sin separates us from God and of what it cost Him to be reunited with us. Shame has its place, but feeling shame over sin is not the same thing as repentance from sin because our tempter can take our obedience to God and turn it into a source of pride.

Repentant sinners seek [] cleansing from sin, but also freedom from shame. True repentance leads to a 180-degree change of [...] direction, requires true brokenness, but repentance starts with regretful acknowledgment of sin with commitment to change.

That is why conflating Lent with New Years resolutions is dangerous. This time of fasting should not add religious encouragement to a difficult goal: to lose weight, stop watching pornography, or to give money to charity. Lent is [...] an opportunity to contemplate what our Lord really did for us on the Cross.

Resolutions focus on meeting self-set, self-motivated goals rather than goals established by God and may even rebel against His purposes. Resolutions reflect a desire for autonomy from God instead of recognizing that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthian 3:16, 6:19) and the work of the potter, to be regarded as precious (Isaiah 64:8).

Resolutions simply focus on self, not Christ. Lent is a good time to give up ones own resolutions and listen for Gods leading. Where God leads might be more difficult than any fast, and, here, Christians realize that they cannot do anything in their own strength either: only the grace of God is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9).

The History of Lent

Christians honor the 40 days and nights following Christs baptism when He went into the wilderness without water and food and was tempted by Satan. During that time, Christ did what we do today when we fast: wrestle with temptation. This was not the first fast; biblical figures often fasted when petitioning God for something important. So we fasted and implored our God [...], and he listened to our entreaty (Ezra 8:23). The Israelites mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the LORD and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword (2 Samuel 1:12).

Before going to her husband to intercede for the Jews, Esther told Mordecai, Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do (Esther 4:16). Jews and Christians have historically fasted to show repentance, to grieve particularly difficult trials, and to seek Gods favor.

While Protestants also take part, Catholic churches are particularly associated with Lent. No church history indicates the year when believers first took part in the tradition or what was required. Lenten fasting has consisted of abstaining from all animal products for some, but for others, fish and/or poultry were allowed. Certain societies have permitted only bread for a time. There were full-day fasts; half-day fasts; and the potential to pay money in order to be excused from participating.

What Does it Mean to Participate in Lent?

In other words, there are numerous ways to approach Lent, some more legalistic than devotional. Still, the origins of Lent seem to be rooted in Christians giving up food or money in order to emulate Christs obedience to the Father.

Community fasting provided accountability and support, but also led to pressure and judgment. Today, some still observe fasts that restrict quantity and type of food, but many view Lent as a time in which to give up a particular vice, bad habit, or pleasurable thing. In the 21st century, Christians frequently use the fasting season to motivate them to continue with New Years resolutions in a blend of secular and Christian observance.

Lent is also associated with Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, where some Christians mark their foreheads with ash as a symbol of sorrow and mourning over their sin.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes (Daniel 9:3).

There was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes (Esther 4:3).

The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes (Jonah 3:6).

Job 42 associates ashes with repentance, an association borne out over and over in scripture.

Download your FREE copy of our 40 Day Lent and Easter Devotional - filled with daily Scriptures, reflections, and prayers for Lent season.

 iStock/Getty Images Plus/everydayplus

Reward of Lent

Greater intimacy with God is the reward of sacrifice. His love and ones salvation are not reliant on denying oneself chocolate or beer, but idolatry stands in the way of worshiping the one true God. These 40 days are set aside to praise and worship the Lord; to read the Bible more, and to pray more often. Christians who observe Lent correctly anticipate deeper intimacy with the Lord, which is the blessing; they do not expect rewards such as more favorable answers to prayer or the resolution of health concerns, although many Christians have reported that, following Lent, they experience freedom from long-standing issues.

Many Christians prefer not to observe this pre-Easter tradition because it smacks of religious duty. Christ said of the Pharisees that They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden (Matthew 23:4). He often criticized the Pharisees for disheartening the Jews with demands that missed the heart of God. Christ did not establish the tradition of Lent as some kind of commandment for followers to observe. Choosing to participate or not participate is a matter between the individual and God.

What Are Your Motives?

It is important to check one's motives for observing Lent. Christ told the disciples when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward" (Matthew 6:16). A small personal sacrifice should not be a badge of pride. The intent of a Lenten observance is to recognize our need for repentance and our depravity apart from God (1 John 1:9; Ephesians 2:1-5; Colossians 2:13), to draw closer to God, and to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Easter.

Is Lent a matter of obedience to tradition or obedience to God? A means of achieving works-based salvation or of giving praise and thanks to Christ that He finished that work for eternity? A way to achieve a resolution or a means of growing closer to the Father?

Undertaking something difficult (giving to charity, serving the poor, abstaining from certain foods, memorizing Scripture) makes one feel needy and weak; humble: the perfect posture from which to approach God Almighty. For people whose lives are generally easy, Lent is a time to empathize better with those who genuinely go without luxuries or even simple needs. Lent can help establish a stronger sense of ones need of God minute by minute and to develop a more disciplined, intimate, and authentic prayer life.





How to Practice Lent

1. Name the pressing sin. Christians are taught to begin the 40-day period by confessing sins they would like Christ to remove; to really examine areas of recurring sin which are a hurdle to being conformed to God's will.

2. Partner with other Christians. Historically, entire church congregations would support one another during Lent. Although Christ instructed when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret, (Matthew 6:3-4), believers keep each other accountable. Self-disclosure brings forth humility by making it your responsibility to humbly open your soul to those to whom you are accountable. [...] You are a witness to your own life, sharing truthfully, freely, and happily with little or no provocation. Devoted friends encourage each other to be specific in their prayers and help one another seek Christs strength to stay the course.

3. Ones fast should feel like a sacrifice, but not religious duty. Nor should the fast be dangerous to ones health. Consider giving up one meal a day, a regular treat, coffee, or alcohol. Other sacrifices include increased charitable giving, staying away from social media, service to the community, or memorizing scripture.

4. Time with God is critical. Quiet and solitude enable one to listen to the Spirit and discern answers to prayer. Before the noisy corporate rejoicing of Easter Sunday, create opportunities for peaceful contemplation and intimacy with the Father. No matter how prayers are answered at the end of 40 days-no, yes, or wait-time with the Lord is cause for joy, praise, and thanks.

Christian Traditions of Lent

Prayer - Prayer accompanies fasting as a historic tradition of Lent. We should pray to improve our communion with God and strengthen our spiritual discipline during the preparation of Easter Sunday.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." ~ Philippians 4:6

"Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." ~ Matthew 26:41

Fasting - Fasting is a well-known aspect of Lent, inspired by the fast of Jesus spending 40 days in the wilderness. Christians partake in fasting to increase their self-control over worldly desires, such as food.

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" ~ Matthew 4:1-4

Giving - Helping others is also a tradition of the Lent season, inspired by the command of Jesus to "love your neighbor as yourself." While we should likewise give to others in love throughout the entire year, an extra emphasis is added during the time of Lent.

"Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." ~ Hebrews 13:16

"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." ~ Philippians 2:4

Lenten Prayer

O Lord and Master of my life!

Take from me the spirit of laziness,

faint-heartedness, desire for power, and idle talk.

But give your servant

the spirit of chastity,

humility, patience, and love.

Yes, Lord and King!

Grant me to see my own errors

and not to unjustly or hastily judge my brother,

for you are blessed, now and forever. Amen.

Source: Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian

Related:

Powerful Bible Verses for Lent to Encourage Our Fast

10 Prayers for Lent to Strengthen Our Faith

 Getty Images

Candice Lucey is a freelance writer from British Columbia, Canada, where she lives with her family. Find out more about her here.
His State of the Union address on Tuesday night included a handshake snub of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a surprise Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony honoring the conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh and a public speech-tearing coda from Ms. Pelosi before the dais had cleared.

Its hard to look at Washington or look at Iowa and think that our national politics is working, said Amanda Litman, the executive director of Run for Something, a group that encourages Democrats to seek local office. If all they absorb is chaos, that further disillusions people.

At its best, Iowa has always required a certain suspension of cynicism  a belief that, against much anecdotal evidence to the contrary, the republic might just be sustained by a series of semi-chaotic mini-elections in high school gymnasiums. That the systems potential demise came, at least in part, at the hands of technological confusion registered on Tuesday as a particularly cruel turn for a state that has long prized a kind of analog, person-to-person campaigning.

The result, before any actual results, was a muddle of campaign claims and counterclaims about momentum that may or may not exist, with candidates swaggering about their performance before any full data set existed to disprove it and their supporters trading conspiracy theories about the cause of the reporting delay.

One candidate is calling the results into question because he apparently didnt do well, said Deval Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor and current low-polling presidential hopeful. Another is declaring victory without any votes being confirmed. The way to beat Donald Trump isnt to act like Donald Trump. Our party and our country deserve better.
Pakistan's government postponed on February 3 its decision on whether to lift a ban on a movie that had offended hard-line Islamists in the Muslim-majority country, after asking a high council of clerics to weigh in on the film.



The Islamists had raised allegations of blasphemy over the film Zindagi Tamasha, or Circus of Life, by Pakistani director Sarmad Khosat, which was to be released in late January. Its debut was scrapped by the Punjab provincial government's information office following objections from the Tehreek-e-Labbaik party and its followers.



Their claims drew further attention to Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law, which carries an automatic death sentence for a conviction of insulting Islam. There have been widespread complaints that the law is used to settle scores and intimidate religious minorities.



The party's supporters argued the movie contains blasphemous content and could spread hatred against people of faith. Party leader Khadim Rizvi threatened to hold nationwide protests on January 24, the day the film was originally set to open in local cinemas.



Raja Jehangir Anwar, the Punjab government spokesman, said a special government committee postponed a meeting scheduled for February 3 to examine the ban. The fate of the movie was referred to the country's Council of Islamic Ideology, a constitutional body that advises the government and legislature. It was unclear when the council would deliver its opinion.



The film's director, Khosat, has denied the allegations against the movie. He was asked by the authorities to appear before the special government committee, which includes officials from the Central Board of Film Censors and a representative of Tehreek-e-Labbaik, to answer questions about his movie.



The film's storyline focuses on a conservative, devout Muslim businessman, Mohammad Rahat Khawaj, whose life unravels after a video of him watching a woman dance at a wedding is posted online and goes viral. His family is ashamed of him and he faces taunts from radical Islamists wherever he goes.



The controversy over the film also underscores the deepening divisions in Pakistani society, where Islamist parties have become more vocal in recent years.



In 2018, tens of thousands of Islamists blocked highways around the capital, Islamabad, to protest the acquittal of a Christian woman, Aasia Bibi, of blasphemy charges. She was eventually forced to leave Pakistan last year. Those rallies were organized by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik.



Some observers point out that both proponents and critics of the film in Pakistan had based their opinions solely on a two-minute promotional trailer showing a bearded student, similar to those attending religious schools or madrasahs, having a heated argument with the main character, Khawaj, before beating him.



Tehreek-e-Labbaik was also angered by a scene in the movie of an angry mob chanting its popular slogan, used at party rallies to defend blasphemy laws. The party says the film was also an attempt to tarnish its image.



The director declined to comment to the Associated Press, saying he had said everything he wanted to say in letters to Pakistani President Arif Alvi, Khan, and army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, which he shared on Twitter in January.



I did not make (the movie) to hurt, offend or malign anyone, Khosat tweeted, adding that, as an artist, the last thing I'd ever want to achieve through my artistic expression is anarchy or hatred. No! That's not what an artist does. Or at least I don't.



There is nothing offensive or malicious in the film, he said in the letter to the president. The space for rational and artistic thinking and expression must not be annexed by a few troublemakers for their political end but I fear this is what will happen if we buckle under this time.`

Khosat had received Pakistan's prestigious President's Award for Pride of Performance in 2017 in recognition of his work as an artist. He directed an earlier film, Manto, and played a key role in the movie Motorcycle Girl. He has also done television work.



Last year, ahead of its debut at home, Zindagi Tamasha won the coveted Kim Ji-seok Award at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, drawing praise from the film community in Pakistan.



Pakistan's film industry has seen a decades-long decline, mainly blamed on poor scripts and lack of technological advances used by film producers, compared with neighboring India.
The need to consider a formal recommendation on early screening for lung cancer was acknowledged by the Cross Party Group for Cancer, held at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on January 21st 2020. Attended by over 40 people representing patients, the medical community, and the pharmaceutical industry as well as political advisers and Members of the Scottish Parliament, the Group agreed to write to the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon and Cabinet Secretary for Health & Sport, Jeanne Freeman to request urgent consideration of a screening program in Scotland for people at risk of developing lung cancer.

Survival rates from lung cancer by patients diagnosed in Scotland is among the lowest in Europe and lung cancer is the biggest killer of all cancers.

Many more lives could be saved if lung cancer was diagnosed earlier through a screening program said Dr Adam M Hill, Chief Executive of Oncimmune who was a guest speaker at the Cross Party Group meeting. Dr Hill presented the findings of a recent trial in Scotland among 12,000 high risk people using a simple blood test, called EarlyCDT Lung, in conjunction with CT scanning, to detect lung cancer. The trial, known as Early Detection of Lung Cancer in Scotland (ECLS), showed that the blood test can improve the likelihood of early detection by 14% thereby potentially saving thousands of lives across the UK.

Lung cancer survivor, Rebecca Allison from Glasgow was one of the participants in the trial and she told her story to the Cross Party Group.

I was one of the lucky ones, my lung cancer was detected early with the blood test, despite it not showing up on scans and I had no symptoms. We need this blood test across the UK  it would save so many lives.

Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer and kills more women than both breast and ovarian cancers. Five year survival rates for breast and bowel cancer patients are 86% and 59% respectively. Both these cancers have screening programs. Five year survival for lung cancer, which has no screening program, is less than 10%.

Professor Bob Steele, Director of the UK National Screening Committee attended the meeting and admitted during the questions that a recommendation on screening for lung cancer should be prioritized and that the blood test could have a role in this, particularly if it reduced the number of people having unnecessary CT scans.

The Cross Party Group on Cancer was chaired by Anas Sarwar, Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow and minutes of the meeting will be made available in the public domain.
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CONTENT THAT CONNECTS: WHY INFLUENCER MARKETING IS THE FUTURE OF GEN Z ENGAGEMENT

Gen Z is a business opportunity you cant afford to miss. As 40% of the population commanding upwards of $40 billion in spending power, modern marketers need to build compelling strategies to engage with Gen Z.



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If you are a beginner, you can get yourself acquainted with content marketing by enrolling in HubSpots content marketing course. The course consists of twelve lessons and takes approximately six hours to complete.



The course curriculum covers the basics of blogging and storytelling. It helps you prepare a long-term content strategy, build a content creation framework, and generate content ideas. Youll learn how to develop the pillar-cluster model, start guest blogging, repurpose and promote content, and analyze the results.



The course also offers a study guide to help you prepare for the test. The successful completion of the test qualifies you for a free certification that you can embed on your website and LinkedIn profile.



This course is a collaboration between Copyblogger, a renowned content marketing website, and UC Davis Extension. This is another primer for anyone looking to get started with content marketing. The course content is organized into five modules and takes approximately 17 hours to complete.



The course explains the content marketing ecosystem and how your personal brand impacts the companys content strategy. Youll learn about the strategic context/the 7A framework and how to apply it to your content. Next, youll learn how to map content to the different stages of the buyers journey. The last two modules cover the basics of content types and content management. While you can study the course for free, you need to pay to obtain a completion certificate.



This content marketing certification is a compilation of six courses that help you understand how to create different types of content. The first module in the series delves into the foundations of content marketing. Theres a dedicated module that focuses on how to write compelling marketing copies. This is followed by a module on viral marketing that shares a six-step framework to craft messages that get shared by people.



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While this course already covers some of the modules from Become a Content Marketer, it takes you to the next level of content marketing. Become a Content Strategist contains 13 modules to help you explore the composite aspects of content marketing.



The modules cover the fundamentals of online marketing, business storytelling, social media, SEO, and Google Analytics. Taking the responsibilities of a content strategist into consideration, the course also focuses on how to develop an editorial calendar and draft content guidelines from the user experience (UX) perspective for the organizations digital properties.



Premium LinkedIn users have free access to both courses.



Learn More: 5 Pillars of Audience-Centric Content



If youre looking for a brief refresher on blogging, this course will give you just that. This 90-minute course by Eric Siu provides a concise overview of the blogging process.



To begin with, the course offers three blogging styles and tips on brainstorming content ideas. Eric shares insights on how to outline your blog posts, add key information, and write great headlines that outperform your competition. Youll also learn five tips to succeed in your blogging efforts.



The Writing With Flair course is taught by Shani Raja, who has written and edited for publications such as The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. The course is more about developing the writer's mindset than building writing chops.



The course shares tips and insights on how to keep your writing simple and clear, yet elegant and evocative. Youll learn to avoid needless repetition and ambiguous writing and keep your writing clutter-free. The course runs for seven hours, at the end of which youll receive a completion certificate. While this is a paid course, before enrolling in this course, you can check out Secret Sauce of Great Writing, a free course that provides a glimpse of Writing With Flair.



This is another course by Shani Raja for anyone wanting to improve their writing.



The course is broken down into four levels, viz. the narrative, paragraphs, sentences, and words. The course provides solid advice on how to structure the narrative, write attention-grabbing intros, give sentences a rhythm, and use precise words.



Shani Raja also offers the following courses that complement Writing With Flair and Ninja Writing:



Malcolm Gladwell is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, such as The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. Besides being a staff writer for The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell is also known for distilling complex concepts such as behavioral economics and performance prediction into simple words.



The course teaches you to structure the narrative, research and develop the story, use data to engage your readers, build characters, use tone and voice, and write captivating headlines. Malcolm shares examples and case studies from his books and articles along with key concepts to strengthen the learning.



You can buy the standalone course for 90 USD or become a member for 180 USD that provides access to all courses covering a wide spectrum of topics.



Learn More: What Content Marketing Tactics to Use in 2020



Copywriting is a form of writing to persuade the audience. The Modern Copywriting course covers various aspects of copywriting right from the basics. The first module covers the importance of understanding the product, ideal buyers, and competition. Youll learn the art of persuasion, how to structure the copy, and copywriting styles.



The course shares the difference between writing for B2C and B2B brands, with formulas to write compelling copy. It also teaches you how to write headlines, emails, landing page content, and social media content.



The course runs for over seven hours and provides 94 downloadable resources.



Conversion Copywriting 101 aims to get you acquainted with the fundamentals of writing high-converting web copy. The course begins by laying out the key distinctions between traditional and conversion copywriting.



As the course progresses, it covers topics such as how to write memorable messages that target the different stages of the funnel. It teaches how to write great headlines and body copy and explains when you should focus on features and benefits.



From a design perspective, you will learn the anatomy of a high-converting page and how to structure landing pages for maximum conversions.



You can sign-up for the course for free.



Persuasive Copywriting 101 by Sonia Simone and Chris Garrett is available in both - audio, video formats along with transcripts.



In the first module, the course dispels some myths of traditional sales and how you can use content to make the first sale. Next, the course shares three, most-fundamental copywriting formulas and how to use them without making your copy sound boring and repetitive. Youll also learn how you can write your own copywriting formulas that drive the audience to act.



The course also focuses on how to convey the product value through your copy and tweak the campaign that isnt working.



The course is priced at 397 USD or three monthly installations of 147 USD each.



Shane Snow explains how storytelling is a compelling technique to persuade your audience. Youll discover the science behind how effective stories build relationships with people.



Shane shares the four elements of effective storytelling, viz. relatability, novelty, tension, and fluency. Youll learn how to make the audience care for you through the story matrix and the story-relationship funnel.



The course also teaches you to cultivate your storytelling chops using universal storytelling frameworks and the Ben Franklin method.



Learn More: Marketing Storytelling for 2020: Woo Customers With Age Old and Cutting Edge Techniques



Transmedia storytelling is the practice of delivering a coherent story experience across different marketing channels. With omnichannel marketing becoming a widely adopted marketing approach, transmedia storytelling is gaining massive importance to keep the audience engaged.



The course begins with the explanation of transmedia storytelling, along with the anatomy of a story and examples of transmedia storytelling. The course delves into creative thinking techniques to build a narrative and help you understand the transmedia audience. The course also focuses on the importance of transmedia UX to keep the audience glued to the story and the use of creative technologies to deliver that.



The course content is spread across a six-week duration and you can enroll for free.



Brands are prioritizing video content, but producing it on an ongoing basis is a challenge. In this course, Roberto Blake helps you create an end-to-end video marketing strategy.



The course shares technicalities of video content creation such as the video creation process, pre-production, recording equipment, video editing, etc. and explains the difference between social networks and content platforms, and live and recorded videos.



Youll learn how to understand the audience for video, create a video content strategy, and optimize your videos for SEO and social media. Considering how saturated the online space has become, the course also shares tips on how to build an audience from scratch.



If starting a podcast is in your 2020 content marketing strategy, check out this course. Producing Podcasts is taught by Danny Ozment who has produced over 20 podcasts.



Similar to the above video production course, Producing Podcasts explains the podcast planning process that includes ideating a show, creating SEO-friendly titles, choosing a content format, and so on.



Youll learn how to record, mix, and master podcast episodes, and the tools and applications you should use. The course will also guide you to pick podcast hosting services, directories, RSS feeds, and measure the results.



This four-week, self-paced course is offered by The University of Pennsylvania and shares key insights on what makes ideas go viral and the six factors to make your message sticky.



Youll discover how social influence drives people to stick to societal norms. The course further delves into word of mouth marketing and provides a six-step framework that drives people to share content.



Lastly, the course focuses on how information spreads on social media and what type of content gets shared. Jonah Berger teaches the course and many of the concepts are from his book  Contagious: Why Things Catch On.



Learn More: 5 Steps to Generating ROI With B2B Content in 2020



The course by Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, teaches you how to create an influencer marketing strategy for your organization, whether youre a B2B, B2C, or non-profit organization.



The six-week course covers the importance of content marketing in the success of influencer marketing. You will learn how to find influencers in your niche using three different tools. The instructor, Greg Jarboe, shares schmooze optimization, a process to initiate conversations and engage with influencers. You will also learn how to identify the right key performance indicators (KPIs) for the influencer marketing campaigns and how to measure them. The final project will help you create a social media influencer strategy pitch deck.



SEO is an essential aspect of content marketing that deserves special attention due to the constant changes in search engine ranking algorithms. This specialization is a compilation of five courses that teach website optimization techniques to rank well in search engines.



The first two courses cover SEO fundamentals, while the third and fourth courses focus on keyword research techniques, optimizing content for local search, and how to use content, influencer, and social media marketing to turbocharge SEO activities and boost the websites credibility.



The fifth course helps you apply the tactical aspects of SEO; you get to pick a website, choose optimization opportunities, and develop a customized SEO solution for it.



The success of your social media strategy largely depends on the content you produce. The Social Media Certification will help you build an effective social media strategy for your organization.



The course has a dedicated module on how to create content for social media that builds customer loyalty and drives sales. To supplement the learning, you can also check out HubSpots Inbound Marketing Certification.



Tracking the effectiveness of your content efforts allows you to tweak the content strategy. Google Analytics for Beginners helps you get acquainted with the most basic functions of Google Analytics.



Along with understanding the audience, acquisition, and behavior reports, this course will teach you how to measure custom campaigns. With the help of the URL builder, youll be able to assess the impact of your content across different distribution channels.



Learn More: Five Ways of Presenting Great Content



Whether youre a seasoned content marketer or a marketing generalist, we hope this comprehensive list of content marketing courses and certifications will help you grow in your career. The courses cover a wide spectrum of topics in content marketing, so pick the ones you find most interesting and build from there.

Introduction to Technical SEO.

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Advanced SEO: Developing an SEO-Friendly Website

that demand a marketers attention, weve compiled a list of twenty online courses and certifications that cover various areas of content marketing to help you win at your content efforts in 2020.CONTENT THAT CONNECTS: WHY INFLUENCER MARKETING IS THE FUTURE OF GEN Z ENGAGEMENTGen Z is a business opportunity you cant afford to miss. As 40% of the population commanding upwards of $40 billion in spending power, modern marketers need to build compelling strategies to engage with Gen Z.DownloadIf you are a beginner, you can get yourself acquainted with content marketing by enrolling in HubSpots content marketing course. The course consists of twelve lessons and takes approximately six hours to complete.The course curriculum covers the basics of blogging and storytelling. It helps you prepare a long-term content strategy, build a content creation framework, and generate content ideas. Youll learn how to develop the pillar-cluster model, start guest blogging, repurpose and promote content, and analyze the results.The course also offers a study guide to help you prepare for the test. The successful completion of the test qualifies you for a free certification that you can embed on your website and LinkedIn profile.This course is a collaboration between Copyblogger, a renowned content marketing website, and UC Davis Extension. This is another primer for anyone looking to get started with content marketing. The course content is organized into five modules and takes approximately 17 hours to complete.The course explains the content marketing ecosystem and how your personal brand impacts the companys content strategy. Youll learn about the strategic context/the 7A framework and how to apply it to your content. Next, youll learn how to map content to the different stages of the buyers journey. The last two modules cover the basics of content types and content management. While you can study the course for free, you need to pay to obtain a completion certificate.This content marketing certification is a compilation of six courses that help you understand how to create different types of content. The first module in the series delves into the foundations of content marketing. Theres a dedicated module that focuses on how to write compelling marketing copies. This is followed by a module on viral marketing that shares a six-step framework to craft messages that get shared by people.The remaining modules focus individually on blogging, podcasting, and creating newsletters.While this course already covers some of the modules from Become a Content Marketer, it takes you to the next level of content marketing. Become a Content Strategist contains 13 modules to help you explore the composite aspects of content marketing.The modules cover the fundamentals of online marketing, business storytelling, social media, SEO, and Google Analytics. Taking the responsibilities of a content strategist into consideration, the course also focuses on how to develop an editorial calendar and draft content guidelines from the user experience (UX) perspective for the organizations digital properties.Premium LinkedIn users have free access to both courses.Learn More: 5 Pillars of Audience-Centric ContentIf youre looking for a brief refresher on blogging, this course will give you just that. This 90-minute course by Eric Siu provides a concise overview of the blogging process.To begin with, the course offers three blogging styles and tips on brainstorming content ideas. Eric shares insights on how to outline your blog posts, add key information, and write great headlines that outperform your competition. Youll also learn five tips to succeed in your blogging efforts.The Writing With Flair course is taught by Shani Raja, who has written and edited for publications such as The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. The course is more about developing the writer's mindset than building writing chops.The course shares tips and insights on how to keep your writing simple and clear, yet elegant and evocative. Youll learn to avoid needless repetition and ambiguous writing and keep your writing clutter-free. The course runs for seven hours, at the end of which youll receive a completion certificate. While this is a paid course, before enrolling in this course, you can check out Secret Sauce of Great Writing, a free course that provides a glimpse of Writing With Flair.This is another course by Shani Raja for anyone wanting to improve their writing.The course is broken down into four levels, viz. the narrative, paragraphs, sentences, and words. The course provides solid advice on how to structure the narrative, write attention-grabbing intros, give sentences a rhythm, and use precise words.Shani Raja also offers the following courses that complement Writing With Flair and Ninja Writing:Malcolm Gladwell is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, such as The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. Besides being a staff writer for The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell is also known for distilling complex concepts such as behavioral economics and performance prediction into simple words.The course teaches you to structure the narrative, research and develop the story, use data to engage your readers, build characters, use tone and voice, and write captivating headlines. Malcolm shares examples and case studies from his books and articles along with key concepts to strengthen the learning.You can buy the standalone course for 90 USD or become a member for 180 USD that provides access to all courses covering a wide spectrum of topics.Learn More: What Content Marketing Tactics to Use in 2020Copywriting is a form of writing to persuade the audience. The Modern Copywriting course covers various aspects of copywriting right from the basics. The first module covers the importance of understanding the product, ideal buyers, and competition. Youll learn the art of persuasion, how to structure the copy, and copywriting styles.The course shares the difference between writing for B2C and B2B brands, with formulas to write compelling copy. It also teaches you how to write headlines, emails, landing page content, and social media content.The course runs for over seven hours and provides 94 downloadable resources.Conversion Copywriting 101 aims to get you acquainted with the fundamentals of writing high-converting web copy. The course begins by laying out the key distinctions between traditional and conversion copywriting.As the course progresses, it covers topics such as how to write memorable messages that target the different stages of the funnel. It teaches how to write great headlines and body copy and explains when you should focus on features and benefits.From a design perspective, you will learn the anatomy of a high-converting page and how to structure landing pages for maximum conversions.You can sign-up for the course for free.Persuasive Copywriting 101 by Sonia Simone and Chris Garrett is available in both - audio, video formats along with transcripts.In the first module, the course dispels some myths of traditional sales and how you can use content to make the first sale. Next, the course shares three, most-fundamental copywriting formulas and how to use them without making your copy sound boring and repetitive. Youll also learn how you can write your own copywriting formulas that drive the audience to act.The course also focuses on how to convey the product value through your copy and tweak the campaign that isnt working.The course is priced at 397 USD or three monthly installations of 147 USD each.Shane Snow explains how storytelling is a compelling technique to persuade your audience. Youll discover the science behind how effective stories build relationships with people.Shane shares the four elements of effective storytelling, viz. relatability, novelty, tension, and fluency. Youll learn how to make the audience care for you through the story matrix and the story-relationship funnel.The course also teaches you to cultivate your storytelling chops using universal storytelling frameworks and the Ben Franklin method.Learn More: Marketing Storytelling for 2020: Woo Customers With Age Old and Cutting Edge TechniquesTransmedia storytelling is the practice of delivering a coherent story experience across different marketing channels. With omnichannel marketing becoming a widely adopted marketing approach, transmedia storytelling is gaining massive importance to keep the audience engaged.The course begins with the explanation of transmedia storytelling, along with the anatomy of a story and examples of transmedia storytelling. The course delves into creative thinking techniques to build a narrative and help you understand the transmedia audience. The course also focuses on the importance of transmedia UX to keep the audience glued to the story and the use of creative technologies to deliver that.The course content is spread across a six-week duration and you can enroll for free.Brands are prioritizing video content, but producing it on an ongoing basis is a challenge. In this course, Roberto Blake helps you create an end-to-end video marketing strategy.The course shares technicalities of video content creation such as the video creation process, pre-production, recording equipment, video editing, etc. and explains the difference between social networks and content platforms, and live and recorded videos.Youll learn how to understand the audience for video, create a video content strategy, and optimize your videos for SEO and social media. Considering how saturated the online space has become, the course also shares tips on how to build an audience from scratch.If starting a podcast is in your 2020 content marketing strategy, check out this course. Producing Podcasts is taught by Danny Ozment who has produced over 20 podcasts.Similar to the above video production course, Producing Podcasts explains the podcast planning process that includes ideating a show, creating SEO-friendly titles, choosing a content format, and so on.Youll learn how to record, mix, and master podcast episodes, and the tools and applications you should use. The course will also guide you to pick podcast hosting services, directories, RSS feeds, and measure the results.This four-week, self-paced course is offered by The University of Pennsylvania and shares key insights on what makes ideas go viral and the six factors to make your message sticky.Youll discover how social influence drives people to stick to societal norms. The course further delves into word of mouth marketing and provides a six-step framework that drives people to share content.Lastly, the course focuses on how information spreads on social media and what type of content gets shared. Jonah Berger teaches the course and many of the concepts are from his book  Contagious: Why Things Catch On.Learn More: 5 Steps to Generating ROI With B2B Content in 2020The course by Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, teaches you how to create an influencer marketing strategy for your organization, whether youre a B2B, B2C, or non-profit organization.The six-week course covers the importance of content marketing in the success of influencer marketing. You will learn how to find influencers in your niche using three different tools. The instructor, Greg Jarboe, shares schmooze optimization, a process to initiate conversations and engage with influencers. You will also learn how to identify the right key performance indicators (KPIs) for the influencer marketing campaigns and how to measure them. The final project will help you create a social media influencer strategy pitch deck.SEO is an essential aspect of content marketing that deserves special attention due to the constant changes in search engine ranking algorithms. This specialization is a compilation of five courses that teach website optimization techniques to rank well in search engines.The first two courses cover SEO fundamentals, while the third and fourth courses focus on keyword research techniques, optimizing content for local search, and how to use content, influencer, and social media marketing to turbocharge SEO activities and boost the websites credibility.The fifth course helps you apply the tactical aspects of SEO; you get to pick a website, choose optimization opportunities, and develop a customized SEO solution for it.The success of your social media strategy largely depends on the content you produce. The Social Media Certification will help you build an effective social media strategy for your organization.The course has a dedicated module on how to create content for social media that builds customer loyalty and drives sales. To supplement the learning, you can also check out HubSpots Inbound Marketing Certification.Tracking the effectiveness of your content efforts allows you to tweak the content strategy. Google Analytics for Beginners helps you get acquainted with the most basic functions of Google Analytics.Along with understanding the audience, acquisition, and behavior reports, this course will teach you how to measure custom campaigns. With the help of the URL builder, youll be able to assess the impact of your content across different distribution channels.Learn More: Five Ways of Presenting Great ContentWhether youre a seasoned content marketer or a marketing generalist, we hope this comprehensive list of content marketing courses and certifications will help you grow in your career. The courses cover a wide spectrum of topics in content marketing, so pick the ones you find most interesting and build from there.Introduction to Technical SEO.Laying the Structural Foundation with Technical SEO.HTML Sitemap vs. XML Sitemap.The robots.txt File Protocol.Overcoming Pesky Error Codes.Redirects.404 Pages Best Practices.Advanced SEO: Developing an SEO-Friendly Website Press Information:

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The FBI has joined the search for a newborn baby who disappeared after his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were fatally shot in South Florida, possibly at the hands of his father, who later killed himself.

FBI spokesman Michael Leverock confirmed the agency is assisting in the case on Monday.

Andrew Caballeiro was a week old when his father, Ernesto Caballeiro, 49, kidnapped him last month, Miami-Dade police said.

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Florida police have found the body of 49-year-old Ernesto Caballeiro (left) who matches the description of a father sought by authorities in the disappearance of his infant baby, Andrew (right)

Police believe Cabelleiro kidnapped his son after killing the baby's mother, Arlety Garcia Valdez (center), 40, her mother Isabel Valdes Gonzalez, 60 (right), and her grandmother, Lina Gonzalez Licor, 84 (left)

Authorities found Caballeiro's body in a wooded area on Wednesday but they didn't find Andrew (pictured)

A short time later, police found the bodies of the mother of Caballeiro's baby, Arlety Garcia Valdes, 40, her mother, Isabel Valdes Gonzalez, 60, and her grandmother, Lina Gonzalez Licor, 84.

Police suspect Caballeiro murdered the three women and went on the lam with his newborn son.

According to the description of a GoFundMe launched by the victims' relative, the three women died protecting the baby boy from his gun-wielding father.

Family members described Caballeiro as a troubled person and said he had a rocky relationship with Garcia Valdez, pictured above during one of her two known pregnancies

Andrew's nine-year-old sister was unharmed, according to relatives.

Family members said Caballeiro was a troubled man who had a rocky relationship with Garcia Valdez, reported Local10.

'I dont expect anything good from him, I dont expect any kind of generosity from him, including with his own son,' Melchor Izquierdo told the station. 'Youre dealing with a very sick, probably very crazy individual.'

Family members have asked Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, for special visas to allow relatives to travel from their native Cuba to the US to attend the women's funerals.

NBC Miami reported that the victims' loved ones have hired a private investigator to assist in the search for the missing baby.

Officers were called to the home after a family member stopped by the residence.

The relative had made several unsuccessful attempts to contact the family and found the bodies of the three women, Lee Cowart, a spokesman for Miami-Dade police said.

Police in Florida have been scouring the area in search of the missing child for the past week

Searchers are seen combing through a field in hopes of locating the newborn

The last known contact the women had was at about 10.30am that day, police said.

Police said Caballeiro lived at the four-bedroom home in the 21900 block of Southwest 187th Avenue where the triple homicide happened.

A day later, Caballeiro was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a white van in Pasco County, which is north of Tampa. Baby Andrew was not found near his vehicle or body.

'Our detectives are still following all the leads they have in the case,' Miami-Dade police Detective Angel Rodriguez said. 'We have the assistance of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI, but at this time theres been no change in the investigation.'

Authorities are searching locations where Caballeiro might have taken the baby after he left the rural Miami-Dade house where the three women were murdered.

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said during a news conference that K-9 units searched the wooded area near the van (pictured) and found Caballeiro with what appeared to be a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound from a rifle

Deputies searched the area between Blanton and nearby Interstate 75 last week.

'All we care about right now is that we get that baby back,' Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said, adding that authorities are hoping Caballeiro handed the child off to someone else.

Police said their investigation has revealed that Caballeiro left the Miami Dade County area about 'four and half hours before arriving at the location in Pasco County, and was only in this location minutes before fatally shooting himself' with a rifle.

State records obtained by Miami Herald indicate that Caballeiro had been in trouble with the law before, including in 2004, when he was charged in connection to a string of car thefts. He ended up pleading guilty to a single count of grand theft and was sentenced to probation.

On Tuesday, authorities found the three women, who were all Hispanic and aged between 40 and 80, dead from gunshot wounds inside a home (investigators at the scene) in a remote neighborhood in south Miami-Dade

Lee Cowart, a spokesman for Miami-Dade police (above), said Caballeiro was related to at least one of the women found killed, but had not been named as a suspect

Authorities also shared a map that suggests the most likely route of travel for Caballeiro. Officers have urged anyone along the route to report any sightings or information to their local law enforcement

The infant is described as white, Hispanic, with black eyes, measuring 20 inches and weighing about seven pounds.

Authorities also shared a map that suggests the most likely route of travel for Caballeiro.

The white van has decals saying 'Nesty School Services' and 'Caution: Transporting Children.'

Officers have urged anyone along the route to report any sightings or information to their local law enforcement.

Anyone with information should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS, or to call 911.
 Flash

China on Monday expressed gratitude to Pakistan for standing firmly with China in fighting the coronavirus and offering medical supplies.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks at a press briefing online when asked to comment on Pakistan's decision not to evacuate its citizens from Hubei.

Hua also thanked other countries like Pakistan, who have expressed their full confidence in China's anti-virus efforts, adding that China has the confidence and capability to win the fight against the outbreak as soon as possible and safeguard the life and health of their citizens in China.

Citing that the Pakistani prime minister and foreign minister have highly commended and firmly supported China's efforts to fight against the epidemic, Hua said they also appreciated China's assistance for Pakistani citizens in China and expressed confidence in China winning this battle with the strength of its system.

Noting that Pakistan on Jan. 29 lifted temporary restrictions on flights between the two countries, the spokesperson said China and Pakistan are iron-clad friends that share a good tradition of mutual assistance.

Hua expressed gratitude for Pakistan to maintain flights and pool epidemic prevention and control supplies all over the country to help China.
Last month, Maharashtra government announced that markets will remain open in Mumbai 24x7.

Aam Aadmi Party workers prepare for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections at the party office in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Photo: PTI)

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday promised to make Delhi a modern, bustling, 24x7 city by allowing markets to remain open round-the-clock, but at the same time the party announced that it will introduce a patriotic curriculum in the citys government schools if voted back to power.

The AAP, which is facing a tough fight from the Bharatiya Janata Party for the 70-member Delhi Assembly, tried to beat the saffron party at its own game by making a nationalistic pitch in its manifesto released four days before Delhi goes to vote.

The AAPs 28-point manifesto promises that the party will come up with a Deshbhakti curriculum that, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said, will help induce a sense of nationalism, love for Indias armed forces and respect for the tricolour.

Though AAP leaders did not elaborate what exactly will be taught in the name of patriotism, the mention of the armed forces suggests that the AAPs nationalism wont be very different from that of the BJP. But it will be more expansive, inclusive  AAPs 2020 manifesto begins with a vow to serve and uphold, justice, liberty, equality, fraternity enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution of India.

The AAP, however, has chosen to do away with a categorical assurance of being committed to the well-being of minorities as it had done in 2015 when the party spoke up against attacks on places of worship and inflammatory speeches.

The recent communal tension witnessed in Delhi is totally out of sync with the social fabric of the city. We stand firmly against attacks on places of worship and inflammatory speeches across Delhi, the party had said in its previous, 70-point manifesto. But this year, when the BJP has made inflammatory speeches and targeting the Muslim community the mainstay of its election campaign, AAP has tried to counter the BJPs nationalism rhetoric but not offered any assurance to protect minorities.

Among the partys game-changing poll promises thats of particular interest to the trading community are round-the-clock markets in the Delhi and expanding the Metro network to make it the worlds largest.

Last month, Maharashtra government announced that markets will remain open in Mumbai 24x7.

The first phase of Delhis 24x7 experiment will be in some key commercial areas, AAP leaders said.

The AAP, in an attempt to attract Delhis 30-40 lakh Poorvanchali voters, has promised to pursue the inclusion of Bhojpuri into the eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

The main focus of AAPs 2020 manifesto is to provide quality education, health, clean water and 24-hour electricity.

AAP convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that after working on development issues for five years, it was time to take Delhi to the next level. Mr Sisodia said that his partys vision was to run a government to help every citizen of Delhi to live a dignified life and make their families prosperous.

Mr Sisodia said the AAP government will try to fulfil the long-pending demands of Delhi Jan Lokpal and Delhi Swaraj Bill along with a full statehood if it comes to power.

The Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill, which was passed in the state Assembly in 2015, has been pending with the Central government for the last four years. The AAP government will continue its struggle to get the bill passed, he said.

Full-statehood status would mean that Delhis law and order machinery, i.e. the police force, and DDA will come under the purview of the Delhi government.

The AAP had earlier released a 10-point guarantee card that, Mr Sisodia said on Tuesday, remains a part of the partys 2020 manifesto. Good education to every child, medical facilities, reducing Delhis pollution to one-third and clearing loose overhead electrical wires in the city are among the 28 promises.

Mr Sisodia said that his government is also committed to cleaning the Yamuna. Clean air and clean Yamuna is the vision of the Aam Aadmi Party.

The party also promised to provide mohalla marshals for womens security and said it will continue with its ongoing projects of installing CCTV cameras and removing dark spots by putting up new street lights.

The AAP has also said it will ensure doorstep delivery of ration and free pilgrimage to 10 lakh senior citizens.

After being accused of failing Delhis sewage workers by the BJP, the party has also promised a compensation of Rs 1 crore to families of sanitation workers who die while performing their duty.

Delhi goes to the polls on February 8 and the results will be declared on February 11.
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A uthorities in Taiwan have announced a crackdown on vendors after medical products were found in claw machines across the country amid the coronavirus outbreak.

At least 40 machines have been caught offering items such as hand sanitisers and face masks in the city of Taipei, which could lead to fines of up to NT$2 million (50,622) according to local news website Liberty Times.

There are ten confirmed cases of the coronavirus so far in Taiwan after it was first identified in China in late December.

Taipei City Councilor Chen Yijun said vendors could be violating pharmaceutical laws by offering medical items at inflated rates via the machines.

She suspects the vendors are also hoarding the items as the country faces a shortage of medical supplies.

Department of Health director, Chen Yi-ting, said products placed in machines with a medical equipment licence number are in violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.

A hotline has been set up for people to report machines selling the products, while the police and Department of Health will increase patrols near the machines, according to The Taipei City Office of Commerce.

It comes after Taiwan lowered the price of protective masks to try and stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

There are 10,000 claw machines across the country.
Honda Cars India have plans to launch the new gen City sedan by March 2020. Here is the new teaser.

Already launched in Thailand, the new-gen Honda City sedan is now getting ready to be launched in India. Spied recently testing in Pune, near ARAI facility, homologation of the new City is under process, and is expected to be completed soon.

Speaking about design, its exteriors are inspired from the larger Honda cars like Civic and Accord. Highlights include new LED headlamps at the front, new and rear and a well sculpted boot lid. It is also noted with a shark fin antenna and a sharper tail segment. It gets larger dimensions in continuance of the Hondas Man Maximum, Machine Minimum philosophy.

Interiors are seen in a dual tone colour scheme with a new touchscreen infotainment system, digital instrument console and adjustable headrests. New gen Honda City is also expected to get eSIM powered connected car technologies, which we have seen in cars like MG Hector, Kia Seltos, etc.

The 2020 Honda City boasts of a range of onboard safety equipment. These include a total of 6 airbags, ABS, EBD, vehicle stability assist, hill start assist and reverse camera. The new sedan is also with a G-CON (G-Force Control) body structure.

In Thailand, the 2020 Honda City gets its power via a 1.0 liter, 3 cylinder, VTEC turbocharged petrol engine offering 122 PS power and 173 Nm torque mated to a CVT gearbox. The other engine will be a 1.5 liter e:HEC mild hybrid petrol unit mated to a CVT and 6 speed manual transmission.

Powering the new Honda City in India will most likely be the same engine setup, which is seen on board the current City, but with BS6 powertrains. The current City has already been updated to BS6 for petrol engine. The diesel 1.5 liter mill has also been updated to BS6, but it has only been launched on board the Amaze as of now.

Expect the BS6 powertrains to deliver similar power and torque output figures as seen on board the current City. The 1.5 liter petrol iVTEC in BS4 guise delivers about 118 PS while the 1.5 liter iDTEC diesel delivers 100 PS. Transmission options will include manual as well as automatic.
I went on a leave of absence from the priesthood in 1989 and started dispensation two years later, which means I had to write up a paper to John Paul II in Rome to explain why I wasnt able to continue. I wrote that there were two things that prompted my leaving: that I wanted to be more involved in social justice and peace work, and that I felt I could not successfully live a celibate life.
BERLIN - A German appeals court on Tuesday rejected a Jewish mans bid to force the removal of a 700-year-old anti-Semitic statue from a church where Martin Luther once preached.

The Judensau, or Jew pig, sculpture on the Town Church in Wittenberg is one of more than 20 such relics from the Middle Ages that still adorn churches across Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

Plaintiff Michael Duellmann had argued that the sculpture was a defamation of and insult to the Jewish people that has a terrible effect up to this day.

Duellmann, who has suggested removing the relief from the church and putting it in the nearby Luther House museum, said he would appeal Tuesdays decision to the Federal Court of Justice and is prepared to take the case outside Germany to the European Court of Human Rights, if necessary.

Placed on the church about four meters (13 feet) above ground level, the sculpture depicts people identifiable as Jews suckling the teats of a sow while a rabbi lifts the animals tail. In 1570, after the Protestant Reformation, an inscription referring to an anti-Jewish tract by Luther was added.

In 1988, a memorial was set into the ground below, referring to the persecution of Jews and the 6 million people who died during the Holocaust. In addition, a sign gives information about the sculpture in German and English.

After a court in Dessau rejected Duellmanns case in May, he took it a higher state court in Naumburg. That court said in its ruling Tuesday that he failed to prove the Town House sculpture must be taken down because in its current context it is not of slanderous character and didnt violate the plaintiffs rights.

The appeals court said that with the addition of the memorial and information sign, the statue was now part of an ensemble which speaks for another objective on the part of the parish.

The presentation of a part of the building in its original condition that was originally meant to be insulting is not necessarily insulting, the court said. Rather, you can neutralize the original intent with commentary as to the historical context. This is the case with the Wittenberg sculpture.

Duellmann said that while he was disappointed by Tuesdays ruling, he was glad the case had sparked s debate within Germanys Protestant Church. He said he thinks the same discourse is needed in the Catholic Church and Jewish communities in Germany and Israel.

This whole discussion process has been moving ahead with this legal case, and thats a good thing, he told The Associated Press.

Town Church Pastor Johannes Block has said the church also considers the sculpture unacceptably insulting. But he argued that it no longer speaks for itself as a solitary piece, but is embedded in a culture of remembrance thanks to the 1988 memorial.

We dont want to hide or abolish history, but take the path of reconciliation with and through history, Block said.

_____

David Rising contributed to this story.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

University of Queensland researchers have developed a framework that aims to reduce the mining industry's impact on climate change by accounting for sources and sinks of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The proposed framework, published in Nature Geoscience, will allow the mining industry to better monitor, gather and assess emissions data, identify measurement gaps and evaluate and apply mitigation strategies.

UQ Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) researcher and lead author Dr. Mehdi Azadi said primary mineral and metal production accounted for about ten percent of the world's energy-related GHG emissions in 2018.

He said the framework addressed climate change related issues by identifying major mitigation pathways.

"Rising standards of living have led to increasing demand for mining activities to provide the minerals and metals required by many technologies," Dr. Azadi said.

"While the mining sector contributes to global emissions, it is also increased affected by climate change.

"Our framework examines the sources of GHG emissions across the mining supply chainfrom mining, ore processing, transportation, to waste managementand identifies ways to improve mitigation strategies.

"Fugitive emissions reduction, resource efficiency, energy usage, and biological solutions are the four major pathways we have identified as major opportunities for GHG mitigation in mining.

"These pathways will allow policymakers and miners to create flexible plans for addressing GHG emissions by taking into account operational requirements and external factors.

"The framework is flexible enough to be tailored to a specific commodity, mining operation, climate or country."

"Using this framework, we hope to collaborate with governments, the mining industry and research institutions to create guidelines or toolboxes for certain commodities, climates, countries and operations," Dr. Azadi said.

"Our framework will help the industry reduce its carbon footprint and provide financial benefits by lowering energy consumption across the supply chain, while also decreasing the adverse environmental impacts caused by mining operations.

"For green technologies to be effectively implemented, it is essential that the mining industry accurately and transparently account for greenhouse gas emissions.

"But this isn't just about reducing mining's effect on climate change, it is also about reducing climate change's effect on mining; the industry needs accurate data to reduce its carbon footprint and improve risk management."

The article is co-authored by SMI Associate Professor Mansour Edraki, UQ and University of Delaware Professor Saleem H. Ali and University of Technology Sydney's Dr. Stephen Northey.

Professor Saleem H. Ali said carbon accounting in mining was increasingly important.

"Carbon accounting of mining is becoming even more urgent now because minerals for clean energy infrastructure are being widely explored," he said.

"Understanding the full carbon budget of extraction is important in considering a range of potential supply sources and processing technologies."

SMI Director Professor Neville Plint said the framework reflects the Institute's commitment to working with the minerals industry to implement sustainable changes.

"An important part of improving mining's role in sustainable a sustainable world is working with industry to develop and implement solutions that are practical and effectivethis framework is a great example of that.

Explore further Estimating the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining

More information: Transparency on greenhouse gas emissions from mining to enable climate change mitigation. Nat. Geosci. 13, 100104 (2020). nature.com/articles/s41561-020-0531-3 Journal information: Nature Geoscience Transparency on greenhouse gas emissions from mining to enable climate change mitigation.. 13, 100104 (2020). doi.org/10.1038/s41561-020-0531-3
India will have theatre commands overseeing the countrys borders with China in the North/North-east; Pakistan in the North/West; and a peninsular command looking at the countrys eastern and western seaboards, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat said in an interaction with reporters on Tuesday.

While this will take three years, he added that the countrys armed forces are poised for the biggest reorganisation ever with the creation of the Air Defence Command.

The Air Defence Command is low-hanging fruit, General Rawat said, adding that during the transition, the theatre commanders will be assigned to be under the service chief so that the change doesnt impact the battle capabilities of the forces.

This means that during the transition, the theatre commander will take orders from his service chief, who will take inputs from the other chiefs. The new structure that will emerge after the transition process is still not clear.

The process of transition will be deliberate and gradual, General Rawat, Indias first CDS, said. Among the other new commands that are expected are a Logistics Command that will look into logistics of all three services in a holistic manner.

And with the creation of the peninsula command, the Navy Chief can disinvest himself from the closer Indian Ocean region and look at the bigger picture, the CDS said.

Our thought process is that let us go with the peninsula command. Currently there is East and West command in Navy over Indian Ocean, he said. If you look at the Navy Chief, these two commands are just one of his charters. Look at his charter; he is looking at the entire Indian Ocean region. He is looking from east coast of Africa to right down to Australia. So, he has got a bigger picture to look at, he said.

General Rawat was named CDS on December 31, 2019, almost two decades after the Group of Ministers formed to look into the Kargil Review Committee report recommended the creation of the post to promote jointmanship or synergy between the forces.

Theatre commands are the need of the hour, the sooner we have it the better it is. We need theatre commands because no single force is capable of discerning and importantly countering growing threats alone. Importantly we have better utilize meagre resources. India strategic frontiers are expanding, it is time we look at the bigger picture and not be confined to silos. The threats from other countries need to understood and prepared for. The world is looking at India with great expectation. It requires vision and combined might of force to meet the expectation. Therefore in our report, we had suggested that from Defence forces we need to move to armed forces and from thereon to becoming an armed power, Lieutenant General DB Shekatkar said.

General Shekatkar chaired the high-level committee that recommended measures to enhance combat capability and rebalance defence expenditure of the armed forces. The committee submitted its report in December 2016.

Air Defence command is a good first step. Air Defence needs to be integrated to avoid instances of friendly fire when you have Army, IAF using aerial platforms. Theatre commands will ultimately come in as per the mandate of the CDS. Importantly, theatre commands are the need of the hour, said Lieutenant General Satish Dua who recently retired as the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chief of Staff Committee.

Describing the reorganisation in detail, the CDS said that he has had initial discussions with the chiefs of the three services. I have asked for suggestions from them, he said. He added that India is following neither the US model, which has geographical theatre commands, nor the Chinese model, which are according to regions. We will devise it according to our needs and terrain, General Rawat said. Describing the Air Defence Command, the CDS said that the Indian Air Force is responsible for the management of the Indian air space. While air assets will be integrated, and put in the Air Defence Command, those with very specific duties such as fighters with the Indian Navy or air elements with the Strike Corps of the Indian Army will continue to be with the respective forces, he explained. Integrating the logistics units of all three services has great potential in increasing efficiency, and cutting costs through common contract management, the CDS said.

Commenting on jointness between three services, General Rawat said, We are armed forces of the Union (of India) and the time has come to genuinely behave like one. He added that medical and training facilities could be integrated. It is important to better understand the capabilities available with the other forces, he said. I came to know about the capabilities of the US-made long-range surveillance aircraft P8i during the Doklam crisis. Indian and Chinese troops were deployed eyeball to eyeball at the Doklam plateau in Bhutan for 73 days in 2017. The naval aircraft gathered crucial data that allowed better decision-making, the CDS said.

Significantly, days after the Union government presented the Union budget for the fiscal year 2020-21, the CDS expressed concern about the burgeoning pension budget. It is 1.33 lakh crore next fiscal as against 1.1 lakh crore this year, the CDS said and wondered whether this is feasible to sustain. Pension budgets have soared after the government implemented the One-Rank- One Pension (OROP) scheme for the military. OROP was a long-standing demand of the armed forces. The budget allocated to forces was adequate, the CDS said. Management of budget is critical. Budget is more a management issue than an issue of (adequate) funds.
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday summoned a senior diplomat from the Indian High Commission and registered a strong protest at the alleged ceasefire violations by Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC).

In a statement, the Foreign Office said that four persons, including two women and a child, suffered "serious injuries" due to "indiscriminate and unprovoked firing" in Danna Sector of LoC on February 3.

"It was underscored that such senseless Indian acts further vitiate the tense atmosphere along the LoC and pose a threat to regional peace and stability," the statement said.

It was also emphasized that by raising tensions along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB), India cannot divert attention from Kashmir, FO said.

Pakistan called upon the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding; investigate this and other incidents of deliberate ceasefire violations and maintain peace along the LoC and the WB, it said.

It was also urged that India should permit the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions, the FO said.

India maintains that the UNMOGIP, established in January 1949, has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the LoC.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- If you havent been able to snag a coveted and expensive ticket to the popular Broadway show Hamilton," a movie adaptation is coming to theaters next year.

The shows creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, announced the news in a tweet on Monday that Hamilton will be in theaters Oct. 15, 2021. The Walt Disney Company will release the film, which will feature a version of the stage performance by the original Broadway cast at The Richard Rodgers Theatre in Manhattan.

Disney presents:

Hamilton.

With The Original Broadway Cast.

Filmed onstage at The Richard Rodgers Theatre.

In A Theater Near You.

October 15, 2021.#Hamilfilm pic.twitter.com/z4ohfWXzi3  Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) February 3, 2020

According to Deadline, Disney paid $75 million for worldwide rights to the show, which debuted in 2015. Disney won the deal to release the two-hour, 40-minute movie, which was shot on-stage in June 2016 during one of the last weeks before the original Broadway cast departed.

Book, music and lyrics for Hamilton" are by Miranda, who played the starring role of Alexander Hamilton in the original Broadway cast.

----------------

To purchase tickets for Hamilton on Broadway please visit Ticketmaster, SeatGeek or StubHub.

------------------

The show, directed by Thomas Kail, is based on Ron Chernows biography of founding father Alexander Hamilton.

Hamilton portrays the life and death of the United States first treasury secretary while exploring the countrys revolutionary history. In 2016, it won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the Tony Award for best new musical, among other honors, according to the New York Times.

It remains the top-grossing Broadway show each week, the Times reported. Since it began performances in 2015, it has been seen at The Richard Rodgers Theatre by 2.6 million people, and has grossed $636 million.

PLANS FOR DISNEY+

With its 2021 theatrical release, the film likely wont hit subscription streaming service Disney+ until 2022.

Disney+ launched in November, allowing fans to enjoy their favorite movies and television shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and more. The streaming service is available for $6.99 per month, or $69.99 for a yearly plan. Disney+ is also offering a seven-day free trial.

Disney+ will be the exclusive streaming service for films released by The Walt Disney Studios in 2019 and beyond, which means that it will be the only service that is able to stream Hamilton after its release in theaters.

You can go here for a look at more of the new original shows and movies that will be coming to the streaming service. And you can go here to view every television show and movie coming to Disney+ from Disneys library.

Consumers can subscribe to Disney+ directly at DisneyPlus.com or via in-app purchase from partner platforms and devices.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25 th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Arkansas' top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Emmaline Landes

Nominated by El Dorado High School

Emmaline, a senior at El Dorado High School, has raised more than $16,000 since 2013 for nonprofit agencies and various causes by selling or donating more than 300 pieces of her original artwork. At age 11, Emmaline began painting portraits of animals at a local shelter, which were then auctioned at the shelter's annual ball. When the first one sold for $500, "I realized I could make a difference through my artwork," she said. Working mainly with acrylics on canvas, she started making paintings for other nonprofits in her community, and later formed a nonprofit called "Heartworks" in memory of her grandmother, who died of ALS in 2016.

Proceeds from the sale of Emmaline's paintings have gone to address a wide range of causes she cares about, including child abuse, homelessness, animal adoption, hunger, affordable healthcare and art education. She also has used her art to help peers in need. Emmaline's first art show raised funds to cover travel costs for a friend receiving medical care, to buy personal care items for a peer whose family is affected by AIDS and to supply weekend meals for kids who don't have enough to eat at home. A second art show generated funds to purchase medical supplies and equipment for people with ALS and other debilitating diseases. In addition, Emmaline has created a series of paintings of fetal ultrasound images, which are being donated to purchase baby supplies and clothing for peers who become pregnant in high school. "It is my hope that my work reflects the joy I feel from helping others," she said.

Middle Level State Honoree: Braden Lisowe

Nominated by Bryant Middle School

Braden, a sixth grader at Bryant Middle School, has provided more than 2,000 meals for clients of the Arkansas Food Bank by cooking and selling ready-to-eat meals out of his kitchen and donating the proceeds. "I've always been interested in cooking," explained Braden. "I began cooking ready-to-eat meals for friends and family to raise money to go to camp, and quickly realized that I could use my new skills to help others." He knew about the food bank from volunteering there with his mother and decided that feeding the hungry was something he could do.

Each week, Braden plans a meal with a main dish and two sides and solicits orders on a "Braden's Bites" Facebook page managed by his mother. With as many as 10-12 orders a week, he shops for ingredients, prepares the meals in his home kitchen with help from his sister, and arranges delivery. In addition to the proceeds that he donates to the food bank, Braden donates a meal to someone in need for every five meals he sells. His meal sales have also enabled him to purchase 50 sleeping bags for people experiencing homelessness after severe flooding destroyed their encampment. He also has donated meals on Mother's Day to mothers who have lost children, to veterans on Veterans Day, to people who are ill or recovering from surgery, to foster parents and first responders, and to others. "I'm really lucky that my family has never had to worry about where our next meal came from," said Braden, "but being able to raise funds so that others don't have to feels really good."

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized four other Arkansas students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Arkansas' Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Haley Draeger, 16, of Sherwood, Arkansas, a member of the Girl Scouts - Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas and a sophomore at Mount St. Mary Academy, organized and runs "Kid's Korner," a twice-monthly event that has given more than 1,300 outfits to 240 families who are staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Little Rock. Haley solicits, washes and organizes donated clothing, has helped recruit additional volunteers, and works directly with families who benefit from her initiative.

Raichel Frye, 17, of Foreman, Arkansas, a senior at Foreman High School, organized a donation drive in her community to benefit victims of Hurricane Harvey; she printed and distributed informational fliers, connected with local churches to spread the word and helped prepare more than 500 donations for delivery. Raichel was inspired to organize this event after hearing about the devastation caused by the hurricane to communities in Houston, and plans to host similar donation drives in the future.

Natalie Hernandez, 18, of Rogers, Arkansas, a senior at Don Tyson School of Innovation, is the creator and leader of "Coding Takes Flight," an educational program that has offered hourlong block coding sessions to more than 1,000 girls from local elementary schools. Natalie was inspired to start this project after being one of only two female students in her high school programming class; she hopes to help participants expand their interest in STEM-related fields and gain confidence in their new skillset.

Hayden Wood, 17, of Floral, Arkansas, a senior at Midland High School, is the co-founder of the "Wireless Education" project, working with state legislators and businesses to provide students in his community with mobile hot spot flash drives so they can complete online homework assignments at home. Hayden used a software program to determine which service provider would be the best partner for his project, based on service strength in rural areas where his classmates live.

"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees  one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia  will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees  five middle level and five high school students  will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com .

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.

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OLATHE, KS (AP) -- An Olathe teenager has pleaded guilty to lesser charges in the shooting death of another teen during a failed $8 Xanax deal. The Kansas City Star reports that Jordan Denny originally was charged with felony murder in the March 2019 death of 17-year-old Rowan Padgett.
By LISA MASCARO and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press

WASHINGTON  Closing arguments in President Donald Trumps impeachment trial unfolded Monday more for history than to sway votes, one final chance to influence public opinion and set the record ahead of his expected acquittal in the Republican-led Senate.

The House Democratic prosecutors drew on history, the Founding Fathers and common sense to urge senators  and Americans  to see that Trump's actions are not isolated but part of a pattern of behavior that, left unchecked, will allow him to "cheat"' in the 2020 election.

The president's defense countered the fast-track impeachment case against Trump was flawed and rushed, nothing short of an effort to undo the 2016 election and to try to shape the next one.

All that's left, as the Senate prepares to acquit Trump on charges that he abused power and obstructed Congress is for Americans to decide now, and in the November election, as the third presidential impeachment trial in the nation's history begins to close.

Leave it to the voters to choose, said White House counsel Pat Cipollone.

Senators acknowledge the House Democratic managers have essentially proven their case, that Trump abused power and obstructed Congress, by leveraging U.S. military aid to push Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden to thwart the 2020 election.

But key Republicans have decided the president's actions toward Ukraine do not rise to the level of impeachable offense that warrant the dramatic political upheaval of conviction and removal from office. His acquittal in Wednesday's vote is all but assured.

Democrats argue right matters, while Trump's GOP allies contend it is time to end the partisan proceeding.

In this image from video, House impeachment manager Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during debate ahead of a vote on calling witnesses during the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. (Senate Television via AP)AP

What message does that send?  asked Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., a House prosecutor, who warned that for Trump, the past is prologue." He implored senators to realize that without a vote to convict, the Senate will allow the presidents misconduct to stand.

House managers opened with a plea from Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., a freshman, who told the chamber: We cannot and should not leave our common sense at the door.

The former Army Ranger invoked the founding fathers and even Republican Barry Goldwater from the Nixon-era impeachment proceedings to intone: "In America, no one is above the law, even those elected president of the United States. I would say  especially those elected president of the United States."

Rep. Val Demings, a former police chief, argued that the president is not behaving like someone who is innocent. She warned he will try to cheat again ahead of 2020.

Innocent people don't try to hide every document and witness, especially those that would clear them, she told the senators. That's what guilty people do.

Before Trump's celebrity defense mounted their closing argument, the president himself already registered his views on Twitter where he decried the whole thing, as he often does, as a hoax.

In this image from video, Ken Starr, an attorney for President Donald Trump, speaks during the impeachment trial against Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Senate Television via AP)AP

Kenneth Starr, the former prosecutor ahead of Bill Clintons impeachment, complained about the inadequacy of the House prosecutors case.

The Senate proceedings are set against a sweeping political backstop, as voters in Iowa on Monday are choosing presidential Democratic primary candidates in early voting and Trump is poised Tuesday to deliver his State of the Union address in his own victory lap before Congress.

The trial unfolded over nearly two weeks and reached a decisive moment last Friday when senators voted against calling witnesses and documents. Key Republicans said they had heard enough. It becomes the first impeachment trial in the nations more than 200-year history without any witnesses.

Even new revelations from John Bolton, the former national security adviser at the White House, whose forthcoming book discloses his firsthand account of Trump ordering the investigations, did not impress upon senators the need for more testimony.

Bolton has said he would appear, if he received a subpoena, but GOP senators said the House should have issued the summons and the Senate did not want to prolong the proceedings.

Prosecutors relied on a 28,000-page report compiled over three months of proceedings in the Democratic-controlled House, including the public and private testimony from 17 witnesses, many current and former ambassadors and national security officials with close proximity to the Ukraine dealings.
Who ever decided that school should be at regular time on Monday needs to take a trip out of Rapid City. The town has the equipment to handle ice and snow, but the rural areas do not. It rained and froze Sunday night, then snowed at least 3 inches.

If you cut off the head of the snake and attach it to the tail the snake is the same length as when you started! Just drop daylight savings all together. It accomplishes nothing and we would get used to it.

Its time for this community to support schools by voting yes for the school bond. Tax increases arent any fun but S.D. residents pays fewer taxes than residents in every other state besides Wyoming. This is our obligation! Vote yes!

Phil Jensens comments at the Legislative Crackerbarrel on Saturday, caused me to run as fast as I can to switch my voter registration to Democrat.

I don't have a problem with mining in the Black Hills as long as they clean up after themselves. I believe Homestake did.

So you want me to believe that the school buildings that were built 40 years ago are worthless and not worth remodeling, but the house I'm living in, built 40 years ago is now worth seven times what I payed for it for tax purposes.

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New cancer medications cost an average of $10,000 per month, but experts at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute are finding innovative ways to expand their financial assistance program so more patients have access to the medications they need. Credit: The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

The Medical Assistance Program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer CenterArthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCCJames) has helped more than 30,000 patients gain access to vital medications valued at more than $500 million, and a new program expansion will further increase access to vital cancer therapies for patients with the greatest financial need.

"Financial toxicity is a very real concern for families facing a cancer diagnosis. As an institution, we want to do all that we can to reduce additional stressors for patients so they can focus on getting well," explains Julie Kennerly-Shah, PharmD, a pharmacist and associate director of pharmacy at the OSUCCCJames. "Our financial counselors work with patients so they don't have to make decisions about whether they can afford potentially life-saving treatment."

In February 2019 the pharmacy assistance program expanded with the implementation of a drug repository program that allows patients to donate no-longer-needed oral cancer therapy drugs for the benefit of other cancer patients through new state rules spearheaded by the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy and OSUCCCJames.

"In cancer, it is quite common for patients to switch to a new medication or experience a medication dose reduction. As a result, we end up with a lot of wasted medication that must be disposed of," explains Kennerly-Shah. "This new program allows patients to donate these unneeded medications for re-dispensing to patients in financial need through our existing hospital-based Medical Assistance Program."

With the average cost of new cancer drugs at over $10,000 per month, experts at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James) are finding innovative ways to expand medication assistance programs to help cancer patients access the medications they need to treat their disease. Credit: The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

New rules adopted in November 2019 by the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy states donated medications must be within expiration dates, stored as prescribed and otherwise untampered with. Pharmacists will then go through an eight-point inspection of the drug to ensure that it is safe to re-dispense at a future date to patients in need. Previous rules allowed only for the collection of unopened medication that was dispensed for the prescribed patient but never picked up.

The cancer drug repository initiative is a new component of the overall Medical Assistance Program (MAP) at the OSUCCCJames. The MAP consult service was established to help patients who are unable to afford their medications due to financial hardship. The program consists of pharmacists, medical assistance program coordinators, clinical financial case managers and other support personnel who work one-on-one with patients to reduce healthcare costs associated with cancer treatment.

A new program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute allows patients to donate unneeded oral cancer pills so they can be re-dispensed to patients who might otherwise not be able to afford their medication. Credit: The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

"Ohio State has been a leader in medication-assistance programs and has taught many people across the country how to optimize various manufacturer programs and grant programming. We want to be an asset to other hospitals considering implementation of a cancer drug repository as well," adds Kennerly-Shah. "Our hope is that our repository is a first step toward a much bigger solution long-term that could be modeled beyond our individual hospital and state."

The OSUCCCJames is the first hospital in Ohio, and among the first in the United States, to launch a cancer drug repository program. The new cancer drug repository program is housed at the OSUCCCJames Outpatient Pharmacy. The program will accept donations of unused medications from individual patients, pharmacies, hospitals and non-profit clinics to be re-dispensed to patients in treatment at the OSUCCCJames who cannot afford the cost of the medications. Patients interested in donating non-expired, no-longer-needed capecitabine or temozolomide should contact the OSUCCCJames Outpatient Pharmacy.

Explore further Study suggests new strategy for treating advanced, progressing bile duct cancer

Provided by Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
With Canada chartering a plane to bring Canadians home from the epicentre of the coronavirus in China, many families are facing painful decisions about whether they can, or will, stay or go.

According to Global Affairs Canada, only people with Canadian passports or permanent residents accompanying Canadian minors will be allowed to board  a decision made by officials in China.

Those with permanent residency status, which grants a person most of the rights and responsibilities of a Canadian citizen, will remain in Hubei.

That means tough decisions about leaving loved ones behind, worries about children separated from their parents, the uncertainty of families with stranded breadwinners and the helplessness of not knowing what comes next.

Kai Huang has Canadian citizenship but doesn't like the prospect of leaving his 78-year-old mother  who only has her permanent residency  in the outbreak's epicentre. Both live in Ottawa but were staying at Huang's sister-in-law's home in Wuhan.

"Most concerning is that if I go back to Ottawa, my mom has to live here," Huang said by phone Sunday. The 50-year-old works in program analysis at RCMP headquarters in Ottawa.

The plane to bring Canadians back from Wuhan is set to leave China on Thursday morning local time, and Huang and his mother are some of the many who call Canada home but face the tough reality of being separated. Huang said he's his single mother's only child. The idea of leaving her behind is "very difficult," he said.

"If she gets sick, that's going to be really life-threatening," Huang said.

At least 543 Canadians in Hubei province have registered with Global Affairs Canada's Registration of Canadians Abroad service.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said there are 280 Canadian passport-holders and 24 others who want to board the chartered flight.

Toddler in quarantine

Richmond, B.C., resident Amelia Pan worries about whether her two-year-old daughter, Cerena, will be able to board.

Story continues

Cerena is a Canadian citizen, but Pan's husband, Wei Ye, is a permanent resident in Canada. Ye was admitted to a hospital in China after showing symptoms of the novel coronavirus. He was later confirmed to have the virus, but Pan says he's recovering.

Pan said her husband and their daughter were visiting family over the Chinese New Year when the outbreak was made public. Pan, who only recently gained her Canadian citizenship, stayed behind in B.C. to wait for a Chinese visa.

While Cerena has been cleared to fly by the Canadian government, she's been kept at a hotel local governments have designated as a quarantined area.

She's being looked after by people Pan barely knows. Initially, she was being looked after by the neighbours of Pan's in-laws, who were with the toddler when the city was placed under lockdown.

Supplied by Amelia Pan

Despite the emotional stress the parents are under, they're trying to do everything they can for Cerena.

"We are the adults," Pan said Monday. "I'm sure we can handle it. Right now, it's time to be strong and conquer anything that stands in our way to getting our daughter back."

Still, she fears for Cerena's wellbeing in light of the fact she has been separated from both parents.

"She has been passed along, stranger to stranger," Pan said.

Pan worries that if the flight leaves before the Chinese government releases her child from quarantine, Cerena will be left behind.

Pan fears the longer her daughter stays in Hubei, the more likely it is she'll contract the virus.

If the two-year-old is allowed to fly, Pan is requesting to be allowed to enter quarantine with her when she arrives back in Canada.

"I'm willing to go, I just don't know if I'm going to be able to," she said. "I know some other families with young children coming back might want to do the same. There's just a lot of things hanging in the air."

Pan knows her husband's situation is more complicated. It's uncertain when he will be released from hospital, let alone when he might leave China.

Pan doesn't know what the long-term plan is for her husband and says once he is released, he'll no longer have a Canadian citizen to accompany him home.

Canadians seek repatriation

Those who are allowed to board the flight back to Canada will be placed in quarantine for two weeks to prevent the virus from spreading.

Many Canadians trapped in Hubei say they would welcome that as an alternative to staying in China.

Clint Cheng, spokesperson for a group of more than 50 Canadians trapped in Hubei, says after seeing the devastating effects of the virus firsthand, people in his group don't want to contribute to spreading it further.

"Among us, men and women, seniors and babies, just unknowingly [happened] to be at the wrong place at the wrong time," the Vancouver resident wrote over the Chinese messaging app WeChat.

Like many, Cheng was visiting family over the Chinese New Year when the outbreak occurred.

"None of us, working or visiting in this country could possibly know in advance that there would be an outbreak of this dangerous virus, taking hundreds of lives and threatening our health and life in such a dramatic scale," he said.

Stranded alone

Pei Lu, a permanent resident who has called Saskatoon home for the past eight years, is the sole member of his family of four stuck overseas.

He had been visiting his parents at the time of the lockdown but has since become separated from them.

Under the restrictions Global Affairs announced Monday, he won't be allowed on that plane because he will not be accompanying a child.

"Right now, it's just me," he said. "I [won't'] be allowed to leave Wuhan."

Lu works at Costco, he said, and is the sole provider for his wife and two children. With the help of his parents in China, he's been able to send money home to help them in the short term.

There is no telling how long he will be gone.

"Every day, I just stay in my home. Continuously, for 10 days, I just stay in my home," he said. "Outside is very, very dangerous."

Diana Young, Lu's wife, said the family is waiting anxiously for her husband's return. They send words of encouragement to him through WeChat.

"My daughter, every day if she has free time, contacts her father," she said.

'I have hope'

And as they wait, people like Kai Huang and his mother can do little but stay inside, eat as little as possible to avoid trips to the grocers and hope for the best.

He said Monday night that he hasn't abandoned his mother just yet.

"I have hope," he said. "If I ask them then maybe my mother can be allowed to board."

Huang said he's in contact with his member of Parliament, Chandra Arya, to plead his case.

If the answer is still no, Huang has already made his difficult decision. He has a one-year-old daughter at home who needs her father.

"My mom will have to wait," he said.
[February 04, 2020] First BanCorp. Announces Payment of Dividends on Preferred Stock

First BanCorp. (the "Corporation") (NYSE: FBP), the bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico, announced today that its Board of Directors has declared the following monthly cash dividends on its outstanding shares of Series A through E Noncumulative Perpetual Monthly Income Preferred Stock (the "Preferred Stock"):







Series Monthly Dividend Per Share Outstanding Shares Record Date Payment Date A $0.14843750 197,386 February 27, 2020 March 2, 2020 B $0.17395800 296,146 February 15, 2020 March 2, 2020 C $0.15416670 249,852 February 15, 2020 March 2, 2020 D $0.15104167 285,522 February 15, 2020 March 2, 2020 E $0.14583330 415,240 February 15, 2020 March 2, 2020

About First BanCorp. First BanCorp. is the parent corporation of FirstBank Puerto Rico, a state-chartered commercial bank with operations in Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Florida, and of FirstBank Insurance Agency, LLC. Among the subsidiaries of FirstBank Puerto Rico are First Federal Finance Limited Liability Company and First Express, Inc., both small loan companies. First BanCorp's shares of common stock trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "FBP." Safe Harbor This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" concerning the Corporation. The words or phrases "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "look forward," "should," "would," "believes" and similar expressions are meant to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are subject to the safe harbor created by such sections. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Corporation's ability to declare dividends on the Corporation's Preferred Stock in any future periods. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies that may cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations, intentions, beliefs, plans, estimates or predictions of the future expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies include, but are not limited to the factors described in the Corporation's Annual Report on Form 10-K, in its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in other filings with the SEC (News - Alert). The Corporation does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any "forward-looking statements" to reflect occurrences or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements, except as required by the federal securities laws. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005874/en/

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One person was killed and five others suffered injuries in a shooting on a bus heading from Los Angeles to San Francisco on Monday (local time).

According to The Hill, a 51-year-old Columbian woman was killed on the bus. The injured have been airlifted to a hospital.

The injuries ranged from moderate to critical.

The bus was carrying 43 people, including the driver.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
According to the diplomat, this is especially relevant to the sequence of actions.

Ambassador of France to Ukraine, Etienne de Poncins, says certain provisions in the text of the Minsk Agreements, designed to peacefully resolve the Russia-provoked armed conflict in Donbas, require clarification and elaboration.

"France's position is very simple: today there's no better base than the Minsk agreements. Today there's no better text that would allow advancing in conflict settlement. We have not yet invented anything better than the Normandy diplomatic format of work  the format where France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia takes part," the ambassador said in an interview with the hromadske outlet.

"At the same time, it is obvious that there are points in the text of the Minsk Agreements that are unclear, requiring clarification, elaboration, and detailing. This is especially relevant to the sequence of actions. The experts need to sit at the table and detail those points," de Poncins stressed .

At the same time, the diplomat says this does not mean that these agreements should be abandoned.

"There is no other option than the Minsk agreements because they were signed by Ukraine, so they are the core. These agreements need to be taken as a basis, and then there may be interpretations," the ambassador added.

Read alsoTeam Zelensky eyes holding elections in Donbas late October

He agrees that the circumstances for the signing of Minsk accords were far from perfect.

"But if we seek to achieve peace, we must build on the existing foundation. Let's work with what we have, let's be pragmatic and move forward. Further, if both sides agree, it will be possible to find clarifications and details of some points that will help implement the agreement," said de Poncins.

In addition, the diplomat emphasized that he prefers to use the term "reintegration" rather than "de-occupation" when it comes to restoring the territorial integrity of Ukraine in Donbas.

He has added that France supports the idea of conflict settlement and the return of the affected areas of Donbas under Ukraine's control.
Four years ago, during a house party in Bengaluru, Dhruv Kapoor, an engineer at gaming studio Kiwi Inc, had a conversation with his neighbour Ankiti Bose who was an investment analyst at venture capital firm Sequoia. Both had reached a point in their careers where they wanted to create their own start-up.

But they had contrasting skill sets and had done different kinds of work. But we had a very common vision (about) the future of technology and commerce, says Kapoor. Later, after many similar conversations, the duo quit their jobs and in 2015 launched their own start-up, ...
A nurse wearing a facemask walks inside an isolation ward opened as a preventative measure at the North Bengal Medical college and Hospital in Siliguri on Feb. 4, 2020. (ADiptendu Dutta/AFP via Getty Images)

Gambling Capital Macau Orders All Casinos to Close Over Virus Outbreak

Gambling hub Macau announced it would shut down casinos for 15 days as coronavirus spirals out of control, triggering lockdowns and quarantines in China.

Officials in Macau, considered the worlds gambling capital, called on its several dozen casinos to close, impacting American casino firms such as Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands.

Of course this was a difficult decision, but we must do it for the health of Macaus residents, Ho Iat Seng, the head of the Chinese territory, said in a TV press conference, according to The New York Times. Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong said confirmed that 41 casinos, bars, theaters, and clubs would be shut down in the meantime, reported The Wall Street Journal.

Ho said there would be a meeting of local casino operators on Tuesday, and he did not elaborate exactly on when the shutdown would begin. But he said it might start as early as Tuesday night, Wednesday, or Thursday.

All government services in Macau would be suspended, he added. Emergency services would continue without disruption.

People wearing face masks take a selfie in Macau, China, on Jan. 28, 2020. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

A 29-year-old woman and a 57-year-old male were confirmed to have contracted coronavirus, Macaus health agency said on Tuesday. So far, 10 people have become infected in Macau.

Macaus new measures were set into motion as Hong Kong, located nearby, reported its first death from the mysterious virus. Officials confirmed the death of a 39-year-old man with underlying health problems who had recently visited virus epicenter Wuhan, which has been placed on lockdown along with other Chinese cities. It comes after a Chinese national who had visited Wuhan died of the virus in the Philippines.

Elsewhere in China, the metropolis of Hangzhou, the capital of Chinas Zhejiang province, announced it would implement a partial lockdown over the virus. Now, only one person per household can go outside to purchase groceries and supplies every two daysmirroring restrictions implemented in other Chinese cities.

Other restrictions include forcing people to carry identification and have their temperature taken when entering and exiting areas such as villages and certain neighborhoods, officials said. Locals also cannot have weddings, and funerals must be reported.

Last week, Macau announced it would bar entry to visitors from Chinas Hubei province or anyone who visited there in the past 14 days unless they can provide documentation that theyre not infected with coronavirus, Reuters reported.

In the United States, 11 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in California, Washington state, Illinois, Arizona, and Massachusetts.
He entered Love Island with a bang on Monday as he set his sights on Shaughna Phillips, who is coupled up with Callum Jones.

But it appears Josh Kempton already had a connection to the show before entering the South African villa through his friendship with 2019 hopeful Jordan Hames.

The 21-year-old model's close bond with the former contestant, 24, is documented in a series of snaps on his Instagram account, with the newbie even starring in a campaign for his pal's premium mens underwear brand, House of Hames.

They go way back: Josh Kempton (C) already had a connection to the Love Island show before entering the South African villa through his friendship with 2019 hopeful Jordan Hames (L)

In promotional images for the retailer, the muscle-bound hunks displayed their toned upper body and incredible six-packs as they sported white and black briefs.

The pair's relationship extends outside of work as they've also uploaded images of their fun-filled nights out in the past.

Jordan rose to prominence on last year's edition of the ITV2 dating series for his romance with Anna Vakili, but rubbed viewers the wrong way when he attempted to pursue India Reynolds.

Cheeky: The 21-year-old model entered Love Island with a bang on Monday as he set his sights on Shaughna Phillips, who is coupled up with Callum Jones

Muscle-bound: The Surrey hunk even starred in a campaign for his the 24-year-old's premium mens underwear brand, House of Hames

Having fun: The pair's relationship extends outside of work as they've also uploaded images of their fun-filled nights out in the past

Controversial: Jordan rose to prominence on last year's edition of the ITV2 dating series for his romance with Anna Vakili (pictured in July)

On Monday's episode, democratic service officer Shaughna, 25, caught the eye of Josh, while Callum, 23, became acquainted with fellow Mancunian Molly Smith, also 25.

Pulling her for a chat, the newbie confessed: 'I'm going to lay my cards on the table here, but I think you're super gorgeous. Your personality is awesome. I think you're great.

'I feel like you and me would get along. If you're pretty safe with Callum, I can't rock that. But I feel like I can give you a bit more than Callum can give.'

'I think you're great': On Monday's episode, democratic service officer Shaughna, 25, caught the eye of Josh

Josh isn't the only contestant who has already rubbed shoulders with an Islander, as new boy Alexi Ercalides revealed he met Jess Gale before entering the villa.

has previously hit up the blonde beauty on a night out, with the pair exchanging Instagrams and a few texts.

The 'confident, outgoing' butler in the buff from Essex, 23, has previously hit up the blonde beauty, 20, on a night out, with the pair exchanging Instagrams and a few texts.

Bombshell: Josh isn't the only contestant who has already rubbed shoulders with an Islander, as new boy Alexi Ercalides revealed he met Jess Gale before entering the villa

Alexi added that it would be 'interesting' to see what happens when they meet again as he admitted he's not afraid to step on love interest Mike Boateng's toes.

In his arrival interview, he said: 'Im ruthless!

'Im not worried about loyalty, I dont mind stepping on anyones toes. If I want something Im going to go for it, especially if theres a girl Ive got my eyes on.

'I want someone funny, fit and flirty. Attraction is important to me but also I like someone who is not stuck up or too timid because Im quite outgoing. I want someone to bounce off.'

Eager! The butler in the buff, 23, said it would be 'interesting' to see what happens when they meet again as he admitted he's not afraid to step on love interest Mike Boateng's toes

MEET THE NEW ISLANDERS: THE BOYS Name: Chris Biggs Age: 27 From: Glasgow Occupation: Car body repair specialist He says: My celebrity crush... there's something about Sharon Osbourne. But I'd say Cardi B. Name: George Day Age: 27 From: Southampton Occupation: Estate agent He says: My hair once came second in a Barber Connect competition! Name: Alexi Eraclides Age: 23 From: Essex Occupation: Butler in the buff He says: Ive met Jess on a night out before, we exchanged Instagrams then we sent a few messages but nothing came of it. Itll be interesting to see how we get on when we meet again.. Name: Josh Kempton Age: 21 From: Surrey Occupation: Model He says: Im competitive. I hate losing, Im a sore loser. Name: Ched Uzor Age: 23 From: Suffolk Occupation: Scaffolder He says: I dont feel like anyone is in a solid couple in there. The most solid couple in the villa is probably Shaughna and Callum and I still wonder if Callum might stray Name: Jordan Waozikeze Age: 24 From: London Occupation: Adminstrator He says: Im attracted to all of the girls because they are all good looking. Im looking forward to meeting them and seeing who I get on with. Advertisement
DUBLIN, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Growth Insights on China's Pharmaceutical Industry, Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This growth insights study for China's Pharmaceuticals Industry covers some of the leading industry trends across the Chinese pharma market while highlighting the impact of the changing regulatory landscape on individual segments. Also, the study provides a deep-dive analysis of industry segments including small molecules, OTC, TCM, and Biologics (innovator vs. biosimilars).

Key Issues Addressed

What are the key market trends supporting the expansion of the Chinese pharmaceutical industry?

What are the leading market segments supporting market growth? How will they impact market growth in the future?

Who are the leading market participants in the market and what is their contribution to the market progression?

What are the major growth opportunities across the market? What kind of impact would these have on the market growth?

What are the key regulatory and pricing changes across the Chinese pharma market? How are these changes expected to affect the market in the long run?

With over 4,000 pharmaceutical players, China is the second-largest pharmaceutical industry globally. Although highly fragmented, global pharma and biopharmaceutical players such as Novartis, Novo Nordisk, and AstraZeneca, have a significant hold capturing at least 8-10% of the market. The market is highly dependent on its distributor networks, leading pharma players including Sinopharm and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals have strong control over these networks.



In line with the changing market trends, the Chinese Government is increasingly focused on changing its status from an imitator to innovator, by propelling its biologics pipeline. At present, the country holds a pipeline of over 700 molecules. Also, this transition calls for greater technological advancements in the form of advanced manufacturing technologies such as single-use and continuous manufacturing processes, which are essentially aimed at supporting the changing trend of small volume-high value manufacturing. As a result, the industry is witnessing a consolidation spree with over 243 deals witnessed in early 2019.



In spite of a budding innovator drug industry, the Chinese Government is equally focused on promoting and supporting its 2,000-year old Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) market with the issuance of the Outline of the Strategic Plan on the Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2016-2030), making TCM development a national strategy, as a part of the Healthy China 2030 initiative. The Government plans to release new standards for 150-200 concentrated TCM Granules (CTCMG), that are likely to facilitate strong market growth. In addition, other APAC countries including Japan have raised precise guidelines regarding the use of correct ingredients and processing of TC products in Japan, which will further propel the segment growth.



Companies Mentioned



AstraZeneca

Novartis

Novo Nordisk

Shanghai Pharmaceuticals

Sinopharm

Key Topics Covered



1. Executive Dashboard

Purpose of this Experiential Study

5-Step Process to Transformational Growth

Market Engineering Measurements

Scope and Segmentation

Key Questions to be Answered

2. Growth Environment

China's Pharmaceutical Industry - Market Overview

Pharmaceutical Industry - Market Overview Leading Trends Driving the Chinese Pharmaceutical Industry

Drivers and Restraints

Reforms Leading to Transformation in the Industry

Transitioning Reimbursement Landscape

Shift towards a Commercial Insurance Model

Changing Dynamics of Distributor Networks

3. Market Forecasts

Market Engineering Measurements

Forecast Assumptions

Revenue Forecast - Total Pharmaceutical Market

Revenue Forecast - By Segments

Revenue Forecast Discussion

Market Share Analysis

Revenue Forecast - Small Molecule

Revenue Forecast - Biologics Segment

Revenue Forecast - Therapeutic Biologics by Segments

Revenue Forecast Discussion by Segments

Biologics Pipeline in Collaboration with Biopharma

4. Vision and Strategy - Growth Opportunities

Pharmaceutical Commercial Landscape

4 Major Growth Opportunities

Growth Opportunity 1 - Intermediates and Fine Chemicals for Pharma Manufacturing

Growth Opportunity 2 - Innovative Biologic Pipeline Bridging the Gap with Regulated Markets

Bridging the Gap with Regulated Markets

Growth Opportunity 3 - Thriving CDMO Industry Attracting Pharma Investments

Measures Taken by CDMO/CRO Participants to Attract Investments

Growth Opportunity 4 - Biosimilar Co-Development for Oncology

Policy Changes to Support Biosimilar Development

Strategic Imperatives for Growth

5. The Last Word

Conclusion

6. Appendix

7. List of Exhibits

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/jucg4i

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.



Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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If you find that the House has proved his case and still vote to acquit, your name will be tied to his with a cord of steel and for all of history, Schiff told Republicans who have called Trumps behavior inappropriate. But if you find the courage to stand up to him, to speak the awful truth to his rank falsehood, your place will be among the Davids who took on Goliath, if only you will say enough.
Baton Rouge police have arrested a man they say vandalized the sign for the city's oldest African American cemetery.

Brandon Hayes, 31, was booked in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on 14 counts of criminal damage to property by defacing with graffiti and one count of criminal damage of historic building and landmarks with graffiti.

+4 Graffiti covers sign at Baton Rouge's oldest African American cemetery; police investigating Baton Rouge police are investigating the source of graffiti defiling the sign for the city's oldest African American cemetery.

Sweet Olive Cemetery, which covers about 5 acres and runs along South 22nd Street between North Boulevard and Louisiana Avenue, was founded in 1850, according to the sign on the site. Some believe the cemetery is actually decades older.

Historians agree it's the first cemetery in Baton Rouge that was incorporated for use by black residents, and remains the final resting place of many prominent black residents and leaders, including veterans of World War II and the Korean War.

The cemetery has fallen into disrepair off and on in recent years, though community groups have repeatedly stepped up to clean up and maintain the site.
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren speaks to supporters at a caucus night campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 2020. Read more

DES MOINES, Iowa  The day after the chaos, five former strangers piled into a wood-paneled booth at the Drake Diner, with its pink fluorescent lights and a laminated menu that ranged from cheesy omelets to thick burgers and a milkshake made with blended chocolate cake.

Still awaiting results of Iowas Democratic caucuses, held Monday night, Maymie Lee-Benzon wore a pink Elizabeth Warren hat, Jonathan Bopp had a Warren sticker on his scarf, and Katie Shepherd had her nails painted mint green, the color of the Warren campaign logo.

They had walked through biting cold and wind Monday from about 7 a.m. to 4 p.m, knocking on doors for Warren in the suburbs of Des Moines before heading to a caucus site in the city and then Warrens official campaign party. By nights end, they had expected to see the results of their work.

They were still waiting Tuesday morning, with three of them facing a six-hour drive back to Chicago. They ordered hearty breakfasts befitting the hours they had put in. Wendell Shepherd asked for a side of bacon extra, extra crisp  like, murdered.

Everyones in a little state of confusion, said Katie Shepherd, 36, who moved to Iowa from California three years ago, and participated in her first caucus Monday night.

 READ MORE: We went to an Iowa caucus that looks a lot like the Pennsylvania swing counties Trump flipped in 2016

She was avoiding the Twitter rabbit hole, she said, adding that she was hearing from both fellow Iowans and friends from out of state about the technical problems that turned Iowas highly anticipated caucuses from a political measuring stick into a political disaster show, one still unresolved by midday Tuesday. Following significant difficulties in counting votes on Monday night and Tuesday morning, the Iowa Democratic Party planned to release results from about half the states precincts late Tuesday afternoon  a prospect that seemed likely to fuel more, not less, confusion.

It didnt leave the best impression, Wendell Shepherd, Katies husband, said of the delayed results.

The high-profile flub was on several patrons minds. One man, talking loudly at a nearby table, predicted that the only thing that might save Iowas status as the first state to vote in presidential contests was that too many others would fight over going first.

Gridlock may keep us first, but we sure do look like idiots, he said.

By now, political activists in Iowa and across the country had expected to have the first real vote tally of the Democratic nominating contest, after months of campaigning, millions of dollars of spending, and many long hours of volunteering, rallying, and calling.

 READ MORE: There was an official Iowa caucus in Philadelphia and Bernie Sanders won

Instead, they had confusion.

Many of the bleary-eyed people coming into the diner still wore their campaign stickers from the night before. A camper that pulled into the parking lot had Pete 2020 written on the windows. The driver, Gayle Lucka, had come from Indiana with her daughter to support Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend.

Despite the uncertainty, the Warren supporters expressed little disappointment. They were surprisingly upbeat. Two were already making plans to continue volunteering in the Nevada caucuses later this month or the Wisconsin primary in April.

They said the Warren campaign party Monday night, driven by the senator herself, was upbeat, even as they waited in vain.

It was very high-energy, Katie Shepherd said. We were ready to celebrate a lot of hard work.

She added: The Warren campaign has an ethic of keep moving. So, they said, they adopted the same attitude.

The Shepherds had hosted Lee-Benzon, Bopp, and Jaymes Grabowski at their Des Moines home in the closing days of the campaign, providing space for the volunteers who are crucial to drawing supporters out to the caucuses.

None of them knew each other before.

Now, packed into this booth, they talked over why they gave up several weekends  with three of them making long drives from Chicago  to try to persuade strangers to support Warren.

Several said that as they volunteered, thoughts of the 2016 election lurked in the back of their mind.

I could have done more, said Bopp, 35, of Chicago. This time I will.

Lee-Benzon recalled falling in a snow bank, slipping on ice  but recalled it fondly.

Im in a great mood, actually, said Lee-Benzon, 46, of Evanston, Ill. All the work we put in inconvenienced our life, [but] I did it, I accomplished this and Im done for now.

Grabowski, 31, from Chicago, was ready to volunteer in Nevada, which hosts its Democratic caucuses Feb. 22. He saw the door-knocking as a learning experience.

We left it all out on the field, Bopp said. Even if they still didnt know the final score.
WASHINGTON  In the uncertain turmoil of American politics, there is reassurance in the predictable pomp of the State of the Union.

Iowa bungled its Democratic caucus results on Monday night. But the trusty man in the yellow rain gear was still out before dawn in Washington on Tuesday, power-washing the sidewalk outside the Capitol.

The impeachment trial of President Trump is still in its final stage ahead of the vote on Wednesday, yet most senators intend to walk across the Rotunda to the chamber of the House of Representatives on Tuesday night to hear the annual address by the defendant  as they did in 1999 during the trial of former President Bill Clinton.
A new study in Burns & Trauma, published by Oxford University Press, reveals promising new strategies to prevent skin scarring after injuries.

While scars are common when wounds heal, hypertrophic scarring is a skin condition characterized by deposits of excessive amounts of collagen. This results in a thick and often raised scar. The underlying mechanisms of hypertrophic scar development are poorly understood, however. The Burns & Trauma paper reviewed strategies for treating hypertrophic scars.

Skin wound healing is a process that consists of three phases: inflammation, proliferation, and regeneration. Hypertrophic scar formation can occur as a result of an abnormality in these processes. The frequency of such scarring ranges from 40% to 94% following surgery and from 30% to 91% following a burn injury. In poorer countries, the incidence rate is greater reflecting the high rate of burn injuries.

Major risk factors for hypertrophic scar formation include gender, age, genetic predisposition, wound size and depth, anatomical site, and mechanical tension on the wound. Such scarring hinders normal function, and obviously results serious physical, psychological, and aesthetic problems for patients.

It is widely accepted that the time to complete wound healing is the most important factor to predict the development of hypertrophic scars. Only one-third of wounds developed scarring tissue if healing occurred between 14 and 21 days. Some 78% of the sites resulted in serious scarring if the wound healed after 21 days.

The established therapies for preventing serious skin scarring include pressure therapy, which has long been considered the mainstay non-invasive treatment for hypertrophic scarring. It is widely used worldwide and its effectiveness has been established. It's likely more effective suggested that it is more effective if pressure therapy is performed within two months after the initial injury.

Other interventions include silicone, steroids, and laser therapy. While the effectiveness of silicone therapy has not been completely determined, the topical administration of steroids for burn injuries has been generally used and reported to be effective. There is consistent evidence that early laser intervention for the prevention would be beneficial in both the speed of scar reduction and the efficacy of therapeutic response.

Resection (cutting out the tissue) and radiation can often be used in addition to the primary therapies. Surgical approaches do, however, vary with the type of scar. Researchers involved with this paper argue that we need long term results in order to make decisions about using resection or radiation as a medical intervention.

The drug botulinum toxin A (btxA) is widely used for cosmetic purposes, as well as treating headaches and other pain. It is also often used to treat hypertrophic scars. Researchers involved in this paper emphasize that while btxA appears to have some positive effect on scar prevention, researchers still haven't decided on the optimal concentration of the drug to treat scarring. It may depend on the size or severity of the wound. They conclude the drug is promising and worth investigating further.

Future management possibilities for hypertrophic scar therapy include anti-angiogenesis therapy, which inhibits the development of new blood vessels, fat grafting, and stem cell therapy. There are several experimental investigations on the effectiveness such therapies to reduce abnormal tissue formation.

###

Direct correspondence to:

Kenji Hayashida, MD

Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Shimane University Faculty of Medicine

89-1 Enya-cho, Izumo, Shimane 693-8501, JAPAN

tokimayu122710130311@gmail.com

To request a copy of the study, please contact:

Emily Tobin

emily.tobin@oup.com

Sharing on social media? Find Oxford Journals online at @OxfordJournals

Please acknowledge Burns & Trauma as a source in any articles.
Deontay Wilder has hit out at heavyweight rival Anthony Joshua, calling the British champion 'just a straight coward'.

The pair have been feuding for over three years but are yet to meet in a blockbuster unification fight.

Wilder, who is preparing to fight Tyson Fury later this month, showed he still doesn't hold Joshua in high regard.

Deontay Wilder has hit out at rival Anthony Joshua, calling the Briton 'just a straight coward'

The pair have been feuding for over three years but are yet to meet in a blockbuster fight

When asked what he thinks of the 30-year-old, according to The Sun, Wilder said: 'Just a straight coward. I just think coward, and that's it.'

Wilder, however, was full of praise for Fury ahead of their highly-anticipated rematch in Las Vegas on February 22.

He said: 'Fury's a funny guy, he's a skillful fighter, good fighter. In my opinion he's a breath of fresh air.

'Being in the heavyweight division, being able to have great fights with a person that can help me promote a fight, because I've come up and so many guys don't talk, or they don't want to say what they want to do, or hype the crowd.

'It's always been me promoting.'
I am honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement award. I take it as a call to do more, Wallace said during his remarks. Specifically citing the homeless crisis, Wallace said, We have more to do and we have to do it together.

Ed Wallace, co-chair of the New York City office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, was honored as one of City & States 2020 Lifetime Achievement award winners on Jan. 27 at the Prince George Ballroom in NYC. Wallace was the only lawyer in private practice named among the Lifetime Achievement honorees.

Lifetime achievement award winners were recognized for their contributions to New York in civic affairs. Other honorees included former New York Governor David Patterson, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, former New York State Comptroller Carl McCall, former Councilmember Ronnie Eldridge, founding partner of MirRam Group, Luis Miranda, Executive Vice President for Policy at Related Companies, Charles OByrne, among other New York luminaries.

Wallace has worked on securing government approval for high-profile projects, including Columbia Universitys 17-acre expansion into West Harlem, Fordham Universitys new Lincoln Center campus, and New York Universitys major expansion into Greenwich Village. As City & State notes, How does Wallace deal with the inevitable obstacles that are part of the job? Just like hes done throughout his career: He looks for a practical solution.

During the standing-room only ceremony, Wallace was introduced by his friend and mentor, Richard Emery, founding partner of Emery, Celli, Brinckerhoff & Abady, who is credited with Wallaces decision to practice law.

I am honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement award. I take it as a call to do more, Wallace said during his remarks. Specifically citing the homeless crisis, Wallace said, We have more to do and we have to do it together.

In 1981, Wallace became the then youngest City Council member in New York City history representing the Borough of Manhattan. Wallace began his career in the Chelsea neighborhood office of the Legal Aid Society representing near homeless tenants in single room occupancy hotels. He also served as chief of staff to City Council President Carol Bellamy and later as vice president for finance at Mort Zuckermans Boston Properties.

From 2012 to 2014, Wallace was chair of New Yorkers for Parks and now sits on the NY4P Board. Wallace serves as vice chair and counsel to the Citizens Budget Commission and is the vice chair of the French American Foundation Board. Last year, City & State ranked Wallace number 12 on its Manhattan Power 50 list and on its New York City Power 100, New York Law Power 50, and New York Real Estate Power 50 lists. He has been listed in multiple editions of The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers, and is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell.

Wallace serves as a trusted advisor to his clients. In addition to his representation of Columbia University, NYU, and Fordham University in their Manhattan expansions, he has advised Extell, Silverstein, Fetner Properties, and other leading developers and financial and media companies in obtaining government approvals.

Wallace also advises Hornblower, the Citys ferry provider, and serves as outside national counsel to JCDecaux, the worlds largest street furniture company.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has approximately 2100 attorneys in 41 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.
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Notification of transactions by directors, persons discharging managerial

responsibilities and persons closely associated with them

NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES

*****

Guernsey, 4 February 2020

Pursuant to the announcement made on 5 April 2019 relating to changes to the payment of directors fees, Volta Finance Limited (the "Company" or "Volta") has today purchased 4942 ordinary shares of no par value in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") at an average price of 6.60 per share.

Each director receives 30% of his or her Director's fees for any year in the form of shares, which they are required to retain for a period of no less than one year from their respective date of issue.

The shares will be issued to the Directors, who for the purposes of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 on Market Abuse ("MAR") are "persons discharging managerial responsibilities" (a "PDMR")

Paul Meader, Chairman and a PDMR for the purposes of MAR, acquired 1,183 additional Ordinary Shares in the Company. Following the settlement of this transaction, Mr Meader & persons closely associated with Mr Meader will have an interest in 37,286 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.10% of the issued shares of the Company;



Paul Varotsis, Director and a PDMR for the purposes of MAR, acquired 926 additional Ordinary Shares in the Company. Following the settlement of this transaction, Mr Varotsis will have an interest in 204,937 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.56% of the issued shares of the Company;



Steve Le Page, Director and a PDMR for the purposes of MAR, acquired 1,040 additional Ordinary Shares in the Company. Following the settlement of this transaction, Mr Le Page will have an interest in 32,336 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.09% of the issued shares of the Company;



Graham Harrison, Director and a PDMR for the purposes of MAR, acquired 926 additional Ordinary Shares in the Company. Following the settlement of this transaction, Mr Harrison will have an interest in 16,631 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.05% of the issued shares of the Company;



Atosa Moini, Director and a PDMR for the purposes of MAR, acquired 867 additional Ordinary Shares in the Company. Following the settlement of this transaction, Ms Moini will have an interest in 8,612 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.02% of the issued shares of the Company;

The notifications below, made in accordance with the requirements of MAR, provide further detail in relation to the above transactions:





1.Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated



a)

Paul Meader

Chairman and Director b)

Paul Varotsis

Director c)

Steve Le Page

Director d)

Graham Harrison

Director e)

Atosa Moini

Director



2 Reason for the notification (a) Position/status



Director (b) Initial notification/Amendment



Initial notification 3 Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor (a) Name



Volta Finance Limited (b) LEI



2138004N6QDNAZ2V3W80 4 Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted (a) Description of financial instrument, type of instrument

Identification code Ordinary Shares







GB00B1GHHH78 (b) Nature of the transaction



Purchase and allocation of Ordinary Shares relation to the part-payment of Directors' fees for the quarter ended 31 January 2020 (c) Price(s) and volume(s)



Price(s) Volume(s) 6.60 Total 4,942 (d)

Aggregate information











Aggregated volume



Price a)

Paul Meader

Chairman and Director







1,183











6.60 b)

Paul Varotsis

Director











926











6.60 c)

Steve Le Page

Director







1,040











6.60 d)

Graham Harrison

Director







926











6.60 e)

Atosa Moini

Director











867











6.60 (e) Date of transaction



3 February 2020 (f) Place of transaction



On-market - London

For further information, please contact:

Company Secretary and Portfolio Administrator

BNP Paribas Securities Services S.C.A, Guernsey Branch

guernsey.bp2s.volta.cosec@bnpparibas.com



+44 (0) 1481 750 853

Corporate Broker

Cenkos Securities plc

Rob Naylor

Andrew Worne

+44 (0) 20 7397 8900

For the Investment Manager

AXA Investment Managers Paris

Serge Demay

serge.demay@axa-im.com



+33 (0) 1 44 45 84 47

*****

ABOUT VOLTA FINANCE LIMITED

Volta Finance Limited is incorporated in Guernsey under The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (as amended) and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities. Volta's home member state for the purposes of the EU Transparency Directive is the Netherlands. As such, Volta is subject to regulation and supervision by the AFM, being the regulator for financial markets in the Netherlands.

Volta's investment objectives are to preserve capital across the credit cycle and to provide a stable stream of income to its shareholders through dividends. Volta seeks to attain its investment objectives predominantly through diversified investments in structured finance assets. The assets that the Company may invest in either directly or indirectly include, but are not limited to: corporate credits; sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt; residential mortgage loans; and, automobile loans. The Company's approach to investment is through vehicles and arrangements that essentially provide leveraged exposure to portfolios of such underlying assets. The Company has appointed AXA Investment Managers Paris an investment management company with a division specialised in structured credit, for the investment management of all its assets.

*****

ABOUT AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-expert asset management company within the AXA Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with 739 investment professionals and 750 billion in assets under management as of the end of March 2019.

*****

This press release is for information only and does not constitute an invitation or inducement to acquire shares in Volta Finance. Its circulation may be prohibited in certain jurisdictions and no recipient may circulate copies of this document in breach of such limitations or restrictions. This document is not an offer for sale of the securities referred to herein in the United States or to persons who are "U.S. persons" for purposes of Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or otherwise in circumstances where such offer would be restricted by applicable law. Such securities may not be sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration from the Securities Act. The company does not intend to register any portion of the offer of such securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of such securities in the United States.

*****

This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). The securities referred to herein are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance.

*****
Dick Van Dyke and Carl Reiner on The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited. Photo: Tony Esparza/CBS via Getty Images

Reunions are a tricky thing. Sometimes theyre something to look forward to; sometimes theyre dreaded. It all seems to hinge on how long its been since the viewer has seen whoever theyre being reunited with. When the surviving cast of The Dick Van Dyke Show reunited in 2004, it had been 38 years since the show ended in 1966, so its safe to say the cast was allowed a bit of a victory lap.

The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited is a strange production that melds the fictional lives of Alan Brady and Rob and Laura Petrie; the real lives of Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke, and Mary Tyler Moore; classic clips; and Ray Romano. It all came about from a fluke comment in 2003 when the surviving core members of the show were presented with an award at the first TV Land Awards. Reiner joked from the stage, Hey, we could do a show with these people, and according to an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Reiner says thats all it took to put the ball in motion. The next day I got a call from CBS. It was an offhand remark, but offhand remarks are sometimes the best remarks you make.

There is a plot to the reunion, though not much. The fact of the matter is, this special was most likely an attempt by the network to cash in on a little nostalgia during May sweeps, but that doesnt take away from the fact that there are certainly some far less pleasant ways to spend an hour in front of the television (or YouTube, where it now lives).

When Carl Reiner created The Dick Van Dyke Show, one of his greatest contributions to the sitcom genre was perfecting a show that married a workplace comedy with a family comedy. Without it, thered be no 30 Rock, Home Improvement, or Mary Tyler Moore Show. This concept for the show worked so well in the 1960s, but when the show revisits this work-home life balance 40 years later, long after all of the main characters should have retired from the business, how does it maintain that spirit of the original?

The answer is surprisingly simple: The characters boss, Alan Brady (Reiner), brings the group back together again. Alan so enjoyed Robs eulogies at the funerals for Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon) and Buddy (Morey Amsterdam) and wants what remains of his old writing staff, Rob and Sally (Rose Marie), to write his now, while hes still alive. Everyone, including Rob and Lauras old neighbor Millie (Ann Morgan Guilbert), brother Stacey Petrie (Jerry Van Dyke), and Sallys new husband Herman Glimscher (Bill Idelson) head to Alans to reminisce and ultimately reject the proposal of writing Bradys eulogy for pay as ghoulish.

While a major portion of the show is based on looking backward (a number of classic clips are showcased as the cast remembers various events from their lives), a few steps were taken to show where the characters were present-day. Rob and Laura sold their New Rochelle house to their son, Ritchie (Larry Mathews), and moved to New York City, where Laura has left the role of housewife and now operates a dance studio. Rob has become obsessed with the world of 3-D animation, just like the real-life Dick Van Dyke, and has created an animated version of himself to dance with. (Van Dyke himself did the animation we see onscreen.)

Millies husband Jerry (Jerry Paris) has passed away, but she met a new guy, Stacey Petrie, at the grocery store, and theyre head over heels. Sally has married her longtime boyfriend Herman. And Rob occasionally says words like hell and damn. When his former co-worker Sally asks, When did you start talkin dirty? Laura responds, Soon after we got cable.

But even as the actors had aged, much of the show stayed the same. Laura still responds with a resigned Oh, Rob  when needed. Sally is still basically a quip machine. Alan is still vain, pompous, and terrible. And theres still a genuine warmth and gentleness one feels when watching. The actors certainly seem comfortable in their roles, and there is a genuine love for one another that comes through the screen. This element is much of what made the shows original incarnation work, and it continues to permeate the reunion as well.

The final act of the show features Van Dyke and Moore out of character, walking across their old living room set in cocktail attire, marveling at the fact that theyre now in color, and that Rob and Laura now sleep in one king-sized bed, rather than two twin beds. As the credits roll, the two elegantly dance around the set until its all capped off with a strange, off-camera joke involving Ray Romano and Mary Tyler Moore coupling.

Though it concerns the mortality the shows central cast, The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited is still significantly cheerier than the strange show-within-a-show dreamed reunion that aired in 1979 on The Mary Tyler Moore Hour (that killed off Alan Brady early) and showed that, nearly 40 years later, if someone has talent, they dont just lose it with age. With Van Dyke recently tapping his toes in Mary Poppins Returns at 93 without the aid of a CG double and Reiner still writing at age 97, it would appear that theirs isnt going anywhere anytime soon, either.
Sex workers are claiming they have been discriminated against because of coronavirus and are choosing to lie on their profiles so they get more work.

Chinese sex workers in New Zealand are choosing to change their nationality to Asian in sex directory advertisements online and cut down rates.

A Chinese sex worker anonymously told NZ Herald she also slashed her rates in half in addition to changing her nationality in sex advertisements online.

Sex workers are claiming they have been discriminated against because of coronavirus and are choosing to lie on their profiles so they get more work (stock image)

Despite dropping her rates from $180 to $90 the woman still claims to have lost more than 50 per cent of her business since the coronavirus outbreak.

The Chinese sex worker, who advertises on newzealandgirls.co.nz said her business has never been this bad before.

People are refusing to pay for her services despite her being a New Zealand citizen who has not returned to China for eight years.

She said clients saw her as 'no different to someone who has just arrived from Wuhan'.

'I don't mention that I am Chinese any more and I offer a big discount, but clients are avoiding us like we are the virus,' the sex worker said.

Sex worker activist Dame Catherine Healy said it is currently a 'worrying time' for sex workers.

'We are concerned about the ability for people to both avoid this virus and survive financially,' Ms Healy said.

The New Zealand Prostitutes Collective has been warning sex workers to follow precautions made by the Ministry and Health and World Health Organisation.

High profile New Zealand sex worker Lisa Lewis said she has had to screen clients if they have a cold or flu symptoms.

She also makes them use hand sanitiser once handling money.

'I have them shower in front of me where I put the soap I've purchased on them to ensure hygiene is maintained, and I don't kiss clients,' Ms Lewis said.

Ms Lewis said she feels sympathetic for Chinese sex workers and thinks they are being discriminated against.

'I feel maybe they are being discriminated against which isn't nice,' she said.
This is a great opportunity for Dealer-FX and we are excited to build strong and successful partnerships with Kia dealers, said Dealer-FX CEO, Bill Lucchini.

Dealer-FX, the leader in digital transformation and customer experience management for automotive retailers and OEMs, today announced that they have been named an approved partner for Kia Motors Americas Service Lane Technology program.

By adopting Dealer-FXs ONE Platform, Kia dealerships across the United States can deliver the industrys best digital service experience for their customers. The platform will be enhanced with the integration of Kia data, third-party technology providers and 23 of the leading DMS providers.

This is a great opportunity for Dealer-FX and we are excited to build strong and successful partnerships with Kia dealers, said Dealer-FX CEO, Bill Lucchini. With more than 2,500 dealer clients, we know ONE Platform will significantly improve parts sales, CSI scores and customer retention while providing Kia customers with a transparent, digital service experience.

For automotive dealers looking to drive efficiency, growth and retention, Dealer-FX provides cloud-based applications which, when combined, provide an end-to-end solution that streamlines service operations, increases fixed operations profitability and delivers an enhanced customer experience. Leveraging advanced third-party and OEM integrations and AI-driven data, the Dealer-FX ONE Platform significantly improves dealership processes and CSI.

The Dealer-FX Team will be at NADA 2020 in Las Vegas, February 15-17 and invites Kia dealers to experience a demonstration of the power of ONE Platform.

###

About Dealer-FX

Dealer-FX is transforming how automotive retailers manage their service operations and how they interact with consumers. Through advanced data integrations and mobile technology, Dealer-FX streamlines processes and communication for automotive service departments while delivering convenience, transparency and trust to consumers. From service scheduling to vehicle write-up, through to delivery, the Dealer-FX ONE Platform helps dealerships increase efficiency, profitability, retention and brand loyalty.

Dealer-FX is the exclusive, or preferred service technology provider for many leading OEMs including FCA, Nissan, Infiniti, Toyota, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Audi, GM, Kia and Hyundai in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico, and has more than 2,500 dealership clients. Dealer-FX is based in Toronto, ON, and is backed by the strength and resources of HGGC.

Dealer-FX Contact:

Dennis Welsh, Director of Marketing

(877) 493-0039 x216

pr@dealer-fx.com
Vietnam's Health Ministry on Tuesday afternoon said a cousin of a worker returning from China's Wuhan has been infected with the new coronavirus.

The 42-year-old woman in the northern Vinh Phuc Province met with the returning worker during the Lunar New Year holiday. She developed high fever on January 31 and has been quarantined at a local medical center. Her conditions are now stable.

The returning worker, 23, was among a group of eight employees of Japan-based Nihon Plast Company Limited sent for work training in Wuhan City in Hubei Province two months ago. They returned to Vietnam on a Southern China Airlines flight (CZ8315) on January 17. They were picked up by the company car at Hanoi's Noi Bai Airport and attended a company meeting in Thien Ke Commune, Binh Son District, Vinh Phuc Province, about 18 km from the airport.

Five of them have been confirmed to be infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus.

Other infection cases in Vietnam are a Vietnamese American visitor who transited in Wuhan, a Chinese man from Wuhan and his son who met him in Vietnam, and a hotel receptionist who served the father and son in Nha Trang.

By Tuesday afternoon, Vietnam have discharged three of the nCoV patients from hospital: the Nha Trang hotel staff, the Chinese son, and one of the workers coming back from Wuhan.

Vietnam's government declared the novel coronavirus an epidemic on Saturday. The country has reported 304 suspected cases with symptoms like high fever and coughing, including some people who had visited infected areas in China, as of Monday. Of them, 214 have tested negative for the virus and 90 are in quarantine pending test results.

The death toll from the epidemic has reached 427, with 425 dying in China, one in the Philippines and one in Hong Kong.
Hoy dimos inicio al taller del programa #HakuWinay/#NoaJayatai, el cual desarrolla capacidades productivas y de emprendimientos rurales en familias usuarias, a fin de brindarles acceso a los mercados locales y, con ello, generar nuevos ingresos de manera autonoma y sostenida. pic.twitter.com/Ql5Wuc26E6
A 17-year-old mother sexually abused her baby daughter to please a British 'sugar daddy' she met online, a court heard.

The teenager sent the man videos of her abusing her girl at home in Melbourne's northern suburbs in November and December, 2018.

The woman, who was found guilty of child exploitation, was 'lured by the prospect of financial gain,' her plea hearing heard on Tuesday.

A 17-year-old mother sexually abused her baby daughter to please a British 'sugar daddy' she met online, a court heard (stock image)

After meeting on a website, the mother sent the British man lewd videos and photos of herself at his request, reported The Age.

He then started demanding that she abuse her child, and showed her what she should do using demonstration videos, the court heard.

The court heard the videos she sent him will likely stay in 'indefinite circulation in cyberspace'.

The woman's lawyer said the man was a 'master manipulator' who threatened to report her to the police if she ever turned him in.

'In effect, your honour, she was trapped,' the lawyer told the magistrate.

The woman, who was 17 at the time of the offending, will be sentenced in a child court, meaning she may escape jail.

When she is sentenced on February 25, her difficult and unstable upbringing at the hands of drug-addicted parents will be taken into account.
New Delhi: Member of Parliament from West Bengal`s Medinipur constituency Dilip Ghosh on Tuesday hit out at Mamata Banerjee led West Bengal government accusing it of doing "untouchability politics" and that there was "no democracy" in the state.

Explaining his charge on the Trinamool government, Ghosh referred to one incident when he had a word with a Trinamool Congress leader at a function, the BJP state unit chief said that particular leader was issued a show-cause notice by his party.

"Politics of untouchability is being spread in West Bengal by the government," Ghosh was speaking during motion of thanks on the President`s address in the Lok Sabha.

Ghosh said despite being an MP, I and other leaders of BJP are not given time by the Superintendents of Police and the District Magistrates in West Bengal.

The 56-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader accused the Mamata Banerjee government of "discriminating" against the saffron party leaders and alleged that they were not even allowed to arrange functions to celebrate the central government`s or Prime Minister`s Narendra Modi`s achievements.

"There is no democracy in West Bengal."

The MP accused the state government of welcoming "infiltrators" from Bangladesh and opposing the Prime Minister`s entry into the state.

Talking about the ongoing agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Ghosh said maximum properties have been damaged in West Bengal by the anti-CAA protesters. Noting that the political parties who have professed allegiance to the constitution to oppose CAA -- which grants citizenship to six non-Muslim communities comprising Sikh, Hindu, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian who migrated to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.

The law which was passed in Parliament on December 11, 2019, during winter session and came into force on January 10.

The MP said they have already made the Constitution look just like only a bundle of paper. Ghosh said that there was a time when Communist Party of India (Marxist) was on top but its seats reduced because it cheated the people and now they are limited to only three seats. "A time will come when CPI-M will be reduced to zero," he added.

Hitting out at the opposition, the MP said: "You say no to CAA but a time will come when people will say no to TMC, no to Congress and no to CPM."


Sudan's leader Tuesday briefed the country's ruling body after the Israeli prime minister said the two had discussed normalising bilateral ties after decades of hostility.

On Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had met General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chairman of Sudan's ruling sovereign council, in the Ugandan city of Entebbe in a previously unannounced meeting.

Israel remains technically at war with Sudan, which supported hardline Islamist forces during the decades-long reign of autocrat Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted amid mass protests last year.

The Palestinian leadership has denounced Burhan's talks with Netanyahu which came days after the Israeli leader and US President Donald Trump unveiled a controversial plan to resolve the Middle East dispute that is widely seen as skewed towards Israel.

Netanyahu's office said Monday that he and the Sudanese general had "agreed to start cooperation leading to normalisation of the relationship between the two countries".

Sudan's cabinet said it had been unaware of such talks and convened Tuesday to discuss the issue.

President of Sudan's Transitional Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan pictured last November. By Michael O'HAGAN (AFP/File)

Sudan's sovereign council, a transitional body of civilians and military officials led by Burhan, also held a meeting where the issue was being discussed, a source told AFP.

The source said Burhan, who had now returned from Entebbe, was briefing the council about his meeting with Netanyahu.

Netanyahu's office said on Monday that he believed post-Bashir Sudan is headed "in a new positive direction" and that he had also expressed this view to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

"Burhan is eager to help his country modernise by taking it out of isolation and putting it on the world's map," it said.

The Uganda meeting came after Sudan said Pompeo had invited Burhan to Washington for an official visit, the first such invitation to a Sudan ruler in more than three decades.

The United States still classifies Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism, a legacy from the rule of Bashir who in the 1990s welcomed Osama bin Laden.

'Stab in the back'

Late on Monday, Sudan's government spokesman Faisal Mohamed Salih said the cabinet had only learned of the meeting at Entebbe through the media.

"We, the members of the cabinet, were not notified or consulted about this meeting," Salih said in a statement.

Sudan under Bashir was part of the decades-long Arab boycott of Israel over the Jewish state's treatment of the Palestinians.

The Palestinians have been seeking a united front since Trump last week unveiled his Middle East plan.

Palestinian protesters stick their footwear on posters depicting US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netantyahu during a recent demonstration against Trump's Middle East peace proposal in the Gaza Strip. By SAID KHATIB, SAID KHATIB (AFP/File)

The initiative gave the Jewish state the US green light to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank, as well as the Jordan Valley, a key part of the territory Palestinians see as their future state.

"This meeting is a stab in the back of the Palestinian people... at a time when the administration of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu are trying to liquidate the Palestinian cause," Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said in a statement carried on official news agency WAFA.

The Sudanese Communist Party, which is part of the umbrella protest movement that led to the ouster of Bashir last April, also condemned the Burhan-Netanyahu meeting, using the same phrase.

"What happened at the meeting between Burhan and Netanyahu is a stab in the back of Sudanese people's struggle against imperialists and also their continuous position in supporting the Palestinians," party spokesman Fathi Fadoul said in a video broadcast on the party's Facebook page.

"We also condemn the statement from the cabinet. The cabinet has to say directly what its position is about the meeting rather than saying it was not notified about it."

In the wake of the 1967 war in which Israel captured Palestinian lands, Arab leaders met in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to announce what became known as the 'three nos' -- no peace, recognition or negotiations with Israel.

Since then Egypt and Jordan have recognised Israel, and relations have also been easing between Israel and Gulf Arab states due to shared concern over Iran's role in the region.
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
CHARLESTON, W.Va., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bailey Glasser is pleased to announce the election of James Kauffman and Patrick Muench as partners in the firm. "We are proud to make this announcement as both James and Patrick have stood out in their legal practice and commitment to our clients," said Founding Partner Ben Bailey.

James Kauffman (Washington) concentrates his practice on complex business litigation and class actions specifically in the areas of consumer protection, business litigation, and securities. He has represented consumers, investors, state attorneys general, municipalities, and whistleblowers in a wide variety of disputes in both court and arbitration forums across the country. "James has distinguished himself in all of the cases he touches and shown remarkable professionalism while delivering exceptional client service," said Partner Jonathan Marshall.

Patrick Muench (Chicago) litigates complex commercial cases with an emphasis on ERISA, antitrust, and oil and gas disputes. He is particularly adept at handling ERISA related matters including bringing cases on behalf of employee stock ownership plans ("ESOPs"). "Patrick has been instrumental in helping the firm bring suits against companies who have breached their fiduciary duties against pensioners," said Partner Gregory Porter. "I am excited to continue working with Patrick as he begins this new leadership opportunity within Bailey Glasser."

Founding Partner Brian Glasser continued, "Congratulations to both Patrick and James on their elections to partner. Their client work and dedication to the firm have been an integral part of our success and enabled us to meet today's complex legal challenges."

New Partner Patrick Muench will practice out of Bailey Glasser's new Chicago office. "We are extremely pleased to continue the firm's expansion and offer sophisticated legal services to clients throughout the Midwest," said John Barrett, Bailey Glasser President.

The Chicago office is located at 333 S. Wabash Ave. Suite 2736 Chicago, IL 60604.

About Bailey Glasser LLP

Bailey Glasser was founded in 1999 by Ben Bailey and Brian Glasser in Charleston, West Virginia. Since then the firm has grown to more than 50 lawyers located in 12 offices including Birmingham, AL; Oakland, CA; Washington, DC; Wilmington, DE; St. Petersburg, FL; Boston, MA; St Louis, MO; Chicago, IL; Cherry Hill, NJ; Westchester, NY; and Morgantown and Charleston, WV. Plaintiffs and defendants rely on Bailey Glasser to handle the most challenging and consequential legal issues  regionally and nationwide  using a trial-focused approach to vigorously protect the interests of its clients. The firm's corporate lawyers handle business matters ranging from the negotiation and execution of billions of dollars in commercial transactions, to IPOs, to assisting foreign businesses with investments in US assets.

For more information, visit baileyglasser.com.

SOURCE Bailey Glasser

Related Links

https://www.baileyglasser.com


The judge acknowledged that Kersh likely would be unable to post the $10,000 needed to be released but said she ordered the high bond so Kersh could avoid the stigma of being held without bail.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced Tuesday afternoon that she would not be attending Donald Trump's third State of the Union address  claiming showing up would 'normalize' the president's actions.

'After much deliberation, I have decided that I will not use my presence at a state ceremony to normalize Trump's lawless conduct & subversion of the Constitution,' the progressive congresswoman tweeted.

'None of this is normal, and I will not legitimize it,' she asserted. 'Consequently, I will not be attending the State of the Union.'

'This is a deeply personal decision for each member to make, and a choice I did not take lightly,' the 30-year-old New York lawmaker continued in a second tweet.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced Tuesday afternoon she will not be attending the State of the Union address

The progressive lawmaker, who is campaigning for Bernie Sanders in the 2020 primary, said attending would further 'normalize' his actions

Maxine Waters, another frequent target of the president's ire, followed suit

The 81-year-old congresswoman referred to the president's impeachment

Ayanna Pressley, a member of the so-called 'squad' alongside Ocasio-Cortez, will also not attend the address

But she assured her supporters: 'I will be hopping on Instagram Live later this evening to connect with my constituents and follow up with their questions about #SOTU.'

Shortly after Ocasio-Cortez's tweet, Representative Maxine Waters, 81, announced she would follow suit.

'To think that I would attend the #SOTU to hear the message of an IMPEACHED president is a thought that in no way would be consistent w/ my fight and struggle against this dishonorable president. I will certainly NOT be there!' Waters tweeted.

Around the same time Ocasio-Cortez made her announcement, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, also revealed she would boycott the remarks.

'The State of the Union is hurting because of the occupant of the White House, who consistently demonstrates contempt for the American people, contempt for Congress & contempt for our constitution. I cannot in good conscience attend tonight's sham #SOTU'

Pressley and Ocasio-Cortez are two members of the quartet that make up the so-called 'squad,' which also includes Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib.

But the four are split on boycotting impeachment, where Ocasio-Cortez and Pressley will skip, but Omar and Tlaib will attend.

Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib (left) and Ilhan Omar (right) are part of the so-called 'squad,' which includes Ocasio-Cortez and Pressley, but they have announced they are attending the State of the Union

Omar explained that she is attending to stand in solidarity with those 'targeted' by Trump. 'My presence tonight is resistance,' the Minnesota representative tweeted

Omar, who is campaigning for Bernie Sanders along with Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib, used Twitter to explain that even though she is attending, she still feels Trump is an 'illegitimate' president.

'It's no secret that this president has routinely targeted religious and ethnic minorities,' she posted to Twitter Tuesday.

'He has fanned the flames of hate against refugees, Muslims, Africans, immigrants, women and all racial and religious minorities,' Omar, who fled to American from Somalia as a young girl, continued.

'He is routinely and openly hostile to any legitimate Congressional oversight,' she wrote. 'He has made clear his wanton corruption by soliciting a bribe from a foreign government for his personal political gain.'

'His partisans in the Senate are placing their personal interests ahead of the country by blocking a fair trial on his conduct. This impeached president is not legitimate,' she concluded in a Twitter thread.

Tlaib revealed she would be attending by sharing on Twitter one of the guests she is bringing to the address.

'Thrilled to announce one of my #SOTU guests: @momjustice Executive Director Danielle Atkinson!' the Palestinian-American congresswoman posted. 'Danielle is a tireless advocate who never stops fighting for her community, mothers, and women of color.'

Trump's third State of the Union address will take place the day before the Senate is set to vote on impeachment  where the president will likely be acquitted by the republican-controlled chamber.
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Indian Gold April futures were trading lower on February 4 tracking weakness in the international Gold prices amid strength seen in the US dollar after a key US manufacturing survey showed a surprise rebound.

Gold retreated from its highest level in nearly four weeks as Chinas steps to protect its economy from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak and a buoyant dollar stemmed some inflows into safe-haven assets, said a Reuters report.

China pumped $173 billion liquidity to support the equity market. Recovery in global equities and strength in dollar index again triggered profit-taking in both the precious metals.

On the MCX, April gold contracts were trading lower by Rs 95, or 0.23 percent, at Rs 40,649 per 10 gram at 0920 hours.

Experts feel that traders can buy the yellow metal around 40,500 levels for an upside target of 41,000 per 10 gram. But, there could be some stiff resistance near 40,875 levels.

Gold & Silver Rates Gold Rate in Mumbai 10g of 24K gold in Mumbai 

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Gold tested its next support levels and closed around $1,575 per troy ounce on Monday while silver Prices slipped below $17.70 per troy ounce.

Strength in the domestic equity market and strength in rupee put more pressure in the prices. Gold test lows of 40,582 and silver test the lows of 45,755. We expect both the precious metals remain volatile due to coronavirus outbreak and volatility in global financial markets, Manoj Jain, Director, India Nivesh Commodities told Moneycontrol.

At MCX Gold is expected to be traded in the range of 40550-40920 and silver is expected to be traded in the range of 45500-46400. Both the precious metals are expected to get support at lower levels, he said.

Track live Gold price here

Trading Strategy:

Expert: Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst, Reliance Commodities

MCX Gold April has retreated 41,200 levels & has fallen up to 40,600 levels where 40,500 holds strong support of Rising Trend line formation.

Therefore, a bounce-back activity can be expected from 40,450-40,500 levels if it sustains above these levels then a bullish reversal can take prices up to new highs above 41,200 levels.

For international gold, $1,564 will be support and $1,588 will act a strong resistance. It may trade in $1,566-$1,580 range.

Intraday strategy: MCX Gold April Buy in the range of 40,450-40,480 with 40,300 as stop loss and target of 41,000 levels.

Expert: Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) from LKP Securities

On the daily chart, Gold traded negative yesterday and showing some weakness in Tuesday morning trade too, amid a rise in the US dollar, but rising concerns about a widening coronavirus outbreak in China and its economic fallout provided some support to the metal.

20, 50, 100-Days EMA are signalling positive range bound movement ahead. RSI & MACD are signalling positive moves to continue after some corrections. For the day 40,775-40,875 will act as resistance whereas 40,650-405,00 as supports.

The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
AKRON, Ohio -- Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has temporarily closed its Shanghai headquarters and manufacturing plant in Pulandian, China, due to concerns surrounding the Wuhan coronavirus.

The Akron-based companys Shanghai offices have been closed for a few weeks, and its Pulandian plant closed this weekend, a Goodyear spokesman told cleveland.com Tuesday. He declined to indicate the number of employees affected, or how the plants closure would impact tire production.

The facilities will be closed until at least Feb. 9 as the company continues to work with the Chinese government to determine the appropriate time to reopen these facilities," the company said in a statement.

Goodyear also has suspended travel to and from China, except for business-critical trips, the statement said. Employees with travel plans are encouraged to consider whether their purpose can be achieved through digital technology or other forms of communication.

This version of the coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan, China in early December, and has resulted in more than 17,000 confirmed cases across China. The virus has killed at least 427 people so far, with all the deaths except two having been in China.

The Wuhan coronavirus has spread to at least 23 countries outside China, including 11 cases in the United States. In all known U.S. cases, the person has traveled to China prior to experiencing symptoms. Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the CDC.

Our thoughts go out to all those affected by the coronavirus, the statement said. The safety and wellbeing of our associates are Goodyears highest considerations, and we are closely monitoring this dangerous health risk and taking actions to protect our team from exposure to it.

Goodyear employees in the Asia Pacific region are encouraged to follow local guidance as the situation evolves there, the company said.

Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.coms Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday.
With local search becoming more and more of a focus for the search engines, working with businesses in a densely populated metropolitan hub like Boston is a great thing. Theres no shortage of potential qualified customers.

SEOblog.com, a fast-growing website providing the latest SEO news, tips and resources and helping business owners connect with leading SEO agencies, has released its exclusive 2020 ratings naming the best SEO companies in Boston.

SEOblog analysts determined the 20 best SEO companies in Boston based on dozens of key quantitative and qualitative factors. SEOblog industry experts examined each digital marketing agencys website, industry experience, market presence, client list, portfolio, expert certifications and authorship among other factors in its ranking system.

SEOblog has provided an in-depth view of companies in a particular city or focus area on various directory pages to help business owners find the expert help they need to grow. This was a new, free offering added by SEOblog earlier this year.

Boston has several of the nations top SEO agencies that provide a very competitive digital marketing landscape.

With local search becoming more and more of a focus for the search engines, working with businesses in a densely populated metropolitan hub like Boston is a great thing, SERPCOM art director John Boveri said. Theres no shortage of potential qualified customers. Its our job to make sure our clients get in front of them and help them maximize their conversions.

SEOblog.com rankings are updated regularly as the market shifts and new players emerge. SEOblog.com has published more than 1,500 agency listings with more added every day. There is no fee to participate, and the website welcomes all qualified agencies to apply.

SEOblog.coms 20 Best SEO Companies in Boston in 2020:

Seahawk Media, Boston SEO Company, Pepper Gang, Boston SEO Services, Up And Social, BusinessOnline, East Coast Catalyst, WellKnown Agency, ADK Group, Sales Renewal Corporation, KoMarketing, Brick Marketing, CommonMind, Convertiv, Fuel Online, Ideometry, Pantoo, SERPCOM, TitaniumClicks Media and Webstudio Boston.

Link: https://www.seoblog.com/best-seo-companies/boston/

About SEOblog.com

SEOblog.com is a leading thought leadership site with a rich history of publishing educational and informative articles about SEO and digital marketing topics. In early 2019, SEOblog.com answered the call from buyers of digital marketing services that lacked unbiased, informative online resources and launched a comprehensive directory to highlight the best SEO companies in the United States. SEOblogs mission is to connect businesses with qualified digital marketing agencies while also offering further SEO education, best practices and industry trends.

SEOblog.com is a one-stop shop for educational SEO and digital marketing content, research, ratings and reviews for the best agencies in each local market across the United States. The website will be increasing its coverage of agencies in North America and accepting more guest posts in the coming months. Contact SEOblog if youre interested in getting involved.
CARLISLE - As Dickinson College students settled in for the first night of what could be an extended sit-in over perceived shortcomings in the colleges handling of sexual misconduct cases, College President Margee Ensign committed Monday evening to immediate action on several of the student protestors demands.

Ensigns overtures, shared in an email to the broader Dickinson community, were not enough to end the sit-in at the Holland Union Building, which opened Monday morning with attendance by a full 10 percent of the student body.

They werent even necessarily agreed-to by the leaders of the protest movement.

But they were seen by some as a sign of first-day progress, with the promise of more talks ahead.

Its very exciting, said Rose McAvoy, the leader of the fast-emerging student movement, who spoke with Ensign over the phone earlier in the day. But were not done yet. Were still sitting in here and waiting for more.

Among the presidents immediate commitments were:

The establishment of an automatic expulsion for any student found responsible for rape.

A commitment to resolving all Title IX investigations within 60 working days. If more investigative time is needed in a specific case, updates will be provided to all parties explaining the delay.

Going forward, written permission will be required from both parties before a college no contact order, sort of the on-campus equivalent of a protection-from-abuse order, is lifted.

All future proposed changes to the schools sexual harassment and misconduct policy will be presented to the Student Senate, which will coordinate a 30-day student comment period.

Ensign, who has been away from the campus while recovering from a knee operation, announced her moves after her phone conversation with McAvoy, the Dickinson student who sparked the present dialogue with a column in the student newspaper last week about her own disgust with the way her case was handled when she filed a sexual misconduct charge against another student in 2017.

The president, who arrived at Dickinson that same year, said in her email that she expressed regret to McAvoy about how her case was handled and vowed that we will do better.

Ensign closed by noting that her administrative team is reviewing all 17 demands put forward by the student organizers, and that she looks forward to working with Rose to resolve all of these issues and the improve the way we respond.

That work is expected to continue Tuesday.

McAvoy said and her negotiating committee are scheduled to meet with Ensign in Carlisle.

And college spokeswoman Christine Baksi noted that Dickinsons Presidential Working Group on Sexual Harassment, Sexual Misconduct and Title IX, a staff / student / faculty committee established by Ensign in 2017, will begin reviewing the students reform demands when it meets Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, about 100 students remained in the Holland Union Buildings main lobby shortly before 9 p.m. Monday, many with sleeping bags, pillows and other gear that indicated they were ready to spend the night.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Renewable energy infrastructure now under development at the Western Energy Hub, in Millard County, Utah, can be integral in helping Los Angeles and California achieve their goals of 100% zero-carbon electricity, according to a white paper published by the Advanced Power and Energy Program (APEP) at the University of California, Irvine. The paper builds on over a decade of research at APEP regarding the role of renewable hydrogen and related solutions as key enablers of a future economy served by 100% renewable and zero-carbon electricity. The paper is available at: APEP Western Energy Hub White Paper.

As detailed in the paper, "Integrating Clean Energy Technologies with Existing Infrastructure," the Western Energy Hub, near Delta, Utah, sits atop the only known utility-scale "Gulf Coast"-style salt dome in the western U.S., capable of storing gases, including hydrogen and compressed air, that can be drawn upon efficiently and economically to meet variable power requirements. For example, power from renewable sources can be stored as hydrogen and later returned to the grid as electricity in a variety of ways, including as a carbon-free fuel for combined-cycle turbines such as those that will be installed at the adjacent Intermountain Power Project for startup in 2025.

"A key challenge to heavy reliance on solar and wind power is that, absent any enabling technologies, these resources cannot be ramped up and down on demand to match load," says Dr. Jeffrey Reed, Chief Scientist, Renewable Fuels and Energy Storage, at APEP and a lead author on the paper. "Geological gas storage of the magnitude available at the Western Energy Hub is the only technically proven solution for addressing the daily and seasonal imbalances associated with intermittent renewable energy resources. Without such resources, maintaining a reliable supply of renewable power across days and seasons will not be possible."

According to Reed, electricity from renewable sources can be used to power electrolyzers, which split water into oxygen and create hydrogen, the latter a carbon-free fuel that can be stored over long periods of time without loss of energy. Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is a powerful adjunct to bulk storage of hydrogen, whereby renewable energy can be used to compress air at high pressure to store power in the same salt formations at the Western Energy Hub as will be used to store hydrogen.

Beyond its distinct geological attributes, the Western Energy Hub sits in a geographically strategic location, proximate to considerable, and growing, Wyoming wind power resources and directly upstream from Los Angeles, to which it is connected via a 2,400-MW, 500-kV direct-current transmission line. The Western Energy Hub is thus well positioned to facilitate California's planned move to carbon-free electricity sourcing over the next quarter century. Additionally, its adjacency to electric transmission, natural gas pipelines and highway routes positions it as a hub for moving green hydrogen to regional decarbonizing markets.

Co-author Professor Jack Brouwer added that "The Western Energy Hub's unique mix of clean power generation and energy storage resources will be foundational to western U.S. markets' transition to green energy."

About the Advanced Power & Energy Program at UCI: APEP addresses the broad utilization of energy resources and the emerging connection of electric power generation, infrastructure, transportation, water resources and the environment. It seeks to develop, promote and deploy increasingly efficient and environmentally sustainable power production and energy conversion worldwide, with a focus on the creation and sharing of new knowledge through fundamental and applied research, education and outreach.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu .

Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu . Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists .

Advanced Power & Energy Program

www.apep.uci.edu

Contact: William Gary

949-824-7302 Ext. 11131

[email protected]

SOURCE University of California - Irvine

Related Links

http://www.apep.uci.edu


Whats on TV

CONTACT (1997) 7 p.m. on Ovation. Based on the 1985 science-fiction novel of the same title by Carl Sagan, Contact yearns to bridge the gap between humanity and technological advancement. Jodie Foster plays Ellie Arroway, a scientist devoted to finding extraterrestrial life, who picks up a radio signal from another planet. This garners national attention, and as Ellie decodes the aliens message, she must protect her work from those trying to steal or discount it. Ellie and a young minister named Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey) engage in a debate throughout over science and religion  and Palmer also becomes a love interest. But try as it might to convey a humanist, mystical message and to equate the search for extraterrestrial life with religious faith, Stephen Holden wrote in his review for The New York Times, Contact is much more convincing when worshiping at the cold shrine of technology.

STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS 8 p.m. on CNN; 9 p.m. on CBS, ABC, NBC and FOX. President Trump will deliver his third State of the Union Address  the last of this presidential term. Mr. Trumps first State of the Union Address focused on immigration policy, and his second  which was rescheduled because of a government shutdown over funding for a border wall  touched on looming Congressional investigations into his conduct. This year, the speech comes a day ahead of a final vote on his impeachment.

Whats Streaming
The global Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (Npwt) Market size is projected to reach USD 2.74 billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.1% during the forecast period. However, it stood at USD 1.85 billion in 2018. Fortune Business Insights published this information in a recent study, titled, Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Device Type (Conventional NPWT, and Single-use NPWT), By Indication (Diabetic Foot Ulcers, Pressure Ulcers, Burns & Trauma, and Others), By End User (Hospitals, Clinics, Homecare Settings, and Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026. As per the study, there is an increasing incidence of surgical site infections and chronic wounds amongst the masses worldwide. Thus, such factors would affect the market positively in the coming years.

For more information in the analysis of this report, visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/negative-pressure-wound-therapy-npwt-devices-market-101243

Highlights of the Report:

In-depth analysis of various insights, namely,Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Market trends, growth drivers, opportunities, and other related challenges.

Comprehensive details of key market players, their core competencies, andNegative Pressure Wound Therapy Market share.

The potency of suppliers and buyers to make better business decisions.

Lists out the market size in terms of volume.

Fortune Business Insights lists out some of the most renowned companies operating in the negative pressure wound therapy devices market. They are as follows:

Medela AG

KCI Licensing, Inc.

Smith & Nephew

Lohmann & Rauscher GmbH & Co. KG

ConvaTec Inc.

PAUL HARTMANN Asia-Pacific Ltd.

Cardinal Health

Talley Group Ltd.

Molnlycke Health Care AB

Other key market players

Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/negative-pressure-wound-therapy-npwt-devices-market-101243

Increasing Cases of Diabetic Foot Ulcer to Drive Growth

Nowadays, there exists a large patient pool across the world that are affected by chronic diseases, such as diabetes. Such conditions are further giving rise to diabetic foot ulcers. As per a published report by NHS, for instance, approximately 4.5 million people were affected by diabetes in the U.K. in 2017. Also, around 10.0% of that diabetic population developed foot ulcer at some point in their lives. Additionally, as the geriatric population is rising, the cases of various conditions and diseases is also upsurging. It is, in turn, causing reduced mobility amongst the affected populaces. These would contribute to the vacuum assisted closure devices market growth during the forecast period.

Key Segmentation:

By Device Type

Conventional NPWT

Single-use NPWT

By Indication

Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Pressure Ulcers

Burns & Trauma

Others

By End User

Hospitals

Clinics

Homecare Settings

Others

By Geography

North America (U.S. (New York, Texas, Florida, California) and Canada)

Europe (U.K.(England), Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, and Rest of Europe)

Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India, Australia (New South Wales, Victoria), Southeast Asia, and Rest of Asia Pacific)

Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, and Rest of Latin America)

Middle East & Africa (South Africa, GCC and Rest of Middle East & Africa)

Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts:https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/negative-pressure-wound-therapy-npwt-devices-market-101243

North America to Grow Significantly Stoked by High Treatment Cost

In terms of region, the market is grouped into the Middle East and Africa, North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Latin America. Out of these, North America had acquired USD 738.1 million NPWT market revenue in 2018 and is expected to expand steadily in the forthcoming years. This growth is attributable to the high treatment cost and rising incidence of chronic wounds in the U.S. Europe would showcase a slow growth owing to the inadequate reimbursement policies in countries, namely, Italy, Spain, and France.

Asia Pacific, on the other hand, is anticipated to grow significantly by exhibiting a high CAGR. It is likely to occur because of the rising patient pool affected by chronic wounds, as well as an increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. The Middle East & Africa and Latin America would show a moderate CAGR on account of the unavailability of favorable reimbursement policies and expensive nature of treatments.

About Us:

Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in.

Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data.

Contact Us:

Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd.

308, Supreme Headquarters,

Survey No. 36, Baner,

Pune-Bangalore Highway,

Pune  411045, Maharashtra, India.

Phone:

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Email:sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com

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The Tata Group may be moving closer to partner with Singapore Airlines to make an offer for Air India, according to a report by The Times of India.

A deal structure is said to be in the works and the Tata Group is likely to merge Air India Express with AirAsia India, the report said.

Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines own full-service airline Vistara as a joint venture (JV). Tata Sons owns a 51 percent stake in AirAsia India while Malaysia-based AirAsia Berhad owns the remaining holding.

The government opened the formal bidding process for Air India on January 27 offering its entire 100 percent stake, putting its entire 100 percent stake in the airline on sale.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The Tata group has approached AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes for his green signal on the Air India Express acquisition, sources told TOI.

The non-compete clause in the agreement between AirAsia and Tata Sons does not permit either party from being involved in another low-cost airline.

Meanwhile, Tony Fernandes stepped aside as AirAsia CEO on February 3 for at least two months as Malaysian authorities investigate allegations of Airbus bribing the airline for an aircraft order.

Senior company executive Tharumalingam Kanagalingam has been appointed as acting CEO.

Fernandes was also recently summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in relation to charges of criminal conspiracy and money laundering.

The Tatas founded Air India in 1932 as Tata Air Services and owned it till it was nationalised in 1947.
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers have discussed the possible next steps to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during the meetings held in Geneva on January 28-30 under the auspices of the OSC Minsk Group.

Timing and agenda for advancing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process were the topic of discussion during the meetings, according to the joint statement made by Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers and co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the U.S.) and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk on January 30.

As was noted, over the three days of intensive discussions, the FMs also discussed implementation of agreements and proposals discussed in 2019 and possible next steps to prepare the populations for peace; principles and elements forming the basis of a future settlement and the possible next steps to resolve the long-lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"The co-chairs reiterated their full commitment to helping the sides find a peaceful solution to the conflict and the principle of confidentiality in the settlement process, as well as the need for creativity and a spirit of compromise to achieve a fair and lasting peace. The ministers agreed to meet again in the near future under co-chair auspices," the statement reads.

Earlier, a meeting consisting of two rounds between Azerbaijani and Armenian FMs was held in Geneva with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office on 28-30 January 2020.

The meeting in Geneva was marked with the most intensive discussions held between the sides over the last years. The sides held thorough discussions over the agenda items presented by the co-chairs.

In particular, the proposals put forward in 2019 and the agreements, in particular, humanitarian exchanges focusing on preparation of the population of both countries for peace, were discussed.

This includes the issues related to the implementation of agreements and proposals discussed in 2019, particularly the humanitarian exchanges for preparation of the populations of both countries for peace, the basic principles and elements of the settlement process.

It also includes the conflict resolution based on the provisions and principles of the Helsinki Final Act, and lastly, the ways of further intensification of the settlement process. In this regard, the ministers agreed to meet again in the near future.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on the country. Since the war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied around 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The Minsk Groups Co-Chairs are mandated to provide an appropriate framework for conflict resolution in the way of assuring the negotiation process; to obtain conclusion by the Parties of an agreement on the cessation of the armed conflict in order to permit the convening of the Minsk Conference, and to promote the peace process by deploying OSCE multinational peacekeeping forces.

Unfortunately, for nearly 25 years, the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem have yielded no concrete results.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Another trip around the sun was marked with fish fillets and "Happy Birthdays" for a San Antonio woman whose family packed a West Side Fred's Fish Fry location to celebrate her birthday.

Janie Carlos and her family filled a Fred's Fish Fry on Marbach to celebrate her 46th birthday on Jan. 27. Despite quiet dining rooms, empty parking lots and rumors claiming the chain is a fishy cover-up (which were dispelled here), Fred's Fish Fry remains a South and West Side institution embedded in the memories of many families, including Carlos.' She and her crew found the low-frills restaurant to be the perfect spot for a night of nostalgia and one of the "best birthday parties ever."

A good amount of conversations involving Fred's Fish Fry come with a side of humor, so much so San Antonio's meme culture includes a category poking fun at the business. The group chat Carlos shares with her family was no different, her cousin Leslie Diaz told mySA.com. The cousins were teasing the birthday girl for being "boring" because she didn't want to plan anything for her day. Fred's Fish entered the chat because of a recent conversation the family had about the restaurant. The memory reel started playing and their wheels started turning. Eventually, Carlos agreed to drive across town to meet her persistent family members for a "simple" dinner, but they had other plans.

Unbeknownst to Carlos, Diaz said the invite was extended to more family to total a party of about 16. They decided to take the fish festivities back to their roots, off Marbach Road. A cake was purchased and extra seating  since Fred's locations only have about three booths  was secured. There were no themed party decorations, or viral posts about the night, just family and fried fish.

RELATED: Here's why a San Antonio couple named their daughter after an H-E-B cashier

"There we all were, taking up Fred's when she showed up," Diaz said. "When we showed up, we realized the place was smaller than we remembered."

Diaz said they sat around, mostly on folding chairs they brought out from their car trunks, reminiscing on memories of growing up and attending John Jay High School, which neighbors the restaurant. She said these gatherings are even more important in their family after losing their grandparents within days of each other. After their deaths, the family made a vow to stay close.

"They were the glue that held us all together. So after they passed, we promised to stay close and keep in touch like we always have," Diaz said. "It's easy for everyone to get so busy with our families and work, so we try to show up as much as we can, especially for special occasions."

The family said the two employees working were surprised by how they kept their promise for Carlos that night.

"There were only a couple ladies working behind the counter and you could see their eyes widen as we all walked in on this random Monday," Diaz said.

The staff told them their event was probably the first birthday they've ever seen celebrated there. The employees snapped photos for the family and the birthday girl got a Fred's Fish Fry Fiesta medal.

"It's funny how one little restaurant can conjure up so many things," Diaz added. "It was such a simple get together, but we had so much fun; we ate, we laughed and she said that it was probably one of her best birthday parties ever."

Madalyn Mendoza is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @MaddySkye

Let it be said of us then that we were thinking not only of our time, but of their time; that we reached as high as our ideals. That we put aside our divisions and found a new hour of healing and hopefulness; that we joined together to serve and strengthen the land we love."
Addressing the issues arising from the debate on state policing as solution to insecurity in Nigeria, SAN Femi Falana revealed a long covered secret: a southwest gov who had a killer squad headed by a police officer.

Many citizens are opposed to the creation of state police for the fear that it may be used to haunt political opponents of some state governors, the right activist said during a speech at the University Ibadan on Monday.

I know a state governor in the South-West who once had a killer squad headed by his Chief Security Officer, a police officer.

One of the unarmed citizens mowed down by the illegal squad was a World Bank expert. All efforts to prosecute the suspects have been frustrated by the state government. The story is the same in a few other states in the country. To that extent the fear of the possible manipulation of state police is genuine.

Falana said one of the arguments against the creation of state police was that governors would use them to hunt their political opponents.

But he insisted that state policing remains the solution to Nigerias insecurity problem.

To avoid a situation whereby abuse of police powers is decentralized, any security service established by state governments should be democratically controlled. The service will be founded by the state governments and superintended by an independent state police council of five members. The members of the council should be accredited representatives of the state government, labour, women, youths and the business community.

The service will police the state and see to the enforcement of all the laws enacted by the House of Assembly. The success of the civilian Joint Task Force in the counter-insurgency operations in Borno State has proved that the best way to police a country is to recruit, train and equip young men and women to operate in their own communities.

The colonial practice of posting police personnel to operate outside their states or regions was meant to suppress and intimidate colonial subjects by strangers. It is a practice which has become counter-productive in a post-colonial state. Every police officer should operate in their community, speak the local language and mix freely with the people.

The southwest governors recently launched a regional security body, Amotekun, which has fuelled the debate on the inability of the federal government to police the country alone.

PV: 0
Automakers are set to take the wraps off 70 models at the Auto Expo 2020, a biennial congregation of some of the largest brands in the world, which opens for the public on Friday. The six-day event, one of the most prominent on the global motor show calendar, is taking place against the backdrop of the decades worst and most prolonged slowdown.

Owing to the poor market condition and tepid sentiments, the size of the show has shrunk compared to the last edition, which took place in 2018. A majority of the two-wheeler makers, and several car and commercial vehicle makers have ...
- South Africa has been listed by Transparency International as one of the most corrupt countries in Africa in 2019

- South Africa and was listed alongside countries such as Senegal, Ghana, Seychelles and Cape Verde

- The top two countries on the list were Seychelles with 66 per cent and Botswana with 61 per cent

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The 2019 Corruption Perception Index released by Transparency International has listed South Africa as the ninth most corrupt country in Africa in 2019.

With a score of 44 out of 100, the country was named along with Ghana, Senegal, Seychelles and others.

The chart shows Seychelles topping the table with a score of 66 per cent, Botswana following with 61 per cent, Cabo Verde coming third with 58 per cent and Rwanda placing fourth with 53 per cent.

READ ALSO: Khama Billiat dishes on baby mama drama: "She threatened to kill me"

Namibia and Mauritius were tied at the fifth position with 52 per cent, Sao Tome and Principe came seventh with 46 per cent and Senegal was placed eighth with 45 per cent.

Per a report by qz.com, South Africa and Ghana completed the top 10 list with 44 and 41 per cent respectively.

Source: qz.com

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Mzansi defends Nasty C in battle against Ghanaian legend Sarkodie

In other news, popular messaging platform, WhatsApp, will no longer function on some Andriod and iOS devices.

The Facebook-owned application has stopped running on older versions of Android and iPhone iOS 8.

Affected devices include those on Android versions 2.3.7 or older as well as iPhone iOS 8 and older.

WhatsApp will, however, make support systems available for Android devices running OS 4.0.3+ and iPhone devices running iOS 9+.

Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news!

Source: Briefly News








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Do not bury your talents; dont be afraid to share your dreams with the world. If you are a talented writer or publisher in New York, then you have been invited to exhibit your work for the world to see, at the Ottawa Book Expo 2020. The event is sponsored by WPBS-TV in Watertown, New York, among other independent literary businesses.

The book expo aims to celebrate international and local talent. The expo intends to play a vital role in the literary industry by bringing together both publishers, agents, distributors, retailers and book lovers together on a single platform.Book expos are often a great chance for authors and publishers to get a lot of attention from the media. Writers also get a chance to meet their fans and nurture stronger relationships with people and publishers.

Many book expos aim at promoting already established authors, thereby ignoring new talents who have little or no prior exposure, however, the Ottawa Book Expo celebrates the local and international pool of literary genius that has previously gone unnoticed. This way, new authors do not have to struggle so much to gain an audience, for their work.

The Ottawa Book Expo will go on for a total of four days, local authors have signed up to be a part of the exhibition and international authors from New York are invited to grab their tickets now. The events would hold on June 7, July 24th-26th at the Horticultural Building in Lansdowne Park.Tickets are nearly selling out, and big crowds are expected at the event.

One of the reasons why a lot of self-published books do not do well in the industry is that many times, there are no serious sustained efforts made at promoting these books. The Ottawa Book Expo is an effort by independent literary businesses totry to sustain the literary culture in Canada and all over the world. It can be very disheartening to see upcoming writers marginalized while famous mainstream authors are celebrated all the time.The expo would allow you to mingle with potential readers and fellow authors to allow you to sell your book upfront. At the event, your book is guaranteed to sell a lot better thanwhen theyre just being sold at a bookstore.

The Ottawa Book Expo would also feature the Great Canadian Barbeque, which involves a lot of delicious Canadian cuisine. Once you purchase a ticket for the Great Canadian Barbecue, you will be able to mingle alongside each other and enjoy a day full of literary and culinary sensations.The expo promises to be an educational and cultural event. There are seminars, panel discussions, food, author meet-ups, etc. to keep the exhibitors and visitors busy and to spread knowledge. There will also be various cultural activities at the book fairs.

So whether you are a foodie or a reader or both, the Ottawa Book Expo 2020 is the perfect place to be this year. To participate; please head on over to the Ottawa Book Expo website and register for this opportunity of a lifetime.
The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
WASHINGTONExecutors winding down the estate of disgraced financier Jeffrey E. Epstein have raised more than one million through the sales of his assets and account liquidations.

In a delayed court filing that had been extended until last Friday lawyers for Epsteins estate showed that his net worth has increased by about $80 million since his death, and listed some of his pricey assets theyve sold off.

These include several luxury cars, including a 2018 Bentley sold for $195,000 and a 2019 Mercedes-Benz for $133,000. They did not disclose the purchasers.

In all, the executors said slightly more than one million has been raised from asset sales and liquidating four accounts tied to shell companies.

The detailed accounting of Epsteins estate also showed that his principal banking for his day-to-day operations was done through two banks in nearby Puerto Rico  Banco Popular and 1 First Bank.

Epsteins net worth at the time of his reported death by hanging last Aug. 10 was estimated at $550 million. In their first quarterly filing, executors of his estate now estimate the value of his total assets as of last Friday at about $634.8 million.

Executors also revised upward the value of his assets at time of death to more than $628 million. They said his cash on hand at the time of death was about $9.4 million and that following expenditures since then is now at about $7.6 million.

The revelations in court documents were made public Monday amid this weeks expected probate hearing in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the attorney general has put a lien on the Epstein estate in a bid to seize the two islands there he owned.

Lawyers for victims will go before a judge as well as executors of the estate to fight it out Tuesday over where certain claims will be settled and by whom.

Attorney General Denise George, a relative newcomer, recently filed a motion to intervene to give the local government a say in matters of estate settlement, on the grounds that some of Epsteins underage victims were abused locally.

In an indictment last month, she alleged that Epstein continued to bring underage women to his properties as recently as 2018, and at least as young as 12.

Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges last July, eight months after the Miami Herald published Perversion of Justice, a series of stories examining the extraordinary plea deal 10 years earlier that absolved him of trafficking allegations.

The quarterly filing by executors listed three pages of potential or ongoing litigation, underscoring how complex it will be to settle Epsteins estate.

The executors  longtime Epstein attorneys Darren K. Indyke and Richard D. Kahn, whom the Virgin Islands alleges in the motion to intervene were complicit  have proposed a New York-based victims compensation fund, to which the islands government has filed a motion in opposition.

The new report from executors listed a number of payments to utilities, banks and some small creditors. They also offered that there are $160,000 in outstanding checks for maintenance and upkeep at his properties in New Mexico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and more than $114,000 owed to a Bell Miami Inc. for helicopter repairs.

The estate paid $86,372 in cemetery and funeral home expenses for Epstein and $618,144 in pre-death credit card expenses and contributions to his foundation in the Virgin Islands that did business as Enhanced Education.
WASHINGTON  U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz visited the White House in December for a public discussion about school choice, and he pitched President Donald Trump face to face on legislation he has pushed for more than a year now with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

If and when we pass this, this will be the most significant federal civil rights victory of modern times, Cruz said of the Education Freedom Scholarships the bill would create, providing billions of dollars in tax breaks for individuals and companies that donate to private school scholarship funds or help parents home-school their children.

This is all about millions of kids  millions of inner-city kids, millions of African-American kids, millions of Hispanic kids, trapped right now, desperate for hope  and giving them scholarships, the Texas Republican told Trump, who nodded in agreement. There is nothing on the domestic front that I believe will have a longer lasting legacy in your presidency than if and when we get this done together.

It appears Trump heard him loud and clear.

More Information State of the Union Address President Donald Trump will address the nation at 8 p.m. CST on Tuesday. The speech will be broadcast live on every major TV network: CBS, ABC, Fox, NBC and CNN. See More Collapse

The president is expected to give the proposal a prime-time shoutout during his State of the Union address Tuesday, as he seeks his second term. Trump is expected to touch on the core planks of his re-election campaign  the economy, immigration and health care among them  with an emphasis on what he has done and wants to do for working families. School choice will be a central piece of that message, as the president plans to urge Congress to expand options for parents and students, administration officials say.

But how that message might be received in Texas is another matter. Despite the GOP majority in Austin, Texas lawmakers spent years battling over various voucher proposals with so little success that advocates gave up in 2019.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Proposals such as Cruzs have long been unpopular in rural areas, where public schools are often the largest employers and community centers. Rural Republicans have joined Democrats in opposing school choice expansions in Texas.

But Trump is wildly popular among rural Republicans, and his support could provide cover, particularly for rural Republicans in the next legislative session, said Matt Mackowiak, a Republican consultant and school choice advocate.

We are nowhere near as far along in the reforms as Florida or Tennessee or other states. Thats a disappointment and a frustration I think for a lot of conservatives, he said. They have rural Republicans in Tennessee, and they have rural Republicans in Florida. I dont see why those members have been able to see the light on this and Texas Republicans havent.

Opponent: Parents dont want a dollar-off coupon

So far, 18 states have adopted voucher programs akin to the one Cruz wants to pass on a national level.

The last major fight in Texas, in 2017, centered on legislation similar to what Cruz is now advocating in Washington. At that time, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who also attended the December White House meeting, was pushing to give tax breaks to businesses donating money the state could use to send students to private schools, for home schooling or for tutoring. But the proposal went nowhere, with more than two-thirds of the Texas House opposed to spending any state money on voucher programs.

Those opposed argued that such a program would siphon resources from public schools and provide an inadequate amount of money to cover full tuition at private schools. Others who opposed vouchers lived in rural areas where private schools are rare.

Although Republicans are more likely to support vouchers, a majority of Texans said they opposed them in 2017, according to polling from the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune. In the 2018 election, Texans voted several voucher advocates out of office.

I think most legislators in Texas have gotten the message that parents dont want a dollar-off coupon to a private school across town. They want their neighborhood schools to be the best they can be, and that means giving resources to schools so they can be the best they can be, said Mark Wiggins, a lobbyist for the Association of Texas Professional Educators.

For subscribers: Texas GOP lawmaker who fought school vouchers says voters proved his point

Cruzs proposal would receive heavy opposition in the Democrat-controlled House, but it has the backing of 10 Texas Republicans in Congress, including Houston-area Reps. Dan Crenshaw, Pete Olson, Randy Weber and Brian Babin. Also signed on are Reps. Roger Williams, Michael Cloud, Kenny Marchant, Bill Flores, Ron Wright and Michael Burgess.

The legislation would offer up to $5 billion in federal tax credits for those who donate to state-approved scholarship programs for private and religious schools or home schooling. States could opt in and would be tasked with deciding which schools receive the funding. It would also provide up to $5 billion in tax credits for those who donate to workforce training programs.

Cruz has acknowledged the uphill battle the legislation faces. Speaking at an education-focused event last year in Washington, he talked about the need to broaden the coalition.

Were going to have to start picking off Democrats, he said at the time. Particularly in the Pelosi House, but were not going to overcome a filibuster in the Senate.

So far that hasnt happened. No Democrats are signed onto the legislation in the House or the Senate.

For subscribers: Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar will give Democrats response to Trump State of the Union

Cruz, meanwhile, has partnered with one of the Trump administrations controversial figures in pushing the legislation. DeVos, a Michigan billionaire and longtime advocate for school choice who has led the Education Department through Trumps first term, is a rare case of a federal education chief who has developed a large enough profile to work her way into presidential campaigns.

Cruz told Trump in December that DeVos is doing an amazing job. She is a courageous and principled education secretary.

Cruz has had some success advancing school choice at the federal level. He worked an amendment into the GOPs 2017 tax overhaul that opened up 529 savings plans long used to save for college to allow for private school and home-schooling expenses, as well.

Cruz touted it during the White House meeting in December.

Youve already signed into law the most significant federal school choice legislation thats ever passed in the history of our country, he told Trump. The Education Freedom Scholarships, he said, are the next step.

ben.wermund@chron.com
Human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), has said he knew a former governor in one of the South-West states who had a killer squad.

Falana, who spoke at the University of Ibadan, said the former governors killer squad was headed by a police officer, who was the Chief Security Officer to the then governor.

He said one of those killed by the killer squad was a World Bank expert, but he did not name the former governor in question.

Falana said one of the arguments against the creation of state police was that governors would use them to hunt their political opponents.



He, however, maintained that state police remained the solution to Nigerias insecurity problem.

Falana stated this at the maiden memorial public lecture in honour of the late Prof. Olumuyiwa Awe at the Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan.

He said, Many citizens are opposed to the creation of state police for the fear that it may be used to haunt political opponents of some state governors. I know a state governor in the South-West who once had a killer squad headed by his Chief Security Officer, a police officer.

One of the unarmed citizens mowed down by the illegal squad was a World Bank expert. All efforts to prosecute the suspects have been frustrated by the state government. The story is the same in a few other states in the country. To that extent the fear of the possible manipulation of state police is genuine.

To avoid a situation whereby abuse of police powers is decentralized, any security service established by state governments should be democratically controlled. The service will be founded by the state governments and superintended by an independent state police council of five members. The members of the council should be accredited representatives of the state government, labour, women, youths and the business community.

The service will police the state and see to the enforcement of all the laws enacted by the House of Assembly. The success of the civilian Joint Task Force in the counter-insurgency operations in Borno State has proved that the best way to police a country is to recruit, train and equip young men and women to operate in their own communities.

The colonial practice of posting police personnel to operate outside their states or regions was meant to suppress and intimidate colonial subjects by strangers. It is a practice which has become counter-productive in a post-colonial state. Every police officer should operate in their community, speak the local language and mix freely with the people.

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Police say initial evidence in the investigation into a shooting that killed three men in a downtown Airbnb Friday was a murder-suicide.

While it will be weeks before a complete narrative of the incident can be determined, given the investigative work that continues, initial evidence does indicate that two men were murdered and one man died by suicide, police said in a statement Tuesday.

We are not yet in a position to confirm or deny any other aspect of the ongoing investigation.

At around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 31, gunfire erupted on the 32 floor of a condominium building at 85 Queens Wharf. The condo was being used as a rented Airbnb, where a social gathering was taking place at the time of the shooting, according to police.

Three men  all age 21 or under  died and two other men suffered minor injuries.

The victims have been identified as Jalen Colley, 21, of Brampton, Joshua Gibson-Skeir, 20, of Brampton, and Tyronne Noseworthy, 19, of Toronto. Noseworthy was a Toronto rapper who went by the name fourty4double0 and was one-half of the rap duo Tallup Twinz. Pictures of Gibson-Skeir have not been released.

Police said Colley died from a gunshot to his throat, Gibson-Skeir from a gunshot to his abdomen and Noseworthy from a gunshot to his head.

Police have said two of the deaths were homicides  numbers seven and eight of 2020  but have not identified which of the men is believed to have died by suicide.

In the wake of the shooting, the buildings management notified residents that they will ban rentals of under three months following the shooting.
A South African court has issued an arrest warrant for former President Jacob Zuma after he did not appear at a pre-trial hearing in a corruption case on grounds of needing medical treatment.

The judge, however, stayed the warrant until the case resumes on May 6.

Zumas lawyer on Tuesday presented the judge with a sick note from what he said was a military hospital, but Judge Dhaya Pillay questioned whether the note was valid, as there was no medical number showing if and where the doctor was certified.

I dont even know if  is a doctor. There is  nothing to suggest that he is, she said, before issuing the warrant.

The former leader is on trial on 18 charges of fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to a $2bn arms deal with French defence firm Thales in 1999, when Zuma was deputy president. He rejects the allegations as a politically motivated witch-hunt.

Dan Mantsha, Zumas lawyer, said that he was abroad for medical treatment, without saying where. Local media have suggested he is in Cuba, although it was not immediately possible to verify this.

Pillay concluded that the note was insufficient to excuse Zuma from appearing for the trial, but gave him until it resumes on May 6 to turn up before the warrant kicks in.

Zuma, president from 2009-2018, had previously applied for a permanent stay of prosecution but the court in Pietermaritzburg threw out his appeal in November.

He is accused of accepting 500,000 rand ($34,000) annually from Thales in 1999, in exchange for protecting the company from an investigation into the deal.

Thales, known as Thompson-CSF at the time, has said it had no knowledge of any transgressions by any of its employees in relation to the awarding of the contracts.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) initially filed the charges against Zuma a decade ago but set them aside shortly before he successfully ran for president in 2009. Following appeals and lobbying by opposition parties, the NPA reinstated the charges in March 2018.
Ericka Mingos older son has done well at Chicago Virtual and is due to graduate this spring, doing his part to boost the schools four-year graduation rate, which last year fell to 44%, one of the lowest in CPS. The rate of students who graduate after five years of high school at Chicago Virtual is 70%. Mingos younger son started at Chicago Virtual as a kindergartner, but she said she pulled him out during third grade after she saw drastic changes in the school.
Immediately after his December election victory, Boris Johnson declared his principle domestic policy objective to be the rebalancing of Britain's economy, "leveling up" those parts of the U.K. that have been left behind financially. On Monday, speaking in the Baroque splendor of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, the prime minister set out his prime foreign policy goal: making Britain a global "Superman" in championing free trade.

These are both reasonable ambitions - noble, even. Johnson's government was voted into power to deliver them, backed by a strange mixture of working class former Labour voters and older Conservative Brexiters who want a swashbuckling U.K. unencumbered by ties to the European Union. The problem, as Johnson dives into trade negotiations with Brussels, is that keeping that latter constituency happy may involve hurting the former.

If he's to hold this new Conservative coalition together, Johnson will need to deliver economic benefits to the former Labour heartlands in England's industrial north. And if he's to deliver the Global Britain promised by Brexiters after quitting the EU, he'll have to be free to strike trade agreements with countries around the world.

There's a strong moral case for a domestic agenda that tries to rebalance the U.K. economy away from the dominance of finance and the City of London. It may be a prerequisite for fixing Britain's weak productivity and providing better growth prospects. Johnson has a point on free trade too. "[It] is being choked, and that is no fault of the people, that is no fault of individual consumers," he said. "I'm afraid it is the politicians who are failing to lead, the mercantilists are everywhere, the protectionists are gaining ground."

Yet the flaws in Johnson's effort to keep all sides of his support base happy were there in his speech on Monday, probably the most important of his career. Johnson insisted that the U.K. cannot sign up to the EU's so-called "level playing field" provisions - which guarantee broad alignment between the U.K. and Europe on rules and regulations governing policy areas from social policy to environmental policy, tax and state aid. But without that undertaking, the EU says it cannot give Britain the zero-tariff, zero-quota arrangement on goods that it wants.

Johnson won't want to be seen to capitulate on the level playing field, because it wouldn't tally with a newly sovereign Britain free to go where she likes on global trade - instead, the U.K. would be a "rule-taker" from Brussels. Johnson has begun talking of an Australian-style deal if the Canada-type trade arrangement he wants isn't possible. Australia doesn't have a free trade deal with the EU, so this is largely a euphemism for moving to World Trade Organization terms - or a "no deal" split from the EU trading partnership to put it more bluntly, perhaps with some side deals in important sectors.

Unfortunately for the prime minister, the further Britain moves away from its current zero-tariff, zero-quota arrangement on goods with the EU, the more pain it might inflict on those northern England regions that voted for him. Even Canada has to pay tariffs on poultry, meat and eggs and respect quotas. The U.K. Treasury estimated that a Canada-style free-trade agreement would mean a hit of 4.9% of GDP growth over a 15-year period (compared to the U.K. staying in the EU); a WTO arrangement would no doubt be worse. And not all parts of the U.K. economy are equally exposed to these new trade costs. The areas that will be hardest hit by new trade frictions with the EU are the very places that he's trying to "level-up."

Of course, Johnson's speech - and the negotiating proposals put forward by the EU's Michel Barnier at the same time - are just the opening gambits of the mother of all trade negotiations. Much could change as the clock ticks down to the deadline at the end of this year. The EU might give way on some level-playing field provisions, in exchange for continued access to British fishing waters. The EU proposals also hold out Gibraltar as a bargaining chip.

To achieve both his domestic and foreign policy objectives Johnson's biggest post-Brexit bet must be proved right: that while the EU may be the larger negotiating partner, Britain's geopolitical clout, closeness with the U.S. and geographical proximity gives it similar weight. He also seems to be gambling that whatever the economic damage from a more distant trading relationship with the EU, it will be gradual and spread over time and can be mitigated by extra spending on hard-pressed regions.

Relief that Britain's endless Brexit debate is over, a strong parliamentary majority and a prime minister who manages to make retreat sound like a bold charge, might buy Johnson time. But he will inevitably have to concede that, as the giant trading bloc on Britain's doorstep, the EU will remain influential. He may want to be a trading Superman, but Brussels still has plenty of Kryptonite.
Diamond lanes for the rich. Lexus lanes. A classic bait-and-switch. Social engineering on a massive scale. Taking the free out of freeways.

Republican officials working for then-President George W. Bush in 2008 didnt apply any of those epithets to their plan to charge tolls and allow solo drivers into carpool lanes on freeways in some of the most crowded parts of California.

Rather, they dangled hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives before state and local officials to get them to adopt this benighted idea  and the locals bit, big time. It started with a grant of more than $200 million about 10 years ago from Bushs Department of Transportation, which turned existing carpool lanes into toll lanes on the Interstate 10 freeway in eastern Los Angeles County. The idea has spread, even though it does not really work.

As a result, many thousands of California drivers put transponders in their cars and get charged from 25 cents per mile on up for driving in lanes once occupied by carpoolers only  the result being that carpool lanes in many places are now as crowded as all the others.

Thomas D. Elias: Bet on it: Californians wont willingly give up cars Since the early 1970s time of ex-Gov. Jerry Browns first term in office, California officials from the top down have tried to coax Californians out of their cars.

Now, an enormous expansion of toll lanes is in its early stages. This idea has three goals: Allow toll-lane drivers to move at faster speeds than they do now. Make other lanes so congested that drivers switch to different modes of transport, where available. And convert as many existing carpool lanes to toll ones as possible in order to produce more and more revenue to finance ever more toll lanes.

The biggest new push is about to come in the I-405 Freeway corridor between West Los Angeles and the vast San Fernando Valley portion of Los Angeles, a distance of about 10 miles of almost constant congestion despite Californias recent slow growth, which state officials say cost Los Angeles County about 96,000 residents over the last year.

More than $5 billion in local sales tax revenue is already available for this project, which would try to find space for two new toll lanes in the existing right-of-way, along with building a new, parallel north-south light-rail line, either on a monorail or in a multi-billion-dollar tunnel. With the Trump administration not exactly in a giving mood toward California, the extra $4 billion to $9 billion this project would need likely must come from borrowing against future road tolls.

So drivers would essentially pay tolls to finance a plan aiming to get them out of their cars. All this because city planners  ignoring what happened when Los Angeles hosted the Olympic Games in 1984  expect vast amounts of traffic during the upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Thomas D. Elias: Contrary to experts, California dream far from dead It happens almost every winter: pundits from eastern news outlets make weeklong pilgrimages to California, interview top officials here and generally report back that theres something rotten in the state of the Golden State, as Shakespeare might have put it.

Never mind that traffic was at historic lows during the 84 Games, partly because thousands of Angelenos went elsewhere during those Games to avoid massive traffic that never materialized.

Toll lanes are in the offing in many other places, too. Orange County planners contemplate new ones on four freeways there, with plans for new lanes rather than converting existing carpool ones. Toll lanes are also expected on several Bay Area freeways, including the 101 and 880 freeways, where carpool lanes would most likely be converted.

Its all part of a steady We know best approach by city, state and county planners, who have never taken a public vote on toll lanes, first sold to voters as being reserved for carpools only, with tolls not mentioned. That makes all this a classic bait and switch.

No one knows whether the trend will lead to a public revolt on the scale of what happened in the mid-1970s, when then-Gov. Jerry Browns administration converted regular traffic lanes on the I-10 Santa Monica Freeway in West Los Angeles to carpools only. The outcry forced the states transportation director to resign and the lanes reverted. There are still no carpool lanes on that stretch of freeway.

Every time the public speaks on this issue, it opposes new toll lanes or anything else aimed at driving them out of their cars. But so far, there have been no rebellions at the ballot box. Does Gov. Gavin Newsom really want to bet on that passivity continuing?

Thomas D. Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column. He is author of the book, The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It.
The incident happened at a Sainsbury's in west Belfast. Pic Google.

Staff at a Sainsbury's petrol station were held at gunpoint in a Belfast robbery.

A man armed with a suspected firearm entered the Falls Road filling station shortly before 10.30pm on Monday.

He told staff to put money and cigarettes into a bag before making off on foot in the direction of the cemetery.

The man was described as being around 6 tall, aged in his 20s with a local accent. He was wearing a dark-coloured hooded top and white trainers. There were no reports of any injuries.

A Sainsburys spokesperson said, We are supporting the police with their enquiries.

Police can be contacted on 101 or information can be provided anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Ryan Serhant recently became a dad when he and wife Emilia Bechrakis welcomed their first child Zena.

But nobody can accuse the Million Dollar Listing star of rocking a dad bod after becoming a parent.

He showed off his toned shirtless physique Sunday as he took to Instagram from Turks & Caicos on their first baby-free vacation.

Parents getaway: Ryan Serhant showed off his toned shirtless physique Sunday as he took to Instagram from Turks & Caicos on his and wife Emilia Bechrakis' first baby-free vacation

The 35-year-old sported a bright blue swimsuit during a bike ride to a beautiful rocky beach.

He took to his story the next day with a photo of his muscular bod as he stared at his reflection in the pool.

Serhant later posted another selfie with his shirt on as his wife wrapped her arms around him on the beach.

Bechrakis also shared a snap of them standing in the water, him wearing a black bathing suit, while she donned a white bikini top with black bottoms.

Beach babe: The 35-year-old sported a bright blue swimsuit during a bike ride to a beautiful rocky beach

Hot bod: He took to his story the next day with a photo of his muscular bod as he stared at his reflection in the pool

Happy couple: Serhant later posted another selfie with his shirt on as his wife wrapped her arms around him on the beach

Paradise vibes: She took to her Instagram story with a sexy video of her traipsing through the crystal blue waters. Bechrakis wrote: 'First trip without the baby. We lived. We laughed, rode bikes, got some sun, I slept more hours than Ive slept in months'

The caption read: 'First trip without the baby. We lived. We laughed, rode bikes, got some sun, I slept more hours than Ive slept in months. I had a meal without rushing through it. I actually paid attention to what Ryan was saying.

'You guys were right, we needed to reconnect and I needed to take a minute for myself. But boy my heart is bursting. I cannot wait to see my baby girl!'

She took to her Instagram story with a sexy video of her traipsing through the crystal blue waters.

The 34-year-old also posted a photo of her husband lounging by the pool with his head in his phone, captioned: 'Always working.'

A short video shows him texting at a bar with a view of the beach, captioned: 'Not bad for today's office view.'

Workaholic: The 34-year-old also posted a photo of her husband lounging by the pool with his head in his phone, captioned: 'Always working'

Office goals: A short video shows him texting at a bar with a view of the beach, captioned: 'Not bad for today's office view'

Sand angel: But Serhant still managed to get some leisure time in, posting a video to his own story of himself making snow angels in the sand

Proud dad: He also appeared to be missing Zena, posting a photo of himself sitting on the beach with a photo of her in the same pose

But Serhant still managed to get some leisure time in, posting a video to his own story of himself making snow angels in the sand.

He also appeared to be missing Zena, posting a photo of himself sitting on the beach with a photo of her in the same pose, featuring a pink heart that read: 'I love my daughter.'

The couple got married in 2016, and they welcomed their baby girl, one, last February.

Bechrakis has recently launched a YouTube channel, documenting her struggles with in vitro fertilization from when they were conceiving Zena.
Friends of the Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo Markin and some other known NPP groups came together and picked nomination forms for the Effutu legislator on Monday.

Micheal Gyan, President of Friends of Afenyo Markin indicated that his good work is what informed their decision to buy the forms for him.

We believe in the good works that he is doing so delegates, friends, Assembly Members and Party faithfuls decided to pick the forms for him to continue with his good works

According to Michael Gyan, the Effutu constituency is a no go area for other incoming candidates since the incumbent Member of Parliament for the area has not finished with his good works.

Constituency chairman for the New Patriotic Party, Kojo Halm indicated that there was a clash between some party members over who should buy the forms for Afenyo Markin adding that in the end the NPP became victorious.

There was a bit of a tussle over who to buy the forms for Afenyo Markin so in the end, John Bondzie Sey paid for the filing fee of 20,000 and this is unprecedented in the history of the party in Effutu and this should tell us that the party is indeed strong in Effutu,  Kojo Halm said.

However, the Member of Parliament for the Effutu constituency Alex Afenyo Markin in his response to the surprise by party members in Effutu indicated that he will take up the challange of leading the party again in the 2020 Parliamentary elections.

According to him, the National Democratic Congress has no message for the people of Effutu in the 2020 elections and called on all Ghanaians to vote for President Akufo-Addo to continue with his good work.

Let us work hard, let us go to every community because the good news in Effutu is that every community you enter we have done a project there and people can testify of the hard work, the MP added.

I have taken up the challenge, I am ready to lead so I will go and fill the form and contest, Afenyo Markin said.

NPP primaries slated for April 25

The NPP will hold its Presidential primaries on April 25, 2020.

A non-refundable nomination fee for aspirants has been pegged at GHc20,000 whilst the filing fee is GHc200,000.

The party will also be electing the remaining Parliamentary candidates on the same day.

---citinewsroom
A compensation scheme for patients of Dr Michael Watt has the potential to be the largest such programme ever seen in the UK, it has been claimed.

However, patients caught up in the health scandal have been warned to expect lengthy waits before any money is paid out by health officials.

It comes after the first compensation case involving the suspended neurologist has been settled for 15,000. The money was paid to a former patient of Dr Watt, who spent three years believing he had Parkinson's disease after he was misdiagnosed by the consultant.

While the patient did not suffer any physical effects as a result of the misdiagnosis and wasn't prescribed any medication incorrectly, his mental health was impacted.

Kevin Hegarty, who represented the patient and who specialises in medical negligence cases at O'Reilly Stewart Solicitors, said: "The diagnosis adversely interfered with a number of aspects of our client's life.

"We obtained expert evidence from a consultant psychiatrist who commented on the psychiatric effect the misdiagnosis had on our client."

Parkinson's is a progressive neurological condition for which there is no cure and it can have a significant impact on quality of life.

Symptoms include tremor, muscle spasms and slowness of movement - over time these can affect everyday activities such as walking, talking, swallowing and eating.

Almost 3,000 former patients of Dr Watt have been recalled by the Belfast Trust amid concerns over their treatment.

An official report subsequently revealed one in five of those people had been given an insecure misdiagnosis.

The conditions for which they had been referred to Dr Watt included epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's and motor neurone disease.

While Mr Hegarty has secured a pay-out for his client, he stressed that he had seen Dr Watt in a private capacity and the compensation was paid by private indemnity providers for Dr Watt. The case was settled without admission of liability without the need for the case to go to court.

Mr Hegarty, who is representing around 50 former patients of the medic, said they have already obtained independent expert evidence critical of the medication regimes prescribed by Dr Watt.

He continued: "The majority of my clients are health service patients and they are likely to face a longer wait for compensation.

"The client who has had compensation wasn't part of the trust recall, they had seen Dr Watt privately.

"He began to think that maybe he didn't have Parkinson's and sought out another consultant.

"That seems to have happened in a lot of the cases in which we are involved - the person began to have concerns about the care they were receiving and sought a second opinion.

"In other cases, they went to another consultant after Dr Watt was suspended and they were left in limbo, without a consultant. That in itself is an issue that needs to be looked at.

"I expect it to be a considerable length of time before the Department of Health compensation scheme gets under way.

"Certainly, medical negligence cases are complex and require a fairly complex investigation that can ordinarily take between three and five years to resolve.

"I do think the neurology recall compensation scheme has the potential to be the largest in the UK, certainly I'm not aware of any others on a similar scale."

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "The Department continues to consider the best way forward in respect of redress and aims to reduce the time taken for payments to be made compared with the normal clinical negligence process."
PATNA: Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, currently in jail, is keen on sending his wife, former chief minister of Bihar Rabri Devi to the upper house of Parliament and it is likely that she will be the official nominee of the party in the April Rajya Sabha polls, people familiar with the matter said.

The people, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that former union minister and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Prem Chand Gupta is likely to be the second candidate of the party in the polls. The party is hoping to win two seats out of the five vacancies from Bihar in the upper house of Parliament.

Gupta is a close confidant of the RJD chief . A sitting RS member from Jharkhand, Gupta faced trouble three years ago when his name, along with that of his wife, figured in the IRCTC case in which Prasad, his wife and son Tejashwi Yadav are also accused. The case pertains to allotment of IRCTC hotels when the RJD chief was railway minister from 2004 to 2009 in the UPA- 1 government. The central Bureau of Investigation has filed a charge sheet in the case.

The people cited in the first instance said Devis candidature has found merit for two reasons; one, the elevation of former chief minister, a sitting member of the states legislative council, to the upper house of Parliament would help the party to quell rumblings within the party over the Rajya Sabha ticket. They added that some senior leaders including former MPs Raghuvnash Prasad Singh and Shivanand Tiwary who nurse Rajya Sabha ambitions would not oppose Devis choice. .

The second reason is that Devis elevation to the Rajya Sabha may help the family get a bigger bungalow in Lutyens Delhi, the people added.

 After Lalu demitted office as railway minister in 2009 , the RJDs first family has not had a big government accommodation in Delhi due to the partys shrinking number of MPs especially after the 2019 polls. If Rabri Devi is elected, the party hopes she will get a bigger accommodation in lieu of her seniority, said a party functionary. At present, the RJD has three MPs from Bihar in the Rajya Sabha including Prasads eldest daughter Misa Bharti.

The people said the names have been discussed with Prasad. A formal announcement is yet to be made.

State president of the RJD Jagdanand Singh did not confirm the choice of nominees.  Both Rabri Devi and Prem Gupta are senior leaders. The partys stand will be clear at an opportune time, he said.

Gupta could not be reached for comment.

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New Delhi/Thimpu, Feb 4 : Bhutan's lower house on Monday passed a legislation that makes it mandatory for visitors from India, Bangladesh and the Maldives to pay a fee of Rs 1200 per day for its "sustainable development" from July this year.

The Himalayan kingdom, which is concerned about its ecology and environment, decided to impose the fee following an increase in Indian tourists. There was a ten per cent hike in the number of tourists from the three countries who visited Bhutan in 2018.

Government sources in New Delhi said, the 'Tourism Levy and Exemption Bill of Bhutan 2020' which the National Assembly of Bhutan is still discussing, imposes a "nominal" fee to develop tourism facilities and infrastructure. The bill includes additional provisions for visit of tourists from the region to Bhutan.

The Bhutanese authorities have assured the Indian government that "tourists from India would not be inconvenienced in the course of the implementation of the new regulation".
Liberty County Sheriff Bobby Rader called Deputy Richard Whitten on Monday to share the good news: Whitten had just been named officer of the year by the 100 Club of Houston.

The deputys phone went to voicemail. Rader never heard back.

Whitten, who was wounded in a 2019 shooting in Cleveland, was pronounced dead later in the day during a physical therapy session at the Texas Medical Center. He wont get a chance to accept his award from the 100 Club, but he died a true hero, Rader said during a press conference in Houston.

He gave his heart, and he gave his life, Rader said. He was an awesome deputy.

Whitten was among multiple people who were shot May 29, 2019, at a plumbing company in Cleveland. On the night of May 28, a gunman, identified as Pavol Vido, shot and killed a woman who worked as the companys secretary, according to earlier reports in the Houston Chronicle. Vido spent the night lying in wait until two other employees showed up for work.

He shot both employees and fled. Whitten, who was responding to the gunfire, pursued Vido until the man bailed out of the car and started shooting.

Whitten was shot in the neck area. Vido fatally shot himself as more law enforcement closed in, according to earlier reports in the Chronicle. One of the wounded employees later died. Additionally, the bullet that struck Whittens neck hit the deputys spine, Rader said.

Sheriffs Office Capt. Ken DeFoor said on Monday that Whitten appeared to suffer a heart attack during the physical therapy session at TIRR Memorial Hermann. Police escorted his body Monday night from the hospital to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.

Whitten had been with the sheriffs office for four years. He gravitated toward a law enforcement career late in life, after convincing his wife Kami to let him join the ranks, Rader said.

He said Whitten became an asset that everybody loved in the department. He was known to help people experiencing homelessness, Rader said. The deputy also kept food for stray cats and dogs in his car, he said.

He was an awesome person, Rader said. During the therapy here at TIRR, he was doing amazing things. He was making big improvements.

Humble Police Officer Richard Moore, who also spoke at the press conference, said he talked to Whitten nearly every day for 11 years. They were best friends, he said, and the loss will leave an irreplaceable void.

He was not only a great deputy, but a great man, Moore said. He loved his family, loved his country, and he sure did love his department.

A funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday at The Sanctuary of Cleveland, 100 E. Hanson St.

julian.gill@chron.com

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com
I think thats worth looking into, Drasga said. I kind of agree with this resident, I have no idea  if somebody comes in, I dont know what to do, Im just glad I know the number to call for the boiler. When you find somebody who knows they have to get a permit, and blatantly doesnt  I do think we need to look into that for any way we can protect that."
RFI

Some three-quarters of teachers in France are to strike across the country this Thursday to protest the government's shifting rules on Covid testing for pupils. This comes amid growing frustration over what unions say is lack of support and unmanageable logistics in the face of surging Omicron infections. Led by the Snuipp-FSU union, the largest strike among primary school teachers comes after the latest of several changes on testing and isolation requirements for potential Covid cases that were
The exiled Islamic scholar has long been outlawed in Turkey.

Ukraine and Turkey have agreed to jointly fight with the organization of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkish authorities suspect of setting up a coup d'etat on July 15, 2016, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv February 3.

"We discussed security issues and the fight against the FETO terrorist organization [associated with Fethullah Gulen who has been living in the USA]. We reached an accord and saw that our opinions completely coincide regarding such a need," Erdogan said, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

In turn, Zelensky noted that during the negotiations, much time was devoted to banning Gulen's organization, to which some educational institutions operating in Ukraine are related.

Read alsoUkraine, Turkey sign framework agreement on cooperation in defense sector

"We spoke in great detail. I know that this issue had already been on the agenda between Ukraine and Turkey. For many years it had been stalled. Today I received from President Erdogan very detailed, I'd say, some very detailed facts. I'll even tell you frankly  various surnames were voiced. I have already forwarded all this information to our Security Service chief, who has to deal with the issue," Zelensky said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on June 15, 2016, a group of Turkish military said they had taken "full" power in their hands and declared martial law and curfew.

In response to coup d'etat, President Erdogan urged citizens to take to the streets and resist the attempt/ According to various sources, from 248 to 268 people died in clashes.

After the coup was foiled, Erdogan named Fethullah Gulen, his longtime opponent, the main conspirator behind the plot.

Meanwhile, Gulen, who has has been living in the U.S. in exile, categorically denies any involvement.

Turkish authorities demand that the U.S. extradite the man they suspect of leading a terrorist organization.
The dramatic measures taken by China to rein in the deadly new coronavirus outbreak have prevented significant spread abroad, providing a "window of opportunity" to halt transmission, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

But the UN health agency's chief also called for greater solidarity, accusing some governments of wealthy countries of being "well behind" in sharing data on virus cases.

"While 99 percent of cases are in China, in the rest of the world we only have 176 cases," Tedros said in a technical briefing to the WHO's Executive Board in Geneva.

"That doesn't mean that it won't get worse. But for sure we have a window of opportunity to act... Let's not miss this window of opportunity," he said.

Tedros said the WHO had received complete case report forms for only 38 percent of the cases outside China.

"Some high-income countries are well behind in sharing this vital data with WHO. I don't think it's because they lack capacity," he said.

"Without better data, it's very hard for us to assess how the outbreak is evolving, or what impact it could have, and to ensure we are providing the most appropriate recommendations," he said.

More than 20,400 cases of the virus have been confirmed in China since the virus was first detected on December 31.

The toll in mainland China has soared to 425 and more than 20 countries have now confirmed cases of the virus, which the WHO has declared a global health emergency.

Tedros said the WHO was sending masks, gloves, respirators and 18,000 protective isolation gowns to 24 countries, as well as 250,000 test kits to speed up the process of diagnose carriers of the virus.

He also reiterated his call for countries not to impose travel and trade restrictions because of the virus.

"Such restrictions can have the effect of increasing fear and stigma, with little public health benefit," he said, adding that 22 countries had so far informed WHO they were implementing such measures.

"Where such measures have been implemented, we urge that they are short in duration, proportionate to the public health risks, and are reconsidered regularly as the situation evolves," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MCLEAN, Va., Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Caring for multiple generations of family members is complex and requires coordination, especially at distance. Telehealth and standards-based interoperability are making the process easier by connecting family members with remote, multi-provider care teams. At next month's HIMSS20 Interoperability Showcase , ViTel Net, Cerner, and Epic, will demonstrate how seamless data and workflow between different institutions, providers, and their health IT platforms simplifies access to quality care delivery at the "Digital Health Across Generations" showcase.

This showcase highlights the connected care need for three generations of women and encompasses a broad range of interoperable, digital health technologies and programs provided by Alliance Chicago, Caregility, CDC, Cerner, Epic, Health Endeavors, ViTel Net, and YMCA, with narration by National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers.

ViTel Net's vCareCommand telehealth platform facilitates an orthopedic telehealth consult for the deaf grandmother, recovering from hip surgery at a local rehabilitation facility. She experiences a fall, and an orthopedist consult is needed to assess whether to transfer to an acute-care setting.

Using standards like HL7 and SMART on FHIR, ViTel Net enables:

Nurse Practitioner (NP) to request the teleOrthopedics consult directly from Cerner

Consult request to be transmitted into Epic (orthopedist's Electronic Health Record)

Orthopedist to:

Use a single, sign-on to launch ViTel Net's web app from Epic



Add an on-demand, ASL interpreter directly to the videoconference



Document directly on the same screen as the video consult and automatically update both Cerner and Epic at the encounter's conclusion

NP to capture and transmit an image of the grandmother's knee to Cerner for the PCP's review, using store-and-forward technology.

"As an early proponent of EHR, ViTel Net developed vCareCommand to provide greater physician access to patient data," said Rob Kolodner, CMO, ViTel Net. "Preserving physician workflow in a user-friendly interface and ensuring health records remain current lead to greater clinical efficiency and better outcomes for patients."

Join us at HIMSS20 in Orlando and see our demonstration in Hall E, Booth 8300 on March 9-11, 2020.

About ViTel Net

ViTel Net is a leading telehealth innovator, providing a configurable and interoperable enterprise platform and point-of-care modules for the entire telehealth continuum of care. Clinicians use our technology to access medical images, patient data and live video conferencing to remotely diagnose, treat, and manage patients. www.vitelnet.com

Contact: Sue Hilger, 443-845-1584, [email protected]

SOURCE ViTel Net

Related Links

http://www.vitelnet.com


NORTON SHORES, MI  The first step in a construction process that will lead to a new Chick-fil-A restaurant is taking place this week.

A local franchise of the national chain, famous for its chicken sandwiches and conservative politics, is being developed at 5607 S. Harvey St. in Norton Shores, across from the Lakes Mall. The site is currently home to a shuttered Johnny Carinos Italian Restaurant, which is slated for demolition this week, according to Ted Woodcock, a planning and zoning administrator for the citys public works department.

Site plans for the Muskegon-area location were first reported on last spring. Although the plans have since been approved, building permits have not yet been pulled, according to Woodcock, who said that it will likely be quite a few months until the new restaurant is completed.

Changes to the site plan - including the addition of a canopy over the drive through - have been made and approved as recently as January, he added.

Construction will not begin until the weather breaks, Woodcock said.

The restaurant currently on the 1.8-acre parcel has been empty since 2012. It is situated by the Lakes Crossing Shopping Center, anchored by a Kohls, and will stand between two chain sit-down restaurants, Logans Roadhouse and Red Robin.

Chick-fil-A is among the fastest-growing fast-food chains in the country, and last year became the third-largest chain in the country, behind McDonalds and Starbucks. Sales reached $10.46 billion in 2019, according to an industry analysis.

Headquartered in Georgia, the company expanded into Michigan in 2016, and currently has 17 locations across the state, according to the companys website.

But its growth is not without controversy: the companys associated charity, the Chick-fil-A Foundation, has supported groups that have expressed anti-gay positions, prompting protest from LGBTQ groups and allies. Some municipalities have barred the restaurant from opening franchises in their airports.

For this reason, lawmakers in Kalamazoo and Ypsilanti have expressed concerns about locations coming to their towns.

The Norton Shores restaurant will join other west Michigan locations in Holland, Grand Rapids and Wyoming.

Read more on MLive:

Johnny Carinos abruptly closes in Norton Shores, leaving another vacant restaurant building

Chick-fil-A plans Muskegon-area restaurant

Steak 'n Shake coming to Muskegon County, maybe

Food truck park slated to launch in Norton Shores this summer
Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) has opened two separate GDPR investigations into Google and Tinder. In the case of the latter, the agency says it will examine how the dating app handles people's data and whether it's been transparent about the process.

The DPC says it will also look into whether Tinder has been properly meeting data requests from users. Under GDPR, Europeans have several options when it comes to how companies handle their data. They can, for instance, ask an app or service to delete their data. The law also allows people to request copies of their personal information.

The investigation into Tinder comes after the Norwegian Consumer Council published a report that accused Tinder, alongside several other dating apps, for irresponsibly spreading sensitive user data. Notably, the DPC says it's opening its investigation into Tinder after it received complaints from people in both Ireland and other parts of the European Union.

As for Google, the DPC will investigate how the search giant handles and processes location data. Numerous European consumer rights groups started asking the agency to investigate Google shortly after the EU enacted GDPR. Both Tinder and Google have said they'll cooperate with the probes.

"People should be able to understand and control how companies like Google use location data to provide services to them," a Google spokesperson told TechCrunch. "We will cooperate fully with the office of the Data Protection Commission in its inquiry, and continue to work closely with regulators and consumer associations across Europe. In the last year, we have made a number of product changes to improve the level of user transparency and control over location data."

As CNET notes, if the regulator finds Google and Tinder haven't been fully compliant with GDPR, they could face fines of up to four percent of their total annual revenue in the previous year. As of this past January, the EU has imposed approximately $126 million in GDPR-related fines.
A new mobile app was supposed to help United States Democratic officials quickly gather information from some 1,700 caucus sites throughout Iowa. Instead, a coding issue within the app is being blamed for delays that left the results unknown the morning after the first-in-the nation presidential nominating contest and caused chaos Monday night.

Glitches with a new mobile app Monday caused confusion, and some caucus organisers were forced to call in results for the state party to record manually, introducing delays and the possibility of human error. Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price said the delays were not the result of a breach and party systems were secure.

While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data. We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system, Price said in a statement on Tuesday, adding the issue has since been fixed. The applications reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately.

The Iowa Democratic Party told presidential campaigns it will release more than half of Mondays delayed caucus results at 4pm local time (22:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

We have always said that we have a paper trail in this process, Price told campaigns on a briefing call. Weve always had to chase down results.

Price said that the results would be released as they are finalised.

US Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf told Fox News on Tuesday that there was no indication of any malicious cyberactivity. He added that Iowa Democrats declined his departments offer to test the reporting app. Thats not unusual, as outside security firms do similar testing. The state party had said previously that it had worked closely with security experts to test the app.

A mess

Des Moines County Democratic Chair Tom Courtney said he heard that in precincts across his county, including his own, the mobile app was a mess. When precinct leaders called Democratic Party headquarters, they werent answering the phones, Courtney said.

The problems were an embarrassment for a state that has long sought to protect its prized status as the first contest in presidential primaries and the nations first vetter of candidates. The delay was certain to become fodder for critics who argued that the caucuses  party meetings that can be chaotic, crowded and messy  are antiquated and exclusionary.

Democratic 2020 US presidential candidate and US Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks at a caucus night rally in Des Moines, Iowa [Rick Wilking/Reuters]

The Iowa Democratic Party pressed forward with the new reporting system amid warnings about the possibility of hacking and glitches. Party officials said they took numerous security precautions and maintained that any errors would be easily correctable because of backups and a paper trail.

But organisers running precincts in Iowa didnt get to test the app beforehand. Iowa party officials had said they would not be sending the new mobile app to precinct chairs for downloading until just before the caucuses to narrow the window for any interference.

Some precinct chairs said they had trouble downloading or logging into the app and didnt use it.

The apps were barely working Monday night, according to a person involved in processing the data who requested anonymity to discuss the partys internal system. That forced party aides to record results from the precincts via phone and enter them manually into a database. Officials were left using photos of results to validate outcomes and ensure accuracy.

Democratic US presidential candidate Senator Amy Klobuchar speaks at her rally following the Iowa Caucus in Des Moines, Iowa [Brenna Norman/Reuters]

Jonathan Green, who chaired a precinct in Lone Tree, Iowa, said that when he tried to put the results into the reporting app, he kept getting a confusing error message: Unknown protocol. The address specifies a protocol [e.g., wxyz:??.] the browser does not recognise, so the browser cannot properly connect to the site.

He said he ultimately gave up and tried to call in the results to the party. Like others, he was put on hold for an extended period of time. In the end, it took hours to report results from his small site, he said.

Risky

The slowdown was exacerbated by the fact that the party was for the first time attempting to report three different sets of data  an initial headcount of each candidates support, a count after supporters had realigned, and the state delegate winners.

We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results, the party said in a statement. This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.

President Donald Trumps campaign quickly seized on the issue to sow doubt about the validity of the results.

Quality control = rigged? Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted Monday evening, adding an emoji with furrowed brows.

Richard L Hasen, an election expert and professor of law and political science at University of California, Irvine School of Law, cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the integrity of the election.

Most of the time when there is a problem with an election it turns out to be the result of administrative incompetence rather than someone cheating or some outside interference, Hasen said.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and wife Jill Biden at a caucus night campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa [John Locher/AP Photo]

Deploying new technology this close to an election is always a risky proposition, said Lawrence Norden, an elections expert with The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. Norden said its akin to a major retailer using new cash registers for the first time on Black Friday.

To roll out a new technology without really testing it and making it available as early as possible and giving folks the opportunity to challenge it and work out all the bugs is a high-stakes decision which I think is proving to be problematic today, Norden said.

Norden said party officials were wise to slow down the reporting to ensure accurate results, given concerns of another round of election interference by Russia or other hostile governments seeking to undermine US democracy.

People arent going to remember in two weeks that these results were late, but you can bet if the results changed dramatically they would, Norden said. Those of us who work in the election space support accuracy over speed.

Ruth Thompson, who chaired a precinct at Lincoln High School in Des Moines, said she did not use the app to report results because organisers had problems trying to download and test it.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders speaking to supporters at his rally in Des Moines, Iowa, US [Carlo Allegri/Reuters]

We just came to a consensus that nobody was happy with the app, she said. She also did not try to report her sites results over the phone after hearing reports of long delays in answering the line at state headquarters, she said.

Instead, veteran caucusgoers at her site used calculators to compute the delegate allocation and then texted a photo of the results to Polk County Democratic Party officials, who drove it to state party headquarters.

Thompson said the delays in results were unfortunate because the process went remarkably smoothly in other ways.



Successful Share Placement to Fund 64North Project Drilling

Adelaide, Feb 4, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Resolution Minerals Ltd ( ASX:RML ), is pleased to announce that it has received commitments to place approximately 91 million new shares at an issue price of A$0.05 per share to raise approximately $4.5 million with strong demand, (excluding costs) by way of Placement.Funds raised will be used to advance the 64North Project which is adjacent to Northern Star's ( ASX:NST ) Pogo Gold Mine, 120km from Fairbanks, Alaska in the Tintina Gold Province.- NST's world class high grade Pogo Gold Mine has an endowment of 10M oz of gold and started production in 2006, producing approximately ~300,000 oz / year at over 13g/t Au through this time.- Recent discovery success announced by NST within 450m of our tenement boundary and open in all directions at the Goodpaster discovery demonstrates the highly prospective nature of the district and the immediate Aurora drill targets on RML's tenements.- Phase 1 drilling is expected to commence in four (4) weeks' time.- The Company is fully funded for multiple drilling programs.Resolution would like to thank investors and our Joint Lead Managers, PAC Partners and Taylor Collison for supporting the Placement.The Company will issue 90,966,737 fully paid ordinary shares (Shares) as follows:- 50,000,000 Shares to be issued on 12 February 2020 as approved by shareholders at the 2019 AGM. The shares are issued at a 19.7% discount to the 5 day VWAP; and- 24,580,042 Shares to be issued on 13 February 2020 under the Company's 15% placement capacity; and- 16,386,695 Shares to be issued on 13 February 2020 under the Company's 10% placement capacity as approved by shareholders at the 2019 AGM.- The shares are to be issued at a 11.3% discount to the 15 day VWAP.About Resolution Minerals Ltd

Resolution Minerals Ltd (ASX:RML) is a mining company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of precious and battery metals - such as gold, copper, cobalt, and vanadium.

The company is led by Managing Director Duncan Chessell and an experienced team with proven success in corporate finance, marketing, metallurgy and geoscience. This equips Resolution Minerals with the tools to meet the changing demands of the mining markets.

Resolution Minerals Ltd Listed on the ASX in 2017 with a focus on the exploration of the Wollogorang Copper Cobalt Project. It has since aquired the Snettisham Vanadium Project and more entered into a binding agreement witth Millrock Resources to earn up to 80% of the highly prospective 64North Gold Project.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 19:30:29|Editor: yhy

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DAMASCUS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A fresh rebel drone attack targeted a gas field in central Syrian on Tuesday, causing fire and damage in the facilities, according to the state news agency SANA.

The drone fire targeted the al-Rayan gas field as well as the Ebla gas factory and the Homs Refinery in the central province of Homs, said the report.

Citing the Minister of Oil Ali Ghanem, the report said the attack happened at dawn Tuesday, adding that the maintenance workers embarked on fixing the damage after the fire was extinguished.

The same facilities were targeted in December, 2019 by the rebels.

The targeting of energy sectors in Syria will negatively rebound on the livelihood of the Syrians, who are already feeling the pinch of cold with the electricity outages and the lack of cooking gas as well as the depreciation of the Syrian pound against the U.S. dollar.
Jeanette Green, of Waldorf, Maryland died peacefully at the Charles County Hospice House in Waldorf on Thursday, January 30, at the age of 92. Jeanette and her late husband Raymond Green were among the first to take up residence in the new community of St. Charles in Waldorf, MD in the 1960s, moving to Southern MD from Philadelphia, PA and she lived in her home on Sloan Avenue until two months before her death.



Jeanette lived a rich life of service and was the epitome of the volunteer, belonging to such organizations as National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE), National Extension Homemakers Council (NEHC), Friends of the Charles County Public Library, Citizens for the Charles County Public Library, Charles County Literacy Council, Lung Association of Southern Maryland, 4-H Clubs of Charles County, Port Tobacco Players, Christmas in April, and at the Hospital and Commissary at the Andrews Air Force Base.



Jeanette was passionate about issues such as literacy, children, education, the arts and health, and also worked the polls for decades on election days in Philadelphia and as a Chief Judge of Elections for the Charles County Board of Elections.



Born on October 6, 1927 in New York, New York, she was the daughter of Sylvan and Florence Katz. At 18, she married the love of her life Raymond R. Green (husband and wife 55 years), and together they had three sons Steven, Jerry, and Terry. The family traveled the country extensively in their travel trailer visiting and exploring 49 states. Jeanette had recently completed her memoir about her family's adventures. She was a friend to all with an infectious, sunny disposition and spent the final weeks of her life reading extensively (over 50 non-fiction books) and connecting with her many friends and relatives thru visitation, via phone and email.



She is survived by her sons Steven (Deanna), Jerry (Barbara), Terry (Cheri) and grandchildren Jaime, Jodi (David), Aron, Jesse, Tommy (Emma), Viktor, Nadya, Katie (Steve) , Lindsey (J.J.) and great-grandchildren George, Scott, Julia, Steven, Madilyn, Grace, Jacob, Dominic, Matthew and David. In addition to her parents, Jeanette was preceded in death by her husband Raymond Ruben Green (Chief Master Sergeant, US Air Force-Retired), her Nephew Jeffrey Adam Green and her many pets.



Visitation will be held Saturday, February 8, 2020 from 9:00 AM until the time of the memorial service at 11 AM at Raymond Funeral Home, 5635 Washington Avenue in La Plata, Maryland 20646. Interment will be held at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages memorial contributions in Raymond and Jeanette's names to the Alzheimer's Foundation/NARFE Chapter 0126.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to end the early release of convicted terrorists after an Islamist attacker stabbed two people days after he was set free halfway through his prison term.

Sudesh Amman, jailed in 2018 for possession of terrorist documents and disseminating terrorist publications, was shot dead by police on Sunday after he went on the rampage with a stolen 25cm knife on a busy London street.

Amman had previously praised Isil, shared an online al-Qa'ida magazine and encouraged his girlfriend to behead her parents.

Mr Johnson said the government would announce fundamental changes in dealing with people convicted of terrorism offences, saying he had come "to the end of my patience" with freeing offenders before they had completed their sentences and without any scrutiny.

"I think the idea of automatic early release for people who obviously continue to pose a threat to the public has come to the end of its useful life," he said in a speech.

"We do think it's time to take action to ensure that people - irrespective of the law that we're bringing in - people in the current stream do not qualify automatically for early release."

The government has repeatedly promised tougher rules on terrorism since another former convict killed two people and wounded three more before police shot him dead near London Bridge in November.

Mr Johnson said the instances of deradicalising and rehabilitating Islamists was hard and the instances of success were few.

Sunday's attacker, Amman, had recently been released from prison, according to police, having been jailed for promoting violent Islamist material.

He went on the rampage after strapping a fake bomb to his body. He stabbed two people, while a third suffered minor injuries from shattered glass when police opened fire.

Amman was under surveillance at the time by police, who shot him dead.

In November 2018 he pleaded guilty to possessing terrorist documents and disseminating terrorist publications, and the following month he was sentenced to more than three years in prison.

His mother, Haleema Faraz Khan, told Sky News that he was a "nice, polite boy" who was radicalised online and in prison.

She said she had spoken to her son hours before the attack and he had seemed normal when she saw him days before. "He became more religious inside prison, that's where I think he became radicalised," she said.

Britain has about 220 people in prison with terrorism convictions.

In 2016, Britain announced plans to isolate radical Islamists in special units in high-security jails to limit their ability to influence other inmates amid concerns that prisons were breeding grounds for extremists.

But there have been warnings that the system is failing to address the problem and last month one inmate convicted of terrorism offences attacked prison officers.

Ian Acheson, who carried out a review of the management of Islamist extremists in jail, said that the prison service did not have the appetite or aptitude to manage terrorist offenders.

"We may need to accept there are certain people who are so dangerous they must be kept in prison indefinitely," he told BBC radio.

Mark Rowley, formerly Britain's most senior counter-terrorism police officer who was in post when Amman was arrested, said dozens of other people convicted of terrorism offences were due to be released early under Britain's sentencing guidelines.

Amman was 17 and living at home with his family when he first began committing terrorism offences, according to authorities. Police said he had downloaded material about making explosives and carrying out terrorist attacks.
NJ church opening cafe staffed by individuals with special needs: 'The Kingdom of God in 3D Technicolor'

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A New Jersey megachurch is opening a cafe staffed by adults with special needs to better reflect the Kingdom of God in 3D Technicolor, pastor Tim Lucas has revealed.

This year, Liquid Church in Parsippany, New Jersey, will transform the Clean Water Cafe at its Broadcast Campus into a full-service coffeehouse operating Monday-Friday that will serve delicious breakfast, lunch, and specialty coffee creations in a warm, work-friendly environment.

The coffee shop will provide over 30 jobs for those with Asperger's, autism and Down syndrome who have aged out of the education system.

I think special needs ministry is singular in its ability to show the Kingdom of God in 3D Technicolor, Lucas told The Christian Post. When Jesus says, The last shall be first, He means that the way we love and care for the weakest members of His family will contribute to the strength of the community. Its lavishing the love of the King on His most vulnerable children.

According to statistics, about 80% of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are unemployed. Through the Clean Water Cafe, Liquid hopes to create a path for our special friends to be accepted, included, and valued in the workplace.

In addition to supporting the local community, the cafe will have a global impact: Any profits from the shop will be added to the donations that Liquid is already giving to support the Clean Water Cause in Africa and Central America.

According to Lucas, the 5,000-member church seeks to saturate our state with the Gospel of Jesus Christ without watering down the Gospel. And the rate of autism among children in New Jersey, he revealed, is the highest ever documented for a state.

Starting a special needs ministry wasnt initially part of our vision, but its something we felt God called us to do, he shared. We said, What a beautiful opportunity to serve an underserved population. We looked at, How do we create space at the table for children and adults with autism, Asperger's and Down syndrome?

In addition to employing individuals through the Clean Water Cafe, Liquid Church provides support to parents of children with special needs through support groups and parents night out events. Additionally, the church hosts an annual Night to Shine prom for those with special needs.

But the churchs largest and most unique special needs ministry, according to Lucas, is its Buddy Program. At Liquid, every child with special needs is assigned a buddy who walks with them from fifth grade to high school, ensuring they can participate in all of Liquid Kids environments. Each buddy is trained to meet the unique communication and language needs specific to the child they are assigned.

In general, the church is 30 years behind culture when it comes to special needs. They dont have the manpower and muscle even if theyre passionate about it, Lucas told CP. What happened at Liquid was, millennials stepped up and said, We understand inclusion, so most of our buddy volunteers are in their 20s and 30s.

About 400 families participate in Liquids Buddy Program, Lucas estimated, adding that many families travel from all over the state to attend worship while their children participate in the program.

There was one 10-year-old young man named Grady with Down syndrome, ADHD, and verbal apraxia, meaning the speech messages in his brain didnt transfer to his mouth, the pastor recalled. When his family came to us, they said, Weve been kicked out of our last three churches. It wasnt the churchs fault, but they didnt know what to do with Grady. All three churches treated him as a behavior problem because he was disrupting classes.

People, Lucas continued, have no idea the toll special needs take on a family. Most people dont even attend church because their children are seen as a disruption.

Grady was paired with Katy, a 20-something-year-old who met his energy, the pastor said.

And at Liquid, we were OK with him being disruptive because we view it as the joy of the Lord that was uniquely put in Grady, Lucas said.

For Gradys family, the 90-minute drive to church was more than worth it.

Gradys mother told me, This isnt just for Grady. Its saving our marriage, he recounted. We only have one hour a week where we can go worship God and have a moment of respite and be spiritually renewed before we go back to being mom and dad to our son, Grady, as well as our other children.

After attending Liquid Church for a time, Grady spoke his first sentence: I want to go to church.

It was incredible. His mother said, Weve found a home, and Grady has found healing, Lucas said. Praise God. Isnt that what the church is supposed to be? Through our special needs programs, people have caught the Fathers heart.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold more than $1.8 billion of shares in his company over the past week, according to financial filings.

The series of sales began on Jan. 31, the filings show, and continued through Feb. 3, and were executed under a pre-arranged trading plan. In total, Bezos sold 905,456 shares in the company for $1.84 billion, according to the filings.

The sale disclosure comes as Amazon's closing price vaulted the company's market capitalization over $1 trillion, a mark that it first touched in intraday trading in 2018. The company re-joins fellow tech giants Apple, Microsoft and Google parent company Alphabet, all of which have topped the trillion-dollar mark in recent days.

Bezos made similarly massive sales of Amazon stock in 2019 and 2017, and has said he sells at least $1 billion of Amazon stock a year to fund his rocket startup, Blue Origin.
by Gord Hotchkiss , Featured Contributor, February 4, 2020

Yesterday afternoon, while I was in line at the grocery store, my phone pinged. I was mentioned in a Twitter post. For me, thats becoming a pretty uncommon experience. So I checked the post. And thats how I found out that SEMPO is no more.

The tweet was from Dana Todd, who was responding to a Search Engine Journalarticle by Roger Montti about the demise of SEMPO. For those of you who dont know SEMPO: it was the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization.

It was a big part of my life during what seems like a lifetime ago. Todd was even more involved. Hence the tweet.

Increasingly I find my remaining half-life in digital consists of an infrequent series of remember-when throwbacks. This will be one of those.

Todds issue with the article was that much of the 17-year history of the organization was glossed over, as Montti chose to focus mainly on the controversies of the first year or two of its existence.

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As Todd said, You only dredged up the early stages of the organization, in its infancy as we struggled to gain respect and traction, and were beset by naysayers who looked for a reason we should fail. We didn't fail.

She then added, There is far more to the SEMPO story, and far more notable people who put in blood sweat and tears to build not just the organization, but the entire industry.

I was one of those people. But before that, I was also one of the early naysayers.

SEMPO started in 2003. I didnt join until 2004. I spent at least part of that first year joining the chorus bitching about the organization. And then I realized that I could either bitch from the outside  or I could effect change from the inside.

After joining, I quickly found myself on that same SEMPO board that that Id been complaining about. In 2005, I became co-chair of the research committee. In 2006, I became the chair of SEMPO. I served in that role for two years and eventually stepped down from SEMPO at the same time I stepped away from the search industry.

Like Todd (who was the president of SEMPO for part of the time I was the chairman), I am proud of what we did, and extraordinarily proud of the team that made it happen. Many of the people I admired most in the industry served with me on that board.

Todd will always be one of my favorite search people. But I also had the privilege of serving with Jeff Pruit, Kevin Lee, Bill Hunt, Dave Fall, Christine Churchill and the person who got the SEMPO ball rolling, along with Todd: Barbara Coll. There were many, many others.

Now, SEMPO is being absorbed by the Digital Analytics Association, which, according to its announcement, is committed to helping former SEMPO members become fully integrated into DAA, and will be forming a special interest group (SIG) for search analytics.

Ive got to admit: That hurts. Being swallowed up, becoming nothing more than a special interest group, is a rather ignoble end for the association I gave so much to.

But as anyone who has raised a child can tell you, you know youve been successful when they no longer need you. And thats how I choose to interpret this event. The search industry no longer needs SEMPO, at least as a stand-alone organization.

And if thats the case, then SEMPO knocked it out of the park. Because that sure as hell wasnt true back in 2003.

Search in 2003 was the Wild West. According to legend, there were white-hat SEOs and black-hat SEOs.

But truth be told, most of us wore hats that were some shade of grey.

The gunslingers of natural search (or organic SEO) were slowly and very reluctantly giving up their turf to the encroaching new merchants of paid search. Google Adwords had only been around for three years, but its launch introduced a whole new dynamic to the ecosystem. Google suddenly had to start a relationship with search marketers.

Before that, the only Google attempt made to reach out was thanks to a rogue mystery poster on SEO industry forums named googleguy (later suspected to be the search quality team lead Matt Cutts). To call search an industry would be stretching the term to its breaking point.

The introduction of paid search was creating a two-sided marketplace, and that was forcing search to become more civilized.

The process of civilization is always difficult. It requires the establishment of trust and respect, two commodities that were in desperately short supply in search circa 2003.

SEMPO was the one organization that did the most to bring civilization to the search marketplace. It gave Google a more efficient global conduit to thousands of search marketers. And it gave those search marketers a voice that Google would actually pay some attention to.

But it was more than just starting a conversation. SEMPO challenged search marketers to think beyond their own interests. The organization laid the foundation for a more sustainable and equitable search ecosystem. If SEMPO accomplished anything to be proud of, it was in preventing the Tragedy of the Commons from killing search before it had a chance to establish itself as the fastest growing advertising marketplace in history.

Dana Todd wrapped up her extended Twitter post by writing, "I can say confidently Google wouldn't be worth $1T without us. SEMPO  you mattered.

Dana, just like in the old SEMPO days when we double-teamed a message, you said it better than I ever could.

And Google? Youre welcome.
The Russian Orthodox Church has proposed a stop to the practice of having priests bless weapons of mass destruction, though sprinkling holy water on planes and ships is still deemed appropriate. The Church on Monday published a draft document outlining its role in blessing Orthodox Christians who "protect the Fatherland" and "carry out their military duty", inviting internet users to discuss the proposal online. Russians often ask priests to bless anything from new cars and flats to Soyuz spaceships in the belief that the gesture bestows divine protection. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, priests have also begun blessing troops, planes and ships, and all sorts of weapons, from Kalashnikov rifles to nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles. But the document proposed that "blessing any type of weapons the usage of which can inflict an indefinite number of deaths, including weapons with indiscriminate effects or weapons of mass destruction... be removed from pastoral practice." At the same time, it remains "appropriate" to "bless transport used by soldiers on land, water and in the air", to ask God to protect the men using them, it said. The Russian military has forged ever closer ties to the Church under Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who is overseeing the construction of a huge cathedral for Russia's armed forces outside Moscow. It is to be opened on May 9, the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War. Since 2010 the military has inducted priests into its ranks, including an airborne unit which can deploy with mobile inflatable chapels. Blessing ships and aircraft such as this SU-27 SM fighter jet is believed to bestow divine protection
Books on display at the workshop (Photo: VNA)



During the workshop, Mr. Louis Lang, a representative from the Communist Party of Canada, said that the workshop created an opportunity to learn about the role of the CPV in the modern society and the gathering of people to solve social matters.



According to Mr. Lang, the people-to-people relations between Vietnam and Canada have been reinforced through respective visits and bilateral cooperation in different areas, particularly the remarkable contributions of Vietnamese students in Canada.

Vietnam is among countries with high and stable economic growth in Asia while its position has continuously strengthened on the international arena. Talking with Vietnam News Agency, Philip Fernandez, a member of the Canada-Vietnam Friendship Society (CVFS) and the Communist Party of Canada, has affirmed the indispensible leadership role of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in the countrys achievements.

Vietnams increasing prestige and position in the international arena demonstrate the political strength and ideology of the CPV, as well as its ingenious ability to seek ways to deal with the current complicated international situation, which aroused peoples trust, he said. The international trust in CPV was reflected when Vietnam was elected a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2020-2021 with an almost unanimous vote."

Participants at the workshop expressed their impression and admiration seeing documents highlighting the glorious milestones of the Vietnamese nation such as the founding of the CPV, the successful August Revolution in 1945, and the Dien Bien Phu Victory in 1954.

Portraits of President Ho Chi Minh and Vietnamese sceneries by Canadian artists Jean-Maurice Gelinas and Guy Lapierre were put on display at the workshop.

Works featuring the Great Spring Victory of 1975 and the Dien Bien Phu Victory in 1954 were also showcased to help Canadian friends better understand the leadership role of the CPV in the cause of national liberation, reunification, building and defence./.
A WHO-led international team of experts heading to China to investigate the coronavirus outbreak could include US experts, it has been revealed.

The WHO chief and Chinese President Xi Jinping have reached an agreement to allow the team into the country.

However, it has not been confirmed whether this will include US experts a US health official in Geneva, Switzerland, said.

China accused the United States on Monday of whipping up panic over a fast-spreading coronavirus with travel restrictions and evacuations.

The death toll in China from the newly identified virus, which emerged in Wuhan, capital of the central province of Hubei, rose to 361 as of Sunday, the National Health Commission said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus at a meeting in Beijing last week. They have agreed that WHO experts will be allowed into the country to investigate the coronavirus outbreak

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last week on return from Beijing that the international mission would be composed of WHO officials and possibly consultants.

Tedros, asked at the time specifically about US Health Secretary Alex Azar publicly calling for US officials to be part of a WHO-led mission, said that countries should make 'bilateral arrangements'.

WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic, in response to a Reuters query on Monday, said: 'A multidisciplinary mission of international experts to China will take place, possibly this week. Both China and WHO agreed on this mission.

'The mission is an international technical mission led by WHO. As such, CDC could be part of it,' he said, referring to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The experts would have a range of specialisations, including epidemiology, laboratories, research and development, and would work with Chinese counterparts to help guide global response efforts, he said.

WHO chief pictured at the organisation's headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday

Colin McIff, a senior official at the US Department of Health, told Reuters in Geneva on Monday at WHO headquarters, where he attended the agencys Executive Board: 'Those conversations are ongoing.

'I think that there will be information soon on that...Those talks are still happening, the WHO and the Chinese, and us and many others. But yes, I hope that will be settled soon, actually.'

Chen Xu, Chinas ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, told a news briefing last Friday where he was asked about any objection to U.S. participation, said: 'We are not intentionally denying any kind of help from any particular country.'

China on Monday accused the United States of spreading fear by pulling its nationals out and restricting travel instead of offering significant aid.

Washington has 'unceasingly manufactured and spread panic', Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

The number of cases recorded worldwide has reached 20,671, with the majority in China

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDCs National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on a teleconference on Monday: 'We have folks ready to go to China as soon as that offer is finalised.

'I understand there are still negotiations in process on that. Really, were waiting. As soon as we are allowed to go we will be there.

'We do have an expert already in the field as part of CDCs continuing work with China and could be there immediately. We are still waiting for that invitation,' she said.
HOUSTON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hastings Equity Partners (Hastings), a private equity firm focused on investing in lower, middle-market industrial service and equipment companies is pleased to announce the sale of the majority of its interest in Specialty Welding and Turnarounds, LLC (SWAT) to ORIX Capital Partners, LLC. ORIX is a New York-based private equity firm making direct investments in established middle-market companies throughout North America.

Based in Gonzales, Louisiana, SWAT is a leading provider of specialty welding and turnaround services to refineries, petrochemical plants and industrial facilities. Founded in 2014, SWAT has a terrific safety culture and is the best in the industry in quality and productivity. SWAT works in 50 facilities spread out in 14 different states across the United States. The deeply experienced management team is complemented by their pool of highly-skilled craftsmen totaling more than 4,000 individuals.

"SWAT is an incredible success story that we're fortunate to have been a part of," said Ted Patton, Managing Director of Hastings. "The business has tripled in size in our three years of ownership while maintaining its core focus on safety, project management, execution and customer satisfaction. We are greatly appreciative of the management team and employees at SWAT and all they have accomplished. SWAT has a very bright future, and we are excited to partner with ORIX who will be a critical catalyst for scaling SWAT and enhancing its service offerings and end market exposure. The team at ORIX has a proven track record of supporting industrial businesses like SWAT and making them even greater organizations."

"I am proud of what we built together at SWAT during our partnership with Hastings," said Johnny Holifield, co-founder and chief executive officer of SWAT. "I am grateful for our management team and our employees, without them, the growth we achieved would not have been possible." "It is an exciting time at SWAT," said Jimmy Quick, co-founder and Vice President of SWAT, "we are constantly enhancing our capabilities and service offerings to better serve our customers. With SWAT's safety-first culture and industry best productivity, we look forward to what the future holds at SWAT. We are excited to partner with ORIX and continue working with Hastings."

Hastings purchased a majority interest in SWAT in the spring of 2017. The transaction marks the third realization in Hastings Equity Fund III.

Harris Williams acted as exclusive financial advisor to Hastings and SWAT. Locke Lord LLP provided legal counsel to Hastings.

About Hastings Equity Partners

Hastings Equity Partners is a private equity firm focused on investing in lower, middle-market industrial service and manufacturing businesses. Hastings' approach is to leverage the extensive operational experience of the firm's managers and investors, many of whom are active or former CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies. In addition, due to the firm's expanding portfolio of industrial service and manufacturing companies, it is able to share best practices, technology trends and contacts across its platform to ensure that all of its investments benefit. Hastings strives to help its portfolio companies create sustained value for their employees, customers and investment partners.

SOURCE Hastings Equity Partners

Related Links

http://www.hastingsequity.com


Amol Agrawal

As I was trying to figure out the Union Budget 2020-21, I came across this interesting initiative by the Nobel Prize Committee that awards the coveted prize in the economics category. The committee has started a podcast of Economics Nobel Laureates and the first person to feature in the podcast was none other than Professor Richard Thaler.

Thaler won the prize in 2017 for his super interesting work on behaviourial economics. The classical economics is based on this rational person who is able to make the right choice amid numerous options. Thaler questioned this rational approach and argued that people are unable to make the right choice and one should actually nudge them to a default choice which makes it easier for the consumer.

In the podcast, Thaler is asked the question whether he has come across ideas or initiatives which actually go against his nudge approach? Thaler calls such evil nudges as sludges. He points to an example from a website which allowed you to read things for free or one pound for a month and charge more for subscription post the first month. However, cancellation required one to call up the website in London two weeks before, which was a hassle.

Worse, the website would just keep billing the credit card as you shared the card details while paying the one pound for the first month. So, this was like the Hotel California song We are programmed to receive. You can check out any time you like, But you can never leave!

Thaler says people should avoid such sludges and design nudges in the interest of consumer welfare and make it easier to enter and exit choices.

The same applies to government programmes as well. In fact, in 2016, Thaler defined sludges on Twitter as: Government programme designed to make compliance as difficult as possible. And what could be a better government programme than income tax to pass this nudge/sludge test?

Table 1: Comparing old and new tax structure Existing Tax Structure New Tax Structure 0 - 5 lakhs Exempt 0-5 lakhs Exempt 5  10 20% 5-7.5 10% 7.5- 10 15% 10 lakhs and above 30% 10 -12.5 20% 12.5 - 15 25% Above 15 lakhs 30%

In the Union Budget 2020-21, FM Nirmala Sitharaman announced a new income tax structure to simplify the regime. Under the new tax structure, three more slabs were added (table 1) but it will not have the deductions and exemptions available to taxpayers. The FM said there are currently more than 100 exemptions and deductions and she has removed 70 of them in the new simplified regime. The new tax structure shall be optional for taxpayers and one can continue to remain in the old structure and avail of exemptions and deductions.

Does this new tax structure pass the nudge smell test and simplify taxes for people?

The answer is a mixed one. First, the new tax structure without deductions and exemptions does pass the test as it is simpler compared to the old system which had so many of them.

Second, it adds slabs and makes the system more confusing and does not really pass the smell test. The FM could have stuck to the three slabs and introduced the new taxation rates without exemption/deduction. This would have made it easier for people to compare. The GST (goods and services tax) case does tell us that more slabs and tax rates leads to problems for tax filers.

Third, which system leads to more benefits for people? The FM announced that in the new tax regime, substantial tax benefit will accrue to a taxpayer depending upon exemptions and deductions claimed by him. For example, a person earning Rs 15 lakh in a year and not availing any deductions etc. will pay only Rs 1,95,000 as compared to Rs 2,73,000 in the old regime. Thus his tax burden shall be reduced by Rs 78,000 in the new regime.

However, there have been calculations by tax experts that one could actually lose Rs 7,800 in the new regime as the FM has included only exemptions under Section 80 C in her calculation whereas there are other exemptions as well. The FM also said the new regime will lead to revenue forgo of Rs 40,000 crore per year for the government. Does this the figure include all the exemptions and deductions?

Four, the FM claims that it is almost impossible for a taxpayer to comply with the income-tax law without taking help from professionals. The purpose of the new structure is also to help taxpayers get rid of the professional help. With the multiple changes, it is unlikely that one can do away with the professional help. One way to do so is to list the new structure as a default option for taxpayers but the speech does not mention the same.

Five, going back to Thalers advice and the Hotel California song, the tax system should allow individuals to move back to the old system in case one finds more benefits in the older structure. It should not be the case that one enters the new system and cannot exit.

Overall, the governments objective to simplify the I-T system is a welcome one. It does pass the nudge smell test on some counts, but misses on some others, which needs rethinking and reworking. The government had decided to set up a Nudge Unit within Niti Aayog last year and if the unit is indeed functional, it is a great idea to run the new income tax structure through them.

In future, all the tax changes should be made to pass the Nudge smell test. This will help in the overall design of the taxation system and help it make a win-win proposal for all.
DALLAS - A former Dallas police officer was totally unjustified when he shot a dozen times into a car, killing a 21-year-old woman, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Christopher Hess, 42, appeared in court for the start of his trial on a charge of aggravated assault by a public servant in the 2017 death of Genevive Dawes. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

In opening arguments, prosecutors portrayed Hess actions as unreasonable, while his defence lawyers told the jury that Dawes was armed, aggressive and unwilling to be arrested on the night she died, WFAA-TV reports.

Hess will testify in his own defence, attorney Messina Madson said.

Hess was one of two officers who responded to a suspicious persons call in January 2017 and found Dawes and another person asleep in a car that had been reported stolen, police have said. Dawes allegedly ignored commands to exit the car, reversed into a police cruiser, rammed a fence and was backing up again when police opened fire.

A grand jury handed up the charge against Hess months after the confrontation, which at the time made him the first Dallas officer in more than four decades to be indicted for an a deadly police shooting. Since then, several other North Texas officers have been charged for their actions in fatal shootings.

Hess was fired in July 2017 after an internal investigation found he violated the departments felony traffic stop policy, use of force policy and placed a person in greater danger than necessary.
After a year and a half of careful wedding planning, Sally Niebuhr was ready to watch her oldest daughter, Kiki LaCroix, walk down the aisle at a winery in Sonoma, Calif., last October. But Mother Nature had other plans.

When the Kincade fire struck the area just a few days before the wedding was scheduled to take place, causing widespread evacuations, their dreams of a wine-country wedding were crushed.

The good news? Ms. Niebuhr had bought a wedding insurance policy for $350 from Travelers Insurance that provided $7,500 of cancellation coverage. She was refunded the $6,500 deposit she paid for the venue. The money was then used to book another place in San Francisco on Oct. 26, her original wedding date and just three days after the wildfires hit Sonoma.

Luck was definitely on our side that weekend, said Ms. Niebuhr, 58, a general contractor from Basalt, Colo. All of our vendors  our D.J., our photographer, our florist, our caterer  were able to pivot, and provided their services in San Francisco. And the Westin St. Francis Hotel, where we held the reception, had a ballroom that was available and plenty of open rooms for our out-of-town guests.
Technology is designed to make our lives simpler, more convenient. Its the best feeling when technology completely eliminates human intervention and all cumbersome and time-consuming activities become a thing of the past.

However, sometimes, people find loopholes and hacks that breaks technology, often leading to hilarious results. Weve seen a few instances in the past few years that do just that. This is how man has fooled multi-million-dollar tech in the simplest ways possible.

Fooling Facial Recognition With Lasers

Last year, the city of Hong Kong erupted in numerous protests standing against the Chinese government. The government was, however, making lives of the protestors hell by tracking their faces and keeping tabs on them. To circumvent this invasion of privacy, protestors flashed laser pointers right in the facial recognition camera, completely disorienting the system and saving their identity from the government.

Fooling Google Maps

Artist Simon Weckert worked up a strange experiment to test Google Mapss accuracy. He took a wagon and put 99 phones in it with Google Maps navigation turned on.

Simon Weckert

This cart, he moved along the streets of Berlin, even outside Googles office. Google sensed these many phones in close proximity to each other, all moving at a slow pace -- simulating a traffic jam. Within moments, Google Maps termed it as a heavy congestion and showed the street in a bright red line -- signifying the slow-moving traffic situation -- even when the streets were clearly empty, and diverting routes.



10 Year Old Fools Apple Face ID

When Apple ditched Touch ID for Face ID, it did so with a lot of strong claims of it being the most secure way of unlocking your phone, something that many people believed in the early days of the phones launch.

Reuters

However, weeks later, a 10-year old uploaded a video on YouTube that showed how he fooled Apples FaceID, as his facial features were very identical to his mothers -- the actual owner of the device. This issue persisted even after rescanning the image, revealing that the face unlock wasnt foolproof.



Human Fooling Spectators Pretending To Be A Robot

At a tech expo in Russia, a brand showcased its most advanced robot, that looked like something straight out of the year 2050. People at the expo were surely excited to see this technological marvel, but many media photographers spotted a strange thing -- the gap between the helmet and the body revealed a beige-coloured neck hidden.

SOROROTY.RUSSIA

Later, after seeking some clarifications, it was revealed that it was indeed a human inside a robot costume to entertain visitors at the expo.



Kids Fooling Apples Timeout Features

Apples iOS 12 brought some cool timeout features that would give parents control over their kids iPad and iPhone, preventing overuse. However, Apples software had a ton of loopholes that the kids could easily circumvent and end up using the device despite the timeout lockdown.

Reuters/CultofMac

Usually, when Screen Time ceases access to a certain app after the screen-time is over, the app icon gets greyed out -- either till the blackout period is over or until the parent resets the clock by logging in. However, there are various YouTube videos and Reddit posts that offer tips and tricks to get rid of parental control on the device in minutes with basic tricks like changing time to get some more screen time, or loop-holes in the OS to get to the App Store to download certain apps.

Fooling Samsung Galaxys Iris Face Unlock Feature

Before FaceID, Samsung introduced the Iris Unlock feature on its Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus phones that used IR scanners to identify retinas and authenticate access to the device. A man, however, found a way to fool the IR camera by printing an image of the persons eye on a laser printer, and placed a contact lens over the pupil to make it seem like a real human eye, and voila, it unlocked the device -- a method that can be replicated by anyone.
President Donald Trump won the Iowa Republican caucuses with nearly all of the votes on Feb. 3.

Results showed Trump winning about 97 percent of the vote, or 31,398 votes, and all 38 delegates. Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh each earned about one percent of the vote.

About 150 votes went to other people.

The Iowa Republican Party said the caucus turnout record set in 2012 was broken on Monday night.

Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chairwoman, congratulated Trump in a statement and said the president would carry the state in the general election in November.

Iowa went for Democrats in 2000, 2008, and 2012 and Republicans in 2004 and 2016. Trump won the state by nearly 10 points last election.

Trump lost the Iowa caucuses in 2016 to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) but rebounded with wins in other early voting states. He carried all of the Midwest, including a shock win in Wisconsin, in the general election, except for Minnesota, which he narrowly lost, and Illinois.

Trumps supporters, including his sons and a host of Congress members, traveled to the state Monday to speak to voters ahead of the caucuses.

Even though Im from the state of New York, we have more in common with Iowa in upstate New York than New York City, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) told voters in Rockwell City. Lets give a huge round of applause for the energy going into 2020.

Trump issued a short statement after the win, writing on Twitter: Big WIN for us in Iowa tonight. Thank you!

On Tuesday morning, Trump addressed criticism of the Iowa caucuses, particularly the Democratic caucuses, which still hadnt released results due to technological errors and inconsistent reporting.

It is not the fault of Iowa, it is the Do Nothing Democrats fault. As long as I am President, Iowa will stay where it is. Important tradition! Trump wrote, referring to Iowas status as the first caucus or primary in the nation.

The next Republican election is the primary in New Hampshire on Feb. 11. No other state will vote for the Republican nominee until March 3, also known as Super Tuesday, when voters in 13 states will head to the polls.

Those states are: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Vermont.

A number of state Republican parties have cancelled primaries, declaring support for the president and saying funds should be used for his reelection effort, not for a primary.

Trump has strong support inside the Republican party. Polls regularly show him with 90 percent or more support among party voters.

The president was impeached on Dec. 18, 2019, but the Senate trial is slated to wrap up on Wednesday. Trump is widely expected to be acquitted. A conviction would require a supermajority vote among senators; the Senate is held by Republicans with a 53-47 majority. An acquittal requires a simple majority.

Trump is scheduled to give his State of the Union speech on Tuesday in Washington.
The Iowa caucuses, the first contest in the race for the U.S. presidential nomination, took a chaotic turn Monday. The Iowa Democratic Party said it was unable to announce results due to what it called "inconsistencies" in the reporting process.

Among other issues, officials reported encountering a coding issue in a mobile app developed to help precincts report returns.

But overseas - where for the first time Iowa Democrats ran three satellite caucuses, held in Glasgow, Scotland; Paris; and Tbilisi, Georgia - the proceedings seemed to go off without a hitch. Caucus overseers reported the results the old-fashioned way: by phone.

"I'm grateful that we didn't use the app," said Colyn Burbank, a Des Moines, Iowa, native who hosted a caucus of 19 people in his Glasgow home Monday night. Burbank said caucus volunteers overseas were told early on not to use the app because of "security concerns." He FaceTimed the results in.

Some volunteers in Iowa encountered long hold times trying to call in their results, but the overseas outposts call in at an earlier hour did not encounter that issue. "It was easy," Burbank said.

After Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., drew the largest amount of caucusers, Burbank and his new Iowan acquaintances headed to the pub.

In Tbilisi, representatives of the Hawkeye State gathered to caucus in the caucuses. Joshua Kucera, a freelance journalist based in Georgia's capital, wrote in The Nation of his decision to apply to host a caucus overseas.

"I have one other Iowan friend here in Tbilisi, and when our site was approved, we set about trying to find other Iowans to take part. We posted in the expat Facebook groups and contacted the US Embassy and Peace Corps here to see if they had any Iowans. In the end, we found . . . one," he wrote.

On caucus day, instead of using the app, Kucera told The Washington Post that he "phoned in the results the old-fashioned way, no problems."

He posted on Twitter that the process had been "conducted successfully." (With a picture of an Iowan meal, pizza and ranch dressing, to prove it.)

University of Iowa student Emily Hagedorn organized a caucus in Paris, where she is studying abroad, according to France24. As a young voter, she didn't want to miss her first chance to participate.

While the results were dispatched without a problem, CNN reported that the caucus wasn't all smooth sailing, because of some confusion over when it started: 8 p.m. local time, GMT. But eventually it proceeded, with the largest amount of attendees caucusing for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Despite the relative lack of glitches, Iowans abroad expressed dismay over both the delayed results and the process of caucusing.

"It almost feels like medieval-level," said Brooke Labagh, a massage therapist living in Dundee, Scotland, who hails from Fairfield, Iowa, and attended Burbank's caucus in Glasgow. "It seems really funny we are doing this when we could all be voting with our phones," added Labagh, who caucused for Andrew Yang.

Glasgow-based Burbank, who is in school for a master's in social work, said he was disappointed that the technological glitch had become the story of the night.

"It takes away the attention from the volunteers who did really good work," he said. "You try to make technology to make life easier and it ends up making life more difficult."
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Almost 80 per cent of Nigerians have said that corruption has worsened in the country in the last year.

This is according to an online poll conducted by PREMIUM TIMES with respect to Nigerias latest ranking on the corruption index by Transparency International  a global anti-corruption watchdog.

Transparency International placed Nigeria 146th on the ranking of its 2019 Corruption Perception Index (CPI)  out of 180 countries that were surveyed worldwide.

This is despite the proclaimed war on corruption by the federal government as well as claims of winning the war on corruption.

The Poll

A total of 4,922 voters participated in the poll which was conducted on the PREMIUM TIMES website and on its official Twitter account.

The poll lasted for about seven days and was conducted in a way that made it impossible for a respondent to vote more than once from the same computer or mobile device.

The participants were asked a single question: Do you agree with Transparency International that corruption has worsened in Nigeria in the last year? with options of yes and no.

A total of 3,760 respondents (76.4 per cent) aligned themselves with Transparency Internationals ranking while 1,162 participants (23.6 per cent) disagreed with the report.

How Nigeria was accessed

Over the years, Transparency International has used the CPI to rate the supposed corruption in different sectors of different countries.

Nigerias current position of 146 on the corruption perception index has moved the country two places down to rank the worlds 34th most corrupt nation compared to the 2018 results.

According to the report, Nigeria scored 26 out of 100 points, falling by one point compared to 2018.

The ranking is done on a scale of zero to 100  with zero ranked highly corrupt and 100 as least corrupt or very clean.

The Sub-Saharan Africa region was rated as the lowest-performing region while Western Europe was the highest-scoring region.

Of the 19 countries in the West African region, Nigeria was ranked the fourth most corrupt country.

Although the report does not show real incidences of corruption, it is a reliable indication of the perception of the Nigerian public and the international community about the state of corruption in the country, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), a branch of Transparency International, said.

It is, however, necessary to note that the report is solely based on how a country is perceived corrupt and not cases of corruption like fraud, bribery or other crimes reported by the police or other anti-graft agencies.

READ ALSO:

The Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani, had said the index is about the perception of Nigerians on the Immigration (Service), the Custom, the National Assembly, the judiciary, ease of doing business, getting employment, gaining admission.

It examined the lack of compliance for the rule of law, public procurement and disregard for extant law in the country, especially the FOI, he explained.

PREMIUM TIMES has reported the methodology used in the latest corruption index.

Furthermore, CISLAC has given reasons as to why Nigeria failed to improve on the CPI. Some of which are: selective rule of law, backlash against the media and civil society, corruption in key sectors, among others.

Guilty or not guilty?

Although the Buhari-led administration has since 2015, promised war on corruption and even claimed to be winning the said war, the latest index says otherwise.

There have been some deliberate efforts by the federal government to tackle corruption, although it has, however, flopped in other important areas.

Going by the concerns raised by CISLAC for example, this government has a high record of attack on journalists and civic groups.

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Since 2015 till date, journalists and human rights advocates have been harassed, arrested and insulted over posts, reports or protests.

One of the most popular was the arrest and illegal detention of journalist and advocate, Omoyele Sowore, over a planned protest to call for a revolution in August 2019.

Mr Sowore was detained for over 100 days despite a court order granting him bail.

Only recently, Nigerian soldiers arrested a Daily Trust reporter, Olatunji Omirin, in Maiduguri, Borno State, over a report about the Boko Haram war.

He was arrested because the military was not happy with some of his reports, and that the officer demanded to know his sources.

Not forgetting the recent arrest of campus journalist, Ayoola Babalola, for publishing articles critical of President Muhammadu Buhari and some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress and the detention of PREMIUM TIMES journalist, Alfred Olufemi, over a report that exposed an Islamic cleric who raped a 16-year-old girl in Osun State.

These are a few of the many cases of attacks against journalists.

There have also been reports of corruption in key sectors including the legislature which ranges from budget padding to siphoning funds from the Zonal Intervention Projects.

Defence

The federal government was very swift to react to the CPI, describing it as baseless and untenable.

The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), condemned the report, saying Transparency International ignored the achievements of the Buhari-administration in its resolve to tackle corruption, one of its three cardinal campaign promises.

Mr Malami said, the facts on the ground do not correlate with the information dished out by the group.

In terms of the fight against corruption, we have been doing more, we have done more, and we will continue to do more out of inherent conviction and desire on our part to fight against corruption devoid of any extraneous considerations relating to the rating by Transparency International, he argued.

The EFCC described the report as baseless and appalling.

Another anti-graft agency, ICPC, also faulted the report while the Presidency said it was not based on facts, but on perception and hearsay.

What must be done

Akinloye Oyeniyi, a director in the Inter-Party Advisory Council of Nigeria (IPAC), said TI was only echoing the obvious.

He faulted the nation whose federal Attorney General hired lawyers to sign papers on repatriation of Abacha loot and got paid in billions of naira.

Look at the amount voted to be used in renovating the National Assembly, despite Nigerians uproar against the humongous N37 billion, the nation whose government Secretary once used hundreds of millions to cut grass in its war-ravaged North East, is yet going ahead to carry out the renovation for such a ridiculous amount.

So, there is nothing ordinary in what the index said, it is simply indexing the reality on the ground in Nigeria under the current government that came to power with anti-corruption as (its) campaign policy.

Mr Oyeniyi believes the problem started when the body language of the current government against corruption became all about the opposition or Nigerians not in the government or the ruling party.

A government that came to power with so much noise about anti-corruption but ended up covering up its own officials who are neck-deep in corruption scandals like never before. A government in whose presidential campaign, the national chairman of the ruling party openly announced that all sins, including ongoing corruption cases of defectors from any other parties, are forgiven once they join the ruling party, he said.

For years, Nigerians have been crying about federal appointments made by the president being nepotistic and unconstitutionally favourable to a section of the country, yet new key appointments are going to the same section; that too is an empirical sample of corruption.

There is nobody else to be blamed for what has happened except Mr President, President Muhammadu Buhari, because the bulk stops in his desk and he should do something about it.

When asked what should be done to improve Nigerias position on the ranking, he said nothing extraordinary other than giving reality to the fight against corruption, one of the two campaign areas which the government came to power in 2015.

People inside and outside Nigeria are seeing what has happened to corruption cases of the likes of Danjuma Gojes, Timi Silvas, Babachir Lawals, Hope Uzodinmas, Godswill Akpabios and many others who are key members of this government; and those and many more are data that will eventually decide our position on the table, he said.

He urged the president to take his anti-corruption fight serious and reign in on his governments handlers to always see data like this as an opportunity to adjust and do well rather than seeing them as attacks thereby making them to always defend the obvious.
NASAs Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) has funded innovative projects for astronaut's health

NASAs Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) has funded innovative projects seeking to better protect astronauts' health during deep space missions of three years or more. Two of the six projects focus on just-in-time medications, which allow drugs to be manufactured on-demand and on-board the spacecraft  a necessity given that most commercially available medicines have shelf lives of two years or less.

GlobalDatas pharmaceutical technology writer Allie Nawrat looks at two on-demand medication projects.

Nawrat says: Two of these on-demand medications projects recently received two-year funding from TRISH. The first is from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and creates just-in-time medications from gastric resident microbial systems, the second from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) involves genetically modifying and growing lettuces to produce associated drugs.

MITs project is led by David H Koch Institute professor Robert Langer and involves a gastric resident device called the mother machine. The drug delivery device is ingested by astronauts in the same manner as an oral drug, it then resides in their stomach for a specific period and gradually releases the drug it manufactures into their body.

Langers proof of concept will involve using bacterium, such as E. Coli, to produce three medications  caffeine, melatonin and acetaminophen  within the device. These are all over-the-counter medications and are used to treat conditions such as headaches and other minor pains, as well as sleep disorders. It is hoped that this devices capacity would be expanded to a broader range of conditions in the future.

The synthetic biology project led by UC Davis Karen McDonald is based around genetically modifying lettuce so the plants can produce certain medications. Astronauts would grow the lettuce on the spacecraft, like is currently done on the International Space Station. The general concept is that if you need a medicine, the next time you grow a lettuce, you will grow it from seeds containing one of three genes  granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF), granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GMCSF) and parathyroid hormone (PTH)  and the lettuce will produce the medications you need.

GCSF and GMCSF would be particularly useful in space as they increase the number of blood cells in the patients; on earth GCSF-based drugs are used to increase the number of certain blood cells before chemotherapy or a stem cell transplant, while GMCSF-based drugs are used after chemotherapy or transplants to support white blood cell recovery.

Therefore, drugs created from these genes could be useful in preventing the slowing of the cardiovascular system and changes in the immune system that occur from long-term weightlessness.
By Trend

Turkmenistans Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov participated in the meeting in C5+1 format attended by foreign ministries of Central Asia in Tashkent, Trend reports referring to Turkmenistans Foreign Ministry.

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo also participated in the meeting.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the delegation of Turkmenistan met with the US State Secretary, the ministry said. The parties discussed pressing issues of bilateral cooperation, as well as regional topics of mutual interest.

The sides also exchanged views on issues of cooperation in the field of border management, trade, energy and transport.

Special attention was given to the issues related to Afghanistan. In this context, the Turkmen delegation told about the progress in the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline, the power transmission line and fiber-optic links on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) natural gas pipeline, and the railways from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan.

Following the negotiations, the participants adopted a joint statement of the ministerial meeting in C5+1 format.

---

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Chinese Ambassador Allays Africa Coronavirus Fears

By Anita Powell February 03, 2020

One of China's top Africa diplomats -- the ambassador to South Africa -- says there is no need for Africans to panic over the coronavirus.

No confirmed cases of the pneumonia-like virus have yet surfaced on the continent. Ambassador Lin Songtian says China is monitoring all visitors to South Africa, and that in China, officials are treating the thousands of African nationals who may be at risk.

The best thing Africans can do about the spread of coronavirus, says the ambassador, is to remain calm and stay put.

The respiratory virus has now affected more than 14,500 people across 23 countries, according to the World Health Organization. Most cases -- and most of the more than 300 deaths -- occurred in China, where the virus originated last year.

As fears spread globally, the ambassador sought to soothe frayed nerves in South Africa's capital.

"We have no choice but to work together to win the battle against this virus and bring them under our control," Lin said Monday. "And that is our suggestion, we hope. American friends, European union, all the developed countries -- you can feel ensured and relaxed. China is safe. We have shown, the capacity and the resources are strong enough to bring this disease, the coronavirus, under control as soon as possible."

More than 3,000 South African nationals reside in China, and he advised them -- and others -- to remain in place. Several countries, including Australia, Britain, Japan and the United States, have repatriated their citizens, which Chinese officials say may only spread the infection.

Health officials say the virus can be spread from close contact with infected people.

"All the foreigners, including the American people who are in China, they are the friend of China, they are the guest of China, they are our people, our friend," he said. "So I would like to advise them: Trust China. Give the hand to us. Give us confidence and strength and solidarity. Stay well, in the community, in the village, at home, at the university, you are safe. In case something happens, the system is working."

Lin also noted that all newly arrived visitors from China are being monitored and screened by Chinese authorities, though he did not say how many people that involved. He noted that the embassy is advising all travelers from China to remain home for their first week, and to monitor their health and keep in contact with the embassy.

Additionally, South Africa's government has implemented temperature testing and health screening at the continent's busiest airport. The nation's health minister has assured the population that the government has contingency plans in place, including designated treatment facilities and a 24-hour hotline.

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(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump is set to be acquitted of two impeachment charges in final votes set for Wednesday at 4 p.m. Senators heard lawyers closing arguments Monday and now have two days for discussion on the chambers floor.

Here are the latest developments:

Trump Conduct Shameful, Murkowski Says (7:08 p.m.)

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said she will vote to acquit Trump even though his behavior was shameful and wrong.

The president has the responsibility to uphold the integrity and the honor of this office, Murkowski of Alaska said on the Senate floor. Degrading the office by actions or even name-calling weakens it for future presidents and it weakens our country.

Still, she said, I cannot vote to convict, in part because the House built its case on a rotted foundation.

The House rushed through what should have been one of the most serious consequential undertakings of the legislative branch simply to meet an artificial self-imposed deadline, she said. The House could have pursued censure and not jumped immediately to impeachment, Murkowski said.

Murkowski said she said enough when it became clear last week that a third GOP vote in favor of calling witnesses would simply be used to burn down the judiciary by creating a 50-50 tie and a live question of whether Chief Justice John Roberts would break the tie. Roberts later announced that he wouldnt have cast a tie-breaking vote.

She told reporters later that she was worried about Democrat Elizabeth Warrens question during the trial about whether the proceedings would reflect poorly on Roberts or the Supreme Court.

For gosh sakes, we want to make sure that theres at least one branch of government that hasnt been drug into the political mud, Murkowski said to reporters. And thats where we were going.

On the Senate floor, she said, The Constitution provides for impeachment, but does not demand it in all instances.

Removal from office is the political death penalty, Murkowski said. The voters will pronounce a verdict in nine months and we must trust their judgment.

Story continues

Manchin Undecided, Proposes Censure of Trump (4:47 p.m.)

Moderate Democrat Joe Manchin said hes undecided on how hell vote. But he also said that because he sees no path to a two-thirds Senate majority to convict Trump, hes proposing that both parties unite behind a censure of the president.

I am truly struggling with this decision and will come to a conclusion reluctantly, Manchin of West Virginia said on the Senate floor after closing arguments were completed.

Trumps July 25 call with Ukraines president was not a perfect call, Manchin said. It was simply wrong. He condemned the false argument that the president can do no wrong.

But he also said that removing Trump would further divide our deeply divided nation.

History will judge the Senate harshly for failing to hold a fair trial and refusing to call for witnesses and new documents, Manchin said.

He said a censure would allow the Senate to unite across party lines.

A censure of the president would be purely symbolic, but its highly unlikely because Democrats, as the minority party, cant force a vote.

Schiff Says the House Has Proven Our Case (3:07 p.m.)

Lead House manager Adam Schiff completed final arguments in the trial by calling Trump a man without character or ethical compass and calling on the Senate to remove him from office.

We have proven our case, Schiff said, adding that the Constitutions framers gave you a remedy and they meant for you to use it.

We have proven Donald Trump guilty, now do impartial justice and convict him, Schiff said.

The alternative is a runaway presidency and a nation whose elections are open to the highest bidder, the California Democrat said.

History will not be kind to Donald Trump, Schiff said. If you find that the House has proved its case and still vote to acquit, your name will be tied to him with a cord of steel and for all of history.

What has changed over the years is that members of Congress are no longer willing to take on a president of their own party, he said. The lawmaker appealed for at least one Republican to show courage to find Trump guilty.

He has not changed. He will not change, Schiff said. The plot goes on, the scheming persists, and the danger will never recede.

GOP Advises Trump to Avoid Trial in Speech (2:28 p.m.)

Trump is getting some advice from Republican senators ahead of his State of the Union address: dont mention impeachment.

If I was him, I would avoid that subject, said Senator Roy Blunt, a member of Senate GOP leadership and a close adviser to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. I think theres plenty to talk about, and its an opportunity to move on.

I just think theres no way you talk about that and that not be the takeaway, said Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican. He has a lot of positive things to talk about.

But Republican senators also acknowledged that its impossible to predict what the president will say and difficult to constrain his impulse to take on his opponents.

The other option is to address it head-on, and he often is a head-on kind of guy, Blunt said.

Hes going to do whatever he wants to do, said Senator Kevin Cramer, a freshman Republican from North Dakota. I wouldnt do it because Im more of a traditional political strategist and I couldnt deliver it. He, on the other hand, is very successful being himself.

Trump Team Urges Senate to Acquit President (1:03 p.m.)

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone began the Trump teams closing argument by urging senators to acquit the president and leave it to the voters to choose their president in Novembers election.

The only conclusion, based on the evidence and based on the articles of impeachment themselves and the Constitution, is that you must vote to acquit the president, Cipollone said.

The American people are tired of the endless investigations and false investigations that have been coming out of the House, Cipollone said. Trump has achieved success with the economy and wants to continue doing so, he said.

Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said, The answer is elections, not impeachment.

The first article, alleging Trump abused his power, is invalid because presidents cant be impeached over policy differences, Sekulow said. The second article, accusing the president of obstructing the House investigation, is also invalid, he said, adding, President Trump in no way obstructed Congress.

Deputy White House Counsel Michael Purpura said, The president did not condition security assistance or a meeting on anything during the July 25 call.

Schiff Says Trump a Danger to U.S. Democracy (12:15 p.m.)

Lead House manager Adam Schiff argued that a president free of accountability is a danger to the beating heart of our democracy.

Donald Trump has betrayed his oath to protect and defend the Constitution, but it is not too late for us to honor ours, to wield our power to defend our democracy, Schiff said.

Today we urge you, in the face of overwhelming evidence of the presidents guilt, and knowing that if left in office he will continue to seek foreign interference in the next election, to vote to convict on both articles of impeachment, and to remove from office, Donald J. Trump, the 45th president of the United States, Schiff said.

Impeachment manager Hakeem Jeffries asked senators to think about how U.S. allies in Europe and adversaries around the world would view the Senates decision to acquit Trump. He said one of the main actors in the impeachment allegations, Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, returned to the scene of the crime in Ukraine to continue digging up dirt about Joe Biden.

What message do we send when we say Americas national security is for sale? Jeffries said.

House Managers Urge Senate to Remove Trump (11:30 a.m.)

House managers argued that Trump sought to use his official power to cheat in the 2020 election, urging senators to remove him from office for withholding U.S. aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rival.

Your duty demands that you convict President Trump, Colorado Democrat Jason Crow told the Senate Monday.

While impeachment is intended only for rare instances of grave misconduct, if left unchecked, Trump threatens the fairness of the next election and risks putting foreign interference between Americans and their ballots, Crow said.

The president would have us believe that he did not withhold aid to force these sham investigations of Democrat Joe Biden, Crow said. How many falsehoods can we take? When will it be one too many?

Florida Democrat Val Demings said Trump was the central player in the corrupt scheme, assisted principally by his private attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

He remains unapologetic, unrestrained and intent on continuing his sham to defraud our elections, Demings said.

Both Sides to Present Closing Arguments (11:04 a.m.)

The impeachment trial convened to hear closing arguments, with the House managers and Trumps defense each getting two hours.

After that, the Senate floor will be open for members to explain which way they plan to vote. The final decision is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday, when the Senates Republican majority will have the votes to acquit Trump.

Senate to Hear Final Arguments on Charges (6 a.m.)

The Senate will hear four hours of closing arguments starting at 11 a.m. Monday on the charges against Trump.

Plans for the presidents final acquittal on Wednesday were sealed after Fridays 51-49 vote blocking the Senate from calling witnesses sought by Democrats, including former National Security Advisor John Bolton.

The House managers and Trumps defense team will each have two hours to make their arguments, and senators -- including the Democrats running in Monday nights Iowa caucuses -- are required to be in the chamber.

Afterward, members will have until the scheduled vote time at 4 p.m. Wednesday to explain their votes on the Senate floor, though the other senators wont have to be there to listen to them.

The timing means Trumps acquittal will come after his State of the Union address to a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday night. Hell be able to claim victory, but it wont have happened yet.

Catch Up on Impeachment Coverage

Key Documents

Here is the House Democrats web page containing documents related to the impeachment trial. House Democrats impeachment brief is here. Trumps initial reply is here, and his lawyers trial brief is here.The House impeachment resolution is H.Res. 755. The Intelligence Committee Democrats impeachment report is here.Gordon Sondlands transcript is here and here; Kurt Volkers transcript is here and here. Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitchs transcript is here and here; the transcript of Michael McKinley, former senior adviser to the secretary of State, is here. The transcript of David Holmes, a Foreign Service officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, is here.The transcript of William Taylor, the top U.S. envoy to Ukraine, is here and here. State Department official George Kents testimony is here and here. Testimony by Alexander Vindman can be found here, and the Fiona Hill transcript is here. Laura Coopers transcript is here; Christopher Andersons is here and Catherine Crofts is here. Jennifer Williams transcript is here and Timothy Morrisons is here. The Philip Reeker transcript is here. Mark Sandys is here.

--With assistance from Laura Litvan and Erik Wasson.

To contact the reporters on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net;Steven T. Dennis in Washington at sdennis17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asseo, Anna Edgerton

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Iran said it has sentenced one of its nationals to death for spying on its nuclear program for the CIA.

A judiciary spokesman confirmed today that an Iranian man has been handed the sentence for passing on information about Iran's nuclear capabilities to the US.

Iran said its top court confirmed the death sentence for an Iranian man convicted of spying for the CIA.

State media alleged he had shared details of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program with the American spy agency.

Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili identified the purported spy as Amir Rahimpour and said he would be executed soon.

Esmaili did not elaborate on what Rahimpour was accused of doing, nor on his age or background. State media did not immediately name Rahimpour's lawyer.

However, a report by the state-run IRNA news agency alleged that Rahimpour received money from the CIA to share details of Iran's nuclear program.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (center) and the head of Iran nuclear technology organisation Ali Akbar Salehi inspecting nuclear technology in April last year

Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili confirmed today that an Iranian man had been sentenced to death by the Republic's top court for allegedly spying for the CIA

Gholamhossein Esmaili said, according to Fars news agency: 'Amir Rahimpour who was a CIA spy and got big pay and tried to present part of Iran's nuclear information to the American service had been tried and sentenced to death and recently the supreme court upheld his sentence and you will see it carried out soon.'

Rahimpour 'had been identified and prosecuted and sentenced to death and recently, the country's National Supreme Court confirmed the sentence and, God willing, he will be punish soon'.

'While being in touch with the spy agency, he earned a lot of money as wages as he tried to deliver some information from Iran's nuclear program to the American agency,' the IRNA report said.

The CIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The announcement comes as two charity workers were jailed on charges of spying for the Central Intelligence Agency.

In a separate statement today, Iran's judiciary spokesman claimed both had been spying while using an NGO as a cover.

Esmaili said two other alleged spies for the CIA each received 15-year prison sentences - 10 years for spying and five years for acting against national security charges.

An Iranian security official in protective clothing walking through part of the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the Iranian city of Isfahan (file image)

Rouhani speaking during a cabinet meeting in Tehran earlier this month. Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili identified the purported spy as Amir Rahimpour and said today he would be executed soon

He added: 'Two...CIA spies who were working under the cover of an organization and charitable foundation have been identified, tried and sentenced to ten years in prison for spying and five years in prison for acting against national security.'

The names of the individuals would not be released yet because the sentence has not been finalized, Esmaili told a press conference streamed live on the judiciary's website.

Iran in the past has sentenced alleged American and Israeli spies to death. The last such spy executed was Shahram Amiri, who defected to the US at the height of Western efforts to thwart Iran's nuclear program.

When he returned in 2010, he was welcomed with flowers by government leaders and even went on the Iranian talk-show circuit. Then he mysteriously disappeared.

He was hanged in August 2016, the same week that Tehran executed a group of militants and a year after Iran agreed to a landmark accord to limit uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Tensions remain high between Iran and the US since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran's nuclear deal.

A US drone strike in January killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, a targeted killing that prompted Tehran to launch a retaliatory ballistic missile strike on Iraqi bases housing American troops.

Before the deal, a computer virus believed to be designed by the U.S. and Israel destroyed Iranian centrifuges.

Meanwhile, Iranian nuclear scientists were targeted in a series of assassinations.
PM faced pressure to quit over case in which he and wife are suspected of involvement in 2017 murder of previous wife.
Laura Whitmore led the ladies as they exited the Love Island Aftersun studios following another live show on Monday evening.

The presenter, 34, was followed by the show's panelists Maya Jama, 25, and Olivia Attwood, 28, having wrapped another episode of the sister show.

Laura beat them all in the style stakes as she strutted along wrapped up in a trendy trench coat by French Connection.

Style stake: Laura Whitmore led the ladies as they exited the Love Island Aftersun studios following another live show on Monday evening

The beige coat featured a white paneling embellishment with black vertical stripes.

She wore chunky shiny black boots and teased a hint of her pins, still looking tanned from her recent brief jaunt to South Africa, where she surprised the Love Island girls with a shock visit, bringing six new hunks in tow.

Despite their glam appearances on Aftersun, Maya and Olivia changed for their journeys home.

They both bundled themselves into grey sweats, a far cry from their sleek ensembles on air.

Guest appearance: The presenter was followed by the show's panelists - including Olivia Attwood

Followed by: Maya Jama was also a guest on the sister show

Out on top: Laura beat them all in the style stakes as she strutted along wrapped up in a trendy trench coat

Dolled up: Laura wore floral dress earlier in the night to host the show

As they were: Earlier in the night Maya and Olivia donned their glad rags, both slipping into sleek black ensembles

Olivia added cream sweatpants and a matching bomber jacket to the look, clutching a pillow as she walked out of the studios.

Also featuring on Aftersun was Matt Edmondson, who left in the same outfit he wore on the show, spotted climbing into an awaiting car.

Four former-Islanders appeared on the show with Laura and her panel on Monday night - including Leanne Amaning, who was recently dumped from the series.

She was left fuming as she was booted out of the South African villa by her former love interest Mike Boateng, after revealing she doesn't have feelings for him.

Also featuring: Matt Edmondson left in the same outfit he wore on the show

Home time: He was spotted climbing into an awaiting car

Snap snap: The panelists larked around before they went live

Comfy: Olivia added cream sweatpants and a matching bomber jacket to the look, clutching a pillow as she walked out of the studios

Quite change: Despite her glam appearances on Aftersun, Maya changed for her journey home

That's a wrap: Maya bundled herself into grey sweats, a far cry from her sleek ensemble on air

During her Aftersun appearance, she admitted watching 'desperate' Mike pursue a relationship with her friend Jess Gale is 'awkward' and confessed that while she 'can't cope' with seeing the pair blossom, she believes their romance 'makes sense' as they both expressed an interest in each other during the early stages of the show.

Leanne, 22, left the former police officer, 24, disappointed after dumping him following a two-week relationship.

Getting over his heartbreak very quickly, the hunk set his sights on Jess, 20, and Sophie Piper, 21, before teaming up with the latter in a friendship group, which caused Leanne her position on the ITV2 dating series.

Reflecting on her stint, the Waltham Forest native admitted she's not fussed about her former partner embarking on a relationship with her pals.

She told host Laura: 'I think he's very desperate, but I wouldn't be mad if one of my friends got with him.

Also there: Sophie Piper appeared on the show, fresh from being dumped

Reunion: She enjoyed a slightly awkward reunion with Connor OG, having chosen not to follow him out of the villa after he was dumped a week ago

'I can't cope!' Leanne Amaning admitted watching 'desperate' Mike Boateng pursue a relationship with Jess Gale is 'awkward' as she appeared on Monday's Love Island Aftersun

Awkward! The customer advisor, 22, was left fuming as she was booted off the villa by her former love interest, after revealing she doesn't have feelings for him (pictured with Jess)

She's honest: The stunning contestant confessed that while she 'can't cope' with seeing the pair blossom, she believes their romance 'makes sense'

End of the road: Leanne left the former police officer, 24, disappointed after dumping him following a two-week relationship

'[Watching Mike and Jess] is so awkward, I can't cope. We both agreed we'd move on.

'I wasn't surprised really, but I was only surprised by what he was saying to her as he was saying the same things. It made me question whether things were genuine. They had a connection so it made sense for them to pick up where they left off.'

On her initial attraction for the muscle-bound contestant, Leanne said: 'I feel like Mike was very open, kind, patient and understanding.'

The brunette faced backlash for fans for ending her relationship with Mike bluntly, but she insists she has no regrets from her time on the show.

'I'm not mad': Reflecting on her stint, the Waltham Forest native admitted she's not fussed about her former partner embarking on a relationship with her pals

He has a soft side: On her initial attraction for the muscle-bound contestant, Leanne said: 'I feel like Mike was very open, kind, patient and understanding'

She explained: 'It didn't look great but I don't think it was as bad as it looked. When I was talking about the ick, I was talking in general. It made it seem like I was so disgusted by him. I really did try and I did like him but I felt like it wasn't enough.'

On who she's rooting for, the TV star revealed: 'I'd like Paige [Turley] and Finley [Tapp] to win, I think they're really genuine. They better not mess it up!

While the girls have been treated to the arrival of six new boys as their partners tackle Casa Amor, Leanne revealed she's keen on getting to know someone from last year's edition.

She teased: 'Valentine's Day is coming up, so Ovie [Soko], if you're watching, slide into them DMs!'

Conflicted? 'I wasn't surprised really, but I was only surprised by what he was saying to her as he was saying the same things to me', she explained

'Valentine's Day is coming!' Leanne revealed she's keen on getting to know someone from last year's edition - fan favourite Ovie Soko (pictured in July 2019)

Legs for days: The British-Ghanaian beauty highlighted her petite figure in a black off-shoulder dress

Having fun: The new TV star partied with panellist Maya (L), before reuniting with her gal pal Sophie Piper

Late last month, host Laura discovered the viewership for spin-off show Aftersun had jumped by 1.4million on 2019 in its opening week.

On Instagram, a happy Laura uploaded a snap of a WhatsApp conversation which featured the figures from her debut on the spin-off panel show.

It read: 'Nearly 2m for Aftersun - grew from 600K. Mad numbers', alongside the caption: 'Thanks for tuning in. Gobsmacked!'

What a vision: The brunette wore her tresses in a straight fashion while opting for a full face of dewy make-up

Patterns galore: Love Island's stand-in host Laura put on a leggy display in a floral print mini-dress as she fronted the show

On cloud nine: Late last month, host Laura discovered the viewership for spin-off show Aftersun had jumped by 1.4million on 2019 in its opening week

Despite the increase for Aftersun, the main show got off to a slow start, with 800,000 fewer viewers than the summer version's launch show.

Only 2.5 million viewers tuned in to watch the latest batch of singles entering the South African villa, compared to 3.3 million last June.

Of those who did watch the launch show, 1.2 million were aged between 16 and 34 years old - a whopping 43 per cent of viewers.
YEREVAN.  Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: As early as last month, alarming news came from Kazakhstan for individuals and organizations [in Armenia] engaged in car importing whose [Kazakhstans] citizens were the major buyers of cars imported from the US to Armenia in 2019.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, about 95,000 cars were imported into the country only last year, most of them from Armenia, and now the country claims that thousands of transactions made and to be made are expected to be carried out under other conditions, which, in short, means the Kazakhs will no longer buy the huge number of cars accumulated in Armenia, and it is also possible to return the ones already purchased to Armenia.

One of our interlocutors engaged in car imports mentioned that some have started to bring their cars back to Armenia and are trying to demand money from the RA citizens who sold them, and the auto market is in a shameful situation now; once it's time to pay the property tax, people have to sell brought cars for very cheap price to pay off loans and debts.

Our sources claim that RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has his share of the blame for all this, who, in short, is not perceived by the EEU leaders as a credible (...) person.

The problem, of course, is profound, and (...) real politics also requires closed, often not-so-"proud" conversations with other leaders, which Pashinyan can't do, and [therefore] thousands of Armenians are actually suffering because of his behavior.
The government on Tuesday made it clear that no document will be collected during the updation of the National Population Register (NPR) and providing Aadhaar number during the exercise is only voluntary.

The government is in discussion with the states having concerns with regard to the preparation of the NPR. The demographic and other particulars of each family and individual are to be updated/collected during the exercise of updation of NPR.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai also said an instruction manual for updation of NPR 2020 for enumerators and supervisors has been prepared and the people will have to provide information for the NPR to the best of their knowledge and belief.

"No document is to be collected during the updation of NPR," he said replying a written question.

The minister also made it clear that during the NPR updation exercise, no verification will be done to find individuals whose citizenship is doubtful.

The NPR exercise will be carried out across the country along with the house listing phase of the Census 2021 from April 1 to September 30, 2020.

"The NPR updation will be undertaken through house to house enumeration for collection of specified particulars relating to each family and individual. The respondent has to provide the information true to the best of his knowledge and belief. Aadhar Number is collected voluntarily," he said.

Rai said population register is a register containing details of persons usually residing in a village or rural area or town or ward or demarcated area within a ward in a town or urban area.

"The NPR was first prepared in 2010 and updated in 2015. In pursuance of Sub-rule (4) of Rule 3 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, framed under the Citizenship Act,1955, central government decided to prepare and update the population register during April to September, 2020 throughout the country except Assam for collection of information relating to all persons usually residing in village or town," he said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has appealed to her counterparts in the northeast and non-BJP states to carefully study the NPR form, its questions and criteria before taking a decision on updating it.

Dubbing the exercise as "a dangerous game", Banerjee said the form, which seeks birth details and residential proof of parents, was nothing but a precursor to the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The Kerala government has announced that it will implement the census exercise but will not cooperate with the NPR.

"As the NPR is a process that leads to the NRC, there is a sense of fear among the people. If the NPR and NRC are implemented in Kerala, it will lead to widespread anarchy. That is the experience of the state where the NRC was implemented,'' said a statement released by the Kerala Chief Minister's Office.

At a meeting of about 20 opposition parties led by Congress president Sonia Gandhi about a month ago, it was decided that the parties will urge all chief ministers who have decided not to implement the NRC in their states to also consider suspending the NPR enumeration "as this will be a prelude to the NRC".

The NPR is a register of usual residents of the country. It is being prepared at the local village/sub-town, subdistrict, district, state and national levels under provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.

For the purposes of the NPR, a usual resident is defined as a person who has resided in a local area for past six months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months.

Replying to another question, the minister said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 came into force on January 10, 2020. Persons covered by this act can submit applications for grant of citizenship after appropriate rules are notified by the central government.

"No specific instruction has been issued by the central government regarding release of migrants from detention centres after enacting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019," he said.

However, in January, 2016, the central government had advised the Assam government to examine the cases of all people covered by various court cases filed in Gauhati High Court and to release them from detention centres if they satisfy the conditions and requirements of the two notifications issued by it on September 7, 2015 exempting such people by or under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 or from the application of the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 or any rule or order made thereunder.

In pursuance of a Supreme Court order, the Assam government has issued a notification on July 29, 2019 providing for conditional release of declared foreigners who have completed more than three years in detention centers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Associated Press

BEIJING: Hong Kong hospitals cut services Tuesday as medical workers were striking for a second day to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely to ward off the noval coronavirus that caused its first death in the semi-autonomous territory.

All but two of Hong Kong's land and sea crossings with the mainland were closed at midnight after more than 2,000 hospital workers went on strike Monday. As many as 9,000 medical workers could join a bigger walkout Tuesday to demand closure of the border across which tens of thousands of people continue to travel daily.

Hong Kong's Hospital Authority said it was cutting back services because a large number of staff members are absent from duty and emergency services in public hospitals have been affected.

ALSO READ | China's coronavirus cases top 20,000 as Hong Kong closes most borders

Hong Kong was hit hard by SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in 2002-03, an illness from the same family of viruses as the current outbreak. Trust in Chinese authorities has plummeted following months of anti-government protests in the Asian financial hub.

The mainland's latest figures of 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed infections of the new coronavirus were up from 361 deaths and 17,205 cases the previous day. Outside mainland China, at least 180 cases have been confirmed, including two fatalities, in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

The patient who died in Hong Kong was a 39-year-old man who had travelled to Wuhan, the mainland city that has been the epicentre of the outbreak, before being hospitalized. The Hospital Authority said Tuesday he had existing health conditions but did not give details.

Most cases of the illness have been mild, but most who died have been older people with other ailments such as diabetes or heart disease.

China has struggled to maintain supplies of masks to filter out the virus, along with protective suits and other key articles, as it seeks to enforce temperature checks at homes, offices, shops and restaurants, require masks be worn in public and keep more than 50 million people from leaving home in Wuhan and neighbouring cities.

To help meet demand, the European Union office in Beijing said member states have shipped 12 tons of protective equipment to China, with more on the way.

ALSO READ | Japan quarantines 3,500 on cruise ship after passenger tested positive for coronavirus

Late Monday, China's President Xi Jinping presided over a special meeting of the top Communist Party body for the second time since the crisis started, saying we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic. Xi threatened punishments for those who neglect their duties will be punished, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Other countries are continuing evacuations and restricting the entry of Chinese or people who have recently travelled in the country. A plane carrying Malaysians from Wuhan arrived in Kuala Lumpur and the 133 people on board were to be screened and quarantined for 14 days, the maximum incubation period for the virus.

Taiwan on Monday flew home 247 of its citizens from Wuhan and had sent three passengers for treatment after they were found to have fever or sore throats. The other passengers are being quarantined at medical facilities for the next two weeks.

Germany's Lufthansa became the latest international airline to suspend flights to China, and several countries are barring Chinese travelers or people who passed through China recently.

In Wuhan, patients were being transferred to a new 1,000-bed hospital that officials hope will improve isolation to stem the virus'spread. It was built in just 10 days, its prefabricated wards equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and ventilation systems. A 1,500-bed hospital also specially built for patients infected with the new virus is due to open within days.

With no end to the outbreak in sight, authorities in Hubei and elsewhere extended the Lunar New Year holiday break, due to end this week, well into February to try to keep people at home and reduce the spread of the virus. All Hubei schools are postponing the start of the new semester until further notice, as a many in Beijing, Shanghai and elsewhere.

Chinese scientists said they have more evidence the virus originated in bats. In a study published in the journal Nature, Shi Zhen-Li and colleagues at the Wuhan Institute of Virology reported that genome sequences from seven patients were 96% identical to a bat coronavirus.

ALSO READ | Pangsau Pass market in Arunachal temporarily shut down over Coronavirus scare

On Tuesday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a 42-year-old South Korean woman tested positive for the virus, days after she returned from a trip to Thailand with chills and other symptoms.

It is South Korea's 16th case. Thailand has confirmed 19 cases, mostly Chinese tourists but also in a Thai taxi driver.

A passenger on a Japanese-operated cruise ship tested positive after leaving the vessel while it was in Hong Kong, and Japanese officials were conducting medical checks on the more than 3,000 people on board Tuesday.
A performing arts center at Michigan State University has removed a gift shop display featuring dolls depicting prominent black figures that were hanging from a tree-like rack after facing a backlash.

School officials said they will provide racial bias training for workers and volunteers.

University spokeswoman Emily Gerkin Guerrant apologized in a statement, adding that 'people were hurt and offended' regardless of the intent of the display at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts.

Michigan State University has removed this gift shop display featuring dolls depicting Barack and Michelle Obama, Harriet Tubman and other prominent black figures hanging from a tree-like rack

The training will focus 'on the impact and understanding of intentional and unintentional racial bias,' the statement said.

The felt ornaments hung from the tree-shaped rack depicted figures such as former President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Prince.

The dolls were noticed by a group of friends, including Krystal Rose Davis-Dunn, a black graduate student, who told the Lansing State Journal that there were other trees holding dolls of historic black figures, as well as a few white leaders.

Krystal Rose Davis-Dunn, a graduate student, at MSU, took photographs of the display and confronted staff at the gift shop about it

Davis-Dunn, 31, said she asked employees if they saw anything wrong with the displays, but they did not. She added for her, it recalled images of 'African-American people hanging from twine.'

'That is problematic,' she said, adding that she came to the center for a jazz concert after a day of meetings with university leaders to discuss boosting equality and diversity on campus. 'You're lynching black people from trees.'

Davis-Dunn's companion who was with her that night, Paule Jackson, recounted the incident on Facebook, writing that she 'felt nothing but disgust, rage, and sadness' after noticing the display.

Jackson went on to write that as 'a black woman in a predominantly white institution,' she initially thought it's be best if she stayed silent for fear of retaliation, but eventually she decided to publicly call attention to what she described as 'racism and ignorance.'

She added: 'This is NOT ok, this shows how ignorant people are. And how there is a lack of knowledge and a desire to be educated. Even though this is a institution of higher learning, this feels deliberate and it feels personal.

Some of the felt ornaments hanging from twine depicted Bob Marley and Prince

The display at the gift shop also featured white leaders, including famous suffragettes

'I post this for those people who feel like they cant speak up, i post this to stand in solidarity with my sister. I post this to show how far we still have to go.'

Guerrant told The Associated Press in an email Tuesday that the display of historic dolls and ornaments was part of February's Black History Month celebration.

The Wharton Center is hosting several events, including 'We Shall Overcome: A Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.' on February 14.

Guerrant said the incident is being investigated by the university's Office of Institutional Equity.

The Wharton Center addressed the incident in a Facebook post last week that described the display as 'unacceptable.'

'Wharton Center was built on the belief that what makes us different, brought together, makes us more,' the status update read in part. 'We have failed to live up to this standard.'

The display of historic dolls and ornaments was part of February's Black History Month celebration at the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts (pictured)

Davis-Dunn, who studies social work at MSU, wrote at length about the entire episode on social media, challenging the notion that bias training was an adequate way to address the problem.

'Non-people of color may not be provoked or triggered by these displays, but for me and the group of people of color I was with... it was a visceral experience,' she stated.

'Trauma lives in the body, and the subtle and subliminal message evokes feelings of harm and a sense of being unsafe. And one-day racial bias or implicit bias training is not enough to undo (1619) 400 years of racialized trauma.'
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Collectively organizing agricultural nature management leads to increased levels of trust between those involved, as well as to a more confidence in the policy. This conclusion was formulated by researchers from Wageningen University & Research following a two-year study of one of these collectives, Agricultural Nature Drenthe (known by its Dutch acronym AND). Their conclusion reflects findings gathered through discussions with farmers, AND-employees, civil servants and other stakeholders.

Agricultural nature management contributes significantly to biodiversity in the European rural areas, is an important instrument in rural policy and is the second pillar in the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Farmers receive compensation for their efforts in implementing agricultural nature management policy through subsidies, partly funded by Europe. Management measures generally applied in the Netherlands are: Postponing mowing to protect pasture birds, planting herb-rich borders to attract more insects and food for the birds that inhabit the fields, as well as conservation of landscape elements such as wooded banks and pools.

Forty agricultural collectives for collaboration

Ecologists, civil servants and farmers criticized the way the EU was implementing nature management. Their criticism was primarily directed at the fragmentation of agricultural areas, a lack of constructive cooperation at a regional level, slow and cumbersome administrative processes and an increasing lack of trust between all involved as a result. In response to this criticism, the EU issued a decree in 2014 enabling farmers to organize themselves in groups to implement nature policy themselves. In the Netherlands, this led to the formation of forty agricultural collectives.

Collective format results in increased faith in agricultural nature management

This new collective set-up has generated an increase in confidence in agricultural nature management. Project manager Jasper de Vries explains: "The fact that nature management is now discussed with the provincial authorities rather than with the Ministry of Agriculture (LNV) proved instrumental. This makes it much easier to respond to local circumstances and allows people to feel heard." Additionally, the new system means an increase in interaction between farmers and other organizations. Eloquently put by one of the interviewees: "I feel that we, as farmers, are now collectively caring for the environment." Rene Vree Egberts, the director of Agricultural Nature Drenthe, is delighted with the results. "The research shows that we are able to support farmers and nature by collaborating. This fact is also reflected in the increased number of participants in agricultural nature management since implementing these collectives."

Reactions from others also inspire confidence in nature management. The researchers encountered farmers whose enthusiasm was sparked by the reactions from outsiders, for example seeing passers-by hopping off their bikes to take pictures of the blooming borders of their fields, or receiving requests from schools wanting to visit.

Negative experiences from the past (with the former system) occasionally pop up. Especially in instances where things aren't progressing as they should, people are quick to refer to mistakes from the past. This shows that, in spite of the positive outcome, trust cannot be taken for granted and requires constant upkeep.

Explore further Oireachtas committee: Farmers should champion the planting of forests to tackle climate change

More information: Trusting the People and the System. The Interrelation Between Interpersonal and Institutional Trust in Collective Action for Agri-Environmental Management, Sustainability, ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v  24p7022-d295690.html Trusting the People and the System. The Interrelation Between Interpersonal and Institutional Trust in Collective Action for Agri-Environmental Management,
* China virus outbreak leads to factory shutdowns, demand fears

* Copper smelters face output cuts amid weak sulphuric acid sales

* Daye Nonferrous may have to run at 70-80% of capacity - source

* Jiangxi Copper to cut 1/3 of output using copper concs - source By Tom Daly BEIJING, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Factory closures due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, including in epicentre Hubei, are sapping demand for sulphuric acid, a byproduct of copper production, and will likely see smelters cut output, industry sources said on Tuesday. Prices for sulphuric acid, mostly used in fertilisers, have more than halved since December's outbreak, which has now claimed more than 400 lives in China and sparked concerns over the impact on copper demand in the world's biggest consumer of the metal. Hubei, which accounts for 20% of China's sulphuric acid consumption, according to an official at Hubei-based smelter Daye Nonferrous Metals Group, has told businesses not to return to work until at least Feb. 14, while other Chinese regions have extended the Lunar New Year holiday through this week. "As a result, there is huge pressure on the sulphuric acid sales of copper smelters" and their copper production will be affected, the Daye Nonferrous source said, adding that there would be a knock-on effect on China's copper concentrate imports and treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs). Copper smelters produce around one tonne of sulphuric acid for every tonne of copper concentrate consumed

Transport restrictions around Hubei are having a small impact on Daye's own inbound concentrate shipments, the source said, adding that Daye itself has not yet cut output. But if weak acid sales persist for another month or two, the 600,000 tonnes per year smelter may have to run at only 70-80% of capacity, said the source, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. "High acid stock could impact cathode production," said He Tianyu, a copper analyst with CRU, adding that logistics were a "big problem" for China's copper industry at the moment. A source at Jiangxi Copper Co , with annual smelting capacity of more than 1 million tonnes, said the company may also be affected. "We had nearly full capacity running during Chinese New Year but might need to cut ... due to the high inventory of sulphuric acid," the source said, declining to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

One-third of Jiangxi Copper's refined copper output that uses copper concentrate, or partially processed copper ore, as a raw material, may be cut, while production using blister, a partially purified form of copper, will stay the same, he added. Daye Nonferrous and Jiangxi Copper did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sulphuric acid price in China (Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
WESTPORT  The towns favorite brain-teasing tradition took place Saturday afternoon when the Westport Library welcomed back Will Shortz to host its annual Crossword Puzzle Contest.

For the 21st year in a row Shortz, The New York Times crossword puzzle editor, came to town for the popular competition, supplying a sneak peek selection of next weeks puzzles to use in four 20-minute rounds of what could be called any cruciverbalists dream.

Were living in the golden age of crosswords, Shortz said between rounds, when he mingled with many familiar faces that return to the competition from throughout the region year after year.

It seems like everyone solves crosswords now, he said, noting a surge in popularity nearly comparable to the crossword Renaissance of the 1920s.

Along with sharing his passion for puzzles, Shortz also led a trivia game for the 140 participants who took part.

Contest mainstay Glen Ryan, of Norwich, took the first-place prize, perfectly completing a puzzle on stage in only four minutes and 50 seconds.

Ryan, who enjoyed his third victory in this competition, went head to head against fellow finalists and friends Jesse Lansner, of Rochester, N.Y., and Ken Stern, of Brooklyn, N.Y.

For a fourth year, Kent Brody of Wilmette, Ill., took an unofficial prize for having traveled the farthest to be there.

I like doing puzzles, he said. I like the people (and) I like the sounds of the pencils in a completely quiet room.

Brody confessed, however, that the greater part of his joy was getting to see his three grandchildren in Westport.

I will take any excuse to come back and visit them, he said.
Dowling recovering at home after long hospital stay

State Rep. Matthew Dowling has returned home after suffering a one-vehicle crash in October. Dowling represents parts of Somerset County.
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Technavio has been monitoring the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market, and it is poised to grow by USD 41.29 bn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 3% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200204005601/en/

Technavio announced its latest market research report titled global liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire)

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The growth of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market vendors

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The CEO of Mastercard has revealed why the company pulled out of Facebooks Libra cryptocurrency project, saying he doesnt understand how it works.

Ajay Banga said Facebook was unable to sufficiently address concerns about financial inclusion, compliance with local laws and a business model capable of generating money.

Mastercard was one of the original members of the Libra Association  a 28-member nonprofit organisation set up last year to oversee the roll-out of the cryptocurrency  but quit within months amid significant scrutiny from global regulators.

Other firms to quit the project include eBay, PayPal, Stripe, Visa and Vodafone, though Facebook remains committed to developing the cryptocurrency, which it claims would allow users around the world to make and receive payments through apps like Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.

When Facebook announced Libra last year, the technology giant said it would serve the 1.7 billion people in the world who do not have access to traditional financial services  the so-called unbanked.

Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Show all 15 1 /15 Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook is born On 4 Feb, 2004, 19-year-old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched a website called 'TheFacebook' from his dorm. Within 24 hours the college social network had more than 1,000 users Wikimedia Commons Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Winklevoss twins sue Zuckerberg Within one week of launching, fellow Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. It would be four years later when the resulting lawsuit was finally settled Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Open for business The social network finally opened it platform to everyone on 26 September, 2006. The move proved the catalyst in supercharging the site's already explosive growth PA Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Billion-dollar bid Yahoo offered $1 billion to buy Facebook in September 2006 but Zuckerberg turned it down. 'I dont know what I could do with the money,' Zuckerberg reportedly said. 'Id just start another social networking site' Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network In the money In September 2009, almost five years since the site launched, Facebook turned a profit for the first time Getty Images/iStockphoto Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking the lead Facebook overtook MySpace in 2010 to become the worlds most popular social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking on the tech giants In 2011, Google launched its own social network that it hoped would knock Facebook from its perch. Despite its initial success, Google+ ultimately failed and will be shut down completely in 2019 Getty Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook goes public On 18 May, 2012, Facebook went public. The initial public offering raised $16 billion  the third largest in US history Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Gobbling up the competition Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for $1 billion, consolidating its position as the world's leading social network Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network One billion users On 4 October, 2012, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had hit 1 billion users. 'If youre reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honour of serving you,' he wrote in a blog post Getty Images Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Expanding its empire In February 2014 Facebook acquired the messaging app WhatsApp for $19.3 billion REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Two billion users In June 2017, Facebook passed the 2 billion user milestone REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Privacy scandal On 17 March 2018, news broke that UK firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested data from around 87 million Facebook users for the purpose of political profiling in the build up to the 2016 US presidential elections Shutterstock Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Record profits Despite the scandals and subsequent #DeleteFacebook campaign, Facebook posted record profits just before its 15th anniversary, the equivalent of $7.37 from each of its 2.32 billions users iStock/Independent Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Unhappy users A study found that people are happier when they dont use Facebook, adding to mounting evidence surrounding the impact social media has on mental health Rex Features

Such promises of financial inclusion now appear to be in doubt, according to Mr Banga, due to the way the currency's digital wallet works.

It went from this altruistic idea into their own wallet. Im like: This doesnt sound right, he told the Financial Times.

For financial inclusion, the government has got to pay you in this [currency], youve got to receive it as an instrument you can understand, and you have to be able to use it to buy rice and cycles. If you get paid in Libra... which go into Calibras [digital wallets], which go back into pounds to buy rice, I dont understand how that works.

Visa also cited concerns about financial inclusion when it pulled out, with the company saying it would instead focus its efforts on the the mobile payments platform M-Pesa.

(Calibra/AP (Calibra/AP)

The questions are part of the much broader scrutiny that has surrounded Libra since it was first unveiled in 2019.

Some politicians in the US and Europe have called for its development to be halted, with French finance minister Bruno Le Maire saying in September that he would block the development of Libra on European soil as it poses a threat to "monetary sovereignty".

More recently, Swiss finance minister Ueli Maurer said it would not be accepted by central banks and had therefore "failed" in its current form.

Libra's failure to commit to "not do anything that is not fully compliant with local law" was one of the reasons Mr Banga cited for Mastercard's withdrawal.

Libra did not immediately respond to a request for comment but has previously said the digital currency's development would continue regardless of partners pulling out.

Dante Disparte, head of policy at the Libra Association, said in a recent statement: "Although the makeup of the Association members may change over time, the design of Libra's governance and technology ensures the Libra payment system will remain resilient."
Opponents of a proposed sewage sludge treatment plant at the Grand Central Sanitary Landfill may be pleased to hear that developers have abandoned plans to build the facility at that location.

Synagro Technologies Inc. and Waste Management representatives have announced that they will no longer pursue building the proposed Slate Belt Heat Recovery Center. The plan was to build a plant that would convert sewage sludge into Class A biosolids that can be used as fertilizer or fuel. The drying process would have used heat generated by the Green Knight Economic Development Corp. energy plant at the landfill, which is owned by Waste Management.

Synagro Vice President of Business Development Pam Racey and Waste Management Greater Mid-Atlantic Area Director of Disposal Operations Scott Perin wrote a letter to Plainfield Township officially announcing that the developers are seeking to build a plant elsewhere.

After a significant investment of resources and time by Waste Management, Synagro, Green Knights and the Plainfield Township Planning Commission and other community members, we regret that we must move the project to a different location in the Mid-Atlantic Region, the letter states.

Lehighvalleylive.com reported in December that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has suspended the review of several permit applications for the project, at Synagro and Waste Managements request.

The township had been reviewing plans for a potential plant since 2015. Multiple planning meetings were often attended by 75 to 200 people. A vast majority of people who spoke at those meetings said they opposed building the plant.

In September, the planning commission unanimously voted to recommend that the township Board of Supervisors deny the land development application. A couple of weeks later, the Board of Supervisors appeared poised to deny the application when the developers abruptly asked that the application be withdrawn, and no vote was taken.

Objections from residents included concerns about odors, trucks bringing sewage sludge into the area and an overall concern about the environmental safety of biosolids being used on farms. The planning commission repeatedly expressed concerns about the environmental safety of a quarry on the landfill property that is used as a drainage basin.

Synagro operates similar Class A facilities with documented, outstanding safety and environmental compliance records for 25 municipalities in the United States and Canada and regrets that Plainfield Township will not be the site of its 26th plant, the letter states. Please extend our appreciation to the Township Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission members, zoning officer, solicitor, engineers, consultants and local residents who participated in the process, the letter continues.

John Best is a freelance contributor to lehighvalleylive.com. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
The new coronavirus outbreak that started in China has been another heavy blow for the travel industry here as customers shun overseas trips altogether. The industry had already been reeling since last summer from a boycott of Japan as well as unrest in Hong Kong.

Hana Tour, Korea's No. 1 travel agency, has been hit by cancellations since before the Lunar New Year holiday, with sales in January plummeting 62.2 percent compared to a year ago.

Second-ranked Mode Tour saw sales of package tours to China fall 32.7 percent last month.

"There have absolutely no sales of tickets to China since late last month," a Hana Tour staffer said. "People seem to be avoiding not only trips to China but overseas travel altogether."

Social media are filled with posts from people who canceled overseas travel plans. "There is no place in the world where youll find no Chinese tourists," wrote one. Another said, "Southeast Asia, Europe and even North America are not safe."

Overall Hana Tour sold 187,000 package tours last month to destinations around the world, down 49.7 percent on-year. Sales of package tours to Japan dropped 85.8 percent and to Southeast Asia 19.1 percent, to the South Pacific 20.8 percent, to Europe 22.2 percent and to North America 24.2 percent.

Mode Tour's sales of overseas package tours also fell 23.4 percent. "The entire industry has entered a stage of stagnation," a Mode staffer said.


ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Trustees of the Code of Support Foundation announces the election of their new Chair, The Honorable Robert Speer, who will succeed MG Alan B. Salisbury, who co-founded the organization in 2011. Secretary Speer has been Vice Chair of the organization for the past two years, a period of rapid growth. Code of Support Foundation serves veterans, families, and caregivers through one-on-one support and through its PATRIOTlink program, a cloud-based resource navigation tool.

"Code of Support is incredibly fortunate to have Secretary Speer stepping in to lead our important work. His combination of executive leadership and commitment to our cause uniquely qualifies him to help sustain and expand our impact on veterans, families, and caregivers," said Kristina Kaufmann, the organization's Chief Executive Officer.

Secretary Speer, who served under MG Salisbury earlier in his career before joining Code of Support as Vice Chair, stated, "I have learned a lot from Alan over the years, and it was an honor to work with him in my role as Vice Chair for these past two years. I look forward to building on Alan's original vision of ensuring every veteran gets the help that they need. It is a great privilege and I look forward to our continued work on behalf of veterans."

MG Salisbury and CEO Kristina Kaufmann co-founded Code of Support in 2011 after seeing firsthand how veterans were struggling to find the right resources to thrive and survive. "Code of Support would not exist without Alan's leadership and commitment," Ms. Kaufmann said, "and we owe a debt of gratitude to Alan for all of our work in serving the veteran community. So many veterans in this country are in crisis, and Alan's vision and hard work has made it possible for them to get the help that they need and deserve."

MG Salisbury served as Commanding General of the U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command before his retirement from active duty. He then spent 12 years in industry in R&D and executive leadership assignments with Contel Corporation, Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC), and Learning Tree International. He calls his work at Code of Support "the most important and meaningful work that I have done in my entire career." As Chairman Emeritus, he will remain a member of the board and continue to support the programs of the foundation.

Prior to assuming the Board Chair role, Secretary Speer was Acting Secretary of the Army. He also served as the Assistant Secretary for Financial Management and Comptroller and the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller.) Prior to these assignments, Mr. Speer served as a Managing Director for PricewaterhouseCooper's Public Services, where he led their Defense and Army business. He served 28 years in the U. S. Army in command and staff positions in the Army and the Joint Force, to include Battalion Command in the 82d Airborne Division and Brigade Level Command of a Defense Agency operation.

About Code of Support Foundation: Code of Support Foundation (COSF) is a national 501c3 nonprofit that provides essential and critical one-on-one assistance to struggling service members, veterans and their families. COSF is dedicated to ensuring that all members of our military, veterans and their families receive the support services that they need and deserve. Code of Support Foundation was co-founded in 2011 by MG Alan B. Salisbury (Ret.) and Chief Executive Officer Kristina Kaufmann and is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. For more information, please visit www.codeofsupport.org .

Contact:

Matt Lockwood

Code of Support Foundation

[email protected]

(571) 527-3240

SOURCE Code of Support Foundation

Related Links

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A scorned man who pushed a teenager off a fourth floor balcony after she rejected his advances has been found guilty grievous bodily harm.

Yusef Ali, 19, of Corry Drive, Lambeth, stabbed two men before pushing the 18-year-old victim from a luxury Southwark apartment last year when a party descended into chaos.

She landed on the hard floor below and suffered significant injuries including fractures to her neck and lower back.

After the attack, which happened on August 3 last year, she was in hospital for several weeks and needed to use a wheelchair. She has still been unable to go back to work or college.

Police said it was 'sheer luck' that the victim survived with fractures / CPS

The court heard that at about 9pm on the night of the incident, Ali and a friend booked out a fourth floor flat at Empire Square in Long Lane in order to host a party overnight.

At around 3am the following morning, people started to arrive at the apartment, including the victim and her friends.

During the course of the gathering, Ali made inappropriate advances towards the victim.

He put his hand in the thigh rip of the victims jeans and aggressively placed his arm around her neck  saying this is what I do in the bedroom, the court heard.

It was clear the interest was not reciprocated and she attempted to ignore his behaviour, causing him to become angry and aggressive.

Yusef Ali will be sentenced on Thursday / CPS

At around 9am another group of boys arrived and a scuffle broke out between them and Ali, who had armed himself with a knife from the kitchen.

He was left with a minor cut to his lip and head but lost all restraint and started waving the knife in peoples faces, lashing out and stabbing revellers.

People began to flee the scene but Ali managed to stab at least two other men as they tried to leave the property. Both were taken to hospital and have since recovered from their injuries.

The victim managed to get out of the flat and was attempting to call for the lift when Ali approached her. She ran to the balcony and called to those below for help but before anyone could assist, Ali ran at her and pushed her over the ledge.

After the incident, Ali attempted to leave the building but officers were quickly on scene and arrested him.

The victim landed on a hard floor and sustained several fractures in her neck / CPS

A blade found at the venue matched a knife handle in Alis pocket at the time of his arrest.

Today, Ali was found guilty of grievous bodily harm, affray and possession of an offensive weapon following a trial at Croydon Crown Court.

He will be sentenced at the same court on Thursday, March 5.

Detective Constable Tom Waller, from the Mets Central South CID, said: Ali violently pushed an innocent 18-year-old woman off a fourth floor internal balcony in a fit of rage which had already seen him stab two men.

"It was only by sheer luck that she was not more seriously injured and although she is recovering well, this incident has had a huge impact on her life.

Ali hired a space in Empire Square in Southwark / Google Maps

Ali did not care who he injured that night and was clearly intent on harming anyone in his path.

Those at the party were left terrified and we are grateful for those who have provided their own witness accounts and had to re-live what happened.

Thanks to them and the dedicated work of our officers, Ali has been brought to justice and is now likely to face a significant time in prison.

Kathryn Iyer, from the Crown Prosecution Service, added: This was a senseless act of violence during a party that went badly wrong.

Ali claimed he did not push the victim and did not see who did. But unlike every other person who walked down the steps, he did not stop to look at the victim in distress on the floor, rather he pulled his T-shirt up over his face and left the building just as police officers were walking in.

The prosecution case included Snapchat videos taken at the time showing Alis disrespectful and aggressive behaviour during the party, CCTV evidence from the lobby of the building and jurors were also taken on a site visit so that they could visualise and consider the events that had taken place.
German company Henkel on Tuesday said it will invest 50 million euro for brownfield expansion activities in the adhesives business in India over the next five years.

It announced the inauguration of a Rs 400 crore or 50 million euro facility at Kurkumbh near Pune on Tuesday built over the last four years.

"What we have launched is phase one and two of the facility, we will be doing phase three and four for sure. At the end of five years, our cumulative investments at the facility will be Euro 100 million," its board member and executive Vice President of Henkel Adhesive Technologies, Jan-Dirk Auris told reporters here.

The facility at Kurkumbh, the seventh manufacturing unit in India, is spread over 25 acres land and will be focused on making adhesives primarily for the Indian market and there will also be a bit of exports, its president for India, Shilip Kumar said.

A company executive explained that there is extra land available within the same plot for expansion and it is also buying a 6.6 acre parcel located next to it for the expansion.

India is the third largest among the emerging markets for the USD 9-billion adhesives business globally, and the company said that in 2015, its domestic turnover had touched Rs 1,600 crore.

Till now, the company has invested up to 400 million euro in India since entering the country in 1997, Auris said, adding that it employs close to 1,000 people.

Kumar said the new facility employs 320 people directly and indirectly.

He said the addressable market opportunity in India, where competes with global majors like 3M, is over USD 1 billion per annum.

The biggest revenue segment is automobiles, followed by the packaging industry, he said, adding that the electronics segment is also catching up on sales.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Xi Jinping is often described as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao, but he's not the face of Beijing's response to what could ultimately be the biggest test of his tenure thus far.

Why it matters: Xi has vowed that China will slay the "devil virus" that has spread from Wuhan and sown fear around the world. But the Communist Party seems intent to steer criticism of its slow initial response  and responsibility should its current steps prove inadequate  away from Xi.

Censors have allowed frustrated citizens to criticize local leaders in Wuhan, but they've scrambled to block anything targeting Xi directly, per the Washington Post.

State media also stopped stating that Xi "personally directed" Beijing's response, in favor of a message that it was "collectively" directed.

Premier Li Keqiang has been tasked with leading the response, and Wuhan mayor Zhou Xianwang has been targeted for much of the blame.

Unusually, Zhou has pushed back. He told state TV he lacked "authorization" to inform the public about the virus.

Flashback: In late December, as concern about a new SARS-like outbreak started to spread among medical professionals in Wuhan, local police reprimanded eight doctors for discussing it among themselves in leaked WeChat messages.

It was only three weeks later that China publicly acknowledged the danger and ordered a lockdown in Wuhan.

In a rare public split with local authorities, China's highest court said last week that the doctors should not have been punished.

It might have been a fortunate thing if the public had believed the rumors then and started to wear masks and carry out sanitization measures, and avoid the wild animal market."

 Supreme Peoples Court

The centralization of power under Xi can paralyze local and regional officials, Wu Qiang, a former lecturer at Beijing's Tsinghua University, told the FT:

Everyone  from the central government to the local government to the bureaucracy to the party to the military  was waiting for orders from the supreme leader before acting."

Information is also even more tightly policed under Xi, but some savvy users recently circumvented the censors by posting online reviews of the HBO series "Chernobyl."

The implicit message: Chinas leaders, like the Soviet Union's three decades earlier, endangered their people by hiding the truth.

But there's another lesson from Chernobyl. The Soviet system that spawned a global danger eventually contained it through a massive mobilization of resources and human sacrifice.

Zoom in: It took weeks for China to notify the public of the risks from the coronavirus but just 10 days to build an entirely new hospital to treat it, staffed by 1,400 medical personnel from the Peoples Liberation Army.

China has been praised, including by the World Health Organization, for a response that experts say is far better than when SARS struck China in 2003.

But several factors that could have strengthened it, chief among them a flow of trustworthy information, are anathema to China's system, particularly under Xi.

Between the lines: One might have expected a strong public response from Xi to the current crisis, if only to justify the cult of personality around him.

But as the Economist points out, the constant praise for Xi's infinite wisdom can be a trap: "it leaves essentially no room for the idea that Mr Xi could make a serious mistake."

The bottom line: As the coronavirus crisis plays out, the strengths and weaknesses of the Chinese model will both be on display  even if Xi is not.

Go deeper: How the world is responding to the outbreak.
U.S. Navy 2008

WASHINGTON  The U.S. military has deployed a new addition to its nuclear arsenal  a long-range missile armed with a nuclear warhead of reduced destructive power. The so-called low-yield missile joins other, more powerful weapons aboard stealthy submarines prowling the oceans.

The debut deployment aboard long-range submarines, known as boomers, is a landmark in U.S. nuclear weapons policy. It is the first major addition to the strategic nuclear arsenal in recent decades and is a departure from the Obama administrations policy of lessening dependence on nuclear weapons in pursuit of a nuclear-free world.
In wake of coronavirus outbreak, a total of 2,421 people in Kerala have been put under observation including 100 people in quarantine facilities, state Health Minister KK Shailaja said here on Tuesday.

"A total of 2,421 people have been put under observation including 100 people in quarantine facilities," said Sahilaja in a press conference here.

Quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people.

The minister said that people who have returned from China should not go out of their homes for 28 days.

On Monday, Shailaja said the state government has declared coronavirus as a state disaster."Kerala today (Monday) declared the novel coronavirus as a state disaster. We want to strengthen our surveillance system and precautionary measures," she said."When we came to know that n-coronavirus is rampant in China, we put in place our own system to contain the virus. There are many students from Kerala in China. We expect that they will come back and the coronavirus may affect the state," she added.The minister further stated, "We have three positive cases of coronavirus so far. The samples had been sent to the Institute of Virology for testing. We are calling back the health officers from leave and putting in place all measures to contain the effect of this virus".Shailaja had informed that the third case of coronavirus tested positive in Kasargod, Kerala.The virus originated in Wuhan in December and has since then spread to various parts around the world.

China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: While inaugurating the 11th edition of prestigious Defence Expo-2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will watch a grand show by the three defence forces here on Wednesday. The Expo, countrys biggest so far, will commence on Wednesday and conclude on Sunday, February 9.

As per the itinerary, PM after inaugurating the expo in the afternoon will interact with visiting defence ministers of other countries. Earlier, the PM had the plan to arrive Lucknow at 9:30 am and inauguration was slated for 10 am but the PMO revised his programme on late Monday night.

ALSO READ: Hindustan Aeronautics gears up for DefExpo-2020 in Lucknow

The PM will then visit the India and UP pavilions before witnessing a live demonstration by land systems, flying display by aero platforms and operation demonstration by naval systems.

Based on the theme -- Digital transformation of defence -- the defence expo will bring leading brands in the defence sector under one roof and provide opportunities for development and partnership to the government, private manufacturers and start-ups.

As per official estimation, over 1000 firms dealing in defence manufacturing and around 3000 delegates from across the globe are expected to take part in the expo. Of the total companies participating, more than 160 companies are from abroad. Besides, 160 MSMEs would also take part in the event, said Gargi Malik, Defence public relations officer (PRO).

ALSO READ: 90 flights in Lucknow to be affected by DefExpo

Event expo related to Expo would be organised at two venues the main venue at Sector 15, Vrindavan Yojna, and the other one at the Gomti riverfront adjacent to Birbal Sahani Marg, near Khatu Shyam Mandir, along the river.

As per the defence PRO, initial three days of the expo (February 5, 6 and 7) at the main venue would be solely for trade and business visits, wherein companies and other stakeholders would take part. It will be open for the public on the remaining two days (February 8 and 9) at the main venue.

Entry would be free on February 8 and 9 for commoners (Indians and foreigners) while business visitors can visit the expo on February 5, 6 and 7 by paying Rs 2500 (for Indians) and Rs 5000 (foreigners), she added.

In addition, the military equipment developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will be showcased at the mega event, highlighting all Make in India defence equipment.

ALSO READ: Will showcase a range of advanced defence capabilities at DefExpo 2020 - Boeing

Besides, there will be a live demo of rescue operations by Navy, the Coast Guard and Indian Air Force (IAF). The Expo will have special cultural nights for all five days.
Police investigating the disappearance of William Tyrrell placed a Spider-Man suit into bushland several years after the three-year-old vanished and set up cameras to see if a person of interest would find the garment and report it.

The surveillance was revealed in Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday after media outlets including the Herald fought an attempt by the NSW Police Commissioner to suppress the information.

William Tyrrell, who vanished in 2014, dressed in his Spider-Man suit.

Former NSW homicide detective Gary Jubelin is facing a hearing accused of making four illegal recordings during the investigation into William's disappearance.

The toddler was wearing a Spider-Man suit when he vanished from his grandmother's home at Kendall on the NSW Mid North Coast on September 12, 2014.
There are now 11 cases of the new coronavirus confirmed in the United Sates. Six are in California, two are in Illinois and there is one each in Arizona, Massachusetts and Washington state, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (See the map above for locations with confirmed cases).

The virus has infected more than 20,438 people and killed at least 425 people in China after originating in the city of Wuhan in December. Travelers from China  either residents or foreign visitors to Wuhan have introduced the pneumonia-like virus to two dozen countries. The World Health Organization said Monday that outside of China, there are 151 confirmed cases, including one death in the Philippines, the first fatality outside China.
Disney+ got off to a strong start, surpassing 28 million subscribers within its first three months.

The company reported its fiscal first quarter earnings on Tuesday. Disney said it got 26.5 million paying subscribers in the quarter alone, which ended Dec. 28. As of Feb. 2, Disney+ has amassed 28.6 million subscribers. Disney did not break out how many are from the U.S. vs the international territories where its been made available, but he said the vast majority came from domestic.

Analysts had predicted that Disney+ would have somewhere around 25 million subscribers so far.

Also Read: Check Out This First Look at Marvel's Disney+ Shows in This Hero-Heavy Super Bowl Trailer

For the three months ending on Dec. 28, representing the companys first fiscal quarter of 2020, Disney reported $20.86 billion in revenue, edging past analyst estimates of $20.79 billion. Disney also posted earnings per share of $1.53, which excluded certain items that affected comparability to prior quarters, which surpassed projections of $1.44 EPS.

We had a strong first quarter, highlighted by the launch of Disney+, which has exceeded even our greatest expectations, said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. Thanks to our incredible collection of brands, outstanding content from our creative engines and state-of-the-art technology, we believe our direct-to-consumer services, including Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu, position us well for continued growth in todays dynamic media environment.

In addition, Hulu subscribers surpassed 30 million (30.4 million), with 27.2 million subscribing to the SVOD version of Hulu and 3.2 million paying for Hulu Live TV. ESPN+ saw its subscriber count jump past 6 million, nearly double the 3.5 million that Iger reported during Disneys last quarterly earnings.

Using the same Feb. 2 date, Iger said that ESPN+ now has 7.6 million subscribers, with Hulu at 30.7 million combined.

Story continues

Disney began offering a three-in-one bundle for ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu (SVOD) for $12.99 a month in November. ESPN+s average monthly revenue per subscriber dropped a bit from a year ago, suggesting that many new subscribers came via the bundle.

Disney+ has an average subscriber monthly revenue of $5.56; the service costs $6.99 a month, but Disney offered a yearly rate of $70 as well as a special 3-year offer for D23 attendees last summer. Disney has projected to reach 60-90 million global subscribers by 2024, the same year it expects the service to be profitable. Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives previously told TheWrap he believes Disney+ needs 20 million subs in its first year to be on track.

Also Read: 'Hamilton' Movie With Lin-Manuel Miranda and Original Broadway Cast Hits Theaters October 2021

Iger continued that both conversation from free to pay (Disney offered a 7-day free trial for Disney+) and churn rates were better than expected. Disneys CFO Christine McCarthy said that they expect subscriber growth to come primarily from international customers over the next few months.

During the call, Disney announced the first Marvel Studios series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will premiere in August, with WandaVision following in December. Additionally, The Mandalorian will return for Season 2 in October.

Disney media networks contributed $7.4 billion for the quarter, up 24% from a year ago. The parks, experiences and products division contributed $7.4 billion in revenue, up 8% from last year. Revenue for Disneys direct-to-consumer and international divisions (those are reported together) jumped to $4 billion, compared with the $900 million generated in the year prior quarter. However, the segments operating loss jumped from $136 million to $693 million, primarily due to the consolidation of Hulu and costs associated with getting Disney+ off the ground.

Also Read: 'The Falcon and The Winter Soldier' to Premiere in August on Disney+, 'WandaVision' in December

Disneys film studio brought in revenue of $3.8 billion, up 111% compared with last year, due to the inclusion of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which has grossed $1.06 billion so far. Disney did not have a Star Wars film in the year-ago quarter. Disney also had Frozen II this past quarter. A year ago, Disney only had Ralph Breaks the Internet, Mary Poppins Returns and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.

Disney+ launched on Nov. 12. The company said more than 10 million people signed up on its first day through its free 7-day free trial. Verizon is also giving away one year of Disney+ to all new and existing unlimited wireless customers, new Fios Home Internet and new 5G Home Internet customers; about 20% of Disney+s subscribers came from the Verizon deal.

Disney+ is available in the U.S., Canada, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. In March, Disney+ will be available in many European countries including the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Read original story Disney+ Tops 28 Million Paid Subscribers, Company Beats Q1 Earnings Expectations At TheWrap
S udesh Amman launched a terror attack on the streets of London on Sunday February 2, just days after being released from prison.

It is the second attack in the capital in the space of a few months following Usman Khans murderous spree on London Bridge in November.

Amman had previously been jailed for terrorism offences and reportedly wanted to emulate the assassination of Labour MP Jo Cox.

The Streatham attack has provoked more conversations about the early release of prisoners, and the government wants to draft emergency laws to make a parole review necessary.

Police at the scene following the terror attack in Streatham High Road / PA

Who was Sudesh Amman?

Sudesh Amman was raised in Harrow, north west London.

Before he was jailed, the teen had been living at home with his family and was a college student studying science and maths.

He was first noticed by police in 2018 after he posted images of the ISIS flag on social media and appeared to encourage an attack against a pro-gay rights speaker.

Amman was just 17 at the time and, after police arrested him, it was also discovered he had been encouraging his girlfriend to kill her parents for being non-believers.

After he was arrested and taken to court - by now aged 18 - the Londoner admitted possessing documents containing terrorist information and also disseminating it.

Judge Mark Lucraft QC sentenced him to three years and four months behind bars in December 2018.

His young age and guilty plea were taken into account, but also previous convictions for drug and weapon possession.

Under the current law, Amman was released after serving half his sentence, and so was set free on January 23, 2020.

According to London Mayor Sadiq Khan he was fitted with an electronic tag and living in a bail hostel in south London.

It is understood that he was also put under 24-hour police surveillance.

Scotland Yard said an operation was launched which included armed surveillance officers.

A knife found in Amman's home at the time he was sentenced to prison in December 2018 / PA

What happened during the Streatham attack?

On Sunday February 2, Amman, now aged 20, was shot dead after attacking two people with a knife.

He had walked into a shop just before 2pm with a fake suicide vest strapped to his chest, grabbed a knife from a shelf and ran out.

Amman proceeded to attack a man in his 40s and a woman in her 50s.

Within 60 seconds of the attack starting, Amman was dead, having been shot by armed police who had been following him.

Officers saw a device under the terrorists clothes, but quickly realised it was a hoax item.

A cordon was set up and the victims were treated. Another woman, aged in her 20s, was injured after reportedly being struck by glass shattered by a bullet.

The 40-year-old was initially thought to be in a life threatening condition but was later downgraded to serious but stable.

The 50-year-old woman was discharged from hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

A woman reacts as police interview people near the scene of the terror incident in Streatham / Getty Images

When was Amman in prison?

Amman was jailed on December 17, 2018 and sent to Belmarsh prison in southeast London.

Amman reportedly told fellow inmates that he wanted to do something real and hoped to emulate the assassination of Labour MP Jo Cox.

One person who was incarcerated with the Streatham terrorist told The Times: The guy was definitely insane and he never hid his intentions, so its crazy how he even got out of jail.

Talking of killing a politician, Amman apparently said: The only way to get these filthy kafirs [non-believers] out of Syria is to take out MPs like that white guy did with the lady in 2016.

Ammans mother Haleema Khan, 41, described him as a "nice, polite boy" but said he had become "more religious" while in prison.

She also said that he was radicalised online.
A worker leaves the Boeing 737 factory in Renton, Washington, on Dec. 16, 2019. The company announced it is suspending production of the plane, which has been grounded since early 2019 after two crashes, in January 2020. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

Boeings 737 Max Production Halt Is Drag on US Economy, Economists Say

WASHINGTONBoeings halt to production of its troubled 737 Max airliner beginning last month is having an effect on the broader U.S. economy, according to lead economists.

Boeing was forced to ground its most popular passenger jet in March last year after two fatal crashes that killed a combined 346 people aboard. Since then, the aircraft manufacturer has been struggling to clear regulatory demands to return the plane to service.

The American Bankers Associations economic advisory committee, composed of 15 chief economists from large U.S. banks, predicts that production shutdown by Boeing will be a major drag on the economic growth in early 2020.

We are expecting to see significantly weaker economic growth in the first quarter of 2020 because of the impact of the production cuts, Gus Faucher, a committee member and chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group, told The Epoch Times.

Boeing has knocked off four-tenths of a percentage point of annualized growth in the first quarter, he added, referring to the committees economic forecasts report released last month.

Boeings decision to halt production temporarily meant that the company would not be adding to inventories, Faucher explained, which would have a significant impact on the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter.

He added that the effects could persist into the second quarter.

Boeing had continued to build new airplanes at a reduced rate last year despite the issues with the 737 Max. The new jets were being held as inventory. The company announced that it had nearly 400 airplanes in storage waiting for certification to return to service.

The production shutdown will also weigh on the labor market, according to Faucher, as Boeings subcontractors would be making job cuts.

The company recently announced that it doesnt expect regulatory approval until the middle of 2020, which prompted President Donald Trump to call Boeing a big disappointment.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin estimated last month that the Boeing crisis could slow the U.S. economic growth by half a percentage point.

Boeing is one of the largest exporters, and with the 737 Max, I think that could impact GDP as much as 50 basis points this year, Mnuchin told Fox News.

Spillover Effect

Most economists, however, are optimistic that Boeing will resolve its issues and restart production this year, which will help the economy to pick up again and reverse the negative effects of the production shutdown.

According to the latest forecast of the committee, the U.S. economy will continue to grow and maintain a strong labor market in 2020 despite a range of uncertainties ahead including the November general election.

The economists predict that the slow down of nonresidential fixed investment, a key measure of business spending, has bottomed out and will increase this year to 2 percent from 0.4 percent in 2019.

However, the duration and the extent of the ongoing issues in the aerospace industry due to Boeing represents a major downside risk to this positive outlook, according to Catherine Mann, chair of the committee and chief economist at Citigroup.

Its important to recognize that producing an aircraft is a very complex process and that parts are made essentially everywhere, she told The Epoch Times.

Its not just one company that has gotten engaged. Its many companies that are engaged, she said, adding that the macroeconomic spillover depends on how each one of those companies can manage the exposure that they have to ongoing risk.

Boeings troubles have had negative spillover effects on thousands of subcontracting firms, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue said at a press conference on Jan. 9.

I think one of the realities that affected the economy and affected the peoples concern [last year] was the Boeing incident. Because Boeing probably has 15,000 to 18,000 subcontractors, he said in response to a question by The Epoch Times.

Business investment slowed sharply last year, prompting analysts to read it as another recession sign and blame the U.S.China trade war for the slowdown.

However, Boeing was one of the main culprits, according to Jim Glassman, head economist for JPMorgan Chases commercial banking operation.

He claimed that the Boeing crisis has had a negative effect on the U.S. economy since the worldwide grounding of 737 Max airliner, following accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The cutback in plane production last year had shaved approximately half a percentage point from GDP growth in the second quarter of 2019, he said in a report.
Two weeks ago, a hundred Kankuamo Indians gathered in a school within their reservation in Atanquez, on the cloudy slopes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range in northern Colombia. Over nine hours they reviewed the videos in which eight officers and nine soldiers of the Colombian military described the extra-judicial executions of eight members of their community. After seeing footage of their testimonies, they began identifying parts where their recollection about the events that occurred over a decade ago differed and came up with new questions for them.

Accompanying them were a justice from the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) and two psychologists, with whom they had met several times over the past year and who had brought the testimonies personally.

This community assembly  and dozens of similar hearings  reveal the ambition of Colombias transitional justice system in its quest to punish the most serious crimes committed during a 52-year-long armed conflict. They also give an insight into the challenges ahead and the wider questions of victim participation that still require answers.

A place for all victims?

Placing victims in the centre has been, at least on paper, one of the main aspirations of the peace deal signed by the Colombian government and the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016, as well as the transitional justice system that stemmed from it.

Guaranteeing their participation throughout proceedings is one of biggest challenges for the JEP, as it is locally known  that began operating exactly two years ago as the transitional justices judicial arm. That will be no easy feat in a country where 8,9 million persons  out of a population of 48 million  are officially registered as victims and where thousands genuinely expect their cases to be investigated, prosecuted and punished.

The peace deal states that victims should be able to participate throughout the proceedings, in order to guarantee the satisfaction of their rights to truth, justice, reparations and non recurrence. In fact, more lenient sanctions are conditional to former FARC combatants, as well as members of the military and other persons who committed international crimes, acknowledging their responsibility, telling the truth, and personally helping redress victims.

Seven macro-cases

Laying the groundwork for this victim-centred approach is one thing. Implementing it is another though. Currently the JEP is working on seven macro-cases detailing different representative crimes committed during Colombias conflict and identifying those responsible for them. Two of these focus on FARCs involvement in kidnapping and forced recruitment of child soldiers; another case details extrajudicial executions carried out by the military, while several regional cases document human rights violations carried out by various actors in specific parts of the country.

To allow the participation of victims, JEP justices divided the investigation phase in four distinct moments, each of which includes a specific mechanism for victims to participate. However, they quickly realised, the uniqueness of each case demanded some flexibility.

Our challenge is to find a middle ground in which we can ensure a robust participation from victims, but also that justices can manage and lead this process of macro-cases, says Oscar Parra, one of the justices on the Judicial Panel for Acknowledgment responsible for the first stage of the JEPs work.

What we have discovered is that cases are so different that each justice proposes the ideal methods for participation and the judicial panel in full verifies that these comply with the best national and international standards, says fellow justice Julieta Lemaitre, who leads investigations on FARCs kidnappings.

This creativity seems necessary given the scale of atrocities, although flexible participation schemes designed on a case-by-case basis could garner the JEP criticisms in the future from both perpetrators and victims who could claim that rules are not clear from the outset or establish differences between them.

Hearing and counting victims

The JEPs initial endeavour has been to get victims, the organizations that group them and those who defend them legally to submit reports detailing their ordeals.

So far the special tribunal has received 249 reports. At least 125 of them have been submitted by victims and legal organizations representing them, with a hundred more coming from the government-run National Centre for Historical Memory that has spent the past decade documenting the effects of the armed conflict.

Initially JEP justices thought two years would be enough for victims to present their reports, but this idea was proven wrong. Demand has been such that the tribunal recently extended this deadline by one full year, until March 2021. This extension can also give the tribunal a chance to continue building bridges with victims who are sceptical of its work, including the group of women who denounce having suffered sexual violence while they were FARC members.

By way of these reports, victims have helped the JEP decide which international crimes it prioritised as it began working. As they opened the first macro-cases, justices also began establishing the universe of victims for each of those crimes. They soon realised no one method to identify them would suffice. For example, victims of kidnapping and sexual violence have traditionally been less prone to public visibility and to group together, as opposed to the well-organised victims of extrajudicial executions.

This meant that a special effort was needed to find and persuade victims who keep a low profile to register as an interested party in the fledgling proceedings. Justices working on the kidnapping case designed a national campaign to this end. They asked the Governments Victims Unit to send text messages to the 37,000 victims of this crime included in its national registry, instructing them how to register themselves if the former guerrilla had been responsible for their ordeal. They cross-checked databases at the Attorney Generals Office, identifying victims who had not been reached yet and drafted a script which legal aids followed to call them. They also trained local ombudspersons and aired ads on community-run radio stations serving rural areas.

These efforts paid off. They were expecting 1,600 FARC kidnapping victims, according to a simulation by an industrial engineer working with them. So far 1,709 victims have sought accreditation. If youre a victim of kidnapping, you should know by now that you have the right to become a party in the case, says Julietta Lemaitre, who was a professor in socio-legal studies before joining the JEP. A similar method will likely apply to find former child soldiers, who also tend to keep a low profile.

This task has proven daunting on account of the sheer magnitude of victimization. Two weeks ago, justices working on one of the regional cases documenting human rights violations carried out by various actors in Cauca and Valle del Cauca accredited 100,000 victims living in 31 different indigenous reservations.

Confronting perpetrators accounts

Since last year, JEP justices have been questioning hundreds of persons in order to build each macro-case. In lengthy confidential hearings, alleged perpetrators  including the 25 former members of FARCs Central High Command  have begun answering questions from the topic lists drawn up by the special tribunal.

So far 350 former FARC rebels have provided collective written testimonies on that guerrillas practice of kidnapping, with 187 of them also presenting exhaustive individual accounts orally. In a similar vein, 207 former members of the Armed Forces and Police have individually given testimony on extrajudicial executions (known in Colombia as false positives), with 43 of them also submitting written statements.

Since December, justices began giving kidnapping victims access to these testimonies, sharing both the collective accounts of FARCs top brass as well as those given by the leaders of the guerrilla bloc directly responsible for their ordeal. Their reasoning for this is that there was a national directive on extortive kidnapping  economic retentions in their language- but there was also a certain autonomy among blocs that led to differing practices.

Registered victims received emails asking them if they would like access to these accounts, whether in the original video footage or in transcription, in case they would rather not see their faces. In total, for each FARC bloc there are some 20 hours of footage and 500 pages in print. So far 700 victims have welcomed the idea.

JEP officials designed three ways for victims to access this information. Around 300 persons attended full-day group sessions in five cities, where they examined the material with justices and psychologists. Other victims began receiving last week a log-in to a secure online site where they can also view the material. Finally, victims can also visit the JEPs headquarters in Bogota and see the complete case file.

This methodology largely veers away face-to-face encounters between victims and perpetrators, in a bid to avoid revictimise those who have suffered. Although this type of encounters could take place further on, the special tribunal has insisted it wants to build truth through a restorative dialogue between victims and perpetrators. Some victims and human rights lawyers disagree with this view, insisting that it is a paternalistic concern and demanding to be able to question defendants in person.

However many victims value the possibility of commenting defendants testimonies. They have so far admitted several important things, but they do so in their own way. I know how much my father suffered during his kidnapping and theyre failing to address how they treated people. They were more severe and violent than what they claim, says Angelica Mora, who participated in one of the sessions and asked former FARC commanders to acknowledge the degrading treatment they inflicted on their hostages. This is something they should consider, for us victims to see theyre really contrite.

First accusations, probably mid-2020

Still some victims remain wary of the tribunals work. Ximena Ochoa, a cattle rancher whose mother was kidnapped for ransom by FARC in 1991, registered as a party in the case and received the e-mail on access to defendants testimonies. But she decided not to go, arguing that she doesnt have a lawyer and doesnt trust the human rights organisations the JEP offered her as legal aids. Without a lawyer I cant do anything. It curtails effective participation, she says. Her case underscores how important it is for the transitional justice to increase outreach efforts with victims who like her ended up opposing the peace deal.

The ensuing observations  like the 195 pages submitted by the Kankuamo Indians  will be transferred to the defendants lawyers, so they can respond and provide more information. All of this evidence will be taken into account by JEP justices as they draft their indictments, which will individually identify those persons deemed most responsible of ordering and committing the crime. Its first accusations will probably come out in mid 2020.

This will then lead to public hearings in which the accused can decide to own up to their role and therefore qualify for a special sanction of 5 to 8 years in a non-prison setting. In case the accused acknowledge their responsibility, the corresponding case files will likely come out to the public domain, although when and how this will happen is not clear yet.

In case defendants do not accept the charges, case ledgers will likely remain confidential as they are referred to the JEPs prosecution unit. Their responsibility would then be proven in the adversarial track of the transitional justice system, a procedure that mirrors the ordinary criminal justice system more closely.

Balancing participation and indictments

The gigantic number of victims and perpetrators leaves several questions going forward. One is how the JEP will manage victims expectations, given that it will be impossible for all of them to participate in the same way. Although the JEPs timeframe is 10 years to present indictments and 15 years to conclude its activities, its decisions on what to prosecute and what not will probably pain many victims.

This means that the tribunal will need to strike a balance between allowing participation and building its indictments. In a transitional justice scenario, we have to ask ourselves how feasible it is to spend four or five years investigating one crime when we have 200 reports from victims. My personal view is that the JEP must foster as many restorative settings in which victims voices are heard as possible, finding ways to reconcile their personal expectations with the challenges of pursuing macro-cases, says Parra, a criminologist who previously worked at both the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Commission.

That could include, he argues, devising complementary solutions such as hearings in which defendants who are not deemed most responsible and thus avoid prosecution can address questions from victims. In this line, they seek to continue ensuring that every stage of the proceedings incorporates a restorative ingredient and psycho-social support.

Another constant challenge is Colombian societys expectation of seeing former FARC commanders admitting their deeds publicly. However, this clashes with the sensitive nature of much of the information and the importance of keeping a safe space for victims.

Many victims are more open to a public approach: the Mothers of Soacha, a group of women whose sons were killed in extrajudicial executions, asked for the October hearing in which they reviewed perpetrators accounts to be open to the media and streamed live. Likewise, several prominent politicians who were kidnapped by FARC chose to present their reports publicly, while most of the other victims preferred eschewing the spotlight. The Kankuamo Indians, on the other hand, asked for their hearing to be confidential given the recent uptick in violent incidents in their mountainous region.

How the JEP ultimately answers these questions will determine if its complex and ambitious route for victim participation can help rebuild trust among citizens and towards state institutions.
PLEASE NOTE!

Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate!

All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited!

(One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!)
OnGo (Powered by the CBRS Alliance) ClearSkys experience with mobile network operators and their 24x7 culture of network operations services are critical additions to our members portfolio of capabilities. - Alan Ewing, Executive Director of the CBRS Alliance

ClearSky Technologies, Inc., a global supplier of wireless Software as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service, announced today it is the newest member of the CBRS Alliance. For over a decade, ClearSky has provided a wide variety of hosted network and application services on a 24x7 basis to mobile network operators. This same level of quality and commitment to turnkey wireless services on which the mobile network operator community has come to rely will be available to building owners, managers and tenants as ClearSky expands its private LTE and 5G network services.

The CBRS Alliances focus is to support the common interests of members, implementers and operators for the development, commercialization, and adoption of LTE and 5G solutions for the US 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service. The CBRS Alliance membership spans the entire network ecosystem, ranging from equipment manufacturers, software developers and equipment installers.

ClearSky has a long history of running components of an LTE network as a hosted service to meet the needs of our many mobile network operators, said Dean Fresonke, Executive Vice President of Business Development at ClearSky. "Our experience with LTE and 5G and our relationships with the mobile network operators put us in a unique position to bridge the significant gap between 4G and 5G cellular networks and private networks."

With the continued growth of the CBRS Alliance membership, we are thrilled to have added ClearSky Technologies to the OnGo portfolio of companies, said Alan Ewing, Executive Director of the CBRS Alliance, ClearSkys experience with mobile network operators and their 24x7 culture of network operations services are critical additions to our members portfolio of capabilities.

About ClearSky Technologies, Inc.

For more than a decade, ClearSky Technologies, Inc. has been an innovation leader in providing network Infrastructure as a Service to mobile network operators. ClearSkys powerful array of products and services includes the Forte cellular radio services for DAS, iCODE MMS/SMS message management, and Total Traffic Manager network data policy management. All are designed for quick implementation, affordable cost of entry, and ongoing cost savings. Collaborating with our customers, we are #StrongerTogether. Headquartered in Orlando, ClearSky has provided services to more than 100 wireless operators across five continents. For more information visit http://www.clearskytechnologies.com/

About CBRS Alliance

The CBRS Alliance believes that LTE-based solutions in the CBRS band, utilizing shared spectrum, can enable both in-building and outdoor coverage and capacity expansion at massive scale. In order to maximize CBRS full potential, the CBRS Alliance aims to enable a robust ecosystem towards making LTE-based CBRS solutions available. The mission of the CBRS Alliance is to evangelize LTE-based CBRS technology, use cases and business opportunities while simultaneously driving technology developments necessary to fulfill the mission, including multi-operator LTE capabilities. The Alliance will also establish an effective product certification program for LTE equipment in the US 3.5 GHz band ensuring multi-vendor interoperability.
A man who fell through the ice while riding an ATV was rescued by a sheriff's sergeant who jumped into the icy water to pull him out.

Two men, Craig Dennison, 38, and Donald Holbrook, 28, drove their ATV about 100 yards from shore on a pond in Warren, Maine, on Saturday night, according to the Sheriff's Office. The men ended up going through the ice.

Residents nearby heard someone screaming for help and called 911.



When Knox County Sgt. Arthur Smith and another deputy arrived, both men were still in the water. Smith threw a rope to the men, and Dennison was able to use it to pull himself out.

Holbrook was struggling and going under water, so Smith tied the rope around himself and jumped into the water to help him.

"I was able to get a hold of him and get him to the edge of the ice, took my arms underneath his arms, so I'm on his back and then held onto the ice," Smith said about the rescue. "Kept him above the water and myself above the water  for him to be able to breathe and relax."

Officials said Smith used his arms to hold onto the ice and his legs to keep Holbrook above water. At one point, the ice Smith was holding onto broke free, and he had to get to more solid ice to keep both himself and Holbrook afloat.

Eventually, a rescue swimmer in a wetsuit arrived and jumped in to help. Together with other first responders, they were able to get Holbrook out of the water.

"Extremely proud of Sgt. Smith's dedication to serving the people of Knox County and true heroism while putting his own life in danger," Knox County Sheriff Tim Carroll said.

Holbrook and Dennison were taken to Penobscot Bay Medical Center. Holbrook was then brought to Maine Medical Center in Portland. He was in satisfactory condition Monday morning.

Smith was taken to the hospital to be checked out as a precaution.

The Maine Warden Service stressed the importance of checking the ice before heading out.

Ice conditions along the coast are hazardous in some areas," said Aaron Cross, a sergeant with the Maine Warden Service. "With the warmer weather, some areas that are normally frozen this time of year may not be."
Anti-Sanders billionaires, behind the app that delayed Iowas voting results





Pro-Israel Buttigieg backer Seth Klarman is top funder of group behind Iowas disastrous voting app



By Max Blumenthal

Behind the app that delayed Iowas voting results is a dark money operation funded by anti-Sanders billionaires. Its top donor, Seth Klarman, is a Buttigieg backer who has dumped money into pro-settler Israel lobby groups.

February 04, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - At the time of publication, twelve hours after voting in the Democratic Partys Iowa caucuses ended, the results have not been announced. The delay in reporting is the result of a failed app developed by a company appropriately named Shadow Inc.

This firm was staffed by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaign veterans and created by a Democratic dark money nonprofit backed by hedge fund billionaires including Seth Klarman. A prolific funder of pro-settler Israel lobby organizations, Klarman has also contributed directly to Pete Buttigiegs campaign.

The delay in the vote reporting denied a victory speech to Sen. Bernie Sanders, the presumptive winner of the opening contest in the Democratic presidential primary. Though not one exit poll indicated that Buttigieg would have won, the South Bend, Indiana mayor took to Twitter to confidently proclaim himself the victor.

Iowa, you have shocked the nation.



By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious. #IowaCaucuses  Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) February 4, 2020

The bizarre scenario was made possible by a mysterious voting app whose origins had been kept secret by Democratic National Committee officials. For hours, it was unclear who created the failed technology, or how it wound up in the hands of Iowa party officials.

Though a dark money Democratic operation turned out to be the source of the disastrous app, suspicion initially centered on former Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook and his Russiagate-related elections integrity initiative.

Leveraging Russia hysteria into lucrative election opportunities

While Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price refused to say who was behind the failed app, he told NPR that he worked with the national partys cybersecurity team and Harvard Universitys Defending Digital Democracy project Price did not offer details on his collaboration with the Harvard group, however.

The New York Times reported that this same outfit had teamed up with Iowa Democrats to run a drill of worst-case scenarios and possible foreign threats, but was also vague on details.

Robby Mook, the former campaign manager for Hillary Clintons failed 2016 presidential campaign, was the co-founder of Defending Digital Democracy. His initiative arose out of the national freakout over Russian meddling that he and his former boss helped stir when they blamed their loss on Russian interference. Mooks new outfit pledged to protect from hackers and propaganda attacks.

He founded the organization with help from Matt Rhoades, a former campaign manager for Republican Mitt Romney whose public relations company was sued by a Silicon Valley investor after it branded him an agent of the Russian government and a friend of Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Rhoades firm had been contracted by a business rival to destroy the investors reputation.

As outrage grew over the delay in Iowa caucus results, Mook publicly denied any role in designing the notorious app.

You know its bad when... https://t.co/oNDQnVPxjR  Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) February 4, 2020

Hours later, journalist Lee Fang reported that a previously unknown tech outfit called Shadow Inc. had contracted with the Iowa Democratic Party to create the failed technology. The firm was comprised of former staffers for Obama, Clinton and the tech industry, and had been paid for services by the Buttigieg campaign.

An Israel lobby moneymans path to Mayor Petes wine cave

Shadow Inc. was launched by a major Democratic dark money nonprofit called Acronym, which also gave birth to a $7.7 million Super PAC known as Pacronym.

According to Sludge, Pacronyms largest donor is Seth Klarman. A billionaire hedge funder, Klarman also happens to be a top donor to Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar.

Though he has attracted some attention for his role in the campaign, Klarmans prolific funding of the pro-settler Israel lobby and Islamophobic initiatives has gone almost entirely unmentioned.

Seth Klarman is the founder of the Boston-based Baupost Group hedge fund and a longtime donor to corporate Republican candidates. After Donald Trump called for forgiving Puerto Ricos debt, Klarman  the owner of $911 million of the islands bonds  flipped and began funding Trumps opponents.

The billionaires crusade against Trump ultimately led him to Mayor Petes wine cave.

By the end of 2019, Klarman had donated $5600 to Buttigieg and pumped money into the campaigns of Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris as well.

The billionaires support centrist candidates appears to be not only by his own financial interests, but by his deep and abiding ideological commitment to Israel and its expansionist project.

As I reported for Mondoweiss, Klarman has been a top funder for major Israel lobby outfits, including those that support the expansion of illegal settlements and Islamophobic initiatives.

Klarman was the principal funder of The Israel Project, the recently disbanded Israeli government-linked propaganda organization that lobbied against the Iran nuclear deal and backed the Israeli settlement enterprise.

Klarman has heaped hundreds of thousands of dollars on the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and the American Jewish Committee. And he funded The David Project, which was established to suppress Palestine solidarity organizing on campuses across the US and battled to block the establishment of a Muslim community center in Boston.

Through his support for the Friends of Ir David Inc, Klarman directly involved himself in the Israeli settlement enterprise, assisting the US-based tax exempt arm of the organization that oversaw a wave of Palestinian expulsions in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

Other pro-Israel groups reaping the benefits of Klarmans generosity include Birthright Israel, the AIPAC-founded Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), a neoconservative think tank that helped devise Trumps maximum pressure campaign of economic warfare on Iran.

Klarman is the owner of the Times of Israel, an Israeli media outlet that once published a call for Palestinian genocide. (The op-ed was ultimately removed following public backlash).

In recent weeks, Buttigieg has sought to distinguish himself from Sanders on the issue of Israel-Palestine. During a testy exchange this January with a self-proclaimed Jewish supporter of Palestinian human rights, the South Bend mayor backtracked on a previous pledge to withhold military aid to Israel if it annexed parts of the West Bank.

NEW: The day after Trump unveiled his plan green-lighting Israeli annexation and Netanyahus announcement of a cabinet vote on annexation this Tuesday, @PeteButtigieg backtracked on his repeated promise that the "U.S. will not foot the bill for annexation." #StopFundingOccupation pic.twitter.com/dldyRnI5lo  IfNotNow (@IfNotNowOrg) January 30, 2020

Another recipient of Klarmans funding, Amy Klobuchar, has taken a strongly pro-Israel line, vowing to support Trumps relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Battling Bernie with hedge fund money and sexism claims

Like Klarman, Donald Sussman is a hedge funder who has channeled his fortune into Pacronym. He has given $1 million to the Super PAC and was also top donor to Clinton in 2016.

Sussmans Paloma Partners operates through a series of offshore shell companies, and received tens of millions of dollars in the 2009 federal bailout of the banking industry.

His daughter, Democratic operative Emily Tisch Sussman, declared on MSNBC in September that if you still support Sanders over Warren, its kind of showing your sexism.

MSNBC pundit says if you support Bernie Sanders over Elizabeth Warren its showing your sexism. pic.twitter.com/fghFIqOF6C  Ibrahim (@ibrahimpols) September 27, 2019

As Democratic elites like the Sussmans braced for a Bernie Sanders triumph in Iowa, a mysterious piece of technology spun out by a group they supported delayed the vote results, preventing Sanders from delivering a victory speech. And the politician many of them supported, Pete Buttigieg, exploited the moment to declare himself the winner. In such a strange scenario, the conspiracy theories write themselves.

Max Blumenthal is an award-winning journalist and the author of several books, including best-selling Republican Gomorrah, Goliath, The Fifty One Day War, and The Management of Savagery. He has produced print articles for an array of publications, many video reports, and several documentaries, including Killing Gaza. Blumenthal founded The Grayzone in 2015 to shine a journalistic light on Americas state of perpetual war and its dangerous domestic repercussions.

This article was published by " Greyzone " -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==

How Government and Media Are Prepping America for a Failed 2020 Election: Russia, China and Iran are already being blamed for using tech to undermine the 2020 election. Yet, the very technologies they are allegedly using were created by a web of companies with deep ties to Israeli intelligence.
A teenage girl has opened up about the horror of finding her dad lying a pool of blood and later discovering it was her mother's lover who killed him.

Amie Ryan was 15 when she woke to grandmother's piercing screams. She had just found Gary Ryan, 43, dying in a tiny shed at the back of their home in Mundubbera in Queensland.

Her mother's partner Mark Stephen Crump, 38, and friend Trevor Spencer, 73, had driven 1,000km to ambush Gary. They bought throwing knives, swords and a crossbow pistol for the 'meticulously planned' attack.

The pair had fled the scene when Amie made her way outside in her pyjamas, finding her dad's mutilated body. Dad, I love you', she said as she frantically dialed Triple-0.

Amie Ryan was just 15 when she woke to grandmother's piercing screams. Amie made her way outside in her pyjamas, finding her dad's mutilated body inside the small toilet in the back shed in Mundubbera in Queensland

Gary Ryan, 43, (pictured) was killed by Mark Stephen Crump, 38, and friend Trevor Spencer, 73.

'My kind, loving Dad was slumped on the floor, in a pool of his own blood. Dad was fighting to stay alive, but I could see him slowly slipping away,' she told That's Life.

He had 59 stab wounds to his head and neck. He was rushed to hospital but died a short time later.

Amie, who is now 18, was left heartbroken. She had lost her best mate.

'I'd never see his goofy grin again,' she said.

She had grown up with her dad, whom she called Mr Fixit, as her main caregiver after her mother left when she was a baby.

The pair were always close but just a year before his death, Amie became curious about her mother. She went to live with her mother and her new partner her partner Mark Crumpin Orange, NSW.

Amie said she enjoyed getting to know her half-siblings and mother but she was cautious of Crumpin.

Amie later decided to move back with her dad and grandmother as she missed them.

But that sparked a custody battle, Amie said.

Amie and her grandmother Jeanette found Gary Ryan, 43, dying in a tiny shed (pictured) at the back of their home in Mundubbera in Queensland

Gary Ryan, a mechanic, was often workign on cars at the back of the property in Mundubbera in Queensland

After his death, it was revealed Amie's mother Marilyn Ann Ryan had been involved in planning the attack but she had thought the men were going to scare him - not kill him.

Marilyn, 39, and Jessica Lee Roebuck, 22, were sentenced to eight and six years respectively for manslaughter, the Northern Leader reported.

Mark Stephen Crump, 38, and Trevor Spencer, 73, were sentenced in the Brisbane Supreme Court to life in prison for the murder of Gary Ryan, 43, on August 23, 2016.

During sentencing Justice Martin Burns slammed the attack as 'a cowardly attack on a defenceless man who was quite unprepared for such an onslaught'.

'The pair of you ambushed him. You repeatedly stabbed him in the most callous and brutal manner.

'You have taken a life and left a gaping hole in the lives of Mr Ryan's mother and daughter that can never be filled other than with profound grief.'

Amie said she will never forgive her mother, who she now refers to only as Marilyn.

She said she not deserve the title of mother.
The Delhi Police's single emergency helpline number '112' Tuesday came under the scanner of the Delhi High Court which tested it during proceedings and found it to be functional.

However, the lawyer representing the police and an amicus curiae assisting the court in a PIL relating to women's safety differed on the response time taken by the police in answering the call.

When the issue of the emergency helpline number was raised in the court, a bench of Justices G S Sistani and Anup Jairam Bhambhani tested the number by dialing it during the proceedings.

'112' was also dialled by various lawyers and police officials associated with the case as well as the court staff.

While the call by some of them could not be connected, when one of the court staff dialled the number, it was quickly answered and on disconnecting it, a call back was immediately received, Delhi government standing counsel (crime) Rahul Mehra, who was representing Delhi Police, said.

However, advocate Meera Bhatia, amicus curiae in the matter, said the helpline number '112' is less responsive and women in distress are not able to contact the police immediately through this number.

Mehra said the court appreciated the efforts put in by the police in making the helpline accessible and also asked the agency whether it was possible to access it through internet calling.

The court also sought the Delhi government's response with regard to deployment of ex-servicemen as marshals in various parts of the city and whether the Nirbhaya Fund can be utilised for this, Mehra told PTI.

Earlier, the court was informed by the Delhi Police counsel that the unused amount in the Nirbhaya Fund was over Rs 3,200 crore in 2017, out of which Rs 1,000 crore was earmarked for certain projects not yet functional.

The Nirbhaya fund was announced in 2013 after the gang rape of a student in Delhi on December 16, 2012.

The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it in 2012 after the horrific December 16, 2012 gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus. She succumbed to her injuries days later.

The court has been from time to time issuing directions with regard to increasing the number of police officers in the city, installation of CCTV cameras in police stations as well as vulnerable or crime prone areas, reducing delay in testing of samples in forensic science laboratories (FSL) and ensuring speedy disbursal of compensation to victims of sexual assault.

Earlier, it had directed the Delhi government and the police to abide by the respective timelines given by them for filling up vacant posts in FSLs and installing CCTV cameras in police stations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Photo: Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images

I saw the gripping New York Times documentary on Hulu this past week about the case of Navy SEAL Commander Eddie Gallagher, a rogue soldier who routinely shot civilians in Iraq for the hell of it, and finally stabbed to death a barely conscious captive young ISIS fighter who was the lone survivor of a missile hit on an enemy house. The documentary has video of the testimonies of his fellow SEALs, all of whom were in obvious anguish and pain as they told the truth to investigators. It also shows a photograph of Gallagher holding up the murdered kids head like a trophy in a wild-game hunt. The image is difficult to put out of your mind.

This kind of dehumanizing barbarism started, of course, with a euphemism. Enhanced interrogation techniques, we were assured, were nothing like torture. They were just a very intense form of questioning. I want to be absolutely clear with our people and the world: The United States does not torture, president George W. Bush insisted with a straight and serious face.

And then we discovered that these enhanced techniques were actually extremely similar to the verscharfte Vernehmung (intense interrogation methods) that the Gestapo once used. Human beings were locked into tiny coffins for days, hung by their wrists from ceilings, hooded, stripped naked, slammed violently against walls, deprived of sleep for days, frozen to the brink of hypothermia, suffocated repeatedly with water, and in one case, accidentally tortured to death. Nor did we have to imagine these horrors: Many of these techniques were ubiquitous at Abu Ghraib prison and photographed. The administration insisted that all of this was invented by a few rogue grunts on the ground, even though we now know that what we saw was the very low end of the abuse of prisoners that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney directly authorized.

The official black sites were dystopian torture chambers. When the torture started, many U.S. personnel, at first, couldnt watch. Seeing human beings treated by Americans the way they had been treated by the Nazis sickened them. Cables were sent, and ignored. Tapes of the grotesque torture sessions were destroyed. At Gitmo, an elaborate and secret detention center, these experiments on human beings continued. The conclusion of the Senates magisterial report on torture  endlessly stymied and obstructed by the CIA  is that none of this barbarism gave us any information we could not have gleaned (and did glean) using traditional interrogation methods. (The new movie The Report tells the story of my friend Dan Joness long struggle to get to the truth.)

In short, the United States abandoned the Geneva Conventions it had once been instrumental in creating. And this continued under the Obama administration. Yes, the torture program, mercifully, was ended by executive order on Obamas second day. But Geneva also requires member states to investigate all claims of war crimes and prosecute the perpetrators. The new president, leery of the divisive and emotional issue as he began his term in an economic crisis, decided to ignore them. In fact, for eight years, no one was even fired or demoted for war crimes, let alone prosecuted, and some were even promoted within the CIA. The message was clear: Americans who torture are essentially immune from prosecution. Torture thereby became normalized.

So it was not surprising that in 2016, a presidential candidate emerged who openly espoused torture as something he would bring back if he were elected. Suddenly, this felt like a legitimate debate. And it was unsurprising that this position won support from Republican primary voters, as if it were just one of many policy proposals, and not an unthinkable violation of domestic and international law. And Trumps position was not a reluctant one. He exulted in it, telling war crime stories on the stump, in particular the apocryphal one of General Pershing killing Muslims with bullets dipped in the blood of pigs to terrorize others.

Only Jim Mattis was able to restrain the commander-in-chief from restoring the torture program, even if it is clear that Trump still regards war crimes as a sign of strength. But signs were sent to the military and the world that this president admired the tactics of dictators and found democracies pathetic in comparison. Trump nominated and the Senate approved Gina Haspel, who was deeply involved in the torture program, as the director of the CIA. The U.S. had gone from ignoring torture to symbolically legitimizing it.

This is how liberal democracies disintegrate. A violation of core moral norms happens in one specific, exceptional case, such as after 9/11. Some even find reasons to justify it as an emergency measure (something Geneva rules out as a legal excuse). But torture then entrenches itself into the government apparatus and bureaucracy. Theres a record. There are government employees involved and doctors and psychologists. And any president has a choice. You know these people and rely on them. Do you prosecute these people or decide to pretend they did nothing wrong? Obama chose to do nothing to hold anyone accountable.

Trump took the new normal and boosted it. Torture works! he declared. In the 2016 campaign, he was asked what hed do if a military officer refused to obey an illegal order from him, and he responded: They wont refuse. Theyre not going to refuse, believe me. He has routinely said he wants to keep the oil in parts of Iraq and Syria American troops occupied, another breach of the laws of war. And he has stood by his embrace of war crimes, in particular in the case of Eddie Gallagher.

After a group of six Navy SEALs decided, in great anguish, to report their murderous platoon chief for war crimes, and Gallagher was arrested and arraigned, Gallaghers brother, Sean, went on Fox & Friends and appealed to Trump to step in. Trump first said he might pardon him after the trial. In that trial, one witness, given total immunity, reversed six previous testimonies and said he  and not Gallagher  killed the prisoner, by asphyxiating him by blocking the ventilating tube. The witness, asked why had suddenly changed his story, said he did not want Gallagher or his family to go through a life prison sentence without parole. That very day, for the first time, Gallagher came to court with his family.

Gallagher was acquitted, except for the charge of arranging the photograph of what he called a deer kill, holding the dead kids head up as a trophy. When the Navy, in a final weak attempt to punish him, tried to take Gallaghers SEAL pin away from him, Trump personally intervened and insisted this war criminal would keep his pin, and that he was one of the great fighters in the U.S. military. Fox News celebrated, and Gallagher brazenly called those with the courage to turn him in cowards who fled from combat. Gallagher is now a celebrity in the Trump cult, and hawks T-shirts online with the slogan Waterboarding Instructor.

A president who believes a war criminal is among the finest fighters the U.S. has and suggests he will pardon him after his trial is, quite simply, unique in the history of the U.S. So too is a president who threatens another country with the destruction of its cultural sites in revenge for any response to the assassination of one of its military and political leaders. In mere decades, we went from the architect and guardian of the Geneva Conventions to their nemesis. The professional military, who serve with honor, are doing their best to resist, as those honorable SEALs did in the Gallagher case. The Pentagon quickly contradicted the president: We will follow the laws of armed conflict, said Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday.

The world once knew that the U.S. government would do its best always to follow those laws. There are likely to be war crimes in any real-world conflict, and the U.S. has committed its share of them. But George W. Bush was the first president to directly authorize something that George Washington had ruled out of bounds in the Revolutionary War. Washingtons words ring ever more tragically in the age of Trump: Should any American soldier be so base and infamous as to injure any prisoner  I do most earnestly enjoin you to bring him to such severe and exemplary punishment as the enormity of the crime may require. Should it extend to death itself, it will not be disproportional to its guilt at such a time and in such a cause  for by such conduct they bring shame, disgrace and ruin to themselves and their country.

Military honor and the laws of war are the mark of civilization, and something that takes centuries to build and one feckless decision to destroy. For an American president actually to celebrate such crimes, and even personally threaten to commit them, was unimaginable before now, before the shame and disgrace of Trump.

Theres a line in Robert Bolts play, A Man For All Seasons, that has long haunted me when I think of this precious civilizational norm this president had broken. Its when Thomas More tells his daughter about the nature of an oath. Once breached, he argues, its gone. I feel that way about Americas centuries-long eschewal of torture and war crimes more generally. When a man takes an oath, Meg, hes holding his own self in his own hands, like water [he cups his hands] and if he opens his fingers then, he neednt hope to find himself again.

A Tyrants War

There were a few hours this past week when we were shaken out of the denial that comes with exhaustion. There we were, risking a real outbreak of war, and all we had was him. And this was not an exception in this presidency  just the most extreme example we have yet had of our collective helplessness in the face of one mans fecklessness.

There are cases where there is enormous leeway for a president under the Constitution to respond to a national security emergency swiftly and decisively. But this was not such an emergency. Iran is not a real threat to the United States, although it harasses and targets U.S. service members and bases in its own backyard. The administration has been incapable of providing any evidence for the imminent attack they used to justify the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani. It appears to me to have been invented. Regardless, there was time to consult allies, and to seek authorization from Congress for what was plainly an act of war.

But, of course, that didnt happen. And it didnt happen because we have long constructed an all-powerful executive branch the Founders would recognize as a pseudo-monarchy and now occupied it with an unstable, belligerent, and irrational demagogue. The word for this is tyranny, as I noted three and a half years ago. Not tyranny in the sense that we do not still live in a free country, but tyranny in the classic sense: one-man, strongman rule.

In his defense, Trump has never been shy about this. Throughout the campaign, this is the president he said he would be. I alone can fix it! he told us. At the beginning, there was some semblance of an administration around the demagogue who believes his Article 2 powers give him the power to do whatever I want. Some grown-ups with some experience were around; some even wrote op-eds in the New York Times anonymously, reassuring us that they were in charge. Occasionally, Trump was talked out of impulsive or incendiary ideas, or had them slow-walked into nothing. But Trump remembered those who opposed his impulses, as well as those who didnt jump immediately to attention, and, usually within a few months, they were gone. In Platos words, when describing how a strongmans rule unfolds: Some of those who helped in setting him up and are in power  the manliest among them  speak frankly to him and to one another, criticizing what is happening  Then the tyrant must gradually do away with all of them, if hes going to rule.

And he has pretty much done away with all of them. Were left with a new and weak defense secretary, Mark Esper, constantly contradicted by his boss; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a toady obsessed with Iran; and a war criminal as CIA director, Gina Haspel, who owes her job entirely to a torture-loving president. With this supine clique, Trump ordered the assassination of the top military leader of a country with which we are not at war. Congress was sidelined almost entirely; allies were blindsided. This was not a sane process of deliberation about potentially starting yet another war in the Middle East, considering its consequences, and calibrating a strategy. It was a strongmans impulse.

After Trump threatened, like the Taliban might, to destroy ancient cultural sites in Iran, he eventually softened his tone  but the way he did it was deeply revealing. If thats what the law is, he told reporters with respect to the Geneva Conventions, I like to obey the law. Not: Of course I will obey the law. Rather: I like to obey the law. It is something he regards as optional for him, as he always has in his business enterprises and tax returns. It is something he says he likes to do but isnt compelled to. The idea that he is, in fact, constitutionally required to defend the rule of law in all cases hasnt even begun to occur to him.

And he has found a way within the presidency to make the rule of law optional for himself: by firing officials tasked with investigating him; politicizing the Justice Department so as to exonerate him; using the pardon power to circumvent justice and tamper with witnesses; refusing point-blank to obey any congressional subpoenas in a legal and constitutional impeachment; suing endlessly to postpone complying with the law; telling his own officials to break the law because hell pardon them retroactively; and ordering war crimes if he so wishes (by tweet, no less).

This relentless embrace of more and more personal power is all there in Platos Republic. But there has been one thing Plato said about the progression of tyrants that did not seem to apply easily to Trump: He is always setting some war in motion, so that people will be in need of a leader, Plato explains. In fact, its necessary for a tyrant always to be stirring up war.

We have already had Trumps trade war, which is ongoing; we have his war with European allies over defense; we have his war with the media; we have his Twitter wars against his foes; we have his war against any dissidents in his own party; and we have his war against the truth. All these aggressive, belligerent stances have helped him with his base, and sustained his support, as Plato predicted. This week, we risked a hot war with a country we have already crippled with economic sanctions, even as it had fully complied with the nuclear deal negotiated with all the major powers.

Finally, as the full import of one-man rule sank in, the Congress has begun to push back. Nancy Pelosis proposal for a legal limit on Trumps war powers with respect to Iran is a start. More promising are those Republican senators, Mike Lee and Rand Paul, who actually appeared shocked by something they should long have known by now: that this president rules alone, and for all intents and purposes, Congress has become irrelevant. Heres the money quote from Lee:

As I recall, one of my colleagues asked a hypothetical involving the Supreme Leader of Iran: If at that point, the United States government decided that it wanted to undertake a strike against him personally, recognizing that he would be a threat to the United States, would that require authorization for the use of military force? The fact that there was nothing but a refusal to answer that question was perhaps the most deeply upsetting thing to me in that meeting.

Welcome, Senator Lee, to reality. We now operate in a political system in which one deranged man can take an entire country to war in a fit of pique, the legislative branch has been sidelined, and none among the toadies in the presidents own party will stand up to him. We live in one in which regular constitutional processes  like an impeachment and congressional approval for a war  are treated by the strongman with contempt. We have two remedies: a War Powers Resolution to rein Trump in on Iran, and conviction in the Senate impeachment trial for rank abuse of power. And the presidents cult of a party may well deny us both.

Hospital As Airport

Ive never stayed overnight in a hospital before, but I did this week for some sinus surgery. My septum is as deviated as my politics, it turns out, and my sinuses in general are gummed up to the eyeballs. Its a minor but grueling surgery, and they kept me overnight to monitor my sleep apnea and oxygen levels. I have zero complaints about how I was treated  everyone was super-kind and professional  but I had no idea how similar the whole experience was to being in an airport.

First off, I had to get up at 4:30 a.m. for a surgery at 7:30 a.m. (4:30 typically happens only once a day for me  as does 7:30, for that matter). The Uber in the dark was very much like catching an early international flight. Security check after security check followed at reception as I was asked the same health and identity questions again and again. Then I checked my personal belongings, and was wheeled into the operating room.

Some of the superficial similarities ended there: After the two-hour surgery, I woke up strapped to a mobile bed in the post-op center, with dressings on my mustache and wads of cotton in my nostrils. Then I had my first experience with fentanyl, which was something Id thought about doing before writing an essay on opioids, but of course didnt risk at the time. It was quite lovely feeling this cold fluid flush into my left hand and arm as the world suddenly felt light and floaty.

Still, I didnt move for 12 hours straight, waiting for a room to open up.

I naively thought Id sleep all day, but that was impossible with all the lights and noise and conversations (and what conversations!) going on behind those curtains. I thought Id work instead, which was an even more stupid idea. Id brought my laptop and this column was due but  well, you know, fentanyl, and the fact that my hands were all connected up to various tubes and wires.

When I got a room just before midnight, I was psyched. Quiet! Sleep! Rest! But no. My roommate had the TV on, my lovely nurses had to prick and poke and wake me every couple of hours, and I only managed a couple of hours with my earbuds plugged into my iPhone with ocean-wave sounds on it. Im not complaining  but being stuck somewhere propped up awkwardly, waiting in a public space for hours on end, with lighting like you get in Target, it did all feel like some airport nightmare dream with the added feeling of having been punched hard in the face a few times.

Now, time to take some liquid oxycodone.

See you next Friday.
STAMFORD, Conn., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Olympus Partners is pleased to announce that it has agreed to sell Innovative XCessories & Services, LLC ("IXS") to Clearlake Capital. IXS is composed of two divisions: Ground Effects and IXS Coatings. Ground Effects provides automotive OEMs with vehicle upfit services, including spray-on pickup truck bedliners, as well as functional exterior accessories through a network of 20+ facilities in North America and Thailand. IXS Coatings includes LINE-X, a franchisor of 500+ branded service locations and the industry's largest aftermarket retailer of spray-on bedliners, as well as Industrial Coatings, which provides protective coating solutions to a wide and expanding range of end markets.

Since Olympus' investment in August 2014, IXS has more than tripled EBITDA organically, opened more than 10 new production facilities, and completed several acquisitions.

"The success of this transaction was driven by the hard work and talent of the IXS management team. They were able to expand their market leading position by continuing to innovate while never losing their dedication to customer service. They have built an extraordinary company and I look forward to seeing it continue to grow under new ownership," said Jason Miller, a partner at Olympus.

Jim Scott, CEO of IXS and President of Ground Effects, commented, "Olympus has provided invaluable strategic insight and financial support during a period of tremendous growth for IXS. I could never have imagined being connected to such a wonderful partner."

The Olympus team included Jason Miller, Jim Conroy, Ozan Cubukcu, and Matt Bujor. IXS and Olympus were advised in the transaction by Jefferies, Harris Williams and Houlihan Lokey, with legal representation from Jim Faley, Alyssa Christensen, Jeremy Mandell, and Marina Yarnoff of Kirkland & Ellis.

ABOUT OLYMPUS PARTNERS

Olympus Partners is a private equity firm focused on providing equity capital for middle market management buyouts and for growing companies. Olympus manages in excess of $8.5 billion mainly on behalf of corporate pension funds, endowment funds and state-sponsored retirement programs. Founded in 1988, Olympus is an active, long-term investor across a broad range of industries including business services, food services, consumer products, healthcare services, financial services, industrial services and manufacturing.

SOURCE Olympus Partners
File image: Goa CM Pramod Sawant

Goa Assembly has become the first to pass a 'congratulatory motion' in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has claimed.

Sawant said this reflected the real gratitude of people of Goa towards the "historic decision" taken by the BJP-led central government.

The state Assembly on Monday passed the motion congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for enacting CAA, amid a walkout by members of the opposition Congress and Goa Forward Party.

"I am delighted that Goa Assembly has had the privilege of being the first to pass a congratulatory motion in support of #CAA2019. This is the real sentiment of gratitude and support from the people of Goa towards the historic decision by PM @narendramodi ji and HM @AmitShah ji," Sawant said in a tweet late Monday evening.

In the 40-member House, the ruling BJP has 27 MLAs including the speaker, who all were present during the passage of congratulatory motion, besides two Independent legislators who support the saffron party-led government.

NCP MLA Churchill Alemao, who also supports the state government, was absent.

Majority of Catholic MLAs of the BJP supported the motion, which was moved by Atanasio Monserratte and Clafacio Dias on the first day of the Assembly's budget session.

The opposition MLAs in the House include five members of the Congress, three of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), one of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and an Independent.

Members of the Congress and GFP, led by Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat, on Monday created ruckus and rushed to the Well of the House demanding that Speaker Rajesh Patnekar disallow the motion.

They later staged a walkout saying they had submitted a notice seeking a discussion on the new citizenship law and the proposed country-wide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Addressing the House, Sawant said "few leaders were misguiding people on the CAA".

"Opposition members are not ignorant about the Act. They are well aware about it, but are purposefully trying to misguide people," he said.

The CAA, under which non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship, came into force from January 10. It was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019.
An Australian tourist said masseuses stole up to $300 from his wallet while on holiday in Bali.

Father-of-two Dan said the incident unfolded on a busy main street that runs from Kuta to Seminyak.

The Melbourne man detailed the experience in a Facebook post on Saturday.

Dan was massaged by three different women, who he believes were taking turns of at stealing from his wallet. When he confronted them, they accused him of making excuses not to pay

'Staff took $200-$300 out of my wallet. Had a bad feeling going in and half way through they had a masseuse change. Then change again,' Dan wrote.

'I didn't think of it until I went to pay. I had two $100 notes. As I paid, I noticed there was only one. Then there were a few $50 short.'

Dan suspected the masseuses had taken the money and accused them of stealing from him - but they accused of him of not having money to begin with.

'I engage with the staff and plainly denied that I never had the money coming in,' he wrote.

Dan said he had 'learnt his lesson' from the experience and reported the incident to the local police. The Australian Government's holiday advice service Smart Traveller recommends to 'exercise a high degree of caution' in Bali

'Then one of the staff members stated "you're Australian, you're rich. $200 is nothing".

'Rookie error, I had most of my money in my wallet.'

Dan said he had 'learnt his lesson' from the experience and reported the incident to the local police.

While theft in Bali is quite common, it is frowned up by locals who believe it will drive tourists away from the holiday destination.

Last month, a local man accused of stealing a bike helmet in a tourist hotspot was beaten to death by an angry mob at the Ground Zero Monument in Kuta.

The Australian Government's holiday advice service Smart Traveller recommends to 'exercise a high degree of caution' in Bali.
Caucuses in mid-western state mark start of Democratic campaign to defeat Donald Trump in November election.

Americans on Monday kicked off the first vote of the 2020 presidential race as the midwestern state of Iowa began its caucuses, the closely-watched first step in deciding which Democrat will face incumbent Donald Trump in Novembers election.

The two frontrunners, left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden face a key test in the sparsely populated state, with a handful of others looking to make their mark to give their campaigns momentum.

The Iowa vote is a critical early look at the viability of the 11 Democratic candidates still in the race  even though just 41 Iowa delegates are up for grabs, a fraction of the 1,991 needed to secure the party nomination in July.

Iowa Democrats filed into nearly 1,700 caucus sites  schools, libraries, churches, mosques and meeting halls with Sanders and Biden in the lead in the state, followed by former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is also on the left of the party.

But polling has fluctuated and Iowas quirky caucus system  where voting is not by secret ballot but by public declaration for a candidate  makes the night hard to predict.





Luke Elzinga, a volunteer for Sanders, appeared early at Lincoln High School in Des Moines which was converted into a caucus location.

I think he really inspires a lot of young people, a lot of disaffected voters who might not otherwise turn out, Elzinga, 28, told AFP news agency shortly before the caucusing began.

And so I think hes the best candidate to beat Trump.

Three candidates  Sanders, Warren and Amy Klobuchar  have faced the unprecedented scenario of spending much of the past two weeks tethered to Washington for the impeachment trial of Trump instead of on the campaign trail in Iowa.

Even as candidates sought to make 11th-hour impressions on undecided voters, the senators were obligated to return to Washington for the trials closing arguments on Monday.

Defeating Trump

In a vote scheduled for Wednesday, Trump is almost certain to be acquitted by the Republican-led upper house on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

For Democrats, second-tier hopefuls Klobuchar and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang look to outpace expectations and seize momentum heading into the next contest in New Hampshire on February 11.

Earlier on Monday Biden  who still holds the lead in national polls  brought pizza to a field office in a strip mall near Des Moines to thank volunteers.

Im feeling good about today, he said.

Democratic 2020 US presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden has been crisscrossing Iowa to build up support for his campaign [Ivan Alvarado/Reuters]

Like many candidates, Biden spent the weekend crisscrossing Iowa in a final push to convince undecided voters he is best placed to accomplish Democrats number one goal: defeating Trump.

The president has not stood idly by. On Sunday he branded Biden Sleepy Joe and described Sanders as a communist, previewing a likely line of attack were Sanders to win the nomination.

Unlike secret ballot voting, caucus-goers publicly declare their presidential choice by standing together with other supporters of a candidate.

Candidates who reach 15 percent support earn delegates for the nomination race while supporters of candidates who fall short can shift their allegiance to others.

Turnout is critical, and candidates and their representatives will seek to persuade voters on issues including healthcare, taxes and ending Washington corruption.

One key candidate who has opted not to contest in Iowa is billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg, who entered the race in November but has surged into fourth place in RealClearPolitics national polling average.

The former New York mayor, who has spent more than $300m on advertising, according to Advertising Analytics, is focused on running a national campaign with particular emphasis on states that vote on Super Tuesday, on March 3.
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Dog the Bounty Hunter's daughter, Lyssa Chapman, 32, was charged with two counts of harassment on Monday. One count relates to a female and the other to an unidentified male

Dog the Bounty Hunter's daughter has been charged with two counts of harassment following her 'intoxicated' arrest where she reportedly pushed and kicked cops before saying she was upset her father appeared on the Dr. Oz Show.

Lyssa Chapman, 32, was arrested and booked for one count of harassment and one count of resisting arrest, after Hawaii cops responded to a domestic dispute with her girlfriend last Thursday.

On Monday, the resisting arrest charge was dropped and Chapman was officially charged with the misdemeanor harassment of an unidentified woman and an unnamed male, TMZ reports.

Chapman told TMZ the woman is her girlfriend but last week Honolulu Star Advertiser reported that police said it's related to the harassment of officers.

Chapman claims that when officers arrived at the scene, 'she put her hand up in order to stop them from entering her room'. She claims a law enforcement officer grabbed her by the arm.

Now Chapman plans to file a police misconduct report in relation to the way she was arrested, she told TMZ.

Chapman's girlfriend - who has not been identified - called police to the home in the Kaneohe area around 10pm.

At the police station, Chapman was 'going on about how she was upset about her father going on The Dr. Oz Show, and ranting about that', according to a cop. In a clip from the Dr. Oz show released on Tuesday, Dog asks his son's ex, Moon Angell, 'Moon Angell, will you marry me?' as she looks on in apparent shock

From left: Leland Chapman, Beth Smith, Duane 'Dog' Chapman, Lyssa Chapman. Dog's children were reportedly furious about Angell and their father getting close

Honolulu Police Department states that when they arrived she was 'very intoxicated and very irate'.

The police report states that while Chapman's girlfriend wanted mediation, the reality star 'would not stop and was irate'.

Police claim Chapman pushed one officer once and also kicked the cop while they were arresting her at 10.05pm. Chapman pushed another officer twice, according to the report.

Lyssa spent just 25 minutes in custody before bailing out. Her bail was $500 for the harassment charge and $100 for the resisting arrest charge.

Soon after her release from jail, Lyssa posted a cryptic message on Twitter, reading 'Keeping it classy' along with an image captioned 'I tried to follow my dreams but now I have multiple restraining orders'.

A cop added to the Honolulu Star Advertiser that at the police station, Chapman was 'going on about how she was upset about her father going on The Dr. Oz Show, and ranting about that'.

Chapman claimed that when officers arrived at the scene, 'she put her hand up in order to stop them from entering her room'. She reportedly claims a law enforcement officer grabbed her by the arm and now she plans to file a police misconduct report in relation to her arrest

But a police report states she pushed two cops and kicked one of them while she was being arrested

In Monday's episode, Dog appeared to propose to his son's ex-girlfriend less than a year after his own wife's death.

Soon after her release from jail, Lyssa posted a cryptic message on Twitter, reading 'Keeping it classy' along with an image captioned 'I tried to follow my dreams but now I have multiple restraining orders'

In a clip from the Dr. Oz show released on Tuesday, Dog asks his son's ex, Moon Angell, 'Moon Angell, will you marry me?' as she and Dr. Mehmet Oz look on in apparent shock.

It comes just seven months after Dog's beloved wife and reality show co-star Beth tragically died of cancer at the age of 51.

But it turns out that it was just a stunt to prove to fans that the pair are no more than 'friends.'

'I think this will put a stop to a lot of this,' the 67-year-old said on the show. 'Moon Angell will you marry me?'

'What? No,' Angell said in response. 'We're friends, Duane. I love you as a friend.'

'I know, but I want everyone else to know,' he said to emphasize his point, calling her his 'dearest friend.'

Dog  who has 12 kids from his four marriages, including three children with Beth  is not believed to have actually got engaged, but his family think his late wife would have been furious if she'd seen the moment.

Beth and Moon had spoken before her death and her friend promised to look after the 66-year-old star after she passed away, according to TMZ.

Sources claimed when Beth recounted the conversation to the kids, none of them were happy.

The drama comes just seven month's after Dog's wife Beth tragically died. Lyssa is seen with her late stepmother Beth Chapman. She is known as 'Baby Lyssa' to distinguish her from her mother, 'Big Lyssa'

Beth and Moon had spoken before her death and her friend promised to look after the 66-year-old star after she passed away, according to TMZ. Sources claimed when Beth recounted the conversation to the kids, none of them were happy

And Dog's brood were 'extremely hurt' when he claimed Moon was the reason he decided not to take his own life, as they felt he should want to stay alive for them.

Lyssa Chapman hit out at Moon Angell, because she reportedly romanced Lyssa's brother before she struck up a relationship with Dog.

Taking to her social networking sites, Lyssa wrote: 'If someone who met your family by dating your brother, tried to date your father after your step- mom died what would you do?

'If you went to your mothers closet and saw she moved all her clothes and replaced them with her own, what would you do? #ItsNotWhenOrWhyItsWho.'

'My dad is a GROWN A** MAN. His money. His dynasty,' she wrote. 'But you can guarantee that my name is not going down in history as a person who supported this.'

When the Dr. Oz clip aired on Tuesday, Lyssa appeared to be suppressing her rage, writing on Twitter: 'I will not tweet. I willl not tweet I will not tweet. I will not tweet.'
An investor looks at stock boards at a securities company in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

The recent stock market dips occurred because investors overreacted to the coronavirus outbreak, and a recovery is imminent, the countrys chief securities regulator said.

The benchmark VN-Index fell to a one-year low of 928.14 points on Monday after losing for a third consecutive session since reopening last Thursday after a week-long Lunar New Year (Tet) break.

It has lost 6.39 percent since reopening, affected by the ongoing novel coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak, which has infected nine people in Vietnam.

But the chairman of the State Securities Commission (SSC), Tran Van Dung, put it down to overreaction by investors and assured there would be no suspension of trading.

"Im sure [the government] will not suspend trade because the situation is not that bad," he further told VnExpress. "The SSC has prepared for various scenarios and investors should not be worried by recent market developments."

In the past, when there were epidemics like SARS and H5N1, the market fell too but recovered as soon as countries started announcing that they had contained the outbreak, he pointed out.

Dung said he expects a similar trend this time, with the Vietnamese government showing determination to contain the outbreak.

The loss of 0.91 percent on Monday was an improvement from the falls of 3.22 percent on Thursday and 2.39 percent on Friday last week.

In its latest report, Saigon Securities has raised the short-term outlook for pharmaceutical stocks from "neutral" to "positive", but retained the sectors 2020 outlook at neutral, saying it does not foresee the coronavirus outbreak having any substantial impact on the sector in the medium-term.
Titanic's ill-fated sister ship the Britannic could soon be a tourist attraction more than 300ft below (100m) below the Aegean sea.

The vessel was made as part of the same project that created the Titanic and became a naval hospital ship for British forces in WWI.

It hit a sea mine in the Aegean off the coast of Greek island Kea in 1916 and within an hour was at the bottom of the sea. Thirty people on-board were killed.

Proposals from the Greek government will be voted on next month to loosen suffocating legislation preventing divers from visiting wrecks for fear of looting.

The imminent tweak will see divers granted permission to visit wrecks from between 1860 and 1970 as part of an underwater park.

Scroll down for video

The Britannic (pictured, a colourised photo) was made as part of the same 'Olympic project' that created the supposedly unsinkable Titanic and the Olympic ships. britannic was a hospial ship for the British forces in WWI

Greek government is considering changing existing legislation to allow more divers to reach the wreck of the Britannic. It is currently extremely restricted. pictured, three divers approach the listed vessel 300ft below the Aegean surface in a rare exploration of the wreck

A breach in the hull from a German sea mine laid by a U-boat just one month previous to the sinking allowed water to pour in and the ship began to list to the starboard side, where water was gathering following the explosion to this flank. The 883-foot wreck was discovered largely intact in 1975 by famed marine explorer Jacques Cousteau

The 883-foot ship wreck was discovered listed on one side and largely intact in 1975 by famed marine explorer Jacques Cousteau.

Yannis Tzavelakos, a local diving instructor who has been calling for more freedom to visit the Britannic, told The Times: 'It is a positive development.

'Such initiatives can only facilitate innovative projects and add to the tourism industry.

'But much more than good intentions are needed. This time we need to see proof that designs like these will go through.'

The Britannic is too far underwater for most recreational scuba divers but experienced technical divers can reach and explore the wreck.

It is not without danger however, as 37-year-old professional diver Carl Spencer died in 2009 after he contracted decompression sickness, known as the bends, during an authorised exploration of the vessel.

The plans from the Greek government would also apply lenient laws to other notable wreckage in the Aegean.

A Junkers Ju 52, the three-engined Luftwaffe plane used in WW2, would likely become part of the underwater park after crashing off the coast of Paros in 1943.

World War Two British submarine HMS Perseus, which sank in 1941 and killed 60 of the 61 on-board when it hit an Italian mine, would also likely be open to exploration.

The laws would still prohibit the exploration of older wrecks dating back to beyond 1860.

The Titanic has recently been subject to widespread scrutiny as a row has erupted over its salvage rights.

An international treaty between the US and the UK will give both the US and UK the power to grant or deny licences to companies to enter the remains and remove artefacts found outside the hull.

RMS Titanic, the company with the rights to lavage missions to the ship in the Atlantic Ocean which sank in 1912, has contested this and said the agreement has 'no teeth' and can not be enforced in US law.

A rage of wrecks would be freed up for exploration if the legislation is passed. including Britannic, a WWII German plane and an Allied submarine

In a desperate bid to save the lives of the people on-board, Captain Bartlett attempted to beach the Britannic in the shallow waters of Kea but the propeller minced two lifeboats and their inhabitants who were fleeing the sinking ship

WHAT WAS HMHS BRITANNIC? Britannic is the third and largest of the Olympic White Star Line's Olympic class trio. It was the sister ship of Titanic and Olympic. Following the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912, the hull of the 53,000-ton Britannic was redesigned and it was launched on February 26, 1914. It was never used as a commercial trans-Atlantic liner because of World War I. It was requisitioned as a hospital ship in November 1915 and sent to the Middle East and Aegean fronts. On its sixth trip, on its way to pick up wounded soldiers from the disastrous Gallipoli campaign, it was sunk on November 21, 1916. Of the 1,066 passengers aboard, 30 died. For years, the cause of Britannic's sinking - whether by a torpedo or a mine - was unclear. Britannic was located in 1975 by Jacques Cousteau, the famous French underwater explorer. But a 2003 analysis and documentary provided conclusive evidence of a single mine blast causing it to sink. The explosion gouged a hole in its hull and it rapidly took on water. It sunk within an hour. Lifeboats were deployed too soon while the captain, unaware they had been deployed, tied to deliberately beach the cruiser. Two lifeboats became entangled in the propellers and they, and their occupants, were torn to shreds by the spinning blades. Britannic continued to take on water through the portholes that were open to ventilate the hospital wards. The 883-foot ship is now listed on one side more than 100m (328 feet) underwater at the bottom of Aegean Sea, off the coast of Greece. Advertisement

Pictured: The Fireman's Staircase as Seen From the Top on the Britannic. It was pictured during the 1009 national geographic documentary 'Britannic Expedition'. Diving to the wreck is not without its danger , as 37-year-old professional diver Carl Spencer, died in 2009 after he contracted decompression sickness, known as the bends

The plans from the Greek government would also apply lenient laws to other notable wreckage in the Aegean, including that of World War Two British submarine HMS Perseus (pictured) which sank in 1941 and killed 60 of the 61 on-board, after hitting an Italian mine

A Junkers Ju 52, the three-engined Luftwaffe transport plane used in WW2, would also form part of the underwater park after crashing off the coast of Paros in 1943 (pictured)

Britannic and Olympic are the two lesser-known sister ships made built by Harland & Wolff for the White Star Line shipping company. All were dubbed 'Olympic class' and unsinkable.

Olympic was the only one to not sink and was retired from service and scrapped in 1935.

The most famous of the trio is the Titanic which famously plunged to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean on her maiden voyage after colliding with an iceberg.

Britannic was the largest of the three and was delayed after the tragedy of Titanic and improvements were made to make sure she was fully safe for service.

After completion in early 1914, the outbreak of WWI put an end to her luxury liner plans and the 48,000 tonne vessel was converted into a hospital ship for the Royal Navy before her maiden voyage.

On its sixth trip through the Aegean on November 21, 1916 to pick up wounded soldiers from the Middle East the Britannic hit a mine planted just one month earlier by a German U-boat.

A breach in the hull and open portholes to ventilate hospital wards saw water pour in and the ship began to list to the starboard side, where water was gathering following the explosion to this flank.

In a desperate bid to save the lives of the people on-board, Captain Bartlett attempted to beach the Britannic in the shallow waters of nearby Kea.

As he was desperately churning the propellers to this end, the medics were evacuating people.

One of the improvements made to Britannic following the Titanic catastrophe was the ability to deploy lifeboats even when the vessel was severely listed.

This allowed them to put two lifeboats in the water to the port side as it was sinking during the captain's last-ditch manoeuvre.

Unfortunately, they were deployed too soon and became tangled in the propellers. Two boats and their fleeing inhabitants were fatally diced in the spinning blades.

The captain managed to cut off the engine before any more lives or boats were lost.

Warm temperatures of around 21C, ample lifeboats and a rescue mission of less than two hours making passengers more likely to survive Britannic that Titanic.

Britannic was to be the largest vessel lost during The Great War.

On its sixth trip through the Aegean on November 21, 1916 to pick up wounded soldiers from the Middle East the Britannic hit a mine and sank. Britannic was to be the largest vessel lost during The Great War
The alarming accusations about the inner workings of the business led to a quick response from our investigators," Police Chief Brian Smith said in released statement, adding that officers carefully investigated this case and stopped a potential threat of violence and what could have been a dangerous situation. We are grateful for the support given to us by NIPAS to ensure the operation went smoothly.
SACRAMENTO, Calif.  Iowa? Who cares.

On the day the 2020 presidential election kicks off with the Iowa caucuses, Michael Bloomberg was half a continent and a leap of faith away in California, where the Democratic candidate sought to bring attention to a campaign that has forsworn early voting states and anchored its ambitions to California, Texas and other delegate-rich battlegrounds to come.

The billionaire former New York City mayor took to the air in a chartered jet Monday, with a retinue of reporters and TV cameras in tow, and touched down around the state to remind voters that Californias election, like Iowas, is underway.

Early voting in the nations most populous state begins Monday for the March 3 primary election. It is Bloombergs fourth trip to the state as a candidate.

His first stop was at a coffee shop in Sacramento, the state capital, where in somewhat rambling remarks he encouraged supporters to get out and vote. He later landed in Fresno, in the heart of the farm belt, for an outdoor rally with Latino voters, and afterward was scheduled to head to Compton, the Los Angeles-area city known as the West Coast capital of hip-hop, where he planned to launch a national bus tour for surrogates and supporters.

Joe Biden says democracy begins in Iowa, but Bloomberg told supporters the path to the White House runs through California.

Im not running against the other Democratic candidates. Im running against Donald Trump, Bloomberg said at the low-key appearance in Sacramento, speaking on a stage with a U.S. flag backdrop and Vote early posters. We are going to win this.

In the crowd was retiree Ruth Holton-Hodson, a Democrat from Sacramento who is leaning toward Bloomberg as the most likely choice to defeat Trump. But she said she worries his skip-Iowa plan could alienate voters, who would see a wealthy candidate making his own rules.

I think it will turn people off, she said.

Nearby, wearing an I like Mike sweatshirt, Colorado student Myles Hammond said he was wavering in his decision but is closely focused on Bloomberg and Bernie Sanders. Hammond, who was in Sacramento for a graduate school interview, said he is drawn to the former mayors push for gun control but also likes Sanders strong connection with young voters. However, he worries the Vermont senators progressive agenda might drive off middle-ground voters.

I dont know if it would push some independent voters away, Hammond said of Sanders. He wasnt sure if Bloombergs unusual strategy of skipping Iowa would work but said he might have a better chance focusing on a large state like California.

Bloombergs trip amounted to a carefully planned sideshow to the crescendo of campaigning in Iowa, where the crowded and shifting Democratic field headed toward an uncertain finish in Mondays caucuses.

Its unusual, but not unprecedented, for a candidate to turn away from Iowa, the time-honored launching pad for presidential candidates. Its similar to a presidential campaign strategy deployed in 2008 by another former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani, who was an early dropout in a year when John McCain become the eventual Republican nominee.

The day of campaigning provided a window into Bloombergs broader strategy. Financed by his unrivaled personal wealth, he is largely going his own way to secure the nomination to challenge Trump.

But in embracing his conspicuous absence in Iowa, it highlighted the risk: How to stay relevant when you are competing outside the usual playing field of tradition-bound early contests like Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina?

In Sacramento, Bloomberg said he was planning to enter the Iowa race when he began considering a presidential run, then decided not to become a candidate. When he reconsidered and got in the 2020 race, it was too late to get in the Iowa contest, he said.

Later in Fresno, Bloomberg put in a pitch for tougher gun regulation, one of his signature issues. He lamented how disagreements in America too often end in violent deaths. If elected, he promised gun safety will be at the top of my agenda, he said.

Visiting a region with a large Hispanic population, he told the crowd, Latino issues are American issues, earning a round of cheers.

No presidential contest awards more delegates than the state of California, the Democratic fortress that is home to 1 in 8 Americans. Iowas caucuses have 41 delegates at stake, but California will award more than 400.

As a candidate, Bloomberg has gone from curio to competitor with an unmatched torrent of TV ads, paired with traditional retail campaigning, that appears to have pushed him up in presidential polling. Still, he remains unknown to many voters.

But in one sign he is gaining traction, he attracted the attention of Trump, who mocked Bloombergs height in an interview with Fox News Channels Sean Hannity and accused the former mayor of making a special request for a box to stand on if he qualifies for future presidential debates. Bloombergs campaign denied the claim.

Bloomberg campaign spokeswoman Julie Wood said Trump was a pathological liar who lies about everything: his fake hair, his obesity, and his spray-on tan, she said.

Hes not going to bully me, Bloomberg said in Fresno.

The two rival campaigns ran dueling, multimillion-dollar ads during Sunday nights Super Bowl, with both spending an estimated $10 million for 60 seconds of air time, which Trump used to purchase two 30-second spots.

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast,  Ground Game.
Tash Herz and Amanda Micallef were married on Tuesday's episode of Married At First Sight, marking the first time two women wed on the show.

The match appears to be a good one, with Tash, 31, and Amanda, 34, unable to keep their hands off each other as they headed to their hotel to enjoy their wedding night.

Having said 'I do' earlier in the day, and after they enjoyed their reception, the women headed off to the Punt Hill Apartments in Melbourne's Chinatown hand in hand.

Wedding night off to a great start! MAFS brides Tash Herz (right) and Amanda Micallef (left) could not keep their hands off each after their nuptials, which featured on Tuesday's episode. The women headed off to the Punt Hill Apartments in Melbourne's Chinatown hand in hand

The tattooed bartender clung onto her new wife, their fingers interlocked, as they strode along chatting happily.

They stopped to cuddle and embrace as they waited for their limousine, their arms wrapped around one another.

The women stopped for multiple smooches, with Tash looking particularly enthused as she pawed at her new wife.

Pleased! Tash and Amanda were married on Tuesday's episode of Married At First Sight, marking the first time two women wed on the show

Sweet! The match appears to be a good one, with Tash, 31, and Amanda, 34, unable to keep their hands off each as they headed to their hotel to enjoy their wedding night

Loved up: They stopped to cuddle and embrace as they waited for their limousine, their arms wrapped around one another

Loving it: The women stopped for multiple smooches as they waited to leave

Tash leaned in to kiss the fitness instructor's neck, giving her a passionate kiss before they wrapped their arms around one another's waists.

Still dressed in their classy wedding whites, the women looked stunning together.

Amanda opted for loose, belted white slacks and a lace, high-neck blouse under a blazer.

Beside her, Tash, who didn't want a traditional wedding dress, chose a silky, wrap-style frock with a thigh-high split.

Into it: Tash was looking particularly enthused as she pawed at her new wife

Neck it: Tash leaned in to kiss the fitness instructor's neck, giving her a passionate kiss

Close: They moved close together and wrapped their arms around one another's waists

Connection: The new wives looked deep into one another's eyes

Cuddles: They were absolutely smitten with one another, sharing lots of embraces

Soon after the ceremony, Adelaide-based Tash said that things were already getting 'playful' between the couple.

'We've connected so strong, so quickly. I feel comfortable, I can feel a super sense of warmth from her,' she said on Tuesday's episode.

They became frisky while posing for wedding photos, with Tash teasing Amanda in front of their friends and family.

'Do you feel like I'm going to bite your neck?' she asked, to which Amanda replied: 'You're going to have to lick that [lip gloss] off later.'

Incredible! Still dressed in their classy wedding whites, the women looked stunning together

Cute: Amanda opted for loose, belted white slacks and a lace, high-neck blouse under a blazer

Classy: Tash, who didn't want a traditional wedding dress, chose a silky, wrap-style frock with a thigh-high split

Warm: Soon after the ceremony, Adelaide-based Tash said that things were already getting 'playful' between the couple

Chemistry: 'We've connected so strong, so quickly. I feel comfortable, I can feel a super sense of warmth from her,' she said on Tuesday's episode

Victorian Amanda then compared Tash to her celebrity crushes Sophie Monk and Ruby Rose.

'I am happy, I really am. I definitely find her attractive. She's got that look. All the girls would go crazy over her if she was in a gay club,' she said.

'There is a lot of potential for us to fall in love.'

A looker: Victorian Amanda then compared Tash to her celebrity crushes Sophie Monk and Ruby Rose

Stunning! 'I am happy, I really am. I definitely find her attractive. She's got that look,' she said

Amanda added of her new love: 'All the girls would go crazy over her if she was in a gay club!'

Amanda said of the pair: 'There is a lot of potential for us to fall in love'

Connection: On Tuesday's episode, once in their hotel suite, Amanda gave her wife a back massage in bed

Working: The episode ended with the lovebirds kissing each other under the sheets

Once in their hotel suite, Amanda gave her wife a back massage in bed.

The episode ended with the lovebirds kissing each other under the sheets.

Amanda said of bride Tash: 'She's got so much love and affection, and I've wanted that so much. I've found someone that makes me feel special, it's been a while since I've felt that.'

Married At First Sight continues Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine

Amanda said of Tash: 'She's got so much love and affection, and I've wanted that so much. I've found someone that makes me feel special, it's been a while since I've felt that'

Gorgeous: Married At First Sight introduced its first-ever lesbian couple on Tuesday's episode
NEWTOWN >> The Council Rock School Board on Jan. 6 announced that it has granted Superintendent Dr. Robert Fraser a temporary leave from his duties as administrative head of the school district. In the interim, the board has appointed assistant superintendent for teaching and learning Dr. Susan Elliott as substitute Superintendent. The Board looks forward to Dr. Fraser's return to the district...
(Photo : Handout by Reuters ) Coronavirus Tracker Apps Now Being Used by Chinese Citizens to Spot Which Place has Positive Victim (Photo : ALY SONG on Reuters ) Coronavirus Tracker Apps Now Being Used by Chinese Citizens to Spot Which Place has Positive Victim

Coronavirus spread has now resulted in a total death toll of 425 people and more than 20,000 confirmed victims of the viral disease, as of Tuesday, Feb. 4.

According to CNN, the surge of confirmed victims from China has now increased by 18 percent for only a day. Due to the continuous spread of respiratory disease, leading Chinese tech companies have now introduced 'virus tracker' apps that will quickly help citizens in China to identify which place in the country already have a positive case of the viral disease.

In this way, Chinese citizens will be able to help the government to inform people about not entering the Coronavirus positive places.

Coronavirus-free places can now be easily spotted using these apps

Chinese data mapping company called QuantUrban and a third-party WeChat mini-program developer named "YiKuang" - or "Epidemic Situation" recently introduced a platform that will let users received official information on the neighborhoods wherein confirmed cases live. In this way, users can gauge how close they are to infection sites by looking at a geographical map.

"We wanted to annotate the information on the map so that the public could better see how epidemic sites are distributed more intuitively, and also remind everyone to make adequate protection," said Yuan Xiaohui, QuantUrban's co-founder and CEO.

Both of the companies will divide the regions in China to be easily used by users. For example, YiKuang will cover the southern cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, while QuantUrban will cover the other nine provinces in the cities.

Officials from the companies said that the apps will provide comfort for citizens of China since they can now be assured on which area in China they are still protected from the Coronavirus.

"Seeing the map is a psychological comfort. You can't guarantee there won't be fresh cases, but you can avoid an area that's already hit," said by April, a Shenzhen-based manager who declined to give her full name on Reuters.

Shenzhen, China positive cases continued to rise

One of the biggest cities in China is Shenzhen, Guangdong that also has the top increasing positive cases of Coronavirus of more than 200 people.

YiKuang will be the one that will cover the said area and citizens are recommended to install the said app,

"If I know that there are sick people nearby, I can take steps to be extra cautious," a finance student named Steven told Reuters. "I live between Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and these maps are really great there."

Chinese president Xi Jin Ping speaks on fighting against Wuhan virus

On Monday, Chinese President Xi Jin Ping already met with the public officials of China in regards to the continuous increase of Coronavirus victims. He said that the viral disease had affected everyone in the country and even the overall economic and social stability of China.

Still, the Chinese government said that they will conduct an overhaul of environmental sanitation conditions in the country to prevent the total spread of Coronavirus.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

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IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Accurate Background, a leading provider of compliant, automated workforce screening solutions, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire CareerBuilder Employment Screening (CBES) from CareerBuilder. The combined entity will operate under the Accurate Background brand and creates a uniquely positioned company focused on technology innovation, customer service, candidate experience, and delivery at scale. Through a strategic partnership agreement, CareerBuilder will continue to offer Accurate's employment screening services to clients.

The acquisition of CBES, which offers highly complementary background screening and drug-testing services and technology to employers in the U.S. and abroad, is expected to strengthen Accurate's pre-and post-employment screening leadership and accelerate the company's mission to deliver the most innovative and comprehensive screening services.

"We are excited to combine our two high-growth, innovation-focused background screening businesses to create an industry leader with significant scale in the U.S. and internationally," said Dave Dickerson, Founder and CEO of Accurate. "Our teams have great mutual respect and share the same dedication to customers and commitment to products and services that dramatically simplify the background screening process. We also look forward to partnering with Apax Digital in this strategic transaction and welcome their insights and expertise as we move forward."

"Accurate and CBES have highly aligned corporate cultures centered on innovation and customer service," said Tim Dowd, President and COO of Accurate. "Importantly, the combined products and services are highly complementary and allow us to extend the value we bring to enterprise, mid-market and small business customers. We expect a seamless integration of our product offerings and teams that will allow us to deliver one of the most comprehensive offerings in the industry to our customers around the world."

Irina Novoselsky, CEO of CareerBuilder, said, "I'm proud of the investments we have made in this best-in-class solution and the significant growth that CBES has experienced. The strategic partnership with Accurate aligns with our approach to both own, and partner when appropriate, to deliver Hello to Hire solutions to our clients. This allows for increased investment in our core business of talent discovery and acquisition. I look forward to what we will be able to accomplish in a large and dynamic market and ultimately the impact we will make on the success of our clients."

Marcelo Gigliani, Managing Partner of Apax Digital, said, "An increasingly competitive labor-market, a more complex regulatory environment, and a growing focus on risk management excellence, are driving employers' strong demand for best-in-class technology solutions for enhanced screening services. We are eager to partner with Accurate in its acquisition of CareerBuilder Employment Screening and look forward to supporting the company in accelerating its customer service advantage, cutting-edge innovation, and international expansion efforts."

The transaction, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals, is expected to close by the first quarter of 2020. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction will be supported by an investment from the Apax Digital Fund, the technology-focused growth equity fund advised by global private equity advisory firm Apax Partners. In conjunction with the investment by the Apax Digital Fund, Marcelo Gigliani and David Evans will join the Board of Directors of Accurate Background.

Barclays and Stifel served as financial advisors to Accurate and the Apax Digital Fund. Latham & Watkins, LLP and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett served as legal advisors to Accurate and the Apax Digital Fund, respectively. PJT Partners and Bowstring Advisors, a division of Citizens Capital Markets, are serving as financial advisors and Sidley Austin LLP is serving as legal advisor to CareerBuilder.

About Accurate Background

Accurate Background is a trusted provider of automated workforce screening. U.S. and international clients across all industries, from emerging businesses to Fortune 500 companies, rely on their compliant solutions. Accurate Background is accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners and has been recognized by Inc. 5000, Deloitte Technology Fast 500, and the Workforce Hotlist. To learn more, visit accurate.com .

About CareerBuilder

CareerBuilder is a global technology company that provides end-to-end talent acquisition solutions to help employers find, hire and onboard great talent, and helps job seekers build new skills and progressive careers as the modern world of work changes. An industry disruptor for nearly 25 years, CareerBuilder is the only company that offers both software and services to cover every step of the Hello To Hire process, enabling its customers to free up valuable resources across their HR tech supply chain to drive their business forward. CareerBuilder operates in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia and is the largest provider of AI-powered hiring solutions serving the majority of the Fortune 500 across five specialized markets. CareerBuilder is majority-owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board. For more information, visit careerbuilder.com for a great candidate experience and hiring.careerbuilder.com to learn more about our solutions for employers.

About Apax Digital

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A website claiming to represent the Defenders of the Shrine who fight in Syria on Irans behalf has published an article complaining that its members were ordered to confront protesters on the streets of Iranian cities last November.

Hundreds were killed, thousands more injured and detained during the deadliest protests against the clergy-dominated government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Defenders of the Shrines (DoS) are Iranian, Afghan and Pakistani Shi'ite fighters under Iranian command who are assigned to fight in Iraq and Syria against ISIS and other groups that Tehran calls as "takfiris," or infidels.

However, in a passionate article, the website of the Voice of the Defenders of the Shrines has revealed that its members were used to quell widespread anti-regime demonstrations that shook 29 out of 31 provinces of Iran for four days.

There is no definite proof the website in fact belongs to fighters who have served in Syria, but so far no one has denied the claim that it represents the Defenders of the Shrine.

Lambasting President Hassan Rouhani's administration, the article has lamented that once again the government deployed the Defenders of the Shrines on the front line to fight its own people, without bearing the responsibility.

"As we witnessed last November, economic protests led to violence, and many of the Defenders of the Shrines were forced to step in," the article says. Furthermore, the article claims that "several defenders," including Morteza Ebrahimi", lost their lives in the bloody clashes.

"Once again, the Defenders of the Shrines were sacrificed, but government officials shunned responsibility," the article notes.

Meanwhile, the passionate denunciation has blasted President Rouhani and his cabinet for mismanagement, depriving the relatives of the "martyred" Defenders of compensation, and denying the fighters income and bonuses.

The government should pay attention to the condition of the Defenders in an impartial way; the article has insisted, adding, President Rouhani's administration should avoid the manner it used in investigating the downing of the Ukraine International Airlines on January 8, that killed all 176 onboard.

Rouhani's administration or the Islamic revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), which manages fighters in Syria, have not yet responded to the article.

According to Reuters, the Islamic Republic security forces backed by Special Units, the IRGC, and plainclothesmen killed up to 1500 protesters during the four-day mid-November uprising.

The rallies, triggered by an overnight three-fold increase in gasoline prices, soon turned into widespread anti-Islamic establishment protests in more than a hundred cities across Iran.
Aerobridges will be used at at dedicated gates of seven international airports (Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Cochin, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai) to screen passengers from China, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong for novel coronavirus (nCoV) to ensure effective prevention, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.

The decision was taken at a meeting held by Health Secretary Preeti Sudan to review the preparedness of states with the ministries or departments concerned on nCoV through video-conference.

India has so far reported three positive cases of nCoV from Kerala.

Sudan informed that screening of passengers was being done at all the 21 airports, international seaports and border crossings.

A total of 89,500 passengers of 777 planes were screened so far at the 21 airports, she said.

As many as 454 samples were tested, of which 451 were found to be negative and the remaining three positive, Sudan said, adding that 3,935 passengers were under community surveillance in 29 states and Union Territories (UTs).

Health secretaries from the states and UTs, along with senior officials from the ministries of shipping, external affairs, civil aviation, tourism and home affairs attended the video-conference.

Sudan informed that various precautionary measures were undertaken in close coordination with the ministries concerned at the central level.

She said the situation was being closely monitored by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Union health minister and cabinet secretary on a daily basis.

The Union health secretary reiterated that new visa restrictions and advisories were issued in view of the emerging scenario globally and asked the states to raise awareness on those.

Sudan reviewed the preparedness of all the states and UTs in terms of orientation of health and other agencies, adherence of various prevention and management protocols, awareness regarding prevention of nCoV among those being screened and those transiting the border with Nepal, self-reporting by these people, isolation wards etc.

She asked the states to take necessary steps for contact tracing and for adequate surveillance management.

Sudan also informed that in order to meet the increasing demand for additional manpower to undertake the screening at airports, the states should provide the required health workforce and other logistic support.

The states bordering Nepal informed that they were taking necessary measures and following up on the guidelines issued by the government on screening people and surveillance management.

States that do not have airports or seaports said special awareness drives at toll plazas, bus stations and railway stations were being initiated.

Kerala, which has reported three positive cases -- all students from China's Wuhan -- highlighted the close monitoring and surveillance being carried out by it across all administrative units in the state.

The Ministry of Tourism stated that it was coordinating with the Hotels Association for wider self-reporting by travellers visiting religious and other tourist places.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prairie Village repeals pit bull ban PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS (KCTV) -- The Prairie Village City Council has voted to repeal their ban on pit bulls. The vote took place on Monday night after a debate that lasted about an hour. We first reported about pit bull owners hoping the city would repeal the ban back in 2016.

Breed bans fall out of favor around the metro and now responsible owners have more freedom for these sometimes intimidating but mostly lovable puppers. Checkit:
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 12:58:45|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran is willing to work together with China to combat the epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Monday.

He made the remarks in a phone conversation with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Zarif said it has been widely recognized by the international community that the Chinese government, in a responsible and transparent manner, has taken timely and resolute measures in fighting the epidemic, which has prevented not only a deterioration of the outbreak within China, but also its spread overseas.

Iran firmly opposes some Western countries' attempt to exploit the epidemic, and believes that the Chinese government and people will overcome the current difficulties, Zarif said.

He said Iran has provided China with a certain amount of urgently needed medical supplies, and stands ready to offer more assistance and work together with China to combat the epidemic.

For his part, Wang expressed thanks to Iran for supporting China in fighting the epidemic, hailing Zarif as the first foreign minister publicly voicing support for China, which has shown the Iranian people's friendliness towards the Chinese people.

Wang also thanked Iran for providing China with medical supplies at the critical moment of epidemic prevention and control.

China has established a nationwide system to fight the epidemic with the strictest and most thorough measures, Wang said, adding that with China's unremitting efforts, the fatality rate of the novel coronavirus nationwide has been controlled under 2.1 percent, far lower than the rate of any other epidemic in China, and also lower than the 17.4-percent fatality rate of the H1N1 influenza in the United States in 2009.

Starting from Feb. 1, the number of people discharged from hospital after recovery has started to significantly surpass the number of deaths, an important symbol showing the epidemic is controllable and curable, he said.

Wang said that China has full confidence and ability to win the fight against the epidemic.

In fighting the epidemic, China has been responsible not only for its own people, but also for the international community, he said.

So far, the number of confirmed cases reported overseas only accounts for less than 1 percent of the total number worldwide, while the H1N1 influenza originated from the United States had then spread to 214 countries and regions, he said.

After visiting China, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke highly of China's unprecedented measures taken in fighting the epidemic, saying that China is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response, Wang noted, adding that the WHO disapproves of imposing travel or trade restrictions on China.

Wang said that while China understands the reasonable and necessary screening measures taken by some countries, it opposes overreactions and moves that will create panic.

He said that China will continue to share information with the world in an open and transparent manner, and strengthen cooperation with other countries, so as to jointly safeguard global and regional public health safety.
Kolkata, Feb 4 : The Kolkata police have busted a gang which defrauded people by promising to arrange "friendship" with high class men and women and arrested six people including two women, a senior officer said on Tuesday.

The arrests were made from Jadavpur police station area on the basis of credible source information by the anti-cheating section of detective department, city police's Joint Commissioner, Crime, Muralidhar Sharma said.

The arrested were identified as Mili Pradhan, Sanjay Das, Tapas Patra, Swapan Kumar Ojha, Chandan NayekA and Mousumi Biswas.

The gang would send messages to people and tell them that if they want to develop friendship with high-class men/women, the same will be arranged.

"They would ask the interested persons to deposit some fees, but no 'friend' would be arranged ever. Every time they would say that more fees would be required. This is how they cheated a huge number of people.

"To some, they would claim that whatever money they have given would be returned if they brought more clients and that they can work for them. For this also they would charge money from them," said Sharma.

A case under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code has been started at the Bowbazar police station.
A new leaflet is being handed out to dairy farmers to give them the information they need to combat criticism over the sector's effects on the environment.

Farmers are being encouraged to learn the true impact of UK milk production on the environment with the new leaflet, by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF).

Greenhouse gas emissions: The truth behind the dairy sectors carbon footprint aims to give dairy producers the facts to understand the industrys potential impact on climate change.

It also hopes to give them the information they need to counter criticism they increasingly face over the industry's effects on the environment.

Being handed out to delegates at Dairy Tech 2020 this week, the leaflets publication coincides with a special presentation at the event which aims to bust the myths on UK dairy and climate change.

Speakers including RABDF chairman Peter Alvis and Tom Gill, Promar Internationals Head of Sustainability will talk about some of the facts behind the headlines when it comes to cattle production, as well as some of the ways farms can limit their environment impact.

Matthew Knight, RABDF chief executive, said he wants farmers to have helpful facts about their industry, such as stats that show dairy production is responsible for just 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

He said it is also important for producers to feel equipped with the knowledge they need to be able to work on their footprints, and have the confidence to talk to people about the good work they were doing.

Livestock farming, particularly cattle production, has been facing increasing amounts of pressure for the perceived impact that cows have on the environment, he said.

While there is always room for improvement when it comes to farmings environmental footprint, so much of the criticism levelled at dairy farmers has been incredibly unfair.

Not only are statistics around carbon footprints and greenhouse gas emissions incredibly complicated, but much of the information currently being reported in the media overstates the impact of dairy cattle on the environment, Mr Knight added.

Significantly, they also ignore the good work many dairy farmers have done to reduce emissions and limit their carbon footprint, such as improving genetics, making production efficiencies and streamlining supply chains.

If farmers are ever going to be able to counter the negative comments being made about them, they need to understand the claims theyre facing and have the facts they need to be able to counter the arguments, he said.

Were hoping that with this booklet, well be able to equip farmers with the knowledge they need to do just that.

Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 21:37:46|Editor: huaxia

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SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming on Tuesday appealed to foreign countries to take a scientific approach to combat the novel coronavirus and follow recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO).

At a press conference held in Seoul, Xing called on relevant countries to make decisions based on science and follow WHO suggestions given its status as the largest global authority on health issues.

Xing said the Chinese government has taken the most comprehensive and strictest measures to prevent the spread of the virus in cooperation with the international community, which considerably slowed down its spread to other countries.

He stressed that China has the capability and resolve to win the fight against the new strain of coronavirus.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the WHO Executive Board meeting on Monday that China has taken "serious measures at the epicenter, at the source," which not only protected Chinese people, but also prevented the spread of the virus to other countries.

"Because of this strategy, if it weren't for China's efforts, the number of cases outside China would have been very much higher," Tedros said.

WHO has said there is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade, and all countries must support those with weaker health systems, as well as accelerate the development of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

Xing said China and South Korea are closely-linked, friendly neighbors, emphasizing the importance for close cooperation between the two countries.

The Chinese ambassador expressed his gratitude to the South Korean government and people in various circles for their support for China in fighting the virus, saying that the Chinese people would not forget it.

"We should join forces and overcome the ongoing emergency situation and should not spare any support and cooperation that we can offer as a neighboring country," South Korean President Moon Jae-in told his senior secretaries at a meeting on Monday.
The Syrian Network of Human Rights has released a report, detailing the arrests by the regime and opposition factions in Syria during January.

A report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights has documented that there were at least 161 cases of arbitrary detentions during the month of January, including 109 cases that turned into forced disappearances.

The 13-page report recorded the toll of the arbitrary arrests made by the parties active in the conflict over the past month, with the cases and incidents of detention distributed according to location.

The cases included two children and one woman.

According to the report, 69 peopleincluding one womanwere arrested by Syrian regime forces, and three by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Rebel groups arrested 37 people, and 52 were arrested by the Syrian Democratic Forces, including two children.

The report presented the distribution of arrests in January according to governorate. Most were in Aleppo, then Deir ez-Zor, followed by the Damascus Countryside, and Hassakeh.

The report said that most arrests took place without a warrant, when the victim passed through a checkpoint, or during raids.

Often regime security forces are responsible for the arrests, without the judiciary being involved, and no charges were brought against the detainees, which the report considered to be in violation of the Syrian constitution.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham controls broad areas and asserts its authority over residents residing there.

Because Tahrir al-Sham is a political entity and has a hierarchical structure, it is obligated to implement international human rights law, of which it has committed widespread violations with detentions and enforced disappearances.

The report urged both the International Independent Investigation Commission and the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism to open investigations into these cases, and those in previous reports.

The report called for the United Nations to set up a special committee to monitor disappearances and forced detentions and reveal the fate of 95,000 disappeared persons in Syria, 87 percent of whom are held by the Syrian regime.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights issues lists of the most prominent daily violations and has released eight monthly statistical reports. It also issues a comprehensive annual report on all violations taking place in Syria.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone speaks during closing arguments in the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Feb. 3, 2020. (Senate Television via AP)

Closing Arguments Delivered as Impeachment Trial Heads for Acquittal

WASHINGTONWith acquittal all but assured, the Democrats prosecuting President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial unleashed another round of arguments on Feb. 3, while the presidents lawyers called the case against him politically motivated, reckless, and baseless.

We have proven Donald Trump guilty. Now do impartial justice and convict him, House impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told the 100-member Republican-controlled Senate, which is due to vote on Feb. 5 on whether to remove Trump from office.

Trump has called the impeachment effort an attempted coup by Democrats.

The Democratic-controlled House impeached Trump on Dec. 18, 2019, on charges of abuse of power for allegedly withholding military aid while asking Ukraine to investigate 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and obstruction of Congress for blocking testimony and documents sought by lawmakers in their investigation. No House Republican voted in favor of the articles.

This was the first totally partisan presidential impeachment in our nations history. And it should be our last, Trump personal lawyer Jay Sekulow told the Senate as part of the defenses closing argument. What the House Democrats have done to this nation, to the Constitution, to the office of the president, to the president himself, and to this body (the Senate) is outrageous. They have cheapened the awesome power of impeachment.

Schiff told the senators during closing arguments that the nations founders wrote impeachment into the U.S. Constitution to give Congress the power to remove a president for committing high crimes and misdemeanors as a remedy to constrain evil.

They meant it to be used rarely, but they put it in the Constitution for a reason, Schiff said. For a man who would sell out his country for a political favor. For a man who would (undermine) the integrity of our elections. For a man who would invite foreign interference in our affairs. For a man who would undermine our national security and that of our allies. For a man like Donald J. Trump.

Sekulow called the impeachment drive reckless, said neither of the charges brought against Trump represent an impeachable offense, and accused Democrats of seeking to negate the 2016 election won by Trump and to subvert the will of the American people.

The answer is elections, not impeachment, Sekulow said.

White House counsel Pat Cipollone added: The president has done nothing wrong.

We can, together, end the era of impeachment.

The Senate seems certain to acquit Trump. A two-thirds majority is required to remove the president. None of the 53 Senate Republicans has indicated support for conviction.

Schiff alleged that Trump, if left in office, would continue to seek foreign interference in the Nov. 3 election, in which he is asking voters to give him four more years as president.

A president free of accountability is a danger to the beating heart of our democracy, Schiff said.

The Senate voted on Jan. 31 not to hear any witnesses, such as Trumps former national security adviser John Bolton, who, in a yet-unpublished book manuscript allegedly depicts Trump as playing a central role in pressuring Ukraine. Only two Republicans, Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, voted to hear witnesses.

After closing arguments are complete, senators will be able to make speeches on the matter until Feb. 5, when a final vote is scheduled for 4 p.m. local time, to determine whether to convict or acquit the president. Some Republican senators have called Trumps actions wrong or inappropriate but not impeachable.

During the trial, Trumps lawyers offered an expansive view of presidential powers and argued that he couldnt be thrown out of office for abuse of power.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) triggered the impeachment process based on a complaint from an anonymous whistleblower who alleged that during a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump pressured the Ukrainian leader to open an investigation into the dealings of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

The transcript of the TrumpZelensky call released by the White House shows Trump inquiring about the firing of Ukraines top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin. At the time of his firing in 2016, Shokin was investigating Burisma, a Ukrainian gas firm that paid Hunter Biden to serve on its board of directors. Biden has on multiple occasions publicly bragged about forcing Shokins ouster by withholding U.S. loan guarantees to Ukraine.

Trump is only the third U.S. president to be impeached. No president has yet been removed from office as a direct result of impeachment.

The first contest in the state-by-state battle to determine the Democratic candidate who will challenge Trump took place Feb. 3 in Iowa, a stern test for Biden as he seeks his partys nomination. Three senators who will vote in the trial on Feb. 5 are seeking the Democratic nomination: Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

Trump was scheduled to deliver his annual State of the Union speech to Congress on Feb. 4.

Reuters contributed to this report.
UN chief sees Turkey-Syria clashes as threat to int'l peace, security

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:37, February 04, 2020

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "very much alarmed" by reports of clashes between Turkish and Syrian troops in northwest Syria seen as a "threat to regional and international peace and security," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.

Guterres called for an immediate end to hostilities, said the spokesman.

Dujarric was asked at a regular briefing about a direct confrontation in northwest Syria between the forces in which eight Turkish soldiers were reportedly killed and an unspecified number of Syrian troops wounded.

"We're very much alarmed by the reports that we saw of clashes between Syrian government troops and Turkish forces in northwest Syria," Dujarric said. "This escalation underscores once again the threat to regional and international peace and security caused by the ongoing conflict in Syria."

"We also remain deeply concerned by the continuing reports of civilian casualties and the large-scale displacement of civilians, resulting from the current Syrian government offensive inside the Idlib de-escalation zone," the spokesman added. "The secretary-general affirms yet again that no attacks on civilians or civilian infrastructure should take place."

As to what the world organization is doing over clashes between the two neighbors, he said diplomatic contacts are being held at various levels to pass on the message publicly and privately for the need to de-escalate.

Dujarric said the UN is alarmed about the safety of more than 3 million civilians in Idlib and the surrounding areas, over half of whom are internally displaced, following reports of airstrikes and shelling.

Between Jan. 31 and Feb. 2, there were at least 25 communities reportedly affected by artillery shelling, while 47 communities were reportedly impacted by airstrikes, he said.

To add to that, the spokesman said there were more than 500,000 people displaced due to the hostilities since December 2019. Around 80 percent of them are women and children.

He also recalled the World Health Organization's reports that at least 53 health facilities suspended services last month due to insecurity and threats of attacks, or as areas were deserted by civilians fleeing violence.

Dujarric said that over the weekend the secretary-general reminded that military operations of all parties, including actions against and by designated terrorist groups, must respect the rules and obligations of international humanitarian law, which includes the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.

The secretary-general reiterated that there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that the only path to stability is a credible and inclusive UN-facilitated political solution as laid out in the Security Council.

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SYRACUSE, N.Y.  The federal government is penalizing SUNY Upstate University Hospital for having high rates of patient infections and injuries.

Upstate is one of 786 hospitals, including 56 in New York state, that will get lower payments for one year from the federal Medicare program. The penalties, required by the federal Affordable Care Act, are designed to encourage hospitals to improve care. Upstates Medicare payments will be cut by 1%.

Upstate was the only Syracuse hospital to get penalized. Other hospitals in the region being penalized include Faxton-St. Lukes and St. Elizabeths in Utica, Canton-Potsdam in Potsdam and Claxton-Hepburn in Ogdensburg.

Kaiser Health News published a list of the penalized hospitals.

The penalties are based on a hospitals rate of infections, bedsores and other complications, known as hospital acquired conditions, that are potentially preventable. Penalties are assessed against the 25 percent of hospitals with the highest rates.

Upstate said in a prepared statement it has taken steps to reduce hospital acquired conditions. These include conducting in-depth reviews of all hospital acquired conditions, executing multi-disciplinary team rounds on a daily basis to prevent hospital acquired conditions and performing daily safety huddles, Upstate said.

Both hospitals and patient safety groups have criticized the penalties for being arbitrary and unfair, according to Kaiser Health News.

The Association of American Medical Colleges said 45% of its members were penalized this year, nearly double the rate of other hospitals.

Dr. Atul Grover, the associations executive vice president, told Kaiser Health News teaching hospitals are penalized more often because they often treat some of the sickest patients.

James T. Mulder covers health news. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
A former Deputy Secretary for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Koku Anyidoho has lodged a formal complaint the second time at the Cyber Crime Unit of the Ghana Police Criminal Investigations Department about a fake Facebook account set up in his name.

According to him, the account which was opened about four years ago is still in existence and is being used to circulate posts which he knows nothing about.

Mr. Anyidoho, in his statement to the Police, said the fake Facebook account is causing me huge problems hence my coming back to this respected police service to lodge a second official complaint.

He further expressed hope that the Police service will do their job in fishing out the person/s behind this criminal act.

---citinewsroom
The Iowa Democratic Party announced Tuesday that it plans to release "a majority" of its caucus results by 5pm ET, though it gave no indication when full results might be available.

The state of play: It blamed Monday night's caucus meltdown on an app "coding issue," but it made clear that it did not "impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately."

The big picture: The debacle overshadowed the winners-losers story of the night, opened Democrats to accusations of incompetence by the Trump campaign and reignited the debate about how long this small, predominately white state should keep its lock on first-in-the-nation status.

The lack of results allowed all of the leading candidates declare some measure of victory on their own terms, make no concessions and head to New Hampshire.

"Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history," President Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement. "And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?"

The State of the Union address is tonight. The final impeachment vote is expected on Wednesday. The next Democratic primary debate, in New Hampshire, is Friday, with the primaries taking place in one week.

What went down: The Iowa Democratic Party enacted new rules this year to address concerns over transparency after the 2016 election results were razor thin. (Hillary Clinton earned 49.9% of delegates to Bernie Sanders' 49.6%.)

Those new rules  plus the introduction of an unregulated app through which votes could be reported from each caucus  only created chaos.

There were reports that some caucus leaders couldn't get the app to work; they were left on hold anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours with the hotline they were supposed to use to report issues with it, or report via telephone rather than the app.

"We found inconsistencies in the reporting," a party statement said. "In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail."

The statement said the snafu, which left cable anchors with hours to fill and nothing to say, was "not a hack or intrusion."

The big picture: Iowa was already on the mat.

Julian Castro has been saying that it shouldn't be the first state in the primary process.

Clinton has called the caucuses a very undemocratic way of picking a nominee" that "just makes no sense.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who's endorsed Elizabeth Warren, said the primary calendar/order in which the states vote in the primary should "absolutely" change in the future.

"If you want it first, do it right," said MSNBC's Chris Matthews last night.

Reactions from caucus volunteers showed how deeply emotions ran.

Melissa Hedden, who traveled to Iowa from Ohio to help as a precinct captain, said the mess-up "might shine a light" on the question of whether Iowa should keep its unique status. "Let's mix it up a little," she said.

Rick Neal, who also traveled from out of state, said: "It's clear why everyone is frustrated; this is the election where we're facing down the apocalypse and we want results. So the frustration's understandable."

Ernad Muratovic, an Iowan, said the distraction might have helped Biden by taking attention away from the likelihood he was eclipsed by rivals. Still, Muratovic said, "We don't want Iowa to lose the credibility it has."

Iowan Amra Klempic said her overarching feeling was one of uneasiness. Even if the results ultimately can be trusted, she said, the delays are a reminder of how vulnerable election systems everywhere  and public trust in elections  may be.

The big question: How much will the results out of Iowa matter if their legitimacy will be questioned by campaigns and voters alike? I think that every single second that passes where we don't get a final result, its concerning," said Warren's campaign manager Roger Lau.

Go deeper: Software disaster sinks Iowa caucus
The 21st edition of International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards will be held from March 27 to 29 in Indore. Bollywood superstar Salman Khan who was born in Indore made the announcement at a glittering press conference here on Monday.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath who joined Salman Khan and Jacqueline Fernandez at the press conference said he had a 16-year long connection with the IIFA and was delighted to the state getting the very second opportunity to host the ceremony in India after Mumbai that hosted it last year.

Rest of the award ceremonies of the academy have been held in major cities across the world like New York, Madrid, Singapore and Bangkok etc., all these years.

IIFA 2020 will be held from March 27 to 29. After an event to be held on March 21 in Bhopal, the remaining event will be held at Indore.

For the first time, Salman Khan will host the ceremony and Riteish Deshmukh will co-host the show. Katrina Kaif and Jacqueline Fernandez will perform on the award night.

The Awards events will be attended by more than five thousand people from the film industry, including over 400 film artists. Nehru Stadium is the most likely venue for the event. The event management company Wizcraft has also seen the locations of Holkar Stadium and Daily College.

Kamal Nath bought the first ticket for IIFA Awards. The focus remained on Salman during the press conference where he related several events connected with his childhood. He presented the chief minister an album containing his baby pictures.

Political gamesmanship began even as the press conference was on to announce the event.

Leader of the Opposition Gopal Bhargava accused the Kamal Nath government of wasting money. State Revenue Minister Govind Singh Rajput retaliated saying the event would add to the pride of Madhya Pradesh.

Rajput said: "IIFA Awards are very prestigious awards and the ceremony has been hosted in India only once in 20 years and that was in Mumbai last year. With the efforts of the Chief Minister, this event will make Madhya Pradesh a talking point in the whole world. Gopal Bhargava should expand his horizon and look beyond politics. This is my suggestion."

According to the information, the IIFA Awards ceremony will be broadcast in 90 countries. The expenditure involved on the event is expected to be Rs 30 crore. The first IIFA Awards ceremony was held in 2000 in London.
A co-ordination meeting for His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifas Sustainable Development Award convened yesterday at the Prime Ministers Court under the chairmanship of Shaikh Hussam bin Isa Al Khalifa.

It was attended by Anna Tibaijuka, member of the awards committee, the Advisory Board of the International Day of Conscience, Under-Secretary General and former Executive Director of the UN-Habitat, after returning from a visit to the UN headquarters in New York where she had held meetings with senior officials.

The meeting cast light on preparations to celebrate the International Day of Conscience which will be observed on April 5 after being approved by the UN in line with an initiative by HRH the Premier to back the international efforts aimed at fostering global solidarity, peace, stability and security, promoting development and countering all forms of violence, fanaticism, division and discrimination.

The meeting also shed light on His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifas Sustainable Development Award and its role in stimulating individual and collective efforts to achieve growth.

It also spotlighted preparations for Bahrain Visions forum which is organised by the Kingdom of Bahrain annually at the UN headquarters in New York in conjunction with the General Assemblys meetings in September 2020.

The forum aims to boost Bahrains contribution to the international communitys efforts to confront challenges to sustainable development, peace and stability.

Shaikh Hussam bin Isa Al Khalifa affirmed keenness of the awards committee to carry out the visions and aspirations of HRH the Prime Minister in supporting the international sustainable development efforts, being a cornerstone in promoting peoples welfare.

He pointed out that the celebration of the first edition of the International Day of Conscience on April 5 represents a unique international event and reflects respect of the international community for HRH the Premiers initiatives to support growth, stability and peace.

Shaikh Hussam pointed out success of Bahrain Visions forum in the past two years, stressing that all capabilities will be dedicated to enhance the forums role as a platform to exchange views on issues related to global development, security and peace.

For her part, Anna Tibaijuka lauded success of His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifas Sustainable Development Award in backing the sustainable development efforts and serve humanity.

She described HRH the Premiers initiatives as an assertion of his keenness to put the international community before its responsibility of protecting the security and stability of mankind and promoting global peace and prosperity.
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Find all our Lessons of the Day here.

Lesson Overview

Featured Article: Trump Administration Adds Six Countries to Travel Ban by Zolan Kanno-Youngs

In 2017, the Trump administration enacted a travel ban from seven Muslim-majority countries, arguing that it was necessary for the safety and security of the United States. The ban was later revised, and on Friday, the administration added six more countries to the list: Africas most populous country, Nigeria, as well as Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania.

In this lesson, youll learn more about the policy, including the rationale behind it and criticism of it. Then youll form your own opinion based on statistics and first-person accounts.

Warm Up

What do you know about President Trumps travel ban, which was enacted in 2017 and was recently expanded to restrict immigration from six more countries, four of them in Africa? Have you or has anyone you know been affected by it?

For more background information, read this excerpt from the featured article:

Days after he came into office, Mr. Trump signed an executive order that closed the countrys borders to people from seven predominantly Muslim countries, making partial good on a campaign pledge for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our countrys representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. The policy took even some of Mr. Trumps own Department of Homeland Security officials by surprise and prompted widespread confusion at airports across the nation. The ban drew several legal challenges but, after some adjustments, was narrowly upheld by the Supreme Court in June 2018. The ban initially restricted travel from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Chad  as well as Venezuela and North Korea. Chad was later removed from the list. The courts majority argued that the policy was not a Muslim ban, citing the inclusion of North Korea and Venezuela and the administrations process of granting exemptions. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. also wrote for the majority that Mr. Trump had the statutory authority to make national security judgments in the realm of immigration. More than 79,700 visas have been subject to the ban since December 2017, according to the State Department.

Then read this excerpt about the recent expansion:

President Trump on Friday added six countries to his list of nations facing stringent travel restrictions, a move that will virtually block immigration from Africas most populous nation, Nigeria, and from Myanmar, where the Muslim minority is fleeing genocide. Beside Nigeria, three other African countries, Eritrea, Sudan and Tanzania, will face varying degrees of restrictions, as will one former Soviet state, Kyrgyzstan. Myanmars Rohingya Muslims could also be caught in the crossfire. All six countries have substantial Muslim populations. The total number of countries now on the restricted travel list stands at 13. Immigrant visas, issued to those seeking to live in the United States, will be banned for Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea and Kyrgyzstan. The ban will also prevent immigrants from Sudan and Tanzania from moving to the United States through the diversity visa lottery, which grants green cards to as many as 50,000 people a year.

Highlight or list the key information in these excerpts that helps you understand the travel ban. See if you can summarize the main idea of these excerpts in one or two sentences. Then write down any questions you still have. If youre in a classroom, share your thoughts with a partner and discuss.
Kolkata, Feb 4 : West Bengal West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday likened the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register to "black magic: and called the BJP a "party of Dushasanas' and "off-spring of Delhi Sultan Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq".

While Dushasana is a villainous character and brother of Kaurava prince Duryodhana in the epic 'Mahabharata,' Tuglaq was a 14th century Sultan of Delhi known for his erratic and eccentric behaviour.

Attacking the BJP for endeavouring to forcibly implement the NRC, CAA and NPR, Banerjee said she was determined to stop it "anyhow".

"The NPR, NRC and CAA are like black magic," she said addressing a public meeting in Nadia district's Ranaghat.

"Unlike BJP, we (Trinamool) aren't a party of Dushasanas. They are children of Muhammad bin Tughlaq," she said.

The Chief Minister said she was not part of any group that spews hatred and blamed the BJP for inciting the firing outside Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia Islamia.

Taking on Union Minister Anurag Thakur for raising provocative slogans during the ongoing campaign for the Delhi Assembly polls, she said at another public meeting in Bongaon of 24 Parganas North district that "they are instigating firings targeted at anti-CAA protestors".
Yves here. Ive kept the original headline to this Kaiser Health News piece even though it focuses attention away from issues that the article raises that seem more important.

It is important to protect patient privacy to the extent possible. Its a generally accepted principle of care plus having the identity of coronavirus victims get out would be a deterrent to getting treatment. Not only could the victim be subject to hostility even after hed recovered, but uninfected relatives and contacts could be shunned and abused, such as fired from their jobs.

However, the piece points out that where the victims have been is also being kept under wraps. This strikes me as a mistake. Given that there is some evidence that the coronovirus can survive on surfaces, it would seem prudent for the CDC to recommend cleaning measures for establishments that infected people visited in the US before being hospitalized. Again, theres the perverse issue that members of the public would happily and unknowingly visit, say a drugstore that an infected person had stopped in before seeking care, but would shun one that had been notified by the CDC of the need for special cleaning and would presumably be safe after that.

I just happened to visit a chain drugstore and it didnt even register until now that it was impossible to check out without putting my hands on a touchscreen (you had to accept or reject getting text messages, the prompt comes up for every friggin transaction). Now I am well away from any area where cases have been reported. But its documented that touch screens are disease vectors. And to be more graphic, feces are suspected to be a transmission path for the novel coronavirus. So consider this cause for pause:

From self-check-in, at airports to self-checkout at grocery stores, touch-screen technology is increasingly becoming an integral part of our daily lives. Touted as time saving and efficient these surfaces are touched by countless people every single day steadily collecting germs and bacteria from users. Much of the bacteria found on surfaces in public areas originates from peoples intestines, gut, nose, mouth, throat, and feces and is a result of poor hand hygiene. o help put it into perspective the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta is the busiest airport in the world handling over 2,500 flights and 275,000 passengers a day. When you think about the staggering number of people passing through the terminals every day and that 34% of Americans do not wash their hands after using the restroom, avoiding germs is an impossible task. According to research done by Insurance Quotes, the average self-check-in screen contained 253,857 colony-forming unit (CFU) thats over 13 times more than the average of an airport water fountain button. One check-in screen recorded over 1 million CFU. In comparison, on average only 172 CFU are found on toilet seats. Even though touchscreen technology is providing consumers with the convenience they want, it is undeniable that many touchscreens are dirty and unhygienic. Tests conducted by the Microbiology department at London Metropolitan University in 2018 found that touchscreens in McDonalds restaurants in London and Birmingham all carried traces of feces. More often than not customers eat immediately after placing their order not stopping to wash off the germs they have just picked up.

The second basis for concern is what looks to be overconfidence of US officials in our public health system, as if we have one. The fact that, depending on how the study was conducted, between 44% and 64% of Americans say they skip or delay medical treatment alone says we have huge gaps in our system. And remember, in the early stages, the cornoavirus symptoms seem like those of a winter flu until they progress to pneumonia in severe cases.

For instance, if you go to the CDC website, you have to go three clicks from the landing page (2019 Novel Coronavirus > What You Need to Know About 2019 Novel Coronavirus > Prevention and Treatment) to find out what to do to keep from getting infected. Thats not easy to find, particularly since for two of the three clicks, you also need to scroll down the page to find further links. Or at least if the CDC thinks conveying that sort of information is important.

Perhaps much more is happening behind the scenes, but what has kept infection numbers and therefore risk in the US low so far is the (admittedly a bit late) lockdown of Wuhan and other key cities in Hubei, the halting of passenger flights to the US, and putting evacuees in quarantine.

But while the potential for transmission from China has been throttled down to close to nil, enough people left Hubei before the lockdown to allow for infection through other countries, and we may see those avenues become meaningful risks. Thailand admitted a full week ago that it cant stop the spread of the coronavirus. Kerkala just announced that the coronavirus was a state emergency although it is not clear what that means.

Kerala: #CoronaVirus has been declared as a state disaster, on directions of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. pic.twitter.com/04rOXTsAzd  ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2020

Epidemiologists are concerned that airlines were slow to cut off flights from China to Africa. Another issue is that while passenger transportation can be shut down fairly quickly, freight is another matter. Readers have no doubt seem much gnashing of teeth over the damage the coronavirus poses to global supply chains, both due to restrictions on transport as well as restrictions on movements of people, which will have knock-on effects to production. But theres also the disease transmission issue. China has land transport routes though Asia to the Middle East; truckers may have taken infection with them.

Needless to say, disease containment measures could have even more severe knock-on effects, as sometimes discussed in comments. From Transport Geography:

Food . Contemporary food production and distribution rely on low levels of inventory, particularly to avoid wastes of perishable products on store shelves. On average, supermarkets have between 2 to 5 days of inventory of perishable goods (dairy, produce, meat) and about 1 to 2 weeks for other goods (pasta, canned goods, etc.). It is worth underlining that these figures are for a normal and stable demand. In the case of a pandemic, available food supplies could quickly be exhausted through hoarding behavior. Such behavior is commonly observed during an acute weather event such as a hurricane where store shelves are quickly emptied. Food security is therefore defined by the ability of the transportation workers to move food from producers to the bulk-storage facilities, to the processor and lastly to the grocer.

. Contemporary food production and distribution rely on low levels of inventory, particularly to avoid wastes of perishable products on store shelves. On average, supermarkets have between 2 to 5 days of inventory of perishable goods (dairy, produce, meat) and about 1 to 2 weeks for other goods (pasta, canned goods, etc.). It is worth underlining that these figures are for a normal and stable demand. In the case of a pandemic, available food supplies could quickly be exhausted through hoarding behavior. Such behavior is commonly observed during an acute weather event such as a hurricane where store shelves are quickly emptied. Food security is therefore defined by the ability of the transportation workers to move food from producers to the bulk-storage facilities, to the processor and lastly to the grocer. Energy . The provision and distribution of energy are critical to the functioning of a modern economy and society. For instance, about 40% of the worlds supply of electricity is generated by burning coal (50% for the United States). Coal power plants maintain a fairly low stockpile, about 30 days, and rely on a constant supply from major coal mining regions, which tend to be far away. While a pandemic would not directly damage energy systems, many energy distribution systems could be threatened through the removal of essential personnel from the workplace for weeks or months and impaired transportation capabilities to supply power plants.

. The provision and distribution of energy are critical to the functioning of a modern economy and society. For instance, about 40% of the worlds supply of electricity is generated by burning coal (50% for the United States). Coal power plants maintain a fairly low stockpile, about 30 days, and rely on a constant supply from major coal mining regions, which tend to be far away. While a pandemic would not directly damage energy systems, many energy distribution systems could be threatened through the removal of essential personnel from the workplace for weeks or months and impaired transportation capabilities to supply power plants. Medical supplies. A pandemic is obviously associated with a surge in the use of medical facilities, equipment and pharmaceutical products. Global drug production is controlled by a few large conglomerates that maintain a limited number of facilities at selected locations. Commonly, a single drug is produced at a single plant. If global distribution systems were impaired during a pandemic, many essential drugs would have difficulties to reach patients while limited stockpiles maintained at medical facilities would quickly run out. For instance, over 95% of all generic drugs used in the United States are made offshore, primarily in China and India. A similar pattern applies to critical medical equipment such as ventilators. Even simple respiratory masks could quickly run out. In 2017, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and substantially damaged infrastructures, particularly the power generation system. In the aftermath, a shortage of saline solutions was felt because Puerto Rico was a major supplier of these solutions to hospitals across the Americas. All these shortages are likely to result in additional deaths.

In other words, the US may continue to be lucky. But I wouldnt bet on our ability to respond well to a real crisis.

By Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Anna Almendrala. This KHN story first published on California Healthline, a service of the California Health Care Foundation

Disclosure this week of multiple cases in the United States of a new viral infection emerging from China  including the first confirmed cases of the virus passing from person to person in this country  is fueling public concerns about how easily the deadly virus can spread.

It is also raising pointed questions about why authorities arent disclosing more information about the risk of exposure.

The first person-to-person case, announced Thursday, involves a man in his 60s with underlying health issues who is married to a Chicago-area woman who contracted the virus while traveling in Wuhan, China, and was diagnosed upon her return. During a news briefing, state and federal health officials said they believe the threat from the virus remains low within the United States and remained cautious about sharing details about patients and their movements.

Unlike the more detailed accounting of patients movements released during measles outbreaks, public health departments are not sharing precise timelines of peoples activities and locations in the days before they were diagnosed with the new coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that while theres a risk for everyone who comes in contact with a person with the virus, it appears minimal for those with only casual contact, such as being in the same grocery store or movie theater.

On Thursday, health officials declined to name the hospital where the infected couple are being treated, saying the patients are isolated and the risk to others in the hospital remains low. Health care workers who are caring for them and at a higher risk of contracting the virus are being monitored. Jennifer Layden, an epidemiologist with the state of Illinois, told reporters that the wife is doing well and the husbands condition is stable.

In Orange County, California, where a traveler from Wuhan was confirmed on Jan. 25 to have the virus, Health Care Agency officials said they have received questions from concerned community members about why the agency has not released a precise timeline with the patients whereabouts. Jessica Good, spokesperson for the agency, said given what public health officials understand at this point about how the virus spreads, no additional precautions are recommended for the public.

Our residents should go about their daily lives with no changes to planned activities, Good said.

Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, an epidemiology professor with the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA, is among the experts endorsing calm. The new coronavirus appears to be spreading through respiratory droplets, expelled by a sneeze or cough, that do not remain airborne for long and would require close contact for transmission, Kim-Farley said. Given that, he said, publishing a list of locations infected patients had visited would unnecessarily stigmatize businesses and public places.

Theres no reason to stigmatize a place if theres no public health action to be taken, he said.

But he also noted that public health officials could quickly shift strategies pending key developments; for example, if they find the viral particles can remain airborne for long periods, similar to the highly contagious measles virus.

Not everyone agrees with the cautious approach. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said that if public health officials have found that patients were in public spaces, they should make that information public. There is every reason to inform people if they were exposed.

Most of the people confirmed to have caught the coronavirus outside of China are believed to have had prolonged contact with people who picked it up in China, like the man in Illinois. But the medical communitys understanding of the virus is still evolving, and the CDC emphasized its recommendations may change.

The Chinese National Health Commission minister has reported that the virus appears capable of being transmitted by an infected person without symptoms. On Thursday, German researchers documented such a case involving German workers who contracted the virus while attending a workshop with a female colleague who had recently been in China, according to news reports.

On Friday, citing the new research and expanded outbreak in China, the CDC took the rare step of ordering a two-week quarantine for 195 Americans flown back to the U.S. from Wuhan by the State Department. The federal government later expanded that quarantine to all Americans who have been in Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located, during the last 14 days. Additionally, all foreign nationals who have traveled in China in the past 14 days will temporarily be prevented from entering the U.S., with the exception of immediate family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Those measures took effect on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.

While the CDC has cautioned against panic in the U.S., it has expressed concern about the situation in China, where more than 17,000 people have tested positive for the disease and more than 360 have died. The majority of people infected are experiencing mild cases of illness that resemble the flu or a bad cold. But more serious cases can result in pneumonia and respiratory failure.

Despite unprecedented travel restrictions in China, which have prevented the movement of tens of millions of people, the virus has spread to every major city, and the number of cases is sure to grow substantially.

The risk that large outbreaks could spring up in other countries, including the U.S., is also real. The World Health Organization declared the virus a global health emergency on Thursday, precisely because of that risk, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news conference. There likely will be more cases confirmed in the U.S., and it is likely that people in close contact with those patients could contract the disease, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC.

Still, the risk to the American public remains low, officials stressed. Thats partly because public health departments around the country are on high alert and preparing for additional cases.

We have a really good public health system thats really good at detecting disease, said Anne Rimoin, an epidemiologist and director of UCLAs Center for Global and Immigrant Health. Weve been preparing for this kind of a thing.

The CDC is reminding the public to take the usual precautions during flu season: Wash hands regularly; cover your mouth when you cough; avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands; and avoid contact with people who are sick.

Local health departments also are monitoring close contacts of people who have tested positive for the virus, and sometimes running diagnostic tests even when they have no symptoms.

Despite these assurances, rumors are circulating broadly via text and social media, particularly in Chinese immigrant communities, about people who recently traveled to China and might be infected.

Los Angeles resident Rachel Lee Morales, who was born in China, is anxious because her young daughter is in China with her grandparents to celebrate the new year. Morales is closely following news on the epidemic and has seen messages on social media making unverified claims about people who have recently traveled to Wuhan, including sharing their address and where their children attend school.

Information gets spread so widely these days, and it could seriously hurt peoples lives, Morales said. I dont want anyone to get into trouble because of this.
The Asiatic lion is a rare lion native to India and restricted to the Gir National Park. The lion was first described in 1826 by Johann Meyer, an Austrian zoologist, and has been listed as endangered ever since. With around 500 individuals left, the Asiatic lion is believed to have diverged from the African counterparts 186,000 years ago and moved towards India, where it evolved in isolation after the gene flow was disrupted by the extinction of lions in the Middle East and Europe. The lion is closely related to West African and North African lions more than they are to Southern and East African lions. The African lion, on the other hand, is spread out across Africa, with the most numbers concentrated around the East African region. The African lion was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in his book Systema Naturae. The North and West African lions diverged from the East and Southern African lions about 180,000 years ago when the equatorial forest expanded and cut off the two regions. These two lions are the dominant subspecies left on the planet, and they exhibit several differences that set them apart from each other. The differences include the following.

Image: Asiatic lion and lioness.

Size

African lions are larger than their Asiatic counterparts. A male African lion weighs between 330pound and 500 pounds, with females averaging about 345 pounds. The largest African lion ever recorded weighed 800 pounds and measured 11 feet from nose to tail. Male Asiatic lions weigh between 350 and 450 pounds, with females weighing between 240 and 360 pounds. The shoulder height in Asiatic males stands between 3.51 and 3.94 feet, while females stand between 2.62 and 3.51 feet. The largest Asiatic lion ever recorded reached 9.7 feet long from the tip to the tail to the nose.

Mane

The male Asiatic lions have sparse and exceptionally short mane with its ears visible. Another stand out mane feature is the color. The short mane is dark and less developed. Male African lions have a more prominent, fuller mane that covers the whole head and falls back over the shoulders. The mane signals how healthy a male is to females, which they use to attract them and to intimidate other rivals.

Elbow And Tail Tufts

Asiatic lions have more pronounced tufts of hair on their elbows and tails compared to their African counterparts. The tail tuft covers the whole back area of the tuff, and its function is yet to be determined. African lions have minimal tufts of hair on their tails and elbows.

Skin Folds

Asiatic lions have a long-running longitudinal fold of skin under their bellies. The skin fold is one of the most distinguishing features that are unique to Asiatic lions. African lions do not have this fold.

Skulls

Asiatic lion skulls have a feature known as bifurcated infraorbital foramina that refers to small holes in the skull, allowing blood vessels and nerves to pass to the eye. Any lion skull that has these two holes belongs to an Asiatic lion. African lions, on the other hand, have one infraorbital foramen, and this, however, does not imply that their eyesight is inferior to that of Asiatic lions. It is only a physical feature that they do not possess. The African lion skull is also more prominent than the Asiatic lion skull.

Size Of The Pride

Asiatic lion prides tend to be smaller, and the biggest one ever recorded had five adult females with most surviving with just two females. The reason behind this is that Asiatic lions prey on smaller animals, which makes sense to have a smaller attacking force. Another possible reason is the size of their habitat. Gir National Park is not that big, and the hunting space is too constricted for the lions to operate in large pride. African lions operate in large prides of up to six females and two males with cubs. Faster and agile females do the hunting while the males guard their territories and fight off threats.

Image: Lioness and cub at Kruger National Park, South Africa

Sociability Of Male Lions

Every African lion pride has a male or two whose role is to defend the pride from other male lions. If outsider males take over the pride, they usually kill all the cubs belonging to the previous males before taking over control. Male Asiatic lions move independently in groups of two, and they only associate with females during mating season or when coordinating more gigantic kills. Moving independently allows the lions to control more territory without anything holding them back.

Size Of Prey

Asiatic lions prey on smaller animals due to their location. Chital deer is the most common prey in the Gir forest, and it weighs only about 110 pounds. The water buffaloes in India are smaller than the ones Africa and Asiatic lions tend to avoid them most times. The African lion preys on larger animals like wildebeests, and zebras which weigh between 600 and 800 pounds. Buffalos, which weigh between 1000 and 2000 pounds, are the African lions favorite prey that can only be brought down by a highly coordinated hunt.

Interesting Facts About Lions

Despite being called the King of the Jungle, lions never live in the jungle, and they prefer open grasslands, shrubs, deserts, woodlands, and scrub complexes where they can see and stalk their prey from a distance. Female lions stay with pride forever until they die. While male lions leave the pride to start their own once they grow up. Female cubs grow up as part of the pride and eventually take over from the older females once they die. Lions once roamed the whole globe from North America to Europe to the Middle East and Asia. Currently, they are only found in Africa and the Gir forest in India. Male lions have the loudest roar of all the cat species that can be heard 5 miles away. They use roars to find mates, warn other male lions, or find their pride. Despite their reputation, lions are the second largest cats on the planet, and tigers hold the title of the biggest cats existing right now. Many countries use the lion as the national symbol, and some of them include England, Belgium, Albania, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Ethiopia, Luxembourg, and Singapore. Lions sleep for up to 20hours in a day, and when they walk, their heels never touch the ground. A lion can run for up to 50 mph and jump as much as 36 feet into the air.

Threats To Lions

Big cats around the world are in sharp decline due to forces beyond their control. Loss of habitat has hit lions hard as this has led to a reduction of prey numbers starving them off their food source. Conflicts with humans and livestock have also led to many lions losing their lives over the years. As human populations increase and encroach on what was once lion territories, the lions have been forced to start attacking livestock. In retaliation, they have been hunted down and killed. Diseases and climate change have also affected lion populations. Africa is getting drier and hotter, and this is drying up water sources and grass, driving away zebras, antelopes, and buffaloes, which is the source of food for lions. Inbreeding depression has also caused the gene pool to weaken considerably, and this has made lions vulnerable.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 4, 2020

Jan. 10 was like any other day for Buyung, a 45-year-old paperboy who regularly delivers the morning paper to offices and houses in Harmoni, Central Jakarta. However, unlike in the past, he carried few newspapers on the back of his bicycle.

Ever since starting the job in 2009, he has experienced a massive decrease in the number of newspapers he delivers, with the world around him growing more and more digitalized by the second. Consequently, jobs like his risk running the way of the dodo.

Paperboys make less than they did in past decades and many are out of a job as a result. Buyung said many of his colleagues either made the decision to retire or look for other jobs to support their family.

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Hong Kong today confirmed its first death from the coronavirus  the first fatality not from the mainland  while Singapore ratchets up rules for at-risk residents.

The coronavirus has now infected more than 20,000 people and killed at least 425 in China, data from national and provincial health committees on Tuesday morning showed. The 39-year-old Hong Kong man who died in hospital this morning had traveled briefly to Wuhan late last month and gone to seek treatment with a fever on Jan. 31. He died of heart failure, according to media reports, and had medical issues prior to becoming infected. He was the second to die outside of China; a Wuhan man died Sunday in the Philippines.

Chief executive Carrie Lam yesterday announced more border closures with China but fell short of sealing off the territory completely from the mainland, as demanded by thousands who had gone on strike.

Singapore called off its annual airshows aviation summit as the Health Ministry yesterday advised dorm operators and landlords against evicting or imposing excessive restrictions on occupants on leaves of absence.

Singaporeans and long-term visa holders returning to the country after visiting mainland China must quarantine themselves at homes for 14 days to reduce interaction with the public and prevent spread of the disease.

Those on self-quarantine and living in shared apartments are also advised to minimize contact with their housemates, such as having separate mealtimes, using separate utensils and cutlery and sleeping on separate beds.

The city-state has not announced any confirmed new cases in two days.

Meanwhile governments efforts to retrieve their citizens from the virus exclusion zone around Wuhan have picked up steam.

Malaysians stranded in the Chinese cities under quarantine arrived back home this morning, while Thais are expected to return home from Wuhan this afternoon.

More than 200 Taiwanese landed Taoyuan International Airport just before midnight last night after they were airlifted from Wuhan. At the same time, Australians were flown out of the Chinese city and taken to Christmas Island for quarantine.

Story continues

In Japan, a cruise ship carrying 3,500 people has been quarantined since Monday evening after a previous passenger tested positive for the virus in Hong Kong. The 80-year-old passenger had disembarked the vessel Jan. 25 in Hong Kong.

Malaysians being evacuated from Wuhan arrived home this morning and were sent for health checks at the airport. Those with symptoms were to be taken to the hospital while the rest were taken to a monitoring center.

The evacuees were transported aboard an AirAsia flight along with six embassy officials, 12 flight crew members and eight individuals from humanitarian and disaster relief efforts. The plane landed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at nearly 6am. When it left for Wuhan on Monday afternoon, it carried 500,000 pairs of rubber gloves as a contribution to China.

Thai students and workers are expected to be airlifted out today. A Thai AirAsia flight was scheduled to leave Don Mueang airport at 7:10 am and depart Wuhan with at least 144 citizens at 4:40pm, local time.

The country is grappling with rising prices of protective face masks and hand sanitizers. A move to add the products on a state price control list will be proposed to the cabinet today. Once approved, sellers and manufacturers are required to declare to the government details including production costs and sale prices.

Those exporting more than 500 face masks would be required to obtain approval.

None of those evacuated from Wuhan to Indonesias Natuna Islands has shown symptoms of the coronavirus but remain under monitoring, the government said yesterday.

A total of 243 people, including a foreign national and five Foreign Ministry officials, flew out of Wuhan on a Batik Air flight and landed at the Hang Nadim International Airport on Batam island before being transferred to the Raden Sadjad Air Force Base in Natuna on the same day.

The country remained free of known infections as of Tuesday morning.

Following news of a patient in Thailand showing signs of recovery after taking HIV and flu antivirals, Manilas health minister said today the country will wait for further research findings.

Echoing the World Health Organizations stand on the cocktail of drugs, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the treatment is only backed by anecdotal evidence and lacks a scientific basis.

The Health Ministry yesterday advised dorm operators and landlords against evicting or imposing excessive restrictions on occupants who are on leaves of absence.

Organizers have also called off the Singapore Airshow aviation summit due to the outbreak.

Related:

Duterte bans all flights from China as Wuhan coronavirus patient dies in PH

15th person tests positive for Wuhan coronavirus as hospital workers go on strike

Bali prays to remain safe from coronavirus outbreak

This article, Singapore landlords told not to kick out those on Wuhan virus quarantine, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!
More than a dozen Iranian students with valid visas to study in the US have been deported since August.

A mad dash to collect documents, two overseas trips, a nerve-racking interview followed by months of anxious waiting. After securing admission to some of the worlds most prestigious universities, this is the gruelling and costly process Iranian students go through to obtain a student visa to the United States.

But since August, at least 17 Iranian students have had their dream of studying in the US dashed after landing in US airports, valid visas in hand. They were instead sent home and most were given five-year bans on returning to the US, after Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers deemed them inadmissible, a label immigrant rights advocates say is broad and can be used at the customs officers discretion.

Immigration lawyers said the trend began last year but has intensified in recent weeks amid high political tensions between the US and Iran, after the administration of US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani on January 3.

Reihana, who wished to be referred to by her first name only, boarded a plane from Tehran to Boston, Massachusetts last September, excited at the prospects of beginning her Masters programme at the Harvard Divinity School.

But when the 35-year-old landed in Logan airport, she was pulled aside by CBP officers for additional questioning. She was led to a separate room where she was asked questions about her travels, work experience, family, studies and her Iranian mobile phone number. Then, an officer searched her luggage and asked her about a Quran that she was carrying.

She said she was then asked about what Iranians think about the explosion in Saudi Arabia, referring to the September 14 drone attacks on two major Saudi Arabian oil facilities. Yemens Houthi rebels claimed responsibility.

I said I was packing my things during the past days, and I hadnt been reading or following the news, Reihana recalled. I explained I didnt know much and that people generally hoped the situation would get better.

Afterwards, she says officers took her laptop and mobile phones and asked her to give them her passwords, which she did.

After more than eight hours of questioning, waiting, demands to sign a form she could not fully understand, fingerprinting and having her picture taken  she was on a flight back to Iran. She said during the entire time her requests to contact her family and university officials were denied.

I went through one of the worst experiences of my life, she said. It was truly traumatic.

After inspecting the document she refused to sign, Reihana says customs officers deemed she had immigrant intent, or planned to overstay her student visa and live in the US  an accusation she said is completely false.

I have invested a lot of time and effort in finding the opportunity to study at my dream programme, she said.

Had I intended to come to the US and stay longer-term, I would have applied to many more programmes  not just a highly competitive programme that I had only a slim chance of being accepted into, she told Al Jazeera.

In a letter addressed to the US State Department, Maureen Martin, director of Immigration Service in the Harvard International Office said that she called CBP at Logan Airport on the evening that Reihana was due to arrive to inquire about her whereabouts and avoid that she be subject to a five-year ban.

We take seriously the routine audits conducted of our office and strive to maintain the highest standard to ensure we are complying with the law and that we are properly preparing students for the requirements of the student visa, Martin wrote in her statement.

Based on my review of Reihanas application it did not appear there was any particular information that would support the notion that she intended to come to the United States for any other reason but to study, she said.

Its outrageous

Susan Church, an immigration lawyer who represents Reihana, as well as two other recently deported Iranian students, said customs officials seem to have been emboldened by the recent tensions between the US and Iran, but the trend is not new.

We think there has been a significant increase in the questioning, interrogating, harassing, cancelling of visas and issuing of expedited removal orders against Iranians in the last 10 months or so, said Church.

Church said students arrive at US airports with their valid visas and the required supporting documents after a months-long vetting process by the State Department, which involves students handing over detailed information on their backgrounds, education, work experience and family ties, in addition to their social media accounts and email addresses.

They work their whole life towards this goal, and then a single officer takes it away, Church told Al Jazeera. Its outrageous.

CBP said they do not discuss individual cases and the issuance of a visa  does not guarantee entry to the United States.

CBP has understood Iran and its proxies to be a very capable adversary for some time. Consistent with our statutory authorities, CBP leverages all available tools and information to ensure that individuals who seek entry into the United States are appropriately screened, CBP said in an emailed statement to Al Jazeera.

People take part in an anti-war protest amid increased tensions between the United States and Iran in Times Square in New York, US [Eduardo Munoz/Reuters]

On Monday, Democratic Senator from Massachusetts Ed Markey filed two civil rights complaints with the Department of Homeland Security, one on behalf of Reihana and a second on behalf of Mohammad Shahab Dehghani Hossein Abadi, requesting that the legally flawed expedited removal of the two students be investigated.

Abadi, 24, was denied entry to the US last month and flown back to Iran despite previously having studied at Northeastern University for two semesters, US media outlets reported. A Massachusetts district court judge granted him an emergency stay, but he was deported a day later.

A few days later, Alireza Yazdani, 27, an Iranian PhD student who had planned to continue his studies at Michigan State University was sent back to Iran, after hours of questioning in the Detroit, Michigan airport, his lawyers told US media.

Mohamad Elmi, 31, a PhD student who had been accepted to the University of California was refused entry and flown back to Tehran after 24 hours of questioning in a restricted area of Los Angeles International Airport, the Guardian reported.

There has been a trend in the past several months in different airports, different states, where this has been happening, particularly to students, Ghazal Nicole Mehrani, an immigration lawyer who has represented several of the deported students.

They all have valid visas that have been approved after months of clearance. They have all their documentation but by the time they arrive at the border, theyre not allowed to enter the country, Mehrani told Al Jazeera.

Mehrani said the deportations have far-reaching consequences for the students, the majority of whom are at the top of their class and are hardworking, highly educated and highly skilled young people.

As soon as they find out that they cant come here it impacts them academically, financially and emotionally, Mehrani adds.

Huge hike

Iranian-American groups say the problem has not been limited to students. Earlier in January, more than 60 Iranians and Iranian Americans were held for hours at the US border with Canada as they were trying to return home. CBP blamed the long wait times on an increased number of travellers at the border and reduced staffing during the holiday season.

There is a huge hike, Ali Rahnama, a lawyer with the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, which has been tracking the cases.

The question is, whether there is a policy change on the CBP national level, or CBP officers are abusing the discretion given to them by the law, Rahnama told Al Jazeera.

Protesters gathered outside the USs 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia against President Donald Trumps travel ban on travellers from predominantly Muslim countries [Steve Helber/AP Photo]

In January, a leaked internal CBP memo issued in the Seattle field office appeared to show that the agency had directed its officers to target Iranian nationals or individuals who had travelled to Iran and neighbouring countries for additional vetting measures.

In a statement on Monday, Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal said she met with CBP Seattle Director of Field Operations and for the first time, we were able to hear that there was indeed a breach of protocol and that a large number of Iranian Americans were inappropriately targeted.

Im also deeply concerned that it took a leaked memo to get to this point. CBP headquarters has not been honest about what happened  and that must change, Jayapal said according to the statement.

I appreciate the @CBP Seattle Field Office meeting with us today. For the first time, we were able to hear that there was indeed a breach of protocol & that a large number of Iranian Americans were inappropriately targeted. https://t.co/SF81vrNaiE  Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) February 4, 2020

Iran is one of 13 countries included under Trumps now-expanded travel ban which places certain restrictions on nationals from Iran, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Tanzania and Yemen, as well as Venezuela and North Korea.

The ban exempts student visas for Iranians. In the 2018-19 academic year, 1,800 Iranian students were issued visas, according to data collected by the Institute of International Education.

Experts said the process of securing visas to the US has been fraught since the two countries cut diplomatic ties back in 1980, after Irans Islamic Revolution the year before.

There is no US embassy in Iran, and students wishing to apply for visas have to travel to third-country affiliates: UAE, Armenia or Turkey, at least twice to obtain their visas. Once for the interview and a second time to pick up their passports, making the process more difficult and costly than for other nationals.

The National Iranian American Council said visa applications often take months to process, forcing many students every year to start classes late, defer semesters, lose scholarships and even forfeit admission altogether.

The authorities are highly sceptical of highly educated Iranians, said Curtis Morrison, an immigration lawyer who represents many families seeking waivers under the travel ban.

All my clients have PhDs and thats not a coincidence, Morrison told Al Jazeera.

Severe measure

In 2018, the Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal signed between Tehran and six world powers, under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of international sanctions.

After backing away from the agreement, Washington reimposed sanctions on Iran as part of a maximum pressure policy.

Fatemeh Shams, assistant professor of Persian Literature at the University of Pennsylvania said that the restrictions Iranian students face should not be viewed in light of the recent tensions alone.

After the hostage crisis in the 1980s, after the Iranian revolution, and after 9/11 there were many cases of people who were refused visas or when they arrived at the border, were denied entry, Shams told Al Jazeera.

This is not the first time that Iranians are being questioned or deported at the borders, Shams added.

Church, Reihanas lawyer, said expedited removal based on immigrant intent is a severe measure, one that is usually reserved for travellers who demonstrate clear incentives to settle in the US  which is not the case with the Iranian students, most of whom have no relatives in the US.

Church said there are only two legal grounds for expedited removal: fraud and immigrant intent. Political views or social media posts, which have come under increased scrutiny in recent months, is not grounds for inadmissibility.

The government doesnt have a ground to rescind their visas so they are using a generic and inappropriate ground of immigrant intent, Church explains.

Reihana said most of the questions she was asked during her eight-hour ordeal were focused on her political views and affiliations, an area that is outside of her interests and expertise: philosophy.

I dont have any relationship with the government of Iran, I never worked with the government and I am not responsible for the actions of the government of Iran, she said. I am just an ordinary student who came to study.
End times prophecy study: Most pastors dont link world events to speeding up Christ's return

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Though some religious teachers believe global events in the Middle East could fulfill prophecies about the end of the world, pastors are three times more likely to believe evangelism efforts will quicken the return of Jesus Christ, a recent study has found.

A study of 1,000 Protestant pastors conducted between Aug. 20, 2019, and Sept. 24, 2019, by LifeWay Research found that church leaders believe Christians can speed up the return of Christ by sharing the Gospel rather than by backing certain geopolitical changes mentioned in biblical prophecy.

"While Scripture specifically says we cannot know the day or the hour of Jesus Christ's return, we were interested in pastors' views on whether Christians can play a role in bringing about that return any sooner," LifeWay Research executive director Scott McConnell noted.

Just 1 in 8 Protestant pastors (12%) believe Christians can speed up the second coming of Jesus by supporting geopolitical changes mentioned in the Bible, with 5 percent strongly agreeing.

Eight in 10 pastors (80%) dont believe their support will have an impact on the timing of Christs return, including 61% who strongly disagree.

Interestingly, in 2013, amid escalating conflicts with Syria, a larger percentage of Americans believed it was part of the Bible's plan for the end times. One in four believed that a possible U.S. attack on Syria could lead to the Battle of Armageddon, and one in five believed the world would end in their lifetime.

At the time, the survey found that 32% of those polled agreed with the statement, "I believe the battles in Syria are all part of the prophecies of the book of Revelation." Forty-nine percent disagreed.

"Almost 1 in 3 saw the conflict as part of the Bible's plan for the end times," the 2013 LifeWay Research study said. "One in 4 thought a U.S. military strike in Syria could lead to Armageddon, and 1 in 5 believed the world would end in their lifetime  including 32% of evangelicals."

But in the most recent study of Protestant pastors, there was no significant difference between mainline and evangelical pastors regarding their views about international political affairs speeding up the return of Christ, according to Lifeway.

In the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20), Jesus tells His followers to make disciples of all nations. Lifeway notes that this verse is often understood as a command to spread the faith to all distinct people groups.

Previously in Matthews Gospel, Jesus connects this occurring to his second coming. This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Matt. 24:14 CSB).

Still, a relatively large minority of pastors see a connection between spreading the Word and when Christ will come back. Close to 2 in 5 (41%) believe Christians can hasten Jesus' Second Coming through world evangelism, while around half (54%) disagree, the study showed.

The Great Commission was a task Jesus gave His followers to be doing while He is gone, said McConnell. Four in 10 pastors believe the pace of sharing the message of what Jesus has done will impact the timing of Christs return. Presumably many of those who disagree would assert exclusively divine control over Christs return.

However, the majority of Protestant pastors agree immorality will be more common until Jesus returns: Almost 7 in 10 (68%) agreed with the statement culture will increasingly get less moral until Jesus Christ returns, and around a quarter (26%) disagree.

Evangelical pastors (80%) are far more likely to agree than mainline pastors (51%). Pastors 45 and older (71%) are more likely to agree than younger pastors (62%).

"On the surface, the responses of most pastors could be described as feeling helpless regarding these specific aspects of the future," McConnell concluded. "Yet the persistence of their faith amidst a lack of control points to an even greater level of hope."

In general, predictions about the end times tend to be more common among charismatic pastors and church leaders who believe God uses signs and miracles in the modern world.

John Hagee, Pat Robertson, and the late Jack Van Impe are among popular pastors who have pointed to recent Middle East conflagrations, such as the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the war in Syria, as fulfilling biblical prophecy of the end times.

But conservative pastors and Bible teachers have cautioned against excessive speculation regarding the timing of Jesus Christ's return to Earth.

"The Lords people rightly look forward to the Parousia (Second Coming). But I would suggest greater caution because the same sort of comments have been made by prophecy enthusiasts throughout church history," Kenneth R. Samples, the senior research scholar of philosophical and theological apologetics at Reasons to Believe, said.

"Many, unfortunately, went further and set dates that were wrong  causing nonbelievers to doubt the truth of the Christian faith. Just in the last 50 years alone, several prominent Bible teachers have set dates and acted, in my opinion, eschatologically irresponsible, and evangelical Christianitys credibility suffered because of it," he added.

Dr. Floyd Elmore, professor of theology at Southern Evangelical Seminary in Matthews, North Carolina, previously told The Christian Post that is not possible to have absolute certainty on a connection between current events and the Bible's plan for the end times.

"Since the Lord said 'no man knows the day or the hour when He comes,' I don't really think that anyone can say with absolute certainty that these specific events are going to lead to the end times Catastrophes," said Elmore.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 14:02:50|Editor: mingmei

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SYDNEY, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- An investigation has been launched after a distressing land-clearing incident in Australian that has left around 40 koalas dead and another 80 in need of care.

The authorities first became aware of the disturbing act last week, when a local resident stumbled upon the private timber plantation while hiking near the township of Cape Bridgewater.

The investigation was launched by the State of Victoria's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

"This is a terrible incident, it's going to be properly investigated and it won't be for those who have been involved in it to clear themselves," Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters on Tuesday.

"If anyone has done the wrong thing and that can be established, then they will feel the full force of the law."

Logging group South West Fibre said they carried out works on the property recently but denied any involvement in the incident, adding that the site was handed back to the landowner in November 2019.

"South West Fibre left an appropriate number of 'habitat trees' for the existing koala population and provided details of such in a letter to the landowner, noting that the koalas were uninjured and in good health," it said.

But according to the company, the remaining trees have since been cleared.

"I did not seek to deliberately doze koalas to death. I am not a killer, I am a farmer, we care too," the owner of the 55-hectare property told local media.

With around half the koala population in Australia believed to have been wiped out by this summer's unprecedented bushfire, many environmental groups and wildlife experts called for the beloved Aussie animal to be formally categorized as an endangered species.

"The devastation that has befallen the koalas in this part of Portland is an abysmal act and one that rightly makes me angry, makes me heartbroken and I know that many Victorians are feeling the same way today," Victorian Environment Minister Lily D'Ambrosio said.

"We will do everything possible to bring the people who are responsible for this to account and to throw every penalty that is available to us at them. This can never be repeated."
Two sisters separated during the chaos of war at the Battle of Stalingrad have met again 78 years later in an astonishing reunion.

Rosalina Kharitonova, now 94, was working in a tank factory which was bombed by the Nazis in 1942.

Her distraught family including younger sister Yulia, now 92, assumed she was dead, one of two million victims in the most bloody confrontation in World War Two.

In fact, Rosalina was not in the factory when it was hit but on an evacuation ferry crossing the Volga River which was also struck by Hitler's Luftwaffe.

Rosalina Kharitonova (right), now 94, and her younger sister Yulia, now 92 (left) met after 78 years apart in Chelyabinsk, Russia

Her son Yury Ponomarev said: 'They were loaded onto ferries, and my mother told how, after the latest explosion, she was washed away from the ferry into the Volga.

'She nearly drowned, but some military man pulled her out.'

She and other survivors walked the 240 miles to Saratov from where she was ordered to go to Chelyabinsk in the Urals to work at another tank plant.

The women in their family including Yulia were soon evacuated to Soviet Central Asia - and Rosalina had no way to find them during or after the war, although she never gave up looking.

'We were told that Rosa (Rosalina) had died, and this sounded right, we did not search for her,' said Yulia as the pair met again in Chelyabinsk in an astonishing and heartwarming reunion filmed by Russian channel NTV.

Rosalina Kharitonova, now 94, was working in a tank factory which was bombed by the Nazis in 1942. The pair kiss during the reunion

Rosalina's distraught family including younger sister Yulia, now 92, assumed she was dead, one of two million victims in the most bloody confrontation in World War Two

It is in the year when the wartime Allies will mark the 75th anniversary of the end of hostilities in Europe.

Asked if she is happy to see her sister, Yulia said: 'And what do you think? But now... I remember Rosa as a young girl and now I will only see an old lady.'

When they met, Rosalina broke into tears.

Using the fond Russian name for Yulia, she wept: 'Yulenka, oh my God... oh...'

They hugged and kissed for the first time in more than three quarters of a century during the meeting.

Yulia told Rosalina: 'I still remember our house, how we rode the sledge down the slope.'

Rosalina (left) and Yulia (right) when they were young women. Rosalina recalled of her childhood in Stalingrad - now Volgograd: 'There were four of us kids: me, Galina who was my twin, Yury and Yulia. We lived good'

Rosalina clasped her hands and the laughed.

'We were parted by war,' she said.

Svetlana Repova, Yulia's daughter, said: 'My mother told us that when the bombing was over she, her mother Olga and Rosalina twin sister Galina went to the site of the factory.

'They came and all their workshop was totally destroyed. Only lumps of cement were left.'

They were told that Rosalina was dead.

After moving to Chelyabinsk, she married and had two children.

Rosalina recalled of her childhood in Stalingrad - now Volgograd: 'There were four of us kids: me, Galina who was my twin, Yury and Yulia. We lived good.

Rosalina, first from the left) during her time at the tractor making factory when she was younger

'But then war was declared and the fighting started.'

Aged 15 she was sent to work in a tractor factory which was converted into making tanks.

'Yes, I was making tanks, you know, crankshafts for them,' she said.

'There were a lot of warning sirens at the factory, you just came out [from the shelter] to start work and heard the sirens again, and hide. We were hiding all the time.'

She was ordered to live in a dormitory near the factory and not to communicate with her family about her secret work.

But she did tell them about her work.

The pair (pictured) met again in Chelyabinsk in an astonishing and heartwarming reunion filmed by Russian channel NTV

'When Rosa came and told us she is now working at the factory I was still playing with dolls then and here she was making tanks,' said Yulia.

'I told mum: 'I'm so sorry for Rosa!'

In fact, Yulia was also working in a secret job - as a telegraph operator in war-ravaged Stalingrad.

The family suffered previously in the war, as did so many Russians.

Their father Pavel and brother Yury went missing at the front.

In central Asia, their mother Olga died of hunger, and sister Galina succumbed to typhoid.

They hugged and kissed for the first time in more than three quarters of a century during the meeting

Asked if she is happy to see her sister, Yulia said: 'And what do you think? But now... I remember Rosa as a young girl and now I will only see an old lady'

A few fading family pictures survive from their happy pre-war days but it is not clear who is who in the pictures.

Yulia later moved to Penza in central Russia and worked as a teacher.

Yulia hoped that she might find Yury and was looking for him on a Russian website seeking to reunite war-divided families.

Her daughter Svetlana explained: 'I spotted that someone was searching for my mum.

'We learned that it was some Rosa, who was looking.

'It turned out she had already been evacuated to the opposite riverbank, when the family had been hunting for for her in the debris.

For their meeting (pictured) mother-of-three Yulia (left) travelled 750 miles by train with one of her daughters, Olga

'We were so shocked that we had such a relative.'

It took the police to track down Rosalina at her new address.

Russian police spokesperson Irina Volk said: 'The officers got in touch with both women, after which the assumption that they could be relatives was confirmed.

'So people who were separated by the war in their youth and apart for 78 long years, who did not lose hope of a meeting, found each other again.

'Their long awaited reunion took place in Chelyabinsk.'

For their meeting mother-of-three Yulia travelled 750 miles by train with one of her daughters, Olga.

The Battle of Stalingrad lasted from 23 August 1942 to 2 February 1943, and the Red Army victory - won at a colossal cost - represented a major setback for Hitler.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 23:24:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ROME, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- An unusual alliance between two Italian mafia organizations has been brought to light after a large police operation on Tuesday.

Since early morning, police carried out raids in Rome, Naples and at least four other cities across the country, as well as in Spain in cooperation with local law enforcement authorities, the Carabinieri military police said in a statement.

Overall, 33 people were targeted by arrest warrants issued by prosecutors of Rome Anti-Mafia District Directorate (DDA) coordinating the operation.

All of them are believed to be members of two separate drug trafficking rings, both based in the Italian capital and linked to the Calabrian mafia called "Ndrangheta" and Naples' Camorra, respectively.

According to investigators, the two gangs have forged an alliance to provide "mutual support in the specific sector of drug trafficking."

In a later meeting with reporters, judicial authorities did not disclose the names of those arrested but confirmed that their assets -- worth about 1 million euros (1.11 million U.S. dollars) -- were preventively seized.

The two criminal rings targeted in the operation had full control over the drug trafficking in the Italian capital, getting their supplies from Spain, according to the probe.

In a message on Twitter, Mayor of Rome Virginia Raggi welcomed the operation, and thanked prosecutors and Carabinieri forces for their efforts in trying to eradicate the narcotics business in the city.
Over the years, his mother Pamelanie Radaza nurtured his talent, encouraging him to sing for local seniors at assisted living facilities like the Holland Home in South Holland, Illinois.

And, after years of attending public schools  first at Protsman Elementary, then at Kahler Middle School in Dyer  Radaza gained his first taste of this arts-based curriculum through attending a summer intensive at The Chicago Academy for the Arts in seventh grade.

The next year, he returned for Saturday classes at the academy, until he was finally old enough to apply to attend the school full time his freshman year of high school.

Radaza now studies as a voice major in the academy, which teaches concentrations in everything from dance and theater to media and visual arts.

He begins his day with core academic classes like biology, algebra and literary analysis. Then, the later portion of the day is dedicated to specialized courses in jazz and classical music.

Classes are small, sometimes with only six to 14 students to a teacher. The academy admits about half its applicants and has about 140 students total between its six arts departments.
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Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar, Bali  Wed, February 5, 2020 07:47 705 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20628d2b8 1 National coronavirus,Indonesia,bali-island,Chinese-tourists,stranded Free

Thousands of Chinese tourists are at risk of being stranded in Bali following the Indonesian government's decision to halt flights to and from mainland China starting on Wednesday at midnight.

Most of them, however, are hoping to get a visa extension as the Wuhan coronavirus continues to spread back home.

"Most are worried to go back home for fear of getting infected with the coronavirus," said Elsye Deliana, chairman of Bali Liang, a member of the Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (Asita) that handles the Chinese market.

Elsye said many of those Chinese tourists had requested a special policy from the Indonesian government to allow them to stay longer in Indonesia.

Chinese Consul General in Denpasar Guo Haodong said China respects Indonesia's decision to temporarily stop flights as an attempt to prevent the virus from coming into the country. He added, however, that around 5,000 people were at risk of being stranded in Bali as a result.

Although they could leave Bali by catching flights via Indonesia's neighboring countries, Guo admitted that some of the tourists hoped they could stay in Bali.

Because of the outbreak in China, some of them don't want to return and they are hoping to stay in Bali, said Guo.

Guo went on to say that the tourists could only stay for a maximum of 30 days on a visa-on-arrival. The tourists are also aware that they must obey immigration regulations if they wish to stay for more than 30 days.

We have coordinated with the Bali government to facilitate Chinese [people] who are willing to stay longer in Bali, he emphasized.

Guo ensured that all the Chinese tourists in Bali were healthy.

So far, they seem fine and well. None of them are showing symptoms of the coronavirus.

Bali Tourism Agency head Putu Astawa said the Bali administration would help Chinese tourists who were willing to extend their visas in Bali.

We've coordinated with the immigration office. They said they could extend the tourist visas, as long as there is a recommendation from the Bali administration, Astawa said.

The Tourism Ministry's promotion director for the Chinese market, Vinsensius Jemadu, said the government would help facilitate the needs of Chinese tourists in Bali.

"This is a case of force majeure. I think we need to help them as long as they can fulfill all of the requirements," he said after attending a meeting with tourism players in Bali on Tuesday.
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) announced on Monday that she would vote to acquit President Trump in the Senate impeachment trial.

I cannot vote to convict, Murkowski told a mostly-empty Senate chamber. The Constitution provides for impeachment but does not demand it in all instances. However, the senator leveled harsh criticism at the President for his actions in Ukraine.

The presidents behavior was shameful and wrong. His personal interests do not take precedent over those of this great nation, Murkowski said. The senator also criticized the impeachment process as politicized.

The House failed in its responsibilities and the Senate  the Senate should be ashamed by the rank partisanship that has been on display here, she said. So many in this chamber share my sadness for the present state of our institutions. Its my hope that weve finally found bottom here.

Murkowski also lambasted what she termed a careless media that cheerfully tried to put out the fires with gasoline in its impeachment coverage.

The senator was considered a possible swing vote to convict Trump or at least to call witnesses to testify in the trial. However, Murkowski voted on Friday against summoning witnesses following the announcement of colleague Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.), another possible swing vote.

Democrats would need 20 Republican votes in the Senate to convict the president. While it was unlikely that 20 Republicans would defect to the Democratic side, the support of the moderate Murkowski all but guarantees the final Senate vote will acquit Trump of both articles of impeachment on a purely partisan basis.

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Altogether 51 people were injured and private cars and property damaged when masked people, armed with rods and sticks, attacked students and teachers of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) here on January 5, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said as reported by the Delhi Police, a case was registered at the Vasant Kunj North police station on January 6 with regard to the attack.

"Fifty-one persons sustained injuries and all were medically examined. No one was killed in this incident. Some private cars and property were also damaged. Some of the rioters involved have been identified," the minister said.

Reddy added that the safety measures taken by the police include deployment of police personnel both inside and outside the JNU campus, liaison with students and the university administration to maintain peace, deployment of police personnel in plain clothes around the campus, stationing of a PCR van in the vicinity of the campus and briefing of students and the administration to report to them immediately if any violent or unwanted activity come to their notice on the campus premises.

The JNU had informed that it had deployed 277 private security personnel on the campus 24x7, the minister said.

As reported by the Delhi Police, no case was registered against the injured students, Reddy said, adding that details of the investigation could not be divulged at this stage.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lucas energy, technical experience, and passion for driving process efficiency will help drive Look Listens vision forward across our offices, said Look Listen CEO Kit Hughes.

Look Listen, a full-service digital marketing agency with offices in Atlanta, Denver and Portland is pleased to announce the promotion of Denver founding office member, Lucas Droessler, as Vice President of Client Success. Droessler will manage teams across the Denver and Atlanta books of business, delivering more than $7MM worth of work for the agencys growing client roster.

Droessler is an experienced, award-winning digital marketer specializing in building best-in-class teams and creating processes that drive growth and consistent results for clients. He is well versed in utilizing email marketing, development and digital marketing as a revenue and audience driver. Droessler previously served as the Director of Client Delivery for the Denver office.

Lucas energy, technical experience, and passion for driving process efficiency will help drive Look Listens vision forward across our offices, said Look Listen CEO Kit Hughes. He will be responsible for process alignment and client delivery across offices, through staff education, training and by developing key partnerships that continue to elevate the work for the agencys clients. We know he will continue to push our team to do their very best.

Droessler graduated from Iowa State University with degrees in Advertising (B.A.) and Psychology (B.S.) and a minor in Art and Design. He is a Certified Scrum Product Owner and holds certifications across various marketing automation platforms. He has spoken internationally on topics ranging from mobile marketing to employee recognition program development.

About Look Listen

Look Listen builds campaigns, websites, communications, and digital products for companies that seek to improve the human experience. Leveraging our long history of applying human-centered design to marketing, we help our clients achieve peak performance by using behavioral analysis across sales, marketing, and product development. With offices in Atlanta, Denver and Portland, you can connect with us online at http://www.looklisten.com and on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Hong Kong has reported its first death from novel coronavirus, only the second such fatality outside mainland China.

The outbreak, which started in Wuhan, central China in December, has now claimed more than 420 lives and the number of confirmed infections has leapt above 20,000.

Hospital workers in Hong Kong went on strike for a second day on Tuesday in protest against the authorities' refusal to close the border with the mainland. Many health workers have been among those impacted by the highly contagious disease, which causes a fever, dry cough and viral pneumonia.

The patient who died in Hong Kong was a 39-year-old man who had travelled to Wuhan before falling sick on his return, where he was quarantined in hospital. The city's hospital authority said he had been suffering from existing health conditions, without providing further details.

While the number of deaths from novel coronavirus now exceed those of the Sars epidemic of 2002-3, the rate of fatality in the current outbreak is believed to be considerably lower than the roughly 10 per cent mortality rate of Sars.

Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Show all 154 1 /154 Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Paramedics wearing personal protective equipment carry patient on a stretcher on to an ambulance in North Point district in Hong Kong, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker wearing protective gear takes a rest as he waits for ambulances carrying patients infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at an entrance of a hospital in Daegu, South Korea YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker sprays disinfectant on an ambulance after carrying a patient infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Daegu YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective face masks shop at a supermarket in Casalpusterlengo, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown due to the new coronavirus outbreak EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A trolley bus is disinfected amid fears over the spread of the novel coronavirus in Pyongyang, North Korea REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as a precaution against the COVID-19 coronavirus in a local market in Daegu, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective facemask walks outside a nearly empty shopping mall at lunch time in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing protective facemask and gloves puts a drawing made by a girl living in the area asking residents to wear protective gear, next to a quarantine notice for people who have travelled and a notice asking people to register outside a residential compound in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman is taken into an ambulance amid a coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulances and health workers are seen outside the Padua's hospital, northern Italy EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers in coaches leave MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire after being repatriated to the UK from a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus in Yokohama, Japan and head to Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People rest in a temporary hospital situated in the Tazihu Gymnasium in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buddhist monks wearing protective face masks pray during a blessing ceremony for the people affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia REUTERS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient infecting with a new coronavirus to a hospital in Chuncheon, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Soldiers in hazmat suits sanitize cargo from a China Airlines plane at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan City, Taiwan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Barricades are seen to block the entrance a the gate of a local mall in a nearly empty area in Beijing, China Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor wearing a protective facemask waits for customers at a shop in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The body temperature of an Iraqi child returning from Iran is measured upon her arrival at the Najaf International Airport AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers hand out free facemasks at a shopping district in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient suspected of contracting the new coronavirus toward an ambulance at Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, South Korea AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker disinfects a shop at a market in Shanghai AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A restaurant worker wearing protective clothing as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus passing a bag of food to a customer on the street outside their restaurant in Beijing AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A recovered patient is discharged from Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built makeshift hospital for novel coronavirus patients, in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a factory with sanitising equipment in Huzhou, China China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A drone operated by the Suwon municipal government flies around Changyong Middle School spraying disinfectant, in Suwon, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers transfer medical waste at Leishenshan Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a protective mask rides a bicycle with his children in Guangzhou, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China cnsphoto via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman repatriated from Wuhan carries a child as she walks upon her arrival at the Van Don airport in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff checking the body temperature of a patient who has displayed mild symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A medical worker in protective suit transports oxygen tanks at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Boys wearing protection masks, gloves and modified water bottles sit on a cart at the airport arrival terminal in Guangzhou EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Employees work on a production line manufacturing protective suits at a clothing factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province cnsphoto via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits move a patient at an isolated ward of a hospital in Caidian district following an outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves, carries a bucket as he works inside of The County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, southern England, after it closed for "urgent operational health and safety reasons", following reports a member of staff was infected with the strain of the novel coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers of the ecology and environment bureau collect samples from the sewage system of a hospital in Xinle, Hebei province China Daily via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man in protective clothing cleaning the County Oak Medical Centre GP practice The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat" and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. Two hospitals The Royal Free and Guys and St Thomas', have both been designated as "isolation" facilities, with both currently housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to the newly completed Huoshenshan temporary field Hospital in Wuhan. The global coronavirus death toll rose again with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 4 February EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff wait as coaches carrying Coronavirus evacuees arrive at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, in Milton Keynes, after being repatriated to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan PA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Doctors scan a patient's lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan Xinhua News Agency/AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam. People evacuated from the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members hugging each other in an isolation ward at a hospital in Zouping in China's easter Shandong province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A portrait of Dr Li Wenliang is left at Li's hospital in Wuhan. He is regarded a whistleblower on the outbreak and died of the coronavirus which triggered wide-spread mourning on Chinese media Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Firefighters and personnel from the health ministry participate in a drill to prepare for the potential arrival of passengers infected with the coronavirus at the Viru Viru International Airport, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Scientists are at work in the VirPath university laboratory as they try to find an effective treatment against the new Sars-like coronavirus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A girl wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man is transferred from the World Dream cruise ship to an ambulance at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong as health officials conduct inspections AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers from a disinfection service company enter Lotte Department Store in central Seoul, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man who arrived from Hubei province talks with police at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor holds a handheld digital thermometer near health officials preparing a health check for arriving passengers from China at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A resident walks across an empty track in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A scientific staff member works in a secure laboratory, researching the coronavirus, at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members preparing equipment to meet passengers of a military plane, which evacuated citizens of Russia and ex-Soviet countries from China's Wuhan province Vsluh.ru via Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff wearing protective suits as they prepare to disinfect a Vietnam Airlines plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi Vietnam Airlines/AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A South Korean person, who was evacuated from Wuhan, arrives at the National Medical Center after showing suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus, in Seoul EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Officers in protective gear escort a person (under the blue sheet) who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and was tested positive for coronavirus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Indonesian health officials conduct an exercise drill in transporting a patient requiring isolation at the Belawan port in Medan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, designated by the African Union as one of the two reference centres in Africa for the detection of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, is hosting experts from 15 countries on the continent this weekend to prepare them to deal with the disease AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A government worker disinfects a co-worker after visiting a quarantined woman's home in Qingdao EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An aerial view of the deserted roads and bridges in Wuhan Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person has their tempriture checked in Qingdao, China EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Malaysian nationals being directed from a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, after being evacuated from Wuhan Malaysia's Ministry of Health/AFP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grow in Manila, Philippines. 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The Chinese army deployed medical specialists to the epicentre of the spiralling viral outbreak that has killed and spread around the world AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A baby wearing a protective face mask is pushed by a woman as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A young child wears a protective mask and is covered in plastic while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as it prepares for a return flight from Wuhan, China. Eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan are being flown back to the UK Tom Maddick / SWNS Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A woman carries a baby wearing a protective mask as they exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Camp beds at a Medical Assessment Center set up at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on the eve of the arrival of German citizens evacuated from Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Funeral parlour staff members in protective suits help a colleague with disinfection after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Muslims wearing masks pray for the victims of coronavirus at a mosque in Ahmedabad, India Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical officials waiting for people who wants to check the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift homemade protection and protective masks while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A patient assisted by medical staff gets off an ambulance in Wuhan AFP/Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus People line up to buy face masks from a medical supply company in Nanning, southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Countries began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by a new virus that has now infected more people in China than were sickened in the country by SARS Chinatopix via AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine in Bangkok. Thailand has detected eight Coronavirus cases so far AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An Indonesian health officer points at the screen of a thermal scanner for passengers China confirmed that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus virus can be transmitted between humans AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Hospital workers wearing protective eyewear and masks examine an Indonesian student who returned from China in quarantine at a hospital in Banda Aceh AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Ambulance staff dispose of an outfit at the hospital in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A person checks the temperature of a passenger to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as he arrives at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International airport in Palembang AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Nepali students, wearing face masks, attend a class at Matribhumi School in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Two Buddhist monks wear face masks while walking along a street in Yangon AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting a residential area in Ruichang, part of Jiujiang in China's central Jiangxi province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. - China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) HECTOR RETAMAL AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Vapor blurs the goggles of an ambulance driver while they work, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff getting on an ambulance in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A vendor of traditional masks wears a facial mask at his shop in Thamel EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus An ambulance driver talking with medical staff in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market The new coronavirus appears to have its origins in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a popular transport hub AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Nantong AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures after they landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Thai royal guard wears a mask while on duty at the Grand Palace in Bangkok EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A man wearing a face mask rides a nearly empty subway train in Beijing AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A shopper wearing goggles with a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Italian Red Cross putting on protective gear, getting ready to give health checks to passengers that landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of the Hong Kong government's Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan STR/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A Malaysia Health official checks passengers going through a thermal scanner upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Staff disinfecting Yingtan North Railway Station, China China banned trains and planes from leaving the major city at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed lives and spread to other countries AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A passenger walks past a quarantine control station at Narita airport, Japan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic, in Wuhan EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at Incheon International Airport, South Korea EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A member of staff checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau, after it reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jin Yintan hospital Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of the Three Gorges Medical Laboratory offering free masks to the public in Yichang, China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine officer at Incheon International Airport, South Korea, uses an electronic thermometer to check the temperature of passengers arriving by plane from Wuhan The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A screen shows cancelled flights at Tianhe airport in Wuhan AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A store owner argues with security guards as he attempts to enter the closed Huanan wholesale seafood market AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Handan, China's northern Hebei province AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff and security personnel stop patients' family members from being too close to the Jinyintan hospital Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A rescue worker walks past a notice about new coronavirus that has broken out in China Reuters Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Health officials wear face masks at an inspection site at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang AP Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Medical staff members carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A staff member checks body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou AFP via Getty Images Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus A quarantine station measures passenger body temperatures at Narita Airport JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a notice displayed near a quarantine control station at Narita airport EPA Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus Passengers walk past a poster alerting on coronavirus screening ahead upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport EPA Coronavirus: 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Most cases of the illness have been mild, with many of those who have died being older people with other underlying conditions such as diabetes or heart disease.

The only other fatality outside China was recorded in the Philippines on Sunday. The patient was a 44-year-old Chinese man who, again, had flown to the country from Wuhan.

Meanwhile, the EU said its member states have shipped 12 tonnes of protective equipment to China, with Beijing struggling to maintain supplies of face masks, protective suits and other key preventative gear.

China is enforcing temperature checks at homes, offices, shops and restaurants, requiring masks be worn in public and keeping more than 50 million people from leaving their homes in Wuhan and nearby cities.

Late on Monday, President Xi Jinping presided over a special meeting of the top Communist Party body for the second time since the crisis started, saying "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic." Xi threatened punishments for those who neglect their duties in containing the virus, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Other countries are continuing evacuations and restricting the entry of Chinese or people who have recently travelled in the country.

A plane carrying Malaysians from Wuhan arrived in Kuala Lumpur and the 133 people on board were to be screened and quarantined for 14 days, the maximum incubation period for the virus.

Taiwan on Monday flew home 247 of its citizens from Wuhan and had sent three passengers for treatment after they were found to have fever or sore throats. The other passengers are being quarantined at medical facilities for the next two weeks.

Germany's Lufthansa became the latest international airline to suspend flights to China, and several countries are barring Chinese travelers or people who passed through China recently.

In Wuhan, patients were being transferred to a new 1,000-bed hospital that officials hope will improve isolation to stem the virus' spread. It was built in just 10 days, its prefabricated wards equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and ventilation systems. A 1,500-bed hospital also specially built for patients infected with the new virus is due to open within days.

With no end to the outbreak in sight, authorities in Hubei and elsewhere extended the Lunar New Year holiday break, due to end this week, well into February to try to keep people at home and reduce the spread of the virus. All Hubei schools are postponing the start of the new term until further notice, as are many in Beijing, Shanghai and elsewhere.

Chinese scientists said they have more evidence the virus originated in bats. In a study published in the journal Nature, Shi Zhen-Li and colleagues at the Wuhan Institute of Virology reported that genome sequences from seven patients were 96 per cent identical to a bat coronavirus.

On Tuesday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a 42-year-old South Korean woman tested positive for the virus, days after she returned from a trip to Thailand with chills and other symptoms.

It is South Korea's 16th case. Thailand has confirmed 19 cases, mostly Chinese tourists but also in a Thai taxi driver.

A passenger on a Japanese-operated cruise ship tested positive after leaving the vessel while it was in Hong Kong, and Japanese officials were conducting medical checks on the more than 3,000 people on board Tuesday.

Additional reporting by agencies
The Democrats have lurched from their self-inflicted wound of the botched impeachment effort to the self-inflicted wound of the embarrassing fail of Iowa caucus result-tallying, thanks not just to the use of a newly-created app that failed in prime time, but also the lack of any sort of fallbacks. The spectacle of a district chief taking an interview on CNN while on hold with the state honchos and getting a hang up on air is a new low:

An Iowa precinct secretary was just on the phone with CNN, got off hold with the Iowa Democratic Party to report his results, and was hung up on. That is a thing that just occurred on national television. #IACaucus pic.twitter.com/NEK6ozMwoa  Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 4, 2020

And another unseemly example, both the use of Twitter and the obvious disconnect between votes and the delegate split:

This inspires so much confidence  a caucus secretary having to report the results over Twitter because no Democratic official will take his call and he doesnt know what else to do. https://t.co/NRJe1Bxk0I  Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 4, 2020

On one level, this is an illustration of Americas descent into banana republic status. Pundits and the media keep reinforcing American exceptionalist fantasies, our brand fumes of vaunted democracy, yet we cant even run elections competently. Is is just the grifting, that introducing more tech creates more opportunities for vendor enrichment? Or is it yet more proof that a lot of people in charge really hate democracy and are at best indifferent to doing things right?

Its not hard to see the Iowa fiasco as an illustration of an even more deeply-seated pathology: elite incompetence. Too many people with the right resumes get to fail upwards or at worst sideways. And remember, unlike our older WASP-y leaders who were a combination of people from the right clubs and self-made men, our current crop of people in charge pride themselves on being the end products of a meritocratic system, as in their claim to legitimacy stems from the claim that they are more talented (gah) than mere mortals and therefore obviously should be in the top slots because theyll do oh so much better than everyone else.

And its the Democratic party, as the representative of the 10% professional managerial classes, that really owns this disease. Recall in Thomas Franks Listen Liberal how he set forth, without irony, a conference that was treacly with the self-regard, with the way every participant was lavished with embarrassing exaggerations of their accomplishments. No one had the slightest sense of how narcissistic and pampered they seemed. And it wasnt hard to imagine theyd all collapse in a heap if presented with a real challenge, like suddenly becoming destitute or being dumped in a remote area with neither a water bottle nor GPS.

And we keep seeing this leadership class succeed in rent extraction and not much else. Go down the list: The post-crisis failure to reform the banks or even go through the motions by incarcerating a few execs and turfing out some board members. Our grossly over-priced, underperforming health care system. Our student-impoverishing higher education system. The F-35. The botched Obamacare rollout. Our Middle-East nation-breaking, which has scored geopolitical own goals like destabilizing Europe, facilitating Russia asserting itself a geopolitical power despite having an economy the size of South Korea and in the face of our economic sanctions, and making us deservedly disliked around the world. Hillary Clinton losing to of all people Donald Trump despite spending twice as much as his campaign spend because her team was enamored of Robby Mooks models and somehow forgot about the Electoral College.

And if you believe, as Team Dem does, that every problem can be solved with better PR, the corollary is you never admit to failure, you never do post mortems, and you keep incompetents around who you allow to fail and fail again.

Theres plenty of acid commentary on Twitter, as well as not-pretty facts:

DNC hired one group of ex-Hillary staffers to design broken vote app thats undermining confidence in integrity of Iowa vote countand another group of ex-Hillary staffers policing social media for disinformation about integrity of Iowa vote count. Because Russia. https://t.co/xVSbx7xk0h  Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) February 4, 2020

Declaring victory amidst chaos is exactly what a global management consultant would advice you to do.  Chris Arnade (@Chris_arnade) February 4, 2020

Three different sources say a firm called "Shadow" developed the Iowa Dem caucus app. They haven't responded to comment, neither has Iowa Dem Party. The firm was paid by both Nevada & Iowa Democratic Party, disclosures show. Also by Mayor Pete's campaign.  Lee Fang (@lhfang) February 4, 2020

Huffington Post's @Robillard is confirming that it was Shadow that created the app. https://t.co/q9bfZxBXUK pic.twitter.com/yzzXUPTefq  Lee Fang (@lhfang) February 4, 2020

BOTTOM LINE: The DMR poll winner was denied a boost from the poll. The #IACaucus winner was deprived a prime time victory speech. No matter who that candidate is, it is deeply unfair and blunts what could be a major momentum surge. UNACCEPTABLE#IowaCaucuses #Iowa  Peter Daou (@peterdaou) February 4, 2020

Behind the app that delayed Iowas voting results is a dark money operation funded by anti-Sanders billionaires. @MaxBlumenthal looks at its top donor, Seth Klarman, a Buttigieg backer who has dumped money into pro-settler Israel lobby groups. https://t.co/IsE7TPsBrl  The Grayzone (@TheGrayzoneNews) February 4, 2020

This gives an idea how much integrity the app has:

THE LOG IN PIN IS LITERALLY BEING TWEETED OUT BY THIS MORON https://t.co/CZvjI0Nxkb  Liv (@LivPosting) February 4, 2020

So Bernie's campaign has an app to record precinct by precinct results. AND IT WORKS. The DNC app doesn't work, either by design or by failure.

You want this shitshow of a political party to go up against Trump?#IACaucus #IowaCaucus   pps p  (@dsamaddar) February 4, 2020

Plus of chicanery apart from the app:

Des Moines Precinct 80: Bernies group had 101 people

Petes group had 66 people Bernie & Pete end up tied at 4 delegates following a coin toss. This is democracy??? #IACaucus pic.twitter.com/g9q1k67Vpn  Jaylen (@jaylencavil) February 4, 2020

And one of the real stories of the evening, the Biden Iowa wipeout, has been obscured by the voting mess, and Biden wants to keep it that way:

The letter demonstrates precisely the opposite. Biden camp wants "Chaos in Iowa" headlines, not "Triumph for [Bernie or Buttigieg], crushing defeat for Biden." #IowaCaucuses https://t.co/RAtTY1KMNk  Timothy Crimmins (@timcrimmins) February 4, 2020

It still looks like Sanders won, and with the caucuses being so transparent, theres limited room for votes being disappeared. But if thats the case, it certainly would seem to take the air out of his victory.

The Sanders team needs to find a way, as with the Warren debate smear, to turn what out to have been a hit into a win. The best revenge is more donations, particularly from new donors. It will be a test to see how Sanders Twitter army and his fundraisers contend with this train wreck.
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An individual who contacted the authorities almost 8,000 times contributed to a tenfold increase in complaints about aircraft using Dublin Airport last year.

Figures published by Dublin Airport show a total 15,160 complaints about noise were filed last year - an average of 42 per day. It compared to just 1,453 in all of 2018.

However, they also reveal that two individuals accounted for almost three-quarters of all complaints logged by DAA, the operator of Dublin Airport, during 2019.

One person from Ongar made a total of 7,786 complaints - a daily average of 21 - including 4,554 in July alone when he lodged an average of 147 complaints each day.

Skewed

Another individual filed 3,435 noise complaints.

DAA said the large increase in complaints last year was skewed by the multiple complaints made by a number of individuals.

The airport spokesperson said DAA had engaged directly with the two individuals who had made numerous complaints.

"Aircraft noise is subjective and is personal to each individual," the spokesperson said.

He pointed out that the number of different individuals who made a complaint during 2019 declined by 3pc to 284 from 293 the previous year.

The biggest number of complainants - disregarding the two individuals - came from Swords (37), followed by Portmarnock (27), Hollystown (25), St Margaret's (20) and Tyrrelstown (13).

The spokesperson added: "The level of aircraft noise is dependent on the type of aircraft and the number of flights.

"While the number of flight movements at Dublin has increased in recent years, the advent of newer, quieter aircraft has brought about substantial reductions in aircraft noise."

He pointed out that the new Airbus A320Neo aircraft, introduced by Aer Lingus last year, generates 50pc less noise than the previous model of the same plane.

According to DAA, more than 95pc of the aircraft using Dublin Airport since 2015 have been the quietest type of aircraft, compared to 83pc in 2008.

The DAA spokesperson said the reduction of aircraft noise on neighbouring communities was the joint responsibility of Dublin Airport, the Irish Aviation Authority, and airlines.

"DAA works closely with all those stakeholders to minimise aircraft noise at the airport," the spokesperson said.

Figures show that 88pc of complaints last year related to aircraft departures from the main runway taking off in a westerly direction.

The spokesperson said DAA was acutely aware of the concerns of local residents in relation to noise and engaged with them on an ongoing basis.

However, he added: "A balance has to be achieved between those concerns and the needs of the Irish economy."

Official figures show that 99.2pc of commercial aircraft using Dublin Airport last year kept to the correct flight path on approach and take-off.

Under a noise management plan, most aircraft taking off from Dublin Airport's main runway must maintain a straight course for five nautical miles before commencing a turn, unless otherwise permitted by air traffic controllers.

DAA operates a 1m noise and flight track monitoring system to ensure minimum disruption to local communities which includes eight fixed noise monitoring terminals around north Dublin and one mobile monitor.

It said all aircraft operating at Dublin Airport conform to current standards regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

"As older aircraft are phased out in the short term, this situation will continue to improve," DAA said.
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Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland will hold a town hall meeting Wednesday to address local concerns after it was named one of four military installations in the United States that will house Americans evacuated from China and at risk of contracting the coronavirus.

Joint Base San Antonio on Monday tweeted out an invite to personnel and their families to attend a town hall to address any questions or concerns.

The Air Force base on Sunday tweeted it understands the concerns of the community and military family members regarding the quarantine and wants to hold the town hall meetings to hear from residents and to answer questions.

On Saturday, it was announced that about 1,000 Americans who were in China near the epicenter of the disease will return to the U.S., and approximately 250 of them will be quarantined at hotel rooms on Lackland, home to Air Force basic training.

On Thursday, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency after the death toll at that time rose to 170 and the number of cases spiked tenfold in a week.

FROM EXPRESSNEWS.COM: Americans evacuated from China to be quarantined at JBSA-Lackland

The evacuees are expected anytime this week and will stay through the end of the month. According to a tweet, they will be housed at the Gateway Inn and Gateway Villa, both of which are on the base. The incoming evacuees won't have access to any other installation locations and will not have any contact with the Joint Base San Antonio population, the Air Force base tweeted.

Joint Base San Antonio also tweeted that it is working with those already staying at the Gateway Inn and Gateway Villa to find alternative accommodations.

"37th TRW Leadership assures unit members, families, trainees and visitors to JBSA facilities that they are safe and everyone's well-being is our first priority," the Air Force base said in a tweet.

Joint Base San Antonio assured that the immediate health risk to the public is low.

In a statement released Saturday, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said that he is comforted by the extra precautions being taken by federal, state and local health officials regarding the plans to house the evacuees at Lackland. He said the individuals coming to San Antonio have no symptoms of the virus and pose no risk to the community.

The Air Force base said it has started to collect comments and concerns in order to provide a fact sheet and frequently asked questions for residents.

The meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Gateway Club at Lackland. It is unclear if the Air Force base will hold multiple town halls.

Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, MySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway
Nevada's Democrats say their Feb. 22 caucus will not use the same vote-tallying app that's being blamed for the unprecedented delay reporting Monday's Iowa caucus results. CNN previously reported Nevada would.

Our thought bubble: When software introductions fail as badly as Iowa's just did, engineers typically "roll back" their system to its last previously functioning state. For Nevada's Democrats, that's likely to mean turning back the clock to the way they did it four years ago.

The big picture: Caucuses are more complex to report than elections, and we're likely to see smoother sailing from next week's New Hampshire primary and the primaries that follow.

The other remaining caucus states are Kansas, North Dakota, Wyoming and Maine.

The Iowa debacle had all the earmarks of what engineers call a "cascading failure" as both the app and the state's backup phone reporting systems failed.

It may have presented what software developers call an "edge case," pushing the tallying system over the precipice.

Go deeper:

This story has been updated with the statement from Nevada Democrats.
One chapter in the Trump impeachment saga is ending, but the story is far from over. More evidence of the president's guilt will come out, from former national security adviser John Bolton's book and elsewhere. Indeed, one can be forgiven for thinking that the reason Rubio, Alexander and others felt the need to proclaim the president's guilt has less to do with a desire to tell the truth and more with getting ahead of a future torrent of irrefutable facts.
Libreville, Gabon (PANA) - Gabonese and European Union representatives are meeting in Libreville on Tuesday to discuss the implementation of points of agreement following their political dialogue held late last November, official sources in the Gabonese capital said
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Army General Valery Gerasimov and NATOs Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), General Tod Wolters will meet in Baku Feb. 6-7, Azerbaijani political analyst Shabnam Hasanova told Trend.

This is not the first meeting between the two power centers held in Baku, Gerasimov and Wolters already met July 10 last year in Baku, Hasanova added.

The political analyst noted that during the meeting, the parties discussed the state of European and global security, the prevention of possible conflicts on the Russia-NATO line, the issues of combating terrorism.

Two power centers - Russia and NATO - see Azerbaijan as a reliable partner, therefore they choose namely Baku to hold such important meetings, said Hasanova.

The meetings of the generals in Baku have a number of important reasons. First of all, this is related to the strengthening image of President Ilham Aliyev in the international arena, Azerbaijans position as a partner in defending the principles of international law and security mechanisms, and Azerbaijans non-alignment with political blocs," said the political analyst adding that the fact that Azerbaijan is a reliable partner, and undoubtedly, the factors of stability and security in the country also play an important role.

Hasanova emphasized that today no one is questioning why Baku is the venue for a meeting.

"The reason is that Azerbaijan has gone through difficult stages to take its rightful place in the system of international relations, she added. Baku is hosting not only regional but also worldwide events.

By all existing criteria, the capital of Azerbaijan - Baku - has become a favorable, safe platform for dialogue, in particular, for meetings of military leaders of the two power structures of the world and for discussion of existing global problems, the analyst said. These meetings have important political significance not only for NATO and Russia, but also for the whole world because the issues which are discussed at them concern the whole humanity."

Hasanova said that Azerbaijan has great experience in providing support to maintain security in the world.

"The country has been cooperating with NATO for many years in combating terrorism and restoring stability in the hotbeds of conflict, the analyst said. The Azerbaijani president attended a meeting of the North Atlantic Council of NATO in Brussels on November 23, 2017. The presidents participation in such a high-status event upon the invitation is a clear example that NATO assesses Azerbaijan as a reliable partner."
Eytan Uliel, a young Australian, details his backpacking adventures around India  the good, the bad, and the downright bizarre in his new non-fiction travel book Head Waggling in Delhi: And Other Travel Tales from an Epic Journey around India (published by Archway Publishing) filled with wry observation, affection and humor.

The book details the author and his partners sightseeing all over India over the course of four months on a budget of $12 a day with the intent of living, eating and traveling like locals. Along the way, he and Camilla sipped tea in Darjeeling, experienced a train ride from hell to Madras, got bit parts in a Bollywood film, ogled at the incomparable Taj Mahal, hung with hippies in Goa, and met a whole lifetimes worth of fascinating, entertaining, and memorable characters who all feature.

First and foremost, I want readers to enjoy the stories  to laugh and smile and cringe, and at the end, really feel like they have almost been to India themselves, Uliel says. And through the stories, I want the reader to have some reflections and thoughts: on modernity, on global culture, on what it means to travel. And to see that despite all of our myriad differences, no matter in the world one may be, we are all ultimately far more similar than we are different.

Head Waggling in Delhi is available for purchase online on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Head-Waggling-Delhi-Travel-Journey/dp/1480867985.

Head Waggling in Delhi

By Eytan Uliel

Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 314 pages | ISBN 9781480867970

Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 314 pages | ISBN 9781480867987

E-Book | 314 pages | ISBN 9781480867994

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Eytan Uliel is a wanderer, global traveler and seriously committed gourmand. After graduating from the University of New South Wales, Sydney Australia, he practiced corporate law for several years before moving on to a career in investment banking, private equity, and oil and gas finance. His work schedule has taken him to every corner of the globe, and he chronicles these journeys on his blog, The Road Warrior. Born in Jerusalem, Uliel currently divides his time between Los Angeles, Nassau and Sydney. More information about him and his travels can be found on his website: http://www.eytanuliel.com.

Simon & Schuster, a company with nearly ninety years of publishing experience, has teamed up with Author Solutions, LLC, the worldwide leader in self-publishing, to create Archway Publishing. With unique resources to support books of all kind, Archway Publishing offers a specialized approach to help every author reach his or her desired audience. For more information, visit http://www.archwaypublishing.com or call 888-242-5904.


A COUNTY Limerick musician is one the fifteen finalists competing for the Sean O Riada Gold Medal next week.

Seamus Harnett will compete in the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork on Friday, February 7, with the event also being broadcast live on RTE Raidio na Gaeltachta.

Seamus is from Ahane and has played music with Castleconnell/Ahane/Herbertstown Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann (CCE) in Limerick since he was six years old.

Seamus is currently PRO for his branch and for Limerick CCE. He has had multiple All-Ireland Fleadh successes at senior and underage with groups, bands, trios, duets and solos on flute and whistling.

He has travelled to England on multiple occasions with the Irish Rambling House and recently toured with Macalla na hEireann.

Seamus teaches one-on-one lessons at his home where he enjoys passing on the tradition to the up-and-coming musicians in the area. He works as an electronic engineer for ON Semiconductor in the Raheen Business Park.

Peadar O Riada will present the event live from the Rochestown Park Hotel from 7 pm  10 pm on RTE Raidio na Gaeltachta.

Esteemed musicians Michael Tubridy, Mary Bergin and Gary Hastings will have the difficult job of choosing the winner, and the criteria will include not only technical proficiency but playing that demonstrates musicality and soul as well.

The winner will take home the prestigious Sean O Riada Gold Medal, as well as 2,500 in reward money.

As part of the weekend events, there will be a musicians conference on Saturday morning in the hotel, and the Coirm Ordha concert with past winners including box player Keelan McGrath and harper Una Ni Fhlannagain will take place on Saturday night.
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Cow-calf producers and members of the Alabama Veterinary Medical Association across the state will gather March 13-15 to gain valuable insight on how to be more successful in the beef cattle business during the Beef Cattle Conference hosted by the Auburn University Department of Animal Sciences and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System Animal Science and Forages Team. It begins at 1 p.m. Friday, March 13, at the College of Veterinary Medicine Education Center off Wire Road in Auburn.

With the 2020 theme, Learning to Sustain our Future, the conference and optional workshops will equip cattlemen and cattlewomen with the knowledge and management tools to improve their operations in critical areas of production.

Helping producers learn about ways to improve their operations now and in the future is a key part of our departmental mission, and our faculty and Extension personnel, in partnership with Alabamas beef cattle community and the Alabama Veterinary Medical Association, have organized this conference to support the viability and long-term sustainability of animal agriculture, said Wayne Greene, head of Auburns Department of Animal Sciences. Sustaining our livestock and animal industries is crucial, as they contribute substantially to the economy of the state and to the well-being of Alabama citizens.

The program keynote speaker is Frank Mitloehner, a renowned scientist form the University of California-Davis, where his research focus is on sustainable livestock agriculture, with a primary focus on livestock's contribution to air quality impairment and climate.

Also featured on the program to share answers to the most common questions cow/calf producers and veterinarians have about the cattle business, especially in the areas of animal health and reproductive performance, are industry leaders Dan Scruggs and Richard Hopper. In addition, Tony Frazier and Misty Edmondson of the Alabama Department of Agriculture will update attendees with current and emerging issues focusing on animal traceability.

Animal sciences faculty and graduate students also will report results from and updates on research and extension programs supported by the College of Agriculture, the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

Attendees will be able to select workshop offerings for Saturday, March 14, in six areas: a Forage Field Day; How to Become an Advocate for Beef; Integrated Pest Management; a program of hands-on Junior Cattlemen activities; an Alabama BCIA Artificial Insemination School and a Farm Business Management and Meat Science workshop.

In the latter track, participants will learn about farm business management for a beef cattle operation, as well as feeder calf marketing strategies. Added topics include the different types of business entities for livestock operations, agricultural law and taxes, budgets, developing business plans for cattle operations, feeder cattle grading and marketing, board sales, seasonality and fundamentals of cattle prices and cattle futures.

The Forage Field Day will demonstrate cutting and wrapping baleage as well as hands-on demonstrations involving nutrient management, insect and pest management, grazing management and strategies for feeding preserved forages.

Producers may prefer the integrated pest management, or IPM, workshops, which will contain both a classroom and field formats that teach producers proper identification and management techniques for major pests (weeds and insects) seen in hayfields and pastures. Participants will learn weed identification and herbicide selection, insect identification and scouting procedures, and management recommendations.

For an additional fee, the Alabama Beef Cattle Improvement Association Artificial Insemination School is a two-day, hands-on training opportunity to learn the fundamentals of cattle estrus synchronization and artificial insemination. Participants will learn about reproductive anatomy and physiology, estrus synchronization planning and protocols, heat detection and aids, and artificial insemination equipment and technique during multiple classroom sessions and wet-labs.

The wet-labs will include multiple sessions with live animals to allow time for practicing proper artificial insemination procedures. Certificates will be awarded following successful completion of a written and practical examination.

The conference registration cost is $75 before March 1 and $100 after March 1, and includes conference presentation summaries, content for selected workshops and lunch. If Alabama county cattlemen chapter presidents register at least three paid members for the Beef Cattle Conference, registration for the president will be waived. The organizers encourage producers to register early because space is limited.

Search and register for the Beef Cattle Conference on the registration website. For more information on the conference, registration, corporate partnerships or youth discounts, contact the Auburn Department of Animal Sciences at 334-844-1521 or visit the conference website.
The CBI has booked Karnataka cadre senior IPS officers Hemant Nimbalkar and Ajay Hilori along with eight others in connection with Rs 4,000-crore I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) scam in which gullible investors were allegedly cheated in the name of Islamic banking, officials said on Tuesday.

The move came after the CBI received an approval from the Karnataka government to proceed with investigation into alleged role of 1998-batch IPS officer Nimbalkar and 2008-batch IPS officer Hilori, they said.

Along with the two officers, the agency has also named the company IMA, its founder Mansoor Khan and others in the case.

The CBI had approached the state government seeking permission to proceed against the two officers who are in senior positions in the Karnataka Police and allegedly helped IMA founder Masoor Khan, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prince Charles and Katy Perry are teaming up for a special cause.

During a glittering reception at Banqueting House in London on Tuesday night, the royal and heir to the throne announced pop star Katy Perry as an ambassador of the British Asian Trusts Childrens Protection Fund for India.

Charles first met with Perry in India last November at a meeting in Mumbai of British Asian Trust supporters and advisors. Already a champion for childrens rights through her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Katy decided to show her long-term support to the organization and cause upon learning about the anti-trafficking work that the British Asian Trust is doing in the country.

My work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador has taken me to many parts of the world and opened my eyes to the many vulnerabilities of children, Perry said in a statement. India has long held a special place in my heart, and on my last visit, I was able to meet with The Prince of Wales and other leaders in Mumbai, and I was impressed by their strong plan  from on-ground initiatives to fundraising  that will aim to cut child trafficking in half.

RELATED: Prince Charles Never Wanted Harry and Meghan Out, Says Close Source: He Always Envisioned Working with Both of His Sons

Kirsty Wigglesworth - WPA Pool/ Getty

Katy Perry and Prince Charles | Kirsty Wigglesworth - WPA Pool/ Getty

Katy Perry, Prince Charles, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Indian businesswoman Natasha Poonawalla

That is why I am especially honored to be named an ambassador for the British Asian Trusts Childrens Protection Fund, and to help shine my light on the work that the British Asian Trust will be doing in South Asia, and to be a part of finding solutions to child trafficking. Children are vulnerable and innocent and have to be protected.

Cant get enough of PEOPLEs Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

Through the Trusts work in anti-trafficking, improving livelihoods, education and mental health, it has already touched the lives of 4.8 million people in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and has recently expanded its reach into Bangladesh.

The British Asian Trust was founded in 2007 by Prince Charles and a group of visionary British Asian business leaders with the aim to transform more lives across South Asia.
Radiolab, the popular W.N.Y.C. audio program, has long explored big philosophical questions about the world through investigations about everything from eels to the legal foundation for the war on terror. But for its first serialized story, The Other Latif, the show will take listeners to the barbed-wire gates of the prison at Guantanamo Bay to explore legal and ethical quandaries about a detainee.

Its a place that has been described as the legal equivalent of outer space, the shows host, Latif Nasser, said in an interview.

The idea and the title for the show grew from a tweet that Nasser, the director of research at Radiolab," saw in early 2017. At first glance, he thought it mentioned his name  he once went by Abdul Latif Nasser (trading one of his middle names for his first name).
While the initial debate about the Australians in Wuhan has focussed on details such as whether or not evacuees would (or should) pay something towards the cost of the flights, and whether the controversial immigration detention facility at Christmas Island is the appropriate housing area for quarantine, another curious matter sits in the background. What is our countrys responsibility, if any, for evacuating citizens, permanent residents and others from the site of a pandemic, or other crisis overseas? And what does citizenship mean in these circumstances?

Australia has a curious relationship with citizenship. As a migrant country, Australia has long seen citizenship as a key pillar of our economic policy: attracting people from around the world to join the population, offering a better life in return for enhancing the nations future prosperity.

But citizenship is not always a simple, one-way story that ends with life in Australia and single Australian citizenship. And the dynamic of multiple citizenships in the modern world means that migrants and refugees might not just stay put in Australia, but may split residence between countries.

The legal term of Australian citizenship is only 70 years old. It was established in 1948, with Australians remaining British subjects  a status that was removed only in 1984. From 1986, dual citizenship was established, with people from other countries allowed to take up Australian citizenship and retain their original nationality. It was only in 2002, that Australian citizens were allowed  under Australian law  to assume citizenship of another country without first renouncing their Australian citizenship.
Michael Bugbee is still rattled remembering the words that a landlord told him last year while trying to set up an appointment to visit an apartment near Shippensburg University campus where he and his husband could live.

Youre going to have to find another place to live. I didnt know you were homosexual, the 27-year-old student studying human communications and sociology was told.

Bugbee was among those who spoke at a Pennsylvania Youth Congress news conference in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday to call on the General Assembly to pass legislation providing discrimination protections for LGBTQ individuals.

Im used to the homophobic remarks and gay slurs but I was scared, honestly. I never thought that could happen, he said. I contacted the Shippensburg Borough because I expected them to do something. I thought it was illegal. I really did.

He learned it wasnt.

The youth congress, a statewide youth-led LGBT organization based in Harrisburg, is hoping to change that. It held the news conference to renew its call to state lawmakers to amend the states Human Relations Act to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in housing, employment, and public accommodations.

The groups executive director Jason Landau Goodman said the first bill addressing this issue was introduced into the General Assembly in 1976 and decades later, it still hasnt reached a governors desk.

It can take a while to get legislation passed in this building but this is unimaginable, Goodman said. There are so many lawmakers we are truly grateful to who have made this legislation a priority but we are still here.

Gov. Tom Wolf would sign the legislation without hesitation if it reached his desk, said his spokesman J.J. Abbott.

However, the legislation has run into opposition from some corners including the Pennsylvania Family Institute, a statewide conservative-leaning pro-family group based in Harrisburg.

The family institute argues that it would make it illegal for churches, schools and other organizations to limit their hiring practices to employing people who share their views on human sexuality and marriage. Further, they argue it would impact privacy rights by opening up restrooms, showers and locker rooms to the opposite biological sex in schools, workplaces and in public accommodations.

House GOP leaders, who hold majority control, are not anxious to take up the issue until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on three pending employment discrimination cases dealing with this issue that it heard last fall, according to the caucus spokesman Mike Straub.

Beyond that, he said, We believe discrimination in any form is wrong, and no person should ever be subjected to it. However, when we start drawing lines around what makes us different, and putting those lines into law, we are working to further separate ourselves, and not pursuing policies that make our commonwealth more inclusive for everyone.

Despite those hesitations and objections, Goodman sees reason for hope.

Among those in the youth congress corner is having one of its champions  Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington County  now chairing the Senate Labor & Industry Committee. Bartolotta spoke at the news conference in support of making this change in law particularly as it relates to employment.

Senate Labor & Industry Committee Chairwoman Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington County, said at a Pennsylvania Youth Congress news conference it's time the state provide nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ people particularly when it comes to employment.

I take very seriously the need to have the best workforce possible to grow our economy and create opportunity, she said. As such, I believe every individual should be free to seek unfettered economic enrichment. Leaving talented individuals on the sideline because of ones sexual orientation or gender identity will surely fail Pennsylvania.

It has the potential to dissuade individuals and businesses from coming to Pennsylvania, she said.

Its time we change some of those antiquated, ancient rules and thought processes and brought Pennsylvania into 2020, Bartolotta said. Getting more emphatic, she said, It is about damn time, drawing applause from the crowd of supporters.

Rep. Wendi Thomas, R-Bucks County, pointed out to those gathered that in 1975, Pennsylvania was the first state in which an executive order was issued providing discrimination protection based on sexual orientation in state employment. In 2003, that protection was extended to include gender identity. But today, it is the only state in the Northeast that fails to provide these same protections to all of its residents.

We were leading the way, she said. Now were behind.

Speaking of his own situation, Bugbee said he can attest to how hurtful not having the nondiscrimination protection can be.

After being denied the opportunity to even look at an apartment by one landlord, he and his husband were able to secure housing from another landlord by lying and saying they were roommates.

But he said that landlord found out a few days after they signed the lease that they were gay and told them they had to move out. But later that same day, the landlord called back to say instead, he would honor the lease but would pray for me and hope in time I would change my sinful ways.

That day shook me to my core. I was in disbelief. I couldnt believe this was happening. I couldnt believe in 2019 LGBTQ people could be denied a place to live just because of who we are, Bugbee said. Our lawmakers here In Pennsylvania and justices on the Supreme Court need to take action to make sure what happened to me doesnt happen to anyone again.

Currently, only 21 states and the District of Columbia have their own laws that prohibit job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, according to the AP. Wisconsin outlaws targeting workers because of sexual orientation, but doesnt protect transgender employees, according to the AP.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
Armenian second president Robert Kocharyans lawyers - Hovhannes Khudoyan and Aram Orbelyan - submitted a motion to end the criminal prosecution.

Hovhannes Khudoyan noted that petitions of similar content had already been submitted. The current one is a more augmented option.

The lawyer thanked the judge for the application of sanctions so that the society would not have the false impression that an objective process was going on.

According to the lawyer, the accusation against Robert Kocharyan contradicts the previously adopted legal acts.

Counsel recall that the criminal prosecution of seven participants in the events of March 1, 2008 under Article 300.1 was discontinued. The lawyer listed the events of March 1 and the subsequent period described elaborately in the criminal case.

This is a judicial act in legal force, the lawyer noted, adding that what was presented at this court was contrary to what was described. If new circumstances occur, cases must be reviewed, and the charge presented here is contrary to practice.

Speaking of the presumption of innocence, the lawyer noted a periodic violation in relation to the defendants, unjustified decisions on the seizure of property were applied.

The defense does not provide all the materials of the case, but only the materials confirming guilt, according to the characteristics of the investigator.

Continuing the presentation of his colleague, lawyer Aram Orbelyan noted that Khachatryan continues to remain in office, make statements and is not dismissed. He referred to Lithuanian experience when the ECHR, due to similar statements by officials, recorded a violation of the presumption of innocence. A violation of the presumption of innocence is a sufficient reason to dismiss the case, Orbelyan noted.

According to Hovhannes Khudoyan, the investigation with this approach goes from end to beginning - trying to prove his position on guilt, looking for evidence of guilt, and not trying to reveal all the circumstances. For example, in the case of conflicting testimonies, do not conduct confrontations, but select only indications of an accusatory nature.
MATTOON  The opening of the Neal Center YMCA branch in early 2019 has brought approximately 1,800 new members to its Mattoon Area Family YMCA parent organization, which now totals more than 7,200.

YMCA Chief Executive Officer Blake Fairchild said the addition of the Neal Center also increased the demand for the Membership for All scholarships for those needing financial assistance with Y membership or recreation program registration, adding that they awarded $346,000 in scholarships last year. The YMCA awarded $213,000 in financial assistance in 2018.

As the YMCA grows, Fairchild said the annual May Merriment campaign will continue to raise money for scholarships so that no one is turned away due to an inability to pay. The 2020 campaign, which has an "Our Y, Our World" theme, officially launched last week and is scheduled to conclude on May 2 with an auction and international dinner with live music at the YMCA.

"It has really been a year of extensive growth," said Angela Hampton, marketing director and May Merriment coordinator. "That has been really exciting for all of us to see."

Fairchild said the growth has included the Neal Center in Toledo, population approximately 1,220, drawing new YMCA members from neighboring communities as far away as Newton. He also said many YMCA members have been traveling back and forth between the Mattoon and Toledo facilities to take part in programs offered at both sites on different days, such as pickleball tournaments.

Hampton said the YMCA has been striving to ensure that any programs offered in Mattoon are also offered in Toledo, including youth recreation programs. She said May Merriment organizers were thinking of youth programs, in particular, when they picked the "Our Y, Our World" theme for this year's campaign.

"We impact a lot of youths everyday," Hampton said. "We are equipping them to go out and make an impact on the world as an adult."

Hampton said this theme will be reflected by the "international flair" of the May Merriment dinner, which will be held at the Y by 2020 event host First Neighbor Bank. She said local catering services and restaurants will serve Asian, French, German, Italian, Mexican and other cuisine at the dinner.

"Our food vendors are awesome. I am blown away every year by how willing they are to support us," Hampton said.

As always, businesses and other community organizations will be able to purchase tickets for groups of seats around tables at the May Merriment dinner. Hampton said she also wants to emphasize that the dinner is a fun event that is open to the public, adding that individual tickets are available.

Hampton said the doors will open at 5 p.m. May 2 for a social hour, during which attendees can listen to live music while looking over the night's silent and live auction items. After the auction, the event will feature a concert by classic rock band 5 Mile Train from Coles County. This band also performed at the 2019 event.

May Merriment tickets can be purchased for $75 each through April 15 by calling the YMCA at (217) 234-9494 or by visiting https://mattoonymca.org/may-merriment/.

Contact Stroud at (217) 238-6861.

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04.02.2020 LISTEN

Vitus Azeem has waded into the raging controversy over the recent airbus bribery scandal that hit the Atta-Mills John Mahama regimes.

According to the Anti-corruption campaigner, attempts to link former President John Dramani Mahama to the recent Airbus bribery scandal is highly premature.

He has contended that it will be too early to accuse the former President of any wrongdoing particularly when an investigation is ongoing.

Ghana has been cited as one of five countries in which global aerospace group, Airbus SE, allegedly bribed or promised payments to senior officials in exchange for business favours between 2009 and 2015, according to the UK's Serious Fraud Office.

In addition to Ghana, the company has confessed that its agents allegedly paid bribes to officials in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Taiwan within the same period.

The UK's Serious Fraud Office, however, in its statement of fact did not name the Ghanaian officials because investigations were still ongoing.

President Nana Akufo-Addo has since referred the Airbus bribery scandal to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for investigations.

Even before the Special Prosecutors office begins its investigations, the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Monday, accused Mr. Mahama of being  the elected government official 1  named in the Airbus bribery scandal.

But speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr, Vitus Azeem said it was too early for the NPP to draw such conclusions.

It is too early because once you use an intermediary, there is no guarantee that even if that promise was made, the money would have gone to the person that is the decision-maker and when you talk about procurement, it is not necessarily the President himself that is involved in procurement. They [NPP] would want to do that because we are in an election year but I think it is too early. Once the President has asked that it should be investigated, they should wait for it to be investigated, Vitus Azeem noted. Can Special Prosecutor handle Airbus bribery case?

The former Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative also cast doubts over the Special Prosecutor's ability to investigate the case.

There is no guarantee that the Special Prosecutor has the capacity and will go out for investigations and you will remember that some time ago the Special Prosecutor mentioned that in 2020 because it is an election year if he does certain investigations he is likely to be accused of bringing some partisanship in it so that is another thing we cannot be sure of. EOCO, others must partner Special Prosecutor to probe Airbus scandal  Majority Leader

In a related development, the Majority Leader of Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has suggested that the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), Attorney Generals Department, Auditor-Generals Office, and other state agencies with investigatory powers to partner with the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the Airbus bribery scandal.

Speaking on the Point Blank segment on Eyewitness News, the Majority Leader, who raised concerns over the deal when it was brought before Parliament in 2011, noted that the Special Prosecutor will do a better job with the help of other state security agencies.

Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said, although the Special Prosecutor is competent enough to probe the issue, a collaboration with the Attorney General and other security agencies will not be bad.

If EOCO can also assist the Special Prosecutor because you see the Special Prosecutor can only prosecute when he is furnished with the relevant information. And so I think in this case, the Attorney General's department, the Special Prosecutor's office, the EOCO, BNI, and the Auditor-General should combine efforts, he added.

---CitinewsRoom
After some intense drama that has dragged on into several episodes, San Antonio native and former Miss Texas USA Alayah Benavidez has officially been eliminated from "The Bachelor."

Peter Weber, the show's lead, originally didn't give Benavidez a rose during the Jan. 20 episode after several contestants told him she was "fake" and "not real" with him.

Benavidez returned to the show during last week's episode and joined an already crowded group date to "set the record straight" and defend herself. Weber understood Benavidez's concerns and invited her back onto the show by giving her the group date rose, which left many of the other contestants upset and confused, as Benavidez didn't participate in any of the group date activities.

A group date is where several contestants from the show spend a day all at once with the show's lead.

RELATED: 'The Bachelor' teases San Antonio native's return after she was eliminated during Monday's episode

Many of the contestants addressed their disappointment with Weber's decision, calling him "disrespectful" and saying "it was a slap" to the face. The Jan. 27 episode ended with Weber questioning if he made the right choice.

In Monday's episode, Weber told Benavidez "he doesn't care what anyone says about her" and that he has a strong connection with her, however, he added he doesn't want to put her through any more of the controversy.

Benavidez agreed, saying all of the drama was "too much." Weber then walked her out and sent Benavidez home for a second time.

Despite Benavidez being eliminated, several fans of the show tweeted the pageant queen might return to ABC for "Bachelor in Paradise," which is a spin-off television show where contestants from "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" try to find love on a beach in Mexico. The show typically airs in the fall.

Priscilla Aguirre is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre
Aviation workers unions on Monday took over the collection of tolls at the access gate of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos, from a concessionaire, Integrated Intelligent Imaging West Africa Limited (ICUBE).

The development caused unease for a number of airport users as members of the unions stormed the access gate as early as 7 am to chase away officials of the concessionaire. They were promptly replaced with officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

The concessionaires contract expired last year, a source told PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday.

The unions, under the aegis of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and National Association of Air Transport Pilots and Employees (NAAPE) also faulted the monthly remittance made by the company.

According to the unions, the concessions remittance was meagre compared to the traffic generated at the airport gates, daily.

The General Secretary of ANAP, Abdulrasaq Saidu, alleged that the concession of the access gate had not been reviewed for a long time, despite the changing dynamics in the operations of the airport over the years.

He claimed that meetings had been held with the aviation minister in the past, with union members complaining about the situation of things and remittances at the airport gates.

A statement by FAANs spokesperson, Henrietta Yakubu, confirmed that the take-over followed the expiration of the contract agreement to manage the Murtala Muhammed International Airport access gate between the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and I-Cube West Africa Limited.

Mrs Yakubu explained that the unions dislodged the concessionaire and took over the facility unilaterally at about 7 a.m. today February 3, 2019.

Reacting to the takeover, the manager of the concessionaire, Toluwaleke Abajingin, expressed surprise over the unions actions. He claimed that the case was in court and it involves one Rosepine Integrated limited, FAAN and ICUBE.

He explained, however, that ICUBE staff did not resist the take-over, adding that the company has been paying FAAN the necessary remittances but were never informed about any upward review of the contract or otherwise.

Mrs Yakubu, on her part, said that the management would look into the crisis.

However, she said, the management of FAAN is working to address the matter and find a lasting solution to the imbroglio.
Minnesota State College Southeast was on lockdown for part of Monday afternoon because of an apparent threat, but the lockdown ended after 3:30 p.m.

Officials said the main building on campus was closed for the rest of Monday, and classes Monday night were canceled.

Southeast interim president Larry Lundblad issued a statement Monday evening:

"A lockdown of the Minnesota State College Southeast Winona campus was issued on Monday afternoon at 2:15 pm due to a perceived threat against members of the campus community. The Winona Police Department was called and came to campus to investigate. After their investigation, an All-Clear was issued at 3:27 pm. At this time, there is not an imminent threat to the Southeast community in Winona or Red Wing.

"Out of an abundance of caution, there will be an increased security presence on both campuses throughout the week. Please note that entry to all buildings will be limited to the front doors.

"If you are in need of support or resources, please reach out to the staff in Student Services for assistance. As always, the safety and security of our college community is our most important priority."

Students and teachers were kept in rooms for safety during the lockdown but eventually were allowed to leave.

A student on the campus wrote an email to the Winona Daily News stating they have locked the whole school down and moved us into dark windowless room with locks on the doors.

The faculty that is in here with us has no idea what is going on but we all got emails in our school accounts saying that the Winona campus is in lockdown, this is not a test, shelter is in place.

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The authorities in Jammu and Kashmir issued fresh tenders on Tuesday for the completion of the 'Jambu' Zoo, which is set to be the biggest in north India but has missed multiple deadlines.

The foundation stone of the Rs 120-crore project, covering an area of 229.50 hectares, was laid by then Forest minister Choudhary Lal Singh on September, 2016.

It was scheduled to be completed in June 2019, but the project, which will come up in Manda Wildlife sanctuary in Nagrota and Khanpur on the outskirts of Jammu, has since missed multiple deadlines.

"We have asked the concerned officers to start the work early on the main entry gate, cafeteria, water bodies, parks and roads so that the zoo could be thrown open for general public as soon as possible," Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Sanjeev Verma.

He said fresh tenders have been floated in this regard.

Verma also said the officials concerned have been asked to consult experts dealing with wildlife.

The endeavour is to develop the zoo on the modern lines so that it will become one of the best wildlife parks in the country, he said.

On the directions of Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu to complete the work at the zoo as early as possible, Verma visited the site on Tuesday to review the work there.

Divisional Forest Officer Wildlife Ajay Sharma said cafeteria and viewpoints at the site are ready and work on aviaries is near completion.

The zoo will have an artificial waterfall and will house 27 species of animals, including the Royal Bengal Tiger, the Asiatic Lion, leopards, bears, crocodiles, ghadiyals and sambars, Sharma said.

Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary B V R Subrahmanyam had expressed dismay over slow progress of the work at the zoo during his visit to the site last week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: Accusing the BJP of having "hatred and contempt" for Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress on Tuesday said if the ruling party was sincere in its love for him, it should expel its leaders Anantkumar Hegde and Pragya Singh Thakur, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should offer an unconditional apology.

Congress leader K C Venugopal, who is AICC general secretary in-charge for the organisation, slammed the BJP and its top leadership for their "half-hearted and shoddy lip service" for getting away with the crime of "insulting" Mahatma Gandhi and the entire freedom struggle.

"If the BJP and its leadership are sincere in their much professed and publicised love for Gandhi Ji and India, Pragya Singh Thakur and Anant Kumar Hegde must be made to resign from all positions and expelled from the party forthwith, and the PM/BJP president should tender an unconditional apology on behalf of the party.

"Failing this, the President of India, who is the custodian of our Constitution, should take necessary action against the culprits," he said in a statement.

Describing as mere "hog wash" reports of the BJP demanding an apology from Hegde, Venugopal said, "Seeking an apology is nothing but a sham to maintain the fig leaf that now barely covers the naked hatred and contempt that the BJP and RSS have towards the Mahatma as indeed generations of freedom fighters who gave their life to the cause of an independent Mother India".

Venugopal said Hegde's comments were merely a reflection of the hatred and animosity the BJP and RSS held towards Gandhi and his ideology.

"It, yet again, exposes how the ideological forefathers of the BJP and RSS were competing to please and appease their colonial British masters, even as tens of thousands of common Indians, under the leadership of the Mahatma and the Indian National Congress, were fighting against the mighty British Empire," he said.

Venugopal said it came as no surprise that those who were the "agents and informers" of the British were now openly abusing the tallest leader of India's struggle against the British.

"The flag bearers of RSS/BJP ideology even then had nothing but hatred and contempt for Gandhi ji, and it was this hatred that ultimately led to their adherents killing the Mahatma," he said.

Venugopal said that MP Pragya Singh Thakur calling the Mahatma's assassin, Nathuram Godse, a patriot and Hegde describing satyagrah as a "drama" were nothing but the perpetuation of the same hatred and spiteful ideological contempt.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: BJP member Locket Chatterjee on Tuesday alleged in Lok Sabha that the West Bengal government is not allowing people to celebrate Saraswati Puja in the state. Raising the issue during Zero Hour, she accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of following the politics of appeasement.

She also termed the anti-CAA protest as politics of appeasement. "There is such a situation in West Bengal that people are not being allowed to celebrate Saraswati Puja," she said while opposition members were protesting against the controversial remarks made by BJP MP Anant Kumar Hegde on Mahatma Gandhi.

TDP MP Jayadev Galla raised the issue of lathicharge on people protesting against the Jaganmohan Reddy government's move to pass the AP Decentralisation Bill to have 3 capital cities in Andhra Pradesh. Two BJP members from Rajasthan raised the issue of locust attack in farm fields in the state.

Nihal Chand said 12 districts are heavily affected due to this attack. Rahul Kaswan (BJP) said that the network of locust is increasing at a fast pace and the Centre should send a high- level team to take steps.
The plan to ban petrol and diesel cars has been brought forward five years. Photo: Getty

Prime minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday will announce that a vehicle ban designed to tackle carbon emissions will be brought forward to 2035, and will now include hybrids in addition to petrol and diesel cars.

That year will be the last date that consumers can purchase the vehicles.

The shock inclusion of hybrids comes after experts warned that existing proposals, which were not due to come into effect until 2040, would not be enough to achieve carbon emissions targets by 2050.

In 2019, the UK became the first major economy to pass laws requiring all greenhouse gas emissions to be brought to net zero levels by 2050.

READ MORE: UK firms struggling to recruit skilled workers amid immigration concerns

Johnson will announce details of the policy change at an event to launch the COP26 climate summit, which will he held in Glasgow later this year.

The prime minister will say that the summit is an opportunity to step up progress on the protection of the planet, and may even float bringing the ban forward to 2030.

Hosting COP26 is an important opportunity for the UK and nations across the globe to step up in the fight against climate change, Johnson is expected to say.

As we set out our plans to hit our ambitious 2050 net zero target across this year, so we shall urge others to join us in pledging net zero emissions.

The vehicle ban was originally announced in July 2017 as part of the governments clean air initiative, but  in a move that was welcomed by the car industry  it emerged in 2018 that hybrid vehicles would not be included in the ban.

READ MORE: EU offers UK 'best in class' trade deal but wants fishing access

Buyers will now only be allowed purchase electric or hydrogen cars and vans once the ban comes into effect in 2035.

The AA warned on Tuesday that the new targets would pose challenges.

Drivers support measures to clean up air quality and reduce CO2 emissions but these stretched targets are incredibly challenging, said Edmund King, the president of the group.

Story continues

Mike Hawes, the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufactures and Traders said the proposals accelerated an already challenging transition.

Its extremely concerning that government has seemingly moved the goalposts for consumers and industry on such a critical issue, he said.

But the head of science, policy and research at environmental group Friends of the Earth, Mike Childs, said that a 2035 target would still leave the UK in the slow-lane of the electric car revolution.
Texas : At least two people were killed and one other injured in a shooting at a university in Texas on Monday, Sputnik reported.

The shooting took place in the Texas A&M Commerce campus. There is no information about the suspect.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)
WARSAW, Poland - French President Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of engaging in historical revisionism on World War II but said during a visit to Poland on Tuesday that a strong Europe needs to remain open to honest dialogue with Moscow.

Macron addressed students and faculty members at Jagiellonian University in Krakow on the second day of his trip to Poland. Both the French leader and Polish officials called the visit a breakthrough for relations between their countries.

While speaking at the university, Macron condemned the Kremlins recent efforts to blame the outbreak of World War II on acts by Poland and some western European governments.

He said scientific and historical facts clearly show that Poland, which was occupied by Nazi Germany throughout the war, was a victim and suffered immense losses in its population.

While Moscows misrepresenting of facts needs to be kept in mind, Macron stressed that Russia is part of Europe geographically and should not be isolated as the EU looks toward the future following Britains departure last week.

I am convinced that we can build an architecture of stability, of peace, of trust in Europe only if we talk with Russia but not yield things to Russia, not forget what it did or what it does, but demand a deescalation, Macron said.

I think it a major error to distance ourselves from a part of Europe that we dont feel comfortable about, Macron said.

French companies engaged in trade with Russia have pressured Macron to repair relations with Moscow and to ease economic sanctions. The companies are central to Macrons political base.

The Polish government favours maintaining EU sanctions on Russia for its activities in Ukraine, including the 2014 seizure of Crimea.

Another reason for Macron reaching out to Russia is his disillusionment with U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump, who has made important decisions without without consulting European allies.

Commenting on Frances view of Moscow, Polands ambassador to France, Tomasz Mlynarski, said the European Union should speak with one voice in its dialogue with Russia and that there was no room for avant-garde ideas.

Polands relations with Russia are strained, and recent remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin about the start of the war have added to the tension. Poland rejected the allegations as untrue.

Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Tuesday that Poland has not yet been invited to ceremonies scheduled for May 9 in Moscow to commemorate the end of World War II.

___

Angela Charlton contributed from Paris.
The good news: Abington Townships school board has a chance to show the rest of the country how to have a thoughtful discussion about a hugely controversial topic.

The bad news: Theyre in this position because of a board members shocking comments about armed police in schools at a Jan. 21 meeting  comments that went unchallenged, and for which the board member later apologized.

Tamar Klaiman, elected in the blue wave that swept the Philadelphia suburbs in November, first asked if school police officers were required to carry firearms. When a fellow board member said he was not aware of a legal requirement, she responded, I have concerns about anyone carrying firearms in schools. I wanted to be sure there is not a legal reason to require them to carry them.

Klaiman continued, I mean this might not be the appropriate venue or time to talk about this, but there is a lot of evidence that anyone carrying a firearm within a district building puts kids at risk, particularly students of color. We know that black and brown students are much more likely to be shot by police officers, especially school resource officers, than other students, and I have serious concerns about anybody in the building having firearms, regardless of whether or not they are police.

This is nonsense. Abington police officers have protected local schools for decades. They have never shot a student. Klaiman cites a lot of evidence but doesnt name one example. Thats because there arent any. Sometimes, unfortunately, police officers have not been able to protect students, but there have been no instances of officers shooting unarmed students in schools.

Despite the outrageousness of these claims, no one challenged them. One board member simply stated, What I can do is provide you with the memorandum of understanding and any policies that pertain to firearms in our schools, and also anything that governs the school police officers. Later, another said, Our school police officer is a fully certified or licensed police officer with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ...

Then Klaiman said, These officers also shoot people, pretty regularly, so ...

Still, no one challenged her. So, lets address this brutal, shocking allegation. What police officers, anywhere in America, are shooting people pretty regularly? None. These false allegations are an insult to the men and women who dedicate themselves to public safety.

The Pew Research Center studied what Americans believe about the frequency of police officers firing their guns. Three in 10 adults estimated that police fire their weapons a few times per year while on duty. Most Americans (83%) say officers fire their weapon at least once in their careers, outside of firearms training or a gun range. Neither perception is true.

Three-quarters of all officers never discharge their service weapon while on the job. Of those that do, many dont actually shoot someone.

Klaiman apologized shortly after the meeting and deserves credit for showing more contrition than we see from most politicians who get themselves in hot water. As reported by 6ABC, she said, in part, I said something that I deeply regret and for which I would like to apologize. I am proud of the relationship between the Abington School District and the Abington Police Department in our community.  What I said was offensive, and I am sorry.

Of course, her comments had already sparked outrage from national law enforcement organizations and local calls for her resignation. The school board is planning a public hearing on the topic Tuesday.

Thats where Abington can really step up.

Whether to place armed police officers in schools is certainly worthy of intense debate. However, casually throwing about buzzwords fashionable in the echo chambers of social justice merely exposes a lack of depth that is unsettling given the seriousness of the issue. Equally unsettling is a feeble response about producing documents and memos. This was a huge opportunity missed.

So, on Tuesday, talk about student safety, openly and honestly. Let Klaiman and others express why they have concerns about guns in schools or feel unsafe around police. But let the police demonstrate how this decades-long relationship between local officers and students not only promotes safety but contributes to building bridges that are essential to any thriving community.

What happens in local government has a far greater impact on our day-to-day lives than Washington or Harrisburg ever will. Yet the elected officials closest to us get the least exposure  unless there is some controversy. With controversy can come further polarization among citizens. It doesnt have to be that way, and Abington can demonstrate that Tuesday night.

Terry Tracy is the CEO of Broad + Liberty Inc., where a version of this piece originally appeared. broadandliberty.com
3 1 of 3 Noah Rossiter / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Contributed photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3





New Milford resident Nan Rossiter, known for such books as The Gin & Chowder Club, has released the first novel in her new Savannah Skies series, and will appear at a number of Connecticut signing events.

Promises of the Heart, which comes out Tuesday, Feb. 4, is a compelling and heartfelt story about a couple struggling to start a family, and a young girl with a heart condition. The child, just 9 years old, has had a rough time in the foster care system. Hurt and angry, shes convinced shes got no shot at finding a forever home.
Chinas central government has imposed strict environmental restrictions and carried out inspections on heavy industries since 2019 in provinces including Shanxi, Liaoning and Shandong, as part of Chinas 'Blue Sky Protection Campaign. This is a three-year plan, which started in July 2018, aimed at curbing environmental pollution and improving the air quality in China.

The government has continued its environmental push during the 2019-2020 autumn-winter season, from November 2019 to March 2020, to support the results achieved in the past two years. Most of Chinas northern provinces are now subject to restrictions on key polluting industries such as steel, cement, glass and others.

These restrictions by the Chinese authorities on polluting industries are now hitting downstream demand for some refractory raw materials, and have negatively affected their production. The markets of these raw materials became quieter ahead of the Lunar New Year, with most market participants leaving for the holidays.

Magnesia in Liaoning

Magnesia is a key raw material for refractories, which is widely used in kilns for smelting steel. Production curbs on end-markets including steel and cement during the winter heating season have led to a deterioration of the upstream magnesia market.

With the Chinese New Year starting on January 24, factories were due to be closed until the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunar calendar, marking the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations.

"Demand for magnesia has been affected by the slow downstream demand due to the environmental restrictions, and magnesia prices have been falling sharply since 2019 until now. With the approach of the Lunar New Year holiday, the market has become stagnant with no transactions seen," a producer source told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets price assessment for magnesia, dead burned, 97.5% MgO, lump, fob China, was $400-450 per tonne on January 21, unchanged since December 17, but down from $1,100-1,300 per tonne at the start of 2019.

The stricter norms have led to remarkable signs of innovation in the magnesia industry. According to the Anshan Ecological Environment Bureau, some 1,246 magnesia kilns operated by 116 magnesia companies have been installed in Haicheng, Liaoning province, with on-line monitoring equipment. The data shows that the emission of pollutants from all these kilns is within the accepted thresholds.

"The air condition in Haicheng is better than it was before due to the environmental inspections, and I think the environmental inspections will remain strict in 2020," a second producer source said.

Fused alumina and bauxite

Since the Code Red emergency response protocol at the beginning of November in Luoyang, Henan province, Chinas fused alumina production hub has been under rigid environmental regulations.

Factories were closed for the Chinese New Year holidays, but according to fused alumina producers in Henan province, normal production might be delayed until the end of the winter shutdown season.

In principle, a mass operation shutdown will result in a shortage of supply, which will support prices. But weak demand from the refractories sector has offset the tight supply for brown fused alumina (BFA) and its feedstock of refractory grade bauxite, leading to a relatively stable price trend for both.

Fastmarkets fortnightly assessment of alumina, fused brown, min 95% Al 2 O 3 , refractory sized (0-6mm), fob China, was at $720-730 per tonne on January 9, up $10 per tonne or 1.4% from its previously stable price of $710-720 per tonne.

Meanwhile, bauxite, refractory-grade, 85%/2.0/3.15-3.2 (0-6mm), fob Xingang, was assessed at $385-395 per tonne, up $5 per tonne or 1.3% from $380-390 per tonne, a level it has held at since the end of October. This price movement was mainly due to the appreciation of the Chinese yuan, according to market participants.

Shandong graphite production

At the beginning of the winter season, the air quality in Shandong province was better than that in Henan, but that situation had changed by the end of the year. Graphite production in Shandong was not significantly affected by the environmental regulations until the end of December when local air quality deteriorated, according to market participants.

This resulted in a suspension of production until the Chinese New Year holiday season. But some sources believe that the environmental curbs were not the only reason behind the closure of graphite factories.

"Most graphite producers in Shandong stopped their production of the raw material in the second half of 2019 because of a weak end-market and a depletion of local resources," a graphite flake producer in Shandong province said.

The production suspension, as well as the seasonal halt in Heilongjiang province, have contributed to supply tightness of certain grades of graphite flake, which has helped offset the headwind brought about by a weak end-market.

Fastmarkets assessment of graphite flake 94% C, +100 mesh, fob China, stood at $690 per tonne on January 16, unchanged since the middle of November. Prior to this, the price ticked up by $10 per tonne or 1.5% on supply tightness.
How's the weather up there? WVU engineer aims to enhance space weather forecasting

Usually, the Earth's magnetic field shields us from the misadventures of our nearest star, the mighty sun.

But it failed on Sept. 2, 1859.

Known as the Carrington Event, the most powerful solar storm on record burst through the magnetic field and pummeled telegraph wires throughout the United States and Europe, breaking down communication systems and igniting several fires.

Scientists like Piyush Mehta, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at West Virginia University, worry that a similar event today would unleash mightier havoc - widespread blackouts, destroyed electrical grids and an estimated $2 trillion in damages.

That's why Mehta, with the aid of a $273,734-grant from the National Science Foundation and a WVU graduate student, will research more accurate ways to predict space weather via artificial intelligence and machine-learning.

"This research has come to light in recent years because of the advanced technological infrastructure we have today," Mehta said. "We've got power grid lines, oil pipelines and satellites that gather GPS and weather information. Space weather can adversely affect all of these infrastructures."

In more recent history, the province of Quebec suffered a daylong blackout in March 1989 due to a solar storm. In the U.S., more than 200 power grid problems erupted from coast to coast.

With more and more satellites sprouting into orbit and technological advances that enable our electronic communications, the weather in space could create annoyances - or even catastrophes -- in our day-to-day lives.

"The main issue is that we still don't understand very well what the sun's going to do and how it impacts our near-Earth space environment or geospace," Mehta said.

The sun continuously spews out plasma, mainly made up of different kinds of charged particles, Mehta explained. The resulting solar wind then interacts with the Earth's magnetosphere, an interaction that isn't completely understood by scientists, Mehta said. This interaction can be highly violent when the sun is very active or during solar storms and can set up drastic changes in the geospace environment that can significantly impact us.

According to NASA, these activities are considered "space weather," the conditions on the sun, in the solar wind and within Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere that can influence technological systems and endanger human life and health.

The process of providing space weather forecasts is highly involved and complex, with model and human inputs. Space weather forecasters at the Space Weather Prediction Center operating under NOAA are charged with providing the forecasts. However, predicting space weather, especially strong events, is a challenging task and existing models can be improved upon, Mehta said. We are far behind the models we use on Earth for terrestrial weather.

"You can look at your phone for the weather forecast. If it says there's an 80 percent chance of rain, it's probably going to rain and you're going to grab your umbrella. We're not quite there yet when it comes to forecasting space weather."

One reason is that scientists don't have a grasp on how the different solar wind conditions affect the amount of energy transferred into the magnetosphere. Mehta will work with the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico to develop a new model for the geospace/magnetosphere that will help to improve understanding of this energy transfer process.

To achieve this, Mehta and his colleagues will apply AI and machine-learning methods to develop a computationally efficient model that can expand the role of simulation models in scientific discovery (and operations).

The project will also provide a unique training opportunity for a graduate student at WVU, who will visit the laboratory with Mehta for research and collaboration. Mehta's funding comes from a highly competitive Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research award.

"This is the first time WVU has received this type of an award," Mehta said. "Space weather was the subject of one of the last executive orders by former President Barack Obama, and the current administration has also voiced support for it. The work performed under this award will help elevate WVU's stature in the community of space weather and artificial intelligence and machine-learning."

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This story has been published on: 2020-02-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Several artists will compete against themselves. Kenny Neal received four nominations, two in the Helen category and two in the Hayes, for outstanding sound design. Walter Bobby McCoy received two Helen nominations for musical direction in Legally Blonde and Little Shop, and Milagros Ponce de Leon was nominated twice in the Hayes category for set design for Into the Woods at Fords and (with Clint Allen) for Roald Dahls Matilda the Musical at Olney.
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Here are some stocks that are in the news today:

Quarterly earnings: Bharti Airtel, TVS Motor Company, Triveni Engineering & Industries, Tata Global Beverages, Thermax, Titan Company, JSW Energy, OFSS, Piramal Enterprises, Punjab National Bank, CSB Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Exide Industries, GATI, Jindal SAW, Adani Green Energy, Adani Ports and Avanti Feeds are among the companies that will release their quarterly earnings on February 4.

TCS and Walgreens Boots Alliance, lnc expanded their strategic partnership to advance WBA's transformation of its global lT function

Reliance Industries - new production from kg D6 project on track to start by mid-2020

SRF Q3: Consolidated net profit at Rs 343 crore versus Rs 165.7 crore, revenue up 2.3% at Rs 1,850.5 crore versus Rs 1,808.8 crore, YoY

AstraZeneca Q3: Net orofit down 8.2% at Rs 26.7 crore versus Rs 29.1 crore, revenue up 4% at Rs 223.9 crore versus Rs 215.2 crore, YoY

Deepak Nitrite: Q3 profit jumps to Rs 157 cr versus Rs 39.7 cr, revenue jumps 44.2 percent to Rs 1,119.9 cr YoY.

Affle India: Q3 profit jumps 31.33 percent to Rs 21.45 cr, revenue rises 27.4 percent to Rs 94.46 cr YoY.

GSK Pharma: Q3 loss at Rs 661.16 cr versus profit at Rs 113.67 crore, revenue dips 5.7 percent to Rs 778.59 cr YoY.

JK Cement: Company successfully commissioned grey cement grinding capacity in Rajasthan and UP.

GMR Infrastructure: GMR Hyderabad International Airport signs agreement to operate Bidar Airport in Karnataka.

PNB board granted permission for raising funds through issuance of Basel-III compliant Tier-II Bonds amounting up to Rs 1000 crore in one or more tranches

Future Consumer - CARE Ratings reaffirmed CARE A1 rating to the commercial paper worth Rs 100 crore

Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.
Nearly 1,700 precinct caucus sites, tens of thousands of people and 10 Democratic candidates for the US 2020 presidential elections.

The start of Iowas Democratic caucuses on Monday night appeared to go off without any major issues. That was, however, until hours went by without results, forcing the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) to announce there was a problem.

Nearly 48 hours after the caucuses began, only partial results were out. With 86 percent of the precincts reporting, the IDP said former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg led in the state delegate race. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were in second and third place and former Vice President Joe Biden trailed in fourth place.

It is unclear when the final votes are expected, but IDP Chair Troy Price apologised for Monday nights errors and delays.

Heres what we know about what went wrong.

What was the issue?

The problem, according to the IDP, was with the code in a mobile phone app that precincts used to report results.

Price said in a statement that the delay in reporting results was not due to a hack and that independent cybersecurity consultants had tested the systems in preparation for the caucuses.

We have every indication that our systems were secure and there was not a cybersecurity intrusion, Price said.

An Iowa Caucus precinct worker documents with her phone as workers count paper ballots after a Democratic presidential caucus at West Des Moines Christian Church in West Des Moines, Iowa [Jim Bourg/Reuters]

But he added: While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data. We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system.

He noted that the issue had been fixed, and the applications reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately.

Why was an app being used?

The Iowa caucus is not a ballot system  Democrats vote by actually showing up to designated gyms, churches, mosques and other locations throughout the state and, for the first time, around the world to physically stand together in groups to show their support for their preferred candidate.

They go through two rounds. In the first round, each candidate must have 15 percent of peoples votes to be viable for the next round. If their candidate is not viable in the first round, people can walk over and join another group or if close to viability, try to convince others from other non-viable groups to join their side.

Many precincts were expected to enter the results of these rounds into a new mobile app, specifically designed for the caucuses. But, as one precinct chair told KCCI Des Moines, the app would not let her enter the number of participants in the second round.

Precinct captain Carl Voss, of Des Moines, Iowa, holds up his phone showing the Iowa Democratic Partys caucus reporting app [Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo]

Waukee Precinct 2 Chair Tina Weber told the local news channel the app had helpful directions. Its really slick, she said. But when she got to the second round in the app, she said she was not able to enter the number of participants who supported Andrew Yang. Because of this issue with the app, she said: I ended up with more people than there were actual people there.

The app was developed by Shadow Inc, a Washington, DC-based company headed by CEO Gerard Niemira, who previously worked on Hillary Clintons campaign.

State campaign finance disclosures show the IDP paid Shadow two instalments in November and December 2019, totalling $63,000, for web development and travel.

Shadow Inc said in a statement on Twitter that it regretted the delay in the reporting of Monday nights caucuses, but the issue did not affect the underlying caucus results data.

It added that the company had already corrected the underlying technology issue.

Was the app properly tested?

The IDP maintains that its systems were tested by independent cybersecurity consultants in preparation for Mondays caucuses.

But Douglas Jones, computer science professor at the University of Iowa, told Al Jazeera he had researched the app in recent months and grown increasingly worried about it.

He said the IDP had been secretive about the app and said political parties must be more transparent, given that their role in the election process is set out in law and the decisions they make can alter the structure of government.

In the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, he anticipated that it would be impossible to properly test the software before the real vote. The risk of failure with a live test is very high, and without a realistic test, I cant imagine trusting such software, he said.

With nearly 1,700 precincts in Iowa, he knew that even in precincts operated by extremely well trained and prepared workers, they would likely make mistakes.

That tests a system far more thoroughly than any planned testing can do. It means that simulating that environment without a real election would be extraordinarily difficult and expensive, he said.

So, when you deploy software thats going to face that kind of test, you have to be extremely careful. And it appears that they were not always careful, he added.

I think they were overconfident and under-resourced, and that combination is dangerous, he said of the IDP. He added that it would have been cheaper and more reliable to hire phone operators to do the same job.

On the last day of campaigning for the Iowa caucuses, political merchandise is on sale at Ray Gun, a popular store with a special political section in Des Moines, Iowa [Craig Lassig/EPA]

He said that, in general, there will always be a long list of security concerns with apps involved in caucuses and elections. When a user downloads an app, she must trust the source she is downloading it from. And once it is on her phone, the app is vulnerable to all other free apps she downloaded that could be monitoring her, for advertising purposes or other nefarious reasons.

Any app that can be downloaded would be communicating with a server, he explained, so someone with bad intentions could download the same app and attack that server.

Ultimately, whether it is due to human error or an outside attacker, if a vote is misreported, it can lead candidates to mistakenly withdraw from the race. If that happens, it is too late for that candidate to recover, Jones said.

The entire primary process, from the Iowa caucuses all the way through to the National Convention, has that risk associated with it because the unofficial results reporting at each stage in the process is used by the candidates to make important decisions about their campaigns in the next round of the race, he said.

Jones said he was nervous about any other caucuses or elections using apps to record or report votes. Voting by cellphone, were just not there, he said.

What else happened?

Some precincts also had trouble reporting results by phone.

Shawn Sebastian, caucus secretary for Story County Precinct 1-1, tweeted that it took him more than two hours to report his precincts results by phone. He clarified to Al Jazeera that his precinct did not use the app to report results, only the phone, saying that there were also initial problems downloading it.

Give the problems, we planned on just reporting by phone, Sebastian told Al Jazeera.

His call finally went through a little after 11pm local time.

It took almost 20 minutes to report, he tweeted. Starting to understand why I was on hold for so long.

These are the results that I've been trying to report for about 2 hours now. I was on hold for about 90 min, CNN wanted to interview about my experience, and in that moment I got off hold  but couldn't get on fast enough and they hung up on me. I'm back on hold.  Shawn Sebastian  (@shawnsebastian) February 4, 2020

The IDP has not commented directly on the issues with the phone line. The party had not responded to Al Jazeeras request for comment at the time of publication.

How are the results being verified?

As the IDP investigated the issue, its staff executed a backup plan and entered the data manually. This took longer than expected, the IDP said.

The IDP investigation determined that the underlying data collected by the app was sound.

A precinct worker tallies Iowa Democratic Caucus votes by hand on paper as caucus results are manually counted after a Democratic presidential caucus at West Des Moines Christian Church in West Des Moines, Iowa [Jim Bourg/Reuters]

Because of the required paper documentation, we have been able to verify that the data recorded in the app and used to calculate State Delegate Equivalents is valid and accurate. Precinct level results are still being reported to the IDP.

The IDP is using tech systems, photos of results and a paper trail to validate the results, IDP communications director Mandy McClure added in a statement.

The Associated Press reported that volunteers and Democratic party staffers were being sent across the state to gather paper results to verify the results.

What happens next?

It is unclear what time the final results will be announced.

Meanwhile, the issue in Iowas caucuses has many worried that a similar problem may present itself in Nevadas caucuses, scheduled for February 22.

The Nevada Democratic Party said it was confident the same issue would not recur.

NV Dems can confidently say that what happened in the Iowa caucus last night will not happen in Nevada on February 22, William McCurdy II, Nevadas state Democratic chair said in a statement.

We will not be employing the same app or vendor used in the Iowa caucus, McCurdy II said. We had already developed a series of backups and redundant reporting systems, and are currently evaluating the best path forward.

What about New Hampshire?

The next Democratic contest is the New Hampshire primary on February 11. Similar to Iowa, the way New Hampshire votes can have a huge effect on the rest of the race.

But the difference is that the Iowa caucuses are run by party officials who do not have as much experience as state and local elections staff who will run the New Hampshire primary, ProPublica pointed out. Due to the concern about poorly run caucuses, the 2020 Democratic contest has fewer caucus races and more primaries compared with 2016.

Mondays chaos has re-energised the debate about whether Iowa should hold primaries instead.
More homes have been lost in New South Wales in raging bushfires as devastated communities brace for more wild weather.

The NSW Rural Fire Service confirmed 17 homes were lost in the state's south-east on the weekend with 12 homes destroyed in the Snowy Monaro region and another five in the Bega Valley.

The figure doesn't include the dozens of outbuildings lost in both regions, where temperatures soared into the 40s on Saturday.

Ar least five businesses or industrial complexes were also destroyed in the Snowy Monaro.

Firefighters battled tough conditions near Bredbo in the Snowy Monaro region, where 12 homes were lost on Saturday

The five homes lost in the Bega Valley on Saturday takes the tally to more than 400 lost in the last 35 days, according to mayor Kristy McBain.

Almost 2,500 NSW homes have been destroyed to date this bushfire season while 25 people have lost their lives.

As firefighters welcome the easing conditions, residents have been urged wild weather conditions are on the way, including heavy rain, flash flooding and landslides.

'While fire conditions in many areas have been better today people, particularly in southern NSW and ACT should remain vigilant with wind changes this afternoon & tonight,' Bureau of Meteorology NSW tweeted on Tuesday.

Rain is expected on fire grounds across NSW into early next week, including the NSW north coast, which was devastated by fires in November.

The Big Jack Mountain fire in the Bega Valley on Saturday, where five homes were lost

Severe weather warnings could be issued on Thursday and Friday for flash flooding in the north coast and mid-north coast regions.

'Many of the fires that we had earlier in September and October in northern NSW will see this widespread rainfall,' BOM forecaster Dean Narramore told the ABC.

'And it looks like even many of the ongoing fires to the west of Sydney and down towards the south coast and into East Gippsland will also get some of this rainfall.

'It's definitely looking like all fire zones will at least get some rainfall in the coming weeks.'

Many drought and fire-affected communities will get a significant soaking this week

Residents in fire-affected regions are also warned to be aware of possible of landslips due to a lack of vegetation on fire grounds.

The state's north-west has already copped a drenching this week with a minor flood warning issued for the Paroo River, which will likely to peak near 1.80 metres around Wednesday with minor flooding at Willara Crossing.

More than 11,000 fires have scorched 5.5 million hectares across NSW since July, which is equivalent to 6.2 per cent of NSW's landmass, according to the RFS.

More than 400 homes have been lost in bushfires in the Bega Valley in the last 35 days. This property in Cobargo was gutted on New Year's Eve

More than 1,500 firefighters were still on fire grounds on Tuesday to contain a number of large fires.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 62 bush and grass fires burning in NSW, with 29 uncontained.

'Easing conditions across the state overnight has seen all fires now back at the advice alert level,' the RFS tweeted.

'Crews will make the most of cooler temperatures and more favourable conditions today to work on containment on a number of large fires.'
Photo: BC Legislature

The ruling NDP leads in polling as rumours swirl on the timing of B.C.'s next provincial election.

Research Co. president Mario Canseco says it's too early to take a serious look at how British Columbians would actually vote, especially with caveats such as who will lead the BC Green Party, how many candidates the BC Conservative Party would field and how many incumbent MLAs would retire before the next vote.

Polling conducted in late January reveals three in five British Columbians (60%) acknowledge they would definitely or probably consider casting a ballot for the NDP.

The BC Liberals are a few points behind, with 56% of British Columbians saying they would consider voting for this party in the next election. The voter pool is smaller for the BC Conservative Party (46%) and the BC Green Party (45%).

"The retirement of BC Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver has led to a race to find his full-time replacement. There is no certainty that whoever becomes leader will continue the confidence and supply agreement that enabled NDP Leader John Horgan to become premier in 2017," says Canseco.

The regional breakdowns help tell the story of how the parties are connecting with would-be voters.

On current voting consideration, the BC NDP is decidedly ahead of the BC Liberals in Metro Vancouver (62% to 53%). The BC Liberals keep the upper hand over the BC NDP in southern B.C. (61% to 50%), where the official Opposition holds 14 of 16 seats.

On Vancouver Island, a three-way race may create problems for BC NDP incumbents.

At this point, 53% of Vancouver Islanders say they would consider voting for the BC Green Party, with the BC NDP and the BC Liberals close behind (at 51% each). The Greens do not fare as well in other regions, with just two in five voters in southern B.C. and northern B.C. saying they would consider backing a BC Green candidate.?
Fear of impending China tariffs may have actually given some toymakers a cushion against the early impacts from the recent coronavirus outbreak.

Jay Foreman, CEO of Basic Fun, which makes K'nex and Lincoln Logs, said his company as well as others in the toy industry brought extra product to the U.S. at the end of 2019 in order to get "under the wire" of future tariffs that were expected to be imposed by President Donald Trump.

"We're heavy on inventory right now, which is great," he said during CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "If there's a delay of two, four, six weeks in getting the flow going again, we should be able to cover that. The real challenge is if this starts to creep into April, May and June. Then it's going to really be a disruption."

Chinese factories typically close during the Lunar New Year and were not expected to be up and running until this week or next, Foreman noted.

About 90% of Basic Fun's production is in China, but none of the factories are in or near Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, the epicenter of the epidemic. Still, Foreman said workers at the company's factories live throughout China, so many need to travel from central and northern China to the southern provinces where the factories are located.

"Right now what we're doing, the biggest thing I'm doing everyday, is trying to chase down these things, trying to get masks," he said holding up a mask. "We're searching all over to get masks to send over to China because the people can't return to work and really can't even leave their homes without the masks."

Foreman said his company has been exporting masks made in the U.S. to China.
Tuesday, February 4th, 2020 (10:35 am) - Score 5,584

Civil engineering firm Morrison Telecom Services (MTS), part of the M Group Services, has today secured an Openreach (BT) Network Services Agreement (ONSA), which will see them helping the operator to deploy and maintain their fibre broadband ISP networks across multiple parts of the UK.

The new contract (technically an extension of an existing deal) is similar to the one that Openreach recently signed with rival firm Kier (here), except that one only covered Hampshire and Berkshire. By comparison the contract with MTS will cover work across parts of Norfolk, Lincolnshire, the East Midlands, South Anglia, Lancashire, Cumbria, Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.

The contract will run for 5 years, with the potential to extend by 2 years. The scope of works will include the delivery of civils, poling, cabling and jointing activities. The work will be delivered around the clock, 365 days a year, by a team of 850 MTS engineers and support staff.

Alain Loosveld, MD of the M Group Services Telecom Division, said: This agreement cements our position as a primary, long-term supply chain partner to Openreach. We will now look to develop the strong and collaborative relationship we have established with Openreach by delivering this hugely important rollout programme on time and to the highest safety and performance standards.

Previously MTS was contracted by Openreach in 2016 to support their delivery of the Governments / BDUK Superfast Extension Programme (SEP), which was more FTTC centric, while today the focus is perhaps more targeted at the operators roll-out of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology.

Under the current plan Openreach aims to extend full fibre lines to cover 4 million UK premises by March 2021 and then they have an ambition for 15 million by around 2025. Doing that will take a lot of engineers and so it makes sense to outsource some of that work. At this point that 15 million ambition is looking more and more like a solid target, even though theyve yet to officially reflect it as such.

UPDATE 5th Feb 2020

Civil engineering firm MJ Quinn informs us that they were also successful in winning part of this contract for Openreach and have been awarded both Wales regions (Mid & North Wales and South Wales).
Posted on: February 4, 2020 10:30 AM

The Anglican Communion loves its jargon  key words and buzz phrases that spring up in conversations, sermons, and speeches. One of these phrases is the Five Marks of Mission. The Anglican Communion News Service has commissioned a series of articles looking at each of the Five Marks and we will publish these in the coming weeks. In this article, Gavin Drake explores their background and history.

The Anglican Communion has no central authority or decision-making body. It is a family of 40  soon to be 41  independent but interdependent Churches. The Anglican Communions four Instruments of Communion  the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primates Meeting, the Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Consultative Council  have no right to impose policies or initiatives on those autonomous member churches.

But they can come up with ideas which they propose to the Churches. These ideas may gain acceptance in some churches but not in others; or they may be rejected by most churches, or they may gain wide acceptance. This process is often referred to as reception  it is a way of testing whether the proposals by the Instruments have been received by the Churches.

Once such proposal which has been universally accepted by the Churches of the Communion is the Five Marks of Mission. Some member Churches will have debated these in their provincial synods or councils, others will have just adopted them through usage. The Five Marks of Mission are such an important resource that Churches outside the Anglican Communion often reflect on them too. But what are they?

The Five Marks of Mission began life as a mission statement  an organisational statement about the purpose of the Anglican Communion. Being mission-focused, this organisational statement was more mission-minded than most organisations mission statements.

In 1984, meeting in Badagry, Nigeria, the Anglican Consultative Council adopted Four Marks of Mission (the fifth was to be added later). The official Report of report the meeting makes clear their origins in the Gospels: The Gospel according to St John puts the Great Commission in these simple words; As the Father has sent me, even so I sent you (John 20:21), the report said. Deliberately and precisely Jesus made his mission the model of our mission to the world. For this reason, our understanding of the Churchs mission must be deduced from our understanding of what Jesus considered his mission to be.

The four Marks of Mission were summarised in four headings: evangelism, response and initiation, Christian nurture and teaching, and service and transformation. In addition to adopting the Marks, the Council asked all local churches, deaneries, archdeaconries, dioceses and provinces to carry out a mission audit to measure how effective they were under the four headings.

In 1990, at its meeting in Wales, the Anglican Consultative Council added a fifth Mark of Mission, saying in its official report: There has been a consistent view of mission repeated by the ACC, the Lambeth Conference, the Primates Meeting and others in recent years, which defines mission in a four-fold way. . . We now feel that our understanding of the ecological crisis, and indeed of the threats to the unity of all creation, mean that we have to add a fifth affirmation  to safeguard the integrity of creation.

The Five Marks of Mission should not be seen as a never-changing creed. At its 2012 meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, the ACC said that they should be understood as dynamic and should be reviewed regularly. At this meeting, the Council revised the wording of the fourth Mark of Mission, adding the phrase to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation to the pre-existing text to seek to transform the unjust structures of society.

The Five Marks of Mission are more than a mission statement for the Anglican Communion. They are lived out every day in the provinces and Churches of the Communion. In the coming weeks, we will publish a series of articles, each written by an expert in their field, which will unpack each of the Marks and how they are being lived out throughout the Anglican Communion.

The Five Marks of Mission

The mission of the Church is the mission of Christ
Standing in the middle of the parking lot behind El Capitan Hotel in the Mission, Alex Mace Douhovnikoff starts to count.



 44, 45, 46, 47 47, he says, noting the number of different artists whove graced the wall with spray paint murals (add in basic tags and the number rises to 100).

Douhovnikoff, a Lincoln High School teacher and street artist himself, has helped transform a formerly trash-ridden lot behind an SRO into an outdoor gallery that's befitting of the building's ornate front facade (it was formerly a historic theatre).

In just the concrete breezeway between Mission Street and the parking lot, youll see a battle of the bands with music-themed murals celebrating everyone from the Grateful Dead to Jimi Hendrix to Guns N Roses (which Mace painted himself). Walk out back to the roughly 100 car parking lot and youll find a museums worth of street art (scroll through the slideshow above to see the best pieces).

Decked out in head-to-toe 49ers gear, Douhovnikoff couldnt rep San Francisco harder if he tried. Hes a proud Excelsior native who started painting little tags in the early 90s and became a prolific street artist who got his Mace moniker when a can of pepper spray exploded on him at a party. He retired his spray paint when he met his wife and enrolled in art school, then after graduation he started teaching at Lincoln High School and re-entered the street art scene in 2010, partly thanks to his students.

There were tags everywhere, all around the school, so I said lets take this energy and do something with it, says Douhovnikoff. I took a clipboard with some blank paper and walked around at lunch talking to kids. Kids were like, youre a narc! But then I started drawing, and they were like, ooooh.



It led to the creation of a club called Aerosol Art, which initially earned a $1,500 school district grant, but in recent years their funding has dried out and he currently runs the program out of his own pocket while awaiting news about the schools budget. Ive been doing it for 10 years, because of my passion, he says.

RELATED: 25 must-see murals and public art masterpieces in San Francisco and Oakland

Working with his students led him to start painting again and rebuilding his old connections within the street art community with legendary crews like TWS (Together With Style), TMF (Three Mellow Fellows) and WD (Writers of Doom). Now artists from those groups will call him up to let him know when theyre planning new pieces at El Capitan, which hes been managing since around 2013 along with other sanctioned graffiti areas like Cypress Alley.

Douhovnikoff curates the spaces in conjunction with the organization Mission Art 415, which works to shift public perception of street art. City law penalizes unauthorized graffiti with a strict two-year jail sentence, which makes advocates like 415 critical to keeping neighborhood walls (legally) vibrant. They operate their own physical gallery space at 25th and Lilac Streets, as well as taking an activist role in building bridges between property managers and the street art community, transforming walls and alleys from vandalism targets into open air art museums.

Mission Art 415 was founded in 2007 by Lisa Brewer and her partner Randolph Bowes, who felt inspired to commission a mural on the outside of their apartment building in order to combat constant tagging. Brewer, who worked at a fine art gallery downtown, immediately noticed a shift in the atmosphere on the street.

It was like, if you build it, they will come, says Brewer. It changed the whole topography of the place. Children were coming out playing in the streets, the neighbors started talking to each other. It was empowering to watch how not only the art, but the artists bridged that chasm of tragic crime-infected, neglected streets.

Brewer began acting as a middle-woman between other property owners and artists, whose gruff appearances were often seen as intimidating.



They would send me in as the front person, as this old white woman, to go in and get permission, jokes Brewer. And it turned into family. The artists we have, I love like family.



She considers Douhovnikoff one of those family members. They met when he was commissioned by Bowes to do a mural on Cypress Street, which grew into a full blocks worth of art once neighbors took note. The El Capitan space began similarly, with the management of California Parking Company commissioning a small set of murals that expanded to encompass the entire lot. Its had an incredible effect in making the space not only more lively visually, but also safer.



There was a lot of crime and violence, especially in the evenings, says Brewer, describing the lot behind the El Capitan Hotel. What I've learned over the last 10 years is that if you have graffiti vandalism, which is two-color tagging, it really precipitates a lot of neglect.

RELATED: Tom Hanks and Too $hort: An unlikely duo join forces in a new Oakland mural

Now, on an average day in the parking lot behind El Capitan, youre most likely to see an international artist working on a mural than someone breaking into a car, but the lot still does have issues. They employ a security guard to keep watch for homeless encampments and some of the art has crept out of the lot and onto the fences of neighboring property owners, to their dismay.



No matter how much the team at Mission Art 415 tries to detach aerosol-based art from these types of stigmas, its impossible to take the street out of street art. But for Mace Douhovnikoff, projects like El Capitan help bring everyone from the community together and move the artform forward.



Graffiti, in the nature of it, youre not supposed to be friendly. Youre supposed to be rude, crude, and mean. Street! says Douhovnikoff. But in San Francisco, times have changed. Were hippies. We embrace it. Now that other people are embracing it, its like, hell yeah, lets paint!

Dan Gentile is a digital editor at SFGATE. Email: Dan.Gentile@sfgate.com | Twitter: @Dannosphere
Elizabeth Warren has always been a phony. Her most obvious phony moment was claiming to be a Native American so she could make the leap from state schools into the Ivy League. Without that fake resume-enhancer, she was merely a mediocre teacher; with it, she was a sop to the diversity gods.

She's told other lies to burnish her records: she lied about her parents' marriage, she lied about her father's job, and she lied about her job prospects when she was first pregnant. Now another lie has come to light: she's been lying about being green.

Legal Insurrection puts the pieces together to explain that Elizabeth Warren never really divested herself of valuable oil-and-gas leases. Instead, she transferred them to her children so they wouldn't show up in her portfolio while she was enthusiastically supporting the Green New Deal:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) campaigns as an environmental activist, supporting the completely insane Green New Deal and stating that she will ban fracking on her first day in office. As is often the case with Warren, what she says and what she does are very different things. The Wall Street Journal reports that Warren received income from oil and gas royalties in Oklahoma and that she transferred her holdings to her children before announcing her run for the Senate. Warren latched on to the Green New Deal almost immediately. She did not care that it was concocted originally as a means of restructuring "the entire economy," with its socialist Justice Democrats creators only later slapping the green wash of "climate change" on it to make it more appealing to the left. Back in August of 2018, investigative journalist Andrew Kerr reported that "Elizabeth Warren Earned Royalties From Natural Gas Producer With Long Rap Sheet Of Environmental Violations, Tax Returns Reveal." It appears that as her political profile rose, she sold and/or transferred her interest in various oil and gas interests to her children. The Wall Street Journal reports: [I]t's worth noting that, for years, she and her husband reported modest income from natural-gas royalties in her native state of Oklahoma. Ms. Warren's financial disclosure filed with the Senate in 2012 included $504 of income from "gas well royalty interests" in Latimer County. The next year it was $203. Drill a little deeper and the facts get even more interesting. ... Property records offer further information, although the picture is hardly complete. A 2011 deed says Mr. Mann had sold his interest in "all of the oil, gas, and other minerals" under assorted pieces of land in Latimer County and Pittsburg County. The stated price was $5,000. The buyer? Alexander Warren, the Senator's son. The deed is dated Aug. 19. It says the transfer of royalty was effective Sept. 1. Two weeks later, Sept. 14, Ms. Warren announced her Senate candidacy in Massachusetts. There are more transfers in 2014, as Ms. Warren's political profile was rising. "We are on the cusp of a climate crisis," she told the Senate that March, "a point of no return that will threaten our health, our economy and our planet." Two months later, deeds dated May 19 say Ms. Warren conveyed to her two children, Alexander and Amelia, her mineral rights for lands in Okfuskee County and Hughes County, amid the Woodford shale field in the state's southeast. One of those Hughes County parcels appears on oil-and-gas leases from June and July 2017, signed by Alexander and Amelia, along with Ms. Warren's three brothers. The agreements allow exploration and drilling on an 80-acre plot in exchange for royalties on any potential output. The leases had an initial term of three years, so they would appear to remain in effect through this summer. "Elizabeth and Bruce sold or transferred these mineral interests to her children several years ago," a Warren campaign spokesman said. "Her children still own them. They generated a few hundred dollars a year." How long did Ms. Warren and Mr. Mann receive these royalties? Were the amounts larger in the past? The campaign declined to say. For context, gas wells become less productive over time.

What Warren did is completely legal  and grossly hypocritical.

But that's not where Warren's green phoniness ends. Both Warren and Bernie (another apocalyptic Green New Dealsupporter) happily board private planes so they don't have to deal with the mess, fuss, lines, and delays attendant on public air travel:

So long (for now). @BernieSanders and @ewarren are both on their way back to DC. Here they each are boarding flights from the same general aviation area at DSM just 36 minutes apart. pic.twitter.com/iWLYh3cGKb  Adam Kelsey (@adamkelsey) February 3, 2020

It took mere seconds for people to notice that these socialist greenies were unable even to share their own private flights:

TWO separate private jets going to dc & they cant at least share?? and they want my family to not use a car or A/C & take public transportation to save the planet?  #ClimateFrauds #ClimateProfiteers @tan123  Janie (@jbr485) February 3, 2020

As is always the case when leftists are in charge, their belt-tightening policies are for the little people, not for themselves. If anyone is going to be inconvenienced, starved, herded, or killed, it's not going to be the politicians who pushed these policies.

Warren and Sanders may frame their socialism as something that will benefit the people, but it becomes more clear with every passing day that their socialism benefits only themselves by giving them the possibility of unlimited power over people's lives.
Photo: Zachary Keimig/Unsplash

Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Portland.

Portland woman shot while waiting in line at Taco Bell drive-thru

A woman was shot in the shoulder early Sunday morning in the drive-thru line of a Taco Bell in Portland, according to police.

Read the full story on New York Daily News.

Portland shootings spike: Police say 61 so far this year

The number is nearly twice the amount at this time in 2019.

Read the full story on KGW.

NBA power rankings: ESPN projects quiet trade deadline for Portland Trail Blazers

ESPN's Zach Lowe said league sources tell him the Blazers front office may not be looking to make a significant trade before Thursday's deadline.

Read the full story on KGW.

Portland bookshop owner touched by author's donation of signed books after break-in

Crooks stole 100 rare books from Passages Bookshop in January. Since then, authors and book dealers have helped the owner replace some of the stolen titles.

Read the full story on KGW.

Portland State changing plans, as coronavirus outbreak prompts travel restrictions

Portland State is having to move students who are studying abroad and cannot accept scholars who were set to study at the school in China, due to travel restrictions.

Read the full story on KGW.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Saudi and Russian leaders held a rare phone call as oil markets tumbled, the latest signal that the OPEC+ alliance is trying to build a consensus for an output cut to prop up prices.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz discussed the global energy market on Monday evening, the Kremlin said in a statement. Both leaders confirmed "readiness to continue cooperation within OPEC+," it said. The kingdom also confirmed the call.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz. Credit:AP

US crude futures sank below $US50 a barrel for the first time in more than a year on Monday, as fears gripped investors that the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China is crushing demand in the world's biggest oil-importing nation. Global benchmark Brent crude in London slid below $US55 to the lowest in over a year.

The rout has added pressure on the producer group, and while leading member Saudi Arabia has been pushing since last week for action, it has met resistance from Russia. Oil demand in China is said to have plunged as much as 20 per cent because of the virus outbreak, with cities in lockdown, flights cancelled, and refineries curbing operations.
It looks like The Rolling Stones are returning to Western New York.

WBEN reports billboards have appeared around Buffalo featuring the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bands famous tongue logo and teasing phrases like Lets spend the night together, emotional rescue and get what you need. All three are lyrics from Rolling Stones songs.

The Rolling Stones are expected to announce a U.S. stadium tour on Thursday, with a concert at the Buffalo Bills New Era Field sometime between May and July. The Stones last played the stadium in 2015.

According to WKBW, the rock groups tour dates are also expected to include stops in Cleveland, Louisville, Tampa and Pittsburgh.

The Rolling Stones, featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood, recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of their 1969 album, Let It Bleed, featuring the title track and Honky Tonk Women. The British rockers have released 30 studio albums, featuring hits like (I Cant Get No) Satisfaction, Wild Horses, Paint It Black, Street Fighting Man, Sympathy for the Devil and You Cant Always Get What You Want.

Our giant Upstate NY concert calendar: See hundreds of shows from Albany to Buffalo

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 19:39:30|Editor: huaxia

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WUHAN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Perhaps there is no Superman coming to save Zhang Dingyu, a 57-year-old doctor with an incurable disease. But over the past month, he has become a Superman for many people in Wuhan, the center of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Zhang knows his clock is ticking. Having amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), he will progressively lose muscle strength, eventually becoming paralyzed and unable to speak, move, swallow or breathe. His legs have recently been rendered powerless. He has to clutch at the handrail as he slowly makes his way up and down the stairs.

As president of Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, one of the major battlefields of the epidemic, Zhang and his hundreds of colleagues have been on the frontlines fighting the novel coronavirus, which has claimed hundreds of lives nationwide, and racing against time to treat critically ill patients.

"I have never encountered such pressure as today," Zhang said. "For me, ALS is like a sword hanging in the air. I want to make a contribution with what limited time I have left. I try to outrun death, saving time and indeed more patients."

On Dec. 29, it was a foggy day in Wuhan, a megacity with a population of over 10 million in central China's Hubei Province. The first batch of seven infected patients were transferred to Zhang's hospital, which immediately set up a separate area to handle them.

Zhang remained on high alert as some cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause began to be gradually reported in the city's hospitals.

However, the situation was even worse than he imagined. On the second day, he decided to allocate more medical resources and separate wards to receive more infected patients.

Jinyintan, a once little-known hospital in Wuhan, has been scented with the odor of disinfectant and undercurrent of uneasiness. The sound of call bells never stopped.

The sense of urgency made Zhang even more short-tempered than usual. He demanded doctors and nurses answer his questions regarding patients quickly and accurately.

"Otherwise he will scold you without mercy," said Zhang Li, head of a ward in the hospital. "But thanks to his resolute and daring action, medical staff in our hospital are willing to turn to him whenever they face challenges because short-tempered Zhang will figure out a solution."

On Jan. 23, China locked down Wuhan in an unprecedented effort to curb the spread of the new infectious disease. The city has been at the center of a storm sweeping across the nation.

As one of Wuhan's designated hospitals to admit patients infected with the new virus, Jinyintan mainly accepts critically ill patients. By 10 a.m. Sunday, the hospital had 581 novel coronavirus patients including more than 200 in severe and critical condition.

Zhang never revealed the state of his own illness to his colleagues after he was diagnosed with ALS in 2018. He lied to them, saying he had undergone a knee operation. However, more and more colleagues noticed his strange way of walking down the stairs. He finally admitted his illness after constant inquiries.

"When I first came to know I was a rare disease patient, I was very scared," Zhang said. "You love life, but imagine one day being told that you don't have long to live."

Zhang has researched medical materials about ALS. "I will live another five to 10 years, perhaps. Nobody knows. This is why I especially cherish every minute I have, taking a walk, soaking myself in the sunshine or working along with my colleagues," he said.

Zhang's illness has touched a nerve for many colleagues. Jia Chunmin, a head nurse in the hospital, cannot believe it.

"He actually walks very fast," she said, recalling Zhang once called her to arrive in a new ward in five minutes. Hanging up the phone, Jia ran fast to the ward, only to find Zhang was already there although his office was farther than hers.

"No one can keep up with him in the battle against the new virus," Jia said.

Going to bed at about 1 a.m. and getting up at about 6 a.m. has become Zhang's daily routine. In many cases, he sleeps no more than two hours before being woken amid a stream of emergency calls.

After working around the clock for 22 days, Zhang received the bad news that his wife was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus while working at another hospital in Wuhan.

Only after three days of his wife being hospitalized did Zhang find time to visit her, and he only stayed for 30 minutes.

"I feel very guilty. Perhaps I am a good doctor, but not a good husband," Zhang said. "We have been married for 28 years. I was afraid of losing her."

Luckily, after medical treatment, Zhang's wife has now recovered.

It was not the first time for Zhang to stand on the frontlines over the past 33 years.

In 2008, he led a medical team from Hubei to help victims in southwest China's Sichuan Province after the devastating Wenchuan earthquake. He was once a member of a Chinese medical team assisting Algeria. In 2011, he worked in a hospital in Pakistan to help local patients.

After the interview, he turns around and hobbles toward the isolation wards, slowly but surely, hoping to outpace the spread of the new virus while he is still able to move.

"Every life has a destination, it is a normal thing. We should accept it and bravely face the reality." This is what he always says to his family.
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French police on Tuesday cleared the last migrant tent camp in northeast Paris, moving 427 people to shelters as part of a plan to take migrants off the streets.

The migrants, who included four women, were living in 266 tents and makeshift shelters in a canal-side camp "strewn with waste and refuse, overrun by rats and giving off a pestilent and foul-smelling odour of urine and excrement", according to the authorities.

The operation to tear down the camp began at 6:00 am (0500 GMT) and lasted two hours, the regional prefecture said.

Dozens of informal settlements have sprung up in recent years around the French capital.

Many of the migrants have their sights on the northern Channel port of Calais, a jump-off point for crossings to Britain. The authorities regularly tear down the camps, saying they pose a health hazard.

Last week, police moved more than 1,400 migrants, including 93 children, from another camp in northern Paris.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner had promised to clear all migrant camps from the city by the end of last year, in part by opening more shelters for asylum seekers but also by deporting those whose claims are rejected.

Police are being deployed to ensure migrants do not return to the razed camps or set up new ones.

"We are not going to resume a never-ending cycle of evacuations followed by new installations," Paris police chief Didier Lallement said last week.

But critics say that unless the government provides long-term lodgings or the prospect of legal residency, many migrants will just return to the streets.

President Emmanuel Macron said last year that France must end its "lax" approach to immigration.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NEW YORK - A day after breaking down in tears, a key accuser at Harvey Weinsteins trial returned to the witness stand Tuesday and endured a final day of withering cross-examination focused on the complex nature of their relationship, defiantly telling jurors: I want the jury to know that he is my rapist.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/2/2020 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Harvey Weinstein emerges from the elevator as he arrives at court for his rape trial, in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK - A day after breaking down in tears, a key accuser at Harvey Weinsteins trial returned to the witness stand Tuesday and endured a final day of withering cross-examination focused on the complex nature of their relationship, defiantly telling jurors: I want the jury to know that he is my rapist.

The woman was back in a New York City courtroom for a third day as Weinstein's lawyers finished an exhaustive review of friendly, sometimes flirtatious emails she sent the film producer after she says he raped her twice in 2013.

Harvey Weinstein arrives at court for his rape trial, in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

They also played a recording she made of herself telling a psychic in April 2014 that Weinstein had tried to cross boundaries in my life but I dont allow him to.

Weinstein's lawyers contend that evidence points to a consensual relationship and shows that the 34-year-old former actress was a manipulator who grin-and-bared her way through sexual encounters with Weinstein because she enjoyed the perks of knowing him.

I know the history of my relationship with him, she pushed back. I know it was complicated and difficult. But that doesnt change the fact that he raped me.

Asked by Weinstein lawyer Donna Rotunno how many times they had consensual sex, the woman responded: I only remember intercourse the times that he raped me.

Cross-examination took up most of the woman's time on the witness stand.

She finished up direct testimony back on Friday and prosecutors decided not to ask her any additional questions once Rotunno was finished Tuesday afternoon.

One reason the defence has focused so much attention on the woman is because her allegations that Weinstein raped her at a Manhattan hotel in March 2013 are the basis for some of the most serious charges at issue in his trial.

The woman has alleged Weinstein raped her again several months later at a Beverly Hills hotel, though she said she is not sure if she will pursue charges there.

The woman's return to the witness stand followed an emotional episode Monday, when she sobbed while reading an email passage about being abused earlier in her life. It was part of an email she sent a boyfriend in May 2014 explaining her relationship with Weinstein. The judge halted proceedings when she was unable to continue.

The Associated Press typically does not publish the names of people alleging sexual assault unless they give their consent. The AP is withholding the name of the woman because it isnt clear if she wishes to be identified publicly.

Resuming questioning on Tuesday, Rotunno asked the woman about several times she saw Weinstein after the alleged rapes, including her acceptance of his invitation to a Oscars party in 2015 and her decision to meet him in 2016 in his room at the same Beverly Hills hotel where she alleges he previously raped her.

After the 2016 hotel encounter, the woman emailed Weinstein saying, I feel so fabulous and beautiful. Thank you for everything.

She told jurors that Weinstein was being really nice to me at that time, but said she couldn't remember if they had sex on that occasion. Weinstein, now 67, was married at the time to fashion designer Georgina Chapman.

At one point, Rotunno asked the woman why she would accept favours from your rapist. Thats when the woman turned to jurors and said: I want the jury to know that he is my rapist.

While dozens of women have accused Weinstein of sexual assault or harassment, he is on trial in New York for allegations involving just two episodes with two women: the woman testifying Tuesday and a former film and TV production assistant, Mimi Haleyi, who alleges he forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006. Weinstein's downfall energized the #MeToo movement.

As big a factor as Tuesday's witness is in the case, the defence's painstaking cross-examination, coupled with her emotional reaction on Monday, could run the risk of alienating jurors and making her appear more sympathetic.

Defence lawyer Brian McMonagle found himself navigating the same murky waters on the way to winning a mistrial because of a hung jury in Bill Cosbys first molestation trial in 2017. Cosby was later convicted.

Of course a lawyer has to go in there and attack credibility and attack inconsistencies, said McMonagle, whos not involved in the Weinstein case. Its just how you do it. Theres a way to do it without being despicable.

On Tuesday, the jury was shown a series of nude photos of Weinstein taken by the district attorneys office a few weeks after his arrest, presumably to try to corroborate claims by the woman he's charged with raping that she noticed extreme scarring on his body. She testified last week that along with the scars, she thought he had characteristics of both male and female genitalia.

Jurors also heard from another supporting witness: an actress who testified that she felt pressured into having an awkward three-way sexual encounter with Weinstein and the woman.

Emanuela Postacchini testified that in February 2013, Weinstein had her meet him and the rape accuser at a Los Angeles-area hotel, where he tried to persuade the women to have sex with him.

Postacchini said during the encounter, Weinstein's accuser went into the bathroom and was crying in the fetal position on the ground." Postacchini said that while she personally didn't feel forced to do anything, the situation was forced."

Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

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This story has been updated to delete a reference to Postacchini's age because of uncertainty about its accuracy. This story has been corrected to show the location of the Peninsula Hotel the accuser met with Weinstein in 2016 is in Beverly Hills, California, not New York.

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On Twitter, follow Tom Hays at twitter.com/aptomhays and Michael Sisak at twitter.com/mikesisak

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For more Weinstein trial coverage, visit: https://apnews.com/HarveyWeinstein
Over six seasons, BoJack Horseman, which released its final episodes Friday on Netflix, evolved from a scathing Hollywood satire into a more expansive and often disquieting exploration of depression, addiction and human morality.

But on the fringes of all that, it was also a show about animals doing funny things. As BoJack, the self-destructive celebrity horse voiced by Will Arnett, negotiated the dark corners of Hollywoo and his own psyche, a steady stream of peripheral visual gags  puns, pop culture references, the occasional cocaine-addled lemur  made his various descents more palatable.

The fact that we get so stupid lets us earn when we get so serious, said Mike Hollingsworth, a co-executive producer and supervising director. Without the silly animal things, it would get too maudlin.

After Raphael Bob-Waksberg, the shows creator, and the writers finish the script for an episode, the visual jokes are added during the storyboard phase when we can feel the pacing, Hollingsworth said. They all have to take a back seat to the story.

Hollingsworth was a stand-up comic who also drew cartoons for publications like L.A. Weekly before he moved into animation. He has been with BoJack from the beginning, directing the pilot among other episodes and serving as a primary architect for the deep-cut animal things.

Im basically a gag man, a reincarnation of Mike Maltese, he said, referring to the cartoon artist and writer best known for his work with Looney Tunes animator Chuck Jones.

In a recent interview, Hollingsworth discussed some of his favorite deep-cut animal things from throughout the run of BoJack Horseman.

Say When

When the script for the shows second episode seemed to start too abruptly, Hollingsworth inserted a quick joke at the top, a spin on the classic Say when construct. Its one of the oldest setups, he said. I felt like I was ripping off Winsor McCay.

The scene, which found a bartending pelican pouring a river of booze as BoJack wearily watched, became one of the shows first widely shared moments. I see that GIF so much all over the place, Hollingsworth said. A ridiculous portrait of self-loathing and bottomless thirst, it also functioned as a kind of mission statement for the series as a whole.

Its depression meets comedy, Hollingsworth said.

A Diner Named Desire

Puns of all kinds are core to the BoJack experience, and one of the series most groaningly brilliant came during a Season 2 scene in a 50s-themed restaurant. The bartender? A snugly T-shirted trophy fish named Marlin Brando, of course, but the twist came as he delivered the three beers on his tray:

Stella!

Stella!

Corona Light.

Raphael told me everyone complimented him on that one after Season 2 came out, Hollingsworth said. And he had to say, Thanks, but that wasnt my joke. 

Prehensile Party Tricks

Its You, an episode in the third season, found BoJack throwing a rager at his house to celebrate what he thought was an Oscar nomination. The party was a visual smorgasbord of dissipated animal behavior and offered Hollingsworth the chance to finally bring in an aye-aye, a bizarre-looking nocturnal lemur hed been wanting to get into the show, for a quick foreground joke. Aye-ayes have incredibly long, thin middle fingers, which they use in the wild to find bugs but that at a Hollywoo bash might also work for  well, you can probably see where this is going.

We had him with this big, fat line of cocaine, Hollingsworth said.

Celebralopod

One of the shows most acclaimed episodes was a Season 3 underwater fantasia that included very little dialogue. The installment found BoJack attending the Pacific Ocean Film Fest, which led to him getting mocked by a walrus chauffeur, fleeing an angry bodega-owning shark (Tim Jaws) and delivering a litter of baby sea horses, among other animal gags.

But the one I remember was this celebrity octopus who had all of these autograph seekers surrounding him, Hollingsworth said. He signed them all at the same time by blowing out a big cloud of ink.

Easy but Funny

BoJack aimed to avoid obvious animal gags. I was always telling the writers, Weve got to get past the tall giraffes and fat hippos,  Hollingsworth said.

But that didnt mean he was above the occasional piece of low-hanging fruit. One such example came in a Season 2 scene of workers building a set, which included a brief shot of a hammerhead shark pounding nails with its face.

Easy? Sure, but its also one of the jokes BoJack fans most frequently bring up, Hollingsworth said. Its like, Im glad you like it, but its not my finest work.

But sometimes an obvious joke can be elevated by its execution. In Season 1, BoJack mined gold from a broad premise  cheetahs are fast, sloths are slow  by putting them on treadmills on either side of Princess Caroline (Amy Sedaris) at the gym.

Hollingsworth added that he enjoyed Disneys DMV sloth bit in Zootopia, which came out a couple of years later, though he noted that a sequence that by definition brings the action to a standstill would never work on television. In film you can stretch things out a bit longer, he said.

Bad Cat

Early in the shows run, Hollingsworth thought of a riff on one of the oldest cliches in the animal kingdom: a cat stuck in a tree. In this case, an otherwise reasonable businessman kitty is clear-eyed about his feline foibles, telling his firefighter rescuers, Guys, Im really sorry this keeps happening.

It was my little New Yorker cartoon, Hollingsworth said.

Bob-Waksberg was less charmed, but eventually I wore him down, Hollingsworth said. The gag finally appeared in the final seasons 13th episode, which premiered Friday.

It was a win years in the making, he said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, who was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here and diagnosed with a stomach infection, has shown improvement in her condition and is stable.

Dr DS Rana, Chairman (Board of Management), Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said on Tuesday, "Sonia Gandhi was admitted on February 2, and was diagnosed to be suffering from a stomach infection. There is an improvement in her condition and she is stable."

"Sonia Gandhi has undergone medical tests. She has been found to be suffering from stomach infection and is being treated for the same," Dr Rana had said on Monday.

Accompanied by her children, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, the Congress interim president visited the hospital on Sunday after she complained of uneasiness. She was admitted for further check-ups.

Sonia Gandhi did not attend the Union Budget presentation in Parliament on February 1. However, she was present on the first day of the Budget session on January 31, and led the party's protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Parliament premises.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A young mother who filmed herself sexually abusing her four-month-old daughter was the victim of masterful manipulation by a British man she met on a "sugar daddy" website, according to her lawyer.

The 18-year-old, who cannot be named, was charged in March last year with child exploitation offences after federal and state police rescued the baby from a property in Melbourne's northern suburbs.

The teenager has since been found guilty of sexually abusing her daughter between November 18 and December 2, 2018. Police allege she sent videos of the abuse to a man in Britain.

During a plea hearing on Tuesday, the woman's lawyer said his client's background and the circumstances leading up to the offending needed to be considered in sentencing.

The woman's childhood was marred by parental substance abuse, instability  and hardship, the court heard, and she dropped out of school at the end of year 8.
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They welcomed their daughter Lyra in September following a whirlwind romance.

And Michael Sheen and girlfriend Anna Lundberg were the picture of doting parents as they enjoyed a stroll in New York City with their baby girl on Monday.

The actor, 50, and his Swedish actress girlfriend, 25, were besotted with little Lyra, as Anna cradled the cherubic baby and spoke to her.

Family first: Michael Sheen and girlfriend Anna Lundberg were the picture of doting parents as they enjoyed a stroll in New York City with their baby girl on Monday

Michael wrapped up in the Big Apple in a navy padded jacket with faux fur trim, paired with jeans and black loafers as he pushed a pram.

Anna looked trendy in a matching jacket , teamed with a white sweater , jeans and ankle boots.

Her caramel flecked tresses were styled in a chic updo while her pretty features were enhanced with a radiant palette of make-up.

Little Lyra looked adorable in a cosy white romper suit, worn with a matching woolen hat.

Special moments: The actor, 50, and his Swedish actress girlfriend, 25, were besotted with little Lyra, as Anna cradled the cherubic baby and spoke to her

The couple welcomed their daughter on September 23.

At the time, the actor's father Meyrick, 80, confirmed the Swedish actress had given birth, and said they were 'thrilled to bits' about the news.

Michael's father gushed: 'We are thrilled to bits, over the moon.'

Michael shared his own announcement on Twitter days later, with a photo of Lyra and Anna leaving the hospital.

The actor wrote: 'Happy to say that at 8:41am on Monday September 23rd our beautiful daughter Lyra was born.'

The Good Omens star confirmed he was expecting his first child with Anna last July, just two months after they were initially romantically linked in May following a series of loved-up social media posts.

Cosy: Michael wrapped up in the Big Apple in a navy padded jacket with faux fur trim, paired with jeans and black loafers as he pushed a pram

Revealing the happy news on Twitter, Michael told his followers: 'Very happy to let everyone know that my partner Anna and I are expecting a little angel of our own. (Just to be clear, were having a baby!) #nottheantichrist.' (sic)

Michael also shares daughter Lily Mo Sheen, 21, with his ex Kate Beckinsale, and previously said parenting is the 'most challenging' job yet he revealed it is a necessary and rewarding role.

He told The Guardian in 2010: 'I think being a parent is the most challenging thing you do. That's why we're here. It's at the heart of what it is to be a human being.

'It's the ultimate experience because it questions everything about who you are. But it's difficult.

'My job takes me away from my daughter, Lily a lot, so when I am with her the time is really important.'

The actor was previously linked to Aisling Bea in April 2018 when the pair attended the Olivier Awards in London, but didn't walk the red carpet together.

Michael's ex-girlfriend, American comedian Sarah Silverman, 48, later revealed he had split from Aisling in September 2018.

Eldest child: Michael also shares daughter Lily Mo Sheen, 21, with his ex Kate Beckinsale




As he cursed out an NPR reporter on Jan. 24, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo uttered seven words that sum up the sham impeachment trial of President Donald Trump:

"Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?"

That's the question Pompeo used to berate Mary Louise Kelly, who had the temerity to question him on his role in the Ukraine scandal. ("You did a good job on her," Trump congratulated Pompeo.)

The White House clearly assumes public interest in Ukraine is so low that the president's blackmail of its leader will quickly be forgotten, once his trial ends with acquittal.

Trump's Mideast peace plan is about reelection  his own and Benjamin Netanyahu's If anyone doubts President Trump's long awaited Israel-Palestine peace plan was mainly an election-oriented political document, he shattered those doubts Tuesday, columnist Trudy Rubin says.

Yet, no matter the verdict, Ukraine has become the symbol of Trump's worst authoritarian impulses both at home and in foreign policy. So Americans can't afford to forget about Ukraine, as we approach 2020 elections. Here are three urgent reasons why.

-- Trump's defense of his actions on Ukraine openly signals his conviction that the presidency gives him unlimited personal power.

GOP senators can no longer deny, thanks to John Bolton's book, that Trump blackmailed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, withholding desperately needed defensive weapons until Ukraine agreed to investigate his 2020 political opponent, Joe Biden. And until Zelenskiy pursued a debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, hacked the 2016 election.

Yet confronted with this undeniable truth, the GOP-led Senate has latched onto a shocking White House defense that a president can do anything necessary to aid his reelection if he considers that reelection to be in the public interest, because this means the motive can't be corrupt. A 10-year-old could deduce that this claim, made by lawyer Alan Dershowitz (who also defended Jeffrey Epstein on underage sex charges), could be used to justify all manner of corrupt White House behaviors.

An acquittal is a green light for Trump to seek more foreign interference in the 2020 election -- or do worse. Remember Ukraine as the symbol of Trump power unchecked.

-- Trump's withholding of defensive aid from Ukraine for personal gain highlights his indifference to Russian aggression, and to overall U.S. geopolitical strategy.

Ukrainian soldiers are still dying in eastern Ukraine, where a Russia-backed invasion killed thousands and where those defensive weapons are desperately needed. Vladimir Putin's seizure of Crimea was the first time since WWII that a European army invaded another European country and seized territory.

"Putin has a revisionist agenda," says the Atlantic Council's John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. "He wants to overturn the post-Cold War architecture. If we don't stop him in Ukraine, he'll do something dangerous in a country where we have a (NATO) treaty obligation, like in the Baltics."

But Trump has waffled on whether Russia had a right to seize Crimea. He has also made clear his disdain for Ukraine as a country, because he buys Russian propaganda that Kyiv tried to help Hillary Clinton win in 2016.

In a visit dripping with hypocrisy, Pompeo made a "we care" trip to Kyiv on Thursday, reassuring Zelenskiy of U.S. friendship and help in its war against Russia. But the post of U.S. ambassador to Kyiv remains vacant, after Pompeo failed to stand up against Trump's shameful sacking of Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. And Russia's aggression against Ukraine won't end unless Kyiv gets strong (and absent) support from Trump. On the contrary, Trump's acquittal will cheer Putin.

Never mind Iran, impeachment: Pay attention to Taiwan It's time for Americans to pay more attention to Taiwan's ongoing struggle to preserve its democracy against an authoritarian Beijing regime, columnist Trudy Rubin says.

The good news is that Ukraine has many supporters in Congress, including GOP members, who understand the Russian threat, and support defensive arms for that country. "Trump's personal inclinations have given Russians reasons to be hopeful, says Herbst, "and winning on impeachment will encourage him. But he will face the same institutional impediments to appeasement."

Even GOP senators need to remember Ukraine as a bulwark against Russian expansionism.

-- Instead of fighting corruption in Ukraine, Trump brought new corruption to that country.

The U.S. president arm-twisted Zelensky to do exactly what U.S. officials -- including Yovanovitch -- have been urging Kyiv not to do: use investigative arms of government for political smear jobs.

Trump and Iran have paused confrontation, but the struggle hasn't ended Columnist Trudy Rubin says we are only in a lull before we enter Phase Two of the post-Soleimani "war."

"The United States is supposed to be the shining city on the hill, lecturing Ukraine about cleaning up corruption, but the president who lectures against it, engages in it," says Brian Bonner, chief editor of the Kyiv Post in Ukraine.

And by the way, it was bizarre to hear GOP senators during the trial repeating the old lies that Joe Biden was trying to get an honest Ukrainian prosecutor fired. The truth, for those who still cling to White House fiction: Biden echoed Ukrainian officials and NGOs, the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. State Department, who were all trying to depose corrupt prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who refused, repeat refused, to prosecute Burisma, the company on whose board Hunter Biden sat. Even Republican Sens. Ron Johnson, Rob Portman and Mark Kirk wrote a letter urging Shokin's ouster.

Remember Ukraine whenever you hear Trump talk about combating corruption.

And remember that Ukraine deserves U.S. support against Russian aggression, irrespective of a president who tied the country up in his personal political games.

Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Fine Gael ministers believe their party's message will land with voters in the final few days of the election and that, despite falling in the polls, there is still time to turn the party's campaign around.

Ministers derided Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein as the wreckers and reckless parties in their election promises and said they had an obligation to point out the dishonesty of others.

In the wake of the latest opinion poll which puts the party in third place, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said Fianna Fail is "re-running" election promises, with the pledge for an SSIA-type housing deposit scheme, echoing the original saving plan launched on the eve of the 2002 election.

He said Fianna Fail's "populist" housing promises were "reckless" and would wreak havoc on the housing market.

He was equally critical of its promised capital gains tax reductions, which were a sweetener for the property sector.

The minister said there were no costings for public pay rises under Fianna Fail, that its numbers on housing were fuzzy while its welfare plans would actually amount to cuts for claimants.

Mr Donohoe said Sinn Fein's plans would create a huge risk to the economy and were a con job to the Irish people.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney said the election was still to play for in the days before polling on Saturday and a lot of the electorate had still to make up their mind.

"I would appeal to those casting their votes on Saturday to think of how far we have travelled since the days of hundreds of thousands of job losses, a property crash, an international bailout and mass emigration of our young people - breaking many businesses and families," he added.

When I look at the last nine years, I see change - real change - driven by the Irish people themselves and Fine Gael in government doing what was right for the country.

Mr Coveney said in his opinion, the word change in the campaign has been ambushed and been used based on a falsehood with populist claims. Some parties are promising to go wild on the states credit card".

But he admitted that, while Fine Gael has campaigned strong on Brexit during the election voters are punch drunk hearing about Britain's EU exit.

Mr Coveney said there is no question about Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's leadership of Fine Gael, despite the party now positioned in third place.

Both Mr Coveney and Mr Donohoe called on voters to trust their party, especially after its management of the economy.

They insisted that Fine Gael's message on the economy, on tax cuts, on Brexit and on stable finances would land with voters in the final days.

Mr Coveney said that, under Fine Gael, same-sex marriage has been introduced, divorce terms have been eased, unemployment has been reduced to an all-time low of 4% while progress is being made on rural broadband and climate change.

Both ministers warned that the only way of ensuring Sinn Fein will not be in government is to vote for Fine Gael. They also said their preference-after the election is for a rainbow government, made up of them the Greens and Labour.

Concluding, Mr Coveney warned voters they did not want their government to include Sinn Fein negotiating over Brexit in London or being a member of the European Parliament's communist party.
ROCKWELL CITY, Iowa  The focus may have been on President Donald Trump, but Iowa 4th District Rep. Steve King garnered attention when he showed up at the GOP caucus site at the Calhoun Middle School Monday night.

I am going to stand with you and we are going to walk this every step of the way, King said, adding he must have made his job look too easy because he has four GOP challengers this year. They know that I am not for sale.

Representatives for several of the Republicans running against King read statements touting their candidacies. Others defended the nine-term incumbent, who has come under fire nationally for his comments on race and immigration.

Steve is a down-home Iowa boy and he speaks his mind, said David Hayes, a Lohrville resident. I know sometimes people dont like that. People in politics need to get a little sense of humor. They need to lighten up a bit because if they did they would find out Steve is a pretty straight shooter.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, who emerged recently as a rock star nationally in Republican circles for her spirited defense of Trump during the House impeachment hearings, drew a standing ovation from the more than 100 attendees at the caucus in Rockwell City.

Stefanik, one of over 80 Trump surrogates dispatched to Iowa for the caucuses, said the president has delivered for Iowans on trade, the economy and rebuilding the military.

I am energized going into 2020. I feel the energy and support for the president every day in my district, she said. They know that this president is in a strong position to get re-elected.

State Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, said he was hoping for a good crowd despite the lack of any suspense in the outcome.

I really think its because of the impeachment hearings, said Sexton, who is the House majority whip. These impeachment hearings have energized the Republican base and they want to do something about it.

Sexton said the 100 caucus-goers voted unanimously for Trump. Statewide, the Associated Press projected the president had won over 97 percent of the vote.

Four years ago, which featured a large GOP caucus field that included Trump, 600 attended the same Republican precinct caucus in Rockwell City, the Calhoun County seat.

Phil Cline of Lohrville has caucused in every election season since 1988 when he supported TV evangelist Pat Robertson. Cline said Trump was not his first choice four years ago. I was pretty much undecided until the general election, then there was no doubt.

Cline likes the presidents style.

He doesnt take things lying down. He has something to say and he says it. And I like the way he says it by and large, Cline said.

When asked about the other two Republicans seeking the partys nomination, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh, Cline said he hadnt heard about anyone else running as a Republican.

Paul McCoy of Lohrville caucused for Sen. Rand Paul in 2016. This was his second time attending a caucus.

We could do without the ads. We get bombarded with them for six months. Other than that, I am learning. Its important, McCoy said. Its up to us to pick our representatives. Without this process, how do we get there? Especially since we are less than 10,000 people. Were not big fish in the sea.

King appeared at the caucus site after making a stop in Webster County.

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The Israeli Prime Minister's office announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Sudan's leader recently in a bid to discuss the future normalisation of relations between the two nations. Netanyahu met the chairman of Sudan's ruling sovereign council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Historic meeting

Israel and Sudan have been in war with each other since 1948, but following this latest visit, it could become only the third Arab nation to recognise the state of Israel. The Israeli Prime Minister on his official Twitter account said that this meeting would make 'History!' and that both leaders had agreed to normalize relation between Israel and Sudan.

#Entebbe: #Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin #Netanyahu had two hours of talks with Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of #Sudans sovereign council.



They agreed to start cooperation leading to normalisation of the relationship between the two countries and modernisation of Sudan. pic.twitter.com/znNETB61QU  Rogers Atukunda (@rarrigz) February 4, 2020

In a historic development Prime Minister @netanyahu met today in Entebbe, Uganda with Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan. They agreed to start talks towards normalization of the relations between the two countries.    Dani Dayan (@AmbDaniDayan) February 3, 2020

Read: Chinese Ambassador To Israel Compares Coronavirus Travel Bans To Holocaust, Faces Flak

Read: UNSC To Meet Over Donald Trump's Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan

According to reports, the Palestinian Authority (PA) chief negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the meeting between Netanyahu and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and claimed it to be a 'stab in the back' for Palestinians. Burhan is an army general that heads Sudan's sovereign council that is a transitional body comprised of both civilians and military personnel. It was created after longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir was overthrown last year.

Read: China's Israel Envoy Compares Virus Travel Bans To Holocaust

Read: Himachal Pradesh: Israeli National Held With 2.5 Kg Charas In Kullu

According to the statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's office, both leaders had agreed to further normalisation, it added that Sudan is moving in a very positive direction. This view according to the statement was expressed by Netanyahu to the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
T his is the moment a lizard in Australia was revived after an off-duty firefighter gave it CPR.

Incredible footage shows the moment the reptile came back to life after it was found drowning in a swimming pool in New South Wales.

Fire and Rescue NSW Station 037 Gordon shared a video of the first aid response on Facebook.

The force named the lizard "Lucky" after he survived the ordeal.

Referring to the lizard, they wrote: "On Saturday, one our off-duty firefighters was asked to attend a neighbourhood pool where a drowning had occurred.

"Upon arriving at the scene, a youngster was laying unconscious and not breathing after being found unresponsive in a pool skimmer box by some children after failing to scale from the pool."

The firefighter, who was not named, performed CPR to the lizard using just one finger for around 10 minutes.

Soon an occasional "gasping breath" was noticed, the station wrote.

"Then miraculously Lucky the lizard started to breath on his own," it added.
With less than a month for the national capital to go to polls, the three major parties have gone all out in order to woo voters. Promoting their agendas and spilling out the work that they hope to do is only one aspect as all three parties seem to be relishing in poking fun and criticising each other.



The Delhi Assembly elections are all set to be held on February 8 while the results will be announced three days later on February 11. It is going to be an exciting battle on the political front as the three-cornered contest between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the BJP and the Congress is making extensive use of memes and other promotional materials.

In doing so, they are drawing inspirations from each others posters and videos and then using them with modifications on their own social media handles.

Very often, these are going below the belt and though they may seem humorous, they are also offensive to some.

So much so that the Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has filed a complaint to the Election Commission and sent a defamation notice to the Aam Aadmi Party after it tweeted an edited video of BJP leader Manoj Tiwari dancing to the AAP campaign song.

While the AAP has a CM face in the form of Arvind Kejriwal, anticipations are that Manoj Tiwari is the chief ministerial candidate for the BJP. The Congress hasnt spilt out who its prime candidate is but it is poking fun at both its rivals by suggesting that they are two sides of the same coin.

AAP = BJP

BJP = AAP



Delhiites, Please be careful.

Vote wisely.  pic.twitter.com/DI8N6sm5nV  Delhi Congress (@INCDelhi) January 12, 2020

And then came this: A popular yesteryear song was used by the Congress to suggest that Kejriwal-led AAP is drowning people into a dark well without their realisation.

Leading Bollywood actress Kajol too got dragged in this war of memes when AAP posted a screengrab from blockbuster Baazigar to suggest that voters werent interested in Manoj Tiwari but the Congress exploited it and dragged Kajols husband Ajay Devgn to hype its prospects in the coming election.

Dear @AamAadmiParty & @BJP4India,



As you can see in the picture, Kajol (Delhi) doesn't seem interested in either of you and is actually looking towards Congress! We assure you that we will rescue Delhi from both of you. https://t.co/PTxzvNg40L  Delhi Congress (@INCDelhi) January 13, 2020

Whoever is handling this account is writing Arvind Kejriwals political obituary. SRK was a manipulative villain in the movie who was plotting against Kajol & her family. He killed Kajol's sister.



And, in the end, he got killed for his sins. Same fate awaits Kejriwal in Delhi! https://t.co/Bv2mTHBD2N  BJP Delhi (@BJP4Delhi) January 12, 2020

The BJP, on the other hand, went a step further and drew a caricature by imitating a popular television show.

The AAP couldnt hold back and decided to retort with an original video from a news show where the BJPs prime candidate Manoj Tiwari couldnt find the best answers to what his plans for curbing the rising prices would be.

AAP has also exploited the term jumla promises in a manner that it conveys the BJP is good at packaging things whereas the AAP believes in delivering what they promise.

Somewhere in between, Kejriwal suddenly became Dilli Ka Nayak, and we still dont know how!

And then this:

We hope these keep coming, they are any day better day than the vicious and below the belt attacks leaders are making at each other these days.
Mike Bloomberg tells me he'd support Bernie Sanders over Donald Trump if those were his two options, but that people should understand Sanders at this moment is "so far to the left it's not practical" and that "what he wants to do would never get through Congress."

Why this matters: While Bloomberg's also seeking the Democratic nomination, he's committed to supporting whoever wins it.

"I don't agree with him on virtually anything," Bloomberg said of Sanders in an interview Monday at a campaign stop in Compton, Calif. "But I have committed to support the Democratic candidate because I find Trump so unsuited for the job."

"I would hope that if Bernie did win he would change some of his policies, or Congress would make him change some of his policies," Bloomberg said.

A billionaire who's self-funding his own run, Bloomberg skipped Iowa to campaign in California, the most populous state in the nation and in the March 3 Super Tuesday contests.

Driving the news: Public polling suggests Sanders could harness momentum through the first three nominating states, testing assumptions about his limits in states beyond.

This scenario terrifies the party establishment and corporate America  as Sanders gleefully highlighted in a recent commercial.

While Bloomberg made his fortune by understanding financial data, he said "I have no idea" whether Sanders or Trump would be better for the U.S. economy.

"Listen to me. Nobody, nobody, ever thought that Donald Trump would preside over the country and the stock market would go up 40 or 50 percent and unemployment would go down to essentially zero," he said.

I put it to Bloomberg that Trump has put in place some traditional Republican policies like aggressive deregulation and tax cuts. "He has," Bloomberg allowed. "There are people that like what he did but that hate the way he's done it.

In his speeches, Bloomberg pitches himself as the "un-Trump." He describes Trump as dishonest, a poor manager, erratic, and a bully. He tells the crowd he's an engineer who knows how to build teams, nurture relationships, and "get it done" on climate change, gun safety and health insurance for everyone.

Bloomberg's states director, Dan Kanninen, said by skipping the first four states, Bloomberg has the Super Tuesday and later states effectively to himself for the next month.
The Mumbai crime branch on Monday arrested a 19-year-old accused from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh for allegedly cheating a 16-year-old son of South Mumbai based jeweler of Rs. 5.45 lakh through his fake shopping portal.

The accused l lured the victim to his fake shopping portal with lucrative offer of five electronic items including iPhone 11 Pro Max, Oneplus 7 pro and others.

Dev Anilkumar Shukla (19), the accused, a resident of Patrakarpuram, Indira Nagar in Uttar Pradeshs Kanpur, created a fake shopping portal called amazonsellerpvtlmt to lure people.

Nowadays, fraudsters create fake website with good designs to make it look authentic and professional, said an officer from the crime branch.

The accused had given an advertisement on social media and the victim learnt it through Instagram that an Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max was available for Rs 18,000 and similarly a OnePlus 7 Pro was available for Rs 15,000 along with several other branded accessories.

The 16-year-old boy, who is in class 9 and lives in Girgaon in South Mumbai along with his parents, was enticed by cheap prices of the high-end devices when compared to market rate.

The victim called the accused on his mobile number mentioned on the portal and Shukla promised him to deliver iPhone 11 Pro Max in two days.

The victim initially paid him money through his mothers debit card and then sent Rs 38,000 for two mobile phones on PayTM.

According to police, when the victim did not receive phones in two days, the boy called again and the accused said the delivery boy had visited at his house but door was closed.

The accused told victim that he has to pay Rs 35,000 more as the offer date ended and the price increased. The accused also gave him some offers for other accessories and Apple Watch and made him transfer a total amount of Rs 5.45 lakh in installments between October 26 to December 11, 2019.

The accused then stopped receiving his calls and victim later found the number unavailable. He then told his father and a case of cheating was registered against the accused in VP Road police station on December 11, last year. The police traced accuseds location to Kanpur after an inquiry was conducted.

A police team then went to Kanpur last week and arrested the accused from his residence. He was then brought to Mumbai on Monday evening.

During the inquiry, the police found that the accused has cheated at least ten people using the same modus operandi and taken money from them. He was handed over to the police station for further inquiry, said deputy commissioner of police Shahji Umap of the crime branch.
Iran bans export of face masks amid demand surge in China

Iran Press TV

Monday, 03 February 2020 3:40 PM

Iranian government has banned export of protective face masks for a three-month period amid a coronavirus outbreak in China that has led to hundreds of deaths in the country.

An official coordinating market regulation issues for the Iranian trade ministry said on Monday that his department had decided to approve a request by Iran's health ministry to stop export of face masks amid a surge in demand for such gears in China.

"The health ministry had asked the customs office for a ban on export of ... face masks for three months and we approved this request," Abbas Qobadi told IRIB News.

However, another official told the IRNA agency that a committee at Iran's Trade Promotion Organization would soon meet to decide on tariffs that would be imposed on exports of masks to China.

That suggested that there would be no outright ban on shipments to China which many fear could cause a shortage of the face masks in the country.

The announcements come after reports said that businessmen from China had placed massive orders for Iranian-made respirators.

The reports, described by authorities as pure rumors, said drugstores and pharmacies in Tehran and other places had already run out of face masks.

The coronavirus outbreak has led to deaths for more than 360 people in China while thousands remain affected, including in other countries, by the deadly virus which first began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Iran, where no case of the disease has been confirmed yet, has already banned flights to and from China while imposing tight health restrictions on arrival of foreign nationals into the country.

The export ban for face masks comes as Iranian Red Crescent Society has declared its readiness to supply protective equipment to China amid the deadly outbreak.

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WORCESTER, Mass., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cityblock Health is expanding to Massachusetts in collaboration with Tufts Health Plan to provide personalized care for members who experience complex challenges in their health and daily lives. Through an innovative care model that addresses medical conditions, behavioral health, and social determinants of health together, Cityblock will support members in achieving better health and well-being over time. The program will launch in early March for members enrolled in Tufts Health Plan's Unify plan in Worcester County. The Unify plan is a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' OneCare program, serving members under the age of 65 who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.

"Members are at the center of everything we do, and that means meeting them where they are, with the right care, at the right time," said Iyah Romm, Cityblock's CEO and Co-Founder. "We believe everyone should have good care for what matters to them, in their community. Our approach to care, from our technology to our community-based care teams, is designed to best support each member on their own health journey. We're here to learn from our members and partner with them to achieve better health and well-being."

"Our Unify members are among the most hard to reach and vulnerable we serve; working with Cityblock Health, we are delivering innovative approaches to improving members' quality of life and enabling them to achieve their health and wellness goals," said Jean Yang, president of Tufts Health Plan's Public Plans division. Tufts Health Plan is nationally recognized for its commitment to providing innovative, high-quality health care coverage to 1.16 million members in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut. It serves the largest number of Medicaid-eligible members in the state of Massachusetts.

Cityblock's multidisciplinary care teamsincluding primary care providers, behavioral health specialists, pharmacists, nurse care managers, and othersare led by Community Health Partners, who are typically hired from the communities they serve. They spend time getting to know each member, meeting them where and when works best for thembe it at home, in the community, or by phone or video visit. They work closely with each member on their personalized care plan and ensure they have the care they need.

Cityblock built a custom care delivery platform, Commons, to enable care team members to spend more time focused on member care. With Commons, care teams have a comprehensive view of each member's unique health and social needs, priorities, and goals, and can collaborate and track progressleading to better health outcomes over time.

Cityblock will partner with community-based organizations and local providers to see that members have the care and services they need in their community. Cityblock's care teams will work with the primary care providers, specialists, and behavioral health providers whom members already see, collaborating closely on their care plan.

Tufts Health Plan and Cityblock are currently reaching out to eligible members and their current providers to ensure a successful program launch and collaboration over time. For more information, reach out to the Cityblock team at 833-904-0620 or [email protected] .

Learn more at cityblock.com .

SOURCE Cityblock Health

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If you want to compound wealth in the stock market, you can do so by buying an index fund. But one can do better than that by picking better than average stocks (as part of a diversified portfolio). To wit, the China Gingko Education Group Company Limited (HKG:1851) share price is 14% higher than it was a year ago, much better than the market return of around -8.6% (not including dividends) in the same period. If it can keep that out-performance up over the long term, investors will do very well! We'll need to follow China Gingko Education Group for a while to get a better sense of its share price trend, since it hasn't been listed for particularly long.

See our latest analysis for China Gingko Education Group

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Over the last twelve months, China Gingko Education Group actually shrank its EPS by 23%.

So we don't think that investors are paying too much attention to EPS. Since the change in EPS doesn't seem to correlate with the change in share price, it's worth taking a look at other metrics.

We think that the revenue growth of 7.1% could have some investors interested. We do see some companies suppress earnings in order to accelerate revenue growth.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

SEHK:1851 Income Statement, February 3rd 2020

We're pleased to report that the CEO is remunerated more modestly than most CEOs at similarly capitalized companies. It's always worth keeping an eye on CEO pay, but a more important question is whether the company will grow earnings throughout the years. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of China Gingko Education Group's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Story continues

A Different Perspective

China Gingko Education Group boasts a total shareholder return of 14% for the last year. Unfortunately the share price is down 1.1% over the last quarter. It may simply be that the share price got ahead of itself, although there may have been fundamental developments that are weighing on it. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for China Gingko Education Group (of which 2 make us uncomfortable!) you should know about.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
(@FahadShabbir)

DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 04th Feb, 2020) Al Jalila childrens, the first and only childrens hospital in the UAE, recently launched the Genome Centre, the first of its kind comprehensive genetic testing and counselling centre in UAE.

The Centre will provide genomic testing and counselling for children and adults alike. With its diagnostics laboratory and a fully equipped clinic, in addition to a team of western board certified experts in precision medicine, the centre will offer the regional community specialised genetic counselling to support patients, families, and other doctors.

Dr. Abdulla Al Khayat, CEO of Al Jalila Childrens, said, "The launch of the Genomics Centre at Al Jalila Childrens is another milestone for the hospital and an important step in our endeavour to elevate the standards of healthcare along with other stakeholders in the UAE.

"We have invested in creating the Genomics Centre as an answer to address the serious gap in the region for complex genetic testing, making the accessibility to these tests faster and more cost effective compared to other labs across the world, while noting the increasing demand and the huge potential of medical advancements and discoveries through the data captured in the tests. This would result in personalised medicine for children and adults, hence more effective treatments".

The Genomics Centre at Al Jalila Childrens is accredited by the College of American Pathologists, and utilises highly advanced molecular technologies, bioinformatics pipelines, and interprets workflows consistent with guidelines by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics.

Al Jalila Childrens also signed 5 new major agreements with leading local and international medical entities, covering a wide spectrum of medical fields.

Dr. Mohamed Al Awadhi, COO of Al Jalila Childrens, commented, "We thank Dubai Healthcare City, and Mohammed bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, for their continuous support, for we believe that peadiatric healthcare will only reach new heights with the support of all stakeholders in Dubai and the wider UAE."

Dr. Ramadan AlBlooshi, Chief Regulatory Officer, Dubai Healthcare City Authority, said, "We have in place regulations to enable human genome research studies in Dubai Healthcare City. Apart from research, genomics is being explored to provide another tool to interpret a patients health and medical data. Our clinical partner Al Jalila Childrens through its Genomics Centre will strengthen UAEs efforts towards genetic diagnoses, building much-needed capacity in genetic testing as well as increasing understanding of the benefits."

Immediately post its launch, the Genome Centre signed two important contracts with global leading medical entities for the purposes of precise genomic diagnostics. Moorfields Eye Hospital the first overseas branch of the world renowned 200-year-old Moorfields (London eye hospital), and Avexis, a Novartis company that focuses on advanced gene therapy, will commission the Genome Centre to conduct Genomic testing on their behalf, with the objective of identifying the causes and treatments of rare genetic diseases.

Furthermore, the final day of Arab Health 2020 saw the hospital sign a three party agreement with Mediclinic and MBRU to establish an organ transplant programme, and a separate agreement between Al Jalila Childrens and Mediclinic that will cover cooperation in genomics and other vital fields, while the third signing was between Al Jalila Childrens and MBRU and will focus on genomics research and development.
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An efficient and corruption-free Public Service is essential for the development of a nation.





( Address by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka at the 72nd Independence Day celebrations)





by Gotabaya Rajapaksa





Sri Lanka is a Unitary State. It is a free, sovereign, independent and democratic Republic. On this occasion when we celebrate 72 years of Independence after nearly 500 years of imperialist colonial rule, I address you as the Head of the State with a pledge to further strengthen your freedom. I pay tribute to all Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Malay and Burgher leaders who dedicated themselves to achieving and ensuring this Independence.









Every citizen living in Sri Lanka has the right to live freely and securely. We will always ensure their right to think freely, hold independent opinions, and express themselves without any hindrance. We will always respect the right of any citizen to follow the religion of his or her choice. Every citizen has the right of free association and of free assembly. We will always defend the right of every Sri Lankan citizen to participate in the political and governance processes through his or her elected representatives. We consider all these as rights of human beings that no one can challenge.





There are several domains that need to be maintained in equilibrium for democracy to function properly. Maintaining the balance of power between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary is very important in this regard. There needs to be a clear consensus on the responsibilities of the central government and decentralized authorities in the devolution of power. The responsibilities of the civilian and military establishments need to be clearly understood, and we must always remember that citizens have individual as well as collective rights. Coordination between the State and the public is integral to this.





Following Independence, every leader who came to power in this Republic was elected through universal franchise. As the current Head of the State elected through the popular vote, I am ready to work with the utmost dedication for the betterment of the country and its people during my term of office.





In a democracy, when the leader is elected following a legitimate process, he becomes the President of all the people of the country. During his term of office, he must serve the entire Sri Lankan people. He is not bound to serve only the interests of the people who voted for him. I have the vision that I must serve as the leader of the country looking after all citizens rather than serve as a political leader concerned only about a particular community. As the President today, I represent the entire Sri Lankan nation irrespective of ethnicity, religion, party affiliation or other differences.





A strong executive, a legislature and an independent judiciary is essential for the well-being and advancement of any democratic society. If, for whatever reason, there is a loss of public confidence in any of these key institutions fundamental to the functioning of a country, that can give rise to anarchy within the country. Therefore, all such stakeholders must perform their role with the powers they have been granted for the welfare of the country and for protecting the sovereignty of the people with a national vision.





I am committed to working towards fulfilling the needs of the people of this country. That is my responsibility and my duty. I do not envisage public officials, lawmakers or the judiciary to impede my implementing this commitment. I not only respect your freedom, but I will work towards improving it and guarantee the political and economic freedom in a truly democratic country.





Some limitations on the freedoms of the people have arisen because of the way public administration has evolved over time.Those rules and regulations that have been enacted without adequate study and coordination have led to the public facing considerable harassment and inconvenience. This has led to various irregularities and corruption. Losses to the public in terms of time, resources and livelihood opportunities are enormous.





We must re-examine the need to obtain licenses for things that affect the day-to-day lives of the people. We must refrain from imposing unnecessary restrictions on the majority of the people; instead we must swiftly enforce the law against the minority who transgress it. We must give our people the opportunity and real freedom to live law abiding, disciplined and virtuous lives.





Outdated laws, regulations, taxes and charges that prevent people from freely undertaking self-employment, traditional industries or businesses need to be revised swiftly.We will work towards removing unnecessary restrictions imposed on the public to better ensure their right to live freely.





Sri Lanka is a country with an ancient history. It is a country that has been nurtured by the Buddhist philosophy, and a country that has been a haven for people of all ethnicities and religious beliefs. During my term of office, I will guarantee the freedom of all persons to follow the religion of their choice.





In the Buddhist philosophy, our leaders always have been advised to ensure a lawful, just and fair governance where no citizen is discriminated. I am committed to protecting and nurturing the Buddhist philosophy of this country during my tenure.





The public will only achieve true freedom when social and economic inequalities are minimized. All citizens within a Unitary State should have equal rights.





Even today, there is a large gap between the haves and have nots in our society. The facilities that are available in our urban centers are lacking in rural areas. Education facilities are not equal in all areas. Healthcare facilities are not equally dispersed. Job opportunities have not spread to all regions. These inequalities are not due to racial or religious reasons. These are common problems that the country faces. In strengthening the ability for people to live freely, we must first address the economic problems that affect the public.That is why the eradication of poverty is a priority of our Government.





Thirty years of conflict and various other factors have delayed the progress of development in our country. We can no longer afford to waste time. We will act to accelerate our development activities in line with new trends in the global economy by making appropriate use of our countrys unique geographical location, natural resources and human resources.





An efficient and corruption- free Public Service is essential for the development of a nation. The public administration and governance must function in a proper manner so as to grant people the maximum benefit of their freedom.The entire public administration must accept responsibility for this.





If due to terrorists, extremists, thieves, thugs, extortionists, women and child abusers, there is impediment to ordinary life of the people, then the people will not be free. We have paid special attention to strengthening the National Security and Public Security. We will not allow extremist organizations that pave the way for terrorism to further function in the country.





Parents will not be free until their children are liberated from the drug menace that has spread throughout the country. The public will not be free as long as there is corruption in state institutions. Therefore, we will strictly enforce the law to eliminate all social hazards that can impact ordinary social life. The reforms required to increase the efficiency of the law enforcement agencies in order to accomplish this are already being carried out.





I wish to fully strengthen the freedom of people to think and to write freely. It is then that visionaries and quality works of art will be created. My government is always ready to tolerate and accommodate opposing views. The media has complete freedom today. We have ensured that everyone has the right to freely express themselves.

Social media can pose new challenges to democracy. Spending more time online, often with complete strangers, creates situations where people are misled by false information resulting in their swiftly believing the worst of those who bear different views.





I request everyone to act in accordance with ones conscience. Always think about the country. Think about your fellow citizens. Without thinking only about political requirements, think carefully about whether your actions and your words will benefit or harm the country. However, if your conscience tells you that the government is moving in the wrong direction, you always have a duty to point this out boldly.





We must always respect the rule of law. The public will get real freedom only when the law is fairly and equally applied. My government has taken steps to change the culture of political interference in legal matters.





We have many challenges ahead of us. We need everyones support for the efforts taken by the government to overcome them. The Policy Statement I placed before you comprises an action plan that will allow us to overcome the challenges before us. It is our expectation to create a prosperous nation through this. Only the present generation can realize this hope on behalf of future generations. I request all Sri Lankans to join with us in accepting this responsibility that history has bestowed upon us.





I wish you all a prosperous future !
For most of the Hindu households in Nepal, the Swasthani Brata Katha needs no introduction. This religious text, a compilation of mythological stories about the goddess Swasthani and other Hindu gods and goddesses becomes a part of daily life for an entire month every year. Whereas the monthlong ritual is quite popular in Nepali villages, of late many Nepali feminists have questioned the texts relevance arguing it is apparently patriarchal and sexist.

Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz, a scholar of gender and religion from the United States, studied the tradition multiple times in order to interpret it from a feminist perspective and found both perceptions of the tradition, as a patriarchal custom and an embodiment of the feminine power, were valid. Besides her dissertation Seeking Swasthani: The Politics of Gender, Location, Iconography, and Identity in Hindu Nepal, she has published a book titled Reciting the Goddess: Narratives of Place and the Making of Hinduism in Nepal. A winner of the American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Textual Studies category in 2019, Birkenholtz is currently an associate professor of Asian Studies and Womens, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in Pennsylvania State University.

Onlinekhabar recently talked to Birkenholtz about her observations of the ritual, its historical development and its patriarchal and feminine agenda. Excerpts have been edited for brevity.

Where did you first hear about the goddess Swasthani? Why did you decide to research it further?

I heard about the goddess when I was in Nepal for the first time in 1996. I read about her in a book and even did a month-long project while I was doing an abroad programme under my undergraduate degree. But I only started researching the Swasthani traditions and Katha in detail, years later, for my dissertation. The research began roughly in 2003, but the majority was between 2004 and 2006.

The reason why I decided to delve into the topic is that it brought together my interests in women and their traditions. Another reason was that the goddess though being a household name is not known outside Nepal. Neither are there enough manuscripts of the tradition or existence outside Swasthani Brata Katha in Nepal. She is an enigma, very complicated, yet crucial in the study of Hinduism.

My work was motivated not by an interest in Swasthani as a goddess per se, but in the Swasthani Brata Katha, as a 16th century Hindu devotional tradition that was focused on women and still widely celebrated in the modern period. Moreover, the text has changed considerably between the 16th and 21st centuries so I was interested in understanding what these textual changes were and what they could tell us about Nepals social, cultural, and religious history and identity.

Can you please explain in brief how you dealt with this exotic topic?

My focus was on the historical developments of the Swasthani Brata Katha so the majority of times, during the initial phases in the research, I spent my time in libraries including Kaiser Library, National Archives, and Asha Saphu Kuthi. Then I spent significant time in Sankhu too. During this, I was able to collect and read manuscripts of the Swasthani Brata Katha. I came across many texts, around 800 of them, among which I examined about 125 manuscripts and closely read about two dozens of them, which were dated, in good shape and complete.

In the course of my research, I also met and interviewed many of the locals including Prabin Raj Shrestha, scholars Aishwarya Dhar Sharma and Kashi Nath Tamot, language scholars Jwala Sthapit Tuladhar, and local historian Prakash Man Shrestha who really helped me understand the text and the importance of the culture. They also helped me connect and communicate with many other people whom I interviewed during the research.

I also learned Nepali, Nepal Bhasa and Sanskrit languages. And I got several opportunities to closely observe the Swasthani Brata Katha and the related rituals. Though I did not take the fast, I stayed with the women there who were taking the fast in Sankhu; I used to get up with them, follow them and observe all the rituals, to really understand the culture.

There was a fair share of problems to deal with too. The access to some resources they were not available easily, and the ongoing load-shedding schedule (scheduled power outage) and Maoists insurgency, all had to be taken into consideration. It was all a painstakingly long process yet the most insightful.

What were your personal observations of the Swasthani Brata Katha? What fascinated you during your research?

When asked about Hindu texts, Ramayana and Mahabharata might be the most common or famous texts anyone relates to, outside Nepal. Yet in my research, Swasthani textbook was and is on a par with or even more important than the two epics, or any other Puranas and Vedas.

Figuring out the meaning for her name on its own was difficult and its connection to rituals or stories was interesting. The lack of iconography, visual depiction of the goddess outside modern times and the confusion among people considering Madhav Narayan idols as Swasthani (in Sankhu) were also intriguing.

What was interesting about the textual evidence, in particular, was that we can see a shift. The first 200 years of the tradition were about Goma, Chandrawati, Navaraj and Swasthani. After that, three major additions can be found. The first is the story of Shiva and Parvati; the second is the narrative of Vishnu including Madhu-Kaitabha and the creation of the universe. The third is the stories about Vrinda, Kamadev and others.

And due to this shift of narrative two-thirds of the stories today are of Shiva and only the latter part of the story is about Swasthani. Comparing the texts in Nepal Bhasa and Nepali, Nepal Bhasa texts are more heterogeneous while the Nepali language texts are more in number. But both have influenced the establishment of Hindu identity and patriarchy.

So have you found any evidence that suggests this shift in the narratives?

There is no concrete evidence as to why there is a shift in the narrative. Yet if we are to compare the dates of the manuscripts, printed versions of the book, the language it was written in, to that of the historical developments in Nepal or even India, we can see some hints. The texts suggest that Swasthani was first written in Nepal Bhasa (early as 693 Nepal Sambat or around 1573 AD) by Jayanta Dev when the Newar kings were prominent rulers in the Kathmandu Valley.

But from the early 19th century, we can see Nepali versions of Swasthani; that coincides with the Shah rulers in the Valley and the British Empires influence in India. Though nothing is concrete here, we can just speculate that; maybe because of this, there has been the shift and additions to the narrative in Swasthani Brata Katha. The changes may reflect the focus on something more than the Nepal Mandala and the influence of socio-political changes.

Having said that, the stories of the goddess Swasthani herself, her role in the story and her importance or even the rituals that the pilgrims undertake during the brata (in Magh) have not changed, neither have their beliefs.

Speaking of her pictures, you have mentioned in your book that the portrayal of the goddess is surprising as independent and unfettered by a male companion. Why and in what ways, did you say that?

In mythologies, the women are portrayed in two major forms; one where they are calm, benign and benevolent, and always with a consort or a husband like Parvati and Saraswati, and second where they are unmarried without a male consort, but fierce and warriors like Durga and Kali. But the goddess Swasthani is a very complicated figure and quite different from all. She is calm and composed, yet described as a fierce unforgiving figure in Chandrawatis story.

For most of the people, she does not have a prominent male consort; there is no explicit association to Shiva. But in the Katha, she is depicted as a consort of Lord Shiva. She can be seen pictured with Lord Shiva (on a statue at Makkhan) but the popular picture of her transformed and is now of her sitting on a lotus flower between the Astamatrika (like in Sankhu).

If we are to look at the Swasthani Brata Katha from a feminist perspective, how would you define it?

When it comes to the story, it has received many criticisms that the stories inside it are too patriarchal as they endorse Sati Devis self-immolation for her husband, Gomas early marriage, and Vrindas rape. And there are people who believe that the stories are empowering, see the journey from struggle to success, and accept the traditions. It will depend on how you look at it. It is important to understand where the person is speaking from, which aspects of the story they are relating to, what empowers them or what they disagree to.

But the stories (mostly in Nepali), as I perceive it, are more of a written document of hegemonic Brahmin narratives written by Brahmin men, for Brahmin men. They do not really speak out any women-centric voice. This also goes back to the influence of Hindu, Brahman culture and influence from the rulers.

So, as a feminist myself, from a personal point of view, I do not see Swasthani as a feminist story. And as an analyst, I struggle to think if anyone reads the story and does not question it critically, will it be okay? Or say if they think it is our culture, so thats how it should be, will it be okay?

Recently, there has been a new narrative of Ramayana from the eyes of Sita, as Sitayana. I would like to see a feminist perspective of the story and see the difference, and how different kind of a conversation it initiates.

You say there is a need for scholarly attention regarding the Swasthani text. But why?

Swasthani is a large body of knowledge. By reading Swasthani textbooks alone, we can see the shift of narratives, and how the manuscripts travelled, observe the additional narratives, their similarities and differences.

Another reason why I say that is because even today, studying Hinduism or South Asia in countries like the USA is synonymous with studying India while studying Nepal is like an extension of India. So it is important to bring these Hindu scripts in light to fight the hegemonic status and bring out the separate culture and history of Nepal.

I am currently working on the English translation of Swasthani (from Nepali); it is something I wanted to do. The non-Nepali population of the world has not been able to read the text [that is in Nepali, Newari or Sanskrit]. I believe, if the text is readily available to the rest of the world, it will create a conversation about the story, the teachings, the historical and mythological importance as well as the shift in the narratives we can see. And I think it will also initiate discourses from the feminist perspectives.

As a gender scholar, what is your observation of the Nepali society today?

From the time I first arrived in Nepal, the scenario has changed quite significantly. It had deep-rooted patriarchal status, asymmetric power dynamics and gender roles. Women were not allowed to show their shoulders, wear short dresses. No western fashion or clothing Today, most importantly, they are getting more opportunities and access to education. It is very crucial in terms of growth and equality, it shows strength and is visible.

In recent times, there are many campaigns that have been organised for gender identities and equality from the sexual and gender minorities for awareness, acceptance, for existence and safety. It shows the loosening of gender expectations in society. However, as I have seen, the expectations of caste-based marriage, heterogeneous marriage and marriages based on socioeconomic status are still the same. And the gender roles and asymmetry is still there so is the disadvantage women, gender and sexual minorities face.




Four Saudi Arabia aquaculture companies have merged in a US$133 million deal





According to state news agency SPA, the companies that have merged are Tabuk Fisheries Company, Aquaculture Sharq Farms, Tharawat Seas and the aquaculture division of Jazan Energy and Development Company (Jazadco), reported Reuters.

The new merged entity, Advanced Aquaculture Company, will be able to produce 60,000 tonnes of aquaculture produce, which includes sea bass, sea bream and shrimp.

Abdulrahman al-Fadhli, Minister for Environment, Water and Agriculture said the new merger of these aquaculture firms will contribute to boosting local aquaculture productivity, and expects more mergers in the industry in future.

He added that the Saudi Arabia aquaculture industry is also expected to receive investment from government and semi-government sources.

Advanced Aquaculture Company aims to double its production capacity in its second phase, but no exact timeline was provided. By 2035, the company aims to hit 300,000 tonnes output.

- Reuters
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Anjuli Bhargava discovers Brand Abha Adams.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Abha Adams, 66, has an abiding memory of her own school days.

Standing with her two thin plaits among a long line of cherubic girls as Mother Superior's voice looms loud: 'Girls, I want you to be like limpid water in a crystalline vase.'

And she thinks to herself: "Wow, what wouldn't I give to be limpid water in a crystal vase", even though she didn't know what it really meant.

The strong moralistic values and sense of duty that were ingrained in her through her convent school days in Delhi led her to envision her future as a nun.

"I was a disgusting goody two shoes through most of my school years," she says, a quality she found hard to shed even in later life.

So much so that when she first met Bill, who she would marry later, he asked her 'what's with this should and ought', the only two words she appeared to have in her vocabulary.

When he advised she should just 'follow her heart', it sounded like blasphemy to her.

We are meeting for a hurriedly fixed lunch at The China Kitchen at Hyatt in New Delhi, with time at a premium for us both.

She orders a stir-fried sole fish and Udon noodles and I opt for some stir-fried vegetables with fried rice that she agrees to try.

As we wait for our food, she tells me a bit about her childhood, a phase that many former students and parents can't even imagine.

"Abha was once a school girl! Can't even imagine that!" is how one reacted when I mention my meeting with her to a few people who know her.

Most of them swear by her... her charm to be precise.

In fact, many say she is "charm personified".

Adams learnt her p's and q's in a highly Anglicised atmosphere in her Kolkata home from one Mrs Robinson who used to turn up in her starched black dress with white cuffs and spent hours perfecting Adams's handwriting under her watchful gaze.

Adams's mother -- a school principal and a stoic nationalist who imbibed many British customs nonetheless -- took the young girl regularly to the national library in Kolkata and let her loose, a delightful memory for the avid reader.

In the 1970s when she was 10, Adams moved from the rich, cultural ethos of Kolkata to Delhi that seemed like a "large, electrified village".

After lapping up "duty, convention and morality" in the first few years at school, Adams began to find herself dabbling in the performing arts, expressing herself more freely and going on to become the head girl at Carmel Convent at some stage.

The spirit imbued in her by Sister Candice, one of the nuns at her school, began to come to the surface, much to the chagrin of her conventional-minded father.

The seeds of rebellion had been sown in the young girl, who would soon be attracted to most things forbidden and nun-hood would be jettisoned.

Indeed, Adams has never been one to conform.

Even today she attempts to be politically correct but prod her a bit and she spills the beans, laughing with gay abandon.

Real rebellion kicked in during college with her joining Barry John's Theater Action Group -- that her father derisively referred to as 'nautanki' -- with the likes of Siddhartha Basu and Lilette Dubey.

Much to her father's horror, she also experimented with radio and appeared in a television show, Around the World.

At 21, she started teaching English at Lady Shri Ram College for Women in Delhi after securing her master's degree.

After she lost her father around that time, her mother's plans to arrange a match or her went haywire, thanks to the rebellious streak that had started raising its head.

Young Adams had no intention of getting tied down at that stage but agreed to go out for a coffee with a prospective match.

After she was seated comfortably, she asked the waiter for an ashtray and lit a cigarette.

Needless to say, the wedding bells failed to ring.

After teaching for six years, Adams felt the need to move on and applied for a second master's degree in theatre arts from the University of Leeds, UK.

Thereafter, she left on a scholarship for a year-long course in practical theatre, enrolling for an MPhil in the subject, one she never finished.

Upon leaving the Indian shores, she felt the need to rediscover the 'Indian' in her and started working on dance and theatre performances with the Indian community in the UK.

She began working with artistes and theatre personalities and doing ballets like the Ramayana, operas like Savitri and productions like Dularibai.

There she also met Bill, her to-be-husband, who she found "radically different from the average Indian male" she had encountered.

"He had no hang-ups, no ego and made me laugh."

He could deal with her confidence, encouraged her to break every norm and live life to the fullest.

In 1984, she landed a job with the BBC, learned to broadcast from the best in the business, presented a prime time show in current affairs and became education producer for Broadcasting House, Leeds.

She then joined the Great Britain Arts Council in London which was setting up a development agency, Aditi, for South Asian performing arts.

For two years, she worked to bring together dancers, artistes and performers of South Asian origin and "learnt like never before" while helping with advocacy, promotion and training.

In early 1992, when he was only 44, her husband developed a serious heart condition and was told he didn't have much longer to live (Bill is 73 today).

The upshot of it all was a decision to return to India, something she fought at that time.

With the main course over, we order a chocolate bruele (a poor cousin of creme variety) and decide to share it.

Later the same year, Adams found herself back in India, unsure of what she was really qualified to do.

Instead of looking for a job -- neither had a job at that point -- the two bought a 17-year old Ambassador car and drove across the Himalayas, discovering parts of the country they didn't know existed.

The car died on them on the way back!

With all their savings spent, Adams first approached Doordarshan for a job since broadcasting was what she knew best.

But it was like "entering Dante's Inferno without the fires burning".

The dusty office with spools of tape resembled "baba adam ka zamana" and she quickly retreated.

She then decided to go back to teach at LSR and found the place totally unchanged while she had grown by leaps and bounds.

That's when someone mentioned that the Delhi-based Shriram group was setting up a new, experimental and very out-of-the-box school.

She joined the group to set up the senior school and began what she describes as the "best phase of her life".

The founding team -- she reels off the list and I know many of them personally -- put their "heart and soul" into what they saw as their "baby", several of them with no background in academics or education but "personalities" nonetheless.

Fourteen years flew by, in a whirlwind of activity, led by Adam's own spontaneity and infectious energy.

She gives full credit to Manju Bharat Ram -- the founder of The Shri Ram School -- who she describes as a true "visionary" in the education space.

The Shri Ram School became a brand under the leadership of Adams and Ram.

After 14 years, it was time again to move on.

After Adams resigned, she began to get calls from all and sundry asking her to lend her name to their new school ventures.

Some offered to pay absurd sums of money for just her name, suggesting that she needn't even come to the school.

That's when she realised she'd become a "brand" like TSRS!

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to earn a tonne of money for doing very little but her conscience didn't allow her to go ahead.

Finally, it was Ritu Suri's offer to set up Step by Step in Noida in 2006 that resonated with her.

That's where she spent the next 12 years of her life, building almost an equally formidable name in another part of the city.

At some stage, however, Adams felt her work there was done and she quit in 2018, deciding to end her affair with the high-end schools of the national capital region and spend more time on Ahvaan, a teacher training and mentoring NGO that works in the government schools space.

She's writing a book on the (mainly) negative fallouts of the increasingly digital- and social media-led world on today's children.

Students in elite schools "are self-harming in large numbers", she tells me.

She starts recounting some related stories when we realise we need to wrap up as time is running out.

On this somber note, Adams breezes out, leaving me to absorb the dull Abha-less environment.

Try meeting her once and you'll understand why she's the brand that she is.
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The United States Congress made some significant progress this session when it comes to data privacy, but cybersecurity remains a blind spot for lawmakers.

Congress currently is considering a national privacy law that mirrors legislation enacted in the European Union. It would allow people to access, correct and request the deletion of the personal information collected from them. Though there are several ideas as to the final form the bill should take, a path became clear during the Senate Commerce Committees privacy hearing last month.

Congress also seems willing to address the consequences of new technologies. Last month it passed the National Quantum Initiative Act, which is expected to disperse US$1.275 billion for quantum research over the next four years. Some have argued that this newfound enthusiasm for tech might be used to fix the impeachment process.

When it comes to cybersecurity, though, Congress is still in the dark ages. Efforts to pass a privacy law often are seen as addressing both data privacy and cybersecurity, but in reality, they do not. Companies and consumers have been forced to take matters into their own hands, reflected in the recent announcement that Facebook has banned deepfakes, and the rising use of VPNs among the general population.

Privacy Means Nothing Without Security

This oversight with respect to security could have huge consequences for the efficacy of data privacy legislation. Though data privacy and data security are separate concerns, there is an inherent link between them. Security has been overlooked in the current proposed law, as well as in similar legislation  like Europes GDPR and the Australian privacy bill passed two years ago.

To understand how privacy and security are linked, consider an app that collects location data from its users. The types of data privacy law proposed (or already in force) would impose strict requirements on the company behind this app, such as telling its users what it is collecting, and what it does with the data. If the app is not properly secured, however, and the information is stolen or leaked, strong privacy policies will be of little comfort to users.

This oversight is apparent in almost all the legislation on data privacy in the U.S. The Information Transparency & Personal Data Control Act, which was introduced in the House last spring, contains a passage that requires lawmakers and tech companies to protect consumers from bad actors in the privacy and security space, but it doesnt include any further details. The Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act goes a little further, but only two of its 59 pages give vague cybersecurity requirements for private companies.

Even the United States Consumer Data Privacy Act of 2019 provides only the broad instruction that companies should maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security policies and practices to protect against risks to the confidentiality, security, and integrity of sensitive covered data.

A Lack of Leadership

At best, the failure of Congress to tackle cybersecurity has left the data of millions of Americans unprotected. At worst, it represents a lack of leadership that has left responsible companies completely confused as to what their legal, moral and ethical responsibilities are when it comes to protecting user data.

In this context, there has grown a huge and unregulated market for cybersecurity tools and services, each claiming to offer class-leading protection against cybercrime. For companies, website security is now a major component of website maintenance costs. This is because CEOs are acutely aware of the risks of cybercrime, a form of criminality that will cost the global economy $6 trillion a year by 2021, according to Cybersecurity Ventures annual report.

Even the National Security Agency has warned that cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated and capable every day in their ability to use the Internet for nefarious purposes. Yet many companies fail to take basic precautions, such as deleting expired accounts.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The Future

To be fair to Congress, crafting a data security law that covers every private company is complex. Today, data is unlikely to be held by one company in one place, and assigning responsibility for protecting it has become a difficult issue. Any such law, therefore, would have to take into account the widespread adoption of cloud storage, SaaS business models, and other forms of distributed data storage and processing. In this context, its understandable that most state-level laws on data security require companies only to take reasonable security practices, without specifying what those are.

On the other hand, there finally does appear to be an appetite in Congress to address these issues. An increasing number of data protection laws cover individual industries, such as healthcare and financial institutions, and the FTC has brought some data breach-related enforcement actions under its relatively weak and vague consumer protection powers.

Looking to the future, these industry-specific laws could form an excellent model for a national data protection law, as could state-level legislation. The state most mentioned in this regard is New York, which arguably has the most comprehensive requirements. Financial services companies in the state must meet more than 10 specific requirements, which include encryption of nonpublic information, penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and oversight of service providers cybersecurity.

New York also offers another lesson for Congress. In order to draft and enact the new law, the state convened an expert panel that brought together lawmakers, cybersecurity professionals, and the CEOs of major companies.

The development of an effective data protection law at a national level is going to require the same level of expertise and consultation. This is why some have suggested that a federal Department of Cybersecurity is the way forward. Such a department could bring together responsibilities that currently are fragmented across a huge number of departments.

Lacking even a basic indication from the government as to what constitutes adequate cybersecurity, many people are taking cybersecurity into their own hands. VPNs  security tools that encrypt user data in transit  are experiencing explosive growth. Just a few years ago, they were regarded as semi-legal tools that enabled consumers to get around Netflix geo-blocks or avoid cryptocurrency bans. Now, they are used by a significant proportion of the populace.

Whatever the outcome of these new legislative initiatives, data protection is no longer an issue that Congress can ignore. Protecting consumer data is important for the economy. At the broadest level, ensuring data security is also critical to the efficacy of data privacy legislation that already has been passed. That is to say nothing of the reputation of Congress, which would be severely damaged if it should fail to take leadership on one of the most important issues facing the U.S. today.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network.